State of the Rebel Squadrons

February 1st, 2021

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

I. Foreword

Greetings everyone! Hopefully this SotRS finds you well and healthy as we dive head-first into the new year.

Quite a few things have happened since the last SotRS; first and foremost being that Licah has stepped down as Fleet Commander and I, yet again against my better judgement, have stepped forward to take the reigns. This go-round I am trying a different approach, and have made a bunch of functional changes to how we do things which I will outline in the ‘Squadron Updates and Organization’ section below (so if you don’t care, skip it!).

Some of these functional changes include increasing our squadron number, reorganizing where pilots are, reorganizing how the ITOD is laid out and worked on pre-session, and adjusting squadron expectations to make things more clear and easy for command staff to do what they need to do.

I do understand that with any major change there are some growing pains. I want to make clear that these adjustments in no way should take away from your enjoyment of the RS. If in fact you have an issue with anything, please let me know and I will be glad to work through things and solve the issue to the best of my ability.

While this session was a bit slow (reflected below in the results and recognition sections), I have been really encouraged by the excitement surrounding our squadron revamp and the squadron based rewards system; so with any luck we should see a boon in activity this coming session.

I am available at all times on Discord, or via my E-mail on the RS site.

The link to the Rebel Squadrons Discord server can be found here: https://discord.gg/Yz2TvH3

II. Results from Hammerfall – Shattering Strike

Overall - Stalemate

The aftermath of the assault on the Titan has left the RS wounded and consolidating their forces into the Greeop sector. Moving to secure worlds once thought impregnable, RS morale is weakened but holding. High Command has been forced to make several tough choices and has abandoned several worlds while shoring up others, and is focused on maintaining their tenuous hold on the vital Greeop system.

Special Directive - Stalemate
Patrols manage to thwart rogue attackers, but take heavy losses in the process. The Republic Shield no longer extends its protection past Greeop.
MVP - Major Asen

Fiction - Defeat
Zealot is unable to make any headway, and has been forced to return to the Greeop sector to regain their footing.
MVP - N/A

Simming - Stalemate
The ABG manages to start establishing new supply lines and bases of operation but leaves its allies in the cold. Participants in the ITOD receive a FP
MVP - Fleet Admiral Michael Raven

X-Wing Alliance - Defeat
The RS starfighter corps has been decimated by the prolonged combat with Titan, and has been reorganized into smaller, less equipped units to handle the pilot vacuum.
MVP - N/A

III. Recognition and Awards

Major Asen and Fleet Admiral Michael Raven will jointly share the RS ITOD Top Gun by scoring the most individual ITOD points with 10, congratulations!

BGN Rhuryc has clinched the RS Activity Top Gun by earning the most leaderboard points. Congratulations, Rhuryc!

The active participants of Resurrection and Red Dagger Squadron have earned the RS Top Squadron medal for their efforts, tying each other for their participation in the ITOD!

The following officers have earned the Citation of Victory for leading their respective objectives:
Major Asen
Fleet Admiral Michael Raven

Promotions

Admiral Tyrell “Spokes” Borran, please step forward.

Spokes, you have been a fixture of the RS for longer than I have been a member. I fondly recall working with you back when I first started getting into RS-wide items under Dave, working with Vaughan on fiction involving your character, and generally getting to know you. Your continual activity to this day is a testament to what the RS is supposed to be about - gaming and having fun. I had more, but I let High Command know what I was planning, and believe what Licah sent me summarizes things far better than I ever could:

Spokes, I'm really happy to see this ultimate honor bestowed on you, given your long career and accomplishments with the Rebel Squadrons. You served as Fleet Commander for a long time without any formal thanks that I know of, even though you did your best in a tough situation. I'm virtually certain you have the most missions flown and medals earned in the club, and I can't even think of anyone else who would be close. Your Warframe streak is nothing short of unbelievable and legendary, and we are all lucky that you have included the RS in that ongoing feat. On a personal note, I'm really not sure that I would have even stuck around in 2001 if you hadn't been so on top of your game with the PBF and Grey-Alpha. Your energy with building missions, writing and collecting fiction, and organizing everyone and everything related to X-Wing may possibly have been the critical element in piquing my interest...and here we are nearly 20 years later! Through thick and thin, conflict and happy resolution, even a joyous visit many years ago, you and I have made it through this far, and here's to another 20 years. Thank you for all you have done, and my heartiest congratulations to you at this moment in time.

":)

Licah


Tyrell “Spokes” Borran, I hereby promote you to the rank of Fleet Admiral, welcome to the club!

Anton - Promoted to General - For taking on the solo task of creating our X-wing Alliance missions, moving us toward the future with XWAUP, and massive contributions to the organization of our command staff and ITOD system.

Koah - Promoted to General - For immediately leaping forward when the new squadron proposal was submitted, providing constructive feedback, being energetic, eager, and willing to jump into the position, and for making absolutely amazing contributions to the ABG via Koahbot.

Markus - Promoted to General - Since having an Arbitration case where I kind of threw the book at you (Jerk), you have really stepped forward and turned things around. I am constantly surprised by you, as even though you periodically disappear on us, you always find your way back and fit right back in where you left off. Your resurgence of activity as Operations Officer has clearly not gone unnoticed, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with you and the Command Staff moving forward.

Rhuryc - Promoted to Lieutenant General - For continuing to drive activity in the RPG division, manual updates for quality of life, and generally being a major factor in the continued life of the RPG division.

Anubis - Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel - For stepping up and volunteering as my vital fifth Squadron Commander, jumping into the pilot draft, and immediately working to invigorate your squadron and get things rolling.

Strike Adrella-Highwing - Promoted to Major - For stepping forward and taking up the mantle of Logistics Officer, creating the outline for the new session, and directing our fiction for the next steps of the RS.

YlvaUlfgangur - Promoted to Captain - For continued activity in the RPG division and in multiplayer sessions of Among Us where you are ALWAYS THE IMPOSTER.


Medals
The following members have earned these medals for their work and dedication the club


Danny “David Lee Japan” Qatar - Merit Commendation - For asking the hard questions that nobody else can.
Danny “David Lee Japan” Qatar, Koah, Anubis, Anton, Ceradan Jade - Dagger of Courage - For your hard work and dedication as Squadron Commanding Officers, and your participation in the RS Pilot Draft.
Joshua Hawkins, Cyrel Vandroth, Licah Fox - Burdine Cluster - For your continual work as our day-to-day IO team, fixing the various issues I throw at you, and keeping the lights on.

Michael Raven - Burdine Cluster - The XO and Operations office take great pleasure in awarding you the Burdine Cluster for your great efforts in the ongoing RS reorganization, and stepping back in to lead the RS as FC. Thank you for all your hard work.


Congratulations Everyone!

IV. Squadron Updates and Organization

The Squadron Reshuffle which was proposed when I took the reigns over from Licah has been completed, if you’ll look at the roster, all new squadrons have been laid out. Please contact me if you find yourself without a squadron, or need to be assigned to one, or if your Discord permissions are incorrectly set.

The RS Pilot Draft was, I believe, a success, with our Squad COs all hand picking active members throughout the RS and building brand new units with which to compete with. Going First Overall to Resurrection squadron was Fleet Admiral Lucas Benoit-Stark; so he can add another notch on his X-wing for that honor.

Moving forward, Squadrons will be awarded credits for their participation in ITOD objectives which can be used for various prizes and recognitions which will be laid out to them later this session, and I will have a separate announcement that describes everything.

We have been able to fill out the Command Staff with one exception, Academy CO. This individual interacts with all new members and help them through the process of becoming an active RS officer and showing them the ropes in various capacities. If you’re interested in the position, please contact Raven or IronMan.

We have created and revamped the session ITOD template (which you will see below) to make things easier for the Command Staff to deal with, and easier to understand the fictional implications of our actions. Victory conditions for Fiction have been set to ‘Defeat’, ‘Stalemate’ and ‘Victory’, eliminating some confusion and making things more streamlined for our LO. Additionally, the planning document is now created far in advance -- most of the objectives and items below have been ready for a month; so that our transitions between sessions become cleaner and more accurate.

Finally, the dates for our sessions have been adjusted slightly, there is now a one week lag time between when ITOD scoring ends and the session actually ends. This will allow us to do all of our scoring, determine medals, promotions, etc, and have everything ready for the actual date of the session end and the new session’s start as opposed to the usual mad scramble at the end.

The next major project is a Medals revamp, mainly updating descriptions and getting new icons for several; along with expanding our selection. I have contacted a friend who is willing to do some graphic design for us for her portfolio, so I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with.

If you have any ideas or concepts that you’d like to see, let me know! I am more than happy to listen to ideas and throw shiny objects (like said medals, or promotions) at you for good ones!

V. Mission Briefing for The First Step (Historic Campaign) - Leaving Endor

“So, Strike, how are you settling in?”
Strike Adrella-Highwing was sitting in Fleet Admiral Fox’s office aboard the Redemption, flagship of aptly-named Redemption Fleet. The imperial-grey walls had been covered by the Fleet Admiral’s effects - flags, commendations and memorials to those who’d served with the RS since its inception.
“Yes, it’s a little different. Still don’t know how you talked me into it though…” Strike said, trailing off. Strike’s little promotion to Logistics Officer had taken him from bunking with his new squadmates to having his own quarters. He’d only just returned from an extensive leave period, but now he was sitting in an office instead of a cockpit.
“Guess you’re just a glutton for punishment,” Lic
ah replied, smirking. “Operations informed me you had a proposal on how we keep the fleet busy during this incoming peace-time and the Military Disarmament Act stand-down?”
Strike slid over a datapad. The presence of the memorials gave him a bit more confidence in his proposal. “Simply put, Admiral, we get them to take a trip down memory lane. It’s all laid out there, but as a turbolift pitch, we examine just how the RS got to the position it’s in now, relive some of the glory days and make sure our men and women are entertained and training while also playing peace-keepers.”
An adjutant entered the office, handing Licah a report of some kind. He looked at it but spoke over the pad to Strike. “Interesting. Go on, I’m listening.”
“We run a historic campaign, just like back when we all joined, covering the Rebel Squadron’s formation after the Battle of Endor, picking out the key missions and skipping the boring patrols. They’ll teach the new kids our history, pay homage to those we lost and let us old boys relive our youth a little.”
Licah looked up from his pad. “I like it. Talk to the sim guys in Operations and get the ball rolling.”

‘Tour 1 - Leaving Endor’ tells the story of the formative years of the rebellion, starting the story of how a few squadrons and ships formed to become the Rebel Squadrons in the Greeop Sector. Beginning just after the battle of Endor, this tells the story of how a scattered collection of pilots eventually became the bulwark against Imperial aggression in the Outer Rim.

VI. Mission Objectives and Activities

Session Begins Monday February 1st, 2021 and ends Wednesday, March 31st 2021. ITOD scoring ends 1 week before, on March 24th, 2021. Multiplayer scoring ends Noon on the day of the session end.

As ever, even if you're not playing Star Wars games, but you're playing with fellow members of the RS, make sure you report it! If you need assistance, contact your squad leader or the operations office.

Session Special Rewards

This session, the highest ITOD scorer will be the Featured Pilot for the next session. Your character will be directly input into both the narrative and the mission of their choice.

The highest Multiplayer scorer will get a Player Profile made for them on the front page of the site, detailing their IC and OOC career in the RS and be awarded a new medal commensurate with the occasion.

X-wing Alliance Objective

With the battle of Endor over and Rebel forces splitting up to combat the wounded Empire. Admiral Ackbar has ordered a small group of Rebel pilots to reinforce the Rebel staging area at Sullust, fearing a reprisal from the Empire over the destruction of the Second Death Star. You’ll join the YT-2000 Redeemer, transporting pilots and ground crew to a civilian station in the Sullust system of the Outer Rim. There, you’ll help defend the construction and commissioning of additional X-wing Starfighters to reinforce the area during this tumultuous time.

Participant Overall Objective: Fly the mission! Reporting may be done via the standard ITOD reporter with a link to your flight attempt.

Individual Scoring: ITOD scoring will be based on mission score, and if you successfully accomplished your objectives. 3 points are awarded for a successful mission, 1 for a failure, and up to 7 for your overall score. So a victory with max points will take home the gold!


Defeat: Heavy damage to X-wing parts means 50% of them won’t be ready for missions in the initial campaign while undergoing repairs and assembly.
Objective: Less than 4 reports are submitted.


Stalemate: The X-wings arrive and while some damage was done to the parts during transit, the initial fighter squadrons will be at full strength.
Objective: 6 reports are submitted.


Victory: With everything arriving on time and in pristine order, the initial fighter squadrons are able to be deployed immediately and in pristine order to deal with any Imperial presence in the area.
Objective: 8 or greater reports are submitted.

D6 Roleplaying

With various missions wrapping up, Sentinel Company has traveled to their ex-homeworld of Bethlamore to try to assist in what they thought would be an easy mission for a local corporation, United Salvage LLC. Upon arriving, they quickly found that their trip was an attempt by an old foe to ambush and eliminate them. They’ll need to work with some old allies and recount events from the ABG’s past to survive...

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.

Defeat: Sentinel is unable to make progress and the situation on Bethlamore continues to deteriorate. Bethlamore is threatening to leave task force Republic shield. A second consecutive defeat will cause the planet to leave the RS. Participants in the ITOD earn 1 FP.
Objective: Less than 300 hours of total sims reported. ((3 characters + 1 GM count as 4 hours per every hour they participate.))

Stalemate: Sentinel is able to push forward, gathering information and slowly piecing together the puzzle presented to them. Bethlamore’s political situation begins to stabalize. Participants in the ITOD earn 2 FP.
Objective: At least 300 hours of total sims reported. At least two separate sim synopsis/summaries posted to the RS forums OR four summaries posted via submitted ITOD reports.

Victory: Sentinel is able to push forward toward the bombardment site of the Grand Temple of Adhe Zion and discovers a terrible secret that had been buried for years. With this information they are able to convince the local government that various Imperial conspiracies are behind their suffering, and Bethlamore reaffirms their commitment to the RS. Participants in the ITOD receive 2 FP and 20 CP.
Objective: 450+ 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. At least two sim summaries posted to the RS forums OR six summaries posted via submitted ITOD reports.

Star Wars Squadrons

RS Pilots conduct training operations as a group, working together to train up replacement pilots to make up for the substantial losses sustained over Tarsonis. We all must pull together to try and get everyone ready for anything, even in the wake of the Military Disarmament Act.

Scoring: Report your sessions with other RS pilots! Be sure to screenshot any matches you fly with at least one other RS pilot, and submit it through the RS Match reporting system. In the narrative, make sure you note which nickname belongs to which pilot if their in-game names do not match their RS names.

Individual scoring will be determined by the number of reports filed. The pilot with the most reports filed will receive the most points, with tiebreakers determined by the pilot with the highest scoring game receiving the top honors.

Defeat: Coordination and morale is still low across the fleet due to the losses suffered in the Titan invasion. Next session pilots in Squadrons will have their flight choices restricted for ITOD matches.

Objective: Less than three pilots report flying with other RS pilots in Squadrons.

Stalemate: Things are slowly being put back together after the invasion, with pilots getting used to their smaller squadrons and the military disarmament act. This has no effect on the next session.

Objective: Three pilots report flying with other RS pilots in Squadrons.

Victory: Bolstered by their reassignments, pilots across the RS are taking to their new squadrons and morale across the fleet seems to be improving steadily. For the next stage of the ITOD pilots will have their choice of missions to accomplish.

Objective: Five or more pilots report flying with other RS pilots in Squadrons.

Fiction Writing

The campaign against Titan was a painful victory. Titan decimated our forces, and with the Military Disarmament Act looming, red tape and bureaucracy stifle attempts to remain combat-ready.

Participant Overall Objective: Congratulations, the good news is that we’re sending you on some much needed leave to the famed casino and resort ship, the Mistress of Coins. The bad news is that we need you to make contact with an underworld broker named Kar Fithi who might have a means of connecting us with what we need to remain military ready.

Individual Scoring: IronMan/Codyman will GM the story. Scoring will take place based on the number of posts per each session. There will be 2 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: The Team fails to meet their contact.
Objective: Less than or equal to seven posts of any length.

Stalemate: You spend a wonderful time on the resort planet, but fail to make much headway on finding the underworld broker.
Objective: More than seven posts of any length.

Minor Victory: You connect with the underworld broker with mixed results.
Objective: At least seven posts of any length, two of more than 1,000 words, and one joint post.

Major Victory: You connect with the underworld broker and come through (one way or another) with successful results to help resupply Republic Shield’s dwindling hardware.
Objective: At least 10 posts of any length, 4 of more than 1,000 words, and two joint post.

Gemstone IV

The campaign against Titan sapped our resources and demobilization is not helping our efforts. While one team brokers a deal on the casino ship, we need other teams to get out there and find a ways and means of keeping the Republic Shield operational

Participant Overall Objective: We need new leads or contacts to help keep the RS supplied in the face of dwindling Republic Shield and New Republic reinforcements. Make contact with possible connections that could be of use to us.

Multiplayer Scoring: When playing with another RS member, the general equation will be: (# of People) x (# of Hours) x (4 points per hour)

RS Defeat: The Team fails to turn up any further contacts
Objective: Less than 1500 points (roughly less than 3 people x 2 hours per week).

Stalemate: Your leads have brokers subpar munitions and wares. They MAY work, but they also may NOT work.
Objective: More than 1700 points

Victory: Your leads have turned up some possible supply routes, and though functional are often not military-grade. It will take time to convert some things, but we’ll be able to make due in time.
Objective: More than 1900 points (roughly more than 3 people x 2.5 hours per week).

ITOD Special Directive

Knowledge is power, and as we rest and refit from the Titan Campaign and proceed into the training plan developed by the Logistics office, accurate reporting will help us identify areas of strength and deficiencies we can rectify.

Participant Overall Objective: Report on the ITOD objectives! The player with the most reports will win, with ties determined first by ITOD overall score, and then by overall leaderboard points.

Scoring: Individual scores will be determined by overall reporting two days prior to the end of the session. The player with the most reports will win, with tiebreakers determined first by ITOD overall score, and then by leaderboard reports.

Defeat: The RS Forces do a poor job of reporting, and critical supply and operational issues are missed. Future readiness will suffer.
Objective: Less than 10 ITOD reports are tallied.

Stalemate: The RS does an adequate job of reporting, and identifies run of mill issues and problems, so that they can be addressed.
Objective: 10 ITOD reports are tallied.

Victory: The RS leans into their work, and refocuses on their training, logistics, and operational work. Several key problems are identified, and new methods are devised to deal with them.
Objective: 13 ITOD reports or greater are tallied.

Fleet Commander Special Directive

We are, first and foremost, a gaming club! What do gaming clubs do? Play games! Sometimes many of us are too busy to perform specific ITOD missions, perhaps a game doesn’t work, or there’s something that prohibits us from doing much of anything, so the goal of this objective is to make it as easy as possible to report.

Participant Overall Objective: For this Fleet Commander Special Directive, the ITOD objective is to ‘Play a Game with an RSer’. This can be anything and everything from an IRL card game, to a cooperative session of Gemstone IV, or spending hours upon hours raiding dungeons in WoW. To report on this objective, just include a link to the multiplayer report submitted (via the generic reporter), indicate what sim it was that you participated in (for anyone in the RPG division), or link to the forum post you are participating in (fiction).

As you all know, this session begins the ITOD scoring and Credit system for squadrons, so ITOD points (and scoring highly) directly helps your squadron gain rewards for future sessions; so this FCD is aimed at encouraging squadrons to report on the objective.

Scoring: Participants will be awarded a base of 5 ITOD points for a report on this objective.

Participants will be awarded 2 points if the player they are playing with is in their squadron, and an extra 2 points if they additionally play with a person outside their squadron.

A final bonus point will be awarded to all participants of the squadron which reaches 100% reporting first. (In the event of a tie the bonus point goes to every squadron which tied)

Defeat: No fictional tie-in.
Objective: Less than 10 multiplayer reports are tallied.

Stalemate: No fictional tie-in.
Objective: 10 multiplayer reports are tallied.

Victory: No fictional tie-in.
Objective: 13 multiplayer reports or greater are tallied.

VII. Conclusion

After all that seriousness, I will leave you with a final thought of levity:

Writing the SotRS is one of the biggest pains about being Fleet Commander, but it’s extremely satisfying when it’s done.

Happy Hunting!

":)
FA Michael Raven
Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander

FA Lucas Benoit-Stark
Rebel Squadrons Executive Officer

MGN Markus Jarnhann
Rebel Squadrons Operations Officer

Rebel Squadrons High Command