"If you're referring to the two Lambda shuttles, they're still on Anoat... and I doubt they're intact by this point. I'll see what I can do with getting one shipped up here from the surface, though. Daygon, you'll check with the deck chief about the TIE Advanced."
"You know, another possibility would be to use some captured squints, there's gotta be some lying around somewhere, load them into the Dagger, drop out of hyperspace at the edge of the system and drop the squints, then Dagger slinks out of the way and we go to work. We get fighter coverage while maintaining the Imperial image as long as they never see what we came in on. I could even rig the Dagger's ident codes to read as an Imp escort carrier. As long as our comm traffic isn't to open, we ought to be all right."
"Dagger doesn't have that kind of cargo space. We could rig up hard points, but I'm not gonna promise they won't just shear off in hyperspace and kill us all."
Although there's dissent over the best way to bamboozle the Empire and make off with their allies' goods, in the end it comes down to time. While full TIE Fighters are uncommon on the Sword, they do have enough components to make six sensor decoys that read as TIEs.
Ty does his part with the electronics and systems, but he can't help but mentally plan out some external cargo racks, imagining the spindly derricks branching from some of the larger ships in the hangar.
It's 10 minutes until launch when the deck chief comms the group as they're checking their air feeds and pulling on their flight suits. "Captain Kolit messages: He couldn't get the assault shuttle, but he got something better. It's in the hangar waiting for you... and this message is from me. If you put a scratch on THIS one I will make sure the only thing you ever fly out of here is a Z-95."
Finishing up in the lockers and armory, the Vandals trot out onto the flight deck to see a second TIE Advanced, pristine next to its newly patched-up sibling.
"Look at that piece of junk," calls a gritty voice. Mixon and Dak are stepping off a shuttle with six n00bs. They're not the typical fresh-faced recruits - as ACAGs, they all look more than a little battle-hardened. There's a Rodian, two Mon Cals, and three Humans - two females and a male. A sith-eating grin on Mixon's face is apparent as he continues to expound to his new squadmates.
"Never let 'em talk you into flying Imp, boys and girls. You can take 'em down with a hand blaster, most ain't got no shields, there ain't no parts to speak of, and you're more likely to get wasted by friendlies coming back to base than on the mission."
Kolit's little present causes Cat's eyes to light up and she purrs softly. "Beautiful..." she murmurs.
Calsera looks over at Mandall with a sly grin. "Sorry, Mandall, you already picked your ship," she says as she glides over and runs her hand down the side in a loving caress.
Looking over at Mixon and company as she climbs into the new ship, Cat smiles. "You bring us some more mice to play with, Mix? How sweet."
Mixon guffaws as Calsera's going through preflight. "I heard you got a mouse of yer own?" Looking at the Vandals, he quickly singles out Ty. "You watch your ass, runt." The leathery Tatooinian turns back to his flight group.
"Smart man," Calsera responds to Mandall without elaborating.
Cat glances over at Ty and then back. "Yup. This is his first mission, so we'll see what he can do. At least he fixed your favorite still, which I imagine makes him your best - if not only - friend."
Startled out of his thought by the sound of his name, Ty gives the person a half-grin, then heads to the Echo. Turning back he says, "Oh, by the way, Echo need some turret gunners. Anyone know where we can get a few?"
Strapped into their chosen positions, the Echo, Sith Eater, and the two TIEs leave the Sword of Alderaan's hangar, their flight of Imperial craft starkly contrasting with the Alliance traffic.
Hyperspace coordinates are punched in for Pelagus. They'd be arriving at a distance, trusting in Echo's ECM to mask their presence until the Hutt convoy arrived - if it hadn't already.
---
The blue vortex reforms into white streaks and then into pinpricks against the black. Ahead, the Pelagus asteroid field floats serenely around the refinery. The "Extra TIE" sensor decoys survived the hyperspace trip in their racks, slung under the fuselages of the larger ships.
Kolit's information appears to be good. Two Gallofree medium transports are leaving the station's docking rings, and long-range sensors pick up an array of smaller craft. It's unsure at this range which ones (if any) are with the transports and which ones might be Pelagus security or private vessels. At least two light freighters are coming in to dock, and far off in the distance the sensor signature of an Action IV bulk freighter is ghosted against the display as it jumps into hyperspace.
Jorm's fingers dance, and he confirms the Gallofree transponders. They hail from Nar Shaddaa. They'd have to get clear of the debris field before they could jump, and big ships like those took some time to get everything ready for hyperspace.
"Just a reminder, those asteroids can be tricky. I know this will sound strange coming from me, but check the attitude at the door and focus on doing this right. If you get cocky, you'll get smashed."
After a brief pause, he goes on, his voice even as he enters the zone.
The Vandals nimbly weave their way into the rocks as the two Gallofrees and their fighter screen cautiously pick their way out of the station's clear zone. The fighters are a hodgepodge of makes and models - four Z-95s, a Y-Wing, two Cloakshapes, two Nubian N-1s, even a Republic V-Wing. The Cloakshapes and N-1s settle beside each transport ship, clearing any asteroids that get too close with their lasers. It appears that the 11th and 12th fighters were Pelagus' escorts. They arc back to base as the Shaddaa convoy enters the field.
Jorm keys up the Echo's sensor console, switching from passive jamming to active. Unseen tendrils of electromagnetic interference snake through the void, tightening their grip on the multitude of enemy craft ahead of them. With luck, the pilots'll think the sensor blackout is just a glitch with their individual craft. When their comms don't respond, well... it'll be too late.
Calsera and Mandall scream out of the rocks, each Rebel pilot scoring a fiery kill - a Z-95 and the V-Wing disintegrate, their jagged shrapnel bouncing off the rocks. The remaining escort fighters scatter, and a second Z-95, its radar out, tears its entire right wing off on an incoming asteroid. Air, flame, and particulate sputter from its ruined fuselage as the old fighter spirals out of control.
Echo and Sith Eater tear into the Gallofrees next, blue ion bolts dancing across the big tubs' shields. The hits are dead-on, but they'll need a lot more pounding before they crack. Aurelia and MDK, each manning the turrets in their respective craft, fire on the Y-Wing. Aurelia takes its shields down, putting glowing craters in the fighter-bomber's hull, then MDK strafes it as the Echo powers past. The Y-Wing's engines erupt, the firestorm instantaeously consuming the rest of the ship.
Mandall spins his nimble TIE and rakes the nearest Cloakshape with green blasts. The shots miss by a hands' breadth, goading the Hutt fighter into leaving its charge in favor of dusting the Rebel ace. It's all the Cloakshape can do to avoid Mandall's shots, however. The second Cloakshape sees the impending doom arriving in the form of the Sith Eater and strafes the Skipray with its forward guns. The Blastboat's deflectors shudder but stay up, a red warning indicator flashing on Ganet's console. Deflector screens: 20%. The noble of the house of Hran angles his screens and pushes forward with his attack run on the first Gallofree.
The TIE decoys float through the asteroids, acting as both evidence of the Empire's "betrayal" as well as incentive for the Pelagus patrols to stay away from the furball. Two fighters and two cutters might be a fair fight, but three wings of TIEs on top of that? Only the insane would engage with those odds. Ironically, the Hutt convoy can't even pick the decoys up on radar, what with their systems being handily jammed by the Echo.
Meanwhile, Calsera runs the Nubian fighters away from their transport. She slides her TIE Advanced in behind one of the N-1s while it's in the clear space between the Gallofrees and the heavier rocks. With no cover and its throttle still set to "escort", Cat's lasers split the old fighter down the middle. The N-1's wingman barely avoids Calsera's second fusillade, the Imperial-issue blast bolts nicking the outclassed pilot's deflectors. As with Mandall, Calsera deftly avoids the radar-blinded N-1's paltry return fire.
In a fair fight, these pilots might have shown some skill, might have made a better showing, but with their radar out and ambushed in perhaps the most effective way possible, they were dropping like womprats and they weren't even aware how bad their situation was. As punctuation, Ty and Eritram lob torpedoes into their respective transports. Or, they would have, had Ty and Ganet not had to dodge asteroids at the last second. Both torpedo shots arc painfully close but don't strike their targets. To make up for it, the turret gunners (MDK and Aurelia for Echo and the Skipray) pummel the Gallofree shields with their laser cannons. The Skipray's target seems to be having the worst of it; a few of Aurelia's blasts light small flashes across the topside hull plating.
Out of position from dodging the rocks, Ty almost flies right into some point-defense fire from the transports. The red bolts flick across Echo's viewscreen as the Nubian throws the Imperial craft into a tight roll. Ganet has a better time of it, managing to keep the Sith Eater out of the second Gallofree's fire arcs.
The two remaining Z-95s finally see the deflector impacts and triangulate their targets. Like the Cloakshape, they realize that their transports are under attack and bank around, coming at Ty, Jorm, and MDK in a fast lateral strafing run. MDK-911 quickly rotates the Tragen-class Decimator's turret, dropping one Z-95's deflectors and cratering a line of blackened plating across the forward fuselage. It's enough to shake the Headhunter pilots' nerves, though, and their barrages of laser fire streak harmlessly past the Echo.
One N-1 turns into space dust at the coaxing Vandal Cat's lasers. The second barely manages to avoid a similar fate. Cat stays on him, hoping to finish him off quickly. Once that's done, she'll turn on any remaining Cloakshapes or Z-95's.
Ganet keys the radio as he guides the Sith Eater through the field. He had offered his services as a gunner, but pulling a ship through the worst is one of his specialties.
"The decoys aren't doing us good if they don't have radar. Can you put the ECM on 'flicker' or something? They don't have to have good radar, just enough to know not to stick around."
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