The Discovery of the GAS Mercy

[Corbin Jorkul]

Seven hundred years ago, fire rained down on the vong-formed planet of Ossus. At the time, the planet was the site of a significant terraforming and restoration project under to coordination of the New Jedi Order and a portion of the Vong, who by this time had become allies of the Galactic Alliance. Had the planet been left alone, the Jedi(who had set up a significant enclave on the surface,)projected the planet to be completely reformed within a decade. That was before everything went to Hell.

That was before the Sith massacred the Jedi and Vong.

United under the banner of Darth Krayt and proclaiming themselves as the One Sith, a surprise attack was launched on Ossus and Coruscant by the combined forces of the Fel Empire and their Sith allies. Fighting bravely, the New Jedi Order and their Vong warriors held the line against the Sith. Again and again, brave last stands bought time for a massive evacuation of younglings and civilians, and again and again more Jedi Knights fell dead. This was the Third Great Jedi Purge. It's goal was to force the Jedi to sue for peace, to give up and end their war.

It failed in its objective.

As the Jedi evacuated as many as they could, a single Nebulon-B medical frigate was making full speed away from the Imperial fleet when it sustained heavy damage. Sent adrift and with little life support, the surviving inhabitants of the crew climbed into stasis pods in the hopes that their ship would be rescued. Unfortunately for them, the distress beacon was rendered inoperative, and all hands were assumed lost.

Now, in the present, the ship has woken up its cargo. Consisting of a conflicted Jedi Knight, an ancient Jedi Master, a resourceful engineer, a mysterious woman with a peculiar biology, and one very unlucky Sith girl, the surviving crew has reactivated their distress beacon in a galaxy so familiar, yet so alien.

The Lost Five have awoken.

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

The second The Shooting Star picked up a distress beacon, floating out in the dark reaches of space, Gatz Duolingo had flipped his ship around, and pointed it in the signal's direction. The smuggler was many things, some of them pretty shady, but he wasn't the kind of guy to ignore someone in distress. His YTA-1300 had plenty of space in it to evacuate possible survivors; double so now that the cargo hold was empty.

A small part of him, the part that was listening to his R4 astromech chime and complain, couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of pirate set up. It wasn't all that unusual for the more desperate privateer crews to stage an "accident", and lure good people out to them, just to commandeer the ship that intended to rescue them. Gatz had almost been on the receiving end of such a ploy once, and he wasn't exactly eager to revisit such a scenario.

Which was why he was very glad to have [member="Ay Ge"] on board. The woman was cold, calculating, and was terrible at small talk, but she was damn good with that vibroblade of hers. If this really did turn out to be a trap, Ay would be instrumental in getting them out of a bad situation.

As the light freighter exited hyperspace, Gatz spied a small frigate floating out in the distance. From the look of the deteriorating hull, Gatz guessed that the ship had to be at least a few hundred years old. There was no way that someone could have survived whatever this ship had been through. It had to be trap, Gatz knew, but even that thought couldn't stop him from hailing the vessel.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Captain Gatz Duolingo of The Shooting Star, responding to your distress beacon. If anyone is on board, please respond with your names, and the number of survivors."

It was a bit of an unorthodox request, but if there really were pirates on that ship, knowing how many attackers he had to deal with would be helpful. Unless they lied, of course.

[member="Corbin Jorkul"]​

 

[Rika Hassan]

There was a pirate on the ship, in the form of a tall, lanky blonde woman. She had been assisting Drexia with fixing a few things around the ship. Repairing what the human woman could not, through use of the force or through use of her intelligence. She might be brash and rude but she was trying to keep the remaining crew alive as best she could, not that she felt obligated. Well she did, she'd be alone adrift in space until rescue came. Corpses were not entertaining.

"Jorkul." The woman said to Corbin as she heard the hailing and subsequent request for names, but Rika was quick to move towards the console. She leaned over the console panel and spoke to the voice on the other end.

"Rika Hassan responding." Cracked the soft voice of an obvious young woman. "We are stranded with five survivors, me included. Corbin Jorkul, Drexia Locke, Cassus D'kai, and Seki Otara. Probability of survival adrift in space is low for four of the five stranded."

 

[Seki Otara]

To imply that Seki was in time-out like a youngling would have been insulting to her abilities and to the danger she posed. It would also be an accurate description of her current situation. She sat isolated in one corner of the room with her legs pulled to her chest and her chin on her knees. In front of her on the floor sat a worn puzzle box. Every now and again she would lift orange fingertips and gesture slightly, and the puzzle rose from the floor and rotated a piece this way or that. It had kept her attention for hours. In fact, she was so engrossed in her game that the initial message was tuned out, and it was only when Rika spoke Seki's name that the young woman lifted her head to stare wide-eyed across the ship. One hand scooped up the puzzle box and then she was on her feet, padding across the deck to where the others were gathered with the toy clutched in both hands to her chest.

"Could be a scavenger," she warned, ever the paranoid one.

 

[Cassus D'Kai]

Some time after the beacon had been turned back on Cassus had followed everyone else to wherever they would await rescue and he would subsequently pop a squat in the center of the room, sitting cross legged with his hands on his knees. He'd close his eyes and before too long he would be..meditating? sleeping? His breathing would grow shallow, letting the Force embrace him like a warm blanket. He was at peace, if only for a brief moment. He preferred spending the time waiting to be rescued doing this instead of running around, trying to find something to keep him occupied. When the comm blurted out with the hail from Gatz, Cassus would extend his feelers beyond the ship, attempting to reach out to the incoming Ship, trying to judge the intentions of those who are approaching..

 

[Drexia Locke]

It'd been hours since they activated the distress beacon and Drexia, with the help of Rika, had fixed anything that would help them survive a little longer. Once that was done she finally decided it was probably best to get dressed. Living was more important than clothes and if she kept busy she didn't even feel the cold. So now as everyone gathered round to talk to their would be Drexia was wearing her normal coveralls and eating some disgusting nutrition paste because she'd emptied her stomach upon waking up and now, after exerting herself so much, she was starving.

She let the others do the talking, hanging back slightly from the control panel and eating her gross meal of paste. Everyone else made valid points and there weren't all that many to have so she didn't really have an opinion that differed from anyone else so she found no point in speaking up. Instead she kept her attention on the console, waiting to see what the man on the other end of the communications would say in response to Rika being forthright and answering his questions without protest.

 

[Corbin Jorkul]

Rocked from his sleep at a console near the corner of the room, Corbin blinks his eyes in surprise before Rika calls his last name. "Huh? Me?" The strange girl is talking into the comms, and for a moment Corbin lifts his eyebrows in confusion as he looks to the others present in the bridge...and then it dawns on him. Jumping to his feet, Corbin's legs stumble over each other as he races for the console, his arm pressing into Rika's as he leans in to peer at the console.

"Yes, hello my friend; to who do we owe the honor?" Why oh why did they let the weird one answer the comms? They had no idea who won the war they found themselves so far removed from, and to just give up their names like that...it was stupid. Corbin looks over to Rika, his eyes narrowing. "Stupid." He doesn't transmit that last word, that one was saved just for Rika.

[member="Gatz Duolingo"]​

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay idly sat by in the co-pilots seat having not moved an inch, from and observers point of view, for the entire hyperspace trip, keeping focused on the potential conflict ahead, one of the main things the young woman excelled at. Was she suspicious of the distresses beacon, yes very, if in command of the vessel Ay would have most likely ignored the call for help, her remorseless attitude filing said decision down to probability, which pointed to a trap. Though in this case Ay was not flying, and since Gatz was willing to check it out, so was she, unless there was a very good reason not to.

For the moments, observing the adrift ship reaped some results, "Statement, ship appears to be that of the Nebulon-B medical frigate class, estimation may put its production put in some time after the battle of Yavin, several markings and structural methods seem to be on the ship that where phased out long ago, I suspect it may be a classic ship that experienced malfunction, how long it has been without proper propulsion is unknown now". Well, it was the most logical conclusion she came up with, if this indeed was not a trap.

She turned her head to the side looking Gatz in the eyes as the received a response from the adrift craft, it seemed odd that so few where alive but more information was needed before she could run another analysis. "Question, will we be boarding the stricken vessel, and if so might I inquire to the rules of engagement"? Ay may act on her own accord if the situation changed, but it was best to determine whether to be defensive or aggressive. Though hopefully Gatz was not to annoyed by her constant servant like attitude to their relationship.

[member="Gatz Duolingo"]

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

Five survivors, that's what he had to deal with on the drifting ship. So long as this "Rika" was telling him the truth, that was. Against his better judgement, Gatz began to line his ship up with the frigate's center-placed docking tube. He kept his head and eyes pointed out the window, but cocked his head to the side as his companion began to speak.

Making sure that he wasn't transmitting to the other ship, Gatz spoke, "this ship is far too old to have any real survivors. We'll let them board us. I'd rather fight them on our turf than theirs. If they make a move to harm us, go for the kill."

Gatz opened his mouth to continue, but snapped his jaw shut abruptly as he felt a presence enter his mind. It probed at him gently, but found no purchase, as the only thought in Gatz's head was the black and white pattern of a dejarik board. He waited several moments, never once breaking his concentration, until he was sure the presence was gone. Under his breath, Gatz thanked his brief Jedi training, for teaching him how to shield his mind.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Gatz transmitted to the medical frigate, "yeah, the name's Gatz Duolingo, I'm a freelance pilot. Oh, and uh, since I'm here to rescue your sorry butts, could you tell your Force Sensitive friend to stay out of my head?!"

Having finally docked with the medical transport, Gatz turned to [member="Ay Ge"], "there's at least one trained Jedi, or Sith, aboard. If we have to fight them, don't think about how you're going to kill them. Fight on instinct alone."

And once more, the smuggler spoke through the comm, "alright, we're docked with your strut based docking tube. Come on down. If you have any wounded, bring them first, and I'll do what I can to treat them."

[member="Rika Hassan"] | [member="Seki Otara"] | [member="Cassus D'Kai"] | [member="Drexia Locke"] | [member="Corbin Jorkul"]​

 

[Rika Hassan]

"I will have you know Corbin Jorkul that I surpass your intelligence beyond measure and as someone who was a pirate, I am keenly aware that I am telling them who we are. If you wish to garner sympathy with lifeforms you must first use trust. Question my intelligence again and I will let the pretty red hair Sith kill you in your sleep." She didn't speak with an annoyed tone, it seemed to hard for anyone to really gather what emotion she felt. "Second. There are two trained jedi on this ship, a sith, and me. I am also fairly sure the mechanic can fight." She makes sure to look at everyone when she speaks.

"Noted Gatz Duolingo I will inform the force user to leave your private man thoughts alone. That is quite rude isn't it?" She looks over her shoulder and makes a face then stares at the console.

"They are docking now, we should all make our way down to the main docking port. I would suggest you all have weapons. We may be a limping ship, but we are not all useless. Do not attack unless you perceive a threat, unless you would like me to do a threat assessment upon the meeting. I will gladly give you the probability of our deaths should a fight arise." Rika pushes from the console and grabs her things (She finally found them in a battered bag the man who found her brought with him.)

She tucks a blaster away into her jacket, then palms a curved hilt of what appears to be a lightsaber, something she had done her best to hide from the group. "Shall we?" She asks the group, though her eyes fall on Corbin first.

 

[Seki Otara]

Seki released a hiss at Gatz's words and spun toward Corbin, palm flat, to smack him in the stomach. "Idiot!" she whispered harshly. "Are you trying to anger the one person who could decide whether all of us get to survive? This is why nobody here likes you!"

Turning toward Rika she quirked her lips to one side. "I don't kill people in their sleep. I'm not a coward." For a moment she considered gathering anything of value and looting it off of the ship with her, but the truth was that after hundreds of years, there was very little on this vessel that was likely to fetch any sort of decent price, aside from stripping its wiring to sell for scrap. She didn't have that sort of patience. Turning to Corbin, she gave him a predatorial smile, green eyes glittering darkly. "Let's hope that they have room enough for all of us." She didn't have to say it; he knew that she would sell them all out for a ride off of this floating tomb. Without another word, she started out the door.The sooner that this uneasy alliance could come to an end, the better.

 

[Cassus D'Kai]

Cassus' probe into the mind of the Captain would of ended as soon as he discovered the man had been trained to resist it. He was testing the waters, not attempting to just jack into minds. When the Captain had ended transmission, the elder Jedi would stand and move to the weapons locker. After a couple of seconds of looking, the hilt of a battlescarred lightsaber would be on his belt. Saying a little prayer, he thumbed the ignition switch. With a rather crackly, sick-sounding hiss, the pale blue lightsaber blade sparked to life. It's blade unstable and crackling with energy, owing to the damages crystal nestled away within the hilt. "At the very least our new friend is trained in the Force enough to resist me saying 'Hello' so a bit of caution would be advised. But, overall? I have a good feeling about this. Better check our weapons, make sure they still work."

Once satisfied that his lightsaber still worked, he thumbed the blade off and slid it securely onto his belt, gathering his robe up around him and drawing it close around him. Space was cold, and the fact that the ship had been barely limping along for centuries probably didn't help the matter. Cassus would move after Seki, following her out the door and assuming the other members of the group would follow the two of them.

 

[Drexia Locke]

Drexia, still, lingered behind and allowed for everyone else to discuss. Again, it wasn't that she had little opinion on the matter but her opinions were already being voiced by someone else so she remained silent, watching, taking everything in. When news of the stranger docking came through she would gather her things which was a small bag of clothes and her tools. She hefted the bag over one shoulder and carried the tool bag in the other, if everything went down the drain she could easily access a heavy tool to throw around in a pinch. She offered a smile to Rike when she spoke so highly of her but didn't confirm nor deny whether her new companion was correct in her assumption or not. However, now that she wasn't still groggy from stasis and regain her bearing she did seem a lot more capable of taking care of herself.

She would lug her stuff and follow behind Seki and Cassus. As much as she didn't want to abandon this ship she knew it was far beyond repair to logically hold onto it. It was like losing another old friend but maybe she was meant to start fresh and new somewhere else. Who knew? "The sooner we get out of here the better. No need to linger."

[member="Ay Ge"]

 

[Ay Ge]

Ay gave a nod to the information Gatz provided, and from the looks of things the scenario was even more suspicious, why would a trained Jedi and Sith be on a ship with one another and not fighting, let along working together, judging from the fact they had managed to send out a signal of some sort. Each proceeding second just raised the probability that such could be a trap, but as Gatz had said only fight if one must.

"I am going to assume by that statement you are asking me to act only if attack or perceiving a high enough threat level from those on broad".

As Gatz brought docked Ay stood up, quickly making her way to the air lock, the familiar clunk and hiss confirming their attachment, so far everything was going well, no traps preventing them from leaving, not bomb planted on the side to blow them sky high once attached. Did it lower her suspicious, no, pirates would often play the long game, earn trust then attack, all this did was make Ay conclude that if they were pirates, they were not the rash type?

"Understood, I will hold my position, it appears that all docking operations have proceeded without a fault awaiting survivors".

[member="Drexia Locke"] l [member="Cassus D'Kai"] l [member="Seki Otara"] l [member="Corbin Jorkul"] l [member="Rika Hassan"]

 

[Gatz Duolingo]

Rika's response over the comm lessened Gatz paranoia and suspicion, somewhat. She seemed well spoken and well learned; a combination Gatz had never seen in a pirate, and he had plenty of experience with them. He spun the pilot's chair around, and stood from it, rolling his shoulders as he did so. He followed Ay's brisk pace to the cargo bay, where the hatch laid into the top of the ship was connected with the medical frigate's docking tube.

"Call me crazy," Gatz said to his companion, "but I get the feeling that everything's gonna be just fine."

He didn't hear the distant echoes of the Force warning him about incoming danger. And while the Force had abandoned him before, it was a rare occurrence, and even Gatz's gut instinct seemed to tell him that this was on the up and up.

Gatz patted down his thigh, to make sure his blaster pistol was strapped there. Satisfied that it was, Gatz reached up to open the hatch, releasing a hiss of air.

"Climb on down! We've got bacta here in the cargo hold if any of you are injured!"

He stepped back to make room for the new arrivals, scanned the interior of his worn ship as he did so. And he cringed. Loose wires hung from the ceiling, and the odd protective side panel was missing, giving free access to the ship's more delicate wiring. It was haphazard and messy, and it didn't stop in the cargo bay. The entirety of the interior of his ship looked as though a tornado had blown through, ripping panels and wires away from their proper positions.

The worst part was that he was fixing things on his ship so often, mostly patch jobs, that putting the panels and wires back in place would just create more work for when he needed to access them again. He really needed to find a mechanic, one that wasn't above petty smuggling.

"And, uh, excuse the mess! Wasn't expecting any guests today!"

[member="Corbin Jorkul"]​

 

[Corbin Jorkul]

Annoyance was the emotion of the day, and it's what Corbin felt when the weird woman with the wrong attitude tries to make herself useful. He's about to let it go when he feels the smallest of smacks on his stomach, and he looks down to just stare at Seki. There's something there, in his eyes, that screams to her the level of anger that he was holding back. Looking between everyone in the bridge, Corbin's eye twitches and he turns. His hand raises, calling the long staff in the corner of the bridge to his hand and using it as a walking stick as he passes through the threshold into the hallway, starting for the equipment storage.

With a few things to grab before they departed, Corbin reasons that long term stasis sickness must be to blame. Why else would someone think that three trained force users would be able to fend off an attack after their entire enclave had just been wiped clean by an army of over several hundred Sith? Why else would a Sith who, up until this point had made it her goal to eliminate him, think that he would try a mind probe when he's shown no particular aptitude for the mental side of the Force? Why else would everyone be acting so irrationally? "Peasants," Corbin mutters to himself as he enters the storage room, grabbing a comm link, a satchel, and a few more nutrient packs for the road. "Stupid peasants," He says again as he makes his way back to the hatch way just as Gatz is calling for them. Peering down, Corbin's eyes lock with the Smuggler's, and he cranes his neck as he studies him. "You must be Gatz, unless I'm mistaken? Right on time, my friend." Looking back to Seki, he motions for her to come forward. "You go first."

 

[Rika Hassan]

Rika squints at Corbin, but she says nothing. She throws a fur poncho over her already heavy jacket and moves onwards with the group. Her hand stays beneath the poncho, touching the hilt of her lightsaber quietly. She walked behind Corbin, a quiet contemplative stare on her face. When they met with Gatz the woman scrutinizes him quietly, but it was the unkempt ship that was cause for concern for the once well known pirate.

Her ships were always immaculate, no matter how damaged they were when she took them into her own fleet, she ensured they looked nice. This was a nightmare but she kept a calm stoic expression despite the horror. She does reach out and touch a few wires hanging out of a panel. This was not the time to argue with the young Jedi about his brooding behavior. It was time to focus on the task at hand.

Threat assessment.

"Your ship is in need of a careful touch Gatz Duolingo." She finally says, her cold unfeeling eyes lock on the man. "Do you promise that my companions will not die upon re-entry into atmosphere? That would be most unfortunate." She didn't include herself in that, odd.

 

[Seki Otara]

Seki wasted no time in making her way to where the ship was docked. Her lightsaber, rather than hanging from her belt where it would be easily accessible, was hidden at the bottom of a brown satchel she'd stolen from one of the dead crew members. He'd had no further use for it. Piled on top of the hilt were other items she'd decided belonged to her now, including a handful of bacta patches, some nutrient paste, and some jewelry items. She was starting her life over from scratch, and that meant she'd need a little help landing on her feet. That sort of help wasn't going to come from the self-important Jedi or some halfwit engineer or... whatever Rika was; she had only herself to rely upon, and she intended on using everything available to her.

Corbin's words made her uneasy. She had intended to be the first to board already, but at his insistence she couldn't help but feel a bit of reluctance. The only reason she could see that he would give her the first chance at safety was as a test — to see if the rescue was a trap. Let the one you hate the most step first into a minefield. The look she gave him was odd and hard to pin down, but it certainly wasn't gratitude in her narrowed eyes.

"If it gets me off this thing, I don't care what it looks like," she muttered, marching onto Gatz's ship without so much as a pause in her step.

[member="Cassus D'Kai"]​

 

[Cassus D'Kai]

Cassus would of gotten onto the ship after Seki, smiling over at Gatz and reaching over to pat the man on the shoulder as he boarded. "Thank you for the kindness, Captain Duolingo. You are living proof that the Force is with all of us and we all owe you a debt of gratitude." He treated the man like he would an old friend. Truly, he sensed no danger coming from the man nor his companion. He'd regard Ayy with the same smile and kind eyes he gave Gatz, peace and joy clung to Cassus like a blanket as his hand went up to the Kyber Crystals strung around his neck, giving them a bit of a kiss before speaking to Ay. "You must be the one that keeps your Captain out of trouble, hm? You look like you perform exceptionally well at your job, Miss." He'd give her a toothy grin and shake his head, looking back to Gatz.

 

[Drexia Locke]

Drexia didn't mind being nearly the last to board, she snuck in behind Cassus and took a gander around the ship. She visibly cringed at the sight, silently agreeing with Rika by nodding her head as the woman spoke. "This ship needs more than a good scrubbing but at least it's better off than ours." She stated softly as she wandered further into the ship looking at all the wiring peeking out from the panels. This just would not do.

She'd heard of jerry rigging but that was just if a repair needed to get you to the next place you could buy a part. "When was the last time you let an engineer look over this ship, sir?" She'd call from the far end of the ship, letting her tool bag drop to the ground with a loud thud as she leaned in closer to one of the panels.

She didn't touch anything but she did make mental notes about things that might need to be done just for her own weird kind of sanity. Maybe fixing this man's ship could repay him for rescuing them and saving their lives, if he wished for payment that none of them could likely afford.