The Merchant Fleet

[Malia Afredane]

Wicked Grace
Team 2

They jumped, the lines of blue illuminating the cockpit. Everything was going pretty standard until she heard the clamps give way from the hull and Rusty's com devolve into a series of bleeps that clouded out his profanity. He was sailing along side the Grace, Gertrude in his hands and a string of bleeps on her com.

"Great. Aim for ship Rusty, don't get dead."

She opened up the sublight engines on Gracie, dipping the yoke as the saucer spun down and opened fire on a few TIE's boiling out of the second ship, stray shots fizzled out by the shielding on the dreadnaught. She pointed past some of the fighters, to a point on the Sith ship where the shield generator was known to be vulnerable.

"Kaia, can you hit that external conduit? We can't land until I can get those shields down."

[member="Kaia Starchaser"] @Rusty

 

[Rusty]

Heading towards Sith ships, ETA 12 minutes
Team 2

"Gee, Captain, thanks for the tip."

Well, this could go very badly for Rusty. At the Captain's request, he had on a combat EVA suit, since she didn't really want to deal with him all vacuum-high with Gertrude in a confined space. It had emergency thrusters, which would definitely be enough to kill his momentum when he got close, but only if he didn't waste all of his fuel maneuvering. Well, it was a good thing Gertrude actually had a pretty high thrust to weight ratio in microgravity.

Time now to come up with a flight plan and a safe fire area. The Shard began running the numbers. There was a cone he could safely fire in without risking hitting any friendly ships that would also push him towards the target. That was easy to figure out. All he had to do was send the information in. That, and hope they got the shields down in time. Given that this was essentially a hit and run raid, the shields should be a top priority, which meant he should be fine.

Too many variables to be sure, but that was life.

::Break break break, this is Whiskey Golf 2. Be advised, I am extravehicular at this time. Requesting free fire corridor, sending geometries now.::

The battle controllers should have his call sign, and while they might be confused, they knew anyone outside of a craft had no business requesting a free fire corridor. Basically, that meant that anything entering the cone was a valid target. Fighters could enter, but did so at their own risk. How was someone outside of a ship possibly going to cover such a large area of space?"

::Whiskey Gold 2, this is Overlord Actual. Say again your last. Are you requesting extraction?::

Rusty would have rolled his eyes if he had any.

"Oh for the love of..."

::Negative Overlord, I am not requesting extraction. I am requesting a free fire corridor.::

::Whiskey, be advised, your clearance for free fire corridor has been denied.::

::Say again your last Overlord? You came in broken and stupid.::

The outburst of expletives that followed was enough to make the Shard wish he was working with actual military personnel. This privateer business was for the birds.

::Be advised, Overlord, this is an open net. Watch your language, and check your telemetry. You can figure out if I need the corridor yourself. Whiskey Golf 2 out.::

"It was a boring conversation anyway," Rusty muttered to himself as he got ready to unleash hell.

The battle box was mag clamped to the back of his suit, with the ammo belt and power cable feeding under his right arm. The Shard braced Gertrude against his right hip and activated the telemetry link between the old girl and his HUD.

The TIEs were practically boiling out of the enemy ships. Rusty had his fair share of targets.

There was no sound as the massive rifle ripped out round after round of armor piercing incendiary ammunition. The flash, on the other hand, was so bright, Rusty resembled a miniature pulsar.

The first TIE caught three rounds through the cowling around the engine before a fourth punched through and broke containment. It vanished in a spray of plasma.

The second TIE caught a lucky round through the viewport. It shattered, and the round continued on to punch through the pilot's left lung. Blood instantly boiled as it was exposed to hard vacuum, and the pressure differential was enough to partially remove the lung from the chest cavity. The TIE spiraled off into deep space, no longer a threat to anyone.

The third and fourth TIEs died when number three found itself unable to maneuver as a round clipped the power to its thrusters, and the fourth, unaware that his wingman was dead in space, collided with him instead of completing the preplanned maneuver.

The radio crackled to life.

::Whiskey Golf 2, this is Overlord Actual. Free Fire Corridor approved. Updating geometries now. Overlord out.::

"About Force-[bleep]ed time."

Now all he had to do was hope no one decided to investigate too closely, and scratch the backs of any X-wings that flew into the new corridor. Oh, and hope the shield went down before he splatted against it. That was important too.

 

[Kaia Starchaser]

Kaia was a pilot, and by nature she was a Starchaser. That meant she was instinctively an astrogator. Had she made the jump, they may have been able to land right on the ship. Okay, maybe she wasn’t as good as her father was, but still, the possibility? The girl had been raised on an Imperial Star Destroyer, trained with a sniper rifle and TIE Advanced from an early age. She was one who knew how to hit targets. The fact that her family was an old Imperial family, and they were doing their best to free the galaxy.

She was of that kind of Empire. The one who had allied with the Republic millennia ago. So this? Taking down the Final Order? The One Sith? Supporting the Galactic Alliance? It was basically what she was made for.

“Just watch me.” She grinned, grabbing a control yolk for one of the guns. A few shots went astray, but she was learning the vessel. Falling into the Force, she could now feel [member="Rusty"] out there. The metal body was a bit easier for her to understand than an organic. And she could feel Mal as well. Squeezing the trigger, she kept firing at the conduit. That shield was going down.

[member="Malia Afredane"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie took her place at the gun turret, all too happy to be doing so. She grinned. This was it. They'd end this, get paid, and then they'd be one step closer to starting their life together as man and... wife? She was going to be a wife. Did that... change anything? No. No, of course not.
...Right?"

"Lorane, promise you'll never change."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor grinned as he put the Bluebird into a spin that sent the nearest TIE squadron scattering. A totally separate part of him mind was thinking wow, I'm gonna marry this woman. He was excited, really excited, but he wanted to be the same way he was around Rawnie now.

"I wouldn't give up the way we are now for anything. Settling down is... against my nature, I guess."​

Team 1

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

The inside of the Dark-blade class was a maze of corridors. Most of the lights were out, only a skeleton crew of droids checked systems and diagnostics as the vessels were towed to Final Order space. Yet in the silence, the air carried the sound of mirth down those corridors. Music echoed down the hallways, occasionally punctuated by bursts of laughter. Deep down in the ship, in the officer's mess, Final Order stormtroopers sat around a circular table. Some had their helmets off, others their gloves to better manoeuvre their cards.

The Wildcard Platoon had a fearsome reputation when it came to gambling, and even greater one when it came to the field. Four six-body strong squads didn't seem a great deal, but these were hardened veterans from numerous campaigns. They played hard, they fought hard. Off the rader of their superiors, and assuming nothing would generally be a problem through the trip, they had settled in for some "R&R" on the long voyage.

"Come on Carl, man up or fold!" someone shouted.

"I'll take my time thank you very much," the trooper replied, his voice distorted by his helm.

"Get a fething move on!" came a call, which was followed by a large white object flying across the room. The helmet bounced off the side of Carl's on, nearly knocking the cards from his hand.

"You cheeky bastard!" Carla called, but he shifted a few more chits into the pile.

The lights dimmed and flashed red. Klaxons blared. Within moments the squads were weapons free and lining up outside the barracks. The table had been left as it was. As far as Wildcard Platoon was concerned, the chance of anything seriously interrupting what had been a good game was slim.

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

Rawnie's attention was mostly on her targets. She watched them weave in and out, scattering, but she was patient, careful, calculating. She picked her target well, firing a single shot before it burst into a brief flicker of flames that was quickly extinguished by the vacuum of space.

"Settling down? Who said anything about settling?"

She picked her next target, following it with the eyes of a hunter.

"Do you think that when we marry, we'll stop this? No. It just means we'll be taking a few more trips back to Mandalore."

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

Lor laughed as they continued to weave between the fighters. Rawnie was a much better shot than he'd expected, compared to the last time they flew together.

"I'd kiss you, but I'm a little busy spinning around."

Another TIE got vaped, and Lor chuckled at Rawnie's smile some more.​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"Later then, Cyar'ika."

Her eyes followed the next fighter as it swerved and dipped. This one knew she was on it. Shooting at it though, would confirm her attention to it. As well as draw attention from the others to Bluebird. No. She had to be patient. Wait for the right time.... Now.

She fired two shots this time, one right after another, both directly in the path of the fighter. The first one missed. She'd known it would miss. But the other? She never heard the explosion, but she saw it. Like a firework in black of space, flickering out in an instant.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Definitely."​

​

Lor spun the Bluebird around to face a pursuing TIE, and then raised his eyebrow as an X-Wing vaped it. He saw the ship on Rawnie's scope disappear in a flash of light. Wow, was she doing a great job, or what? It wasn't getting them any closer to the Dark Blade, though. A small strike ship, similar in size to theirs, dropped out of hyperspace and began taking potshots at anything resembling an Alliance ship.​

​

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"How're we doing, Lor?"

She already had her next target in her scope. She enjoyed this. It was a bit like sniping. Took patience and a steady hand. Had to think like the enemy, know where they'd go next so you could keep them in your sights. Sometimes, Rawnie felt like she just... knew. Not like her brothers creepy space wizard powers. More along the lines of her mothers luck. It was like a sixth sense.

She fired once more, joy filling her heart as yet another silent explosion flashed into nothingness.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Rekha Kaarde]

Rekha nodded and sat where she was needed “I’ll take the turret, it will make me feel better” Rekha smiled big guns were always here thing.

Rekha looked out, “Feth” they looked drastically outnumbered. She began talking to herself, “Sure we can do this, we are…invincible, we are….possibly gonna get our butts shot off” hhahahaha she wiggled in her seat.

“I love a target rich environment, makes me not need the caf so much for stimulation” She smiled again, she wondered was anyone wondering what was wrong with her.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

Sorry so short.

 

[Doctor Azure]

"We're not getting any closer to the ship itself, at least as long as that other ship's in our way"

Lor steered Bluebird towards the other strike ship, dancing around it to keep the stronger part of the shields facing the almost idiotic firing pattern of the turrets on it.

"Fire the railgun at it, visahot."

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

"On it!"

He turned the ship so she could finally get a good view of their new target. Great.

"Haatyc or'arue jate'shya ori'sol aru'ike nuhaatyc..." She murmured. Better one big enemy that you can see than many small ones you can't.

Well, bigger, in any case. Hitting ti fighters took patience. This was much easier. She fired everything she had. Not hard to hit, honestly.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Doctor Azure]

The Bluebird drifted sideways so that Rawnie could keep firing the main gun at the other big ship, and Lor took over the firing controls for the missiles. The shields took a bit of a beating as small bits of exploded debris hit it, but that was okay. The enemy was bound to lose shields, too, with the way this was going. Excellent.

[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

She kept her eyes focused ahead, her hands steady on the controls. Each blast fired from bluebird was followed to it's end by her gaze. Her mind moved faster than she could register what she was really thinking. She was chipping away. Little at a time. This was patience, cold, icy patience.

"A little bit more..." she murmured.

[member="Doctor Azure"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Rekha Kaarde"] [member="Dirks Hutchinson"], [member="Judah Dashiell"] [member="Jamie El-Eison"] [member="Rawnie Tal'verda"] [member="Doctor Azure"]

The three dimensional swarm of dots behind Kairon showed that the main swarm of TIE’s had been pulled away to engage the first team. In one respect this was good news, Rees thought as Mai relayed it. On the other hand, they had to deal with the interceptors before they could make their run. The Bluebird had done an exceptional job of thinning the herd, but they needed the X-Wings to provide cover to the heavier vessels and the bombers as they made their run.

“Team two, make your landing, we’re under a lot of heat and we’ve got to make our run soon!” Kairon called into the comm. His hands ran across the controls and moved to the countermeasures, dispensing a burst of chaff to shake off a stray missile. The Quintessence banked around slowly, and the Dark-blades came into view. Whilst Mai had to full sensor read out, that only a dedicated crew member could deal with, his simple display still showed the first team heading for the targets.

“[Two starboard!]” the Sullustan called. Kairon pulled a quick feint with the nose of the quin, before dropping down and putting the advancing fighters in line with the pair of dorsal turrets.

“Ahead!” Mai called quickly. “Coming in too fast!” Kairon reached for the ordnance controls and locked onto the flight of TIEs. Two concussion missiles blazed a blue trail through space and the formation scattered. The slowest to react were disabled by the missiles, but the unshielded light fighters still suffered significant kinetic damage. It had been far more important to halt their attack run, than actually bring any down. A quick burst of laser fire chased the remaining pair off.

“Team One, form up, we’re going to make our first attack run as soon as the second team has landed!”

 

[Malia Afredane]

Team Two
Taking out the shields

A couple more shots and Mal pulled Grace hard over, dodging the TIE down her sides. Grace took a glancing shot on rear shields but they were holding for the moment. As they doubled back, Mal got a couple shots on the ship and saw them contact the hull.

"Looks like we're good for a landing. Rusty! It's time to go!"

She spun the Grace around and checked the radar for where Rusty might be sailing through space, her brow furrowed in anger.

"Where is that karking robot?"

She looked over to Kaia, pointing to the open space between the ships, where more TIE's might come from.

"Fire through there, make sure I've got a clear lane once I find him."

[member='Kaia Starchaser'] [member='Rusty']

 

[Doctor Azure]

"Gotcha, Kairon. We'll take point. Don't want anybody in the way of the railgun."​

​

Lor pulled away from the enemy strike ship as it suddenly got a hole blown in it. He leaned over to kiss Rawnie on the cheek quickly, and then brought the Bluebird around into the formation with the X-wings that were to escort them, firing off another missile or two to deter any pursuers.​

​

"Well, now we can get this dance over with and have some cake."​

​

[member="Kairon Rees"] [member='Rawnie Tal'verda']​

 

[Rawnie Tal'verda]

The blonde smirked as he kissed her cheek, pausing in her assault for the moment until they got into position.

"Ice cream too?" she asked, giving him a quick wink before turning her attention back to the view, "Nothing better than cake and icecream."

Except maybe coffee and sex, but she didn't add that. Didn't need to.

[member="Doctor Azure"]