X-WING

　OP 3: Attack Weapons Convoy

　File Name: ystrike5
　Mission Briefing
　A vital Imperial convoy is expected to hyperspace into the area around our Comm Sat near Orron III. Assist your wing leader in destroying the convoy. You will be in the number-two spot of a three-ship group of Y-wings. The remainder of the strike force is made up of a lone X-wing and another three-ship formation of Y-wings. You will enter an empty area of space to prepare your ambush of the Imperial convoy. The first elements of the convoy wild arrive in less than two minutes.
　Farlander's After-Action Report
　We all went through the standard mission-start procedure. I fully charged my shields and cannons, and reset the recharge rates to normal.
　The first two corvettes dropped out of hyperspace and flew right past us, so we all turned to make an attack from their left rear quadrant. X-W Blue got off the first torpedoes at the number-one corvette just as three Imperial transports dropped in.
　I had targeted the same corvette, but I wanted to save my torpedoes. As I was closing in to cannon range, a pair of Imperial shuttles dropped in. Next was another pair of transports, and then a pair of Assault Gunboats from Tau squadron. I kept boring in on the corvette, and saw that its shields were failing, so I reduced my throttle to one-third. I got close enough to ID it as the Hyko 1 before I broke off to make another attack run. My speed was still too high to just take up position behind it and blast away.
　A pair of freighters arrived as the Hyko 1 finally began to disintegrate. As I turned to attack the other corvette, Red 1 launched a pair of torpedoes at it. In a few moments, it joined its twin in oblivion.
　I went back to full throttle and targeted one of the three transports. I switched to torpedoes and was just about to get a solid lock when GUN Tau 1 opened upon me from behind. I held on a moment more, until I got the lock, fired, and then pulled back hard. It was then that I realized that Gold 1 was already blasting away at the same transport. Another torpedo wasted.
　I turned to go after Tau 1, and noted the unfortunate arrival of another pair of Gunboats. I switched back to cannons, and, while I was engaging my target, yet another pair of Gunboats dropped Out of hyperspace!
　As soon as Tau 1 exploded in a storm of electrical flashes and incandescent gas, I queried the CMD for the next-nearest enemy. It brought up Mu 2, which was still some distance away.
　I began to cycle through the target list to find the newcomers designated as flight group Rho. I decided to go after Rho 2, and, as A turned to engage it, my R2 warned that I had a missile homing on me.
　I targeted the missile and tried to evade, but it caught me anyway. Y-wings weren't made for evading missiles, but, fortunately for me, they did have strong shields.
　I rebalanced and recharged my shields, then queried the CMD again for the nearest fighter threat. This time it brought up Rho 1, and I turned toward him for a head-on pass. By now I had a healthy respect for the Gunboat's firepower, so I went into a weave as soon as he began firing lasers. When we were less than half a click apart, I came out of my weave and maneuvered onto his tail. A minute later, he was history.
　The chase had led me near the two freighters, so I targeted one and requested assistance from my wingmen. I switched to torpedoes, and, because I was so close, I didn't bother waiting for a lock. I launched two torpedoes in single-fire mode, and both hit. I came around for another run, and, just as I launched, I heard Red 3 take a hit. Then Red 1 bought the farm. Each had turned its tails on the enemy Gunboats in their haste to help me with the freighters. This was suddenly turning into a very bad day.
　I had identified one of the freighters as the Uhuru and the other as The Tone. I kept looping back and forth between them, firing cannons mostly, but adding on a few torpedoes when I could close to point-blank range. During firing runs, I reduced speed by cutting my throttle to one-third.
　Finally, both freighters were destroyed, and I cycled through the target list a few times to get an idea of how things were going.
　Y-W Gold was fine, as was X-W Blue. There was one Imperial shuttle left, and four Gunboats.
　I headed off toward the Gunboats, having selected Tau 2 as my target. After destroying Tau 2, I went after the shuttle. When I had eliminated it, I got the Mission Complete message, but I decided to finish off the last of the Gunboats before I hyperspaced home.
　All three had ganged up on X-W Blue. I destroyed Rho 2, only to have two more show up to replace it. I reconsidered the merits of staying in the area, and decided that it was time to leave after all. The other pilots concurred. As I might have guessed, more Gunboats arrived to make life difficult. Y-W Gold 1 didn't make it, but I kept the Imperials occupied while the others escaped. In the end, it was just me and one Gunboat, and then it was just me.
　C.O.'s Analysis
　Lagrane was really unhappy today. No, to be honest, he was furious.
　"We're losing too many pilots, Farlander. It's time you learned to be more careful. To begin with, you should probably refer to your map more often, especially when requesting assistance from your wingman. If you see that your wingman is engaged and cannot safely disengage, don't order him to help you!
　"Also, analysis suggests that you might have had fewer tosses if you had taken care of all the threats before bothering with the freighters. By leaving shuttles and Gunboats active, you risked the safety of your group. Moreover, you took some risk that the shuttles and transports might get away. You probably should have made them your first priority. The freighters and the corvettes weren't going anywhere soon.
　"Losing two wingmen this way is unacceptable. There will have to be an official inquest regarding the incident. I'm afraid that, in the meantime, you're to be suspended from flight operations, captain. That is all. You're dismissed!"
　I never got in a word.
　Debriefing (Win Conditions)
　SHU Kappa, CRV Hyko 1 and 2, TRNs Epsilon and Lambda, and FRTs Uhuru and The Tone all must be destroyed.

　I blamed myself for the deaths of Tan'tro and Ahsmar. Maybe I had been lucky up to this time, Maybe I wasn't a very good pilot after all, pulling such a stupid stunt. And here I was, grounded. Maybe it was for the best.
　My cabin door irised open. Only Hamo ever entered like that, without announcing himself first. I looked up slowly.
　"Hey, tough break," he said.
　"You heard," I said miserably.
　"Don't get down on yourself. We all have our moments."
　"Yeah!" I asked cynically. "Did you ever..."
　I stopped short. Hamo was wearing some new additions to his uniform. He had made commander! Somehow, it only accentuated my own misery.
　"You're a commander," I said after a moment.
　He looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah, well, it's a long story. You want to go grab some port and something to drink? Come on. You need to get out of here."
　I mounted a token resistance, but I let Hamo coax me into going with him. I was happy to see him again, but I dreaded meeting anyone else. I felt like a failure. Like a murderer.
　When we reached the mess, I spotted Raider and a couple of other pilots sitting around, just passing the time between missions. Raider got up and joined us after a few minutes, sliding easily into one of the seats across from me.
　"Porf, eh!" He made a face that adequately expressed his opinion of our meal. I made the introductions, figuring that Hamo and he hadn't met before.
　Raider looked a little uncomfortable.
　"Look, Farlander," he said. "Everybody's getting a little edgy. Losses are piling up, and replacements aren't coming in fast enough. But we think that you got a raw deal. I've watched you pilot a fighter, and I'd personally go up with you again any time."
　I sat there pretty well floored. I still felt like a murderer, but at least I was a murderer with friends.
　"Let me buy you a drink, captain," said Hamo.
　After a rocky start, my friendship with Sam Raider grew. He and Hamo and I began spending a great deal of time together. The inquest came and went, and I was returned to active duty with a warning and a compulsory visit to TIE-Die and his simulators for some specific brushing up. The incident passed, and, like many situations that seem to offer nothing but tragedy, some good came of it. I cleared my head a little, gained back my self-respect, and made a new friend.
　But I couldn't bring back Cardacs, Tan'tro, or Ahsmar. I'd learned that people die in battle, sometimes even people close to you, but I didn't think I would ever get used to it.
　My next two missions were solo missions: No wingmen.