"I think it's probably going to get us all killed, but at the same time, it beats the hell out of hauling yet another load of someone else's crap in from the ass-end of the galaxy."  She laughs, glancing at the dreadnaughts for only a moment before turning a brilliant grin in his direction.  "Must be the company."

She glances back at the dreadnaughts on the horizon, and looks at the Skyfisher's scanners.  "Think we should hurry them up a bit?"  It wasn't the question she wanted to ask, but it was a question all the same, and the sudden appearance of the Imperial ships had distracted her, at least for the moment.

"Good company does tend to improve things," Hector agreed, returning her grin.  He glanced out again at the incoming ships.  "It might be a good idea, just in case.  I doubt those ships will come out this far though; if conquest is their idea, manors in the middle of nowhere should be their last priority.  Hmm... what are your thoughts on our Jedi tag-alongs?"

She laughs.  "Shanda reminds me of every holier-than-thou instructor I ever had, but watching Duran get flustered is a riot.  Between his overeagerness, and her overthinking, we're screwed.  And not in the good way."  She grins impishly over at him.  "Yes, I heard him stammering at you in the cockpit.  Can't handle me, mm?  Think you can do better?"

While waiting for his answer, she closes her eyes and leans her head back against the headrest of her seat.  Despite forcing most of her concentration onto contacting the others, the corners of her mouth twitch with a repressed grin.

[Private to GM: So I rolled and failed, and then realized (like a dumbass) that I could have been taking 10 on these and making the check all along, so if you allow a Take 10 on this one, the message is the following:

"Hurry it up."  Coupled with a sense of anxiousness and concern.]

The ships are staying above the city in the distance for now.

[Private to Oriana Cy'Kast: I'll relay that message to them when a little more time has passed on their end, but yeah you can totally take 10.]

"Most definitely."  Hector stated this with utmost confidence, and it was clear in his tone of voice.  "There's a key difference though.  I know you're a tough woman - you don't need 'handling' in the way he would probably go about it.  Taming would probably be a better word, although it implies I'm trying to change you.  Regardless of the right term, I can manage better than Duran.  For one, we have a whole lot in common.  Plus, you're clearly already infatuated with me."

Flashing his grin once more, he posed his own question.  "I suppose that begs the question though... what's your opinion on the matter?  Do you think I could... handle you?"

"Well, I suppose that depends," she chuckles, opening her eyes and flashing a grin of her own.

Oriana rises from her seat and retrieves her glasses from the console, all in the same fluid motion.  As she turns, her right hand slips over the left side of his face, sliding smoothly over beard and cheek alike, stopping only when the tips of her middle two fingers find the divot beneath his earlobe.  With a gentle tug, she bends to whisper into his other ear, her lips close enough that her breath tickles, "Are you fast and dangerous, or just your flying?"

She grins as she straightens and pulls back, her fingertips trailing along the edge of his jaw before falling away.  Her eyes stay boldly locked on his for as long as it takes her to slip her glasses on once more.  Then, without waiting for an answer, she turns and strides off down the corridor, her footfalls headed for the turret access.

"I'll be back in a sec.  I want to go take a look around from the quad."

Her breath on his neck sent a shiver down his spine as he heard her final question for the time being.  He didn't answer immediately of course, allowing her to trace his jaw as she pulled away.  But as she did so, his hand came up and intercepted hers.  He brought the back of her hand to his lips then and kissed it, as a gentleman might his lady.  Only then did he let her go, and look up with that grin of his.

"All the time, babe.  I'm the kind of guy you wouldn't bring home to meet your parents," he replied, watching her as she left.  Once she was gone, he returned to his work in the cockpit, scanning the screens and watching the cruisers over Coronet.

A good bit more than the proverbial ten seconds had passed since Oriana had departed the cockpit.  Not because she was slow, but because she'd had to stop halfway up the turret ladder to press her forehead against the cool metal there, to take a moment to catch her breath.  Damn, damn, and damn, she mentally berated herself, finishing the rest of her ascent and clambering into the quad cannon's seat.  Fast and dangerous.  You know better, girl.

She takes her time circling the dorsal cannon around, paying attention to the portions of the horizon that hadn't been visible from the cockpit, eventually keying up the commlink to the cockpit again.  ++"You know, Hector, this is my home."++

From the trace of amusement in her tone, it's a good bet that one of her trademark grins is plastered across her face, despite the grim spectacle of the Imperial capital ships over Corellia.

Quite pleased with himself over the whole conversation, Hector made himself comfortable in a way that gave him a view on all the relevant screens and the sky.  When Oriana commed him again, he had his blaster out and was fiddling with it, wondering how her blaster could possibly be any more accurate.


++You know, you're right.  We're halfway towards being in a relationship already.++"  Hector was equally jovial in his reply.  In situations like this, with a grim outlook, one might as well be cheery.

++"Hey, I can think of worse things to do before the Republic military and the Jedi get us killed."++ Oriana's laugh comes through loud and clear on the comm.  ++"Just don't ask to meet my folks."++

She snickers, kicking back in the turret and angling the quad guns up at the sky, making another sweep to the rear of the Skyfisher.  Part of her wished the rest of the team would hurry it up, if just so they could stop having to keep watch on empty sky.  The rest of her was quite enjoying having some privacy for the time being.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Wed 06 June 2012.

"++I can think of better things as well.  Most involve a bed though.++" Hector chuckled lightly.  He didn't have the Force like she did, so he couldn't tell how long the had to wait before the team completed their mission, whatever it was.  Fortunately, he had a comfy chair. "++Don't worry. I think you can make judgment on whether I'm worthy on your own.++"

++"Pretty sure I know where at least one of those is."++  Oriana's smirk carried through loud and clear in her tone, even over the hum of the rotating turret.  ++"You don't have to worry about that, I promise.  No one's made my decisions for me since, well... Since then.  Never again."++

She narrows her eyes slightly, and watches the dreadnaughts and their fighters cloud the horizon in the direction of Coronet, while waiting to hear back from their Jedi on the ground.  ++"You know, this can't be coincidence, Hector. There were a lot of Sith on those dreadnaughts up when we warped in.  I don't know why Shanda or Duran didn't feel them."++

"++Speaking of which, you never did answer my last question...++"  Having thought about it, Hector was rather intrigued.  Not that it mattered if those Sith decided to come their way.  It would be a pity if they did, too.  Probably wouldn't even be enough time to get to a bed, let alone make use of it.

"++But they were here when we got here - or en route at least.  Our being here has to be coincidence, but the question remains: why are so many Sith here?++"

Oriana chuckles, ++"About 'handling' me?"++ She smirks, settling a bit more comfortably into the curve of the turret seat, watching the sky as she teasingly retorts, ++"Was that a euphemism, or were you asking if I thought you were... up for the challenge?"++  There's a definite touch of humor in her voice, like she was struggling to maintain a straight face while asking that.  ++"I'm pretty sure the answer is 'yes', either way."++

++"I suppose they're here for what we're here for.  My concern is still that our Jedi didn't look for them, or didn't see them.  Neither of those possibilities is particularly heart-warming."++

The ship's scanner goes "blip," and a contact shows up on the long-range scanner.  Whatever it is is headed your way fast, from Coronet.  It's about 40km out.

Additionally, brief sparks light up the darkening sky from that direction, and if the ship weren't covering it up you'd bet you'd be able to hear the sounds of heavy weapons resonating from this far away.

For the record, Coronet's about 60km away.  I'm conflicted on whether or not that makes sense given blue shift etc, but I guess the lights would be visible.

[Private to Oriana Cy'Kast: "The message back is simple, tinged with a little anxiety and concern, 'Careful, Sith involved. Going fast.'"]
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:11, Wed 06 June 2012.

Oriana's barked laughter echoes down from the turret, even before she keys up the commlink again, practically right after her last transmission.

++"Duran would like to inform us to be careful, there are Sith involved"++  Her words practically drip with sarcastic amusement, and she adds, ++"To which I can only say, 'Well no shit'."++

The *blip* on the scanner doesn't escape her attention, but she knows Hector can see it too, and in light of the Jedi's most recent message she has something much more pressing on her mind.  Oriana relaxes her hands and closes her eyes, tentatively stretching her mind out to feel the Force around them.

[Private to GM: To Duran: Anxiety, and a strong sense of urgency, coupled with... sarcasm?  "No shit.  Get out. Get out NOW."

That done, she's scanning the area for the other Force users.  I know I already have the results, but I want to give Hector a chance to comment on the incoming ship, first, since it'll take Ori a few solid seconds to sense out the others.]

As it closes the distance, more information about it becomes available.  It's smaller than the Skyfisher, but larger than a fighter, which would probably make it one of the Sith's personal transports...thus fast, and well-armed.

[Private to Oriana Cy'Kast:  The familiar itch at the back of your mind begins rising up again...]

"++Sounds like we'll have something to do once we get off Corellia then,++" Hector replied, before lifting his feet off the console to take a closer look at the scanner.  Taking the direction into account, he leaned forward and looked off into the distance for the approaching ship.  It was probably too far away to see now, but in a short time, it would get close enough.

"++Speaking of Sith, how much you wanna bet that incoming blip is one?++" Hector said, with only a bit of sarcasm.  He wasn't incredibly worried about it really - transport or not, it was not likely to be any better armed or armored than the Skyfisher.  Plus, they were on the ground - it would be an easy escape if they had to get out.

A minute ticks by.  It becomes apparent the ground team might not get here before the ship does.

++"I don't need to bet. I know it is. Two of them, and one of them's the strong one from the invasion fleet."++

Oriana shifted in her seat, adjusting her hands on the quad's grips, shifting them a bit to the way she preferred.  ++"Hector?  Our group's beneath us, and not like to get up here before those Sith do... and those Sith know we're here."++  She flicks her hands across the toggles and levers for the guns, bringing various portions of the controls to life one at a time.

She didn't have to say that what she meant by 'we' was really her and the Jedi.

++"I feel a bit like a sitting duck on the ground."++

Hector moved across the console, flipping back on all the instruments he would need to take off in a hurry.  If they had to, they could be in the air in seconds.

"++Wonderful.  Guess we have two options then; we can sit here and wait, and hope they don't have heavy ordnance aboard that thing, or we can take off and deal with them until our group returns.++"  He paused, considering something.

"++We might have a third option.  Oriana, where in the manor are they?  If they can get to a window or an exterior wall, we could just blast a hole and extract them from there.++"

++"About a hundred yards below us, like directly, and rising slowly.  My guess is they're on a turbolift.  I've been trying to hurry Duran up, but he's not seeming to grasp the need for urgency."++ She sounds a little annoyed at this, actually.  The continuing waves of calm patience from the padawan, in the face of her urgent warnings to leave... frankly, she wanted to hit him.  If they survived this, she just might.

++"There's not much those Sith can do with the Force, from inside that ship.  We're safer with them in it, than we are if they land, and at their velocity versus how slow the team's moving... I'm certain the Sith will get here first, barely."++ Oriana spools the quad up full-bore now, swiveling around to get a preliminary lock on the incoming transport, hastily adjusting the targeting array for her preference.

++"By thirty seconds.  Feel lucky?"++

"++Always.  Lets give them a warm welcome, shall we?  I'll take us up only high enough to rotate the ship and bring our weapons to bear on them.  We'll be blocking the landing pad and pounding them at the same time.  I can touch us down quick when the team gets out.++" He didn't wait for a confirmation before working on doing just that.  He didn't need to raise the landing skids or the ramp, after all - he just had to lift the ship up on its repulsors, and tip it back about thirty degrees in order to bring the pilot controlled linked cannons around.

So, Hector did just that.  Taking hold of the yoke and the thruster controls, he aimed to swivel the ship around to face the direction the Sith were coming in at, then rise it up about a dozen feet and tip the nose up.  It would take some concentration to keep it there, but he only needed one good shot from his cannons, and a good blast from Oriana's to dissuade them.

[Private to GM:  17:54, Today: Hector Terrachova rolled 23 using 1d20+13. Pilot. If that isn't sufficient (or not necessary), let me know.  I can add a force point to it, or have the roll ignored.]

++"Warm welcomes are my specialty.  Don't forget to open the door."++

Oriana's laugh comes through clearly on the comm.  It wasn't every day she got to take shots at Sith and risk blowing up some merchant's fancy manor.

This was going to be fun.

**bringing the group back together**