Stick it to Them

[Drace Solus]

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Bahalian Shipyard
0532 Local Time​

It was Kaddamn early, the time on the surface of whatever planet they were above being well into the dead of the night, but the Mandalorians were busy at work, the engines of their starfighters getting no rest today—not that the warriors were getting any either. Drace was eager to get some more dogfighting experience in, even if the attack was a surprise one, and any defense the shipyard managed to scrounge up would be severely lacking in the face of three of Mandalore's most polished and active soldiers. Ever the speed demon, the Supercommando had opted to fly an MM8 today, and it showed—he'd had to slow down three times already to stay in formation. He had no use for any guns today, so he'd stashed his rifle in the cargo space, only thing on him being his Quickdraw and his beskad, which was laying at his side in its sheath. The Mandalorian was carefully eyeing the shipyard, which lay about 2 kilometers away from the three, Drace flying at Burk's right side, with Dax at the big dog's left.

"2 klicks from objective and quickly approaching. Big Dog and Little Dick, how are you holding up? Over," he called into the comms, using the affectionate nicknames he'd given for his fellow warriors. It was easy to tell who was who.

The shipyard was fairly inactive at such an hour, the only ships coming and going being supply freighters and the like, with the occasional starfighter on patrol doing its hourly rounds. No one expected an attack, most of the workers there having already forgotten about the Mandalorian diplomat who had barely gotten out. The mob boss in charge of the place was sleeping somewhere on the upper level, and his grunts were either doing the same or in the bar. There were, at most, 2 or 3 pilots ready to hop into their starfighters without instantly crashing from exhaustion. They needed their sleep, and the squadron was resting now, worn out from a long day of razing unarmed villages on the surface of the planet as a training exercise, though mostly for fun. Still, the Mandalorians would have to get this done quick. Take too long, and the squadron, tired as it was, might get ready just in time to put up some serious opposition. That would suck.

"This is the part before the mission where I have to point out a trivial detail that you've probably had hammered into your head during the briefing, so I will not disappoint: the squadron—and everyone else important—sleeps in the upper quarters, so make that a priority if you can. This is Brawler Badger, over."

@Taz @Darasuum

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax was sitting in the pilot's chair of the VXN. Unlike his Solus brother, the Rau marauder preferred things like shield and a hyperdrive between him and the enemy. To assist him in using the Vixen to it's full potential Dax recruited three of Burkheart's mando squad. A co-pilot and two gunners. Plus his astromech A-7 to assist in damage control if things got heavy. Dax could of done the job without a full crew but more then willing to use the man power. They were also three more rifles if things went to ground.

Stuck in the pilot seat, Dax was without his Jetpack and switched back to his jump boots. Just in case. His still had his pistols and the rest of his started kit, minus a rifle. Armor, pistols, beskad, the works. He checked them quickly as they approached the target area. It was a habit, a good one.

When Drace did a comms check, Dax could of broke formation and but few medium laser bolts through his tiny little fighter. "Little huh, that's not what Percy called it lastnight. By the way thanks for introducing us." Dax knew it was a low blow, but he hated jokes about his size and was pleasantly surprised that Manda'lore herself didn't realize she was about an inch taller. "Also last time I checked you're just a little commando so why not let the the Field Marshall talk. Bunny badger !"

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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THEME​

He really hoped he was big dog otherwise the Field Marshal was about to fire off a shot over Drace's nose in warning. He sipped a travel thermos of cafe that sat in the cup holder of his ship, the Effervescent. It felt good to be back in a proper ship and not some foreign garbage can with wings. Burkhart's jaws went wide and his tongue hung out as he scratched behind his own ear before taking another generous gulp of the caffeinated liquid.

"Alright shorties. Save tha pillow talk fer after that fight." The two humans were both smaller than him and they often compared themselves to one another for size which was amusing. He set his ship's scanners to maximum. They would be able to notice any enemy presence at maximum distance without issue with the exceptional scanning suite. There was no chance of any normal ship sneaking up on them.

"Raports ov raiders are that they are usin are ex fives. They got hyperdrives but don't allow them ta dip out on uss ay?" He added to Drace's words. The trio of mandalorians. had a variety of ships on this endeavor. A starfighter, a dropship and his own personal highly modified ship. He had ordered a few marauders to be on Dax's ship to assist him with manning the multiple stations the vessel required while only had two on his own. Of course Drace's starfighter only required himself. He did want to get a booster for his sublight engines soon though so he could keep pace with starfighters if need be.

 

[Drace Solus]

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Low blow indeed, but they couldn't keep the banter going—they had a mission to do. "Ohoho, I'll be sure to find you during the next tavern brawl," he replied, chuckling. He'd gotten the final word, since Burk would probably shoot them both down if he had to hear any more chattering. Turning his focus to the mission at hand, Drace listened closely to the Field Marshal, shrugging, though no one was able to see him. Drace wouldn't mind if they dipped out; the Mandalorians were here to cripple the shipyard into submission. If its defenders left, that would just make the job easier for them. Nevertheless, the Supercommando remained silent, eyes set on the approaching objective. Less than a kilometer between them and the shipyard, and no defense yet. It seemed things wouldn't be very hard, as he'd predicted. The lookout hadn't noticed them yet, or if it had, it hadn't raised the alert yet.

"Roger that, Big Dog. Engaging in 3...2...1..." As his starfighter got within its 500 meter range, the Mandalorian slid his fingers onto the buttons that controlled the ship's guns. No sooner had he passed the 499th meter than he unleashed a torrent of bolts onto the closest parked ship, a starfighter that would clearly have been used by a member of the squadron. It took a while for the bolts to get to it, though after the few seconds it took them to traverse the empty space, a few found their mark, and that was all he had needed. The engines blew, resulting in an explosion that sent shrapnel flying out of the shipyard's gravitational field. Some hit the ships parked near it, though they were all clearly cargo or civilian craft, completely irrelevant to the mission, so Drace ignored them.

He flew closer and closer, his eyes fixed on the shipyard, scanning for any movement. He could see workers running around frantically now, though it took a few more seconds for the alarms to be sounded. From there, they would have a limited frame in which to inflict as much damage as they could before the squadron woke up and gave them hell. The Mandalorian, 200 meters away now, fired a missile directly into the shipyard's upper levels, where he assumed would be the command tower. He missed, though the missile hit a part of the barracks, killing 4 ground troops and blowing a hole into the shipyard. That would make things easier for Dax, if the Marauder planned to use the dropship for its purpose as a dropship.

@Taz @Darasuum

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax had to laugh at Drace's comment. He would wanted to get in another jab but Burk would cut their little game short and put to the soldiers back on target. To no surprise Drace took his ship to full speed and started the attack run. Taking out a ship and a building that perhaps housed men, judging my the poor bastard sucked out into space after the hole Drace put in the shipyard.

While the Solus marauder made his run, Dax took the dropship to full speed and brought the ship into an attack vector on the launch bay at seemed to be sitting right behind the ship that Drace destroyed. The VXN dove toward it's target, opening up with the dorsal auto turret first. Followed by the nose gun as Dax leveled off and poured down fire onto the ships and doors of the bay, anything in his shooting lane, and then finally with the ventral guns as Dax broke off and upward on a wide turn for another run.

The effect was a short but effect forty meter long swath of destruction. Exploding fighter and civilian craft alike and damaging the bay to slow the launch of any remaining defensive craft that might be left. Neither Dax or his crew could know the extent of the body count but their were sure to be dead and injured in the bay and ships.

"All your Burk." he said over the comms in Mandoa, refusing the use the call signs given by Drace.

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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Burkhart's ship would stay behind the dropship. The Effervescent was faster, but only slightly in terms of starship speed. He could afford to go slower due to his ship having the best shields out of all of them but would not take fire if it could be avoided. So far they had not recieved fire from the enemy at this point which was fine by him.

In space there was no up or down. It was all relative so with little effort Burkhart turned the ship so the top of the vessel had its dorsal armament facing the shipyard. His gunner opened up the dual light laser cannon turret on the scout ship and fired a salvo into the target locations fuel reserves. It was hard to miss with a naked eye as they got close. The yellow warning paintjob of the service vessel was easy to see. It was a tanker in the process of refilling a reserve of fuel in one of the docking arms and it would bloom into a glorious cloud of fire for a moment then move outward and disperse. Explosions in space were something all together.

By the time he had finished his own damage he knew that soon enemy ships would be coming out of ship bays to respond in a quick reaction force. No doubt they belonged to the syndicate and were corrupt to the bone. Either way, they would die all the same. Sure enough his scanners picked up fast moving objects, three of them from the far end of the shipyards. "Bogies incommin, far side a tha docks." He said to inform the other two vessels on his side.

 

[Drace Solus]

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"Rat One, this is Rat Two. Squadron is on duty and ready to engage tangos, over."

"Roger that, Rat Two. Let's give em hell, over."

11 RX-5 starfighters poured out of the hangar, zooming above the shipyard and getting into formation. They were headed toward the Mandalorians, though it seemed likely that Drace would be their first target, judging by how close he was. And he was right. All 11 fighters unleashed a rain of bolts on him from 150 meters away, the Supercommando dipping the nose of his ship down and away from danger. The bolts soared over him, every single one missing. As he brought his ship back up, he returned fire onto the undersides of the squadron, which would be much harder to dodge. Some of them managed to speed up or maneuver out of the way, but Drace was still able to clip one. Its right wing shot out, the fighter spiraled away toward the shipyard, its pilot doing his best to keep himself from hitting it, only to fail. The ship hit the main structure and blew up, the walls of the shipyard's upper levels crumpling in from the impact.

The ships kept pursuing Drace though, and he was forced to veer in all possible directions to avoid them. Thankfully, his ship was fast, but he couldn't avoid them forever. "I got all of them on me," he said, narrowly dodging a bolt. "Someone back me up."

@Taz @Darasuum

 

[Dax Rau (TL8)]

Dax brought the VXN around to close the loop only to see his best friend trying to dodge very single laser bolt in the verse. The marauder pulled up hard as he shifted targets from another attack run to covering Drace's tiny un-shielded ass. "Full power to front screen, all guns forward, and pray." he commanded the crew.

"Dee come straight for me and close to 50 meters then brake off." Dax commanded over comms. The commando managed to listen between darting around around like a bug avoiding a bantha's tail. Drace came right at Dax and darted downward suddenly, as expected. Dax put the ship into a corkscrew, "FIRE!" pushed the button for the nose gun and the rest of the turrets followed. Pouring bolts in all directions.

The medium cannon tore through the fighter in front of him, and then the next. The remaining eight starfighters broke from formation and scattered in all directs, trying to avoid the torrent of plasma fire. Dax picked the last of the enemy to break away and gave chase. "That's two...annnd about to be..." he held the moment. The dorsal guns led the fighter as Dax fired with the nose cannon. "Three." Dax said as the RX flew into the turret fire.



@Darasuum @vamp

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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The speed at which Drace's ship moved certainly meant he was going to get the enemy's attention faster than Burkhart or Dax. He called for assistance and Burkhart shook his head at the badger who had bitten off more than he could chew. Why did he feel like he was baby sitting again. But he was not overly concerned. Perhaps he had gotten out of sticky situations so many times and seen their continued success that he was getting cocky.

He would follow Dax's ship but move to his right wing and fire past him to. The twin shots of the laser cannon turret struck one of the starfighters directly in the cockpit. It flamed for a moment before going dark and veering away, just a metal hull with nothing left to keep it going. The gunner moved on to another target, that one requiring more shots and in doing so causing it to make a far greater explosion. Only three left. "Take oout tha last thrree an let's get outta herre." He called over the comms channel.

 

[Drace Solus]

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"Roger that," he replied to Dax, speeding up as fast as his ship could go. 50 meters away, he dove down, suddenly shoving the nose of his ship to the space under. The fighters that he been trailing him scrambled to maneuver out of the way, but it was too late. 3 of them were obliterated by Dax, with Burk wiping out another one or two. By the time Drace flipped back up, there were three enemies left, and he turned to them.

They were flying at him as fast as they could, packed far closer than they should have been. The Supercommando nudged the nose of his fighter to the right very slightly, then let loose a missile. It soared through the air and directly into one of the enemy ships, the one on the right of the formation. It exploded, being sent barreling toward the one next to it, setting off a short chain. One ship left, and Drace finished it off with his cannons.

"Big explosions for a Little Dick," he praised, bursting into laughter as his microphone stopped taking input. Then, he switched it back on, doing his best to keep serious, though he was smiling. "Now, let's make like a banana and split."

@Taz @Darasuum

END THREAD​