In the middle of no where

[TieFighterPilot181st]

A large column of New Republic merchant ships were slowly plodding along through space escorted by only a single aging Blockade Runner. Without warning, from hyperspace came a multitude of ships with the blazing claws and fireballs of pirates covering the patchwork hull of the ship. Two Gallofree Medium Transports converted to carriers disgorged two dozen fighters ranging from Z-95 Headhunters to old salvaged TIEs. A NebulonB-frigate and six Corellian Gunships also appeared and vectored in towards the convoy. The fighters came in first strafing the lone New Republic Blockade Runner. One could tell that they were not flying with the intent to kill as they aimed all their fire at the weapons emplacements of the Runner as to allow the other ships to close and board the ship. Meanwhile four of the gunships broke off and made runs at the long column of freighters using their turbolasers to down shields and to disable the engines. On board the lead ship of the convoy the commanding officer ordered a distress call sent out over all New Republic military channels.

[TieFighterPilot181st]

Tie was in his quarters shaving when a message from the bridge arrived.

"Sir, incoming distress call from one of our convoys. Apparently they're under attack from a group of pirates and require immediate assistance."

Finally, Tie thought to himself. He had been leading one of his divisions in pursuit of a pirate group that had been plaguing these spacelanes for quite a while. Acknowleding the call, he strode out of his quarters and onto the bridge.

"Report Captain." Tie ordered the Captain who was the commanding officer of the division.

"Its kind of sketchy right now sir. At least a squadron and a half of fighters and a handfull of other ships ranging up to a frigate in size."

"Alright then. Helm set a course for the convoy's last known position at all possible speed. Starfighter ops, when we arrive launch one X-Wings squadron, a K-Wing squadron, as well as my own." Tie ordered his subordinates who hurried about to fulfill their assigned tasks.

"Will you be going out yourself sir or commanding from here on the bridge?" the Captain inquired.

"I believe you can handle yourself Captain. Besides I don't want to be getting rusty do I?" Tie replied.

[TieFighterPilot181st]

Luckily enought Tie's group was close enough so that it didnt take them that long to reach the destination of the convoy. They arrived to find a very ugly sight awaiting them. Out of the original thirty five cargo ships in the convoy, six were on fire and drifting out of control through space, while the rest had their engines shot out and were waiting helplessly to be boarded by the pirates.

As per Tie's orders from the bay of the Adamant roared a squadron of Xj-Wings, one of K-Wings, and followed by Tie's personal squadron.

On the bridge of the Adamant Captain Ryan was already in his command chair listening to the reports of his subordinates.

"Sir, we've got a complete sensors scan on the pirates. About twenty starfighters, Headhunters, old TIEs, and Uglies are moving about. Six gunships divided in groups of three are on each side of the convoy, and in the middle is a Nebulon-B, and a couple of Gallofree's that are converted and armed."

"Very well. Order the Harbringer in and ask the Colonel if he would like the pleasure of having his squadron accompany it in. Then move the Fire of the Republic in off their flank while using that freighter group to mask their signatures and have the X-Wings and the K-wings move in to hit them from the side. The Adamant will remain here until an opportunity presents itself." the captain ordered.

Outside the viewports the engines on the Harbringer lit up and drove the ship forward rapidly, its escort of 11 black A-Wings and a single TIE Interceptor moved along with it.

On board his personal TIE Interceptor the Colonel was checking over last minute things before heading into combat. It had been a while since he had last taken his starfighter into combat but it was a welcome relief from all the time he had spent recently commanding from the bridge of a warship. Besides he wanted his subordinates to be capable of operating on their own when the situation called for it. Finishing his systems check he now watched as his rangefinder ticked off the distance to the pirates ahead.

[TieFighterPilot181st]

The pirates who were by now alerted to the presence of the recently arrived New Republic forces were beginning to respond. One of the gunship groups was vectoring in towards the oncoming Harbringer with the entire swarm of pirate starfighters in the lead.

"Leader to group, break by pairs and engage at will. Target priorities goes to those fighters with missiles who will have the best chance of harming Harbringer. Those will most likely be the uglies." Tie ordered his squadron.

Like the blossoming of a flower the group of New Republic starfighters left their position close to the hull the frigate and screamed towards the oncoming pirates in their assigned wing pairs. In his cockpit Tie's hands flexed over the triggers for his lasers. Within a few more seconds a beeping sound resounded throughout the cockpit indicating that the opposing groups were in laser range. The pirates opened up at extreme range firing without any regard to discipline or military decorum. Tie used the speed of his modified Interceptor to easily dodge the streams of energy headed towrads him. Due to his speed and that of his squad's A-Wings the distance closed rapidly and as one, the squadron fired their lasers into the teeming mass of enemy starfighters. The old unshielded TIEs took the brunt of the attack expanding into bright balls of flame and gas. Tie then led his squadron into the middle of the enemy formation and a large melee ensued.

Meanwhile the New Republic Bellicose Frigate that Tie's squadron had been escorting began to exchange fire with the enemy Gunships. The ship's powerful turbolasers fired at the Gunship's repeatedly causing the shields to flicker while the quad cannons raked the ships, draining even more of their energy supply. The gunships fired back, but found that the shielding of the Harbringer was quite capable of bearing the brunt of their assault. As a result, the pirates began to move in the remainder of their ships, the other group of three gunships lit up their engines and headed towards the Harbringer at maximum possible speed while the two Gallofrees and Nebulon-B were also detected as moving towards the New Republic frigate.

On the bridge of the Harbringer, Captain Keyes was shouting orders.

"Track that Gunship with the starboard weaponry and give her a full broadside!"

The fury of the starboard weaponry lashed out at the offending Gunship and blew through the shields and caused massive explosions in the engine decks of the Gunship.

"Sir! They've managed to punch a few holes in our fore shields. Multiple torpedo and turbolaser impacts. Turbolaser Cannon emplacements nine, three, and four are down as are two of our quad cannons. We've had to seal off compartments 375-A through 396-B." an officer shouted.

"More pirates inbound! They're sending the rest of their ships at us sir!" another officer exclaimed over the din of a ship in battle.

"Launch our X-Wing squadron to hold them off! Fire all missiles at the gunship on the port side!" the captain shouted while gripping the armrest of his command chair as the ship rocked slightly as another missile impacted the forward section of the ship.

Twelve pinpricks of light came from the hangar bay of the frigate as the X-Wings launched to harass the pirates that were now on their way to engage the lone frigate.

Meanwhile Tie rolled his Interceptor onto the port wing and loosed another blast with his lasers, ploughing through the shields of a Headhunter ahead of his and setting off the concussion missile magazine. The fight was going well for his squadron, relatively speaking. One of the pilots had died when two uglies fired proton torpedoes simultaneously at his A-Wing and another was extravehicular after being forced to eject after her lasers had a misfire after an enemy hit exposed the power lines for the lasers.

"Sir, i need some help. This guy's on me tight!" Tie's wingman exclaimed over the comm. With a grim smile Tie inverted his Interceptor and saw his wingman's A-Wing twisting through space with an old TIE Interceptor in hot pursuit.