Mercenary Crew: Bounty Hunters

[starmark2k]

D&R Thread

Mercenary Crew

Episode V

Bounty Hunters

 

Ten years have passed since the Republic

fell and the empire rose from its ashes. They

rule through fear of the fleets and the force

wielded by the dark lords of the Sith.

 

The empire fears only one thing; the return of

the Jedi. Although most believed them to be

dead some have survived the purge and have

gone into hiding.

 

Because of this a bounty has been placed on

the heads of every Jedi and force adept in the

Galaxy. This has tempted the crew of The

Scimitar who have begun the hunt for the

Once defenders of peace…

_____________________________________________

 

The Scimitar shot through hyperspace and into the space controlled by the Hutts and other Crime lords. Its crew of hunters had to drop off their recently acquired bounties and collect their well-deserved reward. After two weeks of hunting and several injuries to the crewmembers they had finally gotten all three Perpetrators.

 

The Captain, Alec Tanis, sat on a chair by a table on the cargo floor, he was just outside the large prisoner containment area where he could keep an eye on the Bounties. The Devronian prisoner tried to plead with him, the Tiss’shar attempted bribery and the Togorian threatened to do thing to Alec’s body he could not repeat. They were trouble but Alec knew better to just let them go, the bounty was for a notorious Crime lord and they would not be pleased if this bounty was not delivered. Going back on a deal with this crime lord was ho the three aliens got the bounty on their heads in the first place.

 

Alec had his feet up on the table and read Datapapds with a variety of Bounty sheets displayed on them. They needed to get back in the game as soon as they landed, in this occupation you snooze and another hunter gets the man, women or even child.

 

The Ship’s droid hovered over until it was just a few foot form Alec. “Undesignated bounty Alec Tannis, Prisoner 56784 is complaining again, may I kill him?"

 

“Zip, The Devronian is worth more alive.” Tannis replied not looking up from the sheet.

 

“I have not killed something in so long, I am not being used to my full potential.” The droid said in its mono toned way.

 

“Zip, I have enough problems.” Tannis stated. “Nasai is departing at the next port, so i need to get someone to fly this bucket, Go annoy Latch or Jyot.”

[Quist]

Arelyn K'zanthis pulled the tie tight in her hair and secured her long ponytail, then winced as she brought her arms down to her sides. The left side of her chest and her left shoulder ached in protest as she settled into a more comfortable position in her seat. She sat semi-curled up in her turret, watching the stars zoom past as the Scimitar traveled through hyperspace. The stars were a familiar sight, but the ship she was on was still all too new to her.

 

She was the newest crewmember on the bounty hunter ship Scimitar and she had already seen more than her fair share of action on her first mission, tracking down a number of bounties, then capturing them. The tracking bit she didn't really mind so much, as she was fairly good at it. The apprehending part got quite rough, however, especially with that Togorian. She absentmindedly traced the mottled line on her shoulder blade which was all that was left of a particularly nasty slash the large feline creature had given her. Luckily, Stitcher was quite a competent doctor and had it treated in no time. Unfortunately, there was little he could do for the brusing to her torso and arm, as they were short on bacta. She hoped the bounties they were to collect soon would fix that.

 

Sighing, she uncurled herself from her seat and headed for the compartment door, intent on heading for the galley to scrounge up some food. However, she had barely entered the hallway when she had to duck her head to avoid being brained by the ship's resident droid, Zip, who happened to be traveling at top speed at head level. "Oi!" Arelyn exclaimed. "Watch where you're going!"

 

The little droid came to a slow hover a few meters away from her. "Undesignated bounty Arelyn K'zanthis, I believe you should watch where you are going," Zip replied, managing to look smug despite not having detailed facial features. "I had the right of way."

 

"Like bloody hell you did," she swore at it. "We're on a ship, not a hoverlane, you bucket of bolts."

[Grace]

"So this is it then?" the captain asked, almost panicking. "Nar Shaddaa?"

 

"Good place to find a new job," Alindra D'Ayarra answered cheerfully. "And a good place for you to find a new pilot."

 

"I'm loosing the best pilot in the galaxy and you expect me to go grab some refugee out of the slums?" the captain complained. Aly muttered a string of Old Corellian curses.

 

"You're captain of a bulk freighter," she snapped. "Your ship practically flies itself. Your idiot gunners, the mechanic, and your hired muscle could fly it. Your protocol droid could fly it. Hell, I'd say even you are qualified to fly the damn thing and quite frankly, I don't hold a high view on your intelligence."

 

"But none of us are licensed to fly," the captain complained.

 

"And my patience is growing thin," Aly told him. "I don't care what you do. My contract with you is expired and there's no way in nine hells you're getting me to renew it."

 

With that, she stalked off, leaving the puzzled captain alone to wonder exactly how much she'd just insulted not just his ship, but himself and his crew as well.

[JoeDoe 2.0]

As the ship rocked a little for the hundredth time, which caused the neatly arranged stock of medical supplies to become a mess, the Scimitar's medic, Ray Brink, sighed. I hope the captain uses the credits from the bounty to fix this ship or I'll seriously go insane from rearranging all my things every time the ship does this

 

As he rearranged his station and prayed that he didn't have to do it again in two minutes, he began to think about his life when his 'adventuring days', yes, he called patching up his fellow crew members and staying on the ship while the others did the field job an adventure. And as a side effect from staying too long on board, he had noticed his skin getting more pale every day. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of angry and frustrated footsteps from the hallway. Seems my duty as a therapist is about to begin he said to himself. Ray had become the crew's confession buddy for some reason, maybe it was because he was willing to listen to anybody, no matter what the topic the other person talked about.

[Rogue Nine]

"Watch where you're going!"

 

Lachlan 'Latch' Vax opened one eye sleepily, then the other. Light from the surveillance displays splashed across his vision and he shook his head a few times to clear it out, as he was sure he'd heard someone shout. He'd managed to doze off during his surveillance shift, but he wasn't exactly torn up about it. Stretching his arms over his head, he felt several joints shift and pop satisfyingly as he glanced over the screens. They displayed the holding cell where the Scimitar crew's bounties currently resided. Keeping watch over them was something Alec had requested, but Latch hardly thought it necessary, as he had personally bound them and placed them in the cell. As he expected, all three aliens were still there, with very little chance of escape.

 

"We're on a ship, not a hoverlane, you bucket of bolts."

 

Latch twisted his head around towards the door. This time he was sure he'd heard something and from the exasperated exclamation, he was pretty confident he knew who had said it. Swiveling his chair, he launched himself out of his seat and out the doorway to come upon fellow gunner and erstwhile Mistryl Arelyn K'zanthis squaring off against the ship's resident curmudgeonly droid Zip. He couldn't help grinning as the dark-haired woman spewed epithets at the little hovering robot. Arelyn was their newest crewmember, and while she had more than proven herself a competent bounty hunter and steadfast compatriot, there was still much she needed to learn about living on the Scimitar.

 

Sidling up next to her, he cocked his head and said, "It's just that time of month for Zip, Rel." He grinned at the droid. "Nothing a good kick right between the photoreceptors won't fix."

[JasraLantill]

"Nothing a good kick right between the photoreceptors won't fix."

 

Overhearing Latch’s comment as he headed for the common room from engineering, Jyot called out, "No kicking the photoreceptors! I don’t have any spares!”

 

The little droid came flying around the corner into the corridor and panned its electronic eye over the approaching engineer. "Undesignated bounty Jyot Tyrell," the droid stated as it floated in the air, moving backwards as Jyot continued to walk forwards, his attention more on the engine part he held in his hand rather than the droid. "It is your duty as Scimitar engineer to keep me maintained. Not doing so constitutes dereliction of duty."

 

"Oh, gee,” Jyot mocked. “And I suppose the maximum penalty for that is what… erm, death?”

 

"Affirmative." A small arm with a dart-launcher soon appeared from within the droid, and aimed itself at Jyot. “Death is the maximum penalty for all class-one violations while in active transit.”

 

“Oooh. Death by tranq dart. Scary,” Jyot said sarcastically. “Well, think about this, you little flying tin can. Kill me and you’ll never get repaired.”

 

The droid’s dart-launcher was suddenly retracted.

 

“Yeah, that’s right. You don’t bite the hand that feeds you, or in your case, lubes your gears and primes your circuits.”

 

Jyot rounded the corner and entered the common room, heading over to one of the galley cupboards.

 

“Hey, Latch,” he greeted his friend at the other end of the room. “Got tired of watching our mealtickets hang out with the Captain down below? Must be about as riveting as watching ‘Win or Die’ on the holonet.”

 

Still holding the part in his hand, he took out a piece of foodboard as a snack before dinner. Holding the foodboard between his teeth, he then picked up a fork, and then moved towards the table. Flipping one of the chairs the wrong way round, he casually sat down, placing the part in front of him on the table. Using the edge of the table for leverage, he bent a couple of tines on the fork at odd angles, then began to fiddle with the part using the fork as sort of a probe, while he absently munched on the tasteless but crunchy foodboard.

 

He had outwardly ignored Arelyn K'zanthis presence at the other end of the room, but he was aware of her every move. It was hard not to be aware of her given that she was the only female on board, and a very pretty one at that. But as part of the bet he had made with Latch when Alec had brought Arelyn onboard, it was Latch’s turn to take a crack at the girl and Jyot was content to let his friend try his luck.

[starmark2k]

“… And eat it in front of your eyes.” The Togorian threatened.

 

Alec stretched out and yawned, he placed the datapad he was reading on the table and turned to look in the cell. “Now that’s just rude.” He said still yawning.

 

He got up and began to walk away, knowing the prisoners weren’t actually going anywhere. He walked around the catwalk and up the ladder into the Common room. Some of the crew were in there, eating, talking using eating utensils on engine parts. Alec frowned and shook his head walking over to Jyot, he stood over the engineering casting a shadow over the part he was using. Jyot flicked his eyes up at Alec and with the foodboard still between his teeth he smiled.

 

“Why do I buy you tools?” Alec asked frowning, only getting a shrug as a reply.

 

Alec shook his head once again and walked towards the ships bridge, stepping in he sat in the co-pilots. The pilot sat in his seat looking out as the stars streaked over and around the viewing window and he was deep in thought.

 

“Sure I can’t change your mind?” Tannis asked looking out of the cockpit window aswell.

 

“No chance.” The human pilot replied. “I’ve got to get out this business.”

 

“Why?” Alec asked. “You fly a top notch ship and get to clean up the galaxy.”

 

“Yeah.” Nasai agreed. “I also get shot at on a by-daily basis and insulted by a little droid with a sadistic streak.”

 

“Ok man.”

[Quist]

Arelyn shook her head as Zip zoomed off to some other part of the ship. "Bloody droid is a menace," she commented to Latch, crossing her arms. Zip certainly was one of the worse parts about being on the Scimitar. The droid was rude, abrasive and highly disgusted at pretty much all organic life and it would have given her great pleasure to do as Latch had said and laid a kick right into Zip's face. However, Zip was good at what it was programmed for and quite indispensable to their bounty hunter occupations. She just hoped that she'd soon develop the tolerance the rest of the crew had for the snotty little droid.

 

"I don't know how you put up with him," she muttered as she moved towards the galley, aware of Latch following her. She allowed herself a small smirk. Being the only woman on a ship full of men was a prospect she was made aware of when Alec had originally hired her, so she was expecting the worst. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the rest of the crew weren't dirty old men, but snarkily confident young men. She could have survived the sleazebag geriatrics, but the fact that Alec, Latch, Jyot, Ray and Kuun were all lively young men made life a bit more bearable. None of them had tried to make a move on her just yet, but she figured it was a prime time for such chicanery now, especially after a successful job.

 

"Morning, Jyot," she called out to the blonde mechanic as she made her way to the caf machine.

[Rexraptor2000]

Currently reading in the cockpit of his Headhunter, Headshot chuckled as a shout rang through the ship and he said "Zip must be on the hunt,"

 

Most of the time since his arrival, you could pretty much always find Headshot in the Quick-Drop Hanger with his fighter, so it was quite easy for the droid to find its next target. Rushing into the hanger at about a million-mph, the droid set it's course direct towards him. It then came to a complete stop about six-inches from Headshot's head with some apparent strain.

 

Headshot looked up with a smile from his read and asked "Yes, Zippy?"

 

The droid buzzed in what one might count as anger for a moment before saying "This unit is IM4-389, not 'Zippy', incompetent Undesignated bounty Kuun Lan."

 

"Yeah, okay, whatever Zippy. I can see your in a bad mood with no maintenance yet. Are we at there yet?" Headshot asked with an almost carefree tone.

 

The droid seemed to fume for a moment before replying "Almost, and the rest of the Undesignateds are beginning to gather in the common room."

 

Then the droid flew away and left Headshot to himself again. Shaking his head with a laugh, he turned off the pad he was reading and hopped out of the fighter onto the catwalk, doing a stretch or two to sort out the kinks of the journey. The cockpit was kind of cramped, but it was the most comfortable area of the ship for him. Still, if they were almost there and the crew was gathering, then he should be joining them too.

 

He turned to his fighter before leaving the hanger and said jokingly "Don't fly without me."

[JasraLantill]

None of them had tried to make a move on her just yet, but she figured it was a prime time for such chicanery now, especially after a successful job.

 

"Morning, Jyot," she called out to the blonde mechanic as she made her way to the caf machine.

Almost choking on the last of his foodboard that she had chosen to speak to him, Jyot restrained himself and only gave her a quick glance as she passed by. But as soon as her back was turned as she started to make her drink, he snuck another glance, this time eyeing her over appreciatively then giving Latch a knowing sort of look that said, "It's my turn now."

 

"Morning, Arelyn," Jyot said as nonchalantly as he could, while turning his attention back to the part he was working on. "So, how's the shoulder?" he asked, knowing that she had hurt it in the scuffle with their quarries. "I know Stitcher said we're low on bacta, but I've found that the best thing for a stiff shoulder is massage." He flexed his fingers. "And engineers are notoriously good with their hands. I'd be willing to give it a shot if it's still bothering you."

[starmark2k]

The pilot Nasai stretched out still looking into the stars and looked back down at one of the various monitors, he smiled and looked back up at Alec. “You know something else I won’y miss.”

 

“The food?” Alec guessed.

 

“No, Well yeah.” Nasai agreed. “but as well as that, I won’t miss the fact that each time we get a member of the fairer sex to join they leave after a couple of weeks because of Jyot.”

 

“Well he’s promised me that he won’t try anything with Arelyn for another month.”

 

“Oh really.” The pilot stated as he tapped the monitor he was just looking at.

 

Alec looked down at the screen and saw the all to familiar expression on Jyots face, the same expression he pulled whenever he tried to charm a woman. He raised his hands to his head and screamed into them. “Son of a!!!”

 

He got up and ran into the Common room and over to where Jyot was seated, and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. “Jyot a Word.” He pulled him out of the seat and dragged the mechanic into the corridor and closed the door behind him.

 

“By the overlords of Magrathon, Why?” Alec asked looking him in the face. One month none of your weird sexual seduction games with the new girl is all I asked.”

[JasraLantill]

"Hey! It's been 28 days!" Jyot protested. "On some planets that's more than a month! And all I was doing was asking if her shoulder was okay. That's concern, Cap, not seduction."

 

Alec gave him a dubious glare.

 

"Ok, ok, it wasn't entirely concern," Jyot admitted. "But, c'mon, you've seen how chilly the Ice Princess can be? It's not kriffin' likely she's going to accept my invitation for a massage." He paused, looking over towards the door. "And it's even less likely now that you've dragged me out here and forfeited my turn to Latch."

[Rogue Nine]

Latch gave Jyot a rueful smirk as he moved to pour himself a mug of caf. The blonde engineer had taken the opening Arelyn gave him and ran with it. Latch couldn't really blame his friend, as he probably would have done the same thing were he in Jyot's place. It had become sort of a game between the two of them, as it had been for the past few years aboard the Scimitar. Both of them were bachelors and both of them loved to flirt with the various women they encountered along their travels. As always, they were more careful with the women that joined their crew, so they were handling Arelyn with kid gloves.

 

The raven-haired gunner was about to resign himself to his mug of caf when Alec came storming through the door and marched right over to Jyot. The captain muttered something into Jyot's ear, then grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him unceremoniously out the door. Latch could see the surprised look on Jyot's face as he exited. Well, I guess that means I'm up again... he thought, smirking.

 

Taking a seat at the table so recently vacated by his friend, Latch turned and beckoned for Arelyn to sit as well. "I wonder what that was all about," he said, consciously keeping his tone neutral as he had quite a good idea about what had just happened.

[Quist]

"And engineers are notoriously good with their hands. I'd be willing to give it a shot if it's still bothering you."

 

Arelyn had been ready with an appropriately acerbic retort when Alec had burst into the room, collared Jyot by the back of his shirt and yanked him out of there. As the door slid shut, she couldn't help but blink a few times, still unsure of what had just happened. "No matter," she whispered to herself as she raised the steaming cup of caf to her lips and sipped at it, letting the hot liquid burn down her throat and soothe her nerves.

 

"I wonder what that was all about."

 

She glanced over to see Latch sitting at the table, gesturing for her to take a seat as well. They just don't give up, do they? she though to herself as she complied, settling in across the table from her fellow gunner. "Probably off to berate him for that awful line," Arelyn replied, taking another sip from her cup. "Wouldn't be the first time someone's tried that on me."

[starmark2k]

((OCC- Show time!))

 

The ship shook slightly in a way all crew would recognise, they had just dropped out of hyperspace and the ship could be felt changing course. This didn’t phase Tannis as he was so use to this movement it barely even registered to him anymore. Zip had just flown up the corridor ladder and over to where Alec and Jyot stood.

 

“Undesignated Bounty Alec Tannis, I heard raised voices do you wish for me to kill Undesignated Bounty Jyot Tyrell.”

 

“Zip unless you want me to has Undesignated bounty Jyot stick your personality into the refresher disposal computer I’d fly away, now” Alec threatened causing the droid to zip away. As Tannis watched the droid fly away the ship suddenly shock violently in another familiar but not as ignorable way. “Something just shot at us”

 

Alec opened the door and ran through the Common room. “Turrets people.” He called running pass his Arelyn and Latch.

 

Running into the cockpit he looked out of the window and noticed they were travelling through the debris field that covered the smugglers moon.

 

“Tiss’Shar fighter craft, Several of them.” Nasai informed realising Alec taking the Co-pilots seat. “I think they have come for their buddy.”

 

“Why didn’t the proximity alarm pick them up?” Alec asked.

 

“It’s off, we’re travelling through a Debris field, if it was on it’d be going crazy.” Nasai said in away to subliminally say “why do you think you moron?”

 

“Headshot launch and engage when ready.” Tannis ordered Through the ships loud speakers. “We got Tiss'Shar fighters, the debris field makes it hard to determine how many but it’s more than a few. Fire at will people!”

[Grace]

Aly strode confidently through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, greatly relieved at having rid herself of the bulk freighter crew. The job had been dull and after two months of living on that ship, being the only female aboard, and having countless practice times in hand-to-hand combat skills to fight them off when they got drunk, even Nar Shaddaa was a welcome change.

 

After informing the local docking controller that she was a pilot in search of a job, Aly went to the nearest cantina she could find, someplace called the 'Happy Gizka'. Aly rolled her eyes. Where did names for these places come from anyway? A happy gizka was a gizka who'd eaten all your food and scampered away to reproduce and eat more... Aly couldn't help but grin. That had been the only interesting period of time on that bulk freighter. It had taken them a week to be rid of the pests.

 

Aly giggled. It had been fun to watch the captain dive headfirst into a bulk container of Byss cheese; it had been even more entertaining when he couldn't get himself out and three of the hired muscle guys had fallen in while attempting to retreive him. Aly had merely watched from the catwalk, high overhead, and laughed.

 

Shaking her head, Aly entered the cantina and headed straight for the bar. "Corellian ale," she ordered. "And I want them to keep coming. The docking controller has my name as a pilot in need of a job and this location for where I'll be. They come in, you send them my way."

 

The bartender grunted and Aly dropped a few credits on the counter. Then, the bartender handed her the drink she'd requested and she retreated to a table near the back of the room.

[Rogue Nine]

"Isn't that always the way," Latch commented idly as he dumped the rest of his caf and bolted for his turret. It seemed neither he nor Jyot would get a crack at Arelyn for now, which was just as well, since he didn't really have a proper response to the Mistryl's icy statement.

 

Ducking into his turret, he settled himself into his seat and strapped in. He grabbed his headset off the wall and placed it on his head, then hit a few switches, bringing his blaster cannon online. Staring up into the crosshairs, he gripped the yoke, settling his fingers above the triggers and licked his lips. "Turret 2 hot and in the green," he said into his mic. "Kuun, let us know when you're spaceborne, wouldn't want to shoot you down."

[JasraLantill]

“Something just shot at us."

 

Jyot's brow raised with surprise as Alec took off toward the bridge.

 

"Crap," he said, jogging towards engineering. "And I just got those injectors burnished...."

 

Once inside the engine room, Jyot began to adjust the power outflow, giving more power to the deflectors. With the debris field and a battle looming, shields would be more useful than speed. Plus, they had the Headhunter--between Kuun's expertise and the Scimitar's two turrets, Jyot was sure that they would win the scuffle. He just hoped that the ship wouldn't be damaged too much that he'd have to stay on board and work, while the others enjoyed some well-earned shore leave on Nar Shaddaa.

[Quist]

"Sithspit," Arelyn swore, tossing her cup into the sink and bolting out the door. "Of course this hand-off couldn't just be nice and simple, they have to come for their friend," she muttered, gripping the doorpost to her turret and swinging herself right into her seat. As her chair twirled into place, she quickly strapped herself in, jamming the headset on her head and powering up her blaster cannon. She'd barely placed her hands on the controls when she yanked them hard to starboard, her fingers squeezing the triggers. She grunted in satisfaction as she watched her shots stitch across an ugly Tiss'Shar fighter, causing its port engines to explode and sending it careening end-over-end into oblivion. "Scratch one bogey," she breathed into the mic. Arelyn took only a few nanoseconds more to admire her handiwork before she expertly brought her guns around to trace another enemy craft.

[Grace]

"Oh, here comes trouble," Ali breathed. All her old crew mates had assembled, the captain leading, and it was fairly obvious they intended to take her back... by force if they had to.

 

"Ms. D'Ayarra, I'm going to make something very clear to you," the captain said. "You insulted me, my crew, and my ship in more ways than one."

 

"Emotionally damaging," one of the gunners added supportively.

 

"We figure you owe us bigtime for that," one of the hired muscle pitched in. Ali raised her eyebrows in amusement.

 

"Let's get this straight," she said. "You think I have been emotionally damaging to you? Shall I count what was countless over these last two months? You tried so many things and I can only thank my father for your failures. I kicked your butts so many times..."

 

"And that's another repayment you owe us," the captain cut in. "For all the bruises..."

 

"You know what?" Ali said, grinning. "Let's put this to the test. As I view it, you and your men are only half-drunk at the moment. Usually, they're so drunk they can hardly see straight... fancy a fight?"

 

Before any of them could answer, Ali shattered an empty glass over the captain's head and sprang lightly backward over her chair. "Come on, then!"

[Rexraptor2000]

When the ship rocked violently, Headshot was at the ladder and already sliding down as the captain gave his order to launch the fighter. Hitting the ground with a thud, he sprinted the distance to his fighter, practically leaping into the cockpit and slid on his helmet. His fingers danced across keys and pushed buttons as the cockpit shield closed neatly over him. The next moment, he was rocketing down and out in space.

 

"Kuun, let us know when you're spaceborne, wouldn't want to shoot you down."

 

“Roger that: I am spaceborne and proceeding to engage the enemy fighters.” Headshot replied increasing the throttle and dodging debris that strayed too close. He did a fancy barrel roll around a torn-up ship in order to avoid the sloppy shots of one of the fighters. The fighter followed, only to discover the Headshot was gone. Three seconds later while doing a flyby of the wreck, the fighter erupted into a ball of flame as Headshot came straight from behind with lasers blazing. He flew through the flames without second thought and turned his attention towards the remaining fighters.

[starmark2k]

The Ship Shook as another few hits impacted the ships deflectors, The Tiss’shar fighters were fast, agile and small but didn’t pack much of a punch. Tannis was still trying to calibrate the sensors to tell the difference between a hostile fighter and a floating piece of debris that littered the skies of Nar Shaddaa.

 

Nasai twisted the ship under, over, around and even through the chunks of metal that were blocking the ships strait run to the smugglers moon. This was not he best conditions for the turret gunners as the ship never went in one direction long enough for the targeting computer to get a lock and if they did all this debris would fill the scanner scopes.

 

Alec managed to calibrate the scanners to read the unique energy signatures admitted by Tiss’shar technology and transferred the data to the Turrets computers. He watched as one exploded into a ball of flame and the headhunter shoots out of it.

 

“Good Job headshot, but you Latch and the Mistryl still have another six to take down!” Alec said into the com system for the whole crew to hear.

[Rogue Nine]

"Five," Latch called out as he blasted another Tiss'Shar fighter into vapor and wreckage. "They must've just pulled these pilots out of some local dive because they're really not very good," he breathed as he rotated his cannon to follow another bogey. Just then the ship lurched hard to port and he nearly brained himself on one of adjacent bulkheads. He righted himself and shook his head, clearing out the stars in his vision. "Hey Nasai, y'think you could cut down on the herky jerky?" he roared into the mic.

 

"You want to come down here and drive this thing, Vax?" the pilot's voice asked him irritably through the headset.

 

"No, I'm good, thanks," Latch replied, cranking his cannon downward to follow another enemy fighter. It zoomed just beyond the range of his guns, darting underneath his turret. "Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

[JasraLantill]

Jyot had the loud speakers on in engineering, so that, one, he could hear the captain or Nasai shout any orders at him in case he was near any shielded areas on the ship where his comlink speaker might cut out, and, two, so he could hear the gunners and/or Headshot talk and get a better picture of the battle. After all, there weren't any viewports in the engineering section of the ship.

 

Jyot had just increased power to the rear deflectors when the ship took a few good hits, nearly rocking him off his feet.

 

He heard Headshot get a compliment from the captain, the captain saying there was still more than one fighter out there, Latch make a comment on Nasai's piloting ability, Nasai's quick retort, and then....

 

"Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

 

"Oh, yeah, sure," Jyot grumbled to himself, as he adjusted the power flow between the engines and the shields for maximum effect. "A Tiss'Shar gets to watch her six, and I get chewed out by the captain for just asking if her shoulder still hurts. Not fair!"

 

The ship rocked again, and this time, a piece of conduit for the cooling system ruptured, causing steamy coolant to jet out through the crack. As he wrestled with turning off the valve to shut the coolant off in that section of piping, Jyot quickly pushed his comlink.

 

"Hey, Latch! Never mind watching her six, watch ours! Another hit like that and we're going to be kriffin' toast!"

[Quist]

"Arelyn," Latch shouted, "watch your six, bogey incoming!"

 

"Acknowledged," Arelyn replied curtly, hauling her guns downward. Sure enough, a Tiss'Shar fighter skittered between her crosshairs. Adjusting her aim to point at the nose of the fighter, she let loose a barrage of blaster bolts that peppered the enemy craft, ripping into the fuselage and blowing out both of its engines. She had very little time to appreciate her handiwork, however. The Tiss'Shar had managed to fire off a concussion missile before Arelyn had destroyed it and now the orange projectile was streaking right for her turret.

 

"Bloody hell," she swore as she squeezed the triggers on her guns, trying to hit the missile before it impacted. It kept getting closer and closer, her shots straying off to the side as it moved faster than any fighter craft was capable of. Finally she managed to connect, sending the missle wobbling for a few moments before it exploded a few dozen meters away. Despite the shielding, Arelyn was still buffetted by the force of the explosion, her cannon controls yanking themselves out of her hands. A console to her side ruptured, showering her with sparks of white hot electricity. She swore again as she righted herself again, groaning painfully as the harness dug into her skin. "Karking son of a bantha!" she yelled, grabbing hold of her controls again and bringing them to bear again. Just then another fighter flitted across her sights and she moved the cannon again to follow it, squeezing the triggers. But no blaster bolts came from the muzzles of her guns. "What the..." she said as she punched at diagnostic screen. "Sithspawn, damn thing is out."

 

Arelyn spotted her headset on the floor and grabbed for it. Setting it on her head, she thumbed it on, noticing her gloved fingers were red. Frowning, she touched the side of her head with her other hand. It also came away red. "This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" she muttered. Keying in a frequency, she said, "Jyot, I've got a problem. My turret cannon is down."