[b]Use the Force[/b]
[hr]

Shan was the new guy, but he was where he needed to be; the cockpit. Black Leader called out the orders, down from Lightning Leader, and he carried them out, even as he slipped into the strange mode of focus that allowed him to feel the minute yawing and pitching of his craft and to adjust in a fine hand. He came from Intruder to Black with a combat record to show for himself, so he'd gotten a minimal 'new guy' treatment from his new squadronmates, but there was a distance. Tum shook his hand before they launched, and they wished each other luck, but there was still a degree of fear that Shan could pick up from his wingman. On a datafile, Shan looked great, but there was always room for doubt. He was hardly the only new guy in there; Black had a number of rookies. Tum was way more relieved than some of the others, including Black-6 who was frazzled. It would have made more sense to spread Shan out with a rookie and Tum with a rookie, but there was an organizational scheme and tactical thinking Shan wasn't privy to.

"Black 2-8, nominal," he called out his status report in turn with everyone else.

He had gloves on the control yoke, fitted just so, so that sweat wouldn't cause them to bunch up, so they'd grip no matter what without depriving him of too much tactile sense. The hum of the engines was a familiar and comforting environment after time spent on the Keep, however briefly, getting used to a different sort of operation. TIEs were also familiar; he knew how to fight TIE's. You took the turns tight, you cut engines at the right time, turned fast, hit the engines again. You kept range between you and a TIE, you used shielding to outlast them, and, above all, you tried to maintain a vertical angle on them, out of their line of sight and hoping that you could shift them into the barrels of your guns in a pass. That was if decisively engaged in space combat maneuvering.

You also expected to get scratched. You anticipated the shields being able to take the hit when the time came. You nursed power levels, trying to squeeze that bit of power to the weapons, engine or shields as required. Black-6 didn't come from that school, but Shan was used to manipulating power levels, he'd done it all through his childhood as a swoop-rider and in other situations. He let the instinct guide his hands. The CO wasn't watching now.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded, Imperial fighter pilots were tough, highly trained professionals. The Rebellion had extremely good natural talents, but anyone that didn't pay attention to the ebb and flow of the battle, that didn't keep their head, check the rear (he mounted mirrors inside his canopy to help that) could get jumped. This was a fight where skills and awareness counted, because the craft had their advantages and disadvantages. The TIE did not forgive pilot error or tactical mistakes, it demanded excellence from its pilots. The X-wing was designed to provide buffers for gifted amateurs. Pilot skills determined outcome.

In the zone, Shan had the razor's awareness of cutting through space and the sudden sensation of danger.

"2-7, tail. Swat starboard." Shan barely felt the presence, looked into his rearviews and saw the danger coming in; a TIE on his tail. The shots were already coming as he was entering the roll, a moment later would have taken down his shields. He dropped his thrust back, giving Tum a clear line of fire on the tango. Tum gave the TIE a precise series of four rapid blasts, which lead to the disintegration of a TIE in vacuum-silence. He covered Tum from a lagging position to make sure that the Imperials didn't jump his wingman while he was taking care of business.

Shan never really told anyone, but he didn't have time to look down at the scopes and find the threat on sensors. It was a wasted motion so often. The habit gave him a bad reputation in flight school, but mattered a lot less in the real world of starfighter combat, where the results counted more than the process.

Suddenly, the world was awash in TIE/LN's. The tactic was to swarm with the rapid little craft, and the antidote to that was to push thrust and find the edges of the combat zone. An X-wing that stayed mixed in would lose shields and be beaten out by the more agile TIE's. You used the shields to break early and move to the outskirts and then dive back in for a pass. 

One rookie didn't get it and started to take hits, "1-4," Black 6 thundered, "break now."

The name of the game was longevity. An X-wing pilot had to be patient in a fight with a TIE, but patience was hard for a brand new pilot. Shan rode the fringes of the fight to the port and rear of his wingman, Tum, watching for the next opportunity to make a pass. Other pairs were doing the same thing, trying to keep the TIE's on their inside, rather than letting them get spread out where they could turn, maneuver and take more advantage of their craft's natural abilities. The idea was to contain them and provide cover for the Keep. The A-wings, further out, were meant to run down anything that really got away, because they could match the acceleration. The X-wings were keeping the larger bulk of the enemy force pinned, leaving the A-wings to hunt freely over a much larger range. You didn't want the A-wings tied down too much, that wasn't the best use of their design.

One started to break, and the moment felt wrong. The angle looked good -- ah, the TIE had two more in support, they were baiting the X-wings. The instinct to hold off and wait put him in the position behind the two and the third, but Tum didn't catch it and was out of position when Shan dropped to engage.

He had three ahead of him and a not even split second on how to do it without getting overwhelmed when he started shooting. The solution was counter-intuitive to a lot of X-wing pilots but struck Shan as the right thing to do; decrease shield power, increase thrust and weapon charge. He blasted one in a series of shots. The second one tried to out-turn him as TIE's often could, but was at such a velocity that he was slower on the turn. Shan burst out blaster-cannon fire on #2, a full-charge that let him completely finish the TIE. He broke fast to avoid #3's attempt to catch him and make him pay, using every ounce of thrust, causing the craft to shudder from the degree of performance the engines and powerplant were pushed, to put himself back in the 'safe-zone' of the X-wing cordon. He climbed hard.

They were, patiently, whittling down the enemy reaction force, keeping them off the Keep and the grunts. In many operations, the intent was to quickly get in, hit and get out before they could be caught, but here the idea was to keep the Imperials busy. And, of course, survive if possible.

Someone else got #3, but Shan had no idea, nor did he care. He was already looking for the next opportunity.