Omega Sqadron Black Knights
Chapter 18

Xen, Lainy and Hobbie were waiting in the hangar when Wedge Antilles and the other two Rogue pilots walked in. Xen and Lainy hung back a little, letting Hobbie say goodbye to the pilots he had flown with on Hoth. Then as Alissha and Vaziily walked away towards their fighter, Wedge turned to the two Omega pilots. He smiled at them but there was a haunted look in his eyes.

He wanted to stay here, to make sure that Kaz got back okay. The logical part of him was in no doubt that she would, but the emotional part of him pushed a deep dread into the pit of his stomach as he thought about her not only behind enemy lines but in the Imperial capital itself. It gnawed at him because Kaz’s words the day that he had arrived on the Home Two kept coming back to him. “I’ve just got a really bad feeling, like I’m some sort of bad omen for them. They can rebuild Omega, but something here, deep in my gut, tells me that I shouldn’t be part of it…”

So when he had discovered the truth, when Maggs Ronnoc had told them what was going on, he hadn’t been surprised. And, now that he had to leave the Home Two he realised that he had also subconsciously started preparing himself for the news that she wasn’t coming back. And that was scaring him…

Orders, however, were orders. And Rogue had been assigned to escort two freighters taking wounded to the Home One to alleviate the chronic shortage of medical supplies on the Home Two. So he tried his hardest to give the two Omega ladies a bright smile.

He failed miserably. Hugging Lainy, he assured her, “Kaz will be okay, sweetheart. She’s resourceful. She’ll be back before you know it.”

She hugged him back, holding him tightly. “And when she does,” she told him, “I’m going to kill her!”

He laughed, genuinely, letting her go. Then he turned to Xen, “Any message for your cousin?”

She gave him a wicked smirk, “Tell her to let Max get some sleep!”

Orise Ymra stepped up hesitantly, interrupting, “Commander Antilles? I’m sorry, Sir, but you need to get to your fighter.”

He nodded to her then looked back at Lainy and Xen. “She’ll be okay!” he told them. “You know Kaz…”

“We do!” Lainy agreed, only half joking as she continued, “Why do you think we’re so worried!”

“Commander…” Orise warned again.

“I’m going,” he assured Ymra, turning back. “Take care.”

“You too, Wedge,” Xen told him.

Lainy watched him walk across the hangar. Then, grinning wickedly she shouted, “Commander Antilles?”

He swung round to look at her, walking backwards, “Yes?”

“So did you and Kaz sleep together or what?”

Xen look at her incredulously. Wedge laughed, tapping his index finger on the side of his nose before turning and beginning to run for the X-wing.

“Damn,” Lainy said quietly, “Thought I might have caught him off guard…”

Xen shook her head in exasperation, “Kaz won’t wait to catch you off guard if she hears that you’ve been yelling the details of her sex life all over the hangar!”

“She won’t get a chance!” Lainy growled. “Cause I’m going to kill her first!”

~ * ~

Major Elhen Anders walked out of the airlock onto the deck of the Home One and headed towards the repulsor lift. If everything had gone to plan then Kaz should have made contact with the Engineer and they should be making their way towards the lower docking areas of the Consular Sector where the ship that had taken Kaz to Coruscant was berthed, waiting to bring them both out.

So any time now she should be receiving notification that the ship had left Coruscant. And once she had that message, she could stop worrying about everything that could or might go wrong. Ahead of her, the repulsor lift door opened.

Xen Laruna skidded to a stop as she saw the petite, dark-haired woman. She had been sitting at the communications desk, happily slicing into the data streams on whatever frequencies she could get, hoping that one of them might be sensitive Imperial information, when the alert had started flashing for an incoming message.

And now she was here, about to give the Intelligence officer information that she knew the slender woman wouldn’t want. “Major Anders?”

Foreboding settled in the pit of Elhen’s stomach as she saw the tightly controlled panic in the other woman’s stance… “Yes?”

“Lt Cdr Laruna, Senior Bridge Ops Officer,” Xen introduced. “I’ve got something I think that you need to see.”

“Which is?” Elhen asked calmly.

Laruna handed her a hard-copy printout, “This is the transcription of a communication we received from Commander Kazlyn Hawkspar.”

Elhen’s stomach flipped. From Laruna’s obvious tension the news wasn’t good. She reached out carefully, taking the printout, dread spreading icy tendrils along her spine as she read the transcription. She forced herself to read slowly, taking in every word. Then she forced herself to read through it again. Then, and only then, did she lift her eyes and look up at Laruna, “When did this take place?”

“Over two hours ago, Ma’am,” Laruna told her, unhappily. “I knew that it was important, so I transcribed it. And I’ve impounded the recording as well. Admiral Ackbar said I should bring it to you as soon as you had docked.”

Two hours… And there was no quick way they could confirm it.

Elhen stood, reading through the transcription again. Not only had the mission on Coruscant been aborted but it had also been a trap. The engineer, Tinnin, was dead, Kaz was injured and with the Imperials already closing in on her there was a very real possibility that she was now in enemy hands.

Elhen took a deep breath, fighting down the horror that threatened to clog her throat as she realised that Laruna may already have advised Darrik Hawkspar. “Who else knows about this?”

“Only the Admiral and the communications officer, Lieutenant Croweus…” Laruna confirmed. Ackbar had advised her to say nothing to anyone else until she had discussed the situation with Anders.

Elhen almost breathed an audible sigh of relief. There was no point in informing anyone of the potential situation until it was confirmed or denied. Kaz may, after all, have been able to evade the Imperial soldiers…“Then we keep it that way for the moment, Lieutenant Commander,” Elhen told her.

Laruna nodded, “Of course, Ma’am.” She reached into the pocket of her uniform trousers, pulling out a data cassette, “This is the recording.”

Elhen took the small coloured cube, weighing it in her hand for a moment. Then she looked up at Laruna, “How specialised in communications are you?”

“What are you looking for?” Laruna asked, frowning.

“Ideally, I’m looking for a slicer.”

Laruna smiled at her, asking, “What can I do for you, Ma’am?”

~ * ~

Numb and beyond terror, Kaz sat on the floor, her back against the wall of the dimly lit cell where they’d shoved her. She couldn’t remember the journey over the architecture of Coruscant. But she did remember the long, dim tunnels of the Imperial Palace, the Stormtroopers’ grip on her arms as they forced her along, her legs moving automatically, her mind trying to ready itself for the horror she knew was about to come.

Morrit…

She remembered him now. Weedy, pathetic, clingy, little Morrit Pon’Ton. Only he wasn’t weedy or pathetic any more. His eyes... The look of complete joy that had flashed across his face as he had pulled the trigger and the engineer had slumped slowly backwards, dead before the body hit the ground. And the feral smirk on his face when Morrit had turned, oozing across the floor towards her…

Only there was something else there, something far more powerful than just his demeanour, the same self-assured arrogance that she had last seen in the Emperor… And that thought chilled her...

The lights flashed on, blinding her momentarily. The cell door slid open and booted feet clumped down the steps. Then two black uniformed officers were dragging her off of the floor. They removed her binders but before she could react, before she could do anything, she was being forced back against the wall, the restraints sliding in around her wrists and neck.

Morrit stepped into the cell, pausing on the top step for a moment to smile at her, stroking his beard, his eyes flashing eagerly. Kaz looked back at him, gathering all the defiance she could muster… but the terror flared again as he walked down the stairs and across the floor towards her, eyes boring into her soul, the sinister orb of a pain droid floating in through the door behind him.

Martellon stopped in front of her, considering her for a long moment, smiling slightly. “If I remember correctly, Commander,” he began, reaching out to run a finger lightly along her collarbone, “the remnants of my parting gift to you on the Rebel cruiser should lie just about…” He slid his finger down across the fastenings of her jumpsuit to rest on almost the exact point where his laser blast had hit her, “There!”

Her eyes betrayed her and his smile widened. “Did they use bacta to eradicate it, my dear?”

She said nothing and he tutted quietly at her, stepping back. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

He nodded to one of the officers who moved in, grabbing Kaz’s jumpsuit at the neck and ripping it open. Martellon stepped back in as the man moved away. “How considerate of them,” Martellon purred, inspecting the smooth, unblemished skin of the area between her throat and the top of the black vest she wore beneath the jumpsuit.

He held out his hand to the other officer. The man unclipped his holster, pulling his blaster free and handing it over. Martellon held the blaster up, glancing from it to Hawkspar and back, “The slow burn takes so much longer when you have to work over scar tissue, Commander…”

He grinned at her, “But as you have none, it’s going to make it so much easier… Normally I start with the arms, but I’ll make an exception just this once. Just for you.”

~ * ~

The lecture hall fell silent as Xen and Lainy walked in. Lainy moved to sit in one of the front rows as Xen walked across and stood at the lectern. Edraa stood, looking out at the faces – sixteen pilots, still only two thirds of a full squadron. Then she took a deep breath, “Okay, people, listen up!”

She pressed a button on the lectern and a huge 3D holograph of a star system sprang into existence, revolving slowly. “This is the Dorvan Sector. Contact has been lost with Aryad Base on Pryaat...”

A light began to flash, indicating the small, fourth planet that orbited slowly around a red star. “We are to investigate. And our supply freighters will also rendezvous with us there.”

The stunned looks on some of the faces in front of her almost pulled a smile to her lips. Had she and Lainy ever looked that frightened? Or was this perhaps why Kaz always seemed to have an amused grin on her face when she was giving a briefing? Edraa pushed the thought away, turning her attention back to the briefing, “Ideally I’d have liked you all to get some real time in a T-65 before going out on a mission for the first time, instead of all in the simulators, but needs must. You’ve all done very well in the simulations. It shouldn’t be that much different in real life. And I’m keeping you in the same pairings, so you should be used to working with one another.”

She hit the button again and the point of view zoomed in towards Pryaat. “We’ll be going in ahead of the Home Two, to reconnoiter and secure the area. While we’re doing that Lieutenant Poom-Bar will be trying to establish contact with Aryad Base. With any luck it will be a simple long-range transmitter failure and we need do nothing more than patrol the area until the supply ships turn up. However,” she looked back out at the sea of faces, “there has been an increase in Imperial movement near the Dorvan Sector. And that means that we’ll possibly drop out of hyperspace and have to defend ourselves. Once the Home Two comes through she can give us covering fire, until then we’re on our own. And if we don’t rendezvous with the supply ships there’re people in the medical section who won’t make it. We are critically low in medical supplies.”

She gave them a cold smile, “So think about that when you decide that you might like to pull a fly-boy stunt. Because there won’t be any Bacta to bring your carcass back to!”

She pressed the switch on the podium again and the 3D image changed to an aerial view of Pryaat. “Word of warning. If we need to go down into the atmosphere be ready for severe turbulence. Before they lost contact Aryad were reporting winds in excess of three hundred miles an hour. That’s going to give some impressive clear air turbulence at higher levels, so increase your pair spacing. Aryad sent in a report about a freighter maintaining level flight being punched upwards almost a thousand feet in less than three seconds. You are not going to be able to react fast enough if we hit turbulence like that and the last thing we need is pilots having to punch out because they got their birds too close and the foils touched. And don’t think that I’m going to try to explain that to Flight Enilra for you. You crash your X-wings and you’re on your own where the Flight is concerned.”

Xen Emaar sat listening to the briefing, one half of her mind taking in everything that Edraa was saying, the other half marvelling as she watched her little sister transformed into a commanding officer. Silly, frivolous, empty-headed Edraa had matured not only into a confident, self-assured woman but a commanding officer that Emaar had no wish to get on the wrong side of. Do something stupid and Edraa was sure that her little sister would pull you back to base so fast that it would light up three sectors.

But it still rankled that they had lied to her for three years. Her head told her that they had been protecting her. Her heart, however, was sore. And that, she had to admit, had come to her as a great shock considering the circumstances that surrounded her joining the Rebel Alliance…

Not that it would prevent her from carrying out her duties to the full…

“So,” Edraa was asking, the briefing drawing to a close, “Questions?”

Jon Alpelor raised his hand, “Ma’am?”

“Yes?”

“What formation will we use if we end up having to defend ourselves?”

“Haven’t a clue,” Edraa admitted. “That’s one of the fluid items of the operation. We may not end up defending. It may be easier to attack. Listen as we complete the jump and I’ll let you know once I’ve gauged the situation.”

“Will we be riding escort to the freighters?”

Edraa looked at Chezz, “Only if they drop in and we’re still engaging the Imperials. Then we’ll break into the “two flight” formation. Lieutenant Commander Kal’Ten’s flight will guard the freighters until they jump back into hyperspace or dock with the Home Two and my flight will continue to engage the Imperials.”

“They’ll dock in a fire fight?” Mas asked, incredulous. Any Imperial pilot would wait until the fight was over before attempting to run close to a ship under fire.

“Might be safer for them if they do…” Chezz said. “Depends on how strong the Imperial force is and how badly damaged the cruiser is, right Boss?”

Edraa pushed down the small stab of pain at Chezzie’s words. She wasn’t the Boss. Kaz was the Boss. Kaz was the only Boss. But she forced herself to smile and nod, “Right!”

~ * ~

Fleet Commander Martellon had given Zeta Flight two weeks of R&R, but Templ knew better than to let them go wild for two full weeks. Half of his pilots would end up in the medical section with alcohol poisoning if he did that. The only way to prevent it was to preoccupy them somehow. That part was easy - all he had to do was assign them to patrol duty a few times a week to keep them in the habit of flying.

So it was that Zeta's Seven, Eight and Ten found themselves on escort patrol of an Imperial shuttlecraft, which was carrying some high officer from Central System to a top-secret location. They had been ordered to maintain comm silence during the operation, and so were all anticipating a hugely boring few days. They were to pick up the shuttlecraft Tiderium as it started its journey, escort it to the pickup point, follow it on its trip and then escort it back.

Amid much grumbling, the three Zeta pilots watched as the shuttlecraft left the spaceport with its precious passenger. They hand-held the shuttle as it dropped off the officer at some unknown location. Their nav-computers had been pre-programmed with the co-ordinates and had asserted that they would not divulge the information. The three pilots were to rest assured that the location was secret as their view-screens blacked-out as they approached the area. Zeta Seven, the de facto leader of the trio was forced to break the comm silence at that point, as they had not been informed this would happen, besides it meant that their ships had been tampered with, without them being informed.

He was told that he should not have broken the silence and to follow his orders, the screens would return to normal as they left the system. Despite this, the mission progressed as quietly as ever and they began their return journey.

Part way home, however, the pilot of Tiderium reported that a fault had developed in his hyperdrive.

"Zeta Three, Zeta Three, this is Tiderium. I have developed a minor hyperdrive fault, and require an hour or so in normal space to attempt a repair."

"Acknowledged Tiderium," responded Zeta Three, "send us the co-ordinates of your dropout point, and we'll cover you. Out."

All four ships dropped out of hyperspace at the same point, to find themselves faced with three fully-armed X-wings escorting a freighter at virtually the same point.

Almost magically, the X-wings broke off and moved into attack formation, managing to find a way for all three to engage two TIE's at once, rapidly destroying the two TIE Interceptors of Zeta's Ten and Eight. Zeta Seven valiantly tried to use the freighter as cover to gather his composure and attack the X-wings separately, but they would not break formation and soon had him lined up and all three fired at the same time. As the shots tore into the TIE, all Zeta Seven could think of, strangely, was Nils Piet telling the Flight about his father being Admiral.

Then there was blackness.

Wedge Antilles swung his fighter round, racing in towards the Imperial shuttle that was making one, last, desperate attempt to escape. Wedge lined it up in his sights then squeezed the trigger, feeling a small glow of satisfaction as the laser fire bounced along the upper tri-foil, sending the shuttle lurching sideways.

“Rogue Leader, Rogue Leader, this is the Valiant Heart.”

Wedge keyed the mike, “Valiant Heart, Rogue Leader, go!”

“Wedge, if the shuttle raises the lower foils, we can dock with it and take the passengers and crew into custody…”

Wedge thought about that idea for all of four seconds. Then he grinned coldly, “Roger that, Valiant Heart. Standby!” He flipped the com switch, “Hey, Ceefive? Find out what frequency that sleezeball is using so we can talk to him!”

~ * ~

Lori Enilra stood, arms behind her back, grinning from ear to ear as the pilots began the pre-takeoff checks and canopies swung down, locking forward. The engineers finished the last minute tweaking and pulled all the equipment back against the walls of the hangar. One by one the X-wing engines gunned into life, the whine spiralling chromatically upward to full speed.

“Knight Leader,” Edraa ordered, excitement beginning to build inside her again as the fighter thrummed around her, “all wings report in!”

“Knight Two, locked and loaded!” Lainy told her.

Shei keyed the mike, “Knight Three, standing by.”

Hobbie grinned, glad to be back in his T-65. It was comfortable, like the company of an old friend, “Knight four, standing by…”

“Knight Five, locked and ready to roll,” Chezz told Xen with a grin.

Edraa listened, unable to stop the grin that spread itself across her face as, one by one, all the pilots reported systems normal and ready to go. “Home Two, Home Two, this is…”

The unease swept back in and she hesitated, unwilling to say the words. Then she took a breath, knowing that if the Boss were here she would simply laugh and tell her not to be so stupid, that one person didn’t make the Squadron. “This is Knight Leader requesting departure.”

The controller’s voice crackled in her earpiece, “Knight Leader, Home Two, lift at your discretion, the pattern is clear.”

“Roger, Home Two, lifting now. All wings, Knight Leader, lift in turn.”

The Flight watched, still grinning as one by one the X-wings followed the marshaller’s instructions, lifting from the hangar floor, turning gracefully in mid air and heading for the hangar mouth.

“Watching them go out always gives me a weird feeling…” the Deck Officer said to her softly.

Lori grinned at her, “Yeah, I get a kick out of it too…”

Orise forced a smile. “Kick” wasn’t exactly the expression she would have used. Instead she was trying unsuccessfully to push away the train of thought that had her wondering how many of them were going to make it back. Because now that the last T-65 was lifting, the hangar seemed suddenly very large and very empty. Which only brought back memories of the disbelieving numbness that had hit her when only two X-wings and one almost unidentifiable crush of metal had made it back from the Richlo rescue.

“Set jump co-ordinates and lock the approach vector!” Edraa ordered. Her Artoo unit burbled at her, dumping a stream of data onto the screen. She glanced at it and smiled, assuring the little droid, “If we get swiped by wreckage again, the Home Two will pick us up, just like it did the last time…”

The unit mewled softly, unconvinced, but said nothing more.

“All wings, this is Knight Leader. Ready to jump on my mark!” Edraa ordered, watching the instruments swing slowly into line. “Mark!”

She hit the jump button and felt herself pushed into her seat as the X-wing accelerated. The black, starlit backdrop of normal space shimmered briefly and then warped into the bright tunnel of hyperspace.

~ * ~

The static crackled in the speakers and then Kaz Hawkspar’s voice faded in, “…trap! They’re closing in!”

It was one thing to read the analytical transcription of the conversation. It was a completely different thing to sit listening to the recording of the Commander’s attempt to alert the Alliance, to let them know that things had gone terribly wrong on Coruscant. The reality of the situation had finally begun to hit Elhen when she heard Hawkspar’s horrifyingly calm, resigned voice.

“You are very faint… What ID?” Laruna’s voice asked.

“Hawkspar! Mission aborted. Say again, mission aborted. Imperials closing in!”

Elhen keyed the recording forward. Hawkspar’s voice cracked across the speakers again, “Laruna? Don't have long... They've got Tinnan!”

She keyed the recording forward again. “Are you injured?” Laruna’s voice asked.

“Affirm… Mission aborted. It was a trap.”

Elhen heard the quiet chime of the alarm that warned Laruna that the Imperials had located the transmission and were tracking it. Then the Lieutenant Commander was saying, “Must break contact now! Sit tight, Kaz. We’re coming to get you.”

“Negative! Negative!” Hawkspar responded, desperation clawing at her voice. “Home One! Neg…”

The Commander’s voice was drowned out in a burst of static. And then the recording finished.

Elhen Anders sat for a long moment, saying nothing, horror gnawing at her. They were still waiting for confirmation from the ship on Coruscant, but Elhen no longer needed it. That had been the Commander’s voice, the response at the end had been typical of Kaz Hawkspar.

She closed her eyes, sighing deeply. The plans and the location of the shield generator for the new Death Star were lost. The only chance they had now to get hold of them was to infiltrate the naval dockyards on the Bothan homeworld – and that would take months that the Alliance may not have.

The Imperials had dramatically stepped up the attacks on the Alliance. More and more bases were being hunted out and destroyed, so much so that Mothma had taken the decision to keep all of the Alliance personnel in space and on the move, despite the drain that caused on resources. Three years after the momentous victory at Yavin, the Alliance was almost on its knees. And with another Death Star, the resistance would be finished.

She opened her eyes, pushing herself wearily to her feet. Laruna was working on securing some sort of confirmation of Kaz Hawkspar’s arrest. Once they had that, she would have to face both Mon Mothma and Darrik Hawkspar. Then they could start putting together some sort of a plan to infiltrate the naval yards. And then she would have to tell Omega Squadron that their commanding officer was dead.

~ * ~

Andy Sedalbi wandered across to Ary, a deck of cards in his hand, “You in for Sabbac?”

Ary looked up at him, “Sure…” He grinned wickedly, “If you’ve got more bottles of Glid wine!”

Andi pulled a face, dragging over a box and dropping down on it, “You cleaned me out last time!”

“So what are we playing for?” Ary asked, innocently.

“Fun!” Andi retorted.

Ary pouted, “Playing for fun is never any fun!”

“It is from where I’m sitting!” He squinted at Ary, “So have you decided what you’re going to tell Hawkspar when she gets back?”

Ary shook his head, his face falling, “No…”

“Ary…?” Andi asked, quietly “How the hells did it happen? I mean, you and Kal’Ten were never exactly close…”

“Irresponsible accident waiting to happen was the phrase I believe I used…” Ary supplied.

Andi grinned at him, “Especially after the target incident.”

“Hmmm,” Ary agreed.

“So…?” Sedalby pushed, “How did it happen?”

“Actually,” the other Chief told him, “It was the Boss’s fault…”

Andi tilted his head, quirking an eyebrow, “Hawkspar?”

“Yup,” Ary confirmed. “The night of the remembrance service for the rest of Omega, when they all got drunk. The Commander asked me to check in on Lainy…”

“You took advantage of Kal’Ten when she was drunk?” Andi asked in disbelief. Then he grinned at the look of distaste Ary gave him, “Didn’t think so somehow…”

“When I arrived,” Ary began slowly, still glaring at his friend, “she was crumpled in a heap on the floor, breaking her heart. All I did was give her some moral support…” His face softened and he smiled slightly, “Fate took over from there.”

Andi Sedalby watched the look that spread across as Ary’s face as his thoughts obviously turned to Lainy Kal’Ten. Andi groaned, starting to shuffle the Sabbac cards, “Oh boy, have you got it bad!”

“Got what bad?” a soft voice asked.

Both men looked up. Alannya and Zoi Yels smiled sweetly at them. Chezz Traykar and Hobbie Gee-Em’s Chiefs respectively, they were identical twins from Carseaain. Alannya had her long, blond hair wound up and pinned at the back of her head. Zoi was wearing hers in a long plait. And both almost elfin faces were looking at Ary with great interest.

“Got what bad?” Zoi repeated as her sister turned to drag a couple of boxes over.

Ary groaned, throwing a murderous look at Andi. “Got the bug for playing Sabbac,” Andi tried to cover.

“Yeah,” Alannya retorted, sitting down. “And ghells might fly!”

On the far side of the hangar, Lori Enilra watched the little scene. There was something going on, she could feel it in her gut. The four of them were up to something and as their Flight Engineer it was her duty to try to figure out what. And then of course there was the payback for Ary and Andi’s little stunt the other day that she had yet to decide on.

She smiled. Life was sweet. And she was going to make sure that it got sweeter.

~ * ~

The kaleidoscopic tunnel of hyperspace warped then shattered into the starlit backdrop of normal space. And almost immediately alarms started chiming. Xen Edraa swore, her droid dumping data onto the screen. Fates! There were two Star Destroyers in orbit around Pryaat!

A weak signal crackled in her earpiece, “..repeat, we are under attack…” Then it faded back into static.

From the ion trails it looked as the Empire had sent vessels down to the surface but there appeared to be no TIE signatures amongst them. Another voice crackled in her earpiece, this time Lainy Kal'Ten’s, “All wings! Lock S-foils in attack positions!”

There was no way they could take on the Star Destroyers, Xen decided. That would have to be left to the Home Two when it dropped in. All they could do was get to Pryaat’s surface and help defend Aryad base…

“All wings, lock in vector point three two. We leave the Destroyers to the Home Two and do what we can to protect Aryad! Keep formation and keep a good lookout. So far the destroyers haven’t launched any TIEs!” She had an uneasy feeling though, that just because she had mentioned it, they would!

The formation turned, heading for Pryaat. It was only a matter of time before the Imperials saw them, but with any luck they would already be in Pryaat’s outer atmosphere by the time the Imperials could do anything.

However, Zeefour mewled in warning, dumping more data onto Xen’s screen. She swore. TIEs were launching from the Star Destroyers. And they were going to intercept Omega before the squadron reached Pryaat. “Defence Epsilon!” Xen ordered. “Defence Epsilon! Knight Two, get to the surface and see what you can do. We’ll cover you from here!”

“Roger that, Knight Leader!” Lainy acknowledged, “Knight Wing, form up!”

The squadron broke into two groups of eight fighters, half of them continuing towards Pryaat with Lainy Kal’Ten, the others turning with Xen to intercept the TIEs.

“Knight Two, if they’ve landed AT-ATs,” Hobbie warned, “the speeders’ fire power wasn’t enough to break through their shielding on Hoth. We had to take them down first.”

“Roger that, Knight Four!” Forewarned was forearmed, Lainy thought. Not that she had any idea what they were going to do. But as long as Xen kept the TIEs off their backs she would think of something. And the X-wing’s blaster fire had more of a kick than a speeder’s…

Shei Redav felt the familiar tight discomfort of tension in the pit of her stomach as she followed Xen. But despite the flutter of apprehension, her eyes turned a bright, excited azure. It had been too long since she had been in battle… And the TIEs were closing fast!

Xen threw a look behind her, comforted by the formation of X-wings following her. Then the first of the TIEs laser fire stabbed out towards her and she felt the familiar calm of impending battle sweeping through her. She smiled, coldly. Come and get it, boys…

The wing stayed level, running head to head with the TIEs, their own guns answering the Imperial laser fire. The TIEs split, trying to go past either side of the Omega wing. Fram Neilsen grinned as he turned, following the TIE he had targeted. It swept into his sights. He pulled the trigger. There was a brief flare of light against the hull, then the wing-strut sheared from the cockpit and the fighter exploded. The following TIE was caught in the conflagration and Jon Alpelor took it out with a burst of blaster fire.

Shei Redav saw the bright explosions then added one of her own as a TIE strayed into her sights.

First kills.

Xen Edraa pulled up as the lead TIE dipped beneath her. Triona staying tight to her side, she pulled up and round, kicking the fighter sideways at the top of the loop to bring the lead TIE back into her sights. She squeezed the trigger but the TIE jinked sideways, out of the line of fire. His wingman, however wasn’t so lucky. As the TIE tried to follow, Triona’s laser fire rattled along its hull, sheering the wing strut from the main cabin and sending it spiralling away.

Xen poured on the power, going after the one she’d missed as she checked the targeting computer. “Knight Two!” she warned, “Six pairs heading your way!”

Lainy swore, then acknowledged, “Roger that, Knight Leader!”

Xen gave him up as another pairing swept in from high right, trying to get a line on Thieer and Dalhanyo. Xen turned the X-wing, kicking in the rudder to sideslip it, Triona following her. The first TIE moved into her sights. Xen fired. The laser fire burst in bright flowers against the hull, kicking it sideways into Triona’s sights. Triona pulled the trigger and the TIE exploded.

Then his computer saw it, giving him the position - behind him and high. His shields flared again. “Knight Three!” he warned Shei, “I’ve got one my tail!”

“Knight Three, keep it going!” Fram Neilsen told Shei. “Baz, hold on, we’ve got him lined up!”

“Knight Seven!” Edraa countermanded, seeing the TIE that had dropped in behind Fram's wingman, “Pull out! Pull out! There's one on your tail!”

As if to prove the point, Jon’s shields flared. Fram obeyed Edraa, shoving the fighter into a spinning dive, Jon following him. The TIE pilot saw Edraa arrowing in on him and broke off. Xen turned, going after him.

“Baz!” Shei ordered, “Break high and come back. I will twist round to cover you!”

The T-65 bucked as another stream of laser fire glanced off Baz’s shields. “Roger that, Knight Three!” He pulled the nose of the fighter up, slamming the throttles forward.

Lainy glanced at the data read-out and smiled coldly. They were going to be in the atmosphere by the time the six Imperial fighters got anywhere close enough to fire on them.

~ * ~

The AT-ATs and AT-STs were moving inexorably across the sand towards the base, spitting laser fire at the few fighters left. Kirixchi Kenobi swore, jinking the airspeeder left as laser fire slammed into the T-47 ahead of her, sending it spinning away out of control to slam into the dune. Kiri and her gunner were too busy too notice the eruption of flame and smoke.

Darius Ravenclaw pressed the trigger, the laser fire slamming against the armoured sides of the AT-ST. Kirixchi had soared past, swearing in frustration, by the time the transport had turned its head and lined the guns on her. Her wingman wasn’t so lucky.

Far to the left Sha Aegis pulled up and hit full power. Then, he closed the throttles, kicking in the rudder to slide the tail out as the nose dropped. Grinning, he plummeted back down towards the AT-AT, guns blazing. Then at the last moment he hit the throttles again and pulled out of the dive, leaving it almost too late. With a soft cry of, “Poodoo!” he realised that he wasn’t going to make it over the sand dune. His Artoo unit squealing at him, he closed his eyes and prayed. There was a thump, the T-47 lurching slightly as the tail hit the top of the dune. And then he was soaring free, leaving a small sandstorm in his wake, his gunner breathing a sigh of relief.

A voice crackled in Kirixchi’s earpiece, “… come in! Aryad Base… Two, I repeat, this is Knight Two. Do you read?”

Kiri whopped in joy. Another voice broke through, “Knight Two, Knight Two, this is Aryad base. We copy! It’s good to see you!”

Lainy grinned and keyed the mike again, “Aryad Base are you aware of the situation above?”

“Affirm, Knight Two,” the controller confirmed. “None of our transports have made it off the ground yet. Air cover is all but gone. Three AT-ATs and two AT-STs still moving towards the base!”

“Copied, Aryad. The Home Two is on its way… How many birds do you have left?”

Keying the mike, jinking her speeder out of the way of an AT-STs laser fire, Kiri replied, “Knight Two, this is Delta Four…”

“Delta Four. Confirm your status,” the voice ordered.

“Bad!” Kiri told her simply, checking her data readout. “There’s only four…” She swore then corrected, “Make that three of us left.”

“Copied!” Lainy told the other woman, her lips drawing into a tight line, “We’re coming in!”

“Roger, that!” Kiri replied, turning back to line the AT-ST up again.

~ * ~

The sparkle of the hyperspace corridor fragmented into the backdrop of normal space. Almost immediately, alarm bells wailed. Daav Notrahw pushed himself to his feet, looking across at Tactical as Maggs Ronnoc swore softly.

“Two Star Destroyers in orbit around Pryaat, Sir!” Themsen told him. “Omega have already engaged.”

“Aryad base is under attack, Sir,” Idjrea confirmed.

Karis had already hit the emergency button, his voice sounding throughout the ship, “All personnel, Battle Stations! All personnel, Battle Stations! This is not a drill! All personnel, Battle Stations!”

“They’ve seen us, Sir,” Themsen warned. “One of the destroyers is already turning towards us…”

Notrahw sank slowly back into the seat. The Home Two had a greater firing range than the Imperial Star Destroyers… but this wasn’t going to be easy. And the supply ships were going to be flying right into the middle of a firefight. He nodded, “Take us in, Lieutenant. Steady as she goes. Keep us beyond their range for as long as possible.”

“Aye, Sir,” Karis acknowledged.

“All guns to fire as they come to bear, Lieutenant Themsen.”

“Copied, Sir,” the Tactical Officer confirmed, toggling switches to advise the gunnery crews.

“Maggs, advise the Home One of the situation.”

“Aye, Sir…”

“Sir?” Idjrea called, “Knight leader advises that Omega have split. She’s lost two pilots but the rest have little damage. She’s engaging the second TIE flight. Knight Two has gone to the surface.”

“Copied. Can we contact Aryad?”

“Aye, Sir. Standby”

Notrahw looked back at the view screen, watching as the Star Destroyer moved towards them. Bright blossoms of laser fire sprayed out towards it from the Home Two batteries as the gunners found their range. Daav toggled a switch on his chair, looking at the small screen in front of him, pulling up the magnification to watch as the laser bolts raced in and hit the huge Imperial ship.

“Sir,” Idjrea told him, “Aryad confirm that Knight Two is talking to them. They have only three of their fighters left and none of their transports have been able to leave the ground. Imperial troops are gaining ground towards them but as yet haven’t entered the base.”

“Kal’Ten and her pilots should keep them busy for a while,” Notrahw commented flatly.

~*~

The binders retracted. The officers caught Hawkspar as she collapsed, lowering her to the floor. Martellon dropped into a crouch beside her as the men stood up. “Why do you insist on making it so difficult for yourself, my dear?” he asked in mock sincerity, his voice full of concern. “Should I perhaps make the questions less complicated?”

He frowned, stroking his beard thoughtfully, “Although I’m not entirely sure how “What is the location of the Home Two?” could be simplified… Perhaps,” he grinned, standing up, “we should start on another question?”

The interrogation droid floated slowly towards the Rebel Commander.

“Where,” Martellon asked her softly, “are your Father, Mothma and the rest of the Rebel Command staff?”