Dispersing the Riffraff

[Shikari]

Rorak
​

A convoy of imperial heavy freighters rose from the atmosphere of the planet Rorak carrying parts and technical heading for the core worlds of the Imperial Republica. Rorak was not, by any means an incredibly important manufacturing planet, but it did provide quite a bit of industrial necessities across Imperial Hutta. With the recent attacks and the overall unrest in the region, many imperial governors were sending important supplies and tech to the safety of the core, intending to ship them back to their respective worlds once the fighting had ceased, but not wanting them to fall into enemy hands should the unthinkable happen. It was already unthinkable that the entirety of the holonet could have come crashing down so quickly, disrupting communications across the entirety of Imperial Hutta.

As the freighters rose out of the planet's gravity, smaller craft began to flash into the space near them. RX/5 star fighters, about 15 of them, sporting skulls on the wings. These were pirates, to be sure. The Empire did not make use of such roguish vessels as the RX/5s. The imperial freighters began to alter course, but they were far to heavy and slow to escape the light and nimble RX/5s. This particular conflict seemed to be over before it had begun, but just then, more small ships began to flash into the space ahead of the freighters and the pirate fighters.

As Shikari's Crux-class fighter shot out of hyperspace above Rorak, she flipped on her scanners and surveyed the situation ahead. Just as she thought. Reports had been coming through from all across Imperial Hutta about shipments like these being sent off-world and heading towards the core. Perfect targets for Pirates seeing as how imperial military assets were spread to thin to escort them all and long-range communications were down. Shikari smiled beneath her mask and popped her knuckles as the space behind her suddenly came to life. 24 Crux-class fighters began shooting out of hyperspace in rapid succession. The two squadrons that had been placed under Shikari's command. She was going to make good use of them while she had them. "Alright, this is flight leader. Sit rep is just as I had predicted. Enemy at twelve o'clock. I count fifteen RX/5s. Pirates to be sure. This one shouldn't be all that hard. Wipe them out. Lets not let these dogs run back home or they'll just be a thorn in our sides again later. Targeting computers on." With that said, Shikari hit her throttle, charging forward, the rest of the fighters in her squadrons following suit.

@Croywn Denimore

 

[Ros Sijak]

Ros had decided to accept the assignment when it was announced, mainly as she was going crazy stuck on the same planet day in and day out as of late. But also given the rising tensions of things it was perhaps the best course of action to help out, besides who could resist blowing something up.

Rose exited hyperspace in line behind the lead Crux fighter. She began to go through the sequences on her dash, loading scanners and preparing her weapons. Her eyes looked across the dark void of space before her picking out several targets ahead. Wonderful pirates ! she thought to herself, a twisted smile appearing on her lips as she raised her brows.

She was almost lost in the moment at the thought of having some fun when the voice came over the communications, her head titled slightly listening to the information as well as the command given. With that and not choosing to response just yet she activated her targeting computer, signaling completion of the task as she followed at full throttle behind the flight leader

"Taking a position on your starboard flank flight leader"

She signaled over communications, she had gotten familiar with this class of ship only a few days beforehand, spending most of her time going over its features as well as getting a feel for its handling and how it would bank when she needed to. Taking in a slow deep breath she pulled upon the force to aid in her awareness of her surroundings for the upcoming fight.

"weapons on hold till your command"​

 

[Shikari]

(OOC: Crown and I made a booboo and didn't realize we were parts of different empires. Changing the thread to Ask and cPvP. This will also explain the change in our writing.)

Shikari wasn't paying attention at first, thinking it was just one of her own pilots on the comms responding to her orders. It wasn't until she glanced up that she saw the Crux-Class fighters coming out of hyperspace to her nine o'clock. At first glance she thought that maybe they had run in to one of the other Republica squadrons patrolling the area, but as she looked on, it became clear from the markings on the fighters that these were craft from the Old Empire. This was not good news. Shikari had heard unconfirmed reports that the Old Empire had sent ships into Imperial Hutta to try and influence the tides of the conflicts going on here in their favor. Whether they intended to try and seize Hutt Space from the Republica, or if they simply wanted to make sure the Republica lost their hold on the territory, Shikari wasn't sure. But they certainly weren't here to help out, of that she could be sure.

"S-squad leader?" One of her squad members called out on the comms. "Those fighters are from the Old Empire!" Thank you captain obvious, but she had already realized that on her own. "What are your orders ma'am?" Shikari's brain was working overtime. This was a rodian stand-off... and they didn't even have any rodians. Well, maybe the pirates. She couldn't tell. The pirates were the ones they had come here for, and she couldn't let them attack the freighters, but then, to turn her back on the fighters from the Old Empire could spell her doom, along with her squadron. Which way was she supposed to go? As seconds passed and she wracked her brain, Shikari glanced back to her three o'clock and noticed something. The pirates hadn't attacked the freighters yet. Nor were they forming up to face off with her squadron. They were peeling off as fast as they could and making a break for it, back around the planet. Of course, she thought to herself. They had just witnessed four squadrons of Imperial fighters totaling forty-eight in all pop out of hyperspace right in front of their eyes. It didn't matter that they were from opposing sides. No pirate in his right mind was going to stick around to try and stick their hand in that meat-grinder. They were doing what pirates did best and running away. She hated to let them escape when they might come back to haunt them later, but she had bigger fish to fry right now.

Shikari turned back to the Old Empire vessels, eyes narrowing as she finished formulating a plan. Flipping on her comms, Shikari called out. "Republica squadron, switch comms to backup channel, immediately!" Shikari did the same as she finished saying that bit. "Listen up. They are on the same frequency as we were, so stick to the backup channel. The pirates are fleeing. I don't like it, but let them. Our top priority is still to protect the convoy. I don't know why these goons from the old world are here, but you can bet that it isn't good. Prepare for combat, but don't engage until I say the word. Head for the convoy at half speed and position yourselves between them and the enemy." Shikari switched channels and hailed the freighters. "Attention Imperial Republica Convoy. This is Shikari Gale, Squadron Leader for the Imperial Republica. Alter course forty-five degrees to port and all ahead full. Head towards our current position and away from the enemy. Begin hyperspace calculations immediately and let me know the second you are all ready to make the jump." After a few seconds a worried "Confirmed squadron leader." Came over the comms and the convoy began changing course, speeding up slightly, though they were still pretty slow. Shikari's fighters were moving into position at a relaxed pace to defend the convoy.

Flipping her comms back over to their original channel, same as the Old Empire squadron, Shikari hailed them. "Attention unidentified squadron. This is Shikari Gale. Squadron Leader of the Imperial Republica. We know that you are representatives of the Old Empire. Know that you have trespassed into Imperial Republica space and are in violation of any and all treaties that may exist or have existed between our territories. Alter course immediately and return from whence you came, or we will be forced to remove you from our space by force." Shikari figured that they probably wouldn't listen, but stalling for time was a tactic as well, and she needed time for the freighters to escape to hyperspace.

@Croywn Denimore

 

[Ros Sijak]

Ros eyebrow perked as she had exited hyperspace and noticed a squad of fighters that were not associated to them on scans. Not only that she had just responded to comms from people who were not on the best of terms with, to begin with. Well it seemed like things were going to get rather exciting after all.

But there was one minor problem with all of these plans, the person who had been in charge of this mission had quite openly and plainly lead them into a firefight that should never have been in the first place. As her ship was pulling up behind the squad leader of her own attack wing she alligned herself up behind it. Broadcasting on an open communication channel with the intention to anyone to hear

"Squad leader I am noticing an issue with your rear engines. Suggest you start running a diagnostic before we attack"

And almost just like that without any question the ship began to run its diagnostics, almost the moment the readouts showed this, both of the light laser cannons blasted a full barrage at the ship. Giving it little to no chance to respond or even attempt to evade the attack, as it was engulfed in a blaze.

"To all ships of the old Empire, let it be known that such incompetence is not tolerated, I shall be assuming command. Squadron Leader of the Imperial Republica, as you no doubt are aware such a transgression was an oversight on my predecessors part....."

As she talked she continued to move at full speed towards the convoy and that of the enemy fighters that now stood in her way and that of her new goal. Minor chaos.

"...perhaps you would like to talk about this, seems you have not had such an imposing presence as to cause the pirates to fall in line until our arrival. I mean it certainly would be a shame to broadcast this message on an open channel with the Pirate ships having not as of yet jumped to hyperspace to say that spoils would be theirs while we took care of your squad after all. Now that the Pirates know that they are not our target.....could your ships really defend both angles of attack?"

Ros was burning up time as well herself, but in part she wanted the convoy to perhaps panic as well, maybe even see if one attempted to make a run for it. Pick off the weak and thin the numbers out. With that, she switched the channel to the other ships

"Attention all ships, separate remaining ships into spearhead formations of three units, all units are responsible for their team. On next assault all ships are to commence a barrage of weapons, I want the trio spearheads to form a massive arrow formation. My ship will fall back to rear guard, ship twenty-three you are to take lead formation. Hold your fire until I am in range and do not fire until then!"

With that Ros began to ease off the thrust allowing the other ships to take formation around her and fall into line.

"Ship twenty-three.....I want you to relay my communication through your ship"

with that Ros opened her channel again, let's see the tactics the enemy squad leader would take. Would she form up, would the convey panic and would the Pirates rejoin. Even with all that was happening a small grin creased her lips

"your move Shiki"

She said over the comms not choosing to use the full name or title the opposing squadron leader had given ​

 

[Shikari]

Shikari raised an eyebrow as the apparent new leader of the squadron from the old empire spoke up claiming basically that they had been the ones who had chased off the pirates, that Shikari's squadrons couldn't defend the convoy appropriately, and basically they should just give up and move on, allowing the old empire to take over. Whether they planned on blasting the convoy from the sky, or taking it as a prize, Shikari wasn't sure, but like hell she was going to sit by and let that happen. It was odd that the squadron leader had shot down her predecessor like that. Perhaps a disagreement amongst the leadership? Shikari wasn't going to complain. That was one less fighter to worry about. Their fighter counts now stood at twenty-five to twenty-four. One down in her favor. Keep em coming. As the old empire leader finished her little spiel, she issued a taunt to Shikari, even going so far as to call her by a childish abbreviation of her own name. Oh, so this b@#$ wanted to play?

The imperial fighters were still advancing through the conversation, so Shikari gleaned that they had no intention of stopping or backing down. She switched her comms back to talk to her pilots. "Switch on targeting computers and prepare for evasive maneuvers. Blue squadron move to the lead position. Red 3, Red 4, you're my wingmen, take your positions now." Shikari switched back over to talk to the imperial commander. "Well, well. Thank you commander...? I'm afraid you forgot to mention your name, so I think I'll just call you Shebs. I'm sure you won't mind, cause if you keep advancing like that, you won't be around long to hear it many more times anyway." The twelve fighters of Shikari's Blue squadron moved forward slightly, ahead of the rest of her fighters as two of the red squadron flew up and took position to either side of Shikari's fighter, hovering right over the convoy.

Shikari watched as the imperial squadrons broke up into sets of three and advanced like little arrows. So, it was a spearhead formation? Not a bad idea, given their positions as attacker and defender had played out. But, simple enough to counter. Shikari switched back to her squadrons again. "Blue squadron, switch to missiles. Spread your targets across their formations and fire once all of you have a lock." Shikari switched back to the imperials. "My, my, Shebs those are lovely spearhead formations, but you may want to change your strategy in light of this recent development." As Shikari spoke the twelve fighters of Blue Squadron lit up as twelve concussion missiles shot across the shortening space between their two parties. Missiles were the best way to break up formations. Shikari switched back to her squadron comms. "Alright, break into pairs, stay with your wingmen, Red squadron swing out to the sides and flank their main body, Blue squadron go at em from the front. All ships fire at will."

Fighters:
Republica - 25
Imperial - 24

Rounds till Convoy Hyperspace Jump: 6

@Croywn Denimore

 

[Ros Sijak]

Ros grin turned into a full smile at the response of calling her Shebs, this adversary was going to be fun. Regardless of if the ships got away or not, in the end, she was more interested in causing a little chaos. She continued to move forwards letting her ships start to get into range. She was playing close attention to her own targeting computer. But she knew the ships would hold their nerve until she gave the order or commenced firing, that at least she was sure of from their training. But there was no accounting for fear ultimately.

She had little time to react when the first round of missiles was launched and began to fire forwards with a barrage of cannon fire causing the others to do the same, there was little time and the lead ship was going to suffer the consequences of these actions however she at least had launched a barrage of flack and cannon fire towards the enemy now it was time to bring some tactics into the equation as she spoke over the comms

"All wing ships commence an offensive split and go towards the closes attacking ships, lead ships continue on forwards towards the convoy. Stick with your wingmen and fire at will"

With that that the ships on each wing of the arrowheads began their maneuvers, the left side of the formation ship diving downwards while the left ship banked left and began to loop towards the right towards the attacking force, while the right side of the formation did the mirror effect. The lead ships all broke left and began to attempt to form up in two groups of a four-wall formation heading straight for the convoy, while the other two ships went off into a separate direction.

Ros ship begins the ship on the rear guard had switched to her own concussion missiles went straight down the center where the first ship had been destroyed, firing a return solo response of missile fire. Ros had every intention of regrouping with the nearest set of ships at that point which happened to be the ones heading towards the convoy

In all of this Ros had the advantage of seeing the way the enemy ships were breaking off and noticing some moving away from the main force, seems they were trying to get in behind them. It didn't too much matter to her if those in her squad died in the end much, she had a plan formulating in her mind but if it would pay off would be another matter completely.​

 

[Shikari]

The enemy craft opened fire with a salvo of lasers and a number of the missiles her squadron had fired were shot down before they could reach their mark. About seven out of twelve. That was impressive marksmanship. Or maybe it was just blind luck? But either way, as the missiles exploded in space just ahead of the Empire fighters, two got through the mess and struck the lead fighter on the Empire's side, blasting it to pieces. A shame that those hadn't been aimed at two different targets. Shikari was going to have to do some training with her pilots to get them up to snuff. They should know better than to target the same craft with multiple missiles in an engagement like this. There was an explosion in front of Shikari's position. The volley of laser fire from the Old Empire had struck home and blown one of her Blue Squadron fighters in half. She watched as the pieces began to fall, pulled in by the planet's gravity.

The Old Empire fighters broke off now, some dropping down while others veered left. The remaining three missiles chased their targets. Two of the missiles collided with one another as their targets crossed paths, destroying the missiles. The last missile almost found it's target, chasing the fighter into it's formation but running out of fuel before impact. The missile floated away into open space, detonating harmlessly a little ways away.

Shikari watched their movements, reading their lines. "Blue squadron. Engage their main force advancing on the convoy. Red squadron, continue your path to come around behind them, engage those fighters coming out to port and starboard."

The 10 fighters of red squadron (2 still with Shikari) were split 5 and 5 to the right and left. Charging in, they clashed with the Old Empire fighters on either side of the battle arena. Dogfights broke out and laser fire lit up the space. It was Shikari's 5 fighters on each side versus Ros's 3 meaning that Shikari's forces had the advantage. Shikari saw one of her fighters explode on the right side and one of the Old Empire fighters erupt in flames on the left. Made sense. Both sides of the skirmish were flying identical fighters and likely had similar levels of training. If they went 1 for 1 out there, her numbers would serve her well on the sides, but Ros still had 18 fighters coming through in the main attack force while Shikari had 11 remaining ships in her Blue squadron moving to intercept. That would almost certainly go in Ros's favor. Shikari would have to intervene. "Red 3, Red 4, you're my wingmen, stay on me and watch my back. Once Blue squadron engages we're going in." Shikari fired up her main thrusters and shot forward, her two wingmen following suit to either side and slightly behind her.

As Shikari flew down towards the impending clash between Blue squadron and the main Old Empire force, she saw a missile streak out from one of the rear guard fighters who was flying up the middle of the formation. The missile shot ahead of the Old Empire formation and struck one of the lead fighters of Blue Squadron, tearing the ship to pieces. Interesting, thought Shikari. That could be the Old Empire squadron leader, Shebs. Shikari made a mental note of the tail markings on the fighter that had shot.

As Blue squadron and the Empire's main force came together, Blue squadron began maneuvers, opening fire with lasers and pulling twists and turns to fly around the oncoming force. Shikari saw one of the Empire's fighters go down, and then one of her own. One for one again. As the two forces broke up and engaged in dog fights, Shikari and her two wingmen flew into the skirmish. Shikari quickly picked out two enemy fighters chasing down one of her own. "I've got the one on the right." Shikari opened up with her laser cannons, as the enemy fighter crossed her line and tore into the fighter, which exploded spectacularly. Her left wingman opened up on the second enemy, tearing into their engine. "Stick close and match my movements. Who knows, you might just get out of this alive!"

Fighters:
IR: 21
OE: 19

Rounds to convoy hyperspace jump: 5

@Croywn Denimore