Flying: Eidolon-Class Stealth Transport
To say he had a bad feeling was an understatement.
A lone junior knight leading a gaggle of Padawan into the heart of Sith Space was just asking for trouble, but with the Concord and Silver Jedi's attention almost focused on containing the Bryn in Wild Space, this was the best they could scramble at the moment for errant signals. However, playing against a stacked deck was just part of the job description.
The Knight sucked it up and drove right into hell.
"We'll be arriving at the location soon," his Ranger copilot Ensign Vhalen announced.
"Buckle down if you haven't already," Finley followed up. "The ride is about to get choppy."
Most ships couldn't just jump straight to Exegol, they had to first navigate a nebulae that enveloped the system via sublight. Much like the Kessel Run, there was only the narrowest of corridors to navigate. Prior to the flight, he had studied what he could to prepare for the journey, but the most recent records that been recovered were still centuries out of date. They were helpful in providing general guidance, but he would ultimately have to find his own path flying manual.
"Vhalen, Divert all power to forward shields. Here we go..."
Drawing upon the Force, time ticked slower, colors became more vibrant until the whole nebulae appeared to be ablaze. Past regrets and future anxieties melted away as he centered his complete focus on the present.
The main console continuously beeped as collision warnings steadily sounded off - at max there was hardly 50 meters of clearance before Finley had to adjust on the yoke, nudging here and there. It was a good thing that inertial dampeners were a thing, because anything not strapped down would have been smashed into bits from the constant juking and tumbling.
There were a few close calls, the forward deflectors flaring red as he skirted too close to a few clouds, but Finley kept calm and the ordeal was finally over after a few minutes. Back into clear space, he immediately punched the hyperdrive, crimson haze immediately give way to sapphire streaks.
"Thank you for flying with the Dawson express," he joked through gritted teeth. "Be sure to leave your favorite pilot the finest of Corellian ales on his bunk."
He wished the flight was the hardest part of the mission, but in truth, the true dangers lay head.
----------------
A few minutes later, he reverted back to realspace, the main viewing port now dominated by the grey planet of Exegol. They hadn't even broken atmo, and he could already feel the world radiating with Darkness. If it wasn't for the
Defender strapped to his hip, suppressing the Dark Side in the immediate vicinity of the cabin, he could only imagine how much stronger the sensation would be.
Perhaps the Council was asking too much of the Padawan here?
"Activating stealth systems." Vhalen called out.
"If there's anything out there, we'll have the same cross section as a gnat."
The Eidolon possessed no true cloaking system, but the gunship had the next best thing in the form of active camouflage, masked drives, and electronic shrouds. As long as no one fired weapons or used active sensors, they would be exceedingly difficult to track by conventional means. That was perfect, because they didn't have the firepower for a loud approach.
"Locking on coordinates...alright Paddies we'll be on site in a few minutes. Not sure what exactly we're going to find down there, but remember, we're in Sith Central. We'll be at a disadvantage if we find any baddies poking around. Steel your minds and keep close to each other...this strike team is all we have. There's enough of you present to pick a battle buddy. Finally, remember, we're here for intelligence gathering, to see what the Sith are up to, not an assault...if things get too hairy, then we retreat. We don't need 'heroes' here. Heroes get people killed."
"What we need today are professionals..."
((For my Jedi homies, you guys can go ahead and start departing the ship on your next post.))
