Mission Tour of Duty

[Priesse Namada]

Location: Deep Space, Perlemian Trade Route - Mid Rim
Tag: Wilhelm Vonreg Bido Roz’lyn Ronhar Tane Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Van Trask Hypheer Vhyrn

The programmable matter responded instantly after Priesse punched in the code for her cockpit’s custom configuration into the console. The controls, displays, and ergonomics flowed and reshaped around her petite frame, shifting around to fit her stature and preferences. In only a few seconds, the factory-fresh TIE Sprite was as familiar to her as the simulator pods and training TIEs she had flown back at the academy. Within seconds, the Seseli settled into the routine of her pre-flight checks, hands moving with purposeful grace as she cycled through everything from the Feilong repulsors to the sensors and targeting systems. A routine that the Imperial academy on Mahporeem had relentlessly drilled into her until it was as reflexive as breathing.

“This is Titan Ten, reporting all systems green. Requesting clearance for takeoff!” Priesse called into the comm as her hands settled around the yoke.

“Clearance granted, Titan Ten.” Came the calm, feminine voice of the flight controller at the other end.

Right on cue, the tiny TIE Sprite surged out of the hangar, swiftly crossing the threshold of the magnetic field to enter the vacuum beyond. Priesse immediately noted Titan Nine’s ( Bido Roz’lyn ) modified DS-47 TIE Advanced flying behind her, strut-mounted quad plasma cannons dominating its profile. Her squadmate’s craft was significantly better armed than the diminutive Sprite, but she knew instinctively—confirmed with only a quick glance at the DS-47’s posture and movements—that her own machine was notably more agile.

Thus, as Titan Nine moved to engage the pirate’s frigate, Priesse held station for the incoming squadrons of pirate starfighters. Scanning the enemy small craft formations through the electroscope array, she caught sight of an eclectic mix of small craft, which the computer promptly identified as Cumulus-class snub-fighters, E-wings, Tau Devastator-series StarWing bombers, Trill T-Wing II missile boats, and a few assorted Uglies. All were led by a Z-95 Headhunter ( Hypheer Vhyrn ) painted in crimson colors, which was seemingly angling for a strafing run on the INV Titan.

Priesse didn’t hesitate. She whipped her Sprite around in an Eimalgan turn and before diving behind, then below the INV Titan while accelerating to attack delta-v. From there, she angled her nose back up, so that she was now approaching the incoming pirates from below and perpendicular to their vector, in order to minimize her exposure to their guns.

All the while, a cascade of precognitive shimmers bloomed within her perception, verifying her suspicion that the pirates were moving to attack the Titan. She saw turbolaser batteries blown off of their mounts, shields going off in electromagnetic discharges, beams lancing through the void, and starfighters blown to shrapnel.

Premonitions of the coming slaughter.

Priesse accelerated, lining up for her attack run on the bombers at the rear of the pirate formation. Once more, pseudo-precognitive shimmers of blossoming fire filled her awareness—bomber-laid concussion mines going off and tearing apart both her and the TIE Sprite. She sent out a scanner pulse, and suddenly the mines were projected across her HUD overlay.

She wove, ducked, and dived through the minefield in a sequence of graceful maneuvers. Upon clearing the last of the mines, she pointed her TIE’s chin at a bomber’s central fuselage and laid on the guns. At her mental command, kinetic death spat forth from the autocannons. HEAT rounds phased through deflector shields via their energy-reflective ultrachrome coatings before lancing through alusteel plating and going off in a cascade of plasma detonations that ripped the craft apart from the inside out.

“Splash one!”

Spoiler: Loadout

Craft: FAE/TIE Series “Sprite” Ultralight Starfighter

• Status
  
  • Shields: 100%
  • Hull: 100%
  • Structure: 100%
• Armament
  
  • FAE/SW-19 Light Linear Motor Autocannon (2)
• Pilot Equipment
  
  • FAE/A-09 Anti-G Suit
  • BG-D 6 “Outlaw”
    
    • Attachments
      
      • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
    • Ammunition
      
      • Metallic Slug Magazine (4)
      • Battery

 

[Wilhelm Vonreg]

T O U R_O F_D U T Y

IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION
PERLEMIAN TRADE ROUTE, MID RIM

​

Vonreg's TIE Destroyer emerged from the hangar of the INV Titan flanked by a pair of TIE Supremacies as the veteran Imperial ace pilot proceeded to join the rest of Titan Squadron in confronting the rest of the Pirate Fleet that had attempted to ambush them. Already the data had come through about the composition of the enemy force, one customized cruiser, two corvettes, a frigate and four squadrons of a mixed assortment of open-market starfighters. A formidable force when it came to raiding hyperlanes but nothing compared to the might of a single Imperial Star Destroyer.

Thus as the INV Titan began deploying the rest of it's Starfighter compliment, Vonreg's would immediately proceed to accelerate his TIE forward charging towards the hostile fleet, eager to show them the true might of the Confederation's best pilots. As his TIE Destroyer took the lead he proceeded to give a single instruction to the rest of Titan Squadron. "Titan Squadron, this is Titan Leader. Weapons free. Engage all hostiles.". As the other members of the Squadron would register the orders, Vonreg would silently smile underneath his helmet : This was where the fun began.

Tags | Priesse Namada | Rieva "Killshot" Alonn | Bido Roz’lyn | Ronhar Tane | Hypheer Vhyrn | OPEN​

 

[Bido Roz’lyn]

Personal Loadout:

• Ship — DS-47
• Sidearm
• Personal energy shield
• Ear clickers

KILLSHOT — GREEN. READY TO ENGAGE.

"Titan Squadron, this is Titan Leader. Weapons free. Engage all hostiles.".

With that, Priesse Namada 's tiny ship sprung into action, and Bido's own DS-47 leapt after it. Titan Ten's tiny little fighter broke off from Wilhelm Vonreg 's lead right away, arcing behind, then beneath the INV Titan to cover their approach. Bido's slower ship struggled to keep up with the much more agile tie Sprite, so she had to cut her corners earlier and shorter to stay with Ten. Only Bido's advanced experience gave her the kind of intuition she needed to keep up with the faster ship.

Behind her, Bido was confident that Rieva "Killshot" Alonn would have little trouble keeping up. Killshot was a good pilot and her Raptor V-Wing was certainly fast enough for this.

Suddenly, Bido's Ear clickers lit up with sensor pings coming from Priesse Namada through her OSIVP software. Titan Ten's flight path brought her right through an enemy laid minefield, which her little fighter seemed to have no trouble navigating. Bido quickly tapped a couple buttons to relay the sensor data to Rieva "Killshot" Alonn and then proceeded to follow through the minefield.

Once they were cleared, Titan Ten immediately zeroed in on a light bomber and proceeded to pummel it. Deciding to back up her squad mates in a supporting role, Bido thumbed over to her Bug Spray missiles and acquired eight targets amongst the enemy squadron immediately. She then loosed the missiles with a trigger pull and the parent missile rocketed out from its tube. At this range, it wasted no time rupturing its fairings and eight more smaller munitions blossomed out to cover all eight of their respective targets. Bido was fairly certain that the missiles alone would not be enough to cripple the enemy squadron. But the missiles would be troublesome and advanced enough to disrupt their attack pattern and occupy their attention. With Titan Ten as exposed up front as she was, Bido hoped the missiles would give her some breathing room to do her job. She hoped it would to the same for Rieva "Killshot" Alonn .

"Killshot, this is Nine! Those missiles should give you an opening! You take lead, and I'll cover you!"

Wilhelm Vonreg Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Ronhar Tane Priesse Namada Hypheer Vhyrn Kaine Hamilton Silvia Evenol

 

[Rieva "Killshot" Alonn]

Killshot caught the incoming sensor burst the moment it hit her displays, the minefield resolving into clean vectors and safe corridors. Her hands adjusted almost instinctively, the Raptor threading the same path Titan Ten had carved through moments earlier; both tight and precise with no wasted motion.

The stars ahead erupted as Nine’s missiles split and scattered, enemy contacts flaring as their formations broke under the sudden pressure. It was the opening she’d been waiting for. “Copy that, Nine,” Killshot replied, already pushing her V-wing forward as the throttle opened up. “Taking lead.”

She surged past the disrupted enemy line, snapping her fighter into an aggressive intercept angle. Targeting reticles danced across her screen as she selected her mark, engines screaming as she committed fully to the attack run. “Stay on my six,” she added calmly. “I’ll punch us through.” The Raptor dove into the chaos, Killshot steady at the controls as the battle closed in fast.

Tags: Bido Roz’lyn Wilhelm Vonreg Ronhar Tane Priesse Namada Hypheer Vhyrn Kaine Hamilton Silvia Evenol

 

[Priesse Namada]

Location: Deep Space, Perlemian Trade Route - Mid Rim
Tag: Wilhelm Vonreg Bido Roz’lyn Ronhar Tane Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Van Trask Hypheer Vhyrn

A fresh, violent tide of precognitive shimmers exploded within Priesse’s awareness as the missiles fired by Titan Nine raced towards their targets. In an instant, shimmers of the pirates’ most probable evasion patterns came to light. She saw the ghostly preimages of pilots jinking left and right, diving and climbing. She perceived apparitions of those who would seek to outrun the missiles versus those who would gamble on shooting them. Panic warred against discipline, unleashing a lattice of wild flight paths as the enemy formation came on the verge of shattering.

The sensory torrent was nearly paralyzing.

Nevertheless, Priesse pursed her lips, eyes narrowing in concentration as she vectored towards a Cumulus-class snub-fighter and a StarWing bomber whose shimmers showed a dangerously high probability of intersecting. With a quick mental command, she opened fire, unleashing a precise burst of HEAT slugs into the void between their current positions in an attempt to threaten one of their only safe evasion vectors.

The shimmering paths coalesced and turned red within her awareness.

Already stressed by the incoming warhead, the snub-fighter pilot instinctively veered onto the alternate vector. The bomber pilot, his attention focused on the sensor readout to track the incoming missile, didn’t process the change in course until it was too late.

The snub-fighter and the bomber met in a violent embrace, before erupting in a blossoming plume as ordnance and fuel ignited in a catastrophic chain reaction.

All the while, Priesse felt her head begin to throb.

Spoiler: Loadout

Craft: FAE/TIE Series “Sprite” Ultralight Starfighter

• Status
  
  • Shields: 100%
  • Hull: 100%
  • Structure: 100%
• Armament
  
  • FAE/SW-19 Light Linear Motor Autocannon (2)
• Pilot Equipment
  
  • FAE/A-09 Anti-G Suit
  • BG-D 6 “Outlaw”
    
    • Attachments
      
      • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
    • Ammunition
      
      • Metallic Slug Magazine (4)
      • Battery

 

[Hypheer Vhyrn]

Objective: Cause havoc, protect the fleet
Location: Perlemian Trade Route, Mid Rim
Outfit: Flightsuit
Tags: Wilhelm Vonreg | Bido Roz’lyn | Ronhar Tane | Rieva "Killshot" Alonn | Van Trask | Silvia Evenol | Priesse Namada

The first run at the Star Destroyer was unfettered by enemy fightercraft. Hypheer still needed to dink and dunk around turbolaser fire, but those were not meant to stem a fighter attack. That was just reactions of a trained crew that knew they had to do something when they were ambushed.

A big reason why the Star Destroyer lacked weapons to defend against fighters was because one pass by a squad of fighters was not enough to disable the larger ship. It had a full compliment of fighters that would be able to launch before a group of pesky gnats would be able to bring down the ship. And launch they certainly did. Hypheer grinned as she saw engine lines pulse out of the Destroyer's hangar bays. The first step that the frigate had done on approach to the Destroyer was to lay down mines. Hypheer guessed there would be a few explosions before she needed to engage.

"Enemy fighters Rocket Squad. Be patient. Let them find our surprises and then move to engage," Hypheer issued the order and looked over her sensors to see where she should hit the incoming fighters.

"Queen, I'm not good at waiting," Rez responding, always seemingly the one to make Hypheer's life difficult.

"Then charge in and trigger the mines yourself Rez. You probably won't be missed much. If you really need me to tell you exactly how to spend your time take another run at the Destroyer if you can't wait your turn…" Hypheer grumbled as she looked over the readout of the approaching enemy fighters. She switched from squad comm to a channel that only included her astromech. "RX the sensors can't be right…this enemy squad is just as much a mishmash as Rocket Squad. I thought these Imperials were all about uniformity." The droid squealed indicating that the sensors were indeed correct about the make up of the enemy squadron.

As Hypheer considered what this mixture of enemy fighters would mean for her and her squad's tactics, the first enemy approached the line of mines laid down by the Last Chance. Hypheer smirked only to have the small craft, TIE for sure, but a new design, burst through the mines untouched. The ship made a beeline for Rocket three, a bomber, and one quick explosion later Rocket Squad was down to only eleven.

"Chit. Wonder if this trap wasn't set for us instead of the other way around. These guys may be quite good," Hypheer muttered to herself as her instruments rang with a warning of an incoming missile. "RX are we the targ…" the incoming missile did not seem necessarily directed at Hypheer, but before she could finish the question to her droid the single missile "exploded" into multiple within Rocket Squadron. Hypheer was definitely one of the targets now.

Hypheer hoped she had trained Rocket Squadron well enough that she didn't need to order them to go evasive. She had to worry about herself after all. Pirates weren't much for attacking convoys with able defenses, and though Hypheer was the most talented fighter pilot Iron Hand had at his disposal, she was a swoop racer in a starfighter. She had never seen something as sophisticated as the Imperial missiles now aimed at her and her squadron.

"RX got any advice?" Hypheer called out. The droid was programmed with much more tactical data than Hypheer could hope to accumulate over her lifetime. A worried warble is what came in response. "Don't get hit," was not exactly what Hypheer was looking for. Explosions were taking place outside Hypheer's cockpit. Some obliterating squadmates, some just causing damage. Hypheer decided to avoid and go offensive at the same time. She looped around towards the small TIE craft that had pushed through the mine field.

The missile gained much faster than Hypheer had thought it would. As she banked towards the smaller enemy ship urgent warning trills came from RX. She didn't have time to read the display translating what RX had said. She knew it was bad. Just as she prepared to make another juke hoping to shake the missile, there was an explosion in front of her. Two more fighters from Rocket Squadron eliminated. Hypheer didn't know if it was missiles or the miniature TIE, and it didn't make a lot of difference. As she throttled up to engage the TIE the missile exploded against her port side.

"RX?" before she could give a direct question the droid gave damage assessment. Whatever jinking that Hypheer had done on instinct had minimized the hit. Hull and structure took some damage, but they were holding. "Alright then. Let's start fighting back!" She narrowed in on the mini-TIE and fired her laser cannons before she even had a lock. Hypheer was announcing her presence loudly, not efficiently.

Spoiler: Loadout

• Status
  • Shields: 100%
  • Hull: 75%
  • Structure: 85%
• Armament
  • Wing mounted linked laser cannons(2)
  • Concussion Missile Launchers(2 w/3 missiles each)
• Droid
  • C1-RX
• Pilot Equipment
  • Custom Armored Flight Suit
  • Enyo PDW Survival Blaster
  • Vibroblade

 

[Void Toll]

Objective: Take the Imperial cargo ship
Location: Perlemian Trade Route, Mid Rim
Tags: Wilhelm Vonreg | Bido Roz’lyn | Ronhar Tane | Rieva "Killshot" Alonn | Van Trask | Silvia Evenol | Priesse Namada

With his minions dispersed to create as much chaos as possible, Iron Hand looked out the viewport as the cargo ship that was his prize became larger and larger. Fighters were buzzing around in the captain's vision, enemy and pirate alike. The turbo lasers sounded in glory as they peppered in all directions except straight ahead towards the cargo ship.

"Captain the fighters are taking heavy casualties. The Void-Cutter is taking heavy damage and requests permission to withdraw from the fight," the words were relayed in the grating voice of the Eater's First Mate.

"Profits aren't shared with pirates that flee!" the Captain responded angrily. "You tell the Cutter that if they enter hyperspace before I am ready for them to do so they best not show their faces anywhere along the Perlemian." The First Mate nodded and pushed the shoulder of the pirate next to him to deliver the bad news.

"We are closing in on range to begin the boarding. Have the Vultures ready to launch. I want whatever is in the hold of that cargo ship. You don't send a Star Destroyer to protect food rations," Iron Hand barked out his orders.

"Craft are ready to launch. Vultures are all on board, just waiting for orders and word on who leads the boarding," the First Mate hoped the Captain would be happy with the state of readiness.

"You will be leading them. Get down to the hangar immediately. When you arrive, launch. Do not wait for an order. Just go!" The First Mate stood with a fearful haste. He gave a pirate salute and rushed off the bridge.

"Helm. As soon as the Vulture craft are away go hard to port and move to engage the Imperial corvettes and frigates." Iron Hand ordered with a grin forming on his lips. "Starboard batteries will clear the way for the Vultures, forward and port batteries will target the smaller capital ships."

"Captain, I thought we were going to join in the assault on the Star Destroyer," came a confused response from the helm.

"Rocket Squad and Last Call are an acceptable sacrifice to secure the prize. I won't risk the Star Eater. We must remain close to the cargo ship to collect the Vultures when they are done picking the carcass," Iron Hand gave a bit of a laugh. "Once the treasure is in the hangar we will be retreating. Whoever survives will get a piece of the pie. Those who didn't will be celebrated for their sacrifice."

Spoiler: Pirate Fleet

• Star-Eater – Custom Cruiser
• Void-Cutter - Marauder-class Assault Corvette
• Ghost-RunnerRaider-class Corvette
• Last ChanceLaner-class Frigate
• 4 squadrons of mixed antique starfighters
  • Varied degrees of casualties

 

[Ronhar Tane]

CAPTAIN RONHAR TANE, TK-3301
PERLEMIAN TRADE ROUTE
MID RIM

By this point, the enemy Marauder-class Assault Corvette was starting to smoke heavily, and Ronhar could tell that the vessel had just lost power to its main engines. It began to drift helplessly away, heading straight toward the Fortune of War. At this point, the ship was really no longer a threat, and as much as Ronhar might have enjoyed blowing it to high hell, he thought better of it. After all, Admiral Kaine Hamilton had requested that they leave at least some prisoners alive to interrogate, and the Fortune of War could begin boarding procedures against the ship even with her rather small complement of troops on board.

In any case, Ronhar turned his attention back to the main battle at hand. The enemy starfighters were losing, and rather badly at that. At this rate, the mission would go from "dogfighting" to "mopping up" whatever managed to survive the continuous Imperial assault. Still, Ronhar couldn't get too cocky: even a Loth-cat would fight to the death if cornered, and Ronhar was sure that these pirates must have some sort of trick of their sleeve. After all, why else would they feel confident enough to attack a Confederation patrol with the paltry amount of forces that they had brought with them? Sure they didn't think they had enough firepower to take on a Star Destroyer?

Unless...

Of course! They were going for the Von Strauss, not the Star Destroyer! For a ship of its size, it was relatively underpowered and most definitely underarmed. Though its turbolaser turrets might give it a fighting chance against the enemy's cruiser, the ship would be little more than a sitting Porg for any marauding starfighers and boarding craft. That must have been their plan all along: run a diversion toward the Star Destroyer while the rest of the fleet engages the hapless cargo ship, taking as much as they could from it before Ronhar and the other starfighters had time to respond.

Ronhar knew better than anybody just how much cargo those ships could hold and consequently how valuable they were to the Imperial Remnant. The loss of even one of them was unacceptable, and Ronhar somehow doubted that the pirates would let the ship just leave once they finished ransacking it.

Cursing to himself, Ronhar shot off toward the cargo ship as quickly as he could, pushing the Fist of Mahporeem to its absolute limit. He could feel his ship protesting in response, the entire frame of the vessel vibrating as Ronhar continued to increase his speed. His battle with the Marauder had taken him out of position, rather isolated from the rest of the fighting, and he would have to be as quick as possible if he wanted to save the Von Strauss from certain destruction!

Ronhar dialed up his NZ SLAB-01 SubLight AfterBurner to its highest setting as he sped off in pursuit of the enemy...

TAGS:
Wilhelm Vonreg
Bido Roz’lyn
Rieva "Killshot" Alonn
Priesse Namada
Silvia Evenol
Hypheer Vhyrn
Van Trask

 

[Priesse Namada]

Location: Deep Space, Perlemian Trade Route - Mid Rim
Tag: Wilhelm Vonreg Bido Roz’lyn Ronhar Tane Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Van Trask Hypheer Vhyrn

Probability unfolded and blossomed inside Priesse’s perception. Her eyes widened when a torpedo fired by a StarWing bomber pulsed a dire red precognitive shimmer in her awareness as it sped towards one of the Titan’s U-beam cannon emplacements. She immediately angled her TIE towards the torpedo with a slight lead pursuit, before laying on the cannons. A burst of HEAT rounds streaked out, detonating the warhead mere seconds before it would have connected with its intended target, scattering its fury harmlessly into the void.

Simultaneously, a shimmer pulsed from dead ahead. The crimson Z-95 Headhunter flown by the pirate’s squadron leader angled towards her in a head-on joust, its cannons glowing hot with the lethal promise of probability.

Priesse second-guessed the shimmer. The bandit was still too far away to be within range for an accurate firing solution. Still, her hands moved, initiating a slight, pre-emptive nudge on the yoke. She would break to port as soon as the enemy was within standard laser cannon range and not a moment sooner, then—

The Z-95 fired.

Her shimmer-sense had been correct.

Priesse jerked the yoke hard, aborting the break to port in favor of a high-G snap-roll in the same direction. The starboard maneuvering jets fired in tandem, jinking the Sprite violently sideways. Black spots swarmed at the edges of her vision as the crushing g-forces pressed her into her seat. Still, the desperate evasive maneuver had spared her from the brunt of the Z-95’s laser burst. However, a pair of bolts grazed along the starboard solar array, bleeding more than three-quarters of her shield power in an instant. Beneath them, the photovoltaic cell blackened and cracked, opening an infrared-bright scar in the hull.

"I'm hit! My shields are critical!" Priesse gasped when the damage alert flared across her vision, twin hearts pounding inside her chest as sweat welled up from her pores. Nevertheless, her TIE still retained control authority. She steadied the quivering craft quickly, hands gripping the yoke as she briefly cut the main coaxium pulse-detonation engines and pulled it around into a tailslide drift to port via the gravity drives. Then, re-engaging the main engines, she sped off, her eyes widening as she swiftly processed the incoming stream of sensor data through the Ghost Link with the intention of reacquiring the Z-95 for a tail-chase pursuit!

Spoiler: Loadout

Craft: FAE/TIE Series “Sprite” Ultralight Starfighter

• Status
  
  • Shields: 21%
  • Hull: 84%
  • Structure: 98%
• Armament
  
  • FAE/SW-19 Light Linear Motor Autocannon (2)
• Pilot Equipment
  
  • FAE/A-09 Anti-G Suit
  • BG-D 6 “Outlaw”
    
    • Attachments
      
      • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
    • Ammunition
      
      • Metallic Slug Magazine (4)
      • Battery

 

[Bido Roz’lyn]

Personal Loadout:

• Ship — DS-47
• Sidearm
• Personal energy shield
• Ear clickers

As soon as Bido's missile ruptured into many smaller rockets, they began to feed data into her DS-47's computer. The missiles had a comprehensive sensory fusion protocol, which allowed them to cross-examine multiple sensor readings to extrapolate obscure data into high fidelity, deep penetration scans. As the missiles closed in on the pirate fighters and the lancer frigate, they would acquire detailed scans of every nook and cranny of the opposing ships. Through her Ear clickers, she rapidly tagged and labeled all of the weak-points on each enemy ship that would least likely cause fatalities to their respective pilots. With that, she quickly transmitted that data to her fellow squadron mates.

While the missiles closed the distance, the pirate fighters took a run at the INV Titan. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to break the larger ship, but Bido knew that if left unchecked, they could rapidly erode at the star destroyer's defenses. They would need her big turbolasers for dealing with that lancer frigate later…

"Stay on my six," she added calmly. "I'll punch us through."

Titan Seven shot ahead, taking full advantage of the opening that Bido's missiles were making, punching straight into the enemy formation. Bido automatically snapped into wing-mate mode, dipping in-and-out from behind Rieva "Killshot" Alonn 's Vulture and surrounding her in a covering veil of canon fire to reinforce her corridor of approach. Bido knew that once a pilot of Killshot's caliber was securely inside the pirate's formation that she'd be a like a Rancor in a tea-shop. All she had to do was get Killshot in there…

Titan Ten, herself, was another force to be reckoned with, for sure. Somehow, she skillfully managed to predict two intersecting pirate fighters and preemptively soaked that corridor with some kind of AP projectile weapon. Generally speaking, Bido was confident that those two pilots would make short work of this engagement.

The Bug Sprays met the enemy squadron. The arrival of the missiles threw the enemy cohesion into disarray before they struck. At Bido's updated instruction, the missiles aimed for non-lethal weak-points, angling to disable without killing the pilots. Those that could be crippled safely were quickly neutralized, but those that made non-lethal execution difficult though their flying were simply wounded instead. Those wounded fighters would still be a threat, but at least they were weakened for Titans Seven and Ten. Hopefully, the crippled fighters would be recoverable for interrogations later.

One particular starfighter—a variation of headhunter by the looks of it—stood out from the others. Not only did its pilot manage to mitigate missile damage by accelerating at the perfect time, but it also managed to simultaneously line up an attack vector on Titan 10 at the same time. Whoever this pilot was, they were clearly cut from a different cloth from the other pirates.

Cannon fire began to intensify in the vicinity around Ronhar Tane through Bido's Ear clickers. While autonomously shrouding Killshot with covering fire, Bido took a moment to analyze the situation regarding the enemy flagship and the cargo vessels. Despite being badly outnumbered, Ronhar and his squadron had managed to strip away the Star Eater's corvette escort and begin boarding action. However, with Ronhar's corvette now preoccupied, the Star Eater was left largely unchallenged to go ahead and begin plundering the Vaun Strauss cargo ship. Ronhar and his Fist of Mahporeem was alone in his counter charge, hoping to thwart the effort. If he didn't get help soon, he wasn't likely to succeed. Bido felt compelled to help him in some capacity…

She just hoped that her next action would not be seen as dereliction of duty…

Digging deep into her near-century of piloting experience, she ruddered hard into a side-slip and killed her stablizers. With nothing but naked, unassisted skill, she kept her fighter closely following Titan Seven while her nose was pointed directly at the Star Eater, practically flying sideways—using nothing but her maneuvering thrusters.

Straining her skills to their limits, she kept the Star Eater contained within her crosshairs while her targeting computer zeroed in on a lock. This, while staying securely on Killshot's tail, and coasting sideways. Once she could hear the tone, she loosed her last Bug Spray Missile.

This time, she fired her missile in Recon mode. In this configuration, the sub-munitions would be slower and have very little yield. But they would fly for longer and grant her constant sensor scans of the Star Eater's mechanical structure. In essence, they were just fancy recon drones in this mode. And they would provide extremely detailed data on the Star Eater.

With a swift rudder kick, she re-oriented her nose with her flight path and goosed the throttle to keep up with Killshot. Through her Ear clickers as a user interface, Bido began to transmit technical data to Ronhar and his attacking unit. Discreetly opening a channel to Ronhar, she said, "I'm sending you detailed intel of the enemy flag ship! Have your astromech pick out a weakness in the design and then use it!"

Bido knew that Ronhar's current forces would be unlikely to definitively kill the enemy cruiser, even with Bido's intel. But with any luck, by exploiting some kind of weakness in the cruiser, Ronhar could hit it hard and spook them to retreating.

Wilhelm Vonreg Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Ronhar Tane Priesse Namada Hypheer Vhyrn Kaine Hamilton

 

[Rieva "Killshot" Alonn]

Killshot drove her Raptor straight through the thinning pirate screen, engines steady, hands light on the controls. She didn’t fire. She didn’t need to. The targeting reticle swept across the lead fighter just long enough to force a decision, and the pirate made the wrong one - breaking hard, overcorrecting as panic bled into his turn. Another craft followed a heartbeat later, trying to mirror the maneuver, trying to stay alive.

They collided in her peripheral display. A flash. A violent tumble of hull and debris as both fighters tore themselves apart. Killshot neither slowed nor looked back, already adjusting her vector and re-centering her sensors on the remaining contacts.

A familiar friendly marker held tight off her six, unwavering despite the chaos. Good. She rolled slightly, opening the lane without needing to signal, her wingman slipping naturally into the space she left behind.

The pirates scattered. Formation dissolved into erratic, outward trajectories while engine flares bright as transponders spiked and vectors bent away from the fight. Retreat.

Killshot exhaled slowly, a tight line forming at the corner of her mouth. No shots fired. No direct kill. Just pressure, presence, and the knowledge that she would not break off. Her sensors cleared another lane ahead. Killshot rolled into it without hesitation, settling into pursuit posture as the battlefield emptied in her wake.

Good, she thought, calm and unshaken. Run.

Tags: Bido Roz’lyn Ronhar Tane Wilhelm Vonreg Priesse Namada Hypheer Vhyrn Kaine Hamilton

 

[Wilhelm Vonreg]

T O U R_O F_D U T Y

IMPERIAL CONFEDERATION
PERLEMIAN TRADE ROUTE, MID RIM

​

"Another Bandit down" Vonreg said as he vaporized another pirate fighter with a pair of missiles from his TIE Destroyer. So far Titan Squadron was making quick work of the enemy as their numbers rapidly decreased. It wouldn't be long until they would be attacking the pirate flagship directly putting an end to the antics of whoever was in charge of these foolhardy pirates.

As the battle raged on, Vonreg locked in on another pair of pirate fighters and quickly moved his TIEs to begin pursuing them blindly opening fire upon them to force a reaction. Both pilots swerved in opposite directions, most likely trying to pin down Vonreg by getting him to pursue one fighter while the other swung around and attacked him from the rear. However being the better pilot, Vonreg anticipated this move as soon as he saw both pilots swerve and reacted quickly.

All it took was a blind volley of missiles aimed at the trajectory of one of the pilots mid-swerve, with one lucky missile striking his fighter's cockpit and detonating, destroying the fighter and killing the pilot instantly. At this point the other pilot was trying to circle around to strike Vonreg from behind, and while Vonreg could have also circled around to meet him head on, he decided to instead lure the pilot into a trap.

As such, Vonreg keep pushing his TIE in the same direction right as the pilot lined up behind him, but this was exactly what the veteran pilot wanted. Before the enemy could get a lock on his TIE, Vonreg shunted all power to his TIE's engines and activated his SLAM, allowing his TIE to rapidly accelerate and rapidly distance itself from the enemy.

With his opponent now at a far distance from him, Vonreg proceeded to rapidly yank his flight controls aggressively turning his TIE while it accelerated allowing him to perform a "drifting" maneuver that caused his TIE to make a sudden 180 degree turn within seconds. Before his former pursuer could react, Vonreg rapidly closed the distance and unleashed a volley of plasma canons and autocannons at his opponent completely shredding his fighter, which erupted in flames.

While Vonreg flew through the debris created by the now destroyed fighter he suddenly heard Titan Ten's voice through the comms.

"I'm hit! My shields are critical!"

Upon hearing this, Vonreg looked around the battlefield and soon spotted Titan Ten, in their TIE Sprite currently under attack from a Z-95 Headhunter. Underneath his helmet, Vonreg smirked. This would be an easy target, he thought. "Titan Ten, this is Titan Leader i got your back." he said through the comms as he swung his TIE around to close in on the Z-95 pursuing Titan Ten before firing a volley of plasma cannon and autocannons at his target in an attempt to force them to break off their assault on Titan Ten.

Tags [Friendlies] | Priesse Namada | Rieva "Killshot" Alonn | Bido Roz’lyn | Ronhar Tane
Tags [Hostiles] | Hypheer Vhyrn | Void Toll ​

 

[Hypheer Vhyrn]

Objective: Cause havoc, protect the fleet
Location: Perlemian Trade Route, Mid Rim
Outfit: Flightsuit
Tags: Wilhelm Vonreg | Bido Roz’lyn | Ronhar Tane | Rieva "Killshot" Alonn | Van Trask | Silvia Evenol | Priesse Namada

Hypheer's wild shot didn't connect. However, the evasive actions of the miniature TIE that she had been vaguely targeted put them in a precarious position where other pirate weapons managed to make clean strikes. Hypheer smirked until she noticed that the little TIE was still listed on her sensors.

"These people mean business. Those are some heavy shields on such a little TIE," Hypheer muttered to herself as she tried to decided what her next maneuver was. RX made a comment about not being your grandfather's Empire.

The rest of Titan Squad had now made it through the mines. And the numbers of Rocket Squadron were deteriorating quickly. Along with their numbers went any degree of discipline in those pilots that had remained. Multiple pirate fighters were making for the edges of the fight. A retreat would have been coming. But they didn't have control of their navicomputers. It was the downside of having to reload a squadron over and over. If any trust was possible amongst pirates, it surely didn't reside where the pilots had not been able to prove themselves yet.

"Queen. Looks like we're pretty much all alone," Rez' voice came over the squad comm channel. Hypheer had to smirk again. For as much of a pain in the ass as her squadmate was when having to wait, once they were in the fight Rez was full speed ahead and would find victory or death.

"Rocket Squad this is Rocket Queen. You can run if you like, but these beefed up Imperials are going to run your asses down since all you have is sublight engines. Your navicomputers are still under the control of the Star-Eater. I suggest you get back in the fight now. None of us will come to your defense later. Better to be blown up by these Imps than to deal with Iron Hand after we are victorious," Hypheer called out angrily to the fleeing fighters.

She wasn't sure what her threats would mean for the course taken by her fellow pilots. The strength of the opposition fighters made it clear that this was not what Iron Hand had expected. The Captain wasn't going to give up on the prize though. If everyone of his pirates died Iron Hand would not be happy, but if he made away with the treasure he would be able to rebuild. Hypheer knew that the Star-Eater was not coming to their aid. It was not equipped to deal with the enemy fighters anyways. Her course was clear. Blast as many Imps as possible. Survive the battle until Iron Hand was ready to retreat and hope that she can make a crazy run to open space so she wasn't flung into hyperspace straight through one of the Imperial ships.

"Rez. I've got three…four incoming. Seems like I've become quite popular," as she made the statement Hypheer noted that a missile launched from one of the Imperial fighters. Her grip tightened on her yoke, before realizing that she was not the target. Hypheer had too much to worry about to figure out what the missile was meant to do. If the Star-Eater was destroyed in theory Hypheer would be free of the electronic coupling that prevented her and the other Rockets from fleeing into hyperspace.

"I'm on my way Rocket Queen. If you come to…" Rez paused as he tried to remember the pilot jargon for coordinates of a battlefield. "Chit, I don't know…Just ease to your port just a bit and I'll swoop in to join the fight."

Hypheer shifted her fighter towards where Rez said he was coming from. Two of the fighters started to pursue her squad. There was a slight sigh of relief, but that still left the miniature TIE who was maneuvering towards Hypheer's aft. But that was not Hypheer's only, or most immediate threat. A hefty TIE was coming straight at her. Cannons firing at a mind blurring pace. Hypheer shook her wings left and right. She was a good pilot, but there was only so much she was capable of dodging. Cannon fire ripped through her shields.

"Rez get clear and do something stupid. My shields are critical and I'm not sure how long I can hang on," Hypheer called out struggling to maintain control of her craft while letting loose wild shots from her laser cannons in the direction of the TIE Destroyer that had put her in a terrible predicament.

Spoiler: Loadout

• Status
  • Shields: 20%
  • Hull: 65%
  • Structure: 74%
• Armament
  • Wing mounted linked laser cannons(2)
  • Concussion Missile Launchers(2 w/3 missiles each)
• Droid
  • C1-RX
• Pilot Equipment
  • Custom Armored Flight Suit
  • Enyo PDW Survival Blaster
  • Vibroblade

 

[Priesse Namada]

Location: Deep Space, Perlemian Trade Route - Mid Rim
Tag: Wilhelm Vonreg Bido Roz’lyn Ronhar Tane Rieva "Killshot" Alonn Van Trask Hypheer Vhyrn

“Thanks, Lead!” Priesse gave a large exhalation of pent-up breath before shifting her attention to the sensor readout. For a few moments, it seemed as if the pirates’ starfighter formations were in full retreat. Her eyes narrowed with slight confusion as she watched their pings dwindle toward the edges of the display. Nevertheless, she quickly shook her head before snapping her gaze back to the viewport as the crimson Z-95 slowly came back to her. It would be just a few more moments before she would be able to acquire a fresh firing solution on the craft.

However, it was just then that a fresh torrent of precognitive shimmers surged within her awareness.

“Watch out, the retreaters are going to come back!” Priesse warned over comms, her voice taut. And sure enough, as if summoned by her foresight, the remnants of the pirate starfighter squadrons doubled back, flooding her sensor readout with hostile contacts.

“Three bandits coming onto your six, Lead!” Priesse said as the shimmers coalesced into solid amber. “I’ll take them!” The Seseli growled, her pupils widening as she abandoned her lock on the Z-95 and pivoted toward the trio of Uglies making their way towards Titan One’s six. The system immediately tagged them as BZ-Ceptors, a common class of Ugly created by outlaw techs using schematics drawn from the Holonet.

And so, briefly pulsing the SLAM for a surge of delta-v, Priesse sped past the pirate leader’s Z-95 and Titan One's TIE Destroyer. Her autocannons sang, unleashing a burst of fire into the lead BZ-Ceptor as she approached it from head-on. Hypervelocity HEAT rounds tore through the canopy before detonating inside the cockpit, reducing the pilot into a grisly, spasming ruin. The craft behind it met a similar fate as HEAT rounds tore into the nose, igniting fuel stores in a sudden blossom of fire which swiftly incinerated the hapless pilot.

The last Ugly broke hard to port in a desperate evasive turn, seeking to escape the head-on fire. Priesse matched the maneuver, attitude thrusters flaring as she vectored onto its four o’clock. A final, vicious burst from her cannons sent HEAT rounds deep into its engines. The craft buckled, then bloomed into an expanding sphere of shrapnel and flame.

“Splash three!”

Spoiler: Loadout

Craft: FAE/TIE Series “Sprite” Ultralight Starfighter

• Status
  
  • Shields: 21%
  • Hull: 84%
  • Structure: 98%
• Armament
  
  • FAE/SW-19 Light Linear Motor Autocannon (2)
• Pilot Equipment
  
  • FAE/A-09 Anti-G Suit
  • BG-D 6 “Outlaw”
    
    • Attachments
      
      • 1-5x FAE/S-08 Electro-Sight
    • Ammunition
      
      • Metallic Slug Magazine (4)
      • Battery