ITOD Home > RS Tour 3 (XvT Retro Tour) > XvT 312: Final Strike (RgF 111.3)

Hermus Dogan watched the wreckage of the TIE Interceptor he had just shot up spin away into space, its pilot entombed within. Though the RS pilot was in a lumbering Y-Wing laden with heavy rockets, the highly accurate laser cannons were more than a match for the Interceptor's master. Finding no other targets within three kilometers, Hermus quickly surveyed the battle raging above the T'Seran homeworld.

Imperial-held defense platforms swatted at the various Republic Shield starfighters swarming around them with their turbolaser batteries, periodically making a successful kill. Just beyond firing range of the stations, TIE craft hunted down lone RS pilots caught too far away from their friends. In the middle of the battle, lighting up space with massed turbolaser fire and warheads, Imperial Star Destroyer Vile brawled with T'Seran Star Destroyer Hades and RS MC80 Cruiser Ad Astra in a final battle for the T'Seran system. Neither side was in a winning position for the time being.

Hermus adjusted his course for a dumbfire rocket launch and unleashed his entire payload at ISD Vile, hoping the capital ship's gunners and sensor officers were too focused on the larger threats to notice the stream of warheads. Launchers empty, he targeted the nearest TIE Interceptor and shifted all laser generation energy to the engines.

The comm link pickup in Hermus' ear crackled into a flurry of voices as several sources began speaking. "Scorpion Two here. Shields out, weapon systems damaged. Somebody drop a rocket on Platform Five, and I mean RIGHT NOW! Those gunners are after my hide."

"RgF Five, this is DOW Two. Squint on your six! Evade! EVADE!"

"This is Guardian Three. Put some distance between you and the platform, Scorpion Two. One rocket inbound for the platform now."

"ISD Vile's shields are down! All craft nearby fire at will!"

"I'M HIT! I'M H-"

"Scorpion Two copies, Guardian Three. One of their gunners just grazed me, but I'm alright. Almost a klick and a half out now."

Almost as soon as Scorpion Two finished speaking the rocket tore into Defense Platform Five's hull, its detonation gouging a large chunk out of the station and triggering a string of secondary explosions. The Platform broke apart before Hermus' eyes. A flash from his left drew his glance to another station, specifically Defense Platform Four, which had also succumbed to the Republic Shield's assault.

Hermus eliminated another TIE from the battle and searched for his next target. With four of the six platforms destroyed and ISD Vile's shields out, the Republic Shield had finally turned the tide. Several RS pilots had paid for that advantage, the wreckage from their craft mixing with the remains of Imperial platforms and TIEs. The remaining Interceptors were largely concentrating their fire on the Ad Astra in a vain attempt to save their dying mothership.

The huge wedge-shaped Vile loomed above Hermus' Y-Wing, bright streaks of green flooding out from either side of it and splashing against the shields of the Ad Astra and Hades. The pilot pulled back on the flight stick in his hand until the Y-Wing's nose was aimed at the gaping maw of the Star Destroyer's primary hangar and tightened his index finger on the trigger, sending a stream of bright red bolts into the Vile. The T'Seran system would soon be free of Imperial control.