Colt

Colt had left the meeting room to plan for the latest complication alone in his quarters. If nothing else, he trusted the Remnants to accomplish their original mission. He had served with Mak over Dac and Colt knew the veteran soldier was both cunning and tough as nails. While the captain didn't know the Sith smuggler personally, he had seen the ruthless look in his eyes. And yet he was clever and clearly well connected. As for the rest of their small compliment, Colt had gone over their dossiers beforehand and knew what his allies were capable of. Colt wished he could provide them with his expertise as well, but things had robbed him of that chance.

The former Republic major stood in front of his closet with a microtool between his teeth and a data pad in his hand. He was going over the beginnings of a plan in his head. He had a bit more than twelve hours to find where Larial had been taken, break in, rescue her and get off planet. Colt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Finding Larial's location would be the easy part. The Jedi girl didn't realize it but Colt had tagged her with a micro tracer hidden inside a small sapphire bracelet he had given her after Dac. Assuming she still had the jewelry, he would have a read on her location as soon as he cared to activate the tracer protocol.

The hard part was the prison break. Alderaan was a member of the Republic and he would be killing innocent Alderaanian citizens, citizens of the Republic. Not only that, but Colt was only one man. The life he had led had transformed the captain into a skilled combatant, one who had survived impossible odds before. But with no support, no backup and unknown resistance, he knew that he could easily be walking into a death trap. With these thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, Colt geared up and left his quarters.

Colt heard the news and closed his eyes for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he opened them. "The transmission pinged twice. Once from inside the palace... if I had to guess it would be the where the servants live." He mused. "However... there was also a ping of sorts in the mountains." He explained quickly before standing up. "All of you do what you will, but my choice has been made for me." He explained in an icy tone as he jotted down the two sets of coordinates for the other members of their party. "I have an execution to stop."

Colt nodded in agreement with the Sith's input. He had come to the same conclusion himself. Having worked on Alderaan more than once, he knew that the highest nobility and the royal family had extreme security protocols. Either a crack team of Force users had broken in or someone on the inside had let the kidnappers in. Colt closed his eyes for a moment in order to not allow himself to be distracted by the fact that he was kind of dating royalty. "A king." He muttered out loud. "From major to freighter captain to king of Alderaan. What a thought. What a life." He mused audibly to himself before once again getting back on track. If he didn't act, it would all be over.

Before saying anymore, he had a slicing kit in hand and a pocket micro-tool between his teeth. "Already on tracing the signal."

Choosing to take this particular mission had been an easy call for Colt and the fact that it had put all of his interests together so easily was something that made him smile. Leaning back in the rather comfortable chair in his quarters, he poured himself a large glass of his trusty Whyrren's Reserve. The perfectly balanced whiskey felt good going down his throat as it always did. The starship captain had always liked working on Alderaan. The people were rich, they paid oh so well and the perks were luxurious. Even the lesser noble families lived in splendor. The fact that they were rescuing the queen was music to his ears due to the simple fact that success would mean a paycheck to rival his career best. And just to top it all off, he was doing a personal favor for his lover. And that always helped things.

The deaths of the Imperal dreadnaught and Remnant One were not the first capital size ships that Colt had seen crash. In what seemed like lifetimes ago, he had been a part of the battle over the icy wastes of Hoth and he had witnessed the death of over a dozen of these behemoths in that conflict. However his younger cousin had not seen active duty in the war before the treaty and as such he hadn't seen a sight quite like the one in front of him. Colt was silent as he flew slowly towards the surface of Dac. He had seen the escape pods jettison and he planned on making sure they all made it to the surface safely. He had expected one last Imperial trick and he had been caught off guard with the lack of a battle.

"Even though I feel the pain of all those lives being extinguished..." Kenway eventually broke the long silence. "The sight is hauntingly beautiful in a way." The Jedi said softly. Colt said nothing as he searched for the communications feed he needed. With the destruction of Remnant One, he needed to recalibrate his communications to reach the rest of the Remnants. "Major Gamble and Master Kenway reporting in." Colt eventually gave the status of the duo over the global communications that all the Remnants were patched into as their ship broke into Dac's atmosphere.

With that short message publicized, Colt finished transmitting to the comm network and he turned to his cousin. "I have a few questions."

"I felt you were in danger and I let the force guide me." Kenway answered one of Colt's questions, but not the one that the captain had on the tip of his tongue.

"And her lightsabers." Colt pressed. He needed to know.

"Six months ago." Kenway said quietly. Colt hadn't seen his cousin in over a year, so that made some sense. "I didn't want to tell you because I wanted to give you them personally because..."

"I understand. But how?" Colt asked once again.

"I felt her." Kenway answered simply. "I felt her presence when I was running an op on Alderaan. There was a Sith lord... I dueled him and slew him and among his things I discovered that he had come into possession of her weapons. A badge of honor perhaps." Colt knew what that meant. He himself had a small collection of lightsabers that he had picked up off of Sith who had made the fatal mistake of underestimating him just because he wasn't a Force user. He smiled faintly.

"Thank you cousin." Colt said softly as he looked out over the waters of Dac. "For the gift. And for saving me I suppose."

"All teams fall back! Get to the pods!" Both Colt and Kenway heard Sirian's voice over their commlinks and as they slid down the maintenance hallway, Colt abruptly came to a stop. Kenway followed his elder cousin's lead, however he seemed confused by Colt's action. 

"We're not headed to the pods cousin." Colt said with a slight smile. "The Maltese is docked in the hangar and I don't plan on leaving without her." Colt was referring to his personal freighter, his pride and joy in life. His personal craft was blessed with a state of the art weapons system, engines to rival anything in the galaxy and a liquor cabinet that was second to none. It would be a devastating loss to the young captain, one he simply would not allow to happen.

"Do we have..." Kenway started to ask but Colt cut him off by taking off in the direction of Remnant 1's large hangar bay.

"We have time or we're going down with the ship cousin!" Colt shouted over his shoulder, the thought of losing his ship spurring him forward through the exhaustion and the severe injuries. "I promised your father years ago I'd keep an eye out for you, I don't plan on having us die today!"

Kenway didn't respond and the only sound coming from the two courageous fighters was the sound of their boots squeaking through the hallways of the ship as they recklessly ran towards the hangar. The duo could hear various voices chiming in over the comms but they ignored them, both having that innate sense that told them they didn't have time to concern themselves with what was going on elsewhere.

They peeled into the hangar only to realize that they had a fight on their hands. A squadron of Imperial soldiers was looking to commandeer a shuttle to escape Remnant 1 before the ship exploded. Colt drew his blasters and prepared to fire but before he could do so Kenway leaped into combat. A green lightsaber lit up the hangar as the Mirialan Jedi Knight ambushed the unaware Imperials. Before any of them could cry out, Kenway had cut down four of them and Colt had taken down two more with expertly placed blaster shots. 

The Imperials quickly regrouped however and began firing their rifles rapidly and with precision. However, their efforts were for naught as Kenway fell back and began deflecting the shots away. No blasts got through the Knight's defense and two more of the Imperials died to their own deflected shots. Colt meanwhile had slid behind a small cargo crate and took advantage of his cousin's presence to carefully line up his shots. With careful precision, Colt took down three of the last four Imperials. The lone soldier was about to throw a grenade when Kenway threw his lightsaber across the room, cutting the Imperial down where he stood. With the power of the Force guiding it, the green blade deactivated and returned itself to Kenway's hand and the Mirialan holstered the blade.

Neither Colt nor Kenway spoke as they boarded Colt's freighter. They both made their way the cockpit, Colt throwing his things down on the ground near the door to his quarters, having no time to unpack at the moment. Hopping into the pilot's chair Colt turned to his cousin, who was making his way into the co-pilot's chair. "Any preferences for where we bolt?" Colt asked his cousin with a hint of a smile. "Because I'm thinking somewhere where I can get a good drink." 

"Alderaan then." Kenway answered quietly, clearly thinking of something far away. With a nod, Colt started the engines. 

"You're thinking about her aren't you?" Colt asked his cousin softly as he went through a last pre-flight check. Seeing Kenway's slight nod, he sighed. "I don't think a day goes by where I don't think about her." Colt felt Kenway's comforting hand on his shoulder and he smiled in spite of himself. "Did I..."

"For all the things you did wrong regarding her..." Kenway eventually said. "That was not one of them." Seeing the hints of tears forming in Colt's eyes, Kenway gripped his cousin's shoulder once again. Colt said nothing, simply taking off, the Maltese Falcon breaking out into the starry sky over Dac.

Colt wasn't stupid. And when it came to all things spacecraft related, you could say he was an expert. That's how he knew things were going real badly outside. He could hear the sounds of the Imperial bombardment and he could distinctly tell that they were getting louder. That meant only one thing: the shields around their craft were failing. The Imperials had them surrounded and combined with their saboteurs that had boarded on the engineering level... it was only a matter of time before the craft was blown out of the sky. Colt took off running, sliding down the passageways as he tried to control his speed. As he made his way lower and lower in the bowels of the ship, he noticed that the explosions inside and out were starting to shake the craft. But he was ex-military, he was a pilot and he was cool under fire. The quakes that knocked other people down would not do the same to him. 

And he would use that to his advantage. The cacophony of noise outside and the dying throes of the Remnant flagship masked the noise of Colt's approach. He had stumbled, by sheer chance, onto one of the many Imperial demolitions teams that had boarded the ship. As he planned his ambush, Colt could hear the echoes of sustained gunfire from distant hallways. This team he was going to take out was not the only one. He would have more work to do after this skirmish. He crept closer and his fingers tightened around his scattergun and blaster pistol. Five Imperials; three soldiers and two bombmakers. It would have to be quick and precise.

And then Colt descended on the Imperials like the proverbial ton of bricks and they never saw it coming. The scattergun bellowed once, twice and two of the three soldiers were out of the picture. As the remaining trio of Imperials spun to face him, Colt tossed his scattergun into the air and switched his pistol into his right hand. One of the Imperials, the lone remaining soldier had raised his rifle to fire but his first burst was high, inches over Colt's left shoulder. This was all the time Colt would need, a single blaster shot from his pistol striking the soldier between the eyes. Another precise round from the pistol downed one of the saboteurs as he desperately got up from the bomb and attempted to reach for his sidearm. The other saboteur slowly raised his hands, a pleading look in his eyes. But there was no time for mercy, no time for humanity. With a dispassionate look Colt caught his scattergun out of the air with his left hand and a single blast left the last Imperial dead, a gaping hole where his heart once beat.

It hadn't taken more than five seconds for Colt to eliminate the bomb squad but he realized that reinforcements would come running. He didn't have much time to diffuse the explosive. He holstered his weapons and pulled out his pocket slicing kit and got to work. A single bead of sweat dripped down Colt's face as he focused intently on disarming the device. Though he was far more experienced at the planting and detonation of explosive devices, he was also a serviceable slicer. Plus it wasn't like he had any other options. And then a breakthrough. He had worked his way through the traps on the bomb and with one more confident slice was able to disconnect the trigger. This bomb would not be hurting anyone. He started to stand up.

"Don't think about it." Colt closed his eyes. He had been too slow. The Imperials had found him. Slowly, he forced himself to open his eyes and look up from the bomb. Two Imperial soldiers had found him and he had two blaster rifles trained at his forehead. Colt said nothing and did not make a move. In his state, Colt had no illusions that he would be quick enough to draw both his pistols and take out the enemy before they put a hole in his head. He sighed. He had considered his own death more than once but he had never thought it would come in the bowels of a Remnant flagship, moments after diffusing a bomb and with a serious chest wound pouring blood onto the deck of the service corridor. He heard the clicks of the rifles. In his final moments, Colt promised himself that he would go out with a smile on his face. He had lived a good life and he had a hell of a run. And then he heard a noise he never could have expected. Two cyan lightsabers were activated in perfect unison and before Colt could react the two Imperials were dead. Colt's heart skipped a beat. Only one person he'd ever known had used two cyan lightsabers. She had been the love of his life, but Colt knew she was dead... he had done the deed himself. And then he heard the voice.

"Cousin." Colt slowly stood up and looked into the eyes of his cousin, the Jedi Knight, the former Padawan of the woman he had lost all those years ago.

"Kenway." Colt closed the short distance between the two of them and pulled his cousin into a tight embrace. They were more brothers than cousins but Colt had never been happier to see the young Jedi.

"Artemis." For once, Colt couldn't even be mad that his cousin used his birth name. It was just that good to see him and after all, he had saved his life. "For you." Kenway said softly as he held out his hand, the two lightsabers he had just used sitting deactivated in his palm. And then Colt understood. He had somehow... No... he couldn't have.

"How?" Colt asked as he gently took the weapons and pocketed them, his hands shaking.

"Another time." Kenway answered with a grin. "After all the fight is far from done." And with that the duo took off towards the sounds of combat. The situation they found themselves in was still desperate and if there was any remnant of hope for the flagship's survival, all hands would be needed to fight off the Imperial threat.

The moments between repelling the Trandoshan boarders and arriving on the Remnant flagship had passed in a haze. Colt had lost a lot of blood, but he had managed to treat himself to a degree with kolto injections, stims and adrenals. He had managed to gather his things off of the Hammer before the medical evacuation. 

He had been deeply saddened at the unknown fates of Jester and some of his fellow crewmen as well as the death of Vas. He could feel Lari's presence in his mind. He was quite concerned about her and a little scared, but at the same time there was an awareness that they had far bigger problems. There were more boarders that needed to be dispatched or they were all doomed. 

Colt was determined to do his part, even as the medical teams had tried to keep him down. They didn't realize that he wasn't one to listen to anyone but himself. So at the moment instead of recuperating in the medical bay, he was staggering through the ship towards the engineering decks. In his right hand was his trusty scattergun and in his left was one of his customized blaster pistols. Deep down he knew that this battle would be an emotional and physical challenge.

The sound of a blade entering someone's vital areas was a distinctive one, a sound that once you've heard it in your life... you will never forget it. That is the sole reason why Colt turned around at the doorway to see...

"Oh..." He was left speechless at the sight he saw on the ground. Vas was lying motionless, the Twi'lek appeared to be dead. And Lari... Colt's face turned vicious as he saw the Trandoshan pull his blade out of her torso, the lizard grinning with what appeared to be glee at the murder he had just committed. Colt's eyes turned red as he drew his scattergun. The booming echo of the weapon shook the airlock as Colt took out the Trandoshan's right leg. A second shot took the lizard's right arm off at the shoulder, sending his blade careening across the floor. And then Colt was upon the wounded warrior and he began to speak to him in Huttese, knowing that Trandoshans mostly knew Huttese but not Basic.

"I am going to make your death slow and painful." Colt said in perfect Huttese, a talent that he had picked up in his years as a less than reputable sort.

The Trandoshan's eyes lit up and Colt could swear that he saw fear. But instead of mercy... In the corner of Colt's eye he noticed the Trandoshan reaching for a small dagger with his left claw. Colt's smile was even brighter now as he was quicker on the draw and drove his energy blade through the  lizard's remaning claw, pinning it into the floor. "You're going to pay for that" Colt said with a mutter as he drew a blaster and kneecapped his victim's left leg. Colt's eyes continued to glow red as he stared the Trandoshan down, noticing with a smile how he would do the deed. He walked over to the airlock and slammed the butt of his pistol on the emergency release button button, sending the boarding craft away. The pressures of space began to suck the occupants of the airlock out and with a heave Colt tossed the bodies of Larial and Vas back into the ship. And then there was only one order of business remaining.

With a concentrated effort, Colt pulled his knife out of the Trandoshan and sheathed it. "Get off my ship." Colt muttered angrily at the beast before kicking him out of the airlock. And with that Colt staggered back into the main part of the ship just before he was sucked away or asphyxiated from a lack of oxygen.  

"Sorry our reunion couldn't go better my dear." Colt heard the despair in Larial's voice as they prepared themselves for the coming battle. There was a moment where Colt knew that he should say something back, anything. But, in what was a rare instance, Colt couldn't find the words to match what he wanted to express. He opened his mouth once, a sentence on the tip of his tongue. And then it was gone and he closed his mouth, having not said a word.
The moment was gone when Colt heard an argument over his earpiece that kept him patched into what was going on in the command ships. He didn't get all of the argument but there was one thing that struck him.

Niilah. She was coming to him. This thought was a calming influence and Colt actually smiled. He hadn't seen her in what seemed like an eternity and though he would never admit it to a living soul, he missed her deeply. But now, and this was important, he had one more thing to fight for. If he repelled the boarding party... he would see Niilah again. And if nothing else, Colt Gamble was a survivor. He had outlived his mother, outlived the love of his life, outlived his enemies... this was just one more skirmish to push through.

His thoughts were interrupted when the Trandoshans breached the airlock. There was no hesitation on Colt's part as he aimed his scattergun at the first lizard through the hole. With a booming echo in the metal corridor, the first shot from the shotgun punched a huttball sized hole in the Trandoshan's chest. The second shot took his head off. And with that the battle was on. Knowing that he would be in danger of overheating the powerful scattergun, Colt dove away from the onrushing horde, drawing his twin blaster pistols as he landed in a crouch. What had once been antique slugthrowers were now dual blaster handcannons of death, their wielder feeling at one with his weapons. With a calm detachment that came from experience under fire, he picked his targets out one by one. Colt's second kill was the result of two shots that caught another lizard right between the eyes, knocking the scaly beast back out of the airlock. Getting out of his crouch and moving, Colt took aim at a third Trandoshan. A double tap to the creature's chest struck home, the fact that they were mere feet apart allowing Colt's customized blaster bolts to penetrate the heavy armor the lizard hunter-warriors were known for wearing. Colt started to take aim at his next mark when he was ambushed from the side. A massive claw swiped at his chest and Colt felt the shredding of his light shirt and his skin. The pain was dulled by the adrenals and stims he had injected mere minutes before, but that bit of medical work did not stop the blood from gushing out of the wound.

Colt's reaction was pure instinct. He dropped the pistol in his right hand and drew his energy blade. Biting down on his lip to prevent himself from crying out in pain he drove the energy blade into and through the Trandoshan's right eye, killing the beast instantly. Colt sank to his knees, feeling the blood dripping down from his chest wound and pooling at his feet. He had taken out the small party at the main airlock, but he could hear the noises of battle all around him. Groaning, he picked up his second pistol and sheathed his knife. Eventually he was able to will himself back onto his feet and turn away from the bodies on the floor. Looking worse for the wear, he shambled back towards the main part of the ship. There was more work to be done.

"Uh, guys? We ... have company." Colt heard Jester's voice over the comms and he practically sprinted into his quarters. After his failure to deal with the Sith, he had placed his weapons back into his storage locker. A mistake as it turned out. However, the process of gathering his pistols, his scatter gun and his energy blade was practiced and in under thirty seconds he was ready for combat, standing in the cockpit. He went over to the intercom and activated the device.

"We're going to have to repel boarders." Colt said coolly, twirling one of his blaster pistols in his fingers as he spoke. "We don't have time to get the ship back into flying shape... not until we deal with... this newest complication." He frowned as he looked out into space. Sometimes he couldn't believe that he found himself in a battle of this magnitude again, not after what had happened regarding his past with the Republic military. But deep down he knew that he couldn't turn his back on the interests of the Republic, even if they sometimes wanted to throw him into a jail cell on Belsavis. Because he knew that anything the Republic did... the Imperials were worse.

Putting his thoughts aside, Colt walked to the airlock. He would wait for the boarders and he would make them pay.

While Colt had told Larial that he was headed to the medbay, that lie couldn't be further from the truth. He couldn't afford to be down for the count. With the crew that the Remnants had, Colt knew that he was the only one with the piloting skills to get them home alive with their missions accomplished. So instead of heading to the medbay, Colt made a quick pitstop at his private quarters.

He rummaged through his pack and quickly found the three things he was looking for; a stim that would increase his alertness, an adrenal that would help with the pain and a small kolto injection to heal the slight wounds from being slammed into the wall. Colt took a deep breath before jamming each of the three needles into his arm and he could feel the trio of substances taking effect almost immediately.

And then he was in the cockpit once more, acting like nothing had happened. He looked at Crisp, giving her a reassuring smile. "Mission accomplished." He said softly, absentmindedly wiping a bit of blood off his lip before continuing. "Both of the girls were wounded in the crash and the... resulting complications." Colt seemed a bit annoyed about how he had been taken for a fool by a half-dead Sith. "But they're back on the ship and safe in the med bay." He explained to his copilot. "What's the status of the repairs?" He asked her quietly, all thoughts now squarely back on the mission.

Colt had been worrying too much about Larial to notice the obvious ambush by the Sith. He was rather annoyed with himself as he was just a tick too slow drawing his first blaster and he paid the price, getting thrown against the wall of the derelict craft was not exactly a pleasant experience.

He got up slowly, a bit dazed from the experience. "You're missing something love, here take this." He heard her say, sounding almost cheerful. He was highly tempted to roll his eyes at the thought but then he realized that she had tossed him her blaster. Even with the headache that was currently developing as a result of slamming hard against a metal surface, he caught the blaster smoothly in his right hand.

Colt knew better than to try and sneak a shot in during the lightsaber duel. Even though he was a marksman, he knew that the odds of him hitting Larial, hitting himself or damaging the ship even more were just as high as the odds of him ending the Sith with a well-placed bolt. Even so, he kept Lari's pistol trained on the fight, just in case there was an opening.

And then it was over and the Sith was dead. He leaned down and picked up his own fallen blaster. He couldn't bear to lose the custom piece of hardware that was one of his pride and joys. He then heard Larial talk but he wasn't paying all that much attention to the words. He sighed, gently placing her blaster pistol into her holster and smiling faintly. "We need to move quick." He said quietly, knowing that there would be time for fonder moments once they were in the clear. "I'm needed back on the Hammer... but I had to come myself to make sure you were alright." He explained.

Colt was prepared for the worst as he pulled on his red and black flight helmet and made sure his blaster pistols, scatter gun, holdout blaster and vibroblade were securely holstered in their correct places. He stood in front of the hatch that would lead him into one of the escape pods for just a moment before taking a deep breath and slamming the panel on the wall of the ship. With a soft hiss, the door to the escape pod slowly opened and Colt crept inside.

The pod wasn't very roomy, but it would do what Colt needed. There was room for him to bring back the occupants of the Fire, even if space would be a bit tight for the return trip. Shrugging off the thoughts of the possibility that there wouldn't be a return trip, he slid into the pilot's seat of the pod. Since it was not his ship, it took him a few moments to find the emergency release lever. With another deep breath, he pulled the lever and the pod broke free.

Colt gradually started the pod's engines and slowly flew over towards the derelict craft. He approached warily, looking carefully for a spot where he could dock and get inside. And then he saw it. The auxiliary airlock appeared to be undamaged. With deft movements, Colt brought the pod over to the airlock in question, patiently working the ship over. And then he heard another hiss. The connection had been successful. With a soft smile, he stood up and opened the door in the back of the pod and walked out, into the dark interior of Larial's ship.

Colt's hands were shaking as he slowly stood up from the pilot's chair and looked at Crisp. "I'd point out I was planning on that working out better... but the fact we're alive after all that is nothing short of divine intervention." He said softly to the Zabrak before turning serious once more. "Do me a favor and take the helm for a moment. I feel like my presence is needed on the bridge." Colt's request was more like an order as he swept out of the cockpit without giving Crisp a moment to answer.

On his way to the bridge, Colt ducked into his quarters on the ship and went through his things quickly. At the bottom of his duffel bag he found what he was looking for, this being a half-finished bottle of Whyrren's Reserve. He smiled, quickly opening the bottle and taking a long pull, savoring the amber liquid that warmed him up and calmed his nerves. It had been awhile since he was in a dogfight like that... he could remember the last time he had been in that pitched of a battle... it had been the cold night over Hoth where he had ensured his court martial due to ignoring a direct order... And then he heard her voice. "Colt... Jester... Tank... Help... I'm not sure how long we'll last on this ship... I'm so tired."

"Lari." Colt gasped. He was needed elsewhere so he quickly stashed the bottle back into his duffel and made his appearance on the bridge. He looked at Tank and Jester, their brave gunners as well as Mait, Anlai and Padawan Brega. And then he spoke, in a tone as cold as ice which did not betray what he had needed to do in order to get himself back into the game. "Tank. Jester. Fantastic work on those guns." He told the troopers with a slight smile. "I'm sure you all heard the prognosis for the craft. She's beat up bad, but we're nowhere near out of the game yet." Colt told the assembled crew in order to get their spirits back up. "We also have a friend out there in a dead ship... A friend I would really like to make sure came home." His voice faded away for a moment before realizing that now was not the time to lose focus. "I need anyone with any mechanical skills on repairs ASAP. Priority on main power systems, the dorsal shields and any hull breaches." Holding up three fingers, Colt then looked outside at the disabled ship that had helped save their bacon. "I am needed on the Fire right away. I need to make sure that..." Colt stopped, not wanted to say anything about the second person on the ship and why he felt the need to jump into action. "I will be taking care of this rescue myself." At that, Colt jogged off of the bridge towards the escape pods.

The pilot of the Hammer was in his element now. He ignored the voices of his gunners chirping in his ear, needing complete and total focus on the chaos currently enveloping his craft. Colt was in complete and total control of the situation, even as things went from bad to worse.

The captain's hands flew deftly over the controls like those of a concert pianist. Each movement by the enemy squadrons was countered with ease by Colt and he made sure that he was giving his gunners optimal firing angles.

As the enemy began to explode and disintegrate around the Hammer, Colt noticed that the number of buzzing enemy star fighters only seemed to increase. His grip on the controls tightened as they took a hit to the rear. The shields did their jobs but Colt knew that he couldn't keep taking hits like that. So he did the only thing that he could.

Seeing a squad of enemy star fighters starting an attack run, he flipped the Hammer around and dove straight into the breach. The enemy pilots panicked, which was exactly what Colt predicted. The fighters behind the Hammer opened fire but did nothing but hit their own peers. And just as quick as he had entered the enemy's ranks, Colt dropped the ship out, losing the squadron and providing his gunners with yet another prime opening.

And then he heard the voice of the female captain, announcing her arrival. She seemed to have a bit of an attitude about it. Normally he would have made a sarcastic quip about that but with how much he was outgunned, he'd save his retort for later.

"Captain Dragomir, this is Major Gamble, commanding flight officer of the Hope's Hammer." Colt hailed the woman over ship-to-ship communications. "Your assistance is acknowledged and appreciated." He said with a smile. "You're just in time."

"Hammer this is Remnant Carrier, thank you for joining us," came a message from the carrier's command bridge. "We're showing two dozen enemy fighters incoming on our position. We have two squadrons down and only two up, but we have a dozen fighters prepping for launch as we speak.

"The troops carrier is under heavy fire as well, but we have no support to lend them. What do you have for squadron support, over."

Colt sighed, things were not looking good. He was crunching the numbers in his head as quickly as possible, scanning the radars as he nimbly made the ship dart rapidly out of the way of stray cannon fire. He groaned, looking at his copilot for a second. "We don't have the squadron support to send." He said to her with a frown. "We need to get to that troop carrier." With this, he opened up the engines on the ship, hopping onto the communications. "Lieutenant, Anlai, Padawan." He addressed the trio of people who were in the command center. "We're going to briefly provide cover fire for the Remnant carrier to allow them to get their fighters out." He explained. "Then we're going to jet over to aid the troop carrier." He sighed. "We need all hands on deck... it's about to get interesting." He hopped off the intercom before activating his communications with the carrier's command bridge.

"Remnant Carrier, this is Major Gamble." Colt used his old military rank as a way to establish that he knew what he was talking about. "We have a quartet of escort fighters." He said softly, thinking things over before an idea struck him. He patched Maitrayen into the call. "Lieutenant, we've got a split situation." He reported. "We need to make a call and we need to make it fast." He suggested. "Send the rest of Gold team over to support Remnant carrier. I'll bring the Hammer over to the troop transport." He didn't give Maitrayen the chance to say otherwise before he gunned the engines, sending the craft towards the troops carrier with great speed.

Colt had been putting the ship through its paces in the opening stages of the skirmish. It had been a couple of years since he had been at the helm of any ship besides his own and as such he needed a few moments to get used to flying another craft.

But then they entered the fray and it was time to focus. A small squadron of Mark VI fighters had appeared. "We are go for full assault, Colt. You've got the stick and I'm prepped and ready over here." Crisp's light enthusiasm brought Colt back to the present. He nodded.

It was as if everything around the Hope's Hammer was moving in slow motion. Explosions seemed to take moments to form, rather than being instantaneous. And if he were asked, Colt would swear he could see the actual debris that formed with the destruction of each small fighter. It amazed him how much he remembered from his time piloting starfighters in the Republic navy. It was as if he could predict every move that the Imperial craft would make. Each darting motion by an Imperial in an attempt to break free was met by a blocking motion from the Hammer. It only took moments for Colt's gunners, working in tandem with the Remnant starfighters to finish off the enemy squadron.

Colt did not join in with the cheering of his allies. He was too busy reminiscing on his time in the Navy. It had been a long time since he had been a pilot in a full-scale military engagement. But it was something that you never forgot, and given his decorated military record...

"Colt, Crisp." Maitrayen's voice on the intercom got his attention once again. "We're headin' in and helping out Carrier 1. I hope your ready for some fancy flyin'." Colt nodded, activating his commlink to the commanding officer for just a few moments.

"Understood and acknowledged." He said with a chuckle. "Now all of you will get to see why I was a Major in the Navy." He said before cutting the link and turning to his co-pilot for just a moment. "That was just a small taste of what this baby can do." He said to her with a shimmering smile on his face. "I haven't even begun to open up the bag of tricks." He mused before focusing once more on the battle at hand. The Hammer dropped and slid out from under a small group of fighters and Colt opened up the engines, giving his gunners a clear shot at the next group of Imperial fighters.

Colt would have preferred a smaller, more nimble ship if he were to be completely honest with himself and his team. His personal craft, the Maltese Falcon, was about half the size of the Hope's Hammer and it was clear to him that the increase in size would come with a decrease in agility and maneuverability. But he also knew that there was no one better suited to take the command of the Remnants flagship, no one better suited to both utilize the massive amount of firepower possessed by the Hammer and also keep the entire crew from getting fried.

As he ran through his pre-flight checklist, Colt couldn't help but dwell on the events that had brought him to Dac. It was a bit of a melancholy affair, one that was quickly becoming tinged with regret and bitterness. Checking the condition of the communications systems, Colt was struck with an idea for the briefest of moments. He wanted to send out a few calls to people... there was his cousin, the Jedi knight. Colt wanted to tell him that he did care, that as his cousin he loved him like a little brother. And then there was...

"No. Now is not the time." Colt scolded himself gently. Anything but complete focus on the mission at hand would get them all killed. Brushing his light brown locks away from his emerald green eyes, the gunfighter felt for the two blaster pistols at his hips. He knew deep down if he had to use those weapons... that if he was left to repel boarders, than something had gone terribly, terribly wrong and their mission had likely failed. But even with this knowledge, feeling the familiar weight of the pistols on his hips, the energy blade in his boot and the scattergun on the small weapons rack in the back gave him just a small bit of comfort.

A small bit of comfort that was going to go a long way for the starship captain. He never saw himself as one to die for a cause. He was supposed to be the one to sneak out the back while the Jedi and the republic military made the ultimate sacrifice, never noticing the slick smuggler's departure with two women in his arms and a fistful of ill-gotten credits. But in this battle he was flying a ship under someone else's flag and it was his responsibility to keep them all safe.

"Ready for takeoff." Colt stated, looking at his copilot. Seeing the other flyer's nod, Colt smiled brightly. "Let me teach you a thing or two about flying." Colt said confidently before activiating the in-ship communications. "Lieutenant." He addressed Maitrayen first, as he was the leader of their small squadron. "Ship is prepped and ready for launch." He reported in before gunning the engines. And then they were off, ready to join the fray.