Kyvarr looked at Idaya expectantly.  She was bound to explain her plans now asked.  The Cather didn't doubt she'd had numerous strategies.  She was a military corvette captain after all, the sim had probably seemed routine.  Kyvarr was still surprised how successful the Blue Team had been, especially with amateurs like herself flying.

Seeing that Idaya hadn't spoken up yet, Fiarr continued to question Mika who was the only one who seemed to be offering any information.  "Kimi, how would you have retreated or fallen back?  Our ship were faster than your corvettes and definitely your freighters.  We weren't about to give up the fight."

Cor sighs quietly and taps at a keyboard for a few seconds before drinking some more of her super-strong space-coffee.

"Two reasons, I refused the offer to surrender were as follows. First of all, ceasing to fire would have meant also ceasing to fire on the torpedoes that were still tracking for our ship. It would have meant a suicide. Second reason was - I do not know if any of you have experience in fighting pirates like I do - the pirates can talk prettily and promise you things, but can you trust their word? Maybe on the day, Csilla turns in to a tropical planet." To most if not to all of them, the referrence was very much lost as none of the probably knew, Csilla was covered in ice.

"The downfall of the corvettes was the abundance of anti-ship ordnance available to the pirates as well as the lack of anti-fighter batteries on the corvettes' side. I would have preferred a rather indirect route to our destination, if I had the choice, but I must compliment the 'pirates' on their cunning ploy to deploy in to the middle of the convoy. It was a very good tactic. Had the missiles and torpedoes not kept us occupied, though, we would have made short work of your fighters from close proximity."

Sheila actually smirked a little.  "I think that was the point of the torps and missiles."  She thought they still should have made not quite so short work of the fighters, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Pirates?"  Fiarr looked at Idaya with surprise.  "We weren't the pirates in that scenario Idaya, you were!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:18, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

"At the point a surrender was ordered, Idaya, Blue Team had already reduced us to near-scrap.  It would have been far easier for them to simply destroy us without offer of any kind.  As it is your refusal to surrender resulted in the loss of 148 lives," Cor points out, "not including any lost on the freighters.  Total financial loss would have been over 7.5 million credits."

"Ouch."  Heigren blurted out before he thought before it.  He shrugged apologetically and focused on a plate of food he'd collected.

"So, Miss Numen, how would you have handled the whole fight, then? You are eager to point out faults in my decissions, but what would you have done, had you been sitting in the captain's chair?" Idaya kept her face and tone calm, when she asked the question. She clearly wasn't going to be provoked.

"As my performance is not under review, Idaya," Cor states evenly, "that question is irrelevant and will not be entertained unless the Commander orders it.  Your performance, however, is under review.  This is not an idle conversation about a flight combat simulator, it is an examination of your methods, abilities and motives.

"You seem to state primarily that you did not surrender to Blue Team because pirates cannot be trusted, yet the message Blue Team actually sent during the sim - that the freighters were carrying stolen cargo - and Miss Melan'nel's statement immediately prior to yours clearly indicate that they believed that Red Team were pirates."  Cor leans forward slightly.  "Did that fact escape your attention or is there a reason you dismissed it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:27, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

Kyvarr was startled Idaya's outburst but did her best to keep the surprise off her face.  She wasn't surprised the bosses were riding Idaya hard.  Her own CO's used to always point out her mistakes, real or not.  She imagined Idaya had to of dealt with the same.  So Idaya's retort took her by surprise.  Perhaps the Chiss was tired.  They all were.

"According to our briefing, we were members of Sirius Self-Defence Forces, which would rather suggest legitimacy rather than being pirates. Our mission was to protect freighters carrying medical supplies to Sirius IV, supplies that were purely humanitarian in nature and were mentioned to fetch a good price in the black market, which would make a pirate attack a distinct possibility. Am I wrong? If so, remind me of what was the actual mission.

What comes to operating capital ships, there was very little we could do but fire at the number of warheads presented. With slowly tracking turbolasers it was somewhat surprising, we even managed to shoot a few of them down and had it not been for our pilot, our fight would have been over even sooner. If you have suggestions on how I should have handled the tactical side of the battle, I welcome suggestions. However, while one must learn of one's mistakes, hindsight is simply guessing, how things would have gone if one had done this instead of that. One can not know for certain.

You are also accusing me of getting 148 virtual crewmembers killed and losing three corvettes and six freighters. While it is true, we could maybe have saved one corvette, but that is if the opposing force had really gone through with their promise to let us go and their torpedoes, still tracking, had not struck us. Even then, we would have lost two corvettes and six freighters, which would have meant the death toll to be roughly at 80.

Commanding a fleet of ships isn't easy. I do not know if anyone of you truly has the experience in large scale fleet operations, but I can assure you, flying fighters is far different, even in a squadron. In a real situation, I would have had real commanders running the two other ships, capable of making their own tactical decissions without myself having to give the orders for them all the time. We would most likely have had enough crew to man all the batteries at once, so we could have made our fire bear at all directions at once. The Chiss corvettes have a broader spectrum of weaponry - not just turbolasers but anti-fighter weaponry as well. These are simply facts. And yet considering the disadvantages we had, we did reasonably well, even if we lost. Of course, this may differ from each point of view, depending on what your emphasis is."

Her tone still calm, Idaya sounded like she was teaching young cadets in tactics.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:24, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

"You are very quick to 'state facts' after summarily branding my statements as accusatory.  Your decisions resulted in the deaths of 148 or more crew members, over seven and a half million credits' worth of equipment and more in cargo.  Plus two droids.  Simulated, yes, but those were the losses.  Those are facts.  I am asking you to explain your decisions.

"As for your opinion of Red Team's performance, I acknowledge readily that lack of familiarity with a particular form of craft is a legitimate factor to take into account.  Having said that, Blue Team destroyed three heavily-armed corvettes and achieved their goals with the loss of one single fighter, designated Blue 5.  I would put it to you that Red Team did not just fail; we failed spectacularly."  Cor nods her head slightly to indicate Idaya.  "Part of that was due to the simulation parameters, part of it was due to skill on Blue Team's behalf but part of it is also due to Red Team's performance - including yours.

"You have taken the time to restate the mission as it was given to us," Cor remarks, "but have ignored my question entirely.  Evidence came to light that the mission parameters may have been wrong, a factor that is hardly unique to this simulation.  What is your reasoning for disregarding this, or did you simply miss the implication during the fight?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:07, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

"I can understand your confusion about the mission brief,"  Heigren interjected,  "And I got BOTH mission briefings as I was playing characters on both teams."

"I got Red Team's first and it was just like you said.  Military convoy running a blockade to bring urgent medical supplies to a planet under siege.  Very noble.  Then I got the Blue Team's brief.  They were a corporate security team sent to recover medical supplies stolen from them!"

"It confused me for a minute, which isn't a good thing since I'm supposed to be master of the con.  Then I got it.  Nobody told the Red Team WHERE the supplies came from.  Idaya you had no reason to question.  But I get it now.  A planet under blockade, supplies are needed and expensive.  What if the cargo was obtained through. . .shady means.  The military crew wouldn't know any better.  It's likely the freighter crew didn't know any better.  But it creates the perfect quandry.  Red Team thinks Blue Team are pirates and Blue Team think Red Teams are thieves."

He bowed to Devon.  "My compliments on your deception.  It was well played."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:36, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

"It might have something to do with your statements sounding, if not being very much accusatory, Miss Numen. The fact is, the fight would have been over even faster, if I had not chosen to have the batteries fire on the warheads rather than the fighters. I did what could be done with the resources given to me. If you have ideas on how the mission could have been accomplished without loss of life, then I would very much welcome your thoughts on the matter.

I sent the freighters out of the way, so they would not come under stray shots from us or the enemy. I worked with what information I had and disregarded the enemy communications as propaganda, because there was nothing in my knowledge that would have indicated anything else. Or perhaps disregard would be a wrong term - I did not react to it as anything but a ploy. And as Vyn said, both teams had a reason to believe, the other one was simply pirates."

"Very well, if that is the position you intend to maintain, your statements have been noted," Cor says in a tone that is light and unconcerned.  "Moving on.  Doctor Veen, what were your thoughts on the performance of Red Team and, in particular, your own actions?"

Devon nodded agreement with Cor's reply to Idaya; he had been silent ever since getting the debrief started, though he had made a great many notes on his datapad.

The shipjacker acknowledged Heigrens complement with a grin - Heigren complementing someone on a well-run con seemed to be on a par with the Empire complimenting your ability to oppress the masses - you knew you were doing it right.

Now Devon gave his attention to Dohr and waited for the good doctor to speak.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:55, Sun 19 Oct 2014.

Dohr knew it would hit him before it did. He would have to comment on Iday's work. His actions had been under scrutiny during the simulation and would be after it. And even though he had not been given specific task by Rian or Sola, they’d still expected him to participate to the best of his abilities in whatever role he would be assigned to. And so he had. Idaya had made him a gunner and perhaps wisely so, although his skills had proven to be even worse than he’d initially imagined himself. He did not feel overly comfortable about evaluating the performance of another applicant, but it was what was required of him so he would comply.

Nodding to Cor’s hologram image and to Devon, Dohr stood up and leaned on his cane. ”I am sure everyone agrees with me that the overall performance of team Red was not as good as the original setup of the exercise would have let us assume. I am no expert in ship to ship battles, but I still was taken by surprise by the sheer strength of Blue team’s attack. Their supply of missiles seemed endless. And in my opinion Blue team strategy was excellent. The initial hit came from multiple directions at the same time. Having only three ships surely limited our possibilities of responding to the ambush. Or that was the picture I had in my mind. Being an army officer; a ground force soldier, my understanding of three dimensional battles in space is somewhat limited.”

The Doc took a sip of his whisky and spend a customary couple of seconds to reconsider his next words. ”However… In my experience of mass combat situations or war, when being attacked from practically all sides, the defending party has two options: It must assume an unbreachable defense formation using whatever means and cover possible… or break through the enemy forces at their weakest point like a wedge. Of course in space there is very little or none whatsoever cover available, but on Dorin the commanders of our armored units have been trained in a maneuver called the Pilgrim’s defense. Do not ask me where the name comes from, but basically it means the defending units will form a ring or triangle giving cover to each other as well any non-armored troops in the middle. Then when the opportunity presents itself, they will charge at the weak spot and break through to the other side to continue the fight from a more... advantageous position.”

”I am sure you’ve already grown tired of me saying this… But as I do not fully comprehend the niceties of space combat, I cannot say if a “Pilgrim’s defense” would have made any difference in our situation or not. It would certainly have left our… proteges without cover...”

Another sip later, the Kel Dor looked directly at Devon. ”My personal performance… My role was not one hundred percent clear to me. Yes, I was appointed as a gunner and that is what I concentrated on. However as the commander of the Red team, Idaya also said I was to take her place, should she fall. Not a direct nominations as the Executive Officer of the vessel, but a position with similar responsibilities nevertheless. Naturally I should have asked for clearance from my commanding officer, but the heat of the battle was too tense for me to concentrate on such a secondary issue. So… As a gunner I did not succeed. I barely hit anything during the whole simulation even with the help of the sensory data Idaya fed me. As an XO I possibly did even worse. I could and maybe should have questioned some of the Commander’s orders, particularly the last one. Sometimes it is better to give up; to admit defeat and live to see another day… But in the end, I am not competent to question a commander of a capital ship in the midst of a space battle. I felt all I could do was to voice my concerns.”

”Now do not get me wrong. I am not trying to defend myself and blame another. It is simply my view of the events that just took place. To me it seemed the Blue team was too heavily armed for us to be able to take them out.”

Kyvarr nodded.  "We have a similar strategy.  Roughly translated it's called Jorgan's Lance."

Mika focuses on listening, her own queries of Idaya's decisions left off.  She'd just wanted to know if Idaya had considered the retreat or surrender option and if so, her thoughts of why they were unacceptable and Idaya had already addressed that.  The rest, well it seemed the simulation wasn't the only attack Idaya was to suffer.  For the former military types, maybe that's how things were done, but it seemed a bit too much to a former swoop punk like her.

Flash sat quietly, refusing to let his rising anger show.  This was Devon's show.  But he didn't know how long he could bite his tongue.  He bit into some food instead.

Cor seems satisfied by Dohr's assessment and nods once, giving him a smile.  Her fingers continue tapping as she does so, not bothering to look down in order to type.

"Very well, Doctor Veen.  Your comments have been noted."  Then she looks over at Devon.  "I believe I have done assessing Red Team, Commander.  Is there anything you would add before you begin assessing Blue Team?"

Devon grinned slightly at Dohrs comment about the supply of torpedoes seeming endless.
"You know we were out of ammo before the end, right?  That volley that missed twice - that was our last shot at a barrage."


"Kimy and Sola did good work in their attempts to save the ship - chasing after the missiles was a good move, gave the gunners more time to fire... and gave Sola more time to shore up the shields.  Speaking of which, redirecting all shield power to oppose that barrage probably saved Red 1 from being destroyed instantly when the torpedoes did finally hit."


Devon paused and rubbed at his eyes tiredly before he continued.
"I'm really not sure where to start with Blue team... I mean, I was leading the team - I figure that skews my perspective a bit.  So how do you guys think Blue team did?"

Fiarr thought a while before answering.  "I must say I was impressed Rian.  Not because we won, but the way you and the team seem to effortlessly change tactics and plans in a battle.  When I flew with the Bothan Defence Force we had a saying "Plan the flight then fly the plan."  We were taught not following the predetermined plan was disastrous.  You proved that theory wrong.  In fact you were modifying the strategy so often I don't think the Red team had time to adapt.  I mean one minute I'm part of a recon flight, then I'm playing chicken with freighters, then I'm setting up fake targeting locks then suddenly I'm leading a flight of six while Forim tries to scrape paint off the corvette's belly!  It was a wild ride."

Cor nods to Devon in acknowledgement of his kind words, a raised eyebrow betraying the fact that she didn't expect him to mention her.  He eyes flick to something not shown in the hologram - presumably a screen - and she smiles a small smile.

"Yes, Forim is quite fond of meeting challenges head-on.  That he always comes out alive is a testament to his skill."  Glancing at Devon again she says airily, "Commander, do you think you might spare CC9's presence for the rest of the debriefing?  I have a task for him and can keep him in-the-loop by linking him to my M4's vidfeed."