Private Rescue on the Rim

[Jared Starchaser]

The new ship was finally launched. A lightly modified Defender-class corvette. Calling it a corvette was a bit of a misnomer in Jared’s opinion.The ship did take up the spot of two Niathal shuttles aboard the Dawn Chaser and looked a bit big near his father’s freighter, but unlike his father, Jared spent more time away from larger ships, out in the fringe and needed a ship that could house his fighter.

It wasn’t that he needed to always use his fighter, but it was nice to have on hand.

Aside from in situations like this.

Like his family, Jared was trained as a Sentinel-adjacent Warden of the Sky holocron hunter… thing. Unlike his family, Jared preferred to be out hunting something or another, and getting paid. So when a distress call came up for a larger civilian vessel out in the Outer Rim.

Why they were still trying to travel out near the Kathol region with the Sith holding shop was beyond him. But since he was once of the Outer Rim Coalition, he did have a responsibility to this region of space. Dad was out in the Levantine systems and Kaia was… wherever she was nowadays. The report was that a Mon Calamari liner, non-military, was doing a quick run for the outer rim worlds, the ones the Core were still promising.

But it seem that the one they were looking for probably didn’t exist. An elaborate trap by the Sith? The ship, an MC80 size approximation known as the Atoll City was clearly one of the City-Ships on route to a settlement here.

Please. This is Atoll City cruiser requesting assistance.
World we were instructed to locate not found.
Sith ambush awaited us.

The message repeated, with the coordinates. Jared wasn’t certain the Rimward Trade League was able to mount the rescue that fast. The call seemed honest, and with the knowledge he had of the area it wouldn’t be hard and that was what he did.

Moments later, his Defender-class corvette arrived in system, seeing the cruiser, but also seeing the pair of Sith attack ships and the few circling the ship, attempting to land.

“Hopper, scramble our signal.” He ordered to his explorer droid, who then gave the data to the astromech. A few seconds later, the Vagrant Sunrise was off scopes as the navy and gold Defender moved closer, towards the opposite side of the ship, to find a berth. The Sith shuttles too busy heckling the Mon Cal to notice him.

A few moments later he found a hatch and hooked his Force Cylinder to it. Grabbing his lightsaber, and his blaster pistol, he moved aboard the ship.

Did these Sith use stormtroopers or did they have another type of soldier he had to be ready for?

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

Please. This is Atoll City cruiser requesting assistance.
World we were instructed to locate not found.
Sith ambush awaited us.

The Aurora Hawk | Theme - In the Name of Love

​

Ihn Corellisi nyeve min bhiq suman ehin nyia.
A Corellian never turns his back on someone in need.

As Chloe sat in the cockpit of the Aurora Hawk, savoring the warmth of her caf amidst the hum of star charts and navigation screens, the urgent distress call crackled through the comms. Her brow furrowed as she set down her cup, her focus immediately drawn to the plea for aid.

"Gee-Tee, what you reckon we have?" Chloe's voice was steady, betraying none of the concern that flickered in her blue eyes. Her anti-boarding droid, GT-FO, whistled an alert while CL-4P, her astromech companion, emitted a series of beeps and toots inquisitively.

The Corellian leaned forward, studying the distress message with a mix of caution and determination. It was a distress signal from the Atoll City cruiser, a vessel that was tasked with locating a world but fell into an anticipated Sith ambush. The Warden's mind raced through scenarios, weighing the possibilities as she requested Gee-Tee to gather intel on the ship, its coordinates, and any known Sith presence in the vicinity.

"Prepare for a jump, but keep a safe distance," Chloe instructed, her fingers flying across the controls to set the coordinates. "We need eyes on the situation before we commit to this dance."

As the ship surged forward into the Tingal Arm, Chloe's gaze remained fixed on the readouts, her mind strategizing the best approach. Chloe knew the risks; it could be a trap laid by the Sith or a genuine plea for help.

"Gee-Tee, activate the ECHO Copycat: Hallucin once we enter the system," Chloe commanded, the drawl in her voice firm. The technology's potential was critical; it allowed manipulation of Identification, friend, or foe tags, a crucial tool in the midst of hostile territory.

With a surge of determination, Chloe guided her vessel, cautious yet resolute, into the unknown. Her mind would race, attempting to consider every move, ready to navigate the delicate balance between aid and danger, trusting in the Corellian Gods, the Force, her crew, and the technology at her fingertips.

 

[Hoku Kalani]

.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

He was a pilot, and an explorer. But he was also a hero. And that was what got him into these sorts of problems. The whole concept of ‘being a hero.’ The type to rush in to help others. And it wasn’t the same way his father had taught him. No. Dad had said that to be a hero you had to constantly be ready for anything. But for Jared? And his sister? It meant helping where you could, even if it was the smaller group of people. It was why he took tasks as a Hunter, a sell-saber as it were.

Stepping to the Force Cylinder, the Starchaser made it to board the ship. A quick whisper to himself, and the powers that assisted him gave him a bit of an invisibility. A small scramble to sensors, but not nearly enough if anyone was paying attention. The challenge was keeping eyes off of Hopper. But the hope was soon they’d pay attention to him.

Not wanting to risk further discovery by additional use of the Force, he made to open several doors from the first terminal he found, hopefully enough of a distraction to get Hopper down and to another terminal.

To scan the ship’s log.

The droid bopped down, green and white, a Corellian color scheme. Skipping over to the SCOMP input, Jared looked down. “Find us the logs, who is here, who arrived, and when.” They didn’t have a chance to do a fly by on the hangar. But there it was, on the display holo from Hopper, a small Sith corvette.

“And the crew of this ship?”

Hopper beeped out a few things, about the time stamp being scrambled and him not finding many life signs.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

The Aurora Hawk's viewscreen lines of stars suddenly dispersed as it exited out into real space. GT activated the ECHO Copycat: Hallucin as requested, allowing it to ping out a 'friendly' ship should the Sith peer a little too closely.

"Let's see whose out there in our neck of the sky," Chloe murmured, spinning in her chair to access the various sensor panels and toggles. A quick press activated a holo array. She would need to get closer to figure out what is happening.

"How bout we go in easy... i want to see if there are any life signs." GT gave a hoot in confirmation. As they drew closer, sensors picked up a few Sith attack ships that were circling the ship, attempting to find a place to land.

So far, they hadn't spotted her.

"Wait... what is that?" the signal was scrambled and it was hard to determine who else might be out there. She bit her lower lip. If she went in, odds were she might have to deal with Sith or Sith Troopers... but if there were people who needed help.

A sigh.

"Let's find a way to distract these Sith attack ships out of the way. Maybe we can use the crybaby to set up a distraction and then use the cloaking shield to start moving in toward the cruiser. Once we get close enough, land and get a better scan for life signs?"

A bit much? Perhaps. But with only Chloe, she wasn't sure just how many she was up against. She had to change the playing field into her favor.

"Let's scramble our signal, deactivate the Hallucin, and drop a crybaby to make it appear another ship is trying to flee."

Jared Starchaser

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Hopper was still scanning a few things when another ship came in. It was reading as another Sith ship. At least to the cruiser they were on. Hopper relayed this to Jared who shook his head. “Of course. DIdn’t think they’d see our approach…” The Sunrise wasn’t all that stealthy but with what Jared tried to do, he was hoping they’d have gotten away from the obvious scanners.

“There are people here though, right?” He asked his droid, who beeped the affirmative, and projected a hologram of the ship showing a few-too-many-to-leave-behind green blips and the red path to get from where they were to there. “Counting two dozen.” He stated aloud.

Apparently they were semi-aquatic, and that was not going to be respected by the Sith. Hopper showed the location of the Sith ship and where some armored beings were in yellow. Between Jared and the rescues.

Stupendous.

As Jared read the map, his droid beeped that there was another ship trying to flee.

“Someone else is out there? Can you get ahold of them? Run a broadcast on a Warden channel.” Hopper tweedled that he had it set up.

“This is Vagrant Sunrise, ship trying to flee, this is a Sith occupied area, you may be getting a trail that you don’t want. Please be aware.” Whether that was going to be received by anyone was still to be seen.

“Time to move, Hopper.” Jared said, the droid automatically forwarding the map and comms to his datapad.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

“This is Vagrant Sunrise, ship trying to flee, this is a Sith occupied area, you may be getting a trail that you don’t want. Please be aware.”

Hearing that message come up on a Warden channel gave Chloe pause. Was there already a Warden there? And the Vagrant Sunrise? She wasn't familiar with the ship name but perhaps she could run it on the list of known ships from out at Levantine Sanctum.

"Run that through the database," in the mean time, if she could get the sith to follow the cry baby all the better to give her and this other Warden time to help out. If a Warden was already there, and they were vouched for, then time was of the essence.

While C4 ran the information through the database to confirm, Chloe popped out the small black handheld comm and sent a message right back, "Ol'val, min dul'skal Vagrant Sunrise... this is the Aurora Hawk. Got myself a crybaby here and it looks like you got some buzzards stickin' close. Gonna hollar away to get them off that big boat and send them away for a few, perhaps give me time to assist."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Calling Jared a Warden was definitely not doing the true Wardens of the Sky any justice. He was a hunter, a vagrant, and a general do-gooder. His ship was newer but it was definitely up to date on the proper paperwork. Maybe not explicitly in Jared’s name, but linked to the Dawn Chaser, Laekia, and Corellia, hallmarks of a Starchaser vessel.

Hopper was reading the communications off, seeing that some of the Sith fighters were breaking off from the Mon Cal ship and heading to chase the new transmission, another being in the system? Hopefully they were going to heed Jared’s advice and get running.

Hopper’s lights went from yellow to green as another transmission came in. Jared heard the Corellian greeting and a grin crept across his face. The next was the Aurora Hawk. A ship he had heard of, spoken by his father, a friendly.

“Copy that, Hawk. I’m aboard the Atoll City. Sith are on board, so I’ll need to get these ones gone. Still working on getting the numbers in. I think the SIth may have taken some of the passengers hostage?” Jared wasn’t sure, but he was going to find out. “What do you have out there now for ships? Sith I mean.” Hopefully everything was encrypted properly. Old Underground styles.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

“Copy that, Hawk. I’m aboard the Atoll City. Sith are on board, so I’ll need to get these ones gone. Still working on getting the numbers in. I think the SIth may have taken some of the passengers hostage? What do you have out there now for ships? Sith I mean.”

"What we got flying our skies, Gee-Tee?" The Corellian Warden inquired in her soft drawl, hands moving deftly over her console to prepare for distraction crybaby. Goal was to distract the sith buzzers away to allow Chloe to come in and see what could be done. At least grant them some time.

GT-FO provided a tweet, a few trills and then Chloe's lips pursed to a thin line, "You have a Sith Patrol vessel and a half squadron of sith fighters. Likely a few shuttles from the patrol vessel is what you're dealin' with there."

She could pull the fighters away but that still left the patrol vessel.

"Think a few might be on the Sith Patrol vessel already?" if so, that was going to be a problem.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared was already aboard, a bit of luck. Those fighters must have launched when they realized someone else had arrived. He shook his head. “They have the Sith aboard here. I think if I can secure the City we can get the Patrol ship’s attention and let them jump…”

That was a big if. He needed to find the Sith, but he was already making his way up to the bridge. Blaster and saber in hand. “You want to stay in the skies and I work on the Sith who boarded? They have you pinged yet?” If so, that meant she was going to be seen as an enemy of the Sith.

Probably not an untrue statement already.

“Or I could jump the whole ship, away from the Sith State?” He asked, to himself, Chloe, and Hopper… was it a good idea?

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

“You want to stay in the skies and I work on the Sith who boarded? They have you pinged yet?....Or I could jump the whole ship, away from the Sith State?”

Chloe ran through the variables. She swept her hands over her navcomputer, pulling up close worlds and safe harbors.

"If I play bait, I can get the patrol ship and as much of these other fighters away from the City." she told him, offering an option. "You can try to jump the ship to a known safe location - perhaps by then we can get back up from the Rimward Trade league." Two Wardens against a Sith Patrol and other Force users wouldn't be ideal, but if they had to, they could make it work.

"I can take them on a joy ride and meet you there afterward for back up?" it was an option but depended on how comfortable the proposition was, " Reckon it depends how comfortable you feel there, Chumani"

 

[Jared Starchaser]

She made sense. Jared couldn’t argue with that. No need for both of them to be here. If she could keep the others at bay? It’d give this big ole gal a chance to jump. He knew Chloe, and he was a Starchaser, the second the Sith knew who he was, they’d be coming at him like a hovertrain. Weighing the options, he nodded. “Makes sense to me. I’ll have to move fast to get the jump in, mind getting something calculated?” He asked as he continued to make his way forward. He snapped for Hopper, who launched out a small ear-piece commlink.

“I like that. Lets get these people away, I can get to the bridge and jump the ship.” She’d probably hear the sound of his lightsaber snapping into life as he entered the hallway where he knew the Sith to be. And that was when they opened fire.

“Give me a few minutes.” The lightsaber was moving to intercept the first volley, as he looked at his droid with the map once more.

All these Mon Cal ships were mazes…

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

“Makes sense to me. I’ll have to move fast to get the jump in, mind getting something calculated?”

"I am workin' on those now and will send them to you shortly, Chumani," Chloe replied, quickly doing the calculations necessary. She heard the sound of a lightsaber and paused. Quickly, she followed up with, " Ol'val, min dul'skal, ahn guld domina." Clear skies and good luck, my friend. She would transfer the coordinates once Jared Starchaser confirmed taking the bridge.

With one hand, her hand swiped through the data screen of her nav comp, bringing in nav routes and charted points from a medley of other Wardens and connections that had created the vast database of star maps on the Aurora Hawk.

Sapphire blue eyes would stare at the sudden display of a cerulean-projected holographic map of the galaxy. "GT, get me an encrypted message to the Rimward Trade League. I need to let them know where to meet up with the Atoll City."

GT gave a warble in confirmation, rolling away towards the communication panel. He hooked up his scomp link and proceeded to work through the encryption.

"Need a place with cover... that would allow an opportunity to advance elsewhere if needed." Chloe bit her lower lip. Another second and her eyes went wide, "This will work."

Now just had to confirm if it would work with the Rimward Trade League.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Jared could do some calculations fairly well, but as he was moving in? He wasn’t going to be having the mind to do what was required for that. Another volley and deflection before Jared moved in and called on the Force. A barrier up between him and the fighters. Hopper was pointing out his path that he should be taking and Force User nodded.

A strong push of the Force and the soldiers went down, a quick draw from his blaster, and he made sure they stayed down. He knew that most Wardens didn’t feel the strongest towards blasters. Even Kaia was pushing it with her whip, but she’d learned the Path of the Light Hand tricks and could fight.

Hopper carried on the path and was leading his companion organic to the destination. Jared was making sure to take down anyone who was coming. Some with a blast of the Force, others with a blast of his kyber hand-cannon.

Rimward Trade League space, that was going to be good. “Two more rooms til the bridge.” He announced, as he took down another small squad. This one a bit better, with him taking a shot to the arm.

Blast.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

"Come on, come on..." Chloe would murmur under her breath; the blonde Corellian impatiently tapped her fingers against the comm console. She was waiting anxious minutes for a response from Rimward—finally, a crackle on an encrypted line specific for connecting with Wardens.

[ This is the Tevie Dawn; got your message, Aurora Hawk. I'm glad you were able to answer that call for the Atoll City. How can we help? ]

Chloe pressed the activation switch on the small black comm in her hand, and relief was palpable in her voice and expression. "Ol'val, Tevie Dawn, I'm here with the Vagrant Sunrise. Got a plan in action but will need your back up in case it goes sideways.. as they tend to do." Chloe explained, the Warden moving to send over the coordinates.

"I'm going to try to bait the Sith patrol and any other ships, but just in case the Atoll needs help, need you to be here to back them up." Chloe explained, transferring the coordinates.

Gods long seconds passed before the Warden got a reply. [ Roger that, Aurora Hawk. We will meet the Atoll there. ] Luck was on their side this time with the dice.

"Thank you Tevie Dawn, Doaba ol'val tru." Peace and hope with you.

“Two more rooms til the bridge.”

Switching to the line for the Vagrant, Chloe patched through to say, [ Confirmed on the coordinates, Rimward will be there for backup. As soon as you are stable at the bridge, I'll send them through. ]

Then it would be time for Chloe to be bait.


Jared Starchaser

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Working his way through, Jared found a calming in the eye of a combat storm. Blaster and blade. Force and spells. He knew that if Chloe or his sister saw him using a blaster they'd have a field day with it. Maybe he should stick to the Force for this. But the blaster was accurate and a bit more reliable. It was a kyber crystal blaster, his Kyber crystal.

The call from Chloe came through and that was what Jared needed. The man in the spacers leathers and a tan cloak was as waiting for that. "Entering the bridge now."

Hopper forced the door open with a spike as Jared stepped in. Using the Force to stop and reflect the first round of bolts back to their points of origin.

"Right. Bad call." Even he saw it. A stray bolt and the viewport or controls were gone.

Lightsaber ignited as he moved. A glance to Hopper and the droid moved as the blasters were focused on the lightsaber. A combination of pull and shields knocked down several of the soldiers, a blast of the blue lightning he was learning threw one into another. And a punch to the face of the last bright ahead that it was a Sith apprentice.

The fight wasn't long but it definitely wasn't pretty. Jared may be accomplished for hunting mercenaries and monsters but not a Sith. Still the foe fell.

"Bridge secure and locked. Can't confirm the rest of the ship."

As soon as the coordinates were received they'd take the jump.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

Meanwhile, the blond Corellian was doing her best to do a setup that would allow her to be the best bait trap she could be to allow the Atoll to jump without a hindrance - or as close to safely as possible without much of a tail. She had Gee-Tee drop the Halcyon and started to broadcast the transponder code of a pirate ship she managed to take from a previous run-in with Black Sun.

That got the Sith Patrol ship's attention very quickly. It had begun to turn around towards the Aurora's direction. Aware that pirates typically do not travel along, a few of the sith fighters also joined. At this speed, they would get within range to start shooting soon enough.

"Bridge secure and locked. Can't confirm the rest of the ship."

A sight of relief escaped Chloe's lips. "Transfering the coordinates now. I've got the payroll ship and a few of those fighters heading my way. Rimward has confirmed they will meet you there. " Jumping into her seat, Chloe took control of the helm.

"Ol'val, min dul'skal, ahn guld domina, Vagrant Sunrise, May the Force be with you, " Clear skies and good luck, my friend. "Let's get ready to dance, GeeTee. Buckle up."

Jared Starchaser

 

[Jared Starchaser]

The duel wasn’t slow, but it also wasn’t the fastest. Jared was not a swordsman, he was trying, but he used a lot of tricks to his advantage. Outward Force use, a blaster pistol. And enough bar brawling to make him dangerous. Jared preferred it that way. He wasn’t some Mando who was going to be making collateral damage, and he wasn’t the clean swing of a Jedi.

But with the bridge under control, it was time to get a jump moving.

Hands on the controls, his BD unit, na explorer droid, not really an astromech, was plugged in and doing the transmission of coordinates. The droid beeped at Jared and the Hunter grinned. “Good.”

“See you on the other side.” He transmitted to Chloe as the ship jumped.

Chloe Blake

 

[Chloe Blake]

Chloe watched from a distance as the Atoll burned lines in the sky with Jared Starchaser . The Warden was sure that chatter within the Sith Patrol and its escort TIE's would be alarmed regarding the Atoll's disappearance as much as the arrival of what would appear to be pirate ships. She glanced over her shoulder at the Sith patrol ship, its ominous silhouette growing larger with each passing moment.

"Brace yourselves, folks," Chloe called out to her GeeTee and CeeEl, her voice tinged with focused determination. THis wasn't her first rodeo baiting Sith or Imperials. "We're 'bout to put our plan into action."

The tension on the cockpit was palpable as the patrol ship closed in, its red lights casting an eerie glow across the Aurora Hawk's cockpit. Chloe's hands flew over the controls, her fingers dancing across the buttons as she plotted their course.

"Here we go," she murmured, her heart pounding in her chest as she executed the maneuver. With a burst of speed, the Aurora Hawk shot forward, narrowly avoiding the grasp of the patrol ship's tractor beams.

"Steady as she goes," Chloe murmured to herself, her blue eyes fixed on the screen as they hurtled towards their destination-- a micro-jump point just outside the sector.

As they neared the jump point, Chloe's heart raced with anticipation. This was their chance to shake off their pursuers, drop the crybaby, and then do another microjump to rendezvous with the Atoll and the Rimward Trade League. Alright... here we go.

"Prepare for the micro-jump," Chloe called out, her voice steady despite the doubt gnawing at her insides. "And get ready to drop the crybaby."

The tension in the cockpit reached a fever pitch as they entered the jump point's coordinates. With a flash of light, the Aurora Hawk disappeared from view, burning lights in the skey as the jumped into hyperspace.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Hopefully the Mon Calamari ship was going to be fine when they got to their arrival location. There were still Sith aboard, and the Mon Calamari crew… Not to mention passengers and supplies. Was he over extending himself? Jared definitely was feeling like he was, but if no one else was around? It could only be him who grabbed it. He was the only one around.

Warden of the Sky lite.

He wasn’t a true Warden, not one like Kaia or his father, or Chloe. He worked with his own process, and sometimes that included guns. And a lightsaber. And an extra ordinary use of the Force. Watching the screen, the jump was programmed to revert to real space on its own, but he wanted to be ready. “Hopper, open all docking tubes, I’m expecting some back up.”

Jared was glad to have support here, and with the League? He was hopeful that there would be others who can help the Mon Calamari as he went after the Sith in charge.

The Mon Cal ship reverted to real space and Jared grabbed his lightsaber again.

Chloe Blake