[Resistance] One Pirate's Trash

[Khindys Kaai]

The thing about being a ragtag rebel movement fighting an unstoppable fascist government was that you were perpetually underfunded.

When General Khindys Kaai had been in the Sector Rangers, new gear had been one munitions request form away. Now that he was in charge of something, he found that it wasn't as easy as the big-budget Republic had made it look; it was a struggle just to keep everyone fed, let alone put power cells in their blasters. Most difficult of all was keeping the Resistance fleet at "full" strength. Going up against Star Destroyers and the other deadly, top of the line First Order craft with what little they could buy cheaply and secretly tended to result in a lot of casualties even when everything went according to plan, and he couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

It was a near-universal truth that, when buying something, you could pick only two out of fast, good, and cheap. Today, with fleet strength depleted by recent raids and cash on the wane, Khin had opted for the first and the last. That was what had brought the blockade runner Fate's Fool and her escorts to the ruined planet of Trenwyth, the site of a long-ago battle that had left it a starship graveyard. These days its rusting carcass was picked over by small communities of scavengers and junk-sellers, almost all of them too small-time to make any use of a full ship hull. But the Resistance had engineers and repair crews now. A bunch of semi-intact hulls could do them some good.

Trenwyth was a temperate planet, cold at the poles but otherwise with highly-variable seasons. It was the planet's autumn now, the huge trees that had grown through the corpses of its ruined cities shedding their leaves in piles that could bury banthas. The Fate's Fool skimmed low over the planet, heading for the coordinates identified by the forward scouts. Soon enough it came into view, a jagged tangle of broken star cruisers that had once belonged to the rival Nagai and Tofs. With some fresh interior systems, they could fight again for a better cause. As for those that couldn't, well, they would at least be useful as materials for patching up more intact warships.

Khin had requested cover from Black Squadron for this mission, along with a ground team to locate particularly salvageable wrecks. It would probably be a milk run and bore the pilots out of their skulls, but he had learned caution in his old age. Anything could go wrong at any time, and if the Resistance was caught even once with its pants down, it might well be enough to finish the ragtag, outgunned movement once and for all. He would rather be called paranoid than have his corpse used in a First Order photo op. "Escorts, this is the Fool. We're beginning our descent to the starship graveyard. Keep an eye out for any unwelcome guests."

((Anyone is welcome: [member="Damon Riggs"], [member="Alexandra Russo"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"], [member="Zamza Ra'Kira"], [member="Evelin Redstar"], [member="Dex Bastion"], [member="Nara Basaar"], [member="Z'Zharen"], [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]))

 

[Alexandra Porte]

The Resistance was scraping at the bottom of the barrel again to come up with equipment, supplies, and ships. It was a never ending story for the rag tag group of freedom fighters, but the struggle made them a lean, mean fighting machine and very inventive to keep themselves going so they could give the good fight to the First Order.

General [member="Khindys Kaai"] was leading them on a salvaging mission to the Outer Rim planet of Trenwyth; basically a ship graveyard left after the Nagai-Tof War ravaged the place. But what was someone else's trash was their treasure the saying went, and hopefully the Rebels would hit themselves a gold mine's worth.

"Fool, this is Black Nine… Three Flight has the CAP. May the Force be with you."

[member="Damon Riggs"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"], [member="Zamza Ra'Kira"], [member="Evelin Redstar"], [member="Dex Bastion"], [member="Nara Basaar"], [member="Z'Zharen"], [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Damon Riggs]

Damon was not flying his ship on this mission. The plan was to get a ship he could take back to the resistance. The last mission Riggs flew saw him at a huge disadvantage. While Alex was used to seeing the battle from the fighters couch, Riggs was used to seeing it from the bridge of a ship where he could call the shots, reroute other ships, call out strategy. If they were going to go up against the First Order, they had to get a couple of ships to go up against the Star Destroyers.

Black Squadron was escorting them, which meant Alex and Damon found themselves separated again. It was good and bad as far as Damon saw things. On one hand it beat smuggling. The two were doing what they had trained to do. The part that was bad was the fact Riggs still could not shake their year long separation after a battle gone way wrong. Breathing in deep, and letting go as Russo's voice came over the comm, Riggs steeled his emotions and went into captain mode. As the ship made its descent, Riggs prepped his team.

"Bridge team on me. Mechanics, you're all going straight to assess the engines and whether or not we can make a viable jump to light speed from here. The rest of you get to work on patching the hull of this thing so we can get home in time for the gravball play offs. I got a hot date, and I sure as hell don't plan on missing it."


[member="Alexandra Russo"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"], [member="Zamza Ra'Kira"], [member="Evelin Redstar"], [member="Dex Bastion"], [member="Nara Basaar"], @Z'Zharen, [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Kangofett]

Emeläz "Em" Aejuj sat in her room abord the Fate's Fool. She was currently tinkering with one of her many gadgets she had in her duffle bag. She was making great progress modifying the mechanism but her mind was elsewhere.

She was thinking of everything she still needed for her ship, Yezrej. Well really it wasn't hers, it was Kango Fetts and she was just using it until he could get out of the war on Mandalore. As always it was her job to keep the ship up and running. She wasn't complaining, she loved the job, it's just there credits would be better spent to by more parts than guns.

That ship needs a lot of love and thats why she took this job. Hired on as a extra mechanic it was her job to get the ships out here up and running again. These guys were a little pressed for credits so a deal was struck that she could scavenge a bit off the wrecks after the job was done. It shouldn't be too hard of a job.

"Bridge team on me. Mechanics, you're all going straight to assess the engines and whether or not we can make a viable jump to light speed from here. The rest of you get to work on patching the hull of this thing so we can get home in time for the gravball play offs. I got a hot date, and I sure as hell don't plan on missing it."

Hearing this Em got up and started gearing up. Putting on all her armor and stomped into her Grav-Boots with Magno-Grip soles. Em picked up her old modified Tie pilot helmet and sealed her suit up. There probably wasn't gona be any air on these ships and defiantly no gravity. Anything that'll help was going with her.

She went through all her gear then went through it again. She made sure her suits oxygen and spare tank both were full and sealed. She also double checked all her tools and other items were in here bag and on her utility belt. Everything looked good. Em picked up her E-11 Blaster Rifle and was ready to head out.

 

[Khindys Kaai]

Spoiler: The Starship Graveyard

It was a good thing that thirdhand cruisers were the Resistance's specialty, because these hulks hadn't flown in ages.

Fate's Fool set down among the giants, engines still hot in case a quick exit was needed. Khin checked the charge on his blaster again, thumbing the safety on and off as he waited by the loading ramp; he'd picked up a few nervous ticks lately, probably from the stress of command. But he needn't worry too much, he assured himself, with [member="Alexandra Russo"] and Black Squadron flying cover. Taking a deep breath, he hit the ramp release and strode out onto the desolate patch of land where the Nagai warships had fallen. Time to find Riggs his new command ship, and as many others as they could possibly haul away. They had hull patches, temporary hyperdrives, and slave circuits in bulk, so the main obstacle was time. It was going to take forever to get these hunks of junk sealed and then limp home with them in tow. But it would be worth it.

"Em, [member="Damon Riggs"]," the general said, addressing the nearest mechanic and the Resistance commander, "you're with me. Let's get a look at the big one, see what we'll need to get her spaceworthy." With that he set off across the broken landscape, his duster flapping behind him in the warm, arid breeze. The smell of dust and corrosion invaded his sensitive nose, and he fought down the urge to sneeze. It wasn't long before he'd reached the aft section of the nearest ship, and he found himself staring through a hull breach at the cavernous interior. The once-proud vessel had been gutted of everything easily portable by scavengers - power couplings, air recyclers, even light fixtures - but she was mostly intact. A few quick-seal patches and some engine repairs and she'd make it back to the secret shipyards at Farstrider Base for an extensive refit. And oh, the guns she could carry then...

"Let's focus on this one," Khin called over his shoulder, dropping through the breach to stand in the tilted, sandy corridors of the ship. He shook his glow-rod into life, holding it above his head to provide eerie orange illumination down the darkened halls; his other hand gripped his blaster, finger on the trigger. There was no telling what kind of predators had made their nests down here. Slowly, steadily, he advanced toward the engine room, the rusted hull creaking beneath his steps. It would be an expensive refit, he mentally amended, but still a hell of a lot less expensive than building a cruiser from scratch. He paused, waiting for the hired mechanic and the naval commander to catch up; it would be both dangerous and impolite to leave them in the dark.

Unbeknownst to the general, the skies above were not occupied by the Resistance alone. Black Squadron's sensors began to light up with contacts, shields raised and weapons charged, approaching from several directions. They were a swarm of smaller ships; visual scans indicated that they were uglies, starfighters cobbled together from the wreckage of several different craft, from X-Wings and TIE Fighters to Vulture Droids and Cloakshapes. All were on an attack vector, all painted with a pirate insignia: two black fangs atop a red diamond. Whoever they were, they didn't seem interested in talking. No, they were angry, angry that the scavenging site they had claimed as their own was being disturbed...

[member="Kango Fett"]

 

[Kangofett]

"Em, Damon Riggs, you're with me. Let's get a look at the big one, see what we'll need to get her spaceworthy."

"Aferm Sir."

Setting off after the General, Em scanned the horizons for anyone who might be hiding for ambush.

"Let's focus on this one"

The ship he was indicating was ruff to say the least. A lot of it looked scavenged. For Em it was a sore site to see such a beautiful beast rotting away like this. But she wasn't here to gaze at the ship. She was here to repair the engines, if there were any engines left.

As she walked up to the haul breach the General had just went through she scanned the area one last time. She couldn't see anyone out there but you could never be too carful.

Switching on her night vision she dropped through the breach. Landing in a crouched position she did a 360 scan then got up and loosened her rifle sling just a bit. She fallowed the general towards the engine room hovering a few paces behind with her rifle at the ready.

[member="khindys kaai"]