Based During the Tholatin Retreat of the Commenor System

The star lines peeled away slowly to reveal the system of Commenor, the X-Wing even fast appraoching the monstrously large planet before the counter engines finally clicked in, halting the craft to a near stop. With his inertial compensator turned down to almost nill, Varn Trevealn jerked heavily in his seat. Thes traps stopped him from slamming head on into the controls ahead of him.

The re-entry into subpsace was more than a little abrupt, but Varn had expected this. The briefing had explained that there would be an interdictor cruiser, the fancy ships designed to yank craft out of hyperspace by giving off a false gravity shadow, which would pull them from hyperspace - which would be advantageous in plotting thea ssault. Of course now they would have to fight their way through a gauntlet of LFX ships and fighters...unless Tholatin had been doing their job. The entire operation depended on LFX being unable to get ships to or from the system...for now.

Varn gave a quick scan of the system, identifying the various threats about Commenor, or at least as far as his sensors would allow.

He clicked on his comm unit, opening a frequency with the squadron.

"Attention Halberds, we have exitted hyperspace and are ready for our approach. Form up in wedge formation and prepare to move out. We are not hostile so leave S-Foils in flight position. If we are challenged then lock into attack position. Remember the Rules of Engagement: Do not fire utnil fired upon," he ordered, and the first to resopnd was Howler, his R5 unit, giving a small string of hoots and hollars.

"Don't worry, Admiral Mnar knows what he's doing," he said to try and sedate the droid's fears. Howler gave a low moan, and the red letters rolled acrossed Varn's ebon flight screen in front of him. "My sentiments exactly. Alright, all fighters report in."

There was a quick chorus of responses as each of the eight other pilots responded with their flight designation and callsign. Varn tapped his commlink twice, the sign of confirmation, and then gripped the yokestick which controlled the starfighter.

Anxiety began to prod into the commander's mind, the typical pre-battle strses that softened the mind for the imminent adrenaline rush. Varn took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, in measured motions, feeling his palms dab with sweat as he navigated the ship toward the monstrous shipyards.

"Here we go, try to avoid a fight if possible."


Manifest

9 X-Wings (XJ Type)
1 Modified Spy X-Wing (No Weapons)

Kytar Station - Commenor Orbital Control

The mood in the Situation Room was subdued, somewhat pensive, following the brief conflict with the Tholatin warships. There was a far greater paranoia in the room, now, with the impending risk of attack from either the Jutraalian or Tholatin Empires.

"Sir?" A voice piped up from one of the sensor stations. A young ensign, new to the fleet, by the look of him.

"Report," the officer commaned, turning from the viewports and looking the man over.

"I've got a contact in Gamma Quadrant, sensor and speed profiles suggest starfighters, most likely X-wing Class. They're inbound, sir."

The duty officer paused a moment, considering.

"Does the Corporation own any X-wing starfighters, ensign?"

"No, sir. The Home Defence Corps starfighter armada is entirely made up of TIE Series Defender Class fighters."

"Well, then. Open a channel to these X-wings... and scramble two sqaudrons of the HDC. We don't want anyone snooping in our space, do we?"

"No, sir."

Varn chewed hard on his lip behind his flight helmet as they moved ever closer. With S-Foils still locked, their speed nearly doubled, but they also gave up the ability to fire just about anything.

Still, all they needed to do was outrun their prey, not fight it.

For now at least.

Each X-Wing transmitted its own transponder code that appeared to make it look as though they were on escort for an incoming convoy. With the recent development of tensions between the Tholatin Republic and the LFX Industrial, they had every reason to want to scan the system and clear hostiles before moving in to conduct trade.

From a certain point of view, that was exactly what Dark Halberd Squadron was doing.

But of course from a more reasonable point of view they were coming in and snooping on the operation here.

They managed to clear a considerable amount of space, makign distance up to almost near the shipyards that surrounded Commenor. Varn took it all in in a single glance.

"Snoop One, everything operational on your thereabouts?" he asked poignantly, trying to keep the stress from being too obvious in his voice.

LFX had had some of the most experience in combat left in the galaxy. They had openly fought the Empire, had even stood up against the Jutraalian Empire for an amount of time before finally collapsing in on itself, forming the corporation it was now.

But even then Varn had expected that newer recruits - like some in his squadron for that matter - could be expected to be at the battle, if one would indeed come along.

"Snoop One to Halberd One, everything clear, we're beginning recon check," came back the response from the modified X-Wing.

"Roger that Snoop," Varn said, "Halberds move out into a box formation, give Snoop One some room."

They all broke off into a formation that completely surrounded the spycraft - which by all means, with the exception of an antenna coming off the top, looked exactly like a regular X-Wing - and held off any attacks from directly ahead or the rear. Unfortunately if craft were to come from the top of bottom they would have to fix their formation relatively quickly.

They moved in closer however.

"Alright I have two shots so far, we're going to have to get in closer for the ones I really need though," Snoop One explained. Varn chewed his lip again. The closer they got the more chance there was for enemy fighter action.

"Roger that, how close do you need?"

"Get me within two klicks."

"Two klicks? Now you're talking turbolaser range."

"You guys have X-Wings, try and avoid them."

Varn went quiet and just stared ahead, then peered down at his instruments.

"You can't get it from any further?" he asked incredulously. There was a pause.

"Five klicks, but no further," Snoop One conceded. Varn nodded, just beyond turbolaser range, perfect.

"Alright then, let's move in, what kind of images have you sent back already?"

"Confirmation of what looks like a Harbinger," Snoop One commented. "Aside from that I don't have a clear shot."

"Roger that, we're moving in."

(Chadd, Republic Recon X-wings used to scout systems from range have sensor pods trailing from them.)

<hr>

The TIE Defenders followed the X-wings at distance, easily visibile on their scopes, and easily close enough to chase down the slower snubfighters if it came to a fight, but far enough out to not cause concern amongst a party which intentions only to check a system for an incoming convoy.

Not that anyone believed that was their true goal, of course.

Varn's R4 unit gave a hiss and a whistle as the X-Wings got ever closer to the shipyards, the vast monstrosities of industry and work, laboring fervently to wedge together this or that, another piece of equipment here, a ship there.

And then the all clear was given.

"We got the shots, Halberds you can pull back, we're hauling to hyperspace," Snoop One said suddenly. The Recon X-Wing spun around suddenly and began transferring all of its power to speed as it possibly could.

The Halberds moved around to escort it out.

"ETA to jump, two minutes."

"Do you need your equipment to transmit the data?" Varn asked impatiently.

"It would help, but the fleet already has the important stuff, the rest just fills in little details."

"Roger that, Halberds try to get Snoop One out."

"Roger that Lead."