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Chapter 6
JAS Yvarra
In Orbit above Jenrai
The Yvarra sat in orbit above Jenrai, as a large swarm of ships moved into position around her. This old vessel was the flagship for the mission into Sanc Union space, and the personal ship of Captain Etrum Abahn. It started life as a Kaut Drive Yards Perseverance class Heavy Cruiser. It was a large powerful vessel long and somewhat flat with a triangular hull. Some said it was reminiscent to a "mini" Super Star Destroyer. Mostly because of its exposed superstructure along the middle, and armored outer edges. The Yvarra has been damaged or crippled multiple times in its long career. Being rebuilt and put into service so many times no one can remember how many conflicts it has seen over the years. It finally ended up in the hands of the Jenrai Alliance and pressed into service as the flagship of the forces that fought at Merceles II. After Abahn's rise in the Navy he had it upgraded and refurbished again and the two have never parted since.
"Ah, a beautiful sight isn't it Lt. Lesli."
"Sir?" said the young Lieutenant, but Abahn didn't hear her as he was lost in the sight from the Yvarra's viewport. There surrounding the Yvarra was the Task force fleet lit by the glow of the Planet Jenrai. Ships of all sizes flew back and forth as the fleet prepared for departure. Large ships of the line lumbered into position surrounding the Yvarra. The beautiful lines of a Verillu Heavy Cruiser glided into view, its deadly weaponry visible from only a few hundred meters away. Ship tenders still berthed with other capital ships swarmed with droids and personnel doing last minute supply checks.
L'hion Strike cruisers approached the fleet in a particular formation, heading under the Yvarra's belly as they passed. A sign of deferment and salute of leadership. An honored greeting to respected allies. Lady Oruska must be in command. Abahn saluted them as they approached, knowing she'd be looking.
Carriers, Cruisers, Frigates, Transports; a beautiful site to behold surely, but also a deadly sight Abahn had to remind himself. A gathering of firepower that would more than likely be used in the coming days. Some of these fine ships would not be coming home, their crews lost forever. Abahn looked at young Lesli wondering if she would survive the coming trails. Enough of that, he told himself. Best not to let yourself start thinking of the potentials. He was in charge of this fleet and he would make sure as many of these fine people as possible made it back that was all he needed to think about at this time.
He smiled at the young lieutenant sheepishly, "There is something amazing about seeing one's fleet gathering." He said with a content sigh.
"That's our Captain Abahn, head in the clouds as usual," said a female voice from behind him. He turned to see his second in command walk onto the command deck of the bridge. She was a Bothan expatriate named Hesska Jysl. She had recently returned to duty after an extended leave of absence.
"Where would you have it be, in the gutter?" he said jokingly. "Glad to have you back Hesska, I'm sure the crew is as well. They did so miss their loving mother."
"Well someone has to raise these upstarts." She said, giving him a feral grin. "Alright people playtime is over! For I have returned!!" she said as she made her way down towards other sections of the bridge, chatting with long time colleges, yelling at others as she did so.
Then another person entered the command deck, an older looking Zebrak in ambassadorial robes. He looked around, nodding to the impressive sight of the Yvarra's bridge before walking over to talk to the Captain
"I believe we haven't meet," said the Zebrak man smiling graciously. "Ambassador Kiish of the Senatorium."
"Captain Etrum Abahn, leader of this little expedition," said Abahn as he shook the other mans hand. He grinned before adding. "I must say, I am surprised to see you here so early."
Kiish raised his hand in mock embarrassment. " I see my reputation has preceded me."
"Forgive me heh heh. Seriously though, I've heard great things about you." Abahn said turning serious, "We could use the expertise. Diplomacy is a skill we militia forces are sorely lacking."
"I'm more here for the excitement myself sir, "said a smiling Kiish. "How soon until we depart."
"The fleet should be ready in a few more hours, then the "excitement" begins, though it probably won't be to your liking."
"Trust me I can handle it."
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A few hours had passed and the fleet stood ready. All forty ships assembled in transport formation awaiting the orders to depart. A rather large show of force by Jenrai standards.
"All ships prepped and ready sir, you orders." said Lt. Commander Jysl.
Abahn nodded. "As planned we will proceed to the Filarhah system on the outer edges of Sanc Union. Hopefully we can gain more information about the situation before heading deeper into their territory. Lt. Commander give to the order to jump.
"Ok people, lets get moving." Jysl yelled to the bridge crew. " All Ships proceed to hyperspace."
The mighty Jenrai Taskforce formed up, and en masse jumped to hyperspace. Operation Relief Effort set into motion
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Nejim hug upside down, immersed in the wires and parts of his fighter. Virtually alone in this part of the ships cavernous hanger bay. During long hyperdrive trips he always felt bored and anxious. Even after all the missions he had been on during his career he still felt anxious. So Nejim liked to make himself useful during this time, to help clear his thoughts. Such as running maintenance on his starfighter. He always liked that, tinkering with his fighter always seemed to take his mind off of the outside universe.
Nejim lay face down on the aft part of his starfighter's fuselage. He sat up and turned to grab a set of tools out of his nearby kit. "Ok, Tier run the diagnostic again, how does it look, " said Nejim. A set of seemingly random blurbs echoed back from his astromech droid, but Nejim was partially "versed" in simple binary, and it did not sound too good. "Just great then, isolate that system and give me a few minutes I think I have it. Just a few more calibrations."
Tier was Nejim's astromech droid, a relatively newer R12 unit. Though it did start life as a relatively older R2 unit, Nejim spent the money to upgrade it after he inherited it. Tier was named in memory of his father. Ironic in that it inherited some of his father's spirit and stubbornness. Though at least this droid is dependable and honest…. nothing like him. Him…which is the real reason my mind is in such turmoil. The Paets have returned to Sanc space, and its as if the area is outraged just by my presence here. Dn you father, everyone of you.. Nejim's family had dark history within this region, a secret he managed to keep from everyone around him. Going back into Sanc space where he may end up slamming into his heritages past was worrying him, but as a JADF Pilot it was his duty. Maybe I shouldn't worry to much. I'm just an anonymous pilot, there is no way I could run into..
Tier's harsh beeps echoed to him, bringing him out of his reverie. The beeps came again. "What!? No I do not need you to help, give me a little credit Tier." Nejim slung his torso over the side of the fighter's fuselage once again immersing himself in the machines innards. It was a few minutes after that when he heard someone speak to him. He looked "down" to see that it was Captain Abahn of all people. Saluting the man from upside down, he rolled his body forward and executed a small flip off of the fighter landing on his feet.
"Impressive trick," said Abahn raising one eyebrow. He walked over and shook the other man's hand.
"Not really sir, fall enough times and bust your back, you learn a few tricks." Nejim replied as he clasped Abahn's hand. "Pleasure to be serving under you again Capt. Abahn."
"Pleasure to have you Yavins with us again, or at least some of you Yavins anyway. The rest are just as much trouble as I remembered them."
Nejim nodded smiling. "Anything I can do for you sir,"
"Not really, just looking for Tanem, figured he'd be down here. There's a few things I need to discuss with him."
"Oh, you might want to try his quarters. Tanem usually disappears like this before a mission, sometimes secreted away in his quarters. I always think it's that Tanem grabs as much sleep as he can before a big mission. I wish I could do that."
Abahn nodded his head knowingly, "I've got the Jitters as well Lt. Paet maybe that's why I'm wondering around."
Nejim laughed a bit before adding, "Actually sir I'm a captain these days, like you."
"Ah, you Space Force boys and your odd ranks," Abahn said jokingly. "Seriously though Nejim I am pleasantly surprised, you finally accepted some command responsibility. I remember back when you were the shyest fighter pilot this side of a Chadra-Fan. I never pegged you as wanting to be an officer."
"Time with the Yavins has really changed me sir, I guess. Still, Capt. I couldn't have been that bad."
"I didn't mean that in a bad way, there are far worse things a pilot can be. Sure you were a little people wary, but damn you were one of the bravest men I knew back then." Abahn said pausing, reminiscing about that terrible day, "I still remember that shot at Merceles. That madman Tanem had volunteered his squadron to make a suicide run on the Emporia, he went against my orders, and its funny, you pilots followed him without a moments hesitation. That ship was horribly defended yet you pilots braved that hailstorm anyway. How many did you lose on the first run, half?"
"Yeah about that much," said a somber Nejim. "Five good pilots gone in the bat of an eye."
"Yet still you all went back at her again. I remember even Tanem getting ready to pull out or perhaps to die. But one young pilot lined up and fired one of the most beautiful shots I have ever seen. The Emporia was done, and the fleet panicked. That was the day one torpedo brought down an entire fleet." Abahn said proudly.
Nejim hung his head bashfully, "Sir surely you exaggerate. Besides it was mostly luck, I just had a... I don't know a….feeling, and pulled the trigger. Who knew how things would turn out, I expected to be dead in the next 10 seconds. I remember letting out a wordless scream that still haunts me. Only three Alphas made it back that day, we thought we were going to die for sure. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here today."
Seeing Nejim's reaction he added "Thankfully you didn't. Nejim let me let you get back to your work, sorry to bring up old conflicts like that… that day changed a lot of lives kid. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, even after all these years."
"I don't think any of us that were there can stop thinking about it either sir."
Abahn nodded solemnly and saluted Nejim, "Let me let you get back to your work. I shall go find Colonel Vekk now. Thanks." With that he turned and walked towards the hanger bay exit.
"Its no problem Capt. Abahn," he said to the departing Captain. When Abahn was gone he turned back to his Varia fighter and his Droid, his mind a swirl of dark thoughts and memories. "Ok Tier back to work, lets run that diagnostic one more time," he said grabbing a latter to get back up on his fighter. There were modifications to be done, and things to forget.
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Filarhah System, Sanc space
The fleet exited Hyperspace intact. All its ships pouring out into real space.
"Everything seems to be in order," said Abahn. His ship had just initiated a check, turning up no problems resulting from the jump. "Lt. Commander Jysl contact Commander Hime on the Yaig. I want to use that ships sensors to divulge as much information about the area as possible."
"A problem sir, I'm having trouble reaching the Yaig. Infact it seems most of our fleet is unable to contact each other. Some kind of interference, its disrupting the sensors as well."
Lt. Lesli, the ships communications officer looked up from her station. "She's right sir, I can't raise most of the fleet's ships. Only those within close proximity sir, and still it's a little distorted. How is this possible?"
Capt. Abahn sat back in his chair worried, the enemies ability to jam comm. signals was a bit more disorienting than expected. "Ok, we didn't expect the Filarhah system to already be under the invaders comm. blackout. That means, one that our info was off, and two that the aliens have expanded their operations if even Filarhah is effected. This poses serious problems for us. Lt. Lesli contact all the Ship Captains in the fleet, tell them to meet me here. Try a direct laser transmission, if that fails we'll have to do it by fighter."
Hesska Jysl eyed him grimly, the fur on her neck raised in agitation, "This does not bode well for us Captain."
"I'd have to agree with you. Well let's see what we can scrape up LC."
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"Attention Crew, this is Captain Abahn speaking. I'm sure all of you have been briefed on our situation. The aggressors' ability to jam our communications is troubling, but tight short-range beam transmissions still seem to work. Fighter pilots should not be affected too heavily as the distortion effect is less effective at close ranges. Soon the fleet will be making its way to Sanc Prime. Hopefully upon meeting with them and establishing a plan of support, we will find a way to overcome this most disorienting technology. First though, we will make a stop over in the Leistat system to make the final course correction for Sanc Prime. This trip should take us about 5 hours. I want this ship on full Alert, as we do not know when we will engage the enemy. All pilots I want you fully prepped and ready for immediate launch. That is all."
"Well sir the fleet is ready to jump to hyperspace. Though it wont be an exactly uniform one, Orders sir?" said Hesska Jysl.
"That's as good as we can hope for. Looks like we're ready anyway. Give the order."
The Yvarra picked up speed and accelerated to Hyperspace. One by one the ships of the Jenrai Alliance fleet followed suit, not able to jump in synchronization. The unknown invaders technology making such coordination impossible. The harbringer of things to come perhaps.
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The Yvarra's main flight bay was alive with the sounds off people toiling away. Given the Captain's recent orders everyone was scrambling to make sure the ships compliment of starfighters were ready for any potential threat. The Yavins were there as well gathered in a small group off to the side of their fighters.
"Alright Yavins listen up," sounded the voice Tanem Vekk. His usually clam demeanor replaced by a strange neutral readiness. "I've got a feeling that pretty soon we will be engaging the enemy. I think we need to get our minds composed."
Elajul seemed amused by this. "What's that commander? You a jedi now?" she joked, Elajul was using a feminine voice again these days.
"I don't know about that stuff El. It's just that the stage seems set for an attack," he said. "I want us to be more than ready. We will mostly likely be the first ones engaging the enemy. We can't afford to be slack, what with the unknown aliens' abilities, and us flying blindly into possibly hostile territory. There are too many variables, and that I don't like." The others noticed that Tanem seemed out of character. He was usually so calm and collected, he never seemed nervous before a mission; it was odd. The other pilots picked up on the mood of their leader easily.
"No prob, Tanem. We'll be extra vigilant don't worry. We've encountered our fair share of strange enemies. These guys will be no different I bet." said Esel Pavl. " Its gonna be a piece of Ryscate, until we get to Sanc that is."
"I agree with the Captain," said the usually quiet Nataru Kawar. "Perhaps Esel-sa it would be wise to be cautious in this situation."
"Worry is pointless," rasped the mechanical voice of Tybolt. The robot turned to leave and then added, "We have an enemy to face, it does not matter what we do or do not know about them. They must be fought sooner or later. And That is all I need to know." With that said Tybolt left the group, seemingly uninterested in the musings of his fellow pilots. "You'll all forgive Tybolt," said Villa Marik, covering for her wingmate, "He's been having…problems." Tanem raised one eyebrow to this bit of information.
Just then an announcement came over the intercom. "All crew ready stations, we are exiting hyperspace."
"Well Tybolt, does have a point," said Nejim. Nejim seemed aloof, as if distracted by something. "But I think that the Colonel is right, something does feel strange about this whole situation, something is going to happen. Probably shouldn't wander to far from our Varias."
Tanem Vekk nodded to Nejim in agreement. After discussing a few other issues he dismissed them. Tanem then turned and strode towards his starfighter. Hanik Seese, his wingmate followed close behind, as always.
"I think you guys are being overly paranoid," Esel said to Nejim and Giani as they strode towards their fighters. "We've been out of warp for a while now and there hasn't been an alert." Nejim just shrugged as he and Giani strode over to their ships and got ready to check them.
Alarm Sirens began to sound and Captain Abahn's voice echoed over the comm. system. "All crew alert! Enemy has been sited, report to your designated positions. We are about to engage unknown hostiles! I want all fighters out of my bay now!!"
Nejim looked across the bay to were Esel Pavl had just sat down in his fighter's cockpit and gave the other man a jovial smirk. I was kinda hoping I was wrong, he thought, Today does not seem like a good day to be piloting.