"Kriff, I hate piloting. And what's with these Interceptors? I feel like I'm gonna change course just by shrugging too hard." Adara complained as she gripped the yoke of her ship with wary apprehension.

"These are some of the most elite fighter crafts in the Empire. You should savor the experience, Vixen 2." Evaan said. Her tone alone betrayed the smile on her face.

Adara's sigh was just one note from being a whine. "I'll savor my feet being firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much. Sheesh, they could've at least come with an astromech or something." she mumbled.

"You don't need a droid. You've got us." Assata said.

"And me besides." Glaize's cheerfully announced.

"We are about to go into battle severely outnumbered, if you're going to stalk us I'd appreciate if you did it in silence, for the time being, if you don't mind?" Evaan requested.

Glaize breathed a long sigh. "Some people are so ungrateful."

Vixen squadron flew next to one another in a basic defensive formation in a contingent of stolen TIE Interceptors and one Jedi Interceptor flown by Ahsoka Tano. They were making some distance away from Point Amber Bravo, but a compendium of enemy TIE Fighters were closing in fast. They would not be able to avoid conflict. That meant that somehow, they would have to survive an attack from a force that was at least double their size. The good news was that this wasn't the team's first time flying into battle with one another, and if their experience had anything to say about it, it wouldn't be their last.

"Looks like we have 11 incoming," Evaan said as ran her fingers over the proximity display, marking her targets. "We'll need to take them out fast. Does everyone remember their roles?" Evaan asked.

"Like yesterday," Assata replied.

"As if I could forget," muttered Adara.

"Roger," Confirmed Fahili.

"I don't know what it is, but the Clone Wars made me a fast learner," Ahsoka said.

"Just follow Vixen 4's lead." Evaan said.

"I won't stray you wrong, Fulcrum," Assata said.

Evaan's warning display chirped angrily. "This is it Vixens. The enemy is seconds out. On my command... execute the Crimson Nest." Even as she gave the order, she was already pulling on her yoke to send her ship to her relative "up" and starboard, spinning away from the others. At the very same time the others would be spinning away in opposite directions. As expected the enemy peeled off along with them, capable of affording two of their ships a piece to each one of theirs.

"Remember we don't have shields on these darlings like we're used to with alliance craft. We are going to have to be sharp in our evasive tactics. Our ships are faster and more maneuverable than theirs. Use that to your advantage," Evaan said, even as a TIE Fighter's blaster bolts careened past her. The shots were surprisingly close, which meant they had some particularly skilled pilots on their side. She would continue to fly defensively for as long as she could manage. It was imperative to the execution of the plan.

"Oh believe me, I will," Assata said as she zipped through open space, making it difficult for either of her pursuing enemy ships to get a lock on her. "Fulcrum, watch my tail, I'm going after Evaan's chasers." she said even as she let loose a volley of shots. They missed, but their dodges threw them off course, temporarily granting Evaan a brief reprieve.

"I think I follow." Ahsoka said, as her own ship fired on the TIEs that chased after Assata. They too broke off, but only for a moment. It gave Assata a chance to create an arching trajectory that would intersect with one of her previous chasers. She fired, but to no avail. These pilots were very well trained in flying unshielded spacecraft. Vixen squad would not be getting any easy kills today.

"Uhm guys? I've got three of these bucket heads on me, and I don't know how long I can shake 'em..." Adara said, trying to keep her tone even, but she couldn't hide the fear in her voice. She was struggling desperately to keep the enemy from getting a lock on her but with three targeting her, it was only a matter of time.

"Don't worry Vixen 2, I'm here," Ahsoka said as she pulled away hard from her previous heading in search of an attack vector for Adara's followers. As she did, Fahili moved in to cover her attackers, granting Ahsoka a better opportunity to focus. Like always, the Force was with her, but unlike the urge to demand or request its power it simply... was. For a brief moment, she had was experiencing the same oneness and understanding that she did when she purified her kyber crystals. Ahsoka found that within that momentary span, she could think and feel with the clearest of minds and the sharpest of senses.

As Adara did her best to dodge the enemy blaster cannon fire, Ahsoka laid down some fire of her own. Having come from the relative below, the targeted TIE didn't even know what hit him before he exploded into a cloud of fire and metal. "Woohoo! One down and a bunch to go! Thank you, Fulcrum," Cheered Adara.

"My pleasure, but we aren't out of the woods yet." One of the remaining followers broke off and made way towards Ahsoka, already firing a flurry of shots in her direction. Ahsoka weaved through them as if she were dancing in open space. The TIE Fighter caught wind of this and broke off to dodge before Ahsoka could make quick work of him as well. Holding her fire, she found that her pursuers had temporarily been forced from their path on her as well, thanks to pressure from Fahili.

"So I think I'm pretty sure on the plan, but I don't want to assume..." Ahsoka said.

"Ever heard of the Falene of Saijo?" Fahili asked. "They're a carnivorous mammalian hunter species that forages for a sweet edible plant with a red root called Saccharoot." She paused and grunted as her ship made a sharp dive to avoid fire from a couple of TIE's. She continued, "But the Falene could sniff out the root, even in the earth. So the Falene would find the plants with Saccharoot and construct beautiful nests that were like a platter to prey. The Falene would hide, the prey would be drawn to it and..."

"Pounce." Ahsoka said. "Sounds effective. So, in this maneuver..."

"I'm the Saccharoot." Assata said as she continued zipping through vacuum with nigh flawlessness taking hyper-aggressive shots at every TIE she could, sometimes nearly destroying them in the process. "And Vixen Leader... Vixen Leader is the Falene."

Ahsoka nodded to herself in understanding. She noticed now that on her scanners, Evaan seemed to be doing nothing but barely dodging shots, and firing very poor shots, if she fired at all. Most of the time, she seemed to be on the run. She was quiet. It must have taken a great focus to successfully play such a role. "So, you need to draw them off of her..." She continued to harass the attackers on Assata's tail." And make you look like the most priority target, while making her look like the least. And when the time is right."

"She'll pounce," Fahili said with roguish mischief.

"Hey, I don't mean to be the big baby of the bunch but I'm not really the best at this pilot thing, and two of these guys on me is... I don't think I can keep this up." Adara admitted.

"Don't worry Vixen 2, we've got your back. I want you to focus on taking one of these TIE's out. If we can prove you're a threat then we have more of a chance to give Vixen Leader the seconds she needs," Assata said.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Adara said without even pretending to be convinced.

Ahsoka's craft was suddenly behind hers and her TIEs, sending a stream of canon fire towards them. Like before, they peeled off, but this time came in towards Ahsoka. "Now's your chance, and I'm probably going to need it."

Adara clenched her teeth tight and pulled hard on her yoke to whip the ship around to chase after one of the ships that had just been on her. The Interceptor's advanced maneuverability allowed it to change course in sharp directions more efficiently and more quickly than the fighters. She pushed its acceleration, the twin engines screaming.

Ahsoka changed direction towards that Fighter and fired on that ship in hopes to keep its attention on her. It seemed that the distraction worked. Somehow, Adara managed a target lock and fired. The TIE Fighter in question went up in flames. "I got one!"

And then she was hit.

When her Interceptor rattled, Adara knew that was it for her. TIE interceptors didn't have shields. She was dead. In the next split second she would be enveloped in flame as her ship was torn asunder. And yet...

"Vixen 2 is hit! One of the panels on the right side has been shot off, she's not going to be able to maneuver!" Evaan shouted. "Protect her at all costs!"

Like vultures several of the TIE fighters pulled from the others and converged on Adara's Interceptor. Assata glanced at the others, attempting to pressure them away from Adara. She had 3 Fighters on her tail still as it stood. The ruse was working, but with Adara's ship damaged the TIEs were trying to ensure they finished the job, and several more were on her.

Assata looked to Evaan's ship on the scanners. There was only one on her. "Vixen Leader, keep defensive, don't worry about Vixen 2," She said as she moved in on attack vector towards that fighter. She took her mind off the other Fighters that were actively trying to destroy her and shifted to offensive mode.

"Vixen 4 I gave you an order!" Evaan shouted.

"And I'm following it the best way I know how." She got Evaan's fighter on target lock and fired. The TIE Fighter erupted into flames and metal shrapnel. Evaan was, for the moment, unpursued. "At all costs, Cap."

Adara's fingers flew over the control panels in attempt to find some sort of repair mechanism and found that there were none. "What the hell is wrong with the Empire? No shields? No Droid? No repair contingencies? Do they want their pilots to die!?"

"Focus, Vixen 2." Ahsoka said. "Try your best to keep moving at top speed." The ex-Jedi was trying hard to keep the fighters off Adara, but there were simply too many. About three were keeping a bead on her, while the rest kept Assata, and Fahili busy. Only a minute had passed since Adara was hit, but at this rate she had only seconds if they didn't change tactics.

As if The Force heard her call, suddenly two of the ships that had been moving in on Adara's kill vector, suddenly ceased to exist, replaced by blooms of fiery destruction. Ahsoka looked up to see Evaan's Interceptor firing with expert precision and maneuvering with such reaction speed that it didn't seem humanly possible. Ahsoka smiled. "The Force is with you, Vixen Leader."

The third ship peeled off but Evaan didn't even attempt to pursue, she switched targets to those who were still actively trying to destroy Assata and gunned her cannons. Two of them were gone in seconds. That seemed to finally give them the hint. Turning sharply, the last fighter that had been on Assata broke off and went towards Evaan as well as the others that had been previously attempting to finish off Adara.

Fortunately, with them distracted by the sudden realization that Evaan was the true threat, Fahili was able to also take down one of the targets who'd torn from its original tactics. The broken formations opened up the margin of error that they needed to finish them off.

There were only three left, and they'd managed to pull together in an arrow head formation that put them on a vector path that went head to head with Evaan. Fahili tensed in her seat "Vixen leader..."

"I've got this," Evaan said. She did not diverge from her course. In fact, she picked up speed.

"If she says she's got it, she's definitely got it," Adara said, confidently.

When she reached effective firing range, Evaan began spinning her ship in a spiral, and let out a barrage of 4-point cannon fire. The enemy was not ready. Though they returned fire, they could not land a hit, and her barrage was so thick that in moments, two of them had been obliterated completely.

The final TIE Fighter arced and managed to dodge her attack as they passed one another. Evaan kept moving and slowed her acceleration, just a hair. As expected, the TIE had come back around behind her already firing shots. She dodged to left, and then right, and then... she pulled down on the yoke hard as she burned thrust and arced up sharply in a maneuver that allowed her to flip quickly and put the enemy TIE below her. She fired.

Cheers went up over the channel as the last TIE Figher was destroyed, and Evaan moved to converge with the rest of Vixen Squadron. "I told you! She's the best pilot in the whole kriffin' galaxy!" Adara said.

"Well, I don't know about that, Vixen 3... but thank you. And watch that language." Evaan said warmly.

"That was very impressive," Ahsoka agreed.

"Never doubted for a second," Assata said.

"Ahem, agreed. Remarkable performance," Glaize interrupted. "But unless you can do that again, I think you may be in for some trouble."

Evaan's systems began blaring warning alerts. "He's right, we have at least 20 fighters moving in fast."

"And Vixen 2's Interceptor is damaged. We won't be able to outrun them." Fahili added.

"I may have a solution to your problem," Glaize said.

"You aren't a part of this conversation," Assata snapped.

"Interesting, given that I spoke and you responded. Is that not conversing?"

"What solution?" Evaan asked.

There was an extended moment of silence on the radio.

"Glaize, I asked-"

"-00421.005, 02187.023. Follow that heading and I'll take it from there."

"Vixen leader, you can't possibly-" Fahili started.

"Head for those coordinates," Evaan said as she took her Interceptor for a sharp spin, nav computer outfitted with the new destination.

"I hope you know what you're doing..." Fahili said as she and the others followed after Evaan.

"Oh..." Glaize said with a sinister chuckle. Outside in the vacuum of space, a black that blotted out the stars appeared like a gaping mouth. "...She has no idea what she's doing."