EXGAL HUNT: The Snubfighter Job (much money/prize, piloting free-for-all)

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Velok"]

With a silent flash, the snub-nosed fighter with droid and mermaid exited hyperspace deep into the inner quadrant of the asteroid and debris field. The move would be suicide for rookies. For someone who micro-jumped into a Star Destroyer, it was just barely doable. It didn't stop the boops of protest from Sparky.

"Your lack of confidence in my piloting skills is disturbing."

A short-blat filled her headset. Aqua-lips curved into a tight smile as she jerked the ship hard-port, narrowly missing a lumbering asteroid housing a graveyard of starship odds and ends. Judah Dashiell would love this place.

Her smile quickly thinned as a very unexpected and disembodied voice reached her ears. Voices had the tendency to trigger memories and related senses to those memories. This one brought the smell of fur and an ostomy bag.

"Sparky, you sure you got all the spice out of this cockpit? Don't ask me why. Yes, I'm perfectly capable to fl--. Listen. Work on picking up where this thing is located via those comm frequencies and watch out for the competition. Keep power minimal and on the shields. I'd like to float on by like another piece of scrap."

The question was, how many other 'pieces of scrap' out there were doing the exact same thing? Maybe more importantly, why was she hallucinating the voice of an old whiphid - the only whiphid she knew?

 

[Nyxie]

Kurah continued on her slow and steady course, continuing to crawl through the debris field where the larger, more clustered chunks permitted. She opted not to reply to her wingman for the time being as all she wanted was a few more moments of peace and quiet to focus on finding the objective. The scanners continued to toil away at space like they were designed to, which left very little for Kurah to do. Even though her patience was unending, her curiosity was not, so she picked up a datapad and began playing a game in her free hand. So far, several dozen cubic kilometers had been scanned and mapped on her system.

​

[ --- Gypsy-Class :: RotoDome / FST; Time until Complete Sensor Map: 3 of 5 --- ]​

​

[member="stardust"], [member="Cyrus Corr"], [member="Velok"], [member="Rennek Corr"], [member="Darren Shaw"], [member="Thessa Kai"]​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

A cold voice whispered in the ear of [member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"].

Feel, don't think. Use your instincts.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Darren Shaw"]

Pretty hair, murmured a voice in Shaw's mind. Pretty hair...

 

[Arage Bao]

A frigate dropped out of hyperspace, in the past it had served as the pleasure yacht of one Rasho the Hutt. Since his demise at the hands of Odium someone else had acquired it, this someone was currently asleep in the quarters of the ship… of course every inch had first been scrubbed and sterilized.

The former Sith Lord snurfled and turned around on his other side, blissfully unaware of the current location the ship had magically transported them to.

 

[Cyrus Corr]

Cyrus carefully navigated the field, waiting for a ping back from the comm transmission his brother had just sent out. He sighed, slowing down. He reclined back into his chair, making sure the stealth technology was active before finally relaxing. He looked up into space, through the cockpit door. One day, he decided, he might just take a cruise in this thing, see what this whole vastness had to offer...

But for now, he'd just wait. Wait for a reply from his brother, or the comm transmission. God, he figured this would be exciting, racing through debris against other pilots for some small lockbox everyone wanted, but so far it consisted of talking with his brother, almost drifting through this field of debris, and god knew what else. He hadn't seen another soul, or.. well, ship this entire time. Then he realized, how bad it could be to want that. Because everyone knew the saying... "Be careful what you wish for."

 

[Nyxie]

Peacefully drifting along mid-flight scanning the fields, Kurah dropped the datapad and nearly jumped back in her seat when a strange, unfamiliar voice whispered in her ear. She turned around from side to side but saw nothing. Even then, how could such a thing be possible whilst she wore the HMD helmet?
"Mnn... this space faring must be getting to me," she said amongst herself.
The debris scans were beginning to look very promising, with entire large sections of debris clusters and clear routes all now mapped out. Still there was no sign of the box, but her system was pervasive and her patience persevering. She wasn't far from the core cluster now. A good deal of data had already been collected and if anything, at least gave Kurah and her squadron commander the upper hand in flight strategy.

​

[ --- Gypsy-Class :: RotoDome / FST; Time until Complete Sensor Map: 4 of 5 --- ]​

​

[member="stardust"], [member="Cyrus Corr"], [member="Velok"], [member="Rennek Corr"], [member="Darren Shaw"], [member="Thessa Kai"], [member="Jared Ovmar"]​

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] [member="stardust"] [member="Cyrus Corr"] [member="Rennek Corr"] [member="Darren Shaw"] @Thessai Kai

The starfighters, by and large, were all about three minutes' flight from the free-floating lockbox by the time their scans spotted it. It drifted between two large asteroids, caught in their negligibly gravity. It was durasteel and about a metre on each side. Whichever starship hooked onto its magnetic clamp would grow slightly slower and less maneuverable (about 0.5 on the old speed scale and 1.0 on the new one).

But it was just sittin' there. No defenses.

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Sge st there bores but containing herself when she decided to strike a conversation "so um know its embarrassing to say I've not been able to talk to you one on one" sge said into the secure comm resring a hand on her chin"but what made you join the squadron "sge said looking out into the debris





[member="Mistress"] kurah rrusho

 

[Nyxie]

[ --- Gypsy-Class :: RotoDome / FST; Time until Complete Sensor Map: 5 of 5 --- ]

A grin made its way across Kurah's cold, apathetic face almost as radiant as her golden-white skin.
"Necessity," she answered to Stardust. "Good news, Captain. I have a basic three-dimensional map of the core debris field completed - sending it over to you now."
The off-shot Diathim now needed only determine which of some dozen little, rectangular metal objects were her treasure. She slowly flew off around one asteroid chunk and past a chain of destroyed frame parts. Kurah focused her local sensor systems conically on it to reveal more information.
IFF - Unknown
Construction: Titanium Alloy
Weight: 545 kg.
Range: 32 m.
It was just a piece of internal ship chassis, useless. Kurah sped on to the next carefully keeping behind the cover of large and heavy objects which were difficult to scan around. There was a lone item floating in the distance. She'd repeat the process again.
IFF - Unknown
Construction: Titanium Alloy
Weight: 545 kg.
Range: 32 m.
No joy. It was just an old renegade storage crate from some nameless ship remains, too light to be full and too ruined to be of value.
Kurah continued on and on this way, hopping from space junk to space junk on the hunt for that lockbox. None of the readings thus far had proven to be of any use, and the true location of the lockbox remained yet a mystery. Frustrated at the sensitivity of the situation, she pulled back around a group of asteroids in wait and messaged Stardust back.
"O'-One, have you found anything yet or observed suspicious activity coming from the sensor blips you mentioned before?"
Finally, caught carefully between the pull of two asteroids, she saw it. It was idly adrift right before her eyes, lost in the shielded veil of a cluster of rocks, metal bars and asteroids.
Kurah scratched her brow for a moment. There was simply no way the Gypsy-Class would fit through that debris cluster or even safely link up with the box. If she couldn't do it in a small micro-shuttle, it meant that her opposition certainly would not in starfighters. She then had an idea. Her rotary blaster spooled up in activation. Using her helmet to carefully plot out trajectories and Cuu'rha's intellect to equate them, the woman finally planned a strategy to relinquish the box from its trap of gravity.
A beam here, an armor plate there, some rocks around the way - a small chain reaction was created that slowly forced the debris to shift and pushed apart the asteroids for long enough to get close, hook up the maglocks and slip through.
"Stardust, cover me! Make haste!" Kurah beckoned.
Without any time to spare in her maneuvers, Kurah raced the Gypsy quickly and carefully through the sea of deadly poodoo. She rushed past chunks of meteor and blaster away derelict hull parts until she was finally close. The next operation would be the most dangerous, as it was very likely her enemies could have either detected her blaster fire emissions or the collectively shifting train of debris. The Gypsy came to a slow and gently descended upon the box.

[member="stardust"], [member="Cyrus Corr"], [member="Velok"], [member="Rennek Corr"], [member="Darren Shaw"], [member="Thessa Kai"], [member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Cyrus Corr]

Cyrus saw it, and he immediately made a bolt for the location, carefully maneuvering his way through the field of asteroids and debris. He made sure the stealth tech was online and working for the final time, before gunning it to the lockboxes location. Maybe it would be able to fit in the cockpit, and he'd be able to hide it as well as his ship was hidden, but for now all he had to worry about was getting there and staying hidden while doing it. He sighed, keeping a keen eye out for any hostile pilots that could be about, when he noticed some explosions occurring far off. "Be careful what you wish for..."

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="Cyrus Corr"] [member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

Sparky booped coordinates as soon as the orange-tinted cockpit lit-up right above them. "Somebody found something. You sure you got a positive read on the box right there - just above us?"

A short razzle.

"I'm not questioning your calculations, I'm just preparing for a," she twisted the controls and flipped the ship, so her new orientation was bottom-up toward the box. "flip and grab. I realize it's risky. Those bogies you picked-up could open-fire with our own guns pointed in the wrong direction. Magnify shields on the landing gear. Clamp ready?"

An affirmative beep.

"Good." With a burst of speed taking away some power from the shields, she swooped in between the rubble and beneath the descending [member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] to clamp down on the opposite end of the box probably about the same time she did. The box was very likely sandwiched between two fighters with some incoming competition.

Forward shields dropped slightly as she sacrificed for speed and maneuverability, taking some small debris hits.

 

[Nyxie]

It had to be some sort of miracle that [member="Thessa Kai"] managed to fit between two or more asteroids and near-endless debris opposite of Kurah without a single scratch or any significant effort to circumvent. Their shields were undoubtedly lowered by all the renegade bits and pieces they'd have to had gone through to so hastily and directly hitch the opposite end of the lockbox as Kurah did. The lone Diathim took advantage of that imminent probability, doing exactly what her enemy expected her not to do - ram the engines and throw the repulsorlift downward.
The Gypsy had a smaller repulsor but superior acceleration thrust, the combined effort severely impacting the maneuverability of anyone attached to the lockbox not moving in a straight line downward, and pushing them head-on towards any debris in their path.
"You should have found it yourself with some dignity! Let go or die!" she shouted, implying her enemy had piggybacked on her own efforts and the efforts of their allies the entire time.
No such individual deserved the box, she thought, and no such individual would receive it!
"[member="stardust"], I could really use your help, now!"

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

O two I'll deal with it"sge said and angled up ascending then down aiming for [member="Thessa Kai"]'s fighter"now now sge said let go so let go"she said AMD fired at the clamp hoping to making her let go, she noted another blip but focused on what was before her "o two maybe try causing her to run into a rock maybe that will work" she said as she turned and fired at the clamp a second time

 

[Thessa Kai]

[member="stardust"] [member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Sparky, what do you mean all passive aggressive frequencies on the comms are down?"

A whistling-beep filled the cockpit as her fighter got slightly jostled by the transport and box clamped between them.

"I don't like this extra baggage; release the clamp."

Beep. Boop.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

A lone starfighter crept along, picking its way through debris and asteroids. The fighting was intense, as always, and Betna had kept tabs on what was going on. He didn't need to worry about sensors picking up, his stygium cloak kept him hidden. He had no worries of the Force picking him out, he had an ysalamir in a nutrient harness keeping him company. Could a Forcer find the bubble of negative or nulled Force? Of course, but in the vast emptiness of space there was no Force, nor was their life for the most part. A null in space was a null in space, indecipherable from the background. For all intents and purposes, Betna and his Bes'uliik starfighter were hidden entirely.

But the enemy wasn't hidden from him.

Could the enemy spot him using his sensors? Of course, so he'd turned them off. He guided himself by vision and helmet systems alone. Movement trackers helped him predict what the asteroids were doing. They also kept him abreast of the other starfighters fighting all around. Thermal vision helped him spot the blaster fire and explosions and determine them from the backwash of engines. All in all, he wasn't too inconvenienced. If anything, he had a bit of an advantage. Why?

Only rookies and novices relied on equipment alone.

He'd seen the high tech sensors and HUDs and gizmos other pilots relied on. Some were even mounted in his starship and others were in his helmet. He didn't mind using them as they made life easier, but elite pilots knew that in the blink of an eye those systems could go down. When faced with total sensor loss, you fell back to the Mark 1 Eyeball, your instincts, and your training. Betna had taken sensor damage on Teta and, by the end of the fight, had been fighting by eye and training alone. That instinctive move to survive and thrive on the bare basics is why he was still around.

There were bold pilots and there were old pilots, but there were very, very few old and bold pilots.

Betna homed in on the comm signals he'd picked up. He emitted none of his own and it wasn't hard to figure that the two objects picked up on his motion trackers were after something important. Something like a lockbox. Two and two definitely made four when one peeled away. As the other one didn't appear to be chasing just yet, Betna took a risk and homed in on the remaining one.

It couldn't see him. It couldn't sense him. It was dead meat waiting to be harvested.

[member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

Spoiler

Bes'uliik weapons layout is as follows:
3x heavy blaster cannons
2x ion cannons (two standard weapon hardpoints)
1x Repeating mass driver (one reinforced hardpoint)

Total gun count under 2.0ish guidelines: 10

 

[Nyxie]

Alas, Kurah was flying no transport but a combat operations shuttle (fancy military jargon for electronic warfare intercept fighter (which was more sensible military jargon)), and the underestimation of her abilities granted her yet another advantage. The Gypsy continued to push down against [member="Thessa Kai"]'s craft as the natural laws of physics dictated, though the moment she felt her opposition try to free itself of her push, she gunned the repulsorlift back and yawed the Gypsy back around, unleashing its thrust in the opposite direction and creating the centrifugal force of a top spin. With no need to stay around and the lockbox seemingly relinquished by the unknown craft, the Gypsy darted off in the opposite direction, bearing back to whence it came, between the asteroid cluster and towards the debris entry field. Kurah was no ace but she was no fool either.
Larger craft such as starfighters and gunships would face difficulty fitting in the tight spaces and suffer their lesser maneuverability, even with the negligible deficit Kurah now faced carrying the lockbox. Anything bigger would be outright smacking into debris with shields to get through, likely causing a slow in speed. Plans went far better than expected, as not only did the opposition come ill-prepared, they seemed to underestimate Kurah's own preparations.
Now the fun part of Kurah's dual-part strategy came. There was a very clear and yet plainly hidden reason why [member="stardust"] was not equipped with a Gypsy as well.
"Dryrie One, there appears to be bogeys on my six high. You are clear to engage. Follow Closed Formation Alpha One."
If anyone was to draw too close, they were about to have some company.
Alpha One caused a Catch-22 for any pursuers, as Kurah and Stardust were now flying very much in coordination with one-another to force them into compromised positions.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Debris and asteroids would slow or stop most starfighters and shred interceptors. The fact that the ship he now tracked hadn't shredded itself in the debris much like a handful of TIE fighters did while chasing a certain YT freighter hundreds of years ago was either a testament to the pilot's skill, recklessness, or luck. Betna would go with the last two.

As for damage, Betna had nothing to fear. He wasn't flying a normal starfighter. Beskar plated the craft, shrugging off all but the most devastating of blows. As for the interceptor's escape, Betna put paid to that.

Unseen, unheard, and undetected Betna kept pace. Darting and flitting in an interceptor was great and all, but there was one thing rookie and "elite" pilots in those craft forgot in these situations.

Murphy's Law.

Betna let his crosshairs sidle over the lead fighter and kept them on target. There was debris here and there, but that was okay. When he got the bead, he opened up with the thread heavy blaster cannons and the repeating mass driver.

The shots arced out and over from his fighter... And smashed into the asteroids directly ahead of the enemy starfighters, sending huge amounts of debris in all directions. Light interceptors would find it near impossible to dodge, the spiraling fragments of rock shredding light armor with ease. And if they somehow did?

Betna would gun them down, his reticle already laying in wait.

[member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"] [member="stardust"]

 

[Nyxie]

Kurah didn't need luck and certainly wasn't reckless when she hadn't been mindlessly gunning the throttle around and throughout the debris field. The Gypsy was small, fast and equally as responsive. It also had dedicated particle shields, a practice modern manufacturers either skipped entirely or gimped out upon with collective deflectors.
Kurah watches as fire arced over her and crashed into rock and debris in the distance, causing it to rupture and sending chunks of large shrapnel in all directions. Murphy's Law didn't include one thing; starships weren't just bound to traveling forward. The gravity was fairly low in the area as the only source of it was the collective itself that was the debris field, and it was very inconsistent from place to place, angle to angle. However, mass was still mass. Kurah yanked the stick back and cut the throttle, pitching the nose of the interceptor upwards at a gradually increasing angle. She hammered the repulsorlift, which did what it naturally did; repulse mass. The larger chunks were launched away while the smaller bits dwindled Kurah's shields. The lockbox had suffered a fair amount of denting and crater impacts from acting as a partial shield. Overall, the damage to the Gypsy's armor and hull wasn't enough to incapacitate it - just enough to dislodge one of the sensor modules facing her starboard side.
All while Kurah had pulled the miracle maneuver, [member="Arrbi Betna"] had fallen into the tactical trap and given himself away for the near-pursuing [member="stardust"], all as part of their plan. His options were quite clearly limited by the fact that he had put himself between his prey and a predator; continue to chase the pray and face the claws and fangs of the beast behind, or abandon the chase to avoid becoming a meal himself.
These were the things that separated the true aces from the frequent kill fighters. Score meant nothing; survival meant everything.

(((Sorry this is such a dull, short post. I am preoccupied with and stolen by a very long, important thread.)))​

 

[Arrbi Betna]

The tactical situation was fluid, but the second starfighter bothered him little. He was still cloaked and unless the two starfighters had high end tracking systems to follow a cloaked starfighter, he could duck and hide with ease.

Which is what he did, after shooting once more.

The move the enemy starfighter had pulled was a neat trick and Betna hadn't honestly thought about using repulsors like that. However, the interceptor was still in his crosshairs. He'd expected them to so something along the lines of plowing forward on a single axis rather than dodge away and risk more widespread damage. Either tactic placed the starfighter in Betna's crosshairs.

He let loose with all guns blazing, three heavy blaster cannons, two ion cannons, and a repeating mass driver going full bore for a second or two.

And then he ducked away, his stygium cloak still up and working. This was a game of cat and mouse.

Betna was the cat.

[member="stardust"] [member="Mistress Kurah Rrusho"]