Log:A Hunter In The Dark
A Hunter In The Dark
OOC Date: August 22, 2017
Location: Nal Hutta
Participants: Adhar Gann
Adhar is out in space. Looking for TIE fighters.
So this is probably going to end up with him getting shot at, but the organics - and synthetics - of Nar Shaddaa are all at stake. Why say this? Because, the smuggler Adhar Gann has gotten it into his head that this phantom vessel that people have been seeing might very well be the source of the droid-scrambling signals that are currently plaguing the moon.
But probably more the getting shot.
As Voidhome cruises quietly through the void on the dark side of Nal Hutta, Adhar keeps a weather eye on his instruments - guns powered down, but shields up. He's come on a mission of peace, but he's not stupid. Projected just over the console, the softly glowing globe of the sensor display shows the ship's location in three dimensions...and nothing yet in sensor range. For now, the ship is but a dark metal fish, all alone in the night.
Behind him, Wiz - R2-WZ - quietly tends the ship's secondary station. Hopefully their great history will keep him from murdering Adhar in his sleep. Or at his station. Or...at all.
As the Voidhome navigates through the black of space, a good 10,000 klicks from Nar Shaddaa and almost as far from Nal Hutta, space is peaceful. As the area was outside of any of the hyperspace lanes, and away from other traffic zones, there was generally no space traffic. However, on sensors was a tiny blip. The sensor profile might be a small asteroid, though this its trajectory doesn't seem like anything that was potentially affected by the gravitational pull of the Hutt planet or its city-moon.
There we go.
"Right," says Adhar, pursing his lips. He checks the guns, making sure that they're not powered - no point in making a mistake, here. "Wiz," he calls over his shoulder, "Fire up the beacon like we discussed, please."
The 'beacon' is a sensor call: the coded sample of the droid signal, its translation, and then, a simple message.
We hear you. Please talk with us.
There is no response from the comms, though it's still a good bit away from the blip, if that is the ship. One would have to close the distance to get a visual identification on the sensor blip that may or may not be the ghost ship that's raised the eyes of more than one spacer.
It's like approaching a client vessel, really; they have an expectation that you are who you are, and you have an expectation that they're who /they/ are, but either party could open fire in an instant. So you drift in carefully, letting each side get a good look at one another. Passive sensors until you have to give someone a spike. This, at least, is a scenario that Adhar's used to, the whole 'don't spook the other guy who could outgun you in an instant' thing.
He takes the yoke, directing Voidhome on a slowly narrowing course, keeping the freighter's speed as close to the mysterious contact's without losing ground. It's a time-consuming affair, but a safe one. Safe is what we want here.
Safe, and coffee. Which he drinks from a shatterproof mug.
As the Voidhome drifts nearer, the blip becomes more substantial. It's definitely old Imperial by design, the bubble-cockpit a dead giveaway. Its wings though, are quite different than anything that's seen in modern times. There's obvious damage to the vessel, but distant visuals only show so much.
"So let's try and hail it again." He says these words, even as his memories make connections that suggest that the ship ahead is death incarnate. "Hopefully it's friendly." Friendly or not, the next attempts are failures too.
"All right, my friend," Adhar says once another round of hails do not work, "Let's see where you go." Grasping the yoke, Adhar shifts the Voidhome gently into a passive course behind the fighter, cutting thrust and letting the ship travel behind the vessel quietly.
"This is either a recon circuit, or we're being led into a trap," he tells Wiz. "So get ready."
The vessel continues its flight, moving at around 4 MGLT and maintaining course. It continues this way for several hours before it makes a very slight course alteration to avoid a bit of space debris that was floating kilometers ahead.
"Get ready to get those guns up if this ticks it off," says Adhar to the Wiz, reaching up for the sensor controls; once the ship is at a suitable distance to peel off in a hurry if necessary, Adhar triggers a search ping. One ping only, Vasili. One ping only.
The scan does two things, it gives a little bit more detail on the ship, and causes it to speed up, though only slightly, as it turns in a slow arc moving back towards Y'toub itself, the namesake star of the solar system.
As the search details come in, Wiz beeps with some results. Fortunately for Adhar, the Voidhome has a computer screen for the droid's output. **Damage to primary hyperdrive powercell...Communication system disabled...Solar Arrays at 82% Effectiveness...** Any more details would require a more focused scan.
"Okay," mutters Adhar to himself as the data begins to roll in, "Let's see if we can't get in his blind spot and see what's under the hood."
As the Voidhome maneuvers to try and get alongside the ship, it continues to pick up speed. Each movement of the Voidhome is countered precisely by the TIE.
"All right, so much for curiosity," says Adhar, frowning at the machine ahead of him. "Let's hit it with focused pulse and..." Adhar is no slouch behind the yoke, but the ship just keeps outflying him - whatever's in the cockpit, it's definitely making good paces.
Wiz, of course, informs him of the failure to scan, and he mutters. "Try again," he says, aiming to drift back a bit more. "This thing's going to eat our faces if we make it mad. Suns /below/."
As the Voidhome closes once more on the TIE and gets a positive scan, the tiny fighter makes a quick 90 degree turn to starboard, directly away from the Voidhome. Then, the ship begins to accellerate, and accellerate the ship does. Even damaged, it was fast, very very very fast. The Voidhome is able to keep up, Adhar's piloting skill a match for whatever was in the cockpit, but the small fighter simply outclasses the Simiyiar when it comes to sheer speed and ability to turn quickly.
Meanwhile, R2-WZ begins analyzing the sensor data. It wasn't a complete scan, but it definitely garnered more information than the previous.
**Damage to primary weapon targetting. Secondary weapons functional... 3 multiple warhead concussion missiles functional... Shields emitters partially damaged to fore and fore port...No biological signs... Cockpit window replaced by armor plating...**
And off it goes. Adhar sits, watching, as the ship corkscrews off into space at a speed he would never have /dreamed/ that a ship of its design could go. He just...sort of watches it disappear off the scopes, mouth a little open.
Wiz beeps a little in the background. He doesn't know what it says, mind, but he figures he gets the gist.
"You said it, pal," Adhar mutters, reaching for the yoke. "All right, let's get out of here before it decides to come back and get nasty."
Thus does Adhar Gann play it smart, and doesn't get shot in the face. This time.
