The Flame Falcons

by madmax2910

The galactic civil war is brewing. Unrest and dissent have increased across the Galactic Empire, offering plenty of work opportunities for a mercenary outfit like the Flame Falcons. Captain Flynn Rayson will have to pick his employers carefully, as stepping on the wrong foot or agreeing to the wrong deal may prove to be just as deadly as the business end of a lightsaber.

1. A simple Job

"Captain, welcome. Have a seat." Governor Jameson gestured to the seat across his desk. Flynn took the seat he was offered.
"Governor. Your aide told me, you have a pirate problem you want my help in solving?"
"Yes, exactly that. See, our planet lives off the asteroid belts in the system. Those pirates have been harrying our supply lines, stealing everything and sometimes everyone that isn't nailed down. We have been able to pinpoint their location, just a few parsecs away. We don't have warships of our own and the imperial navy has their hands full. I'm not quite sure whether their base is a station or planet based, but I want you to find and destroy it. Of course, you'll be paid handsomely."
"Sounds like a great job for the Flame Falcons." Flynn replied. "How much are you offering?"
"600.000 Imperial Credits. Half now, the other half on your return. Of course I'll be expecting proof of your success."
"Those pirates sound like they'll be very well equipped. What kind of ships can we expect?"
"Starfighters, maybe some old Y-Wings."
"How many of them?"
"My people counted about a dozen. Is that going to be a problem?"
"Nothing we can't handle, the Falcons' nest may be old but she is tough and armed to the teeth. But a dozen starfighters, plus an unknown number of ground troops, you should be paying us more. 800.000 sounds like a more appropriate price."
"Are you out of your mind captain? No way I'm paying that much for a simple pirates' nest. If I took that money to the fleet, they'd send a star destroyer in no time."
"But that star destroyer still has to get here, you know how long that is going to take. And while your little bribe goes up the chain of command, those pirates will cause ever more damage and cost you money as well as reputation among your superiors."

Flynn smiled and let his words sink in. He had played this game more than the governor did, every bounty hunter and every mercenary worth his salt always tried to haggle for more money. The governor returned his smile, it was not the first time he was hiring external help. But that didn't surprise him, the Glactic Empire didn't put high priority on backwater worlds of the outer rim, like Siskeen. This offered plenty of work opportunities for mercenary outfits, providing the local government with extra firepower if needed.
"Out of curiosity, what are you mining anyway?"
"Metals and focusing crystals mostly. The kind of raw materials you need to keep a fleet like the Imperial Navy going. The Empire raised production targets last month again, for the fifth time this year already. Alright, since we are in a bit of a pinch, I'll pay your sevenhundred grand. On top of that, I'll pay you ten thousand extra for every ton of metals or crystals you bring back."
That was quite a lot above market price and Flynn knew that. The governor had to want those materials back, badly.
"Sounds good. Do you have coordinates for me?" The governor handed Flynn a datapad with coordinates on it, that led to a neighboring star system about 10 parsecs away. Good enough to plot a course. He copied the coordinates to his commlink before handing the pad back to the governor.
"Time for me to get going then. You'll be hearing from us as soon as your pirates are dealt with. The payment please?"
"My aide will have your payment ready. Cash, as always."
Flynn smiled. Only amateurs accepted digital payments, that could be traced to a bank account. He knew better than to entrust the companys' financial assets to the InterGalactic Banking Clans. The governor clearly knew what he was doing.
"Nice doing business with you, governor Johnson. I'll report back as soon as the pirates are dealt with. Have a good day."
"You too, captain."

Outside the office, the governors' aide handed Flynn a suitcase, which contained 400.000 imperial credits, lain out neatly in 1000 credit platinum pieces. When he left the building, Lieutenant Socrates Antilles was already waiting for him. Platoon leader and second in command, Antilles had been with the company ever since he got disowned by his noble family on Alderaan. Even though, nobody who valued their health called the house Antilles "noble" in his presence. Flynn didn't know why his second in command got disowned by his family and where his grudge against them came from, but the man was a reliable leader and marksman. Which was plenty to satisfy the captain, to the point he didn't ask further questions.
He looked at the suitcase Flynn was carrying. "We got a contract captain?"
"Yes indeed. We're back to hunting pirates. Get everyone ready to move out, time for all of us to earn our paychecks."
Antilles took out his comlink and started calling the other Lieutenants, who in turn gathered all their platoons. The mercenaries departed Siskeen as soon as everyone was present.

The corellian CR-90 corvette "Falcons' Nest" that the company used as a mobile home and headquarter was an old ship, one of the first of its' kind. Built in the last stages of the clone wars, Flynn had commandeered it on a mission for the republic and kept as spoils of war. Together with the chief engineer and mechanic Jamie, he had repurposed a lot of unused passenger space into medical facilities, armories and training grounds to be used by the company as they moved from contract to contract. Over the years, they had upgraded weaponry, shields and armor to the best they could afford and maintain, making the ship a threat even to more advanced modern vessels. Flynn moved onto the bridge.
"Set course to these coordinates." He said and handed his comlink to to the helmsman. "And get the ship ready for battle, we are about to hit pirates. Man the point defense turrets. First and Second Platoon, gear up for boarding. We deal with the ships first, then assault their station."
"Ready to jump into hyperspace captain. On your command."
"Go."

Stars turned into stripes as the Falcons' Nest jumped into faster than light speed. When the ship returned to realspace, it was very close to the coordinates that the governor had given Flynn. "Anything on Sensors?" He asked Antonov, who manned the station.
"Nothing that stands out."
"Now if I had a dozen starfighters, where would I hide them?" he muttered more to himself than to the bridge crew.
"In the asteroid belt maybe?" the sensor operator replied.
"Probably. The only place where you can build a station and stay semi-unnoticed. Alright, how many asteroids are big enough to house a dozen starfighters on top of some quarters, hangars and other support facilities?"
Antonov checked over his display again, then diplayed a map of the star system on the main screen. Three spots were highlighted. "I'd recon those three are about big enough to house what you need for a decent pirate base. You could probably even spare a few meters of rock for extra natural armor. "Our turbolasers won't penetrate multiple meters of asteroid, if the base really is inside." Flynn said, thinking on a plan. Maybe we can depressurize them once inside and fight with the advantage of having vacuum sealed armor. Natural choke point in the hangar, very defensible. The ship won't offer any support after our initial breach." He scratched his beard, trying to come up with a good plan. "Run more scans, if they don't launch their fighters at us take some potshots on the asteroids."
Then, an idea sprang into his head. He called the armory. "This is the captain. Issue flight gear and Vacuum sealed armor to first and second platoon. We're doing a mando drop on them."

A mando drop was a tactic developed by the mandalorians and deployed by clone commandos during the war. They used their small, maneuverable landing craft to get close to the hulls of capital ships and stations, then force their way inside with the use of cutting equipment and explosives. While battle droids were not affected by rapid decompression, it was a very devastating tactic when used against ships with organic crews. However, it was extremely risky for the troops attempting it as they and their craft were sitting ducks for hostile fighters and there was no easy way out should the tide of battle turn against the boarders.
"Clear out the starboard cargo bay and make sure everyone is ready to go. Get ready folks." Flynn turned back to the bridge crew. "Set course for the first marked asteroid. Battle Stations!"
"Contact! Twelve new signatures on display, I think we got them captain!" Antonov said suddenly.
"Seems like you were right about the Asteroids. What are we dealing with?"
"Eight X-Wing class Starfighters, four Y-Wings."
"All batteries get ready to fire! Pilot, take us on a strafe past the asteroid and show our port side. Focus fire on the Y-Wings."
"Hostiles are now in range. Your orders captain?"
"All guns fire at will. Take those Y-wings down. Turn the ship around the x-axis, 80 degrees to starbord. Then bring us below the station. And find their bloody hangar bay."
The ships laser turrets unleashed a volley of shots, using weaker but more numerous attacks. While those rounds would never even scratch the paint on a heavy freighter or another corvette, they did plenty of damage to fighters. Or the few ones that hit home at least. The pirates were skilled pilotes, dodging and barreling between streams of laser fire. Only a single Y-Wing was hit by a stray round, losing his starbord engine and swirled into a nearby asteroid.
By exploiting the natural cover granted by the asteroid field and the greater maneuverability of their smaller ships, two pirates slipped into the dead angle of the Falcon's Nest and launched their proton torpedoes.
"Torpedoes inbound, from behind. How the hell did they get there?"
"Turn the ship and get us up. Full throttle on the sublight drive. Get those two out of our dead angle."
Flynn could feel the ship accelerate as the artificial gravity pulled him into his seat.
"Turret 5 and 6, two hostile in our rear. Take them down."

The sudden acceleration caught the pirates by surprise and the torpedoes only narrowly missed. Suddenly finding themselves in the sight of two turrets, they tried to dive away with another barrel roll. This time, their piloting was no match for the gunners marksmanship.
"Three down." Antonov informed Flynn. "Two Ys and an X dealt with. Nine hostiles remaining."
"150 degree turn to port. These Y-Wings need to be dealth with ASAP. Have we found the hangar bay on that asteroid?"
"Yes. It is below the station, if we take the star for reference."
"Good. Ready the ship for our mando drop. Starbord cargo bay ready on my mark."
"First and second platoon report ready on the drop."
"Good. Set us up on the bay run. Turrets, take out those fighters!"
When he said that, three X-Wings appared on starboard setting up for a strafing run. Flynn felt the ship shaking when their concentrated fire hit their shields. The turrets responded in kind, destroying one and severely damaging a second, which limped away and barely made it to the stations hangar.
"We can't deploy as long as these fighters are out there! Gunners, focus!"
"Torpedoes! Torpedoes from below!"
"How the fark did they get there? Brace for impact!"
This time, the ship shook a lot harder. He could feel the explosions as the torpedoes hit their underbelly.
"Damage report!"
"Shields down to 60% from a hit in the energy supply. Hyperdrive offline. Why the hell do pirates have military torpedoes?"
"Dammned if I know! Shutdown the hyperdrive completely and use the extra power for the guns!"
Streams of laser fire erupted from the ship. With the extra power, the turrets were able to fire much faster than before. When they lost another ship, the pirate fighters retreated back into the station performing an emergency redock.
"Get us to that Hangar!" Flynn shouted. The pirates were working very quickly and when the hangar door came into view, there were already two massive doors sliding shut.
"Weapons to maximum, stop those doors! We'll never get them out if they close!"

Three well aimed shots from the starboard turrets hit into the rails which the doors were moving in, which stopped them immediately. Flynn was convinced that there must be a nasty sound of metal grinding on metal inside the station.
"Good shooting. Now aim for their hangar shield and take it down. Open the starboard cargo bay and get the troops out."
Another volley from the Falcon's nest and the blue glow of a force field, shielding the hangar against the vacuum of space, was gone. From his display, the captain could see personnel and supplies being sucked out into space by rapid decompression. As the mercenaries made their jump across the gap between the ship and the enemy station, he ordered the starboard turrets to provide covering fire. The pirates were obviously not expecting an attack like the this and were unable to reinforce quickly enough to stop their assault.

Lieutenant Socrates Antilles felt the rush of combat in his veins, as he flew out from the cargo bay and into the pirate station, with his own and second platoon in tow. Fifty mercenaries equipped with Jetpacks and full body armor were a sizable force and he always loved seeing his men in action. He focused on the opening in the pirate hangar doors and was the first one to land in the hangar. Thankfully, the stations own artificial gravity still worked. The hangar itself was a mess, bodies, crates and other supplies scattered everywhere. The pirates had not been able to reinitiate the atmospheric shield and he was not sure how many of them could be equipped to fight in vacuum. The mercenaries landed and found two larger doors leading deeper into the station, which of course were closed. He saw the second Lieutenant, Cezary Muggia, land with his men and move to one of the doors.
"Set breaching charges and get those doors open." He nodded to his fellow Lieutenant, as the squad leaders shouted orders into their helmet comms and men moved around, placing charges. When he got two thumbsup from either doors, he counted.
"Breach in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO GO GO!"

The doors blew inward, but the debris and people he expected to fly out from rapid decompression didn't come. He peeked around the corner into the corridor and saw – nothing. The pirates must have retreated deeper into the station, while they either equipped space suits or tried to get some atmospheric shielding up again. Antilles moved his men in and in his peripheral vision he saw Muggia do the same, while they slowly advanced down the hallway. The atmospheric readings on his armor updated at the same time he heard the captain again. "Falcons' nest to everyone, be advised: The pirates have restarted their atmospheric shielding. Expect resistance to start any moment."
As if on cue, a door to his right opened and a young man clad into a light blue shirt, together with light gray trousers, a black combat vest and a helmet stepped into his view. Without hesitation, the mercenary raised his rifle and put a single round into the mans head, while simultaneously diving for cover. A mixture of men and women in identical uniforms mixed in with orange pilot suits now filed into the corridor, forcing the mercenaries into cover by unloading a hail of blaster shots on them. The company responded in kind and a real firefight erupted very quickly. "Throw a detonator! Smoke'em out!" He yelled into his helmet and leaned out, laying down suppressing fire with his blaser rifle. He could see two thermal detonators flying over his head and rolling into the enemy positions, where they blew up sending fire, smoke and shrapnel everywhere.
"Keep moving. We almost have them. Keep the pressure on, don't let them rally and regroup."
Over the noise of combat, Antilles could even hear the enemy battlecry. "For the Alliance! We will not yield! Push them back!"

And then, the pirates started their counterattack. Suddenly the Flame Falcons were the ones on the back foot. With a discipline and order that was definitely unusual for pirates, they started pushing back. Antilles could not help the feeling that they were poking a hornets' nest with their assault, but he decided to worry about this later. "Seal your helmets! Deploy incendiaries!"
With this order, every Falcon went back into vacuum mode as three mercenaries threw red cylinders at their opposition. These weapons sprayed a fluid derived from speeder fuel at their surrounding, very sticky and very combustible. As it didn't seem to be any immediate danger, the pirates paid them no mind. Antilles then held his left arm out and sent out a beam of fire from his wrist mounted miniature flamethrower. A wall of fire rolled into the corridor, sucking up valuable oxygen and incinerating many pirates. After this attack, many pirates were left dead and dying. If there were any survivors, they were nowhere to be seen.

Weapons at the ready, Antilles and his men advanced further into the station. It seemed like nobody was left alive, an eerie silence governed the place. When he radioed the second platoon, he got the same answer. Nobody left after initial contact, they too had used incendiary grenades to hold off a pirate counterattack. They searched the station again and found a mess hall, living quarters and an extended storage full of crates and cargo that must have been stolen from the imperial mining world. "Antilles to the captain. The station is ours."
"Great work Lieutenant. I'm moving the ship in to unload the remainders of the company to assist in the salvaging effort. Return aboard for R&R as well as an after action report."

Rest and recovery sounded great and when he returned into the hangar with his platoon, he found the Falcons' Nest docked to the outer door, having extended a tunnel from its' starboard cargo bay to aid in what would require a great deal of work.

Flynn awaited his second in command in the hangar of the pirate station, together with all the men who remained aboard the Falcons' Nest during the battle. The third and fourth platoon were already moving in with tools and repulsor carriers to salvage and remove anything of value, while others were setting explosive charges to destroy the station as soon as they were done with it.