The Great battle, an Aftermath. (Smugglers Alliance)

[Eliza Steele]

[member="Jace Trent"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Thane Drexel"]

Eliza continued to monitor things from the cockpit. So far so good, though the message she'd just received from another smuggling ship made the Corellisi sit up taller in her seat and put her caf mug down.

<Hey Jace… Just got an alert passed down that a couple of military drones were spotted hanging around a short ways off the debris field. Might want to double time it on your haul. I'll keep ya posted.">

 

[Alexandra Porte]

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

Russo nodded a thanks and took a nice sip of caf from the mug she chose. It was just right. "You wish, pretty boy?!" the brunette quipped without thinking. That was what Alleycat used to call the dashing fleet captain when she teased him before all the poodoo hit the fan and life ceased to exist whether alive or dead for those affiliated with the MC40 Inquisitor.

The whole time Damon was getting suited up, Alex contemplated what was to come; steeling her nerves and mind for their revisiting of the horrid past in the present. She had to stay strong for Riggs, then Russo could fall apart later after the job was done... right? Right!

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

Russo took a deep breath, then pulled the Inquisitor's Revenge hyperdrive lever down. The light freighter shuttered a bit as the streaks of white of hyperspace became dots again as the ship reverted to realspace. An exclamation began to come out of her mouth, but the words didn't get chance to be heard as she bit down on her lip hard, nudging herself to stay strong… Alex willed her sweaty hands to stay steady and move over the controls to guide the YT-1300 into the debris field safely.

"See anything you want to check out that the others aren't" Alex asked, keeping her brandy gaze looking forward out the front viewport so her partner didn't see the pain and agony in them as she looked upon the carnage from the previous battle.

 

[Damon Riggs]

When the ship dropped out of hyperspace, Riggs froze, literally froze. He heard [member="Alexandra Russo"]'s question, but he was to stiff to respond. Images of the battle rushed from the recesses of his mind. Memories he thought were tightly locked away busted out from their confinement. They had not just dropped out in a debris field, a former battle field, they dropped out right in front of an MC40 Capitol Ship.

The vessel was broken up, a wide hole blasted out of the hull. Escape pods littered the open space, reminding Riggs of everyone that had not made it out alive. Riggs simply could not move. This had been a bad idea, but they were there. The captain had to face his worst nightmare head on, and what better way right? He turned to Russo for comfort, but she was staring straight ahead. The scruffy spacer could only imagine what was going on in that mind of hers. She was impacted the same way, she had to have been. Riggs forced himself to think about the good memories. Forcing movement, Riggs finally sipped his caf simply to remember the times spent in ten forward lounge sharing caf and pie.

Riggs gulped.

"This... I..."

Riggs stood up.

"I can't stay out there for long," he finally managed. "Let's just get what we can off that MC40. I know the layout the best and we can get out of here fast."

Riggs started for the airlock, but paused and turned his head to look back over his shoulder.

"Have the whiskey ready when I get back. We're gonna need it."

He took in a couple deep breaths and headed to the airlock. Once the helmet was fastened, he checked his comm. No reason to go out with a bad comm.

<Comm check one, two. Hey Alex, you remember that thing I said last time we were together on the Inquisitor? Well I still mean it.>

He might as well say it. Space walks were not guaranteed to be safe. Riggs wasn't going to let himself get into a mess without the chance to tell her his feelings hadn't changed.

The airlock door opened as Riggs hit the release. It was time see what he could find on the busted vessel.

 

[Kairon Rees]

Kairon gently pushed a pair of bodies away. It would have been too easy to put too much force into the push and send them spinning.

A vacuum didn't freeze a body instantly; there wasn't anything for body heat to transfer to. Given enough time though and a body would radiate away all its heat. These bodies were now a brisk -270 degrees.

"How come the redundant systems didn't work," Hague mused as he started to force open the next door.

"Looked to me like this ship was fending off a group of smaller vessels. Looks like they'd mounted a boarding action on the other side before hitting life support. These models had a few flaws, not least of which being that if life support went, it had a habbit of blowing all the local redundant systems. Nasty way to go."

Jarrick grunted as the door gave way. Kairon could tell he was gathering the courage to take the topic further.

"I was in some pretty nasty campaigns. You tell these stories to Asmus, and you'd think pirating was a jolly adventure. I'm not ashamed to admit that I needed councilling after the last deployment, hell that's why I got out. But I can only imagine the kind of crap you've been through."

"Yeah. Some bad times." Kairon acknowledged.

The warm liquid ran down his forearm, there was a 'plink' as each drop landed on the blade of the rusty machete.

All around him, expressions were fixed in horror and disgust. There was near silence, but for the quietest, rasping breath that was slowly fading.

The silence was brokenly suddenly by a cry of encouragement. Kairon's eyes met those of his Captains across the array of judging expressions. His face was split by a wide grin, his Captain clapped enthusiastically until the rest of the horrified crew joined in.

It would take Kairon a long time to realise why the mad pirate was so happy. He had finally created a kindred spirit.

"Look I don't tell them like that to Asmus any more. He was just a boy when I told him stories about my past. I didn't want him to judge me, but he knew what I had been doing." Kairon replied. He had never admitted that his foolish nephew had saved him. When he had stolen the Harlequin he had planned on returning to piracy, and all that the profession entailed.

How could he have returned to that after his own flesh and blood had insisted on staying? How could he have explained to his own brother what he had turned his son into. So they smuggled. Some months they barely ate, but Asmus had saved Kairon from something much worse.

"Where to now, anyway?" Hague asked, pulling Kairon out of his reverie.

"Workshops. They'll have spare parts packed nice and tight. Maybe even in containers."

"Got it."

 

[RC 212]

CR-90 Corvette
Debris Field

Once Colap was in it was easy going. The ship was dark and the metal glinted in the reflection of his headlamps with a dull sheen. The gray armored smuggler made his way down the length of the main hall, eyes darting back and forth, taking in everything.

Then he saw it, dead bodies...

They were strewn across the deck, many frozen stiff. Blood floated in crystals about the hallway and the dead stared listless up at him. Colap felt his stomach turn, and fought back an urge to vomit. Dead bodies were not his everyday sight.

With purposefull strides he made his way to the end of the hall and turned left. Inside was the med bay, and she was destroyed as well. Walking through the carnage he kept his eyes moving, sweeping the room.

"Here we go." He mused to himself, scooping up a med pack and a nearby box of bacta canisters. But how would e get it all out of here?

Casting about he found his soultion. He grabbed the nearby med bed and began strapping the objects of loot to it. Then he moved on, pushing the bed in front of him to the armory.

 

[Listeri Dalane]

Listeri moved through the Corvette, seeing nothing of real worth or interest. However, he spotted a small map floating through the air, and he quickly snatched it. " -CHHHP- Colap I'm hea-CHHHP- the armory. " The message barely made it through the Alliances feed, as Listeri floated towards the expansive room. " -CHHHP- Colap, give me some visuals. -CHHHP- " The smuggler asked. He grinned when he saw random rifles and pieces of armor floating through the air, bouncing off of the walls and gently bumping in to their floating comrades.

[member="Colap Ticon"]

 

[Alexandra Porte]

Alexandra knew that [member="Damon Riggs"] was struggling with the situation before them, but she just couldn't help him at the moment as the Taanabian was struggling with the raw emotions too much herself. Later, maybe, but not now.

"Have the whiskey ready when I get back. We're gonna need it."

​"Always," Russo simply replied as Riggs left the cockpit to go do the space walk into the wreckage of a MC40. Of all the ships we had to choose… Though it did make sense as that is what the former fleet captain knew like the back of his hand.

<Comm check one, two. Hey Alex, you remember that thing I said last time we were together on the Inquisitor? Well I still mean it.>

The brunette bit her lip again. Yes, Alleycat definitely remembered what Riggs had told her right before she had to run to her fighter to launch immediately. Alex had so wanted to tell him the same thing; that she loved him too, but never got the chance. But now… Did Russo still? Somewhere deep inside of her she did, but the walls she'd built since the battle and the tragedies that occured were solid and high. Alex really didn't know if she ever would allow herself to love anyone again, even him.

<I copy you loud and clear… And, I do. Watch yourself out there, Riggs.>

 

[RC 212]

[member="Listeri Dalane"]

Colap frowned at the comms as Listeri cut in and out. He slapped the side of his helmet a few times then shrugged.

"Gothca skip."

He turned on his video feed, though he was pretty certain it would do nothing. His air was starting to run out, as evidenced by a flashing yellow sensor in his helmet, and he was craving another cigar. It was time to get on with the mission.

"I cant make it to your location Skip, just grab me a nice blaster rifle, I'm headed back to the Z-95 to hook a tow cable to my loot and re-up on oxygen. I want this corvette, so lets hook her up to the Wild Phantom, and tow her out of here."

 

[Damon Riggs]

The spacewalk was uneventful. It was the mental game Riggs was going through. Russo didn't even respond. All she said was, "Yeah, I do." Well she also told him to watch himself, but no awknowledgement that even after a year of thinking she had been dead he hadn't moved on. [member="Alexandra Russo"] kept her walls high and tight. Added to all that was the fact Riggs was maneuvering himself through a hull breech four meters wide on a ship which was the same model he had captained.

Images of a lively crew danced across his mind. Eyes darted around the part of the ship he was in. Magnetic boots provided the spacer with stability as the durasteel floor rest under his feet. Damon just stood there for a few minutes. He had to wrap his mand on where exactly he had floated in at. The corridor looked like all the rest, so Riggs went right. Following the long hall all the way to its end, he came to a door, stuck in place. Riggs had to torch through it. That took several minutes, but soon he was standing in a maintainance bay. This was a jackpot for small stuff. Thirteen R2 units were secured against the wall. Riggs would need his torch again, but not until he worked to secure the units together.

Using some paracord Riggs tied the droids so they would come with him in a single file line. The beauty of being weightless was he could take all of them at once. He would be headed back to the aft cargo bay. It had the airlock, and access large enough to get all the units in quickly. Riggs had no intention of staying in Sith space for long. He wasn't gonna leave empty handed though, and the droids would get sold fast, especially since Riggs could under it the competition. Russo could do the work that needed to be done, and Riggs could help.

Everything about the bay was a mess aside from the droids. Riggs could only imagine what the battle had been like, but his mind made it play out like the one which haunted him. Over and over and over again, the ship blew to pieces in his mind, as all the crew lost their lives everytime the scene played out. Riggs had to get out of there. He moved down the corridor, with droids in tow, as fast as he could. Soon he was propelling himself back to the light frieghter, back through the airlock, and once the doors were shut, he reinstated gravity and pressurized the cargo bay.

He knew he should have been talking to Russo, but Riggs had been speechless the entire time. He was back now though and with a haul. Riggs clicked the comm.

<I can't go back out there again. Got thirteen R2 units that need some work, but that will have to do for us. Get us the hell outta here, and I'll be up when I can. I can't go out there again...>

 

[Alexandra Porte]

All Russo could do was sit and wait anxious and nervously while Riggs was inside the tattered guts of a MC40; the very ship type the former fleet captain used to command and was the home of her late squadron. She knew the reason why [member="Damon Riggs"] wasn't giving her play by play of his trip down memory lane… So as long as his life signs were okay on the readout, Alex wouldn't intrude upon him and his tortured thoughts. The Taanabian had enough of her own to deal with at the moment from her view from the cockpit. To think the former starfighter pilot had been found floating in a scene just like this after going EV by a salvage crew… It was so surreal.

When the Coruscanti was safely back on board the 'Revenge with the haul of droids and the airlock was secure, Alleycat finally let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

<Don't expect you to… I'm going to move us out of the debris field now, then set up for our exit vector. Thanks for doing it… I know it was, well… Just glad you're back home safe and sound.>

With that said, Alex feathered the controls and the light freighter began to ease its way slowly out of the space battle wreckage.

 

[Thane Drexel]

[member="Robb Killian"] [member="Jace Trent"] [member="Titan"] [member="Eliza Steele"]
The Defiance
The captain had already jumped into space, into the wreckage of a ship. Thane jumped out after him, reading com chatter from the SA. His trajectory put him on path for a separate opening than Jace. He planted on the exposed hull and popped his helmet light on, and peered inside...

 

[Robb Killian]

Robb had no choice but to follow the lead of Jace Trent and [member="Thane Drexel"]. He took a deep breath, crouched, and leaped from the airlock and into the void.

Robb used the thrusters on his boots to correct his trajectory, deciding to follow Thane's route. Using his thrusters, he maneuvered his legs out in front of him and slowed himself down using controlled bursts. He landed on the derelict vessel with a slight, though inaudible, thud. He tapped away at his suit's built in computer and his boots silently magnetized, gently adhering him to the surface of the vessel. Boots on the ground.

Robb walked along the surface of the wreck to where Thane was peering into a hull breach. <Anything good?>

Titan Eliza Steele

 

[Nyos Val]

The massive soldier floated into the derelict vessel by way of a used escape pod cylinder. The man used his arms to propel himself through the wreckage, moving into the center of the ship. He stopped at what looked like the living quarters, a few bodies floated around the room. They must have died during the fight, while trying to grab their belongings.

The HUD inside the behemoth's helmet showed incoming blips. He placed himself in a corridor and stood absolutely still, awaiting the readings to come into view.

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

 

[Kairon Rees]

Kairon gave the salvage a gentle push, easing it along the deck of the corvette’s cargo bay. They’d brought sleds with them for safety. After all a tonne of goods had the same mass in any gravity and with enough momentum could easily crush a few kilos of meat and bone.

“How are we looking on the dish?” Kairon asked.

“Nearly…eugh…there…” Asmus replied.

“Want a hand?”

“No…I’ve got this…” Asmus replied a little too testily. Kairon shared a look with his second in command. As long as the youth pulled his weight, they had a few minutes to finish the salvage op.

Suddenly there was a crackle in his earpiece, followed by shouting: “All hands, we have been pinged. Something out there is actively scanning us. Radio silence is no more. Time to bug out!” The comm cut off as soon as abruptly as it had started.
”
“Godamnit,” Kairon grunted. “Hague go and help Asmus get that deflector loaded. Jakeal are we prepped for a hyperspace jump? And get the Twins woken up and send them down to secure the haul.




Kairon rushed forwards with the haul, pushing the sled to its limits. The cargo slammed into their own bay unceremoniously, but it would have to do. The Quintessence’s Captain pulled himself into the bay and punched the return button. The small pod lurched back up towards the freighter and started to reattach on its own.

Within a few seconds the air pressure was returning and Kairon was hurrying to get his suit off. The doors to the ship slid open and the Twin’s appeared.

"Evening Twins!" he called, pretending to be in a jovial mood. By the Force why had he agreed to this mad mission.

"Evening sir," they replied in perfect synchronisation. The two eight foot tall droids started packing the cargo securely, effortlessly lifting crates that must have weighed a tonne between them.

They were probably the least problematic of his crew. They didn't drink, the recharged in an hour a day, they always followed orders. Over a hundred years old, the reliable heaps just kept on going.

It was best to keep them together though. When in close proximity they shared their internal processors and essentially became a single AI. When separated they tended to get a bit stupid. Actually, Kairon reconsidered, a lot stupid.

As he rushed up the stairs another message came through: “We’re rumbled, patching them through. Leg it boys!”

“This is Captain Graad of the Patrol Barge Majesty. This is a controlled military site. Please decease you activities and submit your vessels for inspection.”

“What are we looking at?” Kairon shouted as he rushed up to the mess hall on the second floor.

“We’ve got a single patrol ship hanging outside the field. But we’ve got a frigate and snubfighters incoming. Ten minutes tops!” replied another smuggler on the open comm.

“Is the party box ready to go?” Kairon asked. Whilst Kairon could hardly afford military tech to go toe-to-toe with the Sith, he could afford a bay full of scrap metal and an interesting concoction of chemicals.

“Ohh yes she is!” Hague shouted back. “Myself and Asmus are just waiting for recompression, we’re ready to go.”

“Fine, get to the bridge, I’ve got the Ion gun,” Kairon replied as he pulled down the ladder in the centre of the mess hall and started his ascent.

“Cheeky bastard, you didn’t even declare shotgun,” Hague complained.

Trust the soldier to make jokes at a time like this, Rees thought. “Right, who is the nearest ship? We agreed to pair up if we had to run to cover each other." Please, please, don’t let it be….

“It’s the Defiance.” Hague replied.

Kairon unleashed a string of profanities. “Patch me through! Trent are you there? How fast can you pedal that thing, looks like I’m covering her arse on the way out!”

The Quintessence slowly started to pull away from the corvette, gently turning to face the clearest heading out of the field. As the assorted smuggler vessels began to finish loading and power up, the lone patrol vessel backed slowly away from the field, awaiting the incoming reinforcements.


[ooc] It's on, run for the hills! (Well when you're all ready with salvaging, I've left a good 15 minute window here.[/ooc]

 

[Jace Trent]

Jace navigated himself with the thrusters of his suit into the ship via a gash in the hull. From the pieces of armor and blasters floating around and bouncing off the lockers that were lining the walls, Jace guessed that he had slipped into the armory.
Normally, Jace would mark this as a room to return to, and move to investigate the rest of the ship. But Eliza's report of potential trouble, suggested that they were on borrowed time, so Jace had to settle for just the weapons and armor.
<Hey boys, I found the armory. Lets start loading it up>
[member="Robb Killian"] [member="Thane Drexel"] Titan Eliza Steele

 

[Thane Drexel]

Thane looked over to Robb as he landed on the perimeter of the hull breach.

Looks like the Cap found some weapons and armor, putting his finger to where his ear would be on his helmet, and it looks like we've got company. Let's get the stuff and get back to the ship. I only brought enough power cells to kill two squads.

Thane crawled inside and began to pack up as much as he could. We'll grab what we can Cap, then let's get a move on.

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

 

[Jakeal Rogue]

Jakeal had been in motion the second his captain had informed him that they needed to be ready to get gone, "Aye sir, the Hyperspace is ready and willing." he said as he hurried to do as he had asked waking the twins was easy the droids were old but reliable machines and they were soon set to task on securing the cargo. Once Asmus and the first mate were secured he was pulling them away from the broken corvette and angled them toward the Defiance's position to provide them cover. "It's so hard for honest men to make a honest credit these days." he said as he monitored the transmissions making sure they weren't expecting anyone who was trigger happy. He piloted the ship through the field of wreckage expecting any moment to feel the ship shudder from the fire of a incoming fighter but he focused on his task moving closer to the Defiance. "I enjoy showing up Sith fighter pilots and all but I'd rather not be here to do it." he said as they were waiting for the rest of the Defiance crew.

 

[Eliza Steele]

[member="Jace Trent"] [member="Thane Drexel"] [member="Titan"] [member="Robb Killian"]

"Gorram Sith?!" Eliza grumbled out as the scanner lit up with multiple bogies and the chatter across the Smugglers' Alliance comm frequency began to become alive and high pitched with excitement of one kind or another. She preferred to stay calm and focused 'cause freaking out just got you killed.

<You space cowboys better haul ass as we've got incoming… Firing up the ol' girl now. Let me know when you're secure on board.>

 

[Damon Riggs]

Riggs tossed the helmet into the bay, and left for the cockpit. All he wanted right now was a good drink of whiskey, and Russo's lips on his. The first was going to happen, the second, not really. He was starting over with her, so he was going to have to be content with the whiskey.

He grabbed a bottle on the way to the cockpit, and sat down in the co-pilot seat. Russo had said she was going to get them out of the debris field and meet Riggs in the cargo bag once they made light speed, but he could wait. Riggs had to see [member="Alexandra Russo"]. The memories were just too intense. He had to make sure he was in the reality he knew he was in. That's when a blip hit the scanner. They had been pinged, every ship on the scavenge was getting pinged.

Riggs threw the comm on speaker to hear the chatter of what was happening. Eliza mentioned something about Trent's crew not being on board yet. There was no way Riggs could leave anyone behind, not when it mean they would likely be killed.

"Dammit!"

Riggs looked at Russo. She'd see it in his eyes. When he broke the look it was to stand up and run up the ladder to the top turret. Russo knew what to do.

 

[Alexandra Porte]

Russo acknowledged Riggs when he took the seat next to her and was envious that he had a bottle of whiskey in his hand as a drink was what she needed at the moment, but Alleycat never drank on the job so it would have to wait until they got into hyperspace.

Then it happened… The pings and the mad scramble of the other smugglers to get back to their ships and out of harms way. Alex turned her head to catch the look in Damon's eyes. It was the same one in hers. With only thirty seconds left to their salvation, Russo aborted the jump and turned the Inquisitor's Revenge around on a dime to head back towards the debris field and their comrades; the YT-1300 groaning as she flew it like a starfighter and not like the light freighter the ship was. The whole time mentally making a check list of what upgrades she would be demanding if they made it back out alive.

"Hailing all smugglers… 'Revenge will cover the retreat. Make for your exit vectors now. See you on the other side."

With that said, Russo steeled herself for the incoming fighters and readied their countermeasures. "[member="Damon Riggs"]… It's time to dance. Show me what you got, pretty boy."

[member="Jakeal Rogue"] [member="Thane Drexel"] [member="Jace Trent"] [member="Eliza Steele"] [member="Kairon Rees"] @Titan @Robb Killian [member="Colap Ticon"] [member="Listeri Dalane"]