Raid off Eshan (open to a Republic personage)

[Ashin Varanin]

To raid the Republic successfully, you needed to minimize reaction time. That meant...

• Low-priority world
• Distance from major hyperroutes
• Distance from the front lines of major conflicts
• Small raiding force
• Distance from any given high-population world within a system
• Distance from any of the Jedi enclaves that had constituted the Republic's primary expansionary priorities in the months since the Second Akala Crisis
• Proximity to safe haven

But the Republic was not large. Anything far away from a trade route was close to a Jedi enclave, for example, and so it went. That really only left one target worth hitting: the minor shipyards off Eshan. An ambitious target, to be sure, but fresh on the heels of successful raids against the Primeval and the Mandalorians, Vastor was willing to give it a shot. Word on the street said the Echani escort ships had some kind of special engines.

And for that, with a little ingenuity and a couple of grav well projectors, he didn't even need to hit the shipyard.

The bait was simple: a faked distress call, small-scale, on a little-used hyperroute not too far from Eshan. His Privateer, the Lor Pelek, projected a gravity well behind it, relative to an inbound vector from Eshan. So when an Interceptor-class patrol ship jumped in to investigate, it ran smack dab into the well's edge, a storm of sensor jamming, and heavy turbolaser and ion cannon fire.

At which point Vastor engaged the second grav well, centered on this engagement. An interdictor's grav well could ward a sphere as big across as ten worlds, meaning any ships that came to help the doomed Interceptor would need to be fast at sublight.

The gamble began...now.

 

[Tobias Wraith]

To successfully stop someone raiding the Republic, you needed a few things.

• To be in the wrong place at the right time.
• To be mildly talented at flying.
• To have an inherent interest in saving the territory he was sworn to protect.
• A pretty nice tramp freighter
• Oh, and the “hushaby” rotary ion cannon

A distress call near Eshan was enough to get the attention of a certain former soldier/smuggler now turned Padawan. Deftly piloting his Calrissian-Class freighter to the point of origin, Tobias had every intention of doing his good deed for the day. With all the cargo area in the ship, he could have easily saved those in need. With the best of intentions, he arrived and then boy was he shocked.

Privateer-Class Frigates were meant for really only one thing: Pirating.

“Shields up please, and all weapons activated.” His droid crew immediately began to follow his orders as he steered the vessel towards the ship emitting the grav well. Keeping a fairly safe distance, Tobias opened a channel to the other vessel. “Any reason why you are attempting to attack a Republic ship?”

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"] had exited hyperspace a very, very long way away from the fight -- that was sort of the point of the interdiction bubble. He could get here, but it would take...quite a while. Safe distance wasn't optional at this point. As the IFAS' light turbolasers peppered the Lor Pelek's shields ineffectually, Vastor shrugged and touched the comm.

"Failure," he said. "Comprehensive worthless failure. The Republic's crimes at Contruum and Manaan and Metalorn don't hurt either, but mostly it's the failure thing." He settled into the pilot's seat, keeping an eye on long-range sensors. "How many other governments do you know that claim to be the incarnation of justice and order -- with so little foundation?

"And let's be clear on something. I'm not attempting anything. This ship is already dead in the water; it just doesn't know it yet."

 

[Tobias Wraith]

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” was all the newly minted Padawan managed. Who was he to really comment on the Republic? Could he even say what he had done for the One Sith four years ago almost to the day, or live with someone speaking it aloud? Sure, he had been a smuggler for the last few years and even then could he be considered a moral paragon? Wraith pondered it for barely even a moment as his hands worked frantically over the controls, watching the vessel on the long scanners try and shoot at the Privateer-Class Frigate. Quickly slapping his own control panel, he realized he was much further out than he realized.

50’000 meters further out than what he had hoped to be.

Switching off the channel, he gave a few hurried instructions. “Direct power to the shields, keep weapons active and fire on my command.” A few nods in the affirmative were all he needed as he bore down on the controls and the engines roared to life. His range was nothing compared to the Privateer-Class, but he had to hope he could avoid most of the fire with the limited training Quorl had given him.

The distance began ticking down rapidly, so he reopened the comm channel. Anything to distract him. “Tobias Wraith here, I’m a Jedi Padawan. Do you honestly think the men aboard that vessel are the ones who failed in your eyes, or that they were even the ones making the decisions?” He could only hope that would work, if not they would be in a dog fight soon.

Very soon.
[member="Adalric Vastor"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

Inexorably, the Lor Pelek's guns whittled down the Interceptor's shields. The smaller ship made the smart move and hightailed it for the incoming transport, its only help. The enemy commander sensibly shifted all shield power aft and put weapons power to engines. The faster the Interceptor could rendezvous with Wraith, the more likely the two ships combined could put up a serious fight. The Interceptor jinked and wove, so far as it could manage without sacrificing speed, but its shields continued to ratchet down. Because the Lor Pelek was not sacrificing weapons power for engines.

"Padawan Wraith, is it." At the frigate's controls, Vastor smiled thinly. "The Republic is a land of freedom, right? So when a man or a woman signs on to crew a warship, that's their choice. There's no press gang involved. Their blood is on the hands of the frankly terrible leaders they've chosen to follow."

 

[Tobias Wraith]

“I want more power to the engines,” he said quickly in between holding down the mute button on the microphone. Whatever chance his ship had, it wasn’t from a distance. No, the Jackdaw could only do any real damage up close and personal. It made her the perfect vessel for smuggling, but not for rescuing a government ship from a full blown pirate frigate. Comms outside of the area were jammed, and whatever help he could get would be slow.

The distance kept closing.

“I don’t know what made you feel this way, but all life is sacred. I wasn’t always able to act on this belief, but I can now.” He released the comm button, and prayed that he could empty his mind in the same way he had on Yavin IV when Quorl had been training him. If he was lucky, he could meet up with that smaller vessel and they could team up against the pirate frigate.

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

"Son...you sure you know who you're fighting for?"

The Interceptor's shields buckled in a shower of sparks a kilometre long. "Cut turbos," Vastor snapped. The ion cannons kept firing as the Echani patrol ship maneuvered wildly, sacrificing forward momentum in an effort to evade a disabling shot. Those maneuvers stopped, and the Interceptor went ballistic, as ion fire took out those engines that might or might not be worth his time. The Interceptor's light turbolasers started firing again as the Lor Pelek bore down on it.

 

[Tobias Wraith]

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

"I'm not fighting for anyone right now, I see lives in danger."

The distance was still quite wide, and he kept shifting the power alignments. Weapons were powered down to the minimum just to keep them able to be active while giving the ship enough speed. Knuckles turned white as he pressed down on the controls, willing the ship to go faster. Rapid breathing began to slow as he centered himself, and allowed those breaths to empty the cup that was Tobias Wraith. Slowly, and surely he felt the Force flowing into him as he stretched his limited senses as far out as he could. In the void, he could barely feel the life force from the ship that was under attack. What he could feel made him grit his teeth, not in frustration but determination. He wasn't angry, but he knew that if he didn't act lives would be senselessly lost.

"I don't want this sir, but I have to try and save them."

They inched closer.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

"I can respect that," said Vastor evenly, sincerely. "I've felt similar things. One major reason I do what it is that I do, son."

"Cap," Futzchag murmured beside him, "need your attention here..."

Vastor grimaced and refocused on the fight. The Interceptor massed about as much as one of his ship's main engines, though the Lor Pelek was not large. As his navigation stabilized, more ion shots slammed into the Echani ship. A heavy turbolaser blast broke its spine and sent the halves of the long ship spiralling away. Vastor focused on the back half, tractor beams reaching out to stabilize it.

 

[Tobias Wraith]

"Sir, it's happening."

Fists clenched, and his teeth were grinding as he tried to will himself closer. What he saw on the screen was just an explosion, something he had seen dozens of times before. Death on the field of battle was no stranger, he had held a few friends as they had passed. In a few fire fights he had managed to shoot down those who had pursued him. Life hadn't been kind to the twenty one year old, but he had always managed to survive. All of those deaths had been memories, ones he had filed away. This, no he could never forget this. Not what he saw, no this was just a run of the mill ship being split up by repeated blasts.

What he felt, that hit him in his core.

Quorl had taught him to value life, and to enjoy the beauty of it in the Force. Now he saw it snuffed out, blackened as waves of fear and pain rolled over him. There wasn't fury, nor anger. No, he wouldn't let down his Master. What he did know as a few tears rolled down his eyes at the death he had just felt was this. More were alive, and he was within firing range finally. "Power to all weapons, keep the shields low and the engines warm. We are smaller, and I intend to make him pay us attention."

The rotary ion cannon came out of hiding, and opened fire as he entered the furthest part of his range.

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

Thus far, the Lor Pelek hadn't once fired at the oncoming freighter. Vastor's priority had been taking out the Interceptor corvette as quickly as possible, sacrificing the chance of early hits against the freighter to minimize the risk of a two-on-one fight. Maybe it had been the right call, maybe not, but the thing was done. At least the freighter had made sacrifices too -- shield strength, primarily. The Lor Pelek's own shields glowed orange on the monitor, down to fifty percent from the weak but accurate Echani weapons. That ratcheted down to forty-five as the freighter's rotary ion cannon spat short-range death.

And here came another choice. Match course with the Interceptor's back end, tractor-stabilize it, scoop it into the prepped hangar? Or take down that freighter before it could make serious trouble?

Tough call. Vastor went with option Aurek, pursuing the aft module of the Interceptor. Its reactor blew dully, fountaining fire across space but leaving the engines pretty much intact. His tractor beams locked on.

"You've got a choice to make, son," he said, touching the comms. "You've got a shot at me, but there's lifesigns in that forward section and it's venting air pretty bad. If you choose to put your money where your mouth is and go save some lives, you've got my word I'll toss every survivor from the aft section in escape pods for you to pick up. Can't ask for fairer than that."

 

[Tobias Wraith]

Tobias was so committed to stopping the ship, that he barely heard the voice on the comm.


"You've got a choice to make, son," he said, touching the comms. "You've got a shot at me, but there's lifesigns in that forward section and it's venting air pretty bad. If you choose to put your money where your mouth is and go save some lives, you've got my word I'll toss every survivor from the aft section in escape pods for you to pick up. Can't ask for fairer than that."

Copper flooded his mouth, and he realized he had been biting his tongue this entire time. Wraith had been so hellbent on saving lives, that he was trying to push himself too far. Tendrils of energy faded as his senses extended back to the ship, feeling to see if the man was honest. Flickers in the Force confirmed what his sensors said, and he released his grip on the trigger. What most would have deliberated over, he didn't even think about. All his life he had watched life tortured, and life destroyed. This was why he had joined, it wasn't about winning and stamping out the darkness. That would come naturally by doing the right thing. This was about helping the little guy, the one who couldn't fight back.

Toby was still the little guy, but he had a shot to do the right thing.

He was a Jedi to save people.

"Fine, I won't fire. Let me rescue them and you can leave safely."

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

"Then I won't fire either," said Vastor honestly. "Not unless you fire at me or at the wreck I'm bringing aboard."

***​

​

Forty minutes later, it was all over. The Interceptor-class was very lightly crewed, and the Lor Pelek's crew outnumbered the survivors maybe fifty to one. An Echani Mimic Battle Unit took an ion blaster to the chest and was done. The survivors were placed in one of the Lor Pelek's escape pods; the wreck was thoroughly searched for traps and sabotage; the engines were verified intact.

Vastor leaned toward the comm panel again.

"All right, son. Here's how the next few minutes are going to unfold. I'm going to jettison the pod containing all the survivors, then I'm going to drop the gravity wells and leave." A course was already calculated. "You're going to pick up that pod instead of trying to follow me, clear?"

 

[Tobias Wraith]

[member="Adalric Vastor"]

Forty long minutes later...​

"Clear as crystal."

Many survivors were already on board, and the man had kept his word as the pod was deployed. Tobias didn't even keep his scanners on, allowing the man the freedom to leave at his discretion. It wasn't exactly what anyone in the military would call a victory, and he would probably hear about this. Hearing the men talking amongst themselves in the cargo hold was reward enough. Knowing that good men still lived, was all he needed. Yet, his hands hit the comm button one more time as they picked up the escape pod.

"We will meet again, and I will have to try and stop you again. Please try and harm as few people as possible."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tobias Wraith"]

"Son..."

It probably wasn't a good idea, but either respect or pride made him shrug.

"My name's Captain Adalric Vastor. My ship's the Lor Pelek. Ask one of your Jedi Masters what it means someday. If you feel the need to hunt me down, well, one hunter to another...good luck."

As the Calrissian-class freighter docked with the escape pod, Vastor dropped the interdiction. A subsonic, bone-deep hum vanished, noticeable only by its absence. Vastor relaxed, and Futzchag hit the hyperdrive. The Lor Pelek accelerated and vanished, bound for the Republic's nearest border and the long clear run to the Ord Mantell chop shops.