Ask First Light on the Fifth Day

[Hauron Solus]

Spoiler: Music

Song

Spoiler: Briefing

Mission Pack: Here
With everything going on the Kowakian Devil Fleet has made a move on the space lanes. They chose to strike hard and fast, crippling a Hunter class frigate and a Neo-Crusader class corvettes with their own capital ships, preventing mandalorains from jumping to hyperspace. We are not going to leave our brothers and sisters to be picked off by common corsairs. Intercept this ambush and reinforce our endangered kin by boarding one of the damaged mandalorian ships, flying a ship of your own or even attempting to board a pirate vessel. Save as much as you can and make them pay for every drop of blood. Maybe then the isolationist mandalorian mercenaries will change their mind and cooperate with the rest of us.

Things had escalated quickly. Rancor Squadron had created a quick reaction force and sent a message ahead that they were coming to aid their sisters and brothers. The Group Leader had taken his personal ship and loaded up with all the volunteers that he could take. They were limited to taking smallships with class 1 hyperdrives. Hauron did not want to wait.

The Shadow Gauntlet banked hard as it dropped out of hyperspace. The kom'rk class starfighter transport swerved to avoid crashing into an Ossein piloted H-wing that was desperately avoiding an attack from a chasing Osprey interceptor. The mandalorian vessel was joined by a dozen of other craft. Half of them were Kom'rk class fighter-transports like the Shadow Gauntlet and held a full compliment of warriors. These mandalorians were ready for boarding actions and outfitted with armor to survive the vacuum of space. Furthermore they had hull cutting tools and gear to breach any obstacles ahead. The other six starships making up Rancor Squadron's reaction force were six starbombers. Half a dozen Y-TIE starbombers made them a formidable offensive force.

<"Shriek Hawk Group, sorry it took us so long. We got here as fast as we could."> He let their kin they had arrived and were here to helpd.

Amid the darkness of space in the Truum Sector a battle between an isolation tribe of mandalorian mercenaries and Osseins of a similar job description raged brightly. It was still unclear why the Ossein attacked other than being competitors in the same industry but now they had crippled a Hunter class frigate and a Neo-Crusader class corvette.

Both mandalorian capital ships were continuing to be harassed by what Hauron deemed to be his new target, a armored frigate. Like the larger mandalorian vessels, the Kowakian Devil Fleet was just as heavily damaged. Small craft from both sides had already had at one another for awhile now and were trying to dance around one another and make the most of their remaining munitions.

<"Bolo squadron, soften up that frigate a bit more!"> He ordered the starbombers to begin targeting the frigate and the small craft. <"Gauntlet squadron, follow the Shadow. We have to make it to that Devil frigate. We're going to take it."> He spoke clearly to the others over the encrypted ship to ship communications that projected confidence. There was no time to explain everything, only the time to act. Each starship flew with their orders and obeyed to keep themselves alive and to achieve victory.

Hauron double checked the seal of his helmet as they rapidly got closer to the dangerous enemy ships. He wore his custom flight suit and many others onboard were armored similarly. He expected the KDF forces onboard the ship would be wearing Combat E.V.A. suits so they were in for a fight every step of the way whether it be outside the ship, inside, with breathable air, artificial gravity, it was all normally things people took for granted. Boarding actions were some of the most dangerous things even with a basilisk war droid and unfortunately the mandalorian forces did not have one. But they would not need it if they everything went to plan and perhaps with a little luck.


@Die Shize

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled for state of mandalorian ships and KDF ships
Mandos: 60/100 success
KDF: 41/100 barely a success

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Devils. Hawks. Rancors. The stage was set for a clash of titans.

One Mandalorian brought his Gauntlet, but another did not bring her Hammer with her. She brought her vambrace, her armor, her armaments, her honor and her vengeance, if still and silent for the moment in a seat of her vod’s Kom’rk.

Personal signet on one pauldron, clan sigil on the other, of black anvil and gold sun, on red. Helmet on her head, with a modified Mandalorian flight suit, mag boots, jetpack too.

Head down in the deployment hold, with the other troops, as communication came from the cockpit that the Kom’rk was about to hit the enemy’s frigate.

In that moment, Casany Praxor lifted her head, her visor taking in the visages of her fellow warriors as someone spoke.

“Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur.”

“Aye,” another agreed in Basic. “But if I die then I do so with glory.”

Starbombers dropped the bombs before them, starfighters at war all around them.

“Going to be plenty of death and glory in that kriffin’ Ossein frigate,” another said.

“Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc.”

Casany kept quiet. Content to listen to the expressions of her fighting Mandalorians, thoughts on the combat that waited for her and her brethren.

Shadow Gauntlet rocked as its captain beckoned for a landing, and its pilot did the next best thing given this was a ship-to-ship engagement, and in moments it would be time to breach.

Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando'ade. And the Praxor rose from her seat and finally spoke, for it did not take a leader to take the lead.

“Who’s gonna teach these Ossein pirates the lesson of 'don’t mess with Mandalorians'!?”

“MAN-DO-ADE!”

“Till Mandalore glassed becomes dust and ash, who are we!?”

“MAN-DO-ADE!”

“I can’t hear you!”

“MAN-DO-ADE!”

“WHO ARE WE?”

“MANDO’ADE!”

“OYA!”

“OYA!”

Shadow Gauntlet found purchase.
And forth went her Mandalorians.
To breach, clear, create entrance.
And teach their enemy a lesson.

Demolition charges. Tools to cut.
In moments the door opened up.
Then Rancor Squadron moved in.
Bolts blasting at them in the ship.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The damaged mandalorian capital ships continued to lead the alleged Kowakian Devil Fleet on a chase. It seemed the arrival of Rancor Squadron and other friendly mandalorian forces had taken the raiders by surprise. Each of the six starbombers launched proton torpedos at key targets of the badger class frigate. This helped eliminate the anti-starfighter point defense systems and helped save the gauntlet class transports from further damage. Massive laser cannon fore continued to stretch back and forth sporadically. The friendly mandalorian Shriek Hawk Group were being more careful with their shots in order to prevent an accidental friendly fire scinario.

Each unit of the Mandalorian Quick Reaction Force worked in concert with one another. Amid the chaos of battle they kept their cool. Fang interceptors kept enemy small craft from attacking the various transports that quickly drew close to the enemy frigate. The doors to each of the QRF transports opened their doors to the vacuum of space and scores of mandalorians fell upon the exterior hull of the massive ship. Holes were open from weapon scoring but the primary docking rings around the ship were the main targets.

Hauron Solus's team however would be closest to the recovery hangar. A lucky shot had blasted the armored shutters open leaving the interior somewhat mangled. Now the hangar was accessible to the mandalorians. However there was still the matter of getting inside the rest of the ship. The host of jetpack warriors flew the short distance and used grapple lines along with magboots to secure themselves. At no point did the mandalorian ships actually lock onto the moving Ossein craft making this exceptionally dangerous. But they managed to pull it off.

Inside the hull of the frigate's hangar, but still surrounded by vacuum, Hauron's boarding party got to work on cutting their way into the enemy ship. He knew there would likely be a security team on the other side. But how strung they were waited to be seen. Mandalorians waited on either side of the doors with trained blasters as sparks flew between them.

After some tense delay the teams each managed to breach the ship. Surprisingly many of them were not met with a fast rush of air or random objects being sucked out int vacuum. Instead it seemed the crew of the ship had wisely depressurized the next compartment and isolated it to act as an effective barrier that would force the mandalorians to breach again.

Before they could move into the ship proper, they were met with a dozen armed crewmen wearing C.E.V.A suits. More importantly they had blasters and immediately fired. Several of the defending crew were taken out by the mandalorian attackers but a few bolts found struck mandalorian armor. "OYA!" Hauron heard his own voice in his ears as he charged into the opening and firing as he went.

@Die Shize

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled for quality of breach on badger frigate
barely a success 32/100

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

Inside the hull of the frigate’s hangar, the Donnager—translated to Thunderer in Basic—Casany Praxor waited, blaster carbine in hands. Having given her speech into the breach, she played the lookout in the vacuum of space, or a bubble, watching for trouble.

Jetpack having moved her into the vicinity, magboots defying gravity, the Mandalorian spied her visored eye on anybody who might appear from a balcony. Since starfighters had already been unleashed, it made sense that the Mandalorians’ enemies would be purchased deeper in.

Today is a good day for somebody else to die. She promised. Then came the effects of the demolition charges and the cutting instruments, and forward to a chamber that was depressurized. A killbox.

So came the onslaught. Yet, whatever the defenders’ arms and armor, they forgot who the kriff they were messing with. The Osseins were a volcano waiting to explode, but the Mandalorians were a storm that fell below, and gave the Thunderer a new meaning to her name.

They served as the bane of those who waited, even though a few of Shriek Hawk crew were taken. “Oya,” Casany repeated. “Loud as Mandalore’s voice.” She gestured toward a door that led to another corridor. “I’ll take point.”

Her and another, whether Hauron or not. Their mission? Take this frigate. To do that? Move from the hangar to operations, typically, but whatever their ultimate destination, they had to deal with the enemy either way.

“This is the way.” Maybe her vods could hear the grin they could not see as Casany opened the door to a corridor without a blink. The bulkhead provided her with a barrier as her blaster coughed shots.

Several defenders fell from the Praxor’s barrage. At this rate, though, it was a matter of attrition. Then someone threw a grenade. Which way?

Spoiler: Dice Roll Result

Eliminating the enemy in the corridor: 12/20

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Blaster fire was exchanged by both sides but the mandalorians were outgunning and outmatching the Osseins when it came to the boarding maneuver. In a matter of moments they would finish the fire fight with a mandalorian victory. Only a few warriors had been injured but all of the Osseins lay dead on the decks.

Hauron moved deeper into the ship with it being the one option ahead of them. <"Slice that door."> He ordered one of his Lieutenants to move into position and gave the accompanied hand signals to match. They promptly jogged to the door's panel and began accessing it via computer spike. They repeated the process and made headway through the ship and quickly secured a beachhead at half a dozen different points around the ship. The mandalorians soon were beyond the confines of the depressurized sections.

The Solus Rally Master moved with the Alor of clan Praxor. Hauron fired his twin westar heavy blasters in tandem. The defenders were not making it easy but the warriors were making them pay for ambushing their kin. Reports came in telling them there were no scuttling charges place yet. The Ossein Captain probably could not fathom losing their ship and had not accounted for it. Without Rancor Squadron and clan Praxor's intervention their raid may have even been a success. But the badger was happy to thwart such attempts and make his enemies rue they day they dared to cross his family.

It appeared the frigate had been minimally manned and many of the crew had abandoned their stations to repel boarders. This gave the mandalorian ships outside some respite. But it only slowed the mandalorians taking the frigate by force. It was just a matter of time which he had had plenty of along with ammunition and energy. <"We've got them on the ropes.">

@Die Shize

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled to see how much time the mandalorians have to take the ship
89/100 rousing success

 

[Casany Praxor]

Spoiler: Music OOC

The stun grenade had taken the enemy by surprise as was its design and intention. The Osseins in the corridor fell to the floor before the Mandalorians moved forward.

Blaster in hand, Cas blasted one defender after the other, moving with her brothers and sisters, each one proving to be a warrior right beside her.

One of them was Hauron Solus; a face, a visor, that Casany Praxor would not forget as long as they lived. If he died? He’d be remembered. Surely the sentiment was mutual. There they stood, the Sun and the Solus, signet and sigil, and kriff the semantics.

“Aye,” she agreed with her companion’s assessment of the situation. “And from those ropes they shall hang and choke.” They could expect no less for messing with Mandalorians.

The next door opened, a corridor in her vision, guarded like the others. Only this one had a heavier presence of the enemy, as expected, given that it led to the bridge. That meant resistance would be at its best—but so would the asskicking Mandalorians.

Again, Casany’s blaster sent shots soaring toward the defenders, dropping her enemies like flies. Swinging back into cover behind the doorway, communication entered her helmet from brethren a distance away.

[“Donnager’s got reinforcements closing into our corridor! Trying to flank us!”]

That would be a problem that would leave the lot of them sandwiched toward Operations. Moments passed, blaster bolts trading hands, slaying souls.

[“We’re clear! Di’kuts down and out! OYA!”]

Oya. Time to storm this corridor and show these Ossein whores the meaning of Mandalore.

Spoiler: Dice Roll Result

Eliminating the enemy toward the bridge: 15/20

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The initial breach had been the difficult part but the battle was not over. The joint mandalorian fighting force continued to build momentum with each meter they took. Only when Casany and Hauron's group were momentarily surrounded did they slow down. But even then it was short lived as the other mandalorian fireteams pincered the attempted ambushers in turn.

<"Switch to stun. I want answers from these bastards]."> There was clearly anger in his voice. Comrades had already been injured and there were likely unreported casualties. His training kept his Solus fury in check for now, focusing it to make progress onwards. The rally master did not take the time to examine any of the fallen ossein. He would interrogate any survivors. If they all perished then he would just have to find answers another way. With answers, the Group Leader would be able to get proper justice.

Hauron stacked along one side of the bridge entrance and knew it would be heavily defended inside. But someone had to go through. The mikkian had learned from his adoptive father there were benefits to taking point and if he was a leader, he needed to do everything he was willing to ask his subordinates to do. Otherwise how could they respect him.

The door was sliced and opened. A hail of blaster bolts came through almost immediately just like before but not a single mandalorian was caught in the initial volley. The ossein bridge security and crew continued to fire but a few of their blasters were at risk of overheating, in need of reload, or they were just smart enough to try and manage their shot count. Whatever the cause, Hauron plucked a concussion grenade from his belt and tossed it through the door. The subsequent simultanious flash and bang made several people halt shooting while a few still fired blindly, clearly willing to risk hitting their allies in an attempt to defend the bridge.

Hauron saw an opening and took the opportunity to move into the bridge. His twin heavy Westars fired blue circles that flew into one target after another. Surprisingly one of the security guards in a C.E.V.A. suit was clever and also switched his weapon to stun and got a lucky shot off that clipped the rally master in the left shoulder. His blaster pistol in that hand clattered to the deck since his left arm lost all feeling except for a tingle. But the mandalorian was pissed and still managed to shoulder the guard into the bulkhead before firing a stunbolt of his own at point blank range.

Spoiler: Dice

Does Hauron notice anything off about he "KDF"
14/100 mild fail

@Die Shize

 

[Param Vour]

Vee beeped and whirred as the red and silver BD-unit droid watched the battle unfold. Param rubbed the top of his metallic head, her silver gaze fixed on the myriad of explosions and ship-to-ship fighting. The wandering echani was no stranger to battles like this. Her time training under Thel as a Sith had seen her taking point in everything from springing ambushes to assaulting forts. The surprise in the fight, was why anyone would think it was a good idea to attack a group of Mandalorians.

Tailing the Kowakian Devil Fleet had been simple enough once she found it. Rumors had it in near-by systems they were smuggling, and Param wanted to know exactly what they were smuggling. Nothing had really pointed to trafficking sentient beings or a slave ring, which was good, but the attacking of the Mandalorian vessels was... certainly a way to go. She wondered how much salvage would be around after the battle. Not much, she guessed. It looked like the Mandalorians, who were handedly winning, would use every last bit of scrap they could find. Especially with those hideous looking bombers.

"Hey Vee, can you mark this location as the sight of a battle, please?" Param asked, turning a warm smile to the droid. He beeped excitedly and got to work churning his internal processors to add the location to a map that Param was building. Any time possible future salvage could be had, or something interesting caught her eyes, it was marked on the map for later. When Vee beeped his confirmation that it was done, Param returned to watching the battle unfold. The Mandalorians had breached the KDF ship. She couldn't shake the feeling of being pulled in, like the Force wanted her on the ship too.

"Can you take us into the hangar?" Param asked. Vee tilted his head with an inquisitive whir. Param let out a sigh. "I don't know why but the Force is calling me to it. Besides, it'll be nice to have Mandalorian friends for once." How many Mandalorians had she killed the last few years? Enough that she wouldn't want to bring that up to any of them, that's for sure. In her defense, they always tried to kill her first. The Westar-35 blaster pistol holstered on her right thigh was testament to having never lost against one.

Vee piloted Param's ship through the chaos of battle, careful not to shoot or draw any particular attention to itself. When the ship lurched in its landing within the KDF hangar, atmospheric alarms began to rise within her own ship. The hangar was a vaccuum, and that just wouldn't do. "No air in the hangar," Param said, reading the sensor report. "Can you fix that, Vee?" With an excited chirp, Vee scurried out of the cockpit, into the vacuum of the hangar, and reinstated environmental controls via a control panel he had plugged into.

Param touched her two cortosis-woven daggers at her hips, the vibro-blade karambit at the small of her back, and made sure to grab the echani war sword leaning against the bulkhead, sliding it into a small loop on her left hip; her Force Forged sword of similar design hadn't let her touch it in days, or rather, the bled crystal inside didn't. A tan hooded poncho covered everything from her weapons to the black long-sleeve shirt she wore over tight, brown, leather pants. With her brown dyed hair braided and wrapped into a crown-like style, and her tanned skin, she looked more like an adventurer than former Sith.

Vee met her at the ramp, hopping up onto her left shoulder and settling in on his perch. The Mandalorians seemed to be too busy fighting off a flanking formation of KDF. That was good, because it allowed Param to sneak by, following breached wall and door after breached wall and door. It was just one compartment away from the bridge when another group of KDF poured out of a side corridor.

It only took one of them to point a blaster pistol at Param for their fate to be decided. She was physically fast, but with the Force helping her movements she was nothing but a blur. The unfortunate man that was pulling the trigger on his blaster pistol would find Param's palm over the muzzle, the Force called to it, and when the blaster bolt fired it would be reflected directly back into blaster, exploding the back of the firearm out and into the man's hand and arm.

Param spun, drawing her war sword quickly and slicing through a second man's unarmored thighs. She spun back the other way, bringing the blade up through the second man and into a two-handed downward slash through the first. The others in the group would catch a glimpse of Param's silver gazed deadpan before she became a scythe of death through them. When the last KDF fell outside the bridge, Param's war sword and her poncho were covered in a rainbow of blood.

She sauntered, sword still in hand into the bridge, finding that the Mandalorians had rather effectively cleaned up. "Seems you didn't need my help after all," Param said, her deadpan morphing into a smile almost immediately. It was rather annoying the Force had urged her to come aboard. Vee shifted his optical lens from Mandalorian to Mandalorian, giving a nervous whir from Param's shoulder.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The bridge was secured and soon the rest of the ship would follow as Rancor Squadron took control. There were still a few small ships and pockets of resistance but the next few moments would decide whether they fought or surrendered. Hauron was about to make a call over the internal announcement system as the others moved into defensive positions to protect the bridge they had just taken.

The Group Leader's left arm hung at their side still and had only a slight tingling sensation. Even if he willed his fingers to curl or splay they remained limp. Only his right hand held his westar firmly should a KDF crewmember come back to reclaim the bridge. The sounds of magnboots on deck plates told them enemies were coming. But the sounds of screams, the sight of blood splatter on bulkheads told the Mandalorians on the bridge the Ossein in the hallway had met another force to be reckoned with.

Blast held at the ready, the Solus Rally Master could not help but raise an eyebrow at the sight of the blood-bathed woman. She only wielded only a sword though perhaps there was more to it than that. <"Hold your fire."> He told the other Mandalorians who had tensed, aiming or otherwise anticipated some kind of hostilities from the unknown individual. They kept their weapons low but at the ready.

"I'm Rally Master Hauron Solus. Who are you?" He was surprised by a third party assisting but also welcomed it. A small amount of suspicion was healthy given the circumstances though.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param's silver eyes widened at the Mandalorians keeping their blasters toward her. She looked down at the sword in her hand, then back at them. A burning surfaced in her cheeks. Raising her free hand, she shook her head. "Oh! I'm sorry, I come in peace," she said, the words contrasting with the blood that was splattered all over her face and poncho. The only thing she truly missed about lightsabers was the lack of blood. With a flick of her wrist holding her sword, she discarded most of the blood from the blade before sliding it back into its scabbard at her left hip.

"I'm Rose," Param said, raising both hands to show that she wasn't carrying any weapons. The thought of her hands also being weapons crossed her mind, but she shook the thought the away. Now was not the time to overthink what people knew and didn't know about her. "I'm just a wanderer. I wanted to see if this Devil Fleet was smuggling into the slave trade." Now it was relatively clear that the KDF weren't in the slave trade at all; slavers didn't usually try to draw attention to their trafficking by openly attacking another group. At least none that Param had ever seen.

Param gave Hauron a warm smile, keeping her hands raised and open. Vee made a low whir, still shifting his optical lens around the bridge at the various Mandalorians. "Would you mind if I let Vee take a look at their files?" Param asked, glancing over to Vee perched on her left shoulder and giving his head a gentle rub. "We just want to make sure they weren't trafficking anyone."

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The mandalorians continued to regard her stoicly. Though they did not raise their weapons or even flinch when she flicked her blade. Their T visors kept her within eyesight while also being on guard for another Ossein attack. But with each passing moment the ship would become more secure. In a few moments the Rally Master would need to hail the Shriek Hawk Group and let them know they had captured the frigate.

The badger's brow furrowed at the mention of "slave trade". He hated slavers but it was odd for her to jump onboard a slaving ship when it was mid battle with a mandalorian fleet. That did not make her a liar, it maybe just made her unlucky or an idiot. Then again Hauron found he shared those qualities considering how much poodoo he had been in. He had not thought the Devil Fleet had warships and yet here they were. "We'll find out in a moment." He gave a hand signal for one of his lieutenants to begin slicing into one of the bridge terminals. He was not initially after slaving operations but would be added to the list. Something was off about this whole thing. He wanted to get any information on this so-called Kowakian Devil Fleet. This reeked of false flag operation.

The Solus knew better than to make assumptions. But there was no denying that Rose was more than just a wanderer. His eyes looked to her weapon and focused on its. Most vibroweapons copied echani designs and if Hauron had not been knowledgeable about Echani weapons specifically due to his father's own interests, he might have missed the fact that it was a genuine echani war sword. His realized his helmet had centered on the weapon and he had been overtly staring.

"In a moment, after we copy everything. We will be checking the same thing." He was willing to share intelligence but Hauron wanted to make sure the files were not tampered with. The last thing he wanted was for this whole assault to result in a data-wipe just because he was too kind to a total stranger, a blood covered one at that.

As they waited for the slicing and technical tedium to complete Hauron assumed controls of the frigate. Hailing the Shriek Hawk group they quickly ceased all batteries. He then sent a message out over the internal ship announcement system. His voice clearly projected into each compartment and hallway of the vessel so that Mandalorian and alleged Ossein fighters could hear respectively.

"Attention crew of the Donager, this is Hauron Solus of Rancor Squadron. My Mandalorians have taken control of your ship and you are the last remaining members of the crew. Stand down and your lives will be spared. Your detainment will be treated with respect and hospitality. You have ten seconds to lay down your weapons and surrender. Ten...nine...eight...seven...six....five.....four....three.....two......one." He ended the announcement. His warriors would hold their positions and obey his directives unless they were continued to be attacked. In time he would learn that all of the remaining crew members had unanimously surrendered after hearing their ship had been taken. They were not fanatical or suicidal at least.

@TheDudeMike

Spoiler: Dice

Ossein surrendered peeps

86/100 rousing success

 

[Param Vour]

Param's eyes never left Hauron's helmet. The black visor hid his eyes and his face, but Param had encountered enough Mandalorians to be able to judge a general sense of where they were looking. Hauron seemed to be staring at her sword. A smile spread across Param's lips. "Do you like it?" she asked. Grabbing it just below the guard on the scabbbard, she slid it out of the weapon, scabbard and all from the small loop holster on his hip. She raised the sword in front of her and slowly drew the blade a few inches. "I made it myself."

Things seemed to go back into work mode around the Mandalorians, and so Param slid the blade back into the scabbard until it clicked into place. Her silver gaze met the Mandalorian that had begun slicing as she slid the sword back into the loop holster. "Are you sure you don't want Vee's help? He's built for that," she said pointing toward the slicer. "Your slicer can keep an eye on him, see everything Vee is accessing." It would be a long stand off in a door way if they had to wait for a slicer that could make mistakes, but it was the Mandalorian's mission, she supposed. Her own mission seemed to be a bust.

With the surrender of the crew, Param breathed a sigh of relief. Surrender meant they were most likely not slave trading- or they just didn't have any slaves onboard. Slavers tended not to surrender; was a easy way to go from slaving to slave. If only they knew, that wouldn't be happening. Slavers deserved no mercy, and if the Mandalorians began enslaving in front of her, they'd be joining the pile of bodies outside the door.

"Solus," Param said, distracting herself from the thought of having to spill more blood. "I don't think I've heard of that clan before. I'm fairly new to Mandalorian clans. All the Mandalorians I've encountered haven't really been in a talking mood." She gave Haurona smile. "It's nice not to be shot at on sight for once."

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The mandalorian's eyes followed the disguised echani's movements. But his head cocked to the side as she mentioned being responsible for making the weapon. "Impressive." He complimented simply but not letting the artisanal creation distract him from his work.

It was nothing personal but they had their procedures for a reason. The slicer would gain access as intended. "Maybe next time you'll get first crack." Hauron said, hoping his tone sounded optimistic rather than condescending. <"We're in, group leader."> With confirmation that they had access to all of the systems and records they would begin analyzing the data. Additionally Vee and Param would be allowed access to search through at her own discretion though there would be a mandalorian watching her at all times.

When he was addressed, Hauron turned to look at the blood soaked samaritan. "There are many clans so it is no surprise. We are as varied as our armor." Solus is however both a House and a Clan. Its history was as long and checkered as any other. "Clearly, you are skilled at more than just making blades. I don't suppose you're a Jedi or Sith by chance." It was a question on his mind after witnessing how effective she had been by cutting down her foes. The rally master hoped she would not affirm the later of the two options.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param shrugged, taking no offense to the Rally Master not wanting to have Vee rummaging through the files before them. She understood the concern. Lonesome girl shorter than most of his warriors wanders into a battle of all places, then shows up in a doorway covered in various colored blood. There wasn't a sentient being in the galaxy that wouldn't look at that as suspect. Still, the Mandalorians hadn't shot her on sight, so that was at least something!

Vee waited patiently on Param's shoulder until they were given the go-ahead to look through the files. With a flurry of fast moving metal feet he scurried over to a terminal and plugged in, making sure every file he accessed was on display for the his Mandalorian overseer to see. He beeped and whirred excitedly. Param gave the little droid a warm smile and nodded, turning her attention back to the Rally Master. He had asked a question that she had dreaded hearing, but he at least made it easy to answer. He'd asked what she was, not who she was trained by.

"Neither," Param said, holding the warm smile. "I'm a wanderer, like I said. If you're asking me if I can use the Force, then the answer is yes." Her warm smile deepened into a quiet giggle. "Don't worry, red crystals and Darkside antics don't really agree with me." At least not any more. Param's mind turned toward Gemini, and how he had turned into the monstrocity on Eshan; more over the Force forged sword that had a bled crystal in the hilt had burned her and screamed at her when she defended the people. It was why she used a regular echani war sword now, though the cortosis weave was just as effective at blocking lightsabers. Imbuing the sword with the Force was more of a task now. She would have to make a new one, it seemed, and it just so happened Vee had alerted her and anyone who understood binary that the KDF had quite a few stores of trinkets in their cargo holds.

"Would it be okay we went down to the cargo holds?" Param asked as Vee scurried back over from the terminal and hopped up onto her left shoulder. "Vee says there's a lot in the files." Slaves could always be listed as something else, afterall; it was easy for someone to list a slave as an object- they already didn't think of the slaves as people. That, and if the KDF were transporting full cargo stores, the chances were always better that Param could find a new kyber crystal and finally set about building her own lightsaber. Or so she hoped. Mandalorians had a way of getting their way, and this spouting something like "this is the way."

Spoiler: OOC Roll

12/20 for if the KDF ship has filled cargo stores

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron could not help but tilt his helmeted head slightly as he regarded the so-called Rose. Her answer was non-binary but it was still an acceptable answer. The mikkian had some personal reservations against mind manipulation but not all force sensitives were like Darth Raze and he was a person of strong will as it was. The Group Leader turned slightly to look at the mandalorians under his command but he knew they were disciplined and wise enough to not mistake ever force sensitive as an enemy. His visor recentered on the wanderer until Vee was done with their slicing.

After the petite bipedal droid left the terminal Hauron looked around the bridge one last time. He gave directions to a few mandalorians to carry out certain tasks and remain in place on the bridge for now. Reinforcements would arrive before long to help staff the additional stations. The Donnager was a Y30 badger class frigate and would need some innovative updates to improve the design. But to Rose's credit, there was close to a kiloton of potential cargo inside the capital ship. "I'll have a team verify its secure and we can check it out."

After a short call they would head down to the cargo holds with a handful of warriors meeting them there. Hauron was equally curious what these fake KDF could be hauling. He remained on his guard just in case there was a remaining stowaway with a weapon that had refused the call to surrender.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param nodded and stayed next to the Rally Master. Even as they walked her hands were clasped together in front of her outside of her poncho, every step and turn deliberate yet graceful. She made sure that she was within eye sight of Hauron Solus, and stayed well within eye sight of the other Mandalorians. Dropping behind could be seen as an attempt to backstab, and running forward could be seen as an attempt to ambush. Right in the middle, side by side with a Mandalorian, is where she would stay; a position she definitely didn't think she would find herself in.

As they neared the cargohold doors and prepared to open them, Param let the Force coil down her arms and pool in her hands. Her silver eyes searched the door, having dealt with plenty of pirates in her days of training under Thel; seemed like every week he would have a new acquisition that just happened to be in pirate hands- and she was always the one that had to take point. If he was dead, she could see him rolling in whatever grave he had at the sight of her now. Orderless, lightsaberless, but she had finally managed to catch on to the whole people were either assets or liabilities thing.

A show of good faith was in order, Param thought. She was covered in blood, had shown up randomly, and had made her way directly to the Rally Master of all people; she looked suspect, even she could admit that. "Let me handle this one," she said, waving the Mandalorians by the door off. Raising both hands, now having outed herself as a Force user anyway, she reached out with the Force and gripped the door.

Creaks and groans of metal bending began to echo through the corridor. A corner of the door folded over, then another. Slowly, bit by bit, the door crumbled until the only thing keeping it up was Param herself, and the door itself was a folded sheet of metal with any traps that would have been on the other side with it. She released it, making sure to the slide the crumbled door aside so that no one stepped on it. The traps may have been disabled by the brute force of being crushed by the door itself, but there was no telling what stepping on the door afterwards would do.

She turned to the Mandalorians with a warm smile, stepping off to the side of the door and allowing them to pass through first. It was their ship now, they deserved it. Plus it wouldn't be a show of good faith if she had only done it for herself. Speaking of though, faint signatures touched the edges of her mind in the Force.

@Darasuum

 

[Hauron Solus]

The badger had worked with force sensitives before, Jedi in fact. They and an independent individual aided in facilitating Kotii Solus's jailbreak. It seemed like a life time ago and only yesterday simultaneously. Ithor had happened since then and still haunted Hauron's thoughts on occasion. But Darth Raze's death had eased a great deal of his concerns. He reserved any judgements on the blood covered Rose for now.

The mandalorians gave the wanderer her space as she summoned the Force. Creaks and groans from the metal preceded a series of pops, followed by ribbons of blue electricity running across the folded metal of the door. "Stay back." He warned coolly and with a wave of his hand though everyone had the common sense to not approach. It had definitely been trapped. Probably a pair of flash bang grenades and an electric circuit running through a contact plate and the door. Both were triggered when the door began moving.

He moved to one side of the door and fired into the bulkhead where the outline of a panel was located. The panel door swung open allowing the mandalorian to adjust the local power feed to the trap. It was drawing off of the ship's main reactor so all he had to do was adjust the flow of energy. After a few seconds of sparks lighting the doorway, the blue electricity and chaotic sparks ceased.

Confident it was safe and not wanting to order anyone else to go first, Hauron took point. They entered the cargo hold with weapons at the ready but would find it devoid of enemies. The mikkian moved expansive room which held numerous secured crates of varying size. Some were large enough to fit a hoverbus inside them while others seemed to be no larger than briefcases.

Whomever these false flag operatives really were, they had some advanced suits and life support systems. They had equipment for fighting in vacuums or even underwater. If adjusted a bit the technology would serve as mandalorian iron lungs. There was additional gear that could be cannibalised and put to use like magnetic boots and thruster packs. Maybe the cargo itself had some clues as to where the operatives were based out of.

@TheDudeMike

 

[Param Vour]

Param followed the Mandalorians in. They went about checking the gear and other things, as was typical of a warrior people. She watched them for a moment in the door way, until the calling in the Force and the nagging at the fringes of her mind took her attention. With delicate steps she made her way to a far corner where a small chest-like crate sat. Vee swiveled and danced on her shoulder, taking in all of the tech and electrical trinkets around them. Param wasn't interested in those though, and Vee could always get some scrap from somewhere that hadn't just been claimed by Mandalorians.

The source of the calling was definitely coming from the crate in front of her. Param gently opened it to find two kyber crystals laying on a bed of felt. It was a rather large crate for only two crystals. She remembered when she had secured a few crates with Kai so long ago; they had been filled to the brim. Maybe the areas where these KDF people operated didn't have an abundance. Oh well.

Param took both crystals in either hand, opening herself up to the Force to "talk" to the crystals. They'd been waiting for her, calling for her, since even before the battle with the Mandalorians had begun. Param's smile deepened and warmed. The colorless, orangish hue crystals slowly began to turn. The one in her right pulsed from the inside with a violet color, until the entire crystal was taken by the pulse and solid. The other slowly slipped into an emerald coloring. They were beautiful, and colors that Param had never seen out of kyber crystals before. All her time in the Sith and all she saw was reds and oranges.

She held the crystals in front of her as she made her way back to the Rally Master. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have these. That's all," she said. Everything else was his, the crystals would be hers. "Vee, can you send him my contact information?" Her silver gaze turned to Vee for a moment, and after a nod turned back to the Rally Master. "If you ever need the help of a wanderer again, or want to talk about forging echani swords, just give me a ring."

With that, she said her goodbyes and made her way back to her ship, pocketting the two crystals. She was one step closer to doing what she had never done as a Force user: build her own lightsabers. Now she had the most important part! He light freighter would spin up when she got onboard it, Vee scurrying to the cockpit to pilot. The Mandalorians would have her transponder code now, and hopefully it would be labelled as friend as the ship exitted the new Rancor Squadron vessel and exitted the area.

@Darasuum

/exitthread

 

[Hauron Solus]

Hauron watched out of the corner of his eye as Rose moved around all of the gear, avoiding checking any of the crates that were immediately near where they had entered. Instead she walked through the rows and aisles of cargo until she arrived at the far side. Out of curiosity the Solus would eventually join her but was not breathing down her neck. There was plenty of space in the vast cargo hold for all of them and it would take time to get through but that was why it was all the more strange the wandered had picked a specific container out of them all.

After a few moments she turned back to face him. They looked to be crystals and valuable ones. Hauron had never seen a kyber crystal before and he lacked any sensitivity in the Force but he still wondered if they were the type to be used for lightsabers. Whether they were meant for resale or more likely personal use Hauron felt it an appropriate reward for the stranger. "Take them. They are yours." He gave a slight gesture with a gloved hand to emphasize his willingness to part with the objects.

There was the occasion he found himself thinking about getting help so he gave a friendly nod at the offer. "I will take you up on that." He especially meant regarding the later subject. The Solus Rally Master was trying to hone his craft and would share some knowledge in turn. "Take care until next time, Rose." The woman would be given fuel and assistance with any repairs before she parted ways. Hauron was certain they would cross paths again.

End Thread​

@TheDudeMike