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| - It hadn't been very long since the Admiral had been in a fighter; however it had been a while since she flew one in combat. Try as she might, between the duties of the Star Destroyer she commanded, the needs of the Admiralty and the responsibilities to Lord Korolov, Dana had little time to play. She worked had at keeping her skills sharp, but she was no more a line pilot and there were some that questioned if she still had the edge. Of course, they questioned her in quiet. And if the scuttle ever got back to her, she didn't show it. Let the pilots talk, it was good for them. A Commander that held the reigns too tight might strangle the moral. However, she wouldn't let it get out of hand. She had drawn the first lot and it was Banger. Nothing like challenging one of the best out there to shake off the rust that was settling in her senses, and skills. Jal'Dana had raises shields, and had her fire linked, she was running hot and using a small moon to hide the tiny ship. The 'enemy' TIE had popped up on her HUD as soon as it reached the same space, and she was sure he knew she was out there, lurking. Nothing fancy, and as Krieg's Mark II zipped by she rolled the Stick over and arched towards his six. Normally she'd have tried to make the opponent over fly, and scatter into her fire, but there wasn't going to be much luck at that with him. Her hope was to hit him hard and fast, he was younger and maybe better at this point. Be never doubt experience. This was going to be a fight for sure. Squeezing the trigger she let off her first blast, the lasers reaching for his aft. At the controls of the simulator Krieg always felt different at first, it was never the same as actually being in the actual fighter. There were only so many things a simulator could do and no matter how anyone programmed the controls it wouldn't be the real thing. However, this sense quickly fades as he falls into the zone, his adversary bolting around and at him, full force. Thoughts race through his head as he sees the oncoming attacker, but the one that prevails is the sense to dodge and get a firing solution after the first run. Kicking the throttle to full and snapping the fighter to roll inverted in relation to the other craft he races full on, tapping the stick back and forth to dive in-between blaster bolts. Instinctively he dives out of the way, making a quick check of his own systems as he kicks the fighter over and into her flight path. A lot had been going on lately, and the first run was enough to send the adrenaline rushing through him after a few weeks with the high command. As much as he loved to plot the downfall of his enemies, it was here where the big talk actually hit the metal. His HUD was the only thing that brightly lit the simulator, as he relied heavily upon the visual cues at such close ranges. The computer was giving good tone as he lined up the return fire from above, the trigger feeling the way it always did right before a good hit. The shots had gone far wide, and already she had lost the advantage of surprise. "Well that was a waste" Jal'Dana muttered under her breath. All that planning and nothing to show for it. It was going to be her luck, nothing but bad. The woman was falling into her old rhythms, controlling her breathing, focusing on the fight. This was a bit different; one on one fighting wasn't something often experienced in the heat of battle. No wingman, no watching your six, just you verse him. Sure it was a 'mock' fight, but the Admiral never treated any fight like training. It had been drilled into her head, "You battle like you play" The systems were programmed to respond like a real fighter, with a real environment. It was why the Imperial pilots were as good as they were, training in realistic environments. Projecting herself into the 'emotion' of the moment, Dana could feel what 'Banger' would do, it was what she would do, and as his ship reversed and fired she reacted as one would expect. Krieg's shots when wide of her own TIE and she immediately reversed the arc. Had it been read space they would have looked like a pair of needles weaving a stitch as the spun around each other. In fact, that was what they did look like on the monitors for the viewing crowds. As their paths crossed again, Jal'Dana fired, she never even waited for the HUD to tone. She knew. It became brutally apparent to Krieg of the opponent he faced, and quickly scolded himself for forgetting that it was Vapor he faced. The pattern she pulled was familiar to him, but still in combat there were many tricks that even knowing them you could not defend against. They were locked in a dogfight now, neither of them held any advantage as their crafts were identical in every way, the simulator made sure of that fact. It was all Krieg could do to manage the lead and lag pursuit to get a good firing solution for their next pass that he barely was able to scrape by her quad blasts. Breaking free of the pass he moves into a very dangerous position, hoping to get the first hit of the engagement. For Krieg, his battlerythm was almost like a trance, he focused in with his craft, the lights, bells, whistles, everything. There was no time to mutter to yourself or become upset if you get hit. No, that led to losing the fight altogether. Collecting his thoughts into one focused machine to predict her next movement he opens fire again, testing the tension between them. Maybe she should have waited, as again she missed. Stepping on her peddles and forcing the flight stick down, Dana rolled her 'fighter' over to defend against the return fire she knew was coming. She had flown /with/ the Marshal enough to know he was aggressive, and she could expect every thing she did to be answered under fire. Indeed, the green lasers lanced by her port side. Jal'Dana smiled beneath her helmeted head, a stark contrast to the frowning visage the helmet gave. This time she slowed her craft in an attempt to make Krieg over shoot, to use his aggressive style against him; he had raced forward to beat her to the arch, and missed she was going to attempt to make him pay for it. This was a battle that many probably would watch and realize that these were no ordinary pilots. Indeed, both Banger and Vapor were the Empire's finest weapons of war, but that was no consolation for Krieg. There could only be one 'best' pilot, and this was quickly turning into a battle of patience - it would only be a matter of time before one gave way, but that was a long way in the working. Seeing her next move Krieg rolls the opposite direction, and pulls the counter-intuitive direction into her fire and through the bolts, only to come up on the other side of her path untouched once more. Green arcs lanced out once more, this time from behind and Krieg realizes all too late his mistake, but pulls out in time before her blasts hit their mark. She was good, and had anticipated his push in combat. He keeps the speed, this time to bear directly down on her craft in the next pass, keeping the power all the way in to pull it on the snap roll after spraying the anticipated area of his foe. The small woman always laughs as her shots again missed their mark, even in battle Jal'Dana kept her humor about her, at least in fighter combat. On the Bridge of a Destroyer it was a bit different; however a fighter always seemed freer. Checking her sensors, she knew this was going to be a battle of attrition. The Marshal was younger, and most likely in better flight shape. In fact he got the drop on her, and his fire was well placed. It was by sheer luck she pushed her TIE right and not left, had she guessed wrong, her craft would be hurting. Not loosing her cool, she unlinked her fire and lanced her craft to over top the man, and as her fighter drew past his left solar panel, she fired in a trailing pattern, 1,4,2,3 and the shots just seconds apart. Again, she had predicted her move and Krieg was starting to think that they were more evenly matched than previously thought. True, it had been a while and he had been in many engagements with what some could consider a superior craft (x-wings), but this was a true test of one's flight ability. The only thing giving him an edge was the planned power pull on the roll out giving a very tight arcing roll back around. Vapor was quickly seeing his move and echoing the next tactic, the multiple laser fire beginning to catch up to him. Kicking the power in fully he snap rolls out of her fire arc, to pull hard (the simulator always had difficulty with this move, but he was willing to try anything now) and put the craft in a spiral dive to get the angle on her craft, snapping off two single shots followed by a quad then a couple of single shots. It appeared to him that the admiral had been practicing while she was away... Different tactic, same result as even on single fire Jal'Dana misses on all her shots. Sweat had already started to be absorbed into the first layer of her flight suit and the woman shifted around in her shock couch. It was a good thing that this was being recorded as the Marshal was putting on a clinic in flying. This was Banger at his best, so much so the Admiral was thinking or giving him a newer call sign. She always did like banger however, and would have to consider that later as the move he was pulling was in no text book. "Inventive little bugger" Dana thought out loud, and the 'enemy' fire buzzed by her cockpit on all sides. She swore she could feel the energy, of course that was pilot sense not fact and twisting her craft down and rolling over she again tried to gain Krieg's six. The tips of her Solar panels were just rising enough to give her a solid tone on his engines; it was all Dana could do to keep the wing tips level as she fired off in pairs. It would seem that both of them had fallen into a rhythm of each other's battle tactics, and every move was anticipated. Krieg's palms were starting to sweat as well, and thanks to the flightsuit's absorbency that it didn't affect performance. However, every move he made she had a counter and this was a side to her flying that he never fully saw before, and he was pulling the craft in every direction as if it were his actual life on the line. He was becoming aware that she had pulled out the stops and knew that any mistake now could mean his downfall. Pushing the envelope of the fighter's performance he throttles in once more, this time luring her in with a fire arc of single shots, but quickly snap rolling over to place a quad blast in where he was figuring she'd turn, based off his previous runs. The tension was starting to manifest itself in his back ever so slightly, but nothing severe enough to impede his capabilities. The shots missed low, and Dana was forced to break off that attack as Krieg's fighter had the advantage of the inside line and the Admiral could not get inside to score a shot. It would have been very easy to get frustrated and make a mistake. Her muscles were starting to ache, not sharp and painful, but the dull feeling of the strain. Inverting her craft meant nothing in the zero Gs of space, but the move had spared her the brunt of Krieg's leading shots. It reminded her of a time with a StromTrooper. She had asked him how he could shoot people knowing there were women and children. His response was telling 'I don't lead them as much' The Admiral couldn't help but feel Krieg was leading her less. Snaking her craft into a wide sweep she peppered the crossing line of where he should be. It was her turn to lead him, or at least try and box him in with fire. Knowing it was only a matter of time before one of them would be hit; Krieg takes the first blow to his shields as he slams his fighter to a full stop, snapping his craft around to return fire at a completely different attack speed. For the longest time neither of them had hit, but now he was starting to feel perspiration forming on the inside of his helmet as he presses in for another rounds of fire. The last hit and the simulator 'vibration' settled his nerved and back, pressing him into the fight once more. Realizing that any first hit could prove to be an advantage he presses in, varying his throttle speeds as he arcs out with another round of fire. First blood goes to the Admiral as Dana scores her first hit. There was no time to celebrate it however as all it did was serve to make Krieg more aware of her moves. He was only going to get better now, where a rookie might become shaken and wild, the Marshal was going to settle down and in and now he was going to push her. In fact the light lurch in her 'ship' is exactly that as Krieg scores right away. He had sacrificed into her fire to score his won. "Very aggressive" Dana noted to no one in particular. It was one of the personality traits she liked in Banger; of course it was also giving her fits. As the 'enemy' TIE streaked past her own, Jal'Dana made a tight turn and fired on her opponent's shrinking form. Perhaps it was the tension and fraction of a moment that left him lacking in the way of being able to return fire and bring it to bear, but this time he was rewarded with a light hit. It was a classic version of being able to hit the enemy, but not getting out of the return fire arc. However, the small victory was nothing to celebrate and could be almost as bad as getting hit again. He knew the admiral had it all on the line and that the entire task force, if not Imperial high command in its entirety, was watching. Kicking in the power and flipping the craft upside down, reversing the direction of flight he takes on a new combat stance, varying from overly aggressive to conservative (some still might consider this overly aggressive) in split seconds. This time, he as he pulls his power to push him closer he knows that she was going to hit him, but this time he hopes for that same type of shot to be returned, if not with a heavier cost. Again she scored a hit, and with a trickle of light Krieg's shields winked out. Now he was flying nude so to speak, but the TIE had a lot of armor and a pro at the controls. This wasn't getting easier. The TIEs screamed at each other and green lasers lance out between the closing distances. Krieg's shot's fly in between the tips of Dana's Solar panels and just over her cockpit, all she saw was green. The HUD was the only then she could see to fly by, and with the positive tone she pulled the trigger before breaking the line and diving down. She would have to let her sensors tell her if she hit. Dana wasn't looking to 'pull a Lynae" and crash head first into the other craft, sims or not. The tactic was a failure in the sense that he didn't hit her, but it possibly could be what saves him from another blow. Losing his shields was one thing, but there was still plenty of fight left in him. He knew that she wasn't overconfident and wouldn't forget that he still had teeth, but even so the flicker of his shields going out would be a signal to her that she was winning. No matter the experience level there always was that sense of victory that could ruin the other person's day. Betting on this tactic as he knew it was still a game of endurance he presses forward once more, keeping close to her craft but agile enough to dip in and out of her fire arc, but again taking heat from her craft. He was sweating, but now his battle focus from every other fight he has been in comes back. Keeping cool and letting the hits roll off he moves in again, almost as if to crash into her fighter in a tight spiral, rotating laser fire from one to the next as he predicts her move, opening a path for her to attack again but hoping to shut her down this time. Krieg's rolling TIE was littering the area with laser fire and it forced Jal'Dana to juke and bounce her fighter to avoid the well spaced shots. Each missed, but just by inches and as her TIE floated, she was too busy reacting to the fight to really plan anything out. Just because she was the one scoring hits meant nothing. Nothing was won until the fight was over, as an enemy with one scrap of armor left but a bundle of fight could turn any thing around and Banger still had plenty of both. With all her sharp twisting, she had been slowly letting off the accelerator and slowing, bringing the 'enemy' in tighter. Slamming hard on the port thrusters and rolling on the stick the Admiral's TIE snaps around as Krieg flies past, giving her a broadside shot. Letting go with all for lasers, she aims where he should be going. Presenting Rall with a target of opportunity Krieg accelerates past Rall's fire arc, knowing full well where to expect the oncoming fire. Knowing that she had the upper hand didn't concern him right now as he'd been thinking ahead a few steps to try and get the jump back on her. His flight suit was feeling a little sticky as the sweat was building up, but that too was ignored. Diving down at the last possible moment his craft narrowly evades her fire as he dives from the fight. Not one to fall too far away or to let her get another bead on his fighter he snaps around and back up before she could get a handle on what he was up to. Dropping several laser blasts in her path in a random sequence he returns the favor, looking for the critical points on her craft. Of course Dana's own shots missed as Krieg expertly moved around them. The battle was dragging on, and as more time inched away, so was Dana's luck. There was a reason that she had turned the reigns over to Banger, he was the best of the best. It was a rare case in her current standing, but she was the underdog here. It was a role she was relishing. The maneuver was perfectly performed, and completely unexpected. Instinctually Dana rolled her fighter and increased her speed, flying directly through the lasers; it was a gamble that paid off as the shots passed by missing again by inches. Life and Death was about inches, and for now they were on her side. Keeping to her route, she speeds up on Krieg's port side trying to match his speed and turns his laser tips in, firing in staggered order into his path. As if they had both dialed in what each other was thinking Krieg saw the same sort of combat starting to emerge once again between them that left them both in a state of stressful tension. Knowing full well that the gloves were off for both of them didn't help Krieg any in trying to catch a moment to breathe, but this was the fact that made them what they were - neither was going to give up and they both had the endurance to go the distance. The only small consolation that Krieg had was there still was a 'victory' round that he may yet face her once again, but that was still very far away. Blasting through another round of fire Krieg can see that she's trying to turn the tables again, and moves to intercept her latest maneuver. It was rare he actually met anyone of this level of skill in combat, and the honor was all his. Her last move through his fire was a gamble he knew, but it was flawless. No matter how impressed he was, there was another trick he decides to pull on her, this time it's an old one, kicking the power to a minimal setting and turning inside her turn, getting a great lead on her craft. Opening up once more he lights up the darkness, throwing in power to evade her sure to come retaliatory fire. Vapor's efforts were futile as she missed yet again; it was starting to become a habit. Missing was a habit she was hoping to break, though she hoped it was contagious and Krieg was suffering from it. The move he pulled made her smile, she had used that one before and she was confident in countering it. Pushing forward, she raced towards his fire closing the distance between the fire the shots converge behind her ship. This brings her dangerously close to him, but also give her the opportunity to fire. Nothing fancy, just a straight forward linked blast as the two TIEs raced in opposite directions. Sitting back and enjoying being able to watch now that she's done flying herself, Liza watches the match with a keen interest. She got to experience first hand just how good the Marshal and Admiral are and it's always nice to watch them fly without being in the fighter they're shooting at. The reduction in thrust seemed to have caught Rall off guard, but not enough to actually throw her and score a hit. He knew it was a gamble, but then again the more complex tricks that look very simple were anything but. Taking his craft and brining it out of her line of fire as he snap rolls to the starboard he can see that she is attempting to charge his craft. Knowing that this move was going to bring her dangerously close he takes the initiative on this one and lets her do it. However, it is a very controlled maneuver and required his every moment of attention as he brings his craft at the last second right up to hers. Crossing within mere inches he gets a good target lock at her, point blank to fire once again. The quick shots did nothing, no score, not hit, she mind as well not have even pull the trigger. Had this not been a simulation of a dogfight, she would have moved on to another target and tried her luck with a different pilot. But there was no such luck in this effort, there was only one other 'enemy'. Well, Krieg was the real enemy, the sweat soaked flight suit, pounding muscles and the first stages of dehydration. While the marshal was pushing himself to be creative, risky and complex, the Admiral decided to revert to bread and butter tactics. Breaking hard right, and the inverting 108 degrees and performing an S-roll, she brings her ship towards a broad side of Krieg's TIE. Letting go with staggered dual shots, she fired lasers 1 and 4, then 2 and 3. in an attempt to score the first hits of this later stage and break the stalemate. What seemed to be a streak of almost getting pummeled by Rall had turned into another stalemate of sorts. It was a deadly game they now started to play, and the move that Rall makes almost makes Krieg laugh. Yes, that was right; she was actually going back to the basics. Though he knows that she was really digging in now he also knew it was a deadly tactic, for if he made any mistake it would cost him dearly. Deftly reverting back to a basic move to evade, kicking in the power and snapping away, he also adds a twist at the end. Throwing his fighter down hard and away to move inside her turn he opens up again, streaking her flight path with an almost solid wall of green. Different move but nothing else changed as the Admiral missed yet again. Dana was starting to wonder how long she could keep this pace up; she doubted Krieg was having the same issues. Pushing those thoughts deep into her mind she focused to the task at hand, survival and then victory. She knew the Marshal would respond quickly, Banger was going to answer in the form of laser fire. He didn't make her wait, as he also performed a basic move but one she countered as soon as she saw him lining up his craft for the shot. Playing the angle she pushed hard on the accelerator and raced to beat him to where he was going, littering the area with a wide field of fire. Once again his move was countered, but with the amount of perspiration in his flight suit he isn't sure how effective he is anymore. If this were an actual fight this would be the point in which he'd have support come in and finish the job, but it was a single ship duel. In actual combat there was a rush from every different fight and the elation that came with it, but here was a different ball of wax. The admiral had made her name well known and it was very clear to him that her skill was something many should be watching and learning from. Moving his craft in now what some might think were the most complex moves, he engages once again knowing that he was relying at times more on what the fighter could do than his own ability. After a bunch of twisting and turning moves the simulator that Dana is in control of shutters as Krieg scores a solid hit, the warning klaxon sounds as she is alerted the her shields failing, and then it shake again as Krieg presses his advantage. To the viewers, score marks are forming on the hull Admiral's TIE. She had made a mistake, and the Marshal had not. Such was the ebb and flow of battle. But Dana was far from being out of it. Regaining her composure she fights off the growing headache and makes her own luck. Krieg overshoots both with his fighter and his shots, giving her a clear shot of his exposed flank. Squeezing the trigger she attempts to retake some ground. Blast after blast after blast... The battle drones on and on without little hope for a quick ending from either of them. Krieg deftly moves past the Admiral's fire, slowly moving in on her and opening up at the most opportune times, but at the same time throwing out a lot of other distracting fire to keep her craft moving in ways that were the most predictable. Soon his complex moves take on a life of their own as the first hit in a long time scores a critical hit upon her craft. With the extinguishing of her shields and the damage to her hull Krieg quickly moves out of the way for the fury to be returned. It was only matter of time before the fire returned, and this time it comes from behind, the simulator shuddering under the impact. Krieg knew he had sacrificed a defensive posture for this attack, and now he snaps rolls back into the fight to come back into point blank range to fire once again. The battle had lasted longer than any real engagement, longer than any training mission. There was a dry inch on Jal'Dana's flight suit, and even the padding inside her helmet couldn't stop the sweat from dripping into her eyes and stinging her eyes. As the pair of TIEs traded fire, Krieg scored a hit the shook her fighter so hard that Dana banged her head against the side of the simulator dazing her for a moment. It was a realistic happenstance, and in that very moment Krieg was like a shark smelling blood in the water. Pressing his advantage, the next shot 'fried' her systems. Forced to fly without the aids of her computers, Dana was down to the very last scrap of hull. But still there was fight in the woman. Racing to the apex of their climb, Jal'Dana uses all her strength and remaining speed in her battered fighter to gain position on Krieg, firing single shots, she scores her own two unanswered hits. She has no way of knowing the damage level of his craft, her HUD had winked out in the last exchange. And it was all she could do to maintain the maneuver. In fact, she couldn't and he TIE started loosing ground. Banger was perfect in his pursuit, and with the advantage of position, he ended the fight. The simulator went black, the screens blank and all movement stopped. It was over, and Dana was exhausted. She sat in the seat for a long moment, gaining her breath. Her heart was still racing when she felt she could speak. Into the passive channel she radios over to Krieg, "Outstanding Banger, you flew outstanding. Going back and forth, trading blast for blast Krieg and Rall duke it out, the stress and length of time fighting wears both of them down, and every small mistake is capitalized on by the other pilot. As Krieg moves around Rall's fighter he gets a critical opening that probably is meant for him to take. However, this time he doesn't move in the normal fashion to engage but breaks hard to be rewarded with the perfect shot as she breaks along with him. Scoring a second critical hit he pulls away as they exchange more fire harmlessly. Moments later he is struck, but answers her call with a salvo of his own, taking her hull down to a few mere points. As any pilot would know, this was probably the most dangerous part of any fight - where your enemy was down to their last remaining armor and had nothing left to lose as they were close to a loss. In what may be seen by many as a heroic comeback Rall takes Krieg to school on how to fight on the edge, nailing him several times from multiple angles. However, her moves to return fire upon him came at a price, and Krieg was able to manage his way into a prime firing position. The sweat and heat in the cockpit was almost intolerable, it was getting close to his eyes and his vision blurred from time to time. The controls were getting harder to grip, and it was harder and harder to feel where the fighter was moving. However, Krieg pressed through this and the pressure to perform for the entire Task Force. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered that talk he had with Rall so long ago and how he lost his temper. This fight alone proved he was capable, and the fight was something more than a competition for all; it had become personal. Not in a bad way but in such a form to prove himself to everyone the Admiral was not the only one that could handle a fighter or a command. In what seemed like the perfect climax the trigger was squeezed for the last time this engagement, the green lances seemingly moving in slow motion to their target as the computer registers moments later the scoring hit for the bought. Drawing in a deep breath as the simulator shuts down Krieg tenses all his muscles and lets the breath out, relaxing completely to realize the sheer level of combat he had just gone through. As he sits back he prepares to crack open his helmet, the adrenaline still surging through his blood. Hearing Rall on the comm he triggers it, replying "Your flying was sheet magnificence Vapor, it was an honor."
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