In Shadows (Zas)

[Xavius Bain]

With weapons, Xavius Bain’s outlook was that each item should be an extension of the wielder. He had a deep connection with his weapons, and his ship was no different. It was as if he were wearing an article of clothing, and as he took control over it the ship moved with the same precision as Xavius himself. It was as if he were gliding towards the asteroids himself.

“Keep an eye on those heat signatures, we’re going into the field.”

The Grey raced towards the asteroids, and Xavius reached out into the currents of the force to assist. If the heat signatures were hostile, it would make navigating the asteroid field more unpredictable than it already was, he would need to remain alert and prepared to finesse his way to the destination.

As he began the navigation, the muted grey colors of his ship reflected a flashing red hue from an alert light. It seemed the signatures were as Zasabi warned about. The Shadow Lord kept his composure, but the ship spun and avoided destruction at furious speed. Out of habit, the Shadow didn’t communicate anything to Zasabi at first, as his normal companion was his assassin droid which required little vocal communication. He soon realized though, and managed to get a word out, though whether it was helpful or not was up for debate.

“It seems we aren’t alone.”

[Zasabi Ray]

One by one, red blips began to fill the sensor sweep around The Grey, hidden weapons emplacements beginning to stir to life at their presence. "Xavius, I think this place may be more important than we may have thought," he muttered, bringing up targeting resolutions for the emplacements as the gravity of the situation began to settle in.

"Looks like at least eight contacts, mix of missile emplacements and turbolaser cannons. This could get messy real quick if they've got seismic weaponry- they'll turn this asteroid field into a blender!"

As if taking inspiration from his words, a sudden shockwave of energy burst out before the bow of their ship. Where there had once been an asteroid the size of a small cruiser was now a multitude of chunks of molten stone. The space before them rapidly became a near impenetrable wall of debris that threatened to tear the ship apart.

[Xavius Bain]

Quick calculations weren’t needed to figure out what Zasabi was saying, it was apparent that he was correct. Instead, the Shadow lord’s focus shifted to the sensors, eight targets, just as his companion pointed out. With the force to guide him, the ship leapt into action. While the flashy movements of the ship displayed Xavius’s finesse as a pilot, his body stayed even more still than before as he entered a state of resounding focus.

The XM-1 deployed advanced concussion missiles at three of the contacts. Targeting was key here, and Xavius needed to concentrate his energy into navigating through the debris if the two were to ever leave this ship.

After launching the missiles, he flipped the ship directly toward one of the targets. While The Grey was a missile boat, it still held laser cannons which he unapologetically fired directly into the contact. He continued his forward assault, not pulling up until the last second. The closer he was to each contact, the less likely they were to fire the seismic weaponry, as it would decimate their own. An aggressive approach was the only option, and Xavius continued to fire more concussion missiles out. The ship held a substantial payload, but he only fired shots he was confident could land in case needed to conserve them.

Once again, the Shadow lord reached out to the force for assistance, this time aiming the ship back toward their destination. After prudent, but quick calculations, the ship propelled forward as the ship’s Sublight Acceleration Motor was activated. The propulsion pressed Xavius and Zasabi firmly into their seats, but he hoped the sudden movement would be enough momentum change to take any of the targets that survived Xavius’s missile barrage off guard enough to escape the sudden hostility.

[Zasabi Ray]

Zasabi had to admit, Xavius' flying skills were top notch. Despite the bulk of the missile boat, he handled it as gracefully as a Lorrdian dancer. Chunks of asteroid passed by like swarms of starfighters, micrometeorites pinging off of the particle shielding of the vessel like hailstones.

He felt the sudden release of three missiles, tracking their courses. Two of them were on a clean, even path through the debris to their targets. One, however... the destruction of the asteroids had created a chaff screen dense enough to stop it on it's present course. Given the danger of their situation, they couldn't afford any mistakes, but if nothing was done the third shot would be stopped in it's tracks.

Slipping into the Force, he reached out with a sudden chord like a jizz wailer on overtime. It was a tense mixture of speed and precision- the missile's own tracking systems would guide it back to it's target, but if he pushed it too far off course it would simply tumble and hit the chaff regardless. He had to push it gently but quickly before it hit the impediment before them.

Drums pounded in his ears, although he couldn't tell if it was his heart or the Force reflecting the danger of the moment. His mind grasped the missile, slipping in and out of his grip. He didn't have time to solidify it, however- it was do or die. Tapping gently with the resounding ping of a blacksmith's hammer, he nosed the missile down and barely cleared the chaff.

Returning his attention to the sensors, he let out a deep breath he didn't know he had held. Watching as the missile realigned it's course, he noted with surprise that the platform it was targeted at was letting out a missile of it's own. With uncanny timing the platform's own missile was knocked off course as the concussion missile thudded solidly and blew the platform apart. The stray munition tumbled wildly, flaring brightly before impacting into another weapon's array and sending it into an asteroid with explosive finality.

Zasabi smiled briefly. It was entirely unintended, but perhaps the Force had been looking out for him. Had the platform launched it's missile unmolested, the pair of Shadows would be so much space debris. He didn't have long to consider it, however, as Xavius' ship suddenly leapt into motion at a speed that completely ignored the inertial dampeners, flattening him against the acceleration couch. He could only hope Xavius knew what he was doing on the final approach to the station.

[Xavius Bain]

The Grey leapt forward, and almost as soon as Xavius activated the SLAM system, he stopped the sudden acceleration as they approached the station. Part of the Shadow Lord’s combat culture and training demanded every weapon to be an extension of himself, his ship was no exception. The XM-1 was a blade and the Shadow Lord was an excellent swordsman. They approached the station, and Xavius ran quick surveillance. They were not unprepared for their last attack, but the information they gathered was that the system was not entirely abandoned.

“We will not go in unsuspecting. If we were attacked on our way, it is possible the station is not entirely abandoned.”

The ship slowed to a lighter pace, assisting in a visual analysis but he also activated scanners, searching for life forms. It didn’t seem that they were followed, but if any ships in their encounter did survive, they would know soon enough. If all went well, the rest of the mission would be simply to land and find the data center, but some on the fly preparation was necessary to ensure the mission’s success.

“If it is not abandoned and the ships we fought relate to whomever is occupying the station, it would seem stealth has become a tougher option. Not impossible though. Unless the station is in fact, empty.”

[Zasabi Ray]

As the wave of scanning frequencies hit the station, it did not reveal life forms. It did, however, reveal a number of electronic signatures, both on the scale of droids and on the scale of automatic weaponry beginning to warm up to readiness.

"Xav, we're not out of this yet," Zasabi relayed with a tight voice. "That station's automatic defensives are powerful. Anything we'd use to take them out might risk frying the data core and scrapping the mission. We won't be able to land either thought."

The Shadow warrior spent a few desperate seconds scanning the readouts before a wild smile crossed his face. "There's no particle shielding," he said with wonder. "Was it too much of a drain with so many micrometeorites? Were they just relying on the outside of the asteroid to protect them?"

He rose from his seat, sealing his environmental suit as he did and grabbing hold of his lightspear, still folded into it's compacted form. "Xav, keep distracting the defenses for a bit. I've got a plan that's just crazy enough to work."

He darted into the airlock, sealing it behind himself and triple checking his suit's seals. If he went out with an unsealed suit, his mission would be over pretty quick no matter how powerful in the Force he was. The airlock depressurized before venting open to the asteroid clogged field beyond.

Even as slowly as Xav had been going, the moment he exited the vessel he saw the Shadow Lord's ship soar past him and begin evasive maneuvers once again. For the moment, it was just him, the looming satellite, and the vastness of space.

Most spaceborne objects had two forms of shielding- Ray shielding, for most conventional forms of energy weapons or radiation, and particle shielding, for the occasional micrometeorite or small material structure. Most commercial ships favored particle shielding over ray shielding, as protection from most forms of radiation required little in the way of shielding while a micrometeorite landing in an unshielded part of the hull could put an end to just about anyone's day.

In the station's case, they had opted to instead build the station into an asteroid in the field and do without the particle shielding altogether. This meant there was nothing preventing Zasabi from navigating his way into the station and boarding it by himself. Even the weapons on the station were likely calibrated to target ships and the like, not small lifeforms like mynocks or, in his case, theelins. This was one of the many weaknesses of relying on automated systems instead of living beings.

"I'm sure there's a kill switch for the automatic defenses in there," he commed to Xavius, beginning his approach. "I'll break in and find it. Stay alive till then."

The asteroid began to fill his bubble visor, Zasabi's eyes darting about as he attempted to find the best entrance to the station. If he didn't do this fast, he could forget about Xavius surviving the attack- his suit would run out of oxygen itself before long.

[Xavius Bain]

The second Zasabi exited the ship, Xavius roared the ship into life. If the defenses were focused on Xavius and The Grey, Zasabi would need to shut it down quickly. Luckily, it also meant that even if there were some non-automated defenses sill on the base, the danger according to them was Xavius and his ship.

Red lights and flashes warned the Shadow Lord of his ship being targeted, but his unwavering trust in the force kept his focus solely on evasion. The ship maneuvered to keep any autotargeting from blasting him into oblivion. It was up to Zasabi to disable the ship, but if the Theelin were to expire, he would need to find a new plan.

Xavius continued to scale the base, keeping an eye out for any weak defenses. For now, he would trust his companion.

[Zasabi Ray]

For a few terrifying moments Zasabi realized he was going too fast. If he impacted the asteroid at full speed, he'd become not much more than red paste. Closing his eyes and focusing, however, revealed an all too simple answer to him. He reached out with an empty hand and began to push with the Force. He couldn't move the asteroid or even himself directly, but physics still worked in space. Even if he couldn't feel it, he could see the asteroid filling his vision much more slowly than before.

Landing gently on the surface of the station, he began to dart awkwardly around the exterior of the asteroid, dipping into caverns quickly to look around with his headlamp before jumping back out. He had run out of half of his oxygen supply before he found his entry point, a small piece of exposed bulkhead that bore a simple maintenance hallway. Pulling out a small transponder for later, assuming there would be a later, he dug it into the stone nearby and ignited his lightspear, driving the blade into the door and beginning to peel it open.

The interior of the station was pitch black. "Don't suppose the computer needs light to work," Zasabi grumbled as he swung inside. Gravity remained off, forcing Zasabi to bounce off the walls to maintain momentum.

"Xavius, I'm in the station!" he announced through his comms, scanning his headlamp from side to side as he investigated the maintenance corridor. "Just hold on a little longer!"

Finally finding an access port, he jammed a dataspike into it and connected it to his datapad, reading off the station's schematics. He had to figure out where the defense controls were and fast before he ended up stuck on this rock without oxygen to spare. As his eyes focused exclusively on the text before him, the darkness behind him illuminated with the dull red of photoreceptors.