The Rebel Faction

The trip to Naboo had turned out to be one easy job for the crew of the Profiteer. Everything had gone smoothly and all their cargo had been offloaded right on time. Ranssar was impressed with the way Stellar Enterprises ran its business. They never fooled around until the job was done. As soon as they had landed at their designated landing bay, his freighter was surrounded by loader droids as well as supervisors who quickly inspected the cargo. While the droids pulled out their heavy crates each one was scanned and marked off until every item on the supervisor's datapad had been accounted for. They were so thorough that even one small misplaced box of foodstuffs had prevented them from leaving. After a few minutes of searching it was located and marked on the list.

The station had offered them room and board for the day, but Ranssar had declined much to the dismay of his crew. He knew they could rest during their transit to the Silken Asteroid Field, where they had been tasked with picking up a load of processed metals and transporting them to the Mustafarian shipyard. That rest was not to be, however, after their backup life support system shorted out on them. The short had then feed back into some other systems and caused damage to their particle deflector shields. Ranssar and his crew then spent most of the hyperspace trip putting the life support systems back together, but didn't have the parts to repair the deflector shield generator.

Upon reaching the Silken Asteroid Field base they had set down for repairs and it was only by chance that the base's store room actually had circuit boards for that generator. Some shipping error had shipped them over they had been sitting in storage for over two weeks. What was even luckier for Ranssar was that the Silken Base mechanic didn't even charge them for the boards. He was happy to have them out of his storage space.

Even with these new circuit boards it had taken some time to remove the fried ones and install these new boards. Because of this time spent Ranssar and his crew were now behind schedule, but at least the ship was perfect working order. Finally Ranssar and his crew would have time to rest up and get some sleep before they reached Mustafar.

It was this sleep that Ranssar was getting when suddenly his whole body jerked and his head impacted against the wall behind his bunk. The whole Mobquet class transport decelerated so quickly that its inertial compensators had no time to react. Sitting up and rubbing his large gray head, Ranssar's mind raced to find a reason for this disruption. Their course should have been straight and direct meaning that only a gravity well could pull them out of hyperspace with such force.

Jumping out of bed Ranssar rushed up the stairs and onto the command deck where he say Ernal just getting seated and start punching up buttons.

"What the hell happened?" Questioned Ranssar as he pushed himself into this command seat and turned around towards the forward viewport.

As his chair locked into position the view outside answered his question fully. The Duro males eyes grew wide as he witnessed the small shapes of ships far ahead of them. It wasn't these ships that bothered him, however, it was the laser light which streaked from them that did. There was a fight happening out there and they had just stumbled into it.

"Ran, looks like we ran into a gravwell field and some kind of firefight." Said Ernal beside him as he looked at the sensor display screens. "I suggest we get out of here as fast we can, doesn't look like they really noticed us yet."

"First give me a technical readout. What's out there?" Ranssar said.

Quickly a military grade sensor array located at the front of the Profiteer powered up and started collection massive amounts of data on the whole system they had dropped into. Every reading was sent to a central processing unit and then relayed into the command cockpits display system. Within seconds a holo display materialized in front and between both Ranssar and Ernal.

"Computer doesn't register the system, but we are definitely inside the Minos Cluster. Looks like we got half way through before this field pulled us out. Anyways, sensors are reading a single Interdictor class cruiser with three...no wait four other support vessels. We have two gunships, some kinds of modified dreadnaught, as well as...a Hellfire frigate?" Ernal asked and both males looked at each other.

"How did these guys get a hold of one of those? Stellar Enterprises only started selling those." Ranssar questioned and looked out towards the battle that raged beyond. "That's a lot of firepower for a group of pirates. They must be very well funded. Is there anything else?"

"I'm getting readings of fighter launches from the Interdictor cruiser and there is some kind of other starfighter class out there, but the system can't ID them. They are either something new or some very old class. Too old to be programed into the system's databank."

"Well that's a little weird. Starfighters usually require a carrier platform."

"I think I found it Ran." Ernal said as the holo display changed shape to reveal a spinning ellipsoid vessel that had just been picked up on the sensor array.

"Is that what I think that is? It can't be..." Ranssar's voice trailed off as he leaned forward.

"A Trade Federation Core Ship it looks like. Those haven't been around for decades."

"It's sure amazing what one can stumbled across this part of space. It must be transporting something important with all these ships gathered to intercept it." Ranssar thought as his mind raced.

Pirates were like wild animals in his eyes. They prowled through space and attacked the weakest ships unless something of great value came along. Something that was worth their time and worth their credits to capture. Like animals they had no morals. They only did what they had to to survive and it did not matter what lives this survival cost.

At the end of these thoughts Ranssar knew he had a choice to make. They could either run and plot a new course to Mustafar, which would be safe, or they could join this fight and help that ship in trouble. It not an easy choice to make as both decisions could have their own consequences. If they left this ship to die at the hands on these animals, he would never forget it, but at least his crew and ship would be safe. However, if they help out, that ship could be destroyed anyways and take the Profiteer with it. None of these choices were easy to make, but as explosions filled the space around the lone Core ship in the form of fighters dieing to protect their vessel, only one choice seemed clear.

Ranssar pulled his flight harness on and lifted a commlink to his mouth. "Mack, Dolar, prepare for combat."

He turned to Ernal while reaching to push the throttle up, feeling the large transport accelerate far quicker than one of its size should be able to. "We have to help out my friend. Its the rule between merchants in trouble. Get shields to full and arm all weapons."

"A rule huh? Never heard of one." Ernal laughed and did as he was told.

As the transport turned towards the Interdictor Cruiser its heavy military grade shields came on to full power, ready to deflect fire that would soon surely come their way. Along with the shields weapons compartments opened up on the dorsal and ventral side of the ship as well as on the forward section. From this compartments emerged two dual turbolaser cannon turrets,two forward firing ion cannons, and two quad laser cannons. All these weapons had been purchased money earned over the years or from special favors that Ranssar had done for others. Finally, though, a large jamming unit that only recently been installed came online. This target computer jammer would somewhat improve their survival, Ranssar hopped.

The Duro took the comm once again, but this time keyed it to frequencies merchant vessels tended to use in order to communicate with one another. He also looked down and double checked the Core ship's transponder before activating the comm unit. He noted the name, but didn't have time to think more about it.

"This the Profiteer hailing Smarts, repeat this is the Profiteer hailing Smarts. We will assist you as well as we can. Hang in there for now, don't give up hope. If you can concentrate all fire on a single gunship's forward section." Ranssar called out to fellow vessel that was now getting badly hammered by the large group of opposing ships.

It was at this very moment that multicolored beams of energy passed by his ship. They were not accurate, but it let him know his ship had no longer gone unnoticed.

The Profiteer shuddered slightly as the laser cannon shots impacted against the starboard shields. These shots came from a pair of fighters that had recently redirected towards it and were in the process of strafing the ship as they closed in. Ranssar pushed the control stick sideways and slid the large transport towards these fighters, quickly closing the distance between them so that their attack time would be limited. It was quickly obvious that the tactic had worked because after only in a matter of seconds the fighters both streaked past the top of the Mobquet Medium Transport. They started to turn around slowly for another run when a stream of red laser bolts raced towards them, impacting one of the fighters and causing it to explode in a large fireball as its shields quickly failed. Unfortunately for its wingmate, both fighters had been flying to close and debris from the destroyed one actually damaged the other, causing it to trail smoke as it emerged from the large orange colored blast.

Ranssar pushed the engines even harder now as he say some of the other ships starting to come about and face them. He had flown in a wide arch towards the rear of the pirate formation in order to get at the Interdictor cruiser that was floating just outside the field of engagement. The arch had taken a little longer, but it had also been much safer than a direct run.

Turbolaser and Ion cannon fire blossomed around the Profiteer as the pirates realized what he was after. The large dreadnaught had started to turn away from the large Core ship was close to bringing its starboard guns to bare on the lone transport, while the faster Hellfire class frigate was moving closer to the Interdictor to provide cover. Ranssar had seen some of these vessels before, practicing their targeting skills against drones and they were devastating against fighter craft. As he watched blast after blast speed right past his ship, he was glad that he had payed for the jamming unit.

Glancing down for a split second, the Duro captain saw the Core ship surrounded by enemy ships and knew that if something wasn't done soon that ship would not survive. He could not get that mechanical voice out of his mind, however, and what was with that ship-mind business? Could that ship really be a droid controlled vessel? If it were, why was he risked his and his men's lives on protecting a droid from distruction?

As he watched that ship fight for its life, though, Ranssar couldn't help but feel for it. It was acting completely like a living being would. A living being that would fight until his or her last breath. He had to admit he felt for that ship and what it must be going through. Ranssar witnessed the debris around it from what looked like a few smaller freighters and also saw as fighter after fighter disappeared in explosions, but the ship still fought on.

Clearing his head, Ranssar focused on the task at hand. That task was the large Interdictor cruiser that started to get larger in the forward viewport. An Interdictor whose weapons were now firing none stop towards the weaving transport that headed for it. Most of these shots missed like the other times, but an increasing amount were starting to find their mark. As the Profiteer got closer, it was becoming easier to track and hit visually.

When a large blast appeared off in the distance, close to the Core ship, Ranssar let out a slight smile. He watched the heavily damaged gunship move away from the battle under its drives as they stopped recieving orders from the now destroyed bridge. Its turbolasers and laser cannons fired wildly for a moment before all the oxygen was sucked out of the gaping whole in the front of the ship. Within moments all gun fell silent and the ship floated slowly away from the engagement.

"He's bringing some of the remaining fighters around for an attack on the cruiser." Came the voice of Ernal as he gazed at the sensor readings in front of him.

"What? They'll never get through that Hellfire!" Ranssar exclaimed as he lifted the comm.

"Smarts, pull those fighters back! That ship is being covered by a Hellfire!" The Duro shouted out, but it was already too late.

Ranssar watched helplessly as the Hellfire Frigates four booms moved out a little more and locked into place before the whole ship turned towards the mass of fighters heading for the Interdictor. As soon as it finished its turn, flashes appeared along each boom and from the ship's main body. These flashes were the frigate's large array of laser cannons and their deadly bolts quickly found their targets. Before Smarts could do anything about the fighters one after the other exploded from the intense fire being directed at it. This fire was quickly joined by that of the Interdictor. Its crew and commander had seen what had happened to the gunship and now directed as much fire as possible towards the small mass for fighters coming at it.

As many of the fighters died before even reaching their target, their death and destruction was not in vain. With the pirates focus shifted to these small threats the Profiteer had been allowed to close relatively unmolested. By the time the crew finally looked at their displays and started to once again track the Profiteer, the Mobquet transport was overflying the dorsal side of the Interdictor cruiser, right over the two functional gravity well generator domes.

It was at this very moment that another secret compartment opened up on the transport's belly and disgorged a string of power anti-ship mines. These powerful, yet unguided munitions traveled towards the ship below at the same speed as the Profiteer and within a few seconds closed the distance between the ships. In these seconds Ranssar had put the transport up and gained some distance away from the Interdictor before the first mine made contact with the larger ship's particle shields.

A large explosion filled the space under the Profiteer and was soon followed by two others which tore into the ship's topside shielding. The powerful mines had always been intended to discourage other ships from pursuing the Profiteer, but in this situation they worked just as well. Their explosive power overwhelmed the shields for just a moment and cause them to collapse in order to prevent an overload. This collapse was exactly what Ranssar was counting on and quickly pushed his transport's nose back towards the Interdictor's hull. As the nose came down and pointed towards the large ship's gravwell dooms, Ranssar nodded at Ernal and instantly two missiles leaped forth towards the Interdictor. These were quickly followed by two others and two after more after that.

The first pair slammed into the top gravwell generator and disintegrated the armor around it. Through this gapping hole the other pairs went and impacted against the large generators inside. The resulting explosion consumed both the top generator and the one directly below it, causing the whole Interdictor shuddered and the gravity well instantly became nonexistent. Ranssar laughed out and let out a yell for victory.

"Smarts gravity well is down, get the heck out of here. I think we made these pirate even more mad." He looked over at Ernal with a smile. "Now lets get the freck out of here as well shall we."

Ranssar reached over and pushed the control stick forward. The whole ship vibrated as it accelerated away from the damage Interdictor, however, just as the transport cleared the cruiser's hull it shook violently. Alarms blared out to indicate shield failure and their controls instantly became sluggish. The whole ship seemed to slow down, but proceeded foward.

"Ran! We have engine failure! Hyperdrive is down, maneuvering thrusters damage. Shields are coming back up though. We can't make a run for it."

Ranssar cursed as his mind searched for a solution. This rescue had been going so well and now this. They couldn't run with their engines half out and they couldn't jump away do to their hyperdrive damage. The only other possibility would be.... His thoughts trailed off again as he put them into actions and veered towards the planet nearby.

"Ran, what are you doing?" Questioned Ernal as he looked worried.

"We need a safe place to land and repair. That planet reads as having an ionic atmosphere, meaning we can hide under it and not be located on sensors." Ransassar explained as he pushed his ship as fast it would go.

He tried to maneuver, but it was getting close to impossible with their thruster damage. More and more blasts kept finding their mark, pounding against the Profiteer's shields as it ran from the fight. The cabin's lights dimmed as Ernal transfered as much power as he could to the rear shields, but it was not going to be enough. Another large turbolaser blast impacted against the rear of the vessel with enough force to push it forward. It was at this moment that the planet's gravity grabbed the Profiteer and helped to increase its speed towards it.

The Profiteer trailed smoke as it descended into the unknown planet's atmosphere. Gravity has taken hold of the damaged ship and was now pulling it towards the surface, making controlling the transport even more difficult. The only good thing to have happened, though, was that the pirates had instantly lost the Profiteer on their sensors. Do to the amount of ions in the atmosphere their targeting systems were unable to penetrate through this layer and locate the transport as it fell in a somewhat controlled free fall.

Ranssar wrestled at the controls as the large transport flew towards the planet. He had received Smarts message and was wondering if they would actually spare the resources to come look for a single downed freighter. The Profiteer and her crew were not even really employees of the company, but just contracted help. There were many like them around and Stellar Enterprises would not have a hard time hiring another group of men to run cargo for them. These thoughts, however, were not healthy and the crew needed all the hope they could get.

The Duro did not know how long the Mobquet transport could hold out against the ionized surrounding, but that question was answered with seconds when a vibration ran through the whole cockpit and alarms once again went off. The remaining engine had flared out, but came back online moments later before finally being overcome by the ionization effect. Circuits instantly began to short out and electrical systems started to slowly fail. Ranssar looked down at the controls just in time to see a blue wave wash over them, causing parts of it to go off and turn back on again slowly. Outside the ship, larger waves of blue lightening cascaded across the whole surface of the ship, attracted heavily by the metallic composition of the Profiteer's hull.

Looking outside, Ranssar could see only the orangish clouds that surrounded them. The deeper into the atmosphere they descended, the more concentrated the ionization seemed to get. All over the ship systems starter to fail and shut down, or simply overload never to be revived again. They were all in a state of free fall now and without propulsion had reached terminal velocity. If they didn't do something soon, they would slam into the planet's surface and die.

"Mach! Get those repulsors operational! If you don't, we are all dead!" Ranssar shouted into the communication system as he tried to pull on the controls, using whatever backup systems had been left undamaged to control the unwilling craft.

Somehow, by sheer luck, the Duro male had manage to level out the Profiteer just enough to buy them all some more time. As he looked out, the clouds slowly started to give way to glimpses of land beneath them. The planet seemed barren and like the clouds had an orange hue. There was no plant life to speak off and probably no animal life as well. It was completely dead and probably for that reason had never been included into regular star charts.

Even with his flying, Ranssar couldn't keep the planet's surface from rushing towards them as the transport descended. "How's are those repulsors coming Mach?!"

"Just a moment!" Mach shouted back.

Ranssar was about to indicate that they didn't have a moment when the Profiteer's descent began to slow and the whole vessel started to level out on its own. The repulsors had come back online and let the craft float in the air. I also became much more maneuverable and let Ranssar push it away from the large mountain range that has appeared before them.

"Just on time Mach. Why do you always have to cut things so..." He never got to finish the question as the transport shook again and dropped straight down in mid air.

The repulsors had failed again and with nothing to support the heavy transport it plummeted down towards a long depression that stretched down below them. All controls had completely failed, but at least they were not traveling at the tremendous speeds that they were before and were falling from a much lower altitude. The only think Ranssar could do was try and level out the Profiteer slightly and order everyone into crash positions. He looked over at Ernal and nodded at the man slighty. Both acknowledging that this could be their last moment alive and they were thankful to have each other as friends.

As the Duro looked back out the cockpit viewport the ground was much closer than it had been before. He closes his eyes and let go of the controls before him, gripping his harness instead. Within seconds the large transport slammed into the ground, the whole lower half of the forward sections crumpling under the weight and force of the impact. The transport skid across the dry ground, creating a small gash in the planet's surface behind it. It finally slammed into an outcropping of earth and rolled over on its side, sliding for another 250 meters before coming to a rest in a cloud of dirt.