INTERLUDE
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Rogue Squadron, under the command of Wedge Antilles, has been reformed and has already managed to capture Coruscant. The new Rogue Squadron includes the Jedi-to-be Corran Horn, who has told Intelligence of the existence of Knave Squadron. With the additional information that there are two Jedi in the squadron supplied by Garik "Face" Loran, already on his third starfighter, and the bounty placed on Knave Squadron by three Imperial Warlords, the entire Alliance has been told to find more infornmation about the near-mythical squadron, which, unknown to them, has landed on the New-Republic allied world of Eiattu VI, ruled by ex-Rogue Isplourrdacartha Estillo.
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PERSONNEL CHANGE
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Knave 9 :- Was :- Marcus Farlander (Human male from Corellia)
Now :- Cybo (CB09-Delta, Manumitted protocol/combat droid from Tatooine)
==808==
CHAPTER THREE
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Jedi Knights :- Protectors of the Old Republic, the Jedi were characterised by their incredible mental powers (including psychokinesis, telepathy, levitation and precognition), lightsabers and total dedication to their duty. When the Empire rose from the ashes of the Old Republic, a systematic purge of the Jedi was instigated. Two notable Jedi, General Obi-wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Yoda, survived by going into hiding. Under their tuition, Luke Skywalker came into his full Jedi powers and became the first of the new Jedi, collecting other Force-strong individuals and surviving Jedi to form a new border that now stands between the New Republic and chaos. Other Jedi have also appeared, some from hiding during the Purges, others (such as the Dathomirian witches or the Jensaarai) as independant force traditions or descendents of Jedi...
- Adapted from the New Republic Galactic Database, 35ABY
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I sat at a table in the back of the cantina, flanked by Khan and Slade. In front of me, my drink gathering condensation on the chilled metal mug. Khan turned and growled questioningly.
"No, Khan, I'm not depressed."
Slade smiled slightly.
"Graham, you have been sitting there for ages, just looking at your drink. If I didn't know how powerful you really are, I'd have thought that you were trying to lift it with your mind."
As he finished the sentence, I lifted the mug off the table, reaching out with one hand to cover the movement from the other patrons of the establishment. Setting it back down, I started to talk, explaining what was on my mind.
"Two years ago, we finally went to Dagobah with hopes of finding a Jedi Master. Instead, we find a hand-written scroll containing a message for me, saying that I was to learn from the Holocron as the Jedi Master in question had died. I know that I'm making progress, but the Holocron cannot demonstrate what it means when it tells me to do something. Haisani is almost as much in the dark as I am, and although we can practice to a certain extent on each other, I just cannot do many of the things that he can do. I can just about read other peoples thoughts, but I cannot influence them, or alter them. I can lift huge objects, and make myself fly for a limited distance, but I cannot create illusions, see the future beyond a few minutes, or see things happening far away. I am only good in combat. Since leaving Dagobah, we have had clashes with Warlord Zsinj on several occasions, we have been forced to flee the Core Regions by a scarred warlord, the Pentastar Alignment has placed a bounty on us for the damage the Reaper sustained during its attempt to capture us, Prince-Admiral Krennel has sworn revenge on us for destroying his artificial hand when he tried to lead a group of commandos to capture us and we just barely managed to get away from a blue-skinned Imperial Admiral in the Unknown Regions that could do everything but actually read our minds. We just made it to here, even though the Admiral was hot on our heels until a mere ten days ago."
Khan suddenly went rigid and stared at the entrance. I glanced over just in time to see six Trandoshans enter.
"Uh-oh."
Even as I nodded agreement with Slade's assessment of the situation, one of the reptiles glanced over, and locked eyes with Khan. Slade quickly slid to the edge of his seat, as did Khan. I glanced underneath the table, and experimentally lifted it a fraction before setting it back down. By this time, the other Trandoshans had spotted us, and were staring at us, concentrating on Khan.
"What do they want?" I asked.
Khan replied quietly, and I gasped in shock, glancing at his black pelt. I slowly lowered my left hand down and grasped my lightsaber. As I got a good grip on it, the six Trandoshans had started to move towards us. Four of them formed a close diamond formation, with the other two moving slightly sideways to take point as they headed towards us, hissing at each other in their language.
"You and the human boy can leave." rasped the lizard nearest to Slade. "We have a blood-oath against this one, for the death of our brother."
Khan growled in reply. The Trandoshans looked at me quizzically.
"He says that it was self-defence. Your brother attacked him without provocation."
The Trandoshan turned to face Khan.
"Does not matter. You killed him, now we will kill you and take your pelt to decorate his tomb."
Khan bared his teeth in defiance, and I took that as a sign to release the pent-up Force that I had been accumulating. Propelled by both my mind and body, the table flew straight into the middle four Trandoshans, clipping the one nearest Slade. Before the final one could react, Khan had dived on him, preventing him from drawing his skinning-knife or firing his blaster. I stood up and stepped forward to the groaning heap under the table, removing my Lightsaber from under my tunic hem. Beside me, Slade had pulled out a hidden vibroblade, and was restraining the other Trandoshan. The table shifted as the four Trandoshans underneath prepared to throw it off them, so I ignited my lightsaber while drawing my Ryyk blade with my other hand. Instantly, the table stopped moving and four pairs of frightened eyes stared at the lightsaber blade. Glancing sideways, I saw that Slade's captive had ceased struggling and was staring with wide eyes at my weapon. A roar on my other side, combined with a loud double crash, told me that Khan had managed to knock out the final bounty hunter.
"I do not want to kill you, so you will not try to stop us." I stated, hoping that my voice was not reflecting my fear. "You will not come after us, and you will accept that self-defence against an unprovoked attack is not a valid reason for a blood-feud, otherwise I will be forced to 'defend' myself and my friends. You would not survive such a 'defence'."
The four hunters under the table nodded slightly. The fifth spoke up, slightly muffled by the fact that Slade was gripping his throat..
"We will not pursue you or the Wookie, and will spread the word that he is protected by a Jedi. The blood-feud will be declared void. This I swear by the Scorekeeper herself."
I nodded to acknowledge the most binding vow a Trandoshan could make, and deactivated my lightsaber. Slade dropped his captive, moved close to Khan and together we exited the building, emerging into the light of day.
"I did not know that Trandoshans were present on Eiattu VI" I said.
"Does not matter. The blood-feud has been declared void." rumbled Slade.
I shook my head slightly.
"Where was I before the fight?"
Khan rumbled at me.
"Imperial Admiral. Right. We land here, with coolant pouring from our engines and all of our fighters half-ruined. If it was not for the fact that Cybo was a droid, the loss of his A-wing's canopy to that Turbolaser bolt would have killed him. As it is, he is going to look strange with that replacement battle-droid arm. Is it just me, or are we having a run of bad luck?"
"Company." Slade muttered.
Khan and I both looked back at the rapidly approaching constabulary.
"Talk about fast responses to cantina brawls. Do we fight or run?" I asked.
Khan shook his head slowly as he fastened his bowcaster securely to his bandoleer. Slade glanced at him, and then fastened his blaster into his holster, slipping his vibroblade into his boot. I returned my Ryyk blade to its scabbard and placed my lightsaber onto my thigh-clip, but I did not strap it in place. A few seconds later, the squad of peace-keepers had surrounded us. One of them stepped forward.
"Are you three Graham, Khanchassata and Slade Hallon?" he asked in a trembling voice. I worked hard to suppress a smile. Khan merely nodded regally.
"You are requested to attend the court of Her Majesty Isplourrdacartha Estillo pertaining to matters of state."
"And if we refuse?" Slade growled menacingly.
The officer gulped and took a half-step backwards before recovering.
"It is not exactly a request, if you know what I mean."
I shrugged.
"Well, may as well go and see what Her Majesty wants to discuss with us. Shall we go, officer?"
Looking relieved, he started to turn, pausing just long enough to say "Walk this way." before finishing his turn and marching off. Khan, Slade and I exchanged winks, and proceeded after him, mimicking his stylised march as well as we could for a few paces, before reverting back to our normal walks.
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"Khanchassata, Graham and Slade Hallon, Pilots of Knave Squadron!"
I winced at the excessive volume employed by the Seneschal as he announced our entrance. Just in front of the dais, a group of people turned, revealing themselves to be minor dignitaries. Suddenly, I spotted several members of Knave Squadron, and within seconds, I had spotted all the rest. Khan snuffled in surprise an instant later as Haisani bounded up and joined us.
"Good to see you, or perceive at any rate." he said. "The Queen is eager to meet you, especially you, Graham. She has been stuck listening to a bore all day, and only a Jedi skill will extract her from the conversation."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"She managed to send me a note, asking for Jedi aid. I think that it is your skills, rather than mine, that she needs."
As we approached, I saw a tall, brown-haired woman looking round almost frantically while a short, fat man harangued her about a exceedingly minor point in some treaty or other.
"Is the tall woman the Queen?" I asked, glancing at Haisani for confirmation. When he nodded, I slipped in behind the fat man. I winked impishly at the Queen and lifted the man three metres above the floor. The room instantly went silent as everyone stared at the frantically-struggling man who was floating above their heads. I slid him sideways to over a clear area and carefully lowered him to the ground, where he collapsed onto his knees and grabbed the floor to prevent himself taking to the air again. I turned back to see the Queen shaking her head with amused amazement. An instant later, Haisani stepped to my side and bowed slightly.
"Queen Isplourrdacartha Estillo, it is my pleasure to introduce my close friend and squadron-mate, Jedi Padawan Graham."
As I bowed slightly, she smiled and whispered, "Please, call me Plourr."
Haisani seemed suprised for an instant, but recovered almost at once. A wry smile on Plourr's face showed that she had noticed his shock.
"Graham, thank you for your actions. I have been trying to get away from that old bore for ages. If I had that kind of power, I dare say that no-one would dare come within a klick of me."
I smiled at her, unable to think of a reply. Dave chose that moment to step in.
"Plourr has asked us to act as advisors and trainers to aid her in expanding her planetary defence fleet."
"By twenty-four new starfighters and a maurauder corvette." Plourr interrupted.
"Yes. Well, the corvette crew is trained already, ex-mercenaries who want to settle down and raise kids, so all we have to do is train the starfighter pilots. Plourr has used her skills to choose the best potential pilots, and the Imperials left a training centre that I have asked to be converted to aid us in training them in Alliance fighters. We will keep our fighters, and until the defence fleet volunteers-"
"All twenty-four would-be starpilots."
"- are trained, we are, to all intents and purposes, the defence fleet."
I smiled. "Two Jedi, a Wookie, a pair of Twi'leks, a Verpine, a Wolfman, a Cathar, three humans and a droid. I dare say that the Imperials are going to shiver with fear when they hear that we are guarding this planet."
Plourr laughed again. "Wrong. I am also a pilot, and I still own my X-wing from the days when I was in Rogue Squadron, and my husband still flies his souped-up Z-95. Add two members of royalty to your list, as well as a Z-95 squadron, and you will be correct."
"We'll have the Imps running in terror."
Dave glanced at me. "Well, Graham is correct so far, Your Majesty, but there is a slight problem."
"Dave, forget the flowery language. We're both pilots. What is it?"
Dave sighed slightly. "I know that you will not be really happy with this, but I am afraid that I must ask you, once we have trained your 'defence fleet', to contact the Rebel Alliance and use your influence to get them to accept us as years ago, we fled the Empire and decided to join the Alliance, but until now, circumstances have conspired against us."
Plourr nodded.
"When I heard you had landed, I contacted the Alliance to see if they had information about you. They have already agreed to take you on if you can train my fleet, thus saving them several thousand credits, and a lot of pain and anger from me. They also sent this, for some reason, with a message that it was to be given to Graham."
My eyes opened wide as she pulled out a holovid cartridge from her sash. I took it and turned it over, revealing the sprawling signature of Garik "Face" Loran.
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I pulled back on the yoke, sending my TIE Fighter into a steep climb round a spinning asteroid. As soon as the pursuing X-wing had vanished from my scope, I cut round a smaller asteroid and looped round it, appearing on the X-wing's aft. Hitting the fire buttons, I sent eight bolts of green fire into the rear shields, collapsing them and scoring the hull. The rookie pilot attempted to dodge, and dived straight into a spinning asteroid.
"Bet that hurt."
My cockpit shook as a red laser bolt grazed the inside of my port solar panel. Reacting instinctively, I pulled up and spun to my port. It was obviously the last move that the pursuer expected, and while he was still tracking me, his wing clipped a small asteroid, sending him spinning straight into a larger asteroid. My cockpit went black and the back of the simulator opened. Sighing, I scrambled out and stood in front of the X-wing simulators, which opened up to reveal two embarrassed would-be pilots.
"Can you tell me what you thought you were doing?" I asked as they climbed out of their simulators.
"We split up to try and outflank you." said the older of the two.
"What did I tell you about true teamwork?" I demanded. The younger one shrugged with an embarrassed expression.
"When you stay in formation, your offensive strength is three times more than if you attack the same target individually. You are also less vulnerable, since you have someone to protect your backside when things get rough."
Both pilots were flushing with embarrassment by now.
"I may only be half your age, but I survived by staying in tight formation until I was told by the leader to pull out. Even then, I stay with my wing, no matter what. How do the Imps attack? They use their formation as a battering ram, they use their formation to provide them with offensive inertia, which can only be countered with another formation. Formation flying is designed to save you, not to get you killed."
By this time, both pilots were squirming with embarrassment, staring everywhere except at me. I walked over to the wall console and called up a new programme.
"Get back in there, and this time, you are going to do an obstacle course. Stay in loose formation, one diagonally in front of the other, and this time remember to actually stay in formation. You will get graded on how well you do both in time and accuracy, and in keeping in formation. Swap places at the end of every level."
They scrambled back into their cockpits and pulled them shut. I sighed and activated three of the six viewing screens., targeting one on each X-wing, and one on the formation centrepoint. My speech seemed to have done the trick, and I watched one X-wing take the lead, with the other hanging back. I opened the comm channel and listened in to their chatter.
"- stay back for now. If you get a clear shot on a target, take it. He'll be watching, and if we want any free time for the next three weeks, we are going to have to impress Him."
I smiled and cut the comm feed before settling back and watching their fighters thread the maze of gates, walls and free-floating platforms.
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". . .and just as he thought he was safe, Wham!"
Plourr flung her arms apart in an imitation of an exploding squint just as I entered the room.
"His wingmate started grovelling as soon as he saw me take out the squint with that single 1.5 klick shot into the engines. I swear, you have never, ever heard such a streak of yellow!"
"What did you do?" I asked.
She grinned evilly.
"I used my lasers to trim his solar panels and fuse his engines. Two hours later, the Home One tractored him in. His first action after coming aboard was to look at me climbing out of my X-wing, and faint."
Plourr placed the back of one hand on her forehead and pretended to collapse in a dead faint. The entire room exploded into laughter and gradually quietened down. Plourr turned to face me.
"So, Graham. How are the gruesome twosome coming on?"
"Terrible." I shook my head. "They seem to hate the idea that they should stay in formation, have the feeling that they are invulnerable and cannot dodge asteroids. Apart from that, they're coming along fine."
"So what happened today?"
"I ran a TIE twin-X simulation with them. Vaped them both within a minute, so I put them back down to level one for a while. Basic formation-agility training. I overheard them say that they knew that I would be watching, so when they hit level nine, I entered the sim in an eyeball."
Plourr grinned. "So what happened?"
"They split like scared scurriers. However, I was just closing in on one, when the other scraped me with a snap-shot, sending me spinning. When I had recovered, they were back in formation, and remained in it, no matter what I did. They eventually got me. I think that the lectures and extra exercises have finally clicked."
Dave interrupted.
"So now you've got them to consider accepting basic training, what next?"
I considered it before replying.
"For now, continue training. In six days, I think that we should do a full-squad exercise. We'll see then how well we've trained them, and if the twin twits can actually cope now that they know that formations are good for them."
"Agreed." said Vint, "For tonight though, I recommend an early night, and a training alert at five."
I grinned at that. The pilots we were training were fond of late nights, large drinks, and lie-ins.
"Tomorrow, we'll kick them into next week."
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I climbed out of the simulator cockpit, impressed despite myself. The rest of Knave Squadron climbed out of their cockpits, wearing similar expressions. In the exercise, we had managed to defeat them, but only at a cost of eight of us, a kill ratio of three to one which, considering the inexperience and naturally independent nature of the trainees, was very impressive. I saw Plourr pacing nervously and waved at her. She waved back and walked over.
"I know that Dave will probably hate me for this, but how did it go?"
I smiled.
"Well, they are not quite New-Republic standard pilots yet, but they are certainly a match for a normal pirate force of up to twice their size. I would not recommend sending them against an Imp task-force except in an emergency, but short of that, they should be able to hold their own."
Dave came up beside me and nodded.
"I agree with Graham, and think that they are ready to officially join the planetary defence fleet."
Plourr smiled with relief.
"Well, I would hate to get rid of you this soon, and you still have two months to go before your contract expires. May I suggest that you join me in the celebration feast tomorrow, and let my mechanics finish upgrading the Knave Home's engines?"
As Dave nodded, Khan let out a roar of agreement. The other pilots nodded, with smiles on their faces. I suddenly realised that we had not given the news to the trainees, so I wriggled my way though the crowd and ran into the next room, where they were huddling, comparing notes on how they had been destroyed.
". . .so this squint pulls a move that I have only ever seen Graham do, a type of mutated triple spin with a loop thrown in for good measure, and drops in behind my wingmate. Naturally, I turn and shoot at him, but he somehow slides aside, and I nearly nail Raul instead. An instant later, my rear shields collapse and Graham shoots my port S-foils off, including the engines. Plastered against the side of my spinning cockpit, the last thing I see is Graham closing in, lasers ready to fire."
The other pilots groaned.
"That's nothing, Maar." another one said. "I managed to vape a squint, but instantly, the wingmate came in howling for blood. Trying to dodge, I spun behind an asteroid, straight into the firing line of four of them, coming in from the side to hit you lot. They destroyed most of my systems, then just swept past and re-entered the fray, leaving me drifting for five minutes. Just as my R2 says that it is within seconds of giving me lasers and thrusters, the squint whose wingmate I vaped came racing past me, pursued by an X-wing, who clipped me and sent me spinning straight into an asteroid."
"So it was you I hit. Sorry."
"Apology accepted. Just don't do it again. We-"
"- are all recognised as being ready to take on anything short of an Imperial strike force." I interrupted
The group of pilots went silent, and they all turned to stare at me. The pilot who had been telling them about how I had vaped him stepped forward.
"But... you wiped us out."
"We are recognised as being above normal N.R. starpilot standards. You held your own against us for a long time, vaping all but four of us. That tells us that you can more than hold your own against any marauding pirates in the area."
Several pilots were grinning, and the others were catching on. Before I could continue, Plourr walked past me and stopped just in front of the pilots.
"Congratulations, Fire-claw and Sand-cat squadrons, you are now officially part of the Planetary Defence Fleet of Eiattu VI, outer sector patrol squads one and two. Starting from 0900 on the day after tomorrow, you will be assigned to Moonbase Beta for alternating three-day shifts, with Sand-cat taking the first shift."
There was a total silence for several seconds as they digested this bit of information, and then the room exploded into whoops and cheers of joy. An instant later, the explosion of joy was drowned in a sudden blare of sirens and alarms. A status screen in the corner of the room started to flash, indicating that the newly-installed planetary shields were being raised.
"What in the cloak of the Sith is going on?"
I stared round wildly, and then found my gaze rising up to the ceiling, and beyond it. I looked beyond the atmosphere, and met a familiar presence.
"Sithspit. Its him! Blueskin! Send a call for N.R. reinforcements at once!"
Khan glanced at me in confusion, but Dave caught on almost at once.
"Thrawn? He's back?"
As I nodded, Plourr glanced at us with a quizzical expression.
"Can I have that again, with helpfiles enabled?"
"Thrawn is an Imperial, an Admiral as far as we know, probably higher, since his uniform is white instead of grey. What makes it even more impressive is that he isn't human, and you know how the Emperor felt about non-humans. He is an excellent strategist, and a cunning warrior. We ran into him in the Outer Rim regions, and managed to disable and then destroy his flagship in a running lightfight that lasted for nearly seven hours, and included a pirate group and a race we didn't recognise. The last transmission that we received from his escape shuttle was 'Well fought, but we shall meet again'."
Plourr looked worried.
"I don't think that Fire-claw and Sand-cat are ready to fight the Imps yet."
I nodded, a plan forming in my head. Turning, I ran to the status screen and keyed a tactical report.
"Sensors show two ISD's attacking the shields, tentative identification as the Chimaera and the Gundark's Claw. They are situated fifty klicks apart over the north pole. Plourr, twelve minutes after our mark, drop the north/equator-three shield for thirty seconds. We'll go out and attack the Chimaera, the one that I believe Thrawn has chosen as his new flagship. He will probably call in reinforcements from the Claw to prevent us from using our side-slam tactic on him again, last time we did that to him, we destroyed his VSD, the Long Blade, and both escorting dreadnoughts in a dramatic case of overkill. Once he has called in reinforcements, Fire-claw, Sand-cat and your squadron, Dragonwing, will exit through the North/equator-seven shield. Dragonwing will provide frontal running cover and Fire-claw will provide preliminary targeting information for Sand-cat. If they use the enhanced algorithms that Cybo, Golanth and Khan have been working on, they can launch their torps directly at the bridge of the Claw from six clicks. With dual fire, two volleys at max speed should finish off the Claw. Once the ISD has been destroyed, they can do the same on the Chimaera with Sand-cat providing targeting and Fire-claw firing the missiles."
Plourr nodded.
"And the Corvette?"
"It will stay under the shield, and provide covering fire during the time that the shields are dropped."
"Twelve minutes from when?"
"Our launch." replied Dave from behind me.
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The howl of the air rushing past my cockpit died as we exited the atmosphere. Far ahead to our left and right, we could see the flickering of green that indicated the bombardment of the planetary shields by the two ships.
"Dave to groups two and three. Standard side-slam, but prepare to disengage at an instant's notice. X-wings, course two-seven-one mark two, stay just on the edge of shield harmonic interference, make them work to see you. Y-wings, course two-six-nine mark two, same instructions. Good luck, pray that the emergency transmission got past the jamming, and may the Force be with you."
I pulled left on my control stick and throttled down to ninety-percent thrust, thus allowing my engine wash to fade into the harmonics before it could be detected. Above my head, I saw Dave's A-wings race ahead, Jammers activated to call attention to themselves. I hit my transmission button.
"Okay, they'll be expecting us, so it will get hairy. We can expect to be the filling of an Imp sandwich. Comm silence in ten seconds, break when definitely detected. Let's hope that the signal got out, but don't count on it."
Gripping the control stick firmly, I stared ahead of us, and then glanced at the sensors. The front sensor screen showed a large number of green dots, while the rear sensor showed a single dot on the right just above the wire-frame of the planet. As I watched, the single dot suddenly spewed out a large number of smaller dots, which raced towards us on an intercept course. Checking the readings, I let out a low whistle.
"All of them? Scrambling the entire complement?"
A green laser flashed past me, jerking me out of my semi-trance. Rolling left, I dived towards the planet, with four TIE's on my tail.
"Graham, you're heading for the shield!"
I double-clicked acknowledgement of Haisani's message, and stared ahead as the planet loomed. Suddenly a spasm seemed to run through my body, and I hauled back on the control stick. The TIE's, caught flat-footed, raced past me and, an instant later, exploded into hemispherical clouds of shrapnel as they hit the shields.
"Four down."
Hauling back on my stick, I orientated myself directly into the middle of the lightfight, and boosted the engines to full. Setting my lasers to single fire, I held down the trigger and sliced through the milling cloud like a laser through Sullustan jam, emerging on the other side virtually unharmed.
As I pulled back to re-enter the lightfight, I saw two squadrons of TIE's closing in from above. Reacting instantly, I snap-rolled and fired a volley of laser fire into the massed cloud, scoring two direct hits. A third TIE flew through the expanding cylinders of debris, and came out with its transparisteel viewport holed and shattered, its pilot killed instantly by the shrapnel. An instant later, the TIE cloud seemed to hesitate, then it turned back.
"They're running!"
Dave's voice snapped back over the comm.
"Graham, take your group. Pursue and harry them. They're heading back to defend the Claw from team Eiattu."
I nodded and set my lasers to dual fire. Reaching out, I felt where each target was going to be, then I fired along that line. Several targets exploded, and then a sudden barrage of laser and ion cannon fire from the left decimated the survivors.
"What the?"
Even as I reacted to the unanticipated barrage, a full wing of B-wings flew past me in loose formation, swinging round to unleash another volley on the rapidly shrinking cloud of TIE's. My comm clicked, and a sharp voice issued from the speaker.
"General Salm to Knave Squadron. Brought some friends with me, mind if we join the party?"
"What friends?" I managed to say.
"Just a couple of ships, the Home One and the Mon Remonda. The Home One is engaging the Star Destroyer behind you, the Mon Remonda is taking out the one that has been severely damaged by several squadrons of amazingly aggressive X-wings and Headhunters."
By the time that he had finished explaining, the last few TIE's were being methodically hunted down and destroyed by the heavy fighters. A new voice crackled across the comm.
"Graham, are you there?"
I paused for an instant, searching for the reason that the voice seemed familiar.
"Corran Horn to Graham. Do you copy?"
"Corran?!"
"Good to hear you. Look to your right."
I glanced over and saw a very familiar green-striped X-wing assuming secondary wingmate position just behind me. Beyond him, another X-wing kept in perfect formation.
"I see you, Corran. Who's your friend?"
"Knave Squadron is being escorted in by Shadow and Rogue Squadrons. Ooryl Qrygg and I came to escort you to the Mon Remonda. Come to heading one eight six mark three, I am lead."
I swung round and slotted into formation on his port side, heading towards the distant ship.
.
I flung myself out of the cockpit and slid down the ladder as fast as I could. Reaching the bottom, I flung myself forward, and Corran pulled me into a rough embrace before holding me at arms length and looking at me.
"Graham, you've grown. It's good to see you again."
"I thought that I wouldn't see you or Whistler again either."
Breaking away from Corran, I knelt down and hugged Whistler, who was bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Who's your friend?"
I stood up and turned round just in time to see a dark-haired woman come up and hug Corran. I glanced at Corran, my head cocked slightly. He flushed slightly, and then smiled.
"Mirax, meet Graham, my one-time protégé, and a good friend. Graham, meet Mirax Terrik, noted trader, and my wife."
I stepped back slightly.
"Any relation to Booster Terrik?"
She shook her head slightly and smiled. Corran laughed.
"Yes, but he's slightly reformed, owns his own ship and uses it to trade many legal things, and only a couple of illegal things. Mirax is his daughter, and when we first got together, you could hear him howling from three sectors away."
Whistler suddenly gave a sing-song whistle, and I stiffened.
"Kirtan Loor? Here?"
Corran shook his head before looking behind me and coming to attention. I turned and found myself facing a tall fish-like alien in a white uniform.
"Are you Graham, otherwise known as Jorias C'baoth?"
I paused as Corran's eyes seemed to bore into the back of my head.
"Yes, and no."
"What do you mean?"
I glanced round at the crowded hangar.
"Can we discuss this somewhere quieter?"
.
The door closed behind Corran and me. To my relief, both Ooryl Qryyg and Mirax had chosen to go to the recreational area. I sat down on a chair and waited for the others to be seated. The alien turned to face me.
"I am Admiral Ackbar. When the Council finally received the report that Knave Squadron had almost finished here, the chance to gain two potential Jedi and an elite squadron equal to Rogue Squadron was too much to pass up. I was on my way here in the Home One in an attempt to personally recruit you when the distress call was broadcast. We then teamed up with the Mon Remonda, and came to your aid. The Star Destroyer that you identified as the Claw has surrendered to us, with extreme damage. The other Star Destroyer escaped with some damage. Dave Hunter said that it was commanded by an Admiral Thrawn, and he has volunteered to tell us about him, since we also seem to be at war with him. That is not important however, your story is."
I nodded slowly, and glanced at Corran.
"May I assume that both Corran here and Garik "Face" Loran have given you details of my life up to and slightly beyond our departure from Corellia?"
Ackbar picked up a pad from his desk and trained one eye on it before answering. "Yes. You were adopted by the Wookie Khanchassata after you were caught attempting to raid Knave Squadron's headquarters. You proved yourself a good pilot and officially joined Knave Squadron, eventually leaving Corellia with them. You went to Tatooine, where you somehow discovered that you were a Jedi. After that, you vanished for several years before appearing here, where you aided in the training of two starfighter squadrons."
I nodded again.
"Okay, time to fill in the gaps. I was originally born Jorias C'baoth, son of Jorius C'baoth. Bounty Hunters working for Palpatine managed to kidnap me, and flee. Although Jorius tracked them all down, they had abandoned me on Corellia, where I was found and taken in by an old thief. From him, I learned many of my more, how shall I put it, disreputable skills. As I had no memory of who I was before, he called me Graham, after his son, who had been killed during a lightfight between him and CorSec. After the old thief died, I managed to survive on my own for a bit, but I was forced to try and rob Knave Squadron to replenish my stash of credits. You know the story from then to our fleeing Corellia. Just after Corran escaped into Hyperspace, the Black Asp gravved us. Marcus Farlander and I peeled off and attacked it. Marcus managed to destroy their shields, but died in the process, crashing into its bridge after he was hit by an Ion bolt. We escaped to Tatooine, where we discovered an old Rebel base. Exploring it, I bumped into Cybo, literally. While I was out cold, Cybo aided the rest of the squadron in exploring the base by providing info. Khan managed to jury-rig the generators, and we gained a new pilot, and several new starfighters. We also found out that I was Jorias, although I still prefer the name Graham. Exploring by myself, I found my Father's room, and found myself in possession of his lightsaber, and this."
Reaching into my flight-suit, I pulled out the holocron and laid it on the table. Ackbar turned his head and focused on of his eyes on it, while Corran leaned closer to take a good look at it. Hiding a smile, I reached out and touched it. The air above it flickered for a moment and Yoda appeared. Everyone except me jerked backwards in shock and confusion.
"Meet Yoda from Dagobah, the Gatekeeper of this Holocron, and my Mentor. He has taught me how to use the Force, and how to allow it to use me. According to him, I require only a little bit more training before I can officially become a Jedi Knight,. Haisani has already become a Jedi Knight, but he had several years head start on me, and had a real Jedi Master teach him."
Reaching out, I deactivated the Holocron by thought, then lifted it into my hand. Ackbar looked thoughtful.
"Until you become a true Jedi Knight, it is best that you remain with Knave Squadron. Dave Hunter has agreed for Knave Squadron to be assigned to the Mon Remonda, alongside Rogue and Shadow Squadrons, and I have ordered you to be re-equipped with X-wings for now, and a new-type starfighter later. Although this may upset the current starfighter balance somewhat, the unusual tactics that you have developed will aid in creating a new balance. I am sure that Lieutenant Corran Horn and will be happy to show you round the Mon Remonda. Dismissed."
I stepped through the door with Corran beside me. Turning to him, I asked what was on my mind.
"How did you get to be with the most elite squadron in the Alliance, and hook up with the daughter of your father's greatest enemy?"
Corran smiled at me.
"I'll tell you over a Lomin-ale."