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

IC: Lt Kayn "Madcap" Balzroth
The Black Zone is for Dancing Marshallers Only

As the X-wings led the Sheep out of their hangar, Kayn pushed the nagging doubts into the back of his mind and focused on the Gamorrean with the wands. What the frack? Is this the same guy? Maybe somebody drugged him. This is no good, he's one of the few bright spots in this pudu hole corner of the Rebellion. Let's try and wake him up!

Leaving his canopy open, Kayn linked his neural controls in to Rebel Rouser and waved both hands at Zayne. He yelled, "HEY BUDDY! LOOK, NO HANDS!" The A-wing lifted off the deck as the pilot continued to wave wildly. The wands wavered uncertainly as the marshaller gaped at the fighter pilot. "SEE WHAT I CAN DO!" he shouted, yawing the fighter left and right. Double-checking that weapons were safetied, Kayn activated the actuators and swung the side-mounted blaster cannons up and down. "CAN YOU DO THIS?" The blasters twirled in opposite directions as Kayn's hands spun outside the canopy.

Zayne took a step forward and turned slightly, moving his supervisor out of his line of sight. The wands began to swing with more of their accustomed vigor and flair. The A-wing rolled several degrees left and right, and the marshaller leaned back and forth, mimicking the ship's movements. Kayn raised his fighter's nose as high as it would go without scraping his tail, then lowered it to just centimeters above the deck. The Gamorrean made eye contact with the Devaronian and bowed in return. With a triumphant spin of the wands that was so enthusiastic they blurred into streaks of light, Zayne motioned for B Flight to take the active ramp.

Kayn finally closed his canopy and completed his pre-takeoff checklist. He was tempted to roll inverted inside the hangar, but that would probably jeopardize the promotion that surely awaited him. Activating his transmitter on traffic control frequency, he sent, "Traffic, Black 5, flight control systems op check nominal, ready for takeoff."

 

IC: Zara Yaren

No, Zara thought as Flagg outlined the second part of their mission, I'm not doing it. But she didn't voice her disapproval, because at heart she was a coward. It was a conclusion she'd come to through the day, as she left the mess a step behind everyone else, as she left them to deal with the chaos in the hangars, as she avoided looking at the data chip that might change everything. The last time she'd gone up she'd come back alone. It wasn't the first time, and it might always be the last. But it never was, she always returned more or less unharmed, and so she had maneuvered her way to this less than flattering conclusion.

If Zara wasn't a coward she would tell the others about her dilemma. They were rebels, after all, and no one loved killing Imperials more. But selfishly, she didn't want their help. What was the point of revenge if she didn't get to burn a hole between that schutta's eyes? How else would she finally let two dozen ghosts rest easy? Would it even be enough?

One step forward and three back. Max had helped, had promised and come through. But Max didn't like her any more. Everyone else was too important: Kayn gunning for a promotion, Hollymander a mistake, and it wasn't like she'd bothered to get to know anyone else. No, because that too was the coward's route: at least she didn't have to care when half their number didn't return each time they went up. She'd flown with Joy, except Joy was probably dead by now, and they were throwing their lives and their ships at a couple of dead squad mates. She hadn't even liked Joy, too stiff and stuck up by half, but she'd done her job at least, and hit the Imperials harder than they gave.

When's the last time you got a kill? Zara didn't count kills, forbade the painting of any numbers on her ship. I'd rather not know, she'd say, how many I've killed. But that was cowardice speaking: she didn't care to see how little she was contributing even as she wasted precious resources. They were going to notice sooner or later. Maybe the conspiracy-minded would think she was a spy, unwilling to hurt the Imperials when it mattered. Maybe that was a better answer than the truth.

Because the truth was...

"It's about time we earned our flight pay. Once again, it's up to the two of us to show the galaxy what space superiority is all about. Let's go light the fires." He grinned again and headed for the hatch.

Right. That. Because as much of a coward as she was, as much as she wanted to scream at them all about throwing their lives away after two pilots that were probably dead, she wasn't going to let Kayn fly alone. Which meant...

Kio was under her ship as she approached, far too tall to be comfortable to be climbing around such a small starfighter, but she'd never heard a word of complaint. Maybe she ought to be nicer to him.

"I fixed up that crack for you," he commented, somehow soft even over the cacophony of the hangar. What crack? she wanted to ask, but bit her tongue. She didn't remember a lot of the last mission, especially at the end there. Her tech squinted a bit and leaned closer.

"Are you feeling well?" He asked, at least respecting her enough not to shout the question across so someone else might hear.

Zara shook her head, but answered, "I'm fine. I can fly." And he seemed to accept her at her word, nodding and moving away to pick up her helmet from a nearby tool cart.

"May the Force be with you," he said solemnly as she took her helmet from him and slid it on. What a strange man. At least he was good at fixing things.

The canopy came down as she settled in, her normal focus still lacking. The engines started up fine, everything was fine, but she could barely see the controls in front of her, let alone think a kilometre ahead of herself. Space superiority, Kayn had said. Not like this, that was for sure. There was one way to rectify the way her gloved fingers wouldn't quite settle on the stick, the jitter as she flipped toggles.

She glanced over at the commotion on deck. Kayn, up to something she couldn't hear, and the dancing marshall. It was... almost funny. Zara hummed to herself, something vague and half-remembered as she finished the start up sequence. Everything was good except the pilot, and she'd fix that after takeoff.

"Black Six, ready."

TAG: @Sarge, any others launching for the big rescue

 

Joint post with @Bardan_Jusik...thanks, Chief!

IC: Commander Flagg (NPC), Maxime “Max” Pallas
Ready to launch

Flagg was busy with his own preflight routine as he listened in on the other craft checking in when Max chimed in, first clearing her throat followed by, "I thought the second mission was voluntary." The bitterness in her voice was readily apparent.

"You volunteered the moment you strapped yourself into that cockpit." He saw that his coolant pressure was a little low, still within safety limits, but something to look at when they got back. "If you want to beg off, then head back to the Intrepid after we hit the refinery." That would mean going through the real mission with just three X-Wings, if she didn't pull her wingman off with her. Doable, but just barely. They could ill afford to lose anyone, but better a pilot not be there at all if they weren't 100% behind the mission. That would just lead to more losses.

Max nodded. She could bug out and feign ignorance when asked where the others were. On the other hand... you don't leave your wingman. Every pilot worthy of the title knew that. Flagg might be able to take care of himself. But then... She pursed her lips. "Who takes over the squadron if you die?" she asked.

Flagg let out a gruff snort. "Wallings probably, so be careful what you wish for."

Max was shocked and, predictably, horrified. "That explains a lot. Does she even know how to fly? All right, I'm coming."

"Glad to have you with us."

The Corellian woman rolled her eyes. If it was anyone but Wallings, she’d definitely be coming up with a reason why she didn’t go through the second part of the mission.

Further complaint was cut short, though. “Black Sheep Leader, this is Intrepid Traffic Control. You are clear to launch. Launch all fighters.”

Max touched the braided corley wreath through her flightsuit. Here goes nothing.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, Anyone

 

IC: Eliana Saeli, Alec Cadera
Black Sheep ready room
A few hours later...

Eliana listened to Flagg as she leaned against Alec, who was listening just as intently. This was going to be hard, Eliana realised. They had to be more accurate then they were on the last mission, and she felt Alec's hand squeeze her shoulder as if he knew what she was thinking. Eliana leaned against him, and he wrapped an arm around her lower back. I feel like I haven't slept in days. Hopefully we can get a break after this mission. I just want to curl up in bed and sleep for a week. She frowned a little, and shook her head to clear the fogginess away and then stood up when they were dismissed. She looked over at Alec and waited until he stood up before she motioned her head.

"Come on. We need to do a pre-flight check before anything else, and I want to make sure Buddy is up to speed." Eliana told him. Alec smiled a little, and nodded before they started to walk to their Y-Wing in the hanger. "We don't have much time."

"Yes. I know." Alec told her as they reached the hanger. "But you need to slow down a little."

"So do you." Eliana argued back. She sighed and placed a hand on her head. "Look, I know that last mission was a bit of a mess for us, and I'm sorry. But if we don't get in sync with one another I don't know if we can continue to fly together."

Alec grabbed her arm gently, and stopped Eliana next to their Y-Wing. "We're a good team. Is that why you didn't sleep? Because you were worried?" He sighed at Eliana's nod and pulled her into a hug. Eliana laughed a little, relieved; and tucked her head into his shoulder. "I know I messed up last time, but this flight; this battle is going to go great." He let go of Eliana, and stepped back. "I promise."

"Thank you Alec." Eliana said, blushing a bit because they were so close. "We should really do that pre-flight check now that Buddy is back." There was a beep from behind them and Eliana laughed. "Come on Alor, we need to get moving."

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik @Rebecca_Daniels @Sarge @Corellian_Outrider @Vehn @Anedon @Mitth_Fisto @The Real Kyp Durron @adaml83 @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @galactic-vagabond422

 

IC: Dietryk Gray
Flying over SonTay Prison Camp

"You're ordered to return to your unit, Lieutenant Commander Gray," a voice stated into his helmet.

"Understood," Dietryk replied.

He activated his shields, gave one final waggle over the camp, and zoomed out of the atmosphere. Within seconds the blue tunnel of hyperspace greeted him and he could allow himself to rest ever so slightly. All the while he felt a looming regret surge in his soul. The feeling was unexpected.

The regret was, quite simply, that he hadn't had an opportunity to kill Lou when he had the chance.

A shame but at least I broke her mind, body and spirit. There's some victory to be had there.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik

 

GM Update: Part I
​

Able/Baker Flights

IC: Commander Flagg (NPC)
Leading the Black Sheep to BacYang

"All right Black Sheep, follow me..." Flagg ordered over the squadron frequency as he led the planes off the deck of the Intrepid, hoping they would all follow. "Leading this squadron is like herding Tooka," he muttered under his breath, after ensuring that his radio mike wasn't keyed to active. He didn't want that going out over the net, it was sure to start yet another debate.

Looping his X-Wing out above the carrier now he took stock of what they had. Four X-Wings, just two A-Wings, another pair of Y-Wings, three B-Wings and of course the Valkyria. It made him glad he had convinced Max to stick with them for the second part of the operation. If they had lost her, they might not have enough. "Evil Eye, this is Black Leader," he commed out now to the Intrepid. "We're ready." The reply back from the carrier was quick and professional.

"Roger that Black leader," it was the soothing voice of the Intrepid's communications officer, LT Iala. "You are all set, we'll see you at the rally point." As per standard protocol the ship would be jumping to hyperspace after the Black Sheep departed so as to avoid being backtracked. Hopefully she would still be there when the Black Sheep finished up with heir own off the books assignment. "Good hunting," the woman added warmly before Flagg radioed out to the squadron now. "All right Black Sheep, we go in three, two, one..." he pushed forward on his hyperdrive activation lever. "Now!"

---

​

Coming out of hyperspace, roughly an hour later

As planned, the X-Wings dropped out of hyperspace first, well away from the gravity well of the gas giant known as BacYang. "All right Able flight, eyes sharp and lock your S-foils in attack position," Flagg commed out to the four craft as he began scanning the sky around him for enemy contacts. For once they seemed to be in luck. No enemy capital ships were in scanner range, and they had local space nearly all to themselves. Just an incoming freighter loaded with cargo containers, Flagg immediately tagged it as a non combatant as it was unescorted, and a two plane TIE fighter patrol broke the Black Sheep's sense of solitude as the Valkyria now reverted to normal space out near the heavily laden freighter.

​

"Echo flight," he radioed to the Valkyria though his own flight would also overhear his orders, "keep clear while we take out those those eyeballs. See if you can't keep that freighter clear too." He pushed forward on his own fighter's throttle and rolled into an attack posture. Outnumbered and outgunned the TIE fighters split off, headed in opposite directions, though one exploded almost immediately afterwards, taken out by a quick shot from one of the others. Making a quick decision Flagg opened up with a snap shot on the surviving TIE but the deflection angle was too much and his shots went wide. The nimble Imperial craft screamed off his starboard side and disappeared behind him before also being destroyed by another from Able flight. Less then ten seconds into the operation and they already had two kills to their credit. This was going well Flagg thought to himself, which is usually when things start to fall apart.

Flagg turned towards the planet, letting his nose mounted scanners get a good look at what was coming. "I hate being right all the time." What had started as a mere handful of additional TIE fighters rising from the planet to meet them soon became an entire squadron's worth, and then more. Now his screen was absolutely cluttered with oncoming TIEs, though his droid managed to count them for him and reported in with a melancholy whistle. "24?" Flagg was incredulous, though he pressed on anyway. "That's twice what we expected." He sighed, recalling his earlier thoughts from just a moment ago. Nothing ever came easy for the Black Sheep.

Their timing though, that was impeccable he thought, as just as the Imperial fighters exited the planet's gravity well two more ship's jumped out of hyperspace right behind them. It was the pair of A-Wings from Baker flight. They were in perfect attack position behind the TIEs, none of which had yet reacted to the new threat from behind them. "Our turn to catch them by surprise," Flagg thought as his own group of X-Wings roared towards the enemy fighters. The rebels were heavily outnumbered, but they had the Imps caught in a pincer. Flagg allowed himself a rare smile. He liked those odds.

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Sarge @Anedon @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @Corellian_Outrider @The Real Kyp Durron @adaml83 @Vehn

---

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Leading Charlie and Delta flights, raid on BacYang

Moments after Baker flight reverted to realspace, Taab gave the order to the attack element to do the same. As the swirl of hyperspace became distinct points of light out in front of them, the Mandalorian pulled back on his control yoke and powered up his shields and weapons, "S-Foils to attack position" he ordered out to the Deltas. Charlie flight's Y-Wings didn't have to worry about such reminders. Taking quick stock of the situation the Mandalorian pilot saw that the situation was already well in hand, though the fighters were dealing with a lot more TIEs than had been anticipated.

As planned the attack craft had come out of hyperspace closer in to the planet than even Baker flight had, well behind the Imperial fighters now screaming towards the oncoming X-Wings. Behind the Imperial's first line of defense then Taab turned the attack craft towards the primary target, the small tibanna gas mining facility floating in the upper reaches of the gas giant's atmosphere.

It really did look like a miniature Cloud City he thought, though he had only been there once on a job over a decade ago. It shouldn't be a problem for the attack craft then, though he was reminded this wasn't purely a blue milk run as flak began exploding around them. That's right, they had a trio of turbolaser towers protecting the facility. The blasts from them were ineffective and widely dispersed for now, but they would get more powerful, and more precise as they closed the range. "Charlie flight," he commed out to the pair of Y-wings. Kid was in command of that element now, something Taab wasn't really thrilled by, but with just the two there wasn't much as could be done about it. The junior pilot was going to get herself quite a lesson today he thought as he continued on. "Those gun towers are all yours once we get close enough, give us..." he paused as a series of new contacts appeared on his screen in front of him.

"Belay that." he ordered now. It was an additional eight TIE fighters rising up from the facility to meet the attack craft. "Looks like they had a fighter reserve" Taab called out more for Flagg's benefit than his own element who could see what was coming towards them. "Yeah intel was hosed!" Quin responded, though she seemed oddly excited by the prospect, rather than upset by it.

"Again," Taab muttered under his breath, but over the squadron circuit. "Cut the chatter Delta flight," Flagg now ordered them. "OK, looks like Charlie and Delta will have to cut their way through those eight eyeballs, while Baker and Able takes on the main force and keeps them off your tails. Hit the refinery as planned as soon as you're able. Acknowledge." He wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before committing themselves here. "Roger that," Taab called back before switching over to the attack craft circuit as he poured on the throttle. "Charlie and Delta flights, accelerate to attack speed!"

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @galactic-vagabond422 @TheSilentInfluence

OOC: BacYang taken from Flight of the Intruder (movie and book) where it was the initial target of the protagonists before their own illicit raid

Breakdown:

• Able Flight: Take out the initial two fighters (first come first served on those folks) then we reform to confront the two dozen TIEs inbound towards our characters. However we won't merge with them before Baker flight gets their first cracks in on them, so wait for the engagement with the two dozen TIEs until Baker flight can get a post in and really start things off.
• Baker Flight: Your characters are behind the two dozen TIEs that are intercepting Able flight's X-Wings. These TIE fighters have not realized you are there and won't react until your fighters open fire.

From that point both Able and Baker pilots may "engage at will" with the two dozen TIE fighters which are free use. Control, damage and destroy the enemy fighters as you see fit in your posts. There are eight additional TIE Fighters out in front of both Charlie and Delta. These are out of reach for Able and Baker flights, so the attack craft will have to take care of them. These eight TIE fighters are free use for any in Charlie or Delta flights to engage and destroy (Control, damage and destroy the enemy fighters as you see fit in your posts). Once they are scattered enough (your discretion, though if we have not gotten there I will get us there by my next update) then...

• Charlie Flight: Engage and destroy the three gun turrets https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/XX-9_heavy_turbolaser protecting the refinery. Again these may be damaged/destroyed in your posts as you see fit.
• Delta Flight: Bomb the refinery itself, targeting the tibanna stoarge tanks with our proton torpedoes. This will be a "cumulative effect" sort of thing, so it will take strikes by all three B-Wings to be totally effective but you may post damage to the refinery in your posts as well.

• Echo Flight/Valkyria crew: You have been tasked with keeping an overall eye on the battle as well as ensuring the heavily laden freighter stays clear of the battle area. It is a YT-1300 pushing cargo containers in her front mandibles (as seen in the image above). I'll be PMing you Outrider with a little more on that to be included in your post.

 

OOC: Still separating the updates into parts so everyone gets their tags.

GM Update: Part II
​

IC: Major Roger Hammond/Captain Steppan Rouger (NPCs)
Barracks 2, POW Camp, SonTay Prison camp

With the interrogations over, Hammond, Rouger and the others again convened in the middle of the barracks. Hammond wasn't sure he had learned much of anything that could point to a potential spy in their midst, though there were still a few that he considered to be under more suspicion than others.

From outside the noise of stormtroopers barging into other barracks and pulling out random prisoners for their own interrogations wafted through the camp. They served as a reminder of what Kellit had said regarding idea of pulling a POW out and putting them in isolation. None had been there more often than Stilts, indeed he was there in isolation even now, but his stays there were always as a result of his recapture following an escape attempt. Attempts that had provided much information the the escape committee. There was no way it could possibly be him thought Hammond, though now he had his doubts. Stilts had always volunteered for the scouting missions masked as escape attempts, and they always resulted in him being "recaptured" and put into isolation. As had been mentioned, it was the perfect cover for an agent.

Only the one tunnel had been revealed though, the only one that the denizens of barracks two knew the location of. if it was Stilts, or any other spy, the whole escape plan would have been revealed. So unless the spy was playing games with them, the spy had to come from here. Unless of course there was no spy, the issue of electronic surveillance had also been raised. The POWs of the various barracks had done their best in the past to scan for such devices using tech scrounged and acquired via various other means by the squibs, but that was by no means a failsafe solution. The Empire could have very easily bugged one of the barracks, or even a person. If so, then all they had discussed would already be known by the Empire. Was that why they had not been back here again since the taking of the Graul? Were they using this as an opportunity to learn as much as they could before sweeping up everyone together? The prospect was a frightening one.

"So," he said pulling Captain Rouger aside. "What do you think?" The broad shouldered man looked at him, concern in his eyes. "It's not a great bet, but if I had to put money on it I'd say Lou..." Hammond pursed his lips and considered that for a moment. Rouger had been the one to conduct that particular interview, he would know best the sense he got from it. Of course he had also been all of outright accused by her of being the spy, so there could be a measure of revenge there. Hammond regarded the man carefully as he dismissed the notion. As Rouger himself had said, his record was beyond reproach since coming here.

"What about you?" The shorter man shrugged before replying to Rouger's question. His own interrogation of the Aqualash had revealed him to be a detestable being, but not one that Hammond thought was a spy. That had the side effect of exonerating Lin as well. The pair were attached at the hip, one could hardly be the spy without the other being a part of it. "I was thinking more of Vic, I didn't like the way he said he survived any way he could, we know from past experience he trades with the Imps..."

Rouger raised an eyebrow in surprise at that. "Let's face it, everyone..." He gave a slight nod and a half smile at the knowing look from Hammond. "OK, everyone but me, has traded with the Imps a little, and the squibs more than anyone so I was thinking Joy more than Vic..." Hammond shook his head at that and interrupted him. "The Sunwalkers may be compromised yes, but hardly the cover a hardened spy would use." Rouger's eyes narrowed. "Unless it's not an Imperial agent and just a prisoner giving us up to make things easier on themselves, or their family." Hammond sighed, the Skarnian captain had a point. "So we're right where we left off then, no closer to knowing the truth." There was yelling and and screaming from another barracks followed by the sound of blaster fire as the Stormtroopers summarily executed a prisoner who was resisting. "Well, we had better figure out something fast, because things here are starting to fall apart."

TAG: @Jerjerrod-Lennox @TheAdmiral @Vehn @darthbernael @Mistress_Renata @Sarge @TheAdmiral @Sinrebirth

OOC: OK, doing something a little different here to add a bit of fun. I'll be adding a poll to the game, the purpose of which is to give me a better idea of where things stand and if more hints need to be dropped (I think probably yes).. Just vote for who you think the Imperial mole in the prison camp is. This may differ from what your characters believe and the poll is open to everyone regardless of whether you have a character involved in the POW camp plotline or not, or even any character in the game at all. Note the poll will close in two weeks, so good luck, and good hunting.

 

Maxime “Max” Pallas
Somewhere near BacYang

It was a long jump, and Max’s backside was getting numb. She shifted on the couch, and adjusted the gravity slightly, hoping it would help. It gave her plenty of time to ponder the question of a spy. “Digs,” she said, “going over our past missions…what is the average amount of time between our arrival on site and the arrival of those Defenders?”

The droid considered—all hyperspace systems were functioning at optimal levels and didn’t require its full attention—and responded on her ship’s screen. //AVERAGE ARRIVAL OF ENEMY SHIPS AT 13.05 MINUTES FROM INITIAL ARRIVAL.

“Hm. What about the Star Raiders last mission? How soon did the Defenders arrive?”

//ARRIVAL AT 12.03 MINUTES FROM ARRIVAL.

Max shook her head. She’d have to talk to Hollymander again. “They’re definitely being tipped off,” she said. “There’s no way in the Hells that they could scramble that quickly. And that cruiser waiting for us, when we were just on a training mission…there’s no such thing as coincidence.”

She brooded about this. Someone with access to the ops and flight plans. But not one of them. Lou had tipped off her boyfriend on Naboo, but she wasn’t around for the Star Raider mission. Someone at a higher level. Wallings seemed obvious…almost too obvious. Taab didn’t have her confidence, but was he in on planning ops? Flagg…she didn’t want to think of him as a possibility, but no one knew much about him. The Captain? Had his defection to the Rebels, with his ship and crew, been part of a very clever trap? Although wouldn’t they be trying to get in with the High Command? What about Spence? Or Teague? And how were they getting the messages out?

Max sighed. She’d made a vow to herself not to slice into the Rebel computers, but lives were at stake. Of course, if he—or she—had been smart and partitioned the Rebel systems from the old Imperial software, it would make a lot of sense to tap the Imp systems, too…see if there was a subroutine running that would be invisible to the Rebel security software. And of course, there was also a possibility that there was some type of hardware tracking device on the exterior of the ship that had gone undetected. Digger would be able to track it down…although given the size of the Intrepid, he’d need help. Would she be able to co-opt the help of the squadron’s other astromechs in a good cause?

A small but insistent beeping let her know they were about to drop out of hyperspace. Max touched the corley wreath in her pocket and took a deep breath as she pulled back on the controls.

The strange swirls of hyperspace coalesced into a crisp starfield, with the massive gas planet ahead of them. Her targeting display lit up as ships appeared. The Sheep were there, and an old Corellian freighter. It seemed to be civilian, had a load of crates, okay… and two TIE fighters coming towards them.

Right. She stayed in wing position behind Flagg, ready to move as they split. One broke to the left, and Flagg was moving to take the one on the right. She stayed with him, and felt a faint tremor. A glance over her shoulder showed one of them going up. Tehanis or Malek, earning their flight pay. Flagg was firing, but he was a fraction of a millisecond too late, and the eyeball broke off…and flew straight at her!

“YEEARGH!” she shouted in surprise, and instinctively punched the firing controls even while she was trying to roll to get out of the way. The Imp pilot was very brave, or very crazy, trying to initiate a game of chook with her. Or, actually, he might not have seen her, if he was still focused on Flagg. It didn’t matter, in any event, because her shot hit and there was a bad moment as she went through the debris cloud. Some of it penetrated, she could feel it crashing against the ship.

“Digs, damage?” she said faintly. The report came back…a few dents and dings, but hull and structural integrity was above 95%, shields were at 87% and refreshing…Okay.

She glanced towards the freighter, hoping that the pilot would be smart enough to get out of the way.

Digger whistled an alert and she gasped at a swarm of TIEs coming towards them. //ROBO REPORTS TALLY 24 BANDITS, DEAD AHEAD.

<<Are you kriffing me?>> There were only four X-wings up against twenty-four—no! Max shook her head and growled. You never, ever calculate the odds. Very, very bad luck! She turned her head and spit to the left, to ward it off. On the plus side, it was going to impossible not to hit any. She checked her position, and waited for orders. But this proved her theory. Twenty-four fighters would never scramble fast enough to intercept them in less than three minutes of arrival. They knew we were coming. So how did they know?


TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, @Anedon, @Adalia-Durron

 

OOC: This is a combo between me and @Sarge ! Thank you for your patience and the fun! This post takes place just before the update.

IC: Doctor Dennii Sunwalker, Tiki
Location: SonTay POW Camp

Tiki led Dr Sunwalker aside and gestured politely to a bunk where she could sit. "Please make yourself comfortable. Or at least less uncomfortable. Well, as you humans like to say, ladies first. What questions would you like to ask me?"

"You are quite the gentleman." Dennii smiled warmly as she sat. The Squibs were adorable and she wanted to pet them, but she was sure that they would not like nor allow it. Even though she had military training she was not sure how to proceed. "I concede, after all me and my family are under suspicion so I guess you should go first?"

"Well, if you insist... So then, how are you adapting to your recent move? Getting settled in all right, all things considered?" As he talked, Tiki was searching his pockets. He held up a small paper packet triumphantly. "Aha! I knew I had a little tea left over! Won't be half a moment while I check if we have a little hot water." He jumped up and scurried across the barracks, accidentally bumping into Riki along the way. Riki surreptitiously palmed his wrinkled flimsi notes into Tiki's paw. Moments later, Tiki was back with Dennii and carefully sprinkling tea leaves into battered tin cups. "Just local leaves, really, that blew into the compound from outside, but properly dried, their flavor isn't totally unlike real tea. There you go. I'd offer you milk and sugar, but, well... "

Dennii chuckled, that was an odd question, but she was no expert in interrogation or interviews as they seemed to be calling that "Me and my husband have been at this camp for quite some time, though in the political prisoners' area." she started "So, it is a prison like the others, a bit more people than we are used to." Dennii shrugged "I hope these leaves agree with me, have you tried them before?" she tilted her head. She really hoped they were not some sort of a drug or something like that.

Tiki let his paw brush "accidentally" against her hand as he passed the tin cup over. He had noticed that human females like the feel of Squib fur, it seemed to relax them, and sometimes they'd lower their guard a bit. "Oh, nothing to worry about, other humans have tried this tea. I think the consensus is that it's a mild stimulant, and a couple of people say it settles an upset stomach. So, let's begin. When were you first aware of the tunnels?" Setting his cup down, he pulled a stylus out of a pocket and a wrinkled scrap of flimsi out of another, placing it behind the tin cup so that he could pretend to make notes on it and she wouldn't see what was already scribbled on it: Riki's notes from his interview with her husband.

Dennii was not a suspicious person by nature, so she trusted the Squib, though hoped that it would have been misplaced. Then Tiki struck her with the first question. The Doctor paused to mull over the question "I think when we were asked to join in the effort to dig." she said cautiously "They were quite well concealed."

"I suppose that says something good for our own security. Either that, or none of the rebels wanted to risk trusting you because you were an Imperial. Before the Empire came after you, were you proud to be an Imperial citizen? Did you believe the Emperor had the good of the people at heart?" Tiki glanced up at her with an apologetic look as he scribbled on the flimsi.

"I suppose it does." she nodded in agreement then paused to think over the answer to his next question. It was something that she had not considered before and it was hard for her to articulate the answer "To be honest I was never that into politics." she finally said with a sigh "Oh, I have been a patriot to the Republic, was part of the Judicials and so on." she smiled sadly "But never gave it much thought, especially after I got married and had Jocelyn." Dennii continued "Let's say I want peace and order, if the Empire can provide that then fine, if not, then whoever can." she fixed him with a gaze "I hope that makes sense. But to sum it up, no, I am not a fanatic and I am also not blind to what the Empire had and still is doing and I don't support that."

"Mmhmm... " Tiki nodded as he continued scribbling on the flimsi. "What about your husband? Was he also apolitical? And how did you two meet?"

Dennii took a look at her husband "Yes and no..." she stated simply "He is a patriot, but does not approve of what some of the Imperial officials are doing." she started "He hasn't shared it with anyone else, but the reason we were arrested was because he refused to Base Delta Zero a civilian population." Dennii paused "BDZ means that he was supposed to make an orbital bombardment with his Star Destroyer. He refused and that is how we got here." she pursed her lips "As for how we met, we were both in the Judicials, so an office-romance so to speak." the doctor chuckled softly.

"And then Joy - Jocelyn - came along. How did her arrival change things for you? What was she like as a child?"

"Well for starters I had another child to think about..." she chuckled "The first one being my husband." Dennii smirked "Had to take maternity leave, then I decided to quit and started a private practice, though having to move around did not help much, but in the end we settled on Coruscant." she sighed and smiled "Oh she was less serious and grim." the doctor chuckled again at the memory "She was so infatuated by the Jedi, it almost broke her heart having them branded as traitors."

Tiki nodded. "Traitor is an ugly word. And it's getting used an awful lot around here lately. Have you ever been betrayed?"

Dennii gave a bitter chuckle "Of course I have been betrayed before." she gave a sad sigh "By friends, family, but not from my husband. At least I hope I haven't been by him."

Tiki hesitated, striving for delicacy. "Hope? What reason is there to doubt?"

Dennii chuckled "Well he used to go on long patrols, there were women crewmembers..." she sighed "But I doubt that he was unfaithful." she shrugged.

"Ah, I see. So... no awkward moments of calling you by the wrong name, I assume. Or does he prefer to call you by a pet name?"

Dennii chuckled again "No, no, no such things." she sighed "Though I really doubt it, to risk his career on a fling. And I believe he genuinely loves his family."

Tiki raised his tin cup in a toasting gesture. "Madam, as far as I can see, you are just what you claim to be, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, what would you like to ask me?"

Dennii raised her cup as well "Thank you, likewise." she smiled and thought for a moment "Tell me about yourself, what do you do here?"

Tiki shrugged and smiled wryly. "Same thing Squibs do everywhere. Find things and make deals. It's what we're best at. Of course, being rodentoids, we'd be respectable tunnellers too... if anyone were so misguided as to attempt to escape this compound." He feigned a look of shock at the very idea.

Dennii chuckled "To be honest I am out of my element with the interrogations." she smiled "It is ironic as I am used to interrogate patients as to what seems to be the problem and so on, but this..." the doctor sighed and gestured "Is a bit above my paygrade, so if you are the traitor, which I doubt, I am not the one who will find that out."

"Honestly, it's not me. Nor my brother... probably. Well then, shall we finish our tea and and rejoin your better half and my lesser half?"

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @Sarge @Jerjerrod-Lennox @Sinrebirth @darthbernael @Mistress_Renata @Vehn

 

IC: Kayn "The Kayniest" Balzroth
Back in the Saddle

Starstreaks shortened to pinprick stars as Rebel Rouser reverted to realspace. Kayn was looking straight ahead at the tails of 24 TIE fighters. Talk about your target rich environments! He took a moment to scan aft, sensors still passive. Aside from a dark shadow that may or may not have been his wingmate, his tail was clear. And the TIEs ahead still seemed unaware, probably because they were focused on the X-wings of A Flight dead ahead of them. This is so easy it's almost insulting. He wanted to signal Zero to cover him, but it was wiser to maintain comm silence until he opened fire, and he trusted that she'd be behind him doing her sniping and doing it well, as usual.

Throttling his engines up to attack speed, he yawed slightly to the left, tracking TIEs on passive sensors. His new neural links were functioning perfectly; even with the limited data from passive sensors, the images in his brain showed up with crystal clarity. He triggered a pair of concussion missiles in passive homing mode toward the eyeballs on the far left of the formation, yawed right as the tubes reloaded, then loosed two more missiles at the TIEs on the far right. His acceleration rate already had him inside energy weapons range. A concentrated blast from his cannons pulverized a fighter in the middle of the formation. There was no point in trying to hide any more, so he set shields double front, went active on sensors, and activated his secondary transmitter on universal comm freq.

"EAT PLASMA, IMPERIAL SCUM!" That should draw their attention away from A Flight's X-wings. Zara's right though, I am ridiculous. But I don't care! I was made for this!

Multiple TIEs were turning toward him and opening fire. Sensor jammer activated, he snap-rolled away from the worst of the cannon fire. A couple of stray shots glance off his shields.

"You'll have to do better than that, you TIE-flying barve-holes. Yeah, barve-holes, I just made that up. Do you think it'll catch on?"


TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Mistress_Renata @Anedon @Adalia-Durron

 

IC Ianna Mcear
BacYang

Ianna was a little in awe of the station. Sure she saw holos of their target but nothing prepared her for the sight of the gas giant. The swirling clouds and bright star so far in the distance. It was beautiful, unfortunately they had a job to do, a refinery to destroy. As the order for locking s-foils came in Ianna just switched off her torpedoes, making sure she wasn't tempted to use them. She would need them later for something very important. Flak started coming in and Ianna went evasive, even if it was being ineffective she wasn't about to take risks.

The orders came in to being their attack and Ianna settled in switching her shields to double front. She felt like she might be forgetting something...something important...Looking over her shoulder she saw, Black Ten Alor and Mixer on her wing, behind her.

Oh right...she was 'leading' Charlie flight...when did that happen? And who decided that would be a good idea? Shaking her head she was about to say something when eight fighters came rising out from the base.

"Oh no…" She said slamming her throttle to full. "Um Black Ten, ah...shields, shields double front...it should help." The TIEs grew closer and she opened up with her lasers. "Um...Ten B...Um Mixer think you could try and keep those TIEs off us? I can't really shoot behind me." She saw one TIE get a little clipped and start spinning away. Closing in on her target the flak came in heavier and Ianna was doing everything she could to avoid it. On her sensors she pinged the tower she was gunning for. "I got this one, you get the other one, and we'll see who get to take out the third." She wasn't so much ordering as suggesting. Though her heart was beating in her chest...was she doing the right thing? Was this what it felt like to lead? If it did, she didn't like it...not one bit.

The flak managed to keep the TIEs back lest they get smacked by their own allies. Diving down to the almost the deck she swooped in low letting off a stream of red and blue bolts that struck the base of the tower, then marked a trail up it as she pulled away. Her ship rattled as the flak hit closer to her, the armor just protecting her. Turning around she saw the tower smoking and burning before going up in a glorious fireball.

"I got it!" She called out entirely too happy with herself. "Black Ten how we looking?" she called out going evasive again dodging incoming fire and hoping to see her wingmate had taken out the other tower.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @TheSilentInfluence @Mitth_Fisto

 

IC: Akiva 'Wolf' Lurell
BacYang

Moments after Baker flight reverted to realspace, leaving the rest of them to sit like trained pets waiting the signal to pull back the leavers , Taab finally gave the order to the attack element to do the same. With a baring of fangs she pulled back and saw the swirl of hyperspace seem to pull back at her, then back away to infinity as the dark void and stars and galaxy came back into being. Flicking the switches to power everything up with the energy no longer needed by the hyperdrive she was greeted not only by Taab's voice barking obvious orders but that they once again had faulty intel. Needless to say the intel was not only faulty but in such a way that it was stacked even more against them then they had planned on. "S-foils to attack position indeed." she muttered to herself as she complied.

As planned the attack craft had come out of hyperspace closer in to the planet Taab turned the attack craft towards the primary target, the small tibanna gas mining facility floating in the upper reaches of the gas giant's atmosphere. Easing her controls she tightened up her position in formation, playing with the throttle as she tried to match the shifting speeds of the flight as a whole.

Flicking her sensors she rotated through what was programmed in, they had a trio of turbolaser towers protecting the facility. The blasts from them were ineffective and widely dispersed for now, but they would get more powerful, and more precise as they closed the range. Not her problem, something Taab decided to point out in a blunt manner. Go Mando, go. "Charlie flight," he commed out to the pair of Y-wings. "Those gun towers are all yours once we get close enough, give us..." he paused as a series of new contacts appeared on his screen in front of him.

"Belay that." he ordered now. It was an additional eight TIE fighters rising up from the facility to meet the attack craft. "Looks like they had a fighter reserve" Taab called out more for Flagg's benefit than his own element who could see what was coming towards them. "Yeah intel was hosed!" Quin responded, though she seemed oddly excited by the prospect, rather than upset by it.

"Did you expect something else from our intel?" Akiva quipped back, although the leader seemed to have turned that Mando ire their way.

"Again," Taab muttered under his breath, but over the squadron circuit. "Cut the chatter Delta flight," Flagg now ordered them. "OK, looks like Charlie and Delta will have to cut their way through those eight eyeballs, while Baker and Able takes on the main force and keeps them off your tails. Hit the refinery as planned as soon as you're able. Acknowledge." He wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page before committing themselves here. "Roger that," Taab called back before switching over to the attack craft circuit as he poured on the throttle. "Charlie and Delta flights, accelerate to attack speed!"

"Hurray! We're all gonna die in glory!" she cried out. . .to her otherwise empty cockpit. "This calls for something different." She muttered as she fingered her pad ticking through music options as she pushed the throttled.



That would do.

Turning back to the matter at hand as she felt the anticipation build until the enemy finally came into range. Swerving and squeezing the trigger she watched in satisfaction as a TIE that had tried to do a straight run was blown to bits by her fire. Of course that meant she likely had just killed a green horn, and her following shots seemed to confirm this as she barely winged a couple others on her way through the swarm. As Charlie flight went high for the turrets she went low for the pods. If she wasn't having to keep juking and jiving for the TIEs behind and the Turret Flak from ahead this would be a much more delightful combat experience. Granted she wondered if the flak was keeping the TIEs back off a bit and the TIEs were keeping the flak from the Turrets from being more dangerous than making this ride bumpy as the blast shockwaves shook and rattled her craft as she spun the great wing around her cockpit to add into the confusion of anyone trying to target her.

Finally the targeting recticle lit and after a drawn out couple of beats turned green. "Torp away!" she called into the mic, as she flipped the craft around to take on the TIEs again if anyone in the flight needed help.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik , @galactic-vagabond422 , @TheSilentInfluence

 

IC:Artemis "Art" Deco
Location: Barracks Two, SonTay POW Camp

There was nothing left to do but wait.

He and Kellit had reported their findings to the leaders, now they were having a conflab, probably discussing who they thought had sold them out or whether as he and Kellit had suspected it could be someone being used as a pawn in the Imperials game.

Artie didn't know about how the other interviews had gone but he still felt sad about it all and disgusted. They had turned on each other like rabid dogs fighting over a piece of meat and the people he considered well the closest thing to a family he had out here in the black...he was losing them. The only person who seemed to understand where he was coming from and how he was feeling was Kellit.

You know what they say though, keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

Feral and Traer seemed to be getting along a bit better which surprised Artie, after all Traer didn't seem to be a people person. Feral...Artie had expected him to come on over and give him a dressing down after not participating earlier on. The man Artie thought could potentially become a mentor to him...that was slipping away too.

He could hear, screams, shots a whole cacophony of noise as other Barracks were being torn apart. And Artie felt sick. No doubt they would eventually come here next. And then they could be all hauled off again.

Maybe offer yourself up Artie, get the runt of the litter out of the way. Maybe it will make the others see the light….

It could mean death. But after the tunnel had been discovered...what did Artie have to lose? He wasn't going anywhere…

And so he leant by his bunk.

And waited.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik , @TheAdmiral , @Vehn , @Sarge , @Mistress_Renata , @darthbernael , @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Maxime "Max" Pallas
BacYang

Max compressed her lips, watching as her targeting display lit up with an array of possibilities. But she followed Flagg's lead, withholding her fire. And B-flight showed up...all two of them. But they had the advantage of surprise. They opened up with their cannons, and Max could see explosions. Her computer showed a few fewer bandits. The Mean Streak's voice came over comms, a cross between a howl and a war cry. "EAT PLASMA, IMPERIAL SCUM! You'll have to do better than that, you TIE-flying barve-holes. Yeah, barve-holes, I just made that up. Do you think it'll catch on?"

Max chuckled. He must be feeling better, he almost sounded like his old self. Into the fray...

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Jocelyn "Joy" Sunwalker, former Admiral K’rill Sunwalker, Doctor Dennii Ordonnen Sunwalker
Location: SonTay POW Camp

Jocelyn rejoined her parents. They seemed to be in a good mood, despite the circumstances. She gave them a small smile as her mother placed a hand on her shoulder. “How are you holding up dear?” Dennii squeezed gently.

“The whole situation reminds me of what I had to go through when I joined the Alliance.” Joy sighed “Can’t say I am surprised though...”

Her father chuckled “Yeah, given how you don’t hide that you did not buy into their poodoo ideology.”

Dennii gave him a reproachful look “Maybe you can open up more? There is this air of hostility and coldness. They don’t understand you or your motivation.” she sighed “What I hate about this war, aside from the obvious things, is that both sides view everything in black and white.” the doctor said “To both sides you are just a potential traitor, despite the fact that you can be loyal to a fault.”

Her father opened his mouth to say something and Dennii glared at him “And no, the Empire won’t be more welcoming to you or us either. They will treat you worse, if they don’t shoot you on sight.”

The Admiral pursed his lips and guffawed humorlessly “If the Emperor knew...” he murmured and shook his head.

“Oh, he knows alright, get your head out of your...” Dennii retorted and blushed, she hated obscenities so she shut up. That made her father grin broadly and leaned to kiss her on the forehead. ”I love it when you get that way.” and her mother scoffed and punched him on the shoulder.

Joy smiled at both and looked around and saw Feral coming in the barrack. He noticed them and she gave him a small wave and a tentative smile. Dennii gave her a knowing look “See, it is not that hard.”

Then the sounds of the summary executions, the shouts and the moving of the bodies made them all solemn again. They were back to reality…

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @Vehn @Jerjerrod-Lennox @darthbernael @Sarge @Sinrebirth @Mistress_Renata

 

IC: Ethan Malek, Amber Tehanis (combo with @Adalia-Durron)

"In my Valkyrie I could do this," Ethan muttered as 24 TIEs began closing in on them. "Okay, the others will soon be here," he told Amber over com. "No heroics, no risks, this is only the start of the battle, we will need every bit of energy if we want to survive this."

"Copy." She flicked a switch. "Shields double front for now. We going in hard and fast?" She asked.

Did she even listen to me? Ethan wondered as they came closer. "Better focus on dodging and the occasional snipe for now, our job is to keep them occupied until the others arrive, not try to take them all out on our own."

Amber heard annoyance in his tone, for a brief moment thought she felt it. He'd already said 'no heroics, no risks' and that meant not at speed. She was reckless, she knew it but she needed to listen if she wanted to stay alive. "Backing off, ready to dance."

Ethan saw the first salvo coming in and dodged effortlessly. He was glad Amber now seemed to listen to him, "okay whenever you see an opening take a shot, remember TIEs don´t need much to be destroyed."

"Copy" It was back to the basics she'd done, she wasn't showboating, this was dangerous and as it was only the two of them so far, she wasn't going to risk one of her only friends. A TIE let several blasts loose on her and she was able to dodge easily enough, and it kept coming. "You want to dance? No problem." she muttered as the TIE approached. She narrowed her eyes and 'felt' the ship and its pilot. She was determined, but so was Amber, they were playing 'chicken' and Amber knew she'd win. Click out, 750m, 500m, 250m and she felt the other woman flinch. "Now" she muttered as she fired, breaking the connection before it was too late. She hit her first target and tore through the debris being grateful she'd pulled back, another touch to death might have been too close to the edge for her. She opened the com "One down."

Ethan used a few seconds of pause to take aim at one of the closer TIEs, the pilot seemed a bit more experienced, at least as far as imperials went. He managed to dodge Ethan´s first shots but then fell for a simple feint. "Make it two," he told Amber over com. Two down, Twenty Two left, not best of odds but things where improving.

"Where is Flagg and Max?" Amber almost spat out as she dodged another set of incoming fire. "They'd better get here fast!" She added, forgetting her com was still open.

One would almost think.... He had ruled out Max as a possible traitor in the squadron but Flagg? The commander had considered killing Ethan before. "R7, can you give me an update on our reinforcements?" Ethan ordered and the little droid gave him a confirming bleep.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik, @Mistress_Renata

 

GM Update: Part I

​

Able/Baker Flights

IC: Commander Flagg (NPC)
Leading the Black Sheep raid on BacYang

With 24 bandits out in front of them Flagg led the small four plane element called Able flight directly ahead. The X-Wings they flew were tough, maneuverable craft that could easily handle two or even three to one odds. Six to one though was pushing it Flagg knew, but he only had to keep the two dozen TIEs occupied long enough for the attack craft to hit their target, then they could all move on to the real mission. Even so, the Imperial defenders of BacYang could wreck the Black Sheep plans before they really got started, that is if they didn't have a pair of A-Wings already in behind them.

Flagg watched as Kayn maneuvered his craft silently behind the TIEs, the Devaronian's active sensors weren't pinging, so there was no way to know he was was in firing position before it was too late. Four missile trails rippled off from the unseen A-Wing, those too seemed to be in passive mode, so as not to alert the TIEs of a missile lock. It was a risky strategy, passive homing wasn't as reliable as active, but it did have it's uses, and one of those was the sneak attack Kayn had just launched. Three garish orange-yellow explosions marked the impact of the majority of the missiles while the fourth had lost track of it's target and failed to detonate. Still three out of four wasn't bad, and then Kayn rapidly added another with his own laser fire. It wasn't so much the downed craft that helped the Black Sheep, it was what the unseen attack from behind did to the TIE formation as immediately it was torn asunder as the Imperial pilots all reacted with confusion and fear. It was at that moment that the X-Wings of Able flight merged with the TIE formation, further devastating the Imperial fighters.

The X-Wings slashed through the disrupted TIE formation, firing as they did so. Flagg heard Robo call out kills made by Vet and Vixen but he was too concentrated on the TIE fighter immediately out in front of him. They were going head to head, something the Imperials taught their pilots not to do with their unshielded TIEs against the heavily shielded rebel craft. The Imperial must think himself invincible due to the numerical superiority they held. A quick burst of fire from Flagg disabused the Imperial of that notion as Flagg muttered under his breath, "That's one." before he could even finish the thought he caught the fleeting image of another TIE out in front of him. The wingman for the TIE he had just downed, it was pulling away from him so Flagg yanked hard on his control yoke, bringing the fighter around as he pressed down on the firing stud. He had his guns set for single fire, and immediately the area of space out in front of him ran red with laser fire. The oncoming (or was it retreating, he couldn't tell it all happened so fast) starfighter ran straight through his stream of fire and was obliterated by it. "That's two," he said just as calmly as his previous report as his plane shuddered hard under the impact of green laser fire from another TIE. No time for celebration he told himself as the offending craft screamed by on a perpendicular course out above him. He yanked is old crate around hard, but he had no shot at the vessel and it screamed off into the void before he could acquire a firing solution. He pulled off and looked for anotehr target, there seemed to be more than enough to go around...

TAG: @Rebecca_Daniels @Sarge @Anedon @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron

---

IC: Beskaryc Taab
Leading attack element, raid on BacYang

With only eight TIEs to deal with as opposed to the 24 the Black Sheep fighters were dealing with, Delta and Charlie flights clearly had the better bargain Taab thought to himself as his own flight of five merged with the attack fighters. Of course his flight was all flying bombers, not true fighters, but for the Black Sheep the odds never seemed to matter. As the two opposing flights merged the B-Wings took the point, clearing the way for the pair of Y-Wings behind. The latter would hit the gun emplacements while the B-Wings kept the TIEs occupied. That was the hope anyway, and for once luck seemed to be on their side.

Almost immediately Wolf destroyed one of the TIEs and damaged several others as they blew through the enemy formation. For his part Taab mashed down on the firing stud of his nose mounted quad auto cannons shredding a TIE Fighter that had dared go nose to nose with him. "I got one mister T, I got one!" Quin called out over the delta flight comm frequency informing them all that she too had downed an enemy TIE fighter.

"Oh I pity the fool," Taab muttered under his breath as he managed to finish off one of the TIEs that Wolf had damaged. That was four down on the initial pass, and left just four TIEs now to contend with the five attack craft. Of course they were closer now to the enemy flak, but for fear of hitting one of their own, it had tailed off a bit as the Imperial and Rebel craft merged. now it tailed off even further as Mcear destroyed one of the gun emplacements. It was enough.

"Press." The order came from Taab, though in hindsight it was an unnecessary one. With the number of TIEs in front of them halved, and the remainder scattered, coupled with the loss of one of the gun towers there was a hole in the Imperial defenses you could drive a gundark through. Wolf was actually the first to see it as she announced her firing of a torpedo at the primary target, the tibanna gas storage tanks. Taab followed up launching a pair of his own torpedoes as Quin also joined in the party, rippling off her entire stock in one rapid paced action. Their torpedoes tracked true, though Taab fired another pair in after them even as Wolf's first hit the primary storage tank. The resulting explosion ripped a huge hole in the tank that began leaking highly explosive pressurized tibanna gas out into the gas giant's atmosphere. As the other torpedoes hit the leaking gas sent off enormous secondary explosions that wrecked the entire facility.

Immediately the other two flak turbolaser cannons went dead, and the burning remains of the tibanna mining facility began to sink further down into the gravity well of the planet. Without power and burning heavily they had lost their antigrav. As it sank deeper and deeper into the planet's atmosphere the crushing weight of the gas giant imploded what remained. The refinery was a total loss.

"Iron Hand to Black lead, the primary target is destroyed, repeat primary is destroyed." Taab commed out to the squadron commander to let him know that their reason for being here was at an end. Now it was time to extricate themselves from this situation and move on to bigger targets. Of course with those TIEs out there that was easier said than done...

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @galactic-vagabond422 @TheSilentInfluence

OOC Breakdown:

• Able and Baker flights have merged with the two TIE squadrons and eliminated eight of them already. 16 TIE fighters still remain for you all to take out as ytou see fit in your posts.
• Charlie and Delta Flights: You are just outside the planet's atmosphere and are engaged with the remaining four TIEs that tried to stop your attack. Deal with them as desired in your posts.
• Echo Flight, I had no update/TAG for you as I know you're working on a combo post.

All Black Sheep, we're just mopping up here as we get ready to jump away to our primary target. I'll have us doing that together in a future update so don't jump just yet please. I still have a surprise in store for us here at BacYang that I know you won't want to miss.

 

OOC: **Looks at poll results** Oh that is quite helpful. Thank you. I am still separating the updates into parts though so everyone gets their tags.

GM Update: Part II
​

IC: Major Roger Hammond/Captain Steppan Rouger (NPCs)
Barracks 2, POW Camp, SonTay Prison camp

There was a long awkward pause among the POWs in barracks two following the interrogations. No one had been proven to be an Imperial spy or even sympathizer. Nor was anyone willing to outright accuse anyone else. Even so, Major Hammond's suspicion of Sergeant Vic caused Captain Rouger to take a longer look at the former criminal turned rebel. Could he have also been turned as an Imperial spy?

Everyone else in the barracks had heard what had been said during questioning, and now a kind of apprehensive cloud hung over them all. In the distance thunder could be heard, a late night storm was rolling in, while closer to hand the air was punctuated by the sound of doors crashing in, barked orders, and sometimes screaming and yelling punctuated by blaster fire in the other barracks. So far though, barracks two had been unaffected. That wouldn't, that couldn't, hold up for long.

"All right then," Rouger finally said his calm demeanor adding to the tension. "Vic, front and center." The criminal turned rebel knew what was coming next. He'd seen it all before. This was it, and if was going to have any chance at surviving this night he was going to have to take swift and decisive action...now! And so rather wait around to be tried, convicted and executed by this kangaroo court he bolted for the barrack's door, prompting an excited order from Hammond.

"Quick, stop him!"

TAG: @Jerjerrod-Lennox @TheAdmiral @Vehn @darthbernael @Mistress_Renata @Sarge @Sinrebirth

 

Ic: Baniss, Cassell, Airen, MacKenzie - Gratitude to @Vehn @adaml83 @Corellian_Outrider
Location: Valkyria

An alert rang out informing that they were five minutes out from their destination. Cassell drained his hot chocolate, then set the mug back down on the tray. They were in the main hold, situated around the lounge and holotable. He glanced to the others.

MacKenzie had remained in the cockpit. There were a few things on his mind and he wanted to be alone for a bit. The alarm let him know thinking time was over so sitting up he scanned his screens. He knew to wait for the ship's captain before he did anything.

Airen glanced up as the alarm sounded pulling him away from his thoughts. He watched the others and held off from jumping to the nearest turret. The look on his face told the others he was ready. Ready for what, well, that remained to be seen.

Baniss spent most of his time looking at diagrams of SonTay Prison, looking for weaknesses, and ways to maximize the escape. The alarm sounded off and he looked up, "How many people does this freighter fit?"

Cassell glanced to the newcomer, Baniss? Was that his name?

“Ideally, we can have ten to twelve people fit comfortably, that includes the crew.” Cassell glanced up at the ceiling as he did the calculations. “If pushed, we probably can hold upward of thirty or forty if they don’t mind being squashed, perhaps a few more...” he looked back down. “However, that does tax our life support and how long we can operate before the scrubbers overload and we run out of breathable air.” He looked to Airen, then back to Baniss. “I best head back to the cockpit. I’ll give a prompt when we are a minute out, that should give you time to situate yourselves in the turrets. I don’t expect any ambushes awaiting us but best be prepared for the worse while hoping for the best.”

Cassell returned to the cockpit, he shifted past Holly and stepped down to the forward lower section where the pilot sits. Buckling in, he gave the console a brief scan of the ship’s status.

“How are you holding up?” He asked Holly.

MacKenzie sat up straight as Cassell entered. "As well as anyone else here." He responded. "We're all set to go. Are they back there ready?"

“Almost set. I’ll give a heads up over com in another minute.” Cassell answered. “Just another day in paradise...” he set about adjusting the IFF signature for the Valkyria. “Shall we be the Radiant Dawn or the Shadow Dragon?”

MacKenzie mused for a moment. "Radiant Dawn." He snorted. "We could all use one." He quipped with a half-smile. "Do I have a role for this one?" He asked in an amused voice.

“If you wish, I’m sure we can improvise and flex your ad lib skills.” Cassell said as he activated the internal comms. “Attention all passengers. One minute till arrival. Be sure to drop what you’re doing and man the turrets... all except Zephyr.”

Vehn heard the command and wasted little time strapping himself into the ventral turret. A quick check of the controls and he was ready to go.

The counter ticked down and the view reverted back to a star field and a planet beyond. Cassell briefly checked the scopes to get a read on their positioning. He heard the Commander’s voice on their channel.

["Echo flight, keep clear while we take out those those eyeballs. See if you can't keep that freighter clear too."]

Cassell double clicked the comms in acknowledgement. No need to clutter the airwaves.

MacKenzie adjusted his eyes to take in the forward view. "Don't power up weapons. Stand ready and keep your eyes peeled." He spoke into the com to the gunners. Glancing down at Cassell he asked. "So now we wait?"

Cassell stared at the distance freighter and the cargo modules it was ferrying. “No... we have to shoo this civilian ship from the combat zone...” He angled the Valkyria to arc slowly near them.

"Chase it away? Ask it to leave? Or..." MacKenzie paused as he read his screen. "Scare the hell out of it?" He frowned. "YT 1300. Transponder reads Valdez."

“We’ll try talking to them first. If not then we’ll have to get a bit rough. If we’re lucky, to them, we probably appear to be a civilian craft that unfortunately appeared amidst the raiders. If we are lucky.” Cassell opened a short-range channel to theValdez. “Hailing Corellian freighter, Valdez, this is Captain Nolan of the Radiant Dawn... this zone is swarming with hostiles. Requesting permission to escort you clear.”

He gave a nod as he spoke to the two new gunners quietly. "We're going to try to get this civilian ship to leave before this gets messy. If it doesn't listen we may have to get pushy." He explained as he began to power up his own forward canons. "Let's not make them the mess though." He waited for both men to respond.

Baniss was flailing around, he wasn't a great shot. He wasn't too sure that he wasn't breaking something, in fact the only thing he was sure of was that he wasn't good as a ship's gunner. He heard Holly's comment, "Do we know who's side he's on? Oh, and don't make me take the shot if at all possible."



Tag The above participants @Bardan_Jusik

 

Maxime "Max" Pallas
BacYang, in the thick of it

Max watched with a grin as Baker flight tore through their unsuspecting opponents. She was waiting for Flagg to give the word to Able to open up when Tehanis and Malek suddenly surged forward, opening fire. The young Corellian rolled her eyes. So much for holding back and waiting for orders. Glory hogs.

Flagg gave the word, though, and she followed him out. There was plenty of work to do. He was dodging and shooting, taking out as many as he could. She hung back, keeping an eye out for attacks. A TIE was trying to drop in on him from above, so she nosed up sharply and hit the cannons a few times. The TIE skived off, and she let him go. <<Keep an eye on that one, Digs,>> she said. Protecting Flagg was more important than racking up kills.

She could see another one blasting at his X-wing, but he evaded and the TIE shot away, parallel to her. Flagg was trying to turn to catch it, but it was fast. She could see it, now, and it was about to cross in front of her. She fired at it, and saw one shot hit its solar array. It banked off sharply to the right, and she followed it down. The maneuver had slowed it a little too much, and another touch of the firing button finished it. <<One for me,>> she said with satisfaction.

With that one done, she turned back to Flagg. He was still attacking. What he missed wasn't too hard for her to pick off. Digger suddenly shrieked a warning and she juked away sharply to the right, startled. A burst of green flared past her left and the ship rocked. Hit, but not too badly. She checked, pulled back with a roll to the right, and watched it streak away. No. Not going after it. She had a wingman to protect. Blue and Folds loomed up in her memory and she swallowed hard and set them aside. No, not this time.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, Anyone