State of the Rebel Squadrons

November 2016

I. Foreword
II. Squadron and Academy Updates
III. Awards and Recognition
IV. Mission Briefing
V. Conclusion

I. Foreword

Internet Office staff wanted!

The Internet Office is desperately in need of additional help in keeping the RS site up to date and operational. If you have any experience with HTML, SQL, PHP, other more modern scripting languages, or graphic design, please, get in touch with a member of the Command Staff!

From The Desk of the Fleet Commander

Fireteams

Greetings RS!

It is my pleasure to announce an ongoing tournament that will take place over the course of the next six sessions: Fireteams!

How do you participate? Be active!

Each session, the entire roster of the RS will be divided into groups of no more than five to compete for the top spot on the leaderboard. The roster of each squad is determined based on member’s activity totals from the previous session in an effort to have as even of a playing field as possible between the teams. (Fireteams that cannot be fully filled will receive a bonus to their leaderboard score equal to the average score of the bottom X members on the leaderboard, where X is the number of fireteams that session. )

To be placed onto a fireteam, you must not be LOA at the start of the session, and you must have earned at least one point in the previous session.

For this first tournament, the Command Staff will handle fairly distributing members among the fireteams. If the concept proves popular, in the future, fireteam leaders may gain a say in how the members are distributed and/or be able to choose from the RS roster for their team.

At the end of each session, every player will earn tournament points based on their fireteam’s and their personal performance:

• Your fireteam won the session, 3 points
        
• Your fireteam came in second place, 2 points
        
• Your fireteam came in first place, 1 point
        
• You scored the most points that session, 5 points
        
• You scored the second most points that session, 3 points
        
• You scored the third most points that session, 2 points
        
• You scored the most points within your fireteam, 2 points
  

Recall that there are several ways to earn activity points on the leaderboard:

1. Playing a multiplayer game while representing the RS: Using the general activity reporter, submit a screenshot of yourself playing a Multiplayer game while having a RS clan tag or other RS identifier visible in your user name, thus displaying your association with the RS. Your screenshot must clearly show your username.
   
2. Playing a multiplayer game with a member of the RS: using the general activity reporter, submit a screenshot of yourself and at least one other member of the RS in a multiplayer game. Be certain to select both yourself and the other member when submitting such a report, include the in-game usernames of each member, and check that your screenshot clearly shows those usernames.
   
3. Submitting original fiction to the RS forums: You can submit your writing to the RS forms for the rest of the RS to enjoy, and use the Writing Reporter to claim activity points! You only need to include a word count and a link to the forum post containing your fiction.
   
4. Completing ITOD objectives: Each session, task force leaders create a series of objectives to be performed regarding their activity. Completion of these tasks earns you a score from one to three which translates to up to 15 activity points for the session!
   

Important notes on using the general reporter:

• One screenshot is required for any reports with a duration of fifteen minutes or less.
  
• No more than four reports should be submitted in a one hour period.
  
• Reports with durations greater than fifteen minutes must contain at least two screenshots, each of which must show a timestamp of an in-game clock, end-of-match time, system time (i.e. bottom right-hand clock in Windows), time displayed via an overlay (i.e. shift+tab for a steam game), or time stamps in chat logs from in-game chat. Grossly misrepresenting the time played or otherwise forging a duration on a report is considered Cheating.
  
• Every effort should be made to submit a report within THREE DAYS of the activity occurring. Posting outside of this period without prior authorization from the Operations Officer is considered Cheating.
  
• Screenshots should be representative of the activity being performed.
  

The tournament will be completed at the end of the November session, at which point we will declare first, second, and third place for the first official Fireteam Tournament. There MAY even be prizes…. Only one way to find out!

For this session, the RS has been divided into the following teams:

Fireteam A:
Michael Raven
Danny “David Lee Japan” Qatar
Eric Skrevski
Joshua Hawkins

Fireteam B:
Lucas Benoit-Stark
Kimiao Quinal
Darth Gumbo
Naesa Draw

Fireteam C:
Cyrel Vandroth
Teu Veld
Kirghy Lommax
Persuer
Licah Fox

Fireteam D
Koah
CrazyCarl
Coolcolt57
Kaz Falcion
Swifty Chapple

Fireteam E
Galen McGrath
Ralis Solin
Yaihi’l Beskar
Hermus Dogan
Markus Jarnhann

In the coming weeks, a second leaderboard will be present on RS.org where you can check to see how your team is doing compared to the others, and how you are doing relative to your team!

Markus’s Bunker

Not a ton to add to what the rest of the crew’s got going on- keep on keeping on, RSer’s. As ever, if you guys have ideas you want to try, stuff you want us as a command staff to do, or just to gripe in general, email me! We’re always looking for new and different ways to keep things interesting. I know I’m personally looking forward to seeing how Fireteams shake out. This has been a while in the making and we’re excited to see it play out. All said, let’s pick up the pace and all give each other a little competition this session!

II. Squadron and Academy Updates

Academy News: Things were slow this past session. We received no new confirmed applicants and had no new graduates at this time.

Squadron News:

Resurrection Squadron: Rza is currently still very active, had everyone report last session. Had a late run surge and had a bunch of us get together and play a game of CIv. Want to try and continue that trend into the new session, also want to give a shout out to Cody for help getting that game going.

Diamond Squadron: Overall, activity took a slight dip to only 73%. Three members have been marked as AWOL, and one has been sent back to the Academy. In addition, MGN Mat Bizegar has been replaced as CO by LCM Galen McGrath. Congratulations, Galen!

Red Dagger Squadron: Overall activity level fell to 60% this session, and four members have been marked as AWOL. Also, BGN Naesa Draw has stepped away from the CO position leaving MGN Kimiao Quinal as Acting CO.

The following members will be marked AWOL for failing to earn a single activity point during Hammerfall - Liberation of Lithra:

• MGN Mat Bizegar
  
• MAJ Domeno
  
• LJG Arexander Clevor
  
• BGN Rhuryc
  
• LJG BittyMERC
  
• CMDR Mia Stormchaser
  
• ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran
  

The following members will be transferred back to the academy for failing to earn a single activity point for two sessions in a row:

• LJG Alec_McCast

The following members will be removed from the Academy’s roster for failing to earn a single activity point last session while also being AWOL in the Academy:

• CDT Embow
  
• CDT Hulmyyst Rhodok
  
• CDT Connor Addart
  
• CMDR Jaran “Gunsmoke” Farlance
  
• CDT FoxtrotF

III. Awards and Recognition

RS Activity Top Gun for FA Michael Raven


RS ITOD Top Gun for 1LT Ralis Solin


RS Top Squadron


Squadron MVP


Oct. 12th, 2016 - 11 Year Service Medal for MGN Markus Jarnhann.

Oct 19th, 2016 - 17 Year Service Medal for RA Kirghy Lommax.

Finally, I would like to recognize BGN Naesa Draw. For almost seven years, Naesa has served as CO of Dagger and then Red Dagger Squadrons. This covers the time period beginning just before the Reorganization to the present day. No other Squad CO in at least the last decade has a tenure that comes close to matching that. Naesa, for your loyalty and dedication to the RS and to your squadron for such a remarkable period of time, I hereby award you the Kessel Cup. Congratulations!

Promotions
From BGN Naesa Draw:
“1LT Ralis Solin and CMDR CrazyCarl, you've both come on very strong and overall been most of our MP presence. This is past due for both of you.

I'm happy to promote Ralis to Captain and Carl to Lieutenant Colonel. Good work both of you.”

IV. Mission Briefing - Hammerfall - Fading Aurora

Three weeks ago
-=Victory I-class Star Destroyer Condor in orbit above Aurora, 50:05:24=-

Command and Control was abuzz with activity as personnel moved between stations. In the middle of the room, illuminated with red and green symbols, was a map of the areas under Republic Shield’s control and the surrounding space. Another map showed the organization of RS forces in the Aurora System itself.

Rear Admiral Kirghy Lommax, however, wasn’t in C&C. He was instead alone at the communications console of the seldom used and empty flag bridge. He had initiated a holocomm call directly to the RS Fleet Commander a couple of minutes ago and was impatiently waiting for the connection to go through. Given the distance from Tarsonis and the expected traffic through the relay stations…

The array came to life, and the holographic avatar of Admiral Cyrel Vandroth materialized. “Admiral, I take it ya have a story for me.”

“I do. I’ve sent the details on our losses and estimates of the Titan’s losses to you in a data file. Overall we did well. With the shipyards protected, we’ll be able to recover some of our disabled ships. Titan never got their troops to the surface, but they they did a number on the planetary shields. But I believe we have a bigger problem.” Kirghy took a deep breath and pushed forward with the conclusion he really didn’t want to give. “Sir, I believe we should evacuate Aurora.”

For a moment, Kirghy thought the connection had been cut as Vandroth stared at him in silence before he finally responded.

“May I ask why ya have drawn this conclusion, Admiral?”

“Certainly, sir. Unfortunately for us, most of the fleet has been redeployed in order to facilitate the liberation of Lithra. With the Prometheus II, McGrath, and Valiant reassigned to the Lithra mission, Aurora only has 36 ships, approximately 200 fighters and bombers, and some Golan stations to control the space around the planet. Of the defense fleet, none of these ships are larger than a VicStar, and all of them are damaged to varying degrees. The same goes for the Golans. All of them have sustained some sort of damage. If they come after us like they did this last time, things are going to get real bad, real quick.”

As Cyrel thought about this information, Kirghy continued. “On top of this, we’re not going to be able to repel another landing action on the surface. We’ve only got one shield generator left on the surface, and it’s spotty at best. If it goes, there’s nothing we can do. With the resources that Titan has at its disposal, they’ll be able to beat us with sheer firepower. Admiral, they won’t need tactics and strategy.”

Vandroth thought for a second. “What makes ya think we’re not goin’ tae be able tae get thin’s repaired before Titan strikes again?”

“Timing, sir. Given the sensor readings of the Titan Fleet’s course as it withdrew from the previous engagement, our Intel analysts have narrowed down their possible destinations to just two. Both of these are just two or three days from Aurora and, given the amount of ships that Titan seems to have at its disposal, they could still send a sizeable force back in that same amount of time.”

Kirghy entered some commands on the nearby holotable, causing a local star map to appear. A bright red line left the Aurora system and then split towards two systems in Titan territory. “As you can see, they could be at the closest location by now and planning to return. There’s just no time to repair the damage that’s been done, especially to the planetary shields. With their intelligence resources, I think they’ll push the advantage considering the hard-on they seem to have for Aurora.”

Kirghy remained quiet as Admiral Vandroth studied the map. After a few moments, the Fleet Commander swore as the reality of the situation hit. “I’ve been afraid this would be tha case. I take it ya have a plan?”

“Yes, sir. We may lose the planet, but we’re going to try to make it hurt as much as possible.”

The map changed as it zoomed into the Aurora system. The previous red line disappeared and was replaced by two lines terminating at nearby points above the planet. Small green dots filled the space around both points. Holographic representations of the fleet and Golan defense stations also appeared in green. With the pieces in place, Kirghy began his presentation.

“We have a large number of shuttles and other transport ships. Those will be used to evacuate our personnel from the planet and all static defenses. We’ll take as much ground equipment as we can, but larger items may have to be sabotaged or destroyed. Either way it goes, we’re not leaving equipment for Titan to use against us. Also, we should consider evacuating as many at-risk civilians as we can. We know what Imperials do to those they consider collaborators. This way, we should be able to have the government up and running in no time once we retake the planet.”

The map changed as animated shuttles traveled between the planet and the fleet. Small explosions were portrayed as the scenario played through, ending with the removal of the RS base from the map.

“At the same time, we’ll be doing what we can to provide a warm welcome to the enemy fleet when they return. The two red points above the planet represent what we believe are the two most likely points for the Titan’s fleet to come out of hyperspace. As you can see, there are many small points around each of these areas. We’re going to mine them.”

“Mines? And what if they decide tae arrive at a different location?”

“That’s just the risk we’ll have to take. We’re hoping that they rush back and don’t think about such things. If they do, it’s not really a problem. We will still proceed with the rest of the plan. That includes destroying the Golan stations and bugging out once we’ve evaced as many people as possible. From here, we’ll head to the Rinkin system and the Chevalier D'Almacia base located there. I’m going to try to get some repairs from their shipyard, but we’ll work our way to another shipyard if they can’t help. Once we’re at least combat capable, I plan to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet for the Lithra mission.”

The map changed again. This time, the shuttles docked with the fleet as estimated Titan forces arrived in the minefield. Seconds later, the Golan stations vanished, and the RS fleet jumped to hyperspace. Then the map shut down.

Vandroth was silent for long moments, his holographic representation staring off into space. “... we really don’t have any other bloody choice.… Still… Lad, ya know this is goin’ tae hit morale hard, right?”

He nodded. “I do, sir. If I thought we had a chance to hold them off, I’d argue for it. If you order us to fight, we will. But I don’t see how we can pull off a victory with what we’ve got. I say we risk it all on a push at Lithra and then take back Aurora later. At least this way we’ve got more to work with in that theatre and can hopefully push the odds more in our favor.”

With a sigh, Admiral Vandroth nodded. “Agreed. Proceed with due haste, Admiral. I just hope this will help to turn the tide. Vandroth out.”

The FC’s holographic avatar faded, leaving Lommax alone.

=========================================

The Present
-=Command and Control, Republic Shield Headquarters, Tarsonis, 50:06:04=-

Admiral Cyrel Vandroth was tired. Tired of ordering withdrawals. Tired of writing letters to relatives of those KIA. Most importantly, he was tired of having nothing to show for it.

Over the past three weeks, Republic Shield appeared to have done nothing in its efforts to remove Titan from the Lithra system. In fact, they were losing the war of attrition. Sure, they had made a few gains early on, but the Imperial fleet came back just that much stronger. The whole operation was bogged down in frustration as failure after failure stalled the offensive.

And then a new problem arose.

Word had finally reached Tarsonis of the fall of Aurora.

Sure, he and High Command had known for weeks. Rear Admiral Lommax had delivered his report personally through holocomm. The Aurora Defense Fleet had indeed been outnumbered when the Titan forces arrived. Yes, the two Imperial II-class Star Destroyers and their four Imperial I-class escorts had sustained heavy damage from coming out of hyperspace in a minefield. But the smaller vessels of their fleet, numbering just over a hundred ships, were more than a match for the RS forces. Cyrel’s XO had done exactly what they had discussed: Blow up or sabotage anything the Imperials can use against us later. Now, aside from the enemy fleet in orbit and whatever troops they had on the ground, Aurora was defenseless compared to its prior state.

The problem he had now was that morale plummeted when the word got out. Aurora had been a holding of the fleet since some of its earliest days. Its loss was devastating. Officers who had once been hopeful of a miracle now seemed lethargic and morose. It seemed that the only good news was that the thirty-six ships of the ADF had managed to get some much-needed repairs and were en route to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet.

Cyrel was yanked from his reverie by a young officer running to his side. “Lieutenant Gravik with a report from the front, sir.” The officer then presented him with a datapad.

“Thank yae, Lieutenant,” he replied as he took the datapad. “Dismissed.”

As the officer quickly saluted and returned to his post, Cyrel read through the report once. Then he read it again. Then he read it one more time; the contents were too sensational to believe.

RE: Sentinel Company

Admiral Vandroth,

It appears that one of our own has commandeered a Destroyer and is possibly defecting to Titan. Here are the details as we know them:

The battlecruiser Phoenix was en route to pick up members of Sentinel Company, Aurek Squadron following their escape from the facility on Kal’Shebbol. During the course of the mission, a team of Sentinel personnel under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ella Romeiser, 5th Platoon CO, proceeded to take over critical portions of the ship including, but not limited to, engineering and the bridge. Before any action could be taken against her and her forces, the ship jumped to hyperspace for an unknown destination. At this time, we believe Aurek Squad was recovered before the Phoenix jumped and may try to stop Romeiser.

Further updates will be sent as we obtain more information.

The commander of the Rebel Squadrons raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, cursing aloud: “Well, kriff.”

*When it rains, it pours…*

Activities:

X-Wing Alliance (XWA)

Briefing: While we thought we had the Titan force on it's heels and were preparing our invasion of the Lithra system, the Imperials were apparently making a simultaneous counter attack at Aurora! With all our fighters down for refueling and repairs after the strike on Lithra, we have no choice other than to pull out and cover our retreat with whatever ships are available! Sound general quarters, make sure all turrets are manned with whatever able-bodied soldiers are available and let's get out of here before the second wave hits!!!

Objective instructions: Mission is available here:
http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/itod/mission.php?id=1174

1 point for flying the mission
1 for getting 100% Alliance forces to safety
1 for killing 100% of Imperial forces

Instructions for playing: Download the Lithra Strikes Back.tie file, rename it to 1B1M1G.tie and place inside your Xwing Alliance/MISSIONS folder (backing up the original, of course). From the Combat Simulator, launch Battle 1 Mission 1 and the program will load/launch this mission.

X-Wing vs TIE Fighter (BoP) (XvT)

Briefing: Pilots, I want to make sure the hard work of some of our predecessors is not wasted!

Objective Instructions: 1 point (up to 3) for each of the wonderful historical XvT missions that you fly this session!

Missions can be found here:
http://missions.rebelsquadrons.org/XvT

Empire at War (EaW)

Briefing: Titan forces are closing in on Aurora, and we need to keep them at bay long enough for personnel to evacuate our orbital base. We expect the enemy to arrive in a series of waves. Additional fighters will be launched from the base as they are readied. Keep the Titans off of the base, and let's get our people out of there!

Objective Instructions: One point for playing the mission, Two points for victory on any difficulty, Three points for victory on elevated difficulty: medium or hard

Instructions for loading the mission:
Place the .ted file in the location Star Wars Empire at War\GameData\Data\CustomMaps
In-game, select: single player > skirmish battles > custom maps > space > Lithra strikes back
Finally, click "Advanced..." and set the win condition to "Destroy Enemy"

Mission file available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4lIItC_-gRyQVRGV3oxZ0pZaDMzUEo3X2FHcEZBWjVkdWsw/view?usp=sharing

Star Citizen (SC)

Briefing: Play some ranked matches of vanduul swarm and see how far you can get. 1 point for beating through wave 12, 2 for 14, and 3 points for all 16 waves.

Fiction Writing (WRITING)

Briefing: Titan’s forces continue to pummel the RS forces, and the grip of a possible Lithran invasion continues to slip away like grains of sand. The concept of loss fuels many of the RS members, which serve as both a reminder of the past as well as beacon for the future, for no battle great or small, occurs without consequence. With morale and vigor lowered, the time has come to rouse the troops and motivate who may feel that all is lost.

Objective Instructions: Write a story in which you muster up words (or actions) of inspiration to the other New Republic personnel. This could be something solo, or a combination between you and another character. Consider the fact that further losses may hinder the success of a possible Lithran invasion; therefore, your influence through words (or actions) may pose a direct correlation in the manifestation of a major turning point.

Post your submission to the designated area of the Fiction Writing forum: http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=3668

Point Distribution:

-1 point for a submission of 500 words that illustrates the passion, drive, and overall method in which to attempt to rally up the troops.

-1 point for a submission that exceeds 1,000 words.

-1 point for a joint submission with another RS member.

Special Directive

Greetings RS!

We wanted to get your feedback on RS squads. Please take the time to fill out the following survey. Once you're done, submit a report to this objective indicating that you have done so, and you'll get credit once it has been verified!

Click here to go to the survey! (Requires google sign-in)

V. Conclusion

Wow! There’s a lot of things going on this session. In the midst of this, I would like for each and every member to bear something in mind.

When we write fiction pieces like those that appear in this SotRS, they are based upon the results of the ITOD activities that YOU complete. The fiction is just the consequence of what we did or didn’t do. I would like to encourage all of you to participate in as many ITOD activities as you can. Right now, things are looking grim. Aurora is lost. Lithra is looking hopeless.

It doesn’t have to stay that way, but only you can change it. We on the Command Team have a lot of power, it’s true. But the Ultimate Power, whether we win or lose, live or die, is in YOUR hands. Together we can conquer any obstacle.

Now, let’s get out there and kick some Imperial butt!

Regards,


The Command Team


Eric Skrevski
Rebel Squadrons Personnel Officer
Contact the Medals Officer


MGN Markus Jarnhann
Rebel Squadrons Operations Officer
Contact the Operations Officer


FA Michael Raven
Rebel Squadrons Logistics Officer
Contact the Logistics Officer


RA Kirghy Lommax
Rebel Squadrons Executive Officer
Contact the XO


ADM Cyrel Vandroth
Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander
Contact the FC