Chapter 18

Haara scowled at Xan across the room as he readjusted the blaster belt at his hip. She stood there with her arms crossed against her chest. Xan checked the power on his blasters, the whole time completely aware of Haara starring him down, trying to burn a hole through the protective shield that Xan had built around himself stronger than a Super Star Destroyers.

"Why are you still doing this?" She blurted out, in a strong voice.

"Doing what?" Xan asked, even though he knew.

"Smuggling, you know I don't like it when you do this?"

"Why? Are you that loyal to the Emperor and his New Order? All we're doing is bringing supplies to the Rebels, and when they finally beat the Empire we stand to gain a great deal."

"I'm not loyal to the Empire; I can't be loyal to anything that's costing thousands of beings their lives." Haara shot back.

"So what you're saying is that you don't support the Empire, but you also don't support the Rebels who are working to free the Nonhumans and the rest of the Galaxy from the unjust whims of one man and his cronies because people are going to die? Did you ever think that those beings are giving their lives so that we all can have a better future, and smuggling supplies is the way I'm going to help win that fight?" Haara lost the sternness of her gaze, and seemed to crumple to the bed. "I'm sorry." Xan offered, realizing that he'd probably been a little too forceful with his words.

"No, it's not that Xan, it's just that every time you go on one of these smuggling runs you can't tell me where you're going, or what you're hauling." She managed between sobs. "And, that every time you leave, might be the last time I see you." She was crying into her hands now. Xan sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

"It's alright Haara." He soothed. "I always come back. And besides, me and Rydell and everybody else soaked up the best training the Empire had to offer, there isn't a single person or being out there who can deal with one of us, let alone all of us."

"Fine Xan. But you promise me this, when you get back from this one you'll marry me."

Xan sat silent for a moment, not sure what to say. It wasn't as if this was the first time the thought had come to Xan, but it wasn't expected. Deep in his subconscious there was that little niggling feeling that he and Haara were meant to be together, but until that moment they had never mentioned the idea of spending the rest of their lives with each other, however long or short they could be.

"Promise me." She said, looking up at Xan with tears streaming down her pail cheeks. "Promise me."

"I promise." Xan uttered and enfolded her in a hug.

•••

Down in the hangar bay of the Artell Ranch the freighters were prepped and waiting. The urgency that accompanied the last Rebel transmission resulted in Rydell having to push forward the departure time by two standard weeks, and the amount of supplies they were hauling caused Xan and Rydell to modify containers to attach to the ships in order to carry it all. The Comet and the Nova Wolf, along with the other five freighters had been outfitted with the supply container outriggers that they had been able to brainstorm. It looked odd, and Xan knew it would kill the flying characteristics of the ship, and probably them too if they were jumped by Imperials, or a band of pirates. Rydell was in the cockpit of the Comet, because his Blastboat lacked even a fraction of the space of a freighter and they needed to move as much as they could as fast as they could. Xan and Mar would fly the Nova Wolf on her maiden run.

Xan dropped himself into the captain's chair in the Wolf's cockpit, and instantly knew where all the controls were, not only because he had put them there, but because he had lifted the whole cockpit more or less intact from a scrapped YT-1300.

"Where have you been?" Rydell's voice crackled through the comm. "I was about to tell Mar that we were going to leave without you and that she should fly the Wolf."

"Just talking with Haara." Xan responded.

"Anything important?" Rydell asked.

"Nothing much, we're just getting married, that's all." There was silence over the comm as the weight of Xan's words slammed into Mar's chest. It was over, and she had lost, the only way to stop it now was to kill Haara. Mar knew before the thought could evolve into a plan that if she killed Haara there would be no way Xan would even talk to her again, he'd most likely kill her. She only managed to stop the tears by clamping her hands down on the armrests as the still silence permeated her soul. It was over.

"Huh," Rydell managed after awhile. "I knew you'd be the first to go."

"You say it like it's a bad thing. But who cares right now. If this run pays as well as you say, none of us can afford to be late."

"Right, let's go."

"Oh, and Rydell."

"Yeah Xan?"

"Take it easy on the Comet, me and her have been through a lot together."

"You got it buddy."

The hangar filled with the whine of repulsorlifts straining under the added burden of outrigger containers. The Wolf dipped to port when she was finally airborne. The repulsors on the port side container weren't working the way they were supposed to.

"Mar, give the port container more power."

She picked up the data pad that was linked to the container's repulsorlifts and began to raise the power level until the Wolf was flying as level as she could. Sure as Mynocks seek out power coupling the added weight made the freighters fly like they had dead rancors attached to the hull. The fleet of stock light freighters made it away from Katal without a problem and were soon on their way to the Rebel base at Hoth.

•••

Snow pelted Xan's face as he opened the hatches on the external containers so the Rebels could get to work unloading them. The cold bit through even the heavy duty IPEC gear that they had been issued. Xan was just glad that they were not going to have to spend the night in it. Rydell was making his way through the snow, and by the way he walked Xan could tell that his friend was frustrated by something. Something had probably gone wrong with the Comet. Great.

"What's going on? What did you do to my baby?"

"Nothing, the Comet's fine. The base commander just told me that no ships are allowed to leave the system. They think the Imps are going to attack and don't want to risk someone leaving giving them away." Rydell ground out.

"Do you think they followed us?" Xan asked.

"They couldn't have. We took care of the garrison on Katal, and the only system we stopped in was deserted. No the commander told me that a patrol encountered a probe droid, they say it's just a precaution, but they want anybody with mechanical experience to report to the main hangar, they need their T-47s modified to deal with the cold, and there aren't enough of there own technicians to go around."

"So you want me to find Mar, and we'll meet you there."

"Right. And if the Imps attack, they'll probably want us to fly some of 'em too, so don't cut any corners."

"Do I ever cut any corners?" Xan asked with a smirk, the cold wind almost freezing his tongue to his teeth.

"Right, just remind me not to fly any of the ships you and Mar work on."

Xan, Mar and Rydell stood in the middle of the group that was having the modifications procedures explained to them. There weren't many, but Xan knew it didn't make sense to pull soldiers off the line to work on the speeders when they could be used elsewhere to prepare for the coming assault. A sergeant stood towards the middle of the crowd, and Xan could tell by the grease stains on his jacket that he was one of the more senior technicians at the base, either that or he hadn't had a chance to wash his uniform in a long time.

"This job is so simple we could teach trained Kowokian monkey lizards to do it faster that the bunch of you. Because it's so cold on this damn ice cube monkey lizards can't survive and it's left up to you." The Sergeant began and then went on to explain how to insulate the T-47s overproductive heat dissipaters.

Xan and Mar set to work at the beginning of a long line of T-47s, not knowing how many they would finish before the assault started, if it ever started. One thing was certain; if it started the last one Xan worked on he and Mar were taking into the fight.

Noo-gin found Xan and Mar as they were finishing up the third speeder. He sauntered up with his datapad in one hand and a datapack in the other.

"How's things going Xan?" Noo-gin asked.

"Not bad, I just hope Vader complies by holding off a little longer. Apparently they formed us into a squadron with Rydell as the leader. You should ask him about your flying assignment. What news do you have?" Xan asked, knowing that Noo-gin had found a way into the Rebel mainframe.

"Yeah, well, the Imps are already here. But I've been taking a look at the T-47s power parameters, and I designed a new chip to give the lasers more power while maintaining the same speed. I managed to make four chips. One for you, one for Rydell and two for whoever you guys think needs them."

"I'll make sure your ship gets one Noo-gin." Xan said as he and Mar began work on the fourth speeder. "How much longer until the assault do you figure?"

"Soon."

Xan had known the answer. There were people everywhere running around, trying to figure out what and who was going to get onto the first transport off the planet, the one that would have the best chance for survival, even with only two fighters to cover it. Things began to get even more frantic with Rebel pilots breathing down their necks as they got the speeders ready for the cold. Xan didn't even pause when the loudspeaker called the troops to battle stations, and the first flights of speeders were airborne and on their way to do battle with the walkers and crack assault troops of the Imperial Army.

Rydell pushed his way through the frantic crowd towards Xan and Marnist, as the pair worked on one of the last of the T-47s. The whole base shook with the stamps of the mechanized Imperial force, and the roar from the crowd was deafening as the whole of the Rebel force plus some smugglers scrambled for the chance to stay alive. Rydell had to yell in Xan's ear to make himself herd.

"This is your ship Xan. As soon as you and Mar finish the modifications get in. You're leading Two flight of Outcast squadron, your call sign is Outcast five and I'm Outcast one. Got it?"

Xan nodded and slapped his buddy on the shoulder before he went back to work fitting the last set of insulators onto the ship. Mar was already facing backwards in the gunners position when Xan climbed into the cockpit with the helmet on. Xan reached over the back of his seat to clasp Mar's hand. "You ready?" He asked.

"Of course." Mar responded the voice filtering through Xan's headphones as she gave a last squeeze of his hand.

"This is Outcast lead to Outcast squadron. I've worked with most of you before, those of you I haven't I'm Captain Artell. This squadron was thrown together with the sole purpose of buying some time for the rest of the Rebel forces, stay sharp and stay with your wingman. Anything to add Outcast five?"

"Yeah, be fast and keep these ships dancing. Without shields were little more than turbolaser fodder if we fly straight, and good luck." Xan said, as his ship lifted from the snowy hangar floor. "Outcast six, where are you?"

"Right here." Noo-gin's voice answered.

"Stay with me buddy." Xan said as the ship broke into the open. Rydell quickly led the squadron in a large loop to take them into the fight.

"Remember, keep some space between flight elements, it'd be a shame to loose all of Xan's hard work in a few turbolaser sweeps from an AT-AT. I've also received reports the Rogue squadron has found a way to take out the AT-ATs. Our lasers can't penetrate the armor, so we'll have to use the tow cables and go for the legs."

There was a chorus of complaints from voices that Xan didn't recognize, the other smugglers that had been impressed into Outcast squadron. "Enough complaining. Accelerate to attack speed." Rydell called as the squadron of beat up T-47s crested one of the countless snow hills on the planet Hoth.

"Two flight split." Xan called, knowing the other two machines could not keep up with him and Noo-gin as he punched the accelerator to full throttle. Six, we have to clear the STs, before we can go after the ATs."

"I copy." Noo-gin responded as the two ships sped across the snowfield towards the mindless gray instruments of doom. The AT-ATs directed fire in their direction, but those who kept the ships dancing like Xan did remained safe, applying a little side slip here and there and bobbing up and down, it would make it harder for them to hit targets, but it made them much harder to hit, and the big gray bulks could only move so fast, not that the lasers were going to do any damage. Xan's arm hair stood on end as a blast from one of the AT-ATs came close to his cockpit.

"Alright Noo-gin, here we go. The STs are going to be hard to hit. But aim near the neck where the power cells are."

"As ordered Lead."

Xan pushed his speeder into a dive following one of the Imperials two legged walkers. He dropped the crosshairs onto the machine and pulled the trigger, sending blazing energy darts at the attacker. They tracked along the legs and then penetrated one of the power cells. The cell detonated along with the others casting the head of the AT-ST tumbling off across the snowfield.

"Xan, the assault walkers are almost on top of the trenches!" Mar called.

"Set you harpoon then we'll go after one on the next pass." Xan put the small craft into a steep climbing turn. "Noo-gin, cover us." Xan called. "Ready Mar?"

"Of course." She answered.

Again Xan pushed the speeder into a steep dive, with an AT-AT at the center of his view screen. He pulled the trigger raking laser fire across it's armored backside. At the last moment Xan pulled up and reversed direction, fitting the speeder between the walker's legs. The tow cable Mar had fired caught the left rear leg just about the knee joint and Xan quickly began circling the giant machine in the hopes of toppling it. Xan had planned his attack route carefully, by coming in high on the walkers blindside; it protected them from the assault walkers big guns. The height also gave them protection from the scout walkers, and there wasn't an Imperial alive that was going to try and shoot down an enemy flying between the legs of an AT-AT.

"Nice flying Outcast five." Rydell called, as Xan continued to circle the armored behemoth.

"You like that? I call it the Xan-Ho turn. It gives you protection from the assault walker's guns."

"I'm gonna give it a go lead." One of the unfamiliar voices called and a speeder headed off for one of the walkers. He was looking good until his speeder was bisected by one of the walker's knee joints. Xan never saw it, because he was to focused on wrapping up his walker.

"Outcasts, reform on me. We have to give the troops cover so they can withdraw." Rydell called. The squadron formed up and started another run at the attacking Imperials. The squadron headed in on two assault walkers just after Rogue squadron had done the same. The turbolaser fire from the walkers was deadly. Red laser bolts spat from walkers almost as if from the mouth of some nightmare creature. Several ships went down in the pass, one disintegrated under a direct hit, another pair went down because they were clipped and sent spinning, the repulsorlifts driving them into the ground. That wasn't so much a problem though as none of them were IPEC members or even the smugglers that Rydell had hired to get supplies moved. Xan didn't know any of them, neither did Mar, Rydell or any of the people in their organization. But when Noo-gin's speeder took a hit that tore off the canopy a cold claw settled into Xan's stomach. There was a lot of yelling on that pass as military protocol yielded to the carnage that had been unleashed on Outcast squadron.

Xan watched as Noo-gin's ship maid what appeared to a controlled crash, and Xan hoped his friend had survived. Then it came, the order for full evacuation.

"Alright, you herd them. Let's get off this frozen rock." Rydell called.

"I'm going to circle around in the Wolf to see if Noo-gin is alright."

"Alright Xan, but don't take to long, we have to get clear with the Rebels if we stand a chance of getting through." Rydell warned. If Xan and Mar took to long they would be left on their own to face the Star Destroyers in orbit over Hoth.

"Mar, key the comm so I can talk with A5."

"Right." She answered as Xan kept the speeder dancing as they went back to the hangar. "You're ready Xan."

"A5, do you read me?" Xan asked and got a sputtered bleep as acknowledgment. "Good, open the bulk loading hatches on the Wolf." Again the droid gave a series of electronic chirps as an answer.

"You're not doing what I think you're doing?" Mar asked in amazement.

"The Rebels are going to want this thing back, right." Xan answered. "We'll just have to find a way to get it back to them." He angled the small craft towards the Wolf, and keyed in the landing cycle. "A5, emergency start sequence, Go!" Xan set the speeder down with a slight thud as the Nova Wolf's engines came to life. Xan popped the canopy and his restraints at the same time and vaulted from the speeder and, headed straight to the cockpit of the Wolf. "Mar, get to the lower quadgun." Xan shouted.

Within a minute or so the Wolf was airborne; Xan brought the proton torpedoes online as a precaution against roving Imperial walkers. The gleaming new freighter blasted across the snow covered surface of the planet as the two headed back to pickup Noo-gin not sure if he was still alive or not. A group of cloaked snowtroopers stood around the crashed speeder, blasters pointed in its direction as they advanced with caution.

"A5, lower the boarding ramp, I see Noo-gin. Mar open up on the Stormies." Xan barked the orders into the comm as he brought the ship into a hover close to the ground. The scarlet energy darts lanced out from the underside of the ship. Noo-gin broke from the near side of the crashed speeder firing his blaster over his shoulder as he went. Xan held the hover expertly as he waited for Noo-gin to climb aboard. The astromech gave a triumphant whistle when Noo-gin was safely on board. As soon as Xan herd that he put the engines to full power and angled towards space.

"Xan, where are you?" It was Rydell.

"Heading out now, just had some baggage to pick up." Xan answered, knowing the Imps would pursue them if they found out the escaped IPECers were fighting for the Rebels. "We won't be long get clear." Xan said, knowing the longer his comrades stayed in orbit the more likely the Imps were to jump on them.

"No way. You've never left me to be turbolaser fodder and I'm not about ready to start leaving you behind." Ah, Rydell. The closest thing that Xan had to a brother.

"Noo-gin, get to the upper quadgun, we might need to blast our way out of here." It was true, they might have needed to, but Rydell had picked an area so close to the asteroid belt that the Imperials had discounted it as a lane of escape, that was until another freighter decided to fly right into the field. Xan saw it on his scanner, well aft of the IPEC fleet as they made the jump to hyperspace.