Knights of the Old Republic: Rise of the Reavers

[Cynical Cat]

The interceptors split up, two following the Sunrise and the third following the Hand. Cannon bolts flickered from their noses, splattering off the Sunrise's shields or blasting apart rock as they pursued the freighter.

The Hand's sudden deceleration took the interceptor by surprise and it overshot the now slow moving fighter as the repulsor lift acted to kill most of the Hand's momentum. "This is Blue Six! He's on my tail!"

[LadyTevar]

"Two still on our tail, boys," Trys called over the internal radio to Marcus and Dewaddik. "One of you want to do something about that?" She herself was trying to avoid the rocks jutting out from the canyon sides. It would be damned annoying if she broke her ship flying down through here like this.

[Cynical Cat]

As the Sunrise raced through the split to where the canyon rejoined, the Hand attempted to get a target lock on the interceptor in front of it. The Mining Police pilot new his stuff though and yanked back hard on the joystick. The interceptor went up and looped over, coming back down behind the Hand. The pilot adjusted his targeting computer. "I have you now."

[frigidmagi]

Dewaddki had been cursing and growling at his inability to lock in a shot. He still only had an iffy one. Such was the luck of a Republic Soldier out at the heels.

Still he took it anyways yanking back the trigger howling in Wookish frustration.

[Comrade Tortoise]

As the Sunrise raced through the split to where the canyon rejoined, the Hand attempted to get a target lock on the interceptor in front of it. The Mining Police pilot new his stuff though and yanked back hard on the joystick. The interceptor went up and looped over, coming back down behind the Hand. The pilot adjusted his targeting computer. "I have you now."

Asarak saw the interceptor lining up a shot against The Hand on his sensors. There was not much he could do against the ship itself with his guns, but he might be able to get the pilot to miss his target.

He closed his eyes, and reached out with the force as hard as he could. His mind strained with the exertion, he was at range and did not even know if this would work, so he took zero chances with not putting power into it. His body even started to tremble. He tried to contact the fighter pilot's mind, and attempt to confuse his senses, make him think he hears an incoming missile warning that does not really exist and force him to veer off course.

[LadyTevar]

Trys glanced over to the Jedi, and her lips twisted in a snarl. Stupid navel-watcher wasn't manning the side-turrents fire controls like she'd asked him to do. With a growl, she reached over and punched his arm. "We need fire cover if you want to get out of here, Jedi!"

[Cynical Cat]

The Wookie's shots hammered through the interceptor's forward shields and blew off the small craft's nose. The fighter lost altitude and fell towards the polluted river.

The inteceptor lining up for a shot on the Hand abruptly jerked away, breaking target lock as the pilot attempted to evade a missile that turned out not to be there. It cost him time and space. Time and space a wily pilot could use.

[Hotfoot]

Room for manuevering was tight, and he had already lost his advantage over the interceptor pilot once. He couldn't reliably pull the same stunt as before, and a loop would simply draw him out into the line of sight of the other fighters and the defense guns.

The best way to evade a missile outside of directed countermeasures is to change your velocity as quickly as possible, mostly by means of direction. Commonly, in space, that means cutting forward engines quickly to allow more power to maneuvering thrusters, followed by quick acceleration. In atmosphere, the concept is similar, but slowing down can risk loss of control at high altitudes, and not all starfighter pilots are trained in near-ground maneuvers, where repulsorlifts are more of a factor.

It would be tight maneuvering, but hopefully the repulsorlifts in his fighter had not yet burned out. He tried to tune out Erme's incessant howling as he cut his main engines, letting his repulsorlift carry him through the air while his maneuvering thrusters spun his ship around one half rotation. Flying backwards, Zyke let loose a burst of blaster fire, not even waiting for a proper lock. As the interceptor continued its approach, Zyke let the repulsorlift lower the ship down further, rotating to keep his nose on the other pilot. He would be coming close to the bottom of the canyon, but by the time the Interceptor pilot either pulled out or flew by, he would be in position to engage his primary engines once more.

[Cynical Cat]

As the Hand executed the daredevil turn, blaster fire shot from its cannons toward the pursuing interceptor. The closest shot missed by meters, but meters but it was enough to spook the pilot at the controls. The cop jerked up on the stick as more fire came his way and the Hand dropped toward the foaming river.

The Zabrak mercenary had cut it close, very close, but he knew his craft. His engines roared to life, stirring the green water, and thrusting the fighter up so the Hand was skimming the air less than a meter above the raging foam.

That was enough for the interceptor pilot. They had taken too much damage and they had lost the advantage. They jerked hard on their control sticks and shot straight up, where pursuit would have to brave the fire of the distant guns.

That, of course left the renegades alone in the canyon and with a clear run down it until they punch up and left atmo for the hyperspace lanes.

[LadyTevar]

"Sunrise to Hand," Trys' voice came over the private comm channel they used between them. "They're bugging out ... do you want to hit black sky together or separate?"

[Hotfoot]

"I'll stay close, but I don't think docking would be a great idea. Let's wait until we're clear." Zyke had muted Erme the for the moment, ignoring the wails over the overstressed repulsordrives. He'd have to fix them at their next stop or risk shaky landings for a while. Docking with a moving freighter wasn't high on his list of things he wanted to do under such conditions.

"Once we're clear of their big guns, we'll make a break for it. If anyone else comes after us, well, let's hope they know how to cut their losses."

[LadyTevar]

"Then let's burn atmosphere and hit hyper," Trys replied, flicking the intercom so Marcus and Dewaddik can here. "We're leaving this rock, boys. Hang on, hitting hyper as soon as we get clear."

Which would take a few precious moments, as the Sunrise would have to clear the gravity well to enter hyper... but Trysandrena nosed the freighter into a steep climb for black sky, trusting Zeke to follow. "Can Ermy get the coords for us, Zeke?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Trys glanced over to the Jedi, and her lips twisted in a snarl. Stupid navel-watcher wasn't manning the side-turrents fire controls like she'd asked him to do. With a growl, she reached over and punched his arm. "We need fire cover if you want to get out of here, Jedi!"

Asarak turned to her with a start, his face still contorted by exertion.

"Not all cover takes the form of weapons fire." was all the the Jedi said to the woman

He turned back to the controls

"They have increased altitude, may try to hit us as we leave atmo"

[Cynical Cat]

The Sunrise rose in the air and shot towards the limits of the atmosphere. Trys had already put a couple dozen klicks between her and the city, distance that gave some protection from the antifighter guns. The bulk of the city prevented most of them from having line of sight and the Sunrise wasn't a slow ship by any means. The ship rocked as her shields absorbed some near misses and then the Sunrise was out of range and into the void.

[frigidmagi]

"wwahwhraananro! anwoao'c rroo rawhwa rrwoao aoacahc oohoworc ohahaoac!" Dewadik cried as they hit black.

[LadyTevar]

"I couldn't agree more, Waddik," Trys replied. "You two can stand down, looks like clear lanes to Hyperspace. We just need the Coords and then we're gone."

[Hotfoot]

Zyke's fighter followed the Sunrise through the atmosphere, not wanting to hit full speed and leave her behind. The extra speed, however, allowed him to fly more complex, erratic maneuvers to avoid the scattered cannon fire directed at them by what was left that had range. Once out of range, he took up a stable formation just off the bridge, allowing him to see into the cockpit of Trys's freighter, and vice versa. He waved and gave a quick thumbs up as he unmuted Ermy.

The droid's tirade was loud, but blessedly short. It did, however, contain a strange variety of new curses, some of them bearing connotations in Zabrak and Shirriwook.

"Oh relax, it's nothing a few hours and some spare parts won't fix. Besides, it's not like we won't be able to land at all, and that was a long time ago. Now, can we please navigate a course to Coruscant?"

A quick, flat whistle, and the calculations were computed. Zyke beamed over the navigational data on an encrypted channel to Trys's terminal and smiled. "He's as cheerful as ever, and glad to be of help. We'll dock when we come out of the blue and he'll tell you all about it."

[LadyTevar]

"I'm sure I'll get an earful," Trys replied, laying in the course. "Try not to beat me to Coruscant too badly? Remember, I've got the cargo for the payout."

With that quip Trys lined the Selonia Sunrise up for the jump into hyperspace, and with a flash of light left realspace behind.

"Ok, boys.. Next Stop Coruscant. It'll take a while, so go amuse yourselves."

[Hotfoot]

On cue, the Hand jumped out a split second behind the Sunrise, set to arrive in Coruscant just a little bit ahead of the Sunrise. He was used to being a forward scout, and if there was trouble, it always paid to have someone crunching the navigational figures beforehand. On the other hand, it did mean that the only company he had for the next little while was Ermy...

[Cynical Cat]

The ships emerged from hyperspace above the glittering jewel that was Coruscant, capital of the Galactic Republic. Countless ships traveled to and from the world spanning city every day, a testament to the capabilities of Republic technology and the extent of its reach.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Asarak looked out of a porthole at the city-world of coruscant and his heart was filled with immense relief and at the same time a sense of foreboding. His companion had done something stupid and gotten himself killed. He had... changed. The world outside the temple had made him think a bit differently than the cloistered monks of the council. Would they even let him continue his training, or would they just advance him to the status of a jedi knight who is effectively half trained?

His worry and doubt were practically written all over his face.

[LadyTevar]

"Hand, you better join up now, before Port Control starts asking us where we want to berth." Trys radioed from the cockpit over to the smaller fighter. They'd found that it was a little cheaper to berth one ship 'with cargo' than try to get landing clearance and space for two.

"I'm contacting my Uncle now, to let him know we're back." Trys would not be surprised if her uncle had a few things to say about her escape with the Jedi. Wherever he got his information, it usually beat her back to him.

[Charon]

Riv Sivrak took a deep breath in and then let out a sigh. He hated working with the Younglings, in part because some of them barely knew which side of the lightsaber was up, but mostly because he had been deemed too advanced to partake in classes but not advanced enough to actually teach. He was left in a limbo where his days were spent watching after the Younglings and making certain they went to their classes, his nights were spent doing his own personal training.

Brianna, the head master of Coruscant, had seemed pleased to have him back on the capital planet where he was at far lesser risk of assassination, but Riv personally was rather bored with it all and was already longing to head back into space to continue his search for knowledge and experience.

Riv opened one eye and looked around the small room. Right now he'd been tasked with assisting the younger students master meditation. The lesson was not taking root very well so far and most of the Younglings just ended up squirming around in their seats for an hour.

"Alright students. That is the end of today's lesson. To your feet and line up, we shall be going to Master Korvack's lesson on Jedi philosophy." A dozen pairs of feet shuffled around the room for several seconds as they lined up and Riv Sivrak led the children down to their next study session. As far as Riv was concerned, Master Korvack was an old wind-bag who had taken the old teachings of the Jedi Code far too closely to heart. As far as Master Korvack was concerned, Riv Sivrak was a loose cannon and a potential threat, he saw the Shistavanen more as a Sith than as a Jedi. Needless to say they were not fond of one another.

Once the Younglings had been pushed off onto another teacher, Riv had some time to himself while they were at their lesson and as such took the opportunity to practice his saber work more. He walked the cold, nearly empty halls of the Jedi temple and wondered briefly if all this work would be worth it in the end. Finally making it to a training room, he tried very hard to not let his gaze linger on one of the female Jedi who was in the middle of her own practice.

Riv closed his eyes and opened himself to the force, allowing it to guide him and show him the way as he ignited his saber with a snap-hiss and began goign through his kata.

[Cynical Cat]

The adventurers' ships pass two Hammerhead class Cruisers and a patrol of four Aurek class starfighters on their way through Coruscant's flight lanes. During the Restoration after the Great Sith War the Republic passed an act which connected naval funding with space lane taxation and tariffs, greatly expanding the battered and underfunded Navy. As a result the Navy expanded quickly, just in time to meet the Mandalorians and later Revan and Malik head on. Capable, easy to mass produce designs like the Hammerhead became the backbone of the Republic Navy and remained so as the shadow lifted. With the Republic's money problems, it was likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.

And that was good enough. There were better designs to be had, but the Hammerhead and its ilk did their jobs. There were a hundred minor threats assailing the Republic and tough, capable light cruisers were in many ways ideal vessels for the job.

Lights glittered on the city-scape below them. Senatorial and Jedi connections gave them an easy pass through traffic control, but they would have to decide where to land soon.

[LadyTevar]

The logical place to land when you have a Jedi on board was close to the Jedi Temple. Actually getting a place to land there was the tricky part. Trys was about to throw her hands up in disgust. "Hey, Jedi! Will you come tell your temple you're on board and want to land? They don't want to give me clearance!"