The Great battle, an Aftermath. (Smugglers Alliance)

[RC 212]

[member="Aden Dawson"] [member="Alexandra Russo"] [member="Allyson Locke"] [member="CaptainXalen"] [member="Carden Lorps"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="D-Man"] [member="Damon Riggs"] [member="Davik Tren"] [member="Eliza Steele"] [member="Ember Rekali"] [member="Eric-1224"] [member="Galen Arterius"] [member="Hersh Kessler"] [member="IX-81"] [member="Jace Trent"] [member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Kohai Drenn"] [member="Lisa Goran"] [member="Listeri Dalane"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Switch"]

Coruscant. In the aftermath of a great battle between the Sith and the Republic the devastated world was now recovering. As the slow planet turned the debris of hundreds of ships lay strewn about, rotating in rings about her gravitational pull. Colap watched earnestly from the cockpit of his Z-95 Headhunter it lazily picked its way towards the massive fields.

some saw only junk, but him and his kin, it was pure treasure. Smoke drifted lazily from his cigar as he tensed his hands and unclenched them reflexively. He was on the first wave, the scouts. The Smugglers alliance armada was somewhere behind him, hiding and waiting.

"Alright all crews, all crews, this is Dagger one, I have eyes on target and am preparing for fly by. Stand by for slavaging operations as planned."

Colap had nothing to drink today. He was stone cold sober behind the stick, which was much unlike him. But hey you cant be intoxicated whilst colecting the biggest score of your career. And possibly facing down unhappy planetary forces.

Shrugging off his thoughts he jerked the stick left and slid into the debris field past the massive hulk of a destroyed Star Destroyer. With his other hand he pushed the thrpottle full bore and squinted.

"Lets see if anyones lurking."

 

[Kairon Rees]

"Take it easy now. Can’t flare the thrusters, it’ll make too much noise, and I don’t want the paint scratched.” Kairon instructed.

“There isn’t any paint left!” chided his nephew.

Kairon didn’t even pay heed to the comment. He couldn’t fly his ship with even a semblance of proficiency, but he was damn well going to back-seat drive and check the monitors. He knew the cost of repairs all too well, but he also knew the worth of potential salvage better than the rest of the crew.

This was a strange endeavour, as odd as any he had been on. Smugglers didn’t often work towards common goals. Obviously there were many with business arrangements, and convoys for mutual protection…but this was distinctly out of the norm.

The planning session had been interesting. It had taken them three hours and two fist fights to agree what kind of gear they were willing to share the cost on. Even now, one of their group was deploying a few passive sensors in the field around them. At the least, they would provide an early warning system and indicate if they were being heavily scanned.

“Ok, set here down next to that ship. It looks fairly intact. I’d say a hull breach wiped the crew. Look at the blaster damage down the port side, next to life control.” Kairon instructed.

“How am I supposed to know where life control is on a ship?” his nephew moaned. Kairon remembered himself, and ignored the topic, trying not to imagine what death by vacuum exposure would be like. The cold white faces, they were always so disturbing.

“Let’s disengage the cargo pods one at a time and load them directly.”

 

[Listeri Dalane]

The pointer finger of one Listeri Dalane slowly pushed forward a small handle , as the XS Light Freighter, The Wild Phantom, steadily increased in speed. Large chunks of former star destroyers floated by the ship, bumping into each other as they drifted through the cosmic void. Around 5, small blips appeared on the ship's radar. " Starhound, reporting in. 3 blips appearing in a Pub Corvette, Starting EVA in..." He paused to check the time, " 3 minutes. "

Listeri jerked the handle back, and quickly sped down the stairs and into his quarters. The smuggler was used to hearing the drunken ramblings of [member=Colap Ticon] whenever he entered the room, so he shrugged, and quickly slapped on a " Voidsuit ", as he called. He sped to the airlock, took a deep breath, and opened the door. The smuggler was curious on why he took a deep breath while being in a spacesuit, but he merely forgot about it as he approached the Corvette,

 

[Kairon Rees]

"Keep her nice and steady now. Let's perch alongside that dorsal protrusion. We can see if we can release that smaller backup shield generator, whilst keeping close to the open cargo bay." Kairon instructed Jakeal. They drifted ever closer to the reasonably intact cruiser.

"Think we can even stash that gennie?" Hague asked.

"Can't be sure," Kairon said, "Why don't you pull up the stats and see if it'll fit in Bay Three."

"Will do," Hague replied, turning back to a terminal.

Kairon knew what they would find inside. Floating corpses, with so little bacteria in the vacuum they'd be well preserved. The expressions of death frozen across their faces for all of time. A sudden thought occurred to him. "Asmus, suit up, you'll be looking at that shield generator. Take the cutting gear. Hague you're coming with me inside."

"Yes sir," Hague replied. Asmus just looked disinterested. "Looks like it'll be a squeeze, but it'll fit. Should fetch a tidy sum."

"I know, that series is perfectly acceptable as the main generator on a mid size frigate of the line," Kairon replied, demonstrating his extensive and detailed knowledge on the worth of salvage and stolen goods. "Alright, we'll detach Bay Three if we can cut it loose. Let's get Bay Two right against the cargo bay doors, maybe temporarily weld it in place? I'd like to be chucking salvage right out the door." Each of the three pods on the Quintessence's ventral cargo pods could be detached and loaded separately. He hoped it would give his crew a bit of an edge in the salvage op. However, Kairon was more concerned that the other ships would be able to make a quick escape if the military decided to take offence at privateers stealing their salvage.



Kairon was down on the lower deck, checking that the hermetic seals on his suit were tight. When Asmus was out of earshot, Jarrick Hague - the ex-sergeant from a marine corps - whispered to him: "You kept the boy out so he wouldn't see how bad it was inside didn't you?"

Kairon ignored him for a moment, before gruffly responding, "No one that young needs to see what we're going to be wading through."

Hague knew when his captain had drawn a matter to a close. They silently finished preparing for the operation.

 

[Damon Riggs]

Riggs shuffled around the lounge of his modified YT1300 Inquisitor's Revenge. Funny how having another crew member actually made him feel like he was captain again, instead a captain by default. Though the situation had already naturally fallen into the way it had been before. When it came to command, Riggs had always treated [member="Alexandra Russo"] as an equal, because she was. Yes, he had technically outranked her, but they both held a command of their peers, responsible for them, and the objectives assigned. In the same way Riggs had never told her how to command her fighter squadron, the Coruscanti native did not tell the Taanabian pilot how to fly his ship. She was the pilot, he was the captain and the one responsible for lining up work.

The pair of ex-naval officers were on their way to a job, one that nearly every smuggler in the alliance Riggs had recently joined was going to be working. Funny how that was, they worked together, but sometimes it was every smuggler for themselves, and this was one of those times. Rumors of a debris field and wreckage near Riggs home planet of Coruscant had made its way to the alliance. Everyone of the captains were chomping at the bit to get their first and salvage some equipment which was sure to make them wealthy. Riggs had another plan, well it had been Russo's plan actually, and a very good one. While everyone was going in after the big stuff, Riggs and Russo were going to try and find what would likely be looked over. This meant small stuff that would be common to find, but also something everyone needed, or wanted.

Caf was always on between the amount of it the pair drank. Actually it was a good thing, because together they drank more caf than whiskey, but most nights they still drank themselves to sleep. Riggs had bottles of whiskey all over, and he was fairly certain Russo had a stash as well. Their biggest problem was they were as stubborn as the other. The pair really didn't do much to help each other talk through what they were dealing with, instead they were just drinking and pretending like life would just go on, and it was, slowly.

Riggs walked into the cockpit where Russo was waiting for a caf delivery. Two cups in hand, Riggs handed one to her, and kept one for himself. Four creams were in each so it didn't matter which one she took. He still had to get his space suit on, as he was personally going to go through and see what was left on some of the ships they would find.

"Here you go, Alleycat. There's a full pot on in the lounge too if you need it while I'm out there," he said looking for the proximity reading. "I better get suited up. You gonna come help me?"

Riggs chuckled before taking a sip of his caf. At least he was trying to tease and generate some of the banter that had naturally flowed between the two before. The banter had been one of things that had helped get through her walls the first time. At least Riggs had a better idea of what would and would not work this time around. Gods he still cared for, and loved her, even if for now it had to be at a distance, giving her the space she needed, and right now, wanted.

He went in the to the back and got his space suit on. The suit was thin, but strong and well insulated. The cold we be kept out, and the display on the visor would help guide him to where he needed to go. The helmet remained under his arm as he made his way back to the cockpit. He sat in the open chair next to Russo and just nodded.

"Alright well, let's do this. Drop her out and let's see just how bad this mess is."

 

[Jace Trent]

The Defiance loomed through the debris field, Jace Trent had all systems at low power to avoid being a beacon to any Sith scans. The viewport was filled with the wrecks of several ships, which were now the resting places of thousands of Republic and Sith forces.
His partner [member="Eliza Steele"] was seated next to him in the cockpit and the new crewmate, [member="Thane Drexel"]. A Zabrak with an impressive resume.
This was their first job together and Jace hoped that it went smoothly. Being in Sith territory made Jace nervous, but the potential payoff was worth the risk.

Jace cued the internal ship's comm. <Suit up kid, we're gonna take a stroll outside>
He removed his headset and stood up from his seat. He yawned and stretched before kissing Eliza "You're my eyes and ears darlin"
With that he left the cockpit and took the lift down to the lower deck...

 

[Jakeal Rogue]

"Aye Captain." Jakeal said as he obeyed [member="Kairon Rees"] the man who had taken him on a year ago. This wasn't the usual job the Zabrak was used to but he understood a man took any job he could which explained why he was on the Quintessence after a pretty face had stolen everything he had owned save for the clothes on his back and the blaster that sat in its holster on his hip. Jakeal sighed as he brought the Quintessence alongside the Dorsal Protrusion that Kairon had pointed out. This was a rather sad sight to see for him as he had a great love for ships of every size and seeing them like this made him feel uneasy and cold. Once they were in place he put her on auto pilot so he could check the other instruments to make sure everything was green across the board, "We're in position Captain." he said using the ship com link to the captains suit. Jakeal looked out at the wreckage left over from the battle the hulking masses of ships made him think of large animals that had perished and he an the others on this operation were the scavengers come to pick over the remains taking what they wanted to fill their pockets a rather morbid thought he admitted to himself. He contacted Asmus to to check on the young man, "You ready to go Kid?" Jakeal asked him poking fun at his age in a friendly manner as he sat at the controls of the ship ready to get them out of there should any trouble rear it's ugly head.

 

[Thane Drexel]

Thane was strapping his holsters onto his waist when the call came over the intercom. He ascended to the main deck of the Defiance, he had just joined the crew and was already on his first job. His captain, [member="Jace Trent"] was a good leader and that's why he agreed to join his crew.

I'm ready when you are Cap, Thane was dressed in a black and red jacket and had his hands on his pair of blasters.

[member="Eliza Steele"]

 

[Eliza Steele]

Eliza had been studying the passive scans and monitoring Coruscant comm traffic when [member="Jace Trent"] stood up from the pilot's chair of the Defiance and stretched. When the ruggedly handsome Captain leaned down to kiss her, she gladly returned the affection as it had become habit to do so before the partners started a job.

"Mhmm I'll be much more for you, cowboy... if you bring me back a nice haul," the dark-eyed brunette grinned up at him with mischievous coffee-colored eyes, then slapped the Corellian's rear as he walked off to join [member="Thane Drexel"] and get suited up himself.

The petite smuggler slipped over to Jace's previously held seat and slipped on the headset he'd worn, then checked things on her end one last time. Steele would wait a few more minutes to allow the boys to get into their space suits, then she'd do a comm check.


[member="Robb Killian"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

The stairway that wound down from the deck above was raised back up to the bay ceiling. The entry to the ship sealed itself shut.

There was a lurch and a hiss as the cargo pod detached from the Quintessence's underbelly. Each pod had enough thrusters to reposition itself, or even land on a space station on its own. The doors slid open once the air bay had been slowly de-pressurised, revealing the cruiser ahead of them. The cargo pod slowly approached the cruiser's cargo bay doors.

"Can you see Trent's ship?" Rees asked.

"He's on the scanners,"

"If you see him racing towards something, let me know. Don't want that barve getting any choice loot ahead of us," Rees explained.

"Will you just let it go?" Hague asked over the comm. Rees didn't reply.

A moment later their new pilot patched in a signal from another smuggler: "Someone's spotted a couple of military drones hanging around a short ways off the debris field. Everyone's passing the message to the nearest smuggler to keep the signal noise down,"

"Very well, that all?" Rees replied. "No pings or scans?"

"If that happens we won't be whispering on direct comms, it'll be time to shout loud, show our asses and run."

"Fair enough," Rees replied before cutting off the comm. He edge forwards into the cruiser's cargo bay, using his suits thrusters to keep him steady until he could magnetically clamp to the deck. In his mind he reoriented himself, convincing his body that the deck was down, even in the absence of gravity. "Don't forget," he said to his crew, "We're weightless, not massless. I know it's obvious but let's avoid accidents. You might think you can lift anything in zero-g, but if something heavy gets some momentum it'll still crush you flat."

"Got it," Asmus replied testily.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Listeri Dalane"]

Colap was not one to go after big fish, but something from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He jerked the Z-95 left hard and swooped down on the destroyed carcass of CR-90. An old school vessel and no doubt could be patched up. Squinting from the haze of the cabin he flew by, dark brown eyes observing every detail.

"Well looks nice enough."

Colap keyed the Comms to his skipper Listeri.

"Hey skip, I'm looking at an old CR-90 right now, pretty decent shape. Im gonna go poke around, see what she might have."

These things had no hangars per se but they certainly had airlocks. Colap ground his cigar out on the dash and slid the faceplate of his silver gray armor down with a hiss. The infrared goggles hummed to life and the Z-95 slowed, just far enough for him to see the airlock. One last glance at the HUD sowed he had thirty minutes of oxygen. Long enough to glean a few things off her and see if he could get a tow cable on.

Colap shut down the Z-95 and popped the cockpit. The void hit his suit hard, chilling the entire outside before the heaters kicked in. One quick kick and he was moving towards the airlock, with a mooring cable, so the Z-95 didn’t float away....

 

[Jace Trent]

The lift doors opened up to the middle deck and Jace saw the eager face of [member="Thane Drexel"]. Jace smiled as he stepped back allowing his new crewmate room to enter the lift. "Nothing like a little space walk to get your mind off things eh?"

The lift stopped on the lower deck and the doors opened. Jace stepped out first and headed over to the aft side lockers, where he kept the vac suits. [member="Robb Killian"] was already putting on a vac suit. He opened the locker and began suiting up himself. He nodded towards the locker, signaling Thane to grab a suit.

 

[Thane Drexel]

Yes Cap, nothing quite like it.



In fact Thane was serious, he was always amazed by the vast depths of space, it was brilliant and terrifying at the same time. Thane moved to the locker next to Jace and started dawning the Vac Suit. He hung up his coat and re-buckled his holsters outside his suit. After he finished dressing, he moved to the airlock, and awaited Jace and Rob. One final check on the suit and his blasters and he was ready for departure.

[member="Jace Trent"] @Rob Killian

 

[Robb Killian]

Robb was busy equipping the VAC suit when [member="Jace Trent"] and [member="Thane Drexel"] emerged from the lift. It was a strange feeling, being on someone else's boat after spending so much time aboard the Lost Cause, but he was forced to admit that the Defiance was a fine vessel.

He finished equipping the suit, taking extra care to secure his blaster in its holster. The last thing I need is that floating away.

Having completed his preparations he turned to Trent who was suiting up at the adjacent locker and offered his hand to shake, "Thanks for having me along Captain, I've been looking forward to this haul."

 

[Jace Trent]

Jace shook the offered hand. "My pleasure Robb, happy to have ya aboard." Jace winked then continued suiting up as he spoke.
"The credits we'll make from this haul should line everyone's pockets handsomely, I just don't like being all close and personal with those Sith fethers"

He clipped on the earpiece then slid his helmet on and sealed it. there was a hiss as the oxygen filtered in.
His comm frequency was open to [member="Eliza Steele"], [member="Robb Killian"] and Thane Drexel, so he ran a comm check.
<Can you all hear me?>

 

[Robb Killian]

Robb couldn't help but grin at the mention of credits, his pockets could always use more lining. He saw that [member="Jace Trent"] had already equipped his helmet and Robb figured it was time to do the same.

He turned and approached the airlock where [member="Thane Drexel"] stood waiting as Jace's voice filled his ear.

<Can you all hear me?>

Robb was not used to wearing helmets and had to suppress the urge to manually key his own headphone before replying. <Loud and clear on my end.>

 

[Thane Drexel]

<Crystal Clear Cap>

Turning to Robb, <Thane, Pleased to meet you>

Thane had all of his gear and equipment strapped, he pulled out one of blasters and checked the power cell one last time. Having ensured its charge, he slipped it back into its home.

[member="Jace Trent"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Eliza Steele"]

 

[Robb Killian]

Robb clapped [member="Thane Drexel"] on the arm, their suits making a metallic *clink*. <Robb, and likewise.>

He stood back, making room for [member="Jace Trent"] near the airlock. Mentally preparing himself for the vacuum.

[member="Eliza Steele"]

 

[Jace Trent]

Jace looked over his crewmates to ensure their seals were holding. Satisfied, Jace walked up to the airlock release and pressed the button. There was a hiss as the door opened and then the vacuum rushed in. Jace felt the weightlessness take over and slipped out of the cargo hold and out into the void.
He activated the light mounted on the side of his helmet and fired up the VAC suits thrusters as he navigated his way towards the wreckage of the nearby Sith frigate. The eerie silence of space settled in, the only sound that could be heard was the oxygen moving into the helmet, and one's own breathing.
<Let's see what's inside that one>
[member="Robb Killian"] [member="Thane Drexel"] [member="Eliza Steele"]

 

[Nyos Val]

From the depths of space, a glint shimmered as it flew between starlight and sunlight. at the last second, before colliding with the space debris, a set of thrusts were fired and the object slowed just in time. The lid of the object was expelled and a large armored figure crawled out. It floated in the middle of the debris as if it was waiting for something.


[member="Jace Trent"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Eliza Steele"] [member="Colap Ticon"] [member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Damon Riggs"] [member="Listeri Dalane"]