Author's Note: I already finished this story and am doling out at whatever pace people seem to be showing interest in it. That being said, this is something I had a certifiable blast writing and I'm mostly putting it up here just in the hopes that someone will enjoy reading it 1/10 as much as I enjoyed writing it. So if you like what I wrote then please tell me! You have awesome taste in fan fiction and are probably just an all around awesome individual. Plus, I'm honestly curious as to what about the work drew you personally in and what you liked about it.
So thank you and enjoy the show :D
Dramatis Personae
Bandit Squadron
Captain Hapon Dustwalker (Human male from Courscaunt) Bandit One
Lieutenant Carrisima Dodge (Human female from Corellia) Bandit Two
Lieutenant Ty "Demon" Ulton (Twi'lek male from Ryloth) Bandit Three
Flight Officer Rej Agen (Human male from Fondor) Bandit Four
Flight Officer Kea Varik (Human female from Nar Shadaa) Bandit Five
Flight Officer Astin Griffiths III (Human male from Corellia) Bandit Six
Flight Officer Pash Seki (Rodian male from Courscant) Bandit Seven
Flight Officer Erisi Khan (Zabrak female from Iridonia) Bandit Eight
Flight Officer Shyal Matal (Human female from Dantooine) Bandit Nine
Flight Officer Nom Prower (Mon Calamari male from Mon Calamari) Bandit Ten
Flight Officer Renn Tharen (Human male from Alderaan) Bandit Eleven
Flight Officer Asu Batayu (Bothan male from Bothawui) Bandit Twelve
Alliance Starfighter Corp
Lt Gen. Quienna Sienna (Human male from Chandrilla) Alliance Starfighter Command
Nagwarr (Wookiee Male From Kashyyk) Bandit Suqadron's mechanic
Imperials
Tedros Novar (Human male from Courscaunt) Captain, Justicar
Flylighter (Human male from Byss) Imperial Agent
Torc Antur (Human male from Corellia)
Criminals
Xeno (female Hutt from Hutta)
Anya (Human female from Naboo)
Hapon Dustwalker had grown up believing in two things; always serve the Empire, and always do the right thing. He never in his life imagined those two would not be the same thing. The Empire had always been the shining beacon of progress in an untamed and brutal galaxy. It had been the symbol that united his life.
He ran his hand through his long blonde hair and looked apprehensively around the interior of the shuttle. It was packed with different aliens; Bothans, Mon Calamaris, Twi'leks, all dressed in the tan uniforms of the Rebel Alliance, as was Hadon, and it made him uncomfortable. The tan uniforms felt infinitely tighter than the gray officer uniforms he had grown up wearing in the Empire. He didn't think he would ever be comfortable in the brown. The the red and blue bars on his chest told the world that he had been given the rank of Captain (a demotion from the Imperial rank of Colonel) and the blaster on his hip told him that the Rebels trusted him enough around their top officers to let him pack heat in their meetings.
That didn't mean they trusted him enough to send him out to the front lines, were he belonged. Instead they kept him with what little remained of the Rebellions home fleet, seeing over analytics, training star fighter pilots, and ferrying infantry officers around. Basically wasting his talents as one of the Empires top pirate hunters and fighter pilots in an attempt to make sure he wasn't a mole.
Again he ran his fingers through his hair and tried to imagine why General Sienna, of the Alliance Fighter Corps high command, would need to see him so urgently. He imaged that he was being deployed finally, most likely on an executive officer gig with an experienced squadron going out to fly interference on a contested world.
Its going to be weird to be on the other side. Hapon thought as he looked out the window of the shuttle. The Mon Calamari battle cruiser was closing in slowly. He could see the hangar bay open, filled with row after row of Incom T-65 X-Wing star fighters in the hangers. Their gray primary paint off-set by the colored striping that signified what squadron they were in. Green, Blue, and Gold is what Hapon could see from his vantage point in the shuttle.
He intently watched the pilots do maintenance checks on their fighters, scurrying back and forth as their astromech droids ran diagnostic programs on their star fighters. Hapon had only flown an X-Wing live twice, and was nervous about having to fly one into battle, especially against crack Imperial Pilots.
The shuttle docked in the battle cruiser. The exit ramp opened and Hapon trotted out into the hangar. It smelled of oil, plasma, and rusted iron. Sweat hung heavy in the air as pilots and mechanics scurried around him, as if he was a rock in a stream breaking up a current. The whole aura took him back. Took him back to his days flying TIE Interceptors in the Imperial Navy. The camaraderie. The flying together.
Hapon smiled.
The last few months had been rough. Moral dilemmas. Defection. Rebelellion Debriefing. Boredom. Since leaving the Empire the trip to the Rebel fleet had been the most exciting thing he had done. Being stored on some backwater base, under lock and key giving every piece of intel he could give the Rebels.
Not exactly the kind of work that Hapon was cut out for. He was built for front line duty. Not intelligence.
A red skinned Twi'lek male wearing a similar brown uniform as him made his way through the crowd of pilots and saluted him. "Captain Dustwalker?"
"Yes Lieutenant." Dustwalker said, returning the salute.
"I'm to take you to General Sienna." He said turning towards a giant door out of the hangar, "If you'll just follow me."
Dustwalker did just that, matching the taller Twi'lek's long strides. He had never worked with aliens in the Empire. Not that he had anything against non-humans, he was just curious as to how they would fly, and how they would respond to his command.
"Lieutenant Ty Ulton," The Twi'lek said, extending his right hand. It felt sweaty, yet cold, "Call sign Demon."
"Nice to meet you Lieutenant," Hapon said as he took his hand. The Twi'lek was studying him intensely with vivid yellow eyes. He was searching Hapon for something, possibly expecting a sign of Imperial anti-alien sentiment? "Captain Hapon Dustwalker. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"As yours sir." Again, hesitance came from the Twi'lek's mouth.
Hapon tried to ignore it, "Do you know what they're bringing me in here for?"
"Deployment." The Twi'lek said bluntly.
Hapon nodded. That seems about right.
They walked in silence through the halls for only a around twenty yards. They walked up a short flight of stairs, into an office with a window overlooking the main flight deck. The desk in the office was facing them, and there was a holo-screen displaying, what was clear to Hapon, a former squadron commander,the rosters of various squadrons making up this wing of the Alliance Space Corps. The chair behind the desk was turned around, facing the window over looking the flight deck.
A tall red haired woman stood next to the desk. She was also looking out at the flight deck, but turned when Hapon entered the room. She was not conventionally attractive, but still pretty. Taller than most fighter pilots, even the men, she carried herself well. A lieutenants rank bar and flight wings adorned her chest. She had pale green eyes, far set on the sides of her equally pale face.
Hapon walked to the center of the room and stood at attention as the Twi'lek waited outside. The whole room was the same deep, metallic gray as the X-wings in the hangar below, save for one giant black scorch mark in the back of the room slightly taller than Hapon.
I wonder what happened there?
Before he consider the possibilities of what could have left a man sized scorch mark on the side of the wall the chair behind the desk swiveled around to face him. In it sat a human male with dark brown hair, olive toned skin and a thick build. His round face had a stern expression on it, matched by his neat almost rigid brown beard that circled his mouth.
Hapon saluted and waited for the man, presumably General Sienna, to return the salute. But no return came.
"At ease, Captain."
Hapon un-easily fell at to at ease, and the man behind the desk rose to his feet and walked towards him. He was a whole head shorter than the red-haired woman, but built almost twice as thick. Unlike Hapon and the woman, he was wearing his bright orange flight suit.
"General Quienna Sienna." He said offering Hapon his hand.
"Captain Hapon Dustwalker." He shook Sienna's hand, "But I take it you already knew that."
"Indeed I did." He said, slowly shuffling past Hapon towards table in the corner of the room. It was littered with various liquor bottles and glassware, "Can I offer you a drink?"
General Sienna had achieved a reputation as somewhat of a wild man, even in the relative terms of the Alliance Military. Strange tactics, over the top machismo, and laughing in the face of death seemed to hover above his head like an aura. But keeping an open bar in an office above a flight deck just seemed, to be inviting chaos into your command.
"No sir, I don't drink."
"If you say so," Sienna said as he poured two drinks and handed one to the red-haired woman, "This is Lieutenant Carrisima Dodge. She's from Alliance Intelligence."
Hapon shuddered. The last thing he needed was to be further de-briefed so some spook could try to become a pilot.
The woman sipped her drink and stepped towards Hapon, "We have a request to make of you, Captain."
"And what would that be Lieutenant?" Hapon asked neutrally, his mind hurriedly wondering what the blast she could have in mind.
"You were once the Empire's premier pirate hunter, correct?"
"Yes…" Intel on pirates now? Great.
Carrisima and Sienna traded a glance.
"How good are you at catching pirates?" she asked.
"The best."
"Think there are any pirates you couldn't catch?"
"None."
"If you were a pirate, do you think anyone could catch you?" Sienna asked, taking a sip from his drink and smiling through long white teeth.
Hapon was taken aback, "How do you mean sir?"
"I mean…."
"What he means," Carrisima interjected, "is do you think you could be a pirate, for the Rebellion. Use your skills in reverse."
"We're willing to give you," Sienna started, "A squadron of X-Wings, supplies, a mechanic, and a shuttle. You'll get top choice amongst the currently graduating fighter pilots out of flight school. They're yours to train as you see fit.
"You're then to find a base of operation on one of the Empires main supply routes and do everything you can to disrupt their supply chains and distract them by luring them into a man-hunt for pirates. Since you pretty much wrote the book on Imperial pirate hunting we assume you would be able to avoid their clutches better than anyone else at our disposal."
Hapon was shocked. It was the last thing he expected to be asked.
"And if i say no?"
"Then Ghostrider Squadron could use a new Executive Officer. We could let you fly there for a while, until we find the time to give you your own squadron." Sienna sipped his drink and shrugged, "Now of course there is absolutely no promise that we'd find the time to give you your own squadron."
"And if I accept?"
"Then with Lt. Ulton as your executive officer and Lt. Dodge as your intelligence officer you're to be given an office here on Home One and begin interviewing candidates for your squadron."
Hapon nodded and looked at Carrisima, "Then let's get started."
