Star Wars: Kestryl

[Yumi_and_Erea]

Mara had instinctively ducked under Hektorr's fist when he swung it, getting out of the way just in time. She watched the subsequent brief argument with mild disinterest, generally more focused on emptying the can of protein than breaking up the fight. She was about to turn around and throw away the now-empty container, when she heard the voice over the comms.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

She listened to Cedric give his best impression of a silver tongue with held breath. If this went wrong (and she didn't trust life to have this go any way but wrong), they would board the ship. She had a fake I.D., but she would bet credits to donuts she was still somewhere in the Empire's databases. Gun-smuggling AND desertion? She'd be lucky to get life in prison.

She sidled over to Shana, her face unusually serious. "Please tell me you've got a plan specifically for this kind of scenario.
Or failing that, any favors with deities you've yet to call in."

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Transport Kestryl, this system is currently under Level Two security protocols. All shipping traffic must be inspected by Imperial personnel. You are ordered to heave to and prepare to be boarded, we are launching a shuttle now."

"Kriffing Frak." Shana keyed the intercom. "Do as they say. Bring us to a stop, but keep the engines warmed up. Power down weapons. Hektorr, get the navicomputer to start plotting our escape vector. Head for deep space, we'll rejoin the Hydian Way somewhere along the route."

She slid down the gunwell back into the engineering section. "Check those hatches, make sure all compartments are sealed! No blasters! Keep them in their holsters. We're getting in and out of here without any of us going in bodybags! Anyone have any ryll, glit, anything illegal with them? Put it out in the open in your quarters."

In the cockpit, a quiet alarm began going over. Text began scrolling across the sensors console. "Alert. Targeted by ISD Stormclaw's batteries."

 

[The Harkinator]

"Oh joy, they're targeting us with their weapons." Said Cedric in a resigned tone. Why couldn't they have had some layabout officer who just let them past instead of insisting they search the ship? Cedric supposed it was to maintain a degree of fear amongst smugglers. The knowledge that they could be searched at any time probably set a lot of smugglers on edge and caused them to make mistakes.

Now they had the Kestryl in weapon sights they would be able to destroy them in a matter of seconds. Not even the sturdy Corellian Corvettes could survive for long against a Star Destroyer. Their little transport would be disabled quickly. The Imperial Gunners were accurate enough to target important systems in a ship and force it to surrender. It suited the Empire to string up the crew as a warning to others. Rumours would get around in the smuggling underworld and only cause more fear.

Still, if they were boarded by stormtroopers the crew might get lucky and be facing the new recruits who couldn't shoot for all the credits in the galaxy. If they were unlucky they would be up against Fett clones, highly skilled soldiers right from birth and veterans of the Clone Wars. Of course there seemed to be less and less Fett clones around. Cedric had heard they aged twice as fast as other humans and were now getting old, slowly being replaced in the ranks of the Stormtroopers by poorly skilled recruits.

"If anyone has anything illegal then poor little you!" Shouted Cedric, "I'm so glad I stay away from that stuff."

 

[Athol]

It's all no good. He thought to himself. None of the escape plans he'd thought of before would work...the SD was too close, and the Kestryl wasn't nearly fast or manoeuvrable enough. Instead of letting it stress him anymore he took a deep breath, sighed, and rolled the freighter slightly to allow the shuttle easier access to dock.

"If anyone has anything illegal then poor little you! I'm so glad I stay away from that stuff."

"Cedric, shut the hell up right now, or I'll come over there and shut you up!" Kao snapped. He took another breath and forced himself to calm down.

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.

Repeating the Code over and over he tried to still his nervous mind, but with each passing year since the Purge began, it seemed to mean less and less.

 

[Fishtie]

Hinek rushed through the ship's corridors in a way that did not at all betray the rushing panic inside of him. He knew Kao was a good pilot, but there was simply no way that the old Kestryl could outrun a modern top of the line warship like an Imperial Class Star Destroyer. The cannons could also reduce them to star dust in a trice if they chose too. Now Hinek knew that technically he wasn't wanted for anything (you had to get caught to get a record) but he also knew that these days the Empire wasn't into much discretion when the blasters came out.

Hinek quickly entered his obsessionally orderly room and began tearing through his trunk. He wasn't looking for anything illegal of course. Hinek's disruptor was locked in a special shielded box in a hidden compartment buried under a pile of mundane cloths and other items. Oh no. Instead, Hinek was searching for the exact opposite; something he had for just such an occasion; something that he did want the boarding troops to see. Finding what he was looking for Hinek started to pull off his shirt in a hurried way.

 

[The Harkinator]

Ha, some of these people had illegal possessions they would be caught with. Fortunately Cedric didn't have any of tha- oh damn! His blaster! The kind they issue to stormtroopers!

He had to hide it but where? One of the other cabins? No, as much as they argued sometimes the crew of the Kestryl were friends. Where? Behind the fridge, under a display screen? No the Empire would find it and that would raise more questions.

No, it was best he keep his blaster with him and hope the stormtroopers were more focused on inspecting the cargo than the crew.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

"Roger that, powering down weapons." Ian replied into the weapons station's headset. He kept the shields ready to go though; they wouldn't do to much if that Star Destroyer ready wanted to kill them, but if they just sent TIEs after them the shields could buy the hyperdrive valuable time.

Ian was also aware of everyone milling about hiding their illegal gear. Thank goodness I don't have anything like that. he though to himself smugly. I fact, the only illegal thing I own is... OH FUCK, MY BIKE! Ian jolted out of the seat and rushed down the hall into the mechanical shop. The modified BARC speeder bike, which was technically stolen military hardware and certainly something that would give him away as an outlaw, sat on the far side of the room, the lights overhead reflecting beautifully off it's pitch black armor. Ian grabbed a power drill and went to work. He carefully removed the front portion from the back which housed the controls, seat, and engines. Then he carried each half to opposite ends of the room, placed them upside down, and threw a tarp over each. It was a simple trick that had worked thousands of times, but most of those had been in Hutt Space. Still, it was all Ian could do on such short notice, and it would likely hind the bike fairly well unless they were looking for it.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Standby." Shana stepped up to the airlock doors. "Here we go, boys and girls." Through the narrow transparisteel window she could see the incoming transport. Not a craft she was familiar with - it was a pretty ugly ship, an airlock on one end and and a set of engines on the other. Kind of disappointing, usually Imperial hardware had a certain cold, simplistic elegance to it rather than being this utilitarian. This wasn't even chilling, it was just a tool.

Of course, the yield it held, on the other hand.

She tugged her coat on a bit tighter and faced the airlock as it made final approach and began to couple with Kestryl. A few heartbeats later, the console by the airlock beeped that it was receiving a request to open and confirming a steady seal. She sighed and flipped the switch, the airlock sliding open.

Through the threshold stepped a number of the Emperor's iron fists, Imperial Stormtroopers, clad in their bone-white armor and clutching carbines. They fanned out as they entered, allowing a man in a brown officer's uniform to step up. "I am Lieutenant Norven. You will cooperate with this inspection or your ship will be impounded and your crew arrested."

"Understood." She gritted her teeth. "I'm Shana Kovace, Captain..."

"I don't care who you are, alien." The Imp turned to face his stormtroopers. "Fan out, search the ship. If you're hauling any contraband it would be wise of you to declare it now." A pair of personnel holding a portable scanner stepped through.

"No contraband. We're hauling..."

"Construction materials, yes, I heard your man's story."

 

[Jav3lin]

Devron stood by the airlock as it swooped open.
Knowing the Empire's disapproval of alien species, he knew it would be best if he wasn't around when the officer came through. A ship filled with alien species was usually more thoroughly checked than otherwise.

Nodding his head at the passing stormtroopers, Devron concealed his weapon. While both of them were legal, he just didn't want to seem alarming. He knew new recruits were often eager for action, and he didn't want to give anyone a reason to do anything drastic.

However, when the stormtroopers stopped by him and began their scan, their scanner suddenly started beeping.

"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to turn around and face the wall behind you."
Devron did as instructed. Followed by a very thorough hand search of his clothing and person.

"He's clean. Armed, but clean."
One of them turned to the other.
"Are you sure that blaster is within regulation for civilian equipment?"
The second trooper looked at his friend, then at me, then back at his friend.
"Come on rookie, we've got more of this ship to search. I'm certain if we bring the officer some blaster, he's just gonna condemn us to cleaning duty!"

Then the two troopers went on their way, toward the southern end of the ship.

Devron checked his person and leaned back up against the wall. He opened his blaster holster and put his hand on his blade. If anything went down, he would at least be able to kill half of the troopers in this room and maybe the officer if he stayed on the ship. And that at least made him feel a little bit safer.

 

[Athol]

Kao yawned loudly, and stretched. Man, that coffee really isn't doing anything. From his seat he could hear the sound of the Capitan talking to the Empies, but not what was being said. Knowing the Empies...barked orders and xenophobia. He thought.

As if summoned by his thoughts, two Stormtroopers marched onto the bridge. "Everyone! Hands off the controls." One of them barked. "Yessir." Kao replied, sliding his chairs back a few centimetres on its guide rails. That done, he slid down in the seat, clasping his hands together on his chest, and closing his eyes. "Hey! What are you doing alien!" The other trooper snapped, shifting slightly. Kao opened his eyes, and rolled in his chair so he could look at the Empies. "I was just wrapping up a night watch, and had been planning to catch some shut eye while we where planetside, but since we?ve been delayed I figured now was as good a time as any."

 

[The Harkinator]

Two stormtroopers entered the cockpit, ordering everyone away from their controls. Cedric complied, causing trouble would only bring the wrath of the Empire upon them. Best to let the stormtroopers do their job and leave. One of the troopers approached him. "You! Face the wall, arms out. The trooper patted him down finding nothing of interest but his blaster. The trooper checked his jacket first before questioning him. "Where did you get this?"

"Bought it from a friend, he gets them from an official supplier." Cedric replied, probably best not to tell the truth and admit he killed the man who used to own the blaster, nor that the previous owner was a stormtrooper.

"Not worth following up, knock off blasters are always kicking around." Lucky for Cedric then.

"Can't be too careful can we? Happy to comply." Appeasing the stormtroopers was the best way to go. The authority they were backed by meant younger troopers threw it around brashly and experienced troopers knew just how to use it as leverage.

The stormtroopers seemed to lose an interest in him and let him go back to his chair. They directed their attention to the others in the cockpit. Now hopefully Kao wouldn't make a scene either.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Captain, are you aware that parts of this salvage are marked with Imperial registration codes? Including the scrapped hyperdrive off the ISC Shadovah, which, by the way, is worthless. A hyperdrive cannot be refurbished or repaired once it has been irreparably compromised, and contamination renders it worth significantly less than the sum of its parts. In short, is garbage, suitable only to be dumped."

"I was not aware of that, no." Shana lied with a straight face. She knew more about salvage than this imp captain ever would.

"I see. Well, under Imperial Salvage Code, Article Fifteen, we are confiscating these scrap materials. Imperial personnel will meet you on the planet's surface. As a courtesy, we will waive docking fees." The Imperial tapped his cap, apparently feeling quite satisfied with himself - and frankly, a hundred tons of scrap was worth more than a few credits. He'd likely be able to sell it himself under the table, which was almost certainly why he wasn't reporting them - then it would go on the books. "After that you'll be free to go."

"We hauled that all the way down the Hydian Way, you can't..." She trailed off as he looked at her, giving the appearance of shaking in impotent rage. It was an old ploy, and it worked.

"Good day, Captain." The Imperial officer headed back towards the airlock. "We're done here, men."

The stormtroopers filed back aboard the shuttle and moments later the vessel detached, heading back for the Stormclaw.

"Keep quiet, crew." Shana said into the intercom, then headed for the sensors console, looking it over. "No transmissions coming from the ship. We're clear, there's no listening devices." She let out a sigh, then a whoop. "We made it! They're transmitting landing authorizations. Take us in, Kao."

 

[Athol]

"We made it! They're transmitting landing authorizations. Take us in, Kao."

"Roger that Cap'n." He replied, smiling at Hektorr. Sitting up in his seat Kao's hands flew across the instruments with practiced ease, as he moved from their previous parking orbit, to the sparsely occupied traffic lanes.

"Mree Control, this is the cargo vessel Kestryl requesting a vector, and landing clearance."

"We read you five-by-five, Kestryl. Come to zero one one, Customs Pad Delta has been cleared for your arrival, Imperial groundside personnel are standing by."

WHAT IN THE SITHSPITTING VOID! "C-copy that Control, zero one one, Pad Delta." If they're directing us to a customs pad, they've nicked us! Kao thought, panic rising in the back of his mind. There is no way the Empies are taking me in...I know what happens to..... Without even realising it, a hand slid to his pistol holster and unsnapped it. WAIT!!! Clam down man, there might be another reason. Ask Shana before you freak out any more.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he tapped the comm. panel. "Hey Cap'n, is everything shiny?" He asked. "Control says we're to go to a customs pad and that they've got people there waiting for us...do you know what's going on?" Mostly in an attempt to calm himself some more, he chuckled. "You flash that officer and convince him to unload our 'top cover' for us, or something?"

Spoiler: ooc

Just so I don't confuse anyone, Kao is unaware of Shana's conversation with the Empie.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"They're going to be taking that scrap off our hands. Don't worry about it, everything's proceeding according to plan. We're still in the clear." She keyed the intercom, broadcasting to the whole ship. "Alright, people, let's get this stuff together. We'll be groundside in less than ten minutes so get yourselves together and prepare to roll out. Prep the mule and get ready to unload the blasters.

 

[Fishtie]

Hinek breathed a sigh of relief as he heard that the troopers had apparently allowed them to pass relatively unmolested. Hinek was confident in his abilities, no doubt, but here in space there was pretty much no way to actually employ them; a terrifying position.

The troopers had also apparently not even found him, having bigger fish to fry, which was also fine with Hinek. He had a few tricks in reserve, but some things got less effective the more you had to use them. Instead Hinek counted his blessings as he began to change back to his normal cloths.

A minute or two later Hinek walked through the ship to the cargo bay, giving Shana a quick thumbs up as he passed by. While Hinek was back to his normal vest and leggings the only gun he was carrying was his hold-out blaster at his waste. The small defence blaster was significantly weaker then a normal blaster gun, but it was just that attribute that often made it a much more legal weapon as well. Besides, it was just one more thing that made the unaware underestimate Hinek and the fact that he was probably less dangerous with a gun in paw.

Without further prompting Hinek made his way over to the mule and began to pull the small ground vehicle out of it's nitch, though he was still careful to not even glance in the direction of the hidden stash.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Being a co-pilot is tough. Being a co-pilot when you punched your pilot in the face a few minutes ago only makes thing harder. Luckily, both Hektorr and Kao were professionals. They'd grit their teeth, hunker down in the cock pit, and get to work. There was plenty of time to beat each other senseless when they landed. Unfortunately, that would take some time, seeing as how the Empire was boarding them.

"Told ya we should 'a jumped." Hektorr mumbled to himself. "Woulda been halfway ta Hoth by now."

Hektorr was never a fan of Stormtroopers. Their helmets made nice cups, but other than that, they tended to get in the way. These looked like the new clones too; he wouldn't even get the pleasure of fighting the Mandalorian.

"Everyone! Hands off the controls"

He picked his hands off of his dashboard and turned to face the Stormtroopers.

"You! Wookiee! Do you speak Basic? Nod if you understand"

"At your best you're a cheap copy of the galaxy's last whore Mandalorian, and none of you look like the best" Hektorr spoke in his most calming voice while nodding.

"Search him for weapons." The rookie Stormtrooper was nervous approaching Hektorr, and kept his gun trained on him. "Do you have any weapons on you, Wookiee?"

"Kao, if I see a Stormtrooper planet-side, I'm going to rip its arms off. I'm warning you everyone now." Hektorr shook his head.

"He's got nothing, Sir." The rookie spoke to what Hektorr assumed to be the captain. "Roger. Move along to the next rooms."

A few tense minutes passed with Hektorr trying to beat the Stormtrooper guarding them in a staring contest. Finally, the Empire left the ship, and Kao and Hektorr recieved their new docking orders. They were for an Imperial customs port. For once in a very long time, Hektorr felt a twinge of fear. He didn't know exactly how many Stormtroopers he could kill in an all-out fight, but he knew they would have more.

He looked over at Kao. "I think I'll take a rain-check on finishin' our little tussle from 'fore"

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry about my lack of posting. I've had a very bad strain of the flu.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

Much to his relief, Ian was not subject to any great scrutiny by the Stormtroopers. A quick, but rather aggressive, pad down and some questions about his blaster were enough to please the Imperials. Ian supposed there were some perks to being a human these days. As the Stormies marched away towards the cockpit, Ian remembered the clones that he had fought with during the war. They had been good men and even better soldiers. It made his heart ache to know that they had been diminished to the Emperor's tool of oppression.

Alright, people, let's get this stuff together. We'll be groundside in less than ten minutes so get yourselves together and prepare to roll out. Prep the mule and get ready to unload the blasters.

Ian shook his head and grabbed his comlink, while silently giving thanks to any supernatural deities that may be listening. "Rodger that, I'll get her ready." he said, and cut the connection. The "mule" referred to the old ER-3f speeder truck that the crew used as transportation. The thing was probably older than Ian, but it ran smooth enough and, more importantly, it was very low profile. It also featured a large cargo compartment; perfect for transporting scrap, or guns. Ian walked into the cargo area of the ship where the speeder rested. He saw Hinek preparing it for use and climbed into the cockpit to run a diagnostic.

Spoiler: OOC

I'm very sorry I've haven't been posting lately. School and collage preparation has been eating up my free time, so stuff like this tends to take a back seat. Unfortunately, I'll be gone this weekend, so I can't write another post until Sunday. Thanks for understanding

 

[Athol]

He?d managed to calm himself, as he brought the ship onto a decent heading.

"I think I'll take a rain-check on finishin' our little tussle from 'fore"

Kao flashed a sharp-toothed grin at Hektorr as he spoke. "I'll hold to that." He replied. "I haven't knocked a wookie around in a long time." The decent to Mree was uneventful, and Kao was soon lowering the Kestryl towards a waiting group of Imperial dockworkers, and a AT-CT loader.

With a soft thunk the freighter set down on the pad, and the ground crew began to approach the ship. As he went through the shut-down procedures, he hit the ships internal PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the ass end of the galaxy; Home to crazed Sep. fanatics, Empies, and frilling little else. Remember to enjoy your stay, and don't shoot the locals...unless you think it'll be funny."

 

[The Harkinator]

"Why don't you give us a practical demonstration Kao? I'm sure the entire crew would enjoy the reprisal, except you of course but you wouldn't be in a position to complain." Kao was mouthing off again and getting Hektorr riled. Somebody had never heard the phrase 'let the wookie win'.

Of course the best sign of trouble aboard the Kestryl was to see how close Kao and Hektorr were to killing each other. By Cedric's estimate they were in a lot of trouble. Now they had set down on a custom landing pad just for them. Oh joy. Ground crew approached the ship, beginning their mundane routine that required hours of training and practice. Cedric always likened the ground crews to actors, they all knew what to do because they had rehearsed it dozens of times before. Nothing scared ground crews like a malfunction, or something else going wrong. It was the same as an actor going off script, nobody knows what to do and nobody tries to help, too reliant on their routines. Cedric was grateful he was never part of a ground crew, so boring, so pointless.

Cedric headed to his quarters, dismayed to find the stormtroopers had turned the place over. His exoskeleton gear strewn across the floor. Damn stormtroopers, didn't they know how important this stuff was? Obviously not. Removing his jacket Cedric attached the arms first, feeling the armour clamp on and gave it a few experimental swings. All seemed to be in order including the built in blade. The leg armour fit like a dream, though Cedric didn't test out the jetpack built into it, he had apparently tried that once before and the crew had found him lying on the floor with a dent in the ceiling. Of course Kao had laughed at that for three days straight and asked Cedric if he was going to propel the Kestryl to hyperspace with his skull.

Shrugging on his jacket, Cedric returned to the cockpit, considerably happier.

 

[Jav3lin]

Devron took a walk around the ship to cool his head.
Flying through space and submitting to the Empire's grubby hands were nothing compared to what he did in the corps and it was taking more time than he thought to really settle his feet.

In the corps he was always on the move. He always knew who to trust and what came next in his life. But out here, dealing with pirates and smugglers. It was just a whole other game to play and it would take more than a few weeks to really get a hang on things.

At least one thing was for sure. His skill with a blade was still there, as was his lust for revenge.
"My brothers are close. I can sense it.... Soon I will join forces with them, and the Empire will pay for what they have done."

He stepped into the cargo bay.
"Even if I don't find them soon, who's to say they won't find me...."

Devron cut his thinking short as he neared other people. He didn't want anyone to think he had other motives than he was letting on.
"Anyone need a hand with anything?"
He asked no-one in particular as he closed in on people hauling scraps toward the ship's cargo doors.