A Call In Distress

[Isaac Damaris]

The distress beacon rang out as loud as possible to all ships in the area. It wasn't subtle in the slightest, though Isaac assumed that beacons were not meant to be. They were calls to anyone listening that death was impending, and help needed to arrive now and not a moment later. Isaac had heard these calls when he fought for the Republic a long time ago, and for the most part, his small fleet would always respond in kind. Normally, it would a merchant convoy under attack by starving pirate raiders. Perhaps a transport that tried to make its way through an asteroid field and lost much of its propulsion. These kind of rescues always made Isaac feel good, and his men loved them as well. No one will admit it, but being a hero was food for someone's ego. It made you feel wanted and appreciated, and Isaac never turned down any distress calls for as long as he commanded his small strike fleet.

When the war with the Sith grew once again, Isaac found that many of these distress calls turned into probable ambushes. Civilian ships cloaked as Sith vessels would open fire on any military frigate that was ready to render aid. Soon, his soldiers distrusted most merchant vessels during the war, and the idea of rendering aid became something many feared. Plenty of their fellow Republic Marines had been killed responding to these calls and most did not want to get caught unaware when a freighter suddenly turned evil and opened fire. Isaac could not count how many officers in the Republic simply stopped responding to most calls of distress due to this.

The worst affronts were the Sith acolytes tasked with taking Cruisers and Destroyers by kamikaze craft. Civilian frigates loaded with detonation charges flown straight into the bridges of our finest military vessels. It became customary to power shields and ready weapons when approaching civilian craft at the end of the war. And for all of the losses and death, the Republic still faltered. Isaac could no longer stomach that idea, and when most of the Republic broke down and fled, Isaac fled elsewhere. The Republic military leadership were to blame for the ultimate failure against the Sith, and Isaac would not serve them any further.

But that was long ago. This distress call was coming out of a normal shipping lane, and the call seemed rather genuine. A simple beacon declaring the need for immediate help. Isaac locked the coordinates in and his A-Wing jumped directly to the coordinates. Once out of hyperspace, Isaac's sensors lit up like fireworks. Two smaller merchant vessels were nearby, with lasers clashing against their hulls. Raiders of an undetermined sort were blasting the merchant vessels with heavy blaster fire. For the time being, the pirate 'fleet' was made up of smaller fighters and the occasional corvette. Isaac smiled as his A-Wing boosted towards the battle with a scream of fire. He would be heavily outnumbered and the pirates would probably make quick work of him once the surprise wore off.

It was perfect.

The small detachment of fighters were completely unaware of the lone A-Wing, which tore through their ranks with blazing blasterfire. The ramshackle pirates were using various types of craft, ranging from repaired TIE Fighters to even X-Wings. His blasters lighting off against the hull of one of the TIE fighters, the pirates craft disintegrated as space took the craft into his murky death. Isaac continued his boost, as he now knew he was on their sensors. The battle had begun, and he would need every facet of his piloting to survive this.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

Kurayami was not unknown for leaving most of the day to day operations of Nubia StarDrives in Samira's capable hands. He read the reports she sent him and made sure that projects were on track, but outside of owning the company he didn't actually do much running of it. Today was no different as he climbed into the cockpit of his newest project, the R-109 Hellcat. Though it was listed as a 'multirole fighter', it was more like the bastard child or a gunship and interceptor. Heavy hitting weapons mated to a small profile hull with ridiculous levels of speed and maneuverability. Sliding the enclosed canopy forward he closed his eyes and listened as the systems began to warm up. Having borrowed so many parts from the A-Wing series, he knew when it was all working correctly by the sounds they made. It was like listening to a symphony composed by a virtuoso for him. Today there was no dissonance, everything was in harmony.

He opened his eyes, double and triple checking the layout of the integrated panoramic display that laid out all the information a pilot could ever want. Once his hands were on the controls he started to prime the engines, again entering a near meditative state as he listened to the engines starting up. what started as a hum, soon elevated into a full fledged whine, not unlike an air raid siren. Everything was good on the preflight checks and so he set off for the shakedown flight.

Not long into it there was a ping while he was pushing the craft through an outside loop. At first he ignored the sound, figuring it was the limiter warning him about some stress or another which he knew he was well within tolerances so that would need to be recalibrated. However when the maneuver was done the ping was there, persistent as ever. Sighing he took a moment to check and see what the damned thing wanted. It wasn't any of the systems. Well that was a relief. However upon further investigation it was revealed to be a distress beacon. Not far, but not super close. Once he had the coordinates, he locked them into the navicomp and began powering up weapons. The fighter carried his normal coloration of the mottled light grey/dark grey camo pattern and sand yellow trim, a large '013' displayed on the aft portion of the wings.

It didn't take overly long for the hyperdrive to warm up. During the trip through hyperspace he worked on setting the convergence for his weapons, 500 meters for all cannons, which was what the modular bays carried today. A pair of RG-9 laser cannons. Coupled with the swivel mounted R-9X's and electromagnetic plasma repeating cannons, Kurayami was confident he could handle whatever was on the other side.

The reversion to realspace was less of a jolt than he was expecting, though the sight was not a pretty one. Raiders. Multiple different makes of ships were engaged though it seemed as though only one other fighter was there, an A-Wing. He could respect the man's dedication to his craft, but given the number of hostiles it was suicide for a lone pilot. Why not help the guy out? The targeting computer was identifying and tracking multiple fighters inbound. Good time to give these guys a little bit of confusion. As he prepared to enter the furball, he switched on the modified Phantom 4x jamming suite, chuckling to himself as the nearby enemies would have a screen full of meaningless and plain wrong contacts. Locking onto a nearby raider's X-Wing, he entered a powered dive opening up with everything as his ship quickly gained. While the initial barrage managed to put a good dent in the shielding it wasn't enough to quite disable the fighter. Those shots weren't far behind. As he began to overtake the X-wing he started a lag roll to the right from his position above, the weapons spraying a spiral shaped pattern of fire. Easing the ship back to level at the halfway point of the roll, he was beneath the X-wing almost directly, and let the R-9X's do their thing.

As he passed underneath the cannons swiveled, starting with a large amount of lead and cutting back towards the craft above him as they poured heavy cannon fire into the void. As he came out from under the craft, the cannons continued to swivel, a line of fire eventually coming down and cutting into the engines from above instantly turning the craft into a fireball. No time to mourn the loss of a raider though, as he moved to the next target. The arrival of Yellow 13 was officially announced. Now was the fun part, seeing how many of the raiders would start to focus their fire on him.

[member="Isaac Damaris"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori was the next to arrive. The young Princess/Mando/Pilot/Prankster was just on her way back from visiting her twin brother. She was flying in her training vessel The Grey Sparrow as she was desperate to both show off her very own ship, as well as some of the maneuvers that she had already mastered. The Dead-Drop maneuver scared him though, so she kinda felt bad about it. Still, she was proud of what she could do. Who wouldn't be?

The distress beacon had come in loud and clear while she gassed up at one if the many fueling stations enroute to her new home. Would [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] or [member="Kaine Australis"] mind if she checked it out? Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, she sent the two of them a recorded message: ~On my way home. Sort of. Making an unscheduled stop. There's a distress call and I'm goinv to check it out. I'll be careful, promise! And I'll jump to hyperspace the moment it gets too dangerous. I'll send you the co-ordinates so that you know where I am.~ Little did she know that the Grey Sparrow already had a homing beacon on it, so her guardian and teachers knew where she was at all times.

Coming into the scene, Lori watched in awe as a couple of smaller vessels also jumped into the fray. Merchant ships were under attack by pirates from the look of things. She hailed the two merchant ships so that they'd know not to fire on her. ~This is the Grey Sparrow preparing to assist. Don't shoot me down! I'll help get those pirates occupied so that you can get out of there!~

She armed her laser cannons, brought up her shields and then gripped the controls. Lori took a moment to collect herself and focus on the what was happening in front of her, as well as all around. Then she chose her target, an X-Wing with black skulls on it. How...original. Not! Lori grinned in anticipation as she pushed the throttle, speaking to no one in particular when she positioned herself at the ship's six and opened fire. "Grey Sparrow engaging....NOW!!!"

[member="Isaac Damaris"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

 

[Isaac Damaris]

Isaac's sensors lit up with unexpected entries into the fray. Two star-fighters, each hailing from separate sectors, had arrived. Hoping that other people in the galaxy had as much love for people as he did, he was delighted when one of the new craft lit up a rogue X-Wing. This went from a suicide mission to slightly possible in a matter of minutes. Such is the life in this galaxy, Isaac thought to himself. Having no time to celebrate however, his ship lit up with danger when one of the rogue ships maneuvered behind him. A boisterous amount of laser-fire exploded around Isaac's hull, showing the pirates inability to aim and the age of the craft he had been flying.

The A-Wing was well-known for both its maneuverability and its ability to cause serious damage to other fighters. An interceptor beyond its abilities, Isaac was quick to use the A-Wing's engines to boost away from the craft behind him. The battle raged around them as the pirates continued their onslaught against the small freighters, though their ability to do so was lessened by the 3 starfighters harrying them. Isaac righted his craft back to the battle and boosted yet again, this time loosening a concussion missile towards a small squadron of starfighters. Having set the missile to fragment when it got close enough, the missile exploded right near the center of the squadron. Scraps of metal and fire engulfed the small pirate squadron, and when they were able to escape the fireball, all three were worse for wear. Isaac racked another concussion missile and started an attack run against a smaller corvette nearby. The old pirate gunboat had regulated itself to attacking the freighters and Isaac needed to stop it from doing that immediately.

[member="Kurayami Bloodborn"] [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Isaac Damaris"] [member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]

• SS Crimson Maw- Jast 2cnd Rate Frigate
• 100/100
• Actions- Engaging ALL

A new sensor would appear on their scopes. A large Jast 2cnd Rate, marked SS Crimson Maw. It's prow painted with a crimson set of teeth and decked out with skull jacks on the sides. Typical, but it made its point.

From the bridge Captain Falcon surveyed the scene. Where there was on Pirate band, another was soon to follow. She'd inadvertently stumbled into another Captains Op, and from the looks of it it was going not well.

"Rothgar, is that Black Jacks crew?"

The Graug growled and crossed his arms.

"Ayyyyyeee."

"Woooooowww. What a bunch of cut rates. Firggin getting slagged out there by a few misfits. No matter. Comms open up to Cap'n Black Jack and tell him and his men to scram. The SS Crimson Maw is taking this catch."

A few clicks later and an impatient coms returned fire.

"He says no way in hell."

"Shall we open fire?"

She weighed the options. A few fighters, no real firepower here. She was brining Concussion Missiles along with Ion and Mass Driver capabilities. Something most folks lacked in the amount she had.

Plus stealing the extra fuel wouldn't hurt much.

She slammed another Stim syringe, letting her pupils dilate and lighting a ciggara. The nicotine mixed with the chems slowed time down for the purple haired woman and she growled her own commands.

"Aye, sound the alert. Concussion missiles away. Clear the fighters off, then we'll take the catch."

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

After disposing of his second target and while switching priority to the third nearest hostile, there was a new ping. This was either very good or very bad. Thankfully the new ping was a friendly, here to help clear out raiders, a third starfighter. She sent an open comms message that she was engaging. HOpefully it didn't bring too much undue heat on her. She was quick to take out an X-wing that sported a skull livery on it. Good, maybe she would manage fine, but he'd keep an eye on her as well. The 360 sensors showed that the enemy near him was trying to take potshots, using only visual targeting. Difficult, but not impossible to score a hit. As long as he could keep any shots to a grazing hit away from the engines he should in theory be fine.

As the third craft began sharp turn across Kurayami's flight path, he turned into the fight, setting up for a snap shot pass. Again the space around both craft lit up with massive amounts of blaster fire. a fair number of the enemies shots only missing by millimeters. Others grazed the wings and canopy as well as the forward hull. His own shots were not any more accurate, but the other craft had far more shielding. Likely the other pilot would take comfort in the fact that he could be more aggressive and that would be easily exploitable. All he had to do was keep his opposition from getting a clear shot. The jammer would help, but the range was not exceptional. As he pulled around he dropped the nose down and pulled into a very tight slice turn. The enemy, this time what looked to be a TIE Interceptor,attempted to pull lead, but couldn't quite manage. The result was a weaving flight path, each trying to out turn the other, a horizontal scissors. While such engagements required patience this was a stalling tactic. The scissors was bringing them towards the main fight, now littered with debris from ships and the space around was saturated with ion and blaster fire.

While dodging through the debris field was challenging and required a heavy amount of focus from each of the two combatants, it also drew the attention of the TIE interceptor's friends. Some who rushed to help were hit by ion fire and spun into nearby debris. Others managed to weave through the hellscape. As he exited Kurayami pulled the Hellcat up at a 45 degree angle, letting the TIE and his friend follow, using small yaw inputs and minor pushes and pulls to keep them from a solid firing solution. Rolling until he could see the battle below, he pulled back hard, easing up slowly, pulling a very wide split-s. This put him at a 'low level' to the nearby freighters on both sides. The raiders followed suit as was expected, raining constant fire around him. Heading straight for a nearby raider ship, he opened fire on one of the obvious anti-air emplacements, the heavy weapons on his craft making short work as he stayed low and fast over the hull. The raiders followed with little trouble as the gunners could easily pick out which craft wasn't theirs.

While still dodging laser blasts from raider fighters, another large ping appeared on the sensors. Followed quickly by multiple missile signatures.

"Well this just got way more fucking annoying."

That would have been the end of the rant had he not seen that there were at least 3 concussion missiles directly on track for his position. The string of cursing that erupted from the Corellian was truly awe inspiring. He did everything he could to keep what little composure he had left. Missile defense was simple, when there was one or perhaps two inbound. But this? Well the idea was the same, just had to hope all were fired simultaneously. The enemy seemed too focused on him to react to the missile threat, or perhaps they hoped that he would see himself as trapped. Not today. His eyes darted around the panoramic display, taking note of how much space there was around him. Hopefully enough. Rolling until his wings were vertical, he kicked hard left on the rudder and began to turn towards the incoming missiles. This was done to increase their angle off target and set them on the 3-9 line near the front of his craft. It would force the missiles to expend much of their energy in a turn while the jammer would hopefully confuse the tracking long enough for them to reacquire the raiders on his tail as targets when he broke away.

What followed were some of the most tense moments he could remember, he was laser focused now, completely in his element as he counted down to the break in his head. 3...2...1...annnd...NOW! Kicking hard right on the rudder sent the Hellcat drifting in a quick vertical turn towards the raiders. pulling back up and to thre right it turned into a tight barrel roll a few meters under the enemies. A few shots from the cannons as he passed sowed confusion as their sensors cleared once he was out of range. As they turned to follow the missiles detonated in the center of th pursuing ships having lost their primary target, few more raiders down. Way too many to go.

[member="Katarine Falcon"] [member="Isaac Damaris"] [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

The three fighters seemed to be doing well in their battle against the pirates, all in the hopes of helping the merchant ships get out of there. Lori was quite proud of herself as she took out another X-Wing. Her little Grey Sparrow was doing well, and so was she.

That is until a large frigate broke out of hyperspace. At first Lori thought that it was more rescue and more help. But that soon changed when the ships missles started heading in her direction. Oh no!

Lori hit the thrusters to give her little fighter an extra boost, yet still got caught up in a shockwave. For a moment she lost control, alarms buzzing inside as the computer tried to get some of the instruments back online. If she had an astromech droid it would've gone faster. Moments later the Grey Sparrow regained it's footing. ~That was close!~

She banked to the left, away from the merchant ships, away from the attacking vessels, almost as though she was leaving the area entirely. But instead she was just doing a very wide circle to come about them from behind. If she could find some way to cripple the frigate, then the merchant fleet could get away. In her mind, it was a brilliant plan.

[member="Isaac Damaris"] [member="Katarine Falcon"] [member="Kurayami Bloodborn"]