Avenger Story 2
by LCM Xura Verr

Verr did a quick snap roll to the left and saw a pair of red laser bolts shot past right where he had been. Almost immediately Verr kicked in some right rudder and was able to come around on the X-Wing's tail that had been following him.  He triggered a quad burst that brought the down the X-Wing's aft shields.  The X-Wing immediately snap rolled to the right and began a dive towards the planet. Verr followed him down toward the planet and applied some right rudder so that he would be able to cut the X-Wing off and blast him. Which is exactly what happened, the X-Wing crossed Verr's sights and he pumped a quad burst into his which blew apart the X-Wing's ion engines and then the X-Wing exploded into a giant fireball.

Verr flew through the fireball and immediately snap rolled left and just barely missed running into a X-Wing that was flying right at him. He had no idea how he knew then to turn when he did, he just knew that he had to turn. Verr put his TIE Advanced into a lazy loop and then tightened it up when he saw that an X-Wing was coming around on his tail. Verr cut hi throttle to 1/3 power which tightened his turn even more. Doing this brought Verr around fast enough to get on the X-Wing's tail. He pumped a quad burst into the X-Wing which brought down the ship's aft shields. Verr applied left rudder when the X-Wing started going right. Verr didn't know now why he did that but it became apparent to him a few seconds later. The X-Wing turned hard left instead of keeping right and crossed in front of Verr's sights and was blasted apart by Verr's quad burst. Verr looked over were the X-Wing had been and saw an A-Wing zip past him blasting away with it's lasers. Verr realized if he had followed the X-Wing he would have been blasted by the incoming A-Wing.

"Death you got an incoming A-Wing bearing zero three nine." Verr relayed to Commander Death. "Roger that Verr," Death acknowledged. A few seconds later Verr heard an explosion and Death's cheer over the comm unit. "Nice shooting sir!" Verr said. "Nice flying Lt. especially when they sprung the trap on you. You handled that like you knew exactly what was going to happen." "Actually sir I got this funny feeling in my gut when they sprang the trap on me. I got this picture in my head that showed me exactly what was going to happen if I'd stayed on the X-Wing's tail. I also got one of those 'visions' when I flew through a debris cloud and I just barely missed running into an X-Wing. Do you have any idea what these 'visions' might be Commander?" Verr asked. "I might have an idea about your 'visions' but we should really talk about this back at base not out here. Set the coordinates for hyperspace and then jump when your ready." "Roger that sir." Verr acknowledged. Verr set the coordinates and pulled back on the hyperspace lever.

The trip back to the ISD Intrepid took about 4 hours. When the lines of hyperspace turned into white stars the familiar dagger shape of the ISD Intrepid hung over the planet Ravouin. The ISD Intrepid and its accompany Task Force is on a deep patrol of the border sectors of the Emperor's Hammer territory. Verr got clearance to land his TIE Advanced in docking bay 2 where the rest of Avenger Squadron was docked. Verr un-strapped from the TIE Advanced and took of his helmet and gloves and jumped down from his TIE and ran over to where CM Death was standing. "Sir! I would like to speak with you about my 'visions'," Verr explained. "Alright come to my quarters in about one hour and we'll talk." Death told Verr as the where walking to the turbolift that would take them to Avenger Squadron's quarters.

As Verr was walking back to his quarters he ran into Colonel NiksaVel. "Sir!" Verr said as he saluted the Colonel. "Hello Verr how'd the recon mission go?" the Colonel asked as he returned the salute. "Well sir, we had 3 X-Wing's and an A-Wing jump as we were conducting our mission. I took out the 3 X-Wing's and Death took care of the A-Wing." Verr explained and used some hand motions to show what kind of moves he had used to vape the X-Wing's. "Good going Lt. I want you and Death to give me a full detailed report tomorrow." Colonel NiksaVel told Verr. Then the Colonel turned and headed towards the simulator room.

Verr turned and walked back to his room. Because Avenger is an elite squadron they get better rooms then normal squadrons. They get a room all to them selfs. Verr entered his room and striped out of his flightsuit and went to the refresher station. When he got out of the refresher station he put on his casual uniform and headed towards Commander Deaths room.

When Verr got to CM Death's room he rang the bell. "Come in," Death yelled. The door opened with the familiar swoosh. Verr stepped into the room "Sir! I'm here at the Commander's request." Verr said as he entered the room. "Sit down Verr. In here we don't have to be formal. I was thinking about your 'visions'. I want to perform a kind of test before we get started. Is that ok with you?" Death asked the question while motioning for Verr to sit in the chair in front of him. Verr sat down and Death put his hands on Verr's temples and half closed his eyes. Verr felt something run across his brain and all of a sudden CM Death was on the floor with the chair he was sitting in on the floor. "Just as I thought. This explains the 'visions' you had earlier today," Death explained as he set his chair back up and sat back down in it. "Sir?" Verr asked with a confused look on his face. "I was testing to see if you were open to the Force or not. By the reaction I got when I probed your mind I'd say that you are Force sensitive. Do you understand what I just said?" Death asked Verr. "Yeah, my parents told me stories of Jedi Knights and the force. I thought it was just a fairy tale I never though much of it. Are you force sensitive?" Verr asked CM Death. "Yes Verr I am force sensitive. Those 'visions' you had were warnings that you get when you open yourself up to the force. You must have accidentally done that by concentrating so hard that it just happened. You see Verr there are two sides to the Force the Dark Side and the Light Side. The Jedi Knights of the New Republic use the Light Side and the Dark Brotherhood uses the Dark Side." Death explained to Verr as Verr watched him intently.

Death explained all about the Dark Brotherhood and the Jedi Knights to Verr for the next 3 to 4 hours. Explaining different force powers how to open himself up to the force and even showed him some rudimentary force exercises he could practice. When Verr left Commander Death's room he had a completely different outlook on life. Now that he knew he was force sensitive and how it could help him become a better pilot and soldier he wanted to learn more about control of the force and how it could help him. So Verr asked Death if he train with him in the ways of the Dark Side. Death agreed and they began training immediately.

Death first showed Verr how to open up to the force and how to let it run through him and help guide him. They first began with basic levitation techniques. Verr was a quick learner and soon he mastered what Death had taught him and had become very adapt at telekinesis. Next Death taught how to use the force to help him with his flying. They did this by flying simulator missions and having Verr open himself up to the force and being able to read the other person's thoughts and then using that to judge when to dodge or when to fire. Verr quickly learned how to use the force to his advantage and his piloting skills doubled.

Verr and Death had to put their training on hold because ISD Intrepid and it's Task Force had been called on to squash a rebellion that has boiled up on the planet Virax. Virax is located on the border of the Strike Fleet's territory. This meant that Avenger Squadron was put on full combat ready status.

Verr was sitting in the cockpit of his TIE Advanced with the white lines of hyperspace surrounding him, he began to meditate and opened himself up to the force. This battle was going to take all the piloting skill and courage he had, the briefing that Avenger Squadron was given stated that they were going to be going up against Virax's best fighter pilots and also the New Republic had sent in a task force to help defend Virax. Avenger was being sent in first along with Copperhead Squadron. Once they were engaged they were to communicate back to the fleet and the rest of the fleet would hyper in and finish off the task force and remaining fighters. Intelligence had estimated that Virax has 3 wings of fighters and that the New Republic has sent in about 5 wings of fighters; 2 wings of X-Wing's, 1 wing of A-Wing's and 2 wing's of B-Wing's. The Viraxen fighters consisted of out dated Z-95 Headhunters and Y-Wings. Intelligence also estimated that the rebel's had brought with them 2 captured Victory-Class Star Destroyers and a MC-90 Cruiser plus a bunch of support craft.

As the white lines of hyperspace became stars of realspace quickly looked at his scanners and noticed that the New Republic task force was no where in sight. All he saw on his scanners was 2 Wings of Z-95 Headhunters vectoring towards them from the planet. "Colonel I'm only reading 2 Wings of Headhunters," Verr radioed to Colonel NiksaVel. "Roger that Lt." NiksaVel responded. "Ok, Avengers I want you guys to take the Z's while Copperhead makes a run at the planet to see if there's anything laying in wait for us," NiksaVel explained. Acknowledgements of the orders started to come over the comm. "Two Flight form up on me we're going after the lead squadron of Headhunters." CPT Tarkin order. "Roger that sir!" both Verr and Hawk acknowledged. Verr kicked in some left rudder and came in behind Takin a little low and to his left side. Hawk came in a little high and to the right of Tarkin. As they closed in on the Headhunters Verr started going over some of the things that Death had taught him. He opened himself up to the Force and stretched out to touch the Headhunters minds and read their thoughts. Verr got a sense of over confidence in the Headhunter pilots. "This should be easy," Verr thought to himself. Verr took one last look at his scanners before he had to engage the Z-95's. Verr saw that at least 2 squadrons of Z-95's where heading towards the 3 TIE Advanced in two flight. With that thought Verr linked his laser cannons to quad fire, even though this slowed down his rate of fire it almost guaranteed him a kill with each shot. Verr also made sure that his shields were fully charged and set to full power forward. He then lined up his crosshairs on the Z-95 in front of him and let out a quad burst from his lasers. The 4 green laser bolts shoot out towards the Headhunter, two of the lasers took down his forward shields while the other struck the cockpit and one of the headhunter's laser cannons. Verr then put his TIE Advanced into a serious of evasive maneuvers that made it almost impossible for the Headhunters to hit him. Verr then targeted one of the Headhunters and maneuvered around in on his tail. He sent a quad burst at the Z-95. The headhunters weak shields couldn't hold up against the power of a full quad burst. The first two laser brought the 95's aft shields down while the other two laser struck the 95's ion engines and they blew up. The headhunter then turned into a huge fireball and Verr flew right through it. He looked at his scanners and saw that Hawk had 3 95's buzzing around him. Verr kicked in some left rudder and snap-rolled his TIE Advanced to the left and vectored in on one of the Z-95's engaging Hawk. Verr blasted the Z-95 in front of him. "Thanks Verr, now watch your six buddy," Hawk told Verr. "Roger that Hawk," Verr responded. Verr then put his TIE Advanced into a tight loop and half way through snap rolled to the right. This maneuver brought Verr on the tail of one of the 95's and he blasted him. The dogfights had brought Verr on the other side of the engagement. This gave Verr a couple of seconds to check the sensors and determine what had just happened.

When he looked at the sensors he saw that the Avenger's hadn't lost a single ship, Copperhead had only lost 2 pilots. The Headhunters on the other hand had lost and entire wing of fighters, plus 2 squadrons from the second wing. Verr also noted that there was no sign of the Rebel Task Force that was supposed to be here. Verr then decided to head back into the fight. He picked out his first victim, the Headhunter was trying to in behind CPT Tarkin. Verr ruddered right then came in full throttle laser blazing, he caught the Headhunter with two of his lasers and blasted him to bits. "Colonel, my scanners indicate that all the Headhunters have been destroyed," Verr explained to the Colonel. "Roger that Lt.," NiksaVel responded. With that NiksaVel opened a channel to the Fleet signaling that it was safe for the Fleet to jump into the system. With that the ISD Intrepid and it's accompanying Task Force jumped into the system. Almost as soon as the Intrepid and it's Task Force jumped in-system the New Republic Task Force jumped in. The rebel task force was larger then Imperial Intelligence had told them. It consisted of 2 MC-90 Calimari Cruisers, 2 Victory-Class Star Destroyers and an Interdictor Cruiser. Fighters started pouring out of the Cruisers and Destroyers. The Interdictor also brought up its gravity-well projectors.

"Sir! I'm counting 8 wings of rebel starfighters coming out of the Vic II's and Cruisers. That's almost double the amount of fighters that Intel said would be here." Verr explained to Colonel NiksaVel with a hint of doubt in his voice. "Roger that Lt. I think if we can take on 3 wings of fighters by ourselves I think we can handle a bunch of puny rebels." NiksaVel said with great confidence. The confidence in his inspired all of the Avenger pilots and killed any doubt that the pilots had. "Now lets form up into Flights and kick some serious rebel butt." NiksaVel ordered. "Two flight on me." Captain Tarkin order. Both Verr and Hawk acknowledge the order. Verr switched his comm channel over to two flights tactical channel. "Sir, what ships we been order to take out." Verr asked Tarkin. " Verr we've been order to take out the A-Wings, then we've been order to fly screening for Krayt while they go after that Interdictor." Tarkin explained their orders. "Roger that sir," Verr acknowledged. With that Verr brought his TIE Advanced around a lined up with one of the A-Wings. He linked his laser to quad burst and let one lose on the incoming A-Wing. The first two lasers burned through the A-Wings weaker shields and the last two laser melted the cockpit away and started the A-Wing into a lazy loop towards the planet. Verr opened himself up to the force and sensed that an A-Wing was trying to get around on his tail. So Verr snap-rolled to the right and then applied right rudder and cut his throttle to 1/3 power which tightened his turn considerably which enabled him to get around on the A-Wings tail and then Verr vaped him. Verr glanced at his scanners and noticed that Tarkin was mixed up with 4 A-Wings. "Two lead need some help?" Verr jokingly asked Tarkin. "Lt. get you butt down here and get some of these A-Wings off me," Tarking demanded. "As ordered sir." With that Verr vectored in towards one of the A-wings and blasted him with a quad burst. Then Verr snap-rolled left and brought his TIE Advanced on the tail of another A-Wing and vaped him. "8 you got two on your tail," Hawk told Verr as he vaped a third A-Wing that was on Verr's tail. "Thanks dude, I could use a little help, man," Verr asked Hawk. "Roger that vectoring in now," Hawk told Verr. Verr glanced at his shield indicator and noticed that his aft shields were about to collapse. Verr started into to a loop and cut his throttle to 1/3 power which tightend his loop up, in the middle of his loop Verr snap-rolled right and kick his throttle back to full throttle. This brought Verr around on the tail of one of the A-Wings and Verr sent a quad burst right up its ion exhaust port. "Ok boys that's all the A-Wings, now form up on me and where going to escort Krayt to its target," Tarkin order. Both Verr and Hawk acknowledged the order.  Verr looked at his scanner and found Krayt Squadron engaged with 2 squads of X-Wings. "We better hurry Cap' they're engaged with 2 squads of X-Wings," Verr told Tarkin. Verr throttle up to 100% and redirected all the laser energy into the engines.

To be continued...