Last time: Kyr and Viran received treatment for their wounds. Sasha took Kyr to the mindspace to search for Cien. Kait wants armor.
Now: Tac awakens.
Chapter 11- Next Stop
"This should be it." Chief Obrean said glancing up at Kyr. "Just like old times, eh Colonel?" He said as he turned back and plugged one last data connection into Tacs little data port.
"Yeah." Kyr said uneasily.
QT whistled at the technician a few excited beeps.
"No, he should be back to his old self. We just had to repair a damage processing board, but all his memory lattices are intact." Oberon said, looking at his datapad as the process ran.
QT gave a mournful little whistle, and Kyr couldn't tell if it was in relief or disappointment. He smirked slightly, and patted her little dome.
Viran leaned against his crutch as he looked on. Sasha stood with them, Oppie and Kait next to her but hanging back a little, all of them waiting in anxious anticipation.
"Okay, that should be it." Chief Obrean said, looking on at Tac expectantly.
For a few tense heartbeats nothing happened. Then Tac's lights all lit up in a little sequence, and his dome rotated first left, then right, then his eye settled on the family and Kyr.
QT started beeping and whistling furiously at him as she started chiding him for doing something so stupid.
"QT!" Kyr started, annoyed, "give him a chance to speak. Tac, what did you find?" Kyr asked anxiously.
Tac started beeping and whistling, and his dome rotated a little as he spoke as if he was excited.
"Slow down." Kyr said, "what do you mean you got coordinates for the Aspis? What is that?"
Tac beeped and whistled more slowly.
"Okay, how does knowing where this Imperial ship is… Wait, the Aspis, wasn't she part of Jiardon's original squadron?"
Tac whistled triumphantly at that as Kyr brought his hand up to his chin.
"What is it?" Sasha asked, looking up at Kyr. "What did he say?"
"Tac got coordinates to a shipyard where the Aspis was being overhauled by the remnant when the relay station got shut down." Kyr said, thinking. "It was a light cruiser in Jiardon's squadron, and it was supposed to be in dock until next month. If we can get aboard that ship, Dravis might be able to slice it and figure out where the rest of the ships in the squadron are. Where the Taipan is." He said, looking up at them.
Tac whistled triumphantly and sent a digital raspberry to QT, and QT just turned and exuded an aire of glaring at him.
"So where do we need to go?" Viran asked.
Tac whistled at Viran.
"Really? Alright," Viran said, blinking.
"Where is it?" Sasha asked her husband.
"He said the shipyard is on Aztel VI," Viran translated.
"This is amazing, Tac. Thank you." Kyr hobbled over using his cane, and patted his little dome affectionately.
"Hun, what's the deal with Aztel VI?" Sasha asked Viran.
"Oh, it was a shipyard that was decommissioned just after the Clone Wars that had rumors of an Imperial presence," Viran explained. "However, there was never any proof but there is a rumor that it might still house ARC-170s left over from the war that were just left behind." He had a glint in his eye at the thought of potentially finding still functional ARC-170s. "But again, like I said, it was just a rumor back when we were on Nivon. Visiting pilots mentioned it a few times."
"Ah, I see," Sasha said, smirking.
"Rumors?" Kyr asked. "Like they didn't acknowledge it officially?"
"Not that I ever heard," Viran shook his head. "And I never really heard stories of it after leaving Nivon. But if the Aspis is getting repaired there, then it is possible there may be some truth behind those rumors."
"Maybe we can go upstairs and talk to the Admiral and Scamp about it, see what NRI knows." Kyr suggested.
"Yeah, that wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd be curious to know if it was true or not," Viran said, turning to face everyone. "Also the sooner we can also get under way the better too."
"Agreed," Sasha nodded.
Kyr started hobbling away and he looked at the engineer who had saved Tac's life. "Thanks Chief." He said.
"Anytime. I'll let him free once his diagnostics all checkout clean." Obrean replied as he turned back to his datapad that was still hooked up to Tac.
Oppie and Kait were first to the door since they were the closest, and they waited outside in the wide corridor for everyone else to exit. "So we have to start thinking of assaulting a shipyard?" Oppie asked.
"I guess so," Sasha said, realizing what he said as the rest of them walked out of the room. "How exactly do we want to go about doing that? That doesn't sound like an easy task to pull off."
"It starts with knowing what we're heading into." Kyr said, grimacing as he shifted his weight wrong and his healing leg protested as he hobbled along. "If Jiardon is using this place as a shipyard, though, then that means it might be a beskarmine of intel about his fleet. And if we find him, we find Cien." He stated as he kept walking ahead towards where the turbolift was.
"How far from here is Aztel VI?" Sasha asked.
"Exactly?" Viran thought for a moment, unsure. "We would need to get an accurate answer from the navi computer, but I think about a day at the most." He surmised with half a shrug as he adjusted the crutch. "Why do you ask?"
"I just want to make sure you two are good to go when we do get there," Sasha said simply as they reached the turbolift.
"I'll be good to go." Kyr said with determination in his voice as he stepped into the lift and waited for the rest of the family to board.
"You don't have to do everything, Kyr, we might be able to take this one depending on what this ends up being." Oppie suggested.
Kyr glanced at him as he hit the button to take them up to the command deck. "I'll be fine. I've fought through worse." He stated.
Kait glanced at Sasha and Viran at that, while Oppie looked worriedly at his brother.
"I know you have, but if the shipyard is a simple job that only requires getting in and getting out then we can easily handle that while you guys heal," Sasha pointed out. "We need you both to be healthy and ready to go for when we do find Cien. Plus in the end, it will be Kelce's call on whether you can even go or not."
Kyr shrugged, then grimaced from the movement. "Doc's cool, he'll let us go." He said, staring at the door.
Sasha raised a skeptical brow at that.
"Absolutely not," Kelce said in a disapproving tone as he stood before Kyr and Viran, his arms folded across his chest.
The Defiant had just arrived to Aztel VI a couple of hours ago and Avengers Squadron had just returned from their reconnaissance of the shipyards. They reported the place appeared to be abandoned, but they were able to confirm the presence of the Aspis down below. But they also reported that something appeared to be off with their scanners when they did a sweep of the ship. They were getting no lifeform readings anywhere.
"It's an abandoned shipyard, why can't we go?" Kyr demanded. "Look at how sad you've made Viran, this is like a dream come true for him." He nodded to the younger man.
Viran looked like he was about to say something, but looked at Kyr in confusion for a second. He then realized what he was trying to do. He threw on a pout. "Please," he asked sweetly. "I really want to see the ARC-170s."
Kelce put a hand to his eyes, shaking his head. "Colonel, you are in no condition to go just yet. Your leg still hasn't finished healing," he pointed out. "In fact, neither of your legs have. You both still require at least a couple more bacta treatments before I can approve your release." He dropped his hand and looked at them, sternly. "Plus with it being abandoned, this is the perfect opportunity to rest and finish healing. I'm sorry, Colonel, but leave this mission to the others. You two are not going anywhere."
Kyr glanced away, looking like he was going to argue before he closed his eyes and nodded. "Fine."
Viran nodded too.
Kelce sighed at that and looked at the two of them. His gaze then rested on Kyr. He walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on the Colonel's shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to do this, but I want you to be healthy and at your best when we do find the Taipan. So you can go all out and save your wife." He said quietly enough that only Kyr could hear. "I'm just looking out for you, Kyr. The last thing I want is for your injury to get worse because of something that could happen down there if you are not careful."
Kyr sighed. "I guess, yeah. I just worry about them going down there without me." He said, speaking of his brother and sister, and the rest of the Copperheads that were currently gearing up for the mission.
"I get it," Kelce said, genuinely. "I'm worried about Nova and the others too. I always worry about you guys whenever you go on missions without me to be there to patch you all up. But they can handle themselves. Besides, they have two Jedi, a Clone, an explosives expert, a weapons expert, and a master hacker going down there to retrieve whatever information they can find. They will be okay without us for a little bit. And if something goes wrong, then we will be right here if they need us."
Kyr nodded, then glanced at Viran. "At least we get front row seats up at the situation table."
Viran nodded at that. "Exactly."
Kelce chuckled at that. "Alright, you two are welcome to take your seats then. I've got to take care of a few things here." He said as he headed for the door of the recovery room.
Kyr stood up and grimaced as he shifted his weight to his accursed cane. "They'll probably be on the ship by the time we get to the hangar bay, want to just head up to the bridge?"
"Sounds good to me," Viran said as he stood up, wincing slightly at his healing calf as he adjusted onto his crutches. "After you." He gestured to the door with his head.
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