OOC 2: Vandal Squadron - same as the first

Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-08 17:54:52
Yup, that's pretty much how it goes. The A-Wing is fast and nimble - you're probably going to get a bonus against nearly any spacecraft you go up against.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 16:39:00
All right, for ship orders I have:

Cat: A-Wing
Eritram: B-Wing
Aurelia (& Arnae): Rusty Dagger
Jorm: Lambda 1

I was figuring probably Ganet and/or Dutch would handle the second shuttle and then hitch a ride on the Dagger or the B-Wing with Eritram, which would remain gunnerless for the first leg of the trip.

Also, I like Arnae, but IP seems to have moved on. Unfortunately, it's weird to have the Dagger and Aurelia around without him, so I'm shifting him from "absent PC status" to "NPC". That means he is available for more than simply invisibly flying the freighter, but it also means he can get shot and all that and have his own opinions. That said, he'll be flying the Dagger and doesn't care what the rest of you do. :biggrin:
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 17:21:47
We'll lock down the ship order further:

Dutch: Lambda 2
Ganet'll fly with Eritram, since it's probably better to have a fully-loaded B-Wing and stick the shuttle pilots in the Dagger on the way back.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 18:34:28
Good question: yes, they both have functioning everything. Jorm's may end up being temperamental, though, but that's why he's flying it.
threadbare 2005-12-09 18:35:56
I think we ought to have the imperial-looking craft and the alliance looking craft put a bit of distance between each other, perhaps we can surprise them.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 18:39:20
Using the Lambdas and the TIE to catch them unawares would be a big bonus at the start. I would also point out that another option would be to complete your mission by sending the shuttles down to Anteevy and the fightercraft jumping to help 12th Wing. That splits you guys up, though, and you don't know what kind of resistance you'd be heading up against - in either direction.
Aihal the Silent 2005-12-09 18:40:30
The shuttle's could race to the Imperial fighters dogging the 12th Wing, sending out distress calls, with you guys "chasing" us.

Hopefully that would draw them off 12th Wing.

Once they're past us, we could turn and attack them from behind.

Or they could blow us all out of space.
threadbare 2005-12-09 18:40:59
I thought we needed some kind of special team to carry out the mission.

What is the mission?
fanchergw 2005-12-09 18:50:31
Personally, I'm inclined to send the shuttles on to Anteevy, perhaps with the Dagger as escort. Of course, wouldn't hurt to radio down there first to make sure there aren't any surprises waiting.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 19:04:07
Vandal Squadron fits into the big picture as follows:

The Rebel Alliance needs to put people on the ground on Anoat to recon and possibly sabotage the Imperial buildup of forces there. They can't simply brute-force their way in. The plan is to land Rebel commandos, led by some guy named Commander Orimusho, on Anoat using stolen Imperial shuttles and authorization codes. You guys were to get the shuttles, 12th Wing was to get the codes. 8th Wing was flying the recon flights that prompted this operation in the first place.

You are meeting Orimusho on Anteevy, an ice-hole back-of-nowhere planet, to transfer the shuttles to his platoon of commandos. At that point your job is done, you come back and it's Miller time.

That's all fucked now, because 12th Wing is under attack. You don't know if the Imps know you have their codes. Perhaps 12th Wing just got spotted by a patrol, perhaps they completely blew it and the Empire knows those codes are compromised. In which case, you have a few options:
1. Kill every Imperial comm array in the area, hoping they haven't gotten the news out.
2. Try to get MORE codes.
3. Race against time, get those shuttles to Orimusho and hope he can get to Anoat before they hear about the clusterfuck.

But as I mentioned, the Imperials might not even know their codes are compromised and it's just a stand-up fight.
fanchergw 2005-12-09 19:14:59
Can we monitor the Imperial's communications as we move to attack? That might give us a better idea of where things stand.
Dieter 2005-12-09 19:42:27
I think we should spend a few minutes appraising the situation, but I also think the shuttles should do a full-burn for the planet's surface so we can accomplish the mission tasked to us. The snub-fighters could help the 12th Wing until the Dagger can make it back into space with the shuttle crews on board.

What's Alliance protocol for such a situation? I think Dutch would know.
Admiral Duck Sauce 2005-12-09 20:16:59
There really isn't "protocol" to go by, no right answer. Whether you make the right decision depends on how things turn out.

The comm bands are coded and jumbled - it will take some time (several rounds) for Jorm to decode the Imperial frequencies. In the end of it all you'll be getting the same kind of chaotic battle radio that the Rebels are likely shouting into their mics right now.

Spending a few minutes appraising the situation can get 12th Wing killed. You know how short your guys' fights are. It's not exactly an insta-jump either. It'll be a minute or so in hyperspace. Yes, you could come out onto a field of debris, but that chance increases the longer you take fiddling.

These people are people you drink with, you share stories with, beyond Vandal Squadron 12th and 8th Wings are the only people who really know what your life is like. They're in trouble, what do you do?
Gatac 2005-12-09 20:30:25
I'm jumping, and I recommend Calsera jumps with me. You others aren't riding in primo dogfighting ships, so I'd say you continue on.

Whatever the decision, Mandall's going right the hell now. Fuck the babysitting mission, his friends are getting killed and he'd rather face a court martial than look into the mirror knowing that he did nothing.

Gatac
Aihal the Silent 2005-12-09 20:38:28
The only reason Jorm was checking sensors was to see what kind of resistance we can expect to meet when we do show up. Besides, He wants the Sith Eater to come back in one piece.


(Edited by Aihal the Silent at 2:46 pm on Dec. 9, 2005)
fanchergw 2005-12-09 20:44:33
If Cat sees Mandall start to make th jump, she will pounce right behind him.