The Meanest of Pirates

[Gaz Fallwen]

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Mandalorian border with Sith space
???? local time​

Mandalorian space made Gaz feel uncomfortable. He wasn't scared of it, but memories resurfaced everytime he passed through, and he tried to minimize travel through the sector as a result. It was not until he had already climbed onto the shuttle--just a rickety ship provided by the Empire for its lower ranked soldiers to hop onto when they needed transport somewhere--that he was informed it would be passing by his former home on its way to Sith space. He couldn't help but quietly exhale at the irony of the situation as Concord Dawn came into view outside, quickly filling up the blackness he'd been observing for a few hours now.

The shuttle wasn't crowded, but there were some other Imperials scattered throughout, most lounging in some rusty corner, as if they were avoiding the common room. He hadn't spoken to anyone else during the journey, finding no need to socialize with someone he would completely forget about after they made landfall. This trip was starting to seem as it would be completely unmemorable--and why wouldn't it? Not like there was a small ship making its way over to them right now, out of the corner of Gaz's eye...

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Eddard had to admit that he was surprised by how well this had gone so far. He was the only Imperial Republica Sith on the shuttle and that was fine - simply because unless you dressed in your Imperial Republica uniform, there was no way for anyone to actually tell what faction of the Sith you owed your allegiance to. As far as anyone here was concerned he was just another yellow-eyed Sith male sat on a shuttle, trying to make their way out of wherever the hell they were currently.

He took a glance out of the window and paused.

"That's Concord Dawn."

The other Sith in the shuttle went quiet and looked at him as if he was mad. Everyone knew that the Mandalorians hated all kind of Sith - Republica and Old Empire alike. They had revolted against both sides of the Sith Civil War and struck whoever they pleased.

No one in their right mind would fly through the middle of Mandalorian space if they were showing Imperial colours. Standing up, Eddard scowled.

"Pilot!" he called out, "What the hells are you playing at?! The hells are we doing out of lightspeed in Mandalorian Space?!"

The door to the cockpit opened and the pilot and co-pilot stepped out, only they weren't in flight suits.

"For Mandalore!"

Both of the pilots had been Mandalorians who had hidden their armour in the closed off cockpit, along with some blasters. Even now they opened fire on the unprepared Sith. Eddard grabbed one of the other Sith and pulled him in front of him, shielding him from blaster fire at the expense of the man's life. Using the Force, Eddard launched the corpses at the two Mandalorians, knocking them back.

"Kill them!" he roared, igniting one of his lightsabers, "Death to the traitors!"

Unknown to him, a ship was approaching with even more bad news.

@The Matt

 

[Gaz Fallwen]

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His right hand sneaked down into his cloak as their ship slowed, gripping the hilt of his lightsaber. Gaz raised to his feet as the Imperial raised his voice--something was definitely off.

He stepped forward toward the closed cockpit door, but it burst open, the pilot and co-pilot now decked out in armor and leveling their blasters at the few Sith in the room. As the Imperial grabbed an ally to use as a shield, Gaz reached out, using the Force to rip the weapon out of the pilot's hand. The two Mandalorians were knocked back into the cockpit and likely dazed for the next few seconds, so the Acolyte wasted no time. He burst into the small room, lightsaber ignited, and cut down the weaponless pilot.

Gaz slammed the co-pilot's helmeted head down onto the dashboard, hitting some buttons that he probably shouldn't have. As he dented the Mandalorian's helmet, rattling his head within and likely killing him, the ship's engines kicked on again, but at max speed this time, sending the shuttle barreling forward, Concord Dawn on their left.

The ship shuddered, but not because of the sudden burst of speed. The second shuttle had arrived, slamming into their right side and sending them all careening through space, heading toward Concord Dawn. They were flying forward rather fast, sure, but they would never cross the planet's surface in time. If they kept going at this rate, their ship would crash on Concord Dawn.

The door to the shuttle was lit up with sparks as the Mandalorians from the other ship began sawing through. Gaz stepped out of the cockpit and took position to the right of the ship's entrance, waiting for the hijackers to get through. He looked at the Imperial and nodded to the other side.

"We might be able to win this quickly if we surprise them. At the very least, we should take out a couple," he suggested.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Well thank the Force for this guy.

At least not everyone in the shuttle was content to just stand around like porgs waiting to be slaughtered - seemed like some people in the Old Empire still had some gods damned fire left in them at least! Dusty old karker did a good job of hiding the fresh blood but it seemed it was still there! Still fire within the ranks... that would be something he would bring home to the Republica with himself so that his superior knew.

For now though?

Well for now he was just another Old Empire Sith about to get boarded by some random Mandalorians who seemed to want to make prisoners of them. He had an involuntary memory of his care under the hands of slavers before he shut the memories out entirely and nodded to the other Sith who had gotten up and actually done something.

Shaking his arms to loosen up, Eddard drew his second lightsaber and ignited it as well. Taking up a position on the opposite side of the doorway to his newfound ally, he nodded once, crouching low.

"I'll go low - break legs and down them." he told his ally simply as he began gathering the Force to himself, "I knock them down - you put them down."

The door burst open and Eddard sprung his trap, lashing out with a Force push at knee height, ramming into the knees of the first few Mandos with enough strength to snap their legs while still retaining enough to knock down the others further back. Upon releasing his attack he moved slightly closer to his new ally to cover him, blocking blaster bolts as the Old Empire Sith focused on his own attack.

Let it never be said he wasn't a team player.

@The Matt

 

[Gaz Fallwen]

.

He liked this guy. Quick, clean, and to the point. The doors burst open without any further warning, but his ally was ready. As the man forced the Mandalorians to the ground, Gaz impaled them with his lightsaber, taking out three of them before they stopped coming. Blaster fire flew by his head several times, but the man managed to parry it away.

He took cover behind the wall and craned his head over to the enemy corridor while he did it - there were about 3 more, judging by the flash of their muzzles as they shot, although he knew to never underestimate Mandalorians. "We go in when they're dazed," he declared, then reached his free left hand into the corridor and gathered a small burst of energy to his palm. A flash of light brightened up the corridor, but for the Mandalorians that were facing them, all they would see was white, as if they'd been hit by a flashbang.

Gaz tore into the corridor first, slamming into the first Mandalorian he saw. He tackled him into the wall, leaving a man-sized dent into the metal, then cut him in half at the waist. He whirled to his right, blade outstretched, and managed to bite into the second, cleaving from his armpit to his ear. The third was slowly coming out of it, but Gaz supposed the other man could take care of that.

"They probably had a pilot and co-pilot, so we should make our way to the cockpit. Name's Gaz." He stretched free hand out for a shake.

Although they didn't feel it, their ship continued to barrel toward Concord Dawn. It would be hard to stop themselves from crashing, but they might be able to steal the Mandalorian ship and ditch the original shuttle in an attempt to save themselves.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Seemed that they were working well as a team so far - time to make sure they kept that kriff up! He nodded to Gaz and kept his head away from the doorway as the other Sith used the Force to temporarily blind the Mandalorians on the inside. Letting Gaz run in first, Eddard ducked around his ally at a sprint, stabbing his lightsaber right through the throat of the Mandalorian that had been left for him to deal with.

Tearing his lightsaber free of the man cut the head from the shoulders, leaving it to roll on the ground.

"On it."

Pilot and co-pilot now.

Using the Force to support the movement, Eddard kicked the door to the cockpit in with one movement, stepping in to slash up the front of the pilot's torso as soon as he was inside. The co-pilot lunged at him with a knife but hit the controls, causing the ship to shake as it spun due to his carelessness.

Eddard twisted out of the way of the knife as his lightsaber twirled once, slicing through the co-pilot's wrists before he calmly stabbed the lightsaber directly in the eye socket of the man, piercing straight into the skull and melting the brains within. Dragging the pilot's corpse out of the seat, Eddard sat himself down in the seat and gripped the controls.

They weren't responding.

"Gaz!" he called out behind him, "Seal off the docking tube - detach us from our original shuttle!"

They were tied to an anchor and he wanted to at least try and glide this thing in.

Ah.

But he hadn't given him his name yet... and he shouldn't use his real name. So, instead, he went with the name he'd booked the ticket on the shuttle under, a name that actually had some clout in the Old Empire, even if only with the historians and priests.

"Name's Cregan."

That'd do for now.

@The Matt

 

[Gaz Fallwen]

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Gaz was already on it as the man fought the pilots. He had to use his lightsaber in some parts because the Mandalorian ship had hit their shuttle so hard the metal had embedded itself in, but the docking tube was now sealed.

Making his way down the corridor, the Acolyte shut his lightsaber off and clipped the hilt back to his belt. "Cregan?" he asked from around the corner. "Like the High Executioner?" Gaz came into view and took a seat as he finished the question, looking at Cregan as he worked the controls. The Acolyte knew his history.

It was most likely a fake name, but that was just how people were, especially nowadays. It wasn't like giving your name could do much to damn you - at least, in Gaz's opinion - but everyone else tended to be paranoid.

He looked out the window to find their newly acquired shuttle barreling toward Concord Dawn. They hadn't reached orbit yet, but he was already questioning their chances of surviving the crash, which seemed rather slim.

Mashing the engine button over and over, he turned to Cregan, who seemed like he wasn't having any luck either. "I say we brace for impact." @Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Gods be good but it seemed like they were at least free of the other ship. The one they were currently in was beginning to respond now but it was still not great. It was something he was reasonably certain he could probably crash land without too many problems but that was just something for him to worry about.

He gritted his teeth as he struggled with the controls, the ship shaking all around them as they began to enter the planet's atmosphere. Still, he couldn't help but smirk very faintly.

"High Judge!" he replied back with a quiet chuckle, "I remember my history lessons well..."

Especially since he was descended from the damned man.

They were coming in hot but he was beginning to at least get the nose up. He nodded in agreement though, using the Force to strap himself into the four point harness of the pilot's ship.

"Pray to the Force we avoid a town..." he muttered as he managed to barely avoid a mountain before they were too far gone and they began to skid along the ground violently.

It was a miracle they didn't hit another too destructive, coming to a stop in a furrow that they had created with their landing.

/End?
@The Matt