The whine and tremble of his Rapier's ignition sequence was a small comfort to Aeorin, otherwise known as Monarch, as he did a quick rundown of his last-minute checks. As the hermetic seal was completed on the cockpit, all of the problems that plagued him, his doubts and insecurities, were pushed to the back of his mind... Listening to the short briefing, he gave his affirmative and signaled his own readiness to the ground crew. 

He would never admit it but somewhere at the back of his mind was a tiny voice that rose up to whisper that one of them, the ground crew or even his wingmates, would betray him, but he squashed it back down. Asora had selected the pilots for Onyx herself, so she was obviously willing to put her faith in them all; If she was able to to that, then he'd put his faith in her decision in return... He didn't have time for his mind to wander very long, however, as the metaphoric launch timer ticked down to zero and he braced for the sudden onset of g-forces as he was flung into the void of space with rest of Onyx.

Once his craft was clear of the [i]Wandering Star[/i]'s flight controlled area, his nimble interceptor had no difficulty catching up with the rest of the squadron. He knew that his Rapier was hardly the pinnacle of Starfighter technology even among the less well-equipped outfits of the Resistance, but he understood the reasonings of the higher-ups as for why that's the fighter he was assigned. He would never be able to completely escape the distrust stemming from his roots as an Imperial scion, but he had already resolved to strive for what's right regardless of the perceptions of the others. Even his callsign 'Monarch' was a reminder of that; Originally given to him by other Resistance members when was still freshly defected as a back-handed slight meant to isolate and 'other' him, he instead embraced the connotations as a way of proving that he could rise above where he had come from... It was a symbol of defiance against both the Empire and his detractors, and he preferred it over his old Imperial Callsign of 'Aspect'; that name was a reminder that he had no agency over his own life, that he was simply a part of his Family and the Empire.

Sliding his ship into the formation ahead of the ground attackers and behind the Onyx Leader, he made sure to keep his eyes and sensors for any immediate threats approaching the group as he waited for the signal to break off and engage. He also wondered about Cataract's question, but didn't add any input; he was just as sparse on details as she was after all, and he didn't want to speculate just in case it made things worse. He hadn't run many defensive missions back in the Empire either, so he didn't have useful tactical they could benefit from...