Get your own Free Home Page Randy Coe ran down to the hangar bay as soon as he
heard the order. He ran into the locker room and slipped on his flightsuit.
Ever since Antilles had been made General, Randy had taken over as the
leader of Rogue Squadron. His wingmen were dependable and worked
well under pressure. He would trust any of them with his life, except
one: Karina Arroyo, a green apple who had just joined the squadron.
Randy wondered how she ever got through the Academy. She couldn't
hit a black tauntaun against a snowbank, and her piloting skills were questionable.
Still, even she could be a good pilot if she wanted to be.
Randy went down to the hangar bay proper.
All around him, fighters were being fueled and prepped for launch.
Astromech droids were being lowered into their sockets behind the cockpits
of X-wing fighters. Randy walked over to his own X-wing, only to
be intercepted by John Ormes.
"Hey, John!" Randy called. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good," John answered. The kid had always been quiet
and withdrawn. That was because he was the youngest member of Rogue
Squadron. But youngest or not, he was a natural shot, and his piloting
skills could compete with that of the legendary Luke Skywalker.
"Good," Randy answered, "get to your ship. I want the whole
squadron ready to launch in three minutes."
John went to carry out his orders and to inform,
the rest of Rogue Squadron. As he turned around, Randy called back
to him.
"John!" he said. "May the Force be with you!"
"You too," John answered back.
Randy got to his fighter to find his astromech already
in its socket. The tech informed him that the X-wing was fueled and
prepped for launch. He climbed the ladder to enter the cockpit.
Some techs promptly removed the ladder as Randy keyed in the startup sequence,
adding the whine of his engines to the din of the other fighters in the
hangar bay. His transparisteel closed slowly, and the cockpit pressurized.
"Rogue Leader to Control," Coe said. "Request permission
for launch."
"This is Control," a female voice said into the comm. "Permission
granted. Proceed at will, Rogue Leader."
Randy activated the repulsorlift drives and retracted
the landing gear. Genlty, he guided the starfighter out of the bay
and into space. Bringing his fighter about, he examined the scene
before him. The 'Kraken' was still pounding the little ship.
A few other X-wings were out here already, and Randy could see the shapes
of B-wings and A-wings in the vacuum of space. All of his squadron
reported in. They were ready to move.
"All right, let's do it!" Coe said over the comm. "Lock
S-foils in attack position!"
Rogue Squadron went to full power, blasting off
into the fray. TIEs were all over the place, their twin lasers blazing,
ready to blow them to bits. According to Randy's readings, the mystery
ship had regained shields, and was pounding away at the 'Kraken' with a
vengeance, paying no attention to the turbolasers pummeling the spaceframe.
"Rogue Leader," Ormes's voice came in over the channel," this
is Rogue Two. I'm detecting four coming your way, bearing: 058 mark
357. Watch yourself."
"I see them," Randy said, turning around in his seat. Four
TIEs were coming in a diamond formation, their engines roaring through
the black vacuum of space. Randy turned his fighter around and swerved
to avoid deadly laser fire. He got one of them in his sights and
let loose with his four laser cannons. The bright-orange fire caught
the TIE square in the transparisteel, Destroying it in a spectacular display
of fireworks. Randy got another TIE down while the transparisteel
was still adjusting to the sudden flash of light. The leader and
his wingman were still on him, blasting away. Randy tried his best
to shake them, but failed. He was prepared to die.
Then, a familiar New Republic X-wing swooped down
from above and fired its top laser cannons. The TIEs sticking Randy
exploded in showers of flame, and the X-wing pulled up to avoid a collision.
"Thanks, John," Randy said, breathless. "I owe you one!"
"Don't mention it," John said. He turned his attention
back to the battle. It was looking good. Almost all of the
TIEs were down for the count, leaving only a dozen or so left. The
alien ship was still pounding at the 'Kraken', giving Daala a real good
kick in the pants.
Then he saw the TIE interceptors pour out of the
'Kraken's' foreward launch bay. The howl of the upgraded engines,
the blistering speed, and ominous dagger-shaped wings had been known and
feared by almost every starfighter pilot in the New Republic. The
interceptors were faster, more maneuverable, and had firepower that rivaled
an X-wing. The deadly ships were already joining the fight.
"Watch it, Rogue Six!" Randy's voice came in over the comm.
"You have interceptors on your tail!"
"I don't see any fighters!" Karina said. "My scopes read
negative! Where the hell are they?!"
Pick up your visual scanning, Arroyo!" Ormes shouted.
"I see them!" Karina said triumphantly.
"Good!" Ormes said. "Now get *away* from them!"
Karina maneuvered her X-wing sloppily away from
the shooting interceptors. The interceptors matched her movements
effortlessly, and the leader fired, hitting one of her fusion thrust engines.
Arroyo tried again to move her X-wing away, but with one engine down, her
moves were even more sluggish.
"I can't shake them!" Karina shouted in panic. "I've lost
one engine and there's smoke in my cockpit!" *I knew I should have
gone for Engineering... even *with* Isaacs in charge!*
Just then, her luck ran out. One of the interceptors
managed to get a lock on her and fired. The four laser blasts raked
across the cockpit, ripping through shields and hull. The X-wing
exploded in a giant sphere of flame, catching two interceptors in the blast.
John turned from the display, suddenly feeling very
nauseous. Being a starfighter pilot might be fun, but he was constantly
reminded of one thing. War is *never* pleasant... for *anyone*.
"The unknown ship has just destroyed one of the 'Kraken's' deflector-shield
domes," Clayton cheerfully reported from his position at sensors.
"The ship regained its shield capacity a few minutes ago."
"Good," Wedge said. "Ms. Schwarte, let's give them a helping
hand."
"Aye, sir," Schwarte said. The 'Yavaris II' fired its turbolasers,
scoring solid hits on the 'Kraken's' starboard side. With another
volley, the flight-launch control center was destroyed. The smaller
ship continued to hammer into the 'Kraken's' rear, damaging the Star Destroyer's
sublight engines.
"General," Mara said in a vexed tone, "the 'Kraken' is hailing
us."
"On holotable,"
The holotable switched from the image of the battle
to Daala's cold, hardened face. Behind her, Wedge could see her bridge
had suffered major damage. Panels were in flames, and work crews
scrambled to put them out. The deadly beauty of Daala's own face
was marred by soot and a rather ugly gash on her left cheek. Her
eyes still held the same contempt and hatred.
"General, I *demand* to know why you are giving aid to the alien
vessel. This is strictly an Imperial affair! It is none
of *your* business!" she bit out.
"On the contrary, *Admiral*. Your presence here *makes*
it my business! It ceased to be strictly Imperial when you violated
New Republic space! Your ship is practically crippled. You
will withdraw at once!" Wedge retorted, his voice just as cold.
Mara looked at him, covering her surprise. She had never seen him
so adamant.
Daala seemed to consider her options briefly.
Mara knew she was surprised by the ferocity of Wedge's reply. Daala
knew it wasn't a good idea to cross Wedge, and she couldn't afford to lose
the 'Kraken', so she decided to cut her losses. "Very well.
You have won this time, General, but this isn't over!" Her eyes narrowed
and her face darkened. "I promise you, General, there *will* be a
next time." The holo showed the battle again as Daala closed the
transmission.
The 'Kraken' turned around like a wounded animal,
moving away from the mysterious ship. Its hyperdrive engines kicked
in, and the Star Destroyer fled into the vast realm of hyperspace, leaving
its TIE fighters behind. Wedge breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Call back all fighters once the TIEs are gone," he turned
to Mara. "Hail the other vessel. Let's see if they need more
help."
"Captain, we're being hailed," Harry said.
"On screen."
The bridge crew watched as the image of a man in
his middle thirties with dark brown hair and sea green eyes appeared on
the viewscreen. Sitting beside him was a beautiful woman in her late
twenties with red-gold hair and intense emerald green eyes.
"I am General Wedge Antilles of the New Republic Star Cruiser
'Yavaris II'," Wedge introduced himself. "Do you require further
assistance?"
"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship 'Voyager',"
Janeway replied. "We are making repairs and do not require assistance
with them. However, we are unfamiliar with this area of space and
wish to ask you some questions that may help us to avoid any other...confrontations
with Admiral Daala."
"We would be happy to speak with you, Captain. We know
quite a bit of information about this sector, and would be pleased to share
it with you."
"Thank you, General. We would be pleased to have the meeting
aboard my ship."
"That is acceptable, Captain. We can take a shuttle over."
"That won't be necessary, General. We have our own means
of transportation. Report to the following coordinates at 1930,
and we will transport you aboard 'Voyager'." She turned to Harry.
"Mr. Kim, transmit the coordinates to the 'Yavaris II'."
"Aye, Captain. Transmitting coordinates now."
"We've received the coordinates, sir," the woman seated beside
him informed Wedge.
"Thank you, Captain." He turned his attention back to the
viewscreen. "We will see you at 1930, Captain."
"We'll be looking forward to it, General," Janeway responded.
"'Voyager' out."
Get your own Free Home Page