Log:Black Squadron: Counter Ambush to our Ambush

Black Squadron is ambushed

OOC Date: August 5, 2021
Location: Corellia
Participants: Black Squadron, Jessika Pava, Ulani Kalgaav, Bors Thul, Ektor, Shemar, Suralinda Javos, Poe Dameron

Black Squadron has been deployed to deal with an incoming force from the First Order intended to reinforce the city of Tyrena. With the ground action in the city already ramping up, it's imperative that Black Squad reach the air space before those reinforcements arrive, or Tyrena is going to be a slaughter.

Leading Black Squad in an orange and black T-85 X-Wing is Poe Dameron, his astromech, a one of a kind orange and white bb-series droid, can be seen in its socket, head bobbing occasionally as it scans the area. Poe's voice cuts over the local net, he sounds robotic but it's clear. The distortion is from the encryption that protects their comms from being picked up by forces in the area.

<"Got a bad feeling about this.."> And as if on cue, dark spots in the evening sky become more visible. A small squadron of TIE/fo fighter craft are swarming toward Black Squadron intent on intercepting and engaging. Poe has time to engage the s-foils on his fighter before he's banking off to join the fight. <"We really don't have time for this.. --Black Squad.. let's clear the path as quickly as we can. Pair up where you're able and let's get after it. The Old Battleax is counting on us to take out those reinforcements.">

Poe sets his craft up for intercept, the opening joust about to begin. "Hang on back there, buddy. This is where the fun begins!" Ahead of them, eight (8) TIE/fo race toward Black Squadron, their engine output screaming in that iconic TIE Fighter manner.

Ektor spends much of the approach explaining to his new co-pilot how flying in a Y-wing works.. an effort in which he is distracted by frequent interruptions from R2-G13, who honks in indignant binary to explain the *regulations*. Ektor mutes the astromech in annoyance in less than a minute (muting your astromech is also against regulations). "Ugh, finally. So yeah, Techie here's the deal: regs? Aren't really *rules*-" yes they are, Ektor, that's what the word literally means. "More like.. suggestions for regular people, yeah? So just follow my lead, and- ARRIGHT, we gotta DOG fight!" he exclaims with more cheer than a bomber pilot should ever feel upon being ambushed by faster, more nimble enemies. << I hear that, Pretty Boy: clear the path and kick some ass, yeah?>>

"Dear oh dear. Dreadful noisy things." Bors mutters to himself in the cockpit of his RZA-2, the far superior KSE remodel to Dodonna's old, still excellent but not as excellent, design. "Hyperlaaaanes... take me hooo-oome... to the place, I beloooong" no droids, only himself and the comms - how do A-Wing pilots manage?

Some sing.

Some talk to themselves.

Some can't stop jabbering on comms until they're told to hush up.

All are a little crazy.

<<"Ser Nugget, take my four. Mind the jetwash.">> snickering as he snaps off comms and does his level best to keep his craft at a speed the chonky X-Wing can keep up with. "New Alderaaaaan, Rollin' mountains... Take me home. Hyperlaaanes." picking back up without missing a beat, fingers tapping rhythm on his control yoke, head bobbing as he drops throttle, inverting while rolling on his axis, rear thrusters engaging momentarily to point the nose of his fighter towards Shemar's. It's a moment to give he and Ulani a friendly wave and a too sparkly smile before he drops like a rock, brings up his nose and re-angles for the TIEs, putting thrust back up to where he can move in wing formation with the T-85.

All A-Wing pilots are a little crazy.

For being part of the support staff of the infamous Black Squadron, Ulani hasn't actually spent that much time in flight. Shuttle rides from point A to point B. That one or two times on the capital ship's lounge. If you want to go further back -- and you certainly do -- there was the flight lessons she got from her brother in a screaming TIE fighter that oftentimes left her sick.

It's a matter to ponder, then, how someone so married to the ground joins the biggest hot dogs the New Republic can cobble together. How? Well, first she's a quick learner. Ulani has that going for her.

As Ektor tries to explain the ins and outs of the Y-Wing (after he mutes the poor droid), Ulani is listening intently. Like a steel trap, her mind is. Yes. She's already mapping the control in front of her when all hell breaks loose. "What?!" Yup. Those are TIE fighters... There is a bit of a high-pitched squeal and it didn't come from the muted droid.

Nugget is quiet, having stayed off of his coms and absolutely not making any extraneous comments. Black 06 flies off of Bors' starboard wing and is nice and relaxed in his flying so far. Shemar finally breaks his silence, <<"Black Six copies, Pretty Boy. O ver.">> The R3 astromech droid that sits in the socket behind him in the X-wing beeps and whistles cheerfully enough. Seeing the TIES incoming though makes Shemar's stomach kind of do a flip and tighten but he keeps his head on a swivel, frosty and alert.

Bors gives him a slight position adjustment and 'Sir Nugget' smoothly slips his Xwing into the 4 O'clock position. <<"On it, Buhbors.">> The turn towards him without warning starts to freak him out and Shemmar begins to pull away inside of Bors's turn just in time to see the other pilot peel and roll away for intercept. Nugget swears something under his breath and rolls his X-wing to follow suit and maintain his relative position, duly throttling up.

A gloved hand reaches out to make an adjustment to his HUD and start warming up his weapons systems for engagement.

<"Go straight at them, don't let these thugs scare you!"> Poe calls over the comms, the initial joust appearing to go to Black Squadron who manages an appropriate attack vector right off the bat. Poe's craft begins to to rock from side to side slightly, before angling down! <"HERE THEY COME!">

BB-8 warbles concern as Poe flies right into the path of the fighters before realizing his shields were still off! A slap to the dash brings the shields up, and Poe laughs. "Yeah, pal.. that would've been bad!"

The Fighters squaring off with black spread out, doing their best to double up on targets. Suralinda Javos chuckles as she arrives on Ektor's wing. <"Ready for a good time, Tion?"> Javos' Y-wing's shields shimmer into place, and the cannons come on line, spewing fire just as soon as they're primed!

Ektor half looks over his shoulder when Ulani shrieks 'What?'. "I said dogfight, yeah? Huh, usually people say I'm too loud, but I can be a lil louder if you need.. Hey, Genius: shields double front for the joust then balance us out for the tangle. ... Genius? Oh, drek I left her muted." He reactivated the astromech's communications, greeted by blistering binary. "Yeah, yeah, I ain't listening: do the thing. Techie, try and tag whatever I'm shooting at when it screams past us, yeah? Otherwise take your picks. All you can eat, girl!" A dumb chuckle, and he adds on comms, <<Looks like a standard flight of four trios.. dumb Hutt-suckers gonna try and ring around us, HA->> That's a sound tactic, Ektor. <<Bombshell, I'm *always* ready for a good time, yeah? I got a vector on their squad leader, going in hot.>> Because picking a fight with the best enemy pilot while flying a bomber is the way Ektor handles getting ambushed. His nose cannons hammer the shields of the enemy ace in the opening pass, an expert display of gunnery punctuated by another dumb cackle.

He'd been on the ground for -so- long. Even atmospheric flight was something! No mud, no grime, no smoke (unless he gets hit maybe)! Twisting around in a corkscrew before the twin-cannons on the sides of the A-Wing open up, creating a double helix of crimson plasma that begins to fill the space between the craft.

<<"Picked my target, splash shields.">>

Sparks are flying and deflectors are turning cyan in places as energy tear forms and Bors makes his attempt to blaze through - flying right through the hairy mix of all those TIEs, like a man who is likely assuming he can get through without a scratch on him.

"All my memories, gather 'round her. Alderaa tower... Thranta soaring over blue water..."

Doing her best to ignore the Binary -- and it is quite scathing, indeed. Who taught that droid /those/ words? -- Ulani tries to find her stomach again. Currently it is somewhere in her knees. The Y-Wing thrusts forward before she can even note Bors diving and Shemar following.

Wait.. tag? Tag who?! Ah, there's that familiar panic. Ulani grabs the control the turret and tries not to throw up when Ektor mentions 'all you can eat.' "O-Okay..." And the turret fire quite hapharzardly! Hitting absolutely nothing! All apart of her genius plan to keep the enemy guessing.

Shields up, here they go! Bors is tearing it up with rolls and firing and 'Sir Nugget' stays right with him, keeping sharp eyes out and determined to stay a bit behind Bors's starboard wing. It's Shemar's job to watch Bors's six and keep any TIES off of his lead so Bors can focus on shooting. The nimble X-wing stays in position. Nugget is a seasoned enough pilot that he knows his job and doesn't flinch at going at the TIES head on.

Bors's wingman fires away to help clear a hole for Buhbors! His own laser cannons fire away, lighting up the TIE's shields as they blaze past a full throttle, but Shemar doesn't quite manage to take those shields down.

In a blink they are past and and manuvering to come back around. Whatever kind of manuver Bors chooses, Nugget is right there maintaining relative position.

The initial joust is painful for both sides, mainly Xer, who earns the ire of the enemy squadron when he picks on their Ace. Bors does the same by punching their XO in the face. Now the battle has transformed into a stinger's nest of craft whipping around each other. Contrails of exhaust crisscross where flight paths have intersected, and the roar of Republic engines is outdone by the screaming of the TIEs. Impacts from missed shots slam into the earth, pocking up dirt and showering the ground with clouds of dust.

Poe flies low over the ground below to evade being hit. A moment of is taken to line up a shot but the TIE fighter seems well aware that Black Leader is onto them. They evade the shot and Poe grumbles, adjusting his flight pattern to break off and come to Xer's aid. <"Hold on, Tion, gonna pull some of those off you, buddy!">

Black Squadron's lead Y-wing attracts a storm of incoming cannon fire as three TIEs concentrate fire on Ektor. The light bomber rocks one and then again from heavy impacts on the shields, and the pilot's response is to cackle. "HA, I pissed em off *good* that time." He banks and veers once through the opening charge, trying to anticipate the movement of the enemy ace to bring the faster craft back into his crosshairs. Whether through dumb luck or for his vast experience against such foes, he guesses right, shatters shields, and scores deep on the squadron leader's TIE with a precise shot. <<No lie, Pretty Boy: I got em right where I want em, yeah? Hahaha->> laughter without inflection through a scrambler sounds... odd.

<<"Excellent marksmanship, Six!">> Bor's voice is all manner of elation and excitement while he leads Shemar through the tangle of fighters, <<"Shake loose that pair on thee, if thou need, Ser Nugget - I can mind the shop.">> twisting up vertical before port thrusters fire full to shove the craft in a side-slip that aims the A-wing towards the ground.

Twisting into a bank turn and re-orienting his nose a quick rake of rapid fire cannons tearing away more shield system power leaving the deflectors in guttering bands of failing power. Will they stay? Will they run? Fast little wedge ship with light weapons. The thousand cuts.

In times of high stress, there is a well-known phenomenon where time seems to slow and everything comes into cold, hard focus. Clarity and retrospect become the closest of bedfellows and what was once a chaotic haze of blaring alarms in one's head becomes a series of coherent and poignant thoughts.

'Probably should have prioritized Y-Wings first.'

The calm is shattered as their ship is pelted with enemy fire and Ulani is thrust back into the here and now. And right here and now, she needs to get her crap together! Following the droid's lead and Ektor's suggestion, Ulani scours the ship's readout trying to find where she can help restore the shields.

'Definitely should have prioritized Y-Wings first.'

Lots of jinking here and there while he was being shot at but Nugget /had/ to stablize to get his own shots off at the last moment. Then back to evasive jinking to keep it difficult to get a lock on him. It seems to work as two TIE fighters are firing at him in the initial pass but he comes through unscathed.

Adrenline is both like spikey tingles and ice cold washes of bloodflow. Hyper alert, Shemar is well aware that he could get splashed in a ball of flames at amy moment or ripped apart in a series of blasts. He refuses to think about that, staying focused on Bors and what's going on around them, the position of the TIE fighter pair that Buhbors is set on engaging, and keeping tabs on his altitude. As soon as Bors lines back up on his TIE and starts firing, Nugget gets his HUD's reticle lined up on that one's wingman and fires away as well, lazers throwing out shots in rapid succession! <<"Thanks, Seven! I'm good, lost'm already, over.">> Well, for the moment but they'll likely be back if they can!

Ooh, Bors starts to take a nose dive then banks and for a second Nugget lags to keep up with his lead. Black 06 follows, watchful of to keep pursurers coming up their tail, twisting and dropping altitude to stick close to Buhbors' flight path. Uh oh! Suddenly there's two coming up for Buhbors and another vying to tag Shemar himself, <<"Watch out! You've got two and I've one myself!">> Black 06 tries to evade but he's also intent to keep at least one of the TIES gunning for Bors as busy as he can!

<"Black Two engaging."> Short and sweet, just like the rapid salvo of destruction bristling from the tips of her X-Wing's laser cannons. The energy stitches across a targeted TIE/fo's shields before bursting them like a bubble and punching through the hull beneath. It's no protection against her barrage and soon twisted, over-heated metal belches black smoke. Flames lick around the hull, even while the pilot inside the craft struggles to, and somehow manages to prevent it from spiraling out of control and towards death. It starts to limp away and Jessika applies just enough pressure to tilt her craft up on its horizontal axis so that the yank on the flight stick has her banking around towards other healthy enemy craft swarming around them. Better to eliminate the other guns in the sky than worry about painting another squint on her hull, because the remaining guns might just spell doom for one of her squadron. She doesn't want that to happen. Not on her watch.

<"Splash one, Tion. He won't be bugging you anytime soon."> As if that pilot would survive the explosion that followed. Poe sent a TIE to the ground where it spread out in a fiery doom to burn beneath the evening sky. <"Still a lot of guns out there! Call them as you shoot them.."> Poe's X-Wing cuts away to follow after another TIE chasing Xer's Y Wing.

Meanwhile, the enemy squadron leader has begun to flee, breaking off from the fight. They're joined by the TIE Jess just punched right in the face; they've angled low to avoid sensors scans to quickly get away. That leaves five (5) TIES, one of which is the XO of the enemy squadron.

Ektor snorts at the storm of recriminations from Genius as the progress the droid had made in restoring shields is lost to another green salvo. Ektor rebuts while avoiding the blasts of a second TIE, "Oh, cry me a binary river- that's what shields are FOR, yeah? Hey, Techie: you wanna disable the chicken switch for me, before you help crybaby with the shields? Thanks." He cracks a fresh grin upon seeing, <<Hey, Jess! We saved a few for ya. Had nothing to do with being outnumbered or nothing, was just being considerate, yeah?>> The reformed (?) pirate turns his guns on the ace pilot who had tagged him last, destroying the ship in a satisfying oxygen-fed fireball, before banking *far* to sharply (sorry Ulani) to turn his stream of laser fire onto the next TIE in line, smashing through already shattered shields and piercing the hull in a second fireball as the pilot was consumed with trying to evade Bors. <<Whoever started that one, I'll buy you a drink On the Rocks, after.>>

<<"Copy Six.">> the A-wing hauls up over the port-side of the wedge, heeling over like it was a coin flicked by some giant, invisible, hand. Spinning clear of one TIE's fire and inadvertently whirling clear of the second's emerald plasma darts.

<<"It seems they're intent on firing that green filth at me...">> now he just needs to be in a canyon run. For reasons.

And then the one who had a chance of hitting him is gone. "Well then." looking over his shoulder to see the forming wreckage, <<"I had that, Tion!">> And so The GREAT PACIFIST maintains his title. For about five seconds. The length if time needed to take a fast loop that might have been a poor choice if he wasn't also riding his inertial dampener controls. The Gs would have likely blacked him out if he hadn't thrown it back up to full until the fighter on his wingman was in sight.

<<"Ser Nugget, you're clear.">> a dotted line cutting up the bowline of the fighter before it erupts and the twin engines go up.

Genius says something to her and Ulani turns her head to address them.. .and immediately and audibly cringes. She had meant to seek out Aryn for this kink in her neck: a bit if whiplash caused by a fish. It's... it's a long story. Each hit the Y-Wing doesn't just inch them closer and closer to a fiery death, but it hurts like the dickens to boot.

She's following Genius' guidance -- he's nicer to her, at least -- and manages to help get the shields up a bit more before the sudden banking has her experiencing... what's three steps about vertigo? That's where she is right now.

"Disable... the chicken switch?" She says dizzily and starts rummaging for the damn schematics. She doesn't remember seeing a chicken switch!

One of the two TIES that were after Bors is taken out by Ektor and Shemar is after the other. Bors' already picked off the one that was on his own tail. <<"Thanks, Seven!">> The X-wing circles and rolls, hits flaps to suddenly slow, then dives after his target that's trying to come back around in a ricle up on Black 7's six all over again, mumbling into his flightsuit's helmet, "No you don't."

The X-wing's laser cannons fire away, tearing up the already damaged TIE's shields but not taking them out, <<"Black 7, you got one on your six. I hit'm but his shields are still holding, over!">> Pretty Boy wants him to call out but which TIE is which - you just can't keep track very well while things are mixing up so fast.

The second that a new combatant is on the field, the TIE squadron attempts to adapt. One makes a pass at her, and Jessika knows its close because she can see the way the streaks of fire light up the inside of her canopy. Close is nota hit, though, and she quickly jukes away to line up on another one of the TIEs still flying. <"You always know the right present to get me, Tion."> She opens it right away by opening a TIE/fo from fore to aft. Punching straight through its shields, Jessika's laser cannons destroy the cockpit and go straight through the engine, turning the enemy fighter into a bright fireball that's obliterated too fast for the pilot to do much but briefly consider its demise. Twisted, molten metal flings in all directions as a result. <"Two, scratch one."> Jessika sweeps around to find something new.

The enemy squadron begins to lose its members one right after another. The leadership monitoring this fight were probably screaming into their comms about breaking off; the squadron is getting slaughtered, but even those that broke off are open game as Xer and Poe show their enemy the same brutality the First Order showed its enemies. The ground is freckled with burning fires from debris that rains down from the sky. One TIE is picked apart by Jess, another by Bors, two from Xer, and the last from Poe who had swept low before angling up to cut off the fleeing vessel and immediately engage another at a higher altitude.

<"Splash one, team.. I count two remaining. Clean it up, and let's get to where Battleax needs us. Nugget, you alright over there, buddy?"

"The chicken switch!" Ektor repeats, struggling to explain, "Yanno the.. fire inhibitor thing. Slows down the power flow to keep the emitters from melting?" Why would he want that off?? "Eh, forget it, I got em." Not that he remembers to do as Poe ordered and call out his kills. The light bomber whispers back through the thinning dogfight, nose cannons stripping the shields from one the last TIEs left in the air. <<Served up, what wants to finish em off, yeah? Jess? Bombshell? Techie->> As Ulani tries her best, he winces. "Hey, you tried, yeah?" <<Okay, not Techie. Jess? Bombshell? Pretty Boy?>>

Slewing the back end of his fighter in a wild fish-tail that results in the craft using one of those swings to bank into a hard S turn with the intention of putting the aggressor in his sights. "Hey now, that's not polite." Blaster cannons spitting what equates to a tracer trail behind the TIE's exhaust ports.

"Gettin' a little dizzy?" lips pursing, head turning to focus more through his monocle at the back end of the TIE. "Mmm?" releasing the firing stud when he cannot get a lead in, "I think I'm getting a little dizzy."

They -are- moving in a terrifically tight spiral. But who are you talking to, Bors?

Ulani just blinks. Not that Ektor can see it. She stops looking for her schematics and just grabs the controls for the turret again, swinging it around and trying -- trying to lock onto a TIE as it screeeeeeeeams past. Blam blam blam! Miss miss miss! "I'm sorry! My brothers never taught me how to fire the guns!" It's a great time for such revelations. Thankfully, the missions isn't hinging on her skills. Yet. But some day…

<<"Pretty Boy, Nugget. I took a hit but it only brought my shields down about half. R3'll work on it, over.">> Shemar calmly reports his status and keeps most of his attention on his flying, <"R3, get those shields back up to strength if you can!"> The droid is already working on it though the droid isn't going to have any luck right off. Nugget comes back into position off of Bors' starboard wing but he's not there long before Bors is twisting away and Shemar's got a TIE coming right at him head on! Black 06 suddenly finds himself too busy juking and then pulling a split defense by rolling hard in the opposite direction to Bors's manuver after firing. Nugget at least managed to hit TIE 7 and there it goes, dropping low to flee, <<"Black 6 to flight. I hit him again and now he's running, over.">>

Sucking a deep breath, Shemar brings his X-wing around at best speed to circle around and rejoin Black 07. Nugget's done a pretty good job of sticking tight to Buhbors and keeping as many of the TIES off of Bors as he could. "<R3, keep working on those shields. We still have an op to do.">

With a TIE destroyed, Jessika turns her attention to a new target that Ektor has razed, but not destroyed. She has her hand at it, and practically drops the craft out of the sky when her laser cannons pepper through the TIE's hull. Like her first engagement, it starts limping away and looking to get out of the fight rather than stay in it. Not that it lasts long. Multiple Black Squadron pilots gun for him, and eventually it's Suralinda who erases the enemy out of the sky. <"Nice shooting."> It's little more than a blurb over the communication net before she clears it for anyone else who needs to speak on it. That doesn't last long either. Within seconds, Tion is blasting the last of their competition into smithereens and then they're free.

The last of the enemy squadron is cut down in succinct order, the final two TIEs splashing across the ground as Black Squadron flies by overhead. Poe closes the s-foils of his craft and is immediately put back against his seat, his craft breaking supersonic speeds. <<"Good work, Black. Get your shields back up.. we're going for the reinforcements. Bombers, your time to shine. Get those proton bombs ready..">>

Heading into the dark evening, Black Squadron angles for the river to follow it up to Tyrena where scouts have marked an incoming battalion with armor and an aerial escort just north of the city. <<"Push it to the limit, we got to make up for some time, people.">>