Star Wars STAR WARS: INTERVENTION (A story-telling style OT starfighter game)---Always taking new players!

You have two options in front of you. You either take the job now and we discuss employment details later or we fix up you're ship as we're doing and we send you on you're way. What will it be?"

"As much as I hoped for a better introduction to you folks, this way is to the point - just the way I like it. Tell me where you want me, and I'll throw the hammer down on these Lim fools. Once I'm fueled and armed, Four Ex is a solid ship. Not fast or flashy, but can take hell a pounding and dish one out too. We can, as you say, work out the employment details later," Hal responded.

Hal was surprised - when he discovered Watava was already at war, he figured it may be too late to join up. But his low fuel and some luck with a trusting Merc commander and he might actually have a shot at proving in a trial by fire that he could be of value to these people.

TAG: Bravo

 

OOC: Just wanted to point out that I have this song playing in my head for the moment. Fitting I suppose. Anywho

---

[b]IC:[/b] Merc 9, Max "Maniac" Kiv
[b]Location:[/b] Heading out to engage Lim Forces
[hr]
[i]*The orders had come down, and whomever was doing the planning had been paying attention and had actually dolled out correct assignments, something that happened so infrequently that Max could count on one hand how many times it had happened before that moment.

Still, now was not the time to sing praises for the mission planners (unlikely in any event), a mission was at hand and needed to be done, and the time for jaw-jacking and overthinking had ended. Switching his comms back on he confirmed his flights' assignment*[/i]

"Merc 9 copies, moving to execute, over."

[i]*Then he switched to a channel that was reserved for his flight*[/i]

"You guys know the drill here. Once you're out form up with me at Rally Point Kappa, then we'll egress in. Remember, go for the bombers first. The fighters and interceptors can wait till the bombers are dealt with. Remember, keep the speed up when making passes and never take the same vector twice in a row. We'll be switching tactical lead so get ready to take point at any time. See you in the air, and good luck on todays wager once Jason figures out what it is. Merc 9 out."
[i]
*And with that he cut out his mike, listening for any errant chatter or information that might come down the pipeline at the last minute.
Presently he was given orders to disembark, and with a roar of thrusters the [b]Old Gundark[/b] heaved out of the fighter bay and shot towards the exit.
Once he cleared the maw he made a sharp left banking turn and headed for a cluster of tall rocks jutting out of the sea, Rally Point Kappa.

The fighter hummed and roared along perfectly, the visor-mounted display conveyed his speed, attitude, altitude, and other information he needed, and the throttle and yoke provided the right amount of feedback. Old Gundark would be a force to be reckoned with today that was for certain.

As he slid between two outcroppings an enemy formation passed close enough to where he could see detail. It was a flight of bombers, not a large one but definitely bombers, and it didn't seem like they had seen him either. There would be no better time to strike. Again jumping on the comms, he relayed his findings to the rest of the squadron*[/i]

"Merc 9 has eyeball on bomber formation. Maniac has initiative and will engage from Kappa once flight arrives, over."

[i]*Already he was formulating a plan of attack in his mind. Once the flight would get here, they would adopt a loose formation, pick a bomber each, fly in hard and fast, then shoot and scoot. Hopefully the initial impact and ferocity would serve to confuse the enemy and make them easy to pick off for the squadron or other allies*[/i]
[hr]
[b]Tag:[/b] Merc flight 3, other Mercs, GM

 

Banger - BD-3000 luxury droid
Republic of Watava - Aboard Ixiyen-class fast attack craft Ambition

Receiving a transmission, while connected to the ship, was a strange experience for Banger. He could only liken it to what he supposed having someone yell directly into his brain would feel like. Banger wasn?t even sure if the man was actually yelling, or if he was just extremely sensitive to the experience. Either way, it wasn?t uncomfortable, so much as hard to understand. The static lacing the message didn?t help in that front, of course, but Banger made out, "Unidentified starfighter, this is the Marauder-Class Corvette Johnny Boy. You are entering a war zone. Be advised and enter at you're own risk."

Banger deliberated, slowed his ship and began orbiting the planet. Leaping headlong into a conflict would be tactically irresponsible at the moment. Banger needed to discern a proper course of action, first. He hadn?t anticipated that the war may have already been initiated. It had been just over one standard week since Banger had been alerted to the situation, but he had assumed that any firefights would be several weeks off, still. Banger redirected the message to the ship, replacing Johnny Boy?s comm officer?s voice with his own. Trying to avoid a metallic tone, Banger said, ?I appreciate the warning, Johnny Boy. Judging by your lack of hostility, I can only assume that you?re either Watava Fighter Force or with The Mercs, correct??

Tag: Bravo

 

IC: Winterkill, Merc 10,'Spectre'
Watava, Military Base, en rout to Rally Point kappa

The HUD aboard the Wraith displayed Captain Taller's mission briefing. The intel seemed good, and now the Merc's knew what they were up against. They might be outnumbered by Lim's Airforce, but that just made the challenge all the better and victory all the sweeter.

Winterkill already had the Wraith hovering by the time Captain Taller was done with his orders.

["You have you're orders everyone. Listen to your officers and no free-showing around here today: everyone sticks with their wing, you fight as a flight. I better see some Lim debris after this fight is over, Mercs! Engage!"

Maniac was 3rd Flight Lead, and as he pulled his ship out of the hangar and into the air, Spectre followed.

Time to show this Lim warmongers what fighting is really about. Winterkill thought to himself as he matched vectors with Maniac's ship. Within his cockpit, 3rd Flight's channel came alive as Maniac came on.

["You guys know the drill here. Once you're out form up with me at Rally Point Kappa, then we'll egress in. Remember, go for the bombers first. The fighters and interceptors can wait till the bombers are dealt with. Remember, keep the speed up when making passes and never take the same vector twice in a row. We'll be switching tactical lead so get ready to take point at any time. See you in the air, and good luck on today's wager once Jason figures out what it is. Merc 9 out."]

"Copy, Lead. Spectre ready to Seek and Destroy." Winterkill chimed in, but said nothing else. His mind was already working on the imminent battle. Taking out bombers would be easy enough, however, that would make them vulnerable to opportunistic enemy fighters. That was something they would need to watch out for.

As they flew, Spectre smoothly brought the Wraith to form on Maniac's left, and as he did so, he activated the S-foils. The StarViper opened up like a black and deadly flower next to Maniac's belbullab-22 starfighter. Both ships made for quite a deadly combination.

["Merc 9 has eyeball on bomber formation. Maniac has initiative and will engage from Kappa once flight arrives, over."] Maniac's voice crackled through the channel.

[Visual contact confirmed. Spectre formed and ready for combat, sir.]

Winterkill felt the familiar rush coming over him. His life would be in peril at any moment now, and there was the possibility of certain death, but that was not even a deterent for the nagai. He'd lived with death dogging his every footstep for most of his life. For him, this was business as usual. The Spectre of Death was an old friend to the nagai.

He just hoped to do as much avenging as it was possible for someone with the life expectancy of an active combat pilot.

Tag: 3flight, Lead, others, GM

 

OOG:


Disclaimer:


The sound of an ion engine could be heard in the distance and Jason looked up to the blue sky and puffy white clouds. Booming overhead of them at low attitude came four missiles streaking ahead, white trails behind them. Two of them slammed into hangers, while another two slammed into parked starfighters, one of those starfighters being right next to where Jason and Nick were walking. The fiery explosion's shock wave rocked Lasso backwards onto the airstrip, fiery debris falling all around and on him and Nick.

Having his face covered from the falling debris, Jason looked up to the sky after he landed hard with a groan and the debris seeming to stop raining down. Two older looking fighter aircraft blasted overhead as air-raid sirens screamed on the airfield; the two fighters were brown in color with a Z-95 Headhunter-like fuselage with a pointed noise, delta-style wings, two ion engines in the rear of the craft topped each with a tail fin. Concussion missiles were attached to the fighter's wings on the underside. As the pair of fighters banked sharply to starboard, Jason caught the imagine on the top wing of one of the fighter aircraft. The red circle with white background inside of it with ten red stripes from one edge of the circle to the other could only be one country's flag: the Country of Lim.


In Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation on the XBox 360, in the opening scene of the game, two fighters are seen flying overhead, firing missiles at a bridge and destroying it. Just wanted to put that in works cited.


IC: Terrel Vacks/Chris Streets (Locked NPC, GM and Assistant GM controlled)
Johnny Boy, high orbit above Watava


"As much as I hoped for a better introduction to you folks, this way is to the point - just the way I like it. Tell me where you want me, and I'll throw the hammer down on these Lim fools. Once I'm fueled and armed, Four Ex is a solid ship. Not fast or flashy, but can take hell a pounding and dish one out too. We can, as you say, work out the employment details later," Hal responded.


Vacks nodded. "Good," He took a data-pad from the captain chair's arm rest and scrolled through it, "You'll be Two Flight, its a Fighter-Bomber Flight. You're lead is Flight Officer Havah Jeth and his 2nd wing is Pilot Officer Kailin Veo. You'll be the third wing as Pilot Officer Hal Crawford."

"Before you leave," Chief Petty Officer Wa Yay said, getting up from her station and handing Hal a data card, "Give this to your astromech. I've been analyzing the enemy's jamming capabilities and I think I've put a counter to their communication jamming on that data-card. There's one catch, however: it's a straight shot from your astromech to the Johnny Boy. So you'll be our eyes and ears on what's going on down there. Once you've reached the squadron and gather information on what's going on, you need to contact us and keep in contact with us throughout the battle."

"You better get going," Terrel added, "Our pilots need all the help they can get."

Wa Yay had to soon return to her station as the unidentified starfighter replied back.

Trying to avoid a metallic tone, Banger said, ?I appreciate the warning, Johnny Boy. Judging by your lack of hostility, I can only assume that you?re either Watava Fighter Force or with The Mercs, correct??

"We're The Mercs, allied with the Republic of Watava. Given the current state of things, you could be a target of both sides down there if you don't state your business in this system."


Tag bterrik, Banger


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


IC: Rick Taller/AWACS Mother (Locked NPC and shuttle crew, GM and Assistant GM controlled)
Lambda-Class Shuttle Mother, Republic of Watava


Unlike the starfighters that flew into the thick of battle, the Lambda-Class Shuttle Mother shot

 

OOG: Here is the NPC Medical personnel details. Will get a Kailin post up a little later


Lead Medic

Name: Cabet Galor
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Species: Twi'lek
Homeworld: Ryloth
Affiliation: Independent Missionary Organisation/Soon to be the Mercs

Personality
---Traits: Knowledgeable, Direct, possesses most traits found in a skilled and competent doctor. Is not afraid to say what is on his mind or speak the truth. Can get a little bad tempered.
---Likes: Being able to help others, researching into new medical techniques and discovering new technologies. Enjoys good holo movies and classical music
---Dislikes: Argumentative people, the empire, strong drinks, Cockiness
---Habits: Tapping his pen when filling out paper work

Appearance
---Skin Color: Golden Yellow
---Hair Color: N/A - his lekku do have some tribal patterns in a shades of brown/orange
---Eye Color: Dark Violet
---Clothing: On duty base: Dark coloured protective scrubs and white lab coat. When not on duty can be seen in comfortable dark coloured trousers, a sweater vest and shirt. Working onboard the Outreach: Clothing covered by a light grey jumpsuit with both the medical corps logo and the missionary logo on the left sleeve
---Other Attributes: Tall and elegant much like the majority of his race, Cabet is 6ft tall, with a slender but healthy build.
---Other Details: N/A

Weapons: Twi'lek Dagger, compact blaster for personal protection

Starship
---Name: Outreach
---Class: SoroSuub Sprint-class rescue craft
---Hyperdrive Class: 1.0 backup class 12
---Weapon(s): None
---Shields: Deflector shields
---Sublight Speed: 120 MGLT
---Crew: 3 (And up to five medics)
---Passenger(s): Room for up to 40 patients
---Max Cargo: 2 metric tons

---Interior Description: Lives depend on this emergency vehicle's crew and medical quality. Therefore, on board facilities come with standard medical equipment for advanced life support and stabilization with little room for much else. (2-1b droid, trauma station, bacta tacks etc) The Sprint typically has a small crew of three and several medics staff the patient transport area suitable for accommodating up to four dozen causalities.

---Other Details: The Outreach is outfitted with sophisticated sensors in order to detect casualties in deep space. Due to it being a non combat ship, it sends out a signal that indicates it should not be fired upon, but has powerful deflector shields just in case

The Force
---Sensitivity: None

Biography
---Personal History: A doctor that originally served aboard the medical corp frigate Compassion, an acquaintance of Kailin Veyo, Cabet was forced out of his job when the empire rose to power, the prejudice against non humans extending to the medical corps as they swallowed up its resources.

Determined to continue his work as a doctor, he acquired a sprint-class med runner and founded a missionary group with other ousted non human medical personnel and human personnel who were against the empires ways. They travelled around war torn and imperial controlled worlds, administering aid and medical help as best they could. Being a former colleague of Kailin, she had attempted to contact him a few times over the years and persuade him to join with the mercs, but he always claimed that the missionary work would come first.

However, recently a large percentage of his crew were arrested after their activities were discovered on an imperial controlled world. Cabet, and a young Zabrak nurse named Zethia managed to escape on the orders of their arrested comrades.

Finally coming to the realisation that they cannot continue to help people in this way, Cabet has finally decided to seek out the mercs, hoping that he can make a difference by helping this small group of

 

IC: "Maniac" Max
Location: Engaging targets from Rally Point Kappa

---

[color=royalblue][Visual contact confirmed. Spectre formed and ready for combat, sir.][/color]

[i]*Max shook his head slightly as Winterkill checked in. A flight leader couldn't have custom-ordered a better wingman. Spectre was a cool customer but still aggressive, and while he followed orders he knew when to innovate. Max would have preferred a 4 ship formation or even three, but resources were short and the skills of the both of them more than made up for the shortcomings. And although he could probably get Lasso over to his flight if he requested, the truth was the situation was hectic enough without transferring ships all over kingdom come.

Still, the situation could have been slightly more favorable. Granted 3rd flight had initiative on the bombers, and the interceptors hadn't spotted them either. But with the scanners hazy at best and lots of static clouding the already copious chatter from panicked allied forces, the risk of getting isolated in a bad situation was very real. Coupled with that was the fact that the missiles would not lock, meaning if he had to shoot them it would have to be manually. Still, starfighter jockeying was never a safe thing to begin with, and Max called the first attack.*[/i]

"Alright flank me in Spectre. Loose and fast as usual, wide swing, then it's your turn. I tried for missile lock and got nothing, are your torps any better? And try to not be too clever, I kinda like having SOME command authority. Maniac out."

[i]*Max punched up the speed to 115mglt. The Starviper would be shuddering and complaining that close to max speed most likely, but the sinister beauty of a starfighter would be able to match up with the [b]Old Gundark[/b] and maximize the first blow. While still flying at or just under 100 feet, Max called the engagement*[/i]

"Flight 3 engaging flight of 3 Black Bears, still getting snow on scanners and fuzz over the comms. Where's the haze coming from Mother, we'll be happy to deal with that headache after we dispose of these trespassers."

[i]*As Max let them figure that one out he kept the trajectory low, speed high, and his eyes on his chosen target, the lead of a delta formation of Black Bears. No stuttering fire went out towards them yet, meaning something had their attention or they were not heads up and about to pay for it. Silently counting out seconds, he kept the course until his gut told him it was time to act, and he called the break for his wingman*
[/i]
"Countdown to high break in 5, 4, 3, 2, break high Merc 10!"

[i]*As he gave the order he himself yanked back on the yoke, and although the diffusers were in place the speed generated still pressed him back into his seat and blurred his vision for a moment. Even as he shook it off the [b]Old Gundark[/b] streaked upwards, Ion impellers roaring, generator humming, displays tracking and switching as the distance between the two targets closed awfully rapidly. His finger had just closed around the trigger for his blaster cannon when he saw the belly turret start to swivel towards him.*[/i]

"Too late sucker."

[i]*As he spoke to nobody that could hear him, Max pressed the trigger himself. Crimson stuttering fire lashed out and peppered the underside of the bomber in a trail that went from the spar between the winglets to nearly the tail, crossing over the turret. Telltale flashes out of the corner of his eye told him that Spectre had picked up the fight and another bomber was fighting back against him as well.

Still, it didn't distraction, otherwise the last second roll and pull would not have missed like it did. As it was the pass was so close that any larger shields would have caused the two ships to carom off each other and send Max flying out of the atmosphere and who knows were else.

As he cleared his bomber, Max started to level off and make a high-speed looping turn. As he surveyed the damage and checked for enemy fighters he commed to Spectre again*[/i]

"Merc 9 to Merc 10, my run is complete, whats your status, you

 

OOG:

Hey Rally, I'm going to hold off on a reply tag until some more posts come up. Just wanted to let you know so you don't think I'm ignoring you.

Jedi_padawan_leigh, PM sent you're way.


IC: Jason Lasso
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava


Jason tried not to worry about the explosions, flying debris, and the squadron of fighters that seemed to be raining constant death onto the air strip. But he had to admit that he was worried.

Getting clear of the hanger, he cleared the air strip just as quickly as he put all speed between the air field and the clouds above, hoping no base personnel were under his engines when he all but blasted away from the ground like a rocket. In this maze of swirling starfighters, blaster and laser bolts, and anti-aircraft defense weapons firing off, Lasso couldn't afford the luxury of getting a nice view of the battle before jumping in. While he would have preferred to do things by the book and wait for Janice Toller and Dernan Vask and form up as a wing, he always knew that if he just waited around, he would be toast.

The two enemy Lim Fighter Advances that jumped on his tail quicker then he could count made Lasso grin. "You boys don't waste any time," He joked and they didn't when two volleys of red blaster fire from two different fighters sputtered around his fighter. Dude wined in excitement and warning as blaster bolts flew past and Jason slammed on the breaks and put his Naboo Royal n-1 Starfighter on her starboard wing. As the two enemy fighters split to either side---and knowing the trap they had fallen into---Jason slipped in behind the one on starboard as he evened his fighter out to bring his laser cannons to bear.

Knowing that the Lim Fighter Advanced at scary maneuverability at close quarters, Jason didn't have a problem holding down the firing button on his flight stick. In such close quarters with the enemy fighter's engines seeming to be only meters away from his cockpit, the green laser fire that lanced out towards the shieldless fighter was double destructive at such a close range. Jason saw as the rear of the fighter's armor gave way to innards and engine components alike. With it happening all too quickly, the young pilot saw as the engines and rear of the fighter exploded in fiery debris that assaulted his starfighter. Knowing that there would be a solid structure left and flying through the exploding debris would most likely mean him colliding with the rest of the enemy fighter, Jason pressed on the decelerator and pulled up right and to starboard, clearing the fiery wreckage and re-accelerating in a wide starboard bank.

"Merc 2 to Mother. One Lim Fighter down!" Jason announced over the comm system, then added, "First to seven wins, Maniac. Bombers count as two. Everything after that is bonus points for the next mission."

As Jason brought his fighter around, the air thick with laser beams and blaster bolts and swirling fighters, he kept his eyes open. That wingman should be coming around by now.

Dude screamed in alarm as red blaster bolts rained down all around them, some hitting his shields. "There you are!" Jason said to himself as he fainted to starboard with his fighter, then snapped rolled and dived to port, coming out right-side up and going back the way he was coming from. Even with all systems working, Jason could feel his stomach go for a turn at the high-g forces that threaten to tear him apart, "Oh good thing breakfast was a while ago..." Lasso joked as he put all speed he could into the starfighter's engines.

The Lim Fighter Advance was a good aircraft for dog-fights, a very good fighter in dog-fights. With it's mobility, a average pilot could become dangerously good. With a good pilot, the fighter aircraft could become scary.

"I had to pick the good pilot!" Jason complained to himself as he tried to out-race or out maneuver his enemy. Through the flak blasts, criss-crossing laser and blaster bolts, and ra

 

Dernan Vask
Jib Jab Cockpit

Dernan grinned as Captain Taller finally gave the Merc freedom to launch. Sure the enemy outnumbered the Mercs, but that just meant stray shots had a better chance of hitting the bad guys.
He smoothly brought his repulsor coils online and shot forward after Jason Lasso?s Nubian. The immediately rolled left to avoid colliding with a pair of Lim fighters. ?Watch where you?re flying idjits!? he muttered, turning his roll into a loop as the pair slid into place behind Jason?s yellow and chrome starfighter.
He switched power to his Turbolasers as Jason turned the first Lim fighter into a debris cloud, but the pilot?s wingman used the momentary distraction cause by the explosion to get the drop on Jason.
Can?t have that now... he though as blaster bolts rained down around his wingman, ?Quagmire! On my mark break hard starboard. Three. Two. One. MARK!? He gave Jason two heartbeats to move before firing both turbolasers at the offending fighter, then immediately broke right to link up with Lasso.

Tag: Bravo

OOC: Bravo - How much control do we have over hitting/not hitting the enemy? Should we just keep it ?realistic? or do you want to call it?

 

OOG:


OOC: Bravo - How much control do we have over hitting/not hitting the enemy? Should we just keep it ?realistic? or do you want to call it?

You guys can call it, just keep it realistic.

Hey guys, darthramza had to pull out of the game. He's given me permission to use his character as an NPC. I will adjust the roster accordingly---so look for some changes after the mission.

It being the 4th of July weekend, I hope everyone has a happy 4th of July! As such, please be aware that some people might not be online this weekend due to the holiday.



IC: Jason Lasso
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava


"Ah, bantha droppings!" Jason Lasso grumbled under his breath as his head swung back and forth as he tried to spot the enemy behind him, flak explosions and laser and blaster fire alike filling the sky around him. He put the Naboo-made starfighter on it's port wing to avoid a string of blaster bolts from the enemy fighter behind him, the bolts flying just in front of his cockpit. Putting it back to level, he punched the controls down and to starboard, further blaster bolts blasting past the upper port rear of his fighter. He then leveled his starfighter out.

Dernan Vask's voice was a welcome change to his situation. ?Quagmire! On my mark break hard starboard. Three. Two. One. MARK!?

The Corellian pilot did just that and broke hard to starboard. Moments later, the Lim Fighter Advanced was fiery debris in the corner of his vision.

"Thanks Vask," Jason breathed, "I owe you one. Have you seen..." Jason was about to ask if Vask had seen their squadron leader, Janice Toller, but as the two fighters took a low patrolling flight over the airfield, Jason saw her ARC-170 Starfighter in flames on the runway, never making it off of the ground. "Never mind..." Jason said in a low voice as he pulled back towards the sky above, Vask close on his tail, "Mother, this is Merc Two. Squadron Leader is...down."

As the pair of starfighters raced towards the sky, Jason went to One Flight's comm channel, "Vask, lets keep it tight. Cover my starboard like glue. We'll tag-team these Lims, one fighter at a time. It's payback time..."


Tag Fan

 

IC: Havah Jeth
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava

Looking at his HUD he watched as the information scrolled across his screen as his ship lifted off the tarmac and slowly followed suit in exiting the hanger.

"Flight 2, Bounce!" He called into the comm, it was a favorite maneuver of his when taking off in enemy territory, or in this case under enemy fire. As the repulsors pulsed to max his ship hopped straight up in the air to a level with the hanger roof before the engines kicked in shooting him forward a second later.

Although the maneuver wasn't without the risks as this time fortunately did not show as the third flight and first flights exits had cleared the exit pathway as the Lim fighter's went after them. Replacements were filling the gap though he noticed as he pushed his ship forward in a slight curve out.

"Two Flight, let's play chicken with a heading on the first bomber. Anything comes into our path we blast our way through. Let's punch it!"

With that he pushed the accellorator nearly to max as he headed to the first bomber, a black cloud coming over the sea, inbetween him and it were filling in Lim fighters...meats to be precise.

Three meats then on to the main even, "Take left but don't turn back."

As they closed the distance he depressed the firing stud as he straffed from center to right, the lead ship bursting into flames as the other one, peeling off barely got nicked and flew away smoking.

Plowing on through he lined up on where the bomber was going to be, although once something had more than two stories he had a hard time not thinking of it as a fortress. {Pick give me a bead on where the bridge will be for a torp and a concussion traveling straight. Then add for the engines. Thanks}

As the highlights showed up in his helimet he brought the nose to bear and fired one, then nudging slightly fired the second, using his helmets zoom feature he sharpened in on the flight paths counting down in his head as they neared the flying monolith. Then just as they were about to hit his ship rocked, "Crime in Arkania! Someone's on my tail."

Glancing back up he was greated by a wanted image as he started juking and jiving, two smoke plumes rising ahead of the trailing one. The torp had hit the bridge performing some massive damage, although from the slowed nature and emergency turning/braking the concussion missle had merely hit one of the fins with its shrapnel damage peppering the near side. Any more he couldn't tell from his current position of what would happen as he attemted to keep from taking any more hits.

TAG: Two Flight, GM

 

Hal Crawford
Johnny Boy, High Orbit of Watava

"You better get going," Terrel added, "Our pilots need all the help they can get."

Hal gave a curt nod and quickly headed out of the bridge and to the turbolift shaft that had taken him here. On the ride down, Hal pulled a data card reader from his pocked and brought up the communications program that he had been given. Hal wasn't a programmer, but he had learned a few things from some of his friends back home and this looked like a solid piece of work, given the limited time they had to write it. It seemed devoid of anything Hal would object to, so he shut off the reader and removed the datacard. Moments later, the doors swung open on the hangar level and Hal took off across the deck at a jog.

As he neared the Four Ex, Hal noticed that a ladder had been attached to the fighter and he quickly climbed up it. Handing the datacard to Crank, he said, "Load this into your communications software, Crank. It should help us cut through the jamming and keep in contact with this ship. And prepare for departure - we're going down." Hal jumped into the cockpit, brought his engines online from warm standby and checked his readouts. Both engines were well within the green, although only at 98% efficiency, and his linked laser cannons showed a full charge. He opened a panel on the right side of the cockpit and slaved the ion cannon to his astromech's control and slowly eased in the repulsorlifts. As he flew towards the hangar exit, he noticed that his proton torpedo racks were full as well - that could come in handy.

"Johnny Boy control, Merc Seven, departure clearance," Hal said as he approached the forcefield.

"Merc Seven, cleared departure. Happy hunting," came the response, and Hal kicked in his main thrusters, slowly at first until he had cleared the Johnny Boy's shields and then he pushed the throttles to full output. Crank had plotted a course to rally point Kappa into his main computer, and he turned to navigate on that course. "Oh, Crank, why don't you set up a communications and sensor telemetry uplink through that communications software we just got. That way the Johnny Boy will know everything we do." The astromech whirred an affirmative an began setting that up.

After a few moments, Watava began to grow very large, almost obscuring his entire field of vision and he began to hear a little whistling noise and feel some turbulence as he began a high speed, powered descent into Watava's atmosphere. The sound of wind and buffeting grew stronger and stronger as he approached the upper levels of the atmosphere until one particularly violent buffet rocked his controls and a momentary shield warning appeared on his display before disappearing. Outside the Y-Wing, a large sonic boom emanated outwards from his point of entry, unheard by the occupants of the craft that caused the noise as they accelerated well past the speed of sound.

As he raced down towards rally point Kappa, Hal's sensors and comm frequencies began to receive some data. He began to pick up a few transmissions on the Merc's frequency and the tactical situation above the rally point started to become clear. Hal soon noticed that his new flight leader, Havah Jeth, had a fighter on his tail. Pushing the dive even harder, Hal acquired the fighter that was pursuing Havah but could only wait and watch as the distance to weapons range rapidly scrolled by on his monitor.

"Almost there, almost there..." Hal said as he watched his lead skillfully but narrowly evade the fire from the Lim craft on his tail. Not a moment to soon, his targeting reticle went green as he came in range and Hal tightened down on the trigger, watching crimson lasers blast from his forward cannons and a soft thunking noise came from behind as Crash also fired the ion cannon at the pursuing craft.

In the Lim fighter, the enemy pilot was doing a skillful job of staying on Havah's tail, but it was taking a great deal of his concentration to do so. While he was able to monitor alot

 

Dernan Vask
Air above Watava Military Base

"Vask, let?s keep it tight. Cover my starboard like glue. We'll tag-team these Lims, one fighter at a time. It's payback time..."
?Copy that Two, sticking to your shiny yellow posterior,? Vask replied as he pulled his red and black Cloakshape fighter into formation with his fellow Corellian?s starfighter.
He switched his turbolasers over to single fire to increase his refire rate as he keyed the comm again, ?almost doesn?t seem fair does it? The two of us verse just ten ?Meats?... Do you think we should let them call for reinforcements before we do too much dama...? He broke of as a Lim fighter sprayed fire towards him, dropping his shield strength to 70 percent. ?Oh hell no,? he muttered as he feed more power into the forward deflector and triggered a return burst of fire from his laser cannons that made the enemy shy away but did no noticeable damage, ?changed my mind Two, You?ve got the lead. Let?s bring the hurt.?

Tag: Bravo

 

IC: "Spectre" Winterkill
Watava, Military Base, Engaging enemy Air Force

Winterkill was in the moment, as he was with everything he did. The battle over Watavan air space promised to be quite a dangerous one, seeing how they were outnumbered, but nagai never lived to see another day. The Grim Reaper was his constant companion. Due to his years surviving in formerly Tof occupied Nagi, Winterkill was conditioned to live as if everyday was his last. Today would be no different. And if death was his fate, he planned to take as many Lim warmongers with him as he possibly could. Starting with those inside the Lim Bombers.

Winterkill stayed in formation as he listened to "Maniac" delineate their attack plan through 3 flight's channel.

["Alright, flank me in Spectre. Loose and fast as usual, wide swing, then it's your turn. I tried for missile lock and got nothing, are your torps any better? And try to not be too clever, I kinda like having SOME command authority. Maniac out."]

Winterkill gave a soft chuckle before he answered. "I think I can manage to do both, Lead. Copy that. Spectre out."

And in a blink of an eye, the first run was engaged. Spectre matched Maniac's attack vector perfectly, but not his speed. The Old Gundark was actually somewhat faster than even the StarViper, but that didn't really matter to Winterkill. The point was not who was faster, but how well they worked together. Individual speeds were for specs, stats, technical manuals and race afficionados. This...was WAR.

The two ships streaked with great speed at three Lim Black Bear bombers. Apparently they had yet to be detected, which gave them the element of surprise. By his trajectory, it looked like Maniac was going for the lead ship. Winterkill nodded slowly to himself. Hard ball was the only language worth speaking on the battlefield, whether on the air or ground.

["Countdown to high break in 5, 4, 3, 2, break high Merc 10!"]

The Wraith shadowed the Old Gundark as the lead ship shot upward. Winterkill timed his Twin Heavy Laser cannons to sweep their fiery lances point nine seconds after Maniac's laser barrage, compounding what additional damage he could to Maniac's focused attack. Why let the black bear's armor plating feel unattended?

"Nyx, Reinforce forward shields as we close, then aft shields during retreat."

["Affirmative."]

Winterkill was about to press the attack when he heard Nyx speak once again.

["Warning. Starboard attack in progress. Evasive action suggested."]

"No kidding! rotate shields now!" Winterkill exclaimed and let out an expletive in nagai and set the StarViper on a hard portside roll. The Wraith spiraled away evasively as a second bomber targeted the ship. There were a few glancing shots, but the Wraith had maneuverability that the Black Bear did not. What the black Bear had, was a plethora of weapons. Winterkill could not afford to have all the Black Bear's forward batteries lock on him.

"Flip maneuver! execute now."

Without hesitating, Winterkill cut the main engines for a second and flipped the Wraith Via maneuvering thrusters. The StarViper responded with uncanny accuracy. Spectre was now facing the Black Bear that was shooting him, no doubt the gunners were getting their locks on him. Red javelins of laser fire began to travel his way. The first two missed the ship, but the third hit the forward shield.

"Smoke this!!" Winterkill hissed in contempt as he launched a torpedo at the slow moving Black bear. "Try evading that!"

Even as he spoke those words, Spectre re-engaged the engines and shot after Maniac. Nyx rotated the shields to protect his retreat as they ascended. Winterkill counted 2.3 seconds, before the signature flash of a torp detonation engulfed his screen. He didn't bother to look back as he hoped that his little jaunt crippled the black bear or at least hurt it enough to take it out of the playing field, if not, he'd have to comeback and finish the job.

["Merc 9 to Merc 10, my run is complete, whats your status, you have tactical lead for the n

 

Havah Jeth
Air above Watava Military Base

"Thanks Seven for the save." he racked his brain as best he could but whether it was the cognac or lack of food for life of him he couldn't remember there having been a Merc Seven yesterday.

"Form up where going to be heading for those bomber fortress'. First up is to finish off the smoking one's and use a boot maneuver, Seven and Six will power ahead using your cannons or blind fired torps into the bombers via their underbellies. I'll play bait and try to clear some weapon's placements mere moments by flying on the side of the vessel before you. Ready to dance?"

He awaited his wing man's answer's as the large black 'Bears' trailing smoke grew larger in the viewport. This was going to be tricky.

It was a grim way to approach any combat situation but he knew it had to be done, or at least it was the best way to clear his now two wingman's approach of enemy fire.

TAG: beterrik, Bravo, Two Flight

 

IC: Rick Taller/AWACS Mother (Locked NPC and shuttle crew, GM and Assistant GM controlled)
Lambda-Class Shuttle Mother, Republic of Watava


"Mother, this is Merc Two. Squadron Leader is...down."

That cut through Rick Taller like ice water. Susan Sands just turned around in her chair and looked at Taller. No words were needed. Rick nodded to himself as if to accept the loss of Janice Toller. By now everyone was looking at him in the cargo bay, as was the pilot in the cockpit. He looked over to Susan and just gave her a swirl of his index finger as he went back to starring at the static-filled sensor screen.

Susan turned back to her station and as she opened the comm, her voice cracked under the weight of what she had to say, but she quickly gained her head back, although her voice was filled with sadness. "Copy that Quagmire. Lasso, take charge of One Flight. All pilots, listen up. Squadron Leader is down. Flight Lieutenant Havah Jeth is now Acting Squadron Leader."

"Mother, this is Merc Seven off of Johnny Boy. I'm a new arrival, and I've got an uplink from my astromech to the Johnny Boy that is cutting through the communications interference. I'm sending them my telemetry now, but if you need to communicate to them, you can do it through my astromech."

Everyone's eyes lit up at the new arrival for two reasons: A), he was a new arrival and B), he had an up link with Johnny Boy.

"Roger that Merc Seven! Welcome aboard and thank you!" Susan said in an excited and cherry voice. She looked back to Taller and nodded, "We have the up link. You're clear for the Johnny Boy, sir."

"Thank you," Taller said and switched a button on his ear piece comm unit and said, "Johnny Boy, this is Mother. Do you copy?"

"Loud and clear, Mother!" Came back Terrel Vacks voice, "How's the situation down there?"

"Janice Toller is down. We don't know yet if she's KIA or wounded. Looks like we have a new arrival?"

Terrel's voice was down upon hearing of Janice's death. "Sorry about Janice, Captain. The new arrival is Pilot Officer Hal Crawford. He has a modified Y-Wing and knows Drea Renthal."

"If Drea pointed him our way, then he must have some skills and loyalty. Have you been able to track down the sensor jamming?"

"Negative Captain. It's just one giant static sheet. We're seeing if we can try the same trick we did with the communications on sensors, but with-out the right code they're using for their jamming, it's almost impossible, sir."

"That's what I thought," Rick replied as he stood over the console, hands pressed against the desk, "Is there any trouble space-bound?"

"We have another fighter that's orbiting the planet, but we're playing nice with him right now. Watava Fleet ships are leaving him alone too for right now."

"Got it. Keep an eye out for any trouble. I don't like this, Terrel. How did the County of Lim get so much advanced technology? I know they're good with technology, but this jamming equipment is way too advanced for a species that is still using planetary-based fighters and not starfighters."

"I know what you mean, Captain. It smells bad. Really bad. I'll keep long range sensors on and alert the Watava Fleet: they're already increasing system patrols with the war planet side. It could give us a early warning in case some visitors show up."

"Well lets hope no visitors show up non announced. Mother out," Rick looked to Susan, "Get that comm data to Watava Central Command. They could use it."


Tag everyone


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


IC: Jason Lasso
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava


?Copy that Two, sticking to your shiny yellow posterior,? Vask replied as he pulled his red and black Cloakshape fighter into formation with his fellow Corell

 

IC: Maniac, Merc 9
Location: Locked in combat over Watava

---

[i]*If there were trully gods of war and combat, then they were having a bit of fun at Flight 3s expense. The first attack had gone off with one small hitch that had turned into a direct hit on a bomber courtesy of a torpedo snapshot by Spectre, and a beauty at that.

Then after re-forming, Spectre had taken the reigns perfectly as tactical lead, orchistrating a high-angle attack with a late break. To maximize the effectiveness of such an attack Max had settled in right behind Spectre, keeping a watch out for the gunners on the third bombers or any marauding fighters.
The latter had proved to be the catalyst to the current situation. A glint out of the corner of his eye had given away a pair of interceptors to Max. The aircraft, commonly called Birds, were executing a wide turn at nearly full throttle towards Flight 3, and although they were too far to use their guns they wouldn't be for very long at the speed at which they were moving.

Max realized that he had to break away early to deal with them. Granted it was his privlege as flight leader to alter plans as he saw fit, but he hoped Spectre wouldn't hold it against him since his plan of attack was very good. Max had in fact radioed his intention to his wingman...*[/i]

"Got two Birds turning in fast at our 5 Spectre, moving to stiff-arm. Keep after those bombers, Maniac out."

[i]*...but it was unlikely he heard it, given the cross-static and chatter already permeating the comms despite dedicated frequencies.

Max jammed his throttle to max and yanked on the yoke again, executing a high yo-yo turn that was designed to bring the Old Gundark in above behind and slightly to the side of the interceptors.
One of them must have spotted the maneuver in some stage of its execution because they suddenly leveled off and applied full afterburner in a bid to get away. However it was too late for the trailing interceptor for Maniac already had a lead and pulled the trigger for his blaster cannon, quickly overwhelming the shields and hammering the thin hull of the interceptor, resulting on a fantastic explosion.

However this had conspired to give the lead Bird a head-start, and while the Old Gundark was fast and could get up and go, it was still outclassed in that category by the Birds. By that point it was out of range, and Max was cursing his luck. He did have missiles that could easily reach out and hit the Bird at that range, but the interference was still too great to achieve anything resembling a usable-lock on, and aiming them manually was a pain in the exhaust port to say the least.

However Maniac was keen and agile of mind, and he knew that the on-board computer could jury-rig targeting solutions when given parameters, so with a few inputs and a few more curses he eventually set the missles to track along a gunsight displayed on his helmet-mounted screen. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than blind shooting or nothing.
He was about to squeeze off a missile shot when Spectre's voice cut in over the comm.*

[color=royalblue]"Focus on the mission objective, Maniac. I just need three seconds, that's all."[/color]

*Max swore and looked over to the sole remaining bomber. Its compatriots were missing as they should have been, but Spectre was not where he should have been. Instead the Starviper was dropping like a stone away from the Bomber, the obvious product of a stalled engine. Pushing down his own instinct to break away and rush to his wingmans aid, he felt a bit of relief when he spied the engines sputtering back to life.

The relief was short-lived as he moved his eyes back to his quarry. A flurry of glancing impacts on the front shield signaled a sudden change of tone in this engagement. Bearing down on Max were three Lim Advanced Fighters, known as Meats to the pilots. Their wings were free of ordinance and it was obvious that their intention was to engage the Old Gundark, and considering the straight trajectory at that moment it would have been an easy target. Compounding the problem was

 

IC: "Spectre" Winterkill
Watava, Military Base, Engaging enemy Air Force

YEEEEE-HAAAAAAAA!!!

Winterkill could not contain his surge of gladness as the StarViper engines roared back to life and to full thrusting power. Spectre immediately angled the Wraith and set it on a vertical climb to regain the airspace he had lost during free-fall. As he was about to comm Maniac for an update, a bit of news came thru on the channel, this from Mother. Thankfully, Nyx had cleaned up the background static as much as possible so incoming communique's could be fairly intelligible.

[All pilots, listen up. Squadron Leader is down. Flight Lieutenant Havah Jeth is now Acting Squadron Leader."]

Winterkill released a particulary strong expletive in nagai. Those Lim bastards had just killed a Merc! Janice Toller was dead.

A quiet storm began to roar and thunder inside winterkill. Death, death and more needless deaths. When was it all going to end? No, he did not know Janice Toller well, but he respected her highly, she was a great leader and an integral part of the Mercs. Now everything was going to change. Again.

A hot breath of contained fury escaped Winterkills lips. Anger and Fury now. Mourning and sadness later. Janice Toller had to be avenged! A deadly focus came over him as he was about to try Maniac again, and almost as if by some uncanny trick, Maniac's voice came through the comm.


["Merc 10 stay on the bombers, Merc 9 is DROK!..."]

"Wait!..WHAT?? Nyx, what's Lead 3's status?"

[Lead 3 is currently engage in a dogfight against three enemy fighters.]

"Not without ME, he's not...."

[Qu'elwynt'r, you have your orders...]

"And I AM complying with those orders. I'm just giving him a hand on my way to the bombers.]

[They stand to gain anywhere from 30 seconds to....]

"I know the risk, Nyx. I'll get those bombers, We're NOT losing another Merc today. At least not Maniac. Not if I can help it. Maximum speed. Engage!"

The Wraith shot forth like a black bat out of hell and Winterkill grew deadly silent and focused. Within seconds, he spotted Maniac and his fierce dogfight against the Lim fighters. Even focused as he was, the nagai had to give a nod of admiration at Maniac's prodigious piloting skills. It was a marvel to see and oh so inspiring.

Spectre observed as two meats went after Maniac. Spectre grinned as he streaked towards the bird who had been too focused on maniac. By the time it noticed Spectre's Wraith barreling down on it, it was much too late. Spectre fired incessantly at the 'Bird's' shields, who tried to retaliate, but the StarViper was at the top of its game as Spectre evaded the incoming shots easily as he continued to punish the Bird's shields. The enemy knew it didn't matter which way it tried to break, it was no use, and less than a second later, a brilliant flash heralded the end of the bird.

"For Janice..."

Spectre got on the comm as his ship shot past Maniac's area of engagement and rocketed in pursuit of the lone bomber. It was imperative that the bomber did not join a battle group.

[Bird has been vaped, Lead. Two meats are yours to roast. Closing on Black Bear.]

"See, there it is."Spectre commented as the bomber came into visual range. "That took all of what? 17.35 seconds?"

[17.3752 to be exact.]

"Same difference. Anyway, it's time to zig-zag. Nyx, enhance the IR feed."

Spectre breathed smoothly and rhythmically as he brought the Wraith in direct line with the black bears aft. He aimed to use the bombers trademark smoke trail as partial cover, at least visually. He knew he'd have to make the most out of his speedy approach since he only had one shot at this.

Though Spectre came at them at full speed, the turrets on the Bomber began to fire at him as soon as he entered their firing range. "So much for that smoke cover."

"Nyx, pin-point heat signature patterns as the Turrets begin to fire. I need any and every advantage, and one second is plenty of time. Reinforce forward shields."

Spectre set the Wraith in a series of evasive rolls, banks, break

 

Dernan Vask ? Moonshine
Air above Watava Military Base

Dernan couldn?t quite keep the grin off his face as the two Lim fighters exploded into a pair of spectacular fireballs under his and Jason?s hail of fire.
Three, let?s take the first pair to starboard. Bank it in down and easy to port and get them. Watch for the other pair, they might split their attack."
Dernan double clicked his comm to acknowledge as he let his fighter drift down and under Jasons N-1, coming into position off his port wing just as his wingman opened up on their first target. Whose partner proceeded to leap in line with Dernan?s cannons. Unfortunately, the Lim pilot recovered just fast enough to avoid the worst of Dernan?s barrage. One of the ?Meats? engines burst into flame and the other started belching black smoke as the fighter turned and limped away from the engagement.
?Damn it all to hell,? he muttered as one of the remaining fighters scored a handful of glancing hits.
?Quagmire, I got one out of the fight but his friends are coming to play. We?ve got two Meats coming in 4 o?clock high.? He growled again as his shields took another hit. ?And I?m going after them.?
From his position off Jason?s port wing, Dernan?s Cloakshape fighter turned and dived below the N-1, pulling a tight curve around the other starfighters belly that pointed Dernan straight at the oncoming fighters. He drew extra power from his engines to shore up his damaged shields before opening up with his own weapons. Throbbing red pulses of energy from his laser cannons burned twin rows either side of the enemy?s cockpit while the bright green lances of turbolaser fire sheared cleanly through the Meats wings.
?Now ain?t that just a sight?? he muttered to himself as the enemy?s cockpit canopy shatter and the pilot was flung away from his disintegrating fighter.
?Quagmire, what?s your status?? he called as he tried to spot the downed fighter?s wingman.

Tag: Bravo

 

OOG:

Hey guys, Jedi_padawan_leigh is having internet problems. Go ahead and post as normal as we wait to see if her internet gets fixed.

 

GM approved!

Name: Mira T?saaren
Gender: Female
Age: 25
Species: Human
Homeworld: Corellia
Affiliation: The Mercs

Personality
---Traits: Tomboy, reckless, doesn?t take things too seriously
---Likes: Producing results, taking on new projects/missions, traveling
---Dislikes: ?Girly? things, getting too emotional
---Habits: Runs to keep in shape, enjoys getting in as much flying time as possible

Appearance
---Skin Color: Medium Caucasian
---Hair Color: Black (dyed)
---Eye Color: Gray
---Clothing: Black tank top, tan pants, black boots that come to mid-calf, small cartridge belt slung around hips with a single blaster holster
---Other Attributes: Her long hair is usually kept back in a single loose braid, but when not on duty is loose
---Other Details: Various scars

Weapons
---DH-17 blaster pistol

Starship
---Name: Kestrel
---Class: R-41 Starchaser (with modifications)
---Hyperdrive Class: 2
---Weapon(s): 2 laser cannons; 2 ion cannons; 2 warhead launchers (4 concussion missiles each)
---Shields: Rated 30 SBD
---Sublight Speed:
---Crew: 1 pilot
---Passenger(s): 0
---Max Cargo (kg): 110 kg
---Interior Description: -
---Other Details: Modified to bear additional hull plating, engine and sensor modifications as well

The Force
---Sensitivity: None

Biography
---Personal History: Born and raised on Corellia to a military family, Mira T'saaren grew up watching her father pilot patrol ships for the Corellian Navy. When her two older brothers, Crom and Jarik, went to the Imperial Academy and became TIE pilots, she believed she wanted to follow in their footsteps. One year later, one was dead and the other crippled due to a fatal mistake in their mission objectives, one that their superior never owed up to and the Empire dismissed as their own incompetence. A strong desire to travel the galaxy, along with a personal vendetta against the Empire, led Mira to leave Corellia to find a way to fight against them. She learned of The Mercs not long afterwards.
---Military History: None
---Traumatic Experiences: Learning of her brothers' tragic accident.

 

OOG: Hey everyone, I hope you're all having fun! I know I am!

Everyone, oreotragus has been added to our ranks. She'll be Merc 4.

On another note, I'm going to be gone for about two weeks starting Tuesday. Like last time I was gone, greyjedi125 has full control of the game. What he says, goes. He will be advancing the game as needed. I don't know if I will have internet access or not while I'm gone, but I will be taking my laptop with me. I should be able to find a few spots with internet access.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM either Grey or me.

Thanks.



IC: Rick Taller/AWACS Mother (Locked NPC and shuttle crew, GM and Assistant GM controlled)
Lambda-Class Shuttle Mother, Republic of Watava


"Merc 9 to Mother, requesting re-enforcements. Merc 10 is engaging bombers solo and Merc 9 is solo in a furball. Getting awfully thick over here even for us. Flight 3 over."

Rick Taller listened to the comm traffic from Merc 9 and winced. No matter how good a pilot was, there was always that chance that someone could get a shot off at you and turn you into fiery debris if you didn't eject in time. A few heart-beating moments later, Winterkill's report came over the comm channel and Rick Taller wasn't the only one in the Lambda-Class Shuttle who exhaled held breath with a sign of relief.

[Lead 3, this is spectre. I'm at 70% combat operation. Lone bear has been terminated. Let's regroup so we can finish this.]

"What's the status of sensors?" Taller asked, really starting to hate having no sensors to see what was going on out there.

Chief Petty Officer Po Bar shook his head, "Nothing, Captain," The male Mon Calamari answered sorrowfully.


Tag Anyone


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


IC: Jason Lasso
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava


?Quagmire, what?s your status?? he called as he tried to spot the downed fighter?s wingman.

Jason Lasso pulled up on the yoke and proceeded to fly just above the fiery explosion of debris that pitted his starfighter's shields as he roared overhead.

"He was an easy one," Jason replied, taking a look around and seeing only Dernan Vask and the other allied fighters, "Lets regroup Three."

As Vask did just that, Lasso looked down to the air base below, plumes of smoke rising up into the sky as the two starfighters came down from their higher engagement, "Looks like we held them off for now," Jason commented. He looked off into the distance at the growing battle around the bombers, "Vask, it looks like the Lims are focusing they're protection around those bombers. If even one of those things get to the air-base, it has enough of a payload to inflect heavy damage on the airfield. So we need to stop it before it gets to that point. We'll hook up with Two Flight and see what the game plan is."

As the two Mercs rocketed away from the air-base and towards the growing fight around the remaining Lim bombers, Lasso keyed up his comm, "Two Flight, this is One Flight. Airfield is secured. What's you're orders, Jeth?"

They still had some time before they would reach the bombers and Jason took the time to read through the status of his starfighter that his R2 astromech Dude was giving him on his main screen.


Tag FanFic. Mitth, and bterrik


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


IC: Imperial Security Bureau Investigator Hilick Soal
Darkest Night, Imperial-class I Star Destroyer, en route in hyperspace to Planet of Watava, one hour away


Security was tight on this part of the Star Destroyer. Twelve Imperial Stormtroopers had guarded the double-layered blast doors outside of this room with security sensors and the works. If someone got past those Stormtroopeers, they would have to go up against the two Imperial Royal Guardsmen that stood quiet watch over th

 

IC: Mira T?saaren
Inbound for Watava

The mottled lines of hyperspace slowed and shrunk to pinpoints of starlight in Mira T?saaren?s cockpit viewport. Releasing her grip on the hyperdrive lever, her black-gloved hand keyed for a nav readout on the console to her right. Her system position checked out satisfactorily as the blue-and-green orb of Watava loomed into sight.

Well, there it is...

A faint glow surrounded the planet. She stretched her cramped muscles as best she could as she took in the sight and got her bearings. Soon the system analyses completed their scrolling readout. Mira kicked up the drive and maneuvered her old R-41 Starchaser, the Kestrel, a little down and to the left. There, she spotted the landmass she had memorized from holomaps.

?Republic of Watava?, huh... doesn?t look like much to be fighting for.

As her small, somewhat battered starfighter bore closer, the planet began to swallow her viewport. She just began to make out tiny pricks of light flashing over sections of the continent before recognition set in. She had come to this unfamiliar planet to work as a mercenary ? and it seems her new job had gotten started without her.

Mira fractionally slowed her descent as a green light on her console registered that the Kestrel?s sensors had picked up a ship in high orbit close to her approach vector. She tapped the necessary keys and brought up the readout ? it appeared to be a Marauder-class Corvette. However, sensor jamming ? which confirmed her suspicions about the action on the surface - was apparent in the readout, but not bad enough that she couldn?t make out the data. Her contact back on Corellia had told her that The Mercs operated such a ship - called the Johnny Boy, she recalled. However, she reactively increased power to her forward shields.

Adjusting her comm for transmission, she kept an eye on the action below. If the enemy brought the fight topside, she might just be out of luck. Her weapons, two laser cannons and two ion cannons, were not done charging and her shields were still warming up from her recent drop out of hyperspace.

Her brow furrowed in irritation at the jamming of the communication systems as well. With the comm unusable, she could either approach the Corvette, or attempt to go planetside... possibly getting smoked in the process by said ship. But, she really didn?t have much choice...

Seconds later she was cruising towards the continent. The familiar hum of her engines fed her adrenaline as she bore closer. Her recent study of the holomaps of Watava allowed her to visually locate first the region, then the area of the base that she would be calling home soon ? if she didn?t get shot out of the sky first.

She was sure they knew of her designated arrival, so she would take her chances...

Tag: Bravo

 

OOC: Sorry Mitth! I missed your post before, getting a response up now!

---

[b]Hal Crawford[/b]
[i]Watava, Engaged in Combat[/i]

Hal frowned as he heard over the comm that the flight leader had gone down - while he hadn't had a chance to meet her, it was never good to lose a flight leader and without a doubt his new compatriots would have to mourn a close friend when this was over if, indeed, she had perished with her craft; there had been no word on that yet. From the back of his fighter, he heard the ion cannon plugging away at distant starfighters as his astromech acquired targets and enabled autofire. He focused ahead of him as his flight leader pulled further away and up, strafing at the Bears and drawing their fire. Hal and his wingman were in loose formation, weaving around the few shots heading their way - apparently, the Bears didn't see them as much of a threat. That would change once they started their attack run, and change fast. In the distance, Hal could see several of the fighters guarding the Bears break off and engage Merc Five - it was time.

"Merc Six, let me head in first. [i]Four-Ex[/i] can take a hell of a beating, I'll cover you," Hal said on his comm as he pushed his throttles up to the firewalls and dropped in to approach the bombers from below. Almost immediately, the underside cannons on the Bear opened up. Hal reached up and triggered one of the modifications to his venerable bomber - his shield booster. While normally defended by a standard set of Y-Wing shields, Hal's craft had been modified with a temporary shield booster which nearly doubled his shield strength. As he lifted the protected switch and toggled the booster to active, Hal heard his engines begin to whine under the increased strain. Even in the dive, his speed slowly began to drop as more and more power was funneled from the engines to the shields. Above the booster's switch, a green light illuminated that showed the boosters were operating normally and a countdown started - he could only keep the booster on for short durations before the shield emitters burned out. But for bombing runs, that was fine.

Streams of laserfire swooped down towards the Y-Wing and Hal made a slight evasive maneuver, causing some to miss and some to slam into his enhanced shields. The Y-Wing shuddered with the impact, but no alarms sounded in the cockpit so Hal pressed on. He configured his torpedo launchers to fire "dumb" - to fire in a straight line and detonate on impact - and linked them to fire two at a time. In his windscreen, the Lim Bears grew large - Hal swallowed hard as he knew this would be cutting it pretty close.

"Seven, this is Six. Take the leading target, I'll take the following. Go go go!" Hal acknowledged the transmission and went straight for his target. As Hal brought the Bear into his targeting reticle a Lim "Meat" fighter appeared in Hal's peripheral vision heading straight for him with lasers blazing. Hal's hand twitched ever so slightly as he tightened his finger on the trigger. His shields exploded with energy as the fighter hit him straight on, and two blue torpedoes went streaking towards the Bear. Hal broke hard down and away to gain speed and distance from the Lim fighter as his torpedoes detonated. Hal thought he could feel the heat from the explosions they were so close, even though that was made impossible by shields. When the blasts cleared, he saw that his wingman had made a clean kill, but the twitch the Lim Meat had caused Hal to made at the last moment had caused one of his torpedoes to miss. A single proton torpedo was still not something to trifle with - the Bear was smoking and clearly had sustained significant damage. But to Hal's dismay, it was still flying. He tried to bring his nose up and back toward the Bear to finish it with his laser cannons, but as he did that, a stream of laserfire zipped by above him, forcing him down - the Meat had slipped in behind him as he tried to finish of the Bears. Behind him, the ion cannon thumped blasts back at fighter but scored no hits. H

 

IC: Havah Jeth
Headquarters Base, Republic of Watava

"Two Flight, this is One Flight. Airfield is secured. What's you're orders, Jeth?"

"Cover Three Flight and Two Flight's posteriors as we take down a few black bears One Flight." he responded to the comm a little absently as he started bringing his fighter back in from a wide loop toward an unscathed Lim Bomber.

"Pick boost the engines trim the rear deflectors, we're going in shallow and hot."

{Roger Roger} came the dutiful reply. One of the few that the droid ever vocalized. In a way the droid was a perfect Yang to his...well whatever it was that he was. It's silence meant he always had an ear to vent to now, and the prompt service with alcoholic beverages was a good trait as well in his book.

But such thoughts and reminesces were fleeting, especially when the thought that he was now lead hit him like a brick. "Lets make them pay!" he called into the comm.

As fire started shoot out tentatively from the enemy bomber he gripped the yoke tighter as he bounced and swerved slightly before performing a sluis slide as he cut the engines before blasting them on again.

Now with a head to flight path he pulled down on his trigger, as a first bolt connected from the topmost weapons on the craft as his own knawed their way inside he snapped off a concussion missle and banked toward the tail fins, remashing the fire button he began dancing his craft to bring the targiting reticle to blast off the lowest fins gun placement before flying out and peeling to the left from the black smoke cloud.

Checking his scopes, or rather the windows he just had time to see the new guy in Seven fire off an ion burst into the behemoth before dealing with his own tail. If the guy threw just made it that was at least one bear down before they headed to the next.

TAG: Two Flight, Three Flight, One Flight