Chapter 33
The enigmatic swirl of hyperspace fills the cockpit of a familiar X-70B as the small acquisition team sits around the table just aft of midship, discussing the finer details of the current mission. Rend’s voice carries above the others, the sound of command coming a bit more naturally to him as he is the highest ranked individual for several lightyears. “We will need to take the marked XS light freighter just as it’s undocking. Mirr, do you have the capability of making a hard dock while in motion?” Frustration in Mirr is evident as he responds, “General, that is a tall ask. I have docked larger vessels while in motion but never a similar sized vessel. The disturbance from the thrusters will make for a challenging situation.” HK buzzes in with a matter of fact tone, “Captain Rust Bucket has a twenty-one percent chance of docking correctly.” Mirr whips his head towards HK-40 and retorts, “And what are your odds, bolt head?” The droid responds in his synthesized voice but those familiar could note a hint of smugness, “I have a twenty-nine percent probability of appropriately docking this vessel.” Mirr turns back to the team blowing air between his lips in a pissy gesture. Rend queries the table, “Any other suggestions? The port of origin is inside Sith space. We can dock with the station but I fear that our identities will not remain hidden and our actions could negatively impact Sith relations.” Many moments pass with the group thinking deeply for alternatives but none are voiced. With the lack of additional options, Rend nods conclusively, “Very well, we will dock with the freighter just as it leaves.” The General turns his gaze to Mirr, swallowing as quietly as possible before speaking, “Captain, I may be able to assist with docking.”
The statement takes all those gathered by surprise to varying degrees, yet despite his doubts, Mirr only straightens and responds “Thank you, General.” After another nod, Rend looks to his Padawan, “Commander Veruna will now take us through the plan once we arrive in the freighter.” The group continues to discuss tactics for several hours before the young Jedi stands up and gives the command for everyone to rest, “Now that everyone knows what to do, I need everyone to rest for the next two and a half standard hours. Then make your preparations. We will reconvene here when we are a half hour out.” Everyone stands simultaneously at attention and salutes, shouting loudly “Ad Bellum!” Rend straightens and responds in kind, “Ad Victorium. Let’s make the High Admiral proud.”
As the group disperses, Sun makes her way to the rear of the ship where she finds her data pad. She opens up the schematic for the XS light freighter and begins memorizing the layout of the vessel, manipulating the screen to rotate a 3D image. Mr. Styn is slumped down in the copilot's chair with his legs crossed, extended and propped on a small part of the console where there are no levers or switches present. He continues to nap while HK-40 reassembles his long range rifle. Alone in one of the ship’s smaller areas, Rends sits in meditation attempting to calm his nerves regarding what is to come. He continues to ponder on his Master's words when they last spoke.True to form, he is nervous as this is truly his mission, just as the last fleet battle was. The only difference being that the Grandmaster will not be present to save him and the others if he does not make the right call. The slightest hesitation and someone could die or worse, everyone could die. All these thoughts stream through his mind as the young Knight attempts to allow them to fade. He thinks to himself, “No, I cannot allow doubt or hesitation to consume me. We have made all the preparations, we have all the skills needed to accomplish this and the Force is with us. We will not fai….. “ his thoughts trail off as he senses a familiar presence so close but yet the source is not on the ship. Rend speaks aloud with confidence, “Grandmaster, I will not fail you.” Lightyears away, a light smile crosses Anhiel’s face as she meditates aboard the Shadow Redeemer.
Lieutenant-Commander Barnes never left the table. She sits quietly, nervously curling a section of her very curly hair around her fingers. Captain Jov’aine is sitting in the corner of the very same room cleaning his pair of blasters, having finished with his primary weapon. As he moves to grab his munitions pack, he notices the young woman’s unease and speaks softly to her, “Is this your first field mission, Lieutenant-Commander?” Although his volume was low, the young engineer nearly jumps out of her seat from the abrupt conversation. After gathering herself, she responds, “Ye… Yes sirrrr…” Jov’aine, not looking up from his current task responds, “You may call me Jov’aine. It's ok to be nervous on your first mission. I believe I vomited right before we landed. Come to think of it, I vomited on my second and third missions as well.” Now distracted from herself, the young woman seems to relax and asks softly, “Jov’aine?” The Captain raises an eye towards her direction as she continues, “How did you get over the nerves?”
The elder Captain places the munitions cache on the table before replying, “You never get over the nerves, you simply learn to use them to heighten your senses. Without that feeling, the feeling of not knowing if you will make it back, you become complacent. Being complacent on the battlefield will most definitely lead to death.” Y'ssane’s eyes widened and began to fill with tears, causing the Captain to jump in immediately, “Hey, it's ok. I am going to be there with you the whole time. I have been assigned to your protection detail. I will keep you safe.” The young engineer sniffs and dries her eyes on a clean cloth that Jov’aine offered to her. She replies with a quivering voice, “Thank you. I do not mean to be distraught. It has been a whirlwind since I was promoted. I have not had the chance to process everything and I am struggling. Thank you for making me feel normal.” Captain Jov’aine offers a slight smile and a nod before returning to his tasks.
A XS light freighter arrives at a spaceport and gently docks with the extended port. The hull locking mechanism jolts the ship as it engages and the airlock pressurizes in order for the occupants to start unloading the crates of material. The Captain of the freighter runs a few diagnostics while the remaining crew of six unload the ship. The two material movers rapidly unload the vessel in order to keep on schedule. They move the outgoing material crates and receive the on coming crates in about one standard hour. The Captain receives the manifest and checks the crates against it on his data pad. The Captain’s voice sounds out, “Alright, we are ready to depart, and in record time. They will be pleased.” The Captain depressurized the airlock and disengaged the dock. The ship quietly drifts away from the spaceport as he keys the coordinates into the navi-computer.
On the opposite side of the space port Mirr’s X-70B stealth ship drops out of hyperspace with the stealth field engaged and immediately engages the sublight thrusters to full power. Sun screeches out, “They are just on the other side of the port. Hurry! They are aligning for their jump. They undocked sooner than I anticipated!” Mirr, weaves the ship around the crowded port as he retorts, “Great! This is starting out perfectly!” Rend, sitting directly behind Mirr speaks with an eerie calmness, “We will make it.” The young general closes his eyes and leans forward to grasp Mirr’s chair. Rend expands his presence to just around Mirr and mimics the feeling he experienced when his Master performed Battle Meditation. Concentrating with all his might on enhancing Mirr’s abilities and confidence, sweat begins to bead on his forehead. Mirr instantly began to calm his nerves and narrow his eyes to concentrate on executing his task.
The X-70B is weaving through the clutter of ships and freighters with grace as it barrels towards the marked freighter. Mirr grabs the throttle control as they are within a few dozen meters of the vessel, guiding the ship directly behind the freighter, still at max throttle. Inside the freighter an alarm sounds as the indicator for an impact is set off. The captain of the ship checks his console screen looking for what is approaching when a nondescript blur blasts in front of his port side viewing glass. The captain instinctively jerks his flight controls to the right to avoid whatever had come so close to the vessel.
As Mirr went by the left side of the vessel he slams the thrusters to full reverse and banks the ship hard to the right in order to allow the tail end of the vessel to whip around faster than the front. Once the X-70B was now on the opposite side of the ship, Mirr matched the speed of the freighter and lined up the port docks. The thrusters would typically have knocked the other vessel away from the port but the captain of the other vessel was unknowingly steering his ship towards Mirr’s vessel creating a stabilizing effect. Mirr docks with the vessel flawlessly, apparent by the satisfying hiss of the airlock pressurizing. HK, who was already plugged into Mirr’s ship’s terminal, simultaneously engages the locks and encrypts the ports lock so that the stealth ship is undetectable.
The captain of the freighter, slightly frightened by the alarms and unidentified object, checks the console for any anomalies. He thinks to himself, “What was that? There is nothing on the radars or starfield scans. We cannot be late, I do not have time for this.”
He checks the jump calculations once more and engages the paralight engines with a single lever just to the left of the flight controls. The whir of the engines as they power up sounds somewhat labored but the captain mostly ignores it, intent on making their destination on time.
Rend leans back into his chair and breathes heavily before addressing the group, “Great work Captain. Now let's gear up for the breach.” As planned, Mirr equipped with his Beskar sword and blaster takes point and directly behind him is Sun. On the other side of the airlock is Rend backed up by Captain Jov’aine and his pair of blasters. Mirr keys his com to HK-40, who is accompanied by Y’ssane, “HK, open the airlocks and be ready to assist should we meet too much resistance. Small blasters only. We do not need to breach the hull.” HK-40 responds in his droid tone with a hint of disappointment at the weapon restrictions, “10-4, Captain.”
The airlock port separates from the center in a sliding motion and exposes the first corridor on the XS light freighter. Mirr peers around the corner to the left while pointing his blaster in the opposite direction. After visually clearing the corridor in both directions, Mirr motions the rest of the team with his blaster filled hand. The remaining members pile into the corridor, Mirr continues to watch the corridor leading to the front of the freighter while Captain Jov’aine covers the opposite direction. Sun in a whispering tone addresses the team while exposing the hologram of the ship's floor plan, “We are here.” She points to a section near the starboard airlock and continues, “We need to make our way to the bridge located here.” Sun spins the hologram and sets a marker which illuminates the most direct path. Rend stands up from his crouched position and starts walking past Mirr as he addresses the team, pulling his saber hilt from within his robes, “Let’s move.”
The ship is noticeably empty as they make their way through the corridors, based on the padawans data pad, checking around every corner using the basic cover and move military technique. The team reaches the entrance to the bridge and splits up on either side. Sun, who had researched access keys for the XS light freighter, opens the door with a few keystrokes. The sudden opening of the door startles the Captain and co-pilot. They turn in their chairs to an empty threshold. The Captain looks at his partner and responds, “We really need to take this ship in for some maintenance. We have made far too many trips without stopping.” They both turn in their chairs to face the enchanting view of hyperspace. The co-pilot makes a note in the ship's log to schedule the long overdue maintenance evaluation once they arrive at the facility when he feels the pressure of a blaster barrel pressed against his bare scalp. He cuts his eyes towards his Captain only to find the long Beskar sword of a Mandalorian, clad in full armor, pressed against his throat. The co-pilot immediately starts to shake profusely from the intensity of their current situation. Rend steps forward in between the two with his hood pulled so the two prisoners could not see his face. The General speaks while looking out the viewing glass of the bridge, “We will be commandeering your ship. If you have any objections, I suggest you take them up with the Mandalorian.”
The light freighter's Captain swallows gingerly as to not inflict any damage to his throat from the blade before he replies softly, “I would rather you kill us than to be late. Death would be a luxury compared to what awaits us if we were not on schedule. Kill us now and save us from the hell we are about to receive.” Rend turns his head in confusion and retorts, “We mean you no harm, Captain. We are in need of transport only.” The Captain responds in a similar manner as before, “I am not referring to you.” Intrigued by the response, Rend pressed, “Captain, how many personnel are aboard?” Rend gives a slight nod to Mirr ordering his captives release. Mirr removes his blade from the seated captain’s throat. The Freighter’s captain responds after rubbing his neck a few times and wiping the sweat from his brow, “There are six total members on this vessel including the co-pilot and myself.” The clank of metal interrupts the conversation, causing all in the cockpit to turn towards the door quickly. HK drags a clearly surprised and struggling crew member in, holding him up against the wall pressing a blaster against the man’s face. With glee in his robotic voice he asks, “Might I exterminate this one, General? His eavesdropping cannot go unpunished.” Ignoring the droid, Rend replies with authority to the pilot, “I need you to bring them to me. It will go more smoothly than if we have HK round them up.”
The Captain slowly leans forward and keys open the all coms channel before speaking, “All crew members, report to the cockpit immediately.” The Captain closes the link and with weighted features stares at Rend. Mirr sheaths his blade and barks at HK-40, “I do not recall hailing for your aid, and put that guy down. We are not here to take these people's lives.” Annoyed by the orders, the assassin droid tosses the crew member towards Mirr and sparks back, “What good is an assassin droid if I am not allowed to do my primary function?” HK steps away from the entrance, continuing to glitch a few choice words, moving into a corner in order to not be in the view of the crew when they arrive.
The three remaining members turn the corner of the corridor just over a minute later, deep in conversation, not noticing the hooded figure at the center of the cockpit. They arrive a few meters from the door and stop in their tracks. Immediately terror begins to permeate the Force as the trio drops to their knees, heads down as they cower at the unknown figure. The General removes his hood and addresses them plainly, growing more suspicious as he witnesses behavior that seems unwarranted “We are not here to harm you. We need something from the facility where you are transporting materials. We also need uniforms.” Confused by the statements the crew members look to their captain for clarity. The Captain responds, “You heard the man, pull all the spares uniforms we have.” His words were directed at the individual on the left who nervously rose to his feet. Rend looked towards Captain Jov’aine and inclined his head towards the nervous cremember, indicating he should escort him. With a brief nod the Captain acknowledges the order and holds his weapon in a marching position, ready to come to bare in a moment if necessary. The pair depart down the corridor towards the location of the uniforms and return within a couple minutes. The freighter worker lays eight light brown jumpsuits of varying sizes across the outstretched arm of HK-40, indicating nervously as he did so “These are all we have at the moment.” The whining of the droid's servos continue to grow louder as he is fighting back the urge to end their lives. After collecting all the jumpsuits Rend speaks once again, “Now I need each one of you to turn around and kneel.” His glance back at the co-pilot indicated this applied to him as well and he jumped up quickly, moving to join the rest of the crew. Compliantly, the crew members do as commanded. Sun, Jov’aine and Mirr restrain the five individuals before indicating they may rise and follow Sun to the closest storage compartment. Mirr and Jov’aine follow behind the group as escorts until they arrive at a small central storage area, where they all take seats on the floor as Sun locks the door.
On the bridge Rend sits beside the Captain and explains, “I need you to bring us into the facility as you normally would. There we will unload the materials and gather the items we need. At that point we will return to your vessel and once we are clear of the system we will be on our way. Understood?” A brisk nod from the Captain affirms the General’s commands.
Approximately one standard hour later the XS light freighter drops out of hyperspace within the Balmorra system, just outside the scanning distance of the facility. Quickly Mirr’s X70-B detaches and softly drifts in open space. Only the communication systems are running as the only occupant does not require the life support systems. Rend’s commanding voice breaks the silence. “HK, you will be our eyes and ears. Keep only the com system alive. We will notify you if we need a speedier escape.” He responds promptly, albeit with a hint of mockery as a result of being left with the ship, “Aye-aye General!”
The freighter engages its thrusters and begins its approach to the manufacturing facility. Once inside sensor range, the ship is hailed from the facility's security center, “We have you on our scope. Transmit ship identification and clearance codes then await further instructions.” The Captain of the freighter vessel keys the transmitter that is located near the center of his flight console and responds, “Transmission commencing.” A short pause over the communication channel is broken by an abrupt reply, “Codes accepted. Proceed to receiving bay 42-D. Prepare your manifest for review upon arrival.” Without any further details, the com is quickly cut. With a grimace, the pilot begins moving the ship into the appropriate approach lane to land in the designated bay. As the ship enters the bay and positions to land, the pilot looks to his right at Rend now wearing a matching jumpsuit and addresses him with a somber voice, “I sure hope you know what you are doing.”
Y’ssane yelps as the freighter sets down a little rougher than the ships she is accustomed to. The team is in place around the material crates as the ship's loading ramp descends with a whir that indicates the vessel is indeed in need of maintenance. The freighter Captain now stands at the exit with the manifest ready on the data pad. The ramp lands heavily on the bay deck emitting a loud metal on metal sound as it makes contact. The Captain strolls down the ramp to the bay master and hands her the data pad. She scrolls through the screens nodding and making notes. She accepts the materials and hands the data pad back to the Captain. He turns and addresses his new material movers, “Alright, all crates will go to the incoming dock where they will be inspected and racked. She will lead you to the location.” The makeshift crew replies, “Yes sir.” Rend and Mirr take the first crate. They engage the antigravity assist and begin to push the floating materials in the direction in which the bay master was traveling. The bay is busy, with several other freighters of various makes coming and going, cargo being unloaded by an equally diverse number of species who all seem to share the apprehension the crew of their own vessel exhibited. A sense of unease washes over Rend as they continue to walk, being careful to weave their way through the activity around them. Next, Jov’aine, Sun and Y’ssane activate and push their crate in the same manner following a dozen meters behind Rend and Mirr.
Rend’s eyes widen as he continues scanning the facility and notices an all too familiar sight. Standing at the entrance of the personnel door is a pair of guards clad in gold colored armor from head to toe. A large matching shield is held in their left hands and a long metallic staff is held upright in their right hands. They stand rigid and unmoving, watching carefully from within their helmets, a testament to their training. Rend looks around more rapidly now, his usual nervousness now beginning to manifest with the more guards he locates. In a slightly panicked tone he whispers to Mirr, “Hey, we may have a problem.” Mirr narrows his eyes and replies, “What do you mean, a problem?” Rend responds first by moving his head slightly in the direction of the nearest pair of guards, “We are in an occupied facility. Now I understand the captain's words. Take a look around at all the guards.” Mirr scans his surroundings and nods but his facial features remain neutral as they have reached their destination. With a few keystrokes, they deactivate the crate in the location provided by the bay master and begin their journey back to the freighter. As they approach the other team, Rend casts a wary look towards Jov’aine and a small push through the Force towards Sun. Having already made note of the enemy’s presence, Jov’aine only nods once in response. Sensing the tension, Y’ssane’s anxiety begins to grow greatly but she continues to walk with the crate maintaining her composure to the best of her ability. Before she had time to process it, Sun’s presence in the Force enveloped the young engineer, washing her in a sense of relief that lessens the anxiety back to a manageable level.
Sun, Jov’aine and Y’ssane continue towards the bay with their crate. Sun then begins to expand her presence, reaching out with the Force over the surrounding area, hoping to gain insight of an entrance to the area they need to go. Captain Jov’aine deactivates their crate and the team starts walking back to grab the next crate. Sun whispers, “There, that is the doorway.” She inclines her head towards the door so as not to draw attention to them before she leads the way while the Captain keeps Y’ssane in between them. Many shipments had just arrived and a narrow path between multi stacked crates provided some cover. They pop out a handful of meters from a small maintenance door in the corner, unguarded as it was only used by droids. The door was easy for Sun to key open and the trio jumped through the doorway after a brief check to confirm they were out of sight. Just after the team exited the bay, Rend and Mirr bring up the next crate and place it beside the others while maintaining a watchful eye on the guards. To keep up their disguise, Mirr questions with a gruff tone of someone at the end of a long shift. “How many more crates do we have? I am sore and ready for a stiff drink.” The pair begins walking back towards the ship as Rend responds nonchalantly, “Only two or three left I believe. I hear our next stop has some downtime built in. Hopefully there will be a good cantina nearby.”
The young padawan and her team walk down a long, narrow corridor until it ends at a durasteel door. Sun looks at it for a moment before deciding to rewrite the controls. Captain Jov’aine watches the corridor while the other two cut and twist wires together. In a flash the door slides open. The elder Captain praises, “Good work you two.” Once inside the next corridor they begin to hear the sound of machines. Sun addresses them as they walk, “We are close. Y’ssane keep your eyes open for any components that we need.” Y’ssane swallows and inclines her head as a reply. A particularly large room comes up on their right and the Lieutenant-Commander indicates quietly towards it, “I see several Hyperdrive related components in this particular room. They appear to be for the right ship model as well. I need to examine them closer to be sure though.” The hiss of a large door opening echoes down the hall, startling the trio. Jov’aine is the first to move, smacking the door controls and pushing the others into the room as a male Sith science officer straightens his black uniform over his medium frame. He is flanked by a pair of golden armored soldiers but the man’s demeanor gives the impression they are not guards and more of handlers. Sweat beads down his deep red skin as they exit the lift and begin to walk down the long hallway until they move to enter the same room the trio has hidden in. All three hunker down behind some large crates towards the back of the room. One of the soldiers order’s impatiently, “Well? What was the cause of the unauthorized opening of the maintenance corridor?” The Sith swallows, looking for the right words before stammering, “The…there could be several…reasons.” The speed with which the metal staff moved was staggering and caused the Sith to double over on the floor as it made contact with his abdomen. The aggressor barks a command to the other soldier, “Go check the maintenance corridor while I deal with this one.” The other soldier departs, closing the door behind him before turning left and striding down the hallway. Blue light erupts from the end of the remaining soldier’s spear as he now points it at the officer on the ground, “You are up to something and are going to tell me wha…”
After a couple moments, the Sith looks up warily to his interrogator to find him struggling mutely, clutching at his head before he collapses loudly, dead. From their position behind the crates, Jov’aine and Y'ssane are equally surprised but not as surprised as they were upon looking at Sun. She knelt, hand outstretched with a pained grimace on her face and her eyes showed streaks of yellow. Forgetting where they were, Y'ssane queries with concern in her voice, “Commander Veruna, are you ok? What was that?” The unexpected voices startle the still recovering Sith Officer and he calls out, “Who is there?” Jov’aine moves quickly from their cover and levels his weapon at the younger man, “As far as you are concerned, we are your saviors. Who are you?” The Sith sits up, holding his hands up “Alorlon. Sella Alorlon, I am a science officer on this station. At least I was before…” The hiss of the opening doors ends the statement prematurely and the other soldier steps into the room. The scene catches him by surprise and he quickly moves to key on his communicator before he struggles in a similar way to the previous soldier, albeit his death throws were more violent. As the man collapses to the ground, Sun exhales deeply, slumping forward on the ground prompting Y'ssane to rush to her side. Sun waves her off, and with labored breaths orders, “Find…what we came for, Lieutenant-Commander. We cannot…stay for too long.” Her face is hidden, not revealing the amount of yellow that now filled her irises and Sun shakes her head in frustration as well as an attempt to clear the nausea that was rising up within her.