Session 18: A Familiar Face, Part III
General Summary
Day 7, Evening
In preparation for their meeting with The Alderaan Raiders on board their ship, the Dead Reckoning, Lem asks Rin and S19-A1 to build a few improvised explosive devices based on the wrecked speeders that they salvaged on Fresia. Rin then helps Lem install both explosives inside a vest that Lem wears under his Jedi robe, making sure that the pressure activators are facing outward and that the bombs are set to a 7 second timer. Tomla looks on incredulously.
Rin docks the The Mynock's Wing on the docking clamps on the hull of the Dead reckoning and The Initiates board the cruiser. The head of the Alderaan Raider, Kylett Dandean, welcomes them pleasantly, and introduces her second in comman, Reedan Lanbel. They recognize the scruffy-looking smuggler from the Carida Memorial Station when they saw him meeting with the Carida Memorial Fund (Thread 1.2.1: Alderaan Raiders). While Rin and Lem are pleasantly surprised by the warm reception, Tomla senses that beneath all of the niceties, they are in very real danger from these people.
As they meet in the salon of the ship, Kylett apologizes for the situation and says that they are happy to release Lyshea as long as they give their word as Jedi that any information that she may have gleaned would not be shared with The New Republic. As they continue discussing, Rin's social failings result in him blurting out that they have two captives on board their ship, including Vass Manduc, who Kylett is familiar with. With the meeting concluded, Kylett requests that they confirm their agreement through the traditional Alderaani pact. She rises from the table and walks over to Lem. Taking his arm in hers, she pulls him in close and wraps he other arm around his back. The pressure from this embrace activates the bomb vest that Lem is wearing. While Rin tries to help Lem to discreetly deactivate the bombs, Tomla tries to cover for them, claiming that Lem has a heart condition. It's clear that neither Kylett nor Reedan believe her, although that ends up being moot since Rin is unable to disarm the explosives without fully opening Lem's robes and exposing the bomb vest for everyone to see. Struggling to stop the explosives before they are all blown to bits, Rin calls upon the Force to aid him, and he cuts the right wire with less a second remaining.
Kylett and Reedan just stare at the Jedi for several seconds before she finally demands to know what the hell just happened. They again try to lie to her, but she storms out of the room in disbelief, telling them to go collect their friend and get off of her ship.
Reedan takes them to Kylett's very modest presidential suite where Lyshea is being held. As Lyshea apologizes to Tomla for putting them in this situation, sirens and red lights spring to life across the ship. Reedan orders everyone into the turbolift and Lyshea back into the room. When they start to protest that they aren't leaving without Lyshea, Reedan pulls his blaster and says that they either get in the turbolift or he starts shooting. When they don't comply, he fires a shot into Rin's shoulder and the small hallway suddenly erupts in blaster fire and the hu of lightsabers amid the cacophony of the sirens and warning lights. Realizing that he is both outnumbered and being delayed from his duties on board the ship, he closes and locks the turbolift doors and leaves the Jedi behind. As more Alderaan Raiders begin emerging from their bunks in adjacent rooms, Reedan announces over the ship comms that the Jedi are to be taken into custody. Just before the Jedi are forced to defend themselves again, Kylett's voice emerges from the same comms telling everyone to belay that order and asks the Jedi to come to the cockpit.
When The Initiates and Lyshea arrive on the command deck, Kylett explains that they are under attack from two Imperial Remnant Gozanti cruisers that just appeared out of hyperspace. They aren't likely to make it out of the planet's gravity well in order to jump to hyperspace before the cruisers can incapacitate them. But, if the Jedi assist them in the Mynock's Wing, then they might have a chance. And just to make sure they don't just take off and leave them there, Reedan points his blaster at Lyshea's head and says that she's staying on the ship until they are all out of this. With no other option, Lem and Rin head to their ship to join the space battle while Tomla stays behind to ensure Lyshea's safety.
As they get to the ship, Rin and Lem realize that they are a crewmember short and will be severely disadvantaged if they don't put another person on the forward laser cannons. The human and Duro both pause and look at each other with a knowing glance, having the same idea. While Rin undocks from the Dead Reckoning, Lem and Salty go to the storage room and tell Vass that if he wants to live, he should get to the cockpit and help them out. Vass agrees and the motley crew close distance with the cruisers and prepare to engage. Just for good measure, Rin tells Salty to ready his shock prod in case Vass tries anything funny.
The massive Gozanti cruisers start firing their six linked quad turbolaser batteries long before the Mynock Wing's smaller laser cannons are in range. Rin puts their ship in front of the much larger Dead Reckoning in order to draw fire, but with its smaller shields and minimal armor, the first hit from the cruisers takes out the Mynock Wing's shields entirely. With the others engaged with firing back, Rin has no choice but to tell Salty to forget about guarding Vass and instead work on getting their shields back up as another hit like that would vaporize their hull.
They are able to avoid any additional blasts as they close distance, although the Dead Reckoning isn't quite so lucky. However, its surprisingly strong shields hold as it also closes into the firing distance of its weapons. Vass lands the first hit and is able to find a weak spot in one of the cruiser's shields. The shot flies through directly into the hull, knocking out the shield generator and damaging some of the weapon batteries. As Vass celebrates, Lem bets Vass that he can't make his next shot, which results in an ongoing competition between the two gunners throughout the rest of the battle.
The Dead Reckoning makes a dangerous pass between the two cruisers, trying to do as much damage as possible at once. While they are able to destroy the cruiser damaged by Vass' lucky shot, they take massive damage and the gunnery console in the cockpit explodes, killing the Alderaan Raider manning the weapons and starting a fire. While Tomla deals with the flames, Lyshea jumps to an open console, reroutes control of the forward weapons to her control, and continues firing, blowing holes in the remaining cruiser left and right and taking out its engines.
While the cruiser is unable to move, its does continue firing, refusing to give up. Rin takes the Mynock's Wing on an attack run, giving Lem and Vass clear shots across the hull, blowing the Gozanti cruiser to bits. As both ships celebrate, Lem heads to the cockpit to congratulate Vass on winning their ongoing wager. Instead of giving him the 600 credits he won, he instead slaps binder cuffs on him and takes him back to the storage room. Always the good sport, Rin slips a credit chip into Vass' pocket to make sure he knows they are honorable.
As the Mynock's Wing docks with the Dead Reckoning again, Lem sticks around to talk to Vass and Kylett thanks Tomla and Lyshea for their help during the battle.
