Ask Free Birds

[Elias Ryn]

Wulf let out a torrent of beeps directed at him as Headhunters started to close in and fly in formation. "I see them, I see them," Elias murmured as he focused on his skills to make sure they didn't hit him. Instead of just flying straight, he pushed the nose of his X-wing and aimed it to the ground. The ship cut through the air like a hot knife through butter and when the ground finally got close enough, he pulled up at the last minute and unlocked the S-foils as he shot off and nearly skimmed the dirt.

Elias didn't want them in the air where they could come at him from every angle, he wanted them on the ground where they actually had to give chase. Their ships, in term of mobility, was nowhere in comparison to an X-wing and it would really be a test of the pilot's skill and not that of the machine. Elias tilted his ship to the left and then to the right, finding the tiniest windows for both him and his chasers to fit through as they would split trees and rocks.

The pirates felt comfortable with their numbers and dove down with him, attempting the same maneuvers that he did with a little less precision. The further they went into the valley, Elias would spot a simple land bridge that would connect the two sides. As they got closer, an idea formed in his head and it wasn't the best but it was the first thing he thought of. He squeezed the trigger on his flight stick, the lasers rippling out from his guns as they struck the landbridge with explosions of rock and dust. The fire would continue to be poured on as cracks would form along the sides of the bridge.

Elias unleashed another round of lasers into the rock formation and it would finally start to give in as chunks of it fell to the river below. "Come on, come on." As soon as he spotted it, he instantly locked his wings before transfering the rest of the energy into his engines. As he speared through the debris, rocks would smack against his cockpit as cracks would form and across other parts, making his ship dip slightly before he straightened out. When he came out the other side, his X-wing was practically brown and he could hear explosions as Headhunters tried to pull off the same thing.

Elias turned in his seat to see what the damage he dealt but the amount of dust blocked his view. He was about to flip around back to the carrier but that's when a small group of Headhunters escaped from the debris and aimed right for him. "Great." He murmured to himself.

 

[Vinry Forge]

Each step brought her closer to the first of the pirates who was firing at her, and when she was but meters from him she launched herself into the air and landed behind him. A quick slash removed the arm that held the blaster at the elbow, and a quick jab of her free hand sent him flying back to slam into the wall behind him, knocked out cold. By the time the remaining pirates could react to her sudden shift from defense to offense, she had already moved on, jumping towards her next target. With each pirate she took out, knocked out in a similar manner to the first, the rest became easier to deal with as their numerical advantage dwindled.

By the time Elias had pulled off his maneuver she had the hangar cleared out. She instructed her astromech droid to jump out of the X-Wing and jack into one of the terminals that lined the hangar. Soon enough she had a route to the bridge, and access to the ship's cameras. So she got some warning about the group of pirates that was headed towards the hangar.

She moved towards the blast-door they would emerge from, and took measure of her surroundings. The hangar was littered with supplies, it wasn't easy to keep so many Headhunters operational after all. So she reached out with the Force, grabbing a large crate and hovering it over to the blast-door. She didn't need the droid's beeps to warn her that the pirates had gathered on the other side of the blast door. She could sense them, and she was ready. She nodded to the droid, and the blast door swooshed open. The crate she held with the Force flew through right after, slammed right into the heart of the gathered group of pirates, knowing four out at once. She followed in its wake, her blade a whir as she cut down three more. After making sure that the others were also out cold, she prepared to venture deeper into the ship, moving towards the bridge.

"Stay here," she instructed her droid, "keep the hangar sealed, nothing gets in or out." As the droid tooted in response, a worried affirmation, Vinry smiled and started jogging down the shabbily maintained corridor, contacting Elias as she moved. "Hangar secured, moving towards the bridge"

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Elias thought the little bridge move would be enough but it wasn't at all. A group of three or two followed after him but he couldn't confirm it as they would fly too wildly for him to give an actual count. Instead of remaining near the ground, he pulled up once more and shot directly to the sky. The Headhunters, after losing a few of their own pilots, gave chase after him with new vigor as they sought their revenge. It was supposed to be an easy raid but the Jedi put a stop to that.

The pirates finally got close enough and started firing upon him. Their aim wasn't the best but there were more than one and they could make up for each other. Elias pulled off evasive maneuvers, spinning to the left and then to the right. A couple of shots grazed his wing and sparks erupting from the spots he was hit but he remained in the air. They were still in the open sky and not in the coverage of clouds and when he drew close enough, he hit the thrusters and pierced right through the clouds. A few seconds later, the Headhunters would enter into the clouds after him.

When they broke through, Elias would be gone as the only thing that surrounded them was the thick veil of fog. They flew in formation but didn't deviate from their path as there was only two. It wasn't even noticed when his X-wing pulled up behind them and aligned itself evenly. The targeting system locked on and without hesitation, Elias pulled the trigger and fired a full round from his guns. The first array of bolts completely tore apart one of the Z-95s as it imploded. The second one split off but Elias quickly gave chase and followed its rear.

The X-wing wouldn't be easy to get rid of and after a few attempts of spinning, there just wasn't anything for it to do and after a few bolts, it would eventually be barreling towards the ground. It was the last Headhunter, at least outside the carrier and chasing him. Flipping around, Elias flew straight back towards where Vinry was. "Copy that. You holding up alright?" Even though she secured the hanger, he had no idea what her condition was.

 

[Vinry Forge]

She was about to respond when she sensed something up ahead. She was about to hit a turn in the corridor and there was cluster of life forms up ahead. Well, they were smart, had to give them that. They had obviously seen what she had done to the others when they had tried to rush her, so now they were trying to face here where they would have the advantage.

She came to a skidding stop, and moved slowly towards the corner, peaking out and immediately pulling back as a shot almost took her head off. She started looking around the corridor, wondering if there were holocams that they were using to track her progress through the ship. But she couldn't spot one, so she would just have to accept that handicap. They were being smart about this.

"Uhh," she finally spoke up over the comms, still looking around for options, "all things considered, yeah holding up alright. How are things out there?" Not spotting any other options, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the pirates gathered across the corner. She could sense them, bright spots of life in the Force, but if she concentrated she could also sense the heat coming from the blaster packs they carried. She focused on one of those, and started pouring the Force into it, what little she could from the distance. It took some time, but suddenly there was a shout from one of the pirates as the blaster pack overheated and exploded. She used that moment to charge, emerging around the corner with her lightsaber lit, and grabbed the first pirate she could lock her eyes on. She yanked him forward, but that was all she could do as a hail of blaster fire started raining down on her.

She was barely able to react in time, pushed back and retreating beyond the corner once more. She came to a stop leaning against the wall, panting heavily as her left hand started burning with pain. She looked down to spot a charred blaster hit just above her elbow. They were really prepared for her.

"You know what," she said over the comms with a pained grimace, "let me amend that. Maybe just a tad bit not so well."

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Elias flew easy with the Headhunters out of commission and no longer able to give chase. Vinry managed to shut down the hanger doors and that meant no more came out to reinforce the ones he took out. Thankfully, she responded to his comm and informed him that she was doing just fine. "It's all peachy up here." It seemed he would be the only one who could actually say that. Seconds later, Vinry would come in again to add a correction to her original status and he immediately altered course. "I'm coming in." Time for flying was over and he needed to get down and on his feet to help.

As he came upon the ship and saw the hanger doors still closed, he immediately opened his comm again but to her droid. "Open the portside hanger." But as he kept flying toward it, the door didn't open still. "Door! Now!" Finally, the hanger door slowly groaned before eventually splitting into two as it opened for him. Elias was coming in fast and he immediately diverted power to his thrusters as he sharply turned the ship to face the opposite direction. The X-wing cleared the doors but he was still going too fast and the ship slammed into the ground as it slid the entirety of the hanger with a shower of sparks. It wasn't his greatest landing but it worked at least.

It did eventually come to a stop and Elias quickly used the force to make the cockpit window open before he jumped out. He reached out with the force once more to quickly locate her before rushing over. Vinry would hear footsteps and would see Elias as he came to an abrupt halt beside her. His eyes quickly went to the burn mark she suffered and he gave her a quick nod. "Good to see you're not too kriffed up." It was better a burn than her dead on the ground.

Elias would take his turn to peek around the corner but like Vinry, he would immediately snap his head back when a bolt practically whizzed past his nose. He gave a glance to her with a raised eyebrow, "I see the problem." They really were dug in deep. But with his quick peek, he managed to catch something and that was the pipes that were built into the wall. "On my signal." Elias pulled out his lightsaber and took a quick inhale before stepping out once more and immediately throwing his weapon towards those very pipes. He activated his lightsaber with the force as he leaned back behind for cover as a downpour of blaster bolts came down the hallway. It easily pierced through the pipes and steam flooded into the enclosed space with no hint of stopping, "Now!"

 

[Vinry Forge]

The little explosion she had set off had not done a great deal of damage, but it had downed one of the pirates, or at least she thought it had. That and the chaos of her attack and retreat seemed to have been enough to prevent the pirates from realizing that they had hurt her and that they had the opportunity to rush her. Thankfully they were content with sitting tight and letting her come to them, it was the only route to the bridge after her. They had her trapped.

Having spent a few minutes catching her breath and trying to center herself, she was about to start thinking up a plan when she heard footsteps coming from the direction of the hangar. Her first instinct that the pirates had manager to wrap around somehow and were about to attack her from both directions, but then she spotted Elias and allowed herself to let out a sigh of relief as she leant back against the wall. The pain was keeping her distracted, and she hadn't sensed his arrival.

"What are you doing here?" She replied, before looking down at her injury and shrugging the uninjured shoulder, "Kirffed up just enough that I'm not complaining that you rushed through whatever was going on outside to join in the fun here." As he peeked around the corner, she took a moment to tear off a bit of her robes and bandage her arm as best as she could. By the time he sprang into action she was ready, not at 100%, but still able to do something. "The big one's mine." She said as she came up besides Elias.

At his signal she rushed around the corner, pushing through the pain, her blade held unlit in her hand so as to not give her position away through the steam. She charged straight ahead, and spotting the pirate she had downed earlier, she grabbed his body with the Force and sent him flying back towards the pirates. That was when she lit her blade and rushed in after the ungainly projectile that was the unconscious pirate. The pirates, their attention drawn by the figure that suddenly came flying out of the steam, lost the split second they should have used to react to her. She ignored most of them, and instead locked her attention towards the back of the group. There stood a brute of a figure holding a heavy repeater, the thing that had pushed her back earlier. She locker her blade and threw it, before retreating back into the steam just as her blade sliced through the repeater before shutting down.

With a grin she took a few steps back, preparing to reach out with the Force once more, just as soon as she had her breath back.

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

It seemed Vinry was indeed okay as she gave him her type of answer. The big one was her's and he wasn't going to tell her no. When the steam erupted into the hallway, she sprung into action and charged forward while she had the cover. All of the pirates were focused on her figure and gave Elias a moment of reprieve as the steam would block him from their view. Vinry moved with ease and after she had put the repeater out of commission, it was his turn to come back in again.

The lightsaber flew back into his hands and instead of charging forward with her, he deactivated it and shot both of his arms out. The steam still filled the room but it suddenly lurched forward, swallowing everything in its thick coverage. It would provide Vinry the cover she required and at the same time keep her invisible, if she played her cards right. Elias dashed forward, his hilt resting in his hand as he would use it as a weapon itself.

The first pirate he came across swung wildly, merely only able to see the shadow of the Jedi. But Elias simply ducked underneath before swiping the hilt right into the jaw of the pirate, hitting him into the wall and knocking him out cold. The force guided him and he wouldn't resist it. Elias spun away from the man and launched the force once more as it surged forward and directly into the dismantled repeater that Vinry had dealt with. The gun emplacement flew back and slammed into a small group of pirates, the big one managing to duck in time to avoid it, as they went straight into the wall and were pinned under the weight of it.

Elias trusted Vinry and instead of staying there to help clean up the rest of the pirates, he launched forward and broke through the steam as wisps of it rose from different parts of his body. He landed with ease and spun on his heel as he sprinted down the hallway and straight toward the bridge.

 

[Vinry Forge]

As Elias controlled the steam to create more cover, Vinry took the breather she needed before jumping back into action. She was pushing through the pain for now, but soon enough she'd have to get some proper medical attention or she might find herself seriously handicapped in any combat situation. So the sooner they dealt with the remaining pirates, the better.

So as Elias pinned some of the pirates behind the destroyed gun emplacement, she summoned her lightsaber back to her hand and started moving forward towards the remaining pirates. By the time the steam cleared Elias had already crossed the choke point the pirates had created and was moving towards the bridge. Which left a handful of pirates, including the one who had injured her, left standing.

"I don't suppose you'll agree to just lay down your weapons?" She asked as she continued walking forward, with their only reply being to raise their blasters towards her as the big one started running after Elias. "I guess not." She sighed as her blade sprang to life, and as the first blaster bolt flew towards her she sprang into action. She didn't try to avoid them, instead she intercepted each shot with a deliberate movement of her blade, sending them flying back towards the pirates, picking them off one by one. One was hit in the leg, another in the arm, all non-fatal blows which nonetheless took them out of the fight. One by one they fell, till she walked right up to the last pirate and dodged his attack to slam the butt of her blade into his head to knock him out.

Then she started running, after Elias, and the last pirate. She caught up to him soon enough, and reached out with the Force to catch his foot in a telekinetic grip to trip him. As she went tumbling to the ground, she ran up to him and knocked a blaster out of his hands. "What," she asked as she pointed her blade at hit to keep him from moving, "don't wanna play without you big gun?"

It was all false bravado though, as by this time her arm was killing her. She was spent, and hoped that Elias had things in control at the bridge, because she sure as hell wasn't going to be much help if things went south.

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Elias turned down a hallway and kept his speed constant as he saw the door that led to the bridge. He heard the sound of blasters firing behind him but he relied on Vinry to protect herself as they couldn't let the carrier reach the village. The door was almost within reach but thunderous footsteps came behind him. He spun around to see the massive pirate still running after him and before he could raise his weapon, a shoulder was slammed right into his chest as it pushed him into the wall.

Elias was sure he bit his tongue as the taste of blood filled his mouth and stars clouded his vision. The pirate kept him pressed against the wall to keep him stuck and he could feel his ribs being pushed in together and almost ready to break. Movement in his arms was restricted but his legs weren't. Elias positioned his feet so they fully were against the door to push off of it and made the pirate who held onto him stumble backward, unable to correctly balance himself. Both of them fell to the ground and the opening needed for the Jedi to free himself from the grip as he rolled away and stood up.

The big one stood up as well and Elias quickly kicked him straight in the stomach and made him once more stumble back, allowing Vinry to use the force to trip the man up. He turned around immediately afterward and used his lightsaber to slash the door open to the bridge. When he entered, bolts were fired upon him and he swung his saber in a deflective manner as they came from a small group of pirates plotted throughout the room.

At first, he was able to defend himself and take out a few of the pirates as the bolts were redirected but the ferocity and amount coming in were too much for him as some started to slip through. One grazed his arm and the other his ribs and that was enough for him to understand what would happen if he just remained there. Elias rolled away to create an opening before sending out a concussive blast of the force as it sent the last one into the windshield as the glass cracked.

There seemed to be a break in the firing and when he stood up, the pirates were down on the ground and holding themselves. Elias let out a relieved sigh as he leaned against one of the consoles, "Bridge is all clear."

 

[Vinry Forge]

Once Elias gave the all clear on the comms regarding the bridge, Vinry used jackets and such from the unconscious pirates to fashion make shift restraints to tie down the one she had tripped and once sure that he wasn't going anywhere she made her way to the bridge.

She let out a whistle as she entered the bridge, both impressed by the ship itself and how efficiently Elias had dealt with the remaining pirates. "You alright?" She was about to say that when a beep from her pocket drew her attention. She pulled her comm unit out to see a message being relayed to her from her ship. "Perfect timing as usual, the cavalry is on its way." The Jedi response force that was supposed to head to the village to intercept the pirate Headhunters had finally found the downed pirate they had left behind and were on their way. "Better late than never I guess."

But it worried her that it had taken them so long, the pirates would have been long gone if the two of them hadn't happened to be at the temple, that had to change. "I don't know where they found it," she said as she started walking down a bank of screen, giving quick glances to random readings, "but this is a nice little ship." She stopped at the main consoles, punching a few buttons to pull up the ship's schematics and current status.

"You know," she said as an idea struck her, turning to look for Elias, "we might have banged it up a little, and these guys weren't really taking good care of it before, but a little elbow grease and this could amount to something. We find a few more pilots for you to whip into shape," she paused as a flurry of motion outside the bridge's viewport caught her attention, X-Wings streaking past as they made for the hangar. "make sure they are faster on the uptake than these guys."

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Vinry strode in and asked if he was alright, which earned a chuckle out of him as he slid from the console and into a nearby seat. "Alright is one way to put it." His ribs and his leg burned badly but it was manageable, he just needed to be seated. Elias slipped his saber on the clip of his belt as he leaned his head back against the chair and let his body ease the tension it had built up. He almost fell asleep right then and there but then the other's Jedi comm pad pinged.

When she informed that the calvary arrived, Elias chuckled softly as he wiped his mouth, "Well, that was perfect timing." At least they came at all and the sight of an X-wing flying past the cockpit was a comforting sight to him. As long as they were there, it meant that the village was safe and that the threat of pirates managing a sneak attack of some sort wouldn't work.

Vinry gave a good examination of the bridge and commented that it could be used by the Jedi once they fixed it up. When she commented that they could find pilots for him to whip up into shape, he chuckled once again, "I didn't know acquiring this ship would transform me into a teacher." He had always been a good pilot but he never thought about teaching his skills to others. His father had been a good teacher and there was a possibility he could try and pass on that knowledge.

Elias stood up from the seat and made his way to stand by Vinry as he stared out of the bridge's viewport, "Let's get this thing home. I can wrap my mind around teaching others when I have a hot shower." The pain in his leg and ribs also didn't help but he really did desire that shower. If they got it to the temple, they could actually get a report on the cost of repairs and what would need to happen for this to be acceptable to actually fly.

 

[Vinry Forge]

"With great power," said Vinry as she continued examining the ship's readings, "comes great responsibility. Why do you think I keep on letting myself be hit all the time? Who would ever want to learn from a walking infirmary like me?" She flashed a lop-sided grin as she punched in a few commands to start overriding some of the ship's protocols so that they could begin taking control of the ship.

"Get your droid to plug into a terminal somewhere," she said to Elias as she realized they needed more hands than they had to properly control the ship, "we should be able to limp home with his help. But then the real work begins." She pulled up the ship's diagnostic data on one of the larger holo-displays so that Elias could see it as well. Extensive damage in the hangar, and a few sections running low on life support because of the steps they had to take to take out the pirates, but on the whole no major failure. "Pirates though they may be, but they ran a halfway decent ship, most systems seem to be in better shape than I was expecting."

That was when her droid trasnmitted a message to her, the new arrivals had landed in the hangar and were all on board, they were ready to get moving. Waiting for the pilots and Elias' droid to get in position, she sat down in one of the seats that was meant for the crew. "What do you think the Council's gonna think of this little outing? Fighting pirates, commandeering a corvette, back in the day that would have earned you a reprimand or two." She wasn't one to spend much time at the temples, avoiding the Council as much as she could, so she had no idea what to expect. Specially with things having changed since the events on Sullust and the Sith attack.

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Elias chuckled at Vinry's explanation of her being caught at the end of enemies' sights, "Sounds like you would have to be my first student." A war was coming, all of them knew it and they would have to be prepared for it. It wouldn't be an easy one to win if all the Jedi and other pilots got shot out of the air before they could even pull the trigger. He wasn't exactly resolved around the possibility of teaching yet but the idea had been implanted into his mind by her.

He nodded over at Wulf, "You know what to do." The droid beeped before rolling to one of the indicated terminals as its multiple tools came out and were injected into the mainframe. "Check the fuel reserves and get us an actual diagnostic on this ship from your end." One came up on the screen that had been scanned by the ship itself but he wanted Wulf to double-check everything to remove the possibility of it falling out of the sky or blowing up. "Well, they had to make sure their home didn't fall out of the sky."

Elias slid into the captain's seat, taking control of the main thrusters and systems of the ship as he slowly turned it back in the direction of the temple. A couple of lifeforms had been detected inside but they were the other pilots and they could help keep the guts of the ship running until they reached the temple. Vinry brought up an interesting comment about the past and he smirked as he thought about it himself. They hadn't really acquired the ship through traditional means, more just stumbling upon it and seizing it for themselves. It was pirates after all and they had been terrorizing the local people, making them a fair game but the mission had been off the books.

The Jedi just shrugged his shoulders as the ship eased into a steady pace with a flank of X-wings protecting it, "Who knows? Hopefully, the addition of a new ship will ease the tensions if there are any. I would like to think they approve of growing assets."

 

[Vinry Forge]

Vinry responded to the suggestion of her becoming his first student with a grin and a shrug. She was a decent enough pilot when it came to getting from point A to point B, but she was definitely not used to combat. She had always relief on a fast ship and faster thinking to avoid combat. There was no denying that occurrences like this were probably going to become far more common going forward, and the next time she might not have an ace pilot as her wingman to bail her out.

Soon enough the ship was flying gently under their combined guidance, and as Elias took control Vinry sat back and let her thoughts take over as she absent-mindedly monitored the various displays. She had no idea what to expect from the Council, but if Elias thought that they might approve then at least there was the possibility that this wouldn't end in a shouting match. The fact of the matter was that they needed this ship, which in itself was a concerning thought. Were they repeating the mistakes made by Jedi or old, arming themselves, becoming soldiers. She didn't have any clear answer though, but this time she had the benefit of seeking another's opinion in the matter.

"Does it worry you," she asked Elias as the Jedi Temple started showing up far ahead in the main viewport, "the direction in which we seem to be headed. We must face the threat of the Sith, but is preparing for war the right way? Every time the Jedi have gone to war we have lost, in one way or another. I fear this time might be no different."

@Orbit

 

[Elias Ryn]

Elias kept the ship at a steady pace as it cut through the air with a little bit of a groan but nothing major. He felt comfortable behind the controls and he relaxed his grip on them as he eased into his chair. He sort of fell into his own zone, his eyes just scanning back and forth amongst the clouds, even with the protection. When he was in a cockpit, he felt like he could be himself and shed whatever weight that burdened him almost like a ship did when it lifted itself in the air.

But, Vinry's questions and comments pulled him out of it and he turned his head to look at her for a few moments before directing his gaze back to the sky. It was a question he hadn't been asked before and her words were tumbled over in his head as he thought about them. "I don't know if it does. I'm a merc's kid, so some part of me agrees with the direction we are heading. The Sith will prepare either way for war and someone has to be prepared to stop them when the time comes. If we do nothing, they'll walk over us. His father had always told him to be prepared for any situation, even the ones you don't expect and Elias knew that the Sith wouldn't stop growing in strength, even if the Jedi did.

"Another part of me is our training and the ideals of the Jedi. We are arming ourselves once more and even though I might slightly fear that it may be no different, it's still our duty to ensure that the Sith don't take control of the galaxy once more. When there is a way that opens itself that can possibly resolve this without war, I'm sure we'll all take it with open arms, at least the Jedi. But for me," He glanced over to Vinry, "I don't plan to let Ajan Kloss happen ever again and that means defenses and men or women who can help protect or fight if need be."

Elias turned back to view out the glass, the distance between them and the temple shortening. "That's how I view it at least." Maybe it didn't exactly follow the Jedi code or what they intended, but he was more of a practical person than anything. The fact they would need arms and ships was without question. He eased the ship carefully into the hanger, the X-wings splitting off to give them space. The after thrusters helped angle it and it touched down on the ground with a slight thud as the landing gears hadn't been maintained routinely. He flipped some switches as the engines shut off and spun his chair around before standing up, "We've made it back to the nest."