REPORTING COMMANDER: Commander Genie. Squadron Commander
TO: Lambda Squadron, HA Elwood The Brave Hammer's Commodore
DATE SUBMITTED: 27th September 28 ABY

The RTF competition, is near its end. We joined late (half way through the month) and yet put on a very competitive performance. In other words, we rock! And, there are still a few days to go, before the space cow sings! LT Bai'et Decol may even top the MP charts!

We are all warming up our engines for the upcoming Squadrons, just around the corner. The hype train has clearly gone into overdrive and our ISD into... hyperdrive.

In light of bad stormtrooper aim and shortage in troops, LT Xye has taken it upon himself to train new elite troops to help us against the upcoming war, as we head into the unknown!

Every week, I will try to bring you an interview with one of the Lambda Squad members. This week, our focus will be on LCM Travis. He is our meme specialist and PR Officer.

Genie: Hi Travis

Travis Cook: Hi!

Genie: You call yourself Travis Cook. Any relation to Thomas Cook?

Travis Cook: Slightly - I'm his daddy? That's my sons name :). He's maybe more famous than I realized!

Genie: How old is he? He already had time to go bankrupt!

Travis Cook: 3 - what can I say, the boy really likes his toy cars. Today I learned there's a European company named 'Thomas Cook'! I should sue for trademark infringement.

Genie: That's the company I was referring to. :D Major Tourist Operator that after so many decades went bankrupt due to mismanagement by the board of directors and the CEO. The CEO and the board of directors were then awarded a golden parachute to soften their landing to a new ludicrously-paid job to another company. Meanwhile the common employees have been let go. Was this what your son envisioned when he formed this company?

Travis Cook: I assume his vision ended at 'toy cars' and 'chocolate milk'. Noble goals.

Genie: So, when did you join EH?

Travis Cook: I joined around 2001 into the dear old Infiltrator Wing subgroup. I believe I was peer pressured into also signing up to the TIE Corps later that year

Genie: You recall who twisted your arm?

Travis Cook: I don't, unfortunately. I primarily spent my time in all the subgroups outside the TC - just because they duplicated IW in games. It was probably MadHatter or Darkmage - those are two names I remember as good commanders back then.

Genie: So, what happened? Back in the day? How was your experience in IW and TC?

Travis Cook: We had a great little family in the Infiltrator Wing and I was active there in various positions until it's closure. I remember being pretty devastated when it was killed off. My largest stint of TIE Corps activity came in the Freeworlds days - I don't actually remember much about that unfortunately! It was a fun mod for Freelancer that allowed us to build a little universe.

Genie: That could still be revived at some point. It was single player though right?

Travis Cook: I really don't remember much about the gameplay unfortunately. I believe it was multiplayer in some fashion, though - we started out playing on a RP server with several other parties. This would have been around 2006 - I was transitioning to college so it's all a bit of a blur :).

Genie: Because of all the hard studying right?

Travis Cook: Of course!

Genie: And, how is EH for you now? How does it feel to be a Lambda?

Travis Cook: When we began learning about Squadrons I was immediately flooded with good memories of my youth in the EH. I was very pleased to find it still existing in some form - I had been waiting in the wings to rejoin until closer to the squadron launch... When Lambda opened the skies parted and a ray of sunshine illuminated it calling me forward. A bright and enthusiastic new commander with a squadron full of bright and enthusiastic new members - with one or two aged fossils thrown in for flavor. We're off to a strong start!

Genie: Going forward then, you intend to fly almost exclusively Squadrons?

Travis Cook: Yessir - I'm going to be optimistic that the game gets some longevity in the market. The design team seems to have their hearts in the right place!

Genie: And EA seems to have their hands in our pockets Any interest towards any of the other games regardless of whether Squadrons is a success or a failure?

Travis Cook: EA has been terrible - games like Fallen Order give me some hope that they will stay out of the design teams way... hopefully. I enjoy Elite Dangerous if that were to become a EH game. I don't have much desire to play the older flight sims, though - I guess I'm spoiled by the games released in the intervening decade. I may check out more of the XWA Update scene if squadrons is a flop.

Genie: Elite Dangerous does have an EH presence. Rapier is trying to set something up. So, even though it's not a formal EH game, you can engage with him and other EHers playing that game. Are you aware you are Cornelia's defacto protector?

Travis Cook: No harm will come to her royal Sheepness. Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good sheep by your side.

Genie: That's why she's in your safe hands! Any closing comments, before we conclude this interview?

Travis Cook: No imperial interview would be complete without a little sucking up. You are doing a fine job so far, CM! Much love to my Lambda wingmates - keep rocking it! And a final shout to my old IW brothers and sisters - Holu still loves you. Thanks, boss!

Genie: Thank you very much for your time Travis and your kind words. :) So happy to have you in Lambda, it took just 2 minutes in the Lambda chat to know you are 'one of us'.

Travis Cook: Happy to be here. forever!

Congratulations to Baiet and Deiro on their Promotions to Lieutenants, as well as Flight III Leader Highlander for his promotion to Lieutenant Commander!

Callsign	SP	LoS	LoC	Honour Guard	COOP Rating	Combat Rating	Comm	Battle Reviews	IU	Medals	Other
1-1 CM Genie	5		10	Gallant			X	2			Competition: 3172 Competition: 3173 Competition: 3174 Weekly Radio Broadcast New Song: Drop Packs like they're hot Squad Report
1-2 LCM TI-40026							X				Interview
1-3 LT Udiim'auw'rokulai
1-4 CM Cele Rian
2-1 Cornelia							X
2-2 LT Calvin Phrick							X			IS-BW x1
2-3 LT Vohnan Dass
2-4 LT Bai'et Decol			83			Officer 4th	X		TCCORE, SC, STM, AF, DL, PRER, MAN2, MAN1		Uniform Streaming
3-1 LCM Highlander		6	13			Marksman 4th	X			IS-SW x1
3-2 LT Graf D'Jinn	6						X	1			Uniform
3-3 LT Deiro Avisst							X
3-4 LT Xye			15			Certified	X

denotes an increase compared to last week's activity
denotes a decrease compared to last week's activity

Lambda Squadron Competitions:
Top of the pile of... Sheep: Which Lambda pilot will be at the top when RTF ends? Kick ass and earn medals while doing it.
Know your sheep from your wolves - Trivia: Scheduled to start on the 4th October. Trivia Competition for all the scholarly Lambdas.
Lambda climbs the Ladder (Squadrons): Scheduled to start on the 1st October. Highest Fleet Battle Rank, in the game of Squadrons.
Lambs turn to Wieners (Squadrons): Scheduled to start on the 1st October. Highest Ranked Win Ratio, in the game of Squadrons.
Lambdas never die (Squadrons): Scheduled to start on the 1st October. Highest Kills to Deaths Ratio, in the game of Squadrons.

Hammer Competitions:
Hammer pilot of the month - 2020: For every flown SP mission from the TC mission compendium and for every LoC/LoS earned each pilot receives 1 point for the Hammer pilot of the month competition.

TIE Corps Competitions:
Raise the Flag 2020: Biggest EH Competition of the year and running for the entire September. Any and all activity counts. Make your Squad and Ship proud.
Raise the Flag Bonus Competition #6: SP: The four pilots who achieve the highest four competition point totals will earn themselves and their ships 200, 150, 100 and 50 points respectively. Every participant will earn their squadrons and ships 5 points per platform.
Shakespearean-esque lyrics for modern songs: Organized by Talons Pryde. Identify the song title and artist from the alternate wording for either the title of a set of lyrics.
Cryp-TAC: Every time there's a new TAC report (sent by PickledYoda), it will contain at least one (but maybe several) cryptic clues related to the EHTC or Star Wars.
The TIE Pilot Podcast: Hosted by Zekk and Jack. Email your suggestions to Zekk on topics to cover during the Podcast.
TC PvP Shootout: Organized by AD Miles, COL Horus and LCM EvilGrin. On every Saturday starting at 6:00 PM Eastern/11:00 PM GMT, a PvP shootout will take place. The COO and COOA are the main points of contact. Voice communication is preferable but not required. Game hosting will be directed through GameRanger

Too many competitions to list all of them. Be sure to check out all the running competitions. As Lambdas, to know the competitions you are eligible for, under 'Units Involved' it must be listed as 'Entire TC', 'ISD-II Hammer', 'Wing I' or 'Lambda Squadron'.

Notable Events:
The TIE Pilot's Podcast: Hosted by COL Zekk Terrik and CM Jack Wynand.
LT MrShub Star Wars Streaming: Hosted by LT Shub, streaming regularly every Tuesday and Thursday.
Alejandro's Youtube Corner: A place where Alejandro uploads regularly videos of his activities with the modded XWA.

For a full list of all streaming and youtube channels be sure to check the #streams channel on our Discord (flagged as pinned messages).

I was personally extremely busy with work. So gaming activity was relatively low this week. I hope in the final days of RtF, I will make one final push! Squadrons beckons!

CM Genie
CMDR CM Genie / Lambda / Wing I / ISDII Hammer
SS/BSx3/PCx2/ISM/IS-3GW-7SW-11BW-1GR-9SR-22BR/MoI-BC/LoC-CSx9-Rx2/LoS-RS-TS-IS-CS-Rx1/MoC-1goc-1soc-5boc/CoB
[Cavalier] [Marksman 4th] [Gunner's Mate 1st] {TCCORE-MCBS-SM/5-TM/3-WIKI}