Star Wars: Age of Rebellion

Defection of the Kuma

The Imperial EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Kuma, assigned to the Outer Rim as a patrol and picket ship, recently suffered considerable damage at the hands of a Rebel ambush. Suffering both the loss of it's captain and many of its crew, the Kuma was able to escape and limp its way to the Sluis Van Shipyards for repair. There, it received repairs to the majority of its vital systems, although full repairs were cut short as the ship and crew was assigned to a new mission.

With a tired, battered, and understaffed crew, the Kuma eventually made its way to Kwenn Station on the edge of Hutt Space, where it was restocked on supplies, and its crew, troop, and vehicle complement was built back up by a number of personnel that were serving aboard Kwenn Station, although not to full capacity. Now, the Kuma sits poised to embark into the depths of Hutt Space, as the Captain, Jack Morson, prepares to brief his crew on their mission...

The Kuma is operating on a light crew; all checks relating to the operation of the ship suffer 1 Setback.

Captain Jack Morson stands atop a small platform at the at the head of the officers mess hall, the only room big enough for all the Officers of the ship to gather for a briefing. A microphone on his lapel will broadcast the briefing to the entire crew. Everyone hearing his speech will cut down on rumours and misunderstanding. [ok Jack, let's get this ball rolling, you have a ship to captain] the voice of the recently deceased Captain Giesse dictating Jacks own thoughts to him.

"Good morning Kuma. Officers, Crew, welcome back aboard, I trust your brief shore leave was a pleasure. I would like to also welcome aboard our new crew. The recent battle saw the unfortunate loss of many, including our Captain, and the Admiral saw fit to arrange some new hands for us from Kwenn. I trust everybody will welcome them and show them the ropes."

Jack has a brief pause as murmurs of welcome roll through the Officers

"As many of you know our repairs where cut short, Kuma is space worthy, if not entirely 1 piece yet. The reason for this is urgency. Our good Admiral Corlen has urgent need of us, here in Hutt Space. There have been raids on Imperial and Corporate supply convoys by those Rebel scum. A particular ship is suspected and we have been tasked with bringing them Imperial justice."

"Whilst we track down these Rebells in flight repairs will continue, and due to the short staff shift hours have been extended slightly. I trust everybody will work their hardest to honour the memory of Captain Giesse, let's show the Rebells and the Admiral what the Kuma is capable of."

Switching off the mic and un-clipping it Jacks tone changes slightly from upbeat to stern as he continues by addressing the Officers only.

"I won't tell the crew the full story, but I won't sugar coat it for you Officers... We are the laughing stock of the fleet, the other Captains make fun of us as being 'Inferior'. Our recent failures and poor tactical decisions, combined with poor maintenance of equipment has been unacceptable in their eyes. We have a point to prove and our standing in the Imperial Navy is at stake. If we can catch this ship, and show our worth, then it will start us on the path to better treatment. We fail? This ship will probably be left derelict, stripped for what parts are left useful and we will all get a wonderful demotion... Not on my watch."

"Now let's get out there and find this ship"

With that he steps down, waiting for the Officers to disperse before heading back to the bridge with a bite of food.

"You heard the captian! Get back to work! Lets have reports in by 1600 hours!" snapped the XO. Commander Kosigan stalked toward the door. "Anyone you catch slacking, I can deal with appropriately."

Lorso's eyes linger on the XO, impassive alien eyes giving no clue that she's currently imagining shoving the 1600 report down Korsigan's throat. After a moment, she turns and follows the Captain.

"Excuse me, Ja- I mean, sir - but do we have any more information on the target? Assuming you don't want to just blow it out of the sky, it'll be my men going in there, and going in blind got a lot of them - got a lot of all of us - dead last time."

Neville sat in silent as the new orders were given. He'd known Jack for a long time it seemed and thus he was confident that as the new captain he would set the ship right. It mattered little to Neville of course, he preferred his research and imagined he could do that anywhere. Though being mobile had it's benefits. Still the fate of this mission likely did not hinge on him. As the captain exited the mess Neville rose and picked up his data pad. He began typing as he started to compose his report. Some staff needed to be moved around a bit and he would need to find people capable of taking over whenever it would be required for him to go on away missions. Both the science and medical teams needed a good second in command and as such he started pouring through crew reports.

As Neville exits the mess he gives a polite nod to the XO.

Jack turns to face Lorso, a look of knowing in his eyes

"Sargent Major Lorso, there are plenty of details to fill you in on, and more will come to hand as we continue our mission, but that can wait for a mission briefing once we hit hyperspace. For now get acquainted with the soldiers in your command, ensure everyone has their equipment properly in order, and report to the XO any who appear slack in their ways. With such a tight crew we need every hand performing to their best. You will be informed when the briefing will occur. Dismissed."

Lorso salutes the Captain and leaves to enact his orders, Returning to the marine barracks to call to together her sadly reduced command. Although she'd be damned if she handed any of her own to any Imperial's sense of justice - let alone the XO's - if she could possibly avoid it.

"Captain!" One of the new personnel from Kwenn, Simber Hax, calls out to Morson, rushing down a hall. She pauses to catch her breath. She is not the image of a model Imperial officer, with a disheveled uniform and messy hair.

She catchers herself and salutes, somewhat embarrassed. "Um, sorry, sir! Captain. Sir. There's a priority message from the Star Destroyer Enigma for you, Captain. Sir."

"Thank you... Private? I'll make my way to the bridge. When your shift finishes perhaps you should get your shirt pressed, we have an image to uphold. Dismissed."

Jack moves with purpose toward the bridge, it's not his place to run, but a message from the Admiral deserves a certain level of respect, a quick reply was in order.

[what have we gotten ourselves into Giesse? These new recruits can't even keep themselves neat, what hope has our ship got?]

Dain can't help but scoff internally at all the ceremony of the speech, and especially the shameless sugar-coating. He's personally never had much of a taste for that sort of manipulative - sorry, inspiring - phrasing, which is probably why he never found a career in politics. Maybe the crew would be encouraged, but he found it more likely that they'd know a load of bantha poodoo when they smell it. No one could believe the Empire has an 'urgent need' for a rickety old heap like the Kuma heading into a lawless backwater like Hutt Space.

After the speech concludes, Dain returns to his job, and with the hot mess he got saddled with, he has his work cut out for him. He thinks over his earlier inspections in the hangar, the condition of the antiquated fighters in his squadron, and the disapproving gaze of his mind's eye appraises the pilots beneath him - and he does mean beneath him. In his years of service, not since the academy has he ever seen a more lazy, undisciplined collection of slouches and oafs.

Dain knows Kuma Squadron has had to endure a lot, and they aren't yet used to him or his particular manner, but he doesn't have time for them to get used to him, not when he doesn't even know what the Rebel force looks like. He has to prepare for the worst. He needs his squadron to be ready to fly twenty-year-old fighters against X-wings and live, and he needs it yesterday.

With no time or, frankly, desire for idle chit chat, Dain heads for the hangar. Regular training and discipline are going to start right now, whether his 'pack of animals,' as he's occasionally heard the crew call them, likes it or not.

> Dain Falkvell

The 'hangar' on a stock Nebulon-B wasn't so much a hangar as it is a large room. As most of the starfighters were attached to the Kuma on external racks, the hangar only had a single elevator and enough room to hold two starfighters or a single shuttle at a time, and only for repairs, and wasn't able to launch any ships. Two Headhunters were situated as such, flight deck engineers swarming them both like insects. If nothing else, the old starfighters were kept in good appearance, although the fact that there was always at least one in repairs was telling.

There were four pilots 'on duty' in the sense that they were mostly suited up in case of emergency, although they weren't doing much. Across the hangar, Lieutenant Lur was alternating between discussing with the head engineer and working on a computer terminal.

> Captain Morson

The message wasn't, as thought, a live transmission, but a data file, along with a prerecorded message. It wasn't from Admiral Corlen himself, either, but the Captain of the Admiral's flagship, the Enigma. Corlen's right hand, for all intents and purposes, although the name of the woman escaped Jack's memory, and nothing in the message indicated it.

"Captain Morson, enclosed within is all the vital intelligence on your mission. There are several Imperial outposts and listening stations established within Hutt Space. You have the authority to draw upon these resources as necessary. Intelligence has also picked up information regarding a supposed Hutt willing to offer information on the target; follow up on this information as you see fit, but do not trust anything the Hutts offer you at face value, and do not negotiate any deals. That is all. Long live the Emperor."

With that, the message ends.

Jack sits at a console in the Bridge, studying the received message and documents.

[There is a lot of ground to cover here in collecting information, and time is of the essence if this ship was to regain some level of recognition amongst the fleet]

Course plotting began immediately in his head, the optimisation could save them days of travel if they got it right. And finding locations close to each other would give them more flexibility in deployment.

[That Hutt could be valuable, knowledge from outside the Imperial chain will come without the usual strings. Sure it's going to have its own complications, but different all the same.]

Looking around the bridge Jack spots his XO, issuing orders in his usual gruff way, but getting this ship moving better than any other could.

"Kosigan, we have orders to gather Intel from some under cover listening posts, and actual authority to ask for it. But showing up uninvited could cause problems don't you think? Gather the command crew together, oh and Steneri our resident Intel expert. We need to go over this together and plan our first steps, I want to hear what people know of these systems, any experience could be valuable."

Dain steps into the room - more of a garage, really - and takes stock. As he suspects is usual around here, a third of the pilots are hanging around a bit uselessly, the engineers are pulling their weight, or two or three times it considering the age and condition of the vessels they have to keep running, and the chief deck officer is working to keep things organised to the best of her ability.

He is still deciding on his impression of Lieutenant Lur, but she definitely seems like one of the more exemplary Imperial soldiers here - the kind of person who would've just about hated Dain earlier in his career, in fact, when he was the one who would notoriously stray from the mission. But he's never been given command of a squadron before, and this time, with new responsibility on his shoulders, he suspects she'll have to be his ally in getting the Kuma's unruly fighter pilots flying well enough to survive contact with Rebels. Not sparing another glance at his pilots, he crosses the room toward her.

"Lieutenant," he greets her, in his typical deadpan. Dain doesn't lack for emotion, but there's always been some disconnect between his brain and his facial expression that people find disconcerting, something that's always made training his social graces seem a moot point, and he's had little luck changing that thus far. "I want to follow up on the Captain's address with the squadron. Do you know where the rest of the pilots are?"

Standing in the back, apart from the officers, Steneri shakes his head at Captain Morson. We are in Hutt Space, and he is worried about Rebels. He should actually be thankful if it rebels that we run across.

Reflecting the last few days, Steneri glances at the two service drones, the simple droids hovering off to the side. Simple tools, but useful. Let's see if these Navy types are just as comparable.

Despite the distinct lack of modern equipment, Steneri shakes his head. I'm lucky to have been transferred. Implying an Admiral's son was an incompetent fool and a security risk would have seen me be imprisoned. At least I can wear comfortable clothes that aren't going to make me stand out.

Seeing the young ensign approach the Captain with urgency only to be dressed down for appearance resulted in Steneri's attention and a shaking of his head. Overhearing the conversation, Steneri sighed. Guess it is time to earn my pay.

*****

Following the Captain onto the bridge, Steneri kept out of his vision as the captain reviewed the message. Unsurprised by the rather short and prompt message, Steneri immediately starts processing various bits of information, including his history on Nar Shaddaa. Well, this will be interesting. I wonder if any of my contacts are still alive and willing to talk.

"The first step, Captain, is to assume the Hutts are going to profit from our actions," Steneri says as he walks up behind the Captain.

Coordinates set, everything seems fine as the Kuma prepares for the jump into hyperspace. The sound of the navicomputer and other ship systems working is familiar to anyone who has ever served aboard a starship, and the entire bridge crew tenses in anticipation for the sight of the stars blurring into streaks of light...

...and then everything stops. The primary power cuts out, leaving only the glow of the secondary systems to light the bridge, and the sounds of the computer and machinery come to a chilling stop, leaving the ship in silence. It only lasts for a few seconds, and then everything flickers back on as if nothing happened. Suddenly, the bridge is a cacophony of voices as the crew starts to work out what just happened. Lieutenant Turandi brushes Captain Morson aside to access the main terminal of the navicomputer, and it only takes her a moment to speak up:

"Looks like you made a typo, Captain," she says. Is there a hint of humor in her voice? It's hard to tell over the din, but a few nearby crewmen overheard and chuckle, although they quickly stop when Morson glances their way, acting as if it didn't happen. "Navicomputer didn't like that, but I don't know why power cut out... Engineer Elator will probably find out in a few minutes. Looks like the navicomputer will need to reboot, and emergency protocols have to be turned off, so we can make the jump in about twenty minutes, Sir." There's a chiming from the captain's bridge terminal. "That's probably the Engineer now; he'll probably want to talk in person."

"Captain speaking" Jack sais tersely into the communicator, a note of frustration in his voice. The embarrassment of such a simple rookie mistake angering him more than perhaps he should have allowed.

> Captain Morson

The other person was indeed Engineer Elator; he sounded surprisingly calm, as if the entire ship losing power out was no big deal, but he spares very little in the way of formalities: "Captain, we've got a bit of a situation, and I need to speak with you about it. Primary computer maintenance level in engineering, if at all possible. And don't you have a computers specialist from Intelligence? I might need their expertise as well."

> Dain Falkvell

Both Falkvell and Lur, along with the rest of the hangar bay engineers, are blindsided by the temporary loss of power. Right as the Lieutenant was about to answer, too. The woman cursed.

"Pardon, Sir," she says. "The other pilots are off duty at present. Do you need them for something?"

Jack looks around the bridge, getting a bit of a fright when the person he is looking for is right behind him. "Steneri, there's a problem in the main computer deck, Elator our head of Engineering needs a hand, let's go." Jack stands, grabbing his hand held communicator and heads for the door "Keep me posted Lieutenant, every delay counts"

As he exists he is berating himself [fool captain, get your head into gear, dry dock for a week and it's all falling apart]

On the marines' firing range, Kelly's heart skips a beat as the lights go out and the ship goes silent. Far from a natural spacer, a thousand nightmare scenarios spin through her head. After a few seconds that seem like an eternity, the lights and sounds come back and she breathes again. Bloody fates-damned piece of junk ship.

She smiles faintly and says "Just a glitch, folks, nothing to worry about," fervently hoping that to be true.

She looks around at the men on the range, hoping that no-one had a blaster accident during the power cut; luckily the worst that happened is one of the new men from Kwenn putting a hole in what was definitely not his target. "But it looks like we still have a little to learn about trigger discipline, don't we?" She sighs loudly, and gestures towards the hapless recruit. "Private Aren, can you tell me what went wrong there? Yes, I know you shot the wrong target, can you tell me why that happened? No? Well, the reason that happened is..."

Neville finds himself in the med bay after the general meeting. With a depressor in one hand and a small light in the other he ask his patient to say aaah. Then the lights and power flickers off and on and Neville glances around for a moment "What now ...." he sighs A thought then passes through his head about checking on one of his experiments as the flickering lights distract him from his current task. Then he looks back at his patient, his speech a bit fast but something most people have come used to.

"The rash appears to be Notalon flu" He sighs as he prepares an inoculation "You pilots always come back with such .....interesting things for me to fix" He hands the shot to a nurse as he then picks up his pad and begins typing. His next comment is a bit slower and more measured "I'm going to need to see the rest of the pilots and some of the new marines we picked up." But he doesn't appear to be talking to his patient. The nurse just nods and administers the shot.

He then glances up from his data pad. "Better vaccinate the entire crew just to be sure" He then waves the pilot off "You can go now. Take a day or so of bed rest"

Neville then slips his data pad into the pockets of his lab coat. "I'll be in my lab. Only disturb me if someone is dying" he says to the staff gathered. A crisp yes Major is heard before he exits the med bay.

Dain looks around as the lights flicker off for a moment, his eyes narrowing. This heap always feels like it's seconds from falling apart. Resentment at being shipped over to the Kuma from his old ship boils inside of him again. If those stuffy morons back on the Beheader had any value for talent-

He catches himself, and shakes his head at Lur's flustered reply. Maybe he's directing too much of that resentment toward Kuma Squadron itself, letting it colour his perceptions - he might as well let the pilots be for now. Things will be changing soon enough. "Not immediately, I suppose, but soon," he tells her, reconsidering his position.

Dain is used to doing things his way, a trait many people would consider a flaw, but he believes his stubbornness and self-reliance are the only reasons he's gotten as far as he has. He has to admit that this case, however, may call for a change of approach. If he's going to make the best of his new responsibilities on the Kuma, he might consider taking a second opinion before acting.

A little hesitantly, he addresses Iamba Lur again. "You've worked with the squadron, Lieutenant. What's your opinion of their performance, and how they conduct themselves?"

Walking down the corridors of his ship Jack feels somewhat betrayed. Crew run everywhere, just trying to keep up with operations, maintenance panels are still removed all over the place. [Why does the Admiral not fix this ship up properly? Another week in dry dock, a decent delivery if supplies, a couple hundred energetic mid rim kids... The Kuma would be almost back to its former glory] he releases an audible sigh.

"Here we are Steneri, the main databank" Jack enters the code and opens the door, holding the door for the intelligence officer.

One of the Engineers assistants shouts "Captain on the Deck" as they enter and those nearby stand to attention

"As you where" is the only acknowledgment Jack has for most of them, the nearest and possibly youngest gets directly addressed

"Midshipmen, where is Engineer Elator?" The young engineer jumps [are any of our crew not wet behind the ears? we have a hill to climb Giesse] then points down one of the banks of computers

"Sir, down there... Sir"

Walking down the isle between computers Jack finds the Head of Engineering "Good morning Elator, what problem have we got now?"

> Captain Morson

"Captain," Engineer Elator says in greeting, rising from a crouch, obviously inspecting one of the computers. "I'll cut to the chase, then: obviously, a typo on the navcomputer doesn't usually cut power to the ship -- it has to be something bigger. And I've found the culprit," he gestures broadly around the room, "It's pretty much everything you see on this level."

"In the last battle, many of the ship's computers were pretty badly damaged -- shorted out, melted, fused together, blow to pieces. It was badly damaged, and they had to install completely new systems. Problem is, not everything was damaged, so not everything was replaced; see the issue? Some of the computer systems here have been here for nearly as long as the ship has been operating. And it doesn't matter what Kuat marketing has to say, you can't just stick decade-old computers together with brand new ones and expect everything to work correctly."

> Dain

Iamba Lur ponders the question for a moment.

"Standard Imperial evaluations mark them as below average, but the 'average' is a squadron flying TIEs, not Z-95s. It's like trying to compare a high-performance airspeeder and a cargo skiff, and expecting the same results. Given the circumstances, Kuma Squadron performs well inside the cockpit, although numbers have been low since the battle."

"It's outside of the cockpit that we run into trouble -- several have reprimands and demotions on their record, although we have one or two that just seem to have dead-end careers -- or angered the wrong people. It's been relatively calm lately, but they occasionally get into altercations with other members of the crew; although a few of the troublemakers they used to fight with aren't with us anymore. Other than that, it's mostly just disorderly conduct and a disrespect for protocol. The Captain -- Captain Giesse, that is -- used to reprimand them pretty severely, so they weren't too fond of them."

Following the Captain, Steneri kept to his thoughts, letting the silence further reveal the lack of equipment, repairs, and training. This is ridiculous...

Hearing the Chief Engineer, Steneri shakes his head. "Are you telling me that the reason we can't jump is due to faulty repairs? Please tell me you just arrived, because that is idiocy and incompetence on an almost grand scale."

Taking a step forward and moving around the Chief, Steneri looks to the two drones. "Rascal, Weasel, get in there and report back to me what is going on. The sooner problems can be identified, the better off we all will be."

Pulling out a datapad, Steneri links to his drones and monitors the progress of his 'assistants'.

> Steneri

"The ship should jump to hyperspace fine; I've already bypassed some of the systems that caused the problem before," Elator says. "But it's a risky--and temporary--solution. That's why I called for you: I know you're intelligence, but perhaps with our combined skill with computers, we can fix some of the issues."