Mercenary Crew: Age of the Rebellion

[steven]

"Well what else do you know that goes by the name 'Chimera'?" John replied before noticing the exchange of looks between Zam and Raze "You know what she on about!"

[starmark2k]

"This is not the time for that." BiF interrupted "She is experiancing Hybernation sickness and needs time to rest."

 

"Yeah and Raze we can't hang around here to investigate this." Zam suggested. "We really have to get away from here before the Imps track us."

[steven]

"Any idea where we're going to go?" John asked "Because I have an idea."

[JasraLantill]

"If you've got an idea on where to go, let's just go," Raze said to John. "I don't particularly want to stay in one place for very long either."

 

She gave Ulim and Otaktay a nod, indicating that they should stay and monitor the Jedi, and then she headed to the bridge. "Zam?" she said, looking over her shoulder to see if he was following her to the bridge.

 

Once in the corridor, and safely out of earshot, she asked him, in a low whisper, "What is going on? How does she know about... you-know-what?"

[starmark2k]

"My Parents always told me that it was isolated as it can be detected over short distances by someone sensitive to the force." Zam wispured looking around to make sure no one was close enough to here. "She said herself that sh could still feel out... but I thought the Jedi weren't told about it to prevent temptation... But my father always said the sith do."

[steven]

"Zam, I'm going to need you to set a corse for the Mandalore system. The Zann Consortium acivities will provide a great cover from the Imperials. We can also hideout in my uncles factory there." Suggested John.

[starmark2k]

Zam jumped not realising that John had just stepped into the corridor. "O.K but we'll have to avoid the Consortium as well as the imps. Raze here ticked off Tyber a few years back... If i remember correctly he threatened to cut out your tongue if you ever got in his way again."

[steven]

"Yes but good old Tyber has recently been arrested for crimes against the empire. What little power he has in Mandalore is slowly wasting away." John reasured them both "And once we're in hyperspace your going to tell us what's she's on about."

[JasraLantill]

"I promise, John, we'll have a 'family meeting' once we get someplace stable and away from any more Imperial problems. Let's just get out of here."

 

She grabbed hold of Zam's arm and began leading him towards the cockpit. "John, makes sure everyone's on board because we're leaving. Now," she called out over her shoulder.

 

Once John was out of earshot, and Raze and Zam were safely alone in the cockpit, Raze said in a hushed but urgent whisper, "Zam, are you saying our new guest's a Sith? A spy planted by the Separatists or something? 'Cause if she is a Sith, I'll flush her out the airlock as soon as we're in the Black. Believe me, they are nothing but trouble!"

[starmark2k]

"I don't know, She may have been a liberian or something and that's how she found out." Zam sat down on the chair and began the power up sequence. "All i'm saying is that we should be carefuland keep her away from anything important."

 

Zam then looked at the sensors, his eyes widened and he quickly cut all power to the ship. "Raze we have a serious problem. There are two star destoryers and severl imperiaal support craft in orbit on a planet sweep formation."

[JasraLantill]

Raze rolled her eyes. "Oh, great! Just... great!"

 

She started to get up from her chair, intent on asking the Jedi-person if she had anything to do with the sudden appearance of the Imperials, but then, she had an idea.

 

She looked at the sensors herself. True, they couldn't out manoeuvre a Star Destroyer, but they could do something about the smaller craft. But piloting was one thing. Fire power, accuracy, and tactical knowledge was something altogether different. And she knew who best to ask for advice on it.

 

"Start the engines up," she told Zam.

 

"But...?"

 

"Just do what I say!" Raze snapped, her finger hovering over the comm button. "Start the damn engines up!"

 

She punched the comm button for Rita's quarters. "Rita! Stop simming and get up to the bridge, now! We've got an Imperial sweep coming our way and we need some tactical advice on how to beat it!" Raze knew that Rita could come up with a plan to possibly block the Imp support vessels at least long enough for them to leave orbit and make a jump to hyperspace. At least, she hoped she would.

[Grace]

As the ship rose, Rita shuffled casually onto the bridge. "Wasn't simming," she mumbled before looking down at the sensor panels. Comparing them with what she could see out the front of the ship, she shook her head.

 

"They're amateurs," she said. "Using standard Imp maneuvers. They'll come at us from here and here..." she tapped two spots on the sensor panels. "The two larger ships will try to box us in, up here and down here. Likely, they'll also send out one or two flights of fighters."

 

She fell silent for a moment. "There's always one very small gap in that attack formation. Zam's a good enough pilot, he can exploit it." She tapped one final location on the panel. "Zam, you'll need to take standard evasive maneuvers until I tell you to break for this spot, alright? In the meantime, we'll need the turrets manned. Raze, get Ulim and Ace... and see if Otak wants to help out. It would be ideal if we could have all four turrets manned and I need to stay on the bridge 'till we're past them."

[JasraLantill]

As she rose from her chair, Raze sighed. "I suppose desperate situations dictate desperate actions," she said glumly. "Do what she says, Zam." She hated the fact that she was essentially taking orders from Rita, of all people. But, the Corellian did have the useful tactical knowledge that they would need to get out of this situation. She stood face to face with Rita, then gave a sideways nod at her chair. "Well?" she said to her gunner. "Take a seat, shutta."

 

She quickly left the cockpit and went back to the medical bay where their new 'guest' was still looking a bit disoriented and was still under guard by Ulim and Otaktay and Bif.

 

"Ah, good. You're still here," she said to Fialia without expression. "Bif? If you could watch over our 'guest' on your own, I'd like to take Ulim and Otaktay with me for some target practice." She glanced down at the presumed Jedi laying on the exam table. "And you'd better secure her. For her own safety," she added. "It's more than likely that we're going to be in for a rough flight. If you think you'll need help, call on Flick. Think she's in the cargo hold. Or maybe in her quarters." Raze sighed. She had no idea where her cook come gunner was. "She's here someplace, just call her on the comm if you need help, okay?"

 

"Affirmative," Bif replied, as he was preparing some sort of syringe. "Although, I do not anticipate any problems with my patient. She is still experiencing a multitude of hibernation symptoms."

 

She motioned for Ulim and Otaktay to leave with her, then told them to man a turret each. As Otak headed for the nearest turret, she lightly touched his arm. "Feel free to shoot to kill," she said. "And if you're accurate, I might end up offering you a job. If we get out of this alive, that is."

 

She headed for her own turret. "Ace!" she called as she walked through the ship. "I need you to take Rita's turret! She's busy 'navigating!'"

[Master_Archon]

"And if you're accurate, I might end up offering you a job. If we get out of this alive, that is." Raze said to Otak.

 

Otak sat in the turret, looking it over skeptically, "she could have shown me how this thing works."

 

Otak took a good five minutes to figure out how to strap in. He took the gun turret handles, but as he had said earlier, human technollogy was simplistic, so much so that it was annoying to figure out.

[Rexraptor2000]

Ulim nodded responded the ship master's orders with a grunt of approval and made his way to his turret, getting settled in instantly and opening fire. The fighters outnumbered them significantly, but that was inconsequential as Ulim opened up on his targets, filling space with blaster bolts. He couldn't help but notice that this was an Old Republic maneuver, however, and it brought up one of the memories he had of being in the CIS facing this. A memory of just how deadly the simple looking box really was.

[JasraLantill]

Raze hated being a gunner. She loved being a pilot, and she was comfortable and competent enough in a turret, but she felt shooting targets was... well, in a word...tedious. She fired away, anticipating flight paths and hitting her targets, but there was no joy on her part in the way that Rita or even Ace found in the process.

 

"How are we doing, Rita?" she said into her comlink. A shot from one of the Imperials jolted the ship and Raze winced. "When can Zam do that little manuever you promised? I'm getting real tired real fast with people taking pot shots at my ship!"

[Grace]

"Maybe you should'a thought of that before you called me out of my room," Rita retorted dryly. "Now, shut up and shoot! I'm concentrating..."

 

And for at least another minute, Rita 'concentrated', occasionally firing a sharp response back at the continually grumbling captain. Then, she casually looked over at Zam.

 

"Right about now would be the..." she began, but her voice was cut off abruptly as Zam's sudden swerve for the spot she'd pointed out before swept her off her feet, backward into the common room. From there, her sentence ended, "... most logical time to break for the weak spot..." She returned to the cockpit. "But I can feel you've already determined that..."

[JasraLantill]

After Raze finished spouting some extremely colourful metaphors in reference to Rita, Zam, Fialia Croose, and every Imperial she had ever had the displeasure of meeting, she righted herself from being upside down in the turret and hit the comm button.

 

"I sincerely hope that little 'jolt' just then was our ticket out of this Imperial mess, Zam!" she bellowed. "Get us into hyperspace and get us the hell out of here, now!"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"I can't believe you called me - of all people! - to take Rita's gun." Travis said through the comm., swerving the turret this way and that as he sought out a good target. "I mean, c'mon! I like my turret. I've made specific adjustments to it. Rita's turret is...stupid." he finished lamely. "Besides...this is getting boring..."

[starmark2k]

Zam Pushed the Ship into full speed at the exact spot Rita had told her to hit. The ship shot through the imperial ships and Zam didn't stop until they left the gravity well when he reached up to the hyperdrive igniter. "WE... Are... Outta here." Zam said just as he pulled the levar down.

[JasraLantill]

Raze breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ok, Zam, put the ship on autopilot," she said into the comm on a shipwide channel so everyone could hear. "I want everyone, except for Bif and our 'guest' in sickbay, to assemble in the common room for a crew meeting in five minutes."

 

She left her turret and headed for the sick bay, intending to see how their special 'Jedi' or 'Sith' cargo was doing.

 

"How is she?" Raze asked Bif as she popped her head inside to check on things. Fiala was sitting up on the exam table, looking more relaxed and with more colour in her cheeks.

 

She smiled at Raze. Raze didn't return the gesture.

 

"She is improving rapidly, Captain," Bif stated in his mechanical monotone. "Most likely due to her superior condition at the time of her carbonite encasement."

 

"Superior condition?" Raze cocked an eyebrow and studied Fiala. She was lean and fit, but not overly muscular by any means. "She doesn't look that 'superior' to me. Fit, certainly, but not superior."

 

"I was referring to her mental condition, Captain, rather than her physical state of fitness," Bif stated.

 

"Which is still quite good," Fiala stated. She demonstratively flexed her bare arm. "For being frozen for all those years."

 

Raze gave her a quick, sardonic grin. "Indeed." Raze eyed her over. "Look," she said to Fiala. "I'm not going to mince words. I don't trust you. I don't care whether you're a Jedi or a Sith. Either way I...."

 

"A Sith?!" Fiala interrupted. She appeared to Raze to be either slightly offended or slightly amused. Raze really couldn't tell.

 

"Don't interrupt," Raze told her. "You were a cargo. A very lucrative cargo. And now...." Raze snorted with disbelief. "Now you're just a very, very big problem. And I've got enough problems. So, while you recuperate here, I'm going to meet with my crew and see what we can do to expedite your departure."

 

"My departure?"

 

"You're not part of my crew, and as far as I know, you're not a paying passenger either, unless you want to be repacked into your box so that I can deliver you to my contact on Coruscant and collect my fee. So, yes, departure," Raze said.

 

She set some controls on the door. "Now, since you're still under the care of my medical dro...." Bif suddenly turned to face Raze. "...erm, person," she corrected herself. "I'm sure you won't mind staying here for the time being. Bif?" she said to the android. "You will keep her in the medical bay and you will not allow her to touch anything. Right?"

 

"As you wish, Captain. I will keep her quite safe."

 

Raze set the security lock with her own personal code and shut the door. "It's not her safety I'm concerned about," she said quietly to herself.

 

She made her way to the common room, where hopefully, the rest of the crew would already be assembled.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Travis was busy spinning rather rapidly in his spiny chair when Raze entered the room. He reached out and caught himself on a nearby counter as she came in, adjusting his seat to look at her.

 

"So how's the chick-popsicle doing?" he asked, "Has she melted yet?"

[Master_Archon]

Otak didn't consider himself a part of the crew, but it seemed that the captain wanted him too.

 

He had, however decided to check on the jedi, or sith, as well, and had heard and seen much of the conversation that occured between the captain and jedi. He had slipped away before she had seen him, though he had no cloaking, he was still a natural predator, a hunter capable of stalking prey without a cloaking unit.

 

He approached the captain as she entered the room, staring at her, his face hidden behind his mask. "Captain Raze, I know I'm not a part of the crew, so what I ask is only for your best interest...did you take her weapon?" he asked her, his translator doing a decently good job. "Because locked doors can only do so much," he warned her.

[JasraLantill]

"So how's the chick-popsicle doing?" he asked, "Has she melted yet?"

Raze gave Travis a disparaging look as she sat down at the table. "I wish. It would make things a whole lot easier."

 

Otak then approached Raze. "Captain Raze, I know I'm not a part of the crew, so what I ask is only for your best interest...did you take her weapon?" he asked her, his translator doing a decently good job. "Because locked doors can only do so much," he warned her.

 

Raze sighed. She wasn't sure if Fiala still had her lightsaber or not, but she certainly wasn't going to go back in there and retrieve it now. She'd feel stupid. "You're absolutely right," she agreed with Otak. "But at least with Bif, she can't use any mind tricks. And if she tries to use her lightsaber to cut through the door, I'm sure we'll hear it in time to do something about it.

 

"Right now, we've got to decide what to do with her. And fast. As soon as the Imps figure out where we are, which they will eventually, we'll be in the same situation as before. We need a plan on what to do with her, how to avoid the Imps, and how to avoid getting targeted by whoever we were delivering this cargo to in the first place--because they are not going to be happy about paying for a cargo that is never going to arrive.

 

"So... anyone have any ideas?"

[Rexraptor2000]

Ulim took a deep breath, closing his eyes and stood to his full height, saying "There is no avoiding of the inevitable. The Imperials will not let us rest regardless of our choices. They will not show mercy if we decide to give up. And as it appears, this Jedi has not been corrupted, which we can use to our advantage should we decide to seek the Rebellion. Therefore we are left with few options:"

 

"A: We give up and die."

 

"B: We seek out the Rebellion and help them."

 

"C: We kill the Jedi and run."

 

"D: We hide until it appears to be safe."

 

"Options A and C are not ones that I'd approve of, nor allow. Option D would only work if we hid in a place such as an uncharted system or worthless system. Or right under their noses. Option A has my full vote, as the Rebellion would offer the best refuge and supplement for bringing the Jedi to them."