Post by MikDaTv on May 31, 2010 15:29:28 GMT -5
Halcyon Days
1.1 - All Ends Must Have a Beginning
The Warbird-Class Republic Cruiser known as the CSF Sobek was docked at the orbital CorSec ship facility. Neeja Halcyon was on the small bridge of the ship in his central command chair. He had just received command of the brand new ship. It had been commissioned only a year ago so everything on the ship was practically top of the line. He'd just finished his first the tour of the ship and was getting ready to go out on his own for the first time.
The 26 year old Jedi Knight allowed himself the sin of pride just this once. As the Corellian Jedi liaison to CorSec, he had fought hard to get his own command instead of sitting behind a desk. His young wife, Samantha was 5 months pregnant and hadn't really approved of this posting, but she supported him anyway. He felt lucky to have her. Life was indeed looking up for him.
"Capt'n, all stations report ready to leave space dock." The helmsman reported from his console. Neeja had inherited his crew from the previous command. They were good men and women but he didn't really know them yet. A personnel file only said so much.
"Understood Ensign. Bring the engines online." Neeja ordered.
The Helmsman nodded and turned to comply with the order. Neeja could hear the main engine slowly spin up to speed as the ships reactor fed it power. He heard the doors open behind him and turned his command chair around to see who had walked on. It was an older gentleman, wearing green Jedi robes that bore CorSec's symbol on the fabric near the left breast. Neeja got up and shook his hand. "Hi dad. Come to see me off?"
Keiran Halcyon smiled softly at his son and returned his handshake firmly. "Not every day a father gets to see his son set out into space aboard a ship like this."
Neeja's smile widened and he gestured around the room with his hands. "What do you think? Do i know how to pick em or what?"
Keiran nodded as he glanced around at each of the workstations in the cramped bridge. "Not the biggest girl on the line but she's good enough for the job. You'll be a good commander Neeja, it's in your blood." The older Jedi Master said. "Hey kiddo, come with me. I got something for you."
Neeja frowned slightly. he didn't like surprises, but he figured it couldn't be a bad thing so he turned back towards the Helm. "Ensign Ubootoo, you have the con."
The Ensign stood up and saluted sharply. "Aye Aye Capt'n"
Satisfied that the ship was in good hands he turned to leave with his dad. The two Jedi fell in step with Keiran in the lead and Neeja in the classic protective position a step behind and to the right. Keiran waved him forward with a move of his finger. "Come on son, you haven't been a Padawan for 7 years now."
Neeja blushed ever so slightly when he realized he'd so easily slipped into the habbit most Padawans have of being like their Master's body guard and walking in the protective position. He sped up a little to walk beside his father. Keiran put an arm around his sons shoulders and walked until they came to an empty intersection. With most of the crew at their station waiting to disembark, the interior of the ship was a lot less crowded then usual. The intersection felt eerily quiet. Keiran reached into his robes and withdrew a small green cube. "I want you to have this. Something to keep your mind sharp while your out there protecting Corellia from pirates."
Neeja recognized the family heirloom immediately. His father had gotten it from his grandfather who had gotten it from the Jedi Council 100 years ago. It was a Holocron, but not just any Jedi holocron. This holocron had recorded the lives and knowledge of every Jedi in the Halcyon family for 2 generations. Stories told around family gatherings said his Uncle Kal had locked himself in a room for 3 weeks with the thing to record everything he had to say. He took the holocron from his father and held it in his hands. This was the closest he'd ever been to it. "Dad... I can't take this from you. Grandpa gave this to you on his deathbed with the understanding that it would be given to me on your death bed. What if we run into trouble? It could be damaged or destroyed." Jor held it back out for Keiran to take. "What if you need to record something in it?"
Keiran pushed the cube shaped artifact back towards Neeja. "Keep it. I won't be needing it any longer. I've recorded all that I will in this life time."
Neeja was confused by his words, but he reluctantly nodded and accepted the device, putting it in his robes. "I'll use it every day."
"Remember, this is not for you, this is for your kid." Keiran said solemnly. He crossed his arms and looked sternly at his grown son. "This is to aid you in training your child to be a Jedi, like you."
Neeja nodded. "I know Dad."
Keiran uncrossed his arms and put them on his son's shoulders to look him in the eye. "Good luck."
Neeja smiled again and gave his dad a hug. "You'd better get going unless you want to come with me."
Without needing to say another word the father and son parted, Neeja went one way through the intersection, back to the bridge, while Keiran went another, back to the docking port. The conversation had troubled Neeja, but he pushed the feeling aside. His dad was probably just excited for him. The doors slid apart as he walked back onto the bridge. "Ensign, i have the con. Prep the ship for launch. Disengage all mooring ties. Once the ties are clear give reverse thrust, one forth impulse if you please."
Ensign Ubootoo's hands moved over his console quickly and skillfully as he complied the with his orders. "Aye Captain, one forth impulse. Thrusters at full."
1.2 - Secrets
Keiran Halcyon watched the ship depart from space dock. The warbird gracefully pulled away from it's docking station and moved off into space to patrol the Corellian Sector looking for crime in all it's forms. He sighed and moved away from the viewport. He felt his legs carry him somewhere, to where he wasn't sure. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to know where he was going but soon enough he found himself outside the personal quarters set aside for his son and his wife.
He made to ring the buzzer but started coughing. His chest wracked with pain as he went through his coughing fit and he wiped the Phlegm in his hand on the inside of his robes to hid it. He rang the buzzer and waited. He did not wait long though, the door slid open in mere seconds to show Samantha Halcyon, Neeja's wife. She smiled and gave Keiran a quick hug. "Hi Keiran, what brings you here?"
The Jedi Master looked down at her now fairly bulbous abdomen and smiled. "Why my grandchild of coarse." He told her smiling. In reality he didn't know why. He had wandered the CorSec station and ended up here. The Force was trying to tell him something, but he didn't know just what it was yet.
He was snapped back to reality by Samantha who had grabbed the sleave of his robe and was pulling him into their small apartment. "Come in, come in, please. Make yourself comfortable." She said as she led him into their living room. "Can i get you anything?"
Keiran shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine. To be honest i'm not sure why i'm here." He said, trying to make an attempt at small talk. His gaze drew him to one wall of the living room that had been stripped to the bare metal and primed. "Repainting something?"
Samantha followed his gaze to the wall and waved at it dismissively. "Oh that. It's a surprise i'm putting together for Neeja when he gets home. He's always talking about CorSec officers and how they have a wall in their office that has all their certificates, awards and qualifications and stuff all framed and mounted."
Keiran laughed slightly. He didn't want to risk starting another coughing fit so he restrained himself to a few chuckles and smiled. "The I Love Me Wall." He said. "Neeja will love it. He's a good Jedi, his only vice is that he likes to show off."
Now it was Samantha's turn to laugh. "i've never heard him summed up so simply but yeah, i guess your right. He's a great guy but a bit of a showoff. I suppose thats why i married him."
"I should hope so" Keiran replied as he sat down in one of the living rooms many chairs. She sat across from him in her custom made pregnancy chair and put her fingers together. The Jedi Master felt a bit awkward because he didn't know what to say. "Ummm, so hows the baby doing?"
As if subconsiously Samantha started rubbing her belly . "He's quite the burden actually." She said jokingly. "You'd think a Halcyon Jedi baby could use his powers to make his mother not look like a bantha."
Keiran smirked and rubbed his hands together nervously. He was surprised when he realized this was the most they've talked without Neeja present since his son's wedding day. Given the secret that he had, perhaps he just wanted to talk to someone. Then he remembered that it was the Force that had brought him here. Just like it had given him those visions. "I'm dying." He said before he could think to stop himself.
The smile on Samantha's face evaporated. "what?!"
Keiran breathed once before continuing. "It's cancer, on my lung. I only have a couple weeks."
Her face twisted into an expression of some kind of shock or horror as she tried to jump to her feet. She couldn't quite manage to stand up as fast as she wanted to though and she fell back into her chair. "Cancer!" She shouted angrily. "What do you mean cancer? Have a doctor clone the lung, or use your Jedi powers." She was frustrated, and he had given her good reason to be. Cancer was an easily solvable problem in both medicine and through the force. But if he did not die, then it would have serious repercussions.
Keiran shook his head. He was visibly shaken by her angry response. "I can't. I can't for reasons i don't fully understand myself. I could never burden you with the responsibility of the secret i've discovered."
Her hand shot out to point at a picture of her husband. "What about Neeja? What about your son? Can you tell him, is that who you could tell?"
Keiran closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. Emotional control has never really a problem for him, but in this situation, he had to prevent himself from succumbing to the temptation of unloading all his problems onto her shoulders. "Suffice to say, it involves my son, but to a greater extent, it involves my grandson."
Tears started to form on Samantha's cheeks. She turned her head sideways, unwilling to look Keiran in the face. "Son?" She practically whispered out, between suppressed sobs.
Keiran nodded. "I can tell you that much. You will bear a boy Samantha. He will be strong both mentally and in the Force and the vortex of destiny will swirl around him like a cloak." He said. Even now, opening himself up to the force revealed what he was talking about. Her womb was beaming out the power of life, like a navigational beacon guiding ships to safety. The Force present in the room bent towards Samantha like light being warped towards a gravity well.
Now openly crying she turned to look at Keiran again with anger obvious on her face. "No, i get enough of that mystic Jedi nerfshit from Neeja. If it's true i'll have a boy then he'll need you. He'll need a grandfather. He'll need a family."
Keiran put up his hands as if he were trying to push her words away. He could feel the emotions bursting off her like solar flares; energetic and chaotic. "I'm sorry." Was all he would say, all he could say. He stood up wiping a tear from his own face before turning to leave.
Her anger giving her strength, Samantha pulled herself into a standing position and followed Keiran. "Don't you walk away from me!" She grabbed the back of his robe and pulled him back towards her. He turned around and looked down at her, barely holding back his own emotions. She started slamming a fist into his chest. "Fix this! You Jedi bastard, fix this."
He grabbed her wrist and wrapped his other arm around her. Again, the only thing he could muster to comfort her was another "i'm sorry"
Surrendering to her emotions, Samantha broke down into sobs. Incoherent words came from her mouth but Keiran understood every sentence. Her head rested against his shoulder and she had two big fist fulls of his robe in her hands. Keiran hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. Right now she was like the daughter he had never had. He would have loved giving Neeja a sister, but not with anyone but his wife, who had died too long ago to make that dream come true.
They stood like that for several minutes before Samantha calmed down and Keiran could get ahold of his own thoughts. He helped her into the bedroom and watched her lay down. When he was sure she no longer needed anything he turned to leave but she stopped him once more with a hand. "Wait, um. In the living room desk, top drawer. There's a holorecorder." She said to him. "Me and Neeja recorded a message for our child last week. Like a time capsule he could open on his 18th birthday."
Keiran understood what she was trying to say and put a hand on her belly to feel the presence of the child within. He let his calm and his control flow into her womb to comfort the child in it's dark environment. "Ok." was all he said, and all he needed to say.
She nodded and her head hit the pillow with her eyes closed. Keiran knew not to bother her anymore. She was in emotional shock and it was best to let her sort things out on her own but he struggled with that, knowing he could change that. With a simple tweak of her mind he could make her forget. He could make her happy again. But nature was a cruel task master and he couldn't stop it. Things had to be this way.
He got up and left the bedroom, headed for the living room desk where he found the holorecorder. He set the device up on the desk top and sat down in front of it. His hand reached over and flipped the record switch and the red light turned on, letting him know the device was recording him in perfect 3D. At first he struggled with the words, but as soon as he began, it was like the Force was filling him with the rest.
"Hello, my name is Jedi Master Keiran Halcyon, and I am your Grandfather...."
1.3 - Silence
Keiran walked up the boarding ramp of the Lambda-Class shuttle. He'd come strait from Neeja and Samantha's apartment to the space station's hanger bay where the Republic shuttle was waiting to take him to Coruscant. He had requested this shuttle personally and the Republic had no reason to decline his request.
The shuttle was brand new, fresh of the construction yards at Kuat. Its pilot was as green as a tree too. Keiran loved the confidence of youth. He walked up the boarding ramp and entered the passenger cabin. It was empty save for one other person. A Lieutenant Commander who was busy doing something with his datapad. Keiran sat across from the man and closed his eyes. Years of training allowed him to drop into a meditative state in seconds. He didn't really meditate much anymore. Probably not as much as he should. Mostly he used it as a method of making the time go faster.
His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the pilot speaking over the intercom. "Attention passengers, we will now be departing the CorSec orbital headquarters and start our outbound flight for Coruscant. Please, don't leave the passenger cabin until we've made the jump to hyperspace. Estimated Time of Arrival is in 18 hours from now."
Keiran sighed. He'd spent a large portion of his life on transports and shuttle much like this one. And now it seemed he'd be spending a bit longer in one before he died. He started coughing again and hacked up a lot. He pulled out a handkerchief from his robe and spat into it leaving a small pink spot. He tasted metal but swallowed and cleared his throat.
The lieutenant commander looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok Master Jedi?"
Keiran dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine. Looks like we'll be spending a long trip together my friend. Whats on Coruscant that requires the attention of a Lieutenant Commander?"
The Officer put his datapad down onto his lap. "I'm moving to a new unit. A ship in the Coruscant defense fleet. They need a new XO." He said simply, and without emotion. Keiran could sense this man was very intelligent but emotionally numb. A very cool customer.
"What ship?" Keiran asked innocently.
Looking annoyed at the questions he looked back up at Keiran "The Galactica. It's a fleet carrier."
Keiran nodded. "I know the ship. Served in the Jedi civil war. It's a good sturdy ship. your a lucky man Lieutenant Commander..."
"Tupalov. The name is Tupalov." He responded plainly. It was obvious that this man was busy doing something and he did not have the time or the fortitude for small talk. Keiran remembered the name though. He liked it. it was a good, strong name for what seemed to be a good, strong officer. The Jedi had a feeling this man would go far in this Galaxy. He sat back in his chair and buckled in. It was going to be a long ride spent with a very silent partner.
1.4 - Records
Neeja sat at the small desk he had on board the Sobek. His quarters were the largest in the ship because he was the Captain but that didn't mean it was a luxury hotel. it was still fairly small and as such all the furniture in it was also small.
He was busy pouring over the personal records of all the members of his crew. The last few days had been fairly boring so the Jedi Knight had decided to try and get to know the people who worked under him without having to resort to his gift with reading people through the Force. The most interesting file in the pile was for Ensign Ubootoo, J.M. Apparently the Given had moved to Corellia to get into law enforcement. A peculiar choice seeing as how Given society is based on mathematics. In Neeja's mind it just didn't seem logical for him to want to travel away from home and defend a bunch of air breathers like the Corellians.
Furthermore, Ubootoo didn't display any of the arrogant characteristics Given usually held for all species who couldn't do a complex calculous equation in their head. In fact he was quite laid back with everyone. Neeja had made a note that Ubootoo had seemed to spend all his free time reading mystery novels in the ships officers lounge.
There was nothing wrong with the difference of coarse. Neeja knew that there must be at least a few black sheep in every society and that Ubootoo probably left because he didn't fit in with his own people, but something about it just troubled him. It didn't make sense and Neeja was a detective. He didn't like things that didn't make sense. Still, the Ensign was the best helmsman to ever go through the CorSec Academy. He broke every record for piloting such that the Academy no longer lists his name in their record books to make it fair to all the other students. He had literally turned the pilot training coarse into a competition for first loser. It was very impressive.
Neeja closed the file and put his datapad down. His eyes were tired. and he needed to get some sleep. He rubbed his eyes a little before standing up and stretching. No one ever told him command of his own ship would be so boring. He almost wished he was back at Corellia, sitting at his desk across from Keiran investigating an old ladies stolen pearls... almost.
1.5 - Future
Keiran Halcyon stood before the Jedi Council. He fought the urge to cough as the Masters deliberated over what he'd told them. They knew of his medical condition and the council was split on weather or not he was doing the right thing. However he had made his intentions known that no matter what the council thought of his decision to let himself die, he was going to do it anyway.
They were deliberating over the nature of the vision he had just described to them. He knew what it meant, he knew what had to be done, but the council had expressed some doubt. Keiran had some doubts about it as well at first, but after all the meditation he'd done on the shuttle ride to Coruscant he'd become convinced that the coarse of action he wanted them to take was the only way.
The Twi'lek Jedi Master who had convened the meeting finished listening to the other Masters and stood up from his chair. "Master Halcyon, we've discussed your vision and we disagree with your conclusion." The Master said.
Keiran expected that. He had no other good evidence to try and convince them it was the right thing to do. "Masters, please understand..."
"Understand?" The Twi'lek said, interrupting. "Your asking us to understand a plan that allows 8 criminals to go free, and the death of two people to happen when we're clearly in a position to stop it."
"Its necessary to avert the future i saw." Keiran stated firmly. He crossed his arms, again struggling to keep another coughing fit at bay. "Those people must be allowed to die. From them, the Jedi will receive one of their greatest. A Jedi who will survive purge after purge, war after war, battle after battle."
The Twi'lek master eyed Keiran with suspicion and began walking around the council chamber, circling like a hawk. "But you also say that this Jedi will cause an enormous amount of trouble for the order. That he would be uncontrollable."
Keiran nodded. Not bothering to turn and face the Grand Master. "He will."
"So why would we want him to join our ranks? Why not save his parents like we should do and allow nature to take it's course?" The grand master said.
Keiran paused. He knew what he was asking. To request that the order do something that's against the very fiber of the values the Jedi are expected to fight for is not something he took lightly. "I believe it is worth it. This Jedi will have a profound effect on the Jedi around him."
"You believe that this Jedi is worth the lives of two others and who knows how many others these criminals will kill?" The Twi'lek said. "Is he worth the Jedi order abandoning the Jedi Code?"
Keiran shook his head. "I see no other coarse of action. You must let those smugglers go. You must let Derrick and Neenah Hellion die... or their son will, and the future will be plunged into hopelessness."
1.6 - Damaged
"Contact is moving Capt'n. She's turning to port, looks like she's headed for the systems asteroid field." The helmsman reported from his station.
Neeja rubbed his hand together as he looked out the ships front viewport. They'd been tracking this ship for the past 6 hours while trying to remain hidden themselves. The ship was a small CEC Freighter that had been reported stolen 3 weeks ago. An APB was put out on the ship with it's transponder code so when it showed up in the Altawar system CorSec had gotten the call. The Sobek was the closest ship to the area so they set out to find it.
Three hours later they had tracked the ship leaving a orbital ore refinery that had just reported that pirates had raided their stores and stolen several tons of gold pressed Latinum. Neeja had ordered the ship go quiet. All unnecessary electronics had been shut off and they were operating on thrusters only tracking the ship because Neeja had a feeling that it would lead them to something bigger.
So thus began the 6 hour marathon of cat and mouse with the stolen freighter. The crew was tired, Neeja was tired, and a few ship systems had threatened to fail from lack of power. Neeja was playing a constant game of chance with the ship. If he kept it going to long the irregular ship operations might cause enough damage to keep the engines from kicking back on at all.
"Stay on it Ensign. Maybe whatever we're looking for is in that asteroid field." Neeja commanded. The Ensign's hands moved over his console and the ship adjusted coarse to follow the freighter. Neeja had high hopes that this change in coarse meant their pursuit was coming to a close.
The Ensign peered down at his console for a moment before turning in his seat. "Captain, contact has entered the asteroid field, we've lost sensor lock. Without the active sensor array they passive sensors lost them amongst the rocks." The Given said.
"hold your coarse Mr. Ubootoo. As soon as we enter the asteroid field, power us up. Bring active sensor and engines online." Neeja ordered. He looked nervously out the viewport at the field of asteroids before them. If one hit them without their shields up they'd be in serious trouble.
The Sobek eased into the asteroid field slowly. Ubootoo expertly maneuvered the ship so that it slid between two large asteroids without a collision. It was an impressive display of piloting considering the ship he was flying weighed several hundred thousand tons. "Good flying Mr. Ubootoo. Very good flying. Ok, bring us online and give me an active ping to find that ship."
The power returned to the ship as the reactors started feeding more juice to the engines. The lights came back on and it's speed picked up as the vessels engines started to spin up. The active sensors came back on along with the rest of the ship. The Helmsman did as he was ordered and started active scanning. "Captain... I'm registering mines... there are mines attached to the asteroids all throughout this area."
Neeja was shocked. If the Helmsman hadn't been such a good pilot the ship would have gotten too close to one and exploded. "Evasive maneuvers! Ensign, get us the hell out of here. Bring weapons online."
The ship lurched to port as the warbird turned itself to avoid an asteroid. flying into the field had been easy, but trying to turn all the way around would be a a lot more difficult. The warbird was a nimble ship when compared to most cruisers but it was still fairly large and presented a nice wide surface area for impacts. No amount of expertise could have prevented the cluster of micro meteorites from striking the starboard wing. With the shields still powering up the hull had minimal protection from the baseball sized rocks traveling at a hundred miles a second. The cluster tore up the starboard wing like shotgun pellets ripping through a birds wing.
The ship continued it's turn but the helmsman had to halt it when the arc was bringing them desperately close to one of the mined asteroids. The shields finished raising just in time to ward off another bombardment of micro meteorites. Ubootoo was just getting the ship back under a controlled turn to get them out of the field when the Freighter they'd been tracking came out from around one of the asteroids and opened fire. The 35 meter long freighter normally would post no threat to the cruiser, but some things had changed since it had been stolen.
The Freighter launched a dozen proton torpedo's from an external weapon pod. The torpedo's struck the ship amidships at the base of the port side wing. The shields took the brunt of the explosions but the impact was enough to shake the ship. Neeja and the rest of the bridge crew were jolted and the shield control system console sparked and practically exploded. Ensign Ubootoo dived out of his seat to prevent the sparks from hitting him in the face but that left the ship uncontrolled.
The warbird drifted into the path of a mine and it detonated. It was no average mine however. It was a high grade defender ion mine, probably stolen from a Corellian military depot. The ion wave struck the Sobek causing electricity to arc over it's shields which in turn caused the shield to fail. The Sobek exited the asteroid field on a ballistic course.
On the bridge, Neeja had gotten out of his seat to see to Ubootoo. His uniform had sparked a little and Neeja had patted it out with his robe. His pale skin was cracked and blackened where he'd been burned. "Sorry Sir, i must have panicked." Said the Ensign.
Neeja helped the Given back up into his seat. "Ensign, if it wasn't for you we'd all be dead. Get the ship back under control and get me a location on that freighter."
The Ensign nodded and started working at the helm controls. Neeja returned to his command chair and started examining the damage reports that were streaming in to the display on the arm of his chair. The ships shields were shorted out. Engineering reported that the shields would require at least 30 minutes to get back up. Seeing as how they were unprotected without shields, Neeja figured they didn't have 30 minutes. Added to their problem was that their point defense ACP system had also fell victim to the ion blast. They would be unable to prevent another missile barrage from hitting them.
"Helm, turn us back around. Point us at the asteroid field and arm the turbolasers. Lets see if we can't ignite this field." Neeja commanded. He brought up the sensor readings on his command chair display and examined the placement of all the mines in the asteroid field. because these pirates had chosen to attach the mines to the asteroids, they were not in a uniform spread throughout the area and therefor, some mines were closer together then others. He picked one mine near the center of the formation and sent the target data to the Helm.
"Capt'n, incoming missiles!" The helmsman cried and the ship was rocked hard again by another cluster of missiles striking against her bow. Without the shields up the ship's hull was shredded by the volley of 8 missiles. Neeja and the rest of the bridge crew looked on in horror when the viewport cracked. Air started seeping through the crack and the whole bridge threatened to explosively decompress.
Neeja stood up. "Crew, clear the bridge. Get out of here, now."
The rest of the bridge crew started to evacuate the bridge. In seconds the only people left on the bridge were Neeja and Ensign Ubootoo. Neeja walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That order was for you to Ensign, clear the bridge."
Ubootoo shook his head. "Captain, it will take you several long seconds to transfer control to the secondary bridge. I can target that mine and fire the weapons from here."
Neeja looked at the crack in the viewport as it widened. He could feel the air moving now, blowing out into space through the thin fracture. "Ensign, you won't have time before the bridge collapses and you lose air."
"Sir!" Ubootoo shouted. "Given can survive in hard vacuum for several hours. I'll be able to still function. You need to get off the bridge sir."
Neeja hesitated. He didn't want to leave someone under his command behind but the Ensign was right. If he waited until the secondary bridge had fully accepted command from the primary bridge they might have to weather another volley of torpedos. "Ok Ensign, you win. Ignite that field and then get out of here."
Neeja moved to the bridge exit and crossed the threshold. Ensign Ubootoo looked back at him and saluted from his chair. "Don't worry about me Skipper."
The Jedi hesitated. He was leaving this man alone in a room that would soon be inhospitable to almost all forms of life except for his species. It was as if the Force had put him there for this specific purpose. He hit the emergency lockdown button and the bridge door slammed shut, sealing it off from the rest of the ship to prevent further atmospheric leaks. He ran down to the secondary bridge which was already coming online. This bridge's viewport was substantially smaller then the main bridge, with room enough only for a few workstations.
From his new vantage point on the secondary bridge he could see the ship was continuing it's turn. Ubootoo, from his console in the main bridge was still guiding the ship to bring their weapons to bear. The asteroid field loomed before them, a lot more threatening now then it had been when they first entered.
Jor also noticed the freighter at the edge of the field. It was a large pinprick of light that was moving in relation to all the other smaller pinpricks of light that constituted the star field backdrop of the viewport. The Freighter was turning to starboard in order to bring another external weapons pod to bear on the Sobek. As if in slow motion he saw the missiles fire from the freighter. 6 of them this time, headed strait for them. Neeja couldn't help but get the feeling they were targeted right at his nose.
The Sobek's weapons fired. Her wing mounted turbolasers pulsed out green lances of deadly energy into the vacuum of space. The Turbolaser blasts struck an asteroid in the field which caused it to erupt and explode. The mine attached to it exploded causing a huge ion blast to spread out into space. That ion explosion struck two other mines which caused them to explode which began the chain reaction of mines exploding all throughout the asteroid field. The pirate freighter was consumed in the chain reaction, struck by multiple ion blasts, the ships systems failed and it started drifting. In moment the ship would be chewed to bits by the asteroid field.
Neeja's attention was drawn to the incoming missiles. The 6 missiles struck the Sobek's bow, rippling explosions across the forward section of the ship. The last missile to hit, struck the bridge viewport dead on. Flame and plasma stabbed through the viewport and into the ship.
"Helm, bring us about, get us away from that asteroid field." Neeja shouted after being jarred in his seat from the missile impacts. He looked down and saw that the helmsman seat in the secondary bridge was empty. Neeja sprang out of his seat. "Engineering, whats the status of the primary bridge?"
The engineering officer's voice came over the ships intercom on the bridge. "it's gutted Captain. Plasma's melted the interior of the bridge and breached all the corridors around it... i'm sorry."
Another bridge crewman accepted the seat in front of the helm while Neeja, slightly stunned and numbed emotionally, slumped back down into his seat. The Sobek changed coarse, headed away from the asteroid field and headed on an outbound vector towards Corellia. Neeja turned to the console on his command chair and brought up the ships log and recorded Ensign Ubootoo's death. Now, out of danger, the crew had time to assess the damage that had been done to the ship.
Over his shoulder, the communications officer raised a finger. "Captain, message from Corellia. They request you contact them immediately." The com officer said.
Neeja sighed. "Understood, fire up the hypercom and give me CorSec command."
The communications officer worked at her console, aligning the hypercom dish. A few minutes later he reported that he had CorSec command on the line. Neeja ordered him to pipe the com into his command chair. The face of Commander Torren, a CorSec officer Neeja knew well sprang to 3 dimensional life over the arm mounted holoprojector on his chair. Torren had been his fathers partner for the past 6 years. "Commander, what can i do for you?"
Torren's normally happy demeanor was solid. His face was set in depressive stone. "Neeja... it's about your father..."
1.7 - We Regret to Inform you.
Neeja had spent the majority of the Sobek's journey back to spacedock in his quarters trying to forget about his father. He didn't understand Kieran's death, and he didn't understand his fathers reason for letting himself die. He couldn't help but think it wasn't fair.
To try and keep his mind off his fathers sudden and unexplained death, he had started writing the report of Ensign Ubootoo's death. He had never thought he'd see the day when writing a report about the death of one of the men under his command was the preferable activity to something else. The Report read as follows...
To: Hozzard, W.K.
Commander, CorSec Headquarters
From: Halcyon, N.T.
Commanding Officer, CSF Sobek
I regret to report the death of one Ensign Ubootoo J.M. He died in service to his ship and crew while manning his station even after i had evacuated the bridge. We had suffered a breach in the forward viewport and the bridge was loosing pressure. I made the decision to evacuate the bridge but the Ensign decided to stay behind. He sited his species ability to survive in zero pressure environments and he was in the middle of using the ships weapons to defend the ship. I allowed him to stay and evacuated the bridge myself.
From his station, he fired the weapons and ignited an illegal mine field which destroyed the attacking vessel. However, the attacking vessel fired one missile volley before it was disabled and that missile volley destroyed the bridge. Ensign Ubootoo was the only casualty. Through his actions he prevented the Sobek from sustaining any more damage and protected the lives of those on his ship.
It is for this reason that i am posthumously recommending Ensign Jor Mandraso Ubootoo for the Corellian Bloodstripes. He's an example to his crew and for all CorSec Officers.
Regretfully,
Neeja Halcyon, Jedi Knight
1.1 - All Ends Must Have a Beginning
The Warbird-Class Republic Cruiser known as the CSF Sobek was docked at the orbital CorSec ship facility. Neeja Halcyon was on the small bridge of the ship in his central command chair. He had just received command of the brand new ship. It had been commissioned only a year ago so everything on the ship was practically top of the line. He'd just finished his first the tour of the ship and was getting ready to go out on his own for the first time.
The 26 year old Jedi Knight allowed himself the sin of pride just this once. As the Corellian Jedi liaison to CorSec, he had fought hard to get his own command instead of sitting behind a desk. His young wife, Samantha was 5 months pregnant and hadn't really approved of this posting, but she supported him anyway. He felt lucky to have her. Life was indeed looking up for him.
"Capt'n, all stations report ready to leave space dock." The helmsman reported from his console. Neeja had inherited his crew from the previous command. They were good men and women but he didn't really know them yet. A personnel file only said so much.
"Understood Ensign. Bring the engines online." Neeja ordered.
The Helmsman nodded and turned to comply with the order. Neeja could hear the main engine slowly spin up to speed as the ships reactor fed it power. He heard the doors open behind him and turned his command chair around to see who had walked on. It was an older gentleman, wearing green Jedi robes that bore CorSec's symbol on the fabric near the left breast. Neeja got up and shook his hand. "Hi dad. Come to see me off?"
Keiran Halcyon smiled softly at his son and returned his handshake firmly. "Not every day a father gets to see his son set out into space aboard a ship like this."
Neeja's smile widened and he gestured around the room with his hands. "What do you think? Do i know how to pick em or what?"
Keiran nodded as he glanced around at each of the workstations in the cramped bridge. "Not the biggest girl on the line but she's good enough for the job. You'll be a good commander Neeja, it's in your blood." The older Jedi Master said. "Hey kiddo, come with me. I got something for you."
Neeja frowned slightly. he didn't like surprises, but he figured it couldn't be a bad thing so he turned back towards the Helm. "Ensign Ubootoo, you have the con."
The Ensign stood up and saluted sharply. "Aye Aye Capt'n"
Satisfied that the ship was in good hands he turned to leave with his dad. The two Jedi fell in step with Keiran in the lead and Neeja in the classic protective position a step behind and to the right. Keiran waved him forward with a move of his finger. "Come on son, you haven't been a Padawan for 7 years now."
Neeja blushed ever so slightly when he realized he'd so easily slipped into the habbit most Padawans have of being like their Master's body guard and walking in the protective position. He sped up a little to walk beside his father. Keiran put an arm around his sons shoulders and walked until they came to an empty intersection. With most of the crew at their station waiting to disembark, the interior of the ship was a lot less crowded then usual. The intersection felt eerily quiet. Keiran reached into his robes and withdrew a small green cube. "I want you to have this. Something to keep your mind sharp while your out there protecting Corellia from pirates."
Neeja recognized the family heirloom immediately. His father had gotten it from his grandfather who had gotten it from the Jedi Council 100 years ago. It was a Holocron, but not just any Jedi holocron. This holocron had recorded the lives and knowledge of every Jedi in the Halcyon family for 2 generations. Stories told around family gatherings said his Uncle Kal had locked himself in a room for 3 weeks with the thing to record everything he had to say. He took the holocron from his father and held it in his hands. This was the closest he'd ever been to it. "Dad... I can't take this from you. Grandpa gave this to you on his deathbed with the understanding that it would be given to me on your death bed. What if we run into trouble? It could be damaged or destroyed." Jor held it back out for Keiran to take. "What if you need to record something in it?"
Keiran pushed the cube shaped artifact back towards Neeja. "Keep it. I won't be needing it any longer. I've recorded all that I will in this life time."
Neeja was confused by his words, but he reluctantly nodded and accepted the device, putting it in his robes. "I'll use it every day."
"Remember, this is not for you, this is for your kid." Keiran said solemnly. He crossed his arms and looked sternly at his grown son. "This is to aid you in training your child to be a Jedi, like you."
Neeja nodded. "I know Dad."
Keiran uncrossed his arms and put them on his son's shoulders to look him in the eye. "Good luck."
Neeja smiled again and gave his dad a hug. "You'd better get going unless you want to come with me."
Without needing to say another word the father and son parted, Neeja went one way through the intersection, back to the bridge, while Keiran went another, back to the docking port. The conversation had troubled Neeja, but he pushed the feeling aside. His dad was probably just excited for him. The doors slid apart as he walked back onto the bridge. "Ensign, i have the con. Prep the ship for launch. Disengage all mooring ties. Once the ties are clear give reverse thrust, one forth impulse if you please."
Ensign Ubootoo's hands moved over his console quickly and skillfully as he complied the with his orders. "Aye Captain, one forth impulse. Thrusters at full."
1.2 - Secrets
Keiran Halcyon watched the ship depart from space dock. The warbird gracefully pulled away from it's docking station and moved off into space to patrol the Corellian Sector looking for crime in all it's forms. He sighed and moved away from the viewport. He felt his legs carry him somewhere, to where he wasn't sure. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to know where he was going but soon enough he found himself outside the personal quarters set aside for his son and his wife.
He made to ring the buzzer but started coughing. His chest wracked with pain as he went through his coughing fit and he wiped the Phlegm in his hand on the inside of his robes to hid it. He rang the buzzer and waited. He did not wait long though, the door slid open in mere seconds to show Samantha Halcyon, Neeja's wife. She smiled and gave Keiran a quick hug. "Hi Keiran, what brings you here?"
The Jedi Master looked down at her now fairly bulbous abdomen and smiled. "Why my grandchild of coarse." He told her smiling. In reality he didn't know why. He had wandered the CorSec station and ended up here. The Force was trying to tell him something, but he didn't know just what it was yet.
He was snapped back to reality by Samantha who had grabbed the sleave of his robe and was pulling him into their small apartment. "Come in, come in, please. Make yourself comfortable." She said as she led him into their living room. "Can i get you anything?"
Keiran shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine. To be honest i'm not sure why i'm here." He said, trying to make an attempt at small talk. His gaze drew him to one wall of the living room that had been stripped to the bare metal and primed. "Repainting something?"
Samantha followed his gaze to the wall and waved at it dismissively. "Oh that. It's a surprise i'm putting together for Neeja when he gets home. He's always talking about CorSec officers and how they have a wall in their office that has all their certificates, awards and qualifications and stuff all framed and mounted."
Keiran laughed slightly. He didn't want to risk starting another coughing fit so he restrained himself to a few chuckles and smiled. "The I Love Me Wall." He said. "Neeja will love it. He's a good Jedi, his only vice is that he likes to show off."
Now it was Samantha's turn to laugh. "i've never heard him summed up so simply but yeah, i guess your right. He's a great guy but a bit of a showoff. I suppose thats why i married him."
"I should hope so" Keiran replied as he sat down in one of the living rooms many chairs. She sat across from him in her custom made pregnancy chair and put her fingers together. The Jedi Master felt a bit awkward because he didn't know what to say. "Ummm, so hows the baby doing?"
As if subconsiously Samantha started rubbing her belly . "He's quite the burden actually." She said jokingly. "You'd think a Halcyon Jedi baby could use his powers to make his mother not look like a bantha."
Keiran smirked and rubbed his hands together nervously. He was surprised when he realized this was the most they've talked without Neeja present since his son's wedding day. Given the secret that he had, perhaps he just wanted to talk to someone. Then he remembered that it was the Force that had brought him here. Just like it had given him those visions. "I'm dying." He said before he could think to stop himself.
The smile on Samantha's face evaporated. "what?!"
Keiran breathed once before continuing. "It's cancer, on my lung. I only have a couple weeks."
Her face twisted into an expression of some kind of shock or horror as she tried to jump to her feet. She couldn't quite manage to stand up as fast as she wanted to though and she fell back into her chair. "Cancer!" She shouted angrily. "What do you mean cancer? Have a doctor clone the lung, or use your Jedi powers." She was frustrated, and he had given her good reason to be. Cancer was an easily solvable problem in both medicine and through the force. But if he did not die, then it would have serious repercussions.
Keiran shook his head. He was visibly shaken by her angry response. "I can't. I can't for reasons i don't fully understand myself. I could never burden you with the responsibility of the secret i've discovered."
Her hand shot out to point at a picture of her husband. "What about Neeja? What about your son? Can you tell him, is that who you could tell?"
Keiran closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. Emotional control has never really a problem for him, but in this situation, he had to prevent himself from succumbing to the temptation of unloading all his problems onto her shoulders. "Suffice to say, it involves my son, but to a greater extent, it involves my grandson."
Tears started to form on Samantha's cheeks. She turned her head sideways, unwilling to look Keiran in the face. "Son?" She practically whispered out, between suppressed sobs.
Keiran nodded. "I can tell you that much. You will bear a boy Samantha. He will be strong both mentally and in the Force and the vortex of destiny will swirl around him like a cloak." He said. Even now, opening himself up to the force revealed what he was talking about. Her womb was beaming out the power of life, like a navigational beacon guiding ships to safety. The Force present in the room bent towards Samantha like light being warped towards a gravity well.
Now openly crying she turned to look at Keiran again with anger obvious on her face. "No, i get enough of that mystic Jedi nerfshit from Neeja. If it's true i'll have a boy then he'll need you. He'll need a grandfather. He'll need a family."
Keiran put up his hands as if he were trying to push her words away. He could feel the emotions bursting off her like solar flares; energetic and chaotic. "I'm sorry." Was all he would say, all he could say. He stood up wiping a tear from his own face before turning to leave.
Her anger giving her strength, Samantha pulled herself into a standing position and followed Keiran. "Don't you walk away from me!" She grabbed the back of his robe and pulled him back towards her. He turned around and looked down at her, barely holding back his own emotions. She started slamming a fist into his chest. "Fix this! You Jedi bastard, fix this."
He grabbed her wrist and wrapped his other arm around her. Again, the only thing he could muster to comfort her was another "i'm sorry"
Surrendering to her emotions, Samantha broke down into sobs. Incoherent words came from her mouth but Keiran understood every sentence. Her head rested against his shoulder and she had two big fist fulls of his robe in her hands. Keiran hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. Right now she was like the daughter he had never had. He would have loved giving Neeja a sister, but not with anyone but his wife, who had died too long ago to make that dream come true.
They stood like that for several minutes before Samantha calmed down and Keiran could get ahold of his own thoughts. He helped her into the bedroom and watched her lay down. When he was sure she no longer needed anything he turned to leave but she stopped him once more with a hand. "Wait, um. In the living room desk, top drawer. There's a holorecorder." She said to him. "Me and Neeja recorded a message for our child last week. Like a time capsule he could open on his 18th birthday."
Keiran understood what she was trying to say and put a hand on her belly to feel the presence of the child within. He let his calm and his control flow into her womb to comfort the child in it's dark environment. "Ok." was all he said, and all he needed to say.
She nodded and her head hit the pillow with her eyes closed. Keiran knew not to bother her anymore. She was in emotional shock and it was best to let her sort things out on her own but he struggled with that, knowing he could change that. With a simple tweak of her mind he could make her forget. He could make her happy again. But nature was a cruel task master and he couldn't stop it. Things had to be this way.
He got up and left the bedroom, headed for the living room desk where he found the holorecorder. He set the device up on the desk top and sat down in front of it. His hand reached over and flipped the record switch and the red light turned on, letting him know the device was recording him in perfect 3D. At first he struggled with the words, but as soon as he began, it was like the Force was filling him with the rest.
"Hello, my name is Jedi Master Keiran Halcyon, and I am your Grandfather...."
1.3 - Silence
Keiran walked up the boarding ramp of the Lambda-Class shuttle. He'd come strait from Neeja and Samantha's apartment to the space station's hanger bay where the Republic shuttle was waiting to take him to Coruscant. He had requested this shuttle personally and the Republic had no reason to decline his request.
The shuttle was brand new, fresh of the construction yards at Kuat. Its pilot was as green as a tree too. Keiran loved the confidence of youth. He walked up the boarding ramp and entered the passenger cabin. It was empty save for one other person. A Lieutenant Commander who was busy doing something with his datapad. Keiran sat across from the man and closed his eyes. Years of training allowed him to drop into a meditative state in seconds. He didn't really meditate much anymore. Probably not as much as he should. Mostly he used it as a method of making the time go faster.
His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the pilot speaking over the intercom. "Attention passengers, we will now be departing the CorSec orbital headquarters and start our outbound flight for Coruscant. Please, don't leave the passenger cabin until we've made the jump to hyperspace. Estimated Time of Arrival is in 18 hours from now."
Keiran sighed. He'd spent a large portion of his life on transports and shuttle much like this one. And now it seemed he'd be spending a bit longer in one before he died. He started coughing again and hacked up a lot. He pulled out a handkerchief from his robe and spat into it leaving a small pink spot. He tasted metal but swallowed and cleared his throat.
The lieutenant commander looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok Master Jedi?"
Keiran dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand. "I'm fine. Looks like we'll be spending a long trip together my friend. Whats on Coruscant that requires the attention of a Lieutenant Commander?"
The Officer put his datapad down onto his lap. "I'm moving to a new unit. A ship in the Coruscant defense fleet. They need a new XO." He said simply, and without emotion. Keiran could sense this man was very intelligent but emotionally numb. A very cool customer.
"What ship?" Keiran asked innocently.
Looking annoyed at the questions he looked back up at Keiran "The Galactica. It's a fleet carrier."
Keiran nodded. "I know the ship. Served in the Jedi civil war. It's a good sturdy ship. your a lucky man Lieutenant Commander..."
"Tupalov. The name is Tupalov." He responded plainly. It was obvious that this man was busy doing something and he did not have the time or the fortitude for small talk. Keiran remembered the name though. He liked it. it was a good, strong name for what seemed to be a good, strong officer. The Jedi had a feeling this man would go far in this Galaxy. He sat back in his chair and buckled in. It was going to be a long ride spent with a very silent partner.
1.4 - Records
Neeja sat at the small desk he had on board the Sobek. His quarters were the largest in the ship because he was the Captain but that didn't mean it was a luxury hotel. it was still fairly small and as such all the furniture in it was also small.
He was busy pouring over the personal records of all the members of his crew. The last few days had been fairly boring so the Jedi Knight had decided to try and get to know the people who worked under him without having to resort to his gift with reading people through the Force. The most interesting file in the pile was for Ensign Ubootoo, J.M. Apparently the Given had moved to Corellia to get into law enforcement. A peculiar choice seeing as how Given society is based on mathematics. In Neeja's mind it just didn't seem logical for him to want to travel away from home and defend a bunch of air breathers like the Corellians.
Furthermore, Ubootoo didn't display any of the arrogant characteristics Given usually held for all species who couldn't do a complex calculous equation in their head. In fact he was quite laid back with everyone. Neeja had made a note that Ubootoo had seemed to spend all his free time reading mystery novels in the ships officers lounge.
There was nothing wrong with the difference of coarse. Neeja knew that there must be at least a few black sheep in every society and that Ubootoo probably left because he didn't fit in with his own people, but something about it just troubled him. It didn't make sense and Neeja was a detective. He didn't like things that didn't make sense. Still, the Ensign was the best helmsman to ever go through the CorSec Academy. He broke every record for piloting such that the Academy no longer lists his name in their record books to make it fair to all the other students. He had literally turned the pilot training coarse into a competition for first loser. It was very impressive.
Neeja closed the file and put his datapad down. His eyes were tired. and he needed to get some sleep. He rubbed his eyes a little before standing up and stretching. No one ever told him command of his own ship would be so boring. He almost wished he was back at Corellia, sitting at his desk across from Keiran investigating an old ladies stolen pearls... almost.
1.5 - Future
Keiran Halcyon stood before the Jedi Council. He fought the urge to cough as the Masters deliberated over what he'd told them. They knew of his medical condition and the council was split on weather or not he was doing the right thing. However he had made his intentions known that no matter what the council thought of his decision to let himself die, he was going to do it anyway.
They were deliberating over the nature of the vision he had just described to them. He knew what it meant, he knew what had to be done, but the council had expressed some doubt. Keiran had some doubts about it as well at first, but after all the meditation he'd done on the shuttle ride to Coruscant he'd become convinced that the coarse of action he wanted them to take was the only way.
The Twi'lek Jedi Master who had convened the meeting finished listening to the other Masters and stood up from his chair. "Master Halcyon, we've discussed your vision and we disagree with your conclusion." The Master said.
Keiran expected that. He had no other good evidence to try and convince them it was the right thing to do. "Masters, please understand..."
"Understand?" The Twi'lek said, interrupting. "Your asking us to understand a plan that allows 8 criminals to go free, and the death of two people to happen when we're clearly in a position to stop it."
"Its necessary to avert the future i saw." Keiran stated firmly. He crossed his arms, again struggling to keep another coughing fit at bay. "Those people must be allowed to die. From them, the Jedi will receive one of their greatest. A Jedi who will survive purge after purge, war after war, battle after battle."
The Twi'lek master eyed Keiran with suspicion and began walking around the council chamber, circling like a hawk. "But you also say that this Jedi will cause an enormous amount of trouble for the order. That he would be uncontrollable."
Keiran nodded. Not bothering to turn and face the Grand Master. "He will."
"So why would we want him to join our ranks? Why not save his parents like we should do and allow nature to take it's course?" The grand master said.
Keiran paused. He knew what he was asking. To request that the order do something that's against the very fiber of the values the Jedi are expected to fight for is not something he took lightly. "I believe it is worth it. This Jedi will have a profound effect on the Jedi around him."
"You believe that this Jedi is worth the lives of two others and who knows how many others these criminals will kill?" The Twi'lek said. "Is he worth the Jedi order abandoning the Jedi Code?"
Keiran shook his head. "I see no other coarse of action. You must let those smugglers go. You must let Derrick and Neenah Hellion die... or their son will, and the future will be plunged into hopelessness."
1.6 - Damaged
"Contact is moving Capt'n. She's turning to port, looks like she's headed for the systems asteroid field." The helmsman reported from his station.
Neeja rubbed his hand together as he looked out the ships front viewport. They'd been tracking this ship for the past 6 hours while trying to remain hidden themselves. The ship was a small CEC Freighter that had been reported stolen 3 weeks ago. An APB was put out on the ship with it's transponder code so when it showed up in the Altawar system CorSec had gotten the call. The Sobek was the closest ship to the area so they set out to find it.
Three hours later they had tracked the ship leaving a orbital ore refinery that had just reported that pirates had raided their stores and stolen several tons of gold pressed Latinum. Neeja had ordered the ship go quiet. All unnecessary electronics had been shut off and they were operating on thrusters only tracking the ship because Neeja had a feeling that it would lead them to something bigger.
So thus began the 6 hour marathon of cat and mouse with the stolen freighter. The crew was tired, Neeja was tired, and a few ship systems had threatened to fail from lack of power. Neeja was playing a constant game of chance with the ship. If he kept it going to long the irregular ship operations might cause enough damage to keep the engines from kicking back on at all.
"Stay on it Ensign. Maybe whatever we're looking for is in that asteroid field." Neeja commanded. The Ensign's hands moved over his console and the ship adjusted coarse to follow the freighter. Neeja had high hopes that this change in coarse meant their pursuit was coming to a close.
The Ensign peered down at his console for a moment before turning in his seat. "Captain, contact has entered the asteroid field, we've lost sensor lock. Without the active sensor array they passive sensors lost them amongst the rocks." The Given said.
"hold your coarse Mr. Ubootoo. As soon as we enter the asteroid field, power us up. Bring active sensor and engines online." Neeja ordered. He looked nervously out the viewport at the field of asteroids before them. If one hit them without their shields up they'd be in serious trouble.
The Sobek eased into the asteroid field slowly. Ubootoo expertly maneuvered the ship so that it slid between two large asteroids without a collision. It was an impressive display of piloting considering the ship he was flying weighed several hundred thousand tons. "Good flying Mr. Ubootoo. Very good flying. Ok, bring us online and give me an active ping to find that ship."
The power returned to the ship as the reactors started feeding more juice to the engines. The lights came back on and it's speed picked up as the vessels engines started to spin up. The active sensors came back on along with the rest of the ship. The Helmsman did as he was ordered and started active scanning. "Captain... I'm registering mines... there are mines attached to the asteroids all throughout this area."
Neeja was shocked. If the Helmsman hadn't been such a good pilot the ship would have gotten too close to one and exploded. "Evasive maneuvers! Ensign, get us the hell out of here. Bring weapons online."
The ship lurched to port as the warbird turned itself to avoid an asteroid. flying into the field had been easy, but trying to turn all the way around would be a a lot more difficult. The warbird was a nimble ship when compared to most cruisers but it was still fairly large and presented a nice wide surface area for impacts. No amount of expertise could have prevented the cluster of micro meteorites from striking the starboard wing. With the shields still powering up the hull had minimal protection from the baseball sized rocks traveling at a hundred miles a second. The cluster tore up the starboard wing like shotgun pellets ripping through a birds wing.
The ship continued it's turn but the helmsman had to halt it when the arc was bringing them desperately close to one of the mined asteroids. The shields finished raising just in time to ward off another bombardment of micro meteorites. Ubootoo was just getting the ship back under a controlled turn to get them out of the field when the Freighter they'd been tracking came out from around one of the asteroids and opened fire. The 35 meter long freighter normally would post no threat to the cruiser, but some things had changed since it had been stolen.
The Freighter launched a dozen proton torpedo's from an external weapon pod. The torpedo's struck the ship amidships at the base of the port side wing. The shields took the brunt of the explosions but the impact was enough to shake the ship. Neeja and the rest of the bridge crew were jolted and the shield control system console sparked and practically exploded. Ensign Ubootoo dived out of his seat to prevent the sparks from hitting him in the face but that left the ship uncontrolled.
The warbird drifted into the path of a mine and it detonated. It was no average mine however. It was a high grade defender ion mine, probably stolen from a Corellian military depot. The ion wave struck the Sobek causing electricity to arc over it's shields which in turn caused the shield to fail. The Sobek exited the asteroid field on a ballistic course.
On the bridge, Neeja had gotten out of his seat to see to Ubootoo. His uniform had sparked a little and Neeja had patted it out with his robe. His pale skin was cracked and blackened where he'd been burned. "Sorry Sir, i must have panicked." Said the Ensign.
Neeja helped the Given back up into his seat. "Ensign, if it wasn't for you we'd all be dead. Get the ship back under control and get me a location on that freighter."
The Ensign nodded and started working at the helm controls. Neeja returned to his command chair and started examining the damage reports that were streaming in to the display on the arm of his chair. The ships shields were shorted out. Engineering reported that the shields would require at least 30 minutes to get back up. Seeing as how they were unprotected without shields, Neeja figured they didn't have 30 minutes. Added to their problem was that their point defense ACP system had also fell victim to the ion blast. They would be unable to prevent another missile barrage from hitting them.
"Helm, turn us back around. Point us at the asteroid field and arm the turbolasers. Lets see if we can't ignite this field." Neeja commanded. He brought up the sensor readings on his command chair display and examined the placement of all the mines in the asteroid field. because these pirates had chosen to attach the mines to the asteroids, they were not in a uniform spread throughout the area and therefor, some mines were closer together then others. He picked one mine near the center of the formation and sent the target data to the Helm.
"Capt'n, incoming missiles!" The helmsman cried and the ship was rocked hard again by another cluster of missiles striking against her bow. Without the shields up the ship's hull was shredded by the volley of 8 missiles. Neeja and the rest of the bridge crew looked on in horror when the viewport cracked. Air started seeping through the crack and the whole bridge threatened to explosively decompress.
Neeja stood up. "Crew, clear the bridge. Get out of here, now."
The rest of the bridge crew started to evacuate the bridge. In seconds the only people left on the bridge were Neeja and Ensign Ubootoo. Neeja walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That order was for you to Ensign, clear the bridge."
Ubootoo shook his head. "Captain, it will take you several long seconds to transfer control to the secondary bridge. I can target that mine and fire the weapons from here."
Neeja looked at the crack in the viewport as it widened. He could feel the air moving now, blowing out into space through the thin fracture. "Ensign, you won't have time before the bridge collapses and you lose air."
"Sir!" Ubootoo shouted. "Given can survive in hard vacuum for several hours. I'll be able to still function. You need to get off the bridge sir."
Neeja hesitated. He didn't want to leave someone under his command behind but the Ensign was right. If he waited until the secondary bridge had fully accepted command from the primary bridge they might have to weather another volley of torpedos. "Ok Ensign, you win. Ignite that field and then get out of here."
Neeja moved to the bridge exit and crossed the threshold. Ensign Ubootoo looked back at him and saluted from his chair. "Don't worry about me Skipper."
The Jedi hesitated. He was leaving this man alone in a room that would soon be inhospitable to almost all forms of life except for his species. It was as if the Force had put him there for this specific purpose. He hit the emergency lockdown button and the bridge door slammed shut, sealing it off from the rest of the ship to prevent further atmospheric leaks. He ran down to the secondary bridge which was already coming online. This bridge's viewport was substantially smaller then the main bridge, with room enough only for a few workstations.
From his new vantage point on the secondary bridge he could see the ship was continuing it's turn. Ubootoo, from his console in the main bridge was still guiding the ship to bring their weapons to bear. The asteroid field loomed before them, a lot more threatening now then it had been when they first entered.
Jor also noticed the freighter at the edge of the field. It was a large pinprick of light that was moving in relation to all the other smaller pinpricks of light that constituted the star field backdrop of the viewport. The Freighter was turning to starboard in order to bring another external weapons pod to bear on the Sobek. As if in slow motion he saw the missiles fire from the freighter. 6 of them this time, headed strait for them. Neeja couldn't help but get the feeling they were targeted right at his nose.
The Sobek's weapons fired. Her wing mounted turbolasers pulsed out green lances of deadly energy into the vacuum of space. The Turbolaser blasts struck an asteroid in the field which caused it to erupt and explode. The mine attached to it exploded causing a huge ion blast to spread out into space. That ion explosion struck two other mines which caused them to explode which began the chain reaction of mines exploding all throughout the asteroid field. The pirate freighter was consumed in the chain reaction, struck by multiple ion blasts, the ships systems failed and it started drifting. In moment the ship would be chewed to bits by the asteroid field.
Neeja's attention was drawn to the incoming missiles. The 6 missiles struck the Sobek's bow, rippling explosions across the forward section of the ship. The last missile to hit, struck the bridge viewport dead on. Flame and plasma stabbed through the viewport and into the ship.
"Helm, bring us about, get us away from that asteroid field." Neeja shouted after being jarred in his seat from the missile impacts. He looked down and saw that the helmsman seat in the secondary bridge was empty. Neeja sprang out of his seat. "Engineering, whats the status of the primary bridge?"
The engineering officer's voice came over the ships intercom on the bridge. "it's gutted Captain. Plasma's melted the interior of the bridge and breached all the corridors around it... i'm sorry."
Another bridge crewman accepted the seat in front of the helm while Neeja, slightly stunned and numbed emotionally, slumped back down into his seat. The Sobek changed coarse, headed away from the asteroid field and headed on an outbound vector towards Corellia. Neeja turned to the console on his command chair and brought up the ships log and recorded Ensign Ubootoo's death. Now, out of danger, the crew had time to assess the damage that had been done to the ship.
Over his shoulder, the communications officer raised a finger. "Captain, message from Corellia. They request you contact them immediately." The com officer said.
Neeja sighed. "Understood, fire up the hypercom and give me CorSec command."
The communications officer worked at her console, aligning the hypercom dish. A few minutes later he reported that he had CorSec command on the line. Neeja ordered him to pipe the com into his command chair. The face of Commander Torren, a CorSec officer Neeja knew well sprang to 3 dimensional life over the arm mounted holoprojector on his chair. Torren had been his fathers partner for the past 6 years. "Commander, what can i do for you?"
Torren's normally happy demeanor was solid. His face was set in depressive stone. "Neeja... it's about your father..."
1.7 - We Regret to Inform you.
Neeja had spent the majority of the Sobek's journey back to spacedock in his quarters trying to forget about his father. He didn't understand Kieran's death, and he didn't understand his fathers reason for letting himself die. He couldn't help but think it wasn't fair.
To try and keep his mind off his fathers sudden and unexplained death, he had started writing the report of Ensign Ubootoo's death. He had never thought he'd see the day when writing a report about the death of one of the men under his command was the preferable activity to something else. The Report read as follows...
To: Hozzard, W.K.
Commander, CorSec Headquarters
From: Halcyon, N.T.
Commanding Officer, CSF Sobek
I regret to report the death of one Ensign Ubootoo J.M. He died in service to his ship and crew while manning his station even after i had evacuated the bridge. We had suffered a breach in the forward viewport and the bridge was loosing pressure. I made the decision to evacuate the bridge but the Ensign decided to stay behind. He sited his species ability to survive in zero pressure environments and he was in the middle of using the ships weapons to defend the ship. I allowed him to stay and evacuated the bridge myself.
From his station, he fired the weapons and ignited an illegal mine field which destroyed the attacking vessel. However, the attacking vessel fired one missile volley before it was disabled and that missile volley destroyed the bridge. Ensign Ubootoo was the only casualty. Through his actions he prevented the Sobek from sustaining any more damage and protected the lives of those on his ship.
It is for this reason that i am posthumously recommending Ensign Jor Mandraso Ubootoo for the Corellian Bloodstripes. He's an example to his crew and for all CorSec Officers.
Regretfully,
Neeja Halcyon, Jedi Knight
