Star Wars [Training Game]: The Hunt for Warlord Sarkasey

Stripes

Calibration of a prosthetic was a lengthy and delicate procedure. Living forms, so haphazard in their design, required patience and discipline to mimic and enhance. Nerves were such sensitive wiring, encased counter intuitively in easily electrified material. Of course there were the stock options, Repli-limb replacements, quick synth-skin jobs, but Stripes didn't believe in taking the easy way out. He had previously encoded himself with numerous Human presets, and although there wasn't time for him to partake in the luxury of creating an arm from scratch, he had taken the opportunity to customize one of the rarer, earlier models in his possession. From across the room, his patient had gotten up. ?Yo, droid!I need my bandages changed. What is taking you so long?? Stripes, still holding the prosthetic, walked towards the human male. "I advise that you allow me my pace, for it is greater than most.In fact, I was finishing work on your replacement limb. Most droids would have left you wounded for days, Sir, but i have experience that has allowed me to process the necessity of expedience." He raised his creation for the human to see, mechanically naked and intimidatingly complex. "I am aware organics prefer synthflesh coated devices, but a properly insulated glove will suffice, and without aesthetic padding, the limb will react .7 milliseconds faster. You are a pilot, yes? Perhaps with this added reaction time, you would not have had an accident in the first place." Stripes could sense offense at that last comment, but felt no need to press the issue. "I can put you under, or i can keep you conscious but sedated. What would you prefer, Pilot?"

TAG:Liam

 

IC: Xander ?Doc? Illiam
Space over Danadine

"To all squadrons, this is... Ironhand flight, I am a single ship formation and I am engaging the Marauder, Oya!"

Who is this joker? Xander fought the urge to respond back, at no time during any of his mission briefs had there been a mention of a single ship flight called Ironhand. But he was under orders from Vixen to cut the chatter and to wait for her signal. So for now he would let it go until they were all back on deck after the battle.

"Lead, 10 here, are you sure? Chatter helps keep me awake."

This voice he instantly recognized as his practical joking bunkmate, Tor. One of these days Tor?s jokes were going to get him in trouble, hopefully today was not that day. Xander recognized that Tor had to have been an excellent pilot in order to become an XO, but some time his hijinxs were taxing.

"Lead, 10 again. I see 14 uglies inbound. Permission to engage?"

Uglies! I hate uglies! Xander had run into a few fighters cobbled together by pirates in his time. They were unpredictable and difficult to anticipate their capabilities. He was going to have to watch his wing carefully. Once again he fought the urge to take things into his own hands, but he needed to wait on Vixan?s order.

"I see them 10. Give it another 5" they waited five seconds to get the enemy closer and then she snapped, "ENGAGE!"

?Doc? ensured that his comms were set to just between him and ?Alleycat?, ?Six you got me kid? I want you to pull up to my low three. Once they pass between us and the rest of 2 Flight I want you to break under me portside and I will go starboard.?

He switched over to the Squadron freq. ?2 Flight has the center.? Then back over to Alex.

?Alright ?Alleycat?, let?s see some of that Russo magic.? Show me that you can make this old man young again.

TAG: Alex "Alleycat" Russo

 

KAHN APPROVED AND ALL THAT JAZZ

Name: Sil`ais ?Silas? Kwi`teska
Species: Twi?lek
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Homeworld: Dantooine
Appearance: He is quite attractive for a male Twi?lek. His facial features, while still masculine, are also a touch more elegant than others of his species. He is slim and muscular.
--Height: 5? 9?
--Skin Color: Blue
--Eye Color: yellow
--Hair Color: N/A
--Marks/Tattoos: Intricate tattoos down his Lekku of personal importance to him
--Clothing: Generally lightweight clothing, whether in uniform or not. He?s a sniper, and does not like his movements to be hindered

Weapons: E-17d Sniper Rifle(slightly modified--improved scope, increased magazine giving it 6 instead of 4 shots), DL-44 Heavy Blastor Pistol, combat knife
Possessions: Very little. He posses a few small knick knacks that remind him of him, a holo of a female twi?lek, a small pack that generally consists of an emergency survival kit... those sorts of things. His most prized possession is an antique, well used blaster rifle--though it sees little to no use anymore.

Profession: Sniper for the New Republic and Private First Class
Languages: Basic, Twi?leki

Biography: Born and raised on Dantooine in less than ideal circumstances, Silas has had to find his own way the vast majority of his life. His father, owner of a small droid repair shop, and his mother, a waitress at a local bar, provided a good, stable, and safe life for Silas, but he was not very old when it became apparent that stable and safe were not on his list of priorities. His father tried desperately to get Silas interested in his trade, but the young Twi?lek was too preoccupied with slipping out into the wilderness surrounding the small settlement to really notice this.

As Silas grew a little older, his father realized that it was a lost cause. His son simply loved the trees, and shrubs, and fields more than the ?city life.? Worried for his safety, Silas? father bought him a rifle to keep him safe. Nothing too fancy, but functional. Silas loved it from the moment he laid eyes on it and began target practice almost immediately. His skill grew rapidly. As years passed, he could shoot with the best of them, and he decided to cash in on this discovery.

Longing for a new, better, more accurate rifle, Silas began bagging various beasts. Some were bounties by officials or citizens, creatures that had been troublesome as of late. Some were simply animals that made for good meat. He made a pretty profit, and soon had enough to buy a low grade sniper rifle. It was hard to come by in his little town, but he was proud of it. Through all these ordeals, he learned how not to be seen by man or beast.

As he aged more, however, this life grew dull. He knew his parents loved him, but they lived an unexciting life, full of drab normality. He longed for adventure and challenge, to be amongst the best shooters in the world... and to best them. It was no coincidence, he decided, that he began to hear more and more about the Rebel Alliance that had been around for years. The imperial military wouldn?t have him. He was not human. But the Rebels.... they didn?t care. He was sixteen, and he knew his parents would not allow him to follow through with his current plan, so he jumped planet aboard the first ship he could stow away on and didn?t look back, taking only the clothes on his back and his trusty rifle. As an adult, he would later return, ashamed and full of sorrow, to apologize to his parents and beg their forgiveness, which they wholeheartedly gave.

After leaving Dantooine, it took some time, years, in fact, to track down the Rebels. By then it was too late for him to really do anything. It was over. However, they still gladly took him, and he filled in where he could as the Rebellion became the New Republic. He finally found a place with a permanent unit that could use his talents, and he?s become quite well adjusted, even if he is kind of an outsider.

 

IC: Kaylee Kalare

"Lead, 10 here, are you sure? Chatter helps keep me awake."

Kaylee couldn't help but grin at her wingmate's flippant reply. What she wouldn't give to be that relaxed...

She'd always been the 'nervy one' - always so utterly out-of-place, never feeling like she completely belonged. Not that her family didn't love her; they always had, taking her differences in stride. But as soon as she was old enough for school, she'd learned her lesson... she was different. To loyal Imperialists, she was worse than any alien; she represented everything that they believed was wrong with the galaxy. You enslaved other species; you didn't mate with them.

Even amongst the traders and smugglers, she was a curiousity, an oddity. She learned to keep her emotions clamped down tight, and tried never to step out of line. The less attention paid to her, the better.

But lately, that hadn't been enough. She was tired of stepping aside for others; tired of always submitting. Joining the New Republic was the first step she'd taken for herself in a very long time.

"Three flight is with me. Phantom 9 you attach yourself to my rear and don't move from there unless I tell you. I'll take lead to start and if things go well we can switch."

She smiled. Perhaps the fun-loving XO could teach her about more than flying... Maybe she'd learn to loosen up, enjoy life... Instead of waiting for the other boot to fall, maybe she should just throw it. No time like the present.

"Stuck on your tail like a mynock, Ten."

TAG: Tor Nisten

 

IC: Private First Class Sil'ais "Silas" Kwi'teska
Poetic Justice

Silas sat quite removed from the rest of the assembled ground forces--as removed as he could, at any rate--while he listened to the briefing. It sounded simple enough. Pretty straight forward, really. Hit and run operation, for the most part. Sure, a few years ago he'd have been more nervous than he was now, but since he had joined the Corps, he'd done this sort of thing a few times. It was hardly worrisome. Though he didn't always mingle well with his squad-mates, he trusted his life to them. Granted though, as a sniper, he more often than not did the saving than being saved, but that's a thought for another time.

No, the op didn't worry him. What really worried him was something far worse. He felt absolutely naked without his rifle. He hated taking out warehouses and the like. It wasn't practical for there to be a sniper, so he'd have to leave his rifle on board. Some said his relationship to his E-17d Sniper Rifle was unhealthy, but she'd saved his butt many times. He figured that was healthy enough. He'd dropped his rifle and ammo in place of more ammo for his pistol. It wasn't an ideal arrangement, but he was almost as good with the blaster as he was his rifle.

As the events wrapped up, Silas mingled around the edges, waiting for something to happen. His early childhood spent in the Dantooine wilderness did not make him particularly sociable. Oh, don't misunderstand, he loved talking with people. However, even after all his years in the military and traveling the galaxy, he still had trouble coming out of his shell. It didn't help that... well... he couldn't be thinking about her right now. He needed to be focused, and she wouldn't help. Whoever she was, she was promptly banished from the young Twi'lek's mind as his Sargent gestured for them to form up.

He did so, shaking the kinks out of his muscles to pass the time. He wasn't armed very heavily like many of the marines around him. He wasn't used to heavy rifles and armor. As it was, he hated the extra armor he'd put on for this mission. He preferred hiding in a tree, or something, and armor didn't help that goal very well. Silently, he waited for orders.

Tag: Ground Personnel

 

Seth Kinser
Poetic Justice, Hangar

"Squad, listen up!" Seth spoke as the troops gathered around.

At the corner of his eye he watched as the pilots got to their ships and started heading out to a space battle. That meant it was going to be time for him and the rest of the ground troops to load up into their dropships and head to the surface once the flyboys knocked out whatever TIEs or other enemy ships that the smugglers may've cooked up in defense against them. Time for the motivational speech and then to get everyone in his squad into their assigned dropship to prepare for landing.

"Once again, it's our job to finish what the flyboys are going to start." His rifle safely tucked in his arms and his demo pack strapped on, Seth walked along the line of his assembled squad, talking as he went. "We will be leaving this ship and going to engage the smugglers and other lowlifes on the solid ground of Danadine. When we meet these criminals, we will rip their heads from their spines and toss them away, laughing!"

A bit more colorful then anything that an officer of the Republic's Starfighter Corps. would say to their pilots, but these were the Republic Marines; they didn't have the luxury of blowing enemies several kilometers away with fancy ships but, rather, get up close in personal with blasters and even knives. Such violence was a normal thing to them. So when Seth got to the end of the line, he turned around abruptly and scanned the faces of his squad before shouting, "Am I right, Marines!?"

Once he heard the chorus of 'Yes, sir', that was when Seth's eyes landed on the Twi'lek that had been assigned to his squad. As any good officer, Seth knew the names of the men under his command and, more precisely, their specialty. So when Seth saw a Twi'lek sniper without a sniper rifle, the human walked back down the line of men until he came face-to-face with the Twi'lek.

"Private Kwi'teska!" Seth spoke. "You are our designated marksman in this here squad. So why is it that I do not see a rifle on your person?"

TAG: Chukles, Ground Personnel

 

IC: Private First Class Sil'ais "Silas" Kwi'teska
Poetic Justice

Great. Of course the one time he decided to leave his rifle, given that it was a logical tactical move, he'd get yelled at. He supposed that his relative anonymity amongst his comrades didn't, after all, transfer to his commanding officer. Now he felt rather foolish, which was understandable, and no doubt his comrades thought worse of him. Just a lose lose situation all around.

Silas stood a little bit taller before responding. "Sir, given close range objectives on this mission, I opted for heavier armor and more close range ammunition. It's clear it displeases you. With your leave, I'll retrieve it. It's nearby, and I have every confidence that I'll be back before the dropships launch, Sargent." His basic was perfect, with only a hint of an accent. His words were confident and crisp... professional despite the rising embarrassment he felt now.

This wasn't what Silas needed, though. He'd not been with the unit long, while certainly not new, and he needed his reputation to remain intact. He was looking for a promotion, and a soldier who didn't carry his specialty weapon didn't get promoted very far.

TAG: Sarge

 

Sergeant Seth Kinser
Poetic Justice

Though Seth nodded at Silas's reason and, indeed, the human officer could see the tactical reasoning behind it, he waved his hand as if to brush off the Twi'lek's comment.

"Objectives can change, Private," Seth spoke in reply. "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy and you can find yourself in one hell of a mess that doesn't follow your original mission objectives. Those AA guns may just shoot us down anyway despite the fighters being assigned to keep them busy and, who knows, maybe command will decide that the guns are becoming too much and they'll want us to take them down instead. You want to make sure that you have the tools that'll allow you to adapt!"

Seth jerked his head in the direction of the armory which should be close enough for the Twi'lek to run over, grab his rifle, and come back before the dropship even powered up. "Better to have it and not need it I always say. So hurry up and grab it!"

TAG: Chukles, Ground Personnel

 

IC: Alex "Alleycat" Russo, Phantom 6
Space

?Six you got me kid? I want you to pull up to my low three. Once they pass between us and the rest of 2 Flight I want you to break under me portside and I will go starboard.?

?Copy that, Five. Right with you, pops,? Alleycat answered with a trace of mirth in her voice.

?2 Flight has the center.? Phantom 5 announced over the squadron frequency, then switched back to theirs.

?Alright ?Alleycat?, let?s see some of that Russo magic.?

"As you wish, lieutenant. Here they come. On my mark... ? Alex answered confidently, taking the initiative. ?Three, two, one, mark!,? she called as the uglies cleared past Two Flight.

Alleycat broke hard to port passing right under her wingman, bringing the X-wing around, then immediately went weapons free as she came up behind an enemy craft. Alex lined the uglie up in her sights and blew it apart with two laser blasts. A warning warble came from Rusty and she mashed her right foot down on the etheric rudder pedal. The X-wing?s stern slew around to the left, swinging her out of enemy craft?s line of fire while pointing her nose right at the ship as it sailed past her. She punched the snubfighter over ninety degrees, hauled back on the stick, then completed the inversion and dove down onto the uglies tail, peppering the ship with scarlet energy right into the cockpit and watched it explode.

?Woohoo! Is that the kind of magic you were looking for ?Doc??? Alex asked as she came back around to her wingman?s six.

TAG: Macja, Phantoms

 

IC: Xander ?Doc? Illiam
Space over Danadine

?Copy that, Five. Right with you, pops,?

Pops? I guess I deserve that with all the ?kid? comments lately.

As Xan accelerated to attack speed Jay Trey dialed down the snubfighters inertial compensator to ninety-eight. The little astrodroid knew his master liked to ?feel the ship? during a good fight.

Alex gave a countdown to the arrival of their opposition. Both Five and Six performed their crossing maneuvers with exact precision and timing on her mark. ?Trey, shift power from the engines to the forward shields,? this power transfer along with the turn caused Xander?s fighter to lag behind, giving Alex the lead.

He watched as she immediately opened fire on the Uglie she came around on, blasting it to pieces. ?Torch!? with just one simple word, R4-J3 knew to immediately cut the shields to half power and dump it all into the engines. Xan pushed down on his control stick, bringing his own Ugly to bear.

Without waiting for confirmation from his targeting system, he squeezed off two dual-fire salvos from his laser cannons. Four lances found their mark on the TYE-wing separating the wing brace and the engine nacelle. The engine nacelle immediately vaporized and the ball cockpit was sent careening off into oblivion.

Xan inverted his fighter onto its ?head? dove toward Alex?s high six. He switched his cannons from dual to single to conserve power. Alex executed a beautiful snap roll and scratched another baddie. Unfortunately she picked up the meanest looking Ugly that he had ever seen in the process.

A viciously smashed together Z?ceptor comprised of parts from a Z-95 Headhunter, TIE Interceptor, and a BTL Y-Wing. Even the astromech that protruded from the nose of it looked like it had been pasted together using a stokhli spray stick.

The Ugly was vectoring in on Alleycat. But before Xander could warn her of the pending danger, she had come about to form up on him. The ungainly aggressor was not able to keep up with the superior speed and maneuverability of the X-Wing.

?Woohoo! Is that the kind of magic you were looking for ?Doc??? Alex asked as she came back around to Xander?s low six.

Suddenly his HUD targeting rectal lit up around the Ugly that had been tracking Alex. Her predator had become his prey, and she led it right to him. Out of pure reflex, Xander let loose a full volley of four unlinked bolts as he replied with a slight grin on his face, ?That is exactly what I was expecting from you, ?Alleycat?.?

TAG: Cam, the Phantoms, and Sey

 

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Location: "Ironhand flight" space battle above Danadine.

Taab was beginning to understand why the X-Wing he had "borrowed" had not been commited to the battle sooner. The Poetic Justice had more fighters than it had qualified pilots, and this particular craft was one of the reserve fighters. It was to be used in case another had a mechanical problem prior to launch. Of course since it had been assigned to no pilot in particular, other crew chiefs had taken to canibalizing it's parts to bring their own craft up to speed, turning it into a hangar queen. In the midst of a battle, with no support, was a poor time to be learning this.

R2-E54, whistled another warning to Taab in the cockpit. The droid couldn't get either of the X-Wing's port side laser cannons to hold a charge, the fire control system was malfunctioning and wouldn't hold a target lock, and to top it all off the life support system was failing. That little chakaar on the flight deck had lied to him!

Oh well, improvise, adapt and overcome. Taab checked to ensure his armor and helmet had sealed, that would give him 2 hours of limited life support. "At least we have four good engines, but if this battle lasts more than 20 minutes its going to be colder than Hoth in here. Beskar'ad, forget about trying to fix the guns, just divert all laser power to the shields and engines". If any fighters intercepted him, he would have to try to outrun them. Luckily the Marauder appeared to be unescorted, at least for the moment. Taab selected his warhead launcher, it seemed to be functioning, and showed a full load of six Proton torpedoes. Setting the launchers on single fire, he explained his intended tactic to the droid.

"That Marauder will kick our shebs if we go head to head with her, so we are going to try to get her to dance to our tune. If she commits to the other fighters or dropships, we grab her attention and keep it. If she comes after us, we try to draw her close enough for the PJ, let the big guns finish her off. Keep an eye out for any incoming fighters, and check that the transmitter is working."

The droid responded that indeed, they had transmitted their previous message, and it had been received. This worried Taab, he knew that most of the squadrons would be observing some form of radio silence, but he should have had some response from the Poetic Justice, either confirming his target, or telling him to abort his attack. It was clear that the mission planners had not anticipated the corvette's appearence here, as no other craft were attempting to intercept her. So she was either a friendly or one of Sarkasey's pirates. As she was running with no ID code at all, Taab was willing to bet it was the latter. With that in mind he would take the Poetic Justice's silence as a tacit approval of his actions. "Better to ask forgivness than permission, right Beskar'ad? " he asked as they closed the range on their target, his finger tightening on the trigger.

TAG: Pilots, Sey

 

OOC: Excellent job interacting pilots! Keep up the good work!

IC: Tor Nisten
Deep space

"Stuck on your tail like a mynock, Ten."

Tor grinned at the response from his young wingmate. Things were looking up on the corruptibility front. Tor's grin faded as he put on his flight game face. The uglies were coming and he intended to get himself and his wingmate out of this confrontation alive. He heard acknowledgment from Lead to engage the enemy and he was off. His hands gripped the stick as instinct and years of training took over. His movements were in sync with his thoughts. The uglies swooped in. Tor led his wingmate after two of them.

"Get me a lock on the lead." He ordered his astromech.

Several seconds later his heads up display chimed and his thumbs automatically pressed the button sending a quad laser blast at the lead ugly. He watched in satisfaction as the ugly ripped apart before exploding.

"Phantom 9, your turn to lead. Take out the other ugly. I'm on your six. Show me what you've got."

As he dropped back and got ready to follow Kaylee, he saw Doc take a shot at an ugly who was chasing his wingmate Allycat. Thankfully the shot hit true and the ugly who was firing at Allycat exploded.

A 13th blip appeared on his display. Tor wondered who the pilot in the X-wing was that had joined the flight. He asked his droid to find the frequency of that x-wing and then hailed the pilot.

"X-wing fighter this is Tor Nisten from the New Republic flight group Phantom attached to the Poetic Justice. I'm not sure who you think you are, but commandeering a New Republic X-wing is illegal. Identify yourself right now or I will be forced to take action."

Tag: sundancer, macja, Bardan

---

[b]IC: Willow Griffin[/b]
[i]Deep space[/i]

[i]"One Flight, point 756, port, on my mark. GO now" Banking hard she led her group into battle, muttering to herself. "Let's dance."[/i]

Willow momentarily froze. This was her first combat, but she shouldn't have froze. Her droid, Angel, beeped an urgent sounding message at her jarring her out of the freeze. She quickly recovered and drove to follow Lead into the fight. Lasers flashed around her.

"Angel, get me a lock on that ugly."

The droid beeped an affirmative. Willow's hands gripped the stick so tightly that she was sure if she removed her gloves her knuckles would be white. Flight simulations did what they could to prepare you for battle, but Willow knew it wasn't the same. One mistake here and she'd be gone. Destroyed in a flash.

Her targeting display beeped at her. She immediately pushed the trigger and watched as one of the quad lasers hit her target. It wasn't enough to impede his progress however.

Willow continued to follow Vixen around the battle, waiting for another shot.

[b]Tag: Addie[/b]

 

IC: Kaylee Kalare

"Phantom 9, your turn to lead. Take out the other ugly. I'm on your six. Show me what you've got."

Lead? Oh Force. She moved up into front position and heeled over into pursuit of her target. "Hummer, lock on." She quad-linked her lasers and tried to settle in behind the Ugly, but she struggled to match its erratic manoeuvres. Is this guy some kind of genius, or is he just fighting to control that hunk of scrapmetal? She fired, hissing when the shot missed wide portside.

Time for a different strategy. She swung out into a wide arc. If she'd timed this right, he'd be crossing her path... there! She slammed down on the firing button twice.

Her X-wing suddenly rocked from laser impacts and she yowled, nearly drowning out Hummer's screeching. She hauled her ship into a spiral, blasting away from her previous course. "Damage?" she demanded, her voice still distinctly feline.

Hummer's answering whistle had to tone of a relieved sigh. No damage to the ship, but her shields had been severely battered. It'd be a while before they were back up to full. She swore at herself, snarling. You fixated, you stupid nerf. She eased into a gentler flight pattern, scanning the area for threats and looking around for her original target. "Where'd he go?"

TAG: Tor Nisten, Phantoms

OOC: I may not be able to post over the next three days. I'm going in for surgery tomorrow, and probably won't be back at work until next week. And work is the only place I can get reliable internet.

 

IC: Xander ?Doc? Illiam
Space over Danadine

Once Six formed back up on Five?s six, Arfour Jaythree started tweeting loudly. ?What?s your problem Jay Trey?? The astrodroid switched Xander?s tactical display from targeting to threat-detection and highlighted a specific target. Xander was particularly interested in the fact that the range to target was less than one meter away.

[Phantom Six did not destroy her second target!], the little droid messaged to his master. ?So it seems.?

Xander switched his tightbeam comms to Alex once again. ?Alleycat, it appears that you only scratched your second victim. I have a feeling that he is quite upset.? Xander quickly assessed the situation. ?Alex, I need you to break to starboard on my mark. Whoever he follows will need to scissor, while the other attempts to give him a Corellian Slip.?

Xander took a quick breath and blew it out, ?Three, two, one? MARK!?

He instantly pulled his control yoke to the left while standing on the rudder, throwing his X-Wing up on its on s-foils, and into a tight left break. The whole time Jay Tray whistled with glee.

TAG: Alex "Alleycat" Russo, The Phantoms, & Sey

(OOC: Good luck with your surgery tommorrow Kat. I'll say a little prayer for you. I hope you have a speedy recovery )

 

IC: Alex "Alleycat" Russo, Phantom Six
Space battle

?Alleycat, it appears that you only scratched your second victim. I have a feeling that he is quite upset... Alex, I need you to break to starboard on my mark. Whoever he follows will need to scissor, while the other attempts to give him a Corellian Slip.?

"Copy, Doc... On your mark," she answered, then readied herself for whatever happened next. "Keep an eye on our tail, Rusty."

When she heard Xander's command, Alexandra broke hard to starboard, relieved when her copper red R2 unit whistled that they were in the clear, but that meant her wingman was in trouble, already performing the defensive scissor move with that pesky Uglie matching him offensively. Alleycat knew what she needed to do and turned her ship around on a cred, then roared in toward Doc?s X-wing, which closed toward her, their combined speed causing the numbers on the snubfighter?s range meter to scroll too fast to read. As they reached the point where Alex could barely make out Xan?s helmet, Six yelled, ?Get ready... DIVE!? and Five dove, flashing mere meters beneath Alex?s X-wing? revealing the attack fighter tailing him.

The Uglie?s pilot tried to vector out of the brunette?s way. He succeeded, but didn?t succeed in dodging Allleycat?s lasers. Red flashes converged on the cockpit, and suddenly the fighter was a cloud of smoke and shrapnel, for good this time. Alex flew through the remnants of its fuselage, pieces bouncing off her deflectors and scraping off her hull, emerging on the other side with a big lopsided grin on her face having just performed a Corellian Slip as ordered. Rusty gave her a congratulatory woot as Alex brought their ship back around to join up with her wingman.

"Good call, Doc. That was a fun. What?s next on our dance card?? Alex called over their wingpair's frequency with a bit of bravado in her voice as the adrenaline was still cursing through her veins after that madman maneuver.

TAG: Macja, other Phantoms

OCC: Get well soon, Kat.

 

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Location: "Ironhand flight" space battle above Danadine.

Taab was about to launch his first torpedo when his radio hissed to life:

"X-wing fighter this is Tor Nisten from the New Republic flight group Phantom attached to the Poetic Justice. I'm not sure who you think you are, but commandeering a New Republic X-wing is illegal. Identify yourself right now or I will be forced to take action."

No rank, no flight number, but at least he identified his squadron. "This guy is ori'buyce, kih'kovid, eh Beskar'ad?" R2-E54 simply whistled a confused reply. If they let me keep this post I am going to have to add a Mandalorian translation matrix to the droid's vocabulary. Keying his transmiter to Phantom squadron's frequency, he replied:

"Phantom Tor, This is Warrant Officer Taab, a Mandalorian hired to fight for you. What are you going to do di'kut? Abandon your wingman and come arrest me? I think not, so shut it, I have work to do."

Taab bored in and launched his first torpedo at a range of 5 kilometers from the Marauder, a quick snap roll to port later and the second warhead was on its way. He pressed the attack as anti-fighter flak began pouring from the vessel, but not knowing he had dumped laser power to the engines, they had underestimated his speed and it was directed mostly aft of him. Three more torpedoes were fired in quick succession, as he banked further to port, away from his target. Taab knew that he had no chance of actually hitting the Maraduer, not at this range without a targeting computer, but the Marauder's captain didn't know that. It began an evasive starboard turn, that brought it out of orbit of the planet and away from the battle developing between the X-Wings and uglies.

The turn also placed the pirate ship in a pursuit coarse of Taab's fighter. He tried to lure them towards the Poetic Justice, but the pirates wouldn't bite. Instead they continued their turn and once free of the planet's gravity well the pirates simply jumped to hyperspace and escaped. Taab commed Phantom Squadron again:

"Phantom Lead, Ironhand here, does the di'kut still want to arrest me, or shall I join your formation?"

TAG: Sey, Addie, Pilots

OOC: Will be praying for you Sundancer!

 

Seth Kinser
Poetic Justice, Hangar

After the issue with the marksman forgetting his sniper rifle, Seth had made sure to order a double check on their equipment. He wanted to make sure that everyone had a blaster, another blaster, grenades, and even more blasters.

Pulling back the charging lever of his blaster rifle, feeding power from the pack pack into his weapon, Seth made sure the safety was on before slinging it over his shoulder. From what he could see with the viewports that were available, he was able to see that the starfighter battle was far underway with Republic X-Wings engaging whatever craft the smugglers had managed to scavenge for defense. That probably got the criminals on the ground worried. Time to go kick down their doors.

Waving a hand to one of the transports, Seth ordered, "Okay, let's load up! Into your transports! This is our time!"

It was that simple order that had a wave of fully-armed and armored Marines running passed the sergeant and into their transports. Seth had paused for the briefest of moments, his head turning this way and that to make sure that no one was holding them up before he marched up the ramp and into the troop compartment. Already everyone was taking their seats and strapping themselves in for what would no doubt be a rough ride that would be coming soon. Not taking his seat just yet, Seth instead went up to the cockpit where their pilot would be.

"Get on the comms and see if some of those pilots aren't too busy to provide an escort," Seth suggested. "They're supposed to be giving those anti-air guns something else to shoot at while we land aren't they?"

It was only when he got a nod from the pilot that Seth retreated back into the troop bay. Taking a seat that wasn't currently occupied, Seth secured his pack and weapons before strapping himself in. The deck vibrated beneath his feet, signaling the takeoff of their transport, and all that Seth was able to do was lean back and enjoy the ride. Unable to help himself, the soldier actually started to whistle a tune to himself while taking glances at the nearby viewport to see what was going on outside.

TAG: Ground Personnel, Any

 

IC: Private First Class Sil'ais "Silas" Kwi'teska
Transport

Silas cursed himself the whole time getting his rifle and the whole time back. Horrible mistake. Oh well, live and learn. It took him hardly any time to grab his rifle and book it back, and he was there before the sarge ordered them to board the shuttle. He moved in and found a seat, buckling down as he ran through his pre-fight checks on his weapons and armor. He heard some sniggers at him, always under the breath, but he ignored them. He remembered their faces though. Maybe, just maybe, if he was feeling rather less than kind, he'd not cover them as well as he should... he knew that wouldn't happen, but it was a cheering thought.

His sniper was in peak condition, like always. His blasters just fine. His armor was attached correctly, and he was mentally prepared. Silas leaned back and rested his head against the bulkhead. He breathed in, and out, letting the cold, recycled air fill his lungs. Somewhere, he heard whistling, and he knew it was the sarge. He had no idea how he knew it, but he did.

TAG: Ground Troops

 

GM OOC: Forgive my absence, DRL has been and is kicking my aft quarter. Lets move things along now.


Viel Temanka


Sergeant Temanka stood outside the dropship that would be taking her and her men down to the planet. As her men finally gathered 'round she raised a hand and tapped the crafts hull. "This is our ride. As you can see the Republic has spared no expense. And so have issued us decades old Multi Altitude Assault Transports. They're old but they're reliable. But ultimately they mean nothing if we can't get down to the surface." She nodded her head towards the hangar hangar bay opening. "The flyboys and girls are out there playing around and having fun. They're job is too keep the enemy distracted while we land and do the actual hard work."

"We will begin our decent in fifteen. That way we give the flyboys a chance to get their heads in the game. So I want all of you inside, your gear secured, and yourself strapped in. Last person in has to clean all the blasters in the armory. All of them." She lifted her E-11 rifle and stepped up to the door of the transport which hissed and slid out of the way. "Come on boys and girls. It's time to play army."

Tag: All Ground Personnel

 

The Battle Continues
Deep Space

The usual quiet of space was disrupted by the flashes of laser light as the pilots of Phantom squadron handily took out the cobbled together uglies from the pirates that had risen to meet the challenge of the Poetic Justice. Four uglies, two venting smoke retreated with their lives still intact while attempting to escape to the far side. Upon their retreat all twelve of the Phantoms formed up on their leader awaiting further instructions and taking inventory of their ships. The pilots did not have to wait long before a transmission came over the comm.

"Phantom Squadron this is base. We need you to provide an escort for the transports to the surface. The ground forces are ready. Please send two flights to cover and await the signal for the target. Then take out the target."

"You heard them, Phantoms. Flight 1 and 2 will escort the transport to the surface while 3 flights stays patrolling the area. Once we get the target from the ground forces, Phantoms 5 and 6 will use their proton torps to take the target out. Copy?"

Tag: Phantoms

---

The transport smoothly left the hangar and the pilot expertly maneuvered his way towards the surface. He was alerted to Phantom squadron's order to give them an escort, an escort which he was grateful for. The clunky transport was not good in a firefight so it was always good to have the X-wings around to protect them. He carefully made his way to the landing site than a scout who went in earlier had picked out for them. The pilot was glad for the quiet of the cockpit as sometimes the [b]marines[/b] were a little full of themselves, though not as bad a fighterjocks tended to be however he hardly ever had to transport them anywhere since they flew their own ships.

Halfway down the X-wings assigned to escort them joined him. He again felt relief that there were others out there who had the combat capabilities to take care of things if something were to go wrong. This time, however, nothing went wrong. The ship landed smoothly and the pilot took care of making sure the ship was ready to take off again as soon as the marines were ready. The pilot hit the release for the door to allow the marines to leave and take care of whatever it was that was their mission here. The pilot did not judge, but he knew these people were outside the norm for soldiers. They tended to go places and do things that no one else wanted to do.

The marines had a mission and they knew what to do.

[b]Tag: Ground forces[/b]

[hr]


[b]IC: Tor[/b]
A groan escaped the lips of Tor as he realized lead was making him be on babysitting duty. He liked to blow things up and she knew it! He was sure she was getting back at him for his reprogramming of her droid by making him fly cover while the others got to have all the fun taking out the ground target.

"Copy, lead." Tor said into his comm in a disgruntled voice before switching back to three flight's frequency.

"Three flight on me, let's see if anyone up here wants to play."

Tor led three flight away from the others and had his R2 unit plot a course that covered a loop over the sky where the rest of the Phantoms awaited the signal from the ground troops. Tor wanted to be able to keep track of what was happening in space and on the ground. He ordered his R2 unit to alert him of any firefight happening in the area of the other Phantoms and then turned his attention back to the display searching for threats in the area. As they made the first loop, two of the uglies from earlier had doubled back around to try to come up behind the Phantoms as they shifted their attention to the new task of escorting the transport to the surface. These two were the fully intact uglies who came in with lasers flashing.

"Phantoms 11 and 12 break to port on my mark. [b]Phantom 9[/b] on me to starboard."

He paused several seconds, letting the enemies come just a little closer. "Mark!"

[b]Tag: Sundancer[/b]


[hr]


[i]Poetic Justice[/i]

[i]"Phantom Lead, Ironhand here, does the di'kut still want to arrest me, or s

 

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Location: "Ironhand flight" space battle above Danadine

Taab smiled to himself, the di'kut had not replied, probably too afraid, now that he knew there was a Mandalorian out here. Than again Phantom Lead had not responded yet either, and that was not a good sign. Than his radio crackled to life:

"Ironhand this is base. You are to report back to the hangar immediately. You are unauthorized to be flying a New Republic vessel and you will return to base now. Report to Captain Daes when you arrive. I repeat, do not further endanger this mission. Report immediately back to the hangar."

Endanger the mission? Endanger the mission! I just drove off an enemy corvette with a crippled bird, and thats endangering the mission!? "Beskar'ad, authenticate that last transmission. I want to make sure that it came from the PJ. Also, tell me who is this Captain Daes?" As he was speaking, he noticed the composite group of New Republic fighters now surrounding him. The droid tweeted that the message was authentic, than began a short description of Captain Daes. As Taab read the text scrolling across his HUD, he realized that this was either very good, or very bad and that he now had a decision to make.

He could fight it out against the X-Wings and A-Wings arrayed against him. If he had been flying his personal StarViper, he may have tried it. But he had been forced to leave it with his son on Manda'yaim, the New Republic said they wouldn't support it logistically. Instead he was flying an X-Wing for the first time, and it had problems. So that was a no go.

He could run. After the Imperials had stiffed him just prior to the Mindor mission, he insisted on at least half his payment up front, so he would still have something to show for this. He already had his laser power diverted to the engines, so he should be able to outrun the X-Wings sent to intercept him, but those A-Wings were even faster. Besides, a contract was a contract, and Taab never ran out on a contract.

He could ignore the order, dare the New Republic to shoot him down. If he engaged the uglies, the fighters sent to intercept him would be too busy fighting their real enemy to worry about him. Taab considered the thought for a moment, and than dismissed it. If he did that, he would be tagged as an enemy fighter and than both sides would be trying to shoot him down. Not the desired outcome.

Or he could obey the order, put down his ship on the deck and go meet Captain Daes. If he was arrested he could always break out later. But Taab was willing to bet he wouldn't be arrested. The New Republic was just a little touchy about anyone playing with their shiny toys. Besides they needed every able bodied warrior they could get their hands on. Very well, he would return to base.

Chopping throttle to half speed, Taab ordered his droid to close the S-Foils, demonstrating he was no threat. Rocking his wings to his new "escort" he slowly banked back towards the Poetic Justice and commed the Star Destroyer.

"Poetic Justice; Ironhand. Call off your striile, put them back on mission. I am returning to base. Kote lo'shebs'ul narit."


TAG: Sey, Pilots.

 

IC: Xander ?Doc? Illiam
On Mission

"Good call, Doc. That was a fun. What?s next on our dance card??

"Phantom Squadron this is base. We need you to provide an escort for the transports to the surface. The ground forces are ready. Please send two flights to cover and await the signal for the target. Then take out the target."

"You heard them, Phantoms. Flight 1 and 2 will escort the transport to the surface while 3 flights stays patrolling the area. Once we get the target from the ground forces, Phantoms 5 and 6 will use their proton torps to take the target out. Copy?"

?I guess that answers your question Alleycat.? Doc switched over to the squadron wide frequency, ?Good Copy, Lead. 2 Flight will take up Rear Guard.? The thrill of fighting ship-to-ship had re-invigorated Phantom 5, but now it was back to business as usual.

This takes me back to when I was running escort on Naboo. He sat back and watched as the transports lumbered out of the hanger bay on the Poetic Justice. Switching over his comms to his flight?s dedicated frequency, Doc decided to impart some wisdom. ?Alright, we get to babysit these banthas on their way to the surface. I know it sounds like a blue milk run, but keep sharp and watch for enemy fighters.

?Once the legs get out and paint their target, Alleycat and I will swoop in and light it up. If we aren?t back by the time the legs have reloaded, 7 and 8 follow them out and we?ll catch up. Copy??

Luckily the trip down to the surface would be uneventful and they could finish this mission out with no casualties. May the Force be with us all.

TAG: Cam, Phantoms, and Sey

 

IC: Kaylee Kalare

Kaylee couldn't restrain a hiss as the Uglies retreated. She wanted to chase them down - you couldn't leave a hunt unfinished. It went against every instinct to let the vermin crawl back into their holes.

"Three flight on me, let's see if anyone up here wants to play."

Kaylee pulled into formation with the rest of the flight. She could hear elements of dissatisfaction in her flight leader's voice. A lot of pilots resented what they considered 'babysitting'. Maybe she'd understand that when she'd been a pilot longer. Or if my heritage didn't include ferocious predators. But for now... Let the others destroy the nest. Personally, I'd prefer to hunt up here.

A rolling growl hovered in her throat as the two intact Uglies came around. Oh yes. Come back for more. Into the hunters' jaws. This rush was like nothing she'd felt in the sims. Maybe it was different because this was real. As realistic and true to life as the simulators could be, her mind still knew the difference.

"Phantoms 11 and 12 break to port on my mark. Phantom 9 on me to starboard."

"On ya, Ten." Her voice had become so thick, she wondered if the XO would even recognise it as hers. She switched the laser cannons to dual-linked and waited, fur on end, tail twitching.

"Mark!"

She snapped away to starboard sharply, also pulling up relative to the incoming Uglies, then rolled and inverted her fighter, sending her towards her prey at a sharp angle. Her double laser bursts stitched into the craft's port side, and it scattered away from its previous heading, one engine flaring on and off, making it wobble and veer erratically.

No more running for you! She pulled around in pursuit, quadded the lasers and dropped her targeting to the already damaged engine. One shot later, she was flashing past a golden explosion. She yowled in triumph as she swung around to rejoin her wingmate.

My first kill! Why she'd ever been nervous about this, she didn't know. She mentally shook her fist at her brother.See, Nikal. I was born for this!

Tag: Sey, Phantoms

OOC: Sorry to anyone who was waiting on my post. I had a serious block, but the lovely Sey helped me past it. And thanks to everyone for their well-wishes. The surgery went well, and I'm all recovered now.

 

Seth Kinser
Danadine Surface

"Go, go, go!"

That was the order that Seth gave upon landing. Putting a hand on each marine as they passed and all but pushing them out the door, the Sergeant waited until the last man had stepped out before he finally followed. His booted feet landing upon the fresh ground of Danadine, Seth brought up his A280 Blaster Rifle, pressing the buttstock against his shoulder while his eye peered down the scope. He looked left, then right, and then slowly relaxed, lowering the blaster rifle ever so slightly but ready to bring it back up again should they come under attack.

The rest of the men and women in his squad had all filed out and set up a perimeter around the transport, their eyes on their scopes and the muzzles of their rifles pointed at their surroundings just as he had done. As Seth could see, however, there was hardly any opposition waiting for them. That meant three things to him; either the smugglers and other criminals were just too disorganized to mount a proper assault, they were too distracted with the space battle, or they refuse to come out of the holes they've buried themselves in with the thought that they could hold out against a Republic assault. Either explanation just made them all fools.

The landing zone that had been chosen for them was a nice patch of wooded area that would both hide the transport and mask the approach of the Republic Marines when they made their assault against the criminal hideout. That was fine with Seth who preferred a quick, easy assault. They weren't here to take over anything or assault strongholds; all they needed to do was blow up a few generators, plant a beacon on something that needed to get blown up, and the fighters would be the ones that got to do the blowing up part. Maybe if Seth was feeling generous - or if he was ordered to - he might pull out some of his more explosive ordnance to use on any of the anti-air guns that were lying around and give the X-Wings and other assorted craft an easier time in their attack runs.

All things in good time. Right now they had a mission to complete and it was up to them to see it done.

"To the warehouse and storage facilities!" Seth ordered as he pointed a finger in the direction of said facilities. "Lets make this quick! We'll clear through these woods, engage the enemy, put them down with extreme prejudice, take out the generators, and set up the beacon. Squad Two is on me!"

The task force was divided as such, the several squads immediately hooking up with their officers before fanning out and making their way through the woods. With his squad at his back, Seth led the way, his blaster rifle back up against his shoulder and ready to take down any hostiles that happened to come into his sight.

TAG: Ground Forces