Murkhana, 3BBY
"This is Gamma leader, all systems operational." Jaya Valion stared out the circular cockpit window of the Imperial TIE fighter. She took a deep breath and gripped the control yoke.
"Gamma leader you are clear for departure, Gamma two and three stand by." The flight controller's monotone voice came through Jaya's helmet comlink.
The TIE lurched forward as the launch rack carried it over the hangar bay floor before dropping it and her two wingmen down to the void below. Jaya hit the accelerator and took off towards the battered unarmed transport that was a few dozen kilometers ahead. It started out as a dot that was almost indistinguishable from the star field beyond but as Jaya got closer she saw it was a Clone Wars-era CR-75 corvette with a faded maroon livery. She knew there were at least fifty refugees aboard. Jaya switched her comlink to a high-priority open frequency.
"Transport Green Valley this is Lieutenant Jaya Valion of the Imperial Navy, return to port. There are individuals aboard who were not cleared for departure. Correct your course immediately." Jaya put on her authoritative tone with a crisp core accent that she had picked up at the Imperial Academy on Eriadu.
There was silence from the transport, which began picking up speed as it headed for a jump point. Come on you idiot, don't make me have to shoot at you, Jaya thought. She'd performed well against pirates and smugglers in the past few months after her graduation, but shooting down an unarmed civilian transport was not something she wanted to add to her records.
"Admiral Brymarr, the vessel has not changed course." Jaya switched to the secure comlink and contacted the Star Destroyer, Knightfall.
"There are subversive aliens aboard, Lieutenant Valion. You're too far out for a boarding craft to catch up, use lethal force immediately." The Admiral had an intensity to her voice that sent chills down Jaya's spine.
"It will be done, Admiral." Jaya switched to her squadron's private frequency, "Gamma Two, Gamma Three lethal force is authorized. I'm headed for the engines, stay on me."
"Copy that, Gamma leader." One of them replied.
The TIE fighter's targeting computer activated and within moments Jaya had a lock. She pulled the triggers and sent a twin stream of green-white bolts lancing through the void to the transport's engines. The old ship's limited shields were quickly overwhelmed, and the three ion engines went dark, but the transport continued to glide through the vacuum. Gamma Two and Three fired late and all their shots went wide. Jaya decided she'd deal with them later, or let Admiral Brymarr dress them down for her. She understood why they did it, but not following orders always led to problems.
"Admiral, the ship is disabled." Jaya contacted the Star Destroyer as she circled around for another pass.
"Make an example of them, Valion. Destroy the transport."
"Yes Admiral." Jaya took a deep breath before she fired again. That was not the order she was hoping to receive.
After the second volley from Jaya's TIE the transport's reactor melted down and the ship broke in two, venting gasses and bodies out into the void. The way the system's golden star illuminated the wreckage was burned into her memory forever. Jaya gritted her teeth and desperately tried to keep her lunch down. Vomiting in a sealed suit was not something she wanted to experience. I'm fine, I'm just following orders. This is the price we pay for order and security. Jaya repeated it over and over in her head until she believed it again.
2 ABY
A green and white R5 astromech droid led Jaya to the briefing room. She had just spent several weeks aboard a different cruiser going through orientation and training. Now she was about to meet the rest of the unit she had been assigned to as a last minute replacement. The door slid open and Jaya stepped inside. Everyone else was wearing the same black and white flight suit she was, and they were all humans. Most of them had helmets with a variety of decorations, but a few had plain white ones.
"Ah, nice of you to join us, I'm Captain Dressec." Captain Dressec was a tall man with short graying blonde hair and a matching moustache. He had an accent similar to a Ryloth one and a deep gravelly voice. There was a grey-skinned Mon Calamari in a white uniform standing next to him
"Ensign Jaya Valion sir, I'm your new pilot." Jaya saluted crisply and stood at attention.
"Take a seat, Black Seven," Captain Dressec put his hands behind his back, "Alright why don't the rest of you go ahead and introduce yourselves, eh?"
Jaya sat down on one of the benches in the back row of the plain white room, feeling more comfortable than she expected to. It was just like being back aboard a Star Destroyer but the atmosphere seemed a little more relaxed. She still hadn't gotten used to how warm and humid the Mon Calamari ships were, though. She was grateful her flight suit had built in coolers. She waited patiently as the rest of the pilots introduced themselves.
"And this here is Commander Korp, and he'll be overseeing this little experiment," The Captain gestured to the Mon Calamari who stepped forward after the last pilot introduced himself.
"Ensign Valion, do you mind telling us which unit you were in before you defected?" Korp made eye contact with Jaya.
She stood up and took a deep breath. Depending on when the rest of them were in the Imperial Starfleet they definitely had heard of both of the Star Destroyers she had been assigned to. They were both known for leaving a trail of dead civilians, as their commanding officers believed that eliminating Rebels at any cost was necessary. Jaya once shared those views, but the use of the Death Star made her rethink everything.
"I was stationed aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Knightfall under the command of Admiral Brymarr, sir, and then aboard the Chimera under the command of Admiral Thrawn" she gritted her teeth as a hushed murmur passed through the other pilots, "and yes, I participated in the Murkhana and Mykapo massacres. I joined the Rebel Alliance to atone for that."
"Thank you for your honesty, Ensign Valion. Now, I have been assigned by Admiral Ackbar to oversee this unit. Some of you have already proven your loyalty to the Alliance, but we have never formed a unit out of pilots who have all fought for the enemy. I hope you have forgotten whatever oaths you have made to the Emperor. If any have not, know that I am watching you. You will be monitored at all times, and none of you will be allowed to make transmissions off this ship. " Korp paused and looked around the room. "This is not just any X-Wing squadron, this is an elite unit. The higher ups wanted to send a message to any who have seen the true face of the Empire and want to do something about it. To send a message that they have a new path they can take. So yes, this is a propaganda effort, that you will all do your part in making successful." Korp stepped back and let Dressec have the floor again.
"Thank you, Valion; Commander. We all have a lot to atone for," Captain Dressec bowed his head for a moment "or a lot to avenge."
"Aye, Captain. Will we be flying patrols or will we be restricted to simulators for the time being?" Falae Karkosa, a tall woman with long blonde hair, asked.
"We are being restricted to simulators until further notice." Captain Dressec leaned down to activate the holoprojector in the center of the circular chamber. "Rest assured that the restriction has nothing to do with any questions of where our loyalties lie, but we have several pilots for whom this is their first combat posting with the Alliance. With attrition rates being what they are, command wants to make sure everyone is adequately prepared."
The Captain stepped back from the projector as an image of an Arquitens-class Imperial light cruiser and a quartet of Gozanti corvettes, with four standard TIE fighters attached to each of the corvettes resolved. He pointed a stylus at the twin-pronged cruiser.
"The first scenario we'll be running is simple, but not easy. The light cruiser is our primary target, with destroying the support ships and fighters as secondary objectives." Captain Dressec paused for a moment and looked around the briefing room. "As we all know, Gozantis are lightly armed, and the guns on the Arquitens can have trouble tracking fast-moving targets. The sixteen TIEs will give us the most trouble. Black Seven through Black Twelve will provide cover as the rest of us make a run for the cruiser. Any questions?"
None of the pilots raised their hands or spoke up, they were all well aware of the capabilities of the small capital ship and its escorts. Jaya was eager to fly alongside her new squadron mates, even if it was just on the simulators. She hadn't become very attached to anyone in her training unit, and she didn't really know if it was because she knew she would be separated from them soon or an old by-product of her Imperial training, where she was taught that everyone around her was expendable so there was no use getting sentimental.
"Alright then, let's get to work, eh?" The captain picked up his helmet and held it at his side.
Black Squadron formed into two neat lines of six pilots and marched through the Heart of Kyber's corridors in a synchronized manner not often found in Alliance units. Their black and white flight suits were non-standard as well. Groups of technicians and Alliance Marines patrolling the corridors often gave them odd looks.
The simulator facility was a large open chamber with rows of simulator pods filling it. The pods were basically the cockpit sections of the ships fitted with special holoscreens and other equipment. The twelve of them headed for the X-wing simulators which were sandwiched between the Y-wing and A-Wing simulators. Jaya stood next to her pod and a white R2-series astromech with yellow accents and a short Gotal technician wearing a tan jumpsuit approached her.
"Ensign Valion this is R2-E3, he's been assigned to you." The technician gestured towards the droid then moved on, leading a procession of other R2 and R5 units.
"R2-E3, huh? How about I call you Easy, does that sound good?" Jaya squatted down to get her eyes level with the droid's large photoreceptor. -She named him after one of the bartender droids, EZ-211, that she worked on the same deck as when she was hiding out on a Hutt space station.-
The droid beeped approvingly then moved into position for an automated crane to pick it up and place it in the simulator pod. Jaya climbed into her cockpit and strapped herself in before lowering the canopy and putting on her helmet. The canopy remained transparent for a moment then flashed into the image of the hangar bay of a MC80 cruiser. The other eleven fighters were there as well, along with droids and technicians. It was incredibly realistic. Jaya flicked the switch to start the engines and to activate the other systems, then she asked Easy to run the diagnostics.
"Black Seven checking in, all systems operational," She gripped the control yoke and waited for the clearance to take off before switching to the comm channel that linked her to the astromech, "Easy, adjust the compensators to zero-point-zero seven." She preferred feeling the physical effects of inertia when flying, because she felt numb when the compensators were set to full. She watched as other fighters began taking off.
"Black Seven you are clear for takeoff, control out." An electronic voice came in over her comlink.
Jaya raised the landing skids and adjusted the repulsorlifts as she glided to the shield that covered the entrance to the hangar bay. She passed through then cut the repulsorlift drive and engaged the main thrusters. Black Eight came up alongside her.
"I'll be taking lead and you'll be my wingman, Black Seven." Falae had a Corellian accent.
"Copy that, Black Eight." Jaya was disgruntled for a second, as she didn't like being the wingman. She had been a squadron leader during her service to the Empire and she was still getting used to her demotion. But she understood that Falae had flown in a Rebel combat unit before and she hadn't.
Jaya waited as the other fighters checked in and Easy made the calculations for the jump to hyperspace. When she was given the all clear from Captain Dressec she activated the hyperdrive. The flight through hyperspace was shorter than it would have been on a real mission. They didn't need to spend half their day sitting and waiting. Jaya took a deep breath as she dropped out of hyperspace and the Imperial ships came into view.
"Flight two, switch your shields to double front. Alright let's go in fast and hot. Lock S-foils in attack position, Flight one is going to hit the cruiser from the keel." Falae was clearly the second in command of Black Squadron.
Jaya felt good that she was assigned to be Falae's wingman. She locked the S-foils and followed Falae as she put her fighter in a steep dive. TIE fighters began to launch and Jaya's targeting computer highlighted them with numbered red boxes on her heads-up display. The computer highlighted the capital ships in yellow and gave them aurebesh letter designations. As they got closer and their fighters began locking on to targets the comm chatter intensified. It was almost overwhelming but Jaya could filter out the information she didn't need.
"Black Eight firing on targets two and four."
"This is Black Ten, I'm drawing heavy fire from the cruiser!"
"Black Seven locked on target. Fire one… torpedo away." Jaya launched a proton torpedo and then pulled up to cover Falae.
"I've got a lock on the ventral turret!"
"Where are you going Black Eleven? Hang tight!"
"This is Black Eight, I've got an eye on my tail!" Falae weaved and twisted to keep the TIE from acquiring a lock.
"I got him, Black Seven out." Jaya pulled up hard and rolled her fighter as it arced back. The TIE ended up being right in line with her guns, which made short work of the unshielded craft. "Target nine down!"
The rest of the simulation went well, Black squadron destroyed the cruiser and all but one of the twin-engine Gozantis. Only one TIE fighter escaped as well. Normally the simulated TIEs would have been flown by other Alliance pilots, but Captain Dressec felt the simulator mainframe was adequate at reproducing the capability of the cannon fodder the Imperial flight schools churned out. Jaya's cockpit screens once again became transparent and her canopy lifted after she made the jump to lightspeed in simspace. She unstrapped herself and climbed out of the cockpit.
"Good work Jaya, two kills and you kept me alive." Falae approached with her helmet tucked under her left arm.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Karkosa." Jaya stood at attention.
"At ease, Jaya." Falae remained relaxed as Captain Dressec approached, and Jaya relaxed for a moment then snapped back into her parade-ground posture with her hands clasped at her lower back.
"Excellent work Valion," the Captain removed his helmet and ran a hand through his thick greying hair. "At ease, we've got bigger things to worry about here than decorum."
"Thank you sir." Jaya relaxed again.
"Alright, let's all head down to the galley before our next run, eh?" Captain Dressec moved on to the next pair of pilots.
Jaya liked the galley food aboard the Rebel ships much better than the flavorless nutritive paste that she ate every day when she was stationed aboard the Star Destroyers. It was simple food, but at least there was variety. Jaya put a mottled green vegetable block and a ladle full of what looked like stewed meat and legumes on her tray. Then she grabbed a glass of water and made her way to where the rest of the pilots were sitting.
Black Squadron were all seated together, and the other personnel in the galley gave them a wide berth. It seemed that while their captain trusted them, they would have to prove themselves to the rest of the Rebels. The pilots chatted and bragged about their performances in the simulation earlier as they ate. Jaya tried to not pay attention to the conversation and let it become background noise. She knew the statistics were against everyone's long term survival.
"So Valion…" Garret Fawkens, a short heavy-set man with messy black hair and a scraggly beard, took another bite of his food before continuing to speak, "Did you ever actually meet Thrawn?"
"Once, he commended me on my squadron's high survival rate before he berated me for our low kill count." Jaya had been silently eating and avoiding the conversation, so she was a bit annoyed.
"Yeah I heard he was difficult." Garret had finished his ration and was eyeing everyone else's trays like a hungry shriek-hawk. "I was stationed at Corulag, it was pretty quiet there."
Jaya just shrugged and took another bite. Despite knowing that she would spend all of her waking hours with the pilots sitting around her she didn't want to get friendly yet. She expected they'd be losing at least one of them on their first mission, whenever that would be.
The next set of simulations was progressively more difficult, and the missions became longer. They even took a shot at the Death Star scenario. Most of them didn't last long but Captain Dressec got a shot at the reactor before he was shot down by a TIE, even though it was a miss the other pilots under his command were impressed. After spending a total of nine hours in the simulators Captain Dressec dismissed the squadron to their quarters after their evening meal.
Jaya found that she would be sharing her cabin with Falae. The cabins were quite small, only three square meters. There was a bunk bed with thin mattresses and a pair of tall, narrow lockers, and there was also a desk. Everything was smooth and shiny gray or white. She found that her bag had already been dropped off by a steward droid. She began to unpack and put her things in her locker. A change of civilian clothes, a datachip with a few personal files and holos, and a pair of ornate hairpins were the only personal affects she kept. Falae had already claimed the bottom bunk by decorating it with a few mementos from her old squadron.
Jaya wished she had a private cabin. She removed her flight suit and put on a short tan jacket and the matching pants. Most pilots wore them under their suits but Jaya preferred to just wear leggings and a sleeveless undershirt. Then she headed out to the common room, where most of the other members of Black Squadron were as well as pilots from other units that were quartered in the same block. Jaya sat down in an empty chair on the far side of the room. She considered just going to her cabin but she thought that'd make her look a little too cold.
"Nice to see a fellow redhead," a pilot from another unit sat down across from Jaya and held out his hand, "Lieutenant Roy Karkosa, Aurek Squadron." He had a short beard over his strong jawline.
"Ensign Jaya Valion, Black Squadron." she tentatively reached out and shook his hand, "Are you related to Falae?" Jaya decided that if she was going to talk to a stranger it might as well be an attractive one.
"Yeah, she's my older sister." Roy set down his datapad.
"I thought command didn't like putting close relatives together?" Jaya crossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
"Normally they don't, but we're a little short-staffed here, at least that's what they told me. Personally I think Falae might have recommended me to Aurek so she could keep an eye on me." Roy smirked a bit then leaned back in his chair.
"Were you a bit of a troublemaker?" Jaya raised her eyebrows and cracked a half-smile. Roy seemed interesting, and he was pretty good looking. She decided she'd be fine getting to know him a bit, since he was in a different unit.
"A little…when she went to the Imperial Academy I, uh, went off and joined some pirates. Ended up helping her defect eventually." He pulled a stick of mealbread out of a pocket in his dark green jacket and took a bite. Jaya watched his jaw flex as he chewed.
"Pirates, huh? You ever heard of the Lucky Star station?" She tucked her jaw length hair behind her ear.
"I heard it was somehow worse than Nar Shadaa, and that the Hutt that ran it liked to eat sentient beings. Why'd you ask?" He arched one of his thick eyebrows.
"That sounds about right. After I defected I hid out there for a while, as a cabaret singer in the casino believe it or not." She looked into Roy's green eyes for a moment. Jaya was shocked at herself for just giving up information like that.
"I bet that was an interesting career change." He took another bite of the mealbread.
"Oh it was, and I hated it." Jaya reached forward and tore off a piece of Roy's snack.
"Just wanted to get back in the cockpit, right?" he smiled slightly.
"Every day." Jaya bit her lower lip. Am I really doing this? Flirting like a first-year academy cadet? Jaya thought.
"So I was going to go down and getting some conditioning in, we can keep talking if you come with me." Roy stood up.
"I've had a long day, and a run could help me relax a bit. But Black Squadron is locked down, we're confined to this area for the time being." Jaya had an idea about what he was implying. Why not? He's attractive and it's been a while…
"That's too bad, well I suppose I'll be seeing you around Jaya." He smiled before turning around and heading for the exit.
The next four weeks were more of the same. Simulator exercises all day, with breaks for meals, and a few hours to unwind in the evening. Jaya was getting much more confident behind the slicer stick, and it showed. The rest of the unit was improving as well. Everyone was getting to know how their squadron mates flew and how to best support them.
On the last day of the fourth week they were informed they had been approved to do patrols in actual starfighters. Jaya was ecstatic as Black Squadron marched to the main hangar bay of the Heart of Kyber. There were a dozen X-Wings with black markings on their fuselages. Their astromech droids had been brought up as well. Commander Korp was standing off to the side, observing as he always was.
Jaya had painted her helmet black, with white Alliance starbird insignia. She had also written "Murkhana" and "Mykapo" on it, to remind herself why she was there. They were finally a real combat unit, and Jaya could tell she wasn't the only one who was eager to get out and start doing some damage to the Empire. Jaya smiled as she noticed the squadron's motto, "For Alderaan" painted on the side of the long nose of her fighter.
"This is our first patrol as a squadron, just a standard four hour flight. We're too deep in space for the Empire to find us, but stay sharp, eh?" Captain Dressec addressed the other pilots. "There are trackers and remote ejection seats on all these fighters, the hyperdrives are also slaved to the cruiser so you can't make a run for it. I know all that is unnecessary, but Commander Korp insisted on it."
"Will those systems be removed in the future?" Veros Namark asked as he ran a mechanical hand over his bald head.
"Once we've proven ourselves in combat, yes. Say what you will about Commander Korp for being a bit paranoid, but he's giving us a chance." Captain Dressec put his helmet on.
The twelve pilots boarded their fighters and started their engines. Jaya tapped her foot as she waited for the clearance from flight control to take off. The simulators were good, but there was just something about flying in a real ship that she was aching to feel again. The void of space and the freedom of flight were both calling to her.