Corellia's Open Orbit

Aruetii always misunderstood Mando'ade, and this time out, Reyn made to press the Corellians' buttons and see how they jumped. He moved to answer the comm, watching the group of snubfighters on the tactical display. As neutrals, they were not automatically being target locked as they approached the big red ship.

::Red Rocket to Corellian squadron, we're here on commercial business with CEC.::

He deactivated the comm and gave an order.

Put us on course for the Corellian Engineering Corporation orbital dock.

The large red cruiser turned, her escorts keeping a loose formation with her, and began to move towards the docking area of Corellian Engineering Corporation.

::No hostile intentions.:: Unless you try to stop us, he thought, but didn't say.

Reyn had told the truth, though not the whole truth. Such contracts could be organized via HoloNet, but then there would be records, and the risk of interception. For the business he was here to conclude, secrecy was paramount. He'd said as much as he intended to.

The Red Rocket was well armed for her size, and was carrying approximately one thousand ori'rami'kade as part of her onboard garrison. She was well able to cause trouble if that were her intent, though today she was simply here as a warning not to interfere in Mandalorian business. Her shields remained down, and weapons unpowered, though Reyn could change that with an order. Likewise, she didn't yet launch any craft, though she packed significant striking power into her hangar bays, should that become necessary.

Linuy Findos

Reyn smiled as the fighter controller requested an ID check from the Mandalorian flotilla. He nodded to the Captain.

Remain on course. Keep the shields down and weapons cold.

Then he activated the comm again.

::Corellian Squadron, as we have already said, we are here on commercial business with Corellian Engineering Corporation.::

Reyn put a little steel into his voice.

::You wouldn't be trying to interfere in the private business of the Vegemite Enclave, would you? That wouldn't be a friendly act. The Coalition, after all, doesn't own CEC, nor control the company. Our business is between the yards and us.::

The movement of the Lucrehulk on the tactical display had been noticed by Red Rocket's command crew. Reyn waved a hand to show the Captain he wanted to carry on with their course.

::I would suggest that you don't push things too far, Corellian Squadron. We're here to mind our own business, but that can change if you don't mind yours.::

Reyn smiled. He was new to this diplomacy lark, but so far he was doing a lot better than his erstwhile father had done. Kaine would have come in armed and ready for battle, and probably provoked an avoidable confrontation.

Linuy Findos

It seemed to Reyn that the Corellians were hellbent on forcing an avoidable confrontation.

Reyn's response to the request was swift, but still polite.

::Negative on that offer, Corellian squadron.:: He saw the X-wings deploy their S-foils, but they didn't break formation and begin maneuvering, which would have been a prelude to offensive action.

Time to show them we're serious about our privacy, he thought.

Captain, order the fleet to raise shields.

Red Rocket and the pair of Lancer frigates and four Crusader gunships that escorted her all complied, a very visible show to the Corellians that the Mandalorians weren't playing games.

::You're going to have to take our word as to our identity and intentions. We've identified ourselves and stated our intentions. That should be enough for your Coalition.::

Reyn was tempted to order a launch, but he still hoped to avoid a confrontation here. He hoped the Corellians would back down, as he had told them the truth. It would be silly of them to provoke an interstellar war over a handful of warships.

He considered ordering the ships to target the X-wings, but a direct provocation like that wasn't diplomatic. Protecting yourself was one thing, pointing an armed weapon was another. He'd let the Corellians make that move first.

Behind him, he heard a commotion at the bridge entrance, but ignored it in favour of continuing his conversation with the Corellian commander.

::Any attempt to board our vessels will be resisted. You are free to conduct scans as you wish, but we will be continuing on with our business.::

Unless a war is what you choose, Corellian. Reyn thought.

Linuy Findos

"It's ready sir"

Ostrenis moved through the bridge, which looked as it always had, the pits full to the brim with officers, alien and human alike, and glanced the sprawling shipyards through the viewports.

"Full thrust. Move to arranged point for testing"

The Imperial Star Destroyer was locked in a dockyard, but the pincers and connections that united it to the structure like an umbilical cord were promptly removed. The wedge-shaped ship started to gain full velocity. Parts of it looked quite different from what it previously was. The ship crossed empty military lines, reserved space for such manouvers. The incoming data showed correct speed and functionality.

"Engage cloaking device"

"Roger, sir, on the mark"

A field around the ship flickered. Moments later, the whole ship was invisible to sensors and any eye, humanoid and alien alike.

"Undergoing tests"

Satellites, radars and patrolling ships focused their short and long range systems on the ship, trying to get a hold of its signature.

"Ship is cloaked"

"Good"

Ostrenis keyed something on his chair's command console.

"Let's try the turbolasers"

"Fixing target. Leaving invisibility in 10 seconds"

The long-ranged turrets, a new addition to the imposing frame of the Oathkeeper, were pointed at a large freighter, placed there by the Coalition to serve as target practice. It had a thick hull and sufficient shields to withstand a cruiser's assault, more so at that distance.

"Fire when ready"

The cloaking field flickered and soon was gone, revealing the destroyer in all its might. The turbolasers on the prow were almost loaded and, soon thereafter, delivered its payload, the projectiles crossing the emptyness of space, burning freely until impacting against the freighter, whose shields were blasted and the hull of which was craked in half like an egg, blowing as soon as the inner systems exploded.

"Well done. Download all the reports and send them to my aides for examination, captain"

"As you wish sire"

And thus, the schematics of the Black Annie had finally been of use. The Oathkeeper was now an even more fearsome ship of the line.

"Send word to the surface, the testing is done for"

A small cargo ship called Javar entered Corellia's orbit. Within its cargo space, Amanda Harper sat on a cargo box, waiting for the formalities to complete and landing to commence. She didn't know much of what was going on, but she assumed there wouldn't be any trouble, since the captain had said to her that she wasn't running any contraband or anything else that could get them to trouble. She hoped that this was indeed the case, but didn't have real reason to doubt either.

Operation Little Crown, Kyr'bes'ika in Mando'a, was an ambitious plan headed by Clan Intelligence to strike at the Coalition in conjunction with the military Operation Roundhammer. Far smaller in scope, but just as ambitious in scale and degree of difficulty, intelligence had their own plans for the Corellian System.

A single Action-VI freighter, bought secondhand and quietly modified by Intelligence was the insertion platform for the strike team. Eight Mando'ade from Clan Australis, four of the Night Witches, three Corellian vode, and in command, the Bothan Jaing Nail'ya from the Night Lords. An eclectic bunch, but tough, they were all posing as the ship's crew and company.

One of the Corellians, Lok Australis, still had his birth IDs in his family name of Gejjen, and so he had drawn duty as ship's Captain, Lok Gejjen, returning home to Corellia with his ship and crew. The Bothan kept to himself, locked in his cabin, with the others having the run of the vessel. They'd be going in with no support and no hope of rescue, so they had chosen their cargo with care.

The vessel was renamed the Corell Eclipse after the databanks had been thoroughly scrubbed and reprogrammed with a suitable backstory of a semi successful trading ship plying the Outer Rim. Her refrigerated holds were half full of fruits and meats from a variety of worlds, that would fetch a decent return for any captain and crew in the Core.

The Corell Eclipse, a battered Action-VI freighter, exited hyperspace in the Corell system, near Corellia, and headed insystem towards the planet. Her IFF was active with her Captain's ID linked in so that Orbital Control could see who they were. Their proposed flight plan to Coronet was even linked in, as a courtesy.

::This is freighter Corell Eclipse inbound to Coronet requesting clearance.:: Lok spoke into the mic of the captain's chair on the vessel's small bridge. If they had to talk their way in, the responsibility was on his shoulders, though the command of the mission was the Bothan's, it was thought a Corellian might be a better option to play the role of ship's captain.

Any scans of the Action-VI would find a small shield generator, powered down, the cargo itself, matching the manifest, but no hidden weapons or ship's armaments. The engines had been totally reconditioned, giving the appearance of a ship that was built to run away with its cargo, not a warship in disguise.

The ship's reactor housing was slightly damaged, deliberately, but not visibly so, in order to show a minor radiation leak, something that was quite common, and easily repaired. This was deemed necessary to cover any potential radiation leakage from the baradium mines concealed within the main reactor. The strike team's payload was well concealed, and would only likely be detected by someone making a direct inspection and knowing precisely what to look for; an unlikely scenario. In an ideal scenario, even should the leak need to be repaired, the weapons were unlikely to leak, the measure was precautionary in nature.

The crew were unarmed but for a few blasters and vibroblades, and nobody wore Mandalorian armour, nor had they brought their own along. The effort overall was to give all appearances of regularity and normality, one of the hundreds of ships that visited Corellia every day, and present no threat.

Mike Frantz