As the lone X-wing came out of hyperspace, it's pilot was vast asleep. The X-wings R2-unit was in control. Of course, the pilot wasn't actually asleep. Dead would be a more appropriate word, although also incorrect. With her heartrate dropped to far below acceptable levels, the pilot's situation was a strange one. Unless you were well-trained in the mystical ways of the Force, the all-encompassing energye generated by all living things in the universe. And the pilot was extremely adept.

In her self-induced medidative state, her body was regenerating itself while at the same time still being alert to her surroundings. And as such, she didn't need the astromech unit to let her know the journey was coming to and end. She felt it with every fibre of her being. And so, she slowly opened her eyes to take in her surroundings.

The emptiness of space never ceased to amaze High Admiral Anahorn Dempsey, Commodore of the mighty Imperial-II class Star Destroyer Challenge. And being so far away from her ship, it felt even more amazing. A few days ago, she had commandeered one of the refurbished T-65B X-wings that had survived the Challenge's latest battle to go off on one of her quests. With the Challenge pretty much out of commission while she was being repaired, the time had come for the Admiral to go off on a little fact finding mission. There was nothing for her to do aboard her ship that she couldn't leave in the hands of her Wing Commander. LC Denys Elara had received only one simple order: during the Admiral's absence, she was to evaluate the Challenge's new Captain. Dempsey didn't know much about the man, other than the fact he was ambitious. He'd been assigned to her ship after the previous Captain had been killed during the battle with the pirates and their supporters. A lucky shot but still... lucky shots were as deadly as the well-aimed ones.

Setting these thoughts aside, she put her hands around the yoke of the X-wing and told the astromech to disengage. As she felt a slight tremor as she was given control of the X-wing, she steeredit towards a yellowish looking planet in the distance. Lorest was its name. An insignificant planet, mostly covered by vast deserts and mountain ranges. Inhospitable, with barely any indigenous life. The humanoids living there certainly had not evolved on this rock. She would never understand why anyone would live in such a place. Yet somehow, people did.

An hour later, her feet touched the Lorest's soil. It was dry, and a very mild breeze made the dry sand float through the air. She quickly covered her mouth with a piece of cloth and stepped away from the X-wing as she heard the canopy close behind her. She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and looked around her. A few buildings made up what the inhabitants called a spaceport. She saw no one. No one in their right mind would be walking around during the hottest hours of the day, and she knew she had to get inside. And fast. Fortunately, that wouldn't be too hard. No matter how small a settlement was, there was always a bar. And there was one here as well. She quickly made her way to the building, and stepped inside.

Usually, a barkeep would keep his place inviting to customers. Not the Rodian she saw behind the bar of this one. No cool air flowing through a ventilation system, nothing. She walked up yo him and ordered a glass of something cold. The Rodian looked at her, turned away and continued wiping the bar with an old rag. Dempsey sighed. She hated his kind. She took two steps and put herself back into the Rodian's field of vision.

'I think you may have misheard me,' she said. 'I said I wanted a drink.' The Rodian looked up at her. For a moment, their eyes locked, and then he turned away again as if she wasn't there. She sighed again. Then she reached over the bar, grabbed the Rodian by his shirt and yanked him towards her. 'I don't like being ignored,' she hissed in his ears. Now get me a drink.' The Rodian's antennae were frantically twitching and she put him back down. 'And not in an hour,' she added, 'but right now.' The Rodian scurried away to get her the drink she wanted. Or perhaps he just wanted to get out of the way. Dempsey didn't know which it was, as she couldn't place the being that had walked up behind her. She knew he was trouble, she just couldn't tell how much.

'Don't bother,' she said without turning around. 'Go back to your seat. It'd be easier for you.' As expected, her words did not have the intended effect and she felt a hand grab her shoulder. or rather, clamp her shoulder as whoever it was behind her obviously had considerable strength in his hands. Pain shot through her arm and she grimaced. With a sigh, she raised her other arm and jabbed her elbow backwards. She felt her arm connect with something, hopefully the alien's jawbone, and pain shot through her other arm as well. But, the pressure on her shoulder released, and she ducked low. She turned and rammed her shoulders into the abdomen of the being behind her. She could hear the air escaping from his lungs as she rolled over him and jumped back to her feet. She looked at her assailant and recognized the ugly mug of a Klatooinian. He beared his teeth and growled at her. She shook her head and waited. A moment later, he lunged for her. She saw him coming, she knew what he was doing, and so it was no effort at all to place her fist exactly here the Klatooinian's face would be. She felt her knuckles connect to bone. I'll be feeling this for days, she thought to herself as she watched the Klatooinian crumple to the ground and remain there. She turned towards the Rodian. 'And now, can I finally get my drink?' she said, making sure her voice sounded strong. She was in no mood to fight more of these idiots.
 

Seems I'm back doing reports. Kudos to my Wing Commander for covering for me last week! Someone give the lady a GOE for that!

April is done, Monthly Evaluations are due anytime soon. I have one done so far, which means there are 4 left to go.

Standing squadron orders remain as they have been the past few weeks: get into gear for Squadron (Re)Mobilization 3. We have 3 weeks left to go. I haven't heard about any squadrons hitting 11 tasks completed since my last report where I reported there were 5. Commanders, make sure you know where your squadron stands and see if you can whip up another task or so. Remember, the assignment is to hit at least five tasks completed!

Kudos to COL Stryker for earning himself a Bronze Star of the Empire for a successful Tour of Duty as Firebird Commander! The same applies to MAJ EvilGrin for his Tour as Inferno Commander. And of course, COL Silwar Naiilo has also received the appreciation for his Tour as Commander! The latter officer is also the recipient of another rare commodity in the TIE Corps: a Commendation of Excellence awarded by the Internet Officer. I haven't seen one of those in a very long time, so enjoy it!

I can also take my hat off to COL Marenta for being on of the first Challenge pilots to earn an Imperial Achievement Ribbon! LCM Wreckage and LC Phalk Sturm have also received this ribbon!

There's not much else to report. Go out and enjoy yourself!
 

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

Current screenshot:

Last week's winner:
COL Stryker for American Pie

Current standings:
5pt: CPT EvilGrin
4pt: COL Stryker
3pt: COL Mell Kerrigan, MAJ Tygra Shadowclaw
2pt: LCM Richlet, LC Phalk Sturm, LC Kadon Beir, GN Elwood the Brave, COL Marenta
1pt: LT Dougal Cealleigh, LT Wrecker, CM TI-40026, CPT Kalve Ryder, MAJ Talon Jade, COL Silwar Naiilo

We're approaching the end of the big squadron competition. Things are looking good!

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

MoH/ICx2/OoR/GOEx3/GSx21/SSx43/BSx39/PCx16/ISMx9/MoT-51rh-52gh-9bh/MoI/MoC-11doc-11poc-11goc-10soc-91boc/IS-12PW-192GW-443SW-408BW-4PR-18GR-
   21SR-89BR/LoC-PSx9-RSx2-IS-CSx2/LoS-PSx23-RS-IS-CSx3-Rx4/DFC-SW-Rx3/CoS/CoEx4/CoLx14/CoB/LoAx3/OV-14E [Imperator] [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/3/4/5}
{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}