Chapter 5

Disclaimer: It should be pretty obvious that I do not own the Star Wars galaxy nor anything in it, this is purely for fun and love of writing, and should not be considered canon.

Captain Parck stood on the bridge of the Admonitor, staring into the tunnel of hyperspace as the Star Destroyer hurtled towards some distant planet on the edge of the known galaxy. He stood there and ignored the subdued conversations that floated to him from the crew pits. The Captain was thinking about his son, how everything had started to get out of control.

The Captain worried about his son, but at the same time was confident that Xan would be able to fend for himself. The fact that he had reapplied to the Academy was a calm spot in his conscious, being accepted was a plus, and hopefully Xan wouldn't get away again before he could talk to him. For the moment, at least he was at ease knowing that the Imperial Garrison on Katal was keeping a close watch on his son. Especially since they told him that Xan wasn't getting into trouble.

But still, Voss Parck missed his son.

•••

"I bet you can't sneak up on him." Marnist said to Haara.

"What?" The other young women asked.

"I bet you can't sneak up on Xan." Mar spoke a little slower, a subtle jab at Haara's intelligence. "No one can sneak up on Xan. He always turns around, or knows your there. Watch."

Slowly, quietly, Marnist headed across the ferrocreate slab towards Xan. Haara watched curiously. Moving the way she was Mar should have been able to sneak up on Xan, who was pounding away at a bent landing skid support. When Mar was halfway to Xan he paused, and then resumed pounding on the landing strut. Again when Mar was three meters away from Xan stopped and spun around.

"Nice try Mar. You know you can't sneak up on me." He said and brandished a tool at her.

"It was worth a try." Mar offered.

"No it wasn't." Xan smiled and returned to work

"See I told you so." Mar said to Haara smugly. "So do you want to try, or are you going to take my word for it?"

With out a word Haara set off across the same ferrocrete slab. She watched her feet, as if it would help keep them quiet. An other step and her booted foot scraped the pebble-strewn ferrocreate. Xan can't hear me, Xan can't hear me; she thought over and over again. Energy seemed to flow into her as she thought those words over and over again. Slowly she walked across to Xan, only an other meter, she could almost touch him, just a little bit further and she tapped his shoulder.

Xan wheeled around on his heels, drawing his DL-44 in the process. Haara could see the surprise on his face; someone had suck on him, then a second flash as he realized who it was. They seemed to hang motionless and silent. Xan's finger dropped away from the firing stud. The clatter of Xan's wrench hitting the ferrocreate broke that, brought everything back to normal speed.

"Don't ever do that again." Xan admonished gruffly. He holstered his blaster and returned to work. Haara white as bleached bantha bones, stood there and whimpered. Her feet secure to the ferrocreate, paralyzed with fear.

Xan's pounding on the support became more belabored; quickly he had bent it past where he'd wanted it to be. But he was mad.

His guard was down, the fact that Haara had been able to sneak up on him that way showed that the Stormtroopers would have no problem. A special commando unit would have without a doubt. The impact of hammering on the durasteel support reverberate along his arms, through his body and chattered his teeth.

Stupid!

Lazy!

Dead!

And only two days until they would be getting the Comet of Carida.

•••

"So how is this going to work Grand Admiral Xan?" Rydell mocked.

"Very funny." Xan took a quick scan around the table, the bottle of Artell reserve in the middle, Rydell, Haara and Marnist were at the table. "So tomorrow morning Haara, Marnist and I head for Carida in Haara's ship. Rydell, you and Makazu leave latter tomorrow, and you signal us when you're on approach to Carida. We brake into the hangar where the Comet is being kept. Rydell got us the times when the Stormies will be changing guards, and then we take off as soon as you and Mak pickup on our ID, find us and we head for hyperspace. You up to it buddy?"

"What, a Blastboat, an X-wing and a freighter against squadrons of TIE fighters and probably a Star Destroyer or two. I like our odds."

"Are you serious Xan?" Haara snapped. "We'll get killed."

"Not if we're fast enough." Xan said. "And we'll be heading for space before they even know what's going on. Once we're clear, don't jump directly home, my ship will be bugged. We'll make a stop at Dantooine." Xan turned back to Haara. "You don't need to go if you don't want to."

She looked back at Xan, holding his gaze; "I'm going with you." Haara affirmed.

"Alright then, you two had better get to bed me and Rydell are going to prep the No Remorse."

Xan stood and finished his glass of wine before he and Rydell went to the hangar. It was locked up for the night, and glow panels were off except for a few security permlights. Rydell flipped on the switch, and the pair headed straight for the ship.

"Droid, systems check." Rydell said and he and Xan took up position at a pair of monitors. The systems status began to scroll across the screen, all showing up satisfactorily. The astromech helped boost the power and helped with in-flight systems. A necessity for Rydell because he did not want to work with many people other than Xan and Makazu, and it would be to much for one person to handle a Blastboat on his own.

"So," Xan said almost casually, "what's your plan for getting this thing past the controllers on Carida?"

"Oh, simple." Rydell answered not looking up from his monitor. "I've got the codes of an Imperial Blastboat. I'll jump into the system broadcasting as an Imperial. I'll tell the controller that I was on patrol and I disabled Makazu's X-wing. Eventually they'll give me clearance to land and that's when we get you free."

"It sounds like it should work." Xan said. "I think it's about time we turned in."

•••

Xan, Marnist, and Haara sat around a table in a tapcafe, waiting for their shots of Corellian whiskey. Haara chatted away at Xan, serving as an almost distraction from his thoughts of how they were going to pull it off.

"You know what place this reminds me of?" Haara asked Xan.

"Every other run down cantina across the galaxy?" Xan offered almost sourly.

"No, when I met you." She said. The wait droid trundled up and placed the three shots of Corellian whiskey in the middle of the table, and then distributed them. "Did you forget that already Xan? Huh, why aren't you two drinking?"

Xan and Marnist exchanged glances. "On Katal the last person to speak has to be the first to drink." Xan said mater-of –factly.

"Oh,"

"And you were the last to speak." Xan said.

"So hurry up and drink." Marnist bit out.

Haara sipped the whiskey. Xan and Mar exchanged glances again, and downed their shots.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do." Xan said. "You two wait somewhere near the door, just out of sight of the Stormies, I'll wait across the road. When I pick them off you two run up to the door and put this in the ID card reader." Xan slid the datacard across the table to Mar. "As soon as the doors open you two have to get in the hangar and onto the Comet . I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Right." Mar answered.

"You ready Haara? You could still just go home without a problem."

"No I'm going with you."

"Can you handle quadguns?" Xan asked.

"I can." Mar answered promptly.

"A what?" Haara asked.

"Never mind." Xan sighed, only her. "Let's go."

Xan dropped a couple of credits on the table and followed Haara and Mar out of the tapcafe, finishing Haara's shot of whiskey on the way. Once out side Xan went in the opposite direction first, and then doubled back and took up position across the street from the hangar.

Xan thumbed on his commlink. "A5, are you there?" The droid twittered in the response. "Good, key in the emergency start up sequence, and get her going as soon as I give you the signal." There was an other affirmative twitter.

•••

A nervous pang shot through Makazu's stomach as his X-wing reverted to realspace near Carida. The fake tether stretched from the nose of his ship to the tail of the No Remorse. It wasn't the realization of what they were about to do; it was the Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit over the planet. Makazu keyed for a comm Burst to Rydell.

"Hey do you see that? Are we still going through with this?"

"We haven't been called off, so as far as I'm concerned we're still on. Now keep quiet back there. We don't want the Imps to catch us."

•••

Xan spotted Marnist and Haara just out of sight around the corner of the hangar. They looked inconspicuous, just like any pair of Caridan women chatting on the street. Hopefully they would move when it was time to act. Xan's sweaty palms gripped one of his blasters his father had given him. Before a moment of indecision could force it's way between his ears he pulled the blaster from the holster on his right hip and fired two shots, one striking a Stormtrooper in the face the other hitting his companion in the shoulder, spinning him to the ground. The crowd let out a gasp and receded from Xan.

"A5, get the ship going!" Xan yelled into his commlink.

Without hesitation Mar had sprung from her hiding spot and pumped three shots into the Stormtrooper who had been shot in the shoulder. She squeezed off a couple of shots to cover Xan as he ran for the hangar doors. Haara was already halfway up the boarding ramp when Xan ducked inside the door. Clearly visible in gleaming white armor was a squad of Stormtroopers hustling towards the hangar.

"Get on the ship, I'll cover you." Xan yelled to Mar.

She nodded and ran for the boarding ramp. Xan pulled out his other blaster and began to back pedal towards the ship. The rumble of the engines reverberated in his ears. A quick shot to the door controls brought them slamming shut, isolating them from the Stormtroopers on the other side. Xan spun on his heels and sprinted up the boarding ramp.

"Mar get to the upper quadgun!" Xan yelled as he ran for the cockpit. "A5 is the ship ready?" The droid twittered an acknowledgement.

Xan dropped into the pilot's seat and immediately began flipping switches. Haara dropped into the co-pilot seat behind Xan and strapped in.

"A5, fix the lower quadgun to fire forward, and give me fire control." The droid twittered and went about his business. The status board showed all green as Xan gave power to the repulsors. The Comet rose with satisfying quickness above the rim of the hangar. As soon as he was clear he pumped power to the drives, and angled for space.

"Stay sharp Mar, we could have TIEs any second."

"Got ya'"

"What do the scanner show Haara?" Xan asked.

"It looks like most of the traffic is scattering, I don't see anything coming towards us."

"Good widen the search area."

"What?" Haara asked. "I've never seen anything like this before." She said.

Xan let out a disappointed sigh. "A5, widen the scanner ban. Find a modified Blastboat and an X-wing and tag them as friendlies." The droid twittered.

•••

"Go!" Rydell's voice reverberated in Makazu's helmet. The tether dropped away from the nose of his X-wing. Makazu corkscrewed below Rydell's Blastboat, and goosed the engines, burning space for Carida's surface. Rydell fell in behind him.

"Give me his location." Makazu barked, quickly his R4 unit showed a blue blip as Xan. A minor course correction put Makazu on a vector for Xan.

"Mak, twenty degrees to port, a flight of TIEs." Rydell's voice sounded in his helmet.

"Got 'em, intercept, right?"

"You know it, first pass with proton torpedoes."

Makazu rolled his X-wing to port with Rydell closing in a little on his port S-foil. Mak hit the switch on his control stick, and switched over to proton torpedoes. "Rig them to lock on separate targets." The R4 unit chirped, and then squealed when it had completed the task.

"Fire when I give the signal." Rydell said. "Have you spotted the Comet?"

"No, my droids marked it on the scanners, but I can't see it yet."

"We should be able to see them soon, stay sharp."

Makazu gave the area a quick scan, and then fixed on the flight of TIEs again. The torpedo lock tone sounded, but nothing came from Rydell. Makazu waited, waited, they were almost on top of them. . .

"Fire!"

Makazu toggled off two torpedoes, and was forced to fly through twin explosions.

•••

"A5, more power to the forward shields!" Xan snapped, and watched, as the TIEs grew larger in the viewport. Xan squeezed the trigger, red bolts of energy lanced away from the Comet, no hits, but they broke formation. "Stay sharp Mar!"

Xan was answered by a short burst from the upper quadgun. A group of bolts hit the starboard solar panel on one of the fighters, spinning it out of control to smash into the ground below.

"Good shot Mar." Promptly two more of the fighters exploded in bright orange and red balls of flaming gas.

"Who took my third kill?" Rydell's voice burst over the comm Xan smiled a little, but didn't loose his concentration.

"Did you two have any problems?" Xan asked as he flipped the Comet on its port side so it could fit between two tall buildings.

"We didn't, but there's a Star Destroyer up there we have to get past."

"Yeah, I know. Form up on me, and we'll make a run out of here."

"Got ya." Rydell answered, and pulled his Blastboat in close to Xan's starboard side. Makazu did the same on Xan's port side. Xan pushed the Comet's sublights for all they were worth, putting some good distance between them and the ground.

"Almost clear now. Just have to get past that Star Destroyer and we're safe." Xan offered to Haara, sitting behind him. "A5, even out the shields."

The bulk of the Imperial class Star Destroyer loomed overhead. Xan was going to push right on underneath it; they wouldn't have any word on what was happening yet.

"Good luck guys. Break off and we'll meet at the rendezvous point." Mak and Rydell peeled off in opposite directions, and in a few moments were off to lightspeed. "Alright, get ready for the jump to lightspeed. A5, how much longer till you've got the coordinates." The answer scrolled across his screen. The Comet was very close to the Star Destroyer. Just as Xan reached for the hyperdrive levers, the ship was rocked violently, as if a rancor had grabbed it. "Shavit, tractor beam." Xan snapped. An other round of shudders went through the Comet punctuated by a scream over the comm. Haara moved to go check. "Sit down, I can get us out of this. If you get up and start walking around I'll have two people to take care of. Strap in!"

Xan took a deep breath and wrenched the controls around again, and nothing but an other shudder happened. In Xan's gut he had the worst feeling. He was almost out of ideas, caught in a tractor lock of an Imperial class Star Destroyer. Xan knew what would happen to him that was probably inevitable. What mattered were the other two people in the ship. Xan didn't want to be responsible for two more people being shunted to the Unknown Regions with him. They did nothing but try to help him. He had to do it!

"A5, when I give you the signal reverse fire the acceleration compensator. Are we still on course for the jump to lightspeed." The droid hooted a response. Xan toggled fire control over to his concussion missiles. "Alright. . .Now!" Xan fired a pair of concussion missiles, and there was a corresponding mechanical scream from the engine room as the Comet reversed direction. "We're free!" Xan shouted at the top of his lungs and reached for the hyperdrive levers. Xan had never seen anything as comforting as the blue-black kaleidoscope that enfolded the Comet.

Without even taking time to savor his minor victory Xan jumped up and headed back along the hall to the dorsal gunwale. He climbed the ladder as fast as he could. A thick gray smoke greeted him half way up, smelling of ozone and burnt electrical wiring.

"Mar!" Xan shouted, but there was no response. She either couldn't speak or was unconscious. He climbed the rest of the way to find Marnist strapped into the chair unconscious. She was facing away from him, hands limp at her side. A heavy electrical conduit swung loosely, blood smeared on the end.

"Haara, hurry! I'm going to need your help, Mar's out cold." Xan yelled.

There was the sound of running footsteps hitting in the durasteal decking. Then from the bottom of the ladder; "What can I do Xan?"

"Open the door to my quarters, and make sure that the bed is cleared."

"Alright."

"Then grab a medpac." Xan said almost as an afterthought.

With one hand holding Mar in the seat Xan undid the restraints. The real problem was hoisting her up and over the back of the seat without falling down the ladder. Xan locked his ankles around the ladder and pulled Mar up and out, with one arm securely around her waist, and one hand on the ladder.

As soon as Xan was down he headed for his quarters with Marnist cradled in his arms. When Xan turned into his room Haara had the bed cleared and the covers pulled back. With a tenderness that would be hard to believe from a man who'd just blasted his way past TIE fighters and an Imperial Star Destroyer, he eased Mar into the bed.

"Medpac, now!" Xan snapped as he checked the girls pulse. Haara without a word put the medpac down on the bed, already open. Xan grabbed the biggest bandage from the pac, and put it where he saw blood matting her golden-brown hair, a bacta patch would come later, after the bleeding had stopped.

"Is she breathing?" Haara asked.

"Yes, she just unconscious. Probably has a concussion."

"Is she going to be alright?"

"If she gets medical attention quickly. I'll have to drop you and her at the next system, and then have Rydell go back and get you two in one of the Artell family yachts." Xan said as he continued to check Mar. Good thing he'd taken those basic first aid courses at the Academy.

"Why?" Haara asked.

How can't she know? What doesn't she understand?

"Because there's a tracking bug somewhere on this ship and sooner or later the Imps are going to find us. I can either debug the ship or get Mar medical help, which would you pick?" Xan yelled.

Again the young Caridan women cowered away from Xan, hands drawn in close to her chest, head hung low. She looked as if she was going to cry at any second.

"Just leave me alone right now. I have a lot to think about." Without a word Haara left Xan's quarters. He didn't watch her go, but returned to caring for Marnist.

Haara slumped down into the copilot's seat in the cockpit. She looked out on the blue-blackness of hyperspace, and began to weep. Xan had just lashed out at her for trying to help him. But for some reason he was afraid to let anybody but Rydell help. She had to pick a tough one to care about, but that was the type that all the girls in the holodramas went for, wasn't it?

She knew somewhere in him Xan cared about her, but what besides try to help had she done? During the breakout it was Mar who had the codes to get into the hangar, it was Mar who had been shooting at the Stormtroopers with Xan. Slowly her hand came to rest on the blaster at her hip, it had never even been taken out of its holster during the whole ordeal.

Maybe she and Xan weren't meant to be together, as she thought more about it, it made more sense. They came from different worlds, different upbringings. Xan seemed like he would be able to assimilate into her world easy enough, but she would never fit into his. Never in a million years she would be able to do what Xan and Marnist had done, she had lost him without a chance.

Tears burst forth in a spasm of recognition. Xan could never be hers. She sat there and cried with he face buried in her hands for half a minute before she remembered something her father had always said. If you're ever in trouble, breathe deep and calm down.

Closing her eyes, with tears still running down her ruddy cheeks, she began to take deep breaths and all of the sudden Haara knew that they would be together. They were destined to be together. She could almost see it, almost.

Haara blinked the last of the tears from her eyes, and looked out the cockpit. The tunnel of hyperspace was gone! Now she looked out on an empty starscape, no ships, no planets, not even a good-sized hunk of rock. Something cold crawled into her stomach, something had gone wrong.

"Xan!" She shouted. "Come here!"

Even in his quarters the strain in her voice was clearly evident. Xan left Mar unconscious in his bed and bolted for the cockpit.

"What happened?" Xan asked, "What did you touch?"

"Nothing. I came in here to cry and we were in hyperspace. When I looked up again I saw that!" Haara fired back.

"Alright, A5, give me a hyperdrive systems display." Xan dictated as he dropped into the pilot's chair. It would be an other few minutes before Rydell and Makazu would be out of hyperspace. "Shavit." Xan said at he reviewed the hyperdrive displays. The hyperdrive motivator had been destroyed in the maneuver that had gotten them free of the Star Destroyer, and the backup showed the same. "Krif."

"What's wrong?" Haara asked.

"We're dead in space, and for the next four and a half minutes we have no-one to call for help." Xan said in a very resigned tone. "And we've got a homing beacon strapped somewhere on us." A5 gave an almost excited sounding set of hoots. "You know where they put the beacon?" Xan said starting to get excited. "Behind the sensor dish. Good. Find out where we are so I can send the coordinates as soon as we make contact. Once Rydell's on the way I'm going EV to get the tracker off my ship."