Lessons Learned

“Contact, ship exiting hyperspace” Tanna reports and suddenly you are alert. You had been sitting in your chosen ambush spot for several days now, waiting for potential prey to enter the system.

“Well then, no more waiting around I guess” you say. Tanna flashed you an amused grin, she had most definitely enjoyed the ‘sitting around’. “What have we got?” you ask. You could just barely see the ship off in the distance passed the cockpit’s windows.

“Standard cargo hauler, two hundred meters long give or take, and a bridge right at the front of the ship” Tanna replied. True to her word, the ship looked like a space tube and that was about it.

“Damn tube ships, they’re bloody everywhere” you mutter and get another amused glance from Tanna as a response.

“Alright kids, show time” you say into the ship's intercom. “Hail the cargo hauler” you tell Tanna as you bring the Eos out of the asteroid field it had been hiding in.

“Com link established” Tanna told you as a crackle came over the comms.

“This is the Eos, surrender your cargo” You say simply.

“You’re either new or stupid, nobody raids the CSA” comes the response from the other end before the line cuts off. It was at this point that Sata walked into the cockpit. You turn to give the Pantoran a thumbs up and notice she’s walking with a funny limp and can’t quite stop smiling.

“Alrighty then” you say, turning to Tanna “give’er an Ion missile if you please” you order before turning back to your console. A soft thunk is heard as a missile is loaded into a tube, and another one is heard as the missile is launched. Barely a few seconds go by before a flash of pretty blue lights up the cargo hauler you were slowly chasing and it’s engines cut out. “All yours Tanna” you tell the Twi’lek before getting up and walking out of the cockpit.

Since your ship didn’t really have a proper airlock, you couldn’t really board the cargo hauler the way most people would board it. This meant you would have to take a quick stroll outside in order to get to your chosen prey. So now you are in the cargo bay in a spiffing new space suit made of synthweave.

“Are you ready for this?” Tyttania asked. It made perfect sense to bring the Mandalorian with you into a boarding action, seeing as she was a Mandalorian and what not. It certainly helped that she decided to trick herself out with a brand new rifle, though ‘new’ might not be the best word to describe it. It looked like an M16 complete with the charging handle and the twenty four round magazine. The only difference between the two was that the blaster rifle had a much wider barrel shroud, almost like the gun was water cooled.

“First time for everything right?” You reply to the Mandalorian, flashing her a grin she couldn’t see from behind your mask. Unfortunately for you, this was a cheap civilian space suit, so it didn’t come with an advanced HUD or something cool like that. Maybe if you ever get to Mandalore, you might be able to get yourself a spiffing space helm to go with your spiffing space suit. Just as you thought this, the cargo bay ramp began to lower. By this point, all the air in the cargo bay had been stored in special tanks so you didn’t waste any.

Empty void was visible for a few moments before your view was taken by the vast hull of the cargo hauler you had decided to attack. At two hundred meters, it was very small for a Star Wars ship but that still put it on the size range of old World War Two aircraft carriers and battleships.

“It never ceases to amaze me how big ships are when you are so close to them” you say. Right now, you are waiting. Tyttania might have had a jetpack with which she could use to direct her movement, but you did not so you had to be precise with your jump or miss and float off into the void, never to be seen or heard from again.

“You, clearly, have never seen a landed Lucrehulk” Tyttania responded before activating her jetpack and blasting herself into the void. She would go first because she could get to her destination and begin cutting with her rifle well before you’d arrive. You gave the Mandalorian a few more moments before taking a running start and leaping out of the Eos and using your god power to ensure you hit the target you are aiming for. Sometimes you loved playing life with the cheat codes on.

Tyttania caught you just as you reached the airlock and pulled you inside. Tyttania had made short work of the outer airlock and was now getting ready to work on the inner airlock. If the ship had security, they were probably on the other side of the airlock with rifles ready. Assuming they knew you were there to begin with. Pulling out your pistol, you get ready to start shooting, while Tyttania levels her rifle and starts cutting through the door. A moment later and she is through but she doesn't kick the door down straight away. She gives you a look and you give a thumbs up before the both of you kick the edges of the airlock door and slam yourselves against the walls of the airlock. Just as you do this, the atmosphere of the ship blows the airlock doors out and they speed past you, taking three uniformed security men with them. With the security now dealt with, you **** your way inside just as emergency airlocks begin closing, leaving you safely inside the now resealed ship.

“Those were CSA Security Police” Tyttania informed you. “They don’t normally protect civilian ships so they must be getting a ride from somewhere” she added “strange that they aren’t using their own warships for that though,” she mused.

“Great, Espos” you groan. “Whatever the reason, is this gonna be any harder than normal?” you asked, now wanting to be done with this as soon as possible.

“They are a legitimate military ****” was Tyttania’s reply. You only had one word for the situation.

“Bollocks” you cursed as you unslung your P90 and hoped to Pink that your bullets would penetrate the armour they looked like they were wearing. As you thought this, the thudding of military boots on metal walkway came to your ears and you got settled for the fire fight. Three figures came into view from in front of you while two came from behind. “Ty take the rear” you say before dropping to a knee, leveling your P90 and firing a burst. Blaster fire poured down the corridor as the Espos began firing, but your burst claimed one and the rest ducked into doorways for cover. You don’t look behind you to see what happened to the guys coming from that direction.

As the Espos hunker down, they start letting loose streams of blaster fire in your direction forcing you and Tyttania to take cover in the doorway of the airlock. With your sight of one of the Espos now partially broken, he tries to make a run for you. The other Espo reacts by popping around his cover and hosing you with blaster fire. You growl and let loose a burst into the Espo shooting at you and forcing him back behind cover. This allows you lean out and around to get a shot off at the Espo charging you. He immediately drops to the ground, avoiding the fire and tries to get a shot off with his blaster, but you beat him to the punch and put a burst into his chest.

The last Espo took this opportunity to unleash a burst of blaster fire at you and you duck back behind cover as a bolt impacts the wall beside you.

“So how are you doing?” you ask your battle buddy.

“They are holding position and suppressing me” Tyttania responded.

“I’m down to one, he’s not too happy” you say, popping your head around the corner and then yanking it back as blaster fire greeted you. “Not to happy at all” you add.

“Thoughts?” Tyttania asked

“Take my gun, spray the two goons back there, empty the clip and I’ll snipe the idiot on my side” you say, handing your P90 to Tyttania who slung her own rifle over her shoulder and took your gun. You pull out your brand spanking new blaster pistol, admire it for a second and then take a knee, ready to go. You tap Tyttania’s leg as a signal and the sweet soothing sound of a fully automatic machine gun reaches your ears, just like the old days of Stargate. At this fully automatic fire, the Espo on your end responded how you expected him to and popped around the corner to try and suppress. You simply leaned to the side, lined up the shot and pulled the trigger. Now, normally in movies and such, a heavy hit will pick a man up and deposit him on his backside. This is not a movie, the enemy’s chest was blasted open and he slammed into the wall behind him before bouncing off and hitting the floor, leaving a distinctly gooey red mess on the wall.

“The kriff did they do to that pistol?” Tyttania asked incredulously as she saw the handiwork of your brand new hand cannon.

“I am totally naming this pistol the Forest Eagle” you say, naming it after the infamous Desert Eagle of Earth. The moment of stunned silence is over as the two Espos behind you decided they were rather offended and started firing again. Tyttania actually had targeting computers and it seemed that bullets traveled faster than blasters bolts, because two well aimed bursts from the P90 and the two Espos went down.

“I like this gun” she tells you as she hands it back, unslinging her own rifle in the process.

“So do a lot of people back home” you say and then of course, you hear more Espos. Instead of seeing more Espos however, the sound of footsteps stops and then starts up again, this time in the opposite direction.

“They are likely setting up a defensive position where there is less cover for us and more for them” Tyttania informs you as you stand up. You holster your pistol and level your rifle before noticing the magazine is empty. You slot a new one in and cautiously begin to move forward.

“Hey wait, these guys have grenades!” you say as you see the very iconic visage of a thermal detonator on one of the Espos.

“Excellent, just what we need, no wonder they retreated, they can’t use grenades near the airlock for fear of blasting themselves out of it” Tyttania grouched. “This is usually the part where we cut our losses and run” she tells you.

“Why run when we have grenades?” you tell her, giving her a cocky smile she can’t see. You kneel and grab the thermal detonator, clipping it to your belt while your Mandalorian does the same for one of the other Espos.

“Alright, our chances of beating a legitimate military outfit are now slightly more improved” she tells you.

“I don’t see you making any move to turn back” you say before stopping. “Actually, you haven’t even made the suggestion to turn back!” you say, picking apart what she had said before. You can almost see the grin on her face as she turns to you.

“Where’s the fun in that?” she asks and you give a grin in return.

“Come on, there’s no doubt at least a fully squad, probably two” you say as you turn around and start moving towards the bridge, rifle at the ready.

You pass multiple cabins as you proceed towards the bridge, even passing a passenger lounge before finally making it to the crew compartment. With you and Tyttania stacked up on the door like professional soldiers, you open the door and lean around the corner. Immediately, several things become clear. First, you see several Espos in doorways and around a makeshift barricade. Second, they wasted absolutely no time firing at you and third, you have some good natural reflexes because you’re back behind the wall before you had properly digested what was going on.

“Grenade?” you ask

“Grenade” Tyttania replies and you toss her the detonator. While she primes the grenade, you open the door and Tyttania lobs it through. The door hisses shut just before and explosion goes off. You give it to the count of three before opening the door and notice that, despite some additional scorching everywhere, nothing’s really changed. Oh, apart from the three guys in the back with thermal detonators of their own currently leaving their hands. You and Tyttania dash back into the passengers lounge just as several explosions go off in the area you were just in.

“So, that didn’t work and now we’re fresh out of grenades” You tell the Mandalorian woman.

“Wasn’t expecting so many, thought there would at least be another four or five, not damn near a full platoon” She replied “Next bright idea?” she asked, turning to face you. With a sigh, you look over to a conveniently placed bar and swipe a bottle of Corellian brandy, before marching back the way you came.

“Yeah, we’ll just open the cargo bay doors ourselves” you growl over your shoulder. You had wanted this battle, to be victorious like always against overwhelming odds and here you are, running from a battle.

“Sometimes retreating is a valid option” Tyttania told you, though she sounded just as frustrated as you are. This doesn’t stop you from punching a nearby wall, your long forgotten strength enhancements causing your fist to dent the bulkhead.

You are still seething as you enter the hold. You had come from engineering, blasting the consoles and welding the doors shut behind you, so the Espos couldn’t follow you. Funnily enough, the cargo hold had no atmosphere as no organic was really meant to go in there while the ship was in flight. This meant that you could just walk right up to the cargo bay doors. Of course, some maintenance droids tried to stop you, but between your new hand cannon and Tyttania’s rifle, the unarmed droids were scrap metal without you even needing to break your stride.

The cargo bay door, a monumental construction the size of a two story house and twice as wide, had a rather handy manual release right next to it. Clearly the designers of this ship hadn’t been expecting pirates to make it this far.

“Sata, Tanna” you say into your comm device “I’ve got the cargo bay doors down, target the crew section and frag it” you say.

“What? You want us to shoot the crew?” Tanna asked incredulously.

“They’re all on the bridge, you can miss the bridge if you like, but destroy the crew and passenger section” you tell the Twi’lek “If you could also lob a few rounds into engineering just in case” you add, “And get Wub Wub in here so we can start grabbing cargo” you finish before clicking off the comms device. Moments later, you felt the impact of turbolasers slamming into the cargo hauler.

“Target destroyed” came Tanna’s rather emotionless voice just as Wub Wub entered the hold and began inspecting the cargo before grabbing a box. You watch for a while as Wub Wub came and went, taking a box with him each time before finally he came and extended a clawed hand for you to grab hold of. You and Tyttania leave the ship and Wub Wub takes you back to the Eos. You might have hated that you couldn’t kill the Espos yourself, but at least they are dead and you have Corellian Brandy to celebrate your first successful pirate run. Even if it felt to you like a defeat.