Star Wars CLOSED HAVOC SQUAD

IC: Venge Jedha
Aboard the Galiceno, Under Attack

Venge really wished there was a second gunner, but his manic ploy was having some effect. At the very least he was keeping the TIEs busy. Those pilots were persistent, but so was he, and for better reasons. He hated them more than they hated him.

Swiveling on the gunnery couch, he compensated for tracking lag and achieved a solid target lock. At the same time, he heard Keia speaking on the coms.

[“It’ll take a few minutes to re-calculate the hyperspace jump.” ]

“A few minutes? We don’t have a few minutes!” he muttered aloud as he depressed the firing triggers, instantly releasing red lances of deadly energy at theTIE fighter that tried to evade, but realized his mistake a little too late.

[“Where do we want to go?"]

“ANYWHERE BUT HERE!!!”

Venge had to yell at the top of his lungs as the shockwave of the exploding TIE washed over the shields and thrummed inside the turret. A second TIE fighter was blinded by the same explosion and Venge managed to vape that one as well- yet, he did not dare celebrate, not yet.

Admittedly, he was definitely getting too old for this. Shaking his head, but still remaining focused, Venge was inwardly grateful that Keia had the presence of mind to engage the shields. The petite slicer was proving her worth right there and then, in the middle of space combat.

Maybe they would manage to get out of this mess alive, but for that to happen, they would have to time things just right.



Tag: @Kurisan, @TheAdmiral, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

IC: Nyll
On board the Galiceno, Hyperspace

Nyll barely contained her anger at the man. She restrained herself from answering him in like, but there was no point in all that, besides it would make things harder. “Understood Keia.” at least the girl was reasonable enough. The Twi’Lek simply shrugged and headed towards her allotted gun. Hopefully she would be able to shoot something down. As soon as she was ready she pointed the gun towards the streaking TIEs sending streams of blasterfire. ‘Come on! Come on!’ she thought as she tried hard to blow something up.

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The Galiceno, under attack...

Keia gulped at the shout from Venge. “Okay, easy to say…” she said under her breath. She needed a clear route with no chance of hitting a star cluster due to galactic spiral shift. The hyperdrive computer was still rebooting. She frowned. Too slow, she could do it in her head. She checked their current position. The Perlemian Trade Route was close enough and a safe hop. Then the ship rocked with an impact.

Keia gave a moment to steer the Galiceno, trying to evade the swarming TIEs. But the GR-75 was not a nimble ship.

The transport shuddered every time Venge triggered the quadlasers, and he was giving hell to the pursuers. Explosions rocked nearspace. He must have blown two out of the void already. Keia plotted a course to run at the edge of the gravity cone and accelerated, the TIEs snapping at their heels. Another blast hammered their flank. They were coming up from below.

“Stunno, how about those boosters?”

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Stunno heard T’Rani’s call, turned, and saw what she meant about the bacta tank.

“Kriff,” he growled. “That’s going to ruin the day.”

The Gigoran loped over to her and unhooked his grav-hammer.

“Jasper,” he said. “Brace the far side. T’Rani, can you lever this over the rail?”

He showed her what he meant; the heavy tool would be an improvised jack to guide it back into its slot while… something applied the force.

He went to the other side of the massive tank and prepared to push. Keia’s call came over the comloop.

“Another moment!” he growled back. Then he called over to T’Rani, “Ready?”

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Nyll slid into position and snatched up a headset. She was not familiar with the turret design but she learned quickly. The lateral and vertical controls were sensitive, the firing triggers obvious. A set of controls faced her on a currently blank console… and out in space several distinctive eyeball shapes of TIE fighters were screaming towards her.

She triggered the quadlasers, adding their roar to the thunder of the dorsal cannons. A TIE bloomed into a flower of fire. Got one. Two more coming…

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T'Rani took firm hold of the grav-hammer and applied it as she had been shown as Jasper and the Gigoran applied the correct pressure.

She tested the fit. "Oh, that's nice and snug again." Her tone was relieved. "Thank you for the assistance."

@Kurisan

 

The Galiceno, under attack... [interim update]

The bacta tank slotted back into place with a satisfactory clank. Stunno saluted T'Rani and hurried on his way.

Back in the cockpit, Keia tried to check a dozen different indicators on the console at once. They were heading full-speed for the edge of the gravity cone. She plugged in the hyperspace data.

"That's it, hyperspace jump re-calculated, just gotta get outta here..."

The Galiceno thundered on, the TIEs swarming at her flanks and trading ferocious blasts with the turrets. Then the engines burned as an invisible hand slowed and turned the ship.

"No!" Keia said into the comloop without realising it. "We can't get escape velocity!"

The torpedo-like starship was forced into a circular flightpath, like a canoid straining at the end of its leash. The TIEs took their chance, stitching the transport's flank with emerald needles of energy. Fresh red alerts sprang up on Keia's console.

"Stunno!" she called through the loop. "External damage at section rear-7, can you check internal for breach?"

There was a massive clang over the loop, then the Gigoran growled.

Stunno said, "Stunno is BUSY right now, please leave a message after the beep."

"Uhhh, right," said Keia. "Can anyone help?"

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IC: Venge Jedha
Aboard Galiceno, Attempting to Escape

He listened to the comm chatter and applied what he heard as a sit-rep while he fired away at TIEs.

There was a possible breach in rear section 7, which meant they could not jump to hyperspace if they didn’t confirm, not if they wanted to end up as floating pieces of debris traveling at speeds faster than light.

On top of the 'breach' issue, the ship was also unable to achieve escape velocity to break the Interdictor’s event horizon without boosters.

Venge growled liberally as he immediately abandoned his post.

Red was finally on turrets and was doing a fair job of it. Thankfully, there were less TIEs attacking the ship at the moment, so they technically were not in any worse defensive position than before.

“I’ll check on that breach!” Venge called out through the com-loop even as he high tailed it to check the reported area. The large man was sure to grab a welding gun and some filler just incase he did find an actual breach. He really hope there wasn’t one, or that it’d be something he could fix fast enough for them to make their much needed escape.

"Stunno!!" He yelled.

No need to waste words. The Gigoran would know exactly what he meant. They needed those boosters, now.

“Keia, can you give me an exact location?”

The ship rocked once again. Red was probably giving those TIE’s hell to pay. Good. Attacking Imperials was his preferred method of negotiation anyway. Venge remained focused, knowing that he had to be quick, yet accurate, if there were repairs to be made. He'd then have to hurry back to the dorsal current, or maybe the pilot's chair.

The reluctant ship's captain looked and listened out for any signs of the reported problem, even as he thought: The quicker we put this situation behind us, the better.



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On the Galiceno

T'Rani heard Keia give the location of the likely breach and hurried to check it. There was a panel with sensors to trigger when there was a hull breach. Thankfully, there wasn't any. She activated the comm and said: "T'Rani Beillane, here. There is some minor damage but nothing appears to have been critically impacted. No loss of atmosphere or downtick in pressure. Once we have the boosters up, I think we can make the jump." Her tone was relieved.

@Kurisan \ @greyjedi125 \ @TheAdmiral

 

The Galiceno, under attack... [interim update]

Venge went rushing into the hold as soon as he heard there was risk of a breach. And rightly so; if they attempted hyperspace with even a small hole it would likely rip the ship apart.

Then the Barolian’s voice came over the comloop.

"T'Rani Beillane, here. There is some minor damage but nothing appears to have been critically impacted. No loss of atmosphere or downtick in pressure. Once we have the boosters up, I think we can make the jump."

Are you sure? Keia was about to ask, but there was an assured calm from the doctor. Good bedside manner.

Venge yelled at Stunno. Another few moments and the Gigoran’s usual vox-growl came over the loop.

“Alright, boosters online. They are fed from the main fuel core, so don’t burn it all.”

“Setting vector,” Keia reported. "Nyll - two TIEs just went down to your side..."

Her brow furrowed. There was something wrong. The ship was still turning.

“Oh no!” she called on the loop. “The gravity cone is contracting, I can’t get a straight line at an edge with enough space to accelerate!”

Keia was frantic, trying different vectors, but each calculation led to the same conclusion. We’re gonna get boarded, might need Nyll to sweet-talk them afterall…

TAG: @TheAdmiral @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @greyjedi125

 

IC: Venge Jedha
Aboard the Galiceno, Trying harder to Escape!

Once again, Venge took a moment to listen to the com-chatter.

The Doctor reported no ‘critical’ damage. Venge narrowed his eyes and fought the urge to confirm for himself. He was going to have to trust the Doctor on this, because he needed a crew that he could trust and not second guess their every decision. A crew who understood the risks and did their very best to fulfill the mission.

Stunno growled back, reporting that the boosters were finally online. Venge leered at this news. Nyll was holding her own against incoming TIE fighters.

Good.Good.

That’s when he heard Keia report about the contracting gravity ‘cone’.

Not good. Not good.

“nononononononno….” Venge began rushing back.

“Tamara! set 180 from Interdictor and use boosters!!” He instructed gruffly.

He was needed at the cockpit, but there was simply no time to spare. They needed to jump now!



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IC: Nyll
On board the Galiceno, Hyperspace

Her elation of hitting a TIE was short lived as the others were still very much active. The ship was shaking and that made things even harder to take aim and shoot at the blasted things. The Empire surely loved small and nimble crafts. Their ship was not made for warfare, these guns were mostly made to fend off against pirate attacks and even against them they were not that effective.

Hearing that Stunno and the Grumpy Man as she now called Venge were fixing the ship made her heart sink. Who was flying this crate? Also the possibility of being boarded was getting more and more plausible. The problem now was that they were resisting the Empire and there won’t be any smooth talking out of this.

If they were not executed on spot, they will most likely be taken prisoner, tortured and sent to a penal colony digging up dirt and rocks until they die. She would not be anyone’s slave ever again! She started shooting at the enemy fighters with a renewed vigour. Take that Imperial scum!

TAG: @Kurisan @greyjedi125 @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

The Galiceno, under attack...

Nyll blasted into pieces another TIE that was harrying their belly - she was sharp already with the quadlasers, Keia thought.

T'Rani had confirmed the damage was external only. Stunno had hooked up the new boosters. The coordinates were in.

But Keia could not do her part! The cone had contracted too quickly.

“Tamara!" said Venge over the com. "Set 180 from Interdictor and use boosters!” He was heading back to his turret.

Keia blinked, confused. Yes, true, heading straight for the far - and wide - end of the cone would give them the vector needed to break out of the gravity well, but the rest of the Imperial fighters were in holding pattern there, and so that would mean...

"That's crazy!" she said into her headset. "We can't just ram our way through the TIEs, the shields won't take it!"

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IC: Venge Jedha
Aboard the Galiceno, ALL or Nothing!

Venge understood, but at the moment he didn’t care what might seem crazy or unfair. There was no time to explain.

“JUST DO IT!” He roared into the com, just as he got back into the gunnery cradle and started firing like a man possessed, same as Nyll.

Getting captured by the Empire was just NOT an option.

It would never be.



Tag: @Kurisan, @TheAdmiral, @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

The Galiceno, under attack...

Keia cringed as Venge yelled at her again over the com. She dutifully set the flightpath, shaking her head with worry. I can’t believe we’re going to play chicken with Imperial TIE pilots…

“Angling deflectors, double front! Venge, Nyll, you’ve got to clear the way through…” she said, realising that would call for nosebleed-inducing concentration and reflexes once they lit the boosters. “Stunno, preparing to burn boosters, keep an eye on the fuel core pressure…”

“Aye, I’m here…” said Stunno from the engineering section.

T’Rani appeared in the cockpit. Keia glanced around. The doctor with cerulean hair said, “Need another pair of eyes?”

Keia nodded gratefully and indicated both the rear stations behind and either side of the pilot’s seat. “There, internal systems indicators….”

T’Rani looked; it was mostly technical readouts, but the temperature / pressure indicators gave a set of numbers she could instantly understand and relate to the health of those on board, and they were neatly arranged by ship section.

“And there,” continued Keia, “external sensors.”

This was an array that proved more foreign to T’Rani, but she was an intelligent being and quickly figured the direction they were travelling and that the moving blips indicated the relative enemy starship positions along with energy signatures.

“Booster ignition – here we go!” called Keia.

The special extra engines that had been installed roared, and the ship shuddered as it zoomed onwards through space, attempting to break from its invisible net. In their quadlaser bubbles, Venge and Nyll suddenly faced a far more difficult task as their targets bucked and leapt in their sights. Ahead, several TIEs moved to intercept the flightpath of the Galiceno, and streams of green blasts spat towards her…

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IC: Venge Jedha
Aboard the Galiceno, Escape!

Everything else disappeared. There was only him, the TIE fighters and the Quadlasers.

Venge could not hear the roar of the turrets, nor that of TIE fighters.

All he saw was his home planet being destroyed. The villages disappearing in columns of fire erupting beneath them, vanishing in kilometers high of molten rock and smoke. Dying. Helpless. Helpless. Helpless. He did not hear himself yelling the names of each of his friends who had fallen to the Empire, each of the friends he had lost.

REVENGE!! REVENGE!! REVENGE!!

The Quadlaser spoke his fury in red lancers of rage.

REVENGE!!

Each TIE fighters destroyed did not bring satisfaction or relief.

REVENGE!!

The pain and the hurt were raw! Just like his undying hate for the Empire.

REVENGE!!

He continued to fire, again and again and again.


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The Galiceno, Cockpit Area

T'Rani was glad to be able to lend assistance to the efforts of the rest of the crew.

She told Keia: "All readings are green for internal sensors, no dangerous fluctuations or ominous rises or dips. Feeding the ccoordinates for external position now, with real time updates as Venge and Nyll take out their targets." She paused. "Keia, you really are doing splendidly under all this pressure."




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IC: Nyll
On board the Galiceno, Hyperspace

And another hit for her, bringing her tally up to two TIEs, yay for Team Red! She snickered to herself. The transport did the impossible by boosting its power that made her sink in her chair until the inertial dampeners kicked in and she could sit properly. This maneuver made it hard for her to aim, but she kept on shooting, at least that would keep the enemy at bay “Are we there yet?” she asked out loud. Meaning whether or not they were moving away from the gravity well generators of the Interdictor in order for them to jump to hyperspace.

TAG: @Kurisan @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @greyjedi125

 

The Galiceno stampeded towards the end of the gravity well. The whole ship shuddered with the power of the additional boosters.

Keia checked the console. They would make escape velocity.

Venge and Nyll blasted frantically at the TIEs swarming to block their escape. T’Rani coolly fed data to the gunners. Keia gritted her teeth. TIE pilots were fanatical to the point of being suicidal.

Venge hit another one and its explosion lit up the cockpit. Keia nodded. He was a violent maniac, and she had not missed that he had got mad with his previous pilot. But he sure could shoot, and she was glad he was on their side.

Nyll said over the comloop, “Are we there yet?”

Keia was not sure if that was a sly joke. The Twi’lek was still a bit of an enigma, like so many of her kind, slinky and quiet. But she expertly took apart two more of the enemy fighters coming up from below.

All these thoughts flashed through Keia’s mind in just a moment as they sped toward their fate. She was gripping the control stick so tightly her hands hurt.

T’Rani said, "Keia, you really are doing splendidly under all this pressure."

She let out a breath she did not know she had been holding. She glanced back to T’Rani, “You too, Doctor.”

The Barolian had been a rock of professional calmness, turning her hand to whatever task was needed.

The ship thundered on. Keia noticed a fluctuation on the fuel core pressure. Stunno’s extra line to the boosters, she decided.

At the last moment a TIE tried to ram them from the front. Nyll and Venge combined fire and red streams of laser chased it. Keia flinched, turning away from the viewscreen. There was an explosion – she did not know who had it hit it, but it was just in time.

They flew through the resulting fireball. Larger bits of wing and fuselage got through the shields and clanged off the hull. Keia glanced at external damage indicators, then to T’Rani.

T’Rani nodded back. “We’re good, no pressure loss.”

Keia announced on the loop. “We’re clear of the gravity cone!”

“HYPERSPACE, NOW!” roared Venge.

Keia did not need telling twice. She gripped the h-s lever. No time to double check the numbers, she would have to rely on her earlier mental calculations. She wrenched back the lever – it was a deliberately heavy control; no one wanted to jump by accident.

The engines engaged. The speckled starfield blurred into a grey-white swirl.

“That’s it, we got away!” she reported with a grin. A few moments ago, she would hardly have thought it possible.

She turned to T’Rani and they shared a relieved embrace. Stunno whooped with triumph over the comloop.

Nyll and Venge powered down their quadlasers and the turrets automatically returned to rear-facing dormant mode ready for locking.

Venge noticed a puff of white smoke leak from the top of the Galiceno, near the engines. He waited several moments, then it happened again…

​

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T'Rani returned Keia's impulsive hug and smiled. She felt her stomach unknot itself as she realized they were in hyperspace.

"Now let's hope we can get where we need to be without further emergencies," T'Rani wished aloud.

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IC: Venge Jedha
Galiceno, Hyperspace

A very long sigh of relief escaped the tired spacer. They had escaped the clutches of the Empire, just barely. Venge did wonder when his luck would finally run out, but also imagined he would go out in a ‘blaze of glory’.

Silently, he was pleased that this crew managed such a feat together. Surviving when the situation was not ideal meant they would do well when things were in their favor. That was good to note.

But before ole Venge could muster enough calm to congratulate everyone in his own unique way, his eyes revealed to him another problem.

The Galiceno vented a puff of smoke near the engines. He waited a moment. Then another.

“That can’t be good.”

Especially while in hyperspace. Maybe he was getting his ‘blaze of glory’ a whole lot sooner than expected.

“Stunno, Keia….” The reluctant captain spoke calmly over the comm.

“We have puffs of white smoke coming out of the engines. We might have to drop out hyperspace. Hopefully in one piece?”

Venge closed his eyes and forced himself to remember the Rebel Alliance victory at Yavin. More than anything, he wished to live long enough to witness the Fall of the Empire, but if that was not in the cards for him, then one more win…..just one more, was all that he asked for.



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T'Rani's warm feeling of relief suddenly turned to ice again. "Oh, no! That cannot be good. What could it be?" She asked Keia and anyone listening over the commloop.

@greyjedi125
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IC: Nyll
On board the Galiceno, Hyperspace

The battle was over at last. Nyll gave a sigh or relief. That was pretty close. But that was just another day in the life of a Rebel operative. She placed the headset over the console and stretched. She climbed up towards the living area. Grinning satisfiedly and as soon as she was about to say something celebratory she heard about the white smoke coming from the engines. Here we go again… she thought “Anything I can do to help?” she asked.

TAG: @Kurisan @greyjedi125 @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

 

The Galiceno, in hyperspace again, Perlemian Trade Route

Keia heard Venge’s signal and traded a look with T’Rani. She sighed. The adrenalin rush had subsided and she felt hungover and wanted only to crawl into her bunk. However, the fluctuation on the fuel core pressure she had noticed earlier played on her mind.

“Uhhh okay, I’m coming to you, Venge,” she said into the com. “Stunno, can you stay in engineering while I take a look? Is the booster line still connected?”

“No, I isolated it when we went to light speed.”

Keia scampered through the hold past rows of bacta tanks until she reached the well to the gun turrets. She skipped up the ladder to the dorsal bubble. It was cramped and although she was tiny she had to squeeze in and perch on Venge’s lap, feeling awkward.

“Show me,” she said.

“Watch there,” he pointed.

Sure enough, the puff of white smoke came again. Keia thumbed the comloop on the console.

“He’s right, Stunno; it’s fuel venting from the heat radiation panel. But that’s before the priming chamber?”

“I see the fluctuation on the core,” growled the Gigoran. “It’s slowly increasing. I think we got a problem.”

Keia counted off the seconds, then it happened again. “There it is again. It’s not constant. We need to time the intervals. Meet you downstairs.”

She slid down the ladder and met with Stunno coming back from engineering. Venge followed her down. Nyll and T’Rani also arrived at the impromptu meeting amidships.

"Anything I can do to help?" said Nyll.

Keia and Stunno looked at each other and said at the same time, “Fuel core stabilizer.”

“How?” growled Stunno. “They’re indestructible!”

Keia shook her head. “Lucky shot before I got the shields up? Maybe debris from a TIE?”

They faced the others and Keia realised she owed them an explanation.

“Okay, the fuel core is in a solid state to keep stable. It only liquidizes for combustion in the priming chamber. The stabilizer is a component that sits on the core, about how long?” she looked at Stunno. He spread his massive arms wide.

Keia said, “About three metres long. It’s just an inert rod of special graphite alloy that emits a natural electromagnetic field – that’s what keeps the fuel stable. There are no moving parts, nothing to really go wrong with it, but if the rod is cracked or warped, the field is distorted. That makes the fuel liquidize and slowly become unstable.”

Stunno growled with annoyance.

Keia said, “We need to set down somewhere and fix it.”

“Now, wait,” said Stunno. “I can rig up an extra cooling system, maybe we can make it back?”

“The pressure will heat it up and blow!” said Keia.

“No, remember we burn it as we go, the space created and strength of the tank I think can contain it.”

“Do we have enough fuel? Remember what we burned for the boosters.”

Stunno shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. It’s only venting a trickle.”

Keia bit her lip. “For now… I don’t like guessing it.”

“Well, what would you like?” Stunno said sarcastically. “We just escaped an Interdictor. If we drop out too close they’ll track us down.”

“Can’t you do it quickly in deep space?” said Keia.

Stunno said, “I need to get outside to do it and…” he looked awkward. “We don’t have a spare.”

“What? Why not?”

The Gigoran growled at her. “They’re supposed to be indestructible! We can’t carry two of everything on this ship or there’ll be no room for cargo.” He folded his arms. “I think we can make it back.”

Keia turned to the others and appealed for their opinions.

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T'Rani tried to absorb the implications of either course but she was no engineer or technician. She couldn't even extrapolate the relevant equations. She said: "We need to get far away so that we're not tracked down, to a place safe enough or isolated enough to effect repairs since we can't do it in hyperspace. It would be nice if we could stop the leak until then, somehow?"

@Kurisan \ @greyjedi125 \ @TheAdmiral

 

IC: Venge Jedha
The Galiceno, Hyperspace

"I want to get away from the Empire as much as the next guy, but I'd also like to live to fight another day." Venge stated dryly.

"What's our heading? If we can get to a planet where we could effect repairs and possibly barter for a spare part....?"

Venge left the statement unfinished, as he brought a hand to his bearded chin to mull over the issue further. The crew would have to come to a decision quickly. The more fuel they burned, the smaller the window of opportunity became.


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IC: Nyll
On board the Galiceno, Hyperspace

Nyll instantly regretted her decision to offer help as they started with that technobabble that she did not understand anything. So she shrugged and moved towards the kitchenette, she needed a drink.

TAG: @Kurisan @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha @greyjedi125