"Sith damnit!"

As sirens blared and red lights flashed, the fleet was plunged into a state of red alert. Gash just stared at the now-empty spot of space, where a second before, the Jenova had been unexpectedly fired upon. Officer's rushed about the bridge, handing Gash datapads of information regarding the damage done, and that done by the return fire. The Massassi ship...

The Massassi Home Ship had been rendered utterly useless by the enhanced volley of turbolaser fire, suplemented by the built-up energy in the superlaser power cells. The ship now sat dead, listlessly floating in space. Gash couldn't bring himself to smile, but the Jedi Master took some solace in the fact that the traitorous vessel had been completely ruined, now only a few charred hulks of metal in space. With the screech of the ion engines, the vessels of the New Republic task force hauled around in a prerehersed routine of evasive action.

"Up! I want us level with those Sith ships!"

The communications officer twittered into his commlink as the ships swung upwards, some quicker than others. The Zeus-Class Vlyx on which Gash stood, the Black Voltage, moved with surprising swiftness, closing distance with the plane of movement Exel's ships were situated on quickly.

"Put the Zeus-Vlyxes at the fore, Corellia-Vlyxes just behind them, but make sure they all have a clear line of fire. Have the other vessels line up low angle from the head of the group, with the points facing away. I want the Jenova behind us, so she'll have time to recover her shields. Send those requests off to Grand Commander Xylon and Admiral Eugene for approval."

The various officers, now in a state of increased calm, nodded.

'Orders approved, sir.'

"Good. Detach a force of two Imperial Star Destroyers and a Corellian Vlyx, and have them fire on one of Dantooine's shipyards. We're not going away empty handed. Have two of the Zeus Vlyxes, and two of the Corellia Vlyxes, and half of our forces begin firing on the Sith's Dominator-class Star Destroyer. Those batteries which can't reach it should fire on anything Imperial. The other Zeuses and Corellias should take the other half of the ships and attack The New Order's fleets."

'Yes, sir.'

As a continuous volley of green and red lasers began to leap towards the Dominator, and the contingent of the ships pointed towards the Imperial forces, the damage report on the first of TNO's shipyards came in; the shipyard was disabled at least temporarily, and under continuous assault.

(I am calm, I am a Jedi.)
(I am calm, I am a Jedi.)
(Repeated countless times while healing, the phrase did not illusion Ahnk to the fact that Hex was going to kill him. So he prepared himself.)

"Report."
(The tech read the list for the seventh time. Exel grew tired of the incompetence of his officers, and certainly when the New Order gave him his commision he would be given a new command crew. He hoped, anyway.)
"Well...sir..."
(Exel fired a rapid kick into the man's ribs. A line of blood immediatly sprung from between his shocked lips and pooled on the floor. Exel pulled the man's medium-lengthed blonde hair and pointed his face towards the viewscreen.)
"Do you see that? DO you see that?"
"Yes sir..."
"That, is war. In times of war our time is limited and very essential to sucess. We are in the midst of a war right now. So drop the sir bullshit and stop @#%$ stammering... give me what I asked for when I asked for. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir."
(Exel marched quickly over to one of the bridge security officers and removed his blaster pistol. The officer, effienctly so, did not protest and merely reached behind him with one arm and pulled out his rifle. He would be sure to keep his job, Exel thought to himself as he walked back to the confused technican.)
"Say sir one more time. Say sir one more mother @#%$ time."
(The technican was silent.)
"The report."
"Damage to the Massassi Home Ship. It's hull has been compromised and the generators took too much strain and have failed. Reactors now can't make mass... engines are dead, she's dead in space. Barring major reapir crews she'll sink into the planetoids atmosphere and be completely ruined on impact."
(Exel turned around and walked a while, considering his options. Finally, he broke the silence.)
"Calculate firing solutions for the Massassi Home Ship."
"SIR!?!?"
(Withour hesitation Exel turned ans shot the man in the head.)
(He calmly walked towards the tactical station, dropping the pistol as he walked. When he reached it, he turned to the comm station.)
"Tell cruisers to loose fighters and rearmor."
(He looked down at the tactical readouts. He explained his plan quietly to the officer at the console.)
"It sounds resonable."
"Begin preperations. Keep our cruisers away from the Jenova... send them to the Mon Cals and begin cloaked bombing runs."

A green glow rose from the preliminary scanners from the hundred or so Republic craft on screen, and then there was the occasional red blip, totally over shadowed by the green forces. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Imperial<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->-Class Star Destroyers were in abundance around the Imperial space, it was like the warlordic days of the Empire, when forces would rather fight each other for power, than be willing to serve under one rule, than fight mutual enemies. Enemies who only now were stepping up to the plate against the now chaotic forces. Commander Trevelan was amused.

With the Emipre's ultimate struggle against the "forces of light", much needed warships were benig plummeted to battle against the New Alliance, totally oblivious to an only imminent attack.

Daren Trevelan, the commander and refounder of Rogue Squadon, held no true favoritism in the Battle of Dantooine, neither side wast ruly good nor evil, despite what the other faction thought. Instead they wre two of the biggest kids on the block, one expanding through means of diplomacy, the other through armed force, both ultimately had the same goal, but with different ideals along the way.

Of course it was not the Empire whom accepted the ace pilot's application, it was not the Empire who offered any true hope, who would not allocate his ace skills to an atrocity comewhere. The Empire would have seen him as another tool, another person to move down the assembly line with. The TIE Devil -- the new mainstay of the Empire -- was a perfect example of his greatest fear in the Empire. Daren did not want to be "a fighter pilot". Daren is going to be <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> the<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> fighter pilot.


*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***


"Attention on deck!" Lt. Pelyan yelled as she saw her commander enter the breifing room. He wore a scarlet augulette around his arm now, in addition to his several ribbons upon his chest.

"As you were," he responded to the now standing twelve-man squadron. He was interested to see the formerly retired Wedge Antille. The man was getting old no doubt, but his fighter prowess had yet to be tested. He moved behind the podium and cleared his throat.

"As all of you know, we have exited hyperspace in the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, and are presently in the heat of battle at the Imperial planet of Dantooine. The Rogue Empire has recently signed a no-fire treaty with the Republic forces, and the Empire are now on their own, with the exception of one major ally. Somewhere around five minutes into the battle, our allies, the Inner Sanctum of the Sith, betrayed us.

"With thus the Empire has twenty four more <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> IMPERIAL<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->-Class Star Destroyers to back them up. Our flagship, the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, has come under heavy fire, specifically around the super laser. However, we cannot let this fact derive us from our primary goal. These orders came directly from high command.

"In a squadron of six B-Wings and X-Wings, along with squads Blue, Red, Yellow, Magenta, Gold, and Tango, all in B-Wings to help ward off the enemy, we are going to target and knock out the main reactor to the Massassi Home Ship. Taly, Wedge, you're with me in X-Wings, we need to keep the fighters off their backs. We have no back up for this mission.

"We're going to stick close together, but not TOO close, the Empire has some strange star fighter dubed a 'TIE Devil', individually it couldn't down an asteroid, but the Empire has thousands, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> thousands<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. Adjust your missiles to fire at their exact range, and fire no closer than that unless you have no choice. Dummy fire them directly into the middle of their swarms, they have been modified to produce extra shrapnel and shock waves. If you get seperated, yell, allocate laser power to engines and make a mad dash for the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> until I find you. If there are no questions?" Daren paused and looked around at his squad, admiring them. "Ok then, dismissed."


**********************************************


Trevelan exhaled nervously, he'd never fought such ferocious fighter odds. The Republic were going to win this battle, no doubt, but was he going to lose his life in the process? Was he going to lose Taly? How many of his men were going to fry alive in these @#%$ pits? But these were daunting realizations that were unhealthy to think seconds before battle. He was expected to crush a fleeing ship of traitors, and he had to do that at <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> all<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> costs.

"Three, two, one....you're a go Commander!" the flight officer reported, but already his quad engines ripped into action and he was out of the Eclipse Star Destroyer's fighter hangar.

The rest of the squadrons were already waiting for them, Commander Trevelan taking command and pulling in front of all of them. So far it seemed like it was going to go smoothely, the enemy TIEs were too far out to cause any damage, but there were droid fighters already surrounding the Massassi Home Ship.

"Ok Boss we're ready," Taly said, and Daren could just picture her wink to him.

"Ok then, loose formation, let's get going!" Daren demanded, and pulled himself ahead of the rest of the fighters. "S-Foils in attack position." In unison with one another, the X-Wings' wings retracted open, while the countless B-Wings' wings too opened, and their hulls rotating by ninety degrees. "Attack speed, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> go<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->!"

Rogue Squadron, like they had in the old days, soared past the amount of space between the Sith and the Republic forces, wasting no time in arriving his forces in firing range of the enemy fighters.

"Boss, we got incoming!" Taly suddenly said panickly, her X-wing formation jittering slightly.

"Ok close comms to Rogue frequency, get back in formation Three. Guys these are only droids, don't worry, they aren't <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> that<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> good, we got spirit, they got...well...mathematics."

"Gothcya' boss."

"Roger."

"Yes Sir!"

And the lines broke, several enemy TIE Droids falling in the process as red lights smeered from the X-Wings and B-Wings, and in time to avoid the ramming, the squadrons pulled out. Hitting the "R" button, Daren had pulled up on his HUD the nearest TIE Droid, one dubbed Bogey 9. It was swishing and turning at impossible speeds and manuevers that would send a human pilot to his limits, and then some. However, it being a droid, it was also very predictable, its motives becoming too routine. Daren shot too shots to the starboard, then immediately yanked on his yoke, pulling his entire craft port and firing rapidly, two of the seven shots scoring a blow and shredding whatever there was inside to nothing.

"I'm hit!" suddenly screamed over the comm channels, and Magenta Two disintegrated into hazy smoke and flame.

"Stay on target, STAY ON TARGET DAMMIT!" Daren demanded. The comms were littered with traffic of orders and cries of help, most of the pilots being torn by laser fire. They were outnumbered, but not outmatched. "Magenta, Red, Three and Five, follow me, we're going for the enemy Home Ship!"

"Gotchya' boss!"

The B-Wings of Red and Magenta squadron withdrew from their dog fights, Taly, also known as Rogue Three, could not help but take out one more TIE before speeding back into formation.

"Ok, Three and Four, target the turbo lasers and open fire, see if you can't draw their fire, Magenta and Red, take turns in taking shots at the enemy crevice!" cried Daren as he pulled a barrel roll to the starboard.

Another B-Wing suddenly incinerated before the pilot could even scream, and there was another loss in Gold squadron. Trevelan could see the large gape in the bottom of the Massassi Home Ship, and no doubt he could fly right into it if he wanted to.

The B-Wings broke into several small attack groups, following the quicker X-Wing underneath, dodging massive turbolaser arrays, but only barely. "I've lost fore shields, reallocating," that was Red Seven, declaring that he'd taken one too many hits. Forces pulled to the under belly however, and gunshots quickly ceased.

"Ok guys fly in and start launching missiles, I'll escort you to drop off my own," said Daren, pulling into the infrastructure.

His targetting computer was switched on and two lines indicating the enemy reactor came up on the HUD, indicating range and lock on the enemy target. Daren knew the others must have the same things on. Speeds were intense as shields were allocated to engines until they were near the reactor.

"I got lock, I got lock!" cried Red 3, but he did not seem to realize so did the others. Twelve proton torpedos were launched, not counting the two shrapnel powered concussion missiles from Rogue Leader. Before they even hit, Trevelan pulled his ship around, as did the B-Wings.

"Flee flee flee! Expect an explosion!" he cried, shutting his S-Foils for more speed, a whole 120 MGLT was gained by the X-Wing and they were nearing the exit...he was all the while watching his HUD to see if his target had hit.

Indeed it had, and one of the B-Wings, who was more worried about his shields than speed, was sucked into the ever glowing flames of the ship. The reactor had been hit, the ship was useless now. The remaining soldiers managed to escape the seering tunnel of flamse, similar to when Wedge Antilles had destroyed the Death Star at Endor.

The B-Wings and X-Wings on the outside had secured space superiority, and most of the TIE Droids had been destroyed, thus paving the way for further attacks on Imperial and Inner Sanctum capital ships.


**********************************************


Trevelan noticed something was wrong, and the ship's explosions did not cease. Apparently, the reactor did not just disable the enormous craft...

"All groups, PULL BACK!" Daren suddenly yelled, knowing the intense shock wave would cost a life or two. He yanked hard on the throttle and boosted toward the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> quickly, Taly close to him on one side, Wedge close on the other.

As they began their decent away from the Massassi Home Ship, small pieces of debris began tearing off and slowly soaring away from the main mass, until finally the entire under integrity could not handle it any more.

"She's gonna' blow!" one of the B-Wings from Magenta squadron yelled, and indeed she was right, there was an impending explosion, followed by flying pieces of debris and shrapnel racing left and right.

"Home Ship down, Hope Ship disabled, hangar off line, weapons off line, I'm reading a complete shut down of Massassi power output! The mass has survived, but its entire lower portion is gone!" Daren yelled and reported at the same time excitedly to the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.

OOC:

Two things.

First, read my post, you stupid turd.

Two, you can't destroy "most" of 388 squadrons of TIE Droids in one post... you have to be kidding me.

EDIT: Rereading your post it dearly states the manifests of ships.

<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->


<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Carida<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



Vice Admiral Vorsche was inspecting the fleet when the signal came through...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Abyss..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


That could only mean one thing (with this particular name)..

...Dantooine.


He snapped commands off left and right to his troops as the fleet was brought to readiness in short order.


Suddenly, a transmission came in from Muunilist.. an attack on Dantooine was happening ..yadda..yadda..yadda.


"Tell me something I don't know." Vorsche growled and checked the time mark.


Abyss called for certain actions at certain times.. and if he was going to stay within the time frame...


"Jump." he ordered and the Stygian Fleet's 2nd Division entered hyperspace..






<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->





"Sir! They've not seen us!"


"Agrarian Remote has entered...is flanking!"


"Slow us down, Helm" Kaine ordered, as the crew of Sentinel Fleet watched from above, their pointed bows aimed straight down on top of the NR Fleet.


"Let's keep them in our forward firing arc as long as possible." He informed, knowing that the invading fleet, if they continued moving along their vector long enough, eventually would pass under them, allowing the Sentinel Division to line up behind them.


He checked his chronometer once more.


"Bombers launching.... Defenders launching.." another officer reported.


Abyss was an intricate plan, formulated along with Vice Admiral Vorsche of Stygian Fleet's Second Division...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> but to actually see it in action?



Well, let's see..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




And that's when it happened. The Massassi vessel had fired at the Republic's ESD. Not that the fleet could actually see the blast, but the effects flared on almost every monitor.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Direct Hit!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The return fire from the Republicans seemed savage and uncompromising as the Sith vessel soon drifted off to the side seemingly powerless.


"Lock onto their firing points, people. We've just had their gun ports identified for us. Relay that information to the necessary people and execute." The General calmly ordered.


"I do not want the Jenova's shields raised."


The Republic forces were maneuvering to protect the ESD when Kaine frowned and motioned to the deck officer and the Galactus' outer lights went a deep dull red.


That was the signal...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Once more into the Abyss..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



"Range!" the tracking officer called.



"Fire." Kaine replied



The Galactus fired a full forward volley straight down onto the ESD, their targeting as precise and accurate as their training could make it.


Lines of explosions spreading along the top hull could be seen as the beam weapons poured into the ESD without hindrence.


The Heretic and Iron Lance both fired their volleys at the ESD, also intent on severly crippling the mighty Republic Flagship.


Several Republican ships tried to intervene..but Kaine was ready for them and the support fire that Abyss called for came next:


"Starburst"


The "Y" formation seemd to change as the Tsar, Ancalagon, and Terror's Edge slipped out from behind the ISD's on a slow, wide turning arc firing their volleys into those ships that thought to protect the ESD.


The massive concentration of fire coming from the surprising direction began to overload the enemy ship's shield generators and soon another threat revealed itself as their gun emplacements were struck by TNO fighters streaking by.


The Tie Devils, in their classic "Trinity" configuration, were evenly spaced...wide enough to allow enemy fighters to seem like they were punching through only to find themselves surrounded on all sides as the the Devil's rapid fire cannons finished their existence.


Their purpose, though.. their purpose was not lost nor forgotten as tiny explosions starting appearing on most of the top "layer" of ships.


The ESD was trying to escape on a lower vector but power was failing with the damage it was taking.


But the ISD Victory would not allow it. In one tremendous volley, the ESD's engines began to give out....


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Maneuvering was becoming nonexistent for the Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Surely, the Hyperdrive was out...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Rogue Squadron seemed to keep their distance from the TIE Devils, directing their actions against the Sith vessels instead, which was fine with the Imperials.


"They scoff at our tiny fighters in their locker rooms but their respect for them is evident in their actions," Kaine murmured.


The Republic fighters seemed to satisfy themselves with simply firing concussion devices and what seemed to be other devices filled with space junk at the Devils in some attempt to harrass them.


The even spaces of "Trinity" formation rendered such tactics useless.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> One step ahead of you..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Simon sighed.


Space superiority was such a relative thing..



Suddenly the monitors showed two Star Destroyers and a Corellian Vlyx attempt to break from the main group..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What could be so important?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


And Kaine smiled as their vector was tracked to Dantooine.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> You want the yards do you?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Simon looked at his chronometer once more and a slow grim smile spread.


"Ready the assault shuttles"


The Sentinel 2nd Division, still maintaining their perpendicular postion as the NR moved below, continued their firing.







<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr> <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> As a continuous volley of green and red lasers began to leap towards the Dominator, and the contingent of the ships pointed towards the Imperial forces, the damage report on the first of TNO's shipyards came in; the shipyard was disabled at least temporarily, and under continuous assault.<!--EZCODE BOLD END--><hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END-->



"Here they come!" shouted Engineer Braka, "curses to those damn rebel.." he continued only to be drowned out by the Yard Manager's booming voice.

Yard Gamma had found itself coming into the day side of Dantooine, a far cry from Beta's position still on the far side of the planet.

When the alarms sounded that enemy units had entered the system, the yard personnel had no doubt that Muunilists murderers had returned.

The Yard Manager had immediately ordered construction halted and began a procedure that General Kaine had implimented.

"Utilizing and Minimizing Threat Response.." or some weird sounding name like that.

Construction immediately halted and underdeveloped machines were secured for transport.

"Release moorings.... and let them go.."


The rotation of the yard facilities aided, as the units, most incomplete drifted into a stable orbit in the opposite direction.


The would drift along the nightside until picked up later...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> If someone picked them up..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



Minutes passed as the yard was drawn into the day side.. and the Republican vessels closed. From extreme range their massive weapons of war pounded furiously against space in an effort to reach their position.


"Everything's away!"


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> All we can do is sit here and take it...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The yard was damaged, but nothing permanent. However, the Yard Manager knew that they would suffer continuous assault unless relieved..

More shots came and the Republic vessels came closer..



And that's when the scanners went wild and sirens sounded throughout the facility, an assurance that the Empire had not forgotten them..


The waves were an answer to a prayer.. (if one were the religious type).


Vice Admiral Vorsche's 2nd Division of Stygian Fleet exited hyperspace putting themselves between the advancing Star Destroyers and Corellian Vlyx and the vector to the shipyards.


The Republic forces were more interested in positioning their entry point at a location dependent upon an astroid's eliptical orbit rather than the locations of the shipyards themselves leaving themselves struggling to find a suitable target.


Reaching such an asset was proving to be quite a trip for the Republican vessels.


Indeed, more so was obvious, as Vorsche noted immediately the situation that the scanning arrays picked up: The bulk of the Republic Fleet was too far away, making this action seem "last minute"....more like an afterthought to an idea gone horribly wrong.



"Have the QCB's and the Carracks head for the shipyards. I want them covered as well as the drifing assets." Vorsche ordered in his typical raspy voice interpreting the rapid scanner reports.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Abyss called for such timed responses..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"Fighters deploying.."


The gray haired man narrowed his eyes at the appoarching NR ships and very calmly said... "Fire."





STYGIAN FLEET
Division Two:


Reign-Class Star Destroyer - Shadow Host
Imperial-Class Star Destroyer - Earl Jaw
Imperial-Class Star Destroyer - Burbank
Attack-Class Carrier Sphere - Ordos
Victory-Class Star Destroyer - Harkonnen
Victory-Class Star Destroyer - Dyne
Victory-Class Star Destroyer - Nominal
Victory-Class Star Destroyer - Kormunk
Penetrator-Class Assault Cruiser - Scarlet Demise
Penetrator-Class Assault Cruiser - Scarlet Demise II
Quasar-Class Bulk Cruiser
Quasar-Class Bulk Cruiser
Carrack-Class Cruiser
Carrack-Class Cruiser
Carrack-Class Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Fire-Class Light Cruiser
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket
Constrainer-Class Interdiction Picket

*full fighter compliment

A maelstrom of fire and ash hovered ominously above the gargantuan ESD and its components. Every so often a spark would flash upon the closely lined shield of azure, but primarily all movement materialized to the center of the massive fireball. Its basis, however, was an enigma in the perspective of its onlookers. Most realized the peculiarity of an unkempt combustion system in free space, mainly for that of an air-supply lack. Those oblivious to the circumstances stood in no worse of a place than had the others.

“Air canister leak, port F-831! Rapid air loss! Requesting auxiliary seal activation immediately!”

An air leak: odd, and with no evident fuel. The poignant smell and bitter taste of the fiery beast – sensing nearly of the periodic kitchen fire to which every crewmember endured frequently – breached, still, the thick hull of the “Jenova.” Posing nothing harmful, the distinct stench bestowed the crew a reminder to the reality of the battle in which they embraced.

Nevertheless, a suspicion of internal fire continued to spread among the isles like a whole other wildfire in itself. To their amazement, the siren rang silent. Awaiting a distress with remorseful bawls, it never did sound.

<FONT COLOR=RED>“Attention! Attention! There has been an oxygen leak in canister F-831. Due to the circumstances of various battery ricochets, tremors normally being minute were escalated with the additional air supply. There is no need to be alarmed! Return to active duties immediately!”</FONT>

It had been explained, and false premonitions were put to rest. In a synchronized sigh, command stations were bustling with impertinent jabber once again. Not one of the capricious commandants even scraped the surface of the benefit complex, in opposition to a faulty TNO raid.

The Imperials assumed that the hyperdrive engines were truly pierced… The amplified blast radius of a droid would manage to duplicate engine failure in space. Supplied copious oxygen deposits, and the minor breakage would have, also – and did.



“Enemy taskforce reversion from hyperspace…coordinates 6:234:234 – they’re comin’ from above and ahead. Vanguard Alpha is presently deflecting swipes, but there may be a rupture soon.”

Xylon’s dissimulated sight fixed itself on an embossed row of Imperial fronts, all with impending confrontation. Calming himself with a soft pace about the elevated overpass, his transfixion faded next to his visual interest in the inevitable front. Soon, he halted midway in the stride and turned to address the inclusive bridge.

“Engage aft thrusters to backward pattern ‘A’, giving us time to reform. Realign sup-space level to 1 kilometer above all known adversary formations. Clean up that wedge distribution: every 2000+ will be directed to the spearhead – edging downwards. All others will be proportionately divvied to the wings. Set the Jenova in the nexus, and retain.”

Gradually, the deformed front eased from the line of combat and to a clear pocket behindhand. Light blue thrusters activating and deactivating in short bursts of adjustment, the simple – but effective – pattern was formulated to an impressive resonance. The “Jenova” was centered directly to the middle edge with reinforcement ‘wings’ spreading to its sides from a common ‘spearhead’ nose. The elevation advantage also sided with them, but with appropriate downwards cover.

“Twenty A-Wing Squadrons…deploy. Sentinel cover, outer-arc formation guard: anti-fighter wedge defense.”

The pristine Imperial fleet, once so brightly defined, now was blurred from the view ports with the duo-formation A-Wing guards swiftly patrolling the open space. Despite a clear allied conglomerate, to meticulously review the Gamma Scanners meant a headache of multiple ‘blips’. Dinafet Cruisers --

“Our cloaked fiends seem to be raiding the Mon Cals along their open sides… Engage automated cluster bombs. Knock them off course before missiles can be sent.”

“Also, divide the “Jenova’s” aft shields across the structure. Incase they penetrate the wedge, 50% shielding should be more than enough for what they can sneak through. I hear that super-laser damage consists mainly of ION residue…begin repair efforts immediately.”

With a cascade-effect which brought them out of a lightless energy cloak, a group of JirenTech Penetrator Fighters came out of their cloak behind the Inner Sanctum of the Sith vessels, their angle pointed at the second New Order shipyard, their slender and menacing figures like a mass of angry silver bees in space. All 360 of the fighter craft quickly raced inbound, getting a firing solution on their TNO target.The mission profile of the Penetrators varied enough that they could make it in combat, as well as scouting missions; it seemed the New Republic fleet had found effective use for them.

"The Penetrators can fire when ready."

The fighters spread into a rectangular pattern, widest vertically. They streaked past the fleets, turbolaser fire too slow to strike them. As they neared the shipyard, all released a hasty barrage of linked torpedo fire- 720 torpedoes streaked toward the shipyard, and with a catastrophic explosion, nearly incinerated in on contact. What was left drifted lazily out of it's orbit around Dantooine.

"Good. Gentlemen, we've drawn enough fire from the Sith vessels. Dive downon my mark, and point us at those Imperial ships. Let the Penetrators take care of Exel's Dominator. All 3 Zeus Vlyxes, two Imperial Star Destroyers, and 5 Corellia Vlyxes dive on my mark...

"Mark."

The gravitational compensators stuttered for a moment, and Gash stumbled, as the gigantic Zeus-Class Vlyx dove downwards, accompanied by the other Zeus and the 2 Corellias. With a tremendous roar of the enginges vibrating the air inside the Black Voltage, they rejoined the third Zeus and the three other Corellia-Vlyxes, already heading towards The New Order's fleet. It took a minute or two to excecute the maneuver, but the vessels remained in the same direction, signifigantly reducing overall directional change time.

Gradually, the massive Reign-Class Star Destroyer came within view. The ship's dagger-design, not unlike the Vlyxes, seemed somehow sinister to Gash, in a way the New Republic's similar vessels could never appear. Perhaps, it was only the knowledge of the unsavory deeds performed in the past by such vessels, under the command of the Empire. Gash cringed as his own ship's trajectory was brought to bear on the ships.

"Captain, are our companions keeping up?"

'Yes, sir. The five Corellia Vlyxes, and three Zeus Vlyxes, and two Imperial Star Destroyers are all on the trajectory. All ships report the deploying of fighters, and are engaging the enemy small craft.'

"Excellent. Any report on the New Order shipyards?"

'Yes, Admiral Jiren... the other Corellia-Class Vlyx and our two Star Destroyers have made quick work of the New Order shipyard; it has been completely destroyed. However, they are coming under fire from another flotilla of TNO ships.'

"They need to stay in there. Order them to continue assault; the Imperials will not distract us from our objective. All vessels in our group, fire on the Reign-Class Star Destroyer Galactus. Order the gunners to engage whatever they can- with our firing range, everyone should be shooting at something."

A mixture of flamingly hot energy lances burst out of the New Republic ships as they came into the range of the TNO vessels. Volleys of fire drummed against the pale, translucent blue energy shields, the tightly packed encasings of ionized atoms instantly losing stability and releasing the electrical power inside of them in the form of heat and light. The eight ships, all larger and more heavily armed than the Reign, used the surperior firing arc yielded by their triangular shape to engage almost all of the batteries in the assault on the two enemy ships. Their energy shields shrank slowly, nearing and passing the halfway point... they hit twenty five percent, and the attack of eight two-thousand-meter-plus ships still did not relent.

The screaming roar of TIE engines bombard Atalya's ears, the incessant noise never ceasing as she maneuvers her X-Wing through the agressive and chaotic dogfight ensuing. The pilot bites down on her lip, the sounds of laser fire and explosions echoing through her cockpit, the young woman unable to determine where any particular sound is originating through the racket. She glances to the picture of Daren, her commander jammed into the plating of her controls and immediately locks her eyes forward once more, not wanting her thoughts to dwell on what may well happen to either of the two during this mission.

A shearing crunch and violent jolt alert Atalya to the fighter on her 6. She immediately plunges her craft into a dive relative to her previous course. Her R2 unit begins to blare a long sequence of warnings to the young Lieutenant as red lights illuminate within her cockpit, warning her of a targeting lock established on her X-Wing. She yanks her controls and begins to execute a series of random evasive maneuvers, attempting to shake the fighter on her tail...but to no avail. Several more thundering crunches are heard and Atalya's HUD displays her rear shields failing as multiple laser hits impact on her aft.

"R2! Reroute all shield power to aft!"

The astromech droid, though old and nearly obsolete, performs its duty with quick, steady precision and Atalya sees her rear shields light up once more on her HUD.

"Now give me a target on the fighter on our tail!"

Atalya's HUD flashes once more as the fighter following her is illuminated slightly, setting it apart from the haords of other blips on her RADAR. She flips onto her comm channel, screaming into her helmet in fear as the hoards on new vessels hyperspace into the area.

"Commander! There's too many of them! This is insa-"

Atalya's transmission is cut short as another volley of lasers slams into her X-Wing, shorting out her comm system and sending her R2 unit into hysterics. She jerks her craft once more, attempting to shake her pursuer, but no sooner had she begun her maneuver did the dot highlighted on her RADAR vanish, and a thunderous explosion echoes through her cockpit. She cranes her nexk to see another X-Wing of Rogue squadron flying behind her, it's pilot giving her a tumbs up before returning to the battle. Atalya then turns her X-wing around, switching her shields to even distribution as their energy replenishes, and re-enters the fray.

Rogue Squadron was taking a slight beating from the droid fighters, but all in all they were doing quite well, being allowed to hinder their first kills onto the scoresheet, one being the Massassi Home Ship of the foolish traitor, Ahnk. The B-Wings from yellow squadron launched their last flurry of torpedos at the mighty war machine, and it was rocketed into a soaring explosion, a heap of jagged metal and massed debris tore through the empty space, ricocheting off a few of the droid fighters who could not move in time.


"Alright, YES YES YES!" shouted Rogue Seven, however Trevelan was quick to dampen the party.

"Cut the chatter Rogue Seven, Rogue group stick together and move quickly, the Dinofats need to be cleared out quickly. The MC90s and Imperial Star Destroyers are going to hit their area with cluster bombs, that'll give the B-Wings a big enough chance for a torpedo run on the lightly shielded ships, got it?" Daren ordered as suddenly a swarm of TIE Devils became apparent on his HUD.

The flight group acknowledged and moved back into formation. It seemed they too knew of the impending swarm of tiny TIEs.

"Get ready...get ready."

Several of the modified missiles were launched, which managed to take down a few of the Devils...not much of an accomplishment, but it was progress.

"Fire!" Daren squeezed the trigger on his yoke stick roughly and sent a flurry of yellow-red blasts toward the TIE Devils, downing two or three more, in total, seven had been slain, but one of the B-Wings was losing its flight control, and to top everything off, Rogue Leader had been hit ferociously by hundreds of laser blasts...but they were weak blasts and all he had was a slightly cracked HUD. "Ok do NOT stick around to dog fight, we can easily outrun them."

Indeed they could, but the TIE Devils did not bother giving chase, but rather simply continued toward the Republic warfleet.

Daren looked around. "All wings report!"

"Rogue Two standing by!"

"Rogue Five standing by!"

"Rogue Nine standing by!"

"Red Leader standing by."

And so it went, each of the wing leaders reported, some stating that they'd lost B-Wings, and it was indeed tragic, but one of the X-Wings was missing from Rogue Squadron.

"Ok then, everyone...break and attack, stick to the Dinafets!" the flight commander reported. Of course they could not <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> see<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the cloaked cruisers, but they did have a distinct advantage...the cluster bombs were beginning to rain on the forth coming cloaked craft, and seering flames and impacted explosions indicated a clear wave for an attack.

"Rogue Two and Seven come with me, we're gonna' take out those cruisers there, can we get some B-Wing cover?"

And so it was he switched to his concussion missile launcher, and his HUD's targetting box turned yellow...indicating that the fighter was trying to lock onto something, of course he knew it couldnt.

"It's away!" he said as he clutched down on the secondary button several times, letting loose four of his eight missiles, pounding the side of something unseen and leaving a barren ash where the item really was. Several blue torpedos launched from the B-Wings and harassed the damaged section of the invisible cruiser, and a sudden shockwave sent all the forces back slightly, they'd taken down one of 'em and were now moving on to the next.

"This is Rogue Leader...attention <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jenova<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->...we have taken down our first Dinafet, keep hitting 'em with cluster bombs," he said, letting loose laser shots on the next already damaged cruiser.