The Fires of Endor

[Greybok]

There was a lurch as Star Squadron burst from the bright veil of hyperspace back into the dark void of realspace. Ahead loomed a verdant moon orbiting a pale blue gas giant: the forest moon of Endor. The moon was oft spoken of in many smuggler's tales, but it was worthless otherwise. Worthless to all but two entities: Czerka Corporation and the rebellion against the Sith Empire. Czerka wanted the native Ewoks. Their pelts sold for good money, as did their meat in the form of Ewok jerky. They were also somewhat useful as slave labor. For the rebellion on the other hand, it was just one more clandestine moon that had the potential for a base outside of the watchful eyes of the Sith Empire.

Greybok took his starfighter and swung onto a course that would take him straight for their destination: a Czerka landing pad that needed to be removed to ensure rebel operations could thrive undetected on and around Endor. He switched on his comm unit and broadcast a message to his squadron. Without Twobee, he had no droid to translate his Shyriiwook into Basic. However, fortunately, the main displays on each of the ships would translate his speech for him.

This is Star Leader to Star Squadron: I am transmitting the coordinates of our target to your navicomputers now. Let's make this short and clean. The Wookiee pilot reached up and flipped a few switches that would give power to his weapon systems. He then said, Everyone form up on me and report in. Remember: stay in formation until you receive orders to engage. This is a training mission and I don't want to send anyone back to base in a body bag—unless you're okay being buried on Hoth, that is.

He switched off his comm, but remained on the channel so that he could hear everyone report in. He then focused on maintaining his course and watching his instruments for any sign of trouble. So far, so good, but, as he was well-acquainted with now, shit could hit the fan at any moment. @Wit, @Cazar, @Plebometer, @Lazy Swordsman, @Kayenta Moenkopi, and @Insalius

 

[Omnis Waszylla]

The Magnum reverted from hyperspace, Omnis grinning as he spied the moon that would have their objective on it. This ship spoke to his soul and lineage, hoping his ancestor Dennys would have approved of the style. He saw the others near him start to get in formation, meaning he had to drift over to his appropriate spot. Even though he hadn't been trained in a formal military environment, Omnis knew the importance of appearances. In this case, it would lead to actual training, then actual skill. He wanted to set a good example so he did hist best, getting his weapons and bombs set as he read the orders from Captain Greybok. "Star Ten, standing by." He felt pretty good saying those simple words, as if it sealed him in place as a member of Star Squadron. Now just to save the innocent Ewoks from their Czerka oppressors. It was time for JUSTICE.

 

[Mig Cabra]

The newly acquired bomber roared to life as Mig pushed the accelerator forward. This beauty was the Gotal's pride and joy. Their mission seemed simple enough but Greybok did call it a training mission. Mig would do all he could to learn to fly the bomber within the squadron. It was a vital role that he thought he would enjoy playing. Certainly not something his parents had taught him how to do. Mig was just supposed to be a Mechanic supporting a rebel cause. Now he was doing so much more.

"Star Four, reporting in! Yay!" He chimed over the comms in response to Greybok, not needing to read the translation to know what he said.

Mig positioned the bomber into formation opposite of the other bomber behind Star Leader. A quick systems check showed that they were fully loaded and ready for ordinance dropping. The ship was still running on a skeleton crew, just Mig, so it was a bit tougher. He simply would have to trust his squadron mates to defend his ship from enemies while he did the bombing. He planned to get a crew of loyal Gotal rebels to man the turrets later.

@Malon

 

[Eisa Swan]

Easing her hand off of the throttle, the young teenaged pilot, watched as her flightspeed matched that of the rest of the squadron. A resigned groan escaped the teens lips as the rolled up sleeves of her standard issue flight suit, slid down and fell over her hand. Grumbling a little the teen raised the covered hand upwards her mouth, using her teeth to pull the sleave back over her hand whilst maintaining a steady trajectory.

Carefully placing her now liberated hand on the yoke, the teen alternated between hands to forcefully yank the sleeves up each arm. Hopefully they'll stay in place, the added use of the Force to tighten the rolled fabric, should also ensure that the sleeves of the over sized flight suit stay in place.

Looking up to the main console screen as she heard a series of barks and howls crackle over the comms channel, the teen read the transcribed messages that were being relayed and translated by the ship's computer. Pressing her thumb against the comms channel, Eisa waited for the channel to go quiet long enough to sign in. As she fully depressed the stud the fiery haired teen spoke out. "Star Three, standing by"

 

[Ner Giza]

As soon as the coordinates for the rendezvous were transmitted, the smuggler made the transition through hyperspace. Reappearing with a precision that amazed her, she noted the presence of her squad mates winking into existence all around her. The sight caused her to grin, the expectation growing for this would be the first time she had been part of such a large squad. It was twice as many ships as her last mission and more than double the firepower. Her eyes went to Mig’s bomber causing her to whistle through her teeth in envy.

Soon enough she was receiving the address from Commander Greybok, reading their orders from the view screen. A bleep on the nav com went off indicating the target coordinates had been received, noting how silent it was without 99 grumping about an upgrade .

Moving into formation she pressed the comm, ”Star Seven, standing by”, she said. Mindful of the directive to stay in formation she made what minor adjustments she could. Although it wasn’t the way she was used to flying, she managed to tighten up her position. Her hand reached out to power up her weapons, eyes alert to the readings on the console waiting for the strike to begin.

 

[Aurelian Keth]

The Grey Ghost broke into real space with a flash of blue light. The Starfighter tilted slightly through the darkness of space as Star Six realigned his vectors to line up for an approach to the gleaming emerald of a moon. The forest moon of Endor was the planned destination of Star Squadron today. It would be the first step by every member of the Squadron to begin chipping away at the Czerka Corporations unethical actions in the Sector. The Squadrons target was to be a landing pad used by hunters employed by the cruel table. The idea that hunters where killing a sentient species for profit was abhorrent to the Padawan, he couldn’t understand the kind of evil it took to do such a terrible thing.

With one hand on the control stick he made a slight course correction while the other hand pushed on the throttle as he accelerated in his approach towards the moon and fell in with the other visible Malla-class Starfighters which where accompanied by two bombers. Aurelian had no idea that there would be anything more than the assigned subfighters in the Squadron but he blessed their luck that there would be. The HX5 Starlightnings where slower and more sluggish than the Starfighters but they had defensive shields, a copious amounts of bombs and torpedos as well as more potent lasers. The only worry Aurelian had was that it was the hyperactive Mig that piloted one of the dangerous crafts.

Aurelian found he was enjoying being part of the squadron more than he’d expected. He usually hated combat missions, preferring diplomacy but something about the thrill of flying the small ship spoke to him. He also had discovered a great joy in toying with ships itself. Even this earlier he had already started looking into more upgrades, or better alternatives, to the lightly armed and poorly defended fighters.

Barks and growls came over the communication line which broke Aurelian out of his ponderings. He glanced down at the primary monitor as it translated the Wookie’s speech. Smiling he flicked the activation switch for the comms-link on his end.

“Star Six standing by.”

 

[Alysanne Drast]

As a light began blinking on her heads-up-display, indicating imminent reversion to real-space, Alys flicked a few switches on the control panel to switch off the holovid she had been watching to pass the time during their journey through hyperspace. As the countdown began for reversion, she sat up in her seat, eager to get her first look of the planet. "Endor.." She said dramatically as the lines of hyperspace vanished to reveal the gas giant, her voice deep and gravely as she tried to imitate a movie villain, "the dragon!"

She had seen a movie named Enter the Dragon on Spaceflix only a few days ago, and had been waiting to make the joke ever since Master Reach had briefed them on the upcoming mission. And even though she was the only one who got to hear her joke, it got a good laugh out of her. She was happily chuckling away as the squadron began checking in over the comms, till she noticed her mic had been on all along. The laughter froze on her lips as she realized that everyone had heard that.

Too horrified to say anything else, she tried to compose her voice as best as she could as she fell into formation. "Star One standing by."

 

[Greybok]

The Malla starfighter's main display screeched a warning as Star Squadron neared Endor's atmosphere. Greybok glanced down to see eight targets coming up on his main display. Initial readings named them as standard Czerka snubfighters, likely the protectors of the landing pad. Greybok flipped a switch on his comm and opened up a broadcast to the rest of his squadron. Star Squadron, this is Star Leader. We have enemy fighters inbound. Divert power to weapons and you are clear to engage! And try to help each other out—tell us if you run into trouble!

He cut the comm, marked the nearest incoming fighter, diverted power to his weapons and then waited for the main display to paint a yellow box around his chosen target. Soon after, the box went green and Greybok slammed on the trigger, sending a volley of fire into the incoming fighter. Without shields, the snubfighter exploded spectacularly and Grey punched ahead through the explosion so that he could swing around and help the others. Almost immediately, he noticed the other Czerka fighters begin to break formation and loose their cohesiveness. He deduced that he had gotten their leader. Without their leader, they would be demoralized. Now, the squadron just needed to clean up the rest. @Wit, @Cazar, @Plebometer, @Lazy Swordsman, @Kayenta Moenkopi, and @Insalius

 

[Mig Cabra]

Mig loved his new bomber and thought it was a ton of fun. It could make things explode in spectacular fashion. Now was the time to give the first test of how explosive this thing really could be against fighters. While he was not manning the turrets with anything during this mission, he could easily fire a torpedo at an enemy. He was at least a bit better than a hunk of durasteel to be escorted to a target. The Gotal lined up an enemy fighter on his computer and was just about to fire when it seemed to stall.

"It stopped?" Mig said to himself without turning on the comms. "Oh well."

A single button press sent a powerful proton torpedo towards the fighter that had stopped at the sight of its leader being destroyed so easily. It was hard to tell, but the pilot probably did not see the torpedo coming before he or she died. Mig's projectile collided with the cockpit of the fighter and ripped it into tiny bits. That was another one out of the fight right away. A cheer emitted from Mig over the comms as he wanted everyone to celebrate his victory with him.

@Malon

 

[Ner Giza]

DC ​

Having switched the power to her weapons when she arrived, Ner’Giza wet her lips and flexed her fingers in the air even as Commander Greybok launched his strike. There was something exhilarating about watching their leader fly right headlong into the flames of the craft his shot had just exploded in thin air. ”SO bad ASS!!!” she yelled, though no one could hear. The silence in flight, something she was not used to, didn’t even dampen her spirits a bit.

It was cool as mynock spit!

Only she didn’t want to get the Blue Angle covered in soot on her maiden voyage so she broke formation to cut a sharp arcing maneuver round the flames and found herself lined up with not one, but two of the Czerka snub nose fighters in her sights. Without hesitation she fired her shot at the near vessel which broke apart on impact sending the cockpit straight through his wing man’s craft. No doubt, she thought, by the time she lined up for a second run this engagement would be over. What was the matter with these guys? She thought they were supposed to be so deadly?

Spoiler

4/8 snub nose killed

 

[Aurelian Keth]

DC ​

The monitor began bleeping it’s warnings as they began their final approach towards Endor. The sensors seemed to pick up eight fighters coming their way, subfighters – standard Czerka models, probably not much worse than the Malla-Class fighters that Star Squadron was using. Well nothing was ever easy for the Alliance was it? Greybok’s voice came over the squadron’s shared communications with the translation appearing on the primary monitor.

“Understood Star Leader.” he replied before cutting his comms off.

He watched as Greybok slammed straight through the Czerka formation taking out the enemy craft in a single swoop. Aurelian whistled in appreciation of the Wookie’s skills. It also seemed that the enemy fighters immediately lost their ability to keep formation. It appeared that whoever Greybok had just killed was either their leader or a respected ace... or both.

Another shout erupted over the comms as Mig just after an explosion lit up space to the Grey Ghost’s right. Aurelian shook his head but smiled faintly. The Gotal certainly was an excitable one. A few moments later the Blue Angel took down two fighters of it’s own.

Aurelian lined up one of the Czerka fighters that seemed to have given up fleeing and was turning to make a pass at the rebels. Just as his targeting computer was about to get a lock the Ghost shook heavily causing the Padawan to curse. It appeared that one of his engines was misfiring and operating at less than 100% efficiency. Luckily a mixture of Aurelian’s training and the Czerka pilot being shook by Greybok’s opening assault meant the rebel made a recovery. Lining up the shot once more he fired his laser cannon. The bolts ripped over the cockpit and without shields it was torn apart by the attack. The Grey Ghost flew past the snubfighter just as it exploded.

Muttering under his breath Aurelian began rebooting the second engine to see if that would correct the previous issue. As he did so he came around for another pass but swung wide knowing he would continue to move at a slower velocity than the rest of his squadron until the engine finished it’s restart.

Spoiler

3/8 Czerka fighters remaining

 

[Eisa Swan]

Keeping a steady trajectory as the young teen pilot kept the Cygnet flying with the formation. Eisa couldn't help but shake tge sensation tgat something was wrong with her flight suit, despite it being somewhat baggy and loose on the girls petite frame. There was something digging into her side, taking hold of the control yoke with one hand whilst the teen twisted her lower body about in the seat. Her freed up hand moving into the folds of the pocket where the stray object felt like it was located, a confused look spread over the teen's features as she retrieved a piece on candy out of her pocket.

Furrowing her brow as she examined the stow away, Eisa tried to recall whether she had been offered any or simply bought some and forgotten about it. Though her recollections were to no avail, Un wrapping it with a well practiced twist of her fingers the teen looked it over, her emerald eyes investigating the slightly squished toffee, before eventually shrugging and popping it into her mouth.

The timing if which, couldn't have been worse as the next series of instructions came crackling over the comms channel. Gritting her teeth at the prospect of responding with her mouth currently gummed up with thr chewy candy, the teen pressed down on the mic control stuff. "Schtar. .. Thwee.. Ack. nowl.. ledged" Eisa responded doing her best not to give away that despite the fact they were about to go hot and engage, she was somewhat busy with a particularly chewy sweet.

Still it was over and done with, and any lingering thoughts of embarrassment would soon be cut short as she got sensor locks for the approaching fighters. Reaching over and Toggling a few switches the teen primed all her systems before taking a tight control of the yoke, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before the engagement kicked off.

As soon as the first laser shot was fired, the engines of the Cygnet flared up into life, as the pilot threw the throttle into full and broke formation, breaking off towards the port side of the engagement zone, her eyes narrowing as she focused her gaze on one of the flanking Czerka fighters, her finger lingering over the weapons trigger, ready for the target locking tone to ring out.

No sooner than the High pitched tone sounded, the teen squeezed the trigger, opening fire on the fighter as she cut towards her target's underside of its forward hull. Crimson streaks of laser fire flashing out from the wing mounted laser cannons, streaking a path along its exposed under belly. The laser fire tearing through the hull of the ship before it violently explored, forcing the teen to suddenly bank of to her right in a combined yawing and nose down dive to avoid the blast radius. The teens brow furrowing as she could hear debris bouncing off of the hull of her ship.

Instinctively the teen pulled back on her flight controls, throwing the ship into a tight roll, as she broke off from her evading maneuver. Her eyes scanning out of the full extent if her cockpit, keeping track if the various ship's movements around her. Her eyes focusing on a fighter that was moving away form her. Leveling off the Cygnet the teen went into a tight pursuit, flashes of Crimson laser fire scattering around its hull, purposefully encircling it to leave minimal openings to evade the pursuing teen rebel.

As the scattering laser fire closed in on the exposed rear of the fighter, the teen cast her gaze over towards the targeting computer of her fighter, lining up thr reticule with the ship, before firing off two concentrated rounds into the exposed light hull plating arounf the targets engines. The laser fire hitting true and tore it's way through the ship, sending it spiralling wildly out of control before exploding. Banking off the Cygnet broke off its pursuit and maneuvered into a wide circling trajectory, intending to keep clear of the others flight path as well as to afford her tge opportunity to highlight any further targets.

OOC: scratch 2 more 1/8 remain

 

[Alysanne Drast]

Having seen Grey take out the first enemy fighter so easily, Alys was left a little awed and more than a little carried away. And so as everyone engaged in combat, she searched for a ship to face off against and as she spotted one she let herself be outmaneuvered by the fighters. Having been lucky enough to find one of the fleeing fighters, she had tried to make quick work of it by shooting straight at it and beginning to shoot as she got within range for her lasers. But in her excitement she overshot her approach and somehow found herself running from the fighter.

Weaving this way and that, she did her best to avoid the laser fire the fighter was now raining down on her, but every now and then a shot would land, and then another, and then another. The fighter was slowly eating away at her ship, and though she had been lucky to have avoided a direct hit, it was only a matter of time. She had to do something to shake it off, and she was quickly running out of time. So as conventional means didn't work, she went for the unconventional, and pulled back completely on her accelerator. Her ship slowed down suddenly and dramatically, the sudden deceleration making her body whip ahead against the safety constraints, her head still slamming into a panel.

But the trick had worked, and the enemy fighter whizzed past her, shooting ahead and lining up perfectly for her to fire one of her missiles. Even as she wiped the blood from her eyes, the fighter exploded. Only then was she able to spare a moment to see what was happening all around, and was surprised to realize that she was the last one to disengage. Everyone else has already taken care of the remaining ships. Already? What had she missed?

"Was that it?" She sounded genuinely confused as she spoke up, yet again not realizing that the squadron could hear her.

OOC: That's all folks!

 

[Omnis Waszylla]

Omnis moved forward, going to engage his chosen enemy even as the others broke to attack. He loved the feel of the ship and he could see how the enemy seemed to hesitate after the death of their leader at Greybok's hand. Perhaps that was what had made him cocky, or perhaps he just wasn't as used to his bomber as he thought he was, as when he went in to attack the enemy fighter let loose a barrage of panicked fire. Omnis tried to dodge as best as he could, though a fair amount of laser fire found it's mark. A warning told him his shields were down, though by the time they had dropped the enemy fighter had moved past. It would take time for the shields to come back up, so he was now as vulnerable as the other fighters in his squadron. He had to pull it together, fast, or hope that his comrades would take care of this panicked pilot.

 

[Greybok]

Greybok was silent in his cockpit for the span of several minutes. It was a massacre out there. Star Squadron was not just winning, it was dominating. And, then, there were no more starfighters to oppose the rebellion. The landing pad was completely undefended. And with it captured, Star Squadron would have a base of operations from which to launch the remaining missions in the Moddell sector. Finally, Greybok found it in him to open the comm channel.

G-good work, Squad. Sending the coordinates for the Czerka landing pad. Let's land, get refueled, and get prepared for the next phase of the operation. He then cut comms and set his course for the coordinates in question. Endor reminding him a good deal of home on Kashyyyk. The world was covered in giant forests and trees so tall it was hard to spot the landing pad from the sky. When he did locate it, though, he engaged his landing gear and brought the starfighter down to a pleasant halt.

While he waited for the others to join him on the moon's surface, Greybok transmitted a message to Leah on Hoth to inform her that Star Squadron had successfully reached Endor and accomplished their mission's first objective. He made brief mention of the Squadron's surprising performance in the skies above the moon, knowing that Leah would need to see it to believe it. After all, Star Squadron's members were known for being a tad... eccentric both on and off-duty.

As the others landed, Grey finished his transmission and sent a second to the Starbird, informing Twobee to meet him at the Monsua Nebula—the next location on his personal mission list. The Wookiee smiled as he saw his fellow pilots set down successfully. For Star Squadron, it was another happy landing.

The End​