Lucky Strike (A Star Wars SI)

[firis]

I think it's more of a plot issue.

Its not about the protagonist being overpowered... It's about them being powerful enough to accomplish anything. Right now, the protagonist appears impotent. He may know some things, but he's shown no inclination to actually use that knowledge. I look to the future and I honestly wonder what's the point? If he's just another soldier serving in the war, he's just another cog. Right now, despite his knowledge, he has acted exactly like a native. And he seems to have no plans to change anything.

If he was using his knowledge to either advance himself or try and delay/slow down Palpatine, that'd be interesting. Even if he has no force presence, he is still making changes. He doesn't need force presence to be an interesting character... but he does need potential and the will to use it. As things are... he's no different from any other Republic officer. And is ultimately irrelevant.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[MarkWarrior]

I think it's more of a plot issue.

Its not about the protagonist being overpowered... It's about them being powerful enough to accomplish anything. Right now, the protagonist appears impotent. He may know some things, but he's shown no inclination to actually use that knowledge. I look to the future and I honestly wonder what's the point? If he's just another soldier serving in the war, he's just another cog. Right now, despite his knowledge, he has acted exactly like a native. And he seems to have no plans to change anything.

If he was using his knowledge to either advance himself or try and delay/slow down Palpatine, that'd be interesting. Even if he has no force presence, he is still making changes. He doesn't need force presence to be an interesting character... but he does need potential and the will to use it. As things are... he's no different from any other Republic officer. And is ultimately irrelevant.

Click to shrink...

So, you're right. The Self-Insert doesn't have agency right now. Not to change things, not to do anything. But, that's because he spent five years in the undercity and then got thrown into prison. After that, he's spent so much time doing his job so he doesn't go back to prison that he's been less concerned with getting any sort of information to anyone important. Now that I've got some planned downtime for the character, I can change some of that.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Republic Intelligence Personnel Report Summary

Personnel Record: JF-89588977818

Age: 25

Name: Janine Franz

Birthplace: Alsakan

Species: Human

Height: 1.73 Meters

Hair Colour: Blonde

Eye Colour: Green

---

Janine Franz joined the Republic Navy immediately after the war with the Confederacy of Independent Systems began. A family legacy of service in the Alsakan Planetary Defence Force meant that she was already familiar with shipboard operations with a specialty in communications.

Due to already possessing training in excess of the base requirements for the Republic Navy, Franz was immediately given a position as Petty Officer First Class and given the option of waiting for a larger ship to become available or joining Lieutenant Condev Teskit's crew immediately.

Petty Officer Franz chose the more dangerous option and joined Teskit's crew.
(Having already participated in several antipiracy raids, Franz was quite possibly the third most veteran member of the Firebird, barring Lieutenant Teskit and Ensign Ronard.) immediately becoming a valued member of the Bridge Crew and serving with distinction in the initial battle above Christophsis as well as in skirmishes along the hyperlanes until the Firebird was rendered inoperable.

End Current Report Summary…

Full Access to Personnel Record requires Security Clearance Zerek or higher.

 

[Yacov]

Birthplace: Alsakan

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Huh, I didn't get the haughty attitude of superiority from her. Must be one of the genetically altered subspecies.

Edit: whoops I mistook that for Arkanian.

 

[Stickypiston]

Ugh another one of these story's where the main character doesn't have any sort of out of context power or he's not even Force sensitive or anything. This would at least be interesting if he had almost encyclopedic knowledge of Star wars lore. As he could at least go on the net and reveal things he really shouldn't know to troll and cause chaos. As it would be really funny and pretend to be a powerful force user with a massive talent for Force visions. Unfortunately doesn't seem like he even has encyclopedic knowledge of Star wars and just passive which makes him not much better than any other grunt realistically.

Click to shrink...

Jesus christ. This got to be an ironic statement, or else I would risk consider that I actually live with these people on the same planet.

 

[Stickypiston]

So, you're right. The Self-Insert doesn't have agency right now. Not to change things, not to do anything. But, that's because he spent five years in the undercity and then got thrown into prison. After that, he's spent so much time doing his job so he doesn't go back to prison that he's been less concerned with getting any sort of information to anyone important. Now that I've got some planned downtime for the character, I can change some of that.

Click to shrink...

Be warned though, what these people consider as agency is having superpower or influence to control galactic wide events or even destiny and fate. Not the agency of a character who have the will to change and control the things that they can reach.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 8

It was the single coolest thing I'd ever seen in my life. After disembarking the Starfury and going through debriefing I was directed to one of the monorails that spanned the shipyards.

The superstructures spiraled above me, ships in various stages of assembly and repair filled the skies, tugs and repair vessels moved to and fro, and off in the distance, the massive planetary defence force kept the system secure. The trio of Mandators dwarfing the fleet of Venators and smaller ships.

"They're a sight to see, aren't they?" Janine's voice broke through my internal thoughts. "Single largest ships in the galaxy. They're slow, but I don't think anything can stand up to them in actual combat."

"I think piloting one of those would be like losing something," I shrugged. "There's no way you can actually feel what's happening on the ship if you're on the bridge."

"Who cares about how it feels?" Janine asked, shaking her head at me. "Now, c'mon prisoner," She said sarcastically. "You'll get lost and we'll never see our helmsman again if you wander off."

"I don't even know what to do with two weeks of leave," I laughed. "So, lead the way."

She gestured for me to follow her and slung her bag over her shoulder, using my taller frame to assist with breaking through the crowds of Clones, Kuati employees, and other Republic Navy personnel.

"Navy sprung for a hotel on one of the lower docking rings," Janine explained once we were on the monorail. "Teskit's trying to talk the Admiralty into having better escort fleets, but there's no telling if he'll be successful."

"There's not enough personnel to go around," I shrugged. "There's only so many clones, and despite the Republic buying more of them. They're still having to go through the growing process."

"I hate how much like slavery that sounds," Janine frowned. "But what else can we do?"

"Recruit more people," I offered. "I dunno about you, but I don't see any ads or posters about recruiting. It's like the Republic thinks this is just going to go away in a few months."

I concealed my real thoughts, because if I casually mentioned that Palpatine was behind this whole thing, people would think I was crazy or something.

"Ha!" Janine laughed. "An anti piracy operation takes three months, I don't wanna think about how long the war's going to last."

Eventually, we started getting looks from the clones and employees so we allowed the conversation to die out in favor of looking at the shipyards around us.

While the silence endured, I took the time to start thinking about the galaxy. I (hopefully) knew some things that could change the core of the galaxy. But given how easily I'd been thrown in prison for just climbing out of hell… Well, I wasn't planning on taking any chances. Sure, I had some thoughts on things I might do to maybe change the fate of the galaxy. But at this point, I'd have to find out how to do it while being anonymous.

"So," Janine said after we reached the hotel complex. "I finally got to peek at your personnel file."

"And?" I asked, curious to know what it said.

"Turns out Teskit may have pulled some strings," She stopped outside the hotel door. "Because you're not listed as a penal officer. But as a standard one," she glanced over her shoulder at me. "You should probably speak to accounting, but if you haven't collected a paycheck since starting, they'll have back pay for you to collect."

With that, she walked in and spoke to the receptionist before exiting, tossing me a keycard, and vanishing into the turbolift, leaving me on my own.

I almost went to a nearby terminal to locate a Republic Navy post, but then remembered that I still had my duffle bag on my back. Sure, I didn't have all that much, but I should still toss it in the hotel room.

Taking the keycard, I entered the turbolift once it'd come back down and hit the correct floor before spending the next five minutes tracking down the right room.

It was so large, a full tub and shower? Sheets that weren't stupid thin and made by the lowest bidder?

I could figure out how I was going to get a message out to the Jedi Order later. Right now, there was a shower and a nap in a comfortable bed calling my name.

---

"Congratulations on your promotion, Captain," Admiral Howerl Vargance grinned. "Once the Starfury is repaired, we'll add it to the battlegroup you'll be taking command of."

Teskit hid the grimace at those words deep inside. Instead of the mixed battlegroup he'd hoped for, Acclamators for the cargo, Venators for the combat, he'd been 'gifted' a battlegroup made up of two true capital ships and a host of smaller vessels.

"Thank you, sir," Teskit accepted the poison pill with a straight face, accepting the handshake and stepping back. "Now, I've a ship to see to."

"I understand," Vargance smirked. "I'd want to inspect my new flagship as well."

The admiral left the debriefing room and Teskit to his own thoughts.

Stifling the urge to rage at how the Admiralty and top brass acted, Teskit exhaled long and slow before sitting down and picking up his datapad from the table. His thoughts churning as he considered the battlegroup he was to command.

The Providence, a Dreadnought-Class Heavy cruiser, was to be the new 'flagship' of the escort fleet. She was a relic, a prototype of the Katana fleet. A ship so old,that she'd been refit three times, four if you included the prototype systems she'd been tested with.

Her droid brains were inefficient, a relic of their time and probably untrustworthy.The weapons, while powerful, were somewhat anemic in comparison to other ships of her size. Thankfully, she had modern deflectors, and one of the many refits she'd undertaken had fixed the inefficiencies in the power supply and had updated her hyperdrive to a class 1.

The funny thing was, Teskit had gotten one of the things he wanted. But he wasn't going to be able to make it his flagship. The Inevitable was a modern warship, a Venator coming fresh off the shipyards that surrounded them.

But for some reason, the Admiralty had decided in their infinite wisdom that Clones were the only ones allowed to crew and operate the vessel. So, he was stuck with the Providence as the flagship, the Inevitable as another heavy cruiser for dealing with large enemy formations, and a handful of Arquitens and Consular-class refits.

Teksit sighed, he'd have to put together a crew request to fill out the Providence, and he'd also have to do some research into the droid brains that helped with the ship's automation. The last thing he needed was a ship that could be shut down by Separatist jamming techniques.

Ronard would be happy at least. The now-lieutenant had started his career on the Dreadnought-class ships and he'd know exactly how to fine-tune everything to his expectations.

As for the rest of his bridge crew, well. He'd just have to wait and see.

So, groaning and standing up, the Captain straightened his uniform and headed out. If he insisted that his crews get rest, then he should as well. They deserved nothing less than his best.

---

I had money. I had money and I didn't know what to do with it. I glanced at the handful of physical credit chits I'd asked for, and remembered the balance I'd had at the standard bank the Republic Navy used.

Because I'd worked for over three months without any idea that I was collecting a paycheck, it'd piled up and I didn't want to blow it all on anything. So, I'd glanced at some of the investment options and picked one that I hoped would be a good choice. Given Incom had a good reputation for starfighters, I thought that it'd at least turn a profit over time and had tossed most of my money in one of their investment funds. Then, I cashed some of it out and bought a handful of things.

A datapad that I owned instead of the one issued to me was now in a small backpack, a holdout blaster was tucked into a holster in my waistband, and a comlink now sat on the belt of my uniform.

I'd also stopped along the way and compiled a message to send to the Jedi Order. I wasn't quite sure how well it'd be received, or if anyone would believe it at all, but it'd pointed at several inconsistencies among the Clone Wars, and how Republic Intelligence seemed to be completely right or completely wrong with no in-between. I was hoping that if I sent things that were provable, and could be investigated, that eventually I could work my way up to sending messages that would expose Palpatine or others.

But I honestly wasn't all that hopeful. I knew how ignorant the Jedi Council were, and how corrupt the Senate was as well. Hell, if I didn't know how awful Palpatine would be as Emperor, I might have even supported a Julius Caesar style takeover of the Republic.

None of that mattered right now though. I'd set up an anonymous account with premade messages to send at specific points in time. If that changed things, then I would be happy for it. If it didn't, then there wasn't much more I could do right now. I mean, it's not like the Jedi would believe that someone without access to the Force could have reliable visions of the future.

And that's without getting into the fact that as soon as anything changed, I'd now be unreliable.

I snorted at that thought. No, life wasn't that simple. I didn't have the Force, I didn't show up with magical powers. I got lucky in the first few days and had worked my ass off to survive until this point.

Besides, the fall of the Republic was all but inevitable at this point. If not Palpatine, someone else would come along soon and pull something similar. Just without the Sith backing. The question was how bad the fall would be.

 

[MovingTarget]

Hull should buy himself a good blaster, a good holdout blaster and some low vis body armor.

Get a customized DL44 with an extended barrel and a holster stock for extra style points

 

[Bishop 7053]

Be funny if those messages he thinks aren't gonna do shit somehow lead to like 90 percent jedi survival on a fluke. Like he mentions it now and doesn't remember them till the end of the story and it just surprises him that it actually worked

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 9

Ensign Mark Hull​

"I'm coming," I groaned, waking up to the knocking at the door, stretching, and sitting up from the hotel bed before sleepily stumbling my way to the door. I'd spent most of the two weeks of leave time resting and exploring the shipyards around us. Knowing that I only had a few days left, I hadn't gotten back in until 'late' station time the night before.

"Morning, Hull," Janine had her duffle bag slung around her shoulder. "You packed and ready to go?"

"Go where?" I raised an eyebrow. "I thought we had another day of leave left."

"It got cut short," She tossed me her datapad and let me review the orders.

"Shit," I swore. "No, I didn't see the orders. Let me get everything together and then we can head out."

It only took a few minutes to toss the handful of belongings into my duffle and for me to change into a fresh uniform before meeting the Communications officer back at the door.

"So," I asked after we'd turned in our keycards. "I know you're plugged into the comms in ways I've never dreamed of. Got any idea how things went after our debriefing?"

"No," She shook her head. "While Teskit has a few people who vouch for him in the Admiralty, a lot of people don't like that he refuses to play the political games that the rest of them do. All I know is that our leave got cut short by a couple days and that we're to report to Docking Bay Thesh-5297."

"That's the opposite side from where they were working on the Starfury," I commented. "You think that we finally got something with a bit more firepower? I mean, I like being a part of a ship that has the ability to turn on a dime, but after the last few battles…" I trailed off.

"There's only so much enemy fire we can avoid," she agreed, and I could tell she was thinking about the skirmish against the Munificent and how narrowly we'd avoided dying.

We both settled into silence, joined by other members of the original Firebird as we all converged on the docking bay.

"Lot more troopers here," Ronard pointed out the armored clones.

"A lot more personnel, period," I replied. "There's gotta be a couple thousand here, at least."

"Still a lot less than the full complements supposed to be," Ronard gestured towards the Dreadnought-class cruiser on the other side of the bay. "I mean, you can run a ship like her on a skeleton crew, but you'll be having issues with maintenance."

"The crew count for the Providence comes to three thousand five hundred and two," Teskit's voice cut into our conversation. The tall man now had the rank stripes of a captain on his uniform. "The full details of her refits have been sent to you. Familiarize yourselves with them. She's going to be our home for the foreseeable future."

It seems I wasn't going to be a pilot anymore. With the chirp of the datapad, it clicked that my position as helmsman was more of a supervisor and manager than the person steering the ship with my own two hands.

"Five credits says we get into a fight during the first convoy run," Franz leaned over and whispered to the rest of us.

"You're on," I agreed, laughing as I stood up from the bench we'd been sitting on. "Now, I dunno about y'all, but I want to get familiar with the old girl, here. I've gotta learn how to make her dance, after all."

---

Captain Condev Teskit​

Captain Teskit looked around the bridge of the Providence. The familiar space of a Dreadnought filled him with a sense of nostalgia as he watched his bridge crew settle in and begin learning how their work on the new ship would go from here.

Eventually, his gaze settled on the man responsible for the weapons coordination of the ship. Marian Hobbs, the replacement for Mattix was another veteran of a local planetary defense force just as Janine Franz had been, and had clearly served on a Dreadnought before, because his motions and speech were fluid.

"Ensign Franz," Teskit called out to the communications officer by her new rank. "Please signal to Kuati System Control that we are ready to begin heading out of the system, along with the rest of Battlegroup Huntress."

"Relaying signal, aye sir!" She replied.

"Receiving Slaving command," Lieutenant Hull tapped a few controls. "Granting access to the controller."

"Very good," Teskit stood at the holotable, his hands clasped behind his back as was the norm.

Battlegroup Huntress was made up of his Providence, the Venator that command had graciously allowed the use of, four Arquitens, a pair of Consular refits, and a trio of CR90 corvettes that had been refit for differing roles.

Instead of being on the backfoot though. They were going to be on the offensive. The Republic's Hyperlanes were intact for the most part, a few stragglers from the separatists always made it through blockades to hammer convoys, but for the most part, the Navy was stopping them an dable to deliver supplies.

However, the Republic had no one harassing the enemy's own supply lines and convoys at this point. So, Teskit's orders were to get behind enemy lines and begin disrupting and breaking the enemy supply lines where they were able. Ground targets, navy, space stations, everything was authorized for attack as long as they did their job.
Though, with the slack in the rope, he also had been given enough to hang himself with. If Teskit failed, or had a string of bad luck, then it'd all come crashing down around him when the rope went taut. But if they won, or pulled off victories, then he and his crew would get all of the credit. Crews, bounties, captured ships. All of it would be credited to them instead of the Admiralty.

Freedom had its consequences. Both for the good, and the bad. They would see how Battlegroup Huntress fared against the rest of the galaxy.

Author's note: A shorter chapter, but given this is a transitional bit… I figured I should cut it off here.

 

[Fanof1]

This chapter just screams capture and repurpose battle droids and ships. Please let this happen. I want a doughnut!

But being less crazy for a second, I'm interested in seeing how wolfpacking will go.

 

[readsalot]

Receiving Slaving command," Lieutenant Hull

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He got promoted?

Also great chapter

 

[Yacov]

but for the most part, the Navy was stopping them an dable to deliver supplies.

Click to shrink...

Probably should be "and able"

However, the Republic had no one harassing the enemy's own supply lines and convoys at this point. So, Teskit's orders were to get behind enemy lines and begin disrupting and breaking the enemy supply lines where they were able. Ground targets, navy, space stations, everything was authorized for attack as long as they did their job.

Click to shrink...

Everyone is going to be expecting Hull to be good at looting. Either that or be surprised. He probably has the "roughest" background out of all of the officer corps.

What exactly is command expecting this raider group to take? I mean yay you blew up a station or disabled a convoy, but what then? Most of the enemy are droids, so food and supplies to sustain the crew are probably minimal. Fuel and spare parts are probably going to be the most commonly seized items. Raw resources is probably more volume than it's worth. I guess high tech resources and salvage to repurpose is the best outcome.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Probably should be "and able"


Everyone is going to be expecting Hull to be good at looting. Either that or be surprised. He probably has the "roughest" background out of all of the officer corps.

What exactly is command expecting this raider group to take? I mean yay you blew up a station or disabled a convoy, but what then? Most of the enemy are droids, so food and supplies to sustain the crew are probably minimal. Fuel and spare parts are probably going to be the most commonly seized items. Raw resources is probably more volume than it's worth. I guess high tech resources and salvage to repurpose is the best outcome.

Click to shrink...

They're not expecting them to take/loot. More just be a disruption. Split the enemy focus. (And if they get rid of the captain they don't like very much in the process…)

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 10 (Lieutenant Mark Hull)

Location: Skako Stystem. Core Worlds

The controls of a Dreadnought-class cruiser were different from those of the previous two ships I'd worked with before. For one thing, I didn't get an immediate response when I wanted to turn. Instead of being able to shift course and adjust headings immediately, I had to plan time into any maneuvers that I was going to conduct.

Sure, the Providence had emergency chemical thrusters. But with how large the cruiser was, it used up a lot more fuel to shift her if I needed to conduct evasive maneuvers. Still, it was nice to know that we could tank some hits now. Hell, I wouldn't enjoy it, but if push came to shove, we could theoretically get into a running brawl and come out ahead (depending on what we were facing).

Still, the thing that concerned me the most was the route that I'd been given for us to take. I knew that Count Dooku would be busy dealing with plenty of other things across the galaxy, and I was still worried that the plan would take us too close too far into enemy territory.

The plan was to go up through the hyperlanes towards Serenno before detouring and heading more to the galactic 'North'. Unfortunately, none of the rest of the bridge crew had any idea what the plan was beyond sewing discord behind enemy lines. Assuming there was a plan at all.

"Captain, transmission from HIGHCOM!" Franz called out, a second headset in her hands already held out for the Captain.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Teskit listened, replied a few times, and then went from slightly relaxed to stone and then back again.

A few moments later, he stepped into the middle of the bridge. "I regret to inform you that there has been a slight change of plans," Captain Teskit's voice echoed through the now quiet bridge. "The Third Army is experiencing troubles with local reinforcements in Corsin. The Separatists have locked down the system and the clones there are in need of supplies. We're to detour to Corulag and escor some reinforcements and supplies nto the system, they'll then deploy there and ensure that the enemy doesn't retain control while we combat whatever ships are in the void."

I tapped a control and brought up the galactic map, trying to identify the best route to take. Sure, it wouldn't really be out of the way for the original plan. But it might not be for the best if the enemy knew we were in the area.

Shaking my head, I zoomed in and simply plotted the course to Corulag. It was probably better that I didn't try to anticipate what the plan might be for this one. For all I knew, we weren't going to be planning on using hyperlanes for some of this at all. (Sure, it wouldn't necessarily be the smartest idea. But it wouldn't be the first time an officer in this galaxy had tried and pulled it off successfully.)

"Captain," One of the new bridge crew members called out. "Course is laid in for Corulag."

I blinked, and then remembered that it wasn't my job to plot the courses and pilot the ship anymore. No, we had navigators now and specific technicians who coordinated with Franz and the rest of the fleet to ensure that we arrived at our destination in proper formation.

That said, it didn't fill me with peace to give up control of the systems to someone else. Instead, I felt a new anxiety rise up in me now my life was now in the hands of some techs if we needed to evacuate to another system.

Trust didn't come that easily anymore.

---

(Captain Condev Teskit)

"Captain," Ensign Franz called out before he could give the order to jump to hyperspace. "Transmission for you."

She handed him the headset.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Captain," the soft voice of Jedi-Commander Durald greeted him. "Seeing as I have no current orders, I was wondering if I could attach myself to your starfighter squadrons."

"There should be plenty of space aboard the Inevitable," Teskit replied, his mind already figuring out where she would be best placed in his command structure.

"Excellent," she replied. "I'll be there inside of fifteen minutes, Durald, out."

"Let the Inevitable know that they're receiving a new officer," Teskit said, handing the headset back to Franz. "And tie the Jedi-Commander into our systems. Their hard enough to keep track of as it is."

"Aye, sir," she replied. "Tying her in now."

"Once the Commander is in place, the fleet is to follow the plan until we reach Corulag. We'll be coordinating with friendly assets in the area once we arrive," Teskit instructed.

Standing up from where he'd been leaning over Franz's station, Teskit strode back to the middle of the bridge and signaled for them to begin the transition to hyperspace.

"ETA to Corulag is fifteen hours!" The navigation tech reported.

"Fleet is reporting similar ETAs with momentary differences," Franz continued. "Signalling for them to jump now."

A few seconds later and the coherent light of the stars turned into streaks as the Providence leapt into hyperspace.

"Commander, you have the con." Teskit nodded at the Clone officer before turning around and heading back into the ship's tactical center. Once inside, the sounds of the bridge became more muted, and the holotable lit up with the information they'd been given. Allowing the veteran to examine the situation at Corsin.

As a relief force, Battlegroup Huntress lacked the staying power of any of the larger fleets. Huntress was built to be a speedy hit-and-run force, not a wholesale attack and sustainment fleet.

To make matters worse, Corsin hadn't gotten a solid message out that gave information on the enemy fleet's strength or numbers. Which meant that they were jumping in blind unless Teskit used one of the Consular refits to scout out the system before returning to the fleet.

The saving grace of this operation was that the ships they were to escort to relieve the Third Army were Acclamators and their escorts. With the extra firepower that the four ships would bring, there was a solid chance of routing the enemy and leaving the Acclamators at Corsin while he went off and completed his mission.

With that, Teskit got to work. Plotting out operational plans for the fleet based on enemy strength, as well as working out several plans for what they might encounter on their long raid. After leaving Corsin, it was better to assume they'd have no contact with HIGHCOM or FLEETCOM.

Finishing the planning, he shifted the holotable to a galactic map, his eyes tracking the hyperlanes until they paused on one of the systems in the Outer Rim that he wanted to ensure they hit.

It wasn't the big battles taking place in the Galactic "East". But there was a real chance to cause some damage to the North. They just had to seize the opportunity when it was provided.

 

[Yacov]

As a relief force, Battlegroup Huntress lacked the staying power of any of the larger fleets. Huntress was built to be a speedy hit-and-run force, not a wholesale attack and sustainment fleet.

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Yeah the Republic's lack of large scale fleet experience is showing. Sending a raiding force into a fleet engagement is the exact opposite thing you want to do. Those in HIGHCOM are going to have learn this and other lessons are the price of blood and cored hulls.

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Gear]

Yeah the Republic's lack of large scale fleet experience is showing. Sending a raiding force into a fleet engagement is the exact opposite thing you want to do. Those in HIGHCOM are going to have learn this and other lessons are the price of blood and cored hulls.

Click to shrink...

No, the lesson they'll take away if Huntress get's mauled doing something it's not meant to do, is that raiding with smaller vessels is a waste of time and resources. The key to naval strategy is always massing big gun battleships and cruisers to force decisive battles. Nothing can go wrong with this foolproof idea, they are High Command after all, the best'est and most biggest genius' of all officers who can never be wrong.

 

[CethApplegate]

Given Incom had a good reputation for starfighters, I thought that it'd at least turn a profit over time and had tossed most of my money in one of their investment funds.

Click to shrink...

It's a good stock option so long as you remember to sell before the Battle of Corucant. The ARC170 had a very poor performance in that battle. This then caused a hit to Incoms reputation. It wasn't really the ARC170s fault just a poor match up.

But as a result the Empire pivoted away from heavy shielded fighters. And decided that light fast and agile fighters were the way to go. So they bought the TIE fighter instead. An unshielded and most importantly cheap fighter.

And later when Incom came out with the X-Wing the Empire didn't want it. Since to them it was just another ARC170. And then the Rebels got the X-Wing and proceeded to wreck the Empires shit.

So invest Incom. Then sell before the Battle of Corucant. And buy Sienar Fleet Systems.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 11 (Lieutenant Mark Hull)

One of the things that were aboard the larger ships in the fleet was a firing range. Though I'd used blasters, slugthrowers, and anything I could get my hands on prior to being imprisoned, I'd had a few years to fall out of practice.

So, once I got rotated off of my shift on the bridge crew, I headed in that direction. My holdout blaster tucked into a concealed holster while the issued blaster sat in a holster on my hip.

The firing range wasn't large, it was just large enough for you to practice shooting at what amounted to near suicide ranges. Honestly, seven meters was way too close for comfort if an enemy were present. But they compensated for the lack of space by using small silhouette targets to simulate distance.

Settling into the barren space, I set up the holographic programs and adjusted the blaster to training mode, shaking my head all the while. Back on Earth, I'd been a massive gun nerd. Weapons, their history, how to use them, and what jobs they all served. Here, though, it all felt like a waste.

As long as the weapon did its job here, I didn't care. That said, there was something deeply satisfying about seeing something be scorched in a 'blast radius' when a blaster bolt impacted versus the small hole that appeared from a handgun back home.

The issued blaster had an alpha-numeric designation that I didn't particularly care for. But the ability to swap a couple of parts out and a blaster rifle or sniper rifle made something I'd studied up on and asked for some help from clones on the configuration and holster fitting. It was extremely handy for Navy personnel in particular. If we ever had to make landfall onto a planet, having the pieces to turn the standard issue sidearm into a rifle made a ton of sense.

Not that I saw any other Navy personnel aside from the Marines or Navy Troopers with a blaster on their hips. But I knew that the chances of being boarded were higher than I'd like, and I wasn't willing to take those odds.

Taking a deep breath, I inhaled and closed my eyes for a second before opening them and testing my draw. I did it smoothly, calling on old training habits that would always be reliable when it came to anything small arms related.

Then I repeated the gesture. Over and over again, slowly picking up speed. Draw, bring up with muzzle pointed at the target, find sight picture and alignment. Then holster and repeat.

After five minutes of making sure I had the draw down pat, I flipped the safety off the blaster (I'd already set it to training mode) and went to work. Draw, fire a burst of blaster fire at the target, evaluate accuracy, then shift to the smaller silhouettes. I started with the standard man-sized target, doing several runs on variations of said target that grew increasingly smaller.

Then it shifted to small circles. The size of a soccer ball, then smaller until I was shooting at a target the size of a golf ball from seven meters away. Which might sound like it was easy, but the blaster bolt itself always seemed to drown out any initial placement and shot evaluation. So, the smaller the target, the more time I took to line up a shot and ensure accuracy.

Of course, I wasn't just there to train with the issued blaster and holster though. Tucked into my waistband was a holdout blaster, and having a concealed weapon on my person that I hadn't trained with was a stupid idea.

So, I went through all of the steps I had before, with the added difficulty of having to shift clothing out of the way for a clean draw. The last thing you wanted from a concealed projectile weapon was for a trigger or anything to get snagged on a piece of cloth.

After several hours of practice, I'd worn down the power packs for my blaster and swapped them out for new ones before tucking them back into their holsters and heading for the bridge. I'd timed my practice to coincide with heading to my next bridge shift. Hopefully, we were close to Corsin and I could take my place on the bridge team. I really didn't want someone else at the helm when it was my life at stake.

---

(Captain Teskit)

Corsin was chaos incarnate.

The fragments of the planetary defense fleet were scattered throughout the system, a handful of the Republic starfighters that remained dueled in the asteroid belt, and the smattering of Confederacy ships weren't in any sort of battle line.

"All ships are to move into formation Grek," Teskit ordered. "I want starfighters to focus on the Captors while all capital ships handle that Destroyer."

Battlegroup Huntress shifted into the requested formation, the fighters moving to fill in gaps among the corvettes and smaller cruisers while the Carracks they'd picked up in Corulag backed them up with anti-starfighter batteries.

In the center of the formation, the Providence and Inevitable stood out, their capital weapons coming to life as they were given more power.


"Sir, the Acclamators are heading straight to the planet," Franz reported. "Commander CT-8757 is planning to discharge his ground troops before moving to assist."

"Acknowledged, have several of the Carracks escort them in," Teskit replied. "The last thing we need is for the troops to get taken out before they've even made landfall."

Thankfully, they'd managed to catch the enemy on the back foot and his battlegroup outnumbered the Separatists. If there'd been a Lucrehulk parked in orbit there would have been no chance for them to take control of the void without a large number of sacrifices.

Oddly enough, there had been reports of a Lucrehulk when it came to the initial battle for control of the system. Which meant it'd probably moved on to harass other systems while leaving this small force behind to retain control.

"Task, you have the Con," Teskit nodded at the clone, allowing him to take control of the Providence while he stepped back and looked at the larger picture.

"Yes, sir!" The clone nodded and took the Captain's place. "Ensign Hobbs, shift power to the forward deflectors and weapons. Lieutenant Hull, prepare to execute a flight plan on my mark-"

Teskit tuned them out slightly as he ran through his options.

There were three capital ships in the system, and a host of smaller missile frigates. While not a threat individually, they'd become a problem if left alone for too long.

The Munificent would have to go first. Teskit decided, tapping a control and sending out orders to the rest of Huntress. The large ship was isolated and away from the Captor and Auxilia that were in orbit of the planet.

Who or whatever had control of this fleet, whether it be a tactical droid or a living being, had moved the Star Frigate to support the elimination of the holdouts among the asteroid belt, and that would be their undoing.

With that in mind, Battlegroup Huntress shifted their power to engines and accelerated through the system at a breakneck pace, the Separatists realizing the danger a fraction too late.

"Starfury, coordinate with the Thunderwasp and Deringer. I want missile frigates Aurek and Besh taken care of," The captain ordered. "Inevitable, focus fire on the enemy ion cannons, we can't afford to be delayed."

Then, they were in the midst of battle.

The Providence shook a bit as enemy concussion missiles and turbolaser fire scattered against her shields, but the old cruiser held strong, shrugging of the lances of energy as she returned fire.

The Star Frigate had to split its focus though, as squadrons of Separatist and Republic Starfighters darted in and around the large capital craft. narrowly avoiding the turbolasers that filled the space between the Inevitable, Providence, and their foes. Due to the split focus, the damage it could inflict on one ship or the other was limited, and with the inefficiencies of her power supply, the Munificent couldn't power up her heavy turbolasers to fight without losing maneuverability.

But the Munificent wasn't the first casualty of the battle. A Lupus missile frigate, hounded by twin Arquitens and a CR90 corvette casually ripped the ship to shreds, turning away and towards another even as the small ship slowly drifted off into the void, devoid of power or engines.

In return, a squadron of Z-95 Headhunters was vaporized under the guns of the Separatists before the Munificent's shields flashed. One, twice, then a third time before failing completely.

Two squadrons of bombers, seizing the opportunity, headed in, their proton torpedoes aimed at the engines, the detonation sending a shockwave rippling through the frigate, then the rest of the battlegroup got involved, concentrating fire on a weak point in the armor until secondary explosions began to spread throughout the ship, breaking it apart.

Teskit allowed the slight sense of satisfaction to bubble up from watching the same sort of ship that had removed him from his previous ship break apart. Then he forced that emotion to the side to focus on the battle. Celebration could come later. The battle wasn't over yet.

One of the anti-fighter Corvettes had been completely destroyed, and another crippled, while the one that had been refit into a missile boat was continuing to fire.

Then the Separatists did the smart thing instead of what Teskit had expected. Cutting their losses, the Captor and Auxilia gathered their fighters back and then jumped to hyperspace, leaving the rest of the Munifex and other small ships behind to face the Republic's wrath.

With the large ships out of the way, and the Acclamators moving from orbit to join the rest of the engagement, any small ships were now trying to perform emergency jumps as well, either narrowly escaping, or trailing atmosphere, hypermatter, and Tibanna as they careened through space.

"Finish off the rest of the enemy and begin search and rescue operations," Teskit ordered over his FLEETCOM. "Have the crews of the Corvettes move to the Providence. We'll find a use for them."

All that was left to mop up Corsin, then they'd be leaving this system and heading to the North. The enemy hadn't waited to strike, and neither would he.

 

[Frater Astrotechnicus]

Already down two corvettes before the raiding even started
This bodes well....

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Yacov]

"Finish off the rest of the enemy and begin search and rescue operations," Teskit ordered over his FLEETCOM. "Have the crews of the Corvettes move to the Providence. We'll find a use for them."

Click to shrink...

Yeah with vessel losses and escape pods, plenty of crew are going to get shuffled around in this war. At this means there will be extra bodies for prize crews.

 

[Fanof1]

Yeah with vessel losses and escape pods, plenty of crew are going to get shuffled around in this war. At this means there will be extra bodies for prize crews.

Click to shrink...

Im always excited to see captured ships be used by there opponents. And that lucrehulk is missing from the battle right now (I'm hoping and dreaming now).

 

[MarkWarrior]

Captain Condev Teskit​

Fleet Location: Bandomeer

"Ensign, open a channel to the primary station in the system," Teskit ordered. "We'll need to know what the prices of fuel are locally before I spend any of our limited funds on refueling."

"Aye, sir," Franz held up a hand to her headset and began speaking rapidly to the system control.

"Commander Task, get me fuel reserves and estimates from the rest of Huntress," Teskit turned to the Clone Commander. "We'll have the lowest reserves go first and then move on from there."

"Sir, the manager of the station is asking to speak with you," Franz spoke up. "Says he's not authorized to release fuel to us without verifying our identity and payment first."

"Very well," Teskit didn't quite sigh at the thought of dealing with what was assuredly nothing more than a middle manager for some corporation. "This is Captain Condev Teskit of the Galactic Republic Navy."

"Captain, I'm afraid that with the influx of change in the galaxy, that we may be limited in what services we can provide," Manager Vhen Ida said, his voice in that slightly high nasal tone that ensured no one took him seriously. "In fact, I'll need approval from corporate if I'm going to refuel anything more than one of your ships. Which can take a few days to a few weeks to complete."

Teskit waited for the other man to finish his spiel before speaking.

"You can provide the fuel or we'll find another system to do business in. This is not the first time I've encountered your ilk," He stated. "We are not so deficient that we will allow you to stall us in the hopes of racking up a bonus. You can accept the going rate for fuel in this sector, or we can continue on our way, the choice is yours, manager. "

"How much fuel do you need?" Ida asked.

"Here sir," Commander Task handed the information over to the Captain. "Ships are sorted by low fuel to high, with thoughts towards their efficiency as well."

Teskit nodded and passed it on to Franz.

"We're relaying that information now."

"I'll be able to provide fuel to your fleet," The manager sounded defeated. "Start rotating through. But if I don't get paid, I'm suing the Republic for depriving me of my bonus."

"I'm sure that will work out greatly for you," Teskit growled and closed the channel. "Ensign, direct the ships to start refueling in sequence. Lieutenant Hull, we're filling in as security along with the Inevitable until it is our turn to rotate in."

"I don't know how you handled him, sir," Franz muttered just loud enough for Teskit to hear.

"Incompetents are everywhere, Ensign," Teskit replied. "Learning to manage them was a necessary skill throughout my life. Developing it takes patience, and a great deal of swallowing your own pride. An ability that has shown its value particularly of late."

"Yes, sir," Franz nodded and then turned to begin working on coordinating with the Battlegroup.

"Commander, you have the con, I'll be in the tactical room," Teskit stepped into the darkened room and illuminated the map of the galaxy. He had options, so many options for harming the Confederacy, the question was. Which direction did he start with?

---

Lieutenant Mark Hull​

There was something deeply unsettling about moving further behind enemy lines. After two or three jumps, it became obvious that our holo communications with HIGHCOM were being jammed or interfered with, and occasionally we saw a handful of smaller cruisers or frigates drop out of hyperspace right as we were leaving to head into the next system. We were being hunted.

And while Bandomeer might technically be neutral right now. That didn't mean we were safe. So, we were here just long enough to top off our fuel stores and purchase a few goods we didn't have and then we were back off towards Serenno.

Which felt like a suicide mission if I were being completely honest. Sure, the Confederacy's seat of power was over to the Galactic East. But there was no way that Serenno and other worlds the Confederacy was using weren't guarded heavily right now.

Worse, the Hydian Way was one of the most common hyperlanes for trade in the galaxy. If we didn't change course soon, we'd be predictable and in greater danger of being wrecked by whoever was hunting us.

So far, Captain Teskit had been a Competent and able commanding officer. I'd have to trust that he wasn't going to have us run headlong to our deaths like that.

Of course, our peaceful refuelling was interrupted before we could do more than get half of the fleet rotated through.

"Task, send over the necessary funds as payment for the refueling," Teskit ordered as a small Confederacy battlegroup appeared on our sensors. "Franz, signal for Huntress to begin exiting the system on the following route," He tapped his datapad and the course he'd worked on was transmitted to myself, Franz, and the hyperspace navigation techs. "We don't have the firepower to deal with that."

A pair of Providence-Class destroyers had jumped into the system with Hardcell refits and Munifexes as the smaller escorts. Holding the center of their formation though, was the one thing that was making us flee the system instead of fight this group.

The Lucrehulk Battleship would be able to take us all out by its lonesome unless we were smart about how we fought. But with escorts that massed as much as they did. Well, we were better off leaving while we were at a crossroads where the enemy were going to have to guess at where we were going.

Sending a brief message to engineering asking for them to funnel more power to the main thrusters, I pushed our ship, the original Providence, towards the edge of the system. Directing the team to keep us in the formation as Teskit directed.

Still, seeing the massive bulk of the Lucrehulk and the firepower that it possessed made me long for one of the Mandators or other massive Battlecruisers that were protecting the Kuati Drive yards and other 'important' worlds. They were some of the only ships that could actually face off with a Lucrehulk one on one.

As the rest of Huntress gradually dispersed into hyperspace, I watched the enemy battlegroup sit and wait. They might be slower than us, but eventually, we'd get tired or screw up; and they would be there waiting to take us out.

The stars turned into streaks as we abandoned the neutral system to the CIS. Glancing down at the route that Teskit had given us, I shook my head and shrugged. I had no clue what the plan was, maybe he knew something I didn't but it just didn't make sense to me.
–
–

"How's our resident criminal?" Franz asked, taking a seat next to me in one of the many mess halls scattered throughout the Providence.

"I'm trying to figure out the Captain's plan," I replied. "Bandomeer made sense as a stopping point," I set the datapad down where the other officer could see it. "But he has us jumping to Halmad next, and we don't have the next jump coordinates yet. I thought we were supposed to head further north and then double back towards the east."

"Hmm," the Ensign frowned in thought as she pulled the tab on her meal kit, waiting for it to finish heating up. "There's a few possible locations from where we are," her fingers tapped several worlds within a certain radius of us. "There's ten or so worlds within a radius that we don't have to rely on the hyperlanes for navigation to. "Of those, some are neutral, some are on the Republic's side, and of the rest of them, only a handful would impact the Seppies ability to wage war on the Republic, if they were attacked. " She removed a large portion of the systems from the consideration, leaving only three.

"Axxila, Botojef, and Ord Cestys," I muttered. "Criminals, droids, and ships,"I muttered, thinking about the snippets I'd read in brief about said systems.

"Any of the three will cause some setbacks across this sector," Franz agreed. "It'd be a real coup if we were to hit all three of them. But, we'd have to head through an area with some known black holes in order to bypass the hyperlanes for that."

"Something to think about, that's for sure," I stroked my beard. "I'm just glad I don't have to make those sorts of choices."

"You and me, both," Franz laughed. "So, did you see that the Jedi came over during the refueling?"

"No," I raised an eyebrow. "Why, something happen?"

"She met with Captain Teskit alone again," She smirked. "An older gentleman, wise in the world, and an innocent Jedi…"

"You need to clean out you brain," I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you're reading, I want to burn it."

"I'm just saying, there's a possibility," she pulled the packaging off of her food and spooned a mouthful of what looked like mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Jedi aren't celibate," I shook my head, snorting at the clearly perverted woman in front of me. "They can even get married if the circumstances are right."

"And you know this, how?" Franz settled in, her eyes alight with interest. "This is the first I've ever heard of this."

"First of all," I sucked down some water and opened a history book on my datapad. "It's right there in the archives. So, stop going to wherever you just went. I've never been in a relationship with a Jedi."

"That's what someone who got dumped by one would say," She snarked. "You may continue telling your story."

"Franz, you're the first woman I've spoken at length with in the last seven years," I sighed. "I spent five years crawling up through the Undercity, and two in a prison."

She winced, clearly not expecting to have hit a nerve there.

"Okay," she shifted a bit. "So, it's in the historical records?"

"Yeah, the records that the Republic has go back thousands of years, there are some from before the Ruusan Reformation, and other sources. And that's before you get into the fact that you can request information on subjects and if the Jedi Order's Librarians have a publicly available copy that they'll send it to you digitally for a small upkeep fee.."

 

[Yacov]

"Jedi aren't celibate," I shook my head, snorting at the clearly perverted woman in front of me. "They can even get married if the circumstances are right."

"And you know this, how?" Franz settled in, her eyes alight with interest. "This is the first I've ever heard of this."

"First of all," I sucked down some water and opened a history book on my datapad. "It's right there in the archives. So, stop going to wherever you just went. I've never been in a relationship with a Jedi."

Click to shrink...

Quick someone tell the Jedi Council. This could save a lot of trouble in the future. Then again their poster child of "marriage exceptions" is Master Mundi, so that's problematic.

"Yeah, the records that the Republic has go back thousands of years, there are some from before the Ruusan Reformation, and other sources. And that's before you get into the fact that you can request information on subjects and if the Jedi Order's Librarians have a publicly available copy that they'll send it to you digitally for a small upkeep fee.."

Click to shrink...

Hull being the biggest booknerd out of the whole crew.

 

[Fanof1]

The build up is driving me crazy, I can't wait until shenanigans happen.

 

[MarkWarrior]

Chapter 13


Navigating through the random systems that were off of the hyperlanes was an exercise in both patience and in stress levels. Once off the beaten path, you had to slow down and triple check your calculations before jumping into hyperspace.

There were a few known black holes that we had to avoid, and while there were a few explored and known systems in the space between the main hyperlanes, there wasn't a ton of information on said systems beyond a handful of entries into the history books.

Helping map out the routes made me feel like I was back in the Age of Sail, or the early space exploration. We would jump into a system, take some quick readings and refer to the space charts, then run another calculation and jump again. Sure, I might not have been the greatest at math back home, but I'd had nothing but time in prison to study the things I'd found interesting here in the Star Wars galaxy.

With all of said spare time, I'd read a ton of history and textbooks on navigating the hyperlanes and how Hyperdrives operated. It might only be book learning at first, but after a few months spent in the Republic Navy's version of Boot Camp, it was quickly transformed into practical applications. Because despite what the texts said, hyperspace navigation wasn't science alone. There was a large element of instinct and what felt like superstition built in. Hyperdrives might be rated as faster or slower, but for some reason, it didn't always translate 1-to-1 with how you actually arrived somewhere.

We also scanned the systems and worlds as we passed through. Regular trade routes missed these systems, and it was entirely possible for the Separatists to have hidden bases or a couple of Munificent Star frigates stationed out here to relay hypercom transmissions outside of the usual channels.

Which meant that we weren't surprised when the sensors picked up a couple of ships floating in the void of a system with no name. No, instead we simply sounded the call for battle stations and shifted our alert status.

"Sir, they're immobile," the sensor technician reported. "I'm not detecting any lifesigns or power from either of the ships."

"Get me an ID on the ships," Teskit ordered. "Launch our squadron of starfighters and have them do a flyby. If anything goes active, I want to know."

"Sir, Warbook is reporting partial matches," the tech sounded confused. "Records are saying that their ships from the Old Republic Era, but they're not an exact match."

"Keep scanning," Teskit ordered. "Franz, open a channel to the battlegroup."

"Aye, sir," Franz replied and I heard her hands fly across the controls.

Tuning that bit of conversation out, I opened a program on my terminal and accessed the sensor feeds that the technicians were discussing.

Sure enough, there were two cruiser-sized analogs sitting there, slowly orbiting the red dwarf of a star in between the asteroid belt and the trio of planets that made up the objects in this system. One of the ships looked eerily familiar, and I struggled to figure out where I'd seen it before. It was triangular, and looked a bit like a star destroyer, but it had rounded surfaces instead of the hard angular edges of the Venator that was a part of our battlegroup.

The second ship looked like a Corellian Corvette, or something else with a hammerhead frame writ large. And as we got closer, it finally clicked into place where I recognized the larger of the two vessels.

It was as if one of the many enemy ships from KOTOR had jumped out from the screen. As if the Star Forge had spat out a perfect replica of the Leviathan and done it hundreds, thousands of times.

Sure, there was a different configuration of turbolasers, ion cannons, etc from the design that they'd used in the games and from what we had in the Warbook. But it was either from that era, or closely descended from that design.

As for the other ship, it could be any number of hammerhead designs used by the Republic through the millennia. There had been a lot of them, and they all had different roles.

"Starfighters aren't seeing any activity," Franz reported. "What do you want to do, captain?"

"Anything on the ID yet?" Teskit asked the Tech.

"Negative sir, computers won't force a match."

"Captain, the design is clearly a modified Interdictor-Class from the Jedi Civil War," I spoke up. "Or at least something descended from it. As for the other ship," I shrugged. "I've got no clue, sir. There were a lot of Hammerhead designs used by the Republic."

"Sir, now that I've got a match on one of them, I've narrowed down the second ship," The tech seemed relieved. "Now that we're close enough, I'm running damage assessments."

"Commander Task," Teskit turned to the Clone. "Have a few squads of troopers ready to board both ships. Lieutenant Hull, you're to suit up and go with the group aboard the Interdictor."

"Sir?" I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I stood up. "I'm only barely trained in boarding operations. And not on a ship this old."

"None of us are trained on ships this old," Teskit replied, meeting my gaze firmly. "You're familiar enough to recognize the ship when no one else here could. Ronard and a few engineers will accompany you. If either ship can be restored, we'll move both of the corvette crews aboard to act as a skeleton crew and move on from there."

"Understood, sir," I dry-swallowed and nodded, a pit appearing in my stomach. "I'll find out whatever I can." I left the bridge, passing by the clone who would be filling in for as the head navigation officer.

---

The standard-issue suit given to Republic Naval Officers for boarding actions was similar to the Clone Armor in some ways. A plastoid chestpiece, some sort of insulated clothing with armored shoulders, knees, and elbows. The boots had magnets built in, and the helmet was like a sealed and armored bubble connected to the oxygen pack on my back.

I wished that we had a better helmet, but I knew that if I wanted a better suit, then I'd have to purchase it on my own and incorporate it into my kit. The Republic Navy operated off of a similar to the old US Army. You could use the issued kit, but it was probably made by the lowest bidder and while durable enough to last for a while, it was almost always a bit behind on where the future was headed. Or, you could buy your own gear and use it as long as it fell within the regs.

If I had known that I would be going to help inspect a derelict from the Jedi Civil War, then I would have bought something better while we were at KDY. (And a decent blaster rifle too.) Instead, I was going to be using this suit and my issued sidearm. And if the opportunity came up, I'd grab something nice for myself to use at a later date.


"Lieutenant," one of the Clone Troopers nodded at me as I climbed aboard the LAAT/I, a small green stripe on his shoulder indicating he was a Sergeant.

"Sergeant," I replied. "Is your squad ready to go?"

"Yes, sir," I could feel the anticipation of the trooper. "Just waiting on the rest of the techies to get aboard."

"Shouldn't be long now," I grabbed one of the handles above me. "Y'all placing any bets on which ship is working?"

The clones exchanged glances, some unseen message passing between them under their helmets before one of them replied.

"If I had money, it'd be on the hammerhead," the clone shrugged. "I've seen the records, those things were built tough."

"Well, I guess we'll find out," I chuckled as Ronard and the engineers split up between the handful of LAAT/Is and shuttles. "Pilot, get us over to that Interdictor," I ordered. "Might as well find out what ghosts lie here."

Right before the doors shut and we lifted off though, a figure leapt into the troop bay, the brown robes and lightsaber comforting me a bit when she simply nodded and settled into a meditative state.

If nothing else, having a Jedi along meant that this would either go well, or be a disaster. Either way it wasn't going to be boring by any means.