Storm is Coming, Part 1

[The Storyteller]

A monotone voice.

A recording of a text to voice briefing.

"This is the Jedi Mission Briefing Service."

The sound is harsh and rather grating on even the least sensitive of ears. Had the listener above-human hearing it would be almost unbearable. It wasn't really the best system but it was the best that could be done this far from the inner rim or, indeed, civilisation.

"Your mission is as follows..."

There was a pause as the recording accessed the right file.

"Engage the fighter squadron escort of the two former Republic Corvettes."

There was a burst of static.

"May the Force be with you."

Before the transmission was over and the mission was a go.

Spoiler: OOC

To clarify; I am NOT dming this thread. You may either dice-roll for this thread or arrange someone to DM for you.

 

[Grug]

Grug was not a pilot. Who in their right mind would send Grug and Jubba into interceptors to fight off enemies? The Gamorrean Jedi was excited for the fight but a little nervous at the same time. At the very least, the pair had been given some larger fighters to accommodate their larger bodies. These hunks of junk were not exactly ideal but they would get the job done. Grug had at least done some training in piloting techniques and had the force to guide him. This fight would not be easy though.

"Jubba! We go smash! In space!" He grunted over the comm system before slapping the throttle forwards.

The Gamorrean Jedi's face compressed slightly as he launched from the hangar into the vacuum of space. It would have been comical had anyone been able to see it. Though they'd also have to have been in the small, enclosed cockpit with a smelly, dirty Gamorrean. Likely would not have been worth it. Grug pretended to do a systems check before heading towards their target. He had no idea what all the lights meant or if there would be something wrong. He just knew how to make it move and how to make the booms go. This was perfectly safe.

@Xorism

 

[Jubba the Mutt]

Jubba loved the starfighter that had been sourced by the Jedi Order for this mission. This ship was specifically designed with pilots of their size in mind and would allow the pair to fly like the best of them in space.

Jubba was a known pacifist or at least he preferred to avoid taking life when he had a choice and Grug knew this. Luckily Grug had assured him that the starfighters they were engaging today would be all droid controlled and destroying them wouldn't hurt anybody. The larger than usual fighter took off quickly behind Grug's and shot into the deep darkness of space, Jubba felt completely at ease within the cockpit and was surprised how easy it had been thus far to take off and slowly make their way toward their targets.

Autopilot disengaged.

Jubba knew that he would be relying on the force to help make up for his lack of training in the beastly fighter, after all he had only been taught the basics too which would have to make do.

"Ams ready Grug."

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Confidence was weak at the start, but it became roughly zero when the enemy squadron broke off to engage him. Pretty much every single one of them came for Grug right away. Seemed him being first and seeming like a threat really got their attention. Ten fighters approached at high speeds and began open firing at Grug. Their lasers missed completely due to a lack of skill on their part plus Grug pushed to one side and helped avoid it. Right before the ships passed each other, Grug attempted to open fire with his own lasers. As luck or the force would have it he struck one of them with a lethal dose of laser right away.

An explosion filled Grug's view as he spun the ship around to pursue the rest. He felt like the ship almost flew itself it was so easy. The Gamorrean open fired again with lasers and fired one of his missiles. Another two ships went to a fiery death. Grug was on top of the Galaxy right now. Another volley of enemy fire was avoided as he positioned himself once more, but his knee bumped a big button on the dash before he could begin his next attack.

Autopilot disengaged.

The ship didn't move. Grug realized he had been pushing the wrong buttons and doing nothing the entire time. The ship was doing it for him. Confidence in his piloting skills vanished once more but he had to do it himself now because he had no idea which button he had just accidentally pushed.

"Um..." He grunted to the comlink as he realized what happened. "Cover Grug?"

@Xorism

 

[Jubba the Mutt]

Jubba started pressing buttons but was having trouble finding the cover button. "How?" Jubba's stomach kept pushing around the stick as he moved around looking at all the buttons trying to figure what they all did which resulted in his fighter miraculously avoiding the incoming fire although so far he hadn't noticed that he was being shot at.

Taped on his screen was a picture of the HUD which was to help him know when to press the big red button in front of him. The picture depicted when the targeting computer advised the pilot to open fire although Jubba wasn't sure why the fighter couldn't just fire itself if it knew that.

Once the picture lined up with the dashboard in front of him, he happily pressed the button and waited patiently for the big boom.

"Grug, am best fun!"

They at least had one fewer threat to worry about now.

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Grug could no longer count on the autopilot to do most of the work for him. It was lucky for him that Jubba managed to draw some of the attention so that the Gamorrean Jedi could figure out what to do next. Throttle and yolk were easy enough but it was not smooth at all. The force helped him a lot as did some pure luck. He wished he knew which button would make the ship do all the work for him again but there was no time to search for buttons.

"Grug ready!" He grunted over the comms as he rushed towards the battle once more.

In all that excitement Grug forgot which fighters were enemies and which one was Jubba. His first attack went right for Jubba's ship long before he would ever realize that was his friend. The second shot volley was aimed at another fighter and those would go totally wide. It seems beginners luck had already come to a screaming halt for Grug. At least so far he had not been damaged. The force gave him just enough hint as to how to manipulate the ship to avoid fire but not enough hints to hit the right targets apparently.

"Wait... am shot Jubba! Sorry!"

@Xorism

 

[Jubba the Mutt]

Jubba flew with such imprecision that his movements became completely unpredictable and did not follow any established doctrine or flight training which made it incredibly difficult for the enemy to hit him. Unfortunately today the enemy wasn't the only threat that Jubba had to worry about as unlucky laser fire crossed along Jubba's fighter and struck an important flight component sending the fighter into an uncontrollable spin.

Jubba heard Grug speak but in the panic of fighting, he wasn't sure what his friend was saying. Jubba continued to press buttons until the spinning ceased miraculously, having now been stabilized after the damage inflicted was being accounted for by the flight computer without his knowledge.

With that sortied Jubba sought out an enemy droid fighter to target which was easy enough in the swarm and opened fire at two of them sending powerful laser fire down range.

The first fighter was hit in the engine and was disabled immediately and out of the fight while the other was hit in the wing and damaged but otherwise was fine to continue on.

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

About half the fighters were down already. Grug was quite uncertain which buttons did exactly what things still but he was slowly getting it. Jubba spun off from Grug's accidental shot which distracted the enemies for a moment. This opened the Gamorrean up to take a few pot shots. He awkwardly turned his own ship to pursue the enemies and fired when he was mostly confident the shots were aimed correctly.

"Boom... smash... pew..." And then a little toot.

Lasers erupted from Grug's fighter as he took aim for one of the enemies Jubba had hit. It had taken some damage and was distracted just long enough. The Gamorrean watched with glee as the fighter exploded violently. Another down, and only like six more. Grug trusted the force to guide them as he pushed ahead to find another target, this time by luck finding the button that seemed like it would fire a missile. It did. To the misfortune of yet another enemy fighter, it worked. Explosions filled the viewport as Grug cheered himself on.

"Grug smash!" He grunted as he finished up, eyeing five more fighters.

@Xorism

 

[Jubba the Mutt]

With only five remaining, Jubba was in hot pursuit of the target on his HUD or at least that is what was what he was trying to do. Truth be told it was either pure luck or the force that was keeping his fighter in the same vicinity as the other target let alone tracking it through combat manoeuvres. While the enemy fighter ducked and weaved to avoid fire that was randomly coming, Jubba managed to land the most amazing shot somehow on the left engine of the enemy starfighter causing it to lose control.

The comical starfighter struggled to maintain his direction and spiraled out into another causing both to explode in a fiery ball of doom! This would leave just three fighters for the pair of Jedi to handle before their job was done.

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Grug only had three fighters left to take out alongside Jubba. He was not an amazing fighter pilot but he was doing okay with the force's help. The Hutt Jedi had just done a great job of taking out some enemies but now it was Grug's turn. He pushed the throttle hard to chase after another fighter. The Gamorrean was excited to see if he could blow it up.

"Big booms! Jubba! Big Booms!" He said, forgetting to push the comlink button.

One button Grug did not forget to push was the fire trigger. He rocked the fighter as he watched the thing explode violently. No remorse for droid fighters. Now only two more would be left so maybe Jubba could get them. Grug would be ready to shoot more and make more things boom either way.

@Xorism

 

[Jubba the Mutt]

Jubba's victory was short lived as the smoldering wreckage from the previous fighters slammed into his fighter, tearing chunks out of it. A smol fire broke out inside Jubba's tiny cockpit which startled the Hutt maverick pilot, as fires were bad.

Jubba at first tried to blow it out but was completely unsuccessful, next he tried to spit on the electrical fire but this was not enough he found. To put the fire out completely, Jubba drew deep within himself and belched with tremendous velocity causing the flame to extinguish in a smol hiss. Fortunately, the creators of the starfighter had designed it in mind of all the various natural urges that large creatures such as himself might be required to emit.

Grug would have to teach Jubba however, how to weaponize his bodily resources.

@Cazar

 

[Grug]

Grug pouted as his friend Jubba took some damage. There were only two fighters left and they seemed focused on returning to finish off Jubba. That woud play to the Gamorrean's advantage. His ship rocketed towards them as they made their turn. Before either ship could fire again at Jubba they'd have to deal with Grug's ship. He still had a missile left and he even knew which button it was now. While firing lasers at one, he locked the missile to the other and opened it up as well.

"Am get them for you, Jubba." Grug grunted, remembering to activate the comms this time.

Two explosions back to back filled the viewscreen as Grug moved his ship away from the shrapnel. The Jedi had won the skirmish, but a battle was still raging outside. It was up to the rest of the warriors to finish their own jobs now. Grug was happy to do his part. He would make a course for home to land the ship and hopefully find the autopilot button again before they reached it.

Autopilot engaged.

"Oh. Good."

@Xorism