| abstract
| - With the shift from the regular load of X-wings to their larger cousins, the heavier B-wings, the Audacity's main, and only, hangar bay looks particularly crowded. It has been some days now that the vessel has left Mon Calamari with its route taking it first south from Mon Calamari and then progressively west and north along the border. So far, the patrol has been rather uneventful, not that anyone complains, uneventful is just the way much of the corvette's crew likes these patrols to be. Unfortunately, it was not to be, the Audacity was quickly pulled off its route and tasked to deal with a problem that cropped up. The fighter compliment placed on high alert and the ship moved into a state its crew have gotten used to: yellow alert/pre-battle preparations or whatever else people call it. Along with some of the usual suspects from among the Audacity's crew, the Caspians have been invited both to watch how these things are handled and participate in any manner they deem possible. Once everyone has filled into the somewhat cramped ready room, Rasi begins his presentation, the CO occupying the position of honour at one end of the table. The large viewscreen showing the Nak Shimor system, on a map that is, along with various tidbits. "There is a likely Imperial presence in the border system, and we have been sent to make certain that it is contained. The Audacity with the aid of both Ghost and Dagger squadrons should have a numerical advantage, we estimate that the enemy force is composed of a corvette and its fighter squadron. However, we are not certain of this and we have the option to call for quick reinforcements from the Nak Shimor garrison. That said, the primary reason why we were dispatched is to obtain the element of surprise, it is believed that the Imperials will expect that a likely response force will be dispatched from the planet and that so long as there is no substantial movement, they are in the clear so to speak and undetected." The XO stops there, letting the information sink in for some moments. The senior CDF pilot, Lt. Commander Jamon Grendine, stands at the back of the room leaning against the back wall. His eyes looking over the presented photos and/or video then they carefully scan over the assembled pilots. He seems to be sizing up their reactions and studiousness. His face gives no obvious expression to either side. Eventually he returns his careful gaze to the speaker. Lynae is quiet where she is seated with the officers that have come along for this officer exchange and when the XO stops speaking she holds her silence for a good bit longer, waiting for other comments and questions to be exchanged before she ventures some initial offerings of her own. "It reads like a classic test of your defenses. A feint here and there, a distracting tactic to get you to respond in scattered areas of the region. While you're responding to one feint they venture another incursion in a different insertion point." Jamon nods his agreement with Lynae. and quickly adds a question. "What other areas of interest are in this region?" Sadim sits to the right of Lynae, silently listening to the report from the New Republic officer. He offers no comments of his own jots down a couple notes on his padd when interesting comments are made. "Precisely.", Rasi responds, and with a quick click of the remote in his hands, the image on the screen changes to one that highlights the entire western section of the border near Nak Shimor. "High Command has informed us that they believe that this might be either just a distraction, or standard pre-campaign penetration by small reconaissance forces." To answer the Commander's, the other one, question, Rasi points out several spots on the map. "Nak Shimor itself of course, and the nearby Bogden. As you can see, that sector is in a deep salient and presents both a strategic staging point for us as well a high-priority target. Part of the reason why the Audacity has been dispatched is because of its upgraded systems and in particular the B-wings on board. With those, it is our hope that we can quickly disable the enemy forces and attempt to recover the computer core or other intelligence from the Imperials there." Lynae nods once as she falls silent again, casting a measured glance around the room and at the officers assembled, all veterans at this point. "Strategic insertion then, staging area as a point of acquisition to take and establish a foot hold. Or this continues to be just a test of your system defenses while they insert from other avenues. How taxed are the system defenses, Commander?" "Given the current situation in Mon Calamari and other offensive operations elsewhere, the Second Fleet is dispersed to a certain degree. However, since we are headquartered at Ord Mantell any all-out campaign in that part of our territory will be no easy thing. As for Nak Shimor's defenses, they will not be easily breeched let us say.", they better not be given its position and its importance. "For those Caspians among us, you are invited to observe more directly though fighter pilots will have to be grounded unfortunately. Commander Cassius will be invited on the bridge of course. To reiterate however, this remains a small-scale engagement and our focus will be on this battle and not on the strategic aspect of things. If there are no questions, please report to your stations." It took some hours for the Audacity to get from its staging area, a few systems away, to Nak Shimor, the vessel and its usual fighter squadron making the jump seperately. On board the bridge, the quiet before battle has settled in, the monotony of it all being broken by the beeps and bloops of the work being done at the workstations here. Can a situation like this where battle is expected be called truly monotonous? Oh well. The corvette makes the transition to real space smoothly enough, the odd visual illusion of an abnormally elongated ship ending quickly enough. As soon as the Audacity reverts back into space, all that immediately comes into view is the sight of thousands of stars. The sensors of the vessel shift into overdrive, searching for both enemy presence and the X-wings that should be here either now or will jump in soon enough. There is no need to go to red alert, the vessel has been in that state since before it jumped. Weapons are readied and the gunchief starts looking for targets. As an observer on the bridge of the Audacity, Lt.Cmdr Lynae Cassius is standing near Commander Cen (Rasi) and both observing the activity on the bridge while analytically measuring their response times and weighing it against the crew of the CMS Audace. Some instincts never really do fade, so while she makes these observations she beckons Lt Gnik to her side and speaks quietly, "The main difference between the tactical stance of the Republic and that of the Caspian Navy is that we are militantly neutral whereas they are on full war footing with the Empire. That both alters and, in many ways must, dictate their strategies. Coming out of hyperspace on cue, Ghost Squadron, led by the Chyleni Kyrin Sh'vani, immediately forms up. "S-foils in attack position," she states calmly, almost dispassionately. "All fighters report in." The squadron surges forward ahead of their B-Wing companions, the swifter X-Wings taking their trademark shape. "We are to provide screening for our bombers, so keep them alive to do their jobs, Ghosts." If anyone needed a reason to feel sorry for someone before the battle has even begun, Lt. Quan or Dagger Five. Sitting in the observation chair is a Dug in full flight suit. The blast helmet has been painted black with 'Chaos' in crimson red lettering. The Dug attempts to move around his in his seat. "The seat is too big..." Bakrak complains. Sadim moves over to beside Lieutenant Commander Cassius. "There is also the slight difference between the Audaciousness of our ships." With a Caspian pilot riding 'shot-gun' in the gunners seat of the B-wing, Dagger-5 (known to the rest of her squadron as Squeak) guides her fighter out of the launch bay of the Audacity and, with a bit of a roll and a slide to the side to get into position she fits her fighter into formation with the quartet of B-wings tasked to this particular engagement. To the Caspian pilot riding in the other seat she can't help but reply, "Just make sure that you're buckled in securely, Chaos, and I'll make sure you don't bounce around the cabin." After having been carried to their designated recon co-ords by a Corvette, the MKIIs of Razor Squadron soon launch, twelve in number. The leader, Liza Molokai, gets them into three groups of four and then begins to speak to her squadron while she slowly starts to move further into system. "Remember," she speaks into the comms, her tone of voice strictly business-like, now. "Keep your sensors on full active. We don't want to miss a damn thing." All the pilots speak in the affirmative as they turn their sensors onto full as well as their shields and weapons, the latter done to be 'on the safe side'. They start to break off to maxamize their effectiveness, each ship never too far from their group leader but far enough to get a good range on what's happening. The past few years has probably given the world of Nak Shimor more excitement than it could ever ask for. Excitement that they could probably do without. Located in the Colonies and directly along the Perlemian, Nak Shimor has seen its share of merchants and tourists. But with the galaxy gobbled up by the Imperial war machine, Nak Shimor's role has since reversed. It directly borders Imperial territory, and unlike Ord Mantell, is located along a strategic route and in very near proximity to the Core and Coruscant itself. Nak Shimor became a vital asset to the Republic... to vital to let fall. Thus the Nak Shimor Salient. The planet and its system has become something of a fortress world, holding back the tide of Imperial aggression. If the Republic survives this war, future generations will recite the tale of brave Nak Shimor and its people, holding out in the Republic's darkest hour against the darkness. But that isn't going to happen, pilot Gorgan muses. He's here today as part of an effort to ensure just that. Tucked in the cockpit of his squint-deuce, the Imperial flight officer and two year veteran is ready to his part. Just a recon, just a diversion... but no less important than the real killing blow, which he hopes is soon to come. And which he hopes to take part in. He runs through the preliminary diagnostics, ensuring everything was optimal. Shields, weaponry, ion engines, life support, communications, sensors. Everything has to be in perfect order. Satisfied with the results, Gorgan merely awaits the inevitable go order... and when it comes, he launches from the bay of the Corvette, forming up with the rest of the squadron. "Razor 5, acknowledged, lead." He diverts some system power to the sensors to allow for maximum effectiveness and begins to collect data. "Krayt Control to Ghost Leader, are all fighters deployable and ready for combat, repeat is your squadron up to full strength?", the unpredictability of hyperspace makes it possible that some might be late to this little party that's developing. As soon as the Imperials are spotted, the permission to deploy is given to the fighters inside its hangar bay, the underside of the Audacity soon spitting out in quick succession B-wings and Y-wings, no doubt the fighter-bombers this engagement is reliant upon. Now that he's certain that this initial phase of the battle has gone down as well as possible, Rasi lets himself be momentarily drawn into the conversation between the Caspians, "Pardon, the Audaciousness of your ships?" Any insults or even perceived slights to his lovely corvette are something he pays quite close attention to. Whatever else he was about to say is quickly pushed out of his mind, the long-range sensors have just picked up the familiar starfighters and not far from it a corvette. At least there are no huge surprises, or so he hopes. "Krayt Control to Ghost and Dagger lead, the tactic is simple. Ghosts will clear a path through the X-wings, our bombers and the Audacity will follow through and disable as quickly and cleanly as possible. Audacity out, fight well and draw blood folks.", yes, a particularly sanguine thing to say, but this is a war after all. For a brief moment Lynae allows a trace of a smile to form on her face as she replies to Rasi, "Your pardon, Commander Cen, it's a bit of an in-joke as your ship and ours is named very similar. The Audacity and the Audace, hence the audaciousness of the ships," she explains in brief. "It is not a slight, I assure you." The Dug snorts at Speak's comment. "This Calamari designed ship is going to bounce me around anyway with the way it is designed. Rotating around its axis..." Bakrak grumbles as he crosses his legs in front of his chest. "Better hope your food doesn't make me sick." Sadim nods in agreement with Lynae, "Perhaps it really means our peoples think the same. I mean of the various cultures in the galaxy and we end up with two nearly identically named vessels. Perhaps some clones have ended up on the naming committees in each military. With any luck the Imperials are spying on you with a vessel named Audacious." "Ghost Squadron is ready to engage, Krayt," Kyrin notes to Rasi calmly as she twists her X-Wing to a better approach vector to the Imperial ships. "Pair up with some dance partners," she notes privately to her pilots, "and do not forget your wingmen. May the Force be with you." Dhamon stands near a turbolaser control room, for now tasked with assisting gun crews in the coming fight. He is wearing full combat gear in case a boarding action is called for or if he needs to assist in turning back an assault. He is carrying shaped Proton Charges for creating a new entrance to enemy vessels for his squad to use. Squeak (Dagger-5) pairs up with Dagger-7 while replying to Chaos, "If you're going to toss up, try to do it in the barf bag, not all over the inside of my fighter or I'll make you clean it up yourself," she warns. Though that warning is said in the same tone that Bakrak used, a bit of a grumble and a bit of amusement as she eyes the inbound enemy assets with a steely-eyed gaze and a bit of a squint in speculation, allowing her computer to pick targets at will at this point - spit out firing solutions - and run through the pre-combat cycle. The Imperial Corvette, a ship by the name of the Somnium, soon begins to follow the 12 TIEs, ready as always to provide backup, something that has been seen as necessary from past experiece when going up against the Rebels. They have proven to be rather formidable foes and the Empire has lost a lot of good pilots at their hand. Now is not a time for faliure, as the Marshal had pointed out and it is something that the lower ranking commanders have taken to heart. Gunners have already taken their stations and the battle alert put on standby. Liza - AKA Capricious - beings to take serious note of what's coming up on her radar, every single thing taken note of. "Group three, I would like for you to break off and go about 5 clicks to the port. Group two? Same thing but go starboard. Group 1 and I will continue to follow the more central sectors, for now." As the TIE Interceptors of Razor Squadron proceed toward battle, Gorgan muses why no real sensor-packing ships were brought along. Interceptors were for dog fighting and interception and lacked the sophisticated sensors and sensor range of other Imperial starfighters. But Gorgan has been in the game too long to question orders. Where a TIE pilot is sent, he does his commander's will without hesitation. The basics of Imperial indoctrintation, for better or for worse. As Liza gives her orders, Gorgan double-clicks his comm. in acknowledgement and then changes his headings starboard. "Group Two on me." The four starfighters keep together as they change directions and begin to break off from the rest of the squadron. "Hey, Boss," he says over their secured line, directed to Liza, wanting to bring up his issue with the lack of reconaissance ships, "Why is it that..." He's cut off by a beep. Then some more beeps. Then his HUD is lit up like Cochran. "Razor Squadron, incoming hostiles. Our first catch of the day... so far counting a full squadron of X-wings, unconfirmed more bogies further out." He mantains his calm demeanor and does not divert from his present course. "Your orders, Lead? Shall we disengage?" This is a recon, after all, and engagements are usually avoided... but, that's with basic sensor craft. These are Mark II squints. The playing field is a bit different. "Or send them to the pits of Chaos?" With his eyes equally divided between both his personal display console and the general viewscreen, Rasi answers the Caspian quickly enough. "In a galaxy with likely something in the millions and most likely much more of registered ships, Basic only has so many appropriate words that can be used and it would not do to have a warship called Fluffy or Precious." See, he can engage in banter even when in battle, that's just how they train them in the navy. With her entire compliment of fighters discharged, the Audacity's engines flare as it starts speeding towards the Imperials' position, for a ship of its size, it is not falling too much behind the fighter. Its weapons are powered upon and firing solutions fed to the various batteries and launchers. For once they have the initiative, and the Audacity has no intention to see it wasted. Due to the maneuverability of the Y-wings, in comparisons with the newer B-wing, the half of Dagger squadron composed of those vessels are instructed to take point in front of the B-wings, with the latter bringing up the absolute rear of the fighter component. Bakrak looks down at the sensor display as he observes. The Dug spies the blips on the screen and claps his feet together. "Ah... finally... it took long enough. Blow up the big one!" Lynae chuckles quietly, rare it is to have humor at all in a situation like this, perhaps that's why she and Cen get along, in spite of everything. "Can you pull up a screen that shows just the position of your ships versus theirs?" she asks. "I'd like to see how they're maneuvering in response to your fighter assets. Also, you might want to consider aiming your deep space sensors into the surrounding area from where their attack vector originated and scan for any lurking signals that may indicate latent hyper space activity. If they're holding reserves in hyperspace those tell-tales will be the only indication that anything else is in reserve." Ghost Squadron leaps ahead of the Audacity with alacrity. Kyrin's pilots are pretty much nearly the best the New Republic has to field, and their skill level is suitable to the playing field. "Target-rich environment, Phoenix," one of the other pilots comments on their private channel as they split into three flights. Kesander leads his group to the right of the main flight, and the pilot of Ghost 9 takes her group to the left, a smooth formation split to match the Imperial spread. "Focus on one ship at a time, but keep the overall venue in mind." And then, when their ships start chiming that they're in range, the X-Wings start firing at the enemy, red lasers pouring forth to deal death with a smile. Squeak and Dagger-7 are playing an old game between them, one to paint a target and the other to shoot. As Ghost splits the playing field so neatly, Dagger 5 and 7 peel off to one side while Dagger's 6 and 8 mirror their movements to the other side of the split and, the rest of the squadron filling the space between. "The big one, eh?" Squeaks remarks to Chaos then eyes the nearest Squint and, with 7's sensors already painting the target she opens fire before shifting her sensors to paint the next squint while Dagger-7 opens fire, splitting up their targets rather neatly. In some respect Sadim must fit well with Cen and Lynae as well as he is quite capable of keeping an upbeat humour inspite of the perspective fighting, "It is true that there are only so many words in Basic that provide appropriate names for ships, but there are many instances in galactic history where one language has come to influence another, and certainly within the New Republic there would be plenty of species with languages that would lend a few words to name some ships. And if all else fails just start naming ships after military heroes and literary giants." He pauses as he keeps an eye at the chances that come in various displays that may be available, "Though a few warships named Fluffy may serve to confuse your enemies to your advantage." "BAH!" Bakrak comments in frustration. "There aren't enough fighters to spit at... why are we not using these bombers to target the capital ship?" Bakrak questions rather curtly. "Destroy the chain of command at the top, I say." "Razor 5, don't banter over the comms," Capricious begins to chide her pilot as he starts to converse like he does but then, with a start, her heart begins to race as he calls out the fact that something was found. Lots of something, in fact. "Alright, men, let's get out there and start to fight! You know the routines. Fire at will and bug out if you start taking on too much damage. And damnit, no one is allowed to die!" Liza pulls hard on the stick, hands shaking from the sudden rush of excitement, causing the others she is the leader of to follow in near-unison. "Command, this is Razor 1. We have picked up targets. We are moving to interecept. Five, did you get any more readings on ships? Exact numbers and types would be nice." "Roger, Razor. We'll move as ordered. Provide cover fire." Red lights flash and sirens sound as the 'ready all hands' signal is given, and the gunners and other crew get ready for the fight. Even though Gorgan presents a calm and optimistic outlook during these missions, he can't help but feel the fear just before the guns start shooting. He doesn't want to die. He bites his lower lip as he watches the blips on his screen turn into more red blips. More than just twelve X-wings... Y-wings, B-wings, and a cruiser, judging by the sensor read-outs. Suddenly the whole tough guy, sent them to Hell Gorgan is gone, replaced by a nervous, twenty-five year old native of Taris. But he can't show weakness to his flight, to his squadron, to Liza, or any of his superiors. Certain end to a promising career. As the Republicans move in for the attack, Gorgan sits in silence for a few moments. But he's drawn out of his daze by the yelling of Liza, directed at him. "Uh... looks like we got six B-wings and six Y-wings following the X-wings. We're outnumbered..." He thinks about the proton torpedos and missiles loaded onto the Republican bombers coming his way. "And very much outgunned..." But he knows Liza will have none of it. The fight is on. "This is just supposed to be a recon... simple recon," he says to himself, muttering his contempt. Nothing can be done about it. The shooting starts, the Republic X-wings firing the first volleys. Adrenaline coursing through his system, he slips into combat mode and does his best to quell his weariness. Forming up to Liza's starboard, he diverts power to the shields and guns and begins paving the road with his laser cannons, spewing green blasts at one incoming X-wing, Ghost 3, although he wouldn't know its number. "Hey, Liza, if those bombers get past us, our corvette is vulnerable... and we'll have no way home." The Nak Shimor command is kept informed of the fight's progression with regular data dumps, and effortlessly the warship's long-range sensors are trained on where the Imperials came from, bypassing them to check for any reserves held in check by the Imperials. The viewscreen changes to show a detailed scan of the area with each group's assests shown in clear detail. With the bare minimum of movements, Rasi sends to Dagger squadron the instruction that if they find the opportunity to do so, the Y-wings should go high and the B-wings low in comparison to Ghost squadron's position. Should it work, it just might force the Tie fighters to seperate and try and chase against each half of the bomber squadron, and easing the task for Ghost squadron. And, as expected, they are informed to reserve their ion cannons for any Interceptor that should get near. Not far behind, the Audacity starts firing on the Somnium, taking great care to evade any friendly fire this early in the game. It is with this background that Rasi addresses the Caspians, "Can you imagine a cruiser or even one of our Star Destroyers named Lilith Danimos?", a very popular author though one that is as lowbrow as one can get. Shaking her head at Cen, Lynae says, "Or to have to announce to one and all that you're the commander of the Pink & Fluffy?" she asks in retort, chuckling briefly. "Worse, the XO of the Goodship Candycane, or something equally embarrassing," she murmurs. Once the screen has been established she steps forward to study the movements, listening to the com chatter and placing face to call-sign as she's come to know the personnel attached to the Audacity in the last few days. "Got any data on the ship that's standing as Center for the Imperial assets?" Dhamon watches the battery open fire on the Imperial Corvette as soon as it comes in range. With a tone of voice expressing surprise, "This doesn't look any different from a simulation. The only way I can tell this is actually happening is feeling and hearing our guns fire." Sadim continues the ship name conversation, "Sure it might be hard to say to an Imperial Grand Admiral, 'I am Captain Somebody of the Juma Juice. But imagine having to be the guy on the other end hearing that. Wouldn't it mess with your battle plan to have someone announce their ship as such. I mean wouldn't there be a split second that you would be too dumbfounded to make the normally obvious decisions?" Squeak picks up the thread of the conversation with Chaos once she's confirmed her orders from the Audacity, "Permission, Chaos, permission is required before we do something like that." She confer's briefly with the quartet of Dagger's in B-wings before opening the link to Ghost-1 and fields a brief idea that would put the Ghost's on cover fire, the quartet of Y-wings to 'plow the road' so to speak and the B-wings (Dagger squadron) to come in on the heels of the Y-wings and make a bombing run at the Imperial asset in theatre. The Dug observer from the CDU shakes his head. "Your commander lacks aggression. No wonder this war has gone on so long... he has opportunity to destroy a command ship and does not take it." Bakrak hrmphs and pouts as he is driven through space at break-neck speeds. "Ghost Lead, copy that, Squeak, your plan is a go. Good hunting." Kyrin's words are clipped by necessity, trying not to say anything that's not unnecessary. When in the thick of battle, she's never been one to engage in banter or joking around. And of late, she's not done much of that even on her own time. "Sandman," she calls over to her XO, "keep an eye on them. And on yourself, you have two on your six." She and her own wingman tilt up and around to fire at the Imperials dogging their fighters, two ships working in tandem with the eace of long practice. "Razor, this is Command. Be advised that we have multiple targets approaching your vectors. Will try to intercept their ships..." In the background voices can be heard in various levels of volume, some giving read outs while others give commands to the Corvette's gunners. It's a bit chaotic, of course, but that is the kind of chaos the Imperials are trained to handle and even love. With a sigh, Liza simple nods to herself. Of -course- there are ships heading their vectors. A fact that had been established..what. Five minutes ago? "Alright, Razor. Let's go ahead and do our thing." With the manuverability od the MKIIs, Liza feels confident that they can handle their own. Or..at least they can when not grossly outnumbered. "Razor, please remember that this is now combat." In other words..? Screw the recon notion and get to shooting, that being just what she intends to do. With a slight change in course correction, she sends herself and her three groupmates towards one of the Y-wings which is then immediately fired upon by the other three Imperial pilots. As was thought, it does't take long for the combat to begin and fighers are sent to scatter, some getting hit to various degrees, some worse thanothers, and Liza can't help but to curse as she herself is hit, causing her ship to shudder while the shields take the impact. Getting himself entangled in a useless dogfight with Republic X-wings would prove a useless jester. He can shoot down one, two, three, whatever, but, in the end, it wouldn't matter. They were just diversions. Diversions from the bombers that had now broken in two groups, "above" the X-wing flight, and "below." Since it's twelve Imperial fighters against 24 Republicans, Gorgan and his comrades are going to be hard pressed at intercepting the bombers, which are poised to destroy the corvette, their means of escape. Not to mention the enemy cruiser has now opened fire with its batteries. Gorgan runs through all the possibilities and he can only see failure in the Empire's continued presence here... even if they somehow manage to deal with these Republicans, Nak Shimor has many more in reserve... and the Imperials have none. And none of them, save the now vulnerable corvette, have hyperdrives. "Is this a suicide mission or what?" As the X-wings of Ghost Squadron return fire, one of Kyrin's bolts glance off his shields. The attack reduces shield capacity by several percentage points and shakes his starfighter up some. Not to mention his nerves. Hissing, he drops his fighter into a downward spiral, aiming to escape the dog fight with the X-wings. "Razor 6, cover my back and keep the X-wings off me; I'm going to try to get a head on the B-wings." Tanks with wings and engines attached to them, the B-wings are armored and armed to the brim, but lack speed and maneuverability... perfect targets for the fast and vicious TIE Interceptors. As X-wing fire explodes near him, Gorgan swerves left and right to avoid hit while still trying to maintain target with the lead B-wing. When he feels he has an opening, he shoots, though he's unsure if it will hit or not. "Just you wait until the enemy starts landing a few hits on--", the gunner's words are cut off as tremors shake the ship, the enemy corvette starting to pour it on thick on the Audacity. Fortunately, the shields hold and the damage is not as bad as some fear. "A corvette, Corellian CR90 corvette-class, update status uncertain. We are not aware whether or not they have carried as an extensive a modernization program as we have on our corvette elements.", the response given with the quickest of glances away from the display screen and towards the highest-ranking Caspian. The battle continues to range with the X-wings trying as best as they can to strip away the fighter screen possessed by the Somnium. In turn, the Y-wings and B-wings have divided, with the first flying above the general area of the X-wings and the B-wings below them. Divide and conquer applied at the simplest level in the Republicans' choice. And now that there are clear lines of fire to the enemy corvette, the Audacity's guns begin to open up, twin arcs of superheated plasma beginning to arc through space and racing towards the clear target. "Krayt Control to Dagger squadron, fire at will and take out that corvette. If the Ties get near, stick to the ion cannons and disable them. Our purpose here is to end this battle quickly as possible." And just because the Audacity has been asked to gather as much data as possible and if possible get a captive or two does not mean the Imperials will get anything less than the utmost. "One, Eight. I copy," Tarin says over the private Ghost comm line. He snaps off a few shots at the Tie's before they close, then notices Gorgan peeling off. "Leader, I've got two outbound towards the B-Wings. I'll take them out." Swinging his stick, he aims first towards the one acting as a wingman--Razor 6. "R4, label that squint as one." He fires off a few shots at 6 to get the Imp's attention, then says, "R4, lock on one." His finger twitches, waiting for the lock. "Perhaps," Lynae agrees quietly, "but those are fleeting moments and not a lasting plan that would cause your opponent to stumble for a long term and make crucial mistakes. However, if they're incapacitated with laughter.." a lift of one shoulder in a shrug accompanies her words towards Sadim as she continues to study the display screens as the battle unfolds. With permission given and Ghost providing a firing screen for the Y-wings, the Y-wings start trying to clear a path for the B-wings (Daggers) to dive towards the CR90 that the Empire is using as C&C for this little dance they're all swaying too at the moment. Taking point, Squeak in Dagger-5 brings her fighter around on a oblique angle, side sliding to attempt to avoid incoming fire from the Mk2's, taking a solid ship-shuddering hit as a result and spends a few moments coming up with some creative and colorful verige in response to the warning sounds, beeping and general cacophony that result from such a hit. "Dagger-5 falling back," she relays to the rest of the formation, working to bring her shields back up, falling back to the tail end of the formation and letting Dagger-7 take point while she silences the alarms. The unusual spinning by the B-wing is enough to make most sick. With the hit from the Tie fighter, the observer is starting to lose his orientation in the ship. "Ugh... I am starting to feel terrible..." Bakrak comments for Squeak as they roll around and fall back. "Well those fleetings may be all that is necessary to gain an upper hand. Or at least long enough to think of something else to confuse the enemy." Sadim pauses moving slightly to get a better look at a display, "And if nothing else the moment where the enemy is confused by the Goodship Gumdrop, can be the moment where you think of a new name for the ship and how to get back at the officer who assign you to it to begin with." Well, this is an unusual circumstance as, anyone with an iota of a braincell knows that the Empire is the ones who have numerical superiority on their side. But now, with the fighters and the bombers and the cruisers and everything else, they're getting quite the beating on. "Alright! Razor, this is a recon mission. We are apparently being outnumbered by the scuzzy NR. I want us to get back to the ship and..." And probably face all sorts of repercussions from the Marshal. But Liza can't afford to lose any pilots and she's sure as the frack too young to die." "Command, this is Razor. We are bugging out. Prepare to recieve and make the jump back to home." That said, she's banking very hard and to the left, the fighters followig suit. Seem like they feel as if they're too young to die as well. Gorgan in Razor 5 manages to avoid any further hits from the pursuing X-wings. As such, his own shots are able to find their mark on his targeted B-wing, Dagger 5. This brings something of a smile to his face, although he still can't get over his nervousness. With his successful attack, he charges his TIE forward for another attack, hopefully the killing blow, but is set back. First, his wingmate, Razor 6, is hit... bad. The damage from the Ghost is extensive and the pilot doesn't fare much of a chance... "Razor 6, get out of here! Pull back!" With his wingmate in dire straits, he loses focus and Dagger 5 is able to slip away behind the Republic formation. Cursing at losing his kill, he contemplates rushing into the Republic line and trying to dish out as much damage as possible... but rational thinking sets in. Then Gorgan finds himself in even greater trouble... as he veers away from the dog fight, he finds himself in cross-fire between the two corvettes. Cursing, the pilot does a quick dive just in time to avoid some friendly fire, almost certain to have destroyed him. As he pulls off the best maneuvers he can to avoid annihilation, Gorgan hears Liza's retreat order... finally, some sense. Not checking to see if he's pursued by the X-wing that shot his wingmate, or any other, Gorgan diverts shield power to the rear and shifts into maximum gear, accelerating at top speed towards the Empire's corvette, sacrificing maneuverability but helping his odds in racing ahead of the X-wings. "...Roger that, Lead... RTB. I didn't even get to kill any of them." But despite his cocky words, Gorgan is happy and relieved that the retreat was sounded. He's still nervous, for he knows what lies ahead in these next crucial minutes of retreat. Sure, they can pull back to the ship, but the corvette has to lower her shields to allow them to land. The docking procedures themself are not fast. It will leave the corvette very vulnerable... and the starfighters sitting ducks for a time being. One well placed torpedo at the hangar... and it's over. But Gorgan just smiles, hoping for the best... The HIMS Somnium was in trouble, the small recon force designed to gather intel on the enemy in the region was taken by a NR assault force, and the small fighter squadron it had would not hold out forever with the force they were facing. Not to mention the NR fighter/bomber firepower was far greater than what the Empire fielded, and the corvette itself was in danger as well. Requests had been put into command for relief, and the captain was just giving the order over the comm channel to the fighters. "Keep them occupied as we move out and engage the hyperdrive. Disengage and recall with all due haste, we need out of here now." It's not that they were retreating, their mission gave them orders to gather intel and avoid serious engagements. And in this case, they were far into a fight. However, what the NR probably realized that reinforcements would come quickly - this was a frontline and active combat zone... Bigger ships with bigger guns were not that far away. The order to fall back came moments before the Razor squadron commander called their withdrawl. At an angle roughly perpendicular to the fight that was happening between the two ships sensors on both sides start to pick up a new signal - something else was jumping into system. As to their actual affiliation - that was still unknown but they were quickly racing into the fight. The size of them put them in the fighter class, and it appeared a full squadron had arrived. Still to reveal himself, Krieg thinks that they were arriving to this fight just in time to bail out the recon force. To his crew he says, "Power up all weapons, standby full assault. Target main vessel and other fighters/bombers as secondary. We'll fire off a full salvo, then jump in to bail the fighters out." The squadron had orders to engage, then withdraw after the corvette and other fighters were clear, and today was no exception to the rule. And for now, they keep their radios silent, still out of the fight right now but soon would be revealed. "Leader, Eight." Tarin says into the Ghosts' comm as he swings his fighter around. "Permission to pursue and try and knock out a few more squints?" As he speaks he diverts most of his shield power to fore, and the rest to engines, beginning to gun after Razor 5 unless he hears orders to withdraw. "R4, paint that squint for me." Once the astromech signals a lock, Tarin snaps out two torpedos at Gorgon. It is therefore a good thing that the Audacity had its long-range sensors in overdrive, no doubt thanks to a certain Caspian familiar with engagements such as these and the standard Imperial MO. The sensors begin to scream bloody murder, so to speak, when an entirely new group of dots and the like are suddenly spotted, newcomers to the fight. As soon as he is informed, Rasi turns to the Commander, "A good call.". He asks to be transmitted over to the cockpit of all the flight leaders, "Krayt Control, we have new enemies incoming into the battle area. Estimate a full fighter squadron, if not more. We most likely will not be able to take any captives, permission to fire at will at anything that moves and deal as much damage as possible. That includes training your weapons on any Ties you see, Dagger squadron, though only if the corvette is inaccessible or makes a less likely target. Do not get yourself damaged because you were not paying attention and no heroics out there, Audacity will try and delay the arrival of the new squadron. Krayt out." A blasphemy to any fighter pilot, and especially to X-wing pilot, but that's that. The Audacity, its natural speed and maneuverability put to full use in this, began to move such that at least some of its weapons faced the newcomers while still concentrating on the corvette, more power was drawn to its shields to reduce the damage that could be taken. Lynae is standing alongside Cen on the bridge of the Audacity when the sensors start to sound out the warning for the new contacts. While she cannot state for a certainty that they are enemy.. "Better to be prepared in the eventuality that they are, Commander, and apologize profusely if they are not," she says quietly. A glance at Rasi and she knows that he's recognized this maneuver to be similar to the one she pulled at Coruscant and again in the war games. "Gnik," she says to Sadim, "are there any naturally occurring asteroid fields, or even debris fields, that are in the immediate vicinity?" Breaking from the banter he has been engaged in since the point, Sadim turns his attention now to business. Interjecting into the talk of the new maneuvers, the Lieutenant says, "Might I suggest seeing that we have a reasonable expectation of what sort of assault is coming that we alter the shield allocations slighty." The Lieutenant then taps on the console and brings up a display of what changes he has in mind for the allocation. He then responds to the question of his own superior, "No objects within immediate tractor range, but with enough time and successful maneuvers I believe we might be able to find something to serve your thoughts Commander." Still working to make the ad-hoc and temporary repairs that'll silence the rest of the alarms, Dagger-5 slides to the aft-most segment off the formation and picks up the relay from the Audacity. Squeak immediately shifts her sensors to ping off of the new contacts in system. "Daggers, fall back to my mark," instructs, "Y-wings, shift attack focus and run fighter screen with Ghost. Ghost," she says, shifting from one channel to the next, "fall back as well, be advised that the enemy target may have been a decoy and the inbound asset may be the main show," she warns. With the TIEs screaming towards the Somnium, Liza barely takes the time to wait for the shields to be lowered. Some of the more rookie pilots do decelorate, much to their doom as two of them get shot in the butt and caused to explode almost immeditately. That's something Capricious notices out of the corner of her eye. "Remind me to start writing letters to send to the families of the pilots we lost, Five." The landing is by no means acceptable by Imperial regulations but that's a moot point in the Sarian's mind, and she would've killed several techs if she hadn't already notified Command of their pending return. With the shields still down, she simply waits in the cockpit of her fighter until atmosphere within the hangar is restored. Gorgan is at the end of his rope. The world is crumbling around him. The rebels are gaining, the corvette is a sitting duck without shields, and this and that, and there's no hope at all. Two of his nearby comrades explode, shrapnel shooting out and making a mess of things. Woe. "Lead... we'll do those letters together. But if we don't make it out of here, I just want you to know that it's been a pleasure flying with you. If we do make it back, I want to take you out for dinner. Eh, what do you say?" So much is going on. He lets the doubt fill his voice, losing his cool, calm demeanor and cocky attitude. He doesn't care anymore. As he approaches the corvette at blazing speeds, warning lights sound off. Two proton torpedos, closing in fast on his rear... oh Maker, please, no! Giving his best battle cry, Gorgan executes a swift nose dwive, nearly sending him out of his seat if it were not for his safety harness. He fights to hold back the feeling of puking. But he did it... the torpedos, not seekers like concussion missiles, over shoot him and explode. Unfortunately, the explosion of proton torpedoes are not a pretty sight... The blast hits his TIE, sending him flying out of control from the concussion. His shields drop and his hull is exposed. He fights to regain control, struggling with the throttle to level out. At first it's unresponsive, the stars spinning outside his view port in a dizzying spectacle. But calling on his two years of experience and years of academy training, Gorgan manages to regain control. Just in time to see the reinforcements moving in to assist. "Gyah... thank the Maker! I need some covering fire. Shields are down!" With his warning lights flaring due to the damage, he accelerates once more towards the corvette, preparing docking procedures. Bakrak glances around as Dagger-5 falls back into defensive positions. "WHAT! Why are we not engaging?" The Dug grabs the barf bag with his feet and finaly looses his dinner. It seems the Republic's mess food and the B-wing's unusual propulsion and suspension systems have upset the dug's stomach. It's something the HIMS Somnium and crew practice, but really wish not to execute. Combat-hot landings to an immediate hyperspace jump - not fun all the way around and people usually got hurt in the process. The only thing that saves the day is the skill and expertise of the Imperial pilots. The Captain is ready and waiting for their withdraw, and is very grateful to the new distraction. The Marshal in the lead element that just dropped in from hyperspace, piloting a Skipray blastboat calls on the comm, "Captain, get that Corvette out of here, we'll cover." He knew full well what they were doing, and it was pretty clear to all sides that they represented a full wolfpack. With their guns trained and torpedos ready, the squadron fires off the first salvo at the Audac, more designed to spark their attention and draw heat/fire from the retreating friendly forces. For now, his only conversation is with the captain of the Somnium. The rest of his pilots know the job they've been assigned. Though a second thought crosses his mind and he calls in the clear. "This is Omega squadron responding. Rebel forces in the area are ordered to withdraw or surrender, there is a Victroy star destroyer inbound at this time." "Krayt Control to Ghost Squadron, peel off immediately and head towards the incoming squadron, keep them off our backs. Dagger Squadron continue hammering at that corvette and any Ties you see.", the Audacity quickly transmits to its fighter compliment, meanwhile its gunners taking the relatively open field they have to continue firing everything they have into the corvette. There is a good chance it might escape, but hopefully she will have to limp back home. The shields on the Audacity are quickly brought back to as close to optimum quality as possible, and that sector that currently faces the incoming Skiprays should they wish to suddenly fire on the Marauder-class the Republic has brought for this engagement. Sadim's recommendations are taken into consideration and some of them are even put through, apparently the fellow's quite handy with Marauders. "Omega Squadron, HIMS Somnium, please be informed that the Nak Shimor garrison has been informed and anywhere from two to three Assault Frigates and an MC80 should be dropping out of warp immediately. Lay down your weapons, power down and drop your shields, you will be boarded immediately. Depending on your level of cooperation, you may look forward to the pleasant recreational facilities and meals provided by New Republic Correctional Services. NRCV Audacity, out.", and just like that, the comm channel is cut. Really, if it's going to get down to this level of ridiculous, Rasi might as well get in his kicks. Shortly after that message is transmitted, Ghost squadron begins to disengage itself, not that hard to do given that there aren't that many enemy fighters still dashing about. With bright ion trails marking their passage and their wings spread, the X-wings begin to race towards the newcomers just as the Audacity begins to turn into a more advantgeous spot. After the Omegas unleashed their first volley of torpedos upon the Audac, it was clear that neither side was willing to surrender. Though for formality, Krieg figured he should at least put that out there. Though there was something else the operation orders had clearly stated for him to do, and that was on the tip of the tongue as he transmits into the open in that thick, neutral toned Corellian accent. "This is Marshal Inrokana of Task Force Inquisitor. I assure you sending more forces in on your part is most unwise. If you are willing to throw your forces away, I say send them and at the end of the day we'll see who controls the space over Nak Shimor." Clicking the comm off he says to his crew, "Send orders to the Skips to break off into two groups and stay out of the range of the X-Wings. Keep them off the Corvette longe enough for them to clear away, then we're gone as well." Lynae stands silently beside Cen as the familiar voice rings out of the com system, a voice she recognizes long before he gets around to introducing himself. A voice that she once trusted implicitly. A voice that she once trusted to offer advice, and to go into combat with and fight alongside and see through to the end. She turns ever so slightly and speaks to Cen before, with a series of low voiced back and forths, a console is readied though a filter is enabled to disguise her voice so that while it is clear that the speaker is female it is not clear who the speaker is. "And I assure you that the forces that you continue to send into theatre will be met with, in kind, and dealt with accordingly, Marshall," Lynae replies via com in a tone of voice that is both cold and somehow manages to convey a dripping measure of scorn at the same time. "Your recon element was identified and dealt with and has already retreated. If you'd had more forces they'd already be in system and powering up. Fall back, Marshall, now is not the time nor the place for a game of stand-off." She pauses then says, "Bring it." The name, while familiar, plays little to dissuade Rasi that this is one hard-earned victory to add to his column, one more notch on his uniform, or whatever the saying is. When the Caspian group's head requests to respond to that little tidbit, Rasi simply nods and begins transmitting orders for the Audacity's guns to focus on the corvette and strengthen its shields. The Skiprays can't be destroyed or damaged to a great degree before they run, at least not by the Audacity, however the Somnium is just a wide-open target that itches to be picked on some more. The tremendous shaking that the Audacity undergoes when it gets hit not enough to throw the XO off-balance though he does have to catch himself on a nearby console lest he tip over. "I believe you have our response, as before. Withdraw or lose.", again the comm chatter is cut, the X-wings now beginning to get in hot pursuit of the Skiprays if only to drive them away from within range of the Audacity. Chuckling to himself in the cockpit Krieg merely thinks that someone new is in town, which was odd for the NR to put in such a backwater place an officer that seems to be competent for once. With the Corvette having taken on the last of the fighters and jumping into hyperspace (albeit with rather significant damage in some areas), it too was time for them to leave. Not before he could impart the last of his words upon them. Having the one half of the squadron jump from the different direction he leads the other half to their jump location, radioing back, "It seems that you all are desperate and are sending your most interesting female commander to a frontline location like this. Perhaps there is hope for you all afterward. And I am glad you'll come and fight, having you all run is so troublesome. We will see you all again." And with that, they enter hyperspace as well, not even looking for a response. The fight's over, one more engagement survived and this one is certainly one of its more successful ones. The long range sensors are kept at full power, the nearby area blanketed with frequent scans just in case there are more Imperials to be found. The shuttle bay's doors open and priority is given to the damaged fighters, and those that need to be towed as well as the B-wings what with their slower hyperdrives. "Well said Commander. We'll launch small sensor drones into that field over there.", the nearest asteroid belt pointed out on a nearby screen that has a wide map of the entire system. "That way we should have an idea if something of the sort is attempted again. After picking up anything of interest, we'll head to Nak Shimor where we'll undergo quick repairs and from there back to our patrol."
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