State of the Rebel Squadrons

October 6th, 2020

I. Foreword
II. Results
III. Recognition and Awards
IV. Roster Updates
V. Mission Briefing
VI. Mission Objectives and Activities
VII. Conclusion

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of the State of the Rebel Squadrons. This newsletter provides you, the members of the RS, with the latest news, ramblings, and information on the ongoings of the Rebel Squadrons. As this newsletter comes in a delayed fashion, there will be a vast amount of information to deliberate to you all. In addition, it will contain the latest edition of the Rebel Squadrons campaign. The demise of Titan has left the Rebel Squadrons with new adversaries, dire consequences, and a question of morality and direction. Will the Rebel Squadrons fall in line with the galaxy’s call for peace? Or will it take up the mantle as protector and defender of democracy despite its still scrutable reputation? This session will technically start on October 1st and conclude on December 31st, 2020.

As a reminder, our central social activity takes place on Discord. The link to the Rebel Squadrons Discord server can be found here: https://discord.gg/nPEprM

II. News –

The RS has had some notable members of the club step down from their positions. I will commence with the Fleet Commander position. After 29 consecutive months of service to the Rebel Squadrons, Licah Fox has stepped down from the Fleet Commander position. While the situation has been daunting and the position of the big chair is quite difficult to fill, he has done so admirably and has treated the position with respect and reverence. Licah, on behalf of High Command and the entire Rebel Squadrons, you will be missed as Fleet Commander, and we thank you for your service to the club. We still hope to see you out and about in action, flying the skies with the rest of us.

With that said, I will be serving as Fleet Commander for the Interim until further nominations are received and deliberated until a new Fleet Commander assumes the position.

In addition, Fleet Admiral Michael Raven has stepped down as the Rebel Squadrons Logistic Officer. As many of you know, and everyone should know, the Rebel Squadrons Campaign, the enemy organization as Titan, and the rules and regulations (including the manual) of the ABG, the RS’ simming group, are just a sliver of the many tasks, hats, positions, and duties that Raven has fulfilled in his long and illustrious tenure in the RS. Raven, you have been the RS brain child in regards to stories, activities, creations, and ideas that often go overlooked and underappreciated, and now that you are stepping down, it’s going to be quite difficult to fill your shoes in all that you have done and continue to do. On behalf of the Rebel Squadrons, we are going to miss your work as Logistics Officer, but are excited to see you take a more relaxed position. Thank you, Raven, for all that you have done. And I will see you out there when Squadrons comes out.

If anyone is interested in the Logistic Officer position, please let us know about your interest and intrigue through Email or contacting us via Discord.

Moreover, Cyrel Vandroth has stepped down from the HGM position in the simming division but will retain the role of his Senior Game Master position in the ABG. Cyrel, you are a credit to the recent boom in activity in the ABG and have been a pivotal part of the group, as a GM and as a player. While you’re taking a step down, I hope you’ll continue your storytelling and playing, and we owe a lot of gratitude to you for your service and creativity. I know we’ll be seeing you in sims very soon. On behalf of High Command and the entire RS, thank you for always being dedicated to seeing the RS’ success, no matter how difficult and daunting that may be. Thank you again and I’ll see you out there as well. Stepping in his place will be Brigadier General Rhuryc. He has been a Senior Game Master for quite some time, and has returned with his recent campaign. He has a fun and unique take in his stories, and he has done a bang up job as a GM in his own rite. Welcome to the position, Rhuryc!

III. Results from Hammerfall –

Overall - Defeat - Although Titan as a fleet has fallen, many of the Remnants manage to escape into the darkness of space. Extensive damage to the Republic Shield, including the planet of Tarsonis exacts a heavy cost, one that will cost the planet and the fleet in a considerable amount of resources, manpower, and time.

Special Directive - RS Defeat

MVP - Tyrell “Spokes” Borran of Red Dagger Squadron

Fiction - Defeat - The Republic Shield, despite the success of bringing down Titan from the interior of the Super Star Destroyer, suffers from considerable losses that affect the fleet, leaving them short-manned against any attacks Titan remnant targets.

MVP - None

Simming - Defeat: The escaping remnant disappears into the cover of the galaxy, and the ABG trail goes cold, leaving Bethlamore vulnerable to surprise attacks. Due to spending resources in regaining the trail, businesses and side protects have their gains reduced by 50% for the next session.

MVP - Lucas Benoit-Stark of Resurrection Squadron

Ground Force FPS objective - Little impact occurs on the Titan and the Republic Shield is pushed back as Titan despite the loss of the Super Star Destroyer, inflicts severe casualties among the Republic Shield.

MVP - Tyrell “Spokes” Borran of Red Dagger Squadron

X-Wing Alliance - Stalemate - The SSD Titan falls, but most of the Fleet takes substantial and considerable losses.

MVP - Lmaokai of Red Dagger Squadron

III. Recognition and Awards

RS ITOD Top Gun by scoring the most individual ITOD points.

Tyrell “Spokes” Borran of Red Dagger Squadron has clinched the RS Activity Top Gun Congratulations, Spokes!!

The active participants of Red Dagger Squadron have earned the RS Top Squadron medal for their efforts in leading all other squadrons. Congratulations are in order to Red Dragon!

The following officers have earned the Citation of Victory for leading their respective objectives:

Tyrell “Spokes” Borran x2
Lucas Benoit-Stark
Lmaokai

Promos: None

Medals:

Michael Raven has been awarded the New Republic Medal of Honor as well as the Excellence of Duty Award. The following is the blurb written by Rhuryc, the person issuing the award:

Because how do you not have this for simming? Your sole goal for the ABG has been for us to have a place where we can retreat from the world and have fun, where it's okay to nerd out over Star Wars, because none of us could remotely outnerd you. You've crafted system changes we've loved, GM'd some of the best campaigns any of us have ever played, and fostered almost two-decades of interaction between people that would otherwise have never been friends in the first place. So this isn't for a single campaign, or single act, but for an immeasurable weight of care, of a digital representation of the sheer effort you put forth for others. If I could, I'd issue twenty of these, and it still wouldn't be enough. Thank you, Raven, for everything you've done for us, it has not gone unnoticed, and this is overdue.

V. Mission Briefing for Hammerfall – Brand New Day

[Taken from the words of Michael Raven]

The seconds wane as Henrik Hagan watched the cascading energy on board the Super Star Destroyer descend upon him. As the rest of the Republic Shield battle in the confines of space, they remain oblivious to the carnage on board the Super Star Destroyer [i]Titan[/i]. With the Admiral set to launch his attack, the several infiltration teams, including Aurek Squadron, Sentinel Company manage to disrupt the signal, preventing doomsday. But it comes at a cost. Choosing the lives of millions over his own, Henrik Hagen of Sentinel Company locks himself in the confines of the weapon’s room, his fate sealed. Despite the protests of his team, he closes his eyes, the last image being that his team survived the onslaught. He, however, passes with the solace knowing that the Titan will succumb to the same fate as he. As the transport leaves the hull of the SSD, as time passes and the transport continues to participate in the battle; they see that the battle has been won...for the Republic. Pulling out from the hull of the [i]Titan[/i], everyone sees just how much carnage the vessel has caused. The hulks of dozens of large capital ships are floating in Tarsonis orbit, but none as big as the [i]Titan[/i] herself. Missing entire chunks of her hull, she continues to fight on; but they notice a sight that swells them with pride. A massive allied fist, made up of nearly every surviving capital ship, transport, and fighter, swings around from obliterating the SSD's guard force, and commences a full bombardment of the massive Dreadnought from all directions. Planetary batteries fire in concentrated barrages, blowing apart its ventral hull and triggering a massive explosion in the primary hangar that causes the entire enter section of the Titan's hull to bulge as if trying to contain a chest burster. It's hammered by hundreds of turbolasers, and walls of warheads slam into its hull...

...only for the SSD to finally fall. As a flash of light that blinds the fleeing transport, the team looks at it and fills the viewport as the SSD bursts in two, its primary reactor overloading and exploding in a tremendous outpouring of energy. Defensive fire from the SSD stops immediately as all power to the massive dreadnought fails and it lies broken and beaten in orbit. What few vessels remain from the Titan force quickly make for their exit vectors, trying to escape the battle before being hunted down by the allied forces. Secondary explosions ripple over the SSD's hull as it continues to break apart from its explosive destruction.

Grand Admiral Khoda and his tyrannical plan for global domination is lost to history. The Titan fleet has finally broken its back against the stalwart defense of Republic Shield; with the loss of the [i]Titan[/i] itself, their massive advantage of firepower and numerical superiority has been eliminated; all of their major leadership lies dead or pending capture by RS forces.

At tremendous cost, being driven all the way back to Greeop...the loss of Bethlamore...tens of millions of military and civilian personnel dead; the Titan threat is finally over.

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

Commodore Xyla Xuana - Lt. Mon Calamari Cruiser [i]Fortitude[/i]

Commodore Xyla Xuana always operated with precision, always cautious, never careless. She never doubted the outcome for a second, only worried about how much of the fleet would remain when the smoke cleared. The losses amounted in the millions. Many of the notable capital ships were either destroyed or severely crippled. And Tarsonis? The recovery would result in millions of credits, probably billions. And yet, despite these losses, she had much to rejoice, much to celebrate.

As the numbers of the fallen tallied for the Republic Shield, many of the undesirables either went dead or missing. Of them, the pilot, Lucas Benoit-Stark, was labeled “Missing in Action'' after a barrage of concussion missiles ravaged several fighters, his among the quelled IFF designation. Licah Fox also went missing, leaving the transition of power in her grasp. She never thought the ascent to power would move so quickly; she surmised several months or even years before that happened. But Titan’s destruction crippled the logistical infrastructure of the Republic Shield as much as it did its command structure. With Sentinel taking a different role and a moment of tranquility among the masses, she planted the seeds in the restoration of the Republic Shield’s damaged reputation. She would no longer spare the rod; the Republic Shield child had been spoiled long enough. Now, in the interest of the greater good and in the vain of restoring the New Republic to a more respectable image, Commodore Xyla Xuana would now take her seat as the face and the head of the Republic Shield, and mold the faltering band of heroes in her image…

...and it would start with the Military Disarmament Act.

VI. Mission Objectives and Activities

D6 Roleplay Objective

Battered and broken by Titan’s final assault and its defeat, the RS is further hamstrung by the Military Disarmament Act, effectively cutting off support from the New Republic. The Titan Fleet maintains control of the Kathol Sector and many of the systems once under the aegis of the Republic Shield. The homeworld of the Allegiance Battle Group, Bethlamore, had its military support infrastructure razed during the Titan’s assault and subsequent occupation, including the Temple of Adhe Zion, whose destruction could have had yet unforeseen effects on the planet. What will the ABG do?

Participant Overall Objective: Participate in Sims! Submit to this objective a summary of one of your sims. Better yet, put it on the forums (bonus credit) and provide a link to the forum post.

Individual Scoring: 70% of your score will be based on participation as determined by your leaderboard points in Simming and GMing. 30% of your score will be based on your summary, which is judged based on length and quality. All ITOD participants receive 2 CP for submitting a report.

RS Defeat: Continuing to flounder, the ABG fails to reaffirm its connections to its contacts and allies and simultaneously fails to get back on its feet as Titan remnant forces continue to harry RS space. Business and side projects have their gains reduced by 75% for the next session.

Stalemate: The ABG manages to start establishing new supply lines and bases of operation but leaves its allies in the cold. Businesses and side projects have their gains reduced by 25% for the next session. Participants in the ITOD receive a FP
Objective: At least 300 hours of total sims reported ((3 characters + 1 GM count as 4 hours per every hour of participation)).

Minor RS Victory: The ABG makes progress in restoring its position as one of the barriers of the Tarsonis sector, strengthening the Baphomet System and providing a safe haven for some of its allies. Participants in the ITOD receive 1 FP and 3 additional CP.
Objective: 750 Hours of sims reported, 5 hours of character sims reported and/or major objectives completed in any GM campaign.

Major RS Victory: The ABG secures the Baphomet System and makes progress towards identifying nearby Titan Remnant strongholds for subsequent assaults. With the entirety of Baphomet restored to a sense of normalcy, all gains from business and side projects are increased by 10% for the subsequent session. Participants in the ITOD receive 2 FP and 10 additional CP.
Objective: 1,200 hours of simming reported. At least 1 member successfully takes their aGM, GM, SGM tests OR at least 10 unique players participate in a sim during the session.

X-Wing Alliance Objective

Participant Overall Objective: While the rest of the fleet attacks the crippled Super Star Destroyer Titan, the Indomitable and her escorts must protect the rear of the fleet from the ISD Behemoth and her convoy from reinforcing the crippled Titan.

Individual Scoring: 10 points assigned to the officer with the highest score, followed by subsequent scoring based on the average scores in proportion to the top score. A bonus point will be given to mission successes.

RS Defeat: Failure to reach Stalemate objectives.

Stalemate: At least 5 reports filed, including 3 mission complete reports.
Objective: Results will coincide with Alliance mission parameters. Good luck!

Minor RS Victory: At least 7 reports filed, including 5 mission complete reports.
Objective: Results will coincide with Alliance mission parameters. Good luck!

Major RS Victory: At least 10 reports filed, including 8 mission complete reports.
Objective: Results will coincide with Alliance mission parameters. Good luck!

Fiction Objective

Participant Overall Objective: With the Titan conflict seemingly over, the personnel and political damage ripples throughout the morale and the reputation of the Republic Shield. Commodore Xyla Xuana, enamored by the prospect of newfound peace, leans towards pushing the Republic Shield into complying with the controversial Military Disarmament Act. A house divided, the Republic Shield and its members share different outlooks on the newfound direction. After the initial post which sets the stage for the members of the Republic Shield, members will write a response illustrating their character’s position and response to the idea of the Republic Shield joining the MDA.

Individual Scoring: IronMan/Codyman will GM the story. Scoring will take place based on the number of posts per each session. There will be 3 major phases, one for each month. If that requirement is met, then the total words from posts will be tallied. Extra points will be given for joint posts or creative/witty actions, and whether or not objectives have been met. (Joint posts will share the number of words in the posts). Bonus points will be factored in for creativity, humor, and joint posts among peers.

RS Defeat: Results will depend on the amount of fictional writings and responses. Good luck.

Stalemate: Results will depend on the amount of fictional writings and responses. Good luck.
Objective: At least three different characters respond to their thoughts, feelings, and position on the MDA.

Minor RS Victory: Results will depend on the amount of fictional writings and responses. Good luck.
Objective: At least five different characters respond to their thoughts, feelings, and position on the MDA. In addition, at least one post must be over 500 words and/or there must be one joint post.

Major RS Victory: Results will depend on the amount of fictional writings and responses. Good luck.
Objective: At least seven different characters respond to their thoughts, feelings, and position on the MDA. In addition, at least one post must be over 1000 words and/or there must be 2 joint posts.

Special Directive

Participant Overall Objective: In an attempt to maintain and regain space superiority, pilots have been deployed throughout the Greeop and Baphomet Systems in an attempt to patrol, maintain, and in some cases, regain control of any space attacks. As the Fleet remains crippled by the damage taken to many of the capital ships, squadron cooperation and collaboration has become essential in undertaking this difficult and arduous task.

Individual Scoring: Play Squadrons! Scoring will be determined by the number of reports submitted to the site.

RS Defeat: Extensive damage to the starfighters leave gaping holes throughout Greeop and Baphomet open to any surprise attacks.

Stalemate: Patrols manage to thwart rogue attackers, but take heavy losses in the process. The Republic Shield no longer extends its protection past Greeop.
Objective: At least 5 different pilots reached level 5 for Fleet Battle access.

Minor RS Victory: The RS extends its reach and control throughout the Greeop and Baphomet Sector, but are short handed in aiding in any Titan Remnant missions and locations.
Objective: At least 8 different pilots reach level 5 for Fleet Battle access. In addition, 5 different pilots must participate in multiplayer squadron bouts with other RS members and at least 1 pilot must submit a report indicating the completion of the campaign of squadrons.

Major RS Victory: The RS extends its reach and control throughout the Greeop and Baphomet Sector, and the quality of the space superiority control allows for more of the Republic Shield and its squadrons to extend its reach and protection towards other nearby systems.
Objective: At least 10 different pilots reach level 5 for Fleet Battle access. In addition, there must be 5 different pilots who participate in any multiplayer fleet battles and 3 different pilots who have completed the entire campaign of squadrons.

VII. Conclusion

As we enter into the dawn of Squadrons, there exists a major opportunity for fun, activity, and flying the Rebel Squadrons banner for others to see. Plenty of activities are at everyone’s disposal, and it is strongly encouraged that everyone partakes in the fun and festivities. With a new story in the works and new chances for adventure, the lull of summer withers away and a new wave of action awaits in the fall for those interested. Go out, get in the action, and have fun!

":)
FA Lucas Benoit-Stark
Rebel Squadrons Interim Fleet Commander

FA Lucas Benoit-Stark
Rebel Squadrons Executive Officer

MGN Markus Jarnhann
Rebel Squadrons Operations Officer

Rebel Squadrons High Command