Chapter 4 – A Little Fun
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John Sheridan looked over at Luke as he put on the EVA suit. He smiled and saluted as Luke climbed into the Starfury. John climbed into his and the ship sealed itself and began pressurization.
"Alpha Leader to C&C, we are ready for departure. Squadron, report in," said John as the Starfury turned and was shot into space.
"Alpha Two reporting in," said Michael Garibaldi.
"Alpha Four reporting in," said Lieutenant Sam Mina.
"Alpha Three reporting in," said Luke Skywalker, "and, might I add, these things handle amazingly."
Luke piloted his fighter through maneuvers formerly impossible to do, even in a TIE fighter. He let the force flow through him and his fingers flowed over the controls with ease. John looked over at him and was amazed at his almost natural piloting skills.
"Form up behind me, we are moving into the firing range," said John as he turned his ship and flew off toward a small asteroid field nearby.
"Alpha Four, you are lagging behind, is there a problem Sam?" said Garibaldi as he formed up behind John.
"No sir, just a little nervous, flying with The Captain Sheridan, the only man to win against the Minbari. I'm sure you understand how it might be intimidating," said Sam as he accelerated behind the group and matched speed.
Luke reached out with the force and calmed Sam's mind, noticing that the force was fairly strong in him. I will have to bring that up later he thought to himself. He formed up behind Sam and flew with the rest of the group.
When they reached the asteroid field a small screen appeared on Luke's console. It showed the location of 10 targets in the field. He would have to eliminate 5 of them to pass the training exercise. He laughed quietly, but thought again about being cocky and stopped. He looked up and saw John fly into the field and then Michael flew in to the field a little ways away from John.
Sam flew into his quadrant of the asteroid field and almost instantly spotted a target, slamming his thumbs on the firing buttons, the target exploded, and a holographic number appeared in his upper right hand window.
Luke shook his head, "Here goes nothing," and he flew into the asteroid field. He opened his mind to the force, letting it flow through his body, guide his hands to where they needed to go. He saw the target through the force and depressed the fire controls, the target erupted in sparks and a number appeared on his window, 1. He smiled and began to search for the other 9 targets.
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Luke took off his helmet and smiled at an awestruck John. Michael shook his head and walked away with his head bowed. Sam smiled as he walked past Sheridan and then went on his way. John looked at Luke and gaped at his skills.
"Nobody has ever managed to get all 10 targets, let alone, have 3 minutes left to spare. That was incredible. Poor Michael, he only got 3 targets, plus he hit one of mine, so that took away one of his points," said Sheridan.
"Thank you John, but I wasn't alone in that fighter, I had the force with me, it helped me, guided my movements. I can teach you to open yourself to these feelings," Luke responded.
John and Luke began to remove the EVA suits and Luke said, "That was a lot of fun, thanks for letting me try out those babies, the mobility on those things is incredible compared to our fighters, but we can pull some sweet moves in them nonetheless."
As Luke and John walked out into the corridor, John adjusted his hair and smiled at Luke, seeing him do the same. The both stopped and laughed briefly. John said, "Hey, Luke, I was wondering if I'd get a chance to fly one of your all's X-wings."
"Yeah, sure, no problem, I'll have Kyp bring it over, he wants to meet you anyways," said Luke.
"Thanks, I want to see what those babies are capable of."
John's com patch beeped at him. He frowned and said, "Sheridan."
"We have an energy spike, no jump points are forming though, No..." said Ivanova.
"What is it Susan?" said John.
"John, it's the Shadows, they're here..." she said with fear in her voice.
"Understood, have all fighters launch, prepare the Whitestar for my arrival," he said, then he looked over at Luke, "You think you are ready for a real test of the Starfury?"
"I'd be honored, Captain Sheridan," Luke responded.
Luke ran back toward the fighter bays, ad John ran toward the docking bay, where the Whitestar was parked.
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"Mister Lennier, are we ready for departure?"
"Yes Captain, Commander Ivanova cleared us already."
"Let's go then."
The Whitestar rose out of the docking bay and flew forward and out the exit. As it hit open space John saw how big this fleet was, and he gasped. There were 2 motherships and at least 100 fighters.
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Luke climbed into the Starfury and tapped a button on the screen as he looked over and saw Sam's shining face. Sam had never seen real combat before; he had been off station when B5 separated from Earth Alliance, and so, he wasn't here for the ensuing battle. They both shot off into space and pulled up toward the shadow vessels. Luke gasped as he was hit with a wall of dark side energy. The ships in front of him were emitting pure darkness. They were the scariest looking things he had seen in his life. He powered up the guns and let the force flow through him. He looked over at the star destroyer appropriately named Shining Light and saw Rouge Squadron flying out of its fighter berths.
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"Okay, Rouges, this will be our first fight with these things, so look out for anything weird," said General Wedge Antilles from the Command Station on the Shining Light.
"Thank you General, okay people, you heard him," said Gavin Darklighter.
The X-wings poured out of the fighter bays and flew off into space. Jaina looked up at the mothership and was hit by a wall of dark side energy. She looked over to her left and saw Kyp had the same expression on his face. On her right, was the always straight faced Jagged Fel. She giggled at his always serious nature and then refocused on the ensuing battle. She pulled back on his control stick and flew straight at one of the fighters, letting the force guide her and fired her lasers at it. The lasers harmlessly were deflected off the armor. She dropped her jaw and slammed her hands on the comm.
"Our lasers don't work against these things, switching to proton torpedoes..."
She pressed a button on her control panel and the targeting computer tried to get a lock on the vessel...with no luck. She slammed her fists against the window, and decided to try to target it with the force. She noticed the shadow fighter contract and then expand again as a large ball of energy flew straight at her ship, she pulled back on the control stick and narrowly dodged the shot. She realigned herself and fired a torpedo at the ship. It flew straight into the cannon and exploded. She smiled and pulled away form the explosion and saw another target. She grabbed it with the force, and fired a torpedo at it. The first missed, but the fighter exploded, and Jag's face stared across space at hers.
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"Okay, Mister Lennier, target the lead ship, I want it out of my sky."
"Yes Captain...Ak-tak Tibo-nal," Lennier said to the crew.
The ship began firing at the lead shadow vessel. It came around, splitting an X-Wing in half with its energy stream as it came about. All of a sudden it stopped. John yelled out, "Fire!"
The shadow mothership suddenly erupted in a cloud of screaming metal and debris. John looked out the view port and saw Luke's Starfury sitting there in front of the Whitestar. Luke was holding his hand out toward where the ship used to be.
John smiled and said, "Luke, nice job, you think you can do that again?"
"No problem Captain, I'll get right on it, I need to get closer to it though, can you get me there?" Luke replied through the comm.
"Mister Lennier, clear Luke a path, get him as close to that ship as possible, and have the guns ready to take her out as soon as it's immobilized.
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Luke walked out of the fighter bays, and everyone cheered for him. He had saved Babylon 5. The crowd split as Mara walked up to him and gave him a big kiss. Luke was a hero again. It had been 29 years since he had really done anything that monumental in space. Luke took her hand and together they walked toward their cabin. John ran up behind them and tapped Luke on the shoulder.
"Great job out there, Luke, you are going to be a very nice addition to Babylon 5. How would you like to fly a Whitestar sometime, I'm sure I can work it out so you can get some experience on the bridge," said Captain Sheridan
"Thank you, but no thanks; I'm a snub fighter pilot, not a commander."
Luke looked back at Mara and they continued their journey to their quarters.
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Jaina looked over at Jag as they climbed out of their X-wings. She gave him a big smile as she pulled off her helmet. She walked over and gave him a hug, and then she planted a huge kiss on his lips. They ended the kiss when Kyp coughed, grabbing their attention. He shook his head and walked off. Jaina took Jag's hand as they walked back to her room, to continue what they had started before the battle. Jaina pulled off her flight suit and smiled as she climbed into bed. Jag walked out of the fresher, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. He climbed into the bed next to her and she giggled as he kissed her on the neck.