Star Wars OPEN Star Wars: Black Sheep (Always Accepting New Players)

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray

Hangar Bay, Intrepid

Lou was all set to leave the hangar when the craziest of things happened. A droid, she suspected the chef, went haywire and sprayed icing all over the canopy. She punched the console in frustration.

"Oh, frak me!" Lou cursed as she had to kill her startup sequence for fear of igniting the hangar bay in unquenchable flames.

She was about to pop open the canopy and yell a few more choice words at the droid, whom she hadn't officially met yet, when she noticed Ianna and others cleaning her canopy. In a matter of minutes the windshield was spotless. She saw Ianna flash her a thumbs up as the young scrambled away from Lou's Y-wing towards her own. She returned the gesture and began the startup sequence again.

Minutes later she was in hyperspace.

30 Minutes Later

Lou snapped awake.

She'd fallen asleep in the cockpit, her pre-combat ritual, something she'd done to avoid the doldrums of hyperspace travel ever since she could remember. She immediately killed the throttle as alarms in her cockpit, signalling an immiment collision. She instinctively pushed downward on the stick and watched as Black Sheep squadron emerged from hyperspace all around her. She flinched in the cockpit as she checked her sensors and looked all around to make sure that she wasn't about to be flung into the depths of space because of a navicomputer glitch.

The alarms stopped.

Lou's eyes picked out Iron Hand's B-wing. She goosed the throttle and quickly formed up on his wing. The call came across her comm. unit to check in. "Black 14, standing by," Lou said finding her voice.

Her gaze drifted over to where the convoy was situated. She flicked a switch on her starboard arm panel and the long-range sensors engaged. The reads on what lay ahead sent chills down her spine. There were more capital ships and fighters than Flagg had said there would be. The numbers didn't scare her. The Empire was typically at a numerical advantage. What scared her was that the intelligence was so wrong.

Lou fought back her fear and focused on the mission at hand. She knew her Y-wing could dish out a beating and also take one in return. Her comm. unit crackled again as she remained on Iron Hand's wing.

"Lou," a voice said, "Iron Hand. Let the Alfa's push through the fighter screen to disorganize it for us, then we concentrate torpedo fire on the lead cruiser, break."

That made sense. At least someone understood what needed to be done, Lou thought. "Copy that, Iron Hand. Take us in when ready."

Lou's attention returned once more to the coming battle. She saw the A-wings and X-wings shoot on ahead, first to the fight, first to a kill. The TIES were closing in now, hard and fast. They were going to attack the leader en masse. A lot of them were going to get blown out of the sky but with their numbers the theory as that the others would punch through the weakened defenses of the enemy. Their movements were typical. So typically Imperial.

Lou knew her role. She wasn't the vanguard. She was the heavy hammer that came in after the first blow was laid down.

The shield breaker.

The destruction of dreams.

The wishbone of death.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422; @Chyntuck (loose character mentions), @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Max Pallas, Black Eight
Cockpit, Hyperspace
En Route to rendez-vous point, Operation: Chow-Haul

Max sat back, staring at the strange swirls of hyperspace with unseeing eyes. She should be resting, focusing on the upcoming mission. But she could only think of poor Foodie, utterly broken down by the program she'd uploaded into him. If she'd had time to do it properly... hell, if she'd been able to find a suitable droid! That was what she'd been looking for, a droid designed for combat that could be adapted. Foodie was meant for a simpler, civilian life. A far grander life, really, then any she'd ever known.

Streaky and Zero would be scanning the cargo manifests, and Foodie was supposed to be checking it against his list of ingredients. A simple snatch and run would have made more sense, really. The Bandits had done that a lot. Raid an Imperial cargo convoy, grab what you could, keep what you want, sell off the rest. Not a perfect system, of course...it had been difficult off-loading 5,000 pairs of Imperial issue swimwear...

She had a thought. <<Digger,>> she said, in her own language. <<When you did your upload of Foodie, did you have access to scan his memory files?>>

The response scrolled across her screen, even as Digger's whistle sounded through her earpiece.

//NEGATIVE. INSUFFICIENT TIME FOR FULL MEMORY SCAN

Max sighed, then blinked as the droid continued.

//COMPLETED PARTIAL SCAN OF SHORT-TERM MEMORY ONLY

<<Short term...did you extract anything?>> she asked.

//COPIED: ALL FILES PERTAINING TO OPERATION: CHOW HAUL

<<What files were there?>> she asked. How long had Foodie known about their mission?

//CHOW HAUL:MISSION PARAMETERS. CHOW HAUL: OBJECTIVES. CHOW HAUL--"

<<Objectives?>> asked Max. <<Wait, open that one.>> She caught her breath as information scrolled across her screen.

Spices: Aagar, Allium, Arrak, Asafoetida... Foodie's shopping list! Max whooped.

"Yes, oh, yes!" she shouted, switching to Basic. "Digger, have I ever told you that you are an absolute genius?"

//NEGATIVE

"Well, you are. Okay. Encrypt this, and when we drop out of hyperspace, shoot it over to Joy on a low-end frequency. Code key is her callsign, Black Six, and use her voice as a recognition pattern. When she checks in, it will unlock the file, and her droid can compare the scan readings against it."

The alarm chirped, and Max was smiling as they dropped out of hyperspace. Maybe, just maybe, they could salvage this.

And then she saw the convoy. Shavit.

TAG: Anyone

 

IC: Zara "Zero" Yaren
Hangar, Intrepid-- Hyperspace

This was going to be the first combat mission since Hoth. For luxury foods. Zara shook her head as she circled her A-wing, admiring how the paint had dried to a solid black. This was her ship now, there was no mistaking that; she regretted offering the ship up to Joy, now even more than at the time. Fast and hard to hit was going to be ideal while scanning for... food.

Zara finished her visual inspection and climbed up to the cockpit, snagging her helmet before sliding into her seat. With her tinted visor down over her eyes, it was time to dismiss the distractions of the last few days and concentrate on the mission. Hunting for luxury foodstuffs seemed like a waste of their time, but so was a lot of other things. And some of the others might get some enjoyment out of expensive meals, maybe that chef droid would actually be useful. For herself, she'd stick to nutrient-balanced rations.

As her ship warmed up, her thoughts turned to the first flight of the Black Sheep. They barely knew each other, which wasn't uncommon in the groups she'd been assigned to, but already they were mixing up the pairs, sticking her with their less-than-pleasant flight lead. Max was one of the few Zara had met that she actually... didn't dislike. Everyone else was about as bad as expected, though she hadn't met all 17 of the others in their bizarrely large squadron. Maybe she'd get lucky and they could start a Sabacc night; more likely she'd end up spending her free time alone. It was easier that way.

The hop through hyperspace passed slowly, and Zara occupied herself with watching the swirls of hyperspace pass over her head, comms off and singing old half-remembered songs. The Twi'leki words never sounded right without a partner, but she forged on until she stumbled over too many words to continue, and finished it humming the melody. It was a reminder of better days, and she wondered if she could find recordings; they were old songs now, popular when she was a child. Something to look forward to, perhaps.

Her slaved navicomputer signaled a reversion to realspace, and Zara pulled her A-wing out of hyperspace with practiced precision. "Black seven, here." She checked her sensors for the position of her flight and did a double-take. That was not the opposition they were supposed to be facing. Without a word, she shifted her A-wing's power distribution to sensors and shields, and awaited orders.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @Sarge @Mistress_Renata @TheAdmiral

 

Ethan "Veteran" Malek
Space near the imperial convoy

Ethan cursed as his eyes wandered of the scene in front of them. As he had feared the reports on the convoy had considerably underestimated the numbers of enemy ships in the escort. So much for an easy mission to get used to each other. "Black Twelve, responding," he answered Flagg as he held his ship in formation with the other members of the squadron. If that Flagg has any idea what she is doing, she will call of this attack. I don´t want to die for some luxurious food stuff. In his time as a mercenary Ethan had taken part in more than one pirate attack at imperial ships and he knew that attacking a well defended convoy rarely paid out in the end, that it was usually wiser to disengage and attack elsewhere. But something told that this was not what their commanders would do, this wasn´t a regular squadron after all.

"Lock S-Foils in attack position." Came over the com and Ethan did as he was told and prepared for combat. Sharpening his eyes Ethan looked over the situation before them again, trying to figure out a weakness in the imperials defense, something that they could use to shift the balance of battle in their favor. Thankfully the imperials seemed to either overestimate their forces or had no idea on how to properly protect a convoy as several of the larger ships had left the formation and now closed in the distance towards the rebel ships intending to attack them, instead of staying in formation. Ethan could only shake his head over this mistake, as he had learned in his earliest days in the ORSF the best defense against a raid of quicker fighters was a compact defense with the capital ships protecting the transports while the fighters made sure to prevent bomber attacks of the larger ships.

As the imperials came closer Ethan was able to see them with his own eyes through the transparisteel of his cockpit, it confused him why only two of the imperial ships were engaging them. Was there a conflict between the imperial captains with some wanting to stay behind to protect the transports, while other wanted to attack them? Or was there something more behind it? Again Ethan thought about the fact that the imperial convoy was much heavier protected than they had thought. That only left three conclusions: One that it was simply a coincidence but Ethan had seen too much of the galaxy to believe in coincidences. The second option was that these transports where carrying something much more valuable that luxury food, and so needed more protection. Or someone has told them that we would attack the convoy. Was it a trap? He guess they couldn´t out rule the possibility.

Forcing his thoughts back into the present he scolded himself for letting his thoughts drift away again. He had a job to do and a wing mate to protect. Looking through his cockpit window Ethan saw Ianna´s Y-Wing next to him and he imperials approaching them.

"Veteran, it's Kid. Cover me, I'm targeting one of the big guys coming in." Ianna said through the com and Ethan saw her taking a course towards one of the approaching capital ships.

"Understood. I´m right behind you, be careful." Sending a short prayer to whichever gods might just be listening to him Ethan kept his X-Wing close to his wing mate, ready to shoot down every and all TIE fighters that would approach them.

Then he opened a com channel to his squad leader, "Shirl, Kid and I are targeting one of the capital ships advancing. Would be nice to have some support."

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422, @The Vanguard, @witchdoctor07

 

IC Amber Tehanis-BS4 Vixen & Akiva Lurell AKA 'Wolf'

First mission

Amber climbed into her craft glancing only briefly back at the Chef droid drama, she gave her head a little shake as she couldn't believe what she'd seen but then again she knew who' been involved and her instincts told her trouble was inevitable. Her hands moving over the console she began to get the systems on line.

"Lets bring her up slowly Squirt, those modifictions haven't been tested properly yet." she advised her droid. "OK mate, let's do this." she said with a touch of bitterness. When she signed up for the Rebel Alliance, she never thought she'd be putting her life on the line for fancy food, she'd been living on rations and basic supplies for sometime now and the fact the Alliance was struggling with pilots willing to put their lives on the line it seemed insane to her to be risking them for this. In the back of her mind she also wondered how much of the truth they'd been told and maybe this wasn't 'food'. Maybe, just maybe the supplies labelled 'Food' were not food at all, maybe they were disguised weapon supplies, or armaments. Time would tell.

Easing her ship out of the hangar and falling into formation it wasn't long before she was in hyperspace and the blue starlines were swirling around her. This gave her time to think and consider her earlier musings and the more she thought about it, the more she hoped she was right. Even if she was, who would she tell, she'd hardly bothered to interact with anyone having spent most her time in her quarters studying the ships blueprints or making modifications to her X Wing. She'd done most of the latter at night when no one was around. She'd preferred her own company for some time now. Sighing deeply she realised she might have shot herself in the foot by not bothering to at least get to know her own flight. Closing her eyes she decided it was a good time to relax and get herself in the right mindset.

Akiva was glad that the departure was surprisingly undelayed by the hanger antics. After easing her craft out through the magcon field she fell into position and sounded off, slaving her nav to Aleph Leads craft. When the thrilling hyperspace tunnel enveloped her craft once more she felt that same small thrill she had felt the first time she had ever taken a craft into that swirling vortex. Like a hunt without end, and a joy that still caused her lips to curl.

Some time later.

Still, it was a boring respite to just sit there quietly on the hyperspace transit once the thrill settled back into a dull routine of patterns after a while. It wasn't until the signal came that caused Akiva's craft to decant back into normal space that she leaned forward staring at her displays as her fingers danced upon the passive sensors dials and adjusted her heading for drift to stay in formation with lead. The next sequence of events happened quickly as realization that they had been made, leads active sensor ping telling her to activate her own, and then the realization that the mission for a stray nerf had turned into a tusk-cat hunt. "A-3. Armed."

Squirt chortled softly and brought her back to reality, they were coming out. Taking the controls she spoke to the droid. "I got it", at the same moment a call came over the comm "Drop...'NOW!" as she eased the craft back into real space. Instantly her stomach clenched up, something wasn't going to plan already?

"All Black Sheep, report in," Her lead spoke again, what was his name? Flagg? She responded having always thought the squadron name was insulting at the very least "Black four is a go"

Her screen began to feed information to her as many more ships than anticipated began to show up. Amber cursed, so this is what was wrong. Glancing over she could make out the B Wing nearby, "That must be Wolf, my wing" she muttered to herself as she made her way over to the craft, settling on the wing.

. "Lock S-Foils in attack position."

Responding immediately, she opened her wings and beside her she watched the B Wing unfold. At that moment her comm opened.

. "Vixen. I'm a slow mobile platform so will sweep from lead to longer tail on the first group of eyes as we go through. Change to next and keep going until we are past those Gozanties. How do you want to handle it?" Not exactly the best leadership from Wolf but she had honestly never fought with this woman and the notion of merely following the leader had never sat well with her.

That was her wing, she knew that now. Considering the options as she took a look back she noticed the Lead was giving them space to go ahead. That was expected, he was running this show.

"Black Sheep, Press." When the orders came to press on she did so without reservation. Do or die, well do or be a ground pounder and that was about the same as sentencing her to death these days. When lead fell back just after ordering s-foils into attack position she took note of how he did so, there was a chance that the man was wilting before a fight. Might explain how he was still alive to lead them, but she took it as, and hoped he meant it as an invitation for her to take point on the assault into the approaching TIE swarm.

After Lead ordered Amber opened the comm to Wolf. "I'm gonna go in low, clear out what I can, you take the scraps. Sound good?"

Taking a beat Wolf felt the odd pang of missing her Sullustan wingmate from Hoth. "Sure. Good." She simply stated. She knew she had already messed up with her position, she had spent all her time fixing her craft to perfection but had never gotten to know her wingmate and so had no idea what that actually meant the other would be doing. She should of at least made time to try and share simulator time with her once before this mission, but that was the past. Now she just had to hope that their unfamiliarity with each other didn't get them both killed.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Jocelyn “Joy" Sunwalker
Hangar of the Interpi, Rendezvous point

Jocelyn arrived in the hangar. It was bustling with life as the squadron was preparing for its first mission together. She walked among the fighters observing the pilots and flight crew getting ready. She saw Lou and Ianna but restrained herself not to wave at them, that would be unprofessional. Hopefully the cooking droid would fit in the cramped space of the Y-wing cockpit. She was ambivalent towards having the droid as a gunner. On one hand the machine’s reflexes could prove useful in the dogfight, besides for this mission’s objective its knowledge would be quite useful. But on the other it felt a bit unnatural, she remembered the Clone Wars and the fact that the droids were the enemy.

Joy reached her Y-wing. Beside it a large bipedal feline was standing. A Togorian, what was it doing with her fighter? She did not like it, probably he, or is it a she, is supposed to take her out? No, that will be too paranoid. Besides the Rebels did not operate that way, did they? Either way she had to keep her eyes open as anything was possible.

“Hey, umm?” she started, though she did not know the Togorian’s name.

“Thorn.” he? growled ‘Great he probably knows I am a former Imperial, another one to my fan club.’ she thought bitterly.

“Hey, Thorn, I presume you are my plane captain, right?”

“Yes” he was not a creature of many words. “Your ship is ready for your mission.” then he started sniffing and she could see in the distance that he was interested in a small-statured Ugnaught. ‘Oh no, hope he can stifle his hunting instincts.’ “You should focus.” she told the creature.

Thorn just snarled and proceeded to walk away ‘Great, not even information of my load.’ “Thorn, right? Is everything ready with my craft.”

He half turned “I told you, it is ready, full load, extra sensors installed.” and gave a curt answer.

At least there was that. Hopefully they will be enough to do the job. Something caught her attention as she climbed up to the cockpit. She turned around and saw Foodie going haywire spraying everything with frosting or something like that. What was going on? Though it looked amusing as she observed some of her squadron-mates deal with it. Joy decided not to interfere as there were enough people so she sat inside her cockpit and started the preflight check. It seems the droid won’t be coming after all...

*********************

The squadron exited hyperspace at the rendezvous point. Joy was worried that since the droid was not with her she won’t be able to do her mission properly. She linked her comms to the B-flight. There was a data transfer of sorts coming from Black Eight, but first things first.

“Black Six here.” she transmitted.

Her astromech indicated that she received a list of items that were part of the mission. That came as a relief, she took a mental note to congratulate Black Eight for that.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, @Sarge, @Mistress_Renata, @Rebecca_Daniels

 

~IC~ Captain Cassell “Skipper” Wystari - B17
Location: Intrepid - Hangar

Wystari holstered his blaster, the situation in the hangar was finally under control. Maybe Vixen had the right idea… and trusted her squad mates to have it all in hand. At least the Valkyria was spared any cosmetic damage, he thought as he did a once over of the ship. Who knows what icing would do to the hull given how sugar burns fast under heat... probably end up with toffee and it be a bugger to scrub off.

He stopped by the painted winged maiden on the hull of the Valkyria, she rode a winged equus and wielded a lance. He kissed two fingers and touched her foot. “Bring us luck”

He gave her one more glance then moved on to herd the team of marines aboard the craft. He helped with their gear into the main hold. He gestured to the space. “Can use this space to get sorted”

Once set, he gave them a brief tour all while locking locking doors to restrict access to the sensitive parts of the ship. “Turret access here, galley over there.” They made their way around. “Cargo bay there…”

An electronic warble came from the corner, an old treadwell droid. “Don’t mind him," Wystari explained to the team. "Em-eight… Mate for short.” He grumbled under his breath about whoever gave it its designated number must be having a joke.

They returned to the main hold and Wystari left them there to tend to their equipment, he had the preflight routine to tend to. Upon entering the cockpit, he flicked switches to power up and then stepped past the empty copilot station and down to the pilot’s chair to settled in. Checking the gauges, the energy levels and onboard systems as he cycled through and powered them on.

He opened the comm and announced that all systems are clear and permission to depart. After a moment, he got the acknowledgement and clearance to launch. Gingerly, the Valkyria rose off the deck, Wystari angled the bow and eased the freighter out into the void of space and to join the squadron.

He eased on the throttle and angled away from the Intrepid. Engine lights of the other fighters ahead of him danced as they moved into their flights and formations. He entered in the coordinates in the nav computer as he kept an eye on the view outside and the distance ticking down to the waypoint. This was their first mission together as a unit, it should be interesting to see how everyone performs. He watched the squadron jump as the counter reached zero and eased back on the levers. The view outside streaked to shafts of light as the Valkyria slipped into hyperspace.

The cockpit was bathed in shimmering blue-purple light as he as announced over the PA system that they are en route. He glanced one more time at the energy levels and saw they were holding steady. Still time before they arrive at their destination, may as well check on everyone, follow up on drink orders and make sure ‘mate’ was tending to the ship…

>>>-----[Arrival]-----<<<​

“Everyone, to your positions.” Wystari announced on the PA to the marines as the counter just entered the remaining minute. He gave one more check at the instruments and configured the multifunction displays for the mission. His hand at the levers ready to pull them out. A deep breath… exhale....

“Arriving in three… two… one…mark!”

The timer ticked down to zero and the view changed as the ship transitioned into real space. He looked out through the viewport and saw the rest of the squadron arriving and took a second to take in the starry vista. With a glance at the scopes he counted everyone had arrived around him. Good.

The indicator on the dash went on to signify that both the dorsal and ventral turrets had powered up. Over the squadron channel he heard the Boss request all members to report in. As each member of the squadron chimed in, more information filtered in on the computer. The convoy was there. score one for the intelligence committee… however number of contacts was more than what was expected. “No surprise there…” He muttered under his breath as he adjusted the angle of the shields as he kept an ear out for an opening over the comms. “Black 17, standing by.”

Wystari eased back to fifty percent throttle and angled the Valkyria downward a fraction. The engine glow of squadron’s crafts shifted ahead and above the bow as some distance started to grow between them and then levelled off. Off to starboard, he caught sight that the U-Wing had followed suit.

The order came through announcing for the S-foils for attack position and for the first phase of the operation to commence. Another voice on the squadron channel, Iron Hand, to give a heads up about the formation of Gozanti cruisers. That information became marked on the computer for reference.

One more deep breath.

And... here... we... go…

TAG: Open

 

IC: Mean Streak, Joy, Zero, Max
Naboo System

The moment the Black Sheep dropped out of hyper, it was obvious the pudu was on a high-speed intercept course for the fan. How does the saying go? Complete intel isn't.

"All Black Sheep, report in." Flagg sounded calm and commanding. How long would that last?

"Black 5, ready- " Kayn bit off the rest of his usual "ready to rock" transmission. Until his reputation in the squadron improved, he'd be wise to maintain all the professionalism he could muster. He heard the others in B-flight respond, Joy sounding cool and professional, Zara clipped and calm. Max had a distinct pause between "black" and "eight," but otherwise she seemed fairly steady.

Comm channels and active sensors were lighting up everywhere. There was no point in comm silence anymore, so Kayn opened up his secondary comm on the B Flight channel.

"This is Badluck Leader, looks like our intel gurus can't count escort ships. Zero, we'd better go with Plan B, stick together as we buzz the convoy. Link your sensors to Max, I'm linking mine to Joy. Slow movers, hang back and keep your eyes peeled. Everybody know what to do?"

Zara clicked her comm in response and flipped switches to send her sensor data to Max's Black Eight. This stuff better actually be here.

Joy linked her sensors with the flight leader, hopefully the extra package would do the job. It seems they were given incomplete intel regarding the numbers of the opposition. "I got the shopping list, thank you Black Eight." she sent a short message.​

Max's S-foils were locked in attack position, shields at max, cannons ready to unleash. Max looked at the controls, wondering how long they'd stay at green, and touched the corley braid through the pocket of her flight suit. Here we go, Mom.

"Digger, they're transmitting to both us and Joy," she said, clicking her comm to acknowledge Kayn's orders. "Be ready for it and cross-compare whatever we get against the shopping list. All other scanners at max range, and shout the minute anything vaguely Imperial comes in sniffing range." The little droid whistled in acknowledgement as Max pulled back, dropping just a bit behind and above Joy, on her right wing. In her mind, she marked the cruisers and a few other tiny, moving pin-points of light, the TIE escorts. Not in range, not a threat...not yet. Soon. Max exhaled, forcing her body to relax. She looked at the convoy again, and frowned at the sight of the ferryboat liner. Now what are you nice folks doing here in the middle of an Imperial convoy?

Kayn scratched futilely at his icing-encrusted beard as the multiple vectors converged. Let's see if this day can get any worse...

TAG: B Flight @TheAdmiral @Rebecca_Daniels @Mistress_Renata

 

​

IC: Commander Arick "Boss" Flagg
Leading the raid on convoy THX-1138, outskirts of the Naboo system

Able Flight

Commander Flagg listened absentmindedly to each fighter in the wing reporting in with their readiness to go as he watched the early stages of the battle unfurl. The eight TIE fighters coming at them in a pair of finger four's had split up into their elements, with the bulk of the eyeballs (TIE fighters) concentrating on the fighters of Able flight as Vixen and Wolf led the quartet of Alliance fighters into the merge. They seemed to be holding their own at the moment but still he turned his fighter towards the onrushing fighters to join the engagement noting that Ghost kept right with him as he made sure his weapons were fully charged...

TAG: @Adalia-Durron, @Mitth_Fisto, @Quinlan Vos

OOC: The four attacking TIE fighters are all yours and you three can deal with them (post damage on them/destroy them) as you see fit in your posts. No need to take care of them all at once if you don't want to, take your time and enjoy it.

​

Baker Flight

While the fighters of Able flight kept the half the TIE's busy, the recon element of Baker flight did what it did best, blew through the merge and into the "interior" of the convoy. Juking hard to starboard to avoid a pair of green bolt spat at him by on of the TIE's Flagg saw that none of the four TIEs had reversed on the A-Wings but were continuing to engage Able flight. Of course that didn't mean they had been left entirely alone to do their work. The two TIE fighters providing close escort for the freighters now turned towards them and engaged even as the A-Wings tried to get close enough to run their scans. Flagg had just enough time for a slender smile before he lost sight of the recon element under his nose as he pulled up and around, trying to get behind the TIE attacking him. Baker flight had two A-Wings, a wishbone and an X-Wing. More than enough for a pair of measly eyeballs, even while scanning freighters. That part of the plan at least seemed to be going well...

TAG: @Sarge, @TheAdmiral, @Rebecca_Daniels, @Mistress_Renata

OOC: The two TIE fighters providing close escort for the freighters are all yours (post damage on them/destroy them) to do with as you see fit in your posts. Feel free to describe the actions (defensive fire/evasive maneuvers) of the freighters too so long as none jump to hyperspace/escape. In terms of scanning them, you can either PM me before you post regarding which one's your character's are targeting for scanning first and incorporate it into your posts that way, or simply post your maneuvers in the game and I can provide a "readout" in game of what they would be seeing.

​

Charlie Flight

With Able and Baker flights performing their own roles, Charlie flight was left fending for itself until the recon element could ID the right transports to disable. In the meantime, they had their own problems. Two TIE fighters from the second "finger four" raced towards them. They seemed to be concentrating on the fighters while the Gozanti class light cruiser being targeted by Kid fired on the oncoming bombers. Green flashes lit up the dark sky around Mcear's Y-Wing as it bored in on the much larger vessel...

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422, @Anedon, @The Vanguard, @witchdoctor07

OOC: Here too the pair of TIE's attacking your group are now yours to control and damage/destroy as needed in your posts. Like the others, no rush, it doesn't all have to be done in one post or even a few posts (though you certainly can of course). Since your characters are also attacking one of the crusiers, feel free to post damage there as well, though keep that within reason. I trust y'all's judgement there.

​

Delta Flight

IC: Major Beskaryc "Iron Hand" Taab
Attacking Convoy THX-1138, outskirts of the Naboo system

"Copy that, Iron Hand. Take us in when ready." Taab's face, even hidden behind his faceplate, betrayed no emotion at Lou's confirmation of her status. This was it now, the convoy was better defended than intel had anticipated, but still well within what the squadron could handle, even with their attention split among so many varied tasks. Now was the time for his element to focus on their task. Keeping his shields set to double front, Taab activated the targeting computer on the Iron Cross and was met with the distinctive grid pattern on his targeting scanners. Two TIE fighter's flashed overhead, the other pair of the second finger four element had apparently decided to target his flight, but Taab wasn't concerned about them. Not yet. His focus was on the Gozanti in front of him as he locked on and set his warhead system for a double launch of proton torpedoes. There was no sense in being subtle, they were the heavy hitters, and the time to hit was now. He set himself up for his attack run, ensuring that not only were the torps ready, but the light turbo laser on his main s-foil as well.

His targeting scanner began to hum a broken tone at him as the targeting reticle on his HUD went from red to yellow. The tone increased in pace and intenstity as the yellow circle blinked green. Wasting no time, the Mandalorian thumbed the pickle switch and loosed a pair of warheads at the cruiser while pressing the trigger on his control yoke a split second later before loosing another set of torpedoes. He watched as the first pair torpedoes guided true and struck home against the cruiser's shields which flared briefly before being struck by several shots from his light turbolaser. The torpedoes the Imperials had been expecting, the turbo laser not so much he though as the second pair of torpedoes hit followed by several more turbo laser hits causing it's forward shields to buckle and fail. The door was open...

The Iron Cross rushed past the cruiser now, before Taab could get any further shots in. He began to swing the hulking fighter around only to have the ship rock hard beneath him, hammered by several shots as a TIE spat it's green venom at him. Taab yanked hard on the yoke, pulling away from the cruiser, belatedly evening out his shields. It was then that he noticed their status. 60%. That was far worse than they should have been after a couple of stray TIE fighter pot shots. He had been so fixated on his target that he must have been hit by several bursts from the Gozanti during his attack run without noticing.

"Skew, Ring," Taab transmitted. "Iron Hand." he paused a moment, looking for Lou. He had lost sight of her during his attack run, in fact he hadn't even see her fire a shot, though he was sure she must have done so. Another symptom of his target fixation. "Clean these TIEs off of our tails, we're going to set up another attack run." Then another voice took over the comm system.

​

"Black Sheep, Starbuck." It was the voice of Intruder Lead, and she sounded stressed. "Be advised there is a Super here along with three ISDs and several support ships in orbit over Naboo..." Her transmission broke for a second, not in static but as a result of her releasing the transmit button. When it came back she was sounding even more strained. "They're sending help to the convoy...shab!..." the transmission broke again before coming back a final time. "Lots of fighters, we'll do our best but you're going to get some leakers... Intruder lead out."

Taab mulled it over, wondering if Boss would call off the attack. He doubted it, they were committed now. Besides, Naboo was behind, and several minutes away from, them. Even if those fighters were burning plasma to reach the Black Sheep they would have to fight their way past the Intruders first. That meant the Black Sheep had those few minutes to accomplish their mission and get the shab out of there.

TAG: @Vehn, @Mostlymad, @BookExogorth

OOC: As with Charlie flight, the two TIE fighters attack our flight are fair game. Vehn, feel free to describe your character's actions during the attack run (I didn't want to control what she was doing) and post any damage seen to the Gozanti that you deem reasonable from our initial attack run as well as posting our second run at her.

​

Echo Flight

The marine manning the upper gunner's station of the Valkyria was getting anxious. The battle had begun, and here they were with nothing to do yet. It was that frustrating moment that seemed to occur in very battle, the wait even as you knew your brothers and sisters were fighting, bleeding, burning...dying. But they had to wait, wait for the squadron zoomies to ID the right targets, and then wait for the squadron's pipe hitters to disable them. It meant that even as they were waiting, it meant there was a lot more waiting yet to come. Should have timed their arrival better, so they weren't exposed yet he thought to himself, but those were the sorts of decisions made way above his pay grade.

The message that came in from the Intruder Squadron leader was and was cause for concern. Every marine knew what it meant to be tail end charlie, guarding the rear of a patrol, and right now Echo flight was tail end charlie for the squadron, hanging back with the convoy raid out in front of them while also being closest to the rather large enemy force arrayed behind them. The only reason they weren't retreating now was the distance that enemy force would have to cover before getting into the fight...

"Easy Flight, Black Lead." the voice of Boss, the Black Sheep commander broke through on the comms. "Until we know what to grab, hold just outside the battle area and keep an eye on those incoming fighters, let us know if they start getting too close." It was clear he didn't trust the Intruder's to keep the Black Sheep updated, nor to keep the enemy fighters at bay.

TAG: @Corellian_Outrider, @Outsourced, @Chyntuck (not that Foodie is here, but wanted to keep you apprised. Hope all is well with you and your family.) Any questions from anyone, feel free to PM me or ask in the fanclub.

 

IC: Flight Officer Louise "Lou" Gray

Attacking Convoy THX-1138, Naboo

Lou instinctively switched her shields to double-front as she flew in tight formation with Taab. Their target was a Gozanti freighter The unique hull and engine placement of the freighter stood out on her mind. She'd never seen a ship like this before. She was certain, after today was done, she'd probably never see a ship like it again.

C-8 warbled something in her ear as a pair of TIEs went roaring high and above. Lou knew they'd be circling back around to try and pick off the bombers. It suddenly hit her why Black Sheep had mixed flights. Had she been in a typical bomber squadron she would've been exposed. Not now, not with the fighter escort somewhere around her. Lou ignored the warbling of her droid, the screaming of her sensors, as her eyes tracked Taab's torpedoes and turbolaser fire. She watched with subdued amusement as the front shields buckled and failed.

The Gozanti was vulnerable.

Lou turned off her targeting computer. She was close enough now she could dumb fire her torpedoes. That meant the Imps couldn't get a lock. That meant the torpedoes could have free reign as they hit home. She dodged a few turbolasers as she edged closer to the Gozanti.

She checked her loadout. She was stocked and ready to drop. The target loomed large in her cockpit window and one particular area stood above the rest as a great location to fire a torpedo or two: the bridge. She saw human silhouettes running for cover as she closed the distance and knew that the final moments of these Imperial lives were now in her hands. That was just fine and somehow, deep down, Lou knew it was appropriate.

"Judge", Lou said out loud as her right thumb armed the torpedoes.

"Jury," Lou added as the range was good.

"and executioner," Lou breathed with a delicate smile as she depressed the trigger.

Lou felt the Y-wing shudder as the torpedoes roared away from her craft, and immediately pulled up hard on the stick. Her engines screamed from the strain and her vision blurred slightly as the inertial dampener fought hard to compensate from the violent maneuver. She craned her neck to look behind her, saw that she was fully perpendicular to the Gozanti now and with some distance to spare, and watched with satisfaction as the torpedoes slammed right through the bridge windows and detonated inside.

Lou let out a war whoop and pumped her fist as the Gozanti started to drift off course, lights and flame flickering all along its keel. The Gozanti was severely damaged but not out of the fight. One more attack run ought to finish it off.

Lou formed up with Taab as the Mandalorian brought them around for another run. It was then that her blood ran cold as a transmission came across the squadron channel, "Be advised there is a Super here along with three ISD and several support ships in orbit over Naboo."

She felt her internal clock start to tick and wondered if she was going to make it out of this fight alive.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik @BookExogorth @Mostlymad

 

IC: Mean Streak, Zero, Joy, Max
In the Thick of It

"Be advised there is a Super here along with three ISDs and several support ships in orbit over Naboo..."

"Everybody hear that? Remember what I said about smash and grab missions going best when they go fast; that goes double now. This is where we earn our flight pay."

A Flight was mixing it up with the oncoming TIE's. Kayn spotted an opportunity to close in and knock off one or two easy kills, but that wasn't the mission today. He waved and caught Zero's eye, made a forward punching motion with his fist, and opened up his engines. The overpowered little A-wing leaped forward like a scalded katarn, shoving him back into the seat as it accelerated around the edges of the developing furball. He rolled the ship on its side and pivoted the laser cannon up to the top of their 60 degree firing arc, lining up for a quick shot at a random TIE as he blew past the dogfight. It was long range, off angle, and ridiculously high deflection with no time to figure out how much to lead the target, so he wasn't surprised when he missed the shot. At least it might distract an Imp pilot for a moment. I could take a few more shots behind me if I had 360 degrees of pivot to these guns. As soon as I get a crew chief assigned to me, that's going to be the first modification I order.

The convoy was growing fast in his windscreen. Kayn waved at Zero again, pointed at her, pinched his lips, and gestured for her to widen the formation. Her all-black fighter was little more than a fleeting shadow in the darkness. Meanwhile, he set his shields at full power, taking away power from his lasers, which he set for max cyclic rate. Afterburners to maximum, active sensors pinging away for all they were worth, sensor jammer cycling through various modes at full power, randomly popping off occasional chaff and flares, and broadcasting on open comm frequencies.

"This is Badluck Flight lead, I'm heading into the convoy, stand by for the targeting data. Close escort TIE's are moving to intercept, over."

The escort TIE's rolled in, locking onto the noisy A-wing that was lighting up every sensor screen in the convoy. Kayn jinked and swerved, trying to make himself a difficult target for the multiple point defense laser cannon that were opening up on him from the freighters. The TIE's fired their bright green rays, coming much too close for comfort. He fired hastily aimed shots back with his underpowered guns, doing his best to keep their attention on him. Kayn had lost track of his wingmate's black ship and could only hope she was lining up her shot. Now would be a good time, Zero...

Max watched Kayn and Zara accelerate, sliding their swift ships up into the convoy, beginning their scanning run. She could see the two escort fighters beginning an interception move. "I think that's our cue, Six." A quick glance at her scanners and in the mirror confirmed there was nothing around or behind them waiting to pounce, and she nudged her ship forward. "Headed to cover. Are you with me?"

"Copy that." Joy replied. There was not much she could do in a dogfight but at least could keep the TIEs busy. Hopefully they would be able to scan for the necessary items and be done quickly before the enemy reinforcements showed up. A gunner would have been useful right now, but nothing she could do about that.

As she and the other A-wing broke away from their usual flight group, Zara silently catalogued all the data fed through her sensors but didn't concern herself with it all too much. The plan wasn't shot just yet, but this didn't look all too good. With this being her first real chance to test the post-Hoth repairs in action, she wasn't thrilled about pushing her A-wing's limits just yet, but reluctantly brought her speed up to match the Streak as he directed. A moment's thought went to redistributing her power systems, but as they blew past the initial sortie, Zara kept her power levels balanced; she'd probably need her weapons sooner than she'd like. Zara double-checked her sensor feed and jammers were operating as they drew closer to their scan targets, widening her lateral distance to her temporary wingmate; hopefully they could cover more sensor territory this way.

Her new black paint scheme would do nothing against sensors, only potentially hiding her against visual inspection in the dark of space; however, Zara couldn't help but frown as Kayn tried to... well, be about as loud as the man was in person. The two escort TIEs she'd noted previously drew in to add to the fire coming from the freighter itself, but they seemed to be concentrated more on Black Five than herself. A few possibilities ran through her mind, but she switched her lasers to single-shot-- precise, heavy, slow-- and rolled her ship away for a few moments, and then back around in a loop until she had a better firing angle. Her sensor feed was still live, but Max's X-wing was invisible in the mess of data on her screen; backup or no, these TIEs were a problem. Zara took a breath and fired on the closer of the two as she approached at an angle to their run, trying to keep her fire to a minimum to reduce sensor garbage for Max's analysis. One, two, three shots lit up the darkness ahead of her, the first two ahead of her target, the third making contact with the TIE's solar panel; enough to get their attention, at least for the moment. The lead TIE spun in space, the one panel almost entirely melted, but Zara continued the assault. Her next shot missed, the laser burning past towards the freighter, and she swore to herself in Twi'leki as she was forced to turn her attention fully to the freighter's lasers now lighting up, approaching too fast to pick her shots as carefully as she had to.

"Whoa, whoa!" Max banked sharply. Zara's ship, nearly invisible, had turned into the TIEs, which Max was tracking. Her shots were good, taking the solar panel off the lead fighter, but the subsequent shots went right past the nose of Max's ship. "You're aiming at me!" she complained. Zara's attack had distracted the other eyeball, though, and it was easy to drop in behind it, just off the left flank, and take it with a few shots. The freighters were opening up now. Max wondered about engaging them, or at least taking out their guns, but decided against it. Kayn was far ahead, shooting along the flank of the convoy, close enough that their bridge crews were probably soiling themselves. "Six, any love yet?"

Jocelyn made some adjustments to the instruments. She had picked some of the items, but needed a better look, but also kept an eye to the incoming TIEs and avoiding any stray shots flying their way. Her slow Y-wing did not have a chance in a dogfight so she had to prioritise and keep her distance from the nimble fighters. Shadow, her astromech, was processing the data and a constant stream of data was scrolling on her screen. "Shadow, transfer the data to Black Eight and Black Five." she instructed it then opened a channel to B-flight. "I got some of the data, transferring it now. Need to make another pass."

Kayn had finally threaded his way to the last freighter of the convoy, skimming within meters of its holds as his active sensors probed its contents and his lasers traded fire with a point defense gun. Ahead of him, there was now nothing but the widening gap between the freighters and the passenger liner with its escorting cruiser and TIE's in close company. Presumably, the liner was getting ready to jump to the safety of hyperspace, but what would the escorts do? Obviously the TIE's wouldn't be jumping, so probably their mother ship wouldn't either. That meant it could turn around and come storming back into the convoy just as the rest of the Black Sheep were trying to scoop up the oh-so-desperately-needed crates of caviar.

"Badluck Flight, did we get the data?"
​

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @TheAdmiral @Mistress_Renata ​

 

IC: Ianna Mcear
Outskirts of the Naboo system

The young girl flew forward shields thrown up double front. She didn't have time to check her sensors, she didn't see the two TIEs coming towards her and her flight. Her focus was on the cruiser coming closer and closer. She kept her targeting computer up as she dived and dipped just avoiding the green lasers that were coming her way. One heavy blast strikes her shields, flashing for just a moment.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, that was close, her shields were holding but, they wouldn't for long if she took more hits like that. The sweat beaded on her brow as she came closer, she was almost there.

"Be advised there is a Super here along with three ISDs and several support ships in orbit over Naboo..." The leader of Intruder Squadron called out.

"What?" Ianna replied over the flight comm, her finger slipping on the trigger and releasing the torpedo on accident. Before she could launch another one, the Gozanti fired back another lance of green energy just missing her craft. In a panic she pulled up and away swapping her shields to the rear.

"Um...Vet...did I hit...Did I hit?" she asked breathing labored, trying to look behind her to see what damage she did. She knew she hit, or thought she did, she was really close wasn't she?

Another look she was scanning for more TIEs coming in, she has a lot of torpedos, but, nowhere near enough to handle a Star Destroyer, much less a Super. This mission was getting bad...but...they were here, they had to see it through.

TAG: @The Vanguard @witchdoctor07 @Bardan_Jusik @Anedon

OOC: Anedon Feel free to have Ethan describe the damage (or not) that Ianna did with her one torpedo.

 

​

GM Update:
Operation Chow Haul

The data packets sent via the secure datatlink between the four fighters of B-Flight were quickly de-crypted and analyzed by the droids on Blacks Six and Eight.

• Gozanti class cruiser, identified as Guardian. Cargo scan complete; cargo contents; Pod A (portside): small arms/ammunition. Pod B (starboard side): Heavy weapons/warheads
• Gozanti class cruiser, identified as Glowworm. Cargo scan complete; cargo contents; Pod A (portside): Luxury items/clothing/jewelry/accessories. Pod B (starboard side): Assorted foodstuffs including but not limited to: Spices/Allium/Asafoetida/catabar/Christophsian sugar/fruit jelly/Kashyyyk wheat flour/nerf filet/Jaquira fruit/Parein Sweetgreen Fruit/Geldan sun-apples... the list went on.
• Class 4 container transport identified as Viraxo Madyline; Cargo scan incomplete; fully laden with containers: general cargo/machine parts...
• Class 4 container transport identified as Viraxo Mara Anne; Cargo scan incomplete; fully laden with containers: textiles/food staples--beans, rice, flour...
• Action VI transport identified as Utapau Wind; Cargo scan complete: Livestock
• Freighter Type C identified as Consort; Cargo scan incomplete: General cargo
• Freighter Type C identified as Careful; Cargo scan incomplete: Machine parts
• Freighter Type C identified as City of Theed; Cargo scan complete: Foodstuffs/grain
• Freighter Type K identified as K-219; Cargo scan complete: Machine parts-Military

TAG: @Sarge, @TheAdmiral, @Rebecca_Daniels, @Mistress_Renata

 

IC: Akiva Lurell AKA 'Wolf'
First mission, first fray

At the back of her mind as she saw the X-wing pull away into an attack vector she toggled and flicked switches to move in pursuit of her wing-woman, wondering just what would happen. The smooth speed and pull of her B-wing's engines roaring to push her back before settling into the faint vibrations that messaged her achy muscles from sitting for so long. She would never catch the X-wing, but her craft was never about speed, it was about being nimble on the turn and heavy on the punch.

Something that as she set her shields to double front she had to contend with seeing what another did before she ever got to the fight. It was a common problem when your ships primary role was as a bomber, still it never got old holding the position that in tactics was the finisher. Others tarried and hassled the prey, but she was the one that would bring them down. Seeing the wounded TIE begin to peel off she adjust course slightly before squeezing the trigger. The slight shudder as her lasers went off in a stagger formation, boxing in the fleeing TIE even as Vixen tried to give her a heads up about it. Her shot lead the target and when it dipped down to evade it dipped right into her lower lasers track lines, blowing it to bits in a nice fashion. Pivoting her fighter around she tapped the controls to spin her craft around her cockpit, changing her attack profile again. Never use the exact same maneuver twice. If you could help it of course.

Vixen was well and truly into whatever dog fight she had with the remaining three so, with an errant flick of the switch she lined up the targeting reticle on the second flight of four TIE's inbound and loose one of the concussion missiles as soon as she got a tone. As it went after the far tail the lead three maneuvered to tilt in and let the missile pass as the last in line began juking early. Probably a green rookie. Still, this was where being slow and behind came in handy. Tapping a second set of controls she disabled the autolock and took manual control of the missile, causing it at first to wobble as she let her B-wing coast toward Vixen, before juking a hard turn into the lead TIE's path. The poor Son of a Sith didn't even have time to react as she saw her HUDs tiny missile cam footage white out after getting a closeup of the cockpit.

Seeing one of the solar wings spin into another TIE's causing that one to careen off left her chuckling. That was until she felt her shields getting peppered by the second straggler Vixen had left. She was starting to see a pattern. Still she had no angle and merely had to juke and jive to stay alive as she let the enemy pass by. Hopefully lead would clean up their sloppy seconds.

Once past she looked at Vixen's Flight path. That was odd. Where was she going? "Vixen bring it in. Mop up and clean up duty time."

TAG: @Bravo, @Adalia-Durron, @Able Flight

 

IC: Maxime "Max" Pallas, Black Eight
Somewhere over Naboo

Max looked over the readings that were coming back from the two A-wings in B-flight. The two tie fighters escorting the main convoy were dispatched now. A quick check in with Joy confirmed that the desired cargo, the fancy goods, were on the Glowworm. Max personally thought that the more mundane stuff on the Mara Anne or the warheads on the Guardian would be her targets of choice, but Flagg was the one who'd make the ultimate decision.

"Five, here's the info to pass on to the Bossman. Looks like the Glowworm is the one we want, although just about anything is worth grabbing." She layered an encryption on top of the files--not that the Empire wouldn't know what was on the manifest, but they shouldn't know the ultimate target--and sent it along before falling back into formation with Sunwalker's Y-wing. Kayn and Zara were continuing to swoop along the convoy, and Digger was blooping softly to itself as it continued to monitor the input from their scanners.

This was the lull before the storm. Any moment, the guns on the freighters would open up. Any moment, there would be more TIEs. Some of the Sheep were already in the fray. Breathe. Just breathe. Systems green, she was ready, and these weren't the Bandits. In the Bandits, she'd already be attacking, but here, she had to wait for orders. Don't anticipate, don't overanalyze. She checked her scanners, short and long-range, did a thorough visual, including the small mirror she'd mounted at the top of the canopy. Soon.

TAG: @Sarge, @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Ethan Malek
Outskirts of the Naboo System

Ethan fought with the panic that tried to overwhelm him. A Super Star Destroyer was here? What by all nine hells of corellia was it doing here? From his service in the empire Ethan knew that only a small number of these ships even existed, most of which were used as flagships for the most powerful and influential imperial commanders, most of which were currently hunting the rebels. Why was one of them here, over Naboo?

"Um...Vet...did I hit...Did I hit?" Ianna's voice came over the come. Ethan looked up and looked across the space ahead of them. The Gozanti that had been closing in on them, was damaged, Ethan saw how fires burned on its front side. Ethan suspected that Ianna´s torpedo had hit the vessel at a point close to the bridge which could mean that it was helpless and crippled now, but it was too far to be sure.

"Confirmed hit, Kid." he send over com, while his thoughts returned to the ISS. Again he tried to figure out what such a strong warship was doing in this part of the galaxy. Ethan didn´t know much about Naboo, for all he knew it was in many ways the exact opposite of Eriadu. A peaceful world, of neither strategic nor tactical value to the empire, or so it seemed at least. When he looked at his display it seemed that for now the capital ships remained in the planets orbit, seemingly content with sending out star fighters to aid the convoy.

He turned towards his droid for a moment. "R7, can you keep me updated on the actions and positions of the Star Destroyers, especially the ISS. I want to know when they get to close. Also better prepare for an emergency jump into hyperspace, just in case."

Closing the com channel Ethan focused his mind back on the fight, and the pair of Tie fighters that was closing in on them.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422 @The Vanguard @witchdoctor07

 

Well this was... quaint? No. That wasn't the right word.

Uncomfortable. That was it. Uncomfortable. He'd done the best he could stripping out plating from the U-wing and modifying the internals to suit the unique composure of his anatomy. But you can only strip out so much bulkhead before you loose any semblance of structural integrity. So here he was, crammed into the cockpit of a U-Wing with his entire back half hanging out into the crew back where four Marines in hard suits sat in uncomfortable silence. Not that he particularly cared about their comfort. They had a job. He had a job. He'd perform his task, and they had better perform theirs. Simple.

Significantly less simple was the task of defending the U-Wing. He'd made sure the integrated laser cannons were fully operational, but the boat turned about as well as he did, which made dogfighting less than ideal. There was a mounted turret in the back, used primarily in covering ground troopers, but opening the hatch would depressurize the cabin and drop the cadre of soldiers out into deep space. That meant the Valkyria was the best cover they had when the time came to move.

And he didn't particularly enjoy relying on others. It was one of the reasons he's learned how to pilot starships. Too many Hutts had gotten sloppy with their pilots and ended up dead in a bad jump or killed by a blaster smuggled in a jumpsuit. He didn't feel in any particular danger from his allies, as he was quite confident that he could out-fly any of them, but the principle was the same.

@Corellian_Outrider

 

​

IC: Commander Arick "Boss" Flagg
Leading the raid on convoy THX-1138, outskirts of the Naboo system

Keeping one eye on his scanner and the ongoing battle, Commander Flagg watched impassively as Vixen damaged one TIE fighter and took out another in fairly rapid succession. The fighter escort wasn't the problem, it was larger than expected yes, but not large enough to cause much of an issue for a squadron of shielded craft, not when eyeballs had no shields of their own to protect them.

They were also spread out, protecting various elements of the convoy under their charge, and while this spread the Black Sheep across the area rather thinly as well, again it was to the Rebel's advantage. It was the capital ships that were the problem, there were more of them than anticipated, though it seemed only two were actually active combatants. One light cruiser, the Carrack, was off on the edge of the battle area, and moving farther away along with the ferryboat liner. Even better it was dragging three of the TIE fighters along with it. Two of the Gozantis seemed to be hauling cargo and the other two had been engaged by the Black Sheep's own heavy hitters. So the raid was going well, despite the early surprise of a heavier than expected escort.

The Commander pulled his fighter back around, hoping his wingman, Ghost, was still watching his back when he saw that Wolf had dispatched the fighter Vixen had wounded earlier before launching a warhead at long range towards the second flight of TIEs. Good, that meant that Able flight was facing down only a pair of TIEs now, the Imperials were not only outnumbered, they were outgunned. He didn't observe whether the warhead hit or not though as his eyes were drawn to Vixen's X-Wing. Something was wrong, Wolf was trying to rejoin with her, but her course was...a straight line, and every fighter pilot knew that in combat straight lines were to be avoided. "Vixen bring it in. Mop up and clean up duty time." The Codru-Ji's transmission was sent from her B-Wing only to be met with a distressing reply. "Yeah, about that, blown a stabiliser and something else, got no steering, whatever direction I'm heading, that's where I'm going." She sounded resigned to her fate. "Best
haul yourself clear and leave me to figure this out."

Before Flagg could issue his own order, or even Wolf could reply, the remaining pair of TIE fighters turned in towards Vixen's stricken X-Wing. One could only fly a straight path for so long before being noticed by other pilots, and now those flying the TIEs smelled blood. They had lost two of their own wingmates, and it was time to even the score. Flagg knew that the Black Sheep's role in the Rebellion was to die, but that didn't mean he would throw their lives, or their valuable equipment, away on a whim. "Able flight, Bossman, time to circle the wagons," he commed out to his Ghost, Wolf and Vixen. "Daisy chain around Vixen's fighter. Protect it until her astromech has affected repairs..."

An encrypted message from Baker flight caught his attention even as his own flight's fighters moved in to protect their wounded sister. His droid quickly decrypted the data packet before displaying it on his MFD (multi function display). He gave a low whistle, the convoy was loaded with goodies, but it was the fine foods they were after here. Everything else could be destroyed. He keyed his comm system again, this time transmitting to the entire squadron. "Black Sheep, Bossman, Listen up." He glanced quickly to the comm panel ensuring they were still on a secure comm link. "Primary target for Charlie flight to disable is Glowworm. It's a Gozanti so once disabled the pods she is carying should de-mag and drop clear. The cargo we want is in her starboard side pod, Pod Bravo." He paused for a moment. "Echo flight, once that pod is loose, go in and grab it. Baker flight provide cover for Charlie and Echo." There was another pause as he noted the two burning cruisers that had been acting as convoy escorts. One was clearly out of the fight, and the other soon would be. "Delta flight, engage targets of opportunity at will, be ready to backup Charlie if needed."

TAG: @Adalia-Durron, @Mitth_Fisto, @Quinlan Vos, @Sarge, @TheAdmiral, @Rebecca_Daniels, @Mistress_Renata

OOC: Trying something here since everyone doesn't seem to be getting tags. Could be a board issue, could be I'm tagging too many people in one post. So let's see what happens if I go back to tagging ten or less in a post (forcing me to split the update). Let me know in the fanclub (or in an OOC comment here accompanying your in game post) if you get my tag here or not. As to the game, any questions, as always let me know. For clarification's sake, the immediate situation is as follows (though whether your character recognizes all of this or not is up to you):

• Able Flight: Two TIE Fighters are headed for Vixen's damaged X-Wing. Deal with them as you wish, feel free to post damage to them/destroy them as you see fit.
• Baker Flight: You have one damaged TIE moving off towards the Carrack. The Carrack, her own fighter escort and the ferryboat liner are too far away to immediately attack (that goes for everyone). Since you're in the midst of the convoy, you also have the surrounding cargo vessels that are firing at you with whatever meager defenses they can muster. Feel free to post damage to them/destroy them as you see fit (within reason of course).

 

​

IC: Major Beskaryc "Iron Hand" Taab
Attacking Convoy THX-1138, outskirts of the Naboo system

Taab's fighter was rocked by another set of blasts as the TIE fighter behind him continued to follow close behind despite the Mandalorian's bobbing and weaving the large attack fighter around as best he could, but the smaller and more nimble TIE kept with his maneuvers easily. This was why they had fighter escorts he thought angrily to himself. "Ring, Skew," he called out over the comms to the X-Wing in his flight. "Where the shab are you?" There was no immediate reply though the firing abruptly stopped as the TIE pursuing him was met with a concussion missile fired all the way out from where Able flight was. "Nice shot," Taab muttered under his breath, glad to be out from under the TIE's guns. Now he could get back to the matter at hand.

Noting that Lou had formed up with him nicely following the destruction of the TIE, Taab pulled his fighter back around on the stricken Gozanti they had attacked, getting his first battle damage assessment of their initial assault. It had gone rather well. He smiled grimly, watching as the fires spread from stem to stern. Lou's attack had wreaked havoc on the light cruiser after Taab had opened the door for her. Now internal explosions wracked the stricken vessel, as the fires spread to the fuel bunkers. It was clearly out of the fight, but Taab pumped a few light tubo laser blasts into her anyway, wanting to add to the carnage, before the pair of fighter bombers overflew the wrecked cruiser, leaving it to explode behind them. Now it was time to engage and destroy the other one.

"Black Sheep, Bossman, Listen up." The call from the squadron leader came in on the squadron's secure frequency. "Primary target for Charlie flight to disable is Glowworm. It's a Gozanti so once disabled the pods she is carying should de-mag and drop clear. The cargo we want is in her starboard side pod, Pod Bravo." Taab listened earnestly, these Gozanti's might look tough, but they seemed to break up rather easily once hit. Charlie flight shouldn't have any problem disabling the target vessel, though a dedicated freighter would have less teeth to defend itself with.

"Echo flight, once that pod is loose, go in and grab it. Baker flight provide cover for Charlie and Echo." With Charlie flight re-tasked to their primary assignment, that would leave the anti-ship role to Taab and Lou and that struck the Mandalorian just fine. In fact, he relished the thought. "Delta flight, engage targets of opportunity at will, be ready to backup Charlie if needed."

"Roger that Boss," Taab commed back as more information scrolled across his own MFD, identifiers on the convoy. Targets of opportunity? The first would be the damaged Gozanti that Charlie flight had left in their wake. Taab smiled again as it came into view. It too was burning, though not quite so badly as the one mauled by Lou and himself. However, it's shields were down. "Lou, Ironhand," Taab switched over his comm system to transmit to just his flight. "Gozanti on our nose is our primary target..." he mashed the pickle button twice himself, sending two of his own torpedoes along their way towards the target. "After that we hit the Guardian." That one should make for a nice big boom he thought as he began pressing the trigger on his control yoke, sending out turbo laser shots as rapidly as the gun could cycle into the already burning cruiser in front of him. He was sure that his own torps and whatever Lou was firing should be enough to do the job, but when it doubt, overkill was the preferred option.

"Black ..eep, StarBuck..." The words were fraught with emotion even through the garbled comm system. "Squint's inbound yo.......tion." Her words were barely intelligible through the static, but the word squints was clear enough, and that meant TIE Interceptors. But how many? He looked to his scope as the Intruder squadron leader added more to her report. " Abou........zen, sorry." She closed her transmission with an apology, though she was certainly more sorry that she had allowed her own squadron to be overwhelmed than for the danger that was now coming their way. Taab's scanner was cluttered, but he could now clearly see the half dozen or so Interceptors screeching in towards Echo flight's holding pattern.

TAG: @Vehn, @Mostlymad, @BookExogorth, @galactic-vagabond422, @Anedon, @The Vanguard, @witchdoctor07, @Corellian_Outrider, @Outsourced, @Chyntuck (to keep you apprised of the game)


OOC: Trying something here since everyone doesn't seem to be getting tags. Could be a board issue, could be I'm tagging too many people in one post. So let's see what happens if I go back to tagging ten or less in a post. Let me know in the fanclub (or in an OOC comment here accompanying your in game post) if you get my tag here or not. As to the game, any questions, as always let me know. For clarification's sake, the immediate situation is as follows (though whether your character recognizes all of this or not is up to you):

• Able Flight: Two TIE Fighters are headed for Vixen's damaged X-Wing. Deal with them as you wish, feel free to post damage to them/destroy them as you see fit.
• Baker Flight: You have one damaged TIE moving off towards the Carrack. The Carrack, her own fighter escort and the ferryboat liner are too far away to immediately attack (that goes for everyone). Since you're in the midst of the convoy, you also have the surrounding cargo vessels that are firing at you with whatever meager defenses they can muster. Feel free to post damage to them/destroy them as you see fit (within reason of course).
• Charlie flight: There are still two TIE fighters in your area to deal with. Feel free to post damage to them/destroy them as you see fit. Baker Flight can engage these as well as per their orders. Of course Charlie flight has their own orders as well. Feel free to post damage to the convoy vessels (except the Carrack, the ferryboat liner and their fighter escort which are too far way) and disable/destroy them as you see fit (within reason of course).
• Delta Flight: There is still one TIE fighter in your area to handle as well as the burning Gozanti in front of Taab and Lou (damaged by Charlie flight). Feel free to post damage to these/destroy them as you see fit. Per orders, the rest of the convoy (except the Carrack, the ferryboat liner and their fighter escort which are too far way) are now also fair game disable/destroy them as you see fit (within reason of course).
• Echo Flight: Around a half dozen (keeping the number here slightly fluid for in game reasons) headed your way. Feel free to engage/damage/destroy them as you see fit. Just don't kill them all as I need some surviving Interceptors to get through for game purposes.

 

~IC~ Captain Cassell “Skipper” Wystari - B17
Location: Fringe of the Naboo System

The scopes displayed a range of contacts, illustrating the change in the convoy’s position, the Imperial fighters, the squadron as though they are engaged in a deadly dance choreography. The coms was alive with chatter from the squadron members, reporting in positions, threats and targets. Wystari kept a keen ear to what everyone was doing, at the ready to act if there was a cry for help or the go ahead for “Easy” flight to start their phase of the mission.

News filtered through from Intruder Squadron about the Imperial forces that are stationed at Naboo. It was a sizable force and not one to laugh about. Wystari added that information into the computer to estimate how long to expect the enemy reinforcements and set an alert for when that approximate time was up.

["Easy Flight, Black Lead."] the voice of Boss, the Black Sheep commander broke through on the comms. ["Until we know what to grab, hold just outside the battle area and keep an eye on those incoming fighters, let us know if they start getting too close."]

“Copy lead,” Wystari answered. Silently wishing he had a co-pilot to assist with keeping track of everything. Outside the viewport was could see flashes of red and green lasers and the occasional fiery explosion. “On standby and awaiting further instructions.”

He switched to the internal comm and gave the heads up to the marines about the expansion of their role as rear guard and added “..since time is easily lost in combat, I'an alarm has been set.”

As the skirmish increased in intensity, the tension rose. To sit on the edge of the field, to hear what everyone was going through and not act... However, he understood the need to do so. Everyone has a role to play for this operation to be completed without a hitch.

There came a chime from the comp to signify updated parameters had been received. The com lit up with a heads up on a potential target from one of the Gozanti cruisers named Glowworm.

["Echo flight, once that pod is loose, go in and grab it. Baker flight provide cover for Charlie and Echo."]

“Acknowledged.” Wystari answered as he locked in the name of the cruiser as the target. He angled the Valkyria closer to the combat zone. It would be easy for the freighter to claim the cargo container however, it would obstruct the ventral turret and limit their ability to fight back. Flagging Thin Mint’s U-Wing to follow suit, he made sure to keep the Valkyria ahead as a shield for the less than maneuverable modified craft. “Would you like the honours of claiming the first haul while I-”

His response was cut off from an inbound transmission to the squadron from Intruder Squadron. There were squints... Interceptors... inbound. Wystari frowned and looked at the timer for the alert, there was still under a minute to go. That was fast.

“I’ll provide coverage.” He finished, there was a low growl to his voice. He alerted the marines in the turrets about the incoming targets and their vector of approach. “You’ve heard the news…”

Gauging the angle from the scopes, Wystari rotated the Corellian vessel on its axis and adjusted course. The aim was to allow both the ventral and dorsal turrets a clear view of the inbound threats as possible while he brought them into the fray...

TAG: Open

 

IC: Akiva Lurell AKA 'Wolf'
First mission, second fray

Already the poodoo seemed to hitting the air circulators, but this was her first mission in a mixed squad with an unknown for a wingmate in a different type of craft. . .she was just lucky neither of them were dead. Still as she felt the steady vibrations of her craft straining the engines she had the unwelcome site of two TIE's deciding to play vulture. Sure they had wiped out two thirds of their flights but they didn't have to be petty about it and go after a crippled ship. . .like she had just a couple moments before.

Akiva shook her head at the thought as she smiled, "We're Rebels, under-dogs of the galaxy, only we get to do that." Grinning as a tone filled her eyes she grinned as one and then both TIE's began juking at her target lock before she fired the missile. "That'll teach them." she muttered to herself as she continued pushing her engines.

Watching it race ahead and past her crippled wingmate was a satisfying feeling as she also opened up with the more conventional weapons. At this range she wasn't about to destroy the TIEs with common fire but it at least created the appearance of a 'fire wall', something which was accented by one of the TIEs blossoming into a fireball itself. Watching the other peel off for now, likely to try attacking from another vector she frowned at the situation. She wasn't a pursuit craft like her wing nor their flights lead. Not to mention she had her orders, but flying as bait around a crippled ship dead in space was just asking for trouble. Somebody would die and there were no guarantees. The comm chatter about squints inbound only added that feeling of disquiet.

Opening a comm line to Aurek Flight she spoke quickly as a thought came to her, "This is crazy but Vixen, power down what you need for repairs and close your attack wings to cruising configuration. I want to mag clamp the bottoms of our crafts together. You might not be piloting until repairs are far enough, but I can at least keep you semi-mobile."

Now she just had to see what Flight Lead and Vixen thought of her plan. Actually as she closed in she already was orienting her fighter for the maneuver.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron, @Bardan_Jusik, Able Flight

 

GM Approved post.....

OOC: Hold on to your seats....this gets wild.

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray
Convoy THX-1138

Lou flinched and brought a hand up to block the glare as the TIE that was trailing Taab exploded in a fiery ball of ion gas. She rocked her head back and forth with glee as she and Taab soared beyond the stricken Gozanti cruiser and came back around.

"Gozanti on our nose is our primary target," Taab's voice came over her headset.

Lou watched as Taab's turbolaser hit the Gozanti again and again. Lou nodded in approval and armed her torpedoes. This time she acquired a lock and watched with satisfaction as her torps rocketed out of her Y-wing and straight into the cruiser ahead. She could see the flashes of explosions and flame trickle across her viewport as she shot through one of the fireballs. She pumped a fist in the air. This was getting good.

"After that we hit the Guardian, " Taab finished.

Lou began to tack in the direction of the Guardian. She goosed more power from her engines as she zigged and zagged through the frantically scrambling convoy. She wanted the prize. She wanted the big fish. She had every intention of landing the first blow. Her blood was cold as space itself. She wanted the Imperials to pay for everything that hadn't gone right in her life.

Her radio crackled and came to life. The garbled message made Lou tilt her head at an angle. What did StarBuck say? Squints? Lou checked her sensors. They were a garbled, tangled, mess. She wasn't going to get an easy read out there. That meant she had to maintain her vigilence with regular visual checks of her six and blind spots.

"C-8, give me an extra set of eyes out there," Lou ordered, "We're looking for the trademarks of Interceptors out there."

The droid warbled in response. He was ready. He was scanning. He wouldn't let an Interceptor get on her tail. Not without a fight.

You're on the cannon," Lou commanded as she flicked a switch near her left arm and gave control of the ion cannon mounted on the canopy to the droid. She could hear the cannon whirring and whining as the droid scanned the perimeter. Even a TIE would have to respect the ion cannon if it came up on her wishbone looking for an easy kill. A couple of blasts and the TIE would find itself screaming into the depths of space without power or life support.

The Guardian ticked away on her targeting computer. It was still a ways out but the Imperial gunnery crews were anxious having seen their comrades go down in flames. The turbolaser fire was more intense as Lou closed the distance. She switched her shields to double front. She calmly juked and jinked her fighter up, down, and around the blasts of green energy. This wasn't her first rodeo. She had this.

Lou froze as an alarm went off on her HUD. Her blood ran cold. Deathly cold. Missile lock.

C-8 warbled and hollered in alarm as a concussion missile was launched from somewhere unknown and homed in on Lou's Y-wing. Lou punched her console in frustration and broke off her attack run. She cycled the targeting computer to acquire the missile so she knew the closing distance. 3 klicks. 2.5 klicks. 2 klicks.

Lou didn't have the time or the firepower to outrun or destroy the missile. Her attention was drawn to the convoy that was all around her. She turned toward the freighters as the missile ticked off at 1 klick. Then .5 klicks. It was almost up her tailpipe. A nearby freighter loomed large in her canopy. She spotted the mag-con field of the freighter's small hangar bay and knew what she had to do. She quickly cycled all available power to her engines and heard the old Y-wing groan in protest.

The mag-con field was upon her now. She depressed the trigger and watched as her lasers flew into the field temporarily lowering it allowing her to pass through. Lou immediately killed the throttle and activated her inertial dampeners as she came in for a hard landing on the hangar deck. Somehow she managed to rotate the Y-wing to face the oncoming missile. She lurched forward against her restraints as she touched down hard only to watch with satisfaction as the missile exploded into the edge of the mag-con field nearly bringing the entire apparatus down.

Lou flicked a few switches to get her Y-wing up and running again but no joy. She was fried. Dead in the water. C-8 was screaming in her ear. Cussing her out in binary and every other language possible. To make matters worse the Imperial ground crew was coming directly for her with a cadre of stormtroopers....

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik