Foothold

[Eisa Swan]

The mission ahead was in itself relatively simple, infiltrate behind the Pirate lord's lines and take out the defences stationed around the concealed fighter base hidden away within the canyon - so that the drop ships carrying the Alliance's ground troops can capture the base. On paper it was pretty clear cut, in reality however things may turn out not to be so simple! Carrying out a lightning strike raid on the base, without alerting the early warning systems or being detected on the bases scanners - required traversing the tight winding caverns was one thing, doing so in the dead of night without spotlights was another.

Even a seasoned fighter pilot would be hesitant to sign up for the mission, it was perhaps why the pilots who were assigned the task were pulled from the Jedi members of the Squadron's Ranks. The thought process was that the Force Sensitive pilots would be able to safely navigate the canyon run, relying on their connection to the Force to guide them through the perilous course. At the lead of the flight group was Star three, the ashen haired Jedi Master. Following on her wing was one of the squadron's newest recruits, a young Padawan who held the call sign Star Twelve - the young dark haired Bothan had shown great potential during his previous assignment, a promising new addition to not only the squadron but the Jedi order as well.

Sighing as the canopy wipers rocked back and forth, frantically attempting to sweep away the driving rain that was pelting the transparisteel casing of the cockpit, creating a film that reduced visibility. "Flying in the night is one thing.... But in the middle of a rain storm!" Eisa muttered over the comms channel, as she toggled a dial to adjust the wiper speed. "I really should of reviewed the weather patterns whilst planning this campaign" she added, before a frown curled on her features as her droid, Ditto chirped in his own sarcastic jibe back at the Jedi Master.

Sighing in resignation, Ditto had a valid point despite the jibe - the base would not be expecting anyone suicidal enough to traverse the canyon in the middle of a thunder storm, something that would hopefully play to the their advantage. "Right Star Twelve, keep tight on my tail and allow the Force to guide you, reach out and feel your surroundings allow the Force to be your eyes" Eisa resumed over the channel, giving the young padawan a few words of guidance before they traversed too deeply into the depths of the canyon run. Although she had no doubt that like her, Kyi would have studied the topography scans of the region, running blindly into a rocky slalom with the route committed to memory could only go so far.

Taking a deep breath, Eisa followed on her own guidance and channelled the Force through her. Allowing her minds eye to open into the currents of the Force, viewing the surrounding terrain through the shimmering light blue hues of her Force sight. "Right lets do this" Eisa spoke out, breaking the brief silence that fell between the two fighters. "Once we hit the base of the trench, maintain comms silence" She added, before the exhausts of her fighter flared into a burst of bright light as the pilot opened the throttle of her fighter before sweeping her craft down towards the base of the canyon.

 

[Kye Gruukran]

The Bothan couldn't help but feel the weight of this mission. He had danced with danger in the past - several times - but this time everything seemed more dramatic. Flying quickly in atmo, rain, lightning, and he was flying Master Swan's wing. His heart raced in excitement.

"Right Star Twelve, keep tight on my tail and allow the Force to guide you, reach out and feel your surroundings allow the Force to be your eyes" Swan's voice crackled through their comm channel.

"Copy that, Shtar Three. I've got you covered." He pulled up on the throttle slightly bringing his fighter as close as he could while still having space to maneuver safely. He reached out with the force to the surroundings, but also towards the Jedi Master. Flying in unison was always hard. Flying unison through a canyon in poor weather necessitated the force.

"Right lets do this" Eisa spoke out, breaking the brief silence that fell between the two fighters. "Once we hit the base of the trench, maintain comms silence" Kye clicked his comm channel twice in a silent affirmative and followed Star Three down toward the canyon.

It was time.

@Plebometer

 

[Karath Gaath]

As if this mission wouldn't be difficult enough, he had to be flying a forty-meter-long freighter for it. Karath made his third mental note since takeoff: I'm going to need a drink if I get through this. Some distance ahead, he could see the drive flares of his comrades' fighters through the lashing rain; his sole guiding lights on approach to the mouth of the canyon. Beyond that, he would be relying only on the Force to see him safely to the other side.

"Star Three, Star Twelve, this is Star Sixteen - apologies for the late arrival. Be advised, I'll likely take longer than you to navigate the canyon. Order of comms silence acknowledged."

Click. Off went the communicator, for the time being. Taking a deep, steadying breath, the Padawan kept his eyes firmly forward and lowered altitude just a tad. Kye and Master Eisa would enjoy much more manoeuvrability than him; his larger ship would have to pick its way through the canyon at a much more ponderous pace. Slow and steady was the way forward.

When the fighters' drive flares disappeared from view, Karath felt himself taking another breath. No going back now. Keeping her current crawling speed, Revelation entered the canyon a short while behind the others.

@Plebometer @jamessour

 

[Eisa Swan]

An eyebrow arched up in a curious expression upon the ashen haired Master's features as the comms channel flared up with Star Sixteen declaring his arrival and apologising for his late arrival, the curious look melded into one of bemusement as Ditto chirped out from the droid mount sited behind her cockpit. "Yeah I can see that Ditto" Eisa responded as her gaze lifted away from her ship's scanner read out, her lips pursing in thought as she regarded the fact that Karath was flying his freighter. "Not sure if he's actually early or not" she continued responding back to her droid. "If he's carrying some of the ground Forces, then he's definitely early, but if not we can do with the extra fire power" she added, before banking her fighter downwards into a knife edge dive to manoeuvre her fighter under a large rock bridge that spanned over the chasm.

Whether Karath was carrying a portion of the ground team, or if he had just simply shown up in perhaps the bulkiest of craft to navigate the slalom. It didn't really matter all that much to the Jedi Master, she knew that the young Padawan was a fledgling to the squadron - naturally knowing in time he will grow within the squadron, with each mission came a learning curve that will allow the young pilot to develop his skills and to an extent his decision making when selecting a craft as part of his sortie preparation. Shaking her mind clear of the coming mission debriefing and what words of guidance she would provide to the Padawan, once the base had been secured and they could set down their respective craft - Eisa cleared her mind away of the thoughts and focused on the Force and the rippling currents that was allowing her to see beyond the view from her cockpit windshield.

A sudden burst of light emanated from the rear of the cygnet's exhaust ports, as its ashen haired pilot pulled on the throttle a little more. Accelerating the fighter closer to it's full speed, although she would be taking the course ahead of her at a faster speed, the knock on affect would be the additional light flare from her engine's exhaust would allow to better illuminate the canyon path that she left in her wake, aiding in the visibility for the craft that were following behind her.

Eisa's eyes narrowed as her focus increased, the flow of the Force intensifying through the Jedi master as she positioned her fighter ready to traverse the winding valley of the canyon. With a sharp rolling motion, the cygnet spun onto it's left side as it passed underneath what looked like a suspension bridge of sorts - as soon as she had cleared the bridge, Eisa pulled up on her control yoke, easing the fighter into a tight angled turn that followed the contour of the meandering bend. As soon as the threshold of the bend had been crossed, the ashen haired Jedi rolled her fighter a 180 degrees back to her right, before following suit with another tight hairpin climb around the winding path of the canyon.

Her lips curling into a slight smile beneath her flight helmet, revelling somewhat at the challenge that she was finding herself with. She had done low altitude canyon runs before, mostly as a means to evaluate a fighter's manoeuvrability or as a means of keeping her training honed. But on all of those occasions it was carried out under controlled conditions, particularly high visibility and no thunderstorms raging over head. This was something that if she was being honest, was just adding fuel to an adrenaline junkie's high - old habits of a teenage thruster head obsessed with engine power and speed died hard.