In the Shadow of Doubt

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Taylor Garrison

posted 07-25-2007 01:46 PM

(((OCC: Continues from Suffer Thou Not in this forum.)))

Taylor Garrison paced the confines of his small and sparsely decorated office aboard the Hornett, his stomach in knots. He hadn't heard from Captain Barnes in forever; the last he'd heard in fact was the day he'd signed over command of the Hornett to Garrison.

Captain Danner was probably rolling over in his grave. His ship, left to not just his business partner, but then his buisness partner's second in command. Not even his own personal asistant, Matt Stanza, who was also AWOL.

Taylor managed to stop pacing the room long enough to seat himself behind his desk and run his hands through his hair, nervously. While his confidence in running Eagle Enterprises was stable--they made good profit in the last couple of months--he was no commander. And he didn't want the responsibility of a big ship and a big company. He liked being the second in command. And he was doing fine at that until Sith started appearing on the ship and Captain Barnes had taken off with him to those Sith worlds.

Another person from EE that had gone to the Sith worlds and then promptly disappeared. Sorta says something about those worlds. Barnes had said that the Empire had a blockade around them...

...and now Taylor could see exaactly why.

He rapped his fingers on his desk, pursing his lips, pondering what he could do. Certainly, he couldn't leave the ship to find anyone else--that plan had failed not once, not twice, but now three times.

Perhaps a different approach was needed this fourth, and hopefully final, time.

Taylor could only hope that any of them were still alive...

[ 07-25-2007 09:07 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]

Terrin Danner

posted 07-25-2007 08:09 PM

(((OOC: This transmission is incoming from Out of the Unknown in the Complete Star Wars Universe, thank you.)))

Terrin got to work immediately, keying in the correct code to send off Galen's message in a neatly packaged, tightly encrypted transmission. Keying in a few more commands, the transmission squirted off to the Commander of the Hornett.

[ 07-25-2007 08:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-25-2007 08:47 PM

Taylor was still rapping his desk nervously when an insistent beeping from his desk grabbed his attention...

...and gave him some sudden hope. The particular signal, though annoying, was a defined one, but a very important one nevertheless. Few were aware of the frequency connected to it, few could access it...

...and all of those said parties were the ones who had gone missing from the ship. Taylor immediately reached out and keyed his acceptance of the message.

Hornett, this is Galen Danner aboard-- er--"

"Galen Danner calling Hornett, Galen Danner calling Hornett; we are departing from Dagobah and requesting vector to return home soonest. Request assistance with freeing Jedi Knight Shawn Petrolu from cave system; also, am bringing home a surprise package. Please advise rendezvous point, time is of the essence as Jedi Petrolu has been in the cave for days without food or water.

"This is Galen Danner aboard-- ahh, Galen Danner, out."

As the message played out, Taylor's jaw promptly fell open and hit the top of his desk.

Petrolu had done it. He had found her. And hopefully he'd found others, too. But then, why the hell were they on Degobah? And a surprise package? Oh well, it really wasn't important for the moment.

He rushed to send a return transmission.

"This is Commander Taylor Garrison, acting Captain of the Hornett. It is good to hear your voice and to know that you are safe. We are currently in orbit around Sullust after completing a business transaction. We should be able to reach your current location significantly quicker than you may be able to reach ours," he continued, keying in a few digits on his computer to get an accurate ETA. Approximate travel time is 12 standard hours. Meet me in orbit around the system at that time; the cammand deck will notify you of our presence on your current frequency upon our arrival. Until that time, Commander Taylor Garrison, out."

Sending off his response, Taylor keyed a code into his communit.

"Helm, this is Commander Garrison. Set course for Degobah, immediately. We have some friends there we need to pick up."

(((OCC: Follow Taylor's transmission back to Out of the Unknown in the CSWU, thank you.)))

[ 07-25-2007 08:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]

Rathal

posted 07-26-2007 05:21 PM

Jonovar Rathal was not a man fortune had blessed with any exceptional abilities. He was clever, but no genius, witty, but not a wit, charming, but not quite charismatic. He was not a leader by any stretch of the imagination, but, on the other hand, he was a cut above the rank and file mediocrities that so frequently were labeled “followers.” While some men dreamt of grandeur, luxury, power, fame or accomplishment, Rathal aspired to comfort, safety, and, if he was really feeling ambitious, a couple credits to spare every once and a while. Rathal lacked that special spark that propels great individuals into harrowing ordeals and, more often than statistically probable, allowed them to emerge relatively unscathed and all the better for the experience, yet associated with such heroic individuals far more frequently than most. Indeed, in the course of his life, former bounty hunter Jonovar Rathal had been pursued by one of the most notorious bounty hunters in the galaxy, stolen expensive materiel from the Imperial Fleet, attempted to make contact with Rebel Leaders, and been shot at in almost every system in the known galaxy. By all logic an Average Joe like Rathal should have been dead a long time ago. His uncanny ability to, even if only by the skin of his teeth, survive almost any situation, was a point of pride for Rathal. This knack can largely be attributed to the one talent Rathal had which could, by any stretch of the imagination, be called extraordinary; he had a knack for knowing what was going on around him. No, he was not your run of the mill gossipmonger, trading snippets of information with others of his kind in the hopes of getting his hands on a genuine secret, he simply had a sense of things. Rathal simply had a talent for knowing which way the wind was blowing.

It was to this strange, but beneficent, trait that he ascribed the sense of disease that he had felt among the crew of the Hornet even before the rumor mill started churning in earnest. Since Terrin’s unfortunate passing, the crew, and Rathal assumed the employees of EE in general, had been chafing under the leadership of Aaron Barnes. True business was still good, but that was of little comfort to your rank and file crew member who was firmly convinced that his new boss was, to put it lightly, about as charming as a rabid Rancor, and just as patient. Still, at least, course old Barnes’s leadership had been reliable (even if the main thing you could rely on was that Aaron would be in a sour mood). Now they were saying that Mr. Barnes had departed the ship altogether and left it in the care of Taylor Garrison. Rathal knew Barnes better than the average employee, the two having briefly undertaken a mission together, but he was almost entirely unfamiliar with Garrison. The fellow seemed nice enough, but was clearly overwhelmed at the task of single-handedly running Eagle Enterprises, and commanding a titanic vessel like The Hornet. Rathal didn’t blame the man for spending most of the time shut up in his office. The rest of the crew was, unfortunately, less understanding. The mechanics Rathal worked with on a daily basis, competent, if a bit dull, individuals, who had worked for decades at EE, where now discussing quitting their jobs and going to work for Kuat Driveyards, Seinar Systems, and a dozen other interplanetary conglomerates. When little bald men who not only willingly, but quietly and happily, spend hours repairing a single glowpanel fixture, only to discover upon finishing their task, that in the intermittent time, a dozen other fixtures shorted and now require immediate attention, start loosing their patience, one can be sure things are getting hairy. Suffice to say there were rumblings in the Mess Hall that had nothing to do with a highly suspect batch of sausages that had been served recently. Rathal wasn’t the kind of fellow to step in and warn the higher ups, they had people they paid to do that, and Jon Rathal wasn’t one of them. Rathal was also careful not partake in any of the grumbling. That kind of thing got you fired and Jon was comfortable with his job. For the first time in years he was eating three square meals a day, working reasonable hours, and sleeping with any degree of regularity in his own bed. It was only when, after feeling the Hornet lurch into hyperspace, he poked his head out the door to his quarters and learned from a passing employee that they were headed to Dagobah, that he grew truly concerned. Ordinary business did not regularly bring the Hornet to blighted sinkholes like Dagobah, and when the Hornet stopped doing “Ordinary Buisness” and started doing—whatever the hell else its commanding officers did—members of the administration tended to disappear. Rathal was certain that loosing another commander would not be good for the crew’s moral. It might even mean a change of the guard. And such things almost always meant missed paychecks. And so it was that, motivated by such lofty ideals as job security and three meals per day, Rathal requested an appointment with Taylor Garrison, acting commander of the Hornet.

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-26-2007 08:49 PM

Taylor had just been through a batch of bills and paychecks when yet another annoying set of chirps came from his communit. Unlike the former set of chirps which prompted the change in course for the entire ship, these were those of an entirely different variety.

Incoming message from onboard ship. Oh joy.

He pressed the accept button, and was quickly rewarded with the voice of someone he'd never heard in his life, someone by the name of Rathal, requesting an appointment as soon as possible.

Taylor rapped his desk once more, and then keyed in the man's name and pulled up his personnel file. The file basically indicated that Rathal was no one particularly special aboard the Hornett ...

...excepting the fact that he'd come on board after revealing Galen Danner's location once. And that hed assisted Captain Barnes on some sort of away mission. Taylor arched an eyebrow, his interest suddenly gained. He keyed in commands to send Rathal a response, eyeballing his chrono.

Rather than send a vocal response, Garrison chose to send a keyed message to Rathal.

You are granted an appointment with Commander Taylor Garrison in 60 standard minutes. Please be prompt.

Sending the message off at that, Taylor returned to his work...

...and waited.

[ 07-26-2007 08:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]

Rathal

posted 07-26-2007 10:58 PM

Rathal toweled himself off hurriedly, kicking open the trunk at the foot of his cot as he did so. Jonovar spent most of his wearing blue mechanic’s cover-alls and had so owned very little in the way of non-work clothing. Having come aboard with nothing but the clothes on his back and a small cache of pilfered odds and ends, Jonovar was faced with the prospect of re-acquiring some semblance of a wardrobe. He made a reasonable wage and saved a good bit of it. He had therefore been able to afford clothes that he would, at one point in his life (when he was a couple years younger and considerably less well-fed), have considered dapper. It should be noted, however, that no one, outside the very specific subsection of the spacing community that spent considerable time in smoky cantina’s, would have agreed with him.

Discarding his towel, Rathal peered into the recesses of the trunk. It was mostly empty. He reached inside and selected fresh looking white shirt and a pair of slacks. Dressed, examined his reflection in the mirror that he had fastened to the inside lid of the trunk. He looked like any other spacer, but at least he looked like a spacer who could afford a shower, shave and did their laundry with relative frequency. Rathal jerked on the shoddy pair of worn leather boots that were the last remaining garment he possessed from his days as a bounty hunter. On his way out the door Jonovar fastened his blaster belt to his waste. One could never be too careful. Besides, he imaged the well oiled leather holster and belt made him look dashing.

Rathal arrived at the door to Taylor Garrison’s door promptly at the appointed time. The inveterate spacer was shocked to find, that despite his preperation, he found himself nervous about the meeting. This was understandable. The last time he had met with one of EE’s administrators he had been whisked off on a mission to locate some fugitive rebel leader. He entered discretely, knocking politely on the doorframe as he did. The man at the desk looked anxious and more than a little haggard. Rathal remained on edge. He knew better than to judge people by their appearances. Besides, this guy had been hanging about with people like Danner and Barnes for years, that alone was enough to put Jonovar ill at ease. People who kept such company tended to be “Adventurous.”

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-26-2007 11:08 PM

Taylor gave the man entering his office a good look, remaining remarkably unreadable as he did so. Then, after motioning for the man to have a seat in front of him, he folded his hands on the top of his desk and arched a brow at him.

"Jonvonar Rathal, assume?" he queried then, his brown eyes now meeting Rathal's. "You have some concerns?"

[ 07-26-2007 11:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]

Rathal

posted 07-26-2007 11:30 PM

Rathal, accustomed to Aaron's level of courtesy (which is to say none at all), was taken off gaurd by the calm, buisnesslike tone of the man behind the desk. Rathal took a seat in the conservatively decorated office.

"Er... Well yes sir," he began, "Well... y'see I'm sure you know but things are getting a little... er... fuzzy around the edges around here if you catch my meaning. What with tragic passing of Mr. Danner and Mr. Barnes' departure to parts unknown-- well I'm sure you can understand why some people are getting concerned. Anyway, thats not really my point. I just wanted to say that I know things must be pretty rough, so y'know if there is anything I can do to help you. Well, I've helped EE in the past, and I do care about this place."

Rathal realized that this hadn't actually been the most well thought out reply, but it was sincere. He did, in his own way, truely care about EE, and at the very least had a vested interest in its continued survival.

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-26-2007 11:43 PM

"Good," Garrison said evenly. "Then I take it you will be glad to assist in finding a Jedi friend of company when we arrive at our destination. He has been looking for some of our missing crew memebers who have been dealing with other matters, and has found at least one of them.

"His safe recovery is very important. Tell me, what is your knowledge of caves?"

Rathal

posted 07-26-2007 11:48 PM

"Er... you mean like... on the... er ah surface of Dagobah?" Rathal asked, clearly not relishing the idea of traipsing through the mucky swamp.

"Yeah," he sighed at last, "If it would help I'd be happy to. Couldn't tell you much about caves though. I been in a few. When I was younger we used to do some camping out in Correllia. But thats when I was a kid. Still, I know a thing or two about finding people" He smiled winningingly at Garrison.

[ 07-26-2007 11:50 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rathal ]

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-26-2007 11:57 PM

"Very good. Our ETA is now approximately 8 standard hours; I suggest you gear up and get some sleep. We will rendezvous with our people who are down on Degobah before proceeding; they may have some information on this that might be helpful."

He paused, frowning then. "I'm not quite sure how the Jedi got lost in a cave on Degobah, away from the other members of the party but...

...that is neither here nor there, I guess."

Realizing he had trailed at that, Garrison's eyes snapped alert once more. "Please report back to my office in 7.5 hours, prepped to go. I will be assembling an away team for the mission in the meantime."

[ 07-26-2007 11:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]

Rathal

posted 07-29-2007 06:08 PM

Rathal had not had a particularly long time to rest before reported back to Taylor Garrison. The bulk of the 7.5 hours had been spent anxiously wondering what exactly being "geared up" entailed when one was endeavoring to locate someone in a cave system on a swampy, decidedly unsavory planet. Deciding for a minamilist aproach, Rathal opted to bring only what he was certain he would need. This included a flashlight (for seeing in what he imagined would be a dark enviroment,) a utility cutting laser (for cutting away any pesky folliage), his blaster (for obvious reasons), and a commlink (to call for help when he realised he had forgotten something vitally important.) Between all this fretting and scrounging about for equippment Jonovar managed only to steal a mere four hours rest. So it was that a red-eyed, but otherwise prepared Jonovar Rathal, rendevoused with his boss at the appointed time.

Taylor Garrison

posted 07-30-2007 11:57 PM

Taylor looked up from what he was working on when Rathal entered. Glancing at his chrono, he then got to his feet, came around his desk, and then addressed Rathal.

"I've gotta be on the command deck in 5 minutes," he informed his employee. "Hopefully everything has gone well for Galen Danner and she'll be at our rendezvous when we get there or shortly after."

He paused then, chewing his lip a bit in thought. "Come with me to the command deck. Once we revert when can move on from there."

Without saying another word at that, Taylor headed for the door of his office, Rathal behind him, and then out into the corridor beyond. A few corridors and a turbolift ride later, they entered the command deck, full of busy workers at different posts. Outside was the scene of hyperspace.

"Our ETA?" Taylor asked to seemingly no one in particular.

"10 standard minutes, sir," someone on deck answered.

"Good. Make sure all systems are in the green, and program in an immediate scan for nearby and approaching vessels as soon as we hit realspace. Notify me of time to reversion beginning at 60 seconds."

"Yes sir, Commander," came two crisp replies.

Taylor turned and regarded Rathal once more. "Now all we have to do is wait."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"60 seconds to reversion, sir," said a voice as it broke into the otherwise normal sounds that filled the command deck.

"Very good," Taylor replied. "Everyone stay at posts and keep your eyes open."

A few moments of quiet.

"30 seconds, sir."

Taylor remained where he was, his eyes glued to the viewport. Generally he didn't go to the deck for reversion procedures...

...but this time was different. He realized with a start that he hadn't any idea what sort of craft Galen would be piloting.

"10 seconds sir."

The countdown had begun. Taylor idly wondered when the last time was that a Star Destroyer reverted into space near Degobah, if ever. But then the time for such musings were cut short as the Hornett burst forth from hyperspace into realspace and established orbit around a decidly green and brown planet.

(((OCC: Follow Taylor Garrison, Rathal, and the Hornett to Out of the Unknown in the CSWU, thank you.)))

[ 07-30-2007 11:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Taylor Garrison ]