Public Empress of Denon Cruise Ship crash (Darkwire/Pirates/SW Wild West)

[Saija Kwann]

The Empress of Denon (Disney/Lucasfilm)


This adventure takes place on the planet Smarteel on the fringes of Wild Space. It is open to all participants. No territory is at stake between factions though it's possible rival faction members may encounter one another.


Scenario - The Empress of Denon, a civilian luxury liner owned by a subsidiary company of DireX, has suffered a hyperspace malfunction on the last stage of her maiden voyage. She has ended up stranded on the planet Smarteel. This was no accident as the Corpo-controlled ship was sabotaged by agents of Darkwire working in tandem with local piracy interests to their mutual advantage. There is a modest CAD (Corporate Authority of Denon) presence on Smarteel, but as a small mining colony, they don't have much in the way of resources to assist in rescue operations. What little assistance they can offer is a long way off as the cruise ship went down on the other side of the planet far away from Smarteel City and Cad City.

Thread Objectives - Choose one or make up your own:

1. Rescue civilians! The passengers and non-essential personnel were evacuated before the ship went down. Some of the lifeboats and escape pods went down in deserts claimed by swoop gangs, criminal syndicates and/or indigenous tribes. Heroes are needed to save these innocent folks. Villains may help themselves to passengers who are rich and connected to be used as hostages.

2. Loot the ship! Pirates and rogues alike have been carefully coordinated with crackerjack timing to be in the right place at the right time. Only a handful of essential ship's crew and a security contingent are all that stands in the way of the contents of the downed ship. Maybe a passenger had a rare item in their possession and now it's unprotected in their abandoned cabin. Perhaps the ship itself can be cannibalized for parts and technology. Other more altruistic characters may seize the ship's stores and distribute them where they are needed.

3. Defend the ship! Perhaps you're loyal to the Corpos or maybe you refused to be evacuated for whatever reason. But now you're on the other end of the previous scenario and are destined to clash with those who would take advantage of the situation. There might even be a reward for rescuing valuable company personnel and/or key crew members and assets.

4. Survival! You were a passenger on the Empress and got herded over to the lifeboats/escape pods. However, your guidance system malfunctioned and you're separated from everyone else. You could have gone down in the deep desert and must hold out as long as you can with whatever's on your person and the emergency kit under your seat. Or on the flip side, you went down near Smarteel City and have to survive in a relatively primitive and lawless urban setting while sticking out like a sore thumb.

5. White collar relations! The corporate/political response must be swift and bring confidence to the shareholders as well the civilian populace. It will be a challenge to deal with the fallout of this unforeseen emergency and issuing statements to both the media and officers of the company. Be sure to reassure loved ones of missing passengers and crew with words of solace and heartfelt prayer. Alternately, you could be with the media and you have to interview Corporate public relations. Or you could be the one to break the story. The way you handle yourself could earn you a promotion or otherwise increase your reputation.

Spoiler: Tags

I invited all particpants in the Wild West discussion thread since it's on the planet Smarteel and is similar to the trope of the locomotive breaking down out in the middle of nowhere. Also invited those who have interests in piracy that I can remember. And of course my allies in Darkwire. Remember, this is an open thread, so if you don't see your name here, don't let that stop you from posting if you want. Also, please feel free to tag other users who may be interested

Bandit Six
Dominik Borra
Jeshi Blaise
Cyran Vaas
Aeshi Tillian
Joran Del-Finn
Delila Castillon
Milla Kryst
Rynn Vizsla
Dezorath Barcu
Tarre Priest
Vyca Durren
Julius Sedaire
Mondo Ohnaka
"Bloody" Bill Renfroe
Kat'ra Smart
Shuklaar Kyrdol
Shai Maji
Vors Trench
Airal Thamne
Anakin Stormrunner
Aren D'Shade
Brie Jaxx
Cartri Keswoll
Cassus Akovin
Daiya
Deryn Kaaldos
Elkin "Big Cheese" Magor
Gray Venasir
Haden Del
Helena
Jerec Asyr
Kole Eckttor
Kimiko Taiyou
QEMD-15 Echo
Spark
5-WCH (Switchblade)
Subject 648 Slipknot
Xan Deesa
Yula Perl

Have fun!
-Saija

EDIT: Added a thread for OOC chatter, questions, comments, etc. - Clicky <-------

 

[Saija Kwann]

Location: In orbit over Smarteel with Kronn K'taris in his ship, the Chimera
Objective: Prologue

Taking down The Empress of Denon, a new civilian cruise ship owned by the Corpos, was no easy task. During the construction phases, agents of Darkwire infiltrated the shipyard where she was built and they secretly created backdoors in the ship's computer systems so that she could be seized remotely. A big target like this was not only lucrative, it would be publicly humiliating to the Corporation and their rich clientele. We didn't have the resources to pull off an operation of this scale alone, so Darkwire had teamed up with some local pirates and other rouges who were willing to assist. There was plenty of loot for everybody.

When the moment of truth came to take over their conn, the crew of the Empress had lost control of navigation and propulsion, unable to cope with the malware virus invading their systems. The hyperdrive took the luxury liner far from its home port on the planet Denon and instead was diverted to Smarteel, deep inside of Wild Space. They tried to get on the comms for help, but no one would be coming for a while since the local frequencies were being jammed. Even if a signal could get through, help from the Corporate Authority was still several hours away.

However, there was a hitch in the plan...an unexpected burnout in one of the vessel's sublight engine arrays caused the Empress to fall from orbit and crash land on the planet below. It wasn't a problem we couldn't deal with, it would just take more time than anticipated to get to the ship. A boarding action would have been far preferable to scavenging a downed vessel, but those were the cards that we were dealt.

Kronn took us down into the atmosphere, along with other vessels that were either capable of a surface landing or drop craft from ships that couldn't land on the ground. I had managed to use the remaining engines to steer the large cruise ship as far away from civilization as possible, dropping the Empress on the far side of the planet. That would buy us some time. But help would eventually come, so we had to move fast and make the most of the situation.

 

[Felmorante L'lerim]

Equipment: Haywire I Armor paired with Duraglide Boots and Boot Rockets
7 Whimsy Knives, 3 Glitter Grenades, 2 Giggle Grenades, 1 Pink Vapor Grenade
Objective: Play until the fun arrives. Come find me!
Tags: Saija Kwann (OPEN)

In the cargo hold, a young lady was digging through several crates, having opened them neatly with one handy dandy knife. The point was sufficiently dull now, having jammed it through several keypads and mucked with the wires long enough to hear the hiss of the lock letting go of potential goodies. The excited wiggle dance slowing as she spied more bagged foods, instead of delicious blue-milk chocolates.

And not even a speck of decent cheese in sight.

Shoulders dropped, hearing the ship shudder as it did it's thing. Though not as it should be doing its thing. A curious tilt of the head had her kicking the lid before twisting a boot rocket back and heading into the hallway to see what was what aboard the cruising ship. People were frantic, well, at least some were. Posh looking stuck ups. The kind that dabbed their noses with smelly napkins or whatever they were.

They weren't fun. They were never fun.

She slowly scooted past them, insulted pigs declaring their hurt feelings at the young girl cutting through the crowds outside their rooms. There were klaxons as someone warned about a crash landing, making the young one smile and roll back to the cargo hold in a lazy u-turn. The soft hiss of a single boot rocket pushing the girl along the hallway as people stared in confusion at her excitement.

Ships didn't crash on their own...usually. Sometimes they did because of incompetent nerf herders at the wheel...or sticks. Or whatever flew ships. Space ships anyway. Stowing away into the spot she had at the start of the trip, she giggled as the ship did it's best to land. The sound of boots dragging along the hallway afterwards told her people had left. Or were leaving.

She hadn't been near a window to see where they were. Not that it really mattered. Now was the time to rummage for sweets and snacks. Posh noses typically had the goodies in their room away from prying eyes.

Greedy farts.

The doors hissed open once more, dark corridor with yellow blinky lights greeting her as she kicked the single rocket boot to low power and activated the heel-roller in her boots. The long stretch of corridor was crossed slowly, loud sniffing happening as someone griped at her over the loudspeaker. The acoustics were lousy, and the person sounded like they had swallowed a wad of fur.

Please exit the vessel to the designated safety zones so we-

"Where you at?" She yelled back, hearing a stammer over the line.

Pardon!?

"I said-ah never mind. I like hide and seek." She cut herself off as the voice kept calling to her growing more concerned with her not responding. She made lazy weaving lines in the hallway, slowing as she came to another hallway.

One lined with lots of doors as the rocket sputtered to a stop and she hop skipped over the threshold that tried to trip her.

"OOOH! Treasure time!" She wiggled with a squeal, forgetting about hide and seek.

 

[Zole]

Z O L E​

SYSTEMS REBOOTING

DAMAGE REPORT COLLATING

Zole blinked her eyes open. Her cybernetics started listing out her vitals and state of her systems some time before she blinked away the haze.

She was still on the Empress. She could feel all four of her limbs. She was alive. Two of those facts were welcome. Given that it seemed as if the ship was going to be smeared across the upper atmosphere of a plenty in an uncontrolled reentry, Zole would take it.

MAIN CYBERNETIC SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL. BIOREADINGS FLUCTUATING

It was basically the artifical parts of her saying 'your squishy bits are less robust and seem unhappy about the sudden application of extreme forces.'

Zole groaned and remembered why she was here. She turned sharply to find Mrs. Betzell still in her seat. Unfortunately her suit was soaked in her own blood. She was quite dead.

"Kark."

Zole wasn't getting paid. She had an expensive lifestyle: implants and glitterstim and travel. She could not be too picky about her job and simple bodyguard work was easy. It was usually easy.

This was too much trouble for anyone to go through to get at her client. She wasn't that important. Unexpected systems failure or pirates.

At least Zole had been allowed to bring a single blaster on board. No spare power pack though.

 

[Arius Carver]

Equipment: Mark IV Power Armor, E-11B Blaster Rifle, DL-44 Blaster Pistol, 8 Gauge Scatter Gun, Z50 Grenade Launcher, Combat Knife

Carver couldn’t help but grin watching the bundle of terrified passengers pour out from the escape pod. Having no choice but to step over the disfigured pirate bodies scattered about the ground likely didn’t do much to ease the civilians’ nerves. The scene might have even come off as comedic in a twisted way if no one was hurt. Not that comforting these people mattered. Protection is the priority. Keeping civilians safe and unharmed meant future quality connections for the Spectre Mercs they desperately needed. Additional payment for the safe return of these individuals to their families never hurt either. Carver wouldn’t admit it, but he felt proud aiding the defenseless in their time of need. If virtuous feelings weren’t enough, the pirate slaughter bonus definitely made the trip worth it.

Saving these people had occurred by chance though that detail remained unmentioned. Without an official hiring, speaking such a detail only risked damaging the current cooperation. These people had no choice but to trust Carver, so why make the situation more difficult than required.

The Spectres rarely ventured outside the Core and when they did it had never been to the edge of the galaxy. Events like this proved people needed the Spectres. The hint to branch out shined clearer than ever.

In the distance, dark smoke from the downed Empress of Denon littered the sky. This had been no accident. The convenience of a luxury liner going down on a backwater planet like this from maintenance failure couldn’t even be considered. Carver wanted answers. And, what better place than the Empress itself to get those answers. He climbed onto his 74-Z Speeder Bike adjusting himself to get comfortable in the seat.

“Finishing loading the civilians and get to the next downed pod!” Carver yelled.

“Yes, Commander!” A Spectre Merc replied guiding the civilians into the Gozanti-Class Cruiser.

“And keep comms open! I’m expecting trouble.” Carver kicked his bike into gear and sped off towards the Empress.

 

[Ruus Kote]

VER'GEBUIR​

Immediate Friendly Forces:​

• 1st Jurkad Verde "Shereshoy" HQ Company
  • HQ Company
    • 4 Mechanized infantry squads
  • 3 Mechanized infantry Platoons
    • 4 Mechanized infantry squads per platoon
  • Reconnaissance Platoon
    • 4 Squads
      • 3 Recon Speeders per squad
• Ruus' HQ Company
  • x4 ST-01CM Naast-class Super-Heavy Command Tanks
• 2x Squadrons of Busayr-class Heavy Assault Transports
• 2x Squadrons of Kyr'galaar Multi-role Fighters
• 1x Squadron of Jai'galaar Fighter-Bombers

Tag(s): Saija Kwann | Felmorante L'lerim | Zole | Arius Carver | A ARS VAMI​

Objective: Defend the crash site, evacuate the crew. ​

​

• Armor:
  • 'Verd'jurkad'gam'
    • NML-02VTB Nano missile Launcher
    • PC-05V Plasma Caster
    • TBP-01V Tractor-Pressor Beam Projector
    • MML-01V Miniaturized Missile Launcher
      • Surveillance Tagger Darts (2)
      • Electro Darts (2)
      • Explosive Darts (4)
• Weapons:
  • B-01M Beskad
  • M-06S 'Skirata' Mra'jitr (2)
  • RP-05A Ripper Pistol w/ 'Kyrayc Sur'haai' Short Range Optic
  • AR-2CQB Verpine Assault Rifle w/ UGL-02 Underbarrel Grenade Launcher and 'Kyrayc Sur'haai' Medium Range Optic
• Implants:
  • 'Verd' Enhancement Package

[/SPOILER]​

Shab, when it rained it poured. From going straight from the vacation on Abregado-Rae that turned into a last minute job they couldn't refuse to the bizarre experience that was fighting the Charon on Kayrii III, now to this. They'd only got the call from the when they were resupplying after the Kayrii operation at the company facilities on Scarif, which meant that Ruus didn't really have much time to put a real force together. The short time frame meant, however, that not only could he get the navy ad'ike to lend him anything more than the few transports that had ferried him down to the surface on Kayrii and the three squadrons that were supposed to be his air support, but there wasn't enough time to finish resupplying their tanks. Given that they were virtually dry after Kayrii, by his count, they only had about 50% ammunition load on average at best. ​

​

The electronic countermeasure suites on both their transports and the fighters escorting them kept them more or less safe from long-range detection by whoever had managed to bring down the luxury liner. Their intel was virtually non-existent, all they'd been told was that urgent assistance was required in search and rescue operations as well as evacuation of survivors from the main crash site. There was no point in wishing for more intel, because their clients just didn't know anymore than they'd told them, which meant it was on them to conduct reconnaissance as well. He was hoping that they weren't the only poor shabuire that they had on their payroll, that some other mercs had showed up. After Kayrii, he was determined not to lose anyone to some opportunistic chaavla sa shebs be'striili chaakare. ​

​

Sitting in his command tank, the consoles and displays arrayed in front of him more familiar to him than the homestead he called on Dagata III, Ruus flicked through the various frequencies, listening to the chatter between the transport pilots and their fighter escorts to take his mind off the undeniable truth that were they engaged at the moment, there would be abso-kriffing-lutely nothing he could do about it. It was only once they'd broken atmo did anything happen that required his attention, "Picking up a transponder signal at long range, transponder code resolves a Gozanti-class Cruiser licensed to the Spectre mercenary company...and, it's a faint one...but I'm picking up a comms unit registered to a CIS contractor ( Zole ) on board the liner. It's faint, but it's there," intoned their pilot.​

​

Ruus breathed a sigh of relief. At least they weren't on their own this time. He'd heard of Spectre before, not much, but he'd definitely heard of them. Only one way to tell if they'd be worth working with again. What did bother him, however, was this information that there was a CIS contractor on the ship. It'd be worth making securing her out of the others on board the ship a priority. "Get me a line to Spectre, and see if you can raise the contractor as well," ordered Ruus. Once his HUD indicated he was connected and transmitting, and the line was relatively secure, he clicked his mic on, "This is Colonel Ruus Kote, Strill Securities, en route to evac the passengers and crew of the Empress of Denon. Any chance of getting a sitrep before I wade into this shit show with you?"​

 

[Arius Carver]

Riding over to the Empress of Denon did little to keep Carver’s advance hidden. A fresh trail of swirling dust, violently kicked up from his speeder, gave an obvious hint on his position. Worse than an exposed position, breathing in this dirt proved a nightmare. Another day, another forgotten helmet when he needed it most. Surprising himself, the realization of preferring the crime-ridden Coruscant Underworld over this place hit hard. But duty called, and the Spectres answered in their own unofficial without a contract sort of way.

Nearing the Empress, Carver performed a visual scan made possible by his Hi-Sense eyes. There were no signs of civilian or hostile activity outside the ship. No reason for concern, yet. That concern stood for when a larger welcome party of pirates inevitably showed up, desiring the grand prize of potential hostages for ransom credits and valuable goods stashed inside.

Finally, Carver arrived. Stepping off his speeder, he unholstered his sidearm before getting his first up close look at the Empress. Rubbing his arm, he stared at the ship raising an eyebrow. One feature stood out above any damage. The luxury liner is huge. He had been so busy with the first escape pod the realization never hit him. He had nowhere near enough space on a single Gozanti Cruiser for so many passengers. But, Carver wasn’t giving up. The Spectres were in a rough spot business-wise and succeeding here could turn that around.

While pondering potential solutions, Carver’s comlink sparks to life hearing Colonel Ruus Kote on the other end stating exactly what the Spectres needed. Friendly security forces with additional ships to support a full rescue operation. The message felt convenient raising suspicion, but without help this operation could turn into a catastrophe. Wasting no time, he responded with his command voice.

“I read you Colonel. This is Commander Arius Carver, Spectre Mercenary Company. Multiple escape pods are scattered across the planet surface. We need assistance going after and retrieving the civilians. Be advised, we engaged some pirates attempting to crack a pod.”

Carver goes quiet. He felt uncomfortable giving out valuable information to strangers. He broke one of his own ground rules. Trust is earned, not given freely. Yet, here he was gambling with trust, outstanding. What other choice did he have? Saving lives and rebuilding the Spectres depended on getting reliable aid. Smirking, he decided. What harm could a little cooperation do anyway? Time to break some rules.

“Colonel, my position is outside the luxury liner. Starboard side. You’ll see the dust trail. I’m requesting any backup you can provide before I move inside.”

 

[Felmorante L'lerim]

Equipment:Haywire I Armor paired with Duraglide Boots and Boot Rockets
7 Whimsy Knives, 3 Glitter Grenades, 2 Giggle Grenades, 1 Pink Vapor Grenade
Objective: Play until the fun arrives. Come find me!
Tags: (OPEN)

Boots stomped through the hallway as a pair of security guards rushed down the hallway. Blasters were ready, cameras telling them where the wandering woman had gone. They stacked on the door like those super pro military types had done in the demonstration.

They counted down, one hitting the entry pad as the doors slid open to reveal a nicer room. Whistling greeted them as they came in as professionally as they could. The room looked pristine for a crash landing, the only thing out of place was a chair and a body. Blasters shouldered and aimed as they found their surprise guest...plaiting her hair in front of a mirror.

------​

A little trickle of blood was on her temple as she looked over her shoulder at the two that entered. She paused the process long enough to manage a little wave at them before continuing her work.

Miss? What-are you alright?

She looked at them once more, still working to avoid the crimson staining her hair.

"I hit my head somewhere. Where is here?" She asked politely, watching the blasters drop from their shoulders.

We crash landed. You didn't-never mind. Where are your parents?

She shrugged, finishing and tying her hair off with a band. A short exchange and some frustrated sighs between them had one pinching his nose while the other one made a come here motion.

Come to the bridge. Rescue will be here shortly. She made a small gasp, sliding off the chair and bouncing towards them.

"Lead the way! Hey, can I make a call? I need to let aunt Ingrid know I'll be late."

Comm's are down and you-did you say Ingrid? A short nod had them double taking before figuring she meant someone with a similar name.

Surely she couldn't mean the Empress of the Eternal Empire. That woman had red hair and this one had...no chance.

"Do you have chocolate?"

You can have some after we check your wound.

She shotgunned her arm in victory.

 

[Zole]

Z O L E​

"This is Colonel Ruus Kote, Strill Securities, en route to evac the passengers and crew of the Empress of Denon. Any chance of getting a sitrep before I wade into this poodoo show with you?"

Either someone was close or the signal was being bounced through the Empress' hyperspace comms relays. If she had survived the crash then the redundant comms would have too. Zole tried to route her comms through the ship too, her own only having a range of a few kilometers.

"Well Colonel, if you can hear me, the situation is very dark down here."

Zole has to duck to move through the wreckage. Most of the deck she had been on had collapsed. The flickering lights were just enough to see.

"Most of the crew...they got on the life boats. Might be some crew and a few passengers left."

Zole found the doors. They were sealed shut. Cynernetically enhanced fingers yanked the mechanism from the wall, but the bundle of loose wires inside offered now way to get them open. It was going to have to be brute force.

 

[Ruus Kote]

VER'GEBUIR​

Immediate Friendly Forces:​

• 1st Jurkad Verde "Shereshoy" HQ Company
  • HQ Company
    • 4 Mechanized infantry squads
  • 3 Mechanized infantry Platoons
    • 4 Mechanized infantry squads per platoon
  • Reconnaissance Platoon
    • 4 Squads
      • 3 Recon Speeders per squad
• Ruus' HQ Company
  • x4 ST-01CM Naast-class Super-Heavy Command Tanks
• 2x Squadrons of Busayr-class Heavy Assault Transports
• 2x Squadrons of Kyr'galaar Multi-role Fighters
• 1x Squadron of Jai'galaar Fighter-Bombers

Tag(s): Saija Kwann | Felmorante L'lerim | Zole | Arius Carver ​

Objective: Defend the crash site, evacuate the crew. ​

​

Spoiler: Equipment

• Armor:
  • 'Verd'jurkad'gam'
    • NML-02VTB Nano missile Launcher
    • PC-05V Plasma Caster
    • TBP-01V Tractor-Pressor Beam Projector
    • MML-01V Miniaturized Missile Launcher
      • Surveillance Tagger Darts (2)
      • Electro Darts (2)
      • Explosive Darts (4)
• Weapons:
  • B-01M Beskad
  • M-06S 'Skirata' Mra'jitr (2)
  • RP-05A Ripper Pistol w/ 'Kyrayc Sur'haai' Short Range Optic
  • AR-2CQB Verpine Assault Rifle w/ UGL-02 Underbarrel Grenade Launcher and 'Kyrayc Sur'haai' Medium Range Optic
• Implants:
  • 'Verd' Enhancement Package

​

​

"Acknowledged, I'll pass it on to my teams. If you're zeroed in on any of the pods you're not in a position to secure, feel free to pass on the coordinates," he replied. Pirates and other opportunistic shabuire were about standard for a job like this. At least there was one thing that made sense. A small voice in the back of his head tried to make him question his decision to trust that his fellow mercenaries were doing exactly what they appeared to be doing, but he quickly quashed his nagging doubt. Ruus' thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his comm unit going off again. It was Commander Carver once more, this time giving him his position and requesting for assistance in clearing the ship.​

​

Ruus had planned to do just that, and now he had one more presumably capable fighter to count on. He wasn't complaining. "I'll link up with you on the starboard side then and we'll move in together." It was just then that his comms unit came to life once more, the signal was still weak, but Ruus figured that since they were on final approach they were still in range of whatever intact antenna the signal was being bounced off of. "We're attempting to locate those pods now. Any idea of how many of the crew and left over passengers survived? Do you need medical attention?" ​

​

As he waited for a response, he gave the order over the Manda tactical battlenet interface to power up their vehicles and perform final checks. The numbers he was seeing on the main tactical display were not great. Thirty percent total ammunition, thirty five, seventeen, fifteen, twenty five, fourty five, fifty five...other than the command tanks, most of the other vehicles didn't have very much ammunition at all. Worst of all, most of them had been loaded out with mostly anti-infantry and light anti-vehicle loadouts, nothing to take out heavy armor, and they were more or less reliant on their air cover and transports to keep the skies clear. ​

​

He'd fought through worse, he'd get through this too. They'd get through this together. He wasn't losing men here if he had anything to say about it. Shab, maybe he'd even be able to get some of the shabuire to see reason and let him and his as well as the other mercs extract the survivors. It wasn't his chances of survival that he was concerned about, but the survivors. They weren't wearing Mandalorian battle armor outfitted with the latest in Mandalorian weaponry, even though they didn't really have that much ammunition for said weaponry. ​

​

A flashing alert in the corner of his HUD caught his attention, drawing his gaze to the main tactical display. He could see the main guns on two of his tanks flashing red, and on one they were flashing orange. "Two of our tanks are reporting depleted coolant, alor. Mine's got only about enough coolant for half our ammunition load," came the dejected report of his second in command, Janar Kyrdol. ​

​

The weather on Kayrii along with the nigh-on constant firing had depleted their coolant to dangerous levels. Had he known it was this bad, he might've reconsidered taking this job. "Shab am I only finding about this now, Janar?" he hissed through gritted teeth. That cut their firepower almost in half, not counting the osik ammunition situation. "Haran possessed you not to check this before left? Or before we pulled the shabla tanks out of the workshop?" His tone was even and cool. There was no point in getting angry over this given that getting pissed off wasn't going to fix their situation, it was only going to increase the chances that he'd do something stupid. ​

​

"Coolant sensors were in maintenance mode, when we power cycled the tanks...you get the shabla point. We left in such a hurry, we didn't get the chance to get the gotabor to get the tanks fully combat ready," replied Janar, the exasperation in his voice evident. They'd served with each other long enough to know that their feelings on the matter weren't directed at each other, but rather at the situation itself. ​

​

"Shab...Keg'yce callsigns, the plan doesn't change. One tank for each approach. Buy us as much time as you can. No shabla heroes, today, just do what you can without risking yourselves. Hardware can be replaced, you can't," said Ruus, exhorting his company into action. The resounding "oya" he got in response told him just how ready his men were. Going from one bad situation to another was nothing new for them, and they weren't about to let that get in the way of their job. Ruus switched frequencies, raising Commander Mirta Kyrr, the commanding officer of Shereshoy infantry battalion, whose HQ company was accompanying him, "Keg'yce 6 to Shereshoy 6, Mirta, we're virtually dry on ammo and two of the main guns are down. You and your vode are going to have to be on point today. Three platoons backing up my tanks. You take your platoon and go looking for survivors, 'lek?"​

​

"Lek, alor. We'll get it done. Not the first time we've had to make do without your tanks, is it? she chimed back in jest. Ruus just chuckled in response. He watched the cabin lighting outside the tank go from red to green, and could see the ramp lower down. His transport touched down with a gentle thud, settling on it's landing gears. No sooner than they were down were his men jumping into action. All four tanks rolled down the ramps, the Trataab'morut IFVs from the other transports also rolling out. The vehicles all split off, leaving only three IFVs and his tank in the immediate area as the transports took to the air. There was no point in them sitting on the ground like big fat juicy targets, after all. ​

​

As they halted at their assigned position, Ruus grabbed his rifle and popped the hatch on his tank, "Jintar, Ghes, you two make sure nothing sneaks up on us. If it isn't ours, friendly, or unarmed and it doesn't answer comms, blow it straight to Corellia." Janar nodded, giving him a thumbs up to signify his understanding of the rules of engagement he'd set. Pulling himself out of the hatch, he leapt down onto the ground, kicking up dust on landing. He motioned for a squad of infantry that had just disembarked from their transport to follow, "Marksmen and snipers up in the wreck. You and your squad with me, ruus'alor. We're going to start searching this ship."​

​

Ruus looked around for Arius Carver , and raised him on the same frequency he had before, "Standing by and ready to assist, Commander. What say we get this show underway?" ​

 

[Arius Carver]

“I’ll get my team in touch to send what they have,” Carver said not liking the situation one bit. Success rode entirely on working with Strill Securities. Depending on others had never been required in the past, making the thought that much more unbearable. Unable to prevent his mind from wandering, Carver contemplated the idea that Strill Securities might take advantage of the situation upon learning the Spectres only had a single Cruiser. He shook the idea from his head. “Get over yourself. Not everyone is out to get us,” he thought. Reliable allies were uncommon and he wanted this joint operation to work more than anyone. As the new Spectre Commander, these partnerships were his responsibility. A lack of allies had gotten the Spectres into this dreadful position in the first place. Determined to make the needed change, he refused to fall into the habit of following past mistakes.


While waiting on Ruus, Carver pulled his speeder bike into a narrow fissure next to a sweeping dirt mound, kicking up dust as he descended. The Empress had hit the ground hard turning the flat landscape into an uneven mess. At least one good thing came out of the crash. The hiding spot concealed the bike enough to hopefully prevent it from being spotted and stolen by pirates. You knew times were desperate when a single speeder caused someone to work so hard to keep it safe.


Sure, times were hard. But the benefit of learning how to operate successfully without an army or fleet at his back was invaluable. Carver had been through enough conflict to know preparation for the worst outcome meant the world of difference. But this time for a failsafe, he had nothing but a bluff ready. Then, he heard the transport shuttles soar by overhead.


Digging his hands into the dry dirt crumbling beneath his weight, Carver scrambled up the steep mound. He climbed rapidly, but the urgency of wanting to see the transports made the ascend feel like an eternity. At last, reaching the top, he brushed his hands off and observed the larger picture. Strill Securities had arrived. They had tanks, more ships, and an expected numbers advantage over the Spectres. If there were regrets about trusting Ruus, it was too late now. “To new friends,” Carver thought.


Carver leapt forward and smoothly slid down the dirt to meet the approaching forces and find Ruus Kote . “I'd say you read my mind Colonel,” he responds on his comlink striding over to meet face to face. "Just don't blow me up. One time is more than enough."