Cut to the Chase

[Vollen Shai]

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Kriff this thing really moved.

As Vollen tore out of the hangar and into the sky above Devaron's endless jungle, he could feel the power in this S5 Starfighter. He could understand why the Order had commissioned these so many years ago. And he could see why they were so prohibitively expensive, they had more than a few toys on them and the speed and maneuverability to match. It would take some getting used to, but force did he plan to.

Mac, his droid co-pilot, would also take some getting used to, though not quite for the same reasons,

"No, no, no you're doing it all wrong, gawd. You've got nothing on Master Vertus who used to fly this thing, nothing" the droid snapped at Vollen as he tried to adjust himself to flying this new craft,

"How you doin' over there Grug?" he called over the comm set. Hopefully Grug was picking it up easily enough. Though as their crafts tore toward the horizon as the readied themselves to leave this planet, something appeared in silhouette against it. A few somethings, as the sun began to set.

That ship Menard mentioned wasn't just a little freighter. It was a kriffing corvette, and from what Vollen could tell 7 hawk-bat's alongside it. The looters were a far larger operation than Vollen had thought. He and Grug's comms would be intercepted in moments, another voice, the captains, presumably, coming through,

"I'm afraid my Jedi friends that, despite whatever it is you did to Menard, those fighters will be staying with us" came a cold female voice. As the mic cut off the fighters split from the body of the corvette and came rushing toward the pair in a V formation.

The day wasn't over just yet.

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Getting into the ship originally had been a decent challenge for Grug. The Gamorrean Jedi was not exactly the subject in mind when creating these fighters for the Jedi Order. His knees kept accidentally hitting controls while his belly blocked the yoke if he didn't suck it in. Meanwhile the droid in the back was not able to efficiently assist due to a lack of space due to the overflowing lard in the front seat. It was not the most ideal situation but the ship was quality and the force was Grug's side. These incoming fighters would be a nice test of this new ship. He hoped it would be a nice test at least.

"Grug am... okay." Grug grunted over the comm set back to the Jedi Master. "Ready make booms."

The small fighter suddenly veered downwards violently rather than go towards the enemies. Grug had accidentally bumped the yoke hard with his belly after speaking. It took a moment to recover from that and maybe it would look like some fancy maneuver to the enemies. The Hawk-bat fighters were horribly outgunned by a Jedi fighter but there were a lot of them. A bit more than reliance on technology would be needed for this one. Grug prayed to the force that Vollen was a good pilot. Grug certainly was not one.

"Ok, am push this button... shoot lasers?" He spoke to himself in the cockpit and the droid cried out in annoyance. "Oh. You shoot? Me just fly?"

A beep came from the droid as it acknowledged this fact sadly. It was a bit squished so couldn't be as efficient as usual but it could do it. Grug finally managed to position himself properly but the ship was shaky. The droid failed to get off a single shot into the path of an enemy. Frustration came from the little guy as Grug got the hint that he'd have to fire too.

"Grug fire then... you help keep steady?" This grunt was met with an affirmative beep.

Grug pulled the trigger that suddenly lit up once the droid gave up control. The Astromech helped keep the ship steady against the Gamorrean belly continually bumping the yoke. This meant the Jedi could fire with a pretty simple line of sight. His first target, one of the fighters in the back of the V as he had taken so long to recover, exploded brilliantly as it was overwhelmed by a combination of laser and ion fire. A cheer erupted from Grug and the droid actually beeped in celebration too. Now there were only six more to handle. Plus that big corvette it they didn't hurry...

@Nightfall096

 

[Vollen Shai]

Even with a large portion of his lifetime spent aboard ships, getting to grips with the kirffing starfighter now was doing Vollens head in. He wasn't mastering it, not by a long shot, and if anything he seemed to be getting worse. Bucking the engines and careening toward the looking threats as gracefully as a brick in space.

If he could have he would have relied on Mac to get the flying done, but the irritable droid seemed determined to ignore any and all of his pleas for assistance,

"If ya'd wanted to fly it well, ya shoulda thought aboot that before stealin' the bloomin' thing hadn't ya?" the droid said, tossing its arms in the air in a huff, well, the closest a droid could come to one. But he was clearly not going to be of any help any time soon.

Nor was Vollen it seemed, having taken his eyes off the sky during the argument, when the fighers opened up with sprays of blaster fire, he was no where near prepared. Pulling left at the last second wouldn't be enough to dodge the incomnig fire, and while his shields managed to soak up the most of it, a pair of shots tore into his wing. It wasn't the worst damage, but they'd scored the first hit.

While he slammed on the triggers as he came pulling round, nothing came of it, he'd missed a whole pass, and been hit to boot.

This wasn't a great start to their heroic escape.


@Cazar

 

[Grug]

A friendship had begun, or at least a partnership, between Grug and this little droid. The Gamorrean did not understand the beeping droid but it made itself pretty obvious with emotional beeps. Grug thought he loved the little guy and hoped they could bond over time. Now the ship was almost flying normally as Grug pushed to chase after the enemies after they had hit Vollen's ship. It seemed he was not having as much luck.

"Careful. New ship am spensive." He warned jokingly over the comm system as he came back into view.

Grug fired with a renewed confidence and trust in his friend. The force guided his aim as the pair took out three more fighters one after another. Explosions absolutely filled the view screen as Grug peeled ahead towards his enemies. He did forget to think about a counter attack though. The remaining three Hawk-bats turned to return fire now that Grug wasn't floating off randomly. A few buttons lit up and a warning blared as the shields took damage. Grug violently ripped the ship to one side and avoided the attacks doing anything serious, but he got scraped up a bit. A bit embarrassing after making fun of Vollen.

"Um... three more!" He grunted over to his partner in the other ship.

@Nightfall096

 

[Vollen Shai]

"Three more, three more, three more" Vollen muttered under his breathe, snatching at the controls to the fight as he fought to regain the upper hand. Though he wasn't the only one to hear it, Mac behind him chiming in something about Vollen's worried and hushed words as the Jedi fought to keep his focus where it mattered, on the fight before him.

Turning up over his ships nose and twisting to end level again, he squeezed the triggers of the S5's firing controls, sending off a sudden and roaring burst of laser fire as it tore into the three ships still holding formation, even as his own shields beeped at him to pull out and lay off.

As two fighters tore into flame he heard the comforting recharge noise of the shields, though it wouldn't last long. A bolt of energy hit the side of the fighter, knocking him back and off course, though his shields took the brunt of the hit. Mac clearly wasn't impressed by the sound of his sigh, but Vollen had to ignore him for now,

"Grug, one more fighter! let's bring it down and hail that corvette, their play hasn't worked!"


@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Grug's recovery from the last attack was complete by the time Vollen announced the last fighter. The Gamorrean was determined to take it down and end this battle. These new ships were pretty nice and maybe the big guy could get used to it with more practice. A droid companion was nice too. It was that or he'd have to fly with Grandmaster Little Green Ham all the time. He somehow doubted the little green Jedi wanted to be subjected to such a fate. All the Jedi had to do now though was prove himself and maybe he'd sit close to that little green ham someday.

"Grug get it!" He grunted loudly over the comm system as he punched the throttle hard, much to the displeasure of the astromech droid.

The Jedi Starfighter ripped forward like an out of control beast before it became stable a few moments later. One last enemy starfighter came into view that seemed to be aiming for Vollen's ship. It would never get the chance as the Gamorrean pulled every trigger he could find multiple times. Lasers and ions erupted into the last remaining hawk-bat fighter. The explosion was brilliant and Grug squealed with delight as their victory became apparent.

"Attention big ship. Jedi happy take peaceful surrender." His tone was joyful yet serious at the same time.

@Nightfall096

 

[Vollen Shai]

He'd recognised the voice on the other end of that comm call. Rissa, he thought, another of the pirates they'd run across earlier in the investigation, the reason they'd come here in the first place. He couldn't help but sigh, all this death, all this loss could have been so easily avoided. Kriff, he thought it had been avoided. With Grug opening comm channels he had to hope it still could,

"You're ships are down and you're floating there defenseless. Leave it, Rissa. And get out of here" he'd started firm and ended soft. Hopefully with no fighters, and the reminder that they knew eachother would be enough to turn the tables here, let everyone still walk away from this.

For the longest time there was silence, nothing but a crackle in his comm piece as the Jedi waited for a response,

"Aye, are we getting out of here or not?" scoffed Mac in the backseat, clearly impatient about the whole diplomacy angle. It wasn't until the channel sputtered back into life that Mac stopped muttering under his computerised breath,

"This is Rissa. We're getting off this rock" came that voice again, hard and hurt, clearly. No side came out of this one on top, certainly not them,

"Get out before I change my mind again" she finished before the earpieces went back to silence. From the cokcpit Vollen could see as the Corvette trundled through the air, back to Menard's location. Presumably to pick him up and be off this place. Finally, he let out a breath. The worst was over now,

"Alright Grug, let's get out of here"

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

"Kay, am following. No complain." Grug grunted in response over the comm system. "Mission over. New ship... am like."

The pair of ships were now free to fly off into the distance. Grug was content with their work for the planet and in recovery this old Jedi technology. Vollen would also be a good ally for the future as well so it felt like a nice day. The Gamorrean Jedi would be sure to modify the ship a bit for his size, like moving the yoke up, but mostly would keep it the same with his new droid friend. A fighter wasn't a major blow to the Sith, but it was a start. Darkness had to be defeated one step at a time. This was just another small step in the right direction.

"Master," He said again over the comm system. "Am Hungry. Stop for food. Thanks."

/end thread

@Nightfall096