Raiding party

So the whole reason our fleet had went to Kessel was because somebody important to the higher ups had gotten themselves kidnapped and sent into the spice mines. So naturally we were assigned to retrieve this particular person. Now I realize that their fleet was absolutely horrendous, but the planetary defenses of Kessel are not a force to be taken lightly. Thusly, Rebellion brass decided that only the most highly skilled pilots would fly the transports which carried our troops down to the surface. And of course that means I'm going. So I head down to the simulator and brush up on the controls and maneuvering of the old Y-85 Titan's we would be using for the assault. The sturdy transports, which our fleet requested from the wonderful Incom corporation, would surely stand up to the incoming fire from ground turrets, and they could hold around 100 troops each. I would be assigned to Theta 3, one of the 4 Y-85's that would be sent to the surface.

Laser blasts seemingly glanced off the transparisteel cockpit and heavy wepaons fire echoed all around as I piloted Theta 3 to our destination. Fortunately the landing crafts deflector shield system had been designed to take puinshment of this sort. We made it in one piece to the LZ and wave after wave of troops poured out of the cargo bay. Guess I didn't realize just how many of them had packed in there. I waited until word came that they had all disembarked and returned to the flagship for more. Land, load, takeoff. That left just enough time to fully recharge the shields before getting back in the action. The second approach, it seemed, was even more harrowing than the first. Remind me later to write to Incom and thank them for the design of thiat transport, as I was sure that we would get fried by the screen of turret fire hailing about us. It nearly deplelted our shields and even managed to get a shot through the hull, fortunately damaging a supply crate and not the troops. Having sucessfully dropped off the second deployment of troops, I scurried off to the Independance for a bit of repair work and a well deserved meal.

The day following it was announced to the entire crew that we would be starting a campaign against the remnants of the Empire, attempting to wipe out those few still loyal to that corrupt cause. In 2 days time the fleet will arrive in the Kashyyk system, where it is believed there is a detachment of star destroyers blockading the planet. This is gonna be quite a battle coming up. Hope the Red squadron is up to the challenge.

The greeting party

Sorry that I've not been posting recently, but I've had leave from base to take a month-long vacation. By the way, Naboo is very nice this time of year. Just sayin'. But now it's back to reality. No sooner did I check back in with the fleet, which had just arrived at the Kessel system, than I was back in action. I didn't even make it to my bunk and the alarms went off- we were under attack from the rag-tag army of the spice mining rock. On the way to the hanger bay I glanced out a viewport and realized that the Kessel army, which was operating out of a base on the small moon, was using pirated fighters. I noticed all variants of TIE's, rebel fighters, private defense craft, and even some ancient V-wings amonst the chaos. It wasn't until I jumped into my fighter- scratch that, what should have been my X-wing- that I realized they had put my baby away for the duration of my vacation. Immediately I seeked out the closest officer and demanded to know where they were storing her. Sargeant Myzic suggested that I check engineering, so that's the first place I went. Low and behold, as soon as run into the engineering bay I see her. Well, at least her wings, but those 6 red stripes and some all-to-familiar battle scars told me that was my ship. Chief engineer Dwenzel met me on the way in with some good news- I had been chosen to test out a new proton torpedo launcher for the fleet. It would hold almost twice the ammo of the old model, and the new targeting software included with it was more automated. All I had to do was rip the tarp off the cockpit and lift her up to the hanger. When my fellow pilots saw me coming they knew the Kessel fleet didn't stand a chance, so naturally I was the next craft cleared to take off. I screamed with glee as my new targeting systems automatically picked out targets and beeped when I could fire a torpedo. It was great!!!! As I was blasting away at a TIE Interceptor with my cannons it was acquiring a modified Cloud Car (don't ask me how they got it to fly out of the atmosphere). One enemy down, another close on it's tail. It went this way for quite a while, with all sorts of decrepit things flying out of the moon base's hanger. And they were so poorly trained that I even saw a few of our fleet's trainee's out there getting target practice in. If I'd have known it would be that easy I coulda went and ate something before coming out to play with them. After almost 30 kills I ran out of proton torpedoes and decided I would fly back to reload. As I landed my CO caled in over the comm and told me to just sit back and watch, for I was taking the practice afrom the greens (that's what I call the trainees). So I went to cafeteria and chose the closest table to the serving counter that had a viewport near it. Mmmm.... chicken...