Reunion

[Adron Malvern]

​

Location: Deep Space, Near the Core
Objective: Ambush
Tags: [member="Kei Raxis"] [member="Xobos Yakieer"] [member="Alden Akaran"]
Starship: Winter's Concord

Lingering in the deepest part of the core, the Whitestar Battlecruiser was unseen, unheard. A massive warship of destructive power, it had the ability to traverse the galaxy without the faintest hint of recognition.

Darth Malphas stood on the deck of the warship with a silent expression. His gaze danced over the empty scene of stars and darkness with a striking curiosity. A message had reached him, falling from the other side of the galaxy the message had come from a transmission the Exarch had not used in some time, years. When he stood by Commenor and their Queen, the exceptional, however naive Lady Kay. In that time Adron had made many allies, false and true, Kei was one of the few who stood on the side of true. That was why the Sith Lord had killed him.

He exhaled as his mind flashed away from the swing of a lightsaber that had cleaved his soul, taking Kei Raxis from this life.

Adron was not sure what to expect. At first he believed the transmission was a farce, a poor joke made at the Exarch's expense. Had that been the case the man who made the joke would have found his head separated from his body by now. He'd just been returning from Roon, a desolate world that held nothing but the promise of another apprentice. Well, he had not quite expected to gain an apprentice, but that was how it worked out. [member="Xobos Yakieer"] was an interesting one. A woman who heard the call of voices not her own. Two of them to be specific, neither of which had a particular soft spot for Malphas. Yet, her talents in the Force were noticeable, making her a hopeful apprentice.

She would provide excellent competition for [member="Alden Akaran"]. The man had only just been taken as Malphas' apprentice yet already he was showing the signs of progression. His understanding of the Force was about as even as Xobos' yet he would need more molding before he could use it proficiently. There would be days to come when the two would learn and grow together, and in that time the Sith Lord would watch closely.

However, today was not a lesson, it was not an instruction. Today was a task.

Malphas summoned his apprentices to the main deck, both [member="Xobos Yakieer"] and [member="Alden Akaran"]. When they arrived they would find him clad in his usual attire for most days. A deep ebony suit, this one with a crimson wolf lightly threaded into the left shoulder. He eyed each of them pointedly before exhaling once again. "Soon a Starship will drop from space. You both agreed to be taken as my apprentices, my hands, so you will do as I command."

"This ship holds a man who is vital to my plans and vital to The Confederacy. You will retrieve him. The ship has to come out of hyperspace to transmit it's final marker. When it does we'll jam it's communications and use our tractor beam to hold it in place. You two have never worked together but you will from this moment on. You will lead this boarding together, Alden, Xobos, you are sibling apprentices under me. Fail each other and you fail me."

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He was actually annoyed.

The prison ship was cold and the food sucked. The tailored suits he was used to were gone, replaced with the simplest of outfits. The vast wealth was gone, waiting just outside of his grasp. He couldn't touch it until he was free. The soldiers and the ship were gone, hidden on the opposite end of the galaxy away from anyone who would pose a threat. The new armour was gone, locked away on Commenor, just waiting for him.

The force inhibiting collar around his neck was rubbing against the flesh, agitating the bare skin every time he breathed, every time he swallowed.

He had managed to get a message to one of the few people still loyal to him. He could only hope that the message had been passed on, reached the intended target. He never intended to contact his killer again, he never intended to see the man again. Circumstances changed however, Adron was one of the few men in the galaxy with the power to break him out. Kei trusted that Adron would come up with a good plan as long as he believed the messanger.

Kei had never hated the man. Kei respected the Sith Lord, he was too dangerous to be left alive. If it was Adron locked inside the Sith suit, Kei would have done the exact same thing.

The ship was barely holding together. It was rusty and the seats were torn up. The fights that took place between prisoners was almost calming, the tattered ship was almost calming. Both were a reminder that not everything was perfect. Kei didn't like perfect, things needed to go wrong so he could fix them. Kei didn't like quiet, things needed to be loud so he wasn't trapped with the images that continually flashed through his mind, two personalities clashing.

He heard a shot.

A stunning shot, aimed at a prisoner who had tried to start a fight. They had been on the ship close to a week and the fights were common place. Most of the prisoners didn't like each other, most had been members of a gang that had been shut down by The Silver Jedi. All of the members blamed each other for their downfall, all of their members wanted revenge on each other. Watching them fight was interesting, studying their patterns.

He felt the stun baton pressing against him, forcing him back into his cell.

Then he heard the pop.

He blinked.

He had missed the familar pop back into real-space. It was something you grew used to when you spent years exploring the galaxy on a star destroyer, fighting for the Commenori people and the Mandalorian people and whoever else Kei had fought for throughout the years. He wouldn't have been surprised if someone told him he had fought for every side, the good and the bad and everything else left inbetween.

Kei had done the calculations. They had to be close to their destination, not many stops left. The stops were only to place their marker, allowing the ship to be tracked through the galaxy. There were some high value prisoners aboard, they couldn't afford to lose them. Kei sighed, looking out of the tiny viewport of his cell. The galaxy around them was bright, the stars were providing plenty of light. They were in real-space.

Real space, but not for long.

[member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer] | [member="Alden Akaran"]

 

[Xobos Yakieer]

Location: Deep Space, Near the Core
Objective: Rescue mission
Tags: [member="Kei Raxis"] [member="Alden Akaran"] [member="Adron Malvern"]
Starship: Winter's Concord

There was no way that Xobos could have predicted that these last few days could have ended up going the way they had. Nothing would have prepared her for such a dramatic turn in her life, yet again, after been banished onto Roon for such a long time. Even once the mysterious man had shown up, speaking things about the dark side of the force that she had never heard of, to predict that she would end up his apprentice would be insanity.

Though, Xobos certainly knew a thing or two about insanity. Especially since the voices had been quite content to make their opinions known about the Miraluka taking on this new quest.

The day between when she had been taken from the planet had been filled with recovery. The ship’s medical staff had found that the girl was severely deficient in multiple necessary vitamins, which apparently eating lizard man meat didn’t give, and a few of her harsher cuts were infected. She spent the first part of the day in a bacta tank, while nutrients were fed to her through a small tube pierced directly into one of her main arteries. This experience left her feeling exhausted and sluggish. The man, who Xobos would come to find out name’s was Adron, had left her alone as soon as they landed on the massive shift, leaving her in the care of some gruff looking officer. This same officer led her to a cabin after her bacta bath, letting her in.

Inside, there was a fresh change of underclothes, as well as a small set of armor hanging in the corner of the room. There was also a small desk, as well as a comfy looking, small bed. This was Xobos’s main target, and as soon as the officer had left, the Miraluka crashed on the bed, and it wasn’t long until she was in a deep sleep. There wasn’t even any visions to keep her up through the night, which she attributed to Ambrus beginning to accept this was the situation they were in now.

She awoke with a start, the knocking on her door causing her to be awoken rudely. Quickly sliding her way out of the bed, the Miraluka quickly walked over to the door, sliding it open. A younger officer stood there, giving her a quick salute, before informing her Adron wanted her on the bridge. He hurried away after that, obviously being tasked with multiple things. Xobos just stood there in the doorway for a moment, watching him hurry away. Ambrus’s dark, gruff presence made itself known at the front of her mind, voice filling her ears for a moment. “Well, it seems as though we are already among the respected. Perhaps this wasn’t a horrible choice that will get us heaps of trouble, master.”

These words caused Xobos’s to roll her eyes, step back into the doorway, and quickly went about changing into the clothes left for her. It didn’t take long, though it had been a long time since she had put on any sort of armor. The light shoulder pads were flexible, as well as the armor on her chest and abdomen. The only other armored part was along the outside of her thighs, leaving multiple spots along her legs and arms that would be susceptible to attacks. Though she doubted this was the armor she would wear most of the time, it did fill her with a small sense of dread at what would befall her once she made her way to the bridge.

Her eyes looked up into the mirror along her wall for a few moments, observing her face with her useless, cloudy eyes. Reaching up to trace a finger along one of the healing scars along her cheek, she couldn’t help but think that this whole thing was a mistake. Maybe she wasn’t meant to be doing something like this. Those thoughts persisted, at least until a more calming presence floated to the front of her mind, Ora’s. “You’ve made the decision to be here, master. Both Ambrus and I warned you. However, we will assist you however we can to make sure you are able to get through it.”

A slightly calming message, if not condescending for the first part of it. Taking a moment to take a few deep breaths to calm herself, her eyes observed her face for only a moment more before stepping away and out of the room, quickly heading toward the closest elevator to make her way to the bridge.

Even with how tall and massive this ship was, it was a short ride up the elevator to the bridge, where it opened up to a quiet command area, as if everyone was on edge or awaiting orders. Her new boots pressed softly against the floor, walking up to where she saw the man standing, wearing a much different outfit than the one he had worn on Roon. A suit. Tailor made and expensive looking.

Shrugging it off, she made her way to where another man was standing behind Adron, assuming this was where everyone was supposed to be. Being the second one there, she assumed that she wouldn’t be the last. Though as a few minute went by, Xobos’s realized she was probably the last one to arrive. The Miraluka winced the feeling away, listening intently to Adron as he gave the briefing and mission.

A rescue mission, working with the man standing beside her, whom she didn’t know, so soon after being brought back from solitude didn’t sound like the best idea. There had been no training or anything during her short time coming back to civilization, if you discounted the small blurbs of knowledge Adron would speak. This whole mission sounded more like a deathtrap to Xobos, though if her new master believed in her enough to send it, surely she could complete it and come out fine..

Right?

 

[Luca Donskoi]

[SIZE=12pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Deep Space (near the Core)[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Objective: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]A mission of sorts[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Tags: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt][member="Kei Raxis"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer"] | [member="Adron Malvern"][/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Ship: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Winter’s Concord ([/SIZE]LINK[SIZE=12pt])[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]The confines of deep space were comforting to Alden as he stood on the bridge, his hands clasped behind him, eyes gazing out into the vacuum beyond the viewport. For the first time in a long time, Alden was more or less home. The familiar realm of the Core offered a nostalgia and his mind drifted into thoughts of his childhood. Of family and of the home he’d been raised within back on Rendili. He honestly never thought he would be returning to these parts of the galaxy, not after he deserted when the old government he’d served had fallen. Never as an officer in the Confederacy and an apprentice to one of its leaders. He was a melding pot of different emotions right now, yet even so, he found a strange comfort in being here. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]His eyes were closed as he began to reach into the Force, still tying to further familiarize himself with it and what it offered. It was still strange to him; a foreign entity that for thirty years of his life, he had no idea that he even possessed. He’d manage to pick up a few things in his couple of weeks of training to this point. He could push, pull, grasp, and talk through the Force comfortably now, and even so, a lot of times those talents were even shaky. Beyond those abilities, only precognition had really come to him which is something he had unknowingly used throughout his life to this point, chalking everything up to instinct at this point. Strange, really, how so much could change in such a short period of time. It seemed that just yesterday he was graduating from the Academy on Carida, and now he was within a new government and serving a vastly different purpose. Where had the time gone?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]As he opened his eyes, they came upon the tail of a distant comet as she ventured through the greater galaxy. It was a site that was a reminder of the natural beauty the universe offered, and that beauty brought an excitement to him, even as he fought back the smile. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Finally, after a moment more, he unclasped his hands and pulled on the hem of his uniform’s navy-blue jacket and patted down the legs simply trying to give it a sharper look. He turned and approached Adron, giving him a rigid salute, only moving to lower it once the sentiment was either returned or he was put ‘at ease’ with an order. Afterward, he would fall in line off kilter to Adron’s left where he waited for the arrival of the Miralukan he had heard of, but had yet to meet. As she entered, Alden couldn’t lie to himself; she certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. He couldn’t exactly put his finger on it, but she didn’t quite match what he was expecting. That wasn’t a bad thing, however. He offered her a smile and dipped his head slightly in a kind of bowing motion, as an acknowledgement to her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Moments later, Adron would speak and Alden would listen. Apparently, they were venturing this far into the core to rescue a man. A man that must have meant a lot to the Confederacy, to Adron, or both. They were risking a lot for this one man in Alden’s opinion, but he knew better than to voice such things, especially in this setting since now was neither the time nor the place to do so. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]After a moment to think, Alden finally spoke up. “What do we know of this ship, Master?” His question was straight to the point in a sense. He knew that they were going to do this, no matter what, but there was no sense in diving in blind. Perhaps this was just his heavily military background speaking, but details were necessary in his mind. You needed as much information as possible to draw up the optimal plan that would offer the chance for the fewest hiccups. [/SIZE]

 

[Adron Malvern]

​

[member="Alden Akaran"] [member="Xobos Yakieer"] [member="Kei Raxis"]​

​

His eyes danced from one apprentice to the other. Almost amused by just how different they were even by appearence. It was Alden to speak up, expectedly, he'd want the information to know how this mission could be effectively completed. The Sith Lord smiled softly as he turned away from the two of them to eye the dark void of space that laid before them. "It's a simple prison freighter. Relatively unarmed, it poses no threat to our ship or the boarding party. The defenses will likely be a few armed guards. Not soldiers, security officers most likely, just to transport the prisoners to their destination." As the Exarch spoke a B-1 Battledroid made it's way to his side, holding out a datapad silently. The man took the device in his hand and gave it a once-over before holding it out to Alden. "Here's the ships layout and schematic."

"The two of you will board the ship, find a man known as Kei Raxis. He has jet black hair and will likely put off a distinct presence in the Force that both of you should be able to sense." The Exarch was careful in his wording as this assignment was equal parts test as it was a mission. "Once you've found him you will contact me and make your way back to this ship." He instructed, before showing a rather sly expression.'

"Oh, I feel I should mention. This ship you'll be assaulting, it is a Silver Jedi Prisoner Transport. If you follow my orders correctly and the mission goes well then both of you will be handsomely rewarded, with the next phase of your training. If you fail....Well i'd hate to have to step in. Now. No one is to die, do I make myself clear? Spill even one drop of blood and you'll follow whoever you kill to the afterlife. Try to be as neat as possible, it makes it easier for me once it's all said and done." The Exarch brought a hand to his chin as he considered what he'd told the two of them. Ah yes, there was one final thing.

"You only have fifteen minutes. From the moment the ship drops out of Hyperspace it has ten minutes to transmit it's codes or else an inspection patrol will be sent. If a patrol is sent then we'll be caught and the problems to follow will be considerable."

"Now. If I were you I'd hurry to the flight deck. I'd hate for that fifteen minutes to be chopped down to size by you having to travel across my ship." The two apprentices would be ushered out but before they were, Adron called out to each of them. "One final thing. Take these." The lights on the bridge dampened for a moment, as a red hue fell over the group. The loud mechanical whirrings above them would attract attention before eight loud pops sounded off, followed by low hisses. All around the apprentices, metallic bodies would drop, slamming into the walkway with a loud metallic impact. The droids straightened their bodies in unison before their optics began to shine a deep shade of crimson. Each of the Magnaguard was outfitted with a black cloak and a matching electrostaff, as the apprentices moved to board the prison ship, these droids would accompany them and follow their comnmands.

Adron would watch them all depart before turning back to the bridge, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Are we prepared?" He called out, his eyes meeting the soulless faceplate of a nearby B1 droid. "Yes, Exarch. The tractor beam is online and we're prepared to jam all communications." Adron nodded at the droid in an accepting silence.

It would be a few more minutes before the prison ship emerged from the depths of Hyperspace. Still, the Confederate warship would remain cloaked for a moment longer until the freighter completed it's initial scans. During this time Adron would connect himself with The Force closing his eyes as he dipped his hands into the twisting nether. His eyes would snap open, just as his voice called out. "Do it."

From the shadows of darkness the massive warship would materialize in front of the much smaller freighter. Almost immediately after the ship would activate it's tractor beam, latching onto the smaller freighter. The droids before Adron worked effortlessly to see his commands done and he watched them as a hawk watched prey. After a few seconds one of them called out, "They're caught in our tractor beam."

"All communications have been jammed." The other said, causing Adron to smile softly. As he considered his apprentices his eyes fell to the watch that was fastened to his wrist. "Fifteen minutes starts.....Now."

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

"Captain!"

Everyone on the bridge was panicked, feet slapping off the metalic floors as crew men run about (some gently jogging) to try and figure out why they had lost communication. The Captain looked from the transparisteel viewports slowly. There was nothing in the area that could possibly be jamming them, it had to be a fault with the ship. It was a much older ship, it was bound to have some technological faults. He still felt uneasy.

"Get us out of here, fix the communiction array while we're travelling"

The Captain spoke, voice deep and rough. Experience lined his wrinkled face, grey hair protruding from both the top of his head and his face. He watched the two helmsmen readying their next destination. The Silver Jedi would understand why they hadn't checked in, they shouldn't have sent him with the oldest prisoner transport ship in the fleet. He was surprised the cells held most of the prisoners in place, the rust that coated the bars made them look unsafe.

The ship lurched forward, but it didn't enter hyperspace.

"Helm, get me a status report"

The Captain looked towards his two pilots, demanding answers.

"We appear to be caught in some sort of tractor beam. Entering hyperspace damn near tore the ship apart. We can't do that again without serious damage"

Another voice from another corner of the bridge.

"Whatever you just did has unlocked at least four cells. We have reports of at least four loose inmates free during a lockdown"

"A riot?"

"Potentially, sir"

The Captain shook his head. He couldn't be dealing with a riot while the ship was trapped in some sort of tractor beam. He looked out again, there was nothing near them. There was absolutely nothing in the area that could be producing a tractor beam. The Captain felt uneasy, something wasn't right. He wasn't getting paid enough to be torn apart by invisible space ghosts or invisible space pirates or whatever was attacking his ship.

"We hold out here. Ten minutes, that's all we need to hold out"

The jolt really kicked it into high gear.

Kei heard the sirens before he saw the guards. He looked through the bars on his cell, watched as the cell opposite opened. He realised pretty quickly that the ship wasn't moving. He placed his hand softly against the bars on the cell, another cell opening further down. He assumed the jolt they felt was the ship trying to jump to hyperspace and failing, either due to a mechanical fault or an external fault. The cell doors opening, he put that down to an electronics fault caused by the jolt.

It wasn't a mechanical fault that had caused the jolt. Kei offered a small grin. A mechanical fault wouldn't have caused the jolt, the only thing capable of causing such a jolt was the attempted use of the hyperdrive while locked in a tractor beam. Pirates didn't tend to have tractor beams, they cost too many credits for the average pirates. That meant that the tractor beam was being produced by someone who wanted something from the prisoner transport.

His backup had arrived.

[member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Alden Akaran"] |[member="Xobos Yakieer"]

 

[Xobos Yakieer]

Location: Winter’s Concord Bridge
Objective: Rescue mission
Tags: [member="Kei Raxis"] [member="Alden Akaran"] [member="Adron Malvern"]
Starship: Winter's Concord

There seemed to be no real threat ahead of them. A small prisoner ship, with very few armed guards, who probably wanted to die much less than they felt the need to defend the ship, didn’t sound like the hardest thing to break into and rescue someone from. Xobos had never even attempted something like this, and it didn’t sound that bad to her. She should be terrified to be trying this, especially so soon after being brought off of Roon, but with the taller man by her side, who she could feel giving off a powerful presence, she was less terrified than nervously confident.

Thoughts of Roon made the apprentice clinch and unclench her fist a few times to try to flex out the dull pain of the mark now imprinted on the underside of her forearm. For a moment, while her master was paused momentarily looking over a datapad that some sort of droid had brought him, her eyes looked down to her arm, rotating it so that the mark could be seen. Even as she focused on it, the dull pain continued to throb lightly, as well as the ever presence of cold around the mark. It enhanced her connection to the dark side, her master had said, though even as she observed it, the Miraluka couldn’t help but almost not believe it was real. That all of these experiences were real.

Her master speaking again quickly brought her thoughts back to he present, though the cold feeling in her forearm continued to linger annoyingly. The man they were to be rescuing, someone that put off a distinct feel in the force, didn’t exactly sound like much to go on. Even though ever since she got the mark on her arm, Xobos had began to notice she was able to feel things mentally that she hadn’t before, searching out and finding one specific energy sounded like a hard task. Especially when there was sure to be other presences on the ship clouding that all up.

Now the doubt and worry was beginning to seep in a little bit. Not that not killing was a big deal to Xobos, she wondered if she could temper her power enough to do so. The last time she had tried to use the full extent of her power..well, that was how the Miraluka ended up on Roon, banished. Having a time limit ticking in the back of her mind certainly didn’t help anything either..

With the time limit spoken for, it seemed the briefing was done, as the pair were seemingly sent away to make their way to the flight deck quickly. A final word was said, and the bridge was seemingly turned red for a moment, before loud clangs were heard as metal feet hit grating with a hard force. Xobos quickly stumbled back with a start, bumping into the other apprentice, before quickly straightening up and regarding the magnaguard in front of her with a scowl, as if it meant to scare her on purpose.

“Aw, did master get startled by the big bad droid?” Ambrus rumbled in her head, causing the Miraluka to respond with a low growl, and a mumbled, “Shut up, Ambrus. I wasn’t scared.” She gave the magnaguard one last look up and down before taking off down the corridor, assuming that the other apprentice would know where they were going and what the plan of action should be.

As the pair sprinted down the white washed corridors, the magnaguards sprinting behind them with almost synchronized mechanical sounds, Xobos glanced up at the taller man, trying to keep her voice sounding confident as they neared the flight deck. “I’m Xobos, by the way..do you happen to have a plan on how to get this done? I wouldn’t say I’ve ever boarded a prison vessel before.”

 

[Luca Donskoi]

[SIZE=12pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Deep Space (near the Core)[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Objective: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Rescue Mission[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Tags: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt][member="Kei Raxis"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer"] | [member="Adron Malvern"][/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Ship: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Winter’s Concord/Boarding Shuttle[/SIZE]​

​

​

[SIZE=12pt]Fifteen minutes. Fifteen measly minutes is all they had been given to plan and execute this ‘rescue’ operation for a man they’d not even been given so much as a description of. However, with a rare as Force Sensitivity was through the greater galaxy, it wouldn’t be so likely that there would be that many of that kind aboard this prison freighter. One. Possibly two or three, but anymore than that was highly unlikely. That was good at least.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Alden looked over the datapad as it was handed to him, quickly identifying the class of freighter it was and smiled as it was one that he was actually quite familiar with. This one may have belonged to the Silver Jedi Order, but it was a common ship and one that for some reason was routinely made into a prison transport. Older, yet still reliable, Alden almost had a fondness for the ship in a way. Because of this, Alden quickly began formulating a plan, and one he hoped would prove to be full proof through its execution. Even as he turned and slipped his way toward the exit of the Winter’s Concord’s command deck, he kept his focus buried into the information displayed on the holographic display. Yet, he kept an attentive ear toward the Exarch knowing his word was law. When wasn’t it, really? The clanking of metallic feet against the durasteel flooring didn’t even distract Alden from his scheming and planning. Not even the static hum of electrostaffs as they were ignited pulled him away. Not the dull purple glow they cast in contrast with the blue-white light of the datapad. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Before long, he was off the bridge and into the turbolift, Xobos to his flank. She spoke to him, introducing herself and inquiring as to whether or not he had a plan, a comment he merely just smiled to and gave her a confident wink. “Just follow my lead, kid. We’ll bee on and off that.” Soon, the lift came to a grinding and abrupt halt, as it reached its destination near the port side hangar where a single, simple shuttle awaited the. Prior to entering the hangar, Alden reached into a case on a nearby wall and pulled two rebreaters from it, handing one to the younger Miraluka. “Here. You’re going to want this.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]No doubt, the comment coupled with the action would likely arouse either a suspicion or confusion – perhaps a combination of the two – but the feelings wouldn’t be allowed to remain unattended for long. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Boarding the shuttle would be a quick effort and it wouldn’t take long for the magna guards to follow suit, even though Alden really didn’t see use for them in his plan. Perhaps they could just guard the shuttle and ensure their escape was still a viable one as they gathered their query and quickly returned. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Alden quickly thumbed in a few commands and powered the shuttle to life, immediately running a preflight check. After all systems had cleared, they would be off and toward the helpless prison ship. In that time, Alden turned to Xobos and began to divulge what the plan was. “Plan’s pretty simple, kid. So, this is a prison vessel, right?” He wouldn’t give her time for any response before he would continue. “If it’s a prison ship, it’ll have some kind of automated riot suppression defenses. If we can get to a mechanical room, particularly the one here,” he said as he pointed to a room near a hangar, “I can pull a certain fuse and we’ll be able to activate them. Hopefully they are non-lethal defenses, likely a neural inhibitor or tranquilizer of some sort. With the crew of the ship incapacitated, it should be fairly easy to extract our man and get off and all in the time limit Exarch Malvern levied upon us.” It was true, if the plan went off without a hitch, they would be in and out in the blink of an eye. Even with the limited knowledge they both possessed of their target. He also grinned approvingly to his decision to wear his uniform today. With any luck, the crew of the freighter wouldn’t notice the slight differences between it and the older uniform he once wore in his time with the Galactic Alliance and New Republic, both having been allied with the Silver Jedi for some time. He could easily pose as an inspector or mechanic or something of that nature. “The name’s Alden,” he finally told her as he introduced himself.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Three and a half minutes had passed now and they’d left the hangar in route to the suspended prison ship.[/SIZE]

 

[Xobos Yakieer]

​

Location: Winter’s Concord Bridge
Objective: Rescue mission
Tags: [member="Kei Raxis"] [member="Alden Akaran"] [member="Adron Malvern"]
Starship: Winter's Concord

By the time the elevator came to a halt at the end of their ride, the clock had already begun to tick against their favor. This added requirement wasn’t going to make things any easier, and Xobos hoped desperately that the other apprentice had a plan that could get them in and out with little trouble. Not being able to just kill their way through the ship was another hurdle that would need to be moved through, though Xobos certainly didn’t mind that one as much. Leaving a bunch of bodies in their wake wouldn’t have been how she would have liked to handle things typically, but with a time limit having that option would have made things much easier.

Honestly, she didn’t even know why they couldn’t do something like that. But then again, she hadn’t exactly been able to keep up with galactic politics during her time on Roon. Perhaps this Confederacy had some sort of alliance with whoever they were raiding, but in that case, why was this man important enough to her new master that breaking him out was worth the risk of angering those that owned the prison vessel? He must be extremely important…or Adron had some sort of connection to him that may or may not be explained in future to her.

These were thoughts and questions to be answered another time, as at the moment the pair were quickly sprinting out of the elevator, with the big droids following closely behind. By the time they reached the hanger, Xobos was beginning to feel herself get over any fears or concerns she had earlier. They really were doing this, and there was no time to take and think about how this was all probably a bad idea.

She watched as her apprentice partner threw her a rebreather, which she regarded in her hand momentarily before clipping it onto her belt. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time she had used that device, but it had been a while. As for it’s use, Xobos found it better to not ask for not. Questions seemed to go unanswered a lot for these two people, both the apprentice and Adron, so at this point she was fine letting the answers come at their own pace.

Boarding the shuttle along with the other apprentice, she allowed him to take the piloting seat. It had been quite a while since she had flown a craft, and much more would rather him trying to fly into the belly of the beast than herself. Watching as he went through the preflight checklist, as well listening as he explained his brilliant plan, she couldn’t help but let a small smile cross her face. Working with him certainly seemed that it would bring its perks, so much so that even Ora spoke up to agree with her own thoughts. “well, it’s lucky that he’s coming along and leading this. I doubt we would have survived had we been doing this on our own.”

Xobos wouldn’t say it out loud, but she agreed with Ora. Without Alden, she highly doubted she could complete this mission on her own. At least not in the way that her master wanted. But the plan that was laid at her feet did seem like it could work. But a singular question began to linger to the front of her mind as the shuttle lifted up and out of the hanger.

As the grey shuttle pierced the blackness of space while hurtling toward the large prison vessel, Xobos took the datapad and began to look over it herself. While doing so, she asked the question that would pierce the silence between the apprentices. “Alright, one questions. One, how in the world do we get to the mechanical room, then down to the prisoner deck, find the man, and get back with him safely in..” it took a moment for her to figure out how much time they had left before continuing, “maybe 11 minutes. Wouldn’t we be better served splitting up?”

While waiting for him to answer her question, Xobos placed the datapad on the console and undid her safety belt, hopping out of the chair. In the small space between the pilots area and the back of the shuttle, where the tall droids had to bend over slightly to stand, the Miraluka stood and closed her eyes. She allowed the dark side to wash over her, feeling the mark on her forearm burning for a moment before clasping her hands together. Focusing on the object she needed, Xobos began to pull her hands apart, a shaft of dark energy appearing between them.

By the time they were extremely close the other vessel, only moments after she began, Xobos stood behind Alden with a long spear made of dark energy. It seemingly was see through, yet completely solid in Xobos’s touch. Holding the spear in her left hand, she leaned forward and braced against the console with her right. “What’s the plan once we land?”

​

 

[Luca Donskoi]

[SIZE=12pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Deep Space (near the Core)[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Objective: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Rescue Mission[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Tags: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt][member="Kei Raxis"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer"] | [member="Adron Malvern"][/SIZE]​

​

​

[SIZE=12pt]Alden looked to Xobos and allowed a smile to carve its way across his face. How were they going to do all of this in the time allocated to them? Well that was only difficult if one overthought the process at hand. Truth was, the ship was simply too large to scour in all of 15 minutes. It meant that they were going to be able to be with each other the entire time. And that in this plan, he was putting a lot of faith and trust in this kid. However, if the Exarch trusted them enough, then he would give them the benefit of it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]A few more seconds passed before the shuttle made its way to the stagnated freighter. It somewhat rubbed Alden in the wrong manner to know that in order to pull this plan off, he was going to have to live a lie for the next little while. To front himself as a passing officer of the military he had once served in order to extract a man from the prison ship at the behest of the Exarch’s demands, but he knew he could not linger on those feelings. They would distract him and quite possibly lead to an outright mission failure.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“You really thing we’ll be able to pull this off without having to divide our efforts, kid?” He paused a moment, but not really long enough to allow any response from her. “No. You’ll be diving into the belly of the beast, but I’ll guide your way there.” Alden knew his words would put a lot of pressure on the young Miraluka, but if she was actually going to be a valuable part of this mission, she was going to have to be able to execute her duties and perform under pressure. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]It was now time for action as the shuttle silently slid into position, just outside the port side hatch. Thankfully, this area would be quite close in proximity to the mechanical and control room Alden would need to get to in order to initiate the beginning steps of his plan. With communications and other systems jammed by the Winter’s Concord, the crew of the prison frigate, it would be near impossible to catch the moment the shuttle docked and the hatch came unlocked to allow the rescue operation to commence. A smile creased his lips once more as Alden stepped foot in the frigate. Memories of a time in his past where he commanded a vessel of the very same model flourished in his mind and it was just as he remembered it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He turned about on his heel and his gaze met that of the Magna Guards that has accompanied them. Their presence wasn’t needed here, especially if all went to plan, and if anything, they would be more of a hindrance than an asset to the comprised team. But perhaps they had some use. They could be glorified guards to ensure nothing came over the shuttle. “Kid,” Alden said, his attention turning back to the Miraluka, “Let’s go. They’ll remain here and ensure our extraction point is still here.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]He stepped forward and proceeded down the hall, carrying himself in a manner reminiscent of a seasoned officer. Something he actually was. “We run into anyone, leave it to me.”[/SIZE]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

The guards looked at each other.

Both of them had been dragged onto shift. Neither of them knew why. Both of them wanted to sit around, smoke and drink and enjoy their downtime. Instead they had to gear up, weapons set to stun. They had been informed that four prisoners were free, roaming about the ship. They failed to understand why that concerned them, there was enough guards on duty to control four angry prisoners who probably just needed to be stunned and dragged back to their cells.

They were near the hangers, walking as slowly as they could towards the prisoner cells. They wanted the other guards to handle it so that they could turn up and then be sent back to their quaters because they weren't needed anymore. Both of them hoped that would be the situation, however both of them had a feeling it would never be that simple. They expected that it was going to be an extremely long night.

Then the saw something. Two people they didn't recognise.

"Stop, on the orders of the Silver Jedi"

[member="Alden Akaran"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer"] | [member="Adron Malvern"]

 

[Xobos Yakieer]

Location: Deep Space, Near the Core
Objective: Rescue mission
Tags: [member="Kei Raxis"] [member="Alden Akaran"] [member="Adron Malvern"]
Starship: Winter's Concord

​

It wasn’t long after that the group boarded onto the frigate from the shuttle, stepping into a basically derelict hanger. Alarms blared from the corridor in front of the pair signally that something might be wrong with the ship. Perhaps the tractor beam had caused a problem on the ship, and on a prisoner ship, alarms going off probably meant something very wrong had happened.

With alarms going off on a prisoner ship, two very bad things could and might be happening at this moment, both of which would make rescuing the prisoner that their master desired that much harder. The prisoners might just be loose, which might be where the alarm was coming from. Regardless of whether or not that was why alarms were blaring on the ship, the second thing that would make this harder for the pair of apprentice would be the heightened state of the guards on ship. She highly doubted there would be any sleeping or having any downtime while the ship was in a state of emergency.

Thankfully, she could see that there was no one currently in the hallway at this moment. Stepping off the shuttle with the magnaguards following closely behind, it surprised her to hear that Alden wanted to leave them behind. She took a moment to look at them, thinking about how they might be a serviceable asset to them in this rescue. The Mirluka frowned, then nodded towards the uniformed apprentice. “If you say so. I’m following your lead here.”
She followed the man into the hallway, sliding the spear of darkness onto her back for a moment. It was slightly hidden by her frame, but if observed close enough the darkness’s whispy streams would appear from behind the young woman. Xobos just hoped that they wouldn’t run into anyone on their way to the destination that the other apprentice had planned for them.

It was easy to admin that she was putting a lot of trust in the man. The only real reason she had for doing so at the moment was because he seemed to have a plan, but with leaving the magnaguards behind, Xobos’s faith wavered momentarily. There wasn’t much a point of sneaking around in her mind if the ship new that their master’s ship was the reason they were staying put. But for now, she would follow him, keeping mental notes for later to discuss with their master if it was to fail.

These thoughts were suddenly and quickly dashed when the pair of guards turned the corner, quickly raising their blasters and asking them to identify themselves. Xobos frozen, arms quickly moving to her sides. Useless eyes darted up to the officered man beside her. He had had a plan for everything at this point, so she would wait and see what he had to say. In her mind, however, Xobos spoke to the voices in her head, preparing herself for what might happen.

“You two are with me?”

“As we always are, little master.” The voice of lagos, the combined voice of both of them boomed in her mind. They were in agreement of this, for the better or worse of Xobos.

 

[Luca Donskoi]

​

[SIZE=12pt]Location: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Deep Space (Near the Core)[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Objective: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Rescue Mission[/SIZE]​

[SIZE=12pt]Tags: [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt][member="Adron Malvern"] | [member="Xobos Yakieer"] | [member="Kei Raxis"][/SIZE]​

​

[SIZE=12pt]‘Stop, on the orders of the Silver Jedi!’ [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]The words almost appeared to echo down the otherwise barren hallway as they were belched in his direction by one of the two guards that had been forced onto duty due to the ship’s current condition. Their apprehensiveness about his presence, and that of the young Miraluka to his side was to be expected, but it didn’t change the fact that this was a snag he hadn’t wanted to deal with. Not with their serious limitation on time that had been given to the pair by the Exarch moments earlier.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]A slight grimace marred his face with a somewhat frustrated appearance as his hands rose instinctively. It did, however, vanish as he performed his about face to turn his body in the direction of the two guards that would undoubtedly be closing distance on the two of them by now. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Reaching out with the Force, as not draw any unnecessary attention from the guards, he spoke a few words to the young woman so that only she would be able to hear them as they would beckon to her through the Force. <<Stay calm and follow my lead.>> The words were short and simple and hopefully not need any elaboration. Time was too precious now to waste in with such means.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Alden’s focus shifted once more to the two guards in front of them. His eyes narrowed and his face took on a different kind of seriousness. One that would demand an authority and respect innate with the rank he held, both formerly with the Galactic Alliance/New Republic and now as a member of the Confederacy. That information wouldn’t be known to the two, of course, but his military background would be something they would likely be able to pick up easily. There was just something about the a man or woman of the military carried themselves that set them apart from the greater population of the galaxy. A certain professionalism innate with taking to such a profession. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]His eyes narrowed in focus to the guard that seemed to be commanding the situation and he spoke. “There is no need for alarm. We are here following the same orders as yourself. Now stand down and carrying about your patrol.” He words were calm, yet direct in nature as he spoke to the pair of them. “It would be a pity for your supervision to hear about how you held up a Captain, would it not.” He threw in the rank he had once held as a member of the Galactic Alliance/New Republic, hoping it would ease their suspicion of his presence here. After all, the quicker this situation was resolved, the better.[/SIZE]