Leaderboard

Marathon, despite what her name might have implied, was not a particularly swift ship. It was old, creaky, leaky, and prone to making suspicious noises when making a hyperspace jump. Moreover, she was operated by a skeleton crew, barely enough to keep its engines running and pointed in the right direction. When the groans of ancient durasteel and suspicious chunk-chunk-chunk sounds from the engines were not keeping Johanna Bryce awake, the ship was otherwise silent, without any of the endless announcements and overheard conversations that would be present on a modern battlecruiser. Eventually, the DP20 Frigate popped out of hyperspace--with an alarming growl from her engines--and dispatched a single shuttle containing Johanna Bryce and her fireteam of Talon shock troopers. Allowing her comrades to handle the piloting, the tall Bespinian hunched over the communication console and signaled the Mon Calamari air traffic control. “Mon Cal control, shuttle Leth-Vev-Four-Two-One requesting direction. Passengers are elements of Fourth Fleet, assigned to Vice-Admiral Kolchak.”

Several days later, Johanna Bryce was summoned to a briefing room with Admiral Klatchka. This was a meeting that the Rebel Talon had been dreading; Naboo had been lost, several of her men had been slain with no hope of their bodies being repatriated. Worse, her action at Theed had accomplished little for the loss aside from the destruction of several troop transports and a single naviputer that had not been wiped by the shuttle’s crew. Her shoulder still aching as she took a deep breath prior to entering the briefing room, she knocked and was surprised to find three of her Talons along with the middle-aged Admiral Klatchka. While the Mon Calamari seemed to be in a grim mood, the solemnity did not seem directed at the commander of his ground troops. “Captain, glad to see you up and about.” He waved a webbed arm towards the round table in the center of the room. “Sit. We have little time. The situation has become dangerous for the Rebel Alliance. With the loss of Naboo, the Sith have gained a safe staging ground to launch further attacks into the Outer Rim. Nar Shaddaa is now within the grasp of the Sith.” “So we are to redeploy to Nar Shaddaa? Sir?” The Mon Calamari fixed a single pale eye on the Talon. “Wrecking Machine and most of the Fourth Fleet will lie in reserve in preparation for such an attack. That said, our special forces must secure a base of operations for withdrawal in the event of failure. I draw your attention to a space station in the Galactic Core, known colloquially as ‘Outer Heaven.’” A holograph of the space station appeared before them. Unusually for an isolated space station, the hull if the station appeared dominated by a vast cityspace. It almost appeared as a miniature Coruscant, albeit significantly more run-down. A miniature Nar Shaddaa, perhaps. “Despite its reputation as a den for mercenaries and less savory scum, the staton does boast many of the facilities required to maintain larger vessels. More importantly, it has never been under significant threat by either the Sith-Imperial or Republic militaries. We can expect it to be a softer target than the typical Imperial fleet. We have prepared a dossier on the station, but you will receive a full briefing upon your arrival at the rendezvous point at Mon Calamari. Good luck, Captain. I hope you won’t need it.” Several minutes later, the four Talons boarded the DP20 Frigate Marathon and were dispatched into hyperspace.