"If you'd insert the datacards I have issued each of you into your datapads we can begin the operation then," the aging commander explained as the room finally came to a relative silence. He stood before an enormous holovid, which featured several outlying worlds near the Inner Core. In his hands he held a metallic rod with a laser pointer on the end to adjust the map as he saw fit. He wore the green uniform of the Starfighter Command, and his body was scarred with the visible effects of age and war.
In front of him the three dozen or so pilots were seated in ordinated seats of three rows, each one higher than the one before them. There were several clicking noises as the datacards were inserted into their respective devices. When all was set, the commander continued.
He lifted his pointer and touched it to the three dimensional sphere that was labeled "Abregado-rae", causing the red about it to brighten just a bit.
"Approximately seven hours ago, an assault on Abregado-rae occured under Captain Xiler of the Second Fleet. Headed by the Allegiance Star Destroyer Timeless they began extracting various military targets to soften the planet for the attack which was later commanded by Admiral Me'Vere, who entered the system five hours ago," his eyes wandered about the pilots, eyeing them to be sure they were paying attention.
"The assault has been met mainly with success. Me'Vere has completely demolished Imperial held positions and is advancing to seize the planet from the Empire, however reports are sketchy as they are being careful to not emit long range transmissions to keep Imperial Intelligence boggled.
"The attack has been underway unrelentingly - more or less - for the past seven hours with brief intermissions to allow civilians time to evacuate potential military targets and the like. Word from fleet command is that the New Order command staff is pinned down in an underground bunker with the prisoner Joren Arden of the Galactic Coalition. Admiral Me'Vere has, by all accounts, offered a chance for the Empire to surrender before the final push was made.
"We come in here," he lifted his pointer and touched down on Fondor, causing the Abregado-rae circle to dim and the other Imperial world to brighten. "Me'Vere made a point that after seven hours, victory or defeat, we must press our assault against Fondor. Accentuated by heavily encrypted orders, this is considered a high priority mission and that is why you men were selected to come.
"Sovereign intelligence has confirmed the presence of Imperial shipyards here - as well as civilian so we need to watch our fire.
"If you'd scroll to page fourteen it outlines our given objectives in the system. Remember them by heart because this data will be deleted and exterminated as soon as you leave this room.
"Fondor, men, is a heavily industrialized and urbanized planet. We definitely expect it to be well defended, their fighters however can range anywhere from TIE Defenders to TIE Devils so be careful of swarm tactics and stick close. You'll be armed with six missiles, three of which being average proton torpedos and three being cluster missiles just in case."
Upon another series of touches with the pointer the map expanded to open up focusing around the planet of Fondor and the most accurate maps of the system Intelligence could come up with. Highlighted were the Imperial ship yards in red, and the Fondor Drive Yards in blue.
"In order to halt the Imperial war machine, such establishments as these shipyards need to be eradicated as quickly as possible. We will jump in, get a survey, and if possible launch an attack. Given the objectives I have given you are there any questions about Operation: Iron Thunder?"
There was no raise of hands amongst the pilots, having received the information they needed from their datapads.
"Alright then, get to your ships, and may the Force be with you."
<hr>
Colonel Gren clutched the yoke stick at the fore of his X-Wing's cockpit with clammy palms, pressed up against the black leather gloves of his flight suit. He wore the green and white of an A-Wing pilot, with the semi-open helm cascaded by green swirls.
He would be leading the squadron designated "Thunder" in the operation, but would overall retain command of the mission. He'd flown thousands of hours and had more than a few dozen kills, certifying his title of "Fighter ace". But every time, in the pit of his stomach, he felt the tense and awkward feeling of both fear and excitement wrestling in his bowels for supremecy.
The joy of flying had drawn him to the Outer Rim Starfighter Command - most poignantly though being the ability to fly, fight for a cause, and have some shields to cover one's six. He held no love for the Empire, maybe even a little disdain. But he could not deny the skill of some of their pilots to be able to outdo Republic-class fighters in their little unshielded paper ships.
There were few fighters in the Imperial arsenal however that could catch up with the A-Wing. Perhaps he was a bit hypocritical in his assessment of the Empire and their lightly shielded craft - the A-Wing had slightly more defenses than a TIE Interceptor, but it could move faster than most anything it went up against.
That was of course unless the Empire brought out TIE Defenders.
Gren had read up on those extensively during his studies in the flight academy. Imperial technicians - especially under Grand Admiral Zaarin - had worked extensively to build the perfect fighter craft to be used against the Rebellion. It had to have the shields of an X-Wing, the speed of an A-Wing, and the firepower of a Y-Wing.
Its drawback was unbelieveable cost. What was it...five hundred thousand credits each? But with renewed vigor the Empire had begun funding themselevs - where they got their credits from he had no idea but they were recently pumping these out with a vengeance.
Perhaps the swarm tactics of TIE Devils was finally being pushed back by Sovereign fighter command, pressuring Kaine and his lackies to start pumping out more able-bodied craft with actual pilots behind the stick.
If they were actual pilots...who knew what dangers laid before the squad?
Trying to wipe doubts from his mind, Gren lifted his hand to flip on the various control measures of the A-Wing. The HUD hummed to life before him as the repulsor lifts in the craft lifted it from the flight deck.
Watching out the cockpit before him he waited for the confirmation from flight control to exit the Star Destroyer. Breathing heavily, he poisitioned his feet against the rudder pedals and waited.
When he got the confirmation he deftly navigated out of the converted hangar bay - usually used to launch TIE fighters but made to unleash the Republic models of starfighters now.
When all had lined up, they entered hyperspace for their very short jump to Fondor, coming out with a flash.
<font size=1>Fleet Manifest
<li>24 X-Wings
<li>12 A-Wings
<li>12 B-Wings
In front of him the three dozen or so pilots were seated in ordinated seats of three rows, each one higher than the one before them. There were several clicking noises as the datacards were inserted into their respective devices. When all was set, the commander continued.
He lifted his pointer and touched it to the three dimensional sphere that was labeled "Abregado-rae", causing the red about it to brighten just a bit.
"Approximately seven hours ago, an assault on Abregado-rae occured under Captain Xiler of the Second Fleet. Headed by the Allegiance Star Destroyer Timeless they began extracting various military targets to soften the planet for the attack which was later commanded by Admiral Me'Vere, who entered the system five hours ago," his eyes wandered about the pilots, eyeing them to be sure they were paying attention.
"The assault has been met mainly with success. Me'Vere has completely demolished Imperial held positions and is advancing to seize the planet from the Empire, however reports are sketchy as they are being careful to not emit long range transmissions to keep Imperial Intelligence boggled.
"The attack has been underway unrelentingly - more or less - for the past seven hours with brief intermissions to allow civilians time to evacuate potential military targets and the like. Word from fleet command is that the New Order command staff is pinned down in an underground bunker with the prisoner Joren Arden of the Galactic Coalition. Admiral Me'Vere has, by all accounts, offered a chance for the Empire to surrender before the final push was made.
"We come in here," he lifted his pointer and touched down on Fondor, causing the Abregado-rae circle to dim and the other Imperial world to brighten. "Me'Vere made a point that after seven hours, victory or defeat, we must press our assault against Fondor. Accentuated by heavily encrypted orders, this is considered a high priority mission and that is why you men were selected to come.
"Sovereign intelligence has confirmed the presence of Imperial shipyards here - as well as civilian so we need to watch our fire.
"If you'd scroll to page fourteen it outlines our given objectives in the system. Remember them by heart because this data will be deleted and exterminated as soon as you leave this room.
"Fondor, men, is a heavily industrialized and urbanized planet. We definitely expect it to be well defended, their fighters however can range anywhere from TIE Defenders to TIE Devils so be careful of swarm tactics and stick close. You'll be armed with six missiles, three of which being average proton torpedos and three being cluster missiles just in case."
Upon another series of touches with the pointer the map expanded to open up focusing around the planet of Fondor and the most accurate maps of the system Intelligence could come up with. Highlighted were the Imperial ship yards in red, and the Fondor Drive Yards in blue.
"In order to halt the Imperial war machine, such establishments as these shipyards need to be eradicated as quickly as possible. We will jump in, get a survey, and if possible launch an attack. Given the objectives I have given you are there any questions about Operation: Iron Thunder?"
There was no raise of hands amongst the pilots, having received the information they needed from their datapads.
"Alright then, get to your ships, and may the Force be with you."
<hr>
Colonel Gren clutched the yoke stick at the fore of his X-Wing's cockpit with clammy palms, pressed up against the black leather gloves of his flight suit. He wore the green and white of an A-Wing pilot, with the semi-open helm cascaded by green swirls.
He would be leading the squadron designated "Thunder" in the operation, but would overall retain command of the mission. He'd flown thousands of hours and had more than a few dozen kills, certifying his title of "Fighter ace". But every time, in the pit of his stomach, he felt the tense and awkward feeling of both fear and excitement wrestling in his bowels for supremecy.
The joy of flying had drawn him to the Outer Rim Starfighter Command - most poignantly though being the ability to fly, fight for a cause, and have some shields to cover one's six. He held no love for the Empire, maybe even a little disdain. But he could not deny the skill of some of their pilots to be able to outdo Republic-class fighters in their little unshielded paper ships.
There were few fighters in the Imperial arsenal however that could catch up with the A-Wing. Perhaps he was a bit hypocritical in his assessment of the Empire and their lightly shielded craft - the A-Wing had slightly more defenses than a TIE Interceptor, but it could move faster than most anything it went up against.
That was of course unless the Empire brought out TIE Defenders.
Gren had read up on those extensively during his studies in the flight academy. Imperial technicians - especially under Grand Admiral Zaarin - had worked extensively to build the perfect fighter craft to be used against the Rebellion. It had to have the shields of an X-Wing, the speed of an A-Wing, and the firepower of a Y-Wing.
Its drawback was unbelieveable cost. What was it...five hundred thousand credits each? But with renewed vigor the Empire had begun funding themselevs - where they got their credits from he had no idea but they were recently pumping these out with a vengeance.
Perhaps the swarm tactics of TIE Devils was finally being pushed back by Sovereign fighter command, pressuring Kaine and his lackies to start pumping out more able-bodied craft with actual pilots behind the stick.
If they were actual pilots...who knew what dangers laid before the squad?
Trying to wipe doubts from his mind, Gren lifted his hand to flip on the various control measures of the A-Wing. The HUD hummed to life before him as the repulsor lifts in the craft lifted it from the flight deck.
Watching out the cockpit before him he waited for the confirmation from flight control to exit the Star Destroyer. Breathing heavily, he poisitioned his feet against the rudder pedals and waited.
When he got the confirmation he deftly navigated out of the converted hangar bay - usually used to launch TIE fighters but made to unleash the Republic models of starfighters now.
When all had lined up, they entered hyperspace for their very short jump to Fondor, coming out with a flash.
<font size=1>Fleet Manifest
<li>24 X-Wings
<li>12 A-Wings
<li>12 B-Wings
