Chapter 40
Boarders away
There was the usual shudder and the blue light disappeared as the Bantha reverted to realspace. Katya started the usual post jump scans while Jaune was going through the Ship systems. Hina was scanning through the com frequencies, her tail swinging idly as she scoured the frequencies
"We have the usual, standard holonet broadcasts from the relay, Corporate sector codes and encryption. Some chatter over the clear com frequencies." Hina reported in a bored tone
"Nothing on scope or the scanners, Alderra two station is where it is supposed to be. No ship movement detected close to us." Katya reported
There was a burst of noise and several icons flashed over the scrren on the communication unit
"Incoming from Alderra station, demanding to know our course. They are offering the usual facilities" Hina spoke up
"Inform them we are on cooldown and will jump out soon. Thank them for the offer and tell them maybe next time." Jaune replied
"New contact, hyperspace window." Katya called, a display lighting on her terminal
A rather substantial amount of hyperspace flash followed and a bulk freighter came into view within the hyperspace channel. Almost immediately several icons appeared on the terminals in front of the susters
"New signa,l it is Imperial." Hina called out
"We are being scanned." Katya reported
"Picking up multiple transmissions from the freighter." Hina called out
Jaune looked out the viewport. He wanted to swear at the sight of the Class Four Container Transport coming out of Hyperspace. Of course they were in full view of the ship and he was under no illusion that there was an imperial be on the lookout notification out on the Bantha already. Corporate and non aligned docking spaces would be aware of it but would be unlikely to act on it. Fully Imperial controlled air space was a no go, and as of yet they still had to create a alternate identity beacon for the Bantha.
"Hina, Kill the IFF beacon." He ordered
"Too late I am picking multiple launches." Katya said
"Battle stations. Shields at full" Jaune called, pressing the accelerator forward
" Incoming Tie fighters." Katya called
The strident wail of battle stations ran through the Bantha as Hina toggled the alarm.
"Battle stations! Battle stations! Brace for evasive maneuvres!" Hina called out over the intercom, tightening her crash webbing.
Jaune went into a deep spiral dive as the first lasers from the lead Tie flashed over the space they were in moments ago. He dropped the internal compensator to half and he could feel the vibrations from the Bantha as the gravity compensator stopped working at full. Minutes later the first turret opened up firing on the Six Tie fighters pursuing them
"More signals launching." Katya reported
"Of course we will get the Class Four carrying a full squadron. I don't know whether the Presesence hates us or just likes kriffing us over" Hina snarked
"I don't suppose you can jam their signals." Jaune replied
"No, but I can find their transmission point. Think you can hit it while doing a flyby?" Hina replied
Fire flashed in the dark as their turret scored the first hit, Coco's voice whooping in victory told them which turret had hit. Another Tie was clipped by a random shot and spiralled away in a death roll in the Direction of the trade station. That pilot would live once the stations tractor beam locked on, though he will be sick for days thanks to the relentless spinning and the g forces thereof. Two down ten to go. Jaune levelled off and another fireball marked a number down as the roof turret scored a hit.
"Dorsal turret, stand by for target telemetry, were are running for a priority target." Jaune said over the ship intercom.
"Okay captain, bring me to it." Fox replied cheerily
"Who let the formerly blind guy into a turret?" Katya asked
"If he shoots straight who cares?" Jaune countered
"Fair enough." Katya replied
"You do know I can hear you right?" Fox broke in
"Watch out for the mounted turbolaser and the side turrets." Hina warned
"Shift extra power to front shields." Jaune ordered
"Power shifted." Katya confirmed moving the lever
"Going in, SCD prep our spare armour and weapons." Jaune ordered
Jaune increased speed as he went for the Imperial freighter, he was juking and jerking from side to side to frustrate efforts of the automated turrets of the freighter, He barrel rolled as one the freighter gunners fired their turbolaser, Their shields taking a hammering from the proximity of the blast and they were shaken in their crash webbing as the freighter shook
"Why are you calling SCD to prep armour, we could use him more logged into a turret." Katya asked
"Once we take out their coms they will try and move to the trade station if we take out those Ties." Jaune replied
"That sounds okay to me." Katya replied
"Until we cool down enough we can not go to hyperspace and once they reach the protection of the trade station the trade station will have to defend them and attack us. However should we take that ship before they reach the station corporate rules prohibit them from intervening." Keira said, having made her way onto the deck and strapping in to the jump seat
"Do either of you think we are close to ready for that?" Katya asked
"We have very little choice." Jaune replied
"Fine. I am marking their shield generator and engine nacelles." Katya capitulated
"Fox, stand by we are close, you have a secondary target being loaded." Jaune spoke
Fox kept an eye on the countdown before him before going full cyclic with the turret. A small fireball erupted and the communication tower arial broke loose from the larger ship. A second target appeared, a dome like device on the hull. He kept firing, initially the shots bounced of from the shield dome till with a flicker the blue dome died and a larger fireball marked the shields destruction. Two more markers showed up and he had to choose between them. He fired to the left and one of the engines went dead slowing the large freighter down to a near crawl
"Good work, Fox. Right , time to deal with those Ties and then grab our first ship." Jaune called out over the coms
With the freighter damaged and no communications coming from it the Tie pilots realised they had gone from hunters to prey. Two fell from crossfire as the front turret and roof turret of the freighter hemmed them into a kill zone. A third committed fratricide as he impacted a Fourth that had been dodging laser fire, both going up in flames. The four remaining decided to try and run for the trade station having noted that the shields of the Class Four had been taken down by the freighter
They were relentlessly pursued their numbers dropping one by one. The last one had been taken down just outside the perimeter of the Trade station. Jaune pulled back on the control column and the Bantha went vertical to prevent them from entering the Trade station flight control zone. Katya warning him of several flight signatures exiting the trade station, had him performing another barrel roll and heading for the freighter. As predicted the ship was trying to turn to head to the safety of the station. Several Z95 Headhunters fighters started to circle the edge of the flight control zone.
"Katya, take control I will go with the boarding party." Jaune said standing up after unbuckling the crash webbing
Katya moved into the pilot seat and Keira hobbled forward taking the co pilot seat. Hina transferred communication control over to the co pilot station before following Jaune to the cargo hold where SCD had laid out their spare armour and equipment. They found the others moving in from the turrets they had been manning and stripping down to get into the bodysuits and armour.
"Class Four freighters normally carry a flight crew of six to eight organics and a complement of droids. Most of those will be astromechs but some could be security drones." Amelia informed them as she struggled to get her armour on.
"With the Ties being on we have to assume there are more people aboard and possibly some stormtroopers." Jaune added
"What is the plan?" Coco asked
"We board and let SCD slice into their network. We split in two groups. One pushed for the bridge and the other to the rear where the Ties launched from docking area. The idea is to force them to abandon ship and go for the escape pods or surrender. Try and force them off without killing but don't take unnecessary chances." Jaune replied
"Are we taking the ship?" Coco asked
"If we can, yes, otherwise the plan is to stop it just outside the flight control zone of the trade station and take of in the Bantha." Jaune answered
"Who goes where?" Fox asked
"Me, Pyrrha Velvet and Hina will push for the Bridge. Yara is in charge of group two. Coco, Yatsu Fox, Nora and April are with her. Amelia you stay on board and protect our exit point." Jaune ordered
Katya went from full burn to avoid the still functioning turrets and turbolaser turret to a near stop as she pulled in underneath the bottom docking hatch well within a safe zone where the turrets did not cover, Once they were docked she went back to full burn using the Bantha's counterthrust to slow the freighter down by pushing in the opposite direction it was heading. A tactic that would have just wasted fuel with no effect had both engines of the Class Four been fully functional. Even with one working engine on the freighter she struggled to slow the ship down
"Hurry up before we drain the fuel tanks." She called over the general channel
The boarders rushed up the ladder once they were docked and SCD had sliced its way in. They grouped by the door as SCD extended its probe and attacked the firewalls of the security encryptions, a rarely used diode lit up on its chassis, initially blinking a furious red once it had connected, The light decreased in shades of red going to amber and finally green. The door opened to reveal a pair of DT Security droids. Both Nora and Coco opened up with their rotary blasters and the droids were soon shredded without them being able to get a shot themselves. Jaune and Yara's datapads pinged as SCD downloaded the ship schematics to them , more importantly the shortest routes to their destination
"Lets go Raiders." Coco said with a smirk
"Keep safe. Alpha group move out." Jaune said leading his group out
The moved forward in a two by two formation leapfrogging each other as they moved to the bridge. They were delayed as a group of DT droids were setting up a chokepoint. They moved forward firing in bursts, Hina threw out a blaze of purple lightning frying one of the droids as she unleashed the technique droid damage she had read up on using Jaune's holocron. She fell back slightly winded from the effort the technique took to unleash.
"Need to practice this one more." She said
"Is there a reason you put all of us force sensitives in one group? I had thought we would be split up." Velvet asked
"There is. We can move faster than the rest and the Force will warn us if there is ambushes ahead. We are more likely to run into heavy resistance as they will put more effort in defending the bridge than the docking area and cargo bays." Jaune said
Hearing the approach of multiple droids they rushed through the still sparking remains of the downed droids and force pushed several ion grenades forward and around the corners of the t junction they were approaching. The T junction marking of the crew quarters, restroom and galley on the approach to the bridge. Electronic screeching came as the grenades damaged the incoming droids and sustained fire destroyed them before they could recover once the ion charges stopped running over their frames.
"Are we splitting and checking both corridors?" Hina asked
"Would be our safest options, lock the dorms from outside pnce it was checked. The last thing we need is someone coming up on us from behind." Jaune replied
"Okay, Pyrrha with me." Hina said, taking the left passage
Group B pressed forward as quickly as they could. Apart from a couple of DT droids they had minimal resistance. Yara stopped Nora and Coco from lighting up a couple of atromech droids as the droids were working on repairing the engine damage Fox had inflicted on it
"Let them fix it. Better have two working engines than one." Yara explained her reasoning
"What of they fix it before the bridge gets taken?" Fox asked
"Unlikely, you did a real number on this engine." Yara replied
"How far till we reach the docking area?" Yatsu asked
"We are close, two more passages. However from here on we are likely to meet resistance." Yara answered checking her datapad
"So me and Nora took point then." Coco said, reloading her rotary blaster
" Through out Ion first but yes, Heavy guns in the front and keep you aura up, between that and the armour we should be able to take a few hits. Anti armour in the second line after the heavy guns." Yara decided
April shifted her weapon from blaster to anti armour and stepped directly behind Coco's back. They moved forward as a single unit till they reached the blast door that marked their objective. They pulled a few loose crates lying around to the front to make a barricade after checking that there was nothing explosive in the crates first.
"SCD, overwrite the lockdown." Yara ordered.
As the door opened up a barrage of lasers filled the increasing gaps between the door halves. They bunkered down as the barrage slammed into their impromptu barricade. Slowly the barrage started decreasing
"Forward, now!" Yara ordered
They rushed forward, April fired into a pile of crates that were being used as a barricade. The defenders scattered as they saw the anti armour rocket heading to their shelter. The concussion from the explosion threw them through the air, The attackers switched to stun bolts and quickly subdued the resistance offered by the Tie fighter mechanics and technicians that had taken position in the docking bay.
Jaune slapped a breach charge on the inner door of the bridge. SCD had managed to overwrite the blast door but someone had severed the inner door control from inside. The moved forward as the charge blew pushing through the smoke and parks from the destroyed door as the door sprung apart. Jaune extended his hand and the blaster held in the hands of the person with the most insignia on his uniform was ripped from his hands.
"Surrender!" Jaune called out
The Bridge crew slowly lifted their hands and stepped away from their terminals. Jaune moved to the pilot station and the pilot stepped out of the way. The man had locked the controls but it took SCD a few moments to unlock the controls from where it had been locked into the system. Jaune typed several commands and the large ship turned to the new direction.
"Bantha cut your engines, we have the bridge." Jaune called over his comlink.
Hina found the security terminal and found that it too was locked down. To prevent a slice this terminal did not have a docking port for a droid and was dependent on manual command input.
"The code?!" She demanded from the man that had been seated by it
"Not giving it up" The man smirked
" The Code, Type it in." Jaune ordered from the pilot terminal
The man jerkily typed in the code before stepping back. Hina moved forward and disabled the last security measures before wiping the current security codes and setting it back to factory defaults making the system open for general use. The former operator was standing to one side shaking his head looking confused, a thin line of blood running from a nostril unnoticed. The captain however figured out what had caused his man to unlock the terminal against orders
"Jedi scum." The former captain seethed
"Jedi scum, that has your ship. Now all of you move to the door, you have an appointment with a rescue pod." Jaune retorted, bringing the ship to a complete stop
From Both ends of the ship the defeated crew had been herded to the escape pods under gunpoint and were forced into the pods. Katya slammed the activation button and the shipdeck shook slightly as the multiple pods ejected from the ship, They watched as the escape pods started slowly heading to the trade station, the thrusters engaging as they tried to steer the pods.
"Okay what is next?" Yara asked
"We get out of here quickly." Jaune replied, leading the way to the bridge
"But where to? We do not want to lead the way directly to the Dawn or the colonies. Who knows what type of trackers this ship and cargo has." Yara clarified
"I know of an abandoned planet." Keira broke in over the open comlink
"Where?" Katya asked
"Talasea, Morobe sector. It is a failed agricultural planet and is now abandoned." Keira replied
"Why was it abandoned?" Yatsu asked
"A lot of it was due to the planet itself. Most of the time everything is covered in mist. So getting anything to grow was problematic. Most of the people who had been there steadily abandoned their farms, either from failing to farm or wanting to get the hell out of perpetual mist." Keira replied
"And what of those to stubborn to leave." Fox asked
"The last settlement had been destroyed shortly after the Jedi purge. Vader himself did that while hunting for a Jedi that had taken refuge among his family there." Amelia said
"Talasea it is then." Jaune said
"Better get the hyperdrive spooled up. The first escape pods just entered the Trade station flight control space. The station will probably launch its fighters at us as soon as the captain is pulled from the pod and can demand their assistance." Katya said.
"On it." Jaune replied
They were moving steadily away from the trade station while SCD was searching through the files to find the override codes for the engineering station and the pilot stations. The navigation map came up and the droid found the coordinates for the Morobe sector. The ship stalled for a moment before they jumped into hyperspace as the override code was applied to the hyperdrive.
"Thank you SCD, please find the ship manifest and sweep the system for any tracking programs. Also check for outgoing comsignals." Jaune ordered
"What do we do in the meantime?" Velvet asked'
"Search the crew quarters for anything useful and any communications equipment or help me fix the engine damage." Yara replied
"Let us give SCD a chance to compile the manifest and then we decide what next to do. Once we all had some time to relax and get out of combat mode." Hina suggested
Even from space Talasea looked like a miserable planet, cloud formations covered the stratosphere of the planet and only moments of the landmasses below were visible before becoming obscured again. The most welcoming thing about the planet was the complete lack of electronic transmissions either in space or from the surface. The holonet relay satellite drifted ahead of them. No power source registering as they scanned it. The crew had convened in the more spacious bridge of the Class four freighter. Katya and Nora were the last to enter, both looking rather flushed and adjusting their clothing to proper appearance as they walked. Jaune cleared his throat and everyone gave him their full attention
"From inspecting the itinerary found on the navi computer , this ship was on course to Remnant." Jaune reported
"What is its cargo?" Yara asked, seated at the communication console with April on her lap.
"Mostly construction modules. There is enough prefrabicated housing on here to create a several barracks, washrooms, kitchens and a command centre and several smaller units for officer housing." Jaune read from a datapad
"The rest?" Katya asked
"Foodstuffs in three categories, the bulk is stormtrooper rations, a medium sized lot is marked as officer rations and the last for upper rank officers." Jaune listed off
"The stormtrooper rations might as well be jettisoned, you would have to be really hungry and desperate to eat that. Or stuff it into the medical synthesizers for basic nutrient stocks" Amelia remarked
"We will take that into consideration, moving on. We have several construction grade droids in here as well. The real valuable cargo is fifty crates of Blastech E11 rifles, triple the amount of that in power packs and tibana cartridges. A couple of crates of small arms and thirty crates of mixed explosive ordinance. We also have a lot of Tie fighter parts and Sienar system spare parts. Lastly we have a hundred kilograms if class five armour grade plastics, I am guessing that was also meant for the upper ranks" Jaune finished
"The Sienar systems parts we can break down and use for various things. The tie fighter parts we can not really do anything with excepts jettison or sell to a group with either Ties or Uglies." Keira said
"What is so special about the grade five plastics?" Fox asked
"It is a very high grade plastic for making armour. It is slightly weaker than durasteel but at a fraction of the weight of durasteel, Meaning you can layer it more for more protection without adding extra weight." Keira explained
"Standard clone armour is grade two plastic, where our commando armour plastic was grade four." Jaune added
"Can you combine this durasteel and this plastic for heavier armour?" Yatsu asked
"You can, but the more durasteel you add the more weight you add. Apart from a chest plate it would not be worth the extra weight. Of course it is not as good as either cortosis or beskar." Keira answered
"No exotic materials or clothing? Something that says we are filthy rich now, or real pirate treasure?" Nora asked
"Not yet, but we can use all of this. Which brings us up to the next point. The Hutt tribute." Katya said
"The question is do we go for it or not?" Yara clarified
Tapping a few icons on the terminal by his side had the galaxy map disappear from the holoviewer to be replaced by a revolving image of a ship. Jaune pointed to the ship
"The ship that they are using is Seperatist made in the Kuat Yards, They saw a lot of use by the separatists as support vessels while they preferred to use the Lucrehulk for their main fleet. Avery stupid move in my opinion." Jaune said
"Why?" Coco asked
"Because all of those were made from battleship rated metals and if properly armed can be considered to be light frigates." Jaune replied
"Even as transport ships they were difficult to take. Duel turbolaser batteries, multiple turrets and capable of carrying a wing of fighters." Keira added
The group studied the revolving form before them
"So if we are to attempt this we will be facing a ship that is more capable of fighting than this tub was. What counts in our favour on that count is that the common thugs crewing the ship would be unlikely to know how to effectively fight the ship. On the downside is that they will be a lot more numerous than the crew that was on here. We are looking at a minimum of a hundred of them." Hina said
"To do this we will need more capable fighters. What we do have is RWBY, NDGO, Peach, Moody and my uncle and his team. With proper armour and the right tactics we may have a better than even chance. What we also do not know is what the Hutt and the Back Sun knows of our plans." Jaune added
" At the very least the Hutt will know that we embarrassed Black Sun by fighting and evading their security response for the Slicer. The Black Sun would be unlikely to warn him that there had been a leak about his tribute, but with the ampunt of double dealing and double crossing in the rank and file of the organisations we can not be certain someone did not say something to raise suspicion." Keira said
"Do we really need the cargo it carries that badly?" Yatsi asked
"The ship is more valuable than the cargo in the long run." Jaune said leaning back in his chair
Jaune pointed to the revolving image before them
"When they converted these ships to transporters they basically ripped out the decks to make cargo space, With what we have taken here we can rebuild it to be a fighting ship again, it will be a bit rough but we can do it. Yes we have the Green Dawn that can act as a fighting ship for us."
"But…" Fox interjected
"The Green Dawn might be the only place that carries knowledge of the Force and the Jedi not in imperial hands, assuming that the empire has not destroyed everything already as it is. We also need a place to fall back to should we find ourselves in need of a safe haven." Jaune said
"As a carrier ship alone the freighter outclasses the Dawn already." Amelia said
"Then there is the cargo or more specifically a section of it." Hina brought up the proposed manifest
"Two hundred organics." Coc read with difficulty
"Slaves." Yara explained
The single word shocked the Remnant natives into silence. The six Republic refugees looked grim
"Yes, slavery is active and the Republic did nothing about it in the Hutt sectors. They preached against it and the Empire is allegedly against the practice as well but the trade is ongoing." Hina said
"What happened to Mari and the other kids was not an isolated incident. To be honest most of those in that cargo will be Twi"lek girls. For all fact and purposes slaves are the export product of choice for Ryloth And Sleyheron. A lot of the others would have been captured in slaving or general raids by roving gangs and pirates." Jaune said
"That is why there will be a larger amount of thugs on the ship, What is worse is we can not count on help from the slaves, they will likely be fitted with explosive collars." Keira added grimly
" The choice before us is do we risk it or not? It will not be an easy mission or a garaunteed success." Jaune said softly
"I suggest we think on this before we make a final decision, the ship launches in fifteen days. For now I suggest we get back to the Dawn and talk to everyone there as well." Katya said
"What will we do with this ship?" Coco asked
"We can not really use it, and trying to sell it will have us up to our eyeballs in Imperials in a flash. No scrapper will touch it as the empire is the only ones who have access to this class of ship." Jaune replied
"Right now, the best thing we can do is store the cargo somewhere, fill the tanks of the Bantha and the Dawn and either send it into a sun or crash it on a dead planet." Katya said
"What about using it as bait?" Fox suggested
They looked at where Fox had made himself comfortable on a terminal
"Go on." Keira invited
"We know the imperials will use certain points coming out of hyperspace right? So what will they do if they pick up a distress signal from one of their ships that had gone missing?" Fox elaborated
"Call it in and either go and investigate or wait for a ship to come and investigate." Yara replied
" And what is stopping us from piling all that ammunition for the tie fighters around the fuel tanks and set it of with a remote detonator from a safe distance should they send a military ship to investigate?" Fox concluded
"Nasty and effective. It will only work one time though. With us taking this ship we can be certain they will be running in convoys know with support vessels." Amelia said musingly
"You seem very certain that is how they will respond." April commented
"Standard Imperial doctrine as they teach it in the Academy. They rarely deviate from that doctrine." Amelia replied
"So are we checking out Talasea or are we going straight to the Dawn."
"The Dawn has my vote." Jaune replied
A quick look around had them all wanting to return to the Green Dawn. Laboriously the large ship was turned around th head back the way they came, as soon as the hyperdrive had cooled enough they jumped back into hyperspace.
They met up with the Dawn where it had been Hiding on one of the moons circling the last planet in the Alderra three system, well away from the trade station. A steady stream of droids moved between the airlocks of the two larger ships as they started shifting the captured cargo to the dawn. The crew congregated in the mess, the underage crew members had been left in Monica's care and kept in class while the older members conferred. Several moments of silence reigned as the news the raiders ahd brought back was being considered. Once again a hologram of the Hutt freighter was revolving in the room, this time from a datapad that had been placed on the table. Daphne was the first to speak
" The extra numbers will give you a greater chance, but you are forgetting one thing." She said
"What is it?" Katya asked
"Your weak spot is RWBY. They have not been in combat against anything except Grim. There is a massive difference between fighting Grim and thinking beings." Daphne answered
"Hey! We are not a weak link" Yang objected
"Yang is right, we have fought thinking beings. We took down the Fang on the docks in Vale." Weiss added
"And how many did you kill there?' Daphne asked
RWBY looked at the Vale agent in shocked silence. Daphne as well the other agents shook their heads, a motion that Jonathan and Moody shared. Derrick was the first to speak
"What you did at the dock could be called a vigilante action if you are being very generous." He said shortly
"What would you call it." Yang replied, challengingly
" Live action roleplay of X ray and Vav. With the four of you larping and the Fang to amateur to know better." Andrew said
" But…." Ruby opened her mouth to protest
" Andrew is right. If they had been competent Blake would have died the moment she decided to start with her monologue directed at them instead of taking out of Torchwick. And half of the ways she could have died would have been at the hand Torchwick. You were lucky he did not take you seriously." Derrick said
"You went in treating it like a school sparring session. Instead of going in with deadly force as you should have." Daphne said
"We are not all secrets agents with licence to kill." Weis snapped
" It has nothing to do with being covert agents. How do you think Vale PD SWAT would have handled taking them down, or even Atlas military?" Derrick replied
"Derrick is right. Both groups would have gone in with deadly force and only once the area is pacified would have been looking to make arrests. Even Huntsman action would have been lethal first." Peach broke in
"Add to that you are not really working to adapt to your new reality." Moody said
"What do you mean, professor?" Weiss asked, her tone tight and forced polite
"No longer a professor. Let us start with you, you have trouble with holding a rifle, you are still stuck in the mindset of being a fencer relying on fencing and your glyphs. But without dust to bolster it your glyphs are weak. And the vibroblade you have been practicing with is not a fencer blade, add to that you are physically weak relatively speaking, you have great stamina and dexterity but little to no strength unless you use your aura to boost yourself" Moody replied brutally blunt
Moody pointed to Yang next
"You are a brawler and yes your semblance helps with that. The problem is that for your aura to charge it you need to take damage weakening your aura in the process. It also causes you to become target fixated. Here that style of fighting is likely to get you killed as most will engage you at range. You need to learn to fight defensively as well." She said
"What s wrong with my style?" Blake asked
"Blake, you are an ambush fighter and try to finish your fights quickly. Your problem lies in when that fails you tire quickly because you rely on acrobatics to try and make space for you to fall back in the hope of being to break of and go into cover to attack again. Like Weiss you lack strength, but you also lack her stamina." Moody replied
Ruby was looking apprehensive as the ex professor turned to face her. Moody's expression softened slightly
"Ruby, you are trying to be both a close quarters and range fighter. You are a good shot. However you grew over reliant on you weapon and developed your fighting style around your weapon instead of developing your weapon around your style. Qrow probably never told you he went through fifteen variations before he finalised his weapon in his final year. You have speed and use that for hit and run tactics, but you are predictable in that. Also take away your weapon and you are helpless, your hand to hand fighting is subpar, you are the weakest physically of your team. All of you need to learn to fight as a unit and cover for each other weaknesses. More importantly you need to learn how to fight in the same way." Moody said
" And it is something that you can do, NDGO is making great strides at achieving that, what is holding you back is that you still have to realise you are no longer in school on Remnant. In school losing means getting a failing grade for the day and a lecture, outside of school it means death, not just for you but those around you." Peach said
" All of the things mentioned can be fixed over time, what is the problem is that apart from Blake not one of you have taken a life before, The fear is that you will freeze if you do that for the first time and in a fight that will get you and your squad killed." Derrick said gently
"You have to include me in that, I came close but I have never killed." Blake admitted
Andrew cleared his throat drawing attention away from RWBY as they were taking in the criticism levelled at them
"I have a question." He said
"Go ahead." Jaune replied
"You have a cargo hold full of battle droids, why not use them. At the very least using them could help even the numbers out a bit." He suggested
" Andrew has a good point. You have said the B1's are not much of a threat in small groups but two or three squads will make a difference and the B2 units will also be rather usefull, not to mention the droidekas to lay down suppressive fire." Derrick continued
"How many of those droids do you have?" Keira asked
"We have about a hundred B1's , forty B2 units and twenty five droidekas." Yara looked it up quickly
"The droideka units are better for security use but in the tight confines of a ship they will still be deadly especially against untrained opponents." Amelia pointed out.
"They are right, we should have thought of the droids. I guess that is my blindspot. I am not used to thinking like a strategist or a mission planner whatever they are called" Jaune admitted
" Something that you learn through trial and error, even then your plans can go to shit easily. There is a reason experts will tell you that no plan survives first contact." Jonathan said
"And also why it is a good idea to discuss your plans before finalising them, often an outside perspective will spot what you have missed." Moody added
Jonathan pointed to the spinning image
" We have a basic plan, now let us work out what can go wrong and try to find at least five counters per fault." He suggested
"My fear is that the details may have been changed." Keira admitted
"And going back to Nar Shada to get into the system is a bad idea." Yara added
"What about hackers outside of Nar Shada? Can you not buy the information?" Sapphron asked
"There are information brokers, but we lack funds. Brokers with that type of reach does not come cheap." Jaune replied
"A quick way to raise funds would be sell some of the weapons you captured. I should think there should be a market for weapons in your underworld. Most arms dealers do not care where they get their wares from." Daphne suggested
"Telku station, outside of Correlia. Rastam enforces neutrality on his patrons. And it is part of the rogues guild" Katya suggested
" True but the place is regularly visited by bounty hunters." Yara pointed out
"Yes, but Rastam will know how to get hold of a broker. Plus he will have the credits to buy everything in one shot." Katya countered
"Let us get back to that, while the raid is launched where do you want the Dawn?" Jonathan asked
"I was hoping for far away but we might need it closer. I was thinking Talasea since we know there is no Imperial presence there or any presence for that matter." Jaune suggested
The conversation continued from there, the plan being adjusted and dissected into smaller parts and once or twice started from scratch.
