{"id":291,"date":"2011-03-16T09:36:20","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T13:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.auroraforce.org\/blog\/?p=291"},"modified":"2011-03-16T09:36:20","modified_gmt":"2011-03-16T13:36:20","slug":"vong-war-annals-silenced-choirs-03-15-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.auroraforce.org\/blog\/?p=291","title":{"rendered":"Vong War Annals – “Silenced Choirs” 03.15.2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hangar<\/strong> Bay<\/strong>, Five-Star <\/strong>Legacy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan approached his ship, getting ready to walk up the entry ramp.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A soldier on guard approached him. “Sir, temporary quarters have been arranged for you.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “What?” Logan turned. “I was going to look over the damage, see if I could start repairing some of it.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The soldier shook his head. “Standing orders; this ship is to remain untouched until it’s been fully inspected.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan bristled. “This is my<\/em> ship, buddy. Are you telling me I can’t touch my own damned ship<\/em>?”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Advising<\/em>, sir,” said the soldier, though he pointedly adjusted his blaster rifle as he did so. “Your ship survived contact with the Yuuzhaan Vong, and the techs back at base will want to study it. Besides, I wouldn’t want to sleep there until those engines have been removed.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan calmed himself down. “I thought they were contained now.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “They are, but I wouldn’t risk it.” The soldier jerked his head towards the aft of the freighter.\u00a0“Engines as old as that? You never know if they’re going to flare up again.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Hey,” cried Logan, affronted. “I put those in myself. You know how hard it is to find something that’ll fit an old Hawk?”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “A Hawk? There are some of those still in the air?”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan snorted. “You’re one to talk. What is this thing, an old Venator<\/em>-class?” He gestured towards the old-fashioned structural supports in the hangar bay.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The soldier smirked. “Acclamator<\/em>, actually.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan shook his head in wonderment. “Wow. What museum did you guys have to\u00a0knock over?”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The soldier laughed. “Seriously, sir, this ship needs to stay in its condition until we get to Xenen. It’s just an in-system jump.”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Alright. Can I at least get my stuff from my cabin?”
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The rifle waggled towards the open hatchway. “Fine, but you’ll need to be out when we unload.”<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The interior of the Seraph’s Wake<\/em> was almost as bad as the outer hull. Carbon streaks expanded outwards from the engine room, and Logan stared for a long moment at a grisly shadow against a bulkhead. His business partner and co-pilot didn’t talk much; Logan knew even less about Jer’s family than he did the Gotal himself. There was a Holonet message box address somewhere in the ship’s computer; he’d have to send a notification at the very least.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He replayed the encounter with the Vong ship as he made his way to the cabins. The asteroid had\u00a0trapped them dead in the water; the gravity field pinned them in place and something had ripped the shields apart.\u00a0The last two shots that had disabled the engines were a bit more rapid-fire than the first ones, which meant that there were plenty of openings that the thing hadn’t taken. Given what the NRI kid had said, there had been some nasty battles with the things, which had left the military hurting.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan frowned as he started grabbing clothes and datacards from compartments in his cabin. Had the thrusters not spun them around, the first magma shot would have torn into the cockpit –\u00a0punched right\u00a0through the transparisteel and vaporized him on the spot. After he proved troublesome, the rockship had just glided around to make a pair of surgical strikes to disable them further.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Vong things must\u00a0had needed the ship intact. His<\/em> ship. And considering that despite his personal feelings towards the vintage transport, there wasn’t anything really special<\/em> about it. Sentimental, expensive to repair, maybe, but most parts were stock-standard from the Corellian shipyard it was built in.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On a whim, he selected a card and slotted it into his datapad. There was the manifest, alright, and he had remembered everything that was on it when the Jedi pipsqueak had asked him. Looking over it again, nothing really stood out as being important, but then again, he hadn’t even heard of these Vong until not even an hour ago.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tucking the datapad into his pocket, he grabbed what he could and tossed it into a pack. Most of it could sit tight until he found a more permanent place for it – hell, the bulk of what he owned could probably stay on the ship while it was being repaired.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He felt the vibrating thrum of the deck that signaled a large ship making a hyperspace transition. Not long after that, the vibrations changed again as the Acclamator<\/em>-class cruiser reverted back to realspace.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Logan took one last look around the Wake<\/em>. She’d wait for him. And he’d return to her, as he always did when they were apart.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He sealed her up and nodded to the soldiers on duty. Time to go.<\/p>\n

~ Logan MacKenzie<\/p>\n

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