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Ash
Ash Ash Binks
835 posts
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last online Jun 5, 2022 10:09:17 GMT -5
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Aug 27, 2012 21:29:52 GMT -5
Post by Ash on Aug 27, 2012 21:29:52 GMT -5
Bit had on one of the largest shit-eating grins one could possibility have: this was just too much fun. These full grown men were scared of a little maneuvering... and him standing up and shooting, but then anyone, even him, would be if some maniac did that.
Bit kept up his bobbing and weaving, not doing anything like standing and shooting again. He has hard pushed to his his max speed with the traffic and his maneuvering, but he was going fast enough to keep away from the speeder pursuit.
I'm_
Before Bit could even say is name to the nice old man next to him, Bit heard a loud curse from behind him. Bit looked, seeing a full on starship falling in behind them. His grin instantly disappeared, replaced with a veil of seriousness.
Buckle up!
Bit gave two seconds, dropped a gear, angled down, and shot off like a rocket. He may not be able to outrace it, but he could outmaneuver and perform it. He continued this fall for a good few seconds, then pulled up, rocking off through the skyscrapers that consisted of the lower levels.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
628 likes
...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Aug 28, 2012 10:54:24 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Aug 28, 2012 10:54:24 GMT -5
The XS Light Freighter was known for many things across the galaxy. The ship was a common-place 20,000 credit utilitarian freighter, after all, and Horst could speak from first hand experience when he said that they were indeed the every-man's ship. They were known for being iconic and defining of their age.
Fortunately, they were not known for their weapon platforms.
Unfortunately, it mattered little; Horst probably could've killed this speeder with his own guns, and they were far smaller than the two turrets adjusting on the black ship.
With that said, they out-gunned, out-manned, and out-armored. Again. With any luck, they weren't to be out-done.
We need a plan... Horst's repeater was designed to chew down infantry, not assault armored vehicles. Beyond that, judging by a few odd shapes and sounds coming from that freighter, it was modified, most likely with better guns and armor. Any and all hope of taking the thing down directly (i.e. shooting the damn thing until something broke) was pretty much out of the picture.
That left two options: flee, or find a way to fight it indirectly. Fleeing seemed like a bad idea to the Engineer; if the problem wasn't dealt with, it would follow them to the space-port (provided, of course, that they weren't shot down and/or killed before then) and most likely get the drop on the landed, already-assaulted Verada. Beyond that, those sublight engines might as well have been lightning bolts; the XS might be less maneuverable, but the day the speeder's repulsors out-ran fully functional sublight engines was the day Horst would throw in the towel.
There's got to be a weakness somewhere... As Horst thought, Ethan was yelling over the rushing wind the lune, asking him his name before ordering him into the tunnels. The lune, meanwhile, had finally gotten serious. After all, death staring you straight in the face usually left little room for assorted odd-balling.
But what weaknesses were there that they could exploit?!
... the windshield.
Horst stood up, braced his knees on the back seat again, and emptied out the rest of his powerpack toward the freighter. The thing was a big enough target so as not to worry about the shots missing and hitting some unsuspecting civvie; Horst would have to be blind otherwise. The bolts hit in a scatter along the front portion of the ship, most of them being sucked up by the armor. A precious few, however, did indeed hit the windshield. What effect they had, Horst couldn't say.
"Hey! Nut-case!" Horst still didn't know his name, but at the moment he had more pressing concerns. "Keep heading for those tunnels! And when I say so, I need you to hit the brakes!" Horst threw his repeater onto the back seat rather than reload it, instead vouching to take out his revolver again. He checked the chambers once more; six shots, all ready to cause some damage.
Hopefully.
"Ethan! Do me a favor and unload on that thing's windshield!" The Engineer got ready, kneeling down and bracing his arms against the headrest of the back seat. He did his best to steady his hands, counteracting the movements of the speeder, and lining up a solid shot with the driver seat of XS.
Then again, maybe I'm the nut-case.
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Ghostie
SMELL LIKE POWA'
764 posts
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last online Aug 19, 2019 9:17:21 GMT -5
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Sept 4, 2012 21:46:39 GMT -5
Post by Ghostie on Sept 4, 2012 21:46:39 GMT -5
Ethan sat straight back in his seat as the Nut-Job rocketed off through the lower levels. He was scanning ahead, making sure nothing else was creeping up on them. But with an XS Light Freighter, they didn't have much else to worry about.
The XS was like a large black shadow. It blotted out the sun when it flew in front of it, casting a shadow over the speeder. It reminded him of why he named the Cohen-Class Gunboat Verada Nashta. A mandalorian monster that walked in the shadows.
If only we had The Verada...
The Cohen-Class Gunboat would blast that XS Freighter out of the sky. Or it's Ion Cannon could shut down it's systems for boarding. Whatever the case, it was wishful thinking. They had a speeder, a small, convertible speeder, against a freighter. Ethan didn't see anything good coming out of this chase
"Ethan! Do me a favor and unload on that thing's windshield!"
“What do you want me to do with a rifle that isn't even automatic?!”
Ethan yelled back at Horst. None the less, he spun around and leveled the Corlvic. Kneeling in is seat, Ethan brought the rifle up to his shoulder and tried to train it on the freighter. The first few shots missed the windshield, some the whole canopy even. They splattered against the ship's armor, doing nothing to the hull.
The speeder swerved and dived through traffic. Ethan had no idea where exactly they were going. He focused solely on the XS. Finally, they hit a straight path. Ethan pulled the trigger on his rifle as fast as possible and the bolts hit their mark, dissipating into the windshield. A burn mark started to appear.
“Whatever you're going to do Stellar, do it fast!”
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Ash
Ash Ash Binks
835 posts
103 likes
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last online Jun 5, 2022 10:09:17 GMT -5
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Sept 9, 2012 21:29:35 GMT -5
Post by Ash on Sept 9, 2012 21:29:35 GMT -5
I'll get you one solid shot before I proceed to give you two a ride of your life!
Bit was expertly wieving through traffic in a fashion that would allow his passengers to keep their sights on the freighter behind them. He was waiting for the perfect time for his dangerous maneuver before he took off... at least until something else donned on him.
Hey, you, with the, gun, brace yourself on the windshield. As strait as you can. He, other guy with the gun, behind me, you have three seconds do do what you need to from when I give the signal. After that, you better hold on... you too first dude.
Bit juked his speeder sidways, angling up as he turned into a sharp corner. He jumped his speeder up rapidly, getting on level with where the freighter would be coming in now. Bit looked behind him, and sure enough, seconds later, the freighter came around. Bit got to that direct level, and yelled out to Horst.
NOW!
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
628 likes
...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 10, 2012 17:33:07 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 10, 2012 17:33:07 GMT -5
Ethan's spray of bolts did about what Horst had expected: jack-squat. Still, with that in mind, the pilot seemed both angry and confident, for he pushed a lever and the ship started gaining on the speeder, closing the distance between the XS and the convertible.
"Hey, other guy with the gun, behind me, you have three seconds do do what you need to from when I give the signal. After that, you better hold on... you too first dude."
For once, Horst listened to every word this lunatic was saying. The ex-smuggler shifted from one side of the back seat to the other, moving his repeater out of the way with his foot. He then braced up against the lunatic's seat, bracing his arms against the head-rest of the backseat again, taking aim.
The speeder juked, and the XS followed suit. As they leveled out, so too did the freighter...
...right at window-level.
"NOW!"
Horst squeezed the trigger, and the revolver exploded with sound again, whipping the Engineer's arms back so far that they softly hit against the seat behind him. Horst brought the limbs back down immediately, grabbing onto the door to his side as the speeder began maneuvering.
From what he could see, the shot had connected almost perfectly. A nice hole was visible in the window, and the body of the once-cocky pilot was hunched over in a bloody mess. His carcass seemed to be slumped over the same lever he'd been easing forward later, and the immediate sound of sub-light engines roaring to full throttle was audible.
The XS quickly accelerated, coming within about a meter to the speeder before veering off, beginning to spiral downward. Traffic managed to evade the crashing black-mass of metal as screamed downward, and from what Horst could see, it's trajectory put it on course with a utility fixture of some kind. Then, the lunatic turned off, breaking Horst's line of sight.
A crash was produced from behind them.
The lights in the nearby buildings all died with a flicker, leaving the streets illuminated by the traffic and floating signs that ran on their own power.
".950 rounds. Always good for more than you bargain for." He got up from his settled position behind the pilot enough to look out the windshield as the speeder's movements became more tolerable. Ahead was the space-port, which seemed to be too far from the utility building to be in its section of power, meaning the lights were still on. In it, they knew, was the Verada.
Horst shook Ethan's shoulder. "I'd say we need to get the heck out of here ASAP. People are gonna be pissed we hit the light switch."
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Ghostie
SMELL LIKE POWA'
764 posts
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last online Aug 19, 2019 9:17:21 GMT -5
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Sept 11, 2012 19:46:24 GMT -5
Post by Ghostie on Sept 11, 2012 19:46:24 GMT -5
Horst whipped out his revolver again and took aim. The soonest the speeder was level, and the XS was straight with it's prey, he shot. The bullet itself didn't do much damage to the XS besides puncture it's windshield. But that proved to be more than enough as it killed the pilot as well.
And down the ship tumbled. Hitting a utility, the XS took out all the lights on the block. That would've been a bigger problem, had it been the middle of the night. But it was just the opposite, the sun was high and bright in the sky.
“One hell of a gun, burc'ya.”
Still, Ethan could hear sirens on emergency vehicles quickly approaching the scene. He didn't have to tell their driver, but they were already on their way to the Spaceport. It was a quiet ride, weaving in and out of the traffic lanes. They soon decended upon the Corellian Hound, a Spaceport in the Corellian Sector.
“What did you say your name was again?”
Ethan reached into the back seat and grabbed his besk'ad. If they were truly swarming The Verada, then that would mean tight quarters to fight. And he didn't want to harm the ship with stray blaster bolts. Getting out of the speeder, Ethan started to warn the others on the same thing; to not harm the ship.
“If they've already found The Verada, they may be inside of it. Watch your shots, pick them carefully.”
He slung his rifle over one shoulder, and unsheathed the besk'ad. It shined in the sunlight, reflecting it a bit. Ethan kept good care of the blade, it was well polished. True, the besk'ad was longer than usual, to deal with Ethan's height. It felt good in his hands though.
And he was itching to use it.
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Ash
Ash Ash Binks
835 posts
103 likes
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last online Jun 5, 2022 10:09:17 GMT -5
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Sept 17, 2012 11:44:12 GMT -5
Post by Ash on Sept 17, 2012 11:44:12 GMT -5
Bit rocketed away from the crashing freighter, just getting out of the way before the huge craft jetted by them. He laughed, doing a barrel roll before smoothing out his flight path, and head right towards the Corellion sector. It wasn't that long of a flight there, considering how fast they were going.
The names Cyn Rook, but just call me Bit.
Bit slowed down on his flying as he headed towards where these two characters wanted him to. Soon, they came up on their ship, where he came in for a gentle landing just outside of it. Shutting down the speeder, he jumped out, popped the rear, and pulled out a blaster rifle. He checked the charge, and, satisfied, grabbed an extra power pack, which he pocketed, and looked at the other two.
Hey, you're stuck with me now.
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Fromikeable
Keeper Of The Techxts
1,616 posts
628 likes
...and I'm comin'! *guitar riff*
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last online Jun 22, 2023 19:35:57 GMT -5
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Sept 17, 2012 14:13:17 GMT -5
Post by Fromikeable on Sept 17, 2012 14:13:17 GMT -5
The lunatic laughed and rolled the speeder before they reached the spaceport. Horst was about ready to strangle him, and yet felt a strange respect for the guy. Despite his annoying tendencies and suicidal approach, he was actually quite the combatant.
Now if only his brain cells weren't burnt to a crisp. Oh well. No one in the galaxy was perfect, he supposed.
The speeder landed, and Horst grabbed his repeater. Popping out the old powerpack, the smuggler looked at his gun again. It was ugly, inaccurate, and way to unreliable, but he still preferred it by lightyears to any type of rifle.
Still, I'll have to look into something new.
The lunatic finally revealed his name. Cyn "Bit" Rook. Horst looked at him for a moment, seeing how the insane name fit the insane man.
"What kind of name is Bit? And like hell you're taggin' along." Horst reloaded his repeater, sliding in his last energy pack. He'd stashed most of his ammo on the Verada.
The Verada... Horst had nearly forgotten about the ship. Was it okay? He strided over quickly, repeater at the ready, and peeked up the cargo rap.
PEW! Horst ducked his head away as a bolt flew over-head. He tossed out his repeater though, and put up his hands.
"Easy! It's us." Horst stepped out onto the center of the ramp, hands raised. He tried to look about as intimidating as a kitten (which sort of failed horribly, as Horst was about the furthest thing from a kitten on two legs). At the top of the ramp, the rifle pointed at him stayed raised.
Holding it, looking terrified, was one of the younger crew members, hands shaking, trying not to cry.
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Ghostie
SMELL LIKE POWA'
764 posts
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last online Aug 19, 2019 9:17:21 GMT -5
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Sept 18, 2012 8:45:23 GMT -5
Post by Ghostie on Sept 18, 2012 8:45:23 GMT -5
Ethan barely caught the conversation that was going on behind him. It sounded like their driver, his name Cyn, wanted to tag along with Horst and Ethan. Horst was less than pleased with the idea. Ethan was more open to the idea though. Despite almost crushing Ethan with a speeder, this Bit character had helped them escape from the Hotel and loose the XS Freighter.
And Bit was a good combatant. He knew what he was doing, and apparently could fly like it was nobody’s business. Ethan did need more people like him. Of course, Bit was a little crazy. Ethan wasn't going to forget that stunt with the sniper rifle anytime soon, if ever.
Ethan led the way into the spaceport, and took cover next to the doorway into the hangar where The Verada Nashta was landed. It dominated the hangar, practically filling it in completely. Ethan had to admit, it was a little weird seeing a ship with a Mandalorian symbol on it's side in a Corellian Spaceport, but there it was.
Horst entered the hangar before Ethan did, and nearly got his head blown off. Ethan spun around with his blaster pistol ready, but took his finger off the trigger the soonest he saw what was happening. If Horst hadn't thrown his repeater down, Ethan might've pulled the trigger, which would've left him with one less crew member.
Sheathing the besk'ad and holstering his pistol, Ethan walked up the ramp towards the crewmemeber. He was a human, and young. He'd probably never seen combat before, and had only a shot a blaster at targets. He was shaking, terrified.
“Make sure you know what you're shooting at before you pull the trigger.”
Ethan didn't yell, but he was very firm with the young man. Had his aim been any better, Horst wouldn't have a head right now. A shaky man with a blaster could be more dangerous than calm solider. The shaky, scared ones just shot at everything.
Ethan soften his voice, and grabbed the rifle out of the young man's hand.
“Go grab a drink and relax. Be ready for lift off soon.”
Ethan stashed the rifle just inside the entrance to The Verada as the crewman walked away. He turned to Bit and Horst, who were still standing just before the ramp. Horst wasn't too thrilled about having Bit tag along, and Ethan respected Horst's opinion.
But it was his ship, and his crew. The fact was that Ethan needed more people like Bit. As of right now, he and Horst were the only ones who could do some real fighting.
“Bit, get your stuff loaded. Horst, make sure we're ready to go. I want to be out of here within the hour.”
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