Silver Cutlass (SJO Dominion of Hex AB-29)

[Valae Heavenshield]

Objective 1: Fight the pirates
Allies SJO: [member="Cassius Droma"], [member="Jessica Med-Beq"], [member="Gir Quee"], [member="Audren Sykes"]
Enemies: Pirates and Sithies [member="Arlen Rossi"], [member="Maria Bentley"]

As Jade Squadron arrived, there was already action waiting for them.

Still relatively new to battle, Faye told herself that she would do her best to recall all of the things she had learned. But as she started to pick up enemy ships, all of that seemed to fly out the window. The young woman was operating by instincts, it was always best to trust your gut, right?

A smirk found her lips, these old rust buckets piloted by their pirate foes would be easy enough to handle. It was probably a wonder that they were still flying at all. But then again, the men and women behind the controls were brash – they wouldn’t be afraid to fight. There was a plume of smoke up ahead, and Faye rolled to avoid what remained of the Ugly Starfighter that had taken numerous hits from Jade Leader.

Sensors alerted her to an incoming Ugly, and Faye blew out a breath to steel her nerves.

Letting loose a spray of laser fire, she picked at the enemy ship’s wing. As she came around once more, she watched as the as her fire tore through the ship. And a moment later, it had fallen off her radar.

Just as she was about to provide an update to Parker, she heard the other woman’s voice come through her comm again. There were bombers moving towards the station! Oh boy.

“This is Jade two – moving to support the station!” She returned her reply.

As she pulled away, the thoughts bombarded her. Why would the pirates want to destroy the station? Just so the Silvers couldn’t take it under their control? It seemed a right selfish way, but she supposed that she shouldn’t put it past them. After all, they were pirates.

 

[Maya Zhou]

Location: Gongju – docked at Torn Station
Objective: BYOO – Deal w/ pirates, get paid
Post: 5

It wasn’t long before shots were fired.

Maya ducked for cover. “Feth,” She spat, pulled her own heavy blaster from her belt. Her two mates were already firing off their rifles. Peering over the top of her crate, she fired off a few bolts.

“Lock it up, Rem!” She hollered over her commlink to the Gongju.

If the pirates wanted to play this game, she certainly wasn’t going to make it easy for them. Her dark eyes narrowed as a few bolts skimmed the side of the Gongju’s hull. “Not the karkin’ ship!” She growled, firing into a group of pirates. Docked here at Torn Station, her ship was a sitting duck. She only hoped that it would make it through this reasonably well, at least still sky worthy.

The three of them were holding their own, but hadn’t managed to push their enemies back quite enough. The pirates were slowly advancing towards the Gongju, still set on collecting their goods.

But then, the station rocked.

“What the--” Maya’s paused, eyes wide.

There was much hollerin’ now. Another small explosion – it didn’t seem to be coming from inside the station… but outside. Great, just great! The pirates were now hauling away from the scene, giving up on their measly bounty for now. It was better to try and save their own hides. “Karkin’ hell,” Maya stood up, it could only be a rival gang of pirates. She could only imagine the infighting and constant posturing for power here.

There wasn’t much time to sit and think, especially if she wanted to save her own ship and crew.

 

[Cassius Droma]

Jade Squadron​

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Objective: 1 – Fight Pirates
Allies: SJO ([member="Faye Demos"] | [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] | [member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Stephanie Swail"])
Enemies: Pirates and [member="Arlen Rossi"] | [member="Maria Bentley"]

He was making quick work of the Uglies – their inferior weapons and shields were no match for the RZ-X A-wing interceptor. Although his hand was tense around the control stick, and his heart felt like it was beating against his rib cage, he could start to feel the slightest hint of a smile cross his lips.

This was all too familiar for him. It was just like being in the Rinn Starfighter Corps again – fighting Ugly pirate ships and blowing them to bits in order to protect their cargo freighters. Brief images of his old squad mates flashed across his mind’s eye. The galaxy felt a lot smaller back then, and things were so much easier. He didn’t have knowledge of the Force like he did now, and he certainly wasn’t commanding an elite fighter squadron.

Parker’s voice came over the comm, and Cassius’s head snapped in the direction of Torn Station. After his eyes flickered around a little bit, he made visual contact with the bombers. He cued up his comm. “Copy that, Parker. This is Jade Leader – we’re moving to intercept those bombers now.”

Jade Two was already speeding towards them, and Cassius came up on her port side. Targeting one bomber with a concussion missile, he fired, spinning out of the way and shredding another Ugly with his laser cannons while his missile collided with the first one. He buzzed a comm tower at Torn Station, doing a banking turn to come around for another pass at the bombers.

Additional interceptors started to target them in order to protect their bombers, but they weren’t nearly as fast as the A-wings. Cassius wove between two makeshift interceptors and hit another bomber, sending sparks flying all over its aft. Just as he passed the bomber he hit, he felt an impact on his starboard side. Luckily, his shields absorbed it. Eyes widening a little bit in surprise, Cassius spun to avoid another hit.

Maybe he’d gotten cocky… or maybe these pirates were a little more formidable than he’d previously thought.

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Objective 2: Take and Defend Torin Station

Opposition: [member="Maria Bentley"]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Asaraa had kept her sense extended, her mind pushing down the station’s passageways, searching for another team of pirates, another target for her team to pounce on. They’d rolled up 2 more teams, the force letting them them slip around the ambushes to turn the trap back on the pirates. She might not have been able to assault one of the major objectives, but nibbling at the edges and cleaning up, that was something Asaraa found she could do quite easily. It almost felt like she was one of the predator’s she hunted in the jungle, a super predator, the force letting her stalk her prey and arrange her pack to charge them and strike them down. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]If she was honest she had to admit that she was getting a little carried away with it, with the power of the moment the adrenaline of it all. She was so caught up in it that she almost missed the surge in the force until it was too late, sensing the tightening of force around the corridor in front of her squad as someone exerted themselves. The Togruta reached out, wrapping tendrils of the force around the troopers in front of her sucking in a deep breath as she pulled sending the Ranger’s flying backwards as the sergeant she had just thrown around gave a very undignified squawk. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Run!! It’s coming down.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The Togruta gave a shove through the air, sending her team stumbling ahead of her as they threw themselves forward as the sound of tortured tearing metal behind her as the corridor gave way. The sound of crunching metal seemed to hang on her feet as the sound of emergency klaxon’s filled the corridor as the blast doors started to slam shut in front of them, the heavy metal doors hissing out of their frame with an impending, almost unstoppable urgency. Asaraa could feel the touch of the vacuum touching at her heels as the tortured metal open up to space, her robes whipping out behind her as they drove down towards the closing doors. It was only through sheer luck that Asaraa managed to catch at them with the force, holding the doors apart as the troopers pounded through before the threw herself through, sprawling across the floor as she released the door with a sigh of relief as she sprawled out on the floor as she fought to catch her breath [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Thanks Ma’am, that was waay[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt] to close.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The Togruta felt the touch of an armoured hand on her shoulder as she rolled over staring up at the face of the sergeant as she smiled. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Least I could do, don’t mention it. Seriously...can we not tell anyone about this? It’s kinda embarrassing that I got caught out like that, I shoulda felt it coming.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]She felt her lips curl up at the sound of his laugh, a chuckle of her own slipping from her lips as she forced herself up as she reached for her lightsaber. As the cool metal of the hilt slapped into her hand the girl felt something in the back of her mind, a shiver of ice down her spine as an image flashed into her mind, a woman wreathed in darkness. The Padawan shot to her feet, her eyes staring around desperately as she threw out her senses...there. Her blue eyes focused on a corridor as she gestured down another hallway.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]“Someone’s coming, someone you don’t want to face...there that way the main forces are down there. You should be able to hook up with them there and push on towards life support. Trust me, you don’t want to be here when she arrives."[/SIZE]

 

[Jessica Med-Beq]

Objective: Fight pirates
Allies: SJ [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Gir Quee"]
Enemies: Pirates

"What's happening? The pirates are only using their bombers to attack the station, and do nothing on our backs?"

"All fighter squadrons, engage those ugly bombers! We mustn't let the station fall; keep the bombers as a screen should the enemy attempt something"

Perhaps Jessica's force was a little late to the party, but [member="Cassius Droma"] and [member="Faye Demos"] were already busy engaging the pirates that were now forced to fall back much further than their old Ton Falk if they needed to be rearmed. With two fighter squadrons on the move, it was a question of time before they would actually be forced to return to ship for repairs or rearmament. More puzzling still was the pirate reinforcements still staying out and not even opening fire. And yet they couldn't possibly have killed the reinforcements in a single volley. Did they score some firepower kills? Or otherwise trigger some jamming? But, for sure, they had to do something. Like attacking Uglies from behind, putting them into more vulnerable situations where Jade Squadron could actually pick them off. And yet, while the capital ships remained silent, they were still ready to open fire if the pirates on her tail renewed the hostilities. It won't be long now, Torn Station will be, once again, safe from interference.

Spoiler

Capital ships:

SSV Tartarus (Lothal-II-class artillery carrier) moderate shield damage
SSV Candybar (Skor-class artillery frigate) moderate shield damage
SSV Galak Fyyar (Krayiss-class escort frigate) moderate shield damage
SSV Fayuum (Krayiss-class escort frigate) moderate shield damage

Attack craft:

22 Chiloon-I fighters
20 Chiloon-II fast bombers

 

[Maria Bentley]

Allies: Pirates, NSO ( [member="Iris Drathrul"] [member="Arlen Rossi"] )
Opposition: SJO ( [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] [member="Jessica Med-Beq"], [member="Gir Quee"], [member="Faye Demos"], [member="Audren Sykes"], [member="Cassius Droma"]

“When who arrives?” Spoke Maria, her words cast across a vast distance as she initiated her first attack. A massive burst of shrapnel barrelling down the hall with great force, they were aimed to tear the soldiers to shreds. She had actually aimed as such that the Jedi was not even slightly in the line of fire.

Heavy footfalls echoed throughout the corridor, Maria’s heavy frame making the approach quite noticeable, but equally intimidating. Her head would come into view first, silver her bouncing slightly with each step. She had not drawn her blade or anything yet, however the hail of metal never ceased, it flew from behind her like a barrage of middle, each varying in size.

“I’d recommend you run Jedi. I don’t brag, but you know as well as I that you will not win this particular engagement.”

 

[Eugen Aker]

Objective 2
Allies: SJO and friends ([member="Maya Zhou"] [member="Valkren Calderon"] [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] [member="Aidan Moonrunner"] [member="Raven Sorenova"])
Opposition: Pirates, Mercenaries [member="Iris Drathrul"] (Eventually to face [member="Maria Bentley"].)

Something was off, she could feel it just before her dropship landed in the hangar. Intelligence had suggested they would only be dealing with the run of the mill pirates, but in the Force she could feel the tainted aura of several Dark Siders roaming all over the station.

This could explain their brazen behavior.

She linked into the local network of the Raiders just as her dropship touched down. "Be advised, there are hostile Force Users aboard. Adjust your tactics accordingly."

She switched to speaking to the commanding officer of the platoon aboard her dropship. "Lieutenant, I'll take point with Padawan Sorenova."

"Aye Ma'am." The lieutenant wouldn't complain about the Jedi Master volunteering to take the most dangerous position in room clearing.

She nodded, then moved to the foot of the landing ramp, carbine in a low ready position. As always, the Echani had a melee weapon hanging from her belt, a force pike this time around, but she favored the Famos in enclosed environments where she wouldn't have much room to swing a blade.

"Sorenova, keep it simple. If you don't feel comfortable with that lightsaber, then stick to your blaster."

 

[Asaraa Vaashe]

Objective 2

Opponent: [member="Maria Bentley"]
Allies: [member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Raven Sorenova"]

Asaraa lunged forward, her hands stretched out in front of her as she gathered the force pushing with it as hard as she could. She could feel the shrapnel blasting down the corridor towards the soldiers, the metal more than enough to shred them all. The Padawan knew she couldn’t hope to stop them, couldn’t even hope to slow them, not with the sheer momentum they had built up. The air rushed out of her lungs in a cry of effort as she gathered what power she had and nudged them, not to stop but to redirect the storm as she shards went clattering into the side of the wall, scant millimeter’s from the back of the closest ranger.

The Jedi scrambled to her feet, planting herself between Maria and the Rangers as they scrambled away behind her. The familiar thrum of a lightsaber split the air, the b;ue light of her blade painting Asara’s skin in a purple hue as she fell back on her training. SHe could feel the cool metal of the hilt twirling through her hands as the blade sang out to snag shard after shard of metal as the Padawan was forced first one step back and then another. It was very much like her training for the Barrier of blades, except this wasn’t using stinging energy bolts but shards of metal that could shear off a limb if she made even one slip.

“You know I can’t do that, if I run they die if I stay then you never know, I might get lucky.”

A step back, and another step as she fell into the dance, blade and force singing out to block and redirect shard after shard of the wave the cyborg threw at her. The unrelenting pressure drove the Padawan back, as she sank into the pattern, no longer thinking about it just letting her instinct and the force guide her defence. Yet try as she might, she wasn’t fast enough, or strong enough to block them all as shards slipped through her guard to slice across her cheek, her leg and her arms as splashes of blood danced of her skin to decorate the deck around her.

One more step, another blast of pain as the metal sliced across the flesh of her tight that sent the Padawan wavering, almost dropping her guard. She was aware that she was outmatched by this opponent, but every second she held her here meant that other people could escape. Taking a deep breath she stepped forward into the storm, her saber flicking out in front of her as she inched towards Maria.

 

[Raven Sorenova]

Objective 2
Opponent: Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sith
Allies: SJO and other allied forces

Raven followed along with Jyoti and Asaraa, coming from the landing craft into a low crouch with her blaster pistol gripped with both hands. If there was nothing else, she certainly knew how to handle a blaster. Overhearing what Jyoti spoke over the comms, she knew what her job was, and that was to support Jyoti in any way that she could. She couldn't help but note the fear that she felt the second her feet hit the landing pad. She was soon to be in the thick of it, and she knew not what she would come across. Caution was her best ally, as she found it to be at this point.

She nodded in response to the advice given to her. She took the lightsaber to have another weapon at her disposal, even though she knew naught about swordplay. Skilled swordplay. She could feel the dark aura of stronger enemies beyond. And though she knew not too much of it, the feeling only gave her a sense of the severity of the situation. But she was here now, and she steeled herself for what was to come.

"I'm ready when you are," she spoke with slight uncertainty.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Objective: 1,3
Allies: SJ | [member="Jessica Med-Beq"] | [member="Gir Quee"] | [member="Stephanie Swail"]
Enemies: [member="Arlen Rossi"] | [member="Maria Bentley"]

The detonation of the Victory-class was impressive. Debris went everywhere, and upon seeing the onrushing cloud, Thano ordered her ship into the 'shadow' of one of the other corvettes. That put them more or less between the enemy and the Silver Jedi squadron, but there was little else that could be done. The unfriendly vessel took the major hits that might otherwise have found the Faragrim. Moments later, the carrier went up as well, adding to the debris cloud.

Then came the notice of new arrivals. Though the captain was aware of how it might look, she had the vessel brought into the field and powered down as much as they dared. Warm systems, but no running lights or engines. Shields up just enough to prevent the unstable field from damaging the ship. Combined with the stealth systems, enough to virtually disappear. The sensors, however, ran at full power. One of the reasons she was hired was that her logic was similar to her employer's, and right now it was wondering just how these ships were adding up. Ships had to be maintained, pirates had to have profit. The Victory itself had to carry upwards of three thousand souls, probably much more, the Ton Falk would be around a thousand? Plus the corvettes, the fighters and assault teams? And that was just the first wave. Not to mention that the second wave had arrived after the heavy vessels in the first had been destroyed and showed no signs of retreating. This was a significant operation, which meant a lot of money was involved. She wanted to know who and why.

The death toll of the Victory and Ton Falk could be clearly felt by Audren. He'd not played a major role in space combat before and hadn't been this close to the destruction of such large vessels. The sudden loss of life didn't shock him, but it did send some ice water through his veins. This was war at these casualty rates, not just a skirmish. To one side, the approaching debris field was clearly visible. The two Uglies behind him turned tail and fled, apparently hoping to outrun the deadly storm. It would just keep coming though: friction was negligible in vacuum. The Sephi, in contrast, finished off his target and turned his fighter into the field. This way he could better avoid the dangerous bits and no other fighters would try to keep up with him. It was with this that his limited precognitive skills worked wonders as he could tell if another shard of metal was in the blind spot of the one he was avoiding.

Once he had a handle on the new obstacle course, he changed direction towards the newcomers. Bombers and fighters close in, a couple larger ships further out. The latter were ignored, he wasn't going to do much against those today. It looked like Jade squadron was already hitting those bombers, and fighters were approaching to try and draw them off. He pulled the same tactic: hit them while focused elsewhere. They didn't even see him coming for them - three fighters were downed in short order, and though he thought he glimpsed one of his bolts hitting an A-wing didn't see it go down. When the fighters realized the threat targeting them they reacted, but he just switched his own targets to the close-packed bombers. A well-placed missile could shred two or three of them, and grouped barrages were likely to hit something.

These ships were attacking the station primarily. Oh, they defended themselves from attacks, but this...it was all oriented around the station. What was going on here?

 

[Maria Bentley]

Maria would grit her teeth as her senses picked up on another Jedi, this one significantly outstripped her in terms of raw power, this had to be a master. She had barely a few moments to process the situation, but she was not weighing up whether fighting this Jedi was worth it. The fire would tire and weaken her ability to fight quite significantly, thereby making it much more dangerous for her to take on another foe. So she made a split second decision to back away from this engagement! Maria would move into action in a split second, her body becoming a blur as she flung herself back down the corridor and out into the open once more.

She bounded across the sand until she reached a potential vantage point, her body tensing to launch herself up into the air to land on a nearby antenna. She perched herself on the end and gazed out cross the area, her eyes zooming in on certain objects. Whever the presence was, she was not visible. Maria steadied herself and placed on hand onto her blade. She could not discount trickery, the enemy may already be upon her and she needed to remain alert.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]