Following a brief run-in and chat with Ibram Tyrol in the hallway, Tomas  finally made his way down into the hangar. Nothing out of the ordinary from usual missions, as pilots and techs commingled throughout the room usually around their respective fighters as they prepped them for the upcoming adventure. Tomas watched as they managed to laugh and joke all while going up and down their fighters to confirm that they were indeed fit to fly, and would last the duration of the mission.

Off to one side, even the new pilot was chumming it up with his techies. At least Tomas figured it was the other recruit assigned to his squadron, as the pilot had donned a flight suit as if he intended to fly one of the TIEs out of the hangar. In actuality, the squadron commander had yet to actually talk to the fellow. No time like the present, Tomas realized, glancing at a nearby clock. He still had a bit of time before pre-flight had to get done and he figured he'd better at least introduce himself to the newbie before they were out in space. This was especially vital, he figured seeing as how the pilot would be flying in his flight.

“Leading Crewman Gage, I assume?” Tomas spoke up as he neared the fighter, causing the pilot to spin and quickly compose himself for a salute.

“Yes, Sir. Pleasure to be here.” Phineus replied matter of factly. Another pilot with a strong desire to go out and kick some ass. Nice, Tomas thought, while that is the first impression he got from the man. It was a good quality to have amongst the squadron nevertheless, and really helped to boost morale when times were tough.

“So pilot, anything I should know about you or be watchful for before we head out?” Tomas asked.

OOC:

Sicariom, feel free to cover the points before our conversation, answering my question, and joining us at the center of the hangar for the final briefing.

Satisfied with his conversation with Sicario, Tomas had moved onto a quick pre-flight run down of his fighter. In actuality, he had checked over the major sections almost immediately after boarding the ship so all that remained was to ensure that the systems themselves were properly tuned and fit to fly. There was a reason for this of course, as he had realized he always found a reason to linger before launch. Whether it be meeting new pilots, needing to advise on situations involving faulty fighters within his squadron, or other matter entirely.

Due to the circumstances of this mission, another briefing had been scheduled for immediately following the task force's arrival in the system once the Forerunner's sensors were able to gather a bit more official information.

Unfortunately, the sensor sweep had failed to reveal little information of use and the two respective commanders made their way out to their units. Tomas could feel the bad blood coming from the Captain's men as they downright despised the idea that their safety could be in the hands of Viper Squadron.

While addressing his squadron Tomas was able confirm some rumours, mainly that of the jamming stations setup in the surrounding area making it hard to get a proper idea of what all was out there. The same jamming stations also the left the rest just as they were ... rumours. There was no way of telling the makeup of the pirate bases, were there any actually out there nor the actual size of the asteroid field itself.

"Sorry I couldn't provide you guys with anything else," Tomas said to the Viper pilots around them. "Just remember to keep your eyes open, and stick with your wingman. We fly, they die ... got it?" With that the squadron broke up, each making their way back to their respective fighters.

Zane pulled himself out of bed and pulled on his needed gear for the day ahead of him. It would be a long one, the Pre-Flight scheduled. Zane had only flown a ship once in his life, and it was quite a while ago. But he was fairly confident 

  Zane finished getting ready and grabbed his Trandoshan Suppressor Pistol, and clipped it to his belt. Zane loved his pistol. It was designed to cause pain, and subdue your target without damaging it. The pain was excruciating, and Zane was always glad it wasn't him on the side of the pistol every time he shot.

  Anyway, Zane grabbed the rest of his stuff and walked out of his barrack, and headed to where he was supposed to go.It didn't take to long, and finally he was able to find a TIE that he could borrow long enough to complete his flight. Zane nodded to 2nd Lieutenant Jaden, who was perched on top of another TIE, and then took a look at the TIE he was going to borrow.

  With that Zane climbed into the cockpit and fired up the engines. making sure everything was fit to run, he then blasted off. Zane took it slow at first, but after a few minutes he suddenly discovered that he was a natural at it. He didn't even have to try hardly. Zane did a few maneuvers, and then a couple complex ones as well.

  Zane was having the time of his life. Finally he decided he best land and call it good. Within moments Zane was back and with the others in no time. "Well all went well, at least so far."he thought silently to himself as he followed the others.

Zane found an even better Fighter that he would use for the mission. Zane  was confident that he would do well, he would make himself. Zane checked the new fighter, making sure it would fit his needs for the mission. It was nothing fancy, but it had some nice firepower, and excellent speed, and handling.

  Zane fixed up the fighter in a few spots, and gave it a couple minor upgrades to ensure excellent performance during the mission. Nothing to major, but it would run a heck of a lot better, even though it would have run excellent before he did anything.
 
  Zane checked around him, taking in his surrounding's of the hanger. Finally he finished making his upgrades. The way he saw it, it may have been only a ship he was going to borrow, but why not make preform to the very best he could get it to anyways.

  Zane then prepped fighter, for the mission. He pulled on his brand new Imperial padded flight suit, and put his flight pack and gear into the cockpit. Zane noticed that the fighter actually had some decent computer equipments, and some nice controls as well. If all went well, or even if it didn't Zane would be well prepared.

  When he had pretty much everything ready, Zane climbed out and went to meet Lieutenant Jaden. "Hello Lieutenant, all ready for teh mission?" Zane asked.

[ OOC: Thanks to Tomas, J and C-3 for all their help, and ridiculously nice attitudes ]


  Damn.. This is what it's like. I haven't felt this happy in years, and the energy from this place is amazing. I spent the last few minutes getting to know my techies, droids, and fellow pilots, as well as getting lost a few times. Ahh.. nothing like being new.

  I passed some jokes through the techies, got familiar with my TIE fighter, and was preparing to make my way to the center hanger when my Squadron Commander Tomas Dagoram approached me.

“Leading Crewman Gage, I assume?”  He asked. I struggled to hide my emotion. Tomas farkin Dagoram was addressing me. This felt great, to be apart of something important. Something with meaning.

“Yes, Sir. Pleasure to be here.” I replied, saluting the CO.

“So pilot, anything I should know about you or be watchful for before we head out?” Tomas asked.

"Only that I'm one-hundred percent reliable sir!"

And one-hundred percent scared shitless. Excitement was one emotion, fear was a complete different side of the coin. But I can't tell my shiny-new CO that now, can I? I played cool, keeping contentness on my face, and when Tomas finally left, I was able to breathe again. What am I doing here? Sure I came here to find purpose, comradeship, and to serve the greater good. But why is there a nagging pain in my side about all this? Uncertainty was a tough one too. Hopefully it's just a case of the butterflies. Happens to everyone. Some action would take care of that. And speaking of, I have a meeting to prepare for.

Tomas had completed his motivational speech and briefing of his pilots, and now walked back towards his fighter. His path took him almost directly past a group of the marines assigned to the mission. The squadron commander quickened his pace slightly, not really desiring to make a scene this close to the start of the mission. Nevertheless, he could feel their glaring eyes bearing down on his back. God I can't wait to get off this forsaken ship. Even if it means entering the danger of enemy territory, Tomas thought to himself. I can't stand those marines sometimes, Frakking ground pounders.

Once at his fighter, Tomas slipped into his cockpit for a final check of his systems. It seemed as if it would be an intense mission, and he wanted to be perfectly certain that the craft could withstand anything he was forced to put it through.

Somewhere in the middle of his check, Tomas glanced out of his cockpit to see a commotion around his executive officer's fighter. Making another couple checks, Tomas pulled himself free of his fighter and made his way over to see what was up. Apparently the power cell had burst sending shockwaves throughout the ship.

“What's going on?” Tomas asked a nearby tech. “Will the fighter be able to fly?”

“Aye sir, just need to replace the power cell and run some reboot programs. It's the droid, C-3PX2 though. He was deactivated by the resulting waves.”

“And his status?”

“We're still looking into it, Sir. It's not common for us to deal with robots, especially of his make.”

“Might I suggest checking into his file. I'm sure there's something in there that can at least give you a lead.”

“Yes, sir ... we'll look into it.”

With that, Tomas headed back to his fighter. He was relieved to hear his executive officer's voice over the comm. Who was now the butt of some ribbing from the other pilots about the matter.

Leave it to our squadron to be so laid back and full of jokes right before such a vital mission.

"Hehe, well he's been around for quite some time. Longer than me even," Tomas said with a chuckle. He saw alot of potential in this new kid. Well not so much kid, seeing as how the recruit was his elder by a year. Listening to him get some cracks in on C-3PX2 without actually having met the droid yet made Tomas smile. He had a feeling he'd fit in just fine with the rest of the squadron. "To be honest Crewman, I'm a little surprised he hasn't been discontinued, thrown in a junk heap or scrapped for parts. Whatever it is they do with the out dated walking circuits." Tomas threw the rest in as an attempt to ease his own nerves, as well as make his new flightmate feel more at home in the squadron.

“Alright Vipers, who is ready for a bit of revenge?” Tomas said after waiting a few moments following his final check of his systems. “Check in pilots.”

“Viper Two, raring to go, Sir.” Aleia's voice the first to speak up over the comm. followed by Sicario's.

“Viper Five, back online and functional ... mostly.” C-3PX2's metallic voice rang out as well, producing a series of laughter from some of the other pilots. The rest of the squadron followed suit, and in pairs the fighters were released from the hangar's claws and like a shot, were out of the ship and into the depths of space.

“Simmer down guys, mission's started now. Time to focus on the task at hand and show these pirates they've messed with the wrong guys.”

“... and gals.” Mira shot back over the comm.

“Right, and girls. Think you can hold off on the music at least for a little while this time, Viper Ten?”

With the entire squadron formed up just outside the Forerunner the squadron broke up into flights. With the possibility of pirates nearby, Tomas didn't want to chance it sending the individual elements off on their own in an attempt to locate the listening post. Sure it might take a little longer to complete the objective, but frankly the squadron commander did not feel time itself was important enough to risk the safety of his pilots more than necessary.

“Heads up Vipers, we don't know where this post is exactly but we've got a general idea on direction. We're going to split up into flights and do a sweep. Keep with your wingman at all times, and don't stray too far from Forerunner. We're here to protect it after all.” Tomas said, giving instructions to the rest of the squadron before pausing. “Oh, and if you can help it try and steer clear of the asteroid field. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not find out if the rumours floating around about pirate hangars are true. Don't want them picking us up on any of their scanners or anything.”

“Copy that, Lead.” C-3PX2 replied, sounding quite composed for someone who'd just been rebooted. Oh the joys of being metal, wires and circuits.

“Viper Nine acknowledges as well, Sir.” With that the three flights broke off and headed their own directions, each pilot with his or her eyes trained on the space in front of them. Between the asteroid field to their right, and the makings of a nebula off in the distance the situation felt strangely familiar to Tomas. Weren't we just here? It all looks the same.

“Viper 8, you are cleared for launch.”

“Roger that control, and thanks.”  Ibram said into his com.

Moving at a crawl, Ibram moved his fighter out of hanger bay, and followed Jaden to form up on the bow of the Forerunner along with the rest of the Squadron.

“You ready Ibram?” Jaden asked him.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ibram replied. He was feeling oddly calm. The surrounding rocks were hanging in space, rotating slowly.

“Heads up Vipers,” The CO ordered over the com. “We don't know where this post is exactly but we've got a general idea on direction. We're going to split up into flights and do a sweep. Keep with your wingman at all times, and don't stray too far from Forerunner. We're here to protect it after all.”

Ibram and the rest of two flight split off from the rest of the Squadron, and formed up on the starboard side.

“Oh, and if you can help it try and steer clear of the asteroid field. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not find out if the rumours floating around about pirate hangars are true. Don't want them picking us up on any of their scanners or anything.” The CO said.

Ibram glanced over at the asteroids beside them. They hung in space, slowly twisting and turning around each other, like dancing partners. Ibram thought he saw something. A glimmer, a reflection of metal, but it was gone before he could make anything out of it.

I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled, he thought.

Not a lot happened for the next few minutes. The Forerunner was running in silent-mode, hoping not to attract any un-due attention until the time was right. Ibram and the rest of the flight we’re keeping tight formation, eyes peeled for any trouble.

Ibram opened up a private channel to the Lieutenant. “I heard something happened to the XO just before we launched. Is he okay?”

“Ah the old Tin-head will be fine. Got a little EMP blow-back and had to shut-down.” Jaden chuckled. “Think of it as being knocked unconscious.”

Ibram had been knocked unconscious before, during basic training. It wasn’t fun.

He was about to ask the Lieutenant something else when a small and round raced past him from the direction of the asteroid field.

What the- He thought.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion that sent Ibram’s fighter flying. His shields flared and died, and sparks erupted from his console.

The coms system was going nuts.

“Mayday!May-” ”-the gak was that?” “Control! What-“ “-ands to battle stations!”

Ibram shook his head. The explosion had jarred his fighter, sending it spinning. His shields had also been overloaded. He ran a quick diagnostics check. No major damage. Rebooting the shields, he brought his fighter back under control, and surveyed the situation.

The Forerunner had a gaping hole in its side, and was venting atmosphere. Jaden’s and C-3px were circling around. Hellkite was dead in the water.

“This is One, What happened?”

“Not sure sir,” C-3PX said. “The explosion came out of nowhere.”

“Sir, this is Eight. I noticed something fly past my view screen just before the explosion. I think it may have been a mine.” Ibram reported.

The CO cursed. “Status report.”

“Status is green.” The XO replied.

“Little cooked, but otherwise fine.” Jaden said.

“Same here sir, but I think Hellkite’s had it. I’m not getting any readings from his fighter except a lifesign.” Ibram was pushing his sensors to maximum, to make see if the pirates had been alerted.

“Damn it. Ok, Control is continuing with the mission as planned. The explosion didn’t damage any critical systems. They’ll be launching a rescue boat to pick up Hellkite. In the mean time, we move on.” The CO sounded grim.

The three remaining pilots of two formed up on the Forerunner, opposite the hole where the mine had penetrated.

I have a bad feeling about this, Ibram thought.

OOC:

648 words

* On the Bridge of the Imperial Escort Carrier ‘Forerunner *

“Damage Report!” the captain yelled.

“Sir, multiple explosions across the hull, with one hull breach. Breached area flooded out and is sealed off.” The executive officer reported.

“Casualties?”

“Twenty Four Personal Dead, Fifteen Wounded.”

“Are we still battle ready?”

“Affermitive, no damage to any battle systems; we are moving additional shielding towards the breached area.”

“Good, then make a new course. Ahead Three Fourths Speed; Hard Starboard Turn, to our Two O’clock. Take us toward that choke point in the asteroids. We will need to control hat point if we want a safe zone for any travel.”

“Aye Sir, Navigation Ahead Three Fourths Speed; Hard Starboard Turn, to our Two O’clock.” The Executive Officer Repeated.

“Also, send out a message to Viper Squadron, inform them of our intentions.”

“Yes Sir.” The communications officer said. The officer then opened a comm. channel to viper lead.

“Viper Lead, Forerunner; Moving into position to hold choke point.” The communications officer said over comm.

“Copy Forerunner, you want us to move alongside.” Chief Warrant Officer Tomas said.

“Negative, Continue on with your operations, signal once the facility is located.”

“Affirmative, Viper Lead out.” Tomas said as he closed the channel and changed the channel back over to the Squadron Channel.

“All Vipers, Viper Lead; Make a hole, Forerunner is going to pass through.” He said over comm.

The Imperial Escort carrier ‘Forerunner’, damaged and battle scared, began to accelerate towards the choke point; unaware of the hostiles that may be waiting for them there.

* Onboard the New Republic Listening Post *

“Sir, we just got another report of Imperial Craft in the system. This time it is a confirmed target.” The communications officer of the station said.

“Action Stations!” the station commander said.

The crew scrambled towards their stations, preparing for battle.

“If they want a war, we’ll give war.”

Phineus began shifting his TIE fighter in stead of the others, joining the vast hole created for the Forerunner. As it passed by, he noticed the pillars of smoke coming from the ships damaged area, and the droids attempting to repair it. As the massive ship eeked its way forward, Phineus adored the size of it. He marveled at how something so massive, so gigantic, could possibly float along in space. Drifting into the ever dark sky.

As the ship began to pass the fighters, Phineus wondered what other type of hidden defenses the Rebels may have. We should have scouts, he thought.

"Viper-3 this is Four, do you copy?" Silas asked,

"Loud and clear, Four." Phineus replied.

"I think I've spotted something... odd. It's directly ahead and below of us, coming right at us."

Phineus took a look ahead, and noticed it also. The scanners however, didn't. It didn't show up as an enemy fighter, nor as a TIE fighter. It didn't show up period. Maybe it's out of range.

Phineus replied, "Looks like a wondering asteroid. Don't worry about it Four, good eyes though."

The Forerunner passed through the Squadron's hole, and the TIE came back into formation. Phineus began thinking how much easier this mission is compared to how anxious he was pre-flight. Mixed blessing, he mused. I'm still waiting for the real action.

Unfortuantley, all Viper did was keep up it's pace, searching for the Rebel out-post. Comm chatter went back and forth,

"The Rebellion doesn't know who they're up against.."

"..no! I'm still awaiting that blasted promotion.."

"..I've heard Calamari are delicious..."

It seemed to Phineus that this was a dud mission. A big waste of TIE fighters. Ironic, as much as Phineus wanted to get out into his beloved space and fly with his other Navymen, he now wanted to return to ship, get some food, and play some hologames. I'm almost up to level nine on Starkiller. Just need to find that damned-

"That's no damn asteroid!!" Viper-4 warned.

Just as the words flew from his mouth, the "asteroid" flew right between Phineus and Silas.

"In the name of-!!" Phineus yelled.

Apparently that was no asteroid, but a Rebel fighter. And as it passed the two TIE, it began to circle around. It now faced the flight, flying at top speeds.

"Three, he's coming around, directly behind us." Silas said matter-of-factly.

"I see him Four. Viper Lead, this is Three, Four has spotted a Rebel fighter, flying straight for us!"

Another mixed blessing for Phineus. Finally some real action, he contemplated. But why didn't we pick the damn thing up? Phineus checked all his read-outs, making sure that he was one-hundred percent ready for battle.

Fuel, check. Engines, check. Alright Gage, this is what you've been waiting for. Time to show these guys just how good you are. Nothing too fancy, keep things tight. This is no time to over do-it. Keep calm, and stay on your feet..

OOC:

498 words

"Little cooked, but otherwise fine," said Jaden, still running system checks to make sure he hadn't prematurely given himself the go ahead.

His sensors had taken the most of it, and were now giving him static readings.  Within a few seconds of tinkering, he had them set to a more stable position, but his radious of listening with the sensors had been slightly impared.  He could now only fly close with his comrades and hope that the signal would get stronger from the fighters' combined sensors, because he would have to return to the Forerunner if he wanted to make any repairs to the fighter; the extent of the damage was unrepairable to him whilst inside the TIE fighter.

"Double-take on that one eight," said Jaden, "I've taken some sensor damage, but I got my readings back up to nearly normal, I just may be flying naked at times."

"You can't get to the systems and repair it yourself?" called out the young pilot.

"Sure as hell can't, I'd have to get on the outside of the fighter," said Jaden, "And that isn't something that I plan on doing.  And also, I'm definitely not returning back to the Forerunner after what just happened, not until mission end, unless its a must."

"Affirmative seven, I'll keep close," said Ibram, his voice sounding more reassuring.

"Copy that, much appreciated."

Flight two of Viper Squadron kept in a wedge formation as they creeped through the asteroid field.  The TIE fighters sensors were going off the wall, but there was nothing that the veteran fighter pilot could do about it.  It was known to have some sensor trouble upon entering an asteroid field, but he was way worse off that he should have been.

Jaden shook his head back and forth.

Damnit I need those sensor readings to get out there and find out what the hell is going on.

Oh well, I'll just have to let the young ones deal with the enemies if they start popping out of no where...

Just as he had spelled out the worse, two of the fresh pilots in flight one started freaking out.  Jaden stepped up to the com to let them know to hush it up.

"Hey, Vipers three and four, cut the chatter," said Jaden, with a defying tone in his voice.

"We've picked up an enemy fighter, and its already flown a circle or two around us.  What should we do?"

Jaden shook his head, once again.

Don't they train them for this kind of stuff?

"Skip on over to whatever you were doing, engage the fighter, if you're feeling froggy.  Tomas, we've got an A-wing in the vacinity, and its surely already called back to the listening post.  Mission insertion is Foxtrot," said Jaden

"Thats reassuring," said Tomas, "Viper flight one, engage that fighter and bring him down.  He may have already called back to the listening post, but we're not letting him get back there in one piece."

"Forerunner, Viper five here," said C-3PX, "Mission insertion has failed, and the listening post knows of our location."

The droid stopped in mid sentence, now seeing the exact location of the New Republic listening post.  It was just beyond the asteroid field, to the left, lingering nearly right in front of the gas planet that had been mapped out in the somewhat successful long-range sensor scans of the area.

"And we've now acquired the location of the outpost," he replied, "Sending co-ords now."

"Copy that Viper five, as you were." said the communications officer aboard the Imperial Escort Carrier Forerunner.

Viper flight two was now pushing their throttles to the fulllest; weaving and rolling through the asteroid field.

"Keep your eyes peeled," said C-3PX, "Those fighters could be anywhere in here, and flight one is already engaging the one they discovered.  I'm sure that they are scrambling fighters right now."

C-3PX's words were cut off by turbo-laser fire.  The massive green energy bolts pierced through the asteroid field, erupting most of those in the Imperial TIE fighter's area, nearly taking the pilots out.

"Where the hell did that come from?" yelled Ibram.

Jaden's head seemed to spin around the cockpit of the TIE fighter has he checked around for the capital ship that was responsible for their near destruction.  There, to the rear starboard side, he saw a lingering New Repulic Frigate.

"New Republic Frigate, to our rear starboard sides, Vipers," called out Jaden.

"Get out of it's line of fire," said C-3PX, "It could turn is into dust in seconds."

"Forerunner, we've got a NR Frigate just outside the asteroid field," said Jaden, to the Escort Carrier, "What are your readings at the choke point?"

"The Frigate is all systems go, and launching a compliment of fighters.  The Frigate is calling itself the Nemesis," said the communications officer.

A most familiar name...Where have I heard that before?

"Affirmative Forerunner, One, did you get all of that?" said Jaden

"Copy that one, they've got two flights of modified Z-95's coming out of the hanger, wait, can't you see all of this on your sensors?" asked Tomas

"They are nearly fried," said Jaden, "Didn't you hear me say that earlier?"

"Was too busy with that nuiscance of an A-wing," said Tomas, "Forerunner, we're engaging the fighters."

"Copy that Viper Lead, engaging Nemesis at a high speed," said the communications officer, "Keep those fighters tangled up so we can get this Frigate off your asses."

What the hell happened to our plan?

Jaden shifted the fighter a bit looser in the formation of Viper pilots, coming around in the arc they had just gone into.  It was bringing them on a perfect vector of attack for the head hunters.

"More fighters," said Ibram, "I'm picking up four Razor fighters, bearing .05"

"Flight three, get on those fighters," said Tomas, "We've got quite the little party here now don't we?"

Quite the party it is...

Ibram pulled back on the flight yoke, bringing his fighter about. Jaden and the XO had made short work of their targets. With the XO leading, the three fighters powered on back to the Forerunner, which was making its way towards the choke point. The New Republic frigate was behind it in the distance, accelerating along with its fighter escort to try and catch the Imperials.

This should be interesting….

  "Viper 12 to Viper 1, I am going in." said Zane diving right into the middle of the right.

  Zane was having a blast, he was taking out any enemy's he could. If they got in his way, they were fried.

  Zane took small hit, but when another was fired at him, he dodged it and dived back in. "This party sure is fun," Zane thought to himself.
Zane and the rest of his flight members dived back into the middle of the party.

  Zane found a Razor, and locked on to it his target. Aiming carefully he fired a missile.

"Damn, I missed!" Shouted Zane

  Once again Zane followed his target, both zigzagging around. Finally he was able to get the perfect chance to blow apart this razor.

"Steady, come on." he whispered
"Got him!" said Zane with glee.

With one quick push of a button the Razor blew up. It was a sight to behold for Zane, and he only wanted more. Zane zeroed in on another enemy ship, and again got into position.

  This time he was able to blast him into pieces with one shot. Zane was starting to get the hang of it finally. Once more Zane zeroed in on another ship.

"Alright, steady, this is no problem." he whispered, but for some
reason his hands were shaking.

"Steady....Steady....Got hi----
"Flight 3, this is Tomas, fall back with flight two to the Forerunner." said Tomas

  It was already to late for Zane, his target had gotten away.

"Damn...Copy that Commander, heading back to the Forerunner. I'm on my way." replied Zane.

  "Well at least I got a few kicks, but I have a weird felling this isn't over," he thought to himself.....

"Two more flights of Z-95's coming from the Nemesis," said Tomas, "Watch yourselves."

"Copy that sir," said Jaden, shifting his flight pattern to come up on the starboard side of the Forerunner.  He didn't want to guide himself into the ongoing long-range turbo laser fire between the Nemesis and the Forerunner.  Now that the Nemesis was on the chase, the Commander aboard the Forerunner needed to figure out a good holding point; the Nemesis had to be kept away from the listening post if their mission was to be successful.

"Headhunters coming in on our port side," said C-3PX, "It's only a flight of them, you two get on them.  I have got to head off this other flight thats heading straight for the Forerunner."

Jaden sighed into his helmet, without queuing the com system.  The entire squadron had just realized that their somewhat planned out mission had completely backfire on them, and they were being chased down by a New Republic Frigate.

Scans, any at all, didn't show any sign of the frigate.  We didn't even pick up any sensor readings on it when we jumped in, yet it came out from behind us without any warning what so ever.

I'm not even going to get started on the entire situation with the hull breach on the Forerunner, it was just a mine.  Just a mine?  A mine that killed twenty-five people and injured more!

"Droping in on the headhunters, they're just below us," said Jaden, dropping the TIE fighter straight down, peering down into the flight of snub fighters.

"Not today," said Jaden, before ripping open the cannons, letting green bolts pierce straight into the headhunters line of flight.

They instantly broke, but only to find that they now had three TIE fighters on their sixes.  Even though they were very good fighters, in fact, some of the best ever flown by the New Republic, they knew they couldn't match up with three TIE fighter pilots.  Three very good TIE fighter pilots at that.

"Ride them till they're dead," said Jaden, "Snub fighters are good play, especially headhunters."

Jaden kicked the fighter up behind one of the escaping head hunters.  Upon engagement, he lit up the aft end of one of the fighters, but not the lead.  The enemy pilot attempted to throw his fighter away from the line of green blaster bolts, but it was no use.  The TIE fighter was almost always underestimated, and it had cost the one who had done so towards the fighter their own lives.

Maybe they'll think next time before they think that there isn't a capable pilot behind these controls...

OOC:

I hope that this late entrance post into the Mission works well. If you didn’t get my pm Sicario- it would be great if you could edit my name in place of the NPC in your previous posts. Thanks a ton wingmate

:::After the Briefing…before Pre-flight inspections:::

Compared to how long he had been waiting on his home planet to get to where he was, Flight School had been but a dream to him. Everything that had occurred since his acceptance and entry into the Navy, his brief and successful completion of Flight School were all apart of things that he had already seen. Glimpses of what he was to do and where he was meant to go. Upon arriving on the Forerunner it was now his time to truly prove what he was made of. This…this was where he was meant to be.

Anden had been assigned to the Viper Squadron after the Forerunner had departed for the Squadrons next mission, and so he was taken by shuttle to the Escort Carrier. Once the shuttle had landed in the docking bay Anden shouldered his equipment and checked once again at the instructions he had been given. An officer was passing by when he excited the Hangar and he flagged him down with a salute.

“Sir, could you please direct me to crew quarters 347c?” he asked the officer. He had already missed the Mission Briefing and so he figured he should at least get to his assigned quarters and go from there.

“Late addition to the Mission, are you??” the officer said with out looking up from the datapad in his hands.

”Sir, Yes sir. Senior Crewman Beliam- reporting for duty in the Viper Squadron.” Anden thought the Officer looked to be a few years younger than him, and still he kept the salute in firm.

The officer smiled as he looked up at Anden, “You can be at ease Beliam. Welcome aboard the Forerunner. I hear the Vipers get to go and locate a Republic listening Post….in an asteroid field. What do you say to that Beliam?” The officer was now facing him directly and looking him square in the eye.

Anden allowed himself a small grin, “We fly, they die, Sir.” He said as his grin broadened a bit, “Not the other way around.”.

“Spoken like a true Viper,” The officer replied with a small chuckle as he glanced back at his datapad. “Down this corridor, take your first left and then another left down the third corridor.” He looked up and Anden gave him a nod to let him know he got it. “Good luck out there Pilot.” The officer said as he walked off.

Inside his quarters he found a Datapad on top of a new flight suit. He grabbed the datapad of the top of the suit and was loading it into his personal computer when his door gave a hiss and opened for an astromech droid.

“R7-D4…” Anden stated and the droid tootled an affirmative, to which Anden nodded with a smile. “Plug in and we’ll look over the Mission.”

The droid rolled over after a quick positive sounding couple of beeps. For the next few hours he and R7 had gone through all the information provided on the Mission. He knew that the mission objectives would be available on his TIE’s systems, but he had learned it was better to have memorized and know what needed to be done so any decisions that needed to be made quickly could be made according to what needed to be done. It was the same with working on a ship. If you knew what needed to be done you didn’t have to waste time evaluating which course of action would need to be taken when an error occurred or something unexpected came.

He pulled up the missions primary objectives to mind once more and listed them off in his mind three more times. He leaned back in his chair as he did so placing his hands behind his head and closing lightly. R7-D4, his astromech droid piped and tooted out a few blurps to him.

“That’s right R7,” he said as he got up from his small desk, “I am going to get some shut eye for a few hours. Then you and I are going down to take a look at the ship before the mission.”

He laid down on his single bed set into the wall of his room and dozed off to the softer beeps and pips from his droid. His plan was to be in the Hangar as early as possible to have a look at his first TIE Fighter and see if there was anything he and R7 could do to improve it or add to its capabilities.

:::Pre-Pre-flight And Mission Commencement:::

They had been in the Hangar for an hour together looking over the TIE and neither of them had been able to find much they could add to or improve on the ship in the time they had. But He did have a few ideas for when he did have the time. He had been able to slightly increase the ships sensor capabilities, but that was about it extent of it.

So it was on to getting familiar with the whole of the ship. He checked over the hull completely then got up inside the ship and powered it up enough to run a diagnostic. Everything was running and so He got out of his ship and slid down the ladder that led to the entrance hatch just as the rest of the pilots had met in the center of the hangar. The Officer who addressed them, Tomas Anden named off in his head from seeing the records of the Squadron.

He nodded as Tomas told him he was sorry he had little to give.

Not surprising, they have this station hid up better then a snitch in Mos Eisley. 

From the read outs he and R7 had gone over, it was apparent that the NR was hiding something. Why else would it be in an asteroid field with jammers in place.

He boarder his ship and looked down through the viewport and watched as R7 rolled to the back of the hangar. He powered up his TIE and clicked his com unit to Command.

“Viper 4 to Command- awaiting clear for launch.”

There was a single click from his comm. To let him know that his request was received and soon after came the clearance. “Command to Viper 4- You are clear for launch.”

”Copy that, Viper 4 out” He kept his hand firm yet slightly loose at his controls, once again at home, and smoothly slid his fighter into place in formation with Viper 3 and Flight One.

"Viper 4 here, pleasure to be watching your six, Viper 3." Anden spoke over the com to his Wingman. According to the service records, Viper 3 ad completed Flight School a short time ago. “Time to show that a couple of greenie pilots can follow orders and fly with the best of them.” Anden thought to himself and smiled a little as he kept a clean and tight formation with the rest of the flight.

"Pleasure's all mine Viper 4." Came the response back from his wingman. From the tone in his voice Anden could tell that Sicario felt just as much at home as he did. He only hoped that they could keep their heads cool and collected and do their part to help complete this mission successfully.

Anden heard Tomas voice click in over the comm system, “Heads up Vipers, we don't know where this post is exactly but we've got a general idea on direction. We're going to split up into flights and do a sweep. Keep with your wingman at all times, and don't stray too far from Forerunner. We're here to protect it after all…Oh, and if you can help it try and steer clear of the asteroid field. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not find out if the rumours floating around about pirate hangars are true. Don't want them picking us up on any of their scanners or anything.”

Anden sent a double click to give the CWO a positive that he had received the instructions He completed agreed. Although he knew that the Asteroids could possibly be a ‘safe’ out in the case that things went really bad. But that would only become an option to him as a very last resort…and he hoped it wouldn’t need to come to that.

Anden could see the light from the blast from one of his slotted rear view ports before it was swallowed up in void that was the vacuum of open space, then came shock waves from the blast that rattled his ship. He did a calm and controlled look over the reports on the functionality

"Viper-4 this is Viper-3, do you read?" He heard his wingmate call out, or yell out.

"Viper-4 here, read you loud and clear. My fighter's fine, yours?" Anden answered and asked in return.

"All fine here. Freaking republic! Does anyone know the body count yet?"

Anden looked at his systems read out with a quick precision then was back attention to keeping formation as he offered a reply, "Twenty-five so far."

"Let's find that freaking post and take the damned thing down." He heard Sicario over the com. It was said flatly, but Anden hoped there was no heat building up in his wingmate. We need to keep to the primary objectives and stay in control he thought to himself.

”We will Sicario, we’ll get those Marines in and out and still have enough time to watch as we say a happy ‘farewell’ to that NR station.” He watched his wingman’s fighter out of the corner of his eye. He only hoped to help keep the guys head cool. If they both could do that, then there would be a better chance that what Anden had said would happen.

That was when his extended scanners picked up on an irregular movement in the asteroid field. What is it? It’s definitely not an asteroid. He fed a little more power into them and did a bit of quick adjusting with his instruments as he click over the comm to Sicario.

” "Viper-3 this is 4, do you copy?" He asked.

The reply came back quickly, "Loud and clear, Four."

"I think I've spotted something... odd. It's directly ahead and below of us, coming right at us." He said,  as he checked out to look at the object and back to his sensor screen.

The calm reply came back, "Looks like a wondering asteroid. Don't worry about it Four, good eyes though."

It’s too irregular for it to be an astero… then the sensor finally picked up on it and displayed it as a starfigther A-wing class.

”Viper 3 this is $4….Incoming Awing. He sent over the com to his wingman flight and squadron. But there was too much chatter going on over the comm.

"That's no damn asteroid!!" He warned again. But the A-wing was already screaming towards them. It was time to take action and he would be easier working with 3 and the rest of his flight to take this guy out.

The Awing was already coming back around from having made a pass at them. Anden had fired off a few shots to try and get the fighter to break off before they passed him but the pilot had pulled off a smoother and controlled barrel roll as Anden green bolts slid over and under and that was when the A-wing screamed past Viper-3.

”He is coming around Viper 3. I am keeping formation- though  a bit loosely.” Anden click the comm to end his message over to 3. The last thing he wanted was for them to be too close together for when the Awing did get on their tails. He scanned over the map read out and checked the position of Viper 1 & 2, knowing he would have to think fast.

It came to him as naturally as fluid sprayed from a leak in a pressurized tank. 1 and 2 were slightly ahead of them and below them to the left-  3 and him were at a perfect distance that if they broke a hard right it would appear that their element was breaking off to engage. Not something completely abnormal so the A-wing would possibly have little or no suspicion about the maneuver. When, or if, the Awing followed, Viper 1 and 2 would be able to break in with an immelman to the Starfighters six and bring him or her to flame.

”Viper three, we can hard break right and draw that Awing on our six and open him up for 1 and 2. Viper 1 and 2, do you copy?” His voice had been controlled and decisive. Even though Anden knew it was a gamble he also felt that it would be a well played gamble, and he hoped that Viper 1 wouldn’t object to him throwing out the strategy and he waited eagerly for the response, his hand calm on his flight controls.

The Awing was just completing his turn around and nearing to bring them into bearing. He expected to get a warning flash and alarm of incoming rear fire and was ready to respond to action whether it was his own design of another command given from Viper 1.

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