Relative to the planet and the vessels behind and in front of their shuttle, Castor dove straight down, neatly avoiding all the current fire and still accelerating. It was a maneuver that wasn't likely to work more than once in such a manner, but it still had its value. They were outside Kamino's gravity well now; just outside the well projected by the initial CC-2200 and were working on escaping the second. Still, there was not much time left.

"Get on the damn guns boy! Buy us some time!"

When the Mynocks emerged, they came along the hyperspace route that put them just behind that taken earlier by the Imperial CC-2200 and its escort, the Engager. Being that it was likely they had been sensed arriving by the Imperial sensors, though the probability was lower as they emerged in smaller craft rather than capital vessels, they scattered nonetheless, taking stock as their own sensors relayed the current data. They certainly hadn't expected to emerge almost in the rear of a Star Destroyer after all. In a sense though, it was fortuitous that they had. The group split as they maneuvered, each heading towards a specific craft and, being to the rear and slightly above them, held the advantage, for the moment. The Catalyst was the target for six of the R-41s, a pair of the Planetary Defenders, the Telgorn dropship Hammer and the Porax-38. Realizing a dragship for what it was, the R-41 pilots fired four concussion missiles each at the Catalyst for a total of twenty four missiles. As the distance closed and the missiles left their tubes, they'd chime in with their pair of laser and ion cannons as well. The Porax-38 would aim to buzz the rear of the ship; not as heavily armed for assaulting a larger vessel with only a pair of laser cannons (it was meant for space superiority after all) but the energy it poured into the CC-2200's shields would be a drain on the ship's shields elsewhere. The main hitting came from the Hammer though. Modified in some sense, rather swift and maneuverable, the Hammer had utilized its internal generator to boost the weapon systems at this time, allowing for much more power in the shots at little cost to the speed of said shots. It opened fire with its dorsal dual laser cannon, port side dual turbolaser cannon and starboard ion cannon, aiming to make the CC-2000 just that much more uncomfortable. To add perhaps injury to injury the pair of Planetary Defender snubfighters chipped in with their forward laser cannons and a total of six concussion missiles.

The Engager had its own welcoming party though. Being behind and a tad above the Star Destroyer gave the pirates a good view of its shield generators, bridge and engines while not exposing them to overmuch incoming fire. After all, the dagger-like design of the Star Destroyer was intended to focus its fire forward. The Pinook dove almost directly towards the top superstructure of the Engager, firing its lasers at the starboard shield generator even as it increased speed and began to maneuver. Behind it, the pair of R-41s that had stuck with their group did the same, coming in at an angle so they could unload a total of sixteen concussion missiles at the same shield generator; a weak point in the design, as would be exploited in later years against Warlord Zsinj. Their ion and laser cannons added to the fun as well. The Caliph's Sun came in under the lighter ships, firing quad laser cannon, ion cannon and letting loose three of its five proton torpedoes at the same target. The aim was to cripple the Star Destroyer in part long enough for the raiders to seize or destroy the CC-2200, ideally the former. Dipping low and approaching from the starboard side, the pair of Planetary Defender starfighters that accompanied this attack group cut loose with three concussion missiles each and their forward laser cannons, leaving the best for last. The heavy-hitting Gloom, far enough back to be out of the engine wash and low enough that it could not be easily targeted by the few rear weapons systems, the YZ-775 assaulted the shield generator with everything it had. The double turbolaser turret, the pair of dual laser cannons and six proton torpedoes, all aimed to destroy this single shield generator. Time would tell how successful they were.

In response to the pirates, however, both the Engager and the Protector launched the remainder of their fighter wings to engage the enemy and aid in forcing a withdrawal, if not killing the apparently fanatically loyal foe that had been relentlessly targeting the Empire with reckless abandon and seemingly no logic. Indeed, overwhelming force was possible here, very overwhelming... but it was not present yet, but at the ready at Captain Nemos' call. As for the Theta Shuttle, the concussion missiles were indeed successfully detonated early by the countermeasures, causing the TIE/gt's to back off, and their TIE Fighter escorts to now close in with the Inquisitor, firing at the Shuttle now to drive down its shields, but aiming, as much as they could anyways, at sensitive areas to successfully disable the craft. In response to the vanishing life signs aboard the Yacht, the Stormtrooper Transport merely waited until it would be clear, not caring if they were killing each other out of acts of useless, moronic and nonsensical fealty to some being too idiotic enough to fight the Empire. It was a common theme of late, enemies not wanting to be captured and all, as if being mentally challenged that had been recruited to fight a war, willing to die for a cause that had been lost for nearly a decade. It seemed though, the enemy expected the Empire to care... and it simply didn't. If the enemy wished to kill itself off, so be it... they would eventually run out of men and thus kill their own movement by driving away any being with half a brain, assuming ones following such a useless leader did possess such. That wasn't factoring in the oppressive morale drops resultant from constant and continual losses and failed operations and campaigns; no matter how stupid and no matter how devoted to a cause, such would still have an effect. Time would tell if the enemy would simply give up, or turn on their apparently daft command structure.

Down below, an entire planet was on alert and its defenses ready. Throughout the system and on the edge, an entire fleet sat at the ready to immediatly join the fray if needed, including several more interdictors. Time would only tell how long this would go on, and how much the enemy was willing to sacrifice in the name of a lost and dead cause.

Fleet Admiral Tacitus Corvus
Imperial Navy
Outer Rim Fleet

"Loyalty. Fealty. Fidelity."

The shuttle's abrupt dive toward Kamino proper was not completely unexpected, though Kroenen was unsure what the apostate and his Jedi friend hoped to achieve by making planetfall. Unless, of course, their move was simply intended to bring them out of the firing line; true, Kamino had ample defenses which could easily overwhelm a small shuttlecraft such as their Theta-class, but at the same time, most of the planet was ocean, with no platform to house such defenses. If their entry point happened to be far away from any cities, they'd be well out of range of any firing solution, and would theoretically be able to make their way around the planet to blast into hyperspace on the opposite side, away from any Imperial interdiction fields...

He could not allow it to happen.

Even if the enemy didn't enter Kamino's atmosphere, it was a maneuvre so effective that he had barely enough time to correct his course, throwing his ship down so tightly that the gravitational force pinned him to his chair, the stars spiralling in his viewport until he had the shuttle back in his sights.
"All units, pincer that shuttle" he barked into his comm, unusually irate; his usual stoic demeanour had all but disappeared. Whether or not his accompaniment of TIE's followed his instructions would depend on whether their loyalty extended beyond their Commanding Officer, but nevertheless, he opened fire at the rear of the shuttle, adding his own efforts into wearing down their shields and disabling key components - in this case, their rear thrusters - so that they may reel in their catch...

Caden dropped back into the gunners seat, Castor's shout bringing him back to reality; and a grim reality it was. Their options of escape were becoming increasingly slim, when suddenly his read-outs indicated a significant emergance of newcomers; and those newcomers seemed to be targeting the Imperials.
He began targeting the pursuing TIE Fighters, knowing that to try and hit the Inquisitor in their midst would be foolish. The TIE's presented a much easier target, and with far less shielding, he hoped to whittle down their numbers fairly quickly to prolong their chances of survival with their shields intact. Aiming dead-centre at the cockpit areas of the incoming TIE's, he loosed shot after shot, immersing himself in the Dark Side and ignoring all else.

Lances of blue energy flew by the shuttle, fired from Inquisitor Kroenen's shuttle, but Caden couldn't afford to pay them any attention just yet; if he focused on the Inquisitor, much as he wanted to, he'd just provide the TIE's with an opening to drain their shields and disable them.
Whatever Vax was planning, he better do it fast...

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

Vax's latest angle of approach took him away from all pincers of the Imperial trap; if worse came to worse, he would indeed beach the ship as best it could be, on Kamino, and then survive as best could be. For now though, escape was primary. A bare few seconds and he'd be able to make his jump.

For now then, the yacht waited, cold and subdued.

The XX-9 heavy turbolaser was a monster of a weapon, being a heavy turbolaser, after all. A Star Destroyer such as that being assaulted sported sixty of the ferocious weapons, but having nearly thirty in the rear of the ship, able to fire back and down at just the right angles to strike at the attackers from whence they came was also not too likely, seeing as a Star Destroyer was arranged to have its firepower forward. Oh, there were certain to be numerous point defense guns around the vessel, some of which might even intercept some of the six incoming proton torpedoes. Two were detonated rather easily, but the spread of the warheads, even though slower than the concussion missiles fired at a different angle, would be difficult to shoot down in enough time to stop them all. The Gloom, after all, was rather close to the Engager. While not the most agile of craft when compared to the snubfighters, it was still maneuverable, and being that it was under the depression of the Engager's weapon systems for the most part, simply adopted a randomized movement and continued firing away with its cannons before loosing its final six torpedoes. As the last torpedo left the tube, a lucky strike grazed the Gloom, which immediately put all extra power to the thrusters, falling low as it prepared to break away; the maneuver lowering it out of easy strike from the massive capital vessel.

The Pinook, swift enough but hardly agile enough, and with an inexpert pilot, had flown too close to the Star Destroyer. A very near miss caused him to jerk on his control yoke harder than expected and the maneuver at such close proximity to the shield generator, was sure to slam his craft either into the shield itself or into the actual superstructure of the Star Destroyer, ending his brief life and even more brief career as a pirate. Meanwhile, the accurate ion and laser cannon fire from the agile pair of R-41s would move from the shield generator to any available turrets surrounding it, attempting to destroy or damage them. The Caliph's Sun had the most luck, being fast and agile and for some reason, the gunners had not given it much note; an item that would likely change as all three of its proton torpedoes, ignored or forgotten by the gunners, struck home on the shield generator, followed by its blasts from both ion cannon and quad laser before it broke off. In essence by using such heavy weaponry, the Star Destroyer was like a man trying to swat a fly with a sledgehammer. It was possible, but it sure as hell wasn't easy.

The Catalyst, a CC-2200 interdictor cruiser, unless modified, actually held no weaponry other than its gravity well projectors. It wasn't until the CC-7700 that light armaments were installed on that particular type of vessel. As such, it had little hope of defense. The Porax-38 had just completed its run and was beginning a long, lazy loop around when, having failed to jink or dive, was blown out of space by one of the XX-9 heavy turbolasers. Having not fired at any of the incoming concussion missiles, the full salvo of twenty-four from the R-41 and six from the Planetary Defenders would strike home on the Catalyst, likely doing some damage of some sort. The laser and ion fire from both the R-41s and the Planetary Defenders would be stitching the ship as well. One of the Planetary Defenders was grazed by an XX-9, but a graze of that magnitude caused the shields to drop to six percent and the pilot broke off abruptly, maneuvering towards the edge of the battle. The remaining five craft had better luck evading the slow-firing massive cannons. The Hammer, arguably the largest of the craft, had the most danger of being struck down, so it was that it dipped and rolled, firing when it could at the Catalyst with its rather heavy weaponry, but routing the excess power back to the engines, giving it the speed to dodge the incoming fire, for now.

Whatever was going on beyond their own personal struggle was becoming less and less Caden's concern, since despite picking off the remaining TIE Fighters on their tail, he'd been unable to land a single shot on the pursuing Inquisitor; and a glancing hit from Kroenen's shuttle had damn well near taken off the rear cannon, saved only by a Castor's erratic flying.
"Hate to repeat myself, but we need to get out of here, old man..." Caden said through gritted teeth, lining up another burst of shots on Kroenen, only to have them all miss as the High Inquisitor rolled to port, righted himself, then dropped out of sight altogether.

The reprieve lasted seconds, as suddenly the Nu-class shuttle appeared in Caden's sights, much closer than before and blazing all weapons in a desperate attempt to disable them. He could feel Kroenen's irritation radiating through the Force, and for a fleeting second, Caden thought the Inquisitor may have thrown focus to the wind... until with a cracking explosion ripped the rear turret free of its housing, jolting the ship hard and setting off alarms at the gunners station. Silencing them immediately and swivelling his chair into the co-pilots position, Caden re-routed weapons power to the rear deflectors, and cast a sideward glance at Castor.
"When we get out of this, I'm gonna be having words with Shiva and whoever the hell we were meeting here. The only idea more stupid than picking Kamino as a rendezvous point was accepting it" he snarled, chastising the others as well as himself. "Next time we agree to run one of these little errands for Shiva, we're picking the location. If there is a next time" he added.

********

Without their rear turret, the apostate and his Jedi companion posed little threat to Kroenen; unfortunately, with no weapons to speak of, it would seem they'd drained power from their weapon capacitor to instead overcharge their rear deflectors, making it near impossible for him to drain them. There was no way he'd get an ideal firing solution on their front, not with that pilot at the helm. And with battle closing in on all sides, he dare not unleash a torpedo for the possibility of inadvertently taking out an Imperial target; normally such things could be considered collateral damage, but with the emergence of invading pirates, the defense of Kamino had become paramount.
Still, with Sturn so close he could quite literally smell his fear, Kroenen wasn't about to give up the opportunity.

The boy shone now like a beacon, giving in to rage; the strange thing was, that rage felt as though it were focused elsewhere.
"Anger, but not at me..." Kroenen murmered to himself. "What does little Caden have locked in his head?"
And he reached through the Force. He waited for no invite into Caden's mind, for the boy was so openly channeling the Dark Side that invasion was tantamount to walking through an open gate. At first there was no resistance, his thoughts were laid open for all to see.
This was no special power of Kroenen's; any Force user with the correct discipline could see into the thoughts of others, but Caden was so unguarded that it was like sitting in a theatre and letting a Holofilm play out before him.
An imposing man, shrouded in black, was at the centre of Caden's thoughts. Not unlike Lord Vader, this being was masked and enigmatic, a commanding presence about him.
Shiva. The name came to him from Caden's unabashed thoughts, and the image turned an angry hue of red. This man was what had Caden so worked up, so angry, so...

A ferrocrete wall seemed to slam into Kroenen's head, and suddenly he was shut out of Caden's mind, unable to probe further. The boy had sensed him, obviously, and begun to guard his thoughts, lest they betray him further.
Kroenen sneered, and then with a scream of pure, volatile hatred, reached out to the fleeing shuttle through the Force, and closed an invisible, crushing grip on its shield generator...

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

Being outside Kamino's gravity well, dancing along the edge and finally out of range of the interdiction vessels, Vax did not waste the time or the effort. He had a hyperspace course locked in for some time now and waited only on the ability to jump. In seconds, the stars elongated ahead of them and, ideally, would take them out of Kamino and into hyperspace.

Ten concussion missiles impacted the Engager from the initial salvo of sixteen. Concentrated in one area, they seemed likely to do little damage overall to the Star Destroyer, but focused as they were on one spot, were likely to cause some distress to that portion. Ray shielding, one of the options the Star Destroyer likely had in addition to its particle shielding, was capable of being penetrated by proton torpedoes. It stood to reason then, that concussion missiles could do the same, though to a much lesser extent as their warheads were much smaller. Nonetheless, ten concussion missiles right on top of the same spot were likely to make a proverbial dent.

One of the remaining four proton torpedoes fired by the Gloom was intercepted by defensive fire, destroying it in a flash, but the remaining three impacted solidly upon the shield around the shield generator the likelihood of at least one punching through to damage the structure was high. The Gloom, having already fallen back, began to turn about, heading back the way it had come; away from the interdictor and the snubfighters that had been scrambled to attack the pirates, fully intent on running. Its weapons would be focused rearwards; the turbolasers firing at the Engager's engines while the laser cannons prepared to fire on any TIEs that came close.

The Pinook's pilot did indeed impact upon the shield generator, destroying him and his craft in one swoop. Even without the shots from before that had fallen upon the specific area and providing the shield generator had survived, this final, fatal accident was sure to make the generator explode. If such did happen, those on board would likely be rocked, especially in the bridge area, and the shield readouts would show a massive failure in the port generator that would leave them rather vulnerable. The pair of R-41s, seeing the retreat in the face of overwhelming odds sounded, would swoop back and under the spars of the bridge, aiming to come out and follow the Gloom. Their part in the fight was done. The Caliph's Sun, having already finished its pass, continued the loop around, still flying evasively, as it moved to rejoin its comrades.

Twenty-four concussion missile did indeed rock the Catalyst; punching through the shields and blowing holes within the hull. The vessel was stricken, but hardly out of the fight likely. The five snubfighters finished up their last pass before fleeing ahead of the wave of TIEs as well. The Hammer, which, true to its name, had pounded the Catalyst the hardest with its heavy weapons on the holes in its shields and any open areas, fled as well, putting all power available to the engines.

The Jedi and his former Inquisitor friend did indeed escape into hyperspace, headed elsewhere; Tatooine perhaps, where the lawlessness of the galaxy would allow them to hide and rest, things they needed badly. From there, they could take stock and continue on whatever path they so chose.