War is Good for Business (Open/Crew/"Passengers"/Adversaries welcome)

[Tarek'Gor]

LOCATION: Near Hex L-49 IVO of the Hydian Way
VESSEL: The Ghoul
FACTION: Pirates
ACTIVITY: Capture First Order and Galactic Alliance escape pods.

____________________________________________________________

"We've got another cluster of life-pods on scanner captain."

"Alliance or First-Order?"

"Alliance this time sir."

Tarek nodded at the nameless helmsman. The crew had already jumped into action. Tractor beams reached out locking onto the alliance escape pods and began pulling the helpless survivors into the cargo holds of the Ghoul. Within the hour his crew would have the pods opened, the contents sorted, branded and chained.

Tarek looked to his communications officer. "Let the slavemaster know that I want beatings kept to a bare minimum. Half dead slaves are worth half the price."

Tarek smiled to himself. Even with the overzealous beatings that his crew would occasionally visit on his merchandise profits had never been higher.

It was almost too easy. Alliance and First Order ships would blast each other to pieces and Tarek would be there to pick up the survivors.

"War is Good for Business!" Tarek declared grinning.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Tarek'Gor"]

Once upon a time she might have been a more moral Captain. But now down on her luck Aeveri wasn't picky about what came her way. Ralston her browncoat gunslinger companion pointed out a few tick marks on the dash.

"Whats all that?"

She glanced over en enhanced the scopes.

"Looks like pods being picked up. Might be money in it somehow."

She pursed her lips and readjusted her flight goggles, thinking.

"Ok lets bite. I'll fly us in closer, get ready on the comms yeah?"

"Sure thing."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tarek'Gor"] [member="Aeveri Proudmoore"]

Childhood in the Neutral Zone had come prepackaged with certain lessons: Fresh fruit is worth its weight in gold. Use laundry facilities whenever available. Strip and bond the overload sturm dowels to make power packs into grenades. Any fight breeds vermin.

Kells drifted in an escape pod, watching the pirate frigate through the main viewport. A tractor beam latched on. Alongside other pods, Kells' conveyance began drifting toward the pirates' warm embrace. He let out a shaky breath and did his best to remember the mission.

Lightsaber, system-range comlink, aquata breather, fibercord grapnel, multitool, stun blaster, boots. Not the best kit in the galaxy, but it might be enough. No, that was the frontier kid talking, not the Jedi.

"I'm one with the Force and the Force is with me. I'm one with the Force and the Force is with me-"

His escape pod clanged against a metal surface: the pirates' airlock or hangar deck.

 

[Kiso]

Kiso stood at the bridge of her private Chisel Head Assault Corvette with a serious expression on her face, though with a hint of confidence. Her last operation with the Shrouded Republic had slightly shaken her resolve the thing they had done on the latest planet of them conquer being something she was firmly against. Though soon things had been cleared up as new information about the fanatic culture of the planet came to light and with this latest assignment to take in prisoners from escape pod and try and turn them to their own cause reaffirm her trust in the Lord of Shrouds was secretly what Kiso had signed up for.

"Jess what the status on the last battle, any present escape pods jettisoned"? The fashionable beret wearing solider turned around to face Kiso after checking the current Holo, "Several pods have been detected a few parsecs away, should we jump to light speed to intercept"? "Engage hyper drive, let’s make this quick and be out before anyone catches wind, keep the turbo blaster on half power in case we run into any salvage troops, don't want run into any First Order cruiser". "Aye aye General".

The familiar blue and white lines of hyperspace surrounded the forward bridge as the ship jumped to the designated spot, but keeping a good distance to avoid crashing into their possible prize. "General, scanner have confirmed the presence of several escape pods, but also two unidentified ships, one appeared to be a freighter, the other some sort of personal ship". "Pirates.... that ship, I am seeing odd fluctuation in power, and a current active tractor beam, probably slavers as well, that sheep look to able to hold a large cargo hold".

The crew looked around, most of her members being a part of her commando force and other from the former Dominion knew about the outer rim slavers, Sith or pirate, "Orders General”? "..... everyone to battle stations, were going slaver hunting, rules of engagement, disable not destroy, that pirate ship may have slave on board, as for that freighter, maybe smuggler or what not, but either way the look bad new, fire at will". The whole crew a loud 'yes sir' before running to the respective stations, the holo map becoming a dark shade of red as the ship went into combat mode, radio chatter engulfing the normally quite bridge, "Its show time".

[member="Lanter Kells"] l [member="Aeveri Proudmoore"] l [member="Tarek'Gor"]

 

[Tarek'Gor]

@[member="Aeveri Proudmoore"] [member="Lanter Kells"] [member="Kiso"]

Tarek watched the escape pods filter into his ships hold. Each one represented a marginal growth in his wealth, prestige and power. One escape pod caught his eye. Tarek's eyes followed it as it slowly moved towards his hold. The pod was identical to all the others, but there was something different about it. It gave him a bad feeling. Tarek shrugged it off. He made decisions on facts not feelings.

The Twi'lek fiddled with his shock whip as he mulled over the odd feeling he had just had.

"Status?" Tarek asked his first officer.

"Most of our men are in the hanger to deal with new arrivals. No casualties thus far, and as you requested whippings are being kept to a minimum. Our existing stock is being stored in the aft holds. We've established comms with an approaching freighter; the captain is waiting for your response. Further, a Corvette has broken away from the main battle. They are headed towards us. I expect they will intercept us in about three minutes" The other slaver replied.

Tarek waited a moment before issuing orders, "Bring the last of this batch of slaves aboard. Lock tractor beams onto the approaching vessel as soon as she is in range. Have our boarding parties ready their drill craft.".

Most pirates would avoid confrontations with the galaxies better equipped and better-trained navies but not Tarek. Slaving came with good pay, and most of his crew was well equipped albeit poorly trained. Their experience would make up some of the deficiency, but Tarek still expected to take significant casualties.

__________________________

[member="Aeveri Proudmoore"]

"Open a channel to the freighter." A hologram of the freighter's captain materialized before him. The young woman was attractive, but her eyes held a fierce resolve and a glint of what Tarek could only describe as insanity. Regardless, Tarek was not one to turn away a potential ally or business partner.

"You've caught me at a busy time stranger, so pleasantries will have to wait. But if you are interested in siding with us against the approaching Alliance vessel I am happy to share any bounty we may collect".

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

The Fleetwood.

"Message dispatched," Petrovsky's normal all-too-perky voice was down a gravel. "Miss Yvarro?"

She had been silent for a long time, her caf had sat for so long that it had gone cold. Her knuckles were no longer white and the grip on the armrest of the chair had been released and was now down to a mere touch. Azure eyes had hardened and for the first time in her life, she was without a method in which to do anything. Or was she.

"How long?"

"Not too long, the ships were en route to our holdings in the south though." The tone of Petrovsky's voice was mild for most but for the former grand admiral she knew he was holding himself back. "Noted. Are we still recording?"

He nodded and with that affirmation the woman unfolded from her seat. "Montague, you have forward ops."

The blonde headed down from forward operations and headed for her ready room, even on the Fleetwood. The former naval commander had to have a ready room. The Fleetwood was just a civilian ship, for now at least and it didn't have any of the same capabilities that she had built into her navy. Inside her ready room the blonde placed her hands on her desk. Braced herself against it, slavers their very existence made her blood boil. Worse it seemed this one was here to pick up escape pods from both First Order and Galactic Alliance alike. She wasn't without options, but those options were going to take time, precious time as her ship sat approximately twelve kilometres from it all.

[member="Tarek'Gor"] | [member="Kiso"] | [member="Lanter Kells"] | [member="Aeveri Proudmoore"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Tarek'Gor"]

"-and the Force is with me."

He didn't resist. The slaver crew cut open the hatch, dragged him onto the flight deck, and threw his gear in a growing pile. Coats, boots, utility belts, bags: they'd certainly search the pile for valuables later. Their priority right now would be to make sure nobody was concealing a weapon. They would find his disguised lightsaber eventually, but by that time he'd be just one nameless prisoner among dozens. Hundreds.

They cuffed him and shoved him in a stun-fence pen. Tractor beams shoved the escape pods out one at a time, and brought in new ones. Kells waited.

 

[Kiso]

"General, the pirate ship has changed course and heading our way, scans do not indicate any present weaponry", it was an odd move on their part, there was nothing stopping them from merely shooting the craft out of space, except for the prisoners that where on broad. "My calculation and gut feeling are saying that they probably don't expect us not to fire, using their own slaves as a human shield, probably want to try and catch our ship and broad it through some means".

"How do we proceed then, we can't let that ship catch us", "And we won't, get the turbo batteries online, aim for the most structurally sound part of their ship, but keep fire to a minimum we don't want to destroy it, just do enough damage to deter them from coming any closer, in addition have the counterpart laser cannons target their engine, try and get them drifting along, then we can broad them and use our superior tech and training to win". With the order dispatched the corvette moves around to face the pirate ship head on its two-turbo blaster coming to life raining down controlled bursts of fire aimed at the pirate ships main hull while its counterpart blaster cannons aimed for its engines.

"Let’s just hope they don't catch the bluff, just in case I want anti boarding protocol initiated, lock off no essential sections and be ready to depressurization if they try to board, and keep out point defense system active in case that freighter tries anything". Several deck officers gave her a salute before going about their tasks, each determined to prevent their ship from falling into enemy hands.

[member="Lanter Kells"] l [member="Fiolette Yvarro"] l [member="Tarek'Gor"] l [member="Aeveri Proudmoore"]

 

[Tarek'Gor]

(Mis post - writing in progress)

 

[Tarek'Gor]

[member="Kiso"]

Laser fire rocked the Ghoul as Tarek looked at a lifeform scanner on the bridge. The crew of the approaching Chisel Head Corvette had moved away from their outer bulkheads and taken up defensive positions in internal compartments of the ship. If he were to board now using his Drill Craft, his men would be stuck in a protracted gunfight with the crew of the other ship.

"They've anticipated our tactical approach," Tarek said to no one in particular.

Then to the crew, "Utilize the tractor beam to hold them at a distance. Angle our deflector shields to match their fire, and use our speed to put some distance between the Corvette and us".

It wasn't a winning strategy, more of a stalemate. The Ghoul was taking only minor damage, but Tarek didn't want to get drawn into a protracted battle with no potential to acquire slaves.

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

"Captain, we're picking up two vessels nearby. One is a First Order Cruiser. Badly damaged. No hyperdrive. Their damage control teams are fighting a losing battle with a shipboard fire. The second is also First Order, but civilian, and registered to a prominent shipwright", One of the bridge crew stated.

"Promising finds. Bring us closer; let's see if we can flush out some good prospects". Tarek ordered.

[member="Lanter Kells"]

The shipboard intercom activated. "Captain to the Hanger Bay." Tarek gestured to his First Officer to take control of the bridge and left to make his way to the ships hanger bay.

The ship was a bustle of activity. Damage control droids danced around the ship's corridors and hatchways keeping its various systems in good repair. The crew, on the other hand, was busy managing their prisoners. Seeing that he was in a hurry most of them made room for Tarek as he passed but occasionally he would have to stop and wait for a handler to push an unruly slave out of the way.

Tarek entered the hanger to a scene of moderate disarray. A group of slaves stood in the corner under guard, having been stripped of all of their valuables they were awaiting branding, a process by which a microchip would be injected into their bodies to track them and indicate that they were Tareks property. One particular slave ([member="Lanter Kells"]) caught Tareks attention. The man was dressed slightly different than the others and had the bearing of someone who was not a nameless soldier. But, before Tarek could investigate he was distracted by a commotion on the other side of the room.

The slavemaster was yelling at another slaver, and both men stood hovering over a dead body. The body was that of an Alliance crewman, fresh off of one of the lifepods. The dead man's hands were still bound behind his back, and his body was covered in scorch marks from a shock whip. A painful death if ever thier was one.

"When I say stop, you Stop!", The slavemaster yelled at the other slaver.

"He's just a slave. Nobody is going to miss him. Besides the cur insulted me, I was in my right" the crewman responded, a half-smile of amusement on his lips. Some of the other crew had also found the death of the nameless survivor amusing, and out of the corner of his eye, Tarek saw a number of them snickering at what they perceived to be the slavemasters lack of authority.

Tarek frowned inwardly. This was an ongoing problem aboard his ship. Slavers and Pirates make excellent crewman as they come with a wealth of experience and take on issues with tenacity. But unlike professional soldiers, they tend to be insubordinate and unwieldy. Tarek paused for a moment to think about what he was going to say and then interjected in the argument between the two men.

"Obedience is the lifeblood of a slaver. I demand it from myself. I demand it from my slaves, and most importantly I demand it from my crew", Tarek looked the other man in the eyes as he spoke and it was clear to Tarek that the message was not getting through.

"Ye. What yu gonna do Captain" the other slaver spoke with derision.

"You are going to walk the proverbial plank" Tarek responded flatly. The room fell silent as two crewmen grabbed the unruly and now stunned slaver and forced him into a lifepod. Moments later he was sailing through space for destinations unknown.