Drac stood quietly by his simulator, evaluating the pilot trainees before him. They weren’t quite finished filing into the room yet, so he waited another minute. Once the whole group was settled, he stepped forward and cleared his throat, “For those who don’t yet know me: I am Senior Chief Petty Officer Dracule Mihawk. While in flight you may also call me by my callsign: Drac.

“You have been assembled here today for a training mission. Behind me you will note the banks of TIE simulators. We will be flying TIE Starfighters in a simulation of the Battle of Endor. This will be an endurance simulation, meaning that you fly until you die. New pilots will be added throughout the mission, and additional ships and starfighters for both sides will jump in from hyperspace periodically.”

Drac paused, looking from face to face, “Now. I would like to welcome each of you into Raptor Squadron- the Vast Imperial Training Squadron.  I am your squadron commander, so remember to use position tags accordingly. Academy staff joining us on this run will serve as your Flight Leaders. You must listen to them as you do to me. And finally, remember that this is a simulation of real combat. It is neither a toy nor a joke and anyone who thinks otherwise will have their thinking corrected for them."

Turning to the simulater, the Mon Calamari layed a hand on it and looked at the class, "Once inside the simulator, you will engage the enemy fighters. Your goal is to shoot down at least one enemy fighter and use the maneuvers and techniques taught to you in flight school. Once you get shot down, the simulation is over. Command will then evaluate your simulator run and that will determine whether or not you passed. Now mount up."

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(Word Count: 303)
Okay, here’s the drill, guys:

You will be making at least one story post. This is required for graduation. Read other posts to get an idea of how to do it, then write and post your own. One is required, but you may continue to write story posts here until you graduate- just don't post twice in a row.

Start off by reading this post, the one after it, and the most recent two or three posts (at the other end of the story). This will give you an understanding of how things started and where they are now. Once you have read those four to five posts you may go ahead and join in with a post of your own. Remember to stay true to the situation, and aim for a 500 word post.

In combat, remember to use some maneuvers from the wiki. Have fun with it and try to think of what you can do that’s interesting and unique while still being realistic for a new pilot.

You exit the simulation once the staff has examined your post(s) and had you correct any problems. Your are encouraged to include getting shot down- that’s the best way to exit. Remember that you’re a new pilot, so you’re not hell on wheels yet. Getting shot down, especially in simulators, is going to happen. It’s also important to understand how to write both victory and defeat.

You will notice the Word Count at the top of this OOC box. That Word Count is for the story post above it, and is something you should include in every post. Use Microsoft Word or another program with a word counter to get a count, and put it at the end of your post.

If you have any questions, you can post them in the Raptor Squadron topic in the Navy Main Comnet or you can PM myself or another member of the Academy Staff.

Durzo Four shuffled into the simulator room along with the rest of the recruits, making a beeline for the front row. He quickly found a seat and sat down, making sure to keep his back straight and chin up. His mother had always made it a point that students who sat in the front of the classroom were the best. Durzo hadn’t necessarily believed that to be true, but it did make him stand out, so that had to count for something. Regardless, Durzo wanted to make a lasting impression. He wanted to be that diamond in the rough, even if he wasn’t too sure about his piloting skills.

    The past few months had been exciting and tough for the future pilot, putting him through a tedious training process that only the best could overcome. It was one obstacle after the next, each one proving to be more difficult then the last. Durzo loved it though, and wouldn’t have it any other way. It wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be like, but it was close enough. Besides, he hadn’t even finished training yet. The young recruit still had plenty of time to accept all the VEN had to offer, and that was quite a lot. Now all Durzo had to do was complete this training mission and he would be sent off to a fighter squadron. The very thought made his stomach churn with excitement.

    A Mon Cal training officer who had been waiting at the front of the room inspected each of the recruits, his alien features void of emotion. He was all business. Once everyone was seated, he walked over to one of the simulator pods. “You have been assembled here today for a training mission,” he began, his voice loud and clear. The veteran pilot continued to brief them, the recruits eyes and ears solely focused on the Mon Calamarian known as Drac. “Command will then evaluate your simulator run and that will determine whether or not you passed. Now mount up.”

    With that, the recruits hurried over to their simulators. Nervous as ever, Durzo quickly made his way over to the simulator closest to him. Before Durzo stepped inside, he couldn’t help but notice the tall man getting into the simulator across from Durzo’s, and motioned over to the man. “I guess you’ll be my wingman!” Shouted Durzo, trying to be friendly. The tall mans facial expression remained blank. The only sign of acknowledgement was a curt nod before stepping into his simulator. “Can’t say I didn’t try,” Durzo muttered to himself as he stepped inside his simulator pod, shutting the hatch.

    The young Crewman strapped himself in, donning the familiar Imperial star fighter helmet. Seconds later, the simulators viewport flashed into view, replicating a perfect version of what it was like to be inside a TIE Star Fighter. Durzo couldn’t help but admire the realistic qualities of the simulator – everything was exactly how it should be. Durzo had been through the start up sequence three times before this, in simulators, and in real TIE’s, but it was still somewhat unfamiliar.

His hands fumbled over the controls, slightly trembling from the nervous energy pouring through him. C’mon, get a grip on yourself Durzo. You’ve done this before, he thought, trying to calm himself down. Taking deep breaths, the wannabe pilot flicked the ignition switch and felt the TIE instantly respond, its ION engine burning into existence. Checking the status screen, the single thruster showed green. So far so good. Next, Durzo powered up his laser cannons and shields, both of them 100% ready. Once done with that, he made sure his sensors were good to go, and then double checked everything. It never hurt to be too cautious now, did it?

“Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader. All systems nominal. Report your status and acknowledge your ready to launch,” Drac called over the com, sounding every bit as professional as he looked.

Seconds later – Durzo’s wingman, Oranos, the man who pretty much ignored him, coolly followed Drac’s lead. “Raptor 3, good to go.”

Durzo found himself fumbling over what to say, but couldn’t delay the roll call. “Uhh, Raptor 4 here, everything is lean and green!” He said rather foolishly. Uhh? Did I really just say ‘uhh Raptor 4, everything is lean and green?’ Wow, way to go Durzo, you definitely sounded confident.

The rest of Raptor Squadron chimed in, and Drac spoke again. “Control, this is Raptor Leader. Squadron reports ready to launch.”

    Control gave them the green light and Durzo watched as Drac’s fighter was released from the docking claw. The expert fighter pilot navigated his TIE through the ships exit and blasted into open space. Raptor 2 and 3 followed his lead, and before Durzo knew it, it was his turn too. Releasing the docking claw, Durzo felt the TIE lurch downward for a second until the repulsors kicked into place, making sure he didn’t smash into the bottom of the bay. Slowly but surely, Durzo navigated his TIE toward the ships exit. Upon exiting the ship, he throttled up three quarters and smiled as he steadily piloted his TIE into formation. He was bubbling with excitement, and if the ships com didn’t activate every time he spoke, he would have yelled at the top of his lungs.


   

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Word Count: 887

Stardreamer sat back with utmost confidence as the simulator powered up. Around him was the chaotic scene of battle: laser bolts cascaded the star filled space, explosions blossomed, pilots cried out in triumph or last failure, droids twittered seemingly nonsensical noises.  A laser narrowly flashed across the Tie Fighter’s starboard, almost incinerating ship and pilot alike. Stardreamer’s confidence imploded.
  His attention now on the surrounding battle, Stardreamer located his first victim: a battered looking X-wing. Stardreamer pulled slightly up on the yoke, bringing his opponent into his crosshairs. A duo of green bolts proceeded, transforming the X-wing into a small star. An insatiable lust for blood overtook Stardreamer as he scanned for more targets. A Y-wing caught his eye.
  Stardreamer coaxed the Tie Fighter left, and toggled with the targeting computer until the enemy was in range. The display blinked red, Stardreamer quickly flipped a switch, and unleashed a vengeful missile. It came close to its target, but was abruptly put to a halt by an intercepting quad of red lasers. “Blasted Rebel scum!” Stardreamer cursed aloud. He searched for the interfering nuance. “There,” Stardreamer whispered to himself once the perpetrator was located.
  Bringing the ship around, Stardreamer’s crosshairs found its new target. With a growl, he released four emerald lasers. All met their target. “Another one eliminated,” Stardreamer breathed to the ship. “Now, where’s that Y-wing? Ah, there it is. Well, maybe not it, but whatever.” Once again, Stardreamer fiddled with the targeting computer, and once it had found its target, he unleashed another devastating missile. This one met its mark.
  Suddenly, Stardreamer noticed a foursome of scarlet bolts rushing toward him. With a snap-roll, he barely dodged them. Stardreamer returned fire at his attacker. The opposing ship became a blazing ball of fire and debris. The com buzzed, static filled the cockpit. Stardreamer didn’t hear the call sign, but he did the words, “Under heavy fire! Need help!”
  Stardreamer’s eyes gazed into the mass of dogfights to discover the ship in trouble. Three X-wings were chasing it, as it weaved around space, trying desperately to avoid the crimson deaths pursuing it. Stardreamer accelerated toward its direction. One of the enemies found his crosshairs. Stardreamer fired. One down, two to go, he thought. A burst of flame abruptly caught Stardreamer’s eyes. The fellow Tie Fighter had been hit. It was an array of atomized dust now. “Bantha poodoo!” cursed Stardreamer.
  The two remaining X-wings pulled up, in order to find their way behind Stardreamer. He quickly went the opposite direction, and found himself face-to-face with the deadly duo.  Stardreamer quickly fired off several potshots as he snap-rolled to avoid the offenders’ own shots. Fortune was with him, for one of the offenders lit up the sky in a blaze of blinding light. Stardreamer pulled back around to face the remaining Rebel trash can.
  The Rebel pilot quickly accelerated, and flew past Stardreamer before he could get lock on, toward the main Rebel fleet.. Stardreamer turned around to follow. Have to reach him, before he gets to that fleet.

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OOC: 511 words

Vender was ready to kick this thing off. Drac had made his speech and now the simulation was about to begin. While sitting in his own pod, Vender listened to the communications.

“Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader. All systems nominal. Report your status and acknowledge ready to launch.”

Vender checked his systems and acknowledged. "Raptor 4, Ready and Green."

“Control, this is Raptor Leader. Squadron reports ready to launch.”

The anticipation grew and he could feel the anxiety pumping through his veins. It had been a long time since he had flown a starfighter, but was eager just the same.

“Ready to launch confirmed, Raptor Leader. Permission granted. Good luck out there- it’s nasty.”

Raptor Leader released himself from the dock clamp and flew out first, followed by the next TIE Fighter, and so on until it was his turn. Vender yanked the release to set his fighter free and was out just in time to see the view.

“Raptors, follow me in. We’re taking out those X-wings.”

Vender throttled up to max power and followed the group. Raptor 3 split from Raptor lead as soon as Lead engaged the X-wings. A classic furball was errupting, and the view was just spectacular! "I'm on your wing Raptor 3, lets go hunting."

Following close, he adjusted his shields 75% to aft to provide greater cover. Raptor 3 began chase on a pair of X-wings that broke their formation. The X-wings had spotted us and started into an Immelman, to climb to our plain.

The X-wings were slow to climb to our position, and Raptor 3 caught onto this. Just after the X-wings finished the manuver, Raptor 3 went into an offset head on pass. Vender followed tightly, giving up room so they would not collide. The manuver worked out, and Raptor 3 was now firing wildly at the X-wing.

Vender felt his TIE rock a bit, and checked his sensors. His shields depleted a bit, and discovered how they were just outsmarted. The X-wings had effectively sandwhiched them after performing a yo-yo out of the immelman. The X-wing in front was nothing more than a decoy. "Raptor 3, we have to break. We got two hot on our six."

Another bolt of ruby just missed him, and Vender had no choice but to roll. "I can't cover you for long, we have to break." Three more bolts shot past, and Vender narrowly escaped these. To his dismay, they caught his wingman and crippled Raptor 3's right wing.

"Raptor 3 is a sitting duck. I'm breaking out." Vender shunted some energy to his shields and began a High G Barrel Roll. With any luck he would end up on the basksides of both his persuers, and possibly escape to find help.

The X-wings did not buy into this, and simply ducked in low. This wasn't looking good, after the roll Vender jinked as much as he could until his attackers were high up on him. Another second later Vender went into a split s, again hoping to find a friendly. "Raptor Lead, I am in serious trouble here."

The X-wings lost sight of him for a second, and then persued, but still Vender had put a little distance between them. "Raptor 4, this is Raptor 5, on my way."

Soon as this was said, a missile lock warning lit up. "Ah geez." The simulator went dark, and Vender was just another dead duck in the pond.

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Word Count 572

IG-88/e was pushing his servomotors to the limit in order to get to the training room. This was not a common practice for him being that he was a droid. But today he was in a rush because his trigger-happy wingmate/partner had fallen asleep. Now they were rushing down the halls, which was a strange sight. A two meter droid followed closely by a human running at top speed in an Imperial base. They passed troopers and officers alike. One officer barely jumped out of the way before they ran past. When they reached the door, his partner, Searchboy, was panting and wheezing, trying to recover.
  As IG reached for the door controls he could hear the trainer speaking on the other side. When the doors opened, IG got a look at the Mon Calamari pilot teaching today. There were not many Mon Cals working for the Empire these days. During the Civil War, the Empire destroyed parts of their planet and enslaved their race. IG noted he stood like one of those pilots who thought they had seen it all, and they knew it all as well.
  He didn't acknowledge them as they entered the room and continued, "Once you get shot down, the simulation is over. Command will evaluate your simulator run and that will determine whether or not you passed." He finished with a quick, "Now mount up." Searchboy shot for the nearest simulator with eagerness only to be beaten by a cocky, over-energetic, mama's boy type. Searchboy found another one and began to climb the ladder. He stopped and yelled at him,  " Hey, Scrapheap, hurry it up."
  IG remembered when he got that nickname. Searchboy had found him in a garbage pit and fixed him up. Ever since, he had been called that, it even became his call sign. IG headed for the one next to him and leaped easily up to the hatch. That was one of the joys of being a droid. When he had lowered himself into the cockpit, he scanned the controls in a matter of seconds. He checked his systems while the black void in front of him rearranged into a hangar. He disengaged the landing claw holding him in place in the hangar, while activating the repulsorlifts.
  Once all the the ships were disengaged his comm beeped, "Raptor Squadron, this is Raptor Leader. All systems nominal. Report your status and acknowledge ready to launch." IG started with, "Raptor 1-1 reports ready. Scrapheap is go for launch." As the rest of the squad reported in, IG reached over and activated his twin ion engines. His comm came on again, "Follow me out Raptors. Remember to work together in wing pairs and to follow orders." As the squad left the hangar, IG felt the push of acceleration press him into his seat. The screen went black once more, but this time it was speckled with silver glittering points. As Drac came up the side of the destroyer the squad followed him. When they came over the side their unblemished view was littered with Rebel ships. The ships were led by a  squadron of X-wings.
  "Raptors, follow me in. We're taking out those X-wings.", came a voice over the comm. IG found a ship in the rear port side of the squadron formation. " This is Scrapheap. I have my target, Engaging." He shot his ship forward, forgetting about his wingmate, Searchboy. As he passed over the top of the squad, he pulled a 90 degree hard break turn, came up, and pulled back on the flight stick while leveling out. This brought him right behind his target. He fired quick bursts of green lances of light. The shields began to falter and some bolts made it through. The first clipped his upper starboard wing, while the second struck the cockpit dead on, opening it up to the cold vacuum of space. As the pilots limp body was flung from its ship, IG locked onto the next target as the squad split up. As he began his pursuit, more ships poured into the fight. There was nothing IG liked better than an Endurance run.

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692 words

As Searchboy got into the simulator pods he remembered about the times he found IG88/e in a junk pile. He turned around to see that IG88/e wasn’t staring into blank space. Searchboy shouted “Hey Scrapheap hurry it up. Searchboy gave him that nickname because Scrapheap looked like scrapheap when Searchboy found him.

    Searchboy got into the simulator and the door closed when the guy up in the control room saw that everybody was in the simulators. Drac who was the Mon Calamarian flight leader of this simulation told everybody to be wing pairs and to follow him in to a group of x-wings. Luckily Searchboy was paired up with Scrapheap.

    Right away Scrapheap took off without telling Searchboy. Searchboy was struggling to keep up with him. When Searchboy finally caught up to him Scrapheap was blasting at the nearest x-wing. Searchboy took the nearest X-wing to him. As Searchboy lasers lanced out toward the X-wing The X-wing that Scrapheap was targeting blew up and Searchboy had to roll out of they or risk the body temporarily blinding him. When Searchboy finally got his bearings, the X-wing he was targeting was gone. He looked all over but couldn’t find it. Then He looked at the sensors and saw that there was an X-wing on his tail. Searchboy did a really quick stall turn 180 degrees. Searchboy changed all shields to be in front to combat the X-Wing. Then shot toward the attacking X-Wing guns a blazing while at the same time playing chicken. The emerald bolts struck the first X-Wing and neutralized the shields. . Searchboy fired back. When they were 100 meters from each other both ships decided to snap roll to left. They both circled and came around shooting at each other again. This time though Searchboy was prepared to instead of all shields in front. He gave 50% power to lasers. Searchboy shot at his foe and blew him sky high after one bolt hit dead on at the pilot.

    Searchboy sped off to see if he can find some more things to destroy. Right then he spotted Scrapheap giving pursuit to an X-Wing. Searchboy decided to see if he could get it before the droid did. Then Searchboy saw Scrapheap get hit by a turbolaser bolt. Scrapheap spun out and blows up into another X-Wing.
As Searchboy saw this happen, four X-Wings came down on him like a bantha stampede. Searchboy realized this and sped up to the star destroyer just a few clicks ahead of him. The X-Wings gave hot pursuit hoping to destroy Searchboy as he is escaping to the Star Destroyer. Searchboy puts 75% shields for the back and 25% to engines to hopefully outrun those blasted X-wings when he gets about halfway he finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. A group of ten X- Wings were in front of him trying to cut him off. Searchboy had no choice but to try to push past them. He knows he’s doomed but he wants to take as many out as he can. Before he gets his first shot off, the screen goes dark and the hatch opens. The simulation has ended.


Word Count 531

Drac winced as another friendly blip disappeared from his sensor screen. I know these are new pilots, but this is getting ridiculous. The statistical probability of having this many collisions in such a short timespan is...well, very low at any rate. Activating his com, he barked out an order, "Tighten it up, Raptors. The currents of battle are rapid and trecherous. They smash the unwary."

Someone replied, "What???"

The VENA Trainer sighed, "Don't run into the frakking ships, Crewman."

"Oh..." the voice paused for a moment, "Roger tha..." The signal faded after a brief electronic screech. At the same moment another friendly blip met with an enemy one and both disappeared. Drac resisted the urge to rub his forehead in exasperation, knowing his helmet would just block the movement.

Red lasers flashed past, followed by a blue ion bolt and bringing a welcome distraction along with them. He checked his sensors while flipping into a double barrel roll and smiled to see a B-wing coming at him. It must have been separated from its squadron while making a run on a stardestroyer. Perhaps the newest and most heavily armed toy out here. He thought to himself, Though I do wish I was in my Avenger…or even my Interceptor. These TIE Starfighters are drive like hutts compared to them.

Pulling up into an immelman, the experienced pilot began to jockey for position with the deadly bomber. His turn radius was a bit better, and soon had him on the other ship’s tail. He drove in close, where his lasers were the most effective, and began to dance around. Each move his opponent made was met with a neat counter- first breaking, then slowing down, and now rushing into a split-s or a corkscrew.

As he chased the other ship, Drac took his shots as they came to him. A shot here and another there as the Rebel bomber briefly stabilized in his crosshairs before twisting away again slowly began to build up. As his seventh successful shot landed, he saw the shield flicker and die as his laser burned a black scorch mark across the enemy ship’s hull. Suddenly its ion cannon, which had been menacing him throughout the engagement, fell silent. It had been fried by a short his shot caused. His next couple of shots multiplied the damage to the enemy craft. The third one to land hit on a crucial spot, one of the rotary joints that allowed the B-wing’s body to rotate around the cockpit. A shower of sparks and some brief flames sprayed from the joint and the agile bomber’s trademark spinning movement suddenly stopped. The pilot was taken by surprise, and his craft tumbled as the dynamics of his controls changed considerably. Drac was on him before he could recover, pumping another couple of shots into the unfortunate starfighter. Exploding in a ball of incandescent fire, the B-wing disappeared from the sensor board. Scratch one Spinner.

Examining his sensors for a moment, Drac was gratified to see that no one else seemed to have run into anything while he was busy. Several trainees had even managed to score kills during the time, leaving very few X-wings to populate the immediate area. He glanced at another area of the sensor board, seeing a group of incoming ships. “Heads up, Raptors. Two squadrons of rebel Y-wings inbound.”

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Word Count: 560

The doors of the training bay parted in front of Thane, he quietly entered the room, hands behind his back. He observed the room and saw what appeared to be the simulators, which were a near perfect match to a TIE cockpit, except the fact that the stabilizer wings were missing. He look to the far corner of the training facility and saw that one simulator was, open. As he made his way to it, Thane noticed other simulators start to open, and out stepped several cadets, most had either disappointed or frustrated looks on their faces.

Thane reached his simulator, and closed the hatch behind him. After checking a few systems, Thane donned his helmet. Within seconds he was immersed into the cockpit of a TIE starfighter, in an Imperial fighter bay. Thane primed his engines, charged his weapons, took a deep breathe and was off. Thane punched the throttle to full and could feel his restraints thug against his shoulders.

“Raptor lead, this is Undertaker, forming up on your six.” Said Thane

“Undertaker, engage the X-wings coming in at point oh six.” Replied Drac

Thane looked to port and saw four X-Wing class starfighters, heading straight for him and his fellow trainees. Thane targeted the lead X-Wing, figuring it would be the flight leader, his H.U.D show the X-Wing was traveling at a speed 800 kph, and that he could bring his weapons to bear in 10 seconds. Thane took aim at the X-Wing’s cockpit, 3…2…1. Thane unleashed torrents of blaster fire. The first four hits dropped the enemy’s shields, and his final burst tore through the armored cockpit, and also took off one of the four S-foils. Which told Thane that either his aim was off, of the blasters needed recalibrating. The lead X-Wing exploded, fragments from his ship peppered the shields of the other X-Wings. The three remaining fighters fired several volleys of blaster fire in return.

Thane gunned his engines and dropped his TIE under their fire. One of the other cadets managed to take out one of the X-Wings. As the X-Wings passed over him, Thane executed an Immelman, and was now on one of the two remaining X-Wing’s six. Thane was patient he waited for his time to strike, his H.U.D showed that he had a lock on his target, Thane pulled the triggers. Several bursts of blaster fire lashed out from his TIE and struck the X-Wing, in its less armored aft section. The X-Wing shuddered and exploded, Thane rolled up and over the explosion, dodging any debris, when klaxons sounded in his helmet. While Thane was lining up his shot, another X-Wing got in behind him.

Bright red bolts shot past his window, Thane lowered his head, took a deep breathe, and sighed. “I took to long, this is not like sniping targets, this is fast paced combat.”
When he opened his eyes, the simulation had ended, and his hatch began to unseal. 

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WC: 492

Maroy bolted down the corridor as fast as she could. Why did this place have to be so confusing? Finally locating the proper door, she dashed up to it and flung it open. Noticing all the empty chairs, she glanced at her chrono and realized she was several minutes late. A strange fishlike creature, evidently the instructor, was one of the few people left in the room.

“Ah, you must be,” he glanced at his datapad, “Maroy?”
“Yes, sir. Sorry I’m late. I had a hard time finding the room,” she replied.
“Join the club,” murmured one of the other trainees.
The instructor continued speaking, “This is a simulation of the infamous battle of Endor. This is an endurance mission, so fly till you die. You will be judged based on kills, survival time, and skill. Since you are all joining in late, the rebels will be attacking from the moment you leave the hangar. Consider that an incentive to come sooner next time. Take simulators fifteen through twenty-five. Good luck.”

She raced over to simulator 17 and climbed up into the small ball-shaped cockpit. She glanced at the array of controls. So that’s the throttle, and that’s the shield monitor… and what the heck is this? She was hopelessly confused. This was nothing like the either the A-Wing she had stolen or the junked supply ship she had repaired. She hoped she would be able to figure it out before she did anything stupid. The screen in front of her lit up, revealing her fighter’s position inside the star destroyer. She took off slowly, but still managed to bump a few walls. Despite nearly ramming several other fighters, she managed to squeeze the ship out of the docking bay. Blaster fire caught her port shields as rebel fighters ran a strafing run on the destroyer. Straight ahead was the oppressive rebel fleet. Knowing time was of the essence, she began experimenting with the controls. So this one fires the torpedoes and this one… oops. “Raptor 17, watch your fire!” screamed the com. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” she yelled back.

Suddenly a group of X-Wings was heading straight for her. Panicking, she grabbed at the firing controls. Laser bolts and missile streamed out towards the rebel fighters. She pulled sharply on the flight stick… A tremendous explosion shook her ship as her barrage ripped through the lead X-Wing’s shields and blasted the fighter apart, causing a chain reaction that wiped out three others.

Unfortunately, one survived and executed an Immelman, which put it right on her tail. Dang, knew that was just luck. She tried to pull away, but the rebel pilot kept with her. “This is Raptor 17; I have one on my tail!” No one answered as the X-Wing poured red bolts of energy into her shielding. Realizing she was as good as dead, she performed a full engine stop. The X-Wing, realizing her drop in speed to late, slammed into her rear shields, punched through them, and slammed into her engines. The ensuing blast flung her forward and slammed her face against the controls. Straightening, she slowly remembered that it was just a simulator and that she wasn’t dead. The cockpit hatch popped open and she stepped out into the blinding light.

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545 Words

“This is Raptor 3-4, reporting in,” Northen spoke through his flight suit’s communication relay. The simulated TIE he was in seemed more than real, it had every single detail a TIE would have, except real blasters.

“Copy, Raptor 3-4, Raptor 3-1 here—meet up with us as we make another run at ‘em,” Raptor’s third flight had just made a daring move by going in a single file line and letting shots off at the same ship. No ship was hit and Raptor 3-2 was killed during the initial firefight. Northen hit the thrusters on his TIE Fighter and moved towards the flight leader, which was shown on the NAV Screen. The two pilots that were waiting on Northen slowed down their thrusters to allow Northen to catch up, and Northen moved in rank-and-file line behind 3-3.

“3-4 here, lets go,” Northen exclaimed to the entire squadron on open com.

“3rd flight increase your speed to 100 megalights per hour,” the leader said. Northen reached up above his head and toggled the three keys on a datapad, he selected 100 without looking. “I’m indicating the target for each of you on your screen, should be uploaded…now.” A small group of Y-Wings, slow and sluggish craft, showed up on the NAV Screen. Northen’s target was the one closest to the group. They were all speeding towards the target, and within 5 seconds they were on the first one.

“Sir!” 3-3 yelled, “they’re above us, two rows of A-Wings coming 9 o’clock!”

“Damn! Split and make up for your losses,” the group immediately turned into different directions. Northen turned to the right and pushed his fighter forward, with the ultimate force of 4,100 Gs hitting him. There had been two A-Wings in the first row and two more in the second, one of them had gone for Northen. The A-Wing was gaining considerable ground and Northen began to slow himself, preparing for a lag pursuit.

“And here we go again,” Northen said to no one in particular watched the A-Wing line himself up behind Northen, just outside of firing range. Northen then moved his joystick to the right and reached behind his head, ducking down to 75 megalights per hour. Both of the fighters were now on the same patch, and on the same row. Neither of them had the advantage in this situation. As Northen was just turning the corner, he saw the A-Wing perform a dandy maneuver to get behind Northen. The A-Wing moved to the right and Northen pushed his joystick towards him slightly, sending his fighter up into the air and in a moments notice back down again. His fighter righted itself and Northen’s target was dead ahead.

“3-3 here I’m being overtaken by—AH!” 3-3 was hit by blaster fire, and his dot on the NAV Screen disappeared.

Northen’s A-Wing was moving quickly, and he couldn’t keep up for long. He watched his target monitor until the A-Wing aligned itself just in the middle. He squeezed the trigger and the A-Wing’s engine popped off, shortly followed by a small explosion that Northen had to dive out of the way for.

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523 words

Sakura eases the Tie Interceptor into a fluid bank to the right immediately after leaving the hangar. Already Sakura, whose real name is Myrkal, has targets moving in at high speed. 'X wings, this should be entertaining' he thinks before easing the throttle up slowly until the max power percentile is at 75%.

Blaster fire and turbo-laser fire slices through the cold blackness of space as the rebels launch an all out assault on the new Death Star. "Idiots!." he exclaims loudly in utter surprise at their stupidity. As the other members of the squadron move to intercept the incoming rebel fighters Sakura weaves easily among them preparing to start firing when they arrive in firing range.

The distance between them and the Rebel x-wings closes quickly and as they all begin to fire, a brilliant display of colorful beams and lasers, the brilliance of the scene is increased as fighter after fighter explodes into flaming pockets of debris.

Myrkal moves his Tie into position behind an x-wing while dodging the fire of another x-wing. This second fighter  moves up behind him trying to get a good sight on him while he is distracted by the other, Myrk was very lucky to have avoided the initial barrage of laser fire. Grinning at his luck Myrk lowers the throttle suddenly and rolls to the right.

As the trailing x-wing bursts past him, not ready for his sudden decrease in speed, Myrk hits the throttle forward, and darting after the now frantic trying to evade x-wing pilot he calmly maneuvers into firing position. This takes some time as the x-wing pilot is pretty good, weaving around in semicircles and sweeps mingled with corkscrews and rolls.

As the x-wing begins another sideways sweep in front of him, Myrk leads the fighter with his guns and then streaks at the fighter when it begins to juke to the let and right. Blasting away with his lasers he is satisfied when he sees a flame erupt in the cockpit just before it blows up.

' Damn Rebels, you should know better then to come after the Death Star. Sighting the x-wing that he originally was going after Myrk speeds off in that direction.

Six x-wings in a tightly held delta formation were several thousand meters from his target and as he came over the chaos of the main battlefield he saw them turning towards him. "Crap, I am going to need some help guys..." he says into the Commlink. "Six scumbags closing on me now..."
He blinks to clear his eyes and puts all his attention into the problem at hand. A second later he is startled by the sound of metal on metal impacting beside him and he gasps as the connecting rod to one of the wing stabilizer rods is hit severing the control wires for the right side deflector. "Damn, " he thinks aloud, "... that was close."

For the next several minutes Myrk wreaks havoc on the six x-wings attacking them repeatedly in nearly suicidal head on attacks...

Myrk smiles in glee as he pushes the throttle all the way forward and turns on the afterburner. Putting almost all of his power into his forward deflector shields and star-drive he streaks again at the enemy. This time as he flies he realizes that all around things are going downhill.

The Rebels were putting up quite a fight, already they had taken out nearly three times as many fighters than they had lost. It didn't take a genius to figure out that if things continue like this the rebels will win the battle.

'What the hell am I thinking? The Rebels, win. As if it could be fathomable. Looking at his tactical display he grimaces, knowing that it is a reality rather than merely a possibility. We are in trouble.

Flying full speed towards the enemy medical frigate, which is most likely the Rebel fleet commanders flagship Myrk tries to figure out a way so that when he gets there he can inflict the most damage possible before he dies or has to break off the attack.

Noting that the fuselage of the ship is littered with containers full of supplies he heads towards that area thinking that the containers might help hurt the ship if he can make them detonate still in the hangar.

Diving low and coming up from below, lasers blasting away at containers sending rippling waves over the hull of the ship, Myrk snarls when he sees the containers did no real damage merely blackening the heavy hull. Coming around for another attack run, Myrkal doesn't notice the two x-wings approach him from behind until their rounds are passing by on either side.

Gasping, Myrk frantically tries to evade, spinning in a dizzying array of moves that would have confused even the most experience pilot. He is awed as the fighters stick with him. "I am about to die..." he says calmly to himself, understanding that their is nothing he can do to avert it. "I will make a point of it though."

Instead of continuing his run back towards the fleet as ordered by command, Myrkal spins and goes at both x-wins head on.  As the three ships close Myrk's eyes widen in shock as each round hits his shields with a dull thwap sound. "So far so good, nothing major yet."

Blasting at the enemy he notes that both are relatively unharmed, while his ship is nearing its end, speed decreasing slowly as power dissipates.
Looking at the angle both ships are coming in from Myrk gauges when they will be closest and toggles the self-destruct.

Moving with all the finesse he can, shields, life support and power failing, Myrk manages to get between both x-wings, the furthest a mere 15 yards away. At that second the Death Star explodes and total despair fills Myrkal, and suddenly all his misgivings about suicide attacks disappears. Looking at the nearyby x-wing pilot Myrk raises a finger to him. "Welcome to hell scum!" He yells as he depresses the self-destruct.

The Tie explodes with all the capacity the ship is capable. Flaming shards and fragments lance into the two x-wings ripping their engines to shreds while pitting them with huge smoking holes.

For a second both pilots sit in shock, thinking that somehow they survived the explosion. They were wrong, very much so. Their star-drives , filled with pieces of plastisteel and other metal flying free inside the component after the shrapnel blew a way in, catch on the debris. Small parts of the drives lock up, compensation devices fail, most damaged or wiped out themselves and the drives go critical, exploding in a white flash of light.

As Inende walked into the waiting room for a simulator, he realized that he was finally ready to accept the challenge of the navy. He decided to try and go above and beyond the expectations set before him, and blast his way out of any obstacle. As he walked down the aisle, someone hopped out of the last simulator in the row. As the trainee was walking towards the door, he glanced up and looked away quickly, as if afraid. Come to think of it many of the other trainees had been steering clear of him. They’re just afraid of how he looks and not what’s truly inside his heart. No one understands him yet. He’ll just have to prove himself in battle and show the other’s that he is not a monster.

Inende got  to the simulator, but only after a thoughtful walk down the aisle, He hopped into the simulator’s cockpit and into the pilot’s seat. After placing his helmet firmly onto his head, Inende revved up his engines and started to check his lasers, shields, and sensors.  Seeing that his engines and all the other things that protocol makes you check, he finally started up his comlink. “Ok Inende, you will be raptor four, Good Luck, sounded off a droids voice.

Inende shot out of the fighter bay’s docking area. As soon as he got out of the ship, he saw that there was a squad of four X-wings, bearing down on the ships top side. He turned into an Immelman to get above the ship. As he got out of the Immelman he saw that the X-wings haven’t spotted him yet. Slowing his engines down to a crawl, he sat there, laying in wait, ready to strike. Finally he took the dive straight at the side of the last X-wing, in formation, blasting his lasers at the ship. He hit the X-wing  with everything he had. He pumped in round after round into the X-wing’s shields, at last getting through he took it down. He flew into the cloud of smoke coming from the explosion. Hiding in wait for a few seconds, making the X-wing pilots jumpy, for they had no idea what had happened.

Inende, in the cloud of smoke,  sat there, with his blood pumping into the infernal blood rage he learned to control in the training of his martial arts. He shot out of the cloud, ”aaaaeeehhhh" blasting lasers left and right, into the other three X-wings. He took down another’s shields but the pilot got out of sight before the last lasers could bring him down.  He headed into a barrel roll to get out of an attack from the other two X-wings. It slowed him down enough for the X-wings to shoot past him. He saw the X-wings breaking away to the right, so he shot into a break turn, cutting off the enemy pilots. Taking aim he started to shoot at the first  X-wing to come into his line of sight. The first couple shots hit the enemy’s shields and did nothing. The next few shots were true though, and sliced through the X-wings shields, crippling it into submission.

As Inende took his bearing he saw the third X-wing bearing down on him. He could tell that the enemy pilot would never give up. Hoping to fly close enough for a ally pilot to give a hand, Inende turned towards the battlefield. He noticed that the enemy pilot was coming in fast before he made the turn. Knowing this could come of advantage or certain death he made an even sharper turn to convince the enemy pilot  to head into a lag pursuit. Inende looked back and saw the X-wing head into the trap. Knowing that before he could get out of the turn he had to shake off the enemy pilot. Knowing only one way to get out of the lag pursuit, he broke into a spiraling downward turn. He hoped that fate was on his side for this might be his last few moments in life. Hoping didn't always cut it though. The enemy pilot saw Inende break away and started firing. But this cost him his life, for the deep concentration he was in all but helped the ally pilot take him down. “Raptor four this is raptor one get back to the docking area you need to replenish your shields and get something in you. Raptor one……..

“Inende, wake up boy, wake up!”  Aaeeehh. ” Look son you passed out from an adrenaline rush you got from almost taking out your first X-wing. You got too caught up into the fight that you didn’t see an enemy pilot coming towards your rear. You got shot down before you could destroy one so you should probably try this again sometime. You should go back to your room and rest. You’ll need it for the next time," said a fishy looking creature looking down on him.

Inende walked back to his room thinking about the dream he had while he was passed out. Hoping one day this would be him. This would send Inende deep into his training, never giving up on his dream to become the best, and one day this would be looked back on for him to see his life changing decision to be the best he could be. One day, all would come into place and all would unfold, for Inende years from now will be the best he can be.

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The bald Falleen, Xileteros, strode into the simulator room, fully expecting a preparation talk to be going on.  Instead, the waiting area was empty and the only noises to be heard where the gentle whirs and beeps of the simulator units. He clicked his pointed teeth together in annoyance at having missed the face-to-face briefing.  Late arrivals weren’t his style.  They never were. Pulling out his datapad, he checked his assignment. Sure enough, this was the right room and the right time. Walking over to the simulation display on the wall, he saw that the other trainees were participating in a run through of the Battle of Endor. 

The battle of Endor… That didn’t go well for the Empire. Not one bit.  From what I heard, it was a blood bath for us.  Well, if the Brass wants us to fly ‘till we die, then I’ll give it all I’ve got.

He marched over to an open simulator, his boots falling heavily on the durasteel floor. This so-called “standard gravity” was about twice what it needed to be – Falleen gravity. It made Xileteros uncomfortable. ”That’s the problem with these human ships,” he decided. ”Never concerning themselves with the comfort or welfare of other species.  It’s a bloody shame the Emperor’s gone.  He had a knack for this sort of thing.”

With some difficulty in this gravity, he clambered up the access ladder on the outside of the TIE cockpit situated amidst the various servos used to simulate the mild g-forces felt inside a starfighter with intact inertial dampeners. Once he reached the top, he hefted open the heavy top of the cockpit and lowered himself into the pilot’s seat.  Lifting the Virtual Reality Flight Helmet from its rack, he placed it on his head, wrinkling his nose at the stench.  ”Smells like vomit.  Hope the last fellow to use this got out all right. It’d be a right shame if someone ended up in the medbay after a training sim.”

Xileteros fumbled around and finally found the plugs to attach the helmet to his suit.  Plugging them in, he breathed a sigh of relief as the ventilation system started up.  He heard a mechanical voice in his ear, “Welcome to the Battle of Endor training simulation.  In this exercise, your designation is Raptor Six.  You and your wingman, Raptor Seven, will be launching shortly.” With that, the view through the view of the simulator facility through cockpit window vanished and was replaced with one of the inside of a TIE Fighter launching hangar.

With that, Xileteros waited for whoever his wingman was to mount up and to receive authorization to launch.

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Word Count: 441

Byorninn was led into a room by a female secretary. "This is where your test will take place." she said and stepped out of the room.

"Please find an empty simulator and get yourself strapped in" the receptionist told him.

without saying a word Byorninn walked over to the empty simulator, looking at the others as he went. completely silent save for the few blasts and explosions of the raging battle. He reached his destination, an empty pod. he climbed in, fastened the seat belt and put on his helmet. for a few moments, the screen was black as night, but it suddenly flashed to life. he was sitting in the cockpit of a TIE fighter. a droid voice buzzed over the comm.

"You have a clear for launch, raptor 9. Your wing man will join you when he arrives." the droid said. "Try not to get shot down before that happens."

"Roger that control, All systems go." Byorninn said as he checked all his main systems. the engines hummed to life when he flipped the ignition switch. Byorninn then flipped the Docking clamp switch off and throttled forward. There was a slight lurch as the clamp released and the fighter started to move forward. In front of him was a grand sight. debris, from ships and asteroids, enemy fighters and allies locked in what seemed a stale mate. from this far away from the battle, Byorninn couldn't tell who was winning the battle.

"Well, might as well not keep the squad waiting." he said to himself, as he got used to the controls of his craft. he was not more than 50 meters away from the launch bay doors when his weapons lock warning started to flash red. "Shit." he muttered as he tried to lose his pursuer.

He did a barrel roll to avoid the missile shot at him, but he was still being chased. he knew he might beable to lose the enemy in the debris field, but he was not close to good enough to safely navigate it. He had to think quickly back to Flight School. Then it came to him. "The Split S!" he said out loud, as he started the maneuver. The enemy wasn't quite as new as Byorninn however and was able to read him like a book.

Byorninn, realizing this maneuver hadn't worked tried another one, the immelman. Byorninn pulled back on the controls and twisted it to the right. he executed it decently for his first time and it worked, he was slightly above his opponent and head on so Byorninn pushed the control forward to bring the enemy straight on before he squeezed the trigger. a flash of emerald green light erupted from the front of his ship as the lasers were fired. Direct hit. The enemy plane was destroyed.

Byorninn hardly realized the enemy was able to launch one last missile before it blew up. he tried to pull up but it was to late. the missile collided with the bottom of his TIE. He had just enough time to pull the manual eject cord. his ship blew up only to join the rest of the debris of the battle, as he was jettisoned into space.

His monitor flashed and went blank. Then over the speakers in his simulator pod he heard a voice, probably the receptionist say "Please remain seated while your test is being reviewed. Some one will be along shortly. Thank you"

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Word count 577