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 EPSILON SQUADRON REPORT #5 |
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REPORTING COMMANDER: General La'an |
| FROM THE HANGAR |
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La'an exited the shuttle, breathing in the cool and chemical tang of the hangar, detecting hints of everything from human sweat to burnt ozone - all the hallmarks of busy and active flight operations. His unexpected absence for a little over 4 weeks had been a distraction, but thankfully now the challenge of relocating family was complete. Fortunately he hadn't taken much leave in the year to date and the Hammer was in a period of brief re-fit prior to next month's fleet exercises. |
| SQUADRON NEWS |
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Welcome all to this sixth report from myself as Epsilon CMDR - I'm pleased to report the saga of relocating my family and home on re-assignment has now ended, despite the best efforts of solicitors and agents to prolong my suffering. What that means is that for the last 5 weeks I've been limited in my ability to do much and my own MSE entry for August was sad reading. That being said I'm pleased to have made multiple medal recommendations in the MSE and a promotion - so stay tuned for those being made through the database and approved. You'll all see from the recent chat on the Epsilon channel in Discord that Raise the Flag is approaching, the first round of TIE Corps in Battle Season 5 ends COP tomorrow (15 Sep 22) and I've started talking about citations. If any of you are looking for activity or things to do there are no excuses as there's plenty on, with or without me! Raise the Flag 22 will start in October, representing a squadron/ship month of full on competition - rules will be released close to the start date but categories will involve, SP, MP and Art categories, as well as bonus comps and plenty of opportunities for activity. Activity specific scoring is assigned that, by the end of the month, determines the winners - by pilot, category, squadron and ship. For me the main focus is always on ensuring the ship wins, but fight for whichever aim suits you best! There's a few routes that can be taken - spam flying for raw numbers, HS for bonus' etc - but at the end of the day I would ask that as Epsilon you contribute what you can without breaking yourselves. You'll see a few squadrons ramping up big numbers very quickly and putting in 12+ hour shifts - that's not healthy or sustainable and will quickly rob all joy so if you're looking for personal challenges or what to fly I can put a list of target battles together that will aid picking SP to complete. The RTF 2020 page on the wiki at RTF 2020 gives a good indication of possible scoring - RTF 2021 shows Epsilon held 3rd place with a strong score, noting this was down to 2 pilots earning c.8k of the squadrons c.9.5k points - both are now in Lambda so expect that squadron to scream out of the starting blocks! I'd like to aim for a minimum of 2k points for the month across the squadron to ensure we're doing our part for the Hammer to take 1st place. Across 10 pilots that's a target of 200 each which could be met by any combination and I view as entirely achievable. If you're looking for another angle for activity, consider the Epsilon Squadron Battleboard and the squadrons current citations total of... 0 of 670 possible. If 6 or more pilots have flown the same battle it shows as a 'citation' - bit of a hangover from the older days of the club when SP dominated, but you can see quite quickly where citations might be gained if 1 or 2 people fly certain battles. It's unrelated to RTF scoring but a nice side activity that we can collectively work through. I'd like to take a moment to recognise LT Nova Discordia and her success in the last MSE, earning the award of a Silver Star of the Empire for her efforts across a wide range of activity - this is exactly the level that will deliver RTF success, so lets all aim to follow her lead. CM Haoyu's ISM from the MSE and a Commendation of Loyalty from an earlier 2021 round for MAJ Witcher rounded off the awards and again reflects their positive efforts and dedication FInally from me, Epsilon Re-Set concluded with 3 full sets of entries, with LT Nova's taking the win in the end - as such the squadrons page on the site has now been updated with flight mottos and nicknames. I've likewise modified the squadron nickname to 'The Big E' noting the patch and in absence of another identity to hang off - I know 'Dragonkind' has endured for a few years but I didn't feel that it really represented anything the squadron embodied or had used as iconography. Nothing is fixed however, so if we go in a different direction in the future so be it. I've adopted 'verbum vincet' as a squadron motto - 'word will conquer', in essence meaning word of our victories will be enough to drive our enemies from the field! It's borrowed from a PsyOps formation within the US Army and feels apt to our new Psychological Warfare role - on which point for those of you writing fictions or similar, remember that is our new objective - breaking the will of the enemy to fight or endure. And that's me up to date, probably... |
| STANDING ORDERS |
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STANDING EPSILON POLICY:
I have no intention of overturning or unduly modifying the previous CMDR's standing orders, therefore for now they are to be considered extant - they will be reviewed in detail soon but will likely not change wholesale. |
| ROSTER |
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Epsilon Squadron remains at 12 (-) pilots strong - I hope to see this number remain high, but where required by the review process be advised that I won't shy away from making clear recommendations on transfers. Likewise, if anyone wishes to depart the squadron please let me know and we can take the required admin action, rather than drifting out of touch over a period of months. SL Tidus Frelander, SL Elliot and LT Gunny Sinclair - you've all dropped off comms for a period over 1 month and I'm very keen to hear from you, either to remain or go to the RSVs if you have other priorities. Get in touch! |
| COMPETITIONS AND EVENTS |
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Links to current large-scale competitions are below, follow them for full details!
Hammer Competitions: None running at present - decks cleared for RTF! Squadron Competitions: None running at present - Epsilon Re-Set concluded TIE Corps Competitions: Be sure to check out all the running competitions. As Epsilon you are eligible to compete as follows: under "Units Involved" it must be listed as "Entire TC", "ISD-II Hammer", "Wing I" or "Epsilon Squadron". |
| CLOSING COMMENTS |
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A quiet period but with a significant increase in activity to be expected soon, with the spectre of the Raise the Flag competition in October starting to loom very much on the near horizon. Stay tuned to the TC News page for updates, as well as all relevant Discord channels. End transmission, GN La'an |
Epsilon Report # 6 (2022-09-14)
This report was submitted by CMDR/GN Jarek La’an/Epsilon/Wing I/ISDII Hammer
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