Flash Flybolter's Logs

## 0600: Imperial Ambush in Neutral Space

As the Cold War against the Sith Empire progressed, many convoy shuttles and merchant ships would mysteriously dissapear with increasing regularity. The Republic blamed it on pirates, but some began to suspect it was the work of Imperials. Noble Squad would sometimes have long stretches of time in between ops, as their work was in nature secretive and sporadic, and would only receive orders when they were really needed. So to keep himself sharp Flash began looking for work elsewhere. One day while he was idling around base he ran into some members of Calico Squad. He had never really noticed or knew much about Calico before, but soon learned they were a collection of pirates and outlaws that were employed by Envisioned for certain jobs. The two he met were a pirate named Leshanes and, oddly, a Jedi named Fel. At first he was wary of pirates, but it had been a while since he'd been out in the field and was desperate for some action. He overheard them talking about a job and volunteered to join them. They did a couple ops and got semi comfortable working together, although both sides still carried a degree of distrust, a Republic soldier and pirates made an odd team.

One day Flash heard them talking about heading to Coruscant and he asked if they could drop him off on Ord Mantell on their way there, as he had an urgent meeting with General Revere. They agreed if he would pitch in for the fuel, and they were off. Lesh's ship was surprisingly large and luxurious, and Flash figured it had been stolen. They started travelling for a while, and were just about to jump to hyperspace when the ship came under fire. The ship rocked with explosions and Lesh's first mate's frantic voice came over the comm yelling that an enormous Imperial Warship was attacking them. They ran to the bridge and saw the ship through the viewport. They didn't have enough firepower to even make a dent in it. Flash wondered aloud what an imperial warship of that size would want with an insignificant freighter. Lesh and Fel concluded it must have been revenge for an earlier op where the three had killed some notable Imperial scientists. This was soon confirmed when the Admiral aboard the enemy ship hailed them and began threatening and taunting them specifically.

The first mate, Kragg, then reported that several advance boarding parties of imps were coming. They charged to the the compromised areas and after an intense firefight managed to incapacitate the imperials. However, the ship was caught in a tractor beam and the only way of escape was to get on the enemy ship and sabotage its main reactor. All the while Lesh was furious that her beloved ship was under attack, and Flash began to see signs of force sensitivity in her which Flash thought was strange as she wasn't a Jedi.

They took a small shuttle and blasted their way into the imperial hangar. The Imps weren't expecting an offensive attack and their surprise gave the team just enough of an opening to push through the initial defenses. However, as they made their way deeper into the ship towards the main reactor, resistance increased. Flash's earlier suspicions about Lesh were soon proven correct when she force pushed an imperial trooper against the wall, killing him. As they ran he asked Fel if Lesh was a Jedi and she replied no just before they were distracted by a giant Imperial warmech droid. As the mission progressed Lesh used the force with increasing regularity, and appeared to be using the dark side. She used her anger to slaughter imperial troops, and her rage increased with every kill. He even thought he saw her eyes go yellow. Flash began to get antsy and suspected he was actually working with a Sith. When he accused Fel of this she replied no, Lesh's mother had the force but Lesh herself had been abandoned, and had the sensitivity to it but had no idea how to control it. Flash felt uneasy by this fact and didn't like how it had been withheld from him, but they were in the middle of a mission and there was nothing he could do about it.

They finally reached the main reactor and it was guarded by a giant imperial war droid that must have cost a fortune to produce. At one point Flash was knocked down by a grenade but fortunately his injuries weren't too major and they managed to scrap the droid. They proceeded to sabotage the reactor and ran back to their shuttle as the Imp ship began to implode. However, as they got to the end they encountered an Imperial fire team along with a Sith blocking their escape. The Sith began to talk to Lesh, saying he sensed great untapped potential and he could help her realize it. Flash had enough and opened fire. Fel and Flash managed to take down the Sith and the Imps, but Lesh was upset, claiming he shouldn't have killed him. Flash was confused, until he saw her eyes then he was worried. They were completely yellow. Lesh started screaming about the War and how both sides needed to die, losing her mind, and then turned her attention on Flash. She drew her blaster on him and Flash quickly drew his too. He told her to put it down and Fel also screamed at him not to hurt her, that she wasn't in her right mind. Suddenly things escalated when the rage exploded within Lesh and she threw Flash backwards with the force.

At this point Flash had enough and aimed his blaster, prepared to take the shot when Fel stepped between them, screaming at him not to. Not wanting to shoot the Jedi but prepared to defend himself, he kept his weapon raised. Fel begged him to not shoot and let her talk to Lesh. The ship continued to rock from internal explosions and alarms blared. Flash got up, told them to make it quick, and ran to the shuttle. After a few moments Fel managed to calm her down. Flash thought he heard her confessing affection to Lesh, but just as he was about to yell at them to stop wasting time, they got up and joined him at the shuttle. They all got on board, making it off just in time. The tractor beam was broken and Imperial warship was destroyed. As they got off the ship in Coruscant's docking port, Flash told him he couldn't work with them anymore. He couldn't have people going crazy in the field. He had enough to worry about with the imps without worrying about his own team trying to kill him. Fel understood and thanked him for his service, and Flash departed.