Kodan Black Posted June 26, 2015 A few days after returning to the ship from Nar Eurbrikka I was summoned to Commander Ninkovich's office again. Imperial Intelligence had identified a building on Nar Eurbrikka believed to be a Rebel asset. The following day an assault was going to happen and he wanted me to pilot one of the craft they were going to use. It was a pretty straightforward plan, Stormtroopers would surround the building on the ground and keep out of sight. I'd fly in the initial craft with Stormtroopers to the roof and once that team secured the roof more craft would bring in reinforcements. Then the ground force moves in and we have the building from the top and bottom. It wasn't like the Empire was suddenly short on pilots though, so this was clearly a test for me. I'd be piloting one of the newer atmospheric transport craft, it had earned the nickname "Sad Elephant". It was small, unarmed and lacked any armor. The pilot was out front with loads of visibility but nothing to keep them safe. On the plus side it was essentially a frame with a big engine, so it was fast and agile. I'd flown them a few times before to move cargo planetside during a resupply run. It wasn't an assault craft and it would be shredded flying into a firefight; but speed and maneuverability meant it could appear suddenly and offload quickly. The following day I met the Stormtroopers who would be riding with me. They seemed pretty nervous when they learned I was a TIE pilot, but once I confidently walked them through my plan they seemed more at ease. They figured out I wasn't some fighter jock slumming it, but that I actually knew what I was doing. I flew high with the rest of the traffic to appear harmless, then dropped down to ground level 3 kilometers out from the building. From there we went lights out and full throttle. Normally in my TIE I'd go vertical at the last second and pop up, but the guys out back meant that wasn't an option. I kept to about a 30 degree climb and flared sideways on final approach to bleed off speed and allow the troopers a chance to survey the situation on the roof and fire if needed. Dropoff is always the toughest part. The possibility of mines or other explosives could bring the mission to a quick end. You also had to mind what was nearby on descent, a lesson that had been reinforced 2 weeks ago. A pilot I knew was flying a Sad Elephant on a supply run and hadn't seen a cable running out to a communications array. He caught his rear skid on it and when he took off the cable wrenched the skid into his starboard engine. With the port engine suddenly the only source of thrust he had gone into snap rotation and without altitude to set things right he'd spun in. A sad end for such a simple oversight. Plus you hang there motionless while your guys rush out. It takes seconds but feels like hours. You are stuck in one spot, a giant pinata just waiting for someone to pick up a stick. Once the troopers were on the roof I went full throttle and fought to gain altitude and distance. Alert Rebels could take that chance to fire something off and without speed you are an easy mark. Crashing in a city is especially dicey. Normally you trade speed and altitude for time to find a good landing spot but with buildings all around you that option is limited. You do what you can and hopefully find a nice wide, long street to set down on instead of eating a building. We had been lucky and there were only 3 very surprised sentries. They hadn't even managed to get their weapons into firing position before we had taken them down. They were just trying to do their job, but I'd done mine better and that had been the difference. Once inside the orders were to take prisoners when possible, but those unlucky few had been on guard duty. They were combatants and flying the Sad Elephant meant we couldn't risk errant shots. Once I had dropped off my team I returned to base to grab a medic team and supplies then headed back out to loiter nearby the target so we could handle any casualties. Hopefully we wouldn't be needed. There is always the grim reality that little resistance likely means the target is wrong or not very valuable. Usually there is correlation between casualty rates and value of what you capture. You hope the cost paid is worth it. Please judge and critique! Extra pics: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MKJoshA Posted June 27, 2015 Your builds keep getting better and better! I love the clean, Star Warsy feel to this. And your drop ship is great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Commander Beltar Posted June 27, 2015 Agreed with Josh! Your part supplies grow steadily, allowing you to build even better creations! The roof definitely looks like it belongs in the Star Wars universe, and I love the look of the Sad Elephant, with all the angles and greebles on it! Great story as well! ~Beltar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tariq j Posted June 27, 2015 Excellent work! The drop ship is brilliant! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kodan Black Posted June 28, 2015 Thanks everyone, glad my parts supply has grown enough to allow me to pull off bigger builds that are more complete. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markus1984 Posted July 13, 2015 Yes, really good work at this part of your story! markus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka Posted August 13, 2015 Judges have awarded you 4 XP! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
