We take from the rich...[Open/Resistance]

[Mia Monroe]

Recalling the Lucky Star's route to Canto Bight hadn't been hard, convincing the others it would be worth the risk had been. What if they've changed route? What if the escort is bigger then you think it will be? Hell if they worried about every what if, there wouldn't be a resistance. So she'd won on the grounds that it was on her head if they failed. This wasn't her squadron though, the call to pull them back would be on [member="Kira Jax"] and hers alone.

Black Squadron sat idle, running on low power and comm quiet, noses pointed to the expected reversion spot. Behind them a couple of freighters. The Captain of the Lucky Star ran his shipment like clockwork, he knew he'd need to stop to give his on-the-way-out hyperdrive a rest. Angel knew this because she'd run escort for him more than a few times. He paid well, put he didn't look too hard at who he was hiring. So long as it gave pirates something else to shoot at while the hyperdrive rebooted he didn't care how well they flew.

"Target should be coming out of hyperspace in five...four...three..two..."

Proximity alarms rang in her ears and she grinned. "Look alive Black Squadron." she called out bringing her systems to full power and locking her s-foils into attack position.

[member="Synthia Fellstarr"] [member="Chaff"] [member="Callum Rioux"] [member="Ganio Vynte"]

 

[Synthia Fellstarr]

[member="Chaff"] [member="Callum Rioux"] [member="Ganio Vynte"] [member="Kira Jax"]

Black Three of the Black Squadron of the Resistance, Synthia Aznavle Fellstarr, was idling in the cockpit of her X-90 X-wing. Her starfighter was just behind Black Two's, [member="Angel"]. Synthia was happy that they got some time out of the cruiser. Not enough action, too much quiet. She hated quiet. The quiet allowed her to hear the old voices in her head that kept calling to her and dragging her back to old memories. Docked behind the cockpit of the X-wing her BB-K8 droid Screech bleeped data points being sent in from Angel.

"Yah, yah I know." Synthia said. Abruptly the target, a freighter by the I.D. Lucky Star, burst from its hyperspace travels. Synthia smiled and booted up her starfighter to full power and flicked the switch that set her S-foils into split attack position. Screech whistled. "That's right. Finally some action. I'm trusting you to keep a wide eye Screech, work those sensors."

The X-90 was a stealth fighter with fire power of a T-90. As her fighter light with life, Synthia pushed on her controls and began to follow her squadron and waited for Black Leader's call for an attack run.

"Black Three, ready to scrap."

 

[Ohm-Lai]

Kensic held onto the corner of the bulkhead, watching through the viewports as Black Squadron roared to life ahead of them, aiming for their target. She loosened the blaster pistol in her holster and took a deep breath. She could do this. Just like a customs raid back in her old Sector Ranger days. Now granted, she was on the other side of the law, but so be it. That was a price to be paid for the cause.

"Target's arrived," she commented into the comms.

"Understood, agent. Proceed as planned."

"Confirmed."

She rolled her neck.

"Alright, let's prepare to board, as soon as those escorts are cleared."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

This was new but not. For Jared starfighter raids were part and parcel to what he did. The trick was this was a completely new group for him. The Resistance was able to do what the Alliance wasn’t able to. They could strike hard and had no base. That made him feel more at home. Black Squadron was the new spear of the Resistance, and Jared was debating joining. The thing here was that he didn’t like X-Wings. Wasn’t sure what the big deal was. A TIE/D or clawcraft was all you really needed.

But with the Resistance, he was called into a larger ship, the K-Wing. He was cussing to himself, missing his Clawcraft. So much more nimble. The Strike/Assault purpose of this ship was just enough to be like home so he could feel part of Warbird Wing and the Hawks still. What he needed for this ship was a handle.

“So, Wook, what we calling ourselves?” Right now he was part of the so-called Phantom Squadron, because, well, Hawk was a group of Clawcraft. But he was right behind the Black Squadron. “We’re reverting in three, two… one…”

And the ship lurched, making its way back into Real Space.

"I'll get us lined up, you take 'em down."

[member="Grozkalla"]
[member="Angel"]
[member="Kensic Varais"]
[member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Sieb Tevv]

Grozkalla, sitting in the K-wing's dorsal bubble turret, did not particularly enjoy being referred to as "Wook," but he also did not enjoy the current prohibition against smoking inside the turrets. Some things just couldn't be helped.

As for a name, Grozkalla had a few ideas.

Over the K-wing's comm he replied, "Rrrrwarraaghhrrraw."

[member="Jared Starchaser"]

 

[Ganio Vynte]

It was amazing, Ganio Vynte reflected, how quickly life could change.

Only weeks ago, his biggest worry had been figuring out how to manage a gaggle of fourteen-year-old farmers' kids and get at least a good chunk of them to pass the next standardized test. Now he sat behind the controls of a battered freighter, the Veldani Dream, as he prepared to drop off a gaggle of rebel soldiers to ambush and board a supply transport. Surrounded by Resistance X-Wings, he found himself seconds away from the first space battle he'd ever participated in, about to stare down the cannon barrels of the enemy escorts.

Which was, Ganio joked internally with a slight smile, really far less terrifying than a bad day with the fourteen-year-olds. Maybe he didn't miss teaching.

The craft they were ambushing was apparently called the Lucky Star, which Ganio thought was a name that just invited trouble. Tempting fate was, in his experience, a very bad idea, and if there had been a starship called the Everything Goes Right he would have laid money that it would blow up on the launchpad before its maiden voyage. Cosmic irony was a cold schutta, and if the Resistance could pull this raid off, they would be her agents of mayhem and misfortune. Maybe they could finally get the power converters they badly needed.

Ganio found himself practically salivating at the thought of all the supplies the Lucky Star might be carrying. Because he knew a thing or two about economics, logistics, and fixing mangled equipment, the Resistance had made him a supply officer, which seemed to mean guy who gets yelled at because we have totally inadequate funding and gear. Helping plan and execute this raid was one of his first major responsibilities within this crazy bunch of do-gooders, and it would mean a big difference to them all if they could actually pull it off.

But Ganio found that he didn't have much faith in people, not anymore. The galaxy hadn't been at peace since he was less than ten, and he didn't expect that the Resistance would be able to change that in a hurry. He was there because he had to do something, not because he thought he could make any real change. Forcing the maudlin thoughts aside, he prepped himself to step in as soon as the escorts were down. "Hold on to your helmets back there," he commed back to the Resistance troops waiting in the hold. "This may get really bumpy."

He flicked the comm channel off and focused on the craft emerging from hyperspace. "Or if we miscalculated on the escorts," he muttered, "it may be over really, really fast."

[member="Angel"] | [member="Synthia Fellstarr"] | [member="Kensic Varais"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"] | [member="Grozkalla"]

 

[Ereza]

CANTO BIGHT
CANTO CASINO - Gambling Floor

Stay a while, he'd said. A few days or so. It's a social place, you're sure to meet some people with the right connections.

Ereza amused herself only with the prospect that anyone here with connections were likely to be, at the very least, in all the wrong sectors. Nestled so inconveniently far away from where her attentions needed to be, Canto Bight was more or less a glorified layover. At the very least it had proven entertaining in so much as the falsified security guards and heinous assumptions could be.

There had been some offhanded threats. Some unfounded accusations. A mild inkling at the back of her mind that was not wholly her own thought that it all smacked terribly close of a time spent within the fog of the Galactic Republic. At least Canto Bight knew how to manage its money.

She was sitting at one of many full Jhabacc tables waiting for the next round to begin. Her buy-in sat in the form of several healthy stacks of chips. Full house tonight and no-one suspected a thing.

[member="Hannibal Oryen"] [member="Sal Katarn"]

 

[Kira Jax]

Canto Bight
Black Squadron

Kira Jax, commanding officer of Black Squadron, waited patiently. This was just like back home on Dantooine. You had to wait for the perfect moment, or the reap of the harvest would be gone forever. Black Squadron was with her, all of them. Things were still, and tense. At least for her. These things always made her nervous, risking her people's lives. She hated every moment of it. She didn't want people to die under her command. She didn't want the blood of her friends on her hands. Then again, when they had needed a captain, no one had stepped forward. No one but her. That meant that Kira had taken the responsibility of command because they needed her. And that meant accepting the risk that sometimes, people die under your command. She just didn't have to like it.

She took a deep breath as the target came out of hyperspace. It was time.

"Keep it tight, keep it fast. Play it cool, and no unnecessary casualties. Disable if ya can." She brought her X-Wing to full power, locking her S-foils into attack position. She'd be damned if someone died on her watch if they didn't have to.

"Black Squadron, on me. Everyone else, y'all follow closely. Wouldn't want to get left behind, now."

And with that, Black One powered forward. She would never ask someone to go and do something she wasn't willing to lead the way on. This was no exception.

[member="Jared Starchaser"], [member="Kensic Varais"], [member="Angel"], [member="Synthia Fellstarr"], [member="Chaff"], [member="Callum Rioux"], [member="Ganio Vynte"]

 

[Iturizu Yuvie]

Yuive was not much for conversation before a battle, in her off time she enjoyed maybe small chit chat here and there, but for the most part was concentrated on the job at hand, which so happened to be a raid some supplied convey that [member="Angel"] had managed to track down. How? she didn't care, any method that worked was good enough for her, all that mattered was that the operation went smoothly and without any hitches or casualties on their side.

The former imperial Inquisitor turned her head to [member="Kensic Varais"] as she came back with words on their next action, well nothing really important in her mind, but not everyone who was a part of the resistance was a professional like her, "Need say no more, I guess I will be first out the air lock"? As one of the few force users in the resistance that was not a pilot, (not that she couldn’t fly) Yuvie ultimately guessed being on light sabre duty was her main role, not that she gave any mind, seeing a Sith among the ranks of the rebels usually put fear into those they fought against and made them sometimes second guess their allegiance to the Sith Empire.

[member="Kira Jax"] l [member="Ereza"] l [member="Ganio Vynte"] l [member="Grozkalla"] l [member="Jared Starchaser"] l [member="Angel"] l [member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Sal Katarn]

CANTO BIGHT
CANTO CASINO - Gambling Floor

Why the gal with the funny eyes hired him didn't much matter. Not a whole lot did these days. All Sal knew was that she needed a gun. And his was always available. Seemed to be just about the only thing he could do worth two shakes.

Katarn didn't sit at the table with [member="Ereza"]. Wouldn't do her much good there. Instead he posted up against the nearest wall, watching comers and goers. Sal enjoyed a round of sabacc as much as the next fella, but all these other games just seemed like a good way to pour money down a hole. Guess there might be some sorta appeal to pullin' a lever and watchin' credits disappear.

Maybe he would try it some time...

[member="Hannibal Oryen"]

 

[Aster Jace]

Canto Bight
Black Squadron

"Black Four ready to rumble."

Ready to rumble? Really?

Chaff internally kicked himself while R4-F3 made an offhanded remark about his broadcast. "Oh shut it now would'ya?" He called back at the astromech, shooting a glare back at 'F3 from behind the visor of his helmet. The droid had yet to let up after weeks, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment. As [member="Kira Jax"] raced forward, Black Four locked in his S-Foils and chased after. When his commander gave orders to attempt to disable, a knot that had been forming in his stomach finally went away.

Fleeing Thyferra they'd been fighting the Sith, pilots who wanted nothing more than to obliterate the likes of [member="Angel"], [member="Synthia Fellstarr"], and himself. Now they were up against folks just trying to make a living in a part of the galaxy where work that didn't contribute to an imperial war machine were few and far between. It felt wrong to kill them unless they had no other choice, and to see his commander share that sentiment added to the growing respect he had for the lady.

From inside the cockpit he tried to pick out what the escort was made up of, but shortly recalled that he knew very little of craft that weren't in mainline service of the larger factions, hell he'd had a hard time identifying the monstrous K-Wing [member="Jared Starchaser"] and [member="Grozkalla"] manned. He made a mental note to get some of his comrades to help him along on that front.

Lowering the power of his cannons and diverting it to his shields, Chaff kept in formation, waiting for One to make her move.

[member="Sal Katarn"] | [member="Iturizu Yuvie"] | [member="Ereza"] | [member="Ganio Vynte"] | [member="Kensic Varais"]​

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Canto Bight​

Black Squadron - Black Twelve​

[member="Chaff"] | [member="Sal Katarn"] | [member="Iturizu Yuvie"] | [member="Kira Jax"] | [member="Ereza"] | [member="Ganio Vynte"] | [member="Grozkalla"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"] | [member="Kensic Varais"] | [member="Synthia Fellstarr"] | [member="Angel"]​

​

He almost enjoyed the tranquility of sitting in space, floating. It wasn't a tie-fighter, and in many ways Callum was glad that his vessel of choice wasn't one of those. They reminded him too much of The First Order, of everything that had driven him away. The X-Wing was better, more space for a start. He had opted for an older, earlier model of the X-Wing, one that matched the controls he was used to closer than the newer varients. He still wasn't completely up to date with the controls, he certainly wasn't used to having to share his ship with an astromech droid, a co-pilot and mechanic in the back.

That was unusual.

Callum had accepted instantly when he'd been assigned to fly with Black Squadron, the squadron that was basically spearheading The Resistance. He had accepted because he knew that it was a place where his training would actually help him, where everything he had ever learned would help other people. He almost enjoyed the teamwork that came with flying in a squadron, as a group. He enjoyed knowing that people were going to be watching his back and he was going to be watching theirs. He enjoyed knowing that he was going to be helping people while they helped him, they were all fighting and flying for the same goal.

"Alright little buddy, hold on tight back there"

The beep from the astromech droid rang through the cockpit, the computer systems translating the beep into a "you're telling me". Callum had a feeling that he could get on with the droid behind him, a beaten but fully functoning R4 unit. Callum pulled at his collar, not used to the standard issue flight suits that The Resistance had supplied them with. He liked tight, bulky armour like he was used to, not looser fitting garments. He poked a few buttons to his left, connecting with the communicational channel shared by the members and leaders of Black Squadron, the channel that would secure him orders.

The ship came from lightspeed soon after they'd arrived. Callum had read up on the target while they were enroute, the R4 unit proving ever more useful by the minute. He almost read out the documents in an audiobook style, making sure that Callum could focus on making sure his ship wasn't about to explode while still recieving all the important data that he would need to ensure a smooth mission, smooth success.

"This is Black Twelve, I'm on you Black One. Keep that freighter out of the way, let the fire die out before we start risking lives"

He coughed lightly before he flicked the switch that would lock his S-Foils into attack position. He knew how important it was to keep a tight formation and how important it was to limit casualties. They needed to appear to be the good guys after all, causing deaths that were not needed would tarnish the name of The Resistance and stop people joining. Tarnishing the name would make recruitment so difficult.

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Laughing at himself, Jared shook his head. Right, Wookie. Probably don’t call your chain-smoking gunner just ‘Wook.’ That wasn’t really the point, he was going to have to make this work. If he was going to be a sometimes gunner in a K-Wing? Well, he missed his clawcraft, but this was a new way, and it was better than trying to fly a damned freighter around. The K-Wing was a bit more nimble.

“Right. What was that again?” He called back to @Grozkalla. He shook his head and pushed the throttle. A few targets moving in.

“Hey Black Squad, Vulture, the K-Wing.” He was going to call it after one of the Warbird Wing squadrons for now. “We can hit the heavier things if you keep the fighters busy.” Strike and assault, right?

[member="Callum Rioux"]
[member="Chaff"]
[member="Sal Katarn"]
[member="Iturizu Yuvie"]
[member="Kira Jax"]
[member="Ereza"]
[member="Ganio Vynte"]
[member="Kensic Varais"]
[member="Angel"]
[member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Mia Monroe]

Angel could feel that familiar rush of adrenaline that accompanied every dogfight, felt it building in her as she opened communications to the Lucky Star as it reverted into realspace before them, a squadron of mismatched fighters and interceptors dropping in around it. While Kira was requesting no kills unless they had to, Angel knew that the squadron would hold no quarter for them. Her weapons remained at full power.

"Lucky Star, this is Black Two. Call off your escort, power down and prepare to be boarded."

"Hell no."

Angel expected as much as the line went dead and the Lucky star maintained its course. "Fighters inbound, these guys won't pull their punches. Vulture, I'll cover you if you want to take a run at disabling that freighter."

[member="Jared Starchaser"] [member="Callum Rioux"] [member="Chaff"] [member="Sal Katarn"] [member="Iturizu Yuvie"] [member="Kira Jax"] [member="Ereza"] [member="Ganio Vynte"] [member="Kensic Varais"] [member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Ganio Vynte]

"Hell no." With those two words, the first space battle of Ganio Vynte's young but eventful life began.

The freighter they had targeted for a little redistribution of wealth had dropped out of hyperspace in the middle of a cloud of starfighters, no two of them of the same design, floating around the ship they escorted like an asteroid ring hanging around a gas giant. Orders flew fast and furious in the next few seconds as Black Squadron moved into attack position. Ganio felt his stomach flip over as the enemy craft came screaming in his direction, weapons live. His hands gripped the controls white-knuckled. "Here goes nothing," he muttered, and throttled up.

The Veldani Dream might not look like much, but she had it where it counted. The too-large engines bolted onto her hull weren't just for show. The battered freighter shot forward like a slug from a Tusken rifle, corkscrewing upward to evade the exchange of fire beginning to erupt between Black Squadron and their prey. Until the Lucky Star was disabled and her escorts were slagged or driven off, all Ganio could do was stay out of the mess and keep the troops in the hold alive. He could only hope his skills were up to holding the enemy off that long.

The mercenary pilots protecting the Lucky Star weren't stupid; stupid mercenaries didn't last long in the Outer Rim, especially in wartime. Two of them peeled off from the freighter they were protecting and made a beeline for the Veldani Dream, opening up on the Resistance transport in streaks of red and green fire. Apparently they had realized that, if they blew up the Dream, the Resistance couldn't rob them and would have to retreat. "Of karking course," Ganio ground out through gritted teeth, trying to keep each dodging, weaving movement unpredictable.

There was no way he could shake these guys without diving back into the middle of the dogfight, though, and that would be suicidal. "Black Squadron," he commed, "where's our cover?"

[member="Angel"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"] | [member="Callum Rioux"] | [member="Chaff"] | [member="Iturizu Yuvie"] | [member="Kira Jax"] | [member="Grozkalla"] | [member="Kensic Varais"] | [member="Synthia Fellstarr"]

 

[Ohm-Lai]

[member="Iturizu Yuvie"]

Kensic gripped the bulkhead tighter as the freighter cut forward. The fighters cut their way towards them, but she managed to nod to the question.

"Go for it! See what you can do to get us clear of these fighters! Use the Force or something."

Another maneuver threw her to the side and she let herself land against the durasteel. It was stabler. Safer. Probably something that she should of considered beforehand. Nausea curdled in her stomach and she took a deep breath. Had to force it away. Concentrate on the mission. Not the fear.

No, she could do this. She was a Captain in the Resistance and one of the bold agents of Resistance Intelligence. There was a role for her to play in that. One that was broader than gathering supplies and finding out about the enemy. No, she had to be bold, be fearless, be a leader, carry hope.

With that in mind, she healed herself back up to her feet, and even as the ship jumped and turned beneath her, braced herself against the bulkhead sides.

"Here we go!" She called back. "Tighten your seatbelts, because we're going in!"

 

[Iturizu Yuvie]

As the battle went underway the ship lurched as the pilot put it through some manoeuvres wrenching the Mirialan from her current position, almost forcing her head long into one of the freighters walls, luckily though Yuive was quick, reaching her arm out and catching the bulk head as the ship moved back and forth. "This pilot sure has some janky skill, just make sure he doesn't kill all the boarding party before reaching the ship, and maybe keep our lunches down".

Keeping close to the wall in case of anymore sudden jolts Yuvie started to make her way towards cockpit and thus [member="Kensic Varais"], wanting to get a good view of the outside dog fight, her contrasting blue eyes looking out the window as she examined the laser fire being exchanged between ships. "Looks to be going well, hope there are no surprises to worry about, how long until we board them"?

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Canto Bight​

Black Twelve​

T-70 X-Wing Fighter​

852 ABY​

[member="Iturizu Yuvie"] | [member="Kensic Varais"] | [member="Ganio Vynte"] | [member="Angel"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"] | [member="Chaff"] | [member="Sal Katarn"] | [member="Kira Jax"] | [member="Ereza"] | [member="Synthia Fellstarr"] | [member="Grozkalla"]​

​

"R4, what's that freighter looking like?"

The droid offered a slight beep. The computers in his T-70 X-Wing translated the beeps into a usable language. The freighter was under fire, they looked like they could do with a hand. Callum shook his head as a blaster bolt drifted past his cockpit window. He forced the X-Wing into a nose dive as one of the many ships assigned to cover The Lucky Star flew overhead of him. Him and R4 were the closest ship to the freighter having fallen in behind the rest of the force.

"Black Leader, I'm gonna double back and clear that freighter of it's friends. I'll join you before the main assualt"

He flipped a few switches, grinning as R4 beeped his approval. He began to pull the ship from his nose dive, fingers drifting towards the weapon controls. The ship levelled out as Callum forced it into a turn. They needed to double back and keep on that freighter, that freighter needed to arrive at it's location. R4 beeped again as Callum began to manually assign power between the Weapons and Sheilds. He needed, he planned to keep himself alive.

The freighter was directly in his line of fire. He flicked the switch that would lower the targetting computer so he could line up the shot that would disable the fightera without dangerously risking the life of the pilot inside. R4 gave a long beep, confirmed that the computer had locked onto it's target. The bulk of the fight was going on behind him but Callum knew he was going to be important back at the freighter for a few moments.

"Dream, you might wanna brace those shields just to be safe. If I miss, this is gonna sting"

He took the shot.

He was right, if he missed then the freighter would take a beating although the shields could probably hold. The red plasma shot from his wing tips, directly towards the fighter. It was unlikely the freighter would be hit if the tragectory was correct although the galaxy had a thing for hating him. The plasma continued as Callum watched. Then it connected, the fighter that was targetted began to fall. He wasn't going to die, he probably still had truster power, he just needed to regain it.

Callum directed his fighter towards the second fighter that was causing issues. He nodded as R4 confirmed the targetting computer had locked the specific point that needed targetting. Once again he took the shot and watched as the plasma hit the fighter and knocked it from the sky. It too began to fall although it regained thruster power before it was in any risk. He would find a lack of weapons however, he was but useless.

"You're clear Dream. Black Leader, I'm comin' back"

 

[Ganio Vynte]

It was only the second day out of the many he'd lived through that Ganio Vynte had encountered people trying to kill him. So far, it wasn't getting any less stressful.

Trying to keep the Veldani Dream ahead of the nimble little fighter craft was like trying to get a bantha to dodge sandflies. The freighter could bolt and twist whichever way she wanted, but she was too slow and bulky to outpace or outmaneuver her smaller, more agile pursuers. Ganio wasn't avoiding the hits so much as deciding where to take them, one hand twisting at the control yoke while the other frantically redistributed power so that each blast that connected met with full-strength shields on a different part of the ship. He looked like a circus juggler.

It was a good thing teaching had taught him a thing or two about multitasking, though this was not how he'd expected to use that particular skill.

Finally, one of the X-Wings detached to come to his rescue. He wasn't particularly embarrassed to need it. He knew that his role was not a warrior's role; he was here to keep things running, not to win battles. Also, he didn't particularly want to die, and couldn't afford to be choosy about how he avoided getting vaped. Then the pilot commed him, and Ganio's heart lurched. "If you miss? If you miss? Uh, actually, Black Twelve, we're all fine here. Yep, situation under control... Please don't shoot me." Did these pilots know what the kark they were doing?

Turns out, they did. Pretty impressively so, actually.

The first time Ganio had fought for his life, he'd killed a man with his bare hands. He'd told himself he hadn't had a choice; it was him or Rance. But watching Black Twelve surgically pick apart the two starfighters, taking them out of the fight without killing their pilots, Ganio felt a rush of shame. This guy was showing what the Resistance was supposed to be all about - compassion even in war. Had it been Ganio in the X-Wing cockpit, he would've blown the starfighters without a second thought. Enemies, so dead. Callum's actions left him thoughtful.

"Oh. Uh, wow. Nice shooting, Black Twelve. We're clear. Thanks." Bringing the Dream back around in a looser evasive pattern, Ganio waited for the moment to board in safety.

A sensor blared red, catching his attention - all of his readjusting of the shields had led to side effects, namely the power system overheating. It wasn't crippling, but it was the kind of problem that could get a lot worse if no one did anything. "Attention, passengers," Ganio commed to the troops back in the hold, "you are probably noticing that a minor fire has just broken out in the cargo hold." It was true - flames were licking at several of the empty crates that would soon be used to store captured supplies. "Looks like we've blown a power coupling. Anyone back there know anything about fixing one? Or fire suppression?"

If he still died because no one back there knew a hydrospanner from a womp rat and all Black Twelve had managed was making him feel bad about himself, he was going to get to hell pissed.

[member="Callum Rioux"] | [member="Iturizu Yuvie"] | [member="Kensic Varais"] | [member="Angel"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"] | [member="Chaff"] | [member="Kira Jax"] | [member="Synthia Fellstarr"] | [member="Grozkalla"]

 

[Aster Jace]

"One this is four, breaking off to protect the boarders." Chaff stated firmly over the comm channel. Dipping the T-70's nose he went out from under the formation and banked to intercept the mercenaries. Racing through the void he set his eyes on the two approaching fighters, both were of the ugly variety, cobbled together from various other craft, some old and some new, he swore he even saw the Alliance sigil on one of the wings. He guessed they never bothered to cover it up.

Chaff's finger slid down to the trigger as he angled himself, setting his sights firmly on the lead of the two. For an instant time seemed to slow, all the stars and ships seemed to be simply frozen, then he squeezed. Low power blasts spat out in sequence, the first several missing as he overshot but the final blasts clipped the ship's TIE engine, which quickly sputtered and died, leaving the vessel adrift.

Jerking the stick to readjust he fired again, letting the barrage catch the mercenary across their hull. It should've disabled it, but uglies were unpredictable, one could never tell how innards were rearranged and what bits and pieces had been added or removed. In this case, an auxiliary fuel tank had been added, and Chaff's blast set it alight. The mercenary exploded.

"Oh no." He murmured. It was kill or be killed, it wasn't like the mercs were playing by the same rules as them, and it had been an accident. Yet all the same it weighed on him. Guild wrapped its hands around his heart and squeezed. "There's your cover." Chaff grumbled over the comm to [member="Ganio Vynte"], banking away to return to formation alongside [member="Angel"], [member="Kira Jax"], [member="Synthia Fellstarr"], and [member="Callum Rioux"]. Though the latter hadn't quite made his way home.