Chapter 13
Han Solo and Chewy walked into the control center, and was surprised by all the rushing around. After looking around for a moment, he finally spotted Leia and Luke, they were looking out the transperasteal window, out over the mountains. With them, was the shapeshifter that he had brought
back from his retrieval mission Odo, and another. He had only seen pictures of her before, and of course, Leia's stories, but this was her in person. Han walked up to the small group, with Chewy in tow. Odo was the first to notice them, and soon, the others were all looking at him.
"Hey, what's everyone looking at?" Han asked.
Luke looked at him, "The ship that Odo said the he was on, came into the system a little bit ago, and we sent Wedge, Wes, and Hobbie to escort them to the base."
Just then, Kasan Moor walked into the room. She walked up to the group, and stopped in front of them. She gave Mom Mothma a salute, "Is it true that there is an Empirial pilot on that ship, do you know who it is?"
Leia gave Kosan a stern look, "No, we don't have any info on that yet. Gold 1's transmission did not include information about the identity of the Empirial pilot. But we will know soon enough." Leia then turned back to the window, just in time to see three X-Wings, fly in, with a strange looking ship in the center of them. "And speaking of them, it looks like they have arrived." Leia then turned, and headed down to the hanger, with Han, Luke, Chewy, Mom Mothma, Odo, and Kasan in tow.
In the hall, they passed C-3PO. He stopped Han, "Captain Solo, may I ask where all of you are headed in such a hurry?"
Han looked at the driod "Go right ahead." and continued on his way. As the last member of the group turned the corner, 3PO decided that the fastest way to find out what was going on, would be to follow them to their destination, and started down the hall after them.
******
Kira watched, as they moved through the mountain range, and remembered that only a few years ago, she was doing the same thing, on Bajor, during their fight with the Cardasian. And it was because of that fight that she knew exactly what these Rebels were going through. But unlike the
Bajorian Rebellion, this one had more of a chance of success, and that was because it was not just one race fighting, it was a galaxy of races working together for a common purpose. She also knew that these Rebels had a lot more at their disposal, judging from the three ships escorting them to the base. The ships were far more advanced than anything that she ever flew in the days that she fought.
Kira's thoughts were interrupted suddenly by O'Brian. "Sensors show that we are approaching the end of our trip though this canon."
Tycho walked up behind them, "Don't be so sure of that Chief O'Brian," Tycho paused for a moment, and then went on to explain why he had told them that, "One time, my Tie Squadron overlooked an Alliance base, and it was hidden out in plain daylight to."
As Tycho said that, it was clear that they were about to reach the end of their trip through the canon, as a dead end was coming up. But much to the surprise of the crew, not one of the X-Wings made any attempt to change course or heading. As the four ships grew closer to the end of the road, a
door opened up in their path. The 3 X-Wings, and the Runabout, began to reduce their speed, and went into the opening. As the ship and the fighters, began landing procedures, the large doors closed, and a group of people came into the hanger.
Kira stared out the viewport, and looked around to take in her surroundings, when she spotted a single figure in the group that had come into the hanger after the doors had closed, Odo. She then silently thanked the Profits for bringing them back together, and proceeded to help O'Brian to land the ship.
******
Leia, Mom Mothma, Luke, Han, Chewy, 3PO, and Odo stood in front of the airlock of the Aries, as it opened. In the opening, Stood Kira, she stepped out of the ship, followed by Bashier, O'Brian, Nog, Worf, Jake, and another man stepped out of the ship. Odo suspected that it was the Empirial pilot that had hitched a ride to the base with them. After the others had left the ship, an Astromech driod rolled up to the opening. The pilot, Worf, and Bashier, picked up the driod, and placed him on the ground. Odo then looked at Luke, and saw that a huge smile had spread across his face.
Mom Mothma walked up to Kira, and extended her hand. Kira took it, and Mom Mothma smiled, "On behalf of the Rebel Alliance, I thank you for returning this driod," She indicated R2, "and we extend to you our full hospitality, until your stay has ended."
"It was a pleasure to return your driod to you." Kira replied. She would have said more, but Odo walked up behind Mom Mothma, and she immediately forgot everything that she was going to say, not that she had a chance to say anything, because Odo rushed up to her, and embraced her in a great kiss.
Luke noticed that all of the Federation people had started to chuckle a little, with the exception of the man, that had the rough forehead, and a sash over one shoulder. He immediately stepped forward, "I believe, that the Coronal was about to say, that we look forward to helping you out in the future as well." Kira and Odo finally detached, as he said this.
Mom Mothma smiled, "Then we hope that you will honor that promise." She then looked at the group that had accompanied her to the hanger, and noticed, that Wedge, Wes, and Hobbie had joined the group. "If I may, introduce to you," beginning with Leia, "Princess Leia Organa, of Alderaan,
Captain Han Solo, Commander Luke Skywalker of Rogue Squadron, Captain Solo's companion, Chewbacca, R2-D2's counterpart, C-3PO, and I believe," indicating the members of Rogue Squadron that had just arrived, "that you already know your escorts, Wedge Antilles, Wes Janson, and Derek
Klivian also known as Hobbie."
Kira made introductions of her crew, then Tycho stepped forward, "And this it Lt. Tycho Celchu, the pilot that help us to reach your base."
Tycho stepped forward, and stood at attention before Mom Mothma, "At this time, I cancel all ties that I have with the Empire, and ally myself, all my training and experience as a pilot, to the Rebel Alliance." Tycho then saluted her.
Mom Mothma, smiled, and extended her hand out to Tycho, and he took it, "Then welcome to the Rebel Alliance Lt. Celchu."
Just then, R2 began to beep and whistle. Luke walked over to the driod, and placed his hand on the dome head. "Yes R2," Luke told the driod, "I am glad to see you as well." Luke paused for a moment, "Did you get the info that we needed?"
R2 beeped some more, and 3PO translated it, "He said, that he did in fact get all of the information." R2 beeped some more, "O my," 3PO said, and then looked right at Luke, "Master Luke, R2 says that Admiral Ozzel has suggested, that you strike the Imperial gas mines on Taloraan, as the first strike against Moth Seerdon." R2 beeped and whistled some more, "The Admiral has given him data on that location that was not available before."
That was all that Leia had to hear. She turned to the Rogue pilots, "Wes, Hobbie, get R2 to Ackbar, Madine, and Rieekan, for analysis of the data." The two pilots did as told, taking R2, with 3PO in tow, out of the hanger.
Leia turned back to their guests, as Mom Mothma began to talk again. "I believe that we would be more comfortable, if we went to another room." Kira and the others nodded, and followed Mom Mothma out the door to the hanger.
******
The Hand had brought her Tie into the planets atmosphere, and began landing procedures. Her scanners indicated the perfect place to get info on the Rebels, and brought her Tie in for a landing, in a hilly area, and shut the ship down. She then left the ship, pulling off her helmet, and changing out of the flight suit that she wore, into a black jump suit, and pulling a cloak on over her shoulders. She then clipped a lightsaber handle to her belt, leaving the hood of her cloak down, she began to walk to the town, her red hair blowing around in the wind.
As she walked, she began to feel that something was not right, and only a second later, four men jumped onto the path that she was walking on, two in front, and two in the back. One of the men in front of her, took a step towards her, "What do we have here?" he said, "Have you lost your way?" As
he said this, the other three men began to chuckle a little.
The Hand just looked at the man, "Let me pass, and none of you will be hurt." As she said this, she ever so slightly reach for her lightsaber, which was hidden under her cloak.
All four men just laughed out loud, and the other one in front of her, moved forward, "And who will be hurting us, You." He then took a look around, "I don't think that you know the gravity of the situation that you are in," He paused, and the Hand could hear the men behind her mutter something to each other, and begin to move forward. "You see, there are four of us, and only one of you."
As he said this, the two men behind the Hand jumped at her, and she moved out of the way, letting one of them pass by her, as she swung her foot around, and hit him in the butt, sending him forward, at a fast rate. As this happened, the other man came in at the Hand, and she swung her fist
out, and caught the man right in the jugular. He dropped to the ground, trying hard to breath.
This was the first man's Que. to rush in, but as he came in close to the Hand, she pulled her lightsaber out from under her cloak, and activated it. A red beam emerged from the handle, and she used it to decapitate the man. The first man that attacked her, had recovered, and had pulled out his blaster, and fired it at the Hand. She let the Force take control of her reflexes, and blocked each shot fired at her. She then rushed in, and swung then energy blade, cutting off first the arm of her attacker, then slicing right through the middle of his body. The last man that was standing, looked at his comrades, and then at the Hand, and started to run away from her.
The Hand reached out with the Force, and she mentally grabbed his windpipe, and crushed it. The man immediately dropped to the ground trying to get his breath back, and finally passing out, and dying. The Hand then moved to the last of her attackers, who was still on his knees, trying to get air back in his lungs. The Hand steeped right up to him, and the man looked at her with pure terror in his eyes, as she brought up her lightsaber, and slashed down, slicing the man in half right down the
middle. She then looked at her handiwork, switched off the lightsaber, replaced it on her belt, and continued her trek to the town.
******
The walk to the briefing room, was a brief one, but the group had lost four people, as Captain Solo and Chewy had gone off to take care of something, and Luke had gone to check on his driod, and Tycho had been taken to be debriefed by alliance security. The remainder of the group entered the room, and took a seat at a table set up to one side. Mom Mothma was the first to speak. "I am sure that you have a lot of questions about our world, as we have a lot of question about yours." She then
indicated Odo, "Odo here told us about how you ended up here in the first place, and even though I can't say that I understand quite how it happened, I have a felling that it has happened for a reason."
"And why do you say that?" Bashier asked.
Mom Mothma searched for the right words, "Many years ago, a great Jedi Knight, named Mace Windu, told of how a strange ship from another universe would come to ours, and bring with it hope for not just our world, but theirs as well." Mom Mothma paused for a moment, "And I believe that this prediction has come true."
Kira stood up from her seat, and passed around the room, "If this prediction that you just mentioned has come true, I think that we will need to know a little more about this rebellion of yours, before we can help you."
Mom Mothma, nodded, "I understand Coronal." She then took a deep breath, "This story starts a long time ago, during the days of the Old Republic." Kira sat back down, as the story began, and weaved her arm into Odo's. "It all began with a group called the Trade Federation blockading a small planet called Naboo." Mom Mothma told them about how the Jedi knights had defeated the Trade, and how that battle was the start of the Empire.
"After the Sith lord was defeated on Naboo," Mom Mothma continued, "And the Jedi Master Qui Gon Jin was laid to rest, the Republic punished the Trade Federation, and piece rained over the galaxy, until the Clone Wars started up." Mom Mothma went on to tell about the Clone Wars, "After the wars, Grand Chancellor Palpatine covertly began to form the Empire. It was not till the Jedi Knight Darth Vader turned to the dark side of the Force, that he really began to show his power." Mom Mothma took a deep breath, and continued, "With Vader's help, Palpatine began to hunt down the Jedi, and, as he called it, exterminate them. It was then that he announced that the Republic had become an Empire, and declared himself Emperor. When this happened, several Senators, including myself began the Rebellion. Now, all are dead but me." Mom Mothma trailed off, and Kira could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.
Leia picked up the story where Mom Mothma had left off. "For a long time, the Rebellion was considered an inconvenience for the Empire, but then when we learned of the Death Star, we decided to strike out in force. I was sent to the planet Tatooine by my father to find the last remaining Jedi Knight in existence, Ben Kanobi, and bring him back to Alderaan to help us in our battle." Leia went on to tell about how she had been captured by Vader, but not before sending the plans for the Death Star plans to the planet surface, in R2, then how Luke had found the driods, and then Kanobi. And how with the help of Han and Chewy, they had rescued her, got the plans to the Alliance, and were able to destroy the Death Star.
"After the battle at Yavin 4, the Empire became more desperate than ever to hunt us down, and destroy us." Mom Mothma came in with, "We left Yavin base, and eventually set up this temporary base here on this planet while a more permanent base is being constructed else were. Right after we got here, Luke came to us with a proposal, to create a squadron of the best of the best pilots that we had, in order to handle jobs, like the Death Star, and so he and Wedge Antilles, started Rogue Squadron."
Kira had listened to the story, and had found that a good part of what had happened to these people, was what had happened to her own. She looked at the others in the group, and saw that they were in agreement with her, that they should help in some way to fight the Empire, even Worf, seemed to agree. "Mom Mothma, Leia, I know from experience, what it is like to fight against all odds, and so I believe that I speak for all of us here, when I say that we will help you out in any way that we can, until a way for us to get home can be found." Kira paused to look at her crew, and found that they were all nodding in approval to her deception. She then looked back at Mom Mothma and Leia, "Just tell us what we can do, and we will help out in any way that we can."
Leia was about to say something, when her Comm unit beeped, "Leia here, what is it?"
Luke Skywalker's voice came over the Comm unit, "Leia, General Madine, and Admiral Ackbar have completed the annuluses of the data that R2 brought back, and they are ready for a briefing."
Chapter 14
The door opened, and Mom Mothma walked in, followed by Leia, and the crew of the Aries. As the others took a seat, Mom Mothma walked to the front of the room, where Ackbar and Madine stood. Madine acknowledged Mom Mothma, and then turned to the rest of the group, which also, to Kira's surprise, included, Tycho Celchu. "After analyzing the data brought to us by Coronal Kira, and her crew, with the help of Lt. Celchu, we have decided that the best place to launch our campaign against Moff Seerdon, to be on Taloraan." A holographic image appeared behind Madine, "Our plan is to have Rogue Squadron, as before, destroy the Empires supply of Tabana gas, which increases their weapons power." The image behind Madine, showed several fighters in what was undoubtedly dog-fighting maneuver. "The revision to this plan, is that we have found out about a Empirial weapons testing lab, on one of the floating cities. We will there for, while the Rogues keep the Imps busy, raid this lab, and take the weapon upgrades that will help to give us an advantage in this war."
There was a cheer of approval from the Rogues, as Madine sat down, and Mom Mothma stood up. "Thank you General Madine," she said, "but I have a few things to add to this briefing," she took a deep breath, "Fist of all, I have been told by Admiral Ackbar, that Lt. Celchu has been debriefed, and
has been given fighter duty, and will be assigned to Rogue Squadron for this mission." Tycho received a few slaps on the back by the others, as Mom Mothma continued, "Also, Coronal Kira, and her crew has agreed to help us, until such time, as they are able to return home." Mom Mothma, then turned to Ackbar, and Madine, "I hope that you two will have no objections to me bringing them in on our mission to Taloraan?"
"No Objections," Ackbar said, he then turned his attention to Kira, "Coronal Kira, how soon can you have a team of your people ready to go."
Kira starred at him, "I can have a team ready when ever you need us."
Ackbar nodded, then turned his attention to the Rogues, "Very well," he took a deep breath, "we are waiting for the Corellian Corvette Freedoms Edge, to arrive, then we will depart, with Home One, as backup." he took a deep breath, "Have yourselves and things ready in two hours." Ignoring the
moans, "Dismissed".
All of the Rogues, except for Luke and Tycho, filed out of the room, to take care of their last pieces of busyness before leaving for their mission. Mom Mothma, Leia, Ackbar, Madine, and walked up to Kira. Madine was the first to extend a hand, "General Crix Madine," He then indicated Ackbar, "and my amphibious friend here is Admiral Ackbar, of the Mon Calimary."
Kira took Madine's hand, and then Ackbar's, and introduced her crew. "General Madine, what would you like for my crew to help with?" Kira asked after the introductions were completed.
Madine looked at Kira, and then at the rest of her crew, as if trying to figure out what to do with them. "I don't think that we can use any pilots, with the Rogues covering us, but I could use some extra people on my commando raid, of the research lab, if you are interested?"
Kira thought it over for a few minutes, looking at each of her people, finally coming to the conclusion that she new that she would come to, "We're in General."
"Very well Coronal, I look forward to working with your team." Madine and Ackbar then turned and left the room.
Kira faced the others, "Ok, Worf, Odo, Nog, and Julian, you are with me." The four officers nodded, she then looked at O'Brian and Jake, "Chief, I need you to try and figure out how we can return to our universe, and Jake, I have a feeling, that Starfleet will want to know all that they can about his dimension, and I can think of nobody better suited for that job than you."
Both O'Brian and Jake nodded, and Kira turned to Mom Mothma, Leia, Luke, and Tycho. "Don't worry Coronal, we will put all of our resources into helping them on their tasks." Mom Mothma reassured Kira, "It is the least that we can do to repay you for helping us out."
Luke then spoke up, "And if you need some help holding off the Eyeballs and Squints, you can count on Rogue Squadron to help you."
"Thank you Luke," Odo said, "I think that we may need all the help that we can get on this one."
Kira then spoke up, "But before that, we have a raid to complete first." Kira acknowledged the others in the room, "Lets head for the ship, and get ready." And the group left for their ship.
******
IG-88 came online so fast, that a bird type creature that had landed on it to rest, had no chance to escape, before a metal hand came up to grab it, and crush it. The Bounty Hunting driod, moved to the edge of the roof that it had closed down on the night before, and was now looking at the bar known as The Ax Pick. The driod was more than content to wait for Han Solo to come back, when suddenly, it saw something that could earn it a lot more credits than Han Solo.
The Driod adjusted its eyesight, so that it could get a better look at the person that just walked into the town. It was a female, approximately, 5' 6", with long red hair, and wearing a clock, that traditionally was only worn by Jedi Knights. IG-88 then switched to an x-ray view, and found the
one thing that made this woman a Jedi, a lightsaber. The driod, then began to position itself to capture this Jedi, and take her to the Emperor.
******
The Hand had not put much thought to her next move, and was walking into the small city that she had spotted from her fighter, when she began to feel the first signs that something was not right. Despite this, she continued her walk into the city, but the first chance that she had, she would cut off to an ally, and find out who was following her.
Her chance came only moment later, when she spotted an ally, and quickly entered it. As she entered the ally, she kept her hand close to her lightsaber, and looked around. She crept around in the ally, until she reached a dead end. As she turned around, her sixth sense that always warned her of danger, kicked in, and she dove to her left, barley missing a blaster bolt that was undoubtedly aimed right at her. The Hand tucked her head, and rolled, finishing her roll, by jumping up to her feet, and at the same time pulling her lightsaber out, and activating it. The brilliant red beam came out of the handle, and lit up the ally a little. It was then that the Hand saw who her attacker was, the bounty driod, IG-88.
The driod landed on the pavement, and brought its blaster up to fire again. A red blast of energy leapt from the mussel, right at the Hand. Before IG-88 could even get off a shot though, the Hand raised her lightsaber, and blocked the bolt, and directed it right back at the Driod, who was ready for the attack, raising a force field around itself.
The Hand then rushed the driod as it lowered it's shield, and brought the energy blade down, cutting off it's left arm, she then brought the blade around, and brought it down on the blaster in the driods hand, cutting it in half. The Hand then reached out with the Force, and took the driod, and
though it up against the wall right behind it, and held it there. she then deactivated her lightsaber, and returned it to her belt, and walked over to the driod. "Now, lets have a little chat, about why you just tried to kill me."
******
As she walked towards the Runabout, Leia could see that the commandos were almost ready to leave, as well as the Rogues. The base, had gotten word only ten minutes ago, that the Freedoms Edge, had just entered a standard orbit, and was awaiting word to get underway. As soon as the Corvette had arrived, a signal was sent to Home One, which was hiding on one of Ord Mantels moons, and was also moving into position, above the planet. At the same time, the commandos and Rogue Squadron were alerted, an ordered to report to the hanger. The only group that had not shown up, was the group from the Federation that would be helping the commandos on this mission.
Leia walked up to the hatch that gave access to the interior of the ship, and it opened up, to reveal, the small group that would accompany the commandos. First out was Coronal Kira, then came Odo, then Worf, and finally, Nog, and Bashier stepped out of the ship. All of them, except for Odo, were carrying riffles of some sort, and side arms. But Worf and Bashier were carrying other things as well. Worf was carrying a nasty looking weapon, that had three handles, and four, what looked like, very sharp points. Bashier carried some sort of field kit, over his shoulder. Since he was a doctor, Leia figured that it was some sort of medical kit.
Leia walked up to Kira, and offered her a hand, "May the Force be with you Coronal Kira."
Kira nodded, and took Leia's hand in her own, "And may the Profits guide you though your life." The two ladies let go of each others hands, and Kira lead her group to the rest of the commandos that had assembled in the hanger.
Leia felt that somebody had walked up behind her, and when she looked back, she saw O'Brian and Jake. The three of them watched as the commandos boarded the shuttle that would take them up to Home One. The hatch closed, and the hanger doors opened. The X-Wings, were the first out of the door, followed by the shuttle.
When the doors shut, Leia turned around to face O'Brian and Jake, "If you two will follow me, we will get you started on your own missions." And she left the hanger, with the other two in tow.
Chapter 15
Kira had gone to the bridge of Home One, at the request of Admiral Ackbar, almost immediately after the shuttle that was carrying herself, Nog, Worf, and Bashier had landed in the shuttle bay. As she stepped onto the bridge, Kira saw more of Ackbar's people walking around, doing various jobs. She also noticed that the air was more humid on this part of the ship, probably to make the Calimary more comfortable.
Kira searched the bridge for a moment, and then finally found Ackbar, in what appeared to be a captains seat, looking over a datapad. As Kira approached, Ackbar handed the pad to an Alliance officer, and looked in her direction. "Ah, Coronal, I wish to talk to you about your role in the
upcoming raid." Ackbar then stood up from his chair, and gestured that she should follow him. They left the bridge, and entered a corridor, which they left almost as soon as they entered, by way of a door that lead into what Kira considered was the Admirals private office.
Ackbar took a seat behind the desk, and Kira took one across from him. "Now Coronal," Ackbar began, "Can you tell me some of the strengths of your group, so that General Madine and myself can properly implement them?"
Kira thought it over for a moment, "To start off, Lt. Commander Worf, is from the Klingon Empire, which is a race of warriors, he has a great deal of fighting experience. Ensign Nog, is from the Ferengi, which normally, are nothing but thieves and hoodlums, but Nog is one of the few that I have seen that don't follow that tradition." Kira paused for a moment to consider what she was going to say next. "In addition, not so long ago, Nog displayed a rather acute ability to use his ears to hear things that others can not, which he displayed on a mission only a few months ago. Odo is of course a shape shifter. When in his natural state, he can move through almost anything, and then either retake his form, or that of something else. And finally, Dr. Bashier," once again, Kira searched for the best way to explain why she had brought him along. "I brought him along, in case one of us got hurt, since your medics are not familiar with our physiology."
"A wise choice Coronal," Ackbar put in, "And what about yourself, besides the fact that you are their commanding officer."
Kira looked at Ackbar, "My skills are in the fact that only eight years ago, I was in a resistance movement myself." Kira then when on to tell Ackbar about how her people were made to suffer at the hands of the Cardassians, and how they had finally gotten them off of the planet, and brought the Federation in to run the old ore processing station, Terac Nor, which they renamed Deep Space Nine, and how that decision had helped them to find not only the Wormhole, but also the Emissary, who was DS9's commanding officer, Ben Sisco.
Ackbar listened to Kira's story with more than a little curiosity, "That is an amazing story Coronal, simply amazing." Ackbar paused for a moment, "Then that is why you are helping us on this mission?"
Kira nodded, "Although, my peoples resistance movement, was no where close to the scale that yours is."
Before Ackbar could respond, Kira's commbadge beeped, and then Odo's voice came over it, "Odo to Kira."
Kira tapped her badge, "Kira here, what is it Odo?"
"When you get done with your meeting with Admiral Ackbar, I would like for you to come to the shuttle bay to see something that may just be an answer to some of the problems that we have back home."
******
The green blade sliced through the piece of titanium, as easily as a hot knife through butter. Luke then pulled the blade back in front of him, and switched it off.
As he did so, Kira and Ackbar stepped out of the turbolift, and into the shuttle bay. When they saw Ackbar, all of the pilots stood at attention and saluted him. "At ease", he told them, as he returned the salute.
Kira walked up to Odo, "Well Constable, you brought us down here, what did you want us to see?"
"Luke here," Odo started, "has an interesting weapon, that I think that we can use in our dimension."
"And what weapon would that be Commander?" Ackbar asked.
Luke held out the cylinder, that was his fathers old lightsaber, "I was demonstrating my lightsaber to them Admiral."
Kira looked at the cylinder, "That thing looks familiar." she then looked at Bashier, "Doctor, doesn't that look like the cylinder that Darth Vader had on him?"
Bashier looked carefully at the weapon, and then looked back at Kira, a surprised look on his face, "Your right Coronal, it does resemble it in many ways."
Odo, who was looking at Luke, noticed that when Kira had mentioned Vader, Luke had tensed up. Odo walked up to Luke, "Are you alright Luke?"
As he looked at Odo, the tension that had just passed through Luke vanished. "Yes Odo, I am fine." Luke then walked up to Kira, and extended the handle to her. And she took it, turning it over in her hands. "It is called a lightsaber." Luke began, "it is the traditional weapon of Jedi Knights." Luke then went on to tell her about the Jedi, in the same way that he had told Odo before.
While Luke told about the Jedi, Odo moved over to Wedge Antilles, who was doing some work on his X-Wing. "Excuse me Lt. Antilles," Wedge looked away from his work at Odo, "But did you notice that?"
"Notice what?" Wedge asked Odo, as he turned his attention back to the work that he was doing.
"When the Coronal mentioned Darth Vader's name, Luke tensed up a little, and almost immediately loosened up again."
"Oh, that." Wedge placed the tool that he was using on the bench next to him, and picked up another one. "Darth Vader killed Luke's father, and his teacher." Wedge went back to work, as he continued to explain, "According to Ben Kanobi, Vader was a student of his, until he was seduced by the Emperor, and turned to the Dark Side on the Force. Vader then lead the Emperors extermination forces to hunt down and destroy the Jedi." Wedge paused for a moment, "Vader then killed Kanobi before they escaped the Death Star."
"And Luke wants revenge for the death of his teacher, and his father?" Odo then picked up
"No, just justice." Wedge put in, "Luke is the son of a Jedi, and can use the Force himself. If he gives in to revenge, that path will lead him to the dark side. So he just seeks justice."
Odo then felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Bashier standing behind him. "Hey, the rest of us are headed down to the mess hall to get some food before we reach Taloraan."
Wedge looked at the Doctor, "Thanks Doctor, I just have to finish this maintenance work, and I will be right there."
"And you Constable?"
"Very well, lets go." Odo and Bashier left the Shuttle bay, leaving Wedge in there alone.
******
Miles O'Brian was never more glad for a distraction in all his life, as he rode in the back seat of the land speeder. The Alliances technicians were more attentive to detail than he would have thought it possible for a rag tag group to have. It was because of this that he had almost given one of
them what they had called years ago on earth, and Knuckle Sandwich. He then left the room, and luckily ran into Han Solo, and his companion, Chewboka. Odo had told him after they had arrived at the base, that his translator had began to understand the Wookie's language, and O'Brian hopped that this trip into the small city that was located nearest to the base, would give it a chance to completely decipher the language.
As they entered the city, O'Brian looked all around, and saw that though there was a number of people, the city looked as if it had been built, and then nothing else, accept for what looked like some patch up work every now and then. O'Brian leaned up towards the front, "Do most cities look like this on this planet?"
"This planet and many others, especially in the Outer Rim Territories." Han answered him. "the Empire insists that everyone makes a contribution to them. That has left a lot of planets with no money to repair or rebuild anything." And O'Brian thought about this as he sat back in his seat.
******
IG-88 and the Hand stood on top of the building across from the Ax Pick. After their little rumble in the ally, and the driod had confessed that it was after her because of the way that she was dressed, and her weapon, that he had gone after her thinking that she was a Jedi. When the Hand
explained that she was working for the Emperor, the driod had been more than willing to form an alliance with her. And together, they had formed a plan to capture Han Solo and find out if the Rebels were on this planet or not.
As she watched, a land vehicle pulled up in front of the bar that they had been watching. Out of it stepped a large Wookie, a human, that the Hand immediately recognized as Han Solo, from the Death Stars records, and the last person that got out of the vehicle, wore the gray and black uniform that she had been told to look for. As the three people stepped into the bar, she looked at her companion, "I am going in, you know what to do."
The driod looked at her, and nodded, "YES, I DO." And the Hand made her way down to the street, where she would enter the bar, and finally meet one of the people that she had been pursuing.
******
The mess hall on Home One, was a fairly large room. And it seemed that the entire room, was gathered around the table that the Rogues, and their guests were sitting at. The entire time, one of the Rogues, named Zev Senesca, was telling a story. "So, there I was, one of two X-Wings put in charge of guarding the last convoy from Yavin, when out of nowhere, came twelve Tie Fighters." Zev paused for a moment.
"So, what happened?" Dack asked, his eagerness clearly showing.
"Well," Zev began, "my wing mate and I knew that we had to hold off the Eyeballs, until the convoy ship jumped out of the system. We locked our S-Foils in attack position, and accelerated to attack speed, and flew right into the hart of their formation, with lasers blazing, form both directions." Zev paused for a moment, so that everyone could get a picture of this in their heads, then continued, "We were able to vape five of them, on our first run through the formation. We then swung our fighters around, and went back to try and take out the rest of them. I shot off several blasts from my guns, and took out two more Eyeballs, when I saw a explosion behind me, and my wing mans voice came over the Comm, saying that I was almost more debris." Zev paused for a moment, and then continued, "That was when an Eyeball finally got a lock on one of us, and blew his fighter, along with him, out of the sky.
"By that time, there was only five more Ties for us to fight off, and I turned my X-Wing around, and headed right for the one that got my wingman, switched my firing mode to Proton Torpedoes, and let one loose. I turned my fighter back to the remaining four Ties, before the one that I shot at
even blew up." Zev took a drink from the glass in front of him, "my R5 unit told me that the other four fighters, had almost caught up with the transport, so I ordered him to put all power to the engines, and to let me know the minute that I was in weapons range. Sure enough, a couple of seconds later, I had a target lock, and figured that the best way to ensure that the transport ship would make it to Hyperspace, I tried something that I don't even know how I did, I targeted all four Eyeballs, and fired all four of my lasers at one time, and all four blasts hit home." Zev paused a moment, and took another drink from his glass, "A few minutes later, the transport went into Hyperspace, with me along for the ride."
The entire group that had gathered fell silent, until Worf broke the silence, "What an honorable battle." Everyone looked at Worf, "Only the greatest of warriors, can overcome odds like that one."
Bashier then spoke up, before Worf could say anything else, "What happened after your battle?"
Zev looked at the medic, "When we reached the new base, General Rieekan called me to his office, and introduced me to Luke, who was at the time putting Rogue Squadron together, with Wedge, and I have been a member ever since."
Before anyone else could say anything, a voice came over the speakers, "Attention all personnel, we will be coming out of Hyperspace in ten minutes, all flight crews and commandos report to the shuttle bay." The message repeated again, but before the repeat was over, the mess hall was empty.
Chapter 16
O'Brian felt like he was at Quarks, as he entered the Ax Pick. It was fairly crowded, but a lot more dusty that Quarks but it still had that same feeling to it. He followed Han to a table in a secluded area of the floor, and sat down. An alien woman, scantily dressed, with white skin, and two tail like things hanging from her head approached them. "The usual Captain Solo?" Han nodded, and she then turned to O'Brian, "And what can I get for you?"
O'Brian looked at her, "Just a Raktagino." O'Brian told her, and then remembered where he was. He looked at the waitress, then Han and Chewy, who were looking at him with odd expressions, "Sorry, just bring me something that will keep me on my feet." The waitress nodded, and then headed off.
Han laughed a little, before getting up, "Hey, I have to meet up with someone, I will be back in a few minutes." and he left the table.
O'Brian looked at Chewy, "So, do you usually come to this pace?"
The Wookie responded, "Yes we do. The owned is a good friend of Hans."
O'Brian smiled inside, that the translator that he had, was working. "That's interesting, how long have the two of them been friends?"
Chewy gave O'Brian a strange look, "You understood me?"
"Yes." O'Brian said.
"Then your people are far more advanced that we originally thought you to be." Chewy responded.
As he opened his mouth to say something else, a woman walked up to the table, the most unique thing about her, besides her beauty, was her fire red hair, the hung down over her shoulders. "Excuse me, but I was wondering, if one of you could help me, my vehicle broke down outside, and I don't have the slightest idea how to go about fixing it.
Chewy began to get up, but O'Brian put his hand on the Wookies chest, "I can handle this." Chewy nodded, and sat back down in his seat, and watched as O'Brian left with the woman.
******
By the time they had arrived to the ally that the lady had said that her vehicle was stalled out in, she had introduced herself as Mara Jade. "My land vehicle is just inside the ally." Mara told O'Brian as they walked into it. Once in the ally, O'Brian only found, a nasty looking driod, standing right in front of him, holding a large blaster.
O'Brian then looked at Mara, only to find, that she was also holding a blaster as well, and it was pointed at him. "I am sorry, but my Emperor demands that you and your friends be dealt with, before you become a problem." She then leveled off the blaster, "but don't worry, I won't kill you yet, you are going to be bate for Captain Han Solo." She then pulled back on the trigger, and the last thing that O'Brian saw, was a blue light, then numbness, and then finally darkness.
******
When Han walked back to the table, he noticed, that Chewy was alone, and that O'Brian was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's O'Brian at?" As he sat down, Chewy told Han about how the lady had come, and how O'Brian had volunteered to take a look at her vehicle, and had not been seen since.
Han got up out of his seat, "We had better find him, Jacen just told me that there is a rumor of an Imperial agent is in the area." And with that, Han and Chewy left the Ax Pick, to find O'Brian.
******
When O'Brian woke up, he found that he had been tied to a chair with some sort of rope. Mara Jade was standing near the entrance, with the driod behind her. He was about to try and get out of the rope, but then remembered that Jade had told him that he was going to be bait for Han and Chewy. O'Brian leaned his head forward, as if he was still knocked out, and looked at the spot were his small type one phaser was located, noticing that it was just within reach of his left hand, which surprisingly was not bound behind the chair. Closing his eyes, O'Brian began to form a plan just incase his two kidnappers were able to get the better of both Han and Chewy.
******
Han and Chewy, had only looked for a few minutes, when they found a trail that was either created by O'Brian, or by someone else that lead directly to the hanger. Han looked at the number over the door, "Damn, this is the hanger, where IG-88 has it's ship stashed at." Han then drew his blaster, Chewy followed suit by drawing his bowcaster, and they entered the hanger, slow and easily, until they saw O'Brian tied up in the middle of the landing pad, right next to the driods ship.
"Ok Chewy," Han said, "cover me, and I will go out and get O'Brian."
Chewy gave a quiet roar of understanding, and Han darted out into the hanger. He had almost reached O'Brian, when a blaster bolt stopped him dead in his tracks. Han turned to see who had fired the blast, and was not very surprised to find IG-88 on the other side of a large blaster carbing, aimed right at Han.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE CAPTAIN SOLO," the driod told Han, "YOU AND THE WOOKIE ARE GOING ON A LITTLE TRIP TO SEE JABA THE HUT." The driod then indicated Hans blaster, "NOW THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPON." Han cursed a little, and then complied with the driods commands, only to see out of the corner of his eye, Chewy, aiming his bowcaster at the driod, and apparently so did IG-88, as it brought its carbing around to aim at Chewy, and fired what had to be a warning shot.
Just then, Han heard a snap, and then saw a red beam hit the driod square in the chest plate. He looked over, to see that O'Brian had gotten loose, and had drawn a weapon that Han had no idea that he even had. The driod stumbles a little bit, and then regained its equilibrium, and swung around
to point its blaster at O'Brian. Han took this moment, to get his own blaster. He jumped, tucked his head, so that he would roll, and grabbed the blaster in one hand, continuing the roll into a stand, and fired at the driod. At the same time, Chewy, had brought his bowcaster up, and fired it at the driod as well. IG-88 stumbled a bit under the on-slot and then fell to the floor, and shut down.
All three of them met a few feet form the driods deactivated body, but before anyone could say a thing, blaster bolts began to rain down on them from above. All three of them took cover behind some crates, and began to return fire, only to find, that whoever had the blaster, was good enough to keep them lined down. Han looked at O'Brian, "Any suggestions on how to get out of this mess?" O'Brian looked at Han, "Only one," He reached up, and hit his Comm badge, "O'Brian to Aries, three to bream up, energize."
Suddenly, Han began to feel lightheaded, and noticed, that the noise that the blaster was making was getting quieter, and that the room was disappearing around him, only to form into a new room. O'Brian stood up, and Han followed suit, and Chewy last.
"What the hell just happened, and where are we?" Han asked, but before O'Brian could answer, he looked out one of the view ports, and saw that they were in the main hanger of the rebel base.
O'Brian looked at Han for a moment, and then it dawned on him, "You have never been beamed anywhere have you?"
Han looked back at O'Brian, "Beamed?"
O'Brian told Han about how the transporter worked, and how it was able to bring them back to the base, and Han took it all in. When O'Brian was finished with his explanation, Chewy was the first to speak, "Impressive." He then appeared to be thinking about something, "But anyway, we should tell Mom Mothma, and Princess Leia about this little attack."
Han nodded in agreement, "I agree Chewy," Han then appeared as if he was considering his next words, "If IG-88 or his accomplice had gotten a message out, before we took him out, then the Empire could be on their way here even as we speak."
"Then lets go." O'Brian put in, and led the others to the airlock.