Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Operations Officer!

In honor of Star Wars Day, a new scoring session has been announced and with it comes some new opportunities for RS supported activities!

The Zykara Initiative - Operation Fast Forward (A New Chapter):

It is now 15 ABY.
Six years have passed since the invasion of Blerthmore, and the foreshocks of a new conflict have begun.

Pirate forces have begun to return to the sector in force, with modern technology and training, striking at the fringes of RS space. The Rebel Squadrons, however, does not yet realize the true force behind what seem like random pirate attacks.

To their Galactic South lies the Minos Cluster, and then the Kathol Sector, an expanse of space which has been under New Republic control since 9 ABY. Communications to the sector, in their entirety, seem to have stopped. With the Minos Cluster currently contested due to the RS’ abandonment some years ago, they have been unable to investigate the lack of communications from the Kathol Sector, and with the incessant pirate attacks and increased fighting in the Cluster, it is not seen as a point of concern, yet.

Little do they know, the Kathol Sector has fallen.
Led by the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer Titan, a force known colloquially as the Titan Fleet, has managed to capture the entire sector out from New Republic control with very little resistance. Under the guise of pirate strikes, they have been probing the defenses of the Rebel Squadrons, and believe that they have found a hole. Creating a forward base on the world of Kal’Shebbol, the Titan Fleet stands poised to blitz through the Minos Cluster, and assault the RS’ soft underbelly at Bethlamore. After that, it is a short jump to the critical New Republic shipyards at Sullust… then the core…

Meanwhile, now-Commodore Zykara has recently been appointed as the Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander. Looking toward retirement, Commodore Lommax and Admiral Sconn, along with Rear Admiral Licah Fox and Fleet Admiral Michael Raven, have convinced him to take this one last position. In the relative peace and prosperity that the RS is enjoying, it will be a comfortable position for him to spend his last length of service.
The future of the Rebel Squadrons, and perhaps even the New Republic, rests in what happens next."

Fiction credits courtesy of The Logistics Officer, FA Michael Raven

Legacy Platforms

Missions for X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance are now live (well, ok, X-Wing will be uploaded shortly). Due to a lack of mission builders for certain legacy platforms, I've decided as Operations Officer that it makes the most sense for Hermus to concentrate his efforts on creating new content for XWA and to use the RS's massive historical database to run missions for platforms without mission builders. It is my understanding that Spokes as assistant Platform Coordinator for X-Wing has a massive stockpile of X-Wing missions that will keep us running new tours there for the foreseeable future.

Before anyone flips out and gets the wrong idea, we are still supporting legacy gaming platforms. That said, however, you can't get blood from a stone (well, Chuck Norris can) - if we don't have willing builders, we can't fly new missions. It's a simple equation, and I'm not going to have Hermus running ragged trying to build for four platforms on his own. If there are questions or concerns with this decision, please feel free to contact me directly.

Simming/RPG

On 05-25-2014, the 37th anniversary of the release date of A New Hope, the Allegiance Battle Group will be having their yearly celebration/raffle. This is a time for members to get together, have a good time, and get prizes/awards! Since it's began, the raffle has continued to evolve, and this year involves an ABG wide challenge!

To be announced the day of the celebration, the challenge will be as easy or difficult as the characters make it. Completing the challenge will award every character in the ABG prizes and additional spins on our prize wheels. The challenge is designed such that any character from the most elite veteran to the newest member can not only make useful contributions, but is REQUIRED for the success of the group as a whole.

Details for the celebration can be found in our news feed at the RPG Subdomain and any questions can be directed toward Fleet Admiral Michael Raven.

On a personal note - with the raffle coming up, now is a GREAT time to get involved with roleplaying. For the first time in the history of the RS, we're integrating the ABG's rich storyline of almost twenty years with the main RS storyline and I'm very excited to see the results. Our simmers can be found in #allegiance on DALnet. They don't bite, much.

Modern Gaming

For those not in the know, Fleet Admiral Kaz Falcion is heading up our Modern Gaming initiative in a role very similar to what the Redemption Fleet used to be responsible for in the RS - developing and integrating new games and systems into the RS and making them available for our members to play together. There are some exciting things here, and though a couple of these games aren't specifically Star Wars, they are a heck of a lot of fun. Here's what we've got on tap for the month of May:

Warframe:

As one of our newly supported games, Warframe will officially be a part of the May session of activities. Those interested in joining can find the game and further information at http://www.warframe.com or by downloading it directly through the Steam client.

Missions completed within Warframe can be reported via the RS match reporting system, which can be found through the Multiplayer Hub link on the left side of the main page. Be sure to include any other RS members who completed the match with you, as well as a screenshot of the final mission stats screen. Please remember that to report:

1. Must have scored at least 1 kill.
   
2. Attach a screenshot of the mission result screen showing total mission kills.
   

In addition, there will also be a number of official events held within Warframe throughout the month. The first of these events will be focused on introducing new players to the game and getting them started off on the right foot.

New Player Appreciation Night- Tuesday May 6th, 6:00PM EST - 9:00PM EST

Those new to the game will be given a guided tour through the first few missions within the game, as well as information on game mechanics, resources, mods, etc. If you're interested in playing but don't know where to start, this is the event for you. There sadly won't be any punch or pie, but there will be some useful mods and blueprints up for grabs for those interested in a head start.

Star Conflict

For the month of May, we are introducing Star Conflict as an official activity. If you do not have Star Conflict, you can either download the game through Steam or register an account and download the game directly from their website.

This month, we will accept mission reports that meet the following conditions:

1. Must be a PvP victory match.
   
2. Must have scored at least 1 kill.
   
3. Attach a screenshot of the mission result screen showing total mission kills.
   

Each report will earn points towards being the Multiplayer Top Gun. Also, the player that scores the most kills in a PvP match will earn a Vigilance Flying Cross.

In order to submit a report for Star Conflict, visit the Multiplayer Hub (linked on the left column of the site), Select "Matches" by the Star Conflict entry, and then "Report a match". Select the number of RSers involved. If it was a solo mission, select "2" and then select the option "None" for the second pilot. If 2 or more pilots participated, it may be necessary to take a second screenshot in order to include all pilots. Also, if usernames in Star Conflict are not the same as one's RS name, please make note of that in the Comments section of the report.

X-Wing Miniatures

This is a project near and dear to my heart, obviously, but for the last few weeks, a handful of us have been meeting Friday nights at 9 PM EST to play Fantasy Flight Games' X-Wing Miniatures game through Vassal online. Cody, Cyrel and I have been discussing ways to create RS hero pilot cards, an ITOD system and real character progression - meaning that the more you play, the more you'll be able to upgrade your ships, fleets and pilots.

X-Wing Miniatures really represents the first "new" type of multiplayer activity we've been able to offer in several years that anyone can play, without needing to buy a game, or spend anything more than your time. We're going to put a Wiki page up soon and would love to have a few more people playing with us by the end of May. Our targeted launch for our first ITOD type game would be June and we're hoping for a few more pilots to join us in that time. For details, check the RS mailing list or shoot me or Cody an email!

Operations Office Staff and Closing Remarks

WE NEED SCREENSHOTS

Cody would really love to pass along shots of our exploits on social media, so if you're playing one of the aforementioned activities and something really cool happens, take a screenshot and pass it along to CODY

Operations Office Staff

In the coming weeks, you're going to see more and more things out of the operations office related to our missions, our storyline, and our activities. To that end, I've appointed a few assistant operations officers. With the appointments of the below individuals, I now have the largest...staff...of all the executive offices. Do with that information what you will. Please welcome these folks to the Operations Office - RA Gavin Cantorph Kravis, MGN Eric Skrevski, COL Kimiao Quinal
and MAJ Etain Valen Gaas.

RS Trivia

COL Ta're Djo (look, I'm not doing accents, I'm just not)...has been running RS Trivia via email. If you're interested in participating, I will be working on a way to credit folks for participation and winning (winning!), so contact Ray if you're interested.

Alright, I think that's just about enough out of me. As usual, I'm available at adm.sconn@gmail.com with any questions, comments, concerns, etc. Get to your ships, and May the Fourth be with you!

-ADM Sienn "The Rot" Sconn
RS Operations Officer