<salute>

Another COM's report! I must be out of my mindb.... it even contains a mission to fly!

1.
And then, again: The third round of the Vanguard interactive Battle, which is starting today!
Starts: 02:00 PM, Fri. 08/23/2001
Ends: 02:00 PM, Fri. 08/30/2001
URL: http://www.gimmie.tudelft.nl/homes/blok10b/ender/vanguard/vib/
Participants: Everybody on the Vanguard.
Description: Read the fiction  at the end, that'll tell you what the mission is about (It's based in the Vanguard's past... around April/May). Then fly the mission just like you always fly missions, only this time write a report afterwards on what you experienced. This report has to be fictional, as for example your INPR. You are a pilot in the Imperial Navy, report what you just went through. It can be simple, it doesn't need to be great literature or anything... but it can be if you want it to. From a near novel to a short summing up what happened.  Zip it up with your pilot file and send it to you normally send your pilot files to - presto.

There will be a IS Silver for both the best score and the best the best fiction (as judged by MAJ. Strahd and myself), IS Bronzes for the runners up in both categories.  You have till the 30th to get your zip file in (7 days). The best fiction and scores will be taken up on the site. More awards are possible for other contributions like help running the comp or graphics for example.

Suggestions would be to film your mission and then play it back if you want to make your report (Shift-F for camera on I belief), CM Leeson used screenshots to illustrate his entry for the Echo interactive Mission - that's a nice addition too. Check the site for more exact rules.

Note:  this time you only have 1 week to fly this thing and that the storyline will not change as much as it usually would. This round is mostly to give you all something to do while we get the next full mission finished:)

2.
Some of that fiction will appear in  the next edition of "the Vanguard"... But we'll need a lot more articles to make a newspaper! Hence, don't forget the connected competition:
Starting Date: 14/08/2001
Ending Date: 10/09/2001
Parties Involved: All crew members of the ISD Vanguard
Site:http://www.gimmie.tudelft.nl/homes/blok10b/ender/vanguard/vib/news/
Contact Names: VA Ender mBind, CM Bevel Leeson (a.c.w.t.zwegers@bk.tudelft.nl, skinner@matavnet.hu)
Info: "Crew members are encouraged to write articles for the Vanguard Newspaper. Best articles get rewarded an IS-SR, runner up IS-BR.
Articles can be anything, from Interviews, horoscopes, cartoons to short sports articles about your squad winning the bowling contest. Graphics like Adds or
Photographs of "News Events" are fine too of course - Anything that makes a newspaper a newspaper.
Participants are to keep in mind that this is a FICTIONAL, Black and White tabloid sized newspaper based in the Star Wars Universe. Also, text fills these pages up
pretty fast. Your articles don't need to be very long, check the earlier editions for examples. Participants are allowed to enter articles as many times as they want.
Articles will be judged by the COM and the Chief Editor. All usable articles will be used in the paper. (though with large participation we might keep some on file for
next issues.) Mail all articles to CM Leeson (Chief Editor), cc VA mBind"

3.
I'd like to congratulate Mantis and Echo, who have been announced to be the WC's Own of May (Mantis) and July (Echo)  2001. Mantis for all the great activity, new web-site and generally great activity. Echo for the great activity that they have shown (Strahd gets about 20-30 e-mails a day and most of the time, half of them are in regards to Echo) So Great work to you all. The WC will let you know (on time) for the month of August. It's anyone's game still so let's see a hustle! Congrats Again1!

You can view the Hall of Fame of Wing XV Commander's Own at http://www.gimmie.tudelft.nl/homes/blok10b/ender/vanguard/strahd/wcown.html

4.
Major Strahd's  wing comp  involving TC-XWA #1 is still running. You will all have till aug 31st. IS-SW for top scoree and IS-BW for runner up. Also, there will be a fiction comp on this mission as well. Please send all pilot files to Strahdf for he will be using the BSF form to get scores. Also, there are squadron nicks and mottos at stake. The best averaging squadron gets to name the lowest scoring one. The command staff (Strahd, Ender and Cyric) will count as a group as well. If we (the command staff) get a better average than the entire wing... we get to rename your mottos and nicks, just to make things interesting :)

Now Scramble! ;)

Fleet News:

General TC News:
- Fleet Admiral AbsoluteK, our beloved Internet Officer has decided to resign. He shall be missed. Send your applications for the position of Internet Officer to Grand Admiral Ronin and Sector Admiral Kawolski.
- Many congratulations go out to Rear Admiral Shadowhawk who has been appointed as the new Commodore for the SSD Avenger With her promotion, the position of Wing XVIII Wing Commander is now open, and applications are being accepted by Rear Admiral Shadowhawk and Vice Admiral Firefox. Good luck!
- Congratulations to Rear Admiral Toran Dan who has been selected as the new Immortal Commodore.
- With the recent formation of the TIE Corps newest Battlegroup, the Avenger Task Force (see my latest report for more info), I have selected it's first Battlegroup Commander...Vice Admiral Firefox! Many congrats FF!
- You can download NL #77 (5.80 mb) at: http://nl.infiltratorwing.org/hammer77.zip (Europe - Fast) http://lo.minos.net/nl/hammer077.zip (N. America - Slow) http://www.eh.ro/hammer77.zip
You can view the Newsletter online at: http://nl.infiltratorwing.org It even includes our newspaper:)
- Effective immediately, all multiplayer competitions held on IRC (unless otherwise noted, i.e. this does not affect the Imperial Naval Fleet War Night) will be moved into the channel #EHCOC. The new Emperor's Hammer Combat Operations Center is now completely in use. For all competitions, the moderation bot, WillyB0T will control handing out matches, recording scores, etc. Also, the rule for setting up matches outside of channel is now void, you must come into #EHCOC and use the bot to set up a match. The triggers for the bot are basic, !add , where is the game xwa, xvt, or jk, and your TC PIN number (example: !xwaadd 296). The moderators will be there to help you, or may contact me with questions, wetwilly@ehnet.org.

Other Information:

Meetings.
- Fleet-wide meeting on IRC-Undernet channel #emperor's_hammer (every Saturday at 5PM GMT)
- TIE Corps meeting on IRC-Undernet channel #tiecorps (It's every Sunday at 9PM GMT)
- Don't forget our own IRC-Undernet channel #Vanguard it's a fun place to be after all:)
Additional for if you do not know what IRC is: IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat and it's a protocol specially for chatting. Easiest way to get on IRC is to go to http://www.mirc.com and download mIRC free. The Emperor's Hammer is based on the Undernet servers, but if you need any more help setting up, don't hesitate to call in help from either your squad mates or me.

Messageboards.
- Emperor's Hammer Message Board - http://www.tiecorps.org/ehmb.asp
- TIE Corps Message Board – http://www.tiecorps.org/mb
- Aggressor Strike Force Message Board - http://www.tiecorps.org/mb/view.asp?b=21&v=0&s=0
- ISD Vanguard/Wing XV Message Board - http://tiecorps.org/mb/view.asp?b=38&v=0

Vanguard interactive Battle:

ViB Prologue XVII:
by: CM Flelm, Python III FL and VA mBind, VanCOM

“Glorick, Johann,” a stern sounding voice called from the door standing open to the WC's conference room.  LCM Glorick gulped from the hallway as he thought of the lecture he expected from Khadgar for damaging the T/I that wasn't his, and cost quite a bit to repair and replace the solar panels.
  As he walked into the room, he went over the events in his mind, and desperately tried to think up excuses, any excuse. Glorick began to think, “Well, it was either me or the Mario… it’s a me, Mario. That's what Ill say, its the truth, and it'll be fine.”  As he cleared the threshold of the chamber, he suddenly became aware of the many pairs of eyes standing there staring at him.  Arrayed on either side of the tables are the CMDRs and FLs of the Vanguard, all staring at him with grim expressions. “Uh-oh, its worse than I thought…”
  Luckily it appeared he wasn't the only one in problems either. Staneth, who'd done the same as him, but to a far more expensive Defender, was clearly in the same position as him. His face appeared a bit pale-greenish too, though that might still be an effect of him rolling over in space for an hour before the recovery Shuttle helped him out of his ordeal. Apparently the insides of his – pressurized – fighter looked worse then the outside. No wonder he didn't say much – though of course he might have been reprimanded before Glorick entered the room.
  As Glorick tried to open his mouth to begin explaining the damage to the fighter, MAJ. Khadgar cut him off by clearing his throat.  “Lieutenant Commanders, we have been going over the damage to your fighter, and, in relation to that, the events of the battle.  It seems that both your cockpit recorders registered a sound… a sound of amusement just before either of you lost your solar panels.  Now, what this chuckling was about, we'll overlook for the moment, but both of you were distracted in a life or death battle for the repairs of the plumbing of the ship.  Even though the mission was completed successfully. I and the rest of the command staff aboard the Van agree that a punishment is in order.”
  “As such, every round of drinks bought in the cantina tonight will be charged to you, and immediately deducted from next week's pay.  This is only fair, right guys?”  17 heads simultaneously broke into grins and nodded at the astonished Glorick and Staneth.
  “Yeah, sounds fair to me.” “I'm feeling a bit parched, myself.” “We'd better get a move on if there's going to be any of the good stuff left, huh?”
  As the 17 pilots filed out past a shell-shocked Glorick and Staneth, Khadgar came over and patted them on the shoulders.  “What'd you think, we were going to let you get away with a stern lecture.  This punishment will ensure you'll think twice before either of you starts making cracks about other squadrons in the midst of a fire fight, eh? Now, go on, you should be able to drink some of your own pay.”

  The Fighter Crew Officer's Mess of the ISDII Vanguard, commonly referred to as “The Hole”, four hours later was a hedonistic scene of booze, booze, and… well, booze.  Chairs piled messily in the middle of the floor with scorch marks all over them and a pile of fur around the bottom, boxers and briefs hanging messily from ceiling struts, and even pilots passed out on the floor made the bar a show of excess.  Ender and Khadgar watched from the closed circuit monitors over the ship's security system.
  “Remember those carefree days, Khadgar?” Ender mused.  “We could do anything, and nothing mattered more than getting drunk… too bad those days are gone, and we actually have to work now, huh?”  Ender turned away from the screen and faced Khadgar and DS-61-4 who were standing behind him. “Sure you want to miss out on all this, Dee-Es?”
  “I need a break, perhaps work a bit for myself,” DS-61-4 explained. “I've bee in the TIE Fighter Corps for as long as I remember – I need to see if I can still do something else. Also – I need a bit of time to get over what happened…” His face twisted a bit. “I've personally witnessed both battles of the Death Stars, been a part of the most violent points of recent history… But this was the drop…”
  Khadgar padded him on the shoulder. “I fully understand. I'm not saying I won't allow it – I'm just saying its a shame to see you go.”
  “Yes,” Ender agreed, “Take a bit of time for yourself, Sith knows that I did that too after Endor. But remember that there will always be a place on this ship for you – even if you're not able to fly anymore. Plenty of other jobs after all.” He extended a hand towards the older Lieutenant Colonel and spoke the traditional understatement TIE pilots wished each other before going into a mission: “Good Luck and Have Fun.”
  DS-61-4 accepted the handshake and then shaked the hand Khadgar offered him. Then he saluted. His superior officers returned the salute as he picked up his bag and walked on towards the Shuttle Bay.
  Ender turned to Khadgar. “Strahd?” He inquired.
  “Strahd,” Khadgar confirmed. “Ill make sure everything gets arranged.” He saluted as well and left in the same direction of where DS had gone, leaving his Commodore alone in the Hangar Security Office.
  Ender shrugged and started making his way towards his ‘office’ on top of the ordnance pod of his TIE Bomber hanging in the Hangar Bay, avoiding loose pipes and other plumbing material that had appeared all over the Vanguard since it had been docked in the Pressure Dock of the Imperial Plumbers. He had needed to conduct two ceremonies earlier that day for the two fallen pilots of Echo and Mantis and he'd needed to write a speech each. Good thing there had been a victory celebration after that or it would be far too depressive… Although… without those two pilots – there wouldn't have been a victory… which had been a good theme for his speeches.
  And what a victory it had been! Only Four Flights worth of Vanguard Pilots had taken out a full Wing of Rebel Fighters, destroying over 63 craft and loosing only six. “That's the kind of stuff legends are made of”, Ender thought as he entered the elevator to ‘Rack Level’. “No wonder the Operations Office had been so quick in approving the medals I recommended.” Damages had been minimal – even though Glorick and Staneth had practically totaled their fighters, there wasn't a (new) scratch on the Vanguard anywhere…
  Ender jumped off the rack onto the top of his ‘Brick’, pulled out his datapad and started to made himself comfortable in the hammock he had tied between the twin pods of his craft and paused. “I can just as well get some sleep… another day tomorrow,” he thought as he reached to his comlink. “Bridge, dim the lights on Hangar 4 please?”
  The answer and effect came immediately. Before the bridge officer had finished his “Yes Sir”, the lights had already dimmed to more comfortable levels.
  “Best thing about being COM, that,” Ender decided before he floated off into sleep.
 

ViB Prologue XVIII:
by: VA mBind, VanCOM

  Ender mBind wasn't flying half as much as he wanted to since his sudden promotion to Commodore, making him doubt if it was the right choice in the first place. Years ago, when his unit disbanded after the fall of the empire he had even vowed to keep away from commanding positions for the rest of his life... But flying his own modified TIE Bomber (something he owed to his new position) felt good, just as flying this simple customs inspection mission together with Echo Flight II felt good. And for some odd reason it had suddenly become very busy here on the Pyrath Border, where the Vanguard had returned to after almost a month in the Pressure Docks of the Imperial Plumbers.
  Now they were returning towards the Vanguard he was struck again by the might of the empire embodied in the huge wedge shape of the Imperial Star Destroyer. The Vanguard lay between a myriad of freighters awaiting customs checks or new freight, the red light of the Pyrath star making sharp contours on it's hull. At a sudden a huge shadow started progressing over it, blocking the light on the Imperial Stardestroyer within seconds. The HUDs on the fighters returning to the Vanguard told them that a Super Bulk Freighter had entered the system.
  "Now that is what I call a ship!" Ender cried out triumphantly over the com. He had be born and raised on one of these massive ore carriers but hadn't seen one in years, as they rarely venture deep into systems because of their huge mass. "Let's head towards it and inspect it."
  "Roger that Wing XV-1," Fight Leader Schitzo answered, "I want a look at that myself!"
The flight of TIE Bombers changed it course towards the Super Bulk Freighter, getting only now an impression on how big it actually was.
"Whooa - that thing is bigger then the SSD Avenger!" Lieutenant Da’Ger called out in amazement.
"Four, According to my instruments it's even bigger and certainly heavier then the Sovereign," Lieutenant Commander ZeroPain corrected him, "Though I must add that most of it is that asteroid in the front."
The extended flight now skimmed the surface of the freighter, finally being able to see the full detail.
"The freighter's size and length is variable," Ender explained, "It picks up a metallic asteroid and starts processing that into raw purified metals while it courses towards it's customers - usually in the depleted core-systems..."
  They were now nearing the end of the asteroid and getting at the long and seemingly thin freighter part.
  "Here you can see the robotic arms crushing the rock. The bright lights comes from the plasma field that vaporizes the lot so it can be distilled into the pure elements," Ender was really getting into this, the freighter bringing up childhood memories thought long repressed. They were now flying over the miles of interconnected containers used for storing the distilled metals, the string of containers getting longer as the processing plant moved onwards, demolishing asteroid and creating more containers.
  "These things take a lot longer to reach their clients because of the complex navigating involved. "But when they reach a planet, they can deliver enough raw materials to keep the average economy running for another year," Ender continued, babbling along, "The only thing I don't get is why it's here. Most planets in the Rim have their own ores still and it's taking an awful risk on getting raided by pirates."
The pilots of Echo II weren't really listening anyway, just gawking in amazement at this huge construction being enough.
  "What's the crew size like?" Schitzo wanted to know.
  "Oh it's usually a family business, crews averaging out on ten to fifteen people" Ender answered, happy that at least someone showed interested.
"Hence the danger of pirate attacks," Lieutenant Commander ZeroPain added, "The shear wealth this cargo represents is enough to make any pirate set up retiring plans" He continued to scan the freighter's defenses, which were quite abundant, though automated.

   On the far side of the platform, Python Flight I was doing their rounds of inspections, their TIE Advanced craft giving a menacing appearance to the customs check.
   Crazy R2 had directed it towards an imperial coded modified corvette that looked out of place to him in some way. He switched over to his private squadron channel. "Four, I'm going to inspect that corvette - Two, you're my wing - the rest keep us covered in case of problems, I've got a bad feeling about this."
  "Affirmative, One. On your lead. " Lieutenant Commander Kast called in.
  Crazy R2 throttled up and curved his TIE Advanced towards the modified corvette. Damon Kast copied the maneuver exactly.
Rothmans and Haunt, Python 3 and 4, followed their course at a longer distance from the corvette while the second half of the flight made a low flyby.
  "Nothing special sir," Kast reported, "Seems like just your average patrol corvette, what does control say?"
  "No idea Two," Rothmans replied, "Can't seem to contact them..."
  "Python Flight, here One. Lets head on, or we'll be late for lu... What the...!" The rest of his conversation was drowned out by his craft exploding after it was hit by a set of torpedoes launched out of a concealed front bow of the corvette, which now started spilling rebel A-Wings.
  "Crazy, get out of there!" Rothmans yelled, slamming his craft into an attack position on the corvette. "Two, torps!"
  "Way ahead of you, sir," Kast replied, "lock acquired."
  "Fire at will" Rothmans growled under his breath while he pulled the triggers of his warhead launchers.

  The events had not passed unnoticed in Echo Flight II. "There we go Echo flight II!" Schitzo called out, "Enough site-seeing - we've got a job to do. Course vector one-sixty, minus 110, zero."
  As one the flight turned on its new course, barely scraping the hull of the super bulk ore carrier.
"Switch to torpedoes. Seven, Eight, target the corvette - Six, you and me are on the A-Wings."
"Five, here Six - 9 more Rebel fighters just joined the party."
  "Echo Flight II, discard earlier orders, target those X's"
  "Vanguard Control, pilot rescue shuttle NOW!" While flying along with Echo II, Ender had different things on his mind. "Vanguard Control, where's back up? Launch the rest of Echo yesterday!"
  "TIE Advanced Bomber X-1, backup request denied," Vanguard Control replied coldly.
  "Ezali Bosoto!" Ender slammed his com unit a few times "Is my com unit broken? It's not receiving well."
  "TIE Advanced Bomber X-1, here Vice Admiral Cyric - ISD Intrepid is launching fighters, Taskforce XIV is on the Corvette... the rescue shuttle is on its way, good luck to all fighters."

  Meanwhile the remaining Pythons were involved in a intense dogfight with the four slower A-Wings that had jumped out of the corvette.
  "Two, get that pest off my back!" Rothmans yelled over the com while he increased speed to outrun the A-Wing... something which the ego of the A-Wing pilot surely wouldn't be able to take lightly.
   "Three, Two here - I'm on him," Damon replied. He had the A between his brackets and waited shortly for them to go red before he fired, which didn't happen. Another A strafed his starboard bow, which made him jump and fire - and miss. But because of his speed he now had to turn to avoid his targeted A-Wing, which didn't quite work, the strafing had him in a spin and his starboard pannel grazed the flat top of the A-Wing, taking its canopy with it. He barely regained control before hitting the corvette. "Euh... one bogie down!"
  Lieutenant Haunt was having fun showing the A-Wings, the fastest ships of the rebellion, how outdated they really were. His laser salvo's ripping pieces off their hulls without even targeting them, Python Pilots preferring to keep moving and hitting several targets at once to avoid fire from the corvette. Which was by the way more and more involved in a salvo exchange with the M/FRG Enforcer from Task force XIV.
  "Echo II, I'm getting missile locks from those X's, can you do something about it?"
  "On it Python I, acquiring lock now" Schitzo replied, "Echo II: fire at will."
  "Attention all Imperial Fighters, This system is now under full alert! Stop any craft trying to exit the Customs Base immediately!" The main channel interrupted their conversation. "Attention all Imperial Fighters, This system is now under full alert! Stop any ..."
  But before anyone had the time to respond, they saw on their HUDs that they were too late already - A correllian type freighter blasted out of the customs bay and almost immediately entered hyperspace. Only Rothmans, who's dog fighting had brought him close to the base at the time the alert went out, got off some shots at it, but not enough to stop or destroy the heavily armored craft.
  Almost immediately the corvette hypered out too, rushing closely past Kast’s Advanced. Two A-Wings were not so lucky - Rothmans and Haunt vaped one each while the rebels tried to make it their hyperspace points. Kast got a few hits on the third, but it quickly disappeared from his sights.
  "Let it go," Rothmans commented, "with the amount of hits that one has had, it'll be lucky if it doesn't disintegrate in hyperspace."
  "Now where's R2?" Kast wanted to know.

  Four X-Wings were also not able to escape from Echo II 's torpedoes... their explosions lighting up just as the others jumped into hyperspace. "Everyone alright?" Lieutenant Commander Schitzo wanted to know.
  "All clear, One," the pilots called back in, in unison.
  "Rescue Shuttle Dragonfly 1-2, found R2 yet?" Ender inquired.
  "T/AB X-1, here Shuttle Dragonfly 1-2. We've found Commander CrazyR2 and are pulling him in as we speak. We don’t seem to get any energy emissions from him though..."
  "Dragonfly 1-2, here Python Two, is that good to hear, or not? I have a spare R2 you’d be able to use for parts if you need them…."
  "Attention all Vanguard pilots," Vice Admiral Cyric’s voice came over the com, "Return to your docking racks immediately and report to the debriefing room. The Intrepid has already launched fighters that will replace you."
  "Oh well," Ender shrugged while he checked for the Intrepid's fighters on his HUD, "Good work everybody - lets head home. Seen these events here, I think we might get into a bit more exciting stuff then customs inspection."
 

you can read over the current story/download the mission at http://isdvanguard.eh.ro
 

Thank you very much Flelmo and Vallyn for your support in either the mission or the fiction.

I think that's it – If I've forgotten anything, let me know via email (use only a.c.w.t.zwegers@bk.tudelft.nl for official TC/Wing mails.) or ICQ (9706474) or AIM (Ender mBind). Also READ the Wing report! It contains far more useable information then my scribbles.

All my COM  reports are online as well: you can reach them via the Ship's roster on the TC database. http://www.tiecorps.org/reports/tcreports.asp?shipid=9

Until next time, good luck and have fun!

<salute>
COM/VA Ender mBind/Wing XV/ISD Vanguard
GS/SSx3/BS/PCx5/ISMx13/MoT-2rh-1gh/MoI/LoC-PSx79/DFC/CoL/CoB/LoA/OV
[DRAG] {IWATS-GFX-IIC/1/2/3-M/1/2-SM/2-TT-XAM-XTM-XTT}