The Merchant Fleet

[Kairon Rees]

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[member=Rusty]
[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]
[member="Eliza Steele"]
[member="Alicia Frost"]
[member="Judah Dashiell"]
[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]
[member="Rekha Kaarde"]
[member="Doctor Azure"]
[member="Evelyn Vanlyth"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]




Captain Jundai, newly anointed Captain of of the ANS Freedom looked out across the deck at the array of privateer vessels. The ship was one of the latest batch of three warships delivered to the Galactic Alliance. Even with the new hardware coming in, the more capable First Order navy was testing the fringes of their borders. Incursions were almost daily, and one of their ImpStars had ambushed an Alliance patrol only yesterday, all hands lost.

The privateers willing to make a stand had brought a variety of vessels. To the Sullustan, the disorder was almost offensive. There were battered old freighters, the odd top-of-the-range fighter, some Alliance X-wings and B-wings. This was all they could afford to mount an assault that might just save the Alliance.

"Listen up," he called across the deck. The smugglers and privateers turned to face him, but there were no salutes, no discipline. "You've all had the brief now. Two Dark-Blade class vessels are being taken to Final Order space. Instead of being mothballed by the One Sith, they've been sold on to the Final Order for refit. They could be operational within a two months. This cannot be permitted.

"These two vessels are not fully operational. They are being towed and our intelligence suggests they will be making a stop at refuelling station Auresh-seven-nine. We can't get the fleet there, so we're sending a strike team of hyper-drive capable fighters, and everyone willing an able. The two cruisers are at different operational states. The first is vulnerable to bombing runs. Several solid hits from torpedoes should expose the reactor and permit a killing blow.

"The second has operational point defenses and some level of shielding. However, she is uncrewed. There may be some blast doors, automated defences and battle droids operational, but she is vulnerable. A strike team will land on the second vessel and plant explosive, or manually set off a reaction that will cripple her. The secondary plan is to get to the bridge override the shields and point defenses. If nothing else, do as much damage to critical systems as possible.

"Anything less than setting their refurbishment plans back by another two months will be considered a failure. You've all read your briefs, are there any further questions?"



OOC/ I should add, we have permission from One Sith to do this as a plot twist. We do NOT have permission to steal Dark Blade class vessels. So be good sports and bear that in mind!

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Such a waste of good ships. If we were to crack the hull open and EVA through to the bridge, it really doesn't take much to warm up a cold capital ship's hyperdrive. And if you're willing to bomb the empty one anyway, just lower the shields and take it over."​

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Lorane didn't stand anywhere near 'at attention'. He sat on top of a large stack of supplies that he'd unloaded from the Bluebird. His arms were outstretched in a questioning gesture as he looked at the little Sullustan captain.​

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"And here I thought Alliance captains were supposed to conserve resources."​

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[member='Kairon Rees'] [member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

It wasn’t so much that she missed her invitation as it was she wasn’t sure a Jedi should be here. But she wasn’t coming as a Jedi, she was coming as a pilot and she was coming as a Warden of the Sky. And it had made her tired. She needed more stamina. The Wandering Star, a larger vessel in its own right, was locked into a path with the Freedom and she had taken her Spark-Starfighter over to the meeting. It, like most things in the hangar, was a bit of a POS rebuild. She loved it, it was painted black and yellow. But she was debating bringing it back to the teal and yellow of the Starchaser clan. She was part of them again.

She was part of the Dawn Treader, but like her father, she couldn’t sit by and watch the galaxy descend into chaos. Not with the Sith kidnapping cousins of hers, like [member="Kinsey Starchaser"].

Besides, she could help with this group. She was a shuttle pilot, not a combat pilot, she could run a blockade, and help move cargo. And she was hoping to change her tune. The Star could carry smaller vessels, and help out with a number of things. She was expecting to go with the strike team, a Jedi against the Final Order’s Sith cabal. It would be good. She looked at the ground and waiting to see who was going to speak up.

Or sneeze.

 

[Alleycat]

~Ah-chew!

Yeah, it was allergy season, but that wasn't going to keep the Security Chief of Salacia Consolidated from flying today. Hutch was stoked to be flying [member="Judah Dashiell"]'s wing; a place Judah's wife, [member="Thessa Kai"], normally would be, but not this time. The three had flown starfighters together during their tenure with the original Rebel Alliance as well as Thee and him in Rogue Squadron in their younger days, which seemed like a lifetime ago; really a 'verse ago.

A white handkerchief was pulled from the Rendili's flight suit, nose wiped, then stuffed back into the right thigh pocket. His helmet, life support box, and gauntlet gloves had been left on the pilot couch of the X-wing he was to fly for this mission; the snubfigther one of the Dashiells' they had collected and refurbished over the years.

"Just like old times, huh?" Hutch quipped quietly to the salvager after the mission parameters had been reviewed by the captain of the Freedom for the group of smugglers and privateers gathered in the hangar bay of the warship.

 

[Eliza Steele]

Eliza Steele was a member of the Underground and was no stranger to helping where needed in the fight against the Sith. Now the brunette would be aiding the Galactic Alliance as a part of their Merchant Fleet.

The petite smuggler stood on the hangar deck of the Freedom in front of her Wookiee co-pilot, Alriccchrahl, and next to her Mando'ad partner, [member="Kad Tor"], while the crew of the Corellian Dawn listened to the Sullustan captain give his speech. Leebu, the YT-1930 Light Freighter's LE Series repair droid, had stayed on the ship making some last minute adjustments.

The Corellisi noticed a few faces in the crowd she knew. She gave a nod to them as the Q & A part of the briefing commenced.

 

[Kairon Rees]

Asmus’ enthusiasm was starting to rub off on the old Captain. His nephew had been telling him to upgrade the Quin’s weaponry for years to no effect. But the Sullust run had made Kairon’s mind up. Now she had teeth. Three turrets to fend off fighters instead of two, a pair of launchers, and now a wicked looking twin turbolaser mounted near the read of the vessel.

More than that, the boy seemed proud of how she looked. It wasn’t something that usually bothered Rees. Perhaps it was just the way Asmus looked at the ship with pride, but he was quite enjoying her new appearance. The hull had been cleaned and re-anodised in a matte grey, covering a hundred years of grime and blast marks. One long thick maroon strip ran down her length, one side highlighted with a burnt gold band. That stripe was a statement of intent as much as anything, blending her in the with the Alliance B-wings on the deck. The Quintessence sat there at the centre of the deck, perhaps the largest ship in the makeshift fleet and Kairon felt pride.

But first he needed another co-pilot. Asmus and Jarrick were taking the turrets, Mai would watch the sensors. If he couldn’t find someone he’d grab one of the Alliance reserve pilots. Despite the counselling there was a core of pent up rage left inside him. It wasn’t the Techno Union they were fighting back against today, but blowing a few TIE’s out of space would definitely make him feel better. Looking at the crowd, he imagined the post-operation drinks were going to be legendary as well.

 

[Rusty]

"Hey, [member="Malia Afredane"] , look who it is!"

Rusty eagerly waved to [member="Kairon Rees"] and company. The sight of a two meter tall droid bedecked in enough weaponry to break the back of a lesser being must have been one to behold, because people were definitely staring.

The Shard had been recruited as part of the boarding party. Boarding parties were the only sorts of parties he ever really had fun at, and he had dressed for the occasion. He was a little baffled that the Captain had decided to come along, but work was slow these days, and while they didn't need the credits, she was bored. Bored enough to risk getting shot, anyway. The Shard hadn't been eager to have her tagging along, but she was competent enough in a firefight, and she had a good brain. More importantly though, he trusted her completely. They would be working among strangers, and that was never fun.

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Rusty"]

"By the Force, I thought we'd gone overboard on arming the Quintessence, and here I see you sporting a more significant armoury than my hundred metre freighter," Kairon said jovially as he approached the pair from the Grace. He couldn't help but wave in the direction of his own ship, the pride evident on his face.

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor grinned as he saw the Shard who'd upgraded Bluebird for him and Rawnie. He waved at his friend, and then directed his attention to the man he'd identified as Kairon Rees.​

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"Wait 'til you see what the old scrapper did to my Bluebird. I could probably make a Destroyer captain ruin his pants if I opened fire."​

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[member="Rusty"] [member="Kairon Rees"] [member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Malia Afredane]

[member="Rusty"] [member="Kairon Rees"]

Mal was adjusting the last bits of body armor over a tactical suit that looked like it was right off the rack. She was geared up, and so bulky she wondered if she was going to be able to sit behind Gracie's controls to land on the second ship. She nodded to the Quin crew, shooting Kairon a fast smile before turning her attention back to the meeting. She had not mentioned that they were getting involved in Alliance business nor that they would be joining this mission but hey, the Wicked Grace bowed to the whims of fate and it was leading this way.

"Yup, this should be a party alright."

 

[Kairon Rees]

"Hah, and I was thinking we should just strap a rocket to Rusty and send him in solo!" Kairon exclaimed looking to the Bluebird. "Kairon Rees," he introduced himself with a nod.

In his periphery he saw Eliza Steele, one of the original smuggler's alliance members, and her slab of mandalorian. His lips narrowed a barely perceptible amount as he took in Mal's appearance. He was immediately concerned of course. However, you didn't tell a ship's captain where they could and could not go, much less a smuggler. She had the walking armoury with her anyway. Though it did occur to him that she had military training at the helm, and he had a decade of experience in boarding vessels.

He hacked his chrono, not long till launch time. Time for another round of flight checks. He could see the prow turrets tracking back and forth as they were checked by the credit. "Happy hunting," he called, unable to resist another glance over his shoulder at Mal.

 

[Rusty]

"Nice to see everyone has such a high opinion of me," Rusty said, voice full of mischief.

"Lor, this is the Captain. Captain, this is Lor. And this," he said, pointing to the massive weapon at his feet, "is Gertrude. She's my girl."

There was something about the way he said it that made sure no one in earshot had any illusions about the Shard's relationship to the weapon. There were, however, exactly no volunteers that wanted to comment on it, not given the fact that it looked like something you'd use to shoot down a Death Star.

[member="Doctor Azure"]
[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor had to blink several times before he understood that the massive gun was one weapon and not, like, six. Then he laughed and casually saluted Kairon, Rusty, and the Captain.​

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"You seem to be attached to the well-endowed, I see... Might be fun to watch 'er shoot."​

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He turned to the other two smugglers once again and nodded his head.​

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"Lorane Azure. Guess I'd call myself captain of the Bluebird. My partner's inside somewhere. Might have to make sure she doesn't sleep through the fun."​

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[member='Rusty'] [member='Kairon Rees'] [member='Malia Afredane']​

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

She’d recognized Eliza, that was simple. Underground members sometimes ran into one another, especially if they were working similar gigs; pick up and retrieval. Kaia was ok with her tasks, she enjoyed them. And that was really what was important. Finding her place in the galaxy? That was why she had left the home ship, and part of why she was here. Sure, she followed in her father’s footsteps, but they ended up in different places.

She was happy she was similar to him. The more she looked at it. Still, she wouldn’t admit it.

Watching the group, she was keeping track of who belonged to what ship, and which ships she would hopefully not ever have to encounter coming after her. How many guns did that one have? The young Jedi Knight was a bit nervous for that, but if they were flying with the Alliance? That would do worlds better than the opposite. She didn’t want to think what would happen if some of these vessels took the jobs from the Final Order.

She saw the pay.

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Mal Afredane, Captain of the Wicked Grace. Nice to meet you Lorane."

She watched Kairon go back to his ship, a tightness in her chest, but her smiling betrayed nothing to those around her. Rusty of course knew better, but the Shard wasn't saying a damned thing to anyone.

"We're gonna have to take the shields down on that bird before we all land. I hope they have a plan for that or Gertrude's making a hole through the hull."

She chuckled as she tried not to think about a quick end to a battle. She had a question though.

"Hey, Captain Jundai, do we have any word on the vessels towing the Sith ships and any escort craft?"

I'd kinda like to know what I'm walking into, she thought idly.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Doctor Azure"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]


Their little briefing was basic enough, fairly standard. It sounded easy -- the assignment. In his experience it seemed like the easier one thought the job was the harder it ended up being in the long run. Judah stood nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with Dirks, giving a small nod here and there. The man next to him was sneezing up a storm. Hopefully he wouldn't have to keep wiping down the viewscreens in the X-Wing every five minutes.


The mothballed vessels didn't sound like a problem....unless they were more operational than the Alliance knew. Judah had done enough salvage to know that in the deep reaches of space, objects could be tough. They had surprises. Hopefully they would be free of any nasty ones.


"Just like old times. Only [member="Thessa Kai"] isn't here to yell at us."


The Galan was off on some other assignment, had been for awhile. As a result, Judah handed their son off to [member="Danger Arceneau"] to watch after for a little bit. Now there was something he was going to get yelled at for. Hell, maybe even skinned alive. If the Sith didn't shoot him out of the sky first anyways. At the very least, he wasn't as rusty as before.


Judah nodded in the direction of their birds after the speech, taking his helmet as they slowly started walking away.


"You going to be okay up there? I don't need a violent sneeze to turn into an accidental dive towards me. "

 

[Kairon Rees]

NPC MODE ACTIVATE!

"Hey, Captain Jundai, do we have any word on the vessels towing the Sith ships and any escort craft?"

"We managed to watch them prepare the vessels for transport. The towing ships are military design, but unarmed. They loaded at least two squadrons of TIEs directly onto the hangars of the Dark Blades and there we know they met up with two Corvettes on the edge of One Sith space. We think we've accounted for the rest of the Final Order fleet, but if there are any surprises be prepared to get out of there.

We recommend the first attack group make their run and try to peel off the defending fighters, leaving the second group able to land and make their own attack. One the defending fighters have been driven off, the first group can commence their bombing run."

[member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Malia Afredane"] [member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Doctor Azure"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Eliza Steele"] [member="Dirks Hutchinson"]



OOC/ Can everyone please tag their post with:
Team: (One or Two: One working in space and bombing the first cruiers, Two landing on the second and destroying her reactor)
Location: (Rough relative location in space to the targets. We'll be approaching the cruiser from the front)

 

[Kad Tor]

"[member="Eliza Steele"], did you here that... they need an explosive team. P is for plenty, cyar'ika."

Kad grinned as he nudged his partner. This was date night for them, blowing things out of the stars, then sending the other into orbit. It had been a while since Kad had been on Manda'yaim. His shop was in good hands, and what they needed for their operations was on the ship. A smirk stretched on Kad's face knowing one of his detonators would be enough to blow the ship, but just to be sure, they'd use six.

None of the faces in the crowd were familiar to Kad, except for the captain. He'd met the man while he had been drunk at a life day party for Strider. He'd still remembered the way the duet he sang with Eliza ended. Here they were going into the fray together again, but since that song, it had seemed different.

"Let's blow that thing up!"

 

[Kairon Rees]

Location: Hangar
Team: One

The signature whine of repulsors started in the background as the Quin powered up. The Alliance pilot next to him was familiarising himself with the controls, whilst Jarrick checked the power distribution behind them.

"Got a big draw for the generator now," Jarrick mumbled. "Careful not to fire the turbolasers consistently while the shields are taking hits."

"[Always liked a Kuati ship]" the sullustan alliance pilot jabbered in his native tongue. Kairon nodded, but was looking out across the hangar deck.

"Thinking of asking her not to go in there?" Jarrick asked, suddenly appearing on his shoulder.

"No. You don't tell a captain, particularly not a smuggler, what to do," Kairon said. "Was wondering what it would be like to fly with her though."

"Doesn't stop you from worrying thought does it. I'll keep my eyes on them. Good to be in the same system again eh?" Jarrick said, turning to head for the turret. The Quin was probably the slowest turning ship they were bringing, but she was well armed for dealing with fighters. They'd get in amongst the TIEs and wreak havoc. Time to fly angry.

"Quintessence, you are clear for take off," came a voice over the comm.

"[Understood,]" his copilot replied. Kairon eased her off the deck and glided through the fields and out into the vacuum of space. He pulled her around to follow the smooth lines of the cruiser's hull. The battleship was fresh from dry dock, gleaming and new. They passed her prow and allowed the computer to guide them to the designated vector.

The voice of the captain came over the battle network: "Team one you jump in one minute. Team two follow two minutes after. Happy hunting."

 

[Malia Afredane]

Location: Hangar
Team: 2

Mal plopped gingerly into the pilot's seat and goosed up the controls on Gracie. The 3-Z's sublight engines flared into life, a calm blue wash as she ran through her preflight checks. She watched the Quin lift off the decking and move out into the stars in preparation for departure. It ached, deep in her chest but you didn't tell a smuggler captain what the hell to do with their ship. He had the slowest, least agile boat in the whole lot and it bothered her to watch it go. She muttered at as it cleared the hangar.

"Keep him safe, Quin. Bring him back to me," her voice murmured, but her resolve intact. Rusty was going on the boarding party. She was going with him.

She shook it off as the preflights were completed and she shouted down the ramp for Rusty to get Gertrude packed up and ready to lift off.

"Rusty! We gotta go! Grab anyone who needs a ride to the second ship and let's burn!"

The ramp was still down but as soon as the signal was given, Mal would be ready to launch.

[member="Kaia Starchaser"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Kairon Rees"]