The might ISD-II Challenge drifted through the vast emptiness of space. Dempsey had ordered the ship's engines to be taken off line, as the main reactor needed maintenance. The Star Destroyer was getting old, and that meant such maintenance sessions came around more often than in the glory days of the Empire. Also, in those days this would have happened at an Imperial shipyard, in absolute safety. In its current state, the Star Destroyer was vulnerable, as even its main deflecter shield generators couldn't draw enough power from the main reactor to envelop the ship in the protective energy shield. Three of her starfighter squadrons were out in full, armed to the teeth with missiles and torpedoes, while the fourth was on standby, ready to be armed with whatever ordnance would be best suited should a threat emerge. Also, the Challenge's support ships were nearby, but keeping their distance to give the starfighters some space.

Dempsey had picked a part of the Emperor's Hammer territories that was known for being quiet. No pirate gangs, no inhabited worlds, and light years from the nearest border. But still, she didn't like it. As soon as the mighty reactor in the heart of the ship had stopped generating power, a nasty feeling had started in her gut, and it was growing stronger. She could almost smell trouble, but there was nothing she could do. Several dozen technicians were swarming the reactor core, and pulling them out would take time. Not that this would help much, as a complete restart of the reactor would take at least an hour, and by the time the ship would be back at full battle readiness another 3 hours would have passed.

'What is it?' The Wing Commander had come up to the High Admiral, and whispered her question. Annoyed, Dempsey realized she hadn't expected the question. She was distracted, and this had allowed Elara to come close without Dempsey noticing it. This was not a good sign. 'I'm not sure,' she responded, trying to keep her voice calm, 'but something's not right. We have incoming guests.'

She felt the surprise on Elara's part. 'Any idea who?' Dempsey gave a short shake. 'It won't be long. I don't like my ship in this state, not at a time like this.' Elara nodded, and quickly walked off. Dempsey didn't wonder. Elara probably had a few ideas of her own, and Dempsey had learned long ago to let her do her thing.

A few minutes later, the comm officer raised his head. 'Commodore, the Captain of the Fairchild reports his gravity well projectors are standing by, they can be up in a twebnty seconds if they need to be.' Dempsey nodded at him. So that's what Elara was up to. The man looked up again. Captain Harling of the Thunderchild reports all jammers are at maximum strength. Dempsey bit her lip. Elara had done some things she should have thought of herself. The womand earned herself a commendation.

Dempsey walked the bridge of the Star Destroyer, staring through the transparisteel viewport, being careful not to come across as anxious or nervous. It would not help the situation. Then, in the distance, she saw a number of short bursts of light. They were brighter than usual, but that was to be expected. After all, the bridge was not fully illuminated as the ships emergency power generator barely had enough power to keep life support systems and the articial gravity online, as well as some backup illuminators on the bridge. Still, she'd know the sight anytime, it was the typical starburst that showed when a ship emerged from hyperspace. Only a second later, an alarm started to wail on the bridge, and the one of the stations to her left lit up. 'Five unknown contacts emerging from hyperspace,' the man who was assigned there said, in a calm voice. 'I can't tell you anymore, sir, the systems are down.' Dempsey nodded at him. This wasn't his fault. Besides, it wouldn't take long before one of the starfighters would let her in the loop.

Not half a minute passed, when the comm officer spoke again. 'Fairchild reports all gravity well projectors are at full power. They've also transmitted information on those contacts. One Nebulon-B class frigate and some freighters.' He looked up. 'That frigate is ancient,' he said, surprised. Dempsey looked at him. 'Tell the starfighters to hold position. Have the Fairchild hail the frigate. I want to know who they are and why they are here.' The comms officer nodded and sat back down. Less than a minute later he raised his head. 'The frigate is not responding, Admiral. They've launched fighters. If it maintains current course and speed, the frigate itself will be in firing range of the Challenge in five minutes.'

Dempsey grimaced. 'Signal Firebird to engage enemy fighters. Tempest is to engage the frigate and freighters and destroy them. Thunder is to maintain a defensive position. Arm Inferno with torpedoes and have them launch a second attack against the frigate. Tell them they have 4 minutes remove that ship from this system. And get the Illustrious between us and that frigate.' She watched as several of her people relayed her orders to the squadron Commanders and the hangar bay. Her nasty feeling had disappeared. This day would end well.
 

Well, final scores for Wake Me Up When November Ends have been tallied and the last few corrections were made. A few points were switched out, but none of the outcome changed. All medals have been awarded. Congratulations to Firebird and Colonel Stryker for grabbing the win. Damn Alphabet fighters.

I do have a sterner note at this point. This ship has 48 members, including its Commodore and Wing Commander, who were not eligible to compete. Out of the 46 pilots who were, 23 actually submitted at least one game. That means, unfortunately, half the ship didn't bother. And while I knew there can be very good reasons for pilots to not have the time, I do not accept that there are 23 good reasons. Playing one of the two trivia rounds, just once, would take up anywhere between 2 to 5 minutes. I don't believe 23 pilots have a good excuse for not being able to set aside a meager 5 minutes in the entire month to support their squadron. I urge all pilots who didn't make a single submission to ask themselves why. Do you have a good reason? That's fine. We all have a life. And as much fun as this TC of ours is, real life always has to and will come first. For the rest - why not? Especially if you were doing some SP flying or MP flying....

I've also been in contact with the squadron Commanders to evaluate the competition. As you may or may not know, I like to do competitions like this twice a year. The next event is scheduled for April I think. If you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to send me an email.

On a happier note - November has ended, and so the November MSEs are in processing. All MSEs have been submitted and are awaiting your lazy COM to work on them. It shall be done. Many pilots will receive great awards for their achievements.

Also, the time has come again to award the Commendation of Loyalty. These are awarded twice a year, once for Ronin's birthday, and once for the EH's birthday. Neither of which is around January if I recall, so who knows what's going on :) Commanders have been informed.

There's not much else to say at the moment. One more month and the year is done. I'm pondering what ship-wide competitions to run next year. The Weekly screenshots will continue, and I want to do a year-long flying competition as I always do, but I'm pondering the exact format. Simply grabbing numbers off the killboards is easy, but I'd like to find a format that will give everyone a chance at the win. The current format simply favors those with an inordinate amount of time. Here as well - if you have any suggestions, do let me know!

We still have an open Flight Leader position in Thunder squadron. Who will dare to take up the gauntlet and kick some pilot butts into gear?

Q: Did I forget something?
- Yes.
Q: Do I know what I forgot?
- No.
Q: Will I remember what I forgot?
- Yes.
Q: When?
- About 30 seconds after this gets sent.
Q: What will I do then?
- Cry myself to sleep, promise myself I won't do it again, and then do the same thing again next week.
Q: Will I ever learn?
- No.
 

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: GN Elwood the Brave

Current standings: COL Mell Kerrigan, LC Phalk Sturm, LC Kadon Beir: 2pt, CM EvilGrin, MAJ Hermann, CPT Kalve Ryder, COL Silwar Naiilo, COL Stryker, GN Elwood the Brave: 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.

December SP standings:

The last 3 weeks of the year are here. I hope everyone's making plans for next year and setting themselves some goals. I know I am :)

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

MoH/OoR/ICx2/GOEx3/GSx20/SSx36/BSx38/PCx15/ISMx7/IS-12PW-184GW-441SW-408BW-4PR-18GR-20SR-88BR/MoI/MoT-51rh-52gh-9bh/LoC-PSx9-RSx2-CSx9
   LoS-PSx21-TS-IS-CSx5-Rx2/DFC-SW-Rx3/MoC-10doc-10poc-11goc-10soc-87boc/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}