[The Resistance] One Hundred Eight Hours

[Mereel Vaun]

After filling his second flask and talking with a few of the refugees who were hanging out in the Capitol Row cantina, Mereel decided it was time to move on.

As he walked through the halls of the Solemn Purpose, he cleared his thoughts and slowed his breathing. He opened himself up to the force.

Ever since his expedition to Teth, Mereel had been practicing his ability to sense emotions in others using the force. He almost had sensing human emotions down to a science. Granted, the humans he was sensing had to be within about 20 meters of him, and sometimes he thought he was sensing emotions from people he had just put a blaster bolt through the forehead of. He figured that sciences sometimes involved messy processes.

As a Sullustan passed by him in the hall, he tried to sense his emotions to no avail. He hadn't been able to sense many coherent emotions from alien lifeforms yet, but he hoped that would come with practice.

Mereel hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking and found himself once again standing in the Solemn Purpose's main hangar bay.

As he approached a group of soldiers, Mereel's force sense was overwhelmed by a sickening wave of raw hatred. Mereel's hand instinctively went to grab his blaster pistol.

He had never felt this level of hatred in someone who wasn't a Sith before, but there couldn't have been a Sith on the Solemn Purpose. The Seventeenth Fleet had been running from Sith forces, not inviting them onto their ships. Mereel decided to confront the source of the anger he had sensed.

He calmed his mind and moved his hand away from his pistol. He was going to try to get the man before him to reveal what he was so angry about using the power of small talk, "Su'cuy ner vod. I just came aboard from a freighter resupplying your fuel. You wouldn't happen to know where a man can get a drink around here would you?"

[member="Karsan Calnov"]

 

[Veino Garn]

@Sav Eiko
——————-

Veino paused after asking the question, pouring what was left of the caff into a mug. It had been a long several days. He wasn’t even sure how many that it had been. Five? Six? Less, maybe? He was no pilot, but he could heal and have some sense of the future. Not enough to be specific, but enough to detect a threat. That had been his job.

He nodded as she asked and crashed into a seat, wrapping the coat closer around his shoulders.

“Yeah. That’s me. Call me Veino. You Coren’s new apprentice, right?”

He found another cup and held it out to her.

“Caf?”

He took a long drink and pushed a strand of hair away from his face and let his eyes close for a moment. “Coren didn’t tell me very much. What’s he thinking of?”

 

[Erendiz Kahn]

Dizzy laughed at [member="Laira Vereen"]'s words.

"I bet you say that to all the old vets your mothers age who catch your eye, missy." She replied with a smile halfway between welcoming, half way beween almost sad. "I do have a bunk fit to sleep two, if you're short one. But anything more intimate would wake the neighbours and, well, that would be bad."

"I am... I was, Master Chief Petty Officer Erendiz Kahn - but you can call me Dizzy, because you implied I was cute, which is flattery to an old lady." She gestures back. "I'm... the cook. But before that I used to be with... a few outfits you've probably heard of, mostly with names that end in things like 'Storm Squad' or 'People Who Make A Living Being Really Stupid' and once upon a yore, before I quit, the Sun Guard. Technically, I'm retired. But..."

She gestures around, lowering her voice a little.

"All these kids? They need a mom." She winks. "And I sort of appointed myself. I swear, recruits these days, don't know one end of a knife from the other. Dunno if I'm lucky to be here, but... it's where I belong."

[member="Laira Vereen"] @Shamira Karutohttp://starwarsrp.net/user/15259-shamira-karuto/

 

[Mav Halo]

A tired hand paused mid-sweep of sweat-laced locks, the familiarity of a sudden voice catching her off guard and tearing her from the tirade of dark thoughts. Unbidden, a soft snort escaped her. She hooked her lightsaber back on her belt, not trusting herself to have it in her hand as she turned to face the interloper to what had previously been her almost exclusively private sanctum.

“If I had ever thought you could pose a challenge, I might have once taken you up on such an offer.” While there was no bite in her words, simple exhaustion had robbed it of the teasing tone such a statement would have ordinarily conveyed. The slender smile threatening to appear on chapped lips was likewise strained, with whatever warmth she might have previously entertained having long since leached out of her during the waning hours of Thyferra’s assault. “[member="Aerion Ivelisse"], as I live and breathe. I have to assume from your presence that you finally ran out of boots to shine and uniforms to crease within the GAG.”

Perhaps a little tang of bitterness worked its way into that one, but she felt he at least deserved that much. Like [member="Tegan Katarn"] and the ill-fated Lucius Varad, the man before her had been considered one of her closest allies A trusted friend, companion and even confidant at times when she had almost given up hope on such a notion. Before the call of the Galactic Alliance Guard had pulled him away from the Order, that was. The second fracture in already tenuous bonds that saw the rest of them diverge in separate directions and callings.

“It is good to see you.”

A lie, but perhaps only a partial one. Given current events, was it really good to see anyone on-board this ship?

 

[Auri Vesta]

"That's fair, hell I'd drink to that if there was anything other than caf 'round here." Auri decided that she liked this woman. Probably one of the bravest she'd met, though she didn't see much bravery from outlaws and smugglers on the Outer Rim. She was right that Auri should've stayed out of this. The longer she was here, the more she felt like she might end up sticking around. The pay would be bad and she'd have the Empire on her back, just like these poor souls. But at the moment it felt like a good thing to do, the right thing to do. She knew she had skills that would be of use to a rag-tag fleet like this.

Another woman approached the X-Wing then, calling Kira commander. All the pilots around here sure were young, Auri supposed the lifespan of a combat pilot was on the low side. She didn't really see any of the grizzled veteran types around actually, they probably made up the top brass around here, spending their time up in the bridge looking over sensor read-outs nervously.

"So, how'd you end up here pilot? You at Thyferra too?" It'd be interesting to hear more of the story, get a little bit more detail about the battle.

[member="Kira Jax"] [member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"No, in all honesty you are the first." Laira said with a grin, being entirely truthful. She was normally more than a bit flirtatious with almost any species, but normally kept it more age appropriate. "They haven't issued me a bunk yet. Hectic you know. I'd be grateful if I could crash anywhere to be honest."

"Well, I was a smuggler until I got recruited by the Coalition Rangers. I spent about a year running around with the Rangers and doing whatever I pleased for the most part. I just happened to be at Thyferra with Outcast Squadron helping with the evacuation from the city. I flew a shuttle while they stayed behind, then the Admiral jumped us out." It wasn't the most exciting story ever told, but it was honest for the most part. Laira's time with the Rangers seemed to be coming to an end, but she did have a lot of investigation experience which maybe she could put to use avoiding getting caught now. Her squadmates hadn't been heard of since as far as she knew, she hadn't seen them or heard them over comms and so far no one had mentioned bumping into them. It didn't bode well for her friends, just another reason to stay and keep fighting.

"We all need some help these days, lucky or not. I'm glad you stepped up." The redhead said, her eyes starting to drift closed as she yawned widely, reaching up with her arms to stretch again. "About that cot? You wouldn't mind if I turned in sooner rather than later would you?"

[member="Erendiz Kahn"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Erendiz Kahn"]


Seeing that the burning of the bacta planet had been brought up, Kaida decided to chime in while sipping her caf. "I was at Thyferra. Groundside. The Alliance screwed up. Unsurprisingly." The gentle reader might wonder whether the pale elf made a deliberate effort to keep her sentences as short as possible.


Then again, once when called upon to deliver a speech at a memorial ceremony for Angelii who'd given their lives for the defence of the motherland, she'd literally said: 'They did their duty. They died. We avenged them. They won't be forgotten. Follow their example.' That was it.


She walked with a very strong limp. Being bitten by a Vong snake creature had not been kind to one of her legs. Thyferra had been a mess, all things considered, and she'd only ended up fighting by coincidence. Mainly due to being there when Sith suddenly showed up because apparently the Alliance could not an attack that came from half the galaxy away. Or keep said attackers from landing. She could have bragged about duelling a sneaky Sith Lord in a wrecked bacta lab while burning death rained from the sky, but she was not the type.

 

[Erendiz Kahn]

"I was only there for some more regen therapy." Dizzy touched her face without a hint of self-consciousness, then lowered her hand and shrugged. It wasn't clear if she was answering Kaida or Laira. "Who knows what the brass were thinking? Or if they were thinking. What happens, happens."

She paused for a moment, as if considering something very seriously. "Mistakes happen. But when we make a mistake, millions die. The Sith, or the First Order, or the Empire - they burn whole worlds to impose their twisted ideologies on the galaxy. When they make a mistake, mostly their minions die. That's what we've gotten wrong all these years. We never, ever hit them where it hurts. Break their pretty statues, burn them, make them bleed. Because all their leaders care about is their own hide. A nation can't fight like that, too dirty. It's all black operations, and they always get out. Then suddenly we're on their level, even though they demolish cities to make a point." Her voice had more than an edge of tired passion in it, it had the edge of twenty solid years of fighting against the rising tide of darkness, sometimes winning, sometimes loosing - but always seeing what the victories cost. Being a living example of what victory cost you. A happy life, a partner, your appearance and... well, maybe your sanity as well. Stare into the abyss too long, and all that. "But people. People can make a difference. They can make them bleed, and once they start bleeding, then they'll be on the back foot. Shocked, in pain, suffering. They see the massed dead as pyres to the triumph of their ideology. We've got to make it personal."

She stopped abruptly, shaking her head. It wasn't that the fire drained out of her, just that she had no idea how to actually apply it anymore.

"Sorry, got carried away - don't listen to an old woman. Yeah flygirl, I can get you a bunk. Just you make sure there's space in it for me when I come off-duty, you hear? I don't like sentients who hog the rack."

[member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

It was hard - but not too hard - to find those whispering about the Resistance movement. Born out of the ashes of defeat and the swelling darkness, those who wanted to rise up and take back what was theirs. Hope where there was none, with peace and justice for all in bathing golden light and -

Ugh.

Bullshit.

The Resistance would live or die doing what they did best; sticking it to bullies, butchers and those who abused power and others in the process. It was the rawest form of surviving when you looked death in the face and thew the first punch or pulled the trigger before they did.

Danni Arden came out of hyperspace at the coordinates given to her after a few credits convinced the Gran on Coruscant that it was worth his time to trust the dark, bobbed-haired woman. So he did, and it paid off. So this was the Resistance? Danni cocked her head and smirked at the corner of her mouth from the cockpit of her former GIA ship, 'Red Sparrow'. She cracked her fingers and opened the com.

"Calling the Resistance. Captains, commanders, rebels - whomever you are. This is Danni Arden, former special forces with the Galactic Intelligence Agency. I want in. Where do I land."

This was what she needed. She needed to live again. To fight again.

To BE again.

[member="Laira Vereen"] and any Resistance crew

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"The Alliance is doing the best they can." Laira said rather sternly, it must have been how tired she was. "Its just that their best isn't good enough anymore." The redhead reached up and touched Diz's scarred left cheek with her fingertips gingerly, offering the woman more than just a polite smile. In truth that hadn't been the first thing Laira had noticed about the woman, even if it was rather distinguishing. "Remember, all the girls like someone with scars." She said, letting her hand slip away.

People were angry, they felt like others had failed them. Felt like it was all up to them and just them now. The feeling of being utterly alone against an enemy beyond their ability to fight. Others had felt like that before. Others would after they were gone, just like they were following in the footsteps of others. "The new Government seems pretty staunchly against finding member worlds to support them. I'm not sure what that means for how we are going to be able to do this, but I know that we won't make those same mistakes. We can't afford to anymore."

"Thank you so much for the cot," The redhead leaned forward and planted a short, wet kiss to Diz's cheek in thanks for being supplied a proper place to sleep. "If I'm still out cold when you get off just roll me over and hop in," she laughed. It felt good to laugh after everything that had happened, the days of fighting and watching others die, the worrying about her friends. And the uncertainty of whether or not she would live to see her mother and father again. She wondered if Theo was worried about her.

With that, the redhead stood and made her way towards the promised cot to pass out in a deep, ugly sleep which would result in the redhead drooling on the pillow and snoring while sleeping on her stomach in full gear like a passed out frat boy at a party.

[member="Erendiz Kahn"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

~

The ragtag fleet of Resistance vessels consisted of a handful of older escorts, cargo ships, and civilian craft scattered around a massive Mon Calamari behemoth that looked as if it had seen better days. The smooth hull had been battered and scarred, tethers and mooring lines attached handfuls of smaller craft to the vessel.

"RNS Solemn Purpose to Danni Arden, hangars are a bit full right about now. Come to a tether and spacewalk over. Welcome to the Resistance."

[member="Danni Arden"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Laira Vereen"], [member="Erendiz Kahn"]


"War is war. There's no point trying to 'civilise' it. You just end up with your people in the grave or under the yoke." On the surface, Kaida looked youthful, due to the strange way Eldorai aging worked. Yet there were harsh lines etched into her still attractive, pallid face. Deep scars that she carried around like mementos from various blood-soaked battlefields. Her voice was not passionate, but like steel. She'd seen her homeworld burn. Erendiz sounded like someone who'd known battle and experienced its hardships.


"The Alliance has no discipline or leadership worth its name. Unless you count the cowards who kowtowed to the imperialists. Needs to woman up or go down," she shrugged. "Not my nation, not my army." Her own frustrated her. The myopic, corrupt Matriarchy had failed its people. She sipped her caf while the redhead departed and passed out on a cot.

 

[Erendiz Kahn]

Dizzy watched the very strange Laira depart with a faintly bemused expression, raising a hand to touch her cheek for a moment, before shaking herself and turning to Kaida.

"There are lines you can't cross - or else there's no point. When our beliefs become their beliefs, they've won. But up to that point, I don't disagree."

She shrugged slightly.

"We'll see who ends up going down - a government is just a government, the people of the galaxy stay the same."

She looked around the huge flight deck.

"I wonder who I actually speak to about, you know, actually signing up. Whatever that really means here."

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Danni Arden"] and the sleeping [member="Laira Vereen"] for posterity.

 

[Yula Perl]

Here and there. This and that. These sorts of responses weren’t uncommon he’d come to learn, at least not within the newly cobble together Resistance. People came from all over—you had your former imperials, farm kids who wanted to right the wrongs of the galaxy, adventure seekers with a vigilante flavor. Avi was more of the latter and this had been his first taste of how harsh the galaxy could be beyond his villa on Manas.

“About the same.” He lied.

“I lied.” Avi shrugged with an amicable grin. “I’m from the Outer Rim. Wanted to see more of the galaxy and I got to see Thyferra.” He paused. “Made me think if I wasn’t doing much else, I could at least try and help some folks.”

Folks who’d had it worse than him since they day they were born. Most people weren’t as well off as him.

“Didn’t think there’d be all of these caf shortages though. Would’ve stayed home if I knew that.” The goofy smile was back on his face, trying to inject some levity into the situation.

[member="Kensic Varais"]

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Everyone else aboard the Solemn Purpose was operating in varying states of exhaustion, but despite his condition Arix had had enough bed rest. Taking the first opportunity that presented itself to slip out of the medical bay unnoticed, the wounded Alliance pilot limped along all the way down to the main hangar bay with the aid of a pilfered hovercane. His left arm was still braced against his chest in a sling, the mismatched cybernetic prosthesis was an outdated model and took time to fully adapt to its user.

Discomfort was a sensation he was by now all too familiar with, he had been locked away in a life support suit for years before these latest injuries, but he did not like being reminded of his own helplessness. It was technology that kept what was left of him alive when by natural law he should be dead, and as a consequence he would forever be subject to the limitations of that technology. He was in some way no longer more than the sum of his own parts, so to speak.

He would have preferred to head for one of the carrier's twin flight decks, so he could see the X-Wings as they came and went, but the cyborg wasn't exactly a natural at blending in. It would only be a matter of time before someone in charge stopped him and started asking questions he wasn't really prepared to answer. If there was anyone left in charge, that is. But in a pinch, the main hangar would do. Arix would be less conspicuous there, and he would at least get to see starships. Get to imagine that he was the one behind the controls, and just blast off.

[member="Kira Jax"] | [member="Auri Vesta"] (nearby)​

 

[Connor Harrison]

As the com crackled to life, Danni shrugged at the news they were full – it was to be expected, but she could still tether up. Looking out to the Mon Cal design, the rounded command ship was standard stuff but it was impressive.

"Got it, thank you. Out."

Clicking off, Danni shuffled in her seat and pushed forward gently on the throttle and the Red Sparrow glided through the cluster of ships towards the Purpose. The size of the ship was apparent as the Sparrow was soon dwarfed by her side. Danni found a docking arm and brought the ship in, slowly coming into the arm and locking on with the clamping arm.

Killing the engine, Danni left the cockpit and walked through to the main hold, lifted her blaster rifle over her shoulder along with her backpack and opened the side door. The walkway took Danni from her ship into the Purpose and the pristine white, blue and silver corridors struck her immediately. Many species walked through engaged in conversation and she could tell there was a mix of pilots, officers and even some political looking figures as well as soliders.

Nodding in respect of the set-up and gut feeling of unity felt, Danni stood out in her all black and grey outfit and walked the corridor where she was stopped by an armed guard.

”May I help you miss?”

"Captain Danni Arden, former GIA, here to speak to whoever is in charge? I want a piece of this movement."

With a curious look, the guard nodded and turned and spoke into her chest mounted com. Danni looked around while she waited, taking it all in and seeing who caught her eye.

[member="Laira Vereen"] | [member="Erendiz Kahn"] et al

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Erendiz Kahn"]


"Don't know," Kaida finished her caf. This small talk thing was awkward. "Just ended up here for evac when Thyferra went bust." It had, truth be told, been the most convenient ride away. She should probably call HQ on Tygara. Presumably there'd be grumbling. Some pompous Captain-General would see fit to lecture her about duty and responsibility.


Some pathetic pen-pusher who'd never known what it was like to storm a trench by charging over the bodies of your dead comrades. Maybe she'd punch said Captain-General. Or kneecap her. The thought was growing more attractive with every day that passed.

 

[Erendiz Kahn]

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Danni Arden"]

"Yeah, well I guess neither of us are much use in that regard."

Dizzy sat and stared across the crowded hanger, her pink hair pretty eye catching even among the non-regulation cuts and attire of the various soliders, civilians and support staff.

She drummed her fingers for a moment against the crate, then glanced down at her hand and stopped the motion.

"You thinking of staying?" She asked her as-yet nameless companion. "Or going back to whichever outfit you came from?"

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

At the ribbing, Aerion's lips pursed and he nodded his head up and down, his features contorted in a 'I'm sure I believe you' sort of look. Even without the teasing tone, he welcomed it and strode closer.

"It was humbling," came his reply, with a slight tilt of his head. She was older now, he was as well, but he could sense the lingering darkness beneath her surface, his brows furrowing slightly. He wouldn't pry, it wasn't his business, but he knew it was the cause of battle weariness. His jaw tensed, visibly before he forced himself to loosen up, a hand raising to brush through the tightly woven dreadlocks upon his scalp.

"Likewise."

It was heartening to see that she lived, to be sure.

"So is this an exclusive session, or are you going to show me what you've learned?"

[member="Callia Rodez"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As Danni waited, she stood at the open domed door leading into a hangar and looked at the hive of activity. Ships of all shapes and sizes, pilots and rogues, smugglers, soldiers and what looked like Jedi all talking, chatting, loading or unloading up supplies.

She nodded to herself and stepped in while she waited, bag and rifle over her shoulder. Ambling through as a voice spoke out something over the intercom that echoed around the whole hangar, Danni came to stand beside a couple stood by some crates, chatting and drinking and looking like they’d seen a fair few fights for themselves.

"Hey," she edged over and said with a nod of the head. "Danni Arden. You, ah, you with the Resistance I take it?"

[member="Erendiz Kahn"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Laira Darkhold"]

 

[Aster Jace]

Eventually Chaff clambered out of the X-Wing, and climbed down the rungs of the ladder, careful not to spill his precious caf as he descended. When his boots met the deck he paused and took a swig of the caffeinated beverage, saying silent thanks to whatever higher power taught [member="Erendiz Kahn"] to make a beverage so divine. Stepping away from the fighter 'F3 followed soon after, being removed from its slot and quickly scurrying as far away from Chaff as it could get.

He thought to join [member="Kira Jax"] and [member="Synthia Fellstar"] in meeting [member="Auri Vesta"], but decided it wouldn't be polite to interrupt. Chaff hardly wanted to make a bad impression on the lady he'd likely be following until one or both of their untimely demises at the hands of one Imperialist or another. It wasn't that he was a pessimist, it just seemed inevitable. They were fighting the good fight, the honorable fight, but it was one with great risk and stacked odds, but he and likely everyone aboard the Solemn Purpose were happy to lay down their lives for the cause.

He hoped so at least.

Setting eyes on [member="Arix Askrima"], the fresh faced pilot approached the man who seemingly was more metal than he was flesh, but that didn't matter, he could've been an IG unit and Chaff would've treated him all the same. "How're ya holding up pal?" Chaff asked the man, not extending a hand only because he didn't want to inconvenience the wounded man.