Re: Prologue - Debriefing
Cyril Hyquin waves to the others as they arrive.
"Well, yeah, Exilim, judging from the way the others spoke in the briefing room, I'm pretty sure it was all my fault," he states, as if it was all a joke to him. "So yeah, that issue's been resolved."
"Actually, Nirro and Jamie here were just asking what I thought of the sim, and what my plan was, since the Commander let us all out before I got a chance to speak. So, if you all have time to listen, I'll lay it out for you."
Cyril turned to Jamie first, saying in a more serious tone, like a teacher instructing a student, "First, about my conclusions:
In the sim, Grey 2 confirmed that a standard Nebulon-B frigate can hold up to two squadrons. Well, this ship is a Nebulon-B frigate, and the logos emblazoned in the briefing room mean there's already two squadrons on the ship - ours would be the third. Either the resistance diverted a lot of creds to modify this ship way more than the Blood Angel was, or we're expected to share ships with the two other squadrons. In either case, the first conclusion is: we can't afford to lose even one starfighter. Losing Grey 5 and 6 meant we failed that unstated objective.
Next, according to the in-flight breifing given to us by the Captain, the Sarah and the Deepstar were bound for two different systems, on different missions. Yes, the remaining pilots did ensure that the crews and passengers of both ships escaped the system, but in doing so, the resistance failed two missions, and lost the Sarah in the process. Since it has much, much less resources and personnel, the resistance cannot afford to lose any capital ships, and every mission failed by a captial ship can be considered a major setback. Therefore, the second conclusion is: we cannot afford to succeed in our missions at the expense of the resistance. I'm sure you'll agree, we'd failed that one too.
With these two conclusions, we come to a third: our missions will have a zero percent margin of error, and we are expected to do it with maximum efficiency and minimal resources. I'm sure you've heard that before, but there's one major difference - even a 1 percent margin of error means that one of us will be dead."
Cyril let the ominous words sink in before facing Nirro.
"Now, for my plan:
First, you remember that the moment we arrived, Alpha-4 turned tail and started heading for their frigate. It couldn't have been cowardice - he was still undamaged after dealing with a squadron of more rugged Y-Wings - so that meant he was heading to provide escort to the bombers or the frigate itself. Conclusion: the Blood Angel had no fighter screen left. That was proved when I got to the Blood Angel unchallenged.
Second, the first ones to take significant damage in the sim were Grey 5 and I, and Green had already taken too much of a beating. Numbers was the only advantage we had during that dogfighting, and it was important that we retain that. If Grey 5 and Green had left the firefight with me when I asked, we would all be out of danger, and I'd be bringing with me two Z's with a barrel-full of missles, and three Y's with nearly a full payload of torps just itching for some payback on the unprotected Blood Angel. On top of that, we'd still have 8 undamaged interceptors keeping the TIEs busy - a flight of 4 against more maneouverable but less in number T.F.'s and another flight of 4 against the greater number but less maneouverable T.B's.
You saw that maneouver I did, sideslipping and firing off four missles, aiming for the shield generators before I was taken out? Now, imagine if that had been me, Grey 5 and Green Squad with their torpedoes - assuming we all managed to fire four each, and shot at the rear flank, that would be 8 concussion missles and 8 torps on a flank that couldn't shoot back. You do the math."
Cyril paused for a while before concluding, "My plan had three objectives: no losses on our side, the Sarah and the Deepstar would both complete their missions, and the Imperial forces would be crippled or destroyed.
"I know some of you must be thinking, 'but that's impossible'. Well, you all heard the Commander - ever considered that maybe that's why we're here?"