Blue Milk Run Gone Sour

[Caleb Del'Fin]

Sullust, a planet the smuggler always thought of it as Mustafar if it cooled down a bit and became a bit more industrial. Caleb's frigate was set down at one of these factory sites, particularly one that built the computers for star ships and base commands. His contact on Tatooine had requested some of these computers to be picked up and delivered to him. He didn't ask the reason, nor did he usually, as long as he got paid.

As a group of heavy-duty droids carried three large crates onto Caleb's ship, the ginger was busy sealing the deal with a Sullistan. After signing over the buyers credits to the large-eyed alien, Caleb immediately took off into orbit and set a course for the desert planet known for its twin suns. This job was simple enough, he thought to himself, for he was not doing any real smuggling here. Merely doing a pick up and drop off of the product. He checked all of his navigational charts and prepped the hyperdrive to make the jump.

As the man sat back in his chair and waited for his ship to increase speed, the alarms started blaring. "Oh what the hell?" He sat up and took a look at his radar. A ship about the size of his own, accompanied by four fighter-class ships were closing in on his position. Before the man could redirect his ship out of their way, the fighters opened fire, riddling his ships rear shields with cannon fire. His frigate was not meant for combat against this many ships, but the speed of those fighters would prove difficult for him to get away. Increasing power to the engines, Caleb shot forward to evade any more fire. "Blast, what are these some kind of pirates?"

The pilot quickly made his way towards a nearby asteroid field to try and lose the pirates.

@Mad Dog

 

[Mad Dog]

Cade sat aboard the D44-M he'd been assigned to today, and was currently responding to small bouts of piracy outside but nearby the Protectorate's jurisdiction. He'd taken the Hydian Way up to the Rimma Trade route and was currently somewhere near Sullust. Relatively board Cade took a swig of the Whiskey he always kept with him. The silence of space was relaxing to him, albeit not very exciting, but this down time was a welcome change to the chaos as of late.

That was until a ping came over an open airway begging for assistance from some would be victim of interstellar piracy. When will they learn, the South is ours... Cade thought in reference to the seemingly never ending pool of pirate's that existed in the Galaxy.

Cade alerted his four crew members and immediately turned his ship to intercept. Not long after committing to the act Cade saw an Alabaster Escort Freighter, three Blossom Starfighters and an NX-3 Star fighter swarming a small XS Stock Light Freighter.

"Well that's not even a fair fight.." Cade said with a laugh, earning s chuckle from his co-pilot.

Cade activated his shields, and brought the payload online, he'd be within striking distance shortly.

@Caleb Del'Fin

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

Hit with another barrage of cannon fire, the alarms started to blare again. "Gah, shields are down.." Reaching to the other side of the flight controls, Caleb grabbed the headset and switched his comms to an open channel. "This is Caleb Jor of the Starlane Wanderer, requesting immediate assistance above Sullust. Under fire from a band of pirates. Four ships in total." The cockpit shook, almost knocking Caleb out of his seat as he took a direct hit to the side of his frigate. The smuggler grit his teeth and spun the ship around, "Alright schuttas. You want a fight?" He grabbed a hold of the controls and squeezed his finger, pulling the trigger on the rear side of the steering. Caleb returned fire, the frigate's cannons shooting sluggishly, each gun firing alternatively from each other. One of the large red bolts hit the wing of one of the fighters, the following one landing a direct strike on the cockpit, turning the pirate into a fireball. The other other two Blossom Starfighters and the NX-3 continued the onslaught as the Alabaster Escort Freighter drifted off in the distance, awaiting for the fighters to reel in the loot.

Shortly after sending out his distress call, Caleb spotted a large D44-M coming into range. He hoped that this ship was on his side. Quickly, before the fighters came back around for another attack run, Caleb switched all power out of his cannons and put as much as he could into the shields. If this gunship was on his side, it should make quick work of these pirates. A lot faster than he would attempt to with cannons as slow as Banthas.

@Mad Dog

 

[Mad Dog]

Spoiler: OOC

Sorry for the delay, my phone got smashed..

"This is Caleb Jor of the Starlane Wanderer, requesting immediate assistance above Sullust. Under fire from a band of pirates. Four ships in total."

Cade looked to his co-pilot,"Do we know that name?" the co-pilot looked back for a moment before shaking his head,"I don't think so." he replied.

"Yea, me neither.."

The D44-M was now close enough, and Cade opened up the ship's four laser cannons. unfortunately for the NX-3 Star fighter pilot, they were trained on him, the ship exploded violently as the bolts quickly dissipated it's shields and shattered the ship into dozens of pieces, the electrical cracks and fire adding some color to otherwise dreary blackness of space.

The Blossom Starfighters had not been forgotten either, as Cade's co-pilot fired a single concussion missile which found its resting place directly in the cockpit of what could be considered the most unfortunate fighter pilot. The explosion left very little of the ship intact, or even visible.

"Caleb Jor this is Cade Sparkin of the Kjlljk Protectorate, we are here to assist you." Cade's voice extremely professional as he spoke into the comms. After the comms turned off Cade looked to his co-pilot,"Have no fear citizen!" he said making a funny face, prompting a room full of laughter from his co-pilot and other members of the crew.

@Caleb Del'Fin

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

The Kjlljk Protectorate? He had never heard of that group before. However, this Cade had a ship with big guns that was saving his ass, so who was he to question this Protectorate's intentions. Just as quickly as the D44-M had entered their space, they had wiped out most of the fighters that were blasting at Caleb's ship. Now only one Blossom Starfighter and the Alabaster Escort Freighter remained. Realizing that this heist had turned against them, the fighter regrouped with the Escort Freighter as they turned tail and prepared to run.

"Not so fast." Caleb said as he switched power back to the frontal cannons and spun his ship around to face the freighter. The slow cannons began to fire upon the engines of the Alabaster, first stopping the ship from jumping, and then causing a chain reaction that set the whole ship ablaze. The other Blossom, thrown slightly off course by the explosion, was still able to make its escape as it jumped into hyperspace.

Caleb sat back in his chair, letting out a sigh of relief. He switched his communications with the D44-M back on. "Thanks for the assistance. This old girl hasn't seen a dogfight like that in years. Didn't think she could handle it."

@Mad Dog

 

[Mad Dog]

Cade watched as the Blossom Starfighter made its escape, it's speed and position was probably enough to evade Cade's ship so he let it disappear. While preparing to fire on the slower Alabaster Escort Freighter Cade watched as this Caleb Jor opened up on the ships engines, causing it to slow to a dead spot in space, shortly before a crackle caused the ship to mostly light up in flames."Hmm..." Cade said, slightly surprised by Caleb's efforts.

"Thanks for the assistance. This old girl hasn't seen a dogfight like that in years. Didn't think she could handle it."

"Hey no problem, you did half the work yourself." Cade responded as he moved his ship closer to the burning freighter for a closer look. Cade had made his move a bit too soon, as the fire had set off the munitions left over in the Alabaster's torpedo tube, resulting in a large explosion. Not that he was close enough to receive damage from the explosion, but it certainly surprised him a bit.

Cade ran a quick check of Caleb's transponder codes, they came back negative for stolen property or piracy."Good.."

"Now then, where you headed?" Cade said.

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

The Escort Freighter's destruction was slightly delayed. The ship overloaded after the engine meltdown, and all of the internals caused the ship to implode. The Starlane Wanderer was a bit too close to the explosion for comfort, the blast doing a bit of damage to his ship. "shit shit shit.." he cursed to himself as he began to flip switches frantically, making sure everything was still intact. The blast threw his navigational charts off a bit, and he would need some time to recalibrate them before he could make another jump. Other than that, it was just a few outer aesthetics that were damaged; nothing he could not fix himself.

He heard the voice of Cade once again over his headset.
Now then, where you headed?"

"Well, I was heading towards Tatooine.. I just need to wait for some of the ship's systems to recalibrate before I can head that way... When that pirate freighter blew up, it knocked some of the computers around... Wouldn't be having this problem if I had a crew.. or at least a droid." he said with a chuckle.

 

[Mad Dog]

"Well if ya need a hand, I could provide?" Cade said as he maneuvered his D44-M closer to this Caleb's ship and extended the docking port"I happen to be a fair expert on computer and mechanical systems." Cade looked to his co-pilot and the three other crewmen, after receiving nods from each of them Cade switched off the open line and said,"Sweep the cargo hold, he says he's alone, see if he's telling the truth."

"We'll be coming aboard in a moment." Cade said over the comms.

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

"Well if ya need a hand, I could provide? I happen to be a fair expert on computer and mechanical systems."
Caleb scratched at the hairs on his chin and considered Cade's offer to help. The smuggler had been working his ship alone for the past 5 years, so he knew its systems like the back of his hand. However, another hand to get things running quickly couldn't hurt.
His face looked troubled as he thought of the worst case scenario, What if this Kjlljk Protectorate thing was just a ruse to get lonely transport ships to trust them, just to go in for the kill and steal his payload.
"Alright. I'll unlock the hatch for you."
Caleb locked his ship in place and prepared it for the D44-M to latch on.
"We'll be coming aboard in a moment."
The smuggler stood up from the pilots seat and made his way towards the back, not before grabbing his blaster and switching off the safety. He shoved the gun into its holster on his hip and made sure not to secure it in place. If things went sideways, he would need to draw, fast.
He stood at the airlock with his arms folded, waiting to meet this Cade Sparkin.

 

[Mad Dog]

The docking bay opened and saw the man who'd been piloting the other ship,"Hello!" Cade said warmly, offering a handshake. Without a word the two of the Wardens walked passed the two and into the belly of the ship, sensing Caleb's discomfort,"Don't worry bout them, just procedure. Gotta make sure you're not hauling slaves or nothin.." Cade said.

"Now then, lets take a crack at those computers!" Cade said excitedly. The third warden stayed near Cade the entire time, pretty obviously for his security. A lone Astromech droid was tagging along behind them, its lights blinking but no noise was coming out. Cade was carrying his very beat up toolbox, prepared for the job.

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

As the airlock opened with a hiss, Caleb saw that Cade was accompanied by three other men, as well as an Astromech Droid. He tried to asses the situation as quickly as possible, to decide whether or not he should draw his blaster. However, the others who walked past Caleb did not show any harm to him, and merely wanted to investigate the ship.
With a warm hello the Captain of the other ship, Cade, stepped forward, offering his hand to Caleb.
Don't worry bout them, just procedure. Gotta make sure you're not hauling slaves or nothin.
He felt a little bit better after the reassurance, for he did not expect the man to lie to Caleb. He had the superior firepower at the moment, so there would be no need to lie. The uncomfortable frown on his lips curved into a smirk as he reached out his own hand, wrapping his fingers around Cade's and answering his handshake.
"Nice to meet face to face. Thanks again for all the help. Wasn't expecting the be ambushed by pirates in this part of the galaxy."
Caleb turned and walked with Cade, the other guard, and the astromech droid towards his cockpit.

 

[Mad Dog]

Once Caleb's hand entered Cade's, Cade pulled it closer to his face and rubbed the man's hand on Cade's cheek, a tradition of the Squib, and the gesture often conveyed much more information than a simple handshake, the man was nervous, but not more than any man who was out gunned. Good... Cade thought.

Once in the cockpit Cade looked around. Being inside the Protectorate's fancy ships lately brought the appreciation of older technology flooding back to him, something about keeping something running that lesser men wouldn't or couldn't brought joy to the Squib. With a smile Cade zeroed in on the ship's navigational computers and sat down next to it, as he typed,"Where'd you come by this old beauty? I like older ships, they're more personable, you can build a relationship with them, not like the newer war machines the Galaxy has been pumping out lately. They're too robotic, cold, and without personalities of their own. Like that automated trash can.." he said tilting his head to the droid. The light on the droid flashed a couple times, but remained silent.

With a laugh,"Oh yea, I disconnected that bag o' bolts sound maker.. Since then, I've really come to like it much more." he said and laughed again.

 

[Caleb Del'Fin]

Caleb cocked an eyebrow when the Squib pulled his arm towards him, bringing his hand up to his furry face and gently rubbing his cheek with it. He figured he'd rather not question it, and instead just gave him a nervous smile. The man had bigger guns and was willing to help get his ship going, offending him would be the last thing he'd want to do.

The group entered the cockpit, which was in a bit of disarray after the short space battle. Before Caleb even had the chance to point out where he needed the help, Cade was already making his way to the computers, followed by the droid.

Where'd you come by this old beauty? I like older ships, they're more personable, you can build a relationship with them, not like the newer war machines the Galaxy has been pumping out lately. They're too robotic, cold, and without personalities of their own. Like that automated trash can..Oh yea, I disconnected that bag o' bolts sound maker.. Since then, I've really come to like it much more.

Caleb chuckled, "Huh, so that's why he's been quiet. I thought he was just shy." he finished with a joke. Caleb then walked around the cockpit, picking up tools that had fallen and reattaching anything that came loose during the space battle. "The ship used to belong to a Synd Artola.. she was the captain of the crew I was once part of. So I've been running jobs on this ship since I was a teen." he let out a heavy sigh, "We.. ran into some trouble with one of our contacts.. and..Well.." he stood up and looked at Cade, shrugging his shoulders with a smirk that hid the rest of the long, sad story, "Now I'm the only one. So I figured I'd take care of her."