Of Traitors and Jackals

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

Somewhere along the Hydian Way. . . .

[THEME]

A lone Tachyon-class light freighter drifted through the vastness of space. It was a one-level freighter, with enough capacity for two passengers, but the hanger had been emptied to provide extra room for Jen and Lurcano. The Tachyon had been with Lysle since he could remember. He thought on it a moment, and guessed he had been around thirteen or fourteen when he stole it. It was the day of his parents murder. A bounty hunter came for their heads, blasted them into oblivion, and in turn, Lysle jacked his ship. He floored it to Mandalore space where he met an assassin-duo, identical twins, who introduced him to the world of underground shockboxing, but he liked to say it was professional. That event, the murder of his parents, was a catalyst. A catalyst that resulted in the greatest criminal empire in modern years.

Now he was at the beginning again. All he had was his friends, and his Tachyon, not without forgetting his immense wealth. Lysle was now one of the wealthiest men in the galaxy, and he planned on being the wealthiest. Much thanks to Chiasa's ignorance, Lysle would continue his life largely unharassed. He had scrolled through the galactic bounty boards and only found an update on an old forum. A forum in which Chiasa declared no bounty would be set for Lysle as he was nothing more than a drinker and a smoker. He almost spat out his drink and smooke at that. He enjoyed a smoke like any other man, and drank rarely. It was only on the occasions of celebration or stress in that he drank. Which was not frequently. Those words alone taught him enough of what she thought of him; harmless. Oh how she could be any further from the truth. He might not be much of a warrior, but as they say, the pen is far mightier than the sword.

So, things had not gone down as planned. Things had gotten in the way. The group had mysteriously been found out, and he recalled a very strange number of Ravens awake at such an early hour. Even the alcoholics and most addicted gamblers had gone to bed by then. Nonetheless, they drifted in this void for what felt like eternity. They were laying low for a few short days, and they had the rations to do it. They just needed to occupy their minds, and so Lysle had brought a table into the hanger, brought four crates to act as chairs and offered they all play Sabacc. As they sat around, Lysle spoke of the fateful evening. "So, I don't know what overcame me. I would have pulled the trigger on her, but something otherwordly overcame me. I just said the first thing that came to my mind, which was 'Got a lighter?' and realized what I had said and walked out." He spoke with enthusiasm, gesturing with his hands for emphasis, "And I walk out of the casino, over to the hotel where Vrag was waiting. I walked through that door, and something overcame us both. We embraced, she reaches down and--" A loud warning came through the system speakers, "PROXIMITY ALERT."

-------​

The Red Raven [Tachyon-class light freighter]
@Lysle of the Hydian Way, [member="Jen"], [member="Isaac Ideus"] & [member="Lurcano Car'dann"]

VS

Unknown Ship
[member="Flannigan Mcnash"] & Jackals

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

​

“I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt; I am lean with seeing others eat - O that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone; then thou should'st see how fat I would be! But must thou sit and I stand? Come down, with a vengeance!” ​

― Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus​

It started with a shimmer, a bleeding light from a distant star catching on the fin of a ship, the round beads of light distributed over the hull running ricochet. It was made up of sharp geometric shapes with a sharp pointed head. It was a crusader class corvette, and it was heading towards the one-level freighter.

It was cold and like steel, sharp and rough like fragment rock, it was distant yet human, it was all of these things. "Freighter, this is Flannigan Mcnash, you have five seconds to halt your engines." there was a pause an almost tangible pause, not unlike that when you know someone is about to tell you bad news, thoughts fill the silence until the final moments. "We are robbing your vessel, think on the lives of your crew before you give me your answer."

| [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] |​

 

[Isaac Ideus]

Although his calm facade didn't waver, on the inside Isaac was anxious... nervous, even. The cramped quarters of the small freighter reminded him of his journey to Nar Shaddaa, en route unbeknowingly to a certain "Frida's Spaceport Cantina". It was there he met the man seated across from him. Fate is a funny thing. His time with the Red Ravens had transformed Isaac from a naive rascal to a smooth criminal. Of course, the irony that he was evading syndicate space on "The Red Raven" didn't escape him.

Habitually lighting a cigarette, he observed the table and grinned. "Ladies and gents, prepare to depart with your credits." Luck, chance... trickery. Isaac didn't often lose card games. He wiped a bead of sweat away from his hairline.

"Bloody hell Lysle, you're rich enough to finance wars but you skip out on fixing the air conditioning in here?"

The quartet settled into a game of Sabaac while they took turns telling jokes and bulls^#*ting about life in general. Thoughts of Antecedent drifted away.

WOOP WOOP. Proximity alert.

The onboard computer had alerted the crew to a nearby ship, probably hostile. This was a common shipping and smuggling route but they weren't expecting any traffic in this sector.

"Damnit! Lurcano, get on the top turret!" Isaac lept from the crate and pointed up towards the ship's dorsal laser cannon as he scrambled to the co-pilot chair. He scanned the data readout and analysis. "Bugger me, it's a corvette. Looks Mando. Lysle, I hope you have something up your sleeve because we're not blasting our way out of this." Despite the probable futility of engaging this new intruder in open combat, Isaac activated the auto-cannon and lightly thumbed the torpedo trigger.

 

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

An incoming transmission came through the cockpit audio sensors, echoing down the thinly metal corridors and into the hanger. "Freighter, this is Flannigan Mcnash, you have five seconds to halt your engines." There was a pause. "We are robbing your vessel, think on the lives of your crew before you give me your answer." Lysle didn't need to think. He looked to Isaac and gave him the nod, and his companion went hurling off towards the cockpit, while shouting orders at Lurcano to man the turret. "There's nothing to steal from us, but that's not the point. No one touches my baby," Lysle said to Jen with a devilish smirk. "We've only got one manual turret, the other is controlled by the computer systems on the ship. If it's okay with you, I'll need you on repair duty. There should be some tools in the locker," Lysle said and motioned to a rusted locker, door hanging off its hinges and a small toolbox sat within, in as bad condition as the locker, with very few tools.

"Thanks," Lysle called out, already stood from his stool and fleeing down the grated corridors. Each footstep thundered within the freighter, and he came into the cockpit to find Isaac was already at the ready. Lysle took his seat, placed his harness over his chest and clicked it in. Lysle glanced with his icy-steel eyes at Isaac, whom hovered over the data readout and analysed the influx of information. Isaac said, "Bugger me, it's a corvette. Looks Mando. Lysle, I hope you have something up your sleeve because we're not blasting our way out of this." Lysle raised his hand above his head and ignited the engine, thrusters came online. He dropped his hand down to the accelerator, and looked to his friend, "When have you known me to ever not have a card up my sleeve?" Lysle flicked a switch, the deflector shields came online. "Buckle in, and hold on tight, I'm about to show you why they called me Hydian Way." He slammed the lever forward, thrusters roared with blue flame, and operated at 100%. Lysle quickly switched to the controls and sent the freighter into a very sudden, very dangerous, nose-dive, followed by a spinning twirl. He held the controls down until they came up facing the opposite way, towards the corvette. Lysle leveled the freighter and slashed across space straight towards it with ever increasing speed. The Tachyon was a small target, and a fast bird.


[member="Isaac Ideus"] - [member="Jen"] - [member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

He had been refused, he expected a long drawn out parlay detailing their families and children and how much the galaxy needed them. He was wrong and in that instance in that thought the frieghter was making a break for it, escape wasn't an option it wasn't a chance, they would catch that freighter, maybe not now but they would. It was something hard to aim with the sudden and sharp incline the smaller ship took, space didn't work like a planet for one they had gravity and for two without gravity all these new directions and positions were available, they could go down up and even in varying degree.

Spouts of red and green light emerge from the heads of the tubular cannons, the light and spatter of the super heated plasma mocking spaces darkness, giving it a faint ominous glow. “Cadan, arm the missiles.” They were following, sure they were slower and less maneuverable but they were on their tail.

| [member="Cadan Tazi"] | [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] | [member="Isaac Ideus"] |​

 

[Lurcano Car'dann]

Pursing his lips while he tossed in a few chips to sweeten the pot. His shoulders were hunched over, and his elbows tucked in. It had been a pain to squeeze his large form into the small ship but once he'd gotten himself situated, it wasn't so bad. At least if you didn't mind the sweltering heat, lack of leg room, and disgusting smell that seemed to emanate from Lurcano. Beads of sweat trickled down his back and his sides, but he didn't bother wiping them away. 'I'm surprised no one has said anything yet. Maybe they're polite, or perhaps it doesn't smell that bad? I probably should'a warned 'em that I stink when I sweat.'

The group had hightailed it off of Antecedent once their little ruse had been discovered. Lurcano had been in the worst position of all, and he'd had to fight his way out the back of the casino once he realized the bombs which he'd smuggled in had been replaced with useless fakes. 'I've got no idea where Jessica and the others are, but let's hope they got my message and are en route to meet us at the established coordinates. They were all listening in to a little story being told by Lysle and the mood amongst all of them was light despite the gravity of their situation.

"So what you're telling me is that you abandoned our carefully thought plan, put all of our lives at risk and didn't even inform us, all so you could have a night of fun in bed with a Sith Lord while we shat bricks?" -silence- "I should be mad but I can't help it. Id've abandoned all of you in a heartbeat if it meant I could kark a Sith Lord. Just to say I did it. I might forgive you if you go into some of the specifics of what was obviously a night of intense passion."

As Lyle began to launch himself into an in depth play-by-play of his night with Vrag, Lurcano leaned back and took a swig of some old liquor that he'd found. It had been in one of the crates that they were all seated on, and it didn't smell too bad. 'Might as well, be a shame to waste some liquor.' It had a musty taste about it but Lurcano didn't care very much. The numbing feeling it gave him as it ran down his throat would serve his purpose. Just as he was about to raise the bottle to his lips for another sip the alarms on the ship began to blare and Lurcano nearly jumped three feet out of his own skin.

Only a few seconds later, a mans voice was heard over the intercom of their small ship. "Freighter, this is Flannigan Mcnash, you have five seconds to halt your engines." There was a pause. "We are robbing your vessel, think on the lives of your crew before you give me your answer." A look of understanding seemed to pass between Lysle and Issac, and in a flash they burst into action. In contrast, the situation took a few moments to set in for Lurcano and he was left alone as everyone raced to their proper positions. 'Oh right. The turret...I should probably go and do that now.' "Kark!"

The bottle forgotten, Lurcano raced for the ladder situated by the wall and he climbed up into the little turret station. His heart rate racing, he threw himself in front of the controls and quickly moved into action. Buckling in seat belts, Lurcano utilized the near 360 degree range of motion that the turret had, he turned to face the Freighter which had come to stop them and began to fire with everything he had. A moment later he was jolted into the straps which held him to the seat as they began to execute evasive maneuvers. 'Thank the gods I have a strong stomach, because otherwise we'd be wiping chunks out of here.' Not bothering to let go of the trigger, the laser cannon continued to fire at the freighter with varying accuracy.

Lurcano just hoped that their weapons would be able to pierce through the shields and eventually the hull of the ship they were up against. Otherwise...

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] - [member="Isaac Ideus"] - [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] - [member="Jen"]

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis would be on the front most turret, his fingers hovering only inches away from the triggers, as he saw the banged up foes ship, he knew that it had long since passed its zenith.
Bestirring his arm over to the com, he was displeased that he would be fighting such a hapless and pathetic foe, "Captain, how come everything we have come across has been nothing more than floating terds in space?" inquiring he would take a sullen breath, "I mean c'mon, isn't their anything better floating around here in space?" he would keep the com close to his ear, patiently awaiting a response from his captain.
His other hand still hovering over one of the triggers and his eyes would be closely locked onto the floating engine, ready to decimate it at the first sign of resistance.
[member="Flannigan Mcnash"]
[member="Lurcano Car'dann"]
[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"]
[member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Jen]

Only until a few hours ago, she could truthfully have called herself a Raven. She would even have been able to believe it herself, convince herself that she still was. However, as soon as her shoes touched the ramp of the old Freighter there was no denying that she wasn’t anymore. Perhaps she would still be recognized as a Raven for a while because she had merely disappeared from their midst, but to her: She wouldn’t be. She knew that. But even through the anxiousness that had clung to her for the past many days she was still surprised to see the freighter. It had been a long time since she had last seen the old thing. Having not even thought of the old ship since she had last helped work on it, back when she had just joined the criminal syndicate that would later spread all the way from the outer edge of the galaxy and all the way to Nar’Shadda. A custom fitting job in exchange for some illegal speeder bike engines Lysle had sold her that started it all. Nevertheless, that was a long time ago, at least to Jennifer. It even seemed like multiple lifetimes ago. She was a whole other person back then…

In preparation from her eventual breaking from the Ravens, Jennifer had over a period of the last couple of months, transferred her assets from Red Raven bribed holdings to other more secure and remote banks, warehouses and unsuspicious firms. Her ships, equipment and other such belongings had also carefully been send to other locations for temporary storage in absolute secrecy and other names, of course. She had even dared to take some of the furniture from her suite at the Dragon Palace and place it in one of these unknown locations. One couldn’t expect her to leave behind her favorite armchairs.

Obviously, she hadn’t brought her armchair with her onto the freighter, instead having brought a large leather duffle bag with her for the journey which she was currently using as a sort of improvised backrest as she sat on the crate while the quartet played Sabacc and stories were told. She leaned up against her makeshift backrest, as another round was underway and Lysle started to talk about what had happened after he had abandoned the original plan. It cheered up their situation considerable, judging from the goofy smirks and grins, but after only a few words, they neared a point where it would soon have been too much information, at least to Jen. Luckily, for her as she was just about to raise her voice to interrupt Lysle the gladly accepted Proximity Warning popped up. And thank god for that. Details about Lysle’s affairs...? No thank you. She didn’t register exactly what the ship meant with its announcement at first, being used to other sorts of warnings on her own ships, instead sitting still as people sprung to their feet.

She grinned, dropping her cards onto the table and turning them and the rest that was placed on the table who belonged to the other three, nodding a few times with a smug expression as she judged their hands. “Yep, I won.” She muttered to no one in particular as she stood from the crate, looking towards the group as they hurried to work, talking about the potential threat. Her eyes narrowed as the transmission from the corvette, she wore that she had heard that-…. “I’ve heard that rust bucket voice before. Tried to steal my damn ship near Tatooine.” She raised her voice a bit as she spotted Lurcano climb up the ladder towards the turret, yelling after him as she made her way towards where Isaac and Lysle stood so she could get a glimpse of the ship they were talking about. “Yea, you better climb up there, Lurc. Seclude your smell from the rest of us.” She was clearly still trying to joke judging from the slight grin on her lips, but her voice had undoubtedly changed a bit after having heard Flannigan talk. She simply nodded a few times when Lysle asked her to be on repair duty. She understood. Hopefully this ship had proper shields…

It was to be noted that Jennifer’s condition before leaving The Dragon Palace to step onto this freighter had not been healthy, there was multiple signs that she hadn’t slept very well if at all over a long period of time, she was paler than usual and she had lost weight, her cheeks sporting a bit more depth than usual. However, she had actually cleaned up the room and herself before leaving. Not stinking, compared to certain others!

Finally catching a glimpse of the large corvette she cursed under her breath, it was really them, those pirates. That was all she needed as a motivation to get ready, leaping to the back of the hanger and grabbing hold of her duffle bag as she quickly made her way behind a few crates, tossed her leather jacket onto the table and changed into her EVA suit. If she would have said anything in those moments her voice would have been drowned in the hull vibrating noise caused by the thrusters roaring to life. There was enough to keep your attention focused on behind the cockpit windows anyhow.
Once done she walked back up to the entrance of the cockpit, having grabbed the rusty toolbox to look through it as she stood in the entrance, the helmet placed firmly under her arm.

“Ready when you are.”​

[member="Lurcano Car'dann"] :: [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] :: [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] :: [member="Isaac Ideus"]​

 

[Cadan Tazi]

The blue Duros turned and gave Flannigan a quick nod. "Aye Cap'n." Cadan's hands would dance across the dashboard of the weapon's computer, his index finger hitting a button here and there. The screen would burst to life as Cadan hit the last button. As Cadan selected his weapons, the screen would display a single word."Armed."

[member="Jen"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Lurcano Car'dann"] [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

Lines of particle beams filled the void. Slashing and carving through the vast emptiness. At first, the speed and maneuverability of the Red Raven had proven an ally, but Lysle was flying the damned freighter head-on for the corvette. The incoming fire got closer and closer, and the odd shot shaved against the deflector shields. The energy was depleting, and fast, and as shots rocked the Tachyon. Lysle didn't let go of the steers, knuckles turning white from his iron-like grip. He dove again, meaning to maneuver under the ship.

He would fly under the length of it, weaving so as to avoid any blaster fire from possible ventral turrets. "Isaac, fire the payload on their thrusters when we're on the other side, and get ready." Lysle was counting on the slowness of the corvette, hoping he could get behind them before they had the chance to fully turn around and face the Tachyon. He kept the accelerator forward, and as he attempted to race under the underside of the corvette, he would come out the other end, reversing the thrusters and sending his Tachyon on a sudden spin, pivoting the freighter left, until the front of the Tachyon would face the rear of the corvette.

That is, if they had been quick enough . . .


[member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Jen"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Lurcano Car'dann"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Tiali Orazio]

The engines smouldering to life in a contained burst of energy, sparks dissipating in the vacuum of space, swathes of stainless steel, sleek black rods. And the glare of fluorescent tube lighting suspended from steel rafters, floor to ceiling the wall began to shrink disconnecting with the Corvette.

"R9, ready up the guns." Tiali's KDY patrol craft launched into action, speeding up to trail up behind the enemy freighter.

He aims his ships weapons and the freighter's engines. With the press of a trigger the weapons began to fire, flashes of red exit the tips of the weapon flying towards the freighters engines, in an attempt to cripple them.

Spoiler

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Jen"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Lurcano Car'dann"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Isaac Ideus]

The whole of the shuttle vibrated as Lysle threw open the throttle to the Red Raven and catapulted the ship towards the now oncoming corvette. Isaac briefly held his arm out, holding himself steady during the rapid about-face. "Stay above it or below it. If we let that thing broadside us, its cannons will blow us to hell." As they approached in a trajectory that seemed to be destined for a head-on collision, flashes of light zipped by the cockpit window. While a full cannonade from the cruiser would spell doom for the relatively tiny freighter, it was not designed for dog-fighting. As long as the Red Raven steered clear of the enemy's port and starboard, they would be spared from facing the full arsenal the pirates possessed.

Isaac flipped the safety toggle from the computer-aided auto-cannon. A small light on the central display screen lit up: AUTOTURRET ARMED
With a touch of a button, the small turret began to burp out laser fire at the rapidly approaching corvette, in unison now along with Lucarno's dorsal turret-- enough to annoy them, although they weren't going to strike a fatal blow with laser canons alone.

"Isaac, fire the payload on their thursters when we're on the other side, and get ready." Isaac immediately understood Lysle's plan. He quickly tapped on the control panel data pad, and armed all eight missiles on board. The freighter's heads-up display quickly lit up as the weapons and targeting system began to lock on to the target's visual, radar, and heat signature.

"Right," he said to Lysle as his hand anxiously hovered over the firing trigger, "I don't think they'll appreciate this."

Spoiler

@Lysle of the Hydian Way @Cadan Tazi @Jen @Thraxis @Lurcano Car'dann @Flannigan Mcnash

 

[Thraxis]

Thraxis saw the ship flying head first for their ship, his eyes flared with jubilance, it was just what he wanted, a head on collision, "Maybe their gonna try to kamikaze us." he chuckled, though he had no real intention of letting them get close to the ship.
His hands rushed to life, now in a euphoric rush, pulling the triggers back and forth gave Thraxis nothing but joy, the turrets flaring to life, in a locomotive like motion their tubes would be pulled then pushed, back and forth as it fired laser after laser.
Though his joy was short-lived, the ship had not rammed the ship like he thought they were, instead, unbeknownst to him had flown below, though he believed he had vaporized them with the spraying of lasers, "Huh... their gone? Well, that didn't last as long as I thought." he would say, not fully aware of the capabilities of the ships turrets.