9.009 - Cat's in the Cradle

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

OOC: Continued from here and here




Gelthia

If it weren't for proximity klaxons, the descent from hyperspace into realspace would be jarring. The spin of subspace ether around a mass body was beautiful and almost organic in its fluid grace, right until the blackness of space tore it apart into strings of shortening starlight. A 30 second proximinity chime and the gentle padding-down of dampeners helped to brace you for the departure from paradise. Normally, it was something Cirrsseeto didn't have time to see. He made sure to drink it all in this time.

"We've arrived in the Gelthia system, Commodore s'Ilancy."

The sensors and EM warfare officer looked up from a holographic display of Novgorod's sling-shot into conventional space-time.

"Detecting six orbiting vessels of zero threat posture. Civilian classifications."

Cirr drummed his claws against a handguard.

"We'rre not at a contested system. No rreason to expect trrouble, orr at least the conventjional kjind."

He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. The posture of his slightly-swept ears betrayed that Cirr was expecting trouble, even if it wasn't the kind that warranted a call to red alert.

"Overrlay coorrdjinates of djistrress sjignal on the planetarry grrjid."

The EM officer punched in a few commands, turning the green and blue vistas of Gelthia's orbit into a red-checkered grid-face, with a blinking icon positioned in the southern hemisphere. Exercising empathy, the officer painted the area with a cursory scan.

"Detect no abnormal readings, nor any weapons platforms. It's a civilian district. I can narrow it down to a hotel, actually."

Cirr stewed a bit. He wasn't discounting the drunk tank option at this point. Boy that would be embarrasing.

[Saarrreeaa Raurrssaatta]

It had been a very productive day. Especially considering that she hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. Once Sanis had been placed into Black Sun's permanent and lovjing hands, Saa had secured the money in her accounts and staggered back to her hotel room for some shut eye.

Now that her little revenge business was taken care of, she wasn't sure what to do next. More bounties, she supposed... but for now, sleep.

Saa was snoring almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"Best to do that, Lieutenant."

s'Il, sitting comfortably, watched over the goings on with an almost casual, lazy eye. She had command of the ship yes, but the Lupine was more than happy to allow Cirr the chance to begin setting his claws to the very beast that had so many times saved herself and Dan from a terrible (and sometimes most undignified) fate.

She leaned a bit on the armrest, looking to the Cizerack who sat beside her.

Her voice lowered so that only he could hear.

"This is going to be a fair bit of awkward if we have to post bail for his drunken stupidity, you know."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr simply nodded gravely, understanding the possible implications of bringing an Alliance warship on what might just be a bad blue milk run.

"No sjigns of hostjile forrces, no messages otherr than a coded djistrress. Ejitherr way, jI have to beljieve Sanjis would have the sense to gjive us morre, jif he could."

He leaned forward, looking at the readout on the main viewer.

"Ejitherr way, no need to go jin guns blazjing. We need a grround's eye vjiew of the sjituatjion. Shorre parrty, then?"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Unlike Cirr, s'Il had leaned back to rest her chin on a loose fist, her eye skimming the main view and its' information.

"That would best best, yes."

With a quiet sigh the Lupine bit her lip in thought. She had every intention of going down there herself, but rather than taking charge of the landing group s'Il was more than happy to allow Cirr the opportunity to lead himself. It would be something good to sink his teeth into.

"Prepare yourself a party then. I will go with you, but only as an observer."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

He exhaled a small pent-up breath in relief that she was giving him the order to go planetside. As much as he was enthralled to get his hands on Novgorod and her ample hyperdrive motivator, the ship could wait.

He rose from his seat, giving his jacket a tug that seemed automatic, as he looked around the bridge.

"Ljieutenant Cenkos, you have the conn."

He looked to s'Il, and tapped a wrist comm.

"Brrjidge to hangarr chjief. Prreparre ourr shuttle and a shorre team of ejight trroops forr jimmedjiate deparrturre."

The audio reply came in a second later.

"Understood Commander. Hangar out."

Suddenly realizing he was still in his officer's whites, he frowned.

"Guess jI'd betterr sljip jinto somethjing morre comforrtable, heh."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il stood as well, smiling a small bit.

"Only if you wish to."

Inside her mind was on Sanis. She could understand why he'd gone, and though she knew that he'd not send a distress beacon she had to wonder whether he'd been too drunk to know what he was doing. Of course, Cirr's first estimation that the young Nar Shaddaan was in the local drunk tank wasn't entirely implausible. Sanis did have a way of ending up in the wrong places at the wrong times after all.

The Lupine turned on her heel.

"I will meet you in the hangar in one quarter of an hour, Commander."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Later....

Cirr made it in ten minutes, trading out dress whites for the more practical navy blue garb used for operational purposes. It allowed, among other things, to affix a gun belt and a few necessities. Not that he expected to go in unleashing an arsenal, but he was a big believer in options.

The hangar bay of Novgorod was nothing like what he'd had on Challenger, or even Whaladon. On a 200 meter ship, keeping a squadron of fighters and one or two support craft meant getting VERY creative with space requirements. The bay was essentially a pit in the bottom of the ship that had an atmospheric shield in place. Aft deck held a tightly-packed traffic snarl full of fighters, with barely enough room for men to walk between. Fore deck held his destination, however. It was...a box.

Even Cirr, capable of loving the most unloveable and ugly ships, gave pause.

"Quite a looker, ain't she Commander?"

The hangar pit boss, Chief Kyle, gave a salute as she trotted up from under the Gamma class shuttle's open side bay door.

"jIt's a brrjick."

He tugged at an ear as he walked around it. Gamma assault shuttles had a decent enough track record, but they really didn't have anything going for them beyond that. It was an airtight, space-capable city bus with gun fixtures.

"Vomit Comet actually, sir."

Kyle gave a grin at the understandable disdain at the ugly ship.

"That's what the troops called it. Enough that it stuck, so I made it official on the books. Shakes like a bantha with a hemhorroid in a box canyon on the way down, but she'll take anything but a few direct turbolaser shots, and get you planetside toot sweet, sir."

By this time, the eight Alliance marines selected for the shore party had assembled behind them.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

True to her word, s'Il had dressed down and, like Cirr, now donned the more normal blues of naval personnel. Fifteen minutes from the time that she'd left the bridge the Lupine strode into the familiar confines of Novgorod's hangar bay. It was like stepping back in time. Almost.

The bustle that surrounded her was nothing like the half-cocked urgency that had been such a staple in the old days; that suspicion that at any moment they'd be sent into a tailspin of action swirling with desperate energy. It was a beast that had been so rampant back then.

Now, stepping through the ranks of marines that had been slated to join them planetside, s'Il caught the tail end of Chief Kyle's assessment. She swallowed just a small bit, and her shoulders hitched back as she passed her eye over the assault shuttle, and not for the first time did she thank the Bloodline that she'd taken her medi-pills. Though, by the way the Chief had described the little beast's handling, she wondered if it would've been a good idea to empty the bottle.

"Just make it as smooth a descent as can, Chief."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Chief Kyle offered a sympathetic smile.

"Well, unless we're going in hot under battery fire, Commodore, the pilot should have a smoother go of it. Just make sure to stay in your crash webbing until the dome lights turn green."

From the cockpit, a pilot could already be seen engaging the warmups, and they gave a thumbs up with a gloved hand. Cirr took the initiative, not caring to stick around for any more pleasantries.

"Alrrjight, good enough forr me. Marrjines, let's go. Blue mjilk rrun orr no, pays to knock on the doorr wjith a bjig club behjind yourr back, rrjight Commodorre?"

For emphasis, Cirr slapped a tibanna cartridge into the heavy blas-tec rifle he carried, and slung it over his shoulder, and then stepped on the deck plating leading up to the shuttle. A moment later, he was fastened into crash webbing along the boxy row of seats on the far wall, leaving a space for his commanding officer.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The weapons she left to the marines and Cirr, and as s'Il fastened her own crash-webbing, she was mindful to quell the rebellious flutterwings in her stomach. She'd taken her medicine, and that was that.

Looking straight ahead, she calmed her breathing.

"He had better be in a heap of trouble," she murmured to Cirr, "... because that's the only excuse I will accept at this point."

Cirr knew well enough her intolerance for just the sort of travel as they were about to undertake, and she made sure to drive the point home.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

The repulsors kicked in, and the Vomit Comet began to thrum and shake, sounding a bit like an antiquated mag rail boxcar as it did. Marines in both rows held onto triangle-shaped hand grips that suspended from chains on the ceiling. From the small viewports on the side, Cirr could tell they were moving, most likely being taxied by Chief Kyle toward the atmo field.

Cirr reached into a pocket, handing s'Il a packet of gum, as he noticed a few of the Marines eyeballing their commanders. Cirr leaned back in his seat, popping a piece of gum in his own mouth, and gave a smirk.

"jI get eyes ljike that prrjivate and two thjings happen. Ejitherr jI'm gettjing jin a fjight orr jI'm gettjing lajid, and jI don't ljike yourr chances ejitherr way."

The nearest offending Marine broke eye contact, looking straight ahead.

"Permission to speak, sir."

Cirr wasn't sure if he was gonna like being treated like brass.

"What's on yourr mjind?"

"Well, the Commodore, we all know she's about as famous as it gets, and weren't you in that raid that busted some big Jedi out of some big Imperial base on Coruscant?"

Cirr shifted uneasily in his seat. Definitely not needing some kind of hero worship.

"You lookjing forr an autogrraph, Marrjine?"

He gave a firm shake of his head.

"No sir. It's just this Marine's opinion that his two commanding officers have a reputation for fighting the Empire. This Marine wants to make sure there will be enough left on the plate for him, sir."

Cirr entertained the silent sort of laugh that didn't produce much sound but could be seen a bit in his face and in his chest. He looked back to s'Il, wondering what bit of sage advice she might have on the matter, as she was the one with a real resume on that subject.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il lifted an eyebrow, looking at the marine with a healthy amount of amusement. This sort of attitude was nothing entirely new, but it was still strange in its' own right. Everything that she'd done in the Alliance was done by the seat of her pants, as Dan often had put it. It was nothing premeditated and none of them had gone out looking for a fight; they simply did what they could for those that were in need.

"We're not actively seeking an engagement, though if something does happen, I will be more than happy to stand aside and allow you to deal with matters as you see fit."

The Commodore gave a tight-lipped smirk and a pat to her chest.

"Heart isn't what it used to be, after all."

Which was, as they all knew, a terrible lie. Each person aboard the shuttle knew well enough that out of anyone there, Commodore s'Ilancy's heart was probably healthier than the rest.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr felt the less-than-subtle rattling in the hull change timbre, and knew their lateral movement had stopped. One way to go from here. He looked to s'Il, and pointed to the gum, insisting it would be a pretty good idea if she did as he did, just in case. He wasn't risking her vomiting on him.

They felt a sudden downward jolt, not as severe as freefall, but enough to raise a few butterflies as the Comet began Z axis descent clearance from Novgorod, before pitching her front end in earnest planetside, and accelerating.

The shaking was definitely noticeable.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

As if noticing it for the first time, s'Il looked down at the small square of gum in her hand, and with a small amount of desperation she unwrapped it, slender fingers pulling away the thin paper before placing the chew in her mouth. She blinked, chewed a few times, then cast a sidelong look of incredulous surprise to Cirr.

Beer-flavored? she mouthed.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

"Yeah! Good stuff, jisn't jit? Mama sent me a varrjiety pack."

The pilot chimed in, giving their trajectory vector and letting the passengers know they had been cleared for landing in Vendala, the city where the distress signal originated. There was a transport hub within a mile from the hotels and casinos on a nearby strip, so they would be coming in close to the mark. The good thing about the Comet is that she didn't waste a lot of time with fluff on approach. It was a bullish, head-on shot to the target, with a good firm deceleration burn to get them to 200 meters and repulsor height, where the ride down was a bit more floaty. Just as one last reminder, the Comet gave a good thump as her skids hit solid duracrete, and the side bay door dropped down with a clang. The debark light above hit green, and the cabin was alive with the sights and sounds of Marines quickly departing from their crash webbing.

"Half squad, hold ourr landjing posjitjion. The otherr half, you'rre wjith the Commodorre and jI. Let's head out!"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

As she had placed herself in the position of observer for this particular mission, s'Il was a bit slower coming out of the shuttle. Partly due to the flight itself, and partly due to the taste of the gum in her mouth, the Lupine was careful as she descended the boarding ramp.

And the moment none were looking, promptly removed the gum from her mouth and tossed a distance to the side.

Foul.

Lingering thoughts on the less than pleasant taste set her mood slightly south, and moving to stand beside Cirr, she crossed her arms.

"You're the man in charge. Let's go find your missing Captain."

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Cirr took a glance at a small datapad, referencing their position relative to the destination, and gestured ahead. s'Il and the Marines followed. It certainly wasn't a subtle approach, and the walkway cleared at the sight of six people who meant serious business. So it didn't take them long to reach their destination.

"The Hotel's got serrjialjized comm unjits, and the one jin thjis rroom sent the message."

Cirr spoke low to s'Il as they stood a few paces away from the door in question. In a second, they'd figure out if they were on the right track, or on a cold trail.

Cirr took a few steps toward the door, squared himself, and gave it a heavy mule kick. The sliding door dented inwards enough to wrench it off it's glide track, and fell to the floor with a bang.

[Saarrreeaa Raurrssaatta]

She went from asleep to crouched between the bed and the wall before her brain could properly process what was happening, a blaster in her hand and steadied across the mattress as her door fell in. It crashed to the ground in what seemed like comically slow motion, and then an Alliance Marine darted in, blaster rifle held at the ready, and more behind him.

Everyone was shouting at her, and Saa's sensitive ears wilted at the sudden noise. She flipped the blaster point up and then made a show of carefully laying it on the rumpled comforter, standing up slowly with her hands up.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

If Saa looked shocked to see the Rebel kill squad storming her room, then Cirr looked like he'd seen a ghost. His baby blues went wide, his brain lagging behind to form a coherent exclamation beyond "HEY", "IT'S YOU!", or "WHAT THE". His ears twitched, his tail twitched, and while he held his weapon on target, he certainly didn't look committed to a kill.

"Saarrreeaa?"