ITOD Home > Hammerfall - XWA > Fallen Ramparts (XWA)

(First Draft; may make into a collaborative project, particularly since as of Draft 1 there are 2 weeks to do so. Plus, I'd like to do some kind of character arc.)


After just settling back in from his most pressing duties of managing enlisted grunts, Jay Forerunner heard the sirens blare. He jokingly narrated, "It sure feels good to be running around again!"

The briefing was brief, with him only catching the gist of it: "We're under a surprise attack! Shoot Imperials!" One detail was caught, though: squadrons will be receiving special assignments each. Dagger was to fly B-Wings, taking out Bombers then focusing on the star destroyers once the Redemption was safe from the more pressing threat of torpedoes breaching the hull.

Jay didn't have much time to adjust, as he soon found out when he launched. Once the enemy strike was on, he quickly realized his targeting commands were out of whack. He muttered under his breath while trying to figure out how to target the closest enemy who has him targeted.

At the same time, he had to spray his six-shot setup at the cluster of bombers and try to help intercept their warheads. Once most of the bombers were either disabled or destroyed or out of torpedoes, he heard a radio message from Dagger lead.

"I sure hope you're not planning on going lone wolf again, Jay."
"Don't worry, I'm not." He switches to broadcast all Dagger Squadron, then he boldly commands, "Cover me! I'm going in!"
Another member responds, "Famous last words..."

After acknowledgement of his order, he pelted the star destroyer with his own warheads, then hurried back to the Redemption for a restock. One Interceptor was stuck on his tail, compelling him to desperately spew flares out of his back. None of them hit, but after forcing all power to engines, he was soon out of laser range.

After landing, a precious minute depleted before he was fully ready to jump back into the fray for round 2. He again bombarded the main Imperial Star Destroyer with his rockets, which brought its shields to 2%. This was enough to force it to retreat, but Jay wasn't satisfied. Oh no. He vowed to claim that capital ship as a trophy. So with all 3 lasers and 3 ions, he battered the hull and systems, ignoring the one or two Interceptors struggling to significantly endanger his shields. Finally, he disabled it and grumbled confidently, "You're not going *anywhere*." With some help and a couple minutes, he certainly bagged another Star Destroyer onto his helmet. Considering it's arguably a pilot tradition to mark kills on a helmet, he has a small row of triangles, each representing a star destroyer he turned to junk.

By then, he saw the Victory Star Destroyer and its bomber compliment already working against the Redemption and he boomed, "What?! They're flanking us!" The Redemption could no doubt hold its own in a standoff against the smaller vessel, but a final salvo of rockets were in order. This meant another pit stop to load up. After executing these maneuvers, the enemy was weak enough for friendlies to finish the job, completing the mission outright.

At debrief, there was a mix of excited hoots and sighs of relief. When the formalities were over, he tried mingling with the rest of Dagger Squadron, figuring out the personalities and seeing how (if possible) he could fit.