Blockade Run

[Merrick Helmsdottir]

​

Blasted across the galaxy yet again, this time as part of some 'great push' and yadda yadda yadda, Merrick didn't always take great interest in it. Though his legs were certainly taking a beating, having been cooped up so long in his fighter they were starting to grow stiff.

Good thing then a little action had shown up. From out of the atmosphere traders had burst free apparently, trying to run the blockade and escape.

That, so he was told, rattled more than a few feathers in the Imperial military. There was to be little forgiveness for them, little understanding,

"Just blow em out of the sky is what I was told" Merrick relayed over the comms to his wingmate as they zipped across the blackened sky to catch the convoy before it fled. Not tough targets, but he expected they had a trick up their sleeve or else they wouldn't try it. Better they burned before either of them could find out what in the kark it was,

"Sound good to you?"

@Yuan

 

[Shikari]

Shikari groaned slightly as she rolled her neck around and it popped in protest. In all honesty she liked these combat missions where she was free to fly, but getting to and from them was beginning to wear on her. She had made the jump from Courescant to Corellia, which was tiring enough in the cockpit of her Crux-class fighter. But if that wasn't enough no sooner had she landed in the hanger of her assigned frigate in orbit over the planet, when she was ordered back into her cockpit to rendezvous with a wingman and move on a band of what appeared to be smugglers trying to run the blockade. She had barely had time to refuel and grab a bite to eat before she was making another hyperspace jump down the Corellian Run to meet this Merrick fellow. They hadn't had much time to get to know each other either. She hoped she could count on him to be a reliable wingman.

As they sped through space, using their sublights now (Merrick was apparently a fan of the Vexatious class fighter and had launched for their rendezvous from a base or capital ship on or around the planet) the smuggler convoy came into view on the scanners ahead. Hard to tell what sort of equipment they were sporting from this distance. As Shikari studied her scanner, Merrick's voice came through on the comms. "No objections here." Shikari replied to Merrick's inquiry. "I could use some excitement after so much hyperspace. Don't know that some small-time smugglers will be able to provide much fun though. I didn't hear all the scuttlebutt on this mission, but from what I understand these guys aren't even full-fledged smugglers. Just some traders who decided to ignore the blockade. As far as the law is concerned they may as well as be smugglers at this point, but they may not even prove to be that much of a challenge." Shikari slapped her hands against her face lightly to help her wake up and get in the game. "Still, some live target practice is better than nothing. My trigger finger is getting itchy. Shall we start with a strafing run? You can take the lead as you have the faster fighter." Shikari flipped some switches, engaging her targeting computers and laid on some more throttle, speeding up for their first run. She hoped this would provide some entertainment.

@Nightfall

 

[Merrick Helmsdottir]

It was almost getting rote for the man. Blaze in in his fighter, strike into the fighters, blaze out again. He couldn't say he wasn't enjoying it, and for a man who liked to fly sometimes his position was a dream come true, being shunted to so many different sectors kept his eyes filled with new sights, new things. And yet it always came back to blowing stuff up.

Not always horrible, but there was a bit of him who was keeping his hopes out for something different. Some nebula to chart, or an uncertain jump into the beyond.

Maybe when he retired,

"Copy, copy, copy, I'll head on down, see you in the loop pal" he sent back casually to Shikari. Time to clear em out.

Or, it would have been, if his arrogance and lax concentration didn't make him overshoot his karking mark. Tapping the accelerator too aggressively, his whole body lurched forward with the fighter as they shot out over the pack of smugglers ships, alerting the buggers to their presence,

"I, uh... I've got nothing" he was damn near ashamed. Not that that would help. Shaking his head and looking back, he pulled his fighter round and spun the cannons up to speed.

He had better fix that.

@Yuan

 

[Shikari]

Shikari studied the cluster of ships as they made their approach. Looked like about 3 light freighters of the Overhead variety. It was a common ship to see across the galaxy, especially in the hands of traders. The ships boasted a single light dual laser turret in the dorsal position, and civilian-grade shields. Nothing all that troublesome for them, though the number of ships was a bit of a bother. They would have to watch their backs, but this should be do-able, even with just the two of them. Shikari, lined herself up, following Merrick and bringing the first freighter into her firing line. If all went as planned, this would be fairly easy, like shooting fish in a barrel.

But things never went as planned. Shikari watched as a little ways ahead of her, Merrick tried and failed to make a staffing run on the freighter in question. He overshot big time and alerted the freighters to their approach. Shikari was sure that the enemy ships had seen them on their scanners beforehand, but they may not have been certain of who the two little blips were. They were certain now. The freighters split, making evasive maneuvers and opening fire on Merrick with their light lasers. Lucky for him their gunners seemed relatively untrained. They probably weren't used to shooting at military-grade fighters or pilots. Merrick pulled out unscathed.

Shikari was now adjusting her approach to compensate for the now-moving target. She had the Overhead in her sights, when another ship suddenly came out of hyperspace with a flash of light. Shikari was completely thrown off her attack. Not by the suddenness, but by what had just popped into existence in their little skirmish. That was a Lateen-Class Galleon! Good lord! What the hell was with this shipping company? Were they actually fighting some sort of pirate guild here!? Shikari peeled off her original target and joined Merrick in a wide loop. "Merrick!" Shikari called out over the comms. "Are you seeing this!? That's a kriffing galleon! She's only got civilian shields, but we need to watch out for her spread of fire and the tractor beams!" This sudden turn of events certainly put a bit of a wrench in their gears.

@Nightfall

 

[Merrick Helmsdottir]

"Hooooooly ship" Merrick replied to Shikari over the comm as he watched the Lateen beam into real space.

This... this was not in the mission briefing. Two little fighters could take some freighters, but this thing? Well, they'd better hope luck was on their side. Or the Force. Or something, kark it. At least the day would be interesting.

Flicking his fighter around, he pulled up and over, trying to spin himself onto the galleons unarmed side flanks, and above where it was similarly unarmed. If nothing else their fighters had speed and maneuverability on their side, and they'd need every ounce of it to make it out of this one. And he meant to use it right now,

"Alright, will do! If those freighters want out they'll need to plot a course, hopefully that gives us enough time. Cause I want that galleon our of the sky now!" he called back over, sweeping himself closer in and opening fire into the galleons side.

Not a military vessel by any means, the thing only had civilian grade shielding, means his cannons would tear through it if he kept it under pressure. And up here where it couldn't hit him, he could do exactly that. Coming in for pass after pass as the galleon tried to maneuver itself around into a firing solution on he and Shikari, he made sure it never would for him, instead keeping his cannons running hot, damn near overheating them as he watched the things shields drop under his withering fire,

"Let's drop this thing like its hot. It'll take more than a couple of blasts to end it though!"

@Yuan

 

[Shikari]

Shikari watched as Merrick swung around and began hammering the galleon's shields under constant fire. The imperial pilot showed some decent skills, carefully evading the galleon's considerable spread of fire using his fighter's speed and maneuverability. His shots exploded short of the galleon's actual hull, it's shield soaking up the damage. But the shield would not last long. Civilian-grade shields couldn't hold up under a multitude of shots like that. As Merrick spun around and weaved through the laser fire from the turrets dotting the body of the galleon, he peppered the vessel with his cannons and the final round of shots impacted the hull. He had finally dished out enough punishment to drop the shields of the vastly bigger vessel. Now the galleon was just a whale. A big target. A big target with lots of turrets, to be sure, but still a big target.

As Merrick pulled out of his last attack, Shikari shot past him, making her way in for her own strike. Shikari sped in on the galleons starboard side, opening up with her laser cannons and peppering the side of the hull, then she spun out and around to strike at the ship's belly. The ventral cannons came alive as she appeared from the side and Shikari spun again, opening up with her cannons again to take out the dual medium laser turret on the ventral side. She then pulled up, swinging up and around the galleon to burst up over the top/dorsal side and continued flying straight up as the dorsal turrets tried to keep up with her speed. Shikari began spinning again as she flew upwards to avoid the fire of the dorsal turrets down below.

As Shikari reached the peak of her climb, roughly 50 meters above the galleon, she pulled back on the stick, adding a burst of her actuator thrusters, to pull a loop that wouldn't have been possible to control in atmosphere. As the galleon came back into Shikari's sights, she punched her thrusters, coming back down on the massive ship as the laser bolts from the dorsal turrets exploded behind her. As Shikari bore down on the galleon's bulk her targeting computer began flashing. She smiled and pulled the trigger, opening fire with her cannons again on the dorsal turrets below. Shikari's shots peppered the top of the galleon with explosions and took out one of the light laser turrets there. She continued to fire as she pulled up, right above the prow of the ship and sot down it's length. Explosions erupted behind her as she weaved through the remaining cannons and saw her final target. Shikari's thumb slid to the side and pressed a button on top of her stick as the targeting computer began beeping. A hatch on the bottom of her crux fighter opened and a missile swung into firing position and was released, blasting through space, straight at the galleon's bridge.

Shikari pulled up hard as her deadly payload impacted the bridge of the much larger ship. It was a dead-on direct hit. The missile impacted the transparisteel of the bridge viewport and tore through as it erupted in a fiery explosion. The explosion didn't last long, however, as the vacuum of space ripped the flames, the consoles, electrical systems, and the now dead bodies of the bridge crew straight out of the ship. The turrets stopped firing and the ship began to list to one side, slowly but surely flying off course. The galleons main sublight engines began to flicker on and off as their electrical systems were fried by the loss of their main control systems on the bridge. As Shikari made another pass to survey the wreckage, one of the escape pods ejected into space. Shikari got on the comms to Merrick. "Kill confirmed. Galleon is down. Nice work on the shields. Now lets mop up the rest of these traitorous bastards and then it's ale-time. I believe someone owes me a drink!"

@Nightfall

 

[Merrick Helmsdottir]

Well, well, well.

Merrick couldn't believe his kriffing eyes. He hadn't ever seen a galleon go down that fast. And yet sometimes, when the stars aligned and a pilots skills cracked out just right... well, then you had something special on your hands. Something just like that,

"Great shot kid, that was one in a million!" he called over the comms, more than a little proud. Some Sith were so dour, eternally power hungry and focused that they seemed to forget the last line of the code: The force shall free me. That was the line he lived by. And being free meant being alive, remembering that, savouring that, enjoying that. Just like he did now. Today would be a cake walk from here on out.

Spinning back into the fight, Merrick rushed beneath the crashing galleon, weaving between the wreckage that spewed from the bridge. Though pieces thwacked into his hull, bouncing of the duraplast and shields, none broke him down so easily, though reducing his toughness a little.

But it did the same for one of the freighters though, dropping its shields. Merrick, however, had his eye on a different one.

Shooting up to the lead ship, he burst its engines with cannon fire, his blaster bolts ripping through and slicing through its major systems, sending it to smithereens as he pulled round for another pass.

Not long now.

@Yuan

 

[Shikari]

Shikari smiled as Merrick praised her and then (somewhat haphazardly) flew through the wreckage of the galleon and went after another one of the freighters. Shikari had to wonder what exactly he was thinking as his ship took a light beating from the cloud of debris. But, her fears at the skill and/or sanity of her partner were waylaid as he opened up on one of the light freighters and succeeded in both taking down it's shields and destroying it, his cannon fire ripping through their hull causing explosive decompression. "That was a good shot there Merrick, but don't think that's gonna get you out of the drink you owe me for that galleon." Still, Shikari meant what she said about it being a nice shot. She felt like she liked this Merrick fellow. He seemed to be readily reliable when the chips were down, and as a wingman, one couldn't really ask for more than reliability.

Despite her magnificent moves which led to the destruction of the galleon, Shikari couldn't just sit by and let Merrick have all the rest of the fun. Pushing her throttle forward, Shikari shot off towards the two remaining, and now earnestly-fleeing light freighters, careful not to follow the same path as Merrick did through the debris field from the galleon. Spinning around Merrick as he pulled around from his last attack, Shikari swung down on the damaged freighter and opened fire. Her shots truck true, sending little explosions running down the body of the freighter as she passed. The freighter's engines sputtered and electrical surges could be seen arcing across the freighter's hull as the ship's systems slowly died. The ship was dying in the water. It wouldn't be long before it was completely dead. Attack successful.

As Shikari passed over the dying freighter, the last remaining, healthy freighter came into view. Kriff! She hadn't expected it to hang so close to it's fellow. Surely they would have been trying to run off rather than trying to help their compatriots? But there it was. Shikari yanked her stick to the right and back, trying to bank out of the freighter's line of fire, but the tail gunner opened up on her and one of his shots struck the left wing of her fighter. The shot penetrated her hull, but did not damage her cockpit which was a blessing. As she pulled off, Shikari's electrical systems flashed on and off and a couple of her systems went down. "Kriffing hell. I'm hit. Got careless. It's not incredibly bad, but it's not good either. My targeting computer is down, that means missiles are out. Also my fuel gauge doesn't seem to be working." Shikari reached into one of her little storage compartments and pulled out a small marker. Biting the cap off, she wrote on her consul next to her gauge what she knew her last fuel reading had been. "Merrick, where is your fuel level at? I need a comparison. Give me a percentage."

@Nightfall

 

[Merrick Helmsdottir]

Sweeping back round, Merrick could watch on as Shikari knocked out another freighter from the fleeing team, the thing slowly falling from the sky alongside the remnants of the galleon that were slowly beginning to tear themselves up as they plummeted below. He was showboating a little, he had to admit, it was more than a little fun to let it all breeze by now that the galleon was dead. Just lay into the suckers and well, their job was done.

Or, that was how he pictured it.

Looking through his cockpit window, he watched as the final freighter changed tact, fighting back instead and laying bolts into Shikari's ship. The poor fella could have escaped too, if they'd just engaged their hyperdrive, too late for them now,

"Shikari I am looking at..." he glanced down at the fuel capacity, just under half "say around 48 percent" They'd spent more than a little getting to the site, and heavy maneuvers were draining them,

"But I wouldn't worry about that for much longer" Merrick's smugness could hardly be repressed as he smirked in the cockpit, striking downwards and firing at the freighter from above. The angle took it off-guard and offline, tearing into its major systems and cutting it through.

No more bad guys,

"And if I don't owe you a drink anymore, I think maybe you owe me one" he laughed into the comm, another mission complete "Come on, let's land and get ya patched up before we plot a course back to that bar, I don't want ya exploding on me before then"

@Yuan

/EndThread

 

[Shikari]

Shikari breathed a sigh of relief as Merrick took out the last freighter, cutting it virtually in half as he roared past it, guns blazing. At least that was the last of that. No more surprise turret attacks for her today. Shikari nodded to herself as she made calculations based on Merrick's fuel report. Her Crux-class had a larger fuel reserve than his Vexatious-class given it's usage of the hyperdrive, but it also burned fuel faster. All said and done, when looking at it as a percentage, they should burn through their fuel at roughly the same rate. So long as she stayed with Merrick back to an imperial base or capital ship, she should be alright. She would just have to ask him for regular reports on fuel consumption to stay up to date on her own fuel supply.

Shikari smirked at Merrick's banter. "I don't know if taking out two light freighters measures up to taking out a Galleon and a freighter. But, then, I did go and get myself shot up, and you did play the vengeful savior and take out the ship that nearly took me out, so I suppose I can cut you a break. Maybe we should just buy each other a drink." Shikari smirked to herself. "On a side note, though, when we make the report, I am still taking credit for my kills, and I expect you to confirm them, as I will yours. Credit where credit is due and all."

Shikari studied her scanner for a moment and nodded in satisfaction. "Well, I don't know for sure if my scanner is working properly, but I don't see any other ships on the short range. If there are anymore smugglers running the blockade, they aren't doing it around here. Probably taking a different route. We'll just have to leave them to some of our peers patrolling elsewhere. Good hunting! I'll follow you back to your base and stick around until I can get repairs done and we can get the drink. I could use some rest and relaxation after all the excitement. It was good to blow off some steam though. Lead the way." Shikari swung her fighter in next to Merricks and set a parallel course, settling in for the short flight back.

//End Thread