Wrath of Empires

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

​

The join task force's analyst group finally progressed and pinpointed the head of this cell. Now with the handler located, the next step became serving justice. Headquarters notified the nearest operators to form a team and execute their mission. They reached the hiding spot within mere days. Although, the handler had different plans. The smuggling freighter's spoofer managed to maintain cover long enough that it nearly escaped. The squadron triangulated the target's signals on spot and found the freighter hidden in an asteroid field.

Jayscreec controlled an expensive Reflex-class Starfighter, sponsored by the Empire's courtesy. His nerves didn't let him chill. So much was on stake.

He cleared his throat and controlled his breathing, in order to relax his neck and calm his voice. He tried hard to sound confident. "Red one. We are two clicks south of the target. All units prepare to engage. It is time to finally end this. Lethal force authorized upon resistance."

Jay gripped into the sticks and speeded towards the freighter.

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @vamp

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Numbers were just an efficient way of labeling things. But for Brenton "Fury" Drast his call sign, Star Zero, it had an alternate meaning. It's secondary purpose was to mess with the other members of Star Squadron since the others had actual numbers. He had asked to get Star Sixty-Nine, or Four Twenty, or even Thirty Four but it had all been denied. That was an affect Brent had on systems, he tended to break them. Maybe if he had stayed in the Sith Empire it would have actually crumbled just from his antics and mischief.

This mission was ordered from the top, part of the group effort the Galactic Alliance was trying to make to make the galaxy a safer place. This cell of terrorists was no good to any side so at least they could agree on that. He was sitting in his custom XS-100 light freighter. The turret on a swivel, in more ways than one, while Brent balled up his fifth, maybe sixth gum wrapper and let it fall down to the main deck. Now he was starting to regret it though. The littering he would get to later but the wad in his mouth was starting to get hard to chew though he was hungry and the act of chewing was helping to keep his hunger at bay.

So far though he had not needed to do much as he observed in his seat aside from keep a sideways eye on the fellow Sith agents. One of the Imperials came in over the shared communications link. He sounded forced, like he was not used to leading though Brenton could not say he had done anything like it either and if he tried would not be much better. But he still knew when someone did not sound perfect. Rolling his neck muscles he gripped the controls and started to yawn half way through his response. "Star Zero here, reeaaahhhh- He held a hand to his mouth to stifle the yawn. "sorry, ahem, Star Zero, ready to kill some terrorists or whatever.

@vamp @Cainhurst Crow @Ediwa

 

[Thelemy Oronays]

"This is Star One. The force will guide our hand, in striking down these heretics with all our fury..." Thelemy said as he helped to pilot his own Reflex-class Starfighter, gliding it through the empty reaches of space in formation with his current comrades. The fanatical force worshiper trusted in the hand of the force to guide his shots. The terrorists they fought were causing an unnatural amount of disturbance, enough to call for the Empire's hand to join with that of the Galactic Alliances.

"Present company excluded, of course." He added on as his eyes glanced towards the freighter, and the one inside of it. He had grumbled that part, and made it no secret that he did not like this particular style of mission. Working with someone who didn't seem to appreciate the chance to return wayward souls to the forces embrace, only meant they were a wayward soul themselves.

But he'd put a pin on that. For now, the terroists were a bigger concern. Thelemy prepared his weapons, setting the systems to standby as he prepared for battle.

 

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

"Fire away!" reported Jayscreec, and the concussion missile launched. He aimed in front of their enemy. The light deflector screen activated on the Reflex-class Starfighter at last. He took a final look at his radar to check for other aircrafts in the area. The asteroid field's space debris challenged the pilots. Jayscreec steered to the right to avoid a big rolling stone. At the other side he expected to cut in front of the enemy freighter, to re-engage if necessary.

Jayscreec did not need to try anymore to sound confident with the Sith. Once in battle, like a flick of a lever, his mind changed to strategic views. "Star zero, tail the target. Star one, maintain a different vector to engage." said Jayscreec.

Then they opened a channel to communicate with the target. "This is Lieutenant Alecwit of the Imperial Navy. You are under arrest. Put down your weapons and use the escape pods. You will be collected safely."

The way Jayscreec attacked worths to be noted. He immediately fired to get attention. It showed his intentions. Brutality never drove from him, far from being savage. He wanted to prevent the enemy's escape by all means.

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @vamp @Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

Inside the asteroid field Eclipse handler Marko Valori sat inside of his overhead freighter, staring out the cockpit and into the inky blackness. His IFF spoofer had seemingly done the job it was installed to do. No one had followed him and his crew as they made their escape, doing their best to get the hell outta dodge so they could live to do criminal shenanigans another day.

The sudden beeping of his scanners broke Marko's assumption they'd gotten off scot-free. Obviously things could never be that easy. Rolling his eyes, Marko motioned to his crew to get the ship - aptly named Misery - ready to fight. His shields came on, his weapons were primed. It was go time.

It didn't take long for the bogeys that appeared on his scanners to start firing. Marko's ship had decent speed, though, allowing it to zip behind an asteroid, the missile striking the large rock and blowing it to bits but leaving the ship just fine. One of the ships came across a comm channel. Odd. Usually you tried talking before you tried shooting. Whoever was behind the wheel of that starfighter must have been a straight up green horn.

"You're gonna have to try a little harder than that," Marko said in return. "Typical Imperial dog, firing first before introducing yourself. Is that part of your training or did your mother forget to teach you any manners at all?"

Marko's ship was ducking and diving between asteroids as he looked to ditch his new found buddies and get into open space to make a hyper jump. The groundsweeper canon installed on the ship dropped out of its housing and started firing on Jayscreec, sending neon green blaster bolts flying toward him in a flurry. Marko doubted it'd take him out, but it would at least make the guy slow down and hopefully be unable to give true chase.

The game was afoot.

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @vamp @Ediwa

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

"Put shields to forward." He commanded his droid as the overhead freighter took off away from them. Brent would have to strain his ship a little bit to catch up to the ship and get into optimal firing range of the dual light laser canons. But the overhead was known for being slower than his XS-100. "Aye Master Drast." His droid compied.

Swiveling the turret around to center on the overhead Brent began firing a full burst at the larger and slower ship. It had shields so naturally this would not take it out quickly but they had to begin making headway if they were going to take this guy down. He heard the man's voice over the communication link. He could agree with his words. But in this instance, Marko was the enemy, not the imperials.

@Cainhurst Crow @Ediwa @Logan

 

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

As the bolts came Jayscreec tilted his Reflex-class Starfighter enough to the side. The activated shield soaked one of the bolts and the debris of the asteroid field. Exploiting the ship's enhanced durability, Jayscreec pulled an increasingly tighter turn upon nearing the enemy Freighter. "Don't let them escape," Jayscreec said. Every serving member of the Navy knew what would happen to them, if a universal threat slipped out their grip. Both laser cannons opened fire at the Freighter's hyperdrive.

Jayscreec lagged behind his team. To get Marko he had to know where this was going. He explored the asteroid field and quickly initiated a different approach. "We can trap him. Slow him down enough. Star Zero, if you barrel roll, you can catch him by surprise and end this!" Jayscreec said.

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @vamp @Logan

 

[Thelemy Oronays]

Thelemy focused on his target, focusing as he did so and trying to maneuver around the asteroids. Their enemy had chosen a place where the terrain would become an issue, but that same fact also applied to him as well. "This is star one. I am going to try and cut off his route, and force him around. Prepare to break off."

The sith had flown upwards, moving to catch their prey from above as he kept in dogged pursuit. He loaded up one of the concussive missiles and targeted a large asteroid in front of Markos ship. He fired, watching the missile sail through space and collide with his target, breaking rocky chunks to fly into Marko's path at a high speed. Wasting no time, Thelemy began to fire as well, peppering Markos so that he could not rise to avoid the rocks. If he tried, he'd be hit by the ships light laser cannons. He hoped to corral markos to go either left, right, or down, and into the clutches of his current comrades.

@Ediwa @Darasuum

 

[The Storyteller]

Marko's ship rocked heavily as it was hit by the turret fire from Brent's ship. His shields seemed to absorb the damage and still be intact though, which was good. He wasn't quite sure how much more of that he could take however - he may have been flying a pirate ship but it was built more to do the pounding than take the pounding. Marko and his ship were similar in that regard. Hopefully they'd both end up alright at the end of this one.

It wasn't much long after that that Marko's sensors started screaming at him, the ones that went off when he was getting tailed by a missile of all things. In this asteroid field simply out pacing it seemed unlikely, not to mention his ship was a touch fat and not all together incredibly graceful to begin with. There had to be an option somewhere.. ah, there it was.

One of the larger asteroids floating about had a rather impressive hole in the side, big enough for Marko to dive his ship into it just as Thelemy's blaster fire would have started to pepper what remained of his shields. Luckily the asteroid provided haven from the fire, leaving his shields just as good as they were before. The concussion missile wasn't able to follow him after such a sharp maneuver, continuing to rocket straight into another asteroid and explode harmlessly.

Marko burst out the other side of the asteroid essentially going in the opposite direction that he was before, leaving his pursuers making a trap formation with nothing to be trapped.

He still couldn't jump to light-speed here, not in the thick of all the debris. But hopefully this would allow Marko to gain distance from his attackers.

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @vamp @Ediwa

 

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

THEME​

Marko obviously recognized their tactic. He surely delayed what was coming after him. Although, his shields took fire and stood damaged, so any hasted decision could kill him. Jayscreec pulled a Split-S to keep up. "His shield's down. We need to keep him in the field." Static noises came up on the team's radio. "... going the other way now! Get-- ..." Jayscreec spoke, but his transmission cut. Upon approaching one of the exits in the field, he fired into the rocks. A lot of debris flew around that made jumping light-speed difficult. Jayscreec's radio malfunctioned because he pursued Marko through a huge asteroid that covered their signals.

Now it was just a question of time, Marko lacked a shield while he still had his, though weakened. It would be unprofessional to wait out his suicide, since his opponent wasn't just a random pirate. His maneuvers challenged the task force, he could escape. Jayscreec tried to get as close as possible again to lock on the freighter. He fired his last two concussion missiles, with five seconds between the shots.

@Logan @Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

"Hey Sith Sucker, do you hear me telling you how to pilot?" He interrupted Jayscreec as he began giving Brent directions. But Thelemy came in over the comm channel and announced himself as Star One. There was only one Star One and that was his cousin Alysanne Drast. "Hey guy, you're not Star One. Pick another callsign." He responded abruptly.

As he talked back he witnessed the overhead freighter making some impressive maneuvers. "Son of witch can fly." He mutter mostly to himself. His pilot droid did not follow the overhead freighter through the hole. Instead it went around. The ship had caught up a bit to the larger light freighter only after rounding the asteroid he had lost some of that distance. Still, he was closer than he had started off with.

Coming in behind the overhead once again he resumed firing at the back of the ship. Most likely he was going to take out some of the engines first as the wittled down shields would be bleeding some damage. Impacts directly to the hull of the target ship were imminent. "Tin man, make sure we stay behind the guy and don't hit any rocks." He added towards the pilot droid to make sure it was not taking any liberties in the flight pattern. His XS-100 would slow down so it would no longer be gaining on the overhead but instead matching it for speed and keeping its present distance.

@Cainhurst Crow @Ediwa @Logan

 

[Thelemy Oronays]

Thelemy growled inside of his cockpit as he watched the freighter slip away from the missiles. He circled around, not having had to contend with the rocky situation below as he picked up the chatter of both of his comrades. The sith was not one who enjoyed flying, he enjoyed his battles face to face where he could see his opponents face, see the look in their eyes.

He jerked his vessel to spin around and head in pursuit, flying in the direction at the tip off of his comrade just as the Freighter exited and began to fly. He and his comrades were now in pursuit, and at the chiding of the rebel scum, had some of his fury seep into his voice.

"Enough of this silly game of names. This is Thelemy, and I am heading to the targets flank." The twi'lek said as he did just that, sailing his vessel towards the freighters side, but not before targeting his concussion missiles onto his foe. He sailed his ship slightly above the freighter, hanging at the left side of his ship as he fired out the missle from the launcher. The twi'lek then quickly jerked his ship to the right, pushing his vessel faster rather then hanging back, and opening fire as he quickly went to the right side of the freighter, hoping the hail of fire would force the vessel into the path of his locked on projectile.

 

[The Storyteller]

Lurching out of the asteroid, Makrko turned the ship upwards and to the right, narrowly clipping a set of asteroids in the process. His undercarriage gun gave a single burst into the asteroid they departed, just in case one of the pursuers thought there were being clever; it wouldn't kill anyone, sadly, but the kicking up of rock and what not would certainly be a hassle. It seemed rather fortunate he had done that, as a pair of explosions erupted from the cave entrance. His route, however, wasn't a clear shot. Marko's sensors were going haywire in the cockpit as they slowly began to pick up signal. The fighters on his tail attempted to corner him off. Not a bad idea. The fighters certainly had more speed, but he had more experience. He didn't get as much head way as he would have liked, but it would have to do, as two of the Sith fighters were closing in, probably going to fire their payload into the hull. He had just enough time to have the ship's weapons rotate to the front, as he still had a trick up his sleeve. As a single Sith fighter moved into position, Marko jerked down on the controls, sending the freighter out of the way of the initial laser shot, which meant he'd have to find a way to lose the incoming missile. He had to trust in the shielding on the ship, as though he tried his best, he managed to avoid direct impact with the missile as he cut it close across another asteroid, but the resulting explosion prompted a collision with an asteroid that was enough to knock down his shields. Marko could see the edge of the field approaching and decided he needed to make a break for it, putting all remaining power to the engines now, he gunned it. All he could do was hope the asteroids would keep the fighters from getting a clear shot til he was burning hyperspace.

 

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

Jayscreec's cheeks turned bright red underneath his tinted helmet. His flight uniform soaked in his sweat, mainly wherever he touched his seat. Not only Marko seemed to be more difficult than previously estimated, but his teammates as well. While one of them couldn't remember call-signs, the other one got pissed whenever he was given an idea or order. Handpicking for the Navy's command training scheme was about to start soon, so failing here would hold Jayscreec back at least one year. Lots of things can happen in one year.

At least Marko's secondary protection faded. "His backup shields are down," Jayscreec said. "I will try negotiations again."

On local communications everybody could hear the attempt around the area. "Your shields are down, Marko. You might not even make it to hyperspace without burning your crew to death." Jayscreec paused for a second to let his words carry more weight. "Please don't make me kill you. Just turn your engines off. We will safely recover your ship."

@Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum @Algarus

 

[Thelemy Oronays]

"Negotiate!?" Thelemy barked into the Radio, sounding absolutely livid at the idea as he paused. The enemy was finally in a position for them to strike, weakened in their backup shields but heading for a way out. Thelemy himself had narrowly managed to avoid being smashed on an asteroid in pursuit of the enemy.

He snarled as he looked forward. No, there would be no negotiations. Heretics who dared oppose the will of the force did not deserve mercy...however, those who submitted...perhaps they were worthy of a modicum of leniency. "...Very well. I'll move to block his escape..." Thelemy said, sounding remarkably more composed as he hit the pedal to the medal. He was no long focused on firing but on simply getting ahead of his foe, a simple task for a ship of his speed.

He was catching up, and would soon be ahead of their escaping freighter. If he wanted to jump to hyperspace, Thelemy was going to make sure he had no clear path to make such a jump.

@Ediwa @Logan @Darasuum

 

[The Storyteller]

The gig was up. Marko could see that now. His shields were gone, and if he pushed his engines any harder he risked overheating them. Even now he could practically sense the fighters moving in to cut him off, and with the size of his ship, there was no way he was getting out. He was trapped. He cast a look around his ship, his hand slowly reaching for the controls. He cared about his people, he wasn't going to let his personal code get them killed, not over something so stupid. But then he hesitated, this was the freaking Sith. What the hell kind of deal was that? No, they'd be hauled off and tortured, or forced to work as servants to some overbearing Sith. No, there was no way in hell. "Suck it Imps!" His voice bellowed for the comms, before making one last break for it, his hand on the controls trying to muster whatever magic was left in his ships engines. Adrenaline gave him a new bid on life, as rationality took a back seat, he was going to make it or go out in a blaze of glory. He wasn't going to waste away in some force forbidden slave camp. His ship continued on course, scrapping against asteroids, sailing forward on a doomee voyage, powered by hope and the crews desire to live or die as free men.

@Ediwa @Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum

 

[Jayscreec Alecwit]

Marko was aware if he got caught he wouldn't make it out ever alive, the Empire would make an example of him. Jay maneuvered out from the asteroid field easily, since he wasn't being pursued or shot at. He followed Marko's path from the outside, ready to fire at him.

"Ship's crew," Jay spoke on open frequencies. "If you hear this, spread this message. It's your last opportunity. We only want Marko. He is our sole only target. Turn against your leader and earn your freedom!"

@Algarus @Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum

 

[Thelemy Oronays]

The desperate act of defiance was one that Thelemy could understand. He was struggling against the encroaching inevitable death that would no doubt await him, throwing his all against that fate to try and scrape some more time to his side. It was perfectly in line with human instinct to fight against danger, even if such flailing was futile.

However, understanding was not the same as approval.

The sith's sneer was poignant as he had kept up with the escaping shuttle, disgusted by the act of desperation before him. Death was part of life, and to fight against Death was to fight against the very force itself. He had stomached as much Heresy for one day as he could, and now he was done doing so.

The sith dropped his speed ever slightly to swing his Interceptor behind the Vessel. All the while, he held down on his ships triggers, firing off a barrage of blaster bolts as he adjusted his ship behind. The entire time he had laid into his guns, and with the ship in the state it was, he doubted it could take those bolts. The ship could run all it wanted, but even if the Interceptor slowed down, the simple fact of his desperate fleeing was that no amount of speed could out-pace the speed of a blaster bolt through space.

@Ediwa @Darasuum @Algarus

 

[Brent Fury Drast]

Brent was an aspiring jedi knight, sure. But he knew that there were somethings that still warrant killing. The man would possisbly escape and wreck more havoc elsewhere. Marko had profited off of the suffering of others and would continue to do so if he was not imprisoned or stopped.

Not unlike Thelemy, Brent too continued to hold down on his ship's weapon system. The dual light laser cannons onboard would suffice in damage dealing. Big or not, the power behind the shots would be able to open up holes in the target's ship can

@Cainhurst Crow @Ediwa @Algarus garbage post sorry, forgot where I left off.

 

[The Storyteller]

Marko felt at peace with his decision, he was going to die a free man at the worst, at best live to pirate another day. It was a good day to die. He heard the cockpit door open and smirked, his crew had come to join him in his moment of triumph, but he couldn't spare a moment to look back to them. "It's been a good haul boys, I'm happy you stayed along for the ride." He hallowed, though as the ship shook from the guns of the fighters, he had no way of knowing his crew mates drawing blasters. When that fated blast connected with the back of Marko's skull, he still had his gaze set towards the stars. His face slammed against the controls, before his unconscious body was tossed aside, his men scrambling to save themselves. A panicked crew mate would take over the comms, broadcasting on all frequencies as the ship, battered and on it's last legs came to a halt. "All fighters! We surrender! We surrender!"

@Ediwa @Cainhurst Crow @Darasuum