Open Orbit

[Onur]

Duras flicked his commo open to the incoming message.

:: Beviin Solus. ::

:: Lead, this is Beviin Cuir. There was an energy spike on the outer ring of the station, but it is gone now. ::

The leader of the flight of Dunelizards checked his sensors, and found his wingmate was correct: there was nothing on scopes.

:: Did you happen to catch the signature? ::

:: Neg’. It was small, but I couldn’t get a good reading on it. ::

Duras Vhett took this in. It was not enough to divert from their patrol, but inaction could cause … issues. The Priests of Kad were not incredibly tolerant of failure as of late. Something that was of quite the disturbance to the young member of Clan Vhett. One of the premier members of his family, the one called Corr, seemed to almost be … inspiring them to these new heights of fanaticism.

No, no, not fanatics. Faithful. Trust in Kad, Duras told himself, and you Trust in Victory. And Victory would wipe away any stain on their honor that was committed here.

:: Continue on our present patrol. Configure scanners to maximum range and power. Try and focus on variations in electromagnetic frequencies. ::

It may have been a strange order, but Duras did not want to take the chance that the unknown energy spike was a starship. If anything, any sort of vessel moving through this space would need to communicate in some way, shape, or form. Either to the Mandalorians, or to the Jedi below. He imagined the defenders would not just allow any sort of ship to enter their airspace unidentified. Regardless, he knew himself and Beviin Squadron would get to the bottom of this.

:: Energy Spike again! Moving fast towards the Moon! ::

:: Up and over the Station! Oya! ::

:: It’s a starship! Small, possibly a freighter. They’re transmitting something on a coded frequency! ::

Kaddamnit! On his watch, and a ship managed to slip through the entire blockade and get this close to the 4th Moon?! How was that even possible!

:: Accelerate to attack speed. Destroy the interloper on sight. ::

The Dunelizards raced across the top of Yavin Station, following the gentle curve of the top disk with their leader in front. If their quarry was indeed fleeing them at top speed, it would take some time to catch up to it within weapons’ range.

It concerned the four pilots not.

Duras sent out a transmission to the Station. Hopefully another Squadron could be scrambled to help catch this new contact.

:: Tower Control, this is Beviin Solus. We have a starship making for the Jetiise Moon, bearing oh-oh-point-two-seven degrees. We are moving to intercept, requesting backup. Place the Station on High Alert! ::

What Duras did not expect, however, was the sharp reply.

:: Can it, you Adopted Karkwit! I’m trying to kill your stepbrothers here! Long Live The Alliance! ::

With that, the Station’s channel went dead sharply. Duras thought he had detected the distinct sound of blaster fire before it did so.

What in Taung’s Name is going on in that frelling Station!?

[Ryra Kain]

::Temple Control, this is medium-transport Slopewing requesting entry to Praxeum airspace. We have cleared the station and have four, I repeat, four, Mando fighters in the vicinity who will soon be in weapons range.::

Streaks of light flashed across the viewport of the bridge and the ship shrieked and shuddered as a laser made contact.

::Scratch that, Control...are in weapons range. We took a hit and shields are holding, but who knows for how long if that keeps up. Returning fire.::

The Slopewing was not as fast or maneuverable, but it did have durability on its side. As Ryra pitched to one side to avoid another barrage of lights, she hoped that it would be enough.

We're doing a lot of hoping these days, aren't we?

[Ronan Starflare]

[Onur]

The quartet of fighters danced behind the freighter, trying to keep at angles that would throw any enemy gunners off as they laid into the deflective shielding that protected the interloper. These particular interceptors had all swapped out one of their laser cannon pair for an ion cannon instead, giving them an added boost in engagements like this. In fact, all that was streaming from the Mandalorian fighters were lances of blue, trying to cripple and overwhelm the shield as fast as possible.

:: It’s still broadcasting. It might be calling for help. ::

Duras checked his own sensors, seeing that there was, indeed, a frequency ping in the area. They were communicating something, and whatever it was, it just wouldn’t do.

” Niner, prep to jam that freighter.”

With a series of sharp pitched whistles in response, KT-9R, the lead pilot’s astromech, began the process to start the comm jammer that had been installed on this model of the Dunelizard. The Mandalorians had already seen how effective such devices could be, especially when tangling with the Alliance and their infamous Eta-5s. Duras Vhett now sought to turn the tables.

He dipped low below the freighter, dodging another blast from the ship’s cannon.

:: Beviin Squadron. Prepare for comm silence. Watch for any incoming. Use blink code in the event of enemy fighters. ::

His HUD flashed three, green affirmatives from his squadmates.

” Niner, jam them!”

Silently, the droid obeyed and within seconds the response was noticeable. Jammers had an annoying tendency to affect everything in the area, not just what someone wanted to target. Worse, they could cause a number of other electronic errors. Duras muttered a curse as he watched the throttle gauge on his fighter rise to approximately half past what should have been the speed of light, scowling at the damnable maintenance he and his “less-important” fighter craft received. So much was placed on keep the blasted Bes’uliike flying that certain other rotations (especially those stuck on merely orbit patrol) rarely if ever saw a crew chief.

But that was fine. With the freighter in his gunsights, and his squadron fast enough to zip in and out of the enemy’s firing arcs, they continued to pound relentlessly against the ship’s shielding. Once it failed, their laser cannons would have made short work of the ship, its cargo, and its crew.

[Ryra Kain]

[Dav Man'Sell]

Her X-Wing vibrated as she burned through the last hundred meters of atmosphere, engines at one-hundred and twenty percent of maximum standard operating power, the E-Wing off her wing also running above it's ordinary top speed. Already, flashes of light up ahead signified a battle of some kind, just far enough away to be too small to see clearly, undoubtedly marked the destination she and Dekar were headed for. She thumbed her display control, switching over to the targeting computer, and let the X-Wing's nose full of sensors start filling her display with data.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
"Busy up here, Riggs..."

The droid chittered a reply which she only half-caught, and she glanced down at the translation on her monitor with a frown.

YES. I HAD NOTICED. I SAW ALL THESE SHIPS ON THE MONITOR WHEN YOU LEFT ME BEHIND TO FLY UP HERE WITH ARGO.

She rolled her eyes, and turned her attention back to the light show unfolding before her, which grew steadily larger in her canopy as the distance between her and their escort target scrolled steadily downwards. Riggs, her usual R6, was still having digs at her because she had flown with another Astromech, an R7 called Argo. And though she had explained that Riggs was not, nor could not have been in time, configured to work with the Dragon Squadron StealthXs, that had not lessened the droid's quips.

In fact, implying that - in Riggs' words, 'some hoity-toity new-model' - was more capable than him, only exacerbated them.

At first, she'd found it an amusing little aside. A little under a week ago. But it was wearing thin now, and she was starting to wonder if the benefits of foregoing the memory wipes really did outweigh the cost of an astromech droid with a heavy tendency towards sarcasm.

She ignored the on going narration of Riggs comparing the data he was detecting to the data he suspected Argo picked up - there was something about him being "sure that the hoity-toity new-model was able to identify the brand of paint used for the pilot's kill markings", but he could "only identify measly information on the fighter types and performance characteristics" with his outdated sensors - and started examining the flight of the freighter and her pursuers.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
::Dekar?::

=Captain Dekar Xen, Champion Lead=
::Reading you.::

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
::Is it me, or does it look a lot like...?::

=Captain Dekar Xen, Champion Lead=
::...like they haven't spotted us yet, yeah. I was just thinking that.::

Riggs chattered off a series of chirps at her, the writing popping up letter by letter on her screen.

I BELIEVE A COMBINATION OF THE MANDALORIAN'S OWN JAMMING SIGNALS, AND IONISATION FROM THE TOP OF THE ATMOSPHERE, IS KEEPING US TEMPORARILY FROM APPEARING ON THEIR SENSORS. WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY THIRTY SECONDS UNTIL THE EFFECT WILL BE LOST.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
::My astro reckons it's a combination of the Mandalorian's own jamming efforts and ionisation from the top of the atmosphere. He estimates thirty seconds until detection.::

I'M SURE ARGO COULD TELL YOU DOWN TO THE MILLISECOND.

She sighed, shaking her head.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
"Riggs, would they still be able to detect a torpedo lock?"

AFFIRMATIVE. IT ALSO BEHOOVES ME TO REMIND YOU THAT YOU HAVE NO ORDINANCE LEFT.

At this, she gave a small smile.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
"That's alright. For what I have in mind, I don't need any."

She switched her targeting over to Proton Torpedoes, whilst chinning her comm back alive.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
::Dekar, let's give them a little scare, shall we? See if we can't make them shy off a little.::

[Ronan Starflare]

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
::Dekar, let's give them a little scare, shall we? See if we can't make them shy off a little.::

=Captain Dekar Xen
"What's she up to?"

*The astromech behind him, an older R7 model, warbled its response.*

SCARING THE MANDALORIANS, NATURALLY.

*He spared his readouts a glance, and what they told him was not exactly pretty. Engines units were running hot, as expected. Life support systems nominal. Hypermatter Reactor working at 115% efficiency. Ordinance tubes utterly devoid of ordinance.

As usual.*

PILOT STARLA'S ASTROMECH HAS COMMUNICATED TO ME THAT THE XJ9 HAS SWITCHED TO PROTON TORPEDO TARGETING.

=Captain Dekar Xen
"Proton torp....ahhh."

*He smirked as understanding washed over him. He depressed his left thumb, keying the comm open before switching his own targeting mode.*

=Captain Dekar Xen
::Copy that, Wy. I'm with you..::

*His E-wing shuddered a tad as Dekar continued to push the ship beyond its specified limits. Were this fighter affiliated with nearly any other organization, it would be shaking itself apart right now. But the Jay-Ess-Pee-Tee, and more specifically the Yavin Jedi Praxeum, had the best mechanic in the known galaxy in the Verpine known as Zraii. Every starfighter the insectoid worked on seemed to come out better for it: performance increases, better responsiveness, more efficient fuel usage, a wider range of astromech integration, even a more comfortable cockpit seat. He knew he'd be hard-pressed to trust another crew with his ship after this. It was one of the few good things, he decided, that had come out of this siege.

He made a quick mental note to have Zraii work on both Trevin and Sarna's fighters, as well as the rest of his ad hoc squadron's fighters. He'd taken on what was left of Fury Squadron, a group of A-9 Vigilance Interceptors since the big meeting Generals Man'Sell, Pulastra, and Admiral Starflare had had with them in the Temple's venerable Strategy Center.*

WE ARE APPROACHING THE ENGAGEMENT ZONE, DEKAR.

=Captain Dekar Xen
"Thanks, bud."

"He waited. One second. Two.

His targeting computer found a DuneLizard. A devilish grin working itself on his visage, Dekar locked on."

[Onur]

The slower guns of the freighter could do little to truly dissuade the Dunelizards from encircling and nipping at their prey. A few blasts from the turret would cause one of the Mandalorian pilots to break hard and zip out of the fire arc, but it still left a trio behind to tear through the shields, trying desperately to peel away those defenses to get to the meaty exterior below.

Duras was pleased with their progress so far: even through the interference from his jammer, he was quite sure that his readouts were showing a noticeable dip in the smuggler’s deflector levels. It was as he was going to afford himself the smug satisfaction that this criminal was completely at their mercy that one of his pilots shot in front of him, running lights along the foils of the strike craft blinking madly. It took the Mandalorian Captain a brief moment to try and decipher what in Chaos the message was, so quickly and erratic the flashes were.

Lo … Lock? . . . Lock? Lock!?

Another fighter also peeled off, screaming silently with brilliant flashes of multi-colored luminescence that something was not only tracking it, but prepping to destroy it.

Osik! How could they have responded so fast? Are our verde on the ground doing nothing!?

He was left with little choice. Unlike his beskar-clad counterparts, his ‘lizards were not meant to take firepower of a torpedo or missile magnitude. He was frankly surprised the Yavin pilots had anything left in the way or ordinance: were these little smuggling runs doing nothing but ferrying more ammunition?

No time to debate that. With a frustrated growl, Duras Vhett roughly switched off the jammer.

The effect was immediate: all systems came back online to full, with his pilots shouting in his ears immediately.

:: Enemy fighters inbound! ::

:: Counting two fast movers, sir. Snubcraft, looks like one Jax, one Dagger. ::

They haven’t fired yet, though …

Starfighter combat was won by the bold. He Who Dares.

Duras wheeled his Dunelizard over the freighter, keeping his weapons set to Ion and burning towards where the interceptors were barreling in on them. It was just a hunch, but he imagined those torpedoes would have already been in the void the second the enemy had achieved a solid lock.

:: Beviin Cuir! With me. T’ad, Ehn, stay on the freighter. Do not let it breech atmo. We’ll clear the way for you. ::

Finally. The chance to prove his flight was more than ready to take the fight to the surface.

” Niner, shields – Double front.”

The astromech complied as the two fighters raced to joust with their foe. The smaller, lighter Dunelizards only had speed to their advantage here, and even then, Duras had seen what the Federation X-Wings were capable of. He was not quite sure if he had any advantage, mechanically speaking.

They would just need to be better.

:: Elrys, single out the Ex-Wing, :: he ordered of his Number 4, angling his nose with her to face the same target. Doubling up was their best chance to pull this off, as he had recalled in their opening engagements. He briefly considered that it was the same sensation the Yavinites felt when fighting Bes’uliike.

Cuir approached from above the enemy, while Duras came on fast from below. He wasn’t quite sure which way the E-Wing would break, but it didn’t matter. Even before they were solidly in range, both Dunelizards began chattering their ion cannons, holding down the trigger to try and fry Wyren’s fighter and stop the enemy intercept.

They had already failed a week ago, with significant losses. Duras would not let his vode down.

[Dav Man'Sell]

It didn't work for long, with the Mandalorians shying off for only a shorter period of time - but then, she didn't need it to work for long. It bought them closing time, and it also threw the Mandalorian formation into something closer to disarray. She kicked her thrust up to full, reached over her shoulder, and flicked the switch to lock her S-Foils into attack position. She switched her shields to double front, and not a moment too soon - a pair of fighters, the Mandalorian's high-speed Dunelizard interceptors, popped up over the freighter, burning up the space between them, cerulean bursts filling the void as Ion cannons cycled. Both streams seemed to be converging slowly on her - wing pair flying, in an attempt to overwhelm a stronger fighter. Wyren pressed her lips firmly together.

=Captain Wyren Starla, Bohemian Lead=
"These guys are no amateurs."

There was a series of staccato tweets from her Astro - she threw a quick glance at her translation screen even as she punched switches to adjust her power levels, dumping even more energy from her lasers into her shields.

ENEMY JAMMING ON SHORT-RANGE BANDS HAS CEASED. I AM DETECTING ANOTHER PAIR OF FIGHTERS BEHIND THE FREIGHTER STILL, AND A SECOND FLIGHT ON THEIR WAY IN FROM 36.0 BY 227.4; INTERCEPT ESTIMATE, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY SECONDS.

Her fighter shuddered as Ion Cannon streams found her nose shields, and she watched her indicator for her forward shields yellow dramatically, a warning that she had lost a significant portion of her shield strength. She stamped on her right rudder, then onto her left, slipping out to her right side and off her initial flight path by a fighter's length, before she pulled back hard on her stick, slammed it to the left, and dipped her right rudder slightly. G-forces pulled at her, overwhelming her 90% inertial dampeners dramatically as she swung her fighter through a high-G barrel roll. She tightened her roll as she came through inverted, breaking out of her barrel roll at a higher relative altitude to her original line of flight. Her nose dipped, her crosshair flickered green with a subdued beep as she dropped it onto the second of the two Dunelizards aiming at her, and she squeezed the trigger. Four linked pairs of her laser fire spat out at the trailing Mandalorian fighter, before she had to break again, juking hard right, then swinging dramatically left, ion bursts whizzing past on either side.

In another few seconds, she and the Mandalorians would be whizzing past each other, and the dogfight would be joined proper.

[Ryra Kain]

As the Yavinite fighters engaged with the Slopewing's pursuers, voices immediately filled the cabin with readings and other information pertinent to the situation at hand. The jam had lifted, which freed them up considerably and took it's oppressive atmosphere with it--despite the fact that there were still two too many fighters hammering away on their shields. Still, some relief was better than none. Socket was done with his fiddling and Ryra was hard-pressed to decide the best course of action: reroute power to the shields and push through, or use that power to push the engines to their limit and try to outrun the fighters. The latter option was looking rather dim, as the Mandos could undoubtedly outrun the much larger and slower freighter any day of the week, and her shield levels were precarious enough. Dipping downward to avoid another shot, Ryra ground her teeth together and made the decision to make it has hard as possible for the Mandos to get to them.

"Socket!" The droid trilled urgently as he rolled over and picked at the leg of her jumpsuit. "Unless you want your ship to blow up, reroute what power you can to the shields. If those Temple fighters are as good as we were told, we'll be able to hold out long enough to make it to the surface." She felt the claw pull away as she focused once again on the battle around her. The two forces were close to entangling with each other and judging by the movements of the Mandos, Ryra figured it was safe to say the Yavin fighters were more than a match for them. If there wasn't so much at stake, she would have been thrilled to see a proper dogfight up close--it wasn't something the Slopewing was in the middle of. Ever. Though in all honesty, it wasn't something she was keen to be in the middle of again any time soon.

With a slight vibration of the ship and an ever-increasing high-pitched whine, readouts announced the power route from non-vital systems to the shields. Armed with that extra buff and the gunners continuing their fire, the Slopewing put it's proverbial head down and continued pushing towards the small moon.