freedomliveson

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Chills, my friend...Chills

Posting later in the day!

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Well it's awesome, so yay for the find!

Also, in my latest post, I assumed that Roan would have the master plan for taking down Bracknell...feel free to change/revise if need be :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

"You weren't." Voldon pursed his lips, Jungze taking a cross legged seated position up against a nearby wall and leaning her head against the chilly surface.
"It's Bracknell. It has to be."
"We can't jump to conclusions, Malu." Jungze scowled at the Battlemaster, her head nodding towards the galaxy map in the center of the room.
"That map is going to light up with his forces sooner rather than later and don't you tell me otherwise. Blaster fire? Hyperdrive engines roaring to life? Screams of the dying and the dead? Lightsabers hissing? We may have all heard it in differing amounts, but we can't ignore the fact that we shared the same vision. The Force is warning us to take action." Matt emerged, his face a ghastly pallor.
"I assume...I assume we're all gathered here because of what we just saw?" Nods from his colleagues all but confirmed his fears.
"Then Bracknell will be here soon..." Matt bit his upper lip before cursing.
"We're not ready for this. The younglings we have won't be able to handle the massive amount of resistance, we can only be stretched so thin and-"
"Matt." Voldon shot him a glare before adding:
"We've been working tirelessly for the past six months knowing this day would come. We set all of our plans, all our ideas into motion and hope that it'll be enough." Voldon then turned his attention to Roan.
"You told us that if we could strike at Bracknell, use the carnage of the battle down below to sneak our way up to his ship and kill him. If we do this, the amount of influence he's exerting should decline and we might have a chance at winning the fight against the Alliance...still believe that? If so, tell us your plan. We'll need it."

_______

Confusion entered the expressions of the prisoners who were escorted off the shuttle by fast moving hangar workers, telling them to follow them as quickly as they could. The hangar itself was crowded with a hodgepodge of mechanics and technicians doing their best to service the shuttles and two larger ships that their resistance had captured. Sirens blared from makeshift posts in the ground just outside the open hangar, troopers and agents alike scrambling in and out of the main base, weapons in hand, others shouting into their comm units.
"What..." Abbeth's voice commanded the duo to get to the briefing area, a small staging room off the right of the main hall. Complying with the directive, Yerbol and Aria found themselves in the heart of an even busier and stressed command center. Orders were being issued from various agents and persons that were appointed over different "departments" within the complex. The galaxy map in the center console revealed very quickly what the fuss was all about.
"Ari, that looks like a fleet." He pointed to the growing assembly of dots that were careening towards their location, flashes of red and blue text indicating that their incoming speed was well over two hundred miles an hour.

Bracknell.

Neta emerged from the staging room and motioned vehemently to follow her. As they entered, they found the council, Neta and Elara standing around a similar console to the one in the command center that projected a galaxy map, this one zoomed in on Zinuthra.
"He brought a fargin fleet." Neta whispered, arms folded across her chest.
"Thirty ships and counting." Elara added, her tone laced with morbid concern.
"How can they travel that fast?" Matt mused, the fleet's average speed displayed in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Silence sunk heavily into the room.

"We didn't lead them back here...did we?" Yerbol asked hesitantly, choosing to break the seemingly eternal quiet.
"Bracknell knew we were here six months ago. He could've attacked whenever he wished, but more than likely wanted to amass enough power before taking us head on."
"Just like him to hide behind the strength of others." Jungze added, upper lip curling in disgust.
"So...that's it, then? We're going to war?"
"And winning it." Neta confidently asserted.
"Not without a plan, of course. You all know we've been planning for a guerrilla war, one that would involve spreading the troops of the Alliance thin enough to where we can isolate pockets of resistance so we can have a fighting chance. We're already setting the stage for that, but will need some atmospheric help..." Jungze smiled.
"The young ones and I are ready."
"Right. So Jungze and the younger Force users are going to be hunkered in the main complex as they mess with the atmosphere above, giving us a chance at diverting some of the bigger ships away from dropping too many troopers down at one time. We have squadrons heading out now to make camp in the wilderness, try to hopefully intercept the wandering Alliance troopers before they can regroup. From there...well, we've got energy shields around this place and the hangar along with turrets and manned grenade launchers on both sides of the compound. That's going to have to do...Roan, could you please explain to me how that's all we'll need for this? Cause on paper, it looks like we're going to get slaughtered."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

How do you find such amazing stuff?! If this were a movie, you'd be nominated for an Oscar xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yay!

Haha, well, same here. I've had a couple of partners who were amazing like you, but then both of them real life troubles that unfortunately swallowed them whole(they didn't die or anything, but both sounded like they were going through intense stuff).

They also didn't share our mutual love of Star Wars xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

So I went with your suggestion and rolled with it. Feel free to steer us from here :)

Oh this is so much fun. I mean honestly, for me, this is hands down the best Star Wars thread I've ever done and one of the best OVERALL threads I've ever done as well. I'm curious as well where we're going to go! I mean, we've built an entire alternative universe that I think kicks butt :D

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yerbol smiled at the affirmation.
"And you're still mine as long as you'll have me."

______

The shuttle rocked gently as it dropped out of hyperspace, Yerbol's brow furrowing as he spoke to Kilik, one of the newer pilots that had joined up from Imperial command("And good riddance to them!" He had announced upon meeting the main contingent):
"That's a small convoy." True to the Knight's words, there were three smaller shuttles that surrounded a trapezoid shaped transport vessel that was maybe bigger than Neta's ship by a foot or two length wise.
"Neta did say there were only five prisoners, yeah? Might as well not waste resources when you can do it for cheap."
"But they're Force users. Even with the restraints, I would think they would want to beef up security around the ship at least."
"And you're complaining about this because...?" Yerbol chuckled lightly.
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, yeah, I get it, but it just..." He sighed.
"Just doesn't feel right. Something's off."
"Well, it's just the two of you on this one, so if things get hot, shouldn't be too hard to get back to the ship in one piece."
"Easy for you to say."
"And even easier to do!" Chuckling, Yerbol rose from the co-pilot's chair to the rear of the shuttle, planting himself across from Aria.
"Am I crazy? You feel it, don't you? That weird sense of...well, I don't know, dread? Fear?" He leaned against the cold metal, the ebony colored durasteel mesh overlay clinking softly as he settled into the seat.
"Maybe it's nerves, but I'm not so willing to discount the idea that we're going to find something onboard that we aren't going to like."
"Five minutes! No tracking beam, no pings on their end. Brace for potential impact if those shuttles have hidden guns."

Nothing came.

___

After boarding the transport via a loading dock that Kilik found with onboard radar, the duo found themselves in a desolate hangar with only a couple of dull metallic crates shoved up against the lower left hand corner.
"Comm unit transmitting on frequency now."
"You're coming in. Any resistance?" Abbeth was normally in charge of communicating with field units along with a few others for support, his expertise with demolitions coming in second to his skill at deftly managing multiple squadrons with different objectives seamlessly.
"None." A muffled grunt.
"Odd."
"That's what I said."
"Keep your channel open and update us on progress when it happens." The line went dead, prompting Yerbol to move forward towards a set of bay doors that opened suddenly when the duo were within a few feet, revealing off-black colored walls and floors that were dotted with dull white lights every couple of feet. Three hallways branches from where they stood, one ahead, one left and one right.
"Ahead is a dead end from the looks of it." About thirty yards north of where they stood was a solid wall, a doorway entrenched to the left of the barricade.
"Or..." Both hallways that extended in either direction turned the corner north, presumably linking up again.
"I chose last time and we got shot at. How about you do the honors this time?" On their last operation together, they had stormed a supply ship and Yerbol was rather confident that a hallway was THE way to the bridge. It had been the right way, but they were greeted by three heavy blaster turrets, hence his deferring.

________

"They really are THAT stupid?" Soto rose from her chair, placing the holocron on her desk as the Major followed up her briefing on the situation:
"Lord Bracknell requests that we hold position until the Jedi are off the shuttle."
"Did he now?" Soto purred, running a hand through her curls.
"His patience is much more refined than mine...as well as his wisdom." She spoke to herself before directing an order at the Major:
"Get the rest of the fleet in attack formation, get Saresh on the comm system. We move when the Jedi hit hyperspace."
"Of course." The Major left, leaving Soto to run her tongue over her lips in anticipation.
"So close...so very close."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Awwwwwwww yussss

Quick clarification for my reply tomorrow: once we get the prisoners off-world, will Bracknell come after them in a delayed manner? ("How dare you do this! This is the last straw!)

OR

Will the transport be a trap? As in, they get the prisoners off world, but Bracknell and company are waiting with an armada, tracking Yerbol and Aria's shuttle to Zinuthra before unloading all sorts of craziness.

OR

Something else I'm not considering?

Eek, the end of Act 1! We've talked about it, but it's just now sinking in that we're here. Yay!

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

YES. PERFECT.

Also, feel free to move us to mission briefing :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

If human beings could suddenly melt into puddles upon certain events, then Yerbol would've been a large one on the forest floor after Aria's kiss(on the cheek). She was quick to respond to his feelings, but even quicker did she resume in her efforts to come up with a valid enough cover story to fly past uncomfortable questions. He wanted to talk to her, slow her down and process what he believed was a momentous occasion in their relationship, but her insistence on returning as quickly as possible was the logical decision to make...yet logic wasn't exactly what he wanted to dwell on. Still, he complied with her cover story, affirming that it would be the best shot they had before making their way back to the base in relative silence, Yerbol's mind fixed on their exchange. Was it infatuation? Was it a lapse in judgment between two friends? His mind was attempting to reconcile sound reasoning for what had occurred, but it was of little consequence due to the sharp ache that sung through his heart every single passing glance he made of his companion, the yearning that surged through him to take her in his arms and run away somewhere quiet where they could lay on verdant, lush earth and look up at the stars, talking about their future in hushed tones. It was hard to believe that these feelings had just burst forth, but it still surprised him at how deeply rooted these feelings suddenly were. Before he could think any harder about emotions, Vano appeared, quizzing the duo. Aria thankfully took the brunt of the questioning, admonishing Yerbol to ignore the prodding, which he could only nod at as they found themselves at the rear of the complex. Yerbol stood still for a brief moment before he grabbed Aria's hand:
"Come on, let's sneak around all this." Without another word, they clung to the edges of the base, managing to find the windy staircase at the upper right hand corner of the base that stood between the main area and a hallway that housed Havoc Squad and other such military types. Fleeing up the staircase, he led them back to their room, shutting the door behind them before telling Aria:
"I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen, Ari." He shook his head.
"Sorry, sorry, that came out FAR too aggressively, I just..." Sighing, he tilted his head to the ceiling, words eventually coming as his head returned to parallel:
"What I meant to say was that I can't ignore what we...what I feel like we're...where I feel like we're..go..ing...bantha crap, I'm doing a bloody terrible job of this." He breathed out sharply, collecting himself once more for a bit more of a graceful flourish of words:
"Once this mission is over, I'd love it if we could take some time and figure this out. I mean, well, I assume you've got the same feelings I do, right? As in, I'm not the only one in this friendship that feels like 'friends' really isn't a label we can apply to what we are now? And it's not about what Vano or Neta or what anyone else has to say, it's about what I feel in here." He pointed to his chest.
"And I can't pretend that those feelings aren't there. I don't know how, all of a sudden, they got super amplified when we were out there together, but I know that they're there and I know that they've dramatically increased and I..." He stepped a bit closer.
"Feel free to tell me that you don't feel this way at all. You're not going to crush me, I mean, I'd get it. Kind of."

____________________

"How did they move that quickly?" The Wookie roared back at his Rodian pilot, who was currently resetting the stabilizers, something he should've done when they started this operation...then again, neither believed that the transport was going to leave for another several hours, let alone depart at a speed that defied logic. As the Rodian plopped back into his seat, he spoke:
"Get on the comm unit and forward the info to Orso. She'll need it."

_____________________

"That wasn't a part of the first info packet!" Elara calmly placed a hand on Neta's arm, telling her:
"We just got the tracking coordinates back from Yipsie. They're a lot closer than we anticipated, but we can handle that." Neta looked down at Elara's hand and brushed it off gently.
"Right."
"It's ok to be stressed about an operation gone wrong, Neta."
"But this was supposed to be something we got right the first time, Lara. Those prisoners have ONE chance for us to get to them."
"And we will. We'll just push our timetable forward and get our teams ready for deployment in twenty minutes. Send out an all-call then?"
"Yeah."