Xan, Callista and the chosen squadron landed on the surface and Xan made sure they all got clear before giving further instructions "These prototype are inside the facility so our goal is not a prolonged engagement just distraction till we can get these fighters clear." Callista frowned slightly. "Jaj'tich...how do we accomplish that....?"
"Blow a hole in the back door, our support team will lay down suppression fire while you and I handle disabling alarms and getting a hole blown open allowing our men to access the fighters."
"Elek, Jaj'tich..." she nodded, and checked herself over, making sure she could reach her sabers easily. "Let's do this...."
Xan nodded and they took off for the compound. When they arrived, he said, "Alright, time to knock on the door." And 2 men place a sticky bomb on one of the outside walls of the compound. A few second after they get clear the explosion rocks the ground and alarm klaxons start going off. "Move!" Xan barked and the first troopers begin opening fire.
Callista ducked through the ragged hole as the permacrete dust settled onto her shoulder plates. The fingers of her left hand curled around the hilt of her lightsaber as it slid into her palm. She was glad now of her buy'ce as it kept the acrid smoke from stinging her lungs. She caught Xan's attention. "Jaj'tich, according to our intel the prototypes should be....two bays down on the left, if I'm reading these plans right..."
Xan ignited his lightsaber then, deflecting a stray bolt heading to them and nodded. "Lead the way, jijtchi." he said. She nodded curtly, her fingers curling firmly around her saber hilt as she ignited the amethyst blade, deflecting a handful of bolts back to the source. Her blade kept moving, weaving a defense in front of her that left the defenders seeing afterimages.
As she waded into their midst, her saber moved with precision, cutting down first one and then the next as she moved closer to the bay. Finally, they stood in front of the bay. Callista pulled her slicer pad, hooking into the door controls as she fed in the stolen code. She held her breath, and was relieved when the doors slid open to admit them. "We're in..."
Xan nodded "We got 2 minutes, let's get access and blow a door." Xan said as he cut down yet another attacker. "You got it...."Callista pulled her second saber, slipping into the dimmed lighting of the bay. "Well, this should be interesting..." the thought died on her lips as heavy laser turrets began spitting angry red bolts at the group. 'I'll take care of this..." she said, and she stepped clear of the group, falling into the Force as she did so.
It reminded her very much of her experience on Tattooine, and she applied the same technique here. As she continued to defend with her blades, deflecting the bolts into the walls and back towards the guns, she reached for each in the Force simultaneously. As she did, she seized the control boxes, and pulled hard with the Force, twisting as she separated the control box from its mounting. They clattered to the floor, the wires still sparking. "That will take a while to fix..." She grinned behind her buy'ce.
Xan smiled and commed Lilly informing her of their situation and once that was done he grinned "My turn now," and with that he began cutting into the wall with his lightsaber in order to open a door so they could get the fighters out. A few moments later the section of wall fell away, allowing them to see the outside again. "Move.....get to a fighters and get them in the green. Cal'ika, you too." Her eyebrows rose. "Jaj'tich...are you sure...?"
"Move! We need to get clear now!" Xan said in a tone of voice that told her it was best not to argue. She swallowed and nodded, dashing towards the nearest fighter. Within seconds, she had gotten the canopy open and slid into the pilot's couch. It was different from the Y-wing.
As she settled into seat, she began flipping switches on the control board in front of her. Ready lights began blinking, cycling from red to yellow to green as the systems woke from standby. Finally, the main control screen flickered to life. Though the fighter was similar to Y-wings, Callista still noticed many differences in the systems configuration. As she finished, she clicked her comm twice, letting Xan know she was ready.
Xan got into his fighter and although the systems looked slightly out of place, he saw it was a better design then other fighters he had used previously. "I got 4 in the green and systems optimal. " As acknowledgements came, in he grinned a death head's grin and said "Go, go, go!" Callista clicked her commed again, and her thumb slid over the thruster control. The fighter rose smoothly on repulsors, and she oriented towards the exit that Xan had made for them. She saw others doing the same as she slid her fighter in behind Xan's. They shot from the wall breech, streaking off towards the southeast as the clawed for space.
Xan opened the comm to Callista. "Well then that was rather easy by and large." She grinned slightly. "They obviously weren't expecting us... they've gotten a bit lax in their security, Jaj'tich...."
"That may change now...and we can expect that the Empire will be seeking to hit us back soon." She frowned. "Elek....we stole their new toy....they won't like that at all..."
"This is merely the first step in a war that has been brewing since Palpatine usurped the galaxy. We make the first strike and hopefully we will make the last one too." She nodded, sobered. "I hope you're right Jaj'tich...let's get back to the Star Defender..."
They piloted back to the Defender with relative ease and soon later docked. Xan was the last one out of his fighter and after giving his thanks to everyone involved, he smiled at Callista. "Well not bad for your first taste of piloting a fighter, but if I were you, I'd get to know that X-wing inside and out." She pulled her buy'ce off and regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean, Jaj'tich....?"
"I plan on starting a squadron and i want you in it....your skills are too good for me not to use in this regard jijtchi. So I want you to become acquainted with this fighter and think of it as your ship now." She gasped. "You're...serious...." she felt slightly light-headed.
"I hate to use this word but it fits...I am deadly serious, jijtchi." She swallowed again and nodded. "Well then....I'll have to get busy then..." Xan nodded. "I need to see the Admiral on something, I'll catch you later, jijtchi." he said smiling before walking out of the docking bay.
She frowned slightly, but nodded towards his retreating back before she turned back to her X-wing. "This is going to take a while..." she muttered to herself as she climbed back up the crew ladder. A younger man approached Callista after a bit and while she was was working he said, "Well these things look and fly a lot like Z-95's; I don't understand why the Alliance needed these so badly."
She grinned. She had stowed her beskar'gam in the cargo compartment, and now wore just her coverall. "The Z-95's are old.....we needed something that we wouldn't have to stop and fix at the end of every mission..."
"Well then why are you fixing this one then?" he smirked at her. She let out a slow breath.
"Because....the General told me to......" she raised an eyebrow at him, almost daring him. "The General, he's a strange man that one....never worked with a Jedi before." She smiled. "I have...he's not that bad, you know..."
"Not that bad......man you must be a glutton for punishment aren't you?" She frowned slightly, and sat down, dangling her legs over the fuselage of her X-wing. "You'll have to explain that one...."
"Well, Qenadius is a bastard. that last mission was rather intense. I don't look forward to things like that all the time and with him it seems that is going to be the case." She bristled. "Be careful how you talk about him, my friend...He may be harsh, but he has to be in times like this..."
"Easy....easy. My bark is worse than my bite. Never said he didn't have to be hard, just said I'm not looking forward to being in the crosshairs all the time." She frowned. "How do you mean...I've been through worse..." she said softly, and then flushed in embarrassment.
"Worse.....just great. just the way to bolster my confidence there." She shrugged. "Sorry...but it's honest. What's got you so worked up anyways...?" she asked, running her fingers through her tousled hair. "First mission I've been on since joining the Alliance was getting these X-Wings.....I'm just not used to seeing friends dying around me."
Her shoulders slumped, and she reached over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "Neither am I...but it's not going to be easy. War is never fair, and one has to accept that, and acknowledge that the ones that are gone have given their best in the service of our cause..."
He nodded and shook his head as if to get the horrible images out of his head. "Your right; but still it's going to take getting used to." he offered his hand. "The name's Yanniq." She smiled. "Callista...." She thought a moment. "How did you know I was down here...?"
"I didn't leave...I wanted to get a better look at these things myself....after all the rumor is they want to put a squadron together."
"Yes, that's what I've been told," she said carefully, looking at him. "I honestly wasn't expecting to fly one of them myself..."
"Well I think I'll need as much time understanding this fighter before I sign up for the squadron." Chuckling, she replied, "I think we all do....but then the General is looking for those that already posses the skill...."
"A lot of us know how to fly....so he's got choices to make....I just hope I can get in."
"You seemed to be holding your own during the extraction, I'm sure you'll do fine...but something tells me you have other questions, Yanniq.."
"Well how do you know the general so well?" She paused for a moment, wondering how much to tell him. "The General...he is family, in more ways than one...he took me in when he found me...and I have been studying under him since..."
"Studying...what kind of studies?" She took a slow breath, feeling that now was not the time to reveal that she was a Jedi. "He's been training me in close quarters combat, hand-to-hand, and other fighting styles. I've been working with him for close to a year now..."
"Interesting...does he do that with everyone?"
"No..." she said carefully. "But he took me in when I had nowhere else to go..." she said quietly.
"So a father figure then....luck you.....my father was a drunk." She nodded quietly, a pained look passing over her face as she remembered her own father. It was gone almost before Yanniq saw it. "It seems that many of us have lost family to this war in some fashion..." He nodded. "That's why I'm here to fight....I want a chance to raise my family in peace. And with the Empire running things that won't happen."
"I agree...." she said quietly. "I just want to be able to live my life without fear of being hunted like a criminal.."
"Criminals....that's what we technically are now. I hope I can help change that." She smiled a little sadly. "So do I....Did you have any questions about the X-wing....? You said you wanted to become more familiar with it..."
"No....just need to get my hands in there and find out for myself, if you don't mind." She shrugged. "Have at it then...." and she moved aside so he could climb up to the cockpit. "I'll be here if you have questions..." she offered him a smile again, trying to lighten the mood. He nodded and walked over to another X-wing and started tinkering. Just then Callista's comm went off. "Callista, meet me in my quarters if you please." Xan's voice said.
"Shab..." Callista muttered. "Yanniq...I'll have to leave you to it..." She ducked under the belly of the X-wing, retrieving the duffle that contained her beskar'gam. "I'll see you around, ok?" He nodded then went back to his work. Frowning, Callista hefted her duffle, and turned towards the lift and Xan's quarters, wondering what he needed.
Author's Notes:
Sorry for this one being so short, I was trying to wrap up the ground assault. What's next for our intrepid trio?