Calogero Lyuben, commander of Rapier squadron heard a beep come from his comlink attached to his flight helmet, "Rapier squadron, you are cleared for take off."

Giving an affirmative beep, the commander flipped a switch to switch to his squadron's channel then spoke, "We have been cleared. Flight one depart and converge at our first check point. Flights two and three follow flight one's lead."

"Roger Commander," was the response that Calogero heard. The first four pilots left the hanger bay of there base and jerked hard to the left on the stick, causing their fighters to shoot left like a streak of lightening. The second and third flight followed suit just as ordered. Pretty soon Rapier squadron was once again together and heading for their target. Titan squadron had been giving the Vast Empire's naval fleet fits for the last hour or so. Lyuben gave out the orders of their first target and Rapier turned to intercept their next victims.

Two kilomters from their destination, Rapier 2-2 suddenly burst into flames. Looking around worried and confused, the commander shouted, "What the hell just happened?"

Milan Sander, the squadron executive officer replied, "No clue sir! It came from nowhere."

Still confused, Calogero replied, "What came from nowhere?"

Liberatore Vincent, one of the flight two members cut in, "The proximity mine sir. It didn't even show up on our scopes." Again, without warning, Rapier 2-3 gave a loud, "Ahhhh!" before going silent. A second member had just fallen victim to the proximity mines.

"Pull up! I repeat, pull up!" Was what the squadron commander shouted. Rapier did just as they were told and barely escaped certain doom. Looking down now, Calogero could see the mines scattered about between the two Star Destroyers that were locked in a heated conflict. Catching his breath, he gave a new order, "Alright, let's take the long way around. Flight two, turn to point six-three and try to intercept them from behind. Flight three, turn to point oh-four and attempt to intercept from the front-left. Flight one will turn to point one-one and intercept from the front-right hand side.

"Aye, commander," came the reply from Lyuben's remaining members of his squadron. They turned to their required marks, accelerated to attack speed, then flew in with their blasters blazing. Only a few of the bolts scored hits, ultimately leaving the dominions bombers unharmed after the first attempt.

Realizing that his plan didn't work, Commander Lyuben ordered for them to go into one on one conflict. He knew that the TIE Fighters that Rapier squadron currently operated vastly outhandled the sluggish TIE Bombers that they were assigned to deal with. One by one, Rapier squadron took out the bombers. Many of the Rapier squadron members considered the bombers to be more fun targets than the more agile and fast TIE Interceptors. It made them feel as if they were combat ace's they said.

With a sigh of relief and a new jolt of confidence, the Rapier Squadron Commander told his squad mates, "Excellent work Rapier. Head back to the Endeavor."

OOC:

another 514 words

OOC:

Sorry Sovern, while it may not be directly in the rules for this competition, the VE as a whole has been very anti-double posting. Because of this, I cannot tally the points for this post.

Tikali stood against a wall in the main chow hall aboard the Triton. He had his trademark grin on his face as his eyes darted around the room. Ensigns and crewmen alike were taking pleasure in humiliating the recent additions to the Triton crew: The six remaining officers taken from the Blade of Truth. The seventh had decided that death was preferable to life, and had impaled himself upon the Tehk’la he was offered.

Tikali had to place the disgraced officers somewhere on his ship, and with two cargo bays full of surrendered crew, he wasn’t about to place the officers with them and possibly ignite a riot. No, he was smarter than that, so he used his sick sense of humor to put them to work in the one place they didn’t have access to equipment crucial to the fight.

He even put them on the chow line, dressed in white paper hats and aprons emblazoned with the Triton logo. Hoots and laughs were directed at the six, who took the punishment with stride, thinking they’d be commanding these men and women soon. But Tikali had other plans, he was going to make sure they worked their ways up from crewmen all over again.

The blasts against the ship had subsided. The carracks must have realized that they weren’t going to damage the battle-ready star destroyer. They instead turned their attention to the squadrons of fighters that were reaping the outclassed hostiles nearly three to one. Tikali wore a small earpiece, letting him listen in on the comm chatter as it happened. The VEN squadrons were synchronizing with not only their own flights and squads, but with each other, forming massive formations that decimated the ranks of opposing fighters.

The chatter seemed to come from three squadrons, the Kaph, Nazgul, and Viper squadrons. They were the spearhead in the defense turned offense, and were gaining the respect of the captain. He would have to see to awarding the squadrons commendations based on their skills. A few were lost, but those gaps were quickly adjusted for.

Tikali left the chow hall, seeing the look of humility on the face of the former XO of the Blade running a mop over the floor. Another spirit broken, shown the error of their ways. There may be hope for a precious few of these yet he thought as he walked into the lift.

Aboard the bridge once more, he assumed his spot in front of the massive viewport. The chaos in the space before him was beautiful. Escape pods were being jettisoned from hostile craft, which were in turn being sucked into the tractor beams of the Vast Empire’s fleet. He watched as fighters criss-crossed directly in front of his bridge. Unable to tell friend from foe, the gunners aboard the Triton had ceased firing at the fighters. He was confident the squadrons could take care of themselves. He instead turned his attention towards the remaining ships.

There weren’t too much left for him to decimate or convince to join, so he called down to the hangar bays. After a few words with the crewmen down there, he decided now was the time to shuttle the captives in the cargo bays out. He drew his Tehk’las and walked into the lift, stopping on the floor the bays where on. Waiting for him were three squads of troopers, geared and ready to escort the captives.

He walked into one of the cargo bays and looked around, grinning as the whole of the bay went silent. He spun both blades in his hands as we walked along the ranks of prisoners, assigning each a number, one through four. When he was done, he headed back towards the doors and stopped, turning to face the assembled party.

“Alright. If you make this harder than it needs to be, they’ll find your corpse floating among the space debris a hundred years from now. Everyone is to group together according to your number, with the ones in front and the fours in the back. You have 90 seconds.”

He grinned as the massive amount of people scrambled about to position themselves as ordered. A few were trying to sneak their way into other groups, thinking ones would be called first. It wasn’t going to work, because years of being in a military branch forced some things to become habit, and lining up in formation was one of them. Those who thought they were special were put back where they belong, and the evacuation began.

The troopers marched the first group to the waiting hangar where the transport ships were waiting. They were loaded aboard, along with the troopers, and soon were on their way to the Atrus where the captives could be processed. Over the course of the next seven hours, the process was repeated, a few of the fighters being assigned as cover pilots.

Tikali oversaw the entire operation, and when the last transport had finally arrived safely back aboard the Triton, he radioed to his XO.

“I’m going to retire to my quarters. Anything of interest happens, you know where to find me.”

He sheathed his blades, unaware that they had been in his hands for nearly eight hours. His fingers were stiff, but it was a good stiffness, the stiffness of an activity long thought forgotten. He made his way to his quarters and lie on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment, capturing the serenity of the fleeting peace.

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916

The medical team worked diligently to finish up the cranial procedure inserting plasteel shunts in to the  holes that they drilled, stitching up the cuts the surgeon made closing up the scalp around the shunts. Once the scalp was stitched closed around the shunts the core man dressed the maintenance technician's head with gauze and sterile cloth. As soon as the core man finished dressing the maintenance technician's head the medical team was ready to work on his torso and abdomen. There were some minor cuts but some serious bruises all over his body indicating the severity of his internal injuries.

The surgeon took a pair of surgical scissors and began cutting away at the maintenance technician's uniform layers. Once the layers of the patent's uniform was cut away the core man began to lather up the maintenance technician's torso with shaving soap and began to strip away the carpet of hair that covered his chest and stomach. Looking up and trying to lighten up the mood of the situation the core man asked “Was one of this guys parents a wookiee?” The surgeon could not help but smirk and chuckle but said “Hush I do not need to be chuckling when I begin working on this guys insides.” The core man nodded and said “I am sorry sir just trying to lighten up  the mood a bit.”  The surgeon gave a bit of a smile to the core man and replied “I know, now there may be a spit of air when I cut him open and defiantly some blood so be ready with the suction and clamps we are going to need a lot of both.”

The core man nodded and readied his equipment after he finished shaving off the carpet of hair from the maintenance technician's chest and stomach. When every thing was ready the surgeon began starting with a long vertical cut going from below the belly button to just under neath the sternum. Blood began to gush out of the incision more rapidly than both the core man and surgeon was expecting but the core man responded swiftly with the suction machine trying to keep up against flow of blood coming from the injured crewman. Once the blood some what subsided the surgeon was able to continue with the very complex and dangerous operation.

The surgeon used his fingers to probe inside the incision and began to open his stomach up more looking at the core man the surgeon asked “Could you give me some light here?” he indicated the area he was trying to get a better look at. The core man nodded said “Yes sir” and adjusted the light. Once the light was where the surgeon could see inside the abdomen he began to deftly cut away at the bruised and other wise injured stomach muscles speaking “Man I wish the bacta tanks were not destroyed it would make saving this guys life a lot easier.” The surgeon continued to cut through the lining of the abdomen in to the muscles and finally past the abdominal muscles and in to the abdominal cavity its self. Using a mechanical spreader the surgeon began to examine the inside of the maintenance technician. The inside of the injured man was a mess blood was every where and the organs were off colored ranging from green, yellow and purple to black. The smell coming from the abdomen was a mix of gangrenous infection, bile, undigested food, digestive juices and other undesirable bodily fluids. The patents internal organs looked like the consistency of kiwi fruit and had the color of pureed straw berries. To say the least it was hard to differentiate between the various organs of the injured maintenance technician. 

The surgeon looked up to the core man with a bit of a worried and over whelmed look on his face and said “I am not sure where to even begin now its all a mess.” The core man gave a  nervous breath and replied “Neither do I sir but I guess we should start from the out side in, I mean it would work best and clear the way and all.” The surgeon agreed saying “Good idea core man.” The core man wiped some anxiety sweat from his forehead and asked “So where do we begin?” The surgeon replied “Lets start with the pancreas and work our way from one side of the abdomen to the other side. Than work our way in cleaning up the blood and other bodily fluid along the way.” The core man nodded and said “Okay sir I'll try and keep up. Think we should have the droids assist us?” The surgeon shook his head to the negative and answered the core mans question “No, the droids are good at re-attaching limbs and prosthetics but when some one is in as bad of a shape as this guy they get confused. I would rather they not get confused when working on some one.” The core man nodded and replied “Okay we better get started.”

The medical team continued their work working as swiftly as safety would allow starting with the pancreas cutting it out of the way. As the surgeon cut the core man manned the suction machine sucking away the bodily fluids and blood that was pooling in the recesses and cavities of the injured man's abdomen. “Swab, sponge, clamp, scalpel, metzinbaum scissors, suction, clamp, forceps...” was the extent of the conversation between the two medical personal. The surgeon was concentrating on the operation taking out the damaged pieces and parts of organs and trying to salvage others, the core man was busy just trying to keep with the masterful surgeons orders and requests. Finally the first layer of damaged organs was out of the way either removed fully or partly. The openings left behind where  stitched, stapled or glued up as soon as possible before the pair moved on to the next organ with fluid constantly being syphoned out of the maintenance technician's body to prevent infection. The medical team worked for what seamed like hours removing a piece of organ here and a full organ there, as the operation continued the bleeding subsided and the maintenance technician's vital signs began to stablize.

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1045

The fight for the Immortal was probably the bloodiest chapter for Vast Imperial Marine operations during the Dominion Suppression. Certainly, the body count was far, far higher than any other action coordinated during the battle, mainly due to the fact that casualties after the battle listed both sides as Vast Imperial. Even the loss of the Eagle with over half its crew did not account for so many Marine and Stormtrooper losses.

It was a dark day indeed, for all that lived to remember it. Much of the Immortal had to be refitted, interior and out, after the battle due to the ferocity of some of the hallway combat. The Vast Imperial Marines had always boasted of their superior ship boarding abilities. Pitting them against each other produced disastrous results.

The first pods to hit the Immortal breached the aft sections of the ship, spilling many into the personnel billets and quarters. Lieutenant Grieves, leading the assault on the Immortal ended up here, along with two of his Sub-Lieutenants. Most of Grieves’ other officers, however, had the unfortunate chance of landing next to the primary Stormtrooper garrison on the ship. Even though at half strength, the garrison put up a heavy resistance, and thus, those sections saw some very intense gun duels during Grieves’ initials forays into the Immortal.

Ensign billets, Deck 137, Fourteen Decks above garrison:
Sub-Lieutent Coifer led three squads into an admirable charge through the hallways, catching the Stormtroopers rushing to the floors below by surprise. He swept up three hallways and a dozen rooms in the initial minutes of the battle before brought to a standstill by rallying Stormtroopers near the stairwells. A skirmish broke out which lasted for thirteen minutes and resulted in the deaths of four Marines and nearly a dozen Stormtroopers. Twenty-nine ensigns were also killed in the crossfire and purge of the captured rooms. Coifer pursued the fleeing stormtroopers for another twenty minutes, taking just as many halls and rooms on the floor below before a shotgun blast in a close-combat brawl took off half his face. Demoralized, the Marines retreated the entire way back to the pod, losing all the ground they’d managed to capture up until that point.

Armory, Deck 124, Just Above Garrison
The armory was more prepared for the assaults than most, and had set up barricades, fall-back points, and heavy weapons emplacements in the halls prior to the boarding action. For the first thirty minutes after disembarking, Grieves’ Marines withered under heavy weapons fire, caught without cover until finally, low on ammo, the stormtroopers gave a little room. In that time, a young Sergeant by the name of Renault tried to lead the remaining, battered squads farther into the hallways, with the ultimate goal of securing the armory.  They captured several hard points in the hallways, using a captured flamethrower to flush stormtroopers out of cover, but a gas line punctured in one of the many gun fights ignited. The flames and blast accounted for ten Immortal crewmembers’ lives, Sergeant Renault, and nine of his marines. The hallway was rendered completely unusable, forcing both sides to redirect troops to ancillary hallways.

Lower Personnel Mess, Deck 90
Grieves’ himself disembarked in the mess halls to little resistance. Swelled with reinforcements from a nearby pod, they made their way with relative ease towards the base of the command spire, circumventing the garrison and armory entirely. Vick tasked them with the primary objective of the whole operation: caputring the bridge and, if possible, Rikes. Before depature, Vick emphasized the  To facilitate speed, Grieves ordered his squads to only engage assaultive combatants. He thus made it to the command spire first, with few casualties or skirmishes of note.

Lieutenants’ Deck, Deck 170
A boat unloaded a platoon to immediate fire from Lieutenant-led, Immortal Marine squads. Sixty percent casualties were sustained within the first three minutes alone. The remainder fell back to the pod, firing from what cover they could get. The gun battle ended abruptly when another pod, on fire from three indirect turbolaser hits, smashed through the hull of the Immortal. The hallways depressurized instantly and ten Lieutenants, thrity-four Immortal Marines, and the remainder of Grieves’ marines were sucked out into the void. There were no reported survivors from the crashed pod.

Trooper Billets, Deck 112
Boarding Marines caught a force twice their size of off-duty troopers in the middle of being sent to aid the fight up-decks. Armed with only hold-out blasters and lacking armor, the troopers were cut down quickly. The Ensign in command of the Marines pushed the troops all the way to the power room, and managed to destroy the generators for the level with det charges. Auxiliary power, rerouted to the guns, couldn’t power more than the emergency lighting , and Decks 100 through 140 were bathed in near total-darkness. The Ensign and his Marines had little time to celebrate as reinforcing stormtrooper squads pinned them down at the power hub for the remainder of the battle.

Marine Billets, Deck 105
Due to the inadequate lighting, two Marine platoons nearly collided with each other before realizing the mistake. A blood, hand-to-hand melee broke out and lasted for nearly ten minutes. Both sides were devastated and set running from the fight when a reinforcing stomtrooper sergeant ordered his squads to fire indiscriminately into the crowd.

Marine Billets, Deck 75, Five Decks above Pilot Billets
A reconnaissance Marine squad mysteriously disappeared after stumbling upon a much larger group of aggressors. No clear identification was ever determined, though many were in what appeared to be black jumpsuits and were wielding panoply of close-combat weapons, based on the sketchy holovids transmitted just before disappearance. The squad was believed to have been wiped-out.

Rikes listened to the interplatoon, intersquad chatter grimly. He’d had this so planned out, so meticulously planned out. It had all hinged on the assumption that the pilot’s wouldn’t become too troublesome before Vick decided to board the ship. However, with Marines tied up in suppressing the pilots, there weren’t enough to defend the command spire properly, and now troops were flocking to it. The first twenty minutes of the battle had gone splendidly. Few casualties on his side, numerous on theirs. The last few minutes, however, had more than made up for all of that.

The Vengeance outside was tearing apart. The wounds the Immortal had wreaked on her hull showed as debris and hull sections came peeling off. The Carracks the Crusader and the Executioner trailed it, never leaving it in peace despite the Vast Imperial squadrons swarming around them. It was just a matter of time before the Star Destroyer died, though that was small consolation, though, now. His ship was being taken from him!

He’d recalled all his personal stormtrooper guard, the thirty or so individuals assigned to his personal safety, up to the bridge. If need be, they would fight to the death to give time for Rikes to escape. He hoped it didn’t come to that. No, he wouldn’t let it come to that. He knew just exactly what he had to do, just as Streener had done, just as captains had done for centuries. He was going to go down with the ship.

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1203 words.

Blood. It was everywhere. It permeated everywhere, soaking through the floor, through the walls, through clothing, soaked into the mind. The ceilings wept blood, raining it down in globules, little drips that stuck to the clothing and slowly turned brown and crusty, layering over other drops and splatters and messes and stains of brown crustiness. There had been a time when blood, any amount, made Harper sick to his stomach. He was a pilot after all; blood was a foreign object, like a tank, or a Yuuzhan’vong – though, if he’d know anything about those distant creatures, he most certainly would be sick, more so than any amount of blood could make him.

Harper stepped over the exploded body of a Marine and swung his crowbar with both hands. It took the second Marine in the face, crushed his cheekbone, and sent him reeling into the wall. Far from dead, the man lunged back up, screaming through a bloodied mouth of shattered teeth. Harper swung his rifle to face the man and blew out his chest.

With barely a moment’s pause, a rapier came out of nowhere and the Marine commander was on him. His elegant vibrosword gleamed pink, reflected the puddles of human fluids pooled over the floor. The first slash carved a large gash across Harper’s flight uniform’s chest plate. Harper stumbled back clumsily. He was no blade master; he’d only survived as long as he did through sheer endurance and crazy dumb luck. One stroke from that blade, that blade that was darting toward his neck at that very instant, could sever his head from his shoulders. He had no time to react, no time to block, much good it would’ve done. He was dead, luck gone, strength faded, just another dead pilot in the masses.

Neels takled the man sideways and plunged a carving knife through his throat. The Officer gurgled, limbs thrashing wildly, and batted at the heavier pilot with the butt of his sword before his lifeblood finally ran out. He fell slack, and the sword fell from his grip.

“Now you owe me one,” Neels grinned. He bent over and picked up the sword. It was a fine piece, a gold worked hilt wrapping around the user’s hand and hiding the button that activated the sword itself. The blade was worked in a gleaming steel and engraved with an elegant leaf pattern. A fine piece indeed. Neels handed it over to Harper grinning.

“Oh, no, no, no, you made the kill Neels. It’s yours,” Harper said, putting his hands off to ward off the sword. Neels pushed it at him again though.

“You should have it, sir,” Neels insisted, “It’s fine an’ all, but in these fights, I’m no swordsman. I’d rather trust my knife to do the dirty work. Plus, I’ve seen the way you swing that crowbar. With this in your hands.” He whistled softly and pushed the sword at him a third time, and this time Harper took it.

Dropping his crowbar into the muck on the floor, he twilred the sword a few times in his hands, feeling the weight of it, how it was balanced. It felt...smooth. Much more refined than the clumsy stick of metal he’d been swinging around. He gave it another twirl and then went over and collected the Marine officer’s scabbard.

The skirmish was over, and more people were dead. Mainly Marines. They’d not been expecting the pilots apparently, rushing off to who knew where. They’d fallen on them quickly and without remorse, and the body count reflected this. Fourteen Marines, three pilots.

He came to the body of a Marine, propped against a wall. A blaster hole had carved through his chest armor and blown open his chest, and something had messed up his face pretty badly, but he was breathing. His eyes fluttered for a second, looking up at the bedraggled pilot standing over him. With a start, Harper realized it was the Marine he’d beaten down at the beginning of the skirmish. How he’d survived was anyone’s guess, but he had.

For a cruel second, Harper considered ramming his sword through the man’s chest, and letting him die on his own time. For a second only, though, because Harper forced himself to remember that, not a little over an hour ago, this man had been on his side. Just over an hour ago, and they would’ve fought to the death alongside each other, and not against. He kneeled by the fading man and looked into his sad eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered softly. The man gave a slight nod, and then Harper slit his throat. The man let out a sort of sight and slid a bit more down the wall, dead. Sighing heavily, Harper stood up.

“Are you crying, sir?” Neels asked innocently.

“No, no, just...the smell,” Harper said blinking a bit. Neels opened his mouth to say more, but Harper shouted over him. “Let’s form up! That bridge isn’t going to take itself!”

He raised his sword up in a rather melodramatic manner and then thrust it forward, down the length of the hall. Some of the pilots snickered, and Harper dropped the sword to his side again, frowning. It’d always worked in the holovids.

They took off again at a medium pace, just slightly above normal walking. In their unarmored boots, they’d made much less sound than the clomps of the Marines and Stormtroopers rushing through the tiled hallways. They learned to listen for the echoes of the boots coming down hallways, and judge about how far out they were, and even a rough estimate of how many men. In that way, they managed to avoid the larger of patrols and groups, and make their way to the command spire, if on a longer path, at least with less stops. There were times, like the last skirmish, where fights were unavoidable, but they managed to skirt around a great many fights.

By Harper’s estimation, based on the map he’d seen four halls ago and down a level, they should’ve been at right about the base to the command spire. From there it was a choice between the private turbolifts, or the personnel turbolifts. Both of which would probably be guarded, and neither seemed preferable. A choice ‘C’ actually seemed better, in the smaller, less known about service turbolifts. Used by mainly technicians and other maintenance workers, they were out of the way and, best of all, probably not guarded. Last he had heard from Vance, that was where the other squadron commander and his group of pilots were headed. If Harper made good time, they could possibly catch up.

They had to meet with Vance sooner or later. The pilot resistance, while strong at first due to the disorganization of the Marines and the confusion over the boarding troops, had quickly been broken by the reinforcing stormtroopers sent to suppress the uprising. Only Vance, Harper, and a third group had managed to slip past. Vance and Harper were both headed for the turbolifts. The third group, led by a former flight commander that Harper had known quite well, hadn’t been heard from in over twenty-five minutes. He had a sinking suspicion about what that meant.

Meanwhile, the other pilots were pushed back and out of the billets, and were now scurrying with all due haste toward the fore section of the ship. There, they hoped, amongst the vast, winding maze of maintenance crawlways and workshops, they could hole up and wait the worst out. That had been the plan forty minutes ago, when Harper had said his good-byes to the two squadron commanders in charge of that. He wished them their best, but knew that was out of their hands now.

They came to a doorway leading into a maintenance crawlspace. If the Vance had been correct, this would take them back to a janitor’s supply room and, beyond, two maintenance turbolifts. It took a couple agonizingly slow minutes for all twenty-eight pilots to make it through the narrow door and tunnel. Minutes of waiting for a stormtrooper squad to come running and cut them down, or a Marine platoon to charge in and blast them apart, trapped in the dark, cramped space. But finally they were out, into the janitor’s secretive space. And, thankfully, two turbolifts waited in the adjoining hall. Harper let out a sigh of relief as the last person made it clear. He closed the door, and considered locking it before he thought better of it. If that third group was still out there, they’d be coming this way, he thought. As much as he’d like to lock the door for the comfort of his mind, if the pilots got there and it was locked...he wouldn’t do that to them.

He flipped the janitor’s small table on its side in front of the door instead and set a four man rearguard. If that door opened to anything other than pilots, they were to shoot on sight. With his mind slightly more at ease, he pushed his way to the front of the group and hit the ‘up’ button on both turbolifts. The doors slid open almost in sync.

“Here goes nothing,” he murmured, more to himself than anyone else, and stepped inside.

OOC:

1547 words. Vance and Harper are headed toward the bridge.

OOC:

Points tallied up to this post. PS to Ferran - we're in the Thrawn era, Yuuzhan Vong come about 20 years from now...

OOC:

P.S. to Den - that was my stab at dramatic irony. I guess it fell a bit short, eh?

I...even explained it out. In the text. Oh well...

Onboard the Bridge of the Carrack Cruiser Armageddon

“Hurry up. Direct all power from the shields to the engines.” Poinse said as the officers obeyed the orders.

The ship suddenly shot forward and Poinse stumbled back, surprised by the force of the burst of speed. He caught himself before he fell and slid back into his seat. As he gazed slowly at the Endeavor, it got bigger and bigger. Knowing that they were decreasing the distance, Poinse scanned slowly for the enemy fighter and bomber squadrons, though he was unaware that they had already reached the Endeavor.

“C’mon.” Poinse said as they got close enough for the Endeavor to pick it up on the radars.

“Uh, sir? You might need to have a look at this.” the officer in charge of the radar said slowly.

Swiveling on his heel, Poinse quickly walked to where the officer was sitting. As he viewed the radar over the officer’s shoulder, his eyes grew wide. He got control of himself though and he ran back over to the viewport and looked out.

“Tell the Endeavor to release her fighter squadron if they haven’t already done so, so that they will at least have a fighting chance at defending their selves from the fighters and bombers.” Poinse said, focusing intently on the Endeavor.

While he was looking at it, he saw a fighter squadron leaving the hanger.

Then, from behind him, one of the officer’s voices rang out, “Sir. We are in range of the enemy.”

“FIRE!” Poinse yelled, determined to win this fight and rescue the Endeavor from certain death.

As his ship rained fiery death upon the fighters and bombers, thankfully, they turned to attack them, instead of the Endeavor.

“Tell Endeavor to try and return to friendly territory as fast as they can. They might stand a better chance there. We’ll hold off the enemy squadrons from here.” Poinse said.

The comm officer nodded and opened a channel with the Endeavor. The Endeavor instantly obeyed and started up its engines, trying not to call attention to itself until it was moving. Soon, its engines were warmed up and it was rocketing as fast as its damaged engines could take it back toward friendly territory. Amazingly, the enemy bombers and fighters didn’t react to it. He stared as the fighter squadron from the Endeavor flew over to help and then pumped his fists.

Success.

*******

Rancor Squadron, outside the Armageddon

“I’m hit. I’m hit. I gotta eje- arrgggghhhh…” Rancor 3 said over the comm, ending with a gurgled yell that signified his death.

Soresun Huesulv, Rancor 6, zoomed through space after the fighter that had shot down Rancor 3. She zigged and zagged all around the Armageddon in an attempt to escape a fighter that had latched on to her tail. She devoted most of her concentration on destroying the fighter ahead of her, but was forced to also concentrate on not being destroyed by the fighter behind her. She flipped in response to the fighter she was following and succeeded in escaping the targeting lock from the fighter that had been behind her. Now able to fully concentrate on the fighter ahead of her, she managed to get a lock on it and blow it out of the sky.

“I got one.” she said over the comm.

“Me too.” Rancor 7 replied.

“Good job both of you.” Rancor 1 said.

One by one, the fighters were destroyed, either by the members of Rancor or by the turrets on the Armageddon. Either way, they can focus on destroying the bomber squadrons that were plaguing the other side of the Armageddon. They all rushed over there and had no trouble picking off the rest of the bombers.

“Sound off.” Rancor 1 said.

Soresun listened to each of the surviving members sound off, adding her voice when it was her turn. After everybody that was left sounded off, they knew who was alive and who was dead or missing.

Jeez. Over half the squadron is gone. This didn’t turn out too well. At least we accomplished what we needed to do.

*******

Onboard the Bridge of the Carrack Cruiser Armageddon

“Damage report.” Poinse said.

“The shields are down 60% and one of the engines is gone. While there isn’t much other damage, we need to be careful because the bombers weakened parts of the ship, mainly around the engines.” an officer replied.

Nodding, Poinse turned back to the ongoing battle.

“Return to the Endeavor. I don’t think it has reached friendly territory and it may need protection if another enemy squadron dares to come this close and also, Rancor squadron needs to be returned to their ship.” Poinse said slowly.

*******

Onboard the Bridge of the Star Destroyer Endeavor

“Sir. We’re getting reports from the hanger that enemy troops have invaded the ship. Wait. They’ve knocked out our long range comms. We can’t call for help.” an officer’s frightened voice rang out through the bridge.

Gerun stopped pacing and swiveled around.

This can’t be happening. It just can’t.

“How far have they penetrated into the ship?” he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“As of five seconds ago, they’ve been contained in the hanger by the techs who have closed and locked the door to the hanger and closed the air locks so they can’t get out.” the officer happily replied.

Gerun let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his face.

“When you’ve rounded up some people that have at least halfway decent blaster skills, open the doors. I’ll be on my way down there.” Gerun said.

“Why will you be going down there, sir?” an officer asked.

“I’m good with a blaster.” Gerun replied, grinning.

Five minutes later, he arrived at the hanger doors. He had had to stop by his quarters to pick up his trusty blaster and from there he scavenged around for a bunch of spare blaster power packs.

“Alright. You all ready? Lets go.” Gerun said, just as the doors started opening.

OOC:

1003 words. Finally.

---- The Return of Captain Kaius Vondor -----

Captain Kaius Vondor had been away for sometime now. He had just returned when he had heard of a massive gathering of ships. He was now just moments away from finishing his hyper jump into the area. He was flying as fast as the ship would allow entering Hyperspace when he nee to speed up the process. The trip had been long and perilous. But Kaius enjoyed the trips like that. More excitement and adventure. He sat gazing into his computer screens documenting his trip and what not. The process was boring. He had developed a new software that when he thought the computer typed. But of course there are major drawbacks. Get off task and it still types it. It took complete concentration and a lot of practice and skill to do effectively. Kaius enjoyed the challenge though. It was kind of fun, but still boring at the same time. Ironic isn't it? Kaius made a game out of it in a way. If he veered off task and the wrong thing was typed, he paused the program then did 50 pushups. After a while he mastered concentration quick. But he was almost done which was good too, and as he was just finishing a paragraph towards the end one of his droids came through the com-link.

"Captain Vondor, there is a local official wishing to board He needs to speak with you right away."

"Allow him aboard...alone. Have 2 guards escort him to me. He doesn't leave your sight, or you'll never leave mine clear?"

"Will do sir. No failure got it." -will finish soon"

It took a little bit but finally Kaius was sitting with the official who was so kind as to barge onto his ship. Kaius disliked intruders whether they were let onboard or not. They distracted him. As the officer entered the chamber, surprising he saluted. Kaius could help but think maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all. The officer, a male, looked older, a 5 o'clock shadow adorned his rugged face. His hair stained gray from all the years he had lived and the things he had seen. The old man had a hard face that also had a slight hint of terror. The face was old and scarred from battle. He must have served many long hard years. Must be good to know those years could end at any moment. But how horrible to watch your body grow weaker and more fragile with every passing second. Kaius was still young, fit and strong. He worked hard in every way to stay this way. You could tell by the scar that ran down the old mans somber face he had his share of war in his days. Kaius studied him for a moment letting the suspense rise. But it was soon interrupted as his droid entered the room.

"Here are your drinks Officer Dannus, Captain Kaius..." offered the returned droid.

"Thank you ZX-1."

"My pleasure sir, anything else sir?"

"No that will be all thank you, unless our guest Officer Dannus wants anything more?."

"Actually something to eat would be nice"

"What shall you have sir?"

"What do you have to offer?"

"Pick something sir, and mark what you wish to have please." said the droid handing the Officer a data-pad.

"Alright here it is, thanks," said the Officer handing the pad back to the droid.

"You sure you don't want anything else Captain?"

"No that will be all ZX-1 thank you, you're dismissed."

"Aye sir."

Kaius waited till the droid had left the room. The droid was a good servant. It did what it was told unlike most humans. Plus it did the work with no complaining and with effective precision. But droids were still annoying too, just as humans. Even they interrupted at the most inconvenient times as well. The old man looked impatient now, which was what Kaius wanted. Kaius wanted to see if the man would do anything. He liked toying with people it was a lot of fun. Some people were exceedingly fun to mess with too. Their reactions were funny and you couldn't help but antagonize them. Plus the more suspense he built the better. It was like silently antagonizing the victim. You didn't have to do any work. Tick-tock tick-tock......tick-tock....Kaius just sat and stared. The old mans eyes darted around the room, and he began to sweat. Kaius sat staring while the man sat uncomfortable, Kaius sat perfectly content. At last Kaius figured he might as well get the official out of his way.

"So Officer, what can I help you with today at this very fine hour?"

"You are entering hostile territory sir," said the officer wiping his brow.

"Your point?."

"It's dangerous territory with that battle sir."

"Look I know whats in there, thats why I'm going."

"I would not recommend it sir."

"And why not?"

"There are many ships in battle, we do not want to be responsible for any more deaths."

"Look, is anything else you need to discuss with me sir? Because if there is get too it, your boring me."

"Well no Captain but all I'm trying to say is access is a little restricted now. It's is really not recommenced you go anywhere near this area. We have to stay far enough back ourselves."

"Look I know where I'm going and what lies there. Do not tell me what to do sir, it could prove fatal."

"I'm sorry but I can't allow you to pass Captain. I've been trying to say it nicely but there are many Officers who will enforce what I say as well."

"You know what, I don't like being told what to do, and honestly I'm tired of talking with you."

"That's all fine Captain just rememb----

*Bang*

Kaius fire one single shot with is trusty blaster pistol. He had drawn and fire so fast the guy barely reacted before he was shot. The guy had a look of terror as he saw the pistol in a split second pointed at his forehead. He had barely anytime to react at all. Kaius had made his mark square between the eyes, killing the man instantly. No pain or agony, and no time to struggle to fight back. Just bang and dead, just like that. Kaius smiled with satisfaction. Maybe this could teach people not to get in his way. But hay fair is fair, Kaius warned the man first. It's not like he just fire randomly without any warning whatsoever. Blood adorned the mans face. The ugly wound a gaping black hole only it was gushing and not sucking in everything for galaxies around it. Kaius waited till the bleeding died down a little. Hot dark scarlet blood poured down the mans face and onto his clothes soaking them. It was starting to make a mess on the floor. It didn't really matter that much though, the droid would clean it up. Kaius chuckled a little at the thought of the mans poor face, but soon grew bored.

"ZX-1 this your Captain speaking, We, I mean I have a little mess I need you to take care of please," said Kaius into the com-link.

"Be right there sir."

That was another good thing about droids, they were not like Human Beings. They were mechanical, and precise. They calculated not acted upon petty emotions which clouded true efficient thinking. Another good thing about them was that no matter how dirty the job they did it anyways and didn't feel any emotion causing them to argue or say no. That would just leave another body anyways for someone to clean up. Kaius had killed many people and reatures. He had been a trained Assassin too. Kaius knew how to handle himself. He also liked having power and authority which often got him into trouble at times. Kaius also hated being told no, or I can't unless he knew for a fact that person creature or robot absolutely could not. Even then he rarely accepted it and still hated it. Nobody messed with Captain Kaius Vondor. Kaius may have been strict but that’s the only way he could effectively do things. He didn't try other ways because they didn't work as well most the time. Plus his way he got the job done and made sure it was done right. Kaius began to get drowsy but soon had to cupp his ears.

----- Trouble Arises and Dead More Dead Bodies -----

*Alarm*

"Captain we have arrived in the designated area and will soon approach the battle."

"Alright thanks. Start scanning the area for anything that will get in our way."

"Already on it sir. Give me a moment though."

"Let me know what you find when your done."

Kaius began to get back to his work. Occasionally he glanced back up at the droid who kept itself busy by attending to the "mess" Kaius had made. Dark scarlet stains adorned the nice plush carpeting. But the droid seemed to handle it like it was nothing. He cleaned the stains like they wern't even there to begin with. It still made Kaius chuckle a little too about the Officer. People just don't know when to quit. The old guy never even say it coming either. Niether did Kaius. It really just happened. At the moment he was finished with documentation, so he decided to check on his stocks. It had been a while since he did that. All that he found was that they were doing pretty good, but there needed some fixes here and there though of course which would nee to be taken care of. Kaius was an okay stocks-man. It was his droids who did it the best. Kaius tried to make his own money though. He liked testing his own wits. The Computer gave a loud beep. Kaius had also set it to do that. If that sentence made no sine it probably meant he messed up therefore it was pushup time. Kaius scorned himself for he had just got off task and made the computer type the wrong thing. That meant fifty pushups no pausing and they were real or 50 more. He had to be tough on himself to keep himself in shape. He often drilled his men to keep them in shape too.

"Bridge to Captain..."

"Captain here, what is it crewman?"

"Captain there are two patrol ships in the distance. Shall we engage?"

"Yes, lets have some fun shall we?"

"Aye Captain."

"I'm coming down to the bridge wait for me before you do anything."

Once at the bridge, Kaius as normal was handed a data pad assessing the situation; no matter how brief. The ships would be like picking that annoying piece of food out of your teeth after a hot meal. Easy but surprising at times with it's sudden strength and annoyance. Kaius took his time reading the detailed scans on the ships. Simple patrol scouts with some mods to beef them up in combat. That’s all these ships were, nothing that was going to but asteroid in his flight-path. Nothing his ship couldn't handle either. Next he moved on to there location and finally he started forming his strategy. It was easy for Kaius to think up a good strategy. But they were often to hard to get into his mens heads and often they backfired because of that. But lately Kaius had a lot of luck. He was thinking things through better, as he was doing just now too. Thinking was something Kaius never really got tired of. It was really the doing part that was frustrating.

"Bridge to Captain. We now have 2 more ships that have now joined the other two. I'm pretty sure they know we are here sir."

"Affirmative Crewman, good work. This is even better though. Just more toys for me to annihilate now."

"Aye Captain."

"Okay Start up the cannons boys. Get the blasters and everything else all ready too. Lets get this thing rolling men."

"Aye Captain!"

After they had finished prepping, the other ships were already nearing. A small counter on the front window-screen counted down the exact distance to hundredth of centimeters. Kaius wanted some fun now. He watched as the ships got nearer, and nearer. He couldn't wait. Blowing up ships was kind of a hobby for him. He soon started counted the agonizing seconds till the big boom. He wanted to get at least two ships in one shot if they could. That would be a big enough boom, maybe, and also maybe not. Something was wrong though now. The ships started to split apart making odd formations. Kaius started to laugh, for they looked ridiculous. It seemed like they were scared or something. But that didn't make any sense at all though. No they could put up a good enough fight, at least for a little bit maybe. So what were they doing? This was not how pilots acted. You didn't run away when engaging the enemy. You gunned them down or get gunned down. Pilots had to be in order, and ready for the take down. It didn't matter if they were going to die. All that mattered was that they were there to serve and do their duty. Thats what mattered their duty, and getting the mission accomplished. Kauis started to get bored as he watched the small ships do their funny formations. It was like dancing in space. Soon though something much bigger cut into view.

*Alarm*

"Captain this doesn't look that good. There is a pretty good sized ship that is pretty well armed just off our port side."

"Hmmm...Looks like somebody came to spoil the fun. Not today though. Today is my day, nobody gets to spoil it. I don't care who they are."

*Boom*

It happened so fast Kaius didn't even realize what had just happened. One of the ships blew up in a spectacular puff of fire and debree. Kaius loved watching ships blow up. The result was quite spectacular, with all the fire, explosions and what not. He sat memorized by the awesomeness of the sight before him. Then he suddenly realized that was his kill. Now Kaius had gotten angry as the sudden truth hit him like a ton of bricks in the face. This ship who ever they were would not get away. Nobody messed with him without some kind of punishment. Kaius's face started to burn a little. He could feel the hot blood rushing through his face and his body. Thump, Thump, Thump, it was a beat. The beat of a human heart pumping blood so you could live your days. That was it, Kaius wanted those other ships, and he was determined to get them. He would not stop till this ship was a big pile of forgotten space junk.

"Men! Fire up the cannons to m---

*Thud*

Suddenly the whole ship shook. Specks of metal fell from the clean shiny metal hull of the ceiling. Kaius saw the indicator for the shields drop to 80%. Kaius knew that wasn't the type of hits you took openly. If you did and didn't do anything you were sure to die on the spot. They needed to act, and get the upper hand quick. For a moment quickly and silently he devised a simple plan in his head. Another thud shook the ship and the indicators dropped to 72%. Kaius felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face. They were far from dead, but he hated losing. Even beginning to lose annoyed him. Think, he told himself, think Kaius. He had been in many situations like this before so he knew somehow he would get out of it. But he couldn't help but wonder how? The thought came to him like an asteroid hitting your face. That wouldn't be pleasant and the simplicity he had just overlooked wasn't pleasant either. He realized that you don't need to think up a complex strategy just out gun the other ship. Why make things more complicated? Just get the job over with and move on to the next path of destruction. Alright now he was ready to take some action.

"Okay boys fire at max force! Aim for their command center!"

"But Sir isn't that---

"Just do it now!"

"But sir can't we just fire elsewhe--

*Bang"

"Anyone else?"

Another man took the dad ones place when they saw Kaius' face and fired the shot hitting the target perfect. Kaius hated arguing especially from his own crew. If they couldn't listen then they were better off dead. Kaius did not chuckle this time. The man was honorable and good working. Probably had a family. But Kaius had a reputation that he enjoyed. At times he did things he regretted but he did what was necessary to take command of his crew. An unordered disciplined crew was worthless. If you don't give your best effort and do what your told you'll end up with the numerous and forgotten piles of space junk. Kaius didn't want to go anywhere anytime soon. So he did what was necessary to keep his men in line and on task. It was the only way he could get things done. Kaius soon saw the opposing ship has a pretty good dent. But the battle was far from over. His men fire again, making the dent bigger. It was only a matter of--

*Boom*

"Sir our shields are now down to 25%."

"Then do what you need to take out the ship then."

"Aye sir."

*Boom, Boom, Boom*

----- The Big Battle -----

It took a while, but at last the ship was down. It even ended up taking out a second little patrol ship with it. That now left two more to go. Kaius could feel the adrenaline pumping throughout his veins. He loved taking out a good size ship and watching it explode. It gave him a thrill that made him do his job. Like most good Captains though the resulting fireball was big enough that it took down their shields to 8%. They had misjudged the distance between them and the blast. Now the hunt was on for the last two ships. They would find the other ships and take them out. Then they would proceed into the big battle that lay ahead. Which they soon did. They took out the two smaller ships without any more problems. Now they could move on to the battle. They ran full speed ahead. It took longer than they expected though. Kaius hated waiting for something so exciting. It's like getting that brand new toy, or when you know what your getting for a gift. You know you can't have it! AND it KILLS you inside till you can get your hands on it. Kaius just sat and waited. He was bored out of his mind.

"Captain, we have another ship ahead who is hailing us, what do you want me to do?"

"Let them speak, then I'll decide if they have pissed me off or not."

"Okay in 3.....2......1....."

"Greetings Captain. One of our Officers crew has just reported him missing."

"So what does that have to do with me?"

"He was reported to be on your ship last. So explain where our Officer is please or the necesarry force will be taken if you annoy us."

"Someone woke up cranky out of his sleep chamber today."

"Watch it maggot,"

"You know Officers are so dull they  just don't know when to shut up either."

"Cease your talking we are boarding and taking over your ship Capatin."

"Come abaord we'll drink to your long life and good health Officer."

The Officer gave Kaius a harsh glare and then moments later appeared with 6 other men. All were armed and ready for action. Kaius was to quick. He shot one in the heart, another in the head, but the third dodged it. Kaius leapt into the air. Is cyborg enhancements making him soar. He came crashing down with his dagger into an Officers face as the poor man looked up. What a death. You look up then lights out, death by a sharp pokey stick. Ouch! Kaius got too confident though. One of the Officers shot him in the calve. Kaius would have buckled but the enhancements just made him feel the excruciating agony. Another shot was fire at him but he barely dodged it. One Officer tried sneaking up on him, only to be round house kicked in the chest. Lights out and a prisoner for interigation, or just plain old good torture. Kaius liked torture, although he had never tortured an Officer. I guess there really is a first time for everything.

"Bridge this is Officer Red-1, we are going to need backup immeadia----

*Swish, thud*

The Officer fell decapitated. His head rolled a few feet away catching the rest of the Officers off guard. It was too late though. More would be on the way Kaius haddecapitated him to late. At leat he was dealt with though.

"You there Stop in the name of Galactic Law Enforcement!"

The crew had joined in too, and soon there were not to many more Officers left. Kaius finished off the last one, then they all booked it as far past as they could get. Luckily they were not followed. Kaius sat and pondered on the trouble he could have gotten him and his men into. That had been a close call. They had gotten lucky. Next they would not be as lucky. Hopefully there was no next time though or things could get really ugly. Again they ran at full speed. Not stopping for anything or anyone. They couldn't afford to get caught. They would probably be arrested which was something Kaius didn't want at all. They kept going and goign till they reached their target. When they finally reached their true destination all Kaius could do was stare. The sight was ghastly and spectacular at the same time. The battle was huge! Kaius didn't know where to start. His ship's shields were charged and the they were all ready to take on the chaos ahead.

"Captain where do we start?"

"Start by announcing our presence....No scratch that maybe not. Just help someone who is on our side or needs help I guess."

"Aye Captain."

"Fire!"

*Boom......Boom.....................Boom!*

Ecellent, the first ship was down and done with. Score one for Kaius and Crew, Zero for the dead guys. Now there were only just a zillion more to go, no problem right? So they got back to work on tackling the other ships again. Kaius and his crew worked hard. Now that they were in a full fledged big battle their was really no more time for amateurs. It was all or nothing. Kill or be blown up. Move it or lose it. You couldn't hesitate, and you had to think fast. It took the brain of a skilled Captain to make sure you didn't end up dead and blown to pieces. Kaius had to be quick and rely on his instincts to guide him. But even then without his crew he would be nothing. His ship was to big to be manned alone. Plus in this infernal heap you really needed a big ship to out gun the enemy or you would end up dead. Kaius didn't want to die. Living was too much fun for him. Blowing up ships, drilling his men, it was all exciting. Another big factor, he was young. His days may be numbered but they were not running out any time soon either. Kaius would make sure they got out alive.

"Sir we are taking on heavy fire. We need to avert power to shields."

"Alright, Go ahead."

"Yes sir. Doing it now then."

"Alright men we all need to stay focused we can do th--

*Crash*

Another ship had just rammed into them. Kaius felt his brain rattle inside his thick skull. They all felt that one and it didn't take long before the alarms were blaring. They had to either finish this or get out. Since getting out and quitting was not an option, they needed a better plan. But what? Then one came, and it was a stroke of genius. A one time shot he would never get again, but Kaius would need all his enemies separate from allies. Then he needed the enemies close together enough too. The plot soon started to thicken as it flowed steadily through his head. Kaius just let the creative juices flow. He needed everything perfect or it would backfire. If it backfired that meant failure, no death. It would even probably kill him and his men if they were not careful. Maybe even take out some of his allies. That was not a good thing, nor was it one he would allow. No...This had to be precise, exact. Failure was not an option here. They would just end up dead with the enemy. The universe was not done with Captain Kaius Vondor  yet and Kaius was deffinately not done with it either.

Kaius read the indicators which were going crazy. Not to bad. The crash must have damaged a bit of the wiring. But they were not out of the woods yet. There were 100's of ships around them. They fire some missiles into larger groups which set of small chain reactions. But they never lasted long. Only taking out 40 or 50 at a time. There were a heck of a lot more ships than that out there too. It didn't take long before they got into more and more duels with ships. Each duel leaving them a little weaker. Not by much but after quite a few it all took it's fatal tole. Kaius had confidence though. They could do this still. They were still far from dead or even crippled. They had plenty of juice and fight left in them all.

"Captain, another ship hailing us. What do you want me to do sir?"

"Patch them through so we can talk."

"Aye Captain."

----- Allies vs. Enemies -----

"Greetings Captain Vondor, good to see you in such a terrible bit of Chaos."

"Get on with it please."

"Right, to be blunt we want to make peace with you. You're a tough fighter. We need you on our side."

"What are you offering?"

"3 planets in our galaxy and those planets are immune to our laws so long as you do not harm us."

"I think we can make a deal."

"Good welcome to our forces Captain."

"Glad to be among you."

Kaius liked the idea of 3 planets with immunity to the laws of it's galaxy. It would give him lots of room for whatever he wanted. Back to work though. They fought hard. It just seemed like no end. You got rid of one group  three more took its place. It was endless!! The good thing was they had allies that watched thei back. They could do more withough the fear of getting blown up. Even with allies all hope seemed lost for anyone to win this war. Kaius didn't even know how it started. He had just heard of a big battle in the sector. At the time a big battle sounded fun no tiring and endless. Boy did he get a wake up call.

"Sir there is no end to this madness! There are way to many. We can't hold them all off even with an army of ships!!"

"Just pay attention and keep fighting we will find us a way. You just do your job I'll do the thinking and we'll all get along great, got it?"

A way was just what was coming too. Kaius had just been communicating with his allies via tele-com. He had been talking about a secret plan he'd come up with that might end all this. He had asked them to group their enemies into one area. Then when the time was right and the enemies in a good spot Kaius told them all to just get away as fast as possible. Although many questioned and more didn't like the idea that they even knew about, they still agreed. Although Kaius didn't say exactly what for, because he wanted a surpise if you will. He didn't want to ruin the surprise he hoped he could pull off.  That made a really big if though, which meant they would all have to work really really hard to make it all happen. As soon as things were almost ready to just begin the process of rounding up the enemies, Kaius made sure everyone else knew what they were doing first. There could be no mess ups or they would all indefinately be killed or wounded bad at least. Kaius really hoped he could pull this off and that something big would occur. Spoke too soon, something big did occur, again.

*crash, boom*

Kaius watched as one of his allies was blow to pieces before his eyes. It was one of the most horrible things he'd ever saw. Friends were meant to be there with you, not you watching them be disinigrated. Kaius got angry all the sudden. Waves of emotions washed through him. Sadness, guilt, fear, but most of all anger. The most dangerous emotion. These guys would have to pay. Kaius was going to make sure of that too. Kaius was going to attempt a very big fireworks show. But who knows if he can even pull it off. Kaius was having doubts himself. Right now so many emotions were running through him it was hard to tell what he could do at the moment. But he had to. If nothing else than for the allies he had lost. Kaius knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off without the help of friends though. WIthout them this would all just blow up in his face. Kaius was determined to get this done and over with, and his crew and allies encouraged him to do whatever it took to win this chaos and go home. He wanted to make sure no more allies died. Other wise it would be a waste.

(To be continued....possibly)

OOC:

Note: 5051 Words!! Proud Anden, Ibram? Huh?

"ZING, ZANG!" Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) screamed, pulling a nose dive. Litter from the TIE FIGHTER (made by a factory with serial number unkown. Starting with cerial numbers bravo and delta) that had been following him fell towards Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s position, Petty Officer Second Class (former Senior Crewman, Leading Crewman, and Crewman. He had taken the Aviator’s Exam and was given the Merit Cross twice) flew towards Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) as well. The two pilots of Aegis Squadron then moved into a double formation, "Thanks Petty Officer Second Class (former Senior Crewman, Leading Crewman, and Crewman. He had taken the Aviator’s Exam and was given the Merit Cross twice), you want to give me a head count of the TIE FIGHTER (made by a factory with serial number unkown. Starting with cerial numbers bravo and delta)s?"

"Aegis 2 (!” Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster), thats 1 left. It is heading towards the Liberator," Petty Officer Second Class (former Senior Crewman, Leading Crewman, and Crewman. He had taken the Aviator’s Exam and was given the Merit Cross twice)'s deep voice filled Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s COM. "Should we puruse?"

"Yes, all remaining Blizzard and Aegis pilots. Form up, we are going in for an attack run!" Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) screamed into his COM, this was followed by three Aegis Pilots-Sovern, Gregory Silcan (Chief Warrant Officer, reciever of the Purple Heart times three, on three seperate occasions he was head of a Lancer engine room, he is the man), and Ratcet-to form up behind Petty Officer Second Class (former Senior Crewman, Leading Crewman, and Crewman. He had taken the Aviator’s Exam and was given the Merit Cross twice) and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster).

"Aegis 2 (!” Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) this is Blizzard 5, I know you don't give me orders. But I will listen to you on this one, all remaining Blizzard Pilots form up, I repeat form up." Blizzard 5, followed by the remaining members of Blizzard chased the droid starfighter. Suddenly they were in range of the CARRACK-CLASS CRUISER (NAME UNKOWN AT THIS TIME, VAST EMPIRE INTELLIGENCE IS LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION)s. Red laserfire caught both squadrons off balance, and the last droid starfighter flew towards the now vulnerable squadrons. "This is Blizzard 5 take that thing out."

"Blizzard 5 this is Blizzard 8, I am on it!" Blizzard 8's TIE flew towards the Droid Starfighter, two shots from the TIE's rear guns missed, while two shots from the TIE FIGHTER (made by a factory with serial number unkown. Starting with cerial numbers bravo and delta) killed Blizzard 8. "Ah!"

"Blizzard 8, shit. Look out Aegis 2 (!” Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) you got one on your-!" Blizzard 5 took a direct hit to his fighter from the Liberator-killing him. But he was right, there was a TIE FIGHTER (made by a factory with serial number unkown. Starting with cerial numbers bravo and delta) on Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s back.

Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) imagined that inside the four Carrack-Class Cruiser (Serial number unknown)s that were orbiting Roku Tan V that in the interior havoc reeked through the gleaming hallways that were probably once used for commercial purposes. He imagined that as Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) swooped down for another pass that the turrets on the Corvette would fire in fear, and the inside of the Carrack-Class Cruiser (Serial number unknown) would shake as two blasts would hit the hull. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) was dead right. Steel 2 and 6 followed Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) in for another pass, the TIE Solar Panel wings gleamed in the moonlight and then the three black TIE Fighters let out two shots. Green bursts from the mounted turrets on all three of the standard issue TIE Fighters. The bottom turret on the Liberator then let out a squeak, and it then exploded into a million pieces. Blast Doors moved and then covered up the spot the turret had been, making sure vacuum didn't enter the ship.

The Fire Demon gently eased into the battle, covering herself with laserfire from the six mounted turrets and fire support from the Vast Empire Naval Squadrons. Deliverer, another Carrack-Class Cruiser (Serial number unknown) moved in a constant circle around the battlefield. Streaks of laserfire gleamed from the Deliverer's turrets, every time they lined up a perfect shot they took it. Exiting the pass the three TIE Fighters-Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster), and two pilots from Steel-took a sharp left. The Fire Demon had now positioned itself in-between two of the enemy CARRACK-CLASS CRUISER (NAME UNKOWN AT THIS TIME, VAST EMPIRE INTELLIGENCE IS LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION)s, one of them was the Liberator, and the three pilots dodged the blasts from the Fire Demon as they streaked past them and impacted onto the Liberator.

"All Pilots, this is the Fire Demon. We are having some trouble with the Liberator's top turret, take em' out boys." The Fire Demon's COM Officer spoke to the three squadrons that were still in the fold. Replies from Aegis, Steel, and Blizzard Leaders marked the spot were Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) broke off from Blizzard 2 and 6. He pushed his Ion Engines up to fire twice at the Liberator's turret. But a few Blizzard pilots had already beat him to the turret, and their deaths. Blizzard 9 took a direct hit, splattering debris over a small section of space. "C'mon boys!" The Fire Demon was sandwiched between two enemy CARRACK-CLASS CRUISER (made by a factory with serial number unkown. Starting with cerial numbers bravo and delta)s, a daring move came next. The Fire Demon pushed back, and then moved upwards. The engines scraping along the Liberator's hull, this lined them up for a perfect shot. Numerous shots rang and the Liberator's top turret was no more.

Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) sat in a swivel chair that was located outside the Launch Room, his thoughts trailed to VaLaunch, and he began to wonder. "I haven't had any kriffing contact with any of my reps, heh... I guess I will write Binks a line." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) reached for his bag, and removed his computer terminal, his Flight Suit covered his body, and his hands were encased in the gloves that the suit came with. The gloves grasped the Terminal, and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) swiveled around in his chair and met desk. He opened the terminal and moved to his messages... nothing in the 'VaLaunch Inbox', so he moved to Compose Message. And typed in 'Kiff Binks' in the recipitent, and then he typed in the subject, and he began to type the message. That moment the three pilots from the Nemesis entered, and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) turned around annoyed. "This will have to wait..." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) thought as he closed his Terminal and placed it in his bag. Standing up Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) showed his full height, and the pilot he was manned with, Senior Crewman (SCRW) Destiny “Treason” (Jameson, ford) Kelly  came forward, his hand moved outward for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster). You can call me Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) if you like."  moved his hand out, and it met with Trask's black hand. Trask for some reason let out a smirk, and he then raised his eyebrow. A few seconds that dragged on like minutes of hell passed, and Trask shook his hand with Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s. They both removed their palms from one anothers and Trask put down his eyebrow. And then removed his smirk. He was all business now. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) wondered why he was showing some trace of attitude.

"Nice to meet you as well, Petty Officer. I am Petty Officer Terep. Now, I  am part of a Bomber Squadron. So I think I should be the bomber, I have read the parts of your file that aren't labeled as classified. You are a better pilot than bomber, therefore I am suggesting that I bomb, and you pilot." Trask put on a slight smile, Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) did the same.  was about to suggest the same thing,  had looked over Trask's file as well. He had heard about how he was born on Coruscant, and then moved to Tadath for a piloting career. He had gotten his wish, if not more. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) slightly nodded, and then opened his mouth to speak.

"I agree, I have set up a Terminal to help the Interceptor with maneuvers, Internal repairs, and Shaft Openers. Anyway, lets break the ice." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) and Trask moved towards the Simulator Door, Trask opened the door, and waited for Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) to stroll in before he moved in. Once they got in, Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) and Trask put on the simulator helmets that were on the rack next to them. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) nodded as he entered the life size replica and simultaor of the Interceptor Assault Bomber. They moved up a ladder and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) got in first, he positioned himself to move through the middle to the pilot seat. He began to crawl through the craft, and made it to the pilot seat in mere seconds. Sounds of buckles and control beeps made Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) turn around to see Trask making himself familiar with the ship. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) then moved his Terminal to to the side, and put a few connector wires into the side, then strapped the Terminal in magnetically.

"Piloting systems are a..." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) stared at his Terminal, and it read: Green Light, "...a go, Piloting Systems have a green light."

"Pulling up Bombing Systems while we speak." Trask's voice went through Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s COM, and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) turned to his Terminal. It promted Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) for a few commands, and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) typed in the commands: //Command//Terminal//Override Original Piloting Systems//Replacement=//Terminal Programming. "Bombing Systems are a go, Bombing Shafts are a go, Bombing Chambers are pressurized, overall Bombing System Status is Green. Cross checking all systems." The sound of Console Typing could be heard through the COM, and Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) heard the rest of the message. "Cross Check complete on all Bombing Systems, check complete." Suddenly a beep was heard on Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s COM, he turned his gaze to his Terminal and it read: Squadron Channel Status = Activated.

“All right boys and girls. The creative geniuses over at starfighter control have designated us ‘Aegis’ squadron whilst we fly in these Interceptors.” Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) heard snickering, and it was obviously O'Riley. “Settled down. Now, Me and Mira will be Aegis 1. Aleia and Arkan are Aegis 2, and our guests will be Aegis 3. Greyson Ford (Home field) and Ryno are Aegis 4, Blue and Trask are Aegis 5, and Fulfiller and HK are Aegis 6. Now, if we need to separate we’ll probably do it in 3’s. Aegis’s 2 & 3, you’re with us. 5 & 6, you’re with the XO." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) nodded as Tyrol addressed Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) and Trask's names. He then set his hand on the joystick located in the middle of his legs, and then flicked off a few lights. "Right, we’ll being with scenario Alpha, which is at a medium difficulty, and we’ll go from there. We’ve only got one other training session after this, so make it count. Let’s do this people.”

"Aegis 5 Bomber, this is Aegis 5 Pilot. Prepare all systems for Battle Situation, Battle Situation Enemies are unknown." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) spoke to his wingman for the mission as the ship's viewport became the darkness of space, instead of the blank wall he had been viewing earlier. A message came across Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s console, it was from Trask's automated Computer: Bombing Systems are set for //Battle Situation//. Bombing System Automated Question //Battle Enemy Numbers// - Answer //Unknown//. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) smirked, and he saw the ship in front of him, Greyson Ford (Home field)'s ship hit full thrusters. And Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) followed tune, Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) looked around the scenery, it was the Roku Tan System. The six Scimtars flew in two groups, Greyson Ford (Home field) leading one, and Gregory Liansi Fideliy leading the other. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) looked at the controls, fluid and easy controls, the beautiful hunk of metal that he was 'flying' was what Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) called 'modern technology'. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) saw as a few alers that were labeled as: //Battle Situation Status//Set//, Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) flicked the alerts off. And he then moved his joystick to follow his Squadron.

"It seems that we are moving for Roku Tan Systems Capital, Roku Tan's Capital City." Tyrol's voice rang through the COM. And Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) put a smirk on under his helmet, he knew everything about that city. He knew it like the back of his hand. He then moved over to his Terminal, setting the Piloting on Autopilot. And then typed: Battle Situation Measures - Optional//Battle Situation Measures - Metropolis. He then flicked off Autopilot as they began to break atmosphere into Roku Tan's Atmosphere. The green grass that always covered the Planet's North Equator was visible, beautiful Roku Tan. Roku Tan's Capital City came into view in mere seconds, and suddenly beeps were beeping all around Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster)'s head. A message in his viewscreen read: Trenches Discovered, Trench Security Measures Detected, Bombing Measures Readied. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) saw as green and red laser blasts came towards the Squadron, they all performed Barrel Rolls and such. They inched closer to the Trench, and the city itself. "Evasive Maneveurs, Aegis 4 lead your flight to the west, my flight follow me."

Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) turned West, his bomber was gliding along the three mile trench. Laser fire was firing at the ships, but the speedy craft prevailed. "Trask, moving over target." Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) flew over a turret and the shaft had opened a few seconds earlier, and now two bombs dropped out of it. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) looked on his radar, a Red Dot went Orange, then went black, hiding itself in the radar's background. "Great hit, moving around." Bacred turned the fighter around, and dropped the speed by ten percent. While passing over the trench he let out two blasts, nailing an enemy trooper. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) couldn't hear it, but he imagined that the trooper's last moments were of agony and pain, and that he probably had been screaming his lungs out. Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) then noticed that his flight was moving into the city, Petty Officer First Class (Reciever of the Merit Cross, twice) James Alec Trelevyan (the third, who also inhabit Tadath three hundred fourty seventh avenue, which is placed on Tadath’s main building complex. A very great shot with a blaster) followed, to minimize civilian casualties he didn't fire at the towers, as much as he wanted to...he followed his squadron past a few towers, and then down into a speeder road. He let out a sigh, the fact that he had lived here before.

--

Captain Gregory Grab Corwin gently moved towards his engine (the engines on the Nemesis, that is). He then moved his blaster holster over with his hips over to the engines that he was soon to repair.

“Hit the lights!”

“Hitting, done sir.”

“Done, Petty Officer Grego gently grab the power. Influx the engines to four hundred and twenty percent! I want us moving at full capacity.” Captain Gregory Grab Corwin finished.

“This is in need, sir. We need 30 percent power from decks alpha-bravo-charlie-ecetera. Send security to engine capacitators?”

“Do it.”

“Send me to the bridge, security to the engine capacistators alpha section and bravo section. Get me thirty!”

“Copy that…”

--

“Security down!” Security Agent Tim DeCay moved towards the engine capacitator with his pistol raised. He didn’t want any of the crewmens revolting, they would’ve came towards the engines with pistols. He didn’t want any of that happening. He went towards the engine capacitator, there was no one there but about 40 guards and a few stormtroopers.

They all moved towards with their pistols and machine guns, nothing could stop crewmen though. They were revolting. Firings shots went off. Blood moved up everywhere. Crewmen that were revolting were shot twice, rubber shots hit them. More machine rounds hit them simaltanoeusly. The ship shook again, nothing but the Nemesis’ own ecurity dogs or vacuum. Could stop it. The dogs would soon die.

Metaphors soon shod up. A hotub of blood bubbled on the ground as more crewmen died. Ships flew outside while trying to save themselves from the fire. Nothing could help them at this moent except the Nemesis’ turrets. They were alive. Very alive.

OOC:

5001

:::Keln & Aaren:::


After the ship had come to dead stop the two Keln and Aaren had come back around to continue and batter down the shields until they were about to take out the cannons. So far they had made two passes doing just that, weakening the shields down to Fifty percent. Keln had toggled through the ships components and locked his targeting system onto the cannons so as soon as the shields were down he would be able to eliminate them. He assumed that Aaren had done the same.


”This should be the last pass we will need to make Rook then those cannons are ours.” He said with a grin.


”Copy that.” Aaren said firmly and with a strong hint of victory, and relief. Some of the fire and determination had returned to her. And he knew that once she got a few more missions on her record she would gain the knowledge and experience needed to learn how to cope with the stress and mental tiredness that came with being a pilot. Salted, was the word that came to mind.


He saw more than that actually. Keln believed that if she could live through those missions she would become a very formidable adversary in dogfights. That was her specialty. The big ships…she would do better to stay away from. It was as these thoughts were going through his mind that the sudden change in the Cruisers position. The cruiser didn’t move forward or backwards, it rolled on it’s axis. The problem that presented to Keln was that put him directing in the line of fire of the cannons. He saw the bright large red flash of the cannons.


“This is why you don’t let your guard down...” Was his last thought before they turned to his wing mate as did his head to see her Tie fighter. Time seemed to slow down again as he reached to eject out of his fighter. In his mind he knew that it was unlikely he would live through the experience. The last thing he heard was Aaren yelling out his name before it was cut off.


: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :


”This is Hurriance Four, requesting rescue shuttle for Hurricane Three…” She said continuing to search trying to find him in the vastness of space. She was sure she had seen him eject out and away for the explosion that his tie has been transformed into. But he was no where to be seen. She gave the location of where he had ejected…she knew that he had, had to believe that he would make it. Emotions that she had not known existed began to surface and she became suddenly aware of how much she depended on Keln. It was more than that though.


Shaking her head focused on the situation. It was what Keln would want her to do and what he would be expecting of her. Now that she knew that the Captain was wise enough to continue flying enough to fire at her she did shorter passes whittling away at the shields and avoiding the cannons. It didn’t take long before her shots were burning holes in the hull of the ship and it helped to build her confidence but she didn’t let herself become any less focused.


If she had anything to do with it, the Desolation would soon be exploding in the view of her rear view port. She owed that much to Keln.

OOC:

570 words…..it’s all I had time for at work. FOR VIPER!!

Mr. Cidman cracked his knuckles followed by popping his neck, once he was all limbered up he took the controls of the corvette Raven and got her under way. Looking back to Captain Zamtrev he asked “What are your orders sir?” The captain replied “Give me full military thrust and set an intercept coarse with the Imperial star destroyer, Cavalier.” Mr Cidman looked back at the captain and said with a bit of a worried voice “Sir with all due respect the last two times we have encountered the Cavalier we haven't fared well against it.” Captain Zamtrev replied “I understand that but let us recap shall we. The first time we had a run in with the Cavalier it had a massive collision with a Carrack Cruise, ending in a marvelous explosion destroying the cruiser and most of the command bridge including her shield and gravity generators.” Mr Cidman spoke “Right but....” Captain Zamtrev continued “We escaped pretty much unscathed, in our second encounter with the Cavalier we were swarmed by Tie fighters and Tie bombers and she snook up on us while we were busy. But in the end we escaped again and in doing so we hurt her even more even destroying some of her fighters and bombers. Right Mr. Cidman?” MR Cidman answered “Right sir but she is still a formidable vessel capable of raining fire down on us with out much effort.” Captain Zamtrev countered Mr. Cidman with “Her shields are down, and she has power fluctuations all through out her power grid with enough precise hits and a little bit of luck we can end her, and on top of that we have three things in our favor.” Mr Cidman asked “and what are those three things?” The captain gave a smug grin and answered “I am glad you asked One, we have my strategy, two we have your most excellent piloting skills, and three we have a pretty dang good crew.” Mr. Cidman smirked nodded and replied to Captain Zamtrev's answer with “Yeah that's true, setting course to intercept the Cavalier at full military thrust.”

The Raven slowly overcame inertia and began to build up speed, easily finding the irradiated, damaged and limping Imperial star destroyer it made an easy thirty percent roll and banked as it began to intercept the Cavalier. The Raven dipped under the ever growing debris field being made by the two battling fleets. As the corvette neared the targeted imperial star destroyer Captain Zamtrev, sounded general quarters, activated the one MC and began to issue orders “General quarters general quarters all hands man your battle stations and damage control duty sections. To all gunners on the gun deck the pool will be for how many of the enemy ships weapons are destroyed or disabled. Engineering stay one your toes and coordinate with the damage control teams.” With the general orders for the engagement set to the crew of the Raven Captain Zamtrev addressed the bridge crew. “Any spare power we have direct to our shields and weapons, com's officer keep a watch for any left over fighters, MR. Cidman you have control of the ship's maneuvering.” As soon as the captain was finished with his orders the crew of the Raven and the bridge crew began to get ready for battle. Moments late the Raven struck swift and hard each blaster and turbo laser hit was right on the mark. The Ravens reverse thrusters fired  while still accelerating with her forward sub light engines giving the effect of the ship drifting giving the gunners more time to fire one the Cavalries starboard side.  Each shot disabled a few guns and other weapons on the vastly larger Imperial star destroyer. As the Raven ended its strafing run the crewman at the com's station announced “We have two flight of fighters coming right on our tail, their staying out of our firing arc!” Captain Zamtrev cursed under his breath opened a channel to the engineering section “Chief Mack, how much combustible fuel do we have?” The engineering chief answered a moment later “We have several tons of it left....why?” Captain Zamtrev ordered and answered  “Dump it let it form a cloud behind us.” Mack didn't question the captains order answer combination and after flipping a few levers and switches combustible fuel began to waft in space behind the Raven and Mack announced on the communicator “Fuel is being dumped how much do want to be dumped?” Captain waited several seconds before replying to  the chief engineer's question “Cut it now!” turning to Mr. Cidman he ordered “give us a hard port side turn and pitch us up” than one last order to the gun crews “Fire on the fuel cloud!”

The raven turned to port and its nose raised rapidly as the fuel cloud came in to the firing arc of the Ravens guns bright flashes of red and green blaster fire roared through the fuel cloud. At the same time the Raven was undergoing its maneuver the two flights of tie fighters flew through the fuel cloud, realizing the danger they broke their attack but it was to late. The blaster and turbo laser fire coming from the Raven ignited the fuel in a great troff of multi colored flame, the enemy Tie fighters were engulfed in the brilliant explosion, eight tiny flares in the flaming explosion against the back drop of the galaxy. After observing the beautiful carnage of the explosion Captain Zamtrev asked the engineering team “How much combustible fuel did we use?” Moments later Bo answered “about half sir we got enough to do what we need to and than get home.” Mr. Cidman gave a smug grin to his captain and said “So much for those pesky fighters.” The crew of the Raven than focused their attention back on the Cavalier.

The Raven once again banked and turned towards the Cavalier to engage it in hit and run maneuvers. Coming at the star destroyer from above its plane of travel the Raven once again opened fire on the Cavalier taking out another couple dozen weapons platforms. The Cavalier returned fire but the the Raven and her pilot was to fast and it deftly passed the imperial star destroyers firing arc surly angering the Zabrak captain if he was still alive.

OOC:

1056 words

“Keep up the good work Mr. Cidman” commented Captain Zamtrev at the expert piloting skills of his subordinate. Mr. Cidman grinned at that and took the corvette in to a sibilance of a power dive toward the imperial star destroyer. As the Raven speed towards the Cavalier the captain ordered “All available extra power to the forward shields and weapons, redirect some from the port and starboard weapons as well.” The ravens forward turbo lasers and canons pummeled  the Cavaliers armored hull sending debris flying in every direction. The Cavalier returned fire but with its diminished power reserves and conduit systems that have been rewired like a Christmas tree its blaster fire easily dissipated across the Ravens deflector shields.

Mr. Cidman continued to pilot the Raven deftly dodging the bulk of Cavaliers return fire. Again the Raven rained down another torrent of blaster and turbo laser fire on to the imperial star destroyers unprotected hull. Less and less return fire came from the Cavalier as its weapon systems continued to be destroyed, disabled or just stop working for other reasons. Captain Zamtrev kicked on the intercom and addressed the gun deck “How are we doing?!” The gunners enthusiastically resounded a reply “Great Sir!” Captain Zamtrev than asked “Are we going to win this battle?!” The gunners again answered enthusiastically “Yeahhh!!”  The captain the pep talk questions “Who's going to win the pool!?” The answer came swiftly and enthusiastically once again “We all are!!” Finally Captain Zamtrev ended with “Keep up the good work lets defeat this giant!” The gunners gave an enthusiastic “Yeahhhhh!!!!” The Raven swung around the imperial star destroyer Cavalier once again staying just a head of the bulk of her return fire.

Mean while down below decks in the engineering compartment crewman Bo staggered and braced himself against the wall as the Raven shifted and drifted in the slippery maneuvers the Mr. Cidman was performing. “Jeez can he not..” Crewman Bo blew chunks all over and in his tool box and than finished his thought “not  be so squirmy on the stick.” Chief Mack chuckled and said “You puked in your tool box.” Looking at Mack he replied “No kidding.” Mack hefted Bo to his feet and said “Come on we have some power to transfer we had better get it done before things get to far out of hand.” Taking some Dramamine Bo followed his engineering chief to the power regulator station and began keeping up with the bridges orders for power transfers. For their part it was pretty tedious work flipping a switch here adjusting a slider there making sure every thing was balanced out against the draws and needs of the ships systems.

In the medical bay the medical team busied them selves taking care of their one patent the maintenance technician, crewman Patchwork. As the ship swayed and shifted during the high powered maneuvers so did the patents gurney only slightly but still had the potential to cause serious damage to the injured crewman. To partially remedy  the situation the core man came up with the idea to mount the maintenance technician's I.V blood and antibiotic bags to his gurney. Now all they had to do was worry about large explosions that might toss the entire rig about like a rag doll.

The Raven's starboard shields was pelted by fire from the imperial star destroyer Cavaliers dwindling weapons systems, the corvette rocked heavily but was other wise undamaged. Swinging around a derelict Carrack Cruiser the Raven accelerated towards its target, the crew, captain and ship it self was determined to destroy its much larger and powerful foe. Pitching up and climbing above the Cavaliers plane of travel the Raven exposed its aft shields to another barrage of turbo laser and cannon fire from the slowly disintegrating ship. This time instead of the enemy fire punching through the Ravens shields and disabling her engines the shields held the Raven pulled away.

Mr. Cidman turned to the captain and said “This is taking to long, should I go for the skin dancer maneuver again?” The captain shook his head and replied “No she's to big to perform  that against, any way I do not think her captain would fall for it any way.” Mr. Cidman thought a minute before coming up with another idea “We could always try and get her in the planets gravity well like we did with that other Carrack cruiser.” Again Captain Zamtrev shook his head “Even limping her engines have enough power to break free of it and if they get in a few lucky shots we would be stuck instead of them.” Both Mr. Cidman and Captain Zamtrev thought a long moment they were at a loss of what to do. At about that time the crewman at the com's station announced “Sir Rapier squadron is asking if they can engage the Cavalier.” Both Captain Zamtrev and Mr. Cidman nodded and said some thing to the effect of “Absolutely!” Grinning Captain Zamtrev started issuing orders “Squadron commander set your fighters to attack the Cavaliers main and secondary weapons.” He than  addressed his own crew  “We are attacking the Cavaliers support systems.” The Squadron split off from the Raven and both commands attacked and engaged the imperial star destroyer out flanking it and swarming it with ease.

The Raven positioned its flank against the Cavaliers engines and opened fire giving it a full broad side barrage damaging and disabling its primary engines. Fires and explosions began to erupt every where on the imperial star destroyer as Rapier squadron and the Raven tag teamed it like a swarm of wasps. A little sting here a little sting there but enough stings could kill even a wookiee.  A few escape pods started to launch from the star destroyer but were shot down by the Cavaliers own weapons. As more and more of the Cavaliers primary weapons failed the Raven slowly turned to face the left over portion of the star destroyers command bridge and opened fire at only a few meters apart. The turbo lasers shots struck deep into the Cavaliers superstructure hitting the critical power systems. Reading cataclysmic changes in the star destroyers power systems the Raven pulled away from the Cavalier as did Rapier squadron. Moments later more and more secondary explosion erupted through out the Cavalier each one was larger than the last finally culminating in one large ship vaporizing explosion. This was the final ship the Raven would destroy in the Battle over Roku Tan the rest of the enemy ships assigned to the Vader's Grip battle group were being mopped up, enemy fighters were being rounded up and others surrendered. It was time for the entire crew to relax, rendezvousing with the Vader' Grip and other larger vessels Captain Zamtrev took over the co-pilot seat once again along side Mr. Cidman. Looking over to his pilot Captain Zamtrev spoke “After the mop up I am being transferred to a Venator-class Star destroyer it has been retrofitted to keep up with the advances in technology and I am going to need a command staff, how about it I need a second in command and a lead pilot.” Mr Cidman smiled and said “I would be honored to serve along side you again.”

OOC:

1216

The Excelsior had been engaged by the Phenomenon a long while before. Each vessel had fought its hardest, but the Excelsior had prevailed in the end, well kind of. The Excelsior had totally decimated not only the Phenomenon’s shields but also the Phenomenon’s shield generators. Currently, the Excelsior and the Phenomenon were parallel with the Excelsior’s turbo lasers getting ready to fire. The gunners were aiming and adjusting everything on the turbo lasers in order to get the best possible and most destructive hit on the Phenomenon.

Aboard the Phenomenon

The silence permeated every being aboard the ship as they waited for what seemed as the last moments of their life in this universe. Every being that is, except the captain, for the captain had a plan. A brilliant plan that either would result in their escape, or their doom. Both results depended on the split second timing of the crew in the bridge. The stony faced captain looked out as the batteries aboard the Excelsior began to fire.

“NOW!” he shouted, willing the deadly bursts of green death to slow down, allowing the officer to launch them away from certain death into hyperspace.

Amazingly, the officer was already ready and catapulted the vessel into hyperspace. They were in hyperspace for a second, until the officer brought them back into realspace. Immediately, every power system aboard the ship was cut off, except for life support. As everybody patiently waited for the systems to reboot up, one lone officer operated the radar, looking for signs that the coast was clear and they could boot all the systems back up.

Aboard the Excelsior

“"All batteries, fire at will!" Felute Basnet exclaimed confidently.

One by one, the batteries opened fire. The green bolts of death spewed across the distance towards the Phenomenon. It got closer and closer and right when it seemed to touch the hull of the doomed ship, it kept going into empty space, finally fizzling out after traveling to where the other side of the ship was just moments before. Everybody aboard the bridge of the Excelsior stared wide eyed at the empty space the Phenomenon had occupied a few seconds before with disbelief etched across their faces.

“Where did they go? How could they have escaped?” Felute Basnet yelled across the bridge at all the officers.

“It looks like they entered hyperspace.” an officer said.

“Well, no duh. Now, can you tell me where they went? Or are you going to tell me another pointless thing that I already know. Huh? What is it going to be?” Felute Basnet said sarcastically.

“I can’t tell you exactly where they went, but I know they didn’t go out of system. I’m betting that they were only in hyperspace for a second or two so that wouldn’t be too far from here.” the officer replied slowly, a bit intimidated.

“Thank you. Now, why don’t we just go looking for another target? We have no way of telling where the Phenomenon went which you heard from mister smarty pants over there.” Felute Basnet said, shooting a look at the unfortunate officer who would now have the name “Smarty Pants” for the rest of this battle and possibly for the rest of his time in the Navy.

He doesn’t really deserve it, but hey, I’m not in control of what his crewmates call him. Maybe if I don’t call him that anymore, they will eventually stop calling him that too. That’s a good idea if I don’t say so myself.

The Phenomenon

As the Excelsior turned to find a new target, just within sight of it, the Phenomenon floated in space. It had pulled the same trick that the Endeavor had pulled earlier, except instead of hiding behind an exploding ship and cutting nearly all its power systems off, it had entered hyperspace and reverted to realspace and then cut off it power systems so that they wouldn’t be picked up. As soon as the Excelsior was out of range, they cut back on the power systems, one by one until the ship was up and running. Every being on board celebrated their escape, well, nearly every being. The captain had been sobered by their near brush with death. As joyful gestures and embraces were given all around him, he stood right at the view port and stared outward at the stars in front of him. As he did, he thought about the events that had just taken place.

I don’t know if I can take this anymore. That was too close. Nobody but me and a few select people know that that turbo laser blast did touch the ship. Just barely, but a touch none the less. Luckily, nobody was down there at the time or we would have probably had some major casualties. If only we could ride out the fight. If the Vast Empire wins the battle, we can surrender to them, but if Imperial Dominion won, we could claim that we only stayed out the battle for a little bit right there at the end because we have reason too. Since we have no more shields, that will be easy to sell because we didn’t want to waste a whole ship full of crewman just because we wanted to kill some more of the enemy. That would be a stupid thing to do. Maybe we can head out on the edge of the system and wait until the battle is over and then coast in cautiously so we can make sure it is really over. That way we don’t come in when we think it is over and then get blown up by an enemy ship that we missed on the radar because the battle isn’t over yet.

He was still staring out into the vast empty blackness of space when he was bumped from behind by a celebrating officer and hit his head hard on the viewport. Leaping back to his feet, he looked at his reflection in the viewport. He had a thin stream of blood running from his temple and already a bump was rising. He rubbed it and turned to the officer. As the officer realized who he had bumped into, his expression changed from joyful to horrified to concerned. Grabbing the captain’s shoulder, the officer led him to the med station to put some bacta on his head. As he sat on a bench while the med droid affixed a bacta patch to his forehead, he started feeling lightheaded, then dizzy, and then he finally passed out. A short while later, he woke up on a table in the middle of a room. The med droid informed him that he had a mild concussion and that he was to take it easy for a couple days. He sighed and slowly walked back to the bridge. It was there that he was met by the concerned expressions by the officers and crew. He waved off all helping hands as he made his way to his chair. He sat down with a grunt and stared back out the viewport.

******Two hours later******
The Vast Empire had won the battle and the Phenomenon was in hyperspace on its way back to Abrae. After they had realized the Vast Empire had won, they made their way back in system to where the VE ships were waiting and surrendered. The captain wasn’t surprised to see a few Dominion ships there as well.

They must have had the same idea as I did.

OOC:

1252 words

:::The Close:::


It was down to three. Jamoq and the two remaining Vast Empire pilots. True, there was still one fighting against the engine dead Desolation, but he would not have to worry about them. As it currently stood he was tailing the leader and being followed closely by the other Hurricane. He was the last of his Squadron, the others he had failed. Silent tears had poured from his eyes while sweat stung into them. His pilot instincts had taken over, hiding his torment to continue to fight to the close. It would be his last. He knew it, his ship bucked as it took a slight hit. It would only be able to take a few more of those, or one direct hit and his enemy seemed to know that by how much he was firing.


He thought back as he tried again to land hits on the leader of Kelp's brief yell was cut off only to be followed by his exploding Tie fighter. It had happened so fast that there had been nothing he could do to stop it, no way he had known that the leader would have been all the wiser to their maneuver. No one ever had before. All to soon after that Nazall had been eliminated from a collision with the one he had been dogfighting. He didn't know the particulars and probably never would. All he knew was that both had dropped off his sensors and so he assumed that was what had happened.


The three fighters flew in a complex form of cat and mouse. The two Hurricanes  tried everything in the book and more than a handful of two man maneuvering to take out the remaining fighter. But Jamoq succeeded in avoiding being hit. He even had two of his lost systems up and running. The only problem was that he was no closer to making the playing field even, for the moment he evaded one had had to work and throw his ship into another dive climb or roll to avoid the second leaving him no time to engage one or the other. It was two cats chasing a single mouse. And the game was about to come to a close.


In a brilliant show of piloting the leaders Tie fighter somehow spun as if on a spindle and in a spray of random fire landed the single shot that threw Jamoq's Tie spinning at the loss of one of his panels.

”How in the Frak did he do that?!” He yelled, partly in frustration, and part in surprise and awe of the pilots abilities.


His surprise and awe and frustration turned to a laughter when he saw that the Hurricanes tie was still spinning. Laughing harder as he knew that it could only mean one thing. All his other propulsion systems were at a loss except for one side of his thrusters, which appeared to be locked on causing the tie to continue to spin in an unflightly manner. Laughter pounded into him again as in his mind eye he imagined the pilot spilling his last meal all inside his helmet. With that last thought and the minorly crazed laughter of a squadron leader gone mad with the loss of his whole squadron, his own fighter become a blaze of metal and fire. It was the end of Alpha squadron.


:::Garen's Lucky strike:::


”Are you sure about this??...” Jac asked incredulously.


”Don't really have a choice now do I?” Garen said smiling and preparing himself for what would most likely be the most dizzying moment of his whole time as a pilot, [b]”Besides...it maybe exactly the strike we need to take this guy out. Nothing else has worked.”


The silent agreement came in answer from over the com from Jac, ”As soon as this guy is gone, if this works, go help out Aaren. She has probably broken down in the face of loosing her wing mate. If this doesn't work then you had better finish what we started. Do you understand?”


there was again the silence from Jac. He guessed that his friend was trying to think of some other possible way to handle the situation. But there wasn't. His Tie fighter, long faithful Tie that had NEVER had any problems, was choosing to now develop a sense of sick humor and would be loosing all control of his lateral and horizontal flight controls. The ships computer told him he had less than 10 seconds to do something. Once those were gone he would be a sitting duck flying in a straight line. So he had decided to shut of his engines before and throw his ship spinning, rapid fire at the last of the fighters and hope that one of his hits landed.


One other problem, was he made the change there would be no going back. Previously he had flipped screens and views in his flight map, then had tried to switch it back with no luck. It was solidly stuck on that view. He could only assume that the same thing would happen to the engine, or thrusters, once that time was up. So it was either fly a straight line and hope that he would not get shot down, highly unlikely with the skill of the Alpha on his tail, OR....go for the ride of his life and have a higher chance of living and hitting the enemy. It was an easy decision.


”Understood Sir.” Came the final reply back. Garen nodded and prepped himself more, not really knowing if this was going to work.


”Alright, in three..two...one!!”[/.b] He switched all power from his engines and directed them to his port side stabilize thrusters. The spinning was immediate as he could hear the screaming of all his engine power be pumped into the thrusters. Holding down the trigger to fire his cannons he did his best to keep his breathing easy as the g-force of the tight turn felt like it would send his innards shooting out of his side. Fortunately for him they didn't. The next thing he heard was the exultant cry of Jac over the com.


[b]”Hahah!! He's down...he's down!!”


Garen would have given all his credits to see the crooked grin that would have been frozen on his face, ”Good now go and see to Aaren!...while you're at at it you...”


”Sir...come in Sir!.... Garen? Do you copy?...” Jac said back over the come.


“Oh freaking great,....now he can't hear me.” He thought to himself. Then came the flash and bright light that filled up his front and then his rear view port as he saw the Desolation Go up in a huge explosion. It seemed that Aaren hadn't lost it after all. If he lived through this...he reminded himself to give her an award for her new show of abilities.


”Holy Frak....Sir....I hope you saw that. Hold on a second...Aaren says that she cannot hail you at all,...but she says that she believes Keln is still alive. I don't see how...but I have called in for rescue teams for the both of you...just in case. We did it Sir...we did it.”


Yes, but at what cost?


Garen was not surprised that Aaren couldn't hail him. Once the time was up his communications systems were locked onto Jac's. He hadn't thought of switching them, for which he scolded himself. So it was in the silence that he waited with only the scream of the thrusters and the ever building tug of the spin his ship was locked into. Garen hoped that those teams would get there soon or he just might loose it, and that wasn't a pleasant idea.


:::The End of Desolation:::


Captain Neimos Stood with his arms folded as everyone on the ship made their ways to the escape pods. Eighty five percent of the systems were down and the ships energy core on overload. It was only a matter of time. He stood silent as he ignored all as they tried to get him to leave as well, merely gesture for them to get to the pods and escaped the exploding ship.


Soon he was left all alone on eh bridge, his arms set in firm defiance. He would not leave his ship, he was the captain. If his ship fell so would he. So might shake their heads just as some might honor him for his choice. Both kind of reactions and all in between meant nothing to him. The decision was for him to make and that was that. Neimos thought back to all the times that he had had as a pilot taking on larger ships than his own. It had been his strongest point as a fighter and bomber. It was an odd sense of irony that he would now be the one being blown to kingdom come. It was the finale for him.