A Trip to Hapes... (Mandos/Sith/Smugglers/ALL!)

[RC 212]

Location: Hapes​

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Objective: Pick up the Deserting Rangers​

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Hapes. A long regal world shrouded in mists. It was under Sith control now, and the Hapan nobility had no problem brokering a deal that allowed the Sith to operate with them as puppets. There had long been whispers in the courts of Hapes. The Loyalists welcomed the Sith and supported the Queen Mothers ridiculous hospitality.​

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But some were against it. Including members of a resistance that was little known. They were the Queens Rangers, a hand-picked unit of the best warriors drawn from the Queens Royal Guard herself. Trained in unorthodox skirmish tactics they'd defected and been hitting Sith garrisons there for some time now. But the resistance had recently taken a hit, their leaders slain by Sith Assassins and Inquisitors as they flocked to the world to shut down the insurrections.​

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One of them had reached out to the Mandalorians, feeling the Republic would abandon them. And Jack was there to answer the call. After several hours on Mandalore he had assembled a group of Red Legion and Smuggler pilots, and set out with a small strike-force to liberate the trapped Rangers and bring them to Mandalore for Assylum. Which is where the story begins....​

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[member="Marcus Lok"] [member="Lok Rekali"]​

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"Keep straight in line boys, we're coming in hot."

Jack voice crackled over the comms of the small flotilla as the mish mosh of ships fired full thrusters through the mists of the deep black void. They were in a tense situation. Loyalists had learned of the Deserting Rebels and were on Jacks tail as well as the fleets. Battle Dragons were fast approaching, raining down fire on their tails.

Alarms blared and Jacks lips were pressed thin. His only choice was to micro-jump closer and try to lose the pursuers around the other side of the planet. He was tracking shields, the distress beacon and trying to plot jump coordinates all at once.

"Standbye for my coordinate transmission folks, we need to get out of here."

"Roger that Rogue One, standing by."

Jack turned and flipped the switch on the dash, giving up control of the craft to Dak.

"Keep us moving kid, dodge as best you can, this will take a moment."

It was another gut jump, the ones Jack was used to. Nav computers were too slow and his instincts were much faster. He cast his eyes about the void and rubbed his temples, attempting to calm his nerves.

The space began to untangle in his mind, vectors floating freely into his thoughts. As he plotted he entered the coordinates and sent them out on a shortwave burst. The fleet spun up hyperdrives, preparing for the jump.

"Slave all hyperdrives to the Pride."

"Acknowledged."

"Here goes nothing. Hit it kid!"

 

[Lana Carde]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

Hapans were all about ambition.

One was more apt to betray to better their station, but they wouldn't do it publicly. Oh no, to do so was to mark them for death. For everyone who would desert, another was quite willing to rat them out in order to better their station, earn a promotion, or simply get in the good graces of their Hapan overseers.

Persephone had been solely focused on ensuring that the Hapes Consortium would remain with their sovereignty. It had worked well and were in the process of ensuring, at least pubicaly, their isolationist stance within One Sith oversight.

Personally, Persephone didn't give a damn if other Hapans did what they wanted. But it should be quiet, and it should be unseen. She had the ear of the Queen, and ensuring that their public face remain intact was their priority. If one flagged themselves, then there was no other choice than to show that they would quell any resistance within their borders.

Sigh...

Why were men so idiotic?

A woman in charge would have at least assured that the deserters would do what they will with class and discretion.

Really, no wonder the rest of the galaxy was in shambles.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Persephone Callas"]

Location: Hapes, West hemisphere.

The lever threw and they ripped into hyperspace. Jack grinned as the fleet all jumped at the same moment. They reverted almost as fast as they had jumped and now the pursuers were lost. No doubt they were trying to track them, and Hapan radar would pick them up in less than a few minutes. Still they had brief respite and that was all they needed to get to the surface and rescue the flagging unit.

"Coming in hotter than two banthas knocking in a wool sock, prep for action folks!"

Dak flipped the lever, changing controls back to Jack. His calloused hands gripped the yoke, plunging them headlong into the atmosphere. He could fel the gravitational pull increase, G-force slamming him back into his seats. The alarms blared as the shields took the heat, and then dissipated, leaving the Kessels Pride engulfed in a ball of flame. The fleet followed suit, appearing as s small meteor shower blazing in.

"Dak we got a lock on our wayward Rangers?"

"I got solid coordinates on the beacon, nothing else. They commed two minutes ago, under heavy Sith Assault."

Jack opened a line to the fleet.

"Our targets are under heavy fire, prepare to clean them off, weapons hot. This is it folks, dustoff time."

"Think we can make it in time?"

"Hope so." Jack Answered.

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On the ground:

Talia fired another shot from her energy bow, sending the plasma arrow clear across the fields straight into the mass of advancing soldiers. Explosions roiled around them, wounded rangers fell, blood staining their emerald green cloaks. The enemy had fire superiority, something the Rangers weren't to keen on. They'd been caught retreating in the open and were too vulnerable to stand a fight.

Being a master of hit and run tactics she preferred a pitched fight on uneven terrain.

"Fall back, to the tree line!"

The bow came up and the plasma string went dead. She fit it into a sheath at her back, and turned to run, the mass of green cloaked and armored figures followed suit. Between them they carried their wounded comrades, back towards the beacon as th ground was ripped asunder by hails of enemy bolts.

They had just managed to reach the trees when speeder Cavalry were upon them. Grim determination in her voice she whirled, drawing her long slugthrower rifle and slammed a round into the chamber. Now they had the advantage.

"Longrifles, mow them down!"

Expert marks women and men they turned as a unit, firing off a volley into the masses of troops. Bodies fell upon the green grass of the fields, crimson painting them in stark contrast. The line fell back again as bodies toppled from speeders, slugs exploding right between their riders eyes.

One hand went to her vibro tomahawk and she crouched low in the brush, rifle low to the ground. They were setting a trap....

 

[Lok Maxus]

[member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Persephone Callas"]

Lok waited anxiously in the Kessel Pride's lounge room, already wearing her armour and scattergun. The Zabrak didn't have a ship, had minimal knowledge on how to fly one (thanks Pa), and as such had to hitch a ride. But, seeing as how she'd only get in the way in the cockpit, Lok opted to just stay in the lounge.

Now, she wished she hadn't.

All of the sudden Lok was slammed back into her seat. This was the affect from G-Forces, if she remembered right. Which meant they were entering the atmosphere. Fast.

Which meant they'd be fighting soon.

"Kriff it," she muttered past her clenched teeth. "I gotta get up there."

Fighting against the Force of gravity was hard. Really, really, really hard. But Lok was also really, really, really stubborn. And she really, really, really wanted to get out of the lounge room.

Her gun was strapped to her back, which meant both of her hands were already free. So, exerting all of her strength, she began to move.

It wasn't pretty. The forces working against her were great, and the novice spacer felt her vision begin to fade. On top of that, she could barely make more than one push forward.

But she kept going. Uselessly, though. No doubt the ship would reach the battle long before Lok would reach the cockpit, and she'd probably look foolish to Raxis and his copilot.

Oh well.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Persephone Callas"] [member="Lok Rekali"]

Jack didn't even notice the young Mando'ade making her way to the front. He was all too intent on bringing them in and making the landing smooth. On the ground he could see the hard smalls structure the Rangers had chosen as their exit point, and then hear the comms chatter through the helmet of his Aliit'Gam.

They were embroiled in a mad dash to the house. This wasn't friendly territory, so he felt no need to hold back. With deft hands he hit the reverse thrusters slamming them into a full brake and pulling up. The nose of the vessel leveled out above the trees and Jack called out to Dak, the scrawny first mate.

"Guns free, lets give them some cover!"

Dak opened up, the guns booming as laser cannons ripped into the fields, felling trops and Hapans alike. Lancing green beams of death made a sizzling criscross across the killzone, but they didn't get all of them. There was still a large detachment coming into the woodline, and Jack pressed his lips tight together.

"That's all we can give em, we gotta be ready for dustoff. Lok! Get ready to fight girl, I'm putting you down at the strcuture, Rangers should be with us soon!"

Jack broke off, firing the manuever and thrusters in a trail of bright white ion streams they roared back towards the exfil location.


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On the ground

Talia gritted her teeth as she heard the first of them. The Rangers were spread out, two abreast and staggered in perfect lines. The only easiest way into the woodline was an old dirt path, which the patrol stupidly took. Sith and Hapan soldiers were only worth their salt in urban combat and wide open spaces. Here the Rangers had the element of surprise. The wilds belonged to them and them alone.

Branches cracked underfoot as the fifty strong squadron remained dead silent, eyes glistening from behind the branches and leaves of the lush vegetation. They were about halfway into the woods when she struck. The Rifle came up, and it boomed in her hands, knocking down one of the officers, hypervelocity slug exploding through his body. Hell unleashed in that exact moment. The patrol and the Cavalry clambered to form gunlines as a hail of fire ripped through the boughs of the woods, mowing down troopers like a scythe in a tall grass field.

"Charge!" Talia roared.

From the two ends they were surrounded, and the flash of green cloaks and glints of metallic earth colored armour barely registered as the company of rangers wept from their concealed spots and crashed upon the enemy. Vibro tomahawks swung, cleaving flesh, armor and bone. Blood sprayed across her face as she chopped an arm, and then lopped off a head.

Two blaster shot grazed her shoulder. With expert skills she whirled, and hurled the tomahawk, end over end until the vibrating blade buried itself in her adversary’s head in a spray of blood.

"Fall back!"

She rushed the soldier as he fell, ripping the tomahawk free. As quickly as they had appeared they were gone, disappearing back into the forest. Groans rang out as the survivors laid clutching their wounds. A veritable battalion lay half slaughtered among the logs and rocks. Talia and the rangers were moving farther back, setting the next trap. In a few more moments they would reach their escape point. But they had to be sure that dustoff was there.

"Marrion, do we have our transportation?" She she whispered into her guanltett commlink.

The comms crackled for a moment then two squelches of static were her confirmation. Talia nodded, it was time to thin the herd to extinction.

"To the canopies, bows only, go!"

She slung her rifle and grappled the nearest tree, climbing up with incredible strength and speed, green cloaks fluttering behind her.

 

[Lana Carde]

Updates were coming in.

Above all, there was a sense of perception to uphold. Persephone would scan what they could find, the information flooding in.

"Get me their transponder codes. I want their identification." Persephone said calmly. This was the Hapes after all. Order would be maintain. And if she had to publicly denounce or make an example of these would be terrorists - for show of course - then she would set up a bounty to keep up the perception of docility to the One Sith.

"Get me everything you can."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Lok Rekali"] [member="Persephone Callas"]

Madness everywhere. Jack kept her straight above the treetops as the flew hot, clipping the very tips off and avoiding any kind of detection from Radar. An Old smugglers trick, but a gambit. Too many strikes to a hull could bend the frame, rip off equipment and all manner of nasty things. Not to mention some of the tips were left smouldering, smoke rising in acrid spires.

They came upon the exfil site, which was rife with wounded and littered with tents and all kind of makeshift encampment. It looked like a cross between a Gulag Plague Era filed hospital and a Jedi Gypsy camp. He paid them no mind, simply setting a stone jaw and lowering the Kessels Pride down, hitting the retro thrusters.

"Drop ramp and keep her steady Dak. Switching controls over to you."

He flicked a series of switches, giving Dak all control via his yoke and unclipped the crash harness. With one hand he shoved his Aliit'Gam Buc'ye on a little tighter and then slapped his hips. Blaster, Besk'ad, fighting knife. All there.

The ramp hissed down and he stood there, arms slightly held out chest puffed up as it lowered, letting in the scent of the pine forests, rich like a summers afternoon. Their was another smell that assaulted him though, even through his helmets filtration systems. Death, a putrid rank stench of rotting fetid meat.

"Oya Rangers, Cavalry has arrived!"

They looked up at him now. Eyes locked upon his in a warriors gaze of acknowledgement. where they should have been broken, there was fire and flame, and a will to survive in those eyes.

"Glad you could make it Raxis. We got the last of our company coming now."

The stone structure was crumbling and in a state of disrepair. But as the gates swung back he was greeted with the sight of Rangers, bearing their dead upon stretchers, along with wounded. Bandages with blood, limbs missing. They filed out in a quick line, making double time up the ramp. The sounds of fighting in the forest were moving closer too.

"How much time we got till they are with us? Where's Talia?"

"Talia's company was pinned down, but they'll shake em."

More of the Smuggler fleet was touching down now. All manner of ships in a sort of sizes and colors were descending, aligning with the Pride in a defensive line between the trees, opening their ramps, hungry for Rangers. He watched fellow Captains disembark and wave them on.

"Where can I help?" He asked.

"Grab a stretcher, wounded go first."

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The Woods

They kept coming, what was left of them, stumbling wounded through the trees. she guessed they were down to Auxiliaries now, almost no Sith troopers remained and only Hapans were left. They knew these woods, but not as well as Talia knew them. As the company drew back their bows from the bows of the canopies she felt a tear slide down her cheek. A moment of weakness as she watched a young kid, barely fighting age struggle through the thick under-brush.

He would never know the warmth of a woman’s touch. Never grow to have children. But this was war, and this was what it had come to. Hapan against Hapan, being used like slaves to their Sith overlords. Under the heels of oppression.

The company released, sending a hail of nearly silent plasma bolts down from the canopy. They rained like a meteor shower in the dark void of space. Peaceful and serene. Their were no screams, no thrashing of the wounded. They had waited, picked their shots precisely, in order to give their kin a clean death. An honourable death.

As the last body hit the ground, smoking hole between the young man's eyes, she felt the tears pick up. silence reigned at last in the woods. Nothing moved, not even a Ranger, still shocked and in grief at what they had done. What was necessary. After what felt like an hour to her the bird began to chirp again, and arm sunlight fell down in rays upon her face. With the back of her gauntlet she wiped her tears and signalled the nearest Ranger.

Silent as a snowy night they descended, in rapid form. A single file was organized and they plodded away, leaving the dead boys behind....

 

[Relina Zhan]

Location: Hapes Prime
Time: 1400 hours

Starfire (Dragonforce)

[member="Jack Raxis"] | [member="Persephone Callas"] | [member="Lok Rekali"]

The Firedrake dropped out of hyperspace in orbit around Hapes Prime, fresh from a routine pirate patrol from which he had incurred battle damage. A new Type N909 Supernova Frigate, he was bigger and stronger than his Nova-class precursors, which still saw service despite relative obsolescence. It would be some time before enough Supernovas could be amassed to fully replace and retire the aging Nova, but several have been rolled out and commissioned into service. At the moment, the Firedrake was Ducha Relina Zhan of Gallinore's assigned carrier. His captain had begun to reach out to other Hapan ships for a situation report.

Major Zhan was a long time member of the Hapan Royal Navy, practically a postergirl for Gallinore's Royal Navy Aviation Corps detachment. A veteran of military conflict, she chose to retain her military career while handling economic and military affairs off duty while her twin sister, with whom she co-ruled Gallinore, handled the diplomatic and political matters. Relina herself was curious as to what she was seeing. Why were their foreign ships in Hapan orbit and how did they get here unopposed? The Hapes Cluster was notoriously difficult to simply fly into, what with the hyperspace-choking Transitory Mists. Hapan isolationism would have never been historically possible without them.... so, who invited them and for what reason?

"How is my Terminus?" she asked a technician as she entered the carrier bay, looking out through the shielded opening in the hull where ships were to come in and out from.

"He sustained relatively minor damage, ma'am. We are nearly finished with the internal repairs, but these blast points will require some time to patch... like another day at least." Answered the tech. "The most serious hits taken were to the starboard engine line. The fuel line wasn't ruptured, although had you flown him in an atmosphere, the damage centred near the base of the intake would have lead to a cascade engine failure eventually. Then there was the canopy. We had to replace the forward cam and its lens. It's a wonder you managed to land in one piece with your central view blacked out."

Relina recalled the fight with that REALLY skilled pilot in the Roqoo system. Her own people had been chattering about how she couldn't be Human herself the way she flew, but the guy she pursued and shot down had definitely given her a run for her money. Had she been chasing a droid? "I don't know what happened either. I just... felt my path. It's the only way I can explain it." She then examined the carbon scoring on the silvery hull. "If there is an order to launch, then forget the patching-"

Just then, the intercom resounded above. A female officer relayed an order. "Angel Squadron, report to carrier bay two. Repeat, Angel Squadron report to carrier bay two."

Relina looked up at the intercom and then to the Terminus starfighters sitting in launch-ready position, rearmed and refueled, sans pilots. There were seven, but one was her reserve fighter which her Jedi friend had been using for Relina's invitation to fly with her. "It seems that order has come. I'll use my reserve ship, however.." she said.

The tech looked to R9, Relina's Astromech, who had been helping with more delicate repairs. She let out a whistle signalling she was finished. Without being in the ship's droid socket, however, Relina didn't understand completely what the small machine was saying, but gathered from working with R9 for so long that it was the sound of satisfaction. The terminus featured a translator system that verbally translated binary into coherent speech, eliminating the need to read the translation on a screen or learning binary.

The door soon opened and 5 of the Angels appeared with one other officer, a Colonel. The only one of the squadron missing was Commander Holland Roc, the team's number two. He had been ordered to the infirmary for medical treatment. The man had to perform two different bailouts in the little skirmish on the rim a day ago. The first saw his cockpit pod separating from the rest of the ship, setting it to self-destruct shortly after, and the second was a literal jump out into the void without an EVA suit when the pod was damaged. A young girl from the Republic just to happened to be there to save him. While he had exhaled before blowing the canopy, it took him nearly a full minute to get into the girl's airlock resulting in the beginning stages of hypoxia and minor disruptions in his bodily tissues from the lack of external pressure. There was also the concern of radiation exposure for the few moments of unfiltered starlight from Roqoo, a blue supergiant dominating the system. He'd be under medical evaluation for a few days at least.

According to the Colonel's impromptu briefing, there was a conflict that amounted to insurrection and treason on the ground and the conflict was an armed one. Gamma corvettes were already moving about beyond the hangar's shielded maw. The only thing, presently, the Angel Squadron was to do was to fly top cover for the troops that were about to be dropped into a forest down below. A foreign ship was chased and was then lost somehow. The drop-troops and the Angels were going to find it and the traitors marked for seizure or death. Weapon use on the high-tech fighters was restricted until further notice.

With a salute, the 6 Angels able to operate went into a room to the side of the carrier bay where pilots would suit up.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Relina Zhan"]

The rangers crashed through the trees. Talias eyes lit up as she found Jack and he waved.

"Raxis!"

"Hey!"

Two nearby Rangers grabbed the stretcher from his hands, freeing him as she ran up the ramp and grabbed his forearm, giving him a firm warriors shake. She was covered in blood, what looked like the remains of tears on her cheeks. Around them the last Rangers were loading into the fleet, single file up the ramps.

"Glad you made it." He replied, guantlett plated hand grasping her forearm firmly.

"Was a hard stretch, you find us alright?"

"Sure did, c'mon we gotta go."

"Cap'n we got hostiles on scopes."

Jack's brow furrowed as he pulled Talia up the ramp. All at once they hit their latches, and doors hissed closed down the line. Far off in the distance smoke rose in pillars and engine down wash tossed the trees spitting up soil and leaves in a violent storm over the remnants of the camp.

"Whats the situation?" Jack asked making quick time down the corridors to the cockpit. He slid in next to Dak and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Looks like some kind of Blockade or something, moving in over orbit."

"They must of tracked us, we can shake 'em. Get hot on guns just in case, follow me out."

"Will do Cap'n."

They were fearless, having encountered half a dozen scrapes in each of their careers.

"We good?" Talia asked popping her hooded head through the door.

"Hopefully."

Thrusters fired and one by one the fleet of twenty five freighters lifted off, snaking in a straight line through the atmosphere. They were climbing in altitude headed back for the north pole to make their escape.

 

[Lok Maxus]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

Lok had almost reached the door when she was thrown back, receiving a nice little knock to the head. After that, she'd decided it would be best to take a step back and wait for another opportunity (no, she was not giving up. Lok Maxus Rekali never gave up!).

But things began to happen quickly, and before she knew it armoured strangers were entering the ship, there were two dozen other ships around, and Jack was talking to some woman. Then, before she could open her mouth, the ship was up again and they were flying.

"Does this mean we were too late?" Lok whispered to herself, confused. And disappointed. She'd been looking forward to testing her mettle in combat.

Ah, well. Perhaps the woman from earlier could help, the one Jack had been talking to, and who was covered in blood.

Walking over to the woman, who still had her head in the cockpit door, Lok removed her helmet and tapped the other's shoulder. "Hey, name's Lok. Lok Maxus. What's your name?"

 

[Relina Zhan]

[member="Jack Raxis"] | [member="Lok Rekali"] | [member="Persephone Callas"]

Relina was strapped in and ready to launch, going over her pre-flight checks while the smugglers were preparing to launch. in orbit, the Gamma corvettes were just about in position to drop their lances of Space Marines. Each lance consisted of two six-man squads lead by a Cyborg Warrior. In total, three lances were about to be introduced to the general vicinity where the traitors were last seen via orbital insertion. The planet itself was rapidly coming under quarantine, as if a notorious mass murderer of high profile victims was in danger of escaping. The Battle Dragons and their larger, more powerful successors, the mighty Type D505 Wyverns were starting to mine Hapes' orbit with pulse-mass generators which would effectively place the distance required to jump to hyperspace a bit further out than normal for a planet of that size and mass. Truly, it was the next best thing to having a flotilla of dedicated interdictor ships. Of course, Command was starting to think of interdicting the few known hyperspace routes in or out of the entire Hapes Cluster, which worked historically. However, it would take a Royal edict to make that happen.

The launch-tone sounded and the Angel Squadron was launched, sans one. "This is Angel One. Callsign, Edge. Weapons safe for all craft. Proceeding to target point now."

"Yes, My Lady!" replied the other five behind her in acknowledgement of the orders.

"This is Firedrake, acting carrier and AWACS for the Angel team. Sitrep: there are twenty-five unknown vessels egressing feet wet towards the North Sea, bearing vector 0-4-6 degrees.... so much for our containment bid. New orders are to intercept and shoot down those craft. The Mobius team will be joining you for support."

"Rodger, AWACS. Orders acknowledged. Angel Squadron will prosecute." Relina replied as she turned toward the prescribed bearing on an intercept trajectory. "Angels, lock and load. Set S-foils to attack position."

The six fighters streaked toward Hapes' north pole, declining their flight path with the intention of intercepting the escaping ships before they breached the planet's atmosphere. She had no problem fighting in air any more than she did in space.

"Four to One, did she just say twenty-five? Please advise." Asked Lieutenant Taritha Schiff, callsign "Archer".

"Affirmative, Archer. We've been through worse, haven't we? We'll just have to keep our ion cannons hot. The Mobius team isn't far behind, either." Relina replied reassuringly. She seemed supremely confident of their odds of victory. "Besides, they probably won't see us coming straightaway, but fly as if they can."

"Yes, My Lady." Archer replied.

"And check out that aurora.... sort of makes me homesick." Replied Major Cynthya Nori, callsign "Aurora". The Northern Lights were indeed visible at the time, a greenish ring around the planet's arctic circle from their perspective. "I wish Lance were here to see this."

"He probably can from the medbay. I know I'd be pissed if I had to miss a sortie for medical reasons, though. The struggle is real." Replied Commander Kael Lythos, callsign "Volcano". he, too, was a bit transfixed by the curtain of green light as the squadron began to graze the planet's upper atmosphere.

"Hey, Look alive. I'm spiking a ship. Bogies confirmed at 12 o'clock on the nose." Announced Lieutenant Commander Rafe Misra, also known as "Screech".

"I see them." Relina replied. It wouldn't be long before Relina's targetting computer emitted a tone and her Astromech's translated voice announced the obvious.

"Missile lock, on." came the feminine computer voice, which was almost indistinguishable from that of a Human.

"AWACS, we have tone. Concussion missiles are locked on target." Relina said.

"Acknowledged. Fire at will." the Firedrake replied.

"Angels we are red and free." Relina said, her hand gripping the control stick firmly, thumb on the missile launch button. "Angel One, Fox three."

"Angel Three, Fox three!"

"Angel Seven, Fox three."

A salvo of six concussion missiles were fired at the group of escaping ships. While sensors would have a hard time pinning down a Terminus at range, the fact they were shooting missiles at this point betrayed their presence.

"It might be easier to capture a ship or two intact if we can drive them closer to our capital ships. Let's try to get them in range of the tractor beams. I'm detecting Pulse-mass generators, so no one is going anywhere far for a while." Relina suggested.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Lok Rekali"] [member="Relina Zhan"] [member="Persephone Callas"]

"Kark we got incoming!"

"What?" Jack roared, banking the ship right. The scopes began to light up, they were being closed in on. With a fleet right outside the equator region and a full squadron of fighters in pursuit the odds were beginning to stack up for Jack and the crew. He watched as two concussion missiles exploded against a nearby smuggler vessel, knocking her shields out. He could hear frantic chatter through the radio. They were losing it.

"Time to do some fancy flying, Dak you're on guns!"

Lok may have been in the back talking to Talia who was explaining what the Rangers were and such, but he interrupted, roaring through the comms in his Aliit'Gam.

"Lok, Talia, standbye to repair the hull."

"What?" Talia asked, poking her head into the hull.

"We're gonna take the fighters, Rogue One and two on me, the rest get the hell out of here."

"Roger Pride."

Jacks neural band kicked on connecting him with the ship via thought. Instead of the yoke he relied on his thoughts to control the Kessel Pride, ramping up the fuel flow to the engines and firing her after market Ion thrusters. she looked like a hunk of junk, but she was a veritable tank, able to match most starfighters in speed and manuevers.

The Pride flipped over, two missiles streaking by with blazing blue contrails. The rest of the fleet was fleeing full speed, only two of the fastest remained with him, ready to hold off the fighters.

The Pride banked, pulling hard right, the flipping manuever now had them head to head, and Jack was flying with his eyes closed, fully immersed in his instinct, drawing upon his gut feeling for astrogation to move. They were closing fast, coming head to head with the enemy formation, Jack center, Wingmates stacked right.

"Scissor formation, make the cross! Weapons free!"

They banked right, cutting diagonally across her formation and smashing through their tight knit cohesion. Dak fired the Kessels Pride weapon array. Twin laser cannons barked from the belly of the pride, casting pulsing green streams of death into the enemy. Twin linked Ion cannons stitched white contrails as they rapid fired, splashing towards the fighters attempting to knock out electrical components.

The Smuggler Wingmates fired as well, casting more cannon fire into the mix.

"Load torpedo's, but keep em in reserve."

"Aye Skip."

"Pulling off, full burn, Form up, prepare for pass two!"

 

[Relina Zhan]

[member="Jack Raxis"] | [member="Persephone Callas"] | [member="Lok Rekali"]

Relina saw the rather aggressive manoeuvres presented to her. "This is what they bring me? I've met pirates that fight better." she scoffed, not knowing if her comm chatter was audible to all nor much caring. "Angels, break formation, all weapons authorised. Use pincer-formation delta. I want those gnats swatted down. Fire at will." She ordered. "Archer, cover my ass."

"Yes, My Lady!" came the unison reply of seasoned veterans. The Angel formation split off with razor-sharp banks to the sides, coming around along the enemy formation's tenuous flanks. Relina, however, stayed generally to the front followed by Lieutenant Schiff. Both women would turn their ships into an aileron roll with Angel Four backing off slightly while Relina herself stared straight at Jack's ship, her chosen target. Her ship reacted to her line of sight, focusing its sensors on him.

Relina took a hit from a laser cannon to the starboard wing and another to the starboard side of her fuselage as she swerved in mid-spin to evade gunfire, the shielding of her ship absorbing most of the damage. it was a glancing hit, leaving a streak of black carbon where it struck and ricocheted. Taking a page from her medically indisposed compatriot, she'd open fire with her own ion cannons, mounted on the Terminus's wingtips, as she began her equally aggressive blitz. Pale blue bolts of sizzling plasma would alternate between the forward-swept s-foils of the next-generation starfighter as she very suddenly hit her afterburners. The SLAM system activated and she ceased her defensive aileron rolling to jet past the enemy, which allowed Archer a clean opening to fire. "One to Command, my stealth is compromised. Taking fire, will engage with deadly force." she said.

"Angel Four, Sweet lock! Good tone, Fox three!" Schiff said, seeing her opportunity. She let loose another concussion missile, a longer ranged one to ensure a clean lock at range. Below her craft, the internal missile bay opened to briefly reveal the cylinder containing the missiles, then disappeared back into the bay once the missile was fired, rotating a fresh one into launch position.

Relina expected her target to evade and so would begin to pitch up in a tight inside-loop to reestablish visual contact. She was starting to feel it again... that sensation. It was like a river charged with energy flowing through her. Her mental state simply shot sky-high as the rush of inertia pressed her to her seat.

Angels Five and Three paired off to pursue one of the enemy wingmen, presumably Rogue One, each Angel banking off to flank him. Major Nori came around to fire her dual link-fire laser cannon, stuttering her stream of green death with alternating ion cannon fire every few shots. She tended to fight tactically, knowing full well what her ship was capable of. "Nice and easy.,, Screech, take the shot!" She said after a moment of shooting at the bandit.

Lt. Commander Misra fired off a volley of Ion cannon fire, followed shortly by a missile. "Switching to 'sidewinders'. Fox two!" He said, firing a shorter range, but slightly higher yield concussion missile that tracked ion-engine efflux emissions rather than active sensors like the longer range missiles Archer preferred.

Meanwhile, Angels Six and Seven pursued the other target, presumably Rogue Two. Angel Six, Second Lieutenant Anna DuCroix, also known as "Blackout", took to her target like a feral Nexu chasing down its quarry. Notoriously tenacious, she would match combat manoeuvres, making a point to stick to the target's tail like white on rice. She'd fire her ion cannons in short bursts between each twist and turn. "Right where I want you..." She mumbled.

Finally, Commander Kael Lythos, Angel team's number Seven, flew at an oblique angle as he lined up his shot. A bit of a thinker, Volcano hesitated only a moment to make sure he didn't hit Blackout when the next twist came. Banking sharply, he fired a volley from his dual link-fire laser cannons. "These kids wouldn't survive Puragtory. But they are just a distraction. Seven to Command, the remaining bogies are bugging out. Recommend Mobius Squadron take them out."

"This is Firedrake. Acknowledged, Angel Seven. Mobius team, intercept and destroy the remaining targets."

"Mobius One, Rodger."

The new squadron of twelve, a more traditional size, was launched shortly after the Angels, who traditionally were composed of seven fighters. They completely ignored the fighting between the three smugglers and the Angel team, short one. They had their orders. Incidentally, at this juncture, the two squadrons were the closest ones available to make the intercept for the moment. The other ships in the Hapes System would take a little more time to launch fighters and mobilise the larger ships, if they even deemed it necessary to bring the entire Naval armament of the capital world to bear against only a relative few smuggler ships and a small band of traitors on board. They'd get an inconvenient surprise when they got around to a hyperspace jump attempt, however.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Relina Zhan"]

They were fast, he had to give them that. As the formation attacked they split up, targeting two a piece on Jacks Vessels. With jaw set tight he let the blasts take him head on, smearing blue green matrices as the shields engaged and then failed, drives whirring. Jack was a little more talented than the common smuggler. She wouldn't shake him that easy.

A single bolt got through as her ion cannon volley reduced what was left of his shields. Nearby the other two freighters bucked and juked, engaging emergency thrusters to avoid fire. One took a missile to the fuselage and began to break apart, fire and flame engulfing her. Jack could hear frantic chattering over the radios.

"Rogue one is down, Rogue two peeling off!"

"Go for it, escapee's what you got for me?"

"Our sensors are picking up additional incoming fighters. We're also detecting additional gravity wells near by. No micro jump."

Kark that meant one thing. Gravity mines. He was no stranger to them having used them to lure pirate patrols out of hyperspace and raid them.

Jack snarled as he slammed the yoke left, rolling with the lead fighter face to face. The whirling dance escalated as Dak fired off again, pumping rounds of white blazing ion particles and twin laser cannon streaks. With Shields locked out for the moment it was up to his flying to get them out of this.

"Get out and draw them off Rogue two, Fleet launch buzz droids, get me firing solution for the grav mines and bail!"

She peeled off suddenly and he flipped the freighter as she completed her loop. She was behind him and then suddenly in front of him as he fired the ion jets and killed the engines. They flipped nose to tail and came straight in line, her still careening towards him.

"Torpedos now!"

They opened up again, giving her a burst of mixed fire and then two proton torpedos launched from the tubes, streaking towards the enemy lead fighter, hungry for a kill. Jack rolled right, corkscrew anticipating enemy retaliation.

"You're not gonna dodge me pal!"

OOC: Trying to keep the fight centered on us less on the fleet. Background noise. Buzz Droids are now swarming towards your fighters.

 

[Relina Zhan]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

"YEAH! Splash one, kill confirmed." Screech cheered. His target was wiped out in a blaze of glory. He'd then turn to engage Jack. When he got within gun range, he'd fire on him with laser cannons blazing.

"Nice shot, Screech. Aurora, turning to support Blackout and Volcano." Aurora advised, peeling off to engage Rogue Two, seeing that he was peeling off in a futile attempt to regroup, or so it seemed to her. Major Nori then noticed some sort of ordinance that burst open without explosive report. It wouldn't be long before the lot of them found out what it was.

"Swax'if! I thought these things were illegal! Buzz-droids!" Volacno roared. Buzz-droids... the bane of most starfighter pilots' existence. They were swarming all over him and spreading out, endangering the whole squadron, potentially. "Blackout, don't you dare break off that ship!" Commander Lythos figured he could hold out for a little while before his ship was scrapped and he'd be forced to bail out. His astromech, however, was pulling an R2-D2, attempting to fight off any that got within her taser-rods' reach.

"He isn't getting away that easy." Blackout replied smugly. She'd accept Volcano's imperative, despite the whole matriarchal society thing. He outranked her. it was as simple as that. Hapan society tended to put aside its gender bias in the Military more-so than anywhere else in their culture, incidentally. "Angel Six, Fox two." she said as she let off a missile in retaliation. Still, she would not let go of her target. She needed to confirm the kill for personal reasons. Ducroix still felt she had something to prove.

Major Nori heard the chatter and gasped. "Lydia'amana! Hang on! I'm coming!" she said as she hit her afterburners. She knew that Terminuses carried EM chaff and flares as countermeasures against ballistic ordinance, but the funny thing about the stuff was the fact that the countermeasures were ionised, designed to attract efflux-guided ordinance, infrared-guided ordinance, and sensor guided ordinance alike. It was a risk, but if she could use them in the vicinity of the Commander and the epicentre of the buzz driod bomb, she could possibly neutralise them and mitigate the danger they posed. "Volcano, turn to intercept me and prepare to deploy chaff and flare... just trust me."

"With my life, Aurora... Gah! They're fraking with my port wing!" he said, pulling hard on his stick and moving into an intercept course as fast as he could before his ship could be completely crippled.

"Warning. Port Wing hydraulics damaged. Warning, Port s-foil actuator damaged... " His droid's binary language would be verbally translated by his ship's astromech translator system.

"Deploy on my mark...." Aurora advised. She could now see several tiny dots flickering in the light of the Transitory Mists and the seven moons of Hapes. She'd count to five, and then deployed her ionised countermeasures. "NOW!"

Behind the two fighters, a stream of electromagnetic countermeasures was released, the initial bursts briefly resembling the stereotypical wings of angels before spreading out into the void. The buzz droids attacking Volcano would start to wig out while his shielding likewise went on the fritz, being equally vulnerable to the newly introduced ion field. The two were unshielded at this point, needing to leave the affected area to allow them to recharge. However, that meant Blackout was alone chasing down Rogue Two for the moment.

"Frak!" Relina swore, hearing of the buzz droids. Now face-to-face once again with her enemy, her threat warning alarms chimed. She saw the attack coming this time, but behold, the torpedoes were locked onto her.. "Oh, I know that swax'if wasn't for me, ommidan." She was angry, despite feeling absolute exhilaration at the moment. She learned not to fight this imaginary river in the last skirmish. She had to trust her feelings. The torpedoes, hungry for blood, gave chase with tenacity.

"Deploying EM chaff and flare!" she said as she broke right this time. The torpedoes would encounter her annoying little 'guardian angel's wings' tactic while she turned to engage Jack. She hit her afterburners again as she came out of the hard right turn with the efflux from her pulse-detonation ion engines visible as a brief flash behind her. She set her shielding to full forward and waited till she got that sweet tone.

"Missile lock, on." Her droid said.

"Angel One, Fox Two!" she said, firing a concussion missile at her break-neck speed before pulling up to get above Jack. "Good night!"

"Angel Four, Fox Three!" Archer said, firing a missile from a bit of a distance... more like from down town. If it hit, it would be a hell of a hail-Hera shot. She, of all people, feared buzz droids. It didn't help that she was a cyborg, of course. There was one that managed to latch onto her ship, having evaded the resourceful tactics of the other two Angel pilots. Worst part was, her droid couldn't reach it and it was under her fuselage, creeping near her missile bays. She was ignorant of it, too, for the moment.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Relina Zhan"]

The concussion missile was a nice move. As it struck the hull Jack roared in frustration and slammed a series of pedals. Her chaff flare and countermeasures exploded, sending shrapnel into the hull. Sections of plating ripped off under the explosion, a few shards whizzed through the hull and he had to seal his helmet for decompression. Space's cold reach was coming in.

"Alright Talia, here's your chance, patch the hull!"

The explosion had ripped his blaster cannons free, obliterating them t slag. She was above him now, and without the cannons they had a bit of extra energy in their reserves.

"Dak kill blaster cannon power lines, switch to auxiliary shields, full distro."

"Hull damage topside is seventy percent, we can't take another hit. Shields hanging at fifty percent with added power."

"Great!"

Jack let the neural connection between him and the Pride take over, blasting the ion jets again and rising swiftly so his nose was matching the girls. The Buzz droid on the bottom of her vessel was noticeable, ripping into the undercarriage. Across the fleet solutions were coming in and voice crackled in his helmet.

"Solutions locked!"

"Good frag the mines and jump, get the kark out now!"

"Dak ion and torpedo's fire!"

Another stream of white hot ion particles slammed towards the enemy fighter, followed by two resounding thumps as another set of orange proton torpedos ripped from their launchers, racing towards her. At this point she'd need a hell of a lot of luck and a blessing from her deity. Still survival wasn't out of the question. Just in case Jack sent a quick thought through his neural band, arming their own Chaff flares.



No more missiles for the Hapans. He wondered how many countermeasures were left on such a small craft anyways?


In the distance the fleet took her beating, shields dropping dangerously low as they opened fire on the grav mines. Everything they had went into the assault. A torrent of laser cannons, missiles and ion cannons blasting into the void, right into their nemesis. Across the fleet hyperspace drives were firing up, anticipating their escape.

Talia moved through the cockpit with extra plating. Two rangers slapped a piece on and she set about arc welding it into place over the holes...

 

[Relina Zhan]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

In general, each fighter could deploy ionised countermeasures once. In the design, it wasn't deemed necessary to have more than that, since it was usually enough to open up for a counterattack or to escape. Relina was a veteran, though. She knew what she was doing. Seeing that Archer was now being shot at, she turned to defend her. Out of countermeasures, she'd have to rely on her skill at combat manoeuvring to stay alive. She spun on her ailerons to evade gunfire while intentionally crossing the path of the Torpedoes, breaking hard left to get them to follow her instead of her wingman. Relina wouldn't bother attacking, but would instead attempt to use the torpedoes against the one who fired them. It was risky, but if it failed, better she was hit than Lieutenant Schiff.

"Warning. Missile lock! Warning. Missile lock!" her droid screeched, the translated voice sounding far calmer than what the machine's binary noises would sound like had it been possible for sound to travel in a vacuum. R9 had no way of knowing her mistress's intentions, however. Relina wasn't talking at this point. In fact, her eyes were pretty much glazed over as she turned at high speed back toward Jack, as if in attack position. She'd very suddenly cut her engines once she passed under him, letting inertia carry her, and switching her shields full rear. Now, it was praying time. The torpedoes were nimble, but not that nimble. If they didn't start tracking Jack instead, then at least they didn't have her efflux tail to follow. Evasion at distance could be easier due to the Terminus's low profile for the occasional sensor-guided kind.

Seeing an opportunity when Relina cleared her 12 o' clock of the torpedoes, she'd turn to fire another long-range shot. "Angel Four, Fox three..." But there was no response from her ship. How could this be? "Angel Four, Fox three!" She pressed the launch button several times, but still no response.

A diagnostic feed showed the missile bays were apparently damaged and the cylinders that contained her ordinance were also damaged. She might as well be out of ballistic ammunition. "It's jammed... It won't fire. Four to Command, my-" static, then silence. She was hit by a few ion bolts during her move into attack position. While the buzz droid that messed with her missile tubes was fried, Archer's fighter was shorted out in several critical systems. She was a sitting duck if shot at.

"Archer! Archer, talk to me!" Blackout shouted, still running down Rogue Two, firing her laser cannons between Ion bursts. She was doing it alone, but she was on this ship like white on rice. "Lydia'amana, Tari! Do you read? TARI!"

"Damned buzz droids! That's frakking low!" Volcano complained.He was flying defensively at this point, turning to support Blackout again. His shields would take a moment to recharge once he got out of the affected zone where the ion countermeasures used for unorthodox purposes were still floating around, gradually dissipating. "That does it! You guys are dead."

"Commander Lythos, did I give you permission to queen?" Aurora asked sternly. "Hang back and pull yourself together. We all knew the risks of our jobs when we joined. These people don't know nor care about our laws. Now, defend Lieutenant Schiff." She added, turning to do exactly what she told Volcano to do. She was confident that Second Lieutenant DuCroix could handle herself.

"Yes, Ma'am." Volcano replied and altered his course, as sloppy as his flying was due to the damage sustained. Of course, the damage done was rough and imprecise. It started to spread from where it started. Diagnostic feeds would indicate this while his droid would be warning him of imminent cascade failure. "... till the end. My ship is trashed, but Schiff is one of our's. Hold on, Archer!"

"Frak it, I'll flank Blackout's target. Angel Three, on approach." Screech said, turning to intercept Rogue Two to support Blackout. On the way, he'd take a breif potshot with his laser cannons at Jack's ship, speeding by in a sort of hit-and-run move.

Relina would still be using inertia to keep moving, looking behind her for signs of the torpedoes re-establishing a lock on her every so often. She could still manoevure, but she'd be harder to track like this for the moment. Hopefully, the torpedoes would hit Jack instead, as intended... or so she prayed. "Do it, Screech." She had been listening to the chatter. It gave her comfort to know her trust in these people was well placed and even a man short, they were competent. The reputation of the 7th Division, 77th Tactical Fighter Wing would live on.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Relina Zhan"]

Much of the battlespace was littered with debris. Jack kept tabs as the fighter rolled out of line. Another locked on, moving past him a drawing the torpedoes. He was too busy on monitoring the fleet's status to really notice she was flying under him, until the damn alarm klaxon sounded. Lock on was imminent and he had seconds to react. The nueral band lit up, stealing the Chaff flare controls from Dak and deploying it instantly. The Prides engines fired hard, pushing her forwards several meters as debris and shrapnel erupted into the path of the warhead.

How close it exploded to the girls fighter he wasn't sure, but with the laser fire impacting his flank the shields went down and the explosion hit the hull like a ton of bricks, flinging shrapnel and chaff into the undercarriage of the freighter. Jack felt her rumble and kept the fire burning hot full forwards.

"Rogue two! They're on me! I lost shields! I'm going down!"

"Rest in peace brother!"

That was all he got as the Kessels Pride roared off, firing at an impressive sped to rejoin the fleet. By now the myriad of weapons fire had crossed the small space. Explosions blossomed in the black night as grav mines were torn apart or disabled under the intense barrage. Jack only had few seconds left until escape. Mere moments.

He opened a comms line to the entire battle-space, speaking through a choked voice to the whole of them.

"You killed two of my pilots and several passengers. I disabled a few ships. I didn't come here with the intention to kill, but if you don't back off, we're gonna have to fight back. As a whole!"

Across the smuggler fleet captains agreed as they finished spinning up their hyperdrives, priming them for the impending jump.

A secure line opened to the Smugglers.

"We lost two good men and a handful of good folks gents and ladies. Slave hyperdrives to my ship and standby on torpedoes. If they pursue, we'll give em one last hit. Standbye for orders."

Status lights winked to green as Jacks ship took the incoming signals and linked them to his nav computers. While he waited, vessel wounded and speeding away he was already plotting the jump, using a split second gut instinct to punch the coordinates in in rapid fashion. It was time to get the hell away from Hapes, and out of dodge.

 

[Relina Zhan]

[member="Jack Raxis"]

Angels Three and Six would have their way with Rogue Two, having flanked him and opened fire in concert. "Splash one. Kill confirmed." Screech said. He was on a roll tonight, it seemed.

"Confirmed splash one. Thanks, Screech." Blackout replied, confirming the kill.

Amidst the military jargon, much of which was spoken in Hapan, Relina would reply in Basic as she reignited her engines and turned to pursue at a cautious distance, gradually gaining. She was almost in Missile range again. "Oh, so you have the nerve to speak?" she asked. The woman's voice had a distinctively posh Hapan accent when she spoke Basic. The accent sounded a bit like High Coruscanti with its own, rather sexy-sounding, inflections. The Hapan language itself was a mellifluous romance language. "Then listen. You are carrying fugitives, running from the crime of treason. You have fought the Royal Navy to protect them, making you equally culpable as enemies of the State. This does not bode well for you, I fear. What do you hope to accomplish sending such an ultimatum as that?" she would continue.

"Missile lock, on" R9 advised. Relina had tone.

"You cannot hope with such a small force to take on all of Her Majesty's Naval forces in this system. Hell, just the ships right here in orbit around this planet is enough to take you out in seconds. I dare admit my squadron was one man short today... a sad state of affairs for a good man, I might add. The damage we alone have done should speak for itself to indicate to a rational mind that you have incurred the wrath of a professional military. I trust you have done your research on whom you were to make this raid upon, no? Do you not know what our law prescribes for pirates and smugglers? For traitors?" she asked.

Relina was hesitant to fire this time. If talking was what he was willing to do now, then she would talk. She flew through the debris field, rolling a bit to avoid a larger piece of debris while the more recent torpedo detonation left smaller bits of metal and glass floating around, which would impact on her shielded opaque canopy. She could hear the muffled sounds of the tiny bits raining upon the titanium hull, like hearing hail hitting a metal roof from a distance.

"I have tone. Give it up and surrender. I urge you, for the sake of you and yours, to not make this any more difficult for you. You have proven yourself a worthy opponent, although I wish I could have flown with you under more peaceful circumstances. My duty is clear, however. Recover the traitors and those who aid and abet them, or destroy them. I have my orders." Relina didn't particularly want to kill anyone else at this point. Her own ultimatum was a bit more subtle in its form than was normal for her. Incidentally, her twin sister was the politician and diplomat. Everything she knew about talking pretty came from her. She was otherwise a sailor with a noble Hapan accent and a large, exuberant vocabulary.

Behind her Angels Four, Seven, and Five were calling for assistance for Volcano and Archer's ships, both of which were either inoperative or rapidly about to become so. Aurora was the only one of the three completely fit for combat a the moment, so she took a defensive course near them.

"Firedrake to all ships, the hostiles are breaking through the interdiction zone and are preparing to jump to hyperspace bearing vector 2-8-0 degrees. Requesting assistance and pursuit."

 

[RC 212]

[member="Relina Zhan"]

Jack nodded as Dak ticked off the schematics and damage statistics. They were looking OK, the hull was patched up enough and the fleet was spread out in a line facing the Hapan fighters. Jack was much torn between two paths; Incur vengeance for the lost Rangers and his fellow Captain, or get the hell out of there.

"Shields at twenty percent. Hold on..."

"What?" Jack asked, glancing sidelong through his Buc'ye at Dak.

"I think they are moving to intercept us with the fleet!"

Jack growled, his anger getting the best of him. The channel to the female Hapan crackled and his scratchy voice came over the comms, finger hovering over the triggers.

"Ma'am we all got our roles to play. Good thing this wasn't a raid so much as a rescue mission. But you turned it into a blood bath. I got nineteen ships left with Chaff flares and fully operational weapons and missiles. I would gander you are out of countermeasures."

Jack paused, catching his breath through the sea of red he was seeing.

"So here's the deal. I could just open fire and slag your little crew. Your big guns are still minutes away. But I'm not a Sheb, so I’ll extend you a professional courtesy. Wanna know who I am? Wanna put a bounty on me , fine. But the blood letting ends right now."

Jack leaned over, speaking on internal comms to the smuggler armada.

"Standbye for jump."

Then he switched back to the overall channel and let his booming voice penetrate the void.

"My Names Jack Raxis."

As if on cue Dak leaned forwards with a devastating grin on his face and slammed the hyperspace lever forwards. The stars began to shrink and then grow into a long point. Jack held his breath hoping the grav mines were reduced enough. He felt the lurch, felt his stomach ram into his throat and drop back down. His eyes squeezed shut and he let out a long breath.

When he opened them? They were gone, jumped directly into hyperspace. Flashes marked their passage as one b y one, they spared their fire and ripped into the bright white tunnels of the beyond...