Grant Bowmark pulled his helmet over his head on his way to the hangar of the Xenomorph. ~Are you sure we're gonna be there in time to do much?~ A pilot in Nemesis Squadron asked.
"No..don't know about that. We should arrive in time to see a few minutes of battle. Hopefully." Grant responded. The squadron lifted out of the hangar. "Okay, let's get moving." Grant commanded. "Hey, Rebecca." He asked.
~Yeah?~ Lt. Caleer said.
"How does it feel? I mean, to be in a new squadron and all." Grant said. After she'd landed at Bakura, Becky had been picked up by a transport and shipped home to the base. Yellow squadron, in the meantime, had been disbanded and the remaining pilots tossed to other squadrons. Caleer had ended up filling in a hole in Nemesis Squadron's roster.
~Not half bad. Let's just get there already!~
Grant chuckled. "Okay, enter hyperspace on my mark....3, 2, 1, mark."
Nemesis Squadron and the four ships under Lance Hendrikson's command, each with an escort fighter squadron out, entered hyperspace towards Yavin IV.
Aria groaned in frustration as she once again had to scatter more of Domino's remaining ground troops from the area Alia was hiding. Aria proceeded to land about 2 km's away from the Academy. Before the repulsors even depressurized, Aria had finished the landing cycle, leaving her weapons on standby and retreating into the next cabin to her common area. Finally annoyed with her long hair falling into her face, Aria grabbed the nearest rope, in this case a cargo rope, and wrapped it around her untamed hair, tying it into a tight bun on her head. With that done she reach down to her holochess table and pushed one of the pieces in an odd pattern. With a swish a compartment opened revealing a bountiful supply of ground weapons. Selecting carefully, Aria grabbed three blaster packs, one full sized blaster, two smaller blaster packs and a holdout blaster from her cache. With another thought, Aria reached back in a grabbed two grenades, a fog activator and her hunting knife. Bending over she placed the fog activator in the heel of her shoe.
Activating her comlink Aria advised Alia to get a move on if she was leaving this piece of rock alive and gave the girl the location and brief description of her ship. Then she programmed her comlink to pick up the battle frequencies and the Academy frequencies. She had not had time to hack her way into Domino's Imperial troops frequency so she would just have to play it by ear. Her clothes were definitely inappropriate for her as she was wearing an Imperial flight uniform, loaned to her by one of Domino's soldiers. 'Oh well, let's hope the Alliance doesn't shoot me before I boost outta here.' Hitting the release hatch on her ship she hustled toward the Academy.
She arrived at the Academy relatively unharmed, couldn't say the same for the group of stormtroopers she ran into on the way over. Of course everything was unorganized chaos. Students bustling everywhere. Alliance troopers trying to keep everything in order and of course she got shot at. `Damn uniform!' she thought, cringing behind a Massassai tree root. "Hold your fire you dunder head! I am here to help Master Skywalker evacuate the remaining students!"
"Remove your utility belt and all weapons, then we will talk."
Aria could feel the presence of other troopers around her and closing in. "All right! I give up, just take me to Master Skywalker and he will explain everything." Aria said, as she deposited everything on the ground in a neat pile, too neat, but her hold-out. She held faithfully to the "Don't tell, and you won't get blasted" policy.
"You aren't going anywhere near Master Skywalker." someone muttered as he/she/it jerked Aria's arm behind her at a painful angle. "Look, I don't have time for this. You ask for my ship, you got it." Talking to them was futile so Aria called out in the Force for aid. No one answered.
"Great!" Aria grumbled and stomped her foot at the same time giving the guard holding her a nudge using the Force. Immediately smoke rose up from her boot, blinding the Alliance soldiers. Aria dove for her weapons and in moments she had her blaster smoothly in hand and with a flick set for stun. Kicking the fogger off her heel, Aria ran headlong for the entrance of the Academy.
The blaster fire was slow in coming, but as soon as the soldiers could see her they began to mercilessly shoot at her fleeing body. "Ugh!" she groaned as a blast met its mark on her right shoulder. She rolled into the Academy door and pressed herself firmly against the wall. She needed a distraction of sorts, but what? Reaching into her weapons pack she deactivated the core of a grenade. Jiggling with the inside of it she was able to program it to explode but removed the main core of the explosive. 'Let's hope this works' With a deep breath, Aria flung the device out of the door and nudge it to land the dock where the students were loading a bunch of cargo.
"IT'S A DETONATOR!!!" someone screamed. And the already chaotic scene out there took a turn for the worse. Aria took advantage of the entropy to hurry down the hall towards the medical center.
When she arrived in the med lab where several people were being prepped for transport, everyone was shocked to see the slim, ebony brown, wild redhead Dathomirian wearing an Imperial uniform. Others moved to protect the wounded from this "threat." Aria was annoyed with the whole lot of them. "de Devastator must be allowing you to leave and he doesn't give that many opportunities."
"This is a fact." Tenel Ka said as she calmly emerged from the group of confused, protective Jedi students. "Welcome back, Aria Ka Djo. I believe evacuations are in order."
Aria was all business again, "The ship is about 1 mile south of here. Grab some transport and I can carry about 60 people comfortably, even more in a squeeze. I also have sufficient med facilities for the wounded. Let's get moving, you guys are the last ones according to the scattered reports I've picked up. Alia should be back at the ship soon."
In the time between the beginning of the battle and the current evacuation, Jason Rashidi had a great idea. Using his comlink, he made sure it was still on his X-Wing's frequency. "Estoo, watch the long range scanners. I want you to alert me the minute the Imperials decide to attack the Academy." With that he continued his trek back with the others.
Upon arriving back, he found the Academy still in almost-complete chaos, with a few exceptions here and there. He also found, surprisingly enough, that his X-Wing was outside. Someone probably towed it outside, or Estoo had taken an opportunity with a hanger opening. He rushed to his quarters, grabbed all his stuff up in a hurry, and came back to his ship, depleted. He stuffed all his stuff in his starfighter, except for his heavy blaster pistol, his utility belt and a datapad with a text on Jedi Lore to read while he waited for either Estoo's signal of approaching Imps or an evacuation order.
Of course, the announcement of invading troops came, followed moments later by an evacuation order.
Bahumut had almost finished his repairs on the shields, when the evacuation order came. He gathered up students and their belongings in his ship, the Dragon Lord, as best he could with the chaotic behavior of the matter, fitting 8 passengers and one co-pilot with reasonable piloting skills, and all their cargo.
Seeing as that he had found out that Jason Rashidi had an X-Wing, he stealthily sneaked up behind him, and scared him half to death. Heads turned as he screamed as though hit by a stormtrooper. Bahumut said, "You sure you were capable of hitting a stormtrooper if he came out of the jungle? You probably would have yelled, fallen of your ship's s-foil, and laid in shock…" Bahumut shook his head. "You want to fly escort with my freighter?" he asked Jason.
Jason replied, "After what you did? Okay, sure, but only because we're in this together…"
Bahamut stated, "I'll send a signal when we're leaving…You'll know it when you see it. I'll give you the coordinates for the Hyperspace route to Hoth while we're in orbit."
Jason had an idea. "I'll just give you the encryption code Estoo, my droid, made for me to use. Here." With that, Jason handed Bahumut a disk holding the code.
Bahumut never usually left until a job was done, but seeing as he had passengers, he decided not to wreak some havoc on the Imps. Also, seeing as he distrusted them, even though having to deal with them to earn credits occasionally, but only when he needed it, he decided to stay as long as possible.
While waiting outside for more transports and freighters to leave, he heard someone nearby shout, "It's a Thermal Detonator!" He whipped out his blaster rifle, caught sight of the explosive, and shot it in mid-air. Him and the people around him sighed a sigh of relief.
Checking the reports, he found out that almost all of the students had left, so he sent an encrypted message to Jason, telling him to take off and head for orbit.
Once in space, he sent the coordinates to Jason, and took off towards Hoth, following his twisted flight plan, with Jason not far behind.
Rayla advanced quickly on Thix, giving him little time to think. He stepped backwards with his blade up, as he was still unsure as to the abilities of his adversary. Unfortunately, his foot caught on a stone, and he stumbled. In that split second his guard was down, and Rayla was upon him. She landed a solid drop-kick to his chest that sent him smashing into the trunk of a large tree.
She followed up with a stomp that might have knocked him out of the battle for a while, but Thix rolled out of the way, and her foot hit the mossy ground. Seeing his chance, Thix swiped at Rayla's legs with his azure lightsaber. She nimbly hopped in the air, avoiding the energy blade. Thix stood and backed away again, putting a couple meters between himself and Rayla.
"Ouch.." Thix said to himself. He found it hard to draw breath; he probably had a bruised rib or two (or ten) to show for that drop-kick.
Rayla came at him again, this time swinging in with a blow towards Thix's neck. Thix got out of the way barely in time and raised his lightsaber over Rayla's unguarded back. This was his opportunity--!
"Uaghh!" Thix felt himself get flung backwards a few feet. He stumbled again and Rayla recovered from her attack attempt and was in an offensive position.
"...Jedi?" Thix mumbled.
"Hardly." She flew at him yet again. Thix felt a blow hit his arm, yet he didn't feel any pain to let him know it had connected. He heard the sound of a lightsaber closing up and was amazed to see it was his, lying on the ground about a meter away. His left arm hung at his side, useless; stunned by a practiced blow by the assassin. These thoughts flew through Thix's mind in a split second; he then realized he had to prepare for a fourth onslaught. Thix went for his blaster.
He didn't hear Rayla anywhere. He spun in a circle slowly, gazing at the clearing where the two commandos' bodies and his ejector chair lay. She had disappeared. 'Where could someone go that quickly in a forest--' A thought entered Thix's mind and he flung himself towards the center of the clearing just as Rayla fell from a high tree branch, her feet connecting right where Thix had been before. '--Trees!'
Thix pulled his blaster up and snapped off three shots in rapid succession. The first and third went far wide, flying to the left and right of Rayla respectively. The second was far from being accurate, it did, however, skim Rayla's shoulder. She appeared unaffected by this new wound, however, and was about to advance once again on Thix, who was bringing his blaster to bear for a second try.
Rayla stopped short, watching the rebel with the blaster.
'That's it?' Thix thought. 'Graze her shoulder with blaster fire and she's done?'
He thought to soon as she jumped into the air, and he reflexively fired his blaster where she once stood. As she flipped in the air, she extracted a dagger from her ankle sheath and drove it into the tender flesh of the fore section of his blaster arm. On the ground, she Grabbed the gun from his hand, and swiftly brought her right leg up and then back down in a powerful axe kick. Thix, who was severely stunned, dropped to the ground like a piece of raw meat.
"Not bad, Jedi. With a little training, you could be a great warrior." She continued as she stooped to stick Thix with a needle full of neuro-toxin, "Lord de Devastator will train you in such a way that you will never face such defeat again."
"I wouldn't be so confident of that, assassin."
Rayla whirled around, wondering who could have approached without her knowing. 'By the Sith, it's the pilot from that other rebel ship that went down near here.....'
It was too late, as she felt the blaster bolt strike her. She had been given just enough warning to prepare for it however, as she absorbed the energy from the shot and gave her full attention to the new arrival.
"My, this moon is just full of Jedi wanna-be's, isn't it." she quipped.
Neb only smirked. "It is a Jedi Academy."
"Not anymore, it isn't." Rayla felt the tiny explosive in her hand. 'This isn't enough to do damage, but that isn't what I prepared them for.'
She let the small charge drop from her hand as she reached with the Force for Thix's lightsaber. The tiny ball of explosive struck the ground and exploded, quickly covering the area with thick, distracting smoke. 'He's got a lightsaber. If he's any good with it I'll know right away. As it stands, I'm no good with them.'
Domino's prize assassin fell to the ground and rolled a full meter from where she once stood. She heard the distinctive hiss of her enemy engaging his lightsaber. She leapt to her feet and somersaulted in the air, another two meters closer to her opponent, engaging Thix's lightsaber as she flew. She was startled to see the blade of a lightsaber rushing to meet her frame as she landed. 'Yup. He's good with a lightsaber.' she thought as she parried the blow just enough to flip away from Neb.
'And strong with the Force too. He's a league above me as far as that goes.' Rayla held on to the lightsaber, though she had little training in the use of one, and stayed within the confines of her smoke cloud. 'Sure could use some back-up, but I don't dare call anyone for that. Domino would lose confidence in me.'
Drawing on what she knew about this pilot, she attempted to drive him toward making mistakes. "Your beloved Jedi Academy is lost, my friend. Many of your comrades are dead or have fled. Perhaps you should flee as well."
When Alia had received the call from Aria, she and Neb had tried to return to the Academy as fast as possible, only to run right into the middle of another battle- Thix and Rayla. Neb had pulled a blaster and gone after Rayla with a vengeance. Alia, seeing plainly there was nothing she could do, shrank back among the trees, praying not to be seen. She could hear Thix's labored breathing, a sure sign he was still alive. As the dust rose from the assassin's explosive device, she had remembered it as a trick often used to confuse the hunter so the prey could either escape or attack. Shielding her eyes as she had been taught to, she could make out Rayla's form closing in towards Neb.
Alia pointed Neb in the right direction and clenched her teeth as she watched them close in on each other.
Neb stretched out with his mind and easily found the approximate location of Rayla within the smoke cloud.
"Actually," he replied to her inquiry, "I'd love to get off of this rock. However, I'm not doing it without my comrade over there. So, you have one chance to tuck your tail between your legs and go running back to de Devastator. And believe me, I have a little Zuu Shi friend who wouldn't mind hearing that you aren't around any more. So, make your choice." Neb's gaze wavered for half an instant to the new girl who approached. He wasn't sure if she was friend or foe, until she signaled toward Rayla. He nodded briefly and carefully approached the smoke cloud, his danger sense as sensitive as it could be.
"Okay," Bel Iblis asked his technical officer, "How many E and K wings remain?"
"Well, sir, since we haven't had many fighter engagements since deploying them, we've only lost one E and two K wings. So we have almost 60 of each."
"Okay. Launch them, and half of the other remaining fighters. Have the bombers attack, with the fighters flying cover. I want every Temple on the planet destroyed. We'll spread out our attack, go in fast and furious. How long will it take?"
"Well sir, with the deployment you laid out, it is likely that the Imperials will think these are being deployed to cover our evacuation. Therefore, we should have over half of the temples destroyed in the first 15 minutes, without any interference. After that, we'll be closer to the targets, but with more resistance."
"All right. Launch now, and if the cost stops being worth the reward, we'll pull out.
"How goes the evacuation?"
"All non-essential personnel and essential equipment has left the surface, as have all injured and most of the recoverable dead. Most missing pilots are accounted for as well. We've pulled out two thirds of the ground forces, with the rest keeping a closer perimeter. We can have the entire compound empty within 30 minutes. That is, barring any complications in moving Mrs Skywalker or her inebriated companions." "I still don't understand what possessed Skywalker to start drinking in the middle of a battle. All right, if they give you any trouble, stun them all and drag them onto the transports. We'll worry about any complaints when we're all safe and sound."
Bel Iblis glanced at his screen. More transports had docked with the Septers and his battle group, and the fighters were almost to the first targets. He made one more note before moving on. "Make sure you go after the temples that the Imps were already at last. Chances are there isn't much left there. And take out the temples by orbital bombardment from the capital ships where appropriate."
The Deception could still be found in one of the Pride of de Devastator's docking bays. It looked as if the battle was nearly over, and the smuggler vessel hadn't even fired a single shot to help out. Apparently, the Deception's weapons capabilities weren't quite up to Imperial par and she hadn't been able to join in the events taking place above Yavin IV. 'No matter', Zaierra Kaveron thought as she marched onto the bridge of her freighter, 'if you deal with circumstances the right way, they inevitably turn out to your advantage'.
A solitary crewman was standing in front of the nav console with his back to her. "Peridan," she said in a soft, yet commanding voice, "turn around and let's begin this little meeting."
Peridan turned, a puzzled expression on his face. "Why aren't we having this conversation somewhere more private?"
"Because who would think we'd be discussing an important matter in such an obvious place?" she returned. "We've been taking refuge on Deominia for far too long now. This is the first time the ship has been taken out for any real distance in months! Anyway, it seems like we're letting a very valuable object practically sit out in the open. I feel it's about time we changed that."
"Right!" Peridan said excitedly, knowing instantly what his captain had in mind. "When should we begin the preparations?"
"Shortly after we've received Lord Domino's payment for our small hand in this Yavin affair. Notify the rest of the crew, but tell them not to rush anything. I don't want to raise anyone's suspicions."
Peridan nodded an affirmative before exiting the bridge. Zaierra removed a small datacard from the pouch at her side. It was almost time to put the knowledge it held to use.
Rayla smirked. 'Doesn't this Jedi know that goading me will only make me stronger, especially if I actually become angry.' She could tell he knew where she was, but the distraction of the smoke had given her a little time. 'Not like I ever get angry though.'
"I remember this Zuu Shi you speak of. Believe me, I'm more than ready for him the next time he crosses my path."
Neb thought about that briefly. 'More than ready?' What could that mean?'
"The way I heard it, assassin, you were completely out of your league. Lucky to get away." Neb allowed himself to grin. 'That ought to get her nerf.'
"This has gone on long enough." Darin de Devastator remarked. "They aren't evacuating fast enough. Let's force them to flee, since they aren't leaving yet."
The first officer approached her quickly. "Grand Admiral, our sensors show 60 Alliance fighter craft launching from the rebel fleet. They appear to be flying down to cover the evacuation, but they are E and K wing class ships."
"Bombers and superiority fighters." Darin commented. "No, they won't be covering anything. The rebels are up to something. Inform my cousin of this situation."
She turned to look out the view port. "And Admiral, scramble a wing of TIE Interceptors to back up the squadrons we have down there already."
Domino was talking to the Jedi students who had surrendered when the call came in from orbit. "Judas, you and your comrades shall be rewarded for seeing the right path and following it."
"My Lord! The rebels have launch 60 fighters. The ships are descending through the atmosphere as we speak."
Domino only shut his eyes for a moment and reached out through the Force, sensing the future. His eyes quickly snapped open. "They are going to attempt to destroy the temples. Send in the TIE squadrons who were covering our ground forces. We have nothing to fear from the Alliance in the form of a ground attack. Let's knock those rebels down."
The remaining TIE Defenders, Advanced, and Interceptors (of which there were still 4 full squadrons of mixed ships) quickly assumed an intercept course to meet with the rebel fighters.
On the opposite side of the moon, the 49 ships of the Imperial scanning team changed their course to meet the Alliance fighters in accordance with Domino's orders.
"All pilots, our orders haven't changed much. We're still to prevent rebels from destroying the temples. They've launched E and K wings to do the job, since most of their personnel has already fled the planet."
The mission commander looked at his sensors. "Let's step it up. They're already on our scanners."
"That's it, then." Darin said. "Time to give the rebel fleet a sting they won't soon forget. How are our fighter squadrons holding up?"
The tactical officer answered her. "Admiral, of our fighters, 45% have either participated in the ground battle or are dealing with the rebel fighters on Yavin IV as I speak. We still hold 55% of our fighter wings in reserve." The officer paused a moment, looking at his datapad. "This gives us 22 full wings of TIE fighters. 10 Interceptor wings, 5 Defender wings, 3 Advanced wings and 4 Bomber wings."
"Get the pilots to their ships." Darin demanded. "We're going to break the will of the Rebel Alliance today."
Almost as quick as thought, Rayla shot off two darts from her wrist launcher. One toward Neb, and one at the girl in the bushes. Neb, in tune with the Force, effortlessly blocked the dart that would have lodged in his neck.
Alia was startle as the tiny dart struck the branch of the bush by her face. 'I'm not safe no matter where I sit.'
As Neb brought his guard up again, Rayla was nearly on top of him, swinging Thix's blade down on his neck. Neb parried the blow that would have beheaded him, but his motions were slightly off-balance, which caused him to lose his footing. Fortunately, Rayla had little business holding a lightsaber, so she was knocked back by Neb's strong defense.
'I guess this saber will only help me if I'm not attacking with it.' Rayla thought. Disengaging the lightsaber, she pulled her whip from her belt and prepared to face the Jedi with the skills she did have.
Neb stood to his feet quickly and observed the assassin as she turned off Thix's saber and uncoiled the whip she hung on her hip. 'Is this a joke?' he mused.
Rayla advanced on Neb cautiously, not closing in too quickly.
Neb was all defense, ready for Rayla to strike. He was surprised when he felt a ringing in his ears, and even more surprised when it became a palpable pain that caused his muscles to completely lock and as his body became rigid and tense. Rayla chose that moment to strike.
She lashed out with the whip, grabbing the hilt of the lightsaber with the coil and jerking it from the Jedi's grip like a bully stealing fizzyglug from a tot. Then she moved in quickly and spun around, driving her heal into Neb's face, breaking his nose. He staggered back several meters before landing on the ground, but he overcame the pain through the Force and was back on his feet in a flash. Or so he thought.
As Rayla landed the kick to Neb, Alia drew her blaster and began to shoot at the assassin, one shot after another. Rayla became startled and fled, dropping Thix's lightsaber and her whip (a simple weapon, no great loss) as she ran to safety.
The prize assassin of Domino de Devastator was no where to be seen.
Lieutenant Chyrad had been demoted from TIE Defender pilot to TIE Interceptor pilot just before the Assault on Yavin IV. It was either that or contest the fact that he had been inebriated on duty in Captain Delsin's Omega Battle Group. His commanding officer knew he was a good soldier, so he informed Chyrad that he would see the charges dropped if Chyrad took the controls of an Interceptor for 6 months.
'Or until I make amends for my crime. That happens now!'
Lt. Chyrad was flying with the scanner group over the far side of Yavin. He was indeed in the pilots seat of a TIE Interceptor. When the call came to engage the Alliance fighters, he was pumped full of adrenaline and ready to live or die for the glory of the Empire.
Chyrad tagged the rebel fighters on his screen first. "This is Fiend 4. Rebs are on my scopes, I'm moving to engage. Cover me Fiend 3."
~I'm right on your back, Fiend 4.~
"They're right up ahead, 4 klicks, just slightly to port. Let's pound 'em to the ground."
Chyrad brushed his hand over the throttle, bringing the Interceptor up to full speed, his wing man matching speed with him. Just as he was within range, his thumb tickled the firing button on his flight stick. Within moments the two Interceptors were alone where there had once been three rebel fighters with them. The dogfighting erupted over Yavin IV once again.
In orbit over Yavin IV, Alpha and Omega Battle Groups were moving in to bring their weapons to bear on the Alliance fleet. The rebels responded viciously. Three Corellian Corvettes had surrounded an Imperial Escort Carrier, thinking they would dismantle it, but the carrier launched wave after wave of TIE fighters that began to crawl over the corvettes like devouring insects on a carcass.
As hardy and strong willed as the Alliance Navy was revered to be, they were totally outgunned. They began to pull away from the Imperial onslaught.
~Grand Admiral de Devastator, this is Captain Delsin.~
"Go ahead, Captain." Darin replied.
~Lord de Devastator gave orders to let them flee. We've been pummeling them for nearly twenty minutes, suffering losses, but wiping them down to only two thirds of their remaining forces. Tactical has informed me that the remainder of their fighters have begun to retreat from their assault on the moon. We should pull back.~
"Duly noted, Captain." Darin didn't like it, but the officer was right and she did respect his opinion.
Darin switched over to the fleet frequency. "Alpha and Omega, fall back. Give the Alliance time to retreat. If they choose to remain here, we're going to move in once more and hit them harder than before."
Darin stared out the view port at the remaining Alliance ships. She grabbed the com one more time. "And move in fast and furious if they begin bombarding the moon."
The battle of the fighters on the Jedi moon had turned chaotic just after it began. The E wings had achieved their goal on the first temple they attacked, blasted it into memory, but the full complement of Imperial fighters had arrived, making things difficult for the E and K wing squadrons.
"Fiend 3, I've got a reb stuck on my tail. Peel him off for me, if you don't mind." Lt. Chyrad called to his wing man.
STATIC. 'Nothing but static. Vergoss is gone.' Chyrad knew there would be ample time to remember his buddy after the battle, as he kicked his fighter up onto it's side and turned it on its axis toward the ground. The K-Wing followed the TIE into the dive. Chyrad began to execute a corkscrew pattern, then pulled the Interceptor into a level flight and immediately performed a full tight loop. The K wing pilot hadn't been able to keep up with Chyrad's years of experience, and found himself the victim of hot green laser fire from the cannons of Chyrad's TIE.
"Fiend 4, fall back. The rebels are running. We're through for now".
On Yavin IV, Domino was speaking to Commander Krith and General Tamar. "It's time to start pulling out. We're done here. The Alliance has fled. You are both to be commended for your work this day."
Just then, Rayla approached the Dark Lord. Domino turned and smiled, then frowned. "I sense your failure, my prize, but you performed admirably."
"SITHDRIBBLE! I must be trained with a lightsaber! I will be, I need to be!"
Domino nodded to her as if to say he would indeed train her, then turned to observe his forces.
Across the camp, Dark Jedi and Sith Warriors were giving aid to the wounded Imperial troops. AT-AT's were being prepped for transport, Speeders were being cooled off. Domino turned and regarded the main temple of Yavin IV, just 5 kilometers away. "Today was a good day to fight."
Major Lance Hendrikson's fleet left hyperspace in unison. Immediately the workers on the bridge of the Xenomorph erupted into frenzied talking with reports and data their sensors were picking up. Lance saw the four squadrons that had been deployed before entering hyperspace shoot out to join in the melee. Within the first few seconds the outcome of the battle was abundantly clear; the Imps had the upper hand, and it looked like Yavin IV was going to belong to the Imperials today. They received word from a captain commanding a frigate near their position.
~Where have you been?! We've suffered heavy casualties! You've arrived just in time..to cover our retreat! Most of our ships are damaged heavily! Could you take an offensive position?~
"Gladly, Taserstorm. We're launching remaining fighter craft. Have any targets for us to pick on?" Lance replied, signaling the remaining fighters on the four ships to launch with all due haste and giving the order to fire at anything Imperial that came too close.
~Affirmative. There's an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer directly in front of you, Xenomorph. We took out most of it's frontal shielding but were driven back before we could finish it off!~ The captain sounded a bit resigned to the fact that they'd lost this battle.
"I'm redirecting all B-Wing and two squadrons of A-Wing fighter craft and the Lightbringer to take her down; with that firepower she should be space dust in a few moments. Carry on."
Lance had the distinct feeling that Sullust was repeating itself. The Lightbringer, a heavy Mon Calamari star cruiser, was too slow to keep up with the faster A and B-Wings. They reached their target before the larger ship and began immediate bombing runs on the frontal area of the ship. Like the Taserstorm had said, the front shields didn't stand up very long, and about the time the Lightbringer reached the area, proton torpedoes were ripping through durasteel armor. TIE fighter craft were engaging the B-Wings and their escort A-Wings now; losses were heavier than anticipated. Still, with the supportive turbolasers of the Mon Cal, they had enough manpower to continue unloading ordnance into the ship.
About this time three other Imperial capital ships took notice in the beating their friend was taking; and Lance was forced to move in the rest of his fighters and ships to cover the bombing operation. Four out of the five X-Wing squadrons had headed for the moon; they'd be there soon. They were escorting a single medical transport in case there was anyone left on the ground. The fifth squadron was the infamous Black Squadron, the squadron whose personnel was comprised of lunatical zealots who thought the only way to get to heaven was by dying in battle and taking as many enemies with you as possible. They had tossed themselves at a Victory-Class Star Destroyer; Lance didn't expect to see many of them back on board when they moved out.
Alia watched the assassin flee, keeping the blaster trained on her back until she disappeared into the woods. As soon as she had figured the danger had passed, she dropped the gun and knelt by Neb's side. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" he asked as she dug into the pack for an extra blaster carbine and the first aid kit.
"My father. He always insisted I was a good shot with the blaster."
"Smart guy."
Alia glared at him a little before realizing he was a complete stranger, it almost felt like she had known him forever. "Yeah," she sighed, finding the kit," I suppose he was. Well, I don't have a Bacta tank, but I've got a small Pydyrian healing stick. It might work just as well."
He smiled. "Thanks."
"Where's the other Jedi? The one she was fighting when we arrived?"
Neb shrugged. "Somewhere over there, I guess." As they spoke, Thix pulled himself into view and plopped back down near Neb. "She's gone, huh?"
"Yeah," Alia said, sitting down with them, "but we may have a problem." She looked up and the ship Mistress Skywalker had described as Aria's was lifting up as she spoke. "She's gone, and so's my ride out of here."
She looked up in almost despair and saw Teg flying around the branches. He landed on her shoulder and started picking at her hair. "Teg get thing back now?"
The Imperial Star Destroyer exploded brilliantly, the shards of it's metal plating flying outward across space in an arc of flaming debris. This small victory had cost Lance a squadron's worth of fighter craft, all A and B-Wing class. The Lightbringer had suffered 25 or so percent shield damage to her front and starboard shields, but no hull damage.
~Sir, we've targeted a nearby Victory Star Destroyer. At the rate of damage it is taking, it should be destroyed in approximately nine minutes.~ A cruiser called Retaliation reported in.
"Thanks, Retaliation. We're dispatching reloaded B-Wing fighters to assist you, as well as our other ships. Be aware that the Imperial fleet ships are closing on our position. We're going to have to take this one out and back off to the others."
~Copy, Xenomorph. Retaliation out.~
Grant and Nemesis Squadron hit the atmosphere of Yavin IV ready to dogfight some Imps. There were only a few squadrons of Imperials in the atmosphere of Yavin IV, though. They'd received orders on the way down to take out an occasional Temple with spare missiles if they had the chance (this had confused Grant somewhat). They had just flown over an area not far from the Academy Temple when Grant saw a new blip on his radar, one that was a bit faint and kept flickering on and off. When he got close enough to the site, he saw it was a transmitter signal from a Nemesis Squadron ejector chair; and only one pilot from Nemesis Squadron wasn't with them right now.
"Thix!" Rebecca said. "He got clear, right? He ejected, right, that's what that signal means?"
"Yeah, he got clear, but I don't know what's up with him." Grant brought his X-Wing down for a closer look.
Thix gasped in pain as he sat near Alia and Neb. The dagger thrown by Rayla was still embedded in his arm. There was a bit of blood oozing out of the wound; Thix knew if he pulled it free it would bleed freely. He pulled a medical pack from his flight suit with his left arm (which still stung from Rayla's stun blow) and began to work on his other wounds. He gave himself an injection of painkiller, but it took a while to kick in.
"So, I really got nailed by that Rayla character, huh?" Thix asked the pair in front of him.
"Look at yourself; I'd say that pretty much answers the question!" Alia said, a bird perched on her shoulder. True enough statement; Thix was bleeding in many places from cuts and scrapes, then you had the prominent knife wound that was driving him crazy.
Suddenly Thix heard the sound of droning engines above them, and looked up. An X-Wing hovered above them, it's green stripes (reminiscent of Green Squadron days) told Thix a comrade was flying near.
"Did you say something about not having a ride? I think your problems are solved."
"So where're we at now Hawk?" Nathan asked as the Lumchugger spilled out of hyperspace.
Hawk was transfixed by what lay beyond the cockpit window as he answered in a dull, sick tone. "Yavin. Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. I think coming here was a bad idea."
Nathan began to turn green as he looked out the cockpit window himself. "Partner, that was the understatement of the century."
The two wanna-be smugglers had waltzed right onto the outer perimeter of a ferocious space battle in progress, and with their port stabilizers damaged from the Ssi-ruuvi patrol near Bakura, Hawk was not too excited about blasting off to a safer place.
"I'm going to try to sneak around to the other side and get under cover of the atmosphere, then double back toward the academy. With any luck, We'll find someone willing to offer us some aid."
Hawk's plan sounded terrible to Nathan, but he wasn't the pilot.
"Grand Admiral, ISD Pandemonium and VSD Magog have been destroyed. A new element of Alliance craft have arrived. They have thrown quite a bit of trouble our way." the tactical officer reported to Darin.
Darin de Devastator was completely nonplussed. Here they were, graciously giving the Alliance a chance to get away with what they had, and the rebels asked for more. "Then we'll give them some trouble." she responded. "Launch all remaining TIE wings. Keep the carriers back with the Star Galleons and Carrack Cruisers. Let's broaden the formation as we hit them with three wedges of Star Destroyers. The Lancers will ride with the first and third wedge, spaced to cover the flanks of three or four Star Destroyers each." She paused to check the tactical scanners. ""How many Strike cruisers remain?"
"3 of the original five, Admiral."
"They will ride cover for the second wedge in lieu of the Lancers." Darin was beside herself with anger for taking Captain Delsin's advice earlier when they had the Alliance right where they wanted them.
"If they won't retreat when we let them, they'll surely die when we let them!"
Lt. Chyrad heard the call from his squadron commander just as he pulled his Interceptor into formation with the rest of the scanning team.
~Fiend Squadron, we have a new element visiting the Yavin IV atmosphere. Four rebel squadrons have just arrived to make a nuisance of themselves. Let's play a requiem for them.~
The way Chyrad saw it, he could either live through this day and see himself in the cockpit of a beautiful TIE Defender again, or he could die with the knowledge that he had robbed many rebel pilots of the opportunity to lead a peaceful life one day. Either way, he would be happy to serve the Lord Domino de Devastator and ultimately, Emperor Palpatine.
Fiend squadron was joined by nearly seven full squadrons of various TIE models. A far cry from the nearly two wings that had been fighting the rebel fighters just minutes before. With the arrival of the four rebel squadrons, the retreating Alliance fighters had their will to fight renewed. Several rebel fighters broke off from the main group, heading towards the main temple. They were ignored by the Imperials.
As the charging clouds of starfighters merged together, explosions lit the evening sky, lighting the ground beneath them as if it were noon on Yavin IV.
Chyrad was living his dream in moments like these. He was grateful for the wonder of Imperial technology he was flying. With shields on his ship, he would have been a juggernaut of explosive death. Without shields, he was a dervish, spinning wildly through the fray, cutting down worthy foe after worthy foe. Spinning the TIE on its axis as he cut the power on the throttle, his opponent would overshoot him and fly right into his crosshairs. Pushing his throttle all the way to redline and diving for the ground, his enemy would attempt to follow him and overcorrect when he cut his throttle and pulled into a spiral half loop, sending his enemy in front of him once again. His mental counter had already marked off six confirmed kills in this dogfight alone.
The rebels were making headway against the Imperial TIE squadrons. Well over 8 full TIE squadrons at the beginning of the engagement had become just over five squadrons. Unfortunately, the Alliance fighters, starting the fight with 70+ fighters, now had only 30 left. Still outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, the Alliance fighters kept on fighting.
"Fiend 7, you've got an X-wing putting the make on you. I'll tag him." Lt. Chyrad called. 'Eight kills! I'm on fire today!'
Twenty-four minutes, and some ferocious fighting, later, The rebels retreated hoping to find their way back onto their carriers.
"Well Hawk, what do we have?" Nathan asked over the com as he prepared his weapons.
Hawk scanned the scene. "We have desolation. We have a battle-torn little world. We have a fairly large Imperial war party off to starboard about six klicks away. We have an ugly atmospheric dogfight straight ahead about 16 klicks, massive explosions. You really ought to take a look."
"I'll pass. What else?"
Hawk continued, "To port, about 12 klicks distant, we have three X-wings hovering about seven meters off the ground. I'll go to the port side option, it looks to be the safest."
Two of the aforementioned X wings picked up the freighter as it approached and moved to intercept it. They were preparing to attack it first and ask questions later when it hailed them.
"This is Captain hawk Castle of the Lumchugger. Do you need assistance?"
'Lumchugger? I know that ship.' Becky thought.
~Lumchugger,~ Becky answered, ~this is Lt Caleer. Fancy meeting you boys here! As a matter of fact, we have three Alliance soldiers in need of a transport off this rock. Can you help?~
Back on the 'Chugger Hawk was all grins. "Lt. Caleer, we must stop meeting like this. We'd be happy to give assistance." Hawk was now hovering over Neb, Alia, and Thix as he spoke. "Where we heading?"
~Becky, can we trust this pilot?~ Grant called.
"It's okay Grant. These guys helped me out of a bind not too long ago. They have hearts of gold."
Becky informed Hawk that he would be escorted to an Alliance carrier where they would have to remain for the time being, but it would be as safe a place as any in the galaxy for the time being.
Hawk consented.
On board the Lumchugger, Nathan made sure the new passengers were comfortable and tended to the wounds of both Neb and Thix as the three X wings escorted the freighter to the Xenomorph.
The first wedge of Imperial Star Destroyers ripped into the bulk of the rebel fleet that had not yet fled to hyperspace. The Lancer frigates, designed for the express purpose of engaging starfighters were performing the task of keeping the Alliance fighters off the bigger ships, as the TIE's zigged in and out of the rebel ranks, scoring kill after kill. The tactic was costly for the Empire, as two of the four Lancers, three of the five ISD's and one of the four VSD's were lost. As for the TIE fighters, nearly all were destroyed. The rebels began to depart.
Then the second wedge began to plow though. Mon Cal cruisers traded blows with Imp Star Deuces and Strike-class Cruisers parried with Nebulon B Frigates, as the TIE squadrons finally became an overwhelming presence for the Alliance fighter craft.
One MC80 was ripped to shreds, as well as two Black Scepters. The rebel fighters that had flown to planet side were beginning to rush into their hangars, as more Alliance ships retreated to hyperspace.
One Strike Cruiser was lost, along with one ISD and one VSD. only twelve TIE's were lost from the second wedge.
~Xenomorph, this is Nemesis two. We're the last to be accounted for. We'll be flying in at a steady clip, if that's okay.~
"Steady as she goes, Grant. We'll be ready with the tow hooks and fire crews.
The three nemesis X wings and the Lumchugger were just entering the hangar of the ship as it blasted into hyperspace.
The third wedge was moving in on the remainder of the rebel fleet. Only five ships were left as Grand Admiral de Devastator's wedge approached. From Yavin IV, four ships (three X wings and a freighter) flew into the big carrier. Then all five remaining rebel ships disappeared.
"It is over." Darin muttered, mostly to herself.
"Captain Delsin, What is left of Alpha and Omega?" Grand Admiral Darin de Devastator was not exactly excited to hear the report, but it was the first thing she wanted to do after the last Alliance vessel had retreated to hyperspace.
Delsin stood before his senior officer and held his datapad for show only. This information was engraved on his brain. He had not wanted to execute the wedge attacks. "Alpha Battle Group entered the Yavin system with the following: one Super Star Destroyer, 13 Imperial Star Destroyers, 8 Victory Star Destroyers, 5 Escort Carriers, 4 Lancer Frigates, 4 Carrack Cruisers, and 1 Star Galleon. The remaining ships for Alpha are the SSD, 6 ISD's, 5 VSD's, and 2 Lancer Frigates. The Carriers, Carrack Cruisers, and Star Galleon were untouched"
Delsin hung his head for a moment, then gave off the statistics for Omega Battle Group. "OBG entered the Yavin system with 11 ISD's, 8 VSD's, 5 Strike Cruisers, 4 Escort Carriers, 4 Lancer Frigates, 2 Carrack Cruisers, and 1 Star Galleon. The remaining ships for Omega are 6 ISD's, 2 VSD's, 4 Lancer Frigates, 2 Strike Cruisers, 3 Escort Carriers, the Star Galleon and the 2 Carrack Cruisers."
Delsin was at a loss. He hadn't witnessed such a loss of life of his own men in many years. It was hard for him to face that now.
"Well done Captain." Darin commended him. "You should be proud of Omega Battle Group. They have all served the Empire well this day."
Darin turned to her first officer. "Admiral, commence the pickup operation of the ground forces."
"Lt. Chyrad, have you been flying an Interceptor today?" the flight commander asked him as he stepped out of his ship.
Chyrad saluted, then replied. "Yes sir!"
"I can't imagine why." the officer responded. "You belong in a Defender. Report to Colonel Strug, Gore Squadron at 09:00 hour, after you take a well deserved nap."
Removing his helmut, Chyrad clicked his heels together smartly and saluted. "Yes sir!" he said with a slight grin on his face.
Tenel Ka quickly provided her ex-student with the appropriate clothing and left as Aria changed. The girl knew the temple like the back of her hand and Tenel Ka had other things of more import to attend to. "See you on the ship." Aria muttered, replacing her weapons belt over the smooth Dathomirian reptilian armor. Her hold out was clearly visible now so Aria slapped on an arm band to detract from its appearance. She dropped her remaining Sullstan Annihilator into the utility belt and jogged down to the main area.
By the time she had gotten down there, most of the drunken celebrators had left on the first speeders out of the temple. Luke apparently was en route to the ship and Mara was long gone on the first transport out. Most of the ground troops were deserting the empty Academy hall and Aria refused to look back as the crew finished setting the last of the detonators on the building structure. The Alliance decided not to leave this temple standing.
"Much better." A guy's voice purred behind her.
Spinning around, Aria had her blaster up and ready to shoot whoever it was. The guy quickly threw his hands up in surrender. "Hey, no harm in looking."
"By whose rules?" Aria growled, clearly removing the stun setting on the blaster.
"Calm down. Besides, you are gonna have to put up with me for a long time." He gave her a wise cracking grin.
Aria refused to take the bait he so obviously laid for her and instead chose to look this man over. He wasn't very tall, he was eye level more specifically, and he wasn't very built. He did look like he could handle a blaster, if needed and his malt brown hair was a little too long and kept falling into his face.
"Name's Niah, Miles Niah. I piloted the A wing that followed you down to Yavin, unidentified pilot." Again another mischievous grin.
Aria's comlink burst with static at that moment and she heard the report that the Imperials were mounting a counter strike. `Guess Lord Domino doesn't appreciate them destroying the temples.' she mused, until she heard reports of dogfighting around the coordinates where her ship was hiding. "Isquitare!" she cursed. "Miah, or whatever you are, if you got something to say, make it quick!"
"What's your com freq? A couple of A wings are gonna escort you outta here."
"I don't need an escort!" Aria bristled, but just then Tenel Ka jogged by.
"Let's move." she commanded.
"Just dial 130 Hz under the Alliance freq and you will pick me up from there." Aria yelled as she ran for the last transport. "And you are getting on my nerves already Tenel Ka." she muttered.
"This is a fact." Tenel Ka's voice echoed in Aria's mind.
The transport made it almost to the ship before it fell under attack. Leaving behind the transport everyone headed to the ship on foot, only to be pinned 100 meters from the ship by a group of determined stormtroopers. About a minute into the fight Aria felt the need to hurry everyone to the ship, something was wrong. One look at Tenel Ka's grim face and Aria knew the Dathomirian warrior felt the danger too. Another Alliance soldier went down and blaster fire increased. Resigned, Aria started chanting, "Exe ate malerey, Exe ate maleray."
Tenel Ka was startled and the Alliance soldiers thought the girl had lost her mind. Everyone's doubts ceased to exist when they heard a low whine in the distance. Aria was trembling but still continued to chant, she needed more of them. More if they were gonna get to the ship alive. Without looking up or opening her eyes, Aria commanded them in a weird, strained voice, "Break to the right at a 30 degrees from here, when the animals attack you will have an opening to get to the ship. Go now!" The soldiers scrambled for the opening after Tenel Ka's nod.
This was harder to do. Aria was controlling and suggesting to animals who exactly is the prey and who was a friend, allowing the Alliance group to slip through unnoticed. It was even more difficult because Aria had trouble concentrating and was rusty when it came to this application of the Force. Still she held on delicately to about fifteen creatures minds. Tenel Ka laid a hand on Aria's shoulder helping to straighten the girl's hold on their new allies minds.
The attack was furious and quick and horrific. Aria lost control of them when one of the animals was blasted by a stormtrooper. Her scream could be heard throughout the forest as she moved in with blaster blazing. Anger seized her and with a thought a soldiers weapon misfired, knocking him out. Starting another chant Aria pushed back another trooper causing the branches of the Massassai to land on his head. The area her and Tenel Ka just vacated was filled with enemy ship fire.
Someone was pulling Aria away from the fray and toward the ship. She didn't get back to her senses until she was on board the ship and everyone was staring at her. Some of the students scuttled away from her frightened. Without a word, Aria moved to the cock pit, sealed the door and initiated lift off. She could hear Mrs. Skywalker informing the Alliance that remaining students and her and Luke were away.
The return to space was considerably easier seeing how her unwanted escorts kept everything away from her ship. Aria drifted right outside the fight zone, waiting for coordinates from the Alliance and berating herself for losing control. Luckily she had not scarred her face but she was pretty close to misusing her powers. Aria felt Tenel Ka approaching and with a sigh removed the lock out from the cock pit and let the grey-eyed girl sit in the co-pilots seat.
They sat in silence and watched the Alliance valiantly fight and honorably die. This appeared to definitely be de Devastator's victory.
"He is one with the Force," Tenel Ka said, breaking the silence.
"He had nothing to do with this battle. I should never have asked for their help."
"If you hadn't, all of us would be dead. And possibly everyone you risked your life to get on this ship would be dead as well."
"Is this a fact?" Aria mocked her. "Well understand this, I am out of this battle as soon as I unload all of you."
"Is this a fact?" Tenel Ka asked, challenging the high-spirited girl.
Aria put her headphones on to monitor the transmissions and start to hack into the Imperial frequencies. Tenel took that moment to slip out.
Several elite squads of Imperial storm commandos had been busily sneaking after the rebel teams that were sabotaging the academy buildings. Their appointed task was to make certain that the rebels did not perform a "scorched earth" tactic as they had done on Mechis III. Following the rebel team from a distance, they were able to disarm most of the explosives that would annihilate the Massassi temples of Yavin IV.
"Sir, the Academy is completely evacuated, and Captain Calluna has reported in from the Xenomorph."
"Good," Bel Iblis replied. "What about the fighters?"
"We destroyed about 2 of the temples before you called back the fighters to cover our assets. They're ready to get out of here when you are, sir." "Well, I'm ready. Did the final commando squad do as they were told?"
"Yes sir. Just give the order."
Bel Iblis thought for a moment. "All right, the order is given. Send hyperspace coordinates to the fleet, followed by 'Twisted.' They won't be able to follow us, at least. And right before the jump, feel free to push the button yourself."
"Aye Aye, sir."
As the Rebels started to pull back, the Imperials gave them some breathing room. Their objective had been completed, and the Rebels were beating a hasty retreat.
Bel Iblis' tactical officer sent the hyper coordinates, properly modified for the Cracken Twist, then pushed a button on the console in front of him. On the surface, the temples that had made up the Academy exploded in a brilliant fireball. The Imperial forces, which had just begun to advance upon their prize, were lightly damaged, taking a few casualties from the blast, and the rest from large chunks of debris that peppered them. Moments later, the order was given. "Twisted!"
With that, the remainders of the Rebel fleet surged out of real space toward their next destination.
MOVE ON TO PART V
RETURN TO
THE
ARCHIVES
This page hosted by Geocities
Get your own Free Home Page