"Kaph one this is Kaph 5, were ready for junction canyon, this beetle is ready to hatch."

That signified to the rest of the squadron that 2nd flight had maintained security over the shuttle and that they were ready for the next advance.

Flying through the precarious canyon, whilst firing on several objectives, gave the shuttle quite a scare. Major Pain, as he became to be known later, had, discombobulated, several mines and self arming mines. Now it was time for the show.

As the Tie fighters flew in from all configurations, the NR fighters scrambled to reason.

First flight beared down upon thier weakened flight paths as flight two landed the first Marine shuttle.

Flight Three followed up with repressive fire.

It was a site to see. It seemed as if the entire Kaph squadron had things in hand, when suddenly behind them, three flights of A-wings came to into view.

C3PX2 cited, "Kaph 9 to Kaph one, Bogyes coming in hard from the hind side, please advise." C3PX-2 had already taken a defensive manuveur, turning his flight about and under reaching the incoming flights.

The rest of the squadron awaited Than's command.

(Ohh over 200 but less than three)

C-3PX2 had just made a mistake. He told his flight to break up into elements, but there were only three fighters in the flight. He had just now realized his mistake. "Flight, scratch the elements. Stay in spread only. Keep Five Thousand feet between us, and stay alert." He now had a modified plan. They would do their spread, which was just a horizontal line with five thousand feet between each fighter. The Plan left only one Achilles heel, the aft. With a spread there is no one to guard the aft of the fighters. He could only hope that the enemy did not notice that. "Ten, where was he?" Aristoc had just called out that he had spotted a possible fighter. The fighter had been using a missile lock on twelve to keep an eye on the squadron, but the Immelman they did made him lose his lock on them. "Sir, I found it Port ..." Jammer tried to say; just then an Incom T-65 X-Wing Fighter soared past the flight. "Pull Up." C-3PX2 ordered to the flight. The Incom T-65 X-Wing Fighter was to the Republic what the TIE/In was to the Empire, a symbol of their power. It was a sleek, fast, and powerful fighter capable of tearing into one of the flight before they even knew he was there. The question is why he didn't just do that. He could have taken out one of the TIE/In before anyone would have fired off a shot. "Alright, it looks like he wants to play a game of chase." C-3PX2 started to say "Kaph Lead, We have found the fighter, Incom T-65 X-Wing. It almost clipped out, we are in pursuit." "Copy Kaph 9, We will keep moving. Rejoin Formation once he is eliminated." Kaph Squadron's Squadron Commander Than Sion said over comm. They had now found the enemy, and it was time to act and take him out.

OOC:

322 words

They had found him, the lone t-65 X-wing Star fighter that had been tracking them while they were passing through the canyon. He was fast, strangely faster than the TIE Interceptors that Kaph Squadron's Flight Three were flying. They were not sure what to do; they were unaware at this time of the status of the rest of the squadron. They were not sure whether to draw first blood or not. In the end, they would have no choice. This fighter had been a thorn in their side the entire time they were passing through the canyon. It was time for it all to end, this pilot would have to either punch out or go down with his fighter. "Flight, lets end this," C-3PX2 said to the flight over comm. "we will take him out using a post hole. Ill fly high; Ten you fly low, Jammer that leaves you for the kill." The plan was to use a stack formation and fly directly at the x-wing pilot's 12'oclock. Then at the last second one fighter goes up high and loops over it and one does the same only lower. Confusing the enemy pilot and leaving the final fighter to make the shot to take down the enemy craft. Jammer was green; C-3PX2 hoped that he was not too green that he would not be able to pull the trigger when the time came. "Jammer, you up for this? If not we can re arrange the formation of the posthole." C-3PX2 waited for a response. There was silence, "Jammer, do you copy?" Jammer was having trouble deciding. "This is Twelve, I copy. Willco on the Posthole Kill." He had decided it was time to lose the rookie title and go for the one thing he had the least experience doing, shooting down other fighters.

    They set it up, letting the fighter get distance then stacking he fighters with only three thousand feet between each of them. The enemy X-wing turned around and came with S-Foils closed, rocketing towards them. They kept going with the maneuver, the distance between them got smaller. The distance closed to ten thousand feet, and they began the maneuver. C-3PX2 went the high route, Aristoc the Low route. But just as Jammer was going to fire, the X-Wing opened its S-Foils and fired onto Jammer's TIE/IN. Jammer managed to return fire and heavily damaged the fighter. He continued to fire even after the fighter had crashed into the canyon. "Flight, Weapons Hold." C-3PX2 said over comm., as Jammer stopped firing. "Twelve, you alright, you took a good hit." The cockpit of Kaph twelve's TIE Interceptor was slightly cracked and there were burn marks surrounding the front of the fighter. He was no longer the rookie pilot they picked up on a mission. He was now a fully integrated pilot of the Elite Kaph squadron. "This is twelve, I am good. Just damaged on the outside all systems read one hundred over one hundred." C-3PX2 was glad to hear it, "Copy that Twelve." he said to Jammer. "Kaph Lead this is Kaph Nine. We have neutralized the enemy x-wing. Requesting Permission to rejoin formation." C-3PX2 said over comm. to Kaph Squadron's Commander Than Sion. C-3PX2 was unaware that the other two flights had run into their own problems along the way.

OOC:

555 words. This finishes up that enmeny fighter and ends Jammer as a rookie.

Kaph 7 couldn't understand what was happening. The rest of Kaph squadron was engaged in combat while 2nd flight flew unabated, gaurding the Marine shuttle. It seemed as if none of the enemy fighters were willing to attack the main attack force that was the reason for the entire flight. Either that or the NR fighters were merely trying to probe the incoming flights, saving their heavy artillery for last.

  Krius barked commands as 1st and 3rd flight took down one enemy fighter after another. "2nd flight hedge up that rear flank, while I take the lead." Nabric flew to the left while Kaph 8 flew to the right. Etan took it upon himself to bring up the rear as Krius led the team towards the canyon that ended in the target site. Giving yet another order, Krius yelled " Now let's all get through this and deposit our surprise. They won't be expecting a team of Marines to be infiltrating their defenses."

  1st flight had already blazed it's way through the canyon and was probably waiting at the other end blazing a way towards the target site.2nd flight couldn't miss with support like that. Krius, in the lead, fled first through the canyon opening with the Marine shuttle right behind. Nabric and Kaph 8 formed up right behind the shuttle with Etan doing a last circle manuvuer, checking on the rest of the Kaph, before diving into the canyon.

  1st and third flight had been more than efficient in their operations. Between the two of them, they had cleaned up the last few enemy fighters leaving plenty of room for second flight to make it's entry into the canyon. Etan made a roundabout to check on 3rd flight before following the rest of the flight through the canyon and towards the target base.

  Once inside the canyon, contact with the rest of Kaph squadron was intermittent. Each individual craft was barely able to relay messages amoungst each other. Krius relayed to the shuttle to relay to the rest of second flight " Kaph 5 to shuttle, once inside the designated area, deploy to the main target. Relay to the rest of flight 2 to deploy as escorts to your flanks. Repeat...." and Krius repeated his message again, making sure that the shuttle craft acknowledged. There was no way Krius was going to let all the hard work of the rest of Kaph squadron be in vain.

  1st flight was already waiting on them with 3rd flight bringing up the rear flank. It was only a matter of following through and delivering the shuttle to the target. Now it was merely a retrieval mission. Or was it? It all seemed to easy.

"Lemme know if I'm on the right track.........."

2nd flight billowed out of the canyon exit, only to find 1st flight engaged in mortal combat. 2nd flight listened to their comnet links as one of first flight took enemy fire and was destroyed. The pain of that loss was felt thoughout the squadron.

  Quickly Commander Than gave Krius the update. Than Sion had already done a large blow to the defending fighters. He only needed a lttle support to finish them off. However, it was second flight that was charged with defending the attack force shuttle. It was those Marines that were also charged with regaining the target captured fighter. Commander Than could not and would not expect 2nd flight to do anything more than they were ordered to from the beginning and that was to escort the shuttle team towards their target site.

  Exiting the canyon, 2nd flight formed up around the shuttle. Two NR fighters made the shuttle their main objective. Krius maintained contact with Commader Than. 1st flight was all engaged with enemy fighters and trying to knock out the NR cannons that were focused on the cayon exit and now the shuttle team. FL Krius made a command decision " Kaph 7 and 8, fly right and take the heat off the shuttle. Knock out those cannons at all costs."  Kaph 8 acknowledged, " Aye Krius, were on it. "

  Etan and Kaph 8 made their way towards the annoying cannons. In the background Krius and Nabric turned towards the advancing fighters. 1st flight, under the leadership of commander Than, was destroying enemy fighters, that seemed to come out of nowhere, at an alarming rate.

  As the shuttle raced onto the target area, first Krius and then Nabric made the nessessary moves to destoy the two enemy fighters that had targeted the shuttle. Yet still, the cannons blazed.

  Etan made several barrel rolls evading the enemy cannons, while, Kaph 8 ducked first up then down. A force seemed to be with them both as they flew nearer and nearer to the cannons. Several of the cannons shots got way to close to the rest of the squadron fighters, as they engaged the enemy. Kaph 7 and 8 may have been their only hope as the barrage of enemy fire from the cannons became more intense. Commander Than cried out " Will someone silence those cannons damn it. They are greatly distracting my ability to knock out these enemy fighters." Krius replied " I have two of my best on it Commander...." and with that a cannon shot deflected off of one of his stabilizers sending Krius into a spin out of the arena of action.

  Just as Kaph 7 and 8 were bearing down upon the enemy cannons and Krius was spinning out of control, Kaph's 3rd flight came blazing out of the canyon, C3PX-2, immediatly firing on an enemy fighter that had Commander Than in his sights. Commander Than acknowledged, " C3PX-2, good shooting, thank you.", and as C3PX-2 started to respond, Etan called Kaph 8 to lay a repessing fire on the cannon site, while Etan locked in missles.

  Everything grew quiet as the two Kaph members did everything they were ever taught about flying and fighting. Kaph 8, layed down a supressive fire from a flanking position while Etan locked target. Just as Etan sent his missiles towards their designated site, Kaph 8 was hit left wingside by the cannon's blast.

  As Kaph 8 was sent into a spin out of the combat area, the cannons exploded, leaving the rest of Kaph squadron to cheer over the supreme effects.

“This is the Sickle, we’re moving in on the target,” said the disembodied voice of the Major.

“This is Kaph Leader, I copy.  Make sure you come out.  It’s up to them now Kaph, lets hold off these fighters until they can shut down the mine control center.  Flight 2, concentrate on taking out any more defenses near by that could cause us problems.”


The Sickle


“Ok men, listen up,” ordered Major Yale.  “The control center complex is not very large, so we should be in and out fairly quickly.  This location wasn’t heavily defended from the outside, so it should also be a cake walk on the inside.  Still keep your wits about you; it’s too early for any of ya to go home in a body bag.  Prepare to move out in 60 seconds.”

“Sir yes sir,” was the synchronized reply of the troops.

Yales pulled the black, commando helmet over his head.  It was time for action, it was time to watch the bolts fly and the enemy die.  Finally, some excitement..  The Major made sure the safety was off on his blaster.  The shuttle began to pass through the magnetic barrier into the hanger.  Immediately the repeaters came down and began to strafe fire.  The ramp swung down, the hydraulics hissing after it touched the ground.  Eight phantoms came charging down the ramp.  Immediately they headed for cover. 

An NR trooper stuck his head out too far, only to have it obliterated by repeater fire.  Yales snap fired at another one, leaving a hole in the trooper’s chest.  A technician died in the cross fire.  His body becomes part of the bloody scenery.  Shouldn’t have gotten in the way.

The commando’s moved up quickly, clearing the hanger of any other guards.  They found one quivering in a corner in the fetal position.  A blaster lay at the feet of the whimpering man.  Yale quickly gave a hand signal to one of his men as the group moved toward the door.  A shot rang out, the sobbing trooper went limp.  No time to bind him, you can never know if they may come to their senses.

The door into the complex hissed open.  Out came blaster fire, in came a grenade.  There was a boom, no more blaster fire.  The Storm Troopers passed through the light haze of smoke, trampling over the blood covered bodies of the dead.  An NR trooper swung around a corner, he was gunned down for his foolishness.  The commandos turned a corner to find a door at the top of a short flight of stairs.  Two of the troopers took a defensive, kneeling position to cover the rear.

“Sir, the door is locked,” said one of the black Stormies.

“It’s probably it then,” replied Yales.  “Boomer, get your ass up here and do your thing.”

Boomer took a charge out of the pack on his back.  He proceeded to observe the door and control panel before placing the charge over the probable location of the locking mechanism.

“Fire in the hole!” yelled out Boomer.

The group headed for cover around the corner.  As soon as the bang rang out, the troopers headed back for the door.  Two enemy troops were running down the hallway leading up to the control center door.  The commandos took care of them quickly.  They stormed into the control room, shooting anything that breathed, with guns or otherwise.  All but one junior officer.

“Shut the mother f*#@ing mines down or we’ll shoot you too!” shouted the Major, his rifle right up against the head officer’s head.

“Ok, ok, I’ll do it,” cried out the junior officer.  He hit a few buttons, an access code bar popped up on one of the displays.  The man entered in a code quickly, the Major’s gun still up against his head.  A plate on the control surface slid open to reveal a lever.

“Ticker, does it look like he’s doing what he’s been told and not trying anything funny?” asked Yale.

“Everything looks right, sir,” replied Ticker.

“Then pull that lever down, boy.”

The officer obeyed, a bunch of status lights went dark.

“According to the display, the mine field as been deactivated,” said Ticker.

“Thank you very much,” said the Major.  “Maybe I won’t end up seeing ya in hell since you’re such a good little boy.”

Before the officer could respond, his head was shattered by the blank point range firing of Gamma Leader’s blaster.  Blood splattered the controls and displays on the opposite wall of the rifle.

“Boomer, set a satchel charge just in case they try to turn it back on,” ordered Yale.  “We’re moving out...”


Kaph 1


“This is the Sickle to Kaph Leader, the mine field is down.  Repeat, the mine fields is down.  We’re exiting the hanger.”

“This is Kaph Leader, I hear you loud and clear.”  I hope there wasn’t a lot of non-combatant deaths.

Sion’s hands flew over the communication controls.  He sent out an encoded message to the Tiamut, text only:


Mine Field Down, rest of the task force move in.

"Sir, report from Kaph-one. The mine field has been disabled." The communications officers relayed the information to Will.

"Proceed as planned." Will replied simply.

The officer returned his attention to the console and spoke into the com unit, in a coded manner to avoid decryption by any enemy who might have intersepted the channel. "This is Kaph-zero, acknoledged, proceed with the plan."

"Roger." came from an anonymous voice on the other end.

Seconds later, new blue dots could be seen on scanners as Alpha and Beta squadron launched from their respective hangers on either side of the ship with another transport, carrying more commandos for the main assault on the facility.

Soon after Plague Squadron appeared in front of the bridge as they launched from the center hanger.

Suddenly explosions erupted in many places in the asteroid field.

As calm as Will could manage, he said, "Where did those explosions come from?"

"The mine field sir."

"Yale told me he had them deactivated. Check them, and get me Yale on a secure channel."

"They are deactivated sir."

"Yale speaking."

"Major, I'm sure it's no surprise that I'm contacting you. And I'm sure it's no news that there were explosions in the mine field. Would you please confirm the deactivation of the field?"

"Confirmed. I personally saw to it that the systems were deactivated then destroyed."

"Then do you have an explanation to why my pilots are still flying in a cloud of explo..." Then it dawned upon him. Still explosives. Although the mines cannot be triggered by signals or any systems, they're still explosives. And will most likely explode if a great enough force is dealt on them. Simply deactivating them doesn't render them into useless debris.

"This is Kaph-zero to all pilots. Mine field is still active. Proceed with caution." No need to explain to them the situation, by telling them that the mines are active should be enough to keep them away from them. If not, then there's nothing we can do at this point to save them if we still want to accomplish the mission.

All the while, more explosions came from the mine field. They're being triggered by contact with asteroids. Before, the system was keeping the rocks from colliding with them, but with the system down and destroyed, there's no stopping them.

OOC:

just adding a little twist.

Aboard STCR Doashim

Jaden stood in the hanger beside his fighter, patiently awaiting the arrival of Arturus Hargraves, his former commander.

Sentinels duties were done, and the pilots were going to their respective places.  Jaden had thought it through, and had decided to take the opening as Kaph Squadron Executive Officer.  It didn't seem to be much at the time, but he hadn't anything else to do.  He had formally resigned his position within the Vast Empire Naval Academy, so Kaph Squadron was his last option.

Jaden spotted Art enter the hanger out of the corner of his eye.  He quickly picked up the duffle beside him and met Arturus half way on his approach.  Jaden saluted quick, and wished Art good luck on the rest of his campaign with the Vast Empire.

Jaden quickly hopped into his fighter, and left the STCR Doashim for the last time in his life.  He had no desire to return to the unit, unless it came to it that it would need another rescue or the campaign for the navy called for service to be rendered to the cruiser.

He was on his way back to the Atrus, where he hadn't been for a copule of months.  But, he had already caught word that he wouldn't be there for long.  Rumors were sent his way through the grapevine that Kaph was heading out for a mission as soon as he arrived.

Jaden would attempt to keep his arrival in the secretest form possible.  Even Than would have a hard time finding out how he got into the mission grid and exactly when or how he would enter battle.

Hours Later

Jaden's boots made loud crisp steps as he walked down the halls fo the Atrus.  He walked quick, and made sure to avoid any places that would raise suspision to his arrival.  He had even entered the hanger without warning, and hadn't even been requested to send in his ID or ship logs, which was a bit odd, but it struck Jaden that the Atrus must be in a time of peace, for now.

Jaden quickly found his old office and snuck in.  He pulled up the terminal and logged in as a ghost user, hoping to get into the Kaph Squadron files and find out exactly what was going on.  Within minutes he had all of the data loaded into his pad and he was back out of the room.  He missed that office.

Jaden let his long, dark brown hair fall down over his face as he entered the hanger and hopped onto the nearest transport for the Hellfire-Class Escort Carrier Tiamut.  According to what he had found out, it was the lone operation base now for Kaph Squadron.  Jaden had already had one of his old techs move the fighter over to the carrier silently and quickly, without detection.  Jaden opened up a channel through his personal comlink with his new commander, Than Sion once he entered the Tiamut's hanger.

"Hello there, would this happen to be my new Executive Officer?" asked the man on the other line.

Jaden spoke quietly.

"Yup, its me, Second Lieutenant Jaden Khaar reporting for duty.  Where would you have me aboard this ship sir?"

"I've already secured you an office, but nobody besides Will and I know your hear, so make yourself comfortable.  If you are confronted by anyone, just brush them off and do about with your business.  I'm sure your already aware of the mission information and how we're doing this, right?"

Jaden grinned, "You already know me all to well, and now I also know that you are definently a good commander.  Not many can trace it when I log into places I'm not supposed to"

"I knew you were coming a while ago, so there really isn't that much you know about me," said Sion

Jaden just brushed the tone off.  It was the tone of a commander who was making sure that his new partner knew exactly where his place was.  This made Jaden very happy to know that he was now working with someone who actually had enough balls to step up and let him know what was going on.

"Alright, I'll be in the office," said Jaden as he exited the hanger, "I suppose I'll talk to you when you need me again, eh?"

"It'll be just a while after we exit hyperspace before I'll need to speak with you.  Just make sure you're somewhere near hanger 3 within the next hour or so," said Than

"Khaar signing out," replied Jaden.

Present

Jaden snapped the fighter up on its starboard side as he exited the canyon.  He was flying along side Alpha Squadron.  Their numbers were at the max.  One full Squadron of Tie Fighters, and one Full Squadron of Tie Interceptors, along with the shuttle they were escorting.  The objective for the squadron Jaden was flying beside(Alpha), was to make sure that the transport got to the Research Facility and the commandos off to do their objective.

"Reserve Kaph to Leader, where would you have me in formaton sir?" asked Jaden

"Move yourself into Kaph Four position.  We recently lost a pilot there and need to pick up the slack in that location," said Than

"Sir, yes Sir," said Jaden as he pushed the throttle forward and made his way towards Kaph Flight one.

"Any immediate updates I should know about, sir?" asked Jaden

It took Than a minute to reply.  "We've been giving their fighters hell, but they are now pumping another flight out of the hanger and they've got a lone A-wing jumping around and causing trouble."

Jaden thought about it for a moment.

"That A-wing pilot...he's an Ace?"

"Looks like it"

"Alright, he's mine"

OOC:

First post in Kaph :P

The A-wing was off of Jaden's radar before he could even manage to get a good sight of him.  The pilot seemed to be comfortable with his/her flying, being mostly modest about everything they did.  Jaden countered it with just sitting back and watching.

The pilot didn't seem like too much of a threat, just something that was sent out to scare the pilots, but the fighter could do more damage than it had done already.  Jaden could sense a bit of hostility coming from Demonic as he attempted to chase the fighter down.  Jaden quickly assisted.

"Kaph four here, on your wing two, I'm going to give him something to run for," said Jaden

"Alright, I've been having a hard time sticking with him.  See if you can shake 'em up a bit," said Demonic, struggling to get the words out of his mouth as the fighters gripped the arc they were coming around.

Jaden switched over to linked bursts, letting the enemy ace know he wasn't screwing around.  Jaden quickly got a lock, but only a few of the lasers painted the fighter before it jetted its throttle and zipped out of the area.  A smile came to Jaden's face as he pushed his throttle to just about half.  The power of his fighter might not over do the enemy pilot, but his interceptor wasn't like all the rest.  His pushed atleast 75 MGLT more than the average, had a better hull rating, but with that, no shields.  He couldn't afford to keep the shields with the power conversions.  He would have to put more shields into engines, which didn't work.  The sacrifice of the shields made him a better pilot.  Always knowing that he was on the brink of death.

Keep it up, you've got me where you want me

The fighter zipped to the upper part of a larger asteroid in the area, hugging the asteroid all the way around.  Jaden followed, but kept cautious.  There was not telling what was on the other side, or if the pilot was going on a suicide run.

Within seconds the fighter was back into his sights, just leading him across the battlefield.  Jaden couldn't help to notice other things going on.  He knew the mission was to assist the shuttle and make sure that the Research Facility was successfully boarded.  But something had just happened that he couldn't help from noticing.  Fighters.

Pouring out of the hangers.

The enemy commander must be going nuts!

Jaden quickly cut off pursuit of the enemy A-wing and pulled open a channel with Than.

"Four to one, fighters are pouring out.  Looks to be about....I'm going to take a quick estimate of 50 sir," said Jaden

Jaden knew that Than didn't like hearing the odds, and it would take him a second to realize exactly what was happening.

"Bring em' on," said Than

Those words brought Jaden's blood to a boiling point.  Was he angry or pumped?  He really didn't know, but the fighter sprung out from underneath him as his rage took control.

"Alright sir," said Jaden, "I'm on your wing, ready for anything"

Jaden had moved into position beside Than and Demonic.  Skylla followed right on Jaden's wing.

"Alpha squadron, stick on that shuttle.  Don't let it take a shot at all.  Beta, bring em' hell but also watch for those fighters around the shuttle.  Plague, throw your payload at those fighters.  We need to take them down fast."

Jaden watched as the gunboats unloaded their missiles at the oncoming fighters.  The squadrons quickly broke formation, which left the Imperial fighters in a good spot.

Pick em off....this should be fun.  They're so confused right now.  If we keep them stuck with those missiles, we should be able to shave the enemies numbers by far!

Jaden kept in formation as the first Kaph flight lunged forward.

OOC:

Had to make it a bit short, gotta go

"Bring em' on.”

When odds were uncertain, Kaph Leader didn’t back down.  When danger reared its ugly head in his face, he punched its lights out.  He was not a coward nor did he lead cowards.  Kaph doesn’t back down, Kaph just fights harder.

So when 50 fighters came charging towards Sion through an asteroid field, he flew straight into them.  He watched two dozen streaks of light shoot past his fighter from behind.  Some of the missiles collided with asteroids, but others hit the NR swarm causing much damage and chaos through their concussion waves.  The two forces came within firing range, red and green tracers lit up the asteroid field.  It was no less than a beautiful sight.

Sion swung around an asteroid to find himself head on with a snub fighter well in range.  The meeting surprised both pilots.  The difference was that one wasn’t dumb struck, he was too experience for that.  He didn’t give the enemy time to recover.  Green rounds immediately pounded the X-Wing’s forward shields.  The enemy tired to shoot back but was blinded by the volley.  A burst made it through the shields, a fuel cell was punctured.  With a fearful cry, the enemy went down in a ball of fire. 

Sion watched Demonic lead a fighter on.  Kaph 1 didn’t need to be let onto the plan, it was set forth without words.  Sion pulled up behind the enemy fighter without notice and initiated a missile lock.  Before the enemy could react to the annoying beeping sound in his cockpit, the birdie was off.  The A-Wing tried to break to port, but Sion opened fire ahead of his flight path.  In the confusion, the projectile made purchase with the enemy fighter.  It was game over.

Sion felt his fighter jolt.  He cursed when he found an X-Wing on his six.  The rest of his flight had their hands tied or were blocked from view by one of the big rocks.  The NR fighter jockey didn’t seem to have any homies either.  It was only the two of them.  Sion broke hard right, the G’s made his head feel light, and he began to see spots.  He didn’t care, because the enemy was experiencing the same thing.  He straightened out under one of the big asteroids.  There is no up or down in space.  Sion skimmed the surface upside down, swerving around obstacles.  He was looking for something, something he could use.  Then he found it, a canyon ahead.  He quickly pulled into it, but instead of running the course, Kaph leader pulled up hard, completely reversing his direction.  He was now right side up compared to the surface of the big rock.  But a question quickly arose, where was the enemy?  Where was the head on he was expecting? 

He answered his own question before he had to find out the hard way.  Sion pulled down, red stutter skimming over the hatch of his ball cockpit.  The enemy had called his trick and prepared to hit him from the side.  Sion quickly pulled back up and brake turned into the enemy’s curve.  It all ended up in a turning battle.  The man who can get the angle will win this dog fight.  Skill aint going to take you all the way here.  My fighter has the advantage when it comes to turn radius.  I just have to keep my head about me so I don’t do something stupid.  This guy is good, I can’t afford to screw up…

“Sir! My flight controls are jammed!” Trigger yelled over Comm. to C-3PX2

“What do you mean Jammed?” C-3PX2 responded over Comm.

“I don’t know, they just locked up. I’ve got no control over my course.”

“Do you think you will be able to fix it?”

There was a small popping like explosion heard over the comm. channel.

“Trigger, you read me?” C-3PX2 said almost nervously.

There was silence over comm., but then a voice was heard.

“Yea, I’m still here. I just had a massive power failure though. So far I've lost Navigation, Weapons Control, and Shield Control ...”

There was static over the line. The transmission was breaking up; C-3PX2 ran a diagnostic of his communication systems. They read at One Hundred over One Hundred. Trigger was losing the ability to get on the comm. He changed his vector over towards Kaph Twelve, not knowing what he would find

“Kaph 10, this is Three Lead. Vector on my starboard aft. Trigger has lost nav-control on the TIE. We need to get over there.” He said over Comm.

“Lead, this is Ten. Willco. Vectoring to your Location. How bad is it, is it from when he got fragged from that X-Wing?” Aristoc responded over Comm.

“Not sure, but he is in trouble, I just lost Comm. with him.”

“Copy, then lets get over there”

“Keep a watch on our six, I don’t want any surprises.”

“Copy Lead, On your Starboard Aft now.”

They Arrived at Trigger’s Location, to See a fighter barely holding together. The Cockpit was cracked now more than ever, and then something could be heard over the short range comm.

“Sir! I’ve lost almost all systems. I was able to transfer emergency power over to comm. for the time being.” Trigger said over the makeshift comm. channel.

Just then there was a small clicking noise, and then Kaph Twelve’s TIE/IN began to twist.

“Sir, Twelve. I got full control again. I don’t know what happened, it’s like someone just flipped a switch. Somehow I’m reading navigation, shields, and weapons at seventy five over one hundred.” Trigger said surprised at what had happened.

“You sure you are ok, you got fragged earlier and now this. This could be a sign of something worse that’s about to happen.” C-3PX2 said to trigger over Comm.

“Sir, I’m sure, I’m ok. I have full control back, let’s get back in this.” Trigger said aggressively.

“Copy that Twelve. Vector towards my port aft wing. Maintain the formation there.” C-3PX2 ordered

“Lead, this is Twelve. Willco.” Trigger said as he vectored over to the port side.

C-3PX2 then changed his active comm. channel over to a channel with the Squadron Commander.

“Kaph Lead, this is Three Lead. Trigger is back on course and we are ready to ...” he began to say before the inevitable happened. Trigger fighter started to twist into a spiral and he began to fly downward, towards an asteroid field.

“Twelve, this is Three Lead, respond. What’s going on?” C-3PX2 yelled into the comm.

Trigger had lost all control of his craft, navigation, weapons, shields, sensors. They were all gone. He was out of control, and spiraling towards doom. There was nothing below his but asteroids and he was getting dangerously close to them.

“Trigger, Lead. Respond. Pull Up, you are going down too far. Trigger, Pull Up!” 3PX2 continued to yell, “Ten, vector over here. Keep an eye out.” He ten said to Aristoc.

“Lead, Ten, Willco.” Aristoc Responded.

Trigger in the cockpit of his interceptor desperately tried to pull the fighter up, but without power there was nothing left for him to be able to do. The TIE/IN was in such bad shape he didn’t even have to scuttle it. It was already destroyed beyond use. He was continuing to spiral towards the end of his trip. Then a piece of the TIE broke off and an ejection could be visible seen.

“Tiamut, Three Lead. Man Down. Twelve punched out.” C-3Px2 said to the Tiamut over Comm.

Then the only thing that could possible make this situation worse happened. The fighter began to smoke and then a visible blue and orange flame could be seen for a second, before being extinguished by the vacuum of space. The Panel Wings of the TIE began to spare an electric blue. The fighter was breaking up, with trigger still near it. He ejected too late, momentum made it so that he kept drifting towards his craft. This would be the end for Trigger. The Fighter then exploded in a fireball stronger than any fireworks display, with pieces flying all around. Trigger was nowhere to be seen, his emergency beacon was not transmitting.

“Crypter, Crypter, Crypter, We got a pilot out and a fighter destroyed. Need Emergency Recovery Shuttle here now.” C-3PX2 said over Comm. to the Tiamut.

C-3PX2 began to scan through the pieces, and was getting fragged my small debris.

“Three Lead, Tiamut. Confirm Recovery Shuttle.” The Tiamut’s Comm. Chief said

“Cancel Recovery, there is nothing out here. He is gone.” C-3PX2 said with the cold robot voice he had. “Send out Reserve Pilot, flight is at fifty percent.” He said. Though it really was at sixty six point six repeating percent to be accurate, since there was one pilot missing.

“Copy that, no Recovery Bird, Sending Reserve.” Tiamut said before closing the comm.

C-3Px2 and Aristoc did a few more surveys of the rubble to see if they could find any type of sign of Trigger. There was nothing to be found, he was gone. Then a voice was heard over comm.

“Kaph Reserve Pilot to Flight Three Leader. Requesting Permission to join formation.” The Reserve pilot said to C-3PX2

“Reserve, Three Lead, Permission Granted. Take Position Twelve at Port aft.” C-3PX2 said to the pilot, “what’s your name and rank pilot?” he asked

“Leading Crewman Max Fagron, Sir.” The Crewman responded

“Well Crewman, Welcome to Flight Three.” C-3PX2 said in a cold voice.

OOC:

996 Words

Jaden held the fighter tight in formation as Kaph Squadron came back into formation.  The enemy fighters had drawn back a bit, their numbers to about 25 now, but they were coming back around, and they were having a hay day.

"Those snubfighters a closing in fast.  They are completely ignoring Alpha, Beta, and Colma now.  I wonder what exactly is happening here..." said Jaden

"AA guns at those repulsor areas near the Research facility!," said Krius, "I didn't even pick them up until now, were they there before?"

"No, I would have picked them up," said Than, "They must have just came into play.  There's no reason for the fighters to bother with them now, they are dead meat.  Sitting ducks out there!"

The AA guns opened up immediately after Than finished his sentence.  Jaden could see the blood red laser bolts ripping into the formation of fighters and the transport.  It was something completely unexpected.

"Break your formation Alpha and Beta, and stick close with that transport.  Draw the enemy fire AWAY from the transport.  It is vital to our success here!" said Than

Jaden kicked the throttle to full.  His fighter screamed across the blackness of space ever so quickly, on a vector right for the research facility, but he was stopped short.  His fighter jolted, systems flying off the wall.

He had ran straight into a shield that was surrounding the entire base.  He quickly noted that there were generators surrounding on platforms, but there was nothing he could do about it.  He quickly pulled up a fresh diagnostics scan as he attempted to fly back the way he had came.

Navigations af fifty, weapons at eighty, hull at thirty-four percent.  Communications are fine, but by engines have taken some critical damage.  FRAK!!

Jaden spun the fighter around, shifting all power from his weapons system straight to his engines, but it ended horribly.  The reactor core of the fighter was overheating, and the systems were going off of the wall.  He had overloaded the systems.

"Four, you alright?" asked Than

"No sir, my systems are overloading.  I ran straight into some sort of shield surrounding the facility.  Looks as if there are shield generators, but there is no chance in hell of me going anywhere.  In order to not have my core overloaded, I just shut nearly everythingn down besides my communications systems.  I need a rescue party immediately, sir."

Than scrabled around in his fighter, switching the com frequency back over to the Tiamut.

"Kaph Leader here to Kaph Zero, I'm requesting a rescue shuttle be sent to the following location of Kaph four.  He's down, lost nearly all systems, and we've got a bigger problem on our hands.  A shield is around the entire Research Facility, and they've got atleast two more squadrons of fighters coming down on us right now"

"Kaph Zero here, rescue shuttle is launched, ETA 5 minutes.  I would suggest keeping someone around the general vacinity of the pilots fighter, and, atleast a flight of pilots for an escort," said Will

"Kaph Flight Two, the mission is yours.  Make sure that transport picks up Four, and make sure that transport stays together after he is picked up.  Flight Three, form up with Flight one.  Those fighters are barreling down on us."

Alpha and Beta were making some great flybys on the AA guns, but after a few runs, they ran into a small group of X-wings.  It seemed as if the entire battle had just changed sides.  The commander seemed to be pulling it all out.

If I was under his command I sure as hell wouldn't be sacrificing the entire facilities pilots, equipment, and basically the lives of everyone in the facility at this point, just because of a little testosterone over the com frequency between two commanders...

Jaden pulled off his helmet and sat back in the leather seat.  He closed his eyes and brought himself into a deep state of thought.  He had been in this situation before, but he couldn't help to think that he wouldn't come out of this one alive.  His memories all started to come back to him.  Everything that he had been through since he had been in the Vast Empire Navy.

His thoughts moved towards his arm.  He had lost 45% of his right arm due to torture methods during one of his first missions back with the Navy.  It had been replaced with a mechanical prosthetic, but it would never feel the same.  He had improved motor functions, and was able to withstand anything that happened to it, but he knew that he wasn't the same person after that had happened, mentally nor physically.

Then his attention turned towards both of his legs.  From the knee's down, they had been entirely crushed.  Now held together entirely by mechanical purposes.  He had fallen off of a tall tower on one of the Nazgul Vacations.  It was nearly a 100 ft drop, but he was glad that he had gotten out of it alive.

Through all of the things that Jaden had experienced, he realized that he truely was lucky to be where he was right now.  With a good group of pilots who really cared about his well being, and a group of friends that he could count on for the rest of his life.

Jaden snapped back into reality, realizing that the shuttle was docking with his fighter.  The top hatch hissed open, and within minutes he was within the shuttle, awaiting to be taken back to the Tiamut.

He quickly grabbed the person who was highest in command aboard the shuttle.

"I know you have a small tractor beam on this shuttle.  Grab that fighter and make damn sure that it makes it back to the Tiamut in what conidition it is right now, or I will personally have you stripped of everything you have and plant your ass in the underplanet of Nar Shadaa, do you hear me?"

"Uh, s-sure, sir!  Sir yes Sir!" said the captain of the shuttle, engaging the small amount of tractor that it had and bringing the fighter along with them.

"Get me on the com frequency," he said to another one of the techs.  The mic was immediately handed to him.  "Patch open a line with Kaph commander, immediately"

Within seconds he was on the line with Than.

"Alright, I'm on the rescue shuttle.  Make sure that flight two sticks close here to the shuttle.  I'm having them tractor my fighter back to the Tiamut so that I can atleast salvage it and bring it back up to par when I get the time.  Should I just grab an interceptor from the Tiamut, sir?" asked Jaden

"That would be excellent, make sure you're ready to come back out here before you do though.  These fighters are tearing into us bad.  Beta just lost two of its pilots, not to mention we've lost a good number of our own," said Than, "See you on the flip side"

"I'll get out there as soon as possible, sir"

Jaden sat in the medical wing of the Hellfire-Class Escort Carrier Tiamut, Kaphs currently base of operations.  Nurses were taping up his hands.  His gloves had been nearly burnt to the skin.  Nearly all systems within his fighter were done for.  It would have to be entirely stripped of all its equipment and redone.  And it would take a long time.

"Are we about done here?" said Jaden in a stern voice, being very concerned about what was going on outside of the Tiamut.

"We're done now sir, you can move on and get back out to your mission," said the nurse.

She had beautiful cherry red hair.  Jaden couldn't help but to scan her from head to toe, closely watching her every move as she cleaned up her things and left the diagnostics room.

Those nurses...Why are they so...Hott?

Jaden immediately exited the Medical wing and headed straight for the hanger.  His flight suit rubbed against itself very loud as he picked up his pace.  He nearly knocked a unknowing crew member over as he turned the corner that lead to the hanger.  After appoligizing, he made his way to the hanger.

Upon arriving back at the place where he had began the mission, he scanned around for the lead tech that would tell him where a good fighter was.  He spotted the tech holding a clipboard and doing some inspection work on one of the out of commissioned gunboats.  He looked as if he was very deep in his work, making sure that everything was going smooth.  Jaden walked up to the man and politely asked where he could get a fighter.

"I need a fighter, now.  Interceptor, probably one of the newer models with some good shields and some decent acceleration"

The man looked up from his keyboard for a moment to stare Jaden right in the eyes.

"I'm the lead tech around here.  I don't care if you're the Captain of this ship, but I won't take that kind of lip from anybody, son" said the man.

He was a bit aged, looked like more of a hermit type.  Jaden began to tread lightly with his words and toned it down a bit.

"I'm just deeply concerned about whats going on out there.  I left my squadron in a very bad situation, and I would very much appreciate it if you would get me a fighter that can handle my abilities," said Jaden

"Well, now that you seem to be a bit nicer about it, I do have a pretty good fighter over there docked with rack B-C3.  Make sure you have one of the techs get it for you.  It was just recently serviced, and in my opinion, is one of the better fighters we have aboard this carrier."

Jaden took the mans hand in his own and shook it with a good grip.

"Thank you sir.  You will be commended for your actions"

The man immediately went back to his paperwork as if Jaden hadn't even been there.

Jaden quickly rushed over to one of the techs near the TIE rack and asked him for the fighter that his boss had recommended.  Within minutes the fighter was down, ready to go.  Jaden snapped his helmet into placed, connected the life support tubes, and plopped into the seat of the fighter.

It took him a moment to get comfortable, but he knew he needed to get going, very soon.

I can work with this.  Everything seems to be in place, and Damn!  This fighter is fresh!

Within seconds Jaden was out of the hanger and back into the blackness of space that welcomed him ever so greatly with open arms.  He did a quick diagnostics check.  Full systems at 100% and going steady.

Score!

Jaden figeted with the com frequency controls and opened up a line with the squadron.

"This is Kaph four, I'm back in battle.  Whats the update?"

Than came back quicker than he expected.

"We've taken some serious casualties all around, but we're still in this.  Looks like Plague has taken out two of the shield platfroms; with one remaining.  The enemy fighter count dropped drastically, but it looks like the commander is pulling his last straw.  We've got some new marks, looks like a half of a squadron of A-wings, and they are moving fast.  Not to mention that hell of a pilot is still wandering around here causing trouble.  Alpha and Beta are still escorting the transport Colma, and it seems as though the rest of Kaph besides our flight is wrapped up with fighters.  We need you in formation immediately," said Than

"On my way, Sir"

OOC:

Keep it up boys

“Ack!” cried a whiney voice over the comlink, “I’m hit!” 

HellKite rolled his eyes.  “Yet again,” he mumbled to himself.  It was miracle that this guy had survived so long.  

“I’m still fine, but I’ve got a fighter on my tail.  I’m trying to shake him!” the voice screamed over the comlink.  You’re trying hard enough, idiot. thought HellKite.  Instead, he took a deep breath and tried to sound polite.

“Yea, I can see that, seeing that I’m also behind you.  Don’t worry.”  HellKite fired a single shot at the enemy fighter in front of him, missing it completely.  The shot flew past the enemy and nearly hit Gadon, who instantly voiced his complaint.

“Watch where you’re shooting!” he cried.  Hellkite sighed, his patience was being pushed to the limit.

“I am, don’t worry about it.  I’m just trying to have a little fun.”  The fighter had now noticed his new stalker and jetted left.  Hellkite slammed the controls of his own TIE, following the fighter with a sharp turn.  “I’ve got him, go do something else.”

“We’re supposed to be a team.”  Hellkite groaned as he heard the voice again.  Does this kid ever shut up?  Of all the people they had to pair him up with. 

“There won’t be a team if you end up dead,” the pilot said as he struggled to match the enemy’s turns while arguing.  The fighter made another sharp turn with HellKite following closely behind.  At least this was getting interesting.  There had been several moments where he could’ve taken down the fighter easily, the enemy didn’t seemed to have much experience.  Still, the hunt was too fun to let go and he could always get away with some excuse.  If anything, it was warming him up after months without flying a thing.

“I’m watching you, you could’ve had so many shots.  Why don’t you just shoot him?”

HellKite snorted at the idea.  He had a picture perfect shot in mind.  “Look, you shouldn’t be watching at this time.  I’ve passed by a few fighters, take them out.”  Pausing for second, he quickly added on a lie to satisfy Gadon, “this guy is just good, that’s all.”  What seemed like a groan came over the comlink but nothing else besides that.  Ecstatic at the peace and quiet HellKite just received, he turned his full attention to the fighter.  The enemy seemed confused at the fact that whoever had been tailing him didn’t make a single shot, making more and more strange turns and moves.  Suddenly, the enemy simply stopped hard, sending Hellkite rushing to avoid a full on crash.  The TIE grazed the tip of the fighter’s wing on the underside as it passed, making a full rotation quickly.  The enemy had started moving again, though cautiously slow.  Taking the chance, HellKite narrowed his eyes as he took aim, trying to position his own fighter correctly. 
Almost there. The enemy bursted into speed, something that wasn’t expected.  Alarmed, HellKite shot at the fighter, hoping that he had hit the mark.  Red bolts sprang to life, the left missing the top of the cockpit narrowly.  “Perfect,” HellKite said to himself with a smirk.  The right bolt shot right through the cockpit, piercing through the actual pilot, beheading him.  The decapitated body fell forward, slamming the acceleration and caused the fighter to jet off into the distance.  Satisfied, HellKite dragged his fighter back, passing what was a remnant of a head.

“Alright, I’ve got him.  Let’s go get those fighters at the gunboats.”

OOC:

I had to stop halfway due to time constraints.  Sorry.

30 MINUTES PRIOR TO COMBAT


  Max sat alone in the Tiamut, surrounded by empty chairs. He was wearing his aviators suit without the helmet and looked surprisingly distressed for someone who could generally keep his cool even in the most dire straits.

  But this time was different. He was on the Tiamut, an active carrier. No matter how much they tried to hide it, he knew. He would be going into combat very soon and there was nothing he could do about it. He sat there and tried to forget about it but couldn't.
 
  The rest of Kaph had left a few minutes before. That was unusual. It was generally flights that went out if it was training, not whole squadrons. He knew then, he was sure, he would be flying after them as soon as one was shot down. And with the increasing number of rebel flights patrolling, he was sure that would be soon.

    A droid passed.
   
    "Leading crewman...." there was a brief pause as the droid scanned Max's I.D card pinned on his suit."Fagron is it? You appear distressed. Are you alright?"

    "No,Im.....Im fine."

    "It does not appear so. Are you positive?"

    "Yes,one hundred percent."

    "Very well then." The droid began to totter away before turning and speaking again
   
    "Leading Crewman Fagron,it appears I have just been sent a message from the bridge. You are to report to the hangar for flight three. Good day."

    Max clenched his fists until the knuckles turned white. Why now?Why couldn't there be someone else, please, let it be a mistake.
    Walking down the corridor in the opposite direction of the droid, Max was sweating so much that the liquid was dripping to the floor in large rivulets. He looked around. The corridor was deserted. He needed to vent his fear,his frustration....

    Max kicked out at a metal rubbish bin that was set against the wall. It went flying, sending trash everywhere ....thats better.

    He continued down the corridor and through the hangar doors.

    "Max Fagron,Kaph 12. I need a fighter. The techie seemed taken aback by this outburst.

    "Emm,y-yes sir.Right here......................................."
45 MINUTES LATER,OUTERE SPACE

Max felt completely different from when he left the Tiamut. He was buzzing and excited. He had heard about this. It was called "The Rush." But it was important no to let it rule you. Then, Max's comm-link buzzed.

  “Flights 1 and 2 will take the direct route. Flight 3, split from the rest of the group, your task is to stay out of sight until the rest of the squadron engages the enemy. Then you will fly in and attack while their concentration is on us. Let me make it clear that without the gunboats there is no way in hell that we’ll bring the shields down in time...” Max heard the cold metallic voice of his flight leader respond.

  "Affirmative sir. Flight three, follow me." Max responded along with the rest of the flight.

  "Wilco,sir." Max followed the pilot ahead of him away from the combat. There followed a brief time period in which everyone went silent and nothing could be heard except the whine of the fighters engines.

  Then over the crackle of static,there came a roar.

  "Now flight three, now!"

  "Affirmative, sir. Flight three, engage bandits." The entire flight kicked their TIEs into full speed, their TIEs zooming in at the enemy squadron from behind.
 
  Max threw his craft this way and that and every time an enemy came into his sights he would blast away.But he hit nothing.
 
  Just then, he saw it. A lone A-Wing, flying away from the battle.This was his chance. It was now or never.
 
  He dived down onto the tail of the A-Wing and let off a four second blast. It did the trick. The rebel fighter had received a puncture to the fuel tank and without giving the pilot time to eject, the craft exploded.

  Max punched the air. His first fighter and he would never forget it. Or rather, it would never let him forget it..................