Safe Travels

[Devrim Wolfe]

theme — dice thread​

The threat of pirate attack had never been stronger. Such was the frequency of the raids that the citizens and merchants were in near-constant fear. It was almost as though the pirates themselves were the planet's own police force — little came or left without being hand-picked by the greedy members of the Squid Scuttlers. Only the fastest or most well-guarded vessels were capable of escaping and repelling the pirates, which then created a unique market for certain skilled organizations. Private military and mercenary groups had never been in so demand as now, offering their services in protecting trade shipments or other valuables for high sums of credits.

Having become bold beyond reason and overly cocky, the Squid Scuttlers had even taken to practicing their effective hit-and-run tactics on Imperial vessels. This elicited the wrath of the governor of the aquatic world, who was unable to mount a full scale assault on the local pirates with Imperial strength. However, the combined strength of the private military corporations was at his disposal — and the coffers of the governor were deep indeed. Mon Calamari would be freed. Boarding his Imperial shuttle, after having asked for an audience with the leaders of the mercenary groups, the governor had begun his flight to the location of the meeting. As a token of goodwill, the mercenaries had sent a few of their own highly trained escort fighters to defend the shuttle against any potential attacks. And attacked they were indeed.

"Squid One to Squid Two," Devrim Wolfe relayed to his wingman. "We're closing in on the target, accelerating to attack speed." Pushing forward the thrusters of his RX-4, the distance to the Imperial shuttle closed quickly. On the tactical readout of the stolen pirate starfighter, a hologram of their target and the escort fighters materialized and illuminated the cockpit with a light blue glow. If all went well, this would be a quick hit that would have a huge effect on the system. Though many might not see it, this would be a blessing in disguise for the citizens on the planet below.

@Shalken @Deviant @Valen Pelora
OOC: This thread was closed from Open PvP to Ask since there was no opposition after 72+ hours of both participants posting.​

 

[Toland Vult]

If there was one thing that Toland hated just as much as the Empire, it was pirates. Scummy, cutthroat, selfish and good-for-nothing, they were the epitome of greed and dishonour, each with a moral compass pointing at whatever they currently wanted most. Having to disguise himself on multiple occasions as such was quite a personally distasteful task for Vult — however, it was too dangerous for the Alliance to openly reveal themselves in battle, so the facades would have to continue until that day came. Instead of dwelling on the circumstances he was thrust into, Toland focused on the task at hand. If they managed to eliminate the governor in one decisive strike, then it would take a great deal of time before the Empire could find another to fill his place; and by then, the mercenaries would already have packed up and left to work for someone that could actually live long enough to pay them.

Guiding his commandeered RX-4 behind the similar fighter Devrim was piloting, Toland replied, "Copy that, Squid One. Locking targets and preparing for initial strafe run." Flying in from their target's blind spot, it granted the two rebels the element of surprise and wouldn't allow the escort a chance to see them coming until they were already under attack. "I've got the one on the left," Toland relayed as he took aim and squeezed the trigger. So effective was their surprise attack that the convoy was completely unprepared, and the Rebels bolts tore through his target, leaving nothing but dust and scrap drifting through space.♦ The attack was off to an excellent start.

@Vosrik​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

"Copy that," Devrim replied to his wing man. He decided to hold back as Toland made his strafing run, catching one of the three ♦ escort fighters unawares and completely obliterating the starfighter. The other two immediately broke off from the Imperial shuttle to engage the two pirate ships that were attacking. It would not look good for their employers if they failed to protect even the Imperial governor who was flying to meet with them for business. Tracking the trajectory of one of the other fighters, Devrim pressed the triggers on his ship controls to make his own strafing run, but missed — allowing the enemy escort to fire back.

Weaving to avoid the hail of blaster fire, Devrim managed to escape the brunt of the salvo, although a few managed to strike his shields. ♦ Passing the first fighter, Devrim was perfectly lined up to shoot at the other escort. Releasing a burst of plasma, he landed several direct hits that tore through his opponent's shields, damaging them permanently. ♦ The starfighter wasn't out of the dogfight yet, but it wouldn't have any further defenses if Toland were to follow up on the attack.

"We need to keep an eye on that Imperial shuttle," Devrim relayed to his fellow "pirate". "He's not too eager to stick around, and the escorts will do their best to stop us or at least slow us down so the governor can escape." Even as he mentioned this, the rebel could see the shuttle flying as fast as its engines could take it to attempt leaving the battle. Pushing hard on his own throttle, Devrim sped up to catch up to their primary target.

@Shalken​

 

[Toland Vult]

Despite the smashing success of their initial attack, an ambush was only effective on the opening strike. Now explosively aware of the 'Squid Scuttler' attack, the Imperial shuttle engaged its thrusters to maximum speed, burning away from the attackers as quickly as possible while the remainder of its escort did their best to tie up the intruders. 'Squid One' unleashed a volley of firepower of his own, but ultimately missed as he was forced to evade the retaliatory attack from the defending fighters. Unperturbed, Devrim simply used his dodge to line himself up with the second mercenary fighter, continuing his attack and shutting down its shields. "I'll take him out," Toland relayed as he swooped in from another vector, completing a clean Crosscurrent and blasting the weakened fighter into oblivion.♦

Despite their target attempting to escape, the two Rebels could not risk being shot in the back by the remaining mercenary. Looping around to re-engage, Toland found himself facing off against the enemy RX-4. Jamming his throttle to the side while pulling the trigger, Vult pulled his ship into a classic Gadder's Spin — a risky move, but one that paid off. Vult perfectly dodged all incoming fire♦ while barraging his opponent with bolts, dishing out enough damage to short out the merc's shielding.♦ Angling his fighter, Toland broke away to loop around and reengage. "Shields are out. All yours, Squid One," he relayed to his partner. Time was ticking, and the sooner they eliminated the escort, the better.

@Vosrik​

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[Devrim Wolfe]

"Nice shot, Squid Two!" Devrim exclaimed upon seeing the burst of fire and debris that plummeted to the watery planet below. Quickly maneuvering his starfighter around and into position, he followed up on the initial strafing run that Toland executed on the final escort. Weaving and bobbing his ship, he pressed the triggers and unleashed a hail of blaster fire that cut through the final ship's hull. ♦ The fiery wreckage fell from the sky, leaving the Imperial shuttle carrying the governor completely undefended. "Alright, let's take down our target," he relayed to his wing man, but Devrim then realized a small predicament. The governor, completely abandoning his escort, had commanded his pilot to blast full-speed toward his destination, leaving the two Squid Scuttlers in the dust. If the two didn't act quickly, he would get away — and the two gained nothing from the strike.

"We need to get moving," Devrim murmured both to himself and Toland. However, a malfunction of his ship's controls caused his engines to get cut to low power — he was unable to divert energy to them for the time being. ♦ "Don't wait for me, I'll be a moment," he relayed to Squid Two as the "pirate" frantically worked with the stolen ship to get it up and running properly.

@Shalken​

 

[Toland Vult]

The mercenary escort proved to be no match for the expert 'pirates', ultimately unable to do anything before they were systematically destroyed. Though Toland was usually deployed as ground infantry in the Empire and rarely as a pilot, he had taken quite naturally to it; and with Devrim as his wingman, the two were nigh unstoppable.

However, their mission was far from over. Unlike their encounter with the Czerka diplomat who had quickly surrendered, it seemed the Imperial governor had non plans to do so, having shot ahead at maximum speed. It seemed he cared little whether the mercenaries actually survived or not, as long as they kept the Squid Scuttlers away. Ramming forward on the throttle, Toland directed full power into his thrusters and burned at full speed towards the escaping shuttle. "I'll try not to take him out in one shot," Toland joked, although he knew deep down that would never be possible. Although Devrim's ship had stalled, Vult was able to overtake the governor's spacecraft, foiling his attempt to escape.♦ Due to the shuttle's straight trajectory and Toland's pursuit directly behind, he was able to make a solid lock onto the escaping ship. "Try running from this one," he murmured as he pulled the trigger, launching a concussion missile at his target. Seeing his missile detonate and severely weaken its shields, Toland prepared for a strafing run; however, the Imperial shuttle was not entirely defenseless; though its sensors were knocked out, it still released a volley of blasterfire towards Toland in retaliation, forcing him to evade away.♦ He would need to realign before he could get another clean shot.

@Vosrik​

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[Devrim Wolfe]

"If you manage that," Devrim chuckled back to his wing man, "I'll get you a round next time we're on Savareen." Flicking a few more switches, the ersatz pirate manage to regain complete control of his starfighter. Seeing the satisfying green lights on all his systems, Devrim rammed forward with the controls, fully opening his throttle in hot pursuit. ♦ Thankfully, Toland's "borrowed" fighter was in much better working order, allowing him to overtake the Imperial governor's shuttle long before Devrim could. Immediately engaging in combat, the dark-haired rebel watched in exhilaration as he saw his companion perfectly target, launch, and detonate a concussion missile directly against the hull of the shuttle. With the Imperial governor's shields down, he had switched tactics from flight to fight — now sending a barrage of laser fire towards Squid Two.

"I'm nearly there," Squid One relayed as the shuttle came into Devrim's targeting range. Allowing himself a few precious seconds to lock on while the governor's vessel was busy firing upon Toland, Devrim held nothing back from his assault. Releasing a concussion missile first, which impacted the shuttle's engines but failed to totally disable them, he also released a volley of lasters which tore through the hull of the Imperial shuttle. ♦ Bursts of orange and yellow sent clouds of black smoke into the air as the ship began teetering from its aerial position, nose-diving towards the vast ocean below. Circling overhead, Devrim watched as it crashed into the waves. "Make another pass, Squid Two," the pirate relayed to his wing man. "We want that to be a confirmed kill." Wheeling his starfighter around, Devrim began his descent toward the wreckage that floated for the time being on the surface of the water.

@Shalken​

 

[Toland Vult]

Forced to fly away from the ship, Toland yanked hard on his throttle to force his ship into as close a turn as possible. Looping around, he looked up just in time to see Devrim had not only fixed his ship, but managed to catch up and unleash a barrage of his own. Focused on fending off the first fighter that assaulted it, and with its shields already severely damaged, the shuttle was completely unprepared to fend off the other Squid Scuttler that had entered the fray. Shields failing and systems critical, the shuttle plummeted towards the roiling ocean below.

While such a crash could certainly be fatal, it would be sloppy for the two Rebels to presume so. Now having looped around from his initial assault, Toland aligned his fighter with the shuttle once more, squeezing the triggers and unleashing one final barrage. Ripping the already heavily damaged ship apart, he strafed his attack from the cockpit down to the engines, detonating the fuel cells and spreading charred durasteel across the waves. If anything had been alive on that shuttle, there would be no surviving that final assault. Turning away, Toland gave the wreckage one last look-over from out his cockpit. "I don't think anything could have been able to survive that. Mission complete," he relayed to Squid One. With that, the two fighters exited the scene, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.

Fin​