Stars blurred Darius' vision as he burst through fighter debris and veered hard toward the next T-wing, but found none.  Aldur met him, flying alongside his wing.  "That's the last of the T-wings," he announced, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Escort those bombers flight two," Darius commanded. 

"Copy that," Tokijin answered.  "Coming to you wing."

"That frigate is taking it now," Aldur spoke with enthusiasm.  "Look as that!"  It was a sight to see.  The small explosions errupted all along the hull as the engines went critical, taking the whole ship with it.

"All ships, get clear of the--," Darius spoke, but was cut off as his fighter shook violently from the next explosion.  He ripped his helmet off, silencing the screams of half of the bomber squadron as they left the galaxy forever from the violent explosion.

"Nazgul, check in!" Warren yelled over the com.  All of Nazgul survived, but sustained some damage from the sheer force of the explosion.

Darius flew in to inspect what had happened.  The Evolution had no shields and was suffering extensive hull damage.  "What the hell happened," Darius said in a serene tone.

Ref Sirrem answered the question with another, "how many did we lose from that sonic mine Nazgul?"  His voice sounded exhausted and he seemed to be suffering.

"We're all accounted for, but I don't know how many survived in the bomber squadron," Warren answered.

"Nazgul, are you able to fight?"

"Affirmative, what do you have in mind?"

"Two squadrons of Razor fighters and one of missile boats."

Darius looked down on the display screen.  It revealed his shields to be as fifty percent and he was slowly losing power.  He adjusted a couple nods and checked his emergency systems, making sure he would be able to eject if need be.  "I'm good to go."
 
-----------------------
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke

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

FM/CPO Darius Pursius/Nazgul 2-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) [VC:B] [CB*]

"Thank you Nazgul for the escort," said the TIE bomber squadron leader.  There were only five remaining, and the leader was the only one in good enough condition to fight, so they decided to flee back to the Atrus.

"Just doin' our job," Darius answered.  He turned around and watched a couple Razor fighters break off from combat with flights one and three to engage the fleeing bombers. 

"How many Razors do we have tailing us?" he questioned another squadron member.  He had lost his rear sensors from the explosion and could not dwell on looking back.

"I'm showing five, wait six," Tokijin answered calmly. 

"ETA to the cover of the SSD is three minutes.  How fast are they coming up on us?"

"They'll get us in two."

Darius let out a sigh of fatigue.  He hadn't been in such serious combat in the VEN before.  And, last time he was this stressed, he was a in the cockpit of a mercenary's fighter shooting at Imperials.

A bright flash caught Darius' attention.  One of the pirates Marauder class corvettes errupted in flames and was quickly snuffed out in the cold vacuum.  A small smile crept over his face as he watched the Lancer frigate responsible for the kill swat pirate fighters away with its quad batteries.

"Darius!" screamed Tokijin.

"What?" Darius answered, not realizing what was wrong.

"Evade, you've gotta a missile lock on you!"

"Shit!" he cursed, and made a steep dive.  He spun his TIE clockwise pulled up at another hard angle.  His seat and harness cushioned the manuever slightly, but he knew he would emerge bruised.

They were a minute from the protective guns of the Atrus, but the Razors had caught them first. 

Darius was under the advancing pirates when they broke formation.

"Scratch one," Aldur piped in.

"I've got one on my six!" Tokijin exclaimed.

"I'm coming," Darius answered.  His forward scanners quickly found her, and he found the Razor and linked his cannons.

The Razor was a quick study and broke off the chase to evade Darius.  He matched the fighter move for move as they looped and barrel roled their way through space.  He fired of to bursts, and the pirate started to loose control and spun out.

"Darius, watch out!" Aldur yelled.  "That missile is about to..."
 
-----------------------
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke

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

FM/CPO Darius Pursius/Nazgul 2-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) [VC:B] [CB*]

(OCC:  Here you go- I realize you've been waiting a while for some resolution and maybe this'll give you a little more, but here it is.  Also if you have any questions, comments or concerns- direct them to the Nazgul Thread.  Rock on.)

Three consecutive explosions from three different types of star fighter went off at the same time somewhere within the battle over Cepany.  Whether that gives perspective on the size of the battle or the absolute chaos that ensued during it, many fine men and women were being lost to the hands of pirates.  Pirates&

And looming just out of firing distance was the mSSD Atrus, capable of annihilating any vessel that approached it from the dissension in front of it.  The entire planet of Cepany was a glaring diamond in the rough, casting a curtain of cascading white light over the revolving craft and asteroids; when would the other lights stop its interference with the planet's?  Maybe that was part of the eerie kismet that emanated from the planet Cepany at this point, but then one had to look at the individual fighters as they passed one another, revolving off of anything and everything and seemingly cruel with their countenance beaming with red or green light from explosive cannons from their underbellies, pylons, wings or foils.  A barbaric display of color, confusion and carnage, the battle continued with rattled crew as well as craft.

Bulk cruisers one and two had received enough damage to make them weary of only the worst damage reports while their foe, the Assault frigate, parried what fighter attacks and barrages it could.  It's own redoubtable appearance had at least intensified two fold since the beginning of the Imperial fighter attacks, but that was equivocal.  While it motivated those within the assault frigate, the imperial pilots took the scarred and battle-hardy look of the pirate ship as weakness.  It would break soon&  As for the Hapan battle cruiser, it remained ephemeral in every case with its enemies.  For a short while, it would be within perfect striking distance, then streak off to another opponent just as the ship it had been previously attacking initiated its ready stance.  It ran like a well oiled machine; hit and run attacks it obvious specialty with no brief lapses in judgment, seemingly no egoism displayed from this awesome enemy warship it continued to reign fire upon the unsuspecting.  The Interceptor cruiser that had turned to meet the assault frigate in a shoot-out had to take two consecutive blindsides from the Hapan battle-cruiser because it knew better than to turn down the chance to shoot-up the Assault frigate.  It would have to turn completely around to find that the Hapan cruiser was gone again and then move back to its initial position to note that it was again firing on its backside.  The commander had played it well& 

As for individual squadrons, their numbers had moved into a grey zone, not definite of any quantity of pilots.  While most Imperial squadrons had lost around four or five members to cannon fire, missile discharge, turrets and in some rare cases-suicidal pirate fighters, Nazgul Squadron remained fully intact.  Credit could go to the fact they had low numbers in the first place allowing them to act as a tighter unit, or some would actually go as far to say they had just been downright lucky&  But to the watching eye, none of the fighters had kept out of the raging battle's grasp.  Darius Pursius's fighter had been pretty much obliterated and its pilot ejected while Jaden Kharr's had become nearly so on a few occasions.  Arturus Hargraves was handicapped severely by his new flight controls and it's very possible he'd have been killed had he not been flying so close to some very good pilots.  Jack Nebulax's inability to keep his mind off of his family was downplaying his role in the squadron and relegating his importance to a fly by man position while Crimson Phoenix tried his best to remain loyal to an uncertain leader.  Aldur Wyndaru, now stuck with his inexperienced wing man Tokijin, now feared certain death, almost sure she'd split off as soon as things got bad, killing herself and him in turn.  The group overall was being kept alive because of the two or three man element, close knit groups that believed in the success and survival of the group rather than individual pride and distinction.  How much longer would they last after being hit hard by some key losses?  The fate of Nazgul Squadron began a recession into the utter unknown and someone had to worry&

The transparisteel view port staring into the haze of space warfare was an incredible site, a branch into the unreal it displayed every stage of the experience known as life.  Japheth noted the subtle and unique way the battle played out life from birth to death as fighters launched from hanger bays and moments later disintegrated into useless rubble.  He'd been watching the allegory-style battle for some time and had begun to create characters and massive storylines in his head with great detail and cinematic drama and emotion.  He displayed none of this interest to his command crew as he switched gears and surveyed the damage of the desperate police fighter zooming in and out of interchanging holes forming a network of irreversible mazes.  He had felt himself turning grim for a long time and knew that the news he was currently awaiting could mean a lot of things& 

While it had been against his better judgment maybe, Japheth had let his scheme play out in the most egregious way possible- the middle of a space battle for Cepany.  He nearly chuckled when he thought of what his teachers would have thought upon seeing his plan and the actions he'd decided to take, but he was his own teacher now&

The commander closed his eyes permanently it seemed as he recognized Forte's palpitating feet drumming on the bridge's hard floor.  It was time he became sure of his suspicions and it was time to get the true battle underway. 

"Mr. Forte, what have you for me?" the commander pivoted on his right foot, getting a good look out the port window as he did so.  The gruff young man had a hearty disposition as he glanced ardently up into the eyes of Japheth; he'd brought what the commander requested even sooner than expected. 

"Aye!  The report you called for, sir!" he stopped four feet from the commander as he had been taught on his first day with an outstretched, composed arm.  He'd been wiping off streams of sweat coming down his forehead and the sides of his face as he ran though the hallways to the bridge in an attempt to make his task look effortless, adding the stalwart look of a dignified desk clerk. 

"Very well, Mr. Forte, you may return to the communications station." Japheth gave a nod and the man looked out past his commander, giving a quick and controlled salute, allowing for no hesitancy or mistakes.  He turned briskly and marched away, satisfied with the performance he'd put on.  Japheth dropped his head to study the screen he'd taken from Forte so quietly and effortlessly one might have thought it never happened.

Seven hours ago, Japheth had been met with a peculiar request and responsibility, but he found it provocative enough to engage in it.  While the members of Nazgul Squadron endured the various tortures the pirate who'd picked them up, Japheth played eye-spy.  As soon as the tip had been given to him, he wasted no time in planning a search party for one of the passenger's rooms.  The Atrus had housed many squadrons, but Nazgul was a frequent one so everyone in the group had rooms made out ahead of time, signing up for the rooms far in advance to make sure they had the same one just as they'd left it.  While Warren Dimmias had only been a member of Nazgul Squadron about a half month, he'd wasted no time in making himself comfortable in the quarters of his squadron mates.  This was the room Japheth had investigated personally.

He remembered the heat in the man's face as he told Japheth about 'the traitor on the Atrus.'  So Japheth listened with keen interest as to why Shazam was so sure Warren Dimmias was up to no good& 

"Listen, I'd have stayed on the ship if I didn't think they'd all survive," he'd blurted as Japheth entered the room with a domineering look.  He'd been pulled away from his first bridge inspection in ages, having been quite content with the chance to ensure his ship was running at top efficiency.  The cannon fire from the strike-class cruiser caught his attention immediately and it was unlikely he'd simply dismiss it as accidental when he saw the form of a flaming TIE interceptor emerge in his view port. 

"Lieutenant&" One of the three witnesses, all of them of the empty hanger's crew, pulled up a chair for the commander.  Japheth glanced around the room once out of habit, taking note of the white walls lined with clipboards, displays and consoles he probably hadn't seen in months if not years. 

Shazam was still trying to get in his main idea as Japheth sat down.  "The basterd had 'em fire at me&  Ohhh, that son of a bitch&  Son of a bitch&" he groped the chair he was in as if grasping for that last inch of life when Japheth finally held his hand up and said-

"Tell me everything, Lieutenant."  Shazam was silent only momentarily, collecting his thoughts and trying to make sense of them before going another step.

"About a week ago I noticed my XO, Jen Knight, was acting strangely." Japheth nodded, encouraging him to continue&  "She would hardly speak, didn't come around like she usually did to hang out a little during our down-time and even more still she seemed to always be frightened.  I'd try to greet her like I always did and she'd kind of step back like I was going to hit her&  I knew something was up." Shazam had regained his composure slightly and was now using effective hand gestures to emphasize the importance of these events.

"Just about two hours ago, when we were aboard that ship I decided it was time to talk things out, see what was upsetting her so much.  I mean, you know how little things can get in the way of flying&  I didn't want her getting hurt."  Japheth hadn't told the three witnesses to leave so Shazam decided he wouldn't say anything, sure that the commander had noticed and was allowing them to stay for a reason.

"Anyways, I go up to her and just keeps saying she's fine and that she's imagining things, but I know her well enough that it just doesn't satisfy me.  So, I took her to the farthest corner of this waiting room where we'd all been gathered to wait for Darius and Dimmias; and once we're away from everyone else, she just breaks down&  I mean, I didn't know what to think at first but then I just decided to shut myself and listen.  Apparently, she's been seeing Warren Dimmias&" Japheth raised an eyebrow as if uncertain of Shazam's meaning.  "Privately&"  The eyebrow dropped resolutely.

"Are you going to tell me about what happened on the ship or about Warren Dimmias the entire time, Lieatenant?" Japheth didn't move as he impugned Shazam as if out of protocol and good measure.  Shazam shook his head ardently and said-

"Please, this is important, I think Dimmias is up to something big&"

Japheth sighed, realizing that time was still moving onward and every moment they wasted in hesitation was a moment that would be forever regretted if anything happened to Nazgul Squadron.

Shazam took the sigh as an 'okay' and moved on.  "She told me that it started out with some quiet dates around the ship, which I can't believe I never saw, and then it kind of escalated into a slightly physical relationship." Now Shazam paused as if hating everything that had been coming out of his mouth&

"Listen, he took her into his room once and told her to wait while he used the refresher.  He told her specifically not to touch anything&  Well, Jen's a girl you know, so she decided it couldn't hurt to snoop in her man's room- what has he to hide?  According to her, she was messing around with his personal computer and she looked into his history and found at least four deleted logs."  Japheth perked up and waved his hand for Shazam to hurry on faster now.

"I suppose Jen had some experience with these computers because she had these things open in like ten seconds&  Anyways, these logs aren't like notes  they're private messages from the command crew to me and Art detailing missions.  And I presume it's the mission we were just going to go on because the dates were very recent and they all spoke about the same spot."

"And you believe he still has this information on his computer?" Japheth queried with silent imperial punishment in his eyes.

"I don't know any more&  She said that just as she was getting into the fourth file, she realized Warren was standing there watching her.  She thought he had been going to take a shower or something because the water was still running when he ran up and started attacking her." The last sentence suddenly brought up Shazam's next point.  "Sir, he attacked her!  The second he realized he was found out he ran up to her, took her by the neck and threw her against the wall.  The reason I couldn't see the marks is because he only hit her in places where she'd be covered at all times."  Shazam had figured some things out on his own- this much was obvious. 

"He didn't just beat her up though, he abused her mentally, told her that she wasn't safe anywhere anymore.  Told her that if she went to you, me, Art or anyone else he'd have her dead before she got a word out and if she even thought about sending the message&" The rage in Shazam's body had returned in full force, his fist rolled so tightly that his knuckles grew white with anger.

"So this only happened&"  Japheth began but Shazam cut him off.

"Every single day, he's found a way to meet with her and abuse her in some way that will automatically conceal itself&  A quick punch to the stomach&  Whatever- he was quick and clean&"

"You think he knew how to control her?" Japheth had a slight twinkle in his eye- this had peaked his interest.

"Yes sir&  I believe he had profiles on all of us in that deleted files list&  I mean- have you ever read Jen Knight's profile?  It specifically states that she came to us with bruises and other markings of abuse- he's in our infrastructure&"

Japheth nodded and said," Wait here.  Don't contact anyone- I'll make sure we get to that ship, but I need to check this story out."  Shazam didn't argue and instead decided it was time he checked out his own damage.  He'd been thrown against the console of his Interceptor as it rolled into the Atrus's hanger bay.  The ship had been on fire he was about to singe his hands in an attempt to open the port at the top of his fighter when the three crew people jumped in and put the fire out.  He would be thankful to them for a long time.

The memory was a long and complicated one, but it was instantaneous- he needed to be looking at these files though.  As he searched through a long list of ships, he continued to think on the events, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

Japheth had moved first to the bridge and notified them to enter hyperspace and follow the ship that had made off with Nazgul Squadron, but then he took two of his most trusted techs from the bridge, Crew one of them, and made haste to Warren Dimmias's room.

"This guys good&" Raymond said as he fumbled around with the personal computer about the size of his head which was a little oblong and crawling with dark curly hair, his wire rim glasses peaking out from his ears and shining his eyes with the screen.

"How so?"  Japheth queried as he snapped open a locked briefcase somehow.
"He encoded the deleted files so that if we try to retrieve them without a password we'll be the ones to destroy them." Crew noted as he studied the text from behind Raymond.

"Can you retrieve the files?" Japheth would have said logs if he felt it would make them work harder, but giving these men information was nothing anymore.  They'd heard and seen so much since traveling with the Atrus that logs from on a pilots personal computer about missions that weren't his own seemed elementary.

"Well&  He's not that good." Raymond chuckled and moved his glasses up and down to make sure they were secured snugly to his head. 

"It'll be about five minutes before his coding programs get out the password, Sir." Crew finished up for him.

"Very well&" Japheth's hands were suddenly shifting through papers and folders, opening them briefly to see if they were in fact of any importance.  Most of them were personal information sheets detailing placements throughout his career that he'd made a habit of holding onto.  Hello, he thought as he touches a piece of paper that sent a vibe through his arm up to his head as he read the text.

"Transfers?  Rembish Tacheum Shipyards?  What's this?"  The sheets detailed the craft he'd taken to reach the Vast Empire sector of space for enlistment.  Warren had actually been in a few other organizations before the VE, which was probably what made him so good, but now it made Japheth curious.  While the commander hadn't remembered everything he'd been taught, he did make good note of them so that if he ever wondered about anything- he'd know where to look.  Something just wasn't right about these files and he couldn't quite put his finger on it until he read class of ship.

"Civilian cruiser?"  But the shipyard said that it was in league with the VE&  CCR is for civ cruisers&  SPV?  This is wrong&  Japheth thought hard for a moment when he realized they had to be false.  He'd run a background check on the ships with designated sheets in the briefcase to make sure he wasn't mistaken, but he was pretty sure he saw what Warren Dimmias had been up to.

"Sir!  I got it- barely took two minutes to get that code.  I love it when people use these codes that start with one&" Crew and Raymond chuckled underneath their breath and Japheth strode over to them with his usual wave of magnitude.  "Right- well, here's your deleted logs.  The code opens all of them, apparently he was too lazy to make a code for every file&"

"He's got an entire file for Nazgul Squadron and then something titled prm dot log&" Crew was even interested.

"I want all of this backed up onto a separate disk to make sure we don't loose it- analyze it and tell me what I need to know."  Japheth gave them a nod and was out of the room and off to meet with Shazam again.
Shazam sat munching on some rations that looked something like granola bars and he appeared to be enjoying them as Japheth entered.  He stood but the commander waved him down-

"You were right, but I won't be able to give him any serious punishment without further information.  Now, don't be upset with me, but we're going to give Warren Dimmias control of the squadron." Shazam tensed instantly, but Japheth continued&  "If his intentions are what we think they are, he won't put your squadron in jeopardy.  I believe you already knew this?"  Shazam nodded- Warren was going to use the squadron somehow&  Otherwise, why join the VEN and request to be placed in a squadron in the first place?  What help would that be? 

"So- while he's out there, we'll watch his commands and attempt to make some connection to him and the pirates, we have some information already linking him to some unknown frigates and maybe we can get something more from simple observation&"

"Alright, but what if he pulls something on the squadron while we're flying?  We'll all be screwed&"

"As of right now, you are dead Lieutenant Shazam.  I can tell you right now that we'll be heading to Cepany for the next mission and there's going to be plenty of trouble besides Warren- chances are, he won't be able to pull anything."

"But what about me?"  Shazam looked so demanding even though he knew he was talking to Japheth, the most intimidating man in the VEN.  Nazgul was his family now- he wouldn't just let this go.

"You can fly with one of the other squadrons&" Japheth was already turning to leave.

"What will I fly?  I didn't realize we had extra ships in hold&"

"We don't, but you can use mine.  You've flown a defender right?"  Japheth was out the door again.

"Do you have Warren Dimmias yet, Mr. Crew?" Japheth found the ship he'd been looking into and the entry that he'd told Raymond to look into entitled 'prm.log'

"The line is secured, Sir&" Crew pulled out an extension microphone from the console about four centimeters in diameter with a similar length. 

"Very good," Japheth was already walking down the short staircase to communications console.

"Nazgul One, do you copy?" Crew announced into his headset as the channel turned live.

"Yea, whadda ya want?  You know I'm in the middle of combat and you're cutting me off from my squadron mates, right?"  He was breathing deep, long breathes that were taking up a lot of the com noise besides the quick burst from his cannons.

"This is the commander of the Atrus, I would like to request you return to us and leave the squadron in the hands of Nazgul Two." Japheth's voice was more commanding over the com network and the breath was muffled on Dimmias's end as he realized who was speaking to him.

"Commander Japheth, what is it exactly you would like me to do for you aboard the Atrus I can't do out here right now?  Why can't this wait?"

"Consider this an order, Lieutenant Dimmias&" Japheth abandoned the code names and went right to formalities- they were more effective&

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't just leave battle, you know that&" Warren seemed to be struggling, whether it was from the conversation or the flight, Japheth couldn't tell.

"Very well- I'd like you to answer some questions for me then, would that be alright?"

"Make it quick."  Japheth paused for a moment, deciding not to take the command as an insult.

"Would you like to tell me what planet you were residing on just before you came to our sector to join with the VEN?"  Warren didn't answer back right away.

"Verimus IV, why?"

"Because that planet doesn't have any record of ever negotiating terms with a company called Rembish Tacheum Shipyards&  Would you like to explain to me how you made contact with this group?  Or should we just skip it and get to your real agenda..?"

"What is this?  I have Art trying to get through!"

"Rembish Tacheum Shipyards was lost to a host of pirate ships called the Preen Armada eight years ago&  The ships the pirates stole from there still have the emblems and insignias of the ship yard blazoned across their sides&  The port that you arrived at still has record of receiving your ship with those insignias.  That is a pirate vessel which makes you under investigation&  If you value your life as well as your imperial career, you will abandon your ventures in this battle return to us on the Atrus.  Do I make myself clear?"  The com channel was totally silent and Crew was checking to see if they'd lost the line.

"You should have just left it alone&"  The voice was cold and crisp."  Now you've gone off and made yourself some trouble, Heth.  Through the years I've had a lot of time to observe the way you imperial flag rats work&  You try to intimidate your people to protect yourself from mutiny and then when one you get yourselves too overwhelmed, you let go of your problems by handing your position off to the poor basterd who's in second command&  Then you go off and get into an escape pod or fly your personal ship out of the hanger just when the ship explodes and everyone's gets obliterated&  You make me sick."  He seemed lost for words, but Japheth seemed unsurprised as he listened to the speech droll on.

"Your fate is sealed&"  Japheth clicked the 'end link' button and slid the microphone into its holding position, quickly saying-

"I need the entirety of Nazgul Squadron on the line now&  He's going to make a run for it."

**After Jaden's Post and the conversation between Japheth and Dimmias**

"WHOAAAA!" Jack Nebulax jumped in his seat only to be held down by the straps as he narrowly avoided fire from two separate T-wings.  "I need some help&  Anybody at all&"  It would only be moments before he was locked onto by one of the two T-wings.  Or both!  Concussion missiles!  I'll be incinerated..!  He thought of Alexia and his son as if this would be his final maneuver, jumping to his conclusions before the lock was ever made&  Here goes&  Jack wiggled his hand momentarily in the air before clutching it onto the control yoke, pushing hard with his left foot on the switch below, throwing him into a spin.  The familiar flash of lights and annoying beeps filled the cabin as Jack pulled into a 'Split S' in the hopes of losing the missile locks more effectively.  He lost no time pulling up hard on the yoke once he was turned about and upside down, forcing him past the surprised fighters who looked as if they were about to try and pursue with a sharp loop.  "Still need&  What was that?"  The fighter shook as it rode out the blast, calling Jack's attention to the rear of the craft.
"One?  What are you doing?  ONE?"  Art's voice was so angry all of the sudden everyone seemed to be listening up.  He'd been trying to speak to Warren for the last half minute; he was heading dangerously close to the assault frigate&

"Attention Nazgul Squadron&" Jack decided not to turn himself all the way around in his seat to get a better look at the carnage from behind and located his flight on the radar.  The voice over the com was that of Japheth's&?  Addressing squadron's directly was a rare event coming from someone like Japheth.  Most of the time, even in emergency situations, the man never spoke over the com directly to pilots.  He would listen up& 

"You are hereby ordered to destroy the former imperial pilot, Nazgul One.  I repeat, destroy Nazgul 1&"  His voice was remarkably stern; it left Jack speechless.  For a moment it didn't register, how could Japheth be speaking with such a proud tone when he was talking about the condemnation of one of his own pilots?  Did he hear him correctly?  "He can not be persuaded, so do not attempt to bring him back to the Atrus&  He is a traitor and must be dealt with immediately before he can deal any greater damage to our organization.  Take him out&"

"What is this?" Aldur ordered without formalities upon hearing the request.  He, Darius and Tokijin had been worrying so much about Jaden that they hadn't taken note of the former Nazgul leader's dramatic change in speed and style. 

"Attempting to lock on&"  Art's voice rang clear and this brought Jack back into his usual nature.

"What!"  He swung the craft around as if it would give him all the answers he needed but only saw Art spin away from the assault frigate as it lit up in a demonstration of sheer firepower.

"Maybe not&  I won't be able to follow him with these controls, not past that curtain of fire&"  Art sounded angrily subdued.

"What is going on here?" Albright was now trying to get in close with Jack who was speeding up and pulling into a sharp loop for some reason.

Japheth didn't answer any questions, but instead continued.  "Assisting Nazgul Squadron will be Venom One&"  Who?  Venom Squadron isn't even here& Jack thought.

"Taking your target, two&"  The look on Jack Nebulax's face when he heard that voice was of such astonishment it can not possibly be put into words.

"Shazam?"  The defender he'd seen at least three times during the battle was suddenly in front of him and speeding away at an incredible speed,  barreling to the left to avoid an out of control T-wing.

"That's Venom One&" Shazam chuckled slightly and his craft disappeared behind the slight supernova from a T-wing as a proton met it's mark.

"Shazam?"  Trevor said just as dumbfounded, momentarily letting his guard down, a pair of T-wings coming in fast with concussion missiles armed on whoever was easiest to shoot&  Jaden!  Trevor forgot about the dead commander and turned hard to cover his mistake, but Darius was already on it.

"You mean Venom Four&" Trevor wondered if Darius was smiling at the thought or if he was as emotionless as always&

"You tell me about all this later, man&" Art said, not really surprised at hearing his old friend's voice, more relieved.  "Nice digs&" he said after a moment, indicating the Defender. 

"Makes you proud to be an imperial," he said with a tinge of effervescence the team wasn't used to, especially Tokijin.  She was dumb struck. 

"We saw you die&  You're dead!"  Don't go cryin on me now, Toki& he thought with a smile and felt the controls vibrate softly in his hands.  Within the cockpit of the TIE Defender, the interior was soft but well textured, delivering the type of quality one would come to expect from the imperial design team at Seinar Systems.  Shazam had only used a Defender on one other occasion, and if he wouldn't of had it&  Well, he was just glad he had the shielding and speed at his disposal when being chased by four fighters&

"YEEEHA!"

 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Trevor pulled on the yoke control, swinging the fighter to the left.  He had barely missed the explosion of a trailing missile.  There were now two T-wings pursuing him.  He quickly shoved the controls forward, dropping his fighter into a downward spiral, then bringing it back up in the opposite direction.  He was now nose to nose with an oncoming fighter.  All shield systems were go, so he transfered the majority of his power to his front shields, hoping to deflect or possibly absorb any of the incoming fire from the two T-wings.  He spotted Jaden's fighter a few hundred meters below the ongoing dogfight.

Not good.. Trevor thought, That rescue vessel hasn't arrived yet to get Jaden out of here

The thoughts were interupted as Trevors targetting computer went wack.

"Damn!," yelled Trevor, "Two missile locks from those T-wings, requesting immediate fighter cover!"

Trevor twisted his fighter around in a large arc to the left, but not before getting off a few shots at one of the incoming fighters, knocking them off course and almost destroying their sheilds.  The missiles were slowly gaining on him.  His engines were working at full capacity.

I need more power... thought Trevor

Trevor tinkered with the engine power distribution panel in his fighter, slightly adjusting a few headings in order to drain his shielding to his engines.

No matter, if one of those missiles gets me, shields or not, I'm gone...My best bet is to get all the speed I can

The lock-on warning was now beeping wildly, telling Trevor that the missiles were dangerously close, but he was now gaining more speed with the new adjustments he had made.

"This is 7, I'm coming around..." said a voice through the com channel.  Trevor was most excited to hear that someone was there to assist him in this time of need.  As he watched through the viewport while manuevering his fighter, he could see Tokijin coming in at a very fast speed, but behind his fighter instead.

The fighter came close to hitting Trevors, only a few meters behind his fighter, but something happened then.  One of the missiles trailing Trevor had now aquired a new target, Toki, which was the plan aparently.

"3, bring your missile around, as will I.  We will each destroy eachothers trailing missiles, then scram for Jaden's fighter.  The Dominique is coming in to board his fighter and get him out of there," said Toki

Trevor was now too concentrated on the orders to reply back to Toki's request.  She knew he would comply, as it was the only way for him and her to get out of their present predicament.

Everything happened very quickly.  Within a few seconds, the fighters were coming at eachother, nose to nose.  The two pursuing missiles looked to be heading right at eachother.  Trevor spotted the T-wings coming in for another run on Jadens fighter about two klicks away.  They would have to make this fast.

"Break on my mark..." said Toki

The fighters were now about 100 meters away.

"NOW!," yelled Tokijin as she broke her flight pattern, heading straight down.

Trevor did the esact opposite of her manuever, bringing his fighter straight up.

The two missiles collided, sending a shockwave throughout the vacinity of the fighters.  Both of the fighters rocked as their shields were hit by the shockwave, but they were both alright.

"This is rescue transport Dominique," said a voice on the com channel.  "Sorry we're late.  We have boarded Nazgul 4's fighter, and are currently bringing him aboard.  Requesting fighter escort on path back to Atrus.

"This is 3, thats affirmative."


 
-----------------------
Jaden Khaar


Vast Empire
FM/SCPO Jaden Khaar/Nazgul 1-4 (Nazgul 4)/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S] (SV)

Shazam was suddenly pulling into a high yoyo; Warren was too close to get an effective shot off.  The commander had thought that with the Defender at his disposal, Warren's fighter would be a joke, but he'd underestimated the pilot.  Clearly he was in good communication with the pirate vessels around him because every time he swung in close for a flyby on the pirate vessels, the cannons would go dead momentarilly then light up in a chain reaction as if Warren's fighter had been the very ignition.  Shazam was forced around the current of red and green energy, but as long as he was the one chasing Warren he was confident.  While some commanders would have requested help from the support surrounding them, Shazam knew better.  Asking for such a vague form of assistance from a wide range of available back-up would have been like telling a massive crowd to unlock a single lock on a single door.  Not only that, but the constant fire and congestation of fighters would disarm Shazam and keep him from his kill.  As long as Shazam could keep on Warren, he wouldn't be doing any damage to the good men of the VEN and he certainly wouldn't live long if the now Wing Commander could get a good shot off. 

"Three, go on ahead and return to your flight, they need you more than I do..." Shazam was firm but Trevor tried to argue it anyways.

"But you know..."

"No- I don't want you getting killed because of some fighter crossing paths at the wrong time...  You got a lot of talent- show us some." Shazam didn't say another word but instead came out of his high speed yoyo about seventy feet behind Warren as Trevor trailed off to rejoin his group.  Still kind of close...  But Shazam was smiling because he could see now that the only place to go was down toward the battle; Dimmias was in open space, or to Shazam- the playground.  Sure enough, the interceptor pulled into a spiral dive, pulling up at first and then inverting and dropping into a sharp dive.  Shazam had seen the trick too many times and wouldn't be fooled when he had a far greater craft.  Dimmias would try to decrease his speed while Shazam attempted to follow, forcing him to overshoot, thus giving Dimmias the upperhand on the Defender.  A less controlled pilot would have been easilly taken in by the pilot even if they knew better...

"Linking cannon..."  Just as Shazam had aquired his target, Dimmias had reared his fighter toward the hanger bay of the overhead Hapan cruiser.  Unperterbed, Shazam had kept the target in his sites and was linking his cannons for a devestating shot when the Inteceptor juked and ejected its pilot.  The explosives ripped off the latches of the upper opening and Warren Dimmias was airborn in a sea of sparks and cannon fire.  His ejection seat shot out of the TIE fighter like a lightning bolt just as the craft began to quiver.  What! Shazam reacted faster than he took in what happened.  Since its pilot was now absent, the TIE began to slow down and head backwards toward Shazam's viewport.  Without worrying about control, Shazam threw the yoke to starboard, his left foot stomping down on the pedal to add some extra 'umph' to the spin. 

Shazam was almost breathless as he realized he needed to kick the throttle up to avoid and explosion behind him.  That crazy SOB had a self-destruct and he actually used it?  He was well out of the way of the explosion but Shazam had to give Dimmias credit for the inventive way he'd nearly ended the man's life.  While serious contact with the interceptor wouldn't have destroyed the Defender, it would have slowed it down enough to be in the blast radius of the exploding fighter, possibly killing the crippled fighter and its pilot.  He didn't learn that in any VEN handbook... Shazam thought, thinking back to the pirate heritage he was exhibiting rather egregiously.

"The pirate in the TIE Interceptor has just ejected and I can't re-aquire him..." Shazam said it to no one in particular but he figured Japheth would get word of it some how.  The length of his evasion as well as the speed he used to acheive it had landed him far away from the target.  Plus, targeting computers don't lock onto people unless they are specialized for it...  Was the computer in this specialized for such a task?  Shazam wondered about it as he turned the fighter hard to see if he could see his target with the naked eye.  A little surprised, Shazam realized that the dark, oblong figure with shinging edges was Warren Dimmias strapped into his ejection seat.  The pilot only caught a glimpse because of the glare from the metalic seat, but he took a shot in the dark anyways.  The pilot was impossible to hit from that distance though and Shazam realized he still had his cannons linked, he quickly turned them to the strafing mode, utilizing both ion and normal cannon power to neutralize the enemy.  Man, he launched close... 

"Nazgul Squadron and Venom One, you are to report to the coordinates being sent to you now.  They are planetside and are the evolved version of the original breifing." It was no one special, but Shazam recognized the voice as a man of the bridge.  They were going planet side?  He'd almost forgotten there were still pirates actually in the atmosphere.  Yes, they were trying to make a run for the southern hemisphere...  He could remember that much.  Jen was suddenly in his thoughts as he realized she had to be the one locating the pirates; she'd taken that brand new Theta-class shuttle.  He wondered how she was faring in all this, but then he brought himself back to what was right in front of him before meeting up with Nazgul.

Damn! The tractor beam from the Hapan cruiser had locked onto him instantly and Dimmias was already almost in the hanger bay.  Such precision, Shazam thought but decided he would have to see this battle out another time; dissappointed, he pulled up sharply and looked to the last location he'd known Nazgul to be fighting.

**In the Shuttle**

It had been an uneventful hour and Jen Knight was atleast attempting to keep her mind off of her own troubles, putting the problems of the group above her own.  How ardent she almost chuckled at her own pitiful situation.  Her hand mangled, she feebly felt the controls of the radar in front of her.  The two pilots flying the shuttle looked at her and felt pity for her as if she was the most pathetic thing they'd ever seen...  She accepted the looks with ironic disdain, wishing they'd never seen her at all.  It was considered an insult to be relegated to a job like 'radar personal' on any craft- even a shuttle of such low capacity.

"Got anything on that yet, Jen?" the pilot said enthusiastically as he headed toward a new point of high radar frequency.  He had been travelling at about full speed the entire flight and Jen had been less than freindly to him for a couple reasons.  While she was sure he'd passed all of his flight exams because he was obviosly flying her craft, she wondered if the trainer was suffering from some drug induced episode because his piloting skills were less than extraordinary.  Sure, he travelled fast and she had to ascribe their ability to circumnavigate the search zones to him, but at the same time, his high speed manuvering and stops were of grotesque fashionry.  She braced herself everytime he announced they were entering clean radar zone.  What happens when we get shot at?

"She's doin fine Ridge."  The copilot was of an awkward nature, saying something from time to time as if it was his job to do so.  Jen held less contempt for this figure because he seemed so innocent with his wonderment and awe in the presence of his captain.  He's got a lot to see She thought, thinking back to some of the pilots she'd seen in her breif career as an imperial pilot. Breif... For the thousanth time she glanced down at her hand, draining her hatred into this single appendage; it was the pit of evil and she was attached to it.  She wished to cast it away like a torn flight glove but she knew there was no easy way to do it...  Many pilots in the past had actually gone so far as to have their hand taken off and replaced with a synthetic/robotic  version, but the price was sky-high.  How Jaden had aquired his new and improved limbs, she knew not but she'd never actually asked...  There was certainly a story behind it, because as far as she knew he wasn't rich.  Or was he?  She sighed deeply, regretting the time she'd squandered not getting to know her fellow pilots. 

"Just checkin up is all, Rodge."  Ridge seemed content with his response as his sharp eyes surveyed the misty landscape.  All around the fighter there was nothingness- dense fog had shrouded the land, permitting practically no visibility whatsoever.  All there was to see were a few tall rods for communications and radar contact; it was at these pinpoints the radar's coverage and frequency would be strongest.  The communications, if one could call them that, were quick and uninformitive.  It seemed the people of Cepany would like nothing better than to escape the entire galaxy just to keep a little farther from the reach of control.  The pilots were hated in this glittering country and Jen had to wonder what made them so hateful...

"Hmph?" She heard herself jump as Rodge and Ridge caried on a mediocre guy conversation about taking off some day to live in a place like this.  The console to her left had made a quiet bleep...  Did I actually hear that or am I just halucinating...  And I thought these guys were on something...  There it was again, and suddenly Jen was facing the console and awainting the next reading.  Ridge was prating about the woman he'd met about two months ago with long dark hair and a 'kind mind' when Jen interupted.

"I've got an unidentified craft bearing four, five, zero, five." Her eyes were alert for anyting else but she doubted that it was anyting significant.  Her voice was rather bland for the reading it seemed to the pilots flying the shuttle, but that was probably because they were board and this was the first thing they'd heard in an hour. 

"I've got seven seperate targets surrounding the initial radar contact and they are...  Drop, Commander!"  Jen turned toward the pilot who was paying as close attention as he could as the high speed he was travelling.  Her eyes were aggressive enough he complied immedietly, lowering his altitude and speed at a comfortable level.  Jen clung to her chair, clicking the measure along the hold to keep it from swiveling; she was glad she'd kept buckled up now. 

"Rodge!" She'd thought too soon- the 'comfortable speed' was for those fastened down.  The co-pilot was over his controls and into the viewport of the shuttle, his face making contact hard. 

"Shit, nine targets surrounding initial radar contact, keep down, Commander." Jen's voice was even more authoritive despite the disturbing display to her left.  I suppose I hope he's not dead...  The commander was hesitant...  "Commander!"  He looked away from his co-pilot and took the controls sternly, desellerating as smoothly as possible in the hopes of keeping damage to his freind to a minimum.

"Command, we have a location for you..." Ridge was speaking resolutely to the crew of the Atrus- he'd just glanced up and to port and realized it was a squadron of eight fighters and a corellian corvette streaking across the sky.

(That otta do it.  Any problems, questions or queries- the Nazgul thread please.  Keep rockin.)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

"You heard the man, C`mon Nazgul, lets form up and get out of here." Art said sternly, pulling onto Trevor`s right wing and getting slightly ahead of him. "Report in."

"Nazgul 3 here." Trevor said, and listened as the rest of Nazgul`s still flying pilots reported in. The other two flights formed up and met up with Nazgul 2 and 3 within minutes. They got planet side after a short while and Art led the decent into the foggy atmosphere.

"Damn! I can barely see in this fog...Without my helmet`s eye shield I wouldn`t be able to see anything" Crimson stated over the comm to no-one in particular. He was right, and Trevor wasn`t going to argue with him, although he figured that he had flown in worse fog than this.

"Yeah, its pretty bad, but you get used to it. I remember one time I had to fly through fog like this without the eye shields and we were flying in canyons." Trevor replied to him over the comm. He remember back to his time with the Hussars during one of their missions on Kyle II.

"Woah! Shit! I almost hit that wall...Stuipid fog" Ghost said over the comm as he pulled hard to the right to avoid a canyon wall.

"Smooth move there Ghost-boy. Your lucky you`re flying a Y-wing or you`d be dead right now." Reaper laughed as he spoke. All the boys in the squadron knew it was true, but most would still rather be flying X-wings.

"Yeah, but I hate these Y-wings...We`re such easy targets, and they handle like shit." Ghost said absent mindedly.

"We like our Y-wing." Szar said over the comm, in one of his rare good mood voices.

"You Also like raw bantha meat, Szar. You are a little bit wierd, you Trandosians." Reaper said.

"You are lucky we don`t ring your scrawnly human necks at base, Reaper. You too Ace." Szar said, sneering in an ugly way behind his helmet as he pulled up hard to avoid a wall. "We see what you mean Ghost, this fog is bad."

"What did I do!" Trevor blurted over the comm to Szar`s acusations. He knew his commander was just messing around, but, Szar wasn`t one to say something without reason.

"Remember last week when you almost got us shot down by that imperial gun battery?"

"Oh yeah...Hah! That was awsome!" Trevor exclaimed over the comm and almost started to laugh. The previous week they had been patrolling a different sector of Kyle II and encountered an Imperial outpost. Everyone had wanted to go and bomb it, but Szar wouldn`t have any of it. Trevor got everyone except Szar together in his quarters and prepaired them to go out without permission to bomb the outpost. They all agreed to a plan and then set out, blowing out of the hanger and leaving Szar hollering threats at them in Trandosian and shaking his scaly fist.

***

"Yee-HAAAW!" Trevor hollered as they blew out of the base. "Lets get our asses over and get this done with, and we can be home in time for dinner."

"Whatever you say Cap. Your taking the blame if we get in trouble." Reaper laughed, knowing he was wrong. They would all share the blame for such a stuipid stunt, and would flee before anything major happened.

"ETA to the outpost is approxematly 45 seconds. Prepair your bombs and ready your main cannons. We don`t know whether or not they have fighters." Ghost ordered. He was third in command and was often taking the blame for things he didn`t do, which was sometimes helpful, although sometimes got him in more trouble than he deserved.

"Edge, Triggar, pull in a little closer here. We don`t wanna be running into walls because we are so spread out." Trevor said to some of the other members in his squadron. "Alright people, we`re now in range of their facilities, so watch for any locks that might cause us some problems."

"Yessir.." Came accross the comm a good number of times, and Trevor smiled as he carefully aimed his first bomb. He didn`t want to start off with destroying any big things, so he was aiming at a missile turret.

Before he could drop his bomb first, everyone in the squadron started dropping bombs freely, trying to decimate as much property as possible. Trevor was fine-tuning his aim when the missile turret locked on to him. He knew that escapig a missile in a Y-wing was a one-sided fight, so he dropped his bomb, hoping to hit the turret before the missile was fired. He punched the button and watched as the bomb fell, but swore under his breath when he saw a missile fire out of the launch tube of the turret.

"This is Ace, I got a lock on me, any he-....." He said, stopping mid-sentance. "Nevermind...My bomb got it."

He let out a laugh and quickly dropped another bomb, decimating the turret. Then he heard the most terrifying thing in the galaxy come over the comm.

"This is ss-Szar...You boysss ssss-sure as hell better be ready to head back now.  We will be ringing your neckssss tonight if anything happensssss." Szar said angerly over the comm, the hissing being a sure sign of how pissed off he was.

"But sir! We only just got started! we`ve bar-" Reaper said, trying to explain, but was cut off by Szar.

"We said, GET BACK TO BASE!!!" Szar hollered, sending a sliver of fear into every pilot`s heart who heard him.

"Yes sir!" Came over the comm multipul times, except for Trevor.

"Ace, do you have a problem with our orders we just gave you?" Szar asked in a mockingly nice tone. He was trying to get Trevor to talk back to him, as Trevor was one of his least liked members, although Szar did respect him.

"No s-s-s-sir." Trevor replied, imitating Szar`s hiss, and getting a few muffled snickers out of the rest of the crew. "But I just figured...You know, since we`re all here and have destroyed most of this outpost...Why not finish the job?"

"Because we said so...NOW GET YOUR ASS BACK TO...Oh shit...." Szar stopped, suddendly making a steep dive towards the ground, pushing his Y-wing to its limits.

"Someone give him a hand! They`ve got TIEs out now." Trevor gave the order, and then had to pull some evasive manuvers of his own to avoid being shot down by a TIE.

"Not cool...Oh well, there is only three of them, they must be under-stocked, or underestimated us. Lets hope both." Reaper said, and everyone could tell he was smiling. He immidiatly followed the TIE that was on Trevor, and had vaped the novice pilot quickly, even in a Y-wing.

"Good flying Reaper. Go help Ghost wqith his trailer, and I`ll give Szar a hand..Then we can head back. Watch your rear though, some of those batteries are lighting up good." Trevor said pulling up and veering to the left to chase Szar`s follower. He barrel rolled his fighter to avoid an oncomming un-locked missile and then fired a few shots at the un-shielded TIE.

"Scratch one TIE!" Reaper said over the comm.

A few of Trevor`s shots caused smoke to rise from the TIE, and he fired a few more, smiling as one of them burrowed itself into the rear viewport of the TIE. The pilot lost control, and started flying erraticaly, before crashing into one of the canyon walls.

"Come on boys, lets head home so s-s-s-Szar can ring our necks." Trevor said, again mocking his commander.

"Yessss, letss go. But we won`t ring youir neckss tonight Ace. You did save our lives, so we owe you one." Szar said, wiping his head with his hand and then pulling into the leader position of the formation.

***

"It may have been fun to Y`all, but it wasn`t fun for me...Being chased by that TIE for almost three minutes with him shooting constantly....I still owe you a drink Reaper." Ghost said, trying to keep everyone`s mind off of their bleak and boring patrol run.

"Yup, you sure as hell do." Reaper laughed.

"Alright, well, we`re half way done our patrol...Anyone have music or something?' Razor asked over the comm.

"Nope, not me." Trevor replied, frowning as the fog seemed to get thicker. "Y`all watch keep an eye out. The fog is gettin thicker and I don`t want anything to happen. Remember, our radar is out dated, so you can`t rely on it to tell you how close your coming to a wall, and visibility is terrible."

"Roger that, I`ll keep my head up. I can`t even see you Ace, but your right next to me." Reaper said almost laughing, even though the situation had become serious.

"Got it" Edge complied, adjustng her controls and brushing the hair out of her eyes quickly. She checked her radar and then returned her eyes to the front of the viewport.

"Haha, watch yourself Edge. Wouldn`t want you crashing now." Razor said, trying to sound as if he was joking around, even though he wasn`t. "If we hadn`t memorized this canyon, this would be alot harder."

"Yeah...I hate flying in this weather, its so risky. Did any of you hear about Delta squadren losing three members? All on the same patrol." Reaper asked, trying to keep a conversation going.

"Yeah, that must have sucked. We gotta be careful, I don`t want that happening to anyone here." Trevor said, followed by a 'Yeah' from Szar.

Suddenly a shockwave echoed accross the canyon, and Trevor had to reach for his controls quickly to avoid from being knocked about by turbulance.

"What was that. Everyone report in!" Trevor yelled, suddendly worried for someone in his squadron. "Please tell me someone just accidently dropped a bomb."

"Wasn`t me...Hey...Who`s missing? Did someone turn off their beakon?" Reaper said, suddenly starting to get worried.

"It was Razor...He was talking to me on a private line and then there was a huge explosion through the command then..." Edge said, bursting into tears as she finished. Edge was the only female in the squadron and everyone knew that her and Razor were having a 'secret' relationship. They even had a move for any battles called the Razor`s Edge, which was quite a fantastic little trick.

"Son of a Bitch!" Reaper yelled, slamming his fist into the Y`s consol. "Come on Edge, hold it together till we get back to base. We don`t want to lose you too. When we get home you can let it out." He said, changing tones from angry to sympaphetic.

"Szar, we gotta head back. The radar is showing electrical storms coming in, and we don`t want to risk any more lives to this fog." Trevor said, almost as a command. He and Szarmay have not gotten along, but they did understand that risking the lives of their squadron over something this routine just wouldn`t be justifiable, esspecialy after losing a pilot already.

"Alright boys, lets head home. Screw the rest of the patrol run." Szar said clearly, as he turned his fighter around to head out of the canyon, followed closly by everone else.
They exited out of the fog when they got high enough, and Trevor looked back, feeling his stomach drop with Razor`s regular spot being empty. If he felt this bad, he couldn`t imagine how Edge felt.

"Without eye shields? Wow, that must have been hard." Crimson said seemingly impressed by Trevor`s experiance.

"Not really...We did lose a pilot though, so lets make sure everyone pays close attention. Its really bumpy down here from the looks of things, so we`d better be careful." Trevor said, remembering the holo of the planet that they showed in breifing. It was very bumpy terrain, and if a pilot wasn`t careful while flying, he or she could easily crash into one of the cliff faces or directly into the ground. With all of the fog, it was also very hard to tell which way was up and which was down.

-----------------------
FM/PO2/Trevor Evenson/Nazgul 3(1-3)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

"Shit..."Trevor said, trying to sound calm. He had almost expected as much, but had pushed the thought to the back of his mind before breaking formation to fire upon the corvette. Bad idea on his part. He rolled underneath the corvette and came up on the other side in an attempt to give Tokijin a hand. Besides, He thought to himself, We usually cover each other pretty good.

He took aim at the Z95 they were following and let loose a few cannon bursts, missing completely, but startling the pilot enough to make him swerve toward to corvette. Tokijin took advantage of his resulting maneuvers to avoid the corvette to get herself in closer for a missile lock. Moving the targeting knobs rapidly while keeping her position behind the Z95, she let out a sigh when she got a lock.

"This is 8, I got a lock on him. Firing now." Tokijin said over the comm to Trevor in perfect Imperial fashion. She let the missile fly and pulled out hard, hoping to escape the blast radius, as she had gotten in closer then she meant to so she could acquire a lock. She made a tight loop and leveled off facing the oncoming fighters who had ambushed them, as Trevor completed a similar maneuver and leveled off to her right. He checked his radar and saw the blip from the Z95 disappear.

"Good shot 8." He said over the comm, nodding his head in approval, even though she couldn`t see it. By now, the rest of the squadron had gotten involved, with a pair of TIEs firing on the engines of the corvette, while everyone else, including Venom 1, where engaging the opposing craft. "Don`t go and get yourself hurt now Toki, lets make it through this one eh?" Trevor let out quickly over the private channel, then an idea hit him as he singled out a Preybird.

"Toki, We`re gunna try something. I`m going to fly down toward the Preybird off our 3, and your going to come down slightly on top of me. Then, I`m going to make him pull up, and when he shoots past you, your going to pull off of me and follow him. Hopefully he won`t even see you." Trevor quickly explained, hoping that he would be able to pull off the Razor`s Edge. He hadn`t seen it done in a long time, but still remember it well. Razor and Edge never failed with it, but when Edge tried to do it after Razor died, she didn`t pull it off perfectly, and collided with the fighter she was supposed to follow. Whether it was accidental or a planned suicide, he never knew.

"Roger that 3." Tokijin replied over the comm, cutting her speed slightly and pulling behind Trevor. Trevor took a deep breath and slammed the control yoke forward, angling him directly in front of the Preybird. He prayed that the pilot had good reflexes, or they`d both die. He forced himself into a slow spin, trying to make it look like he was out of control. The Preybird fell for it, pulling up hard to avoid the TIE that was soon to cross his path, and shot past Tokijin. She pulled back hard, and cut her throttle, tightening her turn. As she came about, she pushed the throttle to full and started after the Preybird, locking onto him as she went.

Trevor closed his eyes and smiled to himself,exhaling slowly.He opened his eyes and swore under his breath, pulling back hard on the control yoke as the ground rushed toward him. He had dropped below the clouds, and had to take a moment to admire Cepany`s rugged spender. He was knocked out of his trance when a large raindrop splattered on his front viewport.

"Oh shit..." He said to himself as he flicked on his comm. "This is Nazgul 3. I dropped below the clouds and its raining. I Suggest all Nazguls remain above the cloud layer." He said as he pulled up and increased his speed, willing to risk a couple of drops doing a bit more damage to his craft rather than a million drops destroying it. "Feel free to chase those Preybird and Z95s down here though."

He heard someone laugh of the comm, and he reappeared above the clouds, ready to re-join the battle. He jumped as a missile exploded on the corvette`s engine joint, blackening the hull and sending minor debris out, which quickly fell toward the planet.

"Nazgul 8, this is 3, come in Nazgul 8" Trevor said over the comm, trying to find out if Toki got the Preybird.

"This is 8, What can I help you with 3?" Tokijin replied with a bit of pride in her voice.

"You get `em?"

"Yup."

"Good job. Who next?" Trevor asked hypothetically, checking his radar and visually looking for a new target.
 
-----------------------
FM/PO2/Trevor Evenson/Nazgul 3(1-3)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

Jen had been sitting a little stunned when she'd realized the voice on the other side of the com was that of her fallen comrade Shazam.  She didn't try to jump into the conversation or even breathe a sigh of releif when she finally realized he was back; she just watched.  After the tense atmosphere she'd been observing for the last ten minutes, it was nice to be able to just sit back and observe for a few minutes the graceful flight of her freinds...

"You ganna help me out here?"  The look on the face of the man designated 'Ridge' had turned ruddy and rather disapproving as Jen managed to fall into a lethargic state over the Interceptors from above.  The sharp query broke her from her revory and her head slowly bowed down to the man at her knees.  She felt her own legs go a little week when she looked at the look in his eyes- they were wide open; an open expression of terror seemed plastered on his face as a reminder of what could happen...  To her?  She dismissed the disturbing vosage as Ridge quickly added," Well?"

"Yea," she began to breathe steadilly and Imperial Protocol began to come back to her all at once-" Alright, I'll see what I can do for him, you need to make sure you are monitoring both sheilds and engines so they can be relayed to Nazgul Squadron and the Atrus.  Is that a problem?" She didn't look him in the eyes as he took one hand off the control yoke to open up a panel to his right.  As she said all of this she turned the young man she remembered to be 'Rodge' over onto is stomache and stuck her hands at the gaps a little below his arm pits, attempting to heave him up from the darshboard area of the ship.  A little heavier than I was expecting- but who's fault is that? she heard herself thinking and even made a look to her abdomen and legs; all of this Dimmias business had frightened her into an unhealthy fasting; after all, she'd been too afraid to even go to a cafeteria or mess hall to get food for fear of death.  She cringed as the sharp and now, to her atleast, menacing look came across Warren Dimmias's face in her mind.  She bit her  lower lip a little and tugged on the man's chest hard enough so he came off the dash and forced the image of Dimmias out of her mind; with Shazam back she felt strong enough to even scowl at the thought of her deleterious stalker.  As she pulled Rodge across the carpeted floor of the Theta-Class shuttle she felt a little ashamed of herself for being so easilly manipulated; some of the fear that all this boldness coming to resonate in her mind would retaliate with devestating force still made a home in the back of her head.  She would never forget Warren Dimmias as long as she lived...  If she lived...  What or why something or someone would kill her she didn't quite know anymore, but it made no difference...

"I've established a link with both the Atrus and Nazgul Squadron.  Relaying tactical information now..."  Ridge's voice had become slightly calmer but an edge to it made his tone reflect a bitter attitude deep down.  Rodge was evidently his protege' or atleast little brother in terms of the VEN.  "Nazgul- you copy?"

"Yup- Ok, Nazgul, screen them and hold them on the planet until we can get that cruiser," Shazam ordered.  "By the way, Jen, how ya doin?"  The commander seemed to upbeat that Jen couldn't force herself to reply despite all the self-esteem boosting she'd been running through in her mind.  "Jen?  Theta shuttle do you copy?"

"This is Nazgul Five- I've been better" Jen said as confidently as she could after activating the communications system on her own console.  Rodge was now on his back and Jen had forced his eyes too look right in an attempt to keep them from staring into her.  She felt for his pulse as Shazam replied with a slight jump in his voice...

"YES, we've got Nazgul five in that shuttle- time we showed what we could do guys."  Jen knew that Shazam had a gaping grin every once in a while and now was probably one of those times it would blind someone into submission.

"Its good to be back.  Might as well be some service to you guys though," Jen replied and noted that Rodge had no pulse didn't appear to be breathing.

"Shoot Five"  Shazam's excitement to have Jen around brought a rosy color back to Jen's cheeks- it'd been a while since she'd felt appreciated in the group.  Before answering, Jen leaned toward the  man at her knees moved her long red hair behind her right ear so that it wouldnt' get in the way of any shallow breaths the man might be making.  Her ear hovered above Rodge's mouth patiently but felt nothing against her cheek and heard little.  She lifted her head slightly, taking once last look into the lifeless eyes of the young man and new it would be senseless to try CPR and alert the pilot his freind was gone.  She glanced at Ridge once and wondered if she should say anything, but then decided against it- she didn't know Ridge well enough to know how he'd react, especially in this situation.

"Alright, it looks like the bogies that left earlier have come back around, they must be using the clouds as cover but I think I'm picking up more signatures.  I count an additional four fighters, Nazgul Squadron."

She heard Shazam chcukle slightly and whisper something about 'coming back for more' when Tokijin spoke up-

"I have a visual, Five.  It looks like six, I think they're splitting off into pairs though."

"I Copy that, Eight.  Everyone grab a wingie and take who you can.  Six, you pull into the lead position; loose goose..."  Darius pulled away from the defender as he heard the formation called and then eased the thorttle up to make sure he was ahead of Shazam.  Ahead, coming out of the fog and cloud cover, three Z-95s, a B-wing and two A-wings materialized. 

"Target the back A-wing, six.  You know what to do..."  Shazam throttled back slightly and targeted the head A-wing.  It was strange to think of the A-wings as fast any longer as he realized he was in a TIE Defender.  Shazam smiled at the thought and fired he'd best get a picture of the outstanding craft before he was forced to give it back to Japheth.  "Sheilds foreward and missiles are armed."

"I copy that One, don't make a mess for me now."

"I'll try..."  Shazam smiled as he fliped up the cover on the button to his left thumb and activated the missile lock sequence on his HUD.  The hole point behind the loose goose formation was to force the enemy to attack one target out of two.  Shazam and Darius had left just enough space between them so that both could not be attacked at once by cannons.  If the A-wings split up, they would be without their wingman and thus much more vulnerable.  So, according to general theory, the group of two should move against the larger and more harmful enemy first to take away the threat.  Shazam grinned as he became concious of the fact he thought the Defender was an ovbious step up from the Interceptor; Darius had to be jealous.

"Enemies coming in fast, I think their going to try and by pass us one...  Dunno if I can get on them quickly enough."  Shazam's grin faded slightly.  The loose goose only gave you an advantage; if the enemy came after one target, that left the wingman on the outside to come up behind them and shoot them up.  If the A-wings managed to get past the initial fly-by attack, their speed would be too much for Darius to catch back up to them. 

"Crap that's okay- start your loop around the outside so we can get onto them.  It'll take you a little longer to catch up to them, but atleast they won't have a total speed advantage.  Make sure you come up high so your acceleration will outdo theirs as well..."

"Got it; you think you can hold on?"

"I'll just have to switch the sheilds around fast enough- I don't know the sheild integrity of these things..."  He chuckled as he again compared them to that of an interceptor;probabaly a little better than I'm used to.

"Alright, I'm goin around- see you in a minute."  Darius's fighter bolted off to the right and began its loop.  Shazam kept his eyes forward as he wiggled back in forth in his seat to get comfortable.  The distance to target on the HUD began to shred as the A-wing's randomizer became more evident.

"Missiles activated, waiting for a lock..."  Shazam enjoyed the fact that the Defender had a much longer range than the Interceptor's did, so when the box went red he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.  The craft felt as if it hit an airbump but then the site of the missile spiking across the battle field became obvious and Shazam realized he needed to get out of the way. 

"Missile launched, confirm hit?"  Shazam barreld starboard without a problem and saw the sheild from the A-wing blink crimson then burn away.  "Alright, sheilds down, I'm ganna try and come in behind 'em," he said the A-wing came streaking by with strafing fire.  Shazam throttled down and inverted, throwing the throttle back up as he pulled up hard to come up on their tails.  By this time Darius was catching up.

"Nice shot, One. I'm comin around..."

"Form up on my wing and take a shot on your man, six.  Linking fire..."  The linked fire switch was a dial in this craft; he scrolled around and noticed the name of his linking styles coming up on the bottom of the hud.  Ions and cannons?  Forgot they did that! 

Shazam had leveled out now and the A-wing was zipping along, the randomizer deactivated; Dodge this...  Shazam hit the trigger as he close in from about thirty meters, blasting away one of the engines.  Shazam dropped low as the funnel detached from the fighter and it began to twirl.  Shazam dropped backa little ways, noticing Darius rising to follow his bandit.

"I'm goin guns.  Firing now..."  The bolts flashed bright but were far enough to the right that Shazam could focus on his spinning fighter.  Easing back on the throttle Shazam put some more space between himself and the fighter ahead; no need to get taken apart by this guy when he blows apart.  Shazam pulled up suddenly as he realized the A-wing ahead of him had shut down both engines in an attempt to stop the spin.  "Crap..."  Shazam spun slightly to see if he could add a little extra to his rise.  He felt a shlight jolt as he realized his foreward sheild had knicked the A-wing. 

"This is Nazgul Support shuttle requesting assistance, it looks like they're coming our way."  Jen's voice seemed urgent so Shazam replied-

"Alright, someone pick up this A-wing; who's comin after you?"

"GOT 'EM!" Darius shouted into the com as the A-wing above streaked apart and the interceptor rolled back to Shazam's starboard side. 

"Looks like a B-wing and atleast one head hunter, another could be hiding..."  By this she meant that one of the headhunters could be concealing itself behind the form of its freinds- a strategy used by Thrawn.  Shazam thought grimly of the man he'd been hearing so much about lately; supposebly he was some kind of tactical genius but his cruetly was unmeasured.  Shazam wasn't sure if the VE would be getting involved with him or not... 

"We've got two missile locks!"  Jen seemed to no longer be talking to Shazam or Darius but to the man piloting the shuttle.  "I don't give a damn, just do something!  ROLL!"

"This is Nazguls three and eight, picking up your A-wing." Trevor wasn't going to take the kill for himself so he said rather affably-" He's yours eight."

"Alright, Nazgul support shuttle- we are assisting..." Shazam said and rolled hard to the left so he'd cut underneath the now barelly moving corellian corvette. 

Jen had strapped herself into her chair and locked setting so she wouldn't begin to swivel as they rolled.  The pilot hadn't wasted any more time as he saw the two missiles launch from ahead. 

"Sheilds foreward; hold on!"  The man stomped down on the right pedal, inverting the craft; the body of Rodge was strapped down beind the co-pilot seat with elastirope from the emergency kit in the back cabin.  His arms flailed about and his head hung with his mouth agape as Ridge suddenly pulled up hard, sending them through the low cloud barrier. 

"I've got missiles hot on my tail, Nazguls- take care of those attackers for me.  They won't follow us down here..."  He was right, the lethal droplets of rain were certain to keep them from dropping below the barrier.  The shild was flashing different colors as Ridge flipped the controls to even out the sheilds; the rain would kill them before the missiles at this point.

"Get us out of here!"  Jen shouted as the shuttle leveled out and began to rise.

"Just hold on, I've got an idea..."

"Whatever, just move!"  Jen spoke more urgently as she realized the missile warning had become louder on account of how close the flying devestators had become. 

"Missile one, out!  HAHA!"  Jen felt herself falling back into her seat as they began to climb.  The viewport was totally obscurred by the sheilds flashing; the rain was activating it everywhere, creating a startling effect.  Jen began to wonder about what Ridge had just said though- missile one, out?  Then it dawned on her- the rain.  While its properties were lethal to unsheilded craft, they'd be even more so to a lone missile. 

She frowned as the ship began to buckle and jump; she glanced to her right to read the data readout on the ship.  "Sheild integrity at zero- we are taking direct hull damage, Ridge!"

As she said this the front viewport began to shake violently- the rain was coming down directly on the ship and the viewport was its most powerful contact.  Man I don't wanna die on this thing... 

"Missile two is out!" The pilot didn't seem to mind the turbulence as he said this but then Jen's breathing began to ease as she realized they were coming through the clouds.  The rain was lessening and the craft itself leveling out.

"This is Venom One, how you guys doin?"  The light returned to normal and Jen had to take another deep breath to bring her back.

"Good flying captain."  He looked back at her and after a moment he nodded and smiled.  Jen smiled as well- how strange

"We sustained some damage to the front complex systems; looks like some periphial sensors are out and the nose is badly bent up."  Jen reported this as she unlatched her chair; the screen actually had damage reports everywhere but she didn't really feel the need to bring that up...

"It looks like you're out of the fray for a while, keep us updated Nazgul Transport.  We'll get rid of the bomber and head-hunter for you; keep your nose clean..."

(Starting to get back into the groove.  Who's all posting then?  I know Aldur is in this story and so is Jack; we'd best include them.  Anyone else?)

 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

The fighter was flatspinning, and Jaden could see the water beneath him.  Vison was blurring - It all had to be over now.  Missile warning alarms were screaming like mad, these were now the last moments of his life.

Smash

Jaden's head flew up and the IV's were ripped out of his arms.  He was now sweating heavily, trying to get an idea of what was going on and where he was.

Was it a dream?  It had to have been.

Then it all came rushing back to him.  The colliding of his fighter and another just outside of the planet Cepany.

Where was he now?  After checking the surroundings, he thought for sure that he was in the medical wing of a large capital ship.  Probably the Atrus.

Jaden relaxed and laid back in the hospital bed after removing all of his IVs.  Too many thoughts had been conjured up in his head by now.  Many questions had to be asked, and answers were needed.

Where was the rest of the Squadron?  Are we still orbiting Cepany?  Will I be able to get back into the fight?

Then it struck him, the doctors would never let him get back into a fighter.  Jaden had healed much quicker than most sentients in the galaxy, which amazed the doc's greatly.  They were probably running his Nanomachines right now to see if they could create some new battle-stimulant or something to boost the efficiency of the regular battle-hardened soldier.

Nope, Jaden wouldn't let himself be the Guinea pig of a new operation, time to haul ass and get back out there.

_____

Without asking anyquestions, Jaden hopped out of the bed and snuck around the corner.  He had familiarized himself with the Atrus Hospital Center pretty well, most of the recruits were given tours of the area, but Jaden had been studying the records of pilots who had been injured in flight lately, and this was the area to find that information out.

Shazam?  He must be out there, I would know by now...

After quickly sneaking by a low-ranked recruit who had just come out of the recovery room, Jaden snuck into the hold where the flight suits and uniforms were kept.  He quickly dressed himself up in undercloths and his flight suit, leaving his helmet behind.  He would be able to find another on the way.

Sneaking from room to room was a lot easier than Jaden thought.  Doctors and nurses were even paying attention to their surroundings, just what was happening with the patients in the area.  After making his way to the entrance of the hospital center, Jaden was caught off guard by two young women.  Nurses.

The table just under the communication panel was the place to go, and the nurses were coming strait towards him.  Jaden pulled a quicky and slipped under the table.  Un-noticed.

As the nurses walked by, Jaden could see their short skirts rubbing against their lucious legs.  Oh, the temptation of looking up them.  Jaden had heard many stories of recruits hooking up with the nurses on the atrus.  It was only dreamed of by some of the other though.

The nurses coincidentally stopped right at the table to make something out.  Jaden now had a large grin on his face.  This would be nice.

He poked his head out from under the table, just under the nurses legs, and after seeing what he had came for, he ducked right back under.

WAZAH!

Victory had been achieved, and it was now time to move on.  After the nurses left, Jaden shimmed out of the hospital wing, and headed for the hanger.  He quickly stopped by the barracks and grabbed an id of another pilot so that he could get clearance into the hanger.  He was going out as a member of Gamma Squadron, which had by now almost been anihilated in the fight.  Hopefully it would pass and he could get a fighter.

Jaden casually walked up to the hanger entrance and placed his card in the slot.  Ca-ching.  The door hissed open and Jaden stepped through.  After getting the go-ahead from a near-by officer, Jaden grabbed a helmet and made his way towards the line up of fighters.

The tie-interceptor was his first and only choice, but on the way to the fighter, a heavy dizzy feeling hit him, almost knocking him over.  Thoughts were now all screwed up.  The medication was really hitting him hard.

After stumbling into the fighter, Jaden attempted to put on his helmet and get the fighter preped at the same time.  So many things were spinning, larger headache than ever.  The fighter felt like it was lifting, but yet Jaden hadn't even qued the engines.

"Recruit Haide, are you alright, you seem to have been in the hanger for far longer than usual.  Is there someting wrong with your fighter?"

Jaden scrambled for the com-unit and qued the voice box.

"Uh, no, I'm fine," Jaden said, slurring his words.  "Just feeling a little woozy"

"Well, we don't want you going out in flight like that," then the voice paused, and yelling was heard through the com, Jaden couldn't quite make it out, something like, "Get him, he wasn't even supposed to leave!"

"Senior Chief Petty Officer Jaden Khaar, stay where you are.  There is no chance of escaping."

Jaden snapped a few switches, and the fighter sprang to life.  The hanger was still open.  After dumbfoundedly smashing the throttle to full, the fighter skidded out of the hanger across the ground, barely making it out.  Jaden kept the throttle on full while trying to multi-roll to dodge the tractor beam.

What is going on?  This medication is making me all loopy!

"JADEN KHAAR, STOP IMMEDIATELY AND RETURN TO THE HANGER," said a commander over the com-unit.

"No commander, you shut your mouth, I've got to get back with my squadron and help them out," said Jaden, "Goodbye"

The drugs were slowly but surely waring off, but the loopyness was still present.  Hopefully, in all of this confusing mess, he would be able to make it back with the sqadron.  What was he thinking?  He had no idea of where he was going or how he was going to get there.

It was hopefully going to work out.



-----------------------
Jaden Khaar


Vast Empire
FM/SCPO Jaden Khaar/Nazgul 1-4 (Nazgul 4)/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S] (SV)

(OOC: Surprise)

Arturus was becoming sick and tired of the battle.  It seemed like hours that they had been in combat; he loved flying but this much at this rate of intensity for so long was thoroughly exhausting after a while.  Whether it was age or the fact that he was so intensely zoned into what he was doing, despite maintaining an aura of complete if not absolutely frustrating calm, he found that long firefights became a drain.  Having long used his second wind, his flight had become more ragged and less skilled.  The knowledge that reinforcements had arrived was a huge relief; at this rate, he didn't think he had it left in him to begin surface runs against a corvette in order to knock out its turrets.  Usually the manouver was near suicide but after such a long battle it was almost assured to be.

The display panel showed fewer and fewer enemy fighters, something that was very welcome for Art.  Only a little bit longer now he thought to himself.  Considering the diminished threat, Art reduced the power to his shields and gave himself some extra throttle as he veered around quickly and headed towards an enemy fighter on a high attack vector.  His rate of descent was so quick that the pilot only recognized it once Art was nearly on top of him.  The pilot pulled hard to the right as Art hurdled in at a speed that would seem to be excessive for the manouver he was about to pull.  The enemy certainly thought so.

Rather than moving to get a lock and fire, Art played the part of the pilot moving too fast and blew past the fighter before cutting the throttle and pulling his fighter straight up giving him a perfect lock on the enemy as he began to glide to a stop.  Art slammed the accelerator and open fire, his lasers on single fire.  At this point, he wanted to see the fighter ripped to pieces slowly; it was rewarding for a long job well done in a way.  The enemy pilot never had a chance; Art was right behind him and ripped the fighter apart in about three seconds.  His effort was followed by a rather satisfying explosion that he had to dive quickly to avoid being hit by.  Usually killing the enemy wasn't entirely thrilling to him but at this rate he just wanted to see them dead and the sooner the better.

"Another one down one, we're almost there."  Art said with a calm sigh.  His voice was always frustratingly calm despite what was happening.  In a sense it was a bit of a facade at times but it worked and the reverse psychology of it actually did wonders for him during battle.

"Good work two."  Shazam replied as he began to dial in on one of the final enemies.  The battle was nearing an end...at last.
 
-----------------------
FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

"Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting." -- Sun Tzu

Newly promoted Senior Crewman Colin Chvomle gazed through the viewport off of the massive modified-Super Star Destroyer Atrus.  The battle was amazing, the center of it being so bright he guessed this was as close as it came to viewing a supernova from a few kilometers away.  Of course, like most people he exaggerated certain descriptions when in the confines of his own mind from time to time.  If only he could get out there and...

"Atten-tion!" shouted a junior officer closest to the door, "Officer on deck!"

Heads turned and after a moment's pause the entire bridge was at their feet in the most rigid of postures. Admiral Japheth had just entered the bridge, and only a fool would be caught in his weakest moment in the presence of the Naval Commander-in-Chief.  After a split second the Admiral responded in a quiet, powerful tone, "At ease.  Back to battle stations."

Colin, more commonly known by his callsign, Gunnay, stayed at attention, willing himself not to even let a bead of sweat drop off his forehead.  It was whispered by men who had a bit too much of the Corellian whiskey smuggled aboard that Japheth was a member of the Krath Order of the Dark Jedi.  If this was true, Gunnay knew that the Admiral could kill him from acroos the bridge.  Japheth moved towards him and Gunnay pulled his hand to his forehead in a salute he thought would make the Emperor proud.  Japheth, however, was not the Emperor and didn't even acknowledge the movement except with a small nod of his head.

"Senior Crewman Chvomle... Gunnay, right?" It may have sounded like a question, but Gunnay knew it wasn't, "You have been assigned to Third Flight, Nazgul Squadron.  Your Commander is Lieutenant Commander Shazam, Flight Leader is Trevor Evanson.  Let me find out their status and we'll get you into the battle as soon as possible."

Gunnay's knees went weak at his words, but he forced himself to stay upright.  A battle like this was commonly known to take the best pilots out of the Academy and turn them into space junk.  As confident as he could be, reason overtook him in this situation.  He forced a reply, more of a croak any other person on the bridge would have said, "Yes, sir, I would be honored to serve the Vast Empire and assist my squadron in today's assured victory."

"Flight Officer, get me a connection to Shazam and Evanson, Nazgul 1 and 9, respectively," the Admiral ordered, ignoring Gunnay completely.  The comm opened up to static, "Commander, Petty Officer, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Admiral, I can hear you.  I'm pretty sure the last time we spoke I informed you of my squadron's precarious position, what do you want?" the Commander demanded.  Gunnay couldn't believe that someone would dare cross not only the Naval Commander-in-Chief, but a Krath in such a manner.

"Commander, I am sending Senior Crewman Gunnay directly to the flight deck to join your squadron.  He will be in Three Flight under Petty Officer Evanson.  He will contact you as soon as he exits the hangar bay," the Admiral said.  Gunnay could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile on the man's face.

"Roger. shit, Shazam, out."

"You heard me Crewman, get your ass in gear and get to the flight deck yesterday," Japheth said in a tone that would freeze over a star gone supernova.  Gunnay turned and sprinted towards the turbolift, hitting the button for the Flight Deck.  The lift had him there in no time, and his Interceptor was waiting for him.  He climbed up the entry ladder and slid through the primary hatch, settling into the cockpit.

"Control, Nazgul 10, four green and good to go."

"Roger that Nazgul 10, cleared for takeoff," came the reply.  Gunnay engaged his repulsorlifts and moved his fighter towards the shimmering exit from the hangar bay.  He passed through it and keyed his comm unit.

"Nazgul Lead, 9, Nazgul 10 en route to your position now.  ETA is 37 seconds..."
 
-----------------------
Senior Crewman Gunnay
Nazgul Three Flight
FM/SCRW Gunnay/Nazgul 3-2/Wing I/mSSD Atrus/1VIF/VEN/VE (=*A*=)

The black dots on the horizon immeiately notified Jaden of his squadron members.  It had been a long period of time since he had flown, but that was in space.

"This is Nazgul 10, they are starting to creep up on me.  I'm counting 8 razor fighters, and a few scattered T-wings in the area.  My readings were wrong from earlier, but there is still a shit-load of fighters!" screaming Gunnay through the com channel.

"Nazgul 4 here, I have arrived.  Who's engaging the ground forces that are attempting to salvage up the cargo from the frigates?" he quickly asked.

"Nazgul 1 here, Flight 2 has that covered, in the mean time, haul ass and tail those fighters Nazgul 10 is bringing in." said Shazam

"You mean the new recruit?  He's lassoing all of those fighters in by himself?" laughed Jaden

"He has more potential than you think Nazgul 4, now haul ass" commanded Shazam

Jaden snapped the throttle to 75 percent and put all shiets to his front.  He was coming in head on with Gunnay.

"Nazgul 4 to 10, break on my mark," said Jaden, "We're going to split this group of fighters into two.  Nazgul 1, get my tail, Trevor, stay with Gunnay"

The distance between the two fighters was now diminishing very quickly.  Jaden couldn't help to think about what would happen if the new recruit made a mistake.  He quickly flooded the thought from his mind.

Come on, a little closer...

Jaden could now see the enemy fighters.  He could count almost ten.  Hopefully, on the fly by some of the fighters would pick up on his tail so that they could be split up.

Now it was close.

"Break!" shouted Jaden, lurching his fighter to the left, barely missing one of the enemy fighters.  Oh, the plan had worked alright.  Gunnay was now trailing 6 fighters, Jaden with the other 4.  From the logistics, there were 2 razor fighters, and two T-wings.  Just great.

"1, assistance please, I'll bring them around to you," said Jaden

"I'll take a few of those fighters off your tail Jade," said Shazam

"Whats the status on flight 2?" said Jaden

"Their working on getting to those salvage crews on the ground that are trying to scrounge up the cargo on the corvettes that we need," said Shazam

Well, here we go!

-----------------------
Jaden Khaar


Vast Empire
FM/SCPO Jaden Khaar/Nazgul 1-4 (Nazgul 4)/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S] (SV) (CBV)

Trevor sighed loudly as he rolled to the left to get himself turned around. The new pilot needed a hand, and he was the least busy of everyone else. He pushed the throttle forward as he came out of his turn, followed by Tokijin. He spotted a lone Interceptor being followed by a group of fighters, and couldn`t help but laugh.

"Kid`s got a whole bunch of fighters on him. Lets hope this does something." Trevor said over the comm as he accelerated further, switching to missiles and sliding in behind the group of fighters.

"Nazgul 10, pull up hard on my mark. I suggest you push all shields to rear, hopefully this doesn`t do much to you." He called to Gunnay. This really was not a good idea, but had to hope it would work. He began to get a lock on one of the pursuing fighters, and laughed as he pulled off of Gunnay`s tale. "Tokijin, you can finish him off."

As soon as Trevor`s lock was full off of the escaping fire, he dumb-fired a missile right into the midst of the group of 5 fighters. "Pull up now!" He hollered, watching the orb of blue streak away from his fighter. He grinned as it shot through the group of fighters, and swore when it didn`t explode in ther middle of them all. I thought I had set that for proximity. What the hell? He thought, trying to remember what the missile had been set to do.

He almost jumped out of his flight suit when the missile burst open, unleashing its firery contents all over a Razor fighter who had ran into it from behind.

"Uh....." Was the only noise that came from Trevor. Not often did a fighter run into the back end of a missile, but There is a first time for everything. "Alright 10, thats two off your tail, 4 to go. Where did you go anyways?"

"Right here." Was his reply as Gunnay slid in onto his right wing, followed momentarily by Tokijin on his left.

"Smartass." Trevor replied with a laugh. Somehow Gunnay had managed to get behind the fighter without them following him. Maybe Trevor had caused a good enough distraction with his dumb-fired missile.

Gunnay confirmed a lock over the comm and released his missile, slightly later than would have been desirable, but it hit its mark none the less. He let out a small 'Whoop' and Then broke off of Trevor`s wing to follow one of the remaining fighters as they split up. He switched from missiles to cannons and rapidly peppered the aft end of the T-wing he had followed, the shield flickering brightly before dissapating. Gunnay switched to quad fire and let off two blasts. Most of the bolts connected with the back end of the fighter, causing good amounts of smoke to pour off it into the air. The T-wing suddenly jerked and then fell downward, passing through the cloud layer. Gunnay went to follow him, but Trevor quickly broke in over the comm.

"Don`t follow him through those clouds 10. He`s a goner now." Trevor pointed out. "The rain is sure to get him." With that Trevor quietly began to aquire his own lock on the T-wing he had followed, and swore under his breath when he could get it, due to the jerking motions of the fighter.

"Fine, you know what, screw you!" He yelled at the fighter out of frusteration, setting the timer on the missile and letting it fly, dropping towards the clouds as soon as he did. He heard the explosion and quickly checked through his aft viewport. He saw the T-wing continue its path, very much unphased by the badly aimed missile. "Asshole..."

The fighter dropped into a dive, increasing with speed as he went, following Trevor towards the clouds. Trevor broke through the cloud layer and was met by a bright flash of his shields as the rain began to hit them. Checking his readouts, he realized that he could spend a max of 30 second sbelow the clouds before he started taking hull damage. Might be just enough time. He thought to himself, just before the T-wing dropped out of the clouds ahead of him, apperently it had tried to estimate where Trevor would be below the clouds and had failed.

The shields of both fighters flashing brightly, Trevor locked his missile while the pilot of the T-wing was trying to find Trevor. He fired it, and it exploded on the aft shields of the fighter, doing a small amount of hull damage and obliterating his shields. The pilot, now panicing, threw his throttle forward in an attempt to escape the rain, but was met mercilesly by a volly of drops which tore through his fighter like it was hot nerf-butter. Trevor winced when he saw how much destruction the rain could do, and quickly checked his computer again. He had 10 seconds before his shields were down. Pulling back on the control yoke and punching the throttle forward, he shot towards the clouds. His shields weakening faster with his increased speed, he slowed down slightly, hoping it would help save his shields an extra second.

His shields flickered brightly and a single drop made contact with his fighters front viewport, cracking it, but not shattering it. He burst through the cloud layer, the clouds swirly outward as he punched through.

"Uh, this is 3. I`ve got a small porblem with a cracked viewport..." He said sadly, not sure what he could do about it, aside from hope that the crack was small enough to withstand the vacuum of space.
 
-----------------------
FM/CPO/Trevor Evenson/Nazgul 3(1-3)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

(OOC: And surprise again)

Art couldn't believe his ears at first.  He was almost tempted to radio in and ask if what he heard was a bit of humour during a brief pause in the battle.  Sending a green pilot into the squadron NOW?  What idiot sent out that order? Art thought in disbelief.  He was absolutely astounded but given the circumstances of the battle and the fatigue settling in everywhere, an extra set of guns couldn't hurt.  Nevertheless, it'd only help if the new pilot lived to see the end of the mission.  Those kind of orders are an easy way to lose new bloody.

As Nazgul had split up, Art had been the oddman out in the pairings.  It was entirely surprising to him nor was it unusual for him to fly solo.  He had a tendency to wind up alone in battle, often in very percarious situations thanks to his belief that his wingmen could read his mind and could pull off the complex series of manouvers that he designed in his head.  If it was a computer simulated exercise it would have worked brilliantly but that kind of style does not work well in battle with humans.  Despite all of his experience, Art had never quite grasped that; he was a strategist first and a pilot second.

Seeing that he was solo, Art broke off from flight one and dove down to the ground, barely skimming the tops of the trees as he flew.  In space, he was not the best pilot in the squadron.  Between the two officers, Shazam had him beat in space although Art would never admit that.  In the atmosphere, however, it was different.  Art loved flying in atmosphere, he had done so in his youth.  It felt more real and there were more tactics you could use in atmosphere.  The closest one gets to that same feeling in space is in a clausterphobic battle in which there are a large number of capital ships clustered together so that their surfaces could be used in the same way that one would use the ground in atmosphere.

Art's target was the salvage teams.  Flight two was already on route so he decided to take a different path.  After a few close moments as he adjusted to the way his interceptor flew in atmosphere, he was very pleased to find that the modified control system he had designed worked brillaintly in atmosphere.  The rudder pedals and flightstick that replaced the extremely awkward yoke and hand controls of the standard interceptor made it even easier to fly in atmosphere.  Finding a river, Art dove down and flew just meters above the water as he raced towards his target.  The computer plotted the river ahead based on known geographical data within the fighter's computer and Art found that he could run parallel to the target before making a ninety degree turn to pull out of the river and surprise the targets with no warning.  Art grinned, it was exactly the kind of thing he liked to do.

As he neared the targeted area where he would have to turn, the interceptor's collision detector sounded.  Art barrel-rolled and began to pull up and to the right just as an enemy fighter slammed down into the river bank and exploded sending shrapnel everywhere.  There were several clangs and snaps as the shrapnel hit the solar tiles on the interceptor, damaging them but not doing any significant harm to the overall aerodynamics or to its ability to fly again in space.  That was a relief to Art, he had not yet recorded all of the settings of his new interceptor into the computer so that the mechanics could easily replicate it.  He had built half of it himself and the plans were still a mess of paper.  To make matters worse, he had made slight callibrations in flight so even the plans he had made weren't entirely accurate.  A complete overview of it had to be done to ensure the same controls would be used in the future.  In some ways, the injured arm was the best thing that could have happened to him; the new controls really made him enjoy flying more than he usually did.

Just as he was about to turn, Art heard the information about the incoming corvette and fighters.  He immediately switched views in his computer display and had the computer trace the inbound vector of the corvette.  It would be passing directly along the course of the river as it neared flight one.  As Art thought about what to do, his targeted turning point passed by and he heard over the comm that Jack's flight had wiped out the salvagers.  The choice was made then, he would loop around and attack the incomers.  Shazam's tactics made sense but Art was going to throw in a little bonus.

As he neared the corvette, Art kept his fighter as low to the river as possible in order to avoid detection.  When it passed over heard, the sensors onboard the corvette should only pick up a quick movement before it vanished.  With any luck, they would deem it simply something natural on the planet that was moving.  That was one of the beautiful things about flying in the atmosphere; it was much easier to full radar and sensors due to the other factors at play.  In space, something is either an asteroid, metal debris, or a ship.  On a planet, everything is different; it made flying that much more exciting.

Art had never been a fan of using missiles in battle.  His interceptor was loaded with them like everyone else's and indeed he would use his payload before returning, often just firing as asteroids.  Switching over to missiles and trying to lock on seemed like a distraction to him and indeed he felt it made him vulnerable to attack as he tried to focus his targeting system on a fast moving target.  As a result, he still had some missiles left and he would put them to good use.  Reflecting back on his technical knowledge, Art knew that the weakest part of the Corvette is its rear and that if one flew directly in line with the engines, the top and bottom turrets would not be able to hit you at close range.  Only at long distances would the blasts be able to strike an inbound target.

Therefore, Art's timing had to be precise.  Overhead, the corvette passed just as Nazgul squadron began to engage its fighter escort and the gunboats began their strikes.  All of the attacks were on the front and sides were the shield generators and bridge were.  It made sense but it was much riskier.  Once Art was less than a kilometer clear of the corvette, he pulled up hard, rolled around and pulled right in line with the engines before the corvette's gunners could react.  Art brought up his missile targetting system, linked the launchers and fired his last three missile blind, not even waiting for a lock.  He was so close and directly in line; the hits were a guarantee.  As soon as the missiles exploded, Art unleashed unlinked laser fire until he got so close he had no choice but to dive down.  Bits and pieces flew out of the engines as the missiles and fire had eaten through the rear shields and damaged the engines.

Art dove to the ground to avoid being targeted but quickly found himself trying to evade fire from one of the corvette's turrets.  He also quickly discovered that two enemy ties had caught onto him as well.  Time for some fun Art grinned.  Being chased near the ground of a planet, it was his favourite way to be chased.
 
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FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

"Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting." -- Sun Tzu

Shazam rolled fast- three razor fighters pulled in behind him and his flight.  "Split up, boys!"  I can take the heat- they can't...  The three fighters bore off in different directions, all attempting to recover the Nazguls- Shazam flying straight, up and around while the other two broke off in apposing directions. 

"Whoa, this guys' got itchy trigger fingers- help!"  Shazam frowned as he realized Jaden seemed to be requesting help a lot lately; is he stoned or just having a bad day?  But then the commander saw the string of laser and torpedos disseminating throughout the lower cloud layer.  Shazam sighed and decided if anyone was going to be able to help, it would be him.  With great power came great responsibility, he thought, glancing at the controls to his TIE Defender. 

"Alright, hold him off for a sec...  Converting power to aft..." 

"Why are you descelerating, One?"  Jen was more unctious and annoying than usual- the complete one eighty she'd made since the beginning of the mission had remained at it's full power, never to take a break and Shazam couldn't help but wonder- this isn't going to get bad...  Is it?

"Wrapping the package, transport..."  Shazam had the throttle pulled back far enough that the Razor fighter rolled into take a kill shot, but missed because the closing rate was too high- he hadn't been expecting this.  "Releasing counter-measures..."  Shazam said it as if it was the most ordinary manuever in the ranks of the VEN, but Jen's counter-tone made it apparently converse.  Behind the Defender, red flares ignited across the surface of the Razor fighter, stimulating the sheilding to an intense degree and blinding the pilot.  Shazam dived fast and then cut the throttle as the Razor flew blindly above him; the rudementary design brought a smile to his face and made him wonder if he'd developed a "style."  "Firing now..."  The commander pulled back on the cannon's to let off burst of six cannons into the blinded enemy's hindquarters, extinguishing the sheild.  The second shot, although the enemy began evasive manuevers without sight, landed on the port wing, disintegrating it's sensor array and forcing the craft into a fast, steep dive.  Shazam hitched the throttle up to full, leaving the fighter to crack and explode under the pressure of a wind that pushed it onto it's side- the slap alone enough to decimate the hull integrity of the ship.

"Pulling up on your bad guy, four- report in remaining flight."  The razor ahead of him appeared to have trouble following Jaden, which took away some of Shazam's angrier disposition toward the pilot for getting caught onto so easilly.

"It's about time, One!"

"Yea well, you'll have to hold on for a sec- I've only got a single missile left and I'm not about to waste it on your sorry..."

"Reporting in One," Art said, although he wasn't necessarilly apart of any 'flight.'  "I've got two baddies on my behind- dealing with it though..."

"A gunboat just about killed me, but he managed to take out the punk behind me, joining your formation soon, One..."  Darius popped in.  Darius had grown stronger as a pilot and person since Shazam had seen him around his new wife- the commander hadn't thought it possible for a man so war torn to even accept a women into his life for more than the time it took to look at her.  Then again, she was exceptionally beautiful- something he might never want to say to Darius now that the young man appeared to be 'in love.'  Shazam had no affliction toward the women, so it mattered not, but he thought it best to keep on his guard anyways.

"Break hard, four..."  Shazam seperated the cannons and scattered his fire as Jaden reered his fighter high and to the right, forcing the razor fighter into an inescapable line of fire.  Pitter-pattering the sheilds at first, the red was evanescent, disappearing only moments later. 

"Comin at you fast, four- get ready to break again..."  Darius had looped up high instead of trying to grind back in behind Shazam's speeding fighter.  As the interceptor dove onto Jaden's flight path, the commander realized he'd best turn off as well.

"Thanks again..."  Jaden rolled starboard comfortably with a quick stomp on the right pedal as the dual cannon's on Darius fighter illuminated in a firey display of destruction upon the razor fighter's open hull.  The cockpit shattered first, allowing for a queasy glance at the shredded pilot as the bolts absorbed into the ship and ignited the fuesalage.  A firey ball, the pirate junk streamed toward the high heavens only to plummet back to the ground in the same depressing fashion the VEN fighters had seen time and time again.

"Comfirmed kill!"  Darius said with a certain enthusiasm.

"Bail out, man!"  The words cut across the radio as the three VEN fighters rolled out of the way.  A single gunboat exploded past the group in a torrent of green furey.  Shazam pulled up hard to see try and end the relentless pursuit from another razor fighter but only got a front row seat to one of the most horrific deaths he'd ever seen.  Above and to the right in the viewport three green bolts struck the left wing of the following razor fighter, forcing it into a panic and acceleration as it began to roll.  The sheilds were taken out by direct attack so when the razor collided with the gunboat, the right, undamaged wing ripped through the dorsal end of the ship and ran up the spine.  Explosions set themselves off within the fighter, rumbling into the cockpit and Shazam new it had reached the pilot as he began to scream for mercy.  He screamed something about the hatch not popping but then the glass suddenly shattered and the flailing body of the burning pilot ascended gut-wrenchingly into the razor fighter twisting above.  The body went limp as the head struck, destroying the helmet and apparently the skull of the pilot.  As the pilot dropped from the sky, Shazam wondered how it could still be going on when he saw a peice of debris from the now falling gunboat slice him to peices; tatters of him illuminating Shazam's sheilds.  The thought of his flesh baking on the incandescent surface of the fighter almost activated the commander's upchuck relfex, but something stronger took over as the rest of the gunboat descended.

"Comfirmed kill..."  Shazam whispered it as he let off the final torpedo to wrench through the ventral cavity of the razor fighter, baking it's pilot to a crisp before he knew what happened.
 
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*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]