In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #288):

[Private to Kal Wennyn: You detect an odd pitch comming from the freighter,  it's as if the fighters are actually being remote controled. They must be being piloted by droids, you realise.]

Kal punches the comm button, "Ladies, those are droid fighters out there. Possibly being remote-controlled."

After stopping the external comm, he turned to the pilot and co-pilot, "Any possibility of jamming the signal coming from the main vessel? I've got the frequency identified."

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #290):

"Well, I'll be a Gungan's uncle...! I haven't seen something like that since the clone wars..! It's worth a try," Pugwis exclaimed, "the comms station is right next to you. The dish should be ready."

Mirax, what are you up too?

Claire, the terrain was obstructed. Nice idea, but not this turn.

Looping back around, Mirax aimed her nose at the rear of the same fighter from before, the one that seemed to be leading the formation of two.  Pushing the throttle to full, she closed to short range, with the fighter's wingman - wing-droid according to Kal's transmission - just off her starboard wing, before she let loose with another blast of her laser cannons.

Move to T-04
Attack Run: advance to S-04 and attack with +2
14:58, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 12 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 5. Attack Run (+2, then -2 for short range).
15:00, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 12 using 3d10 with rolls of 10,1,1. Damage (if it hits). Total: 24

Again, if that's a miss, throw a FP roll.  Gotta use them up before leveling up, else I lose them all!

Claire, what are you up to?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:10, Sun 19 June 2011.

Claire loses her turn, given that she's logged in but hasn't deigned to post or email me about why she hasn't actually posted on her turn.

Claire, momentarily blinded by the combined flashes of energy from the two vessels on her six, hesitates and is suddenly tossed violently as her fighter takes heavy damage from the droid fighters and is brought dangerously close to the debris field...

Meanwhile, on the other side of that very field, Mirax's weapons come to bare on one of the vessels. Hot bolts of energy streak across the void and hit the fighter in the engine section, its armor taking the bulk of the damage.

Judging by the ship's condition, one more good hit and that fighter's toast... but that doesn't stop either of them from closing in on the Comet to continue their assault. Laser fire goes streaming towards the comet but glances of its shields, giving Pugwis a nice open shot at the fighter that Mirax has worn out. The lasers intersect with the fighter, and it suddenly explodes into a small ball of fire and debris that rocks the Comet and its passengers.

The rest of you on the comet may now act.

Kal's fingers dance as he starts giving commands to the dish at the comms station. Hopefully he could jam the signal to the droid fighters and his two favorite ladies would be safe from them in a moment....

16:31, Today: Kal Wennyn rolled 26 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 17. Use Computer.

The fighter nearest the Comet passes overhead and starts to loop back towards its target when its engines suddenly choke, leaving the fighter to float at an odd angle midway through its loop. Cheers go off in the Comet at Kal's quick thinking, but the enemy freighter is suddenly active. With the signal to their droid-craft lost, the enemy sees no reason to stick around, but there's a final signal from the vessel before it makes a jump out of the asteroid belt.

From the enemy fighters' cockpit, a faint red light starts blinking.

The one nearest the Comet explodes sending a shockwave that quickly cuts off all the cheering, a twin explosion on the other side of the debris field engulfs Claire's v-wing.

"Was that...?" mumbled Pugwis from the Comet's pilot seat. The Duros looked dumbfounded by what just happened. At first he was cheering at the unexpected victory, but someone had just sacrificed four droid craft in order to get to him, and they didn't even care if the craft came back?! "Vertuba, get in here and start scanning... That v-wing might still be salvageable..! Krifes..! Do they think credits grow on trees?!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:21, Mon 20 June 2011.

Mi had just been pulling together and drawing a bead on the nearest fighter when it's engines died setting it into a erratic drift course before it self-destructed.   His eyebrow raised for a moment before seeing the freighter disappear from his screens also.   "Interesting choice."  He was just slipping out of his harness when the other explosion registered on his screen.   He slipped down the ladder rushing to the cockpit his face dark,  "Who was it? And how bad?"

Kal stood up and started celebrating when the droid fighters went dead, even doing a little dance as celebrated. He thumbed his nose at the retreating main vessel and waved goodbye to it. His elation quickly turned to dumbfounded shock, however as the vessels all exploded. Some sort of self-destruct, obviously. Shock turned to horror moments later as he realized that Claire's vessel might have gotten caught in the blasts. He quickly found his way back to the Comm info.

"Escort One, Escort One do you copy? Escort One? You there?" Kal waited for a reply, holding his breath, something heavy seemingly lodged in his throat.

[Private to GM: FYI - if you want a replacement for Claire, I might be able to find one. Just let me know.]
This message was last edited by the player at 12:15, Mon 20 June 2011.

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #299):

Everyone in the cockpit watches Kal as he fiddles with the Comm station. His efforts are met with static and silence. At that time, Vertuba sits back into the Co-pilot seat, a small sheen of sweat beading down his neck. "Alright, let's go scan the asteroid for any signs..." Pugwis said gruffly, "who knows, maybe the blast only knocked her out, or... perhaps there was some damage to her own comm unit."

The Comet banked and started rounding the debris field.

[Private to Kal Wennyn:
Thanks, will keep it in mind. I may have to do the same on the other team, if so, we're down to 6 and I can just group everyone together. If not, yep, I may just need the 4th! ;)]
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:39, Mon 20 June 2011.

As the droid fighter spun out of control in front of her, Mirax felt a sudden pain through the force, and jerked the control stick to the left and down, pulling a high-G turn away from the fighter just as it detonated.  Without the Force to guide her, she probably would have been incinerated in that blast, she thought, as she brought her fighter under control.

Only then did she hear the chatter coming through her comm line.  "Salvageable?" she asked, curiously.  Then, the nose of her fighter came down, and she saw the expanding debris cloud where the two fighters Claire had been fighting were.  She saw no sign of Claire.  Shutting off her comms, Mirax pushed her throttle to full, racing around the grouping of asteroids to where Claire had been.  The smaller fighter would no doubt beat the Comet there, and once she did, she would come to a stop, and reach out through the Force, searching for life signs.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:49, Mon 20 June 2011.

Mirax pilots through the field towards the position where Claire was last seen, the asteroids occasionally clacking rock against rock in the distance. Space debris and floating parts litter most of the surrounding asteroids, scattered by the force of the explosion. Eventually, the bulk of the Black Comet looms behind her. [Private to Mirax Bey: I'll need rolls if you plan on searching through the Force.]

Within, a nervous Vertuba and a antsy Pugwis scan the area with the ship's sensors. "Bloody krifing hutts!!" growled Pugwis, "if I put my hands on the krifing slig that sent out those rumours about cargo... I'll..." He slams his fist on the nearest bulkhead.

"Bring her further in, maybe the field moved around and is hiding the v-wing..." he grumbled, as he grasped at straws.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:30, Thu 23 June 2011.

Kal's voice now has a tremor to it, and almost seems to be pleading, "Escort One! Copy! Respond! Are you out there!?"

Kal slammed his fist on the console at the entire situation. He let a string of curses flow from his lips and seemed to be fighting to keep his emotions under control.

Mi took a few moments watching the scene,  having heard Mirax's voice  over the comms at one point he knew that it wasn't her that was down.  That made it clear that Clarie was at this point at least missing.   He walked over to Kal after the man slammed his hand into the console and placed his own strong hand on his shoulder.  "Kal, calm down.  Your anger will only make it harder to save her if she is still there, and if not it does no one any good at this moment in helping to determine that. "

In reply to Power of the Darkside (msg #302):

06:17, Today: Mirax Bey rolled 30 using 1d20+15 with rolls of 15. UTF, Search Force.

Kal looked down at the hand on his shoulder as if he wanted to sink his teeth into it. He then glared briefly at Mi before regaining some control of himself. "I'm quite sure that my anger will have very little effect on whether she's alive or not," he paused, "but I'll save most of it until after we know for certain."

He glanced over at Vertuba, Kal's voice a controlled growl, "If you get your hands on whoever caused this, please save some for me. I've some experience in causing excruciating pain."

Vertuba looked over his shoulder and glanced nervously at Kal, and quickly turned around to navigate the debris field.

Outside, Mirax dives on impulse, and lets herself be guided by the Force for answers. The craft seems to hesitate and then darts below the debris field and towards the way they'd come.

[Private to Mirax Bey: You see the craft..! It is torn and battered. Its badly damaged frame was smoldering beneath the large asteroid, perpetually turning on its lateral axis like some ride at a carnival. You feel a faint tug in the force, a quickly fading light in a sea of darkness. She's slowly fading away, and you barely noticed her given all the electronics the woman had become of the years. It was hard to tell where the vessel ended and where Claire started.]

After waiting a bit for a response and regaining some measure of composure, Kal tried to contact Mirax, "Escort Two, have you found anything? Report."

It took a moment for Mirax to answer, having almost entirely tuned out her surroundings. "I feel..." she said, concentrating on the effort.  "She's there!  She's alive... barely, no small thanks to her vac suit I bet," Mirax said, opening her eyes once more.  She found that she had essentially parked her V-wing almost on top of what was left of the hull of Claire's.  If she looked hard enough, she could almost see Claire's vac suit in the wreckage.  She made sure to keep a hold on the woman through the Force, encouraging her to hold on.  After all, if her suit had been punctured, she would already be dead. "Bring the ship close, and open the hatch.  I might be able to move her into the Comet's airlock from here, then you guys can close the hatch and deal with her."

Kal looked to the pilot and co-pilot, "Did you copy that? Bring it in close, I'll head to the airlock." Kal tossed the headset aside and raced to get a vac suit on himself and then rushed to the airlock to (hopefully) receive Claire.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Mon 27 June 2011.

After what seems like hours, you manage to extricate Claire from the v-wing, and bring her on board the Black Comet. Tractor Beam engaged, the Comet heads out of the asteroid field and finally heads towards Koshibal. Aboard the freighter, the Duros seems eager to verify the damage his v-wing sustained, he was obviously angry. Added to Kal's short temper and Pugwis', Vertuba kept mum, but it was more and more apparent that the Dug had something to hide. Just what... well... it was yet to be revealed. Chances were very good that no one ever would find out anyway.

However, furious at the damage to his V-Wing, Pugwis then thinks much harder about the 'mysterious' cargo he's supposed to have - and puts two and two together.

"IT'S YOU!!!" he yelled at Vertuba all the sudden as he confronts Vertuba about the cargo. A quick search of the hold reveals an extra "cargo" crate. "WHAT's IN THERE?!" he growls at the now cowering Dug who immediately lifts up his arms shouting out that he didn't know, and that he was being offered 5k to get the crate to Koshibal.

OOC: We passed by the whole bringing aboard of Claire. What is her status? I may edit this pending the answer.

Kal's anger that he briefly had in check came bursting back to the surface. "What do you mean you didn't know! There could have been a blasted bomb in the thing, and you brought it on board the ship without knowing the contents? For a measly 5k!? And now look what's happened!"

In reply to Kal Wennyn (msg #312):

It would take a treat injury roll to figure out exactly, but her breathin is labored and her skin is ashen and clammy.

Vertuba visibly trembled at Kal and Pugwis's combined anger, "I don... Doon't know," he stammered, "the contact said it wasn't my business but that it was essential that the cargo made its way to K.. Koshibal... Contact th... There would give me 4k, and gave me 1k up...up front..!"

"Didn't I tell you that Jaba was trouble..!? You had our cargo damaged you snivling slug..! And HOW DARE YOU, CUT ME OUT OF A DEAL ON MY OWN SHIP!?"