The three fighters exited out of Hyperspace over the atmosphere of Yavin Prime, having been sent there from the Temperance by order of Admiral Ardo to investigate signs of any Imperial Activity in the sector. There had been reports of a Star Destroyer being sighted in the sector, and rumour had it that it was non other than the ISD Overseer. A scouting ship was sent ahead of them to investigate the area, but they had lost contact with them not long after their arrival. Raptor Squadron was mobilized to investigate the Yavin system for signs of their missing comrades, and report any findings of Imperial activity back to the Temperance.

"This is Raptor One, standing by." Avory spoke through their comms. "Squad, report in."

"Raptor Two, checking in." Volcan answered the call, his Y-Wing flying on Avory's right flank

"Raptor Three, rarin' to go!" Korban chimed in, performing a barrel roll in his A-Wing before forming up on the U-Wing's right flank. "Man, I'm already bored... There's nothing but gas around here!" He exclaimed. "I'm starting to think High Command is getting paranoid..."

"For good reason." Volcan chimed in. "A scouting ship doesn't just go missing out of the blue. I've got a strong hunch that they were attacked and taken down. As to who? Well I think it's pretty obvious at this point."

Korban scoffed. "So they're resortin' to the tactics that we used to use during the early days of the War, eh?" He remarked with a chuckle. "My oh my, how the mighty Empire has fallen..."

"Alright, that's enough chatter." Avory piped up, interrupting the banter between the husky and the phoenix. "Both of you, pick up your visual scanning. We're approaching the coordinates where Command lost contact with the scouting ship."

"Yea, Yea I know." Korban bemoaned as he turned his attention to his scanners.

The squadron patrolled the area for several long minutes for any signs of their missing allies. A signal then starts lighting up on Volcan's scopes, causing the phoenix to give pause for a moment to study it closer before he hails his squadron leader.

"Uh Raptor 1, I've got something on my scopes; bearing point three-one-zero aft fifty." The Phoenix informed Avory.

"Copy, Raptor 2. Stay tight on my wing." He answered as he banked his U-Wing toward the coordinates Volcan had laid out for him. The three pilots then began looking around their canopies for any signs of activity, idly tilting their ships in order to see below the horizon of their cockpits.

...It would be Korban that would catch sight of the signal on their scopes, a pair of TIE Fighters soaring just above the clouds below their position. "Contact! Contact! Two TIE Fighters! Low three-zero-zero moving left to right!"

Volcan and Avory looked to Korban's direction and spotted the TIEs cruising under them, seemingly unaware of their position. Korban smirked and spoke up again to his squadmates. "Heh, they're flying straight and level. I don't think they even see us."

"...This seems almost too easy..." Avory muttered, then he felt a sense of dread suddenly wash over him before he shouted. "Check six! Check six!!"

Both Volcan and Korban looked out behind them, and to their shock, they say two TIE Interceptors zeroing in from the clouds behind them.

"Two marks! Squints! Heading one-two zero!!" Volcan hollered.

"Break right!!" Avory shouted before he jerked the yolk of his U-Wing to the right, breaking their formation to evade their pursuers. Volcan followed the Gunship, but Korban veered his A-Wing down toward the clouds towards the TIE Fighters below. "Korban, I said break right!!"

"Relax, I got this!!" The husky remarked as he shifted power to his engines and soared down toward the TIE Fighters below. One of the TIE Interceptors followed after Korban's A-Wing, while the other zeroed in on Volcan and Avory, unleashing a hailfire of rapid fire lasers down onto their ships. Once they were in range, Korban fired his lasers at one TIE, destroying it before it could react and forcing the other to break off into the clouds where Korban and his pursuer vanished into as well.

Volcan had maneuvered his Y-Wing over Avory's U-Wing, his ship's powerful shields absorbing the lasers as the TIE Interceptor flew past them. The Phoenix then manoeuvred his Y-Wing so his turret was angled toward the Interceptor as it fled, then he powered on his Ion Cannon Auxiliary and the turret began firing at the fleeing Interceptor. It weaved out of the way of the ionized bolts, then it performed a drift turn to realign itself and reengage, onto to be met with a barrage of blaster bolts from Avory's U-Wing, forcing the Interceptor to break off its pursuit and head for one of the nearest clouds for cover.

It never reached its hiding spot, as Korban suddenly shot out of those same clouds right toward the Interceptor, performing a Reverse Throttle Hop to evade a head on collision and force the Interceptor to crash into his two wingmates in a fiery explosion.

"WHOOO!! Splash four bandits!!" Korban hollered as he turned around and formed back up with his squadmates.

"Well that confirms the Imperial presence within Yavin..." Volcan remarked. "We should return to the Temperance and...ooooh boy..."

The three Republic pilots' jaws went slack when they saw the foreboding shadow of a Star Destroyer's bridge tower rising out of the clouds ahead of them. along with the silhouettes of two Arquitens-Class Light Cruisers and a Raider-Class Corvette. Avory quickly shook his head and activated his ship's long range comms system. "Temperance, come in! This is Commander Avory Lo'Raven of Raptor Squadron! We've encountered an Imperial task force consisting of a Star Destroyer, two Light cruisers and a Raider! Requesting immediate assistance!!"

Static came through on his comms, causing him to constantly switch his comms on and off again to try and get a signal, but nothing came from it. "They've jammed our long range comms! I can't raise the Temperance!"

"Guess we're on our own then." Korban remarked, a smug grin crossing his features as he saw an entire swarm of different TIE models exiting the hanger of the Star Destroyer and rushing toward them. "Seventy two to three eh...? I LIKE those odds."

"Of course you would." Volcan remarked, putting power into his shields to recharge them after taking hits from the last attack. "Well, we can't outrun them, so... looks like we're facing them head on."

"Seems so..." Avory remarked before letting out a relenting sigh. "Alright... You know the drill. Raptor Three, keep us covered. Raptor Two, hit that Corvette with everything you got. I'll keep you both resupplied if either of you need ammo or repairs!" He said as he locked his U-wing's S-Foils to attack position.

"Roger, Raptor One." Volcan answered. "Time to bring the pain to these Imps."

"Hell yea! Empire's got NUTHIN on us!!" Korban whooped.

The three starfighters accelerated to full throttle, skimming along the tops of the gas clouds as they raced to meet their opposition head on. Outnumbered they may be, but they had the skills and the teamwork to hold their own against any Imperial force that came their way.

WHOOF, that was a long one, but considering how epic this piece was, I HAD to make this look good... In any case, here's a shot of myself, Avory and Volcan, each piloting our respective starfighters that we use in Star Wars Squardons, paintjobs and all.

Korban belongs to yours truly.

Avory belongs to https://www.furaffinity.net/user/avianbritish

Volcan belongs to https://www.furaffinity.net/user/phoenixrage16

Art belongs to https://www.furaffinity.net/user/theraf

Yavin Prime, the RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor, UT-60D U-Wing Gunship, and the BTL-A4 Y-Wing Bomber all belong to Disney and Lucasfilm.