Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under? (scout mission - Sekalus/Imperial Remnant)

[Jorus Merrill]

The Laureate-class science vessel Gossamer, registered to the overarching government of the Kathol territories, exited hyperspace over Sekalus. Its ongoing mission was to locate the unknown fleet and subsequent battlecruiser which had passed close by the Kathol Outback. The Gossamer, its shuttles, and its probes had searched dozens of star systems along the sensor contacts' probable vector through Wild Space. So far they'd had no luck at all.

Perhaps that was about to change.

Still uncomfortable in the shiny new uniform he'd temporarily donned, Jorus scratched at the collar and sat up a little straighter in his chair. The Gossamer's crew were largely scientists and non-combat military personnel. Taking avoidable risks with their lives wasn't on his agenda, but the search was an unavoidable risk itself. They'd come to treat him as any other commanding officer, whether or not he looked this young. A few knew who he really was; most just figured he was some other Merrill. These weren't people he'd bled with, or led for decades. This moment, right here, meant a lot for their future.

"Sensors: Initiate scanning protocols. Operations: launch SIARC probes. Comms: contact the government of Sekalus and indicate we're searching for a fleet that's been reported in the area. Don't identify me by name, just identify the Gossamer."

[member="Sanya Val Swift"] [member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

The Gossamer's numerous and varied scanners worked in all different ways, some limited by the speed of radiation in the EM spectrum. Passive sensors could also pick up EM readings - reflected or emitted light, for example - from faraway contacts that had been there for some time. Actively scanning out to a couple of light-hours, the little science frigate started to expand its awareness of the region around the planet Sekalus.

The Royal Sekallian Navy was expected. The Imperial Remnant fleet, despite or because of the length of the Gossamer's search, was not.

"Empire," Jorus said, half to himself and half to the bridge. "Maybe First Order, but those there look like old Imperators, not new FOCIE dreadnoughts. Well, feth." He rubbed his face and stood up. "Comms, any response from the locals?"

"No, sir." The communications officer's voice had an odd edge to it, even for a Brubb.

"Relax, Mister Vorn. We're well outside range of anything but a hypervelocity cannon or energy torpedos. The second one's rare and we'd see the first one coming. Hail them again. Ask them why there's an Imperial warfleet in their space."

[member="Sanya Val Swift"] [member="Tanomas Graf"]

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] Ξ [member="Tanomas Graf"]

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Was all Sanya could hear as the woman walked across the black marble floor then onto the carpet. "Malady? Your presence is been requested to the communications level." She said with confidence, her arms were folded behind her back and she stood tall before her queen. "Did they say why?" Sanya asked in reply as she was slightly there and else where. "No they did not." Asuna said answering the question. "Very well." She would sigh as she opened her eyes and stood up. Lately she'd been meditating more that normal. She'd had been getting a vision of herself in a dark room. She couldn't decipher it as every time she got closer something came up grabbing her attention. She raised from her throne with the robes straightening out as she stood and began walking to the elevator. Her guard as normal followed her inside. Her head felt light and she also felt a bit disoriented from snapping out of deep meditation like that. It was meant to be a day without interruption.

--------------------
Npc

"Madam we've intercepted a transmission from a vessel asking questions about our allies." The officer said looking while her eyes remained glued to the terminal. "Full scan trace it. Get the word across to the rest of twenty third to align to our position." No one replied to her they followed order's. "Do we have any fighters on patrol close by." "Yes mam. We have a squadron of blade wings passing twenty kilometers behind us in five minutes." "Tell them to change flight paths to come to a halt beside us." "Roger that."

----------------------

The elevator had reached the Communications level. A twi'lek and a croa had been stood waiting. As the doors opened they both bowed. "Milady glad your here. We have had two hails. At first we thought it was someone on the wrong line, but the same ship had began asking questions. The cameras of the ring have located probes and point of origin." Sanya was slightly unsure what to make of the information but someone were sticking their noses in where I'd didn't belong. "Has the navy and the admirals of the imperial fleet been informed?" "Yes." "Okay, tell them to get prepared. I'm not taking chances. Soon as the channel opens record and keep a running diagnostic in case they try to send any virus through to cripple or communications." Sanya walked further in standing over a terminal. "Open the channel, holo up." "Yes milady." The channel opened as she took a deep breath. "This is Queen Val swift. You are trying to reach a secure channel. Please identify yourself?"

 

[Tanomas Graf]

​

​

IMPERIAL II-CLASS STAR DESTROYER INDOMITABLE, SEKALLIAN ORBIT

Rear Admiral Gromm Cardan stood on the bridge of his ship, staring out into the stars of the galaxy. Every single one of those stars probably had at least one planet inhabited by billions of sentients, the galaxy was truly a large place. "Admiral Cardan, sir. A small vessel has entered the system and is contacting the government on the surface." An officer called from the crew pits; Cardan turned to face the man and walked towards the edge of the pit "And? Dozens of ships come in and out of this system daily, what makes this one special?" He asked, quizzically staring at the man. "Yes, sir; But the transmission we intercepted was asking why our fleet is in orbit." Lieutenant Praxon stated.

Cardan stood there for a few seconds as if he was considering something "Open a frequency with the ship." The Rear Admiral ordered. He turned back around to look out the bridge viewports, eyes trailing over the Imperial I-class Vindicator and Imperial II-class Consumer as part of his fleet as well as the several other support vessels until they set upon where he assumed the vessel was located.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Rear Admiral Gromm Cardan of the 52nd System Force of the Imperial Remnant; We have been alerted that you have queried the Sekallian government about our presence in the system, please respond." He stated.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Sanya Val Swift"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Sanya Val Swift"] [member="Tanomas Graf"]

"Captain? Who would you like to answer first?"

Jorus eyed the gathering forces on long range sensors. "Both at once. Broadcast, open channel, audio only. I'll take it, on my mark. Ops, recall the probes." He clasped his hands behind his back and watched clouds shift against the distant surface of Sekalus. "But first, Comms, relay all sensor data to the Foundation. Ops, spool up the hyperdrive. Nav, plot us a course to Zonju in case we have to run."

One by one, confirmations came back. He resumed his seat and settled in. "Mister Vorn, put me on."

The uniformed Brubb nodded once.

"This is the Kathol vessel Gossamer, Captain Merrill speaking. I'm a Judge empowered to investigate and address threats to the Kathol territories. Long-range sensors detected your fleet bypassing our space. Rear Admiral Cardan, Queen Val Swift, why exactly have you gathered a warfleet right next to the Kathol? And what was the battlecruiser that followed you here, Admiral?"

 

[Tanomas Graf]

The Rear Admiral looked back at Praxon, this 'Judge' should be given the benefit of the doubt; If an Alliance fleet was moving by their space to settle near it, the Imperial Remnant would be rather worried as well. Cardon straightened the front of his uniform before responding. "Captain Merrill, your worry is justified but ultimately unnecessary. This is not a warfleet, we are here because the Sekallian government has recently accepted protection provided by the Remnant due to raised concern following recent First Order and Galactic Alliance engagements; The Imperial Navy has stationed a system force, my system force, to support their weakened defenses." Rear Admiral Cardan began with.

Gromm stroked his beard "As for the Imperial Battlecruiser your sensors picked up; I am only at liberty to state that it was carrying a high-level Imperial emissary. It was chosen over a smaller vessel due to the importance of the emissary as well as the nature of the surrounding territories and their respective holders." the man concluded, waiting for the Judge's response.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Sanya Val Swift"]

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Aboard "The Fountain" many light years away the data began pouring in thanks to the CD-9J relay station scattered all throughout the Kathol region. Deep scans of the fleet and the planet began to paint a picture that was troubling to many of the command staff aboard. As the data was continuing to be reviewed and scanned, Bryce noted an early transmission, one from a known war criminal who had as of yet escaped justice.

"This is Queen Val swift. You are trying to reach a secure channel. Please identify yourself?"

She had gone home it seems, along with altered citizen of Demonsgate and a fortune in Demonsgate Prink. Bryce still remembered their last conversation. How unwilling she had been to accept any accountability for her actions. Bryce was not honor bound to let he go free this day and so opened up a secure and coded channel to the Gossamer.

"Jorus, see if you can stall a bit and scan down her highness. The citizens of Demonsgate have still not forgotten the Black Rose. Any intel you can gather would be useful now your there."

He left the message that vague but he was sure Jorus would understand. Any who fought on Demonsgate would understand...


[member="Tanomas Graf"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Sanya Val Swift"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Tanomas Graf"]

An alert scrolled across the small holodisplay on Jorus’ armrest: Vorn’s transcript of Bryce’s encrypted return message. The Laureate-class had sophisticated encryption installed in its reporting systems. If the Imperial ships had good comms intercept technology, they might catch the edges of the transmissions between the Gossamer and the Foundation, but even partial decryption would take a long while.

Jorus glanced at the alert and returned his focus to the audio channel with the Admiral. He keyed for Vorn to tighten the outbound focus so that only the Imperial ship would receive the transmission. He also keyed for the sensor operator to start locking down the origination point of the transmission that had come from the surface.

“I can sympathize, Admiral. The First Order’s tangle with the Alliance has plenty of star systems on edge. The issue here is threefold. First off, your fleet’s an awful lot closer to us than to them. Secondly, Sekalus already has a good-sized defensive fleet of its own. Thirdly, the Queen of Sekalus, Sanya Val Swift, is an unrepentant war criminal who we’ve been after for years. She’s fled bounties, refused to make reparations -- heck, she’s refused to so much as apologize for her crimes. Put all those points together and you can see how we’d be concerned about a force buildup in her system. That’s not me impugning your honour or the honour of your fleet, just making sure you know who and what you’re in bed with, and what her agenda might be.”

 

[Sanya Val Lerium]

[member="Jorus Merrill"] Ξ [member="Bryce Bantam"] Ξ [member="Tanomas Graf"]

She stood there listening into the conversation between the two. She couldn't deny that when the man brought up the faulse accusations again it had annoyed her. In fact she could go as far as remembering the mans voice. "The sekallien navel vessels are currently been swapped out. While new and better ships are been built, since my fleet is currently needed in other areas of the galaxy. The imperials had graciously offered to station a fleet here." She was skimming the truth a little of course, but the again they had no right to be on her door step, especially jorus. He'd made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Sanya after she'd told them the truth the first time. She wasn't to blame for his arrogance or ignorence.

It seemed they where still sore about forcing civilians to panic and take dirastic actions to ensure their facility didn't end up in the hands of thieves. The very actions sanya was blamed for. They had no real idea of how much she did to help the people of the area she operated in during the time of the black rose. During when the government was the covenant she wasn't aloud to voice an opinion. So what deeds the others did she had no say in the matter. It didn't stop her saving a village been engulfed by magma. "Besides Jorus, You only call me a war criminal because you still refuse to see the truth. Although if your man enough to apologize for accusing me without superficial evidence... I may consider talking out a resolution." Some part of Some part of Sanya just wanted the past to stay the past. It was clear to her some liked to live in it. Unable to move on and so sure of themselves they were right all along. Those people often where the ones who blinded them selfs. The other part of her however wanted to trigger him just so she could get a reaction. Still she was been genuine.

If he gave a sincere apology she'd drop it all and go back to forgetting their mistakes and her own. Sanya looked at one of the people in the room holding up a data pad. The fleet had requested to follow protocol. Her eyes would go back to facing the holo projector. "Mr Jorus Merrill. The sekallien navy will be sending out an escort to temporarily detain you. This is protocol due to the situation no harm will come of you or your crew members. This will present the opportunity to speak face to face. Admiral Cardan would you care to join me?" Her tone of voice remained level. As she explained slowly to jorus what was going to happen. After all he contacted a channel that is off limits to anyone who was not sekallien officials or imperial hire ups.

-----------

The fleet admiral listened in as well as the bridge. Normally security would dictate protocols had to be followed by escorting the vessel and detaining them till further notice. How ever with the Queen been involved she wasn't sure what to do. "Send a message to the queen to asked what she'd like us to do." Said the fleet admiral unsure about the route they should be taking. It was clear she had got the message when she explained to the man what was going to happen. "Admiral I've rerouted the blade wings flight path to escort the ship." "Gossamer please power down your engines until our escorts have reached you. Any signs of weapons been activated will be seen as an act of hostility. Do you understand? You will be escorted to one of the vessels in where you will dock." From what the admiral gathered these people weren't been arrested but they people who were innocent either. "Prepare the hanger for the queen and a quiet room." "Yes mam." "Admiral the blade wings are closing in now."

 

[Keyan Mastigar]

Cardan listened to every word that Captain Merrill had said, thinking carefully about his next words. "The Imperial Remnant is fully aware on who they are doing business with, but I ought to remind you that we are not just defending the Queen but the billions of inhabitants as well. But to put your fears at rest slightly; We are only here to protect, the Queen cannot command us to fight for her. Those orders come from the Triumvirate. I-" The Rear Admiral had started before being interrupted by the voice of Queen Val Swift warning the Captain that her navy would detain him and asking if Gromm would join. "I'm afraid not, Queen Val Swift. Protocol would not have me intervene in a dispute like this." He calmly stated before giving the cut-off signal to Lieutenant Praxon.

He turned around and quietly proclaimed "Open direct communications to Captain Merril, use high-level Imperial encryptions". Gromm waited until Praxon gave him the thumbs up. "Captain, I suggest you use that hyperdrive that we detected you already have powered up. Get out of here while you can, the Imperial Remnant does not want bad relations with the Outback. May the Force be with you." He uttered before facing the viewports once more and looking outwards.

The stars of the galaxy were beautiful.

[member="Jorus Merrill"] | [member="Sanya Val Swift"] | [member="Bryce Bantam"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Gromm Cardan"] [member="Sanya Val Swift"]

"You read my mind, Admiral," said Jorus grimly, on the private channel. "I'll pass your comments along to the Kathol authorities."

He eyed the incoming Blade Wing starfighters. The Gossamer's advanced sensors considered them a serious threat: their heavy armament would make short work of the science ship if the war criminal happened to be lying. The sensors detected unusual elements and circuitry, things he'd seen before: heavy composite beam projectors. No, sticking around to be detained for calling the wrong number wasn't on his agenda. Mainly because there was no way in Hell he would put the Gossamer's largely civilian crew in Sanya's power.

Without replying to her transmission, he nodded to the navigator, and the little science frigate leaped to hyperspace.

"Mister Vorn, copy the Foundation on our last few conversations, if you would, and tell Captain Bantam that Exocron is a go. Mister Beeloo, I'll be taking the nav station for the next stretch." There were ways into the Outback from here, unreliable and deadly and prone to change, but that was what instinctive astrogation was for. With those back roads, he could skip much of the six or seven month trip that anyone else would have to take to get to Exocron.

 

[Bryce Bantam]

Aboard "The Fountain" the whole conversation had been relayed. It was not surprising at all how the Queen of the Cora had acted. Threatening a science ship who just open communications was the obvious actions of someone hiding something. It didn't matter now. The operation on exocron had been in the works for months. Having Jorus be able to join would be a huge boost.

Open a secure channel to the colonel and advise operation "lockdown" is a go.