RPlog:35 ISY Competition: Vapor vs Slush

 Having pulled Flight Officer Molokai ticket, Jal'Dana had drawn a blank. The name was familiar, as was the call sign; however she couldn't remember how the younger woman flew. That could be a blessing as the Admiral wouldn't fall into expecting some moves, however it was also daunting to going into an engagement cold. This was the truest test of a pilot: An unknown enemy. Of course all the safety checks had been done, and her 'craft' was operating to standards. It was a simulator, but that didn't mean the preflight should be any different. Out of the shoot and into the simulated space field, vapor was once again trying not to become her own call sign.

Picking up her opponent, Dana attempts to get the drop on her, rolling her craft in a 180 and arching down from a top side angle. Should Liza counter the fighters could enter into a rolling loop, the typical Dog fight maneuvering. What the older woman was hoping for was a solid first hit, and to cause the younger one to scatter. All or tips glowed for a nanosecond and then the powerful punch was off towards the top flank of the 'enemy' fighter.

 Jal'Dana rolls a 26 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll!  Jal'Dana rolls a 14 with 3D. An Average roll!  Liza rolls a 8 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. A Poor roll!  Liza rolls a 15 with 3D. An Average roll!  Jal'Dana rolls a 21 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

 Molokai had literally cringed when she found out who she was to be flying against, that sinking feeling in her gut starting to turn to full on butterflies as she is hit, her shields holding, something she has to be thankful for even in passing. Her controls are looked at one last time as she prepairs herself, mentally readying herself for that has been laid out before her. She remembers the skill Jal'Dana exhibited while she ganged up on her and Dante, Krieg being the other pilot's team mate, something that sits keenly at the front of her mind. She's not sure if being 'safe and sane' is the way to go with Rall and it is then that she decides to pull all stops and go full bore. Lining Rall's ship her sights after pulling her ship around, she tries to go nose to nose with her, leaving her 'calling card' in the form of blaster fire that burns towards her.

 Liza rolls a 32 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. A Heroic roll!  Liza rolls a 10 with 3D. A Poor roll!  Jal'Dana rolls a 31 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. A Heroic roll!  Jal'Dana rolls a 9 with 3D+2. A Poor roll!  Liza rolls a 18 with 6D. A Good roll!

 The crowd doesn't pay much attention to the match-up at first. After all, it was Admiral Rall piloting and there was very little hope that Slush could put up a repeat performance as she did against the Marshall. To everyone's suprise both pilots trade blows in the first moments of the dogfight and the crowd starts to stir. Maybe the younger pilot will give Vapor a run for her money like she did Banger.

 The first volley was a solid hit on Liza's shields, and they absorbed the punishment as designed, none of the damage reaching the hull of her craft. Dana couldn't have asked for more on an opening salvo, however this was just the start of the engagement. The Admiral was in typical for as the communications channel was left open, but she never once keyed her cockpit transmitter. Since she was just a cadet, the woman spoke very little and was never known for chatter. It was a stark contrast to most of the TIE Corps.

The kid hit, and Rall felt her ship bounce as her own shields absorb the punishment. Reducing Jal'Dana's shields by half, this battle was going to be bloody. The whole style of the pilots today was aggressive and in your face, and this time it paid off. However, Dana had flown TIE's before there were shields, and a few bumps was never an issue. Not yet anyway. The Admiral's style was the exact opposite of the Flight Officer's. Where Slush had the passion and aggression of youth, Vapor was more deliberate in her moves, trying to dictate the pace of the fight and control it until a mistake was made. Entering into a S-turn with her craft, The pair of TIEs meet at the Apex of the maneuver and it is there that Jal'Dana depressed the trigger.

 Jal'Dana rolls a 23 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll!  Jal'Dana rolls a 9 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 11 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Average roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 7 with 3D+2. A Poor roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 17 with 6D. A Good roll!

<Slash> Liza had tried to pull a fancy move to get herself out of the line of fire by Rall but sometimes enthusasm hampers such things like common sense and even one's reactions speed and, as she attempts a sharp, sliding turn to the right Rall's shot hits. Shields totally gone, story of her life, and now with a slight amount of damage to the foil on the left, Liza's attentions back onto the fight and not the excitement of it. With a shake of her head, she takes a second to take deep breaths, to calm herself while slipping down and under, working her way in what she hopes will be a stealthy manner while getting up under Vapor's fighter like she did Krieg's. Another shot is let go once the targeting computer sounds, this shot heading the Rall's belly, so to speak.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 28 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 10 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 21 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 11 with 3D+2. An Average roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 30 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

<SPECTATOR> Now the crowd is really going, fans divided into sections cheering on Vapor and those cheering on Slush. As each pilot scores their second hits, their respective fans hoot and holler. It looks like regarless whomever wins, this will turn out to be a hell of a match.

<Vapor> Again Jal'Dana had found her mark, as with a short but brilliant display Liza's shields winked out. There was just a light scuff on a solar panel that showed where the tiny bit of excess energy made it through, but Dana was sure both pilots knew it was nothing. In fact, now Liza could divert all that power to the engines, as there would be no trying to get shields back on line in the contest. So far Slush was giving as good as she go however, and Dana wondered if maybe the call sign should be elevated to ICE, as the bomber pilot must have it pumping in her veins.

Again the younger woman scores a solid strike on Dana's fighter, and the Admiral can't help but think maybe Liza should be in fighters and not bombers. But the battle was a long way off, and the sweat was just starting to bleed through the first layer of clothing under her flight suit. Clearly the S-turns were leaving her open, it didn't take a engineer to figure that out, so Dana breaks hard right and then down and once the opponent fighter completed the loop, she reared the nose up and fired a linked pair of shots into the on coming flight path.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 32 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. A Heroic roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 16 with 3D. A Good roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 26 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 14 with 3D+2. An Average roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 22 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

<SPECTATOR> On deck to watch this match, Liza and Rall were both outstanding pilots. Krieg had faith that Liza would give Rall a run for her money, and standing near the back he watches with hands clasped behind his back at the very large hit that Liza just has scored. He was impressed to say the least. Either one of them could still win the fight, and he remembered the nightmare Rall had placed him through. As he continues to watch and see the thrill throughout the crowd he feels the pulse here and the energy of the troops. It was a good fight indeed. Lingering in the back of his mind were the dual roles the bomber pilots played at times with the fighters, a role that had long been thought to overtax the pilots. There was evidence that was not the case.

<Slush> That hit was quite a bit more solid than the first she took from Vapor, something that definitely gets Slush's attention along with a bit of cursing as she watches the controls give a readout of her condition. It is enough to cause parts of metal to break away from the fighter's hull, leaving some of the mechanical workings beneath the panels bared, hopefully not so much that they'll be an easy target for Rall. "Alright.." she breathes while pulling up, now, putting her TIE into a steep dive that is accelerated into, letting her gain what she hopes is a bit of distance between her and the other craft. Once a good bit of speed and such is gained, she turns it into a high speed dive, allowing for the upper aft of Rall's ship to be in Slush's sights as she fires.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 22 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 9 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 24 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 13 with 3D+2. An Average roll!

<SPECTATOR> The crowd cheering on Slush 'oooohs' as last volley doesn't hit the Vapor. And that's just fine with her fans as they're celebrating the Admiral's chance to pull ahead in the match. Lazrus once again finds himself in the middle of the spectators, begrudgingly allowing himself to enjoy the dogfight. "They're still vacuum heads, even if they are entertaining," he tells himself.

<Vapor> Well, both pilots were proving to be able to hit each other at will, and the black scorch marks were building on the now unprotected hulls. Jal'Dana had answered in a tag like manor and managed to gain a solid strike, but already she was jockeying the stick and working the peddles trying to maneuver her craft out of the path of the return fire. As she pushed back into the shock couch Liza did answer, but for the first time all match the shots went wide. The Admiral didn't celebrate or even pause in her flight path, she had to press the advantage gained in the last exchange and Slush had given her the smallest opening, now if the old hand could exploit it was a different matter totally.

Dana pulls the fighter into a vertical climb, and then proceeds to complete a half a loop in the TIE from this climb, inverting the fighter. She then executes a half-roll to regain normal orientation. As a result, Dana is now at a higher altitude and has changed course 180 degrees. From this vantage she arches down and fires again towards the top half of Liza's TIE. The green shots leap forward in a bunch.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 24 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 8 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 24 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 18 with 3D+2. A Good roll!

<Slush> A shot for a shot, a dodge for a dodge, both pilots dancing in a motion-counter motion that would perhaps make one think this was planned, that each move had been choreographed before hand. Rall's dodge had Liza surprised but also caused her to keep her eye out more so, knowing that it'd be dangerous to lose sight of the Admiral. She does for a moment, long enough to allow Vapor to get in above her but she had managed to keep her wits about her, allowing her do dodge as easily as the other pilot did. The Sarian pulls the throttle back, giving her the ability to turn tighter even if she looses speed in the process. Rall's waited on and Slush punches the throttle forward again, speeding after her while weaving slightly side to side, trying to lock in on her before squeezing the trigger, sending bright green towards her.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 21 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 9 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 32 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. A Heroic roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 10 with 3D+2. A Poor roll!

<Vapor> Maybe she had gotten too complex, or Liza was just that damn good. Either way Dana herself missed. Gritting her teeth, Dana had missed a chance to seize the moment, and in less than 30 seconds she was going to find out if Liza could do what she had not. In less than that time, she did have and answer the green bolts passing just behind her fighter as she zipped in front and under her opponent. Re-entering the scissor loop she inverted and rolled around the path Liza's fighter was taking the sharp angle brining her Solar panel mounted lasers to bore on the underbelly of the cockpit pod. There was no hesitation as she squeezed off the shots in single order 1, 2, 3, 4.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 28 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 15 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 20 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. A Good roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 17 with 3D. A Good roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 22 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

<Slush> Teeth rattling, Liza is jarred against the back of her seat, the straps which hold her in place thankfully doing their job although they're most likely going to cause some bruises to come up, much like the ones that might form thanks to Krieg shaking her up a bit earlier in the day. She's getting sloppy and it shows in how Rall has no problem hitting the younger pilot. With a quick breath drawn in between clenched teeh, Liza finds herself unable to focus for a moment but once she can see straight again she glances down, noticing the damage readouts, the sight of which has her shaking her head at herself. "Vapor...come out and plaaaay.." she drawls out while she loops and levels off, Molokai's fighter now going in the opposite direction it was thanks to a bit of a twist added at the top of the arch, giving her an advantage as she does, hopefully one that'll have her above and behind Vapor. Making adjustments for speed and angle, Liza dips her nose down, putting her ship into a shallow dive while she aims square for where the ion engines are.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 15 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Average roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 11 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 28 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 16 with 3D+2. A Good roll!

<Vapor> Unlike the last pass, Dana had found her rhythm on this and stuck with it, the lasers scoring hits on the virtual hull of the 'enemy' fighter. Risking becoming open herself, Vapor keeps with the rotating vantages trying to maintain Lisa's six as the meet at each apex of the maneuvers. As Liza rolls and tries to reverse the pitch of the intertwining loops, Dana follows the move and forces the younger pilot back into the scissor style exchange as it was successful for the Admiral at least. Liza's shots pass wide, and then her voice breaks into the open channel. Dana smiles thinly under the helmet, and remains silent. Slush wasn't the first to try and bait her into a battle of words, but the distraction was of no concern. This battle was being fought with laser fire, the words would come later. At least for Rall, but the lasers came now as she fired the quad-linked set.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 27 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 11 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 20 with 3D+2. A Good roll!

<SPECTATOR> Slush's fans had grown subdued after the fast few exchanges in the exciting dogfight. It looked like her luck had run out, but what was this...? They briefly drown out Vapor's fans as they cheer the underdog on.

<Slush> With a quick look towards the laser fire as it misses, Liza finds herself starting to sweat under her helmet, or at least emough to gain her attention now even if she hadn't bothered to pay attention, each miss causing her heart to race in her ears a bit more and her breath to catch her throat. Gritting her teeth, Liza shakes her head, trying to brush some of her shock off, regaining her confidence that had been shaken just moments before. Encouraged, she dives down and follows after Vapor for a while, actually watching how she moves, calculating just what she's doing, waiting like the snake that's waiting for its prey to grow lax and stop paying attention to its surroundings. It is only then that she shoots, four bolts of laser fire sailing swiftly towards Vapor's underside.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 27 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 10 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 23 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 12 with 3D+2. An Average roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 21 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

<Vapor> Out maneuvered and her own shots go wide. Dana was having a heck of a time with this kid. Youth had its advantages and maybe the longer the battle went on, Dana age was showing. Her muscles were tight, and the sweat now soaked through the top layer of her flight suit. As if Liza was in tune with her thoughts, the younger woman scores a solid hit jarring the Admiral's fighter. Maybe it was time to hang up the wings and stick to Star Destroyers. Fighters were a young person's game, which is where you didn't see to many old pilots, at least not with the average kill ratio. But she wasn't dead yet, and though she simulated fighter was a touch sluggish the fight was still in full tilt. Nothing fancy this time, Dana just decided to ground and pound the opponent's craft launching all four lasers towards the streaking TIE.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 28 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 11 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 22 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 17 with 3D+2. A Good roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 21 with 6D. An Excellent roll!

<Slush> Molokai may have youth on her side but, as the saying goes, 'the good dies young' and it seems like that may be getting closer to the truth as another virtual hit sears its way towads her, hitting squarely upon her hull, causing quite the display of 'fireworks' as scorched wires spark and burn. That would normally be enough to send her into a frenzy, a bloodlust that would more often than not render her flying abilities non-existent but not this time, the pilot remaining calm, cool. With a turn and a roll, Liza fires again, the high-piched targeting tone sounding over the warning whistles and beeps, indicating her target is in her sights, a fact she takes advantage of as she shoots.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 20 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. A Good roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 8 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 24 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 20 with 3D+2. A Good roll!

<Vapor> It seemed the two ladies where in perfect sync. Hit for hit, miss for miss and as Liza had scored on Dana, so Vapor returned the favor for Slush. This fight was going to last to the bitter end, and had they been in real TIE Mark IIs they would be landing in scrap metal. She wasn't going to make a mistake, if Liza was going to beat Dana, she was going to out fly the Admiral. Vapor might be a little slower, the rust not completely worked out, but she had been at the top of her game a long time. If she lost, Slush earned it. As if to punctuate the sentiments, Liza's laser fire reached out for Dana's TIE, falling just short of where Dana was going, but tracing the space where she had just been. Turing the engines off completely for a split second, the older woman uses the port thrusters to spin her ship around so she is nose to nose with Liza. Letting inertia carry her craft away in a solid directing, Dana squeezes off successive shots, again 2, 4, 1, 3 and then jams hard on the ions attempting to speed off in the other direction.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 28 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 8 with 3D. A Poor roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 27 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 12 with 3D+2. An Average roll!

<Slush> Liza has such the urge to try and taunt Jal'Dana and torment verbally but that'd be about as smart as poking a rancor with a stick or trying to walk across a sarlacc pit, a risk that Liza's not about to take, the fun of teasing the older woman not worth the risk of upsetting her which could actually turn the tides and give Rall an advantage. Not that she really has time to as she's having to manuver herself around Rall's latest volley, the shots missing by margins she's not going to attempt to measure. With a smile, Liza drives her fighter on relentlessly, the ship screaming towards the Admiral, another try at Vapor's tail end. With how her luck has been with trying to get hits to land upon Rall's aft section, Liza knows it's foolhearty of her to do so, but still, she tries, all four blasters fired at once, hopefully in a pattern that will be hard for Jal'Dana to dodge.

<SKILL> Liza rolls a 24 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 11 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 30 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. An Excellent roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 23 with 3D+2. An Excellent roll!

<Vapor> Well, that didn't work, Dana notes as she shots fly wide of their mark. The crowd was on Slush's side, and the longer this went, the better their moral got. It was the whole point of the games, and Dana was happy to be the goat. However, this was starting to get to her physically, her mind was still sharp, but her reflexes were slowing. Liza returned fire but the shots were wild and wide missing the rolling form that is Dana's TIE. Finishing the roll, Dana's TIE snapped over on itself and then towards Liza's left lateral Solar Panel. The course was almost parallel, The nose of the Admiral's TIE just a hair in, and angled to fire at Liza's exposed flank.

<SKILL> Jal'Dana rolls a 17 for her STARSHIP GUNNERY skill. A Good roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 12 with 3D. An Average roll! <SKILL> Liza rolls a 17 for her STARFIGHTER PILOTING skill. A Good roll! <ROLL> Liza rolls a 9 with 3D+2. A Poor roll! <ROLL> Jal'Dana rolls a 34 with 6D. A Heroic roll!

<Slush> It's with a great bit of ooomph that Liza finds herself suddenly disabled, that last shot from Vapor hitting not only hard but right on it's mark, causing her fighter to come to an abrupt stop..or as much of an abrupt stop as one can make while in a fast-moving fighter. "Congrats, ma'am. Most impressive. You'll have to let me buy you a drink sometime once we get a bit of down time. Perhaps once the tourney's over?" She looks around the cockpit then and chuckles, having to laugh at her luck. 3-0. Not an impressive record at all. But at least she's shown she knows how to fly and shoot, perhaps proving she's not such a rookie after all.

<Vapor> Each laser finds it mark, in rapid succession as Slush's flight path had carried her into each of the shots. From this close of a simulated distance, Dana could see how each impact had affected the opponent's TIE, slowing it until the Admiral's HUD registered a kill. Normally when Vapor opened her mike, her raspy tone was the signal of a death, usually the enemy. But this fight had been one of the best she had flow in a long while. She was tired, sore and the stiffness in her joints from the effort was a nod to Liza's skill. Opening her communications voice transmitter the Admiral radioed over to the 'dieing' craft "If that is how you play Officer Molokai, I'll fly on your wing any day." Dana was always humble in victory against worthy enemies, and even more so with comrades. "You have my attention, Vapor out" As far as she was concerned, Liza could caller her "Vapor" on the fight deck any day. Shutting down the simulator, Dana was looking forward to a long hot shower.