Knights of the Old Republic: Rise of the Reavers

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I suppose I am a bit of a mess" Asarak said chuckling. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and he was beginning to feel pain.

"I will go get myself patched up, let me know over intraship comms if you need a third gunner."

He moved with all speed toward medbay. Upon arrival he stripped down, and used a medical scanner to find the injuries he could not immediately see. After this he ran himself through a decontamination shower to prevent secondary infections. Then he looked through a cupboard for the supplies he would need. He had a rather nasty laceration on his his shoulder blade, burns on his right and left sides with accompanying lacerations from hot shrapnel, and several smaller cuts and bruises from when he fell through a catwalk. The pain was becoming more intense as well. He looked through a cupboard and found the analgesics. In this case he did not need to stop pain completely, just stop himself from caring, so he grabbed a syringe full of PainAID, and pounded the single dose into his right quadricep. The next thing to take care of was the bleeding, so he took out the QuickClot powder and rubbed it on the nastier lacerations. This stopped the bleeding instantly, and he covered those in field dressings. The burns were the next thing. For these he found a jar of BurnAID, which would sooth the burn and stop infection. He rubbed the creme on the burn and then covered the wounds with gause.

After this was done, he looked for a set of clothing that was not... well, burned, torn, and covered in pathogens. He was clean of such things and did not want to undo his work, so he found the cupboard with sterile disposable medical scrubs and put on a set.

He was not pretty, his patches were just that, patches. But he would be OK with just his basic first aid training without proper medical attention for a while.

[Marcao]

Upon reaching the ship he did not allow himself to fully relax. Being surrounded by starship grade armor was pleasant but they were not as the saying went out of the woods yet. Nonetheless, the bulk of his responsibilities were discharged upon their arrival to the starship.

Now its Trys' show.

He headed straight for his usual turret as asked but not before securing Honor to his person. After he had managed to make his way to the turret control system, he sat down with some effort and began the process of checking the tracking and related systems. A few moments later, Trys' words were met with a frown.

"Well then, this should be interesting." He replied dryly. He did not know what exactly would occur but it was out of his hands. Whatever came this way they would have to deal with. The path of least resistance was not always the preferrable path although he admitted that the thought of heavy maneuvering did not please him. It reminded him of his early days in a Basilisk...

I hated flying those things.

[frigidmagi]

Dewaddik stowed his heavy repeater and rushed towards a turret. This was turning into a long day. A stray memory rubbed the wrong way provoking a cry.

"aorcwowoanwocc acwoananc! ohwo'rcwo whooao wohowowh rrwoaoaoahwhrr akraahwa wwoorc aoacahc rarcwo ohwo!?!" He snarled as he strapped himself into the turret and keyed up the aiming system.

[LadyTevar]

Spinning on her axis, shields up full, the Sunrise shot south to a deep trench, as Trys hoped to use it to avoid the towers until she could get far enough away from them to hit the afterburners and shoot skyward.

"Everyone hang on, this might be a short trip..."

[Cynical Cat]

The Sunrise darted over the city scape, seemingly just one of a number of milling, confused space ships. By the time the Mining Police found out differently she was almost at the canyon. The bulk of the city blocked most of them from shooting and the rest had just a few moments to swing around and target her. Of course, if they missed they would be hitting the city. No fire came.

Then the Sunrise ran out of city. Below her plunged a canyon more than half a kilometer deep. Two huge waste pipes dumped greenish slime from the city into the heavy polluted river below. The city and the ravine now shielded the Sunrise from the gun towers and the canyon twisted and ran for dozens of kilometers.

The Sunrise's delay was not without consequences. Four Mining Police interceptors, arrowhead shaped craft equipped with a pair of nose mounted cannons and modest shielding, were already crewed and rising off their launch pads in order to corral the merchant ships. Orders were changed and they swung their blade-like noses south towards the ravine.

[Hotfoot]

Zyke smirked as he caught the four contacts appearing on his sensor screen. In the wars, he usually had his squad to back him up, but when things went bad, improvisation was king. The number of times he had snuck out of hostile territory on light freighters during the war had been counted on one hand, but after, well...he had turned it into an art form.

In truth, four fighters could be handled by the Sunrise's anti-fighter weapons easily enough, but there was always risk to the ship to be considered. "Sunrise, this is Hand, initiating seperation." With the flip of a switch, the docking supports pulled back and the small fighter dropped away, a quick burn of maneuvering thrusters to prevent the smaller ship from impacting with the Freighter. Once clear, Zyke throttled up to full power and matched speed with the Sunrise, waiting for the fighters to get a little closer before breaking off to attack. He didn't want to risk the anti-fighter batteries just yet, not unless he had to.

[LadyTevar]

"Copy Hand," Trys replied. "Try not to get scratched up." Although her voice was terse with concentration on her own piloting, it was a loving reminder to come home safely.

She switched to the intercom so she could speak to Marcus and Dewaddik. "Four bogies following. Zyke has disconnected to intercept."

[Cynical Cat]

The interceptors launched, skimming low over the crowded platform city before diving down into the canyon. They split up, one pair going low over the toxic river the and other two stayed high. They moved quickly, but not swiftly enough to over take the fleeing vessels.

An communication blared over the comm. "This is the Mining Police. Power down your weapon and defensive systems and return to the docking platforms. Failure to comply will result in you being fired upon."

Ahead the canyon was bridged by a natural rock formation at the top and then swung to the right.

[LadyTevar]

"Targets seperated," Trys warned Zyke, setting the communications so Dewaddik and Marcus could also hear the combat Sitrep. Once the Hand peels off from the Sunrise, combat comms were the best way to keep coordination between all of them.

The upcoming rock bridge didn't bother her in the least -- there was a good kilometer underneath. The right curve to the canyon was also a breeze for a Corellian like herself. The fun would be to see how close she could get, and if she could make Dewaddik howl again.

[Hotfoot]

Zyke keyed in his radio to the frequency the Mining Police were using and smiled. "Hey, let me ask you something. How good are the ejection systems on your fighters? I'd feel sort of bad about blasting you out of the sky on our way out if it meant you'd actually die in the process. By the way, completely unrelated, but notice the nice big defensive systems we've got? Nice, huh? Helped install them myself. They can vape a Sith Fighter with a few good blasts."

He keyed the comms back to the secure channel as he maneuvered his fighter to take advantage of the Sunrise's cover from the fighters. Diving into a group of four fighters alone was commonly suicide unless the other pilots were exceptionally bad. "Okay, as we pass that rock bridge, hit it with some of the big guns, let's see how they like to follow us through dust and falling rocks."

[frigidmagi]

Dewaddki growled as the rock bridge swung into his sights.

"ah rrooao ahao, ufroorwo. aowoanan acworc aooo orwowoak aoacwo cacahak caoworawaro wwoorc 5 cwooaoowhwac." He growled.

The tone came up green, the Wookie fired on the rocks and howled.

[Cynical Cat]

The center of the rock bridge collapsed as the high energy laser bolts smashed into it. The two Mining Police interceptors going high pulled up, temporarily breaking pursuit as they did so.

The lower pair also pulled up. One made it into a pure vertical climb in time to avoid the rubble. The other didn't. Tons of rock smashed into it's shields in brilliant flashes. The impacts cause the interceptor's nose to drop and drift to the side.

The a loud screech the interceptor skimmed the side of the canyon for a hundred meters, overloading its shields and chewing up its left wing before it pulled itself away. The ship glided down towards the polluted river, clearly in major need of shop time before it would fly again.

[LadyTevar]

"Nice shot, 'Waddik! One down, three to go," Trys called over the radio, looking for a side canyon that would lead further away from the city's defenses. She needed to find a place where the Sunrise could reach black sky without getting shot out of it. Fighters she didn't worry as much about; Marcus and Dewaddik were good shots, and Zyke could almost be Correllian.

"Master Jedi, if you're cleaned up, you may join me in the cockpit," Trys said, hitting the intercom to the medbay. While Marcus and 'Waddik were manning the dorsal and ventral guns, she could use an extra hand on the side-guns. The Jedi could at least make himself useful there.

[Hotfoot]

Zyke grinned as the plan went off without a hitch. He was glad that the pilot survived, but hopefully that would send the message that this wasn't play time to the Police. "Whoops, sorry about that boys. Guess my friends have some itchy trigger fingers. You know, it would probably be for the best if you turned around and made sure the other ships are okay, maybe make sure your buddy doesn't have to walk home. I mean, those are some nice little snub fighters. Real shame if something were to happen to them."

[Cynical Cat]

"Reddik to all fighters. Wipe that smirk off that flyboy's face." With that they Mining Police fighters put their noses down and headed back towards the canyon. Emerald blaster bolts from the noses of the lead pair sought to bracket Zyke's ship while the third fighter lined up for a kill shot.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Asarak hit the intercomm button

"I am cleaned up and on my way. " with that the Jedi bounded along the deck toward the cockpit, upon reaching it, he sat himself behind the gunnery controls. He looked a bit like a reptilian leper, but it worked.

"Taking control of port side gun" he said as he pressed the controls, and sought to bring the gun to bear on a clean target, opening himself to theforce and his own precognitive powers as he did so. Of course then he realized that the port and starboard cannons did not have an adequate fire arc to engage. So he would need to bide his time.

[LadyTevar]

"Dewaddik? Marcus? Zyke needs cover-fire," Trys said, her pilot's eye noting the Police fighters coming in for a pincher maneuver.

"Thank you for joining us," she said to the Jedi as rolled the Dynamic-class frieghter sharply, cutting down the side-canyon she had chosen as the best option. It would be a smaller, tighter fit than the main canyon, so she didn't spare Asarak a glance. "Three enemy fighters, and Zyke's in the friendly," she briefed him briskly, her hand reaching out expertly to point them out on the screen. "Hit him and I'm spacing you." If the Jedi cared to check, there was a strong emotional tie backing that very honest, true statement.

[Hotfoot]

"Try to do someone a favor...." Zyke clicked his tongue as he started evasive maneuvers, using the Canyon as cover from the fighters, boosting his engines and cutting them to create a harder target. Dodging fire from three sources was never easy, but the Zabrak made it look as simple as he could. He was still close to the Sunrise, and as such he attempted to use it for what cover it could provide. Its shields wouldn't hold up forever against the fighter cannons, but they would last a fair sight longer than his would. Once the freighter's guns scattered the oncoming fighters, he stood a much greater chance of hunting them down.

Ermey buzzed through the intercom, an irritated squelch of electronic sound blasting into Zyke's ears. "Yeah, yeah, I should have shot first. This is why I don't bring you to any bars. Now can you just find me a blind corner? We're going to try an airbrake. Get ready with that bypass, this is going to be close."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"I would not dream of it captain. I have fought sith, battledroids, and bounty hunters. All of those pale in comparison to a threat of spacing from someone protecting a loved one. I am a good shot, you need not worry"

[Cynical Cat]

Several blaster bolts struck the Sunrise the tramp freighter followed the broad, curving turn and the canyon straightened out. One bolt grazed the edge of Zyke's shields, doing minor damage to the shield systems. Nothing both ships couldn't take. For now.

The canyon went ahead for a long, straight stretch of about ten kilometers before forking around a massive outcropping and then rejoinging two kilometers later. The canyon walls in this area were rough and jagged, with large outcroppings and protrusions.

Behind the free spacers, the Mining Police interceptors formed up for an attack run.

[frigidmagi]

Dew brought his guns around and opened fire, aiming for the closest mining police ship.

[Cynical Cat]

A burst of fire flew from Dewaddik's guns, flashing around the lead interceptor and sending out brilliant flashes were glancing strikes impacted on and overloaded its shields. The ship dropped down and back as the other two interceptors unleashed streams of fire at Zyke and the Sunrise.

As the fighter was using the tramp freighter as cover and the Sunrise was a comparatively easy target, she got hits. Brilliant flashes marked shield impacts and blazing chunks of her top hull spun away as the interceptors hammered her shields and inflicted minor damage on her sublight engines and sensor arrays.

[LadyTevar]

"dammit Dammit!" Trys cursed, trying to angle the ship's shields to protect her engines better from the incoming fire. Last thing she needed right now was an engine hit.

"Jedi, see if we're far enough from their defences to hit space. Marcus, 'Waddik, take 'em out, make 'em dodge into the cliffs!" the orders were tersely snapped as the Sunrise barrelled down the narrow canyon towards the rock formation that split it. "Hand, take port-side, I'll take starboard, meet in 2klicks with the bogeys between us!"

It was a classic pincher maneuver, which meant with their luck so far the security guys would fly over the rock and hit them from above. But it was at least something to try.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Asarak looked over to the sensor console and typed in a quick command, bringing up the ship's position with respect to the weapons rangers of the local air defense guns.

[Hotfoot]

"Copy that, Sunrise." Zyke checked the readouts of Ermey's bypass, glancing between it and the canyon, looking for an appropriate blind corner on the left split of the canyon. As one came up, he kicked on the fighter's repulsorlift drive. Usually just used to assist in atmospheric flight, specifically with take offs and landing, also assisted in certain maneuvers. In speeders, it was the only method of movement, but as the technology requires a surface to push off of, the utility of it in space is limited.

Extra power to the repulsorlift would be essential in a quick stop, and so it was true here. With luck, the enemy fighter would not have planned such a maneuver, and a quick stop followed by hovering behind an outcropping would be enough to put Zyke on the fighter's six.