Here is your story topic.  The Atrus and her fleet hang in space doing maneuvers when an overwhelming New Republic fleet jump into the system, complete with interdictor cruisers.  The fleet is caught completely unawares, and within the first few minutes the New Republic fleet destroy or cripple a large majority of the Naval Fleet, among them the Super Star Destroy Atrus.  Viper Squadron was out on patrol when the fleet jumped in, and though you are vastly outnumbered and outgunned, you scramble and do your best to take as many of the rebel bastards out with you as you can.

During this simulation you will be in TIE Interceptors.  These are faster and more maneuverable than TIE Fighters, but still lack real shielding capabilities.

Every few days we will be sending a PM out to squadron members, instructing them to write their "deaths".  At this time you will have one post remaining on the story, and this next post *must* be your death post.  You have 24 hours to write your death, and if it is not written in that time, someone will write it for you and the 2 points for the post will not go to the squadron as a whole.  You can still write and contribute through the other stories though.  Good luck and die with valor.

“Viper Lead, Viper Five; Can I get a confirmation on that last message? Did they say ‘Under Attack’? I thought this way just a flight maneuvers simulation.” C-3PX2 said to Tomas over comm.

“Message Confirmed; I do not get it either, someone must have changed a few things. Either way, we are here so we staying with it.” Tomas replied.

“Affirmative.”

C-3PX2 then switched the Comm. channel over to his Flight’s Channel.

“Alright, I just got confirmation. Form up, weapons free.” C-3PX2 said, and then received a confirmation from the other pilots in the flight.

Looking around at the view ports, he was in disbelief. New Republic Cruisers and Capital Ships surrounded the Vast Empire Fleet, which compared to the New Republic Fleet was almost not even there. Explosions filled the view as ship after ship fell before the power of the New Republic Turbo-Lasers. In the center of the First Vast Imperial Fleet lay the Modified Super Star Destroyer Atrus, critically crippled, it seemed as though they knew exactly where to jump in and where to hit us. They achieved complete surprise and so far had they had achieved total domination. Just then, there was a call over the comm.

“This is the ISD ‘Suspense’ to all Imperial Forces in range; we are calling out a Code Zero. Our ship is critically damaged and the fleet is taking major losses. We have hull breaches across major sections …” the message said before it cut out. Then there was another explosion, and in that blip of light, the Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer ‘Suspense’ was reduced to space debris.

It seemed as though the space in this sector was on fire, explosions and debris filled the area, and there in the middle of it was Viper Squadron. In their Twin Ion Engine Interceptor Star fighters, they were alone out in space, so far all surviving.

OOC:

314 Words

A Super Star Destroyer, the flagship of an Imperial Faction's Fleet, was now completely crippled coming to more than that, in the middle of a cloud of raging chaos.  One of it's fleets Imperial Star Destroyers now also laying in the abyss of space, dead.  The New Republic had hit them hard this time, but the pilots seemed to prove head-strong as the collage of dogfights began.  The lone fighter pilots hoped to relinquish their numbers in somewhat of a "fight for justice", but the reality had started to sink into the middle-aged veteran pilot's thoughts.

Defeat seemed inevitable.

But there were two pilots who's hopes were higher than others.  Senior Crewman Ibram Tyrol and Second Lieutenant Jaden were those two men, and they were out for a mission.  Well, it seemed like more than a mission to some of their fellow pilots.

To the two who were battling along side each-other, they wanted...

Blood

Two two had only flown one mission together, but now, on the brink of destruction, they had come to know eachother very well.  Tyrol was a new recruit, but he was quickly moving his way up, and people around him were starting to see his potential as a great fighter pilot; a great member of the Vast Empire Navy.

Jaden was a very seasoned pilot, one that's attitude had changed from boredom to cockiness without reason.  After having been through the grits and guts of the Navy, he lived out his days as a pilot within the squadron he had joined as a recruit in.

The two had found the chemistry they needed, and the enemy knew it.

* * *

"Eight, keep your ass out of their line of fire.  Those X-wings are a lot more than you put up with on your first mission," said Jaden, "Don't ever get to overconfident, and don't drift away from me -  it could end up being the last thing you ever do."

Jaden noticed the recruit move in a little closer as the two prepared for a downward spiral dive - straight into one of the enemies large formation of X-wings.  The two imperial pilots had been flying the opposite way, and the X-wings were on a torpedo run, which also seemed out of place.

"I copy that sir.  I'm just...a little tense now that we're actually into the heat of battle.  I mean, how can you blame me for acting like this?  I've just joined this Navy not but 2 weeks ago, and one of my first missions is being thrown into this...this..."

Jaden needed to stop it now.

The hesitations of the green pilot stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Hell.  Thats your word, and that's exactly what it is.  You've got no option left but to take this thing out head first.  I kinda like to put it this way, my uncle used to tell me this.  His squadron used it more than once in there flights together."

"If your in a tough situation and the odds are against you, bend over, grab your ankles..."

"And Kiss your ass goodbye"

The young but fiesty rookie came back no quicker than he should have.

"Sounds good to me," said Ibram

With that, the two pilots broke from their dive, right onto the aft of the flight of enemy X-wing pilots.  Within seconds, both of the pilots had switched over to linked burst fire, and the X-wings definitely knew that they had arrived.  Jaden noted to not forget about his backside while painting the enemy fighters with the splatters of green blaster fire.  It was all clear, sensors checked just the flight of X-wing within immediate perimeter.  But not for long...

The flight broke in half after taking an extensive amount of damage due to the two pilots sticking on their aft ends.  Their shields had suffered critically, and some of their weapons systems had to be suffering.

"Seven, they've taken a good amount of damage, but don't under estimate these New Republic pilots.  Their flying styles are a lot different than the pirates you've engaged previously.

These guys actually know how to work together, and they have something worth fighting for.  But just keep in mind.  We're here to obstruct that path, and we'll do everything in our power to make sure that no one stands in our way," said Jaden

"I'll break for the left two, you break for the right, but don't be hesitant to call out if you need help.  Stubbornness is something we don't need to deal with right now"

"I can handle this," the young man said through the channel, but Jaden knew in his mind that the pilot could be in his last stages.  A new pilot, though incredible throughout his training in his career thus far, couldn't handle two X-wings on his own, unless of course he was the pilot that Jaden had hoped he was.

The grizzled man took a scratch at his chin while he pushed the throttle to the full.  A long sigh seemed to signify the fact that he was getting to the point of being fed up with the situation.  He began to run scenarios through his head of the possible outcomes of the situation, but it began hard to draw the things out once the X-wings started to maneuver more and more.  The burst fire coming from the interceptor was not hitting on their targets, and the enemy fighters seemed to be widening the gap ever-so-quickly.

Jaden was used to the Interceptors, but the model he was flying currently wasn't the modified outfit that he was usually used to.  The Interceptors that the pilots were flying currently weren't outfitted with shields, which was something that Jaden was very fond of.  Yet, the fighters didn't have the speed factor that he was used to.  Though the shields had been cut, their energy had not been circuited somewhere else, so the rest of the systems within the inceptor functioned as if their power supply was limited.  It was standard, and Jaden wasn't used to standard.

"Viper Eight to seven, I've destroyed one of my targets, and the other has fled far off.  I'm forming on your wing," said Ibram

Jaden chuckled to himself in amazement.

This kid is out-flying me...

Already?

"What a week to stop smoking, huh Mira," Strangler's voice chuckled in her ear, Mira's eye twitched uncontrollably as she resisted the urge to shoot her own squad mate out of the air.

"Yeah a bad week indeed," she said through clenched teeth.

"I mean why would you stop anyway? Well not that I'm not happy with you stopping I was getting tired of you putting your cigarettes out in my drinks, but usually someone has a reason for quitting..."

"Yeah, a certain someone hates girls that smoke and I'm trying to appease him. If we get out of this I'm going to strangle him in his sleep," Mira thought before speaking, "Later Enzadi, just later when I have patience to speak," she growled and suddenly veered to the right, missing a missile shot at her.

"Mira, could we get some battle music going?" Enzadi asked and Mira grinned impishly as she hooked up her music pod to her comlink. One thing she ha to love about her wing-mate was that he had grown to enjoy music during flying as much as she did. In fact together they had created a few different play-lists for different time in flight. There was the training mix, the patrol mix, and their personal favorite the battle mix. The battle mix consisted of mostly hard beats and wailing instruments that got their blood pumping. "Turn it up Mira, nothing but space, the enemy, and us to hear it."

"Since when did you become a poet anyway?' Mira asked with a chuckled but complied as her and Strangler wove around one another to keep the two enemy ships at bay as they began putting together a plan.

"Think they've been flying enough to keep us from swinging up behind them?" Mira asked hitting the excellerator a little to keep out of the sensors of the enemy ships.

"Probably not, they just don't train enemy pilots like they use to."

"Isn't that the truth, seems like half of these guys have no idea the difference between the turbo grate and their own asses."

"Possible that they could think it has something to do with cheese grating," Strangler replied chuckling a little, ah banter during battle was their best way to deal with the stress. How many bogeys had they taken down while they spoke to one another. Once in a discussion between different political systems they had ended up destroying ten enemy fighters before realizing it.

"No doubt," Mira said her craft suddenly dropping and spinning around before she threw on reverse thrusters, blasting her way behind one of the enemy ships. Strangler on the other hand was more artistic about his maneuvers and instead chose an elegant loop to get behind the enemy fighter.

"Always have to go with the, 'boom,' route don't you Mira?" he asked as they shot two well aimed missiles and their enemy's backs, destroying them.

"What's the fun of following protocol, I'd rather spice things up a bit, you know make things up as I go."

"We call that suicide for the most part you know..."

"I haven't died yet, for once I have a few things to live for."

Out manned and out gunned, Tomas nevertheless hurtled in the direction with Aleia right there on his wing. Dodging and weaving between eachother the two Imperial pilots rained laser blasts on the approaching X-wings whenever they got the opportunity. The enemy fighters were doing likewise, but their approaching formation appeared much more stable and rigid.

"Your turn Viper Two," Tomas commented as another laser blast skimmed his limited shields. As they had done throughout the approach, Aleia, the trailing TIE in this case slipped in front in order to take pressure off her wingman's weakened shields. It was only for a split second each time, but thus far it had prevented the X-wings from destroying one or both of them.

"Viper Two, on my mark...target the fighter on the left of the formation if you’re able......mark!" The two Vipers unleashed and fury of lasers at the designated target, and watched in satisfaction as it broke up in to a ball of fire. Parts of the debris glanced off of its flightmates shields, but not enough to do much damage. "Woo!" Tomas cried as he watched the scene, more to release the tension he held prior to their first kill than to celebrate the fact. He couldn’t help but think that it had been too easy. Even now the trio of remaining X-wings continued to bare down on them unwavering, lacking the confusion Tomas had seen from human pilots in the same situation.

Dear god…not only do these guys out number us, but they have no fear…

OOC:

256 words.

"Viper Lead, they're not breaking!" Aleia reported through the comm. This is ridiculous, Tomas thought to himself. How are we supposed to defeat something that has such little regard for it's own safety?

The five fighters zipped passed each other and immediately went into their maneuvers in an attempt to gain position. The dogfight had begun. Tomas pushed his joystick and cut his throttle in an attempt to get around faster.

“Target the first one can, Viper Two.” Tomas commented while he fought to get his target within his sights. All the while, Tomas tried to keep an eye on Aleia to make sure an enemy fighter didn't hop on her tail. Much to his relief, she appeared to be holding her own. As Tomas looped around again, his cockpit shuddered slightly. Above him he watched as a trio of Y-wings pass by en route to one of the many Imperial capitol ships. There was no doubt in his mind that they were prepping for a bombing run and that there were several other such flights on similar missions.

“We've got to get this done, Viper Two!” Tomas alerted his wingmate as he refocused and attempted to track down his prey.

“Easy for you to say,” Aleia mumbled, eyes locked on her target but frustratingly evasive.

“If we don't there isn't going to be a fleet to protect,” Tomas replied as he slipped behind one of the X-wings. Slamming down on his trigger, he watched as it exploded in a brilliant flash.

OOC:

258 words.

Aleia had managed to take down her target in a ball of fire and the two Vipers now zeroed in on the final Rebel fighter. As Tomas maneuvered, chasing it down. Meanwhile, Aleia dropped off a bit and as Tomas guided the enemy wherever he willed. Aleia sat back and reacted to the movements.

"Viper Two? You back there somewhere?" Tomas asked over the comm. This last fighter was being tricky, but their situation was still well under control. Slippery, son of a gun aren't you?

“I'm here Viper Lead, just keep him occupied. On my signal, get the Frak out of the way!” Well that was direct, Tomas thought to himself, gotta trust her with it though. Tomas continued to guide the X-wing where he wanted it to go, wondering what Aleia had up her sleeve.

“Now! Break up!” Aleia shouted suddenly over the comm. And Tomas simply complied and pulled up and away. From below, Aleia's TIE screamed into the picture and in moments the Rebel fighter was nowhere to be seen. She had been trailing at a further distance, so that any movements made by her wingmate and the target were easily matchable.

With the immediate threat handled, the two Vipers formed up. Waves of Y-wings rained torpedoes on the Imperial capitol ships ripping them some new holes. The fleet was in backpedal, with the crewmen scrambling to get to their stations. Ships out of position had put them at a serious disadvantage and it showed. The only ones really prepared were the scramble fighters and now Viper Squadron as they had charged back into the fray...

OOC:

278 words.

“Now! Break up!” Aleia shouted suddenly over the comm. And Tomas simply complied and pulled up and away. From below, Aleia's TIE screamed into the picture and in moments the Rebel fighter was nowhere to be seen. She had been trailing at a further distance, so that any movements made by her wingmate and the target were easily matchable.

Waves of Y-wings rained torpedoes on the Imperial capitol ships ripping them some new holes.

Aleia held a tight grin on her face despit the odds of the pounding they were recieving. Tightening the grip on the stick she rolled her ship to the right and was starting to go towards the y-wings when her com crackled.

"Attention all Vipers, we have got a Friendly target coming into the system. I am sending a Warning message to it, warning to stay clear of the area."

Slowing down only a hair the young pilot grumbled.

“What ship Is it?” Tomas asked.

“It is the Hellfire Class Carrier Tiamut, Kaph Squadron’s Flagship.” C-3PX2 replied.

“What the hell is it doing outside of the shipyards, with Kaph disbanded it should be in dry-dock.”

“I am not sure; I can not get any communication to it. It seems to have jammed all channels.”

“Why would they jam transmissions? This is strange, very strange. Continue to try to get into contact with them.”


She listened to the chatter for a few and felt a cold chill range down her back.


"Could there be a way that someone stole the ship?" Aleia asked, breaking the conversation.  It was possible that it could have been stolen.




As much as the VE states that the security measures are outstanding there is always room for mistakes. And or bribery She thought to herself. He own mind racing threw past ventures from the acedmy from students attempting to steal exam answers. Some of them easier then others. There was always a way around security.


"Not sure.. but I don't want to find out.." Tomas replied. "We need to get those y-wings off our own right now.."

"Roger that.." She replied back as she went into formation with him. The engines roared as she spun into a barrell roll. Diving into the fray as  she came  up behind one of the ships.

Alea let her lazers fly on her own target. Vaping one enemy  and dived down and to the right. The fighter on her trail zipped past her.

"Can't sneak up on my arse that easily.." She muttered to herself when Tomas's voice came over the com.

"A little help here..."


Aleia checked her computer and  pulled back up on the stick. Her hip rolled and pulled up and out as she came up to see Tomas trying to shake a fighter off him.

"Damn.. missle lock.." She hissed. Realising it was going to be risky she zipped up and beside Tomas.

"Aleia.. what the heck.."

"Just hold on..." She intrupted him.

The pilot of the Y-wing probably thought she was nuts. Yet it didn't matter. He let go and let the missles launch. Both their computers gave off warning blars.

"Roll now!" She ordered. Tomas didn't  argue and simutaniously they rolled. The missles shooting past but woudl soon re-adjust their course. Aleia didn't give them the chance as she rolled back up into the line of fire and locked onto the missles the last second. Her lazers fired and the missles exploaded into a fireball as she shot threw it.

A grin spread across her face as she compleated the save. The young pilot swore she heard a gasp of relief as if Tomas was holding his breath  threw the whole thing.


"Nice shooting."

"Thanks" She replied back, pulling back up on the stick to reform with Tomas.

"Just try not to do somethiing that crazy again.."

"It worked didn't it?" She replied. A short pause was taken and she was sure he was goign to rebuttle her statement so she quickly added. "Yes sir.. I will try.."  Leaving the end of it off woth the hint of a sly stint that she had no problem pulling dangerous stunts to get the job done.

Damn, she's good. Tomas thought to himself as he saw Aleia maneuver with ease, and firing with pinpoint accuracy at the incoming missiles. The explosion right in front of her had now provided her with slight cover as she shot through and looked to engage the attackers. Tomas meanwhile was recovering from the missile evasion, and scanned his surroundings for the Rebel fighters. Rather than delay, Tomas opted to get back in formation with Aleia. In a battle like this, there was a good chance you'd be dead should you find yourself all alone in the middle of it.

As the two Imperial fighters got into positions, they found they were right on top of the Y-wings. This is just too easy, Tomas thought as the five fighters danced around in the vacuum of space. The TIEs had the overwhelming advantage and it showed as the trio of Y-wings never really posed a threat once the dogfight began, it seemed it would just be a matter of the Vipers getting into position for the kills.

“Lead, Five; I am going to try to use my old access codes to see what the hell is going on over there.” C-3PX2 spoke over the comm, killing Tomas' concentration slightly as he sought to make a move.

“Affirmative, but do it with caution. Keep an eye on your six.” Tomas replied. There was just too much going on to justify taking concentration off the surrounding chaos for a moment.

“Copy.” From there it was silent for several moments as Aleia and Tomas fought to get behind their targets. Aleia finally succeeded, ripping through the enemy's shields and tearing parts of his hull away. As it began to limp away, only a warning of one of the other two Rebels attempting to get a missile lock prevented her from finishing the job.
“Lead, Five; I have located the reason the Tiamut will not respond.” C-3PX2 reported in after a while.

“What is it?”.

“Before the jump, the humanoid crew left the ship on auto-pilot. Leaving a computer in control. It currently is not set to attack hostile targets; shall I switch it to attack?”

“Negative, have it plot a course to our general location. See if we can draw it over here and use it for cover. It may even stand its own against the other ships in the area.” They needed to start trying to get as many as their ships out of the area as soon as possible and the unmanned Tiamut could perhaps provide some of the cover and firepower they needed.

OOC:

444 words.

A man sat in the control of the Super Star Destroyer Atrus, his eyes fixed on a row of monitors before him. Viper Squadron had performed only average so far in his opinion. While they had been abruptly placed into an unlikely – and completely unfair – situation they had reacted very slowly to it. Two more capital ships had been destroyed before they had managed to take out even one New Republic starfighter. If any of this had been real, they’d probably all be dead by now.
  As the moment, all ten pilots were still alive and in the fight. A few of them had stood out so far: Jaden, and his new wingman Ibram, C-3PX2, Aleia … each was showing in his or her own way why Viper still held the title of “The Captain’s Own.”  Of special interest to the man was Chief Warrant Officer 'Tomas' Dagoram, Viper’s recently appointed squadron commander. Yes, he was a fine pilot, but how we he respond to this situation as a leader?

  Smiling, the man turned his attention to one of the younger officers in the room with him. “Lieutenant, please increase the difficulty level of this simulation to normal levels. Now that they have a good sense of just what they’re up against, let’s see how well they handle standard AI opponents.”

  “Yes, sir,” the young lieutenant answered; she gave her superior a sly little smile, and then began to type furiously at her workstation. She was definitely attractive young woman, fresh out of the academy, and if the man had been ten years younger, he might have tried something. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the simulated battle raging on before him.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

  HellKite glanced out at the carnage before him and shuddered. It might only have been a simulation, but it still felt real. One thing was certain: this was no ordinary situation. Viper Squadron had been out on patrol, routine exercises to get some of the newer pilots accustomed to flying TIE Interceptors, when an entire New Republic fleet had somehow materialized out of thin air. A quick scroll through the enemy signatures on his HUD told the story all too well: one Bulwark Battle Cruiser, five Mon Calamari star cruisers, twenty assault frigates, twenty escort carriers, and nearly two hundred other support ships. The Vast Empire’s First Fleet hadn’t stood a chance.
  The Atrus apparently hadn’t even put up a fight, as it had been knocked out of commission before Viper could even re-enter the fray. They’d already lost a few Star Destroyers, and it seemed the only Imperial ship left in fighting shape was the Hellfire-class cruiser Tiamut.
  As he continued to glance at all of the enemy ships, one thing seemed a little strange: even though the Republic probably had thousands of starfighters at their disposal, they had only deployed a handful of squadrons. Was that an intentional design of the program, to make things easy for the pilots at first? How many reinforcements did their opponent have, anyway?
  We don’t stand a chance out here, HellKite thought as he turned his attention to a flashing red light. That little warning indicator was the last thing he needed at the moment.

  “Five, this is Six. I’ve got a missile lock.”

  “Roger, Five. Hang in there; I’ll try to swing around and knock it off your tail.”

  HellKite drained power from his lasers, pushing it into his engines, and slammed the throttle forward. His TIE Interceptor had above-average speed for a starfighter, but there was no way he’d be able to outrun a concussion missile in a straight line. A split second later, he rolled his fighter hard to starboard, and then quickly jerked the throttle up. His stomach lurched from the sudden change in G’s, but he pushed through it.

  “Five, where are you?” he called. C-3PX2 had been right beside him a moment ago, but now he was nowhere to be seen.

  “Hang on, Six, I’ve got a tail of my own. This is gonna be tricky…”

  HellKite guided his interceptor through another series of maneuvers, but the missile stayed right with him. “Five, I can’t shake it!”

  “All right, I’m coming up behind you. When I shoot past you, vape the missile behind me, then pitch down; I’ll pull a 180 and take your tail out.”

  “Roger that, Five, I’m–”

  He never got a chance to finish the sentence. A volley of red laser bolts slammed into his starfighter, punching straight through the shields and ripping the Imperial ship to pieces.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *        *

  Back on board the real Atrus, HellKite slammed his fist against the side of the simulator. “Dammit!” He hadn’t even seen those bogies coming. He wondered if C-3PX2 had been caught unawares, too. Sighing, he opened the simulator, climbed out, and began walking back toward the debriefing room, ashamed to be the first pilot knocked out of the sim.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *        *

  “Viper Six?” C-3PX2 thought he had seen an explosion out of the corner of his eye. Hoping it hadn’t been HellKite, he radioed again. “Viper Six! Are you there?”

  The voice that responded was not his wingman’s. “Five, it’s Tomas. What the hell’s going on over there?”

  C-3PX2 cut his speed in half and banked hard to the right; his trailing concussion missile shot past him and he blew it into pieces. Not one second later, red laser bolts began to fly through the space around him. A few of them hit their mark, and his ship’s shields began to fade away. Cursing to himself, he slammed his throttle back down and began evasive maneuvers.

  “It doesn’t look good, One. Republic A-Wings have entered the fray, at least two squadrons. And … and we’ve lost HellKite.”

  There was a brief pause as Tomas obviously considered what to do. Then, “ThreePeeEx, try your best to lose those A-Wing! Jaden, Ibram – get over there and cover your flight leader!”

  “On our way, Viper Leader,” Jaden responded, a slight hint of frustration in his voice.

OOC:

1032 words. Remember ladies and gentleman, you're in a simulation. Treat as you would any real fight, but don't pull anything too fancy. And there's no need to write about what's going on inside the capital ships, because there's not really anyone in there. Keep up the good work!

Viper Seven and Eight had juset made another encounter that could have put them out of the running for last man standing, but they had recovered and were now back on their way for the fight.

Those that had been controlling the simulators we're starting to put things into the program that hadn't been there before.  Squadrons of ships appearing for attack and then within second disappearing back to where they had been before.  Not many times had Jaden ever seen this in simulations, and he made a note to make sure they didn't forget about the suprise situations, even thought the mission at hand was already chaotic.

"Five, we've only three of us left in the flight, and we're forming on your wing in hopes to keep this thing together a little bit longer," said Jaden

There was no copy from the robot pilot right away.  Jaden frantically toggled through is terminals to make sure that the pilot was still in the game.  All readings came back normal, and none of his sytems were offline that would create a barrier on the com channel between the two fighters.

"Viper Seven to flight two lead," said Jaden, "I suggest reforming our tactics and going with a tri-wedge formation"

The first communication must not have made it through, because seconds later Jaden heard the oh so familiar robot voice over the Com system.

"Your suggestions are correct, Lieutenant," said C-3PX2, "I'll take a risk here and form up on your wing along with the new recruit"

Jaden laughed.  C had never taken the tail position during a mission with Jaden.  He had only hoped that he had done something worthy enough for the machine-like fighter pilot to have made a decision like this.  He was a flight leader now, and the decision he had just made could possibly cost him his place within the simulator mission.

"I've got your lead, five," said Jaden, "You two stick tight in formation.  We're going to come in low on this main area of action up here, and I want us all jumping on the same target, at the same time.  From what I've experienced in my years within this squadron and the Vast Empire Navy, I've figured out that seperation has it's bad times."

And this is one of those bad times...

The three TIE Interceptors pierced through the amassing rubble towards their targets.  Two squadrons of A-wings had now come onto the playing field, and the Y-wings were now starting to drift out of the scene.  The members of the Vast Empire controlling the simulation had jacked up the situation a little more than what seemed to be needed at this moment, according to the thoughts of the pilot now heading up flight two.

I'll never believe it when something like this actually happens, because I won't have nearly as long as this to survive!

Jaden pushed the throttle to nearly it's capacity.  He kept thinking that the fighter would go faster, but the lack of his favorite modifications wouldn't let him do so.  The shields had been draining his power most of the length of the simulation, which was hindering his ability at greater maneuvers more and more each second.  In real flight, something like this wouldn't dare be happening. 

The pilot would have cracked up the wiring circuits and completely cut the power source to the shields.  He would have then re-routed the wiring system to the main terminal and controlled the situation from there.  In every real time mission inside of an Interceptor model, Jaden had never had standard modifications.  The power drain was one draw back, but that one draw buck cut his speed and weapons at the same time.  Jaden's own modifications to the fighters that were flown during his time in Kaph had been the best he had tested yet.  The shields were cut, the concussion missile launchers we're cut, and most functionings that didn't need to be ran for the essence of survival had been removed.  The two open spots on the chin of the fighter were mounted up with two more laser cannons, giving the fighter just a little bit more edge.  Jaden knew that these modifications would have worked out greatly in the current situation.

Well...for me at least.

Jaden scrolled through his targeting computer francially; there were more targets than he had time to scroll through at this point.  More A-wings rang up than any other ship, which meant that the next situation would be much tougher than the trials that had been passed in the simulation thus far.  The difficulty had no doubt ably been jacked, due to the fact that the A-wings were moving faster, and pulling different maneuvers than their predecessors.

Jaden's train of thought and anxiety was broke by the screaming of his missile-lock warning.  It was warning of someone attempting at a lock, not one already reached.  This meant it was time to start moving a hell of a lot quicker.

"Missile locks incoming, break formation!" chattered the droid voice into the com frequency.  Jaden didn't pay much attention because his fighter was already putting pressure on his body that he hadn't felt in some time.  The interceptor was on an arc that couldn't be touched, and the pilots that had been formed up were following their lead.

The missile locks struggled to stay within locking radius, but the attempt at a long range shot was destroyed by the skills of the Imperial pilots behind the controls of their newly acquired type of fighters.  The pilots were loving the Interceptors, and the thought of having them as the squadrons own sent chills down some of the younger pilots spines.  Jaden could sense the anxiety the pilots were having for speed as they pulled out of the arc, just to the flank of a small group of A-wings making their patrol route around the chaotic center of the battle.

"Flight two, keep formed tight.  We're going in on that flight of A-wings flank, and we're going in hard," said Jaden, "Use your good sense of judgment out there.  If those pilots are starting to out fly you, give it a little slack and do exactly what comes to you, but just don't forget that this simulation run is for something that will end up benefiting us all in the long run."

Affirmatives rang back faster than ever.  The small pep talk gave the pilots the morale boost that they seemed to need, and the flight of Interceptors simultaneously pounced on the flank of the un-suspecting A-wings.  It had taken only a fraction of time for the enemy fighter pilots to react, and before the ever-so-heroic Imperial pilots knew it, the A-wings we're up to their speed, but were now pulling maneuvers that not the regular recruit would have been able to master like the enemy pilots were now doing.

Jaden kicked the throttle up to it's peak once more, trailing one of the fighters that had broke off of the formation early.  The A-wing pilot had made a risky move; breaking formation without acknowledging the action to the rest of his wing mates.  Alas all the confusion the pilot should have been suffering from the surprise attack, he was managing to gain some ground on the Interceptor.

Come on...find that spot where you know this one is yours!  You've done it too many times before to let it all go at this point!  Prove yourself!

The pilot had found his own motivation within himself to attempt at a successful kill.  Threw the fighter into rolls from port to starboard, keeping on every move that the A-wing pilot could throw at him.  The lack of speed showed, but the cocky veteran compensated for it at every point possible.  The A-wing was now toying with him, and he couldn't do much about it.

"Damnit, Five, how are you holding up?" said Jaden

"I'm still trying to figure out who's leading this engagement I'm in to.  Me, or my enemy?  They seem like they're playing around with us like toys," said C-3PX2, "I can't keep up with their speed like this without having something to match them!"

Jaden kept on the enemy A-wing as best he could, and the shots he was letting off were but streaking by the enemy fighter each time.  Then, just as it seemed to be getting worse, the interceptor seemed to find just a little more power from the shield drain to push the fighter faster, which was all Jaden needed to get the enemy pilot in his hands.

The small boost of power nearly put the Imperial fighter pilot on top of the A-wing.  Right where I need to be.  Jaden flipped the weapons over to concussion missiles while kicking back on the throttle at the same time, but without leaving too much slack between him and the A-wing.  The enemy pilot was a bit more hesitant now, beginning to make frantic un-controlled moves.

The targeting reticule had flipped over to a neon-glowed green, and the sound of the lock filled the cockpit all at once.  The trigger clicked twice, letting out two missiles right after eachother.  Within seconds the gap between the missiles and the enemy A-wing was closed, and the pilot definitely knew what had hit him, because the second one didn't have any shields to go through.  The shot to the hull nearly ripped the engine housing on the fighter in two, sending the bits of the A-wing all over the vicinity of the kill.

One more to paint on that new fighter...

Tomas had watched in dismay as at least a pair of A-wing squadrons registered on his targeting computer. It seemed simulator's tactical computer had decided to pull the remaining X-wings and Y-wings out of the dogfight and have them focus on the much more vulnerable capitol ships of the Imperial fleet. It made alot more sense, considering the incoming A-wings now outnumbered Viper at least two to one and were much better suited for the task than their predeccessors. Apparently, someone upstairs thinks this battle wasn't impossible enough already, Tomas thought to himself with a sigh. Still don't see how we'd even have a prayer at destroying what? One, two dozen capitol ships. Tomas couldn't help but wonder if they somehow managed to survive the A-wing onslaught, how many of them would be left and for that matter how many of their support ships would still be intact enough to need defending. Wouldn't be surprised if the Rebels had another squadron or six waiting up to have at us.

While these thoughts rolled through his mind, the other half of Tomas' conciousness was on what lay right in front of them. He knew flight two was going to need some help fast if they wanted to stand a chance. He also knew that were he and Aleia to bail on these two Y-wings they'd find themselves missile targets in a matter of seconds.

"C'mon...c'mon..." Tomas muttered. Although he possessed a greater maneuverability, his target wasn't allowing him to increase the distance between them. It was forcing him to overshoot constantly, though not to the point that the Y-wing could form any sort of a counter-attack. "Viper Two, how's it going over there?"

"...this guy is being a slippery bugger..." Aleia muttered in response, curses encasing the information Tomas needed to know.

"Copy that, Viper Two. I'm going to draw my target your way. When I give the word, switch targets...it should give us the room we need to waste these toasters." Although stubborn, Tomas slowly herded the Y-wing a bit more to where he wanted it to go and shouting into the comm., the two Viper pilots swung to engage their new targets. The Y-wings struggled to react to the maneuver, and didn't stand a chance as the two pilots closed in and pelted them with laser fire. In a matter of moments, they were floating debris, and Tomas couldn't be happier about how well that maneuver worked out. Well....

That took too long...

OOC:

414 words

“Sure thing, boss,” Aleia responded over the comm. Tomas couldn’t help but smile to himself, even though they were in the middle of a desperate situation. It was always a pleasure to have a competent wingman by your side.
  Whipping his TIE Interceptor around to join the fight against the A-Wings, he transferred power from his shields into his engines and hoped Aleia would take the cue to do the same once she saw him beginning to pull away. They had wasted too much time taking out the last of the Y-Wings, and he knew they needed to hurry before another Viper pilot was knocked out of the fight.
  A quick glance at the HUD showed that Flight Two was handling their own, which was to be expected. Jaden and C-3PX2 were both experienced pilots, and Ibram had shown a great deal of potential. Flight Three, on the other hand…

  “Viper Nine, this is Viper One. What’s your status?”

  There was a long pause before Tomas heard TheStrangler’s voice coming back at him over the comm. “Things aren’t looking too good over here, One. My shields are out and I’m–” He cut off suddenly.

  “Nine? Nine, what’s wrong?” Tomas asked. He silently begged his TIE Interceptor to go just a little bit faster. He and Aleia were still at least 2 clicks away from the nearest A-Wing.

  “–Sorry, One. I’ve got two on my tail and I’m trying to lose them. Not much time to talk.”

  “Dammit, Nine, I don’t care if you’ve got a whole squadron on your tail, report! What’s everyone’s status?”

  TheStrangler muttered something inaudible – probably something not-so-nice about Tomas – and then responded, “Like I said, it’s not good, One. Rocketman’s in critical condition; no weapons, no shields, no comm system, and only one engine still running. I’m not sure he’s gonna be able to repair his systems, either. Mira and Zane are trying to keep him alive, but I don’t know how much longer he’s going to last.”

  “Hang in there, Nine, I’m on my way!” Damn. Sounds like Eleven’s a sitting duck out there. Tomas hesitated, unsure of what to do. Mira and Zane are gonna get picked apart if they just circle around Rocket, trying to keep him alive. But I can’t just let him get blasted. Or should I? Would it be better to sacrifice one pilot, or lose all three of them? Suddenly, he was wishing that the decision wasn’t his to make.

  Aleia interrupted his train of thought. “Targets, Leader?”

  Urgh… “I’m going after the two on TheStrangler’s tail. Follow my lead, Four.”

  “Roger that, sir.”

  Tomas drained some power from the engines back into shields and switched his lasers to quad-fire. He wanted to blast through these A-Wings as quickly as possible. Wasting no time, he locked onto the closer of the two Republic fighters and slammed his finger down on the trigger. Emerald bolts of energy loosed and slammed into the A-Wings twin engines; several more lasers from Aleia’s starfighter hit their mark as well, and the Republic fighter exploded.

  “Thanks, One,” TheStrangler replied.

  “Four, stay on the other one,” Tomas ordered, pulling out of the pursuit. He had made up his mind, and just hoped Aleia would be able to get the second A-Wing off Viper Nine on her own.

  “He’s mine, One,” she replied, sounding quite pleased with herself.

  Tomas located the rest of Three Flight on his monitors and grimaced. Mira and Zane were pinned down by five Republic fighters and were doing everything they could to distract the bogeys from Rocket’s injured ship. He knew he was still out of firing range, but maybe he could do something to add to the distraction…
  Not even bothering to target one of the enemy fighters, he switched to single fire and squeezed the trigger down. Keeping it held down, he sprayed fire across a wide space, hoping to catch the attention of at least one A-Wing.
  Unfortunately, none of the Republic fighters must have noticed, because they continued their looping attack. Cursing under his breath, Tomas targeted one in particular and headed for it, guns blazing.

  “Leader, that you?” Zane’s voice called out. His interceptor cut across Tomas’s field of vision, an A-Wing hot on his trail.

  “Yeah,” the squadron commander replied.

  “Thank the maker, we could use the help. Rocket’s–”

  “–I know the situation. Ten, Twelve, pull back, and take as many of those A-Wings with you as you can. Trying to protect Eleven is noble of you, but it’s gonna get us all killed.” Tomas frowned. Would he have made that decision under normal circumstances? Or was it just because this was a simulation and he knew that Viper Eleven wouldn’t really die?

  There was a brief pause, and then, “Roger that, Viper Leader. Pulling out.” That was Mira. Tomas saw her TIE peel off and head back toward the middle of the fight; a Republic fighter followed in hot pursuit.
  Tomas searched the area, trying to locate Rocketman’s incapacitated fighter. There. Two A-Wings were closing in on him fast; a couple of more hits and he’d be done for. I’m sorry, Rocket, but there’s nothing we could do.

  “We can’t just let him die!” Zane yelled. Tomas’s got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he saw Viper Twelve’s TIE heading in to intercept the Republic fighters.

  “Pull back, Twelve!” Tomas barked. There was no way Zane was going to get there in time, and even if he did… “That’s an order!”

  There was no response. As the pair of A-Wings opened fire, Zane’s TIE flew right in between their scarlet bolts and Rocketman’s ship. The volley intended to finish off the listless fighter instead slammed into Zane’s. Viper Twelve’s shields weren’t enough to absorb the full brunt force, and his ship was torn apart. Even though he knew it wasn’t real, Tomas couldn’t help but be upset as he watched Crewman ZyCrusis’s starfighter explode.

  Sythspit. Now what? If he did nothing, he’d lose a third pilot as soon as the A-Wings looped around again. Maybe Zane was right. Should I have called them off? He slammed his fist against the side of his cockpit and steered his fighter toward Rocket’s wounded ship. Too late to think about it now. I made the decision of my own volition, and I’ll have to live with it. Trying to remain calm, he dove into the fray. This is probably the wrong decision to make, too, but…
  Maybe – just maybe – Zane had bought enough time so that he could stop those A-Wings from finishing off Rocketman…

OOC:

1103 words. Sorry if this was total crap; I'm really tired.