Panic! At the Techno Pt.2
Posted on Mon Jan 25th, 2021 @ 11:35am by Jedi Knight Satara' Jalran & Ver'alor Jiani Pava & Jedi Knight Enchelei Dardana & Mando'ade Zaf A'Toruk & Spacer Talon Kolani & Sage Hud Ubar & Spacer Ariadne Azanni
Mission:
Episode 1 - All Roads Lead to Nowhere
Location: Techno Union Capital Transport Remittance, Hardcell class
There was a disturbance in the Force. Mun Zuir could sense it. And what with the master controller evidently being down, it seemed the Techno Union was not having a good day. The Umbaran had already made preparations to leave, so he merely accelerated them. His private yacht had already initiated detachment from the Hardcell's mooring just as the Rancor's team had boarded the Hardcell.
With a lone scoff of contempt for incompetency, Mun Zuir let the pilot droids on his Petite Opu-Yacht guide him away from the battle between possible Jedi and the remnants of the Separatist Army. The dawn of a new day was before him, and he didn't need to be caught up in yesterday's conflicts.
Before the yacht got more than a few hundred meters, though, its port-side hull began to buckle. Mun Zuir's eyes opened wide. It was the Force!
"Hull breach on the lower level," reported one of the droid pilots.
"Yes, I know," Mun Zuir said. "Alert the guards."
Eight Crimson Dawn gangers stomped out of their various environs and flanked Mun Zuir.
"On me," Mun Zuir ordered. "We have an intruder."
The lower level's predominant features were the galley, storage rooms, and the engine room. Out of the three, the intruder's target had to be obvious. When they proceeded to the lower level, they found the hull breach which had been sealed by the emergency bulkhead measures. Mun Zuir led his small troupe of thugs to prevent any further sabotage.
"I can feel you, Jedi," the Umbaran called out. "Why not reveal yourself."
Hud clung to the shadows as he made an approach to the engine. This Umbaran, this Mun Zuir, could not be more arrogant. It seemed little wonder that he expected Hud to be drawn out by an affront to arrogance. Hud said nothing, and instead planned his next moves.
"You will die, Jedi. Just like your compatriots. Your Order will be swept into the ash heap of the galaxy." Mun Zuir smiled a cruel smirk. "Right where it belongs."
A knocking sound began to fill the entire engine room.
"I..."
Hud's voice echoed from every corner, leading Zuir's thugs to point their weapons in all directions with reckless abandon.
"... am no Jedi."
Everything which was not nailed down lighted into the air and hung for just a moment before being taken into a deadly maelstrom. The guards let off a few shots before they threw down their blasters in order to cover their heads and faces with their arms.
"Enough!" Zuir shouted.
"I quite agree," Hud responded. This time he revealed himself behind the group, standing in the engine room doorway through which they had just come.
Mun Zuir cackled. "You fool! We stand between you and your target." Twin petars slid from behind his waist into his waiting hands. "And now you will die, failing in life as you did your mission."
"No one lives forever," Hud said, his respirator giving a harsh overtone to the statement.
"You cold-shirted your way onto my vessel," Mun Zuir observed. "So you clearly have the fortitude to survive the vacuum of space. But nothing could have prepared you for this."
Putting up his hand, Hud blocked Mun Zuir's charge through the Force. The Umbaran sneered in rage as he realized that Hud's Force stasis exceeded his own ability. "You will find I am no Echani girl," Hud said.
"I will kill you this day," spat Mun Zuir. "This I swear."
"Sincerity alone does not make truth," Hud said. "A perennial weakness of Sith passion."
And then the thermal detonator exploded. The Force stasis field also served to protect Mun Zuir, but his men were vaporized in the explosion. Hud was knocked off balance as well, not only from the explosion, but also from the listing of the yacht off its course and toward Port Nowhere itself. The cat-and-mouse game between Hud Ubar and Mun Zuir was put on hold as the yacht collided with the storage section of the station.
"Glad you are too," Satara said choking back a sob of relief, it almost hadn't felt real until they were here... She wasn't close to many people... not after Dooku, Satara had been a bit of a pariah after that. But Enchelei had stuck by her, through everything even when the Council shipped her off to that frozen moon. She didn't know if she could have handled losing Enche to it all. "Can't... I don't want to think about doing this without you."
"Me..." Enchelei began but was interrupted by a sinking feeling.
Her eyes darted back and forth a little as she tried to process the sense of urgency, a dual timbre sound carried through the nothingness of white, pearly white and silver background. Then, she saw the stars, familar stars almost. A telltale throb in her head told her that she was having a vision, although this one was even more confusing than others.
"Did you feel that?" Enchelei's gaze finally focused on Satara.
"Yeah, like an icy grip on my neck..." Satara shivered as her hand came up to rub the back of her neck, trying to get warm. "I think we may need to leave, something's coming, and we don't want to be here when it arrives."
"No...wait." Enchelei's eyes darted side to side. "Grab your sabers, we are needed." Without further preamble Dardana the Mirialan was out the door, darting towards the exit of the Nawar'awen.
"Needed!? Where?" Satara called after Enche, chasing her down the corridor of her ship. Turning as N4G4 blurted out a rapid series of beeps and whistles as the little Astrodroid sped after the Jedi. "Stay here Naga, we'll be back, but get the ship ready for take off!" The Twi'lek turned, her Lekku flowing behind her as she hustled after Enche.
As the pair disappeared down the boarding ramp the annoyed R6 unit threw up a couple of her grasping arms in frustration. Eventually turning with a grumbling series of beeps she slammed a 'fist' against the airlock switch and rolled off to find Kuruk.
Hud pulled himself from the debris of the yacht. Not only had the engines exploded from his thermal detonator, but it had also collided with the abandoned cargo hold here he had met with Satara earlier. Surviving the blast had stretched his Force skill to the max. For the moment, he had little left. Reaching for his communicator, he called out to the Rancor.
"Talon..." Hud's voice was even breathier than normal as exhaustion began to set in. "Update."
From the cockpit of the Rancor, Talon flipped the comm switch to reply back, glad that despite all of the blaster fire he was hearing, that someone was alive.
"Hud? Am I glad to hear from you, are you ok? From the sounds of things, the Mando's are raising all kinds of hell on board, so I'm guessing they're having fun," he replied as he sealed off the docking collar.
"Alema & I are taking the Rancor over to the Launch Bay, we'll be able to hold that safely to make sure everyone gets off of this thing before explosions start happening," he added. "If you can meet us there, we'll have a space ready and waiting for ya."
"I'm no longer on the Hardcell," Hud said into the communicator. "I cold-shirted through space onto the escaping yacht, which I sabotaged and crashed into the cargo hold of Port Nowhere. Come retrieve me as soon as you have Ariadne."
"Understood, stay safe out there Hud, we'll come pick you up right away," Talon answered, making a mental note to ensure that he set the escape course to include Hud's position.
Near the emergency forcefield that had erected over the massive hull breach, a black hand punched through another pile of debris. Its pair appeared as well, clearing a passage for a long, gray face. And then, with a burst of Force energy, the debris field scattered to the far corners of the room.
Tired as he was, Hud still could not have missed that. He ducked behind a large crate, perhaps the same one Ariadne and Satara had stood upon, and waited.
"I sense you, Baran Do," called out the angry voice of Mun Zuir. "Not hiding yourself so well, are you? We will see who is stronger now. And once I have dispatched you, my Master and I will rain down hellfire on Dorin. Congratulations! You have brought ruin to your world!"
Enchelei could hardly believe what she was seeing. She'd known and heard of Dooku's Dark Acolytes showing up, during the Clone War, but she'd never come across a Dark Side user herself. Was this one of Dooku's minions? Or worse, was this one of Sidius'? Whatever the case, their friend was in trouble so rumination would have to wait.
The Mirialan stepped out from the other side of the debris, pulling her makeshift hood down, in an attempt to cause the Umbaran to shift his focus on her, so that Satara may move to a more favourable position where she could assist the Baran Do.
"That's definitely a goal there," Enchelei said, all of a sudden painfully aware that she was armed only with the Force. "However, there might be a complication, or two." She said, drawing the Force about her, readying herself. For what though, she wasn't sure. This was only ever a theoretical, on paper or holographic encounter, never real. Reality often wrote its own book on things.
Satara didn't like being the one sneaking around, especially with her friend in such a fragile emotional state. But Enche had a better sense of the situation, her own connection to the Force much more martial in nature. Following her friend's lead she moved around the bay trying to make her way over to the injured Kel-Dor. Passing around a corner she caught sight of the tall Mun facing Enche down, she briefly considered taking the moment to strike, but thought better of it. A Jedi does not act in haste...
Looking at his two newfound Jedi allies bringing up the rear, Hud allowed himself a moment of relief. But would they be enough?
"The odds are getting better, Mun Zuir," the Kel Dor said. "Your own fortitude must be diminished, as you went through the same explosive collision as I did. Dare you face the Baran Do and Jedi?"
Mun Zuir looked concerned only for a moment. His keen Umbaran eyes noted Enche had no lightsaber in hand. "Your friend is unarmed," he said with a sinister gloating sneer, "so that makes an arm for each of you."
His weapons fell into hand again, though he did not charge headlong as he did before. Instead, he sized them both up, advancing in diagonal dashes that tested their responses.
"Many Jedi have perished of late," the Umbaran taunted. "Perhaps their legend was exaggerated."
"The legend of the Sith arrogance getting the better of them is definitely true." Enchelei chuckled as she eased into a Niman defensive posture, feeling the Force tingle around her, ready to push out. "I have the Force, I am not alone."
Mun cackled at Enche. "Fool! I am not a Sith! My master has transcended such petty idealizations. And he knows better than most how to dispatch a Jedi!" His sentence ended with a blood-curdling snarl that was the only warning of his attack. He lunged for Enche with full assistance of the Force.
Enchelei held her ground, forming a circular gesture with her hands and pushed out, a sphere of translucent, blue/white hue departed her hands, rushing to meet the Force assisted, snarling form of the Umbaran.
Anticipating a Jedi trick, Mun pushed back with the Force to dissipate the attack. Both arms came up to his right shoulder where he coiled them for a double slash such that if Enche blocked the first that would strike her front, she would be stricken by the second that targeted the side of her head.
Reflex and instinct kicked in in the young Sentinel, a slight shimmer indicating a Force Barrier being pulled up as the Jedi sidestepped out of his trajectory, the two shots hitting their target but deflected away by the Barrier. Enchelei pushed out with the Force again, wanting to create distance.
As Enche pushed their attacker back, Satara took the opportunity to leap into the fray. With a force assisted jump the Twi'lek hurled through the air toward the Umbaran, closing the distance in seconds only one who felt the force would be able to follow her movement; spinning at the apex of her leap, momentum hurtling her forward leg extended in a powerful kick. As her foot struck the man solidly both combatants ricochet off the other. Using her natural grace, Satara twirled, landing crouched one leg extended.
"Your Master has filled you with lies and deceit." Satara's eyes opened focusing on the Umbaran. "But it is not too late. Surrender and we will be merciful." While her words were that of peace, they in no way should be mistaken for weakness. Even as the Guardian metaphorically offered her hand, a sharp snap-hiss followed by the comforting hum of her lightsaber emphasized the threat behind her words.
"NEVER!" Mun Zuir summoned the depths of the Force with such Dark Rage it nearly channelled furious energies about him. Eyes yellowed and skin malformed, the crime lord turned the cargo hold into a maelstrom of flying metal that surrounded him within its eye. "I fought my way to the top of the Shadow Collective," he venomously spat. "Do you think to defeat me with sheer courage alone? I will rip out your heart and showcase your 'courage' on my trophy wall!"
"Do not underestimate him, Jedi," Hud called out. "I am... too weak..."
Enchelei used the confusion to locate a shard from the explosion of her own. The Mirialan hurled a large, sharp piece of debris at Zuir's side.
The metal shard came fast, and Zuir could not deflect it. Not entirely. It sliced over his ribcage. Rather than slow him down, though, the Umbaran seemed to draw strength from the open wound.
"YOU..." Such was his wrath that he could not find words to contain the hate etched into his face. His fingers reached out through the Force to clutch her by the throat with an empty, gnarled choking gesture.
With the Umbaran distracted Satara once more launched herself into the fray. With a cry the Twi'lek called upon the Force to launch herself at Zuir, her lightsaber flashing in the darkness of the bay as she flipped and then struck downward hoping to end this battle quickly and decisively.
Focused as he was in strangling the life out of the Mirialan, Mun did not see Satara's attack before it was too late -- before she lopped off the arm through which he was channelling his Force choke. It dropped to the cargo bay floor in a free fall that ended with a bloody, inelastic squish. At first Mun Zuir inhaled in order to scream at the sight of his own dismemberment, but the Dark Force rage that had already consumed him demanded release. His remaining hand shot out at Satara, and from it were bluish arcs of lightning that carried the bulk of his frothing malice. The sounds coming from his mouth were beyond words, but forceful roaring that demanded Satara's demise.
Bringing up her blade Satara was only able to block the initial burst of lightening, arms of arcing energy licking out to strike at her hands. The Twi'lek let out a cry of shock and pain, the Saber ripped downward leaving her defenceless against the Umbaran. Looking up as she heard the man yell her own cry of surprise echoed the room as she was launched backwards by Muir's attack.
The momentary distraction was enough for the toppled Mirialan to recover and inch herself over to the Umbaran until her hand fell on his boot. All the pain, anguish, destruction and death, she channelled into a single, focused attack. A splintering of the mind.
Mun Zuir fell to his knees and clutched his head with his lone remaining hand, spittle flying from his mouth as he screamed. The mental dismantling inflicted on him by Enche. Rather than resist the splintering, the Umbaran embraced it. Hatred filled him, yielding suffering, but from the suffering came a rebirth. Dark Force energies bled from his mind and pierced his body. Red and blue fingers of lightning arced out from him, creating three Force phantoms that were linked by Force lightning that arced between them.
"If I fall," said all three phantoms in unison with the original Mun Zuir, "I will make certain you go first."
All four of them, empowered by the fragmenting of an overload of the Force that was tearing Mun Zuir apart in his final vengeance, unleashed unbroken chains of blue lightning against the two Jedi whom they'd surrounded on all sides.
Enchelei managed to throw up a barrier between herself and the onslaught of the lightning that seemed to endlessly flow from the Umbarran shade's fingertips. The bad thing was, it would not last long perhaps a few seconds before it collapsed under the attack.
"I can't hold it long!" Enchelei grunted in exertion, using every scrap of energy she had left to hold the barrier up.
Unable to reach her saber, the curved hilt lying several feet away from her, with no defense Zuir's dark lightning enveloped her body. A scream of pain and frustration bubbling up from her chest as she tried to fight against the overwhelming lightening. She could feel the sharp sting against her bare shoulders, and arms... worse still was the way it lanced against her lekku. With another sharp cry, Tara stretched out with the force, her Saber flying across the deck into her hand, the blue blade igniting to take the brunt of Zuir's attack.
"You are out of balance." The raspy respirator of Hud's voice cut through the roar of battle like a knife through butter. With a wave of his clawed hand, he willed all four Mun Zuir's to fall to the ground. Three of them vanished with the effort, leaving the fourth and original Umbaran kneeling beneath the full weight of the Baran Do's will to power. "It is a weakness that you will not live to correct."
Mun Zuir attempted to cast more lightning at Hud, but the Kel Dor caught it in one hand, absorbed it, and then reflected it. The bluish-white arcs were changed to a yellowish-green. Completely surprised and off-guard, Mun Zuir's eyes shot wide open as he took a direct shot to the face. His spindly body tumbled backward in a spinning tangle of limbs that came to an abrupt halt as it slammed into a metal shard from his earlier maelstrom. A sharp metal point protruded from his chest. Blood trickled down his mouth as he breathed his last.
"Someone call the Rancor," Hud gasped as he dropped to one knee, more spent than ever. His hand braced him from going to a full prone position. "I do not know how far I can walk..."
Enchelei looked over at the Twi'lek in confusion, mouthing, the Rancor?
"Trans...port," Hud managed to say, straining through great effort. He produced a handheld communicator from his belt, but his fumbling fingers dropped it on the ground where it bounced near the Jedi's feet. "Ex...traction..."
"Better to get to the Nawar'awen, can't leave the others behind." Satara said limping over herself.
Hud shook his head. "Transport... They're coming..."
"Enche?" Satara questioned looking around the bay. They had to move, and soon if they were going to make it back.
Summoning his last reserves of strength, Hud stretched forth his hand over the hull breach that the debris of Mun Zuir's yacht had filled. Groans and creaks of straining bulkheads gave way to Force-pushed twisted metal until the breach was finally opened. Gale force winds pulled at Hud, Satara, and Enche as the decommissioned cargo bay began to depressurize.
"The Rancor awaits!" Hud shouted over the sound of escaping air. There was nothing in his demeanor to suggest the two Jedi shouldn't blindly trust him in getting sucked out of a hull breach into the cold of space.
"Oh fierfek!" Enchelei cursed as she drew on the Force to help shield herself from the vacuum that awaited.
As she felt herself being sucked out into space Statara too tried to follow Enchelei's example, forming a force barrier around her body to hold in oxygen and keep out the freezing expanse of space.
Once detached from the docking hatch, Talon eased on the thrusters and slowly guided his YT-1300 around the underside of the ship and then guided it into the launch bay with deft ease and skill. Once they were down and secure Talon looked over at Alema.
"Ok, keep the engines warm and signal the others of where we are," he said. "I'll take the light repeater out there and offer some covering fire once they arrive."
Alema looked up at Talon as he got up and left the cockpit. "Be careful down there, flyboy!" she shouted before putting the engines into a low heat cycle, keeping them active and ready to be pushed at a moments notice.
Meanwhile, Talon made his way down the Rancor's entry ramp with his light repeater and waited for the party to arrive.
After a moment, Lucian came running into the launch bay with blaster fire on his heels. His eyes trained directly on the Rancor.
"Let us in!" he shouted, pleaded even. "Let us in!"
"Ramps open! get inside!!" Talon yelled as he opened up with the light repeater, giving covering fire to his paying passenger as he saw Lucian run underneath the hull of the Rancor and head for the entry ramp. Seconds later, the blaster fire had halted and Talon checked the surrounding area for any visitors.
Once his passenger was on board, Talon pulled out the comlink he carried on him and keyed it to the frequency for the Mandos he'd also arrived with.
"Ok, Zaf, we've moved the Rancor to the Landing Bay," he explained. "I'm covering the entrance and the engines are warm so that we can make a fast exit, any time you're ready." Talon kept a keen eye as he looked around towards the exit that Lucian had run from.
"Received and understood," came the clipped reply from the Zabrak. There was dampened sound behind his words that implied fast motion. "On our way. Have the girl."
"We'll be waiting," Talon replied as he once again trained his weapon on the door.
"JIANI! LANDING BAY!" Zaf bellowed, regardless of the comm. He re-checked his firm hold on the wounded Echani and fired up the jet-pack in the corrected direction. "Coming in hot!" The Zabrak warned the Rancor pilot.
Hearing the coming in hot part, Talon moved behind the front landing strut and took cover. "The doors open, make your way in, I got you covered," he said, bracing for another round of shoot the bad guys.
Focus entirely on delivering his live cargo to safety - payment a priority - Zaf aimed himself like the missile he now was at the Rancor up ahead. Warnings and guide parameters flashed up and marked his route via his helmet display, so he picked up on the IR signatures of Talon easily enough and trusted that Jiani had his back covered. She'd make it, or she wouldn't.
Zaf flew swiftly past Talon's cover with a slight offset of speed for finer control, then cut the jetpack as he placed boots one at a time onto metal decking. "Down and safe," he reported, loudly, then looked for somewhere safe to stash the wounded girl.
Jiani was hot on Zaf's tail, dodging and ducking as the Hardcell's crew rallied to try and stop the two Mandos. Dipping and diving as she manoeuvred, often turning to lay down return fire she had to be quick, firing up her jetpack to keep up with Zaf. Entering the larger bay she too saw their pilot down by his ship's landing strut, ready to follow Zaf directly into the ship, Jiani barely had time to once more dodge heavy incoming fire. A rocket flew past the young Mandalorian, impacting the hangar's ceiling. Spinning around Jiani cursed under her breath as she looked around the bay, multiple droid signatures coming online. "Karabast! Zaf we got trouble out here!" Hitting her afterburners, Jiani rocketed toward the deck, flipping and firing her retro-rockets to come to a smooth landing just in front of where Talon had taken cover.
"Go! Zaf, cover the pilot!" Jiani called, bringing her Relby up and laying down her own cover walking backwards.
"You ain't the boss of me, girl!" Mumbled Zaf into his comm moodily as he balanced other female burden and drew line of sight on Talon. "Captain! Bridge, NOW!" The Zabrak ordered, not bothering to hide his impatience at the fact Kolani wasn't there already. It didn't occur to him someone else might be in play, he just wanted outta here now their job was done. Ammo was money and he still had a ship mechanic and docking fees to pay. His shout was punctuated by the rocket's impact on the ceiling behind them and Zaf cursed loudly into his comm.
He turned, hoping Talon was moving ahead of him and ducked his back low enough to lose a one-shot of his own - an ion missile. It zipped downwards from his higher position into the cargo bay in line for the droid contingent, but Zaf didn't waste time taking count. He yelled over his shoulder as he backed up, hoping to follow Talon's exit while protecting the semi-conscious Echani.
"JIANI! WE ARE LEAVING!" Boomed through the Mando's helmet comm with zero respect for anyone's eardrums.
"Time to go!" Talon shouted as he headed up the entry ramp and ran for the cockpit, as he slid down into the pilot's seat, Alema looked at him and smiled.
"Engines are nice and warm, we're good to go when everyone is on board," she said as she checked for the entry ramp closure confirmation, hoping that the Mandos made it on board safely."
Jiana came streaking through the hatch, nearly careening off the opposite bulkhead as she skidded through the open hatch, her rockets letting out one last beltch of power. "WE"RE IN GO!" She called out scrambling to her feet to return the still incoming fire from the attacking droids.
As soon as he got the all-clear, Talon took the controls and swung the freighter around a full 180 degrees, gunning the engines and making sure that they were clear of the landing bay before it became full of droids that could stop them from leaving entirely.
"Do I take us to Hyperspace?" Alema asked as she prepared the navicomputer.
"NO! NO YET!" Talon yelled as he banked the Rancor through the debris and headed for Huds position, remembering that he was still out here and hoping that they weren't too late to get him on board. As soon as he closed on the position, Talon flicked the comm switch.
"I need someone in the forward hatch on the port mandible now! We're picking up one more passenger, be quick about it!" he said as he eased the YT-1300 Freighter to the position that Hud was located in and hoped that one of the onboard crew would be there to help him get on board.
"I'm on it!" Zaf responded swiftly, considering his previous task complete now that his rescue victim was safely strapped into a seat. He looked over his shoulder to Jiani, the wayward grin hidden by the helmet as he taunted her. "Don't wanna get you too close to a hatch this time."
"Like hell, I'm not missing a chance to push you out for a change!" Jiani called, scrambling to her feet and chasing after her fellow mando.
The Rancor's comms let out a burst of static from Hud's frequency, but nothing intelligible.
"Hud said once we got back, then we go!" Lucian shouted at Talon. He hadn't been fond of this little rescue mission in the first place, so he sure wasn't going to die on it. "We're all back, he's not, so we have to go and let him find his own way!"
"I'm not leaving him behind, I swore I would collect him on the way back, before I brought the ship into the landing bay," Talon explained. "No one gets left behind on this ship, crew or passengers."
"We're... afloat..." Hud's voice was scratchy and distant through the communicator. "Look for... the hull breach... on the station."
"We don't leave them behind," confirmed Zaf, who was less concerned about what Talon might have sworn and far more interested in the fact that Hud was the one who had promised to pay them. "I've got the Kel-Dor on comm," he added, curtly, anchoring a long safety line at the airlock and opening the outer hatch. He had enough fuel left for an emergency move, but maybe not enough to grab all three of those floating Jedi, so better safe than lost.
The Zabrak fired his harpoon at Hud, latching onto the big guy's leg and tugging him along with as Zaf reached out towards the two women. With the momentum of his outward shove, he managed to grab one of them by their sleeve before he ran out of line, and pulled them in closer to gain a better grip on their wrist. The third... the third was too far now, and pushing out for them would mean risking the other two.
"Talon!" Zaf called over the comm link. "Got two. Need your help on three! Track my mark." The blip showed up on the Rancor console as Zaf keyed his helmet tracker for the pilot.
Satara felt the sharp tug on her arm, eyes snapping open as she was pulled toward a ship she guessed was the Rancor. Looking around she had to work to keep her concentration on her limited force bubble just barely keeping the vacuum of space from killing her.
Enchelei fought hard to keep calm, to not panic at the thought of being left behind. She'd briefly considered using the Force to grip the vessel and pull herself to safety but soon realized that in order to do that she would have to release the focus she had on keeping herself alive in the vaccum of space. There was no telling if she could pull herself over in time before the deathly cold caught up to her. She wanted to live. As it happened, to live, she would have to trust this new batch of strangers.
Unlike Enche, Tara was definitely starting panic as she drifted further and further away from the Mirialan. Nearly at the hatch of the ship, Satara stretched out her hand, desperately trying to take hold of Enche and pull her with.
Reeling himself and his two rescuees straight back down his safety line to the open hatch, Zaf didn't waste any time trying to talk to them. He kept his sights locked on the form of the remaining Jedi, her body dead centre in his visual crosshairs so as to be sure Talon could grab her. Zaf didn't plan on losing any credits for leaving someone behind.
Once Zaf had sent the co-ordinates of the last survivor floating out there to Talon's console, Talon steered the Rancor on thrusters only to make sure that he could scoop up the last person out there, and then made sure to keep the freighter steady. Next to him, Alema flicked on the Cargo Bay security stream and counted him down for distance.
"Ok T, three meters... Two meters... One meter... steady... and she's in!" she confirmed.
Talon let out a small breath as he activated the closing mechanism for the cargo bay doors. As soon as he saw the confirmation that they were closed, he flooded the bay with breathable atmosphere again to make sure no one suffered any longer. "Ok, is that everyone on board?" he asked over the comm. If they stayed there any longer, the Techno Union forces would soon be on their tail.
As the words 'she's in' hit his ears, Zaf set his boots down on the inside of the airlock and keyed the outer hatch shut. He let go of the woman's wrist, pausing only to ensure she could stand on her own two feet, then strode forward to release the hook and hard line of his harpoon from the Kel-Dor's lower leg. His voice, when it finally found their ears, was offered from within the confines of his helmet which muted any nuances of tone or inflection. "We're aboard. Hatch secure." Zaf reported to Talon.
"You alright?" He demanded locally then, switching his gaze from one Jedi to the other as he scanned their forms for injuries and forcibly ignored his own for the moment.
Enchelei was grateful to feel the slight pain in her knees as she made contact with the hard floor and felt the beautiful feeling of air back in her lungs. The Force could sustain her for a time, yes, however there was nothing like air, even if it was semi stale and recycled. She couldn't quite speak yet, but at Satara's insistent gaze, she nodded that she was indeed, alright, or was going to be, soon.
Grasping Enche's hand briefly, Tara too glanced up and nodded to the Kel'dor. But really neither of them was her focus, reaching around her belt she felt around for her comlink. Feeling the small silver device slip into her hand she breathed a sigh of relief. "Naga, lau... launch the ship. Track, my com-signal and follow."
Beep-wom-womp-buurr."
"Good see you soon." Satara sat back against the wall, pain from the fight against the Umbarran Assasin and their little jaunt through vacuum having taken a toll. "Everything come to plan then?" She asked Hud with a groan.
"Not quite as I'd foreseen," Hud said from his supine position flat on his back. "But well done." He reached into his vest pocket and retrieved what appeared to be a detonator. "I almost forgot. Would someone else care to do the honors? I'm... so weary."
"Mine!" Jiani said with a wide grin, helmet in hand as she swiped the detonator. "You know just what to get a girl as a bonus for a job well done." With no small bit of dramatic flourish, Jiani hit the big red button.
Once he got the all-clear from Zaf and Hud, Talon looked at the navicomputer and could see that Alema had already set the escape co-ordinates. Once they were locked in, he looked at Alema. "Punch it!" he said. Alema pulled back on the Hyperdrive throttles and the Rusty Rancor hyper-accelerated to lightspeed, jumping out of the combat area.
Mere seconds after the Rancor made its jump, the Hardcell transport's hyperdrive exploded in a rain of fire. No longer able to divert its drift, the entire transport listlessly crashed into the topside of Port Nowhere.
