Log:Kilian Blitz: Interdicted

The Tantive IV is interdicted from hyperspace

OOC Date: November 16, 2021
Location: Kilian IV System
Participants: Yuun, Ban Iskender, Tess Vikander, Chani Tahn, Erinn Laski, Hadrix Kora, Aryn Cortess

The Tantive IV suddenly returned to real space within an uncharted system. The cause for this erroneous arrival became apparent when the crew operating the Corellian designed corvette spotted an unidentified cruiser on sensors. The engines come to life on the corvette, and the Captain of the vessel commands the pilot to reinitiate the nav computer and line up for a path for departure. Sensors reveal that the cruiser in question has come to life and begins to move toward them.

Those aboard the Tantive IV have delighted in the luxury accommodations befitting a diplomatic party. There's elegant wine, trays of fancy cheeses and unique delicacies to give the passengers a hint of what would be available at the gala they were intended to attend. When a proximity alarm announced a change in plans, the security forces aboard the ship begin to emerge into the room with the Captain of the ship following close behind.

"Your Highness, esteemed guests.. we have emerged from hyperspace prematurely in a location that's.. uncharted. We are plotting a course now to leave, but.. there is a problem."

"A ship in the sector has taken notice and moved to intercept. We are attempting to evade, but I am not certain we will escape in time. It is best if we prepare to be boarded, I think. I am not sure if they are pirates.. or some other entity.. because they are not responding to our comms or even issuing a warning..."

The ship suddenly shudders then, and for a moment the Captain hopes it's the hyperdrive coming online to zip them off into hyperspace, but that's dashed when the starboard view is dominated by the interdiction cruiser of alien design. "Sith spit! They have us in a tractor beam... " He turns back to face the group, worry written over his face. "We're not soldiers.. if they board, it could get ugly. What are we to do?"

The question is to everyone, though Aryn can be seen finishing her wine after and exasperated sigh; /all/ of her wine at that..

Ban Iskender arches a black brow and lets out a slow breath at the shuddering grip of a tractor beam. "I daresay I had best don armor, then," the gentleman voices simply. Setting down his own glass, the nobleman raises, gives a short bow to the assembly, and steps to withdraw to private quarters. He does not run.

She isn't so much an esteemed guest as she is a hair's breath away from a stowaway. But a classy one, mind you. Tess had heard of the diplomatic venture and gala through the word of a few clients on Chandrila. It seemed like a good opportunity to extend her services as a mobile doctor. Afterall, what if one of the fancy or the schmancy get a hangover? Choke on the caviar? Additionally -- and Tess had stressed this quite a bit -- she is handy with a needle and thread. Both for stitching up wounds but also for mending all kinds of fabric and embellishments.

Have you ever met someone who can sew one hundred lost sequins in between the juggling act and the acrobats? You have now.

She's sitting in a seat in the far, far back. Practically where the flight crew and servants disappear in and out of. When the captain makes his appearance and his announcement, the young Echani sighs gently to herself. "Does anyone have a spare blade? I fear I am most underprepared for a skirmish." To say the least.

The galaxy never changes. There's nothing fancy about Chani's plate of food. Simple greens and a mix of fruits paired with some lean meat and juice are half-touched when the Captain of the ship interrupts the dinner of the diplomatic delegation on board. Chani glances up mid-stab, fork prongs pierced through the red flesh of some de-seeded, juicy chunk of one of the multi-colored pieces of fruit on the plate. There's a light tap of metal against porcelain and Chani reaches to the glass near the corner of her plate to take a small drink from it. The ship shudders at that moment, disturbing the craft through the bulkheads and causing a rattle of set placements. Not so the chairs and the table, which are all bolted to the floor as common sense demands.

Setting her glass back down with a thin film of the fluid slowly seeping down the side it had lapped up, Chani rotates in her chair and rises from it. She's dressed plainly for a diplomat or a delegate, wearing brown leather boots, tan pants, and a dark brown overtunic under a lighter inner tunic. The leather belt around her waist over its obi bears the tool that explains her rustic, monastic garments, though unlike Chani, whose sleeves sway and trousers crumple with her movements, it remains still when the young Naboo native reaches full height. Lord Iskender moves to don his armor. Princess Cortess sighs in annoyed fashion. Another woman asks for a blade. "Which side of the ship are they approaching?" She asks en route to the door to the mess, intent on making her way to that area of the corvette in preparation for whatever's about to take place.

A long exhale leaves her nose, and her impassive face reveals nothing about her state of mind. No worry. No fear. No anticipation of any kind. In that unphased moment, Chani, celebrating her birthday today, seems far more jaded than the wide-eyed girl she was but a year ago.

"Wait, you brought a -gun-?" comes the voice of Corporal Mueller, a black-haired and blue-eyed mechanic aboard the Pantheon. He's dressed in a rather sharp-looking suit. Navy blue, white shirt, with a bright orange bow-tie around his neck. It's the same suit he wore to the previous gala that he and Erinn Laski had been instructed to attend.

"Keep your voice down, Mueller," Erinn hisses to the Corporal across the narrow two-person table from her. She's not wearing the same dress she'd been wearing for a few different reasons. Namely, she actually owns more than one fancy thing, but also she tore the crap out of that last dress after the debacle on Iridonia. "I'm not getting shot at again without at least being able to shoot back," she says.

Mueller laughs and takes a drink of his cocktail -- some brown drink that smells equal parts like alcohol and spice. "You're not getting shot at, sir. That would be," he starts to say, but quiets himself by taking a sip.

It's then that security forces begin to pour in with the captain following closely behind them. Talk of boarding, pirates, tractor beams, and sith spit. Erinn reaches to take a drink of her own wine, but just before she's about to tip it into her lips, the whole ship shudders as it's caught in the tractor beam.

She glares over to Mueller, who has decided it best to prolong his cocktail sipping in lieu of finishing his sentence.

Yuun was enjoying the flight and he did partake in the food. He honestly do enjoy travelling in space whenever he gets a chance to do so. Though lately he's been doing a lot of swimming and diving. He stretches in his cabin until the shudder through the ship wakes him. Getting up from where he was sitting, Yuun looks around to everyone. He sighs as he shakes his head a little, his lightsaber is always at the ready. Standing up from where he is sitting, he looks to Ban and Aryn to see what they would want them to do.

Most had been enjoying luxury and distraction, one brought aboard on a security contract was only unhappy that he wasn't being paid for nothing.

Not a notion of greed.

Nor sloth.

Simply that the purpose for his contract was coming to fruition and it wasn't something that was particularly wanted for a diplomatic mission. <"If you're getting shot at, I'll be on hand to shoot back."> A hefty pistol gripped weapon drawn up from his webbing and he side-grip drawn to chamber a shell from the drum mag hanging from the bottom with a distinctive 'RACK-CHACHK' sound.

Heavy footfalls mark out the figure in plates painted a dark iridescent purple chased in silvery blue on the edgings over black gambeson and kinetic fibersuit. Stopping once within the room, fully, helmet turning to sweep the T shaped visor over the figures present; a motion mimicked by the red optics of the ID10 at his shoulder.

<"Non combatants to the side of the room, not opposite the door."> looking then towards Ban, then Chani, <"I assume you two have your party favors, if not any armor?"> Hadrix's tone all business, despite the jocular wording.

"Were it not for bad luck, I believe we would possess none at all," Aryn finally comments and rises up. She is dressed in an elegant tunic of green and bronze with a long, high collared cape, tall boots that are cuffed and stylishly folded at their tops, and matching gloves (which she is presently pulling on.) Aryn continues, "Captain, have your crew man their stations and prepare to launch. Once we have cleared the initial threat, I believe our course should be aboard their vessel to disable the tracking device.. provided we survive. Are any among us engineers?" Aryn adjusts her cape to settle to one side of her shoulders conveying the presence of a fancy leather holster housing a sleek silver blaster pistol, and beside that, a curved hilt. It's the hilt she unclips from her belt and holds delicately within a gloved grasp.

"If you mean to join us in the vessel's defense, I enlist you to follow Chani. The rest of you, do as Commander Hadrix has instructed; remain out of sight." Aryn follows after Chani then, brushing back her own blonde hair as she walked, her pace conveying her annoyance and frustration. Tess, who had asked for a sword, is approached by one of the crew and given a weapon that might aid her. "It's all I have, miss. Maybe you're better with it than I am?" He makes the assumption the Echani can fight. Didn't they come out of the womb doing Judo chops and ninja kicks?

The assembly area is at the boarding ramp. Another shudder from the Tantive IV indicates they have landed within the larger cruiser. The hydraulics of the ramp were being pried open now in an effort. Outside the ship, they could hear loud noises..animalistic in nature like high pitched growls and roars. Words are spoken occasionally, but in a language that is not basic or discernable by protocol droid; it's completely alien. The ramp begins to creak and groan, bits of light from the outside pouring in where the seal is failing. The crew seems to have only a few minutes to prepare..or back out, if the notion of combat suddenly seems overwhelming to them.

Ban Iskender is distinctly hastier once out of sight. Were any present to see the sudden change from a gentleman officer's utterly composed stride to throwing off finery in favor of durasteel with almost inhuman alacrity the instant his door closed, they might laugh. And then, once he steps back out of quarters and into common sight, he is once more steady of gait, and measured in movement.

Tess has begun to rise from her seat, brushing down the robes to shake out the errant crumbs of some delightful pastries she had eaten. One was filled with a lovely fruit-mix jam but her absolute favourite was this rich, smooth custard that paired so well with the---

A member of the crew offers her a weapon and Tess raises a brow. "Ah. Yes... well." Picking up the metal knuckles with a forefinger and a thumb, she holds it out as if it were a dead fish. "I suppose I can find a use for this. Thank you, sir." It is only after the man departs to join the others in their search for cover and she moves to follow along with Chani and the other defenders that Tess slips the knuckles onto her delicate hand and flexes her fingers.

It's been a while.

There's no one direction that's best to go. The cruiser that has them locked in a tractor beam is more than large enough to accomodate the Corellian corvette within its bay, and Chani is told as much. To Hadrix's question, Chani merely raises her eyebrows. The metal hilt at her left hip is not hidden by a robe, for she wears no outer shell. "Hopefully it won't come to that, even if it usually does." She strides, then, from the mess to approach the boarding ramp of the Tantive IV. "They must want something if they haven't killed us already. They didn't need to bring us aboard for that. I think." Chani speaks aloud, but to no one in particular. Once reaching their staging area, the young Jedi lingers near the wide hatch that'll allow them to disembark.

Unless their apprehenders decide to try cutting through it, first. Then there will be no disembarking. Not immediately. Dark hair spilling around her shoulders and face, Chani turns her gaze towards Aryn. "Is there a reason you suspect its a tracking device? You think this might be Lana's doing?" It's not an unreasonable thought. Lana Panteer would go to great lengths to ensure Aryn's capture. Or death.

Erinn turns her attention back to Hadrix when he speaks to her. There's a befuddled, quizzical look. How is this guy everywhere? And then, for one reason or another, she glances down at the cut of her dress before the muscles of her jaw squeeze her teeth together. When he instructs non-combatants to head to one side of the room, her and Mueller tread that way, and the two of them begin the process of quieting some of the more panicked guests and making sure that everyone is neatly arranged and out of harm's way.

Erinn Laski's attention perks up when she hears Aryn begin to speak. She learned a few different things on Iridonia. Lesson number one: Take the heels off. She bends at the hip to unstrap the white wedges from her feet and steps out of them. She loses a couple inches in the process, but maybe that will just make her harder to hit. Maybe.

Lesson number two: wear a dress that flares at the waist. It makes it easier to gather up the skirt of that dress that falls between orange and red within her hands and produce the pistol she's got strapped to her thigh. That's also lesson number three: stay strapped.

"Stay with the crowd, Mueller," she says, "I'm going to help."

"But si--," Mueller protests.

"I said stay. -You- listen to -me-," she says, and huffs out a breath. "That's an order," she adds.

And then she slips, bare feet on the floor, towards where Aryn is just beginning to call for engineers.

"Highness. Lieutenant Laski, New Republic Navy Engineering," she says. The words don't quite fit in her mouth, but they spill from her tongue anyway. A glance is given to Chani, and for a brief second that serious countenance cracks, but she's able to piece it back together when she turns her eyes back to Aryn.

Those eyes are inquisitive, and that gaze follows when Chani asks about a tracking device. It seems Lieutenant Laski would like to know the answer to that question too.

Yuun closes his eyes as he focuses himself, taking the time to just allow things to wash around him and through him as he listens to Aryn. He nods his head. "You're right." he says to her. "Let's go." he says as he grips his lightsaber and begins following Chani and Aryn. He quickly puts on some gloves and does a few hand stretches as he moves through the corridor, "Well let's do what we can to make sure they don't get what ever it is they're looking for. Also if we need to, we may need to do something about those gravity wells so we can escape." he offers to the group as they move. HIs lightsaber now in his hands but unlit for the moment.

<"Hope in one hand, Miss Chani."> Said to the young woman before she is off to discuss with Aryn and others. Leaving the Mandalorian to his own preparatory devices.

Moving up the line to the head, stacking himself against a bit of bulkhead that can provide partial defilade, Hadrix's 'close quarters' weapon is finally moved from a barrel down position to be held midway up his body. The lack of a stock making rifle firing a non-issue.

<<"Admit it, you're happy this happened.">> <<"I'm not.">> the big man's response to Gripper curt, bitten out even and the droid floats up a little higher behind him to look over his shoulder, <<"Hey.">> <<"This was supposed to be diplomatic escort.">> watching the ramp being forced, the light and sounds that permeate now, there is only a single instance his focus shifts, T-Visor sweeping with a partial rotation of his torso as if he could look through deck plating and corridor walls towards one in particular. The red glare of the bionic behind the black transparisteel covering flicking side to side and one could practically see nostrils flaring despite the scoop cheeked helmet covering his features. Nodding towards Yuun's comments before Gripper speaks his thoughts before he can.

<"Didn't get dressed up for nothing...">>

Attention is back on the failing ramp and a tremor visibly runs down the big man's spine as all of those wonderful feelgood chemicals the body naturally produces dumps into his bloodstream, with the first trickles of adrenaline; the tight pin-hole of controlled rage that is the very core of him melting into a deceptive calm.

"Very well, Lieutenant Laski, you are with me. Stay close, and I will do what I can to protect you." Aryn spares a glance down to see that Erinn is traveling barefoot and the thought prompts a crooked smile. That smile fades at Chani's question and Aryn's cheeks redden. "Alas, I think I may have mistakenly called is a tracking device; what I meant to say was tractor beam. We must disable the tractor beam-- and if what Yuun says is true, maybe there will be a means to disable the gravity wells, too. Admittedly, I know very little about these things.."

The ramp is beginning to open more by the time Alderaan's Green Knight (Ban) joins them. The realization that an unknown and alien threat awaited them on the other side of that ramp, and Aryn felt the first tremor of fear climb up her spine. She glances back at Laski, then up to Hadrix, Yuun, and the others. It took a moment to call upon her lessons to calm, to breathe. "Whatever awaits us beyond this ramp, we must see ourselves through it. We must find a way to get our vessel off this ship, we /must/ get away. Lieutenant Laski is an engineer and can help us achieve just that. Now,.." Aryn calls out, activating her lightsaber with a loud snap-HISS that casts a blue hue over the group inside the airlock/ramp area. She holds her arm out to one side, the blade low and humming, "..prepare yourselves for what lay ahead. The only way is forward..--"

The latches at each side of the ramp SNAP, the hatch falls, and looming shadows at the foot of it suddenly charge up with heavy clawed steps. A high-pitched roar, like a Raptor's, announces the charge and others join it as these red reptilian monsters appeared. Even moving UP the ramp, they proved tall, over 7ft, with large heads and snouts with rows of teeth. Smaller arms carried unique weapons they leveled toward the group to fire; they had not anticipated seeing lightsabers though and there was a slight pause in the attack. Aryn takes decisive action and calls out.. "Clear the path forward!" Her sapphire blade rises in brief salute and she steps toward one of the ten (10) Ssi-Ruu warriors to attack. The warrior ducked under the swing, snapping its teeth at the small blonde and raised its weapon to fire!

"I know not the classification of this cruiser, Mistress-" Ban adds to Lieutenant Laski, "But if weapon systems may be identified and neutralized alongside beam projectors, our departure will likely remain notably more.. intact," he notes with dry understatement. Aryn's words receive a serene nod. "As you say, Highness." He draws his own sword and ignites its emerald blade, drawing it vertically before him in a prepared salute. When their reptilian assailants appear and charge, Ban relies primarily on the lightsaber's point, given the close confines of the boarding ramp. A trio of thrusts at angles of varying difficulty strike down the first three of the large saurians to draw within his reach.

Tess passes a casual glance over towards the resident Mandalorian, her white-haired head canting in his direction briefly. "Lovely to meet you again, Mister Hadrix of Kora." It's a far cry from the Blue Light. Food is better, though. "I fear I may be a bit more of a liability as a fighter. If that proves true, I will fall back and offer the services of my trade." The ramp is forced open more and more and a bit of her quippiness subsides. "If I am still able after the initial melee, that is."

Their ship is ripped open like a can of Corellian beans and their assailants storm aboard like so much reptile commandos. "Here goes," she says aloud and runs forward to get up close and personal with these creatures she has never seen before. But they are sentient, clearly, and filled with intent.

The lithe doctor ducks under the nearest lizard's gun, the metal-bearing fist connecting under where the solar plexus... should be? Not wasting a good surprise-n-stun, Tess grabs him by the long whiskers protruding from his nostrils, wraps them tight around her small hand, gives them a tug, and punches him hard in the snoot.

He definitely doesn't like it. But at least he's not getting seared in half like his friends. Yet.

"Ah." Short and to the point. When the Princess of Alderaan makes a minor word fumble, one does not capitalize or draw attention to it. What draws attention is the welding equipment searing through the seals of the hatch leading into the Tantive IV and the guttural, animalistic growling of whatever's on the other side. It sounds like animals, but animals don't operate cruisers and tractor beams. Sighing softly, Chani's right hand reluctantly goes to her left hip. She unfastens the lightsaber hilt from its place and drops her arm back to her side, shroud emitter angled towards the ground. The ramp crashes down and sentients she doesn't recognize, with some form of leathery red skin it seems, begin to charge. Even from a distance, their size is evident.

The defenders have an advantage: the choke point that is the ramp. Chani tries to use that to her advantage. Rather than activating her lightsaber to cut down and kill a species she's never met before, Chani's left hand lifts and thrusts itself forward with an open palm. Her muscles remain relaxed until just before the cusp of having it fully extended, when they suddenly clench as if to make a physical strike. A girl such as herself hitting a seven foot creature in the chest with her palm would probably do very little. But the strike is not physical, and Chani doesn't touch one of the sentients. The Force does, manifested through that symbiotic relationship between her midicholorians and those that exist around the molecules of the air and in the sentients themselves.

Over a foot shorter than one of the red creatures attempting to lunge in her direction, Chani nonetheless throws it back with such violent force that it's knocked off its feet and smacks into another creature, sending them both spilling and tumbling down the ramp as if a battering ram had smashed into them rather than a young girl making a gesture with her hand. The Princess wanted a way clear. Chani does her part in making that happen, even if the two she knocked over are still alive. That's not the case for their compatriots, who are quickly cut down by lightsabers and the explosive rockets launched from the knee of the Mandalorian from Clan Kora. The carnage begins. Blood and sinew and cooked meat splatter in all directions thanks to the explosion, while others lay in heaps with microscopic cuts cleaved through their hides.

Erinn nods to Aryn. "I'll stay close. Just get me to their ship and I'll get us moving again," she says. Her heart already beginning to beat hard in her chest. It beats so hard, she swears she can feel it in her ears. Feel the heat pushed up from blood rushing to her skull as the world around her starts to speed up and slow down at the same time. She doesn't even feel the blaster in her palm any more. Just a weight on her fingers that wants to fall to the floor. She grasps the grip as she exhales, and turns to follow.

When that ramp begins to open up, Erinn watches as the Jedi around her switch on their lightsabers. Her eyes are drawn to the colorful beam of light that casts a glow on her face and makes her take a soft step backwards. And then the sound of the ramp opening draws her attention to the raptor-like soldiers that begin to pour out.

It all happens so fast. The fighting. The cutting. The shooting. She pulls in a breath and slips behind a point of cover, but when she raises her blaster pistol to fire on the soldiers, her hand is trembling. She can't seem to squeeze the trigger.

Yuun moves quickly, he isn't or never has he been one to just engage in fighting. Though he wasn't goign to be one to cower from it either. He sighs, "I'm sorry I'm not skilled in knowledge with ships and how to disable things. Though if Laski is the engineer, Princess I would go with you to help make sure they get to where they need to go." he says.

With that and as the red t-rex aliens move up the ramp, he sees Ban's flashing lightsaber and fists flying, Yuun ignites his weapon and moves in as well to help clear the way. Mixing it up with three of the aliens, Yuun is only able to take down one as the T-Rex's are able to evade him. "Form up and push them back." he says. He sees what Chani does and nods his head.

<<"Huh.">>

Never saw those before. But they're invading, carrying weapons and... well whatever their intentions; those weird feelers coming out of their nostrils but his hackles up. The cool sense of what he has to do melding with all of those long years being mentally conditioned for this bringing out an elation that he can feel nowhere else.

Leaning from cover, one of the red scaled reptilian ruffians reared and raring enraged and rampaging falls under the sights of the boomstick being handled by Hadrix.

SHU-BAOUW! Flame belches from the barrel of the shotgun and flechettes, as opposted to pellets, create a cloud that tears through scales and embed in bones, bracketed by a pair of those dart rockets that spiral past the main force and into the depths of the ship beyond before they detonate in bulkheads.

<<"Mir...">> the voice over the Mandalorian's private comms is wet, a growl deeper than his normal voice. Standing up as he racks another shell into the chamber and lifts the weapon to seek a new target, the krayt scale cape blows out behind him with the forward momentum of the figure himself.

<"Highness, have your ships soldiers bottleneck the entry ramp while the assault team makes entry."> despite the bestial snarl there, confidence looms. Utter self assurance that there will be no falling back and he continues to approach the reptilian aliens, head ducked, shoulders hunched and the rapidity of breaths incresasing.

<<"Yes, Hadrix?">>

Outside the ramp, the team finds themselves in a large hangar bay. There are many ships docked here, either in racks or cranes high above. Thankfully, no automated defenses, but the place is lived in. More Ssi-Ruu soldiers join the fray bolstering the five that had retreated to make fifteen (15). They arrive in squad formation and spread out to block the Tantive IV's crew from reaching a particular entrance. Aryn waits for Laski before stepping off calmly to follow her companions, "Stay close, Lieutenant.. and behind me!"

Close quarters combat, the true ballroom dance style. The Ssi-Ruu excel at close quarters, but they were not prepared for Jedi or veteran combatants. A pair of Ssi-Ruu are cast down the ramp in a violent display of raw, unseen power. Four others fall or tumble down the ramp cut from lightsabers, or in the case of one unlucky raptor, blown in half by a scattergun at point blank range. Blood spatters the bulkhead and ceiling, the discharge of the scattershot loud enough to leave ears ringing thanks to close quarters.

Aryn glances back to see Laski is at a safer distance behind cover, thus she averts her attention toward Dr. Vikander, who has bravely engaged a foe with nothing but her hands. Brave! Aryn slips between Vikander and the ire of her opponent, throwing the large lizard off balance when it suddenly had to avoid the sapphire presence of a lightsaber blade. Aryn wards it back with a string of improvised strikes, slipping between the shifting the bodies of her compatriots. They are successful and tossing the Ssi-Ruu down the ramp and into a retreat. Aryn holds her ground at the mid-point and motions. "FORWARD!-- LASKI, WITH ME!"

The accent Aryn has is still present despite yelling, and the poised nature of a noble amidst the chaos of conflict emphasizes the fact Aryn is a veteran despite her social shortfalls! She holds her position to allow the rest of the team forward.

"Got it," Aryn answers Hadrix, and whilst waiting, Aryn pulls out her commlink, <<"Captain.. bring your best gunmen to the ramp and set up a perimeter.. we are moving into our captor's ship. Hold the ramp at all costs!">>

<<"It will be done, Your Grace.">>

Outside the ramp, the team finds themselves in a large hangar bay. There are many ships docked here, either in racks or cranes high above. Thankfully, no automated defenses, but the place is lived in. More Ssi-Ruu soldiers join the fray bolstering the five that had retreated to make fifteen (15). They arrive in squad formation and spread out to block the Tantive IV's crew from reaching a particular entrance. Aryn waits for Laski before stepping off calmly to follow her companions, "Stay close, Lieutenant.. and behind me!"

Ban Iskender advances when called, sparing a moment in moving to curiously regard a fallen Ssi-Ruuk. It is a foe he has never before seen. In like manner the ships suspended from the hangar are equally unprecedented in his experience, but the fresh assault by more warriors is all too familiar to the soldier.

"Ah! Thank you, Your Highness," Tess beams to Aryn as the small blonde woman with the impressive saber steps in on the defense. Tess' ice-blue eyes are dialated and focused; her movements practiced like a mixture of a dancer and a fighter. But there's no one who would be initially surprised by that. Echani are expected to be fighters.

But Tess is surprised. She was rather certain that old training had rusted over and fallen off. Do wonders ever cease?

No one is hurt yet so Tess remains on the offensive. Clear a path is the order and clear a path she will try to do. Though these creatures are built like scaley meat shields. Punching one in what amounts to the temple certainly rings his ---her?--- bell and that's one less enemy to freely swarm a comrade. A win-win.

Except for the dino. Bad day for them.

"Allow me to escort you, Doctor. It'll help ease Her Highness' responsibility." The retreating sentients provide the Tantive IV's delegation with some breathing room and Chani uses it to try to organize a better approach to leaving the corvette to move into the hangar. It's an eerie silence, that moment between the chaos of combat and the fighting coming to a brief close. Between the Princess' shouting and the quick orders being relayed between relevant parties, there's little to disturb the silence besides the sharp clacking of the vicious, curved blaws dominating the front of the feet of the red sentients retreating for safety. Chani shows the intent of moving ahead of Doctor Vikander by depressing the activation stud on her lightsaber.

The snap-hiss that resonates from Chani's lightsaber is not as powerful or as violent as the others. It is an elegant sound, almost dreamlike, and it casts a pale cyan glow against herself and around her vicinity. She moves forward with it angled towards the ground and pointed in front of her, ensuring there's no hope of connecting it against anything in the process. The soft purr of the lightsaber as it sways in the air is lost in the storm of noise of multiple sets of feet moving down the ramp at a hurried pace. Chani does so in front of the Doctor, ensuring that if anyone shoots at them from the front, where the sentient line is forming around one of the exits in the hangar, that they'll have to shoot practically through Chani to get to the Doctor.

There's a small moment when Chani glances elsewhere, towards the young Lieutenant chasing after the Princess, but her look is fleeting. She refocuses on the situation a moment later knowing that a lapse in concentration will serve no one, least of all her chosen ward. It's that very lapse of concentration that almost leads Chani to being shot. Every pore in her body clenches tightly in warning and the Force doesn't just show her a mental image, but almost a brief fastforward into the future. Her lightsaber snaps up, wrist torque angling the blade into position in front of her thigh so that the blaster bolt hits the angled cyan blade and smacks down into the hangar decking to leave a carbon-scored, durasteel-bubbled spot just two steps in front of her.

Erinn can't hear much. It's the strangest thing. She can feel her heart in her chest trying to climb up into her skull. Hear feel her breath in her chest and the impact of energy-charged blaster fire against the cover she's standing behind. But she can't really hear anything, save for a ringing in her ears. She's drawn her blaster pistol in front of her face and is clutching it with both hands. From the outside looking in, she's petrified. Breathing in and out at an accelerated pace, eyes wide, focused on the exit just as much as the combat going on behind her. Tall, imposing creatures crumple like paper in some unknown force, and those that manage to fight are met with blades that cut through skin like a hot knife through frozen cream.

"LASKI, WITH ME!"

She hears it. Her eyes snap into focus and she turns her attention to Aryn Cortess, who has begun her push forward up the ramp and onto the enemy ship. Erinn turns her gaze to the fighting again, and in the chaos of the motion she sees a path. If it's like a ballroom dance, there's a rhythm. Run, Laski.

She peels off the cover and begins her sprint towards the ramp. Pistol in hand, she's moving through the lane that's opened in the fighting, but as she moves it begins to close. One of the enemy soldiers engaged with Tess and Chani is pushed back towards her, but she moves. A deft hand on his back and a twist of her shoulders in a spin cause her to slip effortlessly free as he (she?) falls backwards while maintaining Erinn's momentum. Her bare feet carry her across the floor and up the ramp until she's reached Aryn.

"Behind you!" she says.

Yuun has to duck under a shot that was fired at him. Yuun is quick but he has the force with him and he moves quickly to evade the shots that are coming at him. He is moving quickly and missing out on key information that is being said. He didn't like this and he is rushed by the Red Soldiers, and wit that he gives a soft prayer as he moves through them his blade flashing through the Red Soldiers, he takes down three and moves back so he can hear whats going on or be directed.

Momentum increasing, Hadrix charges when more of the Ssi-Ruu come into view. Heavy tread falling in spirited tattoo as he closes distance,

<<"Hadrix?">>

Airborne, carried by a powerful thrust of his legs to leave the deck - a reckless maneuver, taking his center of gravity off of something solid. But the armored figure shifts mid-air. A red scaled beast letting its weapon hang from its strap in attempt to catch the flying man kicks one hand away, neatly snapping the wrist with the heavy metal sabatons on his boot. The impact is a mix of organic scraping metal before the big man is riding the figure down to the ground.

Scrabbling with one another - a taloned three fingered hand trying to find purchase on chest plates and sparking off of the metal cowling of Hadrix's gorget. A swing of the broken wristed hand slaps Hadrix's head to one side, the power of the impact enough to turn his head to just that point before the human body declares lights out and makes one go to sleep before their neck breaks.

Reeling back, vision doubled, the Boar Wolf of Ealor looks back down at his opponent before the Mandalorian iron helmet is crashing against the beast's snout, spraying blood across his face and chest with a crackle of bone beneath flesh - jostling them both and imposing a daze on the big man resulting in the last of the current missile pack hissing and skidding along the hangar floor before exploding harmlessly.

<<"You move Kar furthest from this.">> Shaky voiced, but still a growling croak, as he stands, a foot on either side of the neck of the creature that is breathing but otherwise fallen beneath him. Slapping the side of his helmet and slamming the same fist against his chest in challenge to the other and raising his scatter gun again.

<"Chani, do you require aid?"> within the helmet his eyes are reviewing the condensed view of the wrap-around visual sensors while he assesses threat, scatter gun barrel sweeping.

With Laski close at hand, Aryn proceeds forward at a casual gait, dispatching the alien sentient lizards whose hulking frames obstruct her path. Aryn is not violent in her application of force, simply direct and intentional, orienting her blade in a fashion that's both graceful and decisive. One precise hit spills a large beast over in a clatter of gear, then another follows that one. A third joins the deceased when Aryn spins in a rustle of cape, adjusting her stance to avoid being taken out in the deadly charge the Ssi-Ruu employed against her.

The team is in the middle of the chaos now, and what remains of the Ssi-Ruu defenses begin to retreat from the corridor they came down. It's clear they interdicted the wrong ship. Still, they fire, an older and taller looking Ssi-Ruu grunting commands and roaring. Six (6) hold the line against the Tantive IV party, obstructing their path to through the large doorway and corridor beyond.

In a capital ship of wholly unknown configuration, Ban notes- not without irony- that they are dependant on their foes to show them which avenues might lead to something important. When a half dozen of the saurian warriors hold a line seeking to refuse passage, one must assume that is the direction to go! Ban repeats his salute, raising the blade briefly vertical, before turning the blade against the Ssi-Ruu, striking down another.

Towards Chani, Tess offers a nod of her head. "I think you, as well. I certainly do not want to be a liability, but it would seem you've quite the group of fighters on this diplomatic vessel." A touch of a knowing grin to that statement. "So until my services are in immediate need, I shall continue to---"

A flash of teal and a blaster bolt nearly, nearly making contact with the woman she is conversing with. "Ah! I... shall cease distracting you, Miss Tahn." A Ssi-Rhu storms up towards them and Tess' instinct is to punch. This particular reptile has noticed some patterns, the rascal, and simply turns his snoot away; first to the left and then up into the air.

Whiff whiff. Neither swings make any contact and Tess is quickly backpeddling. She's going to try her best not to get in the way of the ones doing actual damage and making actual progress.

"I don't consider myself a fighter, Doctor. I don't like violence." Chani clarifies for the woman while they move into the fray. Her focus is fully ahead now despite the armored Mandalorian randomly asking if she requires aid. "I do not, but thanks." This small boarding action is nothing like Point Besh on Munto Codru or the battles at Droalder Palace and the savannahs outside of Bastion on New Alderaan. There's a lack of frantic chaos. The party from the Tantive IV moves steadily forward, undeterred by the sentients that have attacked them and are now stuck in a state of retreat away from the lightsabers and the numerous weapons wielded by those not Jedi. "It's my fault, Doctor. You didn't distract me. It won't happen again." Chani, like the others, follows the Princess.

With Erinn Laski aboard the enemy vessel, the barefooted Lieutenant's eyes immediately sweep the hangar as enemy forces begin to scatter down long corridors that lead to various compartments of the ship. She squints, looking for familiar lines of piping and tubing -- the veins and the guts of every ship. She's interrupted on occasion. There's the matter of Aryn effortlessly slicing through enemy combatants as she casually escorts Erinn through the hangar and towards the narrowing corridor they're moving towards. Though the woman's motions aren't violent, Erinn can't help but wince with each motion and squeeze that blaster a little tighter in her hand.

"Tractor beams use the same sort of juice as a repulsorlift," she says, glancing back at the most recently-dispatched enemy. The room's settled into a quieter sort of stillness. Erinn finds it odd just how loud her voice seems to ring in her ear. "Just gotta follow the main line to find the power... core," she says, and then turns to look at a flight of stairs that lead down into this ship's powercore.

"We need to get down there. A few quick snips is all we need, and their whole ship's dead in space," she says.

Pulling himself back to himself, Yuun takes a breath. He sees the incoming attacks from the enemies they are facing not come to him but the others, he isn't fast enough to move to help intercept the shots. He hadn't need to worry though. He turns his head to face the last of five remaining suarians, Yuun bows his head, meeting them on equal footing. He moves into a position where he is still able to keep up with Aryn and her group but engages the enemy combatants.

Yuun is a blur of movement, moving in and out of their defenses, his blade lashing out in quick strikes and jabs. He is a fighter, but one who doesn't relish the taking of lives but will do so when called to. Once he strikes down the third suarian he quickly moves to catch up with the others as he scans for anymore incoming hostils.

Blasterbolts rebounding off one cuisse, Hadrix turns to absorb the hit and keep his balance. Swinging forward and stalking into the next shot that explodes against the plating of his chest, arresting his step and the scatter gun goes off with a roar that sprays darts set with flanged stabilizer fins spinning like miniscule drill heads into the creature's form.

<<"Mir.">> <<"Hadrix?">> <<"Status?">>

The big man's steps bring him abreast of Aryn, scatter gun barrel sweeping side to side and his stride lengthen to keep his pace even.

<<"We're fine. Don't worry.">> <<"Thank you.">>

Mixing family life with business. Stupid. But he can distract himself enough while listening to Erinn explaining how they get loose, head slowly canting to one side, <<"Snips? Or would a thermal detonator do?">>

The last two protecting the crew from reaching the guts of the ship are dropped with a single pass of Aryn's lightsaber. She deactivates the weapon before the last body collapses loudly at her feet and turns back to look at Laski and her explanation of engineering. Aryn was no engineer, so matters pertaining to this were trusted at face value from someone who titled themselves a subject matter expert. Regarding the rest of the group, Aryn says, "Our path leads us to lower decks. Lord Ban, Yuun, Commander Hadrix.. would you gentlemen take the lead. We will bring up the rear of the party." Aryn pivots with the soft noise of boot soles on the decking and walks after the group to continue their mission.

The team takes the stairwell pointed out. They go down several and arrive at a lower deck that's kept colder, the tell-tale of engineering. As they move down the corridor, an alarm is triggered and a voice on the intercom roars in a foreign language. They needed to move quickly if they were going to escape.

On the way to engineering, they encounter a series of rooms with viewports inside. One is a room chocked full of dead, lifeless, and nude human bodies. They look as if every ounce of strength and bodily sustenance has been drained from them and all that remains from revealing the skeletons beneath is the skin that obstructs their bones. The other room shows a vertical table with a human strapped to it. A device is plugged into his body, torturing him. They can hear his screaming. There is a door way that leads inside to this room, and Aryn triggers it to open.

"I will stay behind to help this person and get them back to our ship; Dr. Vikander.. would you be kind enough to join me? -- The rest of you, continue to Engineering and continue our mission." Aryn waits for Vikander before venturing inside to try and discover how to disable the device holding this man hostage, torturing him. "Look for a way to disable it," Aryn says just as the man screams in basic, "HELP ME!"

Further down the corridor, a set of doors open to reveal engineering just as Lt Laski had theorized. It is a large room, with a powerful engine and core. A number of Ssi-Ruu are inside, ten (10) to be exact, and they turn to see the intruders and begin to panic, charging the group to attack. Beyond the charging Ssi-Ruu lay the consoles controlling the power core and various functionalities of the ship.

Well, at least Ban has no comprehension of the functions of this cruiser. Fortunately for them all, others have superior skills of engineering deduction, and he is able to dip head and shoulders in assent when Aryn asks that he, Yuun, and Senor Scattergun take the lead in delving ahead. At the discovery of the horrors at work, black brows draw in a frown. Composure shaken but uncracked by the agony so nearby, as Aryn begins tending the unfortunate, Ban focuses mind and senses on the fight ahead as they at last reach what passes for engineering. It's not quite anger, but the swordsman's movements have a sharper, more purposeful edge than his more familiar and graceful sweeps of the saber. A trio of foes are slain in a trio of instants.

Venturing deeper into this ship, the tale of what happened here is told in the most gruesome ways possible. The power souls -- drained until they are nothing more than raisins with a skeleton underneath -- are given remorseful regard as Tess passes. There's nothing she can do for them except, if given a chance, to give them some kind of proper sending.

The sound of someone screaming pulls her attention and she is already following Aryn before the Princess can finish requesting her aide. Inside, she looks over the device torturing this man with horror: utterly helpless in knowing how to make it stop. "We're here to help you," she says to the man. It's debatable if he heard her over his own wails.

Rummaging around in her satchle, Tess produces not one but two quick-release syringes. "Forgive me." But this can't hurt worse than what is already being done to him. Both jab into his neck on either side; her thumbs depressing the tabs at the top to release the double-dose of sedation. The screaming ebbs into a groan, a sob, a whimper. Then nothing. "Unconscious. For now." She isn't certain how long it will last against this device's machinations.

Chani deactivates her lightsaber and the cyan blade disappears with a whispering electrical squeal. She does not secure it to her belt again. With the cylindrical hilt in her right, Chani uses her left to descend the levels of the deck until they are on what they assume to be the correct floor. Things become distinctly worse from there, first with the alarm trigger and then with the medical chambers that line the halls. Though she glances into both rooms, she does not look for long, and Chani's impassive expression grows a little more tight. With the Princess splitting off from the group with Doctor Vikander, Chani no longer has a ward. Lord Iskender, Hadrix, and Yuun are still in front. "I'll watch the rear in case they come up behind us. You should walk in the middle, Lieutenant. That way you're safe." From all sides that are exposed, too, given that they can hardly be attacked through the walls. She thinks, at least. Merely giving the thought life is enough to make her question it.

Erinn follows along with the team as they descend into the veins and arteries and guts and organs of the ship. The deeper they go, the more at home she feels. The chill in the air offset by the heat that radiates from the pipes. The ubiquitous hum and thrum and whirr of engines beneath. She can hear an ion engine in those pipes. At some point, as the team continues deeper, Erinn Laski ends up moving more towards the front, helping to guide them towards the main powercore. The steel panels she walks on dig into her bare feet, the sharp edges threatening to cut into the skin.

When they reach those rooms filled with corpses, Erinn's eyes widen. Disgust. Terror. Anger. Fear. It's a cocktail of emotions that defy any one in particular. It's then that she hears Chani's voice come from behind her. A mercy, that distraction. Her eyes turn over her shoulder and she gives a nod.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll do that," she says.

She falls back towards the center of the group as they approach the engine core. When she sees those soldiers spill out of that main engine room, she lets out an exhale. Her hand doesn't shake when she raises her blaster. Without hesitation, she squeezes the trigger and slings a bolt of red hyper-charged matter towards them. It slaps against the opposite wall, punching a blaster-sized hole into the durasteel.

Yuun bows his head, "Yes your highness." he says using Aryn's proper title in this theater. He looks to Ban as he moves forward, Yuun quickly follows. He frowns at his lack of knowledge of ships and honestly he doesn't have to be a expert but knowing some of the basics could help. For now though they have who they need. "Moving up on your right Lord Iskender." he says as he sees Ban lead the charge.

Yuun moves along side Ban, his blade moving quickly in tight arcs, moving in tandem as he engages three of the Red Soldiers. His electric blue blade humming as he stabs through ones chest. He then side steps a strike and he brings his blade up in a reverse uppercut slash splitting the creature in half and he spins his blade and steps backwards stabbing a third. Yuun quickly turns around facing forward, he hears the change as they make their way to their destination. "Not far." he says.

The progress down, and the sturdy build of the enemy, allowed for a prudent switch of equipment. Hanging the scatter gun on his back to replace it with the wookiee cannon he so fondly keeps in his regular repertoire of equipment. The heavily modified piece of hardware thrumming like a miniature engine itself and the report of the weapon might throw others onto their backside when it craters the chest of the Ssi-ruu and blows cooked meat and glowing bone out its back.

It's still a helluva kick and though he keeps himself moving forward, the second burst from the weapon goes wild and smashes into a wall, sending spark and flash molten metal geysering out with the for force of the detonation.

<<"Gripper.">> a bracket forming in his HUD and the ID10 that has been following is all action, legs descending to clamp onto the control panel and rather than a standard droid probe, a pair of spikers go in and she starts to work.

"Be done in a moment." her synthesized voice light and pleasant despite the chaos all around.

"Unconscious means no pain; a better place if ever there was one," Aryn intones as the restraints release from the torture device a moment later. Aryn positions herself in front of the man, nearly collapsing beneath his weight when he fell forward, but through some unseen power, the small blonde is able to heft the man up on her shoulders, linking her arm through the crook of a hanging leg and hold his dangling arm by its wrist. "Good enough for government work," Aryn says to Tess, strained in voice but managing. She gestures to the door;.. they have to make it back to the ship. Grippers assistance not only helped with deactivating the bed, she sent a spike through the security system that scrambles the Ssi-Ruu surveillance, leaving their new foe blind to what was going on. "With us, Gripper.." Aryn calls and begins to move briskly under the deadweight of a heavy male.

Within the Engineering, the team finds themselves surrounded, briefly, by the Ssi-Ruu, yet in a matter of seconds more than half are slain. The way to the consoles are clear, the remaining three combatants attacking/charging at Chani and Hadrix. They roar and leap toward them, mouths open and claws wide ready to slice the pair to shreds.

Thankfully, the consoles for engineering are not damaged, and Laski has a clear path to them thanks to the efforts of Lord Ban, the Jedi Knight Yuun, and Commander Hadrix.

Aryn's voice cuts over the comms, <<"Dr. Vikander, Gripper, and I are heading back to the Tantive IV. We will have the ship prepped for departure upon arrival. Do be safe.. and hurry. I sense another attack if we are not.. hasty.">> Aryn is out of breath; likely those bloody stairs.

Ban Iskender has not failed to end a life with a blow since they'd passed the charnel chamber of this alien vessel, and the swordsman's terrible efficiency continues in ending the pair of Ssi-Ruuk whose attacks Chani had so roundly thwarted. A short nod, and his eye turns to scan the approaches to this chamber for further foes.

Tess quickly moves in with Aryn to catch the man as he falls forward. The small woman manages well on her own, no doubt, but Tess feels inclined to take some of the burden off. Scooping herself under one of the dangling arms, the Echani draps it over her shoulder and leans her shoulder into the man's mass. "Unconscious will be a welcome respite, indeeed," she comments with a grunt. "Thank you kindly," is offered to Gripper even as Tess is looking over what she can see of the man; trying to assess some of his injuries before they even make it back to the ship.

Odd, though. They don't seem to making any additional progress. In fact, it would seem that Tess' efforts are slowing them down. Trying multiple grapples -- one that includes a creative lean onto her left foot -- Tess cannot seem to figure out a way to carry this man. "Pardon me?" Again directed towards Gripper. "Would you be willing to lead us some of those lovely clamps of yours? Or at least aide the Princess as I seem to be quite useless at the moment." At least she knows this man hasn't been drained down to literal skin and bone. That's a plus, right?

Before Chani can so much as lift a finger, Lord Iskender steps in and cuts down the two red-skinned sentients attempting to launch themselves at her. Her dry lips peel from one another and she draws in a breath to say something, only the words never leave. She exhales, instead, and steps over to the creatures who lay in a heap on the ground. Fixing her lightsaber to her belt, she kneels and examines the equipment that they are carrying. Most of it is odd in design to her, but that in itself is not so odd. They are a long way from a major hyperspace lane and these less traveled areas of the galaxy are frequently a source of new discoveries. Grabbing one of the weapons, one of the communications sets, and some of the engineering tools, Chani rises.

"We should take these back and examine them, I think. They didn't have any datapads with them, but these might offer.. some sort of insight."

Lieutenant Laski moves quickly through main engineering. The swishing fabric of her red dress almost blends with the slowly-strobing red alarm lights as she follows the veins that push power throughout the ship. The main console is also strobing in front of her, but it's short work for her to hook her fingers into the hatches of a side panel and tug it free. Without a diagnostic tool, she's got to do this the old fashioned way. Wires, knobs and buttons all lead into a central processing hub that regulates the powercore's temperature and lets the massive engine efficiently burn fuel.

Except not any more.

She gives a grunt and rips a thick black cord from a blinking port, and the entire ship goes quiet and dark. For a split second, even the strobing red lights fade to black. Auxillary engines kick back on minutes later, but the lights are dim. What power remains keeps life support systems operational and hydraulic doors functioning as normal.

"I got it!" she shouts from somewhere in the guts of engineering. And out she comes a few moments later, squeezing behind several large coolant tanks to rejoin the group. She's moving quickly, too. With purpose towards the exit.

"We've gotta go. Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go," she says.

Yuun moves into a guard position as Ban and the others enter into Engineering. Scanning the area and seeing Ban moves to take out two of the Ssi-Ruu, Yuun sees one going after Hadrix, "Oh no you don't." he says as he quickly moves in and he slides past the Mando and slashing through the Ssi-Ruu, killing the alien. He spins around making sure the area is clear, "You ok?" he asks Hadrix as Laski does her work on the consoles.

"Yes, Highness." the droid still hesitates, for a moment. As if the idea of leaving Hadrix was abhorrent - but she moves as requested with a soft warble of anti-gravs carrying the seeker droid along and at the shoulder of Princess Cortess.

Leaving the defenders for Laski to do her work, so that they can get out of here.

Two of the reptilians downed by Ban near Chani and the one whom was about to have the barrel of his cannon shoved up against its gullet cut down by the dark skinned jedi and for a moment the visor of the Mandalorian is resting on Yuun with a growl rumbling through the vocalizer of the helm. The wookiee gun raises a fraction, the faintest lift.

And then he is moving past when Erinn starts to go, hustling to get behind her, playing rearguard,

<<"Jetii, vanguard.">> growling it out while keeping the lady's back covered with his own.

Alarms begin to sound as the triggered core begins to experience a melt-down. The entire ship experiences power failures including life support. Thankfully, artificial gravity is among the few systems that remain active, making it easy to back track. Aryn and Dr. Vikander make it back to the Tantive IV where members of the crew rushed to take the man from Aryn's shoulders and take him aboard. Aryn waits outside the ship ramp, where mechanics have done their best to rig a closing and sealing mechanism in the absence of the obliterated ones.

The rest of the team make it back to the hangar and corvette with no trouble; the ship requires the Ssi-Ruu's total focus. The Tantive IV is already prepping for take off, its repulsorlifts firing off with hot gusts of white steam that stir up the air beneath the vessel in a violent gust. Aryn motions for the team to get aboard, and once aboard, the ship lifts up and backs out the hangar.

The bridge aboard the Tantive IV is alive with action as the Captain is giving commands to each station. Impulse engines come to life, and the Tantive IV breaks away from the interdictor to make for a course of exit--only for ANOTHER ship to arrive in real space before them. "BERAK COURSE!" Screams the Captain, and the pilot brings them away from the new vessel. They attempt to pull back the lever for hypserspace, but discover the gravity well is STILL present. It must be that new ship!!

The Tantive IV ventures further into the system in an effort to evade the newly arrived vessel. An M class planet of unknown origins becomes the current target for their temporary escape, so the Tantive IV makes for the planet.

Before they begin to enter the atmosphere, Aryn orders that the fighters within the Tantive IV's hangar be used to evade the capital ships in system and jump away to safety to bring help. Meanwhile, the landscape of Kilian lay ahead of the Tantive IV crew; a world still in the medieval age of technology locked in a war with the Ssi-Ruu. The crew had no idea what they just stumbled into, but learning was about to occur.