Mission Entry:
.
“THE SKY DOESN’T FALL”
Battle of Arkanis Reach – Civilian Evacuation Route K-7
I stood before a mix of veteran and young pilots, engineers, gunners, officers. The launch bay trembles with readiness. The enemy is less than fifteen minutes out. I spoke over the ship’s wide-band comm, eyes hard but voice low and honest.
...I’ve never been very good at speeches.
I’m a pilot. I was a wingman. A wrench-turner. A man who followed smarter people into battle and tried not to screw up the plan. If you were hoping for some grand speech about courage and duty... I’m sorry. That’s not me.
But here’s what I do know.
There are transports docked below us filled with terrified civilians. Families. Kids with wide eyes and no clue what those Star Destroyers really mean. There's a senator down there too — some big political name, I’m told. And while that’s important, I don't care if you're royalty or just someone trying to get their grandmother home safe — everyone down there gets out.
We make that happen.
I look around and I don’t see just starfighter pilots or gunners or technicians... I see wings. Every one of you. You’re not a number. You're not just part of a fleet. You’re my squadron. And if there's one thing I learned flying under Admiral Angellus, it's that a squadron doesn't leave each other behind. And it doesn’t break when the sky falls.
It becomes the sky.
So when those Imps come knocking — when they bring their dread, their doctrine, their 'superiority' — I want you to look them in the face and remind them what Naboo stands for.
Remind them what we stand for.
This is a simulation, but for us this is reality, we are the Royal Naboo. We don’t run. We don’t flinch. We fly.
You want a speech? Fine. Here's my speech.
Launch your birds. Hold the line. Save them all.
And if we fall…?
Let it be said we flew so they could rise.
The hangar erupted in shouts and claps, but I just gave a single nod — quiet, grounded — and walked toward the command deck. I am not interested in being a hero. Just in making sure they get it done.]
The stars outside
The Celestial City shimmered deceptively calm — a cruel contrast to the impending storm.
As I stood on the command deck, hands clasped behind my back, staring through the reinforced transparisteel canopy. The Naboo supercarrier loomed like a floating fortress, its silhouette blotting out a swath of starlight. Below them hung the Arkanis Civilian Hub, lights blinking across its ring-shaped shell as freighters and shuttles evacuated wave after wave of frightened refugees.
"Multiple mass shadows, Captain,” Lieutenant Jora called from tactical. “Three Star Destroyers. Two Vengeance-class attack cruisers. We’ve also picked up gravity wells—two Interdictors. They're playing for keeps."
I didn’t flinch, this was new to many, but not to me.
Sound General Quarters. Scramble all squadrons. Lock in launch vectors for the Archangels and Elysiums. I want them in the black now.
The order rang out like thunder. Flight crews moved like clockwork. Hangar decks lit up in cascading amber strobes. Within moments, the skies blossomed with fighter wings — the
Archangels screaming from their tubes like twin-engine rage, flanked by the sleek stealth-hulled
Elysiums, followed by Guardian Authority Ltd.’s answer to the Rebellion: X-wings, A-wings, and a tight wedge of Y-wings prepped for saturation runs.
"Old man would've hated the odds," murmured Commander Krell, My XO for this and one of the last to serve with Admiral Angellus aboard this very carrier as Halpern’s XO.
My jaw tightened.
No, he would've flown into them head-on and dared the stars to get in his way.
Then I toggled the command uplink.
This is Captain Pouihl. All squadrons, this is your moment. Remember: the evacuees behind us don’t get second chances. We hold the line.
INCOMING.
The first volley from the Star Destroyers hit like a sledgehammer. Shields across
The Celestial City flared a blinding white. The massive carrier held — for now.
“Gunships
Hammerfall and
Vigil reporting ready,” said Jora. “Loki cruiser
Enclave deploying ECM cloud now.”
Perfect, was my reply.
Have the Enclave thread the needle. I want that ECM to punch a gap in their formation. Hammerfall, form up on them. Bring torpedoes to bear on their port-side attack cruiser. Vigil, guard their six — fly it like a wingmate.
“Aye, sir.”
The
Loki-class cruiser shimmered out of formation like a ghost, its chronometric cloaks blinking as it danced between sensor shadows. Its interference array spewed out static like a tsunami, corrupting the fire control algorithms of the lead Imperial warshipThe Imperial warships faltered, their targeting systems blinded by the ECM cloud. Hammerfall unleashed a barrage of torpedoes, striking the port-side attack cruiser with devastating precision. Vigil held position, shielding the Enclave from incoming fire. For a moment, the tide seemed to turn in our favor.
As expected, the Star Destroyers adjusted. They began to cluster tighter, shielding their vulnerable flanks. Predictable.
Pouihl’s eyes narrowed.
That’s right. Herd together.
THE INTERCEPTORS HIT FIRST.
Archangel squadrons
Sword,
Sunflare, and
Typhon punched through the corrupted targeting grid and descended on the enemy with the fury of gods. S-foils spread wide, engines howling, the heavy interceptors unleashed volleys of proton-jacketed ordnance.
The lead Vengeance cruiser’s shields collapsed. A moment later,
Sword Three rammed its burning interceptor straight into the exposed reactor node.
“
Sword Three is gone.”
Pouihl closed his eyes briefly, then opened them hard.
Someone tell his family he didn’t fall. He carried the sky on his back. Again, this is a simulation only, but if we were going to show what we can truly do, this was going to be treated as “real” down to the smallest detail.
EVACUATION STATUS: 56%
“Sir,” Krell said grimly. “They’ve brought in a TIE wing — at least three squadrons, all bombing the outer ring of the civilian station. And... we’ve got incoming tractor signatures. The Interdictors are moving forward. They’re trying to rip transports out of the lanes.”
FRELL no. Trying not to be impressed by this algorithm, I turned to flight ops.
Redirect Elysium squadrons Dancer, Onyx, and Valiant. New priority: surgical strikes on those Interdictors. You see an exposed emitter coil, you break it off and feed it to them.
“Copy that.
Valiant Lead requesting additional cover.”
Give them Rogue and Nova X-wing flights. Have Banshee A-wings intercept the TIE bombers. Hunt them down.
THE STARS TURN RED.
Fire lit the void. The second Vengeance-class cruiser spun out of control, its midsection shattered. Interdictors sparked and groaned under precision fire. The Elysium’s stealth fuselages flashed in and out of visibility like ghost blades.
But the cost was high. My board repeatedly flashed red — dozens of pilots gone.
Krell’s voice cracked. “Evacuation at 87%. One more push.”
Staring at the chaos, as if it was some community roleplay game that would appear on the holonet, I opened a private comm.
To all wings, this is Pouihl. We’ve lost brothers. Sisters. Wingmates. But you held. The line held. Now give those transports a clear sky. Push. Hard.
THE LAST SACRIFICE.
The Celestial City surged forward, positioning itself between the crumbling Interdictors and the final wave of fleeing transports. With her flanks exposed and shields flickering, she took the brunt of the Star Destroyers' fury.
From within her launch bay, a final sortie launched: battered Y-wings, lone A-wings, and a defiant X-wing squad led by a scarred veteran who simply said over comms, “For Liram. For the kids behind us.”
The final Interdictor fractured.
The transports broke free.
AFTERMATH.
The Imperial fleet, bloodied and stunned by the aggressive Naboo tactics, began to withdraw, their victory denied.
There was more to this than what I am putting in this entry and I slumped into his chair, bruised but burning with purpose.
Krell exhaled. “He would've been proud.”
I just stared at the empty spot above the command display — the space where Liram Angellus' service banner hung when they last served together.
No, I said quietly.
He would've been flying lead.
Battlegroup for basis of the games:
Celestial City Supercarrier
2x
DP2000 Torpedo Frigate
Loki Class Escort Cruiser
Competing in:
For leaders who shape victory through strategy and command
- Live Tactical Wargames – Strategic command in adaptive battlefield simulations
For starfighter squadrons, escort wings, and multi-role space teams
- Asset Defense Operation – Protect a vulnerable transport or station from simulated enemy assault; scored on survival and damage mitigation
- Escort Breakout Drill – Defend allied craft through contested space while under timed pursuit
- Formation Combat Trial – Coordinate strikes and evasive maneuvers across squad formations during wave-based attack drills
- Target Suppression Run – Perform precision strikes on surface or spaceborne objectives under escort or flak fire.
For those who command the stars from the bridge
- Fleet Command Simulation – Capital ship coordination across a dynamic battlefield
- Multi-Theater Response Drill – Manage simultaneous engagements across star sectors
When we dropped out of hyperspace, I immediately ordered the red alert and the bridges to be locked down. This may be a drill, this may be games, but they are
combat games. This was the chance to show that some of the ships of my heyday are still strong and capable.I wanted to prove that my crew and I could still hold our own in the heat of battle. The stakes felt real, even if it was just a simulation. Every decision, every maneuver, would reflect on our readiness and determination to succeed.The crew's focus was unwavering as we navigated through each scenario, proving our mettle. The simulations pushed us to our limits, but we rose to the challenge, demonstrating that experience and teamwork could overcome even the most demanding trials.The simulations were no doubt meant to test not only our technical skills but also our ability to adapt under pressure. Each success reinforced our confidence, while every setback taught us valuable lessons.
When we finally received our “orders”, the battle simulation, it was simple. This was a simulation of “evac and exfil”. We were to respond to a space station sending out a distress call, the distress call was centered around a political delegate that was a threat to the attacking force. A force made up of an Imperial Remnant force. Several Star Destroyers and Attack Cruisers. There is also a “possibility” of not one, but two Interdictors in the area.
Our orders are simple enough:
- Defend and evacuate the station
- Exfil the Political delegate
- Search and Destroy the potential Interdictors in the area.
- Engage Starfighters and Star Destroyers
“Celestial City” must survive
Station must survive
Delegate must survive
Can lose no more than two civilian transports
