Mercenary Crew: Age of the Empire

[ExtreamJedi12]

Cloud and Beryl when Cloud heard that stormtroopers were advancing in on them. "What the hell?" Cloud said. "Let's hurry and fix this thing." Cloud went as fast as he could, taking part after part off with his wrench and either putting in new ones or putting back the old ones good as new.

[JasraLantill]

Beryl was always impressed at the speed Cloud could perform repairs when he put his mind to it. Like a surgical assistant, she handed him tools & parts back and forth as he used them—hydro spanner, hex extractor, spatial connector, auto-leveling Mag coupler, hydrospanner again, vari-tune flange, diagnostic scanner, fractional welder, hydrospanner once more, carbon polariser…. She grinned. It was truly amazing to see him work.

 

She knew he’d get the hyperdrive working before they actually needed it. He always did. But it was nice to feel that rush of adrenaline from being pressed for time.

 

Anyway, the sub-light engines were still on line. The Echo could still leave port if she had to. And if there were some ‘Imperial hurdles’ to jump over upon departure, Nic & Jana could always take care of them with the turrets. And if they couldn’t, well, Beryl was quite happy to dispose of the remainder with the Headhunter.

[starmark2k]

Nic ran in to the cockpit and Jumped into his seat, He checked the scanners. "Jack it's time to do your thing." Nic continued to look at the sensors then hit the ships internal communicator. "Short Stuff, Psycho. Get to battle battle possitions, we have 12 Ties waiting for us outside... I guess the imps want this prisoner of ours." Nic turns to Jack "As soon as Cloud says we're clear tell Psycho to get back onboard, then hit the Hype."

[steven]

Jack leaned foward and hit the botten. With no dillay the ships ramp closed and Echo lifted off from the ground and backed into space. He then turned the ship around and activated the thrusters. "Captain, I suggest you get your ass on your turret." He then hit the intercom bottem and said to 'Quick drop hanger "Beryl, you can get out their and help whenever you feel like it!"

[starmark2k]

"I'd have to agree with you Jack." Nic said as he got up and ran out. He ran strait through the Common Room knocking down a couple of chairs in his haste. He quickly made it to the ladder in the middle of the Corridor and began to climb up to the top turret. Nic sat in the seat and put on the Turrets headset, He switched on the targetting computer. "Ties will be in range in 30 seconds."

[Writer]

"Ready," Jana announced from the lower turret. She saw the fighters lurking and her hand hovered over the targeting computer switch. Sure, it helped, but that wasn't skill. She left it off and moved the turret slightly to the right. The TIE fighters came into range and Jana started firing. After she'd hit two of them, she decided it wasn't time to test skills and switched on the targeting computer. Boom, another down.

 

"I know the targeting computer makes things faster," she muttered. "But somehow, I feel like I'm cheating this way..."

[XoRRoX]

Some new vormiting sounds come from Olivers room.

 

"Ohh...i...feel..dizzy..." Oliver mumbles, while he's trying to stand up. "I shouldn't have..." he mumbles before he vomit, again, on the flour.

 

The stinky smell of vormit spreds out of Oliver's room.

[starmark2k]

Nic locked on to one before it was in the weapons range, He watched the distance reading quickly count down the meters as the tie got closer. The Reading suddenly hit the turrets range and Nic began to Fire three energy shots, The first missed but that was due to the general inaccuracy of the weapon. The second impacted rigt on the centre causing it to become a fast moving fireball. He quickly changed target and tracked it for a few moments before he took his shot. A direct Hit.

 

"I know the targeting computer makes things faster," she muttered. "But somehow, I feel like I'm cheating this way..." Nic heard through his headset.

 

"These 'Eye Balls' need to get some shield, They make it too easy."

[Writer]

"Shields on them would justify the use of the targeting computer," Jana complained. "This is too easy."

 

Two more shot down and a third targeted.

[ExtreamJedi12]

Cloud continued to fix. It was hard to concentrate with the Imperials firing at the Echo. "Geez, what do these Imps want?" Cloud said while using the hydrospanner. He then connected with Nic's com-link. "Damn, these Imperials are serious. Give me a few more seconds so I can finish up."

[JasraLantill]

"Hey, you guys, leave some for me!" Beryl complained on the comm.

 

The Headhunter had dropped quickly out of the bay, partially because she had used full reverse thrusters on the way out. A dangerous manoeuvre, but she'd done it so often that it was child's play to her now. And so were TIE fighters.

 

Now, she was trailing the three remaining fighters. She knew Jana probably had one in her sights. Nic probably had one too. It was hardly worth the effort. Unless...

 

She fired upon the middle one at the same time Jana did. "Hey, that counts as mine!" Beryl said to Jana, as the Headhunter flew through the aftermath.

 

As expected, one TIE began to circle around to get behind her while the other flanked the Echo.

 

She followed the second one, fully aware that she was leaving herself open from behind. Never one to bother with targeting visors much, she took casual aim and fired. Once. The shot was just over the bow, making the TIE turn away from the Echo.

 

"Boo!" she said for emphasis.

 

The other TIE was just on her tail now. She grinned. She reversed full thrust on one of her engines, and turboed the other one, a move which allowed her to make a pinpoint turn. Full thrusters on both once more, and she was heading directly toward the fighter as if playing in a game of chicken. Twin engines were good.

 

With the gap closing, she knew the other pilot would be beginning to panic. Targeting computers didn't work at this close of a range. And Imp's always seemed to rely on the silly buggers. She waited until she saw his 'buddy' swing out to assist him. They were both well away from the Echo now. She fired an array, destroying the strut on the approaching one, which caused it to spin wildly in the direction of the other one. The two small ships collided in a bright flash of sparks and burning fuel.

 

She fired an array, just for fun, destroying any lingering debris bigger than a womp rat.

 

"Aw, damn, Nic, they're all gone," she said, disappointedly. "I'm coming in."

[starmark2k]

Nic Checked the Sensor display in the turret "looks like you're right, Come on in so we can get out of here." Nic then switched the headset com to the ships internal speakers. "Cloud get a move on the Imps have proberly called for back-up and we don't want to go one on one with a dreadnault." Nic Shut all the turrets systems down and moved the turret in to its standby position. He climbed down the stairs and walked over to the bridge.

 

"Set a course for alderaan, Make sure we stay off the imps radars." Nic said standing behind Jack

[JasraLantill]

Beryl loved her Z-95 Headhunter. Sure it was an older model, but she had made some custom modifications to it over the past few months. Now it was like a comfortable boot. Practical, functional, and could give a powerful kick when needed.

 

As she waited for the hanger door to open, she did a few barrel rolls and loops, just for fun. It wasn’t as much fun as dodging fighters, but….

 

The hanger doors were open. Playtime was over. Before entering she checked her scanners to see if anything else was about. All clear, for the moment. She landed without problems inside the Echo, and the door bays shut behind her. Once the hanger was repressurised, she slid back the bubble hatch, reconnected the quick drop triggers, and then headed up to Engineering to see how Cloud was doing.

 

“We’ll be singing, when we’re winning,” she sang, intentionally a bit off key, as she trotted through the cargo bay and up the stairs to the catwalk. “We get knocked down, but we get up again, they’re never gonna keep us down. We get knocked down, but we get up again.” She paused a moment. Hmm. There was a nice echo going in the cargo bay. “They’re never gonna keep us down,” she continued, heading up the ladder to engineering. “We shoot a trooper down, we shoot a fighter down, we shoot a turret down, we shoot a cruiser down. They take aim at the fighters from the port side, while I shoot the remainder in the backside….”

[Writer]

Jana laughed, hearing Beryl's echoing song and climbed up out of the turret and headed to the bridge. She found Nic there and told him, "I think Beryl's come up with a theme song for us... a little off key, but we can work with it."

[starmark2k]

Nic laugthed "As long as you're not the one doing the singing it should be fine." Nic Grinned. "Remember the The time we infiltrated the Hutt palace when we where freelance, Never going to play the part of entertainers again. I've never been shot at so many times."

 

He then looked back down the corridor he noticed the police officer standing outside the door. "Let's go see how our passengers are."

[Writer]

Jana laughed, pretended to be offended and slapped Nic's shoulder. "Hey! You're the one that sang off-key! At the end, I was trying to match you so it would be at least a little less offensive!"

 

Then, she also noticed the police officer and nodded to Nic. "Yes, let's do that."

 

She approached Wade. "Captain Wade," she said with a smile. "So glad you made it before those Imperials did. I imagine you are too."

 

"I didn't think they knew where we were," Wade said, his face pale. "If I had, I'd never have put you and your crew in such danger... I'm sorry."

 

"We live in danger more than we care to admit, Captain," Jana offered comfortingly. "What we saw back there is nothing new."

[starmark2k]

Nic waited until Jana finished "and you don't have to worry about them knowing where you are. We used a Fake ship ident before we docked and Our Engineer made a Jamming device so the imps sensor don't have squat."

[steven]

"Hey captain. I've plotted a course that'll avoid any imperal attention at all. But we're going to need to make a few stops on the way. Tell me when the hyper-thingy is ready"

[Writer]

Wade seemed relieved. "Thank you. I imagine the Alderaanian government will repay you for this trouble."

 

Jana smiled. "Getting the Galaxy Killer out of business is reward enough."

 

((Might Nic say something like, "But we'll take whatever they offer, thanks." ))

[starmark2k]

Nic looked down at Jana shocked and quickly stepped inbetween her and Wade. "Yea but if there is a reward it'll be rude not to take it." He turns around and looks at Jana and mouths 'stop being so nobel'. He then turns around and smiles at Wade. "Sorry she's an idealist."

[Writer]

Jana sighed and shook her head. "You see I fight a loosing battle," she told Wade. He laughed.

 

"Yes, I see that," he said, clearly amused and finally loosening up a bit. He turned to Nic. "You're the captain, right? Maybe you should keep your crew on a tighter leash." He was joking, it was clear and Jana definitely had something to say about that.

 

"Oh, no, no," she laughed. "If this ship were left to his decisions, it'd be in a million pieces now."

[starmark2k]

Nic Laughs "Yes, Yes, I'm a terrorable Captain." He joked, "The crew tend to eat together as it's easier for us to stay on the same timetable, It ain't luxury but it'll keep you goin', You and our other passenger are welcome to join us. Suddenly a whiring sound came from engineering. "That's the hyperdrive," he turns to shout through the common room. "Jack let those stars streak!"

[JasraLantill]

"Good job, kid," Beryl said, patting Cloud on the back. "As always." She gave him a wink before heading out the door and into the corridor.

 

She had plans to go down to the hanger to paint another TIE glyph on her ship, but she paused at the ladder when she heard Nic say, "The crew tend to eat together as it's easier for us to stay on the same timetable. It ain't luxury but it'll keep you goin'."

 

Beryl frowned, and quickly counted on her fingers. "Damn!" she whispered under her breath. It was her turn to cook. She rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she was a bad cook. In fact, just the opposite. Being from a large family meant that she had had plenty of practice. But cooking for the guys and Jana was one thing. Cooking for passengers was something else. Maybe she could persuade Jana to change the roster....

[Writer]

"What about..." Wade began to ask, but Jana cut him off.

 

"Not to worry, Captain Wade," she said. "We'll make sure the Galaxy Killer doesn't die on you. You'll get him back to Alderaan alive and kicking."

[steven]

"Maybe kicking isn't the best word to use, Jana." Said Jack as he walked past "Because as I recall his fith victim was kicked to death. Captain Whats-your-face, I also recall his fourth victim was a good friend of mine. If it doesn't bother you I would like ten minutes with the S.O.B"