Crewman Rowds looked over the briefing over and over again, yet he couldn’t figure one thing out. His rough estimates placed that the fuel would cut it very close. He had already determined that it would be suicide for a lone TIE/in to take on opposition of more than one X-wing and survive, so that left the indirect route, but the long route cut deeply into his fuel. How could you get back to “your” squadron without using up the fuel?

He finally got frustrated enough that he grabbed a paper and scratched down the equations. With the hard equations in front of him, he finally found the solution, a 75% power setting for the trip, with a 30 second 100% power dogfight excluded, would bring him right to his squadron, which was hopefully is where the simulation would end. If not, well, he could at least ram his TIE/in into enemy ground forces, maybe earning a commendation for helping out the ground fight.

He went over to the simulator, but before he stepped into it, he took his chronometer out and put it into timer mode and set the timer to 30 seconds. “All trainees please step into your simulators and prepare for the simulation to start,” said the intercom.  He then went in to the simulator and got ready for the simulation.

---Welcome, Trainee---
---Please confirm that you are ready for the simulation to begin by pressing the green button.---

He hit the green button and waited.

---Thank you.---
---Please confirm that you understand simulation objective by pressing the green button---

He hit the green button, again, and waited.

---Thank you---
---Starting Simulation. Countdown activated.---
---5---
---4---
---3---
---2---
---1---
---Start---

The text winked off and suddenly he found himself in the cockpit of a TIE/in screaming along the surface of the planet at full power. He quickly cut the power back to avoid wasting fuel. He checked his desired path again. It led into a ravine which pulled into a gentle curve leading back to his squadron. He flew along the path he had chosen, eventually finding the ravine. At far visual range he caught sight of an X-wing, and he quickly pulled into the ravine to avoid detection. Every second passed by like a minute as he waited to see if he had been detected by the X-wing.

Suddenly, he must have come into range of Imperial ground communications as he started hearing thousands of various communications, but mostly man down and casualty reports. He quickly cut the ground comms off but left the navy comms on, still hoping he could contact his squadron. He decided to try to call his squadron. As soon as he hit the comm button, an explosion burst out from the right side of the ravine. Abandoning the thought of calling his squadron right now, he looked frantically around for the source of the explosion as the TIE/in started scream at him because the shields were down. He suddenly realized this was a VE standard Interceptor, not Empire standard, which meant he also had missiles, he quickly filed this away.

Now the Interceptor started screaming at him for a missile lock from directly behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw one X-wing directly behind and two more that were up high above watching as their compatriot was going to take down  the much vaunted TIE/in with a simple, slow proton torpedo . As the anger rose up within him for being the focus of such a debacle, he pushed the engine to full speed, started the chronometer timer, and executed an Immelman maneuver. As he executed it, he launched his all light missiles at a best guess spray into the following X-wing and then re-executed the Immelman maneuver so that he was high above and behind the X-wing.  He now started a dive towards X-wing. He lined up his cannons and opened fire. As the bursts of laser fire hit the X-wing, its right stabilizer blew off and caused the X-wing to end its service to the New Republic in a fiery blossom.

Suddenly the chronometer buzzed off that he had reached the end of his 30-second dogfight time limit. He could no longer reach his squadron. Well if I’m not going to make it, I might as well blow those two X-wings to into vapor, he thought.

He left the engines at full power and jinked around the ravine while the remaining 2 X-wings cut into the ravine; however, they were forced to come in single file. One of them went high in the ravine and one went low, nearly skimming the ground.

He quickly cut his engines and executed a Barrel Role as he had been taught. The X-wings did not realize what was happening and they quickly over took him. He pulled out of the Barrel Roll, pulling in behind the top X-wing and diverted all power to the laser cannons and let loose with all the cannons on the TIE/in. The X-wing, following standard evasion practices, jinked to the right. However, it had not accounted for the ravine walls in this instinctive maneuver, and so ended its service to the New Republic when it hit the ravine wall.

Although it had ended the life of the X-wing it caused a major problem for Rowds when he ran at full speed into the shrapnel. The ship's cockpit suddenly came alive with a thousand warnings about various systems that had been hit. The major one was the loss of power. Realizing that this was the end, Rowds pushed his TIE/in to a dive at the lower X-wing.

He centered his flight path on the X-wing and awaited the hit of the impromptu missile.  It seemed that the simulation slowed down.

The muscles of his hand that was on the yoke stabilized making miniscule movements.

The TIE/in focused in on its target. The seconds on the timer slowed down to hours.

The X-wing reached gigantic size in the cockpit screen, and then the simulation died.

---Final Report For: Crewman Rowds (Shadow-Sword)---
---Enemies downed: 3---
---Mission Objective 1: Reunite with squadron---
---Failed---
---Mission Objective 2: Finish the mission---
---Failed---
---Computerized Score: 0---
---Preliminary Scoring by Organic Life form: 100*---
---*Please note that Preliminary Score is subject to change---

Rowds stepped away from the simulation, and went over to his bunk and slept like a rock. The simulation had taken all of the energy out of him.

OOC:

Final Word Count: 1,097

Hades grunted as the words 'Any questions?' broke his train of thought. Not simple, but not too difficult, Hades thought to himself as he stood from his chair. It couldn't be that easy, though. Hades knew that there was a catch in the mission - he knew it was meant to fail.

That didn't mean he couldn't try. He grinned to himself and realised suddenly that while he had been thinking, his legs had been moving.. and now he found himself in front of the simulator. Kriff.. Hades thought, as he was in fact ill-prepared. Too much damn thinking. He plonked himself in the seat, feeling the contours of the modified pilot's seat, and making himself comfortable.

He had flown TIE fighters before.. briefly, but nothing was at stake but his own life back then.. now it may be his future at the academy at risk. And that was worth far more to him than his own life. Hades settled himself in and pressed the key that initiated the simulation..

Simulation beginning in 3....2....1... The electronic voice faded out and was replaced by the scenery of a green planet.. Hades was stunned. Although he had flown TIE fighters before, he had never, never been in a simulator before.. he was astonished at the reality of it all. He was snapped into combat by someone screaming in his ear.

"Raptor 11, we need backup, NOW!" came the voice identified as Raptor-lead. Hades grunted, offering no other response and banked his fighter into a roll, hearing the blaring of alarms. "Damnit!" he cursed as he tried to shake the X-wing on his tail..which suddenly became TWO X-wings on his tail. He was in trouble now.

But he had come this far from the mining operation at Kessel. He wasn't going to fail so easily. He turned his starfighter into a steep dive, hugging the ground.. The X-Wings easily followed him, blasts of crimson laser going past his wings on either side. Hades juked downward into a conveniently placed ravine, and immediately back up into a backward roll. The X-Wings had been focused on making it into the ravine - which was, fortunately, not wide enough for 2 X-wings - and had not noticed his manoeuvre. Hades was suddenly behind the second X-wing, blasting away with his quad-lasers, their green energy bolts ripping through the engines of the X-wing ahead of him and creating an explosion that nearly engulfed his own fighter. He saw the other unharmed X-wing attempt to barrel roll, and clip it's wing on the side of the ravine.. Hades pulled his fighter up and out of it, heading toward the thick of the battle..

"We need back up, now! 3's down!" came Raptor-lead's voice again. Hades gritted his teeth, replying with something along the lines of "I'm on my way"... Hades had managed to work his way into the thick of combat, but the problem was not getting in.. near misses rocked his shield-less fighter, and he dived, climbed and rolled to avoid fire. A shot clipped his wing, sending his fighter spiralling.. but, fortunately, causing no serious damage and allowing Hades time to recover control.

On his tail were not 2 but 4 X-wings, and ahead, like a swarm of flies, were more than half a dozen other x-wings. Some might have loathed this situation - some might have despaired. But not Hades. He had a plan. He zipped his fighter forward, accelerating to full speed, hurtling toward the x-wings ahead and away from those behind.. those behind increased speed, diverting power away from their precious shields, and Hades slowed to allow them to keep pace with him.

The X-wings ahead of him had seen him and now trained their wing mounted blaster cannons on him.. but could not fire for fear of hitting their teammates..At this moment, a turret opened fire from Hades, from below,shaking his cockpit with proximity.. an X-wing that had been too close vaporised in a ball of flame, a result of not having their shields up.. Hades closed on the forward X-wings, and saw them being to break off as he led the other x-wings into the midst of their formation.. at the last moment, Hades banked steeply upward, several x-wings colliding as he did so, leaving just 7 of them against him.. Not entirely fair.

Hades grinned and spun his fighter, "We need you NOW!" his lead ordered.. Hades saw on his sensors only 3 TIE's aside from himself remaining.. but he might be able to yet pull this off.. He continued upward, lances of red energy passing his wings so close he could feel the temperature rising. Hades kept going, acceleration until he reached the atmosphere far ahead of the xwings, cutting his power and performing a 180 degree turn, so that he was coming down. The X-wings were not prepared as he blasted down toward them, all four blasters blazing. 2 X-wings went up in flames while a third spiralled off, it's right wing destroyed.

The other X-wings flickered past his cockpit so fast Hades could barely see them.. he knew they would turn and follow him so he quickly accelerated downward, seeing his squad.. only two remaining.. Damnit.

Hades led the remaining X-wings on his tail toward the ground at amazing speeds... he thought he would black out, as he accelerated.. warnings blared at him from his fighter, telling him he was over the maximum speed and his engines were in the red zone.come on.. he gritted his teeth just a little further. Hades pulled up at the last second, his thrusters burning out the sensors of the turret immediately below him.. suddenly, a lance of energy struck his fighter's right wing..

It had come from one of the turrets.. and now the X-wings closed on him, his TIE interceptor smoking and slowing, jerking shakily from left to right. He knew that he would either eject now - like a coward, or take his toll on the enemy. The choice was simple. Hades gunned the engines, aiming for the nearest shield generator. He opened fire, all four green lasers blasting at the generator. The TIE was rocked by another blast and the rest of the simulation changed to blackness. He was finished. He had failed. The last transmission had said "I'm going in!" and had been the voice of Raptor-lead. Hades' own starfighter had registered only his own fighter left, and recognised that damage was critical.

Hades stood, and found he was sweating. He cursed himself, believing it to be some fault of his own that the whole simulation had failed. He mustered as much discipline as he could and stepped from the simulator, back upright.

OOC:

This was my first post on here, so bare with me if I misunderstood the conditions of the thread. Wordcount: 1117

"Issac, your up next. Get in there." The flight trainer said.
"Yes sir." The young pilot replied.

Climbing into the simulator pod, Dawn did everything he would normally do when prepping for flight. He cinched his crash webbing, activated repulsers and turned on the ion engines. Even though it was a simulation, he took great care to do everything. Checking sensitivity, he saw it was set to low. 'What!?! why would anyone want to fly on low?' Turning it up to high, Issac grabbed the yoke and activated the sim.

===5===
===4===
===3===
===2===
===1===
=Begin mission, Raptor Five.=

Soaring across the canopy of the forest that Dawn was flying above. He checked his nav to see if there were any star-ships nearby. Seeing as there were none, the pilot switched on his comms.

"This is Raptor Five to Raptor One, Do you copy."
"Five, this is Three. Where are you? We're getting slaughtered."
"Three, neg that comm clutter." One interrupted. "Five, we need your support now. We've encountered heavy resistance."
"Copy that One. Send me your nav coords and I'll be there soon."
"Sending them now, Five." One said as the coords appeared on the nav computer. "God speed Five."

Dawn ended the comm with a flick of a switch. He looked down at his navs again to see he was headed in the wrong direction. The piolt pulled a immelman to also gain altitude while turning around. Glancing towards space Issac could almost see individual dog fights.

A cluster of red dots appeared on his proximity scanners, revealing a group of four X-wings. He diverted the exes energy to shields and pumped a few jolts into his four blaster cannons to warm them up. Hitting a dial on his yoke switched them from single-rapid fire, to a quad-blast. Charging for a second, he loosed a blast, scattering the wings.

Again changing to single-rapid fire, Dawn began tailing one of the X-wings. Getting a green indicator of a clear shot, the young pilot let loose with his deadly barrage of energy. Seeing a small burst of blue from the X-wing showed that it's shields were down. Letting go another volley, Issac sent the enemy ship spiraling into the surface. Unfortunately, the enemy pilot went EVA.

Getting rocked by a blast from one of the other three X-wing brought Dawn back into the now. He pulled a break turn, effectively exiting the enemy's firing cone. Hearing the warning of a missile lock Dawn glance at his sensors, showing two yellow streaks coming towards him. Doing a loop caused them to over shoot, along with the wing that fired them. The missiles pulled around and shot straight towards him.

Turning on an angle caused the sticks of death to narrowly miss him. 'Good thing that they don't have proximity detonators, else I'd be screwed.' The missiles then pulled around again for another try. Issac reversed his right ion engine, sending him into a counter-clockwise spin. The missiles, tracking his engines, began to rotate slowly getting closer. Dawn's proximity sensor blared a warning. The twin sticks of death collided, rocking Issac's Interceptor violently.

One of the remaining trio, flew directly into Dawn's path. 'Do you want me to kill you? Questioned the pilot as he switched to his heat-seeking missiles.

Getting a confirmation on the lock, he pulled the trigger, loosing two rockets. The X-wing didn't even alter it's coarse. The two missiles got within twenty yards, when it suddenly rolled to the right. Issac was so focused on the one fighter that he didn't notice the other two X-wings coming from behind. The enemy craft let loose a rain of fire that no ship could escape. Shields falling, his hull took damage along with one of his engines.

He tried to brake turn to the right but overloaded his engine causing the whole craft to explode.

The screen went black, Issac slammed his gloved hand on the view port in frustration. 'Only one ship destroyed, the pilot even EVA'd. I doubt that I'll do good.

OOC:

WC: 679

Slammer sat encased in the utterly dark cocoon of the simulation pod, fully dressed in the standard TIE flight suit. It wasn’t the first time he had donned the official dress of the Starfighter Corps, but he wasn’t yet used to it either. The suit itself was tight across his legs in order to prevent black outs during high-G maneuvers. His standard issue gloves were unbearably hot, and his hands were sweating profusely inside the thick material. The air supply was bulky and uncomfortable along his back, and the massive helmet he wore to complete the uniform hadn’t been fitted correctly for his head. In the cold vacuum of space the suit might have been a reassurance, a comfort even, but here in the simulator pod it was just one more pain and annoyance he didn’t want to deal with.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, doing nothing but contemplating how miserable he was. After what was in reality only a few moments, the interior of the pod eventually began to light up. Slowly but surely things began to come alive, gradually revealing a perfectly replicated TIE Interceptor cockpit, complete with viewport. After a minute the entire cockpit was completely alive, although the viewscreen that served as the viewport was still dark. A few seconds after that a feminine voice erupted inside Slammer’s helmet, very nearly causing him to scream like a little girl, which was certainly not the impression he wanted to make during this critical stage of his training.

“Raptor Four, you are cleared for simulation start. Good hunting.”

Slammer just hummed quietly to himself, and took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. Nothing to worry about, he told himself rationally. Just a little fun before dinner.

The viewscreen that functioned as the TIE’s viewport suddenly leapt to life, and Slammer promptly forgot about everything but the mission. Taking a glance at his instruments to get his bearings, he quickly and efficiently assumed control of the TIE Interceptor. The game was, as they said, afoot. Looping the starfighter around slowly, Slammer gently brought it back in line with the general direction of the actual battlefield. This action corresponded with yet another voice, this time decidedly masculine, shouting in his ear.

“Raptor Two, reengage!” the voice fairly screamed. “I repeat, get your sorry arse back here you bloody wanker.”

Keying his mic, Slammer responded as calmly as he could. “This is Two. Reengaging as ordered.”

There was a muffled response over the comlink, but Slammer wasn’t really paying any attention. He had a couple of options at this point, and none of them were particularly good. For starters, he could circle out and around the main enemy defenses and rejoin his squadron. That was the safest route, but also the slowest. From the sounds of things, his squadron mates were already in trouble, and they probably were going to need all the help they could get as fast as they could get it. However, if he decided to run the gauntlet of the enemy defensive positions he would face some seriously heavy anti-air fire, not to mention a considerable number of enemy fighters. More risky and more dangerous, but if Slammer could survive long enough to rejoin his mates he might just be able to make a difference. It was the proverbial “six-up, half a dozen down”, with no real good options anywhere. And now he had to make a decision fast.

In the end, it was the simplest of things that decided Slammer’s course of action. Skirting the enemy defenses would take time he couldn’t waste. What’s more, it was bound to be boring. He hated boring. So, with his rational brain screaming obscenities at him, Slammer slammed the TIE Interceptor’s throttle to full open and began to climb. As he did so the Interceptor began to shake violently. At this speed, a good percentage of the ship’s maximum atmospheric velocity, even the powerful repulsor fields couldn’t keep the wind at bay. The gusts rocked the fighter as he passed through the cloud cover, threatening constantly to throw him off course or even send him tumbling towards the ground. Still, he and his fighter persevered, and continued to make their way up and up. The plan was simple: get high enough that the majority of the ground defenses wouldn’t detect him in time to intercept. And while it was probably a sound theory, there were other threats about as well.

The most obvious one was the space battle raging in orbit around the planet. So while Slammer could ascend to a considerable altitude, he couldn’t truly break the atmosphere, which would have been the simplest and otherwise safest course. If he did stray too close to the orbital battle, chances were he would immediately be overwhelmed. Still, it was a minor risk compared to the heavy ground defenses below, and it was a risk he would have to take. Keeping one eye on his readouts at all times, Slammer waited until he broke the cloud cover before leveling the Interceptor off. Things were relatively smooth this high up, and with a roar and a sudden acceleration that threw Slammer back in his seat, the Interceptor really began to move.

He felt the unmistakable “sonic boom” that indicated he had broken the sound barrier. Keying his mic again, he spoke clearly and crisply, updating his wingmen.

“Slammer is supersonic, I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”

There was a chorus of clicks over the comlink, acknowledgements from his various squad mates. It also meant, however, that they were too heavily engaged to take time and respond verbally. It was, Slammer decided, a very bad sign. Gritting his teeth as his Interceptor topped out on speed, he began to wonder if there would even be a battle left by the time he got there. He was so intent on his scanners, trying to discern the ebb and flow of the fast approaching fray, that he forgot to pay attention to his immediate surroundings. So it came as a complete surprise when warning lights began to flash across his board, indicating that he was being targeted by a hostile starship.

Immediately Slammer had to fight down a wave of panic. Adjusting his scanners, he could now see a pair of X-Wings angling towards him off his starboard wing, several thousand feet below him. They were weaving in and out of the cloud cover, using the natural environment to disguise their profiles, which was why Slammer hadn’t spotted them earlier. Now however they were on an intercept course, and it was really too late for Slammer to do anything about it. If he had spotted them earlier he could have adjusted, perhaps evaded them altogether, but at this point a fight was inevitable. And when it became utterly clear that he would have to face a pair of X-Wings all by his lonesome, Slammer really did begin to panic.

Still, he was no fool. He knew he had a certain advantage still in terms of speed and maneuverability, although those advantages were reduced drastically due to the atmospheric operations. However, Slammer had one other thing going for him: he understood exactly how much trouble he was in, and he realized almost immediately that he would have to do something entirely unexpected in order to get out of it. Thus, a plan was born. It was a crazy plan, a reckless plan, and a daring plan. It was a plan that just might be stupid enough to work, and it was a plan that would probably kill him almost immediately. In short, it was the best kind of plan—and it suited Slammer perfectly.

Changing his course slightly, Slammer did the unthinkable: he flew directly at the X-Wings. The Republic pilots didn’t change course at all, but then again why would they. In a straight “jousting” contest, a single X-Wing could decimate any one TIE Interceptor. A pair of them and their quad-linked heavy laser cannons would tear through the Imperial fighter without a second thought. What’s more, the X-Wings had the shielding and armor to withstand a few direct hits from Slammer’s own cannons. It was a lopsided match up, and the X-Wing pilots knew it, so they changed nothing. Their plan remained the same. In short, they made the vital mistake of assuming the oncoming TIE pilot was either suicidal or incompetent. Slammer definitely wasn’t suicidal, and he wasn’t entirely incompetent, but he was willing to take a risk, and sometimes that was all that was necessary.

That gap between the three ships closed at an enormous rate. The Interceptor was still screaming along at full speed, and the X-Wings were by no means slow themselves. Before long and much sooner than he would have liked, Slammer found himself nearing gun range. Before the X-Wings were near enough for a clean firing solution, however, he made his move.

Slamming the TIE’s throttle shut, Slammer’s head spun as the Interceptor came almost to a complete stop in mid-air. The G-forces were almost overwhelming, but the Interceptor’s inertial compensators managed to keep them at a manageable level, if only just. And then, before the X-Wings could recalculate new firing solutions, Slammer spun the Interceptor down towards the ground and opened the throttle back up to full. With a monstrous whine, the TIE Interceptor dove back into the cloud cover, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

If the X-Wing pilots had been confused before, now they were doubly so. Sure, the Interceptor pilot had survived the initial encounter with the Republic fighters, but he had committed virtual suicide by doing so. Even if he survived the absolutely insane dive through the violent cloud cover, he would come out right over the majority of the Republic anti-air guns. Either the Interceptor would be torn apart by the wind or the G-forces caused by the immense dive, or it would be blown apart by the Republic gun towers on the ground. Still, they had to confirm the kill, so after a few seconds they moved to dive gently into the cloud cover, intending to either track the Interceptor’s wreckage or finish the job themselves.

What they hadn’t counted on, however, was Slammer’s sheer audacity.

Before the X-Wings could touch the top of the cloud cover, green lasers splashed across their shields. Both the Republic pilots jerked their craft up and accelerated wildly, immediately maneuvering to avoid any more of the surprise enemy fire. They needn’t had worried, as the offending craft was already long gone, back on course to rejoin the battle raging just a few kilometers away.

It was a neat trick, but it had almost killed Slammer. Once he was half a kilometer or so into the cloud cover, he had jerked his craft to a halt again. This time, however, the G-forces had almost caused him to black out, and the violent storm meant that his craft was being tossed around like a rag doll. He hadn’t dared break the top of the cover again, as the X-Wings would have simply blown him out of the sky. Nor had he dared fly any distance in the turbulent winds of brewing storm. What’s more, he couldn’t have gotten below the storm, for fear of the Republic anti-air guns. So, relying on luck and a smidgen of skill, Slammer had accelerated up again, seeking to break the cloud cover one more time. This time, however, he fired blindly at the X-Wings’ last known location, seeking to distract them long enough so that he could get away. And much to everyone’s surprise, including Slammer’s, the plan had worked beautifully.

What he hadn’t counted on, however, was the second pair of X-Wings.

Thinking himself free and clear, Slammer had reset his course for the battle and punched his throttle to full open. It was at that precise moment that a verifiable storm of red energy burst into existence all around his ship. More than a few bolts splashed on his shields, burning them out almost instantly. Then a bolt struck one of his S-Foils, shearing it completely from the main body of the craft. His Interceptor went into an uncontrollable spin before two more bolts struck the ball of the craft in quick succession. There was a tremendous wave of heat in the cockpit, and then everything in the simulator went completely dark.

Titus “Slammer” Green was dead.

He hadn’t been watching his scanners, of course. It was a fairly common disease among most new pilots. Tunnelvision, some called it, or boresight. It was deadly, however, and because he hadn’t been paying proper attention to his surroundings, Slammer hadn’t seen the second flight of X-Wings approach from the direction of the battle. What’s more, he hadn’t even expected any enemies to come from that direction, supposing them tied up in fending off the rest of Raptor squadron. The problem was, of course, that by the time Slammer had finished his antics with the first pair of X-Wings, the rest of his squadron had been sufficiently dealt with, freeing up other Republic craft to sweep the area. In the end, Slammer was disappointed that he hadn’t performed better, but he had received many comments on his maneuver in the clouds. And while most of those comments ran along the lines of, “that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do, ever”, Slammer didn’t let the negativity deter him. He just shrugged a little shrug and smiled a charming little smile and nodded his head ambivalently.

If nothing else, he thought to himself, at least I’m making an impression.