X: Reconnaissance

Kol had counted the number of transports that had attempted escape. There were 30 of them. The story he patched together from rumors and visual confirmation told that 17 of them were destroyed. On top of that, General Veers had pulled Blizzard Force through the Rebel defenses and destroyed their shield generator.

It would be a ground battle now, and as far as anyone could tell, the Empire would win. Snowtroopers were pouring into Echo Base and killing any Rebels they could find. The Rebels were still attempting to escape, however; there were reports of a few smaller ships breaking through the blockade: a few T-65s, one YT-1300. The YT-1300 managed to make them look foolish, even; it was the first time Kol knew of that two Star Destroyers actually scraped against each other in space.

Not much had happened since: the Tyrant's systems came back online, and all the Rebel transports had left Hoth, either through hyperspace or a face-full of turbolasers. Kol stretched. "Well, guess that's the end of that. I didn't even get to leave the ship."

GM-185 sat down on a nearby chair. "Oh well, maybe next time we'll see some—"

An urgent message over the intercom interrupted him. "Attention all personnel: Allied Star Destroyer is under attack by Rebel forces."

The Captain spoke over the intercom as well, from the bridge. "What's attacking?"

A short pause as the guy on the other end checked. "One YT-2400 transport. Computer identifies it as Outrider."

"Alright, I'll decide what course of action to take. Just one freighter, though? I'm sure they won't need our help."

GM-185 suddenly had an idea. "Hey, KG-742, I just thought of a way to get you off the ship."

A few minutes later they were on the bridge, speaking their case to the Captain. "You say you want the new recruit to lead a squadron of TIEs to support the Star Destroyer?"

GM nodded. "Yes, sir. I figure it's a good way he could see some action, and it can help ensure he knows not to shoot TIEs."

Lennox sighed at GM's usual smartass attitude. "Very well. KG-742, you are to take your ship and lead a squadron of twenty TIE Bombers to support their own fighter squadron. Do not directly engage the Outrider, only support the bombers. If the Outrider is destroyed, flees, or destroys all TIEs in the operational theater, report back to base."

Kol nodded. He couldn't shake the feeling this Captain loved the sound of his own voice. He saluted the Captain, got a salute in return, and then walked off to the hangar.

GM followed close behind. "You're not planning on disobeying orders, are you?"

Kol shrugged. "I would like to see some action, but I doubt the first day on the job is the right time to disobey orders." He started at the ceiling for a while. "…Hey, when he said 'your ship', did he mean one of those TIEs or…"

"Your fighter. I'm not entirely sure myself, but it would be a better idea to use your own ship."

"How come?"

"If the freighter discovers you, he won't immediately know you're with us."

"Oh. Makes sense." Before he knew it they were at the hangar. I gotta ask for a map of this ship. He climbed into his KSE-12a for the second time that day. A tech waved him towards the shielded opening. He fed power to the engines, slowly moving out of the hangar, and soon had cleared the shield separating the open hangar from the empty vacuum. Shortly after, from a second hangar below, 20 TIE Bombers were launched one at a time. They grouped up behind him and began following. They fed full power to their engines; Kol had to go at a speed slower than full to allow the Bombers to keep up with him.

Shortly before they arrived at the waypoint, Lennox contacted him. After making sure Kol was on his way, he informed him that someone had secretly installed new hardware into his ship, though he didn't know what. "…If you can, try to find out what that new hardware does, will you? Captain Lennox over and out."

Kol sighed. "Alright, let's see what that thing's up to." He turned the engines off and waited as his fighter coasted itself to a spot near an immobile asteroid that allowed him a decent vantage point over the battle. The Bombers split off and began the assault.

Through the asteroids he could see most of the battle. Whatever the other Star Destroyer was called, it wasn't equipped with the same fighters as the Tyrant. It had standard TIE Fighters and Bombers. He did a quick check on his equipment; the Destroyer had sent fifty TIE Fighters to take the Outrider out. "50, huh? Yeah… Imperials always try to outnumber opponents in dogfights."

Once again, the Rebels seemed to prove that the philosophy of quantity over quality was fatally flawed. The Outrider's swiveling turrets were able to make quick work of three Fighters in less than ten seconds. "He's good." A pair of Bombers swooped in, releasing bombs on the freighter. The Outrider actually shot the bombs out of the sky, then destroyed the Bombers before they could try again. "He's really good."

The last of the TIEs fell to the turrets. "Well, that takes care of every pilot from that Star Destroyer. What—" The Outrider quickly exited the asteroid field and jumped to hyperspace. "…Oh."

He established communication with the Tyrant. "KG-742 to Captain Lennox, come in."

Lennox's voice came through a bit of static. "Captain Lennox here. What's your situation?"

"The Outrider just took out every TIE this Star Destroyer sent against it, and jumped to hyperspace, sir."

"How many TIEs?"

"My equipment counted fifty Fighters, sir."

Lennox responded exactly as Kol expected: silent disbelief. "…Very well. KG-742, return to the Tyrant."

"Affirmative."