Slowly, the T-65 X-wing lifted off the hangar deck of the mighty ISD-II Challenge and hovered towards the shimmering force field separating the pressurized hangar bay from the cold emptiness of space. As the X-wing passed through, Anahorn Dempsey hardly noticed a change. As soon as the R2-unit in the X-wuing signalled she had cleared the force field, she punched the controls. The X-wing juked into a downward spiral as the distance between it and the Star Destroyer swidftly grew for meters to kilometers.

Dempsey looped the X-wing around and looked at her Star Destroyer. The sight of the enormous starship never ceased to be amazing. Another warble of the R2-unit signalled her, and as she looked at her screens, she noticed two green blips appear. The R2-unit locked onto one of them, and her screen showed information on the blip. The shape of a TIE Drone appeared. She smiled, as she pulled the handle that locked the X-wing's S-foils in their attack position. She heard the hum as the foils separated into their most recognizable configuration. It was time to see what this craft could do.

Dempsey felt a pang of uncertainty. She'd flown X-wings before, but she never had taken one into a combat situation. She'd never needed to, as the Empire never used them. She knew it's characteristics of course, part of what made her a top ace pilot was knowing the strengths and weaknesses of every single starfighter that could cross her path in a battle. She knew the T-65 inside and out. But she knew very well that there's a huge difference between knowing the craft as she did, and knowing it as a trained X-wing pilot did. The interaction with the R2-unit felt unfamiliar. TIE fighters don't require them, they don't need them. In some ways, that makes them a weakness of the X-wing, in others, it strengthens them. And so she had set herself the task to become an expert pilot in these alphabet fighters. With the opening up of Firebird squadron aboard the Challenge, the hangar now carried a number of X-wings and Y-wings. Somewhere in storage there was a B-wing as well just in case.

Another warble of the R2-unit refocussed her attention. The TIE drones were closing in fast. She punched the accelerator and noted how little she noticed of the craft's acceleration. The X-wing appeared to be in top condition. She turned, and headed straight for the drones.As she watched the distance tick away, she picked one of the drones and targeted it. As the targeting computer indicated a lock, she pulled the trigger and watched several red energy bolts streak towards the drone. As she knew, their rate of fire was lower than that of the TIE range of starfighters she was used to. But her training kicked in and made the difference negligible. A fraction of a second later, the first of the TIE drones exploded in a ball of fire. Dempsey pulled the yoke to evade the fireball. As she did, a number of green energy bolts whizzed past her X-wing. The R2-unit beeped ina panicked frenzy as the X-wing's shields absorbed a number of the energy bolts as well. She noted her shields had taken a beating, and quickly evened them out again. She turned and flew straight towards the huge red hypergiant in the distance. An old trick - the star sent so much radiation into space that it would play tricks on most computer systems, mamking it harder for the drone to see her.

And for her systems to see the drone.

After a few seconds she pulled into a tight loop, and positioned her fighter right behind the drone, which had obviously become disoriented. She pulled the trigger and watched the drone explode. She smiled. This was definitely too easy. She pulled the lever, and the S-foils started to close again as she shut down the targeting computer systems. She punched a button, and the R2 signalled he was receiving an unknown transmission. 'Not unknown, R2,' she told it. 'That's a signal I set up a few hours ago. Load coordinates into the hyperdrive.' The droid protested, but she ignored it. A few seconds later, a bleep told her the hyperdrive computer had received the coordinates, and she hit the hyperdrive lever. For a moment, nothing happened, and then the stars turned into lines, and the X-wing made the jump into hyperspace.

On the bridge of the Star Destroyer, LC Denys Elara stared through the transparisteel viewport as she watched the X-wing jump into hyperspace. For a fraction of a second, she frowned. What in the Emperor's name was the Admiral up to now...
 

The first week of the big Challenge competition is over and done with. Results can be found below. Week 2 commences. Tasks can be found below.

I did see some concern on Discord though about pilots announcing their score on the games. While that is allowed, I would discourage it to keep the element of surprise and competition. Should scores be announced anyway, a reminder to those who can't beat the score: don't forget to send in your score anyway. It can still earn points for your grand total and that of your squadron!

I do have the nasty feeling though that not everyone who posted screenshots on Discord has actually sent in the screenshot via email, which is a requirement. The odds of missing it on Discord are too great.

The MSEs for October have all been submitted and are awaiting review by the COO and SOO. It looks like another nice month for our pilots!

We only have 1 open pilot slot left on this ship. This is good. And considering the condition of the other Star Destroyers, it can't be long before another squadrons will be opened up. Let's see what happens!

We also saw a lot of our pilots earn the Commendation of Bravery this week: LTs Dougal Caelleigh, Dynamus, Freddo, Setroc and Skyhigh, LCM ERiSi as well as CMs Aval and EvilGrin. That's a good sign, lots of new pilots learning the ropes!

I'd also like to extend my welcome to our newest pilot: SL Boc Caalgen who fills the last slot in Inferno's Flight II, and SL Synapse who takes the last empty slot in tempest squadron.

Lastly for this week, I saw something I have never seen before: a SL earning himself a Medal of Instruction for recruiting a new member. Excellent jobe, SL Nindo Ardinn (now full LT)!
 

TRANSFERS

Challenge ship-wide competitions:

Dempsey's Weekly Screenshots

Every week, the report will have a screenshot. Not necessarily from a Star Wars movie. First Challenge pilot to send the correct answer to the mailing list wins. Each victory earns you an IS-BR. Unless it's a 5th victory, you then get a IS-SR. Unless it's a 10th victory, which gives you an IS-GR. A 25th victory will give you an IS-PR!
Remember - your answer has to go to the list.

Current screenshot:

Last week's winner: LC Kadon Beir

Current standings: CPT Drake Starfire: 4pt, LC Phalk Sturm, GN Berkana: 2pt, CM EvilGrin, MAJ Hermann, CPT Kalve Ryder, LC Kadon Beir, COL Mell Kerrigan, COL Silwar Naiilo: 1pt

 
Challenge Pilot of the Month

One point per mission flown for the SP part of this competition, and 1 point per LoC/LoS for the MP parts of this competition. Stats will be taken from the killboards. As of this month, the PvP and PvE parts will be split.

November SP standings: