RPlog:Showdown Briefing

Hangar Bay - Refrain of Anshalar An eye-pleasing weave of colored and porous stone panels cover the main deck, which is large enough to support and act as a maintenance area for quite a few smaller starships. The vaulted ceiling is supported by angular arches, creating a series of ribs and alcoves to the side that partition off space for ships and cargo. Most of the room is simply open space. A small control station to the side allows for the operation of the main hangar doors, which may be opened and closed manually but are backed up by a magnetic locking field as well. An elevated walkway lifts slowly from the edge of the room, curling into an inordinately long set of stairs which lead fore. => Rebecca => Kyrin

The New Republic Second Fleet was amassed into five distinct battle groups, a fair distance away from the capital planet of the New Republic. Ord Mantell is visible from the fleet's vantage point, approximately the size of a large melon in the ships' viewports. The four shock groups were impressive in size, grouped with approximately even numbers. The primary command group, however, was remarkably smaller. It was here where the operation would ultimately begin. Ghost Squadron was assigned to NRCV Audacity. There wouldn't be enough room for all of them to land in the hangar bay of the corvette, so flights one and three were going to have to endure the trip to Cochran from their fighters' cockpits. Nevertheless, General Skywalker wanted to have a private briefing with all of the Ghost Squadron pilots before the fleet groups entered hyperspace. Sending a summons from the Command ship, Refrain of Anshalar, the Ghost Squadron pilots are ordered to land their X-Wings in the Jedi cruiser's expansive hangar bay, where Skywalker awaits, donned in his warrior's armor and wearing an honorary rankplate signifying him as a StarOps General.

Standing calmly near General Skywalker is Major Kyrin Sh'vani, Ghost Leader and friend to said general. She had of course teased the Jedi for wearing the StarOps general badge earlier in the day, asking if he'd pilfered it from Antilles the last time they were all on the Refrain together. However, today is not a day for teasing as she surveys her arriving pilots with a quiet aspect of readiness and watchfulness. Her gray eyes touch on each pilot briefly when they disembark their vessels, frowning slightly when she looks at the pilot assigned to them to replace recently transferred Raxis, a fresh face amongst the sea of familiars. The orange jumpsuit that has been the X-Wing flightsuit due to the old days clashes horribly with her blue skin, but the Chyleni pilot doesn't complain, her blue wings folded neatly to her back. Her ship of course is already present and has been for a while.

After receiving her orders, Rebecca flies her X-Wing smoothly into the hangar and hovering about a meter off the deck she rotates the ship to point the nose at the mag-shield for an easier take-off. The ship settles onto the deck perfectly showing the skill of the pilot. The canopy hisses open and Rebecca hops out and lands deftly on the deck, her boots barely making a sound on contact. She removes her helmet as she scans the deck and sees General Skywalker and starts to walk in his direction. When she's close enough she snaps to attention with a perfectly snapped salute. "Flight Officer Varn. Reporting as ordered, sir."

Once the squadron has lined up, Luke begins to show a side of his personality that is not so often observed; the military side of him that was honed during the days of the Alliance. His hands are clasped behind his back, hidden behind his Jedi cloak, and his face is nothing short of vigilant, commanding attention with stern eyes that somehow carry a sheen of kindness beneath their gleaming stare. "Alright, everyone. I've called you here for a reason." He paces before them, making sure to allow eye contact with each of the pilots at least once. "You are among the elite, and I am going to rely on you to stick with the orders I give you here and now. As you are well aware, second fleet is moving to strike at an Imperial Task Force that's been located in the Cochran system." He pauses to allow for any reactions to this news. "I am here to inform you that this Task Force is under the command of a man named Darth Malign. Some of you may know him as Tyler "Fossil" Damion, a former Ghost himself. He is a Sith Lord... a dangerous man."

Rebecca keeps her eyes forward like she was trained to do in basic but the mention of Sith and a Darth person, her eyes widen just a bit. But otherwise maintains her composure as the General continues his brief.

Kyrin's expression shows zero surprise at the news given to her squadron. She hadn't told them, as a matter of course, but it's obvious from the Chyleni's expression that she isn't too fond of the information about Tyler Damion. There's a glint in her gray eyes as she watches her squadron, observing everyone's reactions to this slight on Ghost Squadron's history, seeing who takes the warning and who seems ready to do something stupid.

Skywalker stops at the middle of the squadron, and turns his head slowly to take in everybody in a similar manner as Kyrin. His eyes narrow slightly, then reflex to their normal size. "Forward Auresh Group will be the first to emerge at Cochran. From there, our fleet ships will locate and position themselves for an attack on Malign's Task Force. You, along with Falcon and Krakana Squadrons, will remain in an escort pattern until the fleets engage." He speaks with authority, and resumes pacing before continuing. "There are two things you need to be aware of. First, there will be a handful of talented fighters aboard Predator, Malign's flagship star destroyer. When the time comes, you will engage these ships directly, with shoot-to-kill orders." His hand emerges, pointing toward the squadron in general. "Now, I want you all to understand this very clearly - you are not to deviate from your orders unless otherwise ordered from the command ships. Darth Malign is in possession of a heavily modified X-Wing, and he is deadly in combat. It is likely that he will deploy with his own fighters. If this happens, I will hand off command of the fleet and engage him directly. You are not to break your orders to engage him, unless he somehow manages to take me out. Am I understood?"

Rebecca replies with a hearty "Sir, yes, sir!"

Kyrin listens to her people chorus along with Rebecca, some louder and more formal, others less formal and quieter. And then the new still-starstruck pilot newbie taking up Raxis's old ride, and she tries very hard not to roll her eyes... and succeeds at avoiding the whole roll, but there is a brief moment when her eyes are looking up at the ceiling as if begging the bulkhead to give her patience. "Yessir," she says quietly.

Luke waits until all have responded, then nods his head. "Very good. We may be looking at the end of Malign's operations today, gentlebeings. I want everything run by the numbers, with no discord. We are the Republic. The Force is with us... disunity and hatred are with our enemies. One way or the other, we will prevail. Do your duty today and drink to victory tomorrow." While his voice remains stern and doesn't rise in tone or volume, it seems to grow stronger nevertheless. "Dismissed."

Rebecca falls out and spins on her heel, she slaps her helmet back onto her head and trots back to her X-Wing and climbs aboard. She then runs through her preflight check to prepare to takeoff.

When the pilots are dismissed, Kyrin rejoins her squadron after the morning's worth of meetings, plans, and the sorts of things a commander has to put up with. Unlike her pilots, she doesn't need the ladder to get up into her ride's cockpit, a simple downsweep of her wings carrying her up to her pilot's seat, and after she's ready, Ghost Leader takes her charges back into space to fulfill their mission.