Departure Bay

Mayday was surprised to see Merrick walking towards him as he checked his gear, his face grim. He didn't normally see them off. Mayday didn't like any changes in his Commanding officer, it normally spelt trouble.

"Problem?" Asked Mayday.

"I have a personal interest in this." Merrick stated, appearing to struggle with what he was going to say "I thought you should know that's why I put your team forward for it."

"What is it?"

"My nephew, Archie, is one of the designers. My sister, his Mother, hasn't heard from him in months. He always spoke with her regularly until the Incom Corporation Imperialisation."

"You think he's been taken?"

Merrick nodded, "We aren't even sure where he is now. All coms were blocked."

"If he's there I'll make sure he gets out sir."

"Not at the expense of the mission."

"This is the mission." Mayday watched the expression on his face, "He's family."

"Thank you. I.."

"Did the right thing." Mayday finished for him.

.

Mayday stared at the Rebel Commando sitting opposite; he looked very much like the natborn Republic officers he had served with during the Clone Wars. Some good, some bad. This one had a good record, until he joined the Empire. Mayday reminded himself he had been part of the Empire once but not by choice.

"Got a problem clone?"

"Not sure yet."

He felt his team move minutely to prepare to back him; there had been some comments, when they first met.

"Still don't agree with your plan." The Commando continued.

"Best one. Split up. Distraction. Infiltrate. Get them on the back foot. Split their forces. I know how they work."

"So do I."

"Do you?" He didn't rise to the bait. "They haven't changed. Have they?" Mayday continued.

The Rebel Commando continued to stare at him

"We need to work together." The VP entered the conversation. Mayday had not expected him to accompany them and the Commandos had not been happy either but he could get them in and the Empire wanted him.

Mayday nodded, he adjusted the Lieutenant's Stormtrooper armour he wore. It was uncomfortable. He was larger than the average Stormtrooper.

.

Ranklinge - Shelsha sector

"Sir!" The young ISB agent sat staring at the monitor alerted his superior, "There's reports of explosions at the town. Blaster fire."

The senior ISB Agent on the ground was standing at the transparisteel Communications and observation hub. He had ensured that they took over this area first. It controlled everything and overlooked the local small town. He had to protect the Empire's Assets.

"Send the Squads there to put it down quickly. Nothing interrupts what we are doing here."

"Yes sir!"

.

The ships split up before they entered the atmosphere, slipping by the ATC; its coverage was sporadic with the ongoing conflict. Mayday, his team and a Commando, in Stormtrooper armour, accompanied the VP and his R2 unit to the industrial area. The shipyards weren't as huge as others he'd seen but it was only part of the company. He wasn't sure yet whether that was good or bad.

They approached the entrance, all the guards were in Imperial uniform, not company personnel, or if they were they had been conscripted. The takeover had been quick, probably planned for years.

The VP produced his code cylinder at the entrance.

Mayday scanned his surroundings, noting no other Stormtroopers present.

Some of the Rebel Commandos had initiated a distraction some miles away the town centre as part of the Civil unrest. Squads of Stormtroopers were heading there.

He blinked adjusting the settings on his HUD, it was slow to react, "Fucking bucket." He muttered, "It's useless."

"You okay boss?" Asked Ria.

"Clone armour, especially ARC, was much better than this." He pulled the back plate down, it was tight.

He heard a few sniggers from their joint coms but ignored them. It brought back bitter memories of his time with the Empire and the loss off his brothers. He pushed those to one side.

He finally picked up the background chatter from the rest..

Their entry went smoothly; now all they had to do was find the assets they were retrieving.

Another squad of the Rebel Commandos were liberating the Xwings from the testing area.

They had a short window of opportunity before the Empire realised what was happening.

"This way." The VP walked halfway along the corridor and stopped; the rest took up a defensive position around him. He entered his code cylinder into a data port in the wall.

"It looks like they're being held in the Conference Room on the third floor; it's marked as off limits. Senior officers only. We have or had no detention facilities, no need. We can take the lift."

He strode off towards the centre of the complex; his Stormtroopers followed him, as good soldiers do.

Mayday and his squad had memorised the layout, as part of their preparation; this was the research and development area. The manufacturing centre was a couple of clicks away with droids doing the work, overseen by the engineers.

"Steady!" Mayday warned his troops and blinked to activate the facial recognition in his HUD as the ISB agent walked towards them. He wanted to know who he was dealing with.

"Ah. There you are." The agent ignored the Stormtroopers, "I understand you are used to wandering around this base on your own but times have changed. You were supposed to wait for me."

"I wasn't told that." The VP replied, his tone matching the Agents, "I would like to see my employees."

"All in good time. We need to talk. Follow me!"

"Not yet." Warned Mayday, on the private channel, he wanted them to get further in before starting anything.

"I see you have some of our new recruits as Stormtroopers. I always find them not as aesthetically pleasing as seeing ranks of the Clone troopers. They were all the same, all uniform in their build. The new recruits are all slightly different."

"Kriffing arsehole." Muttered Mayday, signalling them to stop; the VP and Agent stopped outside the VP's office, according to the sign. It was unguarded. In fact there were very few guards; the Empire must be very sure of itself.

"I thought you may be more comfortable here." He opened the door and gestured for the VP to enter. The droid, Mayday, Pol and the Commando followed.

"Tycho. Ria. Door!" He instructed through their channel. They took up guard duty, blending in, looking like the perfect Stormtroopers. Pol stood at the window. It overlooked a large area outside of the shipyard. He could see any incoming vehicles or troops.

The ISB Agent turned to Mayday.

"My personal guards." the VP stated, "Their orders are to stay with me at all times."

He hesitated, "Of course."

"I need to get a few things."

"We need to talk first."

Mayday braced himself for action, watching the Agent's movements.

"About what?"

"Where you've been. You were supposed to report here immediately."

"I had hyperdrive issues." He replied, opening a drawer.

"You should have notified us."

"It affected my communications as well." He concentrated on the contents of the drawer.

The ISB Agent looked at the droid, which had scooted towards a socket in the wall.

"Perhaps you should get a more up to date droid."

It beeped, indignantly.

The VP reached inside, giving Mayday a quick glance as he did so; he took this as his cue.

The ISB Agent took a step towards him.

Mayday stepped in front of the Agent, grabbed his arm and punched him in the neck. The Agent blinked at him and opened his mouth. Nothing came out. His eyes showed a moment of shock when he realised that, then glazed over, permanently fixed over Mayday's shoulder. As he leaned against him.

Mayday removed his knuckle blade and wiped it on the man's uniform, letting him slide to the floor, before sheathing it in his hand guard.

The VP seemed unconcerned. He noticed Mayday watching his reaction, or lack of it, "Some company boardrooms leave even more blood on the floor."

The R2 inserted its scomp link into a socket in the wall before beeping and tweeting. Mayday couldn't understand exactly what it was saying, the gist was, it was monitoring the situation and trying to locate everyone they were looking for at the same time.

"You didn't say you were based here?" Mayday removed the Agent's code cylinder and com unit, attaching them to his belt.

"I have offices dotted around several shipyards."

The VP continued to search through his desk.

"Anything particular you're looking for?" Asked Mayday.

"I put some thoughts and calculations down on flimzi on how to take the Xwing to the next level. Want to make sure the Empire doesn't get its hands on them."

"Flimzi eh?"

"Can't be hacked. Putting it down like that also helps me think." He found it and put it in his briefcase, locking it, "R2, have you finished purging the system, all the design files?"

The droid replied with some beeps and tweets; it sounded like a no.

"Try harder then."

It beeped again, this time Mayday recognised the irritation in its reply.

Detaching the ISB agents com unit, he adjusted it, picking up background chatter; it was on a different channel to the Stormtroopers.

"We need to move. They've worked it out. In the town."

The R2 removed its scomp link and electricity arced around the socket leaving it scorched and unuseable.

"Thanks R2. So where?"

It beeped, "Just as we thought." Said the VP, "and they're all there?"Another beep confirmed it.

The VP put his hands out; Mayday clasped the binders on but unlocked.

"Lead the way!" Mayday replied, assuming his role as a guard.

Tycho and Ria, glanced at each other, when the Agent did not materialise and, seeing the binders, took up positions after them as they made their way to the Conference room.

.

Now they had Stormtroopers. Two either side of the door. The way was blocked with their blasters as soon as they entered the corridor.

Mayday scrolled down his HUD for the Stormtroopers channel.

"Another prisoner." He instructed them, "the droid as well."

The sergeant, from his insignia, replied; "We haven't been notified."

"Can I help it if the ISB plebs are slower than us?"

Mayday observed a slight movement showing he agreed with him. He had also noticed Mayday was a Lieutenant.

"Okay." He moved to open the door.

"Now!" Ordered Mayday, as soon as he saw the green light on the door.

Pol and the Commando stationed at the corridor intersection started shooting.

The guard looked at Mayday.

"We've got this you go after that."

He followed the new Lieutenants orders and as his team rushed around the corner they saw troopers firing at the end of the corridor.

"There's at least six of them at the last count sergeant." The commando stated.

The Sergeant stepped forward and studied the corridor.

Pol and the Commando took several steps back and raised their blasters.

.

The Conference room was full of designers, engineers and Test pilots. Worried faces watched them as they entered. All looked the worse for wear; some bearing the physical evidence of the ISB interrogation.

A young human male, stood at the front, looking very much like a younger version of Merrick.

"Sir?" he stepped forward.

"Is everyone here?"

"Except. Jann." The younger version of Merrick answered.

The VP frowned.

"It's Archie, sir. Jann was my mentor."

"Ah yes. What happened?"

"They were trying to get the details of where you'd gone and— his heart gave out."

Mayday watched the VP's face, this Jann had obviously meant something to him. There was a flash of sorrow then he was back to business.

"We're here to get the rest of you out."

"Our designs?" a sullustan asked.

"We've got them all here." He patted the R2 unit, "and corrupted the database. But we need to get off the planet." He put up a hand stopping all the other questions. "I've found a safe place but it won't be anywhere near your home planets and you can only take with you what you've got now." They immediately grabbed what items they had, "Follow us."

"Enemy eliminated boss." Pol reported, over the channel.

"Ready when you are." The VP turned to Mayday.

"Follow us. Stick to the walls. Do as you're told. Leave the shooting to us. Don't get in our way."

Mayday watched as they looked at each other. No one said anything.

"Okay. We're going to use the prototypes.''

There were a few murmurs of surprise.

"Is there a problem because the Rebellion needs them and it's your way off the planet."

"They're fine." Archie spoke up again, "Myself and Jann checked them before they came. They were performing to expected parameters."

"Good." The VP answered for him.

Mayday had one ear on them and one on his com— it was too quiet. He didn't like that, it usually spelt trouble. He slowly opened the door; the corridor was empty. He beckoned to them. They followed, obeying his orders.

He brought up the base schematics on his HUD, at least that worked, he thought.

"Make your way to the starfighter holding area. Meet you there."

Monitoring his HUD there were no enemy movements yet but that wasn't going to last long. He upped his pace. Checking those behind him, they were keeping up. Ria and Tycho brought up the rear, hustling them along.

"Sitrep!" He demanded.

"All clear!" The replies came back.

This was looking too easy.

They moved quickly, methodically checking and clearing each intersection, picking off any stormtrooper stragglers.

They reached the exit and bunched up in the corridor.

"We can't stay here long." Pol commented, "ISB will have seen something by now.

"I know." Mayday scanned the landing field, "We'll be out in the open when we run for the ships. The Commandos are on their way back to join the few there."

The Empire had realised what was happening and Stormtroopers weren't far behind them.

He saw ships coming in from the West; stormtroopers coming into land. They were already rappelling down.

He knew it had been too good to be true.

"Pol! Covering fire. Get them out there."

He pushed them out one after another,"Go! Go! Go!"

Stepping out in front of them, Mayday fired on the Stormtroopers before they landed.

"Tycho. Where are you with the dets?" Mayday continued to supply covering shots. Blaster bolts whizzing past him.

He felt a burn on his shoulder

"All set boss, but not much leeway."

"Ria?"

"All clear sir."

He waited until he saw them exit; they were still a bit close.

"Go!"

They ran towards the ships, whilst the explosion ripped through the front of the building demolishing it and catching their pursuers in the debris.

The test pilots jumped in first, followed by the engineers and designers as passengers. Archie waved at Mayday, who returned a lazy salute. The VP commandeered a Uwing and they streaked away from the burning base.

.

The team stood at their rendezvous point and watched as the Xwings disappeared through the clouds, with the accompanying Commandos.

The Empire was busy with other civil disturbances on the planet. Their distraction had escalated.

"So what happens now?" Asked Mayday, "there are still so few of them."

The VP replied, he had never given his name, perhaps it was for the best, "We identified a planet off the Empire's radar. Start up again."

"Build Xwings?"

"We have the designers, the engineers."

"Just for the Rebellion?"

"Yes. If that's what it's called now. Just not the Empire."

"Can you really do it?"

"It won't be easy. The X-wing requires rare alloys, sophisticated components, and highly-advanced control systems. We'll have to build machines to produce parts from scratch. Back to basics for me." He smiled at the thought, "I started as an engineer.'

Part of him relished the thought "It will be laborious, we don't have the droids or the ready supplies of raw materials but we'll do what we can. They may always be in short supply, so they need looking after."

"We have mechanics."

"I know. I'll get the maintenance manuals sent to Merrick."

"And here I thought you were just another man in a suit, only interested in the credits."

"I knew you didn't respect me. Almost dismissed me."

"Not anymore." Mayday held out his hand, this man had earned his respect.

The VP grasped it strongly, in a Mandalorian greeting.

Mayday raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask."

Mayday nodded.

The last Xwing was waiting; they needed to go.

"It's been an honour." The VP said, before turning and not looking back.

Mayday turned to his team; they had hearrecueved the orders at the same time, they were straight out again, not even time to do a stopover on Dantooine. This was urgent. A retrieval.

"Everybody okay with this?"

"Affirmative." Ria answered.

The others had not been in the military and he wasn't a stickler for the military replies except in certain circumstances but they agreed.

Ria was already moving towards their ship, patting down a smouldering piece of clothing.

.

Dantooine

Hela stood with Bill and Zak; he was out of Bacta, with a prosthetic leg fitted. Hela was amazed at how fast they had obtained it. He still looked ill, pale eyes sunken with dark circles around them. They were all assembled.

She had never really thought about it and probably didn't need to know but it was obvious someone somewhere was providing credits for all this. That thought alone gave her hope. They weren't as alone as they used to be.

Merrick was smiling, "The Empire obviously has not acknowledged this and it is on a pirate Holonet channel. This is their words 'in a brave but little-publicized coup, a Rebel commando team have helped the entire Incom X-wing senior design team defect to the Rebels."

There were murmurs amongst those assembled.

"Led by a number of test pilots and engineers, all existing X-wing prototypes, together with production plans were flown out. Furthermore, it is reported they destroyed all remaining X-wing databases, and it is not known whether the information can be recovered or reconstructed."

Cheers and clapping rang out across the hangar.

Donca leaned on her cane next to him, also smiling. They could not have done it without Mayday and her own little team. She was feeling that she had finally made a difference. She swayed slightly but Finor was there for her and held her upright.

.

The euphoria did not last.

Mayday's squad walked with him; a clear path made by the other rebels, stopping what they were doing and watching, as they let them through. Word had come back, two back to back missions, the first one an overwhelming success extracting the Xwing designers and engineers from the Empire, and the last one the opposite. It had been bad—what they found.

They arrived too late.

Mayday looked for Hela. He needed her. He needed to be grounded in some normality away from the hell that he had just seen and Donca had been right, she grounded him.

He had thought the Clone Wars were bad but they were mainly dealing with droids with no conscience; what he had just seen had been done by beings, supposedly civilised with a conscience.

He should know by now there were some beings without the basics of sentience, of civilisation.

"You okay Boss?" Asked Pol, he had stepped up recently. He had proved himself.

"I will be."

"Don't worry. She'll be around somewhere. She always is. You're lucky."

"Doesn't always feel like it."

"No it doesn't." Pol thought about what he had seen and he could not remove those images from his memory. They were there, every time he closed his eyes.

"Go and get some food, sleep. I'll see you all tomorrow. We'll debrief then."

His squad needed their own time to destress.

"Yes Boss." There was a chorused reply from the squad and they disappeared. They each dealt with what they saw in their own way, despite being hardened veterans.

Even Ria's shoulders were slumped and since she had come on board she was rarely defeated.

Mayday turned to see Zak limping towards him, his prosthetic still needing adjustment. He had missed him on this mission.

"Bad?" Zak asked, as he joined him walking towards the repair hangar.

"They were blasted from the air. Stood no chance. Men, women and children. All gone."

"Everyone."

"Everyone. You couldn't identify them. Just charred remains."

Zak took that in, rubbing the top of his leg; it was still taking some getting used to and needed adjusting. He struggled to do it himself; he might have to ask Hela.

"She's in the repair hangar. The new Uwings needed checking."

"Thanks. I'll check in with her then Merrick."

"Get your priorities right."

Mayday smiled, "Always."

.

A/N: the droid is not R2D2, just one of its equally irritating cousins.