Chapter 24 - Dead in the Water

Providence-Class Dreadnought Scarlet Night

Edge of New Republic Space

'What the hell are you doin', Jak?' First Mate Bonny Reed cursed to herself as she watched the floating freighter in front of them with a strained expression. It had been over an hour since The Captain had taken the armsmen aboard the Ervana, and now thirty-four minutes since they'd received their last transmission requesting information on the price range of exotic beasts.

Bonny shook her head. She'd been with Sydow since he'd first started their outfit, and never was he ever this damn fool-hardy. 'Solo makes him stupid,' the Devaronian thought darkly, 'always has, always will.'

"Bonny," she heard the Second Mate whisper behind her, "it's been a while now. Should we send a second boarder over? Check the cap'n?"

"Have we received any transmissions?"

"Would've heard if we did," the Zabrak shrugged.

Bonny sighed, "Alright, prep the armsmen. Tell 'em we might have a bug problem. That means Rockets and D-Guns."

"Aye aye, Bonny," but before he could below the order, one of the helmsman suddenly perked up from his post with a shout.

"XO, something just got ejected from the Ervana's airlock!"

"Can you get a reading, helmsman?"

"I'm pulling it up now, ma'am. I've got visual if you like."

"Put it on screen."

He nodded, and a second later, the bridge monitor came online with the image of something floating in the vacuum. Bonny stared at it with narrowed eyes, scrutinizing the image.

"What the blazes is that thing?"

"I have no idea," the Second Mate shook his head, "it's got arms and legs though, and it looks big."

"Helmsman, have we received transmission from the cap'n?"

"Negative, ma'am. Still nothin'."

Bonny gripped the back of the Captain's chair with ice cold fingers. Why the hell had this thing been ejected from the ship? What the hell was going on?

"What's the thing's trajectory?"

"It's coming right at us, ma'am. At this rate, we've got about ten or so minutes before it collides with us."

Bonny nodded, "Let's speed up that process, shall we? Lock tractors on it and bring it in. Mister Teege, inform Hangar 2 they may have a guest with teeth comin' in. Have them offer a warm welcome."

"Aye aye, ma'am," he about-faced, bellowing orders and reaching up to the comm. As general hands was called, Bonny shook her head.

"C'mon, Jak. Get outta this for me, will ya?"

Han groaned as he shouldered his friends hefty weight, but he didn't complain. His friend had done the same for him countless times. Besides, whining was unbecoming.

"Okay," he heard Poe Dameron panting as they came out of the airlock. The man was practically soaked to the bone, "Tell me that thing is gone and out? I've seriously had it up to here with that thing taking everything we throw at it and throwing it back at us!"

"Indeed," Finn panted back, collapsing against the bulkhead, "we dropped a door on it, the pirates blew it up thrice, an Acklay stabbed it in the chest, and it took us throwing it out an airlock to get rid of it. Is it even dead?"

"Um," Poe looked over their shoulders through the airlock, "no. It's still moving."

"Uggh," Finn grumbled as he gripped the sides of his head, "that thing will not die! Perhaps we need to apply the Gen'Dai rule and throw it into the sun!"

"Oh no, I'm not getting anywhere near that thing again, thank you very much," Poe grumbled as fresh pain hit him from his ribs, "maybe it'll do us all a favor and end up on Hoth, or somethin'."

"Oh stop complaining, you frickin' yuppies," Han grumbled, "this was nothing compared to living in the belly of a space slug for weeks, or getting carbonated!"

"Not… for lack… of trying," Chewbacca hissed through clenched teeth. Poe just shook his head.

"I dunno, getting chased by unkillable rancor over there probably makes-"

He was promptly cut off when Chewbacca slammed his one good hand into the deckwall with a loud thonk, leaving a nasty dent in its wake. Poe swallowed and nodded, "Right, point taken. Shall we get the hell out of here?"

"Where's Rey?" Finn groaned as he rose to his feet, "Where did you leave her?"

"Relax, plastic-boy," Han replied irately, "I left her by the ship… you two mind givin' me a hand here!?" he suddenly snapped with the air of military authority.

The two of them stepped to promptly, shouldering Chewbacca's weight… which they quickly regretted.

"What the hell are you eating, wookie?" Finn grumbled, "Entire dumbbells?"

"Dumbbells, man? How about entire cinder blocks!?" Poe shouted

Chewbacca growled something. Poe looked at Finn, who just shrugged.

"Where's your droid? Isn't he the one who usually does the translating?"

"Man, I don't know. I gave up keeping track of him when I got my brains knocked into next week."

Chewbacca then snarled at them, making them flinch as he glared at them. Han shot them a nasty grin.

"You best keep your tongues, boys. Wookies tend to have a nasty temper."

"Oh really?" Poe replied sarcastically, "He can't exactly rip my arm off with just one hand!"

Suddenly, Chewbacca stamped his foot onto Poe's, grabbing his arm and damn near hauling it up to the ceiling. Poe could feel the tendons in his arm burning as Chewie pulled harder and harder by very small increments, Chewbacca's vicious grin widening as he did.

"Okay okay okay okay! You made your point! OW! Let me go!" and Chewbacca released him with a hearty chuckle before he winced in pain again, doubling over as Finn steadied him. Together, they maneuvered through the hodgepodge maze of shipping crates, blast containers and wrecked hover vehicles, shooting at the odd critter, droid and Corsair that came their way. After a minute of walking and then climbing, the familiar faded green ship came into view.

"Finally," Han snorted, "alright, let's pick up Rey and take a look at the engine. Then we blast out of here."

"There's still the Interdictor Cruiser out there, sir," Poe warned, "It'll just grab us if we make a jump to lightspeed."

"Which is why we're gonna to make the jump here in the hangar instead out there in space," Han replied, gesturing all around them, "I got a good look at that Interdictor out there. It's an older model, and from the looks of it, it's been largely put together by patchwork. It won't have the power to keep its gravity wells on all the time, and since we're locked down, it doesn't need to be."

"But the moment we go outside," Poe continued his logic, "they'll turn it back on?"

"Exactly," Han smirked, "and it'll take a minimum of twenty to forty seconds to activate its gravity wells. We make a quick jump to the next system, and then we make the jump to nearest New Republic world in range. I doubt the pirates would be stupid enough to chase us then, especially if there's an SDF Fleet around."

"You'd be right, of course," a familiar and mocking voice sounded, "if you'd be able to get out of this hangar to begin with!"

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!" Poe groaned. They all turned to find the Crimson Corsair himself staring them down quite dramatically from atop of a pile of crates and the headless body of the Acklay; his arm in a sling made from what looked like his cape. All around him were his battered, but still very much armed to the teeth crew, their weapons on standby.

"Jack," Han scoffed as he shook his head, "I thought you were dead."

"Haven't you heard, Han? I'm immortal."

"Try lucky," Han growled, "lucky to be alive, unlucky to be broke."

"...are you describing me, or you? It honestly sounds more like you, you washed up excuse for a smuggler!"

With a flash of anger, Han drew his sidearm. But before he could take aim, Sydow has his drawn and pointed too. Everybody else drew their weapons as well, but the pirate captain beckoned them to stay their hand. For a long moment, the two gunslingers had each other in deadly staring contest of blasters.

Han chuckled softly, tilting his head very slightly as he scoffed, "Why can't you just be a good boy and die?"

"You first."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Poe shouted, "Would you just stop for a second?"

"And why would I do that, Mr. Dameron?"

"Oh I don't know, how about the fact we just survived getting mauled by by that oversized crab monster! Along with every other frickin' monster on this ship! So how about we cut each other some slack and go our separate ways before things get worse?"

"Survived, Mister Dameron? You didn't get mauled by the Terentatek, I did. And I would like me lads to get paid. Besides it was Han here who released 'em in the first place."

"He… does have… a point," Chewbacca replied with labored breath.

"Even the Wookie agrees with me," Sydow gestured at the Wookie with his blaster, laughing, "speaking of which, I have a generous offer for you, Chewbacca. There isn't a bounty on you. You may leave, or perhaps even join me crew. I can provide you with a replacement for that arm."

"Already… got one pup… to worry about," Chewbacca growled, "besides… they're my family."

"Fair enough," Sydow nodded, "shame, I like you quite a bit. Han here don't deserve you."

"Are you going you to stand there and talk us to death?" Han shouted, "Or are we going to get busy?"

"Han," Sydow tutted, "you really have no class, no style. I prefer a good talk before the shooting begins."

"Shooting?" Poe asked, "I thought you wanted us alive?"

"Dead or alive, Mister Dameron. The only mandate was your droid and the Jedi. The rest of you were just a bonus to be determined… and to be quite honest, you have really pissed me off. Do you know how much cred you've costed me thus far?"

"Cry me a river, Jack," Han growled, "why don't you come down here and settle this personally."

"Tempting, but I'd be a fool to give up my advantage over a little detail like pride," he then pointed his blaster a little straighter at him, "no, you're not going to swindle me like you did poor Lando, or shoot me under the table like you did that daft Rodian."

"BOSS, LOOK OUT!" one of the pirates shouted. Sydow looked up just in time to see the Reek's carcass flying towards him, and worse, it was on fire. He jumped back as the Reek crashed in front of him, causing the entire hill to become a rickety metal trap a hair's breadth from falling over.

"Oh, that's where she went," he grumbled, "everybody off, lads!"

"Run!" Han shouted and they sprinted for the Raptor ahead. They weren't going to make it though as the entire pile of crates toppled over, looking to crush them. However, just as they reach a man's height from their heads, they stopped in mid air, staying that way as they shook very slightly like as though they were vibrating.

"Good girl," Han chuckled, and they kept running, eventually finding Rey ahead at the ramp of the ship. She stood there, her hands extended, her body stiff with concentration and perspiration as though she'd taken a swim.

"Size… matters… not," she gritted her teeth, "yeah right."

When the party had cleared the floating ceiling of metal, she released it with a loud gasp. As the metal crashed into the deckplatting with an ear splitting thump, Rey collapsed onto the floor in a daze, looking pale and somewhat weak. Han immediately scooped her up and ran her up into the ship, putting her down on the nearest available seat.

"Here, you sit and rest. You've done more than enough."

"Still… might need my help… Dad," she said with a tired smiled. Han just smiled like all fathers do.

"If I do, I'll let you know. Wait, where's the droid?"

"He's down in the engine room," she sighed, trying to catch her breath. No sooner than she said that, they heard shrill, vicious screams emanating from below them.

"What the hell is he doing?" Han asked, and Rey just shook her head.

"He's a pyromaniac, and there are B-1's down there for him to fry."

"Oh brother," Han groaned. Abruptly, they hear maniacal laughter coming their way. They looked down the doorway to see BB-8 holding the head of a B-1 and laughing like a goon, Alas, poor Roger! He laughed, I knew him well, Rey, and now he's dead! Ha ha ha!

Rey and Han looked between each other with horrified expressions, "Commander Dameron really needs to get that droid's mind wiped," Han shook his head as he then bellowed, "Droid! Drop that head now!"

BB-8 did so like a scared cat. Han gave him a cold smile, "Good. Now, what's the condition of the hyperdrive?"

Shoddy, but manageable. Could use a little tune up.

"Have to do," he then spun on his heel, shouting down the ramp as he head down to the engine room, "get your hides in here! We're taking off!"

"No need to tell us twice, sir!" Poe shouted up at them as they were chased up the ramp by blaster fire, "Finn, get on the ventral gun! We might need covering fire!"

"Got it!" and Finn was gone. Rey promptly rose to her feet and shouldered Chewie over.

"Thanks," Poe nodded, "I'll get us started. Hopefully Solo'll have us ready to go by then!"

There was a scream, a shout, and a pirate charging up the ramp. Rey promptly threw her hand forward and sent him flying right back out, the ramp closing behind him.

"Yeah, I hope."

"Rey, get in here! I need a hand!" Rey heard Han shout from down the hall. She could only laugh and smile like a giddy child as she ran in the direction of the engine room. Nostalgia was sweet and so very fleeting.

"Take cover!" one of the Corsairs shouted as the top sponson gun roared to life with scarlet fire. Promptly, they all dived for whatever was above man size and was at least two feet thick, trading shots and rocket fire to no avail.

"Save your bolts, lads!" Sydow shouted over the din, "You're practically throwing fruit at that thing! Ammo is expensive!"

"But boss, they're trying to get away!"

"I can see that, Mister Finnigan! Mister Crysk, run over here and hand me the communicator!"

"Um, Boss? I'm halfway across the hangar! I don't exactly have enough shares for that!"

"Oh for… stay right there!" he then rose to his feet, launching a powerful push kick in the process and sending a pile of box spilling over. The sound was enough to draw the ships fire, and he promptly made a run across the hangar, dolphin diving and then rolling over to where his comm operator was huddling in a corner. Said operator looked at him dumbfounded.

"Boss… that was… that was impressive."

"Yes, I suppose it was… and you can kiss this jobs shares goodbye, you daft yellowbelly. Now, give me that!" he snatched the transmitter from him, turning him around to set up the frequency. After a moment, a craggy voice sounded.

"Cap'n! I'm been tryna to reach you-"

"Hold your tongue, Captain Calico, and let me speak. Han Solo is attempting to make a jump to lightspeed in this here hangar. We need your gravity wells online before then."

"Already on it, sir! But it'll take us forty or so seconds to get the blasted thing operational!"

"Do not complain to me again about refits, Mister Calico. We can't afford them!"

"Well if we could, we would not be in this mess to begin with! Hell, i'll contribute me shares to the bloody refits!"

"You have a bargain, Mister Calico, and I take no reimbursements. Now, what were you trying to say?"

"I was gonna say that Bonny's sent backup your way!"

"What?" and then he heard the sound of heavy repulsors echoing through the hangar as a pair of LAAT Gunships appeared at the fore of the entrance, hovering there like avians searching for prey. Behind his mask, Jack smile.

"Tell Bonny I could kiss her!"

"She might actually take you up on that, sir."

"Aye, probably. Out," he then rose to his feet and bellowed, "LADS! TIME TO GET PAID!"

Amidst a bellowing warcry, the pirates resumed the attack.

"Oh you gotta to be frickin' kidding me!" Poe cursed as the LAAT's opened fire with their front mounted laser cannons. Though shieldless, the Raptor still had good armor, especially for its cockpit. However, in less than five seconds, the entire duraglas frame was scorched black and Poe immediately switched on hull cameras. The moment he did, additional armor plating suddenly slid under the glas, forming a metal cocoon.

"Finn!" Poe shouted on the comm's, "We got company! I need covering fire!"

"I'm a bit busy back here!" Finn called back, "Besides, these lasers cannons are only operating at half-power! I don't think I could take them down before they blew me away!"

"Carabast," Poe cursed darkly, "do what you can back there! I'll handle this, out!"

He then shuffled his hands over the various fire control modules, switching from missiles to torpedoes to their onboard heavy-grade laser cannons and Ion blasters. Every one of them read either Empty or Insufficient Power. Poe slumped his head back in frustration as he ran through the situation before him.

The LAAT's appeared to be standard Republic Army variants, which meant they came with anti-ship missiles. The only reason why they weren't using them to turn them into a scrap pile was probably because they didn't want to go searching for their remains in said scrap pile. So, they were resorting to their laser cannons, and it would take a while to punch through both the dura-glass and the metal plating.

"They're just trying to keep us from leaving," Poe concluded before he grinned, "okay, boys. You wanna play Chicken? Let's play."

He immediately rocked his controls forward and the ships sublight engines roared to life. He rocketed forward at breakneck pace, aimed directly at the gunships. They promptly veered right and left, and Poe fired off the grav thrusters to keep him in the hangar and swing him around. He knew the moment he went spaceborn, the surrounding ships could just hit them with ions and then hook them in with tractors.

As soon as he was steadied, he want at them again, clipping one in the wing and sending it spiralling away to the far side of the hangar.

"Guys! Where we at with that hyperdrive!?" Poe shouted over the intercom as the second LAAT raked his side with a beam particle weapon, its emerald fire tearing a long black wound in the hull of the ship.

"Keep your damn shorts on, kid!" Han shouted back, "Hyperdrives almost ready! Lock in coordinates and jump as soon as it comes online! Rey, hand me the sismo-spanner!"

"I know the damn plan, sir, but I'm also playing Chicken with a couple of gunships! Gah!" he screamed as the rocked and he damn near fell out of his seat, "Just hurry up!"

"I'm not the one who took an Ion Torpedo to the gut just for the hellova it, Dameron! Rey, pull that line over! We need to link the auxiliary power!"

"Got it!" Rey shouted over the line, "Poe, punch it!"

"With pleasure! Everybody hang on!" he tapped in a quick micro jump for the next system over, and with a whirl of overwhelming noise akin to the report of a slugthrower firing, Poe was flung back in his seat like a massive hand had just hit him in the chest. Everything suddenly felt slowed and stretched, like as though he was being pulled in two different directions.

There was a sudden piercing light that shinned through the cracks of the armor as though someone had just shined a rainbow in his face, and then he was flung forward in his seat, his ribs raging with pain he nearly went faint.

"What the hell just happened!?" Finn shouted over the line, "Why are we back in the hangar!?"

"Ah kriff, they activated their damn Interdictor!" Poe responded, clutching his cracked ribs with a gasp of agonizing pain, "What do we do now?"

"Divert all power to engines, Commander!" Han replied, "We'll try to book it!"

"They'll hit us with Ions the moment we go out there!"

"I know," Han replied, the air of defeat heavy in his voice, "but we'll stand a better chance out there than we will in here."

Poe could only shake his head, "We're dead. We're so very dead. Screw it. Hang on!"

He fired his engines away, roaring out of the ship like a rocket. It took the fleet exactly ten seconds to begin firing at them with an Ion barrage. Poe threw the ship into a barrel roll before diving at a steep angle, hoping to get behind the Ervana and use her hulk for cover. He didn't get the chance as the Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser suddenly appeared at his direct front and fired a broadside at him. His instruments went wild as electricity bounced everywhere at once. The lights in the panel flickered and they went out.

They were dead in the water.

"This is Captain Cannoway," the commander of the Plunderer reported on the intercom, "we've got 'em, sir! They're floatin' underneath the ship!"

Sydow had to resist the urge to laugh, "Well done, Cannoway! Extra shares for your gunners! Keep 'em there and under. I'll have Bonny hook 'em in."

"Aye Aye, Cap'n. Out."

When the transmission went out, he then plugged into the Scarlet Night's frequency, "Bonny, The Raptors been blasted. Hook 'em and take 'em captive. Use Nytinite gas if you have to, especially for the Jedi."

"Will do, Sydow. Glad to hear you alive, you stupid old coot."

"Ha. Coot I may be, but stupid I am not. To be fair, I don't feel especially alive, what with that damn Terentatek running a grav train over me."

"Terentatek? Is that what you shot out of the airlock?"

"Bonny, please tell me you didn't pull him in."

"We are but he's still aways from us."

"Good. I want you to blast the thing with everything you got," his voice then turned into a bellow, "AND I MEAN EVERYTHING! I WANT HIM DEAD!"

"Everything? Don't you think that's a little-"

"Bonny, that thing is the sole reason Solo had a fighting chance in the first place. He bloody well threw that thing out 'cause we couldn't damn well kill it! So, atomize the bastard till there's not enough to fill a soup coup!"

"What about your trophy room?"

"Bonny, just kill it."

"Aye Aye, Cap'n. Gun crews, prepare to-"

"Ma'am!" someone else shouted over the line, "We're pickin' up signatures approaching the system! I count six of 'em!"

"Six? Where are they comin' from?"

"Hosnia, ma'am!"

"Oh no."

Sydow immediately keyed in the entire fleet's signature, "This Captain Sydow! We have company! Prepare to-"

His words were cut off as battlefleet suddenly appeared at striking distance from their front. There was no question now. The New Republic had arrived.