High Flight Squadron: Light the Way
Disclaimer: This is a work of Fan Fiction based on characters and places owned and copyrighted by Lucasfilm Ltd. However, everything here not owned by Lucas in this work is the property of the author and should not be used without his consent. No profit has been gained from the creation of this Fan Fiction and no copyright infringement is intended. No part of this publication may be published, distributed or copied in any other way online or offline without the expressed written consent of the author. I also recommend that you read HFS: A Familiar Enemy before reading this Fan Fiction. You may have a better understanding of the characters after that and besides, it's mine! You may contact the author with any questions, comments, concerns, complaints, worries, problems, typos, etc. at Sith_Lord_2064@yahoo.com
Commander Crystal Sandskimmer – Squadron XO (Three)(Human Female from Tatooine)
Lieutenant Renn Shrike (Two) (Human Male from Corellia)
Lieutenant Caet Shrovl (Four) (Shistavinen Female from Uvena 3)
Lieutenant Commander Krinuv'ani (Five) (Twi'lek female from Ryloth)
Flight Officer Anissa Sani (Six) (Human Female from Chandrila)
Lieutenant Kolot (Seven) (Ewok Male from Endor)
Flight Officer Valszun Jerwhal (Eight) (Quarren Male from Mon Calamari)
Lieutenant Tamika Pefrin (Nine) (Human Female from Praesitlyn)
Flight Officer Geina Key'lyn (Ten) (Bothan Female from Bothawui)
Lieutenant Jessa Milerna (Eleven)(Human Female from Coruscant)
Flight Officer Daerin Pithcal (Twelve) (Human Male from Coruscant)
Coruscant: Corellian Embassy
Day One
2100 GST
When Renn Shrike joined the New Republic, he never expected to live long enough to earn enough money to help his impoverished family. He never expected to meet the woman of his dreams. And, he certainly never expected to be asked to perform duties as best man in a wedding. Especially the wedding of his commanding officer. Sometimes, life was funny that way.
So, Renn was in a good mood as he stood beside his CO, anxiously awaiting the start of a traditional Corellian wedding ceremony. The two men were dressed in their dress uniforms, Aerick's was littered with campaign patches and medals while Renn's wasn't.
Across the aisle stood Crystal's maid-of-honor, Krinuv'ani. She looked absolutely radiant in her cerulean, floor length gown. The gown was back-less and fairly low-cut, offering a fair amount of cleavage. The gown also accentuated the gray hue of her skin.
The rest of the squadron, along with the four newest members; Flight Officer Anissa Sani, Flight Officer Valszun Jerwhal, Flight Officer Geina Key'lyn, and Flight Officer Daerin Pithcal. Among the attendants were both Crystal and Aerick's families. Also in attendance, were Admiral Ackbar, Captain Sair Yonka, General Wedge Antilles, and Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. The room was inundated with the sounds of people talking, chairs moving and other ambient noises that come with an assembly of people.
The noise settled to the occasional whisper as the lights in the room dimmed, leaving only the alter and the path to the alter lit. A spotlight from above the alter painted the doorway. At one end of a long, red carpet stood Commander Crystal Sandskimmer, resplendent in a long, green dress and her face hidden by a long, green veil. The dress was cut low, showing an substantial amount of cleavage, and was trimmed with green lace. She was wearing a golden necklace with a large ruby inset in a medallion hanging between her breasts. The dress was snug in all the right places, bringing a smile to Aerick's face. She was wearing a pair of elbow length gloves in the same color as her dress. Behind her, and holding the train of the dress off the floor, was her youngest sister. Crystal was accompanied by her father, his elbow intertwined with his daughter's. The pair walked down the aisle, one step at a time and in sync with the traditional Corellian music being played in the background.
As the pair reached the alter, Crystal stepped to the top, level with Aerick, Krinu, Renn, and a priestess native to the Corellian system. Aerick and Crystal faced the priestess, flanked by their closest friends.
"The Force brings us together today," the priestess began. "To rejoice in the joining of this man and this woman. I am honored and privileged to be a part of such a joyous occasion.
"The life that this man and woman have chosen to embrace comes with its share of pain. The pain of losing friends, of having to inflict harm upon other sentient beings. And, all too often, the pain of loneliness, of having no one to share the experiences of life with.
"However, the Force has brought this man and this woman together. And now, it is their destiny to live their lives together from now until forever.
"Step forward, Aerick Needa." Aerick stood straight and took two steps forward. He bowed to the priestess.
"Do you, Aerick Needa, take this woman to be your wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health? Till death pulls you apart?"
"I do."
"And do you swear to honor, and cherish this woman and only this woman? To help her whenever she is in need, and to love her with all of your being?"
"I swear."
"Step forward, Crystal Sandskimmer." Crystal took two steps forward and offered a curtsy to the priestess.
"Do you, Crystal Sandskimmer, take this man to be your husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health? Till death pulls you apart?"
"I do."
"And do you swear to honor, and cherish this man and only this man? To help him whenever he is in need, and to love him with all of your being?"
"I swear."
"Then, if you please," The priestess gestured to Crystal's youngest brother, "the rings, please." The young boy held a small pillow before him. Resting on the pillow were a pair of rings, one large and one small. Aerick took the small ring and Crystal took the larger one.
"Aerick, repeat after me," Aerick nodded. "With this ring…"
"With this ring…"
"I thee wed…"
"I thee wed…" Aerick pulled Crystal's glove off and placed the ring on her finger.
"Crystal, repeat after me," She nodded. "With this ring…"
"With this ring…"
"I thee wed…"
"I thee wed…" Crystal placed the ring on Aerick's finger
"By the power vested in me, with the blessing of the New Republic and the Force, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." Aerick lifted the veil from Crystal's face, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her full on the lips. The entire building seemed to shake with the volume of applause that followed.
Aerick's mother stepped up to the top of the alter and stood before her daughter-in-law. Crystal offered a curtsy to her. Aerick's mother wrapped her arms around Crystal, welcoming her to the family.
"You are the best thing to happen to my son in a long time. I wish you both a long and happy marriage," She whispered to Crystal. Crystal nodded, overcome by a sense of happiness. She felt a tear run down her cheek as she hugged her mother-in-law.
Before anything else could happen, the door to the room blew up in a shower of sparks. A group of people rushed into the room carrying blaster rifles.
"Nobody move!" The leader of the gang yelled. "Everyone, down on the ground, NOW!!" The crowd of people in the auditorium knelt down and cowered on the floor. However, true to their nature, most of the pilots or military officers drew their weapons from pockets, shoulder holsters, and thigh holsters. Crystal pulled her dress apart at the seams and drew her lightsaber from its place in a protected holster wrapped around her thigh. She ignited the weapon with a snap-hiss, followed by the sounds of three other lightsabers igniting, green for Master Skywalker, silver for Corran Horn, and blue for Mara Jade. At the same Time, Aerick reached into a shoulder holster and pulled out a blaster carbine.
"Jedi!" The leader of the gang called to his men. "Take them out!" Twenty blasters opened up on the four Jedi. Each Jedi deflected the blaster bolts with ease, most of the shots ricocheting into the roof, walls, or floor. Some of the bolts struck gang members, dropping them. Five members of the group were felled by blaster bolts from the crowd of people watching the wedding.
In the midst of the commotion, Crystal was stunned by the leader, who was carrying what looked like a survival pack on his back. He threw Crystal over his shoulder and carried her out, followed by the surviving members of the gang.
"Aerick!" Crystal's mother cried out to him. "They…they…"
"What?" Aerick said, searching the room for his wife.
"They took her!"
"Who? Who took who?"
"Those men! They took Crystal!"
"Sithspawn!" He was surprised to hear his curse echo through the room, which was dead silent. Looking around, he saw the entire crowd looking at him.
"Admiral Ackbar, request permission…"
"Granted. Your X-wings are in the hanger down the street. We were lucky to have a commando team watching the building for something like this. They saw that gang headed towards the spaceport. One of them placed a homing device on the hover van. Tune your comlink to 138.4."
"High Flight, let's go!" He ran down the aisle to the waiting hovercar outside. He jumped in, followed by half the squadron. The other half took the hover limo that was parked across the street.
"Captain Needa to Spaceport Control. My wife was kidnapped, the kidnappers are heading towards the spaceport."
"Acknowledged, Captain. We are under lockdown now. Admiral Ackbar apprised us of the situation."
"Very well. Be advised, the people who abducted my wife are to be considered armed and dangerous. Have you located their escape craft?"
"Affirmative. The ship has begun power-up procedures and is preparing to lift. We have a tractor beam locked on."
"Acknowledged. As soon as you can, board that ship. But tell your men to set their weapons for stun. If anything should happen to my wife, I will hold you responsible."
"Understood." Aerick switched off his comlink.
"Almost there, Cap." Renn said, pointing to the hanger.
"Good. Pre-flight has already been run. We're going to get those bastards."
As the squadron reached the hanger, Aerick ran to his X-wing, noticing that Savior was already seated in his socket and his craft was prepped for combat.
"All ships, report."
"One, four lit and in the green."
"Two, charged and ready."
"Four, lit and ready."
"Five, let's do it."
"Six, four lit and ready."
"Seven, prepped and ready to go."
"Eight, ready to rock and roll."
"Nine, charged and ready."
"Ten, four lit and in the green."
"Eleven, ready and willing."
"Twelve, lit and ready."
"All ships, follow me," Aerick matched word with motion, kicking in the four X-wing's engines and rocketing out of the hanger. "Disable the transport if you can. An Interdictor Cruiser is inbound, Y-wings from two orbiting ImpStars will be joining us. With their ion cannons and the Interdictor, hopefully we can capture the ship intact."
"Lead, this is Five. Spaceport Control reports that the ship has lifted and is on an exit route…He's past one shield…past the second…He's outbound. Wait…he's launching…we've got incoming. Eyeballs and squints coming in."
"One flight, Two flight, follow me. Three flight, fly escort for the transport. If he gets too far from the planet's gravity shadow, fire on the transport, but shoot to disable. If you aren't sure of your shot, don't take it." Aerick looped his X-wing around and painted the closest TIE with his targeting reticle. He switched fire control over to proton torpedoes. As soon as he got a solid lock, he triggered one torpedo and targeted the next TIE. He downed three fighters before he was too close for torpedoes. The TIE squadrons wheeled around the incoming flight of X-wings and split into two-craft flight elements.
As the TIEs scattered, each of the eight X-wings broke into wing-pairs. Aerick and Renn took a pair of Interceptors. Each took one of the fighters. Aerick switched his weapons back to quad lasers and linked the four cannons. He got a solid lock on the squint and fired. Four channels of destructive energy tore through the fragile craft, shearing both wings off the ball cockpit. Seconds later, the twin ion engines exploded, shredding the ball cockpit.
"Lead, Interdictor Cruiser Corusca Web has powered up her gravity generators. That freighter is going nowhere. Two squadrons of B-wings are incoming."
"Not Y-wings?"
"I guess this guy is more important than that."
"Damn straight. Finish off the TIEs. Three flight, abort your escort mission and help mop up the remaining eyeballs and squints. I'm going to dock with Corusca Web." Aerick flew into the hanger of the Interdictor, settling into place next to a Lambda-class shuttle that was warming up.
"Are you guys going to dock with the freighter?" Aerick asked.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm coming with."
"I can't allow…"
"I don't care what you can or can't allow. That's my wife out there and I'll be DAMNED if I'm going to sit here and do nothing. Now, are we going or not?"
"Yes, sir. Corusca Web, this is Ruby Jewel. Request permission to lift."
"Granted. B-wings have disabled your target. They have surrendered to us. Be advised, they are to be considered armed and dangerous." The shuttle exited the hanger and lowered it's wings, heading towards the disabled freighter.
"Captain Needa, do you have a sidearm?"
"No, I left mine in my tuxedo." The commando handed Aerick a blaster rifle and three extra power packs.
"Why so much?"
"You never know what's going to happen. Better to be prepared."
A few moments later, the shuttle pulled alongside the freighter. The shuttle matched airlocks perfectly, docking with no problems whatsoever. The commandos opened the airlocks and entered the freighter. The ship was running at battle stations, red lights flashing in the direction of the bridge and gun stations. The commandos headed towards where the bridge should be.
"Commander, take a look at this." One of the commandos called. He held up a small recording device.
"Looks like they know we're coming." He hefted his blaster. "Come on." As they approached the bridge, the lighting became more subdued, requiring the use of low-light goggles. In front of the group was a lowered blast door. The leader waved one group to the left of the door and one group to the right. The demolitions specialist placed plastic explosives on each side of the door, then pushed his comrades back around a corner. He triggered the explosives, blowing the door to pieces. The commandos flooded the bridge, taking the occupants by surprise.
"Nobody move!" The leader shouted. "I don't want to have to kill you all, but I can!" The crew of the freighter raised their hands and dropped any tools or weapons they were holding. Aerick stepped forward.
"Which one of you is the captain?" Each crew member nodded to a female sitting in the chair in the middle of the room. "Stand up and turn around." Aerick demanded.
The captain complied with his order, flipping her long, brown hair out from in front of her face. Her ice-blue eyes pierced deep into Aerick's soul. Her soft, ruby-red lips were curled in a nasty looking scowl, marring her, otherwise, very beautiful face. She wore a sweat-stained flightsuit that was fairly snug and partially unzipped in front, exposing her ample breasts and girlish figure. Aerick took a step towards her and leaned in close, his nose almost touching hers.
"I'll only ask this once. What did you do with my wife?" Aerick injected so much malice into his voice, that the crew members cowered behind their stations. She stood, rooted to her spot with a fire raging in her eyes. A tense moment passed, Aerick trembling with rage. He grabbed the captain by her elbow and dragged her out of the bridge and into the corridor.
"Well, out with it. What did you do with my wife?" Again, the freighter captain stood her ground, not saying a word.
"Captain Needa, we've got a problem." The commando leader called from the bridge.
"What is it?"
"Corusca Web shut down her grav wells since we captured this freighter. However, just as she did that, she caught the echo of another freighter jumping into hyperspace."
Aerick stood, staring straight into the ice-blue eyes of the freighter's captain. Then, he grabbed his blaster and leveled it between her eyes. Finally, she broke, falling to the floor and cowering, with tears running down her cheeks. Aerick let out a scream that caused the captain to cry even harder in fear.
"Sithspawn! Those kriffing pirates are DEAD!!!" He screamed, grabbing the captain by her elbow again and dragging her to the shuttle. He threw her into one of the unused chairs in the passenger section and fastened her hands to the chair with two pair of binders. "Don't move or I will kill you." Aerick started pacing back and forth, tapping his blaster against his forehead as he attempted to think.
"Listen…" The freighter captain started to say.
"Quiet! I'm trying to think!" She cowered in her chair as best as she could.
"Please, don't yell. You're scaring me."
"Good."
"Look, I…I can help you get your wife back." Aerick started laughing. Softly at first, then growing more and more maliciously.
"Get her back?" He asked incredulously. "You helped take her away and now you want to help get her back?! What kind of pirate are you? You change loyalties more often than I change flight suits!"
"I just want to help. Please, let me help you…" Aerick made an inarticulate noise and stormed out of the cabin. He reappeared a moment later with one of the commandos.
"Make sure she doesn't try to get free." He left again and sat down in the cockpit. "Crystal…I'm coming for you…"