A long recovery...

[Crazy O]

A Lysander-class Deep Space Carrier came out of hyperspace in a massive flash of Cronau Radiation which would indicate it was a rather sloppy jump. The ship itself was a wreck; it had several hull breaches, running on one engine, uncountable number of scorch marks across the hull, all the concussion missile launched doors were empty, a power levels were all over the place, and only emergency lighting shining out of the few windows.

On the bridge Jim Raynor and Matt Horner stood at consoles. "We still don't have long range sensors Rory. Anything you can do about that." Jim said frustrated. He pulled out his flask and tried to take a drink. He threw the flask to the ground when it was empty and punched the console.

Matt turned to him. "Easy Jim. You should just feel lucky we even have life support, hyperdrive and sublights, those Imps gave use a hell of a thrashing. I am sure Rory is doing the best he can." Matt said calmly as he moved to another console and plotted a course to set up in a stable low orbit of Ilum. They would hide there until they could at lease get a few of the other systems up and running. The Ilum system was suppose to be devoid of advance life and was an excellent hiding spot.

It did not take long however before Jim and the rest of the crew of the Avalon would realize that their information was out of date. Ilum was very much active. They learned this when the first fighter partrol arrived. Jim got on the short range communication console. "This is Captain Jim Raynor of the Lysander-class Deep Space Carrier Avalon. We are badly damage and pose no threat. We came to this system hoping to make repairs. Is our presence here unwelcome?" Jim said hoping the fighters were not hostile. He then turned to Matt after muting the mic. "What is the condition of the shields and point defense?" He said somewhat worried that the fighters may simple attack them if they were Imperial.

Matt walked over to the fire control station and shook his head. "The ACPs are dry, I could only give you low powered shots from some of the intact turbolasers and ion cannons or shields at twenty percent but not both. Should I have Egon launch?" Matt said. Jim shock his head no, Egon was good, but they pretty much had to rebuild his fighter from scraps around the hanger, it was not combat worthy to take out four CHF-18B and whatever else was coming to back it up.

[MikDaTv]

"Avalon this is the Jor Halcyon, we have you on our scopes. Shift your course 60 degrees port then steady out. We'll guide you in to safe port, you set the pace. We'll have an engineering team in a dragoon on your starboard flight deck in 20 minutes." Came over the com from the Jor Halcyon's chief communications officer.

The other Lysdander class pulled up along side and stayed off the Avalon's starboard bow. A dragoon deployed from the Halcyons port side and headed down to the Avalon, sliding into her starboard hanger and touching down.

Lieutenant Commander Rodney McKay walked out the side hatch with the best engineering crew he had. The 8 of them started to unload their equipment from the back of the dragoon.

[Crazy O]

Jim took a breath when the voice of the Jor Halcyon's com officer said they would lead them to a safe port. He activated the communications console. "Thank you Halcyon. It is nice to hear a friendly voice in the dark." Jim said. He turned Matt who was already entering the new flight path before activating the PA system. "Gabriel, I need a security team down to the starboard hanger, Security Protocol Beta. We got a engineering team coming aboard. I would also like you their also Rory." He said walked around the bridge helping to keep the ship together. Most of the work was monitoring structural integrity even at the low sublight thrust they could maintain and monitoring and not overtaxing any one surviving system.

Meanwhile Gabriel and four security officer walked into the starboard hanger bay as the Dragoon landed. They had there weapons lowered and set to stun as dictated by Beta protocol which demanded readiness of unknown arrivals with stated friendly attentions. Rory also walked in and up to the man walking out of the Dragoon. "I take it you are the engineers from one of our sister ships nearby. Chief Engineer Rory Swann." He said extending his good hand out. "I see you guys travel like my ex-wife." He said with a smile and a slight chuckle.

[MikDaTv]

"Rodney McKay" The Halcyon's chief engineer said in response. "I don't get the joke?"

Rodney shrugged. He'd never been married. Nine years in college and two PHD's later he hadn't really found time for it. "What seems to be the trouble? I mean aside from the ever impending threat of total decompression and a cold lonely death in outer space."

[Crazy O]

Rory looked at McKay and shook his head. "It may be easier to tell you what isn't wrong. We only got one sublight engine, the hyperdrive is working at fifteen percent and the only thing working like it should is life support." Rory said plainly. He and his engineering teams cannibalized the other engine components to get one of the sublights working and had kept the hyperdrive going through constant tinkering with it. "We could use a hand either stabilizing the hypermatter annihilation reactor out put or repairing the main sensor array. I figured if your team took one I would lead my A-team to fix the other." Rory said. He had teams around the ship rerouting power conduits, bypassing damage section and making other repairs but these two jobs would be the most challenging.

---

Meanwhile in the secondary infirmary Ariel was walking around as personnel continued moved the bodies from the beds into black bags. They had loss nearly 5,000 personnel, but only had bodies of around 1,200 bodies. All the others were lost in vacuum of space, vaporized by turbolaser fire or still trapped in decompressed section of the ship. "Doctor, when was the last time you slept?" One of the nurses asked Ariel as she read the monitors of a critically injured patient.

Ariel turned to her and removed her glasses. She looked at her watch and then back up. "I am not even sure. Do I really look that bad?" She said pinching the bridge of her nose before putting the glasses back on. She had been up for the past 43 hours, performed seven major operations and personally declared several hundred crew members dead, all because the chief medical officer and a majority of his original trauma team where killed in the attack along with everyone in the primary infirmity. She much rather been looking through a microscope rather then a surgical camera, but she was the next most experienced doctor they could call.

---

On the bridge Jim flopped down in his seat as he noticed a strange thing far out. It was hard to make out at first but as they approach it became more clear. It was an orbital shipyards. "Well, I be a Tach's uncle." He said in somewhat disbelief. He did not know their was even a shipyard in this system.

Matt was just as shocked as they flew towards the shipyard. "So much for this being an abandon system. I wonder if we got enough supplies to trade?" Matt said pulling up the ship manifest. They had mined an asteroid system and had a large supply of unrefined minerals along with a lot of extra Tibanna Gas they had collected from an uncharted gas giant. They however where in a decompressed section of the ship. They also had a large quantity of small arms they stole form the Shadow Syndicate outpost before getting their ass handed to them by the Imperial II-class Star Destroyers.

Jim pushed several buttons and open a channel with the Jor Halcyon. "Avalon Actual to Jor Halcyon. Well this place take payment in ore and Tibanna?" Reading the information that Matt just transferred over to his console. Jim still was a little worried however, he did not know who was operating this facility or these ships. They maybe trying to trap him their so they could capture him and the rest of his crew to turn them over to the Empire.

[MikDaTv]

Rodney pulled out his datapad and started up a to do list. "Ok, my team will go handle the sensor systems, you handle the reactor. Since i am a science and engineering team all by myself i'll go fix the hyperdrive."

Rodney turned around and showed his datapad to his team leader, a Twi'lek named Zel'enka. He pointed to the main sensor array schematics he had brought up on the pads screen. "Go. Work. Fix."

Zel'enka rolled his eyes and scowled at McKay before rounding up the rest of the team and their tools to go work on the sensors. McKay himself looked back down to his datapad and began reviewing all the technical specifications for the Lysanders factory default hyperdrive systems and started to walk his way to engineering while reading at the same time.

* * *

"Sir, Avalon is making some request about how to pay for services." Radar said.

Simon walked over and took the headset off the com tech's head and put it up to his ear. The tech replayed the request so he could hear it and he nodded. He patted the com tech on the back and told him to unmute the mic. "Avalon, Halcyon. We won't worry about that right now. Just get within tractor beam range of the station and they'll take care of the rest. Once your not in imminent danger of explosive decompression we'll have a chat about what your doing here."

He handed the mic back to the com tech. Captain Stowe walked up behind Simon, "you going to head over there?"

"One of us should, don't you think?" Simon asked.

Graham looked back at the holotable of the Avalon and all the damaged systems on her. "I'd say so, just to get a feel for them. Who knows what information they have in their databanks about us by now."

"I'll take care of it." Simon said. "I'll meet with them on Murmanks station and bring McKay with my on the trip back."

There was a groan from one of the junior enlisted, standing watch on the bridge. Stowe and Peter smiled. Not everyone would be happy with Rodney's return, especially not his enlisted engineers. "No rush XO. I'm sure Rodney will have plenty to do while at Murmansk."

Simon laughed and headed to the holotable. he grabbed the intercom mic and keyed it for the air boss's office. "Boss, this is the XO. Have a Dragoon on standby for me and tell CAG to find it some pilots."

[Crazy O]

Rory shock his head, their was nothing worse then a man with to much ego. He was helping to fix the hyperdrive however, which made him okay if he could back up his claims. "Watch were you step damnit, I got repair crews all over this ship repairing damage. The last thing we need is one slip with a plasma cutter tearing a hole in a decompressed section." He shouted to McKay as he walked off looking at his datapad. "And thank you getting that sensor array online." He said to the Twi'lak before leaving himself for the back-up reactor.

Meanwhile Gabriel sent his four security officers to follow and keep an eye on the Twi'lak's team while followed McKay. It was his job to safe guard the ship, these meant keeping everyone. Sense they did not have internal sensors, he would have to settle with following people.

---

Jim and Matt looked at each other when they were told they would figure out payment later. "Well, that is a nice change of pace." Jim said with a smile. "Roger that Halcyon, and thank you." He said activating the mic again. Once he sent the message he once again turned off the mic. He may have been grateful that they were helping, but he did not feel they needed to hear everything.

He had been so use to fighting on his own he was convinced the universe itself was against him. Then several alarms sounded. Jim looked over at Matt as he switched them off. "What now?" He said annoyed. It seemed like there was not a moment of peace just for one to collect there thoughts.

Matt did not smile, "On of the thrusters died along with another power spike to the bridge. Nothing to worry about Sir." He said. It was true, they could do nothing about them at this point. Matt continue to fly the ship towards the shipyards at one tenth normal thrust. This was the best that they could due with so much structural damage. In a way Matt was shocked they survived the jump to and from hyperspace.

It took them about fifteen minutes tell they reached tractor beam range of the shipyards. When it locked a beam, Matt killed the sublight drive and started to let the ship drift. When the drive stopped and the beam took over the ship made a horrible creaking sound. "Don't worry to much Sir, it is just the steel going from being under compression to being under tension. I doubt it could do any more damage." Matt said showing confidence in the Avalon's construction.

Jim nodded and turned towards the door. "I am heading down to the airlock. I got some wheeling and dealing to do. Take care of whats left of the ship Matt." Jim said walking out and heading for the one of the airlocks which would be connected to the shipyards to unload crew and bring on repair teams. Hundreds of things were running though his mind; including with these would turn out to be a double cross or the start of a fruitful friendship.

[MikDaTv]

Rodney looked over his shoulder at Gabriel who was following him and rolled his eyes. "I suppose it would have been to much to ask that they send someone with a doctorate to keep an eye on me." He said more to himself than anyone else.

When he arrived at Engineering he looked around with a very neutral face. "Ahhh look. Factory defaults... how quaint. Everything is cross wired and rerouted. Oh how i love the tedium of putting everything back where it belongs."

He glanced down at his datapad and held it up in front of him so he could compare it's schematics with the actual hyperdrive unit before him. "Well, time to get to work." He said. he pulled a hydrospanner from his tool belt and tucked his datapad under his arm.

* * *

As the Avalon was drawn into the shipyards, the docking clamps locked the ship in place and held it steady as the ship settled. Commander Peter's Dragoon landed in one of the shipyards hanger bays and he walked out.

Over to his left he could see a welding team already getting into space suits and getting ready to take a walk outside.

On his right, a pair of repair drones were being taxied up to the hanger mag field to launch. They would survey the exterior damge on the Avalon and mark the locations of hull breaches for the welding crews.

Peter moved past all the workmen in the hanger and headed into the shipyards. He had radioed ahead to tell Murmank personnel to get a conference room ready so he made for the main airlock to greet the crews coming off the ship. Murmanks Security was already present, armed with carbines but Simon didn't think they would start anything here. Not with the Halcyon right outside ready to blast their ride to bits.

[Crazy O]

Jim walked onto the bridge of the Avalon. "How are the repairs coming along Matt. Can we speed this up any?" He asked as he lite up another cigarette. He was getting daily reports but he was constantly riding Matt for them to be done quicker. The quicker they were done the faster they could get back into the fight and making money to pay the crew.

Matt looked over at Jim. "The same as two hours ago sir. Everyone is working as hard as they can. The hull is repaired, hyperdrive is working better then before, sensors are back up, and we have full power. Weapons and sublight engines are that left to be completely repaired." Matt said looking at a report. It was not a report about their ship but instead about the Jor Halcyon. The sensor readout showed that they had made an interesting modification which he thought was brilliant. They had replaced the mass drivers with anti-fighter flak guns. While the change was a minor one, it could be a very useful.

---

Egon stood on the hangerdeck talking with Rory. "You think we could get our hands on those fighters that we seen sent down to the surface for the Jedi to use." He said as Rory was working on his CHF-18.

Rory looked up from engine and shock his head. "I could ask around around the shipyard about them, but I would not get my hopes up." He said before going back to work. Egon smiled and looked out of the hanger into space hoping to get another glimpse of one the fighters.

[MikDaTv]

"Well, that's it for this one! Try it now!" Rodney shouted from his place under an engine housing.

One of the crewmen flipped the switch on the nearby console and the engine started to power up. Sparks flew from under the engine and Rodney started squirming "Hey hey hey, i told you not to touch that! Shut it off! Shut it off!"

The crewman quickly shut it down and Rodney crawled out from under the engine. "whats the matter with you! Trying to kill me?!"

"You told me to try it." The crewman objected.

"No i didn't! It would have worked if i had." Rodney shouted.

The crewman shook his head. "Whatever man, you told me to try it. What do you want me to do now?"

Rodney went through his tool belt and grabbed a smaller hydrospanner. "I'll see if i can't fix the damage you've done, give me a minute, and don't turn that thing on again."