The famous TIE/sa bomber. Grent walked around it now, caressing one of the famous D shaped wings. It was smaller than he was expecting. He ran his fingers over the solar panels, and then around the corner, coming face-to-face with, what seemed like, a double cockpit. He knew that one of them, the one to the right of him in this case, was the storage compartment for the general armament, as well as a pair of general purpose warhead launchers. Grent looked over the specs on his datapad: if only he’d had one of these during his Ground Assault trial on Abrae, down in the Trench. With this amount of payload, there would be nothing but rubble left of any of the targets, especially that bunker. The Nordoxicon bomb sight, coupled with the SFS T-s7b targeting computer, made for some precision bombing. He was looking forward to getting into the cockpit.
Unfortunately for the young Mandalorian, today was not his lucky day. Yes, he would be in the cockpit of a TIE/sa multi-purpose bomber, but it was only the simulator, with parts of the cockpits of many old, retired, bombers put together to form one seamless replica. It was a shame that something as classic as the TIE/sa could be reduced to so little, but at least it would give a pretty realistic indicator as to what flying in the actual cockpit would be like. This gave callsign Gurlanin some hope, as he whistled to Tracyn, his pet strill that his Squadron XO had allowed to come with him. The beast followed the man everywhere: even to the head! The smell caused many a passing Crewman to gag, but Grent was used to it, as were most of Strill Squadron by now.
He made his way out of the large hanger where the bomber was situated, having seen what he’d come for, and headed down to the simulators. The Imperial Star Destroyer Mark. II had some pretty impressive simulators for a combat vessel, but Grent surmised that it was necessary, with the amount of squadrons that were aboard: not all of them could be out flying, after all. Once there, Tracyn wandered over to the corner, and flopped down into a basket that had been placed there specifically for his visits, whilst Grent climbed the steps, and clambered into the cockpit simulator, donning his Katarn helmet. He linked it with the simulator’s systems, as it warmed up.
[***TIE/sa Bomber***]
[***Simulation***]
[***Loading … ***]
BOOM. The blast shook the cockpit, vibrations coursing through Grent’s spine. The bomber’s cockpit was as equally cramped, if not more so, than the Interceptor. One of them screamed past the viewport, followed by a New Republic X-Wing, laser canons firing. Grent wanted to help, but he couldn’t. He’d been assigned his own mission, along with two other bombers. Between them, they formed the advance strike force, tasked with destroying key external systems of the New Republic frigate that loomed in front of them.
It was a EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate. Infamous for it’s part in the Rebellion Navy, especially as it had once been an Imperial frigate, and now used by the New Republic Navy, it was a symbol of nearly everything the Vast Empire pilots fought against. As such, it’s destruction, or, at least, its incapacitation, would be a great moral booster.
There were several key points, but the main one they were to destroy was the sensor systems, as well as the comm relays. Grent was nearing the frigate now.
“This is Overture Leader. You two ready back there?” He called on the comm to his wingmates.
“Overture 2 standing by.”
“Overture 5 standing by.”
“Excellent.
Phantom this is Overture Leader, beginning our attack.”
“Roger that, Overture.” Came the reply.
“Ok boys, here’s the plan.” Grent sucked air between his teeth, as he rolled to the left to avoid an oncoming fighter. The bomber was not as responsive to what he was used to. “First, we hit the shield generator. It should be above their bridge. As soon as it’s down, I want you two to hit the comm relays. Two? You can hit the short range, and five can hit the long range. I’ll get their sensors.”
“Roger, wilco.” Said two, who’s pilot was in the pod to his right.
“Roger, wilco, boss.” Said five, cheekily. That pilot was in the pod to his left.
“Alright, here we go.”
Grent focused, and homed in on his target. They had pre-agreed en-route that they were going to use their proton torpedoes first, concentrating them on the generator. Once in range, Grent selected the torpedoes from his weapons readout, and fired them towards the spherical generator on top of the enemy bridge. As expected, the shielding absorbed most of the damage, but there was a definite lapse in protection, as two and five’s torpedoes hit at the same time. For the next strike, they would have to be co-ordinated, but it would have to be soon: the anti-starfighter turrets did not look friendly. Grent contacted his wingmen, and informed them of the plan. They hurriedly agreed, then, on Grent’s mark, fired again. The combined effect of six torpedoes in one spot was too much for the already weakened shielding. It shimmered, and faded, as Grent fired his last two proton torpedoes into the generators, in case they came back online.
As they passed over the bridge, Overture Strike Force split, banking in opposite directions. It seemed like an age, compared to the high manoeuvrability of the Interceptor that Gurlanin was used to flying. Grent started prepping the bombs for his first pass. He double checked the targeting system, as he manually selected the sensor array as his target, the red diamond turning blue. This was so much easier than bombing runs in a fighter: the computer did most of the calculations for him. Still, some of it was skill.
A continuous ‘beep’ alerted Grent that he should release the bombs. So he did. He dropped four glowing orbs that exploded directly on target, causing the sensor array to spark somewhat. It was built to last, however. Four measly bombs weren’t enough to do more than scratch it, which was a shame for a certain point of view: easy to destroy made the young VE pilot’s life much easier.
He swung around for another pass, banking sharply, and blasting his laser cannons at a passing X-wing, which was then made short work of by its pursuer. Again checking the systems, Grent put a bit more power into the thrusters, speeding him towards his target. He let loose with his armament once more, the resulting explosions causing more damage than the original ones. Obviously the first pass had done more than it had seemed. Grent was pleased, as he made a final pass, making short work of the sensor relay. He felt a slight sense of pride, as he watched it explode, sending fragments flying off into space. It was beautiful to watch.
[***Simulation Over***]
Obviously two and five had destroyed their targets as well thought Grent, as he released the catch on the simulator door and stretched his legs. He glanced over towards the examinations. Hopefully he had done well enough to gain his Top Gun certification. It would mean that he could fly bombers in the future, if he so wished. Of course, Grent was aiming higher: for Tier 3. But that would come in time. For now, he would be content with gaining the first one.
- OOC:
- WC:1,252
