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Aran Jinn The next morning, the squadron is once again gathered in the briefing room. Aran stands at the front, and as soon as everyone is ready he starts. "So I've got some good news. Our sources in Imperial command have confirmed the Major Fisk himself and virtually his entire command staff was aboard the Argus One station when we blew it to hell. So that's one fewer member of their top brass we have to worry about. However, the attack on the station has really kicked over a hornet's nest. The Empire is desperate to project strength so they've already started upping patrols. That's relevant to us because it complicates our path home. The normal routes are crawling with imps, so we have to take one of the lesser used options, and even that's gonna be... tricky." He activates the holo display. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKCW0cyeLQc "Questions?"
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Dec 15, 2018 20:06
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 03:35 |
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Vraska "Is this really the best plan they could come up with?"
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Dec 17, 2018 19:42
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Aran Jinn "Having seen some of the options the Commander had to look at, I can say this is the least bad. The other closest option would've required back to back raids on half a dozen armed sensor platforms. Rocks at least generally can't shoot back."
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Dec 17, 2018 20:08
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Vraska Vraska grumbles and mutters to Daav, "<Rocks aren't worth any points, either, feh. Ridiculous.>"
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Dec 17, 2018 20:33
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Vraska Vraska squinted at the map. "Hey, wait a second... where are we in the cluster, exactly?"
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Dec 17, 2018 22:03
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Geante Crevette "Rocks didn't kill my parents or enslave my siblings either. I'd rather shoot the Imps."  *boop* *boop* *boop* Crevette brightens up a bit at R6's interjection. "Hey, that's right. R6 and I found a couple of Imperial Seismic Torpedoes stashed away in one of the energy maintenance crawlspaces. I'm guessing one of the Imps was smuggling them to sell to an independant miner or something since Ties don't usually have torpedo launchers. Should come in handy this mission." Get psyched for game night!
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Dec 17, 2018 23:42
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Geante Crevette "Hey, doc, look, no hands." Crevette, high on top flight painkillers smiled and waved the stumps where his hands used to be at the medical robot as the medics carried his stretcher to the bacta tank. "Landed my x-wing with my feet. Can you believe that? With my feet!" *beep* *beep* *boop* "No you didn't land it. I landed. with my feet. Landed, he he, haven't even seen land in months and we still call parking on a spaceship landing *glub glub glub*" The rest of Crevette's ramblings are garbled as he's dunked into the bacta tank.
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Dec 18, 2018 18:25
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Only a handful of minutes after the last Imperial fighter is destroyed the Pallas drops out of hyperspace at the prearranged point. You had cut it close, much longer and it's likely the Pallas would've been collided with one of the ships or mines. Aran Jinn After landing Aran calls out to the rest of the squadron. "Go grab something to eat while the techs refuel and rearm the fighters. Odds are good the Imps got a signal off so we'll be deploying again on CSP as soon as everyone is ready to launch." In the background you can hear the occasional loud thrum of the Pallas' turret as it cleared a path for the ship through the field. Aran grabbed two of the pre-packaged meals from the galley, while Jow'thar started oversaw the techs quickly getting to work to get the fighter flight worthy again ASAP. Tossing one to the wookie he commented, "That change to the thruster layout you suggested worked out great, really opens up a lot of options for a more unorthodox flying style." *Rawrrr*, Jow'thar agrees and tears into his meal. "I'm gonna recommend we add it to the standard setup options to the brass when we get back to base." Aran added as he started on his own lunch. There wasn't too much time for idle chatter after all, and he wanted to be ready to go as soon as his H6 was.
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Dec 21, 2018 19:53
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Geante Crevette's R6 *beep boop beep boop boop beeeeeep* I will fly the Jock Tartar until Geante is well enough to get out of the Bacta tank. The damage to the cockpit will not impair my performance. LLSix fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Dec 23, 2018 |
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Dec 23, 2018 01:38
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Barely an hour goes by before the General Quarters alarm sounds. Your comlinks buzz as Aran calls on the squadron frequency. Aran Jinn "It appears those Imps managed to get a signal off before we downed them. Sensors just picked up approaching Imperial strikecraft. We've been given the scramble order, get to your fighters ASAP."
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Dec 23, 2018 07:26
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B5-LY  As B5 lands, the usual scurry of pit droids comes out of their standby docks and swarm all over his B-Wing, performing their constant adjustments and optimizations after B5 uploads his combat data. As B5 doesn't need to eat, he goes to the infirmary to keep Crevette company while he's in his bacta tank to provide a 134 slide presentation on battle maneuvers and the basics of positioning and shield management during high stress combat scenarios. B5 is also plugged directly into the audio of Crevette's tank. There is roleplaying with B5 attempting different voices. There is no escape for Crevette.
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Dec 23, 2018 17:30
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Geante Crevette "Glub. Glub Glub. Glub Glub Glub" Geante writhes wildly in the bacta tank. He's other trying to act out the maneuvers or desperately trying to escape.
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Dec 23, 2018 17:40
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Vraska Vraska ughs, in the middle of eating some sort of spicy curry, which he promptly must toss aside. "No rest for the weary." Rhjamiz fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Dec 23, 2018 |
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Dec 23, 2018 18:46
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You all quickly meet up with the Pallas at the rendezvous point and the ship makes the final jump on the way to the Rebel base. It would be your first time back since you deployed on your infiltration mission, and unlike then you weren't trainees but honest to goodness heroes of the Rebellion. Still, it would be a few hours before you arrived.
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Dec 24, 2018 18:05
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The final hyperspace jump back to base is uneventful. There is a general air of relief and curiosity aboard the ship. Though the Pallas had picked up a number of crewmen from the initial meeting with the Nebula, a good chunk were still former prisoners a vast majority of which had been captured in other sectors before being transferred to Morraj. This would be the first chance for them to see the impressive station that served as the core of rebel activities in the Cluster. The jump out of hyperspace seems smooth enough, but not longer after returning to normal space the general quarters alarm sounds. After a few chimes, it is replaced by Commander Abel's voice.  "Attention all hands. We've just received communication from the station. An Imperial fleet has jumped into the system, and HQ is being evacuated. We've been assigned to assist with the evacuation. All hands to your stations, all damage control teams and marines prepare to assist with the evacuation, all pilots to the briefing room. Get a move on people, we're short on time and there's a lot to do." Briefing coming tomorrow. Just an FYI this mission is a long one.
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Dec 27, 2018 06:45
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Aran Jinn As soon as everyone is assembled, Aran gets started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5jlgPlZHKk As soon as the holoprojector shuts off, Aran is already heading towards his ship. There wasn't much time, and he intended to make drat sure it was ready to fly before they had to launch.
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Dec 28, 2018 02:38
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Geante Crevette "A star destroyer? We should try and capture it just like we did with this ship we're sitting on. Sitting on? Flying in? Spacing in? You know what I mean. Also, look, the medic droid gave me new hands."  "Droid hands! I bet I can smuggle twice the firepower in with these as my old hands. Pew! Pew! Pew!" Geante makes spastic shooting gestures more in less in time to his sound effects. It seems he's still got a heavy load of painkillers after the operation and he continues shooting imaginary storm troopers with his imaginary hand guns for the rest of the briefing.
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Dec 29, 2018 01:14
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Vraska Vraska hmmms. "What kind of operation are we running here where the Imperials can just show up like this? Where's that famed bothan OpSec I always hear about?"
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Dec 30, 2018 17:39
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You drop out of hyperspace at the rendezvous point to find the Pallas waiting for you. As you land you can see that the hanger is absolutely boiling with activity. Fighters and parts and supplies are everywhere. There's barely space to land, and once you do you run into the fact that the Pallas is absolutely filled with people. Before you have too long to consider it however, your commlinks buzz. Its the bridge with orders for you to report to the captain's office. Making your way from the hangar to the lift, and eventually to the captain's office is more complicated than usual due to the crush of people and equipment filling the corridors. Once you arrive you see that behind the captain's desk is not Commander Abel, but rather Commadore Mavr. "The Captain is overseeing all of the personnel and material moved here from the base. I wanted to congratulate you all on the exceptional work you've done for the Rebellion since your assignment to the Pallas. The Rebellion in the Cluster has been unusually successful thanks in no small part to the your efforts and the efforts of other brave pilots and agents." He pauses for a moment to let that sink in and then continues. "Unfortunately the price of our success is that we've drawn increased attention from the Empire. We'd recieved reports and this near debacle just proved that the Empire has assigned one of their most capable officers to try and snuff is out. Grand Admiral Zerrick has quite a reputation." "However, I didn't call you here just to congratulate you. Unfortunately, Zerrick's assault came at a particularly inopportune time. We were just about to receive some prototypes of the next generation of X-wing fighter. However, the transport managed to get caught by some of Zerrick's pickets. It managed to drop its cargo before it was boarded, thankfully. That is just a short reprieve, as it wont be long before the Imperials realize what's there and send teams out to locate the fighters. We cannot allow the prototypes to fall into Imperial hands." "That's why the Pallas will be immediately jumping back in system. I know you just returned from a long battle, but unfortunately we don't have time to wait."
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Jan 17, 2019 17:22
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Vraska Vraska just glowers as he disposes of his freshly-acquired bowl of curry. "Motherfucker..."
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Jan 20, 2019 15:48
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Geante Crevette Crevette was crying as he was fished out of the bacta tank for the second time in a month. The unexpectedly accurate fire from the ties had shattered the X-wing so swiftly that even the automatic ejection system was not enough to save him. The last thing he remembered before the searing pain of a spaceship sized blaster bolt to the knee consumed his consciousness, was an identical bolt of energy obliterating R-6. His faithful astrodroid and co-pilot. He'd barely begun to cope with the loss of his hands, and now to lose his closest friend as well...
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Feb 6, 2019 20:25
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The jump back to the Pallas is a difficult one, you had succeeded but the cost had been high. While Crevette is rushed to the infirmary and B5 is repaired, Sgt. Kabrowski who had returned to the ship with the evacuating rebel forces heads off to deliver the captured equipment. The ship is still crowded with personnel and equipment, your mission was part of the plan to secure a new base after all, and until you had it the Pallas had become a sort of mobile base of last resort. As you make your way though the ship the other squadrons currently aboard built from the survivors of the delaying action at Sage base come and go on their own missions. In many ways having so many people and items aboard was uncomfortable and clostrophobic, but it did have some advantages. Considering the squadron's losses it was fortunate the hanger was currently overloaded as there were more ships available than pilots, so replacements for your downed fighters should be relatively easy to requisition.
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Feb 7, 2019 19:41
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Aran Jinn Aran managed to land his badly damaged fighter. He had been lucky, if his jump put had taken a few seconds longer those disappearing Imp fighters that had gotten B5 and Crevette would've downed a 3rd member of their squadron and he wouldn't have had Kabrowski's U-wing to get back home like those two did. He exited his fighter in a daze, already techs were getting to work on. If it hadn't been one of the prototype T-70s they recovered, he had little doubt he'd be dead now. As he made his way to the mess hall to get something to eat he fumed. What the gently caress were those things? They'd cut through the Cobalts like butter. If Zerrick had more of them... He didn't want to think about it. At the very least they'd gotten one of them, and they'd succeeded in their mission. He'd have to take solace from that despite what cold comfort it offered.
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Feb 7, 2019 19:48
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Geante Crevette Crevette wandered dazedly through the unnaturally large hanger of the Palla. Well, not so much wandered as climbed over and under and sometimes through the supplies piled around and on the ships they'd hurriedly rescued from what had once been their home base. They'd left in such a hurry that a number of fighters had ended up on the Pallas even though all the pilots were on the other transports. He supposed one of these would be his new ship, but which one? Suddenly, he heard *beep boop* from somewhere off to his right and he headed deeper into the maze like piles in search of the source.
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Feb 9, 2019 04:37
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Following the beeping sounds Crevette encountered a terrifying sight. Someone had not only transferred a pile of thermal detonators to the Pallas but had partially disassembled them and strung them together like the galaxy's most dangerous Winter Fete lights. Not only were the bombs blinking, many of them were beeping! This was the source of the sound he had been following. While Crevette was trying to decide between running away screaming in horror or just opening the hanger doors and letting the vacuum of hyperspace suck the impending disaster out a young rebel rounded the corner casually juggling yet more thermal detonators. "Hey there! You're one of the fighter pilots right? Let me introduce you to my newest and most explosive friend, the improvised cluster mine! See, there were all these explosives just lying around without any marines to use them and well, I was bored since the pilot for my ship, Le Longue Vue ended up on a different transport. I've just about finished with this one, and I've already loaded another onboard. All I need now is a pilot to fly her and we can laugh in the face of danger as those black hearted Imperials are atomized behind us. Let me show you!" Geante Crevette "But you can't... What if... rid of..." There were so many objections spinning through Geante's head he couldn't pick just one and they all came out jumbled together. The insane explosives enthusiast talked right over his incoherent protests. Taking him by the arm, she dragged him right through the middle of the unstable contraption and down an access hatch to show him around her ship. While Crevette felt many, frankly terrifying, emotions during the explosives filled tour, misery over the death of his friend, co-pilot, and astromech was not one of them.
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Feb 10, 2019 08:21
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The next day, you're called back into meet with Commadore Mavr. "Thanks to your efforts in your previous sortie, we managed to secure the transmitter from the Harrower. However, we lack the equipment aboard to install it. For our plan to work, we'll need to remedy that. Our remaining sources have located an Imperial refit station in the Hifati system. The other squadrons aboard will launch feint attacks on other installations in the system to draw the station's escorts out of position, while the Pallas makes for the dock. An extensive series of minefields means there's only one vector in and out, and the dock is covered by several gun platforms. We'll be relying on you to make sure the Pallas makes it in and out in one piece."
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Feb 10, 2019 16:39
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Geante Crevette Crevette was talking animatedly with Sen as they crawled out of the docking hatch and into the Pallas. "I told you those improvised mines you built were too dangerous. Plus, the Imps didn't even fly into them." "And I told you they wouldn't blow us up! Which they didn't! Not even when we picked them back up before heading out. Nice bit of flying that. My last pilot flew right into the middle of our own mines the first time we tried that. It wasn't pretty. Also, Also the Imps were so busy dodging them that they fly right into your sights." "Okay, fine, you can keep your toys. At least until we can find something that scares me less. Hey, I should introduce you to the others. Come on." "B5 is the B-wing pilot. I could have sworn I saw your ship get blown up, but that was right before I was shot down too so I guess I hallucinated it? Anyways, this is Sen, she's my gunner and all around holy terror with explosives." "Sen, meet Vraska. The scariest, and only, Trandoshen I've ever met. He's constantly grumbling about how much he hates his ARC-170 but he hasn't switched even with all the spare ships we picked up when we evacuated so he must no hate it that much." "Last but not least, Aran here was flying the other H-6. He switched over after his mechanic got tired of how many holes he kept putting in his X-wings."
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Feb 12, 2019 04:34
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Aran Jinn Aran was climbing down the ladder of his ship when Crevette approached him with his new companion. "Well, look at how far I've come from those days. Now, Jow'thar and I are top of the squadron's kill board as of that last sortie."
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Feb 13, 2019 04:42
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Geante Crevette "Now that you mention it, you didn't get your X-wing as badly shot up last time as I did either. That calls for a celebration. Let's head to the cafeteria. First round of blue ale is on me."
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Feb 13, 2019 22:36
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Things proceeded apace aboard the ship, as the next stages of the plan for the proposed capture of a new base went into motion. There wasn't much for Cobalt Squadron to do, though a bit of downtime after the past few sorties couldn't have hurt. While the pilots waited, the Pallas was parked in a remote patch of space protected by an ion storm, as the crew went to work preparing the disguise that would help get them into range to carry out their plan. The stolen transmitter had been installed, so the ship's IFF and encryption painted the picture of an imperial cruiser, but visually it still obviously not imperial issue. So while the marines under Sgt. Kabrowski and supplemented by all the evacuted troops from Sage base drilled, the techs and maintenance personnel set to work repainting the ship and disguising the various modifications to the Pallas. It wasn't quick or easy work, but everyone was relatively certain that the storm ought to protect them against any ambushes. One afternoon, the squadron is called into the briefing room. They find Aran waiting for them, a concerned look on his face. Once everyone is seated he begins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK5-RT9TwaI
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Feb 23, 2019 17:47
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Aran Jinn As he banked into the ion cloud, acrid smoke was already filling up Aran's cockpit. He could see the trap closing around him, the Interceptors in front of him and the Defender's closing in behind. He could see that in a handful of seconds he'd be nothing more than an exploding ball of gas, and so falling back on reflexes burned in through constant training he reached down and pull the ejector handle. Then everything was chaos, as the bone-shaking kick of the canopy charges and the ejector seat blasting him out into space. He spun around wildly, the seat mag-field activating to hold in breathable atmosphere long enough for him to seal up his flight suit for vacuum. Without the X-Wing's dampeners, he felt every G as he shot through space. Through his comm he could VC's angry squeals as the green R2 unit tried to stabilize itself from the force of its own ejector charge. It took a few minutes, but eventually the initial thruster burst died down, and Aran was able to fully secure his suit and orient himself once more. He seemed to be mostly intact, though he was pretty sure from the pain he'd broken a few ribs. Still, he had all his limbs, and he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. From the comm chatter he wasn't the only one to have been forced to bail, but it appeared they had done the job of holding the Imp's attention long enough to keep them clear of the Pallas. Once he established a data-link with VC, the astromech helped him plot out a course for the pair of them to rendezvous with the Pallas. He didn't dare activate his rescue beacon, the long burn to build up speed would attract enough attention without him putting a bow on himself. Once he double checked the math, he handed control over to VC, and settled in for the painful pressure of high G acceleration. He managed to catch up the Pallas just before it jumped out, it had been a close thing, the G-forces had almost blacked him out near the end of the burn, but he'd managed to barely hold onto consciousness. The relief when the ship's tractors were able to draw him in, was immeasurable. They set his banged up ejector seat down daintily on the hanger floor, and before he could really say or do anything, he was immediately set upon by Jow'thar. A few angry and concerned growls of Shyrwook later, the wookie had Aran unstrapped, and pulled the bothan up into a big bear hug. The Bothan let out a strangled gasp of pain, but didn't raise any other objections. When the wookie finally relented, he responded with a crooked smile, "Glad to see you too big guy, didn't bring much back for you to put back together this time. By the way, any chance of helping me to the infirmary, that fight did a number of on me." He knew all too well he was going to need a few days in a bacta tank to knit his bones back together. He would have to use the time to figure out just what had happened. It would seem that Admiral Zarrick hadn't come by his reputation for nothing. The pilots in the last few sorties had been a cut above the any other Imp he'd ever come up against. Cobalt squadron would need to figure out how to respond, they'd gotten lucky that there were no fatalities the last few missions, and that sort of luck couldn't last forever.
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Feb 28, 2019 01:14
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A few days pass, the other squadrons return from their various missions. There is a feeling of anticipation in the air, one that peaks when the squadron is called into the briefing room. You find that you are not the only pilots there. In fact, the room is full to bursting with all of the pilots currently based off of the Pallas as well as several others. Rather than Aran, at the head of the room stands Commodore Mavr. "Alright ladies and gentlemen listen up." He activates the holoprojector and begins the briefing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHwGaZO_zrA "Now, if there are any questions, speak with your squadron leaders. The operation will start at 0600 tomorrow. So rest up, and be ready to fly." With that the Commadore leaves and an excited buzz fills the room as the room breaks up into the various squadrons to discuss loadouts and any other last minute prepartions that needed to be made.
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Mar 6, 2019 06:49
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Aran Jinn Once the rest of Cobalt had gathered, Aran fresh from one of the Bacta tanks in the sick bay. Looking over his squad-mates, he starts right in. "Well, it looks like the Commodore has a lot of faith in us, we're going to be up against heavy opposition, so we'll need to think through our formation and load outs for the upcoming sortie. Unlike the other squadrons we'll have access to the Pallas, but we should have a plan ready." He looks around. "Thoughts?"
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Mar 6, 2019 06:49
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| # ? Jun 10, 2024 03:35 |
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With your success at turning away the Devestator Squadron the base was now firmly in Rebel hands, the wider Empire was still none the wiser. The next week is spent transferring everyone off the Pallas and setting everything up. Once it was all complete, the Rebellion had a proper HQ in the Aturi Cluster once more. You had another week of leave before your next sortie to spend how you like. One week later... The briefing room on the station still has that sterile Imperial feel, but it has a larger projector than what's available on the Pallas. Aran runs through the briefing. "A transport running supplies to our new base was caught by an Imperial patrol in the Klavi System. It had to drop it's cargo to escape. The Imps are now searching for it, and considering it contains indications that we have a base in this area we can't let it fall into their hands. Cobalt Squadron has been detailed to retrieve the cargo. We're expecting minimal Imperial opposition, so we should hopefully be able to get in and get out quickly."
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Apr 7, 2019 02:20
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