Chapter Thirty-three

Jaina swore as Dozen Ten winked out. She had lost too many pilots, including her two wingmates. She was currently working with Lowie. He'd lost one of his wingmates as well. Kyp was the only one with entire trio. She didn't know how many were left in the Spikes.

The yammosk and main frigate were gone, but the atmosphere buzzed with coralskippers. One would explode and two more would appear. She didn't know where they were coming from. Jaina gritted her teeth as she pushed down the throttle on her X-Wing. She twisted between coralskippers, showering the area with laser fire.

"One of the evacuation shuttles launching," control called.

"Are they insane?" Zekk asked over the squadron line.

"It must be bad down there," Kyp said gravely.

Jaina ignored them. She glanced down at her displays and ordered, "All remaining Spike pilots run escort for the incoming shuttle. Coordinates incoming."

Jaina surveyed the scene outside her cockpit as she evaded plasma bolts. Smoking hunks of coral drifted around them. A solar ray from a TIE fighter floated by. Another pilot's dying scream pierced her ears. She had to do something to even up the odds. She turned her X-Wing to face the shuttle breaking through the atmosphere. Several coralskippers veered off their course to harass the vessel. She wasn't going to let anything happen to it, or the slaves inside.

"Jaina, I could use your help over here," Kyp called. "I've got a cluster that won't let up."

"On my way," she said, and then ordered, "Zekk, go help the Spikes with that shuttle."

"I'm on it," he said. She had confidence that he could handle the situation. She pushed the control stick to the right, honing in on Kyp's signal. When she arrived, she could see his problem. Five coralskippers were trying to take out him and his wingmate. His other must have been the dying scream she'd heard. She buried the feeling of loss down.

"Welcome to the party," Kyp's voice called. Exhaustion betrayed the bravado he was trying to show.

"They don't see me yet," Jaina said as she targeted the closest skip. It was maneuvering behind Kyp. "Keep him busy."

"Will do."

Jaina lined up the craft in her sights and squeezed the trigger to stutter fire. The dovin basal swallowed the first two shots, but the third made it through, tearing a gap in the skip. She had no way to know if it was enough to incapacitate the coralskipper. The Vong's armor allowed them to survive for a brief amount of time in a vacuum. Jaina didn't want the pilot find a way to self-destruct his ship. Jaina kept firing until it exploded. One of the other skips turned to face her. Kyp took advantage of his freedom from the coralskipper to attack one of the ones on his wingmate, Shandria.

Jaina, Kyp and Shandria concentrated on the coralskippers, and the others who came to join the fray. Jaina wasn't able to check her instruments to see how the Ryll Runner was faring, but kept a small connection with Zekk.

"Two more coming in hot," Shandria called out.

"I see them," Kyp responded as he looped around. Jaina followed him. She distracted the dovin basals while Shandria took out the coralskipper. Jaina then turned to the other skip that Kyp was attacking. She fired the destroying shots while the dovin basal took in Kyp's shots.

A white-hot pain laced through Jaina as Zekk disappeared from the Force. She choked out a gasp as Kyp called out, "Jaina! Focus!"

Jaina reached under her helmet and wiped tears from her eyes. She and Zekk had grown apart throughout the years, but he was still her friend.

"Lowie!" she suddenly called out. He had gone off with some TIE pilots an hour ago. She sighed with relief as he howled into her comm, also grieving the loss of their friend.

"The Ryll Runner is aboard the flagship," Shandria said quietly.

"New orders?" one of the Spike pilots asked.

"Meet us over here," Kyp said.

"How did it happen?" Jaina asked voice raw.

"He took the hit that would have taken out the Ryll Runner's engines," one of the pilots said. "There was no other way to stop it. We destroyed the coralskippers harassing the shuttle."

Jaina didn't respond. She took a calming breath. She had refocus before someone else died. She reached out to Ani and Davin, using the knowledge that they were safe to center herself.

"Let's get closer to the Steadfast. It will draw the fighters away from the planet," she ordered. She was going to do whatever she could to keep that second shuttle safe.

Gravel flew through the air as a detonator impacted the ground. Jag and Misa turned away, throwing their arms over their eyes. They had found Thea Marr and her group. As the dirt settled, Marr began to speak, "There are about five hundred in this group. A bunch got out on the Ryll Runner. I haven't heard from anyone else."

"We'll get them out of here," Jag promised. They were standing against a collapsed damutek. The slaves crammed into the tight space were all armed with thud and razor bugs. A Devorian male was spinning a razor bug between his fingers. He had a large strip of brown cloth tied over his head. Jag could see blood seeping through the fibers. The other slaves were all marked with blood, cuts, bruises and other injuries.

"We've being fighting since dawn," Thea stated. "The Vong know what you want and have blockaded the others in their shelters."

Jag's face paled. He'd seen several structures destroyed by the Chiss soldiers. He snatched his comlink off his belt and switched it to his pilot's frequency. He ordered for them to send a message to the Steadfast warning the Chiss about the situation.

"The Last Chance is right over there," Misa stated, gesturing behind him. How do we want to do this?"

"Run," Thea said. "Some of us will provide cover while the rest make a break for it. As long as your Chiss buddies do their damn job, we'll be fine."

Misa bristled at the comment, but Jag ignored it. "Get ready."

Thea rearranged the group so the weakest were on the inside of the cluster. A makeshift bin filled with buzzing thud and razor bugs sat on the ground. Thea gestured for Jag and Misa to pass them around, adding to the slaves' current arsenal.

"Okay, listen up!" Thea shouted. "We want to get as many of us on the shuttle as possible. Colonel Fel is the boss here. If he tells you to run, you run. If he tells you to duck, you duck. Jhoren and Ruwee are taking the front with the Colonel. I'll be in the middle coordinating. Sul and Rance are with me. This guy-"

"Misa," he said as she pointed to him. The slaves were already arranging themselves into position. Jag got the impression that they had practice with this before.

"Right, Misa, is going to take the rear. I want Eryne and Teena with him," Thea continued, pointing to a Wookiee and a Twi'lek. "Everyone else, watch each other's backs. Don't waste your weapons. Mako sacrificed himself so we could have these. Don't let his death be in vain. Okay, go!"

"That good with you?" Thea asked as she passed Jag.

"Yes," he responded as he moved to the front. It wasn't necessarily a tactic he would use, but he was going to follow Thea's lead. She knew the slaves; he didn't. She knew what they were capable of. It reminded him of Barab I. He peeked around the edge of the crumpled wall, or what he thought had been a wall. Chiss and Vong were locked in combat; the Chiss were winning. Jag waved the slaves forward as he shouted, "Now!"

Zerga hated Lando Calrissean. He hated him more than anyone right now.

Zerga used to work for Lando. He delivered the YVH droids. It had been a good, steady pay. His ship was armed with more than would normally be legally allowed. He could obtain anything he wanted. Lando had to pay his droid deliveries well. It wasn't uncommon for them to be attacked.

About six months into his employment, Zerga started making side deals. He would steal a droid or two and sell it on the black market. Lando found out, somehow, and threatened him. The two of them finally came to an agreement and now, Zerga was stuck on Chandrilla listening to trumped-up colonel. He had to pack his precious ship full of captives.

The colonel in question rushed into the cockpit. Zerga raised an eyebrow at the bloodstain on his side, and then he turned back to the console. Jag sat down in the pilot's chair and slapped the ramp control.

"Hey-" Zerga started to protest.

"Sit down and strap in," Jag ordered as he flipped various switches on the board.

"Your ship-"

"Is gone," Jag snapped. He pulled on the throttle and the ship began to rise from the ground. He continued as the ship gained altitude, "The Vong destroyed mine and another. Arm the guns."

Zerga sat down in the co-pilot's chair in annoyance. He narrowed his eyes as he powered up his weapons. He heard Jag contact the Steadfast. He was promised an escort of some kind.

Zerga gritted his teeth as he aimed and fired at a group of Vong on the ground. He wasn't about to let some intergalactic beings ruin his ship.

"Colonel Solo-Fel, the Last Chance is breaking atmosphere in approximately two minutes," one of the communication officers aboard the Steadfast called.

"Acknowledged," Jaina responded. "Kyp, Shandria, let's go."

The three fighters turned away and flew towards the planet. Jaina contacted the shuttle, "Last Chance, you're clear through Sector Fourteen."

"Thank you, Colonel," Jag's voice responded. Jaina grinned. She had sensed him, but assumed he was running escort.

"Where's your ship?" she asked with concern.

"Gone," Jag responded. "What's the situation up here?"

Jaina told him that most of the coralskippers were gone. All the remaining fighters had gathered around the Steadfast. At the moment, they held the space around the planet. Everyone hoped no additional Vong would arrive in the system. Odds were slim of that happening, what with the other skirmishes going on right at that moment.

Jaina led the smuggler vessel to the massive Star Destroyer. A blast of noise came over her comm, "The planet is ours."

The slaves were on all fours, forced to chant a prayer to Yun Yammka. Low-ranking guards stood among them as higher ranking individuals lined the massive sacrificial pit. Three priests stood at the head of the pit. One led the crowd through the chants; another was pouring crushed coral and oil into the chasm. The third, holding the highest rank, raised his left hand in the air. He held a coufee etched with ceremonial markings in the other hand.) He brought down the blade and lopped off his right hand at the wrist. One of the Acolytes wrapped the stump with a living cloth. It tightened around his wrist and stopped the blood from flowing.

Nichos glanced at the slaves on either side of him. He and Mae had crept into the crowd. He cupped a detonator under each hand.

A low rumble sounded through the clearing. Nichos's comm, hidden in his ear, clicked three times. He switched on the detonator and held down the trigger. He set the timer for one minute. As the closest Vong looked towards the source of the noise, Nichos pitched the detonator forward. It landed several meters away and rolled towards the Vong by the pit. The sloping land worked towards his advantage.

The detonator exploded, instantly killing many Yuuzhan Vong. Battle cries pierced the air. Slaves ran away from the pit as laser fire filled the air. Nichos threw his other detonator behind him. He grabbed a fallen slave and helped her to her feet. He pulled out his small blaster he had hidden in his vest, defending the slaves as best he could. He heard Mae shout her own cry at the Vong as she threw her explosives.

"This way!" Nichos shouted to the slaves, pointing them towards a half-destroyed tunnel. Three ships were waiting to pick up the slaves. "Follow it to the ship at the exit!"

Nichos funneled slaves through to the opening. Some had stayed by the pit, engaging the Vong in hand-to-hand combat. They slapped the Vong with their dying amphistaffs. Many of the slaves died, but some of the Vong were killed.

A trio of TIE Bombers swooped from overhead, dropping bombs into the pit. The large explosives caused a mild ground quake and caught the contents of the pit on fire. The fire spread quickly over the edge of the pit, incinerating anything in their path.

"Come on!" Nichos screamed. His job was to guide the people out of the area. He could see Mae shoving a group along. The slaves didn't need much encouragement to leave.

Nichos's comm buzzed and a voice said, "The other two settlements are destroyed."

Nichos tapped his ear to end the transmission. He coughed from the smoke as Mae ran up to him. Her face was dirty and bloody. "Go on, Nichos. I got the rest of this. You need to help load 'em up."

"Got it," he responded and turned to leave. He gave one final glance towards the landscape. More fighters had appeared, along with a legion of stormtroopers. It looked like the mission had been a success.

Nichos grinned to himself as he helped the slaves onto the ships. The suns were setting, casting a beautiful glow over the landscape. Slaves were laughing and crying in joy.

Yes, he would certainly be back one day.

On fourteen other planets, slaves fought Yuuzhan Vong with determination and drive. Detonators exploded, damatuks fell, and amphistaffs lost their strength. Razor bugs tore through flesh on both sides as black blood mixed with red. On some planets, like Mygeeto and Torque, the slaves were successful in their revolts. Elsewhere, like Kalee and Elom, the slaves were slaughtered.

Even with the failures, the Vong were finally paying for what they had done.

Standing in a small room aboard a Star Destroyer orbiting Chandrilla, a man closed his eyes in quiet reflection. He'd done it. He had found a way to free those who were suffering and bring hope that the end would be here. He would never forget those who had sacrificed their lives to bring the galaxy closer to the end of the nightmare.

Responsibility fell onto the Jedi and leaders of the galaxy to find a solution. The Vong were weakened. It was their decision whether to strike or leave.

Jag opened his eyes and stared at the swirling patterns of hyperspace. He prayed they made the correct choice.