Thanks to everyone from GameFAQs who joined up! Its been fun working with familiar names, new to the Star Wars Universe and Im glad youve taken part!
Special thanks to GReaper and Zhuge Liang for their voice talents, which are present in the mission set itself.
And another thanks to GReaper for listening to me blab on for ages about ideas, and for looking over and offering opinions about the many screenshots Ive taken.
And yet another thanks to Asam and Zhuge for giving the Scorpion Fleet an online home on their sites. Thanks you two!
Thanks everyone!
DISCLAIMER
This fanfic is copyright me, UK Guy Bry. The same goes for the mission set version. You steal this fic, alter it, or put it on your site without permission and Ill vape you.
On a lighter note, if you do want to put this fic on your site, just ask me. Ill be happy to answer any questions or anything to do with the Scorpion Fleet.
My e-mail is:
bry_ff@yahoo.co.uk
In Memory to StevieP2K
You were a part of our boards family and you'll be missed.
Good luck, wherever you are. We all hope that death isn't the end...
...but a new beginning.
May the Force be with you... Always...
It is a time of fragile peace in the young New Republic. Despite the Empires recent surrender under Supreme Commander Pellaeon a large proportion of the fleet is still ready to continue fighting, just waiting for a leader to guide them to supreme victory, much like Grand Admiral Thrawn almost achieved. Now, from the shadows, that leader has perhaps emerged. The fading Empire needed a symbol. Something to prove that they could still win. That symbol is a devastating, but not revolutionary weapon. But in the hands of skilled commanders, the weak Imperial Fleet Could still crush the Alliance. The now mighty Alliance seems to have forgotten that they were once the tiny Rebellion...
The pilot dashed down one of the Mon Calamari MC-90 cruiser Defiances narrow corridors. Dressed in the bright Orange flight suit of Alliance pilots, with 6 pips on his shoulders. A commander.
Perhaps an unusual site, a commanding officer being late for a briefing. Even stranger how the more junior offices saluted him and he saluted back, be it quickly.
Commander Bryan Azzameen. Leader of Pulsar Squadron, considered the second best fighter squadron in the Alliance. Of course, Rogue Squadron was the best and they always would be. But the Pulsars could take pride in being the best X-Wing squadron, since the Rogues had been upgraded to E-Wings for quite some time.
Azzameen... The name of one of the Alliances least known heroes. Ace Azzameen, Bryans older cousin, had joined the Alliance soon after the Battle of Hoth, and later was one of the crew of the Millennium Falcon during the battle of Endor. Ace was a fantastic pilot, amassing a considerable amount of kills before leaving the Alliance to help his brother Emon and sister Aeron restart the shipping and transport franchise that had once made the Azzameens well known throughout the galaxy. The franchise which had crumbled when their father, Brys uncle, Tomaas Azzameen was killed by the Empire. Tomaas, Ace, Aeron, Emon and the oldest sibling Galin had been delivering Bacta to a rebel hospital station, soon after Hoth when the Imperials attacked and destroyed the station. Emon, Aeron and Ace saw it happen.
And he himself could never go and help run what was the family business. He didnt deserve to. His own father, Antan Azzameen, had betrayed the others. Almost 10 years ago, when Bry had still been at the Imperial training academy on Caridia. Antan had sold out his nephews and niece to the Imperials. As the son of Antan Azzameen, he could never be accepted back into the family.
So he fought here, for the Alliance. He had defected from the Empire the first chance he got. The original Death Star could perhaps have been viewed as the sole project of Grand Moff Tarkin, and thus his fault. Not the Empires. But when the Emperor himself ordered the construction of the second Death Star, it was obvious to him that serving the Empire would be serving evil.
Finally, he reached the set of double doors belonging to the briefing room. With a few quick taps, his clearance code, the doors slid open with a quiet hydraulic hiss, revealing the large circular briefing room, its holo-projector in the centre and the seats arranged around it. Standing by the holo-projector should have been Commander Noah Tantel of the Defiances B-Wing Squadron, Champion.
Instead, was the commander of the Defiance itself. Admiral thrasher.
Good of you to join us, commander.
That might have been taken as a warm greeting. At least, if it wasnt for the cold and sharp tone.
...Sorry, sir. Bry replied, quickly taking a seat next to his wingman. Pulsar 2, Lieutenant Blair.
Smooth Bry... Perfect entrance. Blair whispered, hiding a smirk.
Shut up, you. Bry whispered back, resisting the urge to elbow the Lieutenant in the stomach.
In the middle of the room, thrasher clapped his hands to make sure he had everyones attention.
Listen up, pilots. We dont have much time... Weve picked up a distress call from an Alliance recon fleet a short jump from here. The Defiance is breaking away from the main force.
Beside the Admiral, the holo-projector showed the Defiance , the first of the mighty MC-90 class of Calamari Cruiser, along with the captured Imperator -class Star Destroyer Adjucator and two winged class MC-80 Calamari Cruisers, the Mon Tarra and Liberty . The display changed to show the Defiance breaking away from the other ships and entering hyperspace.
Well be entering hyperspace in one minute. The jump itself will be only about 4 minutes. As soon as we arrive in system, Pulsar and Champion squadrons are to deploy and support the recon fleet, while the Defiance protects the exit vector. The Admirals eyes narrowed. We dont know what were going to find, so be ready for anything... Pilots. Get to your fighters.
The hangar of the Defiance was filled with noise as mechanics scrambled to make sure fighters were fuelled and armed. The distinctive whine of Repulsor-lift generators being spooled up and then disengaged marked that the fighters where ready for combat.
The hangar was always the coldest place on board, the Magnetic field, the only thing between the artificial atmosphere and the hard vacuum of space, kept the air and pressure from escaping but was not especially good at keeping the heat in.
Commander Bryan Azzameen did a quick walk around of his battle scarred X-Wing. Though he had not been trained as a mechanic, he still felt better doing a visual inspection of his own. He paused for a moment to look at the paint scheme. A white stripe with a blue rim running down the sides of the hull along with a blue stripe with white rim on the wings. The colours of Pulsar Squadron. Also on the S-foils was a white circle with blue rim and a grey triangle in the centre. The same identical crest was on the right shoulder of the pilots flight suit. Pulsar Squadrons badge.
He came back to the front of the snubfighter and pulled his flight helmet onto his head, though not strapping it in place yet and not lowering the orange visor, as he began climbing up the ladder to the cockpit. Azzameen paused only for the briefest of moments as he glanced at the rows of painted silhouettes below the cockpit. His kills. TIE Fighters, Interceptors, Bombers and even a few Avenger models. A few other fighters, like Imperial Gunboats and assault shuttles. But on the far right was a stark triangular shape. The silhouette of an Imperator -class Star Destroyer. The pair of killing shots which had hit the ISD's bridge had been fired by him. It was his kill.
Not many starfighter pilots could lay claim to taking out such a capital ship. With some exceptions like the legendary General Wedge Antilles. But that was a man who had survived two Death Star runs. Who had killed the Second Death Star.
Azzameen swung into the cockpit, landing on the ejection seat and flicking a few switches before strapping himself in. Outside the fighter, a technician ran up to the X-Wings nose and removed the ladder, then ran for cover as the X-Wing began a cold start. Commander Azzameen secured his flight helmet and then flicked the comms switch.
"Pulsar Squadron, report in."
"Pulsar 2, 4 lit and in the green." That was Lieutenant Blair.
"Pulsar 3. All systems go."
The reports continued, each of the squadron pilots reporting the same. They were ready for action.
By now, most of the mechanics had cleared the hanger, and Azzameen stared out into the spinning mass of blue colour that was Hyperspace. Then the hanger began flashing red, alarm klaxons blaring.
The ship was about to leave Hyperspace.
The Star Destroyer seemed to float in the solitude of deep space. But this wasn't a mere Imperator-class Star Destroyer. This was far larger. And more deadly.
Painted a dull blueish grey and shaped like a arrow head, the Executor -class Super Star Destroyer Scorpion was waiting to make its move.
Captain Michael Reaper stood before the bridge's large view screens and smiled. Looking over the 17.6 kilometre long star ship and then the stars beyond it. At his command was the power to destroy planets. Granted, not in the way the Death Stars could. Nothing so quick. So... Painless. No, the continued bombardment from the Scorpion's many turbo-laser batteries would wipe all life off the face of a planet. Leaving nothing but a sterile wasteland, where plants could no longer grow. That was real destruction.
He heard footsteps approaching him and looking slightly to his left, he saw the reflection of a young ensign walking cautiously towards him.
The ensign stopped and stood straight at full attention. The Scorpion was one of the few Imperial ships left with that kind of discipline.
"Sir. Our hyperspace co-ordinates are set and locked. We are ready to jump as soon as we receive word from Captain Liang's Scythe..."
Captain Reaper, still staring out of the viewport, nodded slowly. "Good. Ensure that we jump as soon as we receive the transmission. You have my permission in advance. Timing is crucial for this."
"Yes, sir..." The ensign audibly gulped. "Erm... Sir? I was wondering... Why did you send both the Scythe and the Corrupter? The crew of the Scythe is not quite in line with the rest of the fleet... I was thinking that Captain Rose's Dominator-Interdictor, the Restrainer, would be better suited... Then we could trap the Alliance ship we hope to lure in."
Captain Reaper looked back over his shoulder, his face expressionless. "Are you questioning my orders and planning?"
"No sir!" The ensign snapped, hastily. "I was just curious, sir."
"Heh... I know that. But to answer your questions... First, I want to test the abilities of Zhuge and the Scythe in a real combat situation. You might remember that I assigned some of the Scorpion's own TIE Fighter pilots to that ship, including Commander ChiChi. I want to test the crew of the Scythe, not its TIE pilots. I already know they aren't up to scratch." He turned to look out the viewport again. "As for the second part... I don't want to trap the Rebel ship. And we aren't going to destroy them just yet. You aren't privy to some of my plans, Ensign... What I have in mind will cause far more damage to the Rebels than simply destroying their ships. I've been studying the strategies of General Wings... I am confident I know how he will react to what I have planned..." He looked back over his shoulder again. "Happier now, Ensign?"
"Uh... Yes, sir. I'll go inform navigation of your orders." The Ensign saluted before turning on his heel and practically marching towards the navigation officer.
Reaper watched the reflection of the retreating officer, and slowly shook his head.
As soon as the Defiance reverted to real space, the engine pitch in the hangar grew as 12 X-Wings and 12 B-Wings punched their way into the cold vacuum of space. The comm gear instantly roared to life.
"We can't take much more!"
Commander Azzameen checked his sensors. 2 green blips, a pair of MC-40 Lusla-class Mon Calamari Cruisers. Behind them were 2 much larger red blips. A pair of Imperator-class Star Destroyer Mark II's. Or Deuce's as they were called. The call had come from the rear most of the Mon Cal Cruisers. The laser flashes from the 2 Star Destroyers were easy to make out, as they both fired on the cruiser less than half their size. There was barely any trace of the three Corellain Corvette's that had also been part of the recon-patrol. Just clouds of debris where they had exploded, or perhaps disintegrated was a more appropriate word.
In seconds, the Lusla-Mon Calamari Cruisers shields gave out under the combined bombardment of the Star Destroyers and the ship itself literally broke into 2 parts, exploding in a shower of molten metal that instantly hardened in the cold of space.
"S-foils to attack position!" Azzameen snapped, flicking the switch above and to his right.
Almost in unison, all twelve X-Wings Strike foils split, forming the distinctive profile which gave the X-Wing its name. In return, the B-Wings followed suit, the large 'wing' and engine block on the left side of the cockpit rotating down from a horizontal position into a vertical one below the cockpit, a pair of small wings opening from the sides of the engine block, giving the B-Wing its crescent shape when viewed from the side.
"Defiance! This is the StarFalcon! Our shields are at 10% and those Star Destroyers are closing fast!"
Admiral Thrasher himself took the call from the one remaining MC-40 Mon Cal cruiser. "StarFalcon, come around to our heading and we'll give you some cover."
"Copy that. We're coming around."
Blair's voice crackled through the cockpit speaker "Leader, this is two. We've got eyeballs coming in from the Deuce's."
Bry counted 36 TIE Fighters, commonly known as 'Eyeballs' dropping from the Star Destroyers hangars. He also noticed a single TIE Interceptor (or 'Squint' due to its narrower profile) He briefly wondered what a single Squint would be doing amongst the other TIE Fighters.
Again, Thrashers voice came over the comm. "Starfighters, engage the TIEs!"
Bry flicked over to proton torpedoes. "As ordered! Pulsars, set up for a head to head with torps. Champions, recommend you save your warheads for the Star Destroyers." Azzameen stopped transmitting. "Sithspawn..." He cursed to himself before bringing his comm unit back on. "No one try going one on one with the Squint. Stay as pairs and keep it away from the B-Wings."
Looking down at his sensors, Azzameen saw no sign of the other TIEs he had targeted before. Cid, whats the status of targets 3 through 6?
The Astromech beeped several words, which were translated and displayed on a screen on the lower right-hand side of the cockpit. The screen read: Vaped ...Cid, break the targeting lock! May the Force be with you... Always... All copyrights belong to their respective owners.
I do not claim to have created Star Wars, any of the vehicles mentioned,
any of the officially recognised characters or the game
X-Wing Alliance. The characters in this fic are copyright themselves.
The Scorpion Fleet is Copyright me, UK Guy Bry.
A chorus of acknowledgements came over the comm, as the targeting computer beeped, having acquired a target. "Pulsars, listen up. First flight has the centre lead. Two flight, take the ones on the left, Three flight, the ones on the right. Go now!"
Eight X-Wings broke from the formation, four going left and four going right, each after their assigned targets. Behind him, Azzameen's astromech droid, Cid, began beeping as it began to form a firing solution.
The TIE Fighters had closed to 3km away when the beeping became a constant tone.
He pulled the trigger, then instantly rolled the X-Wing inverted, breaking away from the on coming TIEs as hard as he could, being slammed back into the seat as the inertial compensator failed to completely remove the effects of the turn.
After turning for a mere second, the X-Wing was already facing vertically downwards in relation to the TIE's above. The panels in the cockpit seemed to glow orange. A reflection of the explosions behind him.
Twisting in his seat to glance back over his shoulder, Azzameen saw Blair's X-Wing, right behind him, framed by the dissipating explosion of several Imperial fighters.
"That was perfect boss. 12 shots, 14 kills!"
Blair was right, the explosions of detonating proton torpedoes had been enough to take out an extra two TIE's which had been flying a little close to their wingmen. The X-Wings sensors showed another 3 TIE Fighters with damage.
"Copy that, two. Now we have the advantage. Pulsars, break by pairs and engage all fighters. Keep an eye out for any Eyeballs tailing the B-Wings. And be careful of that squint... Its got special markings on it, so its probably from a elite unit..."
"Leader, this is ten."
Again, he stopped transmitting. "Enough talk..."
The X-Wing had finished its loop and Bry slammed the throttle forward, leaping back towards the main fight. "Give me some targets, Cid."
The yellow and white astromech behind him bleeped in acknowledgement, and in the Head Up Display, 6 boxes appeared. 5 of them were orange, but the nearest was red. That was the first one. A flick of a switch on the control column, and the lasers were set to fire duel bursts. A slower rate of fire, but more chance of a kill with a single hit.
At two klicks, the box around the first target on the HUD went green as the TIE Fighter's image locked into the targeting cross. A set of green brackets framed the box and Cid's loud beep filled the cockpit. Bry pulled the trigger, sending two bursts of paired shots at the TIE.
The first set flashed less than a metre in front of the TIE, no doubt making the pilot jump. It would have been a short lived shock. The second burst punched through one of the hexagonal solar panels and into the spherical cockpit itself. The TIE's breached ion engines exploded, snapping the solar panels clean off the cockpit, spinning forwards through space, a secondary explosion vaporising most of the cockpit.
Bry was already rolling the X-Wing away from the explosion. "Cid, acquire target two."
The droid beeped in response, the orange box around one of the other TIEs became red. Just then, green laser fire from another TIE briefly pounded on his forward shields. A quick snap shot. He pulled the X-Wing up into a ninety-degree snap-roll, away from the attacking TIE.
"Two, break off and pick up that stray."
"Urm, boss. They've abandoned paired tactics. They're all going solo."
"They'll be trying to swarm us..."
"That's my read on it." Blair replied, his own X-Wing breaking away to chase down the rogue TIE that had attacked his commanding officer.
"Right... Pulsars, stay as pairs, though me and Two are going solo too. You know the drill. You've got someone covering you so a screw up mightn't be fatal. Just because we have shields and they don't, doesn't mean we should take chances."
And there were plenty of chances. The space around him was filled with green lasers from the TIEs, red lasers from the X-Wings and B-Wings. Added to this was blasts of purple, Ion cannon fire from the B-Wings. It was a pretty display. But also deadly.
With that thought in mind, Bry shifted some extra power into his shields, replacing what was lost. Now for that second TIE... Pushing the throttle to full, he found it three klicks away, chasing after a B-Wing and pounding at the assault fighters rear shields. The B-Wing pilot was trying desperately to evade, but the task was impossible. The smaller, faster and more manoeuvrable TIE stayed behind the B-Wing as if it was glued there.
Bry brought the torpedo targeting back up, and cued his lock onto that TIE. The HUD flickered between green and red for several seconds, before it finally went red, acquiring a lock. Bry fired a torpedo and watched it blast though the Eyeball.
In thanks, the B-Wing waggled its wings before beginning a gentle loop back towards the main fight.
Then we need new targets... Cid, is that Squint still around?
An affirmative beep, and the TIE Interceptor appeared on the targeting CMD, the blue markings on the solar panels standing out for all to see. It was also behind a B-Wing, and as Bry rolled the X-Wing around on an intercept course with the Squint, a quad-set of green lasers burned through the B-Wings shields and tore apart the hull.
The TIE Interceptor broke away and even made a quick victory roll as the B-Wing exploded in a fireball.
Blairs reply was instant, the usual cheer in his voice gone. Busy... But no problems.
Glancing at his sensors, Bry saw Blair chasing down a TIE of his own.
Cid... He glanced back at the R2 unit. Acquire that Squint. Its ours.
The droid beeped a nervous affirmative, then continued chattering away. Bry scanned over the text appearing on the small screen. No, Im not going to get us killed and yes, Im sure Im a better pilot. Mind you, he thought, I just hope that pilot isnt a hot shot. Whoever that is, has got a faster machine that can turn tighter...
The targeting display went blank, and the droids confused hooting filled the cockpit.
I know what Im doing. If we lock onto that Squint, the pilots gonna get a nice big warning that were coming. Well just close the gap blind, then get a lock when were in range. A nice quick kill.
You were a part of our boards family and you'll be missed.
Good luck, wherever you are. We all hope that death isn't the end...
...but a new beginning.
