ACT II - The Freedom Fighter

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Bri'tan
Bri'tan leaned back in the pilot's chair and let out a long yawn. After several hours of scouring the ship and searching for needed repairs, the big Bith was tired.

But he'd have to sleep later. Below him on the console, the chronometer was ticking down towards zero. In a matter of seconds, the Greased Nerf was going to come out of hyperspace and no one knew what exactly awaited them. Bri'tan just hoped the ship would stay in one piece long enough to get it back into shape.

Off to his right, Kage sat dutifully at his station beeping quietly to himself. Too quietly? Bri'tan, perhaps becoming a little paranoid, shook the thought away.

Just behind him, Captain Nihl stood at attention, anxious to see what they were all getting into. The Clone asked Medallea: "What's the plan, sir?"

Daryn
Daryn sat at the communications station in the cockpit area and calmed himself with the force. Very soon the Greased Nerf was going to drop out of hyperspace into the unknown.

As he calmed himself, Daryn could sense Bri'tan's uneasiness and Nihl's determined anticipation.

With only seconds remaining until real space, Captain Nihl asked him, "What's the plan, sir?"

Shadow
Shadow strapped himself into the upper gunwell and took a deep breath. These are the moments that made him anxious - the calm before the storm, the quiet moments before all hell broke loose. Shadow wondered about what the group was walking into.

Below him, Shadow could hear Salvo getting himself into position. Salvo's voice echoed upward: "You think these guns will work?"

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn slowly exhales the deep breath he'd drawn in, completing a Jedi relaxation technique he'd been using to keep his mind clear. "Of obvious importance is acquiring the parts to repair the ship. I'd imagine the captain has some leads on places where we might accomplish that.

"We also need to see what is in that container your squad found on our recent excursion. I can't shake the feeling that it is linked...but we'll have to be cautious. I don't wish to destroy the contents before we've had a chance to determine their relevance.

"And...we need to find out how we were tracked so easily." Daryn's silvery eyes stray toward Kage, briefly eying the droid as it softly tootles to itself. "Either there is a tracking device aboard this ship, or one of us is supplying a trail to be followed. Or," he adds, his mechanically-produced voice going cold, "there is something far more sinister at work here, in which case we might be in a galaxy of trouble."

[Guardian_A]

Taking a deep breath, Bri'tan lifts his headstrap binoculars with one hand and rubbs his eyes with the other. Blinking once, the massive Bith reaches for the hyperdrive controls and prepres to take evasive maneuvers as the Greased Nerf exits hyperspace.

[Flyboy2002]

"Probably not, and I wouldn't try to turn it on until we are sure we aren't going to shut down the ship in the middle of this jump," Shadow replies to Salvo with his normal resolve. He was a little anxious but there was rarely anything he could ever really do so usually let his anxiety go quickly. He prepared himself to take action if necessary when the jump ends.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daryn
As the clock continues to wind down, Nihl responds: "You think we are still being tracked even though we found that transmitter in Lurk's neck?"

Seconds later, Daryn watches as the starlines slow down and slide back into stars.

Bri'tan
Bri'tan mutters the countdown to himself and pushes up on the levers, bringing the Greased Nerf out of hyper-space right on schedule. He immediately grips tight on the controls, ready to throw the ship into defensive maneuvers.

But, as Bri'tan stares out into the space in front of him, he sees nothing threatening his ship. Several clips ahead, Bri'tan sees the Vergesso Asteroids stretching out to either side.

Shadow
Shadow did his best to occupy his thoughts as he waited for the ship to come out of hyperspace. After a few moments, the Greased Nerf did what it was supposed to do. Shadow blinked as the ship reverted to real space. Then glancing around and ready to engage, Shadow is unable to locate any enemy targets.

[Jedi Skyler]

As the ship reverts to realspace, Daryn reaches out with the Force, checking to see if there is any immediate danger about. Responding to Nihl, he shrugs, saying, "Anything is possible; I can't vouch for Bri'tan's and Kage's whereabouts from the time they made berth until we boarded. A tracker could have been placed on the hull somewhere, as a backup measure to the tracker they put in Lurk's neck. Or, they may have even infiltrated the ship, rigging sabotage that would happen after time had passed, in order to slow us down. The possibilities are vast."

[Guardian_A]

Seeing no immediate threat, Bri'tan takes a minute to do a detailed scan of the area around them, then turns the scanners forward to see what can be learned about the asteroid belt ahead of them.

[Flyboy2002]

"Anyone see anything?? I have nothing up here. All I see is an asteroid belt," Shadow said as soon as he checked that the coast was clear. "Anyone detecting and distress beacons?" he asks while try to change search modes on his targeting computer, but having no idea if that is even possible.

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daryn
Daryn reaches out with the force and finds...nothing. Daryn finds no tremors of danger in the vicinity of the Greased Nerf. All seems to be calm, at least for now.

Seeing nothing in the vicinity and hearing Shadow's question about the distress signals, Daryn remembers the tracking beacon and searches for the correct frequency. After a moment or two at the comm station, Daryn is able to triangulate the signal's origin. It is coming from inside the asteroid field.

Bri'tan
Bri'tan finds very little in the immediate vicinity. The scan turns up nothing more than what he is able to see with his eyes: black space.

But, upon turning the scanners toward the asteroid field, Bri'tan locates a large number of objects of varying sizes floating or hanging in space. Ignoring the reports on the mineral makeup of the asteroids, Bri'tan instead focuses his attention on a large mass floating amid the asteroids. It appears that the large Republic Cruiser has entered the asteroid field.

Shadow
Salvo hollers up the corridor, "Nah, man, I don't see anything...At least nothin worth shooting at."
Shadow fiddles with the targeting computer for a moment, but gives up the effort fairly quickly. Satisfied that there are no targets nearby, Shadow scans the asteroid field and does a double-take. If he didn't know better, Shadow would think he saw a line of running lights blinking behind the first layer of asteroids.

[Guardian_A]

"Found it" Bri'tan mumbles half to himself. Turning the ship towards the Republic Cruiser, he starts a leisurely trip towards the larger ship.

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn says, "I'm not detecting any danger so far. Also, I triangulated the distress signal's origin...it's coming from inside the asteroid belt. I'm guessing it's coming from the cruiser."

[Wisconsin Wookie]

As the Greased Nerf nears the asteroid field, the crew can begin to make out the silhouette of the much larger vessel. It appeared to be, for lack of a better word, sleeping. The Freedom Fighter hung there, somewhat at an angle, just floating in the asteroid field.

Nihl observes: "Something's wrong, there should be more lights on."

As the ship gets closer, Bri'tan realizes he will have to do some nifty maneuvering if he wants to get in close to the big warship.

[Jedi Skyler]

Daryn frowns, knowing that Nihl is right. He shifts his focus, stretching forth his senses to see what thoughts he can pick up from the dark ship.

((OOC: Dropping the Danger Sense; Concentration then Receptive Telepathy))

[Guardian_A]

Mentaly calculating his trip through the asteroid field, Bri'tan starts easing the throttle forward as the Greased Nerf nears the asteroid field.

(He's planning a rapid trip through the asteroid field for two reasons: 1. To show off his skill as a pilot. and 2. For the adrenaline rush that comes from making a slightly dangerous trip through the asteroid field.)

[Wisconsin Wookie]

Daryn
Daryn takes a deep breath and stretches out with the force in the direction of the Freedom Fighter. After a moment, Daryn is taken aback. A ship the size of the Freedom Fighter should provide a large sounding board for the force with thousands of sentient beings on board. With a frown, Daryn intensifies his search only to find...nothing. A cold, uneasy feeling falls over Daryn as a cloud seems to hang over the Republic cruiser. Daryn senses no immediate danger, but at the same time he senses something sinister in connection with the large ship.

Suddenly, the Greased Nerf leaps forward into the asteroid field, snapping Daryn back to attention.

Bri'tan
Bri'tan feels the Greased Nerf pick up speed quickly as he pushes it into the asteroid field. With a grin, he easily dodges half a dozen asteroids and continues to pick up speed. A quick glance forward reveals a thickening asteroid field with less room for error.

Behind him he hears Captain Nihl question, "What in the blazes are you doing? We don't even have a plan of action yet! Are you trying to get us all killed?"

Shadow
As Shadow continues to scan the area around the ship, he feels the Greased Nerf pick up speed and head into the asteroid. Wondering what that big ole Bith was up to, Shadow begins to see small asteroids fly past his viewport.