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)