Three X-Wings. Zero autothrusters. Hang onto your hats.

The X-Wings locked their S-foils into attack position as they dropped out of hyperspace. Luke Skywalker, insistent on flying his trusty T-65, took the lead. “Blue Ace” had his wing, with Poe Dameron in support.

R2-D2 completed his scan of the sector, whistling as the results flashed up on Luke’s main display.

“Bounty hunters” came Poe’s voice, crackling over the comm, “this won’t be pretty”.

Hit hard, hit fast.

“No heroics, Black One” said Luke, guiding his X-Wing easily around the edge of an asteroid cluster. R2-D2 chirruped and the schematics of three ships appeared.

“YV-666, a Jumpmaster 5000 and… wait. I recognise the ID of that Firespray”. Luke trailed off, disconnecting his comm link. “R2, give the Firespray target priority”.

That’s 31 hit points. Count them!

The YV-666 Trandoshan Slaver was the first to pull into view from behind a large frozen rock on the far port-side of the rebel pilots. The other two ships appeared from the shadow of the Slaver. The Firespray made a wide arcing turn towards the aft of the X-Wings. In the same moment, the Jumpmaster 5000 took a sharp turn and pressed directly towards them.

“I hope that thing isn’t carrying ordnance,” Poe said. BB-8 cooed agreement.

Keep an eye on “Blue Ace”.

“Blue, push around to flank”, Luke ordered, “I want to engage the lead ship before they can bring their guns to bear. Concentrate all fire on the Jumpmaster”. The T-70 X-Wing on Luke’s wing boosted to push ahead of their formation. Its pilot, Blue Ace, was a man given to tenacity. The veteran instincts borne out in Luke and Poe by their experience was more than matched by Blue Ace’s intensity.

MVP goes to R2-D6.

The Slaver turned to follow the approach of the Jumpmaster, bearing down on Luke’s X-Wing. Blue Ace cut an impressive ‘S’ curve out ahead of the rebel formation, the tight turns doing nothing to shake his focus, until he had his sight set on the Jumpmaster. Poe followed, barrel rolling and boosting to hold the formation. Luke slowly banked around, turning the nose of his snubfighter and craning his neck to see the Firespray.

“Dengar” he muttered, blind to the distance now between himself and his wingmates. “You and I have a score to settle”.

Stay on target… Stay on target…

“Lead” called Poe as he watched the T-65 fall behind. “Luke!” Poe and Blue Ace focussed their fire on the Jumpmaster, punching through its shields and closing in for the killshot. Snapping back to his senses, Luke pulled the trigger as his own sights settled on the Jumpmaster.

He sustained heavy fire in return from two of the mercenary ships, barely scraping by with evasive maneuvers and sheer force of will. R2-D2 squealed as laser fire raked the top of the ship, then set to work bringing the shields back online.

“Close in” came Luke’s command. The three X-Wings converged on the flight path of the Jumpmaster, which had pulled a tight arc and turned over in a barrel roll. The combined laser fire on the Jumpmaster hit home. A direct hit from Blue Ace saw the scout ship explode in a fantastic fireball.

Meanwhile, the Slaver seemed to stop dead, allowing the Firespray to press in on Luke’s exposed flank.

The Force won’t be enough here Luke…

Despite R2-D2’s best efforts, he was jettisoned away as the continued fire of the Slaver and the Firespray took Luke’s T-65 in the flank.

“On me, Blue” said Poe, his blood rising as he saw the Firespray appear through the debris of Luke’s exploding X-Wing.

The following minutes passed in radio silence, each pilot flying on the adrenaline of the close-quartered battle.

Poe turned in with Blue Ace hard on his wing. The lumbering Slaver was easy to outfly, and the two X-Wings quickly surrounded the Firespray. Under bone-crunching stress, Poe brought his T-70 around in a tight Tallon roll, Blue Ace turned another ‘S’ curve, outstripping the maneuverability of the Firespray and escaping its firing range.

Blue Ace side-winding like billy-o.

Poe and Blue Ace traded close range laser fire with the Firespray, chewing through shields and hull. A series of explosions ripped through its engines, causing it to drift in lazy, predictable banks.

The Slaver, having overshot its firing opportunity, pulled away into the asteroid field. Blue Ace pulled a Tallon roll of his own, out-shining Poe’s with a follow-up boosting maneuver. His X-Wing, modified as it was, allowed him to spin 270 degree turns. He grunted under the stress.

Blue “Houdini” Ace arc-dodges again.

The Firespray followed the Slaver’s vector in an unexpectedly tight arc, pulling hard to port with its damaged engine spitting bright sparks. Sighting both X-Wings, it made to bring its rear guns around. Poe reacted quickly, firing a burst of lasers to destroy the mercenary ship before it could shoot.

Hocus Poecus.

“Cut off his flight path”, Poe called through gritted teeth as he followed the Slaver into the asteroid field. His nimble ship easily caught up with the YV-666. “Let’s finish this”.

The killing fields.

In moments the two T-70 X-Wings had torn through the shields, then the brittle hull of the YV. The fighters easily outmatched the guns of the bigger ship, ducking and diving like animals at injured prey.

Wordlessly, the pilots exited the asteroid field. Poe knuckled tears away as they searched for signs of Luke and his ship. Apart from the faint remains of the debris cloud, there were none.

Explosions from the Slaver resounded from their sterns as they made the jump to hyperspace.

—

This is the first battle report from Tin Squadron, the X-Wing arm of the Tin Can Gaming Network.

We’re just getting started, but you’ll find us on Facebook and Youtube too.

Fly Casual (but don’t forget there are (tiny plastic) lives at stake!)