Illegal Salvage: Coruscant

[RC 212]

[member="William Kerkov"] [member="Dango Fess"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] [member="Astarii Saren"] [member="Vaulkhar"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"]


"Well this is all going to feth." She remarked to herself as the robot man smashed clear through the weakened hull. Hala was right behind him, dropping down into the darkness of the Salvager vessel and flicking on her headlamp. Their wasn't much left inside, a lot of wires and loose debris was floating around. The halls were marked with carbon scoring and what looked like dried blood was rusting out much of the bulkheads.

"Cap'n we got trouble."

"Don't we always? What the hell is-"

BOOM!

Something exploded against the hull and she felt the vessel rock under her feet. With a clenched jaw she took off, running to the rear cargo hold with Axle and Dango in tow. That was where the platinum bars were supposed to be. Locked in some kind of smaller container no doubt.

"What the hell is going on out there Dragon One!"

"Ummm..... yeah. We just lost two of our engines, looks like the party just got bigger too. Got a huge Alliance fleet that just showed up. Got another bunch of ships that look old style Imperial and another SD though can't- wait they're spinning up grav wells!"

"Feth, engage the Gravity Well ship with everything you got and then break off. Use the debris field as cover and prepare to fly by."

"I'm sending you the message they sent."

As the hails crackled in Hala's ears she was busy at work, pulling her plasma torch from her EVA suits utility belt and setting it to the side of the door. As molten durasteel dropped to the floor she listened and then scoffed in her helmet.

"Bound by law? Who the hell these Alliance folks think we are?"

Axle chuckled.

"Law abiding citizens?"

Then it was Hala's turn to laugh as the door parted under the torch and she pushed on the square pattern, making a man sized door in the otherwise broken door.

"We're in. Axle, Dango start looking for Cargo containers marked with a red seal. All other crew, keep them off us, we need five more minutes."

 

[Sein Reith]

"Tell me about it i think i have broken more laws apprehending criminals than the criminals." Dango admitted searching the aria for the cargo they were serching. her featureless face gleaming in the red warning lights.
" Lets get this done quick and then blow the place to Hoth." Her metalic auto toned voice reverberated every word.
"You know the value of these things?" she finaly asked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcUlWhXV-S8

 

[William Kerkov Sr]

The Admiral knew this would happen. A rookie comes in to make a rookie mistake, well live and let learn. He had no time to dwell on the past but to focus on the future. He needed to get out of here with as much as his fleet as he could. But first and foremost he had to at least attempting to resolve this diplomatically, if this was an Alliance task force he could yet find a way out of this, peacefully. As the cargo vessels began to pack up and recall the floating salvagers he ordered all the unarmed vessels to focus all power on their stern shields.

Kerkov motioned towards the comms officer to give him the commlink to the ships external comms systems, "This is Captain Jemst Nublar of the merchant squadron 67, owned by the Open Circle Conglomerate, we are in no vioalation of your laws, we were only bringing our trade from Coruscant back to Terminus when a few of our vessels hit some debris causing mass engine failures. We were but looking for parts to repair our ships, once they are complete we will be on our way." he lied, "Please begin the immediate disengagement of your task force, we mean you no harm."

The whole bridge of the Consular class cruiser, him and three other officers, went into a whirl of quick moving and adjusting systems. Along with most of the Krate vessels the Consular was breaking out of formation to protect the slow moving Kamel-Class Frigates. While the gunships did not, instead, they split up in too two groups, both behind the OCC fleet facing the Alliance defense fleet. Their engines were at quarter speed as each group turned 60 degrees port and starboard respectively.

[member="Astarii Saren"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

Unbeknown to Aerion, his ship pulled out to a distance before the nigh on invisible Stealth-X came back around, but it slowed to a stop, hiding behind a cluster of slow moving debris as he watched the scavenger ship in front of him, or so his sensors said.

In a situation like this he was sort of wishing he had an astromech to speed up the process of some things, there was even a bead of sweat on the side of his head, and he just shook his head as he focused himself. Opening up the channel again, he directed it to the scavenger ship, [member="Hala Jast"] and [member="Dango Fess"], and to their buddy @Vaulkhar.

The results from the database had stamped the scavenger ship as just that. They were wanted, but he didn't read long enough to actually see what their crimes were. Thievery he bet, perhaps even trespassing as they were right now. Either way, he spoke.

"I've taken out your engines and that was with only one missile." There was an interdiction field anyway, he didn't even need to mention as to how they wouldn't be able to jump out of the system without furthering damaging their ship. "The next one goes into that ship you believe is going to carry whatever cargo you're searching for. You have twenty seconds before I destroy your vessel." His deep voice without a doubt was serious. One would only imagine there was truth from his words. Aerion Ivelisse did not make boasts.

[member="Astarii Saren"], [member="William Kerkov"], [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Republic Engineering]

It took everything Astarii had not to burst out into a mocking fit of laughter. Did this, Captain Jemst Nebular, actually believe that she would fall for such a petty trick? Had she not spent much of her earlier military career defending the Transitory Mists from reavers, pirates and various other elements seeking to breach the sanctity of the Hapan Consortium's borders, Astarii might've entertained the idea. Instead, she allowed her lips to curl into a disfigured grin. Had his words held a modicum of truth, he would've broadcasted his Conglomerate's Ident codes as soon as he reverted from Hyperspace, along with the salvaging permits that were supplied to select individuals by the newly established Government of Coruscant and the Galactic Alliance after that. That act alone was trespassing and performing an illegal salvage operation. Two violations, with much more most likely in the works. Resisting lawful arrest being the most prevalent.

Rolling her eyes, the Fleet Admiral stalked towards her tactical display and watched the now hostile flotilla maneuver into new positions. They were keen on protecting the vital cargo Corvettes as they withdrew, and that would cost them when she had made her move. Such was made apparent seconds later as the Excelsior -class Corvettes had begun to come about and swing hard to both the port and starboard sides of her loose formation. Most likely to engage the Picket ship and disable the Interdictor. That was of little concern. In the time it had taken the hostile vessels to plot their course and ignite their engines, Astarii had already issued orders to two of her Fighter Squadrons to run interception duty around the Picket ship, as well as keeping the Shrike and Imura stationed nearby to dissuade aggressive hail-marys.

The rest, the four gunships, and twenty-four starfighters would form up on the taskforce's flagship and spear through the diverging enemy formation.

"Ma'am!" One of her Deck Officers had called out, pulling her attention away from the rapidly updating hololithic table. "We've just picked up a vessel exiting Hyperspace nearby. Sensors indicate it's a Venator - Class Destroyer." The man paused for a moment as more data scrolled across his screen.

"Is it Hostile?" She asked mindlessly.

The Deck Officer replied scant seconds later. "Negative, Ma'am. Ident tags show it's the 'Intervention.' Corellia Digital signal pennants, Ma'am."

Astarii couldn't help but smile, puckering the scar tissue about her lips.

"Comms," She said aloud, proverbially fighting with the other Officers shouting orders down the length of their Chain of Command. "Hail them. Apologize for the inconvenience, and that the Alliance will compensate them for their troubles. As well, should we capture this band of rabble, whatever spoils we confiscate from their holds shall be auctioned off, and they shall be given the proceeds." It's the least we could do for everything they've done to help Coruscant in the past few weeks; She thought and left unsaid.

Within moments, the broadcasted message from before had silenced, replaced by a solitary, and encrypted, transmission to the primary comms terminal of the venerable Venator-Class Star Destroyer - relaying everything that the Fleet Admiral had said. Minus the derogatory terminology used to describe those illegally operating in Alliance space without the proper credentials. With that deed complete, and Astarii's focus could once again befall the display before her - the Hapan watched as her vessel, ordered to ignite her engines and reach maximum pursuit speed, surge forth through the obsidian tides as it sailed towards the blossoming lines of Conglomerate Gunships.

Assault Concussion Missiles were slammed into the plethora of torpedo tubes, and fresh munitions were brought forth to feed the mass-drivers. The "In Midnight Clad" was a Killer of Ships, and the armament she boasted would prove that statement thrice over before the day was done. Within several heart-wrenching seconds, the two picket lines would meet. Gunships against a solitary Dreadnought. Once the guns of the latter had spoken in concert, it was likely that more graves would be dug amongst the stars - with whatever remaining behind joining the silent echoes of slain vessels.

| [member="William Kerkov"] | [member="Hala Jast"] | [member="Dango Fess"] | [member=Vaulkhar] |​

| [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] | [member="Aerion Ivelisse"] |​

 

[RC 212]

[member="William Kerkov"] [member="Dango Fess"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"] [member="Astarii Saren"] [member="Vaulkhar"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"]​

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Outlaw Soundtrack:​

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https://youtu.be/9IDnFzr_ZaY​

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On board the bridge of the Crimson Dragon damage assessments were already being made. They had Charlie at the helm, Hala's other Corellian friend. The young woman scoffed as the picket fighter said something about destroying what was left of them. The CR-90 was considerably bigger than most, and better armed. Despite her rust bucket appearance she wasn't without her tricks.

"Status on shields?"

"All shields are up. Should give us some leeway against whatever that was."

"Good!"

From overhead on the bank her fingers slapped another three switches, diverting auxiliary power to the weapons as the vessel came fully online now. The six engines that left purred and growled as they fired up, spitting an eerie blue glow into the battlespace.

"Arm all Quad laser Cannons and manual fire on that craft."

"Can't get it on scanners chief!"

"That's why I said manual idiot, use your damn eye balls!"

"Er got it."


From the Crimson Dragon the fighter got his response as black lit up with the stitching fire of quad laser cannons ripping into the void. Their gunners walked them left from right, sending out a bracket of fire that sought to intersect in the middle and wreak havoc on their attacker.

"Decoy pods out! Now let's give em a show!"

The side of the Dragon opened up releasing a hail of metal shrapnel. Except suddenly the shrapnel whirrred to life, broadcasting ten new IFF signatures. Where there was one ship on the scanners before now there were ten, all zig zaggin in a fighter pattern.



Meanwhile....


"Got it!"

"Where?" Asked Axle, tossing aside a couple of pieces of broken steel pipe and a roll of warped and scorched wire.

"Over here, in the corner."

There it sat, a single box which appeared to be half way cracked open already. It almost looked as if someone was already snooping around and decided to leave it. Which made Hala very uneasy.

When Dango spoke she smirked and turned to make eye contact with the robot.

"Put it this way dude, these things are untraceable currency with a high value anywhere. At half the rate I can get get half a grand for each bar and there's.... Crap."

"What's up?"

"Dragon just came online and opened fire on somebody. That means we are definitely up the creek and running out of tricks. Axle grab the other side of this, Dango take point, let's get the feth out of here."

Axle bent over and snatched the box, mag boots thundering as they moved in unison towards the breach. The crazy lucky part was that in space there was no gravity, which made their job a hell of a lot easier.

"Dragon we're on our way back home, fly in close to my transponder signal."

.......

.....
..

.

"Dragon?"

"Uh yeah Cap'n, bit busy up here, but we got your signal. Be there in a tic, jus' hang tight."

 

[William Kerkov Sr]

It was done, he knew coming in would be dangerous, he did not know that the Alliance were very adamant on security of lost space wreckage, but the lesson was learned and he would come back stronger than ever. The Grand Admiral did not take this as a loss due to his fault or of any of his crew, it was plain and simple he had come with a force only useful for dealing with single vessel pirates, not for task forces, and he should've known that. Luckily we wasn't one to dwell on mistakes, but to learn from them, as his father said, those who are stuck in the past, have no place in the future. Klaxons began to sound as his own cruiser and many of the fleet's vessels were being locked onto. In almost perfect unison the gravity well appeared on their sensors.

If he was to avoid being ridiculed by the alliance he had one option, going down with as much as he could take with him. Kerkov ordered the comms officer to relay the following message to his own fleet, now being crossed by the Alliance vessels, "Abandon ships, thruster override, reactors overload." At first the Comms officer would not send it, but the Admiral forced his hand, and it went out. The crew of the Retrofit Consular began to scurry down to it's one escape pod as the ship began to groan and creak.

The Terminusian native had ordered the self destruction of every one of his fleet, enough to dmage and send the lumbering fleet into a disarray long enough for him, and his sailors to evade capture in escape pods and head to the surface. What they did from their was on their own, but the admiral already was preparing his plan for escape off Coruscant, which would be easy since these scum didn't know his face nor his presence in their space.

But right now all he could do was watch and see if his plan would take a few of their ships, by his calculations at least one gunship would be taken down in the grandeur of explosions that were about to display themselves in front of him, a victory for his enemy perhaps, all but a lesson for Kerkov.

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry I had the in and out thing but I realized I over stretched myself so I had to cut a few RPs, sorry for my lame kind of escape but I don't really have the time.
Also this:
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8[/media]

 

[Vaulkhar]

Hearing [member="Hala Jast"] over the Crimson Dragon com-line had him both frustrated and worried. It appeared they had already gotten the desired contents of this salvage, what it was he was unsure, but with the Galactic Alliance and now Silver Sanctum coalition fleets breathing down their necks, things were going to get worse. Much worse. The concept of working together to defeat the First Order also seems to no longer be viable, as they at least appear to be attempting to flee. Which make the threat of them nonexistent. Beginning to hum to himself, the young man began to reach out through the force, plotting his course out of the debris field and away from both the Galactic Alliance and Silver Sanctum fleets.

After a few seconds of aimless flying, Vaulkhar found a path that would lead somewhat far enough away from both of them that he could get a solid enough head start to escape. As he flew past that of the Dragon and it's denizens, he activated his coms device.

"Alright all, I'm heading out. I can't run interference against a ship I can't see and two fleets. I'd suggest you do the same. I'll see you all on escape; hopefully. Dragon five, out."

And with that, he began to maneuver through the debris field, simply increasing his ships speed as he went, weaving in and out of danger as he went. Clearing his throat he reactivated the communications device, but this time towards the residents of his ship. Also known as two droids.

"TL, I need you up here to plan out a route through hyperspace."

A series of beeps and bloops loudly announced the whirring astromech as the droid came speeding into the cockpit. Inserting itself into the ship, the little astromech began it's plotting, beeping violently at Vaulkhar.

"Hey fella, calm down. Plot a route to Pzob, we're going to see the master."

[member="Astarii Saren"] [member="Aerion Ivelisse"] [member="Dango Fess"]

 

[Aerion Ivelisse]

A CR-90 may have been large.

Much larger than any starfighter could possibly be.

Two Jedi Shadow Bombs placed at a good location were capable of tearing apart most corvettes and blowing them into two. And that was probably when they were shot towards the middle of the ship.When being fired at the rear of a ship where the engines were located? Not only would there be chain reactions, but it would've done much more than render two engines dysfunctional. Their hull must've been reinforced, even if the extra explosives had done nothing that were typically packed into shadow bombs.

The ship began shooting at him, but it was relatively inaccurate.

He wasn't seen on [member="Hala Jast"]'s ship's sensors, and even if the gunners tried to use their eyes to see the ship, they'd fight that impossible too. The Stealth-X flew too fast to by a gunner without the Force Aerion figured, besides, it was painted black. Against the debris that would've been blackened by explosions and the black background that was space, how could they even hope to score a hit against the Stealth-X?

He came in for another sweep at the Crimson Dragon.

The Jedi Shadow bomb was released, once more towards the engines.

There was no tracking system other than the Force, there was no trail from behind it, there was nothing to alert them to the existence of the Shadow Bomb that would either blow them to smithereens, or at the very least render their engines useless. Plus, interdiction, so how could they run?

[member="Vaulkhar"], [member="Astarii Saren"]

 

[Sor-Jan Xantha]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvC99_mQIAw​

"...stations. Set condition one throughout the ship. This is not a drill. Action sta..."

"Turn us thirty degrees to port."

At the front of the bridge, the small Anzat was enveloped in a bubble of holographic windows displaying a variety of information, from astrological data to tactical assessments being compiled by the starboard bridge. "There's an interdiction field up..." he uttered quietly, talking about as he mulled over the situation they'd just landed themselves in. "Of course there is."

"General, the Galactic Alliance is hailing us."

No surprises there. "Let me guess," the boy deadpanned dryly. "Saddle up."

Well, far be it from him to turn down an invitation. Tapping a holographic window, the boy opened the display to reveal an image of a droid brain. It was the flight commander for the Intervention's cadre of battle droids.

"Tactical on-line."

"Tell me you know what the Galactic Alliance is." He was pretty sure that the droids had been programmed with all the allies or friendly codes, but there was also taking nothing to chance.

"Affirmative."

"Launch all fighters. Provide cover for the gravity well shi..."

A series of bright explosions illuminated the transparisteel windows around the bridge. The Galactic Alliance hadn't been hitting them that hard. Reactor breach? Self-destruct? "Inform the Galactic Alliance that we are prepared to assist in search and rescue operations," the boy remarked flatly, as he turned his attention back to the cascade of information around him.

Spoiler: Corellia Digital Fleet

1x Venator-class Star Destroyer (Intervention)
2x Niathal-class shuttles (in hangar)
2x Tacyon-class light freighters (in hangar)
4x "Cricket" Light Construction Vehicles (in hangar)
1x YT-2400 light freighter (Alderaan Queen) (in hangar)
12x Multi-Vector Self-Propelled Battle Droids, Mk I

[member="Hala Jast"] | [member="Astarii Saren"] | [member="Vaulkhar"] | [member="Dango Fess"] | [member="Aerion Ivelisse"]​

 

[RC 212]

William Kerkov Dango Fess Sor-Jan Xantha Astarii Saren Vaulkhar Aerion Ivelisse​

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Spoiler

https://youtu.be/WXGX33Lv2sU

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Meanwhile aboard the Crimson Dragon​

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"Feth we got another one hot on our tail!"

"Another what?"

"Some kind of bomb, hang tight!"

BOOM!

The Dragon rocked again, explosives rippling the shields of the vessel in bright variants of blue and white electricity. Like a small stone cast into a huge pond, the shields flickered and then came down. What was left of the engines was already burning hot.

"Bring us in close to the Cap'n!"

"Aye, doin' it!"


Below
-------------------------

"Dragon One what in the actual hell?"

"We're on our way. Starboard airlock, jump now!"

When there was that much high pitch in her First Mates voice Hala knew the sitch was critical. The harasser seemed to be evading all fire and laying into what was her engine block.

"Alright guys, let's do it!"

The mag boots clicked off and she crouched then pushed off hard as she could. As her feet left the side of the derelict vessel she rocketed towards the Crimson Dragons open and waiting airlock. It was a tight shot, and if she missed, well it wasn't going to be good. Floating through the fire of the quad cannons she flattened her body, rotating like a corkscrew with a white knuckle grip on her case.

And the galaxies biggest grin on her face. The thunder of guns, the rush of the adrenaline prickling every hair to its highest point. This was outlaw life, what she lived for!

WHOOSH, THUD!

"We're in, seal it!"

The team fell to the deck as the lock cycled shut. Hala was already ripping off her helmet, tossing it to the deck as she made for the bulkhead. One dirty finger slapped the side of her headset.

"GO, GO, GO, get the frak out of here!"

Small jets on the side of the Dragon fired, emergency chemical boosters mixing to slam her left, giving them a clear shot past the killing fields.

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"Ey what’s wrong?"

"No gorram hyperdrive that's what!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Charlie roared, adjusting her mesh ballcap over her dark bangs.

"This babies a blockade runner dude! It's meant to out run everything. TIE fighters, Star Destroyers. Plus with all these mods they wont have a chance. Burn babay burn!"

"Guns back up, Shields at fifty percent, switching to rear and flanks."

"Good, hey gunners, lock in a new firing solution and let it rip. Hull full tilt, spin us on our vertical axis and let it rip boys!"

"Aye!"

And that they did. The Crimson Dragon spun vertically like Hala had earlier, discharging gorges of laser cannon fire and two singular heat seeking missiles. Scanners might not catch what they were looking for, but a literal swath of fire should keep him off for a bit, maybe even nip a wing.

 

[Sein Reith]

(ooc aaah sorry i was buisy and now my ad/hd and dyslexia is acting up. i have no idea where i am.)

 

[Vaulkhar]

Keeping the channel between the Crimson Dragon and his own ship active, Vaulkhar kept up on the news. With [member="Hala Jast"] planning their own escape route, Vaulkhar was no longer necessary to run interference. Not that he was doing it well, if at all. At this point, his main concern was his survival. His hands moved almost in a blur as they raced back and forth across the panel with the aid of the force, he did his best to keep his ship from slamming into any debris. It was a big enough ship that it was noticeable, but considering it was moving as far away from everything else as possible, he could only hope his escape would be somehow overlooked. He turned his attention towards the Astromech, jacked into the panel, whirring loudly towards him.

"Yes TL, Pzob."

Another series of whirring assaulted the hearing of Vaulkhar as he winced at the sudden sound. He really loved the little droid, but it got so loud and obnoxious when it tried to keep his attention he couldn't help but find himself agitated. Learning the route was nearing completion in it's planning, the wince turned into a smile.

"Good job, TL. Just tell me when it's ready and we'll enter into hyperspace."

Vaulkhar turned back towards back towards the debris field before him as he focused upon the force, steering through it at the direction of the force around him. It greatly aided his efforts, especially with the chaos going on about him. With a deep breath, he continued to focus, feeling somewhat helpless and annoyed by the turn of events.