Total Meltdown

[Dasquian Belargic]

Following a brief induction onboard the space-bound headquarters of the Rebel Alliance, newly recruited (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15796) Agent Tipp Gray, and his mentor Agent Lani Solarius (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?t=15851), find themselves on a routine scouting mission – or at least as routine as missions for the Rebellion go - in the Expansion Region . Their ship exits hyperspace on the fringes of the Obas system and within a matter of moments a message indicator lights up on the ships communication panel. The signal is a direct link, implying that whoever is sending the message must also be Rebels. Agent Solarius, sighing at the tedious inevitably of the messages arrival, accepts the transmission...

WARNING: Facitilies on Obas have lost environmental control capabiities. All personnel have been sequestered in the control centre. Several systems have shut down completely, including sensors, internal comm, and docking bay man access-way.

NEW ORDERS: Procure 30 SoroSuub KL-45 coolant hydro-valves. Best local source is Imperial supply depot in Rainos Cluster. Base personnel will attempt to reroute control lines to open main docking bay door. Estimates give less than nine hours before complete melt-down.

“Rainos Cluster, huh.” Solarius murmured, as she closed the message and activated the ships sensors.

“DepotSec bucket head's are bottom-of-the-barrel. Nothing we can't-”

Something had appeared on one of the sensor displays. “It's an Imp scout ship. Looks like we all had the same idea.” It was a fair distance away, and apparently preoccupied with its cyclical orbit of the nearby planets.

“Doesn't look like they've noticed us, but I doubt it'll stay that way for long. Computer says it's going to take us two hours to get to the depot, plus another two to get back here, giving us a total of three hours to break in, steal the valves and sneak out without anyone noticing.”

Lani smirked, looking up from the navigation console at her young co-pilot. “Easy.”

[Tipp Gray]

"Easy?" As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep the small grin on my face from showing a hint of uneasiness. "I guess I better get used to this."

I checked the radar to see just how far the enemy vessel was from us. "What do you think that scout is doing out here?" It was probably on a random patrol for Alliance bases, but you could never tell with these things. The Empire had eyes and ears everywhere.

Still, this wasn't all bad. We couldn't just waltz into the docking bay of a suppy depot in this ship. It was more of a blessing, actually. With the scout being able to land at Rainos with minimal trouble, along with its cargo capacity, there was no doubt what needed to be done. Now, if we could just figure out an easy way to do it.

I looked over to Solarious to see if she was thinking the same as me. "It seems like our best option," I shrugged my shoulders. "This ship is completely civilian, nothing indicating affiliation with the Alliance. We could send a distress call, steal it when they come to rescue us, and head to the depot." It sounded complicated. The worst thing, though, was that that was the easiest part of the mission.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Interesting plan.” Lani looked thoughtful for a moment, then added, “It's got more holes than a spade-headed smooka nest, but command haven't exactly given us a whole lot of options.”

She reclined into the cockpit chair, exhaling heavily, her mind racing over what might happen in the hours head. “We'll have to rig up some kind automatic transmission loop, so that the Imps think the scout is still there and doing it's job. If they don't, you can bet they'll have a whole squadron swarming over here within the hour.”

Sitting forward, she clapped her hands together. “Alright. I'll come up with a convincing distress call, you start packing up our stuff.”

They were lucky to be traveling relatively light. The Alliance had given them some hand-held sensor equipment, but not much else.

“Scanner says that it's just a TIE Scout, standard Sienar Fleet model. There can't be more than three men on board,” Lani called over her shoulder to Tipp, who had vanished into the main deck.

[Tipp Gray]

"There aren't many Imperial ports around here," I yelled back as I tried to stuff the equipment into a duffle bag. "They're probably on an extensive leave, meaning all three spots will be filled." I was able to get everything we would need into two large bags. I lugged them to the deck, almost falling back down with the extra weight.

I dropped the luggage to the floor and grabbed a few small things from the main deck. "There's no use in getting rid of this ship, plus we need somewhere to put the crew of the scout. I say we lock them up here and get a team from the Obos base to come pick this up." After the Alliance's victory over Endor, their list of supporters grew, leading to an expansion of the pocketbook. Still, there was no reason to waste this perfectly fine vessel.

"Got that distress call perfected?" I smirked. Solarious was duely ranked above me, but I had really taken to her. I enjoyed her cool attitude in times like these and had become accustomed to joking around with her in such situations.

I made sure the charge on my blaster was full then tucked it into my pants. It was light and small, making it easy to conceal.

[Dasquian Belargic]

“Didn't you hear the message? From the sounds of things, no one is coming out of the base on Obas any time soon. We can send the ship into orbit without loosing it completely...but I'm not risking dumping the Imps on there. Too much risk of them throwing a wrench in everything. We'll lock them up on the Scout.” Lani shook her head, as she rattled her fingertips across various keys on the communication console. “Right, that's the bait out there. We're wealthy travelers whose navi-comm has malfunctioned and need to hitch a ride. I emphasized on the wealthy part.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the packed bags, and pulled on the flight jacket that had been draped over the back of her chair. “It's a shame the ship isn't bigger. We could've just docked inside their hangar, then,” she said, more thinking aloud than actually speaking to Tipp. The computer began to bleep. Solarius frowned. “Well, that was quick. I guess they mustn't have found anything exciting out here, if they're so eager to respond.” Through the viewscreen, the shape of the TIE scout grew larger.

“Let me do all the talking, okay?”

[Tipp Gray]

"I'm sure they would let a civilian ship fly into their hangar for refueling," I joked. I listened to the distress call and couldn't help but smile. "Listen to yourself. It sounds like you are trying to seduce them. No wander they are coming so quickly."

Following Lani's lead, I put my jacket on and watched the TIE approach. "Just in case they ask questions, what are we doing together? Are we married? Are you my mom?" I had no clue of my partner's age, but she was senior to me as far as the Alliance was concerned. You couldn't tell from looking at her, though.

"I don't mind you doing the talking, but just in case they ask, we should cover these things."