Ask Setting Them Loose

[Maxims Tionson]

The Slavehunters were about as trained as they were ever likely to get with nothing but the simulators so it was time to get them into some combat and accept that things might go wrong. It was better that they have their first experience of combat with people alongside them, he supposed, rather than just giving them some simulated training, some ships and wishing them all the best of luck against more experienced pilots.

At least this would give them some kind of experience in the types of raids they will be conducting.

His little ship had a full crew for the first time in years because of it - he was at the helm but he had a co-pilot and two people in the turrets as well. Alongside them he had his trusty little droid pal to assist with the technical side of things. There were another two former slaves in the ship with them as well, monitoring everything and potentially ready to be switched in and out of various positions.

His ally for this mission, one Delnor Riek, had his own ship so when Max tapped his com link he patched it into the frequency being used by crew-members of both ships.

"Alright everyone we've received word from our informant about the numbers we're up against today." he reported, "They say we've got one transport and three hawkbat fighters in escort. They'll be arriving any minute now so all hands on deck and keep your trigger fingers itchy but cautious."

Left unsaid was that they didn't want to blow up the transport - it was full of slaves and they needed to be safeguarded.

Spoiler: Dice

Ship Numbers

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

Delnor sat in a copilot seat in the cockpit of the Birkenhead, his light freighter. Though normally his little ship had a lot of room to move with only him and his droid D4 today it was fully crewed. with the turret gun maned and 5 more ex slavers turned slaver hunters in the back. The sixth slaver hunter, a women who had done the best in the simulators sat in the pilots chair. Delnor thought it she get some practical combat hours since soon they would e doing this with out support.

But at least today they where not alone. In fact a second ship double there length was in few. The second ship all so crewed y ex slaves turned slaver hunters and a Jedi a Jedi knight by the name of Maximis who was taking lead on this mission. A mission to both help train a anti slave force and rescue slaves. Delnor wondered how many of those slaves would join the anti slave force. Would it snow ball till they became a threat to the zygerian home world.


Delnors's wondering mind was brought back to reality when the communicator came to life. 3 fighters seemed like standard escort and the two armed freighters should be able to deal with them. Delnor was more worried about the transport. They did not just have to wine the fight but win the fight and diss able the transport.

Keying his communicator to respond Delnor spoke over the teams coms net. "Understood master, 3 escorts and transport." looking over his shoulders he saw the men where looking eager, excited and nervous all at the same time "The Birkenhead and crew are ready" They looked ready and Delnor was ready. Coming from the outer rim stories of slavers where all to common. Though thankfully Pantora had a strong independent military from even the time of the old republic. Still Delnor would do what ever he could to end the act on all worlds.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

They were both ready to go and that served them well because they needed to react immediately.

The three fighters came flying out of hyperspace and almost immediately swerved toward them. Max blinked a few times before cursing loudly and pushing his ship into a roll, evading a duo of laser burst fire from two of the ships as one focused on The Birkenhead. As he was moving he tapped his com link.

"The intel team on the other side side of the jump must have been made - they're too prepared."

Two of the fighters were following him as best they could.

"Rear turret pepper them!"

As he pulled himself into a barrel roll, his co-pilot working in sync with him to push more power to the thrusters as they pushed through the maneuver. Hearing some excited chatter over the com link he raised an eyebrow before the rear turret gunner spoke up.

"Managed to clip one of them. It's not doing so hot so it's breaking off for now!"

Nice.

Spoiler: Dice

The slavers were alerted to our presence before they even jumped - they're attacking
Evasion!

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

The pirate fighters came in hot and fast. Delnor called out to the young women in the pilots seat "Give her max thrust and make sure to keep us out of cross fire!"

The light freighter sped of turning towards and under the attacking fighter. The birkenhead shook as on coming fire slammed in to the shields.

Looking at the fighter Delnor called in on the ships internal coms to the gunner. "He is coming in over the top" The laser turret open up sending fire towards the on coming fighter. The fighter now having to peel away from the barge of light lasers coming its way but the pilot was to slow and burst peeled away the shields of the hawkbat before it used it's speed and agility to evade any more fire.

"I agree master they seem as if though they out for blood. But I don't think they know what they in for?" Three fighters would not stop this task force that was for sure.

Spoiler: Evade and return fire

Able to evade but took some hits in the gunnery

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

They were in the middle of a dogfight with fighters far faster than they were but that wasn't too much of an issue when all the ships involved could move just as well as each other. Being fast was sometimes a hindrance - especially when you were roughly twice as fast but roughly the same when it came to actually moving in three dimensions. To a novice pilot this difference meant that the speed was a liability.

"Lead the shots." he instructed his gunners, "They're going to come for another pass and I'm going to spin to allow both of you to fire at the same time alright?"

With that order given he took a deep breath and let himself eye the instruments as the others in the cockpit grew tense as lasers burst past the ship.

"The trick to any part of flying against enemies is... timing."

Just a second AFTER the instruments told him to move, he did, committing to the action slightly slower than most instruments would advise. He had taken a calculated risk that the pilots he was flying against would rely more on the instruments than he would and would think to relax after he hadn't moved to counter in their minds.

The ship that had been damaged exploded and Max nodded once.

"Timing isn't always about being quick off the mark - sometimes being slower than they expect works just as well."

Spoiler: Dice

The Gunner manages to finish off the injured one - down to one fighter each now

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

"keep us on that fighter, don't let it get in to our blind spot." Delnor gave the order to the pilot but the Fighter had moved faster. The enemy pilot it seemed had stayed calm and even with the Birkenhead turret firing at it the hawkbat moved low and got under them.

Delnor acted fast and angle the shields. The act saved the Birkenhead from major damage but the hawkbat shots where slamming in to the light freighter stripping it of her shield. Bleed through damage caused systems to spark and erupt. A panel blew open as Delnor's R2 droid beeped and booped. "Yes yes I know just get the shields back"


"You need to under stand your ships blind spots and ensure the enemy cant exploit them. Now focus and and try to predict the enemy." The Hawkbat zoomed away and no doubt it was getting ready for another attack run. Thankfully his ally freighter had gotten a kill on one the enemy fighters leading this to a 2 on 2 fight. Keying his coms he called out to the ally freighter "Master, I may need some aid."

Spoiler: dog fight

OOF a

Spoiler: dog fight

15

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well it seemed as though Delnor's ship had taken some fire and he was going to need some assistance to get them off of his back to allow the crew chance to get their heads back in the game. That was fine and it was, on some level, to be expected. All he needed to do was make sure to draw attention.

"On our way Delnor." he confirmed, "Alright guys listen up - we're going to learn 'gaining aggro' by doing. Turrets, fire quick and in a spray pattern. We're going at speed so you won't have good accuracy but that's to be expected."

The purpose wasn't to kill the enemy with this move after all.

Flying hard and fast, he skimmed the bow of the ship angling for Delnor's ship and it joined it's brother in furiously chasing him instead. So now he had both of the remaining enemies following him instead.

"Remember - drawing the attention of your enemies doesn't make them easier for you to dispatch, it makes it easier for your allies to re-position themselves. Delnor's ship is now in a better position to either flee or aid us directly and attack them from behind. Don't forget that you're part of a squadron."

Spoiler: Dice

Drawing ALL the attention

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

With attention drawn of of them the Birkenhead could move in and attack the two hawkbat's. keying the internal comms so that he could speak to the gunner and the pilot Delnor gave advice best he could "Now remember to lead your shot. If you aim at the target but the time for shot gets there the target has moved ."

The female pilot did it perfectly. All most like it was a simulation, she was calm and aimed just ahead of her target and fired. The Hawkbat had all ready had it's shield striped so the fire slammed in to the hull of of Hawkbat crippling the fighter. "Good shot."


Though the pilot was able to lead the shot perfectly. The top gunner led the target way to much. This meant that not only did he miss but a burst of laser fire now skimmed and bounced of there friendly freighter. Delnor keyed the comms so he could speak to his crew and the crew of the Jedi Knights freighter. "Sorry about that, I think my gunner is under stress. Though we only have one enemy fighter left"

 

[Delnor Riek]

Spoiler: Forget the roll Link

Link

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Thankfully the shields held.

There was a sudden spike of annoyance at having been hit by friendly fire before he smoothed it out into the Force, pushing the negative emotion away. It was a natural reaction but that was no reason for him to let it sour his mood or create friction. He knew that it hadn't been anything malicious after all.

"Don't worry about it." he called out over the com-line, "We've got this."

The last fighter pulled out all the stops, following him doggedly and firing both missiles and lasers. Unfortunately for him, Max was one with the Force and the Force was one with him. Despite it's size, the freighter he was flying danced through the danger with nary a scratch on the shield, let alone the paint job.

There was a pulse of fire from the turret before a cheer as the fighter pilot, who had been so focused on following him, was unable to evade and was blown to smithereens.

And they were done with the fighters.

"Good job everyone - diagnostic checks on the ships and take a water break." he ordered his team before speaking to Delnor on a private com-line, "The freighter will be arriving soon. One of us should swing wide behind where the fighters emerged from hyperspace and take out their engines. The other should focus on their weapons."

They wanted the ship crippled but not dead.

Spoiler: Dice

Evasion and blasting? I got you.

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

With the last fighter down Delnor could breath easily. The rest of the strike force on the Birkenhead cheered as the last fighter exploded. Delnor called out to them on the intercom. "Good job to our pilot and gunner. But the main prize is not yet in our hand. I want every one to make sure there gear is ready."


With Knight Tionson calling him on his secure line Delnor spoke back to him privately. It was a toss up witch ship should go where. But the other freighter was larger and had more firepower while the Birkenhead had a slight speed advantage. "We are smaller and have the same shields has you so could stand a better chance with there guns though we have more fire power. I think it is best we go for the engines thanks to our fire power. If they cant run we can easily deal with there guns."


Delnor waited for the response. Vs the slower less agile freighter his ships fixed medium canons would be very effective. But Delnor suspected that they would need to take out there targets mobility first to prevent a escape.

 

[Maxims Tionson]

He hummed a little bit as he considered it all before nodding... and then feeling a little silly since he had responded without actually verbally acknowledging his answer. Coughing a little bit, he shifted in his seat.

"I agree. I'll make sure we're a very tempting and obvious foe and attract their attention."

Honestly he trusted Delnor and his crew to make the slavers pay for investing their time and energy into focusing on him and his ship - he was going to have to make sure that he was very distracting however. Moving into the rough position he adjusted the tilt and angle of the ship.

Gesturing for the cockpit crew to crowd around him, he began flicking switches. Of course it wasn't random but rather a teachable moment.

"Most of the time you don't ever want to be actively scanning an area - you'll be wanting to be sneaking around after all - but if you want to be spotted...?"

Almost on cue the slaver ship appeared from hyperspace and almost immediately turned their main weapons to face his ship as they focused on the immediate threat... but not the one they didn't realize was behind them.

Spoiler: Dice

Max is hella distracting

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

Delnor ordered the ship in to position. "Shut down all uneeded sytems. We only want what power we need so that we wont be the first thing spotted." The Birkenhead sat dark with only dim lights from on board emergency lights and waited.

The plan seemed to be working with the Slave ship jumping in and with out any coms or warning opened fire Knight Tionson freighter. "Ok punch all power to guns focus on there engine"

The Birkenhead flew in and opened up on the back of the slave ship. It went perfectly in fact it went to good. The slaver had shifted shields all to focus front so the when it got hit on the back it was to effective and caused a number of blasts that took out more systems than planed. It seems that the artificial gravity was taken down and that would make the boarding harder.


Delnor keyed in the coms to inform the other freighter "They lost engines and I think they all so lost all on board power"

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Max ran the scans again as the enemy ship was robbed both of their engines and all onboard power. He frowned a little bit as the scans confirmed the ship was now entirely dead in the water. It was good because it meant the weapons were offline but it was also bad because it meant they couldn't contact the enemy.

"In the best case scenario they should be helpless but with working coms - that way you can get them to agree to give up the people." he advised his watchers, "Right now the scans show heat signals and we've got 28. There are 23 in the cargo space so they are likely the slaves. And 5 people in other areas of the ship moving about freely. These will be the slavers."

He didn't think the slavers would last long even if they did surrender - right now some of the former slaves had murder in their eyes and he couldn't exactly blame them. Who was he to tell them to calm down after all?

"You board from the right Del, we'll board from the left."

Divide and conquer was always a good plan.

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

(forgot to post the rolls for my attack on there engine here link)


Delnor responded on his coms. There ships had a data link set up so they could all see that there where 5 slavers on board but that did not mean it would be easy. Ship fighting was choke points and that meant it was easy to defend hard to attack. Opening his up the coms channel he called out so every one on both ships could hear. "Understood, we will hit the starboard side. Good luck and may the force be with you all"


Delnor had the pilot bring them in along side the slave ship and extend to boarding tube. Once there was a seal Delnor had the men start to cut there way in. While his lightsaber could do it faster he was here to train them to not need out side help. The fusion cuters though would make short work on the hatch. Two men cutting as four more covered them. As the hatch fell open they where met with a barrage of fire. Delnor jumped in front his blade now ignited as he fended of blaster bolts. Through the darkness Delnor spotted droids. Calling out on his coms he warned Knight Tionson. "Master they got security droids"

Even though they the counter attack took them by surprise Delnor was ale to by time. One of the men who had been using a fusion cutter was wound and was being pulled back but 4 men used the cover of the lightsaber's defensive dance to return fire allowing there boarding team to push in to the slave ship.

Spoiler: Boarding

They not beaten it seems Link

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Taking the ship closer, he had the crew prepare to board. Most of them already knew the controls in their sleep at this point so they got it right on the first attempt and actually managed to make the connection nice and smooth. There wasn't even a telltale bump for the enemy to be alerted.

They were getting good at this.

As the boarding action started he hummed as he stepped out of his seat and drew both his saberstaff and his stun baton. He nodded as he moved forward.

"Copy that Delnor - we'll activate anti-droid processes."

Anti-droid processes being the same as anti-sentient processes really.

He floated into the zero g environment of the enemy ship at speed, kicking off of a surprised slaver to jam his stun baton into the circuits of a droid, shutting it down violently. Spinning in the air he tossed the stun baton, nailing a second slaver between the eyes with the baton and stunning him instantly.

The one he kicked off of was subdued by the crew, firing stun bolts in controlled bursts.

They immediately began working on securing the cockpit so he called it in.

"Cockpit under siege, one droid and two crew down."

Spoiler: Dice

Boarding goes well!

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

Once the men got on board the slave ship it seemed to go much better. Delnor followed them and the feeling of going from the gravity on the Birkenhead to the Zero G on the slave ship was off putting. But Delnor regained composure as he moved on ward with a 4 man squad. The wounded man would stay behind with a few people to look after him and the ship.

Since there was no power there was no need to hit the engine room. Instead Delnor led his team to secure the slaves. The 4 man team used stun setting. Though he suspected they would want to kill the Zygerian Slavers Delnor had told them there where better of captured alive and that stun setting meant you would not damge the ship you where boarding or kill the people you where here to save. Of course droids just got shot. Fortunately the the two droids guarding the slave pen where confused as they floated. They where not meant for Zero G combat and this gave his men a slight edge. Once the slave pens where under control Delnor singled 2 men to hold the area. But before Delnor could move on to secure the ship they came under fire. Delnor was able to deflect the bolts away but there attackers where not dumb and and moved back behind cover only for a new attacker to pop out from a different corner to fire on them. "Under stood, we are at the slave pens. But it seems they really want to re capture them. We holding for now" Delnor figured the slavers would want to use the Slaves as some kind of human shields or hostages to enable there escape. But Delnor would not let that happen.

Spoiler: Ship Combat

Finally a roll over 50

 

[Maxims Tionson]

He let the new guys lead the way into the cockpit and that was probably why one of the Zygerrians managed to get the drop on them as they entered, opening fire on them from a far corner of the room from behind once they had stepped through the doorway. Max would have been able to sense the Zygerrian before he loosed the shot had he gone first.

But then they wouldn't have learned anything.

Instead one of his allies went tumbling to the ground with a blaster wound in their side. Max pushed through his other allies to the wounded one as the others rounded on the Zygerrian. It spoke well of them that they had only broken a few bones before they remembered to stun him.

Doubtlessly once the Jedi were no longer present they would switch to harder tactics. Stunning would be the way they started, their first choice even, but he had no doubts that they would begin shooting to kill when the slavers resisted in the future. Part of him was saddened by him but all of him understood, without agreeing.

"It'll be alright." he assured the injured woman as he lay a hand upon her wound, reaching into the Light to begin healing her enough to have it become less critical, "You're in safe hands."

His other hand touched his comlink.

"Cockpit secured - one injury, stabilizing now."

Spoiler: Dice

Cockpit secure with minor issues

@Andrewza

 

[Delnor Riek]

The men with Delnor used the advantage of the spinning blades of Delnor reflecting the blasters back to enable them self to take carful aim and predict where the next shooter would pop out from. Soon the Zygerian slavers had stun rounds flying back at them as soon as one floated shoot at them .

Soon the Zygerians where floating in the zero G stunned. Delnor turned to look at his men. "You two make sure the slaves are ok and yow two secure those slavers." Delnor watched as the men moved to carry out there orders. Soon the would be doing this alone and Delnor could see that they where trained enough but he hoped they where ready mentally. He all so hoped this would not back fire and end up biting the Jedi and Sector rangers in the back side later on.


Hearing Knight Tionson haven cleared and secured the cockpit meant the ship should now be clear. Opening his coms he responded "Understood master. We have cleared the slave pens and are in the process of getting them ready for transport."

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Well that was the mission and the people secure. In pretty much everyway that mattered they had managed to get through the mission with pretty much no issues. He grinned a little bit and decided that this was probably cause for celebration all things considered.

He patted the injured man on the shoulder and his fellows carried him out of the slaver ship into his own ship. There wasn't any medical bay there either but it was going to be their stable getaway.

"Alright team, make sure the prisoners are secure in the hold and take to your stations." he grinned, "This ship is yours now so you're going to have to fly it home."

He touched his comlink.

"I say we need some celebration - you drink much kid?"

@Andrewza