DISCLAIMER: STAR WARS wa screated by George Lucas and is owned by DISNEY
The quiet of space… or so it seems… a brilliant shine emanated from the twin suns and the drums of war resound at the edge of the Tatooine System. The drive glows of gnats are seen from the inhabited planets' denizens of view could be seen as beautiful fireflies in the night sky.
Lattices of green coloring burst from the huge triangular planetoid at random intervals. Barely possible to see unless viewed via quadnoculars, green and red lances are exchanged between the small speeding gnats. Balls of flame burst like medium sized novas from time to time. To what could this be? A simple light show? An elaborate take on asteroid mining? Why was it so fascinating? The gnats chase each other in what seemed to be looping, spiraling, dipping dances that are rather intricate and intriguing.
Not quite. The loops, twists and spirals were dogfights between two iconic starships; two groups were in the standard squadron set of twelve, the others were in swarms like bats. The pink white drive glows are the engines of the galaxy's most celebrated Starfighters; X-Wings. The bloody red ones were from the infamous and fear inducing TIE Fighters. The lances are laserfire of both factions firing each other. The gigantic planetoid is that of a Resurgent-class Destroyer driving its turbolasers on full; aiming at the X-Wings with all of her might while trying to tractor beam a small, one story house sized shuttle. What was going on was an attack from the First Order; an ambush on supplies intended for the Resistance.
Little did everyone know that the two forces were fighting high above Tatooine; this small desert sphere had kicked off a chain of events twice in its lifetime. Under conditions such as this, it appears to be happening again, Imagine the intensity on the inside. You could feel it in your boots as your starfighter jangles and jolts, recovering from an explosion of a starfighter of either an enemy or a friend you've known for years. Your stomach lurches, you barely flinch or you do depending on the kind of person these battles have forged you into. Each move you make could save you or kill you. It all depends on your skills on how you live or die.
This battle was but a skirmish in the things to come. Another battle against evil. Another fight that would shape the Galaxy for better or worse.
Three T-70 X-Wings flew in a row of three in a "V" formation. The one on the left was gray with blue striping, the one on the right was black with orange accents. The last one was white with red accents; on the nose of the snubfighter was a white pegasus head with flame colored wings. The Resistance had arrived.
On the inside of the middle X-Wing, Garrett Antilles pressed the accelerator pedal and jerked the stick forward, "Wish we had B-Wings right about now!"
Setting his cannons to quad fire, he literally went into the swarm of TIEs guns blazing. Swooping, swerving, curving around them, his snubfighter turned corners no other fighter would dare make. The back of his X-Wing ejected a small bomb or two that stuck on a TIE, and destroyed it.
Temporary Blue Leader Snap Wexley teased, "We asked if we needed transports, but a certain someone said we could handle it without them, Rogue Leader."
His X-Wing fired its KX12 laser cannons at a TIE as he spun away from a missile lock. The TIE fishtailed as the transparisteel cockpit caved in, a wing broke off right when it exploded.
Black Leader Poe Dameron grunted, "This is so not what I needed right now, Snap." His fighter shot upwards, concussion missiles blast apart a TIE coming from the starboard side.
Pride was a thing with Poe. It was a thing with any pilot. Poe just happened to show it more than anyone else; much like any pilot before him. It was lucky anyone had a moment to tease him to get the lad to admit his mistakes.
Garrett barked, "Cut the chatter, you two. Form up on me. We've got to clear that screen of TIEs to get to that shuttle; we need those supplies, and fast. Let's not dilly dally here."
The black and orange starfighter streaked ahead, followed by the white and red X-Wing. The first fighter spiraled, quad fire on full engagement. Each laser hit the TIEs just as the fighter made the turn. Poe got his fighter to soar up high, taking on fighters one by one. Showing off as usual.
The white and red X-Wing sailed in, activating the hidden blaster guns on the under belly. Firing on all cylinders, red blaster fire tore a Special Forces TIE in half, an orange burst of flame erupted forth, the explosion creating a loud sound in the pilot's ears as his canopy shook. Retracting the weaponry, the starfighter strafed, blasting three TIEs from the front, then dove downwards and he stopped at the midway point in the slope of the turn, allowing a regular TIE to shoot past him. The dual lasers fired, clipping the lower left of the wing, and the second blast clipped the other, sending the death trap spiraling into the other TIE chasing Blue Leader.
Blue Leader swept past, the blue color sailed by in a blur. Missiles ejected from the X-Wing, blasting pairs of TIEs apart. Wexley curved back towards his friends as his astrodroid used a hidden droid turret to ward off the First Order TIEs tailing him. Black Leader flew close, swooping beside him, doing a daring move while shooting down several TIEs. Blue Leader jinked left, evading heavy fire, only for his X-Wing to dish back heavy fire with his own hidden guns,
Chuckling to himself, Rogue Leader saw his fellow Squadron Leaders trying to one up each other while bickering. As usual. Just another day in trying to keep the peace in the Galaxy. Not exactly boring but just enough action to make people feel right at home. Well, at home for pilots that is, but for the New Republic… Well, It would just be enough for them to blissfully ignore the battles happening outside their range.
Black Leader saw Rogue Leader going into an aileron roll, leading TIEs into the blaze of a dog fight. The enemy fighters skirted too close and once Rogue Leader had them, he hit his accelerator; catching them in the jetwash. He braked, the artificial gravity compensator of his engines sent his fighter behind them and his gloved hands fired the trigger. Two more TIEs down and out.
Poe commented, "Very pretty fireworks. You got a better show in mind?"
Garrett tsked, "No matter what these guys upgrade them to, TIEs do some sloppy flying. Any luck on hailing the locals for backup, G7?"
The domed C2 unit wailed as Basic lettering spilled on the dashboard translator screen which made the black haired Corellian sigh, "Too much ECM jamming. Crap. Switch to Squadron channel."
He then sped forward as the other two X-Wings lined up back in "V" formation. Snap flicked the comm dial in time to hear, "Rogue Squadron, Blue Squadron, pair up. Keep trying to break through that TIE screen, we need cover… fast!"
One blue colored X-Wing replied, "You got it, Rogue Leader. We're with you!"
A chuckling Garrett shook his head at his stepbrother's chipper reply then he spied the TIEs flying in a swarm formation as the two Squadrons formed up behind the trio.
The pilot ordered, "Take them up on the slant. Watch the guns, thread the eyeballs through 'em. Blue Group, let the first wave come at you and lure 'em into the guns. Rogue Group, take on wave two and lure them down and away from us. If any Crimson colored fighters come at you, hit them hard!"
Garrett reached for a switch up above him and to his left. "Aces, lock S-Foils in attack position! Rogue Squadron, Blue Squadron, accelerate to attack speed!"
He then added, "Resistance,..:"
The X-Wings' S-Foils locked in their familiar "X" configuration as the pilots declared, "...Fly High!"
Once more, both groups flew forward, The "H" shaped fighters swarmed the screen, the snubfighters let them pass, then the other eight fighters sailed forward, firing their lasers with everything they had. Each fighter's pilot had skills that had been borne from birth or natural ability or from training. Once more, the rivalry with TIEs and X-Wings ensued.
Garrett scanned the dark, black of space for blood red TIE fighters. So far, they had not come close to him and his friends yet. Yet being the key term.. Usually by now, they were in full swing against them. Considering the amount of run-ins they've had over the years this was practically normal. Normal as it ever was gonna get, as some people would grimly point out.
A beep warbled a warning as a crimson TIE Advanced, flanked by matching TIE Fighters entered the fray. On the Comms., was the dreaded sound of a TIE Fighter. That scream was unmistakable. An X-Wing tore itself apart and exploded from a barrage of green plasma as the scream followed.
What confirmed it was Jessika Pava crying out, "We lost Rogue Five She's here!"
Rogue Leader saw the three fighters on his screen and gunned towards them, "Aces, stick with me. Rogue and Blue Groups, stay on course and thin out those guys. We'll ward those three off and then we'll free the ship."
Another beep alerted him; he was being hailed. He flicked on the comm dial to hear a voice, one that used to have joy and laughter in it, but now cold and stern.
"Once again, we lock horns in battle, White Pegasus." crackled a flat, yet cold woman's voice.
Garrett's heart as usual tightened in heartache and anger as he replied, "Nice to know you still keep your skills sharp."
His ship slammed into the TIE Advanced, forcing it away from its trail. "Rogue Leader, engaging Crimson Manticore."
One ship in red, the other in white began a long sung dance. Almost as if they had known each other for years. That was true for Garrett. A long time ago, they had been good friends once, but now deadly opponents on different sides of a secret war.
The TIE spiraled into a spin, sending sprays of galvanized particle beams at its opponent. The X-Wing jinked left then right, responding in turn with fire of its own. The two ships looped, twisted and soared at each other, one upping each other with move after fancy move. The snubfighter waggled its wings with a teasing jibe, earning a snarl from the mysterious Crimson Manticore known as WR-27.
The elite Stormtrooper Major gripped her controls, slamming on the accelerator. She sped toward him, heat seeker missiles locked onto him. She fired them, forcing Garrett into a retreat. She followed her missiles, hoping to at least clip his wings. Poe Dameron broke off from his dogfight and switched his fire rate to quad fire. Leaving nothing to chance, he held the trigger button as he fired like crazy at the missiles. One missile was sidelined into a wayward TIE fighter. The other stuck close to Garrett's fighter. Way too close for comfort.
After switching comm frequency back to the Resistance codes, Garrett tched then flicked a switch, killing the engines. His fighter stalled for a moment, allowing the missile to sail overhead, crashing into another TIE fighter. He kicked the X-Wing back on and turned, soaring after his foes.
Blue Leader and Black Leader eyed what their fellow Ace was up to in alarm.
Snap clapped a hand to his helmeted forehead, "Rogue Leader, are you nuts?!"
Poe winced as he brought his fighter starboard, "Ohh.. I didn't teach him that move…"
C2-G7's white and red dome spun as she whimpered in agreement. This was a bad idea, even for her Pilot.
The two ship icons of the Galactic Civil War raced to each other, head to head in a universal game of chicken. It depended on which one would break away first before crashing. This would be mere suicide for ordinary pilots, but for Aces… that's a different story. For Aces, a game of chicken would be fun. Stupid but fun. Ordinarily, for pilots like Garrett, this game would just be another workout to smile at. Today, he had no time to even risk his life for something stupid.
Rogue Leader heard his droid make the famous droid scream as he fired the trigger at the last second, forcing the female pilot to break off. He gunned it, sailing towards the Destroyer's turrets. He activated the missile launchers, loading his torps with concussion missile warheads. His targeting systems beeped once and he fired at least two sets of them. Pink crate sized bullets flew and slammed into two of the turrets. Rogue Leader found himself flanked by his fellow Squadron Leaders as the three TIEs came at them. The trio turned and flew towards the Destroyer.
Over the Comms, they could hear the sounds of their friends in a very tight dogfight against the Manticore Brigade. Judging from it, it looks like they needed backup, badly. They looked to be boxed in and outgunned. Usual odds for Rogues but for given the huge swarm they'd have to get through… that was always bad news.
A worried Rogue Leader called, "I'm going after them."
He hated them being left to fight the rest of the Brigade; The Manticore Brigade were merciless and cruel. They terrorized many New Republic worlds in secret to provoke another Galactic Civil War. So far, they were just testing the waters, just pushing the limits until the wrong button got pressed.
Black Leader corrected, "Negative. We have no time. They'll be fine; they got Jess and Bastian looking after them. We need to disable those tractor beams while they break this screen of TIEs."
Another beep warbled over the comms. Blue Leader checked his screen, "We got a fighter, Gunner Squadron and a starship incoming. IFFs read friendly."
Rogue Leader commanded, "Rogue Eleven, Rogue Seven, once the ship, Gunner Squadron and the fighter get within range, guard them. They'll be coming at .five port side."
Two X-Wings flew towards the sector as the battle raged around them. Garrett and his Rogues dive bombed towards the tractor beams as the two Rogues fired their missiles, catching the Crimson Manticore by surprise.
The tracking computers beeped and counted down on the timers and then once they reached zero, six proton torps ejected from their ports, connecting with each tractor beam. Explosions filled the viewports of each Starfighter as the loud sound only rocketed their pilots' ears. Once their vision was clear, a squadron of Y-Wings formed a barrier around the shuttle, firing at anything black and blue. Pinpricks of light burst onto the scene, the two Rogues broke off once a light green and black X-Wing followed by a red and black bounty hunting ship known as the Heretic,
Who was that? This new pilot looked to be a skilled pilot; it was in her blood after all. The pilot's flying looked to be spectacular, engaging in a few fights. The lasers skittering across the black void of space. Whoever it was did an aileron roll, firing missiles like an ace, each of the pink warheads making contact with several TIE Fighters. The ship skimmed across the void, joining Rogue Squadron. The Heretic opened fire, sending missiles and laserfire into the fray. Boldy cutting a swath in the swarm, it provided the two Squadrons a moment to collect themselves.
Garret furrowed his brow as he asked, "Gunner Leader, Glad you made it, but who's the new pilot?"
Gunner Leader replied, "You'll see. Anyway, I'll have my guys help out Blue Squadron. I'll link up with you in a minute; just sweeping up the mess that Manticore made here. Don't worry; I won't engage her; we'll ward them off. Gunner Squadron, Heretic, engage Ion torps."
The dark green and black X-Wing darted forward, firing its cannons in rapid succession as the Squadron joined the battle, turning the tide at least for now. The whoosh sound of X-Wings, Y-Wings and the screams of TIEs mixed in their ears, creating a symphony that was chaos and yet order at the same time. It wasn't this Galaxy if trouble wasn't too far behind.
G7 warbled a warning about the shuttle; it needed fuel. Badly. The code on the screen read, "She needs fuel fast. Knowing us, so do we. Tattooine's the only place we got. The shuttle's already contacting the docking bays."
All three Starfighter pilots stuck close to the ship as their Squadrons took towards the planet down below. Gunner Squadron broke off from their engagements and fired several ion concussion missiles at the Destroyer and its Squadrons. The Heretic joined in, laying down heavy ion fire on the Destroyer. Once the missiles struck and the ships were immobile, the Squadron and the green and black ship dove after the others.
Upon landing, at least for the moment, Garrett Antilles jumped from his X-Wing, removing his white and red Resistance pilot's helmet, slinging his special backpack on his shoulder.
The young man was at least 6', fair skinned, short black hair, and brown eyes that created such a mystical quality to them. His build was at least cut, not that anyone could tell he had a muscled build under the puff his Interstellar Orange flight suit created when worn.
He ran to his two fellow Squadron Leaders who had just deplaned their ships. Boy, this was gonna be awhile to get through. They needed to refuel, and urgently before First Order troops could follow after them.
Snap said, "At least that went well. Good thing Morory made it with his Squadron and used ion missiles on that Destroyer. We need to haul ass out of here soon."
The olive skinned, five o'clock scruffed pilot known as Poe Dameron argued, "You got any ideas on how to get refueling done faster without anything exploding haphazardly?"
Snap sighed, "Look, buddy boy, I was simply saying that we needed to haul out of here and fast. I wasn't saying that we do it this very second."
The Yavin native grinned, "The way you sounded made it seem like you wanted outta here as soon as we got fueled up right now."
The blacked hooded, black and red vested brown skinned young man with the facemask eyed Garrett knowingly. "And there they go again, about to go at it like Jawas and Tusken Raiders."
Garrett barked, "Let's not start the sexual tension between you boys again right now, okay? Let's go meet the new pilot."
Both Poe and Snap chuckled as they followed suit.
The T-70 they approached was of course a forest green in color in its ferrosphere sensor-scattering paint job, complemented by the black accents and the Morai bird was on either of the top two wings. The armored canopy hissed as it swung upward, the pilot lurched from the seat, following the deployable ladder down to the ground.
Her frame was slender even with all the puff of the Interstellar Orange uniform synonymous with the Resistance and the Rebel Alliance. Her helmet was the same as any Resistance Pilot's; aside from the fact it bore the same color scheme as the X-Wing and it even had the Morai owl on the back and the Resistance starbird in gold. The brown-eyed girl shook her long, curly brown hair out as she tucked her helmet under her arm.
Garrett walked up in astonishment; his eyes wide with disbelief. He knew this young woman. She couldn't be…He had to be sure. Poe, Kilarou and Snap eyed each other with knowing chuckles as Garrett made his move.
The girl gave a laugh, the smile infecting her eyes. "Told you I'd get my flight training done, Garret;" she stopped to see the rank badge on his chest, "Or should I say Commander Antilles?"
After picking up his jaw from the floor, Garrett saluted, "Good to see you again, Max. What brings you to this side of the Galaxy? Glad back up's finally arrived."
Max saluted right back, "I'm under orders from General Organa. I've been selected to join a Squadron; specifically yours as your right-hand woman.Looks like the Antilles-Skywalker dream team is back in action!"
The Corellian Pilot popped up his brows in surprise, "So soon? Damn. You must have really left an impression on her.."
The girl playfully bopped Garrett on the shoulder, "The General feels I'm ready to fly for the Rogues; I got promoted to Captain too. Heck, I tried the Antilles Intercept on the exam."
The Corellian Pilot gawked at her, "You actually tried the Antilles Intercept? Didn't think anyone would try it but me or the Rogues."
Max pointed upwards, "We might need to try it back up there if we want to get past them and get our supplies back to D'Qar. Plus I got a transmission from the General concerning our next Mission."
Four others of the Squadron came by, Bastian, Jess, Nien and Ello.
Bastian straightened his hair as the rest of the three Squadrons maintained their ships at the other docking bays, "Doesn't that move require our Squadron attacking from a low level?"
Nien arched a brow as he chittered in his language. "We'd have to time it right in order for all of us to get home safely."
Jessika Pava added, "For that to work, we need to have them make the first move."
Rogue Ten known as La'via Moraaana stroked her chin thoughtfully, "Yeah, but they'd have to make the move really stupid so we'd hit them hard enough for them to not even follow our trail."
Snap nodded, "What kind of sneaky move are we expecting him to make, Garrett?"
Meanwhile with the First Order, aboard the Finalizer…
Hux paced about and a snarl ready to cut loose from his lips. Clearly, he hadn't expected Rogue Squadron to come save the shuttle or Gunner Squadron showing up with ion torpedoes, given that people were scrambling to get the systems back up one by one on the lower recessed decks.
He queued up his ace pilot; the Crimson Manticore as his Director of Accounting was typing away on a compact datapad. The holo of the red colored trooper filled the scarred man's view.
"I'm bringing the ship broadside. The Resistance is hiding down there; it'd take too long for our teams to search either Mos Espa or Mos Eisley for them." He ordered hotly, "Once our ships are repowered, cover the front. I'm expecting those fools to come at us with those bomber fighters..."
WR-27 finished, "...Then they'd aim for the bridge with either the Rogue or Blue Squadrons. After that, they'd have the bounty hunter's ship escort that shuttle to their mysterious base. It's mostly like they'd keep both X-Wing Squadrons hidden and that new one and the ship comes at us with full fury and the two Squadrons catch us by surprise. The classic Trench Run Disease tactic."
The brunette girl pushed her glasses up. "Sir and ma'am, may I remind you, we need to not waste fuel trying to crush them. Our budget may be vast but we still have to maintain it at a good level to not go into debt."
The General gave her an impassive stare. The feeling of sterness emanated from the General caused the girl to tense up. He walked over to her and smiled. "Try that again, and you may not see another day in your office. I'd prefer to keep you home and safe, where you should be."
Director Kara Caspian gulped then straightened her collar. "Sir, I was just making a point of the costs of fuel, if I may say. They need that as much as we do. Try to conserve as much as we can so we can make our money back and make it to Starkiller base intact."
The red-haired,power hungry man stroked his chin pensively. "Bring up the ship to at least thirty degrees starboard side. Aim the cannons on the city once the ionization effects wear off. Firing warning shots only then broadcast a message to the planet. If they don't release the Resistance pilots; we'll destroy their cities."
Caspian's stare turned into one of concern, but then she steeled herself as the stormtrooper major's holo turned off and Hux looked out the transparisteel window. What had she gotten into hearing that? Then again, this was a secret war, but shots like that would normally trigger a war, but considering where they were...no one would mind given this was the Outer Rim. The Outer Rim was lawless, and run by mobsters and outlaws, the New Republic wouldn't mind if a battle raged on out there as long as it stayed far and away from them.
She was never one for fighting after all. As long as she could catalog purchases, streamline accounts, and carefully appropriate credits to purchases when needed, she was fine. The fighting could be handled by the pilots and soldiers for all she knew. The systems powered on slowly, then the ship rumbled as it slowly began to turn. General Hux felt the ship rumble beneath his boots. He smirked as he looked at the viewport to see the turrets facing the planet. The guns primed, the Destroyer surged with power.
Back down below, Garrett, Poe and their Squadron mates took to a small area where they could view the message from the General.
Max drew out a datacard and inserted it into C2-G7's data card slot. The white and red droid activated its holoprojector. Within moments, gray-haired yet wise General Organa appeared amongst the circle of pilots.
A serene smile that warmed their hearts greeted Kilarou, Garrett and Max to whom she dubbed; the Trio, "Good to see you all. Listen, once you finish up this supply run, we have a much more important Mission ahead."
Garrett held himself in a parade stance, his hands clasped behind his back, "And that is?"
Leia's smile turned somber, "An old friend of mine's daughter was kidnapped while he was training at the Academy; the thing is her father's a Senator from Zygerria."
Snap asked, "Why would they take him?" Recognition dawned on his face. "...unless they've been going after the leaders of the Rebellion by taking their kids."
Kilarou frowned, "It's more like they're even going after Jedi kids. Figures. What's the planet they've headed to?"
The General hesitantly replied, "Somewhere towards Hoth."
Garrett froze. Hoth. He hadn't planned on hearing that name in a long while. Icy memories stirred to the front. He could still hear the heavy sounds of boots crunching in the snow, blasterfire and a woman's screams and his own heart wrenching protests. His breathing quickened, he nearly collapsed but straightened, remembering the Mission at hand. The Corellian bit his lip as to prevent tears from streaming forth. Max grabbed him into a protective hug. Poe patted his fellow Ace pilot's back. What happened at Hoth that made an Ace collapse in what could have been regret, sadness, trauma?
Leia said in a consoling voice, "I know going back there brings back painful memories but that's the last we heard he was heading. You need to make headway and get there and pick up the trail, Garrett. I completely understand if you don't want to go on the Mission-!"
Garrett eyed his General seriously, "I'll go. No one knows that place better than me or General Rieekan; considering he didn't sign up, you got me. Logged plenty of hours out there."
A worried Max asked, "You sure? That was the last place you saw her." An icy tone to her voice chilled everyone in the room.
Poe shrugged, "Knowing her, it's the last place she wants to revisit, much less see Garrett face to face."
Garrett nodded, the three turned to see Snap Wexley running in alarm. The look on his face wasn't a happy one. Oh dear.
The bearded male declared, "We better get that Antilles Intercept moving, bro. That Destroyer's gonna fire warning shots on the city any sec now."
With that, Garrett wordlessly scrambled for his helmet and ran to his X-Wing. Following the Commanders' lead, their fellow pilots scrambled to their ships, X-Wings and the Heretic took to the air.
Garrett mockingly tutted. "There's the stupid move I expected orange head to make. Rogue Squadron, form up on me. Black Leader, Blue Leader, take my lead. Heretic, Gunner Leader, fire when ready."
On the bridge, General Hux smirked, "Ah, there's the Bounty Hunter's ship now and the Squadron at the ready. It seems the other two groups must've gone the other way to hide. How cowardly of those Resistance fools. Have the other eight ready turbolasers on full. Keep the others trained on the planet. Fire at will-!"
The ship jolted as forty eight missiles knocked into the ship, four hit the turbolasers, others hit the hangar bays.
An engineer cried, "Sir, they've taken out our eastern batteries and hangar bays!"
Another one on his screen cursed, "No sign of Rogue or Blue Squadrons. Our sensors are at least picking up the Heretic."
Director Caspian furrowed her brow as she looked up from her datapad. That didn't look to be a good sign at all. She went over to the scanner screen to help and decided to tune the darned thing. Good thing she did too, she just saw a group of new signals aiming for the engines. Though, she was a little late.
The woman whirled about, "Sir, our engines; we got the-!" BOOM! The ship shook as torpedoes ripped engines apart with ease.
Kara was sent to the floor on her rear as the ship bucked under what felt to be an intense pressure on the stern side. What was that? Grimacing as he stood, Ky pressed a dial and what emerged was a holo of twenty four X-Wings firing torpedoes at the engines. The ship had stalled, tipping slightly, the TIEs scrambled to defend both fronts, but the Heretic soared upon them immediately, firing its own nasty laserfire at them, sending each swarm in disarray. The General looked out the viewport to see both X-Wing Squadrons, the Y-Wing Squadron, the shuttle and the Heretic extend themselves into pinpricks of light and slingshot themselves away.
Hux's hand went toward the mysterious weapon/trophy at the left of his belt as he let loose a snarl, "Get me the Supreme Leader. NOW!" He whirled on his heel, heading for his personal chambers.
The Stormtroopers bolted away from the man as he uttered the order. This didn't look good. None at all.
Kara sighed and followed suit, anti-headache pills in tow. She had gotten used to his angry moments. She looked back at the graveyard of scrap, and spied a piece that had the Resistance starbird on it that was crushed by the Crimson Manticore's TIE Advanced. She shook her head as the First Order symbol came into view and she stood proud. Kara belonged here…didn't she? This was her home away from home; nothing would tear her away from the job she loved or would it?
In the blue-white tunnel of hyperspace, the ships soared towards their destinations.
Gunner Leader appeared on the holocomms, as did the other two Squadron Leaders on the holotable of the Heretic.
Kilarou's face mask grill glowed as he spoke, "So, any ideas on what to do?"
Marory suggested, "We'll get the shuttle to D'Qar, I'll take Rogue and Blue Squadrons back to base. You guys get to Hoth. The less energy signals the better the chances of WR-27 not finding you."
Snap nodded, "We'll break off and make another jump. Once we find the kid, and we get into a dogfight, just be one jump away to engage the Brigade. We'll need all we can get to help that girl."
Garrett sighed, "How many starfighters can the ship hold?"
The tanned hunter pulled up schematics of the Heretic, "She's slightly bigger than the one Maul had but it should hold all three X-Wings and maybe one more in the hangar deck below. Get on board, this should save you plenty of fuel for a dogfight ahead."
The ramp lowered upon command as a bird-themed protocol droid known as CR-0W greeted them, a cheery smile in his optics and a twirl of his cane. He cheered as the other starfighters jumped into Hyperspace, he motioned quickly as the White Pegasus, docked.
The droid then noticed one more X-Wing had docked. This one in green and black Upon seeing the Morai Bird he smiled.
CR-0W caught sight of the Resistance Starbird of the pilot's helmet and sighed, "Thank the Maker."
One by one, Garrett, and Kilarou filed in, but as Kilarou made his way up the steps so did Max. The four stood in the meeting hall of the Heretic. Garrett was especially worried about what was to come as a holo of Hoth filled his view. He pressed a button, typed a code on the holographic keypad. Max leaned away from the wall, while trying to be hidden, but Garrett's back was to her, and all she could see was a holo of a woman. The man stopped, his hand slowly going for the holster on his right thigh.
Just then she winced as the Commander smirked, "I know you're there. Knew you'd sneak right in."
The brunette walked in sheepishly, facing what she thought was a stern glare. She looked up in surprise to see both Commanders grinning at her, "Aw come on! I was so hoping to for once get the drop on you two!"
Garrett playfully shrugged, "Maybe next time, Max. You're just getting sloppy."
Max pouted in jest, "Oh, that's fair, you'll get it… when you won't see it coming!"
Kilarou nudged Garrett knowingly, "She's got some moxy. Kinda reminds me of well… me. Oh, and you when you had this kind of an attitude; according to Snap anyway."
Ignoring the jab, the black haired soldier hefted his backpack on one shoulder and he motioned for her to join in, "Let's get to work."
Both Pilots, their astromechs, CR-0W and Kilarou gathered around the round holo table and so the briefing began…