Star Wars
Call of Destiny
The evil First Order has launched an attack against the peaceful Galactic Republic. With the help of the heroic but ragtag Resistance, the Republic attempts to fend off the attack and defend liberty and democracy.
The war has ravaged many planets, millions of civilians have been killed and hundreds of cities have been destroyed. Despite the Republic's best efforts, no one seems able to stop the advance of the First Order.
In the peaceful planet of Calderonia, part of the Galactic Republic, life goes on as normal. Being strategically insignificant, it has managed to escape the horrors of war. But this is soon to change…
Chapter 1 – A fateful encounter
"Wow, what a pilot!", Alek exclaimed. "He shot down seven Tie Fighters in less than five minutes!"
Alek Harran was lying on the floor and reading the biography of Jim Yao, a pilot of the Rebel Alliance who became famous due to his excellent skills in space fights. Next to him there were many books scattered on the floor. 'How to fly an X-Wing', 'Guide of X-Wing mechanics', 'Memoirs of Andrew – An X-Wing Ace' and other books about space warfare. Next to the books, there were tens of small X-Wing models. Alek was obsessed with military modelling. Alek was seventeen years old, with short brown hair, blue eyes and a handsome face. He was thin and tall but not much muscled. He was more of an intellectual than an athletic person.
"Alek!", a female voice said. "You should prepare for school. You will be late!"
"Yes mom.", Alek nonchalantly said and sighed.
His mom, a middle aged blonde woman, entered his room and said, "Don't ignore me, Alek. Are you never bored of always reading about X-Wings?"
"No…"
"Whatever, just prepare for school!"
Alek got up. "Alright, in less than five minutes I'll be ready."
"If only you studied your lessons as much as you study X-Wings, you would be the best student in school.", his mom said and then left the room.
Alek quickly dressed up, wearing black trousers and jacket, and rushed to bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth and then ran back to his room. He grabbed his schoolbag and walked to the living room.
"Won't you be eating breakfast?", his mom asked.
"No, I don't have time to do so. By the way, I'll be eating out today. I will be going with some friends to try the new Azami Burger."
She sighed. 'Why kids prefer junk food to homemade dinner nowadays?'. "Alright", she replied, "but do not be too late. You have to study for the math test you have tomorrow"
Alek smiled. "Mom, you know I am good at mathematics. So, there is no need to worry about that. Anyway, I've got to leave or I will be late for class. Goodbye."
Alek was walking with his best friend, Tom, towards school. Tom was somewhat shorter than Alek and fatter.
"Hey, Alek, I've got great news!", a smiling Tom said. He looked really excited.
"What news?"
"Three X-Wings shall land on the spaceport. One of them is piloted by Poe Dameron and-"
"The resistance pilot?!", Alek interrupted. "The one who shot eleven Tie Fighters in the Battle of Kamino?"
"Yes, that one. He-"
"How do you know he is coming!?"
Alek could not believe his luck. Poe was his hero. He was a great X-Wing pilot and he had shot down more Tie Fighters than any other pilot. Meeting him would be the experience of a lifetime. Only few people had the luck of meeting their idols in person.
"My father works in the spaceport, remember? So, what do you say about skipping lesson today and going to the spaceport instead?"
"Of course!". Alek was not one who would usually skip class, but this was a once in a lifetime chance.
A blue Republic capital ship floated in space. It was the 'Liberator', one of the Republic's newest spaceships. Equipped with the latest type of plasma and laser cannons, it was considered the best of the Republic's starships. On the bridge of the ship was a man, gazing at the millions of bright stars. His name; Kaman Najaru. He was in his thirties, with short blonde hair, green eyes and a sturdy and strong stature. He wore red trousers and jacket and black sunglasses.
A man with brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin dressed in an orange pilot suit walked towards Kaman. Kaman heard his footsteps and turned around to see that it was Poe Dameron. Poe saluted Kaman and asked him, "Sir, in how much time will we reach Calderonia?"
"In about five minutes, I believe."
"Good. By the way, I wonder why the Republic wants us to hide such valuable schematics on this unfortified planet."
Kaman smiled. "Because the enemy thinks like you do. Since it is an insignificant and unfortified world, who will think that the schematics for the new super weapon of the Republic are to be hidden in Calderonia?"
"Indeed, captain. I will be going to my X-Wing right now to be ready for takeoff."
A shadow suddenly overshadowed a small moon. It was a Star Destroyer, the 'Destroyer', the flagship of Kylo Ren. After he had completed his training under Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren was given his own flagship. His current mission was to locate the schematics for the rumored super weapon of the Republic. To his luck, Kylo Ren had managed to persuade a high ranking member of the Republic's military to act as an agent for him, for the right price of course.
"Sir, we intercepted transmissions from the spaceport of Calderonia which seem to confirm Nick's info.", one of the officers reported to Kylo Ren.
"I hoped it would. I paid him a fortune.", Ren replied.
"Shall we set course for Calderonia, sir?"
Ren remained silent for a moment. "Will the 'Destroyer' be able to face the 'Liberator'?"
"Of course, sir. Although the 'Liberator' is a top notch ship, we have the advantage in numbers. We have far more Tie Fighters than they have X-Wings."
Three X-Wings descended into the atmosphere of Calderonia. At last, after being for months in space, they could see the sunlight, the beautiful blue sky, the birds chirping. Unlike space, which was cold and empty, this place was full of life.
"Nice to be in a world with beautiful scenery for once.", Damian commented.
"Well, enjoy it for as long as it lasts for we will soon be back in space.", Poe replied.
Tom and Alek reached the landing ground of the spaceport. It was located in the outskirts of the city and surrounded by hills. The guards of the spaceport had let them in only because Tom's father was a high ranking officer in the spaceport. Both of them were excited and could not wait for the X-Wings to arrive.
"If I see Poe, I want to ask him for an autograph!", Tom said.
"Me too…. Me too….", Alek nonchalantly replied, his focus entirely directed on spotting the X-Wings as soon as they arrived.
Suddenly, three X-Wings appeared on the sky.
"Look!", Alek shouted, pointing at them. "They are even more awesome when viewed closely!"
As soon as his X-Wing landed, Poe got out of the cockpit and was about to give the schematics to the officer who had come to greet him when suddenly he got a message on his comlink from Kaman: "Poe, Tie Fighters are moving to your position. Leave from this place and return to the 'Liberator' right away! Also, keep the schematics with you and return them safely to the ship!". Before Poe could reply, he saw dozens of Tie Fighters firing at the spaceport.
'This isn't good.', he thought. 'This isn't good at all!'
The landing ground shook as one explosion came after the other and the Tie Fighters were blowing up anything getting in their way.
Tom was dumbfounded by this attack, but Alek grabbed his arm and shouted, "Run!"
The two of them attempted to escape to the hills, only to see troop carrier ships landing in front of them and ground troops disembarking on the planet and charging forward.
"We better be going back!", Alek said and the two young men attempted to ran back to the landing ground.
The Stormtroopers who landed on the hills, seeing them running, fired at them. Although Alek dodged the enemy fire, Tom did not. The laser penetrated his back and he vomited blood.
"No!", Alek cried out, his face pale white. He could not believe it; his best friend had died right in front of his eyes.
Soon, he was able to reach the landing ground, only to see that it too was crowded with First Order troops. The Stormtroopers there were firing at the spaceport guards who had come to face them. As the Calderonian militia had seen little combat and had almost no battle experience, they were no problem at all for the Stormtroopers.
Poe at once jumped onto the cockpit of his X-Wing and shouted to his comrades, "We must escape!"
Damian too embarked on his X-Wing but Peter, the third pilot, was killed by stray fire.
Alek was moving left and right, as fast as he could, attempting to dodge enemy fire.
'If I do not find a place to hide', he thought, 'I am as good as dead.'
As he was running, he saw on his left a squad of Stormtroopers setting up a machine gun and targeting him.
"Kid, stand down or we will fire!", one of the Stormtroopers shouted. Alek was at loss about what he would do. Of course, he could not fight against a whole squad of Stormtroopers and a machine gun. But, on the other hand, he hated those guys who had killed his best friend and had no wish of surrendering to them. He remained silent for a moment and then saw that near him was an X-Wing. It was Peter's, the pilot who had been killed in the fight. Alek smiled and said, "Alright, I will stand down."
The squad leader ordered his men to turn the machine gun against another target and sent only one man to arrest the 'kid'. But as soon as the Stormtroopers turned their attention to other enemies, Alek rushed towards the X-Wing. The lone Stormtrooper sent to arrest him fired at him with his blaster, but Alek managed to get in the X-Wing's cockpit fast enough to dodge the attack. The soldier fired again, but the X-Wing's armor could not be penetrated by mere blaster fire.
"Captain, the kid is in the X-Wing!", the Stormtrooper shouted and his comrades turned their machine gun towards Alek's X-Wing.
Alek panicked. Although mere blasters could not destroy his X-Wing, a machine gun could. 'There has to be a way to fire at them!', he thought. 'Okay, I need to calm down and bring to my mind the instructions of the manual I've read back home about how to pilot an X-Wing. In the manual it says that in order to fire with the X-Wing's blaster cannon, I must press a yellow button and then a green one. They must be located to the left.. or are they located to the rig-'
Before he could think any longer about it, the enemy machine gun began firing at his ship and the X-Wing shook.
"I am not going down!", Alek yelled. He quickly looked to his left and located a yellow button and next to it a green button. "I hope those are the right buttons or I am doomed!"
Alek pressed them as fast as he could and suddenly the X-Wing's underslung blaster cannon was activated and fired at the enemy. The entire squad, including their machine gun, was blown up to pieces.
"Wow, that's powerful!"
But more and more troops were coming towards him. 'If I do not take off, they will overwhelm me.', he thought. Alek quickly pressed a grey button on his right, grabbed the joystick and pushed it forward. The X-Wing took off under heavy enemy fire and soon left the planet and went into space.
"That's exactly like it is described in the manual!", Alek remarked. "It seems that my obsession with X-Wings has proven useful."
But what Alek saw before him immediately ceased his excitement and terrified him; a space battle was going on with tens of Tie Fighters firing at the 'Liberator'. The 'Liberator' was fighting back with its plasma and laser cannons, bringing down enemy ships, but more and more Tie Fighters were coming into battle.
"Oh no!", Alek cried out. "I cannot hope to survive. Flying an X-Wing is one thing, fighting against a whole fleet of Tie Fighters is something else."
An alarm ringed. Alek saw on his computer that a Tie Fighter was fast approaching him. "It is right in front of me. I can get it. I can get it."
Alek quickly fired at the Tie Fighter and then moved the ship to the left as fast as he could. His fire blew up the enemy Tie Fighter while the enemy's laser only scratched a bit his X-Wing's left wing. He then saw in front of him another Tie Fighter and blew it up before it even had a chance of firing back.
"I am getting good at this!", Alek said with a smile on his face. But the alarm ringed again and, to his surprise, two Tie Fighters were on his back and ready to fire at him.
"Damn!"
But, thankfully for him, almost out of nowhere an X-Wing appeared and shot down both of the enemy fighters.
"Peter, do you copy me?", the pilot of that X-Wing said to Alek. "I am Poe, do you copy me?"
"I…I am not Peter. My name's Alek."
"What?!", Poe yelled. "Who the hell are you, kid, and what the hell are you doing in an X-Wing? And where is Peter dammit?!"
"The pilot of that X-Wing was dead. I am flying in this X-Wing because the Stormtroopers were after me and I had to find a place to hide."
Poe was laughing. "What? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me, kid? Of all places in the spaceport, you've found an X-Wing to hide in? And what the hell were you doing in the spaceport in the first place?"
"I can explain later. Now, shall we move on or shall we wait for the enemy to shoot us down?"
"You are right… Follow me to the hangar of the 'Liberator'."
Alek followed closely Poe's X-Wing and both ships landed onto the hangar of the 'Liberator' despite coming under heavy enemy fire.
Kaman was on the bridge and giving instructions on how to battle the enemy Tie Fighters. He saw that the 'Destroyer' was beginning to fire too at the 'Liberator' and was fully aware of the fact that even though his ship could withstand the Tie Fighters, it would have a hard time against a Star Destroyer.
"Are all pilots aboard?", Kaman asked.
"Yes!", an officer replied.
"Alright, we are leaving right away. We are going into lightspeed."
The officer carried out the Captain's order and soon the 'Liberator' disappeared.