Viper squadron had lost another one.

The last few minutes had been hell. The three remaining pilots of two-flight, had been trying to link up with the CO and the rest of the squadron, only to find them fighting for their lives whilst trying to protect three flight, who were dead in the water. Three-flight's FL, a guy called "Strangler" had just been destroyed, and now Ibram, Jaden, and the XO we're trying desperately to keep the enemy fighters at bay.

Ibram was currently trying to take down a particularly annoying A-wing, whilst at the same time trying to avoid the X-wing that was tailing him.

Ibram let off two Quad bursts, before diving slightly. Behind him, the X-wing was unleashing a flurry of tracer shots. Unfortunately for him, his shots ended up hitting the rear of the A-wing which, coupled with Ibrams shots, overload the shields, and wrecked the engines.

The fighter's engines spluttered and died, leaving the pilot dead in the water. Ibram decelerated and shifted to avoid the A-wing, and then accelerated again as the X-wing overshot him. Got you, he thought.

Switching to missiles, he quickly acquired a target lock as the X-wing was banking around. Ibram fired his last missile, and watched as it raced towards the X-wing, impacting and shredding the XJT to bits.

Almost immediately, a pair of B-wings came into view, letting loose with their Ion cannons. "B-wings!? What the Gak! Where did they come from."

Jaden had just finished taking care of a pair of X-wings, and was forming up on Ibram's wing. "They must have been pounding the fleet and got bored."

Ibram grinned. "Bored eh? Well lets go entertain them. Permission to take point sir." "Point away Bram."

Ibram accelerated his Interceptor towards the B-wings, dodging their Ion blasts and giving out some of his own laser fire. The two pairs passed each other, and Ibram and Jaden banked around for round two, but when they did, they found the B-wings practically unscratched and haeding towards Three flight.

"Gak me, they didn't even bat an eyelid."

"Chin up kid, they aren't invincible." Jaden let loose with some laser shots, and fired what must be one of his last missiles. Ibram added his own fire.

Between the two of them, they managed to overwhelm one of the B-wings shields. It dodged out of the way as the missile came up behind it, and the missile overshot. "Oh no you don't," Jaden muttered.

The missile exploded, manual override causing it to blow up prematurely, and the explosion caused the other B-wing to bank, and the first one to lose one of it's wings.

The CO, and his wingman, a woman called Aleia, swooped in from below and tore both of them to shreds.

"Nice team work." Ibram said. "You're welcome." The CO replied.

A Carrack light cruiser, pulled up along side. The IFF transponder identified it as the Normandy.

The CO gave out new orders over the coms. "Ok ladies and gents, looks like the Normandy is going to try and cover our guys whilst they try and get their fighters working. Break up by flights and move out. happy hunting."

A chorus of affirmatives came back over the coms. Ibram settled back onto Jadens wing, the XO taking up the other side.

"Ok ladies," Jaden began. "Looks like the Atrus is in some deep Bantha fodder, lets give the old girl a hand."

The trio sped off towards the Atrus.

OOC:

595 words. Note to Jaden/3PX. I had us go to the Atrus cause i thought it would be nice to have some action whilst flying in and out of ships, if you catch my drift. Mike break the dogfighting-run we've got going here.

"I-I think so, Lead. I'll see what I can hack together," Rocketman replied. Dang it, Tomas. I've been trying to get this hunk of junk operational for ten minutes now. What makes you think I'm going to-
  Rocket's train of thought derailed suddenly as warning lights began to light up all around. Uh-oh. In a heartbeat he had gone from having a big problem to having a really big problem.
  And not just him. All of Viper Squadron was in trouble.

  "Lead, this is Eleven! Don't know if you've noticed or not, but multiple bogeys just appeared about ten klicks out!" Most of his critical systems had failed, but his long-range sensors were just fine, and they were picking up a new squadron of Republic fighters. "It's a squadron E-Wings."

  There was no response.

  "Viper One, this is Viper Eleven! Are you there?"

  Nothing. Shit! Whatever I just fiddled with trying to get my weapons systems back up and running must have short-circuited the communications system! Now what?
  He threw a few switches, trying to reverse what he had done, but he really didn't know what he was doing. The TIE Interceptor controls were just different enough from the TIE Fighter controls he was used to that he didn't know what he was doing.

  He tried one last desperate radio. "All Viper Squadron pilots, this is Viper Eleven! Be warned! You have enemy fighters coming up fast from the rear - twelve E-Wings!"

  As he had suspected, no one got the message. From the looks of things, the Viper pilots had been split up. Flights Two and Three were speeding off to try to offer the Atrus some assistance, but were being slowed by Republic X-Wings. Flight One, which was just Tomas and Aleia at this point, was still dogfighting with the A-Wings.
  If I don't do anything, they'll all be killed! He racked his brain, trying to think of some way to warn the others, but before he could arrive at a solution a proton torpedo slammed into the side of his crippled TIE Interceptor, and the lights inside the simulator went dark.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Having finished off Rocketman1167, the squadron of E-Wings closed in on the remaining Viper Squadron pilots, who were unaware of the impending threat...

"And down goes another one," Aleia cracked over the comm. as she eliminated another fighter. Tomas considered saying something to her, as she seemed to be edging ever so close to the 'cocky line'. In the end he delayed the warning for the time being, as he didn't want to come off as a nag and hey a little confidence could really help in a fight like this.

The number of A-wings appeared endless, as whenever they took out one they had to keep their eyes peeled for one, two or even three in close proximity waiting to get a drop on them. Flights two and three, though only Mira remained now from the latter had gone to do what they could to protect the Atrus, the flagship of the Imperial fleet. This left Tomas and Aleia out on an island against a far greater number of opposing fighters. They had been cut off from the other flights, and it seemed unlikely they could regroup with the rest of the squadron without putting themselves at serious risk.

“Got one on your tail, Viper Two.” Tomas said as he attempted to drop in behind the fighter trailing his wingmate.

“Be a doll and take care of him will ya?” Aleia's voice replied in a sarcastic tone, as she likely already realized he was attempting to do just that. She was already engaging yet another A-wing and would have been hard pressed to take on both simultaneously.

“Heh, I've got 'em Viper Two.” Tomas said with a chuckle, the laughter really helping him to keep his cool against such overwhelming odds. The four fighters twisted in turn like a long congo line, one after another as each tried to get their shots. To Tomas' relief he succeeded first, capitalizing on a maneuver he had had the opportunity to watch the others do. With a ball of flames the A-wing was histroy. “You're all clear, Two...” but for how long...

OOC:

334 words.

“Got one on your tail, Viper Two.” Tomas's voice crackled over the com. Her hands moved over  her ships controls as a smile creeped up again on her face. Had they no need for the helmets her face would be beamiing with humer and determination in her eyes.

Heck, it suprised many back in school how I could look like that and still keep it straight.. but I know  I need to keep things straight or go down in flames. She thought to herself.

“Be a doll and take care of him will ya?” Her voice replied in a sarcastic tone back over the com.

“Heh, I've got 'em Viper Two.” Tomas said with a chuckle as She fought to keep the bogy off her tail. The dance was done and in the end Tomas took him out for her.

“You're all clear, Two...”

"Thanks Lead.."


Things were starting to look bad. Still taking the enemy out in the open they had to get in closer. But the enemy was comming out of nowhere. ALmost as if they had a vast amount of endless ships. Not suppose to happen.

Rolling to the right her ships engines roared. Almost effortlessly she shot out a few more lazers taking out another enemy.

"We -" SHe started when the com went staticy over. Tomas's voice came threw.


"Playtiems over Two.. theres t hree Y-Wing Bomber Craft inbound on a run towards the Atrus. We need to get over and help the others out."


Bringing her ship up she  pulled another roll and watched as a few lazers missed her by a hair. The ship blasting past only to be taken out by Tomas.

"Not going to be easy.."

"Sense when was anything easy? If it was would it be worth it?"


Aleia smiled and shot foward, pulling hard on the stick as she started to make her way towards the others.

"You got a point.. "


The question is.. will we all make it out alive?

Everyone was now having their fair share of toughness coming from the simulation, but the ones who could handle the situation had stuck out thus far.  2nd Lieutenant Jaden Khaar knew that he had to somehow prove himself to the other pilots, but without neglecting the teamwork that he had known and learned so well throughout the years.  The simulation was meant to test the pilots to the best of their ability, which Jaden had experienced numerous times.  But, he also knew that the ones who had developed the simulation and had ran it themselves were masters among those members of the Vast Empire Navy.

I know now from those that have been destroyed that I will be tested to nearly the greatest of my ability here.  I can't help but think about how much fun this is going to be!

The interceptor seemed to glide across the blackness of space faster than before, but it was only because the entire situation had slowed down.  Ships lay barren throughout the area like some sort of graveyard, putting the entire squadrons morale in the dirt, or at least what was left of them.  Small dogfights were sprung out across a large amount of space now, but the main capital ship battle still rang on.

The vastly experienced pilot knew that none of the capital ship warfare  mattered to him at all when he was in flight.  Objectives came to that point at a certain time, but the basis of his experience had involved fighter-to-fighter action.  The bigger view of the entire battle would only throw him into a state of un-organization.  He attempted to wipe the slate clean of the more serious thoughts as calls for new marks started to ring into his communication unit.  They weren't of any better news either.

"Viper Lead to all pilots," said Tomas, "Just as we all knew it would happen, our numbers have come to a very low amount, and we're far more than outnumbered at this point.  This simulation is getting more and more difficult now with each fighter you destroy, so make sure you know exactly whats coming your way."

"On an even better note, we've got an entire squadron of E-wings tearing this place apart their own way while we toy around with these A-wings, X-wings, and B-wings.  Half of them are toying with one of our last carracks, and the other half are circling from another approach vector.  Most of you probably haven't had the time to notice that they've arrived within good sensor range."

"Take heed to the fact that these fighters are not to be underestimated. The primary weapons are fire-linked triple laser cannons.  There is one cannon on the end of each wing, with the third cannon directly above the cockpit.  These fighters have a respectable amount of speed and acceleration, but their greatest aspect is the firepower."

"Good luck out there pilots," said Tomas, "Lets see some more of that New Republic scrap on the field!"

Whilst listening to the man describe the new fighters, Jaden was burying his fighters throttle, attempting to catch up to a small group of bogeys that we're patrolling a nearby area.  It seemed as though they had just finished whatever task they were doing, and we're now heading back towards the area of battle.  Jaden couldn't pick up any readings of fighters that had gone down in the area lately, so he concluded that they must have been idle fighters within the simulation, and that just lately they had been activated due to Jaden's proximity to them.

Jaden's thoughts we're interrupted by one last transmission from the squadron leader about the new fighters.

"Scratch the last transmission on the whereabouts of the E-wings.  The carrack cruisers they engaged are now out of commission, and they have moved a bit further out.  The squadron is sitting seven klicks away from our position.  Keep an eye on their movement, but don't let it distract you from your priorities," said Tomas, "Viper Lead out"

Ibram and C-3PX we're following just as well as they had been the entire simulation run, and they seemed to be keeping up with the difficulty just as well.  Jaden had racked up a good amount of kills more than each of them, but the ones that they had made certainly counted.  Each of the pilots, no matter how they came out of the simulation run, had moved up in his book.  But somehow, he wouldn't find a way to let them know so easily.

"Four marks just up ahead, I'm taking the lead," said Jaden, "Looks to be a variety of different fighter types, take a look"

A moment later, C rang back.

"Every one of those fighters is part way damaged, but they don't look like they're much of a threat.  I'll take the snubfighter to the port of the lead," said C, "Ready to engage on your mark seven"

Ibram Tyrol rang in with his selection.

"I've got that rear A-wing.  He'll be wishing he flew further up the formation once I'm done with him," said the more experience of the newer pilots, "I've got just a couple left in my salvo that need to get put to good use"

The group of three interceptors seemed to hang at the scene, over looking the flight of rebel fighters.  They seemed to be superior, to the naked eye.  That was the truth.  The trio of pilots had found some sort of groove to hang in with each other.  Serious bonding had happened thus far during the simulation.  More good things would come out of the situation than just a couple of promotions and medals.  The pilots within the squadron we're now a team, ready to deal with any situation thrown at them.  And now, they were on the hunt for once in a long time.

Its time to tear these artificial pilots to pieces....

The three TIE Interceptors sprang from their position, throttles at full bore.  Jaden flipped the cannons over to strafing fire, and adjusted their direction of emergence from the fighter.  Accuracy was something that he hadn't stressed about too much in his previous years as a fighter pilot, but the modern way seemed to be the best way, even in a simulation.

The speed on the interceptors systems terminal was reading nearly 110 MGLT, the maximum speed of the fighter, as set by the manufacturers testings.  The other fighters in the flight matched their lead pilots speed with ease.  Jaden snickered at the thought of having an equally able fighter as the other pilots within his flight.

Within ten to fifteen seconds, the imperial fighters had nearly come to the point of engagement.  They we're coming in on a rear angled flank of the fighters, hoping to catch them in their most vulnerable area.  The lead fighter kept the flight in formation best as he could, but before the flight knew it, green bolts we're running down their flight path and their throats at the same time.  The interceptors seemed to fly circles around the flight of fighters, shots grazing their hulls now that the shields were down.  Jaden called off the toying nearly thereafter.

The pilot slammed the left rudder pedal, sliding the fighter's aft end out to the right.  This compensation allowed for a quick missile lock on one of the fleeing fighters, due to the fact that they had taken one of the worst manuevers he had seen thus far in the simulation.    A flight path of straight lines that lead them right into the palms of the imperial pilots, and further, right back into the abyss of the program from which they came.

Jaden slammed his fist into the fighters control console as he saw what had happened from his own decision.  The flight of some-what damaged fighters had led them into a much closer proximity to the E-wings, and now the fighters were moving towards them for an engagement.  His anger shown out the most at this point.  The point of fault.

"Viper Seven to flight two pilots, part of that squadron of E-wings is moving this way, and fast.  Count them all, six fighters coming our way.  Get your asses moving," said the commanding officer of the flight.  He knew he was somewhat to blame for the situation, but the situation at hand drew him almost entirely away from the blame factor he was obsessing over.  "I'm cutting my chatter entirely unless it's emergency.  We've got some work to do."

The fighters pulled up into a high arc 180 degree turn, coming around in tight formation to face the fighters that stuck out as the best to battle this far into the simulation.  Jaden knew that the piloting skills had been programming up even more for the E-wing pilots, and that whoever was controlling the entire situation knew exactly what they were doing to the squadrons morale as a whole.

The situation had now seemed to have gone from chaotic to insane within minutes.

Jaden drew himself into a shallow form of mediation, letting the environment around him become one with his deeper thoughts.  He had now convinced himself that the thoughts that were drawing his attention from the mission at hand hand been ceased.

He was in total relaxation.

Show me your style...

But the new generation of Viper pilots stood strong.  Valiant in their efforts, the second flight of Viper Squadron pilots now faced their strongest opponent yet.

As the piece of space almost directly beside and behind Tomas exploded with fire and shrapnel, Tomas couldn’t help but be amazed. She’s fearless, almost crazy…but hey, she seems to know what she’s doing and as long as it’s keeping her … us alive, I can’t really complain. I can't believe it worked...

“Viper Two?” Tomas probed for confirmation, in an attempt to make sure his wingmate had actually escaped the maneuver in one piece.

“Whadda ya need, Viper Lead?” Aleia replied matter of factly, and having all he needed to hear, Tomas turned his attention back to the situation at hand. On one hand there were still many A-wings buzzing around, but on the other thanks to Aleia’s maneuver and quick thinking they had opened up a slightly less perilous opening through which they could attempt to regroup with the rest of the squadron. Tomas had chosen to linger with the Y-wings earlier, and it had likely lost them at least one if not two of their pilots. With the opportunity presented to them now, Tomas was not going to make the same mistake a second time.

“Just checking for a pulse Viper Two, god knows you sent mine racing.” Tomas remarked, as Aleia formed up on his wing. “Time to run the gauntlet and get ourselves some backup.” As it was, the two pilots of flight one were all alone; them against a hornet’s nest which wasn’t taking too kindly to their tenacity and refusal to die. Tomas shot off in the direction of the Atrus, as well as the other flights with Aleia close behind. He kept a constant fire going in front of him at first in order to deter any of the A-wings from trying to get a shot that way, before shifting his weapons power to his aft shields as they shot out of the maelstrom of Rebel fighters. As they pulled clear all power went to engines for a short burst, maximizing speed in the one empty pocket of the mayhem…

OOC:

338 words.

Tomas and Aleia screamed through space in the direction of the Atrus and flight two. They had gotten enough of a cushion that the A-wings left them alone, choosing to go after other small Imperial crafts nearby rather than engage what was left of Viper Squadron at the current time.

X-wings were scattered throughout the battlefield and remained a possible annoyance, but at the moment there was a much bigger threat inbound. A squadron of E-wings were breaking in fast.

"Viper lead to flight two leader, we are forming up on your wing.  Request permission to continue this battle alongside the functionality of those that have made it this far," Tomas asked, commending those remaining for their efforts in the same breath.

"This is Lieutenant Jaden Khaar, temporary flight two leader." came the reply on the other end. "Go ahead an form up, you've got not much time.  The distance that this gap has keeps closing, faster and faster."

"Affirmative on that one eight, they're 3 klicks now.  Everyone pull up those missiles.  Anything you've got left needs to get at those E-wings," Tomas said as he checked his sensors for the exact details. "This is going to be a tough one."

Fourteen E-wings closed in rapidly on the six remaining Viper pilots, already attempting to form missile locks from their far off distance. Under Jaden's advisement, Viper did likewise and a couple of them managed to succeed quite quickly. The rest soon followed, but not before an E-wing or two managed to get a lock of their own. The Viper pilots unleashed a bombardment of missiles, emptying their stores on the incoming E-wings in an attempt to destroy as many as they could and even the numbers out a bit more before the actual dogfight broke out.

Tomas managed to smile, as a number of their warheads hit home, eliminating a handful of the opposing fighters. At this point, he was thankful for the squadron he had behind him, their apparent skills with the stick evident as missile after missile from the enemy proceeded to miss their targets.

Tomas' fighter beeped indicating he was out of heavy ammunition, and with a few flips of switches his forward shields were at maximum, his laser cannons powered up and ready to go. If he was going to get knocked out of this simulation, it would be with be with his guns blasting and he was going to take down as many more enemy fighters as possible.

Maneuvers were beginning to become a blur for the Imperial pilot.  He had been throwing the fighter around so much with evasive maneuvers that he hadn't noticed a slightly important detail; the E-wings numbers were now below half of their original head count.  The TIE Interceptor whipped through the miniature maze of capital ship debris, with its pursuers following closely behind.  Two of the surviving E-wings had caught on to his last dive, and they weren't taking it easy on him in any way shape or form.  Blaster fire crudely spat at him from the triple-mounted cannons of the enemy snub fighter as the throttle was pushed harder down the line.  His ingeniousness had compensated for the shield shifting earlier in the engagement; all hopes were towards getting a step ahead of the fighters that were knocking at his back door.

Damn, these two guys aren't an easy shake...I might have to actually resort to using some unorthodox tactics in this simulation run.

Jaden giggled to himself very loudly as he continued to think about the entire situation.

"Seven to eight, these fighters are giving me a real work-out.  I'm keeping the shields at steady and rising, but I may need a bit of assistance once things start to get more aggressive.  I haven't had a six-rider from a New Republic simulated fighter pilot in way too long!"

The man had finally found what he had longed for during the prefabricated scenario created by the Naval High Council.  His match seemed to be moving closer, but he had already come to the conclusion that the duo of E-wings would end up loosing in the long run.  He was far too great of a pilot to let two intermediate leveled fighter pilots take him for a ride that they didn't deserve.

The remains of a Victory-Class Star Destroyer seemed to be floating into the nearby area of flight, and Jaden knew that this was his last chance to achieve something worth writing down in the history books.  He would now eagerly attempt to capture the star fighters in the capital ship's debris, whilst also keeping himself in good flying condition.  The enemy E-wings didn't seem to be cutting their victim much slack, which meant that it was time for some seriously ridiculous flight maneuvers.

The Interceptor seemed to dance across the dark and cold blackness of space.  Jaden fought the fighter through the trivial amount of capital ship debris with a sense of ease, but the pursuers still didn't let up on the Imperial pilot.  The large amount of persistence needed for the Rebellion fighters' new mission to continue was set at a high standard.  Meanwhile, members of the Vast Empire Navy aboard the Atrus were beginning to think that the difficulty might have been set too high for some players.  The dog-fighting was getting much sloppier than before in the midst of it all, and the pilots were now to the point of angered-exhaustion.


Son of a Barve! I thought that set up would go way smoother than it did.

The aft shield began to let up more and more with each shot that was absorbed.  Jaden observed his systems carefully with the thoughts of the worst as he flipped the fighter into a full right barrel-roll turn, taking him to a much higher level than his previous position.  The E-wings still followed, though one was beginning to fall behind.  Jaden felt the jolt of his body being shook around in the fighter once the cannon fire started to connected with the hull.  Moments after his engagement with them, Jaden had began to hear their deaths being called out over the communications system, and that pilot announcing their marks was his wingman, Senior Crewman Ibram Tyrol.

He had succeeded once again in saving his commanding officers back in a tight situation. The walls of insecurities within the members of the squadron were beginning to bend and break more with each and every step that the members of the squadron took together.

Following the missile bombardment, the E-wings coninuted to close in on the remaining pilots of Viper squadron. The dogfight had begun as each side had all but emptied their missile supplies. Tomas powered up his laser cannons in anticipation of the skirmish. Neither squadron took casualties on the initial pass and with that the twisting and turning of fighters began, as each craft attempted to get into position without find themselves as a pile of shrapnel in the process.

The initial engagement was somewhat uneventful for Tomas and Aleia, as they maneuvered in attempts to get into position. Jaden and Ibram on the other hand appeared very active, dipping and dodging while destroying a couple E-wings in the process. Tomas noticed a pair of the E-wings break off from the fight following the destruction of the other half of their flight.

“We’ll take those two,” Tomas informed the rest of the squadron. There were still a few lingering E-wings that Flight Two could take care of. It had only been minutes, but just like that he and Aleia were on their own again. "Go after the rest of them.” With that, Tomas pulled his joystick sharply to the right as he broke off into pursuit of the Rebel fighters, Aleia following closely on his wing.

The advantage was clearly in the Vipers' favour as they closed in on the E-wing duo. Their retreat allowed Flight One to temporarily forget their worry about more fighters dropping in on their tails. It was just a matter of reading their prey, reacting and getting the job done. That was, until they realized where the E-wings were fleeting to; as Aleia pocketed another kill and the pair of Vipers closed in on the remaining target Tomas noticed another flight of E-wings closing in on their position. As if to make matter worse, they seemed to be accompanied by a flight of B-wings.

“Y-wings, going for the Atrus’ bridge.” Jaden spoke over the comm. Great, as if it wasn't bad enough already Flight Two's now occupied. Tomas became slightly more relieved when the following chatter informed him that the Normandy had rejoined the fight and was slowly but surely freeing up Flight Two to engage other opposition.

“Two flight, we need assistance. Another bunch of E-wings has showed up, and they’ve got B-wing support.” Tomas spoke over the comm. figuring he might as well get them here now while they were somewhat freed up. The E-wing they had been pursuing had abandoned its maneuvers relying on pure speed to get it to safety as it bee-lined it for its incoming assistance. In hindsight, it would've been better off putting up a fight as Tomas and Aleia lit it up instead, it's path now easy to predict.

Tomas slowed slightly, hoping it would allow Flight Two to form up before the initial pass but it seemed it would be close. With a clench of his teeth, Tomas braced for the fight...

OOC:

495 words.

C-3PX2 was split from the rest of his flight. He was pursing a fleeing E-Wing Star Fighter; it broke off from its group and was scrambling to escape. C-3PX2 perused, not knowing if he was falling into a trap. He constantly checked his radar for the slightest blip on it. Though he was not in weapons range of the E-Wing, he continued to peruse it, not allowing it from his Twelve O’clock. He knew that the rest of the squadron, the remaining five pilots were not doing any better, all stuck in a combat circle with hostile fighters. The only escape for the pilots was to be hit and explode. Failure in this task was not an option, for it could mean losing the conflict or or another pilot.

He accelerated, risking that he could lose control of the TIE Interceptor, but wanting to catch up with, or get in weapons range of the enemy fighter. He lowered the power to his shields, for they would be no use out here. If he was hit bad enough, he lost. It was that simple. He put the added power to his engines and began to close the gap; slowly he got into range of the fighter.

Moments before C-3PX2 would have gotten into range, the E-wing made a unexpected move. It made a hard turn to port, putting it into somewhat of a spin. C-3PX2, accelerating beyond the speed of decent control, had overshot the E-wing. He was forced to decelerate and turn to port, hoping he could catch up with his target.

Senior Crewman Mira O' Riley had been left all alone in the fight. After a surprise attack by a group of B-Wings had robbed her ship of its communication system and shields, she had fled to the outer edge of the battle. At the moment, she was trying to hide from the chaos.
  She had snuggled her TIE Interceptor up to the side of the bridge of a damaged Victory Star Destroyer, and so far several minutes had gone by with no one noticing where she was (friend or foe). If she could just buy a few more minutes, she just knew she'd be able to get her systems back up and running at full capacity.
  Then I can get back into the fight and do some real damage, she thought.
  Then, without warning, the lights in the simulator went dead. She had no idea who had taken her out of the fight, but someone on the enemy side must have found her.
  But who? All of the New Republic fighters had been so far away, engaged in dogfights with the rest of Viper Squadron, or making torpedo runs on the crippled Imperial capital ships. There must be more enemies out there, unaccounted for. If only I could warn the others...

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

  Right now, the rest of Viper Squadron could've used some help. But warning them of more enemies wouldn't have done much good. What they needed was more pilots. More shields. More weaponry. More time. Something to give them an edge over their numerous opponents.
  The senior officer on board the Atrus smiled. So far things had gone better than expected for Viper Squadron, but that wouldn't last much longer.
  Mira thought she'd be able to hide, but no one would escape him. Laughing to himself, he turned his ship inwards, to the heart of the battle. With any luck, there would be a few more Viper Squadron pilots left alive for him to take down.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

  E-Wings dashed and darted across Leading Crewman Aleia Dreycon's field of vision. She'd lost all sense of time since Viper Squadron had entered the simulation, but it felt as if the battle had dragged out for days. And no matter how many New Republic starfighters they managed to destroy, more kept on coming.

  "Two, look sharp. Let's ignore the B-Wings and go for the E-Wing escort for now. I'm going for the one at Mark .07; cover me." That was Tomas. Flight One had been limited to just her and the squadron commander for quite some time, but they were holding out very well. She was glad she had such an experienced pilot as her wingman, but also proud of herself for being one of the few Viper pilots left alive.

  "I'm right behind you, One. Let's give 'em hell."

  She could almost see Tomas smiling in her mind's eye as they braced for the incoming fighters. Four B-Wings with four E-Wings flying escort were their next group of challengers, and although they were outnumbered four to one, she had a gut feeling that she and Tomas would be able to pull through this time.
  Red laser fire and blue ion cannon beams began to slice through the space all around her. She sent her interceptor into a barrell roll, attempting to make a slimmer profile. Following Tomas's lead, they sliced through the heart of the enemy formation.
  Her squadron commander lit up his target with some nice shooting. Six or seven laser bolts hit home, knocking the E-Wing's shields out. A quick squeeze of her trigger finished the job.

  "Nice shooting, Two!" Tomas yelled.

  "Couldn't have done it without you, One," she replied, grinning to herself. Sticking close to Tomas's side, she followed him around for another pass. Right as they were about to finish their 360-degree turn is when it happened.

  The cockpit flashed blue, and Aleia knew her time in the simulation was almost over. One - or more - of the B-Wings had scored a direct hit with its ion cannons. As all of her systems began to shut down, she frantically radioed her commander to let him know what had occurred.

  "Viper One, I've been ionized! You're flying out there all alone! Viper One? Tomas, watch your back, I'm down for the count. Tomas!"

  He didn't respond. Her comm system had been knocked out, too. Slamming her fists against her thighs in frustration, she watched helplessly as scarlet bolts of energy slammed into her simulated fighter, destroying it completely.

The elimination of Mira and Aleia seemed to shut down the hopes of survival for the members of Viper Squadron.  The loss of both of them greatly hindered the squadrons chances at surviving much longer in their continuing fight against the so called "Imaginary" foes.  With the odds now more against the squadron than ever foreseen, the pilots still figured out some sort of motivation for the success of their main goal; surviving in a situation that was completely against them in every single aspect.  The Second Lieutenant still fought hard to hold his head high with enthusiasm as he chased down an enemy fighter that had strayed from the main source of engagement.  The trio of pilots each were fighting their own battles against the incredibly skilled New Republic fighters, and it was only getting more difficult to keep up  with their always changing styles of flight.  The situation at hand now no longer allowed them to fly at each others sides; the enemy had spread themselves too thick for the pilots to work together against the enemies clever tactics.

Jaden began to clench his fists around the fighters controls in frustration as the B-wing maneuvered out of his line of fire.  The fighter wasn't designed to do well with such situations as being engaged from the rear, but for some reason the scenario was playing itself out to near impossible.  Fighters were doing things that seemed almost unimaginable to the Imperial pilots.  Jaden pursued the oddly structured fighter in his now fatigued state, hoping that there would be a break for him to find within the battle sometime soon, because for him physically, things were beginning to look grim.  The head ache he had acquired earlier in the fight had previously faded away, and now it had returned stronger that its first appearance.  His thoughts seemed to begin to blur out as he kept on the trail of the enemy fighter, letting off linked shots of green cannon fire when possible.  They never seemed to hit the fighter from the position of his fighters pursuit, but little did he know the enemy fighter had been baiting him right into another cleverly designed trap in the scenario.  It took a more radical situation for the pilot to realize that he was spacing out all of his major responsibilities.

"This is seven, I'm having some serious trouble over here.  I'm not so much struggling with my target, but physically I'm hurting from this simulator.  My head feels like it's spinning, and I can't seem to get any focus on my flight pattern," said the troubled pilot, "Best of luck to you guys, I may be ending my run here sometime soon."

The wingman he had put so much trust in the entire mission came back in the same tone of voice that he had gained from the terrible experiences that had occurred thus far.

"I can't help you out this time, Cap'," said Tyrol, letting the man know that he wouldn't be able to assist in another time on need, because he was in a direly terrible situation of his own.  Two E-wings had jumped onto his aft once Jaden had eliminated the B-wing that posed an immediate threat just earlier in the chaotic dogfight.  "My hands are tied up with these E-wings.  They're stomping the hell out of my fighter, and my shields are taking quite the beating.  Best of luck sir," said the pilot as the com frequency seemed to sizzle out.  His other long lost partner in the fight, C-3PX, didn't seem to be as bad off as expected.  He was now in a heated pursuit of an E-wing that he had been loosely trailing for some time, and the enemy pilot seemed to be giving up.  Jaden thought of doing almost the same thing as the enemy fighter as the migraine's forceful pain began to slowly escalate.

The veteran pilot shook himself violently within the simulator, hoping that it would some how bring him into a more aware state than he was currently suffering from.  It seemed to work for a moment, so the fight for victory once again pressed on.  But only for a short period of time.

The warning lights rang off like an alarm clock, bringing him out of the dream he had been lying in for the past couple of minutes.  His head throbbed with pain as the migraine pulsed itself through his bloodstream; his blood pressure was rising faster and faster each second.  The pressure all seemed to release at once as the jolts from the enemy fighters cannon abruptly shook his fighter.  The B-wing had disappeared from his nose view port, and it now lingered  in the worst spot possible, directly behind his fighter. Each of the shots brought the interceptors shield readings down more than before, but he finally managed to pull out of the hostile area after giving the twin ion engines the most amount of juice possible.  What he had left from shields and cannons all drained out as the fighter streaked out from the B-wings line of site.  The B-wing pilot broke his flight path soon there after loosing Jaden as a target, and began to head back to the area where the main battle had been boiling for some time.  The middle aged man let out a sigh of exhaustion as he gathered his thoughts and continued on in his fight against the now expertly skilled enemy fighters.  He hoped the previous situation with the migraines didn't continue, because they had nearly ended up being the destruction of his valiant efforts.

OOC:

I hope this post worked out, because I actually have a pretty bad head ache right now, and have had it the entire time I've been writing this post.  :P

As Tomas bore down on the B-wing duo opposite him, he watched the Atrus explode in massive fashion. Massive chunks of debris shot out setting off chain reactions that crippled or destroyed a fair number of the Vast Empire's remaining ships. Having stayed at a distance, The Rebel capital ships remained relatively unaffected, with only one or two of the closest craft receiving minor damage from impacts with the shrapnel. On a smaller scale however, it was a much different story. Since the New Republic fleet had left the majority of the combat up to its fighters, a large amount had been circling in and around the Imperial fleet. As a result, the destruction of the Atrus and ensuing explosions throughout the area tipped the tables on a the fighter level. Handfuls of Rebel fighters were caught amongst the blasts, fighting for their 'lives' to get out of the danger in one piece. Although a fair number did make it out, the majority did not and albeit minimally, the series of events increased the odds for the remaining Viper pilots.

Due to the recent decisions he had made: pursuing the fleeing E-wings and sticking it out with Aleia rather than forming back up with Flight Two, Tomas found himself on the edge of blast radius heading in towards it when it happened. As debris approached their position rapidly, both the Viper pilot and the B-wing duo temporarily forgot their dogfight and now fought hard to avoid collisions with the metal chunks coming at them. Well…the B-wings seemed to forget, using basic survival programming in attempt to survive the scenario, the Squadron Commander however saw this as an ideal twist of fate. Ever watchful of his surroundings, Tomas continued his attempt to engage the closer of the two B-wings skirting in and around large sections of hull as he went. The B-wings logic clearly had them distracted as they continued simply twist and turn out of desire for preservation.

The debris made it difficult, but Tomas eventually got in an ideal position to do some damage. Behind and to the B-wing’s right, he strafed in and rolled past a nearby chuck of metal. Hammering his trigger down, Tomas opened fire and was surprised to see the opposing ship split in two almost instantly. It was only then that Tomas realized the smaller bits of debris; the one’s they didn’t really have a chance at avoiding had been slowly eating away at their shields. This revelation steeled Tomas’ resolve to play the role of the attacker, as with the shield situation as it was, he and the remaining B-wing were on nearly equal grounds protection-wise. Sure the Rebel fighter outgunned him, but that didn’t really matter when his target wasn’t able to fire at him.

Tomas approached the situation the same as the last. It paid off with a well placed shot to one of the fighter’s wings sending it into a roll that saw it careen into a nearby piece of debris and burst into a number of parts.

With a sigh of relief, Tomas realized Viper squadron had a choice to make. With the massive number of casualties already, should they focus on what ships remained and attempt to somehow get them into hyperspace and in the clear; or do they accept their fate, and fight hard in an attempt to take the absolute maximum number of the opposition down with them?

OOC:

572 words.

Tomas had been pleased when C-3PX2 had replied to his query of all any remaining Viper pilots. As Jaden relayed back now, Tomas let out a sigh of relief. Ibram was still MIA, and at this point Tomas assumed taken out of the simulation, but those that remained on the playing field were among the Navy's longest serving fighter pilots.

Given C-3PX2's quick response, Tomas had managed to hook up with the droid and in doing so regained some stability and confidence now that he was no longer flying alone.

Following Jaden's emergence the pilot from Flight two had offered up a plan based on some observations he had been making as of late. To Tomas it sounded crazy and improbable to work, but at the same so out there that it just might work.

As a result, Tomas and C-3PX2 found themselves banking and gunning it for the nav buoy in the near distance with flights-worth of fighters bearing down on their tails. Jaden had moved into an intercept course with his fellow Viper pilots in hopes of reuniting and taking on whatever threat they faced as a squadron.

“Lead, Five here. Seems the X-wings are aware of our presence.” C-3PX2 reported over the comm.

“I see ‘em, Viper Five.” Tomas replied, watching as the X-wings circled around before vectoring onto a head to head course with the two TIEs. Checking his sensors, Tomas found the other Rebel fighters closing on them from behind at an alarming rate. “We’re not going to make it to the buoy. We can’t slip past those X-wings and there’s no way we’ll be able to eliminate them before the rest of their friends are on top of us.” Tomas detailed the situation as they continued on course. With each passing moment, their need to come up with a decision grew ever more dire.

“Seven, what’s your status?” Tomas finally asked, as a plan popped into his head.

“Still closing in your position, Lead. You’re gonna need some help with those X-wings.”

“Negative, seven. Alter course. Your objective is the buoy…you’ve got the back door route open to you and it’s the best chance we’ve got.” Tomas said, putting the gears in motion. Once again, Tomas braced himself for engagement as the enemy fighters continued to bear down on them. I just hope we have guys left to see this plan through to the end…

OOC:

401 words.

"Multiple bandits just dropped in," yelled C-3PX's robotic voice through the com frequency, "Nearly two full squadrons of A-wings and a Mon Calamari Light Cruiser that is calling itself the Persistence of Time.”

C-3PX2 kept looking down at his radar, completely amazed that he had survived this far.  He was on Tomas’ wing, awaiting the return of Jaden. He had no idea how they would survive this conflict.

He looked down towards his radar, and saw a blip, one that was not identified.

“Bogey incoming! No Identification Tag.” C-3PX2 began as he changed his course to towards the bogey. “Lead, Five; Going for a Missile Lock.”

“Hold Fire until Identification if you can, Jaden is headed our way.”

“Copy, Acquiring Lock, weapons Hold.”

He positioned his fighter and got a solid tone from his weapons console. Meanwhile in Jaden’s Fighter, he received a similar tone, only this time from his radar console.

“Seven, Ray-Gun; Bulls-eye our Five O’clock.” C-3PX2 said over comm.

Jaden looked at his radar and noticed that he was at One and Five’s Five O’clock.

“Five, Seven; Buddy-Spike!” Jaden yelled into the comm.

“Copy , Buddy Spike. Five, Stand down.” Tomas said.

“Affirmative.” C-3PX2 replied.

“Viper Seven, rejoining formation.” Jaden said.

Jaden pulled his fighter into the formation, taking up Tomas’ other Wing.

“Lead, what are our Orders?” Jaden asked.

With Viper Squadron down to three pilots, all in formation together, and the loss of the Modified Super Star Destroyer ‘Atrus’; all hope of winning the scenario seemed lost. There was only a matter of time before it would be seen what the true outcome would be.

OOC:

270 Words