Children of the Empire

Game Master Talmonis

Cramped conditions have made the 3 day journey to Bilbringi a boring and exhausting trip. You feel the shuttle drop out of hyperspace with a shudder.

The comms spring to life with a stern female voice:
"Shuttle Omidas this is Armiger control, we have you on approach. Please transmit code clearance and flight plan."

Pilot:
"Armiger control, request hangar access for crew transfer. Transmitting code clearance now."

Control:
"Clearance received. Welcome home Omidas. Please proceed to hangar bay 3."

Pilot:
"Copy control, proceeding to hangar bay 3."

The shuttle proceeds to dock smoothly, coming to a rest with a light bump. The loading ramp lowers with a hiss, allowing you to exit the shuttle.

Outside on the hangar deck, you're met by a squad of stormtroopers, A human male officer and a 3D-4X droid. The officer is a handsome man with graying temples, a short blonde haircut and brown eyes.

Officer:
"Welcome to the Armiger. I'm Captain Hawkwith. I've been informed by command that you're to be our new Fighter squadron. Your orders will come directly from Admiral Czarinova's assistant, Threedee-Fourexx. After you receive your orders, report to the flight deck barracks for your bunk assignments. Mission briefing for our current operation will commence at 0900. Carry on."

The Captain and his escort leave the deck. A sleek, silver, humanoid looking droid approaches.

Threedee-Fourexx:
"Greetings, I am Threedee-Fourexx. I will be the liaison between the Admiral and yourselves. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them. For now, I have a message to deliver."

The droid produces a small holographic emitter, places it on the floor and steps back. A life sized image of an attractive, middle aged woman appears. Long, wavy blonde hair is brushed back away from her right eye.

"Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Admiral Elsa Czarinova. I am the one responsible for this opportunity you have all been given to serve your Empire.
As you may or may not know, our war has reached a stalemate with the New Republic. We can no longer claim to have overwhelming fleet superiority. Our resources are being stretched thin, as more worlds openly revolt, or are conquered.
As such, by order of Supreme Commander Thrawn, strategic changes have taken place.
After the defeat of the Supreme Commander over Mon Calamari, in addition to the destructions of both death stars, the fall of Admiral Isaard and the warlord Zsinj it has become apparent that small, covert squadrons of commandos and pilots have become a weapon of great power in the hands of the Republic.
You will be the Imperial answer to this problem. I will have direct control over your operations, though you will still report to the captain of your ship. Rank structure will be observed, unless I deem it otherwise.
Your first assignment will be to investigate the strangely coordinated pirate attacks on shipping on the hyperlane near the Bilbringi system. Put a stop to these attacks. Consider it a test of your already substantial abilities. After which, we'll move to the next stage.
One last thing. Welcome to the program, Night Squadron. Czarinova out."

The image fades.

"I guess questions and answers will come later.....I am Lt. Thek, Helrun Thek."

"fight fire with fire, huh? Sounds alright to me. Lieutenant Perallus Alden. Pretty cool we just now got here and already have a squad name. Let's go find our bunks; I need a walk after that trip."

Rank structure will be observed, unless I deem it otherwise.

I guess that statement is meant for me. Harry mutters out loud to no one in particular.

Looking at Harry, you see an older man standing 6 feet tall, with wide shoulders and stout body. A heavy blaster and a bandolier of grenades hangs over his shoulders. A heavy pistol sits in a holster attached to his leg. His uniform is devoid of rank, no name is stenciled anywhere, along with no markings of unit identification. His most noticiable feature is his long red hair and equally long red beard, braided into braids. An unlit cigar hangs from his mouth, but you see him searching his body, muttering Now where did i put that lighter...

Hearing Perallus talk, Harry turns.
That is a fine idea, son. Although i dont think a walk is what we need. I think it would behoove us all Harry pauses, looking everyone in the eye to make sure they have his attention. It would behoove us all to go down to the exercise yard and do some PT. We are all new to each other, and i would like to see what condition we are in. I know the exercise standard is a little lax for these star fighters, but for us in the Black, it was paramount. So i will see everyone in the exercise room in 90 minutes.

"While I agree with your plan to get these ladies into something a little more comfortable, I had other PT in mind......"

Perallus shrugs and shoulders his duffel bag. "Workaholic, huh. One in every troop, I guess. I'm gonna go settle in and get acquainted with our new home."

The heck did that guy do to get clearance for that kinda beard? Musta saved some brass under fire or something.

Perallus will make his way to his designated bunk, and, once settled, will then explore the ship and stop by a computer terminal to start gathering general information and background on the ship and its crew.

"Pardon me, guys, is this the bunker assignment for Night Squadron?" comes a soft female voice from the doorway.

Standing in the doorway with a stuffed duffel bag over one shoulder is a very beautiful, extremely buxom Rutian Twi'lek woman with bright green eyes, deep blue skin and a knowing smirk on her lips. She wears a skin-tight, black form-fitting undersuit, its shiny texture drawing attention to her slender, graceful dancer's body, large butt and even larger breasts. Her jumpsuit is unzipped distractingly low enough to show off several inches of her impressively ample bosom, far outclassing the more petite women usually found in the military. Still, the beautiful Twi'lek woman walks with the ease and confidence of someone who's long ago gotten used to showing off her body and drawing attention with it. Her long blue lekku are wrapped around her shoulders and adorned with exotic tattoo designs as she leans to one side, twirling the end of it around one gloved finger. Slung over one shoulder is an enormous, long-barreled blaster rifle with an impressive scope, and a heavy blaster pistol hangs from the utility belt wrapped around her curvaceous hips.

"I was told to report here," she adds. "Lieutenant Kormanthul, sniper. Nice beard, by the way," she adds, looking to Harry with a smirk.

Ianthé had kept a composed face, but as the Admiral spoke, a bit of tension could be noted running through her. As it ended, she broke out in a wide grin, practically bouncing. Callahan topped her by five inches or so, and what could be seen of her frame showed that she had trained hard for function. While the lines of her face were not severe, her fitness could be read in her face. Her curves were not generous, nor were they pronounced. Her movements were controlled, precise, and decisive.

It was the look in her eyes showed she had done more than just fly, though. While casual, they had the look of someone who had relied so much on their awareness that it was habit now. Her eyes focused on any new movement, and everyone got sized up. If you were within arm's reach, you had her full attention.

(presumed barracks arrival)
The standard duffel was over her shoulder, and the handles of a smaller bag were in her other hand, the black fabric well-worn and faded in some places. In fact, her duffel was the same; Regulation, but worn at the straps and cinches. "Lt. Ianthé Jack, but call me Té."

Thek's comment made her chuckle briefly, and she looked at him with an amused expression shaking her head slightly. "Not a single comment about 'weaponry' Thek, please." First on her list was finding their exercise facilities and working off some of the energy that had built up during their trip. She was used to working out regularly.

Thek takes note of the females.....

"Night squadron sounds better than my last stint with the myshmushroom platoon...namedthat because they kept us in the dark and fed us shit....on second thought that was not our official name at all...."

He decides to show off with a handstand and back flip....
acrobatics
1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Perallus looks around at the motley crew he's been teamed with and scratches his head. A twilek who looks like she should be a hutt dancer, some kind of acrobat, a gunslinger who looks like he should be part of some wookie hunting party, and a woman who looks like she's hunting US. And here I thought a cybernetic arm made me odd. Takes all kinds I guess.

Perallus took a moment to glance around at the team before evaluating himself. Amongst this crew, nothing made him stand out at all. His hair was just barely starting to show strands of silver, but the rest of him was completely nondescript compared to the others.

"Not sure what I'm lookin' forward to more: getting to tinker with things on this ship, or watching you guys go about your daily lives. Maybe I'll manage both. Going to be an interesting tour of duty here..."

As the holorecording of Admiral Czarinova plays, Kira's mind began to be filled with doubts. Not doubts about combat though. She'd been in close to a hundred skirmishes over the years, both in and out of the starfighter cockpit. But most of those were working as a mercenary for the Mistryl Shadow Guard. No, the doubts she had were with joining the Empire.

"No," Kira thought. "The Shadow Guard betrayed all of Emberlene. And the Eleven Elders betrayed me. As soon as any of them see me face to face again, I'll be shot on sight. This is the only chance to save Emberlene from their treachery.". Blinking through the memories, she focuses her attention on the recording.

As the recording comes to an end, Kira hears Calahan speak.

It would behoove us all to go down to the exercise yard and do some PT. We are all new to each other, and i would like to see what condition we are in. I know the exercise standard is a little lax for these star fighters, but for us in the Black, it was paramount. So i will see everyone in the exercise room in 90 minutes.

Kira nods in agreement. It was a good idea. The shuttle felt a little cramped with so many of her new squadron in it, the exercise would help loosen her muscles, rid her of the stress she was under, and evaluate everyone else as discretely as she could.

Kira grabbed her dufflebag, and proceeded to head to her new barracks. As she walked through the hallways, she made note of her new surroundings, and at the same time, came up with an itinerary for herself. After the exercise session, Kira would find the refresher for a hot sonic shower. After that, well, it would depend on orders from her new superiors.

When Kira finally reached her destination, she put her dufflebag by her bunk, checked the straps on her hip holster for Kira's DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol, to ensure it was secure.

The rest of Kira's new squadron introduced themselves. Kira just nodded in each in turn. There wasn't much point in lengthy introductions. Good chance she wouldn't see most of them after their first combat together anyways.

When the other introductions were done, Kira proceeded to speak.

"Lt. Kira Wyndaru."

With that, she gave them all a nod, then turned around and proceeded to put her stuff away.

In the flight deck crew quarters, you find the remaining members of Night squadron. You're quickly met by a classicly handsome man with commander's pips on his flight suit.

"Good morning. You must be the other half of our squadron. I'm Commander Niles Revik and I'll be leading you into the fight. In no particular order, the other members of our squadron are as follows:"

He motions toward a red skinned Rodian female with a large spine crest.
"Lt. Rees'a, from Rodia. She's our resident tracker."
Rees'a nods.

His gaze shifts to a Chiss male, tall, with short cropped black hair.
"Lt. Commander Chonn here, is my second in command, and a veteran of the Chiss expansionary defense force."

With a smile, Chonn replies:
"I look forward to evaluating your prowess in battle."

Commander Revik points casually at a short, pony tailed man with very common looks.
"Next is Lt. Jasic Sayles, infiltration and espionage expert."

Sayles lets his eyes linger over each of the women before saying, "Pleased to meet you ladies." And with a winning smile: "And you too lads, can't forget you."

Revik nods toward a large Zabrak male, facially covered in blue and purple tattoos, who seems disinterested in the introductions.
"Over here we have Lt. Narin, target elimination and retrieval."

Revik turns to the last member of the squadron, a small, unassuming man with short brown hair.
"And last but not least, Lt. Miles Reese, hero of the battle of Coruscant. It was Reese's skills at demolition and sabotage that held the line long enough for palatial reionforcements to arrive in the attack on the palace."

"Hey."

"Ok folks, I'll let you lot get aquainted while I set up the mission breifing. Chow's at 0800, and briefing is at 0900. See you in the briefing room."

"Lt. Thek reporting for duty, non-expert."

Kira looks at each new member of Night squadron as Commander Revik introduces each of them. "Hmm, an interesting group." Kira thinks.

When Commander Revik introduces Lt. Sayles, the latter spoke.

"Pleased to meet you ladies."

Kira lets out a small scowl. "Oh, great. Another one of these types. I really hope he's at the next exercise routine for me to practise some of my Teräs Käsi moves on.". At that thought, Kira lets out a small smirk.

At the end of the introductions, Kira simply declares "Lt. Kira Wyndaru. Hand to hand expert and combat medic."

She then turns back to placing her personal belongings into their proper place.

Calahan just nods to everyone as they are introduced, his long years of being in the service making him hesitant to doing more than just a simple head nod.

Names Calahan, sir. Specialty is weapons. Harry glances around, and then does a double take at seeing jack.

Jack? JACK! Oh wow! i didnt even recognize you on the trip over. Wow! you grew out your hair, and filled out a little bit. Hadnt seen you in a while. How you been?

Of course, the above statement is only allowed if the DM says that Jack and I know each other

By all means!Sometimes, history between characters makes things more interesting IMO.

The grin was back on Té's face once Calahan recognized her. "You never were good at long trips, Calahan. I knew the beard the second I saw you, but I wondered how long it would take." At the mention of her appearance, she shrugged. "Last mission ran a little "interestingly". Had to get around to the evac point the long way." Smirking slight at a bit of an inside joke, she hooked her chin towards his insignia. "'Grats on the rank." Glancing at the other half of their team, she cleared her throat and managed to look somewhat chagrined.

Giving a nod towards the other half in general, she managed a professional presentation. Choosing to omit the rank, she spoke. "Ianthé Jack. Call me Té. Tech specialist. If it's a machine, I can build it or break it." She did look at Lt. Reese a little longer than the others and stood a little straighter. "Heard a lot about what you had done on Coruscant. It's a pleasure."

'Smooth girl, noo.. no hero worship from you, nah.. Just another admirer...' Clearing her throat a bit nervously, she looked to the rest of their squad as a way of not staring.

Thanks, but im sure that by the end of today i'll be back to Sergeant. Calahan laughs loudly at his own joke.

He follows Jack to her bunk, and begins to set up his gear next to hers.

This group of ladies arent very impressive. Same old, same old. Everyone with a specialty, everyone with a war story. I'll be more impressed with what they can do with their down time. Calahan pulls out a couple of cigars and flashes a bottle of alcohol before stuffing it in the back of his locker.

As Jack walks off, Calahan pauses a moment to look at her backside.
hmmmmmmmm....perhaps. it's been a while since...

what time of day is it?

Helrun looks for a private place and once there sits down and relaxes just thinking about the three day journey and the opportunity to figure out his comrades....

The people calling themselves experts always reminded him of some girls he dated who called themselves low or high maintance, how were they always wrong....

He will likely meet up with the group again in the officer's mess.

"Ianthé Jack. Call me Té. Tech specialist. If it's a machine, I can build it or break it."

Kira made a mental note of that. After Commander Revik left their quarters, and after Calahan and Ianthé got reacquainted, Kira slowly made her way over.

"Excuse me, Té? You're a Tech Specialist? That's good to hear. When we get the chance, I'd like to talk to you about customizing my equipment. I have a lot of ideas about the gear I'd like to carry, but not the expertise to actually do it."

For the record, I'm not hitting on Ianthé. Just needed a way to start to integrate myself with the group :)

It's currently 0630. You have some time.

Great Helrun is "dodging" everyone until lunch time!

"Excuse me, Té? You're a Tech Specialist? That's good to hear. When we get the chance, I'd like to talk to you about customizing my equipment. I have a lot of ideas about the gear I'd like to carry, but not the expertise to actually do it."

That got Ianthé's attention. Nothing was more fun for her than tinkering. Perhaps it was something about the research, something about the focus necessary as the work was being done, and the satisfaction of seeing the finished product perform as expected. Not to mention all manner of other interesting things that one could run across while looking for that certain piece. There was a datapad next to the bag that started up with a pass of her hand, the standard display clearly altered, and a file had been opened with a couple more passes.

"Kira, right?" Parts of an anticipatory smile were suppressed, but the corners of her mouth still twitched. Gesturing to the smaller bag that she had out on her bunk, she unzipped it to show a techie's kit, as well as the more familiar tools for weapon maintenance and repair. "I'm all ears and tools.. What are you thinking of?"

"I'm all ears and tools.. What are you thinking of?"

Kira let out a small smile. She could tell Ianthé loved modifying gear. "Good." Kira thought.

"That's right. Name's Kira. Well, for starters, it gets quite tiring lugging around this clunky Medical and Surgery Kit. I've heard of modifications that can be made to make them lighter and smaller. Ideally, if I can stuff them all into the same bag, that'd be even better."

FYI: I'm describing what I hear is the standard Miniaturized Dual Gear Medical/Surgery Kit combo (i.e. Take a Surgery Kit, Dual Gear it into a Medical Kit, use Tech Specialist to add an extra upgrade slot, and then Miniaturize the whole thing). :)

Perallus's ears catch wind of talk of modifications and customization, and he clears his throat audibly.

"Well, Te, sounds like we have something in common. I made a nice share of credits from time to time customizing gear for people on Coruscant, and I'm hoping they let me get my hands on our fighter craft later. We should set up a spot in the hangar for projects sometime. There's not many things people like more than having stuff that weighs half as much or that works twice as well."

Melgora's eyes light up as she pays attention to Kira's conversation. "You do mods too? she asks Perallus eagerly. "I'd love to get some work done on my rifle. A spot in the hangar for projects would be fantastic!"

Kira turns around as Perallus mentions he's also a Tech Specialist.

"Well now, two Techs in our squadron. That means more modifications, more often. And that means twice the fun." She pauses for a moment. "Getting a spot in the hangar would be great, but I get the feeling that might take some time. We should ask Commander Revik the next time we get the chance."

She did look at Lt. Reese a little longer than the others and stood a little straighter. "Heard a lot about what you had done on Coruscant. It's a pleasure."

'Smooth girl, noo.. no hero worship from you, nah.. Just another admirer...' Clearing her throat a bit nervously, she looked to the rest of their squad as a way of not staring.

Reese looks up from his datapad at Té for a moment, before lowering them again to the side. With the accent of a farmboy, he says:

*Imperial Corps of Engineers

Kira furrows her brow, thinking back to what she heard about the battle of Coruscant. Which wasn't much, considering the hellhole she was fighting in at that time.

"For a longest while, I heard a rumour it was a new Imperial weapon." Kira looks Lt. Reese up and down for a moment. "Apparently, that rumour wasn't true. Still, well done."

Hopefully Chonn is still in the room, otherwise ignore this next part.

Kira walked over to Lt. Commander Chonn. "It's a priviledge to serve under you, Sir. I had the pleasure of doing some work for the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet. They were some of the best and well disciplined soldiers I had ever worked with."

Calahan gets changed into his PT gear, black shirt, black shorts, black boots. You see him then put back on his sidearm and sling his heavy blaster over his shoulder. Again, no identification marks, no stencils, just plain black.

Well, modding is all well and good, but when the mod fails, you still have to be able to back it up with your body. If you feel you need to toughen up a bit, or just looking to improve your run, feel free to meet me in the exercise chamber.

As he walks out, he will set his chrono for 90 minutes to alert him of the time.

Perallus nods at Harry's suggestion. "Might catch up with ya in a bit, Calahan. Gotta get some exercise sometime, I guess."

He pauses a moment at Melgora's enthusiasm, though. Her rifle...riiiight... "Well, soon as we get some free time, I plan to do some modifications to my own; was thinking about adding some storage space in my a...er, rifle, maybe increase the bolt cohesion for a little more punch. Maybe we should have the squad draw up a little wishlist sometime and we can just tag team the workload. Sound like a plan?"

After meditation in his room Helrun does 40 Burpees with extra jumps on the end in a couple of minutes, before hitting the shower.

Once lunch rolls around he enters the officers mess to evaluate the food.

Breakfast, as it's at 0800. Also, yes Chonn is in the room.

Reese gives a quick glance over Kira, and actually turns his attention towards her in interest.
"Weapon? No no, my squad and I were pinned down pretty hard trying to keep a squadron of T4-B's out of the palace. Turbolaser defenses were already offline and the sector fleet was busy trying to fight off the Republic 3rd and 5th fleets. My squad and I wired the grand courtyard with enough fusion packs to slag the whole thing...Which is exactly what I did. The blast took care of all the tanks, the courtyard itself was reduced to a melted sea of metal, and the Rebs had to find another way in. Which thankfully, took them long enough for the fleet to get us some reinforcements. I lost my squad in the process to heavy mortar fire and support troops. They were really exposed getting those charges in place. I got lucky. The medals and all? They're a bad reminder of just how lucky I am." He stretches and stands up.
"Well, I'm going to hit the excersize yard as well. Talk with you later."

Chonn looks up at Kira with a smile.
"It's good to meet someone who has served with the Defense force before. I'll admit, I was a little nervous coming here to the front, but after seeing what this "republic" is capable of, I felt I had no choice but to meet her in battle."

My bad I had assumed breakfast was around 0530...former experiece..

Correction Helrun hits the mess hall, DFAC for breakfast...

Perallus takes a minute or two to stretch out the stiffness of the shuttle flight, then makes his way to the nearest network terminal.

Alright, got some time before breakfast; time to get acquainted with this place. Let's have a little show and tell, shall we?

He then begins to access the public network, gathering background data and unrestricted info, such as a brief history of the ship's service records, its inventory, its current command crew, and other pertinent details that aren't classified or encrypted.

use computer: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Anything in particular you're looking for?

The computer's small screen shows that you have full access to all required systems for your duties. An overlay shows your position on the ship's hangar deck.

Captain: Emil Hawkwith
Commander: Samuel Belton
Botswain: Sil Sillith (Devonarian female)
CAG: Niles Revik
Stormtrooper Colonel: "Orin" (clone)
Imperial Intellegence: Nigel Emmingsworth
Chief Engineer: Braxton Comn

Armiger is currently armed with the following standard weapons:
Turbolasers- 20
Double Heavy Turbolaser Cannons- 20
Heavy Ion Cannons- 10
Tractor beam projectors- 10

Compliment:
TIE Interceptors- 12
TIE Fighters- 6
TIE Bombers- 6
Lambda-class shuttles (5)
AT-AT Walkers (10)
AT-ST Walkers (25)

Crew:
6,107 Sailors

Marines:
1,200 Marines

Stormtroopers:
400

Current supply stocks:
3 years

Armiger major engagement log:
Endor- 6 ABY
Sluis Van- 7 ABY
Coruscant- 9 ABY
Bilbringi- 10 ABY
Dak- 10 ABY

Time: 0712 hours.

In the midst of your various activities, the ship drops out of hyperspace. Seconds later, warning klaxons sound and the intercom announces: "Action stations! Action stations! All hands to action stations. Incoming enemy contacts, ETA one minute. Action stations! Action Stations!"

Each of your personal communicators go off, as Commander Revik signals the squadron.
"Night squadron to your fighters for immediate takeoff. Time to earn our pay people."

In seconds, the deck is a flurry of activity as the crew step to action.

As Kira was speaking with Chonn, the alarms around the ship start to sound. Kira hears her personal communicator going off:

"Night squadron to your fighters for immediate takeoff. Time to earn our pay people."

Kira swears silently to herself. "Well, so much for getting a bite to eat. Can't these rebels at least decide to be civil and have their attack after breakfast?"

Kira grabs the helmet to her Imperial marine armour, ensures that her DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol is secure in her hip holster, and starts to run to the hangar bay.

Perallus shakes his head as he logs out of the terminal. "No time for a tour I guess. Some people are so rude..." He makes a quick stop at his bunk to grab his rifle, and maintains a brisk jog for his designated hangar.

As he nears his station, he finds himself chuckling under his helmet. Well, here's hoping I get to fix my own ship later.

Calahan stops what he's doing and mics back on the open channel
We get paid to do this?
Grabbing his weapons and training gear, he turns and sprints out of the training facility to the hanger bay. Anyone that impedes his progress calahan just shoves them out of the way, saying You need to run faster.

Melgora loses her teasing smile as the alarm rings out. Zipping up her suit the rest of the way, she grabs her helmet and atmospheric gear out of her duffel before slinging it under her bunk. Running her hands down her body to confirm each piece of equipment on her, Melgora nods to herself before jogging (rather distractingly) towards the hangar bay.

Under his breath Helrun is muttering something that sounds like.....

"I swear if this is a drill, wookie worms...."

Helrun gets into his ship and starts the pre-flight sequence.....

This was the part that Ianthé loved. The sprint back to her bunk dispelled any lingering fatigue that she may have had, and she grabbed her sidearm and her kit, sliding her datapad into the the extra pocket before dashing out of the barracks towards their hangar bay.

Her vibroknife was in her boot, the sidearm on her hip, and her tools and datapad were all that she needed for anything. While she was certified on the trainers, flying was still something that made her a bit uneasy. She was capable, certainly, but perhaps it was the lack of a surface to orient to that made her a bit uneasy. To compensate, she learned to use the home ship as the orientation and it seemed to be better. At least she was already in the flight suit.

The flight deck is a hornet's nest of activity. Technicians are fueling, charging and checking all fighters. Chief engineer Comn is shouting at his crews to move faster.
Hammer squadron is seen on the far side of the deck, directing technicians and waiting to board.

Your interceptors are hanging in their racks, being prepped for loading into the launch catapaults.

You're quickly approached by Chief Comn.
"You're the new squadron right? I want all my ships back in one piece, you hear? We put a lot of work into them." He smiles broadly. "Good hunting out there."
He points to the lifts that will take you to the boarding deck above, nods, and returns to shouting at a confused looking porter.

The intercom on the flight deck sounds. "Incoming enemy fighters. Prepare for hot take-off."

Helrun knows that night 1 will fly out first.

Perallus secures his helmet and checks his attachments, rather relieved that no one can see his face at the moment.

Still not sure why I accepted this assignment. All I wanted to do was play around with the machines and computers, not get vaporized in a metal crate...

He flexes his left arm slightly, musing over the indistinguishable feel of the cybernetics from the real thing. This arm better be worth it.

Kira straps herself into the pilot's seat of her TIE Interceptor. She places the helmet of her Marine Armour into places, and then closes her eyes. She starts through her ritual whenever she finds herself in the cockpit: Kira takes a deep breath, holds it, and lets it out slowly. This forces her to relax, and calms her mind, before being thrust out into the heat of battle.

As the hatches seal on your TIE with a hiss and whine, the air is sucked out of the cockpit. The sounds you're left with, are that of your own breathing, and the comms.

While you're being loaded into the launch catapault, you can hear Hammer squadron launching and engaging enemy fighters.

"Alright Hammer, let's pay them a visit. I want all escorts to stay with your wingman. Target individual dunelizard fighters, and eliminate with extreme prejiduce."
"Roger lead."
"6 seconds to target range, Hammer. Weapons free, fire at will."

Moments pass in silence.

"Here they come..."
"Target locked. Hammer 3: Fox 1."
"Hammer 5: Fox 1."
"Watch it Hammer 9, you've got one low on your 4."
"I see him, I think I can..*static*
"We've lost 9. 10, move to engage that loose Dunelizard."
"Roger lead. Moving to engage."

The Battle is on.