Log:Resistance: Run Baby Run
Run Baby Run
OOC Date: August 8, 2018
Location: Saskrene III, Saskron System
Participants: The Resistance, Ektor, Kaiden, Karas Darkwing, Kare Kun, Leia Skywalker, Nova Korell, Poe Dameron
Exiting hyperspace, the Corellian Engineering Corporation CR-90 Corvette, the Sacrifice, slips into realspace in the blink of an eye. Its elongated, bright hull catches the light of the distant star, and its rows of engines flare bright as its sublight drives kick in and begin to propel it forward. Outside their main viewport, the planet of Saskrene III hangs in the dark void, and just off its orbital curve, from their perspective, is a facility locked in its gravity. The Food Production Station isn't far at this speed. Aboard, the crew is making its final preparations for the mission ahead. Captain Riva Benten, serving at the pleasure of General Leia Skywalker, glances between those present at their stations. "Communications," Captain Benten shifts her gaze to Ensign Vadic Taluka. "Transmit our clearance codes. Helm," This time her gaze moves to the blonde Kare Kun. "Take us in slow and steady. Lieutenant Darkwing, how do our sensors look?" She radiates a serene attitude as she stands at the front, hands lightly braced against the railing before her. "Once you're done with those codes, Ensign Taluka, open a channel to the rest of the ship." Captain Benten watches for his signal before speaking.
"Sacrifice, this is the Captain speaking. We've exited hyperspace near Saskrene three and are beginning our approach to the station. None of us know how this is going to play out. We may have some time before the situation gets heavy, or they may be on us from the start. None of that matters. What matters is that I have faith in each and every one of you. You are the Resistance, and you are here to help others resist the tyrannical grip of the First Order. Trust in each other. And may the Force be with us."
---
"Aye, ma-am. Slow and steady it is," Kare responds as she stares at the *large* console before her. Same functions, just a whole lot more room than her X-Wing. Buttons are pushed, switches are switched and a course set in. "Intercept course set and arrival in," there is a pause as she leans forward and reads the panel before looking back at the Captain in her chair "twenty minutes at this speed."
---
Leia is on the bridge with Captain Benton, standing with her arms folded over her white robes as the ship is released from hyperspace. Her expression remains neutral as the Captain speaks to the ships crew, having stood in this very position as many times as she can count while Ackbar did the same. She does not interrupt nor issue any mandates of her own, her attention is on the visible system outside their view screen. Her senses extended out well beyond the ship for any impending sign of trouble.
---
Ektor sits at the Shield officer's station, eyeing the displays tracking power exchanges, routing bypasses, and present shield strength. He had been stunned to discover that the corvette carried no torpedo tubes or fixed weapons of any kind. Under his breath, he mumbles, "Bolt a Z-95 to the chin, and they'd have torpedoes. How hard is that?" Then orders and announcements are being made, shields are promptly raised upon exiting hyperspace, and he lets out a slow breath.
---
Poe is on the ventral turbolaser for the Sacrifice, in a completely different part of the vessel. With his headset on, and wearing the appropriate gear, Poe seems ready for anything. He does not move the turret for fear of appearences. The station would be able to detect something like that, and for what reason would a supply vessel need crew members at the turret unless they were up to no good. In stand by mode, Poe glances over to BB-8. "Alright buddy, this is it. Head up to the bridge and make sure you're not needed there. I have a bad feeling about this." Poe slowly moves his head around and flexes his shoulders.
---
Sitting at the sensor communication array, his hands moving over the keyboards trying to pick up any signals of enemy craft. He hopes they won't find anything soon, but for now he wants to keep up and make sure the skies stay clear.
---
Ensign Taluka informs the Captain that the clearance codes have been transmitted and accepted, and Captain Benten takes a slight breath in and nods. "Lieutenant Darkwing, once Lieutenant Kun brings us to a halt next to the station, begin jamming their sensors. Flight Officer Apollyon, disable our ventral shields and divert power evenly among the remaining active deflectors. Be prepared for if we're unable to keep their sensors jammed. Major Dameron," the Captain speaks more to the air and the open communication channel that she has with the gunnery section of the Corvette than to anyone in the room. "Ensure your people are ready to go down there. Do not engage until you have word from me." Glancing to the front, she calls out extra information. "Looks like they've got half a dozen laser cannon turrets on this side of the station, but we're safe from them during this process."
Looking to Commander Bonk Solflen, her tactical officer, she gives a nod to him in acknowledgment, before settling eyes on Ensign Risa Fish. "Engineering, get that tractor beam ready." The woman is ensuring all the systems are ready as they slip up to the station.
---
The station, over the time, has grown to fill in the view. As they near Kare eyes the distance, just a glance or two at the readouts before her, as she slows even further. At the last minute she applies full reverse thrusters to stop the ship and then begins to swing it about, nose ready to blast out if needed. "In position, ma-am," she reports. A furtive glance at the General before looking at the Captain. "Right on the money," she adds with a grin.
---
The General doesn't look surprised or excited by the news that their codes were accepted. Whether she actually feels it is another story, but she remains quietly at the Captain's side with her hands resting across her chest. A second set of sensors, at least for the time being. Leia glances at Kare and nods, then looks back towards the view screen with the faintest of grins.
---
Ektor makes the ordered adjustments. "Gut shields down, sir. Power divvied up between all other generators."
---
Poe makes a gesture with his hand, signaling any of the gunners in the gunnery near him. <<Roger, sir. We're ready for a fight down here, just say the word, Captain.>> Poe's voice over the communication channel easily conveys a tone of optimism and hope. His confidence with anything the Resistance does is a contagious trait, one that fills the gunners with Poe (hopefully) with the intent to succeed and the fortitude to never give up despite the odds. With the ventral shields down, Poe's gun is locked in place. He isn't worried.
---
Karas nods his head, "Roger that." he says as his hands quickly begin moving, his eyes scanning the sensor read outs and then utilizing the Sacrifices powerful comm array to begin jamming signals of the station. He grins seeing that everything is working like it's supposed, "Sensors are jammed, and they don't even know anything is going on. I will keep a look out for anything else."
---
Poe makes a gesture with his hand, signaling any of the gunners in the gunnery near him. <<Roger, sir. We're ready for a fight down here, just say the word, Captain.>> Poe's voice over the communication channel easily conveys a tone of optimism and hope. His confidence with anything the Resistance does is a contagious trait, one that fills the gunners with Poe (hopefully) with the intent to succeed and the fortitude to never give up despite the odds. With the ventral shields down, Poe's gun is locked in place. He isn't worried.
---
The Zeltron male is leaning in his seat behind the console of the twin turbolasers, one leg lazily hooked at the knee over one of the armrests, and his elbow on the other in order for his forearm to acts as a column, chin on his palm. Half-lidded and sleepy eyes boredly watch the screen before him, that is until he's awoken from his stupor by the sudden influx of communications. "Huh?"
---
The Sacrifice comes to a halt next to the Food Production Station and begins to rotate to port, adjusting the scenery in front of them so there's nothing but the planet out their viewport. With the ventral shields disabled, Ensign Risa Fish is able to engage the tractor beam and begin pulling food supplies into the cargo bay of the Corvette rather than sending them outwards, as should be happening. The Ensign informs Captain Benten that supplies are being moved, but tractor beam is experiencing some slight interference, so the going is slow. A slight tension in the Captain's jaw flares, but she nods, nonetheless. "Excellent work. Lieutenant Darkwing, keep those sensors jammed. Hopefully this will be the boring part." She raises from her leaned position.
Monitoring the activity around her, Captain Benten's hands lightly clasp at her back. In the cargo bay of the Sacrifice, crews are already starting to quickly go about the work of attaching parachutes to the crates of food that are being brought over. The officer in charge in the hold informs them that there is still plenty of room left. "Keep bringing those supplies over, Ensign Fish. With any luck, we can have a full bay to drop off to the population. Mister Apollyon, double check that ventral deflector. Let's be sure it's not interfering with the tractor beam. Lieutenant Kun, keep those engines warm." The orders are spoken just loud enough to hear. White noise to drown out the tension of being discovered.
---
"I could park this tub on a credit chip, blind folded and one hand behind my back," Kare boasts to the assistant helm that sits beside her before interlacing her fingers and bringing her hands behind her head and leaning back in her chair. All smug like. "Live and learn, my young assistant, live and learn," she adds. When the Captain gives her an order she drops her hands and sits forward rather quickly "Aye, ma-am. Nice and toasty they are. Ready to answer at a second's notice."
---
Leia watches the bridge crew work like bees to get a job done. So far, things have gone relatively smoothly and that bodes well. Beneath her robes the muscles across her back are tensing up, however. Good fortune only lasts so long.
---
"I hear you, Cap," Ektor drawls in return, calling up a more detailed status display to verify the state of the ventral deflectors. "Gut shields are down, sir.. getting some interference from the- ah... energy capacitors? Hang on-" Frowning intently, he inputs a series of commands and reroutes power to the flux channels. "Arright, we should be clear on the tractor beam now, yeah?"
---
Poe is standing by still, his fingers drumming lightly over the edge of the console, a favored beat from some song no one had ever heard. Meanwhile, he's checking the other readouts from the ship on an adjacent screen. It's nothing to do with what they're doing on the bridge, but rather feeds from the exterior of the ship. If he can't rotate the turret currently because of the lack of shields, then he needs to watch something to make sure they're on the up and up.
---
Karas is still continuing to monitor traffic, which the only thing it is, just the Sacrifice and the tractor beam bringing supplies up to the ship. Though as Karas look over a few things, an alarm catch his attention and he quickly hits a few key strokes. He frowns a little looking at the sensors a bit more, "We are good." he says simply as he isn't able to really do much else.
---
Kaiden is now fully alert, sitting up in his seat and his hands with those talented fingers (masseur, dirty minds) hovering over the touchscreen consoles of his the dual-turbolasers he mans. His amber gaze flits around where he can see, "I better not miss if I gotta shoot..." His gravelly voice murmurs to himself.
---
The brief sensor jamming failure, while corrected, does not go unnoticed by the Food Production Station. Ensign Taluka, at communications, informs Captain Benten that the station is hailing them and requesting to speak with them. Riva turns her head towards General Skywalker. "Think you can talk them down? I know you're a famous diplomat, ma'am." The question is asked, but she orders the Ensign to proceed, anyway. "Silence on the bridge!" After ensuring everyone understands the order, she nods to Taluka. "Ensign, open a voice-only channel with the station." As that's being done, Ensign Fish continues to maneuver the tractor beam from within the bay. While there's a slight hiccup from the beam recalibrating after the adjustment of the ventral deflector, the Ensign gives a thumbs up signal to report that everything is working within parameters.
---
Double the amount of cargo is brought over this time in comparison to last time, and the officer in the cargo bay sends a notification to the bridge that they're close to hitting their minimal target load for the provisions. Moments later, a voice, speaking in the High Basic that would have been befitting an Imperial officer back in the day, addresses the Sacrifice. "Sacrifice, this is Station Cresh. We detected an anomaly in our sensors. We request that you power down your shields and engines." Despite the voice speaking the order, Captain Benten shakes her head in a negative motion at Kare, and lifts a hand for her to wait, because she's unable to say anything to the contrary. Her gaze shifts to General Skywalker.
---
Seeing that the big wigs are now involved in other things, Kare once again leans back in her chair. A knee propped up on the console but a wary eye keeps track of what is happening on the console and an ear on those about her.
---
Leia dips her head to the Captain and steps forward when he orders a voice only channel opened with the station, "My ensign slipped off her chair and banged her shoulder on the controls." She begins, confident that what she is saying will no doubt woe said underlings. "She's alright... we'll just need a couple minutes to get the tractor beams recalibrated, bare with us."
It is not her best work.
---
Ektor returns the thumbsup to Ensign Fish as the tractor beam resumes function at full capacity. He keeps his mouth shut when quiet on the bridge is called for, fiddling with his terminal to shift between status displays. Glaring at what he sees, he bypasses the power emitters entirely, chewing on his lip as he works. Fish gets another thumbsup, but follows it with a wary, speed-it-up circle of one forefinger.
---
Poe adjusts his head set and then his chair. His legs stretch out, his arms doing the same simultaneously. The wait, as it's often referred to by grunts, is more difficult to deal with than combat itself. Every soldier trains for combat instances, but waiting for something to go bad is what weighs on the mind more. Poe is in that state, and he feels his nerves being tested, but he continues to wait until he has orders.
---
Karas grins a little, "Man, I'm liking this a lot." he laughs as he actually sees an attempt to be made by the station to scan. "They are trying to scan us, but I was able to stop it. How much longer will we be?" he asks as he keeps working the sensors array, "No fighters so we are good." he says.
---
The Zeltron just waits. Oh, he's ready. He's not going to screw this one up, he doesn't care just how big space is. There won't be any missing this time! His amber eyes narrow to more keenly pierce through errant violet locks, watching from his consoles and the displays illuminating his face.
---
"Do you take me for a fool? Power down your shields and engines immediately!" The curt, shrill voice of the First Order officer is ordering the Sacrifice and its crew to stand down, but Captain Riva Benten isn't having it. She makes a cut motion across her neck at Ensign Taluka, and just as the First Order officer begins to speak again, he is abruptly cut off. "Ensign Fish, grab the last of that cargo, right now! Lieutenant Kun and Mister Apollyon, as soon as that cargo is on board, I want us the hell out of here and shields up! We'll only have a minute before they realize what's going on. Excellent work, Lieutenant Darkwing. Major Dameron! Your gunnery crews are going to be highly necessary in the next few minutes. We're about to kick the sandwasp nest."
In the midst of the shouted orders, Captain Benten stops for one moment to give a nod of appreciation to Leia. "You tried your best, ma'am. Tactical, prepare to get those firing solutions! And Major Dameron, I want you hitting those station laser turrets! The rest of you gunners, they're likely going to launch their droid squadron at us. Let's get to work, people!" Ensign Fish is already hard at it. Thanks to Flight Officer Apollyon's work, the tractor beam experiences no interference, and is able to drag extra cargo out. The officer in charge in the bay alerts the Sacrifice that it has taken as much cargo as it can. "Punch it, Lieutenant!" Captain Benten's last order is for Kare Kun at the helm.
---
Oh crap, Kare mouths silently, as she listens to the comms. She is already leaning forward, hand on the throttles and the other on steering. "On it, ma-am! One speedy corvette coming up." The ship shudders under the onslaught of the engines going from idle to full thrust. The world outside the view screens tilt as Kare banks the ship. "Angling away to minimize the angle from the station's turrets and keep our ass," a swallow "rear, engines, the back end" a wave of dismissal of her hand "from them as well. Hang on folks this should get a bit wild.
---
Leia has her doubts, but she appreciates the Captain's attempts anyways. "Thank you." She says to her, then turns the Captain's chair, "May I?" She indicates, but only waits a breath before sitting down. "The bridge is yours Captain Benton. May the Force be with you all." To those able to hear her.
The General closes her eyes then and releases a slow breath out, then her consciousness can literally be felt all around the ship. Like a Queen Bee directing an entire hive to act upon some greater guidance, Helm, sensors, gunners, it's as if all of them can feel what everyone else is doing and know, without guessing, how to respond.
Suddenly, the ship IS one with the Force through Leia.
---
"Arright, balancing shields, deflectors at full," Ektor reports aloud as the orders are barked out. A few swift adjustments of knobs and a slide and the necessary adjustments are made to boost the shields that Kare's maneuvers will leave facing toward the station's guns.
---
THERE it is, the order to open fire and all at once the synchronization of shields grants movement back to his turret. <All guns, come to life, acquire targets and take them out. We have people depending on us, do NOT let them down.> Poe was a cavalcade of movement in his turret the moment his screen went blue. Raising a hand to tap in the commands to adjust his lateral limits, the chair shifted and the cannons responded to his touch. Practiced and expert direction from the pilot saw the cross hairs placed over the Aurek turret that had just turned on them. Flipping the safety switches off in a single motion, Poe smirked. "Oh.." His hands curled over the yoke and fingers hovered over the trigger. "..Yeah." His fingers pulled back depressing the trigger. Laser fire erupted from the ventral cannon OBLITERATING the Aurek turret in a devastating display of fire and destruction. <That's one down!> Poe calls, as he cycles his turret to the next target.
---
An alarm begins going off as he twelve bogies appear, "Alright people, we got 12 Droid Tai-Fighters incoming." he calls out. "We need to hit them fast, I will keep up the jamming to make it harder for them to get a lock-on to us." he says as Karas slides down to another monitor and back to his main station as he is quickly shunting the array a bit so that he can keep up the jamming action he's doing right now.
---
Kaiden was ready! It shows! His hands move deftly over the targetting console and the dual turbolasers adjust slightly, before both fire massive shots simultaneously, and the Dorn turret of the other ship just explodes into a mess of debris. "Yes!"
---
The Sacrifice isn't a fast ship, but it feels fast as Lieutenant Kun, at the helm, kicks all power into the engines and causes the conical rows to flare brightly. As it twists away from the station, the blonde pilot puts them on just the right vector to avoid an initial salvo from the station. The Station is not so lucky in return. The Sacrifice sends lances of superheated gas condensed into destructive beams as its ventral and dorsal dual turbolasers slug the laser turrets with such power that they're turned to slag. The shields shimmer around the ship as Ektor, at the station, disperses the shields evenly across its deflectors and powers them to full. Giving one look to Leia, Captain Riva Benten nods as the General sits.
"Tactical, start getting firing solutions. Helm, maintain this vector towards our drop off point. Shields, prepare for impact. Sensors, keep those laser turrets confused and monitor for any further incoming ships. Communications, start jamming their outbound signals. Let's not give them any chance to call for reinforcement. Chief Veks, make sure your crews have those provisions ready to drop by the time we reach the surface." Captain Benten is calm, and she calls out the orders with that same sense of calm. At the end, her lips twist up in the slightest of smiles at the corner of one side. "And gunnery? Open fire on those ships."
---
Kare's hands fly over the console as she drives the ship. "Send to my screen the fighter vectors," she calls out. The ship dives 'down' in relationship to the station "I am going to evasion plan four, fasten you belts ladies and gentlemen. It's time to have some fun." A nod of her head "I'll be jink'n and jive'n but will keep the base vector to the drop point, ma-am. I got this." The last said more to her self than to the Captain. While the inertial dampners do handle most of the moves Kare puts on their ship it can't handle it all so that people will feel the sway of the ship as it jinks right, then left, up and down. "Yee haa," Kare says with a grin as laser blast from the turrets on the station fly past with nary a hit on the Sacrifice.
---
Ektor nods along with the instructions, even though no one is watching him to notice it. No significant impacts, nothing to report. Under his breath he mutters to himself, as a reminder, "Not blowing anything up.. just tending shields. All calm like."
---
Poe centers on another of the station's turrets. Without hesitation, he squeezes the trigger again obliterating the turret with a bright flash of exploding debris. <Woohoo!> He screams, pumping his fist in the air and turning the turret toward his next target. Poe wants to ensure they are not receiving fire from the station and only from fighters. Station guns tended to have more punch to them, so it was a priority. Looking up, he switches a few of the buttons to another position, granting him a bit more by way of lateral limit. <Two turrets left, people, then it's time to deal with incoming fighters. Keep up the good work, everyone! We're doing this!>
---
Karas hasn't stopped moving, hearing what everyone is doing including the comm chatter. He's not been on the ship as it's weapons fired in a long time so he hears the thrum of the ship blasters as they fire. "Our skies still have only those enemy fighters." he says as he is still sees the 12 fighters, "We need to get those fighters." he says as he tries to equal out the amount of jamming he's doing, keeping the station from not being able to scan them as well as the fighters, "I have the fighters from being able to scan or lock on to us so take'em out."
---
Kaiden felt good, he blasted that one turret right off the enemy. Now to align the second. His fingertips dance over the console and the turrets adjust, fixing to lock on to the other one -just as he's about to fire, however, the ship moves! At least, it does every so slightly in his mind, and his shot go wide, "Dammit!"
---
In another gunnery station, Corporal Nova Korell is adjusting power input, getting the mount set to go. "What a time for the power feeds to decide to act up..." Another switch flipped, and the indicators turn green! This gun is live! She hastily scrambles into the seat. "Thanks, Engineering! This gun's good to go!" Seeing a designated target from the bridge, she hastily grabs the firing controls. "And not a second too soon!" Tracking the marked turret, she adjusts elevation, then hits the trigger. Crimson annihilation streams from the turret in a pair of massive bolts. One blackens the duranium next to the emplacement, but the other pierces it! "/Sacrifice/ Control, scratch one," she comms, her usual calm reasserting itself now that she's in this fight.
---
In the initial rounds of the rapidly developing conflict, the Sacrifice punches out four of the five turrets on the station, leaving only one able to track them, and finding it difficult to do thanks to the efforts of Lieutenant Darkwing. Lieutenant Kun makes them an even harder target. As the General's connection to the Force flows through them all, linking them together as a cohesive fighting unit even despite their individual controls over different things, the battle begins to unfold in their favor. "Tactical, keep working on those solutions! Communications, maintain that jamming. Don't let them send word to the ground early!" Captain Benten leans forward to brace herself against the railing that she was using earlier for support. "The fighters are in range!"
So far, the Sacrifice has been the one dealing it out. The incoming droid squadron lights up the abyss with a hail of laser fire that's astonishing to behold. The Corvette's shields flicker under the brutal impact, even with some of the fighters missing. The droids break to different sides at half a dozen each, and begin swarming around the Sacrifice. "Shields, report! Lieutenant Kun, put the pedal down if it already isn't!" From either side of the corvette, the port and starboard turrets respond in retaliation, destroying Dorn One and Dorn Six. "Sensors, how many fighters left? Continue scrambling!"
---
As the ship rocks from repeated hits from the fighters Kare gives a disgusted shake of her head "Screw this," she mutters "Aye, ma-am," she pushes again on the throttles "They are to the stops, ma-am." Another shudder from yet another hit "Heading down. I'll try to give the gunners a more stable platform." And the ship dives down towards the surface, less jinking now that they are taking hits.
---
Ektor winces reflexively as the corvette's shields take cannon fire from a squadron of droid fighters. "REALLY glad you're blocking their locks, Kar," he mutters, mostly to himself. "They had missile locks we'd be in a bad spot." A short exhale as he sends auxiliary power to the emitters protecting the targeted quadrants. "Shields at- ahh... fifty-five percent after the first volley. I'm pulling auxiliary power- stabilizing at eighty percent, we can't take many more like that."
---
Poe centers his sights on the final station turret and locks on, zooming slightly from his terminal to ensure he's got a good shot. He squeezes the trigger and the cannons respond accordingly, lighting the side of the station up in another brilliant display of destruction. It isn't lost on Poe that they're taking hits, but they knew they'd be getting a black eye for this. So he remains calm, unusually calm thanks to the influence of Leia's power entwined with the force. Poe adjusts his turret then, wheeling it about as he adjusts an adjacent read out to give him sensor display of shifting crafts within the proximity of their ship. <The last of the station turrets is out! All guns focus on fighters and keep them off us. Do not let up, people! We're going to get through this!> Poe's voice is heard over open comms as he pulls back a large lever that frees him from the usual turret track and gives him direct control of every movement instead of adjusting windage and elevation. <Cannons, initiate T&E departure and take full control of your cannons. It's the only way you'll be able to keep up with those fighters!> Poe tries to get used to the free motion and coordinates through the feed on his terminal.
---
Karas is doing his best, and how he is doing this he doesn't know. HIs hands flitting about the keyboards as he works the controls, "We have the ground turrets trying to fire. I will....." he is jostled as the Corvette shields take hits from staffing runs. Still the CO of Red Squadron is working like the rest to keep them alive.
---
Kaiden mutters under his breath as his targetting station and the miss of the last shot of that turret has him a bit rattled. But he steels his nerves, and lifts a hand to push his fingers through messy violet locks and clear them out of his red-skinned face and amber eyes, which narrow as if to more keenly find his target. Fire. Dorn Two explodes.
---
The ships shakes under the fighter attack. Nova redirects her attention to the smaller targets, trying desperately to lead the skittering fighters. And failing, shots peppering around the little monsters. <They're coming in too fast!> she exclaims, fumbling for the control Poe just mentioned. It's a little out of the usual way...
---
The Sacrifice is swarmed with droid fighters as it approaches the planet. After seeing multiple of their own destroyed, they begin a scrambled pattern to avoid being easy targets to hit, but it also affects their targeting computers in the initial moments of their hive mind communication, sending their shots wide out into space for most of the droids. "Understood about those turbolasers, Sensors. Shields, we got a pass on that one, do what you can. Lieutenant Kun, adjust your heading. We'll break into atmosphere any moment. Where are we at, Ensign Taluka?" The Ensign at the communications station sounds an all clear so far, in that he's been able to keep the station jammed up to this point, which means the turbolasers have no clue they're coming yet. They'll know soon.
"We've got probably until we get over the drop point before they notice us. Ensign, switch your efforts to jamming their ground installation. They'll have authority from there to call in their quick reaction force, and I don't wanna find out what's waiting nearby. Chief Veks, update me on that cargo!" Despite the hammering the corvette's shields are taking, the fighters have yet to break through to the hull, which means that the crews rapidly working to utilize the cargo nets and parachute attachments pre-prepped by Chief Sera West are going smoothly and they're almost completely finished with their preparations. "Excellent. Steady as she goes, Lieutenant Kun, and Lieutenant Darkwing, keep it up. We're lucky they're not able to lock onto us with missiles. Major Dameron!"
The Captain waits only a moment for acknowledgment. "Time to put in some overtime. You and the gunnery crews continue to give 'em hell. I need you put as big a dent into their force as possible before those turbolasers wake up."
---
"Adjusting heading, aye ma-am." Kare does just that and the ship slows it's decent. The glow around the Sacrifice begins. Her full attention is to keep the decent right where it will be best. Best for the gunners, jammers and sensors. "Entering the atmosphere, ma-am. Five-by-five." She informs.
---
Ektor is focused entirely on the terminal in front of him. Without the divided attention of flying, firing, and maintaining visual contact with a target, the pilot-turned-shield technician reports aloud, "Shields back to full, Cap. Adjusting to compensate for atmosphere burn. We're good."
---
It isn't long before Poe has acclimated to the new free motion of the turret. He adjusts, finding a target going low beneath the Sacrifice and angling up. Knowing how to lead (eyeballing it with some Tatooine Windage), he opens fire and lances the fighter in two before initiating a condensed explosion that lights up his screen. He spins the turret about, searching with wary eyes over two terminals to find his next target. <One fighter down. Keep up the good work, gunners. We're pushing through!> Poe chuckles when he finds another un-suspecting droid fighter. <We've got your back, Captain. You point, WE SHOOT!>
---
He thought flying a starfighter in battle was hectic, he will never be grouge anyone who have to do what they are doing right now. Granted he doesn't do it normally, still the dark skinned CO is working. He doesn't wipe sweat from his face, he is quickly working on the sensors doing everything he can to keep the droid fighters from locking onto them, along with the turbo laser batteries thats down on the surface.
---
Kaiden fires again, causing another to explode into a shower of fiery glory, quite delighted with himself. That face is set into a grin but his scarred, gravelly voice undermines his once-melodic laughter, "Got another one!"
---
Nova still can't find that t&e departure control, and ends up fighting the auto-targeting systems on the turret. <Not doing so good back here...> she murmurs worriedly, missing another fighter.
---
"Lieutenant Kun, slow our speed and level us out! Keep us straight on over the target zone. This is the dangerous part, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to be a slow-moving target for these ground turbolasers. Mister Apollyon, you're going to have your work cut out for you. Ensign, any signals out?" Ensign Taluka confirms that all is well, and Commander Bonk Solflen announces he's reacquired targeting solutions on the remaining droid fighters, which are being fed directly into the gunners' targeting computers as they speak. "Excellent work. Chief Veks, have your crews begin dropping the cargo!" The Sacrifice is not angled well towards the planet in the configuration that's ordered, but the goal here is to deploy as many of their provisions as possible. Hopefully all of them.
Parachuted crates begin dropping from the hold and falling rapidly. They're dropped in specifically sized increments to make them too small to target by the ground turbolasers, and they plummet towards the surface and the city below almost close enough to be below radar anyway. When the parachutes do finally open, the cargo is rocked, but the netting holds and allows them to sail into place. "Lieutenant Darkwing, focus entirely on the remaining fighters. No need to search the ground installation for things to scramble, they don't have any missile turrets. Major Dameron, I need you and our port and starboard gunners to mop up the rest of those fighters, and I need our ventral turret taking out the enemy turbolasers as fast as possible!"
---
"Aye, ma-am," Kare replies while keeping her attention on the displays before her. Hands on the throttle and steering, Kare's features grow intense. "We have strong crosswinds so I'm adjusting for them so the drop falls where we want them to go." She mutters as she steers the big ship, slowing so they don't blow the 'chutes out when they drop. She ignores the shaking caused by the hits from the fighters, her attention is only focused on placing the ship at the right place at the right speed.
---
"I hear you, boss," Ektor returns as the droid fighters batter the shields again. "Ah ha haa- BOOM, baby." A pause, "Sorry- no boom, I meant it in a good way. Shields were at sixty-seven percent, holding solid at ninety-three, now. Fighters alone ain't got the teeth to get through our shields."
---
Poe tries to adjust and fire simultaneously but misses by a hair! Keeping his bearing, he wheels about for another target, doing his best to keep up with the tracking and information being fed to them from the bridge crew. <Understood, Captain. We won't let you down.>
---
Karas is tired, though he isn't letting that stop him. "We still have four droid fighters." Still he is taking cere to make sure they aren't being locked and sensors being continue to jam their enemies. Karas glance about the bridge as he blows a breath out as he turns back around.
---
Kaiden isn't tired so much as having fun, another droid fighter shot down with the twin turbolasers he is wielding with another shower of explosion and debris, durasteel and materials spreading into the sky. "Got another one!" His gravelled and scarred voice brags, already beginning to set his targetting console.
---
Nova finally finds that blasted control, and the turret suddenly moves a lot more freely than before. More importantly, she's not fighting the auto-tracking software. She's just in time to sweep the guns to the fore and bullseye a fighter setting up for an attack run on the bridge. <Woo! I got one!>
---
Their element of surprise against the turbolasers is no longer a factor. As Station Cresh gets in touch with Saskrene Outpost, the five turbolasers at key corners of the city all rapidly angle and begin acquiring firing solutions on the slow moving corvette sailing through the sky and dropping cargo. Like hammers, they smash a salvo of powerful shots against the corvette's shields, peppering them and making them shimmer with the effort of absorbing so much destructive force in one go. Another of the starboard gunners, Crewman Ormal Liosan, ends the life of the second to last droid starfighter, leaving only one buzzing its away around the Sacrifice, waiting for the moment that its targeting computer will be able to acquire a concussion missile lock to fire through.
"Talk to me, Mister Apollyon! I know that had to hurt. Lieutenant Darkwing, do not falter in your duty. We're almost done with the droid starfighters." Commander Solflen continues to feed targeting data to the turret gunners aboard the Sacrifice, and Ensign Taluka's expert skills behind the communications board keeps the outpost from calling for any reactionary First Order force in the area or in the surrounding system. "Gunnery crew! I need our ventral turret hitting those ground turbolasers now! Keep her steady, Lieutenant Kun. Everyone else hold it together. How are we doing, Chief Veks?" The Crew chief down in the cargo bay reports that they're one/third done with unloading the cargo, and the helm's smooth flying is allowing them to unload it as fast as they can.
---
Kare only nods at first as she fights the crosswind that is hitting the Sacrifice as if it were a big sail. She finally gets out "Roger, ma-am. Nice and steady it be." The blast, it doesn't even register apparently, not at the moment anyway. She is totally into the flying, a half smile, or maybe it's a smirk, begins to show on her.
---
Ektor rocks in his seat at the impact of planetary turbolasers. "Bad boom," he mutters, frantically working to bypass overloaded power conduits. "Ahh- I got us back up to fifty-two percent, Cap. They put us down to one quarter in one salvo. We CANNOT take much more of that." A pause. "Well, we can.. we'd just blow up."
---
"He's a wiley one!" Poe complains as his second shot misses. He just shakes his head and adjusts the turret. <Can anyone hit this last fighter? He's quick!> Poe isn't embarraassed about missing them. The likelihood of hitting the damned thing was.. well Poe didn't care about the odds. The command needed something done, and he got it done, even if that meant delegating it.
---
"Aye Captain." he calls back as he is trying to keep the sensor array focused on where he needs it to continue working as he is. "How are the shields holding up?" he calls out to the shield operator. He is pushing as much power as he can get to keep jamming everything thats attacking them.
---
Kaiden fires, his shot going wide and the Zeltron slamming his hand against the console in frustration, "Dammit!" He cusses loudly.
---
<On it, Lead...> Nova murmurs, half lost in concentration as she tracks that flittery fighter. Just a little more lead... NOW! The first of her shots grazes the lower left wing, and the droid starts to spin. The gun snaps to a better lead under the trooper's skillful hands, and the next shot turns the unfortunate droid into a million glowing splinters. <Is that the last one? I don't see any more...>
---
Another powerful salvo from the ground turbolasers smash into the Corvette. This time, it doesn't just make the shields shimmer. They completely dissolve, and one of the turbolaser's superheated, concussive energy blasts smashes into the hull of the ship, causing it to rock heavily. Captain Benten secures herself via the railing to prevent herself from tipping over. "Lieutenant Kun, starboard rotation 45 degrees, now! Chief Veks, you'll just have to deal with it. Engineering, get me more power to those shields immediately! Boost the powercore or adjust from engines! Keep those First Order messages stifled, Ensign Taluka!" Entrusting that the Lieutenant at the helm knows exactly what she's doing, Captain Benten glances over towards the General. "Ma'am, we may be in trouble."
---
She has no clue if she's actually getting through to Leia or not. The woman seems to be in an extremely deep trance, considering how silent she has been this whole time, and she still feels.. connected, somehow, to all those around her. "Gunnery, once we're in position, I want dorsal, ventral, and starboard turbolasers to fire everything we've got at the ground! We absolutely cannot afford to take another salvo like that and hope to live. Mister Apollyon, get me my shields back!" Her knuckles are blanched white around the railing she's clinging to, and there are warning klaxons sounding somewhere on the other side of the bulkhead. One of the aft decks is reporting fires and severe damage to the hull. "I want those sections evacuated and sealed off by the bulkheads if we have to abort dropping some of this cargo!"
---
As the ship bucks under the power of the laser Kare is tossed first to one side and then forward hitting her head on the panel. She fights the blurred vision and turns the ship but she if fighting her own hit as well as the ship now sloughing off the effects on the turbo laser and the gravitational forces. Sacrifice begins to turn, not the usual snappy turns as in the past but it does turn. Though not the full forty five degrees as ordered. "Working on it, ma-am," she gets out.
---
Ektor hollers back to the Captain, "Working on it, yeah? Third emitter is fried-" he starts to yell an order to Tenner, before catching himself and just cursing. Boosting power to the adjacent emitters to split the difference, pulling power from off side shields to reinforce-" Another impact. "Kriffing Hutt-sucking gobs of kriffing drek-ass kriffing-" it goes on until, "Fish, I need everything you got NOW. Arright, hull is hurting, but we got facing shields back up to fifty percent."
---
<We're firing at stationary targets, Gunners. Readjust your cannons back on the T&E track for steadier firing patterns.> To drive his point home, Poe shoved the lever forward locking his cannon back in track. Using the console to adjust elevation and windage, he was firing from a steady platform that did not bounce despite any sort of interaction the ship had. Once locked, his hands went back to the firing mechanism and he squeezed the trigger. Both shots struck the turret creating a /massive/ explosion that prefaced with a wave of concussion before expanding skyward into a minature mushroom cloud comprised of fire, hate, and discontent. Aurek cannon was no more, and Poe was already adjusting his turret to fire on the next target. <That's one confirmed turbo laser down, moving to the next!>
---
Kaiden takes aim, newly fresh from his recent miss, and targetting a big ol' turret with his own dual turbolaser console. The screens illuminate his features in varying blues and reds as the target is aligned to, and with a blast, he destroys one.
---
Nova is thrown against the side of the gunnery chair as the ship rocks under one turbolaser too many. <Okay, that's getting old /real/ fast...> she mutters... and realizes that the ship's rolling. And she can now /see/ the source of all their trouble. Which means she can shoot at them, too! The closest of the turrets becomes a target, being hammered with several turbolaser shots before it detonates spectacularly. <One more down!> She hasn't yet reengaged the t&e thingy, but so far she doesn't seem to need it.
---
Three of the five turbolasers that were attacking the Sacrifice are nothing but scrap from which black smoke twists and curls towards the sky. Citizens both in the city and out can see the First Order defenses have been reduced to nothing but molten heaps of deformed durasteel towers with metal so heated that it's running in rivulets down the sides as it rapidly cools. Chief Veks reports that he is unable to drop any cargo at the moment, but they've saved the ship from certain destruction by paying the turbolasers back in kind with the corvette's own salvo of impressive firepower. It may not be armed to the teeth, but it's a scrappy ship, and the Sacrifice has proved that. "Lieutenant Kun, reverse rotation. Mister Apollyon, shield report and threat assessment on the remaining turbolasers. Can we weather what they've got left?"
Captain Riva Benten checks the status readouts on her own display, which have multiple reports filing in from around the ship detailing the specific amount of damage they've taken and reporting on crew injuries from the damage to the hull. Ensign Risa Fish reports that she can't pull any more energy from the engines, which means shields will have no help from her, and Ensign Vadic Taluka reports that enemy communications remain jammed. She doesn't let out a sigh of relief, but some of the tension does bleed out of her shoulders. "Resume cargo dropping operations."
---
"Reversing rotation now, ma-am," Kare replies and does so. Blinking away the fog from hitting her head. Still, even shot up, Sacrifice responds. Although a bit sluggish due to the damage. After a few minutes the ship levels out "On course, Cap'n," Kare informs.
---
Ektor lets out a terse breath, wincing as the assistance from Ensign Fish finally runs out. The Captain is answered, "If I max out the facing shields and pull power from the backside-" a brief pause as he does just that. "Yeah- yeah, we can take what they got left, Cap."
---
Poe powers the turret down when the ship levels and begins to angle back upward, resuming their cargo run. Rather than celebrating or abandoning his station to help with others, he remains where he is and monitors the rest of the gunnery for now. He's pleased with the performance of the troops, and hopes to write them up for commendations or special mention. The whole crew did exceptionally well (so far), but he wasn't counting this as a win until they were safely in hyperspace heading back home. <Keep up the fight everyone. We've pushed through to this point, and there's no turning back until the job's done!>
---
With the ship being able to weather whats going on, his quick checks of the sensors show that they are still jamming the enemy. He gives more of a nod to himself and the others, without them none of them could be able to pull this off. Which is why he loves being part of the Resistance. "They aren't getting through, let's finish this and go home." he calls out.
---
As the ship begins to roll upright, Nova takes her last chance to hammer another turbolaser into submission. Another explosion says plenty about her shooting skill, now that her confidence is coming back. <That should lighten the return fire some,> she comms. <Consider the fight kept up!> But things are definitely smoothing out for the ship, now. Even the shaking is quieting down. <Are we there yet?>
---
Chief Veks and his crews get the last of the cargo deployed, emptying the entire three thousand ton capacity bay of the Sacrifice, providing the citizens with almost triple their need in food and giving them the fuel and the drive they need to continue their own resistance against the First Order's occupation of their planet. Thanks to the efforts of Major Poe Dameron, Corporal Nova Korell, Private Kaiden, and crewman Archay Tanguay, Ormal Liosan, and Paige Vestrin, Station Cresh is devoid of laser turret defenses and Saskrene Outpost is missing its contingent of droid tri-fighters. It's also down to only one of its remaining turbolasers, which uselessly pelts at the Sacrifice's shields as Flight Officer Ektor-Xer Apollyon continues to manage them with the kind of proficient efficiency any Naval Officer could be proud of.
Ensign Vadic Taluka has successfully kept the First Order from sending any kind of cry for help, as the Food Processing Station is not equipped with long range transmitters and the outpost cannot break through his repeated jamming of their signals. Ensign Risa Fish, the Engineering Officer, restores power to the engines, allowing Lieutenant Kare Kun, who had avoided initial laser turret volleys and gave the gunnery crews all the angles and opportunities they needed to wreak their havoc, to take them out. Commander Bonk Solflen is on his toes, ready for any new hostile targets that might pop up, but Lieutenant Karas Darkwing's sensor board reads only the single turbolaser. The Sacrifice's minor damage is much in part to his tireless success at jamming the droid starfighters from ever getting a chance to fire missiles at the ship.
Captain Riva Benten quietly thanks General Leia Skywalker, whose tireless efforts allowed them to perform so well. "Cargo is offloaded. Helm, set course for our target vector. Shields, ensure we've got some cover in the rear as we get out of here. Communications, maintain your jamming for as long as possible. Once we're out of the atmosphere, we'll be out of the gravity well before any response can be mounted. Ensign Taluka, open a channel to the rest of the ship." There's a small tone on the bridge as it sounds. "Excellent work, fighters of the Resistance. We've accomplished our mission with minimal damage and cost the First Order a whole bunch of money while also giving those citizens a reason to fight and an image to carry with them as they do. The Force was with us today, and General Skywalker had much to do with that. You trusted in each other, and we all pulled through for one another. Let's go home."
Uninterrupted, the Sacrifice makes it to its jump point. In the blink of an eye, it's gone.
