Onslaught of the Empire

[Darkened Angel]

" What a ride. " Danika said. She wasn't much of a spacer, so she didn't have much to offer in the way of assistance with anything. " I'm getting all kinds of surprises today, and considering I've seen all kinds of things happen in cantinas, that's saying something. "  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova looked around cell for a moment as the shields went up, before taking a seat on the floor. After the fight she was actually quite tired. And she had used a considerable amount of her Force powers so it wasn’t surprising that the fatigue was starting to kick in. Keeping herself composed she lowered herself to the floor and folded her legs under her as she allowed herself to slip into a meditative state. She focused on her surroundings and listened to the other inmates that were there.  

[ElladanKenet]

Nova had a few minutes to herself in order to rest and relax as she wanted to. Not too much later though, the guards approached her cell, lowering the force field. Out of the darkness stepped Lady Nightwind, entering her chamber. The woman had changed little in the last hour, since Nova's arrest. She looked down at the girl with an appraising look, as the two guards that stood outside the room ignored them.

"So.... I trust you've been enjoying your accodations, young Nova? I'm sure it might be a step up from whatever cargo bay you smuggled yourself in." She ran a finger casually along her chin, thinking. "You're lucky I got here, you know. The Colonel was ready to call on Lord Bathalzar, and concern the Lod with your mischief. Such a thing would not have bode well with you at all."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Her eye slowly opened to glance at the Lady Nightwind’s feet as they entered her cell, but they did not seek to meet the gaze of the older, more powerful Sith Lord. Out of respect she rose to her feet and bowed.

“I apologize for the inconvenience my actions have caused you, milady. I realize now the rashness of my actions and I am prepared to face the charged that will be brought against me.” Straightening up she finally met the eyes of Ilia with her own gray ones. She was not afraid to face whatever would come next.
 

[ElladanKenet]

Brave and respectful, Nova commented on her willingness to be punished. Ilia admired her for it. To a degree of course. "You were rash, that is correct. You snuck aboard an Imperial vessel, disobeyed your overseer's orders on Dromund Kaas, and you endangered the lives of Imperial personel. Those are serious charges. Most anyone else would be executed."

She let the pause sink in slightly. "However, you are not like most anyone. You are a Sith acolyte, therefore your standards are not those of the Imperial military. You also went above and beyond the call of duty and accomplished where others failed. If not for your actions, along with the soldiers who arrested you, the Jedi would've escaped sooner, before I arrived."

This was true, and Ilia knew it. Nova had bought her time, and the Sith Lady knew how to reward competance. "Therefore, under Imperial law, I decided to take you under my protection. You are my responsibility now."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova blinked at Ilia. While her emotions were unreadable, beneath the surface she was very much in shock. It was an unexpected turn of events, for she was very sure her punishment would have been death or banishment from the order….but this? And while it almost sounded like high praise towards the end she still had difficulty in believing that this woman would take her under her protection. And so she did the only she could do.

“Milady, I am deeply honoured by your words,” she replied and dropped to one knee. “I will do anything that you ask of me, Lady Nightwind.”
 

[ElladanKenet]

The woman nodded. Really, Nova had no choice in what do say. To spurn Ilia's offer would have doomed her. Ilia would have tortured her personally, and turned the girl over to Imperial Intelligence and Lord Bathalzar. She would have been broken, and eventually executed.

Satisfied with the answer, the woman continued. "You will still be punished. Under Imperial law, you are required to be questioned on what you did. If your account is found not to be trustworthy or to be traitorous, then you will be executed. If otherwise, then you will be given a slap on the wrist and returned to duty. If that is the case, then I can only hope you are not foolish enough to do such a deed again. My generosity can only extend so far."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova nodded and once again bowed to show her deep respect on this matter. “Of course, milady, it will not happen again. I will of course be truthful in my accounts on this matter. I apologize again on the inconvenience this has caused you personally.” She meant every word, for she was also aware of the consequences. While she did not fear dying when it was necessary it did not mean she wished for it. With this new development she was quite glad that her days were not over just yet.  

[lady_skuld]

"Just a few more moments," Kira said. She sounded as impatient as she was. The ship rolled on its axis to allow better coverage of the guns as it drifted past the frigates and corvettes. The pair of fighters still following found themselves in a crossfire. One broke off, the other was destroyed by the cascade of lasers that aimed its way.

"Are you sure that's where you want to go?" Kira asked. Something told her that the Jedi did not make the decision on a whim. She looked at the coordinates again. "Sernpidal isn't exactly a hubworld..."  

[ElladanKenet]

The woman nodded again. "Good. I'm glad you understand. I've told you what's what, now. I shall return later today for your interrogation."

She stepped out, re-activating the shield as she left, leaving Nova alone to contemplate the development. Ilia didn't look back as she left the holding cells, heading to the barracks. Now that she'd spoken with Nova, she needed to talk to the troopers who'd arrested her. With that in mind, she headed to the barracks at a stoic pace.  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova settled back down on the floor once more and returned to her mediation. As intimidating as Ilia was she felt the encounter was something to be truly remembered. At this moment she felt she was finally going to reach her goals to becoming a truly powerful Sith. Thus she set out to clear her mind and gather her energies once more. She expected the interrogation to be severe and she did not wish to portray any weaknesses during it.  

[Nelowulf]

Jian gave a sidelong glance towards the smuggler, and giving a slight shake of his head in disappointment. However, he shouldn't have been so hard. After all, he was getting a ride off the planet for free. Service often mirrored price... and he hadn't gotten much to complain about. They had broken through the atmosphere of the planet, past the blockade, and within moments, they'd be en route further away from this sith advance. Jian could probably leave word of his discoveries and leave this dreaded mission behind him in his errant quest for his own self.

"It's where the main fleet will be. We have to regroup. The republic will probably try to reinforce itself and push back into the system, but they cannot afford to be so careless in their approach this time. Otherwise, more star systems will fall to the same fate."

He waved a hand, disengaging the scrambler system of the ship, and gave a small sigh. "Just head to the coordinates....."

~~~
Onboard the Frigate...

The crew had little choice. As the cruiser fired from long range, there was no way to be sure that the support fleet would get away if the enemy decided to fire upon them. Though the captain suggested that they would take the brunt of the firepower, the coordinates for retreat were on everyone else's mind. Still, to protect the many was the job of the few this time, and as they were pounded, the beginnings of the transports were turning much in the same direction as the medium freighter which had blown towards them...  

[Cale Darksun]

Fighters were launched as the frigates moved in to engage and the BattleCruiser advanced on the enemy vessels.
And despite this, Darth Cinn was not pleased.
"They are attempting to flee." He stated.
Swallowing nervously, the Captain looked back over his shoulder at the Sith Knight and then looked back to his tactical readouts. "We are aware of that Sir. Don't worry. In the time it will take them to jump to hyperspace, we will have blown them out of the stars."
"No...No." The Sith Knight said in a contemplative tone. "They suspect something. This is not the flight of cowards fleeing battle. This is an orderly retreat. My enemies are not allowed such a retreat. They are destroyed or put to chaotic flight." His helmed gaze shifted to the Captain. "Activate the trap."
"But Sir, there is no need-"
"Activate the trap." The Sith Ordered his subordinate.
The Captain, his protest stifled, nodded and relayed the order to bring the other two Battelcruisers and accompanying ships into system.

Within a minute the enemy force facing the Republic trippled, with reinforcements snapping out of Hyperspace right in the path of their escape vector, the rest of the fleet microjumping from the system's edge to close the gate on the enemy fleet. The Republic had no choice but to fight its way out.
 

[lady_skuld]

A small beeping came from the console in front of Kira. The droid was trying to communicate. Kira looked forward and gave a small groan at the new arrivals. Fleet commanders and their oversized ships always getting in the way of a good escape route. Chances are that the rest of the transports would be trying to follow her too. She sure hoped not. The ship rocked as turbolaser blasts echoed around the ship.

"I saw 'em, I saw 'em!" Kira yelled into the comlink. "Stupid droid, thinks I can't see a damn pair of cruisers in front of me. Fighters spewing from the hangars. Droid doesn't think I haven't done this before," she said through clenched teeth. The distance was too small to really go through, so Kira pulled up. The ship buckled as the imperials found a freighter blow past their command tower.

"Check the deflector shields, and don't start screaming," Kira tried to say as calmly as she could. "What I wouldn't do for an asteroid field right about now..." Another warning signal went off. "Will someone shut that annoying noise off? It's hard to concentrate," Kira stated, as a pair of fighters picked up on their tail.  

[Nelowulf]

NPC
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Type: Republic Frigate
Number: 2/2

Type: Republic Corvette
Number: 7/7

Type: Republic Transport
Number: 12/12

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Onboard the Aurora, the captain heard the same thing that the helmsman did. The approach of a new battlefleet didn't stop that universally familiar feeling of being royally screwed.

The sensor commander couldn't be blamed for relaying the information he was given. He merely was doing his job."Enemy ships in sector 27. It's a-"

"-Don't you say that word," the captain barked. "Have the corvettes circle around back and split the transports into two groups. Draw the attention of the cruisers and that should allow enough time for the transports to make the jump."