ITOD Home > PSG Tour A1 (TIE) > PSG Ta115.1: Back to Practice (GreyTIE Sim I)

Hermus Dogan stepped into the corridor outside his quarters, nearly slamming into a man rushing towards the door. The fellow's expression turned to surprise as he deftly sidestepped to avoid Dogan and stopped in his tracks.

"Sir! The captain wants to see you immediately!"

Dogan raised an eyebrow, noting the junior lieutenant's rank. "Why's that, lieutenant? He could have contacted me via the comm system to save time."

The lieutenant shook his head. "Internal communications are down for maintenance. He sent me to summon you directly, but didn't tell me why he wanted to see you."

"Fair enough," Dogan nodded. "Lead the way, lieutenant."

"Yes sir, he's in the main briefing room. We'll take the turbolift."

The trip clearly took longer than the lieutenant would have liked, as his constant fidgeting indicated. The turbolift was heavily used by other personnel going about their duties, requiring the car to stop regularly before reaching the deck with the main briefing room.

Once they finally arrived, the lieutenant stood to attention. "Captain Dogan as you requested, sir."

Captain Goa Lawah turned from the briefing table to acknowledge the new arrivals. The bags under his eyes and somewhat sluggish movements suggested the man was exhausted. "Thank you, lieutenant. Make sure no one disturbs us."

"Yes sir!" The lieutenant snapped a salute and left the room, making sure the entrance was closed behind him.

Dogan traded salutes with the McGrath's captain. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

"Indeed. I've got a special assignment for you, captain." Lawah fetched a datapad from the briefing table and called up a file before handing it to Dogan. "The full briefing is here."

Dogan accepted the datapad and rapidly skimmed through it for the basic mission details, his brow furrowing. He skimmed the briefing a bit more carefully a second time, not quite willing to believe what he read.

"Something wrong, Captain Dogan?"

Dogan looked up from the datapad. "Are you sure you summoned the right guy, sir?"

"Of course. Is there a problem?"

Dogan hesitated for a moment. "Sir, I'm a starfighter pilot. Unless you want Gold Squadron to drop torpedoes on ground targets, this is well out of my area of expertise."

Captain Lawah frowned. "What are you talking about?" He snatched the datapad and scanned the contents on the screen. "Gah! I called up the wrong briefing. Here, this is the right one." He tapped on the datapad for a moment before returning it to Dogan.

Dogan checked the new data. Instead of a ground assignment, it was a recon mission for three starfighters. "Aye sir, this is more like it."

Lawah sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry about that, Dogan. Could have sworn I picked the right briefing the first time. Guess I need rest."

The Gold pilot smiled knowingly. "Indeed, sir. Nothing wrecks a good plan like fatigue."

"Well said." Lawah dropped into a chair. "Right, then. Let's go over the correct assignment before I fall asleep!"

Dogan claimed a second chair for himself and followed suit. He plugged the datapad into the jack on the briefing table's surface so they could use the wall monitor.

Lawah gestured at the map on the screen. "Right, then. The fighters will remain together until reaching this point, where the mission actually begins. Once there, you'll split up to reconnoiter these three systems. Then..."

The mission was expected to take several days. Dogan was glad he'd cleared away the paperwork from his desk already, but knew it was a very short-lived victory. More would build up during his absence, waiting to greet him when he returned. Such was the plight of commanding officers.

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This narrative is a precursor to the entry here: http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=24800#p24800