Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( ok. ^^;; I'll also have an interlude in which Freya meets with Angel, in addition to meeting with the queen. 3nodding ))

"That would be most excellent," Freya replied to Bastet. "We shall then totally plan our next moves, even as we meet with the queen."

As they left the Scion residence, Freya then asked, "So, like what are some totally excellent vacation spots here? After we meet the queen, we'll totally take a breather for a time, before either going to Mon Cal or Hapes."

"You got it," Iria replied. She then turned her attention back to Vera and the others on the comm. "Something about gravity wells and such?"

Normally, Tanaab was one ot those planets few people regarded as a major system. It was an imptrtant stop along the Perlemian Way, but still not as important a hub as Centares, Junction, or Taris even.

A week ago, this had been a planet closely guarded by the Imperial blockades. Today, the ships were a parsec away each, and with what he had planned, they wouldn't need it.

"Is our gravity well ready?" the chiss commander asked.

Sven nodded. "It's attached to the bow of your your warship and ready for activation."

"Then do so."

There were a few barked commands, and moments later the chiss felt a small shudder, and immediately spotted the swirling vortex around the ship's bow. He looked over to Dtere. "Timeframe?"

"The convoy will arrive in thirty seconds. The nearest Imperial ship, a Stalwarth, is a parsec to our starboard side."

He nodded. "As soon as all of the ships break into the gravity well, hit the Transverter. When it's been activated, begin calibrating it to a different frequency."

The senior technician nodded. "Yes sir."

A few moments later, and the twenty or so ships piled into their area, a small ragtag band of transports and out-dated escorts. Once the last hauler was clear, Sven activated the device, and watched as the ships shuddered, and and became death-like.

"Well done. Now, pull them into the tractor beam. Stabilize the ships so we can get our crew in and go."

With his command, their assault shuttles were dispatched, filled with technicians, Noghri and Mando commandos, soldiers, and led by Kathleen. He watched as his two Canderouses began rounding up the other ships, while their fighters were dispatched and surrounded the ships. Ten minutes later, each of the thirteen pairs of shuttles reported back. "Good job, men. Send the remaining crew into their escape pods, and take the ships back."

"We're taking the whole ships, sir?" Sven asked.

"Why not?" Elladan asked. "These are Nal Huttan freighters, without a doubt. I'm sure whoever owned these won't miss them enough to come snooping around here."

And with that, the ships returned home, all transports in tow, and bound for Mandalore.

The Geonosis bound freighter, along with it's convoy mates, were over halfway to their arid destination.
Given that he had just left nearby Tatooine, Link wondered how drunk his ancestor must have been when he scattered the clues across the galaxy. The placement of the datalinks thus far seemed designed to burn out someone's hyperdrive.

The two Force wielding fugitives sat in the hold of the Transport, Legs folded under them and hands in their laps.
Eyes closed, they sat in silence.
Then, Link broke that silence.

"This one does not see anything."
"Then you're not doing it right." Leida retorted. "Is your mind clear? are you focusing on the Force around you?"
"This one has meditated before...
"But we're not meditating now are we? Besides, Meditating requires a different seating position. Now shut up and focus. Try to limit your sight on the ship."
Link gave a resigned sigh and tried once more to see through the eyes of the Force.

For a good five minutes they sat in silence.
Then, Link spoke up again.
"The Autochef is making Corellian food again."
Leida opened her eyes and shot him a smug look. "I told you I knew what I was doing."
"This one apologizes for doubting you." Link stated as he pushed himself off the floor.

"Where are you going?"
"The vending machine. This one does not have the digestive system for Corellian. Ithorian Noodles fine for you?"
Leida sighed and shifted her position to sit against the wall. "Yeah. Might as well. Not linke there's much else to eat on this third rate barge. The sooner we get off this thing the better."

After seeing to it that the freighters were unloaded of their supplies in Mandalore, Contruum, and Wayland, Elladan returned to his quarters for a light meal. While he was dining on his nerf steak and greens, Detre and Sven came to his room. He looked up and nodded. "Yes?"

Sven saluted, while the Noghri merely raised his head. "We were discussing the use of our newly acquired resources, sir."

He swallowed what bit of meat he had been eating. "And?"

"Well, we were reviewing the schematics we had for our ships, and the various own frigates and destroyers under Borrill's command. We came to the conclusion that your flagship, while fine in it's own right, is still hardly strong enough to go against even a Stalwarth."

"Of course," the chiss replied a bit bluntly. "We lack most of their technology, and their facilities. They have KDY and Fondor working under their belt, while we have Mandalore and Contruum, better suited for corvettes and star fighters. Wayland can't build anything larger than the Victory, and Taris is just now getting back on schedule."

"Yes, but we considered you might need a ship more... fitting for combat."

Elladan eyed them warily. 'I'd rather the resources be spent on defense and fixing the ships already in use."

"We wouldn't have to build a new ship," Sven answered. "We could simply convert one we're already using. A new Victory for instance. The ships are already sturdy and powerful enough to fight a Stalwarth on near-even terms; why not give it the extra punch needed to take on a Nemesis?"

The thought intrigued him, but he still wasn't keen on diverting necesary supplies to his own ship. The Pride had served him well; why should he change. "What do you have in mind?"

"Not much more than you have now." He pulled out a datapad, and began reading information. "Add an extra 2 meters of armor, upgrade the shielding and quad turbolasers, and equip the bridge with a point-defense system and third layer of shields, as well as a Class 10 back-up hyperdrive instead of the Class 15."

He raised an eyebrows. "A lot of changes. How long can it take?"

"Not long, according to the report from Wayland. Another week in the facilty should put it all on. Also, we plan dedicating more space to hangar room and defense, instead of deployable garrisons. We'd be without a good deal of barraks and soldiers, but with more fighter-craft and stronger outer and inner defenses, we fill the trade is worth it." He looked over at Detre. "Besides, I doubt anything short of Darth Krayt could get past your noghri friend."

At this, Elladan smiled. "Fine, you convinced me." But then the thing grin vanished. "But I won't compromise my vacilities anymore. Up-step production as much as possible to compensate, and I better have the ship ready by the week's end...." He sliced another piece of meat, and impaled it with his fork. "What's the ship's name to be?"

Conquerer

"I hear the lake country is nice. I believe they have a few chatues ((sp)) there that are really nice." Aurora answered. Sapphire followed up with an affirmative beep and projected a holo image of on such resort.

The next raid went even better than the previous one. While the hit near Tanaab had done little to hurt the trade going to the fleets, this one had been a small hiccup to Garos IV.

"You're positive they're bound for Garos IV?" Sven asked his intelligence officeer aboard the Pride.

"Yes sir. The convoy which should pass by in ten minutes is thirty ships strong, twenty of which are bound to the base there."

"Good," he looked over to where Elladan sat at his tactical, then turned back to the man. "And the Network has confirmed he's berthing there?"

"Again, that's affirmative."

"Alright. This one will be on schedule, then we'll hit another one later this week." He looked over to the chiss. "Commander, we have incoming."

He absently waved his hand. "Fire away, Captain."

Sven gave the command, and once all of the ships were in, he initiated the Transverter, disabling their defenses so that their shuttle groups could hijack the Garos-bound freighters. Once all twenty of them were rounded up, they returned to Mandalore.

"Let's see how Borill handles not having his tibanna shipment for the week. I doubt he'll be going far without his supplies."

~