o.o.o.o.o
Korsk Los'ean
Silber Continent, Krant
Korsk sighed in exhaustion and relief when he and Linay finally arrived back at the LZ. A full day after receiving orders to return for pickup while a more experienced team was infiltrated into the site.
How, he didn't know, nor did he need to know. Probably in subletted bodies if he had to hazard a guess based on his own limited knowledge of SpyNet operations, which were compartmentalized for operational security.
What worried him more was the obvious fact that two section chiefs were squabbling again based on how quickly he and Linay received new orders after setting up, especially since nobody was left to monitor the site in the meantime.
This only further mystified him as to how SpyNet got to be the galaxy's top source of intelligence.
Probably because the beings getting them information generally weren't Bothans.
Otherwise they'd be too busy screaming and yapping at each other over some nonsense to get anything done.
In hindsight, that element of the Bothan Way was really kriffing dumb, and he could see why Aean and other non-traditional cultural offshoots were growing in popularity among the disgruntled youth.
Awaiting the pair of operatives was a single UT-30S U-Wing, a special stealth version of Incom's twin-engine UT-30 series transport.
Even from here he could see the craft's Bothan crew chief sitting outside the angular dropship and chewing on a Kothlis branded cigarra as she waited for them.
Bothan cigarras tended to be chewed rather than smoked, an odd middle ground for a species that generally found the acrid scent of smoldering narcotics irksome at best.
Korsk hated them either way.
Linay looked back at Korsk and gave him a wavy hand-gesture. He rolled his eyes behind his goggles and nodded as they approached.
["Hell, about damn time you two showed up."] The dropship's crew chief uttered in a rumbling version of a Krantian accent as her thick brown and black fur twisted impatiently. ["Was worried I'd go back to being like my damn parents if you took too long."] She promptly spat out some of the gunk in her mouth and muttered something about 'kriffing Wook-loving nudist hippies' under her breath.
["Yeah yeah, just get us back to the station, okay Chief Mallauaggerl?"] Linay muttered, not much in the mood for being snarky herself at the moment, especially after having spent a large amount of her emotional energy bitching incessantly about the entire affair on the way back via their com implants.
That she also had to pronounce a Wookiee name in Bothese didn't help her mood, Korsk found it amusing regardless.
The burlier female waved Linay off. ["Yeah, yeah, I get it..."] Mallauaggerl muttered before turning to Korsk. ["Hey, dumbass."]
He looked over at her, the crew chief snickering as she lowered the orange visor on her flight helmet. ["Made you look."]
Korsk sighed as he got on the dropship. ["Chief, you always do this..."]
["Because you always fall for it."] She laughed as she followed Linay aboard and sat down in the troop bay before rapping her knuckle on the cockpit door. ["Oi! Milir! Get your mouth off of Lusk's dick and get the ship airborne!"]
A pair of panicked and embarrassed Bothan yelps were followed rapidly by the engines of the U-Wing powering up and the passenger bay doors shutting.
[["S... Sorry Chief!"]] Milir whimpered over the intercom as the ship warmed up. [["I forgot where I was!"]]
[["Y... Yeah! Won't happen again in the field."]] Lusk yelped in agreement. [["Promise!"]]
Malla turned to Korsk and Linay and shook her head.
Both agents stared deadpan back at her through their RIS goggles. ["I give it three flights before they do it again."] Linay muttered.
Korsk knew that she was mostly just screwing around with the talk about sex in the field. Which he was genuinely thankful for.
Malla merely clicked her own comms to reply to the pilots. ["See that you don't do it again anytime soon."] She uttered before looking at Korsk and Linay again.
["Those two... I swear that if we didn't have as loose regs as we did, them kriffing in the cockpit on the slower ops would get their wings pulled."] Mallauaggerl half-growled. ["That shtak never would've flown back in the corps."]
Linay nodded as took off her helmet and allowed her shaggy red mane to fall down over her shoulders as she reclined in her seat. ["So. What now?"]
["Kriff if I know. That's up to your handler to figure out."] Mallauaggerl shrugged as she sat down in her own seat once they were airborne. ["So, anyways. You guys take the scenic route back or did Linay's snarking finally convince you to bend her over a rock or something to spite her?"] She asked smarmily, a toothy grin on her face.
Linay burst into laughter. ["I wish!"] She managed between laughs.
["Shame, you two are already practically married as is."] Malla rumbled under her breath as she leaned against the craft's stowed port-side repeating blaster mount.
Korsk blinked, realizing that the Chief was correct.
He and Linay were already practically married.
Putting a hand to his chin, Korsk began to mull what that implied about their relationship and how it could apply to theirs and Kelia's.
A wide grin contorting her snout, Linay turned her head to look at Korsk for a moment as he contemplated this newfound outlook. ["Yeah, but you try telling him that. I swear he's denser than Mandalorian Iron sometimes."] She joked.
["Try a neutron star made of it!"] Mallauaggerl laughed aloud as she patted Korsk on the back, clearly just taking the piss out of him.
Fur twitching in annoyance, Korsk shook his head. ["There's no way Kelia has to deal with this kind of shtak."] He whispered under his breath.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
"SITREP! NOW!" Kelia barked down into the crew pits as the flare from the explosion faded, the AA-9 freighter tumbling aimlessly with all power lost.
"Sir! Freighter Ilisk Noc'tannen has taken a serious hit to their engines and is no longer capable of movement! Bulk transport Nightcrawler has been confirmed lost with all hands!" Yap reported as he looked up from over the shoulders of one of his brothers manning the comms consoles.
The Bothan growled, a feral noise that translated only to raw anger, as she turned and stared out the viewports.
She watched the alert fighters go after the frigates bearing down on the convoy, red and blue bolts of laserfire zipping back and forth in the void as they scattered under the numbers of Republic craft.
"How many hostiles do you think we're dealing with sir?" Perth asked warily.
"At least three currently, likely eight or twelve in total." Kelia sighed, exhaling in an attempt to prevent the pressure, and her anger, from getting the best of her. Her anxiety now thoroughly distant and forgotten.
"INCOMING!" Sweep bellowed from the crew pit.
Another three freighters vanished in balls of flame after another group of missiles raced in from a different vector. Only half of the warheads were intercepted this time.
Her fur bristled on end once more.
That kriffing tore it, no more restraint.
"Get me the starfighter control bridge, I want at least one Y-Wing squadron on hunter-killer duty to find whoever fired those missiles! Gunnery! Set turbos to power setting five and take aim at the frigates we've identified! WIPE THESE FILTHY CHAKAAR OUT!" Kelia snarled, surprising her men with her sudden shift to ruthless violence.
"Sir yes sir!" One of the gunnery officers acknowledged as Kelia turned her attention back out the viewports towards the opening hangar doors.
o.o.o.o.o
Ransack
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
["ATTENTION, ALL SECOND STAGE PILOTS ON DECK! REPEAT, ALL SECOND STAGE PILOTS ON DECK!"] The hangar PA announced as Ransack, CP-68/9134, powered on his Y-Wing's repulsorlifts and lifted the fighter off the deck, retracting the ship's landing gear in the process.
Clone flight crewers scurried about around him as they readied the next group of bombers.
["Blaze Lead to all flights, we've got our ops plan… Commence takeoff procedure."] CP-131/6718, Reflex, informed them over comms as the twelve Y-Wings of Blaze squadron began to power on, the pilots performing an abbreviated pre-flight check.
Ransack flipped a few control switches as he turned on his BTL-T's ion jet engines, hearing them howl through the feedback speakers mounted in the ship's cockpit as he brought the ship's laser and ion cannons online. "About time they let us loose..." He grumbled idly.
Faster than its brother, the still in development twin-place BTL-B, the single seat T model was intended for rapid torpedo attacks instead of saturated bombardment. Boasting a larger torpedo magazine and with frontal-firing only ion guns meant to soften up warships during attack runs.
The extra space normally occupied by a gunner was also used to house a larger generator. This being to compensate for the lower defensive ability by uprating the shields without reducing speed.
Ransack wouldn't have it any other way.
Hit hard, get out, leave the enemy burning in your wake while they tried to figure out what happened. Just like the name he earned back on Kamino.
Let the di'kute ground pounders argue over names now that the Captain had opened that box. Pilots earned theirs just like they earned their wings, to hell with the aiwhabait and their rules.
The voice of the ship's Star Boss echoed over comms as Ransack's bomber lifted off and cleared the bay, turning as it began to head down the light line. ["This is flight control, vector headings transferred and main doors are clear. Hit 'em hard for us Blaze Squadron."]
["Copy that control, keep the flock in line while we get those big bad wolves for you."] Reflex chuckled.
Pulling up and clearing the Kestrel's upper hull as he took off, Ransack chattered status reports over his comms as he brought his fighter around and then slotted into the number three position opposite Blaze 2 as they gained distance from the Kestrel.
["Hey, Ransack!"] Blaze 4, Torrent, called to Ransack over comms as his own fighter formed up behind.
Ransack rolled his eyes, wondering what sort of dumb bet his batcher was going to put forwards now. "Yeah Torrent?"
["I'll bet you a round of drinks that you can't find anything out there before I can."] Torrent laughed.
"I'll take those odds." Ransack chuckled before commencing an active sweep.
Checking his sensor screens every so often as the formation moved though space, Ransack grinned behind his helmet as he spotted an odd discrepancy on the scan after about a minute of sweeping. "Lead, this is Blaze 3, I've got something. Sending co-ords now." He said, resisting the urge to chuckle as he swore he heard Torrent mutter something about 'dirty cheaters'.
["I see 'em 3… Odd, that's not on the vectors of the last missile salvo… Heh, looks like we've got some shy seppies here… So let's go break the ice and introduce ourselves. Now tighten it up and lock it down."] Blaze Leader ordered, his bomber banking and then heading towards the asteroid field, the rest of the squadron following his lead as they 'ascended' to a plane 'above' where the sensor contacts had been detected.
Ransack was personally glad he'd been conditioned to not think too hard about this, would've made his brain hurt otherwise trying to comprehend vertical positioning in an environment that lacked a single, defined, reference point.
As they approached, the bombers increased their speed, hoping to catch the Separatist ships off guard as they dove upon the dorsal surfaces of the missile frigates.
It didn't work.
The four Lupus frigates opened fire on the bombers at range, driving off several of the craft with heavy barrages of laserfire from their point-defense cannons. Most of the Y-Wings survived only by juking and weaving through the asteroids and using them as improvised shields. Still, one was lost to an unlucky hit in the process.
The damaged bomber careened into an asteroid and exploded, Ransack wincing at the loss of one of his vode.
Chatter cut through the previously dead air as the rest of Blaze Squadron began issuing their sitreps.
There was no time to mourn, not while they had hostiles in front of them.
Juking his craft after setting his shields to double front before firing a pair of torpedoes at one frigate, Ransack broke off and reset the distrubution as he watched them impact the sail-like bridge tower of the ship and blow it apart.
"Blaze 3, confirmed decapitation hit on an enemy frigate!" He reported, a few cheers from his squadmates echoing over his comms in acknowledgment of his success.
The crippled vessel's weapons continued to fire blindly on their last designated angles as its gyroscopic stabilizers failed, its blocky hull beginning to list heavily as the ship tilted in response to the impacts it had suffered.
Grinning, Ransack snap-rolled away, glancing over his shoulder in the process to see Torrent press his own attack.
"Blaze 4! Pull out! You're getting in too close!" He shouted on comms, hoping his idiot brother would see sense.
["Negative! I've got the pattern down! I'm going in!"] Torrent snapped back as laserfire whizzed past his Y-Wing, the bomber juking occasionally to throw off incoming fire.
"You di'kut! Get out of there! We can set up another run!" Ransack pleaded as he watched the three fully-operational frigates focus down Blaze 4's bomber.
With the weight of fire now against him, no amount of evasion while maintaining an attack run could stop the inevitable and a shot connected with the port engine, setting it ablaze. ["Blaze 4! You've been hit! Shut down your port engine and get out of there!"] Blaze 2 called out.
["I CAN HOLD HE-"] Torrent shouted before a bolt blew out his cockpit and silenced him, flames billowing from the shattered canopy.
Driven into a rage by the death of his brother, Ransack clenched his controls as he turned hard and came around to set up another run.
It was then he found himself surprised to see the droid ships continuing to fire at Blaze 4's Y-Wing, the doomed craft now trailing smoke and flame.
Pilotless, it continued its funeral course, which aimed it directly at the center Lupus.
With no room for the larger vessels to effectively maneuver amidst the asteroids, the frigate and its associates tried desperately, and in vain, to shoot down the flaming bomber.
Squinting, Blaze also noticed that the soon to be victim vessel had its mandible-like torpedo launcher covers open.
It was clearly ready to fire, possibly even having the warheads armed.
Swearing, the bomber pilot hit his comms switch. "ALL CALLSIGNS! EVAC THE FIELD NOW!" He shouted as he dumped full power to engines and broke off, turning and boosting away.
In reaction to his warning the surviving Y-Wings turned away and hit their accelerators to full burn, their speed skyrocketing as they zipped away from the blast zone.
And not a moment too soon as Blaze 4's Y-Wing impacted the center Lupus. The resulting explosion of fuel and armed proton ordnance set off the frigate's own missile supply, the chain reaction in turn detonating the main reactor.
Nearby asteroids shattered in concert with the doomed Lupus, sending large fragments of rock and metal slamming into the surrounding frigates as well.
Three more fireballs disrupted the asteroid field further and pelting the retreating bombers with a hail of debris.
The storm faded as quickly as it came, leaving only silence and the hum of ion jet engines over the feedback sensors as Ransack gazed solemnly out his cockpit window at the spot where Torrent's short-lived funeral pyre had been.
His adrenaline fading, Ransack slammed his fist on part of the canopy frame. Angry at Torrent for stupidly pressing the attack, at the Kestrel's Captain for sending only twelve bombers out without an escort, and at himself for not drawing fire from his brother.
He wanted to scream at his own impotence.
["Lock it in Blaze Squadron, we're heading back to mother bird."] Blaze Leader uttered before Ransack could verbally vent his frustration, his own prior candor depleted from losing two of his pilots.
Snarling behind his helmet, Ransack obliged and followed the rest of his surviving wingmates home.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
Kelia blinked as massive sphere of light and fire suddenly appeared in one of the nearby asteroid fields, followed quickly by three more. "Zhąr Ghųlm 'vųyąr!" ["GOLM'S FIRE!"] She half-growled, half-yelped, in Bothese as she recoiled from the light for the brief instance the fireballs existed.
Recovering, Kelia turned her attention back to the battle at hand as Battlegroup Retaliation's turbolasers continued to engage something in the distance, blue energy bolts continuing to stream out into the void.
Squinting as she tracked the cones of fire towards their targets, Kelia managed to make out the three Lupus frigates that had launched the first attack against the convoy. Each of them barreling about wildly in attempts to evade Republic laserfire.
Ships that size were deceptively agile. They had to be to survive against larger battleships and cruisers.
"Gunnery! Concentrate fire on the ship that the Hawkbat and Retaliation are attacking, then sync fire with them for each successive vessel!" Kelia barked, eyes remaining narrowed as she aimed her gaze out the bridge windows.
"Sir!" Torres uttered in acknowledgement, issuing the orders to the gunnery crews.
With the Kestrel's cannons mixed in, the remaining frigates stood little chance. Their weaving and dodging, which was punctuated by bursts of emergency maneuvering thrusters as they sped through space while attempting to reload their launchers, was of little avail.
Eventually, the gunners found their mark, whittling down the shields of the frigates with glancing hits from weapons the Lupus was never supposed to stay under concentrated fire from.
The first broke apart under the barrage, chunks of metal tearing off in the ship's death throes.
Before the cannons could be directed, the second Lupus was hammered by missiles from V-19 Torrents and torpedoes from Z-95Rs, which immolated the helpless frigate in a fireball just as brilliant as the last.
The last of the three, making its way down to the convoy and trying to slip in amongst the freighters, found itself the subject of the Kestrel's ire.
The gun crews cranked up the output of the main guns. Eight heavy turbolaser bolts, each with an output in the gigatons, impacted the hapless frigate.
A soft smile appeared on Kelia's snout as she watched the Lupus literally evaporate into its constituent atoms.
Good riddance to convoy raiding trash.
"We've picked up four jumps… Looks like the remaining frigates dumped their missiles and ran. Hawkbat's group is engaging… Osik, they're not fast enough. They only got twelve…" Sweep hissed under his breath as laserfire erupted into the void from the convoy's left flank.
Six flashes illuminated the outline of the Kestrel's starfighter command tower.
More dead freighters.
Kelia exhaled as her anger spiked at the additional losses, staring out the viewports at one of the massive Baleen-class ships as it vented atmosphere despite being otherwise intact.
"Blaze Squadron has returned... Minus two bombers." Yap reported grimly.
What remained of her smiled died as the sobering realization that she had sent men to their deaths set in.
She couldn't afford the guilt just yet though, there was still work to do. "Yap! Get me a status report on that crippled AA-9 freighter!" Kelia shouted as she glanced out the starboard bridge sub-viewport at the tumbling Torolis flagged freighter-liner.
"Sir yes sir!" The chief comms officer acknowledged without looking up from his station.
She may not be able to undo the damage done, but she could at least mitigate anything further.
o.o.o.o.o
Zenir Le'tah
AA-9 Freighter, Ilisk Noc'tannen, Beris System
["This is Lieutenant Rel... Is... Anyone out there?"] Someone coughed in somewhat slurred Bothese over comms as Lieutenant Zenir Le'tah, Bothan Marshals, grabbed onto some cargo netting and hauled herself to her feet as the freighter continued tumbling through the void all around her.
Shaking her head she braced against the wall while regaining her footing, the Marshal looked around to see dozens of tightly packed Bothans, their fur almost universally pressed flat against their skin.
Many were also trying to get back to their feet after the hit the freighter had suffered, most being unable to in the sputtering lights.
Shaking her head, she clicked on her comms.
["Le here. I've got a few minor injuries but so far it's only scared civvies."] She reported, lights flickering above her head, likely the result of overloads from the damage.
["Copy that. Uhh… Check for any hull breaches in your section."]
She rolled her eyes at Rel'lya's dazed stupidity and pulled out a sheet of flimsiplast.
Zenir slowly began walking along the wall while holding it out.
It was a low-cost atmosphere leak test and every Marshal had been trained to do it when needed.
A few small crowds of civilians moved out of Le'tah's way after they saw her approach. Deferring to her authority as a Marshal.
Running the sheet close to the darkened outer bulkhead wall, Zenir's brown fur bristled in alarm as the flimsiplast was suddenly sucked towards it.
Thankfully, a quick check with her hand revealed it was only an intake vent.
Sighing in relief, she tapped her comms. ["Zneir Le reporting in… We are green. No breaches."]
["Copy that, I'm taking charge here. All Marshals keep the civvies calm and report status in to me."]
"Keep the civvies calm…" She growled in accented basic, disappointed that Rel'lya regained his bearings so quickly and thought of taking command before her. "I've got nearly five thousand in my section crammed almost shoulder to shoulder in places and the closest other marshal is halfway across the hold… And why the hell don't we have anyone above lieutenant on this damn ship…"
Suddenly, the ship jerked again, its tumble coming to a halt and nearly taking everyone standing off their feet once more.
A few minutes later a dull thud echoed through the ship's hull, inciting another panic as scared Bothans began yipping and growling in fear of what the new sound meant.
Zenir, more experienced than them as a spacefarer, realized what the noise was.
Docking clamps.
"What the…?" She murmured softly as she felt the ship lurch and then settle.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
["Captain Los'ean; explain yourself!"] Priv Gressler uttered with barely restrained anger as he and Kelia stared each other down.
Even through the blue tint of the hologram she could see the human's face was red with fury.
"I'm bringing the civilians from the damaged AA-9 aboard the Kestrel, my men are already setting up sleeping bags, cots, secure areas for changing, portable refreshers, and any other amenities wherever they can." The Bothan yipped testily, her fur bristling angrily in response.
Her adrenaline still high enough to keep her anxiety at bay, Kelia thus didn't give a womp rat's shebs what Gressler thought of her at the moment.
["You stopping your ship to bring the passengers and crew aboard places the entire convoy in jeopardy! Not to mention the logistics of your vessel being able to sustain such a number of beings!"]
"A Venator's life support is rated for nearly a hundred thousand humanoids at maximum capacity." Kelia shot back. "Besides! I'm not leaving them to the mercy of whomever will come by until the Fei Hu sector forces show up because my ship couldn't take down all of those torpedoes!"
It was then that she several wary glances being exchanged between the Clones around her.
Kelia felt a wall of guilt slam into her gut, her fur settling into a nervous swirl as she realized what she had done.
She had inadvertently insulted the ability of her own crew while trying to justify her decision to save lives.
What a mess she was.
The Eriaduan man's eyes narrowed at her on the holo just as Maarisa Zsinj's own projection flared to life.
["Captain Gressler!"] She snapped, far more forcefully than either him or Kelia had anticipated.
The man snapped to attention. ["Admiral."] He acknowledged with crisp military decorum.
["The Ilisk Noc'tannen has over thirty-thousand beings aboard when accounting for the crew and the detachment of Bothan Marshals on the ship. Must I explain what the Bothan reaction to Republic warships leaving thirty thousand of their people to die would be? Let alone what the CIS would make of it in their propaganda?"]
Gressler shook his head. ["No ma'am… I understand perfectly."] He uttered, shaking a bit in anger at the fact that he was being reprimanded and not Kelia.
["Good. Captain Los'ean."] She stated, her projection turning to look at Kelia.
"Ma'am?" Kelia acknowledged, snapping to attention herself, the swirling of her fur changing to a more vibrant and anxious pattern.
["You have my authorization to take charge of the crew and passengers of the Ilisk Noc'tannen."]
She blinked in surprise, her mouth running ahead of her brain. "But… Admiral, what about the Kestrel's role in the convoy?"
Zsinj narrowed her eyes, which caused Kelia's fur to ripple anxiously as her insecurities spiked at the thought she had just undermined the Admiral's confidence in her.["We should have smooth sailing from here on out. During the battle we got a communication from intelligence, it appears that a CIS Fleet is waiting for us in the Shador system."]
"With all due respect Admiral…" Kelia whined nervously. "I don't see how that's going to equate to 'smooth sailing' for us."
["I've just received a communication from Denon Command… A squadron is being to clear the path ahead of us."] The Admiral informed them, seeming somewhat confused herself.
"A squadron…? Naval or fighter?" She mumbled, confused.
["Oddly enough, fighter."]
She blinked incredulously. "How can a single fighter squadron take on a fleet?"
Gressler shared her bemusement with the news. ["I agree with Captain Los'ean… One fighter squadron can't possibly defeat an entire fleet."]
["I concur, hence why we'll prepare for full battlestations once we've jumped."] Maarisa Zsinj admitted, rubbing her chin as she thought about the information. ["On the off-chance that we do get lucky… Well, then we'll lower the alert once we've made next jump."]
Kelia nodded, as did a still wary Gressler.
Something nagged at the back of the Bothan's mind, however.
What idiot was crazy enough to take on a whole fleet with just a fighter squadron?
o.o.o.o.o
Entering her office a few minutes later, Kelia looked over at Dan'lya as she watched the other Bothan work on brewing some caf, getting a nice view of her from behind.
She immediately dismissed the thoughts about Dan'lya. Her libido still hadn't gotten the memo apparently.
Kriff, she really did have a lot of pent-up sexual energy didn't she? It'd been what? Nearly three years since she'd last gotten laid?
She and her husband had some catching up to do whenever they reunited. With or without Linay's involvement.
"Captain?" Dan'lya asked, her Kothlis accent a bit more noticeable given her pronunciation.
Snapping back to reality, Kelia looked over at Dan'lya. "Yes Lieutenant?" She acknowledged.
"I brewed some caf for you. Do you want some?" Dan'lya asked as she held up a full pot of the caffeinated liquid.
For an Alya, Jural Dan'lya was utterly adorable, and Kelia felt a soft fuzzy feeling at the sense of sheer innocence her aide gave off sometimes.
Shtak, she really was a closet degenerate.
Smiling earnestly and hiding her internal emotions, Kelia gave her aide a nod. "Yes, that would be nice."
All she could do was wait anyways.
o.o.o.o.o
Sergeant Sabre
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
Sabre, carbine in hand, was the first through the boarding tube between the Kestrel and the Memory.
"Sarge, I can't see osik in here… Looks like the damage is more extensive than we thought." Rori muttered as Sabre led Beskar Squad onto the freighter.
"Copy, head-lamps on. And try not to startle the civvies, they're already scared enough." Sabre instructed before raising an arm after activating the two lights mounted to his helmet as the squad made their way down the hallway.
Grabbing onto a door, Saber and Rori began to force it open as Riz watched their backs as they slowly parted the metal slabs.
From the other side they heard a bunch of startled yelps and yips in Bothese.
"Dim headlamps, don't need to blind anyone." Sabre ordered as he stepped through once it was open enough, his carbine held at low ready.
Inside the hold were hundreds of tightly packed Bothans. All of whom were now staring at the pristine white armor of the Clones in a mix of awe, confusion, and a little fear.
As he observed them, Sabre heard the snap of a safety coming off.
Sabre whirled to see a Bothan in the blue uniform of a Bothan marshal aim her pistol at him, and then lower it after realizing he was a Republic soldier.
"Identify yourself." She half-growled nervously in basic.
"Sergeant CT-42/122, 608th Mobile Regiment." Sabre stated as he kept his carbine at ready, with his reaction speed he was confident he could outdraw her. "You next."
The Bothan looked at him in confusion before shaking her head. "Lieutenant Zenir Le'tah, Bothan Marshals."
There was a crash as someone tripped over a crate. "Ah kriff." She growled as her head turned that direction, figuring some civilian had gone and hurt themselves.
"Who's in charge here?" Sabre inquired as his squad pushed the remainder of the door out of the way.
She shook her head. "No kriffing idea, there's no chain of command in this entire mess."
"Well, there is now. We have orders to begin moving the civilians to the Kestrel." The Clone informed her.
There were several whispers from the crowd, but Sabre ignored them.
Le'tah eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"
He looked left to right and then waved for her to follow him into the hall.
Rolling her eyes, Le'tah followed, stopping behind the Clone once they were out of earshot of the civilians.
"Hear anything officer?" He asked her suddenly.
Le'tah frowned at the use of the term 'officer' and shook her head, ears perking up to scan for sound. "Of course, I don't…" Her jaw set as she realized that aside from the shifting of deck plates under the thousands of Bothans and the relative few Non-Bothans aboard, along with the whir of droid motors.
She didn't hear anything, especially not the previously omnipresent rumble of the ship's engines. "Oh kriff… They've shut down the engines…"
"Worse, this ship no longer has engines." Sabre informed her. "And we can't be expected to tow a hulk all the way to Dressel. So Captain Los'ean has taken it upon herself to bring the passengers and crew aboard the Kestrel."
The Marshal narrowed her eyes slightly at the mention of Kelia but didn't argue. "Right, we'll begin moving them and their belongings as soon as possible. Just don't step on our feet, Clone." She whisper-growled.
Sabre merely nodded in understanding as she led them back into the main hold.
o.o.o.o.o
Kelia Los'ean
RSD Kestrel, Beris System
Kelia anxiously stood on the bridge as she waited for the last of the civilians to be brought aboard the Kestrel.
Beside her was the Ilisk Noc'tannen's captain, Melik Fer'tannen, who watched sadly as he too waited for confirmation that his vessel was to be cut loose.
Perth walked over and nodded at Kelia. "We've triple-swept everything, with life-sign scanners too. Everyone's been accounted for, even the occasional pet we've found." The Clone assured her.
The Kestrel had ended up lingering behind the convoy, which had jumped nearly twenty minutes ago. And Kelia was chomping at the bit to get going again.
The dull thud of the docking clamps disengaging echoed through the Kestrel's hull, with a quick application of a lateral tractor beam array pushing the hulked AA-9 freighter away from the Venator-class.
Kelia sighed as she saw Fer'tannen's fur ripple while he watched his ship drift off towards one of the assemblages of debris, the tan and orange freighter growing ever more distant as the Kestrel pulled away.
Understanding his regret at seeing his ship become nothing more than drifting garbage, Kelia then activated her headset after linking it to the PA system. "All hands, standby for the jump to hyperspace. All civilians please observe that the following alarm is merely a hyperspace transition alert." She uttered seconds before the Kestrel's jump alarm began to blare.
The ship lurched under their feet as it entered the hazy blue-white void of hyperspace.
Fer'tannen turned to face Kelia and clasped his hands in front of himself. ["I never thought I'd be thanking an Aean given the history between our clans… But thank you for not leaving us behind."] He told her in Bothese.
She nodded in understanding. ["I do what I can."]
With that, Fer'tannen strode off the bridge, a pair of Clone Troopers escorting him out.
Sighing as the Kestrel's windows turned opaque, Kelia took off her cap and ran a hand through her hair. "Kriff… I just feel like shtak…" She muttered tiredly.
With her adrenaline high burnt out for a few hours now, she was barely staying awake.
Perth seemed to notice. "Captain, go take a rest, we can handle things here."
She looked up at him. "Are you sure?"
"You and Lieutenant Dan'lya did give us all that basic course on all of the essentials the Kaminoans never taught us. So long as the men conduct themselves well, and our guests behave, everything should be fine." He assured her.
Kelia nodded. "Right, you have the bridge then Perth… I'm gonna go get some sleep."
Her XO saluted, which Kelia returned tiredly before leaving the bridge.
o.o.o.o.o
Striding down the hallway to her quarters, Kelia nodded at the door gaurd before entering and sealing the ship off behind her.
She felt tired, she stank of adrenaline induced sweat, and the sense of guilt was killing her.
Honestly, she wanted a kriffing water shower to relax, but didn't have that recourse.
Stripping her uniform and underwear off, Kelia entered the refresher and turned on the sink, splashing some water onto her face before taking a blow dryer and running it over her now damp facial fur, resisting the instinctual urge to flinch as the warm air blew at her whiskers.
It was enough to keep her awake for the moment, which would suffice.
Exhausted nonetheless, the Bothan managed a cheerful grin at her reflection before stepping into the sonic.
Since it was her personal unit, she had no need to reset it every time, and she simply turned it on and let the harmonic waves wash over her body.
A weariness set in as she felt herself starting to nod off. Kelia smacking the side of her snout to keep herself awake. "Alright… Focus Kel, it'd look seriously unprofessional if you fell asleep naked in the refresher and nobody figured it out until you woke up." She muttered softly. "It'd be even worse if it was Dan'lya found you..."
Some depraved part of her admittedly wanted that to happen, but she suppressed it, sighing as she wondered if Linay had affected her sexual mindset more than previously thought.
She stood there for a while before finally shutting off the sonic and exiting it.
o.o.o.o.o
Properly changed once she was as finished as she could be with her business in the refresher, Kelia reclined on her side in bed and went over the ship's computer logs of the engagement as it unfolded.
It did little to help her mood, as she saw her tactics and found them wanting.
If she had unleashed her escort corvettes and fighters en-masse, she may have been able to disrupt the missile attacks, or even prevent them entirely.
A balled fist slammed into her covers as she fought back tears, blond fur bristling in anger at herself.
She'd screwed up, got arrogant about classical thinking and fell back on her academy training regarding convoy escort instead of using her brain to deal with a developing situation. Nor had she taken the time to remember that aggressive convoy defense was ideal for keeping the attackers away from their target.
Beings had died because of her failure. People with families and friends, not kriffing AI in a simulation.
Worse was the loss of two of her pilots, men she had sent to their deaths without proper support in the heat of the moment.
It was only sheer luck that the damage hadn't been worse. If there had been more substantial enemy forces than a single pack of Lupus frigates, then who knows what kind of losses the convoy, and her pilots, would have suffered?
Kelia tossed the datapad onto the floor, thankfully managing to not damage it, and curled into a ball with tears flowing down her face. Eventually falling asleep in that position.
o.o.o.o.o
Perth
RSD Kestrel, Shador System
When the convoy decanted into the Shador System, they came out with shields up and all weapons and fighters ready to go.
The Kestrel, a few minutes behind, came out next.
All were greeted only by scattered ships from Shador itself, and the smoldering hulks of the CIS patrol fleet drifting among what remained of their anchorage orbiting the planet's moon.
As they warily approached, a single Z-95R zipped past the bridge of the Kestrel from the direction of the orbital platform, close enough that the crew could make out the black painted wing on the Republic craft.
Then it was gone, having jumped into hyperspace.
Perth narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the text-only message he'd received from the craft.
[I may have missed a few.-Carrion One]
Interesting, he didn't think a single fighter was capable of such a feat.
At least, not one piloted by someone who wasn't a Jedi.
Regardless, they had a schedule to keep, and so he directed the Kestrel to make best speed to rejoin the convoy before the next jump.
Then, once the remainder of the ships were assembled and synced, they leapt into hyperspace once more.
o.o.o.o.o