After centuries of war and repeated bombardment, Mandalore was in dire need of recovery. With the new developments in the galaxy and the 'allies' they now had, ironically from a faction that historically had been the root cause in the first place, this was finally within reach. Of course, that didn't mean it was going to be easy.
Dalair and Taz flew aboard the latter's ship to intercept an 'Ark' carrying both a seed vault and assorted wildlife. A massive, modified Star Seeder-class colony vessel, the Ark of Antheia was en route to deliver its illegally-acquired payload to Core and Hutt space. Rather than passengers, the ship's cargo was expanded for both flora and fauna. Doubtless, there were a hundred luxurious zoos and research labs that craved what it carried. Mandalore had a greater need than some worthless Hutts or Core lushes collecting pets.
The armorer wore his beskar'gam, jetboots and a whipcord thrower replacing his jetpack and wrist rocket launcher. Best not to rely on bulky rockets or something that could badly damage the rest of the ship for this one, he figured. An RSKF-44 was holstered along his python and other miscellaneous gear, including pairs of smoke, frag, and concussion grenades in belt pouches. Taz was in charge of carrying breaching charges. Dal'd also left his carbine behind. For good reason, though.
It'd been replaced by an old, refurbished Imperial-era rotary repeater for the day. Their original plan was to act like a damaged or low-fuel ship needing 'help' in order to get aboard. They couldn't really sneak up on the proper way, so that'd have to do. Even with the vast majority of passenger space wiped out for wildlife, there'd be many crewmembers aboard, security included. Dal figured the less they felt like fighting back the easier this would be for everyone involved.
To that end they both handled piloting. Their original plan failed immediately, the Ark's captain suspicious of a Mandalorian vessel near Mandalorian space, and fired upon them pre-emptively. The Ravenous bolted through open space from around the cover of a moon, heading straight for the Ark's hangar and trying to dip below turbolaser firing arcs.
Unfortunately, those had apparently also been modified and replaced with faster and lighter guns. A storm of shots flew past while others impacted the ship, rocking it and sending sparks dramatically flying from a series of wall panels. As it approached the hangar another shot damaged a main thruster, but by now the Lancer was close enough. Dal fired reverse thrusters and banked, sliding into the hangar sideways without landing gear. It screeched across the small hangar floor until finally stopping, smoking ominously from the hits it'd taken.
Another happy landing. "I'll fix it later," the armorer promised, shooting up from his chair in spite of a pronounced ache from the rough landing, and grabbed the rotary gun on the way to the exit ramp. "Let's go!" Plugging it into a back-belt mounted power pack he lowered the ramp and rushed down it, the gun spinning up in his hands. Shipboard klaxons rang through the air all around and red emergency lights flashed. Right up ahead was the entrance door to the rest of the ship, as of yet unsealed.
Just as the two Mandalorians would reach the door the first security group would arrive, four men with pistols rounding the corner of the adjacent hall. With a grunt Dal hefted his weapon and held down the trigger, bursting a wave of bolts that caught the first in line and sent the rest scattering back around the corner with a string of curses. The shot man fell to the ground, smoking but still alive.
Awkward landing aside, Dalair thought this was overall a pretty decent first impression thus far. He jerked his helmet for Taz to move up and took the left wall, opposite the corner with security around it, and began to march down the hall. Unfortunately, more boots could be heard echoing down that hallway. Taking the ship wasn't going to be an easy affair.
@Taz