Dead in space (Kenobi)

[Varn Badaash]

~CR90 Corvette, Deep space~

A Jedi scouting vessel floated aimlessly through space, notable scorch marks littered the hull. The occasional flutter from the massive thrusters and sparking lights seeable through a few hull breaches were the only things that gave the vessel any semblance of life. An Alliance emergency broadcast shot out into the vast galaxy calling for assistance against an as of yet unidentified hostile.

Inside the vessel was an even bigger mess, the bodies of the crew floated through the zero G hallways that had received hull breaches. Only one or two of the decks still had life support and even that was beginning to fail. In a conference room adjacent to the bridge sat one of the few survivors of the vessel’s sudden assault. A Dashade mercenary sat slumped across the rooms large table after being thrown in here by an Antarian Ranger.

The large alien slowly came to consciousness, pushing himself away from the table with a low pitched groan. Upon coming to a stand he immediately grabbed at his abdomen where he’d slammed into the table. The injury was uncomfortable but minor compared to those who hadn’t been as lucky. As the alarm sounds broke through his haze the alien began to look around. There was no sign of the Ranger that had saved him or anyone in the rectangular room. The alien let out a low growl out of frustration before walking towards the door that’d lead to the bridge.

The door slid halfway open with a high pitched screech of metal on metal. The Dashade’s nostrils were suddenly assaulted by the smell of burned flesh as he peered through the opening. The bridge was complete chaos, a fire burned on the far side of the room, consoles sparked, bodies of the crew were scattered about but at the very least the Dashade was relieved to see the view port still in one piece.

The alien pushed his way through the gap the door had created and immediately spotted the corpse of the Ranger who had saved him. The same man that the Mercenary had been working alongside for the last few months. He closed his black eyes for moment of mourning before reaching down and taking the man’s blaster. Hopefully the Dashade would survive this encounter so that he’d be able to give the Ranger and the rest of the crew proper burial rights. Hopefully he wasn’t the only survivor and hopefully someone would find them before the remaining life support systems ran out of juice.

[Neive Undant]

“Space troopers, get ready for cleanup. The ship looks dead in space, let’s get in, get what we can from their computer. Life support should be little to none, but still active, so keep blasters ready.”

The commander of a space trooper regiment, commander Zypher Ontari stood at the loading ramp of a small transport, as Prazutis walked towards the ramp, annoyed with this current mission.

“High Inquisitor, it’s an honor to have you aboard.”

Prazutis only gave the man a silent nod as he waited for the airlock to shut and then to be released, along with the 3 other space troopers alongside them.

Prazutis knew that this coalition ship was still occupied by at least one living creature. Feeling through the force, he could feel the being’s fear even on approach. However, for the moment, he couldn’t identify the individual as a force user or a simple antarian Ranger.

“Info that we picked up from the assault team before the ship made the jump was spot-on. Coordinates that the fighters latched on to were almost dead-on.”

Prazutis listened to the commander as his men prepared for the exit into space, and towards the ship.

“Now we just need to find out what this ship was doing near Endor before the jump...”

Prazutis looked at the commander, speaking finally.

“Ilum. It’s a likely possibility that this ship was making a trip to Ilum, and either held younger trainees within for them to build lightsabers, or to pick up kyber crystals for transport.”

In any case, Prazutis thought as the ramp opened and the group flew out into space, the purpose of this trip was sorely missed by the ship as soon as it was intercepted by the militants along the border. However, how it ended up here, rather than shooting through hyperspace straight towards Ilum, was something of a mystery.

However, it mattered not. It was one less Coalition ship actively providing for the enemies, and there was just a slight chance that this destruction of the ship would attract another to help he survivors... or from what Prazutis sensed, survivor.

[Ben Kenobi]

Hyperspace was such a tedious thing. Nothing to do and everything to think about while you were there. Jedi Master Ben Kenobi had found himself in just such a situation. twenty-three hours ago a Corellian CR90 Corvette assigned to the Jedi Coalition’s Skywalker Task Force had vanished; the vessel in question had been on a relief mission near this sector of space and had been manned by a skeleton crew along with a reconnaissance unit of Antarian Rangers whose mission had been separate from the Corvette’s and highly classified. Sixteen hours ago the CR90 had emerged from darkness and had sent out its emergency credentials to alert the Alliance Fleet and upon receipt of the data the Jedi Coalition had responded with all haste.

The nearest mobile unit had been none other than Ben Kenobi and his fellow Knight Asori Spero. They had been dispatched to investigate the emergency beacon of the CR90 and if possible recover the survivors or at a minimum the ship’s black box that the Coalition could discover what had occurred.

Once given the task, the Jedi Master had immediately sped to the location in question. He, aboard the Corellian YT 2000 Light Freighter Talon and Asori Spero flying escort in an Eta-2 Actis-class Light Interceptor, they were swiftly underway. By the tick of the twenty-fourth hour since the situation had gone chaotic for the crew of the CR90, the YT 2000 and Eta-2 response team burst from hyperspace to the view of a shattered Corvette that was adrift in deadspace.

“This is it.” Asori reported as she took her speedy Eta-2 in for a closer look, headlights casting illumination over the stricken starship. There was damage crossing the entirety of the hull and it was certainly by no means space worthy as it was. “I’m picking up minimal energy readings. The core is offline though, it’s just the emergency systems remaining but they’ll be dead soon too.”

Ben remained mostly quiet as he pulled his YT 2000 closer and he tapped his astromech on the dome, “Get some scans going R5,” the silver and red droid acknowledged the request swiftly and Ben took in the data with practiced eyes. “Looks like breaches on multiple decks. Whatever hit this ship, it wasn’t messing around.” Scanning images popped up on his HUD and he noticed a blinking red dot on the digital overlay of the CR90…

“Asori, I’m picking up life signs!”

As shocked as he was she snapped back, “The crew is still alive? We should call the Fleet!”

He shook his head despite not being present for her to see the expression. “Just one; but there’s no time to lose. Make a flyby of the bridge to show them we’re here. I’ll bring the Talon in over the dorsal access port.” The YT 2000’s spotlight kicked on and shone towards an airlock that appeared to be sealed located atop the bridge. “R6 take us in.” Blurting a reply, Ben didn’t wait as he got up from his chair and rushed towards the external airlock. He’d need to secure his survival gear just in case the CR90’s airlock was compromised.

As the YT 2000 and Eta-2 closed in they came into view of the Imperial vessel… surprised to view an enemy ship, the Jedi, Imperials and mercenary were about to have their hands full.

[Varn Badaash]

The Dashade dove behind a console as a set of starfighter searchlights flashed through the bridge viewport. As the alien began to rise to try and get a better look at the ship it darted off leaving him to wonder who had found him. If it was the people who attacked the vessel than he was about to be in for a world of hurt but if it was the Alliance than he and any other potential survivors had just been given hope to make it off the dying ship. The thought that it was both groups didn’t even cross the mercenaries mind.

With his hopes risen, he rushed back over to the body of the Ranger and searched him over for a communicator. Once found he carefully manipulated it in his large clawed hands and switched it to the Alliance open channel.

“Is someone out there?” His voice was deep and raspy, partially thanks to the smoke filled room. “This is Varn Badaash, a mercenary contracted by the Antarian Rangers, I’m currently alone and don’t know how many other survivors there are. Please respond if someone is out there.”

The dark grey skinned alien looked at the device in his hands, hoping that a voice would respond. The moan from the surrounding bulkheads forced his gaze away, it felt like something had tried to dock with the dying CR90. He knew his presence would be a bit more difficult for a Jedi to notice due to his species natural resistance to the Force so he kept himself from using his other natural ability to dissipate his heat signature. With a deep breath, followed by some hoarse coughing, the mercenary prepared himself to sit and wait for he had no idea how much of the rest of the ship could sustain life.

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis looked to the vessel trying to dock as he took out his lightsaber, thinking to himself as he looked back to the transport.

“Contact the Sparrowhawk, we’ll need some assistance in flight.”

Prazutis’ boots hit the hull near a punctured point, thinking to himself as he ignited his lightsaber, coming the other troopers making their way to the ship. He spoke as he drove his blade into the metal, carving out a circle from the already punctured hull.

“Cutting a path into the ship. The gravity won’t be any better in there, get your magnetics on before you get in.”

Prazutis watched the interceptor pass them by, thinking a second before moving into the ship through the new hole.

“Jedi are here! Focus on the computer but keep an eye out!”

The commander spoke as Prazutis activated the mag locks strapped to his armor. They were not there permanently, but for this mission, they came in handy for normal movement in the low gravity.

“The Sparrowhead is on its way with a full rack of fighters, we’ll scare them off as soon as he comes out of hyperspace.”

Prazutis continued through the halls of the ship, thinking to himself as the troopers broke off from his lead towards the main computer, Prazutis following the faint sense of life in the ship. However, a disturbance in the force gave him pause. A Jedi entering the ship, one he had a familiarity with...

“Kenobi”

[Ben Kenobi]

The Talon finally got within a proper visual range of the stricken CR90 Corvette and Ben was abhorred to view the ravages of the resultant combat that had doomed what was suspected to be the majority of the crew. This did not dissuade him as he continued to ride out this dire scenario. He arrived at the airlock and swiftly dropped his cloak to the deck whilst equipping a basic survival suit along with an oxygen tank; such measures would only give him minutes to spare should things go wrong but he surely hoped nothing would become of this situation.

Up the ladder he climbed until he was fully inside the airlock and he then secured a safety line to his harness, he was ready for action and soon enough the ready lamp flicked on green twice then fell to yellow… it was an insecure connection. Outside, the YT 2000 touched down against the CR90 hull and connected with the airlock. Oxygen and carbon dioxide streamed out into space as the airlock depressurized and finally linked to the vacuum exposed CR90. Now in Zero-G, Kenobi floated across the short tube to arrive at the airlock entry point of the CR90 and while he was in the tube he viewed the exterior through the transparisteel and he caught the sight of Space Troopers!

“R6! Asori!” He called over his communicator. “We have Stormtroopers boarding the CR90. We need to hurry this up.” He turned his attention back to the exterior airlock and hit the open icon. It failed to open and shone with an airlock status failure. The damage to the interior of the CR90 must have been extensive. It seemed that the internal airlock was not capable of sustaining the pressure. If the exterior lock opened then it would likely vent the interior.

A voice crackled with static on the open channel and Ben fumbled the communicator though he was able to pluck it from the air as it floated away. He struggled to hear the voice and could make very little out of the message. Nothing concrete at least. Though what he did manage to learn was that there was indeed a survivor inside. He keyed the comm.. “Attention CR90. This is Jedi Master Kenobi, we’re here to recover you but there is a hostile boarding party to towards the stern. If you can hear me, you need to get to the bridge’s airlock, secure yourself with a safety line and open the door. We are connected through the airlock but aren’t sure how much longer we can sustain this position. The airlock from my location is locked down, I have no access!”

Outside Asori Spero rolled her Eta-2 around in a low lazy arc and she expertly brought her interceptor down low in an attempt to intimidate the Spacetroopers. She didn’t open fire for fear of damaging the already fragile integrity of the CR90. After the first pass though she spotted the Imperial transport that had carried the Space Troopers in. Immediately she began to target the ship in hopes that if the ship would disengage then the boarding party would follow suit. If their carrier was destroyed then they’d be stranded… a terrible way to go by a slow exposure to vacuum. Granted a Spacetrooper’s sealed armor could sustain them for days if conserved well, but in space it often took days for proper responses…

[Varn Badaash]

“... CR90...this...Master Ken... we’re here to....hostile boarding party...If...hear...get to...bridge airlock... secure yourse... safety lin...open...door. We...connected throu...airlock...aren’t sure how... longer...can sustain...airlock from my locati...locked dow...no access!”

The voice of the Master Jedi came through filled with static but the Dashade was glad to hear a voice none the less. The mention of hostiles put the alien on edge but he needed to focus on what he believed his rescuer was asking of him. Varn stood up and his eyes darted around the bridge till they fell on the durasteel door that lead to the airlock. Unfortunately for him it was on the other side of the fire.

He took his blaster and communicator and attached them to his belt before pulling his cloak closed. With a low growl he began running across the bridge, holding his cloak shut around himself and dove through the fire. His cloak set ablaze as he rolled to the other side and slammed into the door. His shoulder now aching, Varn unclipped his cloak and quickly kicked it back into the blaze. His large fist slammed into the doors control panel and it begrudgingly reacted. The door slowly slid part way open forcing Varn to physically motivate it the rest of the way, his shoulder and abdomen spiking up in protest.

The Dashade pushed through and once inside the airlock he began searching for a spacesuit. Unfortunately for the alien there were none that would fit his stature. Varn grabbed a breather mask that sorta fit and hoped that his rescuer would be able retrieve him quickly. Taking the safety line in his clawed hand, Varn pulled it down to his waist so he could attach it to his belt. He took in one last breath of the smoky air before activating the comm once more.

“Attempting manual override of airlock now!” The alien yelled before placing the breather over his lamprey-like mouth. With that he reached over to the manual lever and prayed to what ever presence might be watching that this worked.

[Neive Undant]

"Sir! The airlock is active on the bridge and on a portion of the ship."

The troopers approached the emergency airlock cutting them off from the blast doors. Prazutis looked back a moment before driving his saber into the blast doors holding the sir within the ship, creating another hole for the troopers and himself to pass through.

Air vented from the ship as Prazutis and the other troopers walked into the bridge of the ship, a blaze nearby consuming a dark cloak.

"Prazutis, the main airlock!"

Prazutis looked to the direction, seeing the door to the docking tube forced open.

"Troopers, extract whatever data you can, and get the Sparrowhawk's Fighters here as soon as possible. I'll take care of this."

Prazutis kept his lightsaber ignited as he put his free hand out, the flames moving out from Prazutis' path and remaining aside until he had passed, quickly returning to the cloth to sear it into oblivion, while Prazutis walked through the broken door of the airlock.

"Transport, this is the Sparrowhawk. We have arrived at target and we are sending our fighters out now."

3 TIE fighters detached from their racks and began the approach to the ship, still a good distance out but approaching to try and drive off the interceptor.

"Glad to have you here." The pilot of the transport stated before the hull was rocked by the interceptor's weaponry.

"TIE squadron, check in." Said the man at the helm of the Sparrowhawk.

"Whiplash 1, checking in."
"Whiplash 2, checking in."
"Whiplash 3, checking in."

The final fighter had been reserved for Prazutis' personal pilot. Although the three fighters were more than enough to at least divert the Jedi fighter's attention, his option to enter the fray was now set.

[Ben Kenobi]

Unsure of how anything was proceeding inside the CR90, the exterior airlock doors split aside and with the screeching of metal on metal they slid apart just enough for Ben to view the interior. He’d have been lying if he’d said the creature inside didn’t startle him. Indeed, he recoiled initially as if spotting a venomous snake in close proximity but swiftly he recovered his wits and helped the Dashade through the lock’s doorway and into the discomfort of Zero-G. They couldn’t talk right now, but they didn’t need to as Ben turned from the door and pointed back to his ship, offering his line for the Dashade to utilize.

Back through the glass of the airlock he viewed the intimidating personae of the Imperial High Inquisitor. He wore a large suit of armor and Ben wasn’t interested in coming to blows with such skill coupled with technology. Igniting his lightweapon he swept the blade down and it cut deep into the control panel that Prazutis couldn’t utilize it, in the same arc he trailed the blade through the track of the door to deny the door from opening fully. Perhaps the less affordable space would deny the Inquisitor his intent of pursuit.

But he’d waste no more time and after disengaging his saber he kicked off the exterior doorway and drifted out into space towards the YT 2000.

The YT was sitting idle with the docking tube open but not connected as the CR90’s damage denied that comfort. But otherwise it was docked up with the ravaged starship and the doorway was open to the airlock. Ben reached out for the Dashade in his leap to safety…

Asori banked aside after her strafing run when a trio of TIEs screamed in her wake. She barrel rolled away from their concentrated fire, using her keen senses to evade the attacks. She’d not be able to do much more from this vantage point however she’d be able to keep the TIEs occupied long enough for the Talon to make its escape.

[Varn Badaash]

Varn glanced back to spot the Imperials breaching into the bridge just as his own door shuddered open. The Dashade’s black eyes darted back to spot the human Jedi waiting for him. If it was possible for the alien to smile with the breather on he most certainly would be as he pushed and pulled his way out with the man’s help. He quickly took the safety line that the Jedi was offering and began pulling his way towards the YT-2000. Half way across and Varn began to feel some of the dangers of being in space, without a survival suit he knew he wouldn’t last long.

Suddenly feeling an unseen force latch onto him, Varn looked back to see the Jedi leaping across the gap. A moment later both individuals arrive in the YT’s airlock and without hesitation the Dashade slammed the control panel. With the outer doors slamming shut and the room beginning to return to normal pressures, Varn dropped to his knees. He took several deep breaths through the breather before releasing the device.

“Thank you,” he spoke softly before looking up at his savior. “I’m in your debt.”