Moff Kohl Seerdon had read, re-read and memorized all pertinent files and reports on the activities on the rebel fighter group Rogue Squadron and he decided that he had a healthy respect for the fledgling unit. Its missions were generally those where a minimum number of pilots and ships were needed while the mission was still dangerous. Time and again they had managed to do the highly improbable if not the impossible. This Luke Skywalker who led them was a match for any pilot in the Empire. A knock sounded at the door. "Enter;" said the Moff. In stepped a tallish woman with short, black hair and striking features. Moff Seerdon smiled and said, "Ah, Lieutenant Moor - please have a seat. There is a lot for us to discuss."

She nodded, "Of course, Sir."

She sat and Moff Seerdon had his assistant droid brew some caff before saying, "Lieutenant, we have been given a mission by the Emperor himself. I want you to take and read all the files on this datacard but first allow me to explain the mission. We are commanded to hunt down and eliminate the rebel fighter unit called Rogue Squadron. Have you heard of it?"

Kasen Moore's face remained stoic but she nodded, "I've heard the rumors, Sir. They say that Rogue Squadron took out an entire task force on Tatooine, rescued two very critical defectors and scientists from Raltiir from under the nose of some of the best Imperial military minds and escorted a convoy through a small strike force of battle cruisers."

Moff Seerdon smiled coldly. "The reports have been exaggerated but these rebels have gone from being a thorn in our side to being a serious threat. They are uniting other resistance and rebel factions as well as hitting soft targets. They have proven to snatch the what should have been an easy victory for the Empire and turned it into a true fight if not stealing it all together. These files are the known pilots, operators and command individuals in and attached to the squadron. Study them and commit them to memory. You and your squadron will be engaging them in the near future."

The lieutenant stood briskly and said, "Sir, how do you know we will be engaging them soon?"

Moff Seerdon smiled knowingly. "Because their victories spark fires and there is a fire burning on Gerrard V right now - one that has been smoldering for several years and one that the rebels will not be able to pass up."

With yet another solid 'umph' and a groan, Luke hit the mats again. When he opened his eyes, he glared at Lieutenant Judder Paige. Paige, in turn, was grinning down at him. "You're getting better, Commander. You still overreach and leave yourself open to throws and locks sometimes. Here, let's take it slower."

He pulled Luke to his feet and they began to go over the moves again. After several minutes, Paige clapped his back. "See? Now you're getting it! Keep working on it and you'll be better than me some day."

Luke chuckled and groaned at the same time. His ribs were all bruised and his arms felt like lead. "That's great but when will it stop hurting?"

Paige laughed and said, "Never, Commander Skywalker. It will never stop hurting. Pain's a good thing. When you stop feeling it, you have to start wondering if you're still alive."

Luke snorted. These special forces commandos were insane. Paige's grin widened and he dipped his head towards the rec room entrance. Luke turned and saw Rianna standing there. With a smile, he grabbed his shirt and jacket and walked over to her. Immediately he knew that something was amiss. He suppressed a sigh and said, "Hey. How was the last mission?"

Rianna smirked and replied, "A complete success; Luke we need to talk."

Oh boy. That's never good. "Alright. Where should we go to talk?" he asked, trying to remain nonchalant. Rianna looked around and said, "Come on."

They headed to the hanger deck and among the landed Gold Squadron Y-wings. After an awkward silence, Rianna turned to him. "Luke, you know I really care about you and I have enjoyed and cherished our time together and I really want us to keep being friends, but..."

Luke sighed. He had seen this coming for some time - the aurebesh had been clearly written on the bulkhead. Luke forced a kind smile and said, "I can't say I'm happy about it or that I understand but I do want us to still be friends too. Can I just ask why?"

Rianna took his work-warn and callused hands. "This is going to sounds terrible, Luke and please don't take it the wrong way but we aren't the same species. Our futures will always be limited by that. I don't want you to be stuck with someone who can't give you the fullest of life anymore than I want to be."

To his own surprise, Luke understood that. It still hurt though and he had to force himself to nod, lean forward and give her a kiss on the forehead. "Thank's for your honesty, Rianna."

She looked at him anxiously. "Still friends?"

Luke wrapped her in a hug and said, "Of course;"

Wedge, Hobbie, Dak and Wes stared at each other over the sabacc game, gambling away nicotine sticks, candies and whatever else they considered valuable since it was against regs for military personnel of different ranks to gamble credits. One at a time, they laid their hands. Dak whooped, "Pure sabaac, gents! Pot's mine."

Wedge smirked. "Not so fast, Dak. Feast your eyes;" as he laid out and idiots array. Dak's mouth fell open. The others laughed at his expression. Wedge didn't smoke nicotine sticks so he gave them to Hobbie and some of the candies he didn't prefer so he gave them to Wes. Dak grumbled about favoritism in the squadron when Luke suddenly walked in looking obviously glum. They all looked at each other and Wedge sighed. "Poor guy. Rianna just dumped him. I swear, he has the worst luck with women - or at least has as long as I've known him."

Dak suddenly brightened. "On the upside, that means that sexy Twi'lek is single now."

All three of them glared at him. "What?"

Wes, who was just as much of a joker, growled, "You are the most air-headed person I have ever met. Can't you wait until Luke is at least cheerful again before going after his ex?"

Hobbie cocked an eyebrow, "Says the person who tried to ask Agent Retrac out before they had even been done for all that long. Both of you shut up and go clean your service weapons."

Dak protested, "But we haven't fired those since Corellia and Wes hasn't since quals!"

Wedge just pointed to the exit, a look on his face that would stand for no arguments. Grumbling mutinously, the two younger pilots left. Wedge sighed and stood. The two veteran pilots went up and clapped Luke on the back. None of them said a word but the solidarity between was still there and it spoke volumes. Luke managed a small smile and Wedge grinned. "Come on. Let's go spend some time in the simulators. I'm sure pretending to blow stuff up will help you feel better."

Luke chuckled. It probably wouldn't but his two friends being there for him and trying to make him feel better did work a little. They were on there way when Luke's comlink chimed. When he answered it, General Crix Madine said, "Commander Skywalker, get your six best and meet us in the briefing room. We have a mission." Wedge grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Even better. Who should we grab?"

Luke knew instantly. "Dak, Wes and Tycho will come with the three of us."

The six members of Rogue Squadron were met by a dozen members of Gold Squadron - Y-wing pilots who preferred two-seater Y-wings and gunners. They were good. As soon as they were all gathered, Generals Rieeken and Madine showed up with Agent Retrac trailing behind. Winter gave Luke a sympathetic look just as General Rieeken began. "Listen up, pilots; our Alliance Intelligence reports that the world of Gerrard V is staging a revolt against the Imperial governor. This will be their second attempt with the first one ending in a Base-Delta-Zero which resulted in most of the planet being desolate now. Since they have begun their second revolt, the planetary governor is going on a rampage - raiding cities and villages and using a private fleet of yachts to steal everything he can - food, treasure, medical supplies, weapons - everything. Our mission is to eliminate the deployed Imperial forces, the turbolaser towers and also to disable the yachts so that the people of Gerrard V don't starve and so that the resistance group there can remain armed. Are there any questions?"

None of them lifted their hands or asked so General Rieeken nodded and said, "To your ships, Pilots. Gold Squadron, Crix Madine is going to be your Squadron Commander's gunner so one of you gets a day off. You're welcome."

They dropped out of hyperspace over what appeared to be a brown, sickly looking world with spots of green they assumed was putrid waters. "Feast your eyes, Pilots, that's what a world looks like after the Empire decides that they aren't behaving. If any of you have doubts as to why you're fighting after seeing that, you shouldn't be here;" came the voice of Crix Madine. He sounded bitter and angry and Luke empathized with him. He could only imagine the anger and guilt that Madine must have felt. It wasn't long before they were planet side and the sight only grew worse. They could see the craters the pockmarked the ground from the turbolasers of the orbiting fleet. Luke felt ill seeing it. To there amazement, they could make out cities that hadn't been touched by the bombardment. "Those must have been some crack gunners;" he thought to himself. However, the planet's population would now forever be beholden to help from the outside. Luke admired their courage for standing up to the Empire when they knew it could cause them nothing but more desolation and death. Suddenly he saw them, over a hundred tiny little silver, black and red, sleek, SoroSuub Luxury 2000 Space Yachts. They were landed on top of all the buildings that were large enough and were also landed in squares and private pads. Imperial Soldiers and Stormtroopers could barely be made out entering and leaving buildings with hovercarts and sleds filled with objects. Luke gritted his teeth. General Madine said, "Listen up, pilots: Rogue Leader, engage any and all turbolaser or missile turrets as well as any ground forces that you can without damaging the civilian structures. Gold Squadron, disable the yachts on the ground. Those that are in the air, disable their sublight engines so that they are unable to go into space. We need to be quick, Pilots."

The Rogues divided into groups of two instead of their usual groups of three, targeting missile turrets, turbo laser turrets and ground vehicles that were clear enough for them to hit - APC's, AT-PT's and large clusters of Imperial Infantry. Luke was frustrated. His X-wing didn't have a single proton torpedo. "Who do I talk to so I can get my boys some torpedoes?" he muttered into the comms, not realizing it was still on open channel? He was surprised and a little embarrassed when Crix Madine answered, "Your squadron doesn't have torpedoes? You and I will rectify that when we get back. That's unacceptable."

Luke replied. "Understood, Sir."

Even so, they managed to destroy the turbolaser and Missile turrets without too much trouble. Luke was surprised that there were no Imperial fighters. "Gold Leader this is Rogue Leader - General, where are the Governor's fighters?"

Madine chuckled and said, "He doesn't have any. This is a world where the Empire strictly regulates its air and space traffic, including its own. Besides, there is no need for it here. The people were thought thoroughly pacified until recently."

Luke acknowledged and engaged a missile turret, blasting away at both the missiles it fired and the tower itself. It exploded spectacularly. It was only a short period of time before that city had all of its over-watching turbolasers destroyed, the yachts disabled and Imperial armor and vehicles destroyed. The rebel pilots could see from above that the citizens of the city were taking it back, mobbing the Imperial Soldiers and Stormtroopers. "Great job, Rogues. According to intel, there are ten more cities that the Governor is trying to loot before a fleet of destroyers comes in and levels the whole thing. By then, Task Force Independence will be here to fend off any Imperial Fleet attack. Let's keep going."

The next city was even easier. The missile turrets, the only real danger to the pilots, tried to shoot down the X-wings, ignoring the bombers that were preventing the yachts from escaping. This time, the Rogues remained in two groups of three, focusing fire on the missile and turbolaser turrets and then mopping up and ground forces as they went. It took less than an hour to clear the city and ground the yachts. The next one, however, was much more difficult. The missiles and turbolasers fired on Gold Squadron, forced three of the Rogue Squadron pilots to try and fly around solo, blasting missiles out of the air to the best of their ability and attempting to draw fire. They managed to keep the Y-wings in the air and using the dorsal mounted ion cannons to disable the yachts. From that point on, the mission was very, very tense. The defending emplacements were doing everything they could to bring down the Y-wings and the Rogues were always a step ahead in keeping them in the air. It only grew worse as they approached last targeted city. Out of hyperspace came a single Imperial Star Destroyer and TIE Interceptors were launched. They were different from others in that they were painted with stripes of silver and black. Tycho Celchu cursed and said, "We got trouble, Rogues. Those are the marks of the 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron. If you went to the academy as a TIE Pilot, that's where you wanted to be. They're the best of the best."

Luke cursed and said, "Alright Rogues, listen up; we need to get those interceptors to stay away from the Y-wings. Gold Squadron, I recommend that you get ready cause things just got very interesting. We got elite interceptors coming in."

Luke only half listened to the acknowledgements as he angled towards a quartet of fast-moving interceptors. Immediately two of them broke off and he said, "Wedge, get ready cause I'm about to have two on my tail and I'll need you to clear them."

As he said that, he squeezed the trigger. One of the TIEs spun off missing half of its portside solar array and smashing into the side of a hill. The other evaded skillfully. Just as he had expected, R2-D2 shrieked and Luke looked over his shoulder to see a pair of fighters. To his relief, an X-wing was coming in fast behind them. Luke spun and twisted and turned, evading the laser fire from their cannons but his rear shields took a couple hits. "Luke I got one but the other is still on you."

Luke spun towards another turbolaser tower and said, "Watch your back, Wedge. I lost one of mine and I'm willing to bet he's circling around behind you. Let me get this tower and then break off. I have an idea."

Luke blasted at the tower but didn't manage to destroy it. He spun to the side and the laser fire from his opponent did. Luke couldn't help but smirk. For being the best, they sure seemed clumsy. Suddenly, the enemy fighter peeled off and Wedge called, "They're off your back Luke. Little help here? You were right about the other one."

Luke twisted and spun around until he came on Wedge's attacker from behind. They tried to break off and twist between a series of the higher buildings in the city but Luke was able to stay right with them. As soon as they broke cover from the city, Luke blew them out of the sky. "Rogue Leader, this is Gold Leader; we got the last yacht and are joining the fight. This fighter squadron has to have at least thirty-six ships. Aren't most TIE squadrons a dozen like ours?"

The answer came from Tycho. "Yes, for the most part they are but sometimes squadrons are expanded for special missions or in specialized units. If this is the 128th and someone met the standards, they admitted them. It was my dream to serve on this squadron until Alderaan happened."

Luke gritted his teeth, engaging two more hostiles while trying to avoid attacks from anther three. Suddenly, the TIE's broke off their attack and retreated with the exception of one. The Alliance Task Force had dropped out of hyperspace and was defending the planet. Luke hand't even seen the fleet of Imperials drop in and now a full-fledged space battle was going on. Luke gritted his teeth and said, "Listen up, Rogues. We're heading up to the Liberty, getting loaded with a full payload of torpedoes and then assisting in the battle. Wedge, contact the rest of the Rogues on board and make sure they're ready to join us."

General Madine said, "Commander Skywalker, I have a prisoner for you to escort on your way back."

Luke frowned. "Understood. We'll bring him back with us."

"Thank you, Commander - and it's not a him."

Luke's eyes widened.

It turned out that the Rogues and Gold Squadron didn't have to join the battle. It seemed that the Empire wasn't willing to commit forces to either keeping or destroying Gerrard V. As soon as the 128th, or what was left of them, were back aboard, they fled. Rebel command said that Gerrard V was a desolate planet with no natural resources worth speaking of. The governor had been rescued without even a single one of his yachts by the Imperial fleet so the Alliance gave the yachts to the people of Gerrard V, giving them options to join the Alliance, stay home and continue to try and live or take the yachts and find another life. In the end, the vast majority left while a goodly number joined the Alliance. Only a small percentage stayed to try and hack a living out of the soil.

Luke stood outside of the interrogation room where Winter and General Airen Cracken questioned the Imperial pilot who had surrendered. Apparently she was Alderaanian like Winter, Leia, Tycho and Rieeken and had been looking for an opportunity to defect for some time. She was able to give information for the Alliance to start hitting hard targets that would make a difference without risking too much. It all seemed too good to be true and Luke wasn't sure how he felt about it. Curious, Luke stretched out with the force and examined her, trying to read her mind or at least how her body reacted to everything. He could sense her nervousness but she had a feeling of self assurance and a strange measure of peace - as if she knew she was doing the right thing without any doubt or guilt. Immediately, Luke decided that he should trust her. "Commander, can you come in here, please?"

Luke started slightly and went into the room. "Commander Skywalker, meet Kasan Moor, your counter part in the Empire. She wants to defect and to join Rogue Squadron. What do you think?"

Luke studied her. She was striking, probably taller than he was with an athletic build, short cropped black hair, brown eyes and an all too serious face. "Well, Lieutenant, what can you fly?"

She offered a small smile and replied, "Anything after less than an hour in the sims. Mostly I'm used to TIE's of any kind, Xg-1 Star Wing Gunboats and even some of the older ships - Nimbus V-wings, Eta 2 Interceptors and the like. How about you, Commander? What can you fly?"

Luke liked her already. "Anything with a stick, an engine and a half-decent stabilizer."

He turned to the two interrogators, "What do you think?"

Winter shrugged, "What she says is either new or lines up with intel we already have. General?"

Cracken scratched his chin before saying, "Lieutenant Moor, you are going to be given a commission. You can keep your rank but you are on probation. Commander Skywalker, you are her supervisory officer. Within regulations, she is not to leave your sight or side. If she is seen without you outside of her quarters and the refresher, she will be incarcerated and you will be reprimanded. Am I clear?"

Luke stood to attention and saluted. "Sir, yes Sir."

Lieutenant Moor stood and saluted as well. As soon as they were out of the interrogation room, she turned to him and stood at rigid attention. "Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

Luke hid a laugh and said, "First off, Lieutenant, it's Luke. We're a lot more relaxed in Rogue Squadron. It keeps moral up and until it starts eating away at discipline and results, it keeps us closer and more in tuned with each other. Second, you don't have to ask permission to speak freely. Just keep it respectful and never be afraid to mention something if you think it's gonna be helpful."

She looked shocked, as if she were surprised to hear that from him. "I just want to thank you and say what an honor it is to meet the man who destroyed the Death Star and avenged Alderaan. Even though you were my enemy, I felt a great deal of respect for you and admired your skill. I still do. So..." she trailed off awkwardly but then suddenly burst out laughing. Luke was blushing and his face was all confused, as if he was trying to look sincere, terrified and embarrassed all at the same time. It killed the tension. Luke grinned and said, "I'm just another pilot, Lieutenant. I got lucky at the Death Star and it's been a combination of luck, skill and good squadron mates that have gotten me this far. You have the opportunity to be one of them. Next mission, your evaluation begins as soon as we mount up. Come on. Let's go meet the boys."

In the Squadron Rec room, the Rogues were lounging about playing cards, holo-chess and generally just relaxing when Luke and Kasan walked in. She looked shocked when no one called attention as Luke walked in. Wedge said, "Hey, listen up;"

Luke nodded to him and said, "Gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Kasan Moor, one of our new potential Rogues. Formerly of 128th TIE Interceptor Squadron, she's joined us. Lieutenant, tell us about yourself."

Kasan was very uncomfortable but cleared her throat and clasped her hands behind her back. "Well I graduated top of my class from the Academy and was the only female. I had to scratch and claw my way to the top. I defected because of Alderaan as I'm sure at least one of you did." She looked at Tycho, who nodded and raised a glass of caff towards her. "I can fly anything from airspeeders to gunships. Not sure what else to tell you."

Luke chuckled and said, "Any questions for her? Dak and Wes, you can both forget the first ones that pop into your heads. We don't want to scare her off."

No one lifted a hand but the two pilots named looked a little sulky. "Alright, guys. As you were;" Luke called before leaving with Kasan and heading towards the simulators.

Updated 11.07.16