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Set-up on Shiffrin
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| Jeffrey_Hodder | Date: Wednesday, 25 Jan 2012, 7:18 AM | Message # 1 |
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| It was less than a week after the papers had been signed by Hodder and the Tammuz Sector trade official that several generic freighters and transports moved into Shiffrin's orbit. Hodder was present in his skiff, overseeing the operation in its entirety. The ships contained the basic construction materials and droids to build the trade office and basic utilities the company would require to be able to set up shop on the planet.
(( I'll finish this later. Have to run to work. ))
Owner, Hodder & Sons Shipping
Overseer of operations, Tammuz Sector
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| Thesh | Date: Wednesday, 25 Jan 2012, 2:13 PM | Message # 2 |
 Sergeant
Group: Users
Messages: 28
Status: Offline
| The VCX-700 heavy courier Bloodlust appeared from hyperspace surprisingly close to Hodder's amalgam of freighters. The Wayfarer-class transport Chuzalla appeared an instant later, overshooting the Bloodlust by a few miles but righting itself promptly and forming up with its partner ship, deploying a Cloakshape fighter and a beaten up Y-wing from its hangar in the process. The fighters pulled and split up, preparing to run interference around the perimeter of the freighters like electrons around a nucleus. The freighters appeared to be unguarded from the great distance Thesh and his pirates had observed them. It had been a gutsy microjump, but it went reasonably well and the Bloodlust wasted no time spattering fire across all of the ships for effect.
It had been a difficult couple of months for Thesh. Moff Levi had stepped up patrols throughout the Tammuz Sector and forced him to operate more often on its periphery, like here at Shiffrin. He needed to pay more people across the Sector to look out for Imperial ships, and this bothered him. Then Alsakan had showed up in the Sector in a shooting mood over the Deralia/Dantooine dispute, and Thesh had gone to ground. While his finances were critical, he would begin to run low on money soon—he didn't want to start cutting back on maintenance or fuel and definitely not salary, so he needed to A.) ransom the troop of scientists he'd captured from Deralia, and B.) bring in a good haul of stolen goods; thus, an unescorted freighter convoy was just the thing he needed, and here on Shiffrin too where Thesh and his ships happaned to be for the last day or so.
Thesh scanned for life signs on the freighters. If there were any, as there probably were, that was a good sign; the ships would have contained atmospheres and would explode nicely. The Bloodlust, constantly in motion and at top speed, focused its attention on the largest of the freighters and let loose with everything it had. Thesh didn't discriminate on where he hit it—his goal, first, was simply to knock out its shields. The starfighters kept up the fire on the other ships to keep them uncomfortable without doing any real damage to them, yet.
Thesh
Pirate, Captain of the Bloodlust
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| Jeffrey_Hodder | Date: Tuesday, 07 Feb 2012, 9:23 AM | Message # 3 |
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| It was going to be a rather disappointing and bad day for both Thesh and Hodder in the end. Not expecting pirates and having assumed Shiffrin was a peaceful system, only two of the freighters had even had full shields up; several of them had not engaged shields at all. The largest of the freighters, a container transport, had been one such ship and with the Bloodlust giving the ship a full volley, the craft seemed to waver in space for a moment, and then blew apart in a massive gout of fire that spread pieces like shrapnel about the area as the craft's powerplant ruptured and gave way. The concussive force of the blast rammed the ship closest to it, a BFF-1, into its sister ship, the edges of both unshielded craft scraping against each other for a moment, then crumpling as engines pushed forwards while panicked crews should have been reversing them. A moment later, both freighters went up as well.
The transports, of which there were three, had been more distant and when their larger cousins suffered their disaster and as such were not caught up in it. The misfortune the starfighters had though, was that two of three transports were Muurian transports; the third being a Class 720 freighter. The Class 720, being the largest yet also the least armed, raised shields after suffering a few glancing blows and placed all discretionary power towards the engines, heading for Shiffrin while broadcasting a mayday in the open. It's single double laser cannon would spew fire at Cloakshape and Y-wing if they came close enough, but escape was the primary goal for it presently. The Muurian transports, however, had another idea. The Wayfarer transport was the weak link of the pirate group and it would need to be dealt with. With their shields up, for they'd been the only ones activated, pulling double duty as escorts, they returned fire against the fighters with both of their dual laser cannon turrets while opening a targeting solution on the Wayfarer for proton torpedoes; they'd each fire two as soon as it was locked, and also raking the larger craft with their three laser cannons.
Hodder himself had been nearly sixteen kilometers ahead of the entire flight of ships on the way to Shiffrin; as soon as the attack came, his ship came to full power, heading for the planet with a very good bit of speed; he wasn't equipped to fight after all.Added (07 Feb 2012, 9:23 AM)
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(( If there is nothing up here tonight, I may post on this later. It's been a while. ))
Owner, Hodder & Sons Shipping
Overseer of operations, Tammuz Sector
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| Thesh | Date: Friday, 10 Feb 2012, 6:47 PM | Message # 4 |
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Sergeant
Group: Users
Messages: 28
Status: Offline
| Thesh and his pirates wouldn't mind Hodder and let him escape, concentrating instead on the Muurian transports entirely. The Chuzalla was integral to this plan—Thesh hadn't planned on any boarding actions today. Too long. His goal had been to simply detonate the largest of the transports and use the Chuzalla's (repaired) tractor beam and hangar to scoop up any sealed containers that survived the blasts intact. In other words, a celestial smash-and-grab. The smash was done, and easier than expected. But the Chuzalla wasn't about to fly into a debris field with its particle shields down while missiles were being fired at it; it accelerated and took evasive maneuvers, managing to lose one of the torpedoes, which exploded against a piece of debris. The other one impacted just above the engine block, however; the shields took it, but wouldn't take much more punishment.
The Bloodlust ignored the Class 720 freighter and dropped in behind the Muurian transports in moments. The fighters broke off from the Class 720 also and joined the Bloodlust. "Stay with me, concentrate your fire on the wermo on the right," Thesh snarled into his headset to the pilots of the two fighters, who formed up beside him. He didn't wait for them, though; the Bloodlust opened up on the generously-large target profile of the Muurian transport on the right—it was fast, but no match for the Bloodlust or its fighters, who could fly circles around the Muurians.
Thesh
Pirate, Captain of the Bloodlust
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| Jeffrey_Hodder | Date: Wednesday, 22 Feb 2012, 10:04 AM | Message # 5 |
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| The Class 720 fired off a few last blasts with its cannon at the pair of snubfighters as it headed away from the battle; safe, or so it seemed. The rightmost Muurian accelerated after the Chuzalla, releasing its remaining four proton torpedoes at the craft and attempting to give it a reworking with its frontal three laser cannons. The gunners on the dual laser cannon turrets had already reversed their weapons, realizing the threat from the rear and opening fire on the Bloodlust even as it came in to strafe. Thesh's vessel, while opening fire, had not apparently engaged with its missile payload yet, which left it with its dual laser cannon and autoblaster for primary offense, though the real bite was in its quartet of ion cannons. Providing Thesh's vessel didn't jink to avoid, the ships would trade direct fire for the few moments it took for the proton torpedoes to launch before it began to jink itself; likely suffering heavy shield reduction.
The second Muurian had tried a different tactic. Reversing thrusters full, it would attempt to drop back behind the pair of fighters and courier that were harassing its counterpart and open fire with all forward cannons and laser turrets, as well as attempt a lock on to any of the three craft, starting with the courier. If this were an unsuccessful maneuver though, it would instead evade to the right and engage the fighters with its laser cannon turrets.Added (22 Feb 2012, 10:04 AM)
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(( Bump ))
Owner, Hodder & Sons Shipping
Overseer of operations, Tammuz Sector
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| Thesh | Date: Monday, 27 Feb 2012, 9:46 PM | Message # 6 |
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Sergeant
Group: Users
Messages: 28
Status: Offline
| Post coming up shortly, just need to research something. )) Added (27 Feb 2012, 9:46 PM)
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A surprise for Mr. Hodder and his all-too-persistent Muurian transports--another blip would appear on sensors as a YZ-775 transport emerged from hyperspace on the periphery of the scene, well out of range. Its transponder identified it as the Lola, and it boasted the Weequay skull insignia of Thesh's pirates on its battle-scarred hull; a souvenir from an encounter at Deralia some weeks ago. "Sorry we're late," a grizzled voice said over the comm to Thesh. The repairs to the Lola weren't as sterling as they could be, it seemed. But she'd hold together. Thesh snarled and ordered the Lola to back them up—he'd been waiting to use the Bloodlust's proton torpedoes until he could coordinate them with the Lola's. The latter was still a few moments out of range, so Thesh continued to hold back for now, concentrating on the dance with the Muurians.
And a dance it was. Thesh was an unsubtle creature in many, if not most respects. He was offensive to most of the senses, and wasn't distinguished even as a pirate. But at one thing--Thesh would say two things, but the ladies might not agree—he was a master artist. It was the art of the dogfight; space was his canvass, the Bloodlust was his brush. His paint? The Bloodlust's deadly array of weapons. But it was handling the Courier itself that had an almost majestic quality to it; the Bloodlust was an extension of himself. He knew its dimensions and capabilities and his keen Weequay vision made him very perceptive about the locations and speeds of Hodder's ships relative to his own.
Thesh's personal rule number one was to always stay in motion. His second rule was to engage at close quarters, if possible. He did both of these with the Muurian that remained on the Chuzalla's tail. Not only did the Bloodlust juke to avoid the Muurian's rearward fire, it did so masterfully, confounding all attempts to hit but for A.) the most accurate shots, and B.) the least accurate, that might hit the Bloodlust by chance. Thesh's ship, with its superior maneuverability, seemed as if it were chaotically orbiting the Muurian. (This would also make it harder for the other Muurian to hit him from behind without hitting its fellow in such close proximity to the Bloodlust).
The Courier zipped this way and that, pausing only long enough to loose another broadside on the Muurian before darting and rolling and hugging some other side of its target ship. Without inertial compensators, Thesh's lunch would coat all the instruments on his control panel. But with them, he barely felt the G's of the Bloodlust's impressive acrobatics. The engines protested, though—they couldn't take too much of this.
But neither could the Muurian. It might have gotten off all those shots at the Chuzalla (probably knocking out its shields or its engines or both), or it might not have. For the stricken Muurian, this engagement was fast becoming a choice of either offense or defense, but not both. The other would suffer for whichever it chose, and if indeed it continued its course in pursuit of the Chuzalla, it couldn't possibly survive it for long. As for the other one on Thesh's tail—the one without a clear shot at him—it would find itself contending with the Cloakshape and the Y-wing, which also didn't have a shot at the first Muurian and fell back to cover Thesh from behind.
Behind the second Muurian, that is. The Cloakshape fired a pair of concussion missiles at the second Muurian at close range, too close for the sluggish transport to reasonably avoid them, while the Y-wing did better than that; it loosed a powerful proton bomb at its target, then broke off along with the Cloakshape; they weren't about to be in range of it when it blew. Neither would Thesh or the first Muurian, moving at the speeds they were.
Thesh
Pirate, Captain of the Bloodlust
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| Jeffrey_Hodder | Date: Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012, 2:31 PM | Message # 7 |
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| The leading Muurian, that which was chasing the Chuzalla, knew it was in trouble, the pilot knew he should drop back, but there was that adrenaline; the feeling that had gone through his mind watching fellow workers and friends die in the opening engagement and it was safe to say that he was not quite mentally or emotionally stable at this present time. As such, with shields falling death possibly moments away, he continued on the path of which he was currently residing and triggered as much weaponry as he could at the rear of the Chuzalla, apparently downing shields and engines in one fell blow. However, as it broke off in preparation to finally evade Thesh's courier, the pilot did not realize how much extra holding the attack had cost him; the continued assault blew past his shields and tore his ship apart.
The second Muurian had engaged the Y-wing and Cloakshape fully now, but there were several advantages to using a concussion missile as opposed to a proton bomb in this particular case. The concussion missiles did indeed impact, damaging the shields further as the Muurian broke off suddenly, the maneuver causing the proton bomb to miss; after all, the bombs were not exactly meant for downing small craft and more akin to shooting a bee with a handcannon in this particular instance. With any luck, the Muurian would be able to escape the blast radius as well whenever the bomb decided to detonate. With its mate gone, the last transport was preparing to clear out as well.Added (13 Mar 2012, 2:31 PM)
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( Bump. )
Owner, Hodder & Sons Shipping
Overseer of operations, Tammuz Sector
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| Thesh | Date: Tuesday, 20 Mar 2012, 5:15 PM | Message # 8 |
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Sergeant
Group: Users
Messages: 28
Status: Offline
| (( I'll be able to finish this up tomorrow. )) Added (20 Mar 2012, 5:15 PM)
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The explosion of the Muurian transport showered the Bloodlust's shields with debris, but nothing it couldn't handle. Sailing through the ignited cloud of oxygen and hot metal and human detritus, Thesh would catch sight of the Chuzalla an instant later, holes punched in its lifeless engine assembly, bouncing into the larger chunks of debris from Hodder's freighters. Thesh narrated the scene with a stream of expletives. The other Muurian broke off, as did Thesh's fighters, none of them near the bomb's blast radius; the skirmish was essentially over, there was an enormous cloud of debris to pick through, and Thesh's salvage ship was dead in the air.
Never before had Thesh had greater fortune, watching as the mammoth bulk freighters had crumpled into each other and exploded finely. And never had he had worse fortune losing the use of the Chuzalla at this moment. "Sithshitting cur," Thesh grumbled of Hodder as he ordered the Lola and his fighters to form up on him as he approached the Chuzalla. He blocked transmissions from the Chuzalla itself, not wanting to hear any of its excuses as Thesh pulled up to it and latched on with the Bloodlust's magnetic grappler. The Lola helped to clear debris from their path as the procession left Shiffrin, using the planet's gravity well to 'sling-shot' them away.
Damage to the Chuzalla, a spent concussion missile, a spent proton bomb, and nothing to show for it. Motherforcing waste. But at least he'd come out of the fight cleaner than the other guy, Thesh reminded himself grimly.
Thesh
Pirate, Captain of the Bloodlust
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| Jeffrey_Hodder | Date: Tuesday, 20 Mar 2012, 7:49 PM | Message # 9 |
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Private
Group: Users
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| Thesh had indeed more or less won that particular round. However, Hodder was a tenacious man. He tallied his losses and accepted his mission still. When the next shipment of freighters came to Shiffrin a week later, they were escorted by a number of armed craft; private security hired from a reputable company that would serve to keep Hodder's interests safe on Shiffrin. Setting up the office he'd been allowed to put in place and begin working the shipping routes, largely because the former shipping magnate had died mysteriously, leaving Hodder, with his large pool of cash, the Hodder & Sons name and more importantly, his merchant fleet to pick up the slack, placing Hodder instantly as the newest large shipping magnate on Shiffrin.
Owner, Hodder & Sons Shipping
Overseer of operations, Tammuz Sector
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