Nothing Personal, Just Business (Raid on Vjun)

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Yula Knezevic"] [member="Causstik Rahn"]

High-explosive mass driver rounds ripped into the rearmost fighter's shields and turned its spaceframe to glittery fire. Meanwhile, the warbeast-mounted cannons took down another three through their own side's shield. Of the fighters in the canyons, that left twenty. Their main mission was now threefold: dump low-yield homing warheads through the hole they'd just made in the wall beneath the shield; eliminate the stealth ship who'd gotten the drop on them; and swarm up to meet the other sixteen Mando fighters inbound from the city with Dominion fighters on their tail.

The canyons' confines enforced division of labour. Six kept whittling away at the hole in the wall and lobbing concussion missiles through, aiming to brutalize the enemy presence inside the grounds of Bast Castle. Six converged on Yula with lethal intent. The last eight ascended from the canyons - oh, make that seven, as Causstik's warbeast-guns claimed another one - to join the sixteen inbound.

Meanwhile, in orbit, a Mandalorian battleship took a punishing blow from a ground-based HVG. A localized shield grid failed for a crucial half-second, and the deformed hypervelocity slug punched through the hull and out again. Shields shuddered back to a decent semblance of life, but that particular Skira was limping now.

 

[Arken Lussk]

His little tramp freighter bucked with joy. Lightspeed's minor initial turbulence kicked up, just as Jarvis gave his monotonous report regarding the fleeing pursuers.

Arken breathed a little lighter. "Good stuff, Jarv. Get back up here." He grinned. "Let's go home."

The energy reserves finally finished filling. As they reached the brink, Arken thumbed forward the casing and smashed the button.

And then they were off, into that dark void.

[member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Klesta]

I failed to register a hit... and now I have half a squadron aimed at me? she thought while the enemy split up into three groups in the canyon, realizing also she had a few near-misses, with explosions happening nearby. But she realizes that outmaneuvering the missile is somewhat easy for enemy attack craft to evade so she had to pull up and enter corkscrew maneuvers. That, given the positioning of one of them behind and below her and timing the beginning of the looping to coincide with the craft being close enough to the ledge to safely pull up while gently slowing down as she climbs. By the Force, she would have all six behind her. Once Yula was beyond the ledge, she would hit the air brakes harder without jamming them, hoping that the extra maneuverability it affords her will allow her to evade but remain fast enough to make herself a harder target than if she was flying at a low speed. And also to make it so that the enemy will pass in front of her provided that there wasn't any of them that either crashed or hit the brakes at the same time as she was. But she had to fire back at any opportunity whenever those opportunities presented themselves.

-------------------------------------

Meanwhile, [member="Causstik Rahn"] would realize that, now that 36 Hwacha MLRS units are online, they can fire one SAM every two seconds, but only a quarter of them arrayed in the immediate vicinity of the Trandoshan warband actually had targeting solutions in place to fire at the seven enemy fighters, each of the nine Hwachas involved having firing solutions for firing two missiles apiece: they had 18 missiles to bring to bear on 7 fighters, meaning that the closesest 4 would receive 3 missiles each, and the other three enemy fighters would receive two missiles fired head-on at range. Oh, since one of the warbeast-mounted guns claimed one of the fighters, they clearly were within range and going to aim at the formation head-on.

[member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

Individually, any one of the six Mandalorian fighters might not have been a match for Yula's ship. Together, the only real risk they faced was running into the canyon walls. As a result, they kept a decent distance from each other, and didn't all turn the corner at once while following Yula around the ledge. The first avoided a collision by hauling back on the stick; he ascended out of the canyon in moments, took a warbeast cannon shot, and vanished in a ball of fire.

The second ship took Yula's fire and broke apart against the canyon wall.

The other four proceeded more wisely, decelerating and watching their peripherals. In moments, they'd identified Yula's location and bracketed her ship with laserfire.

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

[member="Alec Rekali"]


The edge of Naast'ika's senses had been a jubilee of activity at the start of the engagement over Vjun. A symphony of sights, smells, sounds, and other, stranger stimula had woken Naast'ika from a deep slumber near the system's star. Unaware of the nuances of current political situations, Naast'ika relied instead upon his familiarity with some of the ships, and infamiliarity with whatever ships they were fighting.

By the time a Dominion Fleet had arrived to fully contest the Mandalorian forces, Naast'ika was rapidly closing in on Vjun's orbit, his active Dovin Basals painfully visible upon any active Crystal Gravfield Trap in the vicinity, a byproduct of his unique design that would make him appear the size of a star destroyer on gravity based sensors, the size of a starfighter on magnetic sensors, and the size of a large missile on all other sensors.

As the Mandalorian ships accelerated towards the Dominion ships, Naast'ika rapidly tried to catch up with the Mando'ade and support them in their fight.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

A chill ran through The Slave as he sucked in a deep breath. He was ripped from unconsciousness, a small warning in his heads up display telling him how much oxygen he has left. There was a slow groan he let free from his gullet as he stood, bringing his arm to drop his other back into place. It found its place with a sickening suction noise, The Slave simply cracking his neck before stepping over what remained of the dead soldiers he crashed through.

The song he whistled prior became his mantra in the coldness, always leading him wherever he went. The area of the ship he was in had the bulkheads in lockdown, almost definitely a result of his rather grandiose entrance onto the ship; but it wouldn’t stop him from entering the rest of it. Setting down the Baradium-Core Thermal Detonator, he pressed in the unique code before taking a few steps back. It blew the door wide open in the emptiness of space, and The Slave dove through before a redundant bulkhead closed behind him.

All around him, prisoners jeered and accosted him for his entrance. It was obvious they were no friends of him, likely knowing what he had done to get inside caused the death of their friends. He couldn’t help but crack a slight grin at how much they held onto sentimental thoughts. His steps however were silent, and in short order he initiated the primary cloaking mechanism his suit had; a photo-optic replicator that made his surroundings blend with him.

His chameleon like attire allowed him some grace while traversing the halls, every few feet he could hear the subtle weeps and moans of men who had long lost their will to live. None of them expected to make it out of this, and neither should they; The Slave had heard how ruthless this pirate was to those he captured. Not without reason, he supposed; but that wasn’t important now.

What he sought to do today was establish a name for himself.

It was then he noticed his target. Amongst the crowds, he heard him approach long before he saw him; cruel and distinct slurs of every type thrown his way as the massive feline walked past barriers. Legions of prisoners with false bravado, each with no more attention given to them than a fly on a hot summer day. The Slave froze in his tracks, slowly pulling the Sith Alchemized blade from its sheathe on his back before watching this figure approached.

He knew he could sense his presence, but to his advantage there was no distinct area he seemed to fit. His force aura drifted and wafted like that of a gas, carelessly traversing the floor and crawling across skin. While there was an area he was, the focus of the energy seemed to be spread out. The Slave was a blanket at the end of the hall, and it beckoned Thengil with a foreboding taunt.

I’m here.

│ [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] │

 

[Nyos Val]

The Fighters that had scrambled from the nearby airfields fell into formation in the skies above the city. Command barked orders over the comms as the units and squadrons grouped up for an attack.

<<Alpha Squadron tracked down those fighters fleeing in the canyon. Beta Squadron, create a perimeter over the city. Keep our skies clear.>> The two sets of a dozen fighters broke off to their respective tasks.

Down on the ground, Marrik and the others in the City were moving civilians who'd been injured into medical transport and makeshift med-stations that had been set up. Marrik was assisting a young man who'd suffered a shrapnel injury to the leg. He couldn't walk on it, but it seemed survivable.

Upon entering the tent and handing the man off to a nurse, he got to see what devastation had befallen the people of Vjun. Even though the raiders were targeting ships, any missed shots or falling debris was causing devastating damage below.

Angered by the audacity of the attack, Marrik moved outside and began to muster what Force energy he could. He'd need every ounce of strength to hopefully accomplish his intended goal.

Hopefully the aide from above would be successful.

[member="The Slave"] [member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Yula Knezevic"] [member="Arken Lussk"] @Others I've forgotten

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Marrik Axiom"]

Above the canyons by Bast Castle, out of a hellstorm of missile fire and cannon shots, three Mandalorian fighters rendezvoused with the fleeing fifteen. Now a squadron and a half strong, and out of range of the castle's weapons, they turned and engaged Alpha Squadron head to head in a furious dogfight. Three exploded in the first moments, either from bad luck or previous damage.

Marrik would find the Force responded well to him. Vjun was strong in the Dark Side, due to the miserable death of its population centuries ago. More recently, many Clan Rekali witches had lived in that same abandoned city, and Alec Rekali had hung Sith on a gallows there. For every bit of stray power he gained, though, some Rekali witch or other - in the fighters or the ship's above - might get a better sense of what was about to happen.

 

[Klesta]

Now that Yula was over the ledge and, with it, above the canyon, and scored her eighth kill, she could accelerate to attack speed once again, with five fighters hot on her tail. Realizing that, for each kill she scored in aerial combat, the dark side in her grew stronger, it was her turn to initiate an Immelmann maneuver while being mindful, of course, of the enemies firing at her, with those hits taken leaving her shieldless for a while. With her being above the remaining five fighters, but not too far above, she makes a hard turn in an attempt to launch a missile at close range while flanking one of them, and then turning around, and hard, to later open fire with another five-second volley at the other fighter right in front of the one she fired a missile at from her perspective, which might actually be on that one's flank. But the other three were just not in position to be attacked for the time being. That might be a problem but that was what Sith Aces were for: dealing with airborne threats up close and personal.

-----------------------------------

Meanwhile, the maelstrom of guns and missile fire claimed an additional four fighters, for the surviving three to later break off the attack. The enemy moved out of stern chase range, but they have to stay on their guard: it's possible that the enemy could return.

[member="Causstik Rahn"] [member="Alec Rekali"] [member="Marrik Axiom"]

 

[Causstik Rahn]

[SIZE=11pt]Causstik Rahn smiled as the shields came down and the Hyper velocity cannons fired once again, but still he was not entirely satisfied. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“CEASE FIRE!” Causstik Roared. The Trandoshans scratched their head curious as to what their war chief had planned.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Board the [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Scorekeeper [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]prepare for boarding action! We are taking the fight to [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]them[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]!” Causstik Roared again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]A hundred cries roared out in unison as the Trandoshans rallied in victory. They may not have won the battle yet, but victory might as well have been assured.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“TO THE SCOREKEEPER!” Crossk cried out fervently and the Trandoshans ran from their positions zealously, shoving each other out of the way or simply trampling those in their way. So, fervent was their eagerness for battle. Space Combat had become their joy and so, as thousands of Trandoshans fought to be the first to board the Scorekeeper first they all began to see nothing but their lust for blood. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]So strong was this lust for battle that they even struck down comrades in their race to the Vessel that would transport them to the killing fields. And Causstik was at the forefront. The voices cried out to him KILL THEM ALL! BURN THEIR SHIPS! BRING ME THEIR [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]HEADS[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]! Causstik laughed maniacally as his horde flooded aboard the vessel and he manned the bridge.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“THEY WILL KNOW [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]FEAR[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]!” Causstik cried into the comms as the last of his horde boarded the shuttle. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]“Get to the boarding pods! Prepare for attack!” Crossk cried.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Great turbines churned turned as hundreds of slaves pushed the cogs behind the heart of the machine. Great heavy iron chains keeping the slaves well built frames to the turbines. Beaters needn’t motivate these fools, for they knew. This ship was now their body and if it died then they too died. The ships thrusters activated and it began it’s propulsion into atmosphere. Causstik could make out the beginnings of the Mandalorian fleet through bloodshot eyes and he cried out into the comms once more “FOR THE SCOREKEEPER!” and it was echoed by guttural roars “WAAAAAAGH!”[/SIZE]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

[member="Grace Darkson"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Causstik Rahn"]

Six fighters remained in the canyon, beneath the shield's edge, lobbing warheads through a glowing gap in the wall. As the shield shut down and the guns went silent, the fighters peeked up over the wall into the Bast Castle complex. Visual and sensor contact confirmed that a large ship was making ready to lift off.

Rather than fire on the Scorekeeper, the Mandalorian fighters concentrated their guns and remaining missiles on the silent hypervelocity cannons, the surface-to-air missile launchers, the deactivated area shield generator, and whatever armed warbeasts might still be around. Circling Bast Castle at high velocity, they strafed the utter feth out of the position. For the most part, though, they avoided poking the Trandoshan warship. They had plenty of softer targets to handle already.

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

Another Mando fighter died to Yula's cannons, but the four remaining ships had her number now. Yula's tactics relied on short-range brawling, tricky maneuvers, and an enemy willing to get close. By keeping a little distance, the four Mando fighters stayed around her and kept her under consistent fire. They had plenty of room now that the anti-air weapons had gone silent and they no longer had to stay in the canyons' shelter.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ten light-years away, an old Mandalorian carrier and a few escorts dominated a random point in deep space. Every few minutes, a capture ship dropped out of hyperspace and disengaged from its cargo. Said cargo was usually a light or medium freighter or a patrol boat, ionized, sometimes with engines damaged, always missing its escape pods. Those escape pods lay strewn over ten light-years of empty space. Each held the captured ships' crew and a time-locked subspace distress beacon. Once the raid wound up, those beacons would come online, forcing Dominion reinforcements to spend hours or days locating and recovering the pods. A string of pods connected Vjun to the old carrier. Five other strings led to five other receptor sites - carriers, bulk freighters, and so forth. Once the raid concluded, the big ships full of little ships would move along.

Pressor fields kept the crippled vessels safely inert as tractor beams pulled them into the carrier's hold. In-depth short-range scans verified that nobody had hidden onboard to avoid being shoved into an escape pod. A handful of heroes were summarily shot or thrown in a Mandalorian brig.

So far, ion-scrambled comms indicated that the mission had lost one cruiser and a couple of fighter squadrons. Other damage was noted as significant but not crippling. Assuming this didn't go entirely haywire, the freighters and patrol boats captured should more than compensate for losses - at least in a monetary sense. As for the dead, they'd gone to the Manda having made a stupid amount of money for their loved ones. These captured ships were icing on the cake compared to what the clan's secret backer had paid. The man who'd hired them to bring the Dominion pain commanded staggering resources, enough to hire one of the strongest Mandalorian clans extant. Families would be provided for. The clan would go on.

 

[Klesta]

True, Yula was at a disadvantage at higher altitudes, while four-to-one, so the best she could do was to lure the surviving four enemy units to the castle, while continuing to perform evasive maneuvers, knowing that long-range engagements using laser cannons were often much less accurate than at short range, especially since they were engaging her at ranges that can be described as nearing the edge of effective range, while also engaging the double aft procedure, whereby nearly all shield power she might have while being recharged. That is, double aft became double front when Yula performed a wingover so that the hitherto stern chase becomes a head-on engagement, allowing her to about-face with a very tight turn radius. The enemy won't realize that there is a reason why I could so readily fight the elite of the Resurgent Empire's fighter corps - even though the RE's fighter corps is pretty substandard, she thought, while the enemy struggled to track her when that maneuver took place, even when her current shield status would enable her to absorb exactly one frontal hit. When the maneuver was completed, she opened fire on yet another enemy fighter, and swiftly pulling up afterward.

----------------------------

Meanwhile, back at the castle, while the enemy claimed four Hwachas in their strafing run, alongside other equipment left behind by [member="Causstik Rahn"]: the remaining 32 Hwachas were establishing firing solutions, although only slightly more than half could actually act based on them: the remainder were at the other end of the castle and could not safely fire even one missile because the missiles' trajectory could hit the castle. With that said, three missiles were fired at each of the fighters when they came head-on for another pass, for 18 total, one from each launcher that could safely fire those.

[member="Oren Rekali"] [member="Alec Rekali"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Yula Knezevic"]

The head-on missile shots ran straight into the Mandalorian fighters' strafing cannon fire and detonated in a gigantic ball of smoke. The fighters slashed past a moment later, then broke off and headed upward. Their rapid circular pass within the region formerly covered by shielding had identified the locations of the missile launchers, the silent hypervelocity guns, and the shield generator. They'd already taken a comprehensive swing at those targets, but since the missile launchers weren't obeying Cauustik Rahn's ceasefire order, the overall hazard outweighed the half-dozen fighters' chances.

So turbolaser fire started raining down from orbit. A single turbolaser battery could hit like an earthquake, and this was definitely more than one. With the shield down and specific targets identified, orbital gunners had no trouble applying a thorough bombardment to the area around Bast Castle.

The fighters facing Yula likewise withdrew toward orbit, as soon as she accelerated away toward the castle. When she turned around, then, she found the skies clear.

 

[TB-705]

The miasma of energy at the end of the hall pulsed with defiance, no presence that Thengil had ever felt.

And he had felt many.

His eyes narrowed, but he saw nothing, or perhaps...

The air quivered indistinctly, like the heat shimmer of an engine's wash. Someone, or something stood at the end of the hall, disguising themselves by means Thengil knew not. The method could just as easily be some power in the Force as it could be technology. The end result would still be the same.

Thengil had not been bested in many years. The last had seen him tossed into a Republic prison, where he spent a decade of his life. Yet he did not spend that decade idly, cut-off from the Force and wallowing in despair. The first week saw him languish, until the second saw him nearly dead, and the third a new beginning. He spent those ten years in the midst of some of the most dangerous criminals the Republic had managed to capture. Instead of accepting his fate, he forged a new one. He embraced all that came with life in a cell: the indignity, the constant paranoia, and the ruthlessness. The crucible meant to break him down saw his bitterness and hate fester into a virus that spread through his system. He learned to survive without the Force, and to understand that the true nature of sapient beings was exposed within the confines of that prison ship, a microcosm of society.

People thought themselves free in life because they could not see their wardens. The fools. Time and death stood jailor to all. Civilization gave sapients masks to wear, as if by placing them on they might pretend the carnal desires did not exist.

The Cathar's gaze flicked to an Epicanthix who pummeled the transparisteel of his cell with bloodied fists. The epaulettes on his shoulder said he had been an officer in the Kingdom of Panatha. What did that title afford him now?

Those who fought while inhibiting their primal natures would fall beneath the claw and fang of those who fought without the need for such restraints.

Thengil had severed his long ago.

"Well," he rumbled in a voice of thunder, "I can smell you. I can feel your presence. But I cannot see you."

He raised both paws, staring at them idly.

"Shall I," both paws extended outward, claws splaying, "shed some light?"

Tendrils of blue lightning erupted from the tips of his gauntlets and roiled down the corridor toward the hidden figure, hissing and spitting as they went.

[member="The Slave"]

 

[Darth Imperia]

Location: The Jen'Midwan, Above Bitter End​

Objectives: Amusement, Quality Time​

Equipment: Lightsabers, Acid-Proof Bodysuit​

Allies: [member="Aria Vale"]​

Enemies: Defenders of Vjun​

Music: She Moves Like a Knife​

​

---

There was a certain charm to having a small army of servants devoted to one's will, Imperia found; a certain rightness. If nothing else, it was definitely convenient. But as much as she enjoyed having her every whim catered to, there was a downside.

It got so incredibly boring.

Imperia did not handle boredom well - any extended period of ennui typically ended with someone being slaughtered, enslaved, or gruesomely tortured, if not all three. As such, lest she turn her petty cruelties upon those who served her (again), it was time for an outing.

Besides, it had been far too long since she'd spent any quality time with Aria.

~~

"Bitter End should be an easy target." began the Knight, zipping up a body suit of chemically treated Armorweave. "It's taken quite the beating from a few starfighters already." And if they were to find that the city was still rather well defended? Well, that just meant more excitement.

A voice, crackling over the intercom, informed Imperia and her companion that the Jen'Midwan was currently hovering over the city of Bitter End. With a mad glint in her eye and a playfully wicked grin, the Knight took a few short steps forward and kissed her companion. It was a short kiss, regrettably, but they had a city to devastate. Still grinning, Imperia turned on her heels and zipped up the hood of her suit, obscuring her features and muffling her voice.

"You ready to have some fun, love?"

 

[Darth Empyrean]

A slow chill ran through the air as The Slave sensed what was to come. Fingers rose, each arcing across each other before letting loose their vile amperage on the corridor they stood in. There was no room to escape, no dodging nor lightsaber to block the strike as he had seen others do. Fear threaded itself his conscious thought before he remember something Bestria had taught him…

His mind's thought process sped from proverbial object to object, finally finding its way back to what she spoke of so long ago. The energy he gave off, no matter how crude the grasp he had on his powers, could be utilized to defend him in a moments notice. If nothing else, it was a sentient shield that dripped off his very being, and as the lightning surged through the air towards him it acted like the transparent barrier he needed it to.

Azure lighting hit this impenetrable wall and surged, blowing passive durasteel panels from the walls and maiming those of the prisoners that stood too close to the entrance of their cells. The careless casualties that numbered themselves higher as the fight had only just begun, a passive thought to the two would be juggernauts. Titans of war met in crudeness of space, and nothing but unfortunate prisoners as an audience.

Between the arcs of lightning, The Slave began to rush forward, easily giving his position away even more so. He was a blur, and although he appeared like a glitch in the peripherals of one's sight; he was no more an imagination than he was a real and violent entity that stood to fall those who underestimated what they saw. As he closed in, the blade brought forth from its sheathe gave a slow and solemn song, one that held onto the tones of the dead it once cut into.

Low and careful, swift and exotic; The Slave used the advantage of visibility to its fullest extent, two blurs breaking the focal sight of the lion. One from the top, that swung wide and powerfully like a strike with unbridled vengeance, while the other came low and to the right. Both were filled with prejudice, the type of anger he likely hadn’t seen in sometime, yet they both held the transparent signs of a feign. Only another thing that was difficult to place about this cloaked individual.

For whatever reason, the intoxicating presence of The Slave’s force seemed to place him in multiple places at once, a gas with pressure points that would normally suggest where the predator lay. In this case, it only added to the confusion of who, or what, he was. A masked individual with little to no attention to detail, or a plan. Something so broken in thought, that it considered a suicidal crash landing into a frigate as a good idea. This… aura, it was no more intelligent than a mollusk that stuck to a boat. It couldn’t possibly be...

No… Perhaps it wasn’t him to begin with. Something different one couldn’t begin to understand. Cognitive dissonance laid before them in the form of the Force.

│ [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] │

 

[Klesta]

Now that the Mandalorian fighters have retreated to orbit, she found it useless to give chase to them, however tempting adding a tenth kill to her collection of dogfighting victories might be. Sensing that she would soon be facing another threat, that she could detect as two dark stars in the Force, she decided to attempt intercepting it. Besides, she engaged the cloaking device, while her shields slowly recharged when flying under cloak. Hopefully these new intruders, whose murderous auras she could easily sense as two pulsars of death in the Force, would realize that there are still a few defenders left after the mayhem left behind by the Mandos. And Yula just couldn't resist the urge to attempt shooting down the vehicle they are based on, feeling that these two pulsars of death are just people who want to take advantage of the situation to cause even more mayhem under the form of death: with seven concussion missiles and still about 300-odd shells, she can still attempt to fight whatever vehicle they are onboard. After a short while, she arrives over the city of Bitter End, the planetary capital, de-cloaking at point-blank range from the source of these two pulsars of death she just sighted in the Force: a YT-2400 light freighter flying at low altitude. Because she was flanking the enemy craft housing these two pulsars of death, she fires a missile first and then makes a sharp left turn in order to get to the enemy stern, firing at its port engines and later, at its topside turret in an oblique pass for which the shields were shifted to "double bottom", in which case nearly all the shield power has been diverted to the bottom.

[member="Aria Vale"] [member="Darth Imperia"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Bartic Myth'rand"] [member="Causstik Rahn"] [member="Grace Darkson"] [member="The Slave"] [member="Yula Knezevic"] [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] [member="Aria Vale"] [member="Darth Imperia"]

As the Mandalorian forces disengaged and reoriented for hyperspace, Alec took stock of the operation. Between the atmospheric engagement and weapons fire in space, she'd lost a good three squadrons of fighters, plus the cruiser that the hypervelocity guns had cored. Those guns had come as a surprise: though Vjun was a sparsely populated, insignificant world, clearly the Dominion had recognized the value of its position.

The cruiser's scattered wreckage was devoid of lifesigns. A few hyoercapable escape pods had carried the survivors to safety. So far as sensors could determine, none of the destroyed fighters' pilots had survived. Dominion anti-air weapons had proven too strong for the generic attack craft. Alec could be assured, at this stage, that she was leaving nobody behind. Some of her larger ships would need serious repairs.

She took stock, too, of the raid's impact. The defenses and airfield at Bitter End had taken multiple strafing runs and warhead impacts. The same went for the much heavier emplacements around Bast Castle, plus a serious orbital bombardment. Civilian traffic throughout the system had been destroyed or captured en masse. The client's needs had been met.

Speaking of which, as the battered 'Like Hell' turned to jump, Alec finally gave the nod to her comms officer. Moments before the Mandalorian fleet vanished into hyperspace, a subspace broadcast filled the near part of the Vjun system.

"[member="Salem Norongachi"] sends his regards."

 

[Naast'ika Laaran]

<But I just got here!> Naast'ika thought to himself as he broke off his attack run and followed the Mandalorian ships into Hyperspace.

[member="Alec Rekali"]