New Order Customs and Border Patrol

Personal Log: LCDR Varton commanding NOSPC Meticulous

Centaxday, Tellona 29th, GRS 37

575 days into mission

  Contact.

  We encountered the rebels today outside of the Najiba system. They were armed with a few Headhunters and an old bomber, so out went our TIEs to engage them; standard procedure. After the dance with the TIEs cost them a few ships, the rebels decided to retreat to the planet's surface with what they had left: we gave chase.

We had run out of places to search, and personally I was tired of looking. The main force had to be in this system, and if anyone had answers they would be down there.

Once in-atmo we set to scouring the surface for transmissions, life signs, any sign of where the insurgents were hiding. Nothing. 

After the third hour of watching endless trees stroll by in the distance, I slowed us to a drift, set a watch up on the top deck, and retired to my cabin.

It was morning when they hit us.

They came in fast using mostly X-wings and K-wings; no hyperdrive on the bombers. It took me a matter of seconds to realise that their main base must have been on this planet. We just got lucky.

There was barely time to unhitch a few TIEs before we were in the thick of it.

Strafing fire swept the upper level before we could even get the main guns on-line. The watch didn't stand a chance. With no guns a minute in, the survivors on deck had to defend themselves with small-arms, and anti-infantry weapons.  

The TIEs that managed to get in the air did fairly well. Granted, TIEs aren't as quick planetside as they are in space, but the maneuverability translates well. Our pilots were clever; using the mountains as cover, dancing in and around them, often coming up right behind the enemy fighters. 

Just as things started looking under control, one of the K-wings got a lucky hit.

The crazy gundarkson dropped a seismic charge right on top of the ship. I don't know if you've ever seen a seismic charge go off in-atmosphere, but I can tell you right now it's not an experience you want to have. When the charge ricocheted over the edge of the deck and detonated off the port side, the shock cut a gash in the hull big enough to fly a speeder through.

The after-shock pressure wave was so hot it set the hull plating on fire. 

With the damage we had already sustained, that charge was the drop that cracked the bucket. We started to loose altitude and tilt; our engineering crew had to split shifts to fix it: they still had to put out a durasteel fire. Crewmen slid off the deck, a coolant tank ruptured and flooded the lower levels, smoke got in the C&C.

It was a nightmare.

Thankfully, our TIEs were still working miracles up there. Our Defender and Advanceds had been out scouting the system; and when they came, they came into the fight directly from orbit. I saw a few of the K-wings get speared straight through; cut down by vertical streams of plasma.

Three minutes into the battle we got our deck guns on-line and let them eat a full barrage of ion fire.

In-space having your engines cut out means a few seconds of forward drifting. In atmosphere, having your engines cut means a few seconds of freefall. A few seconds of free-fall surrounded by mountains at low altitude.

After ionizing a couple of rebel fighters directly into the ground, the rest got the hint. We didn't let up. By the time the "battle" was over, the rebels had suffered over eighty percent casualties. 

While the rebs may have had their noses bloodied, we didn't fare much better. Half our TIE compliment is gone, and if not for the sacrifice of one of the engineering crews, right now we would be a wreck on the forest floor.

I had my first officer set us down for repairs in one of the valleys; the main repulsors need looking at, and we aren't going anywhere without those. We will however, resume our search for the rebels as soon as we are operational.

The ship may be damaged, and her crew is definitely shaken; but with the blow we dealt them today the rebels can't be doing much better. With a few of our remaining fighters in orbit; they won't be able to sneak up on us again; and after all the places we looked, I know they have nowhere left to run to.

We should be able to rest easy, for now at least; and I'll send a new log as soon as our status changes. 

LCRD Vorton

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