Log:Ebon Guard: Nar Kanji Skirmish

Nar Kanji Skirmish

OOC Date: October, 2017
Location: Nar Kanji
Participants: Vraag Rengh, Papo Agora, Tig Follox, Rail Onasi, Barquo Dentoo, Ebon Guard

News circuits in the Y'toub system have been alight with various reports of the recent revolt on the planet of Nar Kanji. Depending on which media broadcast one listens to, the report varies drastically from the wonderful revolt of oppressed people against the tyranny of their former Hutt masters to the opposite end of the spectrum with Hutt loyalists claiming that the dominating species has been the victim of terrorist rebels, the Hutts themselves vowing to retake the planet at any time. One such attempt to retake a portion of the planet has begun this very night, with mercenaries paid for by Hutt credits launching a full scale attack on one of the larger cities.

Vraag Rengh has put out a call to the Ebon Guard, calling all hands on deck for a quick trip to the neighboring planet in the new fighters. Piling into the Skipray, the large Mandalorian armorer begins flipping switches and starting the engines powering up as he calls through the local comms, "Alright, let's get these birds online and get out there. Every minute counts, people."

The slicer of the ebon guard runs up the ramp of the blastboat. "No offense everyone but I'm going to let you all handle the sticks of the ships." he slides into the navigation chair and says "I wouldn't know what to do with these things anyway." he entertwines his fingers and flexes them forward popping his knuckles as he rests his hands on the console in front of him.

"I must admit -" Papo groans, strapping into the ship and sucking in a deep breath. She looks a little green already. "- I'm not going to hit /shit/." The medic warns as she leans over to whisper in Bark's ear: "and I might throw up on you."

Tig Follox is in armor, but her helmet is off and hung on it's peg. She's been here for a bit, warming the new bird up and getting used to it. Her armor has an addition today, a fur lined black cloak that is snapped to the shoulders of the Mando armor set. It spills and bunches in the chair around her, but her focus is on the panels in front of her. The pilot reaches up and taps the comm button to Vraag and his crew. "We're heading up. Good luck out there." But, of course, Tig glances back before she actually lifts off. "You situated back there?"

Rail Onasi makes his way up the ladder hanging from the cockpit of the CEC fighter. Dressed in a simple flightsuit, he lowers himself into his seat and begins firing everything up. "You know, we should probably come up with a squadron name. Ebon Squadron?" he asks, before shaking his head. "Too obvious."

"Affirmative. Tis, keep in mind that that R-41 you are piloting is a touch slower than Rail, but you have a pair of ion cannons that will disable a lot of weaponry out there. You two fly safe," Vraag says into the comms before he throttles the Skipray up, the engines growing up into a low roar as the ship taxis out into the main starport before exploding with force as the vessel launches skyward. It is clear from Vraag's somewhat shaky piloting that the armorer is not the best pilot on the payroll, but he does keep them moving. "Damn," he says to his own crew. "This thing is more touchy than the Firebrand."

He listens to the chatter from Rail regarding squadron names and he snorts into the comms before offering up, "Picking Daisies? Hell Cats?" Clever names is not his strong suit.

"Just keep it in your helment doc." there is a grunt from the Barquo as they takeoff and he says "Careful boss, Papo will hurl." he is still getting himself aquainted with the sensors and weapons in front of him. He hears the chatter about the squad name and chimes in "Obsidian Squad?"

"I like Picking Daisies." Papo grunts, leaning heavily against her fight controls and struggling against a wet-sounding burps. "Black Mythosaurs?" She manages to grunt out into the comms. Names aren't her thing either. "Vraag, if you don't fly this thing like I am a gentle box of lothcats, then I am not responsible for - ugh - anything that comes out of my mouth." Sorry, Bark.

"Works for me," Tig says with a shrug. Assuming Rail is alongside her, probably ahead already, the Nemesis lifts off and putters up and out of the traffic and nonsense of Nar. She leans forward, blinking up at the stars of the galaxy as they become more clear past the atmosphere. "Falling in behind you, Obsidian One."

"Too long. Needs to be short and simple, for comms purposes," Rail answers Barquo. "What's that stupid bird you guys are always talking about? Shriek hawks? How about Shriek Squadron?" Engaging the repulsorlifts, the HLAF lifts off of the tarmac and raises its landing gear, taxiing into position behind the other two ships. Once they clear atmo, Rail will throttle down and fly above the other two ships, serving in an escort capacity as opposed to flying in the "wing" as it were.

The trip to Nar Kanji is too short to perform a micro jump with the hyperdrive of the three fighters, so it is a long haul between there and Nad Shaddaa. 6500 units, to be exact. Piloting is far easier out in the empty expanse of space, and the three Mandalorian vessels meet almost no traffic en route. Finally Nar Kanji grows ever larger until finally they are near breaking into atmosphere of the icy world. The comm crackles as Vraag speaks into them, "Alright Obsidion Shriek Hawks. I expect combat as soon as we drop in. The plan is to punch a hole in the air support these mercs have. Knock their numbers down a bit, and then we'll land the Banshee while Tig and Rail fly air support. Everyone copy?"

Without waiting for an answer, Vraag continues with his approach, nose diving through atmosphere above a wide city scape, no where near as large as those found on Nar Shaddaa. Mercenary ships zip and jet across in a rapid criss crossing fashion, opening fire on ground troops sprinting for cover behind whatever crumbling building they can find it under.

The black helmet that Barquo wears shakes back and forth and his shoulders give away a chuckle at the, extremely long, call sign that Vraag uses. "Hopefully we surprise these nerfs and we can blow them to bits without too much of a fight." he looks over at papo "Cause, like doc here I think I'm going to have a hard time hitting the broad side of a bantha."

"I've got one of them on my chest." Papo pounds a fist against her armor - and then she rolls her eyes. "Okay - Obsidian Shriek Hawks? Now we're just getting carried away." Even in the gentle embrace of empty space, Papo is having an issue keeping her stomach under control. "Dammit Vraag, I'm a doctor, not a spacer." She grumbles. She's in the same blastboat as Bark when it comes to Bantha's and their broad sides.

"Copy that, Obsidian Shriek Hawk Number One," Tig reports with a grin in her tone. She flips a few things on the panel and depresses the steering column, angling her craft down into the fray. "Engaging with the baddies, Vraag. Keep us up to date on your location."

Rail Onasi breathes a sigh at the ever-growing squadron name. He pulls in beside the Starchaser and keeps his eyes on the scanners. "Anybody got anything?"

Vraag angles the Banshee into a deep nose dive, the skipray slicing through the frigid wind like a dull, fat knife through melted butter. As a enemy Headhunter zips across in front of them, Vraag jerks back on the flight yolk, tugging the ship out of it's nosedive which results in a hard jerk on everyone inside. "Opening fire!" he growls into the comms, watching the headhunter in front of him rather than using any of the targeting computer aids. Angry red laser cannon bolts leap out, chasing fruitlessly after the headhunter, blasting duracrete off of the buildings they zip by.

The slicer focuses on ... what else ... the computer screens in front of him "I've got a lock on a fighter dead ahead veering to port." he hits the firing controls on the blaster turrets and has the opposite problem from Vraag as he pays too much attention to the computer and not enough attention to the targetting viewport. Red lances of energe flash by the target impacting into the ground.

Vraag's flying is doing their medic no favors, and she moans as her stomach knots and bucks against its puny, mortal hold. "I really am gonna puke." Papo realizes, groaning and squeezing her eyes shut as she leans over to splatter the floor of the ship (and probably Bark a little bit) with her lunch, in the process firing off a round and... Well, killin' it, really. Her shot connects in a blaze of sparks on the headhunter, but Papo doesn't see this. "This is your fault. This is all your fault." She is not wearing her helmet.

"Don't hit the damn civvies," Tig says as she swoops alongside Obsidian Shriek Hawk Number One and opens fire at the headhunter. Her craft twists, ion canons powering up shortly before blasting into the vessel. "I gotta hit over here," she whoops, attempting to stay on the same path as the enemy ship. "What was that?" Tig asks as she hears a splatter. "Someone get hit?"

"I see him, Tig," Rail voices over the comms, pressing his stick forward and diving toward Tig's target. Lining the nose of his ship up with the bogey. Pressing in on the firing nub, the Nar Shaddaan lets a flurry of bolts loose.

As the Ebon Guard... or the Obsidian Shriek Hawks, lose the element of surprise, enemy ships begin to swing toward the newfound aerial resistance. Ships begin to appear from above, or dive out at the Ebon Guard ships from alleys and through the hollowed out husks of buildings to give the fight back.

Vraag cannot take his eyes off of what he is doing to look back at that splatter, he is nowhere near a good enough pilot for that. Instead he winces behind the mirrored gold of his helmet, shaking his head and saying into the comms, "Fuck... I hope that wasn't what I think it was." He watches the headhunter that Papo had hit earlier, the enemy ship's left engine having darkened into failure and opens fire again, but still sucks.

Cursing... lots of cursing "Doc you couldn't have tossed it over your other shoulder!" the slicer looks at the computer and says "I've got a new target lock coming in just off the starboard side..." he pulls the trigger on his cannons and watches as red lances fly past the headhunter into the sky "...not that they need worry about me mind you."

Nor Papo, as it is. "Missed." The medic groans, offering no apologies. She warned them - she warned all of them. "Don't worry about it, Tig." She mumbles into the comms - the splatter was nothing, nothing at all. "Bark puked is all." Her shots miss, smashing into the buildings.

Tig's eyes narrow. She has a good line of sight, a good shot. The blast rocks their targeted headhunter, if barely. Before she can revel in the success the Nemesis lurches and alarms start to blare around her. The Mandalorian helmet falls off the peg and rolls around her feet. "SHIT," the Mandalorian woman snarls. Her eyes shoot up and around to the viewport that shows a second merc has shown up out of the thick of taller buildings to their left to provide his buddy some support. "I'm hit." Her eyes dart over her computer panel, reading the blocky text. "Nothing major, but it was a hard one. Can you cover me, Rail?"

Rail Onasi groans as his shields absorb a few incoming shots. Straightening up in his harness, the Nar Shaddaan checks his scopes. "You got it, Tig." He pulls in behind the one on Tig's tail and lets a duo of bolts fly. Unfortunately, they only succeed in making his presence known.

Rail and Tig aren't the only ones who are being rocked by enemy fire. The Blastboat of Obsidian Shriek Hawk One begins to rock as they take a hard hit to the rear port. Barquo will begin to see computer read outs of the area blipping up on his screen, giving by the second diagnostics of what damage has been done. "Damnit, there's another one on us. We are taking fire," Vraag says into the comms. "Barquo, see if you can't lock that Headhunter ahead of us with the tractor beam. That should make it easier for us to hit."

Tig and Rail may be having a tug o' war of success in their side of the battle, but with Tig's second shot scoring a solid hit on the Headhunter in front of her, that remaining engine goes dark and she can watch as the vessel glides for a few moments before the nose dips, the ship silently screaming into a collision course with a nearby building husk.

Vraag waits until the tractor beam has been powered on, and once engaged opens fire on the headhunter before them. The vessel takes a second hit and begins to spin out of control before crashing into the ground as well. "Got one on our asses.”

Barquo Dentoo shakes his head and says "Oh forget these blasters!" he nods to vraag as he switches his attention to the blastboats tractor beam. "This seems like it will be more my speed!" his eyes dance around the screen and his fingers enter in the calculations to trap the headhunter in front of them in the tractor beams grasp.

Even with Bark's fancy tractor-beaming, the green-faced doctor is unable to land a solid hit. "Hope you guys are faring better than I am on these guns." The medic groans to Rail and Tig through the comms. "Vraag, man, I really need you to get me on the ground. I am one twist from throwing myself out."

The alarms are still barking and Tig curses, bending forward to slap at a few flip switches to get them to shut up. "I know! I know there is a fuel line loose. I already rerouted!" She has bigger Mon Cal to fry, though. When her shot sends his buddy into an early grave the second merc is out of her. She nervously checks the view behind her, spying him gaining. "Hold on," Tig tells herself aloud, comms still on. "Don't let Papo watch." Tig yanks her stick back, swooping the slow but steady ship up and in an arc. Predictably the merc attempts to correct but Tig is already rolling into the arc and to the side, coming up beside the headhunter. "S'cuse me," the Mando apologies as she herds him sharply to the side... just in time to slam into a building. Duracrete, ship bits, and fire explode beside her an Tig is forced up to avoid too much damage to the paint on her starchaser. "Did Papo see?" is the first thing she asks.

"Running out of shields over here," Rail remarks into the comms, throttling down and pushing his scope up and looking over his diagnostic readouts. He blows a rasberry and looks back up, spotting another encroaching fighter. Not taking the time to use his scope, he looses another group of bolts, all of them flying wild.

Vraag is growling into the comms as the ship before them spins out of control to crash into a fiery explosion below. "Yeah, ours are suffering too," he grumbles in reply to Rail. He considers for a few moments before shakes his head and angles the ship toward the ground. "We're going in for a landing. If you can't shoot them down, outfly them. Use the buildings, play chicken. Whatever you have to do," he instructs, diving in the Blastboat and coming in for a quick landing.

"I saw, Tig." Papo would laugh if she didn't feel so damn awful. "Remind me never to fly with you." But Vraag's words give her pause, and she sucks in a breath. "I hate you." She growls to the big guy at his talk of... outflying. Playing chicken. "I really fuckin' hate you." She steadies herself and fires off another useless rounds of shots, hoping that at least the dust obscures some viewscreens.

The slicer grips the armrests of his seat as the ship dives for landing "I'll relay comms from the blastboat as you guys go in. I'll make sure to keep the engine running and baddies off the boat."

"Be careful down there. We'll try not to hit you," Tig Follox jokes only halfway. She glances back, satisfied with the dust settling in the heap that had been a building. "What do you say, Rail?" Tig says, starting after another fighter who is weaving in and out of buildings. She takes a shot but misses. "Wanna pack hunt like the mighty Shriek Hawk?" They don't, but it sounds good.

"Sounds like a plan, Tig. Just make sure you keep that old bird flying," Rail says, manuevering to a spot on Tig's wing. He also misses. Wow, such great pilots.

Vraag nods his head to Barquo as he settles the ship into a landing, not moving to power it down. The ramp begins to lower and Vraag steps over Papo's pile of puke to grab up his weapons before charging down the ramp. The wind is brutally cold, cutting across like a knife. It is fortunate that he has such a good set of armor... though quite unfortunate that it is black. The Ebon Guard armor stands out and makes camouflage all but impossible as Vraag runs across and dips into a kneel behind a wrecked speeder. "Looks like there is a group of foot soldiers up ahead," he says toward Papo. "I think we can take them."

"Quick question, boss." Papo groans, pushing herself out of her seat, wiping a hand across her mouth, and fixing her helmet over her head. "...Are we swingin' at the rebels or the Hutts?" She pats her medpac and yanks her ax loose - she charges the soldiers with a roar and swings her ax, feeling the satisfying squelch of flesh giving way beneath its edge.

"She's old," Tig shoots back at Rail as the fighter makes a poor choice and pops back into view. With a fast hand, Tig is sending ion shots right up his ass. "But you can /feel/ these damn ion cannons warming up in your bones." It's a satisfied tone in her voice, and maybe a touch crazy because these ion canons are ending lives left and right. Feels good.

"Ions huh?" Rail says, pulling off from beside the R-41. "Mine's got torpedoes. Cover me, Follox. Vraag, Papo, get down, please." He pushes down on the stick and starts skirting about 20 yards above the ground. Pulling down his scope, he lines up a shot on one of the enemy hold-outs. Toggling his firing mode, he fires a proton torpedo; the bright pink weapon screaming toward the baddies.

Vraag tilts the mirrored gold of his vizor upward in time to see Rail's ship come drifting in, then watching that torpedo drop and rocket forward. "Papo, down!" Vraag yells into the comm, turning to hunker down next to the speeder moments before Rail's torpedo dives into the bottom level of a building, the former office exploding violently in a gout of explosive force and flames. As soon as the explosion settles, Vraag vaults the speeder and draws both of his Mandalorian swords, one in each hand, and charging into the midst of the group of soldiers, slashing and stabbing. "We're fighting against the Hutt Mercs," he calls out.

Throwing an arm over her head, the medic ducks to the side against the sudden concussion of Rail's explosion and throws herself into cover with Vraag. "Nice shot, kid." She growls into the comms, pushes herself up, and follows their fearless leader with a shout, swinging her ax and cleaving into another merc. "Good." She decides. "Still alive up there, Tig?"

"Cute," Tig teases back, but she sounds impressed with the shot. With a whoosh she pulls the Nemesis up, grazing along the tops of the buildings with a good sight on Rail's ship. "I see one ahead of us, Rail. I'm going to make him chase me into this main thorough thru for a clean shot. Be ready." Tig leans into her steering as she swoops in front of the merc. "Hello pal, wanna dance?" She rockets the ship forward, turning up ahead and breathing in air of smugness as the pilot behind her follows. "Rail! Incoming three... two..." The Nemesis shoots back into the main gap of buildings in front of Rail, the merc on her tail. "For now!" Tig replies to the medic. "You still got anything left in your stomach?" She didn't believe the Bark comment for a moment.

"I see 'em!" Rail shouts, pulling back hard on the yoke and rocketing back up. He taps the left pedal, his rudder helping him lead the target. Squeezing the firing nub, the HLAF's dual lasers bark to life.

Vraag grunts as he sees the enemy mercs begin to open fire in his and Papo's direction, but he has already engaged. He holds a sword in each hand, slashing and stabbing as he becomes a sort of Mandalorian Tasmanian Devil.

Up above, Tig and Rail's teamwork seems to be paying off. The enemy ship makes after Tig quickly, opening fire on her, though her clever piloting seems to make every shot just miss. When the ship is brought in front of Rail, a direct hit from the man has the cockpit of the ship erupting in fire, and then the ship exploding in the air completely, raining fire down on those below.

"Whatever I had is on Barf's shoes." Papo laughs, bracing a foot against the gooey merc's crushed chestplate to wrench her ax free. "Fancy flight - woah!" She ducks again amidst the rain of fire from above. In her observations of above, a merc has gotten up on her. He makes the mistake of shouting, and she turns in time to swing out of the way of his shot. He is not as lucky, and the heavy beskar-ax chews through the joints of his armor, severing his arm at the shoulder with a wet 'pop'. There is blood smeared over the gold of her visor.

Tig Follox spins off down another large opening, spying a merc swooping low and papping out shots at resisters below. "There you are, kriffin' bastard," Tig grunts as she dives in, turning her craft sideways a bit to be sure none of her shots get close to the ground. Her ship beeps out a lock and she jabs her thumbs down quickly, running forward and raking the side of the headhunter's ship with a boom of a shot. "Hell yeah! Finish him off Rail!" she shouts as she punches forward and gives him a clear shot.

"You got it, Tig," Rail says, jamming the throttle forward and swinging the heavy fighter around. Zipping between bombed-out buildings, Rail begins tearing straight towards the enemy fighter. Taking a breath, he looses a trio of bolts, all three lined up with the opposing pilot's cockpit. Pop. The ship begins lifelessly drifting towards the empty street below.

As Rail and Tig dispatch the last fighter, the vessel coming to slam into the ground only a few yards from where Papo and Vraag are fighting, the groups soldier begin to back away from the two Manalorianson the ground, and then turn tail and run. "Well," Vraag says with some surprise. "I guess we got them?"

"They're paid for this." Papo sighs, bending to examine the now one-armed merc she left twitching and bleeding on the cold ground. "Sorry, mate." She hefts a rock from the ground and smashes it into his temple, putting the sputtering, gasping, dying man out of his misery. She stands, but doesn't set her ax aside. "Not paid enough, I would wager. What now?" She winces at the deadly scream of metal, twisting and giving as the ship meets the ground.

"Guess so," the tinny reply of Tig on comms comes back to Vraag. "At least this cell. Coming to rendezvous at your position, Obsidian Shriek Hawk One." Tig motions a thumbs up at Rail through her port and is grinning as she begins to land and regroup with the successful pack of Mandos.

"This thing flies pretty good," Rail says, smirking as he looks over to Tig and returns her gesture. "On your six, Tig. Now, let's hurry up and get home. I need a drink."