Aboard the Star Cruiser Home One

Wedge and Tycho traded blows as they worked their way around the mat. "Easy, Wedge;" called Lieutenant Judder Paige, the Special Forces officer who worked with the Rogues whenever they needed straining.. "Keep your hands up. That's better! Don't let him slug you on the jaw. That's it! Lock, toss and- YES! You got it!"

Tycho groaned against the knee on his throat. "Ouch!"

Wedge laughed and helped him up. "Your turn, Tycho."

"Unfortunately not, Commander;" said Karie Neth as she clicked her comlink off and gathered her duffel bag. "We just got an emergency mission that we need to be briefed on and leave for as soon as possible."

The Rogues followed her example and ran full tilt to the briefing room, still covered in sweat and dust. General Rieeken and Winter Retrac were there and ready for them. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Rogues;" said Rieeken, his grave face even more so than normal. "We just received word from Commander Skywalker. He has recently lead a team of Bothans and received critical information about an Imperial super weapon. Details on this weapon are sketchy at best and we need all the info we can get. You will be going with the escort frigate Redemption to pick up and escort the Corellian Corvette Razor from over Kothlis back here to Home One. Any questions?"

None of the Rogues spoke up so Rieeken continued. "Six of you will be in B-wings and six will be in X-wings. You can decide among yourselves who flies what just decide quick so that your ships can be made ready. Dismissed."

Space over Kothlis

Wedge and the other veteran members of Rogue Squadron had learned years ago under Luke Skywalker that missions never wound up as simple as the briefings made them sound. Therefore, when they dropped out of hyperspace and the Redemption comm'd across all frequencies, "Rogue Squadron, we have a Star Destroyer and it's got the Razor in a tractor beam!"

"Understood, Redemption. X-wings, fly cover for B-wings. B-wings, we're going to get in close and blast their shield generators;" ordered Wedge as he went over the controls of his B-wing with practiced ease.

Tycho was the one in charge of the X-wings and he blazed forward, drawing the fire of the turbolaser batteries and managing to knock out a few of them. The Star Destroyer, tentatively identified as the Motivator, was finally scrambling TIE's since a rebel escort frigate and fighter squadron dropped out of hyperspace and caught them completely by surprise. Even then, they were barely mobilized before the X-wings vaped them.

The B-wings streaked for the two shield generator domes, firing proton torpedoes under their deflector shields and blowing them to shards. The result was that the Star Destroyers turbolasers and point defense systems blazed with even greater intensity. It was just a little too late, however, for everyone involved. It was too late for the Destroyer because its defenses weren't tight enough to stop the fast moving fighters. It was too late for the rebels because the Razor was firmly in the docking bay and the Destroyer was turning towards open space.

Wedge gritted his teeth. "Rogues, we need to stop them from making it to hyperspace! Rogue Four, take the X-wings back towards the Redemption and have them contact command. We're going to need a commando team and perhaps another couple squadrons of fighters."

"What's the goal, Rogue Leader?" asked Tycho as he headed back towards the Redemption.

"We're going to force that Star Destroyer to the planet below;" answered Wedge as he and the other B-wing pilots went behind aft of the Star Destroyer and swung all the way around. "Someone find me a way to take out the hyperdrive;" he ordered as he scanned for the best way to eliminate the Destroyer's only method of escape.

Suddenly, Karie Neth called out, "Got it, sending it to your on-board computers."

"Got it;" said Wedge and he armed his torpedoes. "Lock targets and - FIRE!"

Twelve torpedoes sped forward and slammed into the Star Destroy. At first, their didn't seem to be any effect. Wedge cursed. "Get clear, Rogues! Get clear! They're about to jump!"

At first, Wedge was afraid it was too late but then, something clearly went wrong aboard the destroyer. It suddenly began to drift towards the planet. It was as if all power had completely shut off aboard and it was now being pulled in towards Kothlis.

"What's going on?" asked Tycho Celchu. "Talk to me!"

"I think that the destroyers going down!" said Wedge, shocked at his own declaration.

"Well then let's help it along. Take out its sublight engines;" crowed Karie Neth.

Wedge couldn't agree more. "Alright, let's take a run against the engines and then we'll wait until reinforcements arrive."

At full speed, they blazed towards the engines and sent another dozen torpedoes into the sides of the massive thrusters. It was a beautiful thing to see those engines go dark. The Star Destroyer was slowly heading towards the planet below.

"It's going to be falling for an hour at least, Rogues;" chuckled Wedge.

It was an exaggeration but not a drastic one. It was likely that they would get their repulsers up and running enough to slow the fall but not enough to stop it, not in time to keep the destroyer in the sky. The Rogues and the Redemption were aware of when the Star Destroyer crashed to ground when the Bothan colonists began sending distress calls to them.

Wedge woke to Tycho shouting at him through the comms. "Rogue Leader, blast it, wake up!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" Wedge said as he tried to stretch in the cramped quarters of the B-wing cockpit. Looking around, he saw that four transports had arrived as had a squadron of Y-wings. "What are our orders?"

"None so far. We'll just fall in with the transports and-"

"Rogue Squadron, this is General Madine;" came a transmission over all frequencies. "You'll be joining us in recovering the data from the wreck of that Star Destroyer and the Razor. You and the Y-wing wills be providing air support. Redemption, you and one of these transports will be offering any relief necessary to the nearby Bothan settlements."

Wedge couldn't help but snort to himself. "Unless the Destroyer landed on or at least near a settlement, I highly doubt it's necessary."

In the comms, he replied, "Roger that, General. We'll cover you."

With practiced ease, the Rogues fell in on the transports in escort positions as they headed in towards the planet.

Kothlis was beautiful. From high above, they could tell that it was a lush, tropical world. Wedge scanned the area but it didn't take long to see the massive wreck of the Star Destroyer. The starship was the size of a mid-sized city and it was partially sunken in the shallows of a massive bay and, judging by the energy levels, some of the systems were still up. "General Madine, this is Rogue Leader - we've located the Star Destroyer. Most of its systems are still online, including its dorsal defenses. I recommend you land and move in on foot while we keep the turbolasers and warhead launchers busy."

"Acknowledged, Rogue Leader; Gold Leader, lead with a bombing run to give us more cover and eliminate some of the defenses."

As the transports touched down and the commandos began to deploy, the Y-wings dropped their payload. As Gold Squadron angled off, TIE Fighters and Bombers were suddenly launched from the wreck. "Rogue Four take the X-wings and go after the bombers;" snapped Wedge as he angled towards the TIE Fighters, his B-wings behind him.

"How the kriff are they launching?" growled Karie, "isn't their docking bay submerged?"

"Ruptured haul or a secondary docking bay or hanger would be my guess;" gritted Wedge as he squeezed the trigger, blowing a TIE out of the sky.

"It's gets worse;" gritted Gold Leader as he spun to evade a TIE fighter. "I'm picking mechanized ground forces coming from the Star Destroyer. To cap it all off, readings on the power corp indicate that's it's going critical. We have maybe two hours before it's about to melt down."

Wedge swooped in and blasted the TIE off Gold Leaders back before comming General Madine. "General, this is Rogue Leader - we have mechanized units coming your way."

"Acknowledged, Rogue Leader. We are also seeing Imperials taking positions on the outer haul of the destroyer. They have E-Web and M-web emplacements and energy barriers. We'll need those cleared if we're going to get to the Razor's data core."

Wedge chewed the inside of his cheek, doing some fast thinking. "Arlight;" he said over all squadron frequencies, "Gold Squadron, take another bombing run along the emplacements. Go for precision, not blanket coverage. Rogue Four, keep on those TIE's with your X-wings. They can't possibly have that many more aboard. The rest of you Rogues, with me. As soon as those mechanized units emerge from the water, we're going to vape them."

"The first AT-AT's and AT-PT's are starting to break the surface now, Rogue Leader;" announced General Madine, strain creeping into his voice.

"Acknowledged; beginning our first run. Rogues, the AT-PT's are going to be in firing position before the AT-AT's. As soon as they are a solid target, take your shots. Break off into pairs and engage at will."

AT-PT's were single-man pods with rapid, heavy blaster cannons and concussion grenade launchers. They were made as crowd control, anti personnel and even riot control vehicles. If they were able to move into firing position, they would prove even more devastating than the AT-AT's due to the AT-PT's speed, maneuverability and rapid fire.

As soon as the first squad of four broke the surface, they were obliterated. "First four down;" crowed Wes Jansen.

Wedge suppressed a chuckle and growled, "Next twelve breaking the surface. Cut the chatter and engage."

The AT-PT's swarmed from the water, opening fire as soon as their blaster cannons were purged of the sea water. The B-wings dove, fired and broke off before swinging around and repeating. They were barely able to keep up with the swarms of them and when a series of heavy artillery blasts slammed into the beach where Madine and his commandos were advancing, Wedge cursed. "Keep on them! I'm going on a torpedo run against those AT-AT's."

"Be careful, Rogue Leader;" said Karie. "Those heavy laser cannons will smash through your shields in just a couple shots."

Wedge didn't respond as he lined up his shot and fired, aiming for the fuel tanks nestled under the main passenger compartment between the four legs. The explosion was spectacular but due to the limited maneuverability of the B-wing, his bottom most gun was severally damaged in the explosion. "Blast! R5, can you- Oh never mind! Not in an X-wing."

Several amused snorts notified Wedge that he had said that over the squadron's coms frequency. "Remember what I said about being careful, Rogue Leader?" demanded Karie.

Wedge ignored her and the series of snickers that followed. As he swung along, he gave himself more space and lined up his shot. He was running low on ordnance but he hopefully had enough. He also hoped that the crash had taken out at leave some of the Star Destroyer's twenty AT-AT's. If not, it would take every proton bomb and proton torpedo that the rebel fighters had to destroy them; and the AT-PT's were still coming.

"I'm surprised there aren't any AT-AR's or AT-ST's coming out;" murmured Hobbie.

"I'm guessing this Star Destroyer captain preferred AT-PT's to either of them, judging by the sheer volume of them;" said Tycho.

Three AT-AT's were lumbering there way out of the water and Wedge gritted his teeth, firing one torpedo after another at them. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to line up with any of the very small weak spots. Two of the walkers were disabled but the third lost a chunk off the top of the rear passenger compartment. That only made things worse when someone who had been in their mounted an E-web and opened fire.

The E-webs were repeating blaster cannons and would take quite a few direct hits to bring down a star fighter's shields. They were more a nuisance than anything.

"Rogue Leader, we're going to need you and your B-wings to punch a whole through the outer haul. The Y-wings have already expended their bombs trying to. The X-wings have finished off the TIE's and will keep the walkers busy;" said General Madine.

"Acknowledged, General;" replied Wedge as he speed towards his other fighters. "Form up and get ready. We're going to fire the rest of our torpedoes. Ready? Fire!"

After a massive, multiple explosion and after the smoke cleared, the Rogues observed a massive breach in the outer haul. Seeing the exposed corridors, access ways, maintenance shafts and storage bays brought to mind a massive insect hive that seem even larger animal had ripped into to get at what was inside.

General Madine commed, "Well done, Rogues. Most of the walkers are clear now and so are all of the TIE's. Keep an eye on the skies in case another Imperial ship arrives."

The half hour was tense. Every few minutes, one of the fighters would call out that a steadily decreasing time frame of when the Star Destroyer's power core would suffer a catastrophic failure. There were twelve simultaneous sighs of relief when General Madine commed, "All Alliance forces, we're clear and heading back to the transports. We have successfully obtained all data from the Razor's data core. We should be able to depart in fifteen minutes."

"With all do respect, I'd put some speed on, Sir;" warned Tycho. "Sensor readings of the power core estimate you have about twenty before it suffers a catastrophic failure. If that happens, there is a high probably of a rather large explosion, not to mention a ridiculous amount of toxic waste - which I'm sure the Bothan colonists are going to be very excited about."

"Thanks for the heads up, Rogue Four;" said Madine. "We're moving as fast as we're able."

Wedge swept over the retreating rebel commandos as they sprinted towards the transports. It was almost a kilometer between the wreck and escape - almost a kilometer of deep sand and an increasingly violent surf. Even so, they boarded the transports with time to spare, carrying several injured commandos with them. The transports lifted off and the fighters fell in on them in escort positions. They were making for space when the Star Destroyer behind them exploded spectacularly, sending a massive column of fire and a cloud of debris. Less than a minute after that, the Redemption's captain came over the comms with an anxious voice. "Rogue Leader, General Madine - the locals are beginning to throw a fit. Please advise!"

Wedge rolled his eyes and General Madine replied, "Tell them that we're leaving and will send transports and an escort frigate to help with the clean up. Other than that, there's nothing else we can really offer. We need to get out of the system before more Imperial ships arrive."

"Acknowledged, General. We'll meet you back at the rendezvous point."

As they made it to space and out of the planets gravity well, Wedge finally allowed himself to relax. A few minutes later, they made the jump to lightspeed and to safety.

Aboard the MC80 Star Cruiser Home One

Wedge pulled the datacard from his console with a sigh and stuck it in his pocket. His report was finished, as were his repair work orders, his ordnance requisitions and his commendation recommendations. Now, all he wanted was a stiff Corellian brew, a good meal and to not have to look at the screen of a display monitor. Standing, he gather his cards and left his office. To his surprise, Karie Neth caught him outside. "Hey, Boss!" she said enthusiastically, "headed to mess?"

Wedge grinned. He liked Karie. She was cheerful and had a way of cheering everyone around her up. "Yes but I need to drop off some datacard first."

"I'll walk with you;" said Karie, easily falling into step. "That was sum mission, huh? No losses, no damage and a wealth of information on the Empire's latest super weapon! Rogue Squadron is going to go down in history as the bane of the Empire."

"I bet it will;" laughed Wedge. "You flew great out there, by the way. You're beginning to make flying a B-wing look easy."

"It is easy;" she laughed, blushing just slightly. "And thank you."

They chatted contentedly as Wedge turned in his datacards one at a time. When he was down to his after action report, General Rieeken looked at Karie, his face very serious. "Will you excuse us please, Lieutenant Neth? There is something serious that we need to discuss with Commander Antilles."

Karie nodded and said, "Of course, Sir. See you in the mess, Commander."

When the door hissed shut, General Rieeken called in General Madine before activating a series of holo projectors. The entirety of High Command suddenly appeared, along with several of the other higher ranking leadership. Clearing his throat, General Rieeken said, "Thanks to the exceptional piloting skills of our pilots and commandos, and also of Commander Skywalker and members of the Bothan resistance, we have recovered a great deal of high value information. Two subjects are especially important. The first is an Executor-Class Star Dreadnought under construction at the shipyards of the world of Fondor. According to what we have learned, it is incomplete but, when it is finished, it will include a stealth field generator that will render it invisible to sight, sensors and scanners. How close it is to completion, we aren't sure but as soon as we get more information of that section of the shipyards, a mission will be planned but this is most certainly not the most grave news. Part of the data packet that Commander Skywalker was able to obtain included the plans and schematics to the second Death Star project."

Wedge hissed! A second Death Star? When did that happen and when were they planning on telling the rest of the Alliance?

"The reason we are gathered here now is to put together a plan to destroy this new Death Star;" said Mon Mothma in holographic form.

Wedge frowned, resisting the urge to ask why he need to be there. "Commander Antilles;" said Admiral Ackbar, "there are going to be a series of preparatory missions leading up to the this confrontation. We have an idea of what one of them might be but are not entirely sure of the others. We need you to be prepared because, once these mission begin, they will be constant, one after the other."

"Yes, Sir;" said Wedge.

With a nod, Rieeken activated a series of holo projectors, showing Alliance and Imperial fleet locations, current supply lists and possible Imperial installations. "Right then;" he said, his face grim. "Let's begin."