 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 FIREBIRD
SQUADRON WSR #17 (30-JAN-29 ABY) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
FROM: Colonel Stryker, Squadron Commander |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FROM
STRYKER'S DESK |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Prologue
The atmosphere in the briefing room of the Strike Cruiser Hermes was electric; Firebird’s assembled pilots unaware of where they were going or why their entire complement of pilots and equipment had been gathered along with their support craft and maintenance crew. As they waited for the briefing to begin, Pilots mingled with engineers and ship’s crew; a motley collection of officers both senior and junior with a smattering of technical experts from the enlisted crew – though the Hermes crew was mostly human, Firebird had attracted a lot of nonhumans among their support crew, and a range of species from Twi’lek to Duros and Chiss were in attendance. A soft chime brought the gathered beings, and Stryker entered followed closely by his black-and-yellow R6 unit and the Hermes’ Captain. Taking the lectern as the attendees took their seats, he began without preamble and without any hesitation that the presence of so many former Admirals might have elicited. “One week ago, we received a communique from the Redemption; the Modified Strike Cruiser Deliverance failed to report following a deep-space aggressor exercise with elements of Battlegroup Thirteen and the Star Destroyer Kawolski. Two days ago, we received word that the Kawolski had been attacked by stealth fighters and that the Star Destroyer Retribution and the Dreadnought Audacity had been disabled and abandoned.” The holoprojector sprang to life with an image of the disabled Retribution, the venerable Victory-class cruiser adrift and trailing debris from several large hull breaches. “Fleet Command is officially blaming the New Republic for the attack, but the Security Office managed to salvage this image from the Audacity’s sensor logs.” The screen shifted to a fuzzy depiction of a Y-Wing, its hull and astromech droid painted a mottled black with scattered flecks of grey and white to break up the outline and give the impression of a starfield. For the veteran pilots of the old Infiltrator Wing or the budding historians among the pilots and crew, only one squadron utilised craft equipped as such – the legendary Shadow Squadron, fallen on hard times since the integration of the Infiltrator Wing into the TIE Corps. “We have been tasked by Fleet Command to investigate this attack, to ascertain whether Shadow Squadron were responsible or simply bystanders; either way, someone is responsible for this attack and if Shadow Squadron aren’t the culprits, they failed to prevent it and have since disappeared without a trace.” The holoprojector shut off and Stryker leaned heavily against the lectern, his expression serious. “Though it hasn’t been explicitly stated, our loyalty is being challenged here; if we succeed, we will be rewarded. Fail, we and our comrades in Eagle, aboard the Redemption, the Renegade, the Fear, every one of our Infiltrator Wing brothers and sisters will be put in a very dangerous situation – I do not believe Grand Admiral Rapier will order summary executions, this isn’t the Astatine-era, but there are thousands of lives at stake. Let’s not screw it up. We depart in an hour, dismissed.” As the assembled pilots and crew rose and departed, Stryker absentmindedly patted Sparky on the head – the Redemption had once been his home and he’d known most of the crew aboard the Deliverance, the entire situation seemed like an elaborate plot from a thriller holonovel, but Shadow Squadron had always been…odd. They’d never really appreciated being relegated to a support squadron, and in a way Stryker was surprised that something like this had not happened sooner. Still, he had to hope for the best, to hope that Shadow Squadron were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; the alternative was simply too horrible to contemplate… |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SQUADRON
NEWS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's
that time again! MSEs are on the horizon (literally Monday) and it's
looking like most if not all of you are due to get something this month, which is
fantastic! Sadly we had to say goodbye to Lieutenant Zattra; real life prevented any active participation since their first month. We hope things stabilise for them soon, and will welcome them back should they choose to return. His space was not vacant for long, however, and was almost immediately filled by SL Golf! Team Foghorn Leghorn (Firebird 1) managed to defeat Inferno's representatives in the first round of the Chalquilla Cup. Team Chickenhawk (Firebird 2) face Theta later today. The deciding fight to see which of us is the true Firebird (aka Firebird 1 vs Firebird 2) will hopefully take place during Squadron Training tomorrow. Flight of the Firebirds: Shadowhunters, aka the February narrative campaign, begins this weekend! Chapter 1 of the story will be e-mailed to you shortly. Your challenges are as follows: SP: XWA-Free 129 with 50% of High Score or higher. MP: Squadrons - Dogfight score of 1000 or more; Star Conflict - Efficiency rating of 1000 or more (Victories required). Other: Frogger - score of 2000 or more. Screenshots of scores to be e-mailed to me by Friday night, Eastern time. Successful completion of challenges means positive plot progression. Failure to complete challenges may entail narrative consequences. Scores will be tallied, with top pilots per category at the end of the competition winning some shiny medals! |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SQUADRON
ACTIVITY |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SQUADRON
EVENTS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Firebird Squadron Training: Every two weeks, Firebird will assemble for Multiplayer Training! Star Wars Squadrons, EA Battlefront 2, and others; let's try to get full flights working together! Pilots will be awarded an IS-BW for every 3 events attended, IS-SW for attending the most events in six months, and an IS-GW for attending the most events in a year. Chalquilla Cup: 3v3 Multiplayer event using Star Wars Squadrons. Match pairings and results can be found here. Flight of the Firebirds
(Shadowhunters): Narrative campaign
starring Firebird Squadron, story progresses each week. Challenges
issued to squadron every Saturday in report, with rounds concluding
every Friday. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CLOSING
COMMENTS |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We
survived our initial trial-by-fire in the Chalquilla Cup with Firebird
1's victory over Inferno, hopefully Firebird 2 will be similarly
victorious over Theta. I am very excited to begin the Flight of the Firebirds (Shadowhunters) campaign, as it combines the TC's main activities (flying) with one of my favourite pastimes (fiction). Regardless whether we are narratively successful or not, it adds to the story of Firebird Squadron. As a competition, if it does well and there's demand for it, we'll do another later in the year - maybe working with High Admiral Dempset to make it a Challenge-wide competition. COL Stryker |
Firebird Report # 17 (2021-01-30)
This report was submitted by CMDR-WARD/COL Stryker/Firebird/Wing X/ISDII Challenge
You must be logged in to submit comments.