Star Wars: The X-Wing Chronicles - Rebel Assault
Chapter 4
Downtime
"After that training flight was done, that was the first time I got to know [Commander Ru Murleen] and found out that she wasn't just a great pilot and gunner but she was smart, funny, beautiful… *ahem* in any case, I'm just glad to know her and be able to fly with her."
-Kaedan Macleod
The rest of the day passed like a blur for Kaedan. After his official debriefing, the base commander, Colonel Koort, conducted a small ceremony, attended by Commanders Farrell and Murleen and a few other pilots, where Kaedan took the Alliance oath and was promoted to the rank of Flight Officer in the Alliance Starfighter Command.
He also bought that drink for Commander Murleen.
Kolaador Base didn't have a big officer's lounge but it least it had a reliable supply of food, caf and, most importantly, liquor. Kaedan and Murleen, dressed in their orange Alliance flightsuits but with the vests and most other gear removed, found a table in a quiet corner of the lounge. Kaedan ordered a pint of lomin ale for Commander Murleen and a cold-brewed caf for himself. Murleen, her shoulder-length light brown hair pulled out of the bun she kept it in when she was wearing a helmet. When Kaedan had first met her, he'd been kind of floored when he realized that Commander Murleen was only nine years older than him. A part of him thought she looked more like a holo-actress than a fighter pilot but that was before he simmed against her the first time. He'd gotten vaped inside of a minute and that was how he'd begun to understand how she'd become the youngest Commander in the Alliance Starfighter Command.
As he handed over her drink, she smiled appreciatively as he handed it to her but cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at his own choice.
"Not used to the hard stuff yet, kid?" she asked, teasingly.
"I had a bad experience with alcohol once. Back in school I got dared to drink an unlabeled bottle of some… moonshine? And, being a stupid teenager, I got fired in about it. Next thing I know, I'm puking my guts out next to a dumpster behind a convenience store then I passed out and woke up an hour later with the most massive, screaming hangover in the universe."
"If you had a credit for every person in the galaxy who's ever said that about a hangover, you could buy a fleet of Star Destroyers," said Ru, chuckling merrily, "I feel compelled to also point out that you're still technically a teenager."
"That's as may be so I'll tell you what: I'll have something harder after my first combat mission."
"You might just need it then," Murleen said, a trace of weariness in her voice, "Speaking of, where is home anyway?"
"My homeworld is called Avalon. It's in an out-of-the-way system just inside the Unknown Regions, so it kind of missed Galactic civilization for the most part. We had some energetic supergiant stars near our system, so a lot of galactic comm traffic passed us by for thousands of years. In fact, until about a hundred or so years ago, some folks thought we were actually alone in the galaxy." Murleen frowned slightly at that.
"Are you trying to say that your planet may be the long-lost origin world for humanity?"
"There are some who believe that but mostly that was just a popular theory that was going around for a while, propped up by the lunatic fringe. There's actually plenty of evidence that our ancestors came to Avalon in some kind of ark ship or something about four thousand years ago. The strange part is, which helped fuel the conspiracy theories, is that they then proceeded to dismantle and scrap all advanced technology that they brought with them."
"That's odd. Is there anything indicating why they would have done that?"
"Not really. An archaeologist claimed, a little while back, that he'd found an intact holo-recording from the Pioneers, that's what we call them, saying that they were fleeing from some disaster or persecution on their original planet and wanted to get as far away from it as possible and not provide any means for them to be tracked if someone came poking around. It hasn't been verified yet, or so I last heard." Kaedan shrugged as he took a pull from his caf, "There was one clear passage though that referred to a dangerous organization called the Sith. I've heard others mention that word, do you know what it means, Commander?"
"You can call me Ru or Murleen when we're off-duty, Kaedan," she said, with an indulgent smile which then turned into a frown of concentration, "The people you'd want to ask about the Sith are the Jedi, but they're gone now. Wiped out by the Empire nineteen years ago."
"The Jedi?!" Kaedan's eyes widened at the name.
"You know of the Jedi but not the Sith?"
"Nineteen years ago, well, actually I have to go back to even before that. About seventy years ago a Galactic Republic scout ship made contact with us. Civilization on Avalon had kind of stagnated at that point and when people, especially the various governments, saw how advanced their ship was, it sparked a movement to modernize society. Not everyone or every country agreed, of course and there was a world war over it. Eventually we got ourselves straightened out, mostly, and technology and society began to progress by leaps and bounds. And then, nineteen years ago, the Jedi arrived."
"A Jedi Master and her apprentice** came to our world nineteen years ago, fleeing something they called the Clone Army. They never talked much about it but from the recordings I've seen, they seemed to be pretty sad about it. Anyway, the Jedi Master was a human but her apprentice was an alien or nonhuman or what have you, which really got people's attention. Even the people who accepted our extra-solar origin as fact were still kinda bowled over by an honest-to-goodness alien. And we were all in awe of their Force powers."
"You'd never had anyone manifest the Force on Avalon?"
"There seems to have been some. There were always old stories about people who called themselves wizards or sorceresses from a couple thousand years ago. It's actually why a lot of people and governments were nervous about the Jedi: Most of the tales of these 'wizards' were about how they went mad with power and brought cities to their knees. Now we had these Jedi on our world, lifting things with their minds and flashing those laser swords-"
"Lightsabers."
"Right, lightsabers, flashing those things around and people were nervous. And that was before the Master's apprentice became a fallen Jedi or whatever you call it."
"The apprentice fell to the dark side?" asked Ru, leaning forward in her chair with rapt fascination.
"Yeah, I guess so. Unfortunately I don't really know the full story about that; I was about two when that happened. All I do know is he 'fell to the dark side,' asyou say, and then one day he shows up as a general in the Eastern Coalition's army. The Coalition was one of the two super-blocs that formed in the wake of the Republic scout ship's arrival. My family and I lived in the other one. Next thing we know, there's another world war on, except this time the enemy is being led by a brutal war-mage with a weapon and powers that makes him damn near invincible. Invincible to everything except his old master. She fought with our army, fought THROUGH the enemy army and engaged her apprentice in a duel. They say it shook the building they were fighting in to its foundations and when it was done, she was the only who walked out. And then she did something else no one expected.
"What was that?"
"She went to the leaders of the Coalition and somehow managed to get them to call a cease-fire and sit down for peace negotiations."
"That sounds like a lot of the stories I've heard of Jedi when I was young. Considering what they were capable of it almost doesn't seem real that the Emperor and his goons were able to wipe them out," said Ru, contemplatively, "Anyway, what happened next?"
"Everything was going smoothly, or so I've seen in history class, but just when the Jedi and the leaders of the nations were about to start the peace talks… she was assassinated."
"Do they know who was responsible?" asked Ru, her eyes wide. Kaedan shook his head, sadly.
"No, they suspect it was the closest supporters of the Jedi's fallen apprentice but they never arrested anyone. In fact…" Kaedan frowned and folded his arms on the table, "Remember what I said about people being disturbed by the old stories of power-mad wizards? That led to rumors going around ever since that the two governments actually conspired to have her killed to make sure there was no chance of her turning out like her old apprentice."
"I hope that's not what happened. That would be a fine way to thank her for stopping her apprentice and trying to end a war," said Ru, also frowning.
"Tell me about it! These rumors gained a lot more traction because eighteen months after the Jedi died, another scout ship found us, except this time it was from the Empire. Avalon, of course, had no idea the Republic had transitioned into the Empire, but the crew of the scout ship seemed friendly enough. However, a month after they left, one of the Empire's Star Destroyers arrived in orbit. A shuttle came down to the surface carrying one of the Empire's bigwigs: A guy named Darth Vader."
Ru winced in sympathy. "We're all pretty familiar with Lord Vader. What did he do?"
"He demanded all records of the Jedi and her apprentice, visited every place on the planet they had been and raided the tomb she'd been buried in. The Eastern Coalition's leaders tried to throw their weight around but they quickly found out that Vader's saber could rattle a LOT more loudly than theirs."
"That sounds like Vader," replied Ru, nodding her head sympathetically.
"Once he was done, Vader left and took his Star Destroyer with him, thankfully, but said that the Empire would 'be in contact.' We did start receiving some more Imperial ships and independent traders but no military occupation… yet. From what little I've heard, a lot of people seem downright afraid of the Unknown Regions, even the Empire."
"Well, it's called the Unknown Regions for a reason, even the Old Republic was never able to successfully explore it. But I have to say, that's an incredible tale; you're a lot more interesting than you let on, Kaedan," said Ru, winking at him. Kaedan could feel the heat rising in his cheeks and hoped he wasn't blushing as much as he felt.
"Well, that's all about my homeworld, I was a baby or a little kid when all that happened. I'm much less interesting, unfortunately," he said, wryly.
"Don't sell yourself short. You obviously were able to make your way off world and here to the Alliance. I've read some of the report on how you joined but it's pretty light on detail."
Kaedan shrugged in way that he hoped seemed confidently nonchalant. "As I said, a couple of Imperial ships and independent traders started arriving on our planet and I decided to stow away on one and see some of the galaxy. I had been participating in a pilot training program in school and had been toying with the idea of joining the national space agency but, like a dumb kid, I thought that taking the easy way with stowing away would get me 'out there' that much faster. That's about how much thought I put into it and I rapidly found out that knowing next to nothing about the galaxy at large was going to bite me right in the hind end. I found myself on a planet I knew nothing about, controlled by the Empire. Things went wrong almost immediately; the crew of the freighter I stowed away on found me and tried to have me arrested. I ran for it but not knowing literally anything about the planet I was on, I got caught pretty quickly. I'm sure you know that Stormtroopers aren't the friendliest bunch around," that earned a smile and a soft chuckle from Ru, "so instead of being remanded to the custody of the local police, I got thrown in an Imp prison. Since I had no official Imperial identification and had been caught stowing away, they thought that I was a Rebel! So I spent a month languishing in prison, being beaten and manhandled by Stormies with too much time on their hands when I was rescued."
"You mean that you got caught up in an Alliance op to rescue someone else entirely?" Ru said, grinning wickedly.
"Yeah, pretty much. The Alliance cell that staged the prison break did so by opening the cells, cutting the power and basically starting a riot. I just ran for the fences, hoping I could get out before the Imps restored order. That's when I ran into the Rebels trying to get their guy out. I saw that a Stormtrooper was about to shoot the guy in the back, grabbed a nearby blaster and shot the trooper. That guy was actually Sergeant Hack; he saw what I did and told me to come with them. Next thing I knew, I was on my way to the Rebel Alliance. I figured if the Imps already thought I was a Rebel, why not go all in?"
A small frown tugged at the corners of Ru's lips.
"So that's the story, huh?"
"Don't get me wrong; while I'm very into the idea of getting payback on jerks who throw me in a military prison without a trial, Hack gave me the lowdown on everything that was happening where the Rebellion and the Empire were concerned. The way I figure it was that if even half of what he told me was true then what had happened to me was nowhere near as bad as to what was going on in the rest of the galaxy. Plus… well…"
"Well what?"
"Everyone I've met in the Alliance so far," Kaedan let out a nervous sigh as his cheeks colored slightly, "I know this is going to sound pretty corny but all of you have been pretty upright and honest people from what I've seen. Sure I've met a few who have some rough edges or chips on their shoulder, like that Gunnery Sergeant that coordinates base defense, but on the whole you've all been pretty straight with me. I knew the Empire's hospitality for about a month and they were, for the most part, thugs and fascists. That might not be the most… insightful analysis but…"
"Don't go painting with too broad a brush, Rookie One, there are a few Imperials that are redeemable. You're looking at one…" The voice came from behind Kaedan and he twisted around in his seat to see his friend and mentor Tech Sergeant Turland Hack approaching their table, a pint of something dark and foamy in one hand, "And another is sitting across from you."
Kaedan turned back around to gape at Ru. "You were part of the Empire once?"
She smiled ruefully and took a pull of her drink before answering. "A proud graduate of the Prefsbelt IV Academy, that's me. Of course I defected pretty soon afterwards."
"You did?" asked Kaedan, still somewhat wide-eyed.
"Yes. People have all kinds of reasons for joining the Alliance. Some are political idealists, wanting to restore the democratic system of the Republic so all the peoples of the galaxy can have a voice in government again. Others have been oppressed or were forced to do something that conflicted with their sense of law or morals. Some, like me, had a lot of little things pile up and could no longer ignore what was going on."
"I was told when I graduated that I'd probably be a Lieutenant until I hit forty. There isn't an open policy of discrimination against women in the Empire but in a lot of quarters, especially the military, you'll only get ahead as a woman if you're devious and backstabbing enough, the ideal fanatic… or if you're willing to sleep your way to the top," she said, with a sour grin.
"So I graduated already feeling like a second-class citizen. Then I got assigned to a base where the officers were as corrupt as it comes and on only my third major mission, I was assigned to open fire on a crowd of rioting civilians. They'd had enough of how the local Moff treated them but what they got was a slaughter. I refused to open fire and was subsequently grounded and stripped of flight status." Ru grinned that wicked grin again. "They should have thrown me in the brig immediately because it didn't take a lot of time on my part to come to the conclusion that had been slowly building in my mind ever since the Academy: an Empire that treated me with no respect, that let corrupt officers rule its people and murdered its citizens didn't deserve my loyalty. I snuck off base as soon as I got the chance, hopped on a transport and never looked back."
"Or they're old veterans like Commander Farrell and me," chimed in Hack. He'd pulled up a chair to their small table and sat with his left hand still clasped around the handle of his pint mug. "I might have mentioned it before but Farrell and I flew for the Republic in the Clone Wars, trying to bring peace and sanity back to a galaxy that seemed to have gone mad. And what was our reward for all that fighting and dying? Chancellor Palpatine turns the Republic into the Empire, wipes out the Jedi, the greatest force for peace and justice in the galaxy and even tosses out veterans like us in favor of younger more 'loyal' officers with barely a 'don't let the blast door hit you on the way out.'" Hack swirled the liquid in his mug a few times, stared into it for a few moments and then tossed the rest of it back.
"Bah! What are we doing being so maudlin and philosophical? We're fighter pilots, dammit! That sort of thing is for generals and politicians! Hey, Tulli!" Hack called to the doughy man behind the bar, "Another round over here!"
When the barkeep brought over two more mugs for Ru and hack and another iced caf for Kaedan, Hack proposed a toast.
"To the fighter pilots, past and present!" The three pilots all raised their glasses in salute then drank.
"I do wish though that I could be up there with ya," sighed Hack as he finished his drink. Kaedan noticed that Hack's hand that wasn't gripped around the handle of his mug trembled slightly and had the faint scars of an old injury.
"Don't worry Hack, when I go up there I'll bag enough for both of us," Kaedan said, confidently. Both Ru and Hack shot him amused glances.
"Survive your first five missions, kid, then you can start talking tough like that."
"Hey, he's got to practice a little bit!" chimed in Ru. "If he doesn't we'll have failed in our duty to properly nurture his insufferable pilot's ego!"
A/N: Don't look at me like that, not every chapter can be starfighters flying around, blowing things up. The characters do occasionally need time to stop and breathe. ;)
**I've always disliked the word 'Padawan.' Knight and Master, both perfectly logical real-life words, are fine but apprentice needs to have a made-up word? Even back in 1999 when I was 'youngling' of twelve it irritated me. So I'm using apprentice instead.