Space-trash, why'd it have to be space-trash? (Galactic Alliance Dominion of the Ojom Hex)

[Aryn Teth]

​

The Frozen ocean planet of Ojom, home to the Besalisk species, remains highly inhospitable to life on the surface, with the majority of the population choosing instead to live on large space stations connected by immense space elevators to the world’s surface. These stations harbour the majority of the world’s population, and exist as major trade and communications hubs throughout the deep core.

Following an increasing intensity of piracy in the region, the area around Ojom has become increasingly dense with space debris, which has progressively damaged the stations and their space elevators, even detaching two stations and sending them on dangerous courses, one spiraling out into the depths of space, and one dangerously falling towards the planet where it will inevitably burn up.

Desperate for whatever help they can gather, the Besalisk people have reached out to the Alliance to assist in rescue operations and in helping to combat the still-ongoing threat of piracy throughout the system. With the assistance the Alliance could provide, the Besalisk people may be more amenable to helping the Alliance secure their hold on the Deep Core.

Krell Station: This space station has been detached from its space elevator and flung away from Ojom’s orbit by debris, sending it away where it has become easy prey for pirates who have boarded the station, holding the entire populace hostage from the station’s command center. SIS and Intelligence Operatives are needed to deal with the situation without risking greater loss of life.

Xerius Station: Xerius Station has also been detached from its elevator by debris, but it is now on a collision course with Ojom itself, and not enough shuttles to facilitate evacuation. The clock is ticking, and GADF forces are needed to conduct rescue operations and scuttle the station before it falls into the planet’s atmosphere and risks major damage to settlements on the surface, or other stations.

OOC:​

​

Welcome to the dominion of Ojom! As you can see from above the dominion is primarily focused on the two civilian space stations which have been damaged by debris, but of course as always anyone and everyone is absolutely welcome to take part in their own objectives or goals on the planet itself or on any of the other space stations which orbit the planet. At the end of the day, just have fun!

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Coren Starchaser has vanished.


No, not really, he is just on Corellia bothering CorSec because he needed a shakedown from the wars that were going on with the First Order. Jared Starchaser, however, was very much here. Trying to make a name for himself other than Little Chaser, he needed to make sure that the Alliance knew that the Starchaser family was here to stay. And that meant running security and some gigs he preferred to not work. But he was here, after all. So that was something.

There were pirates in the area, but Jared had a different approach. He opted out of taking his Clawcraft because of the situation at Ojom. The pirates and debris were causing a lot of issues and people needed to be rescued. He was flying a heavy freighter, highly modified. He dumped the shields and boosted the jets and propulsion. Step was getting close enough to the station, step two? Slowing it down.

He pushed the throttle of the vessel and spun it around debris.

“This is Starchaser, heading for Xerius. Keep the pirates busy.” He pushed the throttle and started setting up targeting for the few turrets that could hit incoming debris. “Away team get ready. I’m going to get you a breach but the I need to move this for my next task.” He ordered over the intercom as the ship kept moving towards the doomed station.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Xerius Station

"It's going to be dangerous to let you do the final leg to Ojom, so just rely on the navicomputer to get us to Ojom"

"Topology, oh topology, when stuff is going awry - I consider myself lucky to even be able to learn topology in the first place" the pilot of the Lothal argued.

"I let you get from Varonat to Abregado-Rae using your own ability to perform topological calculations in your head, but I'm not confident in your ability to get ti right on Ojom just yet"

After the engagement of Varonat, and Dagobah before that, it was getting troublesome, but she had to do it out of duty. And especially since Lokthra left the GADF for... Republic Remnant service. One more medvac mission, and it was to be on Ojom, home of the Besalisks. But, unlike Thyferra, it was going to be about saving the Besalisks' bacon in orbit, with no critical resource involved. And, since she was going to fight pirates, she might take in a Jedi pilot that was being trained to get a new piloting rating, and who apparently got enough training in IAC to get from Varonat to Abregado-Rae before going to Ojom. In other words, enough skill in IAC to use it for long-haul flight. And the convoy of medvac was forming up in Abregado-Rae's atmosphere, en route to save the people of Xerius Station; the problems are going to snowball if they don't act quickly. This time around, she brought a 2-km detail to ensure the security of the medvac, and so they made for the planet at lightspeed...

Spoiler: Medvac

ANS Pharmacokinetics (Cardea-class medical cruiser)
ANS Tylenol (Cardea-class medical cruiser)

64 M47 Illria ambulances

Spoiler: Fleet

Capital ships:

ANS Lothal (Lothal-II-class artillery carrier)
ANS Locus of Control (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Big Seven (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Kalla (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Rudrig (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Karst (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Kitai (Kalla-class missile corvette)

Attack craft:

24 Chiloon-I fighters
24 Chiloon-II fast bombers

 

[Aryn Teth]

Aryn Teth

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Exterior of Krell Station, Ojom Orbit, Ojom System, The Deep Core​

Interacting With: [member="Srina Talon"]​

​

"Yes, I am sure this will work." He wasn't.

Aryn sucked in a deep breath as he clung to a piece of debris, his deep breaths echoing within the helmet he wore. His gaze turned over his shoulder briefly, and the man immediately felt ill at the sight of space and the planet of Ojom itself spinning in his view as the shattered chunk of space elevator he clung to flew harmlessly towards Krell Station. The hunk of metal had been launched towards the station via tractor beam, and against all odds and the numerous dissenting voices that had come up in regards to the plan, including the woman who now clung to the debris alongside him, it seemed to be working.

Slowly, the debris made its way past the blockade of Pirate ships which followed behind Krell station as it slowly spun further and further away from Ojom itself. The majority of the Alliance's efforts were focused more upon the planet itself and Xerius station which was falling down towards the world itself, but they could not have ignored the situation that was developing on Krell station either, thousands of civilians were at risk of being sold into slavery if the Alliance couldn't help them, and the clock was ticking before the Pirates would be safe enough to bring them all aboard their own ship.

Before too long, Aryn could see over his shoulder as the debris grew nearer and nearer to the station. Turning his gaze over to [member="Srina Talon"] and giving her a nod, he sucked in a breath and adjusted his grip on the debris. "Alright, let's hope this works out." He said, pushing himself away from the hunk of metal as he carefully floated over to one of the station's many external access panels. Reaching out, he took hold of the handle at the side of the door, turning his gaze over his shoulder again as he watched the woman follow him over. As the debris they had clung to harmlessly clattered against the outside of the station, and floated off in another direction, it seemed that little attention was paid to them, giving them their avenue of entry.

"Well, that actually worked." He commented, unable to hide the genuine surprise in his tone as he turned to the access panel, carefully inputting the codes that had been sent to them by the Besalisks, only to find that they were non-functional. "Well, looks like our pirates are tech-savvy enough to alter the security codes..." He muttered, thinking for a moment before he let go of the panel and shifted further down the side of the station to a smaller panel, ripping it open to access the wiring within.

Reaching to the magnetic plate on his left thigh, Aryn carefully took hold of the slicing kit he'd brought along, carefully removing a spike as he shifted it between the wires and drove it in to one of the panels within, a hiss vibrating through the metal of the station as the access panel itself suddenly opened, flushing out air as it depressurized the airlock on the other side, granting them both access. Moving back over towards the panel, Aryn gave his partner a sly smirk. "Open sesame." He commented idly, starting to pull himself into the station itself.

He knew that the pirates would be swarming over the interior, and likely had many of the citizens within the cargo hold or docking bays, ready for transfer. Freeing them by themselves would be impossible, but if it were possible for Aryn and Srina to reprogram the security system so that the Pirates were no longer in control, well, it would be much easier to stop the pirates from meeting their goals. So, that as the task at hand, hopefully by the time the two of them reached the security control room, there would be more operatives aboard the station to help, otherwise, Aryn and Srina were in for a great deal of work.

 

[Roth Tillian]

Roth smiled faintly as the six ships dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system. They were new. Brand new off the development line and this was to be there first combat test. The Tillian family had already run them through their paces and found them in tip-top shape, but this was to be their first test. It was odd having a two person fighter, but he supposed he would adjust.

One to fly and one to gun, with shared Force tricks between them. Of course, it made a higher risk of casualties, but they'd just have to be better pilots to overcome that. The ships weren't armored and had only a basic deflector shield. However, they had some nasty tricks up their sleeve. Ion missiles and proton rockets. Systems to coast into interdiction fields in hyperspeed and one to negate it in order to jump, a HIMS and GAM, respectively.

Oh, they were all either Jedi or Jensaarai as well. They knew how to microjump with precision, which had been the goal. They'd seen what happened at the Hydian Way. Massive First Order battlecruiser lines utilizing sector-level interdiction webs to shut down traffic across the entire sector. Civilian casualties had been tremendous.

The interdiction had counter-acted their greatest advantage over the First Order. If it had been disabled, the fighters would have been able to microjump at will amidst the enemy line and wreak havoc on their vessels. But it had been taken from them and with these new fighters, the goal was to negate that. Plus, with their defensive lines of interdiction along the border, this made it more feasible to slip across the border.

Their targets were the pirate fleet stationed around the runaway station. The goal was to whittle them away one by one and drive wedges in their line through distraction and disabling the ships. That would cause enough of a distraction to allow for infiltrators to get onto the station. If that didn't work, well, the Knights could always board the station with their glow-sticks. That typically had a desirous effect on those who weren't necessarily expecting them.

"Weapons primed, Roth," his co-pilot said from behind him. "All ships are green."

"Copy that," Roth replied, studying the readouts. "All ships on my mark. Targeting their flagship. Flyby at high speeds. Ion weapons first."

It was the largest ship in the fleet, as far as reports indicated.

"Three... two... one..."

The stars in the distance blurred for a moment as the six ships jumped forward nearly at hyperspeed, hurtling towards the fleet. But only for two heart-beats and they dropped back into real space. The ship loomed ahead of them and he rolled away to dodge the hull. As he flew by, streaks of ion cannons arced forward towards the hull, along with more from the rest of the ship. Ion missiles rocketed forward to impact the hull.

The squadron didn't stop, but raced past the ship before making another jump to lightspeed. They reverted after another heart-beat, now far distant from the enemy ships.

 

[Srina Talon]

Location: Exterior to Interior of Krell Station, Ojom Orbit, Ojom System, The Deep Core
Interacting With: [member="Aryn Teth"]

Srina looked at [member="Aryn Teth"] skeptically. Out of all the ridiculous CIS plans she’d ever been a part of this one might have been the absolute worst. “I don’t like you very much right now.”, the white-haired Echani called to the much taller man, muscles straining, while she tried to hold on to the battered hunk of metal. Her voice was muffled and distant within her helmet but he would recognize her distinct attitude all the same. Unlike the Supreme Commander she knew better than to look back. This strategy was stupid, risky, and dangerous. Now, the only real way to survive, involved pushing through.

“If I die Aryn Teth, I promise you, that I will return as a Force Ghost and you will never sleep again.”

Her tone of voice was steely, sharp, and unforgiving. To anyone that overhead they would have thought that the Echani was actually angry, furious, even. But Aryn would know better. For a multitude of reasons, half of which she couldn’t even comprehend on a regular basis, he would know. He would feel her apprehensions, concerns, and beneath all of that a sense of determination. Srina moved when the Commander did and nimbly abandoned the ‘space elevator’ when he signaled.

The Echani exhaled slowly, giving the Jedi a baleful look, when he seemed surprised that they hadn’t died in some horrible fashion. While the man beside her fiddled with the access panel and tried to get the hatch to open Srina kept her eyes peeled. She held to the metal wall and used the Force to guide pieces of debris and space junk away from them. Aryn was lucky. She ought to just let him get pummeled with pieces of goddess-knew-what to serve him right for this ridiculous operation.

Each one of his stunts belonged to a category of intensely reckless acts that Srina, and many others, had unconsciously begun to call 'Teth Maneuvers'. Want to throw your ship into a Super Star Destroyer? Teth Maneuver. Want to nearly get your brains sucked out by skull-borers? Teth Maneuver. Want to crash land on Tatooine? It was a very, very, popular trend. His fans would be excited to know that they could add death-defying space elevator to the list.

Hearing the airlock snap open the Sith Apprentice grasped hold of Aryn’s arm and floated in with him. Weightlessness ceased when the doors closed and the gravity stabilizers began to kick in. “Finally.”, Srina breathed, leaving her helmet on for the moment, unsure if they would need it to get back out. The plans that Aryn had procured from the Besalisks should still be viable even if the codes had been changed by the pirate-scum. Srina hated slavers of any kind. It was one of the most severely punished offenses in the Confederacy. “Which way first?”, she questioned her companion, eyes and ears focused, trying to sense if something organic was close by.

“It feels like we’re alone for now…But that would easily change.”

Once Aryn was ready they entered the remains of the Krell station. Srina had enough weaponry on her person to bring down a small army, but even she was limited in space. What was the point of having MagnaGuards and B3’s if she couldn’t bring them along to aid in the mayhem. No doubt, on a dying station full of ‘treasure’ and prates, there would be a lot of it. An electrostaff would be far easier to use in such cramped conditions.

The Echani paused when she heard footsteps ahead. She nodded her head at Aryn, signaling that they stop, and they waited in the shadows for a trio of pirates to pass by. She supposed that she should have asked before the mission began. How did they plan to deal with the enemy? Capture? Surely, they wouldn’t choose the bloodier option, not unless there was no other choice. Srina hated that option.

In her eyes…The only good enemy was a dead one.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Coren Starchaser was at Ojom, that much of Jared’s thought was false. The elder was aboard his son’s ship, disguising his Force signature in the hopes of catching any Sith looking to disrupt the life of Alliance personel. He was on the ship, working with the rest of the soldiers. Carbine, pistol, and lightsaber strapped to his gear, he was looking like most of the Jedi who were working with the GADF. And today? They were going to have to move fast. Using Lexi, the virtual intelligence he had installed, and subsequently moved from the shuttle ‘Shortfin’ into his armor, he had a timer on his heads up display as to when the ship that his son was flying was going to need to break away. He looked to the team assembled with him.

“So we have to move fast. Not going to have all day to walk on eggshells in there. Find the able bodied, get them moving, help any wounded, and remove the pirate threat. Scans indicate that there are many beings at the central data core. That’s where our primary objective for Sentinel team is. The rest, recovery.”

Coren grabbed the crash webbing as the call came down from Jared. He looked over at [member="Jyoti Nooran"] and nodded. Time to get moving.

3…
2…
1…

The ship that Jared was flying crashed itself into the boarding location and got a temporary seal. The door opened and the away team had received a green light.

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Xerius Station
Allies: [member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]
Enemies: Pirates

Once the flotilla made it out at lightspeed, she noticed that there was a station that was crashing into the planet, while pirates were seemingly laying in wait. Waiting on any sign of medvac to act, believing that the Alliance was vulnerable in the Core even as the war against the First Order unfolded southwest, in the Outer Rim. As for what to do, the answer was clear: she had to be quick in deploying the medvac. After all, swift action allowed Therapy Command to limit the damage when Thyferra was attacked. It was important to get the proton rockets ready, as the hangar crews worked hard to get the proton rockets loaded onboard the fighters; the fleet was now in position to fend off any pirates that were, well, on the move, on a trajectory to engage the fleet currently arriving in-system. So time was short to deploy the medvac, and they prepared the beds, the IV drips and other equipment that were critical in saving as many of the people onboard Xerius Station as was possible. They knew that, in medvac, time was at a premium, and the ambulances flew under fighter cover, while the bombers were screening the fleet, to engage pirates that would come too close.

"Medvac, move it! What medvac we currently have in-system won't be enough without us! Tractor the station so that it can stop its descent! Battle stations!"

"Roger, roger" the tractor beam lead gunner acknowledged, while tractoring the station out of its freefall trajectory.

Spoiler: Medvac

ANS Pharmacokinetics (Cardea-class medical cruiser)
ANS Tylenol (Cardea-class medical cruiser)

64 M47 Illria ambulances

Spoiler: Fleet

Capital ships:

ANS Lothal (Lothal-II-class artillery carrier)
ANS Locus of Control (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Big Seven (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Kalla (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Rudrig (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Karst (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Kitai (Kalla-class missile corvette)

Attack craft:

24 Chiloon-I fighters
24 Chiloon-II fast bombers

 

[Asmus Janes]

System's edge, asteroid belt.

Asmus had been singing a song about fishing all morning. That was really starting to rankle with his squadron. So when he called softly: "come on, come and have a nibble," there was a collective groan.

Wraith squadron were currently stowed in their fighters in cargo pods. They had been sat quite still for nearly twelve hours now. Asmus had a warm, smelly bottle stowed just behind his seat. The idea had been to draw away as many pirates as possible to open the way for [member="Roth Tillian"] to punch a hole.

Judging by the response time of the pirates and ad-hoc organisation of the sortie they were not well organised across the system.

"That's a lot of ships sir," Chad murmured. From the outside their comms would seem little more than intercom noise. Asmus looked at the readings. Maybe ten snubfighters and eight armed freighters. Wraith squadron had just eight fighters.

"We're being scanned. Disguise won't hold out long and the attack will have started."

"Hold..." Asmus whispered.

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Jyoti Nooran"]

They were on the clock here. One of the younger officers with them had reflected that it was like one of the "implausible" no win scenarios they were given at the academy. They was no possible way to save every soul on the station so what did you do?

Apparently the answer was to slow the station - or rather stop it speeding up even further - with tractor beams. Then send in small teams to assess the risk and deal with hostiles whilst the medical and evacuation ships moved in.

He checked the screen on his arm for the route to the central data core as they made their seal. Perhaps they could isolate the threat rather than attack it head on. They would see.

With his lightsaber held in his prosthetic hand Trextan moved through the doors and into the station.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

"You're going to spook them." Kit stated plainly, her eyes were locked on the console, they were aboard the Sondheimer III and for all intents and purposes. The Galactic Alliance might just chit itself - it would be hard to see the girl without immediately hitting the panic button. Kit Galeway, a long time protege of Fiolette Yvarro folded her arms as she turned away from the console and looked at the older blonde woman herself. "Seriously, even if our IFF code is registered to Primo Victoria, the Sondheimer is a hard girl to miss."

Fiolette took a drag off her Black Label cigarra, the blue smoke billowed from her lips, "Kit, it's fine." She dusted off the ash from the tip with her forefinger, "Supreme Commander Teth has me on a very tight leash, besides, if anyone knows a thing or two about space station and debris, it's me."

Kit sighed and looked over at Rae and then Farrah, "well c'mon time we put the girl to work, set us out at the edge we'll start clean up efforts."

"Got it," Nasir Farrah complied he worked the navigational controls, "sending a message out to the Fleetwood, you sure you want Petrovsky there and not here?"

"Dansen is there and he's the one in charge," Fiolette reminded Farrah, "and yes, I'm sure." She brought the cigarra back to her lips, and tugged at her black and white suit, "make sure our recycling facilities are up and running. I wanna strip and salvage any decent chunk of metal."

"Of course," Farrah acknowledged.

Rae Montague brought a small holographic device to Fiolette, "we'll be activating our nets here and here, with luck they'll work to attract the magnetic properties making clean up easier."

"No nets, these stations are too fragile, we'll have to deploy them somewhere else," Fiolette ordered as she then tucked the cigarra in her mouth and stepped down to forward operations. "But get those worker drones ready, and warm up the tractor beam."

"Yes ma'am."

 

[Roth Tillian]

[member="Asmus Janes"]

"Systems check," Roth said through the comms. His co-pilot hummed softly for a few moments before answering.

"All systems green. Higher than expected energy drain on the reactor, however."

"Roger that, keep an eye on it." He opened a squadron channel. "Status rep."

"Knight Two, all systems green."

"Knight Three, clear."

"Knight Four, good to go."

"Knight Five, got a loose stabilizer."

Roth paused and considered for a moment.

"Copy, Knight Five. Your assessment?"

"Good for attack runs, Knight One. Negative on close-up."

"Roger that. Trusting your judgment. Keep me updated. Knight Six?"

"Negative, Knight One," the response crackled back. "Targeting systems glitched."

"Understood. Run diagnostics as we circle around. If no go, peel off and get to a hangar."

"Wilco, Knight One."

Roth craned his neck back to get a look at the fighter. It hung back at the edge of the loose formation. Nothing seemed to be wrong, but if it was the computer system, there wouldn't be anything visible. He nudged the controls and his ship drifted over, more closely.

Then he saw it. A piece of shrapnel had caught the hull and punctured it.

"Knight Six, damage located," Roth said, gauging its size. "Shrapnel punched through the hull. Probably severed the wires."

"Copy, that. Will peel off for repairs. Out."

The ship peeled away and accelerated towards the friendly fleet, a blaze of thrust moving through the void. He changed the comm channel again.

"Wraith One, this is Knight One. Initial attack run successful. Good hole. We're clear on our end. Much obliged."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

A good number of people had showed up to Ojom to help with fixing this disaster. Coren wasnot walking in like Coren Starchaser, Jedi Master, at the moment, but he was linked into the command calls. He heard more people arriving. But right now? His goal was getting onto the station and getting off again, hopefully heavy, with people. This may be one of those tricky situations, but then again, this was a Jedi Master we were dealing with.

He looked to his team and nodded.

“Alright teams, keep moving. Ship’s going to bounce back, but we have something in the center to get to. You have your jobs.” He reached for his blaster and held it in one hand, his lightsaber still on his belt. He was going to throw up a shield, but the first few hallways were pretty still. No threat here.

“Keep moving.”

[member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Trextan Voidstalker"]

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Xerius Station
Allies: [member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Trextan Voidstalker"]
Enemies: Pirates

"Pirates detected!" the sensor technician reported, upon seeing a mass of hostile blips.

"How many units?"

"Eight armed freighters and ten fighters"

"Good: someone else has actually attempted to draw them away!"

While Xerius Station was being tractored so as to stabilize its flight path in orbit, the pirates, on the other hand, were drawn away from Xerius, interrupting an attempt to destroy it. Meanwhile, Knight Six was en route towards the Lothal's hangar bay for repairs, having suffered shrapnel that severed some wires. With some flames, perhaps. Sure, the question was how to get a clear path for the likes of Trextan to get the civilians out, just that the shuttles were working tirelessly to carry as many civilians as they could, flying back and forth between the hospital ships and the stations, loaded with civilians. But these 64 shuttles had a limited capacity to ferry the civilians and time was short - even then Trextan, Coren and Jyoti would be grateful for their assistance, for them saving the outermost portions of the station. A no-win situation that became much more bearable, in the sense that casualties can be controlled. And yet, she could feel that these three people were going for the deeper areas of the station, where the bulk of the civilians left to save are found. I hope we can actually keep casualties at a minimum here... she thought.

Spoiler: Medvac

ANS Pharmacokinetics (Cardea-class medical cruiser)
ANS Tylenol (Cardea-class medical cruiser)

64 M47 Illria ambulances

Spoiler: Fleet

Capital ships:

ANS Lothal (Lothal-II-class artillery carrier)
ANS Locus of Control (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Big Seven (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Kalla (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Rudrig (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Karst (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Kitai (Kalla-class missile corvette)

Attack craft:

24 Chiloon-I fighters
24 Chiloon-II fast bombers

 

[lgmmrm]

Objective: Xerius Station
Allies: Jyoti Nooran Coren Starchaser Trextan Voidstalker [member="Cathul Thuku"]
Enemies: Pirates

It seemed Lightning Squadron had appeared nearly perfectly on time. As the 12 Starfighters and the modified Pelta-class Thunderhead dropped out of hyperspace, they formed up on the Lothal and the fleet and fighter screen around her. The entire fighter squadron formed up in a finger-four formation before getting a good scan in on the action.

"This is Lightning Lead to the Squadron. Form up on your flight leads. Aurek Flight, on me. Besh engage those fighters, wheel right. Cresh, engage those fighters, wheel left. Thunderhead, assist the frigates in screen duty."

The A-wings sped to meet the pirate snubfighters the two subordinate flights making wide maneuvers to catch the snubfighters' flanking motions. As dueling torrents of laser fire streamed towards each other, Jarck spun his A-wing and started flying in erratic patterns, making himself harder and even harder to hit. He didn't expect first contact to take out the enemy fighters, but with the surprise of 8 A-wings collapsing in, the enemy snubfighters might just let their guard down enough to draw more pirates out of their formations.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Jarck Rabsch"]

Objective: Xerius station. Supporting action.


"All elements are in the chit now Karren. Shall we?"

Karren glanced up from her flight console and into the black, steely green eyes scanning the situation. One side of her faceplate was illuminated in a ghostly TAC map of the area. Her hand clenched tight to the yoke, and her other dialing the inertial compensator back to sixty five percent. That'd let her feel every turn in her bones as G forces pinned her to her seat and electrocuted her endorphins.

​

Well retirement was real short ....I guess.​

And indeed after a stint living on Tatooine as a scout fighter for hire, she was back in the cockpit of her Modded StealthX. She'd forgone the title of Lt. Forgone returning to the Rogues. Now she was leading the Bloodhawks, a small four person Commando team that could fly. Hand picked from the best the local planets had to offer.

"Yep. Alright boys and girls. Fire em up."

"All wings up."

"Gotcha. Stay on my tail, fast pass on those engines, just like we practiced."

"Copy all."

Karren smirked, feeling the tingles in her gut as the force expanded around her, and every pore opened, letting the void flow in like electric water. She was neither Jedi nor Sith anymore. A fallen star in between. Anger, frustration, grief. Solace.....

"Ok break!"

Four blacked out StealthX fighters powered on engines and dove deep beneath the plane of battle, engines burning. Karrens thumb jammed a button on her yoke, firing her afterburners, propelling her fighter to extreme speeds. Sensors would no doubt light up.

"Five pursuing!"

"Nose up, let em have it on my mark."

Here goes. First real fight since Mirial....​

"Mark!"

The squad nosed up, flying loose v like so many lazy geese. Cannons blurted, stitching crimson into the inky darkness. Karrens own wingtips spewed high velocity slugs, shattering wingtips and punching through canopy and fuselage alike.

Tally! Feth yea!​

"Two down, they're breaking off, back to the station."

"Sweet. Alert Lightning Lead and Admiral Thuku we are making our attack run. Stand bye."

"All copy."

They pitched up more, aiming for the soft rear underbellies of the Pirate vessels. Without engines, they'd be taking no slaves away.

Blood lust roared in the young womans veins like poison, battling to shove her tranquility aside, unnerve her careful balance.

The first kill of the day.

Of a long time really. Since she'd stood with the Silvers during the wall of light and toe to toe with the Sith known as Lord Ghoul. Darkness with darkness was beginning to become a pardigm she flirted with often.

Is it still worth it?​

 

[Asmus Janes]

[member="Roth Tillian"]

Asmus didn't immediately reply. Internal comms weren't much of a warning above background noise when routed through the bulk freighter's system. Sending a burst of alliance encrypted chatter might have tipped them off.

Asmus watched the positions of the vessels. His uncle had raised him from the age of sixteen and he had once flown a pirate vessel. They could be killing a lot of people who had just taken a wrong turn in life.

He watched and waited. The positions of the ships, their vectors and current thrust, the volume of comms and scanning. He was waiting for the moment when they realised the rest of their vessels at the centre of the system were under attack.

Two of the fighters turned away. Two of the freighters started to power their hyperdrives. The others pressed on.

"Wraith Squadron launch. Wraith One to Knight One we are about to make contact."

The doors of his freight pod burst open and the improvised rails launched him free just so he didn't melt the rear of the pod.

"Wraiths, ion missiles first."

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

@jyooti Nooran [member="Coren Starchaser"]

There was no Jacen Voidstalker here to guide him. Not even Master Yvette, the falleen with a stern demeanour but mischievous twinkle in her eyes who had taken him under her wing. None of his usual special forces from the Scarred.

Neither did he sense [member="Choli Vyn"] despite there being a significant fighter presence in the space around the world. She could have been injured again. But then she would have messaged him. If she was conscious. He compartmentalised that thought and tucked it away.

This was a test for him to overcome on his own merits.

As he heard boots rushing towards them he took up a defensive stance. Only to relax as a group of civilians rushed around the gentle curve of the corridor.

"Where do we direct them?" He asked Coren. Surrounded by this many people they would be easy targets for any remaining pirates. But those people were the reason they had boarded in the first place.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Trextan Voidstalker"] [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Xerius:Boarding Action, Main Pirate Vessel.

"Lock S foils in attack position!"

"Copy all, loose missiles and break. Ion only."

"Copy Paladin,"

They still call me that. Like I'm some kind of Saint......​

​

Peh.....​

Karren corkscrwed in, leading the pack of StealthX's like hungry wolves, the engines their fleshy prey. Twin Ion trails of blazing blue stitched the night, then smeared multicolor against shields, flashing them with arcs of purple and and white. For a second she ganced down at her dash and then breathed deep. The hatch beneath her STealthX opened, releasing her shadow bomb stowed within.

The force reached out, an invisible barrier and shoved it.

Right into the engine of the main Pirate cruiser.

"Break now!"

The flight split, two and two, veering off like vultures in search of new prey.

Karren nosed up and banked hard right into a spiral.

The shadow bombs exploded, ripping bolts and steel, rending flesh and circuitry. Bodies streamed out, mixed with crystalline fuel from the rear of the vessel, where the engines were now reduced to a molten slag, still white hot despite the vacuum.

A heavy weight descended upon her chest, leaden and solid. Combatted by a burning fire and fury inher viens. Her skin grew hot. Her jaw clenched. So many bodies....

But they are scum.....​

​

They will return to the force.....​

​

They deserved it....​

​

Feth....​

​

...​

​

Feth it... they deserved it....​

"Reports indicate prisoners already taken Paladin. Advise?"

She pressed her lip into a thin line, green eyes growing even narrower. Wheels turned, thoughts spiraled and several paths of action where considered at once.

"Form up on me."

​

Lets kill some more...​

"We are going in then I take it?"

"Roger. We have unilateral support for what ever actions courtesy of High Command. Prep for Zero G entry."

"Alright! I loveeeee that!"

"Keep your short on fly boy. It's not gonna be all running and gunning. We gotta save lives."

After we've just taken so many...​

"Copy Paladin. All fighter in tow."

They'd practiced this a hundred times on a derelict out in the asteroid fields. Under fire and with maximum stress. Karren breathed deep again, beginning a rhythmic cycle that began to slow with each breath. She was conserving oxygen, slowing the movement of blood. Saturating herself with warm force energy. The bracelet Kiriko had given her glowed a faint blue on her wrist, keeping the biting void at bay.

"Exit in 3....2....1."

The StealthX's died, coming to sharp halt as four canopies opened. Out they flew, black crows against an even blacker night, four abreast. They floated for an airlock at the lower bowels of the Pirate vessel. Fog and ice crystallized her visor.

Why am I so conflicted?​

​

Mirial?​

She reached for her shaped charges.....

 

[Cathul Thuku]

Objective: Xerius Station
Allies: [member="Jyoti Nooran"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Trextan Voidstalker"]
Enemies: Pirates

"I hope those engaging the pirates are not asking for additional backup, or else we may as well be jeopardizing the people we do save"

"Are we running out of space in our hospital ships?" the chief engineer asked.

"Thus far we appear to be saving the majority of those who can be saved. While each and every one of them is grateful for us, for our intervention"

While Knight Six was being repaired onboard the Lothal, some of the ambulances were being directed next to it, especially since triage was still being done onboard the hospital ships and that triage was the bottleneck of getting medvac done on such a scale. The remaining question is: were there enough space in her fleet to save all the people that resided in the station? Calling in a third hospital ship will take time; how many, if any, will the pirates claim before the third hospital ship arrives? I had to do something about the sheer number of civvies to save, she thought, while reaching for the communications console, hoping that somebody else would respond, probably someone stationed on Inysh. In fact, it was not too far from Ojom, and could reasonably come and have a share of the civilians that the other parties were not already saving, provided the pirates were actually not coming in force, especially not with their flagship boarded by one [member="Karren Trask"]. So how much would the pirates be willing to sacrifice to get some civilians killed? She couldn't know just yet.

"This is Therapist Actual; we need reinforcements on Ojom, stat!"

"This is Oral-Turinabol, we're on our way"

Spoiler: Medvac

ANS Pharmacokinetics (Cardea-class medical cruiser)
ANS Tylenol (Cardea-class medical cruiser)
ANS Oral-Turinabol (Cardea-class medical cruiser) - ETA: 2 posts

64 M47 Illria ambulances (+32 with a 2-post ETA)

Spoiler: Fleet

Capital ships:

ANS Lothal (Lothal-II-class artillery carrier)
ANS Locus of Control (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Big Seven (C-9980-class frigate)
ANS Kalla (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Rudrig (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Karst (Kalla-class missile corvette)
ANS Kitai (Kalla-class missile corvette)

Attack craft:

24 Chiloon-I fighters
24 Chiloon-II fast bombers