R2F Headlines
---------------

I) Well, November certainly was a giving month! 36 reports, everyone did a fantastic job of participating. Our activity is staying strong, lets keep it up for December&January! :)

II) Shik (RSXO) was playing with the database and accidently messed things up..and sort of made us all cadets. Don't worry, I fixed the problem, got some Squad CO's to help me out. (Thanks Bethan, Nate, and everyone else in that room that night.) So if your rank is incorrect please let me know.

Also because of this, Promoting has been disabled for a while until everyone's rank is fixed. (All active members.) So just sending out a little warning about that.

III) The R2F605 Run-on on the BBS went pretty smoothly, 20 good posts. This mission I'll give 1 merit to those who participate in the run-on. :) Remember to always check the R2F Message Board. (http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/bbs/board.php?board=3)


R2F 6.05 Results
------------------

Well it was a long hard mission, but someone had to come out on top. A new champion has arrised, let us congratulate Shadow Squadron. :) The rest of the results can be viewed at: http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/itodscores/index.php3?action=currFleet&fleet=2&id=26


Medals for R2F 605
---------------------

I) We have another unusual, and rare occurance. Two people have one the Top Gun, just like in R2F6.01, and both will be awarded.

Commander Brian Neithan, please step forward. For your excellent flying you have recieved the R2F Top Ace Award. {]-|Top-Ace|-[}
Commander Cynna Jade Sunrider, please step forward. For your excellent flying you have also recieved the R2F Top Ace Award. {]-|Top-Ace|-[}

There is also a new Award I'd like to talk about. This one is for pilots that show a lot of dedication, and persistance to improve their flying skills. During 605 I saw Sey'an Arasth I saw his scores greatly improve. So I award him with the R2F Pilot Award.
[***(-o-)***]
Congratulations.

---
II) An excellent Mission Narrative was written, and I award the R2F MRM to Bethan Leitbur. Congratulations. {]-R2F-MRM-[}
---
III) It's rare to see a Squadron do so well, as to say they've had 100% participation through a long run of missions. The Commander is usually responsible for this not so small miracle. It's also rare to see a Squadron do so well for so long.

Colonel Bethan Leitbur, please step forward. For your great dedication to Wraith, Storm Wing, and the overall fleet you have been nominated for the Unit Commander's Commendation! [=*=]

---
IV) Then of course, there's that Squadron that is built from the ground up. Some old seeds planted in new soil, who knows, but Shadow Squadron made it work. Strong to the very end Shadow Squadron had 10 out of a possible 12 reports. The participation is outstanding, and I hearby nominate everyone in that Squadron for the Unit Commendation! <=*=>


R2F ITOD 6, Mission 6
-------------------------

The file is attached.
Laser Cap: 2500
Due: January 15th, 2002 (Happy Holidays)

- Mission Rules -

1. The mission can be flown as many time as you want and you may report as many times as you want. Your highest score will be counted towards the final standings.

2. You MUST fly the mission on MEDIUM.

3. Your pilot file MUST be attached to the e-mail when sending your report. Be sure the pilot file contains the data from your mission before sending it. Pilot containing no data will be considered invalid and will be scored as a 0.

4. You must use a "clean" pilot when you fly this mission. Any pilot that is not "clean" will be considered invalid and a 0 will be scored. A "clean" pilot is one that has been used only to fly the current mission.

5. Only reports sent to r2freports@yahoo.com will be considered valid. If your report and pilot file is not sent there it will not be counted. You may, however, share your report with others.

6. Overuse of lasers to blanket one's score will not be tolerated. If you blanketing your score in suchways as firing on invincible ships or using weakened lasers on purpose, or any other way, your report will be null and void and your score will not be counted. For this reason a laser cap will be active for this mission. If your number of laser hits is a large amount over the cap (like...400 being large), you are considered to be blanketing your score and the report will not be counted. There is a -100 point deduction for every hit over the cap until it gets to 400 hits over the cap.

7. The mission must be flown as the first mission of the first battle in TIE Fighter (b1m1fm.tie) unless there is good reason to fly it as a different mission.

8. Due to past instances of TIE giving a pilot a weird score, everyone's score will be recalculated using a score method very similar to the normal one given by TIE Fighter. Your score may come out a few thousand points lower due to some percentages that TIE adds to score, but keep in mind it will be the same reduction for everyone.


Narrative Briefing, by Bethan Leitbur
-------------------------------------

Bethan sat back in his chair and shook his head slowly as Kenel finished going over the information that the spies had given up after an "extensive" interrigation. He didn't know how much Intel had really pushed to get the information out, but he knew that it always sounded better to say that they had been either thorough, or extensive.

Vender sat across the table from Bethan and was puffing on one of those cigars again. The habit was not one that Bethan particularly liked, but there was more important things to argue about then Vender's habits. Off to Bethan's right sat Corran, still not very concerned with what was going on, Face midtable on his right, and on Vender's right about the middle of the table stood Kenel. The middle of the table was lit up as a hologram floated over it, showing the image of a planet and its satellites.

"So, it appears that the Imps are setting up something, a base perhaps or a mining operation maybe, around the moons of Morba. We couldn't determine the size or strength of the operation, but it appears to be vital to their retaking the rest of the Cadrel Expanse."

"Thank you Kenel." Vender stated mildly as he continued to stare up at the holo in front of him. "It's good placement for a base, not easy to get in with anything big to attack.So, what suggestions do you all have?"

Bethan sighed and sat up straight, then said, "I say we just write this whole thing off. You know as well as I do how much this thing stinks of a trap."

Kenel half rose again as he replied, "Hey, those Imps weren't very forthcoming to give that info up. It took a lot of work by my people to get that out of them."

"I'm sure it did Colonel" Bethan rebutted, "now sit back down."

Kenel frowned at the man, then turned to look at Vender, who was also nodding for him to sit back down. As Kenel did so, Vender went on, "Well Colonel, please continue as to why we should just forget all of this and why it's a trap."

"Certainly. The moons right now are coming into alignment, which means any ship in that area is caught in the extended gravity well. Hyperspace traffic in the system has already begun to alter its courses to compensate. Now remember that this is in this system, Dia Pas, and given the amount of forces we keep here, setting up any permanent facilities would be far too risky, since traffic to the planet is not that immense."

"So" Face interrupted, "Sounds to me like a nice hiding ground."

"Exactly, but only for a short term period, like this alignment. Once this alignment passes, the rotation of the moons would open up, exposing anything as major as Kenel's spies are talking about. A few ships though could hide there easily for now, and if anything new came in, would make a perfect ambush."

Face then said, "Thank you Mr Paranoia. Still, the fact is that something IS most likely out there. I say we just go in and take whatever it is out. With the IA here, we can outmaneuver them with ease, and use something else for support. Forget cautious."

Bethan just threw his hands up and exhaled. "Yep, there's the typical response from the typical fool."

"Hey, who you calling a fool?"

"Look, why do we even NEED him here? We got other Frigates if that's the case, besides, he flies X-Wings."

"You prefer your tin cans buddy? I'll whoop you in my ship every time."

"Two minutes against my Defender and I'll have you into so much space debris."

"ENOUGH!" All eyes turned to Vender, who slammed a fist on the table to reiterate his demand. "Both of you, bickering is not needed. Now I have asked Face to bring in the Idiot's Array and Wildcard for support. Understood?"

"Yes General."

"Sure General."

"Now," Vender continued, is there anything ELSE we should consider?"

Corran then sat up and said, "Yeah, two quick things. First, I'm with Bethan that this most likely isn't anything long term, but what could be there is a small taskforce waiting to hit us once we head off on some mission. It wouldn't be hard for mobile units to stay hidden there and then come out once our ships take off. The other possibility is that this is a trap, but meant to simply lure us away from our base here to investigate. I think we need to look at both of those possibilities."

"Well put Corran." Corran nodded in thanks to Vender, then sat back as Vender went on, "Ok, look, I think we all know the risk in this. However, from the sound of it something is there, in system, and we need to know what. So we're going in."

A moan came from Bethan as he slapped his head and shook it, but Vender ignored it and went on. "We have the Prometheus along with the Idiots Array. The rest of our escort and the Sentinel forces will stay here for now. The Idiot's Array and the Prometheus should be able to handle whatever's out there. Now, now that we know WHAT we'll do, let's figure out HOW we'll do it. Bethan, you have any thoughts?"

--------------------------------------------------------

Bethan sighed as he stood at the podium in the briefing room, all the faces staring up at him. He had wanted to get back to Aecreas after the meeting, but Vender had ordered that he give the briefing first since so much of this attack plan had been his. The mission was suicide anyway, but at least now the chance of Retribution Fleet material was not as likely to be lost, although Face hadn't enjoyed the ideas too much. Still, the retaliatory strike against the Imps that had attacked Aecreas had already been delayed three days by this, and the longer they waited the worse off they were.

"All right everyone, listen up, we've got a nice one for all of you here."

A holo of the Dia Pas system appeared, and immediately highlighted the mature, yellow-white Dia star. "It's right here in our backyard." As he said that, the holo zoomed in again to focus on Morba, the large gas giant whose moons and rings engulfed it. "This, is Morba. At the moment its twenty-two moons are going through an alignment, which means one bantha of a gravity well. We believe that the Imps are using this to stage some sort of operation inside the moon area indicated around here. We are therefore going in to take them out."

"Our 'good friends' over in the PBF have loaned us the Idiot's Array as well as Wildcard Squadron. They will be leading the strike."

Moans came from the R2F pilots now. The idea of losing kills to snubs was not something any of them enjoyed, but at least this came with a tradeoff. "Now now, I know what you're thinking, I know that the Idiot's Array is old and decrepid, moves like a rusted old tin can and is falling apart from the bulkheads. Not like our new, state of the art and perfectly conditioned vessels, but it's still a handy ship, and the General wants them along." Laughs burst from the crowd, while boos and spitballs flew up from the Wildcard pilots. Face meanwhile has a face that was ready to kill. Good thing he would be leaving back for Aecreas soon.

"The Idiot's Array will enter the moons' gravity well through this route, sweeping by as fast as possible along with fighter escorts. For this, we will be using our brights, and since we expect capital ships, you will be supplied with proton torpedoes."

"The Prometheus will sit out beyond the gravity well and wait until the Idiot's Array flushes out the enemy forces, and then move in if needed to engage. Objective is as always to kill the Imps, but at worst get them to scatter, and away from this system. Your final data coordinates will be provided to you once you're in your fighters. Good luck everyone, and I hope to see you all after."

With that he turned and left the podium. He hadto get out of there before any of those crazy WildCard pilots decided to pay him back for his comments. Besides, given how the mission would place their vessel right in harm's way, they probably weren't too pleased with his strategy already. Oh well, he had more important things to deal with now, and so did they.

- Brigadier General Adam "Vender" Fene
Retribution Fleet CO