Exodus
by Robert Cox (smeghead@ix.net.au)
A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT WANNA KNOW...
This is my attempt at a Star Wars fan fiction. Let me know what you think of it!
A few words of warning....
This is a kinda unlikely story (if you want "Star Wars" to remain in a "galaxy far, far away", anyway), but I hope you find it an entertaining read.
This will probably end up as a 'Luke and Callista' story (even though I hate to categorise in that way), as it sounds like a more probable story-line. Mara might make an appearance, but not as a romantic interest for Luke. I mean, can you imagine Luke and Mara falling in love? I can't really picture it (I mean, Mara did want to kill Luke. Not exactly a good foundation for a stable long-term relationship :)
*Obligatory legal bullshit mode on*
Based on characters and situations created by George Lucas. On the "duck principle" (That is, "if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and leaves duck s**t all over the place like a duck, then it's probably a
duck"), if it looks like a George Lucas creation, and has the name of a George Lucas creation, then it's probably a George Lucas creation (I ain't gonna sell it, or do anything else that will make money from it. Some characters will appear from
other Star Wars stories, and I am indebted to the authors of those stories for creating them and letting me play with them. Any copyright infringements are totally accidental, and I apologise for them). Anything else is created by ME, and please don't spread it around or anything without asking first (if you ask nicely, I'll probably say yes anyway).
*Obligatory legal bullshit mode off*
SPOILER WARNING:
This story contains spoilers for "X-Wing: The Bacta War" and "Tyrant's Test". If you haven't read these two SW novels, you'll probably be scratching your head and wondering, "What the f**k is he on about?" My reply to you is, "READ
THOSE BOOKS!"
OK, here we go! Enjoy!
Robert Cox
EXODUS
IT IS FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE OF ENDOR, AND
THE DEATH OF THE EMPEROR. THE NEW REPUBLIC HAS
MANAGED TO SURVIVE DESPITE EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN
THROWN AT IT, INCLUDING YSANNE ISARD, GRAND ADMIRAL
THRAWN, THE RESURRECTED EMPEROR, DAALA, DURGA THE
HUTT, THE YEVETHANS, KUELLER, AND THE CORELLIAN
UPRISING.
THE EMPIRE, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS SHRUNK STEADILY.
LESS THAN ONE-TENTH OF ITS SYSTEMS REMAIN LOYAL,
AND EVERY ATTEMPT TO REVIVE THE EMPIRE HAS FAILED.
ADMIRAL PELLAEON, THE SENIOR SURVIVING IMPERIAL
OFFICER, KNOWS THAT DRASTIC MEASURES MUST BE TAKEN,
BUT WHAT?
The Empire was doomed unless a miracle happened.
Admiral Pellaeon knew that at the centre of his being. He had monitored with great interest recent events in the Corellian Sector, hoping that Sal-Solo would succeed, for if he did, Pellaeon would be able to use the confusion generated to
launch yet another counter-offensive to try and gain some territory back from the New Republic.
But Sal-Solo had failed, and the Corellian Sector, and the Corellian system in particular, was swarming with New Republic warships. Forget about that, then.
Maybe there was something in the files that he had recently discovered on the Chimaera's main computer that could help.
One of the files was coded. A code known only to the Emperor - and his Grand Admirals, which had included Grand Admiral Thrawn. He had no idea what was included in the file, but it would probably be worth his while to take a look.
* * * * *
It was an average day for Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State of the New Republic. Seemingly endless Senate meetings, punctuated by individuals lobbying her to try to present their point of view to her. Once again, she wished for the days of the Rebellion. Things were so much simpler then. Now she had to worry about holding the largest - and probably most fragile - government in the galaxy together. No matter what she did, she attracted criticism of one kind or another. Some of it was useful, actually describing possible shortcomings of what she had planned. Some of it, however, was pure rubbish, being a personal attack on her, rather than on what she was doing.
"Getting frustrated, Leia?" the person sitting across the desk from her asked.
"No, I actually enjoy all this," she said in a sarcastic tone of voice.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker laughed. "That sarcasm is enough to give me a headache," he said, holding his head as if he was suffering from a headache. "I not only heard the sarcasm, but felt it through the Force."
Leia grinned. Sometimes, Luke still acted like the naive farm boy from Tatooine that she had met on the first Death Star. "Your turn to get frustrated, Luke," she said maliciously.
Luke looked surprised. "What do you mean by that?"
"After we got back from Corellia-"
"And wasn't that a fun trip," Luke muttered.
Ignoring the interruption, Leia continued, "You mentioned that Mon Mothma had suggested to you that you should undertake some diplomatic training." She grinned evilly.
"You don't mean?" Luke asked nervously.
Leia nodded. "You should become an ambassador, Luke. Maybe the Jedi Ambassador to the Senate, or something similar. People respect you. They pay attention to you when you speak. You could potentially be a very influential
ambassador."
"This sounds familiar. Do the words 'You could potentially become a very powerful Jedi' mean anything to you?"
Leia nodded. Luke had declared her a fully trained Jedi just before she left to go to Corellia. She had spent about ten years training when she could get the time off from her commitments to the New Republic. That had to be a record for the longest time required for Jedi to complete the training.
Don't be disappointed, Leia. I never doubted your commitment to the training. Building a galactic government takes a lot of time and energy.
Leia glared at Luke. He had obviously sensed her self-reproachment about her exceptionally long Jedi training period, and tried to console her about it. She didn't want to be consoled. She knew that the work that she had done building the New
Republic was important.
"When do I start the training, Diplomacy Master?" Luke asked with a cheeky grin.
Leia's irritation melted away. Luke was so much like Han in a number of ways. "As soon as possible," she replied. "There's a diplomatic mission and state visit to the Hapes Cluster in a couple of weeks, and I feel that you should know
the basics before you leave."
"Me? I'm going with you?" Luke asked in a surprised tone of voice.
"Why not? You're one of the most famous people in the galaxy."
"Okay, but I'll probably open my mouth for the first time and proceed to stick both feet in it," Luke grumbled.
"Don't worry about it Luke. People respect you for what you are, a Jedi Master, not for being a diplomat."
"Okay, I'll give it my best shot," Luke sighed.
"Remember what you kept telling me, Luke? 'Do or do not. There is no try'." She grinned as she reminded him of the saying that she had so often heard during her training.
They both laughed at that.
* * * * *
Pellaeon read the file again and sat back in his chair, totally surprised. He had heard about the Outbound Flight project, but Grand Admiral Thrawn had told him that the mission had been intercepted and destroyed. By a task force led by Thrawn himself.
Yet, he was reading a file that contained a report from the Outbound Flight mission. Obviously, the Emperor had been intrigued by the possibility of extending his authority outside the galaxy, and had either allowed at least one of the Jedi Masters to survive, or had replaced them with Dark Jedi. Probably the second option, Pellaeon thought. Since he was heavily involved with the Dark Side of the Force himself.
The Emperor obviously hadn't expected much in the way of success, so Pellaeon could imagine his surprise when the report had come back in. A planet containing intelligent life had been found. More astonishingly, the life had been human. Pellaeon skipped past the geographical, geological, and astrographical information contained in the report.
The technology level on the planet had been at a fairly primitive, pre-spaceflight stage. The political data showed that it was divided into numerous competing political entities, and had been fighting a vicious war amongst themselves at the time. Pellaeon didn't place too much trust in that section of the report. Many things could have happened in the fifty-odd years since the report was written.
The most important thing was its co-ordinates, and its position in its galaxy. He pressed a button on the console. A hologram appeared in front of him. A map appeared in front of him, with a notation that the map wasn't all that accurate to start off with, and had probably become even more inaccurate due to galactic drift since. Pellaeon didn't care. All he was interested in was that the co-ordinates were accurate enough to get him within half a light-year of the system. He queried the computer to find out the local name of the system.
The local name for the star was Sol, and the planet's name was Terra, or Earth.
* * * * *
As Luke walked into the Senate chamber, he was awe-struck by how big the place was. This wasn't his first visit to the chamber, but it was his first visit as an active participant. Leia directed him to his seat and squeezed his shoulder encouragingly before moving to her own place. When the First Administrator announced that the Senate was in session, Leia stood up and announced, "Senators, ever since the death of the Emperor, my brother, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker,
has been searching the galaxy in search of Jedi instruction techniques and methods. And since he started the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, he has been searching for candidates to teach.
"In fact, it was in this Senate that he announced his desire to start the Academy. Now, both he and I believe that the next generation of Jedi Knights, such as new Masters Kyp Durron, Kam Solusar, and Kirana Ti, are perfectly capable of continuing the training of Jedi.
"Therefore, it is my intention to nominate Jedi Master Skywalker for the new position of Jedi Ambassador. Jedis have always traditionally had a role in mediation and judgement, and have a reputation for fairness in their decisions.
"I believe that there is a place in the Senate for a Jedi representative."
Admiral Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the New Republic Armed Forces, added his support to that of Leia. "I am in full agreement with the Chief of State," he stated. "I believe a representative of the Jedi Order is necessary for affairs that
concern both the Order and the New Republic."
Other members of the Senate also added their support for Luke. When Leia called for a vote - removing herself from voting due to the fact that she was Luke's sister - the 'yes' vote for Luke being appointed Jedi Ambassador was unanimous.
* * * * *
Lieutenant Belindi Kalenda of New Republic Intelligence read over the intelligence reports that were sitting in front of her. It didn't make much sense. Imperial forces were reported as massing at Selenos, a system in the outer regions of the Rim, about as far away from the few remaining Imperial strongholds in the Core as it was possible to get while still remaining in the galaxy. Still, it was rather important data, and should be seen by the Chief of State as soon as possible.
When she walked into the Chief of State's office, Belindi noticed that both her husband, General Han Solo, and newly appointed Jedi Ambassador Luke Skywalker were also present.
"Your message said that this information was important, Lieutenant Kalenda," Leia stated.
"I believe so, Madame Chief of State," Belindi replied. "There have been reports of a massive gathering of Imperial forces near the Selenos system."
"How massive?" Han asked.
"There are reports of two Executor-class Star Destroyers, the Devastator and the Intimidator, along with about two dozen Imperial-class and about fifty or so Victory-class Star Destroyers, along with smaller vessels, such as Loranars,
Lancers, Dreadnaughts and Interdictors. The total is somewhere in the vicinity of three hundred and fifty to four hundred capital ships. That doesn't include TIE fighters, bombers, and recon craft."
A stunned silence filled the room. "That's the largest gathering of Imperial forces since Daala's campaign, or maybe even Endor," Han muttered.
"Hang on," Luke said. "Intimidator. That name sounds familiar."
"It should, Luke. That was what the Yevethans used as their flagship. They renamed it Pride of Yevetha," Han said, shuddering as he remembered his hellish time as a prisoner aboard that ship before being rescued by a Wookiee strike
force led by Chewbacca just before its recapture by former Black Sword Command Imperial troops.
Luke nodded as he remembered the scene at N'zoth: seconds before the battle had commenced, every single captured Imperial ship had come to an abrupt halt, then had jumped into hyperspace, taking with them Nil Spaar and the senior Yevethan command and leaving the Yevethan thrustships to fight on their own. That had probably secured the New Republic victory in the Battle of N'zoth.
"It gets worse," Belindi continued, as her datapad chirped to indicate that she had just received more data. Scanning the new data quickly, she continued. "I've just received new reports that there are two more staging points similar to the Selenos system. There are no strength estimates attached to these new reports, so we have to assume that the strengths are similar to Selenos."
"I stand corrected, then. The largest gathering of military forces since the Clone Wars," Han muttered again, face pale. "That much hardware could wreak some true havoc."
"New Republic forces are standing on high alert, but there's something strange about these forces. They appear to be laying in enough supplies for an extended journey," Belindi announced.
"How extended?" Leia asked.
"Six to nine months," Belindi replied.
"That is strange," Luke muttered. "Why would they lay in that amount of supplies? Standard Imperial procedure is to replenish supplies from each world after they conquer it."
Luke studied Belindi carefully. She returned his gaze, or at least appeared to. Since she was slightly cross-eyed, her focus of attention appeared to be slightly behind Luke, and slightly off to his left. He had met her during the Corellian Uprising, and had noted that she maintained her calm under all sorts of intense situations where the average person would have
been thrown into a severe panic attack. She also reported all data in a calm way, without excitement. The consummate professional. Slight Force potential, perhaps? he thought. Maybe it was just a result of her NRI training. "Is there a possibility that the observers who sent this data in miscounted?" he asked.
"There is always that possibility, Jedi Master, but I am of the opinion that the count is fairly accurate," Belindi offered.
"What sort of margin of error are we talking about here?" Han asked eagerly, obviously hoping that the margin of error would be very large.
"In my opinion, plus or minus ten to fifteen percent."
Han visibly subsided. That sort of error could mean that there could be up to forty or so capital ships less than reported, but there could also be up to forty or so capital ships more than reported. Then there was the matter of identification. "How about the identification?" he asked hopefully.
"Han, it is kind of hard to misidentify a Executor-class for anything else, or anything else for a Executor-class, for that matter," Luke said gently.
"I was referring to the other ships. The ships reported as Imperial-class could have been Victory-class. The smaller ships could have been misreported as a larger class." Everyone turned to Belindi for the professional opinion.
"Unlikely. That might be the case with the small ships such as the Lancers and Loranars, but I doubt that it would have happened with the mid-size and large ships."
"If I may interrupt," Leia put in, "but we were discussing possible reasons for them stocking up with such a large amount of supplies. What do you think, Lieutenant?"
"I have no idea, Madame Chief of State. Several requests for more information have been sent out, but we have had no replies as of yet," Belindi replied.
The consummate professional, Luke thought. She separates what she thinks from what she knows. She'll be going far. "I have a suggestion," Luke said suddenly, surprising everyone. "I believe I can contact someone who may be able to provide the information that we need."
Leia's voice sounded in Luke's head. Mara Jade? Didn't she want to kill you once?
That's in the past now, Leia. We get along well enough now. She might have no great love for either myself or the New Republic, she's found out enough about Palpatine's dirty tricks to come to truly loathe the Empire.
Leia nodded at that. "I do wish that you two wouldn't do that weird-latent-through-the-Force-twin-thing," Han grumbled. "Would you mind sharing that with those of us who aren't Jedi?"
Luke smiled. "I was thinking of asking Mara Jade to poke around and she what she can find out. Her sources are probably as good as the NRI's."
"You must be kidding, Luke! She wanted to kill you once!" Han spluttered.
"In the past, Han. She might not have any great love either for myself or the New Republic, but she really hates the Empire. She'll look into it," Luke said, adding I hope to himself.
"As long as you remember to pay her enough," Han muttered sarcastically.
"I seem to remember a certain smuggler who isn't a million miles away from here saying something similar," Leia said with a grin. "I believe he said something like, 'I ain't in it for your revolution, and I ain't in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money'."
"I was well-paid for rescuing you, Leia," Han muttered uncomfortably. "I just never got around to spending it. Kinda hard to spend money when you're frozen in carbonite."
"What do you think, Belindi?" Luke asked, trying to get the discussion back on track.
"I think it's a good idea," she replied. "The NRI doesn't have a monopoly on information sources in the galaxy. We're not too proud to accept help."
"She's helped us before by passing information to us," Luke pointed out.
"All right, I give in," Han said, throwing his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"I'll give her a call and ask her if she has anything," Luke said, standing up.
"That's all I have, Madame Chief of State," Belindi said. "If anything else comes in, I'll let you know." She also stood up.
As they left, Luke turned to Belindi and said, "What do you think?"
"I'm not sure, but it can't be good."
* * * * *
Pellaeon was starting to run into difficulties. He had stripped the Imperial remnants of virtually every warship left in fighting condition. He needed someone to take command of what was left and use it to protect Imperial territory. He needed someone who would act aggressively, so as to create the impression of forces many times larger than what actually existed. But at the same time, the person had to be cautious, so as not to get the entire force destroyed. A hit-and-fade type campaign would be needed. He suddenly grinned. He knew exactly the person he wanted.
Daala.
* * * * *
Luke was sitting in front of his holocomm projector, waiting for an incoming signal. He had left a contact schedule with one of Mara Jade's contacts, and this was the second-last time specified. Maybe she didn't want to talk to him.
Not that he cared one way or the other, but this information was important to the New Republic. Finally, the projector beeped as it detected an incoming signal. A small hologram of Mara's head and shoulders appeared. "Hi Mara."
"I doubt this is a social call, Skywalker," she said, getting straight down to business. Ah, the Mara we've all come to know and love, Luke thought.
"You're right, it isn't. We need some information. How much will you be charging?"
"Depends on the information you want."
Belindi had impressed on him not to reveal any NRI sources or information-gathering techniques. Only give the basics, Luke thought before he replied, "We've received information that Imperial forces are gathering at the Selenos system, and at two other places. I was wondering if it was possible for you to find out something about them."
"Unless the NRI's fallen asleep, you should already know the call code of each ship commander's latest mistress."
"Oh, we do," Luke answered breezily. Then he turned serious. "But they appear to be doing something strange."
"Apart from massing as far out in the Outer Rim as possible while still remaining in the galaxy?"
Luke hesitated before replying. What the heck. If she can't find this tidbit of info out by herself, then she's let her skills go to waste. "They appear to be stocking supplies for an extremely extended voyage."
Mara's eyes narrowed. "How extended?"
"Six to nine months."
Mara sat back, and a contemplative expression crossed her face. "There is something actually. Something from when I was working for that black beast Palpatine," she said, referring to her time as the Emperor's Hand. "About two years before the Battle of Yavin. He was reading a datacard and gloating quite visibly. I didn't pay much attention to him, as he was gloating quite a lot in those days. But a few days later, he was in one of the foulest moods I'd ever seen him in. He was muttering something about having lost the report from the Outbound Flight mission. Not exactly what you're after, but it should be useful."
"It might be, considering the fact that this Imperial fleet is laying in a lot of supplies. They're probably intending an extended
voyage outside the galaxy."
"Is that all, Skywalker? I do have a business to run."
"One more thing, Mara," Luke said. Mara, who had been reaching for the 'end trans' button, straightened up. "We've received reports of two other strong Imperial forces gathering." He named the systems. "But we have no strength reports as of yet. Could you check those out?"
A calculating look appeared in Mara's eyes. Probably trying to figure out how much to charge us, Luke thought. "Okay, but it's going to cost you," she said.
"How much?" Luke asked, knowing that it probably wouldn't be cheap.
"Forty thousand, in advance."
From long association with Han, Luke knew that Mara wasn't expecting that. "Twenty-five, half now, the rest when the information comes in," Luke bargained.
"Thirty-five. Twenty now, the rest when I deliver," Mara countered.
They finally agreed on thirty thousand, with half to be paid immediately, and the rest when Mara delivered her information. "You've been spending too much time with Solo," Mara said with grudging respect. "You bargain too well." She appeared upset, but Luke could tell that she'd enjoyed the challenge of bargaining with a Jedi Master. "I'll put my best sources to work, and get Ghent to work on slicing some Imperial databases." Luke knew that results would be in his possession soon. Mara had information sources that rivalled the NRI's, even though NRI was many times larger. Mara always prized quality over quantity.
"Okay then, Mara. I'll be expecting a report from you." Luke switched the holocomm unit off, and went to report to Leia. Information was information, no matter what the source was.
* * * * *
"So, what do you want from me?" the woman sitting across the desk from Admiral Pellaeon asked.
He showed her the Outbound Flight data that he had found. The delicately sculptured face topped by flowing red hair was contorted in an expression of complete surprise. As the only female Admiral ever in the Imperial fleet, Daala was oticeable.
"Outbound Flight?" she asked. "But I heard that the mission was a complete failure."
"Apparently that's what the Emperor wanted everyone to think. It seemed that he ordered Thrawn to destroy the original mission, and he sent his own mission out, consisting of Dark Jedi." An expression of hatred crossed Daala's face. She had always hated Jedi, and that hatred had been increased after Jedi had caused the failure of her attempt to reform the Empire, first by discovering her plans, and then by stopping her attack on Yavin 4 cold, first by somehow shoving Pellaeon's fleet of seventeen Imperial-class Star Destroyers out of the system, and the destruction of her Executor-class Star Destroyer, the Knight Hammer, by a single Jedi, who had lost her powers! That rankled most of all.
Pellaeon had no love for Jedi himself, but he knew that a Dark Jedi, if kept under the proper restraints, could prove useful to his mission. The trick was to find one. Keeping him under control would be no easy feat, either, Pellaeon thought, remembering the difficulties that Grand Admiral Thrawn had had in controlling Joruus C'baoth.
"Back to the original topic. While I lead the forces I have gathered at Selenos, I want you to commence a guerrilla campaign against the Rebels, to keep them off-balance and unable to react, either against my expeditionary force, or the remaining Imperial strongholds." He called up a list of the forces available to her. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she scanned the list.
One Executor-class, the Annihilator, a half-dozen Imperial-class, a dozen Victory-class Star Destroyers, and an Interdictor cruiser. Enough to keep a far larger Rebel force tied down guarding against her, and chasing her forces down.
Pellaeon knew that her chances for ultimate success were slim, but he knew from experience that guerrilla campaigns rarely ended with victory; they just prevented one side or the other from claiming total victory. Besides, her ultimate goal was to distract the Rebels long enough for him to gain a foothold in this neighbouring galaxy. When this had happened, he
would send for her, and she would leave the remnants in this galaxy to fend for themselves. Each remaining Imperial system was sufficiently fortified as to require a long campaign to capture them, and in that time, he was sure a new fleet could be built up.
The problem was keeping these plans from the self-styled New Republic. He was sure that the NRI had already discovered that he was massing forces, and he hoped that they were concentrating their efforts on the two decoy
sites that he had set up. But the NRI was nothing if not efficient, being based around the near-legendary Bothan spynet. And there were others. The smuggler-turned-trader Mara Jade, ex-Emperor's Hand, had an impressive information-gathering network. He only hoped that negotiations over the price at which the information would be sold would delay its being passed on to the New Republic long enough for him to get under way, and for Daala's diversionary campaign to distract them from sending forces after them.
He dismissed Daala to begin her campaign, and continued planning his own.
* * * * *
"Okay, one more time: we've arrived at Hapes, and they've laid on a formal reception for us. What's the plan for continuing?"
Luke was being subjected to a rigorous training schedule, almost like his Jedi training on Dagobah, and the pace he imposed on his own trainees on Yavin 4. He thought for a moment before replying. "We endure the receiving line,
making polite conversation with every person," he paused and grinned mischievously, "including our old friends Isolder and Teneniel Djo."
"That was a cheap shot, Luke. You know I had no real intention of marrying Isolder." Leia glared at Luke for a moment.
"It didn't look like it from where I was sitting," Luke replied, still grinning.
"Can we continue, please?"
"All right. We've survived the receiving line, and we move to the pre-banquet reception, where I'll be expected to make polite conversation with the-Force-only-knows how many people, who will probably all ask the same questions and make the same bland, politically correct statements which will bore me out of my mind, while simultaneously driving me crazy."
"Right. And the conversation will probably centre on you as a Jedi, and little else. You are, after all, one of the most famous people in the galaxy."
"Oh, boy. Fame, fortune and all the good things that that entails," Luke muttered sarcastically. "Sometimes I wish I'd stayed on Tatooine. At least I'd have a quieter life."
"Moving right along," Leia continued, ignoring Luke's sarcasm. "The banquet is over, and the after-banquet speeches are about to begin. Teneniel, as the Ta'a Chume, will probably speak first, and her speech will be a glowing recollection of her friendship with you, and 'hearty congratulations on your appointment to the New Republic Senate as Jedi Ambassador'."
Luke wanted to ask how she knew all this, but realised that she had been to more of these functions than she remembered, and they all tended to be the same, with only minor differences. Leia was about to continue her run-through of the probable sequence of events, when her comlink chirped. "Excuse me", she said to Luke. "Organa Solo," she said into the comlink.
"Galvis here, from Palace Security, Madame President. I apologise for the interruption, but we've found something that might be of interest to you."
"What is it?" Leia asked.
"A datacard of some description. Older type, about twenty years old."
Luke remembered what Mara had told him about the Emperor losing a datacard that contained a report from the Outbound Flight project. "Have him bring it up here," he said to Leia. "If it's the card I think it us, it might explain why the
Imperial fleet is massing in such a remote location, and why it's laying in such a large amount of supplies."
"Bring it up here," Leia ordered the security officer.
"At once, Madame President."
* * * * *
It had been a total fluke. A patrolling Palace Security guard, making her regular rounds, had noticed something irregular on her scanner display. She had immediately moved to check it out, notifying her supervisor of what she was doing. Her scanner lead her to a section of blank wall. A secret doorway, perhaps? she thought, running her hands over the wall in an attempt to find a way to open it. Unexpectedly, it snapped open. She leapt back in surprise, drawing her blaster pistol at the same time.
But nothing had happened.
Drawing on her courage, she cautiously proceeded into the hallway revealed. After about fifteen meters it opened up into the most lavishly decorated room she had ever seen. Her blaster sagged down in synchronisation with her jaw as she gaped at the magnificence of the room. The comlink clipped to her lapel chirped, she heard her supervisor say, "What have you found, Toni?"
"A truly amazing room, Brella, truly amazing." She couldn't say any more than that. It was huge, with viewscreens on every wall, and a holoprojector in the middle of the room. Her scanner beeped as it neared the object it had picked up. Startled, she looked at it, and pressed a button. A projection of a datacard appeared and hovered above the scanner, with an arrow pointing in the direction she would have to take to locate it. She moved in the direction the arrow indicated, and was led to a datacard sitting, apparently abandoned, on the floor. She picked it up and placed it in one of her pockets. "I've found it, Brella."
"Found what, Toni?"
"The object that was registering on my scanner. It's a datacard of some description."
"Bring it here at once," he ordered, and then the comlink went silent.
* * * * *
The Security officer brought the datacard into Leia's office, saluted and left. "Interesting," Luke commented. "Galvis was right. Older model, but fortunately compatible with our readers."
"It never ceases to amaze me," Leia commented. "We've been using the Imperial Palace for nearly thirteen years now, and we're still finding secret rooms." She opened one of the drawers in her desk, took out a reader and handed it to Luke. Luke accepted the reader and inserted the datacard. He muttered a curse he'd learned from Han. "What is it, Luke?" Leia asked.
"It's coded. Looks like the Emperor's personal code."
"Does that mean we can't read it?" Leia felt frustrated. Potentially vital information, and it couldn't be read!
"Not necessarily. I can think of one person who might be able..." He was interrupted by the chirping of his comlink. "Yes?"
"Ambassador Skywalker, we've received a call for you from a Mara Jade. Do you want us to route it to where you are?"
"Do that," Luke ordered, and turned to Leia. While he was waiting for the call to be connected he said, "This is lucky. As I was about to say, I can think of one person who might be able to decode it."
"Who?" Leia asked.
"Mara Jade. After all, she was one of the Emperor's personal agents."
Mara's head and shoulders appeared in the holo field on Leia's desk. "I've found the information you were after, Skywalker. When do I get paid?"
"When you've told us what the information is, Mara, and not a second before."
"I suppose that's the best offer I'm going to get," Mara said sourly. "All right, here it is: there's only one Imperial staging area; the one at Selenos. The other two are decoys, evidently intended to be found by the NRI while the real site hopefully goes unnoticed." Luke felt slightly relieved by this. It wasn't as bad as he'd feared. Mara continued, "Admiral Pellaeon is in charge."
"I was wondering where he'd vanished to after the debacle at Yavin 4 a few years back," Luke said.
"Well, now you know. Apparently he's gathered all other Imperial forces into a strike fleet. I haven't managed to find out what it consists of, but it'll probably be fairly strong."
"Who's in charge of the strike fleet?"
"Admiral Daala," Mara said grimly.
"What! I thought she was dead!" Luke exclaimed.
"I bet you thought that after she was last seen making a strafing run on the Maw Installation when it exploded. You should know by now not to count anyone as dead until you see the body."
"Yeah, I should have known better. Your money is on they way." Luke pressed buttons to send the fifteen thousand credits that was owed to Mara on its way. "One other thing, Mara," Luke said.
"You know, Skywalker, I'm starting to get annoyed with your 'one other thing's." She sighed. "But I suppose I'll get no rest until I check it out. What is it?"
"Something minor. Do you still remember any of the codes used by the Emperor from your time as his agent?"
"Of course I do. Why?"
"Because we've found a datacard that appears to be encoded using the Emperor's personal code. Do you think you can decode it?"
"Of course - but it's going to cost you."
"Does five thousand seem reasonable?"
"I suppose it had better - that's probably all you're going to pay me." She sighed. "Send it to me and I'll send you to decoded version."
Luke hesitated for a moment, but Mara had proven herself to be trustworthy when she had delivered a message cube to Leia before events had exploded in the Corellian system. "All right, here it is." He connected the data reader to the holocomm unit, and pressed controls to activate the secure data transfer link.
Mara glanced at something outside the field of view of the holocomm unit. "All right. It looks like the code he used to send instructions to his Grand Admirals, and highly ranked agents such as myself." There had been a time when she hadn't been able to mention her time as the Emperor's Hand without feeling an intense desire to kill Luke. That had been planted by the Emperor just before he had been killed by Darth Vader aboard the second Death Star at Endor. She had overcome that planted suggestion by killing a clone of Luke during the struggle against the insane Dark Jedi Master Joruus C'boath. "I remember the decrypt string." She turned and punched a long string of characters into a data entry unit. "Bingo. Here it
is." She punched another button, and a light appeared on Leia's holocomm unit signifying that a secure data transfer was in progress. Luke sent her another five thousand credits.
The decrypted version of the data appeared on the screen set into Leia's desk. They both read the heading and looked at each other in shock and surprise.
* * * * *
Mara saw the reaction, and wondered what had caused it. Why would they react that way to data? They each had a reputation of being almost impossible to surprise. Well, she could see why they had been surprised. She had a copy of the
decrypted data. It would be easy enough to check out. She called it up, and began to read. She felt the blood drain from her face as she read the title.
'PROJECT OUTBOUND FLIGHT - MISSION REPORT'
No, that's impossible! The Outbound Flight project was a total failure! Mara sat back in her chair, stunned. Now she understood why Skywalker and Organa Solo had reacted in the way that they had. She'd just reacted in a similar way - and she prided herself on being able to keep a close rein on her emotions. She briefly skimmed through the report. When she reached the end of the report, she knew - or thought she did, anyway - why the Imperials were staging such a massive force, why it was being staged in such a remote location, and why they had laid in supplies for such a long time. She looked up from the report just as Skywalker looked up from his copy.
* * * * *
Luke looked up from the report, his face pale, and said to Leia, "I think I know the reason behind the current Imperial activities."
"So do I, Skywalker, but I'll let you explain," Mara said grimly.
"What?" asked Leia.
"The simple version is this: the Imperials are probably planning to invade this planet, Terra."
"Why would they do that?" Leia asked.
"Because they know that if they stay in this galaxy, they've lost," Mara explained. "And Imperials hate to lose."
"She's right. And they're also sending us a message: you can keep this galaxy; we've got another one."
"We can't just let them get away with this!" Leia exclaimed angrily.
"But what can we do?" Luke asked. "Remember the trouble we had with the Yevethans a few years ago?" he waited until Leia nodded, then continued, "I was on Atzerri when the ultimatum was announced, and I overheard a conversation, or rather an argument, about what you had announced. One person was all in favour of your actions, while the other insisted that you should be put on trial for murder and treason if a single Fleet pilot died in the Koornacht Cluster."
"That's ridiculous! We can't just sit back and do nothing!"
"Remember the trouble you had persuading the Senate to let the Fleet go into the Koornacht Cluster in the first place? And that was a case of genocide on our own borders! How much support do you think you'll have if you decide to send the Fleet off to another galaxy?" Luke pointed out.
"I eventually sent the Fleet into Koornacht - straight to N'zoth in fact. When I declared war on the Yevetha, there was a standing ovation in the Senate."
"Only after a motion of no confidence was tabled in the Ruling Council. You were very lucky, Leia."
"But we've got to do something!"
"I'm not saying that we shouldn't, Leia, just that it'll be difficult," Luke said. Then he remembered that the connection to Mara was still open. "What do you think, Mara?"
"The Jedi Ambassador and the Chief of State of the New Republic are asking for my opinion. I'm flattered," Mara said dryly. "None of my business. And speaking of business, I've got one to run."
Luke saw that she was about to reach for the 'end trans' switch, and said hastily, "I'm sure that a few profitable trade routes can be opened between the New Republic and Terra."
"That trick won't work, Skywalker. This call has cost me enough already." And she cut the connection before either Luke or Leia could reply.
"She has a point Luke. We've got to sort this one out ourselves," Leia said.
Luke nodded reluctantly. What business did he have trying to drag Mara into New Republic business, anyway? Just then, the holocomm chirped, and the fishlike head of Admiral Ackbar, the Supreme Commander of the New Republic Armed Forces appeared. "Leia - Madame President - I have just received word that one of our patrols in the Pyria system has been attacked and probably destroyed."
* * * * *
Aboard the Executor-class Star Destroyer, the Annihilator, Daala remembered the last time she had been in command of a Executor-class. It had been the Knight Hammer. Her face twisted into a scowl as she remembered the fiasco at Yavin 4. She vowed not to let it happen to her again.
"Admiral! Detectors are showing the transit of a large number of ships. Warship class," the sensor chief reported.
Daala had decided to set her ambush in the Pyria system because it offered a direct route to Coruscant. The Rebels were bound to send patrols though it.
"Have the Trapper power up its generators." The Trapper was the Interdictor-class cruiser that had been assigned to her by Admiral Pellaeon. She intended to pull this group out of hyperspace and destroy it completely. Moments later, a group of ships flickered into existence. Two were the stubby organic-looking designs of the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers, while accompanying them were three Star Destroyers she recognised as Republic-class, with half-a-dozen Corellian Corvettes acting as escorts. She scowled. Not even a close match for her entire fleet.
She had tried to decide between splitting her fleet up and keeping it together. If she split it up, she could hit more targets in a shorter time. But if she kept it together, she had more firepower at her disposal. She had opted to keep her fleet together; she loved the concept of having the maximum firepower possible available.
"Pass word to all ships: the Star Cruisers are to be targeted first. The Annihilator will take the lead ship," she pointed to indicate which one she meant, "while the others will deal with the other one." She smiled tightly as turbolaser fire began to lance out from her ships towards the Rebel ships. This was going to be very easy.
* * * * *
Aboard the lead Star Cruiser, the Calamarian captain looked at his viewscreen in dismay. They had been cruising through hyperspace on a routine patrol of the approaches to Coruscant, preparing to drop back into realspace in the Pyria system, when they had been dragged out of hyperspace much to suddenly for it to be a pre-programmed event.
Then he had noticed the massive Imperial fleet waiting for him. I don't think we're going to escape from this with our lives, he thought gloomily as turbolaser fire from the Executor-class vessel began to impact on his shields. Because this was totally unexpected, it took a long time for the New Republic crews to return fire, by which time the shields on the two Star Cruisers had been eroded to a dangerously low level. "Make an emergency jump!" he shouted.
"We can't sir! Gravimetric sensors are showing we're in a large gravity well!" the navigation officer shouted.
An Interdictor Cruiser, the captain realised. We're doomed But he vowed not to go down without a fight. "All ships, concentrate fire on the Super Star Destroyer!"
* * * * *
The Rebels have finally reacted, Daala thought grimly to herself. She noticed that all the Rebels' fire was concentrated on her ship. She laughed at their foolishness, knowing that the Annihilator's shields could hold out long enough for both of the Star Cruisers, which were the main threat, to be destroyed. As she watched, the shields on the second Star Cruiser collapsed, and fireballs began to appear on its hull, showing that direct hits were being scored. Before too long, escape pods began to spew from it as its crew decided to take their chances with their escape pods rather than go down with their ship. She ordered the rest of the fleet to begin to pick off the smaller ships as it exploded, flinging bits of metal in all directions, which were easily deflected by her shields.
* * * * *
"Shields have failed, Captain! Hull integrity lost in half of the decks!" the damage control officer shouted over the din of
explosions.
The captain flashed a glance at the damage control readouts, which confirmed what the officer had said. "Evacuate," he said, a sour taste in his mouth. "All hands abandon ship." I hope the crew can get to the escape pods in time, he thought
grimly as he raced to one of the bridge escape pods.
* * * * *
Daala watched with a fierce exultation as the other Star Cruiser's shields collapsed, then the ship exploded. "Tell all gunners to pick their targets and fire at will," she said, then watched as the Rebel remnants were mopped up in a matter
of minutes before sending her first report to Admiral Pellaeon. When receipt was acknowledged, she directed her fleet to jump to the rendezvous point she had selected in a remote region of the galaxy. Rebel reinforcements were bound to arrive
soon, and in a strength too great for her to take on.
* * * * *
Pellaeon read Daala's first after-action report with satisfaction. He approved of her strategy to begin her strikes before he had left for his destination, as it would draw Rebel attention away from his more important mission. He activated his comm unit. "How long before we are ready to leave?"
"About eight hours, Admiral."
He sat back in his chair with satisfaction. Eight hours until Operation EXODUS began. Eight hours until the rebirth of the Empire commenced in another galaxy, free from Rebel interference.
* * * * *
Han Solo piloted the Millennium Falcon through the rubble that was left after Daala's devastating attack. "She doesn't mess around, does she?" he asked Chewbacca, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, his usual spot. Chewie growled in
agreement. Han had been asked by Leia to lead a search-and-rescue effort to recover any escape pods that may have been jettisoned during the fight. He noticed something odd. "No Imperial debris, though. Must have been an ambush, or Daala had overwhelming force on her side. I'd bet on the latter. She's not very subtle."
Chewie whuffled and growled. "Or both. I can see a case for that point. She obviously wanted to pound this patrol into free atoms. Which she did." He piloted the Falcon around the battle area, taking sensor recordings while transports escorted by X-Wings moved from place to place, tracking emergency beacons from escape pods. The survivors would be debriefed on their return to Coruscant in an effort to find out what sort of force Daala had.
* * * * *
The body of the Calamarian captain hung suspended in a bacta tank in a recovery room in the Imperial Palace while Luke, Han, Leia and Admiral Ackbar watched on. Luke shuddered, remembering his own time in a bacta tank on Hoth after an encounter with a Wampa Ice Creature. "How long before he comes out of the tank?" Luke asked the Emdee-Nine medical droid.
"Any minute now, Jedi Master."
At that moment, the control panel for the bacta tank beeped, signifying that it had completed its task. "He will be ready to be debriefed in a few minutes," the medical droid said.
* * * * *
"An Executor-class?"
The Calamarian captain nodded weakly. "We were dragged out of hyperspace by an Interdictor Cruiser and got pounded on in a big way."
Luke was stunned. Not only was there a massive Imperial force headed towards this distant planet Terra, but Daala was roaming New Republic space with a fairly large strike fleet. Luke wanted to go to Terra's assistance as soon as possible, but he knew that it wouldn't be possible until the force commanded by Daala was hunted down. He knew that, even in hyperspace, it would take about six months to reach Terra, and he didn't want Pellaeon to get too much of a lead on any
New Republic response force. He was willing to bet that Terra's defences would not be able to stand up to a full-fledged Imperial attack. For that matter, given the size of the fleet under Pellaeon's command, even Coruscant would be hard-pressed to stand up to a full-fledged attack.
The debriefing soon ended, and Luke and the others left the room to allow the captain to rest.
"That's a fine role reversal," Luke commented.
"What do you mean, Luke?"
"Daala's doing the same thing that we were before the battle of Endor, except that she's not really trying to bring down the New Republic the way we were trying to bring down the Empire."
"I hadn't really thought of it that way, but we do have more pressing matters to worry about."
"Yeah," Luke acknowledged. "Like, for instance, hunting this force down before it can cause too much trouble. Which is not going to be easy." A nice understatement. Executor-class vessels were, in effect, self-contained fleets which carried a massive amount of firepower. To date, the New Republic had only ever encountered five, and had somehow managed to kill three of them, but not before they caused a massive amount of damage.
The Executor, which had died at Endor, had destroyed or severely damaged nearly a dozen Mon Calamari Star Cruisers by itself, and it had only been luck that it had died. The Lusankya, Ysanne Isard's personal ship, had devastated a large area of Coruscant before being cornered and surrendering at Thyferra. Zsinj's flagship, the Iron Fist had been killed by a fleet under Han's command, but it had taken some doing. Daala's flagship, the Knight Hammer, had been a Executor-class, but Callista had managed to destroy it - single-handed! - before it had caused too much damage. The Yevethans had used one as well, the Pride of Yevetha, and had completely wiped out the populations of a dozen inhabited systems before being recaptured by its former owners at N'zoth.
And now there were two new ones, plus the former Pride of Yevetha - now reverted to its original name, Intimidator; two headed for Terra under Pellaeon's command, and one more with Daala. "I believe we must first concentrate our efforts on hunting down Daala's strike fleet," Ackbar said.
Luke reluctantly agreed. Although every fibre of his being ached to go to the aid of the defenceless planet Terra, he knew that problems closer to home deserved priority.
* * * * *
Only minutes to go before the final, irrevocable step was taken. Pellaeon sat in the command chair of the Chimaera, and scanned displays showing the status of his fleet. He might have placed his flag on one of the Executor-class vessels, but for some reason that not even he was fully aware of, he had decided to stay with the rebuilt Chimaera. His attention was diverted by the chirping of his holocomm unit. "Yes?"
A quarter-size image of Daala appeared on the console before him. "Yes, Daala?"
"Before you left, I wanted to wish you the best of luck in you efforts," she said, bowing from the waist.
He stood and saluted crisply. "I wish you the same luck in your endeavours."
Daala bowed again, and ended the transmission. "All systems ready, Admiral," the nav officer called from the portside crew pit. Pellaeon returned to his seat and ordered, "Engage the hyperdrive." Six months in hyperspace, he thought. It would be the longest single trip he had ever made. Through the viewport, he watched as stars became starlines and the fleet vanished into hyperspace.
* * * * *
Daala considered her next move. She'd have to hit an important target now, to make sure that the Rebels' attention was well and truly diverted from Pellaeon. Where to hit?
Coruscant? That'd certainly get the Rebel's attention, but she'd probably succeed too well in getting attention.
Yavin 4? No way. She'd tried that before, and it wasn't what anyone would call an unqualified success.
Where else? She thought for a while, then abruptly sat up as she realised the perfect place. It would not be easy, but nothing really important ever was.
She opened a comm channel to the captains of the ships under command to order them to a briefing aboard her flagship.
Target: the shipyards at Sluis Van.
* * * * *
This has got to be the most boring thing I have ever done.
Colonel Corran Horn strode along the decks of the fighter bays in the Sluis Van shipyards. He knew that he had a higher rank than usual for an officer in command of a squadron of starfighters, but that tended to happen in elite units such as
Rogue Squadron. Rationally, he knew that when the rotation came up, even Rogue Squadron had to take their turn at guard duty.
That didn't mean that he had to like it, though.
Rogue Squadron had the most battle honours of any unit in the New Republic, dating all the way back to the pivotal battles of the Rebellion. Yavin - plus Death Star - , Hoth, Endor - another Death Star - , Bakura, Borlieas, Coruscant...
A long list of battle honours; also a long list of those who had died while serving with Rogue Squadron.
He was jolted out of his reverie by the sudden hooting of the battle alarms. He turned and ran back to the hangar bays, listening to the announcements. "All pilots, all ships scramble immediately. Imperial ships have entered the system. Executor-class, half-dozen Imperial-class, and a dozen Victory-class."
Corran whistled under his breath as he leapt into the cockpit of his X-Wing. "Rogues, check in." He listened as all the pilots reported in. "The plan is, we go for the shield generators first. That should give us a chance to take them out. Got
it?" Acknowledgements from the other pilots came in as Corran advanced his throttle and moved out of the hangar. "Lock S-foils into attack position." He reached up and hit the switch that opened the wings into the distinctive X-shape that gave the fighter its name. "Whistler, put up the closest capital ship." The R2 unit chirped, and the outline of a Victory-class ship appeared on his targeting monitor. "That's our target, Rogues," he said as he sent the targeting data to the rest of the squadron. "One Flight, we're going after the port generator," he continued as he highlighted the generator on his display. "Two Flight, you go after the starboard generator. Three Flight, you keep the eyeballs off our backs. Acknowledge."
"Lead, this is Nine. You do realise that there's three squadrons of TIEs on that thing?"
"Of course I do, Nine. But we're Rogues. We've killed Death Stars. After that, a handful of TIEs shouldn't pose too much of a problem."
"I'm not saying that it is, Lead, just saying that we're gonna really improve on our kill scores today."
Corran laughed to hear such bravado. "That's the Rogue Squadron spirit. Let's go." To his droid, he said, "Hang on Whistler, this is going to be a bumpy ride." He ignored the answering squeal.
Rogue squadron split off into its flights, then dove through the rapidly swelling cloud of TIEs, spitting multiple lasers to clear a path. They weren't really aiming at anything, but they managed to kill about a dozen TIEs, with another half-dozen colliding as they scrambled to get out of the way of the apparently suicidal squadron.
The odds aren't good, but we've already managed to reduce this destroyer's complement of TIEs by half, so Three Flight should have it slightly easier. But then again, why should I care about odds anyway? he thought with a traditional Corellian's disdain for odds. "Okay, Five, go for it!" he ordered as he led One Flight in a diving turn, jinking and weaving in order to confuse the targeting computers as he headed towards his target. "Use proton torpedoes on this, One Flight." The targeting mark turned yellow, then red, and Whistler hummed his lock-on tone. "One Flight, Lead. Fire torpedoes!" Corran ordered as he tapped the firing stub twice. Two proton torpedoes streked away from his X-Wing,
followed by another six from the rest of One Flight.
They all slammed into the shields protecting the shield generator. It managed to hold up to the first couple of blasts, but collapsed to allow the rest through. The shield generator disintegrated in a spactacular explosion. Another explosion announced the demise of the starboard shield generator. Whistler hummed a requiem for the Star Destroyer's shields. Corran laughed. "That's right, Whistler. Bye-bye to the shields, and any hope of getting them back." He opened a link to the rest of the squadron. "How are you managing, Nine?"
"We've vaped eight so far, and we should do the rest soon. Sorry, make that nine."
Corran grinned. "Okay then, I'll leave you to your fun, while the rest of us take care of this Star Destroyer." He turned back towards the bridge of the vessel. "Okay Rogues, lock onto the bridge and fire one torpedo each," he ordered, remembering the stories of how the Executor had died at Endor. He was planning to do something similar to this Victory-class, except he wasn't willing to sacrifice a starfighter in a suicide attack. He was planning to do the job with proton torpedoes instead. He got lock-on, tapped the firing button, and watched as eight proton torpedoes streaked towards the bridge of the Star Destroyer. He could imagine the panic on the bridge as the bridge crew watched their death approach them.
With a spectacular fireball, the Star Destroyer was decapitated, with multiple secondary explosions spreading to encompass the entire ship as it careened out of control, slamming into an Imperial-class, before they both exploded.
Two capital ships, for only twenty-four proton torpedoes. That's pretty good, even for Rogue Squadron.
* * * * *
Daala watched as the squadron of X-wings dove in at one of her Victory-class vessels. They must be feeling suicidal, she thought disdainfully. Her opinion changed sharply as the starfighters dodged the defensive fire and fired a barrage of proton torpedoes at both shield generators. She watched in horror as both generators exploded, then eight of the X-wings swooped around and fired more proton torpedoes into the unprotected bridge area. With its bridge destroyed, the destroyer went out of control and slammed into one of her Imperial-class vessels, with both being totally destroyed. The
squadron regrouped and dived headlong into a group of TIE fighters, destroying most of them and scattering the survivors to be hunted down individually. "Find the identity of that squadron!" she snapped.
"We have long-range sensor data, Admiral," a sensor tech said. Daala moved over to the sensor station, as the tech displayed the image of an X-wing. The tech zoomed in on the image to display an insignia. It was the Rebel crest inside a
twelve-pointed star, with an X-wing at each point. She looked at it in puzzlement. She'd never seen this particular insignia before. She summoned the captain of the Annihilator.
"Have you seen this insignia before, Colonel?" she asked him.
He sharply inhaled. "Rogue Squadron. The best starfighter squadron in the galaxy."
Daala nodded grimly. She knew the squadron's reputation. They had destroyed both Death Stars, been instrumental in the taking of Coruscant, and many other things. I knew that they had to be an elite squadron. After all, they did destroy two of my capital ships. She sighed. "Move the Annihilator in. It's about time we showed these Rebels how much firepower we really have."
The colonel grinned ferally. "At your order, Admiral."
* * * * *
Corran was hot on the tail of a fleeing Interceptor, which was jinking and weaving in a desperate effort to get away from him, and having little success. Just as he was about to pull the trigger and vape the squint, Whistler screamed. Without thinking, Corran pulled the trigger and jinked sharply in a random direction. That was Whistler's extreme-danger signal, and he never used that without good cause.
The squint was converted into a vapour cloud, and in the space where Corran's X-Wing had been a split-second before, a massive amount of green turbolaser fire streaked. Lucky for me that I moved in a hurry, Corran thought. I'd be a cloud of free-floating atoms. "Find out who fired that blast, Whistler," Corran ordered, fully intending to kill the offending vessel. That idea died a rapid death when the data appeared on his screen.
It was a Executor-class vessel, identified by its transponders as the Annihilator.
Not good. With a Executor-class backstopping them, the odds have shifted dramatically in the Imps' favour. He spared a second to take a quick glance around. The battle was not going in favour of the New Republic. Already, half of the capital ships assigned to guard the shipyards had been destroyed, with another Gunship exploding in a spectacular series of secondary explosions. The starfighter squadrons had also taken a hiding. As Corran watched, a squadron of A-Wings tried to repeat Rogue Squadron's run on a Star Destroyer.
They were good, but just not good enough. One by one, they were picked off, either by the Star Destroyer's defensive weapons, or the swarming TIE's. Only a handful survived to fire their proton torpedoes at the shield generators, and the
shields managed to handle the blasts. Corran could imagine their frustration at having fallen just short of success as the survivors were hunted down.
Whistler squealed a warning. Corran looked at his sensor screen. More TIEs were joining the fight. Four more wings, to be exact. This was turning out to be a very bad day.
* * * * *
General Wedge Antillies settled into the command chair of the Star Cruiser Freedom as the rest of the bridge crew, some of who had no idea why they had suddenly been recalled and sent on an emergency mission, streamed into the bridge. Wedge opened a link to the rest of the battle group that was forming around Coruscant. "All right, people, we've got an emergency at Sluis Van. Apparently the Imps have hit the shipyard, and hit it hard. I don't know what the situation is, but I'm assuming the worst, since the distress message was cut off pretty quickly. Let's go."
"Jump computations will be ready in sixty seconds, General."
Wedge nodded. There wasn't much he could do to make the preparations go any faster. He just hoped that Sluis Van could hold on until the relief force arrived.
* * * * *
Daala was satisfied with how things were progressing. The Rebel defending force had taken a pounding, and severe damage had been inflicted on the base itself. If it wasn't for that annoying Rogue Squadron defying all attempts to kill it,
the battle would have been perfect for her. Rogue Squadron had always had a reputation for apparent invincibility, but she had never really believed it.
Until now.
She watched as a full wing of TIEs dived onto them. The X-Wings scattered into pairs, confusing the TIE pilots, who hesitated for a crucial second as they worked out who went after who. That was long enough for the X-Wings to swoop around and savage the formation with laser and proton torpedo fire. All unit cohesion vanished in a nanosecond as the survivors scattered and were hunted down individually by X-Wings operating as pairs. She allowed herself a tight smile as the Escort Frigate the Annihilator was concentrating on exploded.
Rogue Squadron may be invincible, but starfighters by themselves can't win battles against capital ships.
The smile slipped from her face as she watched Rogue Squadron decimate another TIE wing before swooping down on one on her four remaining Imperial-class vessels.
Or can they?
* * * * *
"Okay Rogues, we're going after big game again. How many proton torps have you got left?"
Corran listened as each of the pilots reported in. Incredible. We've lost no-one, and vaped an incredible number of TIEs. The Force is definitely with us today. They had enough proton torpedoes left to dust another capital ship. "Okay
Whistler, pick a ship." An image of the Annihilator appeared on the screen. "Ha, ha, Whistler, very funny. Now pick one that we actually have a chance of killing without getting ourselves killed."
Whistler tooted apologetically, and the image changed to an Imperial-class vessel, along with intercept data. "Send it to the rest of the squadron." He opened a link to the rest of the squadron. "Okay, Rogues, that's our target. Three passes for this one. First two, we pick off the defending fighters, the we go for the big one." He listened as the Rogues acknowledged. The battle may be going badly for the New Republic, but we're doing our bit to keep it alive long enough for help to arrive.
* * * * *
Wing Commander Erisi Dlarit was shaken. The reason: Rogue Squadron was here. The unit she had betrayed during the operation to take Coruscant, and who never forgave or forgot. She had escaped them by the skin of her teeth at Thyferra, and she still had no idea how she had survived when her Interceptor had slammed into Thyferra's largest moon. The last thing that she remembered was the impact of Corran's shots slamming into the rear of her fighter.
She also knew that if the Rogues knew she was here, they would take great delight in hunting her down. Particularly Corran Horn, who was now in command. Which was pretty understandable, considering that she had used her Imperial contacts to try and get Mirax Terrik - her then-rival for Corran's affections, now his wife - killed. If I was in his place, I'd probably do the same thing, she thought, as she chased a fleeing B-Wing into oblivion.
* * * * *
"How much longer until we arrive?"
"ETA is about thirty minutes, General."
Wedge nodded. Not that he could do anything else. There was nothing he could do to make the relief force go any faster. It's not like I can get out and push, Wedge thought as he watched the seconds roll away on the countdown clock. Each
seemed to take a full minute to pass.
* * * * *
Corran pulled the trigger, and an eyeball became vapour. "Okay, Rouges, that's it for the fighters. Now we go for the mamma ship," he said as he brought the X-Wing around in a long, sweeping curve. "One minor change from last time. One Flight is cover. Two Flight is starboard generator. Three Flight, port generator. Let's go."
He watched as the eight X-Wings dove towards their target. "Whistler, see if you can find the com frequency that the Imps are using. I might learn something interesting from it." Whistler tooted, and went silent as he operated the X-Wing's com scanners.
If we can find the frequency, and if Whistler can break the encryption algorithm, we'll be able to get advance warning of what the Imps are planning.
He watched Two and Three Flights dive in and fire their proton torpedoes, with the same results as the last time. "Lead, Two here. We've got company. Twelve squints and twenty-four eyeballs." Just then, the bridge exploded under a hail of
proton torpedoes.
"Rogues, form up. We're going to add to our kill scores," he ordered as he led One Flight towards the TIE Wing, and Two and Three Flights formed up rapidly on either side. Whistler tootled triumphantly as he broke the Imperial encryption
code. "Good work, Whistler. Listen in, and let me know if you find anything interesting."
* * * * *
Erisi watched as the Enforcer's bridge exploded. Just too late. Then her sensors beeped. She glanced at her sensor screen and her eyes widened in amazement as they reported that a squadron of X-Wings was moving towards her wing in
an attack formation. That's gotta be Rogue Squadron. For anyone else this would be a suicidal move. "Break into your pairs," she ordered over the radio, "and cover each other. That's Rogue Squadron, and we've been given a chance to kill them."
The TIEs scattered as the pairs picked targets and moved to engage them. "Two, hang back in cover," Erisi radioed as
she moved to engage a New Republic X-Wing.
* * * * *
As Corran lead Rogue Squadron towards the TIE wing, he noticed that they were breaking into pairs. This bunch is better than the average TIE wing. We've got to be cautious here. "Be careful, Rogues. This lot appears to be better than usual." Just then Whistler squealed and hooted in excitement and agitation. "What is it, Whistler?"
The droid hooted. "I realise you've picked up something of interest, but what?"
One of his data monitors cleared and a picture began to form. That can't be! Corran thought as he recognised the picture even before it was complete. It was a very familiar picture of a very familiar person.
Erisi Dlarit.
I thought we got her at Thyferra! Corran's mind whirled in confusion. He thought hack to that day at Thyferra, when he had watched Erisi's Interceptor slam into Thyferra's largest moon. He switched his comm to the Imperial frequency.
"Erisi, you traitorous bitch, I'm going to take great pleasure in hunting you down and killing you today," he shouted.
"Corran?" he heard Erisi's familiar voice reply.
"The one and only. When you escaped us at Thyferra you only delayed the inevitable."
"And you think you're good enough to get me?" she taunted, some of her old arrogance returning to her voice as she recovered from the shock of hearing Corran's voice again.
"You bet. I was better than you when we were both in Rogue Squadron, and I'm still better than you now." Erisi said nothing. Instead she ordered her wing to change to an alternate frequency and encryption sequence.
Changing the comm frequency back to Rogue Squadron's channel, Corran ordered, "Right, here we go!" as he lead the squadron in a mad charge directly into the middle of the TIE formation, spitting laser fire in a dense pattern in front of
them. The TIEs jinked, but a half-dozen were taken out before they could react. Then the two sides met, and a tangled dogfight began.
Picking out a squint just in front of him, Corran moved into position to engage it, while his wingman hung back to cover. Just as he was about to vape his target, two squints dived on his wingman. "Break, Two!" he shouted into the comm, but it was too late. Rogue Two jinked desperately, but still absorbed most of the hail of fire that was sent its way. With its shields gone, it quickly exploded.
Our first loss, Corran thought savagely, vaping his target before turning on his wingman's killers. Too late to save her, but not too later to avenge her.
* * * * *
Erisi exulted in her kill. Then she noticed that the lead X-Wing had turned around and was attacking her and her wingman. That's Corran! she thought anxiously, as her wingman exploded in a ball of flame. She pulled the trigger, but Corran
managed to somehow dodge most of the fire, with only a few minor hits to his shields. She moved into a position to attack again, but she noticed something that made her pause.
New Republic warships were exiting hyperspace. A lot of them.
Fighters were already boiling from the hangar bays like a swarm of angry insects. A quick glance around the battle area showed that the Imperial fighters had taken heavy losses - A lot of them due to Rogue Squadron, she thought - and were now outnumbered. Just then, her comm beeped. "All fighters, return to your ships. Five minutes until hyperspace jump." Breaking off from her attack, she reefed her Interceptor around in a hard turn and streaked back towards the Annihilator. Time to go.
* * * * *
Daala watched as the New Republic reinforcements flooded into the system.
We've done all we can here. No need to stay any longer. She turned to the nav officer. "How long until the hyperspace computations are complete?"
"Three minutes, Admiral."
Daala nodded. It would be at least six minutes before even the New Republic fighters got within range. She was already deciding where to hit next, tallying up the losses sustained in this battle, when the nav officer's startled squawk made her turn around abruptly. "Admiral! Gravimetric sensors showing a large abnormal gravity shadow! Interdictor cruisers!"
Daala cursed, fluently and vilely. They were in trouble.
* * * * *
Wedge looked on in satisfaction as the rest of his relief force appeared all around him.
Including three Interdictor cruisers, which moved with their escorts to cover the Imperial battle group with their gravity well projectors We've got you now, Daala. He watched as his fighters streaked forward to engage the TIEs, who had been heading back to their ships, but now reversed course as their orders were changed.
"It's about damned time," came a familiar voice over the comm.
"That you, Corran?" Wedge replied, moving to the comm station.
"I thought it might be you, Wedge - oops, sorry, General Antilles, sir." Wedge grinned as he imagined the smirk on Corran's face. "Only a Corellian would do something like this. Oops, sorry. Can't stay and chat. I'm rather busy at the
moment."
* * * * *
Daala was thinking furiously. The advantage has shifted. As things are now, we can't jump out of here. Those Interdictor Cruisers have got to go. She turned to the Annihilator's captain. "Order the Avenger and the Imperium to follow us. We're going after the Rebel Interdictors."
The two Imperial-class vessels broke from the battle formation and followed the Annihilator as it began to move towards the nearest New Republic Interdictor.
* * * * *
Corran was starting to get tired, but he was still determined to get Erisi. Can't let my anger get the best of me, he thought. Don't want to fall victim to the Dark Side. Corran had completed his Jedi training, fulfilling the promise made to Luke Skywalker after the Rogues had broken up the PCF after the liberation of Coruscant. This isn't about revenge. It's about justice.
He took a deep breath, and relaxed fully and relaxed fully into the Force. Filtering through the background sense, he
quickly identified Erisi's squint, and quickly dropped onto her tail. She immediately began throwing her Interceptor around in an attempt to shake him, but to no avail. Dodging a Jedi Knight when he has his mind set on nailing you is near-impossible.
After a short chase, he began to pump laser fire into Erisi's suint, which exploded in a spectacular ball of flames. And no
miraculous escapes for her this time, Corran thought as he returned his full attention to the battle raging all around him.
Voices spilled through his comm. "Break, Four!"
"I can't! He's on me too tight! I need some help here..." The voice was cut off mid-sentence with a squawk of static.
"Watch it, Seven! Two on your tail!"
"Where? Where are they? I can't see them! I can't..."
The realisation hit Corran like a thunderbolt. We've been dogfighting now for near on an hour. We're starting to get tired, and that's allowing the Imps to start killing us. "Watch it, Lead! Three squints heading your way!"
Corran dived back into the Force. A short time later, with all three squints converted into rapidly expanding clouds of debris, Corran checked the status of the squadron. Another one went down while I was dealing with those squints, which means our strength is now eight. Not good, but better off than most, I think.
Then a frantic voice screamed over the emergency frequency. "This is the Interdictor Cruiser Corusca Rainbow! Mayday! Executor-class and two Impstar Deuces headed straight for us! We need help and we need it now!"
Corran didn't need to know where the Corusca Rainbow was. He could see the Annihilator and two Impstars moving. "C'mon Rogues, we gotta help them."
"How, Corran? We don't have any torps left!"
Corran checked his weapon status displays and swore. "We can take down the shield generators so the Interdictor's escorts can do some damage."
"WHAT!?!" came the reply from virtually every surviving Rogue at once.
"Rogue Squadron may be able to do the impossible, but that's a bit much, even for us," one of the Rogues protested.
She's right. Corran realised. He knew that their kills against the capital ships had been largely due to luck. Of course, as a Jedi, I should believe that there's no such thing as luck, just the Force. He thought for a while. If Daala manages to take the Interdictors out of play, she can escape. Trouble is, we don't have anything that can really stop her from doing so.
He quickly scanned the battlefield. Missile and turbolaser salvos were being exchanged between the Annihilator and its two escorts and the New Republic ships. That's how we stopped the Lusankya, Corran remembered. But we took heavy losses doing it. The same was happening here. The focus of the Imperial fire shifted to the Corusca Rainbow as it came within range. Almost immediately, Whistler beeped as he detected the interdiction field coming down. They're not just going after the Rainbow, Corran realised, but after all of our Interdictors.
* * * *
Daala grinned as the interdiction field went down. "Are the hyperspace computations done?" she called out to the nav officer.
"Complete and ready to go, Admiral."
Daala nodded. "Go to hyperspace. We've done all we can here."
The surviving ships of Daala's strike fleet went into hyperspace, leaving behind a destroyed base and a New Republic force that had taken heavy losses.
* * * *
Corran wiped a hand across a sweaty brow as he was escorted to Wedge's quarters aboard the Freedom. That fight must have taken more out of me than I thought.
As they reached the door, the escorting officer pressed a button on the wall. "Yes?"
"Excuse me, sir, but Colonel Horn is here to see you."
"Very well. Send him in."
When Corran walked through the door, he was surprised by who he saw. What is this, a Rogue Squadron reunion? he though as he recognised Tycho Celchu, Gavin Darklighter, Asyr Sei'lar, Inyri Forge, Rhysati Ynr, and Pash Craken.
He walked over to shake Wedge's hand. "Wedge, it's been far too long."
"Likewise, Corran."
"I hope you don't take offence, but I've gotta say that scrapping the astromechs in the X-wings was a really dumb move. What made you do that?"
"That was something that was brought home to me in a big way when detonators were found in the new computers. Never mind that, though. I'm glad to see you survived. Too many didn't."
"Yeah, that was something I noticed on my way in."
"And the Rogues lived up to their reputation once again, I see. Two Impstar Deuces and a Victory-class. Plus however many TIEs you racked up. Very well done."
"Zraii's gonna use up a lot of paint adding them to our X-wings." Corran grinned. "Tell me, something, Wedge. Is the Corrupter still on your X-wing?"
"You bet. How many kills did you get out there today?"
"I'd have to ask Whistler for the exact number, but it was somewhere in the vicinity of twenty to thirty. And speaking of, you'll never guess who I ran into out there."
Wedge's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"Erisi."
A cold silence filled the room. "Hang on," Tycho said. "Erisi, as in Erisi Dlarit? That Erisi?"
Corran nodded. "As hard as it seems to believe, yes."
"Hang on a minute," Asyr interjected. "You shot her down at Thyferra. Most of us saw her Interceptor crash into Thyferra's largest moon."
"I know, Asyr, I couldn't believe it myself. But Whistler made a positive ID on her voiceprint. If it wasn't Erisi, it was someone whose voice had exactly the same voiceprint."
Asyr shook her head. "I still can't believe it."
"Yeah, but she ain't gonna make another miraculous escape unless someone goes around and picks up all the pieces. And very small pieces they're gonna be. But never mind that. What have you all been up to since I saw you all last?"
They were in the thick of bringing each other up to date on each other's activities, when the comm chirped. "Excuse me," Wedge said to the others. "Antillies."
"Sorry to interrupt, General, but we've got an unidentified ship coming into the system." Wedge heard an audible gulp over the comm. "It's an Impstar Deuce... but there's something strange about the power levels. It doesn't appear to have most of its weapons." The puzzlement was obvious in the young tech's voice. "One moment... its transponders identify it as the Errant Venture."
Everyone in the room laughed at that. "It seems Booster can't stay out of the action," Wedge commented lightly. "Open a channel. Full visual."
"Yessir. Channel open now, sir. Full audio-visual engaged."
"Booster, you old pirate. It seems you can't stay away, can you?"
The face that appeared in the holo field wasn't that of Booster Terrik, though. "Nice guess, Wedge, but wrong. Oh, by the way, allow me to pass on belated congratulations on you being promoted to General."
"Thanks, Mirax. And does your father know you've borrowed the Star Destroyer?"
Mirax laughed lightly and glanced around furtively. "Do you promise not to tell?" she asked with a grin.
"Mirax, if your father hasn't noticed that it's missing, then he should have his eyes checked." Wedge noticed Corran standing just outside the transceiver's field of view frantically trying to get his attention and grinned. "I think there's someone here who wants to talk to you," he said, gesturing to Corran for him to step forward.
"Corran! When I saw all those wrecks as I was coming in, I thought..." Mirax's voice trailed off, unable to voice her worst fears.
Corran smiled gently. "Well, I'm not, so you don't have to worry about a thing."
Just then, Wedge's secondary comm screen lit up. "Message from NRDF Headquarters, sir. Both Colonel Horn and yourself are to report to Coruscant as soon as possible for debriefing."
"Understood, Lieutenant. Have the nav section carry out the hyperspace computations immediately," Wedge told the comm officer.
"Right away, sir," the officer said, and cut the signal. Wedge turned to the other comm screen, where Corran and Mirax were deep in conversation. "I'm sorry to have to break this up, but Corran is needed back at Coruscant for debriefing. If you want, Mirax, you can follow us and continue this conversation after Corran is finished with the debriefers."
Mirax nodded. "Okay. I'm not particularly happy about it, but I suppose, I've got to put up with it."
* * * *
At a remote region of the galaxy, Admiral Daala was also conducting a debriefing. "I believe we've accomplished our mission of diverting the Rebels from Admiral Pellaeon's mission. Therefore, in accordance with his orders, I will now take us to Earth, to reinforce his fleet."
She looked down the table at her assembled ship commanders. Not as many here as there were for the last briefing, she thought. Although they had inflicted heavy losses on the Rebels, they had taken significant casualties themselves. She had only three Victory-class and one Imperial class vessels, plus the Annihilator. Most of her fighters had also been destroyed, too. If they stayed here, they would only be hunted down and killed, for little or no gain. Definitely time to go.
The captain of the Imperium, her last remaining Imperial-class, spoke up. "Admiral, do we have enough supplies for such an extended voyage? From my understanding, the voyage to Terra would take four to six months."
Daala grimaced. It was a good question, and deserved an honest answer. "No, we don't. Therefore, we are going to have to stop at one of the Core worlds and stock up."
The Imperium's captain nodded. It was the answer he had been expecting.
* * * *
"And that's when the relief force arrived."
Corran was giving his account of the Battle of Sluis Van. He was feeling slightly intimidated, for the debriefers not only included Admiral Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defence Forces, but General Han Solo, and most
intimidating of all, the Commander-in-Chief, President Leia Organa Solo. Not even after the liberation of Thyferra did we have such a high-level audience.
President Organa Solo spoke up. "You were saying, Colonel, that Rogue Squadron managed to take out three capital ships?"
"Yes, Madame President."
The President smiled. "Once again, Rogue Squadron lives up to its reputation." She turned to Wedge and asked, "What happened after you arrived, General?"
"I deployed the Interdictors assigned to me to cover the Imp battle group with the gravity well projectors, and ordered all ships to launch fighters. We started shooting at Imp ships, they started shooting at us, and then Daala started going after the Interdictors. She managed to kill two of them, and the surviving one took off, and the Imp fleet took off into hyperspace. Simplified, but that's what happened."
"And what sort of losses did you take, General?"
As Wedge began to list the losses suffered by both the Sluis Van garrison and the New Republic relief force, Corran began to think about where Daala could have gone. There was a very short list of options, with Byss being at the top of the list, and the Core systems filling out the rest of the list. His attention was brought back to the debriefing when the President said, "I think it's safe to say that we were lucky in this one. If Rogue Squadron hadn't been at the shipyards, the
battle would have been over a lot quicker with a rather different result. Another New Republic Presidential Unit Citation would be in order for such courage."
Corran didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. And with that, the debriefing was over.
As Corran and Wedge stood to leave, Corran said to Wedge, "Mirax and I are going to find a tapcafe to get some lunch. You're welcome to join us if you want."
"Thanks, Corran. I just might take you up on that offer."
* * * *
Byss. Throne world of the Emperor Palpatine, and the staging ground from where the resurrected Emperor had launched his forces in his effort to regain control of the galaxy. After the final death of Palpatine, and the destruction of both the Galaxy Gun and the Eclipse, Byss' importance had steadily dwindled, until it had become little more than a backwater, with fond memories of its time of importance in galactic affairs.
This was where Daala had come to gather supplies for her trip to Terra. Normally, this would be a suicidal move, as
Byss used to be one of the most heavily fortified planets in the galaxy. But successive warlords had systematically stripped Byss of its defences, until only a skeleton defence was left. So, when Daala had appeared with the remnants of her strike fleet, she was able to intimidate the planet's rulers into giving her enough supplies to complete her journey.
* * * *
"Admiral, I have an update for you."
Daala turned to see the commander of the Annihilator, who was also filling the role of Executive Officer for the strike feet, standing behind her. "Yes, Colonel Cresmin?"
"After reorganising the TIE wings, I have been able to give each of our vessels three-quarters of their normal complements. We have also been able to recruit from the surface to replace casualties suffered during the battle. Each vessel's XO has given me a training program which they plan to implement while we are in hyperspace."
"Excellent, Colonel. How is the provisioning going?"
Cresmin checked his datapad. "On schedule. We should be fully stocked with an adequate reserve within 72 hours."
Daala nodded in approval. Cresmin had proved himself to be an excellent officer and more than adequate for the role of XO. She'd been blessed with her seconds-in-command in the past. First Kratas, then Pellaeon and Cronus, and now Cresmin. More than once, she had wondered what would have happened if more officers had been like him. She had heard the stories about what had happened after the Executor had died at Endor, killing most of the Empire's best junior and mid-level officers. If they had survived...
She shook off that train of thought. It was in the past, and there was no point on dwelling on might-have-beens. She had a mission to complete, and she would put 150% into completing it. Cresmin was still standing before her, waiting for any new orders. "Carry on, Colonel."
Cresmin saluted and left to complete his tasks.
* * * *
"So Mirax, how has your father been keeping himself occupied these days?"
Corran, Mirax and Wedge were discussing various topics over lunch. Suddenly, a shadow fell over the table. All three spun around to see Luke standing in front of them. "I thought I might find you here, Wedge."
"Master Skywalker!" Corran said, surprised. Damn. I should have been able to sense him coming.
Don't worry, Corran. Over the years, I've learned how to make myself invisible to the Force.
Thanks.
"Luke!" Wedge said. "It's been a long time."
"Indeed it has, Wedge. Mind if I join you?"
"No, of course not," Corran said. Luke pulled up a chair and sat down. The conversation turned to current events.
"I hear Rogue Squadron covered itself with glory at Sluis Van," Luke said. "Two Impstar Deuces and a Victory-class. Impressive."
Corran made a depreciating gesture. "We got lucky." He held up a hand to forestall Luke. "I know, 'there's no such thing as luck, just the Force', but we were lucky. Lucky to get the kills we did, and lucky to have only suffered fairly light losses."
"Light?" Mirax asked. "I'd hardly call one-third 'light'."
"Yeah, but I saw three squadrons wiped out completely, and overall fighter losses were about three-quarters. I'd say we were lucky."
"Luke, I've heard about Pellaeon finding mission data from the Outbound Flight project. I've also heard about his plans for using it. Do you know what the New republic's response is going to be?" Wedge asked.
"No idea, Wedge. This situation is going to be even more of a tangled mess than the Black Fleet Crisis a few years back. At least those events were happening on our borders, rather than in another galaxy," Luke replied
"A tangled mess, indeed," Mirax observed.
"Actually, I was thinking about going to Terra with a few Jedi to see what assistance we could offer," Luke said.
"Trolling for volunteers, Luke?" Corran asked with a grin.
"Not particularly, Corran. And I wouldn't think of asking you anyway."
"Why not?" Corran asked indignantly.
Luke pointed at Mirax. "Reason number one. And the second reason is your duties to the Fleet. You're the CO of Rogue Squadron. I wouldn't ask you to give that up."
"Okay, I see your point. First, Mirax would probably insist on coming with us." Mirax nodded at that. Corran continued, "And also, I could probably pull a few strings and have Rogue Squadron released for assignment with you. Wouldn't it be nice to have an elite squadron of starfighters with you?"
"I'm forced to admit that the concept is attractive." Luke looked at Wedge. "What do you think?"
"I agree with you, Luke. And as commander of the Starfighter Corps, I can cut those orders. The only remaining hurdle is getting them past the President, but..."
"But since the President is my sister, I can persuade her," Luke finished.
Corran grinned. "Nice to see we can work things out so quickly. Where do I submit my wish list? I feel it's fair to warn you that it's going to be fairly lengthy."
"To me, Corran. Right here, right now, if you want," Wedge said.
Corran thought for a while. "Two squadron's worth of X-wings. A lot of spare parts for when they break. Reloads of proton torpedoes, and lots of them. X-wing and TIE simulators, twelve of each, for training on the way. That's basically it for now, but I'll let you know if I come up with anything else."
Wedge nodded. "I'll get the Quartermaster section working on it as soon as possible."
Mirax leaned forward. "It also sounds like you'll need a ship to take you there," she said with an impish grin.
Corran sat up abruptly. "You mean the Errant Venture?" Seeing Mirax nod, he continued, "Mirax, what is your father going to say? I don't think he'd be too impressed if you borrowed the Star Destroyer for as long as this trip is going to
take."
"I simply won't ask him, I'll just tell him and let him deal with it from there."
"That isn't something that I want to be around to see," Corran said with a shudder. "Anyway, I've got to go ask my pilots if they want to come. With the voyage being as long as it is, it'll be a volunteer-only mission."
"Knowing the Rogues like I do," said Mirax, "I won't be too surprised if everyone volunteers."
"That's probably what's going to happen," Corran said in agreement.
* * * *
"I honestly don't know why you're asking me, Luke. The Jedi Order doesn't fall under the authority of the New Republic government."
"The Jedi Order doesn't," Luke agreed. "But Rogue Squadron does, and they've volunteered to accompany me to Terra. That's why I'm asking you."
Leia nodded, scrolling through a report produced by the NRDF Planning and Operations Directorate stating which forces should be sent to Terra. She still had to get that plan through the Senate, which wasn't something she looked forward to, given the twin facts that it had taken a lot of cajoling to send the Fleet into Koornacht and former Imperials now represented a lot of the New Republic's member worlds. "How are you going to get to Terra, Luke? The Jedi Academy doesn't have any ships large enough for the supplies that you're going to need, or to hold a squadron of X-wings."
"That's been taken care of. The wife of Rogue Squadron's commanding officer has offered her ship."
"How big is it?"
"Big enough. It's an Impstar Deuce."
Leia's jaw dropped. "How did she get hold of one of those?"
"It surrendered to her father during Rogue Squadron's private war against Ysanne Isard."
Leia nodded again. "I see you have everything figured out. I can see no reason why Rogue Squadron shouldn't be allowed to go with you."
"Thanks, Leia."
"One thing dealt with. Now all I have to do is to get my assistance package for Terra through the Senate."
Luke shuddered. "I don't even want to think about that."
* * * *
It was time. Admiral Daala settled into the command chair of the Annihilator and nodded at Colonel Cresmin. "Let's be on our way, Colonel."
"As you order, Admiral."
Stars flared into starlines as the task force leapt into hyperspace, on its way to Terra and to join up with Pellaeon's fleet.