Chapter: 7
The comlink lying on the bedside table buzzed.
Groggily, Leroy Corsurge rolled over and propped himself on his elbow, using his free hand to grab the communicator.
The cabin was dark, illuminated only by the emergency light mounted on the bulkhead across the room. The Kiss's engines hummed quietly in a lulling sort of rhythm: they were still orbiting Naboo, and the Vong attack had not yet come.
The air was chill, causing Leroy to shiver as he fumbled in the dark with the comlink and brought it to his lips. "Yeah?" he grunted.
"Commander Corsurge?" It was General Hoffman: his growl of a voice was distinctive, even in miniature. Somehow, the starfighter director didn't sound exhausted, despite the late hour.
He probably hasn't slept in years.
"Yes, sir," Leroy said, sitting up abruptly and putting his feet on the ground.
"Report to the debriefing room immediately," the General ordered. "Bring your XO. We've picked up Vong activity within range of the fleet. Details are forthcoming."
Leroy felt his heart throb into action. He was on his feet in an instant, grabbing his flightsuit from the chair beside his bed and stepping into it. "I'm on my way, sir."
Hoffman clicked off his end of the comm, so Leroy tossed the communicator onto his bed and devoted his full attention to dressing.
It couldn't be the full strike force they'd picked up, he rationalized – otherwise, the fleet would have gone to red alert. Dif Scaur's intelligence teams had probably isolated the Vong forward party, most likely in the distant ring of asteroids hanging like a curtain between Umgul and Naboo. It would have been easy to disguise coralskippers and other organic scouting vessels amongst the belt, as it was close enough for sensor–pulse relays. Or whatever it was that they used for scouting.
Not too keen on taking the Greens into an asteroid belt just yet, but if it means taking out the Vong's eyes…
It wouldn't be definitive, considering the Vong presence across half the galaxy and their ever–growing numbers, but at least it would stall them long enough for Palleon and the Imperial remnants to reach Rodia.
Ten minutes later, Leroy and Dano were striding purposefully into the Kiss's main debriefing room below the observation deck. As they passed through the white double doors, General Hoffman and Colonel Gavin Darklighter of Rogue Squadron turned from the holoprojector to meet them. There were several other people in the room whom Leroy did not recognize, although the lights had been dimmed for the holograph, which greatly reduced his vision.
Both he and Dano snapped to attention to salute their superiors.
Hoffman doffed his hand mildly. "At ease. I'm certain you've met Colonel Darklighter before, Commander Corsurge?"
Leroy nodded at Gavin respectfully. "We've never been formally introduced, but we've been in the same room before."
The Colonel smiled easily. His boyish face was shadowed in the darkness, but his features were still visible. The stretching conflict had taken the youth out of his eyes; that, plus the full beard he now wore, only added to the weary lines just beginning to crease his face.
"Shall we?" he asked, indicating the holoprojector.
Leroy and Dano joined them beside the machine and watched as the image of Naboo shrank to the size of a tennis ball, allowing for the inclusion of Umgul, the asteroid belt, Rodia, a small corner of Bothan space, and the very edge of Tatooine – Vick's home planet. The Corellian Run, a commonly charted pathway used exclusively for trading purposes and smuggling, cut an imaginary tangent through the edge of the sphere.
Hoffman tapped a button on the projector, the image cut back in to Umgul, and Leroy's suspicion was confirmed.
"It could be nothing," the General began abruptly, voicing the possible to make way for the probable. "Sensor shadow from the asteroid belt – uncommon movement. Mr. Scaur's teams have concluded that there is a ninety-seven percent possibility that an advanced scout party of Vong skips has made the belt a temporary base. They are using the asteroids to shield themselves from our sensors and visual reconnaissance. Obviously, they are attempting to isolate fixed positions on our cruisers to better coordinate their attack."
He indicated Colonel Darklighter. "Rogue Leader has volunteered to take his squad into the asteroid field to root out the Vong, and we thought it would be a good on–the–job training exercise for your Greens. Is this acceptable to you, Commander?"
Leroy glanced at Dano, whose face was impassive, then nodded to the General. "Yes, Sir. What's our DT?"
Colonel Darklighter glanced at his chrono. "Twenty minutes?"
Leroy came to attention and felt Dano do the same behind him. "Twenty minutes, Sir."
"Meet you at Umgul," Gavin said with a grim smile.
Vick Fleen felt his heart flutter as he mounted the service ladder to his A-Wing snubfighter.
Commander Corsurge's debriefing had indeed been brief, leaving Vick with more questions that he wanted to acknowledge, but that were begging to be asked. He was understandably nervous – not quite fearful, but definitely anxious.
This was going to be his first combat mission.
This was going to be his first combat mission against the Vong.
As he tugged on his flight helmet with nervous abandon, Farvebacca woofed encouragingly into the comm.
Vick turned and found the Wookiee thirty feet across the way, already encased in his A-Wing cockpit, and waved a gloved hand at the massive creature in gratitude. "Thanks, Farve."
The Wookiee's expression would have been unreadable to most – especially at their distance – but Vick could see the brotherly smile curling Farve's black lips. From deep within the forest of matted fur, the Wookiee's dark eyes were sparkling with his own nervousness; his hunter instincts had already filled him with adrenaline.
Hopefully he doesn't get claustrophobic all of a sudden, Vick thought as he strapped himself into the command couch. Everything on the A-Wing's instrument panels checked out green, so he kicked the engine to life and set his booted feet on the steering rudders.
Dano Ven's voice: "Greens, kick in the overdrive. We've got a microjump to make in order to beat the Rogues to Umgul, so buckle up."
Commander Corsurge: "Hangar Control, this is Green Leader requesting permission to depart."
"Request acknowledged," the voice returned. "Happy hunting, Commander."
Vick threw a lever on the instrument panel and felt his ears pop as the transparisteel cockpit sealed itself around him. The noises of the hangar died instantly, leaving him with only the whine of his engines warming up and the sound of his own breathing.
Cool it, boy – you can do this.
The control stick vibrated beneath his touch, and he watched in apprehension as the hangar doors split to reveal the inky blackness of space, speckled with distant stars.
Commander Corsurge's A-Wing rose slowly off the landing pad, accompanied by Captain Ven's, Seth Joust's, and Rusty Yuvahak's. As One-Flight neatly exited the Kiss's hangar, Lieutenant Sketz addressed his Wing.
"Okay, lady, boy, and Wookiee," he said coolly, and Vick watched the Lieutenant's A-Wing rise smoothly into the air, riding its repulsorlift jets. "Let's do this right. Stay cool, watch each other's backs. Two-Flight away, Hangar Control."
"Acknowledged, Green Five."
Vick hit his repulsorlift coils, letting the A-Wing leap from the landing pad, and followed Teneniel out into open space. A glance at his sensor board revealed that Farve was right behind him, matching the rest of Two-Flight move for move.
"Three-Flight is away, Control," Lieutenant Roulvecksch growled as he and his three subordinates cleared the landing bay.
"Okay, Greens," Commander Corsurge said as the rest of the Greens pulled up behind One-Flight. "We've done informal training on coordinated jumps through lightspeed before, but this will be the first time it counts for something. Fortunately, all of you are accomplished pilots and already know how to calculate distances and use your navicomputers, so I have no fear of any of you shooting into nearby stars."
"I'm transmitting the coordinates for the Umgul asteroid belt," Captain Ven said, and a second later the data stream dribbled down Vick's computer readout. "The microjump should take approximately fifteen point eight seconds, and we will revert to normalspace together. Understood?"
There were affirmative murmurs from all around, and then Commander Corsurge gave the order.
Vick threw the hyperdrive lever, and stars elongated around him, streaking by like comets, but swirling and blending together into a never ending tunnel of pure white light. Above and beside his A-Wing, the other three pilots of Two-Flight held steady courses, brilliantly illuminated by the passing stars.
Communication was not hindered during lightspeed, but no one said anything, and Vick didn't want to be the one to start a conversation. Instead, he quickly read through the sparse debrief information Corsurge had transmitted to them all before takeoff. It was pretty much just a snoop and scoot mission – unless, of course, they found some skips.
Vick felt his heart leap nervously at the thought.
Skips. They'd only simmed against them once or twice – not enough for him to feel truly confident combating them.
Five… four… three…
His navicomputer beeped and Commander Corsurge said, "Greens, revert to sublight engines."
Space resolved itself into star–dappled blackness once more as Vick disengaged the hyperdrive. Umgul continued to grow at an alarming rate, then resolved itself into a steady, massive orb hanging three hundred klicks from the Greens' entry vector. The planet's murky atmosphere was smeared with cloud and smog, and space surrounding it was full of uncountable grey and brown chunks: the asteroid field.
And there, hovering like silent birds of prey, the twelve X-Wing snubfighters of Rogue Squadron, silhouetted by the huge planet. Their red trim and twelve–point insignias were distinctive, and Vick felt a shiver of awe crawl up his spine.
They were in the presences of legends.
"Welcome to Umgul space, Green Squadron," said Gavin Darklighter genially.
"Thank you, Sir," Commander Corsurge returned. "All quiet?"
"Currently," the Colonel reported. "Sensors are reading next to no air traffic from Umgul, and we've got nothing but asteroids in the belt itself. Most likely the Vong have set their skips down on larger chunks to hide from us."
Or to lay in ambush, Vick thought.
"Everyone accounted for?" Dano asked.
Vick checked his sensor board for confirmation, and got it reinforced when Lieutenants Sketz and Roulvecksh radioed in their affirmatives.
Corsurge: "Greens, dial down inertial compensators to ninety-seven percent unless you absolutely require a more tactile feel of your fighter. I don't want anyone blacking out in the asteroid field – I need all eyes alert."
"And everybody alive," Dano added.
"It's gonna get choppy," Colonel Darklighter assured them. "Rogues, you heard the Commander. Fix your compensators and set cannons to stutter–fire settings. One-Flight, let's take the lead. Don't straggle, Greens."
"Roger that, Colonel," Corsurge replied.
They hovered for a minute, watching as Rogue Squadron throttled up and entered the maelstrom that was the asteroid field. The flawless precision of the elite pilots was impressive enough to render Vick speechless, and he immediately questioned Commander Corsurge's wisdom in ever including him – a skinny, inexperienced mechanic from Tatooine – on the Green Squadron roster.
But he didn't have time to reflect on his lack of experience.
"One-Flight, let's take the squad in," Corsurge ordered suddenly, and Vick watched as those four A-Wings shot ahead of the squadron. Captain Ven was immediately alongside of the Commander, followed closely by Seth and his wingmate, Rusty.
Lieutenant Sketz's voice crackled over the comm a half–second later: "Two-Flight, throttle up and away we go."
Vick swallowed hard, ramping up his thrusters, and kept his A-Wing close to Farve's as they descended into the rocky hell of the asteroid belt. Three-Flight was close behind.
At first, it was all he could do to breathe. Mottled blurs of rock fragments flew in all directions, enough to make the A-Wing's collision alarms flare to life again and again, only to die within seconds of erupting. He was gripping the stick tightly, flying jerkily, eyes wide and staring – trying to watch both his sensor board and the real thing simultaneously.
Farvebacca whined suddenly, sensing Vick's distress. You're fine.
Vick could feel a thin smile touching his lips, but felt very distant from that emotion.
Ahead, he saw the Rogues flying with neat precision, their s-foils still closed in cruise position. Their flights split evenly to dodge larger chunks of asteroids, but wingmates never abandoned their fellows. They were weaving a secure net for the Greens to follow – blazing the field to prepare the way for the less experienced squadron.
"Broaden sensor sweep," Colonel Darklighter ordered. "If they're here, we'll find them."
"Acknowledged, Rogue Leader," Commander Corsurge said. "Widen the scope, Greens."
There was nothing – just flying rock and clay. Perhaps out of intimidation, the Greens maintained unusual comm silence. Not even Captain Ven had any quips to offer, although Vick thought of a few the XO could use later on.
Two-Flight was riding the back of a huge asteroid, rising above the topmost ridge to view Umgul once again, when it happened.
Vick had grown much more comfortable due to the lack of any activity. He had loosened his grip on the flightstick, was flying much more naturally, and had begun scanning out the viewport instead of remaining fixated on the sensor board. There was no sense studying the countless blips, after all – most of the asteroids were big enough to register as neutral bodies on the sensor readout, and therefore muddied any potential of spotting the skips via sensors alone.
The rocky planetoid faded away beneath Two-Flight, and then open space was beneath them. Ahead, smaller debris tumbled listlessly, stern and silent, standing out against the swirling grey clouds coating Umgul's atmosphere.
There was a mottled green and tan boulder less than three klicks off of Vick's starboard – just ahead of Farve's A-Wing.
Out of curiosity – suspicion was more likely – Vick painted it with his sensors directly. His targeting computer displayed a rough sketch of the asteroid, which was composed primarily of calcium and crude iron deposits, but further down in the rock's core there were significant amounts of copper.
He looked back at it directly, just in time to see the smaller rock behind it swivel much faster than an inanimate asteroid could have managed, with much more fluidity and regular control. And there was a reddish, pulsing volcano at the nose, puckering as though –
Vick reacted without thinking. He hit the trigger.
The bolts, already set to stutter–fire, lanced out towards the skip, striking the pink plasma launcher before the ship's dovin basal could compensate. There was a quick flare of liquid fire before the vacuum of space extinguished the blaze –
And all around them, asteroids came to life –
"Skips!" Vick shouted into the comm, squeezing his trigger until his target detonated with a concussive explosion, sending real asteroids around it careening off in different directions.
Colonel Darklighter: "S-foils to attack position, Rogue Group. Throttles to full –"
"Well done, Seven," Commander Corsurge praised, without any real emotion. "Greens, fire at will, and watch each other's backs! Follow the Rogues."
And the asteroid field erupted. Laser and plasma fire crisscrossed, lighting the blackness with flashes of red and orange. The Rogues were quick to join the attack, and the Greens followed immediately behind, per Corsurge's orders.
"Two-Flight, stay close," Lieutenant Sketz ordered. His voice was calm, but tight. "Seven, you can take point. Congrats on obtaining Green Squadron's first official kill."
Vick felt a swell of pride in his chest, but didn't let it distract him. "Thanks, Five," he said. "Eight? Stay close with me, bro."
I need you.
Farve mumbled an affirmative, and they dove together, with Lieutenant Sketz and Teneniel close behind.
It was much more complicated flying now. The skips blended with the asteroids indefinitely, and they were everywhere – too many to simply be an advanced scout party. But there was no time to worry about their true purposes just now.
Roll, dodge, weave, fire –
"Three confirms a kill," Seth said suddenly, drawing Vick's gaze momentarily.
The Corellian's A-Wing was rising over an exploding asteroid – a skip – flanked by Rusty and one of the Rogues.
"Nice shooting," the Rogue – Captain Kral Nevil, a Quarren – praised.
"Seven, stay close," Lieutenant Sketz said suddenly, snapping Vick back to Two-Flight's position. "You're drifting."
"Apologies," Vick said, mentally berating himself. "Should I switch to Two-Flight frequency, sir?"
"Negative, Seven," Sketz returned. "You've gotta learn to shut out chatter."
"Cover me, boys," Teneniel interrupted calmly. "I've got a tail."
Vick swallowed sharply, craning his neck to see out the viewport just above his A-Wing. Teneniel was there, flanking Lieutenant Sketz, rising and falling in an A-Wing bob maneuver, but the skip behind her was gaining, matching her move for move.
"Eight, let's get him," Vick said, rolling the A-Wing to starboard to avoid a large chunk of rock. As Farve growled his consent, they both reduced thrust to let wingmate and hostile pass them, then rose together to join the pursuit.
Just as they dropped in on the skip's tail, it opened fire. Vick almost shouted a warning to Teneniel, but knew that the Dathomiri pilot was much more alert than he was, with the Force as her ally. And she would most likely view any words of caution as degrading anyway.
She dipped her A-Wing at precisely the right moment, letting the first blasts of plasma overshoot her fighter. Instead of catching her hull, the gob of molten rock struck a cruiser–sized asteroid in Two-Flight's path. The sizzling plasma immediately began burning through the thick rock, caving in its craggy face –
The next blast caught Teneniel's shields, but her deflectors held strong, flashing brilliantly beneath the onslaught that would otherwise have melted her ion drives.
Farve barked, informing his wingmates that he had the shot. The Wookiee triggered a double burst of fire, raking the skip's dully shaded hull with the stunted lasers. The dovin basal snagged the last few bolts, bending the flickering energy into nothingness, but as Vick added his own fire, the skip's hull began to collapse.
And then it exploded, sending superheated chunks of coral spinning off into the asteroid field.
"Thanks," Teneniel radioed. "Good shooting."
"We're not safe yet," Lieutenant Sketz commented as plasma filled the gap between his A-Wing and the rest of Two-Flight. "High and starboard – watch yourselves."
Vick's threat display lit up, so he rolled, watching his sensors carefully for any asteroids that might be in his path. The skip's shots sizzled across his shields, but the generators immediately began replenishing his deflectors' strength. The glancing shots had done no real damage –
"I'll pick him up," Sketz told his group. "I'd appreciate some cover, Six. Don't leave me naked."
"Roger that, Sir," Teneniel said, cutting across Vick's flight path and a raining hail of plasma mixed with asteroid fragments. Her tone had taken on full confidence, now that the fight had been joined. "You don't like being naked, Lieutenant?"
"Only if you're there to see it, Six," Sketz returned. Before Teneniel could shoot anything back at him, the Lieutenant was firing into the skip's fore as the vessel rocketed headlong at them.
The black sphere of nothingness – darker than space – rose to protect the skip's hull, swallowing the majority of Led's shots, and the few that did get threw did nothing but scar the yorik coral –
"Mine," Teneniel said, adding her fire to Sketz's. The red bolts provided too much for the dovin basal to swallow, and the gravity vortex began to collapse, allowing more shots to sneak through –
And the skip pilot twisted his ship to avoid their fire, only to slam headlong into an asteroid at least five times the skip's size. There was a flash as oxygen escaped the smashed hull, but nothing as dramatic as an explosion. Wrecked pieces of the coralskipper tumbled off in all directions.
"Who gets credit?" Teneniel asked.
"Company," Vick announced tersely, alerted to the three advancing skips by the furious screeching of his threat display.
"Two-Flight, split," Lieutenant Sketz ordered sharply. "Seven, Eight, try and draw at least one of them away. We'll take them separately."
"As ordered," Vick replied, and he and Farve rocketed towards Umgul while Sketz and Teneniel tore away in the opposite direction – back towards the distant Naboo.
Judging by the sensor blips – highlighted as red hostiles – Vick saw that two of the skips had given them pursuit, leaving only one for the Lieutenant and the Jedi to take care of. Somehow, it seemed as though it should have been the other way around, but he and the Wookiee could handle two.
"One each," he told Farve. "Stay alive, wouldja?"
A confident growl: Return the favor.
"Roger that," Vick replied, peeling away from his friend and brother. He checked his sensors, saw that one of the skips had indeed chosen to pursue him, and fixated his attention on the rocky space ahead of him.
Time to go for a ride.
There was no room for mistakes: despite the fact that there were twenty-three other pilots in close proximity, Vick was on his own.
He dove and wove, spinning and climbing in the hopes that the skip would collide with an asteroid, or perhaps even lose interest. But the Vong was good, in tune with his surroundings, and not about to let prey escape. It was warrior's honor, and the Vong were obsessed with honor and glory.
Vick's flight had taken him close enough to begin feeling the pull of Umgul's gravity for real. He adjusted the inertial compensator by one degree, making a mental note to readjust it on the return to the heart of the asteroid field, and then rocketed into a tight turn around a cluster of spinning rock.
Blackness crept into the edges of his vision – more than just space outside his cockpit – and managed to catch a glimpse of the skip as it entered the same maneuver. The yorik coral actually began to brighten as the skip grazed Umgul's atmosphere, but then it was on his tail again – more determined than ever.
"Sithspit," Vick muttered. Then he winced as plasma exploded against his rear shields and his HUD screeched a warning. He shifted shield strength to aft, then dove.
A certain red blip on the sensor followed –
– and then was gone, disappeared from the board entirely.
"Picked up your man, Green Seven," a voice said, and it took Vick a moment to recognize Leth Liav, a Rogue. She was a Sullustan, if he recalled.
Her X-Wing was beside him as Vick climbed to reorient himself on the dogfight. "Thanks, Rogue Eight," he radioed back as she rejoined her wingmate. "I appreciate the save."
"My pleasure, Seven."
A familiar voice came through: "Two-Flight, this is Lieutenant Sketz. Rendezvous at oh-nine-seven. Are we all accounted for?"
"I'm fine," Vick said immediately, and both Farve and Teneniel voiced similar statuses. No more than three klicks away, Vick saw the flashes and twinkles at the center of the dogfight, the heart of the asteroid belt – laserfire, explosions, snubfighters, and rock.
An A-Wing rose on Vick's port side – Farvebacca. His fighter had black streaks on its port s-foil, either from a plasma graze or a partial collision. Ahead, Two-Flight had oriented on a massive asteroid, which outsized its fellows by a considerable amount. The two brothers soared through the debris side–by–side, relishing a moment to relax as no opposition confronted them.
As the asteroid spun lazily, filling his cockpit, Vick caught a glimpse of a strange growth on the dusty surface, like a pod or an egg that had been thrust into the rocky flesh. He frowned, staring at it intently as it spun out of view, then reappeared mere seconds later – larger, pulsating with some sort of inner energy.
"Five, this is Seven," he said without realizing he had spoken. He kept his eyes on his sensor readout, but at this distance he got nothing definitive. "I've got a strange… thing on my sensors. Unidentified substance, but I'm positive it's Vong. Permission to investigate?"
"Take a pass, Seven, but make it fast," Sketz ordered. "The fight isn't waiting for us. Eight, watch his ass, and don't either of you engage without backup."
Farve barked an affirmative, then followed Vick as he rocketed past Teneniel and Lieutenant Sketz towards the strange hub on the planetoid. They closed the distance together, wincing at the random chatter filtering across the comm, not to mention the furious explosions of plasma lighting up space on all sides.
Dano's voice: "Got one."
Seth: "Nice shot, Sir. Stay with me, Four."
Rusty: "Right behind you, Three."
Sella Ruvek'astack: "Princess, cover me would ya?"
Vick shut them out, remembering Lieutenant Sketz's admonition to tune out unwanted distractions, and reoriented his focus on the flyby. He drifted the A-Wing to starboard, coming around the far side of the asteroid as the growth spun into the reflected light of Umgul. Closer now, he could see the tendrils of a gooey substance anchoring the pod to the meteor's surface.
Sensors still gave him nothing.
"Eight, let's go in closer," he said, vectoring the A-Wing even as he spoke. "We've gotta find out what this thing is."
Farve woofed agreeably, if cautionary, and they descended together.
The asteroid was a planet for all intents and purposes – large enough to house a colony, a freighter, even a Mon Calamari cruiser. Black and grey flesh glittered with calcite, illuminated by Umgul's sun, draped in the A-Wings' skittering shadows as Vick and Farve closed the distance between them and the pod.
As they swept by it, Vick craned his neck, watching directly out the port side of his cockpit. At this angle, he got a direct look straight down the tube–like pod – the pulsating, fleshy depths of the living transport. The tube was like a drill, he saw, and it had bored a hole directly into the heart of the asteroid. And in the depths, it had deposited…
Vick felt the blood drain from his face.
He quickly checked the datafeed scrolling across his targeting computer, and his worst fear was confirmed.
"Damn," he whispered, for his voice had vanished.
Over the comm, he heard Farve mumbling his own shock as they spun around the asteroid – counter to its rotation – and sped back to rendezvous with Two-Flight. The dogfight was still raging up ahead, but in the light of their discovery, it was nothing but a charade and a stall.
Clearing his throat, Vick addressed the entirety of the two squadrons: "Rogue Group, Green Group, this is Green Seven. Our problems just got a whole lot worse."
"How so?" Colonel Darklighter came back instantly.
"Report, Seven," Commander Corsurge ordered, his voice somewhat more tense than Rogue Leader's had been.
Vick swallowed hard. "Sir, we've got a yammosk."