Drifters [Protectorate Dominion of Vandelhelm]

[Owain]

[member="Felicity Mason"]

"Damn right I would have freaked out. I would have had time to get to grips with it as well. So instead I'm freaking out NOW. DO you have ANY idea what could have happened?!" the boy called from the room, joining Felicity in his gear. He could feel his muscles tensed up beneath the layers of protection engulfing him. The black-haired youth glared at the blonde before sighing and slumping. "SO who are our lovely rescuers? Slavers who will sell you and kill me?" he added in a deadpan tone.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Fondor
Orbit

Duro was under control, and that was good for them. Those food processors would be invaluable, as would its location on the trade route; that didn't even begin to mention the shipyards which would have to make up for Corellia. Sarge would not be pleased to learn that planet had fallen to the One Sith, but they had anticipated that eventuality long ago; they'd just figured they'd have a chance to defend it.

But things happened which were beyond mortal understanding, and that meant you couldn't always get what you wanted.

The Leviathan had been painted over, going full on matte black the color of the void. They grey 'I' of the Inquisition was painted on both sides of the vessel at midship, and as he looked out the viewport he saw the Spirit floating, gently circling as it rotated above their polluted capital world. Well, it was cleaner now, but that wasn't saying too much. The Spirit was what was left of what they'd had on Corellia; not even Cater had come with.

They'd have to live with that. The only other option was leaving their stations to the One Sith, and frankly, that wasn't going to happen. Thankfully Ayden was the most paranoid man Hastings ever had the displeasure of knowing of, and it allowed him to plan for such things as the total collapse of Protectorate control of a vital world; something most would find unthinkable.

A message blinked on his datapad and he raised it, eyes closing faintly only to reopen in surprise. Allaina was back? Hrm....

"Set a course for Vandelhelm. The Inquisition is coming."

The Leviathan began to turn, angling towards the edge of the system. A few minutes later, it elongated and disappeared into Hyperspace.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"]


Word of what had happened on Corellia was spreading slowly, but word would soon travel. Suffice to say it was not conducive to keeping faith in the Protectorate. What with one of its founding members and former leaders dropping shipyards on his own planet, causing an untold number of casualties.


The nation seemed to be coming apart by the seams and falling into chaos. For many Eldorai it was a sobering reminder that perhaps they would have to look to themselves for protection first if that was the Protectorate's idea of defence, even if the perceptive knew that they could not withstand the coming storm alone. Fortunately Seraph Kaida Taldir was an Eldorai soldier first. Actually, that was where her sole loyalty lay. Likewise the only one of the Protectorate's human leaders she had felt some connection or loyalty to was Alcori, who had retired long ago and had now disappeared into the underworld.


She looked out of the viewport into the dark, fathomless void of space on the bridge of the Thrax. The Queen-Exarch [member="Anya Venari"] had commanded them to aid the Protectorate. Privately Kaida had strong doubts about using Eldorai resources for a nation that razed its own planets, but orders were orders. In the absence of Grand Seraph Aeda Shaytari, she was the ranking Angelii commander. Word was that Scutarii corsairs might be raiding...or something worse. As a world Vandelhelm was fairly dull, though Firemane and Star Corp had strong mining interests there, and it was strategically positioned on the way to several prize worlds that the Protectorate would need to regain if it wanted to rise again from the ashes. Assuming others did not beat it to the punch.


Kaida gave a nod of acknowledgement as the Captain gave the order to jump to hyperspace. Destination Vandelhelm. "Kaeshana expects every Eldorai to do her duty," she spoke more to herself than anyone else. No room for doubt, for it was little mind-killer. In a flash the warship vanished into hyperspace.

 

[Felicity Mason]

She'd managed to guide the ship inside the hangar safe and sound, not a scratch on her. The Inferno was a difficult girl to handle. Daddy always said that, but Felicity was feeling pretty good about things so far. She hadn't crashed yet, at least. Maybe she found her hidden talent after all!

"These are not pirates, Owain. Master Elaris is a Protectorate Officer who-" She shut down the engines, turning to Owain with wide eyes, "Owain Barnabus! You are not bringing all that with you! One blaster, that's it! You don't want to make them think we're trying to rob the place, do you?"

She stood up, dusting off her wrinkled dress. She wished she'd been able to change before she left, maybe grab some supplies like food, spare clothing, a hair brush even. But She'd left the instant she found out that her father was missing. So stupid. So like her. Maybe she could borrow a spare uniform or something? Something a little easier to move in. This dress was made to be pretty. It was not made for comfort.

She sighed, hands on her hips. "Put the grenades back, [member="Owain"] And the sword."

 

[Rhen Qel-Droma]

Vandelhelm

The Corellian Jedi Knight here was to continue his investigation on the massive amounts of disappearances. The fact that there was a curious feel to the Force worried him so.

Touching down with his ship upon the dusty world, the older Green Jedi Knight would make his way into atmosphere. A call for mayday had been sent, and it was his mission to determine if he should render any aide or not.

Worry would crease his face, furrowing his brow.

By the Force, what could be responsible for this?

 

[Tilda Sai]

Omega Protectorate Vessel

Major Anika Od'Manteiv was considered to be the "Eye in the Sky"

And she was. The steely blue eyed Anaxi would stand before the bridge of the Protectorate ship of the line. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her back straight, and her complete and utter focus upon the several different holographic screens before her.

She was here to be a reference point for the many Protectorate Forces. A guide.

In the wake of millions disappearing, she was that one constant light that would not go out.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The Leviathan dropped out of hyperspace over Vandelhelm, the long blocky vessel immediately opening to expel the eight frigates held within its length. Forming up around the larger vessel like the fish that clung to a mantas wings, the great Inquisition vessel scanning the local airspace and then making its assessment. "[member="Anika Od'Manteiv"]. I need you to get me in contact with [member="Allaina Mare"] and whoever is in control of Protectorate vessels in this area."

Delegation at its finest.

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth stood waiting in the hangar to greet Felicity, though the little redhead had a feeling that would not be the only person to greet her there. The Jedi Master took in a brief calming breath, trying to let all of the stresses of the day go in this one tiny moment of peace and quiet. It was probably the only moment she was going to get before even more hell came to her front door. Stars knew enough had already fallen into her lap this day. And as the old saying goes, when it rains it pours.

Ships were already on at the Invicta, helping to evacuate. Coryth impatiently tapped a foot as she ran through her thoughts quickly to make sure nothing was missed. She certainly felt like she had done so at this point.

A soldier back in the command center raced to meet with Coryth. "Ma'am we have the Leviathan entering our space now." The redhead nodded, "Give them an update to the situation and see if they can assist. That and take care of the damn pirates. Someone anyone needs to manage that." Yup, the Jedi was completely getting frustrated as the man ran back off to send the word. This was so not in my job description. I totally blame HK for this. Completely. Is this an admission that you are in over your head? Yes, yes it is.

Outside, the pirates had made their way to the Invitca and had managed to get a single team on board who were now heading towards [member="Caerys Argente"] and the evacuees. Soon bound to get extremely messy for the HRD and those on the ship trying to escape.

[member="Felicity Mason"] [member="Anika Od'Manteiv"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

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


While the Vandelhelm system as becoming terribly crowded, a state of events that seemed to disregard the fact that the extremely vast and dense asteroid field called the Vandelhelm Cloud made it impossible to safely pass through with anything except rather small ships, evac ships had docked at the docking rings of the Invicta. The massive battleship shuddered and looked like it was about to fall into pieces, evacuation had to happen fast.



The team was trying to get in touch with Admiral Mare and what was left of her skeleton crew, but then corsairs intervened. After all, it would be too easy if everyone could just leave the space hulk. Doubtless the corsairs had been attracted by the hope of pillaging Vandelhelm, but such a titanic vessel was too tempting a target to pas up. Shots were fired, blasterfire rained down upon the small band of Omegan soldiers and grenades were lobbed in, all amidst the Invicta going the way of entropy and gradually decomposing.


Unfortunately for the corsairs as they charged down the landing ramp and cut down some of the surprised Omegans, there happened to be an HRD aboard. The lighting had long been blown out in this section, but then she had infrared. As fierce gunfire developed and bolters barked, Caerys seemed to vanish into the shadows, not joining the firefight but sneaking up behind the corsairs. As a corsair and his comrades tried to come at the Omegans from the flanks to suppress them, he would abruptly find his movements halted dead in their tracks as powerful, mechanical arms wrapped around his throat - and then in a brutal snap his neck broken.


Her sudden appearance caught his comrades by surprise...just for a second or two as they spun and levelled their weapons on her. Those two seconds would cost them dearly. In a blur her vibroknife sailed through the air and embedded itself in the eye of one of the corsairs, who fell over with a scream, his blaster firing blindly on instinct and spraying blaster bolts across the roof and wall. Caerys' other hand grabbed the arm of the dead pirate whose neck had been snapped, using his own gun to take out two more pirates before giving him a violent shove into another corsair, causing the latter to fall. The fallen pirate managed to grab a blaster and fired upon her, but the rounds did not seem to stop her as she advanced quickly. A gurgle was heard as she smashed her foot into his throat, killing him.


It was then that a frag grenade was tossed her way and Caerys ran, picking up the pace at breakneck speed but she was still caught as the deadly ball exploded and she was tossed down by the blast, shrapnel showered her. Smoke coiled off her body as parts of her armour were dented, synthflesh burnt to reveal metal upon her face. Corsairs were pulling back, trying to spread out and raining blaster bolts upon her, also lobbing in ion grenades after they had seen her true nature. Needless to say this the HRD could not allow and so she broke into a very fast sprint before leaping through the air. Her landing seemed to catch the corsairs off-balance as she suddenly appeared in their midst. One got her boot smashed into his kidney, another suffered when her elbow was rammed into his solar plexus, finally the last was plain and simply grabbed by the shoulder when he tried to stab her with a vibroblade and bashed into the wall with such force that she ended up breaking his jaw.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

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



And so the Thrax slipped out of hyperspace above Vandelhelm, the shark-shaped vessel came in tow with a number of smaller ships and corvettes. As it happened the Eldorai flotilla had just arrived in the same moment as piratical elements descended upon the Invicta like a host of angry, alien locusts. Or a bunch of self-entitled children pouncing upon cake.


Oh, and the 4km Leviathan was in play and situated above the planet. All in all, Vandelhelm was getting terribly crowded in a rather short span of time. Presumably the corsairs had not expected this when they decided it would be a jolly idea to go on a raid. Anyhow, crews aboard the Eldorai battleship rushed to their battle stations and fighters were scrambled into the cold void of space as the flotilla found itself under fire from the confused and presumably quite angry corsairs, who were already being engafed by the Firemane vessels in space.


Space was lit up as laser cannons sent scarlet beams surging through the void, accompanied by missiles and the Eldorai fighters fell upon the corsairs like vicious birds of prey hungry for a kill. Communication was sent to the Leviathan, making enquiries, likewise to whoever was in charge on the ground on Vandelhelm. Kaida Taldir watched the display impassively, kitted out in a prototype of the new cortosis armour the Eldorai had been developing before the Galaxy went dark and trillions of souls vanished into the depths of the fathomless void.

 

[Felicity Mason]

Without bothering to hear Owains protests, Felicity lowered the ramp and disappeared from view. She had to be diplomatic now, and that meant knowing when to stand her ground on an issue, make it clear when it was not up for discussion. It was what Mother would do, anyway. Felicity had learned at least a little bit from her by now.

I look like a mess, she thought to herself, catching her reflection on the smooth surface of her fathers ship. Well, nothing to do about it now. She ran a hand quickly through her tangled blonde hair facing the approaching Master with a smile and a shallow nod of greeting.

"I don't... really know how to thank you properly. Just for being here at the right time," she laughed nervously, "I err.. You're Master Elaris, right?"

How awkward would it be if she was talking to someone else entirely?

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

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth smiled softly, though the expression didn't follow through to her eyes. Things were just a little too grim for that. "It's not a problem. Glad to be of service." And talking with you completely beats me having to do paperwork. Reaching out, she extended her hand to shake the young woman's. "Yes, but please ... Just call me Coryth. Haven't a need for the title really."

The redhead sighed heavily, "It'd probably be best for you to sit down to discuss the happenings in the galaxy, and Corellia. I have a conference room available if you'd like to follow me there." With that the Jedi turned, expecting for Felicity to follow along with her. "If there is any way that we may help you, please let us know."

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

 

[Felicity Mason]

The young Princess let out the breath she'd been holding. Thank the stars! She'd been so afraid she was being rude. She reached to shake her hand.

"Alright then... Coryth," she said slowly, testing the name out, "Um. You can just call me Felicity then. And Owain is... still on the ship. He's my Boyfr- Bodyguard. Yes."

Smooth recovery. Well, it wasn't like she was lying. She was sure Owain was protective of her like a bodyguard. Maybe. Well, he was more useful in a combat situation than she was, much as she hated to admit it. He had way more experience than her.

"Yeah, Corellia, that's actually what I wanted to warn about. It's really-" she heard her own stomach grumble and she blushed. With an awkward little smile she shuffled her feet. "You asked if you could help us. Um... you wouldn't happen to have something to eat, would you?"

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

 

[Kaida Taldir]

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


And so there had been slaughter. Presumably this was just another day at work for a murderous kill-bot. Plenty of dead pirates littered the area. Amidst the heavy firepower of the Omegan soldiers and the dispassionate bloody-mindedness of the HRD the corsairs fell one by one. All the while the Invicta shuddered, rocked and in general appeared like it was about to fall apart any moment.



Hopefully Mare and crew would hurry up soon. Well, all pirates were dead except one, who was trying in vain to flee. Unfortunately for him, Caerys had not seen enough bloodshed today. The pirate was injured since a blaster bolt had struck his foot so he was limping, then with a leap Caerys came at him. An ion blaster held by a shaky hand fired upon her and then an ion grenade was tossed. The shock from the ion detonation made her twitch and shake badly, but she advanced nonetheless, implacable, inexorable. A vibroblade crashed down into the pirate's hand with the force of a hurricane, his other arm was plain and simply ripped off as she grabbed it. Then he was finally put out of his misery when she broke his neck.


Man, you'd think the Apocalypse would make the Galaxy friendlier to pirates, but apparently they were still being slaughtered a lot. Transmission was sent to Master Elaris. It was curt, concise, to the point. "Hostiles terminated. Awaiting crew for evacuation." Hopefully they would get a move on and show up soon.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"Of course, Felicity." Coryth said with a small polite bow of her head. A nod followed at the mention of Owain, "I'll leave someone here to escort him to the conference room then."

"It's not a problem, I'll have something brought for you." Snapping she got the attention of another in the hangar, "I need something brought to the conference room, for Felicity to eat. Muffins, fruit and the like would be fine, I'd assume." Even she had yet to have the time to actually sit down to something to eat. Anything at this point was welcome to her as well.

It was then that she opened the door to the conference room, and motioned for Felicity to go ahead. "I fear the warning has come too late with regards to Corellia. I'm still getting reports of dead, wounded and missing in from people we have on the ground there. It's ... complicated I'm afraid." Coryth sighed heavily, such a bad day for the redhead.

With so much weighing on her mind the Jedi took a seat herself. It was only seconds that she'd spent in the chair before her comlink beeped, glancing down she pressed a button and listened to the message. "Hostiles terminated. Awaiting crew for evacuation."

"Good, good, get moving. If she doesn't come willingly and soon you have full permission to find [member="Allaina Mare"] and drag her from the ship by the hair on her head if that is what it takes."

Her focus then shifted back to the young princess. "Corellia," A heavy sigh again followed, "Was attacked by the One Sith, and for reasons that we cannot clarify at this point, Ayden Cater blew up FLEETCOM after emerging from hyperspace, and the shipyards to follow. The pieces fell to the planet below, killing upwards of 250,000 innocent lives, as well as our own people from contractors to ODF, and much more. I'm still getting reports on that now. I'm sorry." She said quietly, knowing how she felt when she herself had visions like that, knowing somewhere something horrible had happened, only to find out she was too late to prevent any of it. "He's being declared a war criminal and a bounty posted for his arrest." Another sigh came as Coryth ran a hand through her own fiery locks. "I wish I had better news on that front, but I'm afraid that there is nothing save for terrible news there. Again, I am so sorry."

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

 

[Amnell de Portiers]

[member="Caerys Argente"]

Amnell was siting back on the surface, waiting impatiently for Caerys to return. In no way was the young woman capable of really helping out Caerys beyond her current repairs and upgrades. It was all the girl could do. And the waiting was killing her, for she worried very much that her new HRD friend ... well caretaker would be more appropriate, was not going to make it back. Granted the droid was extremely skilled, that Amnell knew, but the question remained whether her repairs on the HRD would hold, if they were good enough. Her fear was that somehow she'd have failed the death machine, that she'd somehow grown attached to recently.

Nine whistled to Amnell, a bit annoyed with her and how much she was fretting.

"I'm not that worried."

His beep in reply protested. "Are too."

"No. I'm not. I just ... am not confident that I've done her justice in the repairs I made on her on Duro or Ossus. And now here..... Okay, so maybe I'm a little worried."

"You're getting attached again." Whistled a little more annoyed with her.

"So what if I am? You're just jealous that I might have another droid in my life."

"And?! I have every reason to be worried. You don't keep me updated and repaired as well when you get more droids in your life."

'Hush you." With that she turned back to fiddling with a circuit board to keep her mind distracted while Caerys was up above in space somewhere, helping the protectorate how she could.

 

[Rhen Qel-Droma]

Vandelhelm
Surface

The ship landed with little trouble. That wasn't enough to say in terms of what was the situation once he arrived there. This matter required a thorough study.

The latch of the ship's airlock would hiss open, revealing the elder Jedi Knight to Vandelhelm's dusty atmosphere. His eyes would crinkle under a thick brush of salt and pepper eyebrows.

Now, from where to start?

Slowly, he made his way down, heading off towards the direction where a mayday call had originated.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

The Leviathan prowled forward through the void, not only itself but its eight attendant frigates running on a skeleton crew. A show of force didn't always carry the capacity for follow through, but you were usually banking on the other side getting a bit spooked by what they saw. Folding his arms across his chest, Hastings watched as the massed banks of turbolasers on the forward section crossed the void in an instant, the bright blossoms of impact against pirate shields replaced slowly by rippling explosions.

Anika needed to hurry up, but until she did... the Leviathan could pull in alongside [member="Allaina Mare"], providing shield protection for the both of them.

 

[Tilda Sai]

[member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Sarge Potteiger"] [member="Allaina Mare"]
The Eye in the Sky

"Affirmative Interim Vice Admiral of the Non-Religious Forces of the Left Behind Protectorate," Came Anika's reply. As it was, the cogs would start to turn. Like a well oiled machine the Major began to sent orders out. The vessel used its scans from the local area to bring in information.

"Get me a line now!" she'd order, watching along the various holoscreens as the stoic woman would review the scans. It took a couple of moments before an opening could be patched through.

"Ready Major,"

Anika gave a nod.

"Open it up."

The next instant, Anika's face would bloom in a holographic comm message directed toward the area [member="Allaina Mare"] would be at.

"This is Major Anika Od'Manteiv of the Omega Protectorate Defense Force. Who is currently in control of the Protectorate forces on Vandelhelm?"

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Sarge Potteiger"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Anika Od'Manteiv"]


Kaida's face was an impassive, stony mask as the Thrax swept through the dark void of space, much like a shark on the hunt for prey. Pirate-sized prey. The frosty Seraph recognised the markings of their ships as those of the Scutarii, a group of corsairs and cutthroats who had often plagued worlds such as Kaeshana in the past.


Eldorai had very definite views on pirates, slavers and their sort. The justice they meted out tended to be poetic. Such as stuffing them in ice coffins and letting them freeze to death or perish from lack of oxygen. They did that less these days because bleeding heart liberals said this constituted cruel and unnecessary punishments. The Angelii disagreed with that. As she stood there, volleys of laser fire shot out through the void, splashing against pirate shields as the corsairs desperately tried to escape the massed turbolaser salvoes of the Leviathan - not like they could stand up against it. The Thrax rocked as it came under fire and shields flickered slightly, but they held. Swarms of Adril-class fighters fell upon corsair fighters with ravenous hunger.

Transmission was sent to the Vandelhelm base, where it seemed Jedi Master Elaris was holding the fort. "This is Seraph Taldir, engaging pirate forces. Any information on the space hulk moving through space?" Kaida, needless to say, knew neither of the Invicta nor Allaina Mare. Both had been before her time with OP.