Powering fluidly into space, Malvar headed for the navbuoy designated Patrol Area 1. Upon reaching 0.50 clicks, Malvar punched into Hyperspace. Plunging through the beauty of the shimmering colours of the hyper corridor, Malvar mentally steadied himself for what was ahead. With a bang, he was back in real space, Stinger 1 alongside him. Flicking through the range of targets, Malvar found there were six civilian targets to inspect, all of them carrying cargoes. Heading for the nearest one, the medium transport Renfrohe, Malvar waited for the inspection details to pop up, noting that the Renfrohe carried a cargo of workers, before re-directing himself toward the next ships. Scanning them all as he flew past, Malvar noted their names and cargoes in the order in which he has inspected them. The freight transport Kazaki, carrying fuels, bulk freighter Mureial carrying durasteel, Xiyitar transport Shoagan carrying Tibanna Gas, freight transport Rahed carrying sensors, and finally the modular conveyer Ulbrecht, carrying foods. All of these were fairly normal cargoes, nothing to warrant closes scrutiny. Banking slowly, Malvar headed for the next nay buoy.
Going back into hyperspace, Malvar had a sudden, deep feeling of apprehension. So far, things had been easy. Too easy� Reverting to real space, Malvar saw his fears realised as an Imperial convey lay in front of him, complete with escort. Diving sharply, Malvar quickly targeted a TIE Fighter designated part of Alpha squadron, lined him in his sights and, flicking his lasers over to dual fire, blew the enemy into slivers of light and spare parts. Rolling automatically, Malvar kept moving in order to avoid the Imperial craft that were surely behind him. Flicking his target selector, Malvar prepared to go for another TIE, again part of Alpha squadron. Cleanly rolling in behind the TIE, Malvar watched with satisfaction as the pilot went EV before the heat of the X-Wing's laser cannons clawed his ship out from under him. Relying on the targeting computer yet again, Malvar picked out the only remaining survivor from Alpha squadron, and closed in behind him. However, things were not going to be that easy, as the TIE began to juke like the pilot's life depended on it, which it did. Firing carelessly in annoyance, Malvar watched the TIE roll stupidly into his random fire, battering the TIE down to 16% of its hull. Still the pilot did not give up, juking violently again, in wildly unpredictable ways. Whoever was piloting this TIE was obviously very attached to life, Malvar thought, before remembering that it was just a simulation, and there was no-one actually piloting the craft. Still, he had to perform like he planned to in real life; else the IBG would never take him seriously. Chopping the distance between the TIE and his ship with a few deft moves, Malvar aimed a delicate and decisive shot at the TIE. The pilot, unaware of Malvar's focus, slowed for a second. His last and worst mistake, as the TIE turned to super-heated debris around him. Malvar checked his readouts, and was pleased to see that all of Alpha Squadron had been destroyed, and all by his hand.
Without warning, another TIE Fighter flew straight in front of Malvar, and he fired instinctively, racking up another kill. Checking his shields, Malvar smiled smugly. He had not yet taken a hit. Abruptly, Malvar's smile disappeared from his face, as his ship rocked to the beat of his rear shields being hammered by laser fire. Banking on a knife-edge, Malvar swung his X-Wing sideways and up toward the source of the laser fire, an Assault Gunboat designated Mu squadron. Speeding steadily toward the slow star fighter, Malvar decided to see who had the stronger will, himself or the pilot of the Gunboat. Barrelling forward, into an imminent head-on collision, Malvar lost his nerve. Pulling upwards hard enough to shake the small ship he was seated in, Malvar gasped as another TIE Fighter collided with his X-Wing, considerably weakening the shields. Quickly getting over this minor catastrophe, Malvar immediately matched speeds with the still-targeted Gunship, falling in behind it with a blaze of laser fire. The unwieldy Gunboat was no match for the far more manoeuvrable X-Wing, and quickly succumbed to the prolonged laser fire. Again flicking through his displays, Malvar discovered that all of Beta squadron had been destroyed. Odd, he thought, as he had only taken out two of them. Had Stinger 1 joined the fray, or had the ship crashed with something else? Malvar didn't think he would ever know, and didn't really care. Checking his mission objectives, Malvar suddenly realised he was wasting valuable time. His mission was to inspect at the least, and destroy if possible the Imperial convoy. Ignoring any fighters that might still be pursuing him, Malvar pushed his speed back up to full and headed for the first convoy ship.
Quickly identifying the first two ships, a Bulk freighter and a container transport, Malvar again had a feeling of apprehension. Yet again, he was proved right as turbolaser fire lanced out from the ship ahead of him, a Corellian Corvette designated Reaper group. His composure broken, Malvar switched to torpedoes, firing all six of his complement at the massive ship. Watching as the corvette lost most of its shields, Malvar smiled darkly. Working his craft into an intense spin, he switched his lasers to single fire and let loose on the ship. However, the corvette was hardly scratched by the lasers. Again evaluating his priorities, Malvar swung away from the corvette. Imperial reinforcements could be arriving at any time, and he still had two ships to inspect. Swooping his X-Wing over the hulls of the previously identified ships, Malvar fired petty bursts of laser fire at the convoy, hoping to do minor damage as he closed on a freight transport. Identifying it, Malvar again swept the ship with laser fire, before again forcing his ship into a tight sequence of evasive manoeuvres as another corvette, the only unidentified ship, rained fire in his direction. Keeping up his complicated evasive patterns, Malvar gasped as his computer readouts came alive with the glow of warning lights. An Imperial Star Destroyer had just arrived in-system, and was launching TIE's in earnest.
Malvar knew that he had to get out of there. Finally reaching inspection range on the corvette, Malvar noted that it was also part of the reaper group, before swerving in the direction of the hyper buoy that would return him to the IBG fleet. He could not risk a prolonged attack on the convoy; he would only get himself killed. If this was real-life, the information on the convoy was far more important to Rebel Intelligence than a dead pilot and no information. Putting all of his power from his lasers into engines, Malvar ran for the nav buoy, but as he did so, his rear shields again lit up with the rosy red glow of laser fire. Knowing that time was short, Malvar made a snap decision. Returning power to his lasers, he span to face his aggressor, the final Gunboat in Mu squadron. Mumbling, "I don't have time for this", Malvar unleashed an impatient wave of fiery death on the Gunboat, quickly consuming it. Returning to his original course, Malvar watched with apprehension as the TIE's closed in on him, their characteristic drone filling his ears. And then he was at the hyper-buoy, releasing a sigh of relief as the pinprick stars blurred into lines and then again to the imposing beauty of hyperspace. Arriving at last back at the simulated IBG fleet, Malvar hit the button to end the simulation and the screen in front of him faded to black, before springing up a page of information for him.
Completed Simulation Readout: Patrol 1
Simulation Settings:
Difficulty: Medium
Collisions: On
Invulnerability: Off
Unlimited Weapons: Off
Simulation Statistics:
Craft Flown: X Wing: Stinger 2
Mission Status: Completed Successfully
Mission Time: 11: 06 m : s
Score: 588 Points
Bonus: 400
Kills:
2(1) gunboats
5(0) Tie Fighter
Assisted Kills: 0
Deaths: 0
Taking in the readouts, Malvar wondered where the (1) gunboat kill had come from. He didn't remember it, but still he rationalized, in the heat of combat, a burst of laser fire can go a long way. Though slightly disappointed by his scores, Malvar still felt that he had handled the mission in the correct way. What worried him was how Major Savage would evaluate him. Popping the hatch on the sim cockpit, Malvar downloaded his scores from the simulation into a datapad he took from his baggy flight suit, and climbed out. Standing, hands on hips on the a few metres away from the sim cockpit, was Savage. Malvar slowly walked toward Savage, and handed him the datapad. Mentally steeling himself, he listened as Savage began to speak. "Malvar Sabre, your performance in the mission was exactly what we expect of good officers. You followed mission orders to the letter, and made excellent inflight decisions, as well as demonstrating your dogfighting skills. Keep up the good work and you'll go far in the RS.�" Nodding intently, Malvar was determined not to show his surprise.
A Word document compilation featuring these mission reports and my bio is available on the Downloads page, zipped for convenience.
