The underside of Wedge's X-wing faced the sky as the temporary Rogue Leader maneuvered out of the sights of the enemy TIE pilot. Above Wedge's head the ground hung; a patchwork of greens, blues and the occasional browns. Green lances of deadly energy danced around him, each one hoping to be the one to strike the fatal blow.
But Wedge's shields weren't down yet. He also hadn't exhausted all of his tricks yet, either.
He was thrown into his seat as he pulled back on his flight stick. The ground "above" him soon filled his entire view, the patchwork of greens slowly transformed into trees during the few seconds he faced the ground only to disappear completely as Wedge finished his loop. A quick look behind him and another glance directed towards his sensor screen sent a brief sense of relief wash over him as he noticed the absence of the TIE Interceptor on his tail. Free of his pursuer, Wedge evened up his shields and headed back to the besieged transport.
So, he's as good as they say, Soontir Fel thought, completely unaware that the pilot he had chased was actually his fiancée's brother. He banked left, putting his laser sights on the transport. With the transport gone, Rogue Squadron would be forced to retreat, sending them into a state of disarray.
The transport loomed in the distance, steadily increasing in size as Fel's Interceptor rapidly approached it. There three more Ints making a similar attack run on the Gallofree, but Fel was the only pilot whose run was unopposed. Two kilometers from their target, the pilots opened fire. Green auras appeared meters away from larger ship as the rapid-fire shots of Fel and other pilots pinged against the quickly weakening shields.
Fel growled as his enhanced sensors began emitting a slight beep, the warning tones of a missile lock. Rogue Leader was back.
"Rogue Squadron, we need more cover fire!" The voice of the Gallofree transports captain rang loudly in Tycho Celchu's – Rogue Twelve – ears as he squeezed off a dual laser shot that clipped off the port solar panel of a TIE, sending the craft spiraling to the ground. Tycho, like "Hobbie" Klivian and the late Biggs Darklighter, was a former member of the Imperial navy. An Alderaanian, he defected not long after the Alliance was forced to evacuate Yavin 4.
He shunted an almost negligible amount of power from his engines and placed it into his shields, a move that could possibly save his life. At the moment, however, the lives of beings aboard the transport were more important. The four Interceptors that had been the first to make a break toward the ovoid transport had been reduced to two by himself and Janson, but these were still plenty of regular TIEs in the air.
"I copy Remembrance," Tycho replied as picked on a few stragglers headed toward the large ship.
"He's a slippery one, I'll give him that," Wedge admitted as the leader of the 181st continually evaded a missile lock. It was like trying to get a lock on Darth Vader over the Death Star nearly six months previously, but this pilot had no old nemesis to chase – no distractions that foolishly limited his focus. Wedge had come closer than anyone had ever gotten – save Keyan Farlander – to doing something once thought impossible: vaping Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker.
A hoot from his astromech droid coupled with the reddening of his targeting brackets on the X-wing's HUD alerted him that missile lock had been established. With no hesitation, Wedge squeezed the trigger on his flight stick. A single proton torpedo launched from the Incom-made starfighters, trailing blue fire as it's basic targeting computer led it toward Fel's Interceptor.
Based on all of Imperial intelligence he knew. Wedge knew that 181st Leaders wouldn't be able to eject, and there could be no countermeasures launched. The leader of the new elite squadron would have to outmaneuver the missile to escape alive.
Fel quickly throttled his Interceptor to full speed, obviously not wanting his life to end that day. He pointed his fighter toward the bow of the transport, hoping his superior flying skills would take care of two problems. He fired his laser cannons and watched as the shots played across the shields. He would have to time this maneuver just right. Too late and Fel's fighter would slam into the shield. Too soon, and the missile would destroy Fel.
Fel pulled back on his control yoke, silently hoping that he had timed correctly. Gravity slammed into him as his fighter soared upwards. The missile began to follow, curving upwards. It wasn't as lucky. Mid-way through its upward arc, the missile slammed into the shield protecting the Gallofree transport. The shield flared for a second, containing the massive explosion caused by the torpedo, before finally failing. Fire blossomed into the area once held secure by the shield before finally dying out.
"Our shields are down"! The Remembrance's captain cried out as a group of TIEs and Interceptors that had evaded Rogue Squadron turned around, ready for a strafing run on the defenseless ship. Fear and desperation hung in the air of the command pad as the six beings crewing the ship did their best to survive.
181st Five, a human male from Coruscant, stared into his gunsights as he approached the medium-sized transport. There was approximately 500 meters that separated the beginning of the ship from the command pod, more than enough room for him to cause havoc amongst the traitors inside. He switched his lasers over to rapid-fire mode and began his strafing run. Green lasers flashed from his guns and very quickly reached the white armor of the ship. Small explosions erupted from the hull as the lasers pierced it. A slight hissing sound inaudible to everyone began to emit from the blast holes, the result of the pressurized interior of the ship escaping into the outside world. Fortunately for the rebels inside of the ship, the depressurization wouldn't prove fatal—yet.
Three more TIEs and Interceptors raced in, making strafing runs of their own. More small fires were set in various places of the ship's hull, but none of it could be considered a fatal blow. That was about to change.
Soontir Fel was unopposed as he flew towards his new target, the remaining TIEs of his squadron and the few reinforcements from the planet's Imperial base were currently keeping the Rogues occupied for the time being. With a flick of his black gloved fingers, Fel fire-linked all four of the Interceptor's laser cannons. He wouldn't fail on this one strike at the Rebellion. The command pod was near now, less than 300 meters from his position. He thumbed down both of the firing studs on his control yoke and waited, watching as the four separate laser shots flew towards the command pod.
They converged on each a meter away from the transparisteel viewports of the command pod, the strengthened blast slamming into the object and annihilating it completely. The shattered remnants of the viewport imploded into the ship slightly before the massive decompression of the command pod sent it exploding outward. One crewmember followed. The blast continued before it hit the back wall. It was followed by two more quad shots.
Fire blasted out of the empty area that was once a transparisteel barrier and the crippled ship began its downward plunge. Durasteel barriers swiftly closed off the source of decompression, but there was no one left to save. A few seconds later, the dead ship crashed into the ground.
Fel checked his sensors after the transport had crashed. It was now time for the secondary objective of this ambush: Kill Skywalker…
"This is Rogue Leader to all surviving Rogues," Wedge exclaimed as he skimmed the atmosphere of the planet. "I need a little help here." Trailing behind him, spitting laser shots every kilometer of the way, were the five remaining TIE Interceptors of the 181st. Through his canopy he could see the welcome image of a small Mon Calamari made ship—a former passenger liner that had been hastily converted into a warship. It was much smaller than the more familiar Home One, but it retained a similar shape. Wedge hoped that the ten pilots of Blue Squadron that were stationed aboard were scrambling to help the Rogues following the ambush on the planet. Blue Squadron, still without an actual name, was considered by some to be the second-best squadron that the Alliance to Restore the Republic had. It was headed by Keyan Farlander—who, like Luke, was also away on some classified Jedi mission.
"I'm on one of them, boss," Hobbie said as he fired towards one of the Interceptors. The shot headed off into space.
"C'mon, you can better than that," Janson spoke as he witnessed the shot shoot towards the MC80 cruiser. "This is how you do it," he instructed as his shot hit one of the vanes sticking out of the Interceptor, shearing it off. The hobbled TIE, without one laser cannon and slightly unstable, pulled away from the chase. Three more to go, and three kilometers to go before Wedge reached the safety of the MC80's point-defense guns.
Why can't he suddenly become serious? Wedge thought as he continued to dodge the incoming shots. His X-wing bucked as another shot hit him, and the warning sirens that went off confirmed the worst. Shields were down. Another glancing shot nicked some of the red paint off of his port s-foil, leaving a black carbon score as a not-so-suitable replacement. And why are they focusing on me? It was two kilometers from safety when he realized why. "It was an ambush set for Commander Skywalker…" he whispered. "And right now they think I'm him!"
"That's another one off your tail, Lead," Tycho replied as a small explosion erupted behind Wedge. "Hang tight, we're almost to the ship."
And then, just as it had begun, the battle was over. The two remaining TIE Interceptors broke off from their pursuit as the image of ten fresh X-wings appeared nearby. Blue Squadron had finally arrived.
Three Days Later. Alliance transport Home One.
"All signs point to a Moff Rebus," Jan Ors explained the markings on the large blaster cannon that the Jedi had brought back from the base on Talay. "As you can see from the manufacturers logo on both the weapon we discovered, as well as some of the other weapons the Alliance has collected over the years." She pressed a button, causing a composite of the same logo appearing on various other types of weapons.
"Is it possible that this Rebus is responsible for the new weapon that the Empire used against Tak Base?" Mon Mothma asked.
"Only this single part of it," Jan replied, freezing the slideshow of images on the weapon found by Keyan and Obi-Wan. "None of the Alliance's other info suggests that he's involved in something other than weapons manufacturing and design."
"Interesting," Mon Mothma softly spoke. "I'm sending you and Kyle Katarn on a mission to speak with this Rebus," she ordered. "Follow up on his last known location. Make sure we get where these weapons of his are shipped to. Or, if he isn't making them personally, who bought the design."
Jan nodded before leaving the room.
"Are you sure this is where you said he was?" Leia Organa asked skeptically as she sat foot in the swamp. With her minimally trained Jedi senses, she could sense a plethora of life on this planet, but there was no sign of a small, green, and wise Jedi Master that Obi-Wan had called Yoda. She remembered the name being spoken in the past, by her father, in various frequency during her childhood. She seemed to recall the name being thrown around relatively frequently between Bail Organa and Ylenic It'kla when she was ten, only to have it die down later on.
"I visited here years ago," Qu Rahn said, the Socorron Jedi Master replied from the shuttle. "Unless he's passed away, which I doubt, he should still be here."
"Seems like a good place to hide," she spoke to herself. "I wouldn't have thought of him—or anyone else—hiding out here."
Leia walked through the damp ground, the mud nearly sliding over her boots as she continued her search. "Master Yoda!" she yelled, hoping to get his attention. She walked a few meters, before seeing something far away. An unnatural looking light peering out of the fog was her only signal.
The light was part of a hut that barely matched Leia's height. "Is that you, Master Yoda?" she asked as she peered through one of the tiny windows of the hut. The insides were typical of someone living the life of a hermit, quite possibly the life of an exile.
"Spying into someone's home, proper behavior it is not," an almost gruff sounding voice said from behind her. Leia started at the voice, barely being able to retain her balance. She turned her head and saw a green alien. He was less than a meter tall, with long green ears. "Master Yoda," she spoke as she recognized the diminutive exile.
"Brings you here, what does Princess Organa?" Yoda asked, using her name of state.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi sent me here," she explained. "He requests your assistance, along with the other survivors of the purge."
"Known I have that come this day would. Sensed a change in the Force I did. And... a disturbance."
Leia couldn't control the tears that came to her eyes as Yoda mentioned the disturbance in the Force. Even after the months of being free of Imperial capture and months of healing, the topic of Alderaan's destruction was still a sore spot. She had carefully attempted to hide the pain from everyone in the Alliance, for people seeing her react the way she wished could lead to disastrous blow to morale. It was a scene that replayed itself in nightmares on a regular basis, one that she doubted would ever completely leave. Darth Vader kept a firm grip on her shoulder as Tarkin casually ordered the murder of billions of sentient beings. The planetary shield flared for less than a second, barely even delaying the inevitable. Then Alderaan was gone.
"Alderaan," she was barely able to even name her home planet. Her fathers, her mothers, several of her friends and several people that would have made good Alliance operatives. The Empire had taken all of them. Needlessly. A slight amount of anger flared within her; a part of herself wanting to take her vengeance upon everyone responsible, before finally dying down. Obi-Wan had said that revenge wasn't the way, that in the end it would accomplish nothing.
Yoda had sensed the slight outburst of anger, and worry instantly filled his heart. While she wasn't close yet, the danger of another Skywalker falling to the Dark Side was something to worry about. "Calm yourself," Yoda gently said. "Sensed it I did. A sad occurrence it was. A great man your father was."
"Thank you," Leia said. "His leadership has been greatly missed in the Alliance, especially after Garm and Mon had their falling out soon after the Battle of Yavin. Perhaps—if he had been alive—he could have kept the Corellians in the Alliance."
Yoda led Leia into his hut, the human woman having to crouch as she entered the small building. "Garm and Mon," he said aloud as he moved to fix a local tea. "Assume I do you speak of Garm Bel Iblis and Mon Mothma?" he asked, recalling the two senators that he remembered from years previously. He vaguely remembered the Delegation of 2000, a group of senators that had lobbied for then-Chancellor Palpatine to relinquish his emergency powers towards the end of the Clone Wars.
"Yes, Senators Bel Iblis and Mothma," Leia confirmed. "They and my father brought together their own individual rebel cells into a single group."
"A revolution," Yoda mused as he handed a cup of tea to Leia.
"We'd like to think of it more as the Republic trying to regain what it's lost," Leia responded, politely taking a sip from the tea. A quick smile hid the reaction to the horrid taste of the brew.
"Powerful the Emperor is," Yoda commented, a slight twinge of pain running down his back—a memory from his fateful plunge twenty years previously. "And powerful his apprentice is. What of Vader has Obi-Wan told you?" Yoda asked, wanting to know how much of the true story—if any—Leia knew. It was obvious that she knew some certain point of view of the events. The feelings of Vader killing two sets of parents had crossed her mind earlier.
Leia cleared her throat before beginning to tell the aged Jedi Master about what Vader had "done," grimacing slightly as some of the tea rose from her throat. "Obi-Wan said that it all started twenty years ago…"