CorSec Mission #5:  Interception of Galbatross' Fleet

The uniform fit tightly, the pistols looked just right in their holsters.  He looked like the man for the job.

Jaden snapped himself out of the fanatasy that he was in.  Looking at himself in the mirror was one thing that he could not get away from.  The site of himself through his own eyes always caught him off guard and never amazed him.

The young CorSec officer strolled down the hall with a bit of a "cockiness" to his step.  He was 19, he had a job, and he was getting paid good money to do it.  Jaden had been an officer in CorSec for some 6 months now, and he finally had everything down pat.  4 Missions into the position, Jaden realized that almost all of his trainee buddies were gone.  There had been a lot of mishap over the Correlian trade line lately, mostly due to random pirate forces catching small supply convoys on their runs into the Correlian AirSpace.  They had done just about all they could at this point in time, hiring new recruits and getting people into new positions, but Jaden was one of the only left from his generation of recruits.

Jaden sat at his new office.  The cigarette left a bitter taste in his mouth as he took the last drag and put it out in the ashtray on the desk.  Just as he was about to take another sip of the creamy cup of coffee, his computer terminal lit up.  It was a message from his sector officer, Valin Orbasto.

Sector Lieutenant Jaden Khaar, you are to report immediately to your Sectors main office.  This is an emergency.  Report immediatlely.

The message kept reading off and off, and just woulding quit.  Jaden slammed his fist into the computer terminal out of anger, knowing that he was getting sent on another assignment.  It never ceased to amaze Jaden how much work there was to be done as a Security officer for the planet of Correlia.  He had lived on the planet for years, since he began his adolescence, and he didn't find out until now how much crime there was being committed in the planets airspace and the berriers in the Correlian sector of space.

Jaden quickly picked up his pack of cigarettes and exited his office.  It looked as if a lot of the pilots from his sector were heading towards the same briefing room.  There were no major symbols in the area letting everyone know that something was going wrong, but Jaden knew by the repetitive message that this was going to be a serious mission.

Upon entering the briefing room, Jaden was suprised to see that absolutely no was was sitting down as usual.  Everyone was standing at attention to Valin, the sector commander.  Jaden quickly went up to his side and surveyed the crowd.  Valin gave Jaden a quick, smug looked as he took his post.

"Well, looks like we got another problem.  Looks like we are going to have to call all of you pilots from the sector in on this one.  Looks like one of our old buddies is back.  Xavier Galbatross has seemed to defected from his faction of the Imperials, and looks to be raiding on Correlian airspace as of lately," said Valin

Jaden shook his head in anger.  He knew that the man his commanding officer was speaking of was a huge danger, and not half of the pilots would make it out of this mission.  He then began to think of all the reasons of why he joined up, and why he didn't just become a farmer on the Correlian plains, in the middle of nowhere.  No danger, no smugglers to deal with, and absolutely no one to get bossed around by.

"Seems as though he has not only a small taskforce, but a fleet now since we last had an encounter with him, but this time, he has taken it one step too far.  Our main allies from the NR on Coruscant were sending a very, very large shipment of supplies through the trade line, and looks like good old Gilbatross brought them out of hyperspace, with gravity wells.  Gilbatross' fleet is now nearly 1/4 the size of the NR fleet.  We really have no choice but to send out almost every sector pilot we have in the entire CorSec corps"

Jaden quit shaking his and listened closely, "It is reported that 2 Inderdictors are in the area for sure.  5 Dreadnaughts have also been reported, along with a large number of medical frigates.  Oh, and to top it off, we're talking atleast 15 MC-40 Star Cruisers."

Jadens jaw dropped.  This would be the biggest engagement he would ever be sent into.  All doubts started rushing into his head and his emotions isntantly lit on fire.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" cried Jaden, "You know that half of us are going to get slaughtered!"

Valin looked Jaden straight in the eyes.

"The NR refuses to send any more craft in to help their allies.  Their excuse is "Cut the losses."  They aparently think that what they have lost on the trade line isn't enough to risk sending in half of their fleet to take care of some small time trouble maker on the Correlian Trade line.

Jadens face began to become a bit redder, along with his eyes.  Things were begining to go into a bit of a blurr.  This type of thing always happened when Jaden went into an anger episode, but he quickly calmed it down and got hold of his emotions.

"Alright, so your plan is?" asked Jaden

"Like I said earlier, anyone who can fly an X-wing, A-wing, B-wing, or any of our craft is going to be in one, attempting to bring this man and his "goonies" to the ground.  Strategic wise, thats not up to me, or anyone close to my chain of command.  Son, I think you need to realize that you are but a speck in this equation of battle against the enemy.  If I barely even matter, then you dont' matter at all."

The anger boiled, Jaden could feel it.  He didn't know exactly how to control it, but his body began moving and he was out of the briefing room door within minutes.  He wasn't going to let his entire life go to waste by the fact of someone ruining Correlia's trade line.

I'm getting in a fighter, and I'm not coming back

Jaden quickly grabbed all of his credits that were in his bank account out through a type of ATM.  All he needed was credits and what he had on to get the hell out of where he was, and into an entirely new life.

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Jaden Khaar
NazgulSquadron
Naval Academy Executive Officer
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SCM/2LT Jaden Khaar/Sentinel 1-1 (Sentinel 1)/Phoenix Wing/STR Doashim/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]
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TXO/2LT Jaden Khaar/Venom 1-2 (Venom 2)/Phoenix Wing/Platform Saratoga/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]

Jaden's ESC story #2, The Adolescent Years...

"Mother, did Jerod go to the marshes today?"

"Jaden, I'm not sure where he went.  He mentioned that he was going to the marshes earlier, but I haven't seen him anywhere"

"Thanks mum," said Jaden, walking out of the small hut.

Things weren't the same as they were.  Jerod would go to the marshes every day with his friends.  Jaden wasn't mad about the fact that he never got to go, but jealous.  He would hear stories in hunting class about Jerod and his friends going down to the marsh.  Jaden would usually just brush it off and go to his uncle Hal's.

Hal was a very compassionate kind of person.  The two of them, Jaden and Hal, were inseparable.  Jaden's father sometimes wondered why his brother, Hal, was much more interesting to his son than he was.  A father, but never there for his son.  Hal could do the things for Jaden that his father never would.  Take him on adventures through the Boragi forest with his land speeder, go to the mountains on the weekends and fish in the ponds, mostly things that his father never had time for him for.  It was always Jerod.

"Uncle Hal, why is Jerod the favorite of father?" Jaden would always ask

"Well, I don't know, but you have always been my favorite.  More outgoing than your brother, and much more adventurous.  I mean, your brother is adventurous, but in a different way.  He likes to go down to the marshes with his friends, I'm sure you know that, but it's not really that much fun.  You may think that they have quite the time, but all they do is shoot the trees with those blasters they got from hunting class.  I can show you a side of this planet that none of them will Ever see," said Hal

Close to dusk one day, Jaden ventured over to his uncles house.  It was a quiet, long walk that gave Jaden the serenity that he had been hoping for.  He was a teenager at the time, and a nice walk to calm down did him good.  He had been having trouble with his brother all week; they constantly got into arguments about the most ridiculous things.  Who was to ride the speeder bike first?  Who was to have the snargle apples off the tree in the back yard?  It was always Jerod first, and Jaden would get the leftovers.  Jaden tried to get it off his mind, but it was always there.  Something that he could never just, lock in the back of his head.  The jealousy was starting to turn him into a very hateful person.

Jaden kicked the soft tan dirt in anger as he approached his uncle's house.  After looking up, he noticed in surprise that his uncle was working on something.  Jaden had to take a double look to make sure it was really what he had seen.  He was sure now after double checking, that it was a fighter of some sort.  It was death black, with some kind of insignias on the side.  One of the fighters he had seen in a video a few years earlier in Aeronautics class.  Jaden started running up to his uncle, who was busy working under the fighter.

"Hey uncle Hal, where did ya get that?" said Jaden in anticipation.

"Oh, hi Jaden.  Nice to see you too," said his uncle laughing, "This is what I used to fly in the war a few years back.

"So. It's a&." Jaden said in excitement, "Tie Fighter?!"

"Well, a modified version of a kind of tie fighter.  It's a Tie fighter called the Tie Interceptor, but I have made many of my own calibrations."

"How come I never saw this before?" asked Jaden

"Because this is what I have been waiting to show you.  Here on Janeiro, you don't see things like this.  I'm sure that your malicious little brother has never seen one of these, and I knew that you would be interested.  I used to be best friends with your Aeronautics teacher, Blaine Hardosky was it?" asked Hal, "Yea, that was him.  He used to tell me how much you were in awe for the fighters in the videos your class used to watch"

"Oh," said Jaden blushing, "He told you about that?"

"Oh yes, and I knew that this would be the thing to turn your life around.  Jaden, I am going to show you what it is like, to fly" said Hal with a smirk on his face, "I've just made the last adjustment, so we can get on our way"

"We are going to fly that thing on Janeiro?" questioned Jaden, "Won't the military police catch us?"

"Oh no, we are going to be going so fast that they will never even know we were in the air.  I guess working on this thing really did pay off," said Hal, getting up off of the ground.

"Come with me inside for a second.  I have to change into some different clothing, rather than&this," said Hal, glancing down at his mechanic clothing.  It was all dirty and rubbish from all of the work he had been doing in it.

Jaden followed his uncle into the large, brown hut.  It was larger than most of the huts on Janeiro.  Hal had always been more wealthy than most of the occupants of Janeiro.  As they entered the house, the amazing aroma of fresh citrus stopped Jaden dead in his tracks.

"Ahh, you smell it too.  I have been making these drinks for a while today.  They should be delicious.  I call them Citrus coolers," said Hal

Jaden walked over to the pitcher and poured himself a glass.  After taking a drink, he leaned against the wall.  It was delicious; Sweet and tangy at the same time, running over his taste buds and down his throat.  Hal left the room, smiling in pride.  Jaden brought the glass back to his mouth and quickly drank the rest.  The excitement was starting to really get to him.

After Hal changed, the two went outside.  Hal moved all of his things out of the way, and took the canvas off of the fighter, revealing the jet black fighter to its fullest extent.  All Jaden could do was watch in amazement.  All of the pictures of the fighters in the videos came rushing back to him.

"Alright, this is only a one-seater, but I think that we can squeeze you in," said Hal, "Come on over," he said coaxingly

Hal climbed up the fighter, and disappeared through the top hatch.  Jaden quickly shimmied up the fighter and got to the top.  He looked down at his uncle, and then dropped in.

"Here, put this on," said Hal, giving Jaden a helmet.  There was a headset on the inside of the helmet with a little microphone sticking out of the side; something that the real pilots used to communicate with each other.  Hal started flipping switches, pointing them all out to Jaden and explaining what each one did.  It didn't take Jaden long to hook on to what he was explaining, and within a half hour, Jaden had memorized the whole inside of the ship.

"Well, now you know what I'm going to be doing, so just sit back and enjoy the ride," said Hal with a smile on his face

Jaden watched as his uncle started up the fighter.  It sprang to life in a few seconds. And a few monitors started to light up.  Hal explained the whole system of the targeting computer and what its purpose was.  Afterwards, he took the controls, and they lifted off the ground.  Jaden grabbed onto something in a bit of fear, but then he started to let go as they started moving forward.  Jaden was buckled in pretty tightly, so he knew that he wouldn't be going anywhere.  His gray/white hair slipped behind his ears as he lifted his hand up to get it out of his face.

After the fighter had picked up speed, Jaden got used to the tugging of gravity on his body.  They were now quickly rising in the atmosphere, and then started dropping back down to the surface.  A few rolls of the fighter didn't scare Jaden too much; he actually started to like it.  Hal just smiled as he controlled the fighter with ease.  It looks so easy& he thought to himself.

After about an hour of flying, Jaden was pretty much used to everything.

"So, how do you like it Jade?" asked Hal

"I don't like it uncle Hal, I love it, this is the most fun I have had in my entire life.  You have really inspired me to want to try to fly now," said Jaden

"Well, if you want to, I'll move and you can take the controls," said Hal, "How about it?"

Jaden paused for a second and thought about the experience of flying.  The excitement was now overwhelming, he had to try it.

"Alright, I'll give it a spin" said Jaden, enthusiastically.

Hal moved to the right and Jaden dropped into the pilot's seat.  He took the latches and snapped himself into the seat.  After taking the controls, he grabbed the throttle and moved it forward.  The once hovering fighter started to move forward quickly, and soon enough it had picked up great speed.  Jaden practiced turning, moving back and forth, and doing rolls for a long time.  Eventually, he had gotten pretty good with the movements.

"Wow, you are really taking on to this thing aren't you?" said Hal in amazement, "You are doing better than most of the recruits I use to train back in the day, are you sure that you haven't done this before?" he said chuckling.

"No, but this amazing," said Jaden, keeping the fighter going in a strait line, "Will you teach me to fly as well as you?" asked Jaden.

"Well, I can do my best.  I've already taught you everything I know about fighting, so this wouldn't be anything knew.  I know that you can handle it, and you are becoming more mature by the day." Hal said, pondering.  "Maybe someday you can join the Imperial Navy Corps and fly just like I did in the Galactic Civil War"

It was close to dawn when the two got back.  Jaden immediately went home and jumped onto his bed, lying on his back, and staring at the ceiling.  He loved flying, more than anything.  His uncle was going to teach him to fly just as well as him.  It was Jaden's dream now, to become a pilot.

(1778 by Microsoft Word)

 
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Jaden Khaar
NazgulSquadron
Naval Academy Executive Officer
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SCM/2LT Jaden Khaar/Sentinel 1-1 (Sentinel 1)/STR Doashim/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]
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TXO/2LT Jaden Khaar/Venom 1-2 (Venom 2)/Phoenix Wing/Platform Saratoga/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]

Adolescent Years

Jaden awoke from his deep slumber as his uncle Hal leaned over and shook him.  The bright halo lights in the room made his vision blurry, so he rubbed his eyes.  A few moments later he could see his uncle leaning over him.

"Jaden, get up.  We are in trouble," said Hal, "Someone has taken over the ferry"

Jaden sat up in astonishment.  "What's happening now?" he had to ask again, half awake.

"Our ferry, the one we got on from Janeiro, has been taken over by someone.  I just got word that they might be a pirate group that is in the area.  We haven't even left hyperspace yet," said Hal, "And your parents haven't contacted me either.  I don't know if they got off the planet or not"

Jaden looked down to the ground and shook his head.  "What are we going to do?" he asked

"We are going to be very mature about this situation.  I suggest that we try to make our way out of the room and towards the communication sector to get some help," said Hal

"Help, from whom?  We are just a bunch of citizens from an abandoned planet sitting on a ferry cruiser that has just been taken over by a group of unknown people.  There is no one that we can rely on to help us!" screamed Jaden

"Quiet down&they could have very well just heard us.  We don't want to draw too much attention," said Hal, pulling out a blaster rifle from behind him.

"Are you serious?  You want to take these&these people on and try to get a hold of someone or something we don't even know?" questioned Jaden

"I have someone we can get through to, I have some friends," said Hal

"Friends, who?" asked Jaden

"You'll find out when we get through to them," said Hal, "We are going, get your blaster rifle ready, and put this armor vest on," he said, throwing Jaden a light white chest armor.  Jaden quickly grabbed the vest.  He stopped for a second, and both of their eyes came to meet each other.

"Alright, I'll do it," said Jaden, "But you better have something for us to fall back on"

Jaden stood up and put the white chest plate on, and grabbed his blaster rifle from a nearby desk.  He pulled out a blaster pack and snapped it onto the rifle and shouldered it.

"You remind me of myself sometimes," said his uncle shaking his head, "Its amazing,"

Hal grabbed his duffle bag and threw it around his body, and Jaden did the same with his.  Hal walked closer to the door and shouldered his gun.

"Alright, I'm going to open the door.  Just follow my lead and we will do fine, if you see anyone or anything that looks like an enemy, blast it with your rifle," said Hal

"You want me to kill someone?" said Jaden looking strait at his uncle.  The rifle started to shake.  Hal walked over to Jaden and put his hand on his shoulder.

"If we want to get out of here alive, it's what we'll have to do," said Hal, "Now get your head in this, I'm opening the door"

Hal walked up to the side panel of the door and pressed a few buttons.  The door hissed and immediately opened.  Jaden ducked to the left of the door and Hal was on the right.  His uncle peeked out of the room and looked back and forth letting up a signal to follow.  He emerged from the room with the rifle in his arms, ready to let loose on anything in his way, Jaden quickly follow.

After they left the room, the door quickly hissed back shut.  Hal started moving quickly than before with his gun ready.  Jaden attempted to do the same, wishing that he knew what he was doing.  The rusted interior of the cruiser reflected against the bright white lights above as they moved through the corridor.  The cruiser seemed to be very old, and not in good shape.  If there was some sort of attack on the cruiser, it wouldn't last for very long.  Then something came to Jaden's mind.

"Hal, do you think the fighter is still in the hanger?" asked Jaden

"Hopefully it is, or else I don't know how we are getting off this piece of scrap," said Hal, brushing against the right wall and backing up against it.  "Move, to the left against that wall, I'm opening the next door.  We aren't too far from the communications room now, its just a little bit further down the next hall to the right."

Jaden quickly moved to the left and pointed his gun towards the door after double checking around his shoulder for anyone behind them.  Hal pushed a few buttons on the panel like he did before, and the door began to open.  A tear of sweat streamed down Jaden's face as the adrenaline started pumping through his body.  The rusty door was now coming open with a loud his.

Behind the door was something they didn't expect, a soldier of some sort wearing death black clothing in a trenchcoat.  He was facing forward, and surprisingly, he didn't notice that the door was open.  Jaden turned to his uncle in question.  Hal pointed his rifle at the man who was standing there, but something alerted the enemy soldier.  The soldier turned around and noticed Hal and Jaden.

"What are you doin?" he said, but was interrupted as blaster fire penetrated his black chest armor.  He fell to the ground with a thud, and Hal moved forward.  Jaden had never seen someone die before, and it was really starting to hit him.

"Move!" yelled Hal, rushing forward at a jog with his blaster pointed before him.  Jaden quickly reacted from his stupor and followed his uncle pointing the blaster rifle at his back.  They had now picked up pace and were running.  Hal tended to move a lot faster than Jaden, with his long legs and muscular stature.  Jaden picked up speed to keep up with his uncle.

Just as they arrived at the communications room door, another black figure emerged from the room with his blaster pointed strait at Hal.  Jaden ducked to the left, and his uncle did the opposite to the right, barely missing the bolts that were flying at him.  Jaden's reflexes had finally kicked in when he pulled the trigger, letting of an array of blaster fire into the body of the black soldier.  The soldier fell backwards into the wall behind him and slid down to the ground.  He was dead, but there was no time for anything, they had to keep moving.  Hal checked the room, but there was no one inside.

"Move, inside with me!" he yelled to Jaden.  After making their way inside, Jaden was in awe of all of the computer panels that were in front of him.  "How could such an old ship have such good technology?" he asked himself.  Hal pressed a few buttons on the panel behind Jaden; shutting and locking the door behind them.  He rushed up to one of the panels and started punching information into the console.  Jaden walked up beside Hal and looked at the monitor.  Some blue planet came into view, and Jaden quickly noticed what it was; Correlia.  He remembered his uncle saying that they needed to go to Correlia for some reason to see relatives.  Maybe that was who he was contacting.

Hal picked up the headset that was lying next to the console and put it on his head, and another picture came into view on the console.  It was some sort of insignia, a flag and skull and crossbones.  The flags were red and the skull was white with a death black background.  A password screen came up, and Hal quickly gained access.  Then, a communications grid came up, and Hal started talking.

"Uncle Hal, who are you talking to?" Jaden asked.

"A group, or should I say, team of people I used to be with back in the war.  The 42nd Hammerheads," he said, "I'll explain to you later"

He kept talking to the person on the other line, and all Jaden could make out was a list of coordinates and some names of cruisers and ships, and another name came into view.  The Empire.  Jaden didn't say anything at the time, but he knew they would talk about it later.

The conversation had now ended, and Hal put the headset down.

"They are on their way.  Until they arrive, we are going to stay in here.  I also have word on who the people are  the Shappes," said Hal, "A pirate group from this area.  I haven't heard of them myself, but my friends know who they are"

"Oh, so they are coming to help us?" asked Jaden

"Yes, they are bringing in their blockade runner and their fighters.  As a total of them  there are about 8 fighters in all, and they are all flying Tie Interceptor modifies, but they aren't the same as mine, a bit older," said Hal

"Why would they need to bring all of that stuff with them?" asked Jaden

"It looks like the pirates have taken this ferry over, which has weapons systems on it and an array of fighters running with it.  I also got word that they have another cruiser in the system and are bringing it in to transfer all of the citizens and materials from the cruiser over.  It doesn't look good for us," said Hal, "We have to get out of here."

"But I thought you said that we had to stay in here?" questioned Jaden

"I said we need to, not have too.  I'm going to pull up the hanger records really quick and see if the fighter I brought is still here," said Hal, "Just a moment," he said, walking back over to another console.  A few moments later, he came back with a smirk on his face.

"Yep, it's still here, they haven't even been able to touch it," said Hal, "The lock-down system has been activated."

"Well that's good, but how are we both going to get out of here?" asked Jaden, "We are going to be going way to fast out of here, and I can't fit in the right position without going unconscious from all of the maneuvering we are going to be doing," said Jaden

"I know, that's why you are going to be flying it," said Hal, "You have gone through the naval academy on Janeiro, and I know that you can fend for yourself in a dogfight," said Hal, "You've had your fair share of immense hours of training"

"But how are you getting off the cruiser," asked Jaden

"I'm going to pilot the cruiser out of here by myself.  Once the Hammerheads boarding party comes aboard, the cruiser will be cleared out and we will have control.  I'm going to meet up with the other cruiser and we are going to hyper back to the base in Correlia," said Hal

"That sounds like a good plan," said Jaden, "So, we just wait until they arrive in the system and then we are go?" said Jaden

"Yep"

 
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Jaden Khaar
NazgulSquadron
Naval Academy Executive Officer
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SCM/2LT Jaden Khaar/Sentinel 1-1 (Sentinel 1)/STR Doashim/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]
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TXO/2LT Jaden Khaar/Venom 1-2 (Venom 2)/Phoenix Wing/Platform Saratoga/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) (*=TE=*) [VC:S][LSM][SV][CBV](x2)[GWC]