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

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray
Convoy THX-1138


The ghost that haunted her thoughts was real. It was no longer a bad dream, no longer a time in her life that she could fly away from, it was back and tormenting her every second she had left. The knowledge that she had come face to face with her ex-husband in combat chilled her to the bone. The odds, the improbability, the way the galaxy had to set things up just right for such an encounter seemed impossible, seemed like the work of a higher power. A higher power she didn't believe in and never would.


Lou checked her scopes again, cycled through her targeting computer, and saw that the Defender registering as Skull Eight was out of the fight. Her ex was too far away for her to finish him off. So she did the next best thing. She took out her anger, her worries, her fear, her regrets, all of it, on the freighter the Viraxo Madyline.


"Take that!" Lou cried out as she let loose the last of her torpedoes right into the vulnerable hull of the stricken freighter.

She let out a primal scream as the freighter brewed up right in front of her sending chunks of debris everywhere into the black void. She narrowly avoided the frozen bodies of the crew as she kicked her Y-Wing up and around the carnage of war. She juked and jinked her way through the burning convoy as she splashed her lasers and ion cannons throughout the wounded vessels inside her targeting arc. Nothing was getting past her. Not a single thing.


Lou barrel rolled her Y-Wing over the broken back of the Viraxo Madyline and set her sights on the remaining freighters. She switched all power to her laser and ion cannons and unleashed absolute hell. She watched with satisfaction as one of the freighters went dark and began to drift lazily away from the convoy. Electrical currents rippled across her hull indicating that the freighter was dead in the water. It was only a matter of time before life support failed.

"Black Sheep, this is Black Lead, as soon as Echo has the cargo secure jump back to the rally point. Repeat, as soon as the Echo Flight has the cargo secure, jump out of here."

We're retreating? I was just getting going Lou thought as she balanced the Y-Wing's shields, lasers, and engine power.

Lou slipped right next to Taab's Iron Cross and settled in for the remainder of the mission and whatever adventures awaited.....

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik

 

~OOC~ This post is a joint effort between @Mistress_Renata , @Rebecca_Daniels ,@Sarge , @TheAdmiral and myself. Thank you for this joint effort!

IC: Captain Wystari, Valkyria
B-flight, Black Sheep (Mean Streak, Joy, Zero, Max)
Near Imperial convoy THX-1138, outskirts of the Naboo System

B-flight reformed, with Valkyria slightly above and between them. At the moment they were alone, but that wouldn't last. The Defenders would be back at them any minute. "So?" said Max. "What's the plan?"

"Skipper, B Flight, you got what we need? Get it out of here and we'll cover you. None of that stuff is worth dying for so jettison it if you have to. Everybody watch out for those Trifighters, and be ready to help Thin Mint if he gets in trouble. Fighters, weave back and forth across Skipper's tail."

Kayn's A-wing turned, winding in a serpentine path across Valkyria's wake. He set shields double aft as the Skulls closed in from behind.

Wystari cycled through the Multi-Function Display and locked onto the pods that dropped from that disabled Gozanti Cruiser, Glowworm. The flight path should bring them over the targets in a moment.

“I haven’t got all of what we need. Just need to pick up these last two pods... Just a matter of aligning the port and starboard docking rings to latch onto them and then we’re...good… to go...” Wystari explained as he set the comp to prep the docking clamps for the upcoming manoeuvre. “I was planning on giving you guys a breather and make them think twice by drawing the TIE… Tri...uglies…Truglies? Whatever they are... close so I can ram this pod down their gullet. The contents are combustible... however, that would probably take out only one of them and damage another or so… and only IF they are in formation. Since we are running out of time, I am open to suggestions.”

Joy flew next to the Valkyria, she had boosted the sensors and linked them to the freighter so that it could "see" all the targets properly. She had been following the Defenders. They needed more space to maneuver so they had an opportunity to finish the mission and jump to lightspeed.

"What's that Shadow?" she asked her astromech as it started saying something "Oh you do? Then send it to Skipper, he could use the data." her astromech still carried the schematics for Imperial issue containers and pods. The data could help the freighter captain to grab them faster and easier. "Good job." she congratulated it then opened a channel to Skipper "Sending you information regarding the pods and containers, which my astromech had, that could be of use to you"

Max had been keeping an eye on the two she had chased off. "Whatever we do, we need to do it fast," she said. "They're on their way back, and they're bringing friends."

“Thank you.” Wystari answered Joy as the console notified him of the information. He furrowed his brow as he skimmed the details and then returned his attention to the viewport and the disabled hulk of the Glowworm ahead, it’s momentum had carried it over the pods though made it awkward to get both in one go. “Care for a dance?”

“What is on your mind?” Jocelyn asked as she maneuvered the craft avoiding a piece of debris.

“It looks a bit tight. I’ll have to swing in underneath and side on to take the starboard one… If you do the same for the port pod by docking with the underside and rotate outward ninety degrees…then move outward and down a few metres, I should be able to rotate and swing up between and then latch onto the opposite end from you.”

That would take some fancy flying but was doable. "Copy that." She rotated the craft cutting the speed a bit so that she wouldn't overshoot it.

“Thank you. I’d advise…” Wystari hesitated to get the name right. “Shadow… to monitor our progress. We’ll need it-him shortly.” He then announced to the rest of the flight. “Commencing docking procedure.”

The Valkyria followed suit and rolled onto its port side before dipping underneath the Gozanti Cruiser to where the pods were. He checked the small display, showing the starboard docking ring in relation to the pod, easing on the thrusters as he carefully aligned into position. A dull thud felt through the ship as the ring connected and clamped on. The lights were green, perfect. “Pod secured.” He eased gently downward and out away from under the Gozanti cruiser and awaited Joy’s confirmation before commencing the next step.

Jocelyn decelerated more and got in position. The whole bomber shook as she latched onto a smaller container. The engines strained a bit as her craft was not made for such operations "Anytime Skipper." She said "Before I blow a fuse."

“Just a few seconds…” He assured as the Valkyria rolled, the starboard side sluggishly swung downward with the cargo as the port docking ring was brought up into position. Joy’s Y-Wing had positioned the other pod perfectly with enough clearance for the port side to align up smoothly. A larger thud this time was felt as the clamps locked them into place. The board lit up green to confirm they are connected. All three pods were connected. “Done! Thank you.”

The Y-wing shuddered again as the bigger craft clamped the other side of the pod. "Mind if I stay connected to the pod?" she asked as hers was the slowest craft and they will soon need to make a hasty exit.

“Be my guest. Your ion cannon can help provide coverage. Shadow, your turn. We have to move as a unit, match thrust output with the Valkyria and away we go!” Wystari smiled as he made an adjustment for the shields to wrap around them completely. “We’ll definitely throw off the sensor readings with the irregularity of our silhouette..." He commented as he eased power to the engines. Slowly they started moving from out under the cruiser and increased speed.

Jocelyn clicked her comms in agreement and transferred the controls of the ion cannon looking for a target. She instructed Shadow to follow the instructions closely.

“Cargo secured!” Wystari announced. “So time for us to exit... stage left.”

Kayn shook his head in disbelief as Joy latched onto a cargo pod, joining her fighter to the ungainly conglomeration of containers and freighter. It boggled his mind that any fighter pilot would willingly sacrifice speed and maneuverability; but maybe the Y-wing's engines were giving out. Anyway, it was her decision, and it was done.

Red patterns focused in his mind. The TIE Defenders had already reset their targeting sensors to negate his jamming transmissions and were closing in from behind. He whipped the A-wing around in the tightest 360 turn he could manage and launched a concussion missile the moment he was pointed back at the targets. Returning to the Valkyria's tail, he triggered chaff, noting that he was running low.

​

"We need more chaff behind us. Everybody let some go now."

The tri-winged TIE's swerved and dipped to avoid the first burst of chaff, and Kayn detected their sensors analyzing the harmless clouds of tiny reflective fibers. They must have recognized the countermeasures quickly; the oncoming Skulls plowed straight ahead through the next chaff clouds. Kayn's fangs showed in a devilishly happy grin as he readied the last of his chaff and prepped the jammer to transmit on the Defender's secondary targeting frequency.

"Skipper, now would be a good time."

Max nodded at Kayn's order, and flicked the switch in her cockpit to release more chaff to add to the growing cloud. "Diggs, are the first jump coordinates locked in?" she asked. The little droid whistled affirmatively, and she relaxed, just a hair. She was ready to go when they were. With one eye on the Defenders, she made sure her torpedoes were online. She only had two left, but to protect Joy and the Valkyria, she'd make them count. I really want to take down one of these guys!

Zara opened up at any Imperial that entered range as she kept near the Valkyria's tail, keeping close but covering opposite to Kayn's weaving trail. All the debris in this part of the battlefield was wreaking havoc with her A-wing's shields, but they were so close to getting out of there it wouldn't matter-- hopefully. Zara reversed her earlier power transfer, taking from her engines to her lasers in the hopes of doing any damage to these tri-fighters. It wasn't like speed mattered that much now that they were teamed up with the Valkyria. She double-checked her jammers were operating, tapping the display a couple times; it didn't seem to be doing all that much for them at the moment but it may just be the difference between all of this flight getting out of here. Hyperspace jump was pre-plotted, and they better not kriffing change it on the fly. Four concussion missiles she had to resist the urge to fire indiscriminately at the Imperial starfighters. Just in case.

Wystari redirected power from the forward mounted cannons and distributed them between the engines and shields. At least there was power still for the dorsal turret. He heard the call from Kayn for chaff and so he set off the Valkyria’s countermeasures. He checked the scopes to see that they have company inbound.

["Skipper, now would be a good time."]

Wystari furrowed his brow. For the ‘pod ramming down gullet’ plan to work, he would have to go head to head with the Truglies. He did not want to put anyone else in unnecessary danger by taking on them head on, especially now that Joy’s life was in his hands. However, there was something Kayn had said a moment ago… that ‘none of that stuff is worth dying for so jettison it if you have to…’

“Jettison…” He said almost as though to himself. “Not such a bad idea…” Wystari then addressed the rest of the flight. “Everyone, stay ahead, above or to the side of my wake. About to serve up the feast for our guests…”

Switched to the controls for freight handling, Wystari selected the ventral pod, the one he had picked up first from the Guardian. Overriding the safeties, he entered the command to open all of that particular pod’s access hatches, exposing its interior and contents to a dramatic shift of pressure and to the vacuum of space...

‘What the blazes are they doing!?’ Jocelyn thought, there was no time for tricks, they had to run. Since they started the process there was no point in saying anything. She just manned the controls of her ion cannon and Shadow synchronised it with the shield’s refresh rate as not to shoot it from within, reading herself to try and shoot the Defenders. Or at least keep them at bay.

Kayn's attention was focused tightly on the Imps as they closed in on the fresh clouds of chaff. He tweaked his jammer again, hoping that the Defenders' sensors wouldn't pick up the small arms and light weaponry strewn through the clouds of "harmless" chaff. Almost there, he thought. Time it just right... NOW!

"Tailgunners open fire!" He snapped the A-wing around in a tight loop, lasers pivoted up to the top of their firing arc and set for maximum rate of fire, and sprayed shots through the space just ahead of the oncoming Imperials. Multiple sparks flashed through the chaff bursts like lightning in stormclouds, chain reactions spreading and detonating the Imperial weaponry right in the faces of the Skulls.

Kayn couldn't resist switching his comm to open frequency and broadcasting, "Take that, Boneheads!"

"What tailgun?" grumbled Max. Not that she'd trade her X-wing for anything, but it could stand a few improvements, that was for sure. She'd been off to the left, but now started a half-loop and obediently began shooting at the chaff cloud.

The dorsal turret of the Valkyria opened up and joined in with B-Flight at firing upon the cloud of chaff, small arms and ammunition. Wystari eased as much power possible to the engines and shields without affecting the power of the turret. Half an eye on the scopes, and counter that ticked down the distance to be clear for the jump as he weaved through the debris field. There was a shudder as something hard bounced off the canopy. His teeth grazed over his bottom lip, his brow furrowed with concentration. Another glance at the console, less than half a klick to go… almost there… He rolled the ship a few degrees to avoid clipping a mangled piece of wreckage…

He took a breath. His hand poised over the levers…

Almost there...

TAG: Open

 

IC: Kayn "Mean Streak" Balzroth
Just Being Kayn

Out of the corner of his eye, Kayn saw the Valkyria and all its attached pods flicker and vanish, along with Joy's Y-wing. A moment later he caught a blurry glimpse of a dark shape that might have been an all-black A-wing with hardly any shields following the others into hyperspace. That was half of B Flight safely away, but where was Max? No time to look now, the Defenders were pushing their way out of the improvised 0-g minefield. He didn't know if they had lost any ships, but according to his sensors their forward shields had taken a pounding.

Kayn triggered a concussion missile at the most distant TIE in the formation and swooped over the nearest one, lasers pivoted downward as he climbed above it. Taking power from his aft shields, he opened up with maximum firepower, laser bolts smashing into the Defender's shields. His last shot finally penetrated! It was weakened, but with just enough power to scorch the TIE's armor, leaving a black streak across the red skull emblazoned on its hull.

"Gotcha, Numbskull! Tag, you're it! And when all your Impy buddies ask you about the carbon scoring on your hull, you tell them that's the mark of Kayn!"

He twisted the little fighter away from the kriff-storm of return fire. Holy fracking hell, I sure poked the bloodwasp nest this time! Better find Max and punch out of here before it gets ugly. "Max, where are you? It's past time to be done and gone."

TAG: Black Sheep in general, B Flight in particular (especially @Mistress_Renata, @Rebecca_Daniels @TheAdmiral ) , and all officially recognized members of Kayn's fan club

 

IC: Maxime “Max” Pallas
B-flight, past ready to leave

Max still didn’t understand the plan –she was beginning to think it was more of a vague idea than a plan—but she obediently fired into the cloud of debris and chaff. Only after Captain Wystari had released the contents of the cargo pod did she realize the outcome. As the shots from B-flight hit the debris, they also arced and hit the canisters of tibanna gas and power cells which had been in the small arms crate, which all exploded in a spectacular chain reaction, hurling sharp chunks of shrapnel into the oncoming Defenders and causing a dazzling light display. Max chuckled. It was bright to her eyes, but in the helmets of the TIE pilots, with built in audio scanners, it would be downright blinding.

She took a few hits at the cargo pod itself, for good measure, blasting it into large chunks of hot, jagged metal which would not be easily repulsed by the Defender’s shields, then looped around to orient herself to leave.

“Zero? You ready?” she asked. A click of the comm confirmed her wingmate’s departure, and the dark A-wing blinked out of sight and off Max’s scope. She retracted her S-foils to cruise position and had her hand on the hyperspace controls when she heard Kayn shouting at her.

"Max, where are you? It's past time to be done and gone!"

“What? What? I’m here, I was ready to jump. Why? Do you need me?”

“GO!” he roared. She rolled her eyes. Typical man, telling her to do what she’d been planning to do anyway.

“Gone,” she said, punching out for the first jump. As the stars dropped away into the strange, hypnotic patterns of hyperspace travel, she leaned back with a sigh, and touched the corley wreath through her pocket. Thanks, Mom. She hoped Wystari had grabbed the right cargo pods, and wondered where the Hutt had gotten to. Four lives and a lot of work. This had better have been worth it.

She had a long to-do list when she got back… the debrief and filing the flight report that Digger was compiling, a long, hot shower to wash off the stink of battle (and get the frosting out of her hair)… She wanted to corner Sunwalker and get a lot more information about the damn triplanes. When she’d hacked the personnel files of her new squadmates, she vaguely remembered seeing that Joy had been certified for Defenders, but she hadn’t paid much attention, since she didn’t think it was relevant, and she didn’t know what a Defender was. Now, though, she wanted a lot more information. If she had to face those guys again, she would be prepared to do a lot more damage.

She stroked her throat thoughtfully. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to share the Defender info with Sparky, her crew chief. Maybe the other woman would have a few ideas on ways to soup up the X-wing, give it a little more edge against those ugly things.

And of course she needed to check up on Foodie. She closed her eyes and sighed. It had been a long day, and it was nowhere near over yet.

TAG: Anyone

 

IC: Kayn "Mean Streak" Balzroth
Off His Leash

Max's X-wing shot away into hyperspace. Kayn was about to sigh with relief that his whole flight had escaped safely, but his breath was cut short by another burst of green plasma from the Skull on his tail. Aft shields were shredded. His nav 'puter was ready with the rendezvous coordinates, so he shunted power to the hyperdrive and punched for freedom. An instant before the stars blurred, he heard a distinct metallic clank from the A-wing's tail. Fracking A!!!

In a moment he was scanning the tech readouts of the TIE Defender. And there it is, autonomous tracking device launcher. Operating freq 212.1011. He tuned his comm to the frequency and instantly picked up the signal broadcasting from the homing beacon latched onto his ship's tail. If you think you're going to follow me to the rendezvous, think again, sucker! The hyperdrive cut off and he reverted back to normal space, just a short hop away from the battle. Now where do I want to lead you to... Aha! That works. Crank the numbers again, this is going to be a precise jump, allow for the bearing and speed of the target, adjust for gravity well space-time curvature of Naboo, and its moons, and the system primary... Good to go.

Moments later he was in hyperspace again, taking a moment to find the coded signal in the TIE-D data files that would deactivate the homing beacon, and preload it into his comm. Then he was back in normal space again, and closing head on with the ferryboat liner.

You've been acting suspicious this whole time, not jumping away to hyperspace, but getting clear of the battle zone, and keeping the heaviest escort close to you. What are you up to? Who are you carrying that's so important?

A ranging shot from a heavy turbolaser burst in the space just to starboard. The Carrack cruiser on the liner's tail was trying to get a good angle to fire past the liner. Kayn edged a little to port, keeping the liner between himself and the cruiser. Three TIE fighters accelerated towards him. Missile lock, fire 1, fire 2, tubes reloading, both TIE wingmen peeled away to avoid the concussion missiles, then Kayn and the TIE leader were trading laser fire. Kayn jinked down slightly, putting himself out of the direct line of fire, and pivoted his lasers up a little, returning fire and scoring hits on the eyeball's hull and one wing panel. Then he was past the TIE's and on top of the ferryboat.



Standard A-wing sensors weren't good enough for what Kayn wanted, so he set his cybernetic eye to maximum zoom and highest definition, cranked up the recording rate as high as it would go, and fed the data into his memory banks. Panoramic windows flashed past, no more than two meters away as he focused, trying to record the faces inside. Then he was past the passenger ship, yanking his fighter around in a high-G turn around the liner's stern and barely keeping himself out the big ship's exhaust plumes. Reversing course, he flew past the liner again, on the opposite side, even closer in a vertical bank, windows no more than a meter and a half from his canopy. No time to analyze the recording from his eye as he pulled away from the liner. The Carrack was maneuvering for a clear shot and TIE Defenders were closing in again.

Let's see if your "elite" squadron can handle TransGalactic hyperspace racing maneuvers! He plotted a curved course through hyperspace, another short jump that would put him on the opposite side of Naboo's star. Take a second to hyperventilate... Now! Into hyperspace again, and the centrifugal force of his curving path was brutal. He nearly blacked out from the G's, but was out of hyperspace before he lost consciousness.

With a heartfelt thank you to Joy, he sent the signal that turned off the homing beacon. Now, reload the coordinates of the rendezvous. Maybe I'll have time to make the jump before the kriffing Skulls catch up again. Those Imps can fly! Good shots too. Lucky for me they're not as smart as a Devaronian.

TAG: All the lost sheep

 

IC: Ianna Mcear
Outskirts of the Naboo system

Her palms were damp, beads of sweat ran down her forehead. She felt like she'd been in her cockpit for hours but, it had only been a handful of minutes. Another two of her torpedos impacted one of the Type C Freighters, the Conscience, or Conscious, it didn't matter to her. It bore the symbol of the Empire and she wanted to hurt it. A burst of red and blue accompanied her ordinance ripping through shields and impacting the hull. Passing over she began to regret not bringing proton bombs with her. Now would be a perfect time to drop them. The young woman didn't have time think about it as more laser blasts came in. Suddenly her cockpit filled with red, not from Vet's X-Wing lighting up the space to defend her but, of warning. Her shields were gone. A plasma blast grazing her armor leaving a black mark drove the point home.

Her welcome was overstayed...by a lot.

She tried to find some power, some extra energy to put into her shields to get them back online. Her fighter dances with frantic movements, still in the thick of fire pouring off the freighters.

"Pat, I could use some shields." She called out diving down to avoid a hail of bolts. Green and red clashing in the claustrophobic space of her cockpit. Her eyes never blinked, they were wide open as she pulled hard on her flight stick flying up at the next Type C transport. Part of her knew it was time to leave, time to stop her run on this convoy but, she still had some torpedos, could still do something. Her hand shook as she swallowed hard and pulled the trigger twice, letting loose the last of her missiles.

The orange bloom glowed behind her for only a moment as she flew away. More green blasts crossed in front of her as Pat whistled once more. Shields hadn't been restored yet but, that wasn't what Pat was saying.

The other Black Sheep here jumping away…

Had the cargo been picked up, was the mission complete...had she not heard the order? Another deadly blaster of energy cut along her craft shaking it.

It didn't matter, if others were leaving, it was time for her to leave as well.

But, she wouldn't leave...without Vet.

"Vet!" she nearly yelled across the Flight coms, "Looks like everyone else is leaving...I think we should too." The astromech behind her sounded again, the jump coordinates were set all Ianna had to do was pull the lever. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she watched her wingmate dance with death. Her face soured for just a moment. She had to help...somehow.

A sharp breath left her her plan set. She banked hard, fighting to keep her ship together and blood in her head. As she came around she let off a few shots with her ion cannon they weren't aimed at all but, maybe it would get those jerks attention, give Vet some space to escape.

"Vet, I'm set to jump...just say the word and I'll be right behind." She kept the shaking from her voice the worry from her words. Part of her wanted to run, to just cut and run...But she wouldn't leave Vet behind...she wouldn't lose her entire flight.

TAG: @Anedon @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Ethan "Veteran" Malek
Outskirts of the Naboo system

Ethan dodged the next salvo and moved his X-Wing further away from the TIE behind him. He heard R7 worried whistles behind him and saw the warning signs on the control consol in front of him. The shields of his X-Wing almost depleted and he knew he couldn´t spare any energy to recharge them. The next hit would likely bring his shields down, and the one after that would be the end.

And yet, despite being so close to death, Ethan was calm. His early nervousness and worries had left him, as had any thoughts distracting him from the fight. He was only concentrated on the next seconds, on the next dodge, the next salvo.

Turning his X-Wing around in a sharp turn Ethan closed in on the TIE pursuing him and took aim, closing his left eye. Firing three short salvos in his enemies direction, before turning his X-Wing around trying to get some distance to the imperial machine again. Moving away Ethan didn´t see what happened to the TIE, but he hoped to at least have hit the imperial machine.

Seeing another TIE defender closing in from above, Ethan reacted instantly and fired his last torpedo at the enemy fighter followed by two additional salvos.

Again he moved forward too fast to see the impact of his projectiles, still following Ianna as she wrecked havoc among the imperial convoy.

Leaving his concentration for a short moment Ethan searched for the remaining members of their flight trying to figure out their positions in this chaos. From what he could see it seemed they were leaving the fight and jumped into hyperspace. But before he could figure out more his entire X-Wing trembled under the impact of another imperial salvo and Ethan didn´t need R7 panicked whistle to realize that his last remaining shields had just broken down.

Resuming his concentration on the battle again he managed to dodge the imperials next attack and get some space between himself and his new attacker.

"Vet!" Ianna´s voice came over com. "Looks like everyone else is leaving...I think we should too."

"I agree, I´m..." Green fire cut of Ethan´s voice as he brutally rammed his control stick to the right, barely managing to avoid another salvo. His heart stopped for a second as he realized how close the imperials salvo had been. Taking a deep breath Ethan moved his X-Wing upwards in a spiral hoping to escape the fire and get a moment to clear his thoughts.

The imperial was still behind him and Ethan knew that his chances weren´t great. Preparing for the next salvo Ethan starred at the console in front of him.

But now salvo came, for a moment Ethan was confused but when he looked back he saw that Ianna was close to him, firing her ion cannon at the TIE defender chasing him. He couldn´t see how much impact her hits had at the imperial machine but they at least seemed to scare the imperial of, for the moment.

Letting out a sigh of relief Ethan managed to calm himself down as Ianna contacted him again.

"Vet, I'm set to jump...just say the word and I'll be right behind."

"Understood, let's get out of here," he replied. Thanking the stars that he had already told R7 to prepare everything for an emergency jump Ethan´s finger flew over his console making the last preparations for his retreat.

Once he was ready he threw a last look at Ianna´s fighter to make sure she was able to leave as well, before activating the hyper drive, leaving the Naboo system and the destroyed imperial convoy behind.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422, @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Akiva Lurell AKA 'Wolf'
First mission, Abandoning the Fray

There comes a time in every mission where enough becomes enough. Looking out her usable windows that hadn't cracked and been patched with the self sealant kit squares, she looked at the occasional wobble from the TIE Interceptor wing she had forked onto her craft. "Definitely past enough." she muttered as she put Vixen's turning craft barely in sight. . .and then watched it do a drunken pirate imitation for dodging enemy fire. . .only she didn't see anything visually nor on scopes that could be making a weapons lock on her at the moment.

"Perhaps she needs a drink as much as I do." She muttered as she made sure her wings were locked in cruising mode and diverted power to the hyperdrive as she fell in once the 'ghost dance' was done. Considering she was lead she technically should be ahead of the X-wing, but in this case she felt it should go in triage order. Worst wounded first, then her, and then whoever was trying to get their acts together and somehow was still unscathed.

Then the attack had come, and having diverted power to the hyperspace jump she frantically was trying to get a missile lock on the bastard son of a Moof-milker as he was attacking her wing mate. All that seemed to do was draw out the shots until luckily her scopes told her the X-wing was safe, and as the Squint paused a moment after seeing his prey jump she finally got the lock tone. "Anyone tell you it's rude to shoot a crippled woman?" She growled out over an open frequency. Just barely getting it out before the squints dancing had it exploding like a baby nova.

"Lead. See you on the other." She sent on the Aurek Flight frequency as the soft pure tone of a good hyperspace trajectory was locked in to her B-wings systems. Pulling the lever she watched it all melt away.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik , @Adalia-Durron

 

OOC: I would like to thank @Corellian_Outrider for this joint post! It was a pleasure

IC: Jocelyn “Joy" Sunwalker + Captain Cassell “Skipper” Wystari
Location: Hyperspace to Rendezvous Point

Joy closed her eyes and sighed relieved. Most of the squadron made it… at least that was before the jump. She hoped that more survived the encounter. Joy never expected that she would have face the Skulls so soon. Intellectually she knew that it was a possibility, but being assigned to a ragtag squadron did not mean that it will attract the attention of the Empire’s elite. The Skulls were supposed to hunt Rogue Squadron, at least that was what she thought given their past assignments hunting Phoenix Squadron and General Syndulla.

“Hey, Captain, did you see whether the rest of the flight made it to hyperspace?” she opened a channel.

Wystari stared at an imaginary point outside the viewport as pulsating waves of light and shadow of hyperspace rushed past. He reflected upon the mission, what could have been done differently… if they had known… if the intel had been more accurate…
The comm crackled and he heard Joy’s voice on the other end. He blinked and shook his head and looked down at the console.
“No....” His voice croaked and then muted the comm as he cleared his throat. His mouth felt dry and could do with a drink. “We were one of the first to leave as they were covering us. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait and see when we get there.”

“I hope they made it out alive.” she needed someone to talk to “This was supposed to be a routine mission and not having to face one of the Empire’s elite squadrons.”

“I am sure they are okay, they are exceptional pilots.” Wystari paused for a moment, then smiled. Not that Joy could see his expression though the warmth could be reflected in his tone. “They were not that far behind us and our… feast… seemed to have some effect on the opposition… speaking of which, thank you for the intel. I’m sure it gave us more of an edge than if we were without it.”

Joy was doubtful they damaged the Defenders as they were made to last, unlike the regular TIEs. She gave a small smile at his thanks “You are welcome, though you have to thank Shadow, he was used to maintain the Defenders back in the days.” She cringed, maybe revealing too much, but she had already told Ianna and Lou about her past, as well as the other members of B-flight.

“Thank you too, Shadow… thank you both.” He meant it. There was something in her voice which suggested this might be a tender subject for her… or maybe it was the adrenaline or battle shock… He did not want to push so soon, just yet, unless she was ready to. “It does make you wonder though… who really was behind this mission… how they got their intel… what were they not telling us…”

“And more importantly, what was in that convoy that had the Empire send the Death Head Squadron.” she stated flatly. “They are not sent on routine missions, only on important ones, so there is more to the convoy that it meets the eye.”

“Food was listed on the scan however, maybe the manifest had been altered or the pod shielded to smuggle certain things.” Wystari added. “Although, why would they go to such an effort? At least there is one consolation…”

“I think it had to do with the liner, the Carrack was protecting it along with some of the fighters.”

“Hmmm…” Wystari frowned and pulled up the flight recorder data and reviewed the last few segments. “You might be onto something there… given if it was a civilian vessel, they generally don’t make that much of an effort when their supplies are being targeted.” He tilted his head and shrugged. “Depends on the Commander really…but who knows for sure what the Very Important Package is.”

“They don’t bother with civilians so, somebody important must have been on-board.”

Wystrai frowned at that remark about civilians. How far the values of the Republic had fallen when it became an Empire. “At least there is one consolation, I’ve nabbed us three pods. We could pick up on some threads and backtrack to point of origin and learn more about the convoy and its nature.”

“That is a good idea.” she nodded as if he could see her “We were lucky, you know, the Skulls are an elite squadron, by all accounts we should have been dead by now. They seemed more concerned with protecting the liner than attacking us.”

“Lucky... depends on how one sees it.” He had seen a few members of the squadron wink out on the scopes, he hoped Vixen was alright given the trouble he had heard over the comms regarding her craft. “What makes them so good anyway? Is it the training or the hardware?”

“Mostly the training, we… they received special one designed to counter the Rebel tactics.” she cringed at her mistake “But also the hardware, as you can see those are not the regular TIEs.”

“What are they? They remind me of TIE Interceptors but with three wings evenly spaced apart and their panels inverted…”

“They are TIE Defenders, built specially to be effective against most Rebel fighters and even some of the bigger vessels.” Joy explained “Highly maneuverable and with tough shields. I used to pilot one, in fact I commanded the very same squadron we faced.” there was no point in hiding it anymore.

He cupped his chin as he leaned back in the pilot’s chair. So, he had a name for those ‘Truglies’ and a little bit more of Joy’s history. The fact that she was part of an elite squadron should had come as a surprise. However, given how he knew that she had a past with the Imperial forces and everyone seemed to be hand picked for this squadron, some of the pieces seem to make more sense now. “Which means we have more than one elite pilot in this squadron...” He chuckled softly as an attempt to bring some levity. His tone shifted more seriously. “It would have been a shock to face elements of the past like that. How are you feeling?”

Joy sighed audibly, hopefully it did not send too much static over the comms “Thank you...” she paused “It was hard… You know I still consider some of them my friends, not all Imperials are monsters.” she did not add about Anais as that was more complicated. “They are just on the wrong side.”

“That is understandable. I won’t tell you my age but I remember when it was the Republic against the Confederacy… the lines were a bit more clearer then when facing against droids. However, in hindsight, maybe the Seppies had something going there… just that they went about it the wrong way. I guess that can be relevant for now given the Empire was made upon the foundations of the Republic. Hmm… now I’m blabbering. I meant to say that hopefully in time they, your former squad mates, will be inspired by your sacrifice and make the same decision you had made.”

“I hope so too.” that was true enough, but she doubted, the Skulls are Imperial patriots but she did not say it as then she will have to explain why she was with the Rebellion and her reasons were unconvincing at best. She needed to give a better explanation, small wonder people did not trust her. “It will be hard though.” she added.

“Most things worth while are… ”

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik

 

GM Update​

​

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

Flagg twisted and turned his X-Wing after one of the two last remaining TIE Interceptors even as the last two members of his flight tried to disengage themselves. They were too badly damaged to keep fighting, and now it was up to Flagg to keep the last squints off of them long enough for them to enter hyperspace and get back to the Intrepid. "Almost there...almost the.." he said to himself as he corralled the enemy fighter with a series of quick laser bursts, "Now!" he fired off a linked quartet that the enemy fighter barely slipped by, none of the four bolts touched the craft which spiraled in towards Flagg ruining any chance at a pursuit by the less agile X-Wing. "Damn, this guy's good." Flagg swore to himself even as he looped his T-65 over in an attempt to re-engage the nimble fighter. A whistling from his droid port caught his attention though and he pursed his lips at it's meaning.

No transponder signal from the X-Wing debris they had passed through. Whoever it was didn't have time to eject then. "Keep at it Robo, see if you can ID the markings." Flagg may have been engaged in combat, but he was also still the leader of the squadron, he had to multi-task and find out who else had died out here. A flash and an expaning cloud of gas from off to starboard indicated the destruction of one of the remaining Interceptors, the one Flagg had not been after. That meant it was just the one left, and it was retreating back towards Naboo now. Flagg pulled off, content to let it escape. One more dead interceptor wasn't going to turn the tide of battle here, and in retreating it wouldn't affect the remainder of their assignment.

Rolling his crate over he made a broad active sensor sweep of the area, gathering as much information as he could. His own squadron was mostly mixed in with the convoy, engaging targets of opportunity while fending off an Imperial counterattack. They had managed to lock onto to several containers, one of them hopefully being their primary target, and begun their retreat.

Meanwhile, Intruder squadron was still active, engaged with over a dozen hostiles. "Intruder lead, Black Sheep lead," he commed out to Kryze. "We have what we came for, time to go home." The channel remained open for a second too long before the female Mandalorian pilot managed to comm back. "Roger that, we're out of here."

That taken care of Flagg turned his attention back to his own squadron, noting how they blinked out in ones and twos as escaped into hyperspace themselves. Finally, it was just him, alone, standing off against the remainder of the Imperial force near Naboo. "Robo, you got everything?" he asked his droid who whistled an affirmative response. "OK, good, lets get back to the barn..." and then he pressed forward on the hyperspace actiavtion lever and watched space smear and dissolve around himself...



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

Taab watched with barely suppressed glee as Skipper's tactic scattered the Defenders and destroyed the disabled freighter/cruiser Guardian. It was a maneuver worthy of a Mandalorian, and he would single out the Corellian pilot for his tactical acumen when they returned. Meanwhile around him the remainders of Delta and Charlie flight kept up their withering assault on the Imperial convoy. Locking onto the disabled Glowworm, Taab engaged her with his main cannon, tearing the defenseless vessel apart as Kid rolled over and assaulted one of the C-Type freighters with Vet close on her wing. The freighter exploded in their wake even as Lou destroyed yet another Imperial freighter. The convoy was nearly annihilated, and their mission it appeared had been accomplished, a fitting beginning for his time in the Iron Cross and he wanted to do even more damage.

The time for them to leave though had come, the TIE Defenders were reorganizing after their brief setback, and Taab knew that the squadron had no chance against them, not right now anyway. They would need time to analyze the new craft, and discover new tactics for defeating them if they were to survive another encounter with the strange new brights again. Making sure that Lou and the members of Charlie and Echo flights had entered hyperspace, Taab took a long look at the remaining convoy ships. He still had a several torpedoes left, and figuring it would be a shame to bring back ordinance, he launched them at the nearest freighter blowing it apart before he too set his course for home, making good his escape. "We did good at'ika, (Little Atin)" he whispered, not to himself, but to the red and black buy'ce nestled behind his seat. "We killed as many as we could." Taab took in a deep breath watching the familiar sight of swirling hyperspace around him.

Next time, he would kill more.



IC: Baron Ric Vonoften (NPC)
Skull Lead, Leading the 282nd TIE "The Death Head" Squadron.

Baron Vonoften's unshakable confidence softened a bit as the rebel fighters mixed in among the Imperial convoy began to maneuver together. They had no chance against his TIE Defenders, even in a straight up fight, but now with the Defenders actually outnumbering their opponents, and better organized to boot, their chances were doubly skewed. Still, they had something in mind, of that he was quite sure, as the light freighter maneuvered in among them. He was stunned when that freighter latched on to a relatively useless cargo container, one knocked loose from the Glowworm, leaving one from the Guardian behind. He had surmised that they were here to raid the convoy for the arms and munitions in the other containers, not food...his eyes grew wide. Arms and munitions in the other free floating containers his fighter squadron was now screaming towards!

"Break, break, break!" He screamed into the comm system even as the containers exploded, set off by fire from the rebel criminals. His craft and the others around him flew headlong into the secondary explosions, draining their shields and even damaging a few Defenders. His order had come too late. Someone over there was a tricky one indeed. Now his own squadron was scattered about, while the rebels, even with their lesser numbers, were fairly organized. The shouts from his underlings that rang out over their squadron frequency told the tale.

"Split from point one..."

"Three, wishbone blowing through on your port side."

"Lead, break left, break left!"

Vonoften had just barely enough time to comprehend the warning when his craft was hit by a glancing blow from an A-Wing. The shot penetrated his already damaged shields and scorched his third wing root panel. "Fairy, we need to reorganize," he called out to his second. "Break free of the convoy, use as much speed as needed we'll reform there and re-engage." His signal was followed by a number of "As ordered" calls from the squadron who all attempted to disengage from the enemy. The Rebels though seemed to be waiting for that moment, and as soon as they were clear began dropping off his screen as they went to hyperspace. They were gone, or at least most of them were. One popped out of hyperspace near the Queen of Naboo, the high value target he and his squadron had been ordered out here to protect in the first place. Vonoften sent a flight after it while he assessed what had happened, but it evaded them after two close in flights to the Queen before re-entering hyperspace for good.

"Skulls, form up on the Queen of Naboo," he ordered the remainder of his squadron. "We'll escort her in." He targeted the ferryboat liner and led the rest of his fighters on an intercept course, taking one last look at the shattered convoy they left behind. His fighters had run off the raiders, and gotten their licks in too, but the convoy had been all but obliterated and knowing where, and what, that cargo was bound for, the Baron knew there would be hell to pay.



IC: Commander Arick "Boss" Flagg/Major Beskaryc Taab
Hyperspace, nearing the Intrepid RV Point.

Taking advantage of the downtime during their return trip to the Intrepid through hyperspace, Commander Flagg went over the sensor data he and his droid had collected just prior to their departure from the Naboo system. "So, that was the wreckage from Ring's X-Wing." Flagg stated as his eyes narrowed at the report from Robo. The droid whistled at him again. "87% probability," he repeated back, "and her wingman, his craft was missing too?" The droid whistled in the affirmative. Both craft had disappeared from sensor logs not long after the squadron had made the turn towards the convoy, and only the scattered wreckage of Ring's craft had remained to testify to their loss. What had happened to them? They were gone before they had been engaged. Was it a mid-space collision? Maintenance or weapons malfunction? Flagg shrugged, he supposed they would never know how they had been lost, only that they had been, and the names of Skew and Ring would be added to the casualty list for the Black Sheep's first mission.

That mission had been a success, they had acquired the cargo they had set out to steal, and wrecked most of the accompanying convoy while they were at it, including two additional light cruisers they had not anticipated. If it hadn't been for the large Imperial presence around Naboo, Flagg was sure the entire convoy would have been destroyed, at no further loss of their own. The untimely arrival of those new TIEs though, they had accounted for two additional losses to Charlie Flight, including their flight leader, and of course the Interceptors that had gotten through Intruder Squadron had taken out Flagg's wingman. That was five fighters destroyed, out of a force of 18, and for what? A few cargo containers and maybe two dozen destroyed Imperial ships? It didn't take Flagg's cybernetically enhanced brain to do the math and calculate that was no formula to winning the war. They would have to do better. Somehow. His console flashed at him and his X-Wing reverted to normal space, right on time...

​

...and then another flashing warning gave him a collision alert and he rapidly pulled his craft up and to the right as soon as the X-Wing had reverted to normal space. In front of him the familiar hexagonal shape of a TIE fighter's wings flashed by, far too close. "What the..." he asked himself, seeing that the rest of the squadron had also come out of hyperspace in the midst of an ongoing battle. "Lock S-Foils in attack position and report..." he began to order to the Black Sheep even as a TIE Fighter screamed overhead, blasting away at him as it went by.

"shab." The voice of Taab came in over the squadron frequency. "They're all over." The chattering sounds of the chin mounted auto-cannons of the Iron Cross reverberated over the wave as a TIE Fighter unlucky enough to have been caught in front of him was destroyed. "How..." Robo whistled to Flagg, telling him the same thing that the droids and navicomputers throughout the squadron were telling their own pilots, they were at the proper co-ordinates. "Right place, wrong time." Flagg grunted under the G-Forces as he swept his X-Wing around and fired a pair of laser bolts that narrowly missed their intended target. Other familiar voices began to fill the wave as he tried to reacquire his target.

"Black Sheep, this is Intrepid Actual," It was Captain Husk. "We're under attack from a pair of Imperial frigates, they appeared a few minutes before you did..."

Spoiler

"Frak it," the voice of Intruder Lead came out over the net. "Those were the frigates that left Naboo during our attack." How had they gotten here so quickly? Flagg asked silently. The plan had been for a quick landing and then the Intrepid was going to jump away, so the squadron hadn't bothered hiding their tracks with micro-jumps or other standard procedures. They had set a direct course back for this rendezvous point, the Imperials shouldn't have had the time to track them, much less get here first.

"..and they brought dozens of little friends." Flagg silently breathed a "I've noticed," even as he managed to finally reacquire the TIE that had attacked him earlier. "We've scrambled the Vipers and 'raiders to defend the ship, but we have to destroy those frigates to effect our escape." Fully concentrated on the TIE in front of him Flagg barely had time to click twice over his wireless set, acknowledging the order before he rapidly pressed the firing stud on his yoke twice. A pair of laser bolts erupted from his fighter with each press, the first pair missing the eyeball while the second pair hit home causing the craft to explode.

"OK, you heard the man, Black Sheep." He took a moment as he watched how the battle was unfolding before issuing orders. "Looks like the 'Raiders are attacking the furthest frigate from us, Charlie flight, fold in with Delta and hit the nearest Frigate," he paused as Taab came in over the line with an "As ordered," before continuing on. "Echo flight, get those pods back to the ship, Vixen and Wolf, go with them and land. You're in no condition for a fight." That would leave him alone out here, surrounded by TIEs, but he had Baker flight, as well as two other squadrons defending the Intrepid herself from the enemy fighter swarm. "Baker flight, I'll be joining with you. We're going to help Viper and Intruder here thin out the herd."



"As ordered," Taab responded quickly to the Boss even as he sent out a separate comm signal to bring the Charlie flight folks onto Delta flight's private comm frequency. The newly reconstituted flight had himself in a B-Wing, two Y-wings and an X-Wing. More than enough firepower under normal circumstances for what he had in mind for the nearest frigate, a craft running under the coded ID of Falcon. Too bad he had used up his last torpedoes on helpless cargo ship back at the convoy. Now all he had were his main guns. He hoped the others had saved a little something. "Delta Charlie," he commed out to his flight. "If any of you have torps see if you can soften up the Falcon's starboard side." He locked his primary weapon, the big light turbolaser onto the weakest portion of the frigate, the spot where the spar met the forward section. "Once you do, we concentrate fire where you see my targeting lasers are locked..." The Iron Cross rocked under the guns of a TIE fighter which screamed by. "..and Vet," he ordered the lone true fighter in his flight. "Keep these TIEs off of us best you can."

TAG: @Corellian_Outrider @Outsourced @Vehn @galactic-vagabond422 @Anedon @Sarge @TheAdmiral @Rebecca_Daniels @Mistress_Renata @Adalia-Durron @Mitth_Fisto @Chyntuck

OOC: We're not done yet.

Quick rundown of the situation.

• Two Nebulon B Frigates are attacking the Intrepid. Looking at our computer screens/tablets/phones as we read, the frigates are off to the left of the screen with the Intrepid off to the right.
• There are roughly fourty (40) TIE Fighters brought along aboard the frigates which have also entered the fight.
• The Intrepid has launched all fighters to defend herself.
• Star Raider Squadron (mix of Y and B wings) are attacking the Frigate furthest away from where we exited hyperspace.
• Viper Squadron (A-Wings) are providing close escort for the Intrepid and are engaging the TIE fighters.
• Intruder Squadron (down to ten X-Wings, some damaged) have come out of hyperspace with us and are also engaging the TIE Fighters.

Now for us:

• Baker Flight: You, along with Flagg, are ordered to attack the TIE fighters. As noted above, there are plenty of them to choose from. Feel free to post damage/destroy them as desired in your posts. Be advised that while the Intrepid has NPC pilots from the other squadrons engaged in this battle too, those are not free use at the moment, so leave their actions/damage/destruction to the GM for the moment.
• Charlie/Delta flight: Ordered to take on the Frigate nearest to where the squadron came out of hyperspace. Feel free to post damage to it as needed in your posts. Any TIE fighters that we come across are also fair game (as above there are plenty of them about). Be advised that while the Intrepid has NPC pilots from the other squadrons engaged in this battle too, those are not free use at the moment, so leave their actions/damage/destruction to the GM for the moment.
• Able/Echo Flights: Ordered to land back on the Intrepid. Echo due to the cargo they are carrying, Able flight because of the damage already sustained during the convoy raid. Feel free however to deal with any TIE fighters your flights may come across as you try to make your way back to the Intrepid. If those engagements mean you are unable to land on the Intrepid right away, or even until the battle is over, so be it.

Any questions, feel free to PM me or ask in the fanclub.

 

~OOC~ This is another joint post between @TheAdmiral and myself. Thank you for the opportunity

IC: Jocelyn “Joy" Sunwalker + Captain Cassell “Skipper” Wystari
Location: Rendezvous Point

The white lines streaked out to infinity and then focused into white points denoting stars on a canvas of space as the Valkyria reverted back to real space. Almost immediately, a light lit up red on the console as a trilling alarm went off.

“What in blazes…” Wystari cursed under his breath as saw the scene outside. He quickly scanned the systems and the scopes to quickly gauge the situation and adjusted power to the shields. “Joy, multiple contacts… didn’t we just leave this party?”

["Black Sheep, this is Intrepid Actual, We're under attack from a pair of Imperial frigates, they appeared a few minutes before you did..."]

Then came the voice of Intruder Leader ["Frak it, those were the frigates that left Naboo during our attack."]

What Joy saw surprised her, how did the Empire know Interpid’s location? She keyed a couple of commands to detach her craft from the pod. Shadow coordinated with Valkyria’s systems so the shields dropped long enough for her to get clear and up again before they were spotted by the Empire. At least there were plenty of targets so two more or less did not make a difference. “I will provide cover.”

Wystari pinged the dorsal turret gunner to be on standby as he eased some power to the forward mounted cannons and angled the approach to the far side of the Quasar Fire-class carrier. He felt a bit better as more squadron members started dropping out of hyperspace. “There’s plenty for the both of us…”

Joy snorted in amusement ‘You could say that again.’ she thought “I will try to save some for you.” decided to use the usual Rebel cockiness.

“There’s no need for that, Missy, I’ll give you a head start while I drop off this cargo, then...” There was a grin on his face. “...may the best pilot wins.”

Jocelyn gave a hearty laugh at being called Missy. It reminded her of her father, besides Skipper outranked her. “Don’t be late… old man.” she gave a cheeky grin, which was a bit uncharacteristic of her, but she was trying to turn a new page in her life.

“Old? Old?!?” Wystari responded with mock scorn though couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “...Why I never... young lady…” He muttered under his breath. A wing of TIEs came within range and the cannons opened fire with bolts of scarlet and cerulean as he let loose a battlecry. “Ohna fulle guth!”

Joy pressed the trigger hitting a TIE right in the cockpit, piercing the back where the engines were blowing it from within. Its wings cartwheeled and its comrades maneuvered to avoid a collision. “I will escort you to the Interpid, the pods’ security is important.”

Boss’s voice was heard on the comms. ["OK, you heard the man, Black Sheep… Looks like the 'Raiders are attacking the furthest frigate from us, Charlie flight, fold in with Delta and hit the nearest Frigate, Echo flight, get those pods back to the ship, Vixen and Wolf, go with them and land. You're in no condition for a fight. Baker flight, I'll be joining with you. We're going to help Viper and Intruder here thin out the herd."]

“Order Acknowledged!” Wystari confirmed.

Joy checked her instruments trying to find the others from Baker Flight. They did not jump at the same time so they will be arriving in different times. “I guess I will have to rejoin my flight.”

“Keep safe and thanks.” Wystari said to Joy. “Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be back in the fray in no time.”

“Thank you for the lift. Will look for you in the battle.”

“Happy hunting!” The Valkyria waggled as a wave to Joy’s Y-Wing and veered towards the fighters belonging to Vixen and Wolf with the intention of giving them some coverage while they make their way to the Intrepid.

TAG: Open

 

Maxime “Max” Pallas
Just coming out of Hyperspace

She was thinking, not napping, although she had her eyes closed. Sometimes, the strange, swirling patterns of hyperspace could make a person crazy…or queasy. She was still pondering the mission, the poor quality of the Intel, and who the heck was on that passenger liner, when Digger chirped to warn her that they’d soon be dropping out of hyperspace.

Max sat up, stretched as well as she could in the cramped confines of the cockpit, and looked at her console. Digger had gotten the shields up to 93%, as much as he could do from where he was. Sparky’s team would have to take care of the rest. He’d downloaded most of the flight data to her spare datapad, the blank one that went on missions. The other one, with all of the personal info and stuff she cared about, stayed on the ship. If she was EV or captured, this one would reveal nothing but the current mission.

“You’ve got the specs on those triplanes, right?” she said. “I want you to give those to Sparky as soon as we touch down.”

//AFFIRMATIVE. HYPERSPACE EXIT APPROACHING IN 6 SECONDS.

Max counted down, heard the tone, and shifted back to real space.

“What the--?!” She banked sharply to the right, and down. <<Oh, you have GOT to be kriffing me!>>

TIE fighters, all over the place. The targeting scope showed 40, and the Intrepid on the right. To her left, two Imperial frigates, slowly closing in. One eyeball had been bearing down on her, but her maneuver had her avoiding it by a few meters. She put her S-foils to attack position, more from habit than because it was an order, and pulled her ship up and to the left. That eyeball was turning, trying to come back at her again. Keep dreaming, hero.

She heard Flagg’s voice on the squadron link. "OK, you heard the man, Black Sheep… Looks like the 'Raiders are attacking the furthest frigate from us. Charlie flight, fold in with Delta and hit the nearest Frigate. Echo flight, get those pods back to the ship; Vixen and Wolf, go with them and land. You're in no condition for a fight. Baker flight, I'll be joining with you. We're going to help Viper and Intruder here thin out the herd."

Max hadn’t heard anything, but the Boss’s instructions were clear, and pretty much in line with her own inclinations. A quick look located Zero, just to her right and a little above her. Beyond them, Joy and the Valkyria were racing for the hangars, with a B-wing and an X-wing just ahead of them. Sheep 3 and 4, according to her scanner. Joy broke off, banking to the left, while Skipper continued on his path, burdened by the bulky cargo containers.

“Z, we need to cover them and keep those eyeballs off the hangars,” said Max. She looked around. No sign of Kayn yet. Had he made it? There were a lot of casualties just for fancy spices. She could see, too, three TIEs in perfect formation, diving towards the ships. Joy was trying to maneuver to face them. “I’ll cover these three, can you get the guy off my left?” She could shake him, but Zero could nail him easily.

Joy fired, but the formation split up, cutting off to the left and right. The wingman on the right looped, planning to come at the slower Y-wing from her flank. Unfortunately, it brought him directly into Max, who had watched the whole thing set up, and accelerated as she fired, turning slightly to her left to follow his trajectory. The first few bolts shot past him, but she caught him square on and the TIE went up in a rather spectacular ball of flame. “That’s mine.” An explosion behind her, off to her left. Max grinned. She wasn't sure who had taken him, but her annoying tail was no more. She looked at the rest, trying to figure out the direct threats to Skipper and her unknown squadmates. An X-wing dropped into Joy’s wingslot. Flagg, guessed Max. The Vipers and the Intruders were mixing it up, but Max kept her eyes on the heavily burdened Corellian freighter and the two wounded ships. Spotting more threats, she moved towards them. Where the hell was Kayn?

 

IC: Louise "Lou" Gray
Hyperspace enroute to the Intrepid

Lou released her iron grip on her control stick and unbuttoned her chin strap as her Y-Wing zipped away from Naboo at lightspeed. She leaned back, as much as she could in the cockpit of the wishbone, and stretched her arms and hands. She was tense from combat. Tense from the crash into the freighter's hangar. Tense from having nearly been blown out into the void by her ex-husband.

She took a few deep breaths and attempted to release the stress that hung heavy around her neck, crushed her shoulders, made it difficult to breathe. Dietryk was now flying with an elite squadron of TIE Defenders. Somehow, someway, he'd gotten an opportunity to fly with the very best. She knew that when Taab had saved her tail and damaged Dietryk's fighter that he wasn't out of the war. A man like that, a person like him, couldn't be defeated so easily.

A part of her always suspected that they would one day meet again. Despite the galaxy seeming like one of the largest places in existence it was still so much smaller when it came to conflict hot spots than she cared to know. There were only so many safe hyperspace lanes and from that point so many places where the Rebel Alliance and Empire could converge to fight their struggle. Part of her was thankful to know that they would both fight again. Some arguments simply couldn't be won.

Their relationship, however, had turned into a personal shooting war. A clash of vows. A clash of ideas. A clash of personalities. Lou remembered their wedding day standing under the archway with the Lady Constance mountain range in the background and the Laweeya Prairie all around. Family had come from all over Roon. They'd both grown up there.

"I will always love you, take care of you, cherish you, honor you..." Dietryk said as he slipped the ring he'd chosen for Lou on her finger.

Lou repeated the phrase and added at the end, "where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people. Your Maker, my Maker. Where you die, I will die..."

Lou snapped out of her memory and saw that her orange lenses that formed a part of her combat helmet were steamed and dripping with tears. She took off her helmet and wiped away the tears that continued to fall. She knew that the only way to settle the conflict with her ex-husband was to take his life. She'd vowed to do just that but actually pulling the trigger was something entirely different. Their clash over Naboo had proven that neither party wanted to strike the killing blow.

Not yet, anyway.

<Something wrong?> C-8 asked on the MFD.

"I'm fine," Lou replied as she put her helmet back on and tightened the chin strap. "Just a little something in my eye. You did well out there C-8. Real well."

Lou was thrown against her restraints as hyperspace quickly cut out. Alarms blared all throughout the Y-Wing as she let out a low curse and punched her control stick down to avoid a head on collision with a TIE fighter. She'd been dropped right into the middle of a fight for survival. A fight between two Imperial frigates off to her left and the Intrepid off to her right. The space in between was littered with Rebel and Imperial fighters and the Imps, like usual, outnumbered the good guys.

Transmissions flew throughout the squadron. Lou tried to pay attention as she juked and jinked above, around, and below TIE fighter wings. She snapped off a few shots to keep a TIE busy as a call came out on the Delta frequency indicating that Charlie and Delta flights were merging. That made her smile. That meant she'd be rolling with Kid. Not a bad deal.

"Delta Charlie," Taab called out, "if any of you have torps see if you can soften up the Falcon's starboard side. Once you do, we concentrate fire where you se my targeting lasers are locked..."

Lou checked her payload. She only had two torps left. She'd left Intrepid with less than a full deck. A mistake that she wouldn't make again. She armed her torps as she began to eyeball her attack run. Nebulon-B Frigates were vulnerable right where the spar joined the forward fuselage. She'd love to break this one's back.

Her thoughts flashed back to the day's events, her ex-husband, the TIE Defenders, the war without end.

Once more into the breach Lou thought as she exhaled and prepared to kill again.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik; @galactic-vagabond422; @Anedon

 

IC: Ianna 'Kid' Mcear
Outskirts of the Naboo system

"Understood, let's get out of here," Vet replied, the breath Ianna had been holding in was released. They seemed to pause for just a moment as they waited for the other to make the jump first, neither wanting to leave the other behind. In the end they seemed to jump at the same time.

Once safely away the young woman's body slumped in her flight chair. Given her shorter stature she had more space than the usual pilot. Her hands were still clammy sweat beaded on her brow but, she was starting to feel the release. The fight was over and she could finally breathe. As well Pat could get to work fixing everything Ianna broke with her hard turns and the multitude of laser blasts that hit her shields.

Everything was quiet, maybe that was the worst thing for her right now, all she could think about were Ditch and Turncoat, both just gone in an instant. This mission turned on them really fast. Maybe it was doomed to begin with, when Foodie went crazy. Those new fighters, what were they? Defenders...not a good name for them. They're defending the bad guys. Her mind was too confused to think of anything better.

Her thoughts turned back to those she'd lost. Maniac, Striker Lead, Ditch, Turncoat, it was a lot of people, lot of lives being taken all around her. It made one wonder if she was next…

"No, no" she said to herself slamming her fist into her thigh. She still had a lot of things to do, dying wasn't one of them. She wasn't going to die, and she wasn't going to lose herself to the pain.

She was still angry, still enraged that she lost more people around her. In these private moments, when it was only her and Pat, she could let go, let her smile slip for just a moment. She grit her teeth letting out short breaths until a bellow from the depths of her soul ripped itself from her throat. It was a sign that she wasn't perfect, wasn't always the smiling cheery farmgirl but, part of her couldn't let anyone else see this, see her rage. Much of the squadron had seen it when Foodie went berserk but, that was a special case...that idiot had hurt her friend, he deserved it.

No, they had to see her as the bright spot she had to be the smile that never broke.

With another breath her throat raw from her shout to the emptiness of hyperspace, the rage left her. At least it was over, they got the cargo they needed, they got away.

Pat tweeted from behind the young woman, drawing her attention. She looked to the read out seeing that her little sister had done some repairs and got the shields back up and running.

"Oh, thanks Pat...Though I think the techs are not going to be happy about those marks." She looked to the two wide black streaks that showed just how close she'd come to being among the dead.

A shiver ran through her causing her helmet to rattle a bit. It seemed with her anger and adrenaline gone, she had nothing to keep her warm anymore. She wrapped her arms around herself, for the warmth or the comfort, trying to trick her mind into thinking she was being embraced by her mother, or her father. The emptiness in her was deep and painful now. She missed them missed them dearly. It was almost impossible to bear but, having her squadron around her helped but, in the cold vortex of hyperspace she was all alone...well not all alone.

Pat tweeted in a low tone, Ianna could tell she was worried.

"It's fine Pat, just some homesickness."

The little astromech gave a slightly confused whistle.

"Or It's when you miss your home so much it makes you sick." She paused for a moment. "Hey Pat, have you ever been to Chandrila?"

Before the droid could answer Ianna transitioned to realspace and her heart started thundering again.

In that moment her face paled, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. They were supposed to be safe here.

It was just a moment before she forced a smile back on her face...She was unbreakable...She had to be.

Boss barked more orders, and the smile became a little more genuine...She'd be working with Lou.

"Delta Charlie," The MANdalorian called out, "if any of you have torps see if you can soften up the Falcon's starboard side. Once you do, we concentrate fire where you see my targeting lasers are locked..and Vet," The young woman's eyes snapped up to see her wingmate's fighter. "Keep these TIEs off of us best you can."

"Good luck," she said, her comm wasn't on, her words just floating in the air around her.

She fell into formation with Lou, matching her speed…

They would get through this, they were together, nothing could stop them.

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik @Vehn @Anedon

 

IC: Ethan "Veteran" Malek
Outskirts of the Naboo system

When his X-Wing left the Naboo system and entered the relative safety of the hyperspace Ethan back of his seat, letting out a deep breath as all the emotions he had suppressed in the last minutes resurfaced. For a moment eh shivered as he again realized how close he had been to his death during the fight, if Ianna hadn´t been there...

He shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. Ianna had been there and he had survived. But many others hadn´t. For a moment Ethan bowed his head in silent respect for Ditch and Turncoat, remembering his former squad mates and when he reached into the pockets of his flightiest he even found the pouch Ditch had given him on the Intrepid, after the briefing. Absently he chewed on the dried beef snack while thinking back to the battle. Was there anything he could have done to prevent their deaths, maybe if he and Ianna hadn´t left the formation to help the Lou when she was trapped in the imperial hangar? Maybe... Again Ethan shook his head, it was useless to speculate about it, the battle was over, and nothing he could do could change what had happened.

Then he turned around to the droid behind him, "do you think you can get our shields back online before we reach the meeting point."

R7 responded with a affirmative whistle and Ethan gave him a little smile, "you´ve done a great job today, little friend."

The droid let out a proud whistle before beginning his work at the shield systems of the X-Wing while Ethan scolded himself as he realized how attached he had grown to his droid, again. In his years as a pilot Ethan had used several Astromech droids on his star fighters and each time he had told himself not to grow attached to them, to see them as just machines and nothing more. But each time he had failed to follow his own advice and loosing the droids had hit him like the losing a close friend. Maybe they truly are more than just machines.

Closing his eyes for a moment Ethan tried to clear his thoughts and relax a bit, soon they would reach the meeting point and once there he would probably have to give a full report on the battle. Thinking back to his homeworld Ethan remembered the high mountains and the wilderness again, remembering the trips he had undertaken there with his parents. How they had explored the untamed nature and enjoying their time together. As always the thoughts of his parents and Eriadu helped him to calm himself down, but while he was still thinking back to them his X-Wing entered into real space again.

Hearing R7 panicked whistle Ethan opened his eyes and for a moment his heart seemed to stop. The space before them was filled with imperial fighter attacking the rebel ships.

"Thousand blaster bolts," Ethan cursed as he tried to get an overview of the situation. A quick look on the displays in front of him calmed him down a bit and he thanked the heavens that he had asked R7 to take care of the shields while they were still in hyperspace. For a moment his eyes searched for Ianna´s bomber and he was relieved to see her close to his X-Wing.

"Delta Charlie," Their mandalorian commander called over com, "if any of you have torps see if you can soften up the Falcon's starboard side. Once you do, we concentrate fire where you see my targeting lasers are locked..and Vet," The Ethan looked up, already aiming for the first TIE. "Keep these TIEs off of us best you can."

"Understood, I will do my best to keep them of your back," Ethan responded, as red lasers from his X-Wing turned the imperial machine into a fireball.

He knew this wouldn´t be easy but he would give the others as much protection from the TIEs as he could.

Tag: @Bardan_Jusik, @galactic-vagabond422, @Vehn

 

IC: Kayn "Mean Streak" Balzroth
No Rest for the Wicked

The faint flicker of passing hyperspace barely registered through his slitted eyes. Comms were muted and Kayn was as close to prone as he could get in the A-wing's cramped cockpit, not moving a muscle, exhausted and burned out, nursing the usual monster headache after disconnecting his neural links from the ship's sensors. Someday, someone would figure out how to make links between computer chips and organic brains that didn't leave the neurons feeling like splitting atoms in a nuclear fission reaction, and when they did, they'd have Kayn's eternal gratitude. I wonder if Mother's medical equipment company has made any progress on that front. I haven't been home in years. The fracking Empire probably took over and nationalized the whole company years ago. Maybe I ought to go home and find out... Well, that can't happen any time soon. I can't imagine a lot of leave requests will get authorized while I'm flying with this outfit. Besides, I have duties now. B Flight Leader, Lieutenant Kayn Balzroth, Black Sheep Squadron.

He smiled slightly, remembering that all three of his flight mates had survived the battle and jumped to hyperspace. That was something to feel good about. Am I that good a leader, or did we just get lucky? I know what Paladin would say to that!

The thought of his dead wingman was a dash of cold water on his mood. I haven't thought about Paladin in hours. Nearest thing I ever had to a real friend, and I'm already forgetting about him? What is wrong with me? What kind of a person am I?

That train of thought was interrupted by a soft chime from the autopilot announcing reversion to normal space in thirty seconds. He forced his eyes all the way open, took a deep breath, and sat up straighter, looking forward to getting out of the tiny cockpit, stretching, and showering. His beard still itched and smelled of some kind of pretentiously fancy pastry icing.

His eyes bugged out when he found himself in normal space, face-to-face with a Nebulon class frigate. Surprise?! No, this one has Imp markings! What the frack?!

TIE's were everywhere, shooting at Rebel fighters and the Intrepid, which were all shooting back, everything mixed up in the biggest ugliest furball he'd ever seen. Don't fly straight, turn! Shields up! Kriff, no neural hook-up, do it manually, which buttons do I push, what's the sequence? Targeting sensors, weapons, countermeasures, this is like swimming in permacrete!

Finally, his fumbling fingers had the fighter ready for combat. He managed to get targeting locks on two random TIE's and launched concussion missiles at them. Before the missiles reached their targets, burning green bolts slammed into his aft shields. Kriffety kriffing FRACK-frack! How can anybody survive a dogfight when they can only see in one direction at a time? Need to get this son-of-a-barve off my tail!

Kayn snapped the fighter into a random turn, not having much awareness of his situation and unwilling to fly straight while he tried to figure out what was going on. He found himself pointed at a Nebulon. The range was close, so he accelerated toward it, hoping the TIE on his tail would hold fire for fear of hitting their own frigate. Twisting his head around for a quick peek over his shoulder, he saw not one but two TIE's hot on his six.



The A-wing came screaming in on the frigate's port bow, dipped low, flashed past the hanging superstructure- Substructure? Who cares, just fly! -and broke hard left, whipping into a tight circle around the frigate's lower structure, TIE's still following closely. Ring around the rancor! Let's see who can fly fastest and turn tightest! But if they're smart, one of those TIE's probably reversed and the wingman is coming around in the opposite direction to shoot at me head-on. Lasers pivoted up as high as they'll go, keep the bank angle vertical... and the wingman should be popping out from behind the structure just about... there!

Red and green shots flared in opposite directions as the two fighters blurred past each other in opposite circles. Kayn's front shields absorbed a glancing blow, and he saw one of his own shots score a hit on the TIE's pylon. Then the wingman was gone, vanishing behind him in a right hand circle, but Kayn was now gaining on the leader, who was still going around the frigate's structure in a left hand circle. He lined up the shot, squeezed the trigger, and the lead TIE flared into a ball of fire. Too predictable, sucker!

Green bolts lit up the space above Kayn's canopy. The wingman had reversed direction again while Kayn was closing on the leader, and was now back on Kayn's tail, closer than ever. He pulled harder on the joystick, coming close to greying out as the G-forces pulled blood out of his head, cutting in even closer to the frigate. The TIE clung tenaciously, trying to pull tight enough to get the right amount of lead to hit the A-wing. He'd be set up for me to score an easy kill if I only had 360 degree pivots on the lasers! But I don't have anything that can shoot backwards, not even any chaff left, just a few flares. Hell, might work...

Kayn fumbled in the cockpit, found the button to push, and popped flares. Centrifugal force sent them off to the outside of the circular course. The TIE pilot was startled, swerving left to avoid them. Too far to the left! Wing panel met frigate structure and ripped off in an eyeblink. The remains of the TIE went spinning away from the battle, spewing flames and sparks like a pinwheel.

With a sigh of relief, Kayn jinked clear of the frigate; the A-wing's light weaponry would be useless against the capital ship's shields, so best to get away from it and stay out of the way of the heavies. Where are the bombers? This ought to be their target. And what the kriff is going on anyway? Why haven't I heard anything on the comm?

His eyes fell on the comm panel and he winced in embarrassment. He had muted the comms while resting in hyperspace, trying to recover from his headache. Oops, as they say. Guess I better tune in and try to figure out what the frack is going on.

TAG: All the radios that have been calling Kayn and wondering why he didn't answer

 

IC: Akiva Lurell AKA 'Wolf'
End First mission, Running Away

The enraptured moment where there was nothing but the swirling blue of hyperspace once more to comfort and enshroud her, that was moment she sighed and grinned in relief. She had done it, she had survived again. Not only that, she had brought back a souvenir! Something a fighter pilot rarely if ever got to do in their career. Looking at the daft TIE Interceptor wing she activated her mag clamps for landing, and on her fourth try finally managed to lock the thing down with the landing pad of the strut under the neck of her craft.

Slowly spinning her craft to make sure that the wing wasn't scraping the cockpit she nodded the result, it seemed to be good enough. She still wouldn't dare fire her crafts chin cannons for fear of lighting the wing and thus herself on fire, but it was workable. With a few more switches to shut them down the rest of the way she diverted power and tried to rebalance the shield matrix and have her systems run a down and dirty diagnostic. Now, so long as nobody made any 'wyrwulf with a bone' jokes she would be having a rather good day. Especially considering she and her wingmate had both made it through the scuffle alive.

It was hard trying to stretch out in the cramped cockpit, and she as often did had to contend with being in an awkward position as she tried to work out any stress related kinks. It wasn't until the timer beeped that she realized she had zoned out for a little while as she focused on her muscles and trying to loosen them up a little. Making sure the diagnostic was done and the shields at full and balanced to account for the wing she pulled the lever to be met with a sight of some TIE fighters breaking off all over the place!

"What the frak!" she yipped, startled by the situation even as she scrambled to get her weapons recharging and wings to open back up. She didn't even pay attention to the Flight leads comm chatter when it came, she was too busy trying to get her ship ready to dance. "Come on Vape eater!" she muttered as she slapped a stubborn panel before finally the S-foils activated.

As she maneuvered away from the Nebulons she started the process of getting her ship to show her the lay of the land ahead and in the twin HUDs. Seeing what was moving where quickly saw her and her wing falling in with the transports back to the Mother ship, but it didn't mean they were out of it yet. Focusing on the ahead she noted a group of eyeballs turning from a strafing run on their ship towards them. Pulling up her missile lock system she started checking any that were straying toward her wingmate's side and letting loose with a missile barrage.

Already shortly into it she had three missiles flying loose to clean off Vixen's side of the incoming flight. Get the worst in first and then tuck in behind before the freighters. That was all she had to do and all she planed to. That and blow as many out of the sky between here and there that wandered to close their way.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron , @Bardan_Jusik , Others

 

IC: Zara "Zero" Yaren
Outskirts of Naboo system

The wave of explosions behind B-Flight and the Valkyria granted them the briefest of reprieves, her lasers joining those of her flight's to blind and deafen the tri-wings on their tails. She reached her hand for the concussion missile launcher, but pulled back at the last moment. No, they had what they came for, it was time to go. Better to save the missiles for another day; somehow, Zara suspected this would not be the last they'd see of those overpowered Imperial starfighters.

This stunt with the explosives hadn't helped the state of her shields. She was holding out for the Valkyria's departure, but the shield status display was a ticking clock, counting down until she'd have no choice but to jump or die. But even as Zara took potshots at what was probably the tri-wings through the debris, the Valkyria vanished into hyperspace. Max signalled her readiness to jump, and Zara clicked back in response only moments before engaging her hyperdrive, eyes on the state of her rear shields, hoping only that they'd hold out long enough to get away.

The numbers were on her side today as the stars elongated around her ship. As the battle disappeared behind her, Zara could hear heavy breathing, loud and rough and all around her. It took a moment to recognise it as herself, her body coming down from the stress of that fight, and she tried to control it, even her breathing out. It's fine, I made it. Free and clear, just barely.

This was becoming a regular occurrence. Surviving by the skin of her teeth each time, it wasn't fate or the will of the Force or whatever else, it was just random chance that kept propelling her into the next death-defying action. They'd lost squadmates in that fight, she knew that much even if she didn't know who had been lost. Her flight had all been accounted for, at least before she leapt away from the fight. But she couldn't bring herself to feel anything, no sadness about the losses, no relief from surviving, just... exhaustion. Someday she wouldn't be so lucky, and Zara knew it was only a matter of time.

They would all be back at the Intrepid soon enough, but after a few minutes Zara was dozing anyway, not quite asleep, though awake enough to hear the alert to revert to realspace. And immediately, she regretted her short doze as dozens of TIEs and two Imperial frigates filled her screens.

"Damn it all," she swore to herself, bumping the knuckles of one hand against her visor as she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Zara forced her eyes to focus on her sensors, bringing her ship's systems back up for another fight. Sublight engines and weapons powered, jammers operating on standard Imperial frequencies, shields up--

Something behind her whined, and she could see the shields flickering. That wasn't good. Her shields were up, but the tri-fighters and the debris had taken their toll. Better be faster and smarter than any of these Imps, then.

"Baker flight, I'll be joining with you. We're going to help Viper and Intruder here thin out the herd." Easy orders, at least, and they weren't short for targets.

Max's X-wing had appeared only moments after her own reversion, and she, at least, was already on target. “Z, we need to cover them and keep those eyeballs off the hangars. I’ll cover these three, can you get the guy off my left?”

The TIEs were hardly the tri-wings they'd just faced, though the numbers would be dangerous. "On him," she replied, turning tight to get behind the TIE so determined to take down her wingmate. Three quick blasts turned it into a ball of fire and space junk, and Zara pulled her A-wing up tight to avoid flying through the remnants of the explosion. "You're clear, Eight." But only for the moment, as she followed Max towards more TIEs.

TAG: @Mistress_Renata @TheAdmiral @Sarge @Corellian_Outrider @Bardan_Jusik

 

IC: Kayn Balzroth, Maxime Pallas, Jocelyn Sunwalker, Zara Yaren
B-flight, off the port side of the Intrepid (joint post)

The squadron comm channel was utter chaos when Kayn finally turned up the volume. Sensor screens weren't much better. All I can tell from the visual display is that it's getting ugly out there. He switched to the B Flight frequency."Bravo Flight, Mean Streak, status reports, check in." He tried not to wince at the sound of his own voice pounding on his aching brain.

"Still alive," said Max. She was keeping an eye on the Valkyria and the two wounded fighters limping back towards the hangar. The B-wing angled, shooting off several torpedoes at two TIES which were coming too close. Max grinned. The Wolf still has teeth, she thought. She hadn't actually met Sheep Three yet, she really needed to get out more.

Jocelyn was maneuvering trying to avoid any unwanted attention. She saw a TIE and she pressed the trigger mowing through its solar panel sending it tumbling. "I am here." She heard a call from the Mandalorian calling for assistance. "I am of no use in a dogfight, will join the attack on the frigate."

"Seven here," Zara announced, manoeuvring to stay with Max. "Clear for the moment." With any luck, they wouldn't stay that way, so whenever the Streak wanted to get his karkking rear over to them, they could really start taking these Imps apart. Having the other squadrons would help, but they were all still hurting from that last fight and they'd need whatever firepower they had left.

As the last of his flight checked in, Kayn closed his eyes in relief. Then he remembered he was still in a combat zone and instantly snapped them open again.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to shake a tail on the way here. What's the plan?"

"Shoot Imps, don't die?" Zara suggested, the eyeroll evident in her voice.

"That's a good plan," said Max, grinning. "It's genius. I am totally on board with that plan."

"It does have the advantage of simplicity. Let's do that."

Max watched Joy pulling off to join the other Y-wings. "You still want me to cover Joy?" she asked. That had been her assignment in the convoy, before things went to pieces.

"Let's all cover Joy, from a moderate distance. When the bombers form up and roll in on the frigates, the TIE's will roll in on our bombers, and that's our cue to roll in on the TIE's. It all rolls downhill, so let's roll together."

"What about Skipper and the other two?" asked Max. They still hadn't landed yet and B-flight was supposed to keep the TIEs off the hangars...wait...what the heck was Four doing? “Aww, no…”

TAG: @Bardan_Jusik, Anyone else

 

GM Update​

​

IC: Commander Arick "Boss" Flagg
Defending the Intrepid

As the battle swirled around Flagg he did his best to be aware of what was happening to the squadron even as he fought his own, more personal, battles with the few unlucky TIEs that strayed across his path.

He noted with satisfaction as Major Taab's combined flight formed up quickly, even adding Joy's Y-Wing from Baker flight before pressing in their attack of the Imperial frigate Falcon. That satisfaction was short lived as the squadron took another casualty when Thin Mint's U-Wing was caught in a pincer maneuver between two TIEs. The Hutt never had a chance as the U-Wing exploded, taking with it yet another member of the Black Sheep.

The Imperial's victory was short lived however, as fighter after fighter began to fall under Baker flight's guns, and that was before they had even begun to get organized. Even the remains of Able Flight were getting involved, escorting the Valkyria towards the relative safety of the Intrepid's landing bay as it was attacked by a flight of four TIE fighters.

TAG: @Adalia-Durron @Mitth_Fisto @Corellian_Outrider

IC: Commander Arick "Boss" Flagg --continued

Finally Baker lead arrived just as Flagg joined up with Baker flight, sliding into Joy's slot in the formation.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to shake a tail on the way here. What's the plan?" The Devaornian called out. A tail? Flagg considered that for a moment, wondering if it had anything to do with how the Imperials had known to show up here at the rally point. It was something for later, at the debriefing. If they survived to have a debriefing that was.

"Shoot Imps, don't die?" Zara suggested, the eyeroll evident in her voice.

"That's a good plan," said Max, grinning. "It's genius. I am totally on board with that plan."

"It does have the advantage of simplicity. Let's do that."

"You still want me to cover Joy?" Max asked. That had been her assignment in the convoy, before things went to pieces.

"Let's all cover Joy, from a moderate distance. When the bombers form up and roll in on the frigates, the TIE's will roll in on our bombers, and that's our cue to roll in on the TIE's. It all rolls downhill, so let's roll together."

"Black Lead copies." Flagg commed out, he was technically the squadron commander, but right now he was just filling in Joy's spot in their formation. Besides, it was a good plan, why mess with it?

"What about Skipper and the other two?" asked Max. “Aww, no…”

"The frigates are the priority, Echo and Able will have to look out for themselves." Flagg now opined, he didn't want them losing focus now, especially with what he now saw forming up out above Delta and Charlie flights.

While Taab was leading the bombers in towards the frigate, nearly a dozen TIEs from the Falcon were circling "overhead", outside of the frigates own defensive firing solution, but ready to pounce down on the attacking rebels before they could finish their runs and destroy the Imperial pilots home base. "That's our mission." Flagg said. "Tallyho. Multiple TIEs, high carom off the bombers, looks like they're starting their own attack runs on the Delta and Charle." Now he did issue an order, even from his spot at the rear of their formation as he pushed forward his throttle and accelerated to attack speed. "Engage and destroy!"

TAG: @Sarge @Rebecca_Daniels @Mistress_Renata

OOC: We've got roughly a dozen TIEs to handle here. They are free use for anyone to engage and destroy in your posts.



OOC: -- Note the following is a joint post between galactic vagabond422, Vehn, Anedon, TheAdmiral and myself. Many thanks to each of you for your input and helping to put this together.

IC: Major Beskaryc "Iron Hand" Taab
Leading Delta Charlie Flight attacking the Imperial Frigate Falcon

As her new flight formed up, herself off Lou's starboard engine, Ianna 'Kid' Mcear took stock. Shields, at full, lasers, ready to go, ion cannon, charged, torpedoes...gone. An embarrassed blush bloomed across her face. She'd used all of them up giving a black eye to the Empire. Now when she needed them most, she didn't have them. Her leg began to bounce, her heart pounding as the TIEs swarmed around her. The sweat returned to her brow, dripping down her forehead. She turned her head towards Lou's bomber forcing a smile on her face.

"Ummm…" she started over the shared channel. "I'm fresh out of torps but...I still have my lasers and my ion cannon." She forced her tone to be light almost excited. The stress wasn't going to get to her. "Lou, you still got some?"

"I've got two torps left," Lou replied.

Lou keyed her targeting computer as it began to seek out a lock on the closest frigate. She blocked out the nearby roar of TIE fighters and focused on the task at hand. She redirected her engine speed toward shields to get them to recharge faster. Already green swaths of turbolaser fire rose up to meet her. This wasn't going to be easy.

It wasn't enough, Taab though to himself, hearing that Kid too was BlasTech**, and Lou had just a pair of torps left. His mind raced, they needed more firepower he thought, even as his light turbo began thumping, sending bolt after energized bolt into the frigate's shields.

"Black Sheep, this is Delta Charlie lead, we need more firepower, anything you can bring to bear on the frigate to open her up for us." He scowled behind his face plate even as he sent out the message. He hated asking for the the help, but if the killing of Imperials by the hundreds required it, he would swallow his pride. For the moment anyway. If they survived this though, he would recommend the Black Sheep concentrate their bombers into just a few flights in future missions, instead of spreading out their heavy hitters among the squadron.

Ethan allowed himself a sigh of relief when he heard the Mandalorian´s request for support. In their current status he knew the Delta Charlie flight wouldn't be able to take on the imperial frigates by themselves. Again he scolded himself for wasting his own two torpedoes on the TIE defenders instead of saving them for a truly desperate situation.

For a moment he asked himself again how the imperials had found their position. Was it just a coincidence, or was there a traitor in the ranks of their squadron or on the Intrepid? Either way, no wasn´t the time to think about it. Aiming for another pair of TIE closing in on them, Ethan closed his left eye and fired a controlled salvo at the left one, before switching targets to the wingman a heartbeat later.

The left TIE exploded into a fireball but his wingman had managed to dodge the rebel´s hit. Cursing, Ethan took aim again, again concentrated on nothing but the battle surrounding him.

Bursts of incoming fire from the frigate exploded around the Iron Cross, shaking the attack craft as the shields were hammered. Taab grimaced, noting the red indicator lights. 10% forward shields. shab... he'd forgotten to shift his shields double front. Dumping power from the aft shields into the forward sphere, he managed to bump them to 46...47%, though at the cost of nearly bringing his aft shields to zero. That was a dangerous prospect with all the TIEs zooming around, but he would have to rely on Veteran and the other fighters to keep the TIEs off his back. His concern was the frigate that now loomed in front of them.

"Delta Charlie Lead, mind if I join in?" Jocelyn commed the Mandalorian as she tried to reach their position. She could see Ianna and Lou and smiled, they will be fighting together again. Maybe this will make command reconsider putting all the bombers in a flight or two. Taab's grimace shifted to a feral grin as he noted who had sent the message. If Joy was carrying torpedoes, they would have the firepower they needed to take out the Falcon. "Roger that Six," he commed back. "Put everything you can into the frig's starboard side, we're going after the spar." He paused for a moment as another burst of red splashed against his forward shield. "And Delta Charlie, make sure you have your shields set to double front..."

Lou switched her shields to double front just as a slew of turbo laser fire raked across her Y-Wing. She felt the old lady shudder and groan under the impact as the shields whittled down to 52%. The frigate loomed large in her window as she cycled her targeting computer to engage only the component known as the spar.

"Joy, Kid," Lou called out, "welcome back to the party. Starting my attack run. May the Force Be With Us."

The spar was the weakest structural part of the Nebulon-B frigate series. It also happened to be one of the most heavily defended for that exact reason. Lou watched as the turbo laser batteries on the Imperial frigate began to track the Y-Wings. Any more concentrated power and she'd be fried. Anyone sneaking up on her tail to wipe her out and she'd be fried. In fact, the more times she flew combat missions, the more times she could be fried.

Lou shook off the thought as her targeting computer screamed at her to fire. Lou was so close to the frigate she could see figures in the windows running for cover. There were living people on that ship. Unfortunately, they'd made their bed. They were fighting for the wrong side. She didn't have time for sentiment or regret. She only had time to do the one thing that she'd become dangerously good at: kill.

Lou flicked the pickle switch and watched with muted satisfaction as her torpedoes slammed into the spar. She barrel rolled her Y-Wing away, rotated her shields to encompass her entire fighter, and looked back to see what Joy and Kid were planning for their runs.



Out of the corner of her eye she saw a TIE go up, she knew it was Veteran, still watching her back. When the she heard Joy was joining their little group the smile only deepened. They were back together, Lou, Joy and Kid. It gave the young woman a new found courage, flying side by side with them, her closest friends in the squadron. Lou took the lead flying out ahead, Kid was following close behind. Orange flashes light up her cockpit as more laser blasts impact her shields stripping them away.

She had them double front as ordered by the MANdalorian but, even that was cold comfort knowing that there were enemies just waiting to drop behind her and shoot her out of the sky. Her head shook clearing those thoughts from her mind. They had Vet watching their backs, she trusted him, and she had a job to do.

"Right behind you Lou." She called out holding down the trigger sending a stream of red bolts into the hole left by Lou's torpedoes, adding in a little of her ion just to keep the shields at bay, and wreak havoc on the electronics on that side of the ship.

What areas hadn't been vented by the ordnance, were now going dark as systems overloaded.

She banked around joining back up with Lou, watching and waiting for the rest of the flight to finish off the Falcon.

Jocelyn clicked her comms in agreement and banked her craft avoiding a blast. They had to make their run quick as soon as possible before the TIE escort takes notice and tracks them down making things more difficult than they already were. She turned some switches priming her torpedoes, she had almost a full load of them along with several proton bombs courtesy to that surly Togorian.

Joy turned on her targeting computer and watched the reticle move finding a suitable target. She marked the first one. A quick press of the trigger made the Y-wing shudder as the first missile was launched. Then a second target lock and another one. She did not wait to see her results as she tried to avoid being hit by the turbolasers.

Joy maneuvered the bomber so that she could send a couple more missiles in different "soft spots" adding to the damage to the large vessel. "Lead, I might try bomb the target. Will need cover for a run."

"Roger that," Taab replied though Veteran moved in before the Mandalorian could even give the order. They were becoming starting to mesh now, anticipating where they needed to be in order to compliment each other's actions. Soon enough the other "BlasTech" bombers in the flight also moved in to help cover her and taab's continued assault.

The next TIE fighter exploded but Ethan had no time to take satisfaction in his demise as he already aimed for the next one, closing in on the bombers. Compared to the TIE defenders he had fought earlier these fighters moved slow, almost clumsy and their total lack of any shielding made them much more vulnerable, but their sheer number made up for this. For each machine Ethan destroyed, two more seemed appear on his displays.

It reminded him of the simulators he had used during his training as a pilot, on Eriadu, decades ago. There had been a program which would spawn more and more enemy ships until the trainee would be completely overwhelmed by them. He had done better than most other recuits, on that test, Ethan remembered as he destroyed another TIE, but he also knew he couldn´t hold the enemy fighters forever.

Ianna watched as Ethan battled with the TIEs that fluttered around a little worry snaking around her heart. He was all that was left of her flight, she didn't want to lose him. She took a breath joining up with Lou and Joy, he would be alright, he was going to be alright. After Joy finished her run, the ship looked in bad shape. It would just take a little more to break it apart.

Joy made a call for cover as she attempted a bombing run. A quick look at her controls the zeros staring at her reminded the young woman that she was spent for torps.

"We can provide some cover Joy." She replied a bit of confidence in her voice, "I mean we're not the best at it but, we can keep them off you...for a bit." It was a gamble, the Y-Wing was not designed for dogfighting but, they could do it in a pinch. "What do you think Lou?"

Lou keyed her throat comm and replied, "We can handle this, Kid. Joy, began your run. We'll provide cover."

She balanced her shields and lasers as the next phase of this mission began.

A trio of TIEs raced just beyond Lou's Y-Wing en route to somewhere else. To prove her point she quickly acquired a lock, linked cannons, and pulled the trigger. The red blasts from her Y-Wing caught the eyeball right between the engines. It exploded in a ball of flame and debris. It was her first aerial kill in a long time. Since moving into the cockpit of a wishbone her opportunity to engage another fighter had been effectively neutralized. Still, her Y-Wing could pack a punch and if a TIE got within her targeting arc it was as good as dead.

The two remaining TIEs immediately broke and disappeared into the maelstrom of combat.

"Right" Kid replied falling in with Lou as she blew one of the TIEs to pieces. It took the young woman a moment to put herself together. She'd only gotten into dogfights in a simulator, this was her first live fire one. Her hand shook a little but, that wasn't going to stop her. She was protecting her friend, she had to do this.

A black solar panel flew past her at near blinding speed, heading towards Joy.

"Oh no you don't." she said coming around hard she let off two bursts that were deftly dodged by the Imperial. Two more blasts lept from the nose of her fighter again failing to connect. Her heart was pounding faster, the TIE closing on Joy's craft. Ianna couldn't fail again. She took a deep breath waiting for just a moment then letting off a burst of shots from her ion cannon. One of the blue bolts just grazed the dark craft lighting it up for an instant. It wasn't disabled but, it was slowed, slowed just enough for Ianna to put a pair of heavy laser blasts right in the middle of it.

"Woo," She called out over the flight comms, "I got one."

"Great shooting Kid! That was something else!" Lou cried out, though Taab interjected with a "don't get cocky Kid,." punctuated by the continuous firing of his bomber's light turbo laser.

Jocelyn steeled herself and bit back a retort for Ianna to keep the comms free of chatter. She climbed up and pirouetted avoiding the blasts from the frigate. She needed a proper approach vector so that she could deal more damage as she did not carry a full complement of proton bombs. The run will end with a crescendo with a couple of torpedoes.

"Here goes nothing." she muttered to herself.

She turned some switches on and decelerated her speed as she made her approach from the engine section towards the front. The shields were double front and bottom. The targeting computer showed a good spot to release the first bomb. So she did... Then a second, a third and so on. Explosions erupted along the hull. Hopefully the damage will be enough to at least disable the frigate.

She ended up with sending a couple of missiles to the nose part. "I am out of ammo." she commed.

"Roger that Six," Taab commed back through gritted teeth, his own attack run was slower as he continued to dump engine power into the shields in an effort to get them back to something more sustainable. Meanwhile his own light turbo laser kept thumping along hitting the heavily damaged frigate along it's weakened spar. Together he and the rest of the flight had battered through the ship's shields, and he could see the lights on several decks flickering before going dark. Now their relentless combined barrage bore fruit, even as Joy's last warheads struck the forward edge of the ship. The spar let loose, venting atmosphere into space as the entire forward section of the ship lost power. Now cut in half the aft section continued accelerating forward under power, as the powerless forward section lost delta V. the result was the aft section plowing into the forward, furthering the damage to both as more explosions ripped through them.

Taab pulled off as the aft section exploded in a brilliant ball of flame, taking the forward section with it. Debris hurled everywhere, some glancing off his already battered forward sheild, kncking it completely offline now, but he didn't care about that. The flight had done it, and in the process had killed hundreds of Imperial officers and crew. It did little to qunch his burning desire for revenge, but it did make him smile. "oya!" he cried out triumphantly. He need not add that it was for At'ika (little Atin), they were all for Atin as far as he was concerned.

Another bright light touched off in the distance, denoting the destruction of the other Imperial frigate, the Hawk. The Star Raiders had done their work too, and with the loss of their home bases, the remaining Imperial fighters began to disengage en masse, losing the will to fight an unwinnable battle. Most began moving off, to be picked up later by another Imperial ship. Taab hoped they would all be executed for cowardice, but he rather doubted it. Under the circumstances they didn't really have much choice.

"Intrepid wing, this is Intrepid actual," the voice of Captain Husk went out over the wing frequency. "The way is clear, all fighters return to base." Taab angled the Iron Cross over at that, waiting for his section to follow suit. "I repeat, all fighters, come on home."

TAG: @Vehn @galactic-vagabond422 @Anedon @TheAdmiral

OOC: **derived from the USAF use of "Winchester" to denote a craft which had expended all it's ordnance. Figured a GFFA term would be more fun.



IC: Viper 11, callsign Dreamcatcher
Flying A-Wing 7839, defending the Intrepid

"Intrepid wing, this is Intrepid actual. The way is clear, all fighters return to base." Thank the great bird of the galaxy, Dreamcatcher thought to himself, eager to get himself out of this old crate. The battle had gone terribly for him, first starting out with his fighter having gone missing, and this piece of sithspawn taking it's place. When in the nine hells it had happened? How it had happened? He didn't know, but he was stuck with this bird until he could find out what had happened to his old fighter, and he would find out.

Meanwhile though, the battle had become a simple war for survival rather than one spent racking up the kill count (he was almost an ace with four TIEs to his credit overt the last few months) or defending the mothership. This A-Wing was nothing but problems. A stuck forward RCS thruster which had to be bypassed and cut off, limited his agility. Engine problems led to a shallower acceleration curve while also limiting the power available to divert to weapons and shields. The port side targeting laser was out of alignment, the ECM suite was sub par and to top it all off the canopy was cracked. Oh, it wasn't cracked badly enough to vent atmo or anything like that, but it was annoying. Once seen, it couldn't be unseen, and now in his peripheral vision there was a spot that always floated around following him, that crack in the canopy that obscured his vision. It would have been better had he and 7839 just remained aboard the Intrepid, but with the carrier under direct attack, everything had launched.

Even so the battle had passed him by with him getting several shots off at various TIEs, but none of his shots landed. He blamed the faulty port side targeting laser for that, and the sluggish nature of bypassed forward thruster for being unable to evade several of the blasts that those TIEs had struck him with. At least his wingman had been able to keep him mostly safe from those, though his shields (which could barely be recharged due to his balky power system) had taken a beating. Now too, his comm system failed, though he wouldn't need that for a visual landing. He'd have to let the carrier know he was NORDO (NO RaDiO) by flashing his nav lights (well three of them, the one on his port side upper tail had blown a fuse) and rocking his wings from side to side, but that could wait until he was in the landing pattern.

Something caught his eye off to port, and he started to jink as he began to look off in that direction to see what it was but he stopped himself. That damn crack in the canopy again. He was going to need that fixed when he got back too, unless he found his fighter first. In the meantime he wasn't going to be jumping at shadows and get called out on it in post flight for skitteshness. Moments later the space around him exploded in an aura of green as a string of lasers bracketed his fighter.

​

Two TIEs, intent on leaving the area, but seeing an A-Wing flying slow and straight, had decided to strafe him on the way by. Obscurred by the crack in his canopy, Dreamcatcher never saw them until it was too late, though his wingman had called out a warning to the pilot. But with his radio out, Dreamcatcher never heard her call. The rapid burst of fire overwhelmed his shields and before Dreamcatcher could even think about evasive maneuvering, A-Wing 7839 exploded. Dreamcatcher's wingman managed to destroy one of the attacking fighters with a snap shot of her own, but as the other escaped she turned back to see that Dreamcatcher and his plane had become just another small patch of expanding dust and gas lost in the vastness of space.

TAG: None. @Chyntuck (just to keep you apprised of game progress)


OOC: The rundown:

The end of this update orders us all to land and indicates the enemy fighters are "bugging out"/retreating, therefore assuming we've taken care of the issues presented in the update. It's kind of circular, but I wanted to make sure I moved us along a bit as we've got a few new players waiting in the wings. At least it means you know you can take care of those issues presented to us in this update. I apologize for any confusion caused by this, if you need clarification, PM me or ask in the fanclub and I'll do my best to ensure we all know what is going on. In short, for all of us the destruction of enemy craft should primarily come before the recall order from the Intrepid is issued, as it is issued after the enemy fighters start their retreat.

• Able/Echo Flights: Headed more or less for the Intrepid but engaged by a flight of four (4) TIE fighters. These are free use, so feel free to damage and destroy them as you three see fit.
• Baker Flight: Engaging roughly a dozen TIEs that are "above" Delta/Charlie flight as they attack the frigate. These are free use, so feel free to damage and destroy them as you three see fit. As an added note, y'all must apparently be successful because...
• Charlie/Delta Flights: Have destroyed the Imperial frigate. We may still see some fighters that either leaked through Baker flight, or engaged us from elsewhere. Our part of the update occurs slightly after that intended for Baker and assumes their success in destroying the fighters coming down after us.

For everyone: Feel free to go ahead and land your character's craft at the end of your post(s). If you haven't by the next update I'll ensure everyone gets back aboard in my next update as we'll be moving on from this battle to the AAR (after action report) next so we can introduce some new characters soon before we get on to our follow up mission.

 

IC: Kayn "Mean Streak" Balzroth
Dancing with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight

"Tallyho. Multiple TIEs, high carom off the bombers, looks like they're starting their own attack runs on the Delta and Charle. Engage and destroy!"

Black 1 accelerated forward, triggering Kayn's reflexes. His left hand pushed forward with instincts honed in hundreds of races, opening up the throttles, always pushing to keep his rivals in his wake where they belonged.

The TIE's were arrayed in a neat formation, preparing for a coordinated assault on Joy and the other bombers. Still too far out for lasers, better burn up some more missiles... sensor lock... good tone... Fire 1! Lock... tone... Fire 2! Those two TIE's twisted in evasive action, leaving their assigned formation positions and sending a ripple through the rest of the formation.

"Badass Flight, let's get in there and rip 'em up before they get reorganized. Stay alert and don't get target fixation now, we're almost home."

Home? What am I talking about? The Intrepid? Evil Eye is no excuse for a home. And I'm Devaronian, we don't have homes, just fuel stops. I've been around these fracking humans too long, starting to think like one.

Lasers burned through vacuum and there was no more time for random thoughts, just evade, shoot, and evade again.

 

IC: Zara Yaren
Intrepid defense

She hadn't actually gotten any kills in the scrum at their actual target. Damaged one, helped take down that cruiser, dodged a lot of incoming fire, taken a bunch more. Since arriving at this mess over the Intrepid, one lone TIE that had been hassling her wingmate. Not a great record, all things considered, but she wasn't one to count, usually.

Usually.

Survival was the real key. But coming back from an engagement like this with one kill wasn't exactly going to look good, and she wasn't ready to give up her spot on this waste-of-space squadron just yet. Even with flickering shields, she could do her share of damage before this was over.

"Tallyho. Multiple TIEs, high carom off the bombers, looks like they're starting their own attack runs on the Delta and Charle. Engage and destroy!"

The TIEs were trying to make it easy, in formation like that. Missiles shot off from the other A-wing in their group and Zara decided to add to that, targeting another pair with her last two concussion missiles, locking, firing. Disrupting their order. Still too far to fire with lasers, and for the briefest, out-of-body moment, she wished she had her rifle, targeting and taking them down before they knew she was there. Zara shook her head; no, they were well aware of her presence.

"Badass Flight, let's get in there and rip 'em up before they get reorganized. Stay alert and don't get target fixation now, we're almost home."

Maybe your home, two-horns, not mine, she thought, annoyed, in his direction as they entered the maelstrom, firing indiscriminately at anything TIE-shaped.

TAG: @Sarge @Mistress_Renata @Bardan_Jusik