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| - The Eternal Vigilance is currently parked on a small forest moon, its crew hurrying to transfer Imperial cargo into its hold, and being assisted by the black-clad commandos that seized the goods in the first place. High in the sky, a formation of six hornets are flying high cover, their stubby atmospheric wings deployed. It's entirely possible that an alert may have gone off, and summoned a nearby warship... The alert was indeed given and a squadron of fighters are launched, the Interceptors launched from a Corvette that has been in orbit for a while, now. Liza's in the lead, as has become the norm, it'd seem. "Seems like we've got some enemy activity.." she mutters after getting the full report transmitted to her from command. "Let's see what they're doing." She pulls ahead, letting the other ships pull in behind, the formation tight. Gren punches his comm, and speaks..."Hurry it up, Blue. We've got a squadron, incoming." A pause, and he pushes the throttle on his Hornet, bringing it to full speed, and lifting it toward the incoming Squints. Flying in atmo is totally different than space combat, but he adapts quickly, at least. "Sentry Squadron, form up. Let's knock these buggers out of the sky." A smirk, and he activates his comm..."My Headhunter might be in the shop, Imps, but that doesn't mean you'll end up any less fragged...." This is transmitted on open channels, as the two formations close. There's one thing to be said for being on the defense, and it's getting the first shot in. A tracer of red fire appears from every starfighter in the VSC formation, and Blinky picks out one on the port side. As much as the young Sarian wanted to get the surprise she doesn't get that upper hand, something that makes her sigh in frustration as their numbers seem to be already picked off, some, one fighter already down. "Alright...7-12, I want you guys to take out his friends. 2,3,4 and 6, come with me." The first group streaks towards Gren's fighter while the other six begin to engage the five enemy ships, a pretty even match in Liza's eyes. "Oh, it would appear that I killed one of your friends. Oops." This is transmitted toward Liza's fighter, Gren smiling darkly as he watches the Imperial starfighter's wreckage fall onto the jungle canopy. Delede shifts hard to the starboard, and avoids laser fire from her comrades, only to take a glancing blow from the Sarian woman's Interceptor. The man steps hard on the rudder, and eases back slightly on his throttle, as he drags the Hornet around, and settles his targeting reticle over her fighter, and opens fire with his laser cannons. Around them, the VSC fighters are doing well, maintaining the initiative of striking first. It is with a grumble that Liza finds herself without shields already and she mutters darkly into her comms while the four ships flying with her tighten their formation, acting almost as a shield while Slush works on getting her shields up. The other group of fighters are busy keeping the other Hornets busy, exchanging fire while taking a hit or two to their shields. With Delede's opponent being shielded by her formation, the one-eyed pilot loops around, avoiding some fire sent in his starfighter's direction, and fires his laser cannons, targeting reticle settled over the squint that is her current wingman...."You don't blather quite so much as some of the Imps that I have shot at, in the past weeks." If, she hasn't figured it out, thanks to the Headhunter comments, this is her past nemesis. On the tactical net..."Sentry Squadron, get your asses on track....you will not lose to these people." This is a demand, in response to the fact that a pair of his fighters have taken shield damage, and currently have enemies on their tails. Liza is not usually the type to fly and talk unless it's to give orders but she does snarl a bit, indeed getting a hint as to how she feels about Gren's prodding comment. Allowing the flight commander to take care of their end of things, whish is keeping the other fighters busy, while she herself and her flight work on taking on Delede and his fighters. Her own shields back up, now, she allows herself a chance to take Gren on, still covered by her wingmen that have now spread out slightly. The former Imperial pilot dives his Hornet, now devoid of shielding toward the jungle canopy, the high-speed fighter tearing through atmosphere. Maintaining control with both hands, he brings the fighter up, at the last minute, and begins to quickly work on bringing his shields up. "You are better than the rest of the Imps that I've faced of late...well, save for the Marshal." This is transmitted to the Sarian, unaware that she has been his frequent victim. The rest of the starfighters continue to duel, though there are no kills, or significant damage, on either side. Well, now, so much for being quiet and, with a quick flip of a switch, Liza speaks in a voice that drips evil while she maneuvers herself to try and get behind him so she can get a clear shot of his aft section. "That wasn't very nice.." she says in a dark voice while pressing the trigger, trying to once again hit him while the fighters dance their deadly dance with Gren's comrades. "You just got lucky. But your luck is about to run out." The Hornets aren't doing so well now, with Sentry 5 taking some damage, as its shields go out. The rest of the fighters try to adjust, and protect him, but a second takes more damage to its shields. The Marauder's ramp goes up, and the engines flare to life, as it begins the process of lifting off, though it will be a few more moments, at least. Gren's maneuver is a skillful evasion of Liza's laser fire, as the Hornet's stick is pulled back, and the speed gained from his last dive is funneled into a power climb that takes it up and over the Imperial fighters on his tail, and ends in a loop that gives him a split second to fire into the aft-section of the lead Imperial, Molokai. "Luck is just what losers' call skill." A quick response, though he is grunting from the heavy G's of his maneuver, as any pilot would be.... Liza growls as she gets the warning on her control panel, the sight of her lost shields making her angry beyond anything measurable. She keeps her cool though and, sparing a moment to look at what's happening with the other fighter group, she once again tries to get her shields up while she attempts to get out of Gren's way. The duel between the Hornets and Squints continues to be somewhat unimpressive, at least to those that like kills. The first kill from Delede is the only that has occurred, thus far in the fight. There is a bad event, as Gren's comm officer on the Eternal Vigilance alerts him to an issue with the engines that must be solved, before the ship can lift off. In his cockpit, the VSC President can't help but smile, as his shots hit their mark, and knock down Liza's shields. Even the fact that she gets them online so quickly doesn't dissuade him from grinning. His targeting reticle falls on her wingman, with the already damaged shields, and he opens fire. The sight of another life lost has Liza's teeth gritting and she yanks hard on the stick, bringing her into a hard banking turn to the right that eventually aligns her fighter with the right side of Gren's tail. While she fires upon him the other fighters regroup before engaging their enemy once again. "That's two, now....little girl." This is sent across the airwaves to Liza's fighter, having noted her feminine voice, even through that TIE breathing mask obscuration. Delede is no chauvinist, but if anything is going to get under a female fighter pilot's skin, that's it. A small smile, as Delede notes his fighters regaining some initiative, and knocking the shields out on a TIE, before he rolls hard to starboard, fighting gravity with thrust, as he ends up bearing down on the side of the angular solar panel of the TIE that has taken the dead wingman's place, red lasers reaching out toward it. He is playing with her, now...going after her comrades. Liza blinks, albeit unseen due to her being along in her fighter and due to the helmet she wears, and then she shakes her head. There's no words from her in reply to her foe's 'insult', but it is pretty obvious he has pissed her off since she starts to bear down on him, coming in hot and heavy as she shoots at him. Her wingmen, which are becoming fewer in number, scatter, dodging and weaving like a boxer, flitting from one group to the next in attempt to try and distract Gren and his comrades. "Five, get back to the fragging ship..." This is an order back to one of his Hornets, which is critically damaged...and Delede continues to draw half of the enemy squadron away from his people, his own defensive maneuvers over-taking any attempt at attacking the Imperials, as his shields just went down, thanks to Liza's shooting. He works to bring his own shields online, while speaking over open channels, with his comments obviously directed at Molokai..."Oh, that touched a nerve, did it girlie?" Delta-1 or something for this." "Whatever...old man." Liza mutters, this to herself as she's switching the comms so that only her men can hear. "I need a count of who's able to stay in the fray." Once that's said, she grits her teeth while she does it again, the lather-rinse-repeat action of trying to get behind Gren so she can get him targeted while trying to keep him from doing the same to her. "I want anyone too damaged to fight to fall back. Return to the ship." At least one of the TIEs returns back home while leaving their fellow Imps to continue with their fight. "That's going to take a chunk out of the profits...." That's Gren's rather business-like reply to the sound of his pilots reporting the loss of a comrade, as Sentry five is plummeting toward the canopy, burning all the way. Liza's fire glances across the Hornet's shielding, leaving them slightly reduced. He doesn't bother with trying to increase his shielding...this time, he continues the fight, ignoring her wingman, and focusing on the Sarian's Squint, a deflection shot at an s-foil as he burns past her fuselage. "Old man? You're not bloody wrong. Fought at Endor in an unshielded Squint, girl." That should speak to his age. Laughing, Liza shakes her head while she hears that, her eyes narrowing a bit while her smile just about swallows her face. She's busy dodging his fire, which she does so easily, but once she's able to move her arm forward after she takes a hurried turn to her left she slips her comms back on so he can hear her. "I see...so you're old enough to be Unca Palpatine grandfather?" She pulls up and over Gren now, once she gets herself angled to where she can, her nose angling downward, her wingmen and the other flight of fighters still working on reducing their numbers. "I was there when Palpy died, girl." His fighter executes a dive that all but brushes the trees of the jungle canopy, before he climbs, and ends up behind his opponent, at least for a moment. "And, it looks like I might be there when you die." A burst of laser fire is sent shooting toward her starfighter, just about the time another one of her squadron is sent to their death, thanks to Sentry Three's accurate fire. All in all, things are going their way again. Liza scowls as her ship’s hit and she finds herself trembling slightly in anger thanks to how Gren seems to once again get the upper hand on her. Several reports come in just like they did for the other side, reports of men lost and ships damaged. "Sunuvadiseasedbantha.." she hisses between clenched teeth while she lines up another shot, this time aiming for the cockpit itself, once again trying to get above him. "Vigilance, I'm taking damage, and Sentry four is coming home...you'd best be getting yourself off the blinking ground." This is no sooner said, then the Corvette rises into the air, having gotten its engines working. The critically damaged Sentry 4 is tearing out of the fight, though Delede doesn't seem to be intent on landing, not just yet. His ship isn't responding like it did, and his targeting computer is acting up, but that'll have to do, as he manages to drag the Hornet into firing position on the lightly damaged Squint flown by the Imp..."You're not half-bad, girlie...what's your callsign?" A depression of the firing stud, and red blasts shoot toward her ship.... The light hit to her hull doesn't seem to phase her much although there's a bit of tension in her voice as she gives reply to Gren's query over the channel. "Slush. My callsign is Slush." Despite the annoyance in her voice at being hit again, her voice is tinged with pride. Another shot is given to the semi-limping fighter while her own men give Gren's a bit of a chase...there's going to be very little in the way of survivors if she can help it. A groan inside of his helmet, as Sentry Four is cut off in his retreat, and blown from the sky. Delede keys his comm, as he continues to maneuver, trying to avoid the woman's fire..."Alright, Sentry Squadron. We got the cargo, now get your asses back inside of the Vigilance." The starfighters begin to head toward landing, though they continue to fight as they go, covering one another on the way. For his part, the one-eyed pilot speaks into his comm, once again..."Slush? So, you're not cold enough to be ice? That'll get you killed, girlie." A pause, and he begins to work on raising his shields, as that should help him stay alive, damaged or not..."I'm Blinky." Yes, Liza has been shot down twice, and almost shot down a third time, by a pilot called Blinky. "Blinky? Sounds like you should be in some kind of traveling freak show, right along side of the four-armed wookiee and the bearded Hutt-lady!" Laughing mockingly, Liza can't help but to try and get one last shot, one last jab at the old man. Perhaps she'll get lucky. The other Interceptors are still tailing the fleeing Hornets, also firing upon them...time to put a hurt on the VSC. "Well, this freak killed two of your people..." Gren gloats, laughing mockingly, himself. But, sometimes, Karma can be a bitch, and this is one of those times. Her accurate fire sheers off one of his atmospheric wings, causing his fighter begin a sharp dive toward the surface of the moon. The Vigilance, collecting it's fighters, is nearby, and if Marauder's have one advantage, it's their trio of precise and powerful tractor beams....and their operators are quick, as they are able to snag Sentry One as they pass over, keeping him from having to eject, or crash-land, either of which would likely mean certain death, or capture. The VSC forces are in retreat, heading for orbit and clear space beyond....they got their goods, but they lost two fighters, and had another all but destroyed...which makes the engagement a wash, as the Imperials lost their own three Interceptors. "Well, I can't say I'm not happy..about frecking time." Sighing, Liza watches Gren's ship as it begins its rapid descent towards the ground, her expression a bit joyful as well as her tone of voice when she speaks. "Alright..let's go home, boys. I think we did enough damage...or not." Shrugging, she just takes the remaining fighters home, allowing for them to celebrate even as she begins to plot a second bout of revenge on Blinky.
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