Log:For Ackbar: Space

For Ackbar: Space

OOC Date: February 16, 2020
Location: High Orbit above Dac (Mon Calamari)
Participants: Ektor, Narsai Ordo, Tallissan Lintra, Karas Darkwing, Rey, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Zandra naMuriel, Elrych Cometburn, Miri Sakir, Zorii Bliss, Poe Dameron

Nearly one year ago, the Republic was gone and the First Order had come to Dac. They brought a powerful fleet of numbering several Star Destroyers, Mandator Dreadnought, Stormtroopers and TIEs beyond counting, and the deadly toxicity of the Ocean Killer. They were resisted by the courageous Calamari and their allies, but could not be stopped. The Ocean Killer had compelled the natives of Dac to yield or face extinction, and they were forced to surrender. The aquatic Calamari have a proverb of patience for such dark times: all tides will turn in time.

Nearly one year later, the tides have finally turned.

Myriad raids and movements leading up to the Galactic Revolt and the consolidation in the Core had reduced Calamari's occupying force to the *Punisher* and *Taskmaster* (Resurgent class destroyers), the *Breacher* (Mandator Dreadnought), and of course the dreaded Ocean Killer. Such a fleet is not the overwhelming armada of the prior year, but it remains more than a match for any native uprising. But today, the Calamari and Quarren do not stand alone.

A commando raid had seized control of the Ocean Killer, and as the tower-cruisers of the Calamari launch from the seas to face battle once again, they are joined by nine capital ships of the combined Republic and Resistance fleets; the former here to make amends for their prior absence, and the latter here to avenge their earlier defeat.

<<"This is Commander Poe Dameron, all fighters check in and form on my wing.">> Poe says from the T-85 Xwing 'Black Leader', the craft having just launched from the CRS Pantheon. Red engines come to life and the craft's wings are locked in cruise position.

Elrych already has his music going as he launches his own T-85 X-Wing from the Pantheon, forming up on the wings of Black Squadron. <<"Black 12, reporting in.">> He reaches forewards, flipping a switch, and his S-foils spread into attack position. "Double front for now, Eggsy... and keep the play list hot." He informs his R2-Unit

There's been times that Zandra has been somewhat not sure what's going on, in the not so distant past. She's now past the initial jitters, and her a-wing launches seconds behind the other two. << Black 10, forming up,>> she radios as she takes her postion on Poe's wing. She concentrates for a moment as she does that, reaching quietly for the force, concentrating on finding balance before the action starts.

<<This is some kind of con. You said there'd be /beaches/>> comes Miri's comm chatter as she forms up.

The Fleft-Wauf, a Starkseeker heavy corvette drops out of hyperspace along with the rest of the combined forces of Republic and Resistance Capital ships with Zorii Bliss occupying the command seat with her helmets shield down, "Bring the shields up and move in along side those cruisers. Launch our fighter wing to provide a screen." She's not a Naval commander, but she knows her way around the workings. Babu is standingby down in engineering, entertaining himself by smack a hydrospanner against some couplings to the beat of some song or another.

The Thunderheart was a striking ship, not only for its design...but the fact that it was far from an X-Wing, Y-Wing or standard Resistance craft. Still, it may well be familier enough to some who fought in the battle of Exegol, if they'd spotted the Mandalorian craft among the many MANY other ships that answered the call. Sitting in the pilot seat and with her 'baby' at full power, the Mandalorian woman brings the heavily modified freighter into formation.

<<Thunderheart, in formation.>>

<<Holy drek, I'm a rebel? So glad you told me pal, punching you in the junk woulda been real awkward if I hadn't known that!>> Ektor cackles over the comms at the initial hail of the *Punisher*. A rude twitter from his astromech has the pilot clearing his throat and adding, <<And, ah. Gold Squad here and ready to wreck some face. And there ARE beaches, just.. yanno. Not in space.>>

Similar (but more professional) reports of readiness from the B-wings of Gray and Green squadrons, the fighters of Red and Blue, and the multiple Republic and Calamari/Quarren squadrons rising from orbit. As TIE squadrons erupt into the void in response, targeting computers light up, and an unusually well matched battle begins, as turbolasers take probing shots for range, and the ominous, fleet-killing autocannons of the *Breaker* begin to turn, seeking a target.

<<"S-foils to attack position, let's give em hell!">> Black leader breaks from the formation to dive after a TIE. His cannons scoring two hits against the craft's shields while the weave in and out of the hornet's nest of dog fights. <<"Those rising from the surface of Dac, form a defensive line to intercept the FO ships from going to orbit. As they get close, focus all your fire on one, then the other. New Republic forces will begin urging them toward you all!">> Poe's fighter spirals before angling over the battle to get a good look at the chaos. He couldn't help but grin. They were doing it!

Elrych pushes the thruster lever forward, the engines burning hard as his X-Wing rockets forwards. His head nods to the beat of the fast paced jam he's got blaring in his cockpit. He slams into the TIE fighter screen. He picks out a single target and chases it down. THey weave around, up and down, port to starboard as the Jedi Ace from Corellia chases the TIE down. Finally he gets a tone and lets his linked canons fly, a blot of crimson death splashing into the Seinar Systems Fighter's shields and eating away at the energy. "You'd think they'd get smart and add a droid socket..."

Zan's A wing is zippier than most, and she zooms in with all the joy she can bring to the party. She selects one of those ties, and starts firing, trying to get a good pead on it. Her eelected pilot is a dodgy bugger, and her shots go wide, so Zan hits her thrusters and spins to come about for another attack. Since she can't hear El, she doesn't comment, but she does zip her ship around to see her team mates having better luck than she is. <<Coming around to shoot again,>> she says quietly.

The Fleft-Wauf is by no means or imagination a fast ship and it but it has what it needs to get the job done. "Bring those turbolasers around on that Destroyer." Locking targetting upon the Punisher as they huff it into the fray along with the other Capital Ships, Babu heightens the drama by pounding out rather coarse melody over ship wide comms and adds his distinctive singing voice to build tension. Two of the four banks of turbolasers connect, but dissipate across the shields which continue holding steady for the time being. "Solid hit, keep it up."

And now they're engaged. Miri peels off to distract one of the TIEs, firing, <<I'm on A6. Did their shields get tougher when I wasn't looking?>>

Karas is forever late, though the pilot deffientnly makes up for his tardiness by getting right into the fray. The S-Foils of his X-Wing are closed, the power of the T-85 is far faster than the previous T-70, allowing him to be able to make up time to get into the furball. <<Black 6 has arrived, sorry was having some engine problems.>> he says as he begins tracking enemy targets and getting an heads up to what they will be needing to do.

Warping into realspace is the Millenium Falcon!

<<Haha! Sorry we're late everybody, I took a wrong turn at Ryloth and you wouldn't /believe/ the traffic,>> comms General Calrissian to the rest of the attack group.

Closing the comms, Lando looks over at Rey and says, "Looks like you're up, kid. I'll try to make you look good. Promise." He grins at her and reaches forward to throttle the ship up, heading straight toward the action. The old bird rumbles to life and the control surfaces around the large engine block flex to life as she speeds on into the fracas.

Late, but Lintra is hoping she is not last, at least in kills. <Black 5 coming in on your zenith, Black Squadron. Can someone give me status.> "Fiver, I'd like a refresh on the system view, then put me on the nearest target."

Foils in attack position, the X-85's engine flare blue as Lintra comes in high on the battle. Straight into the dogfight and the Black Five's canopy scintillate a brilliant green as a TIE scores a hit.

A sweeping strafe of the Thunderheart comes as Narsai's craft follows Zorri's, but the Quadguns don't quite have the same punch as the Turbolasers and these ships weren't nice enough to have their shields down. <<Thunderheart here, Missles are all I've got to hurt the Cap ships and those shields are holding up. Switching to TIEs, I'll cover where I can.>>

The opening joust between fighters is aggressive and damaging, as the finest pilots in the First Order occupation force lead the counterattack, emerald cannons screaming. They are met by Black Squadron, screening the Resistance bombers of Gold, Gray, and Green squadrons. While a few skilled TIEs slip through to threaten the lead bombers, Ektor in Gold 1 avoids the cannonfire almost lazily. <<Arright, bombers follow me in, yeah? I wanna rekk the big one. Heard somebody called them Siege boats 'fleet killers' once, that seems like a good thing to blow up first,>> he says, as if the pre fight briefing hadn't emphasized the need to take out the dreadnought, early.

The Republic, Resistance, and Calamari cruisers open fire on the Order warships from above and below, slowly eroding titanic shields, but achieving no early breakthroughs. In return, one Nebulon B frigate is hit hard by Punisher's batteries, and draws back.

Poe is still locked onto his current fighter, chasing it through the chaos of the dog fight and ahead of the Bombers, whose leader (Ektor) has made it known that they're making a pass. "Hang on, buddy, we're going to try to clear the way for 'em!" Poe blasts one of the TIEs, shattering the shields and scorching its hull before moving onward to follow after the bombers. <<"Let's clear the way for our bombers!">>

Elrych's ship rocks as a lucky TIE puts a slight dent in his shields while he's chasing down the whiley one in front of him. "Eggsy, take care of that would you." The droid beeps an afirmation as he turns up the music even louder in his cockpit, head stil bobbing back and forth. He even sings along at a part where there is a harmonizing melody over some crunchy Jizz-box riffs. He gets a tone easily enough as the TIE relaxes a bit, his canons ripping into the craft. <<"Losing his grip of his seeing eye Akk-dog's spikey collar. Panicking, the startled pet ran to the street. Sanitation skiff skidding unable to stop. Shoveled up what was left of his pet spot...">> The engines go out and he zips past the TIE, leaving it dead in space. <<"Black 12, one dead in the water.">> He couldn't in his right mind as a Jedi shoot down a defensless combatant, even if it screwed with his score... he was pretty zen right now.

There are two ties trying to get a bead on Zan, who is aware they are there, thanks to the sensors and targeting systems. One of them plain out shoots wildly, but Zan has to dodge the other, her a-wing up to the task as she jukes left at just the right moment to avoid the counterfire. With a bit of skilled manouvering, she's behind one of the two that just fired at her, and she opens fire, managing to hit its shields and make sure it knows she's there. With incoming additions to the fun, she grins. <<Black 10 shooting at A5,>> she comments, using the targetting systems' designation for the TIE she's chasing down.

Another volley of cannon fire and Miri has that TIE dead in the water. The repair work on her own shields is /not/ going well. <<Can someone get one of these bandits off my ass, please?>>

The Wauf continues the slow banking turn to bring the full broadside of Duel Turbolasers to bare upon the Punisher and punishes the ships shields with a series of thunderous booms from a trio of the quartet of massive guns. The shields continue to hold, but they're pounding on them like Corsec on a Swoop-gangs hideout. "Good hit!" She says, pointing out towards the gun crews with a brisk nod, the full scope of the battle playing out all across her viewport.

Two TIEs on her tail and an objective in front of her, Narsai sweeps the Thunderheart around and begins to unleash the twin quadcannons on TIE 'A8'. Eight guns worth of blaster bolts pummel the shields, but so far she's not quite able to get a good enough bead to make every streak of plasma hit its mark. Still, the fighter was in her sights and she was stubborn, she'd get it done.

<<Rodger that Black Leader, bringing it to 'em.>>

<Copy that Black Leader> Black Squadron taxes the opposition hard as they run screen for the bombers. Downed TIEs are obstacles in the weaving fight. Flipping the X-85 over in relation to the big ships above her to avoid careening into a TIE , Tallie paints a TIE with three hits, taking its shield out. With luck, on the next pass it will no longer hinder their bombers. <Alpha 9 is open to all comers.>

<<Tally Ho!>> he calls giving his acknowledgement of the orders. Flipping the switch which set's his S-Foils into attack position. Karas pushes the throttle into attack speed, which is MAX for him. Moving up along Black 5's wing red bolts of sizzling energy streak from the cannons of his X-Wing as he is able to strike one of the passing TIEs twice, and he quickly begins giving chaces.

Chewie roowoorawwwls as the big Wookiee looks out over the hairball.

"That's what I'm thinking, old buddy," Lando says, looking over at his co-pilot. <<Rey, I'm gonna put our missiles to work. We're gonna join the bombers on their attack run,>> he comms through the ship before angling the Falcon to cozy up along with the bombers in their formation. "Keep an eye on our scanners, Chewie, and don't let anybody sneak up on me, alright?"

Chewbacca cracks a joke about Lando getting old and huff-snorts happily.

<"Copy that, you two!"> Rey replies over the comms to the cockpit!

Rey's hands grasp the yokes of the turret station's controls. She keeps her yes sweeping back and forth from the red and gold display of the targeting screen, spanning the arcs between the Falcon's planes. When one of the enemy TIEs harassing the allied bombers sweeps into view and into her sights, Rey squeezes the firing controls and the turrets quad lasers start sizzling hot death toward the twin ion engine starfighter! With two of the four laser blasts connecting with the First Order craft it detonates in a shower of sparks and sizzling debris!

<"Off to aan explosive start!"> Rey quips over the comms, though her tense expression is already focusing on the next target to come!

The largest Republic ship- the Supercruiser *Hosnian Pride* glides forward to shield the damaged frigate with it's bulk, trading broadsides with the RSD *Taskmaster*. The focused turbolasers and concentrated bombing run of the heavy Resistance fighters has managed to bring down the forward shields of the *Breacher*, even as the deadly orbital autocannons fix their range, powering up to target the Republic Savior-class.

<<That was good, hit it again- HIT IT AGAIN,>> Ektor crows, 'hekpfully' to the other bombers, as light point-defense hits rock his forward shields.

In response to some unknown signal, the TIE Gamma squadron abruptly breaks out of combat and races at top speed toward the planet Dac below... and toward the Planet Killer.

Poe looks out the side of his canopy seeing the shift of the fighters and ships in general. "Why are they going to the planet?" He asks, his features changing for a moment. <<"Civilian fleet, if you have fighters, now's the time. Screen those that are aiming for the planet, and start to focus your fire on those Eff-Oh cruisers. They're going to the surface for a reason, we need to deny them that!">>

Poe twists to avoid fire and blasts the offending TIE, splitting it in two before it combusts and he passes over it. <<"Splash Alpha one!">> A glance at his holo-read out and Poe sees that they're a pilot down. <<"We've got a pilot down. Make sure you're covering each other, Black Squadron!">> A mental note and Poe glances back. "Bee-Bee Eight, track the trajectory of Sakir's fighter so we know where to pick her up.. if she made it.."

Elrych's music can be heard behind his voice as he comms and afirmation towards Lead about staying in to protect the bombers. They need not be distracted by the desperate moves of the First Order and loose what little footing they had. He's busy maneuvering out of the way of an Alpha Group Ace trying to widdle down his own shields and take him out. The Jedi Ace is faster. A hard spin and then leveling out brings him upon his target. He lines up a shot but he TIE sees him coming. "Come on..." He gives a thumbs up when Eggsy reports sheilds are back to full.

Another TIE is still firing at her, the laser fire coming - not as close as the pilot would like. Zan slips easily away, or at least it looks easy, and then she's tailing after that TIE she was previously shooting. She hears Poe's orders, and nods slightly in her cockpit, though for the moment, she stays on the TIE she's been chasing, with immense concentration. Her fire this time is spot on, and the TIE explodes in a spark of fury and light, as she hits full throttle and zooms through the area, coming about to take stock of the situation. << Splash Alpha 5.>>

Miri's call about the TIEs on her came too late. <<BLACK EIGHT EJECTING DON'T LET THEM GET ME!>> she yells over the comms, hitting the button moments before her X-wing becomes a toasty fireball.

The Wauf comes about at Poe's orders, presenting herself as a mass firing blockade for potential troubled teens headed towards the planet surface. <<"I hear you, Black Leader.">> She says into comms and switches over to internal comms, "Babu! Give this thing everything you got.. Riki Tak tik..." The response is more banging, as if he hadn't heard her, which he very well may not have. There isn't a sudden surge in the power levels of the turbolasers, but the ship does send out a rapid barrage upon the forward shields of the Punisher. "HEEEEEHEEEEY!" "No, no Heeheey.. Bad Babu... you did bad." "Hey heeey?" "NO.. Save it, don't waste a Heeheey."

"Come on boss, let him Heeheey.." One of the gun crew says with a frown up at their Captain. "We like it when he does that." Zorii sighs heavily and lets her head fall backwards against the rest of her chair. "FI-"

<<"HEEEHEEEEEY!">>

Cheers errupt all through the Bridge Crew. "Stop encouraging him, please? Focus.. we didn't do /drek/ to that Destroyer."

The Thunderheart gives chase, cannons firing and lighting up the void...but the TIE was a slippery one! With a curse uttered under her breath, Narsai continues to give chase. Eyes flicking to the readout as her shield shudders, the Mandalorian grunts. "C'mon girl, get it together!"

Another TIE jumps into the fray gunning for revenge. It lands two hits on Black Five's forward shields leaving them vulnerable. Fiver blats its disgust. Tallie's gloved hands grip the yoke harder but she is already taking them to their next target, "Do your magic, Fiver. Keep us alive."

Screening the bombers is still the priority. Keenly aware that Miri is out of the fight and ejecting, she marks her fighter with a red blinking icon to watch her progress.

A sharp turn to port brings them back for a headlong run at her last adversary- a canny pilot who loses the fight. <That's splash, Alpha 9>>

"Uh oh," Lando says as the ship is rocked by incoming fire. He looks over to Chewbacca and asks, "What did I ask you to do? One thing."

<<We'll be alright. Probably>> he comms up to Rey, before turning his attention back to the situation at hand. He checks the systems read-out and, deciding they'll probably live, he returns his attention fully to keeping them out of any further danger.

"How's that lock coming, Chewie?" he asks.

The Wookiee grororowwalalals in affirmation.

"That's more like it!" Lando laughs, before taking a few more moments to work out a firing solution. Then he's pressing in on the firing nubs and loosing a pair of concussion missiles that fly straight and true into the bridge's shields.

Ektor grimaces at the reports he hears. <<Damnit, She-wolf: I know you're in a rush to get down to the beach, but that's going too far.>> He lacks the time to do anything more that instruct his droid to try and mark Black 8's last known position, before noting the *Breacher's* big orbital autocannons powering to life. "That looks bad." Abruptly changing course, he instructs, <<Wishbones, Boom-wings, continue the run, I gotta do a thing real quick- be right back->> Gold 1 manages to plant its last proton bomb near the base of the autocannon turrets, doing enough damage that the weapons remain silent, to the vast relief of the *Hosnian Pride*. Gold 1 is raked by point defense fire, as is the remainder of the Resistance bombers, and cohesion on the bombing run is lost, forcing the heavy fighters to regather and try again.

A transmission is translated from Quarren: <<~Republic forces: we cannot contain the enemy squadron. They intend to strike the death device. All fighter assistance is needed immediately.~>>

<<"Copy that. All squadrons and all fighters and fast moving crafts. Engage the fighter squadrons heading planetside. We must pull them off course from damaging the weapon at sea. Our people are down there, and if the toxins get out, /MILLIONS/ will die. Fly. FLY LIKE ALL LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!">>

Black Leader's afterburners expand as the T-85 angles at full tilt after Gamma 1, the squadron leader. After two full salvos, the fighter is falling apart in the atmosphere, streaming across the sky like a comet burning up!

"They had one job..." Elrych whispers to himself brining his X-Wing about to abandon his chase of Alpha to dive owards Gamma, engines redlining. As Poe goes after the leader, he angles in on the wingman, G2. At leas one of his cannons smashes into his shields hard enough to scare them off their attack run. The Jedi Ace keeps up the chase as the rest of Black Squadron moves in to assist the Civilians.

Zan hears the mayday and the orders from Poe. <<Black 10, Roger,>> she acknowledges as she hits her throttle to max, and the zippy little a- wing roars into action, zooming with all speed towards the gamma squad heading for the planet. She might have been a bit farther away, but her speed makes up for it, and she targets one of the still in action fighters. Not a word spoken out loud, but her internal monologue is loud inside her head, as she searches a good - ahh, there it is. Reticule shows green and Zan shoots, aiming to knock her target off course, and away from the planet.

Then the Punisher says hello.

It's a hello in passing, but it's one hell of a hello.

Twenty something Turbolasers fire on her Heavy Corvette and sizzle across her shields with the a gut wrenching realization that if those hit, there's going to be a bad day following. The big bucket of a ship tries to turn to present her guns, firing the duel turbos, but only scores minor hits on the shields. "Cap'n, I think our targeting computers are fried from an entire bridge crew worth of lasers shooting at us.." One of the crewmen says with a frown. "Yeah, I saw that." Leaning an elbow into her arm rest as the bus tries to come back around.

She should be in her Y-Wing elbow dropping bombs with mail order pillows to put these pilots to sleep. Instead she's here on the bridge. Mistakes have been made. Black Squadron is out there doing work, though. That's a plus, <<"Good job, Black Squadron!">> A sentiment echoed across the entire bridge.

A course diverted as targets continue to explode under Resistance fire, the Mandalorian craft diverts after yet another TIE, pummeling through shields and striking the target. With gloved hands grasping the controls tight, Narsai had managed to drive one of the targets off course, but there was still a threat to millions lingering that they had to chase down.

Leveling out after a quick turn that forced Tallie back hard against her seat, she races after Alpha 8 whose shields had been weakened in a their previous brush. The shieldless TIE bravely tries to return fire but is trailing atmosphere until its pilot ejects. A few seconds later she watches the icon change to status null and they race on to the next target. Hearing Poe's call, Tallie follows his lead and plummets to follow on Gamma's course.

<Black Five copies that>>

Dual lasers firing in full spate she runs up Gamma squadron's backside. One TIE disentegrates into indeterminant pieces. The other loses shields and an engine, slowly coming apart as it descends towards the planet. Below on the planet they see the long white contrails trace the path of its disintegration. A third has some hurt on it but continues its descent to the planet.

<Splash Gamma Four and Splash Gamma Five> In the cockpit, "Wooooo, yes!" she yells then corrects course to follow on Poe's six.

Having heard the orders to intercept the fighters racing to the planet, Karas looks to the planet and knows that a lot is riding on this and not just the Republic and Resistance forces down on the planet, but all of MonCala. He shakes his head, <<Let's get to work Black Squadron, move, move, MOOOVE!!!>> he calls as he closes the S-Foils on his T-85. The black and red X-Wing streaks in towards the group of TIEs, he's pretty damn far, but that doesn't stop Karas at all.

<< Spark double up our shields, we are going in.>> he says to his droid who is squaking at him to pull up or break off, but he doesn't. Black 6 begins rolling as angry red laser begin blasting into the TIEs. One TIE detonates another is hit but not destroyed and it banks away. Black 6 still doesn't break away, trying to keep the fight going to them.

Three Republic cruisers focus their fire on the *Punisher*, hammering its shields and scoring the sinister vessel's black hull, bit it remains in the fight. The new orders from Poe earn a sharp curse from Ektor, as Gold 1 nose dives into Dac's upper orbit. "Genius, throw shield power into engines. Drek, guns too- I'll take em at half power, just get me there." To the other bombers, <<Hey, guys- do the bombing thing again, but BETTER, yeah? Mekil: you're in charge, I gotta go do a thing real quick.>>

The Gamorrean Mekil Colez grunts over the comms. He might be annoyed with Ektor, he might be steely nerved and resolute, unless you speak Gamorrean it's tough to tell, but Green, Gray, and Gold combine for a devestating Cascade of proton bombs, and heavy missiles that break the hull of the *Breacher* into several large, burning pieces. It is perhaps not the most satisfying end, but the dreadnought is defeated.

Meanwhile, Ektor races after his faster squadmates, dodging the debris of their kills as he dives. Opening up with cannons the instant he is within range, one Gamma TIE comes apart in flames, another loses shields and veers off target. << I got eyes on two left- and they're going after the Falcon.>> A bone shuddering sigh of relief is let out.

The Mandator destroyed and spitting escape pods into space, one Resurgent damaged, their last ditch attack run at the Ocean Killer scattered and control of the poisonous weapon itself lost, the Order's Admiral has seen enough and commands a retreat. Two RSDs survive to streak into hyperspace, leaving dozens of TIEs to follow in a hasty series of smaller jumps.

At long last, Dac is free.