'Message from Major Shadwclaw, sir' a voice came across the bridge of the mighty Imperial-II class Star Destroyer Challenge. He reports 7 ships, three Corvette class, a Bulk cruiser, two Gunships and one Arquitens-class Assault cruiser.' Dempsey nodded. A typical make-up of pirate assault forces these days. Nothing her pilots couldn't handle. She turned to the man.

'Signal the Mayor to see if he can take out some weapons emplacements on those ships. And launch Tempest squadron. Missile boats to target the big stuff, the Defenders should foxus on the fighters.'

'There's no fighters reported, sir,' the man said as he looked at the Admiral.

'There will be, Lieutenant. There will be.' The man nodded and started issuing the Admiral's orders.

Planetside, dozens of stormtroopers swarmed out of the TIE Reapers moments after they touched down on the planet surface. Seconds after, blasterfire erupted from buildings surrounding the landing pad, and the first of the troopers went down. His comrades ducked for cover, and returned fire. Beir, sitting in the Reaper's cockpit, shook his head. He hit a few switched, and the Reaper lifted about half a meter off the ground. The stormtroopers that were exiting the ship at that time were taken by surprise and fell to the ground, while those who were behind them changed their tactics and jumped off the ramp as the the Reaper slowly turned. The buildings where the enemy were hiding came into view, and Beir unlocked the safety on his weapons. As the Reaper stopped its movement, he pushed the firing button, and the twin L-s9.l3 laser cannons started pouring heavy fire into the buildings. Only a few seconds later, the blasterfire from the buildings ceased, and a little after that, the first of the buildings collapsed under the barrage. Beir stopped firing, and slowly turned the Reaper towards the next building in line.

As the ruckus started in the distance, LC Denys Elara, Wing Commander of the ISD-II Challenge smiled inside. She had not expected any less, to be honest. The only downside to the current situation was the part where there were 20 blaster rifles aimed at her and her team, their own weapons were on the other side of the room, and the people holding the blaster rifles didn't appear to be the most professional type. Which meant increased danger to her and the team, as amateurs were prone to start shooting if they got too nervous. And nervous they were getting as they realized their plan was falling apart. She quickly scanned thearmed guards, looking for the weak link in the line. She knew her team was doing the same, likely having come to the same realization as she had. Their window would be small, and if they didn't grab the opportunity they were given, they might very wel end up very dead. And the element of surprise, now on their side, was already started to wear off. And so she decided to go for it. She saw three guards who were not looking at her team, and she went for it. She saw how they startled as she started a loud and terrifying scream...
 

One more week and January will have come to an end. That means one more week to get your Challenge patch submissions in for the Don't let the Challenge be left behind! competition. The competition technically hasn't been approved yet, but that's due to a short LoA for the COO. One submission and counting!

Speaking of competitions, 3 out of 5 squadrons now have a squadron competition submitted for February, as per standing orders. That means 2 are left to go. Start thinking, Commanders. Do note that your competition does not have to be the entire month, and does not have to begin on February 1st. But do submit something interesting.

The MSEs have been processed by COO and SOO, and aolmost all of the merit medals have been awarded. It's good to see this many high tier medals awarded every single month, that's a good thing. This month we're counting Silver Stars of the Empire. Now, that doesn't mean a BS, ISM or PC isn't a good achievement, as they are, but the Silver Star is the culmination of what you can do in a month. Each pilot should thrive to win at least one of those in a year (and if you're going for it, please do so when Raise the Flag begins).

Unfortunately, the statistics are not as good as just these numbers. 42 % of the Challenge pilots was awarded a merit medal this round. I'd like to see that number go up. There's two ways to do so - active pilots show a little more activity to get to the ISM threshold (which is not all that high), or we cull the pilots who show no activity whatsoever. I've mentioned this before. Expect the first cullings at the end of this month.

On to happier news: the promotion of LCM TI-40026 to the rank of Commander. he sure took his sweet time, as he has been a LCM for no less than 18 years and 11 months. Well done, may your next promotion not wait for another 19 years and I might just be around for it... Congrats also to Sub-Lieutenants CzR and Scarlette who took a little less time getting their promotions.

Also a very warm welcome to FA Jarek La'an, our current Communications Officer, who has decided to reactivate his secondary profile and take a Flight member spot in Eagle squadron and taking back his former rank of General. I don't envy COL Stryker who now has to boss around not one, but two Generals.

Rumour also has it that it will not be long before the Commendations of Loyalty in celebration of the creation of the Emperor's Hammer will be awarded.
 

TRANSFERS

Challenge ship-wide competitions:

Let not the Challenge be left behind

It seems that when you look on the TC news page, every unit has a patch displayed. Except the mighty ISD-II Challenge. We cannot be left behind! So - submit your design to Dempsey before the end of january and fix the problem! open to the entire TC>

 
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!
Remember - your answer has to go to the list.

Current screenshot:

Last week's winner:
MAJ Tygra Shadowclaw

Current standings:
3pt: COL Mell Kerrigan
2pt: GN Elwood the Brave, LC Phalk Sturm, LC Kadon Beir, CPT EvilGrin
1pt: LT Dougal Caelleigh, LCM Richlet, CPT Kalve Ryder, MAJ Talon Jade, MAJ Tygra Shadowclaw, COL Silwar Naiilo, COL Stryker

All Challenge pilots, you have one more week to show some activity and qualify for one of the merit medals available. A lot of you are already there, let's see some more !

COM-TACA-FSE/HA Anahorn Dempsey/ISD-II Challenge, signing off

MoH/OoR/ICx2/GOEx3/GSx21/SSx39/BSx38/PCx16/ISMx9/IS-12PW-188GW-442SW-408BW-4PR-18GR-20SR-88BR/MoI/MoT-51rh-52gh-9bh/LoC-PSx9-RSx2-IS-CS-Rx1
   LoS-PSx23-RS-CSx2/DFC-SW-Rx3/MoC-10doc-11poc-11goc-10soc-89boc/CoLx14/CoEx4/CoS/CoB/LoAx3/OV-13E [IMPR] [Tan] [TAR]
{IWATS:MCBS-XAM-XMD-TM/1/2/TM/3-XTM/1-MP/2-AMP-XWAI-BFM-TT-XTT-SFT-CTW-AT-SU-CM2-MD1-DT3-ARTY1-VS4-ST-SC-SEA-SD-SZ-SR-AIR-CC-SFW-WPN-
    XWAC-ESET-ISET-TIE-SMA-AWAK-BWAK-XWAK-YWAK-SN4-SM/3/4}
{IU:C/TC,C/DB,C/DIR,S,UL,CRD,EJE,TD,REP,WM,FT,IO,INST,MI,BTL,LDR,COE,WD,AIM,ICQ,MS1,TLN,ASP,BX,CSS,CBX,DW,FLA,LIN,GFX,IBX,JS,WIKI,PHP,VBS,XML,
    MAN1,MAN2,WKS,INO,HIST,INTEL,PRER,GR,SPW,HAD,GHA,THR,OSS,M/1/2,IIC/1/2/3,IA,CA,ARG/1,STM}