Wedge climbed out of the simulator and stretched. He really didn't like the B-wing simulator any more than the fighter itself. They were slow and less maneuverable than his beloved X-wings but they had ion cannons and a higher capacity proton torpedo magazine. Out of the other cockpit climbed Karie Neth. She grinned broadly and said, "I like those ships."
"Of course you do;" chuckled Wedge.
They got cleaned up and headed to dinner. As they ate, Karie asked, "So tell me, boss, what do we have going on next?"
Wedge frowned and swallowed a mouthful of food. "What do you mean?"
"Is there a mission coming up? Are we on patrols anytime soon? What's going on?"
Wedge chuckled. "No patrols but the higher-ups say we have several missions coming - critical ones. They're going to be smaller scale, probably only one or two pilots at a time."
Karie nodded, quiet for a minute. Finally, she asked, "Is something coming that we should know about?"
Wedge nodded slowly before asking, "Do you trust me, Karie?"
That seemed to catch her by surprise. "Of course I do, Wedge!"
"Then trust me when I say that it's all very important but that I can't tell you, at least not yet. As soon as I can, I will."
She studied him for a moment before smiling and saying, "You got it boss. I'll be ready whenever you need me."
Wedge smiled and patted her hand. "Good girl."
Wedge and Hobbie listened to General Rieeken as he explained their mission parameters. "We had captured an Imperial shuttle from Zhar that we were planning on using for our mission against this second Death Star but it appears that it was recaptured and transferred to the Naval Academy at Prefsbelt IV. Do I need to explain where this is going?"
Wedge chuckled dryly. "Oh no, I think we've got it. What we do need to know is how we are expected to pull this off. What resources do we have?"
"Well the way we see it, you have two options;" stated Rieeken. "You can either take a two man Y-wing in during the day, use the ion cannon to disable the sensor nodes all the way in and then use the bombs to clear a path through the ground defenses, land and steal the shuttle and get out or you can take a speeder at night, fly low to avoid their sensor nodes and clear the ground defenses with your blaster cannons, steal the shuttle and then get out. Either way, the rest of your squadron will be waiting in X-wings and Y-wings in the outer system. As soon as you call, they'll be there to get you out."
Wedge looked at Hobbie and cocked an eyebrow. "I'd go with the Y-wing, Boss. It'll have more fire power than the Air speeder and I'd rather trust an ion cannon to knock out the sensors than just staying low."
"Agreed;" said Wedge. "Alright, let's go."
The other Rogues were being briefed while Wedge and Hobbie got ready. "How the blazes are you going to get anywhere near an Imperial Flight Academy without being picked up by scanners or sensors?" asked Karie.
"A single fighter under sensor stealth mode should be able to slip in without a problem;" answered Hobbie.
"And if they decided to do a scan?" asked Wes Jansen.
"Why would they?" countered Wedge as he tossed his helmet into the cockpit above. "We'll go nice and careful like and approach from around the curve of the planet."
The other Rogues didn't like it one bit and Wedge couldn't blame them. Going to one of the Empire's flight academies was risky, especially for a single squadron looking to pick up a single shuttle. What's more, it was deep in Imperial space. It wouldn't be easy but this was the first part of a multi-stage plan that would prepare them to destroy the second Death Star before the station's defenses and weapons systems were operational. At the same time, General Crix Madine and a Page's Commando were working on obtaining the necessary equipment for another mission.
The Y-wing was ready for them. It was not loaded with ordinance, leaving it armed only with laser cannons and the dorsal mounted ion cannon turret. Wedge's R5 unit was waiting in the astromech droid slot. "You ready up there, big guy?" Wedge asked his droid.
Arfive whistled a cheerful affirmative as they climbed in. Hobbie checked the turrets controls while Wedge went through pre-flight. They were just barely aware of the X-wings and Y-wings powering up around them as their fellow Rogues prepared to leave. "This is crazy, Wedge?" murmured Hobbie.
"Yeah, it's a bit far fetched but, hey, I'd rather us than anyone else do it. Who else would have a chance?" asked Wedge.
"Who else would take the assignment?" grumbled Hobbie. "Anyhow, I'm ready when you are, Wedge."
Prefsbelt IV - Canyons Surrounding the Imperial Fighter Pilot Academy
They had approached the planet on sensor stealth mode and dropped fast, kicking in repulsers and leveling out just in time to not smash into the planet surface. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you?" commented Hobbie dryly.
Wedge chuckled. "Are you kidding? That was nothing. If it were Luke, you'd need to change out your flightsuit."
"Well then I'm glad you aren't Luke. Anyhow, just finished running one last check on the ion cannon. All systems green."
"Copy that;" said Wedge and kicked in the repulsers, easing the fighter into the air.
"Arming the ion cannon;" murmured Hobbie.
They flew as low as possible, a bare ten meters above the ground. Wedge kept his breathing under control, knowing that even the slightest mistake would be fatal. Behince him, Hobbie said, "Alright, targeting the first sensors array."
The ion cannon thumped sever times and blue energy slapped into the sensors array. It sparked and fizzled, the sensor dish ending its spinning. "Nice shooting;" murmured Wedge. "Now let's do that a few more times."
"You got it;" said Hobbie.
Over and over again, the ion cannon fired its streams of energy and knocked out the sensors. As they came upon that last couple sensors, Wedge looked down at his scopes and frowned. According to them, the canyons branched off in two directions - one leading to the main training facilities and the other, leading around to the rear of the facility. "Hey Hobbie, my scopes show a small guard station in the canyon branch that leads to the rear of the facility."
"Go for it!" said Hobbie. "That way we won't have to fly through hundreds of TIE fighter flight cadets."
"As if that will be something to worry about anyway;" murmured Wedge.
Hobbie chuckled as he knocked out the last scanner. "Alright, we're clear."
Wedge acknowledged and took the canyon passage to the left. It was tight and Wedge stayed as low as he could without risking hitting the canyon floor or walls. Before long, they came on the guard post. A single TIE sat on the canyon floor. There was a sensor tower and a control building. Hobbie hit the tower and the building with volleys of ion blasts and Wedge landed, popping the canopy, yanking his blaster and shooting the three Imperials that were towards his Y-wing. Another was racing for the TIE bot Hobbie, being a crack shot, even with a pistol, brought him down before he could climb in. "Okay, here's the deal;" said Wedge. "I'm taking that TIE and flying it to the Imperial base where I'll steal the shuttle. As soon as I'm clear and on my way back, you can take off and be ready to get me some support."
Hobbie frowned for a moment but then shrugged and said, "Well its better than our original plan. Be careful."
Wedge chuckled. "Hang tight and wish me luck."
Wedge jogged over and hustled up the stairs to the cockpit hatch. It was already open and he dropped into it. With a sigh, Wedge muttered, "I should really have the Rogues do some TIE simulator training. I'm rusty."
Even so, his training began to return to him and he wobbled off the ground. "Oh I hate these stupid things."
Wedge was rather embarrassed as he came to the realization that he would fit right in with the other green cadets of the academy. But as he headed towards the Academy, it came back to him and his natural skill allowed him to easily and gracefully maneuver the ship.
As he came around a bend in the canyon, he was greeted by a daunting sight. Aside from the training ground's primary command tower, the barracks, the defensive turrets and the landing pads, there were literally hundreds of TIE Fighters sitting down. Rank upon rank of cadet pilots stood or marched all over the place. Suddenly, his comms unit crackled and a perturbed voice said, "Attention unit TP312, you are not supposed to leave your post. Explain yourself immediately."
Wedge grimaced and replied, "Command told me to replace this fighter at the defending TIE wing's landing pad."
"You are heading the wrong way, TP312. Reduce speed and wait for me to confirm the order."
"Standing by;" said Wedge before gunning the engines and blazing towards his goal.
He could see the shuttle sitting all alone on its pad. Unfortunately, their were four emplacements right there, surrounding the pad. If he didn't do something about them, they would blow the shuttle away as it wobbled off the platform. Arming the laser cannons, Wedge angled the fighter and got ready to make one devastating run. As soon as he was in range, he squeezed the trigger. One emplacement after another went up in flames and Wedge knew that he had very little time. His comms unit was already shrieking with tower command and patrolling TIE's warning him off. Quickly, he landed and sprinted to the shuttle, blasting the Imperial mechanics and crew members as he did before running up the ramp. Without even going through preflight, Wedge powered her up and raised off the ground. Looking through the view port, he watched as TIE's began to rise from the training academy's pads. "Come on, you piece of scrap;" he muttered to the shuttle. "Come ON!"
As soon as he was high enough of the ground, he threw the ship into full throttle and angled upwards, extending the wings and arming the forward and rearward laser cannons. Before many of them even had the chance to target him, Wedge managed to scrap quite a few of the TIE's but the entire field was rising behind him. Throwing as much power to the shields as possible.
The good news was that regular TIE's lost quite a bit of their speed and maneuverability in atmosphere because of the planets gravitational pull and a lambda-class shuttle like the one that Wedge was in did just as well in atmo as it did out of atmo. The problem was that, even with that advantage, the TIE's were still faster and more maneuverable than the lambda. Whenever any were forward, Wedge engaged, shredding the unshielded and unarmored ships. Whenever they got too close behind, he used the rear facing cannon controls and vaped them. The only problem was that any TIE's that came from port or starboard were able to make runs, Wedge's only defense being his superior flying skill and his shields and armor.
"Hobbie, I'm on my way back and I could use support;" Wedge said into his comms unit.
Shortly after, the reply came. "You got it boss. I also contacted out support. They should be here in three minutes."
"Oh joy;" muttered Wedge. "I don't know if we can last three minutes."
"We'll be fine;" said Hobbie. "I'm lifting off now. How many do you have after you?"
"All of them, Hobbie!" said Wedge as he barely avoided losing his shields to a stream of laser fire before managing to blast several more TIE's. "I have all of them on me."
He thanked every deity that he had ever heard of and the force that these were grass-green Imperial pilot cadets and still clumsy in their maneuvers. He managed to blast a few more when six prepared to came at him from his port side. Wedge grimaced and readied himself to take damage when Hobbie obliterated three of them, causing two more to collide with one another and a third to wonder into another TIE's line of fire.
"Thanks, Hobbie;" gritted Wedge as he tried to avoid another stream of energy.
Together, they angled skyward, avoiding the enemy with difficulty only due to the sheer volume of enemy fighters. "We might be in trouble, Boss;" said Hobbie as he managed to wheel away and blast a couple more TIE's.
Wedge's shields were beginning to fail and he knew that his armor would only last so much longer. He readied himself for a last ditch effort to throw everything to the engines and run for it when suddenly, six X-wings and four Y-wings blazed out of the clouds and shredded the pursuing ships. "Hey commander;" came Tycho's voice, "you know we hate it when you start the party without us."
Wedge breathed a massive sigh of relief and replied, "Well you know those Imperials. They were pretty insistent we get started ahead of schedule and how was I supposed to say no to a couple hundred excited fighter pilot cadets?"
The X-wings blasted any who were brave enough to continue invading and the Y-wings engaged the defensive TIE fighters, soaking up their fire and returning it with far more effect. Before too long, they were out of the planet's atmosphere and just a little longer after that, they were in hyperspace.
Aboard the MC80 Star Cruiser Home One
Wedge circled the shuttle one more time while the mechanics worked on patching its dings and freshening up its paint job. He never really like the shuttles the Empire employed. They were all boring, angular and clunky. He would take the ships the Alliance used over them any day. Even so, it had been kinda fun behind the stick of the shuttle. Patting the hull one more time, he adjusted his flight helmet under his arm and headed towards the exit. The other Rogues surrounded him and Wes Janson said, "Way to go, Boss."
"Yup, you did a great job, Wedge;" said Karie.
As they headed towards their quarters to change, General Rieeken intercepted them. "Before you get cleaned up, follow me. We need to brief you all on what's going on."
Frowning, the Rogues followed, asking each other in low voices what was going on. They all filed in and sat down. General Rieeken and General Airen Cracken both looked grim. The latter began. "We have looked into the intelligence gathered over the recent months and found several very disturbing trends. The Empire is working on two terrifying new weapons. One of them is an Executor-Class Star Dreadnought being worked on at Fondor. According to the report, it is being fitted with a cloaking device of some kind. As we speak, we have one of our best teams gathering the needed equipment and tools for this mission."
The Rogues looked around at one another, murmuring in alarm. There were rumors that the Empire had several of the mammoth 'super star destroyers' but thus far, the only one that they had experienced was Darth Vader's personal flagship the Executor. Hearing that there was a second one and that it was being fitted with a cloaking device was a terrifying idea.
"There's more, even worse news;" continued Cracken.
The Rogues fell silent, waiting in opened mouthed dread. "Thanks to Commander Skywalker and his liaising with the Bothan spy network, we have learned of the existence of a second, even larger Death Star being constructed in secret near the forest moon of Endor."
Karie looked at Wedge, her eyes wide and understanding. He gave her a grim nod before turning to the generals. "So what is our next operation?"
"Alliance High Command is going to gather a large fleet at Sullust while simultaneously ramping up operations around the galaxy. When all the forces are gathered at Sullust, they will have a solid plan. In the mean time, we have equipment and ordinance to gather for this mission. Your mission, Rogue Squadron, will be to go with some retrofitted transports to the gas giant Bespin. Thanks to the information given to us by one Lando Calrissian, we know that there is an operation there that is small enough that it won't have an overly large Imperial presents but more than large enough to supply this attack."
"When will this attack take place?" asked Wedge.
"As soon as we receive word that the mission is a go from High Command."
General Rieeken clasped his hands and said, "You have proven to be one of our greatest assets, Rogue Squadron. After the downfall of Moff Kohl Seerdon, many in the Mid and Outer Rims are even calling you the Bane of the Empire. But your greatest tests are ahead of you, not behind. Commander Antilles, you had large boots to step into and, in my opinion and the opinion of many, you did so flawlessly, bringing your own style of command to the squadron and molding it into a more versatile force. When last we spoke, Commander Skywalker said that he was very impressed and proud of how you all operated."
Many a back slap and murmured agreement was heard and Wedge just blushed.
"For the moment, you're dismissed, Rogues. Be ready. I'm sure a mission will be coming shortly."
The Rogues stood and walked out. Wedge moved automatically as one thought stuck in his mind. The General was right. Their greatest test was ahead of them - ahead of the entire Rebel Alliance.