Hey guys! thought I should just add a little note here to let you guys know that I plan to post chapters to this frequently. I am open to suggestions for the future of this story but I already have a large amount of the story arc planned out. Please leave any suggestions or comments that you have about this story in a review. I greatly appreciate favorites, follows, and reviews and I really hope you enjoy this story. I personally find it very interesting, but you'll just have to read to find out for yourself. Okay, I'll get out of the way and let you read the story. I hope you enjoy it!
The battle over Naboo was over within a few hours. Naboo was found to be in strong opposition to the Empire. Drake Traulis was assigned to fight off the Naboo Starfighters above Naboo. They were trying to keep the Empire from the planet's surface, but the pilots of Naboo were no match for the overwhelming power of the Empire. The Empire's main goal was to kidnap the Queen of Naboo, but it was found that the Rebellion sent many soldiers to guard her. Drake flew a brand new TIE Fighter, and was placed under the command of Commander Drask. He and his fighter squadron flew swiftly towards the squad of Naboo Starfighters. Drake didn't hesitate to shoot down three starfighters. He was about to fire at a fourth, but he realized he had one on his tail. He took evasive manuevers in an attempt to shake him, but the starfighter kept right on his back. The starfighter was firing at him and eventually landed a dangerous blow to Drake's left wing.
"Oh no! I'm hit!" Drake yelled.
"Don't worry, I got you!" said Terry Reisan, Drake's best friend in the squadron. Terry flew in with his slick TIE Interceptor and shot down the starfighter.
"Alright, only a few more to go!" Terry said as he flew off towards the remaining starfighters. In no time all but one starfighter was destroyed.
"That's the last of 'em!" Drake exclaimed as he picked off the last one.
"Let's get out of here and let the ground units take it from her!" commanded Drask. The squadron reformed and turned towards the Star Destroyer, but before they got far, dozens of Rebel ships stormed out of Naboo's atmosphere.
"What kinds of ships are those?" wondered Jake Krell, another TIE Fighter pilot. The ships began firing at the TIE Fighters.
"Those must be Rebel ships," announce Drask, "Fire at once!" The TIE Fighters once again broke formation and turned towards the Rebel ships. They were evenly matched, each side had about 50 fighters. Terry, being a great pilot, sped straight towards the group of Rebel ships and took out 3 within a minute. Drake was able to take out 2 Rebel ships, but the damage to his wing proved to be a major problem. He would head back to the Star Destroyer to have it looked at, but the Empire considered it cowardly to leave a battle.
Drake was flying up next to Jasmine Lorens, another pilot sporting a speedy TIE Interceptor. She knew the seriousness of Drake's injury and kept his left side covered.
Suddenly, Jake Krell's TIE Fighter took a massive blow just ahead of Drake. His ship began hurling towards Naboo's surface.
"Rebel scum!" was all that Jake could say before a Rebel finished him off, sending more debris towards the planet's surface.
Just behind him, Larry Gallis, a member of the squadron whom Drake was unfamiliar with, was blown to bits by another Rebel ship. The danger of the situation struck Drake as he saw all of the other pilots meeting their end. The Star Destroyer was making its way to their position, but it wouldn't be in firing range for atleast another 5 minutes.
Drake focused on a Rebel ship flying just ahead of him. He let his aiming systems lock on, and got ready to push the trigger. Just next to him, Jasmine was firing at a Rebel ship, but crashed straight into another ship. Both ships were blown to bits that hurtled down to the planet with great speed. Drake was grateful that his TIE Fighter was more heavily armed than her Interceptor.
"Hold it together," Commander Drask told the remaining pilots of the squad. The Star Destroyer was now only about a minute from being in firing range. Only about 20 Rebel ships remained, however only about 25 Imperial ships were still in flight. The teams were still very evenly balanced.
Drake fired at another Rebel ship, but as no one was covering the damaged side of his fighter, a Rebel managed a huge blow to his TIE Fighter, knocking his left wing clean off.
"I'm going down!" Drake screamed as he hurtled towards the surface of Naboo.
"No, hold on, the Destroyer is almost here!" Terry yelled just before Drake's communicator cut off. Drake soared towards Naboo. He braced himself to be shot down by a Rebel fighter. He fell a bit longer, a bit faster. He waited to be shot and killed. Still he just flew futher towards the planet. Eventually he realized he was out of the firing range of the Rebel fighters, and he looked for where he would land. He fell for about a minute more. He braced himself for impact as his ship crashed into a lake near Theed Palace.
Luckily, the lake wasn't very deep. Drake pushed the hatch open, and crawled out of the TIE Fighter. He swam a few feet but was able to walk the rest of the way. On the beach, he took his helmet off and took in a big breath of fresh air. He had been breathing out of that helmet for hours.
Drake turned around and looked up at the sky. He could barely make out the Star Destroyer firing at a dozen tiny ships. His first instinct was that he had to get back in the fight, somehow. He looked in the direction of Theed Palace and determined that he crashed about two miles away. If there was a way off of this planet, it was there. He grabbed his helmet and began the trek towards the palace.
Drake had been walking for about a half an hour. He felt he was still about a quarter mile out. He looked up at the sky and could barely make out the Destroyer in the distance. It was now barely visible. He had been left behind.
Drake remembered that the Empire was about to storm the palace. If he hurried he could catch a ride back with them. He walked only a few yards when he realized that when he got there he would be faced with several palace guards and several Rebels. He needed to form a plan.
Drake sat on a nearby rock and thought for a few minutes. He again looked up at the sky. The Destroyer was gone, and several Imperial Transports appeared in its place. He now had a plan. It wasn't a very great plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.
He walked the remaining quarter mile of the journey and stopped just outside the palace. The transports were now entering the atmosphere. He hid behind a column as dozens of palace guards ran out to greet the waves of troops. He looked into a palace window and saw the room was empty. He slipped into the room just behind the guards.
Drake had been to Theed Palace before, his uncle had lived here on Naboo before he met his end to the Rebels. His uncle took him to the crowning of Queen Amidala when he was a young boy. He didn't know much about the layout of the palace, but he knew where the hangar was. He hid behind some crates of ammunition as ten or so more guards rushed down the stairs and out the door. A problem emerged when one guard stopped in the middle of the room and guarded it.
Drake had to think fast. He had learned about combat at the Imperial Academy, but he had always been behind the controls of a fighter. He rarely ever actually used his blaster, but it was required that he kept one with him at all times. He saw the transports beginning to land through the window. The guard looked out at the transports as well. He looked very worried for the fate of the palace.
Drake seized this oppertunity to run towards the stairs. He his behind another column. The guard must have heard him, because he turned and started walking towards the column. Drake panicked, pulled out his blaster, and leaned away from the column. The guard saw him.
"Hey, you!" the guard yelled, "How did you already get in here?!" Drake had to think fast, as the guard had his blaster aimed at his Drake's head. Without thinking, Drake drew his blaster and shot the guard in his chest. The guard, fired back just before falling back to the ground. The blaster bolt hit Drake in his right shoulder. Luckily, his armor protected his shoulder from sustaining any deadly injury. He did, however, have trouble using his right arm. He heard more guards rushing into the room, so he dashed up the staircase. Three guards were in the middle of the room, firing at Drake. He sustained only two injuries on his back, and on his right arm. He sprinted for the doors on the end of the left hallway. He opened them and ran through, momentarily losing the guards.
He ran as fast as he could through the halls. Luckily, they were empty; the guards were all out waiting for the army. He heard guards screaming in the halls as well as several blasters being fired. He heard hundreds of footsteps raiding the halls. The Stormtroopers were here.
This brought a beacon of hope to Drake, a hope that he might make it back alive. He continued towards the hangar, never slowing his pace. A minute later he reached the door that he believed lead to the hangar. He opened the door slowly, and looked into the hangar. What he saw wasn't what he thought he would. Rather than a few Naboo Starfighters, he found a dozen Rebel ships. There were several Rebels preparing for battle as well. He felt he would be doomed if he were to go in there. He chose to take a drastic measure. He had a small time bomb in his survival pack. He set the time and without hesitating, threw the bomb into the crowded hangar. He ran as far away from the hangar as he could before the bomb went off. He wasn't far from the hangar when he heard a large explosion from behind him. He looked back and saw that much of the wall was reduced to rubble from the explosion. He heard screams coming from the poor Rebels who were in the hangar. He hid around the corner of a hallway as dozens of armed soldiers rushed out of the hangar. Some were injured from the explosion. He sadly couldn't go back to see the damage he had caused to the hangar. He just assumed the traitors got what they deserved.
The soldiers rushed down the hall towards Drake. Drake turned and ran as fast as he could in the other direction. He found a door open that led to a dining room. Inside he found a long table with two dozen or so chairs. On the other side of the room stood a palace guard. The guard didn't hesitate to fire three times at Drake as he ducked under the table. Drake was almost out of ammo, so he crawled under the table towards the guard. He could hear the furious Rebels storming down the hallway. Drake grabbed the guards leg and sent him flying backwards. Somehow, he managed to grab the guard's blaster and pin the guard to the ground with his foot. He was about to shoot the guard in the face, but he looked in to the terrified eyes of a man ready to die for his Queen, and he decided to let the guard go. He made sure the guard carried no weapons and he pushed him into the now empty hallway.
Drake locked the doors to the dining room, but he knew locks wouldn't hold the Rebels for long. He used his extra time to devise another plan. He waited until he was certain that the hallways were empty, and he slipped out.
He could hear not only the sounds of angry screams, but in the distance he could here bombs blowing up. The Empire intended to reduce Theed to rubble. He heard blaster bolts being fired in every direction, even ducking a few times out of instinct. Drake made his way down to the hangar. It was now empty except for a few injured Rebels being aided by medics.
He saw that in his wreckless attempts to distract the Rebels, he rendered five of the twelve or so ships useless. Drake found his target, a new looking Rebel starship on the opposite corner of the hangar. He slipped into the room and ran from ship to ship, hiding behind each for about a minute. He was only yards away now from the starship. He ran one last time and found the cockpit. He hopped in, attracting the attention of the Rebels in the room. The control pad was labeled, 23-5B X-Wing. X-Wing. That's what they're called.
Drake tried to start the X-Wing but it was locked with a code. That was just his luck. The Rebels had now started towards the ship. Drake tried desperatley to get the ship working, but the Rebels were getting closer. He tried to rewire the ship, but the Rebels were approaching the ship.
Drake had no choice. He had to get out and run. He opened up the cockpit hatch, jumped out, and ran for the exit of the hangar leading into the open sky. The hangar was built into a sort af mountain formation which he tried to use to his advantage.
Luckily for Drake, the Rebels chasing him were left with smaller pistols; the other Rebels took the bigger weapons. Drake ducked and jumped in an effort to evade the blaster bolts, but took about four hits to his back. Again, his armor protected him from a real serious injury. He finally made it to the end of the hangar and he saw the mountainous area the hangar was built in. He jumped and started climbing the mountain.
He climbed about twenty feet and he had three Rebel soldiers on his tail. He still had the blaster that he took from the guard. He fired at the Rebels and knocked them off the mountain, one by one. The Rebels must have called for reinforcements, because another Rebel came with a bigger blaster. They shot at Drake about ten times until he had no choice but to jump off the mountainside, or get shot to death. The drop to the ground wasn't too far. His armor was built to absorb shock from falling, that was partially how he survived the crash. There was another lake beneath him as well. He could use that to land a bit more safely.
Drake decided he couldn't take any more blaster bolts. His armor had withstood enough of those. He stopped climbing, turned around, and leaped away from the rocky cliff.