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Location: Space Objective: 2 Allies: Silver Jedi Order Enemies: Pirates
She kept looking around closely in the fighter, the honorable were specially made by Ayumi.... a former senator and Rendili. The smart money was on a few knowing about them and using them but only so many. The isotope five reactor within the ship though proving to be the most useful as it gave them stronger shields and weapons before her eyes were flicking up towards the hyperspace window that opened. She wasn't an ace who could fly in dogfights... but using the stronger shields, speed and knack for direction the padawan had a few thoughts about where she needed to go. Namely after one of their ships while she was changed out of her flightsuit into a safer to wear an armored bodysuit. She held her net launcher and the Hand held flame thrower on her hips while securing her gloves. It might not be as protective as a krayt dragons hide but it would have to do as she was heading towards the ship to land and handle some of the pirates. Her master [member="Cambria Zadira"] was here she was certain of it but she didn't have the aptitude to sense her.
Location: Space Objective: 2 Allies: Silver Jedi Order Enemies: Pirates [3/20]
Stars became elongated lines before exploding into the swirling blue tunnel of Hyperspace. Five minutes would be over quick, but everyone needed a quick moment to center themselves and get ready for the plunge. The calm before the storm, you know. I told the astromech to let me know when we hit the one minute mark and he beeped a response that sounded like it accepted the order. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, holding the air in my lungs, slowing my heart rate before exhaling. I continued this until I was calm and ready to begin. I knew once we reverted things would get hectic really quickly and we would start loosing folks out here in the cold of space.
My astromech tootled something to alert me we had sixty seconds until reversion. I opened my eyes and counted down the seconds in my head, keeping myself calm in the process. At the end of my count the stars became pinpoints again, shapes could be seen to either side of my cockpit, and a swarm of lights ahead of us in the black of space. Sensors lit up, processing quickly and the comm's become clustered with rapidly issued running orders, "Blue Squadron, form flights an go after targets marked by lead. They outnumber us right now so stay frosty," came the call from our captain. Double clicking a response over the comm was all that was necessary so I followed Blue Five, Six, and Eight down and away from the engagement zone, preparing to come up and snag any stragglers from the first wave on enemy fighters that would be coming around to engage us.
Saiba Group, or rather Darell Irani, had started to fund a PMC of its own. Private Military Company for those that weren’t yet clear of what the digits stood for, no name to signify it yet though, it wasn’t all that far ahead yet. But the point was that the Galaxy of today wasn’t the same as it had been a few years ago, chaos reigned, wars were fought on an increased base and between it all stood the big corporations.
The dealings of today only showed how important it was that a company had a dedicated security force in the employ, dedicated to the one company instead of Darkwater Security or the Tion Hegemony armed forces. Its own fleet, weaponry and training, expensive, but most worthwhile investments were exactly that and Darell had never been a man who was cheap on the money when needed.
At this point they had a few dozen recruits, if you could call them that. Battle-hardened individuals, veterans in their own areas- with all these wars popping up there were enough veterans in the world to make up a whole army.
Point was, it was slowly getting somewhere. But it would be awhile before they could truly boast self-sufficiency and the kind of resources that others had these days.
‘Mostly what we are doing right now is show the Calamari what we have to offer.’ Irani mentioned, before tapping on a few buttons to show up the blueprints of the eventual orbital shipyards.
They would be big enough to churn out a production quota close to what the old Dac Shipyards were able to do, with a few more tweaks and experimentation? Maybe with more money pouring in? Maybe they would eventually be able to meet the Kuat Yards.
‘If they see how much money we pour into their economies by proxy? I am pretty sure the Monarch will be more amiable with allowing us to restore the old shipyards around Dac and make them worthy of their name again.’
Location: The Will of the Force Objective: Bring the big guns and get there before it is all over.
This gargantuan ship made her more nervous than usual when flying. A big and powerful ship with lots more to go wrong. As Thurion gripped her hand for support she held him tight for comfort as the order to engage came through. Before them formed the familiar blue tunnel of hyperspace but less so, the ship maybe powerful but it is slow. "Maybe we should get out and push", she whispered to Thurion. But now she relaxed more.
The Will had been located toward the southern most part of Silver Jedi protected space, and would arrive in time, however Coci wanted to know the situation at Dac. She stood from her second-in-command seat and walked to the center of the bridge to the round holocommunications. With the assistance of relays from the battle cruisers she soon had the feed from Dac appear. In system are the Silver Jedi Fleet, ships moving to ground, others moving toward MCH and Mon Calamari Shipyard assets. Deployment of Silver Squadrons dotted the blue image as the spec and identifications of all ships blinked next to them.
However, there are more ships unidentified, those of the pirate fleet and there are lots of them. A mixture of assorted ships no doubt acquired through illegal means, well they are pirates afterall, but they pack fire power enough to destroy anything in their way and cause damage to the ship yards. There is a large battle cruiser, Corvette sitting a way off and that is commanded by Cutter. However, Cutter's 'squadron' begin to move not toward the Silver Fleet but to MCH ship yards. Cutter has no intention on damaging the 'goods' .. much, but rather to drive out the competition and take control of yards. However he had not anticipated the involvement of the Silver Jedi and so he called for back up. Within six hours more pirates would reach Dac.
The idea of pushing this ship started to look more appealing but there was little they could do for now. "Thurion we should contact [member="Darell Irani""]
Location: Space
Aboard the Beacon, a modernized Interdictor Class Cruiser Mission: Surprise the rear of the enemy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asaQEmagFKw
In the blink of an eye, with a heavy lurch the support fleet arrived to the rear of the enemy, catching them by suprise, backing up whatever play [member="Coci Heavenshield"] needed them for, or just splitting the enemy forces. They were still a distance out but now they had two fleets to worry about.
As good as the rangers were, nobody was better than a wildcard at a boarding action, but more than that, nobody was better at defending your own ship from boarding, and pirates were tricky, they could well try to board the will of the force, or one of their battleships. So he’d with permission put platoons out to reinforce the key areas of each major ship in a defensive action, and these men and women knew every trick in the book to get in a ship, so nobody was boarding a silver Jedi ship easily here today, they’d be repelled the second they tried.
“Better late than never Colonel.” Kei grinned, seeing the approach.
“Not my fault this ship’s older than my father sir.” Colonel Kortec quipped back, and the two shared a chuckle. They’d been through a lot and it was good to share the bridge of the old girl once again, if only for a little while before they decided where Kei was needed most.
“Contact the will of the force, and let them know we are ready to engage the enemies flank.” [member="Coci Heavenshield"] “And then tell the nearest pirates, that if they want to leave, now’s the time to power down their weapons and broadcast the retreat signal at any time. ” Kei said, hoping some of them would simply retreat, these were pirates after all and often just in it for the money.
SJO Support Fleet:
1 x The Beacon a modernised Interdictor Class Cruiser – Rear of the enemy
1 x Class_C_Frigate (Hospital Variant) – Rear of the enemy
1 x High Cards Crack Pilots, Squadron of E-Wings (13 Ships) – Rear of the enemy
2 x Squadron of Retro Fitted Modern Y-wings (26 Ships) – Rear of the enemy
7x Gamma Class Assault Craft - Docked
10x Droch Class Boarding Craft - Docked
3,000 x Wildcard Special forces, Two Battalions - Spread across the fleet as boarding defense, extra security and reinforcement.
Location: Space
Aboard the Fane, a Thyrsus Heart Class Gunship Mission: Supporting the Support Fleet!
Agile and moving through the support fleet with just small adjustments of course, the white and purple design of the Thyrsus heart could be seen, this sleek craft made little noise as it moved, its engines fast and virtually unmatched. Smaller than a corvette but bigger than a fighter, the gunship was armed to the teeth but more importantly it was able to pull turns with its side thrusters to hit ships as it moved between them.
Forming a flying V formation, the Echani drifted together naturally, reading the battle ahead and where to best put themselves for maximum precise effect, closing on their targets. The pirates were in real trouble now, and you could almost see them scrambling to act.
“Maintain our approach, and take our ships toward the lower right most frigate.”
The white clad Echani were careful and precise in their adjustments of course, with little drift on the exact vector needed to expose them to minimal fire. Ahead on the display, it showed the battlefield developing. Predicting the likely angles of response, as the Echani themselves entered the data of the unfolding battlefield, using their natural battle sense of the motion ahead, to read where to move next, and relaying that likely position to the fleet.
“Update the will of the force with the most likely enemy strategic response and movements.” [member="Coci Heavenshield"]
I brought my fighter up and around, coming in behind and below the first group of pirate fighter craft. The Sensor board was going nuts trying to identify all the new arrivals, but I already knew that these were members of the Silver Jedi Order evening the odds for us. With the pirates engaged on multiple fronts it would be easy to scatter them, and pick them off as they scrambled to leave the system. I finished my tight bank and brought my fighter's targeting repticles up, seeing the cross hairs hover around a small group of two or three pirates. Spraying and praying out here in the void was risky, as you didn't quite know if your buddies would cut across your fire lane, but this was a safe bet considering the distance between these stragglers and all the rangers engaged on this side. I squeezed the trigger on the control stick, hitting the pedals to spin off to the opposite side of my wingman, covering him from counter assault.
He got a lock with one of his torpedoes and let it fly, zooming off after a pirate ugly and detonating it in a brilliant azure fire. The uglies in my cross hairs withered, taking damage from the laser cannons of my starfighter, but only one detonated, the others peeled off in opposite directions. "On him, Blue Seven. You guys take the one that headed for the engagement zone." came the call from Blue Five, our flight leader. I double clicked the comm channel and eased back off the throttle to let my wingmate pull ahead and get a clean shot at him. A few blue laser bolts lanced from his fighter into the ugly leaving it a burning wreck. I could tell he was more experienced than me, but I was holding my own alright. "Going in hot, Blue leader," the sullustan said over the comm channel as we turned to head into the mass of fighters dogfighting it out.
Post 1 of 20, brah! Location: Dac. No, wait... Calamari. Or is it Mon Cala? Wait, is this question multiple choice? Enemies: Girl Jedi, Cooties, and that tag on his pillow that says 'do not remove under penalty of law'... seriously, what the Hutt is up with that? Objective: Explore / Medical Supply Delivery
The dropship slid between the heavens and the clouds.
It was a contrast between the two worlds in which the amphibious youngling lived, counting stars in a breathless void which slowly became blue skies broken up by white clouds. Passing through the layers of the atmosphere, the child's face was plastered against the viewport as the shuttle drifted through the air. A separation became visible, the division between earth and sky. Two tones of blue touching at the horizon: the pale sky and the deep blue sea. The ocean stretched to the four corners visible from this god's eye view of the world below.
The dropship's image was captured by the ocean's surface, the sun-lit reflection staring back at the Nautolan as his black eyes strained to try and see everything that there was to see. The troop carrier skimmed just above the surface. A haze of salt spray displaced by the repulsorlift creating a fog of rain in the wake of the shuttle's passage through the air.
The child pushed back from the transparisteel, taking a step back at the approach of a Jedi.
He wasn't just a Jedi. He was a Silver Consular.
...or, was it a Silver Sage?
Wait, wasn't sage green? How could you be green and silver?
Whatever. Dude was a Silver Healer Bro Pro Jedi, with the Order of the Silver Jedi. Which, ought to be obvious. You kinda sorta had to be a Silver Jedi in order to be a Silver Healer Bro Pro.
There were Silver Girl Jedi too. But Zak assumed that was for the same 'gender equality' poodoo as was the case in the Republic. Everyone who was anyone knew that girls couldn't really be Jedi.
Now Sith? Totally different story. Girls were soooooooooo dark side.
Anyway, like all Healer Jedi -- bro pro or not -- brah had a mission and he turned to the one Jedi capable of undertaking such a mission.
...A Jedi Guardian!
In training.
One day.
Plus, Zak was like the one brah he'd seen who had gills.
Oh, yeah. Everyone wanted to rag on the non-human. Oh look, the non-human doesn't have ears. Or, oh look, the non-human doesn't have hair.
Now what? I'll tell you what: Oh look, the non-human can breathe water.
Oh yeah. NAUTOLAN.
Drop the mic.
Bro Pro slipped a pair of straps over the child's arms, securing a medical case like a backpack to the youngling's small form. Taking the green-skinned youngling by the shoulders, the Jedi lowered himself down to look the boy in the eyes as he spoke. "Remember, Zak, you have to get these medical supplies to the hospital in Aquarius as soon as possible."
Coming to attention, the small Nautolan gave the Jedi a mock salute as he chirped, "Sir, yes, sir!"
There was an audible click as a magnetic lock was released. The pressure inside the drop ship changed rapidly, as the entire left side of the shuttle slid away. The wind howled through the now open door, as the roar of the repulsors echoed up from below. Raising his voice to be heard over the sound, the Jedi said, "We're at the drop zone!"
With a short hop, the Nautolan bounced over in front of the door. Twisted with the jump, the boy landed so that his back was to the planet and he faced the inside of the dropship. Reaching up with his hands, the boy rested his arms against the straps of the backpack he wore, thumbs tucked under the straps. Whipping out a second mock salute, the child sang out, "Dive, dive, dive!"
With one hand, the Jedi signaled for the boy to make the dive. As he did, Zak saw the man mouth the words 'May the Force be with you.'
Smiling brightly, the Nautolan chirped, "To infinity... AND BELOW!"
And then he jumped.
A rush of air came from below, followed by a stinging sensation of the salt spray energized by the repulsors. The boy could see the dropship, now angling upward as it prepared to leap back out of the planet's atmosphere. It was just the youngling, suspended for a moment in time between the sky and sea.
It felt like he was flying.
Untucking his thumbs from the straps, the child stretched his arms overhead as his slim form extended back. Gracefully, the child arced back through the air. As the world turned upside down, the view of the clouds above was replaced by a sea that was rushing to meet him.
He splashed down into the ocean, cutting through the surface like an Olympic diver. As he did, he pulled his arms apart, further pushing his body down into the water. Stretching out with his mind, the Force resonated with the motion of his legs kicking, propelling him with great effect.
At the same time, it felt like he was drowning.
But that was okay. He drowned a lot. It kind of came with being amphibious. Walking around in air, taking big gulps of oxygen-saturated gas, which was a lot easier for the lungs to process.
The transition from breathing air to breathing water was a little scary the first couple of times that you did it. Actually, it was a LOT scary, which was why really little Nautolans tended to stay in the water until they were old enough to handle the change. Even now, Zak's heart beat a little faster with the faint anxiety of processing water through his gills.
Then he swallowed, and tasted the brine of ocean salt water on the back of his throat.
Mon Eron
Mon Cal Hypernautic Construction
Allies: Credits, [member="Darell Irani"], [member="Venussia Sasko"], The Dark Side, The Jedi beating up the Sith and freeing Mon Cal
Enemies: Communism, jihading Jedi zealots, people who take Corey’s writing seriously.
Three Posts for the Post God
Working with the Techno Union, and as its Foreman, Marek had been working with some of the best minds in the galaxy, business, technology, science and with that many movers, shakers and producers, it was important to remember that everyone had a set of skills. And the Union itself was funding its own PMC groups and putting out contracts, for expeditionary and for protection forces, though raising a bunch of droids was so much better than Republic clones.
Yeah, we see you.
But Saiba bringing their own contractors was definitely a smart move. Not every time you get fluid Jedi here to save the day. Or, y’know, Jedi who did more than meditate. Marek didn’t care for Jedi, but these ones? Maybe they were alright.
“Yeah, throwing money at the problem seems to be the best way to make it work.” Always worked for Marek, whenever he needed to do that. Whoever said money didn’t buy happiness clearly didn’t eat cereal and champagne. “Once we get to the main world, that’ll do us some good. Get that yard working at top speed, and the Mon Cal will love us.” Us being Tion.
There was no way in hell that Gwrtheyrn was going to be piloting one of those flying deathtraps. The bigger ships were alright as once you were on them you could happily forget you were in the cold void of space and focus on more productive and less terrifying things. His feelings about the drop pod he had boarded were mixed. On one hand he didn't need to press any buttons or switches - on the other however he was trapped in a small metal box until he landed.
Mon Calamari was meant to be an oceanic planet covered in nothing but roiling waves. In his life the poet had witnessed the above ground oceans of his home planet Iego several times and well as visiting the great underground lakes that connected to his home tunnel network. These bodies of water were large enough to host their own ecosystems and all manner of pallid eyeless fish and crustaceans fought for valuable resources. It was here that he learned to swim utilizing the massive capacity of his lungs for buoyancy in a counterbalance to his great weight.
Simply holding his breath would not be good enough on Dac however and he had been issued with a breathing device in order to help him better navigate the planets aquatic terrain. Terrible as he was with machinery it took the poet many minutes of frustration and cursing to get the device hooked up and operational. As he did so his mind drifted towards the objective of the Silver Jedi's mission - protect the planets inhabitants from pirates that would prey upon them. Gwrtheyrn understood well the terror that such raids could bring as his own species were in many cases guilty of such crimes.
He was here to change that though. That and get some good material for his poetry. Rousing tales of heroism on the battlefield were just the thing he wanted as to write a saga one first needed subjects worthy of note.
There was a violent crash as his pod made heavy contact with the water and then after a few seconds the exit light began to flash. Kicking out through an opening hatch and into the briny surroundings Gwrtheyrn looked about to see what brothers and comrades fate had placed him with.
Location: Dac; Silver Jedi landing coordinates Current Allies: [member="Nagate Hei"] | | [member="Yura Fontaine"] Objectives: Repel any hostiles on the ground
About to give a mouthful to whoever was grappling him from behind, Connor turned to see the fresh-faced Padawan Yura, wide-eyed and bright as ever. He couldn’t help smile as the ship was making it’s way to Dac.
"Well hello yourself Yura – and please, just Connor. I’m not like the rest, you should know that."
Looking past her, he saw another face he had helped in the past, Taiden.
"Taiden, just remember what I told you, and do what you did in training – you’ll be fine, and I have every faith in you."
He returned to Yura.
"Stick with me if you feel over-whelmed, I’ll watch out for you, ok? This could get very dangerous very quickly, but we have plenty of resources around Dac so don’t worry. Do what you did on Alderaan, you’ll be fine."
The call soon came they were approaching Dac, and Connor could hear the chatter via the cockpit from other Ranger and Silver Jedi forces. Connor unhooked himself from the safety rail and moved to loading door.
"Ok everyone – get ready. We’re going to hover at a safe height for the transport to evac and ourselves to jump into the shallows, and then move up to the rendezvous."
The ship turned and the call came they were moving into position. Connor held on and pulled the sliding door back, letting in the roar of the engines, the blast of air from outside and burst of sunlight, the islands and waters coming into view.
"Move quick, move fast and move carefully. We have forces on the ground and up above so be careful! Keep an eye out for each other and I’ll keep an eye for you in turn, don’t worry," he shouted over the diegetic noise outside.
Looking up at the signal, it turned green after a few moments.
#3 Location: Dac; Silver Jedi landing coordinates Current Allies:[member="Connor Harrison"] Objectives: Repel any hostiles on the ground
With his intructions given Yura nodded, looking back to [member="Nagate Hei"] and how she realized he was another padawn, possibly to Conner himself. Eeither way knowing to stick with these two was an impulse on Yura's part. She listned as Conner explained they were arriving soon and how they would need to stick together. It built up the already anxious feeling in Yura's gut about all of it. She kept glancing around, seeing the faces on everyone else. Mainly she was trying to see if there was anyone as nervous as her. Not as she'd hoped or thought. Perhaps it was because they were all the more seasoned than her. It did make her feel a little out of place, but perhaps that was to be expected on her first real mission.
On his word Yura left out of the ship with the others, only really trying to follow behind Conner in the process. She'd looked around and watch everyone else while also keeping an eye out fot any attackers or the like. She just hoped things would go smoothly enough that not a lot of people were hurt in the end.
Location: Small, confined rooms Objective: Find a Comlink What he wished: The smell of fish was gone.
He didn't even have to wait a day to get his response from the Mon Cal leaders. They brought him back into the "briefing room" to fill him in on their decision. Okay, so the briefing room was nothing more than a small box with a table but whatever. The leaders spent like ten minutes filling Quinn in with the reasons behind their choice.
Quinn was done with the fishes, but he needed to hear them out. It took them a while before they gave him some terms. If the Silver Jedi could remove the pirates from Dac space, they'd allow them trade routes. I mean, they were already doing that, but Quinn figured he should tell [member="Coci Heavenshield"] anyway. The only issue with that is the lack of a comlink.
Quinn left the room, thankful to the Dac citizens. He needed to try and find a comlink down here, and he figured the best place to look would be the security office. He had been given a keycard to get into maximum security areas, so he figured he'd use it. Of course, that's what he did.
He turned on the holocommunicator, attuning it to the signal of The Silver Jedi, and hopefully in turn, Coci. He stood for a few moments, adjusting settings, before finally broadcasting his signal. All he could hope was Coci, or someone, was close enough to pick up his signal.
Nagate followed suit as Connor shouted orders, Nagate leapt from the shuttle and landing in a crouch. Pulling a blaster pistol and his saber, he moved ip with the rest of the unit.
Nagate cemtered himself as he ran, gaini favor with the Force, finding the balance between emotion and control. Feel but do not react. He was focusing on his speed, it was his best ally during a fight. This would be a good test to see how far he'd come. The last mission had been one of peace that turned sour, his reaction was quick, but this time it was a fight out of the gate. He'd need his wits and training to continue being Master Harrison's apprentice.
Mon Eron
Mon Cal Hypernautic Construction
With: [member="Darell Irani"], [member="Marek Starchaser"]
Another day, another credit, another boring business meeting. Wait, did she say those thoughts outloud? No? Whew. Venussia Sasko, the CEO of Eridium Industrial, squeezed in between two of her favorite business wheelers and dealers Marek Starchaser and Darell Irani, as they pored over the blueprints for the Mon Calamari orbital shipyards that Eridium Industrial was going to build. Woof. Kark, the blueprints, this was her kind of man sandwich. Ven wondered if she rubbed up against them in just the right way, they wouldn't notice how ridiculously late she was to the meeting. It was obvious that someone had fallen asleep during the sexual harassment training Holo they had given her at orientation. Who could blame her really? For a Holo with “sex” in the title, she was expecting too see alot more groping and maybe even some nudity. What a disappointing day that was.
"Hey did you guys know there's a travel advisory out there right now for ships entering Mon Cal space?" she asked with a head tilt. "Something about a pirate attack?” With her ever-present side-eyed glare, Ven moved her gaze from Mr. Starchaser to Mr. Irani.
“Seriously, if we get kidnapped by pirates today, you’d better hope the pirates kill you because otherwise I’m going to murder the both of you.”
Post 2 of 20, brah! Location: Under the sea! Enemies: Females, Chicks, Ladies, Dudettes and whatever else girls is calling themselves these days Objective: Explore / Medical Supply Delivery
Some people stood on the beach, looking out over the ocean, and imagined that they stood at world's end.
It wasn't. It was only the beginning.
The sunlight penetrated deep beneath the surface of the water, illuminating a brave new world below. One populated by vibrant color. Red corals painted an intricate landscape, rising like mesas and hollowing out valleys and ridges into which green fronds and anemones created an undersea forest. Yellow, orange, and blue were all visible, as tropical fish moved in small schools through sea grass, which bowed and waved with the motion of the currents. Red and brown mollusks, crustaceans, and sea slugs crept along the ocean floor.
The young Nautolan's body cut through the water like a hot knife passing through butter. Moving in time with the waves above, the child's slim frame undulated with the motion of the dolphin kick, pushing against the weight of water with a preternatural ease. His arms were tucked against the sides of his body, his hips and legs fueling the momentum with which he navigated down and through the ocean. The fourteen stubby head-tendrils, normally hanging limp from the crown of his head, now writhed with a life of their own as the tresses worked to adjust the boy to the changes in pressure and salinity that were occurring dynamically as he passed through the strata of the sea. The gills, situated slightly higher and further back than the ears on a human, flared open and shut, as the delicate membranes filtered the water which the boy now breathed.
A school of moappa hung like clouds, drifting on the wind-like currents.
Looking downward, the child spied an exosquidra creeping along the sea bed, it's tentacles reaching out to grab onto the corals as it pulled itself along.
A Force push sent the boy gliding forward with a sudden burst of speed. Planing out with his body, the youngling subconsciously adjusted his own buoyancy so that he hovered over the reef as he passed between the daylight and the deep. A great shadow along the sea floor betrayed the presence of one of the sea's great masters.
Indeed, looking up, the boy was greeted by the majestic sight of one of Dac's whaladon giants. A solitary soldier of the sea, drifting onward in a slow march out among the waves.
Reef's end arrived with the terminus of the continental shelf. The sea floor suddenly dropping to reveal a steep face of an undersea mountain, one which descended down into the deep and dark.
The road to Aquarius.
Pulling upward, the child prepared to dive when something made him stop.
He had a baaaaaaad feeling....
It wasn't like when you walked into Galactic Basic Standard class, and suddenly knew there was going to be a pop quiz. Or when the history teacher said that the tests were graded and you already knew that you'd made a D.
Looking back, the child stared back out over the reef behind him.
The fish were gone. The fronds and anemones which had been teeming with life just moments before now eerily devoid of anything. Just the seaweed, blowing in the currents. Looking up, the boy searched the sea for signs of the whaladon.
...but it was merely an empty sea of blue.
The Nautolan's black eyes wrestled with the gnawing paranoia, the gray swirls within the onyx orbs fueling a great storm of clouds within the boy's inhuman gaze. This didn't feel right. It felt like...
MOVE!
Pumping his legs and pushing against the water with both arms, the small Nautolan shot three meters straight up. As he did, he felt something pass beneath him.
Twisting in the ocean, the young Jedi stretched out with the Force as he pulled himself into a corkscrew dive. In a haze of bubbles, the child saw only fleeting glimpses of a shadow and a claw. The prehensile talon ripped through the water, passing just inches from the child was he spun down beneath the swipe.
He couldn't see what it was yet, but he knew this much...
It was big.
It was fast.
AND IT WAS HUNGRY.
Instinctively, the child's hand flew to where [member="Nefertari Sovint"]'s training lightsaber ordinarily hung from the padawan's Nautolan tunic. The small fingers grasp as empty water, as it slowly dawned on him that he hadn't brought the lightsaber with him.
Master Nef was a human.
Her lightsaber wasn't built to withstand ocean depths.
...but that was okay. Zak was a JEDI. That meant he was well trained for situations like this. After all, he'd been raised by the Jedi Academy, instilled with all the virtues of the Jedi Guadians who had served the Republic for over a thousand THOUSAND generations. Bravery was his middle name. Courage was what he called the muscles of his right arm, and Bravery the name of the left. Fortitude and Virtue were his companions.
So as he turned to face the coming of shadows, the boy's internal dialogue went:
Throwing out his arms, the child's panic was made manifest in a wild, uncontrolled burst of telekinesis as a maw of razor-like teeth appeared in a flash of silvery white.
The Force bubble exploded, sending Zak tumbling backward in the water as whatever it was that had attacked him was repulsed. Re-orienting himself in the ocean, the Nautolan at last got a look at the shadow attacking him.
The beacon had done its job and split the enemy force, only their small fleet was unequipped to deal with what was turning their way, the first impacts of starfighter fire on his port(left) side.
“Bring us in closer to support the fighters, leave the pirate ships pulling away, focus on the stubborn ones, their weapons and shields as a priority.” Kei said to the colonel, if they could simple dissuade enough of the enemy they might cause a full scale rout.
“Closer Sir? This ships not built for that, you know how outdated she is.” The Colonel insisted.
“Outdated or not, she’s still good cover. Draw some fire colonel, keep us in rotation, minimize their area of fire and give me a targeting solution on the lead frigate.” These were pirates thankfully, some of their tech was as old as his was, well okay not as old, but not far off from the looks of it.
The first fleet was performing much better than the support fleet, but then he was only the diversion. The y-wings were in place and the bright flash ahead saw one of the large frigate's shockwaves erupting ahead, as their missiles joined the Aurek Strike Interceptors on point.
“Hail the lead fighters, see if they can give the medical frigate some cover,” [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Ikki Ike"] | [member="Cambria Zadira"]
One tactical error on his part was to leave his own medical ship so exposed, after the battle they were going to need her! “Pull her back Kortec,” he damned well needed some escort ships that much was painfully obvious.
“Trying sir, they are having some problems with the frigates sublight engines.”
Damned it, not a good start.
SJO Support Fleet:
1 x The Beacon a modernised Interdictor Class Cruiser – Shields at 90%
1 x Class_C_Frigate (Hospital Variant) – Under Attack Shields at 90% *Engines Down
12 X Thyrsus Hearts – Attacking Frigates
1x High Cards Crack Pilots, Squadron of E-Wings (13 Ships) – Engaging Fighters
2 x Squadron of Retro Fitted Modern Y-wings (25/26 Ships) – Engaging Frigates
7x Gamma Class Assault Craft - Docked
10x Droch Class Boarding Craft - Docked
3,000 x Wildcard Special forces, Two Battalions - Spread across the fleet as boarding defense, extra security and reinforcement.
It was a slow but steady journey through hyperspace. This was a ship built not for interstellar travel, after all. He gave a nod to Coci's suggestion to contact [member="Darell Irani"], bringing up a holo-display on his control panel with a mere push of a button. "Darell Irani of the Tion Hegemony, this is Grandmaster Thurion Heavenshield aboard the Will of the Force. We are en route to Dac and we're bringing the heavy guns. We've picked up on the enemy fleet, and it looks like the bulk of it is heading towards the shipyards. The Silver Fleet will hold them off as best we can, but you should make ready to evacuate or hunker down somewhere safe until help arrives." He looked to Coci, then back at the display. "What is your status?"
While awaiting Mr. Irani's reply, one of the navigators spoke up. "Estimated arrival in the Calamari system within the hour, Grandmaster." The woman was given a nod in response. "Make ready to divert all non-critical power to weapons and shields once we exit hyperspace. We will either draw enemy fire or they will run away. Both are preferrable to having them target Dac." With another push of a button a direct comm-link to [member="Connor Harrison"] leading the ground-level defenses was established. "Talk to me, Connor - what's the damage so far planetside? What's your status?"
While Thurion opened communications with Tion Hegemony, Coci tensed and folded her arms across her chest as the eyebrow arched. However, she would let Thurion do the talking there, Coci oh so not the diplomat and she would try and keep a idol tongue. But her black eyes flicked toward the blue holo-display, all of the Silver Fleet present moving in all directions but there was one thing that began to worry her.
"Knight [member="Kei Amadis"]", she hailed his ship and began her message, "The Mon Calamari Shipyards are left undefended, have a ship with two squads move to that location", she sent through the co-ordinates. Those pirates are tricky and lead by this 'Cutter' chappie, he would not let them alone for long.
Constant chatter came in from all Silver Jedi over the communications, from ships to ground. An unanswered hail blinked on the panel and Coci opened it. "Padawan [member="Quinn Michaels"], receiving! What is your situation?", she waited curiously.
While waiting for all the replies, Coci's head tilted to the side, as she noted an identification of a Jedi which alarmed her .. a lot. Within all that was going on this young Nautolan [member="Zak Dymo"] had slipped into the fleet and joined the ground forces? The identification reported he was underwater and moving fast...
"What in the name of the Force is that kid doing here?", she asked the crew who would not be able to answer the concerned Jedi Master. "Master [member="Connor Harrison"], you got someone on ground to go get this kid? preferably before he gets eaten or something". The young boy their son's best buddy, Theo could not stop talking about him.
The 'within the hour' could not come fast enough.
(3)
New and added Objective: For the love of the Force will someone go and help ZAK!
Location: Capital Building Objective: Hold the signal What he wished: The fish had signal
He listened as Coci answered him, finally. He chuckled, trying to keep the bad signal. "Master Heavenshield, The Mon Cal have agreed to all of our terms as long as we cle..." the signal crackled, signs of the water. "Clear the pirates from here. I assume the space battle is going well?" he asked, a smile on his face.
He hated the rain, he hated the sea. He hated water. He also hated the signal from down here, damn Mon Cal. "Master...." his signal cracked again. "Master Harrison hasn't been heard from down here, you heard anything?" he asked Coci. To be fair, it was true. He hadn't heard anything from Connor.
He bowed, swinging his cloak back around him. He had donned Jedi robes for this mission, dropping his regular suit. He figured that he better keep these negotiations formal. "A.." his signal crackled once again, much to his annoyance. "Anything left to be done master, or can I pull out?" he asked Coci, waiting. He hoped [member="Coci Heavenshield"] had something for him, to be perfectly honest he was getting bored.
