Ask Merchant Naval Duties

[Crix Aran]

Spoiler: Brief

Have you ever wondered how starship manufacturers get their products to their buyers? Capital ships, after all, are crew intensive and several of them in a delivery batch are even more so. Rather than crew all of the ships and have them make the jumps to lightspeed separately, their systems are instead slaved to a large freight hauler who 'tugs' them along with it to the destination. Corsin defence forces have placed an order with Starfeld Industries to buy several of their SC-32 "Screw" Frigates and Shogun-Class Carriers, but the convoy of unarmed Brayl-Class Bulk Freighters have reported resistance along the route.

Their escort ships have been whittled down by near constant pirate attacks as it seems that their travel route was cracked by a pirate gang looking to make a big score by ransoming the ships back to Corsin, obviously after keeping a few for themselves. Suit up, Jedi, you're going in hot and you're going in hard. Stop the pirate attack already in progress and escort those ships to their destination.

"All pilots, this is Blue Leader. All pilots, report in."

Crix shifted slightly in the seat of the Malla-Class Starfighter that he had gotten for the mission. While no longer the terrible pilot he had been in his youth, the Jedi was still by no means the best pilot that the Order had. It was part of the reason why he had done his best to secure enough ships for a full squadron.

"Blue Two, reporting in."

Sebastian, the man he had been essentially working with since one of the trials of his Knighthood, had taken up the chance to be one of the sentients in his squadron of fighters and Crix had happily accepted. However, he wanted to make sure that they had some more outside experience on tap as well - alongside the squadron of Jedi in their Malla-Class Starfighters was a squadron of irregulars, contract pilots who had signed on for credits and more experience running such missions.

The rest of the Jedi squadron called in and the Irregulars started, under the command of a man by the name of Aden Archer. Crix switched to a private line with the private pilot.

"Archer, we're readying the jump to lightspeed as we speak. We've received reports of an attack in progress - do you want to focus your squadron on anti-starfighter or anti-freighter duty?"

Pirate-owned freighters tended to be heavily modified but they were, by definition, bigger and slower targets than starfighters might be.

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

This was odd. Aden didn't think the Jedi would hire outsiders. Surprising. Still, this is an opportunity for space combat and payment at the end so Aden is happy to be batting for this team today. Aden brought his new craft, a heavily modified starfighter the Pergerine. Aside from some test flights, this would be Aden's first combat sortie piloting this craft. His astromech droid T3 would be in it's slot, already preparing the jump to lightspeed.

"Bravebird here." he reported in with his usual callsign which he tends to use.. "We'll focus on their starfighters, although if needed we can pursue their freighters" he replied back to Blue Leader. Aden's irregular's would mostly be flying open market Kihraxz light fighters. Those ships are at near-interceptor level and Aden's ship is a really fast interceptor. They can use their higher speed and decent maneuverability to edge-out the opposing starfighters. And maybe the extra speed will prove to be key while defending the convoy. Still, Aden's flexible so if a change in tactics is needed he can adjust as necessary.

Aden would look out his viewport, he would be able to see the Jedi starfighters. He's never seen that model of craft before. Almost has the head of a rebel era Y-Wing and then the thrusters and wings of a post-clone wars Z-95? Aden wonders how well those perform.

Looking forward again, the mercenary squadron is all accounted for as it's almost time to jump to hyperspace. T3 in the back would notify Aden the ships ready for take off. "Ready to go to hyperspace when you are. Just give the word" he would say to mission leader.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Well he couldn't deny that the independent contractor was well within his element here - the pilot and his wing of fighters was more than welcome to tango with their pirate equivalent. The freighters might have stronger shields but they were slower and bigger targets to hit - his Jedi ace pilots might not need those advantages but Crix rather did.

He was adequate at best behind the controls of a starfighter.

"Focus on the enemy starfighters." he agreed with Aden, "We'll be counting on you guys to cover our backs as we conduct our runs against the freighters. May the Force be with you, Bravebird."

Giving the signal via his astromech, Crix didn't give some last minute speech - he just signalled the jump to lightspeed and made it himself. Stars burned and blurred around him for a moment that seemed to stretch from a second into an eternity until real-space was back as reality reasserted itself. A short jump from their stationing system meant that the journey was relatively short. Immediately it became apparent that they had company as the civilian cargo vessels were lit up as their shields flashed against attacks.

And immediately he started picking up readings.

"Twenty freighters - seventeen fighters." he announced, calm in the face of the numbers, "Bravebird, watch out six. Blue Squadron - form up for attack run on Freighters eight through eleven. Targeting."

His targeting data was pinged off by his astromech to the rest of Blue Squadron, highlighting the ships in question straight away. He began to slip into the Force as he began angling for the attack run, the pirates still surprised by their sudden arrival for the moment.

Spoiler: Enemy Ships

AZZ3 Freighters x20
R-41 Starchaser Starfighters x17

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

"Acknowledged" Aden said. With the pull of a lever, white-blue streaks would appear through the canopy and then his ship would vault into hyperspace. Soon he would reach the white tunnel at the end. And after emerging back into normal space, he could see the space battlefield ahead. Indeed there is already a fight going on, the pirates are already attacking the convoy. Immediately afterwards, he would scramble forward with speed, make sure his weapons are ready and shields are up.

Laser fire, explosions, deflector shields particles. It looks like the convoy is still holding out, but it won't be for long, The Jedi and Irregular fighter squadrons arrival was timely. Aden heard Blue One on the coms about the enemies composition. Twenty freighters and seventeen fighters. "Roger that" he would respond back to Crix. There is a lot going on, so battlefield awareness in such a chaotic environment will be prudent. "Alright boys, form up on me. Be ready to open fire on my mark." he said to the other mercenaries. With that, Aden would drastically increase his speed and dive at an angle towards the thick of the fighting. Aden would take the lead in his group as his ship his faster, but the light fighters they are piloting aren't really snails themselves so they could keep up a bit.

Oh yes, Bravebird would also switch on his helmets recorder.

The pirates would still surprised, so this is a good chance to hit them hard and fast. "Lock on their fighters with your missiles" Aden is eyeing one fighter and has it in his crosshairs. After getting confirmation from other mercs and from his own ship. "Fire." he said. After that he and the mercs would launch missiles towards the fighters, accompanied by bursts of laser cannon fire at their respective targets. Explosions would ring out as pirate fighters would start dropping and being totaled. A good strike, caught them by surprised and off guard, seven pirate fighters went down.

Aden would quickly bank away with his craft to avoid enemy laser fire as he saw that his squadron got the attention of a majority of the remaining pirate fighters and are moving against him. The other mercs would follow with him as well to do the same thing

This is a good opportunity for Crix and his squadron to engage the freighters as the fighters are being peeled away, and this will give the convoy some much needed reprieve.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Taking a deep breath, Crix clutched the controls of his starfighter tightly in hand and started to open fire. Around him the rest of the blue squadron did the same, laying down laser fire into the hulls and shields of the pirate freighters as they whirled to try and present a more defensive line against the Jedi attackers. How successful a tactic it was, was somewhat hard to say. Crix himself was able to whittle down the shields of two of the freighters for the other squad members to disable or destroy them. Another freighter was also destroyed by the combined fire of the squadron.

But almost immediately it became apparent that those were the least skilled pilots of the pirate freighters as the rest of the freighters broke formation in a display of timing and skill that had Crix cursing internally. They had been attacked by surprise in the past and had likely considered counters for it.

"Blue Squadron watch out - they're attempting to loop back around on us."

True enough, the freighters came looping back around on attack vectors from several different directions with their laser cannons blasting. Using the controls in a death grip, Crix rolled his fighter out of the way of a stream of laser bolts that narrowly avoided clipping any of the other Jedi fighters on its way off into the distance. Of course not all of them were so lucky and Crix watched as one of the Jedi starfighters on his instruments winked out of existence.

"Blue Squadron - disperse. Wingmen only, hunt and destroy."

Pulling out of an attack formation, Crix noted the two starfighters who shadowed him as they formed up as his wingmen for the next part of the battle.

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

As he was moving at high speeds, Aden was stone-face concentrated on what's in front of him. "Spit up and engage at will" Aden ordered to his squadron of mercenaries. Bravebird was still manevering and took advantage of his ship's speed to evade enemy fire while doing said maneuvers. His ship's maneuverability may not the best but it's still on par with an X-Wing's which is still considerable.

Aden would then slow down in his craft and turning off the thruster for a very brief moment, then sharply veer up, and then start accelerating again, effectively going above the pirate fighters that were tailing him and giving him more breathing room to do other things. He could see the other fighters engaging other targets, pirates chasing Aden's irregulars, them chasing pirates. It was a chaotic melee. One other pirate went down, two mercenaries went down. Aden like to keep his squadron's losses at a minimum, but he wouldn't fret over as sometimes it just can't be helped.

Bravebird would start chasing down one pirate attempting to shoot down one of his wingmen. The wingman couldn't break free and had shields almost gone, but Aden would be able to close the distance quickly with the Peregrine's speed. After getting the target in his crossairs, a volley of laser cannon fire would do the trick. He'd score hits and the fighter would go down, saving his wingman.

Of course a bogey was back behind Bravebird again, as his astromech droid notified him with it's loud beeping. "Got it" Aden would be able to do a half-loop going downwards. A maneuver done just in time, executed with honed reflexes, he could see laser cannon fire fly above him over his ship canopy. These fighters are persistent if nothing else, there isn't a whole bunch of them left to go with eight more left to go, although they are persistent, have smaller targets and are more maneuverable which may make them harder to take all of them down.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Crix wasn't much of an ace when it came to Jedi or those who were truly gifted behind the controls of a starfighter but he had the fortune of being backed up by two wingmen who were objectively much better than he was. As he zeroed in on one of the freighters for an attack run, one of his wingmen opened fire in the direction that the ship would be best suit fleeing in - to box them in so that they would be easier for Crix and the second wingman to fire straight into.

Sometimes this tactic didn't work but that was typically only the case when the pilot was calm - in a panic, people tended to forget to think in three dimensions and instead thought in a more linear manner. By frightening the pilot, they were able to convince him to stay thinking in two dimensions - and they watched as their combined fire broke through the shields before tearing the ship into three pieces.

They flew off quickly so as to get back into the fight, picking up another of the freighters as a bogey on their tail. His two wingmen pealed off, leaving Crix alone as he gripped the controls and piloted the lighter, nimble, ship in and out of the sights of the enemy fire. Just as he was beginning to develop a pattern in his dodging, the two wingmen came back into play - flying in from opposite directions to open fire on the freighter's flanks while it was focused on Crix.

It exploded under the pressure and sustained fire.

Across the rest of the Jedi battle group another three of the freighters were scratched off the board.

"Seven tangos down, thirteen remain." he reported over the channel to Aden, "What's your count, Bravebird?"

Spoiler: Dice

Rolled 18 out of 20 for second attack run

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

The combat with the pirate fighters is going poorly, for the pirates of course. Their fighters were already dimished and Aden's squadron hasn't suffered many casualties yet. Now the fighters are all dispersed as the mercenaries are looking for attacks of opportunity to destroy the other in the melee. The pirates fighters are nimble and were able to do some damage of their own, but the mercenaries had the advantage at this point.

After escaping from the bogey on his tail from his half-loop, those same pirate would try to go after him again but would instead be intercepted by irregular fighter, they would chase them down, Aden was aware. He would do another loop to face them, with one of the fighters in his crosshairs and tracking them, Bravebird would quickly fire a volley laser accompanied with light ion cannon shots while they are too busy being chased. Unable to stand up to a two-pronged attack, the pirate fighter was ripped apart and was destroyed.

Aden would send his regards to that pilot that helped. "Thank you for the assist" Soon after he would check the radar, two other enemy blips went off line over time as he was turning ship. Soon it became apparent that the the pirate fighters were begining to depart, they are attempting to just fly into the void, attempting evasive maneuvers and not fighting back at this point. Typical. Pirates would save their own skin. Either die or live to fight another day. Bravebird would then hear Blue Leader on the comms and he would respond back "Five of seventeen fighters remaining. They are attempting to break off to flee" Aden would turn his fighter towards the convoy now, he would see that the Jedi and mercenary protection has brought much needed reprieve to them and they are itching away from the space battlefield while they are engaging the pirates.

"Should we pursue them or assist you with the freighters?" Bravebird was content with either, but he offered since there are still thirteen freighters and they can take quite a bit of punishment before going down.

OOC: Rolled 18/20

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

As he was speaking with Aden, Crix could see that the fighters were breaking off but the freighters seemed to have dug in their heels and remembered that they had stronger shields and, typically, stronger hulls than the Jedi starfighters. One of the Jedi died in a burst of fire as another two of the freighters were destroyed in the chaos.

Already he could tell that they had, mostly, secured the area but it wasn't quite over with just yet.

"Let them loose." he confirmed to Aden, "Head in for a flanking attack on the freighters - we'll do our best to keep them fairly linear."

With the message away, Crix had his astromech relay the plan to the other Jedi starfighters and one by one they began to start flying in more linear ways. It was dangerous for the Jedi to do as it limited their options when it came to avoiding enemy fire but it would also encourage the freighters to fly in a similar manner to get clearer shots.

Opening them up to attacks by Aden and the other mercenaries.

OOC: 11/20

@The Good Doctor

 

[Aden Archer]

"Roger that" Bravebird said over the comms. "Mercenaries, form up on me" Aden said as turned his craft around, letting the pirate fighters flee for their hides. With that his craft and his squadron would be facing towards the enemy freighters. Looking at all the freighters, even with the numbers dimished, Aden had to wonder how this pirate group has so many those same model of freighters. They were going to be annoying because of their bulk, but at least they were, had average maneuverability relative to other light freighters "Get a lock on the enemy" he ordered his squadron.

Aden had a freighter in his cross hairs, he would fly to flank them but had his own craft position at an angle and his wingmen would do the same. That way any missed shots would have a minimal chance of hitting the Jedi fighters. "Missiles away" The irregulars' would fire a wave of missiles at the frieighters, most of them connecting do to their disadvantage, that would soften them up, with either their shields depleted, shields depleted with structural damage, or their shields barely hanging in there. The mercs would keep on firing their laser cannons as well. Aden would fire his ion cannon as well as his laser cannons at the same target as well. The ion cannon would shred through what shields the freighter had left and a laser cannon barrage would be enough to destroy it. One freighter down, as it exploded. Soon a second one would go down as well shot down by the others and a third would be heavily crippled and would try limping away.

One mercenary freighter got shot down however, it was already damaged from before in the fight. Aden would hear a scream on his comms and then it was silenced. Unfortunate, but those are the breaks. Aden would focus back on what's in his viewport. With about half of the total freighters gone and a good portion of what's remaining being damaged

Roll: 9 with +2 modifier for skill/level = 11

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Crix might not have been the best combat pilot in the Galaxy but he liked to talk and his Master had taught him to look out for the spaces between people's thoughts. Where they hid their fears and where they tried to hide what they so desperately wanted as well. It was in those spaces that Hannibal had often tried to insert his own whispers, his own thoughts, so that they would demoralise the enemy.

He might not have the same affinity for the method as his Master had, but Crix knew enough to talk to people and really get them to pay attention. Reaching down, he began to broadcast on all open frequencies.

"This is Jedi Knight Crix Aran, calling to the pirate freighters."

The silence stretched for just a second, just a beat, before he spoke again.

"Our mission is the defence of the cargo and lives of the pilots and crew. It is our duty to fight back all attackers. It is YOUR duty to serve yourselves, as pirates. So serve yourselves right now..."

Another pause that Crix let hang across the airwaves for a moment longer before adding the final part of his address.

"Run."

His astromech gave the coded message to ships within the taskforce to break off attack runs, to give the pirate freighters some breathing room. One by one, they disengaged from the Jedi/allied ships and began to make for the black. In moments they began to disappear to hyperspace.

One, unfortunately for them, exploded violently when its damaged hyperdrive malfunctioned. Grimacing a little bit, he switched channels to Aden as the allied freighters began repairs for their jump to safety.

"Get a good number, Bravebird?"

OOC: 19/20 for promoting a rout of the enemy

@The Good Doctor