Jovak Macloid stood stiffly at attention, his right hand locked in a salute.  Japheth returned the salute quickly, then waved his hand to the seat across from his desk.  "As you were."

JMac dropped into the soft cushion of the seat, his face peering across the desk.  "Good to be back under your command, sir."

"It's good to have you back, JMac."

"So what did you want to see me about."

"Two things.  First of all, what did you do to poor Lt. Yalood?"

"Lt. Yalood, sir?"

"The officer that was in charge of the docking bay you used when you entered the Devestator.  I've heard that he has requested to be transferred to...." Japheth briefly glanced down at the datapad in front of him, then back up at the uniformed man in front of him.  "the Sian system of all places.  He also requested a new pair of pants, claimed that his old uniform pants were no longer usable."

The Corellian pilot grinned in recognition.  "Oh, that."

"Yes, that.  What in the hells of the Sith did you do?"

JMac's scarred visage twisted into almost a sheepish grin.  "He was rude."

"He was rude?"

"Yes, he was rude.  I simply explained the consequences of rudeness.  I suppose that I may have been slightly too harsh with him.  Or perhaps he was just overcome by how good looking I am."  At that JMac pulled his bandana away from his face, showing two burnt out sockets where his eyes used to be.  Japheth, composed as always, showed no emotion.  "A new pair of pants, huh?  I thought that I smelled something after I was done lecturing him."

"Yes, well, the next time that you need to make a point, please make it in a less.....dramatic way."

"Yes sir."

"Now, for the more important matter."  Japheth slid a small datacard across the table and began talking......

__________________________________________________________

All around the Devestator, comlinks began to go off.  "Your presence is requested in the main briefing room at 0900."

(OOC: You have till tomorrow to post about whatever you like.  Tomorrow morning I'll be posting the mission briefing, and it'll be time to go.)

     
 


 
-----------------------
WC_LCM_ JMac/Phoenix/Lusthawk 8(=A=)(=SA=)(=MA)(=FOCE=)(MC1)(VC)

I do not aim with my hand, he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand, he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind,

I do not kill with my gun, he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

(ooc: i'll also tie this in with chp 8)


Will woke up as the voice said,"Your presence is requested in the main briefing room at 0900." through out the ship speakers. He looked over at the clock, it read 1100. Will quickly dressed and called Lauren.

"I have another mission starting tomorrow, so I wont be able to make it to our date tomorrow night." Will waited for her reaction.

"I understand. We can pospone it 'till you get back then." She said in a sad voice.

"No, I was thinking if we could go tonight instead."

"Really? Are you sure? I know you're a busy man, and I dont want to get in your other things' ways."

"That's ok. I'll meet you out side your apartment at around 1800 then."

"Great, sounds good to me."

Will decided that he would go and take a look at his new virtual cockpit first. He had six hours before he has to go and get ready. He carefully tore away the plastic wrapings and found the manual to the cockpit and the fighter. After breifly browsing through, he found out a few things that he didn't expect to find. The virtual cockpit as not only a cockpit, but also a place where he can do flight trainings on any other Tie models. there were also a couple of mini remote controllers
that he can take with him. They were about the size of a datapad, and can fit onto any flight suit, or advanced battle armor.

He got into the cockpit and familiarized with the controls. He swtiched to simulation mode and began practicing with the new fighter. It turned at the slightest touch of the stick, even at extreme speed. The shiled generator was also better than the ones on every ship he had flown.

After hours of practicing, he got out and found that the time is now 1630. He took a shower, changed again into his best formal cloth, and left for the shops to buy some flowers and gifts. After that he went to pick up his date.

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

The next morning, Will woke up early. He had another wonderful date, now his heart is at ease, he can concetrate his mind on the incoming mission, the breifing will start in three hours. He changed from his PJ into his navy uniform and decided that he would go and grab some food before he went down to the breifing room.
 
-----------------------
-(William the Conquerer)-
We are still here because we conquered our enemies, and we will do it again!
FL/SCRW Willtconq/Kaph 2-1/Wing I/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=A=)

The initial disgust that had filled him after the last battle, ambush if you will, seemed to have passed by without the notice of anyone, probably because no one else was disgusted...  Which disgusted him further.  Instead, a strange growing rage had settled within the minds of those working aboard the Devestator.  How could they have been out schemed, out done in some way?  Surely there must have been some mistake amonst one of the lowers... 

Never mind.  He wouldn't think about it any longer.  What had triggered it, he hadn't actually been sure, but was more than likely the fatigue of flying a fighter through the stress of a burn in his side.

It had been about a week since the attack and everyone had paid in some way.  Nazgul grieved the loss of thier fighter pilot Judith, who was promoted upon her official death certification.

The funeral was the basic send off to an imperial pilot, no one really said anything, but allowed for a final salute as she was relused into the endless expanse of nothing.  The stars had shown brightly in the horizon as she floated gloriously away from the ship.  The empty coffin-like box was speeding away triumphantly, emphasizing the size of the space surrounding it.  Of course, this wasn't the only person to be launched like this...

Alpha and Beta had been devestated, out of the couple of dozen with their two combined, seven remained, three received oxygen posioning somehow...  Choas was never organized, and there was no way to be sure of what was going on, so it was understandable how something like that could happen without anyone taking notice.  For about two hours, men and women were sent off the ship, almost all of them empty boxes.  Those who were of family or were in some kind of relationship with the fellow Imperial were aloud to attend the service.  One face he found to be distinct amongst the crowd of weeping women, was that of the girl nick named Coco, for what reason Shazam couldn't even think of at the moment.  It was kind of sad...  He couldn't understand it, even as he walked patiently back to his room to get it off his mind.  The effervescent, but quiet youth of his fellow pilot Judith and faces of other young men and women who had died so willingly in battle, continued to appear while he steadied himself out with the blarring music screaming from his sterio system.

He had returned to the Real Bebop, his sorrows still not in order, and he felt his only escape was within the ship which he had spent so much time fixing up and transforming.  He had a lot of pride for the ship, and the system that surrounded the ship had no ends to his mind.  After about twenty minutes, he could stand the music no longer, and instead took a long walk down the hall, up and down some elevators, and ended up in an area of the ship he'd never been to before.  Actually, how many times had he been on the Devestator?  Didn't actually know...  He would have tried to relax by having Lense cook him something up, but he wasn't there... 

He must not have done anything in the new area, because he was back to his cabin before long and he was sleeping.  When he woke up, any and all grief had left, his mind anew and his spirit free as a bird.  He felt much better...  More and more, Shazam was starting to beleive in something out there...  His father had always spoken of something that no one could control, a force, something that chose and created prophecies which could, and would happen... 

Grabbing a bite to eat at the local lunchroom, a beep went off and Shazam found himself starring down at the little datapad which he had still carried although he was no where near Page.  Thank goodness I have my guitars, he recalled, thinking about whether he had everything in order at his current residential area...  Another mission, and they had just got done shipping off empty...  He shook his head, not allowing his interesting new revelations to get in the way of what he was supposed to be doing.  Havn't even had time to check the databases for...

He was cutting himself off again, so, whatever.  Meeting at 9, might take a cat nap...
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

Shazam awoke in a daze, probably the healin drugs...  He was pretty tired for about a minute, but he stretched sitting up in his bed, blacked out for about five seconds, was back and felt fine. 

The one thing he didn't like about riding out in space, was that you never had night and day.  There was no distintive time for partying, or for just going out and having fun.  Everything was kind of blended, so that lovely sense of morning when you woke up, simply disappeared as soon as you looked out the window.  Shazam glanced reluctantly through the small viewport into the bleak darkness.  He loved that he always got a window seat, and it shouldn't have bothered him that it was dark out all the time, but he did prefer atmosphere to space any day.

It was eight, just an hour before the briefing, so he took a quick shower, threw on his uniform and decided to stop for a bite before he headed to the breifing.  There had been word of replacements going around since the battle, and Shazam had dismissed them casually, what happened would happen.  Judith had been killed, as well as several other fellow members of the squadron from years passed.  You could only hope you weren't one of them, he figured.  There was a message on the datapad he was carrying though, but he didn't notice because he was chompin down a hearty sandwhich he felt he deserved.

On the message though, was the new assignments for Nazgul Squadron, and Darius had replaced Judith, but this wouldn't come to upset him until he met him in the hallway coming back to his room to use the refresher.  Upon finishing his snack, he near gallaped out the doorway because he'd been holding it for about ten minutes. 

A young man was walking towards the briefing when Shazam knocked him backwards when jumping out of the lunchroom.  The older, more experienced man, stopped for a moment, pondering on wether he should continue to the bathroom, or hold it for just about a minute more to help this young pilot up.  His contious got the best of him.

"Sorry, I really gotta go." Shazam said, helping him up very quickly, his leg flailing in the backround to take down some of the pressure... 

"Oh, that's alright, my names Darius.  And, well, arn't you Shazam?  Your the head of Nazgul arn't you?"  Shazam nodded his head insanely, the pressure continued to mount because he wasn't really moving.

"Well, I think I just got put into your Squadron."  Shazam wasn't upset because he'd taken Judith's spot necessarilly, but he was extremely upset he wouldn't stop talking although he'd only said about two things... 

"Good for you, gotta go!"  He ended the conversation and sprinted to the john...

                                        *****

After his emergency was done with, Shazam was calmer, more collected and made his way down the hall to the briefing room.  Again, this time Darius was coming out of the lunchroom in a hurry, ran into young Shazam, who now held out his hand, which he took hold of before crashing to the gournd after tripping on the slight incline at the front of the door. Upon standing up though, he shook it casually, almost forgetting he'd just ran into him. 

"So, you ganna fly good for us man?"  He asked like the uncle teasing his nephew.  Darius nodded with beaming eyes while glancing back into the room he'd just ran from; he seemed innocent enough, without experience.  Not another new guy.  Hopefully this won't be as furocious as the last fight, or I might be sitting at this kids funeral, or he at mine... 

"To the breifing then..."
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

The briefing had just ended for their next mission. Shazam, who was sitting next to Jack, got up and walked to the other members of Nazgul, along with the new pilot filling in Judith's place.

"Okay, everyone," Shazam began, "You all heard JMac. We're flying gunboats and have to disable as many enemy ships in Neurd's orbit. As you heard, we'll be flying with Venom Squadron while Kaph, Nemesis, Sting, and Viper cover us. Remember: Disable as many ships as possible."

Shazam looked over to Jack. Jack then asked, "Any questions on the matter?"

Everyone looked at each other. Laguna was the first one to speak. It was the question everyone was afraid to ask.

"What are the odds?" he asked.

"Well," Shazam began, "Considering there are two frigates, a lot of smaller cruisers, and six squadrons of enemy starfighters, I'd say that it's in favor of us, above all."

"Why don't we get a protocol droid in here and asked?" Jack asked, more of as a serious joke.

"Any other questions?" Shazam asked.

"Nope, guess that's it," Dirk said, after being translated by his droid.

By now, many people were out of the briefing room and in the simulator rooms. "Why don't we all go and practice in the gunboat sims?" Jack suggested.

"Fine with me," everyone said in unison as the left the briefing room for the simulators. They would need a lot of pratice for this mission, that's for sure. At least in this battle, the odds were in favor of the VE and now, unlike the previous battle, had the element of surprise attack.
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Vast Empire Imperial Navy.
XO/FL/SCRW Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Planetary Governor of Ullyr, Directorate Network (http://www.directorate.net/)
PG/MAG Jack Nebulax/Ullyr/Phare/Empyrean
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack "Zax" Nebulax, Commander of Nemesis Wing

Two hours was the time that Jmac had quoted, forty minutes of simulation left just over an hour for Dirk to do some extra tinkering on the assault gunboat. By all accounts Cygnus Spaceworks had done a slick job in creating the versatile XG-1, the revolutionary Miradyne computer system was supposed to be a work of genius. This meant Dirk was all the more keen to get his hands on one.     He raced down the corridor ahead of schedule, elo'six buzzed after him, but Dirk didn't even notice the old droid any more. He burst into the hangar room and jabbered something excitedly at one of the technicians.     "Woah now, what exactly do you want pilot?"     "Nazgul Squadrons gunboats, where?" Elo'six quickly translated, dropping down from above them to hover over Dirk's shoulder.     "Oh right, next bay along they're being prepped now," Dirk hurried away from the technician, offering no explanation. As he ran he bent down to pick up someone's tool box that had been left lying about.         A moment later he was stood in front of a squadron of gunboats impatiently gesticulating to another technician to find out which was his. Elo'six quickly caught up to him and tried to end the confusion.     "Oh right I see, you want to check as we do the prep?" the tec asked finally.     "Something like that" Dirk said through L06.     The technician eyed the toolbox suspiciously. "If you're planning on messing around, I hope you know what you're doing. If you mess anything up my team's not taking any responsibility! And don't expect a replacement, we'll send you out in a shuttle if you break your ship. Really." Dirk nodded and thanked the man, accepting that the tec would turn a blind eye to his tinkering. He walked up to his gunboat, it's five wings folded up towards the ceiling. * * *     Nazgul squadron entered the hangar in full pilot gear. They approached with a relaxed gait, knowing they had a short while before launch still.     "Oh no," Shazam moaned, seeing Dirk standing on the top of his gunboat a hydro spanner in one hand and a pile of wires in the other. With no thought he tossed a small box off the side of the ship. Then, noticed the squadron he waved and gibbered emphatically, gesturing towards the ship.     "What did he say?" Shazam asked Jack.     "I'm not entirely sure, it was mostly jargon. But he said something about tuning power and weight ratio's."     "Oh for crying out loud," Shazam moaned. "Hurry up you! We only have a few minutes before launch!"     Elo'six floated up from behind the gunboat and quickly looked around.     "No worries!" Dirk shouted and dropped back inside a compartment on the ship. A moment after he disappeared another component came flying out to smash on the hanger floor.

  -----------------------
FM/CR Dirk Muab/Nazgul 1-3/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE

SO, they were warmed up.  Thats good...  At least they won't go out there without any idea of what its going to feel like, hope Art didn't scare Laguna.  A couple of thoughts were clumped together in Shazam's mind as he jumped into the gunboat.  He never liked the paint job on these things, the bright red strips made it an easy target and were really kind of tacky.  Maybe I'll get one and paint black and blue or white or somethin, he thought.

One thing he did like about the gun boats was their seats, very comfy to snuggle down in, and the heat was always perfectly adjusted so it wasn't to hot or to cold.  The sleek and stealty gunboat, very cool reguardless of the colors. 

Nazgul was now fully assembled and everyone had entered thier gunboat, made themselves comfortable, did a couple of nervous drum solos on the controls while waiting for real space to flash in front of them.  It wasn't too long before all the stars flashed back to normal though and a planet gleamed bitterly from its position while it sat comforted by the two frigates and fighter groups protecting it.  Yea, we'll see how that goes for 'em, a voice said to Shazam.

"Men...  Lets ride," said the group commander into the com, a couple of 'yea's were heard afterwords with the sudden burst of engine noise and radio chatter coming from the bridge.  Squadron's were being deployed for thier protection, among them was Kaph which seemed ecstatic enough to be flying cover also pretty rested up considering only about a week off.  Sometimes, thats all you need though, thought Shazam.

After about four squadrons left, Nazgul was told to launch as lead immedietly and were told 'Good Luck and may the force be with you' from the hanger commander.  Shazam floated in front of the entrance for a moment with his comrades beside him in thier own craft, when he suddenly kicked it into full and blasted out of the hanger bay with everyone going off of his lead...

                                      *****

The massive planet hung in silence, as did every other planet that was suspended in space, but this was really kind of dark in areas then a bright light color.  A beatiful planet really, ominous though, the feeling of hidden dangers or booby traps lurked in his conciousness, to beware was only natural, figured Shazam. 

As if to block off any entrance to the planet, the two frigates turned into a kind of gate while the fighters scurried out of thier bays, not quite sure when the imperials would arrive.  Nazgul was out of thier waiting positiion, free from the Devestator and awaiting thier escorts; all of the fighters that have previously launched, were almost completely out of sight, most liking coming up from behind them to have a good position.  The Devestator seemed to be fine, passively sipping away its fuel supply as it rotated about for one reason or another.

Shazam ordered his squad to bunch up just a little, the escorts were barring the outside of thier pathway, making sure no one fighter crept through to create any problems.  Assorted fighters had of course formed up on the opposing side, not looking nearly as tight or precise as the group moving towards thier frigates.  The image of ties coming at them was an interesting one though, considering what was supposebly protecting them, it was almost ironic they would be fighting them off... 

"Nazgul, prepare to make a run on the left-hand frigate..." Shazam said calmy into the com, Laguna seemed to be extremely controlled considering it was the first time he'd flown a real fighter with his new arm.  Art was a cool guy, but also a smart one; causing Laguna to sweat on a bombing run before hand gave him a slightly better grip on his fighter, made him ready, a harder target.  Of course, he didn't know who he was attacking necessarilly, but it sometimes, there are particular characteristics of a pilot which makes him stand out.  Laguna's sluggish flying might have given him away.  Hopefully he wasn't too freaked... 

The frigate was in good focus very quickly, not too much distance in between thier origin to the target, but the enemy fighters were gathering up and getting ready to charge as well, so Shazam would hold his breath for a few moments longer...  A few uglies led the hostile band as they clumped together to combine streanght, attempt to dislodge the formation around the gun boats.  They hopped over the frigate and made haste to meet the imperials, but suddenly pulled back to try and prevent any damage to the frigate.  There were two ways to look at it, either you broke up the run on the first pass, or you stayed behind not risking a hit and run and try to keep things together back home.  They had changed thier minds half-way through... 

The gunboats were suddenly upon the frigate as it opened fire though, and the imperial ties held fast, holding to the best of thier abilities, the position which was guarding the gunboats.  Two ties were gone within about four seconds, but some serious connon splashes were dealt to the shield walls.  Shazam's group turned sharped, running along side the large ship now, not really too worried about fire coming from the ship.  Nazgul group was doing fine at pouring it on, but Shazam wasn't so sure about the group behind.  They were slacking a bit, and it was worrying the Nazgul flight leaders, for they to noticed it.  Kaph and the other three squadrons were working hard to protect the two gunboat groups reguardless of the gap gaining inbetween them.  Shazam didn't want to slow the group down though, it might be dangerous, so instead, he led Nazgul around after doing as much damage to the shield in a single pass as possible.  Guarded by about to tie groups, Shazam's squadron was doing just fine, no casualties, and very few guardian losses.

A couple of missles were flying about just when Nazgul completed thier loop and fell in behind the laggin group before them, letting off more lethal doses of fire.  Explosions were rumbling about the surface while Shazam's group continued to thin the layer of protection surrounding the frigate.  Thier attempts to draw the protection away from the gunboats was fruitless though, and thier accuracy failing...

In about five minutes time, the shield was down, virtually no major losses, and ions ablazing.  Shazam couldn't help but wonder what JMac was speaking of when he mentioned phase two, because phase one was a piece of cake so far.  The odds most certainly on thier sides, although the enemy wasn't taking any casualties either.  This was a seemingly easy task, and everyone seemed to be ready for it, but what would come next was a bit of a mystery still.  After they disabled this frigate, they'd make thier way to the next one, then phase two would begin...
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

"Lets go to town boys," said Shazam to the rest of his squadron.  This frigate was basically screwed now, reguardless of the fact that the enemy had indeed started concentrating thier fire on the same targets.  This was a very effective means of battle because, well, there weren't really that many people fighting at once, so people were really getting jumpy.

So, although the frigate was done for, the second one had no doubt figured out what they were going to do by the time the bombers reached them.  Focusing thier firepower on a single group at a time seemed to be the most powerful method of helping thier fighters though; trying to take away the threat of targeting a gunboat was one that had been extremely helpful at the beginning, but it wasn't quite the same now... 

In the back of his mind, Shazam was still thinking about 'phase 2', he didn't enjoy being kept in the dark about anything.  As his career in the VE continued, a quiet, imperceptable paranoid though process had begun.  He couldn't help but wonder what he was going to run into while still dealing with the remaing threat he had just gotten done worrying about.  Sitting done in a comfortable atmosphere or watching a movie with some friends normally let the thoughts drift away, and he would be melow again.  The pilot only worried when waiting, expecting, so it was best not to tell him theres another phase, or was it? 

Not only had he become paranoid, but he'd become increasingly supersticious.  He would continuelly check the chrono to see what time it was and if there were certain numbers at a particular area it would mean something.  7:11 for instance was a guessing one, a game he played before flying if it appeared.  It didn't matter if it were at day or night, but you would make a wish, and if you looked back up at the clock later and it was an odd number it would come true, but if it was even...  Well, he didn't normally run into even numbers...

"Frigate number one is disabled, Yippy ki ya..." Shazam said calmy, spinning his wrist a couple of times, anxious about getting to the next frigate.

The entire squadron, as well as thier protectors who seemed pretty warmed up now, were now moving to the second massive ship in the enemy arsenal.  The ties and uglies on the other side didn't seem disheartened although they'd just failed without really even causing a stir to the attackers.  So, they just followed on behind, almost calmy, not as if they knew something though, more like they didn't care at this point and they'd just see what they could do...  The current political situation on the planet was still a bit un-organized, no one was really loyal to anything yet, and all that the fighters knew was they were fighting to protect whatever might become of thier planet.  I would never fight for something like that, thought Shazam as he whipped the team out of thier curve and tore straight towards the second frigate...

(Revealing a bit more about Shazam here, get postin guys...)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

Nazgul Squadron, in there gunboats, had just finished off one frigate. Flight Two of Nazgul was headed toward Frigate 2 with Flights One and Three closing in. Jack hit the trigger as lasers sprang out toward the enemy target. The rest of Nazgul started doing the same.

Just then, about three dozen enemy blimps appeared from behind. Z-95 Headhunters, Jack identified them as. The oldest Incom starfighter dating pre-Clone Wars.

Jack didn't know which was more important - the Headhunters or the frigate. Jack thought it over.

Okay, okay, Jack thought, The rest of Nazgul can take care of the frigate. I'll have Flight Two take care of the Headhunters.

Jack got his comm online. "Nazgul Squadron Flight Two, this is Jack. Break off with me and head toward the Z-95s. According to sensors, they're modified with extra shields. We need to take them out now."

Jack put a grin on his face.

"All of them," he finished.

(Just wanted to get in the battle...)
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Imperial Navy, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/PO2 Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)  (=*SA*=) [VC:B]
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Planetary Governor of Ullyr, Directorate Network (http://www.directorate.net/)
PG/MAG Jack Nebulax/Ullyr/Phare/Empyrean
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack "Zax" Nebulax, Commander of Nemesis Wing

Jack saw want Kaph was doing for them. He immeadatly ordered Flight II back to attack the frigate.

"Flight Two," Jack said into his comm, "This is Jack. Fire all missiles at the frigate's turbolasers. They're giving us a hell of a lot of trouble."

"Copy!" Jack heard someone answer.

Just then, many missiles shot out from the gunboats toward the frigate. Some hit the shield while the others pentrated it. Suddenly, roaring out of nowhere, a turbolaser hit Jack's gunboat's shields.

They were draining power.

"Shazam, this is Jack," he said calmly into his comlink. "I'm switching power from lasers to shields. Unfortunatly, it might take a while. I need some cover fire."

"Got it, Jack. I'm coming in. Otherwise, all other Nazgul fighters fire on the frigate," Shazam said.

Jack saw two uglies approach from behind. At the rate they were coming, they'd fire on Jack before Shazam fired on them. Just when it seemed hopeless...

... a Kaph Squadron TIE Fighter started firing.

"Willtconq!" Jack yelled.

"Hold on, Jack," Will said back.

"Sithspawn!" Jack yelled as his fighter rocked from the uglies' fire.
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Imperial Navy, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/PO2 Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)  (=*SA*=) [VC:B]
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Planetary Governor of Ullyr, Directorate Network (http://www.directorate.net/)
PG/MAG Jack Nebulax/Ullyr/Phare/Empyrean
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack "Zax" Nebulax, Commander of Nemesis Wing

(Will, thanks for letting them know my name, lol.)

Jack and the rest of Nazgul Squadron Flight Two had started firing on the frigate again. Jack's ship was banged up, but after fixing a few problems, he got everything up to 80% or better.

Jack was glad that Kaph Squadron Flight Two had just saved his life. All thanks to Will.

Meanwhile, Jack started firing missiles at the dying frigate. Nazgul was doing their job. Kaph had just formed a "protective bubble" around the Nazgul gunboats,
allowing the gunboats to have more time to fire than worry about enemy fighters.

That once, only for a little time. Because fighters were storming from the surface of the planet straight for them.

And the Vast Empire squadrons had no idea whatsoever.

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

Captain Kazim was standing on the bridge of one of the frigates when Lieutenant Battuta came running up to him.

"Sir," Lt. Battuta began, "Our fighters from the surface are heading inbound toward those enemy gunboats."

Capt. Kazim was observing the battle with great intensity. On vidscreens in front of him, each gunboat was shown, displaying readouts and damage meters and so on. One of them was PO2 Jack Nebulax.

The captain stopped staring into the thick of battle and turned to Lt. Battuta. "Lieutenant," Kazim began, "Look at Petty Officer Second Class Jack Nebulax. He's brave but indeed foolish. No doubt he'll spot our fighters first. He'll then probally, and most likely, go after them. Either we capture him when he does that," Captain Kazim continued.

"Or kill him," the captain finished with a grin on his face.

Lt. Battuta saw the great pleasure in the captain's face. For he, too had that pleasure.

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

"Will," Jack said into his comm, "Looks like we need some covering. There's a hell of a lot of enemy fighters inbound to our position."
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Imperial Navy, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/PO2 Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)  (=*SA*=) [VC:B]
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Nebulax, Planetary Governor of Ullyr, Directorate Network (http://www.directorate.net/)
PG/MAG Jack Nebulax/Ullyr/Phare/Empyrean
------------------------------------------------------------
Jack "Zax" Nebulax, Commander of Nemesis Wing

Reguardless of the reinforced 'aggressive' stance from the enemy, thier hope was fading quickly, and the numbers that the two frigates might have had with thier two groups together, had diminished after the destruction of the first frigate.  The original intention was to capture the vessel and punish the perpatrators that had spit on the imperial way, as well as gain any information on thier plans or future programs as well as capture the ship for VE uses. 

However, things had gotten hectic, and the frigate had grown unstable; a couple of escape pods had been released into the atmosphere just before its roaring demise.  There wasn't an explosion, but more of a heartbreak for the group fighting for thier freedom, or atleast the commander in the other frigate who seemed to have some kind of mad obsession with it, as if he'd been so barbarically oppressed.  The very thought made Shazam angry anyone had to die for such incollence, they'd practically been pampered, in fact, they weren't even being touched.  They'd been employed to help dig up all the natural resorces, thier planet was still some how rittled with hostility though and an uprising of the few imperial outpost on the planet had been taken over by a new sovreign republic. 

Shazam couldn't say that he was the only one who felt this way though, for it seemed that the higher ups had some kind of passionate hatred for those that thought it was necessary to through out a good set-up.  Hey, they spent some money and serious time getting that place set up, and they'd pay for making such a quarrel out of simple domestic issues.  Things were really political for a combat zone...

"Shields out, lets disable this thing and get goin...  Lets keep it alive this time guys, help out the men and women who flew all the way out here to take back this planet."  There was silent agreement amongst the members of Nazgul upon the recognition of staff aboard the Devestator.  It was kind of tough, sitting there, away from your family while you were trying to keep content aboard the bridge, waiting to make an announcement or track enemy fighter groups.  Atleast the pilots were out there... 

His mind back on the mission, Shazam had gone back to the ions and his group followed suite, a couple of checks signified the resolute mettle of everyone in thier pursuit to keep the frigate 'alive'. 

Although there were less enemy fighters, Kaph and the other squadrons had kept to thier task and made sure to protect thier conterparts.  The cage around Nazgul had become practically undestructable, and didn't seem to be offset by the arrival of a private, and supposebly elite group of fighters dispatched from the planet. 

Nazgul had finished the intial approach run and was firing thier secondary cannons, making sure to deal a lethal dose of ion acid upon the weakened space boat.  The cannons that lined the sides of the ship were gone now and the gunboats could take thier sweet time plastering the crap out of the enemy ship.  Sure, evasive manuvers were being taken, and the increasingly lethal looking group of fighters were making way toward the inpenetrable shield of Tie escorts, but everything still seemed fine.  In fact, Kaph was simply gleeming at the opportunity to engage something of higher calliber after taking to  the oringinal defensive fighters. 

The first pass was extremely slow, painstaking, and un-judicious considering how slow they were moving.  The league of officers that could be seen through the viewport at the head of the frigate could be seen frantically moving from console back to the upper-bridge area to survey the battle.  They seemed to be taking particular interest in individual fighters though.  Their strategy was to defeat those that led instead of focusing on real strategy, trying to mortify the pilots after seeing the death of thier greatest comrades, making them reproach into morale.  No such luck.  So, why not go after the flight leaders, disorganize them a little. 

Shazam had become very interested in the attention that was so obviously given to Jack and Will during the tenure of battle up to this point.  Every once in a while, there had been a stray shot that had nearly caught thier craft and sent them spinning as well as the little melee involving both Jack and Will with two uglies.  The fighters seemed to have become oblivious to Shazam and Denethor, trying thier best to split the group and weaken the structure before making any real attacks. 

Creative thinking from the rebellious group disappeared suddenly, and more desperate manuvers were being taken as the second pass from the gunboats ended.  Kaph and the others suddenly engaged the incoming fighters, savagly ripping them apart, the head fighter was gone before even reaching the picked fence formation of the Ties.  The commander of the remaining frigate was becoming delerious as his elite group suffered tremendously under the pressure presented by the larger enemy group. 

Before he knew it, Shazam suddenly realized, phase two was about to begin.  He looked grimly upon the floating ship as it became parylized, the final Ion blast coming from a gunboat who had come out of nowhere and joined the group.  He identifed himself as DJ and said he'd been assigned to Nazgul just after breifing.  Some sort of mix-up in the assignment portion of the Devestator's staff.  There had been some confusion and bad paper work after the switch from the Atrus to the ISD everyone was currenlty aboard, but that was always to be expected.

"Guys...  We're done here..."  said Shazam, the rest of Nazgul was silent has they looped away from the captured ship. 

"Well done guys, that was excellent," added Art, re-inforcing the invisible feeling of accomplishment.  Jack seemed very weary after checking the radar constantly for enemy fighter groups, he felt that he'd become a favorite of the uglies... 

"Gunboats, return to your assigned hanger bays for a craft change and pre-flight breifing for the next phase of your mission.  Remaining flight groups, prepare to escort the crews that will be boarding the frigate..."  The bridge had made the announcement very quickly, but calmy.  They had accomplished the first part of the mission.  Things were going well, but it seemed as if it had only begun.  There were sure to go planet-side and deal out some more judgment to those who had simply betrayed them in the eyes of the superiers...

(There goes phase 1.  You can still post about that enemy commander dude you were talking about, because, well, we're capturing him...)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

(Hey, sorry if it seemed like I was coming down on your in the post about the story, getting a bit into my own idea of what the story should be.  Your coming along nicely.)

"Prepare for launch," the overhead speaker announced.  Shazam was already in the bombers, surprisingly awesome bombers that is.  Although he'd been in the Navy for a while, he hadn't yet flown a schimitar bomber, in reality that is.  A few flight simulators here and there and a breif flight above the academy during training, but that was about it.  He'd heard rumors of the awesome power they posessed.  Some higher up was asking for a higher bomber concentration, asking for stronger, faster, and better equipped weapons.  So, this was created.  The enginuity the Imperials were exhibiting as of late was absolutely astounding, and the improved shield and hull quality in this particular model of bomber, was astounding.  How they could make it move so fast and be so lethal, but make it untouchable as well, it just blew Shazam's mind. 

"Jack...  I'm getting one of these..."  Shazam promised suddenly. 

"Go for it, man," Jack chuckled. 

Nazgul was now hovering above the hanger bay floor about three feet or so and rising to about seven as they pressed to the opening to the outside space.  Small rocket propulsors had been added to the wings and made the assault bomber remarkably agile, something that could be felt when just free flying.  You learned alot when you just did free-flying, something Shazam's group hadn't been aloud to do yet, but he hoped to get them out and do some atmospheric paint wars.  Ah yes, good ol' academy...

There was a swish from inside the hanger bay, and the bombers were suddenly out of into the darkness.  Out in the distance, a boarding party could be seen aprehending the remaining frigate, as well as a final escape pod launching to the planet's surface.  Kaph had alread taken off from the floating boat and made its way back to the Devestator for thier new craft; Chip should appreciate this piece of work right here, though Shazam. 

Man, versitile...  Shazam couldn't get over it, but managed to occupy himself with checking his co-ords after being breifed upon arrival in the hanger bay.  A man in full uniform had given Shazam co-ords in which, well, about a half-hour from now, was to begin bombardment.  Destroying the two frigates wasn't enough, they wanted thier resources back as well as some revenge for being caught off guard.  They would get thier upcommence.  Kaph wouldn't be with them, but there would be a couple of squadrons assigned to protecting both groups of bombers, although in these new craft, that probably wouldn't be a problem. 

Another interesting bit to these ships, was the fact they were a two seater.  That's right!  Shazam wasn't the only one in this beauty. 

"How you doin back there Paul?"  Shazam craned his head to the side. 

"I'm bakin pies back here, I don't know about you, but they sure smell delicious from back here," he said in his best cowboy impersination.  Shazam grinned, he liked this guy.  He'd been a part of a scout group originally and had only been moved up to bombadeer class just recently.  The weren't the only two manned craft though, everyone had been assigned a partner to run with, some within thier own squadron.  A few fights had probably broken out about who should fly, but they were most likely dissolved by a scolding from the bridge commander, Shazam had taken note when preparing to launch. 

The planet gleamed brighter than ever, growing larger and larger as Nazgul approached in the picked fence formation.  They would bombard the capitol, and paint the sinners red for repentantence...
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

(I'm kind of surprised we havn't reached page 2 here, hmph)

The planet had been gleaming from space, a bright orb in the darkness, so surperb in all of its splendor.  However, it seemed the planet had frequent gloom days where the sky was endless gray with light rain and very cool temperatures. 

Nazgul was formed up in the picked fence still, keeping behind eachother and to the left to avoid any chance of incedent upon entering the lowest part of the atmosphere.  Of course, once they had actually broken through the exosphere of the planet, the weight of gravity really hit the craft, but you could still tell a distinct difference between the old bombers and these master pieces.  He'd flown the old bombers on several occasions and liked them arlight, but these just rocked. 

For about seven minutes or so, Nazgul Squadron flew blindly through the mist, cutting through like a knife and forming patterns of jet stream within the holes they'd produced.  From inside the bombers, it looked like they were heading straight downwards, loftly falling floating down an endless hole whose light was concealed by shadows.  However, after that seven minutes or so, the mist subsided from infront of them and was suddenly behind them, and now they were staring straight down into a vast lake that was dark and discolored from irigation problems and improper chemical use. 

The imperials were completely comfortable in thier flight though, not even the least bit surprised at finding themselves staring downwards, but instead amazed at the size of the lake and its pathway around the city they had just realized was there.  The front end of the lake was almost rectangular and was split in half by a long bridge that hung far above the water, connecting two slightly elevated regions.  The rising area to the left was a large hill covered in tall lavish trees and lush vegetation.  The wind was quite strong and the trees that stood so tall were having a hard time staying that way as they swayed freely in the gust. 

The most incredible site though, was that of the capital.  It was truly a capital and nothing less, very large and in charge to the eyes of the pilots.  Shazam's bomber buddy had made way to make sure he got a good look at it before he destroyed it, the system he would use on the city was already running and warmed up but had been put on some kind of 'saftey' for the event. 

But it was brilliant, high white domes with ornamental designs and vast rural areas canvassed in traffic lanes and tall palad buildings with opaque windows and large antena's on all sides.  A few satelites hung around the clumped population, surveying for possible interest.  So, as magnificent as the inner city was and the rural areas covered in flying, floating machinery, there was the hostile and defensive walls surrounding it.  The city was in a perfect circle and the walls reflected that by creating a ring of gates and tall sentinal tower security systems that protruded from the almost perfectly rounded half-sphere.  On top of those little control centers were large cannon look-alikes that were attached to engines within the wall and a secondary supply farther within the city.  These were the shields, although it appeared as if there was nothing there; this conclusion was made even more obvious though after Shazam noticed a high pedestal with several differnt levels of checkpoints on the way up.  The center support was the tallest of all  edifices in the area, for it was the force which protected them, and it certainly looked important with all of its balconies and power stations surrounding it. 

Yes, there was a shield, and by the looks of it, a big one...  But Nazgul was not intimidated the least, even when, upon closer inspection, there appeared to be a tightly knit anit-aircraft support system at every gate and check point surrounding the city.

The bridge that everyone had noticed at first glance, led directly to the front, and most highly guarded gates of the city, these were large, thick blast doors that protected the main road into town.  Shazam noticed there were several acres of large forest region before actually reaching the skyscrapers and housing that made up the actual metropolis look.

The people of the city could not have seen the destruction of one of thier frigates and the capture of another though, for the gloom seperated them from the space, except during the night where the overcast was some how dispensed and the stars twinkled brightly over head.  Instead, they continued to shop in thier great city, oblivious to the attack on its way. 

That didn't mean the city military didn't expect it though, and they had already tightened up all of thier personal had been put on high alert and large divisions of men where being breifed within bunkers throughout the forested region, some platoons could be seen moving from area to area, determined to be ready in case of anything... 

Several smaller installments of military effort had been placed about two miles from the city, one for every fifth.  One of them was nearly in the river though, a long dark shadow cast over it by the bridge. 

"Nazgul, report in..." Shazam said calmy.  Nazguls 1-8 reported in, bombedeers directly after the pilot their craft.  Everyone seemed to be content to be on a nice bombing mission, pretty sure they'd be fine as long as...

Out of the grey came to flights of TIE coverage, announcing thier presence just after role call and requesting orders.  They had formed up on either side of the picked fence and the leaders of both squadrons did a couple of fancy manuvers, braking in thier craft and adjusting to the atmospheric flight. 

"Right, this is Nazgul 1-1, I'll be leading this attack, pay close attention and don't loose your yourself amongst things once it gets started.  I expect a group of modifieds and uglies to come at us very soon, so I say we push it to the bidge over there, that's 2-4 for those of you unaware of what I'm talking about..." Shazam issued the order in an interested tone, wondering how the fighters groups would react when they saw their bridge torn down...

                                    *****

What had really surprised Shazam was the developent of the city, how vast it had become in only fifty years.  They were incredibly well built up for a planet used for resourcing, and he'd also expected the town to be a simple village like area with some intense AA networking, but this was so much more.  An entire civilization had been created under that shield that, now it was raining, was slightly visible as a pale grey, un-effected by the water. 

Nazgul had moved into the arrow formation now, best for bombing, and the other two fighter groups had turned to the picked fence to ensure proper protection from enemy fire.  It basically looked like a giant triangle of fighters moving towards the strong industrial bridge.  They couldn't see it before, but the bridge had a shield of its own, not very strong by the looks of it, but probably to prevent terroist from doing any damage to it, almost guarateed to appear after an uprising. 

The imperials flew steadilly forward, picking up the speed though after Shazam's order and the bleep of the radar.

"We've got twenty-four bogeys on the way, heavy shielded uglies by the looks of 'em.  Pretty slow..."  Announced Franco from the right TIE escort group.  He was apparently the leader of them and had been for quite some time, this group hadn't suffered any major losses in some time and were pretty possitivly re-inforced for this battle.

"Right, we out-number them if you add us into the equation, so, you guys go on ahead stay how you are...  We'll do some damage first..."  Nazgul 1 replied.  "Men, switch to cannons and link fire, that includes both fighter escort squadrons, we don't have to waste bombs on this thing."

The bridge loomed in the distance only moments before, but was now in the company of the assault group.  On Nazgul's commander, the group suddenly unleashed a simotaneous round of bolt energy on the shield which disappeared almost immedietly.  All imperials slowed down immedietly though after noticing the destruction of the protection the bridge. 

Shazam gave a second command, this time to fire on the bridge itself.  This order was followed very easilly as every single VE craft sat almost still and fired upon the main supports and roadway of the bridge.  The long thick supports turned black when charred by the laser blast, and some turned red after a few moments of brutal warming up.

After about a half a minute or so though, the total determination of the bridge to hold its position, suddenly and terbulently subsided.  A loud groan could be heard in the city as the bridge cried out in pain.  The half leading towards the city gave out, tumbling to the ground and carrying the rest of the bridge with it.  The pitchforks holding them went left as the road itself went right.

Every eye in the city could most certainly see this and every single person held thier breath as it fell.  What the nazgulians didn't know is that they had built the bridge as a means of 'extending the gap between slavery and freedom.' That symbolic guesture was now crashing into the lake below; Shazam had also just now noticed that the water went all around the city, like a moat.

The people of the capital cried out in terror as the splash of H2O was heard.  It had begun...
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM]

So, they were splitting up into smaller groups, hopefully, the captial wouldn't see thier chance and come after them while they were split apart.  If they acted quickly, they could group up and outweigh the number of fighters the Imperials currently held for each team, however...  If the VE was swift and accurate, they would be able to regroup without any real problems and head for the city, demolishing any defenses or back up shields they had. 

Of course, that idea of a back-up shield had been sitting comfortably in the back of Shazam's head, this would be quite wise after breaking off from something as powerful as the VE.  The repercusion was most likely expected, and thier defenses were probably up a little, but the seriousness of what they'd done, the crime they'd commited against all imperials alike, was one that was truly underestimated. 

The power of the VEN was often overlooked as 'fading', 'diminished and uncooperative,' but more recently that opinion was starting to sway.  Some were even beginning to compare them to army, that is in novelty and real prestige, because they were starting to win some battles although the losses were usually heavy and strategies made out on scratch paper and thrown into battle like dirt against the ground.  The devotion and perseverence of the pilots was starting to pay off though, and those that had flown several missions were moving up in the ranks and getting some serious recognition with the medals and extra ribbons. 

That is why several pilots were beginning to appreciate this type of mission.  Correct the stupidity, make people think twice about thier doing, and if the numbers look good, it discourages others from following the same path.  The knoledge that is gained from being ruled under an imperial system rather than rebel was truly awesome though.  Now, when given the correct knowledge, and after some time wisdom tends to make its way into the minds of those intellectuals, and then they become generals, that is for the VE.  However, something else happened here...

Yes, they got wise!  There was a little something brewing in the head of the one in charge here, in fact, if he figured he could just skip away from the likes of Shazam and his friends, theres really no telling what he was planning to do.  So, he will be stopped...

"Guys, lets come in on this thing goin slightly left, and also pressing upwards, you don't wanna get his by those quads they have outfitted near the front gate.  You will get smoked, plus, I think we'll be able to get around a little quicker..."  Nazgul 1 said. 

"And make sure to slide to the right a little, it'll lessen your chance of turning to chalk dust..." added Art.  He had quite a history with Nazgul, so Shazam had much respect for him and always listened closely. 

"Uh...  Shaz, it looks like we might have a problem...  We're going to have to move quickly, thier sending re-inforcements from another nearby city, it'll be really bad if they group up..."  Jack informed the group as they headed down towards the shield generator, it was convenitly located next to the water where it gained most of its power...  Yes, they would have to hurry...
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/WO1 Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:B]