Log:Resistance: What Rough Beast

What Rough Beast

OOC Date: March 15, 2019
Location: Naboo
Participants: Callax Dalso, Ektor, Elrych Cometburn, Karé Kun, Merek, Miri Sakir, Poe Dameron, Sar Yavok, Tallissan Lintra, The Resistance

There are three major in-system waypoints for vessels arriving out of hyperspace, bound for Naboo. The Sea of Veruna and Royal Way receive the most frequent patrols from the Royal Naboo starfighters, but the third- the ReulTta lane- is rather less used. Yet today, Resistance Intelligence had uncovered a hint that contraband cargo was inbound to Naboo along the ReulTta route, and while the nature of this cargo is unknown (either classified, or legitimately unknown; who can tell with Intel?) a Black Squadron flight had been assembled to inspect incoming vessels.

It's a tricky assignment, as the Resistance cannot restrict the rights of Naboo ships without consequence, and even honest captains may object to a deep scan, yet here they are.

Nine freighters of varying size and class had arrived at the ReulTta beacon, so far. Some had been indignant, but most were soothed enough to permit the scans without much complaint. (There will still be a complaint filed with the Queen;s Trade Minister over one of the Resistance pilots using coarse language, but on the whole they lucked out).

The tenth freighter is a big Action VI bulk transport, the 'Meandering Beast', which promptly raises shields upon finding a patrol of fighters in the area of its arrival and sets its ponderous course for Naboo.

"We scrambled for this? Who did we piss off?" Miri absentmindedly pokes her helmet, trying to scratch her nose. This is the number one worst part about being in a full flight suit.

Snuggled comfortably in the cockpit of Black 12 is Sar Yavok, once again going out on a patrol because he was bored. You're welcome, SFC. One hand rests firmly on the yoke, as the other taps idly on his leg. If nothing else, it's good to get some flight training in. Dude's Corellian, after all.

Leveling off as the patrol circles back around for the newest arrival, Kare Kun is checking systems over. As shields go up on the incoming ship with cargo she converses with Rev her R5. "So far so good, Rev. Seems we may have bad intel." But up go the scans as she calls over comms. <<Meandering Beast. We are doing an active scan of all incoming vessels Please slow speed and lets us finish before you continue not to the planet.>>

What she finds does not please her as she switches over to squad comms. <<Note to Patrol, the Meandering Beast is heavily armed but carries a civilian transponder.>>

Merek was back in the Warsong while on the routes to watch as people came and went about the place. Mostly he was escorting a fair bit away from the patrol while he comms to control tower, "Rounds complete, checking in with the next," he says. Something he does to make a bit extra credits.

From Ten, a silvery laugh sounds over the comms, as Callax rests easily within the cockpit of his fighter - though behind the visor of his helmet, his mutable eyes show goatlike pupils, taking in the panorama of the stars. << Why Miri darling, >> he says over the link, << You'd be surprised at what people ferry hither and yon. That ship could be full of bioweapons. >>

Idly Callax scans the bulk freighter as he wanders along, and is...well! << And as I live and breathe, >> he calls, << Meandering Beast is full of proscribed biological agents. I repeat, be aware that its cargo is heavily contaminated with contraband. >>

Black 11 Elrych is riding in formation lightly listening to his music and the chatter over the comms. He has been running deep scans, <<Heavy Fighter just popped in system. Looks like it blasted its way out of Mon Calmari>>

<Copy that Black 7> Behind the young pilot, the droid begins a long litany of complaint and throws an internal scan of the large freighter onto Tallie's screen, caught on the fly before shields went up. "What the krif is that, Fiver? No way."

Pulling back on the throttle she drops out of her trajectory to rejoin Black 5. << I have powered Starfighters in the hangar bay of Meandering Beast, Five. Counting six. I repeat: six powered fighters in the hangar bay of our bandit.>

<<Lotta guns on that boat,>> Ektor drawls lazily, upon studying the blocky Action VI as he cruises past in formation with the rest of the flight. Brows knitting into a bemused frown at the varied reports coming in from his flightmates, the Tionese chuckles, <<Annnnd S-foils in attack position.>>

The transmission from the Meandering Beast to Kare's professional hail is decidedly terse: <<Republic fighters: this is a registered Naboo vessel in sovereign space. Any unauthorized interactions will be taken as a sign of aggression, I repeat: take no unauthorized scans or other aggressive action.>>

But of course.. Scans are not an unauthorized action.

As the various fightercraft scan the suspicious heavy freighter, some unseen and unheard alarm goes off within the Meandering Beast. The sluggish speed does not slow as ordered, weapon turrets begin to rotate, and the detected snubfighters- a mismatched handful of modified civilian craft, begin to launch.

A flash of blue betrays the arrival of Black Leader, whose craft immediately goes into motion with the flare of red engines. S-Foils move to the attack position and the pilot reaches out to initiate open comms. <<"Meandering Beast, this is Commander Poe Dameron of the New Republic Navy. This is your last opportunity to comply. Stand down and submit to a scan or we will be authorized under Republic Sanctions to use deadly force. I say again, this is your last warning.">>

Poe switches from open comms to the squadron tactical channel. <<"All call signs, pay attention to the rest of the line and ensure this guy isn't a distraction.--">> Poe isn't oblivious to the fact they are launching fighters. His threat still stands.

Miri grumbles audibly over the coms. <<Why do they have to go and do dumb shavit like that?>> S-foils out, she rocks her fighter back and forth, antsy.

"This is why I hate pilots," Sar says to nobody in particular, reaching out to jerk back the lever that causes his S-Foils to flip out into attack position. <<Meaty Beastlord, or...whatever your name is, look; I'm not in the lightin' up a bunch of fools kinda mood today, but my wife well, she'd get real mad if I went and let y'all kill me...so the way I see it is you put the kibosh on the lil' fighter scramble and submit to a formal inspection, or we're just gonna have to dust the whole lot of you. And...well, we ain't the best shots, but those ships we got floatin' round Naboo...y'see, they got a lot of guns that fire real big bolts.>>

Tallie grins, shaking her head at Sar's long winded diatribe at the Meandering Beast. "He meanders like that freighter Fiver, whew, listen to him go." The droid whistles one long trill and she laughs, eyes never leaving the boards. Foils are locked into attack position: that freighter has already made its decisions. "Fiver, keep on long range scan, I want to know if we have other visitors dropping into the system."

Kare frowns at the returned message as she keeps the squad channel open. <<Black Ten reported contaminates. It can not reach the planet and likewise we have fighters launching...>> Her voice trails off when Sar speaks, her eyes briefly widening as she opens her foils and gets ready to rumble should the vessel insister on continuing. <<They are like to engage. Black Leader?>> Black Seven keeps a close with the rest though she's watching those fighters on her radar. "Rev, we are going to need target locks fast, be ready to roll with me buddy." Off the comms Kare sounds tense, excited even as a crooked smile takes her lips briefly. Her fingers flex on the controls as the adrenaline begins to rush through her veins in preparation.

With a sigh, Callax pulls the lever that splits Black Ten's wings wide. "Oh la," he laments to himself, "Some people just want to ski uphill. Fang, darling, lock target on that brute's engines and load the tubes." Then, over comms: << Black Ten here, Leader. Shall I disable that transport while you lot handle the birds? >>

Black 11 Elrych switches his sfoils into attack position... he also switches his weapons over towards torpeadoes. <<Black eleven comming about for a lock on one of those turbo lasers.>> He slows down the xwing to full stop and angles his tubes. "Lets see what they say about that..."

Ektor laughs over the Black Squadron comms after Sar's effort to resolve the matter peaceably is made. He draws a breath to add to the conversation, but in a stroke of galactic mercy, the firefight erupts, sparing everyone that measure of dubious Tionese wit. <<Bee-Six, going evasive->> He dodges a sudden burst of quad laser fire, but the X-wing's shields rock with a light impact of cannonfire from one of the Bandit V-wings. "Oh, you sonuva-" On comms, "I'm good, just gotta blow a guy up real quick.."

The hostile fighters are well led and were clearly prepared for the sudden attack, leaping onto the offensive and scoring several early hits on the pilots of Black Squadron.

"OH! That's a solid hit, pal.. hang on!" Black leader is hit hard and it interrupts any thought he had to put them in motion to intercept. His engines flare and his fighter dips low, angling beneath the enemy freighter and banking hard starboard. "See what you can do, buddy.. " He flips to tac comms. <<"Blacks 5, 6, 7, and 8 on fighter detail. All other craft with me. We're going to crush this big guy.">> Black Leader is set to make a pass, only after avoiding fire.

<<Oh, these guys think they're cute.>> Miri jukes and rolls as she dodges both turret and enemy fighter fire. "Hey, Henibi, lemme... broadcast in the clear for just a sec?" She pauses mid-sentence as the Gs get to her for a moment, but she breathes through it like a pro. The R4 unit reluctantly beeps an assent and she sings out, <<Sorry boys! You're not my type!>> Because taunting them is clearly an effective use of her energy right now.

"Figured that'd work," Sar says, sliding his throttle forward and kicking those engines into gear just in time to whip the snubfighter around an incoming burst of turret fire. "And who am I kidding? Maeve's gonna be mad at me, anyway," he rambles on to himself as he flips down his targetting computer and begins rolling up firing solutions for his missiles.

Kare rolls out of the way of the incoming bogey that is a cloakshape on her tail. <<Copy Black Leader, engaging.>> Kare's voice has an edge to it, an adrenaline rush that despite what might leave some jittering is rather steady. "Here we go, Rev." As Miri gains a friendly on top of fire from the big guy she moves in, following after Black 8 <<Going for the Bogey on your six, eight.>> She releases a volley of fire that misses and she growls in her cockpit. "Come on, hold still."

<< Acknowledged, leader, >> says Callax from Ten, settling into position behind Poe as part of the dragon-slaying posse. << Locking torpedoes on the drive section. >> Whistling in its socket, the violet-painted Fang does its magic to train the targeting scanners upon the enormous thrust nozzles of the bulk cruiser's engines, flying loose to dodgethe fire that is doubtless to come his way.

<< I hear you, Lead->> Ektor acknowledges, breaking hard to one side as his R2 struggles to restore lost shield strength. Cannons spitting to little effect, he does manage to draw the targeted fighter off of the X-wings making their torpedo run on the big Action VI.

Turret fire intensifies on the charging Resistance fighters while the half dozen bandit starfighters seek to swarm the rest.

In setting up to attack, Poe is crushed under a hail of enemy fire that shower him with sparks and cause his craft to buckle. "What the hell?!" Normally, pilots would run at this point, but Poe pushes the attack despite limited functionality in his fighter. <<"Follow me--cough, cough.">> His comms cut, but Black Leader is still pursuing the large freighter. With target lock beeping on his console, he flips the switch and fires on the freighter that just crippled his fighter. A bright purple pair of torpedoes collide with the freighter, amplifying the presence of their shields. Poe banks away. <<Black 12, this is Black Leader. I need to RTB to avoid being taken out. You have command. Black Leader, out.">> S-Foils close, and he slams his throttle forward, punching in the micro-jump coordinates.

Miri's shots hit home, and the poor rekker who was on her is dust. To her credit, she doesn't make a dumb quip about Sar running the show, instead actually focusing and covering Poe's ass so he can jump to safety.

Whipping Black 12 out of the way of one burst of incoming fire, Sar's unintentionally lined himself up to get pelted by another. "Ah, hell," he curses, looking down at his systems readout. "It'll be fine," he assures himself, pointing the nose of the X-Wing towards their main target. Clicking in the firing nubs, a pair of torpedoes spill out of their tubes and go sailing toward the enemy vessel, rocking their shields hard. <<Shields are down.>>

<<Copy that, Black Leader. Black 11, cover Lead's retreat and get back in the fight,>> Sar says, tugging a glove off with his teeth and popping one of the electrical panels off to peek inside it. "It...might be fine."

The evasive snap rolled her out of the death lancing at her X-Wing from the freighter, their mask of innocence ripped away when the turrets started to roll. Around Tallie, her squadron is taking hits but also replying in deadly kind. "Yes!" she yells when Miri's bandit disappears from the screen. Then Black Leader's nemesis is within her sights, damaged but staying in the fight even after Leader took the shields down. Tallie decides to take the Kimogila out, target solutions dye her pale skin in blinking orange and she fires, lethal red stabbing the fighter. Only a cloud of debris is left with no time for the pilot to eject.

"R5 you have got to get that fixed," but whatever is the matter is taking longer than it should, Kare does her best, sweeping in and out with the other fighters, trying to break the bogey on her tail. The Cloakshape is not giving up and scores two hits, causing her craft to shudder and more problems to arise. "Damn it!" She hisses through her teeth. <<Black 7 hit..coming back around to cover inbounds to freighter.>> Kare whips about but too fast, she misses the ship on Callax tail by only a little. Just a hair and she is gripping the ship controls as her heartbeat sings in her ears, just as Poe calls out his departure. She needs to keep focus and continues with another sweeping movement to try to come back around

The Warsong enters the combat with the other fighters, shifting forward with the maneuvering from Merek. <<Acquired.>> He sends all that data to the Squadron while he takes a clean shot as he presses to fire on his controls. Both cannons hit, which take down some of the shields, though probably not as much as the other ships can do. Still, it is a good shot, and he shifts the cutlass about also.

Merek manaes to do well with this, but then it looks like one of the ships is coming at him. The cloakshape hit him back for his shot, and as people from Black Squadron look, it's not obvious that he's hit eject. The cutlass turns to a ball of flames while pieces fly about, and while it is a successful escape for him, some pieces shred up one of his legs before the suit seals that place, him rolling into the space with trails of crimson as well. There's no answer on the comms for the moment also.

Coming in fast, Callax sees Warsong flare and die on Ten's scanners; a soft hiss escapes the pale pilot's lips, and his lips draw back to bare white teeth - but the thunder in his blood is kept under control, and he delivers his payload. Banking past the transport, Black Ten delivers a pair of violet torpedoes into the back of the ship in a lovely strafing course; they land hard, delivering their lethal payloads in such a way that collapses the ship's feebly returning shields and blowing out one of the ship's mighty thrusters and the superstructure surrounding it. << Ten here, solid hit, >> Callax says over the comms as the flare of the warheads still fills his enhanced vision, but voice that escapes him is empty and cold.

Black 11 Advisably staying atill during a space battle was a pattantly bad idea its what the Jedi was doing to get and maintain that torp lock. He can see the attacks comming, his vision and trust in the force strong. With slight adjustments each foghter yhat vomes his way is avoided aimply by manipulating the rutter and spinning on the x access. It would appear as if he knew it was coming. Such a hot shot. Such wow... he should paint shades on his xwing. Once the tone is hood he lets the torps fly <<Shes disabled... lets take her a prize. Thats a sexy blockade runner.>> He yhrottles to full and looks for a fighter to go after now.

Ektor's X-wing avoids the heavy cannons of the Kimogila on his tail, keeping the crimson energy of his own lasers chasing down the bandit V-wing. A series of hits hammer through the shields and lance through the hull, consuming the fighter in a fireball a moment later. "Genius, are you even AWAKE back there?" he demands of the ineffective astromech.

Although the lead ace in the modified Cloakshape takes a measure of revenge for the losses, there is no accounting for the catastrophic damage four volleys of proton torpedoes deal to the Meandering Beast; the weapon turrets go silent, air is vented at several hull breach points, and escape pods begin to jettison with the crippled bulk freighter. Panicked transmissions escape into space, <<We've list containment- the seal's broken! Abandon ship- abandon ship!"

Black Leader launches into hyperspace in a bright flash of blue. Arriving in his place, the larger Bunkerbuster Corvette arrives and coasts at a more reserved speed above the dog fight (what's left of the fight.) Bright lights come online and begin visual scans as turrets come online and begin to rotate into position. Lit up by exterior hull lighting is the painted title of the ship; Yelsik's Valor. <<"Valor on station, marking targets.">>

Miri breathes a sigh of relief when the bunkerbuster shows up. "Having fun back, there, you little freeloader?" she teases Henibi. Henibi makes a terribly rude noise in response.

"Well, there goes Black," Sar says, looking out of his canopy as Merek's fighter explodes. "Gonna have to find somebody else to do my dry-cleaning," he adds, sucking his teeth. <<Black 12 to all, break off from attack runs and clear space around the Beast. Don't want to catch an escape pod to the chin,>> he comms to the rest of the group. <<Yavok to Fleet Command, we need some shuttles out here to round up these pods.>>

Popping his glove back into his mouth, Sar throttles down and reaches into the opened panel where he begins to fiddle around with some of the scorched terminals. There's a loud buzzing and a spark as he works that causes him to recoil, but a few moments later his ships are humming happily. "See that, Reb? I get by just fine without you. Little scrapheap."

He flinches a little bit as the Bunkerbuster makes its appearance. "Hey, that was quick."

A first for Tallie, seeing Black Leader flash out of the system. Rolling to port she considers taking on another of the Kimogilas when the Yelsik winks into view overhead. Dwarfing them all, turrets can be seen sighting the enemy. <Black Five, bugging out> Best to absent yourself when the biggest guns begin to roll out.

Kare pulls back art the request of Black 12, Rev still seemingly having trouble nailing the problem down. The bird inverts and spins still able to fly with only light hull damage. <<Black Seven returning to base.>> The corvette coming into view gives the fighters some relief and she then speaks with Rev. "Not sure what is slowing you down, Rev. But we have to do better," she tells him with a bit of a huff to her tone. Adrenaline is still there and with 'no joy' for the pilot she's not feeling the delight she otherwise would.

A final glance is shot at the scanners as the corvette leaps into space over the listing, disabled transport, now soon doubtless to be a cauldron of biological poisons. << Acknowledged, Twelve, >> says Callax, voice still as flat as a line, and heads back to base as ordered - though unseen, he allows himself a smile of satisfaction. It isn't very pretty at all.

Black 11 Elrych notices the boggies running and brraks his persuit. He looks towards the Yelsik as it comes out of hyperspace. "Nice...should save me some huoer fuel."

Black 6 had banked in pursuit of the fleeing Cloakshape when Sar's break pursuit order is given. "Bah," he grunts with a snicker. << Eh, I hear you, Old Timer. Even if these guys is breaking out slower than a tide going out, yeah?>> When Genius points out that the Cloakshape is moving at a speed comparable to a Y-wing, or his own Preybird, the pilot snaps, "You shut your damn dirty vocoder, Genius. No lie, I will disconnect you."

The Resistance capital ship is followed into the area soon after by recovery shuttles, as the two Kimogila leap into hyperspace, while the short-range Cloakshape continues on it's way at sublight speeds. Several fighters keep up a picket patrol, as the sudden, bloody skirmish comes to an end.