STARFALL: Episode One: The Roche Asteroid Field

[max_vale]

.....PC's Enter the Roche Asteroid Field and are engaged by a flight of 4 TIE fighters...

[kipper]

Professor Clark Jones ((who I will hereafter referred to as Clark on most occasions)) carefully puts away the old-fashioned paper book he was reading while waiting for our arrival at the secret base. Starships never were his specialty, he just rides them to get where he needs to be. He raises a dark bushy eyebrow and looks over to Zinn questioningly. "What do you need me to do?"

[gavin storm]

Glancing out the viewport, Gavin raises an eyebrow. ~Clearly ths isn't as secret~ Glancing over at the pilot, he rubs his hand over his chin a second, before saying. "Try losing them in the asteroid feld." Pausing he adds. "Did anyone notice if this tub has guns?" He more than likely wasn't the best shot, but at at least he was willing to try and shoot back, if it came down to it.

[angelicdoctor]

Gavin, are you aware of what the odds are at surviving at the rate of speed we'll require in an asteroid field? I'd rather not learn by OJT. Still, better dead than captured. Man the double lasers and get those TIEs off our tail!

Taking a seat next to the Rebel band's new pilot, I hope that you are as good a pilot as the Rebel Alliance Command assured us else we'll all be floating home. May the Force be with you!

Borsk spends this round getting into the co-pilot seat and then raising the shields.

[Jedi Skyler]

**Placeholder for response; waiting for a reply from max about whether or not Zinn's astromech, Banshee, will be with us on the ship.**

[max_vale]

Adrenaline spikes in all of the members of the Alliance Team and their focus sharpens quickly on the situation at hand. Zinn is joined by Borsk in the cockpit of the small freighter and the alien Force-user calmly switches on the shields* as Zinn takes a long look at the sensors. The R2 Droid known as 'Banshee' lets out a bit of a nervous sounding whistle from his position in the cockpit; with his connector arm plugged into the ship's systems.

The Out Runner is starting to enter a denser part of the of the asteroid field and flying from this point-on is going to be a bit tricky**. The four Imperial fighters are coming into a bit more clear focus on the scanner; with the three that are closing into medium range reading out as standard 'TIE/IN' fighters while the one hanging back at long range is reading out as a 'TIE/RC' recon fighters; noted for having advanced sensors and only a single Laser cannon....

Grey Starr moves down the ladder into the cargo bay and moves into the added-on gun-well which controls the Twin Laser cannon turret mounted on the Out Runner's belly. He switches on the fire-control computer and speaks into the comlink to let everyone know he's down there and ready for action***....

The remaining two members of the team; Professor Jones and Gavin Storm find themselves in the small common room of the ship; just behind the Cockpit and both move to strap themselves into some of the comfortable chairs while they both hope for the best....


*Okay; Everybody please take a look at the House-rules thread for some ideas of how Starship combat works and what options people have. Zinn or Banshee can serve as the Pilot; but at least one action using the Starship Piloting roll will be needed every round to avoid hitting asteroids; Difficulty 10. If other actions would like to be taken; such as attempting to increase (or decrease) the range from the TIEs; moving deeper/closer to asteroids; etc. please let me know who is doing what and how many actions are being taken....remember; every action after the first reduces all rolls by 1D for each extra action (I.e. 3 actions will reduce all skills by -2D)

**Borsk has raised the shields; he may attempt (once the TIEs starting shooting) to angle the Shields to partially deflect the shots; or he may just leave it alone and allow the shields to just absorb shots.

***Sorry for arbitrarily moving Grey Starr to the gun-well; but it makes the most sense with his MECH score. You may open fire on the TIEs if you like; one shot or multiple shots.....at the same TIE or various TIES. For action purposes; the 3 TIEs at medium range will be labelled TIEs 1-3 and the TIE/RC at long range is TIE 4.

[kipper]

Clark remains calm and relaxed. There's nothing he can do right now, no point in getting all worked up about it.

[gavin storm]

"Good job I'm not Corrillian" Gavin mubbles to himself as a reply to his suggestion includes the word odds. Smirking to himself, he says to the person who just spoke to him "Ties are short range fighters so they'll have a base or a bigger ship nearby." Pausing he adds. "Notice how one is hanging back. If I was he I would be waiting to see what we're going to do and respond appropriately." Pausing again, he adds before going and strapping in. "Safest isn't always the best course of action."

[max_vale]

Battle is joined in the asteroid field as the incoming three TIE fighters activate their Fire Control computers and begin to target the Rebel freighter. Zinn doesn't waste any time and he immediately throws the Out Runner into a tight sprial roll; deftly avoiding the large chunks of nickel and iron known as asteroids as he does so. Back in their strapped in seats, Jones and Gavin close their eyes and do their best to try and ignore the dizziness and stomach tightness the wild evasive maneuvers cause .....

Down in the Gunnery well; Greystarr lines up one of the TIEs and cuts loose a blast from the Twin Laser Cannon mounted on the belly of the ship. His aim is true and it connects with one of the swift and maneuverable TIE fighters; blowing off one of the hexagonal Wings of the craft and causing it to spin out of control into the denser part of the field and out of sight. His attention is grabbed by the Green tinted Laser blasts which erupt from the other two TIE fighters' twin laser cannons though; but thankfully due to Zinn's maneuvers; none of them connect with the Out Runner....

Borsk stands ready at the Shield controls at the co-pilot station; but none of the attacks connect. He does notice though that the two undamaged TIEs have closed the gap and are now in short weapons range and they begin to weave and dance a bit as well as fire their cannons at the rebel ship....


OOC: 2 TIEs are now at Short range and they are Quick Evading and Firing once each. The Recon TIE is still hanging back at Long Range; the heavily damage TIE has vanished from view; but can be searched for with Sensors by the Pilot or Co-Pilot (though this will count as 1 action)

[angelicdoctor]

Great shot, Gavin! Look alive though for we are not out of the nebula yet.

Borsk will angle the shields aft.

[Jedi Skyler]

Zinn snorts derisively as he continues to evade the spinning chunks of space-borne rock. "That TIE isn't just hanging back to see how this goes; he's staying outside the asteroid field so he has a good comm line to their base ship. We can't just deal with the ones that followed us in; we're gonna have to take him out, too."

[max_vale]

The space combat in the Roche Asteroid Field continues to heat up.....

Zinn, at the controls of the Rebel Freighter, spins the ship around some of the asteroids and loops the vessel back in a tight arc in an attempt to get closer to the recon TIE fighter which has been hanging back out of the fight. He seems to have caught the Imperial pilot napping as he succeeds in closing to Medium range from the enemy fighter!

A curse can be heard over the comlink from Greystarr as he takes a shot at one of the now juking TIE fighters at short range and misses. The two short ranged Imperials fire back and one of them is foiled by Zinn's deft maneuvers. At the co-pilot's station, Borsk attempts to angle the deflector shields towards the incoming blasts; but manages to shift them just a little bit wrong and the other TIE fighter manages to land a solid shot on the top of the light freighter. The lights dim throughout the ship for a moment and the hull shudders with the impact; before the lights come back on and the vessel stabilizes. A quick glance at the controls shows both Borsk and Zinn that one of the two Shield generators has been knocked out and the power of the deflector screens has dropped by half....


OOC: I made the assumption per the last comment from Jedi that he wanted to attempt to get closer to the TIE/RC; if this is incorrect; please let me know and I will alter this post!

[kipper]

Clark holds on tight, meanwhile trying to decide whether or not this would be a good time to ask for some peanuts.

[gavin storm]

Gripping his restraints lightly, Gavin closes his eyes. Combat was always easier on those who had something to do, rather than just a passenger. mostly due to the crew having something to focus on.

[Jedi Skyler]

Zinn lets loose with a string of invectives as the ship shudders from an incoming blast from one of the TIEs. "I've gotten us closer to that recon TIE; destroy it so it can't report our position!"

((OOC: Will continue to jink and juke as necessary))

[angelicdoctor]

Reacting with the irritated calm known to his species, the Bothan's fur ripples in disappointment, Well, that was less than ideal, captain. I will try to divert all unnecessary power to the shields in an effort to restore maximum protection. Trusting to the Force, Borsk will attempt repairs to the shield generator using a combination of creativity, technical know-how and innate metaphysical power.

[max_vale]

The battle intensifies as Zinn deftly maneuvers the Out Runner through the deadly spinning asteroids of the Roche Field; closing the distance towards the TIE Recon fighter as the regular Imperial TIEs keep pace and laser blasts criss-cross through space....

At the controls of the Twin Laser turret; Greystarr closes his eyes for a moment and in a moment of half-desperation and half-faith; he trusts to the Force; and then opens his eyes and rapidly spins the Turret and presses the fire buttons three times in rapid succession...

The first shot is at the farthest target; the juking TIE/RC; and the one-time Scout's aim is true as his shot spears the Imperial fighter through the spherical center; turning it into a short-lived fireball! His second shot is also true and it blows the starboard wing off of the connecting strut of one of the attacking TIE fighters and the TIE spins crazily for a few moments before it impacts with one of the large asteroids in the field and is instantly transformed into millions of tiny pieces of wreckage. His final shot missing the last, wildly maneuvering TIE fighter; though that TIE's own shots miss the well-handled rebel freighter as well!

Zinn lets out a whoop of joy as he sees that the TIE/RC and one of the TIEs are destroyed and he then notices that the last TIE seems to have belatedly realized the fact that it is alone as it suddenly breaks off and begins to race away on an opposite heading from the Out Runner....



OOC: The last surviving TIE is attempting to get away; you can attempt to close with it if you like; otherwise it will automatically extend the range to Medium; then Long; then gone.....

[kipper]

"Chase it down?" Clark asks, "The longer we can delay Imperial knowledge of our presence here, the better."

[gavin storm]

"Or we can do this" Gavin says with a smirk. "Take it out and get put some distance between his friends" Gavin glances out the viewport at the ongoing scrap. Saying nothing else, but giving a slight nod.

[Jedi Skyler]

"That fool Imp chased us into an asteroid field; there is NO WAY he's leaving here alive. Besides, we can't afford him reporting any info on us."

Zinn pours on the speed, working to close the distance between the TIE fighter and themselves. "Great shooting, Greystarr. Keep it up; I'm about to give you another shot at the last fighter."