Star Wars: The Empire Strikes First

[Aliceinchains36]

The Imperial star destroyer "Remedy" above the Rebel base on Akkudativ.

"Sir, the ships are all prepared for the bombardment of the planet's surface, and the troop transports are in route." Colonel Jana Midnight said to Moff Laront. "We're just waiting for the saboteurs to take out their shields. According to the last report, they've already infiltrated the base." Midnight continued as The Remedy's commander listened intently. "Very good, Colonel. Those Rebel dogs won't know what hit them after this. Once the shields are down, bomb the base, then send the Stormtroopers in to mop up the survivors." Moff Laront said checking the progress of the troop transports to the surface. "Of course sir. Will we be taking prisoners?" She asked him. "No." He replied.

Troop transport "38.2" entering Akkudativ's atmosphere.

"Copy ma'am. No prisoners." Major Tara Conrad said into her comm. "38th Legion has landed. We'll be in position and waiting for the signal. Major Conrad over and out." Tara said before attaching her comm to her belt and putting on her helmet. "Alright boys! Lock and load, I got orders from the moff. Kill 'em all. Once they blow the shields and bomb the place, we go in and finish off those traitors. I want this fast and clean, no one dies. Once this is over, drinks are on me." Tara said to her men as she loaded her rifle.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

STLF sat in the cockpit of the Tie Bomber and waited for the order to begin his bombing run. He sat quietly and did not move. He was in a state of readiness and was as calm as if he was sitting at the mess hall eating a meal. Other pilots admitted that they always felt nervous at this time, but he always felt calm and ready.

"All Tie Bombers. We are awaiting confirmation that the shields have been taken down. Make final checks and go over your targets. Remember troopers will be in the vicinity and we want no mistakes."

He did not bother to reply or check his instruments. He knew what he had to do and had already made sure of his machine. All he needed now was the go ahead.

 

[kittenofdeath]

Tag manually checked his weapon again, the diagnostics it was sending to his helmet feed said it was fine, and the two other manual checks he had done in the past hour confirmed it, in reality his weapon at this point had the same likelihood of malfunction as there was of a 'Jedi' cutting their way in to the dropship with one of their laser swords and butchering them all before they landed, but it never hurt to be sure. Truth be told, Tag was just filling time, distracting himself, he wasn’t like the rest of the stormtroopers that surrounded him on the dropship, he couldn’t just sit there and let the years of training shut off the part of him that understood that he might die in the next few minutes, so instead he tricked himself by not stopping long enough for the flight side of his fight or flight reflex to kick in.

Weapons checked, all green and ready, that done he shifted focus to the comms channels, cycling through all the ones he had access to, whether he was meant to have access or not, to ensure that they were correct and broadcasting fine. During his sweep he overheard the orders being passed to major Conrad, not that it benefited him much given she repeated them a few seconds later.

“Mam, have we gotten any more intel from the ground?” Tag asked openly, turning his head to look at the major “be nice to know if we're going to be stomping on some poorly armed irregulars or taking on trained commando forces, if assholes like that get the drop on us like they did in Pauga this is going to be far from fast and clean.”

 

[silvertongue217]

Inside the rebel base

"I dont get paid enough for this shit"

It was Patricks motto and catch phrase having been uttered in any and all situations and environments one could think of. The old man muttered it to himself once more as dragged the dead rebel soldier out of the way of the door and shut it behind him.

"Alright come here beautiful" Patrick said whistling a song to himself as he pulled out a thermocore and tossed it around like a ball. He walked over to the viewport looking out at the cavernous shield generators housed inside of the base and made some quick calculations.

"alright beautiful time to play a little pop goes the spice rat" Old Man said before he got to work.

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

Patrick kicked open the grate and dropped down. He didnt pause to check the itme counting down on his chronometer instead he took of jogging towards the speeder bike he had waiting under the tarp. He was halfway to it when an explosion rocketed the base causing it to shake. Seconds later two more secondary explosions were triggered further rocking the base and causing the shields to flicker and finally die.

 

[SnowHeart]

Kat rolled her shoulders and gathered herself, checking the various straps and buckles holding her combat armor onto her lithe frame. It was more covering in the primary areas, but just a tight black body suit around her midsection, thighs and joints to allow more freedom of movement. Satisfied that it wouldn't come off during combat maneuvers, she moved onto double-checking her weaponry. Her vibroblade was in stellar condition, as always, and her rifle didn't appear to have any sort of issues. Her pair of pistols were in thigh holsters on each leg and had good readings. She nodded, pleased with her checkups. She wasn't very concerned with being hit, she was the the one who brought soldiers back to life. You don't just take the life of the lifegiver.

With one hand, she gives life. With the other, she takes it. Sometimes it's the same hand, but that's getting into semantics. She was always more practical.

Kat tapped her leg while she waited for the orders to come down, listening in on comms channels via her communicator. Truth be told, she didn't like her combat armor that much. It was much too difficult to get on and off in a hurry like in her more casual uniform. Harder to...show some things off to anyone who might look. Not that she would do that in a battlefield, of course! And not that she hadn't done more than that in a live-fire combat situation before. She tried to reserve that for back on the ship, but sometimes she just couldn't resist. She shrugged, gathering herself and rising to her feet. The medic fitted on her full helmet and grinned.

Show time.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

Star destroyer "Remedy"

"The enemy shields are down. All bombers attack. Repeat, all bombers attack." Jana said into the general comms. She watched as the fleet of star destroyers fired their "bunker buster" shots at the base. The rounds cracked open the bases exterior, leaving the interior of the base, and the rebels, venerable to the TIE bombers that were about to attack. Jana watched as swarms of TIE bombers left the star destroyers and flew towards the planet.


Surface of Akkudativ

Tara turned to the trooper. He was newly transferred to the unit, but from what she'd heard, he could more than handle himself. "I don't know what we're up against. Intel's shit. But whatever they had, the bombers will remind them what happens when the fuck with the empire." Tara said as the first bombs hit. "We'll be up soon boys, everyone get into the tanks." Tara said opening the transport's doors.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

BRN sat in the transporter and waited for the order to go. Around him were his fellow squad mates but he stood out from amongst them and not just because of his size. On average a Stormtrooper was 6 to 6'2 in height and Brn was a little bigger at 6'4. He was also a lot more muscular than the average Stormtrooper. The reason for this was obvious when you looked at the weapon he was carrying.

Today it was a DC-15A blaster rifle. Easily twice as big as a standard troopers weapon and almost ten times more powerful at it's highest setting. His armor was also different, denoting him as a member of the elite Shoc troops. He even had the honor of choosing his own personal colors instead of the usual all red and had gone for black to honor the new dark lord who was leading victory after victory.

BRN couldn't wait to get down onto the planet and start killing Rebels. It was what he trained for and what his warrior blood sang out for him to do. He was good at what he did and was happy doing it.

Finally the transporter started moving and he stood up grinning behind his mask. Finally he would get to kill.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

STLF finally heard the words he was waiting for.

"Tie Bombers you are clear to begin your runs."

Immediately he brought his ship up to speed and plunged towards the surface, passing the slow transporters and entering the atmosphere. He leveled out a mere 200 feet above the planets surface, way below what was recommended but he had a feeling about this base. The shields may be down but he was sure it had other defenses and he was going to find them and knock them out.

As he approached he slowed down and sure enough large batteries began to fire. Smiling he again plunged forward and used his lasers to pummel the defenders. They had never expected anyone to handle a bomber like a fighter. Their mistake really. By the time he had regained enough height to drop his payload, others had taken out the defenses permanently. Smiling he took out his own targets then stayed behind to provide aerial cover for the troops.

 

[Aliceinchains36]

"The bombers are clear. Ground forces move in. Repeat, ground forces are cleared for attack." Colonel Midnight's voice said over the general comms. "You heard her, get this bucket moving!" Tara barked to the tank's pilot as she took the main gun. The tank shot forward towards the Rebel base along with the other two dozen tanks. Their cannons began to fire in unison, destroying what was left of the Rebel's defenses. Tara covered the tank from the sparse ground forces with its main laser weapon, while it's cannon punched through the fortress walls. The tank burst through the breach in the fortress, and stormtroopers began to pour out into the base. Tara led the charge, killing every Rebel she saw. She was like living death, killing with the deadly efficiency of a Sith Lord. Her men rallied around her, and they quickly moved through the fort.

The battle was all but ended, only the base's leader and his elite soldiers hidden behind a think metal door. "You there! Set some charges on that door." Tara commanded to a demolition trooper nearby. While the trooper set the charges, Tara spoke to the soldiers positioned by the door. "These bastards won't go down as easy as the others in this base, but they'll still go down! We're going to show these Rebel assholes how the Empire deals with traitors!" Tara shouted before the door exploded.

Tara ran through the door her, rifle primed and ready, as her trained eyes took stick of the situation. A mixture of about twenty humans, Quarren, and Rodians guarded a smaller door in the back of the room. They opened fire immediately as the stormtroopers began to enter the room. Tara dove into cover as one of the humans launched an anti-personal missile at the door. Tara hunkered closer to the table she was behind as pieces of imperil armor, still filled with the remains of their occupants, exploded throughout the room. Tara popped up for behind her cover and threw an impact grenade at the elite Rebel soldiers. Just as she was ducking back into cover, a laser bolt caught her in the shoulder, burning through her armor. "Fuck!" Tara hissed pressing her hand to the wound that was begging to stain her armor red.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Intelligence officer Lt. Allapr Rainleap was picking his way carefully through the wreckage. The battle was brief but bloody for both sides. The Stormtroopers, in typical fashion, flood through with a rain of laser bolts and flushed out the rebels from every hiding place. No pity, no prisoners. What was a pity for him was his position as an intelligence officer. He could get information out of the data banks of destroyed computers. He needed prisoners, live prisoners, but the black flag was raised.

Calmly moving through the gutted base, he homed in on the noise of the dwindling battle. The last of the rebels had hid themselves in. That's where he caught up with Tara in the heat of the action. She had been struck and her shoulder was bleeding. Having never tasted a full battle before, the lieutenant produced his sidearm, that was normally just a symbol of authority, and ran up to the closest stormtrooper he saw firing behind a fallen pillar. He could reach Tara just yet, the fire from the elite rebel was fast and thick.

A stormtrooper called out to Tara, thinking he could reach her, but a bolt to the leg knocked him down. The lieutenant grasped him by the arm and pulled him back behind cover before firing several bolts into their direction.

"We have to press them!" the lieutenant barked above the battle.

At the same time the rebels were preparing for the evacuation. The saboteurs had destroyed most if not all the transports, leaving just a few of the fighters left to try and run the blockade. One of them fitted his frame into the snug cockpit of his A-wing, closed the canopy and went through a quick diagnosis as the Event Horizon engines hummed to life.

"We got TIE Bombers hitting the ramp," another pilot called.

"We'll have to blaze our way through them," Acamar Crescentdown smirked as his weapons warmed up. "I'll take care of that. You boys get into hyperspace and warn the Rebellion of what happened here."

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

BRN had been wading through the thick of the fighting destroying nests of rebel fighters and taking out any that thought they had dug themselves in well. The DC-15A blaster rifle he carried had several different firing settings on it. On it's regular setting it had no problems penetrating standard issue armor, while at it's highest it could make a .5 meter hole in ferroconcrete wall and penetrate the armor on most known tanks and armored vehicles. So taking out Rebels hidden behind tables and chairs was no problem for him.

It also had an attachment that allowed him to have a heads up display directly projected on his helmets eye sockets and use it as a range finder and scope function. Perfect for snipers. As the effective range was 10 kilometers with his weapon he had no problems here.

When word came down of the problem they were having with some elites, he smiled. He rushed to the room and saw several troopers hanging back from the door while an Intelligence officer tried to rally them forward. Shaking his head he strode forward. "Right Grenades ready. On my mark two on each side, far end of the room then follow me in. Let's clean these rebel scum out."

Lowering his weapon he stepped around the doorframe holding the trigger down. Normally this would decrease the weapons accuracy but BRN had the strength to hold it steady and he strafed the room from one corner to the other as he walked forward giving those behind him enough time to throw their grenades and then advance. Behind his mask he was grinning. This was what he lived for.

 

[SnowHeart]

Kat rushed through the base, following behind the arrowhead of their assault. She took shots where she could, but for the most part the rebels seemed to be disoriented by the bombing runs and then the tank fire destroying what remained of their defenses. Like a wave of destruction, the Imperial forces flowed through the base, clearing out every room, every corner and washing away the Rebel forces. Should a Stormtrooper catch a shot, Kat was there to stabilize their wounds. Those that could be saved, of course. She wouldn't want to waste time with the dead when she could still save the living.

The base shook with the impact of bomber runs while they approached the final room that hadn't yet been cleared. Likely where the leader and his final reserve of troops were holed up. They would be cleansed just like the rest. Kat rilled her shoulders, stacking up with the rest of the troops while demolition set charges on the door. Tara gave a small speech and then the door blew, which signaled the charge. Kat came around the corner, narrowly sidestepping and diving away from a rocket that came flying towards them. She was barely caught by the blast, throwing her several feet into the room and to the ground. She looked up and around at the bits of armor and body parts now laying on the ground just in time to see Tara take a round on the shoulder.

The medic rolled to her feet and dove into cover next to her, pressing her flat against the low cover they had so she could see the wound. She took a good hit. Kat slung her rifle over her shoulder and reached into her medical pouch, pulling out a syringe and some bio-foam. "Sit still," she commanded her superior officer rather nonchalantly as she inserted the needle into her arm and injected the contents. Painkillers so she could shoot straight. She then took the can of biofoam out and inserted it into the wound, even though it would probably hurt like hell since the painkillers were injected just a moment prior. The wound fulled with biofoam, which was a temporary fix, and then she packed it in with gauze to prevent further bleeding.

"Take it easier and see me when we get out of here so I can take care of this!" She shouted over the roar of combat.

She then rose over the barrier, sliding her rifle into her arms and preparing to join the shove, drilling shots into the rebel lines as the grenades detonated on either side of them.

 

[kittenofdeath]

The assault was going smoothly and without a hitch, due in no large part to Tag, no really, he did basically nothing to swing the fight in their favour, through out this whole time he had only fired his weapon twice, and he had missed once. Which to be fair is what he's supposed to do, support where needed and be on hand for speciality needs, Tag was just really quite good at knowing which people to support in order to avoid all the fighting, danger and possible death. It was for this reason Tag was somewhat annoyed, he had successfully avoided the lions share of the fighting and yet now he found himself being pulled away from his cushy and safe task of sweeping and securing anything the main force missed to come to the fore and blow the last thing between him and the only real threats to him.

This is the exact type of thing that he tried to avoid, he was literally on the front damn line.

The door was easy, nothing that a few charges couldn’t handle, however his plan of just slinking back after blowing the charges was dashed when stormtroopers started stacking up behind him to storm the breach, and Tag couldn’t exactly just leave then, cowardice was looked down upon by imperial society, and no one would stick their neck out for a coward. So, for the sake of saving face, Tag was going to participate in a breach and clear in to a room filled with rebel elites who have had more than enough time to fortify and figure out a plan for the inevitable charge of white death that was coming to them.

The door disappeared in a flash and the game was on, Tag rushed in a few men behind the major, intent to get to cover as fast as humanly possible, however just as he was making a dash to fall in behind a computer console, a missile streaked by his head, sending a shiver down his spine as the full ramifications of what were about to happen dawned on him.

The world ended, Tags perception being drowned out by pain until it was all he knew. He was dimly aware of still moving, weightlessly at first, then hitting something and slowing to an eventual stop. He couldn’t hear, but he could feel more explosions going off nearby, close enough to rattle his bones and spur his conciousness to fight and kick itself back in to gear.

He reached up, grabbed a hold of something and slowly tried to pull himself to his knees, but he only got as far as collapsing in to a seated position against whatever he was pulling on. He looked forward and saw his comrades, that wasn’t right, he should see the enemy in front of him, not stormtroopers. Tag turned his head to the side and the cogs in his mind clicked over, he was over with the enemy, his armour modifications saved his life but the rocket had still blasted him clear across the room, turns out you can stop as much shrapnel and heat as you want but concussive force is still going to be a bitch. The ultrachrome was still worth every credit.

They didn’t look like they had done any better than he had, multiple grenade blasts and reduced them down to a mere handful, however Tags eyes narrowed when he saw the rocketeer responsible for his current regrettable situation, fucker had survived the retaliation and by the looks of things had just finished reloading his heavy weapon. Tag pulled the pistol from his hip, thanking his lucky stars when his helmet readout showed it as still operational, and quickly put a bolt of plasma through the bastards head right as he popped up to loose another rocket. Truth be told he was aiming for the chest, but if anyone asked it was completely intentional.

His second shot was far less effectual, missing his target completely and impotently impacting against the wall, doing nothing more than remind everyone he was shooting at that he was still alive.

 

[silvertongue217]

Meanwhile

Logan gunned his speeder bike forward moving away as the calvary came in. The sound of gunfire rose up as well as the panicked shout of men and woman crying out and fighting for their lives. He reached his EVAC zone and rolled to a stop shutting down his speeder as he pulled out one of his cigars.

"Things go to shit as always" He said lighting it and taking a long drag. He was aware of a faint itching sensation and looked down cursing as he noticed some blood staining his sturdy dusters jacket.

"well shit" He said sighing shaking his head, he stretched tenderly checking to see the damage before he finally fished out his COM link.

"Agent code named Old Man ready for pickup" He said watching as a few more bursts of flames shot out into the night sky "leave the bloody beasts to their little tussle" he said taking another long drag and watching the sunset over all the death.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Rainleap picked his way through the debris of battle. The close quarters fighting had gutted many of the rooms with fire, bodies lay in heaps in some places. The Empire's troopers had earned their pay, but there were many of them added to the body pile, their white armor caked in smeared blood and charred blaster hits. It wasn't his mission to take care of the dead, he was looking for the vital intelligence, and they had a whole base of it, but the data banks had been purged and most of the garrison were killed, until he found a couple of wounded rebels hiding in the sick bay. Flanked by stormtroopers, Rainleap had the prisoners sit on their knees before him while he began his interrogation. It started out with simple questions, but the Rebels only responded with their name, rank, and serial number and refused to answer any other questions to which Rainleap smirked, "Not to worry, we have something that can give me what I want," and ordered the troopers to take them back to the shuttle to remove them to the Remedy.

"Take off!" Crescentdown barked pushing the throttle forward. His A-Wing launched forward as the Event Horizon engines glowed. He was first out of the hanger and behind him were several A-Wings, Y-Wings, and shuttles trying to take out the last of the survivors. As soon as they were into the open sky, his keen eyes saw a flight of TIE bombers on a course to intercept them on the left. "I got TIE Bombers" Crescentdown called out, "I'm breaking off to engage. The rest of you, get out."

Behind him, Black 4 called, "What about you?"

"Don't worry" Crescentdown smirked, "I'll be right behind you" as he engaged his weapons and concussion missiles as he bore in on the bombers. "Engaging!"

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

STLF had been flying a holding pattern with several other bombers from the attack. They had been ordered to save a quarter of their payload in case of any surprises the Rebel forces might have hidden, but so far they had not been called upon and he doubted they would be. It looked like a total victory down there and he would much rather have been back on board the destroyer transferring to his Tie fighter and joining the blockade to stop any rebels that tried to sneak off world, but he had his orders.

He had been tuned into the ground forces frequency so he could be advised of any sudden turn of advents so was watching the base where the last vestiges of fighting were going on on his scopes when he saw movement. A hidden hanger was suddenly revealed and several starships were trying to make a break for it. The Shuttles and Y wings would not prove a problem and even the Tie Bomber he was in could easily take down those slow moving vessels. No the problem was the few A wing machines with them. Fast and agile the Bombers would be no match for them one on one, but perhaps they did not have to be.

"This is pilot STLF to control. Have multiple targets trying to run the barricade. Shuttles, Y wings and several A wings, Heading towards jump point 3," he reported to his commanders first.

He switched frequencies with a touch of a button so he was broadcasting to the rest of the group. "STLF to flight. We go in hard at the escaping Rebels at grid point M4. Two Ties for every fighter and the rest destroy every ship that you can. Chase them onto the fire of the blockade."

He smiled as he accelerated the big twin Ion engines up to attack speed. Whoever was piloting those A wings was in for a shock. They would never have seen someone handle a Bomber class like he did.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Crescentdown smirked. They were coming after him. Good. He locked up his concussion missiles onto the fighters first. They were, without doubt, heading for the shuttles. With the two forces coming together in the sky, the distance rapidly dwindled as his headset hummed with the tone of his missiles getting a lock on the fighters. Pressing the missile release two of them spat out and twisted sharply to the right as they homed in on two of the TIEs. With his cannons tracked the targets as he came in less than half a kilometer before firing off bursts and turning to engage them.

With a devilish smile on his face, Crescentdown bore in. He wasn't shouting or yelling. His mind was focused in the battle. The other fighters could see him go in, but they held their formation as they clawed to get out of the atmosphere. Computers were already trying to calculate for lightspeed, but they didn't see the Star Destroyer above them.

One of his missiles tracked straight and true slamming into one TIE in a flash of yellow and red as the machine twisted itself apart and began plummeting towards the floor in a long stream of black smoke.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

So the Rebel was going to concentrate on the fighters. A good plan and one which would normally work if this was going to be just a regular dog fight. However getting rid of him was not their top priority. In the scheme of things he was not important. After all he was just one person, while those other ships held a lot more people.

"Remember the plan and stick to it. Don't be drawn into fights you can't win. Avoid the fighters and go straight for the transporters, make them so worried about you they fail to see what lies ahead for them. Maybe we will get lucky and capture a few of them alive for the Intel Corps to have a go at."

He smiled as he totally ignored his last statement and peeled off to intercept the A wing. He might have the advantage for the first vital few seconds as the pilot might not expect a bomber to try to mix it up with him, but that would be it. If he could not score a fatal hit then he doubted he would. Still he would keep it interesting. He knew exactly what this hulk could do and if they were in space he would show the Rebel a few tricks. However here in atmosphere he was just too bulky. Maybe he could lure him out into space, it might be his only shot.

Swinging around he came in on an intercept course and then let fly a controlled burst from his twin mounted cannons, then flew off veering upwards. He had not seen or registered an explosion and he searched his screens for the target as he began to rotate back around.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Glancing up in time to see the lumbering bomber boring into him, Crescentdown jerked the stick hard left and got under the cannon bolts. The Bomber moved to break free and head into orbit, towards the transports. The other TIE fighters were heading in as well. He had enough time to lock on with another pair of missiles and let them go. Both of them scored hits on fighters. Two more kills.

"Crescentdown!" a shuttle pilot screamed, "TIE bombers are after us. If their missiles hit us we're gone. Keep them off of us. Hyperdrive is almost ready."

The Event Horizon engines glowed bright as the A-Wing clawed its way into the atmosphere and beyond. The Star Destroyer loomed into view then came the faint flashes of color, red, blue and yellow, and green as more TIEs entered the fight. Gritting his teeth, Crescentdown headed towards the fight and came upon that same TIE bomber. "You..." he smirked as his HUD scanned and locked on to the bomber. He wasn't going to use up his last missiles on it. He would get close and use his cannon.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

STLF

He checked his screens as he heard the tone that told him he was in someones sights and saw the A Wing behind him. He smiled in his helmet. So the pilot had followed him into space where his advantage was vastly cut. Out here there was no atmosphere to effect his ship and it was only the skill factor that made the difference. Oh the ship still played a part of course and he was still a little down in top speed, but in a dog fight who needed that.

He was moving forward because of forward momentum, there was no use for using engines when you didn't need them, that was a rookies mistake. He quickly hit his maneuvering thrusters moving down and rotating his craft 189 degrees. Now he had the A wing in his sights while taking his effectively out of his. He wondered why the pilot had not fired a missile as soon as he had tone like he did now. He kept his craft facing him and fired off a few blasts from his cannons though. He was not going to underestimate this enemy.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

The A-Wing had pitiful shields. Crescentdown saw his foe vastly alter course. In the blink of an eye the TIE Bomber had did a near complete 180 and was taking him under fire! Several of the bolts slapped the forward shield and the indicator flashed as the frame shuddered. No hull hits, but the forward shield was nearly gone. No matter. Out of the atmosphere the engines could give more power, but the veteran pilot wasn't going to make rookie mistakes. The bomber had the advantage here, but the A-Wing had speed and maneuverability. Slamming his right foot onto the peddle and snapping the stick right made the wedge shaped aircraft yaw right then snap into a tight roll. Onto his back he saw the bomber grow large in his HUD. The cannons trained on him, then a press of the trigger, it was a quick shot, but Crescentdown completed his roll and went over the TIE bomber then pulled back sharply on the stick climbing quickly. Other TIE fighters whizzed by him, but he ignored them, focusing on the bomber, they could do more damage.

Nearby, two more TIEs were shot down by the escorts. The shuttles were taking fire from the Star Destroyer. The Y-Wings were dispatched to try and disable it, or distract them long enough to enter hyperspace. The radio was filled with pilots calling out warnings as more TIEs entered the fray.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

BRN

BRN's heads up display picked out the targets for him and he sprayed the area. He had switched to short controlled burst's and found cover behind several overturned tables and dislodged ferrocrete blocks. The grenades had done their job well significantly lowering the odds, and his initial assault had taken a few Rebels by surprise and gunned them down before they could take cover.

A medic had been able to get to the Commander and he hoped she had been patched up and somehow the missile man had been taken out by a shot to the head. He would have to thank whoever had done that after this battle was over. His position would be suicidal if he had survived. Poking his head around and firing again he scorched down another Rebel then got the readout on their forces. Most were gathered at the central point. A good tactic as it gave them the best field of fire. A bad tactic when he held this gun. He began to supercharge it, increasing it's power and when it hit full charge he aimed it right at the center mass and fired.

The whole center of the barricade was blown backwards in a blast of debris. Two men standing right behind the point of impact were killed instantly while those further back were knocked from their feet. "Forward and subdue," he ordered. He didn't really have the authority but when on the front lines the man at the front had the right to call for back up. Besides his rifle needed time to cycle down until he could shoot normally again.


STLF

He saw the A wing shudder under his shots but the damn things shields held. Then it snapped away from him and he accelerated forward and around knowing the attack would be focused on where he was. Sure enough two bolts of hot death streaked towards his craft but only managed to graze his wing. That was enough to cause him to loose power though. A Tie's power came through the solar panels attached to it's wings. He had battery power stored but normally ran on the power fed by the panels themselves. With that shot he had lost almost 15%. Cursing he rolled and searched his screens. There was no sign of the fast ship but a shuttle was in his sights. He fired off a missile and watched as the vessel imploded into tiny fragments. More Rebel scum who would not be fighting another day.

He kept his speed just below maximum as he searched the inky blackness for the A wing. He had a feeling it would be back and he set his scanners on high as he began to shadow the escaping fleet ready to pick them off as he saw more and more of the shuttles being taken out by the guns of the massive star destroyer.

 

[SnowHeart]

Kat squeezed off another pair of shots and another pair of bodies hit the ground. The heavy with the rocket launcher popped over the barricade and was aiming right at them. Her eyes widened and she dropped to the ground behind the barricade, but the explosion never came. She peeked over the top and spotted the rebel falling to the ground with a hole in the side of his head. Whoever fired that shot must have had some impressive aim. She brought her rifle to bare again, then fired and provided some suppression fire on the lines. When the trooper in cover next to her took a round to the shoulder, Kat disregarded her engagement of the enemy to tend to him, filling the wound and stopping the bleeding while encouraging him to remain low. She placed his rifle back in his hands and patted him on his good shoulder. She pulled a grenade off his belt, then primed it and lobbed it into the rebel lines.

One of the Empire's shock troops had pushed up almost as if he had a death wish, gunning down several rebels before ducking into cover. The barrel of his heavy weapon started to glow as he overcharged it. Kat fired on the rebels who actually had an angle on his position to give him some time to get that shot off, and boy did he get that shot off. The heavy bolt slammed into the center barricade where a large number of the rebels were, either straight out killing them or crushing them and leaving a massive hole in their defensive line. The rebels went silent, as if trying to adjust to what had just happen to a bulk of their forces. Some recovered faster than others, but most of the incoming fire had halted while they scrambled to adjust for the loss of firing fields.

The rebel lines were shaken; now was the time to break them.

"Let's move!" Kat heard someone call from somewhere near her. She wasn't one to argue, the rebel's firing line had halted. She rose up and vaulted the barricade she was hiding behind, shouldering her rifle and firing as the Imperial's wave of stormtroopers flooded into the rebel's lines. The rebel's defenses broke under the might of the Empire. Kat switched from her rifle to her vibroblade, which was much better suited to close quarters combat, and proceeded to end any rebel she came across. Her skill with the blade was demonstrated in that moment in particular, having claimed nearly as many with her blade as she had with her rifle. Her primary concern was not in taking lives, however; it was in saving them. She treated wounds where necessary, treating laser burns or resetting dislocated limbs with a tactical efficiency; she had been doing this for some time and it showed.

The battle was bloody, brutal and over in a flash. There was still the problem of the other locked blast door that was keeping them from the evacuation area, and as such Kat looked for the trooper from before that had blown the door earlier. She thought she saw him flying through the air earlier in the fight, so she tried to find him to see if he needed some attention. She did not have much for treating a concussion, which would have to wait until they made it back to the ship, but the least she could do is make sure that the made it back to the ship in one piece, just as she had done for so many troopers so far. It was also hard to find people who didn't blow themselves or their allies up with explosive charges these days, so he was fairly important to the assault team. Should she find him on the ground anywhere, she would offer a hand to lift him up and see if he needed any medical attention, making sure to check him.

 

[guyloveshotstories]

Blast it! Watching the shuttle go, he should have had that Bomber. There were shrieks and cries as it disintegrated. Crescentdown slammed his fist against the console. He should have had it. He could make a run for it, several other craft had now taken the jump, but now he wanted the blood of that pilot. Twisting about he came upon the bomber from behind. No missiles. Cannons made it personal. Now it was personal. Other pilots were pleading to leave, but not before he got this one. One of its solar panels was damaged, good, but he was still combat effective. He came from behind and locked on with his cannon and pressed the button. Red lights flashed and streaked in slamming into the panels and into the cylinders serving as the cockpit and weapons bay. Several shots, he pressed hard, the harder he pressed the harder the lasers hit-that's what he thought. They scored hits up and down the fuselage in brilliant flashes. Another TIE fighter screamed in from above to protect the wounded bomber. Crescentdown saw him, applied power, and climbed. They crossed and that's when he programmed his computer to make the jump. He watched the wounded TIE bomber with satisfaction.

 

[Aussie_Wolf]

STLF

Damn the fighter had been quicker than he thought, or the power drainage had damaged his sensors more than they should have, because he had hardly got any warning before the A Wing had appeared behind him and started to shoot into his structure. He had only managed to put all power into what shields he had in the rear before the crimson bolts had struck home.

Parts of the superstructure floated off into space as the A wing zoomed off and straight up above him, but he had managed to preserve life support and weapons. Just now that was all he needed. He nudged his control jets and the bomber rotated until it pointed up facing the retreating Rebel craft.

One thing most pilots always forgot. A missiles thrusters were much faster than any ships. Smiling he locked on and fired two at the Rebel. He even gave it a small wave as they streaked towards it. Stupid pilot probably thought he was a floating wreck. Never underestimate an Empire Tie fighter pilot, especially him. Firing up his engines he began to limp back towards the Star Destroyer, a small convey of Ties and bombers joining him as the mop up operation finished. All the Rebel ships had either been destroyed or fled. Those that had fled could be anywhere and not by design. For a smaller ship to jump close to a larger one was almost suicide. It knocked off all the carefully plotted data in the Nav computer as the gravity well it gave off messed with it. You could literally end up on the other side of the universe buried in the middle of some foreign planet.

STLF smiled at the thought. He hoped that was what had happened to the A Wing pilot.