|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:59 am
((Okay lets spawn some hostiles, maybe that'll start some activity.))
A half dozen kilometers from the Skipray Blastboat, obscured by the gloom of the nebula a pair of battered freighters cruised through space. Their hulls were pockmarked with burn marks from ion rounds and turbolaser grazes, and upon each was grappled a small boarding craft of obsolete design.
Across the com waves the two ships chatted. "Yeah Blood, this ain't a bad haul, though it sucks being the one piloting back to base."
"Frak, I'll just be glad to get some lum and sit back and enjoy the loot. You think the boss mind if I kept some of the slaves that were hidden in the hold. Those head tail bitches are awfully tasty."
"You can take that up with scaly when he gets back from the raid..."
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:00 am
Xaver had been in the midst of piloting the simulated run while Tahnk and the others took care of the simulated TIEs, when his comm came alive with chatter.
Judging by the way they talked, they were pirates. Stupid ones too, since they were pretty much screaming their business over an open channel. "Look alive chaps, we have two unfriendlies. Suspected pirates at 12:00. Unknown cargo, though they may have slaves. Shall we relieve them of their cargo, or continue on as planned?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:23 am
The Instructor frowned as the sensor reading on the two freighters came back, "Interference from the nebula is making readings tough. I've got it on the com too, direction finder indicates bearing zero-two-zero by zero-zero-five." The instructor paused then flipped a series of switches, "Hell, lets go. Weapons free. Arming all systems, shutting down the sim..." Around them the S-foil wing of the Skipray rotated into combat position.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:41 am
Nodding and smirking at the same time, Xaver got to work, bringing the ship into combat mode. A few seconds later, both the missile tube and ion cannon were prepped -the only two weapons he used, since they were on the nose-.
Waiting until everyone was ready, the Skipray roared torward the unsuspecting freighters. With a quick volley, the Falleen sprayed ion cannons at the nearest ship's comm unit and engines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:24 am
"Frak! Skipray on us! What in the seven hells is one doing here?" The com crackled as the first freighter suddenly spun on its axis. As it spun the freighter brought non-essential systems into the line of the ion fire. But it also exposed something else, there was the flutter of wings on the ship's underside and suddenly a trio of black objects leapt from the freighter and began spewing laser fire at the Skipray.
They were small fighters, too small to be manned. Vultures, droid starfighters from the last bloody war, and inside each of the freighters had been mounted a set of remote processors, processors that had been modified extensively to make the droids something more dangerous than their clone wars brethren.
Remote Heuristic Processors, making the droids capable of learning from their mistakes, and they'd been flying for years now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:37 am
Xaver saw them, and though he had no idea of their new capabilities, had seen enough combat to know how they worked.
For one, he knew that their strengths lie in their speed and small frame. Otherwise, they were fairly flimsy craft that were dependant on their central core for directions and power, and couldn't even take so much as a laser bolt without getting torn to ribbons.
Immediately he went into evasive action, letting the gunners worry about the Vultures, while he tried to pinpoint where their control signal was coming from, and to attempt disabling it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 1:46 am
Get some!
Tahnk exclaimed with mild joy as he trained the guns on the incoming black streaks. The guns were a little slow at first, but once you got to know them, they worked like a charm. He slid his cannon in a sort of spiral, spraying the area with fire, then leading his target with a sort of looping pattern.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:29 am
A green turbolaser bolt grazed one of the Droid Starfighters, and a flicker of light revealed its shields. As if in response the Droid transformed, its wings split apart and a pair of missiles shot out toward the Skipray, each trailing a wire.
The other two droids spun in on the attack, firing laser cannons at first, but as they closed that fire was joined by energy torpedoes being spat from the ships' main hull.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:37 am
Xaver watched the laser hit the droid out the corner of his eye, and then continue flying.
They had shields. Damn. Though he was sure they were nowhere near as strong as his own, it still made this fight a good deal harder.
Spotting a small module on the underbelly of the freighter, the Falleen acquired missile lock, before launching a package at what he suspected was either the comm unit or the control package for these droids.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:56 am
The two missiles shot toward the Skipray, and there was a flash of light as they penetrated the shield thumped into the hull. Their onboard computers desperately tried to override the ship's control systems but found that the Skipray's military computer security was more than they could handle.
The droid that had launched the lines however suddenly reversed thrust and wrenched the Skipray off course with the lines.
The Skipray's missile struck its target, which turned out to be Combat Utility Vehicle that had delivered the pirates to the freighter. The explosion broke its shields and sent carbon scoring across its hull, but failed to destroy it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:04 am
Blast! Not only had his hit not been what he expected, but the droids had speared them.
So, they wanted to put him on a leash, eh? Never leash what you can't handle.
Flipping some switches so that the thrusters were redirected, he pulled back hard on the yoke, bringing the blastboat into an abrupt spin, while at the same time using the momentum to sling the Vulture back at the ship. With any luck, it'd fly right into his trajectory, wher ehe was waiting with another missile lock...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:09 am
As the Vulture was dragged along it began accelerating, closing the distance with the Skipray. Then the Droid began pulling in the wire until it was mere meters off the Blastboat's tail. As it was swung around in the loop it switched to walking mode and began firing its energy torpedoes and laser cannons.
At that range it couldn't miss, and the Skipray's shields quaked under the onslaught. Then the droid rushed forward and its magnetic feet grabbed hold of the boat's tail.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 8:33 am
Frack, the damn thing was persistant. And smart. A bad combonation.
His choices were slim indeed. His best option was to try and throw the damn thing off, and then destroy whatever was controlling it.
And pray to whatever god was out there that it didn't have it's own control unit built in.
Grinding his teeth, the Fallen accelerated as much as he could while going into a barrel roll, then slammed on the brakes. With any luck, that'd throw the blasted thing off, and in anticipation, he fired the ion cannon. Even if it didn't work, he was still in line with the freighter, so he might hit that instead and disable something. Hopefully the control unit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 10:43 am
These guys were harder to hit than he thought. His regular strafing runs only really nicked their shields. It was annoying. Then he felt the ship lurch as if being tugged. He immediately spun around and locked his sights on the Vulture trying to tow his ship. He slammed down on the trigger and unleashed a nasty volley of fire towards the near-stationary vessel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:19 pm
The two brilliant green bolts from the Skipray's Turbolaser turret blew through the Vulture droid's shields and vaporized its insectoid head. Now mindless the droid let go of the Skipray and spun off into the gloom behind them.
Ion energy lanced across the freighter, but it continued on unperturbed. Suddenly the gas of the nebula dissipated to reveal a stunning site. A battlefield frozen in time. Ahead a Mandator-class Star Dreadnaught sat, lifeless. It's prow was plunged into a Trade Federation Battleship and buried hundreds of meters into the core of the vessel. Around it dozens of other droid vessels sat, lifeless. There were Munificent-class frigates torn asunder by laser fire, and a lonely Recusant-class Star Destroyer apparently unmarred rusting above the Mandator's bridge.
The freighters headed toward the Mandator-class at full speed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
