Evocii-ation

[Alysanne Drast]

Nal Hutta​

Imperial Hutta, once the vast smuggling haven of the Hutt Cartels, had gone dark. Alys was a little hazy on the details, things had been moving at a breakneck pace since Corellia, and though she didn't know all the details of what had happened on Nar Shaddaa, she had pieced together enough to not be entirely lost when the call went up for all available rebels to head towards Imperial Hutta.

It wasn't a recent revelation to anyone that living conditions were abysmal in parts of the Empire, and particularly in the Imperial Hutta. But this blackout provided an unique opportunity to actually do something about that. Some spoke of inciting rebellion, or leading the sector to toss aside their Imperial shackles, but Alys wasn't really bothering herself with all that. Not when there were more important matters at hand. This was a rescue mission, a mission that could have a much more direct impact on improve the lives of many Evocii.

Dee-Dee was seated in the co-pilot's seat, and members of Red Squadron were manning the guns aboard the Grinning Liar as the ship zipped through hyperspace towards Nar Shaddaa. Somewhere out there the Starbird was also making the same trip through hyperspace with Greybok, Twobee, A'ro, and others aboard the other Star Squadron freighter. No fighters this time, they needed the bigger ships to pack as many bodies into them as they could, and these two ships were probably the best suited in the rebel fleet to carry out this particular mission.

As the long lines of hyperspaces shrank down to pinpricks on their reversion from hyperspace, Alys opened up a comm line to the Starbird once it joined them. There was, as expected, a blockade around Nar Shaddaa, but nothing they weren't prepared for. "Star One, all green. Awaiting order Star Leader."

@Malon @Rom

 

[Greybok]

Greybok and the Starbird were out in front of the squadron's formation. The Wookiee was already flipping switches to ensure that his shields were up and power was flowing freely to the weapon systems. He was already thankful that he had invested in improving his shield ratings. Heavy military-grade shields would come in handy against a blockade. His comm channel was the last switch he flipped, and, at this point, he didn't even bother having Twobee translate for him. Alys knew how to understand Shyriiwook.

«I copy you, Star One,» the Wookiee said. «Keep in formation with me and prepare to make a run on the blockade. Remember, our goal isn't to get caught in a space battle here. Let's get to the surface and get our jobs done.»

Switching off his comms, Grey began to accelerate the Starbird to attack speeds. The fleet was still some distance ahead of them and there were no signs of it launching any starfighter screens just yet. He imagined that would change when they closed distance further. While he still had the advantage of distance, though, he scanned for any gaps in the fleet formation that he could exploit. For a moment, he brought his comms back up.

«Alys, keep an eye out for a weakness in their formation we can exploit. We're faster than they are. Once we spot a weakness, we should be able to exploit it long before they can correct it.» He switched the comm over to internal intercoms. «Is everyone in position? Gunners check in. I don't need the Force to tell me things are about to get colorful in here.» @Wit @Rom

 

[Aro Saa]

Making a few last minute adjustments to the targeting computer, A'ro idly wondered how he'd found himself squeezed into the sidecar turret of an Ophanim-class starship that was somehow *more* of a cobbled together piece of junk held together by string, duratape, and a prayer than the base model of the Ugly deathtrap was in the first place. 'Because your dumb ass lost your ship on Corellia,' his mind unhelpfully replied and the Kel Dor once again found himself considering the benefits of a self performed lobotomy. Grumbling under his breath the Rebel commando smacked the control panel of the turret with the flat of his hand until the final indicator lit up and strapped himself in to the gimballed pod.

"I'm reading you loud and clear, Star Leader, Wraith Three standing by... at least when you're using the Droid I don't have to try and parse all of the howling. Swear to the void and everything else in-between if this ball flies off and I die, I will not rest until that walking carpet has a permanent case of fleas."

The blockade surrounding the distant planet came into view, motes of sublight drives and flashes of sun-struck metal glimmering in a web around Nal Hutta. Smirking behind his breath mask, A'ro primed the main guns and swung the sidecar turret around to point at the enemy ships, an outbound comm transmitting to Alysanne and Greybok alone.

"Sith one weekend, Hutts the other; you bring me to the nicest places, Star One."

@Malon @Wit

 

[Greybok]

Mood music​

Greybok was starting to feel excited, the way he always felt right before a fight in space. His excitement was rewarded; the enemy fleet unleashed a horde of starfighters from their hangers, which then swarmed towards the advancing freighters.

«Star One, Wraith Three,» Greybok roared in Shryiiwook, «Get ready! They're sending a welcoming party! I've got twelve of them on my sensors! Remember, Star One, our mission is the Evocii, so let's not get too distracted by these gnats. Let's swat 'em, punch through that blockade, and get to the surface!» He switched over to the internal intercom only. «Wraith Three, I hope you are fond of fancy flying because here — we — go!»

Greybok twisted hard on the light freighter's yoke just as the enemy fighters began to close and start shooting. Green lasers lanced through space and soared towards the Starbird, but the bird spun and rolled, and their laser blasts did not find purchase. At the same time, the maneuver would give A'ro a good selection of fighters to shoot at. The Wookiee pilot roared loudly over the comm unit — the closest the fury alien species came to a human Wah-oooo!

As far as Greybok was concerned, this was what life was all about: flying fancy and killing Imps.

OOC - Here is the dice thread. @Rom @Wit

 

[Alysanne Drast]

Alys saw the ships headed their way and started barking orders at everyone inside the Grinning Liar. "Copy that Star Leader!" With that she brought the ship to attack speeds, the distance between them and the incoming swarm vanishing almost too fast.

She instructed Dee-Dee to begin marking some of the fighters and once she had locks on three of them she fired off her torpedoes, two flying out almost at once, a third one following shortly after. The first two found their mark, one hitting one of the fighters almost dead center and obliterating it at once, the second one getting a glancing hit but did enough damage that along with the exploding debris of the first fighter was enough to take it out of the fight as well. The third one though, fired after the first two, missed its mark altogether. The first explosions had given the fighters enough of a warning that they managed to avoid the last torpedo, which ultimately exploded harmlessly behind the swarm.

Cursing at the result, she swung the ship around, as laser fire had now started filling space around the Grinning Liar. She had wasted too much time taking her shots. But these pilots did not seem like a particularly elite bunch, and she was able to do enough to avoid taking any hits and line up behind the Starbird.

@Malon @Rom

 

[Aro Saa]

Gritting his palate behind his breathing mask as Greybok whipped the Starbird into a tight turn and barrel rolled beneath the opening salvo of enemy fire, A'ro did not bother responding to the wookiee's words beyond a whoop of joy and excitement on the open comm channel. While the Kel Dor would always prefer to be at the controls of his own ship, there was simply no denying that his General could fly. Grinning like a madman, eyes glittering with battle lust behind his protective goggles, A'ro squeezed his thumbs around the triggers and cackled at the satisfying whump that moved through his body as the aftermarket turret spat fire at the approaching swarm.

Raking his aim across the leading line of the enemy Squadron, A'ro attempted to break up the cohesive formation of the Imperials and force them to scatter into a individual flights; the tactics of the Imperial Navy generally relied on numbers and overlapping arcs of fire in A'ro's experience flying against the Imps, and anything that broke their formation was a good thing. The fighters twisted and banked around the lances of light and A'ro cackled with glee into the comms as three starfighters veered around the cannon fire and resumed their attack formation... directly into his targeting cone. Squeezing the triggers again, A'ro whipped the turret across the formation and whooped as the lead fighter disappeared in a cloud of flame and shrapnel while his wingmate spun out of control from a blast that slagged the cockpit, careening sideways into the third.

A klaxon of alarms from his targeting computer cut his celebration short; while his initial fire had done the job of scattering part of the enemy squadron, it seemed they'd earned the attention and ire of the survivors - and their targeting computers.

"Ah, Greybok, I've got an awful lot of " weapons locked" signals on my panels. Greybok? Kriff I hate it when he gets quiet..."

 

[Greybok]

Half of the enemy squadron was gone on the Starbird's first run, and they were now breaking formation to scatter around the dangerous light freighter. The break in the enemy's formation was what Greybok was waiting for; he punched the acceleration pedal and soared towards the nearest opening in the enemy fleet. Starfighter fire was replaced by turbolaser fire, one shot of which glanced off of the dorsal shields of the Starbird. The whole ship shook and several warning sirens blared in the cockpit. Greybok roared at them, as if it would make them stop.

Nevertheless, Greybok's heavy shields held and he broke through to the other side of the formation. Already, there were fighters, three of them by his count, rushing up from Nal Hutta to meet him. They would be well within his gunner's range within moments, so Greybok did nothing to impede them. A'ro could handle them easily enough—he had proven as much already.

In the meantime, the Wookiee put in the landing coordinates for the Evocii village and then transmitted them to Alys. As long as she followed his vector, she should not only make it through the blockade, but be on the proper course for the same village as the rest of her squad. @Wit @Rom

 

[Alysanne Drast]

Alys was doing her best to stay out of trouble, having wasted time with that initial salvo, now she tried to avoid conflict and keep as much in reserve for the flight back as she could. So she avoided any risky maneuvers or crazy divergences to try and take on more ships, instead ducking and weaving through the fight to conserve her weaponry.

Suddenly Dee-Dee piped up about a message from Grey, an approach vector for the planet that would lead them through the village, as long as she got through the blockade. Instructing Dee to bring up the vector on one of her displays, she punched the accelertor yoke, sucking out every drop of speed that she could from the Grinning Liar and made an almost straight shot for the planet.

Maybe it was their preoccupation with the other ship, maybe her direct approach simply caught them by surprise, but almost no one harassed her as she just slipped through a hole in the blockade that Grey had opened up. There were ships coming up to meet the Starbird, but she was confident that they would not last long. So she shot straight for the planet, letting her droid co-pilot navigate her to the village.

@Malon @Rom