Log:Rogue Squadron: Pulsar Skirmish

Rogue Squad chases off pirates to save miners

OOC Date: September 2, 2020
Location: Deep Space, near a Pulsar Star
Participants: New Republic, Jessika Pava, Tallissan Lintra, David Ironside, Jax Greystorm, Elrych Cometburn, Zandra naMuriel, Crash Tommaz, Poe Dameron

Rogue Squadron blinks into existence in a series of quick flashes. Rogue Leader, piloted by Poe Dameron, moves forward with bright red impulse engines. His s-foils open into attack mode and his voice grumbles over comms. <<"Rogue Leader here, check in. See if anyone can home in on that beacon. This pulsar interference is rekking up my sensors..">> Poe his encouraged by the bright blue light of the neutron star to lower his protective visor.

<"Rogue Three, checking in."> Not yet locking her s-foils into attack position, Jessika nonetheless powers up the snubfighter's shields to full. Taking a glance at her sensors, she sees what Poe is talking about first hand. "Let's try to clean this up a little bit, Ailee." Poe's right, though. The pulsar interference is wreaking havoc. Her adjustments get close to locking in on the beacon being transmitted, but she's not able to piece together the right adjustments. Ailee isn't faring any better. <"I'm getting the same thing, Lead. Can't home in on it yet."> Given the pilots flying with them, though, Jessika wouldn't be surprised if someone beat her to the punch. Her brows knit together and her flight gloved left hand lifts. Her teeth pinch at the tip of the finger and draw it off, allowing her to operate the buttons with her bare fingers rather than trying to do it through the thicker leather.

<<"Rogue Eight, reporting in. Sensors indicate a large model cargo ship being hassled by a bunch of pirates in fighters, radiation levels critical.">> David Ironside chimes in. He'd had some luck with his sensors, and let's not kid anyone outside the quotation marks, it was luck, but he's not gonna say the quiet part loud. <"We'll have to get this done quick.">> he adds, stressing that radiation tidbit once more as he raises a hand to his helmet to slide the visor over his eyes.

The A-wing, that was serving as Rogue 9 reverts back into real space. Jax adjusting the trim of the fighter that was really engines with wings, "Alright girl, lets have some fun, anything your aunts Corsair 1 and Spark 1 was lies told you was lies. I'm a gentleman and always bring my A-wings back to the barn in perfect order." The RZ2 computer huming information to him, "Oh baby, this already a better time than if Exine was here." Jax turns and angles toward the fight, <Rogue Nine, Janitor's right! Theres a fight going on, looks like there's somebody attacking the minors.>

The background of a smooth musical ensamble dressed the voice of Elryhc Cometburn as he reported in from his E-Wing, <<"Rogue Four here... ah... yeah. The sensors are messed and Eggsy isn't having any luck either.">> He keeps his fighter stead and in formation with the others.

<<rogue Five, reporting in, >> Zan adds. A Wing, the second, along with 9. She blinks in, and listens, as she tries to make sense of the sensor readings. "I think this sensor readout is upside down and written in Teek,>> she mumbles, picking a random species just because she can. She grins at Jax with his Awing, not tha the can see her. << But other than that, ready to go. >>

The T-85's canopy opaques when they transition into real space. Lintra's helmet filtering the rest of the bright light instantaneously, saving her sight.

"Whew, bright one, Fiver. Can you get anything on sensors in this soup?" In answer to Poe, <<"Rogue Seven, on your 9, Rogue Leader. Copy that. Nothing to report on sensors.">>

Banking the X-Wing, Tallie opens the wings into attack position, wary in the blue star's radiation. Rogue Eight's sensor information comes over computers. <<"Copy that Rogue Eight. Good going.">> Readjusting course, the nacelles of the X-Wing's afterburners glow red. "In and out of here Fiver, before we're toast."

<"Twelve here..."> chirps Crash as he rolls his neck, adjusts the guitar-riff laden groove-tunes as his butt-cheeks shift to the tune of his music. He grins a bit and twists his stick a little left, then a little right... the fleet little A-Wing twisting left, then right. Just like the fighter is warming up for it too.

<"Looks like it's gonna be a fun day... OH DREK... "> and he turns off his mic, shaking his head, "Must learn to -not- broadcast too much." he says to himself.

<<"Roger that.. I see the coordinates you guys marked. Follow me in Rogues. We need to get a window open for our miner friends to get out.">> Following his own word, Poe tips his X-Wing down and toward the skirmish happening at the waypoint. It's a short flight time for snubfighters, and their presence doesn't go unnoticed! The STARHOPPER squadron of pirates turn toward the intercepting Rogue Squadron to face off.

Two (2) of the Starhoppers fly T-65 X-wings, and they're at the spearhead, followed by seven (7) Z-95 Headhunters, all of which were coming right for them!

<<"Cut through them, Rogues!!">> Poe says, his voice conveyed slightly robotic but maintaining its sense of urgency.

Sure enough, Rogue Eight pinpoints the beacon's location and the freighter that's giving it off. Locking into the coordinates, Jessika adjusts her starfighter's heading to match and pushes the throttle mostly forward. With her s-foils not opened yet, full speed would have her pulling ahead of the group, and that's the last thing that she wants. As it flies, Jessika briefly removes all hands from the controls to pull her glove back on, then readjusts hands back into their comfortable spot on her controls. Despite all the interference, the closer she gets, the more her sensors are able to pick up. That means she reads the nine approaching targets. Poe says go right through. That's what Jessika intends to do. But not without a greeting.

Snapping her s-foils into attack position with her nose leveled at one of the enemy T-65s, her targeting computer has a good bead on it well in time for her to make whatever minute adjustments are needed. Which means she's also got a solid chance at nailing some hits. Her finger squeezes the flight stick's trigger, and her laser cannons nearly chew through the target's shields in one go. Cut through them. Sure. David locks in the data he'd spread to the squadron, making a beeline towards the ones leading the charge on the other side. As Jessika engages one X-Wing, David does so with another, gritting his teeth. It's always pirates in X-Wings these days, and it's just not -right-! Luckily David is a good pilot, and he manages to score a hit on the T-65 in passing, without ever slowing down. He was told to cut through them, after all.

Rogue 9 goes zipping along, out racing Rogue 1 at the last moment as they engage. It was the nature of the ship as Jax pulls back on the throttle. The A-wing coming in from above at a perpendicular angle of the Z-95 know as Starhopper 7. Jax pulls the trigger firing a pair of laser bolts stripping shields of the aged fighter and leaving it with damage to think about. "Boss wants them cut through we'll cut through them." He dives down in a tight loop spinning to come up from beneath betting on his A-wings speed and agility.

Elrych gathers the data sent over from 8, and even so can only use some of it with the pulsar interupting the stream. He has to rely on sight. He turns towards the oncomming fighters and clashes with one of the headhunters. He takes a shot, the heavy lasers shooting past just as the craft moves out of the way. "Man, they're paper weights but I'd take them over a lot of other craft." Eggsy gives an affirmative reply.

No need to use the A Wings as jammers at this party, the neutron star is bigger than they are. Rogue squad is coming in hot, and Zan's zippy A wing is definitely right in the pack with everyone else. She waits for the orders before she hits the throttle, the g pushing her back in her seat a bit, as she arcs around some of the dogfighting, taking a pot shot at the marked SH5 -- and missing but no doubt he saw those lasers fly by his HUD. << Rogue 5 - engaging marked SH 5>> she says, calmly, reaching for the Force, even as she enjoys the thrill of the loops and speed of thte A wing.

Fiver beeps the new coordinates, triangulating off of Rogue Eight and Rogue Nine's info. Pulling the throttle back, they head into the battle, banking into a hard turn to engage the swarm of Z-95s. A snub-nosed fighter (Z-95 Nine) pulls out of the pack going head to head with them. "Here we go, Fiver." Two cannons splash the Headhunter bringing shields down before they roll out to starboard, preparing to come back in at a higher angle.

Like his callsign's namesake, Crash, aka Mynock, sticks to Tallie's wing like he was on a tether. As she maneuvers to attack, Crash is boppin' his head and shoulders, groovin' along to the instrumentals. He's in a groove, okay pun intended. What? Either way, as Tallie's X-Wing fires, he twists his stick, presses the left footpedal and the A-Wing lifts up a bit relative to Rogue-7, and then snaps into a roll to drop down below her X-Wing, laser cannons firing in rapid succession at his wingmate's target, but maintaining position behind and below her. <"In under your wing ma'am."> he transmits to Tallie.

The plan to cut through the Starhoppers has the desired effect. The Starhoppers are far more interested with fighting Rogue Squadron than they are the miners they had come out here to nab. They quickly learn how fatal crossing Rogue Squadron can be as each pilot in Starhoppers suddenly and miraculously realize this was a bad idea. 2 of the 9 Starcrossers are already pulling away, staying evasive with the hope they can escape the gravity well quickly enough to avoid certain destruction. Being turned to slag out here was death, even for someone who ejected. The radiation and tremendous pressure and heat would kill a pilot instantly.

Poe's craft is rocked by incoming fire as he and Starhopper Four shoot at one another. Poe isn't quick enough in the trade off to avoid taking damage. He shakes from the impact and grumbles. <<"Civilian craft.. this is Rogue Leader. We're buying you time to fix your ship and get the hell out of here. We don't have long with the radiation here. So hurry!">> Rogue Leader rounds about, centering on his earlier target and narrowing his eyes.

She almost reduces her target's shields to nothing, but Jessika Pava's enemy isn't content to be the only one dealing out blows. Her shields shimmer around her snubfighter in a bubble, prompting a slight hike of her brows and a rush of adrenaline through her system. Feeling the shudder of enemy fire rocking against her shields is always exciting. "Bolster our forward shields, Ailee." It might be a confusing command at first, since after trading fire the two X-Wings zip past each other. But her target is in a T-65 and Jessika is in the latest and greatest. She doesn't even need to loop around. What she does is cancel the inertial compensators on the craft and yank her throttle back to zero. Then it's a simple yank back on her flight stick to face her nose one-eighty.

Within moments, she has a fix on the X-Wing that just streaked by, and it has yet to start to make its own evasive maneuvers. Jessika's lead lines up, and her fingers squeeze the trigger. This time, the laser cannons do more than just pelt its shields. The first pops what remains of its deflectors and the rest chew straight through the fuselage, leading to the crafts total destruction as its powerplant is pierced and goes critical. Jessika doesn't wait to watch. Yanking her flight stick again, she flips her snubfighter to the same direction she was initially heading and slams the throttle forward to give her fighter the maneuverability it needs to be evasive for any others seeking her out as a target.

David swings around, leaving Jess plenty of room to do her fancy maneuver as he simply flies around it. Sure, the maneuver gives the targeted X-Wing more time to prepare for what's coming, but the blasts from the T-85 still strike true. At least one does, anyway. Who's counting? <<"Target limping, but still in it.">> he comments, adding, <<"I'm staying on 'em.">>

Starhopper 7 was breaking off and trying to escape, Jax. Jax hits the button to cycle targets onto Star Hopper 8 as it attempts to target his Wing Commander Tallie. Jax targetting the bottom of the ship. He pulls the trigger and hitting it at the back of the ship at a weak spot that causes the Z-95's power plant to blow, Jax hits a rudder causing his A-wing to cork screw missing fire and debris, < Splashed Star Hopper 8, You're freed up Sunshine. Not that the guy was much of a threat to begin with.>

Rogue four locked into a dogfight with Starhopper THree. "Can you believe a Z-95 giving me this much trouble... I could fly right past it... let him catch up... OH wait here it is." Elrych saw an opening, his retical going green with a positive tone. He look the shot, at least one cannon hitting and nearly shutting down the shields. "Like I said, paperweight..."

Zan spiral turns, flipping her a wing on its side, and then full throttle zooming past her target, since it's a bit slower than she is. She dodges as it fires back at her, the two engaging in a good dog fight now. Her own return shots also miss, but Zan stays on target, continuing her match with the enemy pilot. Rogue 5 is holdint tight. Every second she keeps that fighter occupied is one more for the miners getting repaired and out of here, and that's the important thing.

Flying in this maelstrom of radiation puts an edge on Lintra's determination to finish the fight early. "Smart pilots, getting out of the heat. Target the ones that need a psych evaluation, Fiver."

Ahead of her, she sees the flare of the Headhunter that had been chasing them disintegrating under Rogue Nine's barrage of lasers.

The continuous beep of the targeting computer sounds as her target comes under fire. Two solid hits leave it in the fight, a target for someone else in the squadron. <<"Finish it, Mynock!">>

And yep, Crash follows Tallie's lead, lasers flaring and blazing away right behind her progress. His fighter snugs i n near hers... almost dangerously so. But formation flying is one of his best skills, "Boom!" he exclaims in the privacy of his cockpit after getting that kill shot. <"Sorry for kill stealing."> he says to Tallie even while envisioning that fourth silhouette going on his fighter.

Poe sees that his shields are ticking back up while he's going through the ritual dance of fighters to get a bead on his opponent. Meanwhile, the Starhoppers are not looking so hot anymore. One of their X-wings are down, two Headhunters are down, and two just jumped out leaving four (4) in total. <<"Clean it up, Rogue!">> Poe encourages, slamming his throttle back to use his speed to zip past the Headhunter he's fighting. A slight grin forms as Poe is forced back against his seat.

<<"Rogue Leader, this Gem-Finder. We've got our hyperdrive back online. Cover us a little bit longer!">>

<<"Copy, Gem-Finder.">> Poe answers back.

The closest target after her last is the final X-Wing on the field. Over the squadron net, Jessika hears the freighter declare its hyperdrive is back online and they're going to be taking off soon. With no craft unengaged, Jessika banks towards David engaged with the leader of the pirate squadron. So engrossed in battle, the target doesn't realize Jessika is coming in perpendicular to their craft until its far too late. Jessika doesn't let the opportunity get the best of her. Keeping calm, she adjusts her snubfighter's nose to gain lead on the target, and once the reticle on her visor is right where she wants it, she squeezes the trigger with the kind of ease that doesn't jar the flight stick as a whole. The T-85's weaponry bristles with light.

And that same light smashes through the leader of Starhopper squadron, piercing both the canopy and the fuselage behind it to once again ruin one of the inferior X-Wing's powerplants. Both are off the field, now, and Jessika only feels a slight pang of regret that they won't be able to recover anything from the astromechs socketed into the back of the craft. Then again.. she is the Great Destroyer. Obliterating those droids in the collateral is just another day for Jessika Pava.

<<"Thanks Jess.">> David comms simply as his target is absolutely evaporated in front of him, sending an astromech dome to bounce off his canopy shields. He quickly decides on a new target, now that the other squadron has no more X-Wings left, just Headhunters. Much easier on the pilot's conscience, these. They're feisty little patrol craft, though, dodging all but one of Rogue 8's attacks.

Starhopper 5 was chasing Zandar, as Jax lined his ship up on on a collision course with the other A-wing, <"Violet, I'm on a collision course, at the last moment, you go low and I'm going high. See if we can give your tail something to thing about. Rotate your blasters and fire too, just not on me.”> Jax says at the last moment as the two A-wings nearly kiss noses, Jax pulls up. His twin canons rotating to beneath him and as the Z-95 crosses beneath him. The jedi fires on Starhopper 5.

Elrych swoops in from three o'clock just as David finishes his attack round, all three of his heavy laser cannons ripping through the hull of the Z-95 and causing it to explode. <<"Thanks for the set up...">> The Corellian comments over the channel, <<"Splash one...">> He pauses for a moment, taking a wide turn to survey they battleground. <<"did we realyl chew through these guys? When's the last time that happened?">>

<<Roger that, Corsair,>> Zan says easily. Her a-wing? Easily agile enough to zoom on that collision course until the last second. But she doesn't follow Jax's advice, other than skimming too close to the head hunter, and hopefully throwing the pilot off, right into Jax's tender mercies. She then flips on a dime erm credit, and her reticule lights up green as she gets a shot off on SH4. << Incoming, on SH4 >> she warns, before she hits her throttle and zooms to a spot above the battle plane.

Wreakage makes flying hazardous. Rogue decimates the remaining fighters, leaving the question of psyche evaluations moot. The Jedi, Zandra, tackles one of the last Headhunters remaining along with her fellow pilot and Jedi, Jax. <"Violet, I'm tagging your bird to get us out of here. Fancy flying, you two!">> Rogue Seven's cannons leave the Headhunter trailing atmosphere; it breaks apart in slow motion. <<" That about finishes it, Rogue. Splash Four.">>

Following Tallie once more, stuck to her like his namesake, Crash is halfway squeezing his triggers when he realizes that Tallie got the kill already. He doesn't -say- anything to indicate he is disappointed. I mean he feels it. Just doesn't say it. But either way, he waggles his mini-wings and says, <"Clean sweep."> as he turns along with Tallie to disengage.

With the last of the Starhoppers blasted out of the void and left as slag, the squadron fell in behind the Gem-Finder. A few moments later, all ships flashed from view, zipping into hyperspace and away from the dangerous gravitational pull and nefarious radiation of the neutron star. <<"Well done, Rogues. That's another for the books.">> Poe says, tilting his head back against his seat and sighing.