Delteon Endurance Challenge

[Khendon Sevon]

Silver eyes pierced through the black veil of space. “A momentous occasion,” came a voice from behind the Imperator. Khendon turned in one smooth motion, a smile crossing his face. In front of the black armor clad leader of the Federacy stood a proud admiral.

“It’s been a long time, Leyard. I’ve reviewed the situation that arose between you and the Sovereignty Vic-star. Good work.”

A single side of the Admiral’s mouth rose in a lopsided grin. The old man bowed to Khendon and spoke softly, “thank you, Imperator.”

“So, who do you think has a chance of winning this, Admiral?”

Leyard’s eyes brightened and, for a moment, he looked much younger, “The Chiss have a major edge. They’ll probably be employing some of the technologies we traded with them. They’ll have maneuverability and speed, I’m sure of it.

“Of course, there’s always UIT’s Kamaar division. They’ll have access to older drives such as the Dreamweaver and Mustang. Again, they’ll be using portions of our technology.

“There are a few wild cards. The Sovereignty, although light-years behind us, does posses the planet Yag’Dhul. We all know about the capabilities of its people.

“And then there’s Dantarno Engineering. They’re racers, pure blooded. However, I don’t think they have the stellar monetary backing to produce sufficient results.”

“That’s close to my estimations,” said Khendon coolly. His eyes narrowed, “They’re arriving.”

Pinpricks expanded in space. Light erupted and burst in a hundred places as ships of varying shapes and sizes sprinted from hyperspace. A literal swarm of craft approached their docking point, the impressive Insuperable-class Star Destroyer Death Advocate.

“Admiral, I’m giving you command, I’m going to go to the main hangar and greet our guests,” Khendon smiled and in a swift move turned and trotted off the bridge—his cloak trailing behind elegantly.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Jacen tightened his fingers around the controls. He'd been flying the ship for three days, but already it felt like home. The cockpit was comfy. The seat even reclined a little, so he could sleep in Hyperspace. And there were enough alarms and warning sirens that he didn't have to worry about not waking up.

The sound of the realspace re-entry siren still rang in his ears. Maybe he'd get someone to turn the volume down a bit.

Locking the controls in place with the thumb-buttons, he reached down to the comm unit, and started broadcasting. "Race Control, this is Jacen Dantarno, representing the Dantarno Engineering team." He smiled, keeping his tone light, despite the lump forming in his stomach as he saw the immense structure of the Federacy's Star Destroyer. It had been a long time since he'd been this close. I hope I can get away again, he thought to himself.

He pushed those thoughts aside. "I'm sat inside a very large race-fighter, and I'm being followed by a support shuttle...where abouts would you like us to park?"

The voice that came back sounded far to pretty and polite. It reminded him of Janice...one of the Customer Service Advisors that worked for his uncle. He'd tried to date her once. He shuddered. Bad memories. "The main hanger is open and recieving craft," she said. Jacen didn't have to try to imagine the false smile on her face. "If you would follow the flight path we have indicated, we will be able to accomodate you shortly."

"Thank you, have a nice day," Jacen said quickly before she could, cutting off the comm. He flipped it over to the private channel he shared with his uncle's shuttle. "Follow me in," he instructed, and rolled down to join the swarm.

[Jake Snake]

Jake lay there on his stomach. His body limp, in a comatose state. Although his body was inactive, his mind was anything but that. His brain had awoken from sleep ten minutes before real space reentry and he had been scanning over systems since then. All the new systems had to monitored since they didn't have time to get safty systems installed.

So far everything was green and looked good. All power feeds were still locked and holding. "One and Two, what's your status?" Jake sent out through the neural links.

"All system at 100% sir." Came the reply from both.

"Alright, get ready for reentery in ten seconds."

Acknowledgements came from the Shrieker pilots and Jake woke up from his previous state and looked around the cockpit. Two...One... counted down the computer. When it reached zero the tunnel they were in disolved and stars formed once again. They had slipped into the blackness and coldness of real space.

Instantly blips appeared on his right and left, indicating the two Shriekers. Ahead were other blips and one large one. The other fighters and their rally point. "Death Advocate, this is Federacy race flight. Requesting landing clearance."

"Welcome Commodore, this is Death Advocate. You and your flight are cleared to land at Bays 5 through 7. Good luck on the race sir."

Jake smiled, "We don't need luck, but thank you. Federacy flight one the way, out."

He turned the fighter towards the star destroyer and proceeded to land gently inside the large hanger area. The Shriekers landed on both sides of him, as he was getting out. It felt good to stretch his legs. Jake stood there and looked at all the other fighters. He maybe some competition yet.

[Travis North]

This was it. Travis' first encounter with the Federacy. He had read about them and fought sims but hadn't had contact with them. All he knew really was that they had technology, and that the Sovereignty and them were enemies.

The sleek craft reverted to real space, it's bright colors looking out of place in the void, and compared to the Destroyer looked like a minnow. The Tsunami as it was dubbed shot of the vortex and sped past the other racers to the monster.

"Federacy the control, this is Sovereignty racer Tsunami. Requesting permission to enter hanger." Travis said in a steady tone. He expected to get a hateful tone in reply.

"Roger Sovereignty, follow this flight path and enter the hanger."
came the reply of a slightly angered voice.

"Aye, will do."

Travis slowed the craft down to 2/3rds and proceeded on the flight path. Soon he was beneath the giant. As he entered the hanger, he felt as though he were being swallowed by a whale. He signaled to the Spectre. "Captain, these people don't seem to be what we make them."

[Corias Bonaventure]

Iolanthe burst out of hyperlight a good deal closer than most of the racers to the Death Advocate. By all common sense, such a jump was horribly unsafe, especially with so many other craft flitting about the behemoth like flies on an elephant, but that was the beauty of nav coordinates accurate to within ten meters--mere angstroms in cosmic terms. The survey ship's powerful sublight engines rocketed her toward the wedge-shaped monster as the energetic glow of hyperspace was still fading from her fuselage.

"S. S. Iolanthe to Death Advocate, this is Corias Bonaventure representing team Alghieri. Request permission to land and docking procedure, if you please."

Corias heard static--seemed he'd arrived with a clot of other contendors, and his request had probably been put in a queue. He plotted a holding pattern around the Star Destroyer and settled back to wait.

There was something about starships that measured their firepower in cities leveled that gave Corias the willies. He'd only once before seen a Star Destroyer this close--the derilict converted by the Fyrokkians into Redclaw Station--but the Insuperable-class was considerably bigger than the old Imperial-class. The Star Destroyer was probably the most effective propaganda tool the Empire had ever devised, even more so than the fabled Death Stars, and the fact that the NR used had a few classes in its own fleet couldn't really change that.

But money was money, and if he placed well in this race, he'd gladly give the Imperator a toast with his victory champagne.

"Death Advocate to Iolanthe, you are cleared to dock. Please follow the appended flight path. You will be landing in berth eleven. Thank you."

And he wouldn't mind sharing the toast with that Imperial if she looked half as good as she sounded.

"Roger that, Death Advocate, I'm making my approach now."

As he angled his ship toward the main docking bay, he took stock of his competition. There was a sleek-looking Sovereignty craft, a design he wasn't familiar with. TIE Shriekers, probably the home team. He'd read about those. Somehow the pilots became one with their fighters--their bodies went catatonic so their higher brain functions could directly manipulate the ship's systems. Further on in, he caught sight of a fighter-racer flagged for Dantarno Engineering. He didn't see the Chiss yet, or any of the others he'd marked as contenders to watch out for. Iolanthe probably wasn't marked on anyone else's list. He was an unknown spacer, just one of the crowd of hopeful adventurers, and Iolanthe was a mongrel among thoroughbreds. After all the refitting she'd seen in Alghieri's chop shop, she looked like something that had been magnetized and flown low over the surface of Ord Mantel. But she was as ready as ever to make history if only the cards fell in all the right places just this once...

Iolanthe drifted into the garish light of Death Advocate's docking bay and took her place among the other racers, her patchwork hull gleaming with a museum polish. It was time for the ugly duckling to strut her stuff.

[(Alex) Jacen]

(OOC: For reference, the engines on my fighter are referred to as Dorsal/Ventral Port/Starboard...DP, DS, VP, and VS. Just so you don't get confused. :D )

The race manifest scrolled up on his screen again. He searched for every ship by eye, wishing he'd got his visor with him. But the Jedi he'd met had said he looked better without it. And, the more people remembered him without the visor, the more they wouldn't recognise him with it on. He wasn't sure how useful it would be, but it could be some day.

He popped the cockpit, and watched as it swung upwards, taking most of the fighter's front with it. He reached up and grabbed the hand-holds kindly attached to the insides of the cockpit, and pulled himself up to standing. Resting a foot on the panel where the canopy had just set, he hopped forward, and stepped out onto the left "fuselage" of his fighter. In truth, it was just the housing for the fuel tanks, projectile launchers and repulsorlifts. It reminded him of the twin prongs on a YT-1300. He stepped round the DP engine, and jumped down onto the floor.

Looking around the bay, he picked out the ships he'd marked as the major opposition...at least, the ones his uncle had. Jacen felt he'd overlooked a few. A few of the cargo ships around could be dangerous, if modified...and the Iolanthe for one looked like it had. But, for the most part, their lists had matched. He raised an eyebrow at the intreguing design of the two TIE Shriekers. Frell, he thought to himself. They don't look very friendly.

He shrugged, and wandered closer, hoping to find out a little about his potential enemies that, while it might not help him now, could be of benefit in the future. I'm watching you, Impies, he thought, glaring at them each in turn, before hoping against hope that none of them were telepathic.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Blah, blah, blah. Arya made sure the Wing of the Raven, a heavily modified Chevette77 freighter was locked up, and then she walked over to the welcoming committee. She was surprised that there were so many teams, but then, she shouldn't have been.

Another lone ship, the Iolanthe, looked out of place among the Imperial's prize ships. Gleaming hulls reflected the hangar's light brightly, and 'Rima Xavier' wondered if a bit of polish wouldn't have gone wrong on her own ship. The Chevette77 didn't look like it was built for speed, but it would at least give these snobs a run for their money. And, they'd underestimate it. Imperials always did.

The Wing of the Raven was registered under the name HyperwaveRunner, it's transponder reflecting the name choice. Arya had presented her ID and paperwork from her Rima identity, and had received no problems. She felt the comfortable weight of the blaster under her thin nerfhide jacket, and walked straight up to the man who seemed to have the biggest chip on his shoulder. He was glaring at practically every Imperial on the deck.

"Hi, Rima Xavier. You'd be...?" The smuggler stuck her hand out in introduction.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Jacen turned at the sound of a voice behind him. He stared at the hand stuck towards him for a second, before the concept of shaking it registered in his brain. He tried to cover the delay of his reactions with a lopsided grin, but he doubted it would work.

"Jacen Dantarno. Team Dantarno." His grin grew. "Best racers in the Outer Rim...or so my uncle tells me. I'm flying that thing." He pointed towards his gold and silver fighter, its impressive three-layered wingspan looking out of place beside the tall, thin profiles of the Imperial Shriekers. For the first time, Jacen realised what was missing from the fighter. His R2 unit wasn't there. He sighed, realising that, unexpectedly, he missed the little dude.

"You're in the, uh..." He frowned, trying to remember the manifest. "HyperspaceRacer, right? Or is it Hyperdrive?"

[Jake Snake]

Jake looked over his fighter as the Shrieker pilots stood by theirs. They didn't say or do much, just stood like statues near the front of their ships. Jake shook his head and looked at the people arriving.

I suppose I should go meet with everything, see what they are like. Jake said to himself. He had memorized everyone that was taking part in the race and nodded to people as he walked by.

Seeing Jacen and Rima, he walked over to them. He put out his hand and smiled lighted, "Mr. Dantarno, Ms. Xavier. Welcome to Federacy space. I'm Jake Snake, Federacy Racing team. How are both of you doing today? Ready to get this race started?"

Jake looked over Jacen's ship and nodded, "Original and fine design, I look forward to seeing what you can do with it. If your reputation is true, this should be a nice contest."

He turned to Rima, "Same does for you. Your ship goesn't look like it could compete with the other fighters, but I'm sure that its appearance it decieveing. I look forward to racing with both of you."

[Teleran Balades]

"Three minutes to revision."

Tel jerked awake from his seat, feeling quite embarrassed for nodding off in the first place. "Thank you lieutenant." He glanced at the chrono. "We're twenty minutes ahead of schedule." The lieutenant llooked over. "Whatever engines Intel puts in these things really has some power."

Tel leaned foreward and checked the console. "Make sure to camo and sensor masks are swirched off when we arrive, it wouldn't do us good to have the Federacy tinking we're spying on them." The captain was impressed with the Spectre, but Intel ships had some oddities equiped.



The Wraith tore out of hyperspace several klicks out. The dull gray,unmarked craft surged ahead, a slight clow eminating from the engine pods on the stubby, swept back "wings".

"Death Advocate, this is the Wraith representing the Sovereignty requesting clearance to dock." Teleran took a moment to glance around. The Wraith was easily one of the largest of the racing craft.

Wraith, please follow the beacon in, land on pad 27, we had to clear some space for your craft."

The odd lcoking ship fell in line with the others slightly behind North's Tsunami, dwarfing in it. The ship was six times larger than its teamate.

"Don't put anything past these people, Commander. A Federal gunship is a match with one of our medium cruisers."

The image of a Vic-Star MK IV being torn to pieces by a federacy gunship passed through his mind as the ship entered the docking bay.

[Corias Bonaventure]

"Keep an eye on the shop, Merchall--I'll go have a look at the competition, and maybe see if there's a program for the pre-race ceremonies."

Corias Bonaventure thumped down the aft ladder from the cockpit, extended the ventral gangplank, and strolled down to the glossy imperial flight deck. A cavalcade of assorted racecraft was reflected in the polished black surface, brilliant under the garish lights. The Imperials had a certain sense of style, brash and overwhelming though it was, and decked as the deck was, you'd think the second coming of Palpatine was on its way.

Corias looked down at the floor and adjusted his bandana, then dug his hands deep into the pockets of his blue, leather bomber's jacket as he headed down the aisle. He saw two ships that could be dismissed out-of-hand--one from the Knobulos Moon Cluster that looked like it had been designed through the use of hallucinogens and a grossly tripped-out Hmonda touring craft with the characters .5X farcically painted over an undersized hyperdrive housing. Further on was a Chevette Freighter tagged HyperwaveRunner whose modest exterior probably hid some more serious competition.

Corias gestured toward a passing G'skonian. "Excuse me, do you know where--"

"Ooshka magusta, pthedo."

"Well, at least I have a mother, cheekto,"

He kept on walking until he encountered a man in imperial uniform. "Hey, excuse me, you happen to know where I could get a program for the opening ceremonies? I figure this thing has to be starting before too long."

[Travis North]

Travis laughed in disbelief at the Captain's comment, but still he felt there was some truth in it. The craft slowly glided into the hanger. Lots of people and craft were about. He flipped a switch and the landing gear extended. A little thud could be heard as the ship came in contact with the bays surface.

He released the locking mechanism on his seat and slid back to the mid section of the ship. He realesed the belt and got up.
Quickly he got out of his pilot suit revealing him in his uniform. He opened the hatch and jumped out.

Amazement struck him. From the cockpit the bay looked busy but, as he looked around it was like a market on clearence day. Travis walked through the maze of ships. Incredible designs, the ones that really caught his attention were the Federacy ships. He wanted to get a closer examination. Except he would most likely be shot at by the crafts' pilots. He continued making his way to what appeared to be the openning ceremony. He looked around to see if the Captain had come abaord.

[Prometheus]

Like a bolt of lightning the massive Craft that was the Pandoras Fire burst out of hyperspace just outside the Gravity well of Delteon. Prometheus Sat at the Controls Watching ever instrument for abnormalities. The Modifications to his ship had been extensive. Including a New Chiss Engineered Gravitic Drive Which was the prototype of the New drive system based on the Gravitic Technology given to them by Imperator Khendon Himself. The Performance of the ship was like nothing Prometheus had operated before. Power and Maneuverability had been increased ten fold. A beep sounded from the Comm panel. Prometheus Knew it was Delteon Control. But he had no interest in meeting the other racers or letting anyone meet him for that matter. He pressed the transmit button on his neck which activated his built in comm transceiver.

"I am Prometheus. I am the Chiss Representative and acting Envoy for Grand Syndic Lash. I wish not to take part in any well to do before nor after the race. I will take up a holding Pattern in orbit and await the beginning of the race. Please Inform Imperator Sevon That Grand Syndic Lash Sends his regards and best wishes for his people in the race ."

Prometheus did not wait for a reply. He killed the comm system and all power to all but life support on the ship. He had time. A nap would be good. He would need his strength.

[Arya Ravenwing]

Originally posted by Jake Snake
He turned to Rima, "Same does for you. Your ship goesn't look like it could compete with the other fighters, but I'm sure that its appearance it decieveing. I look forward to racing with both of you."

"Well, appearances don't count for much where I'm from." Rima smiled at Jake Snake, trying to ignore the insult that the Dantarno pilot didn't even know the name of her ship. And looking at her, it was hard to believe her words. She stood about five feet ten inches tall, and was wearing a black nerfhide jacket over a collarless white shirt. Her pants were black with a dark red stripe down the outside of each of the legs, and they were tight enough to show off her well muscled body.

Rima was pretty, but hard. Her blue eyes had a few fine lines around them, but it was hard to tell if they were from laughing, or scowling. She brushed her short black hair out of her eyes, and added, "It's almost like a three ring circus from Zeltron in here. Any idea on when we're getting started?"

[(Alex) Jacen]

Jake looked over Jacen's ship and nodded, "Original and fine design, I look forward to seeing what you can do with it. If your reputation is true, this should be a nice contest."

Oh no... Jacen thought to himself. Original and fine design? Uncle Kieran's gonna be unbearable...

Jacen felt slightly awkward. He'd been wearing his flightsuit on and off for about four days. It was obviously engineered for comfort. But there were a few problems. It was so comfortable, that Jacen sometimes forgot he was wearing it. Like now. He felt naked. He shiverred. The second problem was the tightness. It was engineered to cut down on wind resistance for Pod and Speeder Racers in Team Dantarno. But it was so tight that, to anyone with more imagination than an amoeba, it wasn't hard to picture him naked. He pulled the jacket he'd slipped on tighter around him, and tried to feel normal again.

Jacen frowned. Rima's question was a good one. "Yeah...when do things kick off around here?" He smiled slightly. "Do I have time to go eat pastries?"

[Jake Snake]

Jake looked at Rima and tried to not stare. Being a man, however, it was hard to not notice her beauty. She was not like the other women he had seen from outside of the Federacy Military. He could see that she was a strong woman and that was part of her beauty to him. The she carried herself was another part of her that impressed him.

This was a strange feeling to him. In all his years in the service he had never been attracted to anyone, but this woman, who had just appeared out of no where, had captured his mind somehow. The was something about her that drew him to her. If the situation was different, maybe he would ask her out, but there was no time for it and this was not the place. His feeling in no way effected Jake's thinking about winning the race, but he now kinda hoped that maybe they could still keep in touch later on.

All these thoughts raced through him in seconds. He didn't let the two see what he was thinking and didn't allow it to show on his face. Knowing women, though, she might have already read his mind, as they sometimes seem to be able to do. Standing at six foot five inches, Jake could see over Rima and looked out as other ships started to enter the hanger. He noticed some of the SOV ships that have entered the race and was looking forward to going up against their best ships.

Jake smiled to himself as he looked at Jacen's and Rima's flight suits. He wondered why these people would wearing something so tight to a long race, was beyond him. Jake had to admit to himself that he didn't mind Rima wearing, but he didn't have to see Jacen in it. His flightsuit, unlike theirs, was loose fitting and very comfortable. The synthetic material suit was made to be fight proof and water tight and resistant to tearing. While it was all that, it was also very soft and didn't irritate the skin that it touched. Micro holes throughout the suit allowed it to breathe. There was even an aircooling unit, as well as a heater installed into the suit. It had everything needed to survive on a planet, if he ever went down. Like everything Federacy though, it was padded a little to make it look intimidating and was colored in a dark Black. On each sholder were rank insignias and Federacy flags.

As Jake's brown eyes swept over the hanger, they came back to rest on Rima and Jacen. As if reading his mind, Jacen pulled the suit around himself. Jake thought Jacen must feel uncomfortable himself. Suddenly Jake looked head and appeared to freeze. His eyes didn't blink and it looked like he was looking straight through the people and the hanger itself. In fact, he was communicating to the control center of the star Destroyer through his neural implants. He talked to his other pilots as well and checked the list of ships that had arrived, comparing that to the one he had in his mind with all the other racers in it.

Suddenly he blinked and looked at Rima and Jacen again, "Sorry about that, we still seem to have some time. Not everyone has arrived yet and I wasn't informed when the race would start. I'm sure you have time to relax and eat your pastries as you put it." Jake smiled lighty at Jacen and laughed a little.

He looked back to Rima and looked into her eyes, "Ms. Xavier or can I call you Rima? Do you mind if I ask where you are from and how you got to be in this race? It is refreshing to see a woman take part in what has been called a man's sport. I'm sure you will teach some of these other guys a lesson or two. In the Federal Military I learned long ago to never underestimate a determined woman, it could be lethal." Jake said this and smiled.

[Kyle Raiden]

(OOC: Jacen Dantarno, and the other Team Dantarno members are used with permission...well, its me, anyway, so I can use them all I want. Mwahahahaha.)


IC:

Left, left, left, right, left. Left, left, left, right, left. The sound of seven pairs of feet marching along the metal-floored corridor, perfectly in rhythm with each other, was music to Kyle's ears. The Storm Guards, perfectly trained, were the ultimate soldier. The Federacy should be proud of what they had produced...and Kyle had no doubt that those responsible were.

He halted just inside the hanger bay, his eyes scanning the room. He turned to the nearest four guards. "Arrest Kieran Dantarno, and those with him." He nodded to the other two guards. "We will get the pilot ourselves."

With nods and yessirs, the guards complied. As Kyle strode off across the bay, the two guards followed perfectly in step with him. He tried to fluxiate his pace, but they matched it perfectly. He afforded himself a small smile. Touche.

As they reached Jacen Dantarno, Kyle nodded to Jake. "Sir," he said quietly, before turning to Jacen. "You are Jacen Dantarno." It was a statement, not a question.

Jacen nodded. "Yes I am."

Kyle paused, watching the nerves within Dantarno begin to rise. "Six months ago, you began a recruiting operation for what has been described as an anti-Imperial rebellion. Since then, we have been monitoring your operations, and what we have seen is disturbing. We are aware of the forces ammassing somewhere near Hutt Space. However, they do not currently concern us." Kyle's eyes narrowed. "You, on the other hand, do."

The guards gripped Jacen's arms firmly, containing the squirming man with ease. "You are hereby placed under arrest. Feel free to resist...futility can be entertaining." He smiled. "Follow me," he ordered, and turned on his heel, marching back the way he came.

As he marched, the other four guards and their prisoners fell into step. He smiled a little more. That was easy. I'm beginning to like this job.

[Teleran Balades]

Tel gazed out the viewport at the other ships as the 60 meter Wraith carefully floated through the bay. Several familiar designs greeted his eyes, but many more ships were impossible to recognize; either so heavily modified that they didn’t resemble their original form, or unique designs. The ships that stood out the most were, unsurprisingly, a trio of Federal TIE Shriekers; Tel had seen them only in holo-images and these looked slightly different, perhaps modified longer life support. But the group of vessels that caught the Sovereignty Captain’s interest the most were the ones with the Dantarno Engineering logos.

So those are the guys that have been stirring up trouble. I’m not impressed.

He had heard of an anti-Imperial movement forming, but didn’t quite believe it. Military Command, however, took it seriously enough to for to form an elite anti-terrorist division. Might have been a good idea to bring a unit along. Tel cut the thought short; he was here to show that the Sovereignty implemented technology that could rival the Federacy’s...though he did prefer skill and training to showing off tech.

A slight jolt ran through the ship as the six landing claws contacted the deck. Balades unfastened the crash restraints, stood up, and stretched. He hoped that there would be some time to stretch out before having to sit in the cramped, eight-man bridge. As he headed toward the exit ramp, he waved over one of the techs sent who had been sent along.

“Go over every rivet on this ship, I want to know if Intel told us everything we need to know about this thing.”

“Yes Capta…” Tel turned around interrupting him. “And if anyone comes onboard without my express permission, I want them dead!”

“Y..yes Captain.”

Teleran hit a switch to lower the ramp; pneumatic pumps hissed as the durasteel plate descended to the deck. The captain quickly ran over his olive uniform, and made sure the rank insignia on his chest was shining before stepping down the ramp; a classy appearance was also part of his orders. Quickly scanning the area, Tel noticed a group of people in a clearing and headed in their direction.

[Khendon Sevon]

Khendon strolled onto a landing overlooking the main docking bay. The bright lights of the massive chamber brought out the details in the vastly different vehicles that filled the bay. The walls were high; TIE racks lined the ceiling but had a clear dearth of attachments.

The Imperator grasped the cool rails that lined the overlook and smiled gingerly. His silver eyes swept the gathering of people. His face tightened into a serious expression and he cleared his voice, it being amplified a thousand times by the natural acoustics of the bay.

“Racers!” he said in his oratorical way, “Welcome one and all!” As he spoke a hush ran over the gathering of pilots and technicians. “I am Khendon Sevon,” he began, “your host.

“I would like to welcome you all to the first annual Delteon Endurance Challenge. As of right now I can say that the race will be one of the most heated ever. Entrants have come all the way from Csilla to participate in this gala event.

“I’m sure you’re all anxious to look over the details of the race, find out where the check points are, and run final preps on your vessels. However, one of the main aspects of this race is the unknown. Only tomorrow morning, when the system’s star breaks over the northern most pole of Delteon, shall I announce the key checkpoints, rules, and make certain everyone knows what awaits them.

“Until then, I invite all of you to join me for dinner tonight. Shortly, you will all be assigned sleeping quarters and be given a number designation. This number will do everything from tell you where to sit at supper to give you the order that you will be lined up in at the start of the race.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, let the festivities begin!” Khendon smiled broadly as applause drowned out his thoughts. Whistles and cheering clearly broke the din. Just you all wait, many of you will hate me at the end of this race…

[Arya Ravenwing]

Arya was already starting to hate him. Why delay the race longer? She was ready now. Plus, leaving her ship alone the night before a race made her uncomfortable. It might be tampered with.

Of course, Threepio was staying on board. Not that he'd be any good in a fight, but he could certainly alert her to any funny business. She clapped her hands lightly, and turned to Jake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, but the arrest sort of made me forget what I was going to say." Arya smiled warmly.

"As for how you learned not to underestimate women in the Federal military... this sounds like a good story." Her smile morphed into an open grin. "I wasn't aware that Imperials had many women in their service." As she spoke they started making their way toward where they would be given their assignments. She let her hand brush his arm as she threaded her way through the crowd, and kept eye contact with him as much as possible.

[Jake Snake]

Jake knew the arrest was coming before it even happened and before the pounding of the guards footsteps could be heard. He readied himself incase Jacen wanted to run or flee. His neural implant told him why the arrest was happening and he would help in it is need be.

As the guards took Jacen away Jake gently shook his head. Someone with Jacen's crimes shouldn't have even thought about setting foot on a Federacy ship let alone inside Fed space. As he was thinking the Imperator appeared and Jake looked at him, listening to the man speak.

His attention turned to the lovely Rima and smiled at her, gently waving his hand in a wiping motion. "No need to be sorry. It's quite alright. Unless you protest openly against the Empire, you have nothing to fear."

Jake saw her smile and it hit him like a cool breaze on a hot day. He was taken in by the beauty of it, never having seen a smile like that in his life. This was a truly beautiful woman and she had many other qualities as well. It was unbelievable. The question was, however, wiether something could happen between them. She wasn't federacy and he wasn't sure how that would go over. If she wanted though, he would try his best to make it work and for them to be together.

Jake grinned back at Rima and looked her in the eyes. "There are a few good stories like that that I can tell you. Maybe over dinner, if you like. Would you like to join me and sit next to me?"

He paused and continued, "In the Sovereignty there are not many women in service, however in the Federacy, anyone who wants to, can be trained. Not many women join the military, but almost all that do, are never formitable warriors. I have the uttmost respect for women after serving with a few."

Jake felt something brush against his hand and thought it was Rima's hand. Could it be her? Did she like him? Jake got the feeling more and more as their eyes continued to meet. He looked at the line and smiled to himself. He sent out a nueral order to the man handing out the tickets and instructed him to save two tickets with good positions for him and Rima. They would get places together so they could sit together at the dinner.

As they neared the front, Jake gently placed him hand on the small of her back and gently pushed her forward. "Ladies first, get your ticket." He hoped that by touching her he wasn't wasn't moving too fast. Jake hoped she didn't mind.