Chapter Sixteen - Squints
Green eyes glanced up between the loose bits of copper hair that hung about the Imperial Admiral's face. She glanced quickly from her control panels to the viewscreen. The New Republic's capital planet of Coruscant rotated slowly upon it. A second later the Admiral tapped her comm, keeping an eye on the planet for the signs of opposition she knew would be coming. Knowing they probably did know she was there, considering they'd acknowledged her winner's 'prize', so to speak, she was glad that it would mean the Bilbringi shipyards weren't slowed due to some need for building or planet-side repairs.
"Revenge, this is the Knight Hammer. Prepare to begin the assault. Interdictor cruisers standby to make the final jump to Coruscant. TIE fighters await the command to depart."
As she finished the communication and ended the transmission, the beeping began in her own unit. Raising an eyebrow at the device, she flicked it on once more, waiting.
"Admiral, hackers in the computer." Admiral Daala muttered a Wookiee curse under her breath, glaring at the comm, as if it would transfer her facial expression to the officer. Instead, she gave a sharp 'Observed, Captain' into the device and changed her frequency once more. This time it was to the field commander in charge of the TIE squadrons. As the Colonel answered his comm, she cut off his sentence sharply.
"I want Adra Tallon and Tyria Tainer on the Knight Hammer dead or alive by the end of this," her voice icy, she didn't even listen for his acknowledgement of a reply. She merely ended the transmission and glared back out the viewport. Those two hackers had sliced too far. They were going to learn what it meant to meddle with Imperial plans.
Her thoughts were interrupted as the Gorgon appeared on the right side of the screen. The edges of her lips tipped up in a small smile as she watched the planet slowly come closer, the Gorgon keeping pace easily. Through the ship's main frequency, she heard the voice of the General commanding the ship.
"Yes, Admiral. Everything is as planned." Admiral Daala didn't bother acknowledging the new report and, after a minute's time, heard the comm go dead as the Gorgon main terminal changed frequencies.
Commander Davip, having heard orders relayed to the TIE commanders, saluted her sharply and then turned to the terminals and transferred the orders that had been given the Knight Hammer TIE fighters on to the rest of the Imperial fleet. Daala couldn't help the smile on her face growing. Everything was going as planned.
The Revenge appeared on the left side of the viewscreen as it powered forward, only a psuedoripple in the space view to show its coming from hyperspace. The Admiral noted easily that the Super Star Destroyer had been back with the Interdictor cruisers and had had to jump ahead once more. Static filled the comm and then a voice spoke through.
"This is the Revenge. We have completed the final jump to real space and are now looking at target-planet, Coruscant. Ready to begin the attack at command."
The Admiral waited a few seconds, her gaze returning to Coruscant, and then she nodded to her right-hand officer. The Knight Hammer was suddenly on the frequency for the entirety of the Imperial fleet.
"Revenge, Gorgon; Admiral Daala. Proceed with the attack. TIE squadrons, move." She nodded to Commander Davip once more and heard the connection terminate. She paused for a few seconds, awaiting the first signs of TIE fighters emerging onto the viewscreen and tactical boards. At the first sign of the speeding fighters, she nodded to the commander once more.
"Notify the Interdictor cruisers to stand by."
The officer nodded curtly in reply before she responded in crisp military fashion. "Yes, Admiral." Commander Davip then picked up her comlink and went to work relaying orders to the Interdictor cruisers.
Abruptly, alarms went off throughout the Super Star Destroyer. They were quieted almost as soon as they'd started, but they alerted everyone on board of the motion on screen. A squadron of B-Wings had broken through Coruscant's atmosphere. Admiral Daala stood up and walked toward the viewport, gaze fixed on the battle about to unfold. The TIE bombers and starfighters that had already departed their hanger bays engaged the squadron of crafts before two Y-Wing squadrons began evening out the numbers, if not tipping them in the favor of the New Republic. Behind her, the Admiral heard the commotion of orders flying through frequencies for the next squadrons to launch, etc, etc. Her trained eyes watched as the space ahead of them began filling with TIE Interceptors, bombers and starfighters. Commander Davip came to a salute next to the Admiral and she raised an eyebrow.
"The Interdictors have converted to real space again, sir. They are now at attack coordinates."
"Excellent."
* * * * *
Han Solo watched the tactical screen in front of him, not yet ready to bring the Falcon into the fight. Red, Gold and Green squadrons had already risen to meet the swarm of the Imperials. His trained eyes darted around the ever-updating screen to darken at the knowledge that they were outnumbered by quite a large amount. A grin played across his face, however, as one of his favorite sayings floated into his head. 'Corellians have no use for odds, so they don't realize when they're stacked against them.' Even if it was meant to be an insult, it didn't seem like it to him.
The joking thoughts left him as he watched Alinn Varth and her Comet squadron of X-Wings launch into the fight. His eyes darted between the blips that identified his brother-in-law then to his youngest daughter, Annisa, then on to Jacen. Not for the first time in the last 24 hours did he realize that nearly everyone in his family from his father-in-law to his nine-year-old granddaughter would be entering the fight. He could almost see Celtic sitting there watching the tactical screen at Intel headquarters, a hand gripping Aurra's shoulders, as she hung on to her last child yet to activate her position in a squadron.
Once the Comets were clear of the atmosphere, Han heard bel Iblis's voice crackle over the comm to tell the Vanguards to launch at will. Jagged Fel's squadron. Silently, he begged the Force to let the Chiss Colonel return from the fight in one piece. That much was not for his sake, but rather for his eldest daughter's. While he couldn't see what she liked in Fel, nor did he want her going out with him, he feared the wrath of an angry, Force-wielding wife and an angry, Force-wielding, lightsaber-efficient daughter more than he cared to admit.
Silent eyes watched as Saber squadron- and Jaina- was given the command to launch. As expected, the Trickster made it out of the hanger bay first, her squadron trailing her closely. A smile passed his lips as Jaina wiggled her X-Wing's wings to him in a silent greeting as she passed overhead. Then her energies seemed to redirect at the impending skirmish and he watched his oldest child fly into the fight. Han began to power up the Falcon's engines, listening to the other voices coming through the comm.
"Rogue Squadron, Wild Knights; launch on my mark. Five...four...three...two...one... Mark." Han glanced at his tactical screen once more as the Falcon power up off the repulsor pads. 24 X-Wing blips lifted off the hanger they were set in and, in pairs, began flying towards open space.
* * * * *
Adra watched the entirety of Wild Knights squadron on the tactical screen as it lifted up off the hanger bay in equal time with the Rogues. From her position just off Nicola's port wing, she glanced out of her cockpit once more to sweep down the X-Wings she could see that were part of Wild Knights, and then went on to look down Rogue's lines. He eyes drifted back to the second group, the X-Wing nearest her, and she grinned slightly as she saw the white, red and yellow helmet bobbing around under the canopy.
Her attentions quickly reverted back to keeping just off Nicola's wing as she exited the hanger bay. Once the entirety of the squadron was clear, Adra followed Nicola's lead toward the four preybird squadrons that had been deemed 'theirs'. Nicola's voice broke across her thoughts as it came through the comm.
"Alright, Wild Knights. Split into Flights and we'll each tackle a squadron of those preybirds. When you're done with your squadron, head towards that last one. Flight with the least amount of kills buys drinks later."
All that being said quickly and in Nicola-style, Adra pulled her X-Wing off as Nicola's A-Wing headed towards one of the preybird squadrons. Behind her, she could not only see, but feel through the Force that Bror and Bria had broken off with them.
The other two flights headed off in their respective directions and Adra waited a few minutes, stutter-firing at preybirds as she went, before changing her frequency to Nicola's private one, making sure to keep her X-Wing just off Nicola's right wing. A grin passed her face as two more of the enemies blew up, meeting her lasers.
"Y'know, I have a feeling that we might actually have to work to not have to buy drinks." She heard Nicola laughing slightly before she switched back to Wild Knights One Flight main frequency and targeted another craft.
Adra watched in silence as Nicola's laser fire hit the last preybird in the squadron they had attacked and she glanced down at the tactical board. The other preybirds were being all-but-literally torn apart by the squadron and it would be futile to turn their Flight back over to only add more lasers. She heard the comm crackle on and then Nicola's voice once more.
"Two, let's go take care of those eyeballs." Adra glanced at her screen again to see a new TIE squadron exiting the Knight Hammer. "Five, you've got command of the squadron. Leader out."
Quickly, she pulled her X-Wing out of formation to follow Nicola, refocusing on flying and not expressing her shock that Nicola had handed Wild Knights off to Mara Jade Daragon, not Bror, Paige or Bria like she might've suspected. Mara might've had the same interest, as was evident in the Force, but she made no remark. Instead, Adra heard the double click of Mara's comm to Nicola before the fourteen-year-old barked out instructions. Adra blinked in surprise at the authority Mara commanded, but then berated herself. This girl was Luke Skywalker's apprentice, Tahiri Skywalker's niece, and daughter of the Sith Mother. She would know all about command. Just as quickly as she'd broken off from the squad formation, she rolled her X-Wing port, her game face returning as her thoughts cleared.
"I copy Lead," Adra said into the private frequency. "Hope the eyeballs are ready to say lights out."
She glanced at her tactical screen again, as she had been every few seconds, to make sure she wasn't in danger of becoming a target. The Force was definitely useful in alerting to the thoughts of the enemy, but she was still taking no chances. Still focused on what was going on with her wingmate, she target locked a TIE and triggered a torpedo at it. Adra stretched out her Force senses to carefully monitor the Imperials. She drew back once more, pleased to find nothing locked firmly on her ship...yet.
Ahead, she saw two more of the wretched TIEs blink into space dust. Nicola had fired her lasers at them seconds before. Adra fired her lasers in a smooth stream up the underside of a TIE, reaching an engine, causing it to explode. Nicola's voice whooped over the comm.
"We are so not buying drinks tonight, Computer Girl!" There was a brief pause. "Sithspit. Two, we've got 24 squints headed our way. Repeat, 24 squints."
Adra began to grin and was about to reply to the 'buying drinks' comment, but then she saw the 24 new red dots flashing towards them on her tactical board. Her expression changed just as quickly as the Falcon could jump into hyperspace. Nicola obviously had noticed the squints as well, considering she was currently swearing at them. Adra studied the screen, well aware that they were too far from Wild Knights to request assistance. The squadron, while flying well under Mara's command, would be too focused in dealing with their new threat to be able to spare another person.
"I copy, One," Adra voiced at last. "Got a plan, or are we just winging this?" The TIE fighters were gaining every second, no matter how quickly Nicola's and her own lasers blew them up. Between firing, she glanced at her controls again and saw something that made her face fall in shock. A new and far more intricate string of curses wound of her lips. "One, the Imps got through that transponder code Tyria sent through."
* * * * *
Tyria watched her monitors from aboard the Peregrine, taking in the battle scene before her. She was half-glad that she had an excuse to stay out of the fight, even if she were still a bit close to the battle in General bel Iblis's warship. It wasn't that she didn't like the idea of flying up into a skirmish- it was just the odds that were driving at the New Republic right now. Silently she watched the screen, her eyes dancing about as she tracked the blip labeled Wild Knights Two.
A cheer went up in her head at the most recent explosion caused by Adra's lasers, and then they narrowed again as she saw the new TIEs seemingly thrown away on encircling Adra and Nicola. With a sudden jolt, she realized what was going on, just as Adra's voice came over the comm again.
"One, the Imps got through that transponder code Tyria sent through."
Without even realizing it, Tyria had thrown her comm headset onto the keyboard and was grabbing her flight helmet as she dashed past General bel Iblis. Behind her, she heard him first requesting then demanding information. Ignoring both the request and the order, she climbed into her X-Wing, powering it up as soon as she was settled into it. Her ship was in the air less than a standard minute later, Tyria still double-checking the weapons system. General bel Iblis's voice came through to her comm as she began moving past the Peregrine's shields.
"Wraith Ten, what the Sith are you doing?"
"I'm saving my friend, General, that's what," she snapped in reply, a bit preoccupied with the things her astromech was telling her.
"Lieutenant, you could get a court martial for this!" The General's voice boomed over the comm.
"Yeah, well, unless I help Adra, you'll be working with a half-strength hacker team." She heard the General start to protest and abruptly switched over the frequency Adra and Nicola were on. "Wild Knights Two and One, this is Wraith Ten. I'm on my way. And Two, remind me to upgrade these I.D. layovers when we get back to base, if you will."
* * * * *
Adra felt the ripple in the Force a minute before she saw a 'Wraith Ten' blip pop up on her tactical screen. Tyria's voice came through the comm next, setting relief sprouting through her mind at the knowledge of having back-up, then uncertainty. Tyria's X-Wing wasn't equipped for this battle...but it was still good to know someone else was out there.
"Will do, but Tyria, what the Sith are you doing our here?"
A sudden warning sounded in the Force and her gaze flew to the screen. A curse escaped her once more as she realized this wasn't just a large bit of battle debris or a pack of TIEs all bunched together. Not even waiting to hear Tyria's answer to her question, she spoke to Nicola.
"One, we've got company. The Knight Hammer is just off on the port side a ways."
Her lasers continued blazing at the approaching squints as she dodged in and out of their return fire, searching all the while for a way to get farther from the Super Star Destroyer. The knowledge of the tractor beams on those things, and what they could do, came floating back from under ten or so year's worth of hacking knowledge. All the knowledge from her two years in the Academy at Bastion came back to her as she darkly recalled not only the power of the tractor beams, but of the number of guns positioned on the Supe. Adra continued glancing at her tactical board every five seconds, uncomfortably aware of the Knight Hammer's steady progress as the TIEs kept them at bay. To add more to her nerves, Daala's comm messages began to replay loudly in her head, not quite the thing she needed to hear at this moment.
Over the open comm, Adra heard Nicola curse violently at the mention and then sight of the Knight Hammer. There was silence broken only by the sounds of lasers meeting durasteel, and then Nicola's voice carried another string of curses at the sight of a squadron of Interceptors being released from the Supe. Adra dived out of a line of laser fire only to realize that she was playing right into the Imperial's hands. With a sudden realization, she glanced at her tactical screen to confirm her suspicions. She was right. Nicola was being taken farther and farther away from where she and Tyria were firing and ducking. The curses of both Tyria and Nicola filled the comm. Suddenly Tyria's voice changed from Kell's curses to words.
"Two, we're in range of their tractor beams!"