Log:Sith: Purse Strings: Part 2
Purse Strings: Part 2
OOC Date: March 27, 2025
Location: Neimoidia System
Participants: Aitax Rendon, Aryn Cortess, Bors Thul, Cin'cirad Rook, Orvaine Strakke, Valin
Although the initial clash had favored the Imperial invaders, Captain Plurodelin had extracted all his capital ships from the battle and escaped with a micro jump. Understaffed repair crews were working frantically to mend the heavy hull damage done to the gigantic Lucrehulk by Ravenous turbolasers and TIE squadrons. The same overtaxed mechanics also had to patch up several of the R41 Starchasers that had escaped the first fight, but even with their best efforts the starfighter complement was down to one-third of its full operational strength; the remains of five squadrons consolidated into two.
The Neimoidians had wisely chosen a retreat point well outside of sensor range, and avoided any asteroid fields or planets whose natural gravity wells would draw pursuers out of their own blind micro jumps. They occupied an empty speck of space with nothing to distinguish it or attract notice, and by avoiding any natural hiding spots, Plurodelin had won his battered command crucial hours to rest and affect repairs.
Meanwhile, the Ravenous destroyer group was making good use of its hard-won experience operating blind in the Hapan campaign: all available sensor probes were launched, far-ranging fighter patrols sent in shifts, but crucially no frigates were detached from the star destroyer to widen the search area. Captain Rendon had no intention of allowing his opponent to fall upon any isolated capital ship.
The game of cat and mouse had gone on for 30 hours before an imperial long range probe picked up the colossal metallic mass of the Lucrehulk at maximum sensor range. Remaining beyond the old Neimoidian vessel's outdated sensors, the long awaited binary signal was sent back to the imperial flagship. Battle stations were called aboard the Ravenous fleet, all scouting TIE squadrons were ordered to convene on the target coordinates, and the hunt was on.
The orders from Rendon to the Ravenous and its escorts were clear: concentrate all firepower on the *Kar Rangab*.
Kar Rangab (Cin'cirad)
Captain Nute Plurodelin had managed to catch a few hours of sleep, along with parts of his bridge crew. Once they had made the jump, he had immediately began cycling people down to rest while others considered to make preparations and repair. The shifts shorter than they would be normally, but with sleep being one of those If you're not eating or working, you better be sleeping sort of orders.
Falling back on the more natural tongue of Pak Pak, or also known as Neimoidian, he sat in his ready room. His duty bunk off to the left, the small fold down desk in from of him. He looked up and toward the door as he heard the slight rap of knuckles. "Commander, come in." He leans back in his chair, rubbing at his temples with one hand, the hat positioned off to the side. "Anything to report?"
The Commander set down a cup of caff on his desk, the magnetic bottom latching it to the surface. "Nothing new, if that's what you mean." She shifts and leans against the doorframe, she looked about as tired as the Captain... both of them had of course ignored the order to sleep. "Squadrons Thesh has merged with what was left of Cresh, making a new Besh Squadron. Almost all of Aurek is reporting fully functional, but the repair crews say that they are struggling to finish up the mandatory repairs."
Captain Nute lets out a long sigh and picks up his caff, taking a sip and looking back to the screen. "No matter how many times I look at it - they just had the upper hand. The Nebulons brought their shields back up, whoever is manning their squadrons is top notch. Not to mention the gunnery crews aboard their main VSD..." Another sip, "If I had another Luchre, or another eight squadrons, I think we would stand a chance. But for now? If we could lure them to exit hyperspace into an asteroid field, maybe we would have a fighting chance. Either way, let's get the squadrons awake and stim'ed up. I would wager they'll find us under the 36-hour mark."
The Captain grabbed his hat, putting it on his head, still holding the cup of caff as he steps out onto the bridge.
Ravenous Fleet (Bors Thul)
<<"Captain Rendon, my squadrons are prepared, we will break BAR posture to engage on your direction.">>
TIEs soared at a pacing speed flanking either side of the victory cruiser with the squad leaders on the dorsal and ventral positions at the fore point of the Ravenous.
<<"If they maintain any fighters we can sweep them, or we can prepare for shield stripping at your preference.">>
Watching the Lucrehulk in the distance as they near, resisting the urge to slam his throttle all the way up and frowning behind the faceplate of his flight suit.
Ravenous Fleet (Orvaine Strakke)
Lieutenant Orvaine Strakke has remained at her post for much of the 30-hour cat-and-mouse. She barely looks tired: alert, precise, unnervingly still as the signal comes in. The moment the sensor data begins to stream across her console, she starts plotting firing vectors, scanning for power signatures, known damage from the previous engagement, and weak points left exposed.
Around her, officers scramble to their stations. She does not move. She is not surprised. She is ready.
As she inputs the firing pre-patterns into the fire control grid, she remarks, dryly, "We won't get a third engagement."
TIE/sf (Valin)
There was an uneasiness when the hours were dragging on. So it was nice to be back in the fight as it were. <<Back in business. Captain Rendon's orders are to focus all fire on the Kar Rangab and we are going to do just that.>> Commander Valin tells the squadrons that she is overseeing for this short affair. The orders from her are clear, focus on the ship they were told to until they were told otherwise.
Ravenous Fleet (Aitax Rendon)
The scene that greeted Captain Plurodelin and his XO upon stepping onto the bridge was one of sudden alarms as the dagger-shaped profile of a Victory II star destroyer emerged into real-space, followed within moments by a trio of frigates, and squadrons of TIEs. On the Ravenous bridge, Aitax answered Bors, <<"Sweep as many of their fighters as you may in the opening joust, then devote all available fightercraft to attack runs, Commander.">> Aside, he noted dryly to Orvaine, "Of course we will, Leftenant. We simply don't know who it will be against. Open fire, and comm: give me a broad-channel to the Neimoidians."
The open communique sent to the Neimoidian fleet saw Captain Rendon with hands composed at the small of his back, standing with a floor-length quarter-cloak over the left shoulder of his uniform. <<"This is Captain Rendon of the Ravenous. I commend your crew for their courage in our first pass. Your surrender once offered will be accepted with all proper courtesy, sir.">>
The second battle was not beginning as equally as had the first; the Imperial fleet is still at full strength, and in short order the superiority in fightercraft swept aside the defending squadrons, and combined fire from the Ravenous and its frigates had eroded half the big Lucrehulk's shield strength.
Kar Rangab (Cin'cirad)
Captain Nute stood on the bridge with his second cup of caff. As he had expected, it has been less than 36 hours, but apparently at just the wrong amount of time. Some of the pilots in the squadrons starting to feel fatigued, needing another round of stims, while others were just launching with the jittery-high that kept them a bit too... jumpy on the stick. He squints as he looks to the monitors, giving a rub to his eyes for a moment.
Fun fact, not everyone on his crew was a Neimoidian, which is why he defaulted to basic. <<"Sqwua-drons, form up and ah-tahk the mhain two! Ah-tahk vehc-tor Dorn.">> He sipped his caff as he thought about his idea. His plan was to harass them, then pull them back to attack that third squadron that was taking a different approach vector. If he was lucky, he could keep all three of the enemy squadrons busy for at least a few minutes.
<<"Ahh, Cah-ptain Rehn-don. This is Cah-ptain Nute, of the Khar Rah-ngab. We will see /who/ oh-ffers suh-rrender first.">>
Nute sat down in his Captain's chair, something he didn't do the first time around but the fatigue was growing on him. The slow blink and he sips, watching as the Squadrons do indeed engage, then break off and turn toward that third squadron. His hand formed a fist and he tapped the side of it against the arm rest. YES! This would work!
Nute's face fell as he watches the two Squadrons, wiped out before they could even get half way. His eyes closing, and a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He would have to process those losses later, but for now... "Cah-municah-shons, contact Cah-rrier Amphida. Issue... retreat. Eh-scape while able. Gunship Axolyt, ah-fter Amphida jumps, join them."
Ravenous Fleet (Bors Thul)
When the attack order is given the squadrons under Bors's command they surge forward, but not all in a single swarm. One by one they go to full speed, creating a staccato series of lines as they dive in pursuit of their quarry.
<<"Lead, three, they're attempting to scatter.">>
<<"I see it, ignore and let the wings behind handle if they give chase.">>
<<"Four on your seven.">>
TIE Whisper leading the pack of standard fighters, peeling into a dozen wings when they come to meet the Starchasers. Nemoidian tactics having been studied and the expected methods exploited. The ensuing combat becoming a series of calculated strikes. The TIEs making the span of void they battle into a pit where the R-41s are made to look like they're fighting in thigh deep mud.
For Lord Thul it is an operating table and the Old Man is a surgeon.
<<"Captain Rendon, Alpha Lead, I have attended the fighters and I am making for the Lucrehulk...">>
Ravenous Fleet (Orvaine Strakke)<vr>
As Rendon sends the communique, Lt. Strakke is already executing the first coordinated fire pattern -- still as composed and still as she has been for all of these hours. Some of the junior officers are beginning to suspect she's actually a droid.
Turbolasers and ion cannons discharge in concert, and her targeting is surgical, zeroing in on those previously weakened systems. Her composure underlines the inevitability of it -- the Empire's control is total, and her hands make it happen. "Confirmed: structural degradation proceeding on schedule."
TIE/sf (Valin)
Valin sees the fighters peel off to come and try to make trouble with the squadrons. She was about to switch her targets, but Lord Thul is quick and business like when it comes to dogfighting which wipes out what was about to be between her and the Kar. That means that she is free to get back to bombing runs, <<Delta squadron, please keep on your bombing runs.>> she tells them over comms.
Ravenous Fleet (Aitax Rendon)
The Privateer-class escort carrier streaks into the safety of another microjump, while the quartet of Imperial capital ships bear down on the vast bulk of the battered Lucrehulk. Turbolasers, ion cannons, and the missiles and cannons of strafing TIE squadrons blast through the last of Kar Rangab's shields and begin chewing deep into the hastily patched armored hull of the 3 kilometer-wide capital ship.
Kar Rangab (Cin'cirad)
Captain Nute strokes his chin as he stays seated, another sip of his caff, his eyes turning toward the viewscreens to watch the Amphida leap into hyperspace, nodding his head with a bit of a resigned look that comes across his mouth. He pinches once more at his brow as he considers how he might get out of this mess, but every turn there seems to be only one conclusion. He looked up in time to see a particularly solid hit on the Nebulon's shields, not long after the VSD sent its own lethal payload of turbolasers into the Kar Rangab.
<<"Gunship Axolyt, you ahre up.">>
One of the side monitors comes up with the face of another Neimoidian. He stares back at the Captain of the Luchre Hulk, <<"Cah-ptain. Uhn-fortunately, it seems our hyperdrive is down.">>
Nute shoots a look over to one of the other bridge crew and they shake their head, signaling that there is no sign to which that might be true. Nute looks back to the Captain of the Gunship, <<"Coh-mander, Leave. At. ONCE! Find oh-thers to b-hring to our caus-se. You and the Amphida are our hope now.">> Nute dragged a hand across his throat, signaling to keep up the fire in an attempt to keep them from targeting the Gunship. He is not sure why they are so intent on coming after him, but he plans to use it to his advantage.
Ravenous Fleet (Bors Thul)
<<"Ravenous, Lucrehulk shield is down. We are proceeding with Delta's bombing runs to assist.">>
Chinning over to squadron channels,
<<"Delta, Alpha Lead, suggest a sweep pattern, cross squadrons for maximum effect. Overwhelm shields and structural integrity?">> The initial pass of Alpha and Beta squadrons a searing array of cannon fire and ordnance loosed like boulders dropped from a cliffside. Their third pass coming and the fighter wing wheeling to being a broader pass and give the other wing commander time to answer.
Ravenous Fleet (Orvaine Strakke)
There's the slightest flicker of irritation from Lieutenant Strakke -- her eyes narrowing as one volley strikes reinforced plating and another disperses across armor not yet fully breached. This is not how she prefers to work.
Without comment, she refines the targeting algorithm, methodical as ever. Fire is rerouted to a secondary weak point -- less ideal, but sufficient.
"We were too generous," she says coldly. "Recalculate."
TIE/sf (Valin)
<<”Alpha Lead, this is Delta lead, I agree with a sweep pattern and to cross squadrons.”>> Valin replies to Bors. <<”I will follow your lead and make sure that Delta knows what is going to happen as well.”>> she states to the Alderaanian Lord. Then to the Delta squadron she relays what they are going to do going forward.
Merciless (Aryn Cortess)
Sensors heralded the arrival of the Merciless before it actually appeared in real space. Its large form eclipsing the rest of the fleet present. TIEs swarmed from the hangars of the resurgent class destroyer. As if an afterthought, additional vessels blinked into existence beneath it, with their shields promptly engaged.
From the bridge looking out the main viewport, Darth Kalus stood beside an exiled Neimoidian who served her court as a Lord; truth be told, Idan Jensa's coat buttoned up tight over numerous duties. His service, of course, came with a fee, and on this day, Kalus proved true to her word on paying it. With her hands clasped at her back, she glanced aside at the taller alien a moment, then back toward Captain Rathburn. "Captain, you may begin the deployment."
"It shall be done, my lord. -- Commanders, launch all fighters. Communicate with the fleet to begin moving into attack formation. -- Helm, all ahead, bring us in."
As officers responded to the Captain's orders, a handmaiden approached Kalus and offered the Dark Lord the receiver, nodding when the pair shared a look to signal that the feed was live.
<<"Neimoidian forces, I am Darth Kalus, a Dark Lord from the Sith Empire. I urge you to consider surrender. This will be the only mercy I am permitted to give.">>
Ravenous Fleet (Aitax Rendon)
On the bridge of the Ravenous, the sensor alerts that heralded an incoming Imperial ship drew a puzzled frown from Aitax Rendon. "What? The *Reckoning* sent no signal- and it's far too soon-" His words cut off when out the bridge viewports the sleek predatory profile of the *Merciless* streaked into realspace. Darth Kalus made her curt appeal, and fresh TIE fighters swarmed out by the dozens. "Ah. Well that makes the matter of surrender rather academic, doesn't it?" A dryly amused sniff had displaced Tax's shock as he watched the bombardment commence of the massive, gallant, but outmatched Lucrehulk. Aside to tactical, he instructed, "Leftenant Strakke: ion batteries only." A slow breath was drawn, before he added, "Send orders to Colonel Zam: I wish an army detachment prepared on shuttles for boarding."
Kyr'kara (Cin'cirad)
The Captain grabs the arm of his Captain's chair, looking toward the viewscreen that showed the Gunship as it finally turned and listened to what he told them to do. His head nodding one, and then a look toward the main view to see-
Captain Plurodelin dropped his coffee cup. It wasn't intentional, but there it was. The Merciless dropping out of warp. "Dhank... Fah-rik..." His head turns toward the Gunship and he points toward it, "COH-VER THEM! Do-o noht let them tah-ke damage!" The cup, oddly enough, hit into the metal flooring and stuck by the magnet in the base. Unfortunately, the caff inside was not so lucky as it rebounded from the sudden stop and sloshed up over the sides onto the decking.
Nute pulled himself up to his feet, looking to the gunnery station, "Do noh-t stop!"
Then with a gesture he responds to Aryn, his eyes looking off to the side to double check the progress.
<<"Ah-h-h... Dah-rth Kah-lus. I am Cah-ptain Plurodelin. I met your, er, sub-ordinate I bee-lieve.">> Another glance off to the side, his ship shaking as the tubolasers impact from the much larger Star Destroyer. The waves of bombers amplified. He's breathing harder now, his mouth a thin line. Just another few seconds. Another few-
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the telltale elongation of the Gunship, watching it disappear into Hyperspace. His eyes focusing on Darth Kalus then, <<"We... S-suhrender. We will seek a s-s-hettlement.">>
Ravenous Fleet (Bors Thul)
<<"Acknowledged, beginning our run.">> TIEs diving, though they're not bomber classes. More cannon fire than heavy ordnance in offer to the foray, Alpha and Beta squadrons begin looping over and under the Lucrehulk as they fire, trying to soften the thick armor with cannons.
<<"Reinforced plates, Lead.">>
<<"One of the last of the Federation Hulks I assume. Continue sweeps. Delta Lead, report?">>
Bors keeps up his work, adjusting his sensors to seek for a weak point in the armor plating while the squadrons keep hammering at the capital cruiser.
Ravenous Fleet (Orvaine Strakke)
The sudden flare of new sensor data threw a wash of unfamiliar heat across Lieutenant Strakke's console. TIE signatures -- dozens of them -- burst across the tactical display, intermingling with her carefully mapped fire vectors. The Merciless had arrived unannounced, cutting through the precision of her operation like a blade across glass.
A slight pause. Not hesitation, not quite. But a beat longer than usual, her eyes narrowing as she reeled in the flood of new data. Then, at Rendon's order, her hands resumed motion -- graceful, exacting, but slower than before. Ion batteries only. Fine.
The first pattern fired wide -- an overcorrection. The second landed, but not where she'd intended. Too much noise. Too many overlapping systems. The Ravenous' control was no longer clean; it had become collaborative.
"Target field disrupted by friendly intervention," she said, voice flat. "Adjusting." She did not look away from her display. But the momentary quiet around her console said enough.
TIE/sf (Valin)
When you're in a fire fight with ships and another one jumps in, you notice it. "That was good timing." Valin states the cockpit and not over the comms. She was glad to have more firepower on the field! <<Acknowledged, Alpha Lead.>> she replies to Bors when he tells her that the plates are reinforced. She relays that to her squads. <<We're continuing sweeps, Alpha Lead.>> she tells him.
Merciless (Aryn Cortess)
Batteries rotated along the external hull of the destroyer, with target laid, the gunnery officer ordered his section to open fire. From outside the large vessel, it appeared like a wall of green lances of energy raining down upon the brave Neimoidian vessel. The Captain joined Kalus and Lord Idan in watching the battle. Support came to Imperial forces, and fighters joined the joust, flooding the lanes with more laser fire.
"I daresay this fight will be over rather quickly, my Lords." The Captain said after clearing his throat. Kalus provided little in the form of validation or satisfaction, she just watched. However, just after saying this, they heard the Captain's surrender. The handmaiden offers the receiver once more, but instead of Kalus taking it, she gestures for Idan. "You may begin, Lord Jensa."
The short, skinny Neimoidian beside Darth Kalus accepted the receiver with a graceful bow. "Many thanks, your... majesty." Into the speaker he bade Captain Plurodelin, in their shared native language, <<"Prepare your crew to welcome boarders with all honors, Captain. I look forward to speaking with you in person, very soon, but until then you may be glad: we are all going home.">> The little alien smiled.
