Log:Rogue Squadron: Nebulous Freighters II

Rogue Squadron: Nebulous Freighters II

OOC Date: January 4, 2021
Location: Ringali Nebula
Participants: Ax, Jax Greystorm, Karas Darkwing, Zandra naMuriel, David Ironside, Nova Korell, Tallie Lintra

Viewed from certain angles, the Ringali Nebula looks inhabited by vast alien life forms. Some of the spectral shadows are as deadly as they appear menacing - clouds of plasma gas superheated to millions of degrees float in space. The death of an old star now seeds the beginnings of new ones.

In the midst of these sprawling clouds, a tiny cell of sapient life goes about its clandestine business. Ants sheltering in the grass and as hard to find unless you follow the trails of ants returning to the nest.

Intelligence ops good at interrogation had given them the trail. The coordinates furnished by rescued pirate pilots after the last mission.

The first leg of the journey was a difficult jump to the remnants of a gas giant radiating cold into space before the hop to the nest of pirate operations

<<"Rogue Squadron, we will be in stealth mode, keep comm transmissions to a minimum once into the system. Run scans at maximum. Be on the lookout for mines. Watch each other's backs as we are likely to be outgunned if the reports on the operation are accurate.">> Behind her, Fiver swivels in his socket as he runs prelim checks for the next jump. It sends the final corrected coordinates to each fighter.

<<"On my mark, Rogue. Good luck.">> Stars converge into parallel lines and become the blue of hyperspace

They jump and arrive on the edge of an elliptical break in the gas clouds.

Rogue Squadron's legacy since the last war has been to take on the jobs nobody else can do (or wants to). That's the job, but it doesn't make Nova Korell feel any better about attacking what's supposed to be a sizable pirate base without capship support. There's nothing like a turbolaser volley to tell a bunch of screwloose space robbers that they're in big, big trouble.

But, the job is the job. <Copy, Lead. Eleven is going quiet. Course has been double-checked. Making the jump to hyperspace,> she replies, keying in the destination and hitting the button. "Hang on to your circuits, Jammer..." There's the telltale flash of a starfighter transitioning to hyperspace, and Rogue Eleven is gone, almost as if it had never been there.

David Ironside is flying his X-Wing, as always it's been restored to pristine conditions both on the inside and the outside, shoutout to Miri. Rather than communicating, the pilot keeps the fighter's s-foils closed together after the exit from hyperspace and tells his droid to run the scans Tallie had requested. "Focus on mines, Ones." he tells the R2 without looking. "No outgoing transmissions, either." he adds, flying close to Nova's fighter and raising a thumb to her. They've been partnered up.

Zandra got back in time to hear she's running as XO on this little mission. Which of course had her eyes go wide for a moment, but the young Jedi concentrated for a moment, and managed to not lose her cool. << Copy leader. This is five, going to silent, scanners are ready. Course is double checked, and we are green. Hang tight everyone, and watch each other's backs. >> Something about being told they're on point seems to make everyone get a bit more talkative and at least confident sounding. There's a blip into hyperspace, and then a blip as she exits, into the wild piratey yonder.

Jax's flying Rogue 9 in formation with Rogue 2. He's got his communications to a minimum. Exine not even broadcasting his voice into Jax's cockpit. It's all read out. Jax shrugs, "Don't ask me how we can be in stealth mode and keep active scan. I guess remain passive on scan's buddy. If somethings out there. ONe of the others will find it." What does the others find? Jax doesn't know cause Exine's not looking. Good job Exine.

Ax was the oddball this mission, having brought his smuggling vessel, the VCX-100 Black Sands, instead of a starfighter. The mission was a sketchy one, and the added support in case things got hairy lent the need for something with a tractor beam and a bit of cargo space.

A bit of a bonus is that the freighter's sensors had slightly better range than he was used to in an X-wing. "Buster, keep an eye on sensors," he says. Then, he looks to his copilot. "Get Dours on the Quad-Lasers, put him on mine-sweeping duty should the need arise. Not one shot until I give the word though."

This is one of many stealth missions that he's gone on and now he wishes they were using the phantoms for this but that would've needed approval from Ax. Still they were able to do this, with an A-Wing in the Squadron their jamming could assist them with keeping up with stealth. Listening to the instructions given to them, Karas double clicks his comm to give acknowledgement. Having been picked by Jax to run as his wingmate, Karas is pretty excited about this. Rogue two forms up with Rogue 9.

Comms hiss and crackle with interference from the plasma clouds. Scans slowly build an image of what the captured pilots had called 'the Claw'. It's a cut-off version of a Mobile Spacedock 220. It resembles an open ribcage with a central spine, ribs curving downward. The head, largely dark, contains operations and living quarters. Ships park inside the ribs; sections of it can be closed off and be pumped with atmosphere. The pirates are running it with only a skeleton crew hence the unlit portions. What the Claw doesn't have in point defense it makes up for in fighters patrolling the area. The squadron's scans light up with fourteen blips that resolve into four Preybirds and ten Headhunters. <<"Rogue, we are going to be under pressure. I know you can do it. May the force be with you all.">> Tallie angles the T-85 towards a Preybird, <<"Violet, ion cannons might make all the difference in this fight.">>

<Force or no Force, I'll take some capship support for this kind of fight any day,> Nova replies, locking strike foils into attack position. <Eight, here we go!> Eleven rolls and turns, going for a high-deflection shot to take out the lead Preybird before it can get into the fight... with the usual results. Some days, you wonder if the entire universe is against you. <Well, this is going to be one of those missions. Maybe I should just RTB right now and stay out of everyone's way.> Jammer blats supportively... no, that's agreement. At least for one they aren't disagreeing about something!

Comms blare back on when the fighters appear on scans. <<"On you, Eleven.">> David comms to Nova's fighter, joining her assault on the lead Preybird. His finger rests on the trigger, only squeezing it down when Nova's fighter moves. <<"Can't have fireworks with every shot, Eleven. Keep at it.">> he offers calmly. His own shots do find targets, though they're still absorbed by shielding and none are able to penetrate the hull. <<"Y'see? I didn't get any either.">> he points out, grinning slightly as he finds Nova's tail again.

Zan blinks a bit, and would ask her droid some crazy question, except she doesn't have one. << Roger, lead, though - what do you want me to use the chaff on? >> she asks first. Then she says, << But first, I'm with you on that preybird! >> Zan's A-wing is zippy enough that she gets out there before Tallie, taking the lead. Her lasers fire, and she hits it solidly enough to take out the shields, then comes around to look and see where there's a good spot for chaff deployment.

The sensors come alive like Wookiee life day all over the place as the Claw and her defenders show up out of no where. Exine beeps like made at Jax, "I know! I know!" Then he opens up his S-foils. << Rogue 9 to Rogue 2. I'm targeting Birdie 3. >> The s-foils pop open and Jax fires on the target but the PIlot off Birdie 3 proves to be saltier than first expected slipping out of Jax's target bracket.

Ax moves in with the Rogues, his freighter a little less maneuverable than an X-wing, but it was surprisingly just as fast. A pair of fixed lasers at the front of the craft unleash a barrage of their own at one of the enemy fighters.

Karas sees how big the Claw is and shakes his head, with the sensors running at max like ordered, he is able to pick up the enemy contacts. <<Copy that 9, let's do this.>> he says as he flips the toggle for the S-Foils to open. Slipping back so to give Rogue 9 room to maneuver. Karas checks his sensor board to see the others have engaged and took down one of the 14 enemy contacts that's coming for them. "Spark keep me appraised of the Z-95s, designate them as Enemy Bravo." he gets an affirmative beep.

Following Jax as Prey 3 evades, Rogue 2 rolls left which brings Prey 3 in line of his holo-targeting bracket. Pressing the trigger, Rogue 2 fires. Red energy lances streak towards the Preybird3 hitting, lighting up it's sheilds but at the same time it's shields dim slightly.

The fighters on scan are spread at points on a sphere around the Claw. The closest happen to be the most dangerous of their enemy, four Preybirds grouped together come under fire from Rogue. Violet booms Prey One hard, leaving Rogue Lead to mop up. From all points of the Headhunters descend on the group doubling fire on each of the fighters. <<"Good one, Violet. You got him on the run.">> Rogue Leader flys from under the Preybird making a pincher movement.

<<"You're outnumbered New Republic. Better run while you can.">> A deep unaccented voice hisses through interference. <<"Or don't. We can always scavenge you for parts.">>

<You had us outnumbered the first time, too, and /we/ scavenged /you/ for parts, big mouth,> Nova taunts the mysterious voice in return. <Something tells me history is about to repeat itself!>

She can only hope whatever's messing up her shooting starts bothering the pirates, now. <Eleven, rolling in hot on target designated as Preybird 4...>

All four cannons lance the heavier starfighter with crimson annihilation, smashing down deflector screens and tearing into the fuel tank. The resulting explosion lights up that part of space like a miniature supernova... fittingly enough! Nova pulls the X-Wing around to rejoin the larger battle. <Eleven, splash one. That's three so far, and we're just getting started. Are you paying attention, big mouth?>

David grins, letting Nova do all the talking. <<"Well done, Eleven. Let's leave some for the others and keep those Headhunters off them, agree?">> he comms, not so much taking charge as he is offering advice. <<"We're about to be outnumbered for real here.">> he adds, even as more of his weapons find a home in Preybird 1's shielding array.

She takes a good look, but at the moment, there's no reason to drop chaff. She's keeping it in mind though. << Good job team,>> she puts out there. << Keep up the hot flying. >> Her grin probably can be heard in her words, as Nova promptly replies to the bad guys so well. Meanwhile she doddges the first fire aimed her way, only to find one of the headhunters in her sights. A target of opportunity and Zan fires, hitting with all the lasers she's got. << Targeting H1, >> she announces, as she fires, then peels about to keep track of Tallie and Rogue 1.

Jax takes the pair of headhunters on a merry chase. His x-wing going in a tight talon loop as he brings his X=wing out ot open fire on Preybird 3 with a solid shot. He smiles at Exine, "Yeah Karas knows what he's doing. We'll be fine. Just focus on Prey bird 3. We'll outfly them."

"Buster, get on those shields," Ax calls to his droid as his ship takes a hit. "Dour, quads on the headhunters, keep them at range." Suppressive fire may not hit the opposing headhunters, but hopefully it would keep the ones at range in a defensive posture and not attacking them. Meanwhile, Ax is lining his freighter up for another shot at the opposing preybird.

Target lock warnings go off in the cockpit of Rogue 2. Karas knowing what that means, begins to evade rolling opposite of Rogue 9. <<Break, break, break!!>> he calls to Rogue 9 as they are fired upon. Karas checks his shields and sees no damage but he re-orients his X-Wing and tries to evade the second Headhunter hits but barely. Watching from inside the cockpit Karas sees his shields flicker as red energy bolts bounce against it. "Spark keep power on the shields, don't let them dip any further then 30." he says to his astromech.

Settling himself down, Karas lets out a calming breath and pushes the throttle forward to catch up with Rogue 9 his wingman. <<Rogue 9 Watchout!>> Though seeing that Jax, then followed up by Ax takes out Prey 3. He grins, <<Switching targets.>> he sends targeting data quickly to Rogue 9 indicating Headhunter 2. Pushing the throttle forward, the T-85's engine nacelles light up as it rockets forward as he takes lead on the attack on the Headhunter. He isn't loosing his Iceman as he manages to get within range of the enemy Headhunter. Once the Holo-targeting system locks on the Headhunter Karas presses the trigger firing on the fighter. His shot is true as he watches the Headhunter explodes, "Next time use your shields." he says as he breaks. <<More Headhunters inbound.>>

The spread of protection around the mobile repair platform would have made any methodical planner happy. Knots of dogfights break the symmetry. Rogue Squadron flies at their best, weaving in and out of the swarm of headhunters. Moonbeam proves herself deadly, firing four linked lasers into Preybird Four leaving it a hulk. One by one, the rest of the Preybirds are out of the fight. Rogue Two and RogueNine team tagging the last.

The Headhunters are fragile and three of them drop out on first engagement, Rogue Five and Rogue Two taking two out between them.

<<"Rogue, keep it up. I don't want to count my banthas before we finish but we could have a little present for the New Republic at this rate.">>

<Copy, Eight. We're just about out of Preybirds, anyway,> Nova agrees, changing course for the Headhunters that Ax's turret laser fire is keeping back. <Still watching, big mouth? You're about to see a numerical advantage disappear.> Nova's as good as her word, two shots shattering a Headhunter's deflector screens and slamming like red energy sledgehammers into the hull. Now troubled by power flow problems, the snub-jockey turns away from the fight, headed for someplace -anyplace- else. Eleven pulls into a tight turn, heading back for the pirate station. Nova thumbs the selector to proton torpedoes. <Eleven to Lead. Requesting permission for attack pass on objective...>

<<"Lead the way.">> David replies, joining Rogue 11 in the shredding of antiques. Blowing through the one that caught his attention first (by firing at him a moment ago), he joins up with Nova again. <<"Wait, wait, don't blow it up. The way it looks I don't think it's especially well-manned.">> he notes. <<"Look at it, they keep the lights off all over that place. Send in.. I want to say one or two commando squads and it can be ours, instead of space dust.">> he grins slightly and glances out the canopy to Rogue 11. <<"I'm back on your eight.">> he informs Nova.

Ziiiippppppppp goes the A Wing. Zan doesn't forget her wing mate though. << Keep it together, don't go off chasing decoys, >> she calls. What? She's never been XO before - she's trying! At David's comment, she tilts her head, and then says, << True, but it'll have to be repaired, staffed and protected. And it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, right? >> She shrugs. This is not her call, nope. In the meantime, she takes a shot at one of the headhunters, winging the shields, even though she doesn't blow it out. << I am really glad we're not flying those things, >> she murmurs. << They do not look like they - Miri would kill us all. >>

Jax smiles, << Relax Rogue 2. We're doing just fine, Rogut 3 is keeping an eye on us. >> Jax says as he expertly flies his X-wing bringing it it around in a bank that leaves Headhunter 10 and his wing mate Head hunter 9, the targets of Jax and Karas target. Jax targets Head hunter 10, then a series of Quad blasts destroy the ship. < < They were just threatening us. Man, I feel for them.... almost. Nice shooting Rogue 2. >>

With the opposition fighters either downed or bugging out, the Echani maneuvers the Black Sands so that the front of the freighter is lined up with the command deck of the repair platform. <<"Enemy facility, this is Rogue 3. I've got a trio of concussion missiles locked onto your reactor signature and life support. Given the size of the vessel, I give you 50 seconds to evacuate. If you do not have enough escape pods, then I suggest that everyone move to the primary hangar deck. We'll concentrate the blasts so that area should not be affected. Comply now or die. Over.>>

<<I'm good, just letting us know!>> he says as he weaves along with Rogue 9 evading enemy fire that is coming in at them. Karas isn't no slouch, in a way it's hard to believe he's still in his early twenties. Still Rogue two rolls opposite of Rogue Nine and as he does Spark receives targeting data for Headhunter 10 and as Rogue 2 angles to go after it, he sees it go up in a fireball. He shakes his head a little at that display.

Spark catches Headhunter 9 streaking past, and targeting data is sent to Karas, <> he calls into the tactnet directing it at Rogue 9. The T-85 rockets forward giving chase to the enemy fighter and as he closes in, he gets a target lock. "Sorry." is all he says as he fires. Quad red energy bolts erupts from the T-85 X-Wings laser cannons and he scores a direct hit destroying the Z-95. <<Splash 2.>> he calls into the comms. Karas checks his sensor board, the others have taken out their targets and he hears Ax issues commands for the pirates to either surrender or be destroyed. He didn't like the threat but then again some people need to be threatened to get what is needed done.

The Headhunters left in the fight can't withstand the pressure. They drop under the concerted fire of the Squadron's T-85's. When two are left, both of them without shields, Cmd. Lintra speaks over open coms, <<"This is Rogue Leader on behalf of the New Republic. You have two choices, stand down or be taken by force.">> Black Sands has snuck under their point defenses during the fight and sits nose to nose with the command center, missiles locked on.

<<"We...shove it...">> Blaster fire cuts the voice off, silence follows. Another voice in accented Basic follows, with a babble of voices behind it. <<"STANDA DOWNA! Wea wanta termsa, Newa Republica. Iya seconda hera. Standa downah!">>

Still on open coms, Lintra's voice crackles back an immediate response, <<"We copy that. Stand by for instructions on how we want to do this. One false move, and we will finish you, make no mistake.">>

Over encrypted comms to the rest of Rogue, <<"Rogue 3 to Rogue Leader, I do want you to know that I wasn't really going to shoot, but sometimes it's fun to let them think you are. Granted, if they opened fire I can't make promises.">> The Echani leans back in his seat, patting the controls of his freighter for a moment. "This was fun, huh?" he asks his crew. They didn't seem to think it so, used to smuggling which involved running more than fighting.