Chapter 6: Icy Reception
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Suggested Music: Star Wars Episode V Soundtrack - The Battle in the Snow
11 Elona, 25 ABY - Csilla, Chiss Ascendancy, Unknown Regions
The Leviathan exited hyperspace with the two Jedi and their Chiss companion in the cockpit. The image of Csilla zoomed into view along with 2 of its 3 moons. Its surface was almost identical to that of Hoth's, completely covered by clouds and glaciers. The contrast between the night and day sides was stark. The cockpit was silent as the ship spent the next few minutes on sublight approach. Then, expectedly, the sensors chirped to life with new contacts.
Another minute passed, the planet drew closer and the defense fleet stationed at Csilla began to come into visual range.
(rolls) Renora surveyed the fleet and quickly spoke up, "Guys," she started, leaving a pause as if what she was pointing out was obvious. Akea and Allanar looked up, but did not see anything unusual or alarming. "What is it?" Allanar asked.
"The CEDF doesn't have any Imperial-class Star Destroyers." She pointed to the far end of the fleet line. Allanar had already turned his attention to the sensor display, where he was getting a more detailed reading. "It's them alright," he said, refering to the rogue Imperial Star Destroyer they had tangled with just days ago when the treaty talks were hijacked.
The comm came to life with a deep male voice saying a quick sentence in Cheunh. Renora looked to the two Jedi, awaiting their input on whether to proceed as planned.
Kirkland 04:17, 14 March 2010 (EDT)
The next few seconds were critical. Even Akea was a bit taken aback by the presence of an Imperial Star Destroyer in Chiss space, but the Jedi were notorious for turning threat into opportunity. Akea snapped into action; having lived through Palpatine's ascension to power, the Clone Wars, and Jedi Purge, he was no stranger to unexpected alliances and the deeper treachery that often accompanied them. He spoke first to Allanar, seated in the Leviathan's co-pilot seat.
"Increase our sublight speed to the maximum possible without drawing power from our shields. I'll take the controls from there - assume control of our quad turret, just in case we're attacked by fighters. Renora, have those landing codes ready - we'll make an approach like we discussed and try to proceed as if the Star Destroyer wasn't there. Obviously, there's no sense in engaging it, and hailing it may prematurely give away our intentions. We'll gauge their level of interaction with Csilla itself - if we're denied entrance, it may be because the commander of that Star Destroyer is able to exert some kind of authority over their flight control. Likewise, if the Imperial vessels are able to follow us unhindered into Csilla's atmosphere, it's a sure sign of an alliance or forced cooperation - either way, it's a major starting point for our investigation. Stay alert - if the Imperials do follow us onto Csilla, we may need to depart the ship... very quickly."
Akea left his customary pause to allow the others to issue their input, though the very quickly begin flicking controls on one of the Leviathan's consoles to display their possible approach routes to Csaplar, so that he'd immediately know where to take the ship once they were inside Csilla's atmosphere. As he did so, he called out to the Force, searching for any of the same presences he felt on the day of the ambush.
Sense + Divination: 7 4 5 6 2 10 1 10, 5 successes
Dan 13:53, 14 March 2010 (EDT)
Allanar guided the ship towards the planet when Renora spoke up, a glance towards her as she pointed out the Imperial Class Star Destroyer, then he shifted his attention immediately to the sensor panel. Just the ship they all suspected it was when they pointed it out, after informing the others he listened to Akea's plan with a slight nod. Working through the controls even as he finished to accelerate the ship to maximum speed while keeping the ship as protected as possible. Once the ship was set in motion he switched to take control of the quad laser turret and allowed Akea to assume primary piloting duties.
"If the CEDF has come to some sort of agreement with The Star Destroyer, don't be surprised if they follow Imperial procedure and send fighters to escort us in. Hopefully, the Destroyer isn't that closely involved with the government; and hopefully they don't try to escort us to the destroyer." He paused briefly before speaking a quick command to the R2 unit aboard the ship, "R2, calculate our return jump coordinates in case we need to make a quick escape into hyperspace."
Allanar checked the scanner quickly to double check there were no incoming fighters before closing his eyes a moment to concentrate on the force, pulling it within himself and masking his presence. There was no need to inform Akea to do the same, hiding the Jedi presence aboard the ship completely likely wasn't worth it. But if they were going to be watched by another force user, sensing both Akea and Allanar would make their current plan unworkable.
Control + Enhancement (6) + Concentration (1): 10, 9, 7, 7, 5, 4, 4, 5 successes on Force Stealth
Once he had masked his own force presence aboard the ship he extended his senses to make a search of the area in an attempt to find any familiar presences or those of other force users.
Sense + Divination (3): 10, 3, 1, 2 successes
--FyreFly 23:13, 14 March 2010 (EDT)
Renora nodded to Allanar as he left the bridge. Her own mind was racing, trying to reason why the Imperial Star Destroyer that so recently hijacked the treaty discussions at Berchest could so openly be sitting in Csilla space alongside the CEDF. Akea was right, the next few moments could reveal all sorts of new information regarding the relationship between the two. Renora took a seat in the co-pilot's chair that Allanar had just vacated, and keyed the comm to respond to traffic control. Her reply was spoken in her native tongue, and Akea picked out a word resembling Csaplar in her message. She then keyed in a long sequence, which Akea gathered was the military identification code.
Renora looked to the Dur Sabon pilot and he met her gaze. "I hope this works," she said. Akea was skeptical, wondering if the ISD had, in the midst of the chaos, gotten a sensor scan of the Leviathan over Rapsis III. There was a gripping tension in the silence that followed as the group waited for a response. About a minute passed before it came. Akea didn't understand what was said, but the response was short. Based on Renora's smile, he assumed it was good. "We're clear," she said, leaning back in the chair with relief.
Akea and Allanar used the Force to search the star destroyer for any force signatures, particularly Pellaeon's force sensitive aide. They detected no trace of her. In fact, no force signature stood out, hostile or otherwise.
The Leviathan continued to scream at top speed into the planet's atmosphere. The sky transitioned from black to blue as they descended. Renora was more relaxed, but Akea and Allanar remained fully alert. After about 10 minutes, the Leviathan attained an altitude of 10km and was about 300km from Csaplar. Then Allanar spoke over the comm: "We've got company."
He detected it via the force before any of the sensor scopes saw them. But sure enough, the sensors chirped to life reporting 4 contacts, identified as standard TIE fighters, trailing them. It had taken them some time to catch up, and they continued to close the distance.
The terrain below had several mountainous peaks shooting out from the glacial covering that otherwise dominated the landscape. At the current speeds, the TIE fighters would be in firing range in 30 seconds.
OOC items
- If Akea also wants to activate Force Stealth go ahead and supply the roll result in your next post. Don't forget the wild die.
- A project of mine when I return from my trip is publishing some rules about starship piloting and combat. For now, I'm requiring that a Wits+Pilot roll to pilot a starship at full speed in an atmosphere (difficulty 1) so please supply that roll in your next post.
- I can optimistically get 2 more posts up before I go (Thursday night would be my last chance), but more likely just 1. We'll see.
Kirkland 00:50, 16 March 2010 (EDT)
Allanar watched the sensors carefully as it picked up the 4 blips that indicated their incoming company, though the force had alerted him of the danger before the sensors had. He spent a moment in thought before speaking over the com into the cockpit to his two companions.
"Shift more power to our rear shields, but I'd advise against any out of the ordinary action until they've made their intentions clear. I doubt they'll begin hostilities without trying to establish contact first, unless they've somehow managed to figure out who we are and what we're doing here already."
Allanar made several adjustments to the chair he was sitting in that spun with the quad laser turret, making sure everything was situated and ready for combat should the time come.
"It seems a bit odd to me that they would launch fighters this late to pursue us, it leads me to believe that the government and this star destroyer are not in full cooperation. Though what little information we have makes the situation difficult to read for sure." He paused for a moment, he didn't like the idea of entering into combat with the TIE Fighters but even worse was the idea of finding themselves stranded on a hostile planet. The two Jedi would need all their collective cunning to turn this in their favor. "I don't like this one bit, no choice but to be prepared for anything."
Allanar took another moment to search the force for the feelings of the incoming fighter pilots, as they drew closer to firing range he picked out the foremost fighter pilot and searched his thoughts for signs of immediate hostility. He hoped to prevent the fighters from gaining an advantage by taking the first shot, though nothing could surprise him at this point. As he closed his eyes in search of the pilots feelings he awaited any further instructions or advice from his companions.
Sense + Telepathy (5): 5, 7, 3, 3, 8; 2 successes on Mind Probe
--FyreFly 03:37, 14 April 2010 (EDT)
Akea took no action to hide his own presence - Allanar's earlier judgments were correct; if they were to proceed as planned, shielding the presence of all Force users on the ship would arouse suspicion when a Jedi showed up in Csilla. Akea maintained an optimistic but cautious approach to the political scenario - he still held out that he'd be able to operate in at least a semi-official capacity upon his arrival at Csilla; certainly the entire Chiss government couldn't be corrupt... could it? Leave the sneaking about the to the young ones.
After diverting power to the rear shields, he continued to guide ship quickly toward the patch of land their thermal scanners told them housed one of the underground rivers Renora mentioned just beneath its brittle surface. He remained focused on the task of piloting the ship - he did not want to provoke the TIE Fighter by taking overt evasive maneuvers, but remained on utmost alert. As the TIE fighters had not hailed him yet, he did not wish to divert his course just yet. If the TIE had not hailed them or opened fire by the time the Leviathan was at landing altitude, Akea did not intend to actually land with a TIE on their trail, but he was confident that the situation wasn't one he'd have to consider. He spoke up briefly, turning to Renora for just a moment.
"Renora, hail the flight control officer you spoke with and tell them there's a TIE on our tail - if anything, we'll get to see just who is willing to help who. At best, we'll get help, and at worst... they may receive backup, but I think it is safe to say we do not intend to fight back the entire navy and whatever quasi-Imperial support they bring on this day anyway."
He banked slightly to re-align his course, grunting just a bit, before speaking through the comlink to Allanar, manning the ship's turret.
"Allanar, trust the Force. It, along with your instincts, will tell you if those fighters are going to attack - do not let him do so. Far more will come to harm if we have to fight our way out of a full-scale skirmish than if four ill-fated pilots meets their end trying to foil our entry efforts. If I sense he's going to fire, I intend to evade in a south-southeast parabolic curve, so plan your aiming trajectory accordingly."
Akea did the same, looking ahead past the next 30 seconds to attempt to foresee the oncoming attack.
Akea attempts to get a jump on the battle by looking ahead into the progression of the Force. If he catches an oncoming attack in time, he intends to warn Allanar too, though he hopes Allanar will also makes use of his own divination skills. Sense + Divination: 4 (wild) 1 1 8 7 5 9 6 - 3 successes.
Dan 17:26, 18 April 2010 (EDT)
As the four TIEs continued closing their distance to the Leviathan, Renora re-opened the communications channel with Csilla traffic control. She spoke, again in her native tongue. Meanwhile, Allanar and Akea reached out with the force in various ways to anticipate the actions of the approaching TIEs. The force told them what they had already gathered based on the TIE speed and formation: they were certainly going to open fire when they got in range. The continued absence of any communication from them was a clear impression that there wasn't any chance of reasoning with them at this juncture.
A response came back in Cheunh over the comm, and Renora didn't look pleased. Akea, sensing the need to begin the maneuver he explained to Allanar, began to angle the ship toward the surface, and everyone in the ship felt the G-forces increase as he did so. It wasn't all that often that he had to fly his ship in combat in atmospheric conditions, but it was definitely a different experience compared to space combat. Renora fumbled for the seat belt as she spoke, a flare of attitude in her voice. "You'll be happy to know," she said, "that the TIEs aren't cleared for atmospheric entry. Isn't that great?"
So much for help from the Ascendancy. Four TIE fighters are, overall, not much of a threat to a pair of Jedi, but it did complicate their entry efforts; and there was no telling if more were on the way.
((I posted a rough guide to starship combat, of course the system will evolve with your guys input. I took the liberty of running a 73 tick exchange between the Leviathan and the TIE fighters to test the system out. I apologize if you had other ideas for those 73 ticks, but the results were somewhat favorable so I don't intend to backtrack it. Besides, you're not out of the woods yet.
Also, I was just trying to get some perspective on how big the Leviathan is... it's the size of a small jumbo-jet, think Boeing 767. A little bigger than the Wookieepedia would have you believe.))
The TIEs entered firing range and their first volley of fire was simultaneous with Allanar's. One TIE fighter's shot connected with the bulky Leviathan, enough to give the ship a small rumble and confirm to everyone aboard that they were under fire. Allanar also hit, inflicting a light amount of damage on the lead TIE. Just over a minute of gunfire ensued, the TIEs dropped their speed and held steady behind the Leviathan as it continued diving toward the surface. Over the course of that minute, the two sides got almost an equal number of hits. Allanar did enough damage to cause two TIE fighters to disengage.
Akea concentrated on his maneuver, but kept a careful eye on the shield levels as the ship took a few more hits. "Watch the shields, and engage the backup generator if necessary," Akea called out to his co-pilot, Renora. As the second TIE disengaged after taking a hit, the Leviathan took one more hit that brought the primary shields down. She quickly engaged the backup shields.
Akea finished his maneuver as the ship same hurling toward the glacially capped surface. He came within meters of the snow, pulling up quickly, the engines blowing snow in their wake. They were not far from the underground rivers that Renora described to them, but it would require navigating quite a network of underground caverns. With two TIEs still trailing, it was a gamble to enter the caverns, as the TIEs were much more maneuverable than the light transport.
((The underground cavern entrances are abundant in this area. Above the surface, the glacial canyons, crevices, etc. are terrain difficulty 1 or 2 (your choice) but if you choose to enter the underground caverns it will be base difficulty 2 (modified by your speed).))
Tick 73
- Akea Pilot action: automatic success (difficulty 0)
- Akea Dodge action: 2,4,9,6 = 1 success
- Modified DV = 4
- Allanar Gunnery action: 8,8,2,9,9,5,8 = 5 success
- Hit with 1 extra success, damage +7E soak 2E = 5E: 7,4,6,4,4 = 1 success
- Extra damage: laser cannons offline
- TIE Pilot actions: automatic successes (difficulty 0)
- TIE #2 Gunnery action: 1,2,2,4,8,2 = 0 successes
- TIE #3 Gunnery action: 3,2,9,1,2,7 = 2 successes
- TIE #4 Gunnery action: 2,9,3,4,8,2 = 2 successes
Tick 73 Damage Report
- Leviathan: Shields:
Backup Shields: 
Hull: D: X: - TIE #1: Hull: D: X:
- TIE #2: Hull: D: X: Laser cannons offline - Disengaged
- TIE #3: Hull: D: X:
- TIE #4: Hull: D: X:
Kirkland 17:58, 29 April 2010 (EDT)
((Update: I forgot the Leviathan had an upgraded quad laser cannon, I made a +2E adjustment to the damage and corrected the battle. Allanar actually destroys the first TIE.))
Allanar opened fire on the TIE fighters when the got within range, leading to a fire fight between the four TIE fighters and the transport. Even with knocking the first two out of the battle he was dissatisfied with the results of this, he had hoped to make quick work of the attacking fighters so they would be able to resume their plan. At this point it seemed obvious that the Star Destroyer at least had an idea of who was on board, it was tough to say if it was wise for them to split up now. It was obvious that the Chiss weren't going to, or maybe weren't able to, resist the shear force of the Star Destroyer.
"We may want to consider altering our plan once we get these fighters off our tail." Not that they were out of trouble yet, he had only manged to knock two of the four out of pursuit and they had lost their main shields. "Not sure if we should split up, considering how aggressive they are being. Renora, do you think the people might receive us more favorably given the circumstances?"
Allanar refocused his efforts on the pursuing TIE fighters, focusing his attention on the TIE that he had managed to hit once hoping that he could make quick work of it and improve their odds.
--FyreFly 22:21, 11 May 2010 (EDT)
((I adjusted the battle giving Allanar an extra die since it should be Dex and not Wits for Gunnery. This resulted in TIE #2 being destroyed instead of simply disengaging.))
Akea slowed the Leviathan down as he guided it towards an opening in the rock. He was hesitant to change the plan at this point; perhaps once they had taken care of their pursuers they could stop and discuss. Sensors indicated that the cave network was at least wide enough to traverse, but it was going to be tight. He worried that the TIEs might benefit from a slower target, but hoped Allanar could put them to rest soon.
Renora responded to Allanar's question over the comm. "It's always difficult to determine how the Ascendancy will respond, even on a normal day." More laser fire exchanged as she continued speaking, "If they were working with that Star Destroyer, why not just turn us over instead of letting us land? And if they planned on turning us over planetside, then why send a bunch of TIEs--" she interrupted herself. She yelled "Look out!" in her native tongue, but Akea was already reacting to the oncoming stalactite.
- Tick 85: Akea Pilot action (Willpower spent): 2,5,3,4,5 = 1 success (difficulty 2)
"Lights, Renora, Lights!" Akea called out to his co-pilot. The caverns were pitch black compared to the blinding whiteness of sunlit glaciers behind them; Akea's eyes had taken just a fraction too long to adjust. The top of the Leviathan clipped the stalactite, rocking the ship and jolting Allanar off his seat. His turret came menacingly close to contact with wall. "Watch it..." Allanar mumbled under his breath as he lined up his next shot, scoring a hit on one of the two remaining TIEs. It took minor damage and did not return fire.
The two TIEs continued to pursue the Leviathan as it continued to wind its way deeper into the underground caverns. Only one TIE was returning fire. The twists and turns made it difficult for either party to score a hit on the other. The caverns began to noticeably narrow, enough for Renora to muster the phrase, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Akea flipped the ship vertically to pass through a narrow crevice ahead and after doing so successfully, leveled out. There was a similar horizontal crevice ahead, but the ship did not stabilize how Akea expected.
- Tick 103: Akea Pilot action: 2,4,6,1,4 = 0 successes (botch) (difficulty 2)
The nose of the ship just barely met the opening ahead but the starboard side of the ship was still too elevated to clear it. It smashed into the top of the rock, sending the ship into a violent and uncontrollable sideways spin. The passageway behind the Leviathan collapsed fractions of a second after the ship cleared it; Allanar caught a glimpse of a quick flash of light from the TIEs as they collided with sealed passage. ((You weren't the only one that botched this round)) Suddenly, he entire crew felt the ship start to drop. Akea fought with the controls violently, a pure reactionary attempt to regain control or at least soften the eventual impact with the ground. After five agonizing seconds of descent the Leviathan skidded across the rocky surface, the forward headlights illuminating the shattering stalagmites as the ship crashed through them.
The ship came to a stop, wedged at an awkward 45 degree angle between a series of stalactites and stalagmites. There was no hum of the engines, as they had shut off amid the carnage. The silence was marred by a single high-pitched warning tone coming from the cockpit controls.
((If you leave the ship you faintly hear the sound of water rushing, if you want to include that detail in your next post go ahead.))
- Akea spent 4 willpower points in this scene.
Tick 109 Damage Report
- Leviathan: Shields: Backup Shields: Hull: D: X:
- TIEs: All Destroyed
- Akea Oahu: -0:
-1: -2: I: - Allanar Onsai: -0: -1: -2: I:
- Chaf'ren'oraina: -0: -1: -2: I:
Kirkland 00:30, 20 May 2010 (EDT)
"Kanapapiki." ((Ootoolan - 'son of a bitch')) Akea, after a brief moment spent dazed, punched the override key and simultaneously lowered the alarm lever, deactivating the whirring alarm. With some effort, he slid along the cockpit floor, now angled upwards - climbing was somewhat of an awkward exercise for Dur Sabon, but Akea managed well enough. He slammed the activator on the blast doors, and they slid open with a belabored, decelerated hiss. Safely out of the cockpit, he switched on his comlink.
"Is everyone alright?"
After receiving affirmative responses from Allanar and Renora, he spoke again.
"Good. It seems my piloting skills aren't what they used to be. On the brighter side of things, we've managed to shake the TIE fighters."
It seemed the Jedi Master hadn't lost his good spirits. Akea bore witness to some of history's most heinous betrayals and disastrous mistakes, and had learned not to be overly burdened by incidental foul-ups.
"Lets depart the ship briefly so we can take stock of the damage... " Akea recalled the angle at which they'd fallen, and their particularly inauspicious crashing location "... and perhaps figure out how to dislodge the Leviathan. We'll gather outside the ship. Based on your location, the rear cargo exit may be an easier choice for the two of you."
Akea, meanwhile, made his way to the exit hatch closer to the cockpit, assessing any notable damage to the ship on his way there. The ship certainly wasn't incapacitated, but they'd have to be careful until they could get to a starport for repairs. This was a most unfortunate setback, but the unimpeded, outward hostility of the Imperials was proof-positive that Csaplar was not going to take actions to prevent Imperial encroachment - the only question was whether they'd been forced into doing so or not. Finally, having reached the hatch, he punched three buttons near the bottom of the ladder, ascended it, and wheeled the door open manually, pushing it open with a slight grunt. It took him some time to slide out of the ship, but he did safely navigate his way onto the roof, at which point the ship's angle and positioning made it fairly trivial to descend down a few rocky ledges to even footing. By the time he reached the ground, Allanar and Renora stood side-by-side, eying a particularly heavily damaged section of the ship's rear, where it had been struck by TIE fire. Knowing that their location could at least be approximated based on the last signals transmitted by the TIE fighters, Akea resumed action immediately.
"The ship is damaged, but not unusable. We will have to be more careful from this point forward, especially without shields. It would be nice if we could restore their functionality, but I'm not positive we have the facilities or the skill necessary to do so. On top of that, it's valuable time wasted. If the Imperials are determined to apprehend us, they certainly have the firepower sufficient to quickly clear that collapsed tunnel. Admittedly, my knowledge of ship repair is limited, but it seems to be that we might be best served by proceeding to the covert entry point we discussed. There will be a slight change in the plans, considering the situation. I don't think it would be prudent for me to attempt a secondary entry at Csaplar after dropping you two off. Instead, we'll all enter Csaplar covertly. From there, we'll feel out the situation - ideally, I'd still like to present myself officially. Considering that those TIEs weren't cleared for entrance, I don't think I'll raise too many alarms by being honest in that regard - my ship was attacked by TIE fighters on the way in and damaged, so I had to make a quick entrance to the city. I still hope to have you two do a less official investigation of affairs once we arrive, but if the situation seems overly unfriendly to either of our approaches, we may have to reconsider and stick together."
Akea slid a little closer to the pair and turned to face the ship along with them, dragging a hand along the side of the vessel as he did.
"Regarding that Star Destroyer's relation to Csilla... I find it hard to believe that the CEDF couldn't deal with a Star Destroyer if they truly wanted themselves rid of it, so it seems likely the two groups have at least talked. It's unclear to me if the Chiss are cooperating - the fact that the TIEs weren't cleared suggests that they aren't, at least not fully - or if the controlling party of that Star Destroyer holds some other power - perhaps blackmail or influence in this region - that is preventing the Chiss from simply sending them packing. If anyone has any suggestions regarding the plan or present situation, I'm certainly open to them. Otherwise, we should work on getting our craft free from this crash site."
Dan 03:58, 31 May 2010 (EDT)