Log:Hapan's Third Training Mission
Hapan's Third Training Mission
OOC Date: February 27, 2025
Location: CRS Legacy
Participants: Cin'cirad (Sira) "Coop" Rook, Ben "Hapan" Relor, Nasallee "Chomper" Oskoarva, Kidra "Vapor" Treeda , Vorgas "Babs" Vasot, Karas Darkwing, Axyl Lucayon
A Sim Room aboard the CRS Legacy. Multiple Simulation pods are available in this room alone. Along one wall is a large monitor and a holographic display is near the center of the room.
Each simulator is enclosed with the appropriate screens and controls for the ship being used. A full wrap around display gives a complete view and some 'rumble packs' give a reasonable experience and 'feel' of the real thing. The pods have some sound suppression on them, but if you're particularly loud, other people might be able to hear you even within their own simulator.
Of course, all of them are set up with a communications suite as well, allowing for private and public channels amongst those in the simulator.
After moving on from basic flight maneuvers in the Sims, including working alongside the squadron in some rather basic maneuvers (and a Chomperd 'Trench Run' through some canyons), Ben Relor is going forward in his training. Other training Sims such as in-space refueling operations, and practicing all the maneuvers in atmosphere, are covered, and finally the course starts into the Spatial Combat Training. From there, the training Sims became more intense. The application of how to use those maneuvers in combat and as a member of a squadron.
The reading is, of course, no less intensive. Aircraft Flight Performance and Spatial Flight Mechanics were not exactly easy reading material. But it did cover a lot of the applications of energy management, the affects of gravity limiters in the cockpit, and how to apply it. A lot of reference material shows flight envelopes and effective targetting ranges/angles. There was even an appearance by the Empress of the Void (Evie Kora) to do some lectures on Space Combat and Astrogation - alongside more reading materials for Ben. But that all brings us to today - when Ben (Otherwise known by the Callsign 'Hapan') is completing one of the last Sims before actually heading out into space with the Sqauadron. A check ride for being 'Squadron Qualified.' (At least by Sira's standards)
The 'check-in' is much of the usual, heading to the Simulator room, a brief chat about the day's objective, and the everyone piling into Simulators. A boot-up sequence which included a full pre-flight check, and a final screen to review the mission briefing:
______..................../~\....................______ .-~~_______________________________________________________~~-. |/ --- Mission Briefing --- \| || || || || <||=============================================================||> <|| ||> <|| OBJECTIVE: ||> <|| ||> <|| 1) AVOID DESTRUCTION OF CRAFT ||> <|| 2) PROTECT FRIGATE: HEART OF REBELLION ||> <|| ||> <|| SPACECRAFT: ||> || T-65C X-WING STARFIGHTER ||> || ||> || ENEMIES: ||> || IMPERIAL - UNKNOWN NUMBER ||> || ||> || LOCATION: ||> <|| HELIOPAUSE OF THE KUAT SYSTEM ||> <|| ||> <|| CURRENT SITUATION: ||> <|| IN PREPARATION OF A RAID BY THE REBELLION, THE FRIGATE ||> <|| 'HEART OF REBELLION' JUMPED INTO THE OORT CLOUD OF ||> <|| THE KUAT SYSTEM. EDGING INTO THE HELIOPAUSE TO GET ||> <|| BETTER SCAN RESULTS, THE STARSHIP SUFFERED A ||> <|| HYPERDRIVE MALFUNCTION BELIEVED TO BE SABOTAGE. ||> <|| ||> <|| SOON AFTER, AN IMPERIAL FRIGATE IS SPOTTED ON SENSORS ||> <|| HEADING IN THE DIRECTION OF THE 'HEART OF REBELLION.' ||> <|| THE SQUADRON ABOARD LAUNCHES TO PROTECT THE FRIGATE ||> <|| UNTIL REPAIRS COULD BE MADE. ||> <|| ||> \\_____________________________________________________________//
As the Simulators all activate and shoot you off into space, all the instruments and controls come alive. In front of you, a bit of a ways off you all can see an Imperial II-Class Frigate. A number of TIEs of a variety of types already lighting up the sensors as you see them closing. For certain, you see quite a few TIE Fighters, along with Interceptors, and even some Bombers that are lagging more behind.
Immediately the communication chatter kicks up as the others in the the rest of the squadron start to talk and break apart into groups. Leaving the Five of you facing your own challenges in front of you.
<"Hapan, Chomper, Vapor, Babs. Best of luck out there."> Sira's voice giving that usual crackle of electronic distortion. She is, after all, monitoring not flying this day's exercise in the Sims.
For the uninitiated, Chomper is a bottle redheaded young lady. She's the kind who seems like she'd be a lot of fun to hang around with, but you also know that fun could get you tossed into the brig. She sits through the briefing, managing to not pick on Vapor or Hapan too much. (Not too much doesn't mean not at all, though)
In the sims, she does her preflight checks, her launch checks and her in flight checks as they come up on the frigate and fighter assortment. She grins like a lunatic, rocketing out to the front. <"Keep it frosty, everybody. Don't die, Hapan,"> she cackles as her T-65 ROCKETS through the front lines of TIE fighters, heading right for the bombers. She opens fire, but her excitement gets the best of her and the quadlasers miss.
The TIEs don't, though. Turbolaser fire lances out and wings Chomper's fighter, and she swears. A lot. "There you go again, jumping into stuff... Eh. Kriff it!"
~~ SOME TIME AGO: "Remember. It's not just a question of the 'right' maneuver-- it's a question of what your opponent expects you to do." Lucayon climbed out of the pursuit of Relor's craft after directing him to fire when ready-- with weapons powered down nice and low of course-- then immediately cuts thrust.
For just a moment, it leaves the TIE Avenger not QUITEstationary-- if one can level out the targeting computer as its predictive indicator loses all sanity for just an instant at the sudden change in velocity. Flipping his pitch another sixty degrees, Axyl pushes those grav-compensators to the limit as ion engines bloom bright and he bolts back to jockey for position behind Ben, rolling harshly port.
"Mind your training and doctrinal wisdom; but there Chomperl be more than once that the only thing to save you in the cockpit of a snubfighter is /instinct/. Anticipation. Perhaps a bit of chaos."
From Vapor's pod comes quiet snoring. But when the combat sim starts she startles awake, hitting switches in rapid sequence to boot up her snub fighter. Half way through, she complains over comms, "Oh come on... T-65C's?! At least give us the modern 85's." The redhead in a tartan plaid print skirt grumbles softly as she continues the sequence, "What is this, Endor?" in the tone of 'OK Boomer'.
When the TIEs attempt to tail her, Vapor just laughs. "Okay, okay, X-Wings are just unfair when it comes to fighting these guys..." Then, quieter, "Still prefer my B-Wing though."
"Hoo-ee"
Running a hand over his gear before tapping comms, even though they're already open, Babs shimmy shakes in his seat as he settles in, <<"Hapan I hope you got your suit on tight, or you wore them brown shorts today, hah!">>
Adjusting his reads and checking the zeroes on the quad cannons, frowning with the sims putting his s-foils into attack position - making the start of the gesture to engage them pointless. Watching as one of their own surges ahead and shooting off after them,
<<"Chomper, kriffin' hell...">>
Swinging in with all four cannons cycle firing to try and buy her space while his shields are lit up by the return fire he's chosen to fly towards, unsure of how well his own targeting had been.
"Kark..."
Having been the last to launch, knowing this is a training session, Karas wanted to watch the others and see hwere he can help. Even though he's now a Commander, still it's good to see how the others work together. The older T-65cs are good fighters and as he flips the switch to open the S-Foils of his fighter. Hearing the comm chatter and sees enemy bombers making a move to line up their shots, Karas quickly pushes his throttle to Max.
He knows the payloads the bombers can carry and they needed to be taken out. <<Green Lead, this is Green 6, engaging the bombers.>> he calls out as he locks onto the lead bomber and fires!
From even before he stepped into the simulator tonight, Ben Relor's been in a Chomperd mood. He's SUPER high energy, for some reason, and not at all his usually curmudgeony self. It's like he's high. Is he high? Did he get all stimmed up before he came here tonight?! It's entirely possible.<<"I karking hate that call sign!">> He yells that at Sira as the simulation begins. Way too loud. "Gonna take out my aggression on the karking enemy!"
Laughing like a loon, he zooms right into the fight. <<"Nothing to be scared of out here, Babs! It's just me, all of you, and a bunch of Imps ready to get blasted to bits!!>> The others can hear him humming something over the comms. Blaster fire rips past his starboard wing, so close that his HUD flickers from the energy burst. His hands are already moving before he thinks -- sharp roll, juke left, throttle cut, dive. The next shot misses by a breath. "HA! Too slow!" His voice is breathless, half-laughing, high on the rush. The targeting reticle flashes red -- enemy in his sights. He fires, and...misses. "Kriff."
He yanks the control stick hard, already adjusting for a second shot. Too late! The sim yanks him into a forced evasive pattern. Another warning chime. Another enemy lock. His teeth clench, palms sweating. "Okay, okay, minor miscalculation -- come on, just a hair off--" His fingers flick over the controls like he can force the past shot to change. "I had that." More blaster fire. Too close. Too kriffing close. His foot taps erratically against the cockpit floor as he wrenches the yoke again, slicing through a tight dive. "Alright, fine, new plan -- I'll just outfly every single one of these bastards until they give up or run out of power cells."
That should work. Right, Hapan?
The TIE Fighters are definitely swarming thick about them, the calls from other Squadron Mates also locked in combat. It's clear that there's a couple Interceptors that are better than the rest with how they handle their ships. Bombers already working to get a lock on the Heart of Rebellion, though both of them look like they've taken a hell of a beating. They're doing their best to stay light on the controls while still lining up for their attack runs.
<"Second set of bombers just launched from the Imperial ship. Be adivised, they Chomperl be within range in less than a minute."> (Round after the next one) <"The rest of Green Squadron is engaged, no losses yet.">
Vapor grumbles softly as her TIE Bomber targets veer away from her reticle before she ever gets a shot off. Again. <<"Wow, sure would be nice if we weren't flying 60 year old fossils...">> Another near miss and Vapor shouts, "Come on!" Then a blast hits her aft shields and Vapor winces, <"Oof. Right in the ass. Refor, get on that would you?"> Beep-boop from her droid as Vapor spins into a barrel roll to escape a cluster of fighters.
It is not Chomper's day. <"Hapan! Did you steal my ship? I can't hit poodoo today!"> Chomper wheels about, dogfighting with these bombers. These bombers who are -winning-. Her shields get shredded for a second time after her excellent R2 unit fixed them once. "Son of a," she mutters to herself, wincing as the bolts go BLAT against her T-65.
She's going to get shot down and embarrassed in front of Hapan. She'll never live it down. She fires again, missing Chomperdly this time, hitting the canopy with her fist in frustration. "You're a kriffing BOMBER! STAY STILL!"
Having not broke off from the bomber Green 6 rolls and dives keeping on it's original target. The engines flare up as it dives, chasing the bomber. As the -65c dives, green energy bolts streaks past the X-Wing, a few hitting the shields, emitting an electric blue bubble around the fighter. Glancing back, "Spark take care of getting our shields back up." he says as he decreases the speed of his fighter trying to keep behind the bomber in front of him.
Karas presses the triggers on his flight stick and as he does, angry red energy lances streak from the tips of the laser cannons of his fighter and races towards the bomber. Multiple shots hit and the bomber explodes, the X-Wing rolls away from the fireball and it banks hard to the right.
Well, it's just crazy out there. Crazy! Something slams into Ben's port side -- shields flare, alarms scream, the whole sim shakes like reality itself just tried to throw him out of the sky. <<"Oh, KRIFF OFF!">> Ben's hands fly over the controls, twisting the yoke into a reckless counterspin. He lets out a Chomperd cackle at the loop-de-loop. A bomber explodes somewhere ahead. Bright, messy, glorious destruction. <<"Yeah, sure, you got it, Vapor! Anything for you, doll!">>
But wait, what's this? His HUD flickers -- the fighter that clipped him is still flying. UNACCEPTABLE. And distracting. His fingers tighten around the controls. If this TIE thought it could take a shot at him and live to tell about it, it was about to learn exactly how wrong it was. <<"You're gonna eat those words, Chomper. Watch this!">> He yanks the stick HARD, pulling into a reckless, high-G pivot -- wings nearly shearing off as he dives, cuts the throttle for just a second, and twists back onto its tail. Blaster fire slams into the TIE's hull. Direct karking hit. It spirals, burning, barely holding together -- but it's still alive.
<<"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me.">> Relor's jaw locks. His leg bounces violently against the cockpit floor, fingers twitching on the trigger. He's already chasing, already gunning for the kill, already lining up another shot. <<"You're DEAD, pal. You just don't know it yet.">> Throttle to max. He's going to FINISH THIS.
"Refor," Vapor clarifies. "REFOR, my droid! Not Relor. You stay away from my ass! Unless you are shooting TIEs."
The Bombers continue to weave, though one of them suddenly explodes as a pilot takes it out. The Interceptors breaking up. Two of them on Karas, while one each stay on Chomper and Babs. The TIE Fighters screech by, still after Vapor and Hapan, one of them managing to hit Hapan. The constant chatter is still there from the rest of the squadron. At least one of them taking out a TIE Fighter of their own as further time ticks down.
<"Green Squadron, Heart of the Rebellion is firing on the incoming Bombers to delay them.">
The shouts of another lucky shot from an X-wing, the sims giving another shake when some of those get hit. The R2 behind Ben, not Fives unfortunately, is fiving him a blat-blat that sounds almost like its laughing at him for getting too cocky. Though it's still working away on the shields for him. Chomper's R2 gives a wail of noise as the Interceptor is firing on them, clearly unhapy about being between the X-wing and the Interceptor behind them.
~~ SOME TIME AGO:
One on one, the pace is Lucayon's to set in mock dogfighting exercises with Lt. Relor. But that's not often the case in a pitched battle, is it?
"Keep your sensors in your peripheral vision, your muscle memory Chomperl learn to read every blip. In a real engagement, you'll likely have at least a wingman: mind their targets, because when an enemy is evading one attack, it becomes exponentially harder to perceive and react to another vector." In the meantime, the Shistamandalorian rolls off Relor's aft and spirals into a mad vertical descent, challenging the other Rebel to keep up-- and align his crosshairs.
"Particularly with vital targets like incoming heavy bombers, coordinate with your wing, with your squadron, and drop their numbers as quickly as you can. Call out missiles and their locks-- every snubfighter is a force multiplier to another. Even a missed shot can lead to the destruction of your target." Of course... the inverse applies when at least a wing of ships comes at all your comrades. The silver lining is that, too, takes focus.
When the bomber explodes, Vapor comments quietly, <<"Wow, Commander's pretty good...">> But then she's having to roll one way, then roll the other way, and finally pull back on the stick hard to loop fully around. <<"Could... You... NOT?!">> Fine. Whatever. Vapor breaks off and starts to chase the Interceptors trying to zero the Commander. Four shots go wide. Four more shots go wide. A continuous hail of fire from Vapor's overheating lasers all go wide! <<"What the heck?! Is this sim working right?! Nothing is connecting! At all!">>
Lights flash, showing shields going into the green and Babs nods, despite no one being able to see it, "Extra oil bath for you li'l guy." Smacking his hand good naturedly against the side of the pod even as he hauls over and the green haired pilot is wheeling to chase after the bombers.
"Give me tone."
Not watching his brackets but where the fighter is ahead of him, the pilot swings his ship to keep on target, trying to lead before he hears a dull hum in his ear that spurs him to squeeze and the cannons on each wing tip begin to chatter.
Sparks fly and the fighter is torn to shreds and erupts in a fireball.
<<"Splash one, lets get to their fighters, Chomper.">>
And then the shrieking resumes as his shields are brought to the absolute brink by cannon fire from the flank, systems joining with the droids blaring as Babs tries to get clear before his simulated rumpus is blown to smithereens.
<<Sorry meant to say Splash 1.>> he says into his comms. Checking his sensor boards, "Alright...." he is cut off as he's being fired upon. Karas is a vet, and an ace. Jinking right and left, but the shots do hammer into his shields and he sees the alert that his shields are dangerously low. "Spark get on those shields." he calls to his droid.
He does fire on the Interceptor but the shots go wide. A grunt escapes Karas, shaking his head, <<Alright everyone keep it together.>> he calls out to the others. The X-Wing climbs and rolls away as Karas manuevers to get into a better angle of attack so that he can go after the other interceptors.
Within her cockpit, Chomber is just swearing. Swearing at the sim, swearing at the enemy fighters, swearing at her droid who has absolutely not been pulling his weight. She punches the canopy again in frustration. <"Ngh. Roger, Babs,">
Not a lot to say. Uh oh. She must be really mad.
She whips the T-65 into a drifting turn, wheeling about and cranking her thrusters to full blast to catch back up with Babs and hopefully improve her sortie.
<<"Yeah, yeah, yeah...">> Yes, Ben talks back to Obi-Wan Axyl's Force ghost. In his head. He says it right over the comms, so no one's gonna know what he means when he mutters: <<"That's all well and good, but sometimes, you gotta make things RIGHT.">> Relor is just obsessed with the TIE fighter he almost killed, which is still very much on his ass, along with one of his Impy friends.
And those same TIEs maybe just got a hit on him, too! The cockpit shakes, and Relor curses. Loudly. A lot. But his shields aren't down, at least. <<"Oh, you wanna play that game?">> Ben snarls through gritted teeth, yanking the controls hard and throwing his X-wing into a reckless corkscrew. The TIE is right there, right where he wants it, right where he can FINISH this -- so he fires. And misses. KRIFFING. MISSES! <<"ARE YOU -- ">> His voice cuts off in a strangled shout of rage. He's gripping the controls too tight, nearly shaking with frustration. The TIE is still flying, still taunting him with its smoke-trailing, half-dead existence. <<"You are NOT supposed to still be HERE!">> He slams the throttle forward, chasing, swearing, absolutely unhinged. He's going to end this, one way or another. Even if it kills him. Which it might, if this were reality and not a sim.
With the second TIE Bomber being destroyed and the other two being kept busy by the ever growing dog fight around them, it's becoming clear that the fight is still anyones. The sheer volume of TIE Fighters is proving difficult. Two of them on Karas' X-wing are showing him up pretty good, the hits they're scoring is dragging down his shields and one of his engines is now on the fritz as it sparks. The rumblers in the Sims very noticably shaking his seat as it becomes clear that the Interceptors on him are not just for show. Spark, Karas' R2 is howling at him, telling him to stop getting shot!
Hapan finds that, even though he's tangling with those two TIE Fighters, it's an almost even odds at this point. It's clear why some people saw the TIE Fighter as a not too-terrible craft, though his droid is keeping the shields up quite nicely. The droid even singing a little tone and giving what sounds a bit like an admonishment for not sticking with the others in his flight of four.
Even as Babs downs that TIE Bomber, one of the Interceptors is right on his tail. The flashing four bolts scoring hits on his shields, even worse, it seems the one that's a cut above the rest. Sticking to him and changing speed to keep inside of his turn without overshooting.
Vapor, however, seems to be the blessed one as the two TIEs coming after her seem like they barely graduated from the Academy with how terribly they're doing.
Chomper finds an Interceptor trying to gun her down as well, this one seeming a bit better than the rest, but clearly not the ace that's on Babs.
As you watch, the Turbolaser fire finally opens up. Both capital ships engaging above you, shots of laser fire pouring back and forth. Deadly to fly between lest you catch a stray bolt. The TIE Fighters seeming not to know, or care, start to do more strafing passes on the X-wings, heading up into the shots between the two capital ships, while the Interceptors stick below it, experience clearly teaching them the better part of how to fly.
Fuming quietly, Vapor goes in for the last interceptor on Babs. Not at all expecting to hit a damn thing, she fires her lasers exactly when she's supposed to, just like she has this whole time, and--
It explodes? Because of her?? <<"I GOT ONE!">> she shouts excitedly, <<"I got 'em!">> Laughing at the surprise of it all, she clears her throat and comms gently, <<"Um, sorry. Splash 1.">>
"Yes. I know. I am aware they are! Fix. It."
Hull damage was light, still, for the moment and the wailing of the R2 unit was getting to the point Babs was ready to switch off audio and just rely on screen reads if it meant a moment of peace.
"You get those up I'll work on keeping us alive! Kark!"
Head on a swivel, hands moving on their own to dip and sweep the fighter in the hopes of getting out of the line of fire. Turning towards where Karas's ship is moving with the interceptors Chomper is helping chase. Nodding when he sees one bloom of fire and training his own nose to get it 'ahead' of where the other Chomperl be.
WENK! WENK! WENK! WENK! WENK!
Cannons barking and hearing Vapor now, <<"THANK YOU!">> Twisting into a tight roll when he sees his own target's engines go dark and rather than detonate it begins a lazy, powerless, tumble through space.
Chomper wheels out, slipping through space like a needle. New targets... She prepares to go one way, but instead rolls in the other, coming up beside Babs again, her own four laser cannons blatting out into space, taking the other Interceptor on Karas's tail out. <"You can thank me later,"> she says.
<"We got more shootin' to do!">
Ben Relor is misbehaving. He should be using teamwork. Helping those who are struggling. He /knows/ better, but there's something off about him today, apparently. The hit to his ship barely registers. A sharp jolt, a shield flare, a warning chime in his ear -- irrelevant. The astromech bleeps a frantic status update, but Ben doesn't even look at the damage report. He doesn't care. <<"Not now.">> All that matters is the half-dead TIE ahead of him -- the one that shouldn't still be flying. It's limping, smoking, practically begging to be put down. And Ben? Ben doesn't let things go. Especially not today.
He leans into the chase, breath sharp, fingers twitching on the trigger. <<"You're mine.">> His ship shudders again -- another shot from behind. The droid screeches. Various people yelling on the comms. Ben doesn't even blink. Because nothing else exists. Not the squadmates bleeding out, not the TIE on his ass, not the flashing damage alerts. Just this target. Just this moment. Just whatever it is that won't let him stop. All that tunnel vision makes him sloppy, too, because that cursed TIE is still flying...and Relor lets out another yell of rage and frustration.
This damn interceptor wasn't giving him a break at all, but this only made Karas chuckle to himself as he rolls and banks. A few shots do get through and all of a sudden he thinks his shields blink out but they don't. He knows how bad his fighter is, but he trusted his droid and his squadmates. "Spark come on, stop messing around!" he says. "No oil bath if we die!" he laughs as he manages to pull away as he begins to get assistance from the others, <<Thanks Greens!>> he calls into the comm. As he banks right, he catches sight of one of the Interceptors and he fires, his shots misses just barely.
The battle suddenly seems to get a bit of an equalizing force, tipping back into the Rebels' favor as three of the interceptors are eliminated in quick succession. The two TIEs chasing after Karas finally taken down, the other following Chomper annihilated in a large fireball. The shots of turbolasers seering overhead as the larger ships start to duke it out, the Rebel Frigate starting to turn so it's facing more off line and at an angle to the ship that looks almost like a mini-Star Destroyer. Its bow angling down more to get more of its turbolasers on target even as its trying to close the distance.
<"All pilots, all pilots. The hyperdrive is fixed and charging. I repeat. The hyperdrive is fixed and charging. Prepare for combat landings, do what you can to keep the fighters at bay.">
The TIEs seem to pick up in intensity, the whole massive mess of the fight that has been slightly away from this particular attack land now flooding into the area as some of the X-wings are starting a defensive fight - trying to prepare to land back on the ship or else risk having to make a fast jump to a hopeful safe haven before rejoining with the fleet.
Try to land it? Or have a long flight back...
That Interceptor on Babs is the real tough one though, its dodging around the fire others are pouring at it while still laying into Babs' shields and even scoring hits on the hull.
Hapan, for his part, is flying into the area between the two capital ships, the massive bolts of turbolaser firing arching between the two ships - a sure death sentence if you get hit with one of those. The TIE he's chasing missing, but drawing him deeper into that dangerous field, while its wingman is still laying into his aft shields. If it wasn't for the good work of his droid, his Sim would probably shrieking at him about now.
<<"What are you doing, Hapan?! Stop!">> Chasing the rebel sapper into the firestorm happening between the capital ships, Vapor manages to score a good hit on one of the TIEs, but they're all moving near-max speed. <<"Stop... Stop weaving around so much so I can line them up and--agh!">> Taking a hit on the starboard side, Vapor shakes her head, <<"Sorry, Hapes. I'm heading to the ship before it leaves without me!">>
<<"What are you doing, Hapan?! Stop!">> Chasing the rebel sapper into the firestorm happening between the capital ships, Vapor manages to score a good hit on one of the TIEs, but they're all moving near-max speed. <<"Stop... Stop weaving around so much so I can line them up and--agh!">> Taking a hit on the starboard side, Vapor shakes her head, <<"Sorry, Hapes. I'm heading to the ship before it leaves without me!">>
<<"DIE IN A FIRE, IMP TRASH!">> Ben's blaster fire rips through the TIE's smoking hull -- and this time, it connects. The enemy ship detonates in a flash of fire and debris, the explosion lighting up his HUD, and for a moment, all he feels is raw, burning satisfaction. He laughs like a goddamn loon over the comms. At least until the turbolasers open up. Then he just laughs some more.
A streak of green energy nearly blinds him, tearing through the space where he was seconds ago. His instincts slam him into evasive mode, yanking his X-wing into a violent roll, weaving through the barrage with just enough clearance to feel the heat. He's already cursing, already locking onto the next threat -- the TIE on his tail -- lining up a shot, pulling the trigger...and he misses again. Ben growls through his teeth, fingers tightening around the controls. <<"Just need another clean shot,">> he mutters. <<"I got this, Vapor. You get back to the ship.">> Does he not even care if it leaves without him?
Cleaned off and banking to aid the others, Babs sighs when the droid stops yammering and just gets as much of the shields going as they can. Grumbling and shifting in his seat and fighting the urge to lean with the turn as he opens up with the cannons after a quick flick of his finger switches them from chained to linked fire.
Strikes register but no explosions to follow save for the streaks of turbolaser fire that if not simulated would have heated his cockpit to a sauna for how close they came.
"Rekkin' owe me for that, tell you what."
Head lifting now as he looks to reports on his forward readout, then ducking down as he yanks and brings his fighter hard over again when twin link fire starts raking across his four o'clock.
"Danke. Ferrick!"
Looking down again as a signal goes off,
<<"Green we're getting the dinner bell, time to go get chow.">>
Chomper screams through space, cranking the thrusters of her X-Wing to maximum as she goes on the hunt. She's finally getting into her groove, having taken out one interceptor, and now she's going for two. She pulls in behind the TIE, flicking toggles and twisting knobs. The X-Wing barks out four shots, missing the Interceptor. She closes on the Imperial, only to drive the nose of her fighter downwards and drop away.
Weird, but perhaps the TIE pilot can breathe a bit easier.
Except they can't. Chomper's X-Wing comes spiralling up from below, barking out laser shots at the Imperial fighter, shattering it into fragments as she whoops through. <"Augh, recall? Just as I was feeling my groove!">
She starts angling back towards the Heart.
Readjusting power and bringing more power into the engines of his X-Wing. Closing the strike foils and weaving through the enemy fire, rolling as the enemy fire comes in at him. Karas doesn't panic as he flies, and fly he does as he manages to evade the enemy fire. He brings his fighter around, strike foils open instantly as he manages to escape, <<Thanks for the assist.>> he calls into his comms. Seeing that the interceptors have been dealt with, he chases down two enemy TIEs, destorying them both quickly.
<"All Ships, All Ship, this is the Heart of Rebellion. Combat Landings, I repeat, Combat Landings."> Some of the other members of Green Squadron have already turned, burning toward the Frigate. They've even closed their S-Foils to get a bit more speed out of it while they fly toward the hangar bay. TIEs screaming after them with their green bolts hitting the shields and creating a cascade of electricity across the surface of them.
Of the original 10 TIEs that originally had been in their area, only 3 remain. The TIE Fighters now added to the mess with a slew of others that swarm about them en-masse. It's a very target rich environment, if not a dangerous one as multiple TIEs are swarming down on each person. The only one that seems free of them is Karas for the moment.
The strain in the voices on the comms are evident. Some of the X-wing pilots calling out as a crackle of static joins it after. The Rebels had not gotten through it unscathed, but it almost definitely was a harder fight on the Imperial Forces. Either way, not many of the X-wing pilots want to be taking the /long/ trip back instead of the one aboard the Frigate.
Over four hours making hops in hyperspace within the cockpit? Or get to relax on board the Heart of Rebellion?
Which do you think they would want?
Chomper closes her S-Foils, pouring on a little more speed. A couple pot shots from a TIE finally crack her shields, but she's too close to the ship to give it much more than a single swear.
She comes in far too hot, though. No amount of cutting engines and reverse thrusters can save her. She hits the deck of the capital ship, screeching across it in an uncontrolled skid. Finally, FINALLY the thrusters do their job and bring Chomper's X-Wing to a stop.
She's really lucky this isn't real. Even so, Vapor, that flipskirt, is going to give her no end of hell.
Pop goes the simulator pod and Vapor pries herself out. That got a bit heated, and she has to smooth her pleated skirt down a bit. She is tugging on the collar of her button-down blouse when she looks up at the scoreboard. "That was...not fun. I couldn't hardly hit anything until the very..." She blinks. "End? Hapan! How did you die?! Didn't you land??" Seems she's not too intent on griefing Chomper after how badly she did herself.
<<"Just a sim, Hapan, shift it and get it home.">>
Twisting his fighter into another spin when pursuing TIEs give chase, pinwheeling through the eyeballs hurling viridian down range at him, Babs drops weapon power to goose the engines up to head for the frigate.
<<"Gentles, looks like we had a good sim run today, Coop's gonna have to cough up for the good stuff for us.">>
Head turning towards where he knows the sim pod cameras to be, "Ain' that right, boss?"
Cutting thrust as he passes through the magcon shields of the docking bay the older model X-Wing actually power slide on its repulsors to allow inertia to carry it away from the opening and towards a taxiway to get clear for others coming in. Sliding to a gentle turn into one of the receiving berths.
"What in..."
Sim pod going black just after watching Relor's X-wing yard-sale two of the others who'd landed.
Switching his comms to squad links, excluding Relor, <<"We need six cans of shaving foam, two rolls of space tape...">>
<<"I gotta finish off this son of a mudscuffer. Don't wait up for me.">> Ben forgot about the "just a Sim" part, apparently. He locks onto the last TIE, heart hammering, hands steady despite the fire still burning in his chest. One shot. One chance. He grits his teeth, tracks the fighter through its evasive roll, and fires. Direct karking hit. The TIE explodes in a burst of fire and shrapnel, and for a second -- /just a second/ -- he feels untouchable. Invincible. Like the whole kriffing galaxy is moving at his speed.
Then comes the landing...or lack thereof. He brings the X-wing in fast -- too fast. IMPACT. A sickening jolt, a violent spin, a flash of simulated metal and sparks...nothing. The sim flickers to black.
Ben yanks off his helmet, jaw clenched, still breathing too hard. His leg bounces. His hands twitch. He should be pissed. Should be embarrassed. Instead -- he just laughs, sharp and breathless. "I had it," he says, maybe to no one. "Right up until the end. I karking had it." Grinning like he's just had the best time of his life. Or won another swoop race.
The other members of green squadron are landing in various states. Though none of them quite compare to Vapor and Babs who land that thing so smooth it's pretty ridiculous. The other pilots all leaning back in their cockpits as they take a moments breather. The sound of the turbolasers firing and the ship receiving hits is still heard. There's a shudder through the cockpits and there's the faint call from inside, calling for damage control crew on decks four five and nine.
<"All hands, brace for hyperspace. All hands, brace for hyperspace."> Just before the ship jumps, one particular X-wing flown by Hapan makes his break for the hangar and then it slams into two other X-wings. If this hadn't been a simulator, that would be three dead pilots and three times as many support crew and mechanics. In that one instance, Relor caused more casualties to the ship than the Imperials had. Not to mention, the most ships destroyed... bringing him up to 5, with two of those friendly and one being his own.
With that, the ship shudders and the calls for Fire suppression teams and further damage control as Ben's X-wing is a crashed hunk of metal. Fire suppression suits donned along with the crews running about, trying to clear away anything that might add to the fire. The Sim pods all open on that note.
Sira is already heading along the sims, shooting a look toward Babs, "It's in the Oh Mess. Don't kriff it up, since it's just a party for you three. Karas, you're invited to go with." The look says that it was intended to be for all of them. But as Relor's pod is opening, Sira is standing next to it.
"What the kriff do you think you were doing, /Lieutenant/." Staring down at him, she even goes far as to try and push him back into the pod if he decides to try and stand up. "This isn't a kriffing toy or a joy ride. Do you have any idea, how much you kriffed up that mission?"
Her hand comes up, ticking things off, "You ignored a Wingman in distress. You didn't go after the bombers as they were moving in on the ship. You went between the two capital ships, putting yourself in the middle of turbolaser fire. And that's /before/ you screwed up a landing so bad, you - SINGLE HANDEDLY - caused more destruction to the ship and crew than any of the Imperials did."
Ben is covered in sweat. He's got a Chomperd look on his face, and he lets Sira push him back into the pod with a grunt and a grin. He scoffs and laughs -- not exactly disrespect for her. It's something else. He talks loudly, quickly, over her if he has to. "Listen, If I'd broken off, I would've given that TIE a clean shot on me -- so obviously I had to finish it. And the bombers? I wasn't about to let their escort run free. And let's be honest -- dodging turbolaser fire is still better than getting pinned in an ambush."
The more she keeps at him, the more agitated he gets. "What, you wanted me to sit back and get vaped? Maybe if we had a better tactical lead, we wouldn't have needed a 'kriffing joy ride.'" He tries to get up again, hand trembling as he runs it through his hair. But something she says seems to rattle him, briefly. For maybe half a second, before he snorts. "Alright, alright, I get it. Big scary wing commander is mad. What do you want, a heartfelt apology? I'll send a handwritten note." Tries to get out of the sim again. Something's not quite right with him, maybe. Relor's a lot of things -- reckless, violent, sometimes overconfident -- but he's a tactician who cares about people. And tonight, he wasn't acting like someone who cared. Or someone who thought.
"Like kriffing hell." Sira says, her eyes narrowing, "You think that you get to get off with some easy shebs response like a handwritten note?" She gives a shake of her head, "The whole point of those books was to teach you the right and wrong approach." She grabs the cuffs of the gloves and pulls them a bit tighter, a close inspection might notice that the armored Mandalorians gloves don't look like normal gloves at all.
"So this is how we're going to take care of this. You want to get me to sign off on you for Squadron duty?" Her eyebrows arch, "Then you're running through every single kriffin' BFM sim again. And that's how we'll start. Then we'll have to run through a physical, the long and lengthy one which I had waived before. Then after that, we'll see what some of the others might come up with." Sira's eyes are still those narrowed slits, "That /is/ if you want someone to actually /sign off/ on it, and /not/ attach a recommendation that you're not flight ready to your record."
She shakes her head and takes a half step back, "Get kriffin' cleaned up and get your shebs out of here before I do something I regret. That was the worst performance I have seen from you in every way, on the ground or otherwise. Hells, you'll have to work your way back /up/ to Hapan, you're just a kriffin' kay en gee now."
Ben's grin falters -- just for a second. Not because of the punishment. Not because of the extra sims, the physicals, the hoops she wants him to jump through. That? That's just another challenge. Another fire to burn through.
But being called an KNG? That stings.
For half a second, the fire behind his eyes dims...then it flares right back up. His jaw tightens, fingers twitching at his side. He forces out a sharp laugh, brittle at the edges.
"Yeah? Well, lucky for you, I love a comeback story."
He salutes, exaggerated, mocking. Then he turns, already walking off, not looking back. Not letting her words catch up with her, if he can help it.
Vapor sighs, looks to Sira, and then to Ben. She shakes her head to Sira, makes a hand signal for 'talk to you later' and then jogs off after Ben.
"Vapor!" Sira calls out, still with the edge in her voice. She looks toward one of her pilots. Then jerks her way toward the Mess Hall. "You and Babs get first dibs on the Corellian Whiskey. Those landings were hot, but I would've liked to see you start in on those Interceptors a bit earlier next time." She gives another squint of her eyes, "Don't let it go to your head, or else Vapor won't be a reference to you running on fumes, ya catch me?"
