Chapter 4

The three comrades had prep'd their respective craft and were powering them up. Jobe had unearthed several flight suits and they had quickly changed into them, helmets tucked under their arms.

Biggs gathered his two new friends close to him, giving Jobe and Charii some pointers about the craft they were flying before they took off. Even though Charii was an experienced pilot, she was impressed by Biggs's quick study of the spacecraft and their control systems. He was a natural.

When he had finished, she asked, "We still don't know where the new rebel base is. Where are we heading?"

Biggs smiled, patting the S-foil of his X-wing affectionately. "With the help of my new friend here, I think an old friend might be persuaded to help us. But we have to hurry." Looking up suddenly, he spotted the silhouetted figures of two stormtroopers in the hangar's exit above them. Pulling out his blaster, he shot at them, his blasts careening into the darkening sky behind them.

Charii quickly joined him and they soon had downed the two troopers.

"It's time to go!" he shouted.

Jobe was already in his cockpit, the cover closing above him. But Charii hesitated before climbing into her own ship. "Biggs, in case we don't make it..." And she kissed him.

Biggs' heart skipped a beat, his head in a turmoil. But Charii smiled and scampered up her entry ladder, leaving him behind with a smile on his face. He soon ran around to his own ladder and leapt up several rungs.

The three ships took off, shooting out the hangar exit into the twilight sky. More stormtroopers had now arrived, but their blasts had no effect on the craft as they rushed off into the night.

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Xander stood watching the screen as the tiny blips came up from the planet. It could only be the rebel ships as the only craft he had on the surface was the shuttle he'd sent with the ground squad. He gripped his sabre tightly as he realized the troopers had failed to reach the survivors in time. He stalked back to his captain's chair and ordered the Fierce to intercept them.

The Fierce's engines flared as the scout ship accelerated towards the incoming rebels. "And send those last two TIE fighters after them as well," he commanded. "This time they are ordered to annihilate them!"

The command was sent to the TIEs who were barely halfway back to the Fierce. They instantly reversed course and sped towards the three rebel ships.

Biggs, Charii and Jobe had just left the atmosphere of Dantooine when they spotted the TIEs coming straight for them. They altered their course slightly to allow more time before the TIEs reached them. But it wasn't enough for them to be able to jump into hyperspace safely, and the TIEs were soon on them.

Biggs ordered, "You two make sure your deflector shields are up. Charii, I want you to stick with Jobe. Keep on your current heading. I'll see what I can do with these fighters." They acknowledged and he peeled off from their formation, hoping to attract the attention of the two TIEs.

It worked briefly as both TIEs took after him, but one quickly returned to pursuing the others as Biggs lead the first one away. The first TIE had come in fast and was creeping up on Biggs. It started sending salvo after salvo at his X-wing, but he managed to avoid any direct hits by constantly ducking and diving the ship.

Biggs lead the TIE for a few moments more before wrenching hard on his controls and reversing his thrust at full power. The TIE, unprepared for such a manoeuvre, suddenly found itself in front of Biggs' X-wing, four laser cannons shooting into its engine. The TIE exploded into a ball of superheated gases and tiny particles of metal.

"Got him!" reported Biggs, "I'm on my way to you. What's your status?"

Jobe replied fearfully, "He's coming right behind me! Almost in range! I can't seem to shake him! Mr Biggs, what do I do?"

Biggs watched the fight from a distance, his engines up to maximum sublight speed in an attempt to help his friend. But it was clear he'd never make it in time. "Charii, are you there? Can you intercept?" Then suddenly he spotted her ship, the X-wing coming in from a high angle, straight at the TIE fighter. She let loose a torrent of laser fire and the TIE disintegrated before it had a chance to shoot at Jobe.

"Nice trick, Charii. Good shooting," congratulated Biggs as he finally swept back into formation with the other two.

"Yes, thanks Charii," agreed Jobe. "You had me worried there for a moment."

That was for the Lady Diver, she thought to herself, smiling tightly as bits of the TIE's debris flared against her shields.

Charii's onboard computer then alerted her and the others of another ship coming at them. "It looks like an Imperial scout ship," she said. "Must be where our friends came from."

The Fierce was soon close enough to open fire. It had several medium power turbo lasers and wasted no time, firing as soon as it was within range of the rebel fighters. One blast managed to score a hit on Jobe's Y-wing, causing the craft to start tumbling wildly out of control. The accountant inside tried desperately to compensate.

"Jobe!" cried Charii as yet another blast glanced off his ship while she looked on helplessly.

The Fierce concentrated its fire on the spinning Y-wing, eager to pick off the weakest foe first. As they got closer and closer, the effect of their hits increased. A few more and they'd have one less rebel to worry about.

But Biggs wasn't about to let that happen. "Charii, follow me. We have to attack them," he said calmly, belying the worry and sickness he felt.

"Where - are - you - going?" Jobe cried as he span helplessly, fighting with his controls. His deflector shields were still up and functioning, but weakening alarmingly as the shots got stronger and stronger.

"To take out that ship," Biggs said. Charii and he banked sharply and accelerated at the Fierce.

Captain Xander watched as the two X-wing's started coming straight at them. Blast, he thought, just when we had one floundering. "Concentrate your fire on those two fighters. We'll finish the other off shortly," he smirked, adding, "It's so nice of them to come within range like that."

The two X-wings were no easy target, however. The two pilots easily avoided the Fierce's fire coming in closer and closer to the scout ship. But neither was firing, they just kept coming closer and closer.

Xander felt a tingling down his spine as his instinct told him something was about to happen; something bad.

Biggs and Charii swept in towards the Fierce. As they drew close, Biggs fired his proton torpedoes into the side of the scout ship. Moments later, Charii did the same, scoring hits alongside Biggs'. The powerful weapons exploded brilliantly, sending the Fierce sideways. A vivid blue flash coursed across the Fierce, the shock wave actually rippling the hull down one side. Many of the ship's plates were ripped up; hatchways popped out of their hinges and several observation windows shattered.

The ship buckled under the impact of the blast. Alarm claxons sounded immediately, but were lost in the deafening sounds of multiple explosions throughout the ship. The crew tumbled inside, tossed about like rag dolls, many killed as they collided with colleagues and control panels alike. Many parts of the ship lost their gravity generators, leaving crew members stranded in mid air, bleeding and choking on their own blood. In at least four separate locations, the Fierce was breached, losing much of its atmosphere to space. Some crew members were blown out of the ship by the escaping air, flailing wildly for a moment before their bodies puffed out and split apart.

And yet the bridge remained intact. Captain Xander regained his feet and his composure, assessing the ship's status while his remaining crew attempted to control the badly damaged ship. He struggled back to his chair, throwing aside a small lighting panel that had landed there. He sat as the crew appraised him of the damage. To his surprised, they informed him that weapons and engine control systems were still online. He silently thanked Imperial engineering.

"Take us about!" he ordered loudly.

Biggs and Charii had circled about the stricken vessel, hoping they had damaged it sufficiently to stop it from pursuing them. But as the Fierce slowly began to turn towards them, they soon realized it was far from dead. The Imperial ship's turbo lasers started to fire at them once more and they were forced to manoeuvre away.

Biggs communicated to Charii, "Do you have any more proton torpedoes? I'm out!"

She replied, "No, Biggs. I think the ships had just one salvo each."

"We need to hit that ship again." He paused a moment, thinking, then continued, "Jobe? I need you to do something."

"Yes, Mr Biggs. I'm coming. I have those torpedoes you were after." His voice was determined, though strained.

Biggs nodded to himself, pleased with the young accountant's attitude. "We'll distract the ship; you come at it from the rear. I suspect they're running almost blind after that hit. You should be ok."

"Aye sir," he replied. This is for you, Neville. He swung the Y-wing in a tight curve, adjusting his trajectory until all he could see was the Fierce's engine exhaust. He then applied full throttle and kept the ship on a simple straight line course at his target.

Charii took the lead as she and Biggs feinted again and again, keeping the Fierce guessing as to where they were heading. The turbo laser blasts seemed to be getting more accurate as they both took glancing blows from the high powered discharges.

Come on, Jobe she thought as she wondered how long she could keep this up. Barrel rolling her X-wing, she had to quickly change tactics as a blast came perilously close to her cockpit window. Biggs' ship then did a slow turn, deliberately offering an easy target to the Fierce, but he quickly made small alterations to his path so that the turbos never quite managed to score a hit.

"Thanks, Biggs," she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Anytime, Charii," then to Jobe, "How close are you, Jobe?"

The former Imperial accountant still sounded strained on the comlink, "Almost there. Stand by." And then in a louder voice, "There they go!"

Jobe's ship went charging past the Fierce, the two proton torpedoes launched dangerously late. But each torpedo found its target. More brilliant blue explosions followed, ripping the ship almost in two. One of the Fierce's engines erupted and purged itself, emitting vast quantities of deadly energy throughout the ship.

A minor chain reaction followed; the ship billowed smoke, plasma and liquid metal that all quickly erupted or ignited in the vacuum of space. It was a spectacular yet eerie sight.

The three fighters once again circled the Fierce. It was obviously crippled beyond repair this time. In fact, it was just a matter of time before it totally disintegrated or exploded from the release of some much energy stored within.

Biggs signalled the others, "We can't wait any longer. They're finished." Making sure they all had the same jump co-ordinates, he led them away from the burning Fierce and jumped into hyperspace.

The stricken, broken Fierce slowly started drifting towards Dantooine as the planet's gravity took hold.

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Xander lay pinned under a huge support strut that had been torn from the wall of the bridge and smashed across him and the captain's chair he sat in. His body was broken and battered; one eye was a ruin and he couldn't feel anything below his waist.

No one else seemed to be alive on the bridge. He idly wondered if he was the only survivor left aboard. How fitting, the captain going down with his ship. He laughed at himself, but the movement caused a shot of pain to stab at him, and he almost blacked out.

It was then that he realized he still had his light sabre in his hand. Amazing, even after being tossed about and smashed and crushed that he hadn't lost it. Its cylindrical form, simple and elegant, rolled between his fingers as he'd done countless times over the years since Tarkin had first given it to him.

He lay there for what seemed an eternity. He had no concept of time. But he never heard another man made sound and felt sure that he was indeed the only survivor of the Fierce. If you could call this surviving, he laughed while his thoughts turned darker. His hand gripped the sabre more tightly.

Lifting the ancient weapon slowly and agonizingly, he placed the end against his temple. His body protested at the effort and his hand shook as he waited for the courage to flip the switch and end his life. He felt cold, and yet he sweated profusely, the sweat entering his eyes and making him blink. Something caught his eye; a light on the communication console.

In all the destruction, something still worked. And he was sure that the light had not been blinking before! Dismissing his suicidal thoughts, he turned the sabre aside and ignited the blade. Slowly and carefully he used the old weapon as a cutting tool and sliced through the strut that held him pinned. The heat was intense as the metal compound melted and spat fiery globs across him, but her persevered. Once that was done, he pushed the pieces off his chest and made an attempt to get up, but quickly found his legs refused to obey.

With a new found inner strength, Xander dragged himself across the floor to the comm station. Reaching up, he managed to get hold of a secondary comlink and switched it on.

"... alive? Is anyone there? Repeat, this is Corporal TK-1091 on board the Imperial shuttle Dagger. Fierce, do you read me? Is any one alive?"

Captain Xander breathed a silent sigh of relief before ordering the shuttle to dock and pick him up. The corporal was obviously not used to dealing directly with the captain and told Xander, "After the rebels took off and we received no further communications from the Fierce, we decided to fly the Dagger into orbit and see what was happening."

He paused as he thought something through, "That was my decision. The sergeant was killed down there when we tried to prevent them taking off, and I wasn't sure what to do. But we saw those fighters attack the Fierce and run away. Cowards!"

Xander, listening absently, interrupted the trooper. "Did you happen to calculate their destination?"

The corporal replied, "Yes, sir! I wasn't sure if I was meant to, but it seemed like I should."

Xander smiled to himself and responded to the corporal, "Excellent, Sergeant TK-1091. Excellent."

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Biggs had Charii and Jobe follow him closely as they approached the merchant ship in the distance. She was a large ship, but had little in the way of weapons or defences. Nonetheless, Biggs wasn't about to take any chances with this encounter. Too much rested on it being successful.

The three fighters came at the ship from behind, just as Jobe had with the Fierce. But they weren't about to attack. Not yet; not unless they had to. But the ship was not incapacitated as the Fierce had been and soon detected the rebels approaching. The few laser cannons able to target the fighters did so, but none fired immediately. Instead, the ship broadcast a warning.

"Starfighters, this is Rand Ecliptic. We have you locked in our sights. Cease your approach and identify yourselves."

Biggs grinned to himself. He'd found them! And not a moment too soon. The Rand Ecliptic had just entered the Bestine system and was on an approach vector to the shipyards. If he'd arrived any later, the Rand Ecliptic would have been too close to approach. As it was, he'd timed it perfectly. No other craft were within range, but if the Ecliptic signalled Bestine, they could have company very soon. It was tight, but it was the best he could hope for.

Biggs steered his craft slightly further to the starboard side of the Ecliptic as Charii did the same to the port side, while Jobe went down lower. Each ship stayed rear of the Ecliptic, maintaining a triangle shaped formation with a clear view of the merchant ship's engines in their sights.

Biggs then announced, "Rand Ecliptic, this is Biggs Darklighter. You are out gunned and out manoeuvred. We have our proton torpedoes locked on your engines and will fire if you do not comply. Surrender your vessel immediately."

A moment later a different voice responded to the rebels, "This is Captain Heliesk of the Ecliptic. Darklighter? Aren't you one of my new officers? What do you think you're playing at?"

"Captain Heliesk," Biggs replied, "This is no game. Please surrender your vessel or be destroyed. This is your last warning."

Heliesk came back at Biggs, "Darklighter, this is ludicrous. You know we will not surrender. The Empire will eventually put down this rebellion and you will be executed for treason, if not killed in battle. However, if you power down your weapons and surrender to me, I will do my best to protect you. You were one of my most promising new officers, the Empire would be foolish to waste you."

Biggs cursed under his breath. Before he could reply, he received a ship-to-ship communication from Charii. "Biggs, I don't think he's buying your bluff. Can he tell we have no torpedoes left? I think we should leave now before another Imperial ship arrives!" She sounded scared and he couldn't blame her.

"I'm not sure they can tell our ordinance or not. But I have one last option to try before we give up. Our last hope for contacting the Alliance in time is onboard that ship." Biggs switched back to the Ecliptic. "Captain, give me one minute to explain my actions. I know you are a reasonable man and what I'm about to tell you will hopefully persuade you to surrender."

Heliesk replied momentarily, "I doubt that, Darklighter. But you have one minute before this communication ceases and I stop being 'reasonable'."

Biggs took a breath and told Captain Heliesk of the destruction of Alderaan. He described the space station that fired on the planet and the devastating power it wielded.

"Alderaan was a peaceful planet, Captain. Millions of innocent people died at the whim of the Emperor. You can't tell me you support that kind of murder?" Biggs pleaded.

"Stand by," Heliesk said. A minute later his shaky voice sounded across the comm signal, "I've just checked our flight log. We were scheduled to fly to Alderaan in the coming weeks. But now that log has changed. I can find no references to Alderaan for us, or any other vessel I have access to. Surely no one could do..." His voice faded.

Biggs waited for him to continue, but when the Captain did not speak for quite a while, Biggs enquired, "Do you now surrender, Captain? Will you join us in fighting this tyranny?"

Heliesk spoke, seemingly ignoring Biggs' question, his voice soft and distant "I had family on Alderaan, did you know that, Darklighter?"

"No sir, I did not. I'm sorry," he replied weakly.

Then Heliesk said in a stronger voice, "This is Captain Heliesk of the Rand Ecliptic. I hereby surrender this vessel to you. However, I cannot say the same for my crew. Although many are loyal to me and will join this new cause, others are staunch Imperialists and will never surrender."

Jobe spoke up for the first time in a while, "The guns have removed their lock on us, Mr Biggs! You did it!"

"Captain, I accept your surrender. And I thank you. But time is of the essence and I must ask you to connect me with Derek Klivian, my Executive Officer."

"Yes... sir," Heliesk said awkwardly. But less than a few minutes later, Biggs was greeted by his friend's voice.

"Biggs! You scoundrel, how did you do it?" came the voice of 'Hobbie' Klivian, "The Captain is going through the ship finding supporters as we speak. I don't believe it!"

Biggs almost laughed at the unusually chirpy voice of his friend, but he soon took the sweetness out of the reunion when he told Hobbie of the destruction of Alderaan.

"Damn, Biggs. When Harkin returned without you from Tatooine, I thought you were surely lost. But there you are, having your own adventure in the stars, trying to save the galaxy! But to see Alderaan destroyed like that... Stars!"

Narec Harkin! Biggs had almost forgotten about him. He had to interrupt his friend, "Hobbie, Narec set me up. He can't be trusted. You have to find him before he does something to ruin this!"

Hobbie replied, "Will do, Biggs," and broke the link to command a search for Harkin. "I thought it strange when he told me you were arrested at Dalrath 159. I couldn't believe it. And then he tried to be 'nice' to me and started asking about my feelings towards the Alliance and how he'd like to 'take sides' with them. It was just too much of a change in character. So I didn't recruit him."

"Thank the stars," Biggs said.

Biggs filled Hobbie in on the events leading up to the present. The escape from custody at Dalrath 159; their rescuing of Jand Dorric at Alderaan; the message from Princess Leia and subsequent discovery of the ships at Dantooine; and the battle against the Fierce.

He finished the story just as Captain Heliesk returned to the bridge of the Rand Ecliptic. The Captain then reported to Biggs that he had rounded up all the dedicated Imperials and put them into a small transport craft that they'd leave behind.

"I'm having its communications and drive systems disabled. We'll let them leave just as we depart this system. With only their manoeuvring thrusters to power them, it should take several days for them to reach Bestine."

"Good work, Captain," Biggs commended. "Is Narec Harkin among them?"

The captain thought a moment, "No, I don't remember seeing him." The line went silent before he continued, "Klivian says they have been unable to locate him. Search parties are now looking."

Blast it, thought Biggs. With Narec loose aboard the ship, anything could happen.

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Meanwhile, aboard the Rand Ecliptic, the man everyone wanted to find, but no one could locate, stayed hidden behind a maintenance panel at the rear of the vessel. Narec Harkin tried to stay perfectly still as several search parties went down the corridor he was hidden in. Fortunately for him, none had thought to check the seldom opened panels, but it was only a matter of time before they did.

As he waited for the footsteps of the latest party to recede, he cursed his luck at the turn in events. Even though he'd been unsuccessful at infiltrating the traitors on the Ecliptic, he'd planned on following them when they jumped ship anyway. That way, he'd still be able to find the rebel base and eventually betray their location to the Empire. But that blasted Darklighter had escaped! And his plans were in ruins.

And now the Captain was on their side as well, going through the crew offering them a choice of rebellion or Empire. He'd managed to eavesdrop on one such conversation, listening to the captain as he said they'd put the Imperials into a ship of their own and leave behind when they left.

What garbage! As soon as they launched, the ship would be blown to pieces. He was sure of it. It's what he'd do, after all.

No, he thought, if I can get off this ship intact, I can signal the Empire's forces at Bestine before they fly off.

The corridor was soon silent, and he pushed the panel back and stepped out. He made his way cautiously through the ship, avoiding any crew that came his way. It took him some time to reach his destination, having to take such an indirect route, but he finally arrived undetected.

With a quick motion, he popped open the hatch of the escape pod and leapt inside.

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Captain Xander and the Imperial shuttle Dagger watched the three rebel fighters and the merchant ship on their long range sensors for what seemed like hours, but was clearly much less. In that time, the ships had remained motionless, having come to a stop not long after the starfighters had hailed the merchant.

The Dagger was unable to listen in on the conversation between the rebels and the Imperial merchant ship, but it was obvious that the merchant was a traitor as well when it made no attempt to fight the smaller craft or signal for help.

He grinned mirthlessly to himself. Just makes the decision that much easier, he thought.

Xander sat in the co-pilot's seat, his body covered in medical packages that tried to maintain his failing system. He was dying, he was sure of that. Without extensive and immediate help, he would perish within an hour or two. He'd had the medic from the trooper squad disable the alarms from the medical packages when they refused to be silent. Under normal circumstances, he would have been taken to a bacta tank and immersed for days. That was what the alarms were trying to say; they could not cope with his extensive injuries. Even a bacta tank might not have been enough.

The dying Captain stared out the cockpit window where he imagined the other ships to be and said to the man piloting the Dagger, "I want you to jump this ship as close as you can to those rebels."

The pilot, who'd been afraid to utter a single word to the Captain since they'd rescued him, replied, "Aye, sir." Consulting the navicomputer several times as he computed the difficult jump, he finally input several long digit numbers into the machine and announced, "We're ready, Captain."

Xander said quietly, "Go." And the Dagger leapt forward into hyperspace.

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Biggs Darklighter waited impatiently in his X-wing. Narec should have been found by now. But his traitorous ex-comrade was cunning and resourceful, he had to give him that. Biggs was about to ask again if there was any sign of the man, when Hobbie Klivian pre-empted him with a communication.

"Biggs, we've just be alerted to an escape pod being activated. It has to be Harkin."

An escape pod! Of course, thought Biggs. "Can you shut it down, Hobbie?"

"Negative, Biggs. They have an autonomous system. But I can tell you where he'll be launching from and you can try and intercept him."

Biggs nodded to himself and went to alert Charii and Jobe, "Look out for a - " But at that very moment, the Dagger re-entered normal space almost directly on top of Biggs' ship.

"What the - " he exclaimed.

The distortion effect of the Dagger returning from hyperspace that close was enough to send the smaller fighter craft spinning away helplessly. Jobe and Charii found themselves equally vulnerable as their ships were hit by the ripple in space. Even the larger Rand Ecliptic began to list to one side, alarm claxons sounding within.

Xander was pleased with the effect his entrance made and took control of the Dagger. He pointed the ship directly at the Ecliptic, and applied his thrusters. The Dagger accelerated towards the flailing merchant ship, but it could not escape at such closer range.

The pilot at his side found the courage to say, "Captain! You're going to hit them!"

Xander coughed as he tried to reply. Blood sprayed across the cockpit window and his vision blurred momentarily. But he managed to rasp out, "Precisely," and applied full power.

It was at that exact moment that Narec Harkin launched his escape pod from Rand Ecliptic. It sped out along its exit tube and cleared the ship. Narec, unaware of the Dagger closing in, applied his own thrusters to try and avoid any fire he might receive from the laser cannons of the Ecliptic or the fighter craft of Darklighter and his cohorts.

The two craft were headed directly at one another. The escape pod collided into the cockpit of the Dagger. The durable structure of the pod, designed to survive planetfall, allowed it to penetrate deep into the Imperial shuttle. Xander and the other occupants of the shuttle died instantly, crushed and pulverized by the kinetic energy of the collision. No one ever saw the look of shock on Xander's face.

Narec Harkin, protected by the escape pod, survived for another second longer before the Dagger exploded. His body was pulped then burnt and finally shattered. Chunks of debris smashed into the side of the Ecliptic as the heat of the blast scored a huge black circle on the side of the merchant ship.

Nothing remained of the escape pod or the Dagger except the jagged pieces that had impaled themselves in the Ecliptic's side and the cloud of debris drifting outwards from the centre of the impact.

A lone cylindrical object, blood stained and charred, drifted with the rest of the detritus.

Charii's voice broke the silence that followed, "Oh my stars..."

Biggs, stunned like all the rest, signalled his comrades, making sure everyone was all right. When he was satisfied that they were, he had the Ecliptic release the transport ship with the Imperial's aboard.

"Let's go," he ordered quietly.

The Rand Ecliptic, Jobe's Y-wing and Charii and Biggs' X-wings departed, leaving the transport ship behind. They flew towards Bestine and a rendezvous with a rebel recruiter. Hobbie told him it shouldn't take long to make contact, but Biggs was thinking of another recruiter as they flew into the distance; Commander Jand Dorric.

The man had died for the Alliance; had sacrificed himself for this fledgling rebellion against the Empire.

Biggs wondered to himself if he would be able to do the same.

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Author's Notes:

First, I'd like to thank the few people who read my short story. I really appreciate your feedback very much!

The original intent of this "story" was to make one of those fan films that theforce-dot-net have so many of. After watching TOO many of them one day, I thought, "Why can't I do one of those? But what would I do... what would I do...?" Naturally, being a bit of a Biggs Darklighter fan, I thought of making a little adventure for him in between Tatooine and Yavin 4.

As I wrote down notes on what predicaments Biggs would get into, it just kinda grew and grew. Also, I realized that without a collection of other Star Wars fans, time and money, it would never be made into a fan film. So I decided to write it out as a story, rather than a screenplay (and I have NO idea on how to write a screenplay, so that made the decision even easier!)

The whole process started about 6-12 months ago. I'd written many small notes, from start to end, some contradictory, others just silly. (Although having Imperial Accountants seems silly enough... lol) I initially wrote just the first 3 pages, then ... nothing. No, not a writer's block... just a lack of time, I guess.

It wasn't until I was out of work (I'm a contract programmer, if you are interested) that I decided to give it another try. I had a couple of beta readers read those first pages, and having got some nice feedback from them, I thought I'd get stuck into it. For a week I sat at my desk, staring at the screen of my PC, typing occasionally, RE-typing constantly (I'm the WORLD'S WORST typist!) and slowly, but surely... it came out (the story, that is ;).

Now that it's done and having re-read it a couple of times, I think I could have done better with the ending (a few more thoughts from Biggs, perhaps... I dunno). But I'll leave it for now (unless someone agrees with me and tells me the ending sucks!! ;) Seriously, if someone thinks the ending (or ANY part) of the story needs work, please say so. I had intended at one stage to go through the story and detail such things as the ships used (that Imperial scout, Fierce, for instance, had a shuttle and four TIEs onboard.... do scout ships carry such things?!?! I was going to make it an "advanced scout ship" to allow for that...) and some better descriptions of the characters (no one ever said what Neville and Jobe looked like!)

Anyway, thanks again for reading Biggs' story. And those reading THIS... "Hi!"

Will I write more of Biggs? Hopefully, yes. When? No idea...

(Update: Biggs II is nearing completion... all I need is a title!)

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