Stalker in the Light

[Maho Aeko]

THUDDD-CRASH

The freighter shook violently. Maeko woke up suddenly from her sleep to see the emergency lights in the ship flashing, the siren blaring, the crew scrambling; Maeko was struck with fear.

Attention crew, get to escape pods if you can, we are being being boarded. I repeat, we are b-

The intercom was cut off as the overhead lights went black. The dark freighter seemed almost silent before the panic and chaos continued. Maeko lept to her feet and grabbed her gear and bolted through the bulkhead; she joined a scurried crew stumbled their way to the escape pods as everyone bumped into each other and through the hallways of the ship.

A sudden blast knocked most off their feet, a thick black smoke filling the hallway as sparks flew through the air. That’s when Maeko could see dark figures emerging through the newly formed entry; pirates, she guessed. Terror and disbelief filled her eyes, as these figures started turning people over. Beating them. Shooting those who ran. She felt paralyzed, and helpless, as some of the crew was ushered back through the hole and onto the pirate’s ship. One of the pirates turned towards Maeko and started lumbering towards her. Her eyes were wide as she felt her gear for her mother’s saber; it seemed as though it was missing entirely. The creature was drawing ever nearer, and Maeko could now distinguish its reptilian features. She dared not take her eyes off it. It wasn’t but two meters from her when she finally felt the smooth wood and polished metal of her retrosaber, and it sprang to life in her hand as she thumbed the switch. Immediately, the creature that was coming towards her froze in its tracks and began to step backward.

Maeko stood up, saber in hand, letting the yellow hue illuminate the smoke that still hung in the air. At this point, the creature and all the other figures had decided to make a retreat and returned through their hole. After they had disappeared, Maeko fell to her knees as she turned off her blade; she felt exhausted from her fear. She knew had that creature attacked her that she would surely have been overpowered…as she has never fought with her saber before...she wasn't ready for this.

[member=Sena]

 

[Sena]

The Talavara exited hyperspace, they had been travelling across a few hyperlanes, making their way lazily through the galaxy on an errand. The ship hummed with life, a huge crew made sure the battlecruiser ran on all optimal levels. The ship was quiet on the outside, not easily detected on radar. The massive size gave it away if you looked in its direction. Sena sat in the captain's seat, monitoring systems and checking their resources. "Captain Sena!" a voice called out to her. "Bring up your radar, we have two ships, almost dead ahead." The radar confirmed what the voice had said. Quickly she rose, walking briskly to the viewport in the front of the bridge.

One ship had attached itself to a smaller one. It looked like the small freighter was being boarded. "Make our presence known to that bigger ship. They look like trouble." The Talavara's engines fired, the ship moving forward. It was slow for a large ship, but still quick to close the distance. The bigger ship, what Sena had assumed contained pirates, must have seen them. It moved away from the smaller freighter. "Take it down." The Talavara grew quiet, the lights growing slightly dimmer than before. From the front of a ship a massive proton beam erupted, making its way straight to the pirate ship that, like the idiots they probably were, took very little efforts to out maneuver the battlecruiser.

The beam missed the ship, but only by a small amount. Surely they would not think to fight back after a weapon like that being unleashed in their direction. Then her focus switched to the smaller ship. "Bring that other ship on board. Make room in Hangar One." Sena then turned and left the bridge, headed toward the hangar. The tractor beam had no trouble bringing in a ship that was less than a tenth of the Talavara's size. Sena stood in the bay, guards surrounding the edge of the room at any sign of trouble. The ORC had a enough spare military force to put into the ship and keep it protected. The ship hit the deck, and the room watched and waited for something to move.

[member="Maho Aeko"]

 

[Maho Aeko]

The freighter shook as it docked with the Talavara, her crew still trying to contain fires left by the chaos from the pirate's attack. The captain made his way to the boarding ramp, and exited into the hangar. There he seen a greeting party lead by a tall, white-haired beauty. Some of the crew and passengers snuck up behind him as they desired to deboard the freighter and seek medical attention.

"Hello!" he called out, "I am the captain of this freighter! I must thank you, Miss, for your intervention...those pirates came at us from nowhere. Please, some of my crew require aid."

Maeko came out of the freighter, spying the Captain talking to the greeting party. She clutched her head as she went to join those who were seeking medical aid; she hadn't been wounded too seriously Being jossled around in the chaos; however, she had managed to bump her head pretty hard against a wall. She walked closer to the small crowd that had gathered, and overheard the Captain, "...and we can trade you some supplies in compensation. I also have heard that the pirates took some of our crew back with them...do you know of anyone who would be willing to track them down? Some of them were very good friends of mine"

 

[Sena]

Despite being fairly soft spoken, Sena had a fairly commanding voice. Her power and position showed despite her being lighthearted. "I assume you are just free people, trying to make a living?" she asked. The captain of the smaller ship confirmed this with her. Sena stepped away to one of the guards while people were still walking tentatively off the ship. "Get medical personnel dispatched here immediately," she commanded to the nearest guard, who turned away promptly. As Sena turned back to the captain, she felt something. Her pink eyes snapped quickly over to the ship, where a crowd of people were coming out, looking like a bubble ready to burst throughout the hangar.

An orange haired woman had stepped into sight, and for a brief moment Sena's eyes locked to hers. Interesting. Sena thought to herself as she looked back to the captain who was pleading for help. "I will supply you with the means to repair your ship, and one of my crew who is aspiring to be a shipwright to help those who can make repairs." Looking to the small crowd at the small ship, Sena spoke louder. "And to those who have little experience with repairing ships, we can find you a place to rest or a job to work," she said, her eyes resting on the woman she saw earlier. "Someone with computer skills who may want to help in the tracking of that pirate vessel would be welcomed."

[member="Maho Aeko"]

 

[Maho Aeko]

Maeko felt strange, her eyes locking briefly with the white-haired woman's, it was more than just visual...she could feel her staring. She stepped forward, softly responding, "I might be of some help, I-I have some knowledge on computers." She looked up at the woman again. She was very tall. Towering over Maeko, though, it was clear she moved with a great amount of grace. It was definite, she could with no doubt feel a connection, though she did not know why or how. She continued, "And even if I can't be of assistance in that way....I still want to help get those crew back."

[member=Sena]

 

[Sena]

"Very well. Come with me," she said to the woman who stepped forward. "Any other person willing to contribute will be sorted out by the guards," she glanced to the guard near the main door exiting the hangar. Medical personnel had appeared in the doorway a moment later. Turning, Sena headed toward the door knowing the woman would follow. As they walked, Sena decided to delve some information. "You are now aboard the Talavara. This is an ancient ship, even older than me, which is saying something. We found it, and fixed it."

A lift delivered them to the hallway that lead to the bridge. "We will be entering the bridge, there you will be sat next to our operations specialist and help maintain the systems as we follow the pirates." The doors to the bridge opened and inside, there was a lot of movement as they were preparing pursuit. Sens took the newcomer to the operations specialist, and introduced them. "Let's do this!" her voice resonated through the bridge. The engines of the Talavara burned to life. The ship was slow for a battlecruiser, but still faster than the pirates.

They chased them for some time, gaining on them, getting aggressive so that they could not make a jump into hyperspace. Sena went to the woman who was busily helping track and keep their activities known. "Come with me," Sena said.

There was a very small, secretive hangar that Sena had gotten put in for her own ship. It sat quietly, but ready. Taking the woman aboard the ship, Sena put her in the pilot's seat. "You are going to fly this ship. It is probably the fastest vessel you will ever fly. It has more power than any normal person can handle. You will take off and destroy the engines of that pirate ship." This test would either confirm or deny Sena's suspicions. If this woman could handle her ship, she was definitely connected to the Force. If not, it was likely they would both die.

[member="Maho Aeko"]

 

[Maho Aeko]

Maeko did her best to help the specialist in tracking the ship, but the ship's computers operated in a bizarre way to her, probably attributed to their age.

Before long, though, there it was...the pirates who had attacked them. As the Talavara caught up with it, Sena brought Maeko down to what seemed to be a private hangar. Inside sat a very streamlined looking ship. She felt confused as she was sat in the cockpit and told to disable the pirate's ship.

"What? Y-you want me to pilot this thing?" Maeko said in disbelief. She had not flown a landspeeder before, much less one that is 'probably the fastest vessel you will ever fly'. She continued to stammer, "I-I don't know what you're expecting, I've never piloted anything in my life before!"

Sena persisted.

After she showed Maeko the intricate controls of the starship, she powered it up and left Maeko to her thoughts. Terrified, she was. She could feel the cockpit tremor from the engines' power; she pushed softly on the control stick, easing slowly out of the hangar. Within seconds Maho was piloting the ship, albeit quite reluctantly, out into open space. The ship's targetting computer brought up the pirates as she corrected course to close in on them. It came up very fast. Too fast.

In a panic, Maeko dove only a few hundred metres before the pirate's craft and made a large loop around, circling the Talavara before honing back in on the enemy. She calmed her breathing down telling herself, it's okay...calm down...I can do this. Again she could notice her target fast approaching...far too quickly for her liking. Maeko was ready this time, though, and with a quick tap of the turbolasers, a shower of sparks and blasts erupted from the pirate ship's engines...ceasing to function. Maeko couldn't help to laugh in excitement for her new accomplishment, she came on over the radio to Sena, "I did it! But....what do you want me to do now?"

[member=Sena]​