[indent][b]Pilots Briefing Room: Deck 5, Bulkhead 25C[/b][/indent]

Nae stood at the front of the room, with all the pilots before him. Himself and the squadron leaders of Mynock, Black and Thantra squadrons at the front. He had known Captain Omun the longest out of all of them. As both Black and Lightning squadrons were seasoned veterans of the [i]Keep[/i] while Mynock was a new transfer and Captain Alde was still quite new herself, though she had rebanded the squadron. Not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes a breath of fresh life was exactly what they needed. It kept them on their toes, and despite what she apparently lacked in people skills she more than made up for in the cockpit. So far at least, that said it took more than that to be a good squadron leader. Part of him was starting to wonder whether or not she had the spine to be in command.

Mynock was the new player at the table, experienced though was used to working as part of a fleet. As of yet they hadn't gotten into an engagement and were currently running the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) as they had a squadron at full strength, and with fully functional craft. He hadn't had a fresh squadron since he first joined the Rebellion, and even then the blood stains from the previous pilot [i]still[/i] clung to the seat of his X-Wing. Part of him was looking forward to the end of this mission, which would signal the [i]Keeps[/i] first real supply from the Rebel fleet in nearly a year. They had had supply runs from the fleet, and from different cells, but this was a chance for them to really get what they needed. From what he could tell the Commandant was virtually drooling over replacing the vehicles that he had in his arsenal, he didn't blame him. If there were any fighters better suited for their line of work he'd be after them like nobodies business.

Chuckles wheeled up beside him, sat in rest and then a hologram came up of the Venator. "Listen up, by now you should have all read the brief regarding the basic details of the operation." He pointed to the hologram as a Nebulon B appeared. "As we go in to dock, we will be on the starboard side of the vessel-" The hologram mirrored what he said. "-Once the offensive begins, Mynock and Black squadrons will launch-" Small diagrams appeared indicating the fighters. "-From there they will protect the Keep from fighter/bomber attack, and take out any craft that attempt to reinforce the forces aboard the target vessel. Lightning and Thantra will go on the offensive, attacking any Imperial forces in the system at the behest of the Admiral."

The hologram flicked off, briefly leaving the room in the dark before the main lights came back on. "Any questions?"

He nodded as Captain Hayes of Mynock squadron spoke up. "What are we expecting in terms of enemy forces?"

"The Venators PDS systems will be disabled with the rest of it's weaponry, and the hangar will be ours so we aren't expecting anything to launch from it. Imperial opposition is expected to be two light cruisers and two transports, with fighter escort. So nothing we can't handle.

"What if the enemy opposition is greater?"

This time it was Black Leader that spoke up. "Then we adjust the plan accordingly. We're trying to get more up to date intel, though it is difficult without tipping our hand." He looked among the faces of the pilots that he served beside in every operation, he recognised the more seasoned hands and struggled to put names to faces of the newer pilots who were more recently transferred, or in rarer cases trained and recruited from Rancors previous missions. "We all know what these missions can go like, go get some rest and prepare your ships. Dismissed."

There was a general sense of murmuring as the pilots stood up and began to file out of the room. "Captain Alde, a word?" He stood towards the front of the presentation area, waiting for everyone else to finish filing out of the room before he spoke.

"Captain, I can't help but notice that you haven't yet picked any replacement pilots. I know you lost Lieutenant Aldamar at Anaxes, though you've got a Y-Wing sitting using up room in the hangar. I've given you the dossiers of pilots in the fleet ready to transfer in, to bring your squadron up to eight starfighters. At this point I need you to pick one of the dossiers from aboard ship to fill the empty Y-Wing. Can you do this?"