Welcome to the Jungle

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

There had been a number of attacks on Coruscant: The Protectorate; Alliance; Rebellion; Levantine Sanctum to name a few. Their cause was in no way assisted that the aggressors had taken advantage of the heavy traffic in and out of the city-world to slip in arms and mercenaries. Coruscant had become a painful experience for traders, and an almost insurmountable one for smugglers. Ships were brought out of hyperspace along closely controlled routes and then scanned before passing deeper into the system.

"At least we get a lovely view of the Imperial fleet," Kairon mumbled from his station. He was double checking the manifest, mentally going through each and every type of cargo to ensure he could field any questions thrown their way. Whilst the risks were low, Kairon really didn't fancy two days on an Impstar whilst they did a full sweep of the Warden. The Sith were not known for their hospitality. He looked across at Mal, unable to help himself. Acutely painful, and joyous memories flooded back into a heady, tumultuous mix. His lips twitched briefly before he offered a small smile.

"Coming out of hyperspace shortly."

 

[Malia Afredane]

Alarm bells sounded as they dropped from hyperspace, the Warden bucking from grav well that yanked them to real space just before they would have come out of the lane. The windscreen was filled with the side of a looming Alliance cruiser, firing turbolasers at a Sith frigate who returned fire, the bolts of plasma sailing through space while starfighters ripped and dodged the melee.

Kessa screamed and yanked on the yoke, while Mel dived for the weapons con, looking at the radar while her green pilot took evasive maneuvers to avoid slamming into the side of an armored warship.

"Fething hell, we're in a bad way. I've got at least a hundred hostiles. Broadcast our civilian credentials on all channels. The Sith might still shoot but at least the Alliance knows who we are."

She did not arm the Warden's weapons yet, she did not want to be mistaken for using aggression.

"Damn grav well, they have the hyperspace lanes blockaded. I don't think we can get out of here. Options?"

Kessa had started to freak out by this point, so Mal had dragged her out of the pilot's seat and slammed down in the chair, rolling the Warden away from the fire of a TIE. She hit the internal coms.

"We're stuck in a battle. Brace for evasive maneuvers."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

"Oh kark," was all Kairon managed to murmur. As Mal banked the Spirit of Druckenwell came into view. The renowned vessel, largest dreadnought in the Galaxy, holding its own against several Sith destroyers.

He buckled himself down, the inertial dampeners failing to take all the sting out of the maneuvers. He brought up a holographic display of the battle. Theirs was a limited view, relying just on their own sensors whilst the combatants shared information across the fleet.

"Mal, there's an opening at two seventy and forty down. We've got two TIEs angling in close." Kairon carried on talking, but was now on another channel.

"No Karl, do not open fire. Load torpedoes, track them but do not fire first... Because we get flagged as combatant the moment we fire. Just...

"Mal, flak going off dead ahead!"

Kairon had been in scrapes before, but nothing like this. A few times they'd picked on targets they couldn't handle. Generally that was when a military convoy happened upon one of their traps. There was a big difference between fleeing from a couple of frigates, and flying into the siege of Coruscant. His very first time working for the smuggler's Alliance had been here, picking the bones from the leftover ships from the One Sith's invasion where they had taken it from the Republic.

The wheel had come full circle it seemed.

 

[Malia Afredane]

The Warden rolled and banked over the edge of the Druckenwell, and took the opening where it could before it broke away from the fighting on a vector that would take it out towards the other end of the system. Other civilian ships seemed to be shunted that way as well and the two TIE's that were following came under fire from a long range cruiser that was guarding the civvies on the fringes away from the contested galactic capital.

With the immediate threat contended with by the cruiser, the Warden slowed up around what looked like a small population of freighters and diplomatic vessels. She spun in the pilot's seat as they cut the engines, blowing out hard.

"We're not making this delivery and I'm guessing we're not leaving for a while. What the kark are we gonna do out here?"

Getting out of there wasn't an option, getting to the planet was less of one, and they were stuck out of on the edge of the heliosphere. The Warden was one of the larger vessels out with the ragtag group.

"Hail that cruiser over there and see if we can get some answers about what is going on here."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon shook his head slowly. There'd been no whispers of this, nothing so bold. For years the Alliance had been sabre rattling but had yet to make serious gains against the Sith. They'd displaced the Sith from some fringe worlds and a few asteroid fields.

But this was different. "They're not responding to open hails, but there's a broadcast on repeat and I've just picked up the holonet. The Alliance has invaded Coruscant. They're on the ground now trying to take back the old senate and bring down the Sith. Hah, they actually did it. Though...not great timing for us."

 

[Malia Afredane]

Arnie beeped from near the navcomputer and Mal stood up slowly to see what he was going on about. She punched a couple buttons but shook her head.

"Too risky. I can plot another course to the next planet for the drop but with their captial under attack, the Sith aren't going to take kindly to ships skulking around off of established hyperlanes. I refuse to risk the crew for that."

The astromech booped sympathetically, and she patted its dome.

"It's a good idea, I just think we need to exhaust other options first."

She walked over to Kairon, and leaned over to look at the holovid, the carnage of battle splashed around the screen.

"Fething hell. You think they have a shot?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon looked up at Mal, tearing his eyes from the news reports and the holodisplay of the action going on perilously close to the Warden. "They've certainly brought the fleet for it. Coruscant is so deep that you need to take it on the ground though. Assume they felt they had enough troops for it. Some brave journalists down there, streaming from a fight where the old Jedi Temple used to stand.

Some part of him was starting to wonder if they were all beholden to some great religious war between Jedi and Sith. He'd viewed war a little differently ever since Balmorra. Every time a planet taken there was just a number presented for civilian casualties. But it wasn't a number when you received the call that the person who meant the most to you had been snuffed out.

"I know it isn't exciting, but option one: just hang back until the naval battle is done with? They're going hammer and tongs at it. The fighting won't be done for weeks, but at least we can wait for the skies to clear."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Those civilian ships and little transports don't have that many consumables on board. We can't sit out here for weeks. Maybe the Alliance will take them in and allow them to land on the cruiser."

She leaned back from the feed and started to pace around the bridge slowly, the battle now out of sight. There was only the stillness of open space and vacuum all around them and Mal trying to think about a way out.

"Why is nothing ever easy anymore?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon leaned back as far as his chair would permit and grimaced. He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, looking at his displays in frustration.

"I'd suggest getting to ground far away from the war zone on the surface, but I doubt any Sith air defence sites will be keen to have civilians in their skies right now. Probably tell us to piss off as soon as they see us. I'm not getting any responses from the military vessels at the moment."

They probably wouldn't until the battle had settled down, he imagined. The sensors suggested gravity wells had been deployed to keep any new arrivals near the edge of the system. It suggested they'd dropped in not that long after the invasion force had arrived.

There had to be something he could do, do at least say. Mal was taking everything on her shoulders again. "I can get on the comm to the ships around us, see what they're thinking?"

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Do it. If the Alliance isn't going to talk to us, let's find out who we're stuck with. However, bear in mind that this being the Sith capital, they could be governmental bureaucrats and Sith aligned citizens. Be casual and don't give them anything more than we are just a cargo transport on a delivery run."

The Grey Warden had not engaged in any Merchant Fleet raids with the Alliance, however the Wicked Grace in the hold had. Mal wasn't keen on admitting to anyone stuck in the growing number of ships out here that she was a former Republic officer and Alliance...uh...ally? Sort of?

She sank down into a seat at the helm as Arnie beeped quietly. She shook her head, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Let's see what they say. Who's out there?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Kairon switched to the open channel. It was full of chatter in a number of different languages. He tried to split to transmitters using two headphones but there were far to many voices. He did manage to catch enough to switch the system onto a local messaging system.

Messages scrawled across his console, but it was easier to follow than the audio channel. Kairon didn't type or say anything, just tried to follow events.

"We've got some big corporate vessels trying to convince everyone to stay put," he relayed to Mal. "The Red Square...oh that's the official name of the Kraken. They're trying to gather a group to make a run for it, obviously. Damnit there are a lot of ships put it."

Thousands of ships arrived at Coruscant every minute. Even if the news travelled at lights peed, there would still be vessels in hyperspace.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Possibilities and odds spun around themselves in Mal's head as she wrestled with their situation, the flotilla getting larger outside the windscreen. The thud of her boots across the metal decking finally just stopped as she heaved out a great sigh.

She looked at the expression of worry on Kairon's face, the abject horror on Kessa's. There were risks to every option open to them right now, stay or go. Crews in the navy know what they sign up for. These men and women with her now volunteered knowing this was a dangerous trip. However, they were a merchant vessel; she couldn't ask of them what she would have expected from soldiers.

Mal walked to the coms station and switched it to internal.

"All hands immediately report to the common area for a briefing." She clicked off the coms line and pointed at Arnie. "You, monitor coms while we are meeting. Let me know if any one tries to reach us."

She held a hand out to Kessa, helping the girl to her feet as she looked at Kairon.

"We're in this together, we get out of it together. Let's go talk to the crew."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

His chest heaved as he stood from his station. Kairon let out one long breath as he followed behind the others, offering Mal a curt nod. She wouldn't see the flicker of a smile that crossed his lips.

He was taken back to the very first time they'd met. Back on that trip he'd been something of a reluctant subject matter expert on pillaging and pirating. She'd been looking for a pirate, found the person who perhaps wanted the job less than anyone and got a partner in the deal.

He had been there to see that coin flipped. At first almost reluctant but Malia had grown more and more into the role of captain of a sizable vessel. When it hit the fan she was the one that steered them through.

There were worried faces in the common area so Kairon decided to bring that smile back and wear it a little longer. He walked the perimeter of the room to where he felt he needed to go first.

"Alright Kez'ar, just a few cruisers tearing chunks out of each other. Space is a big place we're well out of the way and they don't really give a feth what we get up to," Kairon rumbled, placing a large hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Yeah, alright," came the half hearted reply. At least the young mechanic looked a bit less likely to soil himself. Kairon slipped through the crowd back towards Mal.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Heavy emotions pressed the crew of the Grey Warden down, there was no mirth among the faces looking back at her, save Kairon's somewhat relaxed smile. Rolling the ship and taking fire did nothing to assuage any misgivings these crew members may have had about coming along on this foray into One Sith space.

"Listen up. We have stumbled into what reports tell us is an Alliance assault on the One Sith capital. That you all took the sharp drop from hyperspace and the evasive moves so smoothly is a testament to your skill and training. But now, we are stuck out on the fringes of the system and we have no idea how long we will be sitting here. There are a couple options."

She looked them each in the eye as she spoke, making sure they understood that their input was just as important as her judgment.

"One, we wait it out. We have consummables to last a month or so on board, and although it'll likely be boring, we can wait it out for a time until we need to refuel. We may be able to wait out the assault, we may not. No one will give us answers. Sitting out here with other ships, we are open to piracy and basically sitting ducks. Two, we plot jumps off the trafficked hyperspace lanes in order to get out of here. This increases exposure to Sith patrols who are already going to be wary because the capital got attacked but we might not hit anything and get out of here easily however, it is unlikely."

She sighed and leaned on the counter.

"I cannot make this decision alone. You trust me, I trust you. You have all the information I can offer, but we decide as a crew what we do. So, tell me what you're thinking."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

Standing tall over the skeleton crew, Kairon rolled his shoulders and cleared his throat. He looked for Malia to give him a nod.

"Alright, this isn't final. If we get new information things can change. I want a show of hands. Who is for making a run for it?"

At first the show of hands looked to be half. His eyes scanned across them a few times. About forty percent were for making the run. Kairon nodded stoically. They'd need to put everyone on full shifts to stay watchful. Eight on, four off, four on, eight off. Scanners on high alert. Slowly he turned towards Mal, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. The boy would have been for making a run if he'd been here. Might have swayed the crew as well. Kairon had been on the fence.

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Alright then, we can sit tight for a while. See how it goes. We'll keep trying to get someone on the horn and see how things shake out. Until then, power down all nonessential systems. I want them in standby but not off. If someone comes after us, I want to be ready. If something changes, we'll re-evaluate as a group and decide again. Dismissed."

Nodding to everyone, she watched as they hurried off to put her orders into action. She would have preferred not to put systems into standby but then again, she had no idea how long they would be sitting out here. They would need to conserve to make sure they didn't run out of fuel or consumables.

She caught Kairon's eye as she headed back to the bridge, Arnie beeping at her as he wheeled smoothly over the decking.

"Contact our contract holder and inform them of the delay"

Arnie headed to the coms station to take care of it but Mal's eyes were looking out at the growing population of ships sitting out past the orbits of the planets that circled the distant sun.

Was she doing the right thing? Was she serving her crew as best she could by letting them make this decision? Mal's stony gaze finally pulled from the windscreen when Kairon joined her on the bridge again.

"I want everyone on duty to be given a sidearm in case someone out there decides to try looting other ships. We stocked up a little on that last stop, I imagine we have 1.5 months of foods, maybe 2 if we stretch it."

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

"I'll get someone on that now," he replied. His attention turned back to the display. Passive sensors were busy making sense of all the energy being dumped into the vacuum of space by the engaging fleets. When the Spirit's mighty hyoervelocity cannon fired it actually knocked out the local channels for the ships not hardened to military standards against interference.

Not long ago he'd threatened to leave himself and Malia stranded in space. That had been so they could pay full attention to each other for a few days without interruption. Wasn't the case here, he doubted either of them would get much peace or be able to relax.

He nodded slowly to himself. "Gravity wells are in place. Sith ships are pulling back and forming up for another attack. They look outgunned to a layman, what do you think?" he asked her. His experience didn't go up to an engagement on the scale of two large patrol fleets, let alone this kind of mass destruction.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal looked over his shoulder, watching digital blips track across the sensor display as if it were just a video game and not a battle raging in this system with real lives on the line.

"It looks like the Alliance has a better idea of how to take apart the Sith than the Republic did but then again, I've not heard much of the Sith since they ripped themselves apart a few months ago. I don't think we're out of the woods sitting here."

She switched it off, and leaned on the edge of the console. She looked down at him, moving a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. A sigh heaved as she tried to relax her shoulders but the muscles felt tight, pinched almost. Until they were all safe on land somewhere far away from warring factions, she didn't really feel like she could.

"Everyone gets extra hazard pay for this trip then I'm taking everyone to Zeltros on me. For a month."

She chuckled, the creases at the corners of her eyes deepening with her momentary smile.

"Those hits we take do any damage we need to be worried about?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Malia Afredane"]

Seeing her try to shift the tension from herself and failing put Kairon on edge. Yet he let out a soft sigh as she pushed his stray hair away. Only the presence of the crew stopped him from turning his cheek into her hand.

"I do hope we're going to zeltron for the month too..." he added. The feel of her warmth escaping from his fingers as he pressed against the wound. Then the awkward chuckle as they both tried to maneuver into a bath together without pulling on their wounds.

"HUMS reported something bad on the ventral hull, but someone took a look from a turret and the ablative plates are still in place. Probably a loose wire. Quick space walk or dry dock but it can wait. I know a few of the ships out here and a couple more just by rep. Shall I give them a shout and get them to pull up closer? Safety in numbers."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Of course, I'm drinking my weight in rum when this is over."

A flash of white as she smiled before she nodded.

"Yeah, see if we have any friends out there and what they are thinking. We could use the extra eyes and..."

Words failed her but her mind was turning over a convoy of merchant vessels. If the crew who were hesitant before knew we were paired up with some ships they were familiar with, then it might convince them that sitting out here and waiting for a war to end wasn't in their best interests. These were the bravest of her crew but there was only so far some of them were comfortable with.

She shook it off, clearing her throat.

"Maybe if we form up with some friendly faces, we can all head out together. Get back to the closest point of non-Sith controlled space. We might have to get into open space and then petition the Mandalorians for passage through but I'd rather ask them than the Sith."

[member="Kairon Rees"]