Ask Pirate Hunt

[Aden Archer]

Sukkult system​

Name: Lek-Ti (NPC)
Wanted: Alive
Bounty: 55,000 credits
Contractor: New Republic
Wanted for: Piracy, manslaughter, theft

• Target is a male Chadra Fan, leader of a small band of pirates.
• Target captains the bulk freighter Zephyr, with a full crew and passengers full of pirates.
• The Zephyr is also escorted by three I4 Ionizers starfighters.
• Last spotted along the Rimma Trade Route close to the Mechis system.

A Chadra Fan leading a band of pirates is it? Sure it's a small band the bounty says, but this Lek-Ti has 55,000 credits on his head, so they must definitely proved to be a nuisance. There were reports of a pirate attack in the Sukkult system, that disabled an transport frigate, boarded it, killed one person and took all the ship's worthwhile cargo. The second person in the unfortunate transport managed to get away via escape pod, but the other wasn't so lucky. This was recent, so maybe they can get to the pirates before they decide to leave the system and set up shop somewhere else.

Aden was sporting a brand new ship - courtesy of his job at Kowak being complete (and selling the combat sortie footage) - an Aggressor-class Fighter. The ship flies well, it's not the fastest ever, but Aden is an experienced pilot and is used to piloting heavier-set vessels. For now his craft is pretty much brand new and he didn't have a chance to name it or put any modifications on it.

With him is Eryn Alenath, and independent smuggler. They are both looking for credits and the cargo the pirates might have on their big ship could be a big yield. Their interests are aligned. Aden is a skilled pilot, but he doesn't want to go against a whole band of pirates by himself.

Towards the edge of the system, Aden's craft would then be going towards the where the pirates were last sighted at, maybe from there they can find a trail that leads to their target. "We're about to be at the last pirate sighting." he stated. A few moments later he would then ask as they draw closer "So what do you think of the chances that the pirates will be lying in wait?" It's a possibility, Aden has his eyes peeled just in case.

@Cybrexian

 

[Eryn Alenath]

Eryn leant back in her pilot seat, the squeak of the patched fabric rubbing on the durasteel console setting her teeth on edge. The viewport in front of her remained clear, the Sukkult system slowly trundling passed as she flew with a single of her four ion-engines engaged. Tapping a few buttons, she still couldn't believe a Chadra Fan had wracked up such a bounty, or even formed a pirate gang in the first place. "Must have low standards" she mused aloud, glancing for the sixth time in as many minutes to name sure her NM-Series Astro, Numbers, was secure in his socket. She was in her ship, the "Dilemma", as usual. She'd never be able to do the job like this by herself, but her companion certainly brought more than a little firepower to bare.

The commlink buzzed, a pulsing blue light illuminating her rather spacious cockpit. Her partner for the operation, Aden Archer. She hadn't had much of a chance to make up her mind about him yet, but she rarely did on these bounty runs. Get the job done, save the niceties for when the credits were rolling. If at all.

"Doubt they'll be here, but they won't be far." She hummed to herself, checking the sensors once more. Nothing in range that was drawing power. She adjusted her straps once more, reaching for the Vacuum Suit helmet on the co-pilots seat and drumming her fingers on the top. She usually flew casual, but given the seriousness of what she was about to do, she kept her blaster rifle close at hand beside her.

"Hang back a bit, Arden." She drummed her fingers on the helmet once again. Was she nervous? It's not every day you set yourself up as bait. Then again, it's not every day you get offered a split of 55,000 credits. "Let me coast ahead, I've dropped to single thruster to make it look like I'm limping."

She let a moment or two pass, eyeing the button jury rigged on to the console in front of her. Nice, big and red. She reached up to flip the protective case from the top, other hand flicking the engine to spool it up and suddenly drop it down again. With any luck it they won't look too close before they close in. "I hope you can fly that shiny new ship of yours. You can fly it, right? Because I'm ready to broadcast this distress signal and we've no idea if they'll take a minute or an hour to show up." She swallowed hard, hoping the commlink didn't pick up the nervous rattle in her voice. "You ready?"

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

Yes, that is a great idea, a distress signal to bait them out. After all, they could be searching into the ends of the Rimma Trade Route systems looking for them, but it would indeed be much easier to get them to come to you rather than they go searching for them. “Copy that” Aden would then slow down until he would stop while his partner’s ship pulled ahead.

Aden was confident in his skills and abilities even though Eryn questioned it, it's understandable she would because she is taking a big risk with and he is a stranger to her. "Don't worry, we will be fiiiiiine" he said with confidence with a light chuckle. Aden has been flying ships since he was very young and he's taken down his fair share of bogeys before. "Let me get in position real quick" Aden would then acclerate his craft and then start climbing upwards in it. After traveling some distance, he would then turn his ship around and then park it.

He's now in a elevated position, out of position and out of mine, but still having visual of the Dilemma. Unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot to use as cover, but then again when pirates rush in to swoop in on a target of opportunity, they usually don't care check their surroundings, or at least look up.

Aden would power down his craft as well, dimming the ship down to emergency lights .etc This way there will be little chance of the pirates picking him up on sensors. Once the pirates take the bait, they will power up, swoop in and surprise them. "Ready." Aden would one last deep breath before putting his helmet's rebreather on.

Now as Eryn touched on, time to play the waiting game.

@Cybrexian

 

[Eryn Alenath]

Eryn continued to drum her fingers on the console as she waited for her partner to get into position, the scant few moments that it took feeling like a lifetime. She hated this, hated being exposed and vulnerable, but it made sense. Her freighter was near the same spec as the last one the pirates had attacked, and it saved a chase. "Dilemma" was a reliable work-horse, but she was no pursuit craft.

"Ready." Crackled Aden's voice suddenly, making her jump out of her seat. She coughed, collecting herself once more. She knew she'd feel better the second they had engaged, but who knew how long that would be.

"Alright, we're still on encrypted comms right?" She checked, knowing full well that they were on tight-beam and encrypted so no one could pick anything up, but never hurt to take a second look. Tapping one of the screens to her right, she confirmed her question anyway. "Well...Here goes nothing."

Click.

The cabin suddenly switched to a softly pulsing red light, droid-speak blurting from the speakers to inform her that the distress beacon had been activated and to make her way to the escape pods. She moved quickly, left arm consistently cycling the power to the single thruster a few times to put her into a slow spin and leave a slight ion trail. Her right hand danced over the long-range scanners as she boosted the power to them, watching the slowly pulsing radar band scan the sectors around. This was one of the less populated trade routes, an off-shoot. She knew the next chartered freighter or transport wouldn't be close enough to pick up the signal for at least another thirty hours. Plenty of time for the pirates to pounce.

A minute passed. Two, five. Nothing yet. She tapped the commlink button, making sure the line remained open. "Hey, er ... Aden? You had any thoughts about how we're going to take him alive?" She had a few of her own, but that involved boarding a ship and storming the bridge in a hail of blaster fire. Hard to do with just the two.

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

"Yeah, they won't be able to listen in" he assured his partner.

And then the distress signal was cast out. It would only be a matter of time until someone responds to it. Any moment...

Any moment still. Aden's firm grip on the controls and his straight posture at the ship's helm became more relaxed as time passed by. Eryn did have a really good question on how to get the target out of alive. There would be quite a bit of pirates onboard yes. "Yeah, that is the hard part. How good are you with a blaster?" he would ask "I've been in in combat on foot more than once" Aden said, he was a trained soldier. "I've got some concussion grenades, they will be useful to get the drop on them if they try swarming us." It would knock-out or heavily disorient anyone with-in blast radius if that's their plan for when they board the ship. Usually pirates aren't the most disciplined or well trained of combatants and Aden. "But it would be quite a fight." there isn't really a way of getting around that getting to the bounty target will be a challenge

"Or another idea, is we knock out the ship's engines and hyperdrive to where they can't escape, destroy the turrets, and then deal enough damage to disable the ship, and get the authorities here." It is a possible idea, Aden pretty much took down a corvette on his own on Kowak not too long ago, a capital ship with similar firepower to the armed freighter they are about to take on. If the ships disabled, they can wait for the pirates to get out with their escape pods and/or call in authorities and claim the bounty that way. If they eject, the pods can be intercepted with Aden's tractor-beam. But then again, he doesn't think that Eryn's freighter is suited for fighting, but if Aden could get inside the Zephyr's shield bubble.

Aden would check the chrono. Any moment now...

@Cybrexian

 

[Eryn Alenath]

"Decent enough." She shifted in her seat as she responded, tapping between long range and short range scanners. They were nothing fancy, but these pirates wouldn't exactly be hiding from her if they fell for the bait. "I've got no ordinance with me, but I can pin then down easy enough." She stood from the seat, stretching her arm as she put her mind from the blinking red beacon that was on the console.

"I like that idea, crippling them." She picked up her blaster, checking the charge pack and collapsing the stock. Would be tight quarters if they ended up on the ship. "Means we --"

PING.

She sound shot ice through her veins briefly, before she went to the console and tapped a few buttons, the scanners suddenly showing a vessel approaching from much closer than anticipated. "Looks like we caught something." Her nerves were suddenly gone, the usual cold gravel of her voice returning as she swung back into the seat and propped the BM-548 beside her. She quickly buckled herself in, hefting the helmet of the vac-suit up and over her head as she engaged it with a brief hiss and pop. She didn't plan on getting the atmosphere vented, but rarely did things go exactly to plan.

"I say we disable everything they have. Engine, hyperdrive, leave them a spinning chunk in space. That way if we need to, we can still board." She flexed her fingers on the control stick, tapping a button on the arm of her seat to slide it forward with a clunk as it locked in place.

A series of pops and whistles sounded as she was hailed. A request for her manifest, to apparently ensure they had no lethal cargo on board. "Pssh, see this?" She danced over a few keys and replied, a rather tasty looking manifest of high end speeder parts, along with a few core luxuries. "They've got the cheek to ask what they're about to steal. Safety inspection, yeah right."

The blip on the scanner jumped closer. "They must have a base nearby, I've only got them on the short range. That me-"

She was interrupted for a second time as a ship dropped out of hyperspace, no more than a kilometre directly to her fore. It matched their target alright, an older model CEC dropping into view worryingly close. She twitched her fingers on the flight stick, free hand on the throttle as she waited for the right time.

"Let them get close, yeah? They should deploy them fighters. Numbers is ready. On your mark." She glanced to the side to ensure, the Astro-mech ready with her one turret. At least she should be able to rip through the fighters with a little surprise on their side.

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

Of course it would be now. But at least they have their plan set, basically the end goal is to disable the ship in whole and make it useless, unable to affect anything outside of it. Aden has a plan to do it, and his new ship has enough firepower to do so even if it is lacking in missiles, bombs, or torpedoes despite the freighter being larger. Aden chuckled when he heard that there is a safety inspector trying to ask for the Dilemma's cargo, asking for what they are about to steal.

Eryn pointed out there must have been a base nearby, that could be interesting. Then the ship dropped out of hyperspace, same make and model as what was in the bounty description said. That is the Zephyr. Anyways, on Aden's mark. "Copy" Aden calmly said as he was tightning his grip on the control. Once they deploy the fighters, Aden can make his move. This is a risky plan to draw them out, so Aden needs to be in good form and needs to act exactly at the correct time. One moment off and it could spill trouble for the plan.

The Dilemma would get a communications from the Zephyr "Attention freighter captain. We will be deploying some ships to help your vessel into our hangar" the captain sounded like he could only barely contain his laughter before the comm ends. With that, three of the Ionizers would come out of the hangar and head towards the freighter and then turn around so that their rears would be facing the freighter. Aden knew this was his time to act. "Get ready..." Aden said, he was powering up his ships again, his ship would begin to acclerate and he would be getting weapons hot and getting his shields back up. Aden owns and flies and Ionizer of his own, he knows exactly how those ships work. They have rear-mounted tractor beams on them.

"Do not resist." at that moment, still with the same barely contained laughter, the Dilemma would be gripped by a tractor beam by the Ionizer in the middle. But suddenly... "Now" that Ionizer would find itself being hit by a barrage of laser cannon fire, destroying it in a fireball, and the Dilemma would be free to move. The remaining Ionizers would then scattered surprised. The freighter vessel would also be scrambling as the people on their helm are surprised

The combat begins...

@Cybrexian