Drifters [Protectorate Dominion of Vandelhelm]

[Allaina Mare]

Vandelhelm.

In the aftermath of the little cataclysm in which hell had decided to swallow a great number of people whole, a lot was transpiring. Command and control networks were going down all over the Galaxy and sovereignty found itself becoming considerably more tenuous as the powers-that-be scrambled for control of their territory once more. This had to change. This had to be stymied before the disease that was destruction engulfed all things once again.

Over Vandelhelm, a military command world of the Omega Protectorate, a ship appeared. By all outwards appearances, it was just a derelict hulk of a huge battleship, something older, not seen for a considerable amount of time. Were this any other world, it would have simply been passed over. This was a planet so defended that it was a fortress.

For Omega, however, it was different. This was a ship of theirs: an ancient vessel, one crafted in the days before they had become the Protectorate. Transmitting a code almost six years old, this vessel was thought lost, its crew having travelled out into the Unknown Regions never to be seen again. But here it was.

The Invicta-class star battlecruiser. The first dedicated major battleship of the Pyre.

Its comm hissed, an emergency channel used as the battered hulk drifted over the planet below. Its hull was gutted, patchwork repairs done over the course of many years a sign of battle, wear and tear taking as much toll as injury.

"Admi... Allana Mare... ma... y.... mayday."

And upon the bridge of the derelict ghost ship... there she was. Allaina Mare. What was left of her bridge crew struggled to maintain control of their vessel. One way or another, they needed assistance. Fast.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Allaina Mare"]


More than a decade ago Vandelhelm had been conquered by Omega Pyre in a moderately exciting skirmish against pirates that plagued the miners who called the planet home. Once upon a time the planet had also been home to a massive thresher maw, but the great wurm had perished during the battle after Mare's Inimica blew it up. The planet itself was not particularly remarkable or exciting, save for being rich in ores that had been exploited by Omega Star Corps and now by Firemane Industries, the corporation created by [member="Tegaea Alcori"] and Siobhan Kerrigan, founding members and former leaders of the Omega Protectorate.


It was strategically located on the Rimma Trade Route, which had made it a useful avenue during Omega's southward expansion that had taken its legions to worlds as distant as Eriadu, Gehenna and in more recent times Druckenwell. But now that the great conflagration had swept across the galaxy, the once proud empire now lay broken. Irreparably? That remained to be seen.



Regardless, the emergency transmission sent by Allaina Mare would not go unnoticed, for though the message was garbled and there was plenty of interference, it was received by the Firemane command base located deep within the mountainous planet. This writer is not sure about how immense battleships like the Invicta would get past the Vandelhelm Cloud, which was said to be an asteroid field so dense that it extremely hindered space travel for all but small ships, but then again this had not stopped the Protectorate from setting up a FLEETCOM base in the system, so who knew.



Anyhow, it was in the command bunker that Colonel Raeder received word. "Ma'am, you got to see this. This battleship just came out of nowhere. They're broadcasting to us over an emergency channel...quality is awful, but it seems they're requesting aid," a comms officer said. "Playing message now."



"Admi.Allana Mare...ma...y...mayday."


Raeder frowned as she listened to the transmission and took it in. "Anything else? Can you improve the quality?" she demanded. Mare...it took a while for her to search her memory before she could place the name. "First the lights go out and Fondor goes offline, then ghosts return," she muttered more to herself than anyone else.


"Sorry, ma'am. That's the best we can get. Scans indicate the battleship has suffered severe structural damage. It's held together by spit and duct tape."


"It could be a trap," another officer threw in, a Firemane officer and veteran of many campaigns. "Old ghost ship suddenly popping is way too convenient. Bando Gora remnants, anyone? And who the hell is this Mare anyway?"


Raeder waved these concerns aside as if they were buzzing insects. "Former OP admiral from the old days. Way back. You kids were in high school then. Anyway, open up a comms channel with them. Send ships up to make sure whether the message is not just a ruse. If it's genuine, make sure we're ready to aid. And pass on the transmission to the ODF. If it's a ruse, we need that hulk blown out of space before it falls on our heads."

 

[Felicity Mason]

To say Felicity was tired would be like saying the sky on Naboo was blue, or sometimes people wear hats. It was so obvious, Felicity didn't even think about it anymore. She stared out the viewport of the Inferno at the eternal black. Where were they even? Naboo was supposed to be an easy trip, but with all the chaos in the Galaxy at the moment, her navigation systems were temporarily offline and she was lost. She hadn't told this to [member="Owain"] though. He had faith enough in her to let her fly him halfway across the Galaxy to go see her Mother, after all...

Thank the force the fuel tanks were full before they left, but at this rate, wandering around would deplete them well before reaching Naboo. Maybe she should just stop at the next world she found? Maybe send out a distress call? It wasn't an emergency yet, but...
Something blinked on the dash. Sleepily, she leaned over to get a look at it. Huh. The ship was picking something up. Ahead. How... fun. Her eyes were drifting closed, she was starting to nod off to sleep.

"Admi... Allana Mare... ma... y.... mayday."

She jolted awake again a second later. Static. All she could hear now was static. She shook her head, leaning back in the pilots seat to sleep again.

...Wait! She jerked awake again, running a hand through her hair. Could she get a message through? She tried, but no. She was still out of range. Maybe she could get directions! This was Protectorate territory, well, she thought so. Maybe someone there could help her get a message to Naboo. Maybe they knew if her Mother was safe!

"Owain!" she called, "Owain, check this out!"

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Allaina Mare"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Vandelhelm - The surface

Coryth had been quietly tucked away in a back office doing paperwork for more medical doctors and aides to be assigned to Vandelhelm. A sigh came as she placed her signature on the last of the documents. It could be said she was a bit grumpy with the situation at present. "Feth, this is not what I signed up for. I did not sign up for ten million tons of paperwork. And we are supposed to be a paperless society!" Grumbled to herself as she heard a sudden knock at her door. "As if setting up bounties for certain war criminals wasn't enough.... Now more paperwork."

"Sorry to bother you Master Elaris, but we seem to have a problem."

"Define problem. Cause the stars know I have about fifteen problems I need to be managing, all of them annoying."

"There's a ship ... It's uh ... We.."

"Yes?"

"We got a brief and broken up distress signal only moments ago."

"Well I suppose that tops the list I had." Coryth sighed heavily. "These means more paperwork, doesn't it?"

The aid only nodded as she followed him out. "Let's hear this." She said as she came out in to see what all the fuss was about.

"Admi... Allana Mare... ma... y.... mayday."

"Send ships up immediately, determine if this is just a ruse. If not, we must aid them in anyway possible."

"Do you want to go with us?"

Coryth shook her head, "No, for now I shall remain here. Once the situation is clearer, perhaps then I join you. For now, someone should stay here."

"Also we should send a message see if we can get through." Another quickly went over to set that up for Coryth. "Allana Mare, this is Coryth Elaris on Vandelhelm, do you read?"


[member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Allaina Mare"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Needless to say even Vandelhelm, despite being terribly boring ever since the thresher haw had been blown up, had been hit by the massive cataclysm. As such its already not that impressive population, which mostly consisted of miners and military personnel, had been reduced since all of a sudden people started vanishing. Needless to say this had been quite unnerving for those left behind. Panic had broken out, unrest, a few suicides had happened as well since some humans had somewhat melodramatically flung themselves from cliffs. Or just hung themselves, which was slightly less dramatic. Order was being restored though, but events on Corellia had caused another massive plummet in morale.



And this was the moment when yet another of this writer's HRDs entered the thread. The assassin droid had just rebooted and now strode into Coryth's office. Every step was smooth, precise, controlled. Perfectly in snych, her features pictureperfect. It was the face of an Eldorai Angelii who had died more than a century ago. She cocked her head to the side as she looked upon the Jedi Master, who was apparently being buried in the tedium of bureaucracy. "Master Elaris, I see you are plagued by paperwork. Would you like me to kill someone for you?" she asked in her most deadpan tone, leaving it open whether she was trolling or not.

 

[Owain]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Stumbling out of the cabin where they slept, the raven-haired youth stifled a yawn, putting on his shirt. "What is it SOngbird?" he grumbled. He never was fond of mornings, even when in the military. Now he was a civilian again, he relished in the oppotunity to sleep in. Except whenever Felicity was concerned. She was such a go-getter. COuldn't just lie in bed and relax. CLearly she had inheirted her mother's attitude to work.

 

[Felicity Mason]

For the first time since they left Imerria, Felicity felt a tiny pang of hope. She pointed to the monitor excitedly.

"Look! Out there, you can see it from the viewport too! Two ships so far. I think one of them might be in distress! The other one, I think, is a rescue ship! It must be a Protectorate ship, [member="Owain"]! Don't you know what this means?"

She didn't wait for him to answer. She pointed to the co-pilots seat as she moved the ship closer.

"This means they must have access to a reliable communicator. They must know what's happening to Naboo! They probably know about my mother too!"

 

[Owain]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

Suppressing a groan, he made his way to one side of the cockpit and peered out at the black vastness of space. His eyes could somewhat make out the ships Felicity was referring to. "How do you know it's Protectorate?" he asked suspiciously. Last time the two of them had been in space they had run into pirates after all.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"Yes, yes I would." The redhead said without looking up at all. Because if there was one thing in this Universe that Coryth could not stand to suffer through, it was the agony of bureaucratic paperwork. Coryth glanced quickly and turned to the HRD beside her. And perhaps it was being such the Master Empath that she was, that she detected instantly that the woman was not Eldorai, but definitely HRD. This she realized that maybe it would be wise to edit that statement. "Just not literally, please. Because that requires far too much paperwork."

She was till left to wonder where the hell the ship came from exactly and how it ended up in that shape. You know, knowing my luck it will be the second coming of Cthulhu. There's always another Cthulhu. For now all she could do was wait for a reply from the ship in distress.

It was then that another soldier came to her. "Ma'am it seems there is another ship up there."

"One of ours?"

"Uncertain ma'am."

"Open a channel."

"Yes ma'am."

With the channel open, she spoke, "Unidentified ship, this is Master Elaris on Vandelhelm. Please identify yourselves."

It was about that moment when she heard pounding on the door outside where they were now. "The hell is it now?" About Cthulhu? Yeah ... this is totally going to be one of those days. Arguing and shouting could be heard. "Would someone go see who that is? And unless they are bleeding, missing an arm, dying, or there is a giant space monster threatening to eat the planet, tell them to pipe down. They can wait." Yeah the little redhead was starting to get pissed as situation after situation was coming up and the stress was starting to build.

[member="Owain"] | [member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Caerys Argente"] | [member="Allaina Mare"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity had been about to answer, when she received a transmission from the ship itself. She grinned, more than happy to reply. She'd been right. This was protectorate. They were saved.
... wait. What was the appropriate way to respond?

"This is Felicity Mason, " she responded uncertainly, "f-from Naboo. My mother is Feenarah Mason, current Monarch. Our navigation systems went offline. My companion and I have been out here for hours. We request.... um, hey, you wouldn't happen to have news about Naboo, would you?"

Okay. She could fly the ship just fine, but she was still young.

[member="Owain"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"I see. Yes, yes, I recall that." If only vaguely. She gave a pause, debating how to say this delicately. "Not directly from Naboo but if what has happened on Kaeshana, Duro, Corellia and here is happening everywhere then, yes. I do have news." Breathing in, and then out she sighed. "It seems that roughly half the population in the galaxy has disappeared. If my visions are accurate ... Into some kind of underworld like place."

Even this was far too insane for her, "It's complicated, I'm afraid." And certainly not the kind of conversation she wanted to be having over a com. This kind of bad news she felt like delivering personally, face to face. But alas, Coryth didn't always get her wish.

[member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Owain"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Caerys looked as close to sulky as she could when Coryth did not let her go kill someone. "If you allowed me to keep your minions in line through selective terminations, they would be less inclined to bombard you with substantial amounts of paperwork," she said deadpan. Again, her tone left it unclear whether she was trolling or not. Maybe she was just bored. Could assassin droids get bored?



Then she heard the news that apparently lots of ships were popping up. One of them supposedly a ghost ship commanded by a former Protectorate admiral. "The sudden popularity of Vandelhelm is bizarre. This planet is utterly unremarkable. Never min d the fact that the dense asteroid field called the Vandelhelm Cloud precludes the use of larger ships. I imagine this is, as organics say, being 'handwaved'. Then again, people randomly vanish by the millions. Vanished into an underworld? Logic has suffered another blow." Apparently it was a rule among HRDs that they had to be incredibly snarky. It helped that she quite literally did not care about the opinion of other people. Or about the state of the Galaxy in general.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Felicity went quiet for a moment, trying to process what she heard. It sounded like she was telling her that she knew about as much As much as anybody. That couldn't be right. But wait. What was that about an underworld? And visions? Oh! She was a space wizard too! She gave Owain something like an apologetic look. She knew how nervous they made him.
At the word Corellia, felicity went pale. That was it! Corellia! The planet from her vision! She remembered Now! Now that she had a planet to put to her vision, she could warn someone. If it wasn't already too late.

"Master Elaris, I would like to request permission to dock. It's been a long trip. I missed breakfast, lunch and now dinner. I need directions to Naboo from here. And on top of that, there is something I need to urgently warn the people of Corellia about."

[member="Owain"]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth chuckled a little and shook her head, "Unfortunately if I let you do that, the paperwork would be absolute murder." The tiny redheaded woman completely deadpanned.

Glancing up to the HRD, she shrugged. "Truthfully I do not know. I only needed to come here to deal with the medical aid that was requested in light of the events... Mostly to place my signature on things and head home. I did not expect this mess." This was all too much, and truthfully she hated being in a position of power. Dealing with the bureaucratic mess like this was not in her.

Finally one of the men in the room rushed forward to Coryth, "Ma'am sorry to interrupt but it seems there is a small group of ships that just dropped out of hyperspace, looks like pirates."

"I want ships sent to intercept. They are going to try and use this situation to their advantage and attack. Disable or destroy. Do what needs to be done. And you..." She pointed to Caerys, "I think I have a job for you. Get on one of the ships, head for the Invicta.... Save anyone you can, and if the pirates manage to get aboard, end the situation." With a sigh she watched as the soldier raced from the room and others scrambled.

Then she turned back to the com. "Felicity, please come on down and we'll talk. For there is much to discuss." The Jedi didn't feel the need to break the bad news over the comlink when it was so much better to do that in person.

[member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Caerys Argente"] | [member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

"Wait, our navigaiton system went offline?! When were you planning on telling ME this?!" demanded Owain, glancing at Felicity in annoyance as she did her diplomatic duty to get them out of this mess. And oh joy, another space wizard. SUppressing a grimace, the boy headed for the storeroom. There were a few of the lower grade weapons stashed about. Never hurt to be sure. Shaking his head, he entered the room and set about picking the best weapons for...well, whatever the heck was going on. Blaster? Yes. Sword? Yes. Knige? Yes. Genades? Yes yes yes. Pistol? Yes. Spare saber? Nononononono.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


"I would suggest that if you agreed to be processed, it would significantly boost your patience, processing power and analytical ability, thereby ending bureaucratic tedium. But I do not like too many HRDs running around. And machines based on an organic mind are clearly inferior. Too illogical and tainted," Caerys said deadpan. Droid racism for the win!



However, she clearly became more interested when suddenly a messenger rushed in and said something about pirates. Now that was more like it! She gave Coryth a nod after the Jedi Master had spoken. "Yes, ma'am," she said blandly before turning away and heading out. She would stop at her quarters, which she barely ever used since she did not need to sleep beyond a one hour time-out where she presumably downloaded updates and recharged, to grab her weapons and then quickly head to the hangar, where she would board one of the heavily armoured transport ships. As per Coryth's order, confirmed by Firemane and the ODF, what was left ot he fleet was already scrambling to intercept the ships that had just appeared out of thin air.

 

[Allaina Mare]

[member="Coryth Elaris"] | [member="Caerys Argente"] | [member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Owain"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Aboard the Invicta, things were a different story.

What remained of her decimated crew struggled to keep the power and life support going. Obviously eithe rthe ship had been drifting for some time, but they were trapped aboard; yes, they had a few Inimica-class gunships available, but the hangars were blocked off and they couldn't launch. It was a dire situation for what was left of the skeleton crew of the massive vessel of war. The only way in and out was one of the docking rings, used for larger ship-to-ship docking such as resupply.

"Someone get me some working communications!" screamed the Admiral as she took the helm herself - without a helmsman, Allaina had to take the task herself. As a venerated pilot, working her way up through the ranks of the Pyre behind the sticks of fighters before she'd proposed the Sentinel Protocol and all its Phase II starfighters, she was a damn good hand. The only hand left aboard this ship who could bring them home at this point.

"Signal's sketchy, boss lady, but I've got something," her communications officer offered to the redhead. It'd have to do.

"Protectorate forces - power failing. Docking ring three is act-" was all Allaina managed before the line hissed dead. Sketchy was an understatement.

Here was hoping they could get them safely away before the ship died and they ran out of oxygen.

 

[Felicity Mason]

...Wait. Did she want hr on board or not? Feena had a hard time with sarcasm.
"...Uhh... Okay," she responded reluctantly, "I'm heading in now."

She chose to go with the last thing she said, inviting her to speak with her face to face. Would be easier, she supposed. As she gently guided the ship into the docking bay, she shrugged at Owain.

"You were sleeping," she explained, "And you would have only freaked out at me. Look, I took care of it, right?"

[member="Owain"] [member="Allaina Mare"] [member="Caerys Argente"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Allaina Mare"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]



The once powerful Invicta, in days long past the pride of the flegdling fleet of Omega, was dying. Bit by bit the ship was being torn apart. In a way it was symptomatic of the state of the Galaxy in general after ot had been torn asunder and engulfed in the fires of chaos.



"Invicta, we are docking. Begin evacuation now."


However, help would be coming for the skeleton crew that was still manning the battleship. Allaina's message, though the line had hissed dead, had been received and evac ships were quickly rushing to the docking rings to dock there and provide an avenue of escape as the titanic vessel of war went down. Caerys was on board one of the evac ships as it intiiated docking procedures at docking ring three. Even as it did so, the massive leviathan of war that was the Invicta shuddered powerfully. Time was clearly short...

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"I'll see you soon." Coryth said with a heavy sigh. Not my day. At all. She thought to herself.

It was then that she turned to one of the officers near by as he motioned her over to listen to the new message from the derelict vessel. "Protectorate forces - power failing. Docking ring three is act-"

Coryth ran a slow hand through her hair, before she spoke, "Let them know that help is on the way. We'll evac them as quick as possible.... And warn our forces of the pirates that are incoming. They're going to be more than just an annoying blip on the screen any second now. And keep sending the message to the Invicta, on the off chance it might get through."

"And lastly, make sure Caerys is aware of the pirates. That threat has to be ended fast. Before further death happens this day."

It was then that she headed to meet Felicity, in a nearby conference room. It was not a conversation she was looking forward to having by any means. After all Corellia had fallen to the Sith. Ayden had blown up FLEETCOM, and the shipyards over the planet killing untold thousands. She was still getting casualty reports from sources on the ground there. More numbers, more names of those to have been confirmed killed. All of it, ticking up to one horrific and brutal act of the now war criminal Ayden Cater. As bad as it was getting those reports, it was going to be worse to have to inform the Omega Protectorate as a whole of his actions. Something she might actually have to do if Sarge didn't return from whatever fresh hell he seemed to be in, as she'd yet to been able to contact him. For the moment, she'd assumed him among the missing billions across the galaxy.

[member="Felicity Mason"] | [member="Owain"] | [member="Caerys Argente"]