High Flight Squadron

Part One: A Familiar Enemy

By: David A Cohen

 

Disclaimer: This is a work of Fan Fiction based on characters and places owned and copyrighted by Lucasfilm Ltd. However, everything here not owned by Lucas in this work is the property of the author and should not be used without his consent. No profit has been gained from the creation of this Fan Fiction and no copyright infringement is intended. No part of this publication may be published, distributed or copied in any other way online or offline without the expressed consent of the author. You may contact the author with any questions, comments, concerns, complaints, worries, problems, typos, etc. at [email protected]

 

High Flight Squadron (X-wing)

 

One Flight

Captain Aerick Needa – Squadron CO (One) (Human Male from Commenor) *Reminder* Defected Imperial

Commander Crystal Sandskimmer – Squadron XO (Three)(Human Female from Tatooine)

Flight Officer Renn Shrike (Two)(Human Male from Corellia)

Lieutenant Caet Shrovl (Four)(Shistavinen Female from Uvena 3)

Two Flight

Lieutenant Commander Krinuv’ani (Five)(Twi’lek female from Ryloth)

Lieutenant Dojan Reas (Seven)(Human Male from Bespin)

Lieutenant Kolot (Six) (Ewok Male from Endor)

Flight Officer Tamika Pefrin (Eight)(Human Female from Praesitlyn)

Three Flight

Lieutenant Hren Sllr (Nine)(Sullustian Male from Sullust)

Flight Officer Yrida Fhten (Eleven)(Gand Female from Gand)

Lieutenant Jessa Milerna (Ten)(Human Female from Coruscant)*Reminder* Reformed Pirate

 

New Republic Personnel

 

Captain Sair Yonka (Captain of the Freedom)

Captain Tigann Oalti – Contender Squadron CO (Human Female from Coruscant)

Lieutenant Commander Jonash Coalin – Lightflash Squadron CO (Human Male from Sluis Van) *Reminder*(Defected Imperial)

Savior (Aerick’s R5 unit)

Hawkbat (Jonash’s R2 unit)

Chapter One

 

 

“Tighten it up, Two. I understand that this is one of your first combat missions, but you can’t let yourself lose your concentration.”

“Copy, One. Just trying to reconfigure my shields.”

“That’s all well and dandy, Two. Just keep your head up. Intel has reported heavy pirate activity in this sector. Mostly Eyeballs and Dupes, but a fair number of Wishbones and DIE-Wings.”

“Uhhh…ok, sir.” Renn sounded a little confused at his commander’s last transmission.

“What he means, Two, is there are a lot of TIE Fighters, TIE Bombers, and a fair number of Y-wings and DIE-Wings. Which are TIE fighter cockpits married to a Y-wing’s engine nacelles.”

“Oh.” Renn replied, a little relieved. “Thanks, Sandskimmer.”

“Since you’re new, I’ll ignore that.” Aerick admonished. “During a mission, you must learn to use numbers, not names.”

“Acknowledged, One.” Renn sounded a little subdued. “I hope I haven’t disappointed you.”

“As I said, you’re a new pilot, so, it’s understandable. I remember when I was fresh from the New Republic Academy. I was…” Persistent tootling from his R5 unit, Savior, cut Aerick off as a pair of corvettes dropped out of hyperspace with an escorting frigate. “Head’s up, squadron. Looks like we’ve got company. Savior, give me a quick run-down of what we’re facing here. Stand by.” Aerick switched over to an open channel. “Attention incoming craft, you have entered New Republic space. Identify yourselves and your intentions. If you do not respond, we will take your actions as hostile.” A few seconds later, the frigate started unloading starfighters. “Savior, what kind of starfighters are those? And give me some information on that frigate.” The R5 unit chirped and took control of the X-wing’s sensors.

A few seconds later, Savior twittered and whistled. The translation rolled across Aerick’s screen, reading: “I count 5 TIE Fighters, 4 TIE Bombers, and 3 Y-wings. The Frigate is called the Predator and is empty. Possibly smugglers or pirates.”

“Okay. We’ve got eyeballs, dupes, and pirate wishbones coming in. S-foils to attack position. Split into wing pairs and fire at will.” With that, Aerick flicked a switch and his X-wing rumbled slightly as the wings of his craft split apart, showing how the craft got its name. He armed his torpedo launcher and brought the targeting reticle across the first TIE fighter. The box glowed yellow, and Savior beeped as he attempted to achieve a lock. As the box burned red, Savior let out a continuous tone and Aerick pulled the trigger, sending a proton torpedo lancing towards his target on a jet of blue flame. The TIE pilot had no warning. One moment, he was flying towards the squadron of X-wings, the next, his craft was a glowing ball of debris and he was floating in the hard vacuum of space. 3 more TIE fighters exploded as a trio of torpedoes caught them napping. With the loss of 4 fighters before even seeing their enemies, the pirate squadron fell into disarray, with a TIE fighter colliding with a TIE Bomber trying to escape, leaving the two craft adrift.

“Lead, this is Four. Looks like the dupes and wishbones are running. Should we pursue?”

“Negative, Four. Looks like that frigate is coming after us. Those corvettes have just escaped to hyperspace. Good thing we’ve got some backup. Savior, send a message to our command ship, telling them we need assistance.” Savior warbled and sent the message. “Okay, squadron. Let’s take that frigate down!”

“And how are we gonna do that, lead?”

“Easy, Three. We’ve got torpedoes, right? Well, let’s use ‘em!”

“At your command, oh fearless leader.” Aerick painted the frigate with a target lock almost immediately.

“Fire one on my mark…Mark.” And with that, Aerick pulled the trigger. Twelve torpedoes headed towards the frigate like an angry swarm of bees. The torpedoes hit in a ragged sequence, and a blue wave of plasma roiled along the ship’s surface as the shields attempted to repel the destructive power of the torpedoes. As the fifth torpedo hit, the shields failed, allowing the remaining seven to slam into the hull. Deck plates peeled away like dead skin as the torpedoes slammed into them. There was a bright flash and half the ship went dark as one of the torpedoes hit a power generator.

“Good job, High Flight. Report in.”

“This is Two. No damage to report.”

“This is Three. No damage here.” A quick yip over the intercom told Aerick that Caet was undamaged and under control.

“This is Five. No problems here.”

“Six. No problems. Yub yub.”

“This is Seven. The only damage I can report is the damage to my ego. As if there were any.”

“This is Eight. Looking good here.”

“Nine. Looking fine. Heh, that rhymes.”

“This is Eleven. All green here.”

“All right, High Flight.” Aerick read his display screen. “That frigate has surrendered to us, so we wait until our command ship appears. One flight, on me. We’re to escort the frigate. Two flight, take Combat Aerospace Patrol. Three flight, find EV pilots and let me know where you find ‘em.” Aerick sidled his fighter next to the frigate, pacing her. Less than a minute later, Savior started warbling and Aerick looked up. The intimidating dagger shape of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer Mark II imposed itself over the frigate.

“This is the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Freedom, hailing High Flight Squadron. Captain Needa, do you copy?”

“This is Captain Needa. To whom do I have the privilege of speaking?”

“This is Captain Sair Yonka, captain of the ImpStar Deuce, Freedom. I’m here on orders from Admiral Ackbar.”

“Copy that, Captain Yonka. This frigate has surrendered to the New Republic. As far as we know, it’s either a pirate’s ship or a smuggler with deep pockets.”

“You haven’t had any communications from the crew??”

“No. They’re quieter than a Hutt at an Ewok Celebration.” Captain Yonka started chuckling. His chuckle turned into a gasp as he watched the frigate explode without warning.

“Sithspawn! High Flight Squadron, this is Freedom. What in the hell happened?”

“I don’t know. One minute, they were fine. The next…” Savior started twittering and warbling. “What is it, Savior??”

“Detected. One Lambda-class shuttle, called Escape.”

“Who’s the closest to the shuttle??”

“Whoever is flying in the craft designated Eight.”

“Eight! Pursue that shuttle! Disable it!”

“Copy, Lead. I’m on it.” Tamika’s X-wing snap-rolled to port as she lined the shuttle’s engines in her targeting reticle. She triggered two laser bolts into the engines. One engine flamed out, sending the ungainly craft into a flat-spin. The other engine shut down; however, the shuttle remained in the flat-spin. The shuttle was headed directly towards the Freedom. In seconds, the Freedom captured the shuttle in a tractor beam, stopping the flat-spin.

“This is High Flight Lead. We’re headed to you, Freedom.”

“Copy. Just let us finish with this shuttle and we’ll give you clearance.”

“Make it snappy. We’ve been in these cockpits long enough as it is.”

“I copy, High Flight Lead. Freedom out.”

“High Flight, this is Lead. Let’s bring it together. 50 percent throttle, head towards the Freedom.” Aerick smiled as the rest of his squadron formed up in a perfect V behind him. These guys deserve some sort of reward. I mean, this is some of the best flying I’ve ever seen…Well, since Rogue Squadron anyway. “Savior take a message.” Savior twittered. “‘To: Captain Aerick Needa. From: Captain Aerick Needa.’” Savior trilled. “Yes, I know I’m writing a message to myself. Just keep recording. ‘Subject: Reward for Squadron.’ You’d better not tell any of the other astromechs. If word of this gets out, I’m holding you responsible.” Savior warbled, vaguely resembling a “who-Me?? I would never!” “‘Dear Aerick, This is regarding the superb flying of your pilots in a recent mission. I recommend you throw some sort of celebration or issue some shore leave. Reward your pilots!’ That’s all, Savior. End recording.” By the time Aerick finished his dictation, Freedom had finished docking procedures with the shuttle.

“Okay, High Flight. Bring ‘em in.”

“Copy, Freedom.”

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Aerick Needa walked into the Pilot’s lounge on board the Freedom. The entire High Flight Squadron was there, along with Contender Squadron’s Pilots, Lightflash Squadron’s Pilots, Remember Derra Squadron’s Pilots, and Solar Wind Squadron’s Pilots, all seated facing a large crescent table. Aerick took his spot next to the four other squadron commanders. He stood and banged a gavel against the table.

“Can I have your attention?” The pilots halted their side conversations and looked up at the five-squadron commanders. “Thank you. For those of you who don’t know, I am Captain Aerick Needa, commander of High Flight Squadron. Starfighter Command has handed us a new mission to complete. But, it won’t be easy.” Aerick gestured towards the holo-table in front of him. His second-in-command, Crystal Sandskimmer, walked over to the table with a pointer and flicked a switch. A holographic representation of a planet appeared, bathing the briefing room in a gray light. The planet looked dead, with the grayish tones of volcanic rock predominant. The holo-projector zoomed in on an asteroid belt near the planet.

“This is the asteroid field in the Galpos II system, in the Abrion sector. It is rumored that certain pirate groups have been using this belt as a base for their operations. However, Intel has been unable to confirm this. Nevertheless, two months ago, a convoy headed for the base on Ord Trasi was attacked in the Galpos system. Fortunately, all 75 ships were able to escape, although some were badly damaged. Upon arrival at Ord Trasi, Admiral Ackbar was dispatched to identify a craft involved in the attack.” A degraded picture of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer appeared.

“This recording was taken by one of the escort starfighters.” The recording was choppy as the starfighter juked and jinked trying to evade enemy starfighters. The recording paused as the starfighter flew past the Star Destroyer. Crystal zoomed in on a portion of the recording and focused the image. On the side of the Star Destroyer was its name. A collective hiss was heard as the pilots read the name. Invidious. “As you can all see, the Star Destroyer is called the Invidious. She was last commanded by Leonia Tavira. We are unsure as to whether or not the Invidious is still under her control or not.”

Crystal pushed a button on the Holo-projector and brought up a diagram of the Abrion sector. “We are to patrol the sector, trying to find the Invidious. My squadron, High Flight, will patrol the area near Ukio. Contender Squadron will patrol the Abregado system. And Lightflash Squadron will patrol the Cathar system. Remember Derra and Solar Wind Squadrons are to stay aboard Freedom as support. If any of you run into the Invidious, do not hesitate to call the Freedom. We do not have the punch to take her down, and there is no way that one squadron can take on six and survive. Unless that squadron were Rogue Squadron. Unfortunately, none of us are up to their standards, so we must improvise.” At that last statement, Aerick received some glares from some of the pilots, but that was to be expected.

“We also have acquired ten recon-X craft.” Ten pilots stood up and waved to the others. “One recon-X will be added to each flight group out on patrol, and one will remain with Freedom. This ends our briefing. Squadrons who are going on patrol tomorrow, may I ask that you remain here for some additional briefing. This includes the pilots of the recon-X’s.” The pilots of Remember Derra and Solar Wind stood and headed towards their quarters or the mess hall.

“Okay, High Flight Squadron recently captured a shuttle carrying a pirate group who had escaped from the Invidious. Apparently, Tavira is content to harass this sector of space for now. However, she is constantly on the move, so we don’t know where or when she’ll show up. This matter is of extreme importance, if you have contact, call in the Freedom. Even just watching the Invidious hype out of a system after a raid. Triangulate her course and call it in to the Freedom. Any information we can get on her is priceless. I cannot stress this enough. If you have any questions, please ask them now.”

Aerick surveyed the pilots, but no one raised their hand. “Very well. Patrols will be launched tomorrow morning at 0800 hours. Get plenty of rest. Each squadron will be running patrols every day, swapping flight groups every 3 hours.” The pilots stood and headed out of the briefing room. The five-squadron commanders nodded to each other and followed their pilots. Aerick looked over at his XO. As she powered down the holo-projector, she walked over to him. Crystal was a good head shorter than Aerick, himself a towering 1.8 meters. Her long, strawberry-blonde hair offset his short brown hair. She looked athletic, and Aerick knew how much she enjoyed working out in the ship’s gym and taking a nice brisk run.

“That didn’t go that bad, sir.” She commented.

“Yeah, well, I guess it could’ve been worse. I’m not looking forward to this mission.”

“Why not?”

“What happens if we actually run into the Invids? Four X-wings are no match for an ImpStar.”

“Maybe not. But, we can’t let Tavira run around, attacking convoys at her leisure. And who knows what’s next? Today: convoys, tomorrow: Coruscant. Believe me, this is something we have to do, and you know it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Aerick’s attitude suddenly brightened. “Hmm, I have an idea.”

“Well, spill it.”

“I want to run a sim of our next mission…”

“Don’t we always?”

“Yes, but this time, let’s slowly ramp up the difficulty of the sim. For example, if the first time out, nothing happens, the next time, eyeballs from the planet, eventually leading to the run I’m dreading. We jump in and there are the Invids waiting for us.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“And one more thing. We need to fly against something other than computer simulations. So, let’s bring in one of the other squadrons to fly against.”

“Ok. But which one?”

“Hmm…How about Contender Squadron. Those A-wing pilots are just plain crazy.”

“What kind of opposition do you want?”

“First, eyeballs. Then, squints. And then, Clutches.” The clutch was a TIE fighter’s ball cockpit married to three TIE Interceptor wings. Two below, acting like landing skids, and one above. The clutch had 2 lasers and an ion cannon, plus, offered a shield system, making it a deadly and maneuverable craft.

“Gotcha. I’ll go organize it with Contender’s commander.”

“Be careful. That woman is definitely not normal.”

“Don’t worry. I have a lot of experience dealing with people who are not normal.”

“Oh, ha, ha. Just let me know when they’re ready to start the sim.”

Chapter Two

 

 

Lieutenant Commander Krinuv’ani sat down at the bar in the pilot’s lounge and ordered a lomin-ale. Her lekku were draped around her neck, reflecting the orange and blue light of a neon sign advertising a Coruscant drinking establishment. She had a slender, lithe figure that betrayed her physical strength. Her penetrating red eyes were menacing, but soft. She partially lifted her mug in a silent toast to her fallen comrades, and took a long pull. Lieutenant Dojan Reas sidled up to the bar next to Krinuv’ani.

“I’ll have a lum.” Reas called to the bartender. He looked over at his wingmate. “Can I get you anything while I’m at it?”

“No.” She stood and prepared to walk away.

“Oh, come on, Krinu, lighten up. What I did was just a prank, a joke. I didn’t think you were gonna take such offense!”

“You’re right. You didn’t think. That’s why I’m mad at you. If you had pulled that prank on a human, you could’ve gotten away with it.” She looked down into her mug and brushed away a tear. “But I’m not human. I’m a Twi’lek. Do you have any idea how much that prank hurt me?”

“No, I honestly don’t,” Reas said, noting her solemn tone. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“And if you’d known? Then what? Would you have found someone else to pull that prank on?” Her rising tone attracted the attention of the other pilots sitting at the bar. “Don’t you understand? This isn’t a joke! This isn’t a game! It’s war, and people get killed.” The tears flowed freely from her eyes as she continued her tirade. By now, all the patrons of the lounge had turned to listen to Krinuv’ani. “And if you think this is a joke, if you think this is funny, then maybe you should resign. Because I’m not here to amuse you. I’m here to serve my people.” Krinu ran out of the lounge, leaving her drink on the bar. Reas looked around and saw everyone was staring at him.

“What? What did I do?” He turned back to his drink and took a drink. He flipped a pair of credits towards the bartender. “For me and the little lady.” Then, he headed towards the door. But, he was stopped as Aerick and Crystal walked in, trailed by a sobbing Krinu.

“Would you care to explain what happened here, Lieutenant Reas?” Aerick said, in a stern tone. “Or do I have to ground you for a week?”

“Man, it ain’t my fault!” Dojan wailed.

“First, it’s Captain. I may be a pilot, but I’m also your commanding officer. And I will not tolerate being called ‘man’. Two, the Lieutenant Commander here says it was your fault. Would you care to explain?”

“Yes sir. This morning, before our mission, while everyone was asleep, I snuck into Krinu’s room and painted her lekku orange, to match her flight suit. She woke up as I was painting, screamed at me, and threw me out of her room. She’s been avoiding me ever since. But then, as I tried to make things better, she yelled at me, telling me I should resign, and stormed off.”

“That’s not true, sir.” Krinuv’ani sniffed. “I told him, ‘If you think this is a joke, if you think this is funny, then maybe you should resign. Because I’m not here to amuse you. I’m here to serve my people.’ Those were my exact words.”

“Lieutenant Reas, you are hereby grounded until further notice. Be advised, if you’re going to pull a prank, know your audience. Because, if I hear about another one of your pranks gone bad, you’re out of here. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Dojan sounded subdued. He stared at his feet, unwilling to look at his CO.

“You are dismissed, Lieutenant. You are not being confined to quarters, but you could be. Remember that.” With that, Dojan left the lounge, shooting Krinuv’ani a glare. She faltered, then left, heading towards her quarters. The lounge filled with the sounds of pilots resuming their conversations as Aerick and Crystal walked up to the bar and ordered a drink. The two surveyed the pilots, slowly sipping their drinks, awaiting word from the CO of Contender Squadron.

“You let him off pretty easy, Cap.” Crystal said, breaking the silence between them.

“Well, Krinu is very emotional. When someone rubs her the wrong way, she explodes and says things she probably doesn’t mean.” Aerick took a long quaff of his lomin-ale, and nodded at Flight Officer Renn Shrike, watching as he left the lounge.

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Renn walked down the hallway, towards Pilot Country, the Freedom’s officer’s nickname for the pilot’s quarters. As he wandered down the hall, he looked up and saw that he was near Krinuv’ani’s quarters. He walked over to her door and knocked.

“Go away.” He heard sniffling, and knocked again.

“Krinu, I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. Please, just go away.” Renn pressed the door control button, and watched in surprise as the door opened in front of him. He stepped into her quarters and closed the door behind him. He allowed his eyes to adjust and looked around. He saw Krinu lying on her bed, her face buried in her pillow, her lekku draped across her back, twitching with her sobs. Renn sat down on the bed next to Krinu and placed his hand at the small of her back. Krinu started, and looked up at Renn, her red eyes bloodshot and puffy.

“How did you get in here?” She asked.

“You left your door unlocked.”  Krinu bowed her head, but Renn placed his index finger on her chin and lifted her head so he could gaze into her eyes. “Krinu, what’s wrong? I heard what you said in the lounge, but I don’t understand. Why did you get so worked up?”

“I…I don’t want to talk about it.” She tried bowing her head, but Renn lifted her face again.

“Krinu, please. If you won’t talk to me, who will you talk to?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, I do. Please.”

“Well, ok.” She stood up, stretched, and walked over to her cooling unit. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine.” She started pacing around the room, then sat back down next to Renn.

“When I was young, my parents raised me to be a caring, compassionate person.” She wiped at her eyes and Renn handed her a tissue. “Thanks. Anyhow, when I was about 12, I was sold to a Hutt by the name of Durga. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”

“Wait. Your family sold you as a slave?” Renn’s expression was one of bewilderment.

“No. It was my father. One day, he took me to the spaceport. I had no idea what was going on, I was just happy to go. Well, my father introduced me to another Twi’lek, and told me I was going to a new home. Then, when Durga died on-board the Darksaber, I escaped his palace on Nal Hutta and returned to Ryloth. I found that my father had died and my mother and family were poor.” She dabbed at her eyes as new tears threatened to escape. “I took my mother and siblings to Coruscant with the credits I had stolen from Durga. My brothers found work, and started to support the family. My sisters…sold their bodies to help support the family. I wanted to rid the galaxy of evil such as Durga’s, and joined the New Republic.”

“So, what’s wrong with that? That’s a very noble goal.” She nodded and continued.

“Well, a month later, I was welcomed into the New Republic as a fighter pilot. In my first action, I flew against Imperials over Bilbringi, during Admiral Thrawn’s assault. I shot down 10 TIE Fighters, earning the status of ace. It was one of the happier moments of my life. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom and my siblings.” A tear rolled down her cheek and she held back a sob. “But when I got home, I found most of them dead. Killed by one of Durga’s associates.”

Renn placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Krinu couldn’t hold on any longer and she fell into Renn’s arms and started sobbing. He patted her on the back and held her, feeling her lekku twitch as she sobbed. When she stopped, she dabbed at her eyes and continued talking.

“I walked into our house and saw my mother sprawled on the couch, her lekku covered in my brother’s blood. She took a blaster bolt to the chest. My brothers surrounded her, trying to protect her. And their reward for being brave was a blaster bolt to the head. Since then, I have tracked down most of Durga’s associates and took my own revenge. But, when I woke this morning and saw Lieutenant Reas painting my lekku, my emotions took over, and I was ready to beat him to a bloody pulp. If he hadn’t escaped as quickly as he had, I would’ve torn him to pieces. And when he tried to make up, I couldn’t forgive him. Because I kept seeing my mother, her lekku stained with my brother’s blood.”

“I had no idea, Krinu. I…You have my sympathies.”

“Please. Don’t patronize me. I’ve heard so many trite phrases it’d make your head spin. All I want now is for justice to be served. My justice.”

“I understand…” Before Renn could finish, there was a knock at the door.

“Krinu, its Captain Needa. We’re running a sim on tomorrow’s mission. Report to the training center. And if you see Renn, tell him to drag his carcass down there.”

“Well, we’d better hurry. We don’t want to be late.” Renn stood up and walked to the door.

“Renn? Thank you for listening.” She said, giving him a quick hug.

“My pleasure, Krinu. I hope that one day, you’ll find justice. Hurry up, now.”

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Aerick stood by his X-wing simulator and looked around the room. Captain Tigann Oalti, CO of Contender Squadron, stood by the TIE Fighter Simulators with her pilots. The rest of High Flight Squadron was standing near Aerick.

“Captain, I want you to make this sim the hardest you can.” Aerick said, nodding to Captain Oalti.

“As long as your pilots can keep up with a bunch of hot-shots like us.”

A-wing pilots have the biggest egos. Time to show those A-wing jocks that X-wings are one of the best starfighters around.

“High Flight, let’s do it.” With that, the pilots climbed into their simulators and started pre-flight.

“This is Lead, call em off.”

“This is Two. Four lit and in the green.”

“This is Three. I’m ready.”

“This is Four. Lit and in the green.”

“Okay, standard patrol formation. Prepare to hype to Ukio.”

“Copy Lead.”

Aerick’s flight group jumped to hyperspace a moment later.

“Savior, when we drop out, give me a full sensor scan. I want to know what’s in that system.” Savior tootled and fell silent. A minute later, Aerick’s X-wing reverted back to real space, his flight group forming up around the Recon-X. Savior warbled and trilled as he mapped the system.

“Lead, this is Three. I have something coming up from the planet.” Savior whistled an affirmative and brought the image on Aerick’s screen.

“Heads up, flight. We’ve got eyeballs rising from the surface. Looks like a squadron. S-foils to attack positions. Prepare to engage.” Aerick flipped a switch, splitting the wings into an X. He flipped another switch, arming his proton torpedoes. He brought the targeting reticle over the first TIE and Savior beeped as he attempted to get a lock. A second later, Savior let out a continuous tone, marking a lock and Aerick pulled the trigger, sending a torpedo towards his target. The torpedo flew in between two TIEs and detonated. The shrapnel cut through both TIE fighters, shredding the ball cockpit. One TIE lost an engine, which also detonated, adding to the destruction.

The other TIEs broke into wing pairs and began their attack on the flight group. Aerick and his wingmate sidled in behind a TIE wing pair and fired a quad laser burst. Four channels of destructive energy ripped through the TIE, which exploded violently. Aerick flew through the ball of fire, and felt his X-wing bounce as shrapnel hit his shields. He checked his sensors and saw only 4 TIE fighters remained. His shields cracked as green lasers chewed at them from his left side. Aerick stood on his right rudder pedal and the nose of his X-wing pointed directly at an incoming TIE fighter. He fired a quad burst at the TIE. Only 2 bolts hit, but they did the job. One lanced through the transparisteel cockpit, hitting the pilot. The second sheared off a wing pylon, sending the TIE careening through space out of control.

“This is Three. The area is secure.”

“Say again, Three?”

“We got them all.” Aerick surveyed the battleground and saw the broken remains of 12 TIE fighters.

“Any losses?”

“Yes sir. Two had to eject, but he’s okay. The indigs have sent a shuttle out to rescue him.”

“Good.” He pushed a button, and the star-studded background faded to nothingness. As he climbed out of the simulator, he saw Contender Squadron standing around, talking with his flight group about the battle. He walked over to Captain Oalti and shook her hand. “Nice try, Cap. But that was a little too easy.”

“Well, you X-wing jocks aren’t easy to shoot down.”

“I know. It promotes longevity. Tell you what, next flight group goes out, I want my first flight group to be a part of the attacking group. So, you’ll have to leave out 4 of your pilots. Preferably the first ones to be vaped in our last combat sim.”

“Okay. But are you sure? I know you guys are good, but can you handle a TIE?”

“Just watch us. Two flight, are you ready?”

“Yes sir. Ready to fly.”

“Good. One flight, we’re in TIEs this time.” Aerick entered the ball cockpit and prepared his sim. He heard Captain Oalti prepping her squadron.

“One flight, call em.” Aerick said, as he watched his craft power up.

“This is Two. Lit and ready.”

“This is Three. I’m ready.”

“Four. Two lit and in the green.”

“Okay, we’re coming up from the planet. We don’t have shields, so don’t try and go head-to-head. Keep it simple, but don’t get complacent. We’re here to make Two flight’s run go as bad as possible, so let’s do it.” Aerick nudged his craft out of the atmosphere and saw the 5 X-wings. He saw two of the lead TIEs take torpedoes, so he started juking, trying to make a harder target. He snap rolled his TIE and crept in behind Eight and laced her shields with his lasers. She made an abrupt turn, trying to get in behind Aerick, but he stuck on her tail. Vaguely, Aerick saw another X-wing making a run on his TIE. He jinked, and came around, settling in behind Six. His lasers opened a hole in Kolot’s shields and slammed into his R2 unit. However, without warning, Aerick’s TIE went hurtling towards the planet. His TIE skipped off the atmosphere and his cockpit went dark. He stepped out of the simulator and looked around. 7 other TIE pilots stood with him.

“Who got you, Cap?” Renn asked.

“I don’t know. The last thing I remember was my TIE hurtling towards the planet, then I skipped into the atmosphere and boom. I don’t know who got me.”

“Must’ve been Tamika. She’s a real hot hand on the stick.” Another simulator opened and Aerick watched Caet step out.

“How’d you do, Caet?”

“Shot down by Krinuv’ani. She’s good.” Caet winced as she took off her helmet. She picked up the goggles she normally wore and sighed in relief. The rest of the simulators opened and all the remaining pilots stepped out. To Aerick’s surprise, Crystal was the last to climb out.

“You survived?” Aerick asked, incredulously.

“Barely. Tamika took out one of my engines, leaving me adrift. She’s an amazing pilot.” Crystal took off her helmet and let down her long hair. “So, who got you, Cap?”

“I don’t know. All I can remember was my TIE hurtling towards the planet, then I skipped into the atmosphere and…Boom.”

“It was me, Cap.” Krinu called out. “You were so intent on vaping Kolot that you forgot about Tamika and myself.” She smiled devilishly. “Kolot was under our orders the whole time. He played bait, and you took it. And you got vaped because of it.”

“Well. Looks like it’s Three flight’s turn.” Aerick climbed back into the simulator.

Chapter Three

 

 

Aerick headed down to the lounge, looking to get a little liquid medicine. He had done admirably in the simulators. He vaped 4 of his own, and that was saying something. But, he had been vaped more times than he wanted to remember. As he headed towards the lounge, he heard a familiar sound. The sounds of a remote, used for blaster training. He peeked into the training lounge and saw Crystal holding what looked like a hydrospanner in her hand. She pushed a button on the handle and, to Aerick’s surprise, a blue lightsaber blade flared into existence. Crystal held the handle with both hands at her right hip, the tip of the blade hovering over her left shoulder. The hissing of her lightsaber matched the repulsor sounds of the remote’s ‘engine’. Aerick watched as Crystal deflected the stinger bolts of the remote with practiced ease. The remote came to the end of its ten-minute time limit, and Aerick saw Crystal produce a second remote. She’s crazy. Aerick thought. One remote, that’s easy enough. But two? Aerick watched as she pulled out a third and fourth remote. Now I know that girl’s crazy. But, to Aerick’s bewilderment, Crystal pushed a second button, causing a second lightsaber blade to flare into existence at the bottom of the lightsaber’s hilt. She wielded the saber as if it were a staff and Aerick was dumbfounded as he watched Crystal run through her exercise. When she was finished, Aerick started clapping. To his surprise, others joined him. He turned to see his entire squadron standing behind him.

“Sithspawn! You people scared me!” She turned to Aerick. “I’m sorry, sir. I thought you knew. I mean, it was on my recruitment papers.”

“Let’s talk in private, Commander. I’ll buy you a drink. Then, you’ll buy me one.” She smiled and started towards the pilot’s lounge. “I said private, Commander.” Aerick offered Crystal his arm and the pair headed towards his quarters.

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Renn walked with Krinu towards Krinu’s quarters. Krinu was silent, but Renn was apprehensive.

“Krinu?” Renn stopped outside of her quarters.

“Yes, Renn? What can I do for you?”

“I had a few things I wanted to ask you.” Renn looked around, but no one else was in the corridor. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“No, come on in.” Krinu stepped inside and started looking through her private cooling unit. A minute later, she pulled out a bottle. “Hmm…an ’06 Kibshae. Sounds good to me.” She pulled out a pair of glasses and poured. She handed a glass to Renn. “A toast,” She touched her glass to his. “To good friends.” She took a long draft, sighed, and sat down on her bed. “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well…Before, you told me about your family. I felt anger. Anger at the pain that you feel. I felt sorry. Sorry that I couldn’t help make that pain go away. And I felt apprehensive. Because I knew that I cared about you. The two of us have been together in this squadron for a month or two now, and I thought I’d tell you.” He took a sip of wine and noticed Krinu’s sanguine expression. “I’ve always been fascinated by Twi’lek women. My first girlfriend was Twi’lek.” He took another sip of his wine. “When I was 17, I left home with the intention of joining the military. I did, as you can see. Something told me to join, and I don’t know what. And I’m glad I did. You see, I met a person who means the galaxy to me. You. I…I love you, Krinu.” Krinuv’ani coughed and tried to catch her breath.

“What?”

“I love you.” Renn repeated, clearly troubled.

“No…no. You don’t. You love the Twi’lek that I am. But, you don’t love me. You love the idea of being with another Twi’lek.”

“That’s not true!”

“Then tell me. How often do you think of me?”

“What do you mean?” Renn looked even more troubled.

“It’s simple. In a single day, how many times do you think of me?” Renn sighed and mumbled something. “What?”

“I said, I think about you maybe 3 times throughout the day.”

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, but that doesn’t seem like a lot.” This time, Renn bowed his head and Krinu picked it up. “Renn, I’m flattered. Really, I am. But, you don’t really love me. You love the fact that I’m a Twi’lek. When you get over that, then, maybe, we can be together. And I want the truth, not just telling me you think of me more often.” Krinu looked up and saw tears running down Renn’s face. He stood up and left Krinu’s quarters without saying a word.

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As Aerick and Crystal neared Pilot Country, Crystal finally broke the silence. “Aerick, what’s going on?”

“Crystal, a lot of people remember Jedi as being the protectors of the Old Republic. I know I do. And now, with Master Skywalker training new Jedi recruits, more and more Jedi will be around to solve the galaxy’s problems.” Aerick stopped outside his quarters. “It’s just a little disorienting to have a Jedi among our ranks.” Aerick entered his quarters, motioning for Crystal to join him. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Anyhow, I don’t know what the rest of the squadron thinks, but I like the idea of having you amongst us.”

“If you had known I was a Jedi, would you have let me join High Flight?”

“Of course. Just because you’re a Jedi, doesn’t mean you aren’t a superb pilot. And we need all the pilots we can get. Just because the Empire hasn’t made any strikes against the New Republic, doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there who won’t. Like Leonia Tavira. People like her must be stopped and we are the New Republic’s first line of defense.”

“There’s no doubt about that. Speaking of Tavira, I would like to go over today’s simulator data.”

“Of course. I do, too. First problem was that casualties were a little high.”

“We only had two.”

“I’d prefer to have zero. After all, I don’t want to lose any of our pilots.”

“I understand. But, having casualties is one of the problems of war. We just have to make sure that we minimize them as best as we can.”

“Yes. The only thing that bothered me was that Renn was one of the two casualties, as was Hren. Granted they aren’t the best pilots, but I don’t want my two new recruits dying on their first mission.”

“I wouldn’t either if I were in your position. Like I said, we have to do what we can to minimize casualties the best we can.”

“Well, you do the best you can with Renn, and I’ll talk to Yrida about being the best wingman Hren will ever have.”

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The next day, Aerick walked into the immense hanger of the Freedom and watched his pilots. Crystal walked around Renn’s X-wing, helping him with his start-up procedures. Caet pulled something out of her flight suit and kissed it. A lucky charm? Aerick wondered. Or just a picture of loved ones? Savior started tootling at Aerick and he turned to his X-wing.

“Okay, Savior. Are the start-up procedures finished?” Savior trilled and affirmative. Aerick climbed into his X-wing and watched as the rest of his flight followed suit. “All craft, report in.”

“High Flight Two, ready and willing.”

“High Flight Three, four lit and in the green.”

“Four here. Ready to go.”

“This is High Flight Alpha. Ready to lift.” The pilot of the snoop-scoot reported.

“Control, this is High Flight One, departing. We will call for assistance if needed. If not, see you in three hours.” Aerick threw a thumbs-up to Control, then nudged his throttle forward and flew through the magnetic containment field, into the black void of space beneath the Star Destroyer. The rest of his flight group followed him, expertly keeping formation despite the speeds at which they were travelling.

“Flight, this is One. Circle at Angels 13 while I prepare a flight path. Savior is being a little stubborn today, so it’ll be another minute.” Savior trilled and tootled as he triangulated the fastest course to Ukio. Savior started whistling a moment later and a string of numbers appeared on Aerick’s screen. “Savior, transmit this to the other astromechs and let’s make the jump.”

Ten minutes later, Aerick and his flight group dropped out of hyperspace around Ukio.

“Alpha, this is Lead. Deploy pods and begin recording. Sing out if you see anything out of the ordinary.”

“Copy, Lead.” Aerick watched his sensors, but saw nothing unusual. His flight group had formed up on him and was pacing the Recon-X at half a klick.

“Lead, this is Alpha. I have a trio of unknown craft on my sensors. Range, 30 klicks and closing.”

“Copy, Alpha. Retract pods. Group, this is Lead. Circle here and wait for my signal.” Aerick flipped a switch. “Attention: incoming craft. This is High Flight Squadron commander. Identify yourselves and your intentions at once.” Savior tootled and showed a trio of Clutches.

“This is Commander Jessa Milerna. We’ve just escaped Tavira and we’re looking for sanctuary. We have information that may prove vital to your efforts.” The trio of clutches became visible to Aerick’s naked eye and he saw battle scarring on the three fighters.

“If you would like, you may join us on our patrol, but we will be out here for another two hours.”

“That’s fine. We’ll form up with your flight group.” The three Tri-fighters formed up behind the four X-wings.

Chapter Four

 

 

As Aerick’s flight group docked with the Freedom, he got his first glimpse of Commander Milerna. She was a head shorter than he was, with piercing light-brown eyes. She had a demure figure that reminded Aerick of Crystal, but in what way he wasn’t sure. The fact that her flight suit was drenched with sweat told Aerick that she’d been in the cockpit of her fighter for quite some time. She took off her helmet and shook her head. Her brown hair flailed about and came to rest just below the swell of her breasts.

“Ah, you must be Captain Needa. Greetings. I am Commander Jessa Milerna.” She offered her hand to Aerick.

“Greetings Commander.” Aerick said, kissing her hand. “Yes, I am indeed Captain Needa.” Aerick introduced his flight group. “This is Commander Crystal Sandskimmer, Jedi Knight.” Crystal shook hands with Jessa. “Flight Officer Renn Shrike.” Renn followed Aerick’s lead and kissed her hand. “And, last but not least, Lieutenant Caet Shrovl.” Caet shook Jessa’s hand. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to put your pilots through a debriefing session. It will seem like you’re being interrogated but believe me, interrogation is worse. Much worse.”

“I understand, Captain. I have had to go through these things more often than I like to admit.”

“Commander Sandskimmer will show you to your quarters. Take some time to rest, get a shower and something to eat. I will be conducting your debriefing in about two hours if all goes well.” Aerick’s words were almost drowned out by the next flight of X-wings leaving the hanger. He started walking towards the lounge, yearning for a drink before he began the questioning.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An hour later, Crystal and Jessa were also walking towards the lounge, but for a different reason.

“I can’t believe that my pilots would be stupid enough to do something like this. They’re a good group, really!” Jessa pleaded.

“Look, they may be. But tearing apart a bar is no way to show that. I understand…” She was interrupted by a keening siren.

“Alert. Alert. All pilots to your stations. Admiral Tavira has been located. Report to your ships. We will be jumping out in 30 seconds. Repeat…” Crystal ran towards the hanger, joined by all of High Flight. She saw that her X-wing was ready for launch and jumped in.

“All ships, report in.”

“High Flight Squadron here, Control. All ready.”

“This is Contender Squadron, lit and ready.”

“Remember Derra, all set.”

“Lightflash Squadron, prepped and ready.”

“Solar Wind, in the green and ready to launch.”

“Acknowledged. Reversion in 10 seconds.” Aerick looked over at the trio of clutches resting on the deck of the Star Destroyer’s hanger.

“5 Seconds to reversion. Prepare for deceleration” Aerick pressed himself into his seat, with the help of inertia. As soon as he saw stars outside the hanger, he punched up his throttle.

“This is High Flight One, launching squadron.” Aerick waggled his wings and waited for the rest of his squadron to join him. “Savior, punch up the sensors and see what you can find.” Savior tootled and trilled for a second, then started his scan.

“This is Three. Lead, I have the Invidious on sensors.” Aerick looked down at his sensor screen and saw the wedge shape of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer.

“This is Four. Getting returns on starfighters. Mostly clutches and eyeballs. I see a few squints and maybe a dupe or two, but it’s too early to tell.”

“Estimated distance from the Invids?”

“25 klicks. The Invidious is just clearing the curve of the planet. Looks like she’s ready for a fight, too.”

“Okay, High Flight. Here’s the plan. We’ll take the squints first, then clutches. The other squadrons can pick up the eyeballs and dupes. Lock S-foils in attack positions and prepare for a fight.” Aerick watched his sensor screen as Savior prioritized the enemy starfighters. “Savior, am I mistaken or are you picking up more and more clutches as we get closer?” Savior twittered and tootled. The translation rolled across Aerick’s screen: “My scanners are constantly picking up new targets. I am assuming they are being launched by the Invidious. They look like Tri-fighters, but I could be mistaken. It could be a group of TIE Interceptors.”

“This is Lead. I’m picking up new fighters. Possibly clutches, possibly squints. Savior isn’t sure. Can anyone else get a good lock on them?”

“This is Five. I have them on my screen. It’s a new type of starfighter. Sending a sensor scan now.” Aerick looked down at his screen and saw the familiar shape of a TIE Defender. The Defender had three solar ‘wings’, and those ‘wings’ had a pair of panels set at a forty-five degree angle at each end of the ‘wing’.

“Five, those are trips. They’re the most dangerous here. One flight and I will handle them. If we can’t, get help from Contender Squadron. Those A-wings are better suited for this kind of fight.”

“Copy, Lead.” Aerick looked out at the incoming starfighters and noted that they were close enough to see with his naked eye.

“Savior, target the first clutch, designate target 1. Target the first dupe, designate target 2. And target the first trip, designate target 3. Now, display target one.” Aerick looked up at his HUD and saw a white box, indicating the clutch. He bracketed the target with his targeting reticle and switched to proton torpedoes. Savior beeped while he tried to acquire a lock. As Aerick’s targeting reticle went red, Savior let out a strident tone. Aerick pulled the trigger, sending a torpedo lancing out towards his target on a jet of blue flame. The clutch pilot jinked and juked. After a moment, he settled back down to his original course, thinking he’d avoided the torp. A few seconds later, the torpedo bored into the clutch’s engines, detonating a millisecond later. “Savior, give me target two.” Aerick looked up, but the target never materialized. “Savior, what happened to target two?” Savior tootled and trilled. “Destroyed? By who?” Savior whistled and the number 4 showed on the screen. “Ok. Give me…”

Before he could finish, his shields crackled as emerald lasers chewed away at them. Aerick stood on his right rudder, sending his X-wing into a sharp turn, trying to shake his tail. He jinked left, then immediately jinked right. The TIE Defender kept up with his attempts, chewing away at Aerick’s shields. His X-wing rocked with a sudden explosion and he checked his rear sensor. Where there was a TIE a split second ago, there was a rapidly dissipating cloud of debris.

“Thanks for the save, Two.” Aerick checked his sensors and saw a Defender going for a lock on Renn’s fighter. Aerick switched over to proton torpedoes and attempted to achieve a lock on the Defender. As soon as the targeting reticle touched the Defender, it juked and rolled away. Aerick chased after the Defender and switched back to lasers. He stood on his rudder and brushed the Defender with his reticle. The reticle went green and Aerick squeezed the trigger, sending a quartet of crimson lasers at the Defender. The lasers bored into the TIE, shearing off the top half of the ball cockpit. The rest of the craft banked towards Ukio. Aerick watched as the TIE hit the fringes of Ukio’s atmosphere and exploded in the steadily thickening atmosphere. He surveyed the battlefield and saw the remains of dozens of enemy TIEs. His entire squadron formed up behind him, searching for any other starfighters. In the background, the Invidious and the Freedom were battering each other with turbolasers.

“High Flight, prepare to make a run on the Invidious,” Aerick called to his squadron. As he closed to torpedo range, he watched as the Imperial-class Star Destroyer elongated and disappeared into hyperspace.

Chapter Five

 

 

As Crystal hopped out of her X-wing, she saw Commander Milerna pacing back and forth in front of her clutch. Crystal took off her helmet and waved at Jessa, beckoning Jessa to join her.

“Ah, Commander Sandskimmer. I wondered when you people would return.”

“What do you mean?” The pair started walking towards the pilot’s lounge.

“Well, after working with Tavira, you learn her patterns and how she likes to deal with the Reb…I mean, the New Republic.”

“So, you knew she was going to run?” Crystal stopped abruptly and looked suspicious.

“Yes, I did. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’ve participated in 5 other raids like this and she always would hit and run like that. She didn’t want to commit her resources until she was assured a major victory.”

“And why did she want a ‘major victory’?” The pair continued walking.

“She wanted the other warlords to look up to her. She wanted to be respected as a military genius.”

“Really. Then why is she still serving the Empire? She knows that’s not possible. Women really don’t attain a position of ‘power’ in the Empire. Aside from Admiral Daala that is.”

“Maybe she sees herself as a ‘mirror image’ of Daala? Who knows? All I know is that Tavira wants to be a respected warlord, like Zsinj was.”

“Zsinj was an egotistical, power-hungry, reviled. Why would Tavira want to be like that idiot?”

“What are you talking about? Zsinj was…”

Crystal stopped walking, prompting Jessa to also stop. Jessa turned around, looking straight into Crystal’s eyes.

“Warlord Zsinj was a bumbling fool. If you don’t believe me, check the ship’s library. You’ll see that everything you’ve probably heard was just plain wrong.”

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Jessa walked into the debriefing room, not surprised to see Captain Needa standing next to a holo projector. However, she was surprised to see Captain Sair Yonka and Admiral Ackbar standing next to Aerick.

“Commander Milerna, please sit.” Admiral Ackbar gestured to a chair and she sat. “Commander, we understand that you were, until recently, part of Tavira’s fleet.” It wasn’t a question.

“That is correct, Admiral.” She placed her hands on the table in front of her, folding them together.

“You told Captain Needa earlier, that you knew where Tavira was keeping the Invidious for extended amounts of time.”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Jessa looked at the Calamari Admiral. “After working with her for a year, I noticed that the Invidious was staying inside of the Galpos Asteroid Belt.”

“Galpos. That was the same system where that convoy was attacked, Admiral.” Aerick commented.

“Indeed. Unfortunately, we don’t have an Interdictor Cruiser available. However, I think we can find one soon. Continue with your debriefing, Captain.”

“You have flown missions as part of the Invids?” Aerick asked.

“Yes. Several.”

“Have you ever shot down a New Republic fighter?” Admiral Ackbar added.

“No. Fortunately, the area of space I worked for the Invids was mostly frequented by pirates.” Jessa sighed and leaned back in her chair. She caught a disproving look from Captain Yonka and sat straight.

“Does Tavira control any other capital ships, or is it just the Invidious?” Captain Yonka asked.

“To my knowledge, she controls the Invidious and a Lancer-class Frigate. But that information is several months old. I didn’t return to Galpos to meet with Tavira because I had been planning my escape.”

“Very well, Commander. You are dismissed for now. We will call on you when you are needed.” Jessa stood, saluted the officers, and walked through the door. Aerick turned to the other officers.

“Captains, this information could bring this action to a swift end,” Admiral Ackbar commented. “I’ll be heading back to Coruscant soon, and when I arrive, I’ll be assigning an Interdictor Cruiser and a Mon Calamari Cruiser to your task force. As soon as these craft arrive, you should have the firepower to eliminate Tavira’s forces.”

“Yes, Admiral,” Captain Yonka said. “That should suffice.”

“Well, I shall return to Coruscant immediately. I have no doubt that I will there will be an ocean of paperwork for me when I return. Well, good luck, Captains. May your currents be swift.” Captain Yonka and Captain Needa saluted and watched as the Admiral left.

“Well, it’ll probably be another week before we stop using ocean cliches.” Aerick commented.

“Undoubtedly. What do you think of the Admiral’s plan?” Captain Yonka asked.

“Well, it is feasible that we could take out her fleet, but what if she tries to escape? The only craft that could take out a Lambda-class shuttle is a B-wing and they aren’t fast enough. And, that’s only if she tries to escape in a lamb. I mean, what if she isn’t on board the Invidious? What if she decides to lead the battle and escape in a Lancer Frigate? We can’t get near those.”

“We can only hope that she doesn’t try it. Knowing Tavira, she’ll stay on board the Invidious until it’s almost destroyed. Since she has no piloting skills, we know she won’t escape in a TIE.”

“Well, we’ll figure it out when the time comes. In the mean time, my squadron is going to practice until our eyes bleed.”

“Good luck, Captain. You’re gonna need it.”

Chapter Six

 

 

Jessa walked into the pilot’s lounge and drifted towards the bar. She sat down next to Krinuv’ani and Renn and nodded in their direction.

“Commander Milerna, I presume?”

“Lieutenant Milerna.” Jessa corrected Renn’s statement. “Upon joining the New Republic, I was commissioned a Lieutenant. You must be Flight Officer Shrike.”

“Guilty, as charged.” Renn gestured towards Krinu. “And this is Lieutenant Commander Krinuv’ani.”

Jessa took Krinu’s outstretched hand and gave it a vigorous shake. “Pleased to meet you, Commander. I look forward to flying with your squadron.”

“Well, unfortunately, that time will come sooner than you think. Tavira is still out there, and I don’t know when she’ll strike.” Krinu said, sorrow evident in her voice.

“Well, she has a cycle, at least I’ve noticed one.” Jessa took a moment to savor her drink, then continued. “Every 5 days, she gets restless and preys on whatever she can get her hands on, like the odd smuggler or New Republic convoy.”

Renn’s jaw dropped, fractionally. “Did you tell the Captain about this?”

Jessa shook her head. “No, it totally slipped my mind. I just realized that…”

“Do you know what this means???” Renn asked, his face stretched with a huge grin.

“Wait.” Krinu interjected. “Renn, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably. Come on, you two. We’ve got to go see the Captain about this.”

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Aerick walked into his quarters and stretched out on his bed, throwing his arm across his eyes. That new sim is gonna give me gray hairs. He thought. I can’t believe it. I beat the Redemption scenario the first time around, I was at Endor. So why is this one so hard?

Before Aerick could answer his own question, he heard a knock at his door.

“Come in.” He said, not bothering to get up or move his arm so he could see who was entering. He heard the door open and the person enter his quarters. The door closed, but whoever had entered hadn’t moved from next to the door.

“What do you want?” Aerick asked, slightly irritated at being interrupted.

“I came to see you.” Aerick sat up with a jolt and looked to make sure his ears hadn’t lied to him. They hadn’t.

“Why did you want to see me, Crystal?” He asked. Crystal walked over and sat down next to Aerick. “After all, there’s another training session in an hour. Whatever you wanted could’ve waited, right?”

“Well…not really.” She stood up and started pacing.

“Crystal. What’s wrong?” Aerick asked, wondering what could be bothering his XO.

“I can’t take all this waiting. It’s going to drive me mad!” She threw her hands up in frustration. Aerick walked over to her and squeezed her shoulder.

“Dark Lords of the Sith, you’re tense.” He commented, feeling the knots in her shoulders. “Please, sit down and relax. I’ve been told I give one hell of a back rub.” Crystal lay stomach-down on Aerick’s bed. Aerick sat down next to her and started kneading the flesh beneath her flightsuit.

“Mmmm. That’s the spot. Anyway, when we do find Tavira, then what? I mean, is the Freedom going to follow us in, or are we on our own? And are we going to get an Interdictor to hold the Invidious in our range? And…” Crystal shuddered as a swell of pleasure rippled through her. “Wow. You are good.”

“I like to think so.” Aerick said, continuing to knead Crystal’s back. “Even though it’s kind of off the subject, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your ‘heritage’?”

“So long as you keep working magic on my back with your hands.”

Aerick grinned. “When did you learn you had the ability to use the Force?”

“When I was about four or five. Before the Jedi purge. My grandmother was a Jedi Knight and started to teach me the basics. She disappeared when I was 12. It wasn’t until later I learned she had been abducted by Emperor Palpatine’s men and put to death.” A tear rolled down her face as she remembered her grandmother, but she managed to hide it from Aerick.

“Have you ever met Luke Skywalker?”

“Yes, several times. But, before he helped finish my training, my parents sent me to see an old hermit that lived near Tosche Station on Tatooine. Since I lived near Mos Eisley, it wasn’t that long a trip. His name was Obi-Wan or something like that and he continued to hone my skills. That was when I made my first lightsaber. But, it wasn’t until I took lessons from Master Skywalker, when I realized how incomplete my training was.”

“I’ve heard rumors that each Jedi has his or her own strengths. Is that true?”

“Yes. I had mastered a technique called Sense and had some training with Alter. But, I hadn’t learned a lot of Control. Master Skywalker helped me by finishing my training with Alter and he taught me how to control my Jedi powers.” She hefted her lightsaber. “That was when I built this. He told me that an old Sith Lord named Exar Kun had used a double-bladed lightsaber. I had trained with staffs with my grandmother and the double-blade just felt right.”

“It’s very impressive.” Aerick said. “I can imagine that there aren’t a lot of fighting techniques for that type of lightsaber.”

“No, there aren’t. I made up a few, but I mostly use staff techniques since it resembles one.” She quivered in rapture as another surge of pleasure washed over her. “Damn, you’re really good at this.”

Aerick blushed noticeably. “I took some classes at the New Republic Academy.”

“I didn’t know they offered massage as a class.”

“They offer anything you can think of. You just have to know what they call it. This was known as ‘Relaxation and the Human Body.’”

“Well, you learned a lot in there. You’ll have to teach me.”

“Do you mind if I ask a somewhat personal question?” Aerick asked.

“No, not at all.”

“Are you seeing anyone? I mean, do you…”

“I know what you mean. And no, I’m not. I just haven’t had the time, and, to tell the truth, a lot of people see Jedi as mystical and ominous. Like we’re ‘harbingers of doom’ or something like that.” Aerick laughed. “But no, I haven’t found anyone who I really want to be with. Why do you ask?”

“Well, a beautiful woman like you…”

“Oh, here come the pick-up lines…” Crystal said, playfully. “I’ll save you the time. Yes, I would love to go out to dinner and be able to talk more, and yes, you do interest me in a way no other man has.”

“How did you…? Wait, the Force?”

“Not really. I’ve heard all the pick-up lines. You would not believe what most sentient males would try to attract the attention of a female. Even though the two aren’t the same species. It’s crazy.” She laughed, the looked over at Aerick, who was sitting there lost in thought. “Hey! Are you gonna finish with my back or what??”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was off in my own world there.” He continued squeezing the flesh of her back, trying to work out the knots. “So, have you…”

Before he could finish, there was a knock at the door. “Enter.” Aerick called. Krinu and Renn walked in, looked at their CO and XO, and turned to leave. “No, wait. Don’t leave. We were just talking and Crystal needed a back rub.” The pair re-entered the room and stood before Aerick and Crystal. “Please, sit down and tell me why you’re here.” The two started talking simultaneously, laughed, then Renn stood up.

“Sir, we were talking to Jessa, and she let us in on something I think you might find interesting.”

“And what would that be?” Crystal asked.

“Well, we were talking about the Commander flying with us and she mentioned that, well, she noticed something about Tavira.”

“Well, what is it?” Aerick asked, impatiently.

“What Renn is trying to say, sir, is that Jessa told us she noticed Tavira was becoming predictable. She would strike a target and rest for exactly 5 days. And, after some research, we noticed where most of the targets she is striking are located.”

“Near the Galpos Asteroid Belt.” Aerick said, remembering the debriefing he had conducted. “There’s only one problem. We can’t keep her in one place until Admiral Ackbar sends us an Interdictor and some backup.”

“I see. Well, when will we start sims for this?”

“Don’t ask me. Ask Captain Yonka. He has a direct line to Ackbar, so…”

“I understand, sir.” The pair reflected on that, then exited the room. Aerick stared at the door, his mind working.

“Coruscant Control to Captain Needa. Come in, please.” Crystal teased. Aerick shook his head and turned to look his XO in the eyes.

“I can’t believe this. You know what this means? As soon as Ackbar sends us an Interdictor, we wait for the next incident and take down Tavira!”

“It can’t be this easy. There’s definitely something wrong with this.”

“Why do you say that?” Aerick asked, his face displaying a pensive look.

“Well, follow me on this.” She started ticking off points with her fingers. “One, she hires the Jensaarai to help her, using them to detect traps against her. Two, she starts preying on New Republic planets. Three, she hires pirates to do her dirty work. And, lastly, she was supposedly very good at planning and executing missions. Put all that together with this new information and tell me what you come up with.” Aerick thought for a second, then sighed.

“You’re right. When you put it like that, it does sound like a trap or ambush. You don’t think Commander Milerna is still working for Tavira?”

“No, I don’t. I can’t sense any duplicity in her, but, at the same time, I don’t think she’s being entirely truthful.”

“Well, of course she isn’t.” Aerick said, snapping his fingers. “She thinks we don’t trust her and she wants to ‘gift-wrap’ Tavira for us before she hands over any more information.”

“I have to admit that you make a lot of sense. But, why wouldn’t she trust us?”

“Look at it this way. A few days ago, we were shooting at her and her people. We were literally trying to kill her. And now? We expect her to be our friends. You have to know she’s going to be skeptical of anything we say.”

“And the only thing she’ll understand are our actions.” Crystal said, in an enlightened tone.

“Exactly. So, we have to make her feel welcome and we have to make sure no one picks a fight or does anything to make her uncomfortable.”

“Sounds easy enough to do.” Crystal stood up and stretched. “Oh, my back feels wonderful. Thank you.” She kissed Aerick on the cheek and walked out of his quarters.

Aerick sat on his bed for a moment, then jumped up, pumping his fist in the air, his voice a parody of an announcer at a shockball tournament. “He shoots…He scores!”

Chapter Seven

 

The next day, Aerick walked into the Pilot’s Lounge and sat down at the bar. He was joined a moment later by Lieutenant Milerna, who sat down next to him.

“I’ll take a Lomin-Ale,” She said to the wait droid behind the bar. “Can I get you anything, sir?” She asked Aerick.

“No, I’m fine,” He said, gesturing to the tankard sitting in front of him. “So, what can I do for you, Lieutenant?”

“Nothing really. I was just in the mood for a drink. I just got out of the sim and I think I need one anyway. You have some really good pilots.” She said, taking a drink of her Lomin-Ale.

“Well, thank you, Lieutenant. We try to run sims every day we can. While we aren’t quite up to Rogue Squadron standards, we hope to be eventually.”

“It shows.” She took another sip of her Lomin-Ale and leaned against the bar. “Can I ask you a question, Captain?”

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Why does everyone treat me like I’m some sort of oddball?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, this morning, I was in the simulator and everyone kept ridiculing my flying techniques. Saying they were archaic and…” Her gaze turned sullen. “Imperial.” She spat. “I felt horrible, but I didn’t say anything. Then, after my run, as I walked into the showers, I was treated like a vrelt. Only four people have even tried being nice to me. You, Commander Sandskimmer, Renn and Krinuv’ani.”

“That’s something I didn’t want to hear. My pilots are cliquish, but I can’t believe they’d be so openly hostile to you.”

“The only reason I can see for their hostility is the fact that I was a pirate up until a few days ago. That and the fact that the other pilots who came with me went crawling back to Tavira. I think everyone is expecting me to do the same.”

“You have to understand…”

“No. I always thought that everyone in the New Republic was equal. But I guess I was wrong. If you’ll excuse me, I believe I’m not wanted here.” She flipped a credit towards the wait droid and stormed out of the lounge.

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As Renn walked down the hall towards Krinu’s quarters, he started thinking. Krinu hasn’t talked to me for a week, and now she wants to tell me something? I wonder what’s going on here? As he neared her door, he watched as Lieutenant Milerna stormed down the hall away from him and towards her quarters. I wonder what’s wrong with her? He was just about to knock on Krinu’s door when it opened and she beckoned for him to come inside. He sat down next to her on her bed.

“What’s up, Krinu?” He asked, confused as to why he was there.

“Renn, you’re a sweet, compassionate person.” Uh-oh, I know where this is going. Renn thought. “And, before, when you told me how you felt…” She looked down for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “I told you about my past. How messed up my life was when I was young. The only people who cared about me where my parents. And, even then, it was just because I brought home money for them. So, when you told me how you felt about me, I was upset. Not at you, but at the fact that I had never heard anyone, aside from my family, say ‘I Love You.’ I was so confused that I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t know how to feel. When I was young, I had learned to treat any shows of affection with contempt. As I grew older, I got a little softer, but not that much. So, I fell back on what I knew when you told me how much you cared.”

Renn opened his mouth to say something, but Krinu placed her finger on his lips. “Renn, I’m sorry I treated you the way I did before. I’m flattered that you care about me. I really am. And I think you’re a wonderful person to be around. I enjoy your company and I think you’re a very sweet and kind person.”

“But…?”

“But, I don’t think you’re really in love with me. As I said before, you love the fact that I’m a Twi’lek. And, while I’m flattered that you think of me that way, it isn’t real.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Krinu.” He bowed his head in humiliation. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable. I…” His voice trailed off and he felt a lump form in his throat. He felt tears start running down his cheek and tried hiding them by hiding his face in his hands. Krinu put her arm around him and he fell into her arms, sobbing. She patted him on the back, allowing him to release his anguish and embarrassment.

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As Aerick climbed into the simulator, he watched as Savior was lowered into the astromech socket behind the pseudo-cockpit. When the droid was settled in, he flipped a switch and the hatch started to close. Around him, the Freedom’s hanger appeared. He watched as his craft powered up and called over the comm, “High Flight One, ready for launch.” The rest of his squadron a moment joined him a moment later. He powered up his repulsorlifts and nudged his craft out of the hanger. The squadron formed up behind him and headed out.

“Okay, High Flight. We’ve received a distress call from the Galpos system. Our mission is to hype in, neutralize any hostile forces, and determine the status of our convoy. Savior should be piping the coordinates to your astromechs now. One flight will determine the status of the convoy while Two and Three flights fly escort. This should be a piece of ryshcate, but we should be prepared for anything.” He listened as his pilots mumbled assent, then pulled back on the hyperdrive levers. The stars around him elongated and his craft entered hyperspace. A few minutes later, he watched as the stars returned; first as long streaks, then rapidly shrinking to white dots in the background. Savior started warbling and Aerick could see the convoy 10 klicks away.

“One flight, form up on me. Two and Three flights, circle the convoy and watch for any incoming hostile forces. Do not fire unless you are sure they are hostile.” He then turned his X-wing towards the convoy and started a sensor sweep.

“Lead, this is Two. I’m picking up some strange readings.”

“Elaborate please.”

“Well, technically, it looks like our convoy. But, I’m reading only a fraction of the crews those ships should be running with.” Renn turned his X-wing towards one of the freighters. He watched as a small piece of hull shifted out of position and, suddenly, four turbolasers were targeting him. Renn snap-rolled his X-wing to port and started juking and jinking. “Lead, this is Two. Those freighters are not, repeat, not friendly. I was just fired upon by one of them.”

“Copy, Two. One flight, disarm those freighters.” Aerick switched to proton torpedoes and targeted the nearest freighter. He watched as the freighter revealed its weapons, then tightened up on the trigger. A torpedo shot away, riding a tongue of blue flame. He watched as the torpedo slammed into the freighter’s hull and annihilated two laser turrets. Switching to lasers, he quadded them up and fired a snapshot that scored the hull of the freighter. His shield’s hissed as one of the turrets fired upon him. Suddenly, there was a flash of light behind him and his cockpit was once again filled with the whine of his engines and nothing more. He checked his sensors and saw the freighter’s weapons had been neutralized by his wingman.

“Thanks for the save, Two.” He said, a note of relief in his voice.

“No problem, One.” Renn called over the comm. Aerick turned back towards the rest of the convoy and saw the other freighters and transports all dead in space. The broken remains of a squadron of TIE fighters littered the area. Aerick frowned in dismay as he noticed a pair of X-wings mixed in with the TIEs. He checked his sensors and IDed the two pilots who had been shot down. He then pressed a button and ended the sim.

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As Crystal stepped out of the simulator, she saw Aerick, Kolot, and Yrida having a conversation near the back of the training center. After she’d gotten her astromech out of the simulator, she walked over to Krinu and Renn. The pair were talking enthusiastically about their performance during the sim.

“So, I cut in behind the TIE and got off a quick shot. Unfortunately, I missed, but wouldn’t you know, I actually got his wingman! Can you believe it?” Renn asked, excitedly. He noticed that Crystal had joined them, and nodded in her direction. “Hello, Commander. I was just going over the sim with Krinu here.”

“I know. I just wanted to congratulate the two of you on your fine efforts today. You both were flying fabulously, and I noticed that Krinu had shot down 3 of the TIEs. If this had been real, your combined score would be more than enough to earn you the status of ace.”

“Really? Me? An ace? Oh…I….” Krinu tried speaking, but found herself at a loss for words.

“Just make sure you get plenty of rest and we’ll be doing another squadron sim in two hours.” The pair nodded in acknowledgement and watched as Crystal walked over to catch up with Aerick.

“Wow, an ace. Can you believe it, Renn?” Krinu asked, excited at the prospect.

“Just remember, that was just a sim. In real life, it’s not so easy.”

“I know. And I want to thank you for saving my life in there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I was so engrossed trying to vape one of the TIEs that his wingman was able to creep up behind me and start lacing my shields with his lasers. If you hadn’t gotten him, I’d be spacedust in that sim.”

“It was nothing, Krinu. I know you’d do the same for me.” Renn said, blowing the whole thing off.

“It wasn’t nothing, Renn. If this were real life, I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for you. And I’m grateful that you care that much about me.”

“Krinu…” Renn started to speak, but was silenced. How can I tell her I didn’t know who I saved without hurting her feelings? He asked himself.

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“Aerick, wait up!” Crystal called after her CO. Aerick stopped and turned around. He watched as Crystal ran down the hall to join him. He immediately felt apprehensive about talking to her. After the previous day, he was a little anxious to go to dinner with her and he knew that every encounter with her just amplified his desire even more. She caught up to him and stopped beside him.

“Hey there…Aerick. I wanted…to talk…about the sim…today.” She said as she tried catching her breath.

“Slow down there, Crystal. Take a few deep breaths.” The pair started walking towards Pilot Country. “Now then, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I think that we did a damn good job in that sim, but…I have a bad feeling.”

“About what? This campaign against Tavira, or the way the sim went?”

“I don’t know. It was there the whole time I was in the sim and remained after that. I think it has to do with the whole idea of the convoy.”

“You know that we have to run the worst case scenario. If we don’t, and we get slammed out there, it’ll be my fault. I want my pilots to be prepared for any and everything.” He stopped outside her quarters. “But, just in case you find out what that feeling pertains to, let me know.”

“I will.” She kissed him on the cheek and walked into her quarters. Aerick walked down the corridor to his quarters, starry-eyed.

Chapter Eight

 

Two days later, Aerick was pleased with the progress his pilots were showing. He had run the worst-case scenario sim every day and his pilots were getting better and better. Although there had been no other convoy problems, Aerick knew that today was the day. It had been five days since the last run-in with Tavira. Fortunately, the Interdictor Stellar Binder and the Mon Cal Star Cruiser Mon Karren had joined Captain Yonka’s fleet.

As Aerick walked into the pilot’s lounge, he saw Krinu and Renn talking at the bar. Lieutenant Reas and Tamika were talking in the corner. Aerick walked over to Reas.

“Captain.” Dojan stood and snapped a salute.

“Lieutenant. Due to your exemplary performance in the past few days, I am authorized to return your flight status. You’ll be joining us in our next mission. I suggest you get some practice in the sims, and soon.”

“Yes, sir.” Lieutenant Reas had a huge grin on his face.

“And Lieutenant. I don’t want anymore pranks. If I hear of any other pranks you pulled, you’re outta here. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.” He said, solemnly. Aerick walked to the bar and ordered a Lomin-Ale. He leaned back against the bar and watched his pilots interact with the other squadron’s pilots. He watched as Caet and Jessa played sabaac against a pair of pilots from Contender Squadron, winning a week’s pay in a single hand. This waiting is gonna kill me, He thought. The door to the lounge hissed open and he watched as Commander Sandskimmer entered. She sat down at the bar next to him.

“Good morning, Captain.” She said, stretching.

“Did you just wake up?” He asked, incredulously.

“Well, no. I was up 3 hours ago. I spent an hour working out in the gym, another hour doing lightsaber practice, and took a nice, long, one-hour bath.” She smiled. “You should try it sometime.” Aerick smiled at the prospect of a nice, long bath. “What’re you smiling at?” Crystal asked, facetiously.

“Sorry, I was just picturing you in a bathtub.” He teased.

She hit his arm playfully and her voice was spirited as she said, “Why Aerick Needa! I never knew you were such a flirt!”

“Well, that just goes to show that you don’t know the real Aerick Needa.” He quipped. “After all, there’s so much you don’t know about me.”

“I’ll just bet.” She said, taking a sip of the Corellian whiskey sitting in front of her. “So, today’s the day?”

“Hopefully. We don’t know when or where she’ll strike, but we’re ready.” He took a draft of his Lomin-Ale and looked around the lounge. “Oh, I told Lieutenant Reas about his flight status being restored.”

“What did he have to say.”

“He was happy, but, I just couldn’t tell. That man confuses me.”

“Oh well. Some things you just can’t change.”

“Ain’t it the truth.”

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Renn stared at the Captain and Commander talking for a moment, then looked back at Krinu. Her red eyes reflected the light coming from an illuminated sign advertising a popular brand of Lomin-Ale.

“Renn, are you ok?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You haven’t been paying attention to what I’ve been saying.”

“No, and I’m sorry. I was just watching our CO and XO.”

“Aerick and Crystal? What about them?” Krinu looked at the bar where the pair was sitting.

“Look at Aerick. You can tell he likes her.”

“Well, that much is obvious. Most guys on this ship have a crush on her.”

“Yeah. But most guys on this ship would die if she looked at them the way she’s looking at Aerick.”

“What do you mean?”

“Watch. Aerick will pay her a compliment and she blushes. Aerick will tell a joke and she will laugh.”

“Anyone would laugh.”

“Yeah, but she honestly finds him funny. She’s not just laughing to be polite.” Renn said, gesturing as Crystal burst into laughter. “See. Most people would chuckle and be done with it.”

“How do you know so much about those two?”

“It’s not just those two. When I was living on Corellia, I used to sit in the park for hours watching people. You get to learn people’s mannerisms.”

“And me? Can you tell how I feel about you?”

“It’s not like that, Krinu. If I were to watch from a distance at the way we interact, I could tell you. But, actually being a part of the interaction is something totally different.”

“So, you don’t know how I feel about you?”

“No. On the contrary, you’ve made it quite clear. You’re grateful that I was able to save your life in the sim. You’re flattered at the attention I give you, compared to the attention you get with from the rest of the squadron. But…”

“Yes? But, what?”

“But, if I’m right, you think of me as being a little shallow and uninterested in your feelings.”

“You’re half right. I do believe you to be somewhat shallow.”

“Because I only care about you as just another Twi’lek?” He asked, uneasily.

“I can see I struck a nerve.” She said, standing. “I should go.”

“Wait, please.” Renn grabbed her hand. “Please, don’t go.” Krinu sat down next to him again and looked into his eyes.

“What is it, Renn?” She asked, perplexed as to what he wanted.

“You remember our conversation that took place a week ago?”

“Yes, of course I do. The one where you told me you were in love with me.”

“That’s it. You told me I was in love with the idea of being with another Twi’lek. After you said that, I started thinking. And, I came to the conclusion that you were right, I was just interested in the Twi’lek you were and not the person you are.” He sighed and took a sip of the steadily cooling caf sitting next to him. “You also asked how often I thought about you.”

“Yes, I did. I wanted to know if you were really in love with me or just what I was.”

“Well, recently, I’ve found myself thinking about you more and more. At first, I dismissed them as just idle fantasies. But now…I don’t know. At first, my thoughts were purely sexual in nature. Now, I see the two of us and how our lives might be. I see us in peacetime and I see myself growing old with you.” He smiled as he remembered a recent dream of his. “All of these things made me realize just how much you mean to me. And the only thing that saddens me is the fact that…”

Before he could finish his sentence, a yellow light started flashing. Captain Yonka’s voice came over the comm. “All pilots, report to your snubfighters. Invidious has been spotted and is beginning an attack on our convoy. Repeat, all pilots…”

The lounge exploded into action as the pilots jumped from their respective diversions and ran to the flight deck.

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Aerick and Crystal ran side-by-side to the hanger of the Freedom. As they arrived, they watched as pilots ran through their pre-flight, mechanics and technicians finished fueling the craft and prepared for action. Aerick ran to his X-wing, watching as his astromech finished the pre-flight preparations. He leapt into his cockpit and flipped a switch, sending a surge of power through the craft.

“Savior, set comm frequencies. One, Freedom. Two, Squadron. Three, Flight Group.” Savior warbled and the three comm switches lit up.

“All squadrons, this is Freedom. Reversion in ten seconds. Prepare for deceleration.” Aerick braced himself in the seat and felt the push of inertia against his chest. A moment later, he heard a voice on the comm. “High Flight Squadron, you are clear to launch.” Aerick nudged his throttle up to full, sending his craft out of the hanger and into the void of space. A moment later, he was joined by the rest of squadron.

“High Flight, this is One. I have the Invidious on my sensors. Our primary objective here is to protect the convoy.” He heard a concert of assents and pointed his X-wing towards the convoy. He watched as a squadron of Tri-fighters broke off their attack on the convoy and headed towards the incoming fighters. “Lock S-foils in attack positions and split into wing pairs.” Aerick flipped a switch and felt his craft rumble as the wings on either side of him split, forming an X. He switched to proton torpedoes and targeted the first clutch. He heard Savior start beeping as he attempted to achieve a lock. A moment later, Savior started emitting a steady tone, signifying a solid lock. Aerick tightened his finger and a proton torpedo lanced towards the clutch.

As the torpedo neared the clutch, the pilot started juking, trying to make it overshoot. The torpedo missed the target, but still detonated. The expanding ball of shrapnel caught the clutch, shearing off one of the solar panels. A piece of shrapnel got caught in the engine, causing it to explode. The explosion finished the partial disassembly the torpedo started.

Aerick switched back to lasers and linked them. He saw a clutch going for a lock on Renn and snap-rolled his X-wing until he was pointed directly at the clutch. He tightened up on the trigger and watched as four crimson laser bolts chewed through the clutch’s cockpit.

“Thanks, One.” Renn’s voice called over the comm. Aerick turned back towards the fight and targeted another clutch.

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On board the Freedom, Captain Yonka watched as the snubfighters fought in between the two capital ships. He looked down in the crew bays at his Sensor Chief.

“How long before we’re in weapons range?”

“Two more minutes.”

“And how long before Invidious clears the gravity well of the planet?”

“Not for another five minutes.”

“Good.” He looked over at the communications officer. “Call in the Stellar Binder and Mon Karren. This time, Tavira won’t get away.”

“Aye, sir.”

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As the fight intensified, Crystal could feel her opponent’s intentions and had taken down three clutches that were a little too intent on shooting down her squadmates. She targeted a clutch that was going for a run on one of the freighters in the convoy. As she attained a lock on the clutch, she triggered a quad laser burst that chewed away at the clutch’s engine. The burst had knocked one of the ion engines out of alignment and sent the clutch into a flat spin. The pilot tried to stabilize his craft, but it was too late. The damaged clutch slammed into the Invidious’ shields and exploded. Another squadron was discharged from the Invidious. This time, they were TIE fighters. Crystal fired her lasers at the squadron and was pleased to see a pair of TIEs explode. The remaining ten broke formation and joined the battle.

As Crystal attempted to get a lock on one of the TIEs, her shields sputtered as emerald lasers chewed away at them. She snap-rolled left and ran through a quick split-S maneuver. The clutch overshot and Crystal fell in behind the snubfighter. She loosed a bracket of laser bolts and watched as the ruby darts ripped the ball cockpit to shreds. She shored up her shields and joined her wingman in attacking a trio of TIE fighters.

She silently cheered as Stellar Binder and Mon Karren arrived, cutting off the Invidious’ escape route. A red light flared into existence on her warning panel as the Interdictor powered up its gravity wells. She was broken from her reverie as an X-wing shot across her line of sight, followed closely by a TIE fighter. Without thinking, she pulled the trigger and watched as her quad laser burst ripped the TIE fighter to shreds.

“Thanks for the save, Three.” Krinu’s voice came over the comm. Crystal mumbled a reply and turned her X-wing to engage a clutch.

Seconds later, she heard an anguished cry over the comm and felt a second cry resonate through the Force. She watched as the dot representing Seven disappeared from her sensor screen. Almost immediately, she sensed anger from Tamika, but she was amazed at Tamika’s restraint in not immediately trying to avenge her lost friend. Instead, Tamika formed up behind Krinu and Kolot, acting as a third wingman. Crystal turned back towards the fight and watched as the Invidious launched a fourth squadron.

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As Aerick downed his fourth TIE, he watched as the capital ships fired ranging shots. He was far enough from the engagement zone that he tried for a torpedo lock on the Invidious. To his surprise, he was able to achieve a lock. He doubled up his torpedo launchers and sent a pair of torpedoes lancing at the Invidious, two cone-shaped objects riding a tail of blue flame. If he was surprised that he was able to acquire a lock on the Invidious, he was dumbfounded as he observed his torpedoes take down the minimal shields protecting the shield generators and annihilating them.

As he was marveling the damage he had effected, a clutch was able to get in behind him and began lacing his shields with emerald laser bolts. Aerick junked and jinked, trying to shake his pursuer. He snap-rolled left and was pushed back into his seat as he pulled a smuggler’s reverse. His plan worked as the clutch overshot him. He immediately attained a lock, switched to lasers and tightened up on the trigger. Four ruby channels of destruction lanced out at the clutch, hitting the ion engines and sending them into overload.

Aerick headed back towards the engagement zone, pleased to see the engagement was nearly over. As he surveyed the battlefield, he saw four squadrons worth of broken TIE fighters and clutches. He saw pieces of several A-wings, a half-squadron of Y-wings, three B-wings…and 5 X-wings, including 2 that displayed High Flight’s color scheme. The remaining ten X-wings of his squadron formed up behind him.

“High Flight, this is Freedom. Invidious is trying to run. We need help. Watch for any escaping craft.”

“Copy, Freedom.” Aerick said. “Okay, High Flight. Tavira’s trying to run. Command thinks she’s going to escape in a shuttle or something like that. Stay focused.” He switched his sensors to full, making a slow pass near the Invidious, careful to stay out of range of the Star Destroyer’s turbolasers. Mon Karren and Freedom were slowly catching up to the Invidious, with the Stellar Binder keeping pace, not quite allowing the Invidious to clear the gravity well. A moment later, Mon Karren and Freedom were in range and opened fire, targeting the engines with ion cannons. Blue lightning crawled over the surface of the Invidious. There was a flash of light and the Invidious’ engines shut down.

“High Flight, disarm the Invidious.” Aerick said, targeting the Invidious’ myriad turbolaser emplacements.

“Belay that, High Flight,” Captain Yonka’s voice came over the comm. “We have a trio of craft leaving the Invidious. Inspect and disable.” Aerick shunted power from his lasers to his engines, boosting the X-wing’s speed by half. He brought up the first target, a TIE Interceptor, and dismissed it. Tavira doesn’t know how to fly a snubfighter, he thought. The next craft he targeted was an assault transport. As he closed to get an accurate read on the craft’s cargo, the transport opened fire. Aerick juked and fired a quad laser burst at the transport’s engines. He missed and scored the ship’s hull. A second quad burst caught the engines, destroying one of the three engines and slowing the craft by one-third. The third quad burst demolished another engine, causing the crew to shut down the last engine to avoid entering a flat spin.

“This is One. The assault transport has been disabled. Sensors show 10 lifesigns. Unknown as to who is onboard.”

“This is Three. The lamb has been disabled as well.” Crystal said, referring to the Lambda shuttle that had accompanied the transport and the TIE from the Invidious.

“High Flight, this is Freedom. We are dispatching shuttles and our remaining Y-wings to capture these craft and anyone on board. Patrol the area for any EV pilots or escape pods.” Aerick sighed and relayed the orders to his pilots.

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On the bridge of Freedom, Captain Yonka was looking out at the battlefield, awaiting confirmation of Tavira’s capture. This was a little too easy, he thought. He watched as the first shuttle and its escorts arrived at the enemy shuttle. The Y-wings used ion cannons to disable the enemy shuttle’s weapons systems and the Freedom’s shuttle moved to dock.

As soon as the shuttle was secured, Captain Yonka received a communiqué from the troop commander.

“Captain, the shuttle has been secured. We have captured 5 people. None of them fit the description of Tavira.”

“Acknowledged. Bring the ship online and return to Freedom.” Captain Yonka turned his attention to the assault transport and watched as the second shuttle boarded the craft. A moment later, he received a message.

“Sir, we have secured the transport. There were ten people here, 7 of them committed suicide. None of them fit the description of Tavira.”

“Sir, the only other craft to leave the Invidious was a TIE Interceptor. She’s not a pilot, and there’s no way she could’ve escaped without our noticing.”

“Where is that Interceptor?”

“Uhhh…hold on a moment, sir.” The Sensor Control Officer searched his screen, but could find no trace of the fighter. “We lost her, sir.”

“That kriffing woman. High Flight, this is Freedom. Do you know where that TIE Interceptor went?”

“Yes, sir. It headed for the planet, but we lost it when it when around the horizon.”

“Okay. Aerick, take your squadron around the planet and find that ship. It’s a regular TIE Interceptor, so it couldn’t have escaped into hyperspace. We’ll send the other squadrons to search the planet.”

“Do you think it’s possible that Tavira never left the Invidious?” Someone asked.

“No. Tavira had to have escaped. We’ll find her.”

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Aerick punched the throttle, sending his X-wing hurtling towards the planet’s dark side. Looking behind him, he caught a glimpse of Crystal’s X-wing following right behind his and the rest of his squadron right behind her. As his craft crossed the terminator, Savior started warbling agitatedly. Checking his scope, he saw an entire Imperial battle group closing on his squadron. He heard a hiss over the comm as his XO eyed the flotilla of Imperial craft. A pair of Imperial-class Star Destroyers were being led by a wing of TIE fighters. Behind the Impstars was a trio of Victory-class Star Destroyers, who were beginning to disgorge their TIEs. He saw the modified TIE Interceptor fleeing towards the lead Impstar, identified as the Indefatigable.

“High Flight, head back to the Freedom. We need to warn them of this new development.” The twelve X-wings wheeled back towards the terminator at full speed, attempting to escape from the advancing fleet. Two squadrons of TIE Interceptors raced towards the fleeing X-wings.

The moment Aerick’s X-wing crossed the terminator, he shot a message to Freedom.

“Captain Yonka, this is Captain Needa. We are being pursued by a flotilla of Imperial craft. Two identified as Impstars, a trio of Vicstars and at least a wing of eyeballs, squints and dupes.”

“Copy that, Captain Needa. We have sent for reinforcements. The Mon Remonda and Home One are en route, as are the Invincible and Rebel Hammer.” Captain Yonka said, referring to a pair of Mon Cal Star Cruisers and a pair of Imperial-class Star Destroyers under the command of Admiral Ackbar.

“Is the Admiral pushing for a Thrawn Pincher?” Aerick asked, referring to a tactic Grand Admiral Thrawn had utilized, using an Interdictor cruiser to pull a fleet out of hyperspace where they would be needed most.

“He would like to try it, but he doubts that it will work.”

“The only question I have is how we missed these craft,” Crystal cut in.

“I don’t know. Is it possible that Tavira called for them as we dropped out of hyperspace?”

“It’s possible. But I really don’t think so,” Crystal replied. “I sensed something as we rounded the planet. Ten to one says they were cloaked.”

“Is Tavira even in possession of cloaking devices?” Aerick asked, shuddering at the prospect.

“Yes, she is,” Lieutenant Milerna’s voice came through the comm. “I was there when they were delivered and protected the convoy as it departed. Sithspawn, I never thought…”

“You didn’t tell Captain Yonka or myself about this.” It wasn’t a question, but rather a hard statement. “Why?”

“It must’ve slipped my mind. There is so much that Tavira did while I was with her, it’s hard to remember everything.”

“Regardless of all that, we still are outnumbered until reinforcements arrive,” Crystal came back on the comm. “An ImpStar Deuce and a Mon Cal Cruiser are no match for two ImpStars and 3 VicStars.”

“I agree,” Captain Yonka’s voice came over the task force’s comm frequency. “But, our starfighters are better and more experienced than Tavira’s. Stellar Web will continue to hold her fleet in realspace while our snubfighters attack hers. Home One and the rest of our reinforcements should be here in 15 minutes.”

“Copy that. Savior, give me an ETA on the approaching starfighters.” Savior warbled and trilled. “Two squadrons of TIE Interceptors and two of Tri-Wing fighters will be in range in 2 minutes.”

“Okay, High Flight. We have two squadrons of squints and two of clutches incoming. ETA 2 minutes. We have the clutches, Captain Oalti, your squadron has the squints?”

“Copy that, Captain Needa. We’ll show them what happens when you mess with the New Republic.”

“High Flight, call it off.”

“This is Two, I’m ready.”

“This is Three, no problems here.”

“Four, ready for a furball.”

“Five, ready and able.”

“This is Six. I’m green.”

“Eight, ready to vape some clutches.”

“Nine is ready.”

“Ten, I’m ready.”

“Eleven is in the green.”

“Twelve, ready, willing, and able.”

“Okay, High Flight. Take ‘em down.” Aerick switched over to proton torpedoes and targeted the first Tri-Fighter. Savior beeped, attempting to achieve a lock. A second later, he emitted a steady tone and Aerick squeezed the trigger, sending a torpedo lancing towards the craft on a tongue of blue flame. The clutch’s pilot tried to shake the torpedo, jinking left, but the torpedo followed and struck the clutch in between the ion engines. It detonated a second later, taking a second clutch as debris from the first slammed into its ball cockpit. He switched back to lasers and quadded them up. He fired once, broadsiding a clutch. The four laser bolts drilled through the ball cockpit and pierced the engines. The clutch exploded a half-second later.

As the squadrons passed, Aerick stood on his rudder pedal, turning his X-wing back around to point at the clutches behind him. He immediately got a lock on the trailing craft and fired. Four channels of destructive energy flew towards the clutch, melting away half the ball cockpit and sending the craft hurtling away, adrift with no pilot. He grinned and turned back towards the fight.

Seconds later, Savior trilled, signaling the fact that someone was attempting to get a torpedo lock on his craft. Aerick jinked and cut across Crystal’s field of fire. She fired a quad burst and caught his pursuer dead on, shredding two of the three solar wings.

“Thanks for the save, Three.”

“No problem, One.”

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Damn these guys are good! Renn thought, shaking a lock and attempting to down a squint that had gotten to close to him.

“I could use some help here,” He called over the comm.

“On my way,” Krinu replied. “On my mark, break left, then come back around.

“Copy.” He continued juking as he mentally pictured what Krinu wanted to do.

“Now!” Renn stood on the rudder pedal and punched up his throttle to full. “I’m in!” Krinu called.

“I’m out!” Renn replied, signifying that he had shaken his pursuer.

Krinu concentrated on taking down her present target. She fired a quad burst, but missed high. The squint’s pilot jinked and sent his craft into a high-speed spiral away from Krinu’s X-wing. However, his flying had brought him within proximity of the Freedom and he drifted into a turbolaser blast.

“Thanks for the save, Five.” Renn said, relieved. He heard a double-click over the comm, signaling Krinu’s reply. A second later, the pair saw a trio of clutches trying to break for the Freedom.

“Five, Two, get those clutches.” Aerick’s voice called over the comm.

“Copy that. We’re on ‘em.” Renn switched over to torpedoes and, almost immediately, his R2 unit gave him the tone for a good lock. He triggered a single torpedo and watched as it jetted towards his target. The squint’s pilot never saw it coming. One minute, he was setting up for a run on Freedom, the next, his craft was blown to pieces as the torpedo slammed into the port solar wing, ripping it to shreds. Then, the torpedo detonated, sending shrapnel towards his wingman.

Krinu triggered a quad laser burst towards the second clutch, sending four channels of destructive energy tearing through the transparisteel viewport. The craft ceased all lateral motion, it’s pilot killed by the surgical strike. She swung her X-wing back towards the engagement area and punched her throttle up full.

She watched in awe as Admiral Ackbar’s battle group dropped out of lightspeed directly behind the Imperial fleet. They immediately opened fire upon the Imperial craft, catching the Star Destroyers by surprise.

I’ll be Kesseled, Renn thought, watching the spectacle. It worked. His R2 unit beeped as the New Republic craft disgorged its 20 squadrons of snubfighters. He watched as four squadrons of B-Wings began attack runs on the two Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

“High Flight, this is Lead. The squints are breaking off. Clutches are still trying to break for the Freedom. We…wait. We have trouble. One of those ImpStars just launched two squadrons of dupes. And their escorts…Sithspawn! We have trips incoming.”

“How many?” Crystal asked.

“A full squadron. New orders. We’re to take out the trips and as many of the dupes as possible. Contender, Rogue, and Blue Squadrons are to take the trips. Lightflash and Thunder squadrons are on the dupes.”

“Rogue leader to all fighters from Freedom. It has been confirmed. Trips are from the 181^st Imperial Tactical Fighter group. Use caution.” Commander Wedge Antilles relayed over the comm.

“High Flight, form up on me and prepare for a run on the 181^st.”

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“Savior, bring shields up to full. Target three trips. Designate as targets one, two, and three.” Savior trilled, lighting up the three preset target switches. He flipped the first switch and watched as the trip was brought up on his targeting screen. He watched as the distance clicked off, switching to proton torpedoes as the range hit 5 klicks. At 2.5 klicks, he maneuvered the targeting reticle onto the TIE Defender and triggered a torpedo as Savior gave him a good lock. The torpedo flew towards the Defender on a jet of blue flame and, just as the two were about to collide, the trip fired a quad burst of emerald laser bolts and destroyed the torpedo. Aerick triggered a quad burst of his own and watched as a second quad burst joined his. Eight laser bolts converged on the hapless TIE. The first quad burst took down the shields protecting the trip. The next burst drilled through the cockpit and its pilot, continuing on unabated into the twin ion engines. The engines exploded, shredding the solar panels and sending shrapnel into its two wingmen. The shields overloaded as the shrapnel cut through one of the Defender’s cockpits, tearing into the pilot as fragments of transparisteel ripped through the cockpit.

The Defender squadron split into wing pairs and wheeled away from the New Republic fighters in a ragged flower shape. Aerick went through a quick split-S maneuver and found his craft lined up behind one of the Defenders. He quickly triggered a quad burst that tore through the Defender’s shields. Another burst bored right through the craft’s engines, destabilizing one of them, causing the craft to explode.

He was so intent on destroying the Defender that Aerick didn’t realize that a TIE Interceptor had closed to within firing range. In seconds, the squint was on his tail, lacing his rear shields with emerald laser bolts. He juked, trying to free himself of the Interceptor on his tail, but the craft remained. A lucky shot took down his rear shields and he resigned himself to death when, without warning, his pursuer lost resolution and exploded.

“High Flight One, this is Rogue Lead. Looks like you need some help there.”

“Thank the Force.” A dozen X-wings joined the starfighter battle. As Aerick took a look around, he saw Admiral Ackbar’s fleet pounding the remnants of Tavira’s fleet. One of the Imperial-class Star Destroyers was in flames; escape pods shooting off the stricken starship.

“Rogue Lead, you are free to engage at will.” Aerick said into the comm. “We still have a half squadron of trips here.”

“Lead, this is Three. Four of the trips have broken off from the fighting. Looks like they’re heading back to the Indefatigable.”

“Looks like they’re getting ready to run.” Aerick mumbled.

“Attention, all ships.” The gravelly voice of Admiral Ackbar played over the comm. “Stellar Binder is damaged, gravity well generators are offline. Disable the Imperials. We cannot allow them to escape.”

“Lead, this is Three. Those trips are heading to lightspeed. We’ll never catch them.”

“Copy that, Three. High Flight, form up on me. We’re making a run on the remaining ImpStar.” Aerick punched his throttle up full and headed towards the Indefatigable. At 3 klicks out, he armed his proton torpedoes and targeted the massive ship. Almost immediately, Savior gave a steady tone, marking a clean lock. He triggered two pairs of torpedoes and was glad to see that his entire squadron had followed suit. Twenty-four torpedoes slammed into the shields of the massive ship, punching enough holes to bring down the entire grid. Freedom and Mon Karren immediately began attacking with ion cannons, trying to disable the Star Destroyer. Blue lightning danced along the hull of the Star Destroyer, sparking small explosions in some places. The ship’s engines died and lights across the ship went dark. A group of Assault Transports headed towards the dead ship, intending to dock and capture it. A quick glance of the battle zone showed a pair of Imperial-class Star Destroyers dead in space, the blackened shells of two Victory-class Star Destroyers, and the remaining VicStar dead in space. Pieces of TIEs littered the area of space, along with too many pieces of Rebel Starfighters.

“Home One, this is Assault squad B. We have captured the Indefatigable. We encountered almost no resistance. All the crew are dead, apparent suicides. We have identified the remains of Admiral Tavira on the bridge.” A cheer went up over the comm.

“High Flight Squadron, this is One. Return to Freedom and prepare for debriefing.” We did it, Aerick thought. The scourge that was Tavira has been eradicated.

Epilogue

 

 

That evening, clad in his dress uniform, Aerick walked down the corridors of Pilot Country, heading towards Crystal’s quarters. He endured the curious stares of passers-by, endured the jibes that some of his squadron members offered.

As he arrived at her quarters, he knocked gently on the door.

“Come in, Aerick.” She called as the door slid open noiselessly. He walked into her quarters and the door closed behind him.

“Where are you, Crystal?”

“I’m in the refresher, just finishing up. I’ll be done in a second. Make yourself comfortable.” Aerick sat down and put his feet up, allowing his nerves to calm slightly. When that didn’t work, he stood up and started pacing.

“Okay, tell me what you think,” Crystal said. As she stepped out of the ‘fresher, Aerick gaped as he looked at Crystal and how she was dressed. Her strawberry-blonde hair was pinned up in a bun, held in place by a pair of lacquered zenji needles. She wore a long, black dress, which was cut low in the front, giving Aerick a tantalizing glimpse of cleavage, and was cut even lower in the back, showing off the curve of Crystal’s back.

“You like it?” She asked, aware of the admiring stare he was affixing upon her. He nodded, not trusting himself to talk as he looked up and down her lithe, shapely body. “Did you make reservations for us?”

“Yeah. We’re dining at the Corusca Spire.”

“Isn’t that one of the most exclusive restaurants on Coruscant?”

“It is that. Reservations have to be comlinked at least 2 months in advance, and only if your name is on the exclusive list.”

“Then how did you get admittance?”

“All in due time. I believe Captain Yonka has a shuttle waiting to take us down to the surface. Shall we?” He asked, offering his arm. She linked her arm with his and they walked down the corridors of Freedom towards the Captain’s private docking bay.

As they reached the doors of the docking bay, the pair was greeted by the entire squadron.

“Good luck, Captain,” Renn said, giving Aerick a wry grin. He was elbowed by Krinu, who gave a small twitch of her lekku.

“What our young friend means, is to have fun and don’t hurry back.”

The pair stepped onto the shuttle and started down to the surface.

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A repulsor-cab was waiting for the pair outside the spaceport. The driver nodded at Aerick and started to drive towards the restaurant. The restaurant was located on the upper levels of Coruscant. A place where only the wealthiest citizens dotted the street. The cab let the two of them off a block and a half away from the restaurant. They started walking down the thoroughfare. In their current dress, the pair blended in perfectly.

As they neared the restaurant, Crystal noticed that the bouncer out front was only allowing certain people inside the building. He had a datapad in his hands and referred to it with every person who approached.

The owner of the restaurant was only willing to accommodate wealthy families from Corellia. As they neared the restaurant, the bouncer looked up and stopped the pair. Aerick pressed his thumb to the datapad and waited as the pad processed his fingerprint. A moment later, the pad made a sharp pinging noise and the bouncer moved aside, allowing the couple to pass.

The pair walked into the restaurant and Crystal was dumbstruck by the lavishness of the room. The lighting was subdued, as there were about ten or eleven couples seated around the spacious room, with two other couples dancing under a mammoth chandelier to the band on-stage playing the latest hit jizz song. The host led Aerick and Crystal to a table next to a wall. As soon as the host left, a waiter was standing next to their table, holding the wine list.

“Do you have any preference, Crystal?” Aerick asked, taking the wine list.

“No, not really.” She said, looking around, amazed at the waste of space used in making the restaurant. She looked around at the various pieces of art hanging on the wall, recognizing a few as being worth millions of credits apiece.

“Well, okay. In that case, I’ll take a Woltepier ’13.” Crystal spun around, recognizing the name of one of the most expensive champagnes on the market.

“An excellent choice, sir,” The waiter bowed and left. Aerick leaned back and regarded his fiancée. Her mouth was open just a little and she was alarmed at his calm nature. “What?” Aerick asked, confused.

“I don’t get it. We’re both officers in the New Republic Armed Forces; we don’t make that much money. And yet, you got in here no problem, you ordered one of the most expensive champagnes in the galaxy…How do you plan on paying for all of this?”

Aerick started laughing. “Crystal, my dear. There’s something I have to tell you. My mother was a member of one of the wealthiest families on Corellia. When she passed away, she left me her entire fortune and the estate, seeing as how I was her only child. I’m worth roughly 5 billion credits.” He smiled as he saw Crystal’s jaw drop.

“Are you joking?” She asked, amazed at the large number. “You can’t be serious!”

“Oh, I’m dead serious. When we leave, look on the wall near the entrance. My family name is near the top.”

“If your family is so wealthy, why are you serving in the New Republic?”

“When I was young, my father and I were very close,” He said, his gaze blurring as he remembered. “We played shockball together, he took me to the zoo on Corellia, and he always read a story to me before I fell asleep. When I was 12, I received word that my father had died in battle. I remember being sad, very sad. But I was proud that my father was able to serve the Emperor…”

He was interrupted by the waiter bringing the champagne to his table. “Thank you.” The waiter poured a glass for Aerick and Crystal and set the bottle in a bucket of ice. He handed the two of them a menu and walked away. Crystal raised her glass.

Aerick joined her, saying, “Chakta sai kae.” Intoning in the traditional Corellian salute. “Here’s to us, may we be together forever.” They drank and Crystal smiled.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Aerick continued. “I was very proud of my father. Then, when I was 18, I joined the Imperial Navy as a pilot, flying TIE fighters. After one of my escort missions, I overheard the Captain and my CO talking about me. They said something about my father that made me very angry. They had said that my father was a traitor to the Empire. So, I confronted them and told them my father was an honorable man and would never do anything to dishonor his name. They laughed in my face and told me how he died.” He took another sip of his champagne.

“One of the two officers was on board the Super Star Destroyer Executor. He was Comm Officer that day and watched as my father delivered a message to Darth Vader. A moment later, my father fell to the floor, dead from lack of oxygen. Vader had killed him because he had failed to capture the Millennium Falcon. When I learned that, I decided that the Empire I loved was just a deception. I decided to defect and join the New Republic.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your father.”

“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault he died. Since then, it’s been my personal goal to see that the Empire is beaten and people like Vader dead. Do you think that’s shallow of me?”

“No, of course not. I think it’s a very noble goal to have,” Crystal said. “And, if you could change the way things went, would you?”

“Hmmm…honestly, I’d have to say no.”

“No? You mean to tell me that you’d go through all that again? Why?”

“Yes, I would go through it all again. Not because I enjoyed it and certainly not because I loved my life. But, because, if I hadn’t joined the New Republic, I never would’ve met you, I never would’ve fallen in love with you, and I probably wouldn’t be here now.”

“In all likelihood, you’d have died in the line of duty. Wedge Antilles or someone from Rogue Squadron would have shot you down in a dogfight.”

“You’re right. You’re right. Well, I’m just glad to be here, now, with you.” He reached out and took her hand in his, delighted that she didn’t pull away. The waiter returned a moment later.

“Have you decided what you want?” He asked, regarding the couple.

“I’ll have the broiled ladnek tail and nerf medallions,” Aerick said, hungrily.

“I’ll try the Mynock Coronet City. I heard it was wonderful.”

“An excellent choice, m’lady,” The waiter said, taking the menus and heading towards the kitchen. The band onstage started playing a slower, Alderaanian waltz. Aerick stood up and offered Crystal his arm. She smiled and slipped her arm through his, allowing him to lead her onto the dance floor.

As they stood on the dance floor, Aerick placed his hands on Crystal’s waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She pair slowly glided across the floor. Aerick found himself in a state of bliss, reveling in the feel of Crystal’s body against his, the scent of her perfume, and the look in her eyes as she gazed into his. They continued to drift across the dance floor, oblivious to anything other than the person in front of them. As the song slowly came to an end, Aerick pressed his lips against Crystal’s; gently at first, then more passionately as her embrace tightened.

Eventually, the lack of air forced them to break their kiss. Crystal grasped Aerick’s hand and led him back to their table. They sat down, and Aerick placed his arms on the table, head on his hands and regarded Crystal with a smile on his face.

“I know that smile,” Crystal said, jokingly. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m enjoying myself. I don’t think that’s happened in quite some time.” He patted her hand. She smiled back at him.

“I’m enjoying myself as well, Aerick. It’s been a long time since I had someone who I felt this comfortable with. In fact, it’s been a while since anyone kissed me the way you did.”

“That’s very sweet of you to say, Crystal. But, I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

“Believe it, flyboy. I’ve never been with another man, ever.”

“Wait. You mean you’ve never been with anyone?”

“Didn’t I just say that?” Crystal asked, confused.

“What I meant to ask it, you’ve never had a physical relationship with a man?”

“And you mean?”

“You’re still a…”

“Yes, I’m still a virgin. If that’s what you were trying to tip-toe around.”

“Yes, it was.”

“And you? Have you ever had a sexual relationship with a woman?”

Aerick blushed. “No. I, too, am still a virgin.” Somehow, Crystal was not surprised.

“I applaud you for upholding your principles.” She stated. Aerick smiled and turned a crimson color. He was saved from replying as the food arrived. They ate in silence for the most part, only speaking to tell each other how much they loved the other.

Later, as Aerick walked Crystal back to her suite, arm in arm, Crystal stopped in mid-stride halfway to the suite. “Aerick?”

“Yes?”

“I had a wonderful time tonight.”

“I did, too. I’m glad we had the time to get to know each other a little more that we did before.”

“I have to say that I had no idea you were such a wonderful person.”

“Well, we’ve been busy in the past few months.”

“You got that right,” Crystal said, nonchalantly.

The pair walked in silence for another few blocks. As they neared Crystal’s Coruscant suite, Aerick started getting a little fidgety.

“Well, it was a lovely evening,” he said. “I hate to see it end so quickly.”

“You’re welcome to come in for a drink,” Crystal said, pressing her thumb to the lock-plate. The door beeped and opened.

“I would like that,” Aerick said, following Crystal into her suite. He sat down on the nerf-hide couch that centered her living area. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a pair of wineglasses and a bottle. She walked back to the couch and sat down next to Aerick, pouring a glass for each of them.

“So, what do you think Starfighter Command has in store for us now?” Crystal asked.

“Who knows? Probably a few months R&R or so. After that, probably a permanent post on a starship.” He took a sip of his wine and grimaced at the potency of the drink. “A little stronger than I’m used to.”

“My cousin sent it to me from Chandrila.” The two sipped their wine in silence for a minute or two.

“Crystal, can I be frank with you?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“We’ve been serving together for quite some time…”

“About five or six months at last count.”

“Right. In that time, the two of us have gotten to know each other a lot better than we ever thought possible…”

“Speak for yourself.”

“In that time, I found myself starting to like you. As a friend, and possibly more.”

“I know where this is going.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I do. I feel the same way. And I agree. We should start dating. As soon as possible.”

“Really?” Aerick was dumbfounded at this. To be sure, these were the same words he was going to say. He just wanted to know how they jumped from his mind to hers.

“Aerick, don’t forget. I’m a Jedi, in the loosest sense of the word. I knew what you were thinking long before you did.” She smiled wryly and kissed him full on the lips. Aerick hesitated at first, then responded to the touch of her lips, encircling her in his arms. He felt the embers of passion inside spark into a raging fire.

He poured his entire being into the kiss, feeling Crystal respond to his passion. She placed one of her hands on the back of his head, trying to pull him closer. She flicked her tongue against his, reveling in the ripple of pleasure that radiated off of Aerick. The pair gravitated towards Crystal’s bedroom; their lips locked in an embrace. Aerick gently laid Crystal on the bed, his lips still pressed against hers.

A moment later, Crystal pulled away from Aerick and started to stand. Aerick sat down on the bed and watched as she started stripping for him. She swayed back and forth as she slowly unzipped the side of her dress, offering Aerick short, tantalizing glimpses of the skin under the dress. She slowly moved the zipper down her waist, bringing it to rest just above her hip. She let go of the dress and allowed it to fall to the ground, collapsing into a pool of black fabric around her legs. Aerick’s eyes roved across Crystal’s exposed skin. His jaw dropped as he realized that she hadn’t been wearing a bra underneath her dress, and he gazed longingly as her full, round breasts heaved in front of his eyes. She wore a black lace pair of panties, cut high in the back, showing Aerick a substantial amount of her ample buttocks. Her long, milky-white legs were covered in a pair of black silk stockings that were being held up by a black garter belt. She crawled onto the bed, inching her way up Aerick’s body, wrapping her legs around his body. She grasped his coat and started to unbutton it. As she was undoing the buttons, she started grinding her crotch against Aerick’s, feeling his penis begin to harden. She pulled off his coat, threw it next to her dress, and started removing his shirt. She grinned as she watched Aerick’s face, watched as his face revealed how much he enjoyed feeling Crystal grind against him.

As she finished removing his shirt, Aerick extended his arm and started caressing Crystal’s breasts. He leaned forward, taking one of her ample breasts in his hands, gently caressing the smooth, round globes. Crystal turned around, her covered crotch hovering a few inches above Aerick’s face. He smiled as he saw that her panties were damp, a sign that Crystal was very turned on. He placed his thumbs at the top of her panties and started pulling them off of her.

As Aerick pulled her panties off, Crystal started removing his pants and his underwear in one motion, exposing his rock solid penis. She smiled as she sensed his apprehension. She wrapped her hand around his penis and started slowly stroking up and down. Aerick shuddered as a wave of pleasure rippled through him. Crystal slowed, listening as Aerick started to protest, causing her to stop altogether.

“What the hell?” He asked, confused as to why she stopped. She looked into his eyes, a fierce gleam showing as she bent down to take his penis into her mouth. He moaned as she flicked her tongue across the tip, sending another wave of pleasure tearing through his body. She slowly dragged her tongue down the shaft, reveling in the taste and the moans of ecstasy coming from Aerick. She started to speed up her rhythm, moving faster and faster, listening to the sighs of rapture emanating from Aerick. A moment later, she felt Aerick shudder as he reached his orgasm, sending a stream of hot semen into her mouth. Crystal sputtered and ran to the bathroom, rinsing her mouth out. As she walked back into the room, she tossed Aerick an irritated glance.

“You could’ve warned me that was coming.”

“I’m sorry, hon. I wasn’t thinking.” She walked back over to the bed and lay down next to him.

“It’s okay, Aerick. Just so you remember next time.” She kissed him on the lips. This time, he was the one to push away and he started down her body, leaving a trail of kisses. As he reached the separation of her breasts, he kissed a trail up to one of her erect nipples. She quivered in delight as she felt Aerick’s mouth envelop her nipple. He flicked his tongue over her nipple, lightly nibbling on the erect nubbin. He gently suckled her nipple, relishing in the soft moans Crystal was vocalizing. A moment later, he continued his way down her body, kissing a trail down past her navel.

As he approached the space between her legs, he placed his hands on the inner part of her thighs. He slowly pushed them apart and was in awe as he gazed upon the splendor that was her vagina. He reached out and gently traced a line around the perimeter of her vagina with his finger. He lay down on his stomach, placing his head between her legs. He speared her with his tongue, evoking a cry of delight from Crystal. As he lapped at her moist vagina, he probed her with an extended finger, eliciting a long, deep moan from her.

A moment later, he pulled his finger away and sat up, invoking a cry of protest from Crystal. Aerick placed his arms on the sides of her torso and quieted her with a kiss. He reached down, guiding his penis towards her waiting vagina and stabbed deep into her, reveling in the feeling of the moist walls gripping his penis. She cried out in ecstasy, arching her neck back. He thrust once…twice…three times, sending Crystal over the edge. She cried out Aerick’s name as she was drowned in waves of pleasure created by her orgasm. Aerick continued thrusting in and out, building towards his orgasm and sending Crystal towards a second. Without warning, Aerick withdrew from Crystal and rolled onto his back. Crystal was shocked. She was determined to achieve her second orgasm, possibly a third.

She rolled onto his stomach and placed her knees beside his waist, lifting her body into position above his rock-solid member. She placed her hand on his penis, gently guiding it into her dripping wet vagina. As she lowered herself, Aerick and Crystal let out a shared gasp as she speared herself with his penis. She started slowly moving up and down, enjoying the feel of Aerick’s penis inside of her. As Aerick approached his orgasm, Crystal started varying her pace and tensing her muscles, adding to their mutual ecstasy.

As the pair neared orgasm, Aerick started pumping his penis in and out while Crystal bobbed up and down, doubling the pace of their lovemaking. This time, the two of them reached their climax together, and Aerick shot a stream of semen deep into Crystal’s body. Crystal collapsed onto Aerick, her breasts pressing against his chest. The pair lay on the bed, Aerick’s penis still resting inside of Crystal, basking in the afterglow of the moment.

A moment later, Crystal rolled off Aerick and reached into the dresser beside her. She removed out a well-hidden pack of cigarras and pulled out a pair, handing one to Aerick. He looked at her in shock.

“Crystal, honey. When did you start smoking?”

“I didn’t. I was just told by Renn to take them and try one after we slept together. He said it was supposed to enhance…” She trailed off as she lit her cigarra with the lighter that was taped to the pack. She inhaled and shuddered as the full effect of the cigarra’s potent smoke took effect. She blew the smoke at Aerick and lay her head against the wall next to the bed. She continued to smoke the rest of the cigarra, then looked over at Aerick, who still hadn’t lit his. “Aerick, honey. You gotta try some of this.” She watched as he put the cigarra in his mouth, then she reached over and lit it, watching as he inhaled deeply, counted to three, and then exhaled the smoke. He looked over at his fiancée and smiled.

“Crystal, I think I’m going to enjoy being your significant other.”

“Aerick, I think it’s going to be one of the most absorbing relationships you’ve ever had.”

 

The End???

 

 

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the High Flight Chronicles. Rest assured, there will be more. I’m currently working on the next story, to be posted both on my web page and on FanFiction.net.

I’ve had a few people tell me that they found similarities between my characters and those of Michael A Stackpole or Aaron Allston. Most notably, a few people have told me that they find Renn’s behavior oddly similar to Kell Tainer of the Wraith Squadron books. I cannot deny this fact. I drew a lot of my character models and motivations from the Wraith and Rogue Squadron books. Despite the similarities, the characters in this fan fiction (aside from Leonia Tavira, Admiral Ackbar and others) are my brainchildren. And, I do ask that, if you wish to use any of these characters, please ask for permission. I won’t say no just to say no.

In conclusion, I thank you for taking the time to read this and I urge those of you on FanFiction.Net to leave a review. Let me know what you think. If you read this on my web page, e-mail me. I love getting e-mails about my stories. If you find something questionable, don’t hesitate to let me know!

                                                                              David Cohen

                                                                              [email protected]