Boyzilla: glad you like it.
ErwinvonBeckendorf: thank you very much.
The Mutineers
of the
Far Orbit
(Part Three)
While sitting in the command chair of the Far Orbit, Shiraz leaned to his side, listening intently to Galiria's voice coming from the comlink integrated into the armrest. "I think it's a great opportunity to score a big hit!" she said. Shiraz leaned back against the chair, only replying with a doubtful grunt. His face was hidden behind the T-visor helmet of his Belskar'gam (Mandalorian armor), but he seemed... thoughtful.
"Why don't you answer?" said the voice from the comlink.
"I'm thinking."
"And what's there to think? My plan is as simple as it is effective. We call the frigate New Star to tell its commander that his orders are no longer valid, then take the New Star place and lead the convoy in an ambush. It's easy and could fabulously enrich us."
Shiraz smiled under his mask.
"You haven't forgotten that we work for the Alliance now?"
"Okay... could fabulously enrich the Alliance and us too."
Shiraz examined his girlfriend's plan. Galiria had intercepted a communication between a convoy still being assembled and the Imperial frigate Nebulon-B-class New Star. Galiria's plan was simply to take the place of the Imperial frigate and lead the convoy straight into a Rebel's ambush.
"Why are you hesitating?"
"I have some questions, Galiria. How do you see this operation? What's your plan? We visit the New Star and say, 'Hello, we are the Far Orbit and we take your place.'"
"Uh, yes, well, more or less. I will of course falsify a mission order that will send the New Star to the other end of the sector with the instruction to respect absolute silence. So, she should not interfere with us during the operation."
"Yes, it could work, precisely because it's simple, and they simply don't expect an escort frigate to be a pirate ship. However, after the ambush, the civilians will be released by the Rebels. And what are they going to do? They will tell everyone that it was an escort frigate that led them into a trap... The Coruscant Navy HQ will learn of the presence of the Far Orbit in this sector of the galaxy less than an hour later. I hope we can avoid drawing Imperial vengeance and alerting bounty hunters during our first mission."
"Uh, it must be possible to modify our transponders and use a fake name."
"Sure, but I think I have a better idea. I'll call you back. I'll talk to the commander."
Sitting opposite the commander, on the other side of the L-shaped desk which was the main furniture of the Captain's Ready Room, Dhas Vedij listened carefully to Shiraz. The pirate prince had just finished relaying the report that Galiria had just given him, as well as the plan of the young woman to divert the convoy for the benefit of the Alliance.
With his chin pressed against his hands, Vedij remained silent for a few moments.
"Galiria's proposal is interesting, but you said you had a better idea."
Shiraz nodded his helmeted head.
"Correct, Captain. Why only trap the convoy? The freighter's cargo, or even the freighters themselves are worth less than a single Nebulon-B frigate... Let's also capture the New Star. Think about it, this is a golden opportunity. Besides the frigate itself, the ship has two squadrons of TIEs... that we no longer have."
Dhas Vedij's face darkened as the memory of his brother's death came to haunt them... both. If Elon Vedji was leading the TIEs that had been sacrificed in an absurd attack commanded by Vocis Kenit (the former commander of the Far Orbit) the target was the base of Shiraz and the pirate prince was the one who killed Elon...
The Mandalorian pirate hastened to change the subject of the conversation
"We also need Escape Pods and shuttles to replace those that were used to evacuate the members of the crew who remained faithful to Palpy 1st emperor of the cretins who wear cavalry boots aboard a spaceship."
Vedij looked for a moment at his impeccably waxed cavalry boots and smiled mockingly.
"It is true that it is not very practical on the very slippery metal deck of a warship."
"I suppose that explains why imperial officers are always getting on their high horses and why they have a cavalier behavior."
"I doubt you could take the New Star with just jokes," retorted Vedij, serious once again.
"Oh... it might be less difficult than you think. From experience, I can assure you that the most difficult thing in capturing a ship is the boarding action. Except... the Far Orbit is an imperial ship with an imperial crew. You only need to ask politely for permission to come on aboard and they will accept."
This was the second meeting of officers since morning. Shiraz's plan had been discussed among the officers (mutineers and pirates) during the first session until Major Willak (the Alliance Observer) suspended the meeting to report back to the secret HQ of the Rebel Alliance.
As soon as he entered the room, Willak spoke without using any kind of polite language. As always his eyes were hostile and his voice despising.
"The Alliance has agreed to assist you. I have obtained the support of a squadron of 12 Y-wings and a Corellian Corvette. Try not to sabotage this operation too much, you'll have an audience."
The former Imperials and the pirates didn't get along very well... but there was one person who was unanimously disliked by all the crew: Willak.
Less than 24 hours later, in an uninhabited planetary system of the Darpa Sector two parsecs from Rhinnal
Captain Yon Jillibert was a Corellian born on Selonia... which meant that the 'real' Corellians did not consider him a Corellian. He was a small man... which was very convenient for someone who had to spend long hours in a Koensayr BTL-A4 Y-Wing's cockpit.
A squadron of 12 Y-Wings was in free fall into the cosmos, most of their equipment was disconnected to avoid energy loss. Only life support systems were active. The rebel bombers were just innocent metal blocks drifting and therefore totally undetectable at long range.
A much larger ship was also nearby. A Corellian Corvette named Vengeance of Derra IV after the (lost) battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial Army.
"Hammer 4 to Hammer Leader, how long are we gonna wait like this?"
Jillibert (AKA Hammer Leader) sighed.
"4 here Leader. Shut up! You're supposed to be a drifting metal asteroid. Asteroids don't tell their lives on the radio."
There was some laughter on the CombFre (1).
"That goes for all of you too! Shut your mouth! I'm removing the combat bonus from anyone I catch talking! Beware, I know your voices and have good hearing."
"Yub yub, captain" replied Hammer 3.
Jillibert shook his head with annoyance. The average age of Rebel pilots was 20 years. They were kids... too young, too inexperienced, and too poorly trained for lack of time, proper facilities, and money. And it was with this kind of exalted children that the Alliance wanted to defeat an army twenty times larger and ten times better armed. It was laughable... but it's not like they had any other choice. The Alliance had to deal with those who joined it, veterans of the Clone War too old for their post, like Jilibert, kids who wanted to remake the world... and even pirates.
About twenty minutes passed then the captain Jillibert heard a series of beeps and frenetic claps. Mechanically, the rebel pilot turned his eyes to a small screen where appeared the translation of what his astromech droid said... unfortunately, it was off... like most onboard equipment.
"Calm down, Toaster, speak more slowly, I don't understand anything!"
R2-D7467 aka 'Toaster' paused and then threw a few gusts of whistles, beeps, and clicks. Luckily, the Jillibert family had a domestic droid and young Yon had learned the machine language from the cradle.
"Ship just came out of hyperspace?"
Affirmative hiss.
"A Nebulon-B frigate?"
New hiss.
"Our first guest."
The whole question was whether it was the Far Orbit, a Rebel Privateer, or the New Star, a true imperial vessel, because, of course, if the imperial captain was suspicious he could send some TIEs in reconnaissance to take a look at the 'metallic asteroids' that floated in the cosmos. It would take at least a minute between the Y-wing circuits being switched on and the main systems being online. All this time, the bombers would be defenseless.
Jillibert chills. BTL-A4 was the least well-armored version (2) of all the Y-wing's versions. The idea was not stupid. With less armor the bombers would be more agile... but despite this gain in maneuverability, during the assault against the Death Star, only one Y-wing of this model had survived. In a dogfight, the bombers had no chance against TIEs. So, motionless... they might as well paint ' training targets' on the outer hull.
On the bridge of the Far Orbit, at the same moment.
Sitting in the command chair, Dhas Vedij was watching intently the bow screen which formed a vast arc on the other side of the consoles of the main steersman and the arming officer.
The first automatic reports were displayed on the screen, superimposed on the tactical display.
Then the voices of the detection officer and the officer in charge of hyperspace navigation were heard. They were in the right solar system, yet they did not detect any energy source and no propelled object.
"We arrived first, the New Star is not there yet" concludes the man in Imperial uniform.
Captain Vedij paused for a few seconds to think. The rebels were probably already there, but that needed to be checked. He leaned over the comlink integrated into the armrest of the command chair.
"Secondary Communication (3), this is your commander."
"Secondary Communications, you're on."
"Is Major Villak with you?"
There was a brief pose and the officer replied in a slightly annoyed voice. "Yes sir, the major is present. Would you like to talk to him?
Vedij shook his head mechanically. Villak must have made himself unbearable... once more.
"Yes, I do."
"All right sir, stay on the line, I'm on it."
After a few seconds of muffled noises, a disdainful voice replaced the mutineer officer's one.
"Yes?"
"Major, contact the Alliance to see if our reinforcements have arrived."
"It's already done, they're here, Captain Vedij."
The lips of captain Vedij were pinched under the effect of wrath. It was the minimum level of military courtesy to seek the approval of a ship's commander before contacting another ship. If he had not, Villak could have at least informed him as soon as contact was established.
"All right, let them stand ready to intervene."
As Vedij was about to add a few words, but he heard an audible signal and turned his head. An orange icon was flashing on the bow screen.
The officer in charge of the detection turned to his commander.
"A ship has just come out of hyperspace."
"Run an active scan."
"Yes, sir."
A few seconds passed, and then the officer in charge of the detection spoke again.
"Sir, that's one of our..." he stopped and corrected "Sorry captain, I mean that it's an Imperial ship, a Nebulon-B frigate. The transponder code matches the New Star. They spotted us and ran an active scan."
"Helmsman, head for the New Star at half speed. We have all our time. We are with friends, right?" Vedij turned his head, looking towards another post. "Communication, hail the New Star."
It took a few moments before a screen lit on the console in front of Dhas Vedij. He gave a military salute before speaking:
"My regards, I am Commander Karven of the Wandering Asteroid."
The Wandering Asteroid and Commander Karven existed, and the transponder of the Far Orbit had been modified by Galiria so as to emit the same codes.
The imperial officer on the screen was a man with a broad face, a mustache, and silver strands in his hair. He also saluted militarily.
"My respects, I'm Captain Conar of the New Star."
"Thank you for meeting me, Captain Conar. I have new orders for you. For confidentiality reasons, I must hand them to you personally. May I have permission to board?"
Conar hesitated for a brief moment. He seemed more surprised than suspicious.
"Permission granted, Captain Karven."
Lieutenant Grev Stabbel, the chief gunner of the Far Orbit turned to the soldier in black quilted uniform who had just arrived and told something incomprehensible. The man's outfit was completed by an egg-shaped full-face helmet that housed a mini shooting computer and a breastplate covering his chest, both in black plastoid.
"Sorry? Ishtar did what?"
The soldier was nervous. Even though his face was invisible behind the visor of his helmet, it was obvious that he was uncomfortable. When he answered, his voice trembled.
"She has disappeared..."
"Disappeared? Be more specific! She's gone?"
"No... she..."
The gunner shook his head and his voice became an inaudible whisper.
The officer frowned.
"Gunner second class Gavan Lightskimmer, your officer has asked you a question and demands an answer."
The gunner was automatically standing at attention.
"Yessir! Ishtar... disappeared... she was there and... she seemed to become translucent like a bad holo image... then... there was nothing where she had stood."
Grev Stabbel looked at the soldier from Tatooine with dismay.
"My boy, you can't drink alcohol during duty! Don't copy the bad habits of pirates."
"But... Lieutenant Stabbel, I didn't drink! I swear it's true!"
Dressed in her usual yellow cowgirl outfit, Space Ishtar advanced through the corridors without hiding, yet the Mutineers and pirates did not pay attention to her. It was not that the goddess of space was invisible. She cast a spell called Relative Unsichtbarkeit. This Magecraft suppressed all curiosity about the caster, and even distorted the memory of the victims, preventing them from remembering having met her.
The half-Servant had even created an animated image of herself that could repeat certain pre-recorded words. This hologram allowed Ishtar to leave her post without being noticed. Unfortunately, without a gemstone to power this Magecraft, the illusion could not last very long. A demonic smile appeared on the face of the angelic teenager with black and red pigtails. Too bad she can't stay to see the head of the service gunners when the image disappears...
Ishtar took a turbolift down to deck 7 and stepped into Docking Bay 2. The bay was a vast metal cavern with white-painted metallic walls, giving it the sterile look of an operating room. Bright spotlights on the ceiling illuminated the area, and through a luminous containment field, she could see the stars twinkling outside. The floor was made of black metal, and the last two shuttles of the Far Orbit were positioned there.
Fifty mutineers in black Imperial Navy uniforms, along with two Stormtroopers in white armor, were boarding the shuttles. They were joined by a group of pirates of various races, including at least a dozen Gamorreans, dressed in a mixture of armored spacesuits, colorful clothes, and worn jumpsuits. All of them were armed with a variety of blasters and exotic weapons.
Ishtar managed to slip onto the first shuttle unnoticed, as no one paid any attention to her thanks to her Magecraft.
Sitting between two mutineers, Ishtar smiled. She was certainly not going to wait on board when something fun was finally happening.
Only the Grek-class troop shuttle left the Far Orbit, the Katarn shuttle remaining on standby, ready to take off to bring reinforcements aboard the New Star.
The trip was a pure routine, the pilot of the Grek shuttle received permission to land in one of the Docking Bays of the imperial frigate.
Escorted by the two Stormtroopers, Dhas Vedij ... or rather 'Captain Karven'... descended from the shuttle just landed, the airlock closing immediately behind them so that the crew of the New Star could not see the Boarding Party who was squeezing on the seats of the passenger cabin.
Two Soldiers of the Fleet and an officer went to meet them.
There was a brief polite discussion, and then the officer signaled to follow him to the bridge to meet with Captain Conar.
The small group of six men was followed by Ishtar... still unnoticeable.
Vedij and his escort had just left the Docking Bay when two Soldiers of the Fleet came out of the Grek shuttle. They turned to the two Stormtroopers guarding the turbolifts.
"Hey, could you help us? We have several boxes of equipment to unload."
The Imperial clones in white armor exchanged a glance and then left their posts without a word.
However, they barely had crossed the airlock that they immobilized themselves in front of... a dozen blasters pointed at their breasts.
"Slowly put your weapons on the ground and raise your arms!"
The sinister-looking pirates who were facing them could hardly be taken for jokers.
The Docking Bay's Control Room was a small, irregular-shaped room in a corner of the Docking Bay. There were no bay windows to see outside, all operations were monitored with cameras.
Second Lieutenant Na Zipaack was a near-human from Carida. Like all inhabitants of this planet at high gravity, it was small and wide in shoulder. As he was walking through the room, watching the work of the three technicians in a grey jumpsuit working on the consoles, he suddenly stopped.
"Where are the stormtroopers?"
One of the technicians stood up and looked at the screen that the officer was pointing to. Indeed, the two guards in white armor were no longer at their posts.
"I don't know, sir."
Another technician turned to his superior.
"Sir, I saw the guards get on board the shuttle."
"Call them, I want to know what they're doing."
But before the technician could comply, the door opened, letting two 'Stormtroopers' pass through; they immediately opened fire. The blue coils of the blasters set on paralysis struck the Imperials who collapsed forward without having time to speak.
One of the 'Stormtroopers' took off his helmet and took a comlink in his belt.
"Phase 2."
On the screens, the Privateers left the Grek shuttle and started running toward the turbolifts.
Meanwhile, Dhas Vedij and his escort had reached the bridge. He saluted Captain Conar without showing more nervousness than if he was making a courtesy visit to a colleague.
"Thank you for your welcome, Captain Conar. Could we step into your ready room? We would be more comfortable discussing your new orders."
"Certainly, Captain Karven, follow me."
They had just sat down when Vedij's comlink beeped. The commander of the Far Orbit smiled and opened on his lap the briefcase he had brought with him.
"Here are your new orders."
Instead of a data card, Vedij pulled out a blaster. As Conar's eyes widened in fear and he opened his mouth to speak, Vedij fired twice. Captain Conar collapsed on his desk, paralyzed.
Dhas Vedij left the captain's ready room through the bridge door. The two 'stormtroopers' who had accompanied him had been outside on guard, waiting for him. No one turned to them. The crewmen worked under the chief mate's supervision, who was sitting in the commander's chair. The two soldiers of the fleet stood on the side of the Turbolifts, at the parade guard, looking straight into the void.
"Phase 2."
The two 'Stormtroopers' pulled out of their belt spherical grenades and before the crew could react... they threw them. Fortunately for the hands, again, they were non-lethal weapons. Blue light coils spread through the room, paralyzing most of the hands. The lucky few who were outside of the zone of effect were individually paralyzed by the pseudo-stormtroopers or by Vedij.
"Galiria, the computer!" cried the commander of the Far Orbit.
As the young redhead plucked her helmet and took her mini-computer from the hands of the Privateer's captain, the latter pushed the second in command of the New Star to take his place in the command chair. Vedij had just pressed a button hidden under the armrest, causing the closing of two blast doors isolating the bridge, at that moment an alarm's siren began to sound.
"Not very well awake?" said Vedij mocking turning his head towards one of the cameras constantly filming what was happening on the bridge.
The three soldiers in the security post had taken thirty seconds to react. It was twenty seconds longer than expected...
Yon Jillibert used a macrobinocular to monitor the two Nebulon-B frigates. His Y-wing sensors were off and he had no other way of observing his environment. However, from the outside, it was impossible to guess what was happening inside the two ships.
Had the privateers successfully boarded or were the TIEs going to take off and attack them?
At that moment, the thundering voice of Shiraz resounds, mocking but friendly.
"Dear Rebels and other daydreaming people, who wish the galaxy to become a great garden of peace and brotherhood where pink unicorns that shit rainbows are playing, wake up! It's your turn to get into action!"
With a hand on his throat microphone, Yon Jillibert immediately spoke.
"Hammer Leader to all Hammers, we are going on the attack! May the Force be with you!"
"May the Force be with you!" replied in chorus the other eleven members of the Hammer Squadron.
"Warning, this is not an exercise! We are under attack by an unknown enemy. Hostile individuals boarded the New Star, the enemy has already taken the bridge!"
In the Main Reactor Control Room, all the technicians jumped up, looking at the speakers.
"Boarding party?"
"How is that possible?!"
But they didn't have the opportunity to ask any more questions because one of the doors had just slipped sideways allowing the entry of a group of five individuals... strangely two were wearing the black uniform of the Soldiers of the Fleet, the other three were a pair of Gamorreans armed with vibro-axes and a Rodian with a strange razor-blade weapon (4).
One of the two humans spoke in Basic.
"Immediately turn off the main generator."
As the New Star's chief engineer hesitated, the soldier smiled ironically.
"Would you rather my new friend ask you 'nicely'?"
With his hand, he pointed at a Gamorrean, a huge green humanoid with a pig's head, dressed in stinky fur. The pirate was drooling and brandished a barbaric weapon! He raised his lips, revealing fangs that had never seen a toothbrush.
"Ooooink!"
His complexion now almost as green as that of the Gamorean (because of fear!), the chief engineer complied. His hand landed on a big red button at the top left of his console.
There was an alarm and the lights briefly went out before the secondary generator automatically started. Most vital functions could be maintained on board with only auxiliary power. Nevertheless, but the New Star could no longer raise her shields, use her armament, or even jump to light speed.
The Mutineer's Soldier of the Fleet spoke in the comlink integrated to his left glove.
"Phase 3".
On Deck 1, the hands were panicking. The secondary generator was not powerful enough to power the hyper-radio. Of course, the creators of the Nebulon-B frigate had solved this problem by installing a backup generator to power the communication systems. Except that Galiria had taken control of the main computer and blocked all their attempts to put this generator into service.
Of course, the hands were on site and they had direct access to the generator, they were about to bypass the bridge orders when electric arcs and sparks started coming out of computers and electrical systems. Some lights went out.
"Hammer Leader to all, we make a passage!"
The twelve Y-wings turned abruptly on the black velvet studded with diamonds of the cosmos and returned towards the New Star.
"Fire!"
The bluish discharges of the ion cannons hit the base of the hyper-radio antenna. Electrical arcs and flashes of white light began swirling for a few seconds after the shots. All electronics were to be frozen in the Main Communication Deck.
Yon Jillibert smiled.
"Bravo to all, stand by! Be ready to fire again if the Imperials try to transmit.
The captain looked on his radar screen and saw two points heading rapidly towards the New Star. One of them was a Katarn-class shuttle that had just come out of a hangar in the Far Orbit, the second one was much bigger... the Corellian Corvette Vengeance of Derra IV.
Space Ishtar had been locked out of the bridge and was visiting Deck 17... a visit that was nothing friendly. She had used the Gandr (5) fired by her weapon to paralyze three Soldiers of the Fleet in the Security station... the only armed men on this deck. She also found three officers sitting in a lounge, as well as another officer and three hands in the Tactical Room. Emerging from the empty Main Conference Room, she returned to the main passageway just in time to see a circular hatch rise into the ground pushed back by an arm sheathed in white plastoid armor.
She shot the first stormtrooper and paralyzed him. Hearing cries and swearing as the body fell down the ladder; Ishtar leaned over. She stepped back in urge as several blaster shots hit the ceiling above her.
"Hey... don't get excited like that, it's bad for the heart. And you know what is even worse? Put me in a bad mood!"
Changing the setting of her weapon, Ishtar leaned over the hole in the ground and fired. Her pistol spat a series of brightly colored rings. The result was destructive. As the smoke and dust dissipated, the ladder (twisted and blackened) lay on the ground, surrounded by the corpses of a dozen Stormtroopers.
The action of the goddess of space had just saved Vedij and Galiria. Indeed, some Stormtroopers carried enough Thermite Gel (6) to cut the blast doors closing access to the bridge.
Ishtar raised two fingers to make the V of Victory, closed an eye, and put a hand on the hip in a pose worthy of an Idol!
"The number one vacuum cleaner? Space Ishtar, of course."
Vedij's voice sounds in a loudspeaker in the corridor.
"Ishtar? What are you doing here? I don't remember validating your presence!"
Oopsie! The twin-tailed teen girl turned to a black camera sphere over a metal arch. She had forgotten that Relative Unsichtbarkeit was a Magecraft that only worked on humans... the droids, cameras, and any other means of remote observation were insensitive.
Scratching her cheek and looking to the right... left... but never towards the camera. She answered in an awkward tone.
"Um... I came with the others... I was four places from you, don't you remember?"
Ishtar finally turned to the camera, dedicating her most beautiful smile to Dhas Vedij. She was a lovely 14-year-old, doesn't she?... there was no way to be mad at such a pretty little girl. Right?
A furious voice answered the lost goddess.
"Come to my office after the end of operations."
Ishtar clutched her head with both hands, rubbing her scalp.
"Crap! I made a fool of myself again!"
The curse of the Tohsaka never rested!
Deck 5 was the only deck that extended from one end of a Nebulon-B to the other. The central part was a tube with two corridors. These corridors were regularly segmented by bulwarks pierced with an opening that could be closed by a blast door. This arrangement was both to strengthen the central cylinder connecting the stern to the bow because it was a logical target for another starship, but also to slow down a possible boarding party.
At a segment between two blast doors, about halfway between the bow and the stern, a battle was raging. Bodies littered the ground, pierced with smoking impacts of blasters as red or green energy projectiles went from one door to another witnessing the violence of the confrontation.
Suddenly a shock shook the New Star as another ship was mooring to the frigate. Through the docking tube, the rebel soldiers, recognizable by their grey and blue outfits, their white helmets, and black blast jackets, began to spread on board, taking the place of the Privateers.
Decks 5 and 6 there were also the decks where the TIEs were docked, the pilot quarters, and the fighter maintenance facilities. Some pilots were still in the ready room being equipped, with a few of them running towards their TIE fighters carrying their helmets. At that moment, a Katarn-class shuttle broke through the containment field and landed in the hangar. As soon as the shuttle's airlocks opened, a group of well-armed privateers led by Baron Bock stormed out. Using his rotary carbine, Brock quickly took down two Stormtroopers and fired toward the catwalks to disperse the TIE pilots. "Follow me to the assault!" he shouted.
Flanking the Imperials, who were still defending the passageways through the central tube, the Privateers swept away all resistance in just a few minutes. Isolated, deprived of any communication with the outside and even of the coordination offered by the central security (cleaned up by Ishtar) the crew of the New Star was completely on the receiving side. While most of the Stormtroopers fought to their death, the hands converted to fervent pacifists when dozens of blasters were pointed at them.
There were still some sporadic fights against some irreducible entrenched in rooms and cabins, but they were condemned and even then the fighting did not continue for very long.
The Far Orbit's Privateers had completed their first mission.
They captured the New Star intact!
(1) Combat Frequency: radio frequency used by pilots to communicate with each other at short range.
(2) The BTL-A4 has a weaker shield and its automatic turret can only fire forward. After the Battle of Yavin, the BTL-A4 will be gradually replaced by the BTL-S3 (two-seater) with an ion gun turret capable of pivoting. The S3 will become obsolete after the B-wing enters into service, which will replace it as the main bomber of the Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic. Paradoxically, the BTL-A4 will remain in service even after the introduction of the B-wing. This single-seat version of the Y-wing has a better range than the B-wing. Now heavily used to carry out deep-space raids in Imperial space, the A4 will be modified with better shields and a twin-tube turret of fast-firing laser guns to increase its chances of survival.
(3) Secondary Communication: short-range communication (within a planetary system) as opposed to Primary Communication (long-range/ interplanetary/ galactic) using hyper-radio.
(4) Rodian Repulsor Throwing-Razor, a traditional Rodian weapon enhanced by a built-in repulsor. The throwing razor has a homing beacon that allows the weapon to return to its thrower.
(5) Let's remember that 'Gandr' is a Runecraft; precisely a curse whose effects are chosen by the caster, ranging from simple cold to instant death.
(6) Used to burn through the hull, the Thermite Gel can be ignited by a remote relay. The gel can be shaped, molded, or stretched, and a full kilo can cover 20 square centimeters. The Armory of a Nebulon-B Frigate had 5 kilos of Thermite Gel for boarding action.