Ours Are The Furies: Executive Decision

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

Last time on Star Wars: Jovan Station. And now, the conclusion...


The command deck briefing room shook. It didn't take an assistant engineer to know that man-made objects in space shouldn't shake, and it was probably a lot worse when space stations did. What had been an operations briefing from Commander Akiena was now an assembly of confused faces, including Lieutenant Gradoona. Murmurings filled the silent void as officers broke decorum to speculate on exactly what just happened.

A moment later, the red condition one alarm lit, with running lights at the ceiling's intersection with the wall began to glow, along with a droning ba-roooo...ba-roooo.

There hadn't been a warning. No notice from the command deck that an enemy ship had arrived, much less attacked. No notice at all.

Gradoona stood next to Dr. Vek at the back of the room, with her eyes where they ought to be at a time like this.

On Commander Akiena.

[Kes Akiena]

It was during the first shuddering of his station that Kes was on his feet, hands firmly pressed against the glossed tabletop of the conference room's table. His mouth set in a thin, straight line as his eyes narrowed to slits. A shaking space station was certainly not on this meeting's docket, but in less then a millisecond it had topped the charts, flying to the top of all things critical and swept everything else away. And as the shaking subsided, the alarm sounded. Like some monotonous harpy that ate away at a man's resolve, that continuous whine grew slowly in volume, hit its' peak, then dropped off for a small bit before once more building back up. It reminded Kes of the old storm warning sirens back home. And it made him feel just as sick in the stomach now as it had when he was a boy.

Straightening up, the redhead turned to look as the door of the conference room opened, Mr. Ek'ette quickly stepping through.

"What's going on, Mr. Ek'ette."

It was most assuredly not a question, and as Kes tugged down the bottom edge of his uniform tunic, his shoulders hitched back ever so slightly. There was a nagging thought that began to tickle in the back of his mind, and he wasn't so sure he like it. Too soon to tell, he poorly reassured himself.

"All docked ships've been severed, Commander. They're moorings are blown. We don't-"

[Vek Vek]

BZAT

Another foreign sound adding to the cacophony, and one with far more acute immediacy. Doctor Vek's amphibian head flicked to the direction of the door at the sound of what could only be blaster fire. Barely audible beyond the threshold of the command deck, he could hear shouting voices.

"We're under attack!"

"Security teams to the command deck!"

"I can't get the comms open!"

"AAAGGHH!!!"

"CLOSE THE BLAST DOORS! HOLD THEM OFF, HOLD TH-"

By this time the conference room was filing out into the command deck in a scrum. Vek Vek had to scramble to avoid being run over, but he cleared the door in time to see both sets of heavy blast doors sealing the entryways to each access point. The Imperial four-panel durasteel doors clanged together in an ominous din, still unable to muffle the sound of weapons fire just beyond.

The small security detail assigned to the command deck had filed in through the blast doors just before they sealed. It didn't take Vek Vek long to assess that they had taken casualties. One Mon Calamari, dead. A human male bleeding profusely from what seemed to be an abdominal puncture wound. Though small in stature, Vek Vek pushed through the mass of officers and crewmen like someone much larger.

"Clear the way! I'm a Doctor!"

A doctor without a medical kit he thought darkly. It didn't take him long as he knelt by the convulsing man to realize that he was grossly unprepared to treat this security guard.

"Medical kit, equipment locker three, go!"

Vek immediately turned his attention back to what was likely a dying man. His large eyes briefly shrouded by a nictating membrane as he examined the grievous injury he'd been dealt.

"Abdominal trauma leading into the thoracic cavity. Extreme organ damage and blood loss. Appears to be vibroblade injury."

The best case scenario for this man was stabilization and immediate evacuation to the infirmary. An evacuation that may not be possible.

[Kes Akiena]

Kes had been one of the first to leave the conference room, hurrying down the shallow stairs that would put him on the main level of the command hub. With Mr. Ek'ette on his heels, Commander Akiena moved like a man possessed. Flashes of memory, flashes of older times. His features set in a stony countenance as a grim realization was making itself horrendously known. The unthinkable. And yet still he remained doggedly devoted to the moment, refusing to entertain a conjecture that was gaining solid, factual, and - as he knelt by the wounded security officer that Doctor Vek had taken charge of - bloody evidence. He focused on the immediate emergencies.

Hearing the doctor's quick diagnosis was enough to make Kes grimace.

He could also hear the underlying urgency in the Durwi's tone.

Looking up and over, he gestured to one of the lieutenants who's eyes seemed glued to the closed blast door.

"Lieutenant Caeris!"

The young woman, her brown eyes wide, looked to her commanding officer.

"Sir?"

"Help the Doctor-" his eyes shifted to another officer. ".. Mr. Jinzhe, help move this man to my office."

The Mirialan nodded, moving to take Kes' place as the Commander himself rose to his feet once more, moving out of the way. His attentions shifted quickly, his eyes hard and glinting with intent. Now was no time for hesitation, and the redhead fell into an old, familiar state of mind. His gaze swept over the hulking form of Lieutenant Gradoona, and his hand lifted up, in a gesture for her to follow him as he stepped over to the security squad leader.

"Sergeant Orenek," he barked.

"Report."

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

"Commander, we barely had time to call to arm, and they were on us like that."

Orenek followed along with Commander Akiena and the Herglic, pulling up the latest information on his security terminal. What they had was barely beyond what they could see in the room.

"The alarm sealed the bulkheads, but I can't raise any security detail on backup. Not a soul. The lines are just...out."

Gradoona tapped a thick digit on the tactical readout of the command deck, noting the doors themselves.

"Commander, these Imperial blast doors aare the genuine article. Real overbuilt yaknoo, but that's oonly gonna delay whoever's aan the other side. If they have detonation chaarges oor a fusion cutter, then it buys us..."

She looked up to Akiena with a pessimistically even expression, and blinked her small eyes.

"...five minutes? Ten?"

[Kes Akiena]

It was a grim assessment. Orenek's sparse information coupled with Gradoona's own estimations made for a short and ugly view of where they now stood. Kes grimaced, staring at the readout.

"What's our status on arms and ammunition."

There was a weapons locker in the command hub he knew, but whether it would be enough to hold back any sort of concerted rush he wasn't sure. Only Orenek and his men had gotten a look at their invaders.

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

"Full complement of small arms for the staff. Pistols, power packs."

Orenek shook his head.

"Half dozen rifles."

In other words, not sustainable. There was something else though, and it was written on the Sergeant's face.

"I didn't get a good look at our attackers. It happened fast. But I'm sure I saw at least two in Cizerack marine uniforms."

[Kes Akiena]

Not a good estimate, and Kes crossed his arms over his chest as he considered Orenek's words.

Not good.

And while he'd certainly faced such odds before, it was never in this sort of setting and the men and women around him back then were hardened trench-jumpers.

But it was the Sergeant's last revelation that caused the Commander's eyes to raise up, going to the closest Cizerack officer in the hub.

"Thoughts, Ms. Taassaurra?"

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

Preita'rrou Taassaurra finished cinching the gun belt around her waist as she was summoned. Her tail flicked nervously, but she otherwise betrayed none of the fear she was feeling.

"jI...jI don't know ssjirr. jI'm jusst a c-commss offjicerr."

A dull thud from the other side of one of the doors sounded, causing the young woman's ears to flinch. She glanced back, quickly squaring herself as she pressed her perspiring hands down the side of her jacket.

"The Jaani'saarri arren't jusst prr-prrofesssjionalss, thejy s-sserrve forr ljife. jI've neverr even hearrd of an jin-jin-jincjident of mutjinjy beforre. Thejy t-t-t..."

Taassaurra bit on her lower lip, trying to stamp down the nerves that were aggravating her normally mild stutter.

"Thejy're the Hjigh Motherr'ss h-h-harrem, ssjirr."

[Kes Akiena]

The High Mother's Harem.

That Taassaurra hadn't heard of any insurrection of this nature before was worrisome, but Kes didn't dwell on the issue too much. He had much more pressing matters to attend to. Mr. Ek'ette stood beside him.

"I've not heard of anything like this either, Commander. An uprising against the Pride Mother from her own ranks isn't possible to my knowledge."

Kes nodded in acknowledgment. One arm flicked out as he turned to look at Lt. Gradoona. She had talents, and he needed them.

"Lieutenant." He gestured to the main entryway's blast door.

"I need you to tell me how close they are to getting through."

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

"Yes sir."

The Herglic nodded her large head on her nearly-nonexistent neck, and took a few heavy footfalls toward the first blast door. Giving it a good look, she began to click-whistle at hypersonic frequencies, letting the sound penetrate the layers of reinforced durasteel to get to the truth of the matter.

"I doon't hear a plaasma toorch cuttin' aan anything - wait."

She strained again, tilting her head at an angle.

"Hang aan...ohhh, ohh I think I knoow what they're dooin. Ooh those smart kitties. That's a bolt driver. Smaall gauge."

Gradoona suddenly turned and began to thud toward the equipment locker.

"Commander, they're gonna try and bypass the electric lock! We gaatta seal the gap with a welder!"

The Herglic nearly threw the locker door off it's hinges, throwing out piles of equipment before she came up with a hand welder and some goggles.

"We gaatta hurry like a penguin with her ass on fire!"

[Kes Akiena]

Kes was moving even as the Herglic was tearing open the locker. Though, while she was going for the weilding equipment inside, he moved tot he locker that held the weapons.

"You know what to do, then," his voice was a strange, almost gravelly sounding thing that most hadn't heard come from him before. Beneath the unassuming, sometimes naive and always-smiling exterior that he showed to others was the hardened Rebel that existed beneath so many layers.

He flung open the locker door, handing out rifles to those around him.

"Seal it up!"

His order to Gradoona was redundant, as he knew that she was already working on the matter at hand, but he also knew that others had to hear the order. It was more for their nerves than anything else.

Six rifles were handed out, and he took the last for himself. It's been a long time since he'd held one of these, but it was like riding a hoverbike, and old muscle memory fired in his brain as he checked the chamber before sliding it shut with a ca-clack and slapping a power pack up into the empty cartridge holder.

"Mr. Ek'ette, I want a line set up just behind the front comm banks. We're going to keep the doors shut as long as possible, but when they break through we'll need to hold our ground."

"Yes Sir!"

When. It wasn't an issue of if. Kes knew how this was done, and that there were no 'if's' in situations like this.

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

"Sparkin' up! Mind yoour eyes!"

Gradoona's welding goggles were already snapped tight around her broad head, and she flicked the actuator on the welder. A dagger of electric blue light speared the air from the tip of the industrial sealer, and the Herglic immediately began to work from the top of the door's seam on down. Gouts of sparks flecked the air like distant dying stars as the metal bloomed into an amorphous red scar, oozing just enough into the gap to form again as a continuous piece. The stink of ozone began to fill the command deck as Gradoona worked down the seam with painfully slow speed.

Beyond the Herglic, the last line of defense of Jovan Station's command deck stood their ground. Preita'rrou Taassaurra stood adjacent to the Commander, drawing her emergency sidearm as she trained it on the doorway, mindful to keep her vision fixed just away from center to not get blinded by the welding torch. She whispered a brief prayer in Cizeri, glancing back to her superior officer with a nod.

"We'll hold the l-l-ljine, ssjir."

[Kes Akiena]

Hefting his firearm, Kes gave a reassuring pat to Taassaurra's shoulder.

"Whites of their eyes, Ma'am. Whites of their eyes."

An old saying that he'd picked up so long ago. He didn't even know where it came from, but in situations like this, it was the most prudent thing to give. Wheeling about, the redhead gave a knowing nod to Mr. Ek'ette as he pushed a power cell firmly into place.

"Any wounded, move them to my office."

The Elomin nodded firmly, and Kes raised his voice so the rest could hear.

"My office is our last line, folks. We keep the good doctor and the injured out of the line of fire. Understood?"

[Vek Vek]

There were just enough extra hands to manage a small repulsor cot to get the gravely-wounded man to temporary safety, but Doctor Vek was still quite disquieted by the situation. He paused in passing, wiping away a sheen of blood on his hands with a sanitizing napkin.

"Commander."

Vek's large eyes half-nictated in pause as he tilted his head with deference.

"Situation critical. Understand options are limited. Patient's triage assessment..."

He shook his head gravely.

"...dire. If infirmary were accessible, a chance at stabilization. Small chance. Better than zero here."

Vek glanced back to the blast door, which was midway through the process of sealing. His mouth twisted in a sign of his conflicting feelings.

"Even if escape option were available, chances of casualties on Command deck remain high."

[Kes Akiena]

"We've got a sad state of choices available to us, Doctor."

Which was the nicest way he could think of at the moment to say that their options were damn near nonexistent. Even in the face of their apparent hopelessness though, the Commander couldn't help but fall onto old habits and tactics. He felt like he was transported back in time, watching as white-clad stormtroopers tried to overrun them. But this was not the past; there were no stormtroopers.

But the game stayed the same, and Kes hitched his shoulders back as his eyes narrowed.

He took the doctor by the arm, leading him back through the doorway to his office where the wounded man had been taken.

"Ms. Kourraani, Mr. Darrik, with me!"

The Cizerack and Corellian officers followed dutifully after their commander.

"If I know my Imperial architecture, there's gonna be an escape route in here. It won't be large, but it'll be here."

Only now did Kes regret not thinking to look for the thing after he'd first come to Jovan. And perhaps Imperial procedures had changed over the years, but in the formative years of the Rebellion, during those times that they had successfully taken over Imperial garrisons, there seemed to always be an escape tunnel or hatchway that the garrison commanders had in their offices.

He prayed that this station was no different.

With a nod to the doctor's patient, he went on.

"We need to get this man out of here, as well as most of the others. We have to get as many out as we can," already his gut was turning over at the thought of his Herglic lieutenant, but there was no time to worry about that right now.

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

The sound of bucking slabs of durasteel came from the doorway Gradoona was quickly working on. From their vantage, the inner door panes gave up nothing, but the Herglic knew better as she continued to stay on her welded seam.

"Thaat's the outer dooors giving way..." she tried to sound calming, but the tension was bleeding through her voice. She knew that whoever was on the other side, they'd successfully managed a manual bypass of the electronic lock, which was no small feat. If Gradoona didn't already have a seam over halfway there, the door she was working on would have broken the seal and opened too.

"Doon't wanna be bleak yoou guys, buuut if they have a plaaasma cutter with 'em we're hoosed in aboout three minutes."

[Kes Akiena]

Kes turned his eyes away from Gradoona for only a moment, his gaze firing blasterbolts into the two officers already essentially tossing his office for any sign of the escape hatch.

"Move fast!"

Moving away from the doorway, Kes hopped from the top landing down to the main level, his rifle barrel-up for now as he stomped over to stand behind the Herglic. His free hand reached out to give her a reassuring pat on a broad shoulder blade as he passed her.

Finally, his eyes went to the others, sweeping over their faces before settling on Mr. Ek'ette.

The Elomin seemed to grow even more serious, if that was even possible. As it was, Kes himself held absolutely none of the mirth that most had become used to seeing him with. His eyes were like firm, steel-colored marbles.

"Get ready, people."

[Gradoona Pod-Floewander]

Suddenly, Gradoona cut off her welder, snatching off her goggles as she took a few strides back. She'd heard a definitive metal-on-metal thunk, and from the mass of the impact, the Herglic didn't have to second guess her gut feeling.

"It's a limpet! They're goonna breach the door with a charge!"

There wasn't a better option anymore. Just when the situation had reached it's most critical, a call from Akiena's quarters sounded.

"Commander, we found a hatch!"

The assistant engineer followed Akiena up to the threshold of his office once more, spying the hidden access tube port. Gradoona's heart sank at the sight, and she knew that it was a trip she wasn't going to be making.

"Commander, I suggest you lock out the computer aan the command deck."

If the command deck was going to be seized, it would hopefully minimize the advantage the invaders achieved. Gradoona's eyes tilted downward as she softly hauuumed.

"Best I doon't knoow the coode, I think."

In case they try to torture me the Herglic thought darkly.

[Kes Akiena]

Stopping in the doorway, Kes glanced in only momentarily as he swiftly moved to the side.

"Mr. Ek'ette!"

The Elomin was ready.

"Sir?"

"Begin getting everyone in through that hatch, starting with the Doctor's patient. Move quickly, we're running out of time."

Ek'ette gave only a nod in answer before springing into action. He hopped down to the main level of the hub, issuing orders as he went from one terminal to the next, fingers flying over their touchscreens and issuing the master lock shut-out.

"Let's go, you lot! You heard the Commander!"

Kes watched in silence as the command staff passed by, each one with a determined look to their eyes while clutching their firearms close.

But the obvious was still present, and it was something that gave him pause. He turned his attentions to Gradoona, looking up at her.

"Lieutenant. My options are limited, but what can I supply you with... ?"