Powering the Paladin (SSC)

[Tempest]

[member="Xander Stanforth"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

All good action holos started off the same way. A moment of calm and quiet, and then suddenly there was explosions, guns and all manner of other stuff.

Tempest reviewed the instructions given to her. This was the calm before the storm.
“Since when do I go raiding for stuff?” she asked, a little annoyed.
Tegaea gave her a stern look. “Since you’re a part of Firemane and it’s your job. We’ve been contracted to build this new ship for the Coalition, and we need this component.”
Tempest sighed. “Very well. Who’s in on this?”
“I’ve heard that a couple of guys from the Coalition are coming along. You’re in charge of the operation. I want you to hit the facility, get the plans, and get out.”

That had been twelve hours ago, and now she was on board one of the new Frontier Class Corvettes which would serve as her base of operations. In the meeting room of the corvette she was hoping to meet these other people from the Coalition who had answered the call.

Dressed in her beskar armour without the helmet she looked like a Mandalorian, but wasn’t. She’d merely done a significant service to one of their biggest leaders. She hoped someone would show up so she could get underway.

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Tempest"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Xander sat on a shuttle enroute to met up with a Frontier Class Corvette. He was not sure what he was meant to be doing only that help and been requested and he had been asked to lend a hand. A hand was something he was more than willing to do. It would be a good reprieve from Acadmey training with two Masters who had turned out to be walking riddles. Xander was a man who liked this simple. Go here, do this, come back.

As they reached there destination Xander heard the pilot say something over the Radio.

"Frontier Class Corvette this is SSC shuttle bob requesting permission to dock with an SSC Jedi Padawan on board."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren knew that his position within Silk was getting him a lot of work. Add to that his position with the Frontiers Corps and his reputation as one hell of a pilot? And he had a lot of people knocking at his door. Psychometry as an innate skill made him pretty decent at finding cargo and product. Sure, he might not be a bounty hunter, but in goods procurement? That was fine. This would give him the chance to test out his new ship as well. One that was a secret vessel aboard Scout. He had the location of the Frontier-class Corvette and was taking his Frontiers Corps Frigate, Scout to meet her. On board his frigate was the ship he needed to get some testing in, the ShortFin.

Life for Coren revolved around starships. And he had a list of his other command, being a captain in the Frontiers Corps, he did run two frigates on opposite ends of the galaxy. When he arrived at the meeting place, Scout contacted the other corvette before sending Coren over, using one of the Niathals to form a Force cylinder to transfer the Master over.

He made his way to the meeting room, looking ever the spacer. Nerf hide jacket, over his shirt, bloodstripes on his denims, Power nine on his hip. He had his lightsaber with him, just so people wouldn’t bother him. Was he a Master? Yes. Was he a good one? Not always.

[member="Tempest"]
[member="Xander Stanforth"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Xander Stanforth"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

“Padawan, go ahead and dock. Report to the conference room for the briefing.”

Tempest greeted the other two in the conference room. They looked a capable pair, tough and well able to handle the situation. That was good.
“Thank you for coming. My name’s Tempest, and I’m heading up this mission on behalf of Firemane and the Coalition to obtain a necessary system for the latest ship.”

She activated a holoprojector, a stable for any good situation room. It illuminated a space station orbiting a barren world. “This is our target, a Sith Empire facility known as Erebus-Two. During the Empire’s collapse 7 years ago the main facility was abandoned and supposedly destroyed. However, it seems like this second installation was orbiting the 4th planet in the system. It’s entirely automated by the looks of it, and the only way we found out about this was that one of our ships tracked pirates to their lair and picked up some odd signals. Following the trail they found the facility was very much active.”

“This facility produced high quality reactor and power systems, and we need it. Our job is to land, acquire the schematics and get out quickly. It’s going to be dangerous, but worth it. Any questions?”

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Tempest"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Xander nodded as the pilot turned to him to relay the response. Xander didn't know jack about ships so when he docked he had one of the crew of the ship give him directions to the conference room.

He slid inside just as Tempest was beginning the briefing. He waited and listened until the very end when asked for questions. Xander more out of instinct than anything lifted his hand as he spoke.

"I have a question, sorry I am Xander.............I mean Padawan Stanforth, what kind of numbers are we looking at resistance wise?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Right, working with Firemane. Coren had done that a bit. Made some connections with one [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] and they helped with the new Vanguard armor being used by the Frontiers Corps and himself exclusively. Coming here, though, that was fine. Sure, they could send him a transmission, tell him what he was looking for and then they’d be halfway done with everything that was coming up, because he’d be halfway through with finding something.

He leaned against the wall, waiting for the meeting. When the pair came in, he was ready.

This sounded fine. Look for pieces, infiltrate former Sith Empire holdings, realize that they had an Empire and fell and the galaxy let them do what they were doing again, get the schematics, probably blow it all up and leave the world. Clean cut. Looked like he wasn’t getting ShortFin a ride yet.

Padawan had a question, that’d be fine.

[member="Xander Stanforth"]
[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Xander Stanforth"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

“Numbers are unknown, but several dozen combat droids and factory units have to be considered. We’re not expecting anything too extreme here, but we need to be careful regardless. The plan is that we’ll go in, the corvette and the fighters will clear a path and knock out any defences and allow our shuttles to land. It’ll be low atmosphere in places, so you’ll need rebreathers and sealed suits or armour. Other than that, I’ve got no other intel.”

When they were done the corvette would make the jump into hyperspace, ready to begin the attack on Station Erebus-Two….

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Tempest"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Xander frowned slightly at the answer but did not say anything else. Last time he had jumped head first into unknown numbers he had woken up in a medcenter a week later. It was not an experience he was in any hurry to repeat again but even if he had any reservations it was too late to do anything about them now.

For now Xander would worry about getting fitted for a rebreather and sealed suit. Once that was done and he was satisfied the trip wouldn't kill him he settled in trying to settle down and calm his nerves. Once they hit their objective there would be no room for panic or hesitation.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Right, the next bit of data, that all worked for Coren. He had been working on something special for the Frontiers Corps, and the man was known to go beyond that which most people were comfortable. A pilot by trade and by choice, he was also one of the people who would be on the away team for any number of vessels, ranging back to the records of him before the memory wipe date on the Dawn Treader, and he’d not let that go if he was on a current military vessel.

With the Frontiers Corps, it was something else. He trusted his teams, but sometimes you just needed to go down yourself. And as a Force user, he knew that he had other tools at his disposal. Coming from the Levantines, he knew how to deal with the unknown, and was perhaps more equipped for it than the Silver natives. Was there rivalry? Maybe a touch.

Was he a radical local? Of course.

Once they were nearing their location, Coren made sure to approach [member="Tempest"], the one in control. “Prefer me in a fighter or piloting a shuttle?” You were fething crazy if you thought Coren wasn’t going to be behind the stick on this one. And he did need to test the Vanguard Armor as a pilot suit. Maybe make an upgrade, but whichever they needed him in was fine. Could show the kid, [member="Xander Stanforth"], how it was done.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Xander Stanforth"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Tempest knew of Coren’s reputation. It was the major reason she was so pleased he was here.
“In a fighter. It’s vital that you clear out the batteries of quad lasers and flak cannons so we can land safely, then land and join us on the inside.”

As the ship came out of hyperspace the fighters were given the order to launch. Before them was the Erebus-2 Facility. Blissfully unaware that their empire was long dead, the droids continued on, mindlessly repeating their last orders.

That is, until the Coalition ships began their attack! Automated weapons engaged and droid fighters scrambled to attack.

Tempest found herself in a quad laser cannon. “Get firing!” she ordered Xander, indicating another cannon. She hoped they could back up Coren and his pilots.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"]


Despite this writer sulking about having too many threads, they have decided to contribute a little bit. And so Caerys Argente would find herself in a quad laser cannon in the gunnery section of the corvette. The Erebus-2-Facility was their target, all hostiles would be ruthlessly terminated in the name of the glorious Age of Steel!


Oh, wait, Caerys was the sort of droid who was not obsessed with wiping out all organic life. Mainly due to the logical reasoning that she would be lacking in purpose then. Organics gave her one due to their pointless, rather dull wars and conflicts. And so without further ado she hammered out shots with the cannon. It came in handy that as a droid she had superior processing power and calculating ability, enabling her to coordinate the firing of the various defence cannons that were not being manned by PCs.


Droid fighters perished in a hail of blue and red laser fire.

 

[Kenrath]

Xander heard [member="Tempest"] tell him to get to a quad laser. Xander didn't know the first thing about quad lasers but it looked like he was about to get a crash course. He jumped over to the cannon taking a quick look around. He muttered to himself as he walked through it.

"Ok helmet looking thing................." "This thing looks like triggers................." "Ok so aim this way................."

He closed his eyes for a quick minute training to settle his nerves before opening back up and finding a target. Once he was sure he had something to shoot at Xander squeezed down on the triggers as hard as he could. He was not a small guy but the jump and vibration coursing through his hands did make him flinch slightly. He pushed it to the back of his mind as he kept firing.


[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Fighter. Sure thing. Coren could do that. Be good to work with the Vanguard armor and a fighter. He’d get some ideas. Something about linking into a fighter, moving the heads up display onto his own systems. Perfect. Next time. The Mark II. Too late to handwave this as a development for that anyway. He made sure to find himself in a Cutter-Class Interceptor. Falcon Five. Leading Flight Two. He wasn’t a native to the squadron, but his reputation preceded him.

That was good.

He was taking off, and forming up. Stay alert. He nodded as the call came through and fell into the Force. That was second nature to him, launching in a fighter, and he fell in, reached out to those around him, his squad, his wingmates, whoever. He connected, he let them have a bit more intuition and he gained their feelings. So much better for situational awareness.

As they started closing in, the squadron was given the weapons free call and Coren moved the fighter to attack speed. Time to get going. He grinned as he rolled past a few droid fighters, letting them go past for Third flight to grab. Opening his targeting system, he squeezed off some rounds, one, two, and winged a third. Right.

Starchaser in a fighter, time to clear the path.

[member="Xander Stanforth"]
[member="Caerys Argente"]
[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Caerys Argente"] [member="Xander Stanforth"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

The battle was furious and confusing. The Frontier Class was designed to deal with threats like the droid fighters, and with a dozen quad laser cannons it could create a wall of firepower to make it happen.
Tempest called on the Force to aid her as much as she could, following the tracking paths of the enemy fighters on her displays, she opened fire, smashing one to pieces.

Everything was noise, confusion, flashes. Fighting to control her heartrate, the sensors picked up another fighter steaming in from behind, so she swung around, aimed, fired. The droid turned into a ball of superheated gas.

The assault, the corvette combined with Starchaser’s fighters, started to have a real impact.
“Press the attack, finish them off!” Tempest called into her headset.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Xander Stanforth"]


In space there is no sound, though it is often depicted as such. The same applies to brilliant explosions of light. The lack of them would make space battles less dramatic.


Caerys did not have the Force, she was an HRD. Who coincidentally wore the face of a long-dead Angelii warrior, though this connection to the space elves meant little her beyond the detached curiosity of a computer who was a pure machine, as opposed to one made in the likeness of an organic mind.


Thus she was completely focused upon the skirmish that was laid out before her. Using her processing power she followed the tracking pathsof the enemy fighters, calculating their movements. The thing about most droid fighters was that they were predictable, though these models had speed on their side. Like a swarm of hornets they would descend upon their target in what seemed like a blur of movement. However, she had plenty of firepower and so she coordinated the firing of various cannons, feeding them targets.


Brilliant flashes of light erupted in the vastness of space, ddroid fighters perished in beautiful explosions. Caerys' features remained stoic and placid.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Xander Stanforth"]

The droids, their ranks shredded by the quad lasers and the fighters, withdrew to regroup. They would return soon, but not soon enough to aid their facility.

As the corvette moved forward it opened its capital guns up on the shields and weapons guarding the facility. Luckily this facility was not designed to resist such a major offensive, and it soon crumbled.

Tempest headed to the shuttles along with a contingent of Firemane infantry and the Jedi Padawan.
"Coren, we're going in, cover our approach and then join us. I suspect we'll need you on the ground as well as in space."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

It really had been a while since Coren engaged in fighter combat. Not since he first woke up and was helping the Fringe Federation reclaim lost ground during the Rapture situation. It felt good, sure, he wasn’t in his Rassilon, he wasn’t even in a Santhe fighter, but what he was in was close enough. It was giving him that feeling of being free, an engine and some blasters against the void. He had gotten the call.

Nodding to himself and double clicking his commlink in the affirmative, he moved his fighter and the second flight group into a holding pattern around the shuttle. It’ll be time to protect these, and from there, he’d be able to get to ground, keep his fighter safe and join the team.

A real simple bit so far. Once he got down to the target zone, though, he knew he would have his work cut out for him. But for now? Space time fun times.

[member="Tempest"]
[member="Xander Stanforth"]
[member="Caerys Argente"]

 

[Kenrath]

[member="Tempest"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Caerys Argente"]

Xander would follow Tempest as she headed towards the shuttle giving her a nod.

"Sorry not really a big asset on ships." "Never had cause to learn." "Next time will be better."

Xander was not making excuses but simply making a pledge to be a more well rounded Jedi. He was no use to the weak and defenseless if he was limited on where he could travel and go.

As soon as the doors to the shuttle opened Xander jumped aboard without hesitation turing to face back towards the ramp(or door) standing just off to the side.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Xander Stanforth"]

Tempest patted the Padawan on the shoulder. "Don't stress, I'm not much of a gunner either. Plenty of people can play with ships better than me. But I can do things they can't!"

With Coren expertly flying interference the shuttles landed safely. Almost immediately they came under fire from droids of various sizes on the gantries and in cover behind shipping containers.

Orange lightsabre blazing, Beskar armour catching bolts which made it through her defence, Tempest attacked. Leaving Xander and the regular troops to advance she kicked her jetpack into gear, and once here a flick of the right hand folded her armour back. From it came...

Lightning arced and sliced into the droids. Not Sith Lightning, but the less refined, more elemental variety she had been taught to use.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Playing with ships was second nature for a good handful of families in the galaxy. For most it was a learned and trained skill, for Starchaser, he cut his teeth on a starship, he had picked up his first date on a starship and learned to fly a starfighter years before most people were flying speeders. The pilot made sure the shuttle got to where it was going and did another flyby pass. “Can’t get a clear shot at the ambush, coming in for a landing.” And that was going to rob him of his advantage, for sure.

Shields were still up as the man grabbed his rebuilt lightsaber. He owned two weapons now, the orange-bladed Corellian blood steel hilt saber, and his rebuilt viridian blade, one that was a rarely used weapon the galaxy over, a guard-shoto. But this was more than enough for the pilot, who preferred using Warden of the Sky tactics and getting in close to his opponents.

Activating the armor, he turned his saber on, deflecting bolts coming in as [member="Tempest"] did her mutant thang. That was effective. The Starchaser was calling the Force to him, this was going to be a battle, wasn’t it?

[member="Xander Stanforth"]