MC: AOTE: Rhea

[JasraLantill]

Beryl was just finishing up stabilising the output diodes on the exit corridor when the Rhea shook violently. “What the…?” Beryl raised her head from underneath the panel. “Jana?”

 

Jana was lifted her eyes from the scanner and slowly turned so that she could see out the viewport window through to the open hanger bay. “There appears to be a Dreadnaught on the portside,” she said rather calmly.

 

“Oh?” Beryl craned her neck to see out the window, too. “So there is.” She turned to Jana. “I thought the Empire was supposed to be friendly to other Imperial ships?”

 

The Rhea shook again.

 

“Apparently not,” Beryl answered her own question. She ducked down again under the panel. “All I have to do,” she said as she worked, “is to raise the resistance on the inductor coils and that should…” A low hum sounded, and Beryl’s head popped up again. She grinned. “…reactivate the containment field.”

 

She dusted off her hands, and just as she stood up, Cloud’s voice came over the comlink, loud and clear. “Beryl? Beryl, come in. Do you read me, Beryl? Beryl, com....”

 

“I got you, Cloud,” Beryl replied. “Containment field is back up. You and Oliver head to the Echo.”

 

Jana frowned. "Now I get where Cloud got the idea you think rank doesn't matter."

 

Beryl shrugged in apology.

 

“Can you two make it back?” Cloud asked Beryl. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to swing by and pick you up as planned. We’ve got company on the port side. Hostile company.”

 

“Yeah, we noticed that,” said Beryl. She looked out to the hanger bay where the TIEs were parked, then nodded to Jana in that direction. “Don’t worry, Cloud. I’m sure we’ll think of something. We Corellians are very resourceful. You just get yourself and Oliver back to the ship.”

[steven]

"What's your name?" Jack asked, and was surprised that he answered.

"Number XIV. I'm the last one. The last one of us. One of three which still last. Number X and Number V still live. I shall kill them. That is my objective. Those are my orders." Replied the man.

"Well... Captain, is it just me or is this guy off his head?" Jack asked, feeling that this guy will jump at the three at any time.

[JasraLantill]

"Jana, we're going to have to buy some time for everyone to get back to the Echo," Beryl said as she lifted her space helmet in preparation to putting it back on. "And the only way I know how to do that is to distract that cruiser by getting in those TIEs out there in the hanger bay and firing back at them." That said, the Rhea shook again from being hit by another blast of fire from the Imperial ship, this time sending some sparks flying from a nearby panel. Beryl gave Jana a serious look. "Life support in isn't going to last long if they keep pounding us like this. But you're the First Officer. It's your call. Although," she added, "I don't particularly fancy walking back the way we came. Spacewalks are one thing. Spacewalks while trying to dodge missiles is something else."

 

Without waiting for Jana's answer, Beryl put on her helmet and closed the seal. Distraction manoevre aside, she didn't see any other alternative to getting back to the Echo besides flying the experimental TIEs. And truth be told, she had been dying to try them out. She only hoped that Jana was up for it.

 

((OOC: Steven, they are 'experimental' TIEs. They are not the normal TIE fighters, but their predecesors.)

[steven]

(Jasra, they're not Dreadnoughts. They're Broadside cruisers. There only weapons are missiles and they're mainly used to destroy large ships such as a star destoryer or space statations. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but they didn't have Tie fighters during the clone wars.)

 

"When Order 66 came into action, they captain abdonded this ship and though the Radiation would completely consume this ship but I stopped it and went back into sleeping. So here I waited for a ship to dock with this one. Guess what fella's. I'm going donna kill..." His sentance was cut short when Jack fired several shots at the stranger "Captain, now he's gone we should get going. If a missile hits the area's with the radiation there'd be a pretty green explosion but we'd all be dead."

[Writer]

"Beryl," Jana objected. "We don't even know how safe those things are. You said yourself (didn't you?) that they're experimental... these things are the first ever... before TIE's were even put into production." She shook her head. "I don't know if this is a good idea..."

 

Beryl gave Jana a wry smile from inside her helmet. "But that's what makes it fun... I mean, challenging." Shrugging it off, she finished, "Besides, what other choice do we have?"

 

Jana smirked. "You know you meant fun," she retorted. Then, she sighed. "Not like there's any other easy way back to the Echo..." She put on her helmet and gestured. "Alright, let's get a move on."

 

Beryl nodded and headed for the airlock and then out to the hangers. She looked up under the ships, trying to determine if there were any that were armed already. “Hey, here’s one with the rocket pods loaded. And,” she said looking further out, “there’s another one.” The Rhea rocked again from another attack just as Beryl was in mid-step heading for the furthest one. With just one boot holding her to the hull, she managed to steady herself by grabbing hold of the launch ladder.

 

“Oh, these guys are so going to pay…,” she grumbled. “C’mon, let’s get in. Just be careful about the hatch. I’ve heard it can be tricky to close on TIEe3s.”

 

"And even more so on experimental ones," Jana grumbled softly. But still, she climbed up the launch ladder and into the second fighter Beryl had pointed to. "Here goes a mild bout of insanity," she called to Beryl, shutting the hatch immediately after.

 

“Mild bouts are good for you,” said Beryl, as she climbed into her TIE. “It keeps things in perspective.” With some difficulty, she closed her hatch. “Or so I’ve been told.” She started up the engine. “Oh….” She could actually feel the engine ion surge. “So that’s why they eventually made these remote….”

 

"Holy blaster bolts of..." Jana muttered as her TIE started up. But she uttered no further words as she went through preparing for flight.

 

"Okay, Beryl," she said finally. "Let's go."

[stingerhs]

"Well, don't just stand there, guys: let's get moving!" Ryshana suddenly yelled out as she noticed Nic and Jack hesitating. She was sensing something through the Force, and she didn't like it one bit.

 

Without waiting for Nic or Jack, Ryshana ran off towards the Echo.

[steven]

Jack looked at the body and watched it slowly stand up "What the hell!?"

"My skin is different from yours. My whole body is different infact. My skin has been genetically altered to withstand laser bolts shots. So your attempts of shooting my to death are pointless." Mocked the stranger

"Ryshana, Nic, head back to the Echo. I'll be with you shortly. But we can't have this man getting onto the Echo. My blaster riffle may not work but I still know how to kick his ass with good old fansion Melee fighting." Jack suggested, taking deep breath and reading himself for a fight with the strang man.

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Been having internet problems of late, but I'm back now. (yay!) So, let's get this thread rolling again and finish it up. Since EJ hasn't been on for a while, I'm taking over Cloud (and Oliver) for a bit, just to get them back on the Echo. Jana and Beryl are causing a distraction for the cruiser, so now would be the time for Steven to do whatever he's planning to do with Jack.))

~~~~~~~

 

With Beryl and Jana having restored power to the turbolifts, Oliver started for the door. Cloud, on the other hand, stayed at his post at the bridge’s command centre. The ship shuddered again from another missile strike, and Oliver found himself clinging onto a seat for balance. “Cloud, come on!”

 

“Are you forgetting about Nic, Jack, and Ryshana?” Cloud asked as his fingers flew across the controls. “I have to get the shields up and the containment field stabilised around the exit corridor, or none of us will be able to get to the Echo.”

 

The ship shuddered again, and Oliver’s eyes grew wide as a shower of sparks exploded from a nearby console.

 

“Damn!” Cloud frowned and reached over to another console, flicking switches and tapping more buttons.

 

“Cloud, if that Imperial cruiser keeps pounding us with missiles, we won’t have an Echo to get to!”

 

“I know, I know!” Cloud snapped. “Almost done! Just get that turbolift up and ready!” While Oliver made it to the controls for the lift and activated it, Cloud murmured, “I just wish I had power to the weapons control station to give that cruiser a good…”

 

“Weapons?” There was another shudder. Oliver shook his head. “We’re being bombarded on this death trap and you’re wanting to fight?“ The Rhea shuddered again, but this time it was gentler than the previous shock waves.

 

“What the…?” Cloud’s brow raised as a TIEe3 whizzed by the viewing window. “TIEs?” He shook his head with disbelief.

 

“Oh, no!” Oliver wailed. “We’re all going to die on this stupid ship!”

 

“Don’t worry. We’re not going to die,” said Cloud, as he finished up what he was doing.

 

Oliver stared at Cloud with confusion. “Don’t worry? But…. I just saw…”

 

“There. The field’s stable,” said Cloud, and he jumped into the turbolift with Oliver. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here.”

 

“But… what about those TIE fighters?” Oliver asked, as the lift descended quickly.

 

Cloud grinned. “Don’t worry about them.” The lift doors opened and Cloud and Oliver began to run down the corridor towards the airlock they had come in.

 

Cloud tapped his comlink. “Nic?” he shouted into it. “The containment field is stable and the path’s clear to the Echo. Oliver and I are almost there. And Beryl and Jana are…” He gave a quick look at Oliver. “Well, they found a more ‘resourceful’ way back.”

 

~~~~~~~

 

“You know, Jana, I’m not sure I like these E-3s,” Beryl said into her comlink, as she did a flyby past the window of the command control of the Rhea. “I mean, besides the fact that I can feel the ion surges every time I accelerate.” She shivered with nausea. “I’ve never been too fond of missiles as a primary weapon. Don’t have much control after they’re fired, you know? Although, they did make nice explosions on the turbolaser ports and their starboard engine.” She did a quick roll to the right, then another one to the left as a single missile from the cruiser sped past her. “And I don’t know about you, but the controls on these things feel a little…stiff, you know? But maybe that’s because of this space suit. It’s not very comfortable.”

 

She swung around for her second pass. “So, what do you want to go for this time, Jana? Everything’s still up for grabs, ‘cause if my readings are right, they still haven’t put up their shields. Which means either they are having problems rerouting their power, or they are still confused as to who we are and where we came from. So, what’ll it be? Bridge? Missile ports? Or maybe the port engine?”

[Writer]

((Joint post: me, Jasra, and Starmark))

 

 

Cloud tapped his comlink. “Nic?” he shouted into it. “The containment field is stable and the path’s clear to the Echo. Oliver and I are almost there. And Beryl and Jana are…” He gave a quick look at Oliver, who was screaming something about their imminent death. “Well, they found a more ‘resourceful’ way back.”

 

"Power up the ship," Nic ordered. "And tell Jana and Beryl to..." He paused. "So now what exactly did Jana get herself into this time?"

 

"Uh, Jana?" Cloud stammered. "Well, she uh... she and Beryl appear to be... well, as far as I can tell, they're attacking the cruiser... in TIE's."

 

Nic swore under his breath. "Can those girls go five minutes without getting into big trouble?"

 

"It wouldn't seem so, Cap'n," Cloud answered. "But they are buying us escape time. How long do you think you need?"

 

"Well, I think that's left entirely to the half-naked man standing in our way," Nic answered calmly. By this point, Oliver's yells had turned into, "We're going to die! We're going to die!" But Nic's comment, he stopped, turning pale.

 

"Half-naked guy?" he repeated. "What half-naked guy? Did Jack take his shirt off?"

 

"Who's the guy?" Cloud asked. "Weren't we the only ones on the ship?"

 

"Well, I really don't think I'm hallucinating, so I guess we weren't," Nic answered. Cloud gripped his lightsaber and started out into the corridor.

 

"Need any help?" he asked through his comlink. Panicked, Oliver started after him.

 

"Cloud, are you crazy?" he exclaimed. "We can't go back! We have to get out of here!"

 

"Just stay with the ship," Nic ordered. "And if we ain't back in ten minutes, get Beryl to jet y'all away from this damned wreck."

 

Reluctantly, Cloud followed Oliver back to the Echo. "Will do, Cap'n." He switched over to Jana's com. "Jana? This is Cloud. Come in."

 

"Jana here. What's up, Cloud?"

 

"Oliver and I are on the Echo," Cloud said. "I'm firing up the engines and everyone else is on their way back. Nic says you have ten minutes to get back here."

 

"Are you gonna tell her about the half-naked guy?" Oliver wondered. Cloud grimaced.

 

"They don't need that distraction," he answered.

 

"Ten minutes?" Jana muttered, swearing under her breath. "That ain't gonna be easy..."

 

"We only just got started!" Beryl protested. "Cloud, you tell Nic it ain't fair he's robbin' us of our fun. We need more than..."

 

"Beryl, shut it!" Jana snapped. "Had it occurred to you that we don't yet have a way to board the Echo?"

 

"What do you mean?" Beryl grumbled. "We'll just... erm... well we just have to... aww crap!" A dull thump sounded over the com as Beryl pounded her console.

 

"Hey!" Jana snapped, "save your frustration for something that isn't going to help you keep control of your ship."

 

"I can control the ship just fine, thank you very much," Beryl retorted... just as a missile careened past her. Static laced with swearing echoed over the com and she swerved.

 

"Ah!" Jana exclaimed. "Beryl, we're wearing space suits."

 

"So?" Beryl shot back. "Lot of good it does us flying at 300 kph."

 

Jana laughed. "So we just have to come up with... tow cables," she answered, a small bank of controls catching her eye. "Now why in the hell would a TIE have one of these?"

 

"Oh, TCTA instructors would kill me for not remembering that," Beryl muttered. "It's an experimental TIE, Jana. That's an evac cable... y'know, just in case you can't land for some reason? You drop the cable and it catches on a hook on the flight deck, and stops you. Theoretically, that is..."

 

"Theoretically, huh?" Jana muttered. "Well, it's our best shot... c'mon Beryl. Let's hit these jerks where it hurts most and then we're using the evac cables to get back to the Echo."

 

"Ookay," Beryl said slowly, "but I feel I should warn you. Landing with an evac cable is a bit on the rough side... at least it was the last time I did it..." In a lighter tone, she went on. "I say we go for those missile ports next. I'm getting bored of playing dodgems out here. What do you say?"

 

"Would both of you just quit playing around and get on with it?" Cloud exclaimed. "We got to get out of here! Or did you forget this ship is still unstable and capable of blowing up at any second, ready or not?"

 

"All the more reason to knock out the cruiser's weapons," Jana answered. "You just worry about getting Nic, Jack, and Ryshana back and getting the Echo out of there. We'll meet up with you out here. Beryl, let's hit 'em hard."

[steven]

"Nick, go!" Shouted Jack "If you lot run you'll get to the Echo. Ten minutes should be plenty of enough time for me to kill this a**** and get back to the ship."

As Jack shoured, the man pulled out a dagger from the back of his shirt "Where in the name of force did he get that from?" Jack searched his pockets and pulled out a plasma torch "Well I guess this will have to do."

 

The man took several stepped foward before taking a swipe at Jack, allthough it cut through Jack's teeshirt, nothing reached the skin "Hey, that was one of my favorate teeshirts." He complained however his complaint was ignored and the man attempted to stab him but Jack was quick thise time and moved to side and dilvered a punch in the face causing the man to stumble backwards.

 

Jack quickly took a step fowards the man and punched him once again, the man stumbled backward and Jack repeated the prossess but this time the punch caused the man to drop the dagger. Fortuantally for Jack, it landed on his foot and he was able to kick it in the air so he could catch it.

 

Jack looked behind him and saw that both Nick and Ryshana had left, he smiled and turned the man "Just because you were the last, you assumed you were the best. I'll tell ya a little secrete, I'm number V. I was, how did they put it, ahh yes, faulty. By faultly they ment more human. I had my old memories and I wanted to be my family, but the damn empire killed them all. I was a father and people took that away from me. And other the years I went around killing the others, from Number I all the way to XIII. Expect number V, his/her location is a complete mystery to me."

 

((I'll do the spell check tommorrow but now, I've got to go to bed.))

 

Number XIV laughed "I know where she is."

"I don't care. I'm starting a new life. I've grown out of his killing stuff, it's grown quite boring," Admitted Jack.

"A new life? With a bunch of criminal idiots." Mocked Number XIV

"Hey, they're my bunch of criminal idiots and this life is fantastic. About a few hours ago, we just avaded capture from an Imperial Star Destroyer captained by Darth Vader himself.What have you been doing? You've been imprisoned in his scrap of metal and the day you get realised is the day you die." Jack said before throwing the dagger at Number XIV. XIV clutched his stomache as the knife hit and went far into his body. The pain forces him to kneel on the floor. "How dose death feel? Of corse that wouldn't accutally kill you, I'm leaving that to those imperial ships. I can't be bothered to finish you off completely. I've got freighter and a bunch of criminal idiots.." Jack paused "I've got to get to a better name for them. I'll do that later."

 

After seeing no reason to stick around, Jack turned around and began running towards the Echo.

[JasraLantill]

While the girls were attacking the cruiser, Cloud was firing up the Echo’s engines. "Oliver, why don't you make yourself useful and get up in one of those turrets and see if you can get a lock on that cruiser. You know, to help Beryl and Jana out."

 

Oliver’s eyes widened. "Me? I don’t know anything about turret guns! I’m a medic!”

 

“Quit being such a dwarfnut,” Cloud said without even looking up. “Just get up there, use the targeting computer and pull the trigger when it tells you to. It's a piece of cake."

 

With an insecure whimper, Oliver went to one of the turrets.

 

”Beryl, let's hit 'em hard,” said Jana.

 

Beryl smiled. It felt rather nice to hear Jana give commands, although Beryl would never ever admit that to Jana in person. "Right, boss."

 

Narrowly avoiding another missile, Beryl dove her TIE under the cruiser’s belly, quickly coming up and around on the starboard side, and locking on to one of the missile bays. Since they were short on time, and Beryl was getting short on patience, she pulled out the TIEs targeting sight for the first time.

 

“Targeting computer?” she heard Jana comment jokingly.

 

“Hey, you said you wanted to hit them…” Beryl fired two of her missiles. They hit directly on target and the side of the cruiser exploded. “…hard,” Beryl finished as she flew her ship through the fireball. She came up around the top of the ship now, only to pull up further to avoid the results of Jana’s firey missile strike on the port side. “Port engine’s mine,” she said to Jana as she swung towards the aft of the cruiser.

 

“No way! You got the starboard one!”

 

“Yeah, but I’m closer to it and besides…”

 

“Would you two quit playing around and….” Cloud interrupted on the com.

 

“Oh, kriffin’ hell!” Beryl screamed, and radically swerved her ship, but she wasn’t quite quick enough to dodge the laser cannon blast she had caught out of the corner of her eye. Sparks shot out of the TIEe3s nose as the ship spiralled wildly out of control. “Jana, you told me you took out that cruiser’s laser cannon!”

 

“I did!”

 

“Then where the kriffin’ hell did that blast come from!” Beryl’s grip tightened on the stick as she slowly regained control. She looked around and frantically checked her scanners, thinking that another Imperial ship must have just shown up without her knowing.

 

“Oliver, you nerfherder!” Beryl heard Cloud’s muffled shout over the com. “You’re supposed to hit the cruiser!”

 

“You told me to pull the trigger when it told me to!” Oliver yelled back.

 

“You’re both nerfherders!” Beryl yelled through the com. “Those targeting computers are preset for Imperial ID codes! What do you think we’re flying out here!”

 

Beryl could hear someone laughing over the com, just as the port engine of the cruiser suffered an explosion. “Jana, quit laughing! It’s not funny!” Beryl checked her controls and cursed under her breath. “Crap! I’ve lost my targeting computer, which means I can’t fire any more missiles.” She slammed her fist against the side of the cockpit in anger. “Ok, Jana, you wanted to do an evac cable landing? Well, nothin’ more I can do now. I’m going in. Might be best if you head on in, too. There’s a stabiliser beam just above where the Echo is docked. It should be strong enough to stop us. And,” she added, “it’ll be best if you shadow me. We don’t want to be landing on top of each other.” Beryl took a deep breath, then turned her TIEe3 toward the Rhea.

[stingerhs]

Ryshana felt a bit frustrated that Nic and Jack didn't follow her right away, but she soon felt Nic following her. Slowing down a bit, Ryshana was starting to let Nic and Jack catch up.

 

Then, Ryshana felt something. It was like an instant dread coming over her, but the only problem was that she couldn't get a fix on where it was coming from. Concentrating for just a moment.... Too late.

 

An explosion ripped through the hallway which sent Ryshana careening into a wall. Just before she impacted the wall, Ryshana noticed a crossbeam heading straight for her head. Then, everything went dark.

 

((in other words, Ryshana got knocked out cold. this is supposed to be an opportunity for either Nic or Jack to be a bit of a hero. ))

[JasraLantill]

((OOC: Perfect, Stingerhs! We need some heroes! Go, Jack, go!!

 

@WJ--not sure what you had in mind for Jana for the landing, but I'm sure you'll come up with an interesting response for her. ))

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

Even though her TIEe3 had come to an abrupt stop on the surface of the Rhea a moment ago, Beryl felt as if she was still being crushed by the flight harness from the force of the landing. She knew the feeling well. Cracked ribs again. Great. She choked and gasped for a few seconds, trying to regain the breath that had been so ruthlessly squeezed from her from her crash landing, before she was finally able to muster the strength to release the hatch. Slowly, she exited the craft.

 

She could see the path they needed to take to get to the Echo’s airlock, but from here it looked a lot farther than what they had the time to travel in grav boots. Still, she wasn’t going without Jana.

 

“Jana?” Beryl said into her com link. There was no immediate reply, and worse yet, no sign of movement from inside the tiny cockpit of Jana’s TIE some metres away from her. “Jana! You all right?”

 

Suddenly, something felt very wrong. Unsure what it was, Beryl took pause then hooked her safety line onto one of the exterior supports. And not a second too soon. Without warning, the Rhea lurched violently, and Beryl felt the ripple of the force wave unleashed from an internal explosion below. She was hurled upwards, and it was only her safety line that kept her from free-floating away into the black.

 

“Ugh!” she uttered involuntarily as the slack in the safety line suddenly vanished, her breath was once again forced out of her, and she felt the sharp, crushing pain from within once again. Things could be going better, she thought.

 

A bright green flash caught her attention, and from her position hovering above the ship now, she could now see that the green glow on the other side of the Rhea was now more intense. The containment field was failing. Yeah. Things could be going a lot better. At least the cruiser is pretty much out of commission for the time being.

 

Regaining her breath, Beryl shouted Jana’s name urgently into her com link once again. “Jana, answer me!”

 

It was Cloud who answered her instead. “Beryl, you and Jana need to get back on the ship, now! My readings say that the containment field is buckling. It won’t be long until….”

 

“Yeah, I know it’s buckling,” Beryl interrupted. “I can see it! Trouble is, I can’t see Jana! Jana? Dammit, Jana, answer me!”

 

“You can see it?” Cloud asked. There was a short pause. “Exactly where are….?”

 

“In the name of…!” Oliver’s muted voice came through the com. “Cloud! I see her!”

 

“What?” Beryl looked below her, and sure enough, she could see the Echo and one of her turrets. But, more importantly, she could see the drop-down hanger bay doors. Her eyes travelled up the length of the safety line, then back down to the doors, then at the valve on her oxygen meter.

 

Hmm... The safety line should be long enough to reach the doors…. Can’t rappel in a vacuum, but we could jet there…. Won’t be needing any O2 once we’re aboard…. “Cloud, open up the quick-drop bay. I’m going to get Jana and then we’re coming in that way.”

 

“What?”

 

“Just do it.” She began to haul herself along the line towards Jana’s ship. “Jana?” she said half-heartedly into the com, fearing the worst and not expecting a reply. “Hang on. I’m coming for you.”

[Writer]

((Little char control, Jasra... didn't think you'd mind ))

 

And suddenly, Jana's voice crackled over the com. "Oh, for all Sith locked in some grimy dungeon of Force forsaken properties of..." And her TIEe3's cockpit opened. Even from where she was, Beryl was sure she could feel 'the look'. And Jana scolded, "Beryl, you said the landing would be a little rough..."

 

"Well it was!" Beryl said defensively.

 

"Well when you said a little rough, I didn't expect to have my ribs sent through my back and my lungs collapsed," Jana grumbled. "C'mon. We've got to get to the Echo."

[JasraLantill]

((OOC @WJ-- Nah. Don't mind at all. You know Beryl pretty well. ))

 

“I know,” said Beryl, gaining momentum as she pulled herself along the safety line back towards the TIEs. “And I think I’ve figured out a way to get us there quick.”

 

While she made her way to Jana, Beryl detailed her plan to tie them both onto the safety cable and then use the pressure valve in her space suit to jet them both over to the quick-drop hanger bay, which Cloud was now opening.

 

Jana groaned. "How many damn fool ways are you going to come up with to have near-death experiences, Beryl? Using old space suits, dropping down an elevator shaft on navigational cable, experimental TIE's, and now this?"

 

"Near death, is just that. Near. You got a better idea?"

 

"Well..." Jana stammered. "If I had a minute, maybe I could..."

 

"We don't have a minute," said Beryl, and she fastened Jana’s safety line to her suit, and then to her own safety cable. “Hang on.”

 

"... hey!" was all that Jana had time to utter in protest as Beryl opened up her pressure valve. The two of them shot off backwards into the black, with Beryl turning the valve in different directions to guide them toward the Echo.

 

“Waa-hoo!” Beryl chortled gleefully as they zipped through space.

 

“Ok,” Jana conceded. “Maybe this isn’t safe… but damn, it’s fun!”

 

In a few moments, the two of them bumped into the back of the Headhunter parked inside the bay. “Ok, Cloud!” Beryl said into her com, as she held on to the Headhunter then detached the safety line. “We’re in! Shut the door and pressurise us!”

 

The hanger door shut, and a whoosh of air sounded. And then both Beryl and Jana fell unceremoniously to the floor as the gravity inducers suddenly kicked in.

 

“Ow!” Beryl groaned, as Jana landed on top of her. “If my ribs weren’t cracked before, they are now!”

 

“Your plan, your fault,” Jana said, rising.

 

Without any more words, the two of them quickly stripped off their space suits and headed towards the bridge of the Echo.

[Writer]

"Cloud, are we..." Jana began as she entered the cockpit. Frowning suspiciously, she demanded, "Where the hell is Nic?"

 

"Maybe they're still fighting of the half-naked guy," Oliver suggested. Jana's eyes narrowed at this.

 

"What half-naked guy?" she demanded.

 

"No!" Cloud exclaimed. "Nothing. Nobody!"

 

But at the same time, Oliver was saying, "Nic mentioned a half-naked guy standing in front of him."

 

Jana grunted and glared out into the hangar of the Rhea. "It better be Jack... or this ship is a helluva lot creepier than I thought..."

 

Checking her weapons, she turned to leave the cockpit. "I don't care what Nic's orders were," she said. "It just ain't Corellian to leave men behind. I'm going to find them. Beryl, care to join me on another life-threatening trip?"

[starmark2k]

Nic ran up behind ryshanna as the Explosion ripped through the corridore, as Ryshanna got knocked down Nic dived into an adjacent room. The whole deck shook and the door slammed shut behind him. After the shaking stoped nic stood up and heard a strange hissing noise behind him, turning he saw a crack in the transparasteel window he moved closer and looked at it closely. The air was rushing slowly through a small hole, he then looked back up at the door and noticed the hull breach light was on... The door was sealed shut.

 

"Why me... It's always me!" He exclaimed to himself.

[JasraLantill]

“Right behind you,” Beryl said to Jana. “Let’s g….” Unexpectedly, Beryl frowned. “Wait…” Something suddenly felt very ‘wrong’ to her. “Something doesn’t feel right. A half-naked guy…?” she muttered. “That’s got to be Oliver’s artificially-created, genetically-enhanced, criminally-insane bio sign...”

 

“Oh, so now it’s my bio-sign all of a sudden?” Oliver complained.

 

“And there’s been no word from Nic and the others?” Beryl asked Cloud, totally ignoring Oliver.

 

“Not yet, no,” said Cloud. It was his turn to frown now. “And now that I think about it, I’ve got a funny feeling about all of this, too.” He paused a moment, and his expression grew calm, as if in deep thought. “Something’s wrong with Ryshana,” he said definitively. “I can feel it through the Force.”

 

Beryl quickly rolled her eyes at Cloud’s faith in the ‘Force’. “Yeah, whatever. Point is, something’s wrong, and we’re not leaving without them.” She looked at Jana. “Let’s go.”

 

“Nic said you were to stay here and pilot the ship!” Cloud protested. “Those were his orders!”

 

“Well, you can tell Nic I was a bad girl and disobeyed his orders when he gets back,” said Beryl, heading to follow Jana. “Besides, you know how the ship runs. Surely you can pilot it enough to….”

 

“That’s not the point!” Cloud shouldered his weapon. “You left me behind with Oliver last time. I’m going with Jana. You stay here with Oliver and pilot the ship!”

 

Beryl paused, then looked at Cloud, then at Jana, then back at Cloud. “You can’t tell me what to do. That’s her job,” she said, nodding at her fellow Corellian. “She’s the first officer. The decision is hers.”

[steven]

Jack's voice came through the comlink "Hey guys, well I've taken care of the half naked dude... strangh fella he was. I'm on my way back, Ryshana and Nick should be near your soon..." There was a sighing sound "Nic what have you done now? Erm guys, forget what I just said. Looks Nick's got himself locked in a corridor and is currently slowly suffocating to death. You guys wanna help out? Oh, by the way, looks like I'll be carrying Ryshana back to the ship."

[Writer]

"Lighten up, Cloud," Jana chuckled. "Okay, so we know something's not right out there, right?"

 

"Yes, but..." Cloud began. At that moment, Jack's voice crackled over the com. At his message, Jana shoved Cloud into the pilot's seat.

 

"We don't have time for this argument," she snapped. "Beryl, come on!"

 

She ran out of the Echo, followed closely by Beryl. Soon, they could see Jack pounding on a side door, as if trying to break it open by hand. When he wasn't pounding, they heard a faint pounding from the other side, which had to be Nic. Drawing her blaster, Jana ran toward him. Beryl, on the other hand, stopped by Ryshana long enough to snatch her lightsaber.

 

Coming to the door, she switched it on, causing Jack and Jana to move aside quickly. "What?" Beryl demanded defensively. "It can't be that hard, can it?" She waved the saber around a little and nearly lopped off one of Jana's legs.

 

"Just use it on the door," Jana pleaded, retreating further. Beryl did as instructed and cut a hole in the door. Gasping, Nic cralwed through the hole and glared at Jana.

 

"What the hell... took you... so long?" he gasped. Jana's jaw dropped open.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry," she retorted. "Was trying to convince Cloud to stay with Impe or maybe I'd have been here sooner. Bought a caf on the way, too... and some nerf chips. Tasty snack, you know."

 

"Oh, and you didn't get any for me?" Nic quipped, turning to head toward the hangar and gesturing for Jack to get Ryshana.

 

"No, no," Jana shot back. "What with you getting yourself suffocated an' all, I thought maybe you'd prefer your life to a snack, so I kinda rushed the ordering process."

 

"Aw, come on!" Nic protested. "Didn't even get me a drink?"

 

"Maybe next time, crybaby," Jana answered. "Now can we get to the ship and get outta here?"

 

"Maybe if you'd stayed with the ship, we'd be outta here by now," Nic accused.

 

"If I'd stayed with the ship, you'd be dead," Jana retorted.

 

"That weren't you!" Nic pointed out. "That was Beryl!"

 

An explosion rattled the ship as Jana screamed, "Then what're ya accusin' me for?"

 

And they all entered the hangar where the Echo rested. Once they were all inside and Ryshana was safely in the infirmary with Oliver tending to her, Nic ordered Jack to pilot. Cloud headed back toward engineering, muttering something about pilots and commanding officers leaving the full operation of the ship to a medic and an engineer.

 

As the ship lifted off the hangar floor, Nic pointed an accusing finger at Jana and said, "You still owe me a caf and nerf chips."

 

"Impossible man," Jana muttered sliding down into her turret, just in case.

[steven]

Jack, who had been carrying Ryshana, looked for a place to put her but the only place he could find was his quaters "I thought I shut those doors...." He shrugged "Guess not."

 

Jack placed her on his bed before saying "Sorry about the uncomfy bed. I only changed the covers once a month. And if you want a quick drink, there's a create under the bed, but don't get those mixtured up with the liquid explosives... wait you can't hear me..."

 

After realising he was speaking to an unconscious person, he went to the cockpit and began his work "Okay people, and we're off. Now are we going to just simply bugger off or are we going to destroy the Broadside Cruiser?"

[JasraLantill]

Beryl sidled up beside Jack. The Echo was pulling away from the Rhea and Beryl could see the Imperial cruiser burning in the distance from the damage she and Jana had caused in their borrowed TIEs. "I vote for destroying the cruiser. Anyone have any objections?" She looked around.

 

Cloud had stormed off to engineering. Oliver had rushed off to take Ryshana to the infirmary. And Nic and Jana were arguing with each other about who followed who's orders, and who was really in charge. Only Beryl and Jack were on the bridge.

 

"No?" Beryl grinned, then leaned her head over Jack's shoulder. "It's unanimous. Motion carried. We destroy the cruiser and the Rhea with it." Jack grunted, and gave her a strange look. "What?" Beryl asked incredulously. "I'll take the flak if someone objects." She looked over her shoulder. She could still hear Jana and Nic yelling at each other. "Not that anyone would until it was over anyway." She straightened herself, then looked contemplatively at the lightsaber she was still holding in her hand. Her eyebrow twitched as she juggled it gently in her hand. "Right. Well, Jack, while you blast the hell out of those ships, I'm going to go down to the cargo bay. To, erm... make sure everything's secure before we jump into hyperspace."

 

Beryl gave a sideways look at Nic, still yelling up the turret at Jana, as she passed by him unnoticed. She grinned. "Now, let's see how this really works...." she said, tossing the saber in the air then catching it behind her back.

[steven]

"Okay, all I need to do is..." Jack's sentance was cut half-way off when he noticed that one of the missiles was inbound for a area of Rhea which had been over flooded with radioation "Nevermind."

 

Jack quickly forced the way to acclerate as fast as it could, he switched on the intercome and shouted "Brace for...." The ship shook violently for a half a minutes "...impact."

[Writer]

The violent shaking abruptly tossed Jana off the ladder to the turrets. In Nic's attempt to steady her, they both spun and fell, with Jana landing beneath Nic, though he managed to catch himself with his hands before his full weight fell on her. For several seconds, they stared at each other.

 

"Well, this is new," Jana muttered. Nic nodded.

 

"Yeah," he agreed, "last time we fell in a way that... prompted innuendo, you were on top..."

[steven]

Jack appeared around the corner of the corridor "Am I interupting anything?"