Janis pulled his Tie Advanced out of the dive it was taking towards the X-wings headed right for him, effectively blinking, but only because there was four of them, and only one of him. His wingman was tied up with a pair of A-wings only a kilometer off. Close enough to come to his aid if he dared, but only if he really dared.
A snap jink barely saved his skin a second later as the X-wings managed to get behind him again, nearly bringing his shields down in a single volley. He briefly triggered his decoy beam, vanishing from their targeting systems for an instant. It bought him a second, enough to get behind one of them and open up with all four laser cannons mounted on the wingtips near his cockpit.
The relentless assault must've panicked the pilot, because he punched out rather than even try to get out of the way. Of course, with the pilot's shields gone and his wings being blasted off, Janis might've done the same... 'cept he was a better pilot and was flying the better craft.
"Don't have all the fun." His wingman, Jyrell mocked over the channel. "The Emperor wouldn't want you to damage that expensive fighter."
"He knows better." Janis replied, using the X-wings momentary confusion to swing by his wingman again and get behind one of the A-wings trying to lock missiles. It took even less time to bring the A-wing down. "We wouldn't be flying these if we weren't in the Emperor's favor."
"Or Vader's." Jyrell responded, returning the favor by sweeping into the X-wing swarm with his decoy beam on and launching an advanced missile into the group, effectively bringing the X-wings shields down and then finishing it with guns. He took a burst from one of the X-wings even with the decoy field on. "That hurt... lost some shields there."
"Back off and let me in there." Janis replied, moving in behind the aggressing X-wing. "I've got him now." Then the X-wing banked hard, almost harder than an X-wing should've been able to. Janis matched the move, in a straight turning match he would win. A second later he should've been on top of his target, but the X-wing had vanished. "What in the Sith?"
"Behind you Alpha 1!" Jyrell's voice echoed through his helmet.
Janis jinked, but it was a hair too late. Laser bursts ripped through his rear shields, rapidly draining them even from 200% capacity. He swore openly before getting clear and shunting his laser energy into his weakened shields and activating his decoy beam.
It bought him time as he reversed the turn, bringing his target back in front of him, but he couldn't fire his guns. Taking a chance with the decoy beam still on he switched over to missiles and fired. It wasn't likely to hit, especially when the pilot jinked out of the way as if on instinct, almost before the missile was out of the tubes.
"I managed to get the other two." Jyrell stated, breaking Janis' concentration briefly. "But this last A-wing pilot is all over me, decoy beam's out of energy. If he gets a lock I'm dead."
Janis tagged the X-wing he had targeted, then switched targets to the A-wing pursuing Janis. Warhead lock indicators flared at the bottom of his heads up display, meaning it was only a matter of time before he got a lock. An advanced missile would be bad for Jyrell.
Taking a chance, Janis broke his pursuit, shunting his decoy beam energy into his engines and burning back towards the A-wing. His lasers were recharged, but he stayed on his missiles, waiting for the target lock and firing. The missile streaked out of the launch tube next to his cockpit and slammed into the A-wing, instantly ripping it apart.
Then his rear shields nearly failed from incoming laser fire. He had expected it, but nothing as intense as it turned out to be, his shields were gone again. He frantically jinked clear, managing to dodge the second burst and pouring his laser energy back into his shields, giving him a bit of precious shield energy, everything else was pouring into his engines. Knowing he could outrun the pilot, but probably not before getting hit, he set his shields to partial recharge, keeping the energy from his beam system into his engines to compensate.
The X-wing behind him didn't waste their shots, only firing when they had a clear shot. He was just managing to stay clear. His shields weren't gaining any ground, even with a near constant shunting of his laser energy directly to his shields. The quick boost was just keeping up.
At this point in a dogfight, normally Jyrell could take down the spawn of a jedi. However, Jyrell wasn't anywhere near Janis' starfighter piloting level, and he was using every trick he knew to stay alive as the X-wing pilot matched his every move. He also knew they were against the clock.
Their original mission had been to inspect the contents of the neutral convoy passing through the Naboo system on their way to Coruscant, but they'd been jumped by rebels. Their command ship, the ISD Dominance, had deployed reinforcements in the form of gunboats, but they just weren't fast enough, and had gotten blasted apart by the A-wings.
The convoy was gone, and now so were their reinforcements and the A-wings, but the Dominance itself couldn't get here quickly enough to deploy traditional tie fighters and interceptors. And if Janis wasn't lucky, he wasn't going to survive the onslaught. Then it stopped, just as soon as it had begun.
There was a holler over the radio. "Got a missile off on him, but now he's not happy... and Sithspit they just dodged that missile too."
Janis hadn't seen too many X-wing pilots capable of making that move. A-wing stood a chance with their speed and maneuverability, but the advanced missiles were just so fast and so deadly. And now the X-wing pilot was firing away at Jyrell.
The younger pilot didn't stand a chance, even as Janis swooped in rapidly for the killing blow. There was a dual explosion, as Janis' laser ripped through the X-wing, and as the X-wing tore through Jyrell's starfighter. Two pilots ejected into space. Janis was thankful for small miracles.
"Jyrell, are you safe?"
Silence was his only response, Jyrell should've been able to reply.
"Jyrell? For the love of Vader answer me!"
Janis brought his ship to a halt right next to his former wingman's body and could tell why he wasn't replying. One of his comrades legs had been blasted clear off, ejecting bodily fluids into space. The suit had been ruptured, probably upon his automatic ejection.
"You better pray you're dead rebel." Janis muttered, "cause if you're not you'll wish Vader was your torturer, not me."
Seconds later the ISD Dominance entered the area about five kilometers out. Ties spewed from its belly. The less trusted pilots and green recruits. The cannon fodder of the Empire. It never hurt to lose a tie fighter pilot, it hurt to lose a Tie Advanced however.
"ISD Dominance here, Alpha 1 what is your situation?"
"Handled Dominance." Janis replied. "Three fatalities. The gunboat pilots didn't stand a chance and we couldn't get to the A-wings quickly enough to stop them. Alpha 2 is dead. I know there is at least two rebel pilots ejected out here, not sure if they're alive."
"Our tie fighters will secure the area Alpha 1 and we'll deploy a shuttle to recover the rebels for interrogation. Return to the Dominance."
"Request permission to personally interrogate one of them sir?"
"Granted Alpha 1, we'll inform you when they've been recovered."
XXX
"It was a trap, clearly orchestrated because of Naboo's sympathetic ties to the Rebellion." Deck Officer Ordar said as Janis climbed out of his fighter and down to the floor. "We may need to add an additional contingent of stormtroopers to that planet. You would think one adjustment of their planetary government would've been enough."
"Or perhaps we should've used the Deathstar against something more productive than Alderaan." Janis replied, taking his helmet off and holding it under his arm. "Alderaan was all talk, Naboo for instance is an actual threat."
"Careful Commander, that is treason. You may be one of the Emperor's chosen, but you are not immune to treason. Regardless, Naboo will be dealt with, of that you can be assured."
"I suppose that's all I can do then." Janis walked towards the airlock at the edge of the hanger. "When do you want me back on the flight deck?"
"It will be another hour before we reach Naboo, and the commander wants you on call in case more rebels appear. However, all of our other Tie Advanced fighters have been either destroyed or in maintenance. Did your fighter take any damage on the last mission?"
"Don't think so." Janis replied. "But one of those rebel pilots out there, the one I want beaten till they break is responsible for it. It'll be the one closest to were Jyrell died."
The Ordar smiled. "As long as you do not kill them outright, the commander is willing to let you do whatever you please."
"Good, I've lost too many friends to those damn rebels." Janis walked through the hatchway. The stormtroopers marching on either side of the hall ducked out of his way. It was one of the advantages of being a senior member of the Imperial Navy.
He hadn't even made it to the elevator when the intercomm paged him, calling him down to the detention area. "That was fast." He remarked to himself. The trip to the refresher could wait, he was climbing back into his fighter in an hour anyway.
As the elevator plummeted to the bottom of the ship, Janis reflected on the number of friends he'd lost. Even since become a Tie Advanced pilot, he'd lost his entire squadron numerous times. Flying the Tie Defender had been a similar story. He'd only been close to those in his squadron. Some of the best had flown with him, and some of the best had died.
Jyrell hadn't been the best, but he'd been a friend and a trusted comrade. They'd saved each other's skin more often than he could count. All it took was one crack rebel pilot and suddenly he was back to being on his own.
One of his former comrades, a young woman by the name of Adria had been one of the best. They'd been wingmates, bedmates, and even more. He remembered fondly the times they'd shared, even with their superiors knowing. They'd been Tie Defender pilots, the elite of the elite, the most privileged of the Emperor's finest. Most of all, he remembered the intense trust. He had never trusted anymore more.
Then, while fighting to save some of the last of the Tie Defenders, the rebels had ambushed them. Even the superior performance of the tie defender hadn't been enough to hold them at bay. Janis had escaped only because Imperial reinforcements had arrived, just after Adria's Tie Defender had been blasted apart. There hadn't been a body and at the time, he knew that she wouldn't have ejected, not to be captured by the rebels.
The swarm of interceptors thrown in to save him had suffered pretty heavy casualties too, especially since he'd been ordered out of the fight and into the Star Destroyers hanger. His Tie Defender had not seen combat since, it was secluded at one of the Emperor's secret hangers, along with at least four others. They were forbidden to talk about that, except to Lord Vader or the Emperor themselves.
Since then he'd been making the rebels pay, one bloody battle at a time. This rebel would be no different. Given his reputation, Janis expected to also be allowed to witness this rebel's eventual execution. It would be a bittersweet revenge, but it was one Janis would take.
The door opened to the cell block, revealing a group of twelve stormtroopers standing by warily as another four escorted a rebel pilot forward. The pilot's hands and feet were chained by stun cuffs. They hadn't bothered to remove the pilot's helmet, yet anyway. Janis intended to see his enemy's face.
One of the trooper's knocked the pilot to their knees, in front of Janis. The pilot didn't make a sound, but Janis knew the impact to the pilot's knees had been enough to bring about pain. That was fine too, Janis allowed himself to smirk, at least this courtesy was his. He motioned for the troopers to get the pilot's helmet off.
It was as if the air in the room had been sucked out as his eyes met the pilots. Recognition turned into shock. For a second, he couldn't speak. Kneeling before him, her hands bound behind her back and to her legs, was Adria. Her dark red hair cascaded down to her shoulders, freed from the helmet, but it wasn't just that, her silver eyes told him all he needed to know.
Shock turned to bitter anger... she had betrayed him... nearly killed him. She had been responsible for the rebel ambush, it had been her way out of the Empire. It had been her that had caused the cycle of deaths that had lead up to that point and decimated their squadron of Tie Defenders. And above all, she had lied to him.
Memories flooded back into his mind, the memories of their nights spent in each other's arm, her warm body pressed up close against his, her lips gently meeting his in fiery kisses, their passion displayed in a night of no sleep, a life without regrets. A life of utter and complete joy, even with the constant threat of one of them dying. Each night was their last.
Then he remembered one of her last words to him, before crawling out of his bunk that morning. "Janis... remember... I will always love you, no matter what happens."
He'd reassured her that he loved her too, he'd captured her in another embrace, leading into a slightly longer time in the refresher, only to be interrupted by their need to launch and get their Tie Defenders to safety. He'd never thought about what she had said... maybe she needed to justify her betrayal to herself.
It was only then that he came back to his senses.
"Sir, are you alright?" The prison chief was saying. "We can handle this rebel scum..."
"Don't." Janis whispered, he was already feeling a very painful urge to shoot the chief. "Don't say that."
"As you wish sir. If you want, we can handle this prisoner."
Janis choked down all the rage in his system. "I need a room chief, and I want no witnesses."
The Chief quickly checked the monitor. "Move her to interrogation room 2 troopers!" The Chief motioned for the stormtroopers to grab the prisoner and follow him.
Janis waved off one of the other troopers before he could even bother to ask to escort him. Emotions burned inside him, threatening to turn straight into tears of agony if he didn't get a hold of them. He didn't know what to think, what to say, how to even respond. There was a part of him that just wanted to embrace her and say how glad he was that she was alive, then he nearly cried out in pain as the other side wanted nothing more than to kill her right then and there for betraying everything they believed in, everything they fought for.
He pulled his sleeve up, exposing the brilliant tattoo that identified him as a member of the inner circle, the Emperor's elite. Adria had had the same tattoo. They'd even had a night of animalistic passion afterwards, so elated were they to be in the privileged elite. Nothing else had mattered ever before.
Even with his blood nearly boiling from the agony caused by her reappearance, he started towards the interrogation room, this was definitely one interrogation that would be off the records. This was one that he would personally assure was off the records.
As he approached the door to the interrogation chamber, he stopped in front of the deck chief. "Give me your blaster Chief."
The Chief didn't ask, he merely handed the blaster over. Janis took it and entered the room. He motioned for both troopers currently flanking Adria to leave. They hesitated. "Get out of here before I shoot you for treason trooper."
They both left promptly. Then Janis blasted both security cameras and the door controls for the room they were in. Another trio of shots blasted through the wall and into the monitoring room. It was unoccupied, but it probably would be flooded with troopers before too long, and he'd catch some heat for this, but he needed to have it out. He blasted the door controls and both security cameras, then all of the monitoring equipment along the wall.
After all of it was destroyed, Janis tossed the blaster into the monitoring room. Adria met his gaze. A tear fell down her cheek, but she didn't break her stare from him. They stood a meter apart and even with her arms and legs restrained, she met him without fear. Any doubt he may have had was gone, met with her demeanor.
Janis blinked, the burning tears finally falling from his eyes uncontrollably. He turned so he wouldn't have to stare at her. He couldn't meet her eyes anymore, they hurt. The memories came in waves, he wanted so badly to return to that time. He wanted it so badly, even having lost her once he could go back. Even with her having betrayed everything he thought she'd believed in, he could go back with her.
He felt a chin lean against his shoulder, then a head lean against his. For a second, he could almost live in the past. For a second, his blood stopped boiling. For a second, he could love agin.
Then the agony burned a new hole through his heart, causing him to scream in pain, and lash out. He hand caught her by the throat and slammed her into the ground. She coughed up blood from the bone shattering impact. Ignoring the blood on his black fighter pilot uniform, he hauled her back to her feet and slammed her against the nearby wall.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID TO ME?" He screamed.
"Janis please..." She begged, tears pouring from her eyes. "I never meant..."
"WHAT, TO DESTROY EVERYTHING!" He shoved her back to the floor and yanked her left sleeve up, exposing her tattoo. "YOU DESTROYED THIS!"
"Janis... listen..." Adria rolled over, spitting blood onto the floor in an attempt to get back on her feet.
Janis hauled her back to her feet once again. The fire had nearly burnt itself out within him. "And above all... you lied to me."
Adria turned her head. "I never..." she coughed up more blood, "lied about loving you Janis."
Janis lost it, the fire had dissipated. "Then why?" He whispered, the tears streaming down his cheeks like a waterfall. "We had a future, the emperor's finest."
"That's no future Janis." Adria replied, collapsing to a kneeling position on the floor. "And you know it."
"It is." He replied. "Why the ruse, why make it look like you had died in that battle?"
Adria fell forward, shivering against the cold floor. "Because I loved you Janis, as much as I hated the Empire, I loved you."
The doors opened, and stormtroopers came filing in. "Sir, I'm afraid I need to ask you to leave." The deck chief announced. "Deck Officer Ordar needs you on the flight deck in five."
"Make sure she's alright." Janis mumbled.
"Sir?"
He grabbed the deck chief by the throat and lifted him up into the air. "Are you questioning my orders Chief?"
"No sir." The Chief replied quickly.
"Good." Janis let him down, and took one last look at Adria. His heart shattered. Blood was dripping from her mouth, even as the stormtroopers hauled her back to her feet and dragged her out of the hallway towards the recovery ward.
XXX
"A rebel frigate has assumed a position above Naboo." Admiral Urah stated from the Bridge of the Dominance. "It currently has a full squadron of X-wings and Y-wings defending it."
Janis took a deep breath as he sealed his helmet over his head and climbed into his Tie Advanced. Fresh kill marks had been embroidered on the wingtips. Some carbon scoring was present, damage from the previous battle, but he had his shields.
"Tie Interceptors from Gamma and Beta wings will engage the X-wings, while Tie Advanced Alpha leads the assault on the Y-Wings. The Dominance itself will engage the Rebel frigate. Additionally, Tie Bombers from Delta and Epsilon wings will assist."
Janis tried to force himself to concentrate on the mission, any second now the Dominance would drop out of hyperspace and he'd have to be fully engaged. Even with his vastly superior ship, the twelve Y-wings were still a threat. Especially as a group.
But he couldn't get Adria out of his thoughts, if he closed his eyes he could see her, standing beside him outside their fighters before a mission. He could see her giving him her characteristic wink just as she donned her helmet. He could hear her voice over the radio, egging him on before the big battle.
There was a lurch, then the launch bay opened before him. The Tie Interceptors launched before him. Eight of them streaked into space. Then he was next. He lifted off, ramping up the power on his twin ion engines and then launching.
He screamed into space, amidst the clash of turbolaser fire from the rebel frigate and the Dominance. His targeting display lit up as he jinked clear of the fire, activating his decoy beam as he did to get a clear launch. He targeted the first of the Y-wing, trying to make torpedo runs on the Dominance.
He banked around the bottom of the Dominance, switched to his missile launchers and linked them. He fired both a soon as he got a lock. The Y-wing didn't stand a chance. Its pilot ejected just before his craft exploded.
He switched back to guns and strafed across the lead wing of four. They all broke into an evasive pattern, but they couldn't get clear of his weapons. He held down both triggers on his flight yoke, spewing destructive green bolts into the 3rd Y-wing.
It exploded as he passed by. The pilot may have ejected, it was of no concern to Janis now. The recovery teams would pick up the captured rebels. Captured rebels... the thought left him cold and he seized up. His Tie Advanced screamed forward, but in a straight line.
A series of accurately placed laser bolts shook him from his reprieve. The Y-wings had regrouped and were after him, meanwhile a second wave was already advancing on the Dominance. Tie Fighters had begun to launch. At least that meant he could focus on the Y-wings on his tail.
He jinked up and away from the line of fire, eventually pulling into a complete 180 degree vertical turn that brought him completely out of the Y-wings line of fire and back behind them. He squeezed his triggers, focusing on the 4th first and quickly reducing it to slag. The second Y-wing was equally vulnerable, not able to turn out of his line of fire. Within thirty seconds, both were dead.
He turned back towards the fight, diving into the battle with the remaining Y-wings. The Tie Fighters had done a good job, albeit a sloppy one engaging them. But they were cannon fodder and only once they stopped thinking like that would they get out of those fighters.
Janis spotted the third wave, a bit further out, safely out of the defense turret fire from the Dominance. The gunners were pretty well occupied, and a torpedo barrage from that distance would likely be enough to overload the Star Destroyers shields.
Not if I have anything to say about it. Janis thought to himself as he rebalanced his power system, dropping recharge of shields and lasers to his engines. His fighter raced forward, clear of the destructive firepower and into a moment of relative peace. The distance slowly ticked down on his targeting display. He needed to be within 2.5 kilometers to engage with his missiles and 1.5 to fire his lasers.
He switched to his missiles, locking up the lead Y-wing. His targeting system locked it up in after a second. The Y-wing pilot started to try and turn. Janis didn't give him a chance. He fired and immediately targeted the second. He repeated the same process as he entered range of his guns, waiting until he was very close to finally switch over to his guns.
The Y-wings were not even a half a kilometer from him. They had given up their attack run, especially with their 1st and 2nd ships already severely damaged and trying to get clear. Janis didn't give them a chance, screaming pass the last two and opening fire on the two he had damaged. They both exploded after only a handful of hits.
He looped around, reseting his recharge rates and targeting the nearest hostile. He lit him up in a head to head pass, taking only a single hit in return. The Y-wing's left engine tore off as his shots struck home.
The 4th Y-wing disengaged, heading for the X-wings. Janis didn't give him a chance to even react. He dropped in behind and blasted him apart. That left the Y-wing squadron as space debris and his job was complete.
A quick survey of the battle showed the rebel frigate leaking air and trying to make a run into hyperspace. It wouldn't make it far, not with the Dominance rapidly blasting out the smaller ship's engine casings. The X-wing squadrons were being mopped up by the combination of the interceptors and fighters, under shear weight of numbers alone.
Janis joined the fight, racing towards it and performing a slashing attack against a pair of X-wings hunting another pair of Interceptors. He didn't destroy either of them, but they broke under his onslaught, leaving the interceptors free to turn the tables and reengage.
There was a titanic explosion, made only louder by the auditory sensors in his cockpit that heralded the destruction of the rebel frigate. The X-wing pilots all disengaged, only a handful actually made it in to hyperspace. The rest were destroyed.
Janis throttled back, letting his ship drift against the star field. The Dominance altered course and maneuvered its way into Naboo orbit. Assault Transports were deployed towards the surface and Shuttles began scooping up ejected pilots, Imperial and Rebel alike. Janis swung his Tie Advanced into an escort position around the ATRs.
"ATR Storm here, we're deliver a load of stormtroopers to the capital city of Theed."
"Alpha 1 has you covered Storm." Janis replied, just as the ATRs and his Tie Advanced crossed into the atmosphere.
Immediately his control surfaces screeched in protest. The Tie Advanced suffered from the same flaw as all other Ties, extremely poor in atmosphere flight. He could still do it, but he wouldn't want to engage an X-wing down here, it wouldn't end well.
The transports set down in the main hanger, adjacent to the Royal palace, now the site of the Imperial Bastion in Theed. Within seconds, a gun battle had erupted in the hanger, most likely Rebels on the ground being swarmed by Stormtroopers. Janis cut his forward velocity and hovered under his maneuvering jets, maintaining surveillence.
"ATR Storm, clearing the hanger for another run." The ATRs lifted off, firing deeper into the hanger as they did. The gunfight came to an abrupt halt. Janis could see the troopers fanning out and heading for the exits. It would all be over soon.
"ISD Dominance to T/A Alpha 1, return home. We're deploying additional Assault Gunboats to maintain cover for the ATRs."
"Understood Dominance, returning to hanger." Janis accelerated forward and pulled the sluggish ship up and out of the atmosphere. Once back into space his maneuverability returned and he pulled his ship into the hanger.
XXX
A cloaked figure met him on the opposite side of the hangar airlock. He was clad in only a gray cowl, with his mouth obscured by another fold of fabric. It was one of the Emperor's servants, almost a direct line to the Emperor himself. It hadn't been the first time one had approached him.
"I assume the Emperor has something to say to me." Janis pulled his sleeve up, revealing the tattoo and showing it to the cloaked figure.
"The Emperor has taken great interest in the capture of your former wingman Adria. He has requested that she be brought before him with all haste. You have been authorized to take an Assault Gunboat and rendezvous with the Emperor's personal flagship at this location." The cloaked figure passed a datapad into Janis' hands. "That datapad also contains the credentials to have her released from this ship's brig."
Janis fought to hide his expression. A meeting with the Emperor meant one of two things, either she was going to be executed by the Emperor, or Lord Vader personally, or the Emperor in all his wisdom had foreseen that she would be captured and had planned for it, perhaps it had even been apart of some grand plan. If it had, then how could he forgive himself for harming her. The emotional tidal wave was threatening to break past his clam facade.
"I understand." He replied. "I will deliver her to the Emperor."
"Excellent, the Emperor is most pleased with your loyalty."
Janis turned and left, knowing the characteristic dismissal phrase. The Emperor was most pleased with his loyalty. Normally, it left a uplifting feeling in his heart, justification that everything was worth it. Justification that all the death meant something. However, this time it just felt empty, especially knowing what he had to do. He was knew in his gut he was delivering Adria to be executed, and it was likely that he was the one who would be forced to do it.
He made his way to the lift, thumbing the button that took him down to his quarters. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a splitting pain growing just beneath the surface. Physically, he was exhausted, but he couldn't stop. Sleep would only bring painful dreams. Sleep would only hurt.
He made his way out of the lift and down the corridors to his quarters. Imperial pilots hustled up and down the halls to either side of him, but they had their own elevators that took them to the hanger and the flight deck. The hallways he was walking in was reserved for the high ranking officers. Most of them would be on duty now.
The door swooshed open for him and closed promptly after he crossed the threshold. He left the lights off, walking straight for the refresher, stripping out of his flight suit and dumping it in the laundry chute as he did.
A short while later he emerged, feeling better physically, but far from better emotionally. He grabbed a fresh flight suit from his bed drawer just beneath his bunk, built into the wall. After getting it on, he quickly packed his essential supplies into a small bag that he'd retrieved from the drawer.
Personal hygiene items, a few ration bars for food, and of course, the datapad he'd been given by the cloaked figure all easily fit within the bag. He slung it over his should, then grabbed his second helmet and left his room, heading for the detention area's medical ward.
Separated from the main ship, it was where they took care of prisoners that needed to be kept alive. Ironically, it was almost identical the one that the Imperials used themselves. It was utilitarian, manned by droids, and garrisoned with stormtroopers.
"Sir, may I see you identification?" The trooper at the door demanded.
Janis keyed up his official orders on the datapad. "I'm on a direct mission for the Emperor himself."
The trooper stiffened, "Yes sir," and promptly stepped out of the way.
Janis entered and was no longer detained by stormtroopers, even though they stood at all corners, watching the main bacta ward carefully. Janis made a note that some of them seemed to have relaxed a bit too much, their rifle holds were sloppy. It didn't help that Adria hung suspended in the central tank, nearly naked.
As he walked towards the chamber, the troopers suddenly revised their positions. He heard at least seven distinct clicks as troopers quickly snapped to attention. It would be enough for now, though he'd make a report of the discrepancy and put it on infirmary's record. The troopers would get reassigned and the problem would go away at least temporarily.
A round, short medical droid blocked his path as it injected a chemical into the bacta. Janis let it finish, then set a hand down on the droid's domed top, about waste level. "Status of the patient?"
The droid beeped out a series of tones. It roughly translated to, stable, unconscious.
"Prepare the patient for transport."
The droid moved off to a console near the back end of the chamber. It let out another series of tones. Wait in release area.
A second chemical was injected into the tank. Adria's eyes snapped open. He saw her panic, but her limbs were restrained by droid arms inside the tank, preventing her from moving. She stopped when she saw him. Their eyes met.
Janis broke contact first, turning to head for the recovery ward as the arms pulled her up and out of the tank, into a droid only area. She'd get a stimulus shot to fully wake her up, along with a travel shot to prevent any further damage from being transported. Janis knew he wouldn't be able to hurt her again, too many things had come to pass.
It didn't take long before she was escorted out by two troopers. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair a tangled mass of wet hair. She wore only a black jumpsuit, at least a size too large for her. Her arms and legs were bound in a pair of stun cuffs.
"Release the leg cuffs." Janis said to the troopers. "I taking her to the hanger and you're dismissed."
One of the troopers knelt and released the leg cuffs, then both holstered their rifles and moved off. Janis took a deep breath, before finally meeting Adria's gaze. Nothing was exchanged, there wasn't anything he could say. He took a few steps forward so that he was behind her and gave her a gentle push forward.
XXX
Janis reset the shield recharge rates on the Assault Gunboat, setting them to the nominal rate. The shields sprang to life as he lifted the Gunboat off the hanger floor and turned it towards the forcefield. Adria was strapped into the seat adjacent to him, in the two person Gunboat. She was silent as he worked the controls.
"Gunboat Tau 1, requesting clearance to depart."
"Granted Tau 1." The deck officer replied. "Send the Emperor our regards."
Janis accelerated to his maximum speed and pushed forward on the flight controls, angling the Gunboat down and out of the hanger. Once outside, he brought up the navigation computer, setting the coordinates for the ones the cloaked figure had given him.
He plotted a jump point just beyond the nose of the the Star Destroyer and raced for it. Once reached, he cut the sublight engines and activated the hyperdrive. The momentary slowing was quickly replaced with the stars burning into lines before transitioning into a blue vortex all around them.
Aside from the humming from the hyperdrive engines, there was silence in the cockpit. Janis pulled his helmet off, setting it off to the side of the cockpit. He glanced at Adria. She stared forward, her arms still bound in front of her.
Janis opened his mouth to speak... but nothing came out in his first attempt. He turned back to face forward and promptly took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. It felt like the first time he'd kissed her, which didn't make much sense, considering he was most certainly delivering her to her death.
"I can't do this." Janis murmured. He faced her. "Why?"
Adria turned her head to face him, her soft eyes burning against his. There wasn't a hint of anger. He didn't deserve this, not after what he had done. "It's the same reason I left the Empire Janis."
"Tell me."
Adria brought her bound hands up to meet his. She met his gloved hand gently, running her fingers along his palm. "I left the Empire... because I knew one day, it wouldn't be the answer. We killed so many people... for what? Palpatine?" She clasped his hand. "All those people we killed, those innocent we obliterated just because they didn't follow what Palpatine thought the galaxy should be."
"They're terrorists..." Janis wasn't certain he believed that statement anymore.
"I didn't say everyone we killed didn't deserve it, but Palpatine's way isn't the correct path." She took a breath. "The Rebels are the best hope this galaxy has not to be ruled by tyranny. You remember Alderaan don't you."
It had been too easy to suppress the memory of when that planet had been destroyed. Janis felt it flare up inside him. He'd only been a lieutenant at the time, still flying Interceptors. "Yes..." He croaked. "... I remember. The Emperor wanted to demonstrate the power of the Death Star."
"Who knows what could be next? You know they're building another Death Star. It could all happen again."
Janis saw a tear drip free from her eye, before he realized it, a tear fell from his. "But what can we do, what can any of us do?"
"Janis..." Adria moved her hands up to his cheek, gently massaging it. "... you're one of the best starfighter pilots in this galaxy. If one person can make a difference, it's you."
Janis met Adria's eyes again, staring into the dark pupils destroyed what was left of his Imperial resolve. That left one thing inside him. "Can you forgive me?"
Adria smiled. "I love you Janis, there's never been anything to forgive."
Janis met Adria in a fiery kiss. Again and again their lips joined, tender at first, rapidly gaining speed and ferocity. Somewhere in between them, Janis released the stun cuffs from Adria's wrists, leaving her hands free. She climbed over the center console and onto his lap.
There wasn't really room, but neither of them cared. They done this in a Tie Fighter cockpit before, it was spacious by comparison. Neither of them noticed the displays begin to light up warning of reversion to real space.
It wasn't until the blue vortex around them was replaced by stars that Janis noticed. He immediately sat up, rolling Adria off of him as he checked status displays. Barely two kilometers away, the Emperor's personal Star Destroyer, the Majestic, stood vanguard. Executor, the Imperial Super Star Destroyer and its fleet were nearby.
"Gunboat Tau 1," An Imperial controller from the Majestic hailed. "We read you on our scanners, the Emperor eagerly awaits your arrival."
Janis froze. Admitting he could never hurt Adria never meant that he didn't still fear the Emperor. Now here, barely two kilometers away from his flagship, the terror dug in deep. He glanced at Adria. She had fastened her crash webbing securely.
"Time to chose." She said. "I can plot us a safe hyperspace jump."
Janis closed his eyes, letting hand guide themselves. When he opened them, barely a half second later, the Gunboat was turning hard angling away from the Majestic and towards open space. "Better plot that jump fast."
"Gunboat Tau 1, are you experiencing a technical malfunction? Cut your engines, ATR Omicron is being dispatched to pick you up."
Adria finished her jump calculations. "Its 3 jumps... but it'll keep the Empire from following us."
Janis nodded, and in an act of defiance, punched the Gunboat into hyperspace. He'd just left the Empire... forever.
XXX
After two jumps, Janis could finally relax a little. The first one had barely taken them a light-year, just enough to get off the active scanners of the Emperor's fleet and make another jump into hyperspace on an almost perpendicular vector. The combination of the two would seek to throw off any pursuers.
However, the hyperdrive was already overloading, which meant that when they came out of hyperspace from the second jump, they had to stop, if only for a few minutes. Janis took the moment to collect his thoughts.
Everything before then, once he had made his decision to go against the Empire was instinct. Enemies just appeared red on his sensors instead of the usual green, purple, or blue. Now, finally having time to think about it, the gravity set in.
In one moment, he'd changed the course of his life, probably towards a premature death, but something in Adria's sincerity had changed his mind. And she hadn't told a lie, she'd used things he'd always been aware of in her arguments.
So where did that leave him, a rebel without a cause, a soldier with a war to fight, but not sure about his side. He turned to Adria. "So what now?"
She smiled, "I don't have an answer for you. All I can do is bring you to someone who may just have a cause for you."
"Who?"
"He's a rebel starfighter pilot, one of the absolute best, Luke Skywalker."
The name was known to Janis, one of the rebellion's most wanted. One of the most hunted men in the galaxy. No pilot who had ever entered battle with Luke Skywalker had ever made it out. He'd destroyed the first death star, escaped the assault on Hoth. He was a living legend. A man Janis had aspired to meet in combat.
"And what can he do for me?" Janis banked the Gunboat towards their jump point, the engines were cooling off nicely, and in a few minutes, they'd be ready to jump.
"He's good with words... and causes." Adria placed her free hand on his shoulder. "It worked for me."
"It can't hurt." Janis sighed. "I don't know about the Rebellion, but I know I'm an enemy of the Empire now."
Adria nodded. "Sorry there wasn't an easy way out for you."
Janis shook his head. "I've already tried being angry at you, it just hurt more. In the end, our fates are tied. Where one goes, the other will follow."
Adria clasped his hand. "Will you stay with me?"
Janis met her eyes, while squeezing her hand gently. "If there is one cause that I have Adria, that cause is you."
She draped her other arm around him, drawing him into a tender kiss. "Almost like the old days."
"No," Janis replied softly, "those days are gone. But maybe something new is dawning." The engines were cooled enough to enter hyperspace again. "Strap in, last jump coming up."
The Gunboat jumped to hyperspace at the push of the lever.
XXX
Exit from hyperspace proved to be a sight Janis never thought'd he see. The Rebel home fleet, lead by the Defiance itself. Adria was immediately on the comms, broadcasting their ID as non-imperials. It was enough to ensure they weren't shot immediately, but they were escorted in by a flight of X-wings.
As Janis set the Gunboat down, he noted the number of rebel soldiers with weapons pointed at his ship. He also noted a single man dressed in black, with sand blond hair standing next to them. He seemed to be without a trace of fear, standing without a hint of aggression.
Adria turned to him. "It will be alright... can you trust me?"
"It's all I have." Janis replied, opening up the canopy. He placed his helmet in the seat behind him as he climbed out, following just behind Adria. He made no sudden moves, kept his hands visible, and stared into the eyes of each and every rebel soldier, making sure they knew he was not the slightest bit afraid.
But the man in black was a different story. Janis didn't feel fear, but simply respect. Despite the fact that the man was shorter than he was, Janis felt small beneath his calm gaze. Adria stopped in front of him. "This is Luke Skywalker."
Janis noted the lightsaber on the man's belt as Luke extended a hand. "I know this is a difficult time for you Janis."
"True." Janis let the man have his say, even if it was a clichéd and over the top statement.
Luke gestured for the rebel troopers to lower their weapons. "Soon we're going to face the Empire in battle again, and we need good pilots like you."
"Are you offering me a job?" Janis couldn't keep the spite out of his voice.
"No." Luke replied, startling Janis. "I'm offering you a choice. You'll have to build trust again but that's one path you can take." Luke gestured to the hanger exit. "Or we can let you go, free to jump to the Outer Rim where you can hide and start a new life."
"Don't have a choice there Skywalker." Janis reached out for Adria's hand. "I go where Adria goes."
"Then the Rebel Alliance welcomes you." Luke stepped forward and shook Janis' free hand. "It won't be an easy road, but the easy road isn't always the path we take."
"Thank you." Janis said. He knew that while that was said in words... he still had a very long way to go before he could be trusted again, must less welcomed. But, he had Adria and that was enough.