CHAPTER 2
A Good Day to Tie
"DYKON!" yelled a voice from afar. "DYKON! WAKE UP!" Dykon Therron immediately rolled off his bed, forcing him to stand back up and pick up the things that had fallen in the process. Dykon was an Imperial TIE pilot, and he was extremely proud of it. His father had been a TIE pilot, and his father was a pilot for the Old Republic, so he felt like he had to keep up the tradition. Besides, he loved to fly. He loved putting on the black flight suit, no matter how bulky it was. His adrenaline soaked him whenever he got within a hundred feet of a TIE, and he nearly drowned once he stepped inside the cockpit. However, the best part of being a TIE pilot for him was getting to fly the TIEs, especially when he was able to shoot down Rebels. He hated the Rebels, for they hated the Emperor, who was against all the atrocities the Republic and their Clones committed during the Clone Wars, such as the Geonosian Massacre. However, one thing he hated more than anything else was getting up in the morning, which was one thing that his good friends such as G'Harra Yokko made sure he did every single day.
"Why today?" moaned Dykon. "What is so special about today that I have to actually wake up to eat breakfast?"
"We aren't eating breakfast today", replied G'Harra.
"Then why in the seven galaxies did you wake me up?" asked Dykon.
"We're shooting Rebs today!" exclaimed G'Harra. "Captain Kraus spotted a Rebel Blockade Runner called the Tantive III. We might see some action today!"
"Count me in", said Dykon, who poured a cup of water over his head so that he could wake up faster. He soon ran to the locker room, but on his flight outfit, and ran to the hangar bay, where he saw a line of TIE pilots all standing up.
"You're late", said Reed Kraus, the Captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Reaper, the same Star Destroyer Dykon served on.
"Sorry", said Dykon.
"Tardiness is no excuse", said Kraus. "You will be presented with a severe punishment."
"I will make sure I will never be tardy again", said Dykon, "SIR".
"No just get in the damn circle", said Kraus. Dykon then ran in and Kraus began talking about the battle plan. "Okay, listen up. We have spotted a Rebel Blockade Runner, the Tantive III. This Blockade Runner is armed and belongs to the Rebels, so we shall do everything necessary to make sure we destroy them."
"Why are we going to destroy them?" asked G'Harra. "What if they just want to surrender to us or something?"
"They are Rebels", exclaimed Kraus. "They contaminate themselves by being in contact with non-humans. We are just trying to purify them before they reach Rattak. Now, any questions? No? Okay then. Get in your TIEs and destroy any opposition." As the circle of TIE pilots broke out into a mess, Dykon ran towards his TIE, but G'Harra caught up with him.
"This is wrong", said G'Harra. "They haven't done anything to us. There might be women and children on the ship, and I don't give a Sithspit if they're human or not".
"But they are the enemy", said Dykon. "Haven't you seen Win or Die?"
"Yes. How do you know that isn't just a bunch of junk written to make a high gross at the Holo Office? How do you know it wasn't written to get naïve kids like us to join the Empire? Anyways, I like Tetran Cowall better."
"Screw that Cowall kid. You are a TIE pilot, and you will fight with the Empire whether you like it or not. You joined the Imperial Academy, and you could've quit then, but you didn't. It's too late now. Shame will pour upon your family like rain upon a planet. I thought you liked to have a good time, especially when it meant dealing with Rebels."
"I know, and I would protect this ship with every fiber of my being if they fired upon us, but they haven't. We're doing a cowardly thing, Dykon. This is something that the Emperor would not approve of".
"How do you know the Emperor wouldn't?" He then ran to his TIE cockpit and strapped himself in. He didn't know what the hell had gotten into G'Harra, but what he had said was true. This was a cowardly thing they were doing, and the Emperor either would be infuriated at what was about to happen, or he didn't just care.
"IP-547", said the deep voice of the comm. officer, "you are ready for liftoff".
"As if I needed the approval", muttered Dykon. His TIE hovered above the ground for a few seconds before it finally zoomed off toward a slew of TIE fighters, all zooming in towards the Tantive III.
"The Tantive III is questioning Kraus's orders to stand down", said Jakkus, a TIE pilot who always eased dropped on Kraus's communications. "Kraus is charging weapons!" Before long the Reaper fired a shot at the Tantive III, which caused one of its engines to blow up and light on fire.
"Here we go", sighed G'Harra. About six X-Wings zoomed out of the hangar bays of the Tantive III, but they were no match for the crew of twelve TIE fighters that the Reaper hosted. Dykon flowed the other ties and began to fire several blasts at the X-Wings to confuse them. However, the X-Wings weren't fooled and zoomed to the right and avoided every shot.
"Destroy them with any means necessary", said Kraus over the comm. The Reaper began to creep closer to the Tantive III, which was firing several turbolaser blasts at the Star Destroyer. Dykon ignored the whole affair and zoomed on towards an X-Wing. The X-Wing noticed that he was on his tail and made a hard bank to the left, but Dykon followed suit. Whenever the X-Wing moved Dykon moved, and once the little red ship flew into the middle of his targeting computer and made a beeping noise, Dykon fired a proton torpedo and the X-Wing was vaporized.
"DYKON!" yelled G'Harra on the comm. "The Rebs got Jakkus and Trajë!"
"What?" exclaimed Dykon.
"It was all done by one X-Wing!" exclaimed G'Harra. "He's bloody fast and bloody smart. He even has green dragons painted on the side of his fighter!"
"I'm going after him", said Dykon.
"You can't!" exclaimed G'Harra. "He's the best we've ever known! Besides, you can't possibly find him!" Dykon then zoomed forward once he saw a flash of green dragons and saw that it belonged to the X-Wing G'Harra mentioned. The X-Wing then was locked in his target and he fired a missile at the enemy, but the craft miraculously dodged the incoming missile.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" thought Dykon. "He couldn't have dodged that!" From then on Dykon followed every move the X-Wing made and constantly fired upon the craft, but no matter what he could never hit the machine. He constantly followed the ship in a very stealthy way, but the ship soon took notice of his presence. The ship made a sharp bank to the right that nearly chipped Dykon's wings, but he was soon on the X-Wing. The X-Wing zoomed towards the nearest planet, Rattak, an Imperial held world populated by Reptilian humanoids. Dykon assumed either the X-Wing was oblivious to the fact that his craft would burn up in the atmosphere or he was just trying to bluff him to get out of his way. Dykon told himself he wouldn't fall for that bluff and continued as he got closer and closer towards the planet. His console beeped furiously, warning him that his TIE was starting to overheat. Indeed the TIE was hot for him, and he swore he saw the X-Wing's astromech droid pop it's motivator due to the increasing temperature. He would soon have to give up the pursuit if he wanted to live, but he made a promise to himself, and one thing that Dykon wasn't was a promise breaker. He kept the chase as the atmosphere rushed through their ships. The console kept beeping as angrily as before, and it soon got on his nerves. He reached over to turn the noise off, but then something really perilous happened.
The X-Wing swooped around in a quick motion and zoomed towards the battle. Due to the fact that he didn't see Dykon, and Dykon was too busy turning off the noise both ships collided and fell towards Rattak. Dykon, taken aback at what he saw. He read on his console that both his solar panels were blown off and that his ship was heating up much faster than ever before. Within seconds the interior of the ship caught on fire, and Dykon realized there was only one thing he could do- he clicked the eject button. That action caused his cockpit to open up and made his seat launch him out of the air. He looked down, which was one thing that he was told not to do in the Academy when you eject, and threw up at the sight- he could barely see the surface of the planet. He closed his eyes at and prayed to his Gods that they would forgive him and allow him to go into their Heaven. The wind rushed through his face, which didn't feel any better due to the vomit, and his heart was beating at a faster rate than he ever thought possible. Before he knew it was in the water, and he opened his eyes to see that he was in a lake. He un-strapped the seat belt of his seat and swam forward, taking off his helmet as soon as he got there and gasped for real oxygen. The oxygen of this planet tasted sweet like honey to him, and he saw why- Rattak was a lush planet full of wonderful creatures and exotic plants. However, he soon found his stay wouldn't be so exotic once he saw that the X-Wing had crashed right next to him.
"I SURRENDER!" exclaimed Dykon. After seeing Win or Die he thought that the rebel would fly out and shoot him in a vital area, but that didn't happen at all. Instead He heard laughter from inside the cockpit.
"You Imps are more cowardly than we thought", said a voice in a strange accent. "After the great Jedi purge, we thought that all Imps were great, mean, and ugly like the monstrous trolls you hear about in un-fairy like fairy tales".
"Please show yourself", sighed Dykon. "I at least want to know the man who will be the cause of my death."
"You think I'll kill you?" laughed the voice. "Maybe one look at me will make you change your mind. The cockpit of the X-Wing then opened up, and Dykon began to tense. A medium sized shape then came out wearing the standard X-Wing uniform, but wearing a strange, strange helmet. The shape then took off the helmet and Dykon gasped- the pilot was a Gran.
A Good Day to Tie
"DYKON!" yelled a voice from afar. "DYKON! WAKE UP!" Dykon Therron immediately rolled off his bed, forcing him to stand back up and pick up the things that had fallen in the process. Dykon was an Imperial TIE pilot, and he was extremely proud of it. His father had been a TIE pilot, and his father was a pilot for the Old Republic, so he felt like he had to keep up the tradition. Besides, he loved to fly. He loved putting on the black flight suit, no matter how bulky it was. His adrenaline soaked him whenever he got within a hundred feet of a TIE, and he nearly drowned once he stepped inside the cockpit. However, the best part of being a TIE pilot for him was getting to fly the TIEs, especially when he was able to shoot down Rebels. He hated the Rebels, for they hated the Emperor, who was against all the atrocities the Republic and their Clones committed during the Clone Wars, such as the Geonosian Massacre. However, one thing he hated more than anything else was getting up in the morning, which was one thing that his good friends such as G'Harra Yokko made sure he did every single day.
"Why today?" moaned Dykon. "What is so special about today that I have to actually wake up to eat breakfast?"
"We aren't eating breakfast today", replied G'Harra.
"Then why in the seven galaxies did you wake me up?" asked Dykon.
"We're shooting Rebs today!" exclaimed G'Harra. "Captain Kraus spotted a Rebel Blockade Runner called the Tantive III. We might see some action today!"
"Count me in", said Dykon, who poured a cup of water over his head so that he could wake up faster. He soon ran to the locker room, but on his flight outfit, and ran to the hangar bay, where he saw a line of TIE pilots all standing up.
"You're late", said Reed Kraus, the Captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Reaper, the same Star Destroyer Dykon served on.
"Sorry", said Dykon.
"Tardiness is no excuse", said Kraus. "You will be presented with a severe punishment."
"I will make sure I will never be tardy again", said Dykon, "SIR".
"No just get in the damn circle", said Kraus. Dykon then ran in and Kraus began talking about the battle plan. "Okay, listen up. We have spotted a Rebel Blockade Runner, the Tantive III. This Blockade Runner is armed and belongs to the Rebels, so we shall do everything necessary to make sure we destroy them."
"Why are we going to destroy them?" asked G'Harra. "What if they just want to surrender to us or something?"
"They are Rebels", exclaimed Kraus. "They contaminate themselves by being in contact with non-humans. We are just trying to purify them before they reach Rattak. Now, any questions? No? Okay then. Get in your TIEs and destroy any opposition." As the circle of TIE pilots broke out into a mess, Dykon ran towards his TIE, but G'Harra caught up with him.
"This is wrong", said G'Harra. "They haven't done anything to us. There might be women and children on the ship, and I don't give a Sithspit if they're human or not".
"But they are the enemy", said Dykon. "Haven't you seen Win or Die?"
"Yes. How do you know that isn't just a bunch of junk written to make a high gross at the Holo Office? How do you know it wasn't written to get naïve kids like us to join the Empire? Anyways, I like Tetran Cowall better."
"Screw that Cowall kid. You are a TIE pilot, and you will fight with the Empire whether you like it or not. You joined the Imperial Academy, and you could've quit then, but you didn't. It's too late now. Shame will pour upon your family like rain upon a planet. I thought you liked to have a good time, especially when it meant dealing with Rebels."
"I know, and I would protect this ship with every fiber of my being if they fired upon us, but they haven't. We're doing a cowardly thing, Dykon. This is something that the Emperor would not approve of".
"How do you know the Emperor wouldn't?" He then ran to his TIE cockpit and strapped himself in. He didn't know what the hell had gotten into G'Harra, but what he had said was true. This was a cowardly thing they were doing, and the Emperor either would be infuriated at what was about to happen, or he didn't just care.
"IP-547", said the deep voice of the comm. officer, "you are ready for liftoff".
"As if I needed the approval", muttered Dykon. His TIE hovered above the ground for a few seconds before it finally zoomed off toward a slew of TIE fighters, all zooming in towards the Tantive III.
"The Tantive III is questioning Kraus's orders to stand down", said Jakkus, a TIE pilot who always eased dropped on Kraus's communications. "Kraus is charging weapons!" Before long the Reaper fired a shot at the Tantive III, which caused one of its engines to blow up and light on fire.
"Here we go", sighed G'Harra. About six X-Wings zoomed out of the hangar bays of the Tantive III, but they were no match for the crew of twelve TIE fighters that the Reaper hosted. Dykon flowed the other ties and began to fire several blasts at the X-Wings to confuse them. However, the X-Wings weren't fooled and zoomed to the right and avoided every shot.
"Destroy them with any means necessary", said Kraus over the comm. The Reaper began to creep closer to the Tantive III, which was firing several turbolaser blasts at the Star Destroyer. Dykon ignored the whole affair and zoomed on towards an X-Wing. The X-Wing noticed that he was on his tail and made a hard bank to the left, but Dykon followed suit. Whenever the X-Wing moved Dykon moved, and once the little red ship flew into the middle of his targeting computer and made a beeping noise, Dykon fired a proton torpedo and the X-Wing was vaporized.
"DYKON!" yelled G'Harra on the comm. "The Rebs got Jakkus and Trajë!"
"What?" exclaimed Dykon.
"It was all done by one X-Wing!" exclaimed G'Harra. "He's bloody fast and bloody smart. He even has green dragons painted on the side of his fighter!"
"I'm going after him", said Dykon.
"You can't!" exclaimed G'Harra. "He's the best we've ever known! Besides, you can't possibly find him!" Dykon then zoomed forward once he saw a flash of green dragons and saw that it belonged to the X-Wing G'Harra mentioned. The X-Wing then was locked in his target and he fired a missile at the enemy, but the craft miraculously dodged the incoming missile.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" thought Dykon. "He couldn't have dodged that!" From then on Dykon followed every move the X-Wing made and constantly fired upon the craft, but no matter what he could never hit the machine. He constantly followed the ship in a very stealthy way, but the ship soon took notice of his presence. The ship made a sharp bank to the right that nearly chipped Dykon's wings, but he was soon on the X-Wing. The X-Wing zoomed towards the nearest planet, Rattak, an Imperial held world populated by Reptilian humanoids. Dykon assumed either the X-Wing was oblivious to the fact that his craft would burn up in the atmosphere or he was just trying to bluff him to get out of his way. Dykon told himself he wouldn't fall for that bluff and continued as he got closer and closer towards the planet. His console beeped furiously, warning him that his TIE was starting to overheat. Indeed the TIE was hot for him, and he swore he saw the X-Wing's astromech droid pop it's motivator due to the increasing temperature. He would soon have to give up the pursuit if he wanted to live, but he made a promise to himself, and one thing that Dykon wasn't was a promise breaker. He kept the chase as the atmosphere rushed through their ships. The console kept beeping as angrily as before, and it soon got on his nerves. He reached over to turn the noise off, but then something really perilous happened.
The X-Wing swooped around in a quick motion and zoomed towards the battle. Due to the fact that he didn't see Dykon, and Dykon was too busy turning off the noise both ships collided and fell towards Rattak. Dykon, taken aback at what he saw. He read on his console that both his solar panels were blown off and that his ship was heating up much faster than ever before. Within seconds the interior of the ship caught on fire, and Dykon realized there was only one thing he could do- he clicked the eject button. That action caused his cockpit to open up and made his seat launch him out of the air. He looked down, which was one thing that he was told not to do in the Academy when you eject, and threw up at the sight- he could barely see the surface of the planet. He closed his eyes at and prayed to his Gods that they would forgive him and allow him to go into their Heaven. The wind rushed through his face, which didn't feel any better due to the vomit, and his heart was beating at a faster rate than he ever thought possible. Before he knew it was in the water, and he opened his eyes to see that he was in a lake. He un-strapped the seat belt of his seat and swam forward, taking off his helmet as soon as he got there and gasped for real oxygen. The oxygen of this planet tasted sweet like honey to him, and he saw why- Rattak was a lush planet full of wonderful creatures and exotic plants. However, he soon found his stay wouldn't be so exotic once he saw that the X-Wing had crashed right next to him.
"I SURRENDER!" exclaimed Dykon. After seeing Win or Die he thought that the rebel would fly out and shoot him in a vital area, but that didn't happen at all. Instead He heard laughter from inside the cockpit.
"You Imps are more cowardly than we thought", said a voice in a strange accent. "After the great Jedi purge, we thought that all Imps were great, mean, and ugly like the monstrous trolls you hear about in un-fairy like fairy tales".
"Please show yourself", sighed Dykon. "I at least want to know the man who will be the cause of my death."
"You think I'll kill you?" laughed the voice. "Maybe one look at me will make you change your mind. The cockpit of the X-Wing then opened up, and Dykon began to tense. A medium sized shape then came out wearing the standard X-Wing uniform, but wearing a strange, strange helmet. The shape then took off the helmet and Dykon gasped- the pilot was a Gran.