Kashyyk- The Aftermath

I stared at the face that was looking back at me from the cockpit of the A-wing that had saved my ass in the battle over Kashyyk. Looking down at me was the face of my old academy roommate. The Sullustan went by the nickname Mouse, and though I know his real name I could never pronounce it correctly so he was always referred to as Mouse.

"Mouse! You dirty rat get down here. How ya doin? Hey lets go get some lunch and sit down and talk" I yelled over to him.

"Hey Jek. Good to see ya again. Lets go eat" he said in his native Haya tongue, which I fortunately learned while at academy. "I know you got to be starving after that."

So off to the cafeteria we went, carousing down the corridors and making boisterous conversation the entire way. We seated ourselves at a table that overlooked the hanger bay.

"So what brings you out to the Independance?" I asked. "Republic High Command gave my squadron orders to make this our base for this tour. They said you might need the help." he replied. A whole squadron of A-wings. This must be a critically important mission. I proded further, "Damn, a whole squad of shiny new starfighters. That must be nice." He retorted, "There's one out there for you, if you want. We lost a wingman a few weeks ago and need a replacement. I told them I know one of the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy. So if you chose, Blue 3 could be your new callsign."

Wow, me in an A-wing. The speed and agility of them is renowned, but could I just up and leave Red squadron like that? "I'll have to think about that one, can you give me a day or so?" I asked. "Of course, just come find me when you've made a decision."

I walked around the huge Mon Calamari cruiser for the rest of the day.

Kashyyk- The Battle

"Watch your back, Red 3"

"I can't shake him!"

"Don't worry. Just hold him off for a few moments and... There we go. That got him!" I yelled over the comm as my rickety old X-wing flew through a cloud of exploding Imperial junk.

"Thanks Jek, that's another one I owe you" was the reply from Red 3's pilot, Kork.

"We'll worry about that when we get back to the Independance's bar" I said. But the celebration was short lived, for by the time I had finished saying that I watched a green laser bolt burst through the cockpit of Kork's ship and splash through where the pilots seat should have been. The starfighters controls ignited as the doomed vessel began to spiral to its explosive fate. I watched in horror as one of my best friends was engulfed as his ship slammed into the bridge of a star destoyer.

"Red 6 to Red leader, we lost Kork" I screamed as I frantically turned to search for the TIE responsible for the fatal laser blast.

"I know, Jek. I saw it too" was the reply from the squad leader. "We all know the dangers of being out here. Such a fate is inevitable for some of us. Just don't allow yourslef to succumb to such a destiny. Wait, I see an interceptor- 5 o'clock high."

"I'm on it. He's all mine" I said with more than a hint of revulsion in my voice. I knew that by that point I was a danger to myself. My anger toward the Imperials at this time was out of control, I knew that if I made it out of this one I would be lucky. Recklessness let loose within me. I increased throttle and veered off in the direction indicated by Red leader. There he is! His wingmen already blown away, just skirting the edge of the battle, taking shots as opportunity gives. 'Well not any more,' I thought to myself as the distance closed between his location and my battle-scarred fighter.

He must have saw me coming and zoomed away just in time to avoid my concentrated laser blast. He circled around, trying to maneuver behind me. This was a dangerous situation for me, pitted against a faster and more mobile enemy. I shirked his shots, attempting to get the quick little thing in the sights of my laser cannons. He was just to fast, though.

"This is Red 6 to Red squadron. I got a bogey on me and could use an assist" I yelled into the comm as I continued to evade the green lasers bouncing all around me. With the deflector shields giving way fast and the hull in the condition it was, I highly doubted I would get out of this situation.

"Red 6, this is Blue 2" come over the comm. "Give me just a minute to get a lock on this bastard." I looked behind me and saw an A-wing giving chase to the TIE Interceptor that was causing my woes. The A-wing was designed to match the speed and agility of TIE models, but with shields and greater firepower. As I watched Blue 2 fired 2 concussion missiles which tore apart the flimsy TIE. "Thanks, Blue 2" I said and he buzzed past my cockpit. "Red 6, command says you got yourself a new wingman. I await your orders" was his reply. I was getting a wingman? This was quite an honor! We assisted cleaning up the few TIE squadrons remaining and returned to the Independance once the star destroyers were no more. I set down my bruised and battered ship next to the shiny new A-wing that had probably saved my life. As the tinted cockpit slid open and the pilot removed their helmit I saw a face that I definately didn't expect. So, if you'll excuse me, I must go talk to this new face. Maybe over dinner. Mmm... bacon...

Kashhyk- The Briefing

It's been roughly a week now since the liberation of Kessel. We're just arriving in the vicinity of the Kashyyk system, where it is believed that a detachment of Imperial star destroyers is still loyal to their corrupt cause. Our purpose in the system was to put an end to the fighting between the Wookies and the Imperial stormtroopers- by any means necessary.

We dropped out of hyperspace just shy of the star destroyers sensor range, hoping there would be no scouts that far out. A suprise attack on the star destroyer fleet could potentially decimate them, if executed properly. Fleet command prompted all pilots be present for a briefing in the Independance's war room, and that the attack would commence immediately following that.

As is usual, the hanger bay was a flurry of activity, with squads moving about to fuel and arm the fighters we would be using. I gave my X-wing a thorough check to ensure everything was in proper order then headed off to the briefing. Once all the other pilots were assembled the fleet commander, General Ackbar, began speaking on the importance of the upcoming mission. The various squadrons were assigned combat roles by our tactician, General Dodonna. My beloved Red squadron had the task of taking out the TIE's that would be launched so that Gold's Y-wings and Green's B-wings could make bombing runs at the star destroyers shield generators.

All in all this briefing took only about 5 minutes. Very concise, but very neccesary. So the pilots all headed toward the hanger bay and strapped in to their respective fighters. This is going to be one hel of a ride.

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...

The basics

Ok, so I was in my bunk the other day after an extended talk with some engineers, and I was thinking about the conversation I just had. There was very little to be known from this conversation, for I couldn't understand what they were talking about. Then I realized that I should explain some of the terms I'm going to be using before I go and get you all lost in space. So here a listing of my most frequent terms and what they mean:

X-wing: The Rebel's multi-purpose starfighter and my personal favorite. The current model T- 65's are built by Incom Corporation and were delivered to the Alliance by a defecting design team. 12.5 meters long. Wings deploy in a X position for better weapons coverage. Hyperdrive capable. Equipped with 4 fire-linked laser cannons and 2 proton torpedo launchers. Leading team is Red squadrod, in which I pilot Red 6. We're led by Garven "Boss" Dreis.


Y-wing: Fighter/bomber used by the Alliance. Koensayr's model BTL-S3 seats 2 pilots for easy weapons controls. 16 meters long. Very outdated starcraft. Weapons include 2 laser cannons, 2 ion cannons, and 2 proton torpedo launchers. Leading team is Gold squadron, led by Dutch.

Headhunter: Incom's z-95 is among the oldest starfighters out there. Built even before the clone wars, these small fighters are slower and less maneuverable than the current T-65's and have only 2 laser cannons mounted at the wing tips. Clearly an outdated piece of junk, I havent touched one of these since my days of training back at the academy, and even they turned to a trainer version of the T-65

Corellian Corvette: Not much to say here. Standard multi-purpose blockade runner. Modular design allows for troop or cargo transport. Used by Rebels, Imperials, pirates, and even business corporations.

Speeder: While not a starship, these ground-based units are a favorite of mine to play on the surface with. Incom's T-47 airspeeder uses anti-gravity generators to stay off the ground, making them good mobile base defenses. A 2 man crew is needed, though. Seems like a waste of manpower to put 2 people in those deathtraps for battle.

TIE Fighter: Standard Imperial fighter. Powered by twin ion engines, the TIE/ln model uses large solar panel wings to supplement a small power generator, making them both quick and maneuverable. These little buggers can be quite troublesome seeing as the Empire demands a 3:1 ratio in their favor before going to battle.

Astromech Droids: A starfighters angel. These R2 and R5 units take care of the computing tasks so we can keep our eyes on the space around us. Typical astromech units store 10 hyperdrive coordinates in them. They're also capable of moving a ship without having a pilot on board, very useful if you need to leave someplace in a hurry.

FX-7: "Fixit" medical droid located at almost all Rebel bases. Although too outdated to perform advanced procedures, many still act as assistant surgeons. Can still fix you up after a tough fight, though.

WED-1016: "Techie" maintenance droid. Repairs over 5000 onboard systems. We destroy our fighters, they put 'em back together when we get home. Also used by Rebel salvage teams to 'improve' our fleet.

That's enough for now. At least you won't get completely lost. Maybe next time I'll introduce you to some of the crew and our CO's if there's time. But now I need to get some rest before a mandatory training exercise tomorrow.

Jek Porkins, starfighter extraordionaire

Good evening boys and girls. Allow me to begin by telling you a little about myself. I am known as Jek Porkins. I am an academy trained starfighter pilot for the Republic. My specialty is my X-wing, Red 6, but I'm able to fly pretty much anything you put me at the controls of, except those Calamari cruisers. Wierd Calamarian controls are difficult to grasp with stubby fingers like mine.

But as I was saying I can fly anything. X-wings, Y-wings, Z-wings, and the old Z-25 Headhunters I trained on back at academy. I've also been known to have a go at some capitol ships- the Correlian 'vettes and medium transports. But when I'm not on call I like to just lay around my bunk and eat. Very rarely am I seen without some sort of food. I even take a meal to go on missions sometimes.

So now that you now a little about me I'll tell you what's gonna go on with my postings on here. I polan to tell you about my life, which includes some of the previous missions I've flown as well as the ones that are yet to come, and you'll know all about my time out of the cockpit too. So jump in your flighsuit and buckle your harness, 'casue your about to set off a one hell of a ride.