Dropping off or Picking up?

[MikDaTv]

The Jor Halcyon exited hyperspace in the Mandalore System. It had been pulled out of hyperspace by the massive gravity well of the Mandalore Systems star. "We've exited hyperpsace on course Captain." The navigator stated.

Captain Stowe was at the bridge viewport. "Put the shields on standby but charge the weapons." He said.

Simon raised an eyebrow. "Weapons sir? You sure you want to be that hostile towards the mandalorians? It's very probable they have a fleet in orbit you know."

Stowe turned around to look at him. "It's a show of respect, the kind of thing these people go for. Tells them we think they're enough of a threat that we won't just wander into their territory unarmed. The lack of shields tells them we're willing to let them we're not looking for a fight."

Simon thought about it for a moment then shook his head and went back to looking at the holotable. he thought it was a bad idea but he wasn't going to contradict the captain on the bridge.

"Helm, set course for the planet Mandalore, cruising speed. Coms, tell me the moment the Mandalorians make contact" The Captain ordered. There were several acknowledgments and the ship turned away from the systems star, headed on an outbound course for the planet Mandalore.

[Crazy O]

Erik Aran sat in the captain's chair of the Romulus. There were only three other people on the bridge and two others in the engineering section. The ship was severely under crewed by order of Samantha to reduce the number of people to see her father in his weaken condition. He continued to read the message his daughter wrote him as the Romulus speed towards the massive Cronau Radiation burst under cloak.

As they approached the Dradis showed Erik that it was in fact the Jor Halcyon which had exited hyperspace at the edge of the system. He took a breath and smiled; even in his old age and weaken condition he could not help but play with them. "Fire Control, Charge the Main Disruptor. Helm, position use five hundred meters off their bow and maintain that distance." He said as the two men grind under their helmets as they fallowed the orders. The Romulus moved into position and charged the disruptor. Then Erik punched several buttons on the captain's seat and the cloak dropped. He then turned to the final officer on the bridge. "Open a channel to the Jor Halcyon." He said with a smile. They were still a fair distance out from Aran Spaceport.

The communication officer nodded and quickly open a channel. "Channel open sir." The officer responded.

Erik took a deep breath of the pure oxygen atmosphere and spoke. "Honorable followers of the Jedi Zordon. The Aran Clan welcomes you to Mandalorian space. I wise to meet with your captain before relinquishing command of this ship. Romulus Actual out." He said. He then pushed and button prevented the crew of the Jor Halcyon from hearing or seeing him. A second later he brought up a red cloth to his mouth and coughed several times. He wiped the remaining blood away as he listen to the captain's response. At the same time he signaled for the disruptor to be powered down and the Romulus to move to the port side of the Lysander-class Deep Space Carrier. He grabbed the datapad with the message from his daughter and slowly floated off the bridged for the airlock to meet the captain.

[MikDaTv]

"New contact! Bearing Three Five Five Mark Zero! 500 Meters!" Shouted the helmsman. Simon looked up suddenly at the sound of the alert and adjusted the image on the holo display to include the new information.

The sensor operator shouted a report as well. "Warbird Class Cruiser, and i'm reading a massive weapons charge!"

Simon's eyes went wide. How could they have missed it. "Shields up! Arm tubes...."

"Belay those orders." Captain Stowe shouted over everything. "Shields are to remain on standby and don't you dare arm any missiles. Coms, anything yet?"

The com tech shook his head then quickly changed it to a nod. he flipped a switch on his console to shift it to bridge speakers.

"...Aran Clan welcomes you to Mandalorian space. I wish to meet with your Captain before relinquishing command of this ship. Romulus Actual out."

The sensor officer breathed a sigh of reliefe. "She's powering down her main weapon and moving to a position along our port side."

Stowe breathed a sigh of relief inwardly to himself, unwilling to let the crew see that he too had nearly had a heart attack when the ship appeared with weapons armed. He walked over to the communications section and asked for the tech's headset and to open the channel. when he got the finger signal that it was open he spoke. "Romulus, this is the Jor Halcyon. We will comply with your request. Standby, we will transmit our docking protocols on this same channel. I look forward to meeting you." With that Stowe gave the hand signal to cut the channel and handed the head set back to the tech.

He turned to look at his still confused executive officer. "Commander Peter, coordinate with the Romulus command staff and bring us into a docking maneuver. I'll be heading down to airlock 6 to head over to the new ship. Please have the temporary crew meet me there."

The XO nodded and the Captain left the bridge.

[jezred]

Jezred dropped out of hyperspace in the Mandalore System and drew in a deep breath. This was not the greatest place for a drop off mission even if it was just a basic package delivery. That was when he happened to notice the two rather large ships and of course, he was suddenly concerned.
"Tala, what's the status on those two ships?" He asked the computer.

"I'm reading a channel and charged weapons on one of them but no shields. Ship names are not accessible, but I can open a communication channel if you want." The ship's A.I. Talamasca responded back.

"Open a communication channel to the one that looks least likely to blow us out of the sky." He said calmly, almost bored as he tried to think of what he would say.

"Captain, as a side-note, we are currently out of fuel on this vessel. Auxiliary power is all that is keeping us going, but they'll have to come pick us up." She kindly informed him.

"Fine open the communication channel. We'll ask them to drop us off at the nearest space station to refuel."

"Acknowledged, channel opening in three....two.... one"

Jezred took a deep breath and relayed his message to the captain of the carrier nearby.

"This Jezred chaulsin of the Starship Orihalcon, requesting a drop off near a refueling station. I'm on a delivery assignment with cargo nearby. Requesting permission to dock." He said into the com system. With any luck he couldn't have to coast to the nearest space station or take one of his other ships out to pick up fuel and complete his mission. Thus far he had a 100% success rate and wanted to keep it that way, given of course that 80% of his missions had been delivery.

[MikDaTv]

As Simon guided the ship through the slightly tricky and very dangerous docking maneuver with the Romulus a Com tech lifted a finger in the air. "Sir... I'm getting a aid request."

Simon sighed and walked over to the tech's work station. "From who?"

The tech finished listening to the entire message before answering. "Uh, sounds like a civilian ship Sir, The Orihalcon. Says she's out of fuel and is requesting to dock."

"With us in the middle of Mandalorian space? Is he serious?" The XO said.

The com tech just shrugged his shoulders. "She's drifting towards Mandalore now."

Simon turned over to the sensor station. "Sensors, what do you make of her?"

The tech turned his head around to answer the question. "Looks like an Assassin Sir, her main engines are cold and her hyperdrive is spinning down."

Simon pinched the base of his nose between his thumb and forefinger and thought for a moment. "Sensors, any other ships in the area?"

"negative Sir. Aside from the Romulus the only other registered ships i have on my scopes are around Mandalore. We have a big fat nothing for 65 million kilometers in all directions." Came the report.

That told Simon that the Warbird hadn't dispatched a CAP, probably because they were turning the ship over to us, it's hanger bays were empty. "Ok. Coms, tell the Orihalcon to stand by then tell the Romulus that we're launching fighters to patrol and investigate."

He walked to the back of the bridge close to the holo table and grabbed the intercom. He keyed it for the Air Boss's station. "Boss Man this is the XO. I need a flight out and about. Who's got the Alert 5?"

There was a short moment before the reply came from the Air Boss. "Blue flights got ships in the tubes. I can have them out in 4 minutes."

"Do it." The XO ordered. "And send Spirit with them. We've got an unknown civilian vessel out there and i want a visual scan of it. Spirit is to maintain electronic scanning and record everything for our sensor logs."

The Air Boss broke squelch twice on the intercom to signal the message had been received and set about doing his job.

A few minutes later, eight CHF-18's launched from the Halcyon's fighter tubes and banked around to link up with one another. The AT-130 Dragoon Spirit joined them, launching from the Halcyon's port hanger pod.

* * *

Back on the bridge. Petty officer 2nd Class Tal'dicer, the Communications technitian had opened the channel with the Orihalcon.

"Orihalcon, Orihalcon, this is the PMC Jor Halcyon. Please stand by. Do not deviate from your present course or speed. We have dispatched fighters to conduct a visual scan of your vessel."

[jezred]

Jezred tapped his fingers impatiently and then, upon receiving the message he had to debate whether or not to send reply. Eventually, his attitude got the better of him and he sent back a line.

"Orihalcon, Orihalcon, this is the PMC Jor Halcyon. Please stand by. Do not deviate from your present course or speed. We have dispatched fighters to conduct a visual scan of your vessel." They had said. After he had told them of course that he ran out of fuel.

"Jor Halcyon, you have an affirmative on the visual scan, not that there's much to do about that, as for deviating from my course you typically need fuel for that so affirmative on that too. I think I'll have a tea party with my imaginary crew while you're scanning though, just to make sure I don't go craaazzyyy and hit some buttons that put more fuel in my tank so I can comply with that request. Over and out." He responded back in a fairly jovial tone. He may have been stranded but he sure as hell couldn't resist messing with their crew.

Oh sure it probably wasn't the greatest idea but if they were going to blow him out of the sky they were going to blow him out of the sky and that was that. He kept the lightsaber tube on his waist as a distraction while his real lightsabers were safely hidden on his person out of sight and out of mind. He was, however, very hopeful they didn't try to confiscate his weapon.

[MikDaTv]

Two groups of Four fighters approached the Orihalcon with the AT-130 Spirit between them. Their flight leader Husker came over the com. "Ok, Spirit, stay here and maintain electronic observation. If you register so much as a circuit board turning on i want to know about it."

Spirits copilot responded. "Understood Husker, we'll keep the watch."

"Ok, Stingray, Jojo, Beano we're going in for a flyby. Keep your shields balanced out and an eye on her AA guns. Dipper, Flat Top, Chuckles and Jelly keep on standby. Don't scare them with target locks or anything but be ready to target engines and weapons if this turns out to be some kind of stupid trap." Husker said, laying down the plan.

The flight all echoed out acknowledgments and Huskers element moved forward. The goosed the throttle forward and angled their fighters around to approach the Orihalcon from the aft. They're flyby was first on the port side moving from aft to bow, then circled around to do another flyby on the starboard side.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Husker dialed his com to the frequency for the Halcyon. "Halcyon, this is Blue One, we've conducted our flyby and we don't see anything out of the ordinary."

The voice of Halcyon's communications watchstander came over the com. "Understood Blue One, that information has been relayed. Maintain CAP of Halcyon and have an element and Spirit fall into escort pattern for the Orihalcon"

Husker double clicked his com and switched back over to squad frequency. "Ok Blues, we're on CAP. Chuckles and Jelly, your escort for our assassin friend here. Spirit, your with them. Everyone else, form up in elements and begin standard patrols pattern."

Another ring of acknowledgments went about the com. The eight fighters split up, two of them staying with the Orihalcon off her starboard quarter about 50 yards out. Spirit moved to Orihalcon's port quarter, also maintaining a distance of about 50 meters.

* * *

"What do you want me to tell the captain of the Orihalcon sir?" The Com tech asked.

Simon rubbed his forehead for a few seconds while he thought. "Well, we can't do anything about it right now. Not in the middle of docking maneuver. Tell him we'll maintain an escort for him but if he want's to get going right now he better call the Mandalorians for assistance. Otherwise he's going to have to wait until we're finished here."

The ChoPo spoke up from his station on the bridge. "We could send the Cats out to bring him some fuel. at least enough to get him to a safe port."

Simon shook his head. "No, i'd rather not deploy more ships then we have to. Not in this neck of the woods anyway. He got himself into this situation, he's going to have to wait to get out of it."

The com tech nodded and turned around to his console and opened a channel to the Orihalcon. "Orihalcon, this is Halcyon. Be advised we are unable to assist at this time. We will maintain fighter escort of your ship for the time being but for immediate assistance we suggest you call commercial salvage in from Mandalore."

[jezred]

Jezred kept his eye on the com and once he got the message back from the Halcyon he rolled his eyes.

"Roger that Halcyon fighter. If you wouldn't mind, maintain guard, I'm going to send a com to the other ship and ask if they'll let me dock. I can drain fuel from one of my other ships, enough to get to my destination point but not without landing somewhere. Over and out." He replied to them, being completely forward about his situation. With that he cut off the com link and set about task number two.

"Tala have you gotten a name on that other ship?" He inquired.
"Affirmative, the Romulus seems to be the name Captain." The computerized female voice responded.
"Good open up a communication channel with them." He ordered.

It took a few minutes for Tala to comply, given the current power system state. Once it was done though he heard the telltale beep of a successful link and sent them a message.

"Starship Romulus, this is the Captain... and only member of the Orihalcon, I'm requesting permission to dock temporarily to do a fuel switch or to get a lift to the next spaceport to save me the trouble if possible. Repeat, this is the Orihalcon, my ship is out of fuel and I need to dock in order to transfer fuel or catch a lift to a spaceport. Requesting permission for pickup." He only half expected an immediate response but damn if it wouldn't be nice. He really wanted to get this job done and over with so he could be on his marry little way and possibly get a more fulfilling job.

Once his end of the communication was squelched, he left the pilot panel and stood.
"Tala, scan the package for weapon signatures or the like and find out if we're transferring contraband or not."

"That task was accomplished the moment you placed it on the ship sir. It's got no weapon signatures and displays no organic properties. Additional information, our engine core needs to have the rotation cuff replaced, estimation of current available usability is six weeks." She responded. This was typical of her, constantly diagnosing and scanning everything in the ship. That why he liked her so much but at the same time it was rather infuriating. He added it to the list of things he would need to do once he got paid at the nearby space port.


____

After waiting for nearly an hour, Jezred's youthful manner took hold and he sent a com to the escort near him.
"Halycon fighters this is the Orihalcon again, maintain distance for a moment I'm going to attempt to maneuver one of my other ships to the fuel port on my ship, after that I'll take myself on to the nearest space station." He told them shortly before hitting the squelch button and turning to put his space suit on. Once it was done he headed to the hangar to board his frieghter. Once that was done he put started driving his ship out of the hangar bay and pulled it around to the fuel port. The refueling process went smoothly and he left some fuel in his freighter for a future time period and replaced it in his hangar bay. WIth his ship somewhat refueled, he waved off the escort and headed towards the nearest space station so he could refuel, deliver the package, and head on to the next job.

<<Exit>>

[Crazy O]

Erik Aran opened docking port door and pushed a little bit away from the hatch as it opened. He spoke to the Captain as he approached. "Watch your step, we currently have grav plating deactivated and a pure oxygen environment to help with my medical condition." He said diplomatically. His daughter had planned this trade for sometime and the terms had been finalized just last week. "If you well follow me I well take you to my office to finalize this transaction." Erik said push off and headed for the captain's office.

It was a short trip but it still left Erik coughing up a storm. He used his handkerchief to cover his mouth and wipe blood from his mouth. He sat down at the disk and pulled out several datapads. They were the ownership documents that Samantha had submitted after 'salvaging' the ship off of Tatooine. This completely legal as Killbo stole the ship from Kitana she and filled an insurance claim of the losses. This meant she forfieted the ownership of the ship and the salvage claims were completely valid.

Erik set them on his disk and waited for Captain Stowe to sit down so they could confirm the transfer. They were getting the ship for a real deal; a some old untranslated records for one of the most unique ships in the galaxy. Erik himself did not understand what Sam wanted with the data; but it was her ship and she was a very clever person. "Well, I have the paperwork right here. If you would like to look over the documents while I examine the payment that is perfectly acceptable." Erik said as he waited for Stowe to provide him with the datapad of data they requested.

[MikDaTv]

When the Romulus Commander greeted him, Captain Stowe offered the standard salute. A sign of respect to a fellow starship commander and soldier. Then followed the older man to his office. Stowe hadn't done anything in zero G since he was a Jedi, which was something he didn't want to think about. He pushed onward though, swallowing constantly to keep his stomach under control.

When they reached the commanders office, Graham looked through all the documents. satisfied that everything was on the up and up, he slid a datacard across the desk. "All the information you requested, plus the log entries of when and where we discovered it."

[Crazy O]

OOC: If you want to have them hanging around, you can control the two mandalorians, if not, just say they launched with the Firespray back towards Aran

IC:
Erik pulled out a personal reader and looked at the information on the datachip. He looked at it. He could not read it, but the language was correct and a keyword search pulled up the word that his daughter told him to look for. He nodded. "Thank you Captain. I hereby transfer this ship over to you. I well be taking my leave, however if you wise, I could leave the chief engineer and a member of the bridge crew behind to instruct your men in the operation of this ship. Mathew Aran knows this ships system extremely well, only second by Samantha herself. Johsopha Aran would gladly instruct your crew in bridge operation systems that way you can pass the knowledge on to the final crew. All you would need to do is permit one of our Bes'uliik Assault Starfighter to remain. They well be told to follow your orders and will leave in the starfighter when they are told. A jester of freindship of the Aran clan." Erik said, however talking so long caused him to cough up more blood.

Erik pushed himself up from the seat and saluted Captain Stowe. "I wise you the best of luck Captain. And remind you Jedi Master that the Aran Clan are here for the Jedi Order. We will help wherever we can." Erik said before pushing off and floating towards the hanger bay. He was not sure if he could keep that promise, but he had the up most respect for the Jedi and he assumed Samantha would agree. Erik continued through the ship until he reached the ship's hanger bay were he entered the Firespray-31 class Patrol Craft along with all but Johsopha and Mathew who would take the assault fighter. The craft launched from the hanger bay and headed back towards Aran Station.

[MikDaTv]

Graham returned the commanders salute. "Thank you sir, i'll relay the message. You can take your men back with you, we have a crew on standby. They've been studying the bridge layout of the Warbird class for the past week. We just need to get her back home."

Stowe oversaw the departure of the Mandalorian skeleton crew, then comed the Halcyon and told them to bring the temporary crew on board. The docking hatch was suddenly flooded with junior enlisted and a few senior officers. They headed up to the bridge and engineering to being working on the ship. Stowe headed back across the airlock to the Halcyon. The Romulus wasn't his ship.

When he got to the bridge of the Halcyon he could see that Simon was already in contact with the crew on the Romulus.

"Engineering is a mess! Everything is bypassed!" Said the voice on the bridge speaker. Graham had to suppress a laugh. McKay was on the Romulus examining the new ships engines. "I can't..... where the hell is the primary coolant exhaust!?"

"McKay! calm down, we just need to get her back to the Ilum. Can you do that?" Simon asked.

There was a long pause on the com then McKay's voice came back. "I think i just found the hyperdrive under this rats nest of wires so yeah... maybe. Hey you, don't touch that! Who told you to touch......"

The com cut out as McKay hung up his com. Simon smiled and chuckled slightly. Graham shook his head. "I don't think I’ve ever heard him so happy before."

Simon laughed openly at that comment. Graham turned to the rest of the Halcyon's bridge. "Navigation, plot us a course back to Ilum. Helm, prepare to break dock. Stand by on tractor beams."

In 30 minutes the two ships separated once again and the Romulus swung around to go on a parallel course with the Halcyon. The two ships jumped to hyperspace together, headed back to Ilum.