Guard Detail

[jpchewy01]

Reed Cabilla looked out of the view screen in his temporary office on the Capitol Ship Victory. He was patroling the Corellian Run and was given orders to immediatly engage any pirate activity. Tan Maxwell walked into the room and saluted.

"Sir. Your presence is requested on the bridge."

Reed put down his dataslate and followed the Tan down the corridor, past a couple of Deck Officers talking about some tactical readouts, and into an elevator. Maxwell pressed a button and the elevator started its ascent up to the Command Spire. Ron Tanith was waiting infront of a display hologram. It showed the task force.

"Sir. If you would look at our positioning, you will see that..."

"Wrong, wrong, wrong," murmured Cabilla. He turned to Tanith, "Who organized these ships?"

"Well Sir, I took the liberty of..."

"It wont work. You have the ships all on one side of the route. If an attack were to come from the other side, we would have to cross the route, possibly disrupting traffic. I want two destroyers, the Absolution and the Integrity on the other side flanked by two corvettes, the Navarre and the Absolom. The remaining two corvettes, the Endevour and the Enterprise will aid the destroyer, Republic in a scouting position further down the route. Send the order please."

Reed turned to the startled Tanith and said, "A little constructive criticism doesn't hurt. Buck up lad!" He patted Tanith on the back and smiled. Ron managed a small chuckle.

[jpchewy01]

Within the next few minutes, Reed's orders were given out and acted upon. So far they had not run into any resistance.

[jpchewy01]

When everyone was in position, Reed took one last look at the screen and returned to his office. Tan was soon following him.

"Yes?", asked Reed.

"Sir, its just that...", Tan stopped and then asked, "Permission to speak freely?"

"Certainly Granted", replied Reed.

"The captain may have taken your constructive criticism the wrong way. He somehow thinks its his fault. Could you have a talk with him? To lighten his spirits?" the young man stopped. He was being hailed on his chest communicator, "Yes?"

The voice of an ensign on the bridge came from the communicator, "Sir, we are detecting a small fleet of unidentified ships coming towards our position."

Reed jumped in and said, "Please fill us in on the bridge. We're on our way."

Tan looked at him and was about to say something.

"Sometimes, the best way to choose a course of action is to put yourself right in the thick of it."

[jpchewy01]

Reed and Tan arrived on the bridge and were met by a flurry of excitement. Ron Tanith had already given the order to establish contact with the vessels, but they had opened fire on the Republic. The Endeavor and the Enterprise were responding, but sustaining damage. They would need backup.

"Ron", said Reed, "What in the name of the Force is going on?"

"We are being attacked. The vessels have been identified as Hutt. Our long range sensors are detecting more ships. They see no more need for secrecy."

"Then we will fight", replied Reed, "Put us on an intercept course for those other ships. Have the Absolution come with us. I want the Integrity along with its corvettes to go and aid the Republic."

An ensign walked up to them, "Sir, the Endeavor has just been destroyed. Casualties are minimal and the Republic is picking up the survivors."

[jpchewy01]

Reed's face went dark. He remembered all that had ever died under his command. Those faces he would never see again. He quickly snapped out of it and went back to commanding.

"Put me through to the fighter wings. I want them ready for a fight."

Tanith looked at him quizzically, "Sir?"

"I want them under my direct command."

"Yes...Sir", replied Tanith.

Tan Maxwell approached with an official damage report, "20 dead sir. 3 in critical condition. 10 wounded. The rest of the 50 strong crew received only minor injury."

Reed replied, "Very well, put that through to military command."

"Yes Sir!" replied Maxwell and he walked off.

Ron Tanith turned back to Reed, "All fighter wings ready for your orders."

Reed stood in front of the tactical overview. The Republic and the Integrity were beating back the pirates. The Victory and the Absolution were in attack range of the new threat.

"Scramble the fighters."

[jpchewy01]

Soon every fighter was out on the display. They were given orders to get into attack formation and ready themselves for the fight to come.

"Send Red squad and Yellow squad at that corvette. Their largest ships are destroyers. We'll handle them. I want squads blue and green to attack the other corvette. Have to Absolution come around to attack the destroyer on the right and we'll attack the one on the left," when Reed had finished giving orders, the bridge went into a flurry as people sent orders and recieved reports from the other battle.

"Sir, the Republic reports that the threat has been destroyed, but they are heavily damaged. The Enterprise is in very bad shape," said an ensign.

"OK. Tell the damaged ships to jump to Corellia for repairs," replied Reed. He turned back to the tactical display. The fighters were fairing well against the corvettes. The bombers were beginning the finishing run. The Absolution was destroying the other vessel and the fight was soon over.

Reed looked at an astonished Ron Tanith. Tan Maxwell returned from running orders to the other tactical officers, the battle was won and a load of prisoners was being brought in for interrogation.

Reed turned to Tanith, "Prepare a report. This mission is done."

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Military Command:

The Corellian Run is a target for pirates and Hutt raiders. A full time patrol is advised. We are awaiting further orders.

Damage: Corvette Endeavor Destroyed
Destroyer Republic and Corvette Enterprise heavily damaged

Interrogation suggests that the raiders were working for the Hutts.

[jpchewy01]

As they began to leave, an ensign walked up to Reed, "Sir. The Republic reports that it is under attack. The Enterprise was scuttled."

Reed looked at the ensign, "We have to go back. Turn it all around. The Republic is under attack!"

[Brandon Rhea]

ADMIN NOTE: If you're going to have the Republic under attack, you're going to need to have additional RPers in this thread. You can't do all of this by yourself, especially since you're NPCing the Hutts without Hutt permission or involvement.

[jpchewy01]

OOC: the pirates were lying. I was going to post that in the next post. Also, I have PMed Kupo repeatedly and he has not replied. I seem to be the only active republic player other than the guys doing judgment day. And the Republic is the name of the ship.

[jpchewy01]

As the ships turned around, the fighters were already deploying. They targeted the enemy fleet's support ships and downed two easily. The became bogged down with enemy fighters and support ships soon though. Reed ordered the destroyers to attack like vessels and the corvettes to target the fighters. Soon, the Victory was engaged in a battle with the enemy capitol ship.

An ensign walked up to Reed, "Sir, it seems that they are standing down."

"Good. Transport the prisoners here for interrogation."

The prisoners were met in hangar bay 1 by a contingent of Marines. Their leader was escorted to Reed's office.

Reed looked at the man, "What are the Hutt's planning?"

"Nothing. Ha! We're arms dealers looking to grind a profit out of a war between you to."

Reed slapped the man and sent him away, "Sick."

Ron Tanith sent another message to Military High Command regarding the false alarm.