take aim, a loaded gun Who: Kylo Ren, Liri & crew (Cassie and Caine) What: Kylo sends some TIE fighters after Dee's last known whereabouts, and a space fight ensues. When: Following this thread and this narrative. Where: A few leagues out from Naboo territory. Rating: G.
Kylo strode through the hallways of the Finalizer, heavy steps announcing his presence long before he reached the bridge. The sound of his footfall made every trooper's spine straighten, whether standing guard or working a console post. Without glancing around at those present aboard the ship's control center, he came to a stop behind one soldier wearing a headset.
She glanced solely at his reflection in the monitor before her, struggling to keep her face from showing the worry that palpably filled the air around her. He could sense her fear, but brushed it aside as an unimportant detriment to her character, one that hopefully wouldn't prevent her ability to perform under command. The silver and black mask that replaced his face floated stagnant in the air above his darkly clad body; the visor outlining his eyes never wavered from the panoramic view of stars before the First Order's flag ship.
"Dispatch three TIE fighters to the area outside of Naboo; they are to locate and apprehend a spacecraft flying under the name Vagabond." He nearly spat out the last word, the first and only sign of his displeasure regarding the target of the assignment. "They are to retrieve a woman named Delilah. The ship is then to be destroyed."
The Master of the Knights of Ren had used First Order connections to sieve through Naboo refugee records; it had been a quick and simple investigation that yielded few helpful results. The only things of interest had been that the woman he'd held hostage for a few bare moments was named Delilah, and she was registered as a crewmember of the aforementioned vessel. It wasn't much of a lead, but it would do for the present. He silently chafed under the reprimand he'd received from Snoke, which only served to make him more dedicated to the task of finding and snuffing out Force-sensitive lives where needed.
"Yes, sir," she replied crisply, fingers instantly at work to hit intercom buttons to relay orders and provide permission for the First Order's spacecraft to disembark the larger vessel.
One gloved hand curled into a fist at Kylo's side as he saw the TIE fighters tear out into space from beneath the massive Star Destroyer. This 'Delilah' had gotten away once; the second time would not be so simple.
* * *
The Vagabond was performing smoothly, and Liriael urged her shoulders to relax, as she rolled them and stretched. Although they were short one crewmember, she was pleased with how easily Cassie and Caine had picked up the systems of the ship, and she hoped that shortly, she’d be able to bring Alec along as well. They needed that one extra set of hands. Still, she was using this trip to Coruscant as a bit of a test, both to see how to ship did in hyperspace with the new system she had upgraded, and how the crew handled it as well. Everything looked good; there was no reason to be nervous, but something tickled at the back of her mind. More than likely, it was just worry for Dee, which she had not yet been able to banish. She’d explained the situation, to the best of her knowledge, to both crewmembers, and it did cast a pall. Anything that brought more turmoil wasn’t welcome.
“Lateral stabilizers, good,” she muttered under her breath, checking each readout as she reviewed it all one more time. The parts that she and Han had worked on were all doing well. “Vortex stabilizer…” Leaving that off, she glanced out the viewscreen. “We should be ready to engage the hyperdrive once we’ve cleared the gravitational well of Naboo,” she called out, falling into her habit of explaining the process to them each time they did something new. “Otherwise, it can affect our calculations. You guys ready?”
If anything, Caine found the systems on board most ships in this universe lacking. The vessels to which he’d become accustomed were more advanced. Then again, he was accustomed to having access to the height of military technology, in a reality where immortality had made the chances of dying by violent means skyrocket. Entire armies were grown and customized to serve the needs of the wealthy. The same could have been said of the Empire, but they’d only lasted one human lifetime. The Entitled had held sway for tens of thousands of years.
Still, Caine knew better than to tell a captain that he found her ship a little behind in the technology department. He learned the systems, with particular attention paid to navigation and weapons, and learned a thing or two about how to fix them on the fly. He’d even become accustomed to having to worry about things like gravitational wells in the first place. It was too bad he didn’t have the technical knowledge to develop a hyperdrive system that could make the jump without a planet’s mass throwing it off. He’d be incredibly dead right now if the technology hadn’t existed back home.
Caine did a reasonable job of concealing his impatience to be clear of Naboo as he reviewed the system readouts. He was about to turn to Liriael to comment on how slow space travel was in this galaxy when his instincts nudged him to take another look at one of the displays. There were other ships in the vicinity, not something entirely unusual for a planet like Naboo, but something just seemed … off. He narrowed his eyes and took a closer look. “Something’s not right.”
Cassie looked over Caine's shoulder, squinting at the display beyond the fragile pane of glass that separated them from instant death. "Are you sniffing something out, Scooby Doo? Looks like black space to me. Is anything coming up on the sensors?"
She was still getting used to figuring out the displays -- everything here was far, far advanced compared to her own reality -- but she was picking up pretty quickly. After takeoff, she'd gotten out of her exterior passenger seat and drifted around the cockpit where there was room.
One of the displays showed a readout of other ships in the vicinity; they certainly weren't the only one, not with all the traffic coming and going from Naboo. Then again, they were far enough out and away from other vessels that an immediate reading like this, with a trajectory on point to directly intercept them, raised a number of red flags. Cassie felt her stomach drop.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."
Seconds later, a blood-chilling scream cut through the Vagabond’s crew. Three black ships drew into formation around them: TIE fighters, each one’s cockpit bearing the distinctive red stripe of Special Forces. One TIE/sf wheeled in front of them, its weaponry aimed at the cannon turret on the ship’s nose; the other two took up positions at its wings, all their firepower trained on the freighter’s body. The comm crackled to life. The voice that greeted them was deep but feminine, filtered through layers of electronics and the pilot’s heavy mask.
“Vagabond, this is Black Six. You are harboring a fugitive wanted by the First Order. A human female, Delilah. Prepare to be boarded. Acknowledge.”
Like the others likely had, Liri flinched at the whine of the ship’s approach, but her mind was working quickly. Dee had said, keep a low profile. But Liri sure as hell had not expected that Dee’s problems were on First Order level. Her last words to the captain had been a serious understatement, given the circumstances.
The muscles at her jaw twitched, and she toggled on the comm before her crew had a chance to say anything. “Black Six, this is Captain D’lander of the Vagabond. We have no crew member by that name aboard. Stand down immediately. We are in Naboo space, which falls under neutral territory.” To be sure, she had not checked that, and it might be a bald-faced lie, but she wasn’t in the mood to play around, not with First Order ships. If their orders came from anyone sufficiently low-level, then this might at least buy her some time.
“They’re not here to talk this out,” Caine observed once the comm channel closed to await the First Order’s reply. “So where do you want me to start shooting them? In here, or out there?” Even if Liriael decided to make a run for it, there wouldn’t be a peaceful end to this encounter.
"So now you're a mind reader?" Cassie snapped at Caine. "Sure, let's open fire and give them a reason to blow us up." Despite her terse words, Cassie had had enough run ins with the First Order over her year-long stay in the galaxy to know that the Order usually shot first, and asked questions later. The fact that they didn't have Dee might work in their favor.
"We should turn around and head back for Naboo. If we get close enough, they'll cover our asses. The Vagabond isn't equipped for this kind of thing, right?" She didn't know enough about ships to say definitively if it would survive such a scrape, but from the looks of the ship, Cassie wasn't really willing to risk her life on it.
“Caine, forward gunner,” Liriael said, tersely. “Cassie and I can handle the secondaries. And you are both right. We should be ready to shoot and flee. But not back to Naboo.” Her fingers were already flying over the controls, activating different systems. “Thank the trees we already had our deflectors on…..where is the nav with those cursed hyperspace coordinates…? Damnit…” To Cassie, she said, “When Caine goes to the gunner seat, strap yourself in.”
Black Six’s voice hissed over the comm once more. “Vagabond, this is your final warning. You are harboring a fugitive of the First Order and suspected terrorist. Prepare to be boarded. If Delilah is not on board, you have nothing to fear or to hide.”
The two TIE/sf ships flanking them rose. As one, their heavy weapons turrets whirred into place.
“I say again,” Black Six said. “Acknowledge.”
Caine left his station in the main cockpit, moving toward the front turret with easy confidence. “Keep them talking,” he suggested. “It’d be better if I can take them by surprise. Or at least a little by surprise, if it comes to shooting them down. I like our odds better if we can rattle them from the start.”
Cassie grumbled under her breath, more so from the stress of the situation than from the fact that her suggestion was being partially ignored. She could only hope that Caine was as good as he assumed to be as she slid into the seat he'd vacated.
"It's just like Galaga," she whispered to herself as she oriented herself with the controls.
For a second, Liri paused, then looked over at Caine, her gaze penetrating. She didn’t say anything, but it was clear that thoughts were moving across her mind in quick succession. Blinking, she smiled, almost to herself, then glanced at Cassie. “You can tell me what that is later,” she said, before she turned back to the controls.
Toggling on the comm, Liri leaned a little forward. “Black Six, we acknowledge. There is no crew member here by the name of Delilah, but if you wish to check, you are welcome.” Turning that off, she kept the ship steady, but she spoke louder, for both of them to hear.
“They have lasers trained on us,” she started, firmly. “Our deflectors are fine, but they do better against projectiles….or frankly, against other, tinier ships.” Letting that sink in, her lips formed a grim smile as she waited for the TIE/sf ships to come in closer, in an attempt to board. As they approached, she even lowered the rear shields, as would be expected for anyone boarding at the deck connection. The mood in the cockpit was quiet, tense, and Liri leaned over towards Cassie and said, very somberly, “Please hang on.”
The rear sublights roared to life, sending the Vagabond hurtling at the ship straight ahead. Liri’s fingers instantly powered up the rear shields as they rammed the front TIE fighter at full speed, sending both the Vagabond and the TIE flying off in two different directions. She pulled back, hard, executing a full loop, so that now Caine was facing the ships from his gunner position.
“Buy us some time,” she yelled, to him, then to Cassie, she said, “There’s a target lock system on these guns. When it goes red, you fire. Got it?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but concentrating on flying the ship around the TIE, avoiding other ships by a large margin. There was no way she was going to get another innocent ship hit by the First Order, especially since they would spin that into a blow against the Resistance. “We’re going to hyperdrive as soon as the nav is ready, but that might be a few minutes,” she called out. “Take them out if we can...if not, we’re ready to run!”
Black Six’s heavy turret poured green fire across the Vagabond’s dorsal plating; the gunner was plainly hungry for a fight, but composed all the same. The TIE fighters behind the Vagabond’s sides showed the same lack of restraint. As laser fire pummeled the freighter’s shields, Black Six tightly wheeled to face its quarry once more.
“That’s not what I meant when I said, ‘Take them by surprise,’” Caine grumbled, but he had to admit that ramming the other ships had been a good tactic. He dropped smoothly into the gunner’s seat and belted himself in. The controls weren’t as sensitive as the weaponry he typically employed in space battles back home. They would do, though. Caine locked on to one of the TIEs and fired. It would have been nice to have had more target practice before a real engagement, he thought, as the shot went wide. He’d miscalculated the lead he needed on the fighters. It was one thing to read and study holo footage of one of the fastest fighter designs in this galaxy, something else entirely to react to that speed in real life. Caine made a quick adjustment to his targeting systems, and fired again. The wing of one TIE exploded in a show of sparks, sending the fighter tumbling through space.
“That’s better,” Caine said to himself with grim satisfaction.
Cassie had started to say something as Liri surged toward the TIE fighter, and instead quickly found a good position to stabilize herself as the ship whizzed around faster than a carnival ride. She still felt dizzy as they slowly came about, struggling to keep her eyes on the screens Liri had directed her to. A series of boxes swirled around on the viewer, with a small outline of the fighters; the First Order ships were fast, a little too fast for the sensors. A bare moment of red had Cassie jamming her fingers into the buttons, letting loose a torrent of gunfire that trailed the TIE fighter like fireworks.
"Oh my god, this is so not like Galaga," she whined, glancing back up to the viewscreen to see where their enemy had disappeared to. Then, from behind them came the unmistakable boom of a mag-pulse warhead; a second followed close behind.
“Keep both visuals,” Liri barked to Cassie as she concentrated on evading the fire. Realizing that might not translate, she said, “Look out the viewscreen, but keep an eye on your sighting here,” she reached over with one hand and hastily tapped the right screen. “Look for---......oh, sithspit!” The whine of the torpedos caught her attention, and she put both hands back on the controllers in an effort to get away from the warheads on their tail. “Coming in hot!” She yelled to Caine. “See if you can detonate at least one!”
The dogfight was wheeling through Naboo space, and with the two tails on the Vagabond, Liri couldn’t afford to get too close to another ship and risk it being hit instead. She again brought the ship about and headed directly at the fighters, taking her chances with the laser fire as she evaded the warheads screaming from behind them. “Change of plans,” she said to Cassie. “When this-” she pointed to the nav computer, “-says green, you hit this button, but give me a….” She had to grit her teeth as one of the ships nearly scraped the hull, “...two second warning, okay?”
The two remaining TIE/sfs’ shields glimmered, restored to full. The Vagabond’s fire pinged neatly off, and once again Black Six took the lead. Its warhead launcher whirred into place, and a third mag-pulse sped toward the freighter.
The second fighter’s pulse struck first. An electromagnetic shockwave coursed through the Vagabond, sucking the life from its weapon systems. The second fighter snaked in, its laser cannon peppering the freighter’s disabled front turret.
“Damn it.” Caine unstrapped and ducked under the controls. He popped open the panel and began to reroute the systems. The wires sparked. Caine hissed and jerked away, his hand burned. “Shit. Front turret’s down. Cassie, I need you to take out those missiles!” He sprinted back through the ship to take the dorsal turret, hoping that Cassie could handle the job. He didn’t have time to bypass the shorts in the front turret’s systems, and he was losing precious seconds in relocating to the dorsal turret.
"Jesus H. Christ on a pogostick, no pressure huh?" In all truth, a seriousness fell over Cassie that had not been seen before; she was still gritting her teeth, certain that she was about to lose half of her enamel, but her eyes remained focused on the two screens Liri had directed her to. She certainly wasn't about to let the Vagabond become more damaged than it already was. As the missiles fixated on them drew closer, Cassie tensed her finger -- jamming it down on the trigger that Liri had directed her to. If there was one thing Cassie could do, it was follow directions. Guns had never been her forte, but beginner's luck must have been on her side as one of the projectiles detonated in the dead of space. It was close enough to the second missile that it, too, exploded in a shower of sparks that quickly withered from sight.
"Holy shit, please tell me we're ready to jump to hyperdrive!" She glanced at the nav screen Liri had pointed to earlier, then back to their pilot.
“You’re doing great,” Liriael told her, encouragingly, which sounded very strange considering they were under fire from First Order ships. And yet, Liri seemed to be smiling. “Well,” she answered back, reaching up to the hyperdrive controls, “they are using mag-pulse torpedos, so they don’t want to destroy us, just disable us. Takes the pressure off.” To Caine, she yelled, “Leave off the last gunner; we won’t get through their shields with such low power. Make sure nothing is overheating.”
She executed another spinning turn around the pursuing ships, the lines around her eyes showing the grim concentration even as she was reassuring Cassie. “Almost there…” Pulling away from the atmosphere at the last moment, she jammed the hyperdrive. Right on cue, the ship leapt forward, the streak of the stars lengthening across the viewscreen as they took off. Letting out a deep breath, Liri relaxed for a fraction of a second, before she let go of the controls. “Caine, you okay?” She called back.
“It’s fine,” Caine said, opening another panel to retrieve first aid supplies. “Won’t even know anything happened by tomorrow.” He set to work cleaning the wound without so much as a flinch. To Cassie, he added, “Good shooting. You kept your head pretty well.” One last swipe of disinfectant, and a bacta patch, and Caine was finished with the work on his hand.
“We’re going to need our weapons systems if the First Order decides to hunt us down. I’ll get started on the front turret, see if I can get it back online.”
Cassie made no reply, doing her best to hold what little lunch down that was left in her stomach. She looked decidedly green around the gills; swallowing one last time, she feigned a smile.
"Definitely don't expect that to happen again. But thanks." She looked back at Liri. "So on to Coruscant?" She felt shaky; it was the same feeling as when she and Vlad had survived a slasher attack. Adrenaline always kept her up directly after the fight, but once reality settled in, she remembered that terrible feeling of mortality running through her veins.
“Yes, we are headed towards Coruscant now,” Liriael answered, her eyes traveling over the controls, weighing where she wanted to start with the weapons systems. “If we cannot get our weapons online now, we’ll be able to with parts from there. I don’t want to spend the credits, though, if we can help it. We need something different now….a fake transponder, so we can broadcast a different ship name.” Perhaps it was something in Cassie’s voice, but Liri looked up at her, concerned. “Trust me, you did very well. We’re safe for now. You’ll like Coruscant….it’s ridiculously decadent and glittering. We can blend in for a bit, and the First Order won’t go near it. Hassling someone on a Mid Rim world, near the Outer Rim, that’s one thing. But they won’t venture near the Core.” Not yet, was her thought, but she didn’t voice it.
Standing up from the cockpit seat, she said, “For now, grab a drink, and we’ll tune this old ship up again. Deal?”
* * *
After issuing his orders to deploy the TIE fighters, Kylo had retired to the captain's quarters off the starboard side of the bridge. He was poring over datapads when an officer appeared in the doorway; he glanced up, his visor bringing the man into sharp relief. He was clearly sweating, unhappy with having drawn the short straw regarding who was to inform the dark jedi about some terrible news. Kylo could already put two and two together, but what fun was there in spoiling the surprise.
"M...master....Ren...." The man stammered out, clearly having some difficulty holding his stance. Kylo made no response, waiting for the man to spit it out.
"The....the ship you requested...detained...has...has..."
"Let me guess. Been efficiently and successfully captured?"
The man froze in place, then finally shook his head. "N-n-no sir. It...it escaped. It m...m...managed to jump...to hyperdrive. The fighters...w...w...were unable...to...f...f...follow."
The datapad in Kylo's hand cracked in two as his fist clenched. "Were any details about the woman's whereabouts retained?"
The officer seemed to want to turn tail and run, but he managed to shake his head in the negative once more. Kylo stood stock still for a moment, then dropped the crushed datapad from one hand while the other reached for the saber at his side. A red arc swung through the air, cutting down into the desk that held other office instruments; it fell apart, cut cleanly in two. Kylo was glad that his mask didn't betray the adrenaline-ridden breaths rushing from his mouth. The saber crackled in the air, caught between the two folds of the desk as it continued to crumble.
With a simple flick of his thumb, the saber withdrew into its hilt. Kylo stared at the desk, then turned his gaze to the officer, who looked as though he was probably in need of a new pair of pants.
"I want diagnostics of the ship, immediately. Any and all information on the build, capabilities, and its trajectory. And let Hux know I'll require a new desk."
The soldier nodded enthusiastically, then almost forgot to salute as he turned from the room and all but ran through the door. Kylo's jaw clenched, his teeth grinding against one another as he held himself still. Anger washed through and away from his mind, placed back into the box from which it had come; it was all well and good to keep the soldiers on his ship in line, but he really was going through too much equipment.
He turned back to the viewscreen before him, letting the diamond-encrusted expanse soothe his mind. One more setback amongst many would not be the Order's undoing. It merely asked of him more patience, though he found himself running short.