Title: Away From Me
Author: NicolaAfyon
Keywords: Wraith Squadron, Tyria Ritril
Dramatis Personal:
NRI Head Iella Wessiri Antilles (female human)
General Wedge Antilles (male human)
Commander Kell Tainer (male human)
Captain Cloud Ritril (male human)
Captain Tyria Ritril (female human)
Kavin Ritril (male human)
Cerise Ritril (female human)
Chapter One - Not Quite Return
Tyria Tainer Ritril cursed silently at the computer before her. Just two more layers and then she could download the data, pack up, leave Cloud City, and go home to her husband and her two children. Unlike nine years ago, now she had something to look forward to at the end of the vongin' NRI missions.
One layer left. Apparently, the Imperials had gotten a bit smarter and put more than two layers of security on their files and changed their passwords periodically. She frowned slightly in concentration. Just two more digits... two more digits... one more... almost there...Got it!
Being too professional about her work to let out a whoop of glee, Tyria merely allowed herself a smile before starting the download of information to her datapad. She leaned back in her chair, letting herself relax for a few moments.
She'd been gone for three days so far and if all went as planned, she'd be back on Coruscant by 1600 tomorrow. The hacker wondered how Cloud was coping with little Kavin and Cerise. The poor man's telekinesis powers were probably getting quite a workout.
A quiet 'ping!' brought Tyria out of her thoughts. She leaned forward to check the datapad screen. Data transfer complete. Excellent. Moving quickly, the blonde pilot began unhooking her machines, which actually didn't take her too long, considering that over half of the equipment was Imperial property.
She slung her relatively light bag in the small cargo hold of her X-Wing. Her orange and white R2 unit whistled at her. She smiled back at it.
"Yes Chunky, we're leaving now."
She climbed into the cockpit and began a startup of the two engines. "Chunky, get us started up and then resend this datapack to Coruscant, encryption codes G9 and A7. I'll plot us a course out of here." A questioning beep. "Yes, I'll let you double check the figures but you need to get that info to Iella now, Chunky!" A somewhat sarcastically affirmative beep. "You've been around XO for far too long." Another sarcastic beep. "Don't 'yes Captain Ritril" me, Chunky. Send the data package to the NRI." A beep that started affirmative and became a squeal.
"Chunky, what the Sith-" and then she glanced down at her tactical board. Six TIE fighters were coming in hot. This was not good. She punched the button that brought her s-foils to attack position and fired up her lasers, wishing that she were in her TIE Interceptor, which was back at Wraith base. Of course, she wished that the rest of the Wraiths were out here too, but wishing wouldn't do much good, firing her laser cannons would.
Two of the eyeballs came up right behind her, firing like mad. Well there was nothing she could about those two right now, not without a wingman. She jerked the stick to the right, dove down abruptly, and came back up behind another pair of TIEs.
Not even waiting for a targeting lock, she started to fire, managing to take out both of them.
"Chunky, have you sent the entire data package?" Tyria asked in between breaths. An affirmative beep. "Okay, good." She winced as a well-placed shot from a following TIE shook the ship. Her shields were now down to 55%, not good. Really, really, really not good.
As a new pair of TIEs came roaring up towards her, she sent the craft into a tight spin and zoomed towards the TIEs, her lasers blazing. A quick tight loop brought her behind the lead TIE.
She flipped on the proton torpedoes and brought up her targeting computer. "Come on, come on," she whispered to herself as the fighter swerved in and out of the targeting bracket. The moment it turned red, she fired. And the moment that she fired, a well-placed hit from behind her brought down her shields.
"Shavit! Sorry Chunky, maybe your next pilot won't be such a hopeless flier. If there is a next pilot." She tacked on the last sentence as the three remaining TIEs cam in hot, lasers screaming.
Realizing that she only had seconds left before the TIEs blew up her shieldless ship, she punched the eject button for Chunky. Another blast of fire took out her starboard engine. Shields gone, starboard engine gone, R2 gone; damn was she screwed! Her day could not get any worse.
As she punched out her own ejection seat, two other things happened: the TIEs completely destroyed her ship just as she got clear and the Gorgon appeared in orbit. Her day had definitely just gotten ten times worse.
That was her last conscious thought before the blackness claimed her and the Gorgon's tractor beam came out and pulled her and her droid in.
*~*
Slowly, Tyria came back to consciousness. She hated going EV, hated it. And then she remembered everything that had happened. And with it, came the realization that she was lying face down on the floor of some Imperial ship and that her hands were stuncuffed behind her. From what she'd heard from Mirax, the stuncuffs on her were considered illegal and she could tell why. They came up to her elbow and put a sithload of pressure on her shoulders.
Behind her, a door hissed open and two stormtroopers entered. Roughly, they brought her to a standing position and marched her out of there and into a secondary bridge room.
The trooper in front saluted sharply. "Admiral."
The woman standing there turned around to face them. Admiral Daala, what a surprise.
"Welcome back, Miss Tainer. It's been awhile since we've had the pleasure of your company."
Tyria let out a string of uncomplimentary phrases letting Daala know what she thought of her.
Daala frowned slightly. "Language, language Tyria. Do you use that around the children?"
"No, I save it for Imperial Bantha fodder like you."
The Admiral nodded. "You've gotten more defiant. It's going to be fun breaking you."
Tyria merely smiled at her, not letting any of the little temper she had get the better of her.
Daala stepped forward and tapped the rank insignia of a Captain on Tyria's chest. "New decoration there, Tyria? Last time, you were only a Lieutenant. Do they hand hose out as party favors or did you raid Major Loran's costume box?"
The blonde woman's eyes flashed angrily. "I earned it Daala. Every rank received in the New Republic was earned. Of course you wouldn't know. You Imperial women just sleep your way up through the ranks."
Tyria saw the slap coming before Daala's hand even came all the way up. Of course, it didn't do her much good as her hands were stuncuffed behind her. She winced slightly. Daala might be stupid but she could hit.
"Keep up all the big talk, little hacker girl. But it's not going to be just you who pays for it. It's going to be you, Cloud Ritril, and the others you hold dear who will."
Daala nodded to the stormtroopers and they grabbed her arms and started to leave the room. As they left, Tyria heard Daala say to the communications officer,
"Send her droid to Intelligence Headquarters tomorrow and set up a link so we'll know when it's received. I think I'll inform Ritril, Tainer, and Antilles myself."
Tyria's heart sank. Daala knew she was married to Cloud and probably about Kavin and Cerise as well. Force, don't let Kell or Cloud do anything stupid.