Begin Log: Xa12

Damon Lightwind – alternative p.o.v.

-= Detention area: Location - Unknown =-

Damon awoke to find his head pounding, and felt the dried crusted blood where he’d been hit. As he tried to move the pain shot through his arm and ribs, and he quickly aborted the attempt. Looks like they roughed me up a bit too… Wonderful. Back to MedOps after this. Just what I needed, Damon thought sarcastically to himself.
He decided to look around, still not sure where he was. All he could tell was that he was in a room with several of his fellow crew members. He noticed James lying not to far from him unconscious and looking pretty bad.
Not able to move himself Damon motioned to the person attending to him. All the man could say was that he was unsure of James condition at the moment.
Damon sighed again and thought to himself, James… Just hang in there bud. And hopefully this all will be over soon.
He listened carefully as two nearby Storm Troopers were talking.
“So what’s the hold up? I figured we’d be bringing some of them down to be interrogated by now?”
“Well, according to the Commander, there are bugs in the system since we captured that ship. Power fluctuations and glitches have kept every one real busy.”
“It’s good to know that they’re on top of it, at least.”
“Yeah. And it’s not like they’re going any where. So all we have to do is just make sure they stay put till things settle down.”
Damon smiled slightly and thought to himself, Well… at least that’s working like I’d hoped it would. Now it’s up to the General and the others to do their part.
He slowly drifted off to sleep as he thought back to the events that lead up to this point.

-= CRS: Odin, Main Corridors =- …hours earlier.

Damon headed to the main hanger to help get the fighters ready. He thought to himself, Let’s see… Admiral Efrata-Landis considers me a wildcard here. …if that’s the case… I’ve got to have something in place to minimize their interrogation time on us once the Odin is boarded. If I know the Admiral, he’s got something up his sleeve, as well, once they do. So I’ve got to allow him and others time to catch up to us. …but what. …and how?
He continued to ponder hard, and in a minute or two, an idea began to take shape.

-----

Damon knew he had to act quickly, so he hit his com link. “Patch! I want you and Scrappy to meet me in engineering! ASAP!”
“Engineering Sir? ...but I thought you were assigned to the techs for this one?” Patch replied sounding confused.
“I am but this in a priority one thing! Just meet me there. I’ll fill you in once I get there.” Damon answered.
“Understood sir, we’ll be there waiting for you.” Patch said as he closed the channel.
No sooner had he hit the button then he hit it a second time. Damon said into the com unit, “Deck! It’s Damon! Let the techs know I’m on the way, but I have to swing by engineering first.”
“Aye, I’ll let em know,” replies the DO.
Once more after the channel closed he opened another; this time to the Admiral himself. “Sir! I know you’re very busy, but I have a WILDCARD idea I’d like to share with you in engineering. I believe it will be of great help here, and I’m on my way there to meet up with my droids,” Damon explained.
Castor sounding surprised. “Sheesh! That was quick you just left my office and you’ve already got something in mind! I’ll meet you there in a moment. …with as much curiosity as anything else!”
“Thank you, Sir! See you there! Lightwind Out!” Damon closed the channel, quickened his pace toward engineering, and pulled out his datapad. He punched in the outline of what he had in mind which happened to be an adaptation of something he was working on for them anyway.
Damon knew a few modifications had to be made to his base computation to make it work the way he planned. He remembered to look up from time to time to make sure he didn’t run into anyone along the way. He feverishly continued to pound away on the datapad making edits as well as additions. Damon glanced up once more, and this time he spotted his two droids just ahead of him. He raced to catch up with them.

-= CRS: Odin, Engineering =-

Castor arrived to find Damon, the chief engineer, and Damon’s two droids. “OK, Damon. I’m here. What do you have in mind?” Castor asked.
“Well, sir… It’s based off of something I was asked to work on anyway for data encryption protocols for security purposes. However I had to make a few modifications to it to suit our needs here. My original plan was, like I said, data security purposes on a multi level rotating encryption. It will still do that, but I threw in a few added surprises, as well, to make things interesting.” Damon answered as he handed Castor the datapad.
Castor looked over the program and asked with one eyebrow raised, “A few surprises to make things interesting... how so?”
“Simple. On the surface it will appear to be a series of computer glitches and malfunctions. Of course that’s what I want them to think when they try to gather any info from us. But when they do, it will be scrambled and misleading, at best. So the first level is that our data is safe. The second level is that the more they dig the more glitchy the data will look. In effect… they’ll get data but they’ll get only mixed up versions of what they looking for. These two levels will go in to effect after the system resets after the Imperial coding is added when the Odin is captured,” Damon explained further.
“Okay! That’s good! But something tells me that you didn’t stop there,” Castor looked up from the datapad with a knowing set to his mouth. …as if to say “So what was the time bomb that you REALLY put in there…?”
After a little chuckle, knowing that Castor would really get a kick out his punchline, Damon continued. “Of course… level 3… kicks in causing random power and system fluctuations to occur all over the ship. The way I see it they’ll be too busy chasing ghosts, to get anything else done that they planned to do. And next is level 4, should they try transfer our info from here to their Command ship. If they try that, all hell is going break loose as soon as they attempt to crack the encryption.”
Castor pondered a moment, and asks. “What kind of hell have you got in mind?”
Damon smiled and continued. “Well, once they upload anything of ours it will reek havoc on their systems much like level 3 does for ours. However, theirs won’t be ghosts it will shut down random systems the longer it is active. Meanwhile in the back ground level 5 kicks in once the first system shuts down. At this point their surface data is locked away and scrambled much like level 2 for us. Then there is level 6 waiting in the wings to capture any sensitive data just by using one of their high level command codes, which it acquires as soon as any high level officers tries to get in to check on the IT group’s claim that their own system is glitching.”
Castor thought for a few seconds and asked, “What’s to stop them from just rebooting and reset their systems?”
“Well that’s were level 7 comes in handy. Should they try that, it will make it look like most of their data’s been wiped. This whole thing will cause so much cascading chaos and confusion, they’ll be chasing ghosts and gremlins right up to the point where they’re dead in space. The end result is they’ve got no time to interrogate or torture our people. It will effectively cripple their ship without damaging anything vital to us. That buys time for General Greedo and the others to catch up to us.” Damon concluded.
“So… When all is said and done… will we be able to stop it to get at the data?” Castor asked.
Damon smiled and said. “Yes, sir. …because I’ll be in the hanger with the techs after this. Once they board they’ll have no reason to ask me any engineering questions. That will allow me to remain hidden, while being in the wide open. Now, if anything should happen to me, I’ve added a back up plan to this effect. If - and only if - for any reason something does, my droid Scrappy has a secondary protocol that will activate which is also heavily encrypted, as well.”
“That’s good to know. But something tells me that you backed that up as well.”
“Aye. That I did. Patch also has a similar protocol. One of them will seek out any one of three people and deliver that info. If something happens to them my ship will have the answers in question on holodisk locked away in a secret compartment. The three people in question are you, Sir, Admiral Borran, or if necessary General Greedo.” Damon added.
“Looks like you thought of everything. …including the kitchen sink, I’ll bet. …where does that come in, by the way?”
Without hesitation, Damon stated matter of factly, “That’s the Nuclear Option, Sir. If everything goes wrong… If no one has put in the code to deactivate my setup in five days I’ve already got one of the sinks in the galley, on first use, rigged to send a signal to reverse the polarity of the ion drive generators, assuming that they’ll use at least the kitchen facilities in a docking port while they’re trying to get all the rest worked out. The blast should take out everything within a one point oh three seconds C distance. The port, the maintenance base, all ships in and around will all be destroyed… whatever planet they’re orbiting will be useless from the radiation for centuries.” Damon kept his face dead-pan serious, and added belatedly, “Sir.”
“Ah.” Castor’s only doubt that Damon was serious was from the one little twitch at the side of Damon’s mouth. And he let it go by without anything but the rise of one eyebrow. But while he kept the grin away from his own mouth, he couldn’t keep it from the set of his own eyes. “Good work Captain. Sounds like a plan!” After a short pause, he asked, “What if our people are still on board?”
“Sith-spit! I knew I forgot something! Nuts! Well, they’ll just have to get over it.”
Castor’s mouth twitched from the effort not to laugh, and he handed Damon back the data pad.
Damon nodded and went to implement the serious and real portion of his plan into the system.

-= CRS: Odin, Main Hangar =-

After finishing up in engineering, and with his two droids along side, Damon entered the hangar bay. He quickly spotted the DO, headed over, and asked. “So. Where I’m I needed most?”
“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to join us.” Deck replied sarcastically with a chuckle.
“Hey. I’m the one with the Wings, not the Wrench. I just like doing you guys favors.” Damon replied.
“Yeah, right?” The Deck agreed, and added, “Well do me a favor now. We’re having some issues with some of the A-Wing calibrations.”
“Pre-mission gremlins?” Damon asked.
“Yep!” Deck answered, and then barked an order at a tech with the next crisis du jour.
Damon laughed and shook his head. He said. “Perfect! I wouldn’t want to be in your way.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together enthusiastically. “PreGrems are my specialty!”
“Just remember you’re really up against the clock on this one. The mission gets under weigh in less than 25 minutes,” explained Deck.
Damon chuckled. “Let me worry about that. You just have the pilots and the standbys ready to dance.”
“Aye. Will do,” He said. “Good luck!” Deck added, handing Damon a datapad report on the A-Wings issues.
Damon quickly went over the data pad, and turned to his droids. “Scrappy. Head over to the A-Wings, and assess these issues.” He briefly showed the droid the face of the datapad. “Patch. Get my big tool kit, then help Scrappy get the items we need to get ‘em running.”
Both the droids acknowledged their assignments and headed off. Damon made his way to the first A-Wing, plugged the datapad into the external diagnostics jack, and read the test results. Once he had his recommendation , he instructed the tech on what had to be done, and moved on to the next one. As quickly as he could, he made his way down the line of fighters. But still came up short on time as the pilots arrived. Only one A-Wing remained to check. But time was not on his side. …which may have been a decision more deliberate than not, since James had drawn that particular A-Wing.
Damon was giving his send-offs to his fellow pilots as they each left the hangar. James was not able to get his A-Wing started. Damon alerted the DO of the situation, who turned and signaled Dragos to launch in James’ place. He saw the disappointment on James’s face, kept the relief off his own, and said, “If it weren’t for bad luck, you’d have no luck at all.”
“Yeah. Don’t remind me!” James snapped back angrily.
Damon shook his head, and said. “This one is not your fault.” It’s mine, Damon didn’t say. “So don’t be so hard on yourself. What’s done is done. Go get out of your flight suit, then come back and give me a hand here.”
James, still quite upset with himself, just nodded sullenly and headed off as he had been instructed. When James got back, a very short time later, he asked. “So, what do you would you like me to do?”
Damon smiled and said, “Well, for now… help Scrappy and Patch get what I need to fix this one. Then just help out were you can, and stay busy. You and I are going Covert. We’re Grease Monkies until further notice.”
James nodded headed off to lend a hand.
Damon sighed and thought to himself. He tries so hard to fit in, but forgets to focus on what he needs to. I fear for his life more than anyone else here. Hopefully he’ll get it figured out soon. Maybe if I can teach him a few things here it might help settle him down. Damon finished with the A-Wing after a little while, and started working on the next problem. He kept James close by, instructing him what to do as they continued working on a transport and other ships. As Damon sent James off to get a list of parts he needed for one of the shuttles, the Odin’s systems went down – the main lighting went out, and the emergency lighting came up – signifying that they had been disabled.
And that meant they were about to be boarded.
Damon popped his head out from the guts of the shuttle and saw James fall to the floor after getting stunned by a small Storm Trooper unit. “NOOOOOO!” His nerves all short circuited as the stun bolt hit him in the face. Everything faded to black as he too fell unconscious to the floor.




Castor's Mission Notes:

Mission 3.12a/b ‑ Sabaac ‑ part 3

STAND BY FOR RECORDED ORDERS..

There is no extended brief this time. Enter the mission directly, and skip the briefing screen there as well. Once you are in the mission (which is a continuation of last week’s mission), call up the on‑board briefing detail. This will simulate the on‑board computer bringing up your second set of orders.
Also, Grey Mission 3.12 is a double mission. Grey312b is the proper continuation of the Grey 3.11 mission, flown from a B‑Wing ‑ this is the one which _should_ be reported on. Grey312y is the same mission flown from a Y‑Wing, for comparison purposes. You may choose to run the Y‑Wing variation, and report on it, if you wish. In any case, I’d like you to run both of them to so that you get an idea of the advantages of each.
You’ll find that the B-Wing shielding is far better, but the laser spread sucks for fur balls. The Y-Wing’s zero-spread lasers and ions are far more deadly, but there’s no real way to keep the shielding intact while flying against Avenger class or better. But it is fun to give it a shot. …the original Greys did.