RPlog:Bombardment

If Johmac could visibly flip off the TIE Interceptor Pilot that kept shooting at his aft, Johmac would... but instead, he allows the gunner in the back of his Y-Wing to do so - With Ion Cannons. BOOYAH. "All right, Daggers, form up for one more last hurrah." He switches comm channels, and clears his throat.. "Ground Command, this is Dagger Leader. We're about to create y'all a no-man's land, just keep getting back and we'll cover you. Stay low and keep your heads covered!" The Y-Wings steadily form up, and take up a sort of slanted Delta formation, flying right over the dug-in Imperial troops that hadn't gotten out yet ... with thermal detonators and torpedoes alike. "Mm, mm. Good stuff," he calls over the radio to his fellow bomber pilots. "Keep rollin' the thuuuuunder!" he calls... The Y-Wing squadron takes up an orbit pattern along the area. Yay for bombing!

But then... Ooh, hey, holy Hell. ".. Dagger Leader copies, Command," Mabru calls into his communicator, and he taps onto the joint channel used for all squadrons. "Ghost Leader, Dagger Leader. Bug out! Get your X-Wings outta here, we're pullin' out too. Watch the AA and Fighter Screen!" He then switches channels, calling out ... "Ground Command, this is Dagger Leader, we're bugging out. We've got you enough space to get your boys out, so hurry! Good luck, and may the Force be with you." That's all there is to say. The Daggers, slowly but surely, begin their ascent, to gain altitude..

Crystal doubles back to make another run at the dropships when she gets the message over her shipcom. "We hear ya, Command. Ghost 2 buggin' out." She says then banking away from the dropships and into space. "Ghost 7 and 8, this is Ghost 2, we're getting off the planet." She says closing the S-foils and pushing her way into the atmosphere.

Gene soon has his small squadron of 4 heading to the ramps where the AT-ST's are boarding their dropships. Their thrusters at full throttle as they grow near, "Alright, boys" to the first two he says, "I want Karl and Matt to go after the capships. Zack and I'll start working on the first walker. Once you have the ships cleared help take out the others." over the comp the others can be heard, "Copy that Ghost 5." Gene doesn't have long to figure out how exactlyu he's going to take them out, but it can't be too difficult. As Johmac's voice comes over the com, he sighs, "Copy that, one last bit of fun and we are on our way out." he then calls to the others in his mini squadron, "Alright Zack, boys, go find civilians and survivors, then get back to the ship. I'm getting rid of one of these before this battle is over." Setting a personal goal for himself. Yeah others have done it, but it's his turn to have fun with them as well. Soon the claxon chimes that he's in range. Squeezing the trigger and letting off a torpedo and several rounds of laser blasts at the first walker in his sights.

Gyzen and the little SAT squadron he came with were continuing to shoot at the imperials, under cover of the debris from a destroyed turbolaser turret ... The imperials, who were retreating under heavy combined fire from the NR fighters and the Griffon heavy ground vehicles. "Doesn't add up" Gyzen thought... And the NR soldiers were retreating as well ! And from the look of it, the only transports for extraction were those the NR marines came with; no other transport seemed to be spared from the fleet above. He looks to the sergeant, and shouts to cover the noise with his own voice, "Sergeant, something's fishy's going on... Try to hook up with those marines and evacuate you and your squad with them." The sergeant nodded and soon left along with his squad; leaving Gyzen with the bothan. Looking to the bothan, "Mr. Vry'Lya, seems like they saved their own senator but forgot about you." He shouted with some contempt in the voice, and added, "We need...", interrupted by a large blast, he covers his head for incoming debris, before continuing, "to move north towards the Den; we've got no idea of the situation down here!" On that he stands in a hiss emitted from the Enhanced armor, "Let's run! go, go !"

The Bothan advisor never thought the Imperials would push so hard against Cochran, no doubt they were still upset about the Death Star III incident. The Griffons had been instrumental in its destruction so it was only natural for the cunning of the Empire to go sour. Demitri hides behind some rubble in his uniform that had the smudges of battle over it. In his hand was a datapad and a comlink. Gyzen's voice hit his ears very hard. His green eyes flash with a moment of enlightenment, "If the New Republic is retreating and the Imperials are retreating there isn't much hope for this world, Mr. Bel. I believe you are correct we must withdraw immediately." The Bothan's fur ripples with fear and annoyance. He gears himself to follow Gyzen through the maze that was the capital city of the Griffon Alliance.

Wolf lines up the Y-Wing for another shot, but then a few Blue Ion bolts strike his fighter. 'What?!' Wolf says, as his controls flicker almost like lightning. Quickly testing his flight controls, Wolf pulls up, double backing on his course.. 'Damn it!' he thought, slamming his fist into the side of the cockpit. As the rebels began to evacuate Wolf looked out of his viewport, 'Cowards!' he shouted, "War Shrike Squadron, Get into space as fast as you can!" He said through his comm, Sending his TIE sailing towards space, himself.

"This...Rodriga," continue the radios. "...public forces are ordered to cease all hostilities and return...ships. Second Fl...perspace in ten min....prisal out."

All four AT-ATs had been destroyed, their remains littered across the battlefield. CompForce and Imperial Army troops quickly boarded their MT/191 dropships admist the a hail of enemy fire, taking down some fleeing Imperial troops. Then, the X-wings of Ghost Squadron sweep in, launching their torpedoes and laser cannon fire; one impacts against a Titan dropship, destroying it entirely and taking two of its AT-STs, which were undergoing loading procedures. Another torpedo slams into the ground next to an AT-ST, the fireball consuming the AT-ST and several Imperial infantrymen. Another AT-ST loses its legs, causing it to fall over on some Imperial troops under it. The crew, however, though injured, force their way out to the waiting dropship.

Then, new orders come in: both sides cease fire, and the battlefield quiets down. The Imperial dropships and TIE Interceptors begin accelerating towards space, leaving the battlefield of Cochran behind. The two Victory-class Star Destroyers begin moving up to higher orbit. The battle seemed over, for all intents and purposes.

Gyzen started to run north, towards Sivel Square and the military headquarters beyond, not looking back and hoping for the SAT squad to be able to evacuate along with the NR soldiers. He suddenly stops, though, at the Bothan's words.. "What do you mean, not much hope for this world?" he asked with a bitter voice under his helmet. He didn't want to hear what was becoming more and more clear... The fact the NR was leaving meant whatever information they had was alarming enough for them to pull out, instead of defending the ground. However, only people who dedicated years of their lives at making a whole world a better place could understand what Gyzen was feeling right now... A mix of sour pain, bitterness and raw anger, and also... a will to stay and defend till there's really no hope, and yet, there had been no sign the city wouldn't hold. "Space superiority could still be regained, the Republic can come back with a stronger fleet, we need to entranch ourselves and hold the city until then," he added.

"We could better serve your people, if we survive, Mr. Bel. We can organize a resistance from afar. I have to insist you leave planet and live to fight another day." The Bothan says following the Griffon veteran of war, "The New Republic may just manage to get space superiority, but in the mean time, the Empire will lay waste to this world, there is no hope of a ground campaign that can protect us." Demitri, continues moving forward, "Come Mr. Bel let us get to your ship and to safety."

The Griffon remained silent at that for a second. "Probably.. right." he answers, not without great effort, and resumes the run for the place north of their position. "All this... *fff* for nothing... *fff* and the NR *fff* failed us..." he said bitterly, the rapid breathing occured by the effort cutting his speech at regular interval. The fact his teeth were so completely clenched at the terrible reality didn't help either.

They arrived at Sivel Square and Gyzen headed straight for the commander of the forces located there, "Commander !" he shouts, and needs a few seconds to recover his breath, "The NR is retreating, the Empire has pulled away and we've got reasons to believe they're up to real no good.. You need to tell HQ to evacuate the most SAT personel at once ! And direct the rest to the deepest of the Den and undeground water bases!" The Commander looked at Gyzen for a second, before plainly stating, "Might be Inner Council, but you aren't a ranking commanding officer, sir. Sorry." With that the guy just turned his back to the former Armiger, left baffled. Gyzen just shakes head in disbelief, and added, "Remember what I just said. You *need* to transmit that to HQ." Turning to Demitri, "Let's move, my fighter is about 500 meters away from here.."

There we are. The named 'BDZ' sick operation was starting, and heavy fire could be viewed in the sky, tearing the atmosphere and heading straight down to the planet's surface, crashing hard on the crust, leaving craters in the areas the shields weren't protecting. The city itself was still safe, however; well, untill they would deplete. The first impacts proved the SAT Commander Gyzen previously met that the situation was indeed dire, and transmitted the news to headquarters. Soon, the SATs and civilians-turned-defenders converged to the various shelters on the planet. Those close to the coast were the less lucky amongst them, as they reached for vessels that would bring them to Cochran's various underwater facilities; if those vessels weren't destroyed by the orbital bombardment they'd be trapped in the facilities and perhaps destroyed in the long run. The others converged to the Lion's den north, and the luckiest already were on the last available ships, ready for departure when they would be filled to the maximum of their capacity.

Gyzen and Demitri make their way to Old City; the fighter was still there, debris splattered against its hull from a nearby impact. A chance the vessel was still intact ! Gyzen's gunner wasn't lucky though. The man apparently took one of the debris straight to the skull, and was killed instantly. Gyzen casts him a last glance as he helps the Bothan up the ship, an easy task even with no ramp available, thanks to the Enhanced Armor. Eventually, the ship took off from the ill-fated planet.