Tally! Tally!
 
-----------------------
WAJ/2LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/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

The large Golan station was erupting in sporadic bursts of fire and explosions. Its power hand gone out as the black husk of its former self began to slowly degrade into the planets atmosphere. Short wisps of relief fell over the Zabrak; it was a major accomplishment for the squadrons to have taken it out with few casualties.

With their target at hand's demise Will came over the com outlining the next objective, it lay behind a bunch of orbital gun stations. Those stations were the immediate threat until an alarm blared; it was the hyperspace warning stating large ships had just entered system. Though most have appeared out by the Capitols, one had come in almost on top of Kaph.

"Um, Will? Something huge just came in out of hyperspace!" Kal commed seeing the same thing all of the pilots had, "Shit." A Mon Calamari light cruiser. That things pretty big for us to handle." He said.

Just when things seemed to get better old lady luck hit the randomizer and your sabaac cards changed putting you in the winning position to losing. Cyleaf's heart leapt into his throat as the loomed in front of them, he thought as the squadron leader asked the Capitols for help, it was promptly denied.

Will had laid down the battle plan, flight two would take gamma due to the fact that Gamma was the only squad with a decent payload, and flight one would take Alpha, Delta and provide diversion and fire support. Forming up on Will with Scout the Zabrak ran a status check on his systems to make sure all was in order and it was.

The Hawkbats and other fighters roared ad the Cruiser lasers firing rapidly, they were going to piss off this Razor cat and draw all it's attention away from the others tasked with taking out the shields. Turbo lasers and smaller burst from quad cannons streamed towards the incoming Imperials; though gratefully smaller than the most notorious Mon Calamari ship it still packed some firepower. Their line of ships also boasted exceptional shielding.

A large bright red blast screamed across Cyleaf's nose nearly scorching his shields and ship, I can't take a turbo laser blast and expect to return and see Crystal he thought of the women he had briefly spoken to before this mission. Though his viewport one of Alpha's ties didn't fare quit so well, it was nearly atomized from another turbo laser blast, looking out to the other side he watched as a Delta pilot was rocked by an incoming missile.

His console blared in alarm; "Sith Spawn, missile lock, this thing is pulling out all the stops" Cy hastily called over the com while preparing for evasive maneuvers. Increasing throttle and pulling up decisions began to race into his mind. Choices are limited, I could take it into the shield and risk becoming vaped by it myself, well actually that is the only option since there was nothing out here to use as a buffer, or was there .

Diving hard and aiming for the wreckage of the Delta fighter he hoped to confuse the missile into slamming that instead of him, as he pulled up and away the missile changed course and followed, Argghh too early, stupid he thought than went to his last resort. "Kaph 3 to anyone I got a hot hitchhiker looking to take a ride up my tail anyone interested in helping out?" He waited for a response as it loomed closer.

 
-----------------------
FM/PO2/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

"This..." Krius said, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Is awesome!"
Krius really did think it was awesome; all this adrenaline pumping excitement was finally starting to get to him, making him feel a little fatigued. Sweat could be felt pouring down his body underneath the flight suit. His hands were a little bit shaky, but nothing to bad. "This is Kaph 7 to 6 and 5. I just wanted to tell you guys, that if anything happens to me, I love you guys," Krius paused, wanting his words to soak in and take effect. "Heh just kidding lets go kick some ass!"

They were almost on the X's now, it was a definite win for the Imperials, but anything could happen. Krius picked his target, aligning the nose of his TIE with the X-Wings. Krius put his finger on the trigger, and as soon as he was about to press it, a Hawkbat zoomed past Krius's fighter and unleashed a volley of linked canon blasts into the X-Wing. It didn't stand a chance; the shields quickly turned into a blood red color and then disappeared. The first shot that got through the shields breached the cockpit, killing the pilot inside instantly. The second shot tore right through the hull of the X-Wing ripping it in half, and then following with an explosion.

"Sorry 7, I got to him first," Than said over the intercom, letting out short chuckles.

"Alright Flight 2, let's try and kill that cruiser," Kal said, letting out a short laugh to.

Bastards Krius thought, a smirk spreading across his face. Krius eased the stick starboard, his ship coming around in a loop following the rest of the squadron. When the two flights came fully around, they were facing the hull of the ship. Quad lasers started spitting out lasers towards the two flights, some shots hitting them. Krius snap rolled starboard, barely missing an array of shots that were aimed at him. So they wanna play rough, don't they? Krius replied with his own laser fire, but it had no effect because of the heavy shielding.

"Gamma flight, we have another group of fighters approaching. We'll hold them off while you bombard the Cruiser, Kaph 5 out."

Krius brought his TIE to the port flank of Kal, with Than doing the same except on the Starboard side. "Wow, three on six, are you sure we should take this many fighters head on?"

"What are you scared Krius? I thought you were better then that," Than replied, a smirk spreading across his face.

"Fine, let's see who gets the most kills here. Any bets?" Krius replied over the Intercom.

"Nah, I don't want you to lose any money," Kal said while increasing the throttle to 115 MGLTS.

"Oh, I see how it is, fine be that way, you know your scared of losing," Krius replied while increasing his throttle. The six X-Wings started taking pot shots, but none of them landed on the TIE's. There scared, this should make things a lot more easier. Krius thought, but unfortunately, he was wrong.


-----------------------
KaphSquadron
FM/ LCR Krius/ Kaph 8/ Wing 2/ mSSD Atrus/ Pheonix Wing/ VEN/ VE/ (=A=)
Krius=Leon

The X-wings pulled back and the E-wings moved in to take their position. At this moment Kal wished his fighter wasn't out of missiles  The E-Wings were armed with three heavy laser cannons, while they had only two standard cannons. The missiles would make the dogfight a lot easier.

"Be really careful guys," Kal said to the others over the comset, "A few shots from those heavy cannons will tear us apart like tinfoil." The E-Wings let off a stream of shots. The imperial fighters scattered, but one of the gamma fighters didn't manage to escape. The heavy lasers impacted with the fighter, tearing it's shields down rapidly and shredding it.

Those things are high-tech& I wish I had my Avenger right now. He thought. His avenger was equipped with high quality computer systems. The Hawkbat was nearly it's combat equivalent, but it's systems were definitely older. But it isn't the fighter that makes the biggest difference. It's the pilot.

Kal's fingers danced across the fire control, setting the targeting lock on a nearby E-wing. He increased speed to match it and fired a few lances of cannon fire. The E-wing's shields broke and a small fire burst out on it's hull. Suddenly a heavy laser shot skimmed his fighter. He looked to his sensor radar to see that he was being pursued by another e-wing, probably his target's wingman.

Luckily, he had his own Wingman. Than fed the E-wing a barrage of cannon fire, sending it into a death spiral. Kal activated his own weapons, tearing up the damaged E-wing in front of him. "Thanks for the assist six." Kal said.

The E-wings were proving to be formidable opponents. Not only were they in top of the line fighters, but the pilots were a lot more intelligent then the average new republic crewman. This would be an intense fight.

"Gamma flights one and two, abandon your assault. There are too many of them for us to deal with." Kal said, spinning in an evasive maneuver to avoid an attack from an E-wing which managed to get behind him.

"Negative Kaph five, negative. The X-wings a few of the E-wings  are after us." Kal sighed. He had counted on those reinforcements. They were outnumbered and outgunned. He needed an idea, and fast.

What to do, what to do& Kal thought. Then he realized.

"Kaph flight, break ahead with me, gamma flight, stick behind and be ready to use your missiles." He said. He pulled out of formation, the other Kaph pilots following. Most of the E-wings broke off, spotting what they thought would be an easy kill. The gamma pilots closed in behind them, firing a swarm of missiles, tearing apart a large section of the fighters. There were four E-Wings left at their position, one of which had suffered minor damage in the attack. Now they had a chance to win against the technologically superior starfighters. "Lets finish these guys off, close in around them and tear them up!"

 
-----------------------
|FL/CPO_Demonic/Kaph 5/PheonixWing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(VC:B)
100% on both Exams, looking good.
Demonic = Darr-Rann
Kaph 2nd flight leader

The panic somewhat died down inside him as Kal and the others acknowledged the new threat, maybe the early warning was just enough to give em an edge he hope wishing there was some trick to coax more speed out of his fighter. 

His shields were still recharging slowly while his weapons capacitor had enough charge for roughly a dozen shots. The rest of the Hawkbat was in great shape; it hadn't taken any damage but was completely out of its heavy payload severely crippling the fighter capabilities of the craft.

"I am on my way Flight leader" Cy called as his ship was closing in on flight one's position. "Get out of here, these new fighters will tear you apart kid, especially since your shields are still hurting." Cy noted Willtconq's words and continued on. didn't sound like and order and he didn't say it's an order slyly smiling to himself, it was one of the few times he would disobey an order when he felt they needed him, needed everyone.

Will's Hawkbat was pursuing an E-wing cannons blazing trying to land shots on the ship, it's shiny hull seemed to gleam as it managed to dodge for a few before becoming overwhelmed. Another fighter was gaining on his tail firing in a three laser burst, odd, there only seems to be one cannon mount. Puzzled slightly by his thoughts the Zabrak began to lay fire into the pursuer trying to time it perfectly with the diminished capacitor charge.

The E-wing broke its pursuit and began to break turn trying to catch the younger imperial pilot off guard; Cy mimicked the maneuver but held off on increasing throttle causing it to overshoot falling directly into his sights. "Thanks for the help" Will called over comms, "No problem" cy responded adding "sorry I didn't listen but thought you could use some help" Will just chuckled.

Blazing his dual linked cannons at the enemy he watched as its shields winked out. He pressed the trigger again and nothing happened, frantically he continued pressing hoping that it would fire but nothing.

The E-wings greater speed began to pull away trying to give itself enough time to regain its shields. In frustration his teeth clenched together Cy slammed his fist into the control panel. He was awestruck by what happened next, a green bolt streaked out from one of than cannons and slammed into the fighter catching it in the engine crippling it.

He paused for a moment lost in what had just happened, no way he thought and than began to chuckle, is this how Kal sometimes gets thing to work? he questioned himself remembering the human working on his fighter before the battle. Fatigue was starting to creep in, it was an intense battle.

Scout had his hands full with a couple of E-wings but Alpha and Delta were doing their best to keep them off him and the rest. "We have about two squadrons left between Alpha, Delta, let's try not to loose anymore and overwhelm them with our numbers" Will said talking up his units, Cy double clicked acknowledgement and hope that flight 2 and gamma where having better luck against the shields.

They were all pinned between the Light cruiser's fire and the E-wings.

 
-----------------------
FM/PO2/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

And a big tally here!
 
-----------------------
WAJ/2LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/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

OOC: A bit of confusion with the last two. I kinda mixed elements of them :P

Kal sighed as the Mon Calamari's shields flickered back online. They had caused them a little harm, but not enough to finish them off entirely.

"My bad." Krius said with a bit of embarrassment in his voice, retracting his earlier statement. Kal started to feel a bit worried. It had taken them most of the other squadrons' payload just to cause that flicker. Was it even possible for them to destroy this thing?

This is a suicide fight. How are we going to destroy this thing without heavy firepower? Kal thought to himself. We're never going to crack open this thing&? He suddenly jumped with surprise as the shields flickered again.

"Guys, I think we might have damaged one of their shielding systems!" Said Willtconq via the comset. "Just focus your fire on the targets, you'll catch a few shots on the flicker. Try and take their shield generators first, at their current state the destruction of a generator could lead to a complete collapse of the shielding."

The Stealth X-Wings were still a problem. Kal activated his com. "Kaph Leader, we're still being bothered by a few stealth typed X-wings. Requesting permission to take my flight and Gamma for anti-fighter cover.

"Permission granted Five, everyone else, begin the assault." Willtconq responded. Kal, Than, Krius, and Gamma squadron (which now held only eight fighters) broke off the attack on the cruiser and went on the hunt for the Black X-wings.

"I've spotted a flight, marking it on the Radar!" Krius said, and a red box with an arrow appeared in an area off the radar screen. This wasn't a true target, but a simple marker that could be placed and marked for easier coordinating tactics. The markers which represented their fighters changed their direction towards the arrow as they moved.

"Alright, there's four of them! Try and mark them with a few shots so your sensors can pick up a heat signal!" Kal said, firing his laser cannons into one of the X-wings. Only a few of the shots hit, taking out the shields and skimming one of the engines to start a blaze. He flipped the heat filter of his sensors on, and a small orange to red scaled smudge shape appeared on his sensor display. Heat signals were much harder to establish a targeting lock on then Electronic signals, but sensor masks did nothing to stop them.

"Good Mark!" Krius said, swooping in and firing a batch of laser energy at the now sensor-visible fighter, exploding it's heat dampened ion engines and ripping the rest of the X-Wing to pieces. Kal felt a bit of irritation.

"You stole my kill!" He said, barrel rolling to avoid an enemy set of fire.

"Just returning the favour." Krius said, laughing. Than Sion caught one of the X-wings which was tailing Kal. The Black X-wings were much less effective now that their element of surprise had worn off and the fighters had formed tactics to combat them with.

This is a fight we can win. Kal thought as the dogfight continued.

 
-----------------------
|FL/CPO_Demonic/Kaph 5/PheonixWing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(VC:B)
100% on both Exams, looking good.
Demonic = Darr-Rann
Kaph 2nd flight leader

OOC: This isnt a post. Cyleaf. Dreadnaught isnt in the area. I talked to Scout about this.
 
-----------------------
|FL/CPO_Demonic/Kaph 5/PheonixWing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(VC:B)
100% on both Exams, looking good.
Demonic = Darr-Rann
Kaph 2nd flight leader

Six down, six more to go. Then we'll take out the Mon Cal, and we'll be all green&yea, everything's gonna be fine. The battle was really beginning to take a toll on Krius's mental capabilities. He was trying to think positive, but many negative thoughts were pouring into his head, getting him nervous. He was doing really good considering this was his first real mission, but it was also stressful and he new he wouldn't be able to keep his cool the whole time. Just stay focused, and keep your eye on the prize.

For a second there, Krius wasn't sure what the prize was, but it quickly seeped into his head. To avenge his uncle and he wouldn't stop until every Rebel was dead, or until he died himself. Rebels were beginning to do reckless things though, they were getting through Corsecs Security forces and bombing random targets, he was afraid that one day they would kill his mother. But I won't let that happen.

A surge of energy shot through Krius, it came out of no where, but that didn't matter. "Now let's blow those ships to hell," Krius accidentally said aloud to himself.

"Alright Kaph, get ready for the next run, it should be an easy one."

"Yea it will, now Than, Krius, form up on me and lets take the one on the far left out. As soon as we destroy it, we move to the one on the right, lets do this," Kal said, his voice sounding way more confident then usual.

Whoa, talk about major boost, I wonder what gave him that? Well, what ever it is, were gonna need it. Krius shot the throttle up to full, catching up with the unstoppable duo, Than and Demonic.

The three of them started letting off pot shots into the dagger shaped fighter, some of them managing to hit, causing it to go through evasive maneuvers. "We've got him on the run!" Than shouted over the intercom, firing off six more shots of linked canon fire. Two of them hit, managing to turn its shields into a dark orange color. Kal had somehow managed to get on the starboard side of the ship and was ripping lasers at the massive bombers shields. Two more hits from Kal's TIE and the shields were depleted. It had no time to escape, because Krius and Than were right on top of it, pounding laser's into its hull. A little ball of fire shot through the holes that Krius and Than had punched through it, followed by a massive explosion, sending space debris all over the place.

"That was beautiful teamwork," Cyleaf the Zabrak called over the intercom. "But I could use a little help over here myself." As soon as Krius heard that his fellow squadron mate was having trouble, he gunned the throttle, heading straight towards the enemy B-Wing. Krius let his canons blaze, the shots pounding straight into its back shields. It replied with its own fire, causing Krius to roll port and break off from the attack. "MAN! I can't wait to blow a hole right through you," Krius screamed to himself while coming around and lighting the enemy bomber up again.

This time though, it was firing on Cyleaf who had managed to get a couple of hits himself. The Zabraks shields started turning into a transparent blood red, getting darker with every hit. Krius had to make a move, and quick. His shields were at 80%, which was perfect for what he was about to. Krius transferred his Laser canons energy into his Ion engines, sending it hurtling towards Cyleafs flight path.

The Zabraks shields finally broke; and there was another laser blast heading straight towards his flight path. "Cyleaf watch out!" Krius screamed to himself, thinking he was speaking over the intercom. Everything seemed to slow down, like when ever you're about to get hurt really bad, everything just starts going slow. For a second, it looked like Krius wasn't going to make it, but he did. The laser blast collided with Krius's shields, the damage minimal, a small sacrifice for his friend's life.

"WOOOHOOO!" Krius screamed over the Intercom. He couldn't help it, all the excitement had gotten the best of him and on top of that, he had just barely saved his friends life. "Cyleaf you saw that? You owe me big time now!" Krius screamed, letting out short laughs in between. "Now lets go finish him off&"

 
-----------------------
KaphSquadron
FM/ LCR Krius/ Kaph 8/ Wing 2/ mSSD Atrus/ Pheonix Wing/ VEN/ VE/ (=A=)
Krius=Leon

Flight two were proving to be excellent anti-fighter pilots, Than and Demonic as always were an unstoppable team and throwing Kirus into the mix added a little bravado. Instantly after the stealth fighters were destroyed the Imperial forces returned to bombarding the Mon Cal.

Cy checked his status, he had re-routed some of his shield charging power to increase the capacitor's, it left him with low shields. Firing repeatedly in unison flight one, Alpha and Delta were desperately pelting it. The occasional winking out let in some laser fire, taking out a quad laser here and there due to sheer luck, it's shields were taking an incredible blow.

"Enemy ships coming out of hyperspace," said Demonic. "They are somewhat far out so I don't have a model ID yet." Here we go again Cy thought as his radar alarmed. So far flight two was making the occasional hits on the shield projector which spoke for the increasing instability.

That infamous yoyo that had been haunting Cyleaf drooped again when Will gave the good news, well not so good news. "These guys are getting desperate," said Will. "They have B-Wings heading for the Dreadnaughts!"

What are B-Wings, and where do I get the info on all these Rebel ships? He questioned himself somewhat miffed at the lack of knowledge he had on these non-standard fighters. I hope this is the last of their fighter surprises, though one thing they hadn't seen were y-wings so far in this battle.

The Dark Shadow had informed the fighters of it's intentions until the unforeseen threat appeared, and it requested assistance as it didn't like to be a sitting durni. "Ok Imperials," said Will, "We are a lot faster than these craft. We must use our speed against them. Be careful though, if they get a good shot at you they could very well decommission you!" The fighters formed up and flew towards the Shadow and it's imminent threat.

"Ok men," said Will, "Try to get a good hit on the gyrostabilizers when you drop their shields. Without them they are sitting ducks against other fighters!" What, where is that? the Zabrak snarled to himself, as if answering him Will tore through the shielding of the first fighter and hurled a laser between the cockpit and wing. God show Will, good show it was as Kaph 1 could read his mind.

Seeing as how easy it would be to destroy these fighters when done correctly Cy started after one on his own. Will called for a kill count and six clicks replied. Strafing the B-Wing Cyleaf pounded it's shields, waiting for the brief shimmer when they dropped, but that didn't come till later.

Cy's cockiness got the better of him this time, forgetting to resynchronize his systems back to normal he inadvertently left his shields without charging power. It was a stupid mistake that would get anyone killed and it seemed like it might do him in this time, all his luck had run out. He took a glancing shot that dropped his shields to half-way as an alarm began to sounds, Sith spawn, stupid me, stupid me he ridiculed himself and slapped the helmet part above his forehead. Cy looked to see who was closest to him and watched with awe as the flight two trio took out another fighter.

That was beautiful teamwork," Cyleaf the Zabrak called over the intercom. "But I could use a little help over here myself." Again veering his Hawkbat around he shot at the shields only to receive more return fire, 40%&. 25%, his shields were glowing from the hits it received. Krius had showed up, the back light from the systems sun made kind of a halo around the fighter, either that or it was Cyleaf's imagination.

The Hawkbat rocked again, 15% and one more final shot winked them out. Warning repeatedly sounded in the cockpit flooding it in bright red light, it was as if in slow motion he was streaking towards the fighter for another pass. His mind seemed to speed through his last encounter.

****
She sat across from him, they were talking and he was smiling. The scene unfolded before him as if watching a movie. It had been a long time since he smiled out of the cockpit. He told a joke and even though it was lame she laughed, little dimples appeared on her rosy cheeks. Watching this he wished that he could remember the joke.

He had an urge back than to ask her for another meeting, maybe a coup of caf at the mess hall, or anything though the choices on a ship were limited. Wait a minute the watcher thought, Crystal is on the Dark Shadow.

****
The tranquil scene seemed to vanish as a large red laser streaked towards the cockpit snapping him back to reality. Looking at the console he was greeted by 1% shielding, Well at least it should be quick he thought or rather hoped. But all that thought changed as a black Silhouette streaked towards him.

Stupid fool he whispered as Krius drove his fighter between him and the blast taking it on his shield while firing at the B-wing. Tears welled up in the Zabrak's eyes, such utter disregard for personnel safety to save him had happened once before, he was crying at what Krius did and what Dodger had done.

In some ways Krius reminded him of Jemel, aka Dodger, both were rash, excellent pilots. But two things they shared the most was talking, and Cyleaf's undying respect and gratitude, the young pilot just bought that whether he wanted it or not.

The B-wing saw Krius as the imminent threat and concentrated on him, the Human's reflexes were great as he dodged shots, it gave Cyleaf all the time he needed. Firing with al he was worth, the Hawkbat tore through the shields and hit the stabilizers rending it incapable of moving. Krius quickly took the kill.
"Kaph 8..." there was a long pause as Cyleaf choked on some words, "Thank You!" Sometimes in space a helmet was a burden rather than a blessing, how could he wipe away the tears in his eyes.

Cyleaf's fingers danced over the controls resetting the setting and increasing his shield charging by taking some away from his engines. No need to go in hot and stupid again he thought imagining himself putting in a certain request to Will after all this was done.
 
-----------------------
FM/PO2/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

The B-Wings were gone, black hunks of scrap metal in space.  Kaph and Gamma headed back for the Mon Calamari vessel.  The destroyer had delayed their mission long enough; it was now time to remove the obstacle.  The Dreadnaughts loomed behind the fighter craft, spelling doom for the scalloped ship. 

The dreadnaughts spilt, heading for either side of the Mon Calamari ship to divide its attention.  When they came within weapon's range, the Imperial ships and the NR ship opened fire on each other.  The Dreadnaughts quickly dropped the destroyer's already highly damaged shields.  They then began pumping fire into the ships hull.  Imperial fighters swarmed in to take out enemy turbo laser batteries.  The lone NR craft was over whelmed by the Imperial's fire power.  Dark Shadow made the final, crippling blow driving turbo laser fire deep into the engine housing.  The aquatic looking ship's back end went up in a great explosion, soon engulfing the whole ship.

"The Mon Calamari vessel had been destroyed," said Willtconq.  "We can now move on to those gun platforms!"

"This is Kaph 5, I recommend, sir, that we dock up with the Dark Shadow again and replenish our dry missile tubes."

"That is an excellent idea five," said Will, "it is granted."

The Hawkbats filed back into the Dreadnaught's hanger for the second time to refill their payload.  The technicians worked quickly, reloading the fighters and closing them back up at an almost unnatural pace.

The TIE's then scrambled out of the hanger again to take on the next task.

"Ok men," said Will over the comset, "These platforms are not as big or dangerous as the Golans, but don't underestimate them.  Approach them with caution.  On the other hand, you wont have to do anything fancy to drop their shields."

The gun platforms loomed in the distance, blotching out stars like some kind of bad omen.  It was like great monsters, waiting to strike down unwary birds when they flew too close.  When the Imperial fighters got "too close," the targeted platform opened fire.  The TIEs went evasive.  Than Sion opened up over the shields projector until his fighter was targeted by a turbo laser battery.  He quickly pulled off his attack to avoid being fried.

The platform scattered snub fighters to take on the Imperial onslaught.  Sion targeted one of them as it came out of the hanger, blasting it to pieces in the confusion. 

An unknown voice came over the head set in his helmet, "You killed my friend you Imp scum!!!"

Than Sion knew the pilot was talking to him since he could see an X-Wing specifically targeting him, leaving other, more convenient targets un touched.  Oh boy, this is going to interesting, thought Sion.  He turned his transmitting frequency to a general channel so the enemy pilot could hear him.

"Hey," Sion said in a cold voice, "it wasn't personal."

"I made it personal," the enemy pilot said.

"Go buy a helmet," said Sion.  "Oh wait, you already have one."

He could tell by the pilot's stupidity that he was a green horn.  Sion didn't have to do anything though; Krius was already behind the enemy fighter and just came in firing range.  Krius opened fire and destroyed the foolish fighter pilot.

"He should be happy now," said Krius.  "He gets to see his buddy again!" 

       

 
-----------------------
FM/CPO Than Sion/Kaph 6/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)[MC:1]
I must have the power of the force, Trix lost three games due to early eight balls in pool.  

A Gamma pilot bombarded the shields until he was chased off by a group of X-Wings.  The shields on the defense platform were now down to 50%.  Than Sion broke off from his attack run to help the pursued Imperial pilot.  He strafed the enemy fighters' rear ends for a few moments, which was all the time that was needed to get them to back down.  The three fighters swerved completely around, going head on with Sion.  Oh crap, thought Than Sion.

He brought the fighter into a dive to avoid being completely obliterated by the combined fire power of three X-Wings.  Than Sion knew that there would be no question that all three would be on his tail.

"This is Kaph 6, I have three bogies on my six.  I am in need of assist!"

"Roger that Kaph 6," said Krius.

Sion brought the fighter into a spin to avoid fire.  He still got hit of course, with increasing intensity as time went on.

"Did I ever mention that I really hate X-Wings?" asked Sion in a half sarcastic manner.

Krius laughed at this comment, "just hold in there a little longer Six."

He saw a green dot come on the edge of his radar.  It closed in on the red dots, causing one to disappear and the other two to disperse.

"Thanks Seven," said Sion gratefully.

"No problem Six," replied the newest member of Kaph, technically the newest anyways.

If there was one thing to admire about Krius, it was his good attitude in the heat of battle.  Not much seemed to let him down. 

Sion took up his cancelled attack run again, heading for the part of the shield that was right by the generator again.  He slammed a missile into the shields along with another burst of fire.  The platforms fighter support was thinning, leaving the defensive structure relatively unprotected.  Imperial pilots kept on pumping rockets and green laser fire into the shields.

"Platform's shields down to 25%," said Willtconq, "keep up the good work!"

Another fighter targeted Sion.  He came from Than's left flank.  Sion made a 90 degree swerve, bringing him head on with the enemy X with only a few spots to pay for it.  The pilot did the same thing that Sion had, he dived down to avoid punishment.  And like the three Xs, Sion got on his tail.  He was flying upside down compared to the enemy fighter.  But everybody knows that in space, there really wasn't any true up or down.  The pilot tried to shake Sion off his tail but the faster, more maneuverable fighter kept on him.  Sion blasted his aft shields into non existence and, soon after, the X-Wings its self.

The platforms shields were down to a dark red.  Sion watched as Cyleaf made a final run, dropping the shields.

"Platform naked," said Will, "but still shooting, thin out those defenses so that we can finish this thing!"

Sion knocked out a turbo laser battery on one of the four "arms" that came out from the center of the station by flying between its two lines of fire.

(OCC: It isn't a recorded model of platforms, so I just made up the arm feature of the defense platform.) 

 
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FM/CPO Than Sion/Kaph 6/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)[MC:1]
I must have the power of the force, Trix lost three games due to early eight balls in pool.  

The defense platform's shields were starting to get worn down, they had depleted it's stored up energy and brought it down to about 50%. Enemy X-wings were still about trying to catch fighters off guard hoping that the Imperials were too busy concentrating on the platform.

Than and Krius bantered back and forth over the com channels something about hating x-wings, Cy laughed. Krius was always there for anyone that might need a little extra hand, and in a battle like this everyone did.

"Platform's shields down to 25%," said Willtconq, "keep up the good work!" Will was always encouraging the pilots underneath him, that was one of the characteristics that made him a great leader, that and he stuck his neck out for others.

Looking at where the last salvo of rockets pounded into the shields one section above the generator seemed to come around the slowest. Funny how the generator is the most vulnerable, such flaws in the design he thought increasing throttle and streaming towards his target. Cannon fire lanced out from the Hawkbat striking the shield as two missiles followed.

The shielding took on a glow as it absorbed the cannons but winked out with the first missile. About thirty seconds later the second missile found the generator turning it into slag, seems like staggering the missile worked Cy thought smiling to himself as Will stepped in.

"Platform naked," said Will, "but still shooting, thin out those defenses so that we can finish this thing!"

"What is that?" the Zabrak's jaw dropped in amazement, he had never seen a platform sprout four arms.

"Looks like four arms to me" Krius retorted, always one to lighten the mood.

"Yeah well they have turbo lasers mounted on em" Than added.

"Hey Kaph, I got a really good idea. How 'bout we take out one of the arms, Gamma takes out the other arm, and so on, how about that?" Krius asked. Will approved of the idea.

Fighters split up heading for their respective arms and began to attack the turbo laser platforms. Cyleaf spun his Hawkbat dodging a large blast and pelted the large cannon at its base. The dual lasers sliced through wiring and servos. The large cannon tried to turn and track the fighter but it couldn't, firing at another target caused it to explode.

Willtconq ordered all fighters to concentrate their attack at the tower's base. Then Krius ordered a challenge.

"Hey Will, before we do this, I'm going to say this. Who ever gets the winning hit, is paying for the drinks, and Cy, you already owe me." Cyleaf let out a short moan that could be heard over the intercom, along with the laughing of Demonic and Than. The young fighter was correct he did owe him a drink.

Diving in towards the tower each member began firing cannons. The platform answered with it's deadly hail of weapons trying to stop from being destroyed, a couple Imperial fighters ceast to exist from the barrage but Kaph still hung in there strong.

As if by sheer luck missiles from the rest of his Squadron blew a hole in the platform's armor leaving a hole big enough for a missile. His timing had to be right and the angle acute, taking the missile off auto lock Cyleaf played with the reticule knobs sighting in.

When the missile was away the Zabrak let out his breath, he didn't even realize that he was holding it. Explosions rippled through the platform signifying a perfect shot, don't ask me to do that again cause he didn't think he could.

"N-nice shot Cy, that was crazy."

"Thanks Krius. What happened to you?" it should have been the younger pilots kill.

"Oh yea I forgot to tell you guys, but I'm having a bit of trouble with my payload. Should I drop it?"

Sith Spawn Cy thought remembering the sparks he had saw on Krius Hawkbat.

"Oh by the way I like Breath's of Heaven and nothing less" Cy added his own jib over the comlink, Krius chuckled.

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FM/PO2/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)

Tally!!!
 
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WAJ/2LT Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/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

"Alright Cy, the score is now 1-1, that means we both have to buy each other drinks. But you still owe us all one because of the tower, so that's two for me," said Krius excitedly over the intercom.

"Yea I know I know, but I'm gonna even things out sooner or later, just you watch," replied the Zabrak, a touch of cockiness to his voice.

"Yea, I will," Krius answered, while turning starboard. There were still two flights of those fighters left, and Krius had to admit, he didn't feel like going up against another one of those guys again. They definitely had more experience then Krius, and they had some pretty nice moves. If it wasn't for Cyleaf, Krius would have been ripped apart, just like so many of those other pilots he had killed. The thought of all the people that Krius had killed today gave him a gut wrenching feeling, giving him the urge to throw up. He had been treating everything like a game so far, not thinking about who he had just killed.

A tear could be felt sliding down his cheek, he tried to wipe it, but the helmet was in the way. There was no turning back now, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it from happening. Anyways, there the ones who decided to join the Rebels and fight. It's there fault really, so I shouldn't have to worry about it. Krius new he was right, but sometimes wished there could be a better way then killing to get people to listen. Krius sighted another enemy fighter, and an image flooded his mind. It was an image of his uncles face, someone who had been killed by rebels. And that is my cause for this fight.

Krius put his throttle to the max, the anger that had been dwelling inside of him finally pouring out. But it was a different kind of anger; he was mad, but it was controlled, something he had learned from boxing. You gotta use it to you're advantage.
It was one of the many lessons that he had learned from his boxing coach. Instead of swinging wildly, you hit like you've been hitting the whole match, but harder. And that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

Krius tapped the firing button three times, his canons responding with three linked ruby red lasers. He had shot directly into its flight path, managing to get two successful hits. Krius felt superior to the pilot just by making those two hits. And that was a good sign. The pilot went evasive, swerving up and down and left to right. Krius kept his cool though, waiting for the opponent to do what he was really planning to do. But before Krius would let him do anything, he switched his intercom to the open channel.

"Hey buddy, what do you think of life?"

"It's great, especially when I get to live off killing people like..."

The plan worked out just the way he thought it would. He had managed to distract him and rapidly pounded shots into the fighter, ripping it into bits before exploding. "Idiot, I can't believe I was actually scared of someone like you," Krius said aloud, letting his victory soak in.


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KaphSquadron
FM/ LCR Krius/ Kaph 8/ Wing 2/ mSSD Atrus/ Pheonix Wing/ VEN/ VE/ (=A=)
Krius=Leon