Halloween

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Ervisa Therani was violating protocol. Nowhere did it say you were supposed to be smoking in the cockpit, and in fact there were a few sentences in the manual about not doing it. Nevertheless, a burning wad of tabac was resting between her full, green lips. She figured she needed the delicious smoke now more than ever, thanks to the unpleasant circumstances of the trip so far.

It had all started in the Ehosiq sector during a layover, and before Ervisa could say anything, her ship had been commandeered by the Jedi and she was ordered to fly after some Sith with a ton of the Forcies in tow. Two women, one human and one Togruta, the latter of which looked like she slept on broken glass and ate the bones of Dark Jedi for breakfast with a side order of pain. The Mirialan preferred the human, who was quite pretty and seemed personable enough.

Then there were two more Jedi, one the same age as the human woman, of the same species. He had a cybernetic arm she liked to pretend was earned after a freak accident with a combine or a thresher on Agamar or Ukio. And the last one was a kid, a Padawan. He seemed a decent enough sort.

Still, the Mirialan was done with the Jedi, and she wanted nothing more to do with them. Granted they weren't as bad as the Dark Jedi she'd had to deal with a few years back... Didn't mean it was exactly pleasant.

She eyed Horst sitting in the copilot's seat, blowing out a cloud of smoke as she stared at him. He was her friend with benefits, her ticket to a good time. Mister Stallion in the Sack. Plus he was pretty handy in other rooms of the house.

"Horsty, want a cig? I get the feeling we're all going to need a pack before the day is out."

---

In the back of the sleek light freighter, Master Teer Ka of the Jedi Order surveyed her forces like a military commander preparing for a battle. Hopefully she would avoid any catastrophic battles. Certainly this engagement was on a smaller scale. And she had the advantage of numbers on her side.

There was first her former Padawan, Sirius Kelrune. Loyal, dedicated, and a skilled young duelist. He had a marvelous way with the technologies Teer didn't care for, and he was quite convenient. It was a pleasure to see him and work with him again, though she had hopes this mission wouldn't turn out like their last and result in lost limbs.

Then there was Vance Asano, a Padawan and friend of Sirius, who was under the young Knight's supervision for a few days. He likely hadn't been banking on something as exciting as this happening. Teer made a mental note to supervise him.

Lastly there was Cassy Novos, a Jedi Knight who Teer had instructed on Shili for a short while. Her presence here was merely a coincidence, but it was a welcome one. She had proven quite capable in training, and Master Ka was optimistic she would perform well.

"I don't need to tell you all that this is important. A Sith has murdered people and has escaped this far. We are now catching up to him, and when we force him to land, we will engage him in combat. Be prepared for dirty tricks, and be prepared for dangers. This is not a game. This reality, this is dangerous. Now, do you have any questions?"

[Fromikeable]

"Ya' know I don't smoke Ervi," Horst answered gruffly. His eyes glanced backward, behind his seat. There were a total of 4 Jedi standing behind him in some sort of pre-mission huddle. And dangit, it put him on edge.

The day had started out normally. He and Ervisa were heading off on some Spearpoint business when suddenly a ship had roared overhead being chased by the four cloaked individuals, who promptly ordered him and his pilot to take off after it.

Along with them in tow. Horst wasn't quite sure how he felt about that part yet. He'd never really been a fan of the Jedi to begin with, and beyond that he was still in the long process of overcoming his distrust of them. Ervisa had certainly set him on the path, and he could honestly say that he didn't mind the Gray Jedi Spearpoint had attracted, but these were full-fledged, oath-taking, mythological Jedi.

They had yet to grow on him.

But he'd swallowed his discomfort and obliged them, heading to the back of the ship a few times to tweak the engines in hopes of getting it to go a little faster. From what the sensors could tell them they weren't too far behind the Sith, but thanks to Horst's efforts the distance would be closed... if the chase went on for a few years.

The Engineer sighed. How'd he get himself into these sorts of things?

"Though I'll be honest; I'm considerin' if today keeps goin' like this." He motioned backward with his thumb, propping one of his legs up on the control console in a bid to become more comfortable.

---

Vance folded his arms as he looked about the ship Master Teer Ka had led them in commandeering. The pilot and her burly friend hadn't seemed too overjoyed about it, but then again the padawan supposed they wouldn't be. They had, after all, just been redirected from whatever it was they had been doing.

That being said however, this was important.

Vance wasn't sure if he should be excited or paranoid about the course his day had taken. In a bid to gain some field experience as well as to spend some time with an old friend, Vance had wound up sticking with Sirius the last few days. It still seemed a bit surreal to him; his friend was a full-fledged Jedi Knight now. No more braid. No more master.

And yet, so far as Vance could tell, he was still the same old Sirius. Perhaps Vance was just placing too much anticipation on the shift out of padawanhood. Perhaps he was just too wound up by the day's excitement to consider otherwise.

Master Teer Ka had impressed him though. Vance could see how Sirius had become such a strong individual; he been pushed and guided there by the older Togruta. She certainly maintained a certain forceful presence, and to be certain Vance wasn't quite sure how he got along with her. It wasn't so much that he didn't like her or vice versa as it was that they were dynamically different people; she was forward, and he was introverted.

But Vance didn't know the other Knight at all. He'd learned that her name was Cassy Novos; a pretty name in his opinion. Beyond that, the small amount of time they'd spent together so far hadn't been enough for him to learn much about her, or at least not while they had been put to such diligent work by Teer. But she seemed nice enough, and so Vance had grown to smile at her at least. He did with most people, but still.

When Teer had finished warning them, she asked if they had questions.

And Vance always had questions.

"I have a question, Master Ka. Multiple, in fact." He paused, picking the most important one. "Do we know anything specifically or useful about this Sith?"

[ordon68]

OOC: removed post until all Republic guys, gals and allies finish their dialogue. Sorry, anxious to get started on my first real thread.. I'll repost when everyone is done.

[Ghostie]

Sirius was dressed more or less the same as all the other Jedi. Robes check, lightsaber check, boots check. His robes were something Sirius really didn't wear anymore unless lounging around the Temple or doing something formal. He found civilian clothes more comfortable, and easier to blend into a crowd. But when the Jedi had picked him up, that was what he was wearing at the time.

Sirius had been on a mission on the same planet the group of Jedi, led by Master Ka, had been chasing a Sith. There had been some message from the Council about them needing assistance, and since Sirius was already planet-side, he got roped into it.

To tell the truth, he wasn't too much happier about it than their pilots, the ones the Jedi had commandeered the shuttle from, were. His had been an exhausting mission, and he had been looking forward to resting a bit. Though, he was happy to see Vance, Lallane, and Master Ka again.

Vance had been hanging around him, but trying to not be too obvious about it. He was asking questions here and there. 'What was being a Knight like?' 'How was it to be on his own?' Etc, etc. Sirius had changed, but he was still the same friend Vance knew. The first couple of missions by himself had been taxing, but he adjusted afterwords.

Now Master Ka was going over their mission while the Jedi huddled in the back. The whole speech about this is reality and to be on your guard. Sirius had heard it plenty of times, from Master Ka herself and from others. It soon became annoying. He knew that she was doing it for their own good, but Siirus knew what they were facing. He didn't need to be reminded every time.

Master Ka asked for questions, and Vance spoke up first. He seemed full of them today. Sirius remained silent as the padawan asked. While his first thought was to remain silent, Vance's question triggered Sirius's own.

“How many of them are there?”

He asked in a low, somewhat tired voice.

[Cassy]

Cassy was sitting near the other Jedi; wondering if they were gaining on the Sith or not. It was good to see them come together collectively like this, the Jedi usually did do so. Still, she felt comfortable around her kin, a feeling she was surprised never faded each time she was around a group of fellow Jedi.

She crossed her legs; her overrobes sat on the back of her seat, the trails of them touching the floor. Her black body suit hugged her priceless curves, unzipped to the cleavage as her hazel green eyes watched the pilots ahead; unmoving. Her leg began to bounce by habit; her brown locks sitting on her shoulder. The woman lit a cig as the smell of tabac filled the air; Cassy didn't mind merely continued to watch. She flecked her eyes between her; and the large man piloting the craft with jet black hair. Somehow, Cassy felt they were involved with one another. She would've shrugged; but she didn't even care that much.

For all she knew they could turn on them any moment.

The sound of Master Ka's voice broke the silence. Cassy merely closed her eyes; allowing the words to sink in as she crossed her arms on her breasts, leg bouncing even more rapidly now as she continued to watch the pilot and his smoking co-pilot.

She flecked her eyes over Vance. He was rather big; his curly hair sitting atop and around his face, an adorable look for him. The young, large Padawan seemed to be talkative. She zoned out, but half listened to him as he went on, her lightly glossed lips would smiled lightly as she listened to him ask all the right questions.

Another voice broke into the air. Sirius made a simple comment; and Cassy's eyes settled on him. A staunch look of sadness crossed her eyes for some reason and she looked down to Sirius' hand without lingering too long on it. There had been a time where...that wasn't there. Wondering how he was doing she gave him a look that said 'sorry for worrying' before looking away. A look of being frustrated with herself passing over her expression. There was no need to worry about him.

With a long sigh; Cassy got frustrated just being near Sirius as her "feelings" for him clouded her thoughts, standing and walking up behind the pilot, and smoking co-pilot, she silently watched ahead of them out of the pane glass panel. She would give them a kids look of 'don't mind me, really' if they looked back over their shoulders at her.

She didn't care for Sirius much as far as love interest went, but she did care about what he'd been through. She'd known him for more than five years now, she felt like it could've been her hand even. They walked the same path; she felt his sadness somewhat. Perhaps after five years of knowing him; and bit**ing him out from time to time for his corny jokes; as they grew up together around the temple, have more feelings for him than she gave herself credit for. She got intensely angry at herself; almost disgusted. She looked at him once over her shoulder with a sincere nasty look, although she was more upset at herself if anything. He was the cause. He was a very near friend to her, and the fact that he had to go and get his forearm lopped off just made her care more. Somehow she'd made him being hurt 'annoying' in her mind too make it easier to keep her distance from him by subconsciously giving herself a reason to not like her longtime friend anymore.

So long as she stayed mad at him, the less they would talk.

Which is exactly why she was going to ignore him for this entire trip, kill some Sith, and get these thoughts behind her.

[ordon68]

The brooding Dark Jedi sat in the sleek black leather chair of the Fury class starship peering out of the hexagonal view-port as bright stars streaked by like a thousand white web strands shooting outwards to engulf their armored Sith transport.

The human co-pilot with short cropped light brown hair turned his gaze from the scanning console to the gaunt, grey skinned Muun. "Lord Zaxoran," he called with a trace of hesitation in his voice. "The ship that left the planet is still gaining on us. I don't believe we can outrun them."

Zaxoran's coal black eyes seemed to blaze with streaks of crimson as he pounded his gloved fist on the arm rest of the chair. He fixed his dark eyes on the back of the pilot sitting beside the naval officer who just spoke. "Commander Trellin!" he growled with his tone dripping venom like a caged viper. "You had better find a way to even the playing field. This ship is supposed to be one of the fastest in the fleet." He jabbed a slender, gloved finger back toward the belly of the ship. "Have your engineer back there, get off his hind quarters and find a way to get us more speed."

The balding blonde human pilot swiveled around in the chair, his eyes wide and displaying a mixture of fear and apprehension as he began to reply, "but, sir.." He choked off his last words as he viewed those menacing black orbs locked onto his pale green eyes and swallowed the comment in his throat as he thought better of arguing with a seething Dark Lord. He spoke hurriedly in an appeasing tone, "Yes, sir. I shall get Mintekk to work on a way. Perhaps there is something he can do." The naval officer hastily got to his feet and bolted toward the bridge exit, while trying to avoid the cold stare of the Muun.

Zaxoran folded his arms and turned his attention beyond the transparisteel windows again. The sleek trapezoid shaped foils wrapped around the cockpit like a cocoon as they blazed through the star system. This was a state-of-the-art ship, and there had to be a way to gain the advantage.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"Oh it will," Ervisa assured her friend-with-benefits as she plucked the mostly-fresh cigarette from her lips and extended it to Horst, glancing over at the navicomputer.

"Oh good, there's a black hole on this course. They'll have to drop out of hyperspace and lay in a new course. We can hit their engines when they do that. Let's just flip on the cannons..."

Ervisa powered up the weapons systems and thanked the Force that Spearpoint had packed this ship to the brim with weapons. It made her feel pretty badass actually, like she could blow any bad guy away in ten seconds flat. 'Course she'd have to see just how it went.

The Mirialan woman fished out a new cigarette and lit it, placing it between her full lips and taking her free hand, resting it on the control that would take them out of hyperspace as soon as she felt in the Force that the other craft was dropping out.

"Let's just hope nothing goes catastrophically wrong today. 'cept I'm probably dooming us to just that by saying this. Oh yeah, Ervisa's big mouth will be the death of us all. I might as well buy a black cat and smash a mirror now."

Ervisa laughed before taking another drag of her cigarette.

Meanwhile in the back, Teer was answering the questions, though Cassy and Sirius seemed disinterested. She was worried they were both complacent, that they didn't realize the gravity of their situation. She did. That was why she was a Master and they were Knights.

Admittedly there were other reasons as well.

"There is just one Sith, but he is a verified Sith Lord. We know he is a Muun who goes by the name of Zaxoran. We also know he has killed before, and if we don't capture or kill him before he reaches Sith space, then we lose him for good. None of you are to be complacent in this. He can kill any one of you alone. Together we stand a chance though."

The intercom crackled to life, and Ervisa announced the situation.

"The bad guys are on a course straight for a black hole, they've got to drop out and recompute. When they do, we'll blast them. Hang tight back there, it may be a little rough."

[Fromikeable]

Horst took the cigarette with a smirk, looking at it curiously. He noted where his friend-with-benefits' lips had been, and he curiously sniffed the tabacc smoke that protruded from the burning end.

It made him cough and spit to the side.

"Eh. Ain't worth it." The Engineer snuffed the cigarette out on the side of his seat, making sure it was out, and then flicked it backward at the door, imaging he was tossing it at one of the Jedi. That made him smirk a little more.

Ervisa then relayed that the Sith ship would have to stop. Horst nodded at that, sitting up. He quickly dashed his hands about his side of the dash, rerouting power to the guns he'd personally overseen the implementation of. In retrospect, he'd been surprised they (his engineers-in-training) had gotten the outfitting done so quickly. He'd expected at least a myriad of minor problems or...

A light flashed slowly on the dash. Horst read it as "POWER: AUXILIARY GUNS".

"Sonuva..." He sighed. Well, the outfitting had gone off almost without a hitch. "I'll be right back." With that, he was out of his seat and through the door, passing through the huddle of Jedi. The way they were standing in the corridor demanded that he walk through them, between the two males. One looked pretty big and had a hippy-dippy haircut while the other looked kind of moody and annoyed. He shouldered past both of them, not so much as sparing them a glance as his shoulder accidently tapped the moody, older-looking one with the glasses. That prompted an unenthusiastic "S'cuse me."

When Horst finally reached the engine room, he tapped on the comm on the wall and patched through to the bride. "'Kay Ervi, gimmie a minute here." He left it on as he began checking wires and examining readouts and check-lights. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he discovered the problem: a few wires connecting the power capacitors to the auxillary guns had shorted out.

Pulling out a pair of wire-cutters from his tool-belt, Horst yelled over at the ship comm to Ervisa, "Looks like a coupla' wires died on us. It'll only take a few minutes, but ya' might wanna' get one of those Jedi on the guns 'till I'm done."

Meanwhile, Vance was about to ask Teer another question when the pilot's voice crackled to life and announced a small hiccup; the Sith ship would be stopping soon, and they'd start shooting at it as soon as it did. He glanced over at Teer again, unsure of how sound a plan that was.

He was about to try again, but this time a grizzly looking man, mid-40's by the looks of it, came trudging out of the cockpit and through their group, knocking into Sirius slightly as he passed. Vance heard him mumble some sort of apology, but he didn't seem too inclined on being nice.

The padawan knit his eyebrows, watching the man disappear into the engine room. Vance understood his attitude, but he didn't like it.

"One last thing Master," Vance finally asked, smoothing out his robes a bit. Sirius and Cassy seemed a tad... off today. Vance couldn't tell if they were annoyed at something or just troubled, but neither seemed particularly chipper. He raised an eyebrow, looking at them both and sweeping over them with his presence, only glancing at their presences un-intrusively. What was with them?

Refocusing, Vance finished his question. "Considering that you and Sirius have the most experience in this sort of thing..." he glanced at Sirius's arm, knowing that beneath the robes wasn't a limb made of flesh. "I'm guessing that you two will be leading the charge?"

[Ghostie]

Complacent, really? Sirius hardly thought he was being complacent. He knew what a Sith Lord could do. A being with that much power could easily kill anyone in this Jedi Strike team, including Master Ka. That's why he was so dangerous, why they were hunting him. Sirius didn't underestimate their quarry.

He was just tired of the same damn talk before every mission.

What a Sith Lord was doing in Republic Space during a war was beyond him though. It seemed extremely irresponsible, and even somewhat stupid. There were Jedi on guard in almost every sector. If someone didn't notice him, he was either very lucky, or very sneaky.

The rest of the Jedi seemed to be getting restless. Master Ka was obviously annoyed, Cas was mad at something, and Vance seemed to be trying to tell what was going on. Sirius could almost feel Cassy's eyes linger on his arm. They hadn't seen each other for quite some time. A mechanical limb shocked most people when Sirius met them.

Sirius did not return her gaze, nor look at her at all if he could help it. She didn't seem keen on talking, and Sirius didn't wan to be distracted. He missed the time they spent around the Temple as friends. They would into random trouble, Sirius would tell corny jokes, and then Cassy would yell at him for them. Sirius had something of a crush on Cassy when they first met, but that was five years ago. And he doubted she felt the same way.

It was a good thing when Cas got up, cause that jumpsuit was going to cause Sirius to become distracted sooner or later. Perhaps five years wasn't long enough for some feelings to go away.

One of the pilots brushed through the group of Jedi. It was the big, grizzly man. He seemed to be in a hurry on the way back to the engineering compartment. Bumping into Sirius, he issued a small apology but didn't stop. Hopefully nothing serious was going on.

Vance looked Sirius's way, and Sirius returned him a fake smile that was meant to be comforting. To be honest, Sirius had no reason to smile. One of his friends didn't want to talk to him let alone be in the same room with him, they were chasing a Sith Lord, and frankly Sirius was still a little sore from his previous mission. It was like the cherry on top.

The other pilot, Ervisa was her name, wasn't it? She said over the comm something about that they were going to drop out of hyperspace and start firing on the Sith ship. The two ships seemed to be matched so far, so they might be able to pull off such a feat.

Vance then brought up another question, who exactly would be leading “the charge” against the Sith. Vance seemed to suggest Master Ka and Sirius. The Knight hadn't thought about such things. H could duel dark Jedi, but they weren't quite the same thing as Sith.

Sirius got a little worried. Last time he faced someone out of his league, he lost a limb. A Sith Lord would cause a lot more damage. He needed to get his mind off the upcoming battle.

“I'm gonna go see if I can give that pilot some help.”

Sirius took off the same direction as the grizzly man, arms straight at his side and akul tooth necklace out on his chest. The necklace was something of a good luck charm to him nowadays, gained during his Trial of Courage. Hopefully it would help him today.

[Cassy]

She stood there in her black body suit; her green eyes flecked back around the ship for a moment but she returned her gaze to the holoviews and glass of the outside of the ship, the stars...streaking onward.

Master Ka's voice cut through like a knife, as she listened. She absorbed what Master Ka said, and step by step her mood changed. Walking in the clicks of her feet across the hull, she plopped down with a bounce next to Master Teer Ka as she spoke; deciding to stare at the floor in silence as she concluded.

Suddenly, a burst of movement came from the hallway nearby. Cassy watched the burly pilot and mechanic apparently, bump into Sirius as he brushed his way by, hurrying to check on the hardware of the ship she'd overheard them speaking of earlier. She would help, but it appeared he was more than capable. Cassy was more proficient with the workings of droids and programming, she might've been useless in that situation even if she'd offered to help.

The thoughts prompted by Master Ka's words and the were interrupted by the burly and curly Padawan. Cassy's green eyes lifted, and met his gaze for awhile. Her eyes lingered on him in a silent stare for more than few seconds.

Sirius got up and left stating he was going to see if he could 'help the pilot out', as Cassy continued to look at Vance while he walked off and just plain ignored his question. With a sigh she gave him a smile; her county accent coming through as her voice spoke at a subtle caress.

"Don't worry....follow me into battle, let the Force guide your steps with ours, you'll be fine." Cassy smiled at him, crossing her legs as she sat next to Master Ka in her black body suit, black belt complete with three silver magnets placed around the belt hung around her hips. "Seek opportunities that the Force prevents..don't consider yourself a hindrance, you're anything but...when we surround our target, be there with us, stand with us. We stand with you." her words of wisdom came as she relaxed her head on the seat behind her, staring upward. "Seek whatever opportunities the Force provides you there, your moment to strike will come. Find it." she concluded, as she drew silent.

She remained silent there for awhile as she eventually turned to Master Ka, and gave her a small smile. Before closing her eyes and relaxing into a body trance, her lips pursing together comfortably as they continued on.

[ordon68]

The dark durasteel blast door at the entrance of the bridge slid open, followed by the ship's pilot. Zaxoran spun his chair around to face the human, leaning forward in anticipation of a report. Trellin stopped and wiped off the sweat that had trickled down his short, groomed blonde sideburns and eyebrows.

The Muun pursed his flat grey lips and narrowed his eyes, his face showing that he was impatiently waiting for a response.

The Sith commander cleared his throat. His face flushed as he found his voice. "Well, sir. Mintekk has come up with an idea to connect the backup hyperdrive unit to the main hyperdrive using several power couplings and a rigged converter. He will interface the two together and give us an additional boost in power."

The Sith Lord raised his hairless eyebrow slightly as he looked at the man. "I can sense that you don't seem to agree with his assessment, even without the force. What are the risks involved with this... modification?"

Trellin swallowed hard, seeming to have trouble spitting out his words. "There is some danger to the procedure. We will have to do it while we come out of hyperspace. But we need to change course anyway and he can rig it up then."

"I gathered that much already. What, exactly, does the engineer believe could go wrong with this plan? What does he estimate the chance of success to be?"

The pilot's eyes darted around the bridge, as if he was looking for a place to hide. He bit his lip and then blurted out his reply. "It could blow both hyperdrive units, and possibly take out all of our power. He informed me that it would be only a forty percent chance of success."

The Muun frowned and turned his head back to look out of the viewport again. He answered without bothering to look at the sweating pilot. "Very well. Make the preparations. It's obvious that the ship that's following us has some upgrades if it has been able to gain on us. Chances are they have upgraded weaponry as well. Can Mintekk have it ready in time for our course change?"

"Yes, sir. He should have everything connected within the hour. All he would need to do is throw the switch to boost the power to the main hyperdrive."

"Good. When we come out of hyperspace, we will engage the ship behind us and test their firepower. Scan them thoroughly and find out what were up against. If they have the distinct advantage then we shall endeavor to test our modified hyperdrive booster."

"Yes, sir." The pilot replied smartly and then walked over to the co-pilot. "Lieutenant Tanbom, start making your calculations for the next jump. We need to get everything ready to go quickly in the event that we need to make our escape."

Zaxoran cursed the Jedi silently as he watched the two crewmen going to work on their risky plan.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

"I'm not sure what to do yet," Teer said, folding her arms and staring off at the bulkhead.

It wasn't going to be easy. It would take all their skill, and all their know-how to prevail. But the stakes were high, and if they could capture this Sith Lord he could reveal important information. Barring that, they could kill him and eliminate a threat to the Republic.

The severe Togruta woman frowned as she ran through the possible bits of delegation. The pilot was a grey Jedi, she could possibly be recruited to aid in the fight as well. That would bolster their numbers.

---

Ervisa sensed the Sith ship drop out of hyperspace before she saw it on her displays, and she pulled their own ship out at the same time. As a result, they appeared close to each other, and as she accelerated towards the other ship, she became aware of something odd happening.

Something very odd.

A peculiar glow surrounded both ships, a sort of swirling nebulous matter, in a kaleidoscope of color she'd never seen before.

In all her years as a Jedi and a pilot, she'd never once seen anything like this. The instruments were all twisting and writhing psychotically, and none of the readings on sensors made any sense. She couldn't explain any of it.

"Uh, Horst!" She yelled. "You'd better get up here."

The stars flickered, flashed, and abruptly changed. Looming before them now was a blue and green planet she'd never seen before, that she was confident hadn't been there a minute ago. Simultaneously, all her scopes went dead.

"Oh SH*T!" Ervisa exclaimed as the planet came up rapidly, the Sith ship already glowing in the atmospheric reentry.

"EVERYONE STRAP IN, WE'RE GOING DOWN!"

The dark side of the planet was approaching, and she could see lights on the ground, and trees. The Mirialan woman hit all the maneuvering thrusters at once to kill their momentum, but they still slammed into the ground and the ship skidded along to a stop, chopping down a dozen trees like an axe before it finally halted.

Ervisa took a deep breath and checked herself to see if she was all right. To her great surprise, she was.

"Everyone okay back there?" She asked nervously.

[Fromikeable]

Horst was mid-way through chopping out a burned wire when he heard someone arrive in the doorway. He slid out from under the component he was under to see who. To his displeasure, it was the same Jedi he'd bumped into in the hallway, probably come to receive a proper apology or something likewise impossible. Horst knit his eyebrows, looking at him with an uninviting look. "Yeah? What is it?" The question was sort of rushed, and Horst slid back under the component as he waited for his answer, finally removing the wire and throwing it out from under the hunk of metal.

That's when the lights flickered and Ervisa sounded for him over the comm rather urgently. Horst was about to ask her what was going on when all of a sudden the wires began to grow real hot real fast. Sliding out from under the component that controlled the auxillary guns again, Horst was about to check on the power switches when a burst of sparks exploded from the wires he was just working on. Then again from the component. Then again from the next component.

"Sh*t!" Horst bolted toward the door, making for the fire-extinguishing console at the room's entrance. When he pounded the button, however, the lights went out entirely, and yet sparks still poured from the every part of the engine room. As a small hum could be heard growing and growing, Horst's eyes widened. He knew that sound.

Diving out of the door, Horst tackled the young Jedi, exclaiming, "GET DOWN!" As the ship slammed into something, it also shook as a small explosion filled the engine room, licking fire out into the hallway. Horst covered the Jedi and pinned them both to the ground, hoping to hell that they were only due for the one outburst.

When the ship stopped shaking, he paused for a moment before looking up. The lights and power in general were out, and the Jedi were scattered. He looked down at the one he'd tackled, wondering if he was still awake. He didn't stop to check though, instead stumbling up. The engine room was as dark as the rest of the ship had become, so the status of its contents was anyone's guess at the moment. Horst directed his attention toward the cockpit though, stumbling through the dark, hands outstretched. At point he thought he felt his hand press up against an arm, probably belonging to one of the Jedi, but he only grunted, approaching the bridge in time for Ervisa to ask if everyone was okay.

Horst, though physically fine, was not. "The hell was that, Ervi?! There's not a planet fer' light-years!"

---

Vance shook his head slowly, noting that the ship was now both dark and slightly at an incline. He checked himself; he was lodged in a corner somewhere against metal walls, by the feel of it. He tried to sit up, but he found that his legs were actually above his head, with his back on the floor. Shifting for a few moments, he tried to rise, moaning slightly as he felt a rather large welt on his arm. He managed to stand though, and immediately spread out his presence, checking on the others. When he found them, he realized something somewhat amazing.

He'd gone flying into the next room. Wonderful.

Walking out rubbing his arm, Vance looked around in time to see Sirius laying on the ground and the burly mechanic making his way toward the bridge. Ignoring the speech coming from the cockpit, Vance managed to make his way over to Sirius, offering his hand to his fallen friend.

"You okay Sirius?" He looked around, trying to see Teer and Cassy through the darkness. The air seemed to be a little smokey for whatever reason, and the smell of burning came from what Vance was pretty sure was the engine room. Whatever had happened, it had caused a good degree of damage to the ship.

[Ghostie]

Sirius entered through the doorway into the engineering room. It was a rather medium room, with a large wall console and access to the engines and other systems. The large pilot/engineer was under one of the consoles at the moment, one that read auxiliary power.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I came to see if I could help.”

Sirius replied. Though, the mechanic sounded like he rather not have the company. Sirius knew he way around a ship pretty well. However, the larger man seemed to only be taking care of a couple of wires. He hadn't known, or he would've left the man to the task by himself.

Then the lights started to flicker. Then the voice of the female pilot came over the intercom, asking for Horst rather urgently. The wires started to glow once she was finished, and a couple of the components started to blow. The mechanic ran for the extingusher, but Sirius ran the other direction, for the console.

The Jedi Knight started to flip switches and turn off the unnecessary systems. Sirius svaed those that he could, keeping them from frying and causing more damage to the ship. He left those things they absolutely needed, such as life support and engines, running. If this was a proper ship, they would have back up components and power for those systems.

Sirius worked so fast that he didn't pay attention to what he was doing, or rather, which of his hands he was using. Electrical sparks flew from the components, daring anything to come close just so they could zap it. When Sirius reached the last panel, his cybernetic arm hit the switch. A spark flew up his arm, ending where the mechanical limb did. It gave him a short jolt of electricity, shocking the Knight for a second or so. But that's all it needed to disable his arm.

The cybernetic fell limp, but before Sirius could asses the real damage, Horst flew into him and knocked both of them to the ground. Sirius had the wind knocked out of him as they both tumbled down, Horst covering Sirius from the console's explosion.

After the explosion had subsided, the lights went out. Horst immediately got up and ran for the cockpit. Sirius got up as fast as he could, having a limb that wasn't working and being tackled by someone who could be a professional shock-boxer.

Vance came down, offering Sirius a hand. He wanted to move his hand, he willed it to move, but it wouldn't budge. The cybernetic had been powered down, or short circuited, or something. Sirius needed to open it up to find out.

Reaching out with his organic limb for Vance's help. Sirius pulled himself up. The Knight reached for his saber to ignite the blade. While the emergency lighting was working, it wasn't nearly enough to see the egineering compartment properly. The bronze beam lit the compartment up for all to see.

“I'm fine Vance. Check on the others.”

Sirius didn't tell the younger Jedi that he now had a useless limb, or that a bulletin board with a couple of light bulbs could do more than the engineering console right now. There was no reason to worry him, to add that stress on top of that of hunting a Sith Lord. So Sirius lied to him, to keep morale up more than anything.

Once Vance left the compartment, Sirius searched for any tools he could find. A hydrospanner was here, a pair of pliers there, it was a mess after the explosion. Some of the tools that were close to the console were useless. But once Sirius found all he needed, he sat down on a low computer and begun the tedious task of opening up his silver cybernetic arm

I wonder what that mechanic would think if he charges back in here, and sees me like this.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

[OOC: Since Cassy has disappeared on us, we're going to skip her. Continue along folks.]