Chapter 3: Fish in a Barrel
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Suggested Music: Star Wars Episode IV Soundtrack - Imperial Attack
5 Elona, 25 ABY - NRS Amity - Berchest System, Anthos Sector, Outer-Rim Territories
While Allanar was busy working the controls in the bridge, Renora and two NR troops disappeared into the engineering closet on the top deck of the Amity with the task of restoring the long range communications array. Akea Oahu remained stationed at the entrance to that room waiting for word from a variety of sources. The first to contact him again was the leader of Besh Team. He rattled off another report without even pausing for a breath between sentences. "They're prepping the troop shuttles as we speak, though they don't have hyperdrives they are a lot safer than escape pods if we need to evacuate. Blue Squadron (A-wings) is launching to get a readout of the area. Green squadron (B-wing/E2s) remains on standby. It appears the Imperial delegation is making their own decisions..." There was a moment of static on the comm before his voice was heard again. "Yes, their shuttle is preparing for departure. Over."
Meanwhile, Renora and two troops entered the engineering closet. It wasn't really a closet, but more like an endless maze of narrow corridors with cords, circuity, and pipes along the walls. The corridors were narrow, no more than one person could fit at a time and most people had to sidestep their way through. She looked to the troopers when they came to the T-intersection. She addressed the first trooper. "Go to the end of this hallway and find the power distribution units, make sure they are on and power levels are normal." The man looked at her with a blank stare, as if he hadn't heard what she just said. She looked to the second trooper. "You better go with him. It's big and orange, you can't miss it. Go!"
After the two scuttled down that passageway, she turned and went down the other, searching for a terminal she could use.
Kirkland 02:17, 11 August 2009 (EDT)
The light sais lifted into his hand and he tucked them away into the inside of his Jedi robes quickly to keep his other hand free and the weapons out of reach of his enemy. Allanar never cared much for computer systems, especially ones that weren’t working properly, but he understood their necessity and had learned enough about them to get by. He worked quickly on the sensor array console to pull up the information he read, his attention still split slightly on the seemingly passive Chiss warrior. He read over the information that the screen displayed on Rapsis III, committing it to his short-term memory as he glanced to the approaching blue planet. He spent a moment thinking about the odd time of creation for this jump coordinate, coming up with two possible answers. Either this was planned out very well, and the woman had some sort of inside help… or the system had somehow been tampered with; the former seemed the more likely explanation. Like his personal thoughts of Brakiss he pushed that aside for the moment, something to keep in mind but not the most pressing issue. He ensured that they were not on a collision course with the planet as the sensor alarm went off, quickly pulling up the additional screen. Allanar worked quickly now, a new found sense of urgency when he saw that the Star Destroyer had entered scanner range, he made a quick attempt to identify its signal, an attempt to identify if it was the same Star Destroyer that carried out the attack leading up to these events.
One success on Allanar's Computer Use roll to perform a sensor scan would reveal that the contact is an Imperial-class Star Destroyer with no identification tag. The Imperial Remnant, and most ships in general, typically supply basic identity information.
Kirkland 18:02, 17 August 2009 (EDT)
Allanar left the console for now, leaving up the information that he had displayed there so that it was readily accessible should he need to come back to it, or if the bridge crew should return to man the controls. He paced across the room as she spoke, ignited lightsaber still firmly in his grasp, though in an non-offensive position. He approached the Chiss woman with an intense, steady gaze as he moved past her, pausing as he was just behind her to make a quick strike towards her throat. The turned towards him qucikly, blocking his initial strike and lunging to retrieve her weapons from inside his cloak. With a wave of his lightsaber just infront of his body, she was forced to pull back her hand, he took a step into her body and rotated his lightsaber into a reverse grip. The two jostled for foot postioning while exchanging a short string of arm blows, finally she retrived one of her sais from inside his robe, but a strike to her wrist caused it to drop back to the floor as he spun around her body and raised the hilt of his lightsaber to make solid contact with the back of her head. The blow causing her to stagger forward and slowly turn back towards him before slowly falling backwards to the floor unconscious. He was silent until she fell helplessly to the ground, pausing as he looked down to her and spoke just above a whisper.
“It seems your friends have been here for some time. I’m afraid I cannot allow you to continue to be a threat aboard this ship however.”
Now that his opponent was completely neutralized pressed a button on his comlink, a small modern device attached to his wrist, ringing to Akeas comlink shortly after his communication with Besh Team ended.
“Master Akea. The opponent has been neutralized, I am alone on the bridge. The nav com has been damaged and an immediate jump back to our meeting coordinates is beyond my capabilities. I pulled up our coordinates, we are approaching the uninhabited water-world of Rapsis III. The destination seems unimportant outside its remoteness and general lack of ability to support advanced life. I will send our current coordinates to you and Besh Team, along with our original meeting coordinates so that a quick route back can be calculated.”
Allanar spoke quickly and clearly, military training set it and his report sounded quite similar in delivery to the one that Besh Team’s commander just submitted. After a brief pause he continued.
“On a more suspicious note, it seems that though the jump coordinates were just executed that they were entered into the nav computer yesterday. The most logical explanation I can think of is that there was some inside help, which may mean that there is another threat already aboard the Amity. Worse yet, the sensors have just picked up an approaching Imperial Class Star Destroyer that seems to be unidentified that just entered our passive sensor range from our rear. It is possible that it was the ship that excuted the first attack.”
Again Allanar would pause his military style report, allowing time for Akea to interject into the conversation if he desire, but short enough that it was clear Allanar would continue. Though as he continued the military report faded into a more obviously opinion based topic, and a seemingly less rigid speech tone.
“Given our inability to make an immediate jump back into hyperspace and our lack of long range communication to call for help I think an immediate evacuation of the delegates and other non-essential personnel may be advised. Ideally, they could launch in ships with hyperdrives and make the jump back to our original meeting point which would put them back into safe hands and allow them to send help to our coordinates. If I may suggest, you should accompany them master. Both sides may need your cool head and steady hand even upon their return to the fleet… and it seems only fitting that a historian such as yourself should be secured before a warrior like myself.”
He spoke the last part with an odd sort of humor, a sort of acceptance of the situation and the possible results, a total lack of fear of it though he clearly understood the magnitude of their present plight.
“I could remain with the repair and battle crews aboard the Amity, hopefully we can hold out until repairs are complete or reinforcements arrive. What is your plan?”
Allanar ended the transmission, waiting for a response from Akea either in the form of a personal response or a broadcast to all the parties involved. Meanwhile he quickly pressed a few buttons on his comlink to sent out the current and original coordinates to Akea’s group and to Besh Team.
--FyreFly 19:03, 17 August 2009 (EDT)
After receiving Allanar's transmission, Akea was faced with a tough choice. He was hesitant to leave the crew he'd brought to the communications bay, but this new information had changed his outlook on the plan. Calculating a new route would be more difficult for the Amity than it would be a smaller vessel, and time was of crucial importance. The Nebulon-B frigate was a sitting duck for now, and the safety of the Imperial and Republic delegates was top priority.
Akea was also forced to decide whether he'd accompany the delegates back to the New Republic fleet - if there were any other Sith behind the attack, Allanar might be overwhelmed, which would result in the loss of a Jedi and valuable Republic military resources. Ultimately, however, the younger Jedi Knight was correct - these negotiations were also of paramount importance to the Republic, and it was likely that part of this attack's very purpose was to disrupt these negotiations. The Republic could not afford to oblige such terrorism. Akea once again raised his comlink to a speaking position and flicked one of its many knobs.
"You do our tradition proud, Allanar. I have a small contingent of troops and a communications officer with me at the ship's central communications hub. I, along with one of the troopers, will travel to the hangar and leave with the dignitaries. We'll return to the flight line. I'll instruct Renora, the communications officer present, to continue trying to bring the ship back to full communicative and sensor functionality."
Oahu wasted no time in turning back to Renora, who was hunched busily of a cluster of glowing terminals and wires.
"Renora, there has been a minor shift in our plans. It appears that the Amity is not capable of making an immediate jump to hyperspace, and as such, we'll be evacuating the delegates on my personal freighter, the Leviathan. Its communication channel is at frequency 3465.68. We will jump back to the Fleet line. I have been assigned as a mediator for the negotiations which were to take place aboard this ship, and I travel with the delegates in the vein of carrying out my duties. Continue as I instructed - the sooner we are able to have the Amity's comm array functional, the sooner we can coordinate with the rest of the fleet. I am leaving the rest of these troops with the instructions to ensure your safety. A fellow Jedi, Allanar Onsai, is presently on the bridge. His comlink should be tuned to this ship's military channel. The Amity is now in his care - Fear not, he is far greater a warrior than I."
Akea nodded to one of the two troops he'd been standing outside the communications room with, and began to stride quickly toward the hangar bay. He looked over his shoulder at the remaining crew.
"Continue to carry out the patrol instructions I gave initially. The government leaders are leaving the ship with me, and Renora's safety is the top priority now. When the communications array is repaired, escort her and rendezvous with Allanar Onsai. He is a fellow Jedi, and is currently on the ship's bridge. As I told Renora, his comlink will be tuned to the ship's military channel."
He looked at the soldier to which he'd nodded.
"Your martial prowess would be appreciated should our situation turn foul. Would you accompany me to the hangar bay?"
Akea again resumed his stride, and as the indicated soldier took off after him, at something of a jog (Akea was, in fact, at an analogous pace for his species, though his graceful gliding across the ship's steel floors made the motion seem almost effortless).
As they traveled toward the hangar, Akea issued one final set of instructions.
"Besh Team, this is Akea Oahu. The Leviathan's entrance platform should be freely accessible. Board the ship and begin calculating a hyperspace route back to the New Republic fleetline as soon as possible. We will ferry the government leaders out my ship, and I will accompany them. I am on my way to the bridge presently. If possible, prep another ship as a decoy. A hyperspace jump isn't necessary for the decoy ship, but if we are able to split any fire directed our way, that alone will greatly improve our safety. Keep me updated pending my arrival."
With that, the serpent and the soldier accompanying him made their way toward the Amity's hangar bay as quickly as they could. Akea, in the meantime, continued his probe into the nearby Force fields, searching for any hint of treachery as they moved.
Dan 20:35, 3 September 2009 (EDT)
It didn't take Akea more than 20 seconds to reach the hangar. The leader of Besh team approached Akea as he entered. He had to yell over the loud background noise of B-wings launching, crews scrambling, and personnel flooding in for evacuations. "Master Oahu, the Leviathan is prepped and ready to go. The New Republic delegation is on-board. Minister Tal ordered an evacuation for all non-essential personnel and has rejected your request for a decoy vessel -- they'll likely all need to be used," he said, motioning to the incoming flood of personnel heading to the shuttles.
"What of the Imperial delegation," the soldier next to Akea asked.
"They were docked externally and fled to their shuttle. I'm not sure if it's launc--" he was interrupted by a loud rumble, causing most of the bipedal beings in the hangar to stumble for balance. Akea had no trouble keeping his. The lighting within the hangar flickered, but remained on. Besh leader did not feel the need to finished his sentence, he just smiled and looked to Akea. "You'd better hurry."
20 seconds passed after Akea's communication with Allanar (I don't mean to jump ahead, you can use that time however you wish), the Jedi Knight received another message on his comlink on the standard military frequency. It was a female voice that he gathered must be Renora, "I've got it, I've got it. Short-range communication system is back online. Give me a--." Her transmission was interrupted by a jolt of the ship, which had clearly taken a hit from something. Renora finished with a different thought, "--what was that?"
Two TIE fighters streaked across the front viewport, with only Allanar in the bridge to see it. The ISD was not in firing range yet, but their fighters sure were. A moment later, he saw two A-wings in pursuit.
Renora was interrupted by one of the guards she had sent down the other hallway. "There's no power sources down there!" he yelled. She responded dismissively, "Forget it, I've got short-range back. Go make yourselves useful somewhere else."
Kirkland 03:22, 5 September 2009 (EDT)
((My next post: Fri Sept. 11))