Omega Sqadron Black Knights
Chapter 19

The TIEs tightened formation: running in after the Rebel X-wings that had disappeared ahead of them into the outer ionosphere of the planet. Xen poured on the power, going after the Imperial fighters, knowing that they wouldn’t catch the TIEs before they too disappeared into the planet’s atmosphere.

Running behind her and to the left, Shei shot a look across at Fram and Jon. Triona was tucked in tight behind Xen, doing a perfect job as a wingman. Baz, Shei knew, was riding just off her own starboard wing.

Dalhanyo and Thieer were both lost. There was a chance that Thieer had managed to eject before his fighter had been destroyed, but Shei had seen Dalhanyo’s fighter explode in a fireball before she could get a line on the TIE chasing him. That Imperial fighter had died shortly afterwards, though, under her own firepower.

Jon stayed tight on Fram Neilson’s tail, following the more experienced Rebel pilot. Jon wasn’t afraid to admit that he was terrified. The sight of the TIEs coming at them had frozen him for a moment. Then Xen’s voice had slammed sense into him and he had started to react. He had known that the Rebel methods of engaging in battle were different from Imperial strategy - he had flown against them often enough to know that. He had thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to adjust but it had been so different to everything he knew that he felt like a low hour rookie again, rather than a seasoned fighter pilot.

On the Imperial side you had a wingman… but he also had to look out for himself as well as for you and if the situation got too hairy he would pull off and defend himself. The Rebels stuck to each other, looking out for one another. The dogfight had left him completely bewildered, focussing his attention completely on Fram who was able to set up targets, bring them down and yet still be able to see that another of the squadron was in trouble, all of that faster than Jon was simply able to identify a target…

Xen checked her targeting computer again and allowed herself a tight smile. Aryad base had warned them about the severe clear air turbulence in the upper levels of the atmosphere… And the TIEs ahead were flying in such tight formation that the planet itself might work to the Rebel’s advantage. So close together, any clear air turbulence would wreck the Imperial ships against each other. Keying her mike, Xen warned, “Loosen up a little, people. Not too close!”

“Copied,” Shei confirmed, pulling away slightly, Baz following her lead and easing away from her.

“Copied,” Fram acknowledged, glancing back at his wingman, prompting, “Knight One-Zero, pull it back slightly.”

“Roger that,” Jon told him, reducing his speed slightly to increase the distance between him and the X-wing in front.

“Come on, Baby,” Xen willed the planet silently, eyes locked on the tactical display in front of her. “Do your stuff! Wreck them for us…”

~*~

Kirix whooped in joy as new laser fire joined the remnants of Delta Flight and the four pairs of Omega Squadron X-wings swept past, breaking up to select targets.

“Knight Two from Aryad base! The Home Two has dropped in. We’re launching our transports!”

“Roger that, Aryad,” Lainy shot back, lining up an AT-ST. “How many do you have?”

“Eight to lift with a ninth waiting for the remainder of the ground troops.”

Lainy thought quickly, then keyed the mike again, “Delta Flight, this is Knight Two, pull out. I say again, pull out! Get to your fighters and report ready to lift!”

“Copied!” Kirixchi replied, turning the speeder in a delicate pirouette and heading back for the base.

“Copied!” Aegis confirmed, also turning for the base.

Chezzie and Keeve both fired on the AT-AT ahead, Keeve following Chezzie as he pulled up to loop back round and line it up again. The AT-AT turned its head, trying to target them but the X-wings were too fast for the gunners to track. Chezz grinned coldly, targeting the guns, whooping in delight as the AT-AT’s head exploded in flame and the machine shuddered to a halt.

To the left, Hobbie and Mas were making short work of a smaller AT-ST, targeting the base of the legs and shooting out the ground ahead of it. The two Rebel fighters circled tightly, coming back in from the other side as the transport tried to turn to line them up.

Ryven and Xen Emaar had targeted another AT-AT, the laser fire pounding into the armoured sides and doing more damage than the lighter armed T-47s.

Intent on their targets, none of them saw a series of bright flashes above them. High in the atmosphere above the battle, thought, Xen Edraa saw them. “Oh, Gods,” she willed, “let that be the TIEs…”

Almost immediately the tactical display in front of her changed slightly. Three pairs of the TIEs had gone, the remaining Imperials breaking formation into single units… but not before another two explosively disappeared.

Edraa flipped the page and saw why. Swearing, she keyed the mike, “Break formation! Break formation! Heads up on the weather tactical!”

Shei pulled away, putting a thousand feet between her and Xen, Baz following and widening the distance behind her. Fram pulled up the data and swore. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky but the readings he was looking at were reminiscent of the huge storm fronts they had back home, winds in excess of four hundred miles an hour. This, he thought wryly, was going to get a little bumpy…

Behind and slightly below, Jon Alpelor pulled up the weather data, as ordered, and swore when he saw what they were descending into. Officially known amongst Imperial pilots as Clear Air Turbulence, the shearing forces of the winds below them could be enough to rip a fighter apart…

And suddenly he realised that the brief flashes he had seen only moments before, had to have been the TIEs that had followed Lainy Kal’Ten’s flight down into the atmosphere.

Jon swallowed, fighting back nausea, closing his eyes and calming his breathing. Without shield capability, the TIEs ahead wouldn’t have stood a chance if they had hit the turbulence without warning… And he had a fair idea that the Imperial pilots would have been concentrating on the Rebel T-65s and not the prevailing weather conditions. That was a mistake that had obviously cost the Imperial pilots their lives…

Emotions conflicting within him, Jon Alpelor came as close to breaking down as he ever would do… And yet even as part of him grieved for the pilots that he may, quite possibly, have flown with only the month before, another part of him was cursing their arrogance and their stupidity.

Jon hadn’t even completed one mission with the Rebel Alliance and already he had seen a bravery that put any flying skills he had to shame. The Rebels cared for one another, they jumped in to save one another’s backsides… And he knew that THAT was where the Rebels were going to win where the Imperial machine failed.

The Rebels stuck together. Friendships had a place within the Rebel pecking order. Heroism was being inspired in the Rebel Alliance personnel; a self-sacrifice born of love for a fellow ally, and that was something that the Empire could never duplicate. Shei Redav was not human, neither was Thieer Keei and yet he had witnessed the other Omega Squadron pilots risk their lived to save them. More importantly, he knew that when push came to shove, he too would drop in behind a TIE fighter and blast it into oblivion if it was sitting on Shei’s tail…

The fighter bucked sideways suddenly, as if a giant hand had slammed into it. Jon swore, adrenalin pulsing through him again as the airframe juddered and rattled around him, his Artoo unit squealing at him. Ahead of him, Fram battled the controls as the clear air turbulence dropped him two thousand feet only to punch him, almost immediately, back up through his original level.

Xen Edraa swore, fighting a losing battle to keep her fighter flying straight and level as the T-65 did its best to shake itself apart around her. If this was the same turbulence that that TIEs had encountered, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. And suddenly she found herself wondering what sort of warning Lainy had had before they hit this… Had all the fighters made it through?

~*~

Mon Mothma took one look at Elhen Ander’s carefully controlled expression and knew that the Major was the bearer of bad news. For a brief moment, Mothma wondered if it was news of the base on Pryaat. The Major’s intelligence people had already intercepted Imperial communications that had not only dropped the bombshell of Aryad base being under attack, but that Pryaat was being blockaded by two Star Destroyers.

Having received no acknowledgement of the warning they had sent to the Home Two, the Home One was already en-route to aid Daav Notrahw’s ship. It was entirely probable that the Home Two had made the jump to hyperspace before the information about the Imperial ships had reached them.

Mothma took a deep breath and pushed any circumspect away, forcing herself to stay calm and waited for Anders to begin. Too many lives were dependant on the decisions she made. Nothing would be gained by letting her imagination run wild. She had to remain focussed and push idle circumspection from her mind.

The Major glanced at Darrik Hawkspar and there was something in Ander’s eyes that cracked Mothma’s careful resolve. Instinct screamed at her, telling her that something had gone terribly wrong with the mission Darrik Hawkspar’s daughter was on. Almost before she realised she was speaking, she had asked quietly, “Kazlyn?”

Anders nodded. Mothma’s only reaction was to reach out, covering Darrik’s hand with her own. She refused to look at him as she waited for Anders to continue.

The colour drained from Hawkspar’s face but he made no move, no sound.

“We intercepted a transmission from Coruscant,” Elhen began softly, not quite able to fully hide behind the shield of duty. “It was from Commander Hawkspar. The mission was a trap. Her contact on Coruscant has been captured. The Commander reported that she had been injured and that Imperial Forces were closing in on her…”

Elhen looked at Darrik. “I’m sorry,” she told him, “but that’s all the information we have at the moment…”

Darrik looked at her blankly, almost as if he was unable to take in what she was saying. It as was a dream, a nightmare… not real. Mothma squeezed his hand, giving him the only comfort she could, unable to even begin to appreciate what he must be going through.

Anders turned as another of Mon Mothma’s advisers asked, “Can we be sure that Commander Hawkspar has been captured?”

“We have no positive proof as of yet,” Anders admitted, “although she is overdue for the rendezvous. That in itself isn’t proof and my people are working on it… but…” She shook her head, “We have to assume that she has been taken. She had patched into the Imperial communication network to get the message to us… Alone, injured, without back-up or means of communicating with us…” She trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air.

Darrik Hawkspar pushed himself to his feet, turning away, walking gracefully and quietly across the room, disappearing out of the door and into the corridor.

For a long moment, as silence hung heavily in the air, Mon Mothma battled with her instinct to go after her friend and advisor… but deep down she knew that she couldn’t indulge in such a luxury. Tears pricking hotly at the back of her eyes she reminded herself that Kazlyn was only one of many who had sacrificed everything they had in the fight to defeat the Empire and Palpatine. She had a duty to all of them as well as to Darrik…

And it was just another hated sign of the times that she had to put responsibility before compassion…

Lifting her eyes, looking at Anders, she asked softly, “How long before we can get the required information from the Bothan Naval Yards, Major?”

~*~

The Rebel laser fire impacted in bright flares against the hull of the huge Imperial ship’s bow. The Home Two slid to a momentary stop. Then, slowly, the pilot guided the cruiser backwards, keeping distance from the Star Destroyer as the Imperial ship accelerated ponderously towards them.

“Aryad reports that their troops transports are launching, Sir…”

Notrahw nodded acknowledgement, his eyes on the tactical display ahead of him, watching the second Destroyer begin to manoeuvre to catch them in a pincer action. “Inform medical that they may have more patients,” he ordered, then asked, “Have Omega taken out the walkers?”

“Yes, Sir… All Imperial ground forces have been destroyed or are being rounded up.”

But there’s still the TIEs, Notrahw thought sourly. And they could do just as much damage to the Aryad ships as the walkers.

“Admiral,” another officer warned, “the Destroyer has almost matched our speed…”

“How long until we’re in range of their guns?” Notrahw demanded softly.

“Three minutes at the most, Sir….” All they could do now was hope that the shields held under the Imperial barrage…

Notrahw nodded again, ordering, “Steady as she goes…”

“Steady as she goes, aye, Sir.”

~*~

“Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!” Chezz shouted, identifying the new blips on his tactical screen.

Lainy swore, hauling her fighter round, lining up the last of the AT-ATs. “How many?”

Chezz’s fingers danced across his console as he pulled the magnification up. “Ten…” he told her, pulling the nose of his fighter up and accelerating into the sky. Keeve followed him, matching him perfectly.

“Knight Two, Knight Two, this is Delta Four.”

Lainy ignored the female voice, pressing the trigger, watching the laser fire spitting towards the AT-AT as she headed towards it, pulling up at the last minute, swearing as her X-wing juddered, caught in the explosion from the walker beneath her. She pulled round, demanding, “Daav? You okay?”

“Right on your tail!” he confirmed. “Slightly singed… but nothing more….”

Lainy sighed in relief, checking her target and smiling coldly at the flames and smoke spilling out of the underbelly. Only then did she answer the Aryad Base pilot, “Delta Four, go ahead!”

“Delta Four has launched…”

On cue, another blip appeared on Lainy’s tactical screen. “Delta Five and Ten are right behind me,” Kirix continued. “Where do you need us?”

“The hells out of here!” Lainy ordered, heading her fighter towards the remaining transport ships. Hobbie, Ryven and their wingmen were already heading for space, fighter escorting for the ships that had already launched. “Ride escort for the remaining transports to the Home Two! We have four fighters already on their way up.”

“Copied!” three voices answered, one by one.

Lainy keyed her mike again, “Knight Five! Report your position!”

“Going up to intercept the bad guys!” Chezz Traykar told her.

Lainy swore. “Knight Five get your arse back down here! We have three ships still to lift!”

“Roger, that!” Chezz confirmed, cutting the power to his engines to stall-turn the X-wing and head back to the surface. “Keeve did you…”

A giant hand punched into Chezz’s X-wing, throwing it three thousand feet higher and pushing him brutally into his seat. He heard Keeve’s voice in his earpiece but didn’t catch what he said. Swearing, Chezz hit full throttle, wrestling with the controls, trying to get some semblance of control back, his tactical screen wailing alarms at him. Then the clear air turbulence flipped him, dropping him by over four thousand feet, only to punch him back up, straight through the level of the TIEs heading down to the surface…

He saw four, fast, black blurs shooting past him. All he saw of the fifth TIE was the explosion that rocked the X-wing as the Imperial fighter’s foil hit the leading edge of his upper foil. Then he was spinning out of control…

~*~

Martellon turned, the ghost of a snarl on his lips the only hint of his anger, as he gracefully rose from his chair and turned to face the intruder. He immediately took stock as he faced the figure of one of the Emperor’s own guards.

It then made sense that someone had dared to counter his direct order not to be disturbed. Hawkspar was on the verge of breaking. Her resistance was weakening; she would soon be his, as would the information he craved. The interruption had come at a very inopportune moment, he had felt sure that Kazlyn had been about to blurt something, but had clammed up again with the presence of another in the cramped cell. All he needed was that initial break, then the floodgates would open and she would be his completely.

Even worse, the officer announced “I have been sent to escort you to the Emperor, Commander. He commands your presence immediately.”

Damn! An order he could not simply ignore or delay. And a reminder to Hawkspar that even he had his superiors.

Martellon locked gazes with the officer and nodded slightly. He turned to go out the door, but paused and returned his attention briefly to Hawkspar. Martellon leaned close and said to Kaz, “Hold that thought my dear, we shall talk again soon.” He caressed her chin lightly with his forefinger and then turned sharply on his heel and strode from the room, the officer caught slightly off-guard by the sudden motion and following the Fleet Commander quickly from the room.

As they passed the control area, Martellon spoke to the duty officer without looking at him, ordering, “Have a medical droid cut Commander Hawkspar down and tend to her.”

~*~

The proximity alarm blared at Edraa but there was nothing she could do. In this turbulence there was no way she could manoeuvre… The blip on the screen changed from green to red as the tactical computer identified the ship as an X-wing… one of theirs…

Swearing, she tried to track it, but it was spinning out of control, falling at the mercy of the winds. She thought she might have seen a shadow that could have been the pilot ejecting, but it was gone as soon as she saw it and she couldn’t be sure. Besides, in these winds, the chances of a pilot surviving the ejection and the fall to the surface were slim at best…

Static crackled for a moment in her earpiece and then a distorted voice broke through as she dropped into range of the short-range transmissions.

“…. say again, Knight Five is down…”

Lainy’s voice answered calmly, “Roger that, Keeve. Head for space! You can’t do anything more here! Get to the Home Two”

Knight Five… Xen ran the callsigns through in her head as the turbulence hammering at her fighter began to lessen… Chezz Traykar… Damn it! He was too good to lose! But so were Thieer and Dalhanyo…

“Knight One Five is heading for the Home Two,” Keeve confirmed.

Xen keyed the mike, “Knight Two, Knight Two, this is Knight Leader. Eyeballs coming in high!”

Lainy had no time to answer. The lead TIE aimed for the transport that was just lifting to her right. Her targeting computer chimed in warning as it detected the weapons lock on the transport. Lainy hit the throttle, yanking the X-wing round, blasting at the TIE as she turned and accelerated upward, Dav tight on her tail.

She missed it but hit the TIE behind it, shearing the main strut and sending it spinning into the sand dunes. The lead TIE broke left, the other eight Imperial fighters scattering out behind. Lainy kept the turn going, locking another fighter in her sights, pouring on the power and heading after it.

Behind her, Dav swore as laser fire bounced off his shields. “Where the hells…?” He keyed the mike, “Knight Two, I’ve got one on my tail!” His shields flared again, the power output draining down towards eighty percent.

“Hold onto your hat!” Fram Neilson drawled, “Knight Seven’s got him!”

Fram’s first shots missed the TIE but were enough to send it jinking away to the left, leaving Dav Elyob alone. It strayed into Xen’s sights, just as she reached weapon’s range. “Knight Seven! Break left!”

She waited a heartbeat, seeing Fram’s fighter beginning to turn, then she fired. The TIE died in a bright, smoking ball of flame.

~*~

Kirixchi Kenobi held her breath as she soared through the upper ionosphere of the planet, the X-wing still accelerating, the sky darkening towards the black of space. Her tactical computer was screaming at her and she looked in disbelief at the returns it was giving her. Two Star Destroyers…

She checked the data, seeing that the Rebel cruiser was backing away, almost but not quite keeping pace with the Destroyer following it. The second Destroyer had broken away, obviously seeing the troop transports and deciding that they were better targets. The Imperial ship was already firing on them as it came into range of the planet. The X-wings were fast enough and small enough to dodge the Destroyer’s artillery. The troops carriers, however, were sitting ducks …

In the X-wing behind her, Sha Aegis whistled softly as he saw the readouts, cold tendrils of dread washing up his spine. The Mon Cal cruiser wasn’t going to stand a chance against the two Destroyers, although it was doing a damned fine job of drawing one of them away. He shook his head, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. Omega Squadron and the Home Two had come to their aid, only to be pulled into a trap.

Well, he thought grimly, he would be damned if he was going to take this lying down.

He keyed the mike, not bothering with the formalities of callsigns. “Kirix? How long do ya reckon we can hound a Destroyer before it picks us off?”

In the third fighter, Darius Ravenclaw sighed, numb acceptance settling over him like a shroud. After the tension of the last few days, sitting on tender hooks, wondering first of all if the Imperial ships had seen the base, then wondering just when the Imperials were going to attack, it was a relief to be doing something. Even if that something was dying…

Deep down he wasn’t scared to admit that he was terrified… but not of dying. Deep down he knew that he was terrified of being caught.

Kirix, however, never had time to reply. Instead another voice ordered, “Delta Flight! Delta Flight! This is Knight Four! Hold position! I repeat, hold position! Acknowledge!”

“Copied,” the pilots acknowledged one by one, “and holding.”

“Roger… We’re coming up on your port side.”

All three Delta pilots turned, watching out to their left as the four Omega X-wings slid towards them from behind. Then another voice crackled in Hobbie’s earpiece, “Knight Four, this is Knight One Five, ordered to join you.”

Hobbie grinned. Eight fighters… four pairs… Looks like that Delta pilot might just get his wish…

“All right, people, listen up. The Destroyer can’t get a lock on the transports if they remain within the shield of the planetary atmosphere. So this is what we’re going to do…”

~*~

“Admiral, Imperial Destroyer in range in five… four… three… two… one…”

Notrahw braced himself as the first Imperial laser fire impacted with the shields. The second Star Destroyer had turned away, trying to target the transports that swarmed up from Pryaat’s atmosphere. The transports, however, were hugging the top layer of the atmosphere, confusing the Imperial tactical data and sending the shots wild while a handful of the Omega Squadron X-wings were harrying the huge ship as best they could, targeting the guns.

Notrahw needed no tactical officer, though, to tell him that there was no way the transports would reach the Home Two. The Rebel ships had been outnumbered from the onset and it was only a matter of time before the Destroyers claimed victory. Their own firepower was taking its toll… but it wasn’t going to be enough.

“Forward shield output dropping to seventy percent, Sir…” a voice told him as the huge ship shuddered beneath the Imperial firepower. “Diverting power from all non-essential systems…”

Deep down in his gut, Notrahw knew it wasn’t going to be enough… With any luck there would be a miracle and they wouldn’t need to abandon ship but the fates, he had long ago come to understand, helped those who helped themselves. There was no point in not being prepared… Making his decision, he left his officers to fight the battle for a moment, his fingers dancing across the console as the ship trembled beneath him.

In the hangars below, Ary swore, staggering to his feet as the deck pitched again, knocking the securing pins away from the upper boom of one of the lifting rigs. It swung free, away from the bulkhead and out into the hangar. The Flight had seen it too and was running across towards it, seemingly oblivious of the treacherous footing beneath her. Andi Sedalby and the twins were staggering across, close behind her. The boom swinging free wasn’t a problem… but if it swung back and hammered into the bulkhead it would do serious damage.

Making a mental note to Court Martial whatever idiot hadn’t secured the rig properly, Lori shouted at Ary to get a rope. If they could catch the boom and drag it back towards the wall…

A klaxon warbled into action, dragging them all to a stop. There was a moment’s stunned silence as Admiral Notrahw’s voice announced calmly, “All hands, Code Blue. All hands, Code Blue. Non-essential personnel to emergency evacuation points…”

Lori turned on her heel. “Everybody out!” she yelled across the hangar. “You heard the Admiral! Get to the escape pods! Everybody out!”

The engineers began running as best they could for the exits. Ary swore, sliding to a stop. Then he turned, heading back towards a small tower of crates stacked against the far wall.

“Hey!” the Deck Officer shouted after him. Lori saw the look on Ymra’s face and skidded to a halt, turning to look. “ARYES DRAKE!” Enilra bellowed. “Get the hells out of the hangar!!!”

He was down in his knees, reaching behind the crates. Orise touched her arm and Lori told her, “Get to the pods, Deck… I’ll drag the stupid, bantha-brained son of a slime-rat behind you!” Then she took off across the hangar towards him.

He was climbing to his feet as she reached him. “What the hells do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

He grinned at her, pushing one of three bottles of Sullustin Glid wine into her hand, “Rescuing these!”

She looked down at the bottle in disbelief then looked back up at him, growling and swinging the bottle at his head. “Get the hell out of here before I have you up on Court Martial for desertion and disobeying a direct order from Admiral Notrahw, you idiot! Risking your bloody life for a bottle of bloody wine!” She aimed a swift kick at his behind as he started off across the hangar. “What the hells were you thinking?”