Omega Sqadron Black Knights
Chapter 17

Martellon's brow furrowed in concentration as the last of the Intelligence operatives exited the interview room. He had intimated that the only way to discover the identity of the traitor within the Intelligence section was to personally talk to all of the staff. This was all a ruse to stamp his authority on them however, as his investigation had already come to a conclusion. The whole point of the interviews was to draw attention away from the fact that he had already discovered the traitor.

The course of his questions had originated with the information that had supposedly been or was about to be leaked to the Rebels. Naturally, that information was still intact in it's correct place, it would have been sheer folly to remove it and not just copy it. That path of investigation, after several false trails and traps, had led circuitously to a dead end.

The perpetrator had made one minor error though - they hadn't foreseen that the investigator would have the advantages that Martellon had. The Dark Side lends itself to insight very well when it comes to work like this, Martellon thought as he sat smugly congratulating himself.

He almost had his traitor. All that remained was to allow his trap to set itself, bringing him the final proof and the neatly trussed trophy he so richly deserved.

~ * ~

Lieutenant Commander Xen Laruna stood behind the controller, watching as one by one, the four freighters broke free from their docking clamps and swung slowly round to head away from the Home One. A half squadron of X-wings streamed out of a hangar, following the larger ships. Fighter escort for the freighters, they caught up rapidly and swept passed to disappear into hyperspace ahead of them. Laruna chewed the inside of her lip, frowning slightly.

The freighters were carrying desperately needed medical and food supplies to the Home Two. Which only brought her thoughts back to her cousins, Edraa and Emaar. And Edraa’s concern about Kaz Hawkspar.

“Laruna?”

Xen jumped at the sound of Ackbar’s quiet voice behind her. She turned, “Sir?”

“A word, please?” The Admiral walked away without waiting for her reply, heading towards the small ready room at the back of the bridge. Xen’s frown deepened. She pulled off her headset, handing it to Max who walked over to take her position. She shrugged at his questioning look and followed Ackbar.

The Admiral was standing, gazing out of the observation window, hands behind his back. A bright flash to starboard told him that the four freighters had jumped into hyperspace, taking their cargo to the sorely depleted Home Two. He turned as the door closed behind Laruna, wondering how to broach the subject, deciding finally to tackle it straight on. “I gather you have been making enquiries about Commander Kazlyn Hawkspar, trying to see her.”

Xen nodded slowly, “Yes, sir. She’s my cousin’s Commanding Officer. The Knights are…”

“I understand your motives, Lieutenant Commander,” Ackbar interrupted, “but I must ask you to desist.”

Laruna looked at him, “Sir?”

“You will go no further with you enquiries about Commander Hawkspar,” he clarified. His voice was soft but there was a hard edge to it that Laruna had never heard before. “You will make no more attempts to see her. Nor will you attempt to access Major Anders. Is that understood?”

There was nothing else she could say except, “Yes, sir.” But his words only aroused her curiosity even further because she had already managed to find out that neither Anders nor Hawkspar were on the Home One. What had Edraa’s CO got herself mixed up in? And why was the Admiral suddenly being so heavy handed?

Ackbar saw the look on the young woman’s face. Xen Laruna had been part of the Bridge crew of the Home One since the Mon Calamari had joined the Alliance. Ackbar knew her well enough to see that she had obviously already found something out. So he foiled whatever plans she had hatched to get that information to her cousin by ordering, “Nor will you divulge to anyone on board the Home Two any information you may have already managed to access.”

Xen Laruna was one of the best officers on his ship. She was also one of the most hopeless liars he had ever met. So when her face fell he knew that he had lobbed the braajg firmly on the hesg.

“Understood, sir,” she told him dejectedly.

“Very well. You are dismissed.”

She saluted and turned towards the door, her mind racing. Then she hesitated, turning back, knowing that she was pressing her luck but having to know. Ackbar demanded high standards of everyone on his ship, but he was a fair man. “Admiral?”

“Yes, Xen…”

“What Edraa said about Hawkspar giving information to the Empire… It’s not true is it?”

Ackbar sighed, turning to look back out of the observation window, “If I could tell you anything about this, I would Lieutenant Commander. If we could lay Omega Squadron’s concerns to rest, we would. But there is too much riding on what happens over the next few days.” He turned back, hoping that the explanation - such as it was - would suffice, “You understand?”

She considered his words for a long moment. There was obviously something much more important going on than the arrest of an X-wing pilot, even if that pilot was the commanding officer of Omega squadron and the daughter of one of Mon Mothma’s senior aides. Finally she nodded slowly, “Yes, sir. I think I do.” Then she turned, walking back onto the bridge.

~ * ~

Vice Admiral Daav Notrahw stood in the open doorway, looking at the rows of temporary cots. Every single one of them was filled. Medi-droids moved silently from one to the other, checking on the wounded, taking notes for the doctors, issuing rations…

On one of the cots closest to the door a young soldier realised that Notrahw was standing there and rose unsteadily to her feet, saluting. Notrahw took a step forward to tell her to sit back down, but the movement had pulled attention to the fact that the Admiral was there. One by one, starting at the front and sweeping towards the back, those that were able to stand rose to their feet, saluting the Admiral silently.

Notrahw stood, astounded, unable for a long moment to do anything but watch the display of dignity and courage that the Empire, in all its might, had been unable to squash. This was what the Emperor did not understand. This was where the Emperor would ultimately fail. Palpatine had no concept of the strength and tenacity of the people who had the courage to stand up to him and defend the basic right of freedom from the slavery in which Palpatine would have kept them.

Alderaan was gone, the true nature of its destruction covered up. But the truth had spread. The destruction of the Death Star at Yavin had been a rallying cry for the whole galaxy. And despite the losses the Alliance had subsequently taken, despite the threat of torture and the very real danger of death, people were flooding to it in droves.

Notrahw took a deep breath. His voice cut through the hush: gruff, clear and steady, “At ease!”

Behind him, Maggs Ronnoc smiled. The atmosphere in the huge room had changed noticeably, from dejection to anticipation. Down, she thought, but not out.

And if things had gone to plan, Kaz would be bringing her contact out of Coruscant within the next few hours and the Alliance would have secured detailed plans they could use to strike another devastating blow against the Empire.

Notrahw had moved forward and was now slowly walking round the medical section, giving a word of comfort here, a word of encouragement there, “We’re doing what we can to get you to more comfortable surroundings…”

“Hang in there, my boy. We’ll have some news for you soon…”

“Mon Mothma has assured me that her thoughts are with you all…”

There were smiles here now where only a few moments before there had only been pain…

Doctor Ettei Soosaan stopped as she walked out of a curtained off cubicle and heard the murmur of excitement. She turned, walking into the main room. Notrahw looked up, catching her gaze, giving her a single, solemn nod of assurance. She acknowledged it with a small tip of her head then turned and headed back into the curtained off area.

His presence here was obviously doing some of her patients the world of good, lifting their morale and giving them a greater will to fight. But they had already run out of Bacta, they were using the last of the analgesics and they were fast running out of everything else.

From somewhere along the curtained corridor the soft beep of a heart monitor stuttered and dropped into a long mournful wail. Soosaan closed her eyes, the fatigue rushing in as she realised that another patient had gone. She tried to remain calm and objective but as the alarm was silenced she couldn’t quite swallow down the constriction in her throat.

Bluesky wandered out of the cubicle, her face grim, her large eyes full of sadness. She turned in time to see Ettei sink slowly to her knees, her arms wrapped around herself. Hurrying forward, the tiny doctor knelt beside her colleague, the fur rippling over her head, showing her concern as she hesitated slightly then put her hand on Soosaan’s shoulder.

For a long moment, Soosaan didn’t acknowledge the contact, trying desperately to pull herself together, to pack the emotion back into the little box that she could lock and label “Doctor.” Finally she looked up, her eyes full of tears that she refused to shed. “I’m okay,” she assured her, but the emotion in her voice belied the words, “I’m fine really. I just…”

“You have not had sleep in many hours, Ettei,” Bluesky informed her softly. “Too many hours. You are exhausted. You will sleep now. Then, when you are refreshed you will have the strength again.”

Ettei shook her head, “I can’t leave you alone with all this.”

Bluesky gave her a dazzlingly gentle smile, “You were alone with all of this when I was not here.” She silenced Soosaan’s reply with a flick of her hand, “I suggest compromise. You agree to sleep and I will not bring the Admiral to have you removed from duty.”

Ettei smiled, laughing for the first time in days. “You sound like me!” she accused.

“Then I must truly be of very good judgement,” Bluesky shot back, her eyes dancing wickedly. “Now, sleep. Be strong. You have my word - in the event of another emergency I will wake you.”

~ * ~

The door chime rang again insistently and Lainy swore, dragging her eyes open to look at the chronometer. There was at least another half hour before she was due to get up! “Xen Edraa! If this is you,” she muttered, pushing back the covers and swinging her legs off of the bed, “I swear I’ll shoot you down myself the next time we’re out!”

The door chime rang twice.

“Okay! Okay!” she shouted irritably, reaching for a robe, “I’m coming!”

She walked across to the door, stabbing at the button. The door slid open and Wedge Antilles pushed his way in passed her. Eyes flashing she turned on him as the door closed, “Invite yourself in why don’t you! Make yourself right at home!”

He grinned at her wickedly, dropping into one of the chairs, “Thanks! Don’t mind if I do!”

She glared at him, demanding “What the hells do you want, Antilles?”

The wicked grin faded as he sat forward in the seat, “Have you been able to get in touch with Kaz’s father?”

Lainy’s anger washed away as quickly as it had flared. “No,” she told him. “I’ve left messages but he hasn’t returned them.”

Wedge shook his head, sighing in disgust and exasperation. “Like he’s been avoiding you?” he asked.

Lainy gave him a long, level look, “Well… He may just have been busy…”

“His daughter is arrested for treason,” Wedge began, his voice cynical. “His daughter’s best friend, who also happens to be her Third in Command and someone he cares for as deeply as his daughter, tries to get in touch with him. And in two days he hasn’t found the time to get back to her? Even if it’s just to tell her that his daughter is as well as can be expected!” He shook his head, “Doesn’t that strike you as a little strange? Like maybe, just maybe, he’s avoiding you?”

Lainy crossed her arms, her mouth pulling into a tight line, “Just what, exactly, are you trying to say, Antilles?”

In the two days since Xen and Lainy had told him about Kaz being arrested Wedge had been able to find out very little. All the favours he had called in had come to nothing. And just as he had begun to suspect that he was being given the run around, his suspicions had been confirmed. “Kaz isn’t on the Home One. Neither is Major Anders.”

“What? But Notrahw said…”

“I don’t care what Notrahw told you, Sweetheart,” Wedge interrupted. “But wherever she is, she’s not on the Home One .”

Lainy sank onto the bed trying hard to remain calm. Wedge saw the emotion flit across her face. The last few days had taken its toll on him so he understood exactly what she was going through. He leant forward, his hands clasped, elbows on his knees. “I pulled in some favours. A buddy of my father’s just got back to me. She’s on Mon Mothma’s staff and did some quiet asking around for me. Neither Elhen Anders nor Kaz went back to the Home One . And she knew nothing about Darrik Hawkspar’s daughter being arrested for espionage or anything else.”

Lainy looked at him: and for moment Wedge was swept back to Dantooine and Lainy was the timid, frighteningly naive girl who had just joined Kaz’s squadron. “Wedge,” she began, her voice almost a whisper, “what the hells is going on?”

He shook his head, shrugging, just as lost and suddenly terribly, terribly tired. “I don’t know, Sweetheart. I wish I did.”

Lainy closed her eyes, going over everything again, trying to remember exactly what had happened when she had been summoned to Notrahw’s office with Xen the night that Kaz had been arrested. Ander’s voice rang in her mind as clearly as it had done three nights before… “Commander Hawkspar has been relieved of duty pending investigation into allegations that she was shot down during a recon mission three years ago and that she was detained and interrogated by Imperial personnel! Alliance Command is investigating charges that she’s been supplying information to Imperial Intelligence since then.”

Lainy had told Anders that it was ridiculous and then…

Lieutenant Commander Lainy Kal’Ten smiled. Because then, she remembered, Maggs Ronnoc had announced that the escort had arrived.

Ronnoc! Lieutenant Maggs Ronnoc! If anyone knew what was going on it would be her!

Wedge watched as the smile banished the lost, little girl and brought back the Omega Squadron Acting Second. “What?” he asked, excitement beginning to buzz in the pit of his stomach.

Lainy looked at him, “We’re going to pay someone a little visit!”

~ * ~

The alarm stabbed into Xen Edraa’s dreams, dragging her out of a restless sleep. She turned over, hitting the silence button and then she lay back again, eyes closed. The squadron was coming together nicely. The pairings that she and Lainy had initially decided on had worked almost from the word go and they had decided to stay with them. After only two days, the squadron was beginning to gel and work as a team. And there were more pilots due today. By the time the Boss got back…

Xen swore softly and turned over, slamming a fist into her pillow.

By the time Kaz got back…

If she got back.

Xen pushed that thought away, refusing to acknowledge it. But it was like a dark cloud hanging over everything. Everyone knew that she was only Acting Commander. And although she was enjoying the command experience, it was more than partly to do with wanting to have built up a squadron that Kaz Hawkspar, when she returned, would be proud of. Wedge Antilles had promised to do what he could but had been unable to find out anything. She had asked Laruna to find out what she could but hadn’t heard anything from her so far. And Lainy had been trying to get in touch with Kaz’s father without success, trying to find out what was going on.

Although it was going to be interesting to see what the hells the Boss was going to say when she did get back - to find that Chezz and Lainy had been telling stories about her exploits that were growing increasingly more daring and death-defyingly unbelievable.

Mas Wolvdaater and Ryven Soieen had both been more than a little impressed when Lainy had mentioned that Kaz had been the one who flew Mon Mothma to safety from Coruscant. Chezz had laughed and begun to tell stories that his cousin, Biggs Darklighter, had apparently told him about her. Then Wedge had joined in with tales including the time she had put him up against a wall and threatened to kill him herself if he ever pulled a stunt like the one he had just pulled.

Triona Elyob had sat, agog - while her husband grinned at her disbelief. Baz’s eyes had grown wider and wider. Fram Nielsen had quietly asked, only half joking, to be transferred off the squadron, which had earned him a slap across the head from Chezz and then Shei had said she would transfer with him.

If the Boss didn’t get back damned soon, Lainy, Chezz and Wedge were going to have elevated her into a position of Goddess-hood in the rest of the squadron’s eyes. Xen had finally managed to steer the conversation in a different direction by mentioning Wookiees - earning her a glare from Lainy that had sent Baz and Shei into fits of laughter and prompted Chezz and Jon Alpelor to demand and explanation.

Emaar had been there, laughing along, as wide-eyed as the others. But the tension had still been there between them, an uneasiness that stopped her short whenever she had caught Emaar’s gaze.

Xen sighed, pushing back the covers and heading for the shower. Why could things never be simple…?

Maybe Laruna would be able to get in touch today. Maybe she could help. And maybe she would have some good news about the Boss.

~ * ~

Major Crix Madine hit the transmission switch to send out the message. Then he leant back slowly in the chair. For the second time in his Imperial Intelligence career he had been in a position to supply the Rebel Alliance with information vital to their cause. And for a second time his Imperial colleagues were snapping too close at his heels for comfort.

Tension began to flutter again, deep in his belly. He took a deep breath, pushing it down, undoing the top fastening of his shirt and running his fingers over the smooth surface of the ancient rune an old friend had given to him. The silky feel of the bone against the rough leather thong always calmed him. And if he lost his cool now, he would make a mistake. And then he was dead.

Shaking his head he made a small sound of disgust, filling the crystal glass on his desk with Derran meade. Lifting the glass of rich, golden liquid, he swung his legs up to perch his feet on the desk.

He had covered his tracks…

But this was too important to them. They would shred the access logs on this one to find out who had downloaded the information. And nothing he could do would stand up to that sort of scrutiny. It was only a matter of time before they discovered that he was the one who had accessed the plans to the shield generator on the Endor project. His only hope was to get off Coruscant before they arrived to arrest him.

He sipped the meade reflectively, savouring the sweet thickness of the liquid against his tongue for a moment before swallowing it and draining the rest of glass in one fluid movement. Last time, he thought, reaching for the bottle again, close though it may have been, our luck ran better.

His contact, Mirgot Risnuu, had only just finished uploading the Death Star blueprints to the Tantive IV when Lord Vader’s Star Destroyer had arrived. Risnuu had, thankfully, been able to escape undetected. But Leia Organa and the rest of the Tantive crew had not been so fortunate…

And because of the Organa incident, Crix had decided not to put his friend in any further danger by asking him to take the plans of the shield generator to the Rebels. This time he had found another source - a Rebel sympathiser who also happened to be an engineering consultant for a Corellian naval yard.

But, somehow, Barr’s contemporaries in the Intelligence section had discovered that the engineer would be taking delivery of the shield generator plans… And they had taken that news straight to the Emperor.

Palpatine had immediately assigned the task of not only arresting the engineer, but of bringing in the traitor who had supplied the information, to his new pet - Fleet Commander Martellon. Unaware that the shield generator blueprints were already in the engineer’s possession, Martellon had chosen to trap him in the act of accepting the plans from the Imperial traitor.

A trap that was about to be sprung.

Despite his best efforts, Crix had been unable to find a way to get involved with operation. Nor had he had any way of warning either the Alliance or the agent they were sending. Martellon would indeed arrest the engineer. But he would also arrest the Rebel agent who had been sent in to bring the man out of Coruscant.

So even if the manipulation he’d done on the access logs did hold, the engineer would break under questioning and identify him. His time was running out. All he could hope for now was that Mirgot arrived for him before Martellon did.

~ * ~

Daav Elyob stepped out of the shower, his mind running over the past few days’ events. Things were going well, things were going very well indeed. As with all the recent newcomers he was fitting nicely into the squadron… He wasn’t the only pilot with an Imperial background and the fact that his beloved wife knew not only their Commanding Officer but also Lainy Kal’Ten had been an added bonus. Nor had he considered that his Commanding Officer might end up being Darrik Hawkspar’s daughter.

He shook his head, quirking an eyebrow as he towelled himself dry, still unable to quite believe his luck. Kaz Hawkspar… Right up there on the Imperial Wanted list along with Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles. Although there was all that rubbish about Hawkspar having been handing secrets to the Empire for the last three years.

Mind you, when he thought about it, it was so ludicrous that it might possibly have been true. Kaz Hawkspar rescues Mon Mothma from the clutches of Palpatine - only to end up being shot down, tortured, broken and turned. He smiled, coldly. Now that really would give the Empire something to crow about. But instinct told him that it was highly improbable.

And when Hawkspar got back - he refused to believe that anything would come of her arrest - she would most probably be in the vanguard of whatever it was that the Rebel Alliance were planning. And it was something big. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it was definitely something big. It was, after all, why he was here.

He glanced at the chronometer and smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed to gently wake his wife, “Triona? Triona? Hey! Wife! Wake up!”

She stirred, mumbling sleepily, “Need to get Luke out somehow…”

Daav grinned at her in amusement, knowing that she was still dreaming, “What?”

“Hmm?” she mumbled, opening her eyes. Then she smiled, curling round to snuggle against his legs, “Hello, husband!”

“Don’t you ‘hello husband’ me!” he derided in mock seriousness. “Just who the hells is Luke?”

She turned her head, looking up at him, “What?”

“Need to get Luke out somehow,” he repeated. “Your words, not mine! Who the hells is Luke?”

Triona opened her mouth. Then she closed it again, the puzzled look on her face making him laugh. “I don’t know,” he chuckled, “married for less than a week and you’re already dreaming about other men!”

She grinned at him, “Guess you’ll just have to make me forget them!”

“I would,” he assured her, “if we weren’t due on duty in less than half an hour!”

“What?” she squealed, scrambling out of the covers and heading for the shower, “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“You’re dreaming about other men,” he laughed, enjoying the devilment, “and you’re worried about why I didn’t wake you?”

~ * ~

Lori Enilra grinned in delight as Aryes Drayke keyed the ignition sequence and the engines on Commander Hawkspar’s X-wing spooled into life. Then Andi Sedalby started the engines on Edraa’s fighter, Jendra Callan and Ely Marakan running up the engines in their T-65s, the chromatic upward swing of the engines adding to the Flight’s good mood. They had only found problems with the coolant flanges on four of the X-wings. Although if the Commander hadn’t overstressed her engines that day the flanges would only now be failing… just when the squadron needed the fighters most!

As it was, the problem had hopefully been rectified. With all four sets of engines started, all she needed now was their respective core temperature to settle down and the day would start off as one of the best Lori had ever had. And she would be able to tell Lieutenant Commander Xen Edraa that all X-wings were now fully serviceable.

The T-65s were all the same - one no different from the other. But both the engineers and the pilots knew that each fighter had a subtly different personality. It took time to get the feel of a new machine and Xen had been grousing quietly about looking forward to getting her own bird back.

The Chiefs watched the coolant readout in their respective T-65s as the engine temperature began to rise… And then one by one they gave her the thumbs up as the temperature settled out in the green. Lori punched the air, yipping in happiness, signalling that the Chiefs should keep the engines running for a while to ensure continuity.

They had checked the coolant flanges they had left in the stores and the flaws had obviously been limited to only one batch. Which was a damned good job really, because they were running short of parts. Complete X-wings had arrived, but parts were in very short supply. The Vice-Admiral had assured her that he was doing everything he could to secure what she needed. But Lori also knew that the medical supplies had already begun to run out. And with no news of the Richlo casualties being moved on, the medical supplies took priority. And since those supplies hadn’t yet arrived…

Lori pushed those thoughts away, refusing to ruin her day now that it started out so well.

Orise Ymra saw the look on the Flight’s face as Lori walked towards her. She grinned, “Having fun, Flight?”

“How could I not be having fun with the sound of perfectly tuned engines singing through the air?”

“Then I have even more good news for you,” Orise grinned. “You have a shipment of parts arriving within the next few hours.”

“Really?” Today was getting just better and better.

She turned back looking along the length of the hangar, down the two rows of X-wings. From the sounds of the running engines, all four of the overhauled fighters were running sweet and true. They had almost a full complement of T-65s. They were only three pairs short - six fighters and they would be up to capacity. Damn, they had more X-wings than pilots right now!

Lori grinned, leaning back against the bulkhead and crossing her arms, “Lieutenant Commander Xen Edraa, you have yourself a squadron!”

Now all she had to do was work out exactly how she was going to repay Aryes Drake and Andi Sedalby for that little “remove you from duty” stunt they had pulled a few days ago and her day would be complete!

~ * ~

“So!” Chezz Traykar grinned mischievously, sliding into the chair beside Baz and dumping his food tray on the table, “Give us the low down on Lieutenant Commander Xen Edraa!”

Ryven Soieen groaned, rolling his eyes as he and Fram Nielsen sat down opposite Chezz and Baz, “Will you give it a rest! You’ve been at the poor boy for the last two days!”

“Ah!” Chezz told him, pointing at him with a piece of sausage he had skewered on his fork, “That’s what makes it so interesting. In two days this young man here has managed to wriggle out of dishing the dirt every time I’ve cornered him!” He popped the sausage in his mouth, chewing it as he continued, “Which only makes me more intrigued!”

“No,” Fram contradicted, “It only makes you more of a pest! So drop it! You’re giving me indigestion!”

“What’s giving you indigestion?” Mas asked, sitting down on the other side of Baz as Emaar dropped into the chair across from him.

“We were trying to get the low down on our beloved acting CO!” Chezz told him. “But Baz won’t dish the dirt!”

“Edraa?” Emaar asked. Chezz nodded. “Nothing to dish,” Emaar told him. “Pure as the driven sand…”

Chezz’s eyes narrowed, “How come you’re so sure?”

Emaar looked at him then shrugged, “Because she’s my beloved little sister.”

Chezz gaped. The others turned to look at her. She smiled sweetly, “Well you were all going to find out at some point. Weren’t they Baz?”

Baz grinned, “Me? I wouldn’t have told them a thing! And besides,” he continued, scooping up something that vaguely resembled an egg, “I haven’t been here all that long. And when I arrived she was in a Bacta tank.” He forked the egg into his mouth, keeping his attention on his plate, aware that everyone, including Emaar, had now turned their attention to him. Okay, so that wasn’t exactly true. But there was something going on between the two Xen sisters, some sort of misunderstanding. And if Emaar found out how close she had come to losing her sister then maybe it would help speed up a reconciliation. There was no way that two such pretty ladies should have bad blood between them. And besides, he didn’t like the hurt look in Edraa’s eyes every time she saw her older sister…

“Bacta?” Fram pushed.

Baz nodded, chewing slowly and swallowing before supplying, “She, Lainy and Hawkspar were the only ones to survive the last encounter with the Empire. Edraa’s fighter was side swiped by some wreckage. Rumour amongst the engineers is that they don’t know how it held in one piece to bring her back.” He considered for a moment and then decided to embellish a little, “The canopy shattered the moment they got her back into the hangar.”

Mas’s stomach had lurched when Baz had mentioned the last encounter. He hadn’t realised that Xen had been so badly injured. He had, after all, been locked in a cell until only a few days before… Now he sat, praying that the others wouldn’t read anything on his face, wanting to throw up, wanting to get away, anything but sit here and listen. But there was no way that he could. There was no way he could get up from the table without questions being asked.

Kaz had assured both he and Jon that no one, apart from Lainy and Xen, would know their background unless he and Jon chose to tell them. He had believed her. And after the initial unease around so many Rebels, he had begun to feel at home, he had finally begun to realise that he had made the right decision. And he knew that at least one other pilot at this table was ex-Imperial.

But Baz’s story was too close to home for comfort.

“That was close…” Ryven had muttered softly.

“Hmm,” Fram agreed, “Too close!”

“And then,” Baz continued, warming to his audience, “one of the Imperial pilots they rescued… He escaped from the medical section and got as far as the hangar before Hawkspar and Kal’Ten discovered him. He killed one of the engineers, almost killed Hawkspar and then escaped in the confusion by stealing Shei’s A-Wing. That’s how she ended up in the squadron.”

Mas lost all of his appetite. Hawkspar had warned both he and Jon that Martellon had escaped. But she had said nothing about being injured in the escape or the engineer dying… She had protected them, he suddenly realised. After everything that she and Omega had gone through she had not only swept aside their past and given them a second chance but she had protected Jon and him from something that would have made them even more uncomfortable than they already had been.

And now Alliance Intelligence suspected that she had been giving information to the Empire. He frowned. Somehow that just didn’t add up. Somehow that just didn’t add up at all.

~ * ~

Notrahw had gone back to the bridge to see what he could do about getting medical supplies sent. Maggs had wandered back to the office, her thoughts on Kaz and the mission on Coruscant, intending to try to contact Major Anders. If things had run to plan she should be back on the Home One …

What she didn’t expect to find was a delegation waiting outside the office. She eyed Lainy Kal’Ten and Wedge Antilles warily, knowing that there was something wrong and preparing herself for trouble. Lainy Kal’Ten was entirely too composed for her liking - like the calm before the storm. “Commander, Lieutenant Commander, was there something you wanted?”

“Em…” Wedge began, “we were wondering if we could have a word…?”

“Of course,” Maggs told them, walking into the office and turning back to look at them as they followed her inside.

She never completed the turn. Lainy Kal’Ten went for her, catching hold of her uniform and swinging her round to push her back against the wall. Wedge yelped in surprise, trying to stop Lainy but missing. Maggs connected with the wall, hard enough to know that she was in trouble but not hard enough to do any damage.

“What the hells is going on, you lying piece of…”

Maggs didn’t let her finish. She moved, breaking the hold, sweeping Lainy’s feet out from under her and shoving her as she fell. Lainy landed hard on her side. Before she could move, Maggs had flipped her over and was kneeling on the small of her back, locking her arms. Lainy yelled in frustration, struggling to break free. Maggs applied a little more pressure on her arms and the struggling stopped in a yelp of pain.

“Calm down, Lieutenant Commander,” Maggs told her softly, “and we can discuss this like reasonable people. Or are you going to force me to dislocate both your shoulders first?”

“Stop!” Wedge tried, not knowing how to intervene.

Maggs glanced up at him then applied a little more pressure for effect and Lainy yelped again. “Are we going to behave, Lainy?”

“She’ll behave!” Wedge assured her. “Won’t you Lainy?”

“I need to hear that from the Lieutenant Commander,” Maggs told him. “Are we going to behave, Lainy?”

“Yes!” Kal’Ten hissed.

Maggs rose gracefully to her feet, dusting herself down and combing back her hair with her fingers as Lainy turned over and sat on the floor rubbing her arms. “Ow!” she pouted quietly.

“You’re lucky she didn’t break your damned arms!” Wedge derided, offering a hand to help her up.

She glared at him, ignoring his hand and clambering to her feet on her own. Maggs stood, arms folded across her chest, foot tapping softly on the carpet. “So,” Maggs asked, “which one of you is going to tell me what this is all about?”

Wedge looked at her sheepishly, “It’s about Kaz.”

“Why am I not surprised? There’s nothing more I can tell you…”

“We’ve got something we can tell you!” Lainy interrupted.

Apprehension flared for a moment in the pit of Maggs’ stomach. She had known that Lainy wouldn’t let Kaz’s arrest lie and with Wedge Antilles’ contacts there was no knowing what they had found out. “I’m listening,” she told them calmly.

Wedge took a deep breath and let it out quickly before beginning, “Kaz isn’t on the Home One . Neither is Major Anders. And no one on Mon Mothma’s senior staff knows anything about Darrik Hawkspar’s daughter being arrested as a spy or anything else.”

“Coupled with the fact that Darrik has been avoiding my calls for the last few days…” Lainy added.

Maggs looked at them, thinking fast. “Of course the senior staff know nothing about it! Mon Mothma didn’t wish them to know until the investigation was concluded. She was concerned about the effect on morale among…”

“And what about the morale among Omega?” Wedge interrupted, stepping forward, his eyes flashing anger. “Is this how Alliance Intelligence is conducting its investigation? By destroying the one thing that Kaz Hawkspar cares for more than anything else? Omega Squadron!”

Maggs said nothing, considering her options. Lainy or Wedge she could have dealt with. Lainy and Wedge was a completely different scenario.

But there was an Imperial agent on board the Home Two. If word got back to the Empire of Kaz being sent on a mission the potential for disaster was… unthinkable. Things, however, had been forced out of her hands. Any more lies would only make things worse. Telling them to mind their own business, that it was none of their concern would be just as bad. Both pilots were hurting: they had just proved that.

Maggs took a deep breath. Damn it, she wouldn’t lie to them anymore. If she explained things to them then it would put their minds at rest and they would say nothing, knowing that they would be risking the whole operation if they did. She turned towards the easy chairs, “Sit down.”

Reluctantly, Wedge and Lainy followed her.

Maggs sat forward, elbows resting on her knees, her hands clasped, “What I’m about to tell you goes no further than this room, with the exception of Lieutenant Commander Edraa. Do I make myself clear?”

“But…” Lainy began.

“No buts, Lainy. This goes any further and you will be putting Kaz Hawkspar’s life at risk.”

Lainy looked at her, comprehension washing across her face as Maggs’ words sank in. She surged to her feet and started pacing, “I’m going to kill her…”

“Lainy!” Wedge cautioned, not realising that she meant Kaz.

But Lainy ignored him, swinging round to look back at Maggs. “She’s gone on some sort of clandestine mission, hasn’t she? She’s behind Imperial lines somewhere!”

Maggs nodded, telling her softly, “Coruscant.”

Dumbstruck, neither Lainy nor Wedge said anything for a long, long moment.

Wedge broke the silence, finally, “Coruscant…?”

Lainy sank into the nearest chair, horror stealing slowly through her. She hugged herself, unable to believe that Kaz would have been so stupid as to accept a mission that would take her back to the Imperial capital, knowing instinctively that it was just the sort of damn, fool stunt that Kaz would pull. “I’m going to kill her,” she muttered quietly as Maggs nodded to Antilles, “I’m going to bloody kill her!”

~ * ~

“Sir!” the communications officer called, turning to look at the Vice Admiral, “Message coming in from the Home One .”

Daav pushed himself to his feet, crossing the bridge to stand behind the young man. He was eternally grateful that the communiqué had arrived. He was bone weary, his eyes drying out and all he wanted to do was submerge himself in a nice, cool, salted bath. The scene in the medical section had affected him more deeply than anything else since Mon Mothma had openly stood up against Palpatine and he needed time to work through it.

The young man turned, handing him a hard copy printout of the message. He scanned through it quickly, then ordered, “Set course to the Dorvan Sector. Contact has been lost with Aryad Base... We are to investigate. Our supply freighters will rendezvous with us there. Inform the medical section. And advise the Doctors to ready one hundred of their patients for transport to the Home One .”

“Yes, Sir,” Karis acknowledged.

“Inform Lieutenant Commander Edraa. Also inform Commander Antilles that Rogue should be ready to move out within the next two hours.” He handed the printout to the Duty Ops Officer, “Their orders are here. I’ll advise Maggs. And if anyone needs me, I’ll be in my quarters.”

Karis watched the Vice Admiral as Notrahw headed for the repulsor lift and disappeared inside. He traded a look with the Communications Officer. Idjrea’s face told him that she was just as concerned about the “Old Man” as him. In the last two days the Vice Admiral had seemed to be carrying the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. And Karis swore that Notrahw was aging before his very eyes.

He turned back to one of his Lieutenants, “Locate Commander Antilles. Let him know that Rogue have new orders.”

~ * ~

Martellon's eyes blazed intensity as he looked into the face of his captive, kneeling in front of him, face raised. There was no need to prolong this for effect; the result would be instantaneous.

Martellon smiled coldly then pulled the trigger.

A single shot rang through the corridor, reverberating against the walls and passing, slowly fading as it carried the message of pain for a brief instant.

The body of Chief Design Engineer Tinnin fell slowly backwards in a motion that would have been painfully impossible in a living person, a small seemingly insignificant, burn mark on his forehead. As the corpse fell, Martellon stole a fleeting glance across the room at his other prisoner. He had expected the Imperial traitor. Instead he had found a Rebel courier - none other than Kazlyn Hawkspar herself.

Also on her knees and helpless between two stormtroopers, her hands secured behind her back, her face registered a brief moment of agony, as if she could feel the laser bolt penetrating her own cranium. Then her face fell, her eyes tracing the slow motion of the body of Tinnin as it slumped.

Martellon could see in that brief moment that he would get what he wanted from Kaz Hawkspar. He would break her then take her tattered soul and bare it before the Emperor. Nothing could stand in his way. And after that he would make sure that she was very publicly executed for her crimes against the Empire.

Kaz's eyes widened as he approached, his intense eyes holding hers, boring into her soul. He still held the gun in his right hand, index finger over the trigger.

"Now Commander Hawkspar," he sneered, "we shall discuss this matter in surroundings more suited to the conversation."