Sucker Punch

[Raif]

An opportunity had presented itself to the Jedi, an opportunity that could not be passed up. Thanks to intelligence gathered by a confidential informant of Jedi Councillor Murielle Oe, the Jedi had been made aware of the details regarding the gathering up and forced recruitment of a large group of force-sensitive youths within Imperial space.

Rather than allow these younglings to be corrupted and brainwashed by the Sith, the Jedi would act to intercept the operation at a lonely asteroid base known as Exodus 2-1-2.

Known by most simply as the Waystation, Exodus 2-1-2's only redeeming quality in life was that it happened to be located at the perfect intersection of several local hyperspace routes. Thus, the Imperium had deemed it worthy of creating a small outpost to serve as a rest and refueling station. In the case of the capture and re-education of the youths in question, several small groups of younglings would be gathered temporarily at the station before being sent together on a larger transport to Korriban.

The Jedi Council had given command of the operation to newly-appointed Councillor Hal Farstrider. Accompanying him would be Jedi Knight Nakoma Gwenelda, as well as Masters Tytos and Guhoo Armstrong, just to make sure things went smoothly.

The situation itself was rather straight forward. Thanks to docking codes provided by the informant, the Jedi strike team would pose as a straggling transport loaded with younglings to join the rest. Once they had docked and gained entrance to the station, they would have to move not only to secure the children but also to cut off the base communications so as to prevent word of the attack reaching any possible reinforcements too soon.

The only bad news about the whole situation was that the details were a bit...hazy, in terms of what sort of resistance the Jedi were likely to meet. At the very least there would be a score of basic troopers, but the informant couldn't rule out the possibility of Sith presence as well. The Empress and her flunkies had been behaving increasingly erratic and paranoid, recently, so there was no telling where the security measures would have been beefed up.

Hence why this particular team had been assembled. They were the best...well, sort of. At the moment their craft had just exited hyperspace, Farstrider and Gwenelda at the controls while the "old folks" sat on two jumpseats placed just outside the open cockpit doorway. There would be time for a few last words or actions before they were within range of the station. At that point, it was go time.

 

[Wit]

He should have been nervous, leading a mission, his first as a Councillor, leading a team such as this, he really should have been nervous. But oddly he felt more at home than he had through the frantic few weeks that had followed the events on Endor. He wasn't stuck behind a desk, wasn't buried in logistics, no more endless discussions about evacuations, safe houses, sidestepping classes. It wasn't that he resented those aspects of his new or among the Jedi, it was a responsibility he had willingly accepted and would carry out to the best of his abilities, but this was where he really belonged. Out in the field, getting his hands dirty, or in this case his ears, considering the music that was blaring loudly on the ship's speakers.

Having set the coordinates in for the last stage of their journey towards Exodus, a relatively short jump that would bring them close enough to the station to get some basic reconnoitring done but far enough so that they could turn around in case they sensed something was wrong. As they slipped out of hyperspace, he took over controls of the ship and set it to start drifting towards the station in a lazy manner, also activating the ship's long range scanners so they had a better idea of what they were up against. Pretty soon they were hailed by the station and once they shared the codes that Murielle's contact had provided, Exodus was more than happy to share docking information with them.

Letting them bring them in, he switched off the comms and turned towards the rear of the bridge, shouting to gather the attention of those who waited there. "Oi, old people, get in here. We're here." Waiting for the two Jedi Masters to arrive, he brought up the results of the scan on a display on the dashboard's main display and started getting ready to dock the ship. "No exports, at least nothing that we can pick up. Looks like they're actually going to walk right up to their door and rob them."

[OOC:Sorry for the late post and for the short post, no excuses. :( ]

 

[Wolf]

"I like this song," the velvety telepathic voice of the olive skinned Nakoma slipped into the mind of the man beside her. Being deaf certainly would have had its limitations...if not for the Force. She was able to hold conversations, listen to music, and even eavesdrop inspite of the fact that she could not hear in a traditional sense of the word. The Knight pushed a few buttons upon the control panel and suddenly the sound was loud enough to deafen those aboard the ship without an auricular impairment.

The raven haired Jedi flashed a smile at Hal, a man whom she did not know well. In fact, she knew very little of the newly appointed Councillor and even less of the two Jedi Masters accompanying them. Tytos was quiet but the Noghri was intimidating enough without saying a word. The Knight had encountered these people on other missions yet she still found their appearance...unsettling. Guhoo seemed like the strong silent type and was a Guardian like Nakoma. Unbeknownst to either of them, the Laku'na woman possessed the saberstaff of his former Master, Mira Albion...an accidental trophy gained through a run in with the Sith upon Christophsis while she was but a Padawan.

Though the Force worked in mysterious and often inconspicuous ways, to an outsider looking in, this team had been knit together with great intention. Each of the members possessed skills that complimented the strengths and weaknesses of one another. Together, the four of them would be impossible to stop, even against the most indomitable foe. In spite of this fact however, Nakoma was hopeful that they would meet little to no resistance. "Get in and get out or it would get messy," she thought privately.

As Hal brought the ship out of hyperspace, the surrounding scene began to unfold. Directly ahead of the craft lay an asteroid with a base upon it. Rumor had it that the Waystation was the place where younglings were gathered and shipped off to Korriban for endless brainwashing and forced service to the Imperium. The idea sickened the Knight as she suddenly became lost in a vision. Scenes played out behind her amber eyes like a favorite holo. She could not only see the children...she could feel the terror in their hearts and hear the trepidation in their small voices as they attempted to make sense of their circumstances.

"They're just babies..." Nakoma thought to herself as matching tears stung at her almond shaped eyes. She swallowed hard and pushed the images from her mind as Hal called to the Jedi Masters seated just outside of the open cockpit doorway. The Knight quickly shifted her gaze to the window to not only watch the docking of their craft, but to also hide the heartache echoed deep within the pools of gold. She continued watching the procedure and noticed how smoothly the operation was going thus far.

It was for this reason that she felt restless. There was a wave of darkness rising from the depths of the sea that was the Force and it seemed to originate from within the Waystation. It would have been far too easy to find the younglings unsupervised and to rescue them from the future of hell that certainly awaited...no, that was not how this was going to go down. The Knight closed her eyes briefly and cleared her mind, calling upon the Force to permeate the very fiber of her being. She prayed for strength and clarity in the face of great adversity...in the face of great injustice.