Korant could see the Rokh system start to get closer.  He wasn’t too sure what it was that they were supposed to be looking for so for now he left the scanners on the automatic setting and should he happen to spot anything in the scanner then he would turn it over to manual for a better view.

Why do I get the feeling that we are not being told everything pondered Korant.  He knew that there had to be more regarding this mission than they were being told and that could only mean one thing, trouble.  He was glad to be flying with such experienced pilots, it reassured him.

Korant wished that he could contact the rest of the Vipers, even just for a casual chat.  It felt so very quiet with nothing to do apart from stare at space and at the scanner.  Korant stole another glance at the scanner and thought to himself what am I supposed to be looking at.

The Vipers started to angle towards the first of Rokh’s moons that they would be scouting.  Korant checked his display and saw no threats out there so gazed down at the scanner.  What a desolate rock this is thought Korant as he looked closely at what the scanner was recording.

The lack of challenge was starting to get Korant on edge.  The Vipers had been sent here for a reason.  Korant started thinking Command must know of something that we don’t and right now we are not seeing anything, in fact this place couldn’t be more deader than death itself.

Korant carried on flying around the first moon of Rokh and wondered if any of the other Viper pilots had spotted anything.  Damn I wish I could talk to them cursed Korant as his scanner continued its recording.

Hanging motionless in space, Jolinar was almost bored.  She could just make out the shape of her wingmate's fighter through her viewport, as well as the fighters of her closest squadmates.  The rest were indistinguishable from the icy darkness, as they should be.  At this point, only the swift sensor scan let her know they were all in position.  Farther out, there wouldn't even be that much.  Unless there was trouble.  On the surface of things, this seemed like nothing more than the sort of recon flights she'd done before joining the VE as part of one job or another.  The only difference here was that she had an entire team at her back.  In her experience, the more people you added to a mission, the higher the chance of getting caught or for something to go wrong.  The other side of it was there was also a higher chance of at least one person getting back to base if something went wrong, and the slight possibility of a rescue for any captured squadmates.  Jolinar couldn't bring her mind away from the feeling that something wasn't quite right...like there was something she was missing that should be glaringly obvious.  It felt almost like a clear sunny day with the feeling of an impending storm hanging over it.  Before comm silence could be declared, Jolinar made sure she was on the squadron channel and pressed the button.

"Be extra careful out there, guys.  I've got a really bad feeling about this.  Something's not quite right."  Jolinar grimaced at her own usage of the cliche.

"Um...thanks for the warning."  Ibram replied, sounding faintly confused.  "You heard her, Vipers.  Now, com silence from here on out until I say otherwise."

The communications console was silent, and they were moving toward their assigned surveillance positions.

Cadie was flying near the moons, allowing her computer to do the hard work of recording all the excitement below. She looked out her viewport at the barren landscape below her. Wow, yeah, this is really fun. Shaking her head she looked back to the front and made another deviation to sweep the next moon.

Cadie made sure the scanner made the adjustment with the TIE as she made her sweep. She watched the read out and scoffed. Nothing, just a rock. There has to be more to this.

It just didn't seem releasable to her that they spent all this time and manpower, and an all expensive spy bot, to take pretty pictures of...nothing. Shaking her head again she got ready to take her next pass at the planet, part of her was praying there was something of interest there, sense the moons had proved to be lack luster at best.

Cadie could still make out the other TIE's around her. She had to know what to look for though, the job they did camouflaging the interceptors was near perfect. Part of her wished the could break comm silence, it would have helped with the boredom she was currently experiencing. At least I'm flying.

Cadie felt relaxed when she was flying, so although she may have been outwardly complaining about her current lack of action, she was loving every second in that cockpit. She made her sweep of the planet and kept a watch on the scanner. There was still nothing she could see that she would consider significant.

Cadie still couldn't shake the feeling that something was not right. This was just too much effort to find nothing on any of these rocks. Blinking hard, she woke up completely. She needed to be completely awake and aware just in case her feelings were correct and something was about to happen.

Just the thought of getting into some real action did make her smirk in her helmet.

The Indigo’s hangar bay had an eerie chill about it; that kind of feeling as though the air conditioning units had been purposely left too high, so that the pilots would feel fresh and awake. The black rows of modified stealth fighters were lined up a perfect two feet from each other, with one special row devoted to the three TIE Phantoms that were to be used on this mission by the Special Forces members that were aboard the Indigo. The lights were a dim orange-yellow, and cast poorly detailed shadows all across the hangar. Phineus stood at the ladder which stood up against his TIE Phantom.

The Phantom itself was a beautiful piece of machinery that Phineus always seemed to enjoy gazing at. Being a starcraft enthusiast and collector himself, he had an extreme appreciation toward the TIE’s brilliance in design and engineering. The three winged craft had capabilities that were previously unheard of for ships of their size, featuring an amazing ability to avoid scanners and sensory pickups, nearly rendering them invisible. Their design was built from that of a V38 assault fighter, and was updated with deflector shields and impressive hyperdrive technology; not to mention the extremely rare stygium cloaking device that made Phineus’ mouth water. The stygium was the most impressive crystal known throughout the galaxy, and when it was used right, it had immense cloaking powers. It was truly a beautiful craft which Phineus immeasurably enjoyed piloting.

Behind him came Anden Belium, whom no introduction was needed.

“Alright Flight Leader,” Anden said to Phineus, “ready to get those engines fired up? Those beautiful, stealthy, Phantom engines.”

Phineus cracked a smile as he turned to face Anden, who had looked almost exactly the same as when the two of them last saw each other, if not for a little more mature around the eyes, “I sense a bit of jealousy.”

“Let’s just say out of all people, you’re the last one who should be trusted with such an expensive starship, and the last one who would truly appreciate its cloaking abilities,” Anden returned the smile and added a sharp undertone to his words.

Phineus turned his head back to the Phantom for a moment, and then returned his gaze to Anden, “You’ve got me with the trust part,” Phineus chuckled, “but I’ll have you know I’ve learned to be one stealthy son-of-a-hutt with all the training they put me through in order to let me fly this damn thing.”

“I never thought I’d live to see the day when Phineus Gage himself would prefer a silent approach as opposed to simply flying right into the mouth of the enemy,” Anden said, crossing his arms.

Phineus held his smile tightly as he lowered his head and looked at the ground, in mock disappointment, “Ah, ya know, as a pilot, I’m just not appreciated by my peers.”

“No,” Anden rebutted, “you’re appreciated; just not when you’re heinously getting yourself shot up and others in the process.”

“Hey,” Phineus sharply interjected, “I’ll have you know that when I get myself shot up, it’s usually in the process of saving others!”

Anden laughed, and Phineus could have sworn he picked up a sense of pride in Anden towards Phineus. Even though their partnership had started with Phin being more experienced and higher ranked than Anden, Anden had always been older. The two of them, through the months they’ve shared in the Imperial Navy, had gone back and forth, out ranking each other. The two even had shared the Executive Officer role in Viper a few times. Anden got it first, then he left and Phin would take over, and vice versa. They were strong partners to every degree, and when the Navy needed a job done, it could always rely and depend on Phineus and Anden. They were once the young, new element within the Navy, and their piloting skills were the elemental physics which made them such exceptional young pilots, with potential to someday become the very best one-two punch the Navy had ever seen. Individually, their piloting skills were at the top of their class; but together, they were nearly invincible.

Anden gave a final nod to Phin, “Alright, you’ve got me there. Safe flying up there Phin, don’t make yourself look like anymore of an odd quack than you already are. I’ll keep an eye on Ferran, Roman, and the newbie.”

Phin returned the nod with a distinctly joyful, yet longing smile of sorts. He had just wished he could sit down with Anden in the cockpit of his signature modified YT-1300 and discuss life, everything important and even more of the unimportant aspects, without having to dodge laser fire or embrace each other in yet another reunion.

That’s what the Navy will do to you, Phineus contemplated; alienate your friendships, if you’re lucky to be around long enough to even create one.

“Happy flying,” Phin said, “make sure you guys are close on my tail at all times until com-silence is broken.”

Anden nodded once more, and extended his left hand for a handshake. He was the only one to do so, taking full consideration of Phineus’ left hand being the only hand that bared the human touch. Phineus always appreciated the thoughtful understanding he had had, even without Phineus having to say a word. Phin reached his left hand out, the two men shared a tight embrace before Anden turned away, quickly returning to his own fighter.

“Andy,” Phin shouted out, as Anden turned his body around and began walking backwards, “let’s make sure this is our last reunion.”

Anden bore a slight smile across his face as he exclaimed back, “I agree. We’re back!”

Yeah, Phineus mused, the thoughts sweeping across his mind; we’re back.

Cali, Phin’s recon partner aboard the Indigo who would be flying with Ibram for the start of this mission, took a few paces from Phin’s left, “Sir,” she acknowledged.

Phineus did a quick mental check of his equipment as he ran his hands across his pilots-utility belt, and then gazed upon her, “Hey Cal, ready to ship out?”

“Yes sir, I just wanted to say good luck and stay safe,” her words seemed distant, but Phineus could tell he was making an attempt at getting closer to him.

“When are you going to stop all this ‘sir’ nonsense?” Phineus asked. “It’s Phineus when higher brass isn’t around, those old cranks can get worked up if they hear otherwise.”

Cali nodded in understanding.

“Good luck, too, Cali,” Phineus said finally. “Keep yourself alive, all our training and recon missions have certainly prepared us for this. You’ll do just fine, I trust you with my life, partner. When the com channels are opened up, I’ll be sure to check in.”

Cali seemed to smile, “Thank you, Phineus.”

She turned, and seemed to feature the posture of a pilot with an ounce more of confidence.

Phineus took one last quiet moment to collect his thoughts as his eyes streamed from one side of the hangar to the next. He remembered back to his first day as an Imperial pilot, and how green he was. How immature he was. He couldn’t fool himself, he still was immature; but now he had much more responsibility. Even outside the Navy he had a moon, a team of friends looking over his operations aboard his ship, the Fortis, and a worried droid who had constantly been sending him a steady stream of com-mail. Phineus chuckled at the thought of T3-K1 pacing back and forth, wheeling himself from one end of the Fortis to the other in a dire hope that Phineus would just appear out of nowhere to allow the little droid to tag along on more adventures.

Soon, Phineus thought; real soon, little guy.

Phineus zipped up his flight suit from three fourths of the way up his neck, so that it now covered his entire body completely. He tugged a piloting glove over his left-human hand, and kept his personal bantha-leather glove over his right-machine hand. With a flip of his hair, his eyes were now free from any obstruction as he made his way into the cockpit of the Phantom. Closing the entrance hatch behind, he took his seat at the controls. He set all the proper preliminary modules on his computer readout before finally attaching his helmet. And then, Phineus inside his helm, took one last deep breath as the hangar bay’s doors pulled apart, as though they were running away from one another, and the chilling air of black space rushed in. One after another, the TIE’s took off into the deep midnight blue of space. Phineus followed suit as the second to last TIE to leave the hangar, and soon had his group of pilots join up on behind him. His fingers danced across his readout terminal, viewing different parts of the fighter to make sure everything was working correctly. And then he stopped worrying about anything, everything, and removed the one picture he had of himself with his mother. He rubbed her face with his thumb, pocketed the picture once more, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and returned his second hand to the controls.

Frak, I hate com silence. Makes you think too much; always has a tendency to rattle the younger pilots. Everyone is itching for some action as it is; this is just going to make things worse.

With com chatter not being present at all, a low hum of space filled one’s ears. The quiet sound of aircraft rolling through the night, the chilly interior giving one the occasional shudder, and the endless waves of thoughts swaying through one’s head. It was one of those moments where it gave you time to contemplate and analyze, but too much so.

Pilots, Phin pondered; the last thing we need is time to think.

Soon enough, the two groups, Ibram’s and Phin’s, separated and went their separate ways. Phineus and his four pilots steered to the left of Ibram’s as they tailed off into the night, their low ion tails blending in with the surrounding stars. Phineus’ eyes darted all around the atmosphere, and across his computer readouts, all in fluid motion. If recon training taught him one thing, it was to keep both eyes on every single square inch of area outside and inside his craft. It was a trait that sounded easy enough, but was as difficult as taking down a rancor. And that training just may have paid off…

Ibram’s group of pilots split right, heading for the second moon of Rokh, all turning and flying to their point in unison. To the right of the moon sat a large black shape in the middle of the sky. Ibram narrowed his brow as he tried getting a better read on just what the object was. He steered his TIE over a few feet, lining up exactly with the unknown object. His TIE crept silently closer and closer as light began reflecting off of the object. More shapes were now able to be made out, as well as colors and features.

Oh frak.

Phineus and his TIE group were entering the outskirts of an asteroid field, which took on an unusual appearance. Asteroids were lined up unevenly in rows stretching back as far as the eye could see at this vantage, which was as normal as finding a broken droid in a Coruscent alley. However, if Phin’s eyes didn’t deceive him, there was a hole of nothingness inside the asteroid field. Completely devoid of any asteroids or other space debris. His eyes winced as he tried making out what could have been causing this rift in the field, when the moonlight began shining on something. Something…

Ibram made his way closer to the ship, trying to pick up any data readouts he could. From this distance, running silently, that was difficult. Another TIE crept up to Ibram’s right, and continued slowly past him. Ibram’s readouts identified the craft as Rutian’s, which sent Ibram’s spinal cord a fair twitch. Rutian made it closer and closer to the levitating object, and sent readouts back to Ibram.

Carrack cruiser, Ibram read aloud softly to himself, what’s that doing out here? More readouts came, as well as a grain of bad news; belonging to Thrawn? What the frak is he doing out here?

Rutian pushed the Carrack’s scanning equipment to the brink, and he was soon picked up as an identifiable enemy. With a spark of golden red, another large object flashed into space. Soon, several smaller objects were sent from it.

“Breaking com silence,” Ibram spoke to his crew, “damn it Rutian get the hell back here now! That’s a Dominion strike cruiser, we’re in trouble. Alright, form on me, immediately,” Ibram commanded as his scanners caught six, seven, eight Dominion space fighters coming their way, and fast.

“It was a trap,” Ibram announced, “a bloody trap. No good Dominion pigs, alright men, form up, this is what we’re paid for.”

Phineus picked up what was causing the rift in the asteroid field just as Anden did, and they broke com silence, “See that Sic?” Anden asked.

“I do, alright, Rom-‘’ Phin’s words were cut short by the cacophony of asteroid ramming against metal.

“The frak?” Anden yelled out.

Romanflame’s TIE had been hit by a rogue asteroid, and hit hard. His systems began failing as his ship ultimately powered off.

“Ah, that’s not good,” Phineus exclaimed.

The asteroid bounced off of Roman’s fighter, and hit another asteroid, which hit another, and then another. The middle of the field was now clear, it was a hidden facility with some sort of technology that Phin wasn’t so sure about at the moment. They successfully managed to set up a working facility, running quiet, in the middle of an asteroid field.

Damn impossible.

“Alright, men,” Phineus said as he tightened the straps of his crash webbing which protruded from his seat, down his shoulders and chest, “this is where the fun begins. We need to make our way to Roman immediately, someone needs to electrically reboot his TIE from the outside, if you’re close enough, you can send an EMP pulse to do just that.”

The crashing asteroids created more and more sound which, Phin was sure could be heard from planets in completely opposite systems, and the facility began illuminating with red and yellow hues of glow lighting. Off in the distance, Phineus could make out four scout crafts preparing to launch right in their direction.

“While avoiding these renegade ‘roids?” Anden said back in disbelief.

“And while steering clear of those scouts, we cannot afford to attract any more attention,” Phineus claimed.

Anden scoffed, “Seems impossible, even for your usual array of ideas.”

“But damn it, It’s all we’ve got, and I’m not prepared to lose one of my men to some blasted asteroid,” Phineus barked back. “Now Vipers, head over to Roman, be careful not to hit any of those asteroids. If you get too close, steer away and regroup yourself. And if those scouts start heading this way, you do not shoot, I repeat, do not shoot until I give the command, do you understand?”

A myriad of ‘check’s’ came across the com before Phineus finally said, “And we will fly silent again, those scouts can pick up com chatter from quite a distance. I’ll open the channels back up if necessary. This may sound impossible, but that’s our damn job. We’re cheap and easy to replace, so let’s act like it.”

The remaining TIE’s that were serviceable formed up in an uneven positioning as they prepared to enter the asteroid field that Roman’s TIE had end-over-end spun out of control into.

Ibram’s looked at the eight fighters screaming dead ahead of him. He gathered he had two, maybe two and a half more standard minutes before a dogfight occurred.

“Men, and woman, the time has arrived. Form on me, and get ready for the fight of your lives. We need to take out these damn fighters while avoiding those blasted ships before more shite arrives. If we take out this first wave of fighters, we can head down to the second moon and lose these ships in the canyons, and anyone else they send after us.”

“Geez, anything else?” Tinker asked over the com.

“Yeah,” Ibram replied, “I could go for a cup of tea while we’re at it.”


_____________________________________________________________

Words- 2,744

Instructions over in the Viper topic.

Arthur thought this would be a simple in and out mission.  He did all of his preflight checks and also worked on the recorder.  As the squads split up he started to to look over the asteroid field and saw a void in the center.  He was trying to use the recorder to get a close up of the center of the void when all of a sudden an asteroid hit his ship and another then his system started to fail.  He was spinning out of control and found him self stuck in the middle of the field with no power, no coms, nothing it was almost as if he was alone.

Arthur thought that if who ever was out here did not see them before they do now, and it was all his fault.  He also tried to figure out why they let him come if all it took to take him out was one asteroid.  He started to realize it could happen to any one, but was he the reason the squad was seen.

He got out of his seat to see if he could manually restart his ship from the inside but soon realized he couldn't.  He sat back down and checked all his gauges and hoped life support was still working.  He was also checking his suit to see how long he could survive.  He was lucky if you could call it that, his life support was still working.  The reserve power was all that was keeping it active.

He grabbed his pistol and was ready for any one to enter his ship.  He started looking out the window to see what was going on.  He saw all the vipers group and head his way and then they started to fire at the first wave of fighters.  Arthur wished he could help but was still stranded in the middle of an asteroid field.

Arthur wanted to know how his ship looked and how bad he was going to get chewed out for this mess he got them all in.  For a  split second he wanted to get caught.  He soon got that thought out of his head.  When the fight was going on he thought who could get to him faster.

“Breaking com silence.” Ibram’s voice on the comm almost made Cadie jump, since it had been quiet up until that point, looking at her scanners she could see why they were breaking the silence. Is that eight Dominion fighters. You wanted a fight, well looks like we found one.

“Damn it Rutian get the hell back here now! That’s a Dominion strike cruiser, we’re in trouble. Alright, form on me, immediately,” Cadie smiled at that, that is one interesting Twi’lek.

Cadie angled her fighter to match formation with the others as they headed in the direction of the enemy targets coming towards them.

“It was a trap, a bloody trap. No good Dominion pigs, alright men, form up, this is what we’re paid for.”

The fighters were not deviating from their course, it would be any minute and they would be on them.

“Men, and woman, the time has arrived. Form on me, and get ready for the fight of your lives. We need to take out these damn fighters while avoiding those blasted ships before more shite arrives. If we take out this first wave of fighters, we can head down to the second moon and lose these ships in the canyons, and anyone else they send after us.”

Unable to control herself she sarcastically replied, “Geez, anything else?”

“Yeah,” Ibram replied, “I could go for a cup of tea while we’re at it.”

Cadie was impressed and whispered under her breath. “Heh, touché.”

"Better make mine a whiskey, scrub that, make it a double" said Korant.

"I hear you" Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Cadie had literally grown up in space, but this was officially different. Her heart was pumping and she could feel the adrenaline in her blood racing. She looked at the scanner and watched her targets dance as they came towards her. This may have been her first real dog fight, but it felt like something she had done every day of her life.

Keeping a watchful eye on the giant ships firing lasers at Cadie and her squadron, she formed up on Ibram and picked out her target. You, your mine. She smiled lazily as her vision narrowed thought the viewport.

"Here they come" called out Ibram, "break and pick your targets, let's take them out as quickly as we can".

No sooner had Ibram finished speaking the last phoneme in the word ‘can’, when Tinker jammed the controls starboard and rolled to get a fix on her target. Tink could not get a clean shot, the two were dancing all over the place. She accelerated and he decelerated, he turned she turned, they were in perfect unity which was making it blasted hard for her to blow him up.

The enemy fighter crossed paths with another duo, she recognized Flyboy’s TIE being pursued by a Dominion fighter. She could tell if something didn’t change in that scenario Flyboy was going down.
"Flyboy, get out of there" Tinker yelled through teeth she hadn’t realized she was grinding together, trying to stay focused on her target.

Just then her target pulled a long arc maneuver that would take them over Tink’s current position and could get them behind her. She twisted her TIE, taking some pot shots and Flyboys nuisances to distract them while he figured out what he was doing, decelerated and made sure she was ready for the Dominon fighter when they finished the maneuver.

She was still watching the scanners when she heard Korant’s voice over the comm make a grunt sound.

"Are you alright?" asked Tinker.

"I've been better but yeah, I'm still in one piece" replied Korant.

Fabulous. Let's keep moving then. 

The fighter had come around and was not where Cadie expected them to be, she had to quickly adjust course to avoid any serious damage from their laser fire. Frickedy Frak Frak! Cadie thrust the controls and quickly went into a roll to avoid any more shots hitting her TIE.

Cadie saw a flash to her rear starboard side then heard Korant’s voice on the comm once again.

“I got one!” exclaimed Korant over the com system.

“Nice shooting, just don’t get cocky” replied Tinker.

“I hate to interrupt you but you do know there are still plenty more out there” stated Ibram.

“Sorry Sir” said Korant.

The fighter was weaving in front of Tinkers viewport. She was right with him, taking random shots trying to throw him off. She started to adjust her speed hoping she would see an opening soon, before he came up with a plan to take her out.

She slowed down and focused on his movements, keeping her finger from pressing the trigger for just a few seconds. And then it happened, he hesitated, and she opened fire. Tinker had a singular sensation of satisfaction as she flew through the remains of the enemy fighter.

A sudden explosion of light attracted Korant’s attention and he glanced over and smiled as he saw some impressive flying from Tinker bring down one of the enemy fighter.

Korant didn’t focus long on Cadie’s success as there were still plenty of other fighters out there to bring down and right now Korant wanted another kill for himself.

He felt excitement and fear all at the same time.  He knew that every decision he made out here could be the difference between bringing down an enemy fighter or the enemy bringing him down.

Checking his display, he acquired a new target and set a course directly towards the enemy.  The enemy fighter saw Korant coming and quickly sped away on a course back to the Carrack cruiser.

Korant knew better than to follow him there as the cruiser’s guns had nearly brought his ship down in flames.  He veered away and checked his display for another target.

His display suddenly emitted a warning light and Korant quickly identified what the threat was and where it was coming from.  Frak.  The enemy fighter that had moved off towards the cruiser had veered back sharply and was now in weapons fire of Korant’s ship.

Grasping his control stick, Korant veered his ship sharply away as the enemy ship bore down on him.  Korant started weaving back and forth but the enemy fighter stuck to his tail like glue.

Korant cursed as he realised that the piloting skills of the enemy ship on his tail was good, a little too good for his liking.  He pushed down hard on the stick and sent his craft into a sharp and sudden dive.

The enemy craft hadn’t expected Korant to suddenly dive and overshot Korant.  Korant was quick to exploit the piloting error and swung his ship round and was soon on the tail of the enemy ship.

Smiling to himself, he started pressing the fire button.  Beams of red flew out towards the enemy craft but for now the enemy ship managed to weave its way around the fire and Korant had to nod in appreciation of such good piloting skills.

On his display he spotted another ship suddenly following his rear and he identified it as an enemy fighter.  He cursed the display and broke off his pursuit of the fighter that he was chasing.

He performed a series of complex twists and turns and finally managed to shake off the fighter that had started to target him.  Checking his display he re-acquired the fighter he had given chase to.  It had eluded him before but Korant vowed to not let him be eluded again and so he fired up his engines and gave chase once more.

Rutian screamed inside his cockpit as he twirled his magnificent craft through countless complicated maneuvers. The Phantom screamed threw space like a black wraith of death, defying its own nature in keeping its pilot alive. The Phantom, which was a very unique craft all on its own, was usually only at this form of perfection when piloted by two pilots. The strange state of Rutian's mind, or minds, allowed him to multi task to such a point that flying the Phantom was like an intricate dance of death, a serenade played in his honor, and it left even his enemies in awe.

As he spiraled past the Dominion craft he painted it with his targeting system. In a gesture of parting good will he fired two bursts from all six laser cannons; punching a small hole in the shielding with the first and blasting away a chunk of the hull. His speed then carried him past the firing range of the Dominion ship and into a place where he could maneuver. The voices on the Comm were mere static to him.

As the Phantom roared threw space he saw the squadron quickly form up and move out in two separate groups. Half went to rescue one pilot who seemed to have lost control of his vessel while the rest were turning the face the eight oncoming fighters that had been launched from the cruiser.

Rutian knew that he had been painted, and that for some reason the Dominion had been in possession of some type of device that knocked out his cloak, but he still flew like it was active. As he watched one or two fighters were indeed shot down by his squadron mates, but they did some returning of fire as well. Rutian swerved in a graceful knife-like turn that brought his wings dangerously close to the ion cannons of the closing cruisers. Massive blue streaks of energy passed right in front of him as he sped through the last curve of his turn, taking him perpendicular to the fighter that had just disabled the shields on Cali's vessel.

The fighter saw him coming, the very small profile of the phantom not quite enough to keep him undetected. Immediately the Interceptor tore into a typical maneuver for his type of vessel. The Interceptor moved straight into his path, expecting to overcome  Rutian in his Phantom, presuming that he had superior speed. He was wrong.

Rutian pulled out in front of the Interceptor, and dodged back and forth as the Dominion fighter tried to lock onto him and was firing wildly. Suddenly Rutian cut his right engine and pivoted in place to strafe all six lasers across the now exposed fighter. The maneuver, though dangerous, was successful and the Interceptor exploded in space with a satisfying spraying of debris.

"All clear Viper two." Rutian responded before cutting his comm.

Cadie gritted her teeth as she pulled the yoke spitting a string of curses as her head spun wildly trying to see the bastard who was shooting at her. How she got into this mess she would love to know. The two fighters had been exchanging positions for a long time now. Cadie just wanted to run out of the cockpit and deck this guy, he was really pissing her off.

A shot ricochet off the shields protecting her wing, causing a bright light to fill her vision for a split second.

“FRAK!”

Cadie grabbed the controls and twisted her craft into a roll to avoid anymore stray laser bolts. Clearing her head she became aware of the fact that the shot did not come from the current fighter who was being a nuisance, but the large frigate. She had allowed the fight to drift way too close to the giants.

Deciding there was little she could do about her current intimacy with the larger ships, Cadie went after the enemy fighter that had gotten her into this mess in the first place.

Tinker pulled up into his blind spot and watched as his fighter was growing larger and larger. The fighter began to shake and twist all over the place. What don't feel like flying straight anymore?

Tink watched as the fighter slewed to the right, and Cadie could swear she actually felt his eyes looking directly at her. So, being Cadie, she smiled and blew him a kiss. He jerked the controls, sending his fighter arcing upwards. Well I guess that is just about the only defensive maneuver the little bugger could do.

Cadie banked her TIE to the right while pulling back on the stick, working hard to get him back into her sights. The pull on her body was intense, pressing her into the seat. The pressure almost made her black out. Shaking her head she started to chant, “do not pass out.” She fought the blackness, and continued to pull back on the stick. Cadie was managing to keep the fighter in front of her and just barely in her sights to take a shot.

They were both in a tight circle, going round and round. Come on, you little bastard. Just a little closer.

She pulled the trigger and watched as her fire sent sparks and fire up his wing, but missed the main bulk of his fighter.

Frak. Too low, a little higher and the bolts will find his cockpit.

She watched as everything seemed to slow down. She could see the fighter flinch as if he was going to break the maneuver and go erratic, but he pushed the controls down. That was exactly what Cadie needed him to do. She squeezed the trigger and watch one, two, and finally three bolts hit the fighter before it erupted into sparks and was no more.

Not that she would ever admit it in a billion cycles, but she breathed a sigh of relief. The momentary respite was interrupted when she saw a blur spinning out of control. She saw the smoke and tiny sparks more than the ship itself, but she knew what their fighters looked like and

She pulled up as close as she could to get a identity on the craft. Ferran.

Cadie solemnly flicked the comm on. “Viper two to Viper one. I have a visual of Viper seven he needs assistance. Do you copy?”

No explosion.

It didn't make sense to Cali.

No fire.

No dark void.

“All clear Viper Eight”.

There is was again. The ghostly ventriloquist had thrown the spirit of her brother across time and space into the shell of the unstable Twi'lek's Phantom. She dragged her arm down and flicked the com-unit twice in acknowledgement of the mad pilot's bravado. Her nerves registered the lacerating cramp throughout her limbs. It was if expecting the imminent failure of her shield's her body had retreated and regressed into a fetal position like the prey withdraws in on itself in acceptance of the hunter's fangs.

The Phantom juddered into a stuttering banking run more befitting the handling of a soon to be retired Headhunter. There was nothing in  her targeting view. Who was she fooling – she was the target. A bruised and broken fish trader. Easy picking for the Dominion's guns.

“I'll tail you now,” The raspy voice cut into Cali's despair.

“It'll make up for your lousy job at tailing me earlier.” The voice mocked her into a state of timid silence. There was clear and present menace in his voice. Cali ushered an oath not to befall the fate of friendly fire even in its more twisted garb.

“Eleven watch out for Eight – form up and get both of your lousy lekku's over here. We've got more Dominion TIE's heading our way.” Tyrol voice betrayed no desperation or fear only strategic urgency. Even when he quipped it sounded official.

Cali thumped the com-unit. Long, short, long. She had no voice, nothing to say only a need to stay alive.

Rutian's Phantom fell in behind her shaking fighter as she tried to control her legs from involuntarily shaking and level out the rudders. The metal plates under her feet seemed to sink into a chasm of nothingness giving her the sensation of treading water in an inky void of chaos. Focusing on her radar, she squinted at the blurs of colours that flitted around the grid. To her surprise and  brief elation it appeared  that her other wingmen had proved more efficient in dispatching of the Dominion fighter's. They seemed to be short one fighter but she wasn't sure if one of the Viper's was out of range or if her scanners where simply shot given the beating her craft had undergone. Her fellow Twi'lek's craft seemed to leer unnervingly close to hers in a sinister two-step of the Lothario at the officer's ball.

“Eight, you're bait. I'll sit back and wait.” His voice looped up and down in a sing-song showing no evidence of him trying to hide the open glee in his childish melody.

Immediately Rutian's fighter stalled back leaving Cali shooting out in front skimming the shallower quadrant of the asteroid field. The top-most wedge of her scanner illuminated in a pale orange as a Dominion Interceptor screeched passed her view in an effort to gain altitude. Instinctively she pulled back on the yoke, her legs still chattering to one another and her Phantom lurched ever starward. The enemy fighter rolled purposefully into her path in a diagonal somersault that brought their craft encircled to her trajectory. She stubbornly or simply lacking the  cognitive energy to do anything allowed her husk to pierce the space in front of her. Enticed by her display of stupidity the Dominion craft altered their course settling their speed to coast behind her.

Heat and light peppered Cali's fighter but with two hands on her stick she refused to pull up or dive down. Holding her acceleration, she felt a dull thud behind her. The enemy Interceptor was focusing all his laser at once, obviously aware of the minimal shielding Cali's Phantom had left. Stung by fear, her legs finally locked in an excruciating wave of pain as her tendons  tightened from cramp and nervous energy. As sweat beads trickled down the crevices of her lekku trailing down her neck and spine like a finger of death.

As the thud's intensified Cali was convinced she could hear a low chuckling.

“Bye-bi...”

The Dominion craft exploded into a dust cloud of debris and mourned identity.

“Eight we has missiles – don't forget.”

Cali was stunned. Her fellow wingmen had just dumb fired a missile and scored a direct hit whilst avoiding to engulf even himself or her for that matter in the blast.

“Eleven here – eight and me awaiting orders.”

In order to check she wasn't hallucinating, Cali pounded her legs  with her gloved fists trying to ease the cramping sensation and in vain to attempt to awake from this madman's paradise. Finally she  hissed in pain but it quickly gave way to an almost inaudible sob.  She wished she could just claw away at her bare legs to escape this imprisoned vassal.

The rock destroys all in its path but shrinks to a shoreline pebble at its journey's end.

The scanner erupted into a fresh infestation of incoming threats. In a rough formation she plunged her fighter alongside Ru's into a low dive and unspoken they both pulled up in unison in a yo-yo motion. Asteroid's hurtle past the twinned fighters. The Dominion's strike cruiser had birthed a whole new wave of enemy fighters and the Carrack cruiser persistently spewed canon fire indiscriminatingly into the asteroid field. Tyrol's fighter came into visual range it was eerily immaculate, hurtling alone through the field like a death sentence.

“Boss we've seen them headed this way – you will suggest something?”

Even in Cali's weary state she didn't think that Rutian was referring to her in that sentence. If she survived this, she would be seeking to find out just who had thought it a good idea to let a maniac like him along for the ride. Though he had saved her life twice already. Her face fell heavy within her helmet. The split tipped enemy fighters where formed up in tight diamond clusters. They spat out laser venomously as she and Ru hastily formed up on Tyrol's wing either side of his gleaming vessel. His calm voice had yet to answer the question of a madman.

OOC:

Just wanted to clarify that I am Viper Eight for this mission

Also would be appreciative if anyone could give me some pointers on technical cockpit terminology, scanners, hud etc to help me

“Viper One here, acknowledged Viper Two, I’ve got his location.”

Tinker could not see anything she could really do to help Ferran’s dyeing fighter. The best she could do for her squadron mate was to make sure no enemy fighters decided to get cute and finish the job.

As she kept her eye on the radar, to not veer to far from the area, Cadie drew attention from the remaining fighters as best she could. She saw Jolinar shoot around the planet. What the frak? Is my wingmate…leaving? Remind me never to invite her to dinner; she would so leave me with the check.

Cadie jumped as a stray bolt ricocheted off her canopy. “Bah…bastards.”

Tinker looked back down to her radar and could see that Ferran’s fighter had come to rest on an asteroid, or moon. Gah, I suck at reading these things. He must have still been in one piece, she did not see any signs of an explosion. As long as his air held out he should be fine until someone could rescue him.

The com crackled to life. “Boss we’ve seen them headed this way – you will suggest something?” Cadie laughed, she was really starting to like this Rutian guy. He sounded like endless entertainment.

Ibram’s voice broke through the channel. “Vipers form up, we need to draw the Dominon fighters down to the moon’s surface.
Let’s just see how they fly without those freighters protecting them.” A series of clicks on the com sent the message that the orders were received. Tinker clicked her comm before turning her attention back to the radar. Cadie could see that they had launched another squadron of the nasties and they were heading right for them.

“Frak.” Cadie angled her fighter and rolled out of her position. She wasn’t following her directions, which she had no doubt was going to get her into a whole mess of trouble when they made it back. She just couldn’t leave the area without making sure Jolinar’s status. Frankly she couldn’t come up with a decent reason for that maneuver and if Jolinar bugged out that was fine, but if she was damaged Tink needed to know that too.

“Viper two to Viper three, status check.” No reply…that’s never a good sign. Tinker continued to maneuver around the planet the opposite way Jolinar had gone, in the hopes that she would show up. The radar was no help at all and Tinker punched it with little effort just out of sheer frustration.

Then Jolinar’s fighter shot out from the side of the planet, and all at the same time Tinker was sprayed with blaster bolts from multiple enemy fighters. She twisted the fighter, one enemy came up in her sights. He was pursuing Jolinar and hadn’t even realized that Tinker existed. Sucks to be you, bub. With a cocky smirk on her face Cadie hit the firing controls, and watched as the Dominon fighter began to list. It didn’t explode but it was dead all the same.

“So Viper Three, how was your vacation? You bring me anything?”

“That’s enough Viper Two. If you hadn’t noticed we still have two of those things to deal with.”

Cadie was well aware of that fact, since they both were currently shooting at her. The fighters heated pursuit of Jolinar apparently forgotten. “Nah Three, the weathers fine back here. But all good things must come to an end, so why don’t we catch up with the others, eh?” Tinker’s voice just dripped with sarcasm. Yeah, gonna get yelled at for that, too.

Tinker followed Jolinar and they both headed for the moon’s surface well behind the rest of the squadron. The enemy fighters continued to follow, but Tinker was just as confident as ever. Eh, no worries. We’ll lose them in the mountains.

“Vipers form up, we need to draw the Dominon fighters down to the moon’s surface. Let’s just see how they fly without those freighters protecting them.”

Viper One's voice echoed through the shell of Cali's cockpit. She felt half submerged in water, trapped inside her flight suit. Clocking Ru in her view port, she did her best to follow his disconcertingly tight dive towards the twin moons. From the confirmation clicks on the com-unit it felt to Cali that the squadron was not all there. Ibram Tyrol's fighter eased out in front of herself and her Twi'lek counterpart. Her seat rocked uneasily beneath her shattered frame as her mind struggled to make sense of all the flashing, or not so flashing, lights around her view port. The trio of fighters slowly curved towards the furthest moon. Together with the squadron Cali felt more at ease, it felt reassuring to act as one in a unit regardless of goal or aim just the sensation of being adrift in a river of connected souls. Ru's fighter wobbled as he his ship adjusted to the moon's gravity. Unprepared Cali's TIE-Phantom shook violently and gripping the yoke tightly she tried her best to level out her craft. Tyrol's fighter seemed unaffected. Even as one his fighter seemed alone in its own higher purpose.

“Eight, Eleven – I do hope you loaded up our geological mapping of  the surface. Let's make our re-con count for something.” Tyrol accelerated into shallow sandy canyon. His fighter's thrust blew the moon's dust up into its weak gravity disturbing its surface for probably the first time since the moon's creation.

“We don't miss a trick One” Ru overshot Tyrol's fighter rolling into his flightpath and accelerated as the canyon opened up to a myriad of trenches and bottle-necked cock screws. The surface gave way to a craggy texture, the colour like bone from freshly peeled skin.

Cali keyed her TIE's surveillance date into her mainframe scanner.  On the screen appeared a basic rendering of the moon's landscape. The jagged rise and falls on her schematics seemed to extend forever into the digital horizon. The image reassured Cali with dread that Rohk was indeed aptly named.

“Ro-hk”
She whispered the syllables to herself but her flight mask silenced her soft breath.

Safe from the reaches of the Cruisers canon fire, the three fighters skimmed uneasily along the higher depressions in the moon's crust. The threat was far smaller than a cruiser as enemy fighters trailed into the labyrinth behind the sheltered Vipers.

“Eight, Eleven we have company. There's a large five-point chasm twelve clicks to the east vector. Since you're in Soul Chaser's go get lost in there, I'll go topside. Stay alive.” Tyrol voice cut short and his Interceptor lofted high leaving the twinned phantoms
racing along within inches from the canyon walls.

Cali clicked a confirmation. The chasm sprawled over a large radius into a crooked star-shape. She almost lost sight of Ru in her visuals as he hurled his fighter into the nearest atrium. The enemy fighters came into her scanner's range there was at least four of them making hastily towards their position. Tyrol it seemed was being left out of the fight for now. She was unused to the dimension of the Phantom and with constant fidgeting and flicking with the stick she tried to avoid crashing her solar array wings against the chasm's deadly walls. The space around her seemed heavy, dense with an untouched past, her fighter penetrating the uncanny corridors in the darkness. She reduced the  cockpit displays by twenty percent making the Phantom disappear from visual range. Hoping that the moon's surface would scramble the enemy's scanners she engaged the fighter's cloaking device.

“Hide inside yourself – we do all the time...” Ru's voice sounding increasingly more distance trailed of into a cackle of static.

The walls around her fighter drew in a close leaving no room for piloting error, she dropped her acceleration to almost a slow hover. Her fighter trawled further into the twisting chamber of the moon's chasm. Cali had lost Ru's bearing but she would not be surprised if he took a perverse pleasure in their predicament. The scanner inaudible blipped confirmation of the enemy Interceptors, Cali pushed her Phantom down in an opening area where several mineral crystallizations had formed massive fanged cones reaching down from the ceiling of the chamber. They sparkled faintly in the dank surroundings, Cali gave their beautiful spikes a wide birth as the protruded ever downward threatening to shatter her fighter in a simple prick. She had decelerated her craft practically to a stand still hovering amongst the delicate stalactites that dangled around her. She sat uneasily convinced she could hear the cave around her creak from the low propulsion of fighter's thrusters.  Drawing quick gasps Cali waited for the two blips on her scanners to come closer onto her position whilst flicking a hasty glance  up one of the more lethal crystal formations.

An enemy fighter shot into the natural cathedral instantly dropping altitude to avoid careening into the rock protrusions. They looped around a cluster of central spikes narrowly avoiding clipping its right wing on a loose teeth-shaped growth. The spike  cracked free from the ceiling and feel slowly down in the weak gravity, turning slowly emitting a faint silvery dust trail. Its course looped lazily into a nearby rocky pillar and the full force it crashed into the outcrop. The net effect of this collision caused a chain-reaction of chaos, as the pillar toppled into more formation in slow shudder making the chamber erupt in a cacophony of creaks and tumbles. The enemy fighter emerged from the dust cloud and straight into the line of Cali's sight. Switching her laser-cannons to linked, she snapped down the firing button sending pentagonal green laser-fire that immediately pierced the upper solar-array of the enemy's craft. The blast caused the Interceptor to drag whilst Cali watched a large conical triangle of rock drift down on to the larger paneling of the ship's wing. It crushed the wing, mangling the metal and durasteel as if it where molten. Crippled the craft hopelessly pulled upwards firing widely at the unknown threat causing only more rocks to tumble from the roof of the cave straight into it's doomed flightpath. Fearing for her own fighter Cali yanked her stick completely back pointing her nose directly at the dangerous spikes. She slowly made the fighter crawl upwards turning a blind eye to her near non-existent shielding. All around her the cave was collapsing in on itself, the enemy fighter had ceased to be a blip on her scanner. She tried to tightly corkscrew on her fighter's axis aiming for the entrance through which she had come in. Her geological mapping showed a small depression below the jagged hole she had entered. As the cave collapsed Cali blindly fired a single missile into the lower lip of the hole allowing her craft to slip through the crevice before the rocky maw could crush her in a stony grave.

---------------------------

Ibram Tyrol's fighter twisted round a sheer corner of the canyon pulling the fighter into an uncomfortable turn. Ru and Cali had disappeared below the moon's surface into the cruel twisted chasms that riddled this barren rock. Beyond them he struggled to get a lock on the rest of the squadron's position, toggling the com-link channels he was meet only with static. The enemy, however, had no difficulty in making their presences known. The sleek Interceptor careened over behind Tyrol's low flying fighter. The two crafts a mirror image of themselves save the faction markings emblazoned on their respective hulls. In the vastness of space these tattoos of honor where lost amid its immensity. Rather than pulling up his fighter to pursue at altitude, Tyrol forced the craft lower into an increasingly tight corridor the winded to almost an indistinct slip in the moon's horizon. The Dominion TIE seeing Tyrol's stunt followed suit dropping out of the panorama of the moon's barren landscape.

The two fighter's hurtled around the deathly corridor at nerve-racking rate. Neither at the time to concentrate on the other or risk a fatal slip in their calculations to meet the fate against the bleached bone walls. Tyrol knew it was pointless trying to shake his pursuer in such a tight and unpredictable environment. Still no sign of the other Viper's he mentally braced himself as the odds of fate shifted against his favor.

Oh to be a Corellian and laugh in the face of odds.

The canyon folded out into a large spherical dessert plain and this resolution of space Tyrol headed into the tinted blue safety of open space. The enemy fighter flew underneath as Tyrol screwed skyward and it corrected itself into a steady angle aiming back at  the squadron's leader position. Tyrol immediately threw the Interceptor into brief left and right shakes to avoid giving the Dominion fighter an easy lock. As the stick jeered back and forth in his gloved hands his scanners indicated a fresh threat at entered into his desperate situation. Another Dominion Interceptor sped down towards Tyrol's doomed position. He couldn't get a visual reading on the second fighter as he desperately craned his neck around the cockpit to spot either of the two predators. Scorching laser fire stabbed at his Interceptor, the situation was definitely decreasing in his favour. He swung his fighter inside  of its turning arch bringing the craft to face the pursuers almost head on. He unleashed his own volley of laser fire causing the two Dominion Interceptors to scatter, splitting them horizontally and vertically perspectively. Catching them unaware he managed to snag one of the fighter's wing axis causing the enemy Interceptor, already on a downward projection, to tumble in the moon's weak gravity. The enemy pilot failed to react to the faint but lethal magnetic pull of the moon and the ship only righted itself in time to meet the jagged canyon floor.

Fate would not allow Tyrol a leveling of the scores, however, as tow more TIE Interceptor had formed up on the first. His eyes widened as he allowed himself a brief flicker of despair. As his mouth dried in the recycled air, he prepared himself for inglorious death. One of the Interceptors broke off behind Tyrol whilst the other opened up a spewing round of laser fire into the engine of the Dominion Interceptor. It was Viper.

“It’s about frakking time you two showed up. What were you doing, putting on makeup?” Tyrol muttered in disbelief almost sounding annoyed not to have been left to die.

The other Viper, Viper three, blasted the solar array of the lone Interceptor whose engines where aflame churning the once streamlined designed into a metal ball of ugly debris.

“Sorry, I had to pull a slingshot to evade a trio of Dominions. Two got them while they were distracted.” As the Rutian Twi'lek answered her superior in a manner which bordered on disrespect. She flew through the space rubbish effortlessly and skimmed under her wingman, Viper Two, together like a pair of giant intersecting blades and proceeded in wiping the enemy TIE out of existent with malicious laser blasts.

There was talk of liquor. Always the topic of conversation at always the most inappropriate of times.

“Much obliged ladies.” Tyrol swung the Interceptor behind Vipers Two and Three.

“Two, Three – I can't get through to second flight and eight and eleven are planet side in the pot holes below. My systems dealing me we've scratched us four Dominion but the rest of them must have followed the Phantom's below. I don't trust our Interceptors' maneuverability down in those chasms but we may have to risk it as we don't have much time...”

“Much time Sir, I don't understand?” Cadie's voice interrupted Tyrol's.

“I have some bad news...” His words where heavy like the collapse of a cliff face into a calm bay.

OOC:

Ok I extended in it to sort out the cont. problems and moved it on a little - hope this is ok with everyone

Tinker shifted in the cramped cockpit. These things really were not designed for two people. Ibram glanced back at her as they both got ready to take their turn at a sweep of the blockade. Cadie missed being able to fly. She was quite irritated at her current predicament, looking down at her bandaged arm she sighed.

“What is it, Cadie?” Tink looked back up towards the viewport, winced, then shook her head.

“I'm sorry, sir?” Cadie respected her commander, which was the only reason she was attempting to control her mouth at the moment. Ibram did not have to take her crippled ass anywhere, and she knew better than to be rude to someone like that.

“At the moment, Tink, we have little else to do. So I thought it might be a good chance for us to get to know each other. What do you think?” Looking out the viewport, Cadie watched the ships in the blockade. She could not see the radar, which made her almost completely useless at the moment. That annoyed the crap out of the young pilot.

“Your right, I guess we really have never talked, have we?” Her eyes were still scanning the blockade.
“At the moment, Sir, I'm just angry. I go and fall, break my arm. The only damn thing that I care about is flying and I go and make it so I can't do that.”

Ibram turned the craft slightly, adjusting their course. Then he hit a few buttons on the radar making sure the readings were updating as they moved. “Its the only thing you care about? Come on Cadie, there has to be something else.”

Cadie started to chew on the inside of her cheek. Okay, he's pretty good. I'll give him that. Tink rolled her eyes, “a good Corellian Whiskey, I suppose that make it worthwhile to wake up in the morning.”

At the moment it was irritating that Cadie could not see Ibram's face. All she could see was him shake his head. “You always joke, don't you? Guess that makes it easier. And most people would laugh and leave you alone.”

A flash of pure rage came across Tink's face, before she managed to shake it off. She considered the man she was squeezed in the cockpit with. Cadie searched her memory for the last time anyone confronted her for deflecting a question like that. She honestly could not find the memory, was it possible nobody ever did that? Tink could be fairly intimidating when she wanted to be. “Heh, I like you Ibram. Your one of the only people, even though its really annoying, you get me. Thats...somewhat refreshing.”

“Cadie...”

“Wait, look!” Tink cut off Ibram before he could continue. It hurt like hell but she pointed to a gap she could see through the canopy.

Ibram punched buttons on his console, squinting at the radar. Cadie couldn't really see what he was doing so she kept her eyes focused on the small gap she could see in the blockade. “Could it work, Ibram? We need to get out of here boss.”

“I know, Cadie. And...yes...yes I think it will work.” He was quiet, calm and confident. The fighter turned back towards Flyboy and Rutian's location.

Flipping the com on as they approached. “Four, Ten, punch it. Time to go. Follow the coordinates I'm sending you and do not stop for anything.” Cadie could see Korant and Rutian throttle up and head towards their position. Flyboy seemed to be doing fine in her ship, of course she didn't know why she would be worried. Korant was a good pilot, he wouldn't scratch up her ship...if he wanted to live.

Just before he grabbed the throttle he turned slightly towards Cadie, “hang on back there.”

“Yeah, like I have a choice.” Cadie grumbled under her breath.

Cadie watched out the viewport. There was little else she could do for the remainder of the mission, and was starting to feel more like a holonet announcer than a pilot. Korant had broken through the blockade, the small group of vipers that included Flyboy, Ibram/Tinker, and Rutian were barreling towards the extraction point.

“Well Tink, looks like we are clear. As far as I can tell we are not being pursued.” Cadie twisted her head in the direction of the blockade group, she could just make out the outline of the mixture starfighters. They seemed to be carrying on about their business with no concern to the combination of stealth TIE and phantom TIE fighters now behind them. 

“Yes, sir. I see them, just barely.” She spoke in a distracted tone, as she attempted to keep her eyes trained on the blockade. She stayed that way until her neck started to cramp then she brought her eyes back to the front to see Korant and Rutian out of the viewport in front of them.

“So, you wanted to ride with Flyboy, eh?” Ibram's voice was very playful, almost teasing the young pilot.

“Oh come on, not you now. Seriously you guys are going to drive me mad.” Cadie rolled her eyes as she shook her head. She felt like slamming her skull into the bulkhead, these men are going to drive me crazy!

Ibram chuckled as he continued to monitor the radar, looking for Sicario's group. Jolinar and Cali were on their way to assist them and get them out of there as soon as possible, but as Ibram had already informed Tink, it would take them almost an hour.

“Guess its our job to secure the extraction point then, sir?” Cadie was distant, thinking out loud more than really speaking.

Ibram must have only barely heard her, he didn't answer for almost a solid minute. “Huh? Oh I'm sorry. Yes Cadie as soon as Sicario can break away we need to make sure he can approach our position unabated.”

Tinker nodded still somewhat distracted. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to focus on anything concrete the longer she was away from the controls of her ship. That thought made her eyes drift back to her fighter and Korant doing pretty much the same thing they were at this point...waiting. 

The other group - Sicario's group - they were still in the asteroid belt, working on getting Romanflame’s TIE restarted. From the looks of things the Dominion fighters seemed to be leaving them alone for the time being, at least from the information Ibram was relaying to her.

Flipping the com, Ibram spoke with a slightly exasperated tone. “One to Five, status report.”

The com cracked to life, with Sicario’s sarcastic voice on the other end. “Hi there Boss, nice of you to wait for me.”

Ibram shook his head before answering, “What’s your status, I’m starting to get bored.”

“One sec.”
Ibram let out a displeased sound as his head fell back against the headrest. Which prompted Cadie to jump back slightly, in the cramp cockpit. Ibram muttered something that resembled, “sorry.” Then the com came back with Sic's voice. 

“Woot! There we go. Okay just got the EMP burst, looks like Romanflame is back in the game.”

Ibram considered that before he responded. “The fighter is turned on, is it in any shape to actually fly?”

“Romanflame is up and running, he should be fine to make it back to base for now. Cali just went to retrieve Ferran, but I think his fighter is toast. We will be at your location as soon as we can get there.”

Ibram glanced back at Cadie, she saw him out of the corner of her eye, while she was still staring out the viewport. “Sounds like a plan, Five. As soon as you get here don’t slow down just keep going. We need to get out of here.”

“Rodger that, One.” With that the com clicked off leaving Ibram and Cadie in silence as they waited for the others to rendezvous before their fighters decided that time was up.

“You ever break your arm before?”

Cadie twisted, she hadn’t expected to hear any more sounds coming out of her commanding officer until they were ready to leave. “Umm no, Sir.” She bit her lip looking out at the stars. “I did break my nose once though.”

“Heh, how’d you manage that?”

She looked at the back of his head, blinked then continued. “I was drunk, he grabbed my ass. I only broke my nose. I broke his nose, fractured three of his ribs, and had to be dragged away by security so I didn’t do any worse.” Cadie shrugged, an action that sent pain through her broken forearm, making her wince. “I’m no good at controlling myself, especially when I’m drunk. And it was right after my parents went missing. I’m not proud of it, in fact I regret it. I mean all he did was act like a guy, and I almost killed him.”

Ibram shifted in the seat, no easy task in such a small confined place, he turned so he could see Cadie. “Heh, you know that actually surprises me. Not that you can fight, that you don’t like to. I honestly thought you liked being a bad ass.”

She looked at him through the helmet for a long time. “No, I just like being alone. That way when people leave, it doesn’t hurt so bad.”

The com cracked again, making Ibram turn in his seat. “Five to One, we’re on our way.”

“Acknowledged Five, alright my group let’s get ready to move.”

Cali TIE Phantom was covered in the chalky residue from the dust from her abortive explorations in the one of Rohk's twin moon's caverns. It had been too close for her comfort and the weight of the mission was pushing her inexperience to the limit. With Ibram and the rest of the wing heading of the wing, herself and Jolinar were left with finding out what had exactly happened with Sicario, Ferran and the others. Her jaw ached from the shock caused by the tight maneuvering she had thrown her fighter into in order to avoid the collapsing caves of the moon. Her childhood Bothan pirates had had it much easier she thought as her hands tightened around the joystick as she took in the sight of Dominion's full presence in the proximity. Whatever the Vast Empire's own ambition for the systems in this sector there was no doubting or questioning the fully realized and awe inspiring power that Dominion wielded. Her insignificance, her loneliness, all her stagnant hesitation and narcissistic pondering was only a well aimed gunnery hand from oblivion. She sighed involuntarily, her helmet seemed to close in around tighter around her face each time she breathed in as if its intent was to replace her with a blank, black visage.

“Three, any suggestions?” Cali voice cam across as stunted, she hoped the radio static would mask her fears.

“Suggest we send a coded short-wave signal in an expanding arch and see if Five and others respond.” There was slight condescending intonation to Jolinar's response. Despite their shared origins neither Twi'lek had formally or informally exchanged more than the briefest of words between then. Cali wasn't sure if it was down to her fellow-pilots Rutian stock that gave her an arrogant swagger or perhaps it went beyond the galactic stereotype.

“Confirmed Three, synchronization waveforms on your signal.” Cali adjusted her frequency channel just off from her central scanner.  The time was short for everyone in squadron. “4, 3, 2, 1 – awaiting...”

“Ka.” Jolinar's voice sounded no less arrogant in its native tongue.

“Ka,” Cali slipped into the language without a thought, her console reading indicated that both fighters where emitting a VE encrypted signal. On such a short range the signal would be secure and the Dominion where far to busy trying to obliterate their existence then listen into incoherent Ryl. “koahiko.” She added informally there was no point in protocol at this stage of the mission.

The two equally estranged Twi'leks shifted in an inconsistent rhythm between the choked asteroid field. The clumps of stone and history floated around them, the testaments of titans.

What is rock but the crushing urgency of death and time.

The enemy Dominion fighter's had formed a patrolling blockade with the grim shadow of the cruisers laying dormant but ominousness behind them – sleeping giants. Jolinar flew with skill befitting her cocky attitude but unlike her unstable Twi'lek counterpart, Rutian, her maneuvers came from the gut. Cali did what she could in her shaken state to copy her wing-mate's flight path but even in the Phantom's prowess she struggled the grace with which Jolinar flew. The channel rumbled a steady static signal that seemed to send a silent, invisible shield that insulated the two fighters from the behemoths of rocks around them.

“No visuals Eight” Jolinar reported her voice lacking her usual.
luster 
   
“Five this is Three – do you read me? Copy. Do you read me?” The only response was the recurring drone of radio-hum.

They were approaching the edge of the asteroid field and would risk drawing the attention of severely outnumbering firepower in their attention. The Dominion blockade would easily pick them off and in this scenario any idea of stealth was ridiculous. Cali suspected that Sicario's wing was long resigned to space dust and along with it her unremarkable turn at being a naval pilot. Surely the Navy knew given the light of recent events and the heightened alert of Dominion presence meant that even reconnaissance – if at all this mission could be called as such – was in fact plain suicide.

“Hold up Eight – I think my scanners I picking up something to the port quarter – copy?” Cali keyed in Jolinar's coordinates. There appeared to a faint pulse signal coming from a large drift of debris.

“Copy Three. My Soul-Chaser's decryption is frazzled, what's the reading on you F'n'G?” Cali was amazed that the life support hadn't cut out given the way the Dominion fighters had ripped into her shielding only hours earlier. The fatigue she felt made her want to surrender to unconscious serenity.

“Processing Eight, don't fall asleep on me Lia'ry,” Jolinar's unexpected playfulness with her expression drew Cali's mind from its dangerous murky slumber. “Got a lock on it, the signal reading – frotz! Its Seven!”

Ferran.

“Koa! Eight it must be his flight suit emitting the signal. Oh this is terrible!” Jolinar voiced was angry but full of hurt and anxiety.

Ferran's predicament subconsciously focused Cali's mind like an ice wind.

“Three!” She snapped at Jolinar who was getting more and more expletive to a howl. “I've got two-seats here. I'm going to have to go and get Seven. I need you to be calm Three. This is your little Lia'ry, I need you to protect me whilst I'm maneuvering, I can't risk snagging his suit or crushing him into the surrounding detritus.” Cali voice seemed to echo from a stranger. All she could focus on was bringing her TIE-Phantom in the correct alignment whilst she unclipped her seat strappings and unconsciously loosened the first hatchway locks.

Jolinar clicked an affirmative over the com-channel.

The debris hung as sterile junk around the brooding giant asteroids. Bits of solar-array and dura-steel flickered in the view-port of Cali's fighter. She had slowed her craft down to a crawl and she gingerly locked the stick between her quivering thigh as she stretched back over the chair with much exertion her stomach pointing at the top of the cockpit. Her hands worked at the locking mechanisms to the cockpict's hatch. With her left elbow she whacked the side of her flight-suit to double-check that her suit's life-preserving cycle was activated. Taking a deep breath of the thin, stale air she pulled the last lock free and forced with her entire body mass towards the hatch as its pressure decreased to the weight of space. The door's release caused her to careen into the cockpits side as the loss of gravity took effect inside. Her legs sprawled free from the joystick and she hastily pushed herself into a slow somersault and desperately righted the controls.

“Eight are you OK? You've changed course.” Jolinar sounded puzzled.

“Er..everything's fine Three. Just a pressure issue.” Cali response was weighted with dread.

“Seven's suit appears to be functioning from my reading Eight. I only hope he's OK.” Given Cali's newness to the squad this compassion from Jolinar didn't surprise her as it would have other Vipers.
“Make sure Dominion aren't headed our way Three.” The vulnerability of their situation was immense. Ferran was a hanging doll, limp but played upon by cosmic forces like a cruel puppet-master. His suit was badly scorched and torn. Cali was horrified to see one of his arms floated a fair distance away from his barely alive torso.

Rock shatter, pebbles destroy the safety of this bay.

It was crucial that the velocity of her fighter did not tear his waive of a body into splinters.