by Sazril "Yale" Murshid

Chapter 1

The person who was getting no rest was Capt. Neill 'Ranger' Magill, Red Squadron's training officer. At the moment, he was conducting a live fire test with Red Squadron's trainees. Due to Ranger's combat status, he spent most of his time on the Regis as a Combat Wing pilot. But whenever he had the chance he would always try to train the cadets himself.

The temporary reassignment was what he needed to get himself reacquainted with the trainees. Besides, if he did not take them out today, the other temporary 'trainers' would try to get them in the starfighter sims again. The trainees must have spent more time in the sims these last two weeks than they had in their normal year long training schedule.

"TW 5, on your left and slightly low, sir," responded FC Andrew 'Cool Head' Raymond.

"TW 7 standing by, sir," FC Shamy 'Jaguar' Lukin answered as he formed up on the left side of Cool Head.

"I know most of you hate Y-wings but for this training mission you'll appreciate them. If you check, you'll find that you are fully armed and loaded with real torpedoes. So listen carefully to what I'm going to say. I chose the Y-wings because they can carry more torpedoes than the X-wing. It reduces the number of times we have to reload for this training run."

"No, we'll return to base for that. We'll be doing this by the numbers. Three klicks away you can see the shuttle 'Tow 1'. The shuttle is piloted by Capt. Steve Naylor. All of you know him by his callsign, Rapier. He is towing a drone at a distance of twenty meters behind the shuttle for the first round of this training session. That drone is your target. On my mark, move to a distance of 2.5 klicks from the target and try to acquire a target lock on the drone. If any of you even try to get a lock on the shuttle you will be personally dealt with by Rapier. Understood?"

Meanwhile, back on Red Base, Red Squadron's Commanding Officer and Executive Officer were busy writing reports about their last mission. Two weeks of doing paperwork was starting to get to them.

"You know, Kelly," Lt. Cmdr. Robert 'Kyp' Cashman began, "taking down that Impstar wasn't worth it compared to all the paperwork we have to do."

"Come on, Kyp," Cmdr. Kelly 'Zoom' St. Clair responded. "I mean compare this with the report that the Imperial Sector Command had to write up. The loss of one Impstar with its complement of fighters plus all of the reinforcements they sent to the Wisp. Not to mention explaining how we escaped an Imperial operation against us."

"As ordered, sir," Kyp stood up and gave a salute, grinned and quick marched out of Kelly's office.

"Oh, great… he was hoping for that," Kelly looked around his desk, saw all the datapads from the various Section Chiefs on the Regis and sighed. "Maybe I should take a break as well."

In Red Base's bar, the Crash Site, a game of sabacc was in progress. Flight Officer (FO) Mario 'Phoenix' Rodgers, Lt. James 'Dragon' Firebrand, FO Stjepan 'Kiki' Bedic and Lt. Yves 'Carcajou' Vermette were hard at work trying to relieve each other of their pay. At the moment, Stjepan was winning.

"The Lady sure is smiling at you today. This is my last hand. After this I'm out of here," James declared.

"Nowhere in particular, but there's this new documentary holo I wanted to watch."

"I see that you boys are having fun. Where are the rest of the pack?" Kyp asked as he leaned over Stjepan's shoulder. When he did not get any response he added, "Good hand you have there, Stjepan. Especially that…"

"Sir…" Stjepan looked very uncomfortable. "You sure know how to get people's attention." Covering his cardchips with his other hand, he cleared his throat. "I hear that Redjed is practicing his lightsaber skills with Vape. Seems that she knew something about swordplay and the Lieutenant has been dying for a sparring partner. Any of you know where the rest are?" Stjepan directed the last towards the others around the table.

"Ranger asked Rapier to monitor his training run with the cadets, Wire is taking a nap and Yale's running some SpecForce commando sim. I don't know where Leo or our esteemed leader is," Dragon answered, still thinking whether to throw in his hand or continue the round.

Kyp chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about our esteemed leader. When I left, he was neck deep in paperwork. That'll keep him off our backs for a few days."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, Rob?" Kelly said from behind him. "Just thought that I would give myself a break and come chat with you guys. And I can see that someone will be buying us drinks tonight."

"There goes your winnings, Stjepan," Dragon said with a big grin. "Sure glad it's not me."

"Touché. Anyway that's it, I'm off." With that Dragon pushed his chair in and made his exit.

"Sure thing, grab a chair, sir, and we'll get started. What about you, Commander?"

Lt. Sean 'Leo' Healey was trying to find his wingman, Lt. Sazril 'Yale' Murshid, who always managed to never be around whenever someone wanted to find him.

He said he was going to work out in the simulators, but he's nowhere near the starfighter sims. I guess he must be working out in the SpecForce sims. Fortunately, that's not far from here.

Still muttering to himself, Leo walked past an open access panel. He was just about to move on when something caught his eyes. Three of the wires were bare, their insulation neatly removed. He went closer to check and found that it was the access panel for hyper-comm transmission relays. Somebody had sliced into the line.

He activated his commlink and was about to call security when he felt a slight draft behind him. Instinctively he dropped to his knees and turned, just in time to duck a hard blow to his head. The figure swung the wrench around and Leo was not fast enough to fully evade it this time. He only managed to put his arms up to protect his face, and the wrench hit the side of his head. Leo started to see stars as he staggered up and away from the figure.

The figure in a mechanics' jump suit pressed the attack and managed to force Leo to the deck with his next onslaught. He stood over the pilot and raised the wrench over his head.

Yale turned the corner and saw someone about to put another dent in Leo's head. He raised the blaster rifle he was carrying and shouted.

The man turned and threw the wrench at Yale, who sidestepped the flying tool. Realizing that he was outgunned, he ran from the scene. Yale quickly called security and alerted them to a possible intruder. He then ran over to where Leo was lying and called for a medical team.

"Go get him. I'll be fine, just find him. I think he was transmitting through the hyper-comm relays. We have to know to who."

"It's just a rifle I used in the simulator. It won't even burn through his clothing," Yale called as he ran after the perpetrator.

"A sim gun," Leo said groggily, turning it over in his hands. "That's just dandy. I wonder what would have happened if that guy hadn't stopped? And why am I seeing so many stars inside the platform?"

Lt. Mark 'Redjed' Hagues was practicing with his lightsaber. A Jedi in training, he was still trying to fine-tune his force capability and saberplay. After so many years of going against a practice droid, fighting a human opponent opened him up to new possibilities and showed new weaknesses in his technique. Especially against someone trained to handle swords and sabers from a very young age. Since there was only one lightsaber on the station (the one Mark had made from spare parts found on the Regis), they decided to use normal carbon-steel practice sabers to approximate the weight and length of a lightsaber. These blunted practice swords were also much safer than an energy blade which could burn with a mere touch.

FO Chelsey 'Vape' Maxfield was a new addition to Red Squadron. Raised on a world where tradition was strong, she was trained in the use of the traditional edged weapons, from knives to swords. Looking at her no one would have believed that she could handle a blade the way she did. Tall and slender, with shoulder-length hair and pointy ears that made her look elfin, she was a striking figure.

Training with edged weapons hadn't just built up her strength, but also heightened her other senses. This had already proven vital in other combat situations, especially as a starfighter pilot. Situational awareness was drilled so much into her from a young age that it was now second nature. She could approximate the whereabouts of her attackers based on their attacks and their next moves as well.

Being someone who understood swordplay, she was trying to help Redjed improve his saber technique. Even though she was familiar with normal blades, the specific technique of using a lightsaber was beyond her. Training with a lightsaber was only given to those few of her people who were Force sensitive, and hardly at all since the Jedi Purge swept across the galaxy. But that did not stop her from thinking of techniques on how to use and counter such a weapon, and right now she was really pushing Redjed to the limit. He had the advantage of the Force and she had the training.

They continued attacking and parrying. Redjed saw an opening and delivered an under arm cut, but Vape easily parried with a sidestroke which left him wide open. She continued the out and upward movement and slashed downwards with her saber. Redjed rolled to his left and smoothly attacked Vape's exposed left side. Vape completed a quarter turn, blocked the attack and flipped Redjed's saber away from his grip.

"You did it again," Vape said as she picked up the discarded weapon. "You're not supposed to attack if the distance between you and your opponent will cause you to stretch to hit him. It weakens your grip, especially if you're using a one-handed stroke."

"The opportunity looked good to me," Redjed said as he accepted his saber from Vape.

"No matter how good the opportunity looked, it's not good if there is a chance that you'll lose your weapon. What you should have done is rolled slightly closer; then you would have been nearer to me and I would have had a harder time blocking your attack. Or just wait for another opening."

"You're the one who asked for my help," Vape reminded, smiling as she readied her weapon.

"Let's call it a day, shall we?" Redjed asked instead. "These foils are pretty light, but my arms are killing me."

"Try some weights next time. Put them around your forearm. It helps build up your muscle."

"Okay, okay. Here, store this one as well," Redjed said as he handed his saber over to Vape, who put it away with her own in one of the storage cabinets on the wall. Redjed retrieved his lightsaber from another storage unit and clipped it to his belt.

They both walked out of the practice area and immediately sensed trouble. But they were not quick enough to avoid the rushing man who slammed into them. They all fell down together in a heap.

Yale saw the man fall and rushed to apprehend him. But he sprang to his feet with surprising quickness and kept running.

The two on the floor tried to grab hold but he was too far away. Yale jumped over them and continued after him. He shouted over his shoulder at the two getting up.

Yale saw the man take a turn and followed him cautiously, which probably saved him as the man threw a metal pipe at him. Yale ducked, rolled behind the man and delivered a side thrust kick at the small of his back. The man just staggered a few steps and turned to face Yale. As soon as the agent turned, Yale identified him as an Imperial commando from the same unit he'd dealt with a few times during his stint as a SpecForce infiltrator.

"Lt. Sazril to Security. I have the suspect trapped on the mezzanine level. Please send backup."

The enemy agent hurled himself at Yale, who sidestepped and delivered a chop to the back of the agent's neck. He yelled out in pain as his hand connected not with flesh, but with synthskin-covered metal. The agent turned and delivered a solid punch to the side of Yale's head, throwing him to the ground.

Redjed and Vape reached the spot only to see Yale flying to the ground. They moved in for the attack.

"Watch it... guy 's a cyborg," Yale warned groggily. That hadn't been in the dossier he'd studied.

"Having cybernetic implants does have its advantages," the agent said. As a demonstration, he picked Yale up with his right hand and threw him against the wall. "Strength, for one."

Redjed attacked and was promptly smacked against the wall as well. Vape followed close behind and managed to deliver a kick to the Imperial's midsection. The agent just grunted, then used his right hand again to grab her leg and smash her into the floor.

"I'd love to stay and play with all of you - especially you, Lt. Sazril, since I missed the chance on Chandrila - but my transport is waiting."

"You're not going anywhere, yet," Yale said as he stood up. "I want to know all you know about Chandrila."

Yale studied his opponent. Being trained in unarmed combat and Teras Kasi, the Jedi's own version of unarmed combat, he was wary of his opponent's every move and discovered a weakness. The agent was attacking only with his right arm, suggesting that his left was non-cybernetic. Yale resolved to concentrate his attack on the left side of the agent. He had to play for time as well, until more reinforcements could come, or at least until his two squad-mates could recover.

The agent was impatient and attacked first, delivering a quick jab to Yale's face. Yale ducked, moving right and forward to deliver his own blow to the agent's left rib cage. He was rewarded with contact to human flesh, proving his theory. But he had no time to gloat as the agent launched a knee towards his ribcage. Crossing his arms, Yale absorbed the impact and turned to elbow the agent's jaw.

The commando staggered backwards. And Yale continued with a slap-kick to the left side. The Imperial agent blocked the kick and delivered one of his own. Yale crashed into the wall. He started to see stars and a big, ugly-looking fist coming right at him. He rolled to his right and heard a bang as the agent's fist contacted the with durasteel wall. Still trying to clear his head, he saw the agent moving away.

"Oh, no you don't," Yale said as he jumped and grabbed the Imperial. The agent turned and hugged Yale tightly, squeezing all the air out of him. Yale yelled out in pain as the vise-like grip broke his left arm. He then banged Yale against a doorway a few times. Through a haze of pain, Yale managed to bump the door control, causing both of them to fall sprawling into the Crash Site. The people inside were stunned.

Redjed followed them in and activated his lightsaber. The glowing blade sprang forth with a familiar snap-hiss. Yale shouted to him.

A quick stroke and the agent fell to the floor, his right arm next to him. Cleanly cut wires sparked at his shoulder and from the severed limb. But the infiltrator seemed undeterred by his injury. He actually laughed.

"Your mistake, Lieutenant! You should have killed me when you had the chance! Now you'll never leave here alive!"

Yale, who had battled this commando unit before, drove his right hand into the agent's mouth to disable the micro-thermal detonator located in his mouth. A weapon of last resort, agents would only use it if there was no chance of escape, to kill both themselves and their captors. The surprised commando tried to bite down.

Kyp drew his blaster and stunned the agent, who flopped to the floor. The others quickly raced to their side. Vape staggered in as well, her head still throbbing from being hurled to the floor.

"Cmdr. St. Clair to Control, send a med-team and security detail to the Crash Site on the double!" Zoom knelt next to Yale. "You look pretty bad. Just stay still."

Yale shook his head and gestured towards the unconscious Imperial agent. "Get this guy to the med-bay and run a scan for explosives and poison. We have to find out who he was transmitting to on the hyper-comm relays."

"Cmdr. St Clair to Control, have another med-team head over to level 9. Have them look for Lt. Healey."

Kelly turned to Rob, who looked very grim. "I don't like this at all. There's a chance Red Base's location has been compromised. I'll alert Starfighter Command ; you tell Capt. Harrison to be ready for immediate evacuation. Quietly!" Zoom added as Kyp started to leave. "We don't want anyone panicking, yet. Also get maintenance to conduct checks on all of our critical facilities, shield generators, power conduits etc. "

"Got it, Commander," Kyp said as he moved towards the turbolift that would take him directly to Red Base's command tower.

"Yves, Mario, Stjepan. I want you to get to the hangar and have the techs prep our X-wings for immediate combat. Also ask them to ready all the transports and shuttles we have for immediate departure. Find Dragon and Wire and drag them to the hangar as well. I'm afraid that we're going to have visitors."

"Yes, sir. Umm…. What about them?" Yves indicated the three Reds on the floor.

The three healthy Red pilots ran toward the turbolifts. The doors opened to admit the med-teams and security detail into the Crash Site before the pilots could slip past As soon as he explained the situation, Kelly hurried back to his office. It had a direct private line to Starfighter and Fleet Command.

Outside Red Base, a shuttle was arriving to deliver Red Squadron's latest trainee. FC Greg "Eggman" Miller was hovering behind the pilots, looking over their shoulders to get a glimpse of their destination. Eggman was already an accomplished pilot, and this training stint was just a formality before being assigned to a combat squadron.

"Look, hotshot," the co-pilot finally said, "we're trying to land a shuttle on a crowded platform. So make yourself scarce for a few minutes, or I'll have to put you on report."

"So sit down…" As Greg moved toward one of the crew seats, the pilot hastily added, "… in the passenger section."

Greg moved towards the rear of the shuttle and dropped himself into one of the seats.

"Rocket jocks!" the co-pilot muttered, glancing at his comrade as he activated the external transmitter. "Red Base Control, this is the shuttle Kismet, requesting landing clearance on pad 3."

Seconds went by as Red Base Control authenticated the passcode. The platform's location was a well-guarded secret; with only a few trainees to defend it, Red Base was quite vulnerable to attack. Thus, all new arrivals were carefully scrutinized.

"Passcode confirmed. Welcome back, Kismet. What do you have for us this time?"

"Nothing much, Control. Just one very anxious trainee and some supplies for the Crash Site."

"Good. We're running out of Corellian Ale and chocolate, especially with all the combat pilots onboard. One moment..." When the controller's voice came back, there was new urgency in it. "Kismet, be advised we have a security alert in progress. Possible intruder. Keep your craft buttoned up until you get the all-clear."

Again pilot and co-pilot shared a long look. "Roger that, Control, Kismet out."

The shuttle's wings folded up along its sides as it dropped gracefully toward the pad.

Zoom activated the comm terminal and keyed in his personal security codes for hyper-comm access. A few seconds went by as the connection was being established. Soon, he had Starfighter Command online.

"Sir, we have reason to believe that Red Base's location has been compromised. A few minutes ago, an enemy agent was discovered and captured alive. He was suspected to have tapped the hyper-comm relays to transmit a message out to the Imperials"

"None that I know of, sir. We are still conducting searches. But two of my pilots are in serious condition and another two are slightly injured. Request assistance to evacuate the base. We do not have enough transports and shuttles to evacuate all of our personnel and critical equipment."

"Very well, Commander. I'm in contact with Fleet Command as of right now and will send all available ships to Red Base. And Commander, you are to scuttle the base after all personnel have been evacuated, if time does not permit for us to evacuate all the critical equipment as well."

"I understand, sir." Zoom's comm-link suddenly beeped. "Excuse me, sir, my exec is reporting. How are things, Kyp?"

"Bad, very bad. Most of the primary generators, power and shields, have been rigged to explode. Maintenance is trying to repair the sabotage right now. Another thing is that the agent has disabled all of our self-destruct charges. There's no way for us to completely destroy the base. Either he was been doing this stuff for a very long time or he wasn't alone."

"Thanks, Kyp. Continue and keep me updated." He turned his attention back to the terminal. "Looks like I'm going to need a demolition team as well, sir."

"I heard. I'll see what I can do. If not, you will have to destroy the base yourself with whatever you have on hand."

The terminal went blank. He was still contemplating what to do next when Ranger's voice, part of a transmission to Red Base Control, came across his commlink.

"Too late for that now. An Interdictor cruiser and one frigate just entered the system. They're launching fighters."

"St. Clair to Control, initiate evacuation procedures! All pilots to your fighters! Prepare for combat!" Kelly shouted into his comm-link as he ran toward the turbolift that would take him to the hangar bay.

Ranger was watching Aaron taking out the drone with his first two torpedoes, when his channel crackled on.

"Captain Magill, get your squadron back here for immediate reloads. There might be visitors very soon."

As soon as the transmission was completed, his hyperspace alarms went off. His R2 unit identified the two ships as INT Sinkhole and FRG Heinous.

"Too late for that now. An Interdictor and one Frigate just entered the system and they are launching fighters."

"Red Leader to Red Four. Defend the base until we can get more fighters out. And try to drive off the Interdictor if you can. With the Interdictor here, our shuttles and transports can't hyper out."

"Understood, Red Leader," Ranger said, then switched channels to the trainees. "Okay, guys, defend the base until the rest can get out and give us a hand. Whenever you can, try to fire your torpedoes at the Interdictor. The capital ships can be locked on from six klicks away, so try not to get any closer than that and watch out for their torpedoes. No heroics. This is real combat, so watch yourselves. Two, Four, you're Element One. Five and Seven, you're Element Two."

The Red trainees moved into position, as two squadrons worth of starfighters and bombers launched from the frigate.

Explosions rocked Red Base causing most of its inhabitants to fall. Red Leader nearly twisted his ankle when he fell from the ladder on the side of his X-wing.

"What the hell was that?" Zoom asked as he scrambled to his feet. As if in answer, the hangar's speakers blared.

"Maintenance to Control. The primary shield generators are down, we only have the auxiliary generators. We'll do all we can to repair the main generators, but we can't promise anything."

Kelly climbed up the ladder again and saw a large conduit blocking the launch bay. He shouted at the techs to get rid of it and quickly went through his abbreviated start-up checklist.

Meanwhile, on the Interdictor Sinkhole, Captain Ung Chew looked at the base as one of his officers reported.

"Sir, our readings showed that the Rebel platform's shields are at 25%. Shall I order the Heinous to follow us in for the kill?"

"Hold here, Lieutenant," the captain replied, looking thoughtful. "Our priority is to ensure that none on that station is able to escape. Besides, the objective of this mission is to capture the base intact with most of its personnel and equipment."

"But, sir, our complement of fighters is not enough to handle all of Red Squadron's fighters if they are successfully launched."

"You worry too much, Lieutenant. Do not fear, an element of Assault Gunboats will arrive soon to help our fighters handle these inferior Rebel pilots. Now return to your post and allow me the pleasure of seeing these Rebels destroyed."

Capt. Ung Chew had graduated from the Academy just after the battle of Yavin. Unable to pursue an illustrious (though short lived, for some) career as one of Lord Vader's battle group commanders, he felt bitter, almost rebellious at times. He was by no means a stupid or foolish man. The things that triggered his rebellious tendencies always happened to be stupid orders - especially ones which asked him to risk his ship and men for other officers' personal gains. This mission, for example.

Luckily, he was given a free hand on how to deploy his fighters. Since he was not told to destroy the base, there was no need for his squadrons to be anywhere near the base. All they would have to do was engage the Rebel starfighters and make sure that the Interdictor survived the next 30 minutes, when the rest of the assault fleet would enter the system. That should be an easy enough task.

Outside Red Base, the battle was beginning to get serious. With the delay on the main launch pad, Red Squadron's Combat Wing pilots were taking too long to launch. The Red Squadron's trainees were good but outnumbered at nearly 4 to 1. Anyone would be hard pressed to stay alive for long in such a situation.

The T/Fs ganged up on one of the Y-wings separated from his wingman, boxing him in. Cool Head was trying to get a lock to fire the last of his two torpedoes at the Interdictor when he realized he'd been separated from Jaguar.

"I'm trying, Five, but these guys are pinning me down, I can't break through!" Jaguar answered, evading laser fire converging from several angles.

"Five, evasive manoeuvres. I'm enroute! Just hold on!" Ranger shouted into his comm.

Six TIE Bombers kept their distance and fired torpedoes whenever a chance presented itself. The Y-wings were hard pressed trying to drive away the Interdictor while dog-fighting the T/Fs and evading torpedoes fired from the T/Bs. Ranger had already taken two solid torpedo hits to his shields. His shields were down to a single layer and that was being eaten away, bit by bit, by the lasers fired by the T/Fs surrounding his fighter. He wished that he had taken the X-wings out on this exercise instead of the Y-wings.

So far two TIEs had fallen to his lasers and three more to the trainees. But whoever was in charge of this task force was good… good enough to see the best way to deploy his fighter screen against the Y-wings. By putting the bombers slightly outside of the battlefield, it gave the fighters heavy weapons support but kept the T/Bs safely out of reach of the Y-wings' lasers. And the Y-wings' torpedoes were too precious to waste on the bombers, even if they could fly straight long enough to get a lock.

Ranger had already expended his supply of torpedoes. Querying Cool Head's Y-wing showed him a grim situation. TW 5's shields were down in the red and no way Ranger could reach him before the shields failed.

Cool Head took out one more TIE before green lasers burnt through his shields and into his torpedo rack, igniting the two remaining torpedoes. The resulting explosion threw him out of the cockpit into space. His beacon, attached to a heart monitor, beeped weakly.

"Damn! TW Seven, report status!" With Cool Head out of the fight, Ranger's next concern was Jaguar.

Ranger kicked his thrusters to the max and headed towards Jaguar with two T/Fs in pursuit.

Meanwhile, Jackal and Falcon were not having an easy time either. But with the bulk of the Imperial fighters concentrating their attack on Ranger and Element Two, they had it a little better, going against only three eyeballs.

"You'd better be, you still owe me a drink!" Jackal stood on his left rudder and slid the targeting reticule onto the fighter in front of him. The T/F blew up nicely, the mostly-intact solar panels blowing outwards as Jackal went through the debris. "Four, you have lead! I'm at your seven high!"

Ranger took out another T/F on Jaguar's tail. His own shields were down to single again. He boosted them by transferring some of his laser energy, but the battering he was receiving from the TIEs was draining them faster than he could charge them up. At any moment he could be attacked by all of them in unison and… He just didn't want to think about that.

Jaguar ejected as a TIE got him with a shot straight through the cockpit, missing him by inches. The heat and shrapnel from the laser bolt passed through his personal magcon field as if it wasn't there, burning him terribly. He screamed and passed out, floating limp.

With Jaguar out of the picture the TIEs now concentrated their fire on Ranger. Seven T/Fs suddenly converged on him from every possible angle. His shields were going down fast. A shot went through his shields and hit the torpedo rack. Luckily there were no torpedoes still in it, but the hit caused panels in his cockpit to burst. His ELS and shields indicators were total wrecks. He frantically transferred all available energy to the shields. And started to weave through the fighters. The T/Fs continued their battering.

Suddenly four orange-scarlet laser bolts came lancing through the cluster of starfighters, taking out one eyeball and causing another to flinch into his wingman. All three TIEs exploded.

Miller, we don't have anyone called Miller… Sithspawn, he's the new cadet arriving today!

"Cadet Miller, this is Captain Magill. Who authorized you to take out a combat-ready fighter?"

"We'll discuss this later. Right now you're my wing and just try to stay alive, okay?"

While they were talking, three of the T/Fs lost interest and decided to go after Element One. Ranger noticed their departure and warned Jackal and Falcon. With three of the T/Fs gone, it left them with two Eyeballs to take care off not including the T/Bs. Eggman noticed new blips on his scope:

"Sir, my scope is registering two Gunboats exiting hyperspace three klicks from us."

"Hmmm… reroute all excess power to the shields. We'll stay on a bit longer. If any Rebel reinforcements arrive in system, we will withdraw."

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant moved away from his captain, who turned to another bridge officer.

"If Red Squadron is able to launch, we might not last that long. Have navigation prepare a course away from here."

"Retreat, sir?" The lieutenant looked at his commanding officer. If they retreat because Rebel reinforcements arrived, he would understand. But to retreat just because a single squadron of X-wings launched was incomprehensible.

"Yes, Lieutenant, we retreat. It will take a full squadron of X-wings less than five minutes to cripple us. Do you intend to be their prisoner, Lieutenant?" Captain Chew asked mildly.

Chew raised both eyebrows. "Hardly, lieutenant. Merely a prudent tactical move. Just get navigation to plot us an escape route for now. I'll think of how long we will be staying."

"What are you guys doing? Get the conduit out of the way, now!" Zoom yelled at one of the techs from his open cockpit.

"The explosion knocked out our lifters, sir. We'll have to wait for another one to send in from pad 2," the tech answered.

"Damn!" Zoom punched the console and instantly regretted it. He held his bruised hand and thought about the trainees trying to hold the invasion force at bay.

Redjed and Vape came running into the launch pad. The 2-1B had cleared them for combat and they were eager to get on with it.

"Vape, Redjed!" Zoom yelled at the Red pilots, trying to get their attention. "Get over to Pad 3 and use the X-wings there."

Phoenix jumped out of his X-wing and followed the two pilots. As he was going out, one of the female techs looked around and banged the bulkhead suddenly as a plan came to her.

"You three, suit up!" Deela Arvis, the chief starfighter tech, shouted to the three techs nearest to her. Grabbing a vacuum maintenance suit herself, she raised her voice to be heard. "Commander St.Clair, get your pilots to finish their start up procedure."

"Close your canopies. I'm going to deactivate the artificial gravity too, so we can try to shift the conduit into position first."

"Okay. Reds, secure your canopies," Zoom told the rest of the Reds, doing the same with his own. Something kept nagging him about Arvis's plan. Then, he remembered: the explosion here had also knocked down the communication link to the main control terminal. To deactivate the field, Deela would have to do it here in the hangar instead of in the safety of the control room.

Zoom quickly switched to a suit radio frequency. "Chief, Deela, wait. What if you're sucked out too?"

"Never mind about me! I'll brace myself before I shut down the field. You just be ready!"

"Hell yes… but what's my life against everyone else on this platform? Arvis out!"

Zoom's eyes darkened. Another one for the Empire. His expression turned even grimmer. He flipped his comm switch to the frequency he shared with the rest of the Red Squadron.

"Okay, guys, listen up. Deela is going to deactivate the magcon field. The conduit and most probably us will be sucked out as well. So, get ready to activate your engines. As soon as we are away, let go with all of your torpedoes. Got it? Let show them what happen if the mess around in our home turf."

Rapier was in the X-wing next to Zoom's. He'd had to leave the trainees out there so that he could reach the base and retrieve his X-wing. He noticed the edge in Zoom's voice and realized what his squadron leader was thinking. He knew better than to mention to the whole squad.

"Zoom, relax. You're letting you anger cloud your judgement, and you can't afford that right now."

"Yes, but being angry is not going to help her or you. Now, just relax and concentrate on what you are going to do out there. She has a job to do. Her job is to get us out there. And she's doing that. We also have a job to do. Let's get it done as quickly and economically as possible. Besides, she knows what she's doing. I don't think she wants to die, yet."

"Belay the last order. Once you're away, pair up with your wingmen. Wing leaders are designated missile platform. Wingmen protect your respective wing leaders. The shields on the Interdictor should be at least partially down. We are going to finish the job the trainees started, if they haven't finished it themselves."

"Primary objective is the Interdictor. We have to either destroy it or cripple it. Do not let it hyper away to recharge its shields and return to the fight. Secondary objective is to secure this area for safe evacuation. I'm going to get Control to launch a few reload crafts after the frigate and Interdictor are destroyed or driven away." Zoom took a deep breath, trying to flush tension from his body. "Just be careful out there. This is going to be an endurance battle and the Empire has time outs and substitutes – we don't."

Deela in the meantime was activating the tractor beam to hold the X-wings down. She already ordered the pad and hangar area to be vacated of all other personnel. Can't have people floating around and falling all over the place once the gravity's off.

She opened the secondary control panel and proceeded to disengage the safety for the magcon field, more by ripping out wires and components than anything else. Safety protocols normally ensured that the magcon field could not be deactivated if there were lifeforms inside. Once that was done she deactivated the gravity generator. Everything that was not bolted to the deck began to float.

"Quick, align the conduit as best you can so it'll fit through the bay opening," she ordered her three suited assistants. Bracing themselves against the floor and walls, they struggled to move the now weightless but still massive conduit without getting themselves crushed. In a minute or so, they had done all they could. "Okay. Now, clear out!"

"No buts. You guys don't have the authorization codes to deactivate the magcon field. I do. Go, I know what I'm doing."

The three techs jetted to the airlock on their small thruster packs. Deela flew back to the control panel.

Good thing they didn't know I had already disengaged the safety. And that there is no authorization code for this stunt. She smiled faintly as she watched the airlock close, then switched frequencies.

"Okay, pilots, listen up. Once I deactivate the field everything loose is going to get sucked out. The safety will cut back in after about five seconds. The deck tractors may be able to hold you in place that long, but don't bet on it. I've set the beams to disengage seven seconds after the field does. Good luck, pilots."

Deela found a pipe to hang onto and braced herself as best she could, stretching to reach the console. "Shutting down now. Field off in five… four… three… two… one…"

The glowing rectangle of the magcon field indicator went dark. The hangar was suddenly filled with shrieking wind as all the air in it attempted to flee through the opening into space. The conduit, still weightless, was caught by the gale-force winds and blown out almost immediately.

Deela struggled to hang on, but then the winds tore her free and slammed her against the wall. Her helmet's faceplate shattered. Her limp body skidded and rolled across the deck and finally flew out into the void, a dwindling speck.

The Red pilots were shocked at the scene. Caught unaware by the Chief's action, they were frozen. Seeing someone die in combat was one thing, but this... Even Zoom, who had been dreading the worst, found himself speechless.

The hangar fell silent as the magcon field snapped on again. There was only the faint throb of the air pumps and the slight creak of canopies as the pressure outside rose back toward normal. Two seconds later, just as the Chief had planned, the tractor beams cut off and the X-wings floated free.

Rapier reacted first, drawing on his past experience. "Red Squadron, launch. Let's get that Interdictor before any more Imperial reinforcement arrive."

First out was Rapier, followed by Zoom. The rest were moments behind them, each pairing up with his wingman as they emerged. Carcajou attached himself to Zoom and Rapier, since his wingman Redjed was not around. Kyp paired up with Wire. Dragon and Kiki brought up the rear. The seven X-wings went straight towards their primary target, the Interdictor cruiser Sinkhole.

"At fifty percent and rising, sir. But we can't stand a full torpedo barrage…"

Chew turned to the Interdictor's starfighter coordinator. "Are our Interceptor pilots ready?"

A squadron of TIE Interceptors burst out from underneath the Interdictor, launching two at a time and heading towards the incoming X-wings as ordered.

Chew looked on as the Interceptors hurtled themselves into battle, wishing he could join them. A former fighter pilot himself, he missed the exhilaration of close combat. Yet he also knew the importance of holding back part of your force in case anything went wrong. An Interdictor rarely carried more than one squadron, if any. His insistence of an extra squadron was now paying off. The Rebels were going to have problem in trying to get a lock on his ship.

"I know, Jo," Zoom said to his R2 unit. "Reds, heads up, a squadron of squints just launched from the Interdictor."

"Element Five, Element Six, engage the Interceptors. The rest of us will try to get a lock on the Interdictor."

"Yes, Lead. You could do us a big favor by taking out those bombers," Ranger said.

"Roger that, Eighteen. Eleven, join Eighteen. Three, let's take out the dupes. Reds, remember the primary objective. Whenever you can, fire some torps at the Interdictor," Zoom said, as he manoeuvred his X-wing towards the bombers.

"Two Flight, head-on attack on the first pass. After that engage the Interceptors at will, but keep track of your wingmen," Kyp said to his flight.

The flight of X-wings broke into two smaller units. The odds were presently three to one; not very encouraging, but typical. And shields gave the X-wings an advantage over the Interceptors.

"Idiots!" Rusgry, a recent transfer to Sinkhole's fighter squadrons, could do nothing but watch as the eager pilots flew right into the concentrated fire of the X-wings and died. Then there was no time for such judgments, as the remaining Interceptors maneuvred for shots.

Kyp did not wait for his targeting sensor to go to green. He squeezed the trigger, firing the lasers at where he thought the Interceptor would be, and was rewarded by an explosion. Then he thought of how the Interceptor formation had loosened up before contact.

"Seven, they have a good commander. He scattered most of the squadron before we could engage them."

The TIE bombers were doomed. Up against older fighters like Y-wings and Z-95s, they might have had a chance, but against X-wings they were outclassed. Two dupes exploded nearly simultaneously.

The shot sheared one of the bomber's solar panels off and crippled its engines, causing it to tumble uncontrollably towards the long and twisted loop of gates that made up the pilot training course – the Maze. Without an ejection system, the pilot of the bomber could only hope that someone would take notice of his tumbling craft and tractor it out before he hit something.

"Thirteen, who's with you?" Zoom asked when he saw that only two X-wings were incoming.

"Only two X-wings were on pad 3, Lead. Ranger's and Leo's. Ten had to go back and use his own X-wing," Phoenix explained.

"Cadet Miller, Lead," Ranger responded, dreading what the next question would be.

Zoom redirected his X-wing towards the Interdictor cruiser. Phoenix and Vape followed close behind their commander and his wingman, Rapier, in a combat spread formation.

"Sir, at the current closure rate the X-wings will be in torpedo range in three minutes," Lt. Argos informed his Captain.

"Contact the Heinous and tell them to retreat. If one of us can survive, we could return later to continue the fight."

The communications officer bent to his console. He looked up moments later. "Sir, the frigate is refusing to retreat."

Chew looked down at the arm of his command chair. A small grid began to glow, projecting a translucent hologram of another, younger officer.

"Begging your pardon, sir, I don't think you would survive long enough to let us reach our hyperspace point. I suggest another course of action."

"Our shields are still at full. I will try to interpose ourselves between you and the Rebels while we both retreat. That way, they could not launch any torpedoes at you. Our own shields would be able to withstand the hits longer than you could, sir. Besides, your ship is more valuable than mine."

After a long pause, the comm officer reported, "Heinous is not responding, sir."

Chew looked out his bridge windows at the frigate, which was currently turning and placing itself between the Interdictor and the incoming X-wings.

"Thank you, Ten. Element Seven, break off and use Ten's targeting telemetry. Fire when you have clear sight of the Interdictor."

"Here you go, Thirteen. Clear your sensors to 327.1," Redjed said, transmitting the necessary data to Vape and Phoenix.

The CMDs on the two X-wings of Element Seven flickered, then displayed the exact duplicate of Red Ten's.

"Go for the gravity well generators, repeat, go for the gravity well generators."

Two X-wings broke off from the main group and flew at a slight tangent in the hope of getting off a clear shot.

"Sir, two X-wings just broke off from the main group. They seem to be angling for a torpedo run on the Sinkhole," one of Jashikar's officers reported.

"Captain Chew, two X-wings have broken off from the main group and are making a run at you. We will try to keep ourselves in between the main group and the Sinkhole. Good luck, sir."

Jashikar made a cutting motion to his communications officer, and turned back to the battle.

"Damn that Jashikar! Lieutenant, keep trying to reestablish communications with the Heinous. Draw all available power to shields. We must not let the torpedoes penetrate the gravity well generators."

After the first transmission, the frigate maintained comm silence. Chew noticed that the frigate's speed had dropped and realised that the frigate would buy the time they needed by baiting the fighters to attack the nearest hostile target, the Heinous. He kept trying to raise the frigate's captain to talk him out of it but they were not answering the comm.

"I have a solid lock!" Redjed shouted, squeezing the trigger. "Proton torpedoes, dual mode, firing!"

"Go for it, Ten!" Vape said. "Thirteen and me should be on a good angle of attack in five seconds."

Two torpedoes jumped out through the launch tubes at the side of the X-wing, heading straight for the Interdictor cruiser. Redjed kept his finger on the trigger, even though his R2 unit was bleeping a missile launch warning. As soon as he exhausted his supply of torpedoes, a torpedo from the cruiser hit him dead on, reducing his shields to single thickness.

He broke his lock on the Interdictor and manoeuvred away from the target to recover his shields. But by that time, Red Twelve and Thirteen had already fired two more volleys of torpedoes towards the Interdictor.

"Helm, rotate starboard, quarter speed. Fire Control, give the torpedoes Priority One. All gunners fire at will!"

The cruiser's turbolasers began to fire at the volley of torpedoes coming towards them. The Interdictor's rotation exposed more batteries to the torpedoes and caused them to change course slightly, tracking its new profile. Two explosions flared amid the emerald web of point-defense fire.

Eight torpedoes slammed into the Interdictor's shields, knocking them down and peeling open the hull on top of two of the gravity well generators before destroying the generators themselves. From afar, Redjed could see the explosions within the Interdictor as secondary and tertiary explosions ravaged it.

"They shot down two of our torps, Lead!" Redjed reported to Zoom. "But sensors are showing hull damage!"

"I see it, Red Ten," Zoom responded. "Jo, give me a reading on the gravity well generators."

The little droid's response was immediate. TWO GENERATORS ARE DAMAGED AND TWO OTHERS ARE OFFLINE.

"Thanks," Zoom said. He looked to his port side where Rapier was, still following him closely. "Three, let's finish them off before they can escape."

Rapier was just about to acknowledge his Commander's orders when Kyp spoke up. "This is Red Two! We need some backup! Two more elements of Gunboats have just joined the fight!" His voice sounded strained.

"Let's get them out of there, Three. And hope that the Interdictor is too damaged to return for a second round."

Zoom gritted his teeth and pulled the X-wing through a tight turn towards Two Flight's location. Rapier followed close behind. The Interdictor, meanwhile, moved slowly towards its hyperspace point followed by the Nebulon B Frigate.

Capt. Chew pulled himself up, bracing his body against his command chair. Looking over to his left, he saw that his lieutenant had somehow managed to keep standing.

Lieutenant Urgas activated the screen next to him. "Still assessing, sir. Preliminary reports indicate that two of the gravity well generators are damaged and two more are offline due to power surges. The engine room reports no damage to our sublight and hyperdrive engines."

The intercom crackled. "This is Generator Two control. We have leakage in the sector. Request Radiation Troopers and maintenance to lock it down. Repeat, we have radiation leakage in Generator Two."

"Sir, we need to initiate the jump into hyperspace as soon as possible. We can not effect any repairs in a hostile situation."

"Three klicks, sir. At our current speed, we will be in position in about one minute."

"Very well. Initiate jump to lightspeed at your discretion, Lieutenant." The Captain looked out the view port at his fighter squadrons who were still fighting out there. "Inform the pilots that we are initiating the jump to lightspeed. Order them to return to the Heinous."

"At once, sir!" Urgas ordered the nearest communications officer to send the message to all flights.

"That is correct, Commander. We are leaving the combat zone to effect repairs on the Sinkhole. You are ordered to head for the Heinous for retrieval."

"Understood, control," Rusgry said as he switched back to the general frequency. "Zeta Leader to all Imperial starfighters. Prepare to break off and head for the Heinous for recovery. The Sinkhole is retreating into hyperspace."

"Then negative, Leader. You're welcome to follow the coward, but I'll die before I'll retreat."

"You are brave, Two, but rash. Those who want to stay alive, reform on me after the Sinkhole enters hyperspace. Those who wish to die, buy us time to get back to the Heinous." Angry both at the distraction and Zeta Two's attitude, Rusgry proceeded to take it out on the X-wing in front of him.

Interdictor duty was considered a punishment among Imperial pilots, because it offered few opportunities for personal glory. Those who were assigned to baby-sit an Interdictor were usually those with a bad history. This was especially true of those assigned to the Sinkhole, commanded by Capt. Ung Chew, an officer whose otherwise good command history was dotted with incidents of insubordination to his superiors.

Rusgry was a rarity, a decorated veteran who had actually asked for this post. He had served under Capt. Chew before and knew him quite well. If the captain had to run and leave his fighters to be picked up by another ship, the situation was really bad. He would never abandon his men willingly.

A quad laser blast passed in front of him; a clean miss, fortunately, due to his Interceptor's small target profile. He quickly snapped to the left, trying to find the fighter that was shooting at him. A TIE Interceptor was no match for an X-wing, unless the Interceptor could get on its tail and stay there. Which was exactly what Rusgry intended to do.

"Captain, Sinkhole is retreating. They're asking us to recover their fighters."

"Of course. Prepare the flight deck." Jashikar looked thoughtful. "But I know some of those pilots. They will not retreat. Sometimes I wonder about the Imperial indoctrination program."

Jashikar waved a hand dismissively. "Forget what I said, Lieutenant. Have navigation plot our course out of this system."

"Now receiving a jump solution from the Sinkhole... sir, it's a short hop, only a few light years."

"Interesting, very interesting. I wonder what he is up to. Lay in the same coordinates and prepare to jump as soon as all the fighters, except the Gunboats, are aboard."

Lt. Iddo "Wire" Geva wove in and out of the green lasers shot by the Interceptor behind him. A few of the laser hits were already reducing Wire's shields. Unbeknownst to him, the person in the squint was Rusgry, venting his frustration.

Kyp tried to sneak in a few shots at the Interceptor but it pulled to the left, slowed, and dropped in behind him. Without shields the Interceptor was no match for an X-wing in a head-to-head attack, but it won hands down if maneuverability came into play. In the hands of a capable pilot, it was a deadly craft. Such was the case here.

"I can't! Another squint has me latched!" Wire had thought the worst was over, but as soon as the first TIE turned to engage Kyp, another took its place. Sheer numbers were taking a toll on his fraying shields. A shot came through his shields and punched a hole clean through his upper port S-foil. A quick push of a button transferred some of his lasers over to the shields while his R2 began to do whatever it could to minimise the damage and keep the X-wing flying. "Can anyone help me out?"

"Relax, Seven, Lead here. I got him targeted. He'll be space dust in two seconds!"

Zoom laid his crosshairs on the projected flight path of the squint and squeezed the trigger. A crimson bolt blasted through the left solar panel into the ball cockpit, killing the pilot before igniting the fuel cell.

Rusgry saw the explosion out of the corner of his eye and wished sourly that it had been Zeta Two, as he fired again at the X-wing in front of him. His CMD registered it as Red Two, which was reported to be their second-in-command. Under his helmet, Rusgry smiled. It would do his reputation a lot of good if he could take this rebel down.

Kyp's irritation was growing as the Interceptor continued to take precise shots at his rear shields. He ruddered his X-wing to the right and cut his thrusters to one-third; it was the same maneuver that the TIE had used to get on his own tail, only reversed. But the Imp refused to go for it, reducing his own speed to stay with him. Kyp cursed and shoved his throttle to full, shunting more power to his failing shields.

Red Seven was trying to get on the Interceptor's six, but it was proving to be difficult. Rusgry had survived five years in a TIE by being devilishly hard to hit. His usual technique was simple: target whoever was attacking him until another fighter came after him, then switch. It reduced his kill scores, but was effective in keeping him alive. Unlike most TIE pilots, he preferred to stay alive and unknown, instead of dead and famous.

Now he broke off to engage Wire, feeling a twinge of regret that he hadn't been able to bag Red Two. To keep the other X-wings occupied, he called for reinforcements.

Two of the gunboats went for Zoom and his wingman, Rapier, firing missiles and green laser bolts at them. Zoom and Rapier immediately took evasive action.

Meanwhile, aboard Red Base, the evacuation was under way. Off-duty and non-combat personnel were moving towards their designated waiting areas. In the hustle and bustle of the evacuation, no one noticed the few that remained in their rooms.

One of them had just finished assembling his gear when the door suddenly hissed open. He picked up one item, keeping his back to the door. The new arrival was Ensign Chris Jarvis, Red Squadron's Sim Officer.

"Hey, Zikk, I thought you were off duty. Aren't you supposed to be at your evacuation..."

Zikk turned and the small object in his hand went phut. Jarvis stared, first at his roommate of the last three months, then at the red stain spreading over the belly of his uniform. He started to stagger backward out of the door. The silenced slugthrower fired again and Jarvis fell to the floor with a neat hole in his forehead.

Zikk locked the door, then returned to his work, ignoring the body. On his bed lay an array of equipment suitable for a commando instead of an engineer: a Special Forces blaster rifle, spare power packs, detonators and explosives, an encrypted comlink, a vibroblade and miscellaneous small items, all smuggled in over several months.

He put on black fatigues and covered them with his Rebel issue engineer overalls. Most of his gear went into the pockets or into the case of his tool kit. Then he left the room, locking the door again behind him.

He met up with another crewman and they continued on together, their steps sure and careful. They had dropped their "support staff" demeanor. Anyone who knew body language would have picked them out as dangerous men; Imperial Commandos, to be exact. However, most of the platform's crew were boarding shuttles and transports or busy dismantling equipment.

Throughout Red Base, commandos converged on vital locations. Four of them headed for the control tower.

The Interdictor accelerated, causing a slight distortion in the space fabric as it tore into the realm of hyperspace. From the view ports of the Interdictor, Chew looked on as the stars elongated and flowed together.

"Order the fighters to retreat. Give them all the cover fire we can spare," Jashikar ordered.

His communications officer immediately relayed the order. About three quarters of the remaining Imperial fighters disengaged and flew back towards the frigate, while the rest continued the fight.

Rusgry tried to persuade the remaining pilots to disengage and return to the frigate. A few were simply stubborn, and he did not give a thought to their fate. But a few were holding back for nobler motives, to buy the retreating fighters some time. Those he would have liked to spare.

He resisted the urge to join them, instead turning to follow the other retreating TIEs. Moments later, the blip that was Zeta Four faded from his screen.

"I see them, Two. Concentrate your attack on the remaining fighters. Engage the frigate after you have cleared your sector!"

Zoom quickly reassessed the combat zone, taking note what each of the Reds were doing. The Training Flight seemed to be doing all right, going after a fighter and a gunboat. Elements Five and Six, led by Kyp, were taking care of rest of the gunboats. They should be able to hold out until his own flight finished with these Interceptors.

"All retreating fighters recovered, sir. Permission to jump to lightspeed."

"Proceed, Lieutenant. And order the Interceptor commander to report to me personally in my ready room."

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant nodded to one of the controllers in the sunken pit, who acknowledged the nod and engaged the Heinous's hyperdrive. The frigate accelerated into hyperspace, leaving a momentary distortion in its wake.

"The frigate is gone! Red Squadron, take out the remaining fighters. Disable them if you can!"

"Lead, Eighteen here. My flight needs some fighter cover if we are to disable anything."

A number of acknowledgements came over the comm system as Element Seven and Eight engaged the fighters so that the Y-wings could have clear shots at the fighters they wanted to disable.

Very soon all the remaining fighters were either destroyed or disabled. Zoom flew past the few disabled TIEs to inspect their condition as the other Reds ran checks on themselves. As soon as he was positive the area was clear of hostiles, he called the control tower.

"Red Leader to Control. Request one security SAR for ejected pilots, including Imperials; three tugs to carry the disabled TIEs back to Red Base for examination, and a reload craft... two if you can spare them."

"Thank you, Control," Zoom responded. Suddenly, his hyperspace alarm went off. "Control, I've got five more targets jumping in!"

"Stand down, Red Leader, they're friendlies. Frigates Knight's Errand and Salvation escorted by three Corvettes."

A few light years away, an Interdictor cruiser floated against a backdrop of stars and planets. Then, a small area of space distorted and a frigate coasted to a stop a few kilometers to starboard.

"Captain Jashikar, report!" Chew said as soon as the frigate came out of hyperspace. This time, the frigate's captain answered promptly.

"We did not suffer any damage, sir. We also managed to retrieve a squadron of mixed starfighters. Some refused to retreat, but they bought us enough time to retrieve those that did."

"Umm… there is, sir. Just before we left, we received a transmission from Red Base on an Imperial band. It's encrypted, but we don't have the key."

"Transmit the file to me," Chew looked over at his communications officer, who nodded in confirmation.

A few seconds went by as the file was transmitted and decrypted. A quick listen gave him all the info he needed. Smiling, he looked back at the communications screen.

"Better still, you may hear it yourself." Chew replayed it, turning up the volume. There was a rapid series of beeps, then a man's voice spoke.

"Crimson Dagger is go. We are ready to take control of the target as soon as the main assault force arrives in system."

Chew sat back in his command chair, smiling broadly. "Yes, Captain. This mission has been planned for a very long time. Captain Damerra of ISD Wisp was supposed to tie up Red Squadron's combat wing until Red Base had been taken over, but he failed. So, we must face them as well."

"There are other Rebel training squadrons, but none with Red Squadron's reputation. Their graduates now serve in the best starfighter squadrons the Rebellion has to offer. By destroying them, we will accomplish two goals: demoralising the Rebels and cutting off their supply of well trained pilots."

"I know. But my orders come from no less than a Grand Admiral. And it seems to have worked so far." Chew referred to the bridge chronometer. "Captain, you have about ten minutes before the main assault force arrives in system. I suggest you plot a new course back to the platform, following the Rebels' probable escape routes, and return to the fight. Take the fighters with you."

Chew frowned. "We have extensive damage to our gravity well generators, including radiation leaks. We'll have to head for the nearest repair yard."

The navigation consoles were a flurry of activity as the controllers calculated the jump back to Red Base. Once the jump solutions were completed and finalised, the frigate jumped into hyperspace.

"We are overseeing the evacuation. Why don't you Reds return to base and get some rest?"

Zoom glanced over at the X-wing flying parallel to his own. The stripe running down the fuselage was not a solid color, but a pattern of black and white checks with a Dejarik piece superimposed in blue. "Thanks for the offer, Bishop Leader, but we'll just hang out here for a while. There might be more Imps coming in. Besides, our reload craft are en route."

"Okay, Red Leader. We'll take combat patrol in sector 3. Rook Squadron is already on station in sector 2."

Zoom looked off to his other side and saw another group of motes in the distance, four of them in a diamond formation. A query to Jo brought the image of an A-wing up on his CMD, wearing colors similar to Bishop.

Meanwhile, the first three loads of personnel from the platform were transferred to Knight's Errand and Salvation. The extra shuttles and transports carried by the frigates meant the evacuation could proceed much faster.

Kyp was relaxing in his X-wing while the reload transport replenished his warhead load and topped off his fuel cells. The medical frigate Salvation and its escorts had been the closest Rebel starships at the time of the evacuation order. The Salvation carried no fighters of its own; thus, the presence of the Knight's Errand and its squadrons. He just hoped that if the Imperials attacked again, Rook and Bishop would be up to the fight. He'd never seen a medical-attached starfighter squadron in action, but it looked like he might get the chance now.

A loud clang was heard as the reload craft disengaged itself from Kyp's X-wing. "Reload complete, Red Two."

The whimsically-named transport moved on towards the next waiting X-wing, as Kyp kicked in his thrusters and cruised out toward his patrol point. He passed a few transports moving towards the corvettes. A quick scan showed that they were carrying critical equipment and personnel. They were moving as fast as they could, transferring their cargo to the waiting starships.

"Okay, next group!" the deck officer yelled as the shuttle landed on the pad, just beyond the magcon field of the hangar bay.

One person, a woman, was looking around in search of someone. She grabbed the deck officer's hand. "Have you seen Capt. Ames?" she asked, concern showing on her face.

"No, ma'am. But please get back in line. I need to get this shuttle loaded," the deck officer said. "Capt. Ames knows the procedure well. He'll be onboard one of the shuttles, I'm sure of it. Now, move along. Don't hold up the line."

The woman went up the ramp dejectedly. Trix happened to be right behind her, and gave the deck officer a dirty look; he just shrugged his shoulders and continued directing traffic. Being a civilian, she sometimes forgot that soldiers had to be a little cold-hearted to make things run smoothly.

Trix walked quickly up the ramp and into the shuttle, sitting down in the seat next to the woman. Trix soon learned that her name was Miki, and she was supposed to meet the flight instructor, her fiancé, here.

"Well, he's a pilot himself. Maybe he's flying one of these shuttles, or even a starfighter."

Trix encouraged Miki to keep talking. Soon she was smiling again as she talked about their wedding plans. Trix just listened, nodding now and then. She barely noticed the slight jolt as the shuttle lifted off.

During a break in the conversation, Trix looked around at some of the others in the shuttle. Some looked fine, but others were as depressed as Miki had been. She turned back to Miki and found her talking to another passenger. Trix excused herself and moved around the shuttle, talking and listening to the other passengers, doing whatever she could to lift their spirits a little.

Several minutes had passed, and some had begun to think that the evacuation might proceed without further incident. Others simply watched and waited.

Suddenly, alarms and astromechs shrilled a warning as three groups of Imperial starships dropped out of hyperspace, surrounding the platform: an Imperial-class Star Destroyer and its frigate escort, a Victory-class Star Destroyer and a second frigate, and another VSD accompanied by four corvettes.

"We need at least another fifteen minutes to evacuate all remaining personnel. Thirty if we want all the critical equipment as well," Capt. Harrison's voice replied.

An explosion came over the comlink. Zoom's brow knotted in concentration as he listened. The sound of blaster fire in the background was unmistakable. Then he heard Harrison again, speaking only half to him.

"Imperial Commandos! Get your heads down! We've... we've got reports coming in of other attacks all over the..."

Suddenly the comlink hissed static. Zoom's blood ran cold. He wanted to go down to the platform and check the situation -- but he had a job to do out here, since the Imperials were launching starfighters. His scopes began to fill with red blips, too many to count. He just hoped that the security forces on the platform could hold out against their own foes.

On the bridge of the ISD Inquisitor, flagship of this task force, Admiral Awlas turned to his executive officer. "Any sign of the Sinkhole or her escort?"

"No, sir. Captain Chew did not send any message to indicate whether he had been destroyed or forced to withdraw."

Awlas snorted. "Ung Chew, the most recalcitrant officer of the Imperial Navy. He'd better have a good reason not to be here."

"Follow the operation plan and do not bother me unless it is of the utmost importance."

Awlas looked at the fighters racing towards their targets. Soon this Rebel base would be overrun from within, by the commandos, and without, by the starfighters he had brought with him. It was just as well that Chew had apparently fled; it would add weight to the latest charge of insubordination that he intended to make against the Interdictor captain.

Unnoticed by anyone for the moment, an escort shuttle exited hyperspace on the outskirts of the battle. It moved cautiously toward the platform, running dark with its lights off and most of its electronics powered down.

"Looks like they had time to engage the security lockout, sir," the slicer of the team reported. "I'll need to cut through their defenses and hope nothing was erased."

"Do what you must," the leader said, prodding one of the fallen Rebels. Though she'd been hit in the gut and leg, her chest still moved. "Got a live one here."

"Another one over here," came a voice from the other side of the room. "It's Harrison. Should I finish him?"

The commando leader started to say yes, then reconsidered. "No, he could still be useful. Tie him up and put him over there, against the wall. Then tie this one to her chair and leave her in front of the door."

"Yes, sir." The other commando flicked his blaster over to the stun setting and shot Harrison and the other Rebel again, just to be sure, then began to wrap cord around the captain's wrists and ankles. The base commander was badly injured, with blaster burns on his shoulder and chest. A head wound, acquired when he fell against the edge of a table, bled profusely.

Having finished with their prisoners, the commandos went to work making sure that none of the control stations could be overridden from elsewhere on the base. In some cases they physically cut cables and ripped out wiring.

The computer expert spoke without looking up. "Problem, sir. I'm through the lockout, but I can't access shields or fire control, or the landing bays. Our boarding forces might have problems getting on board."

"Yes, sir. Downloading data now." The commando slotted a data cylinder into the console and entered a command. Suddenly the screen went red. "Sith! Emergency wipe activated!"

"You'd better have that data when the Grand Admiral arrives," the team leader warned from over the slicer's shoulder. "Otherwise..."

"I know, sir." The commando immediately went to work on the terminal again. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he tried to shut down the defense program before it deleted all the data in the computer.

Elsewhere on Red Base, Rebel troops were trying to retake the captured areas. Even though the Imperial Commandos were few in number, they were better trained than the average security forces. For now, it was an even match.

Zikk and the three other members of Fox Team were being pushed back into the main reactor's control room. He decided a diversion was needed. "Six, timer thermal. Set for aerial detonation. Let's scare them a bit!"

Fox Six fished a silvery ball out of his pack, armed it, and lobbed it almost casually through the open door. The resulting explosion showered the Rebels with hot plasma, badly burning the ones closest to the door and forcing the others to retreat.

Zikk, the team leader, frowned. "I said scare them, not scar them. But good job anyway." He knew the Rebels would regroup and return, however, and then his team would be pinned down. He had to take advantage of this moment of reprieve. Zikk reached for his commlink "Fox Five to Dagger One."

"Dagger, go ahead." The operation leader's voice came through clear and calm; they must have taken the bridge.

"Acknowledge, Fox Five. Disappear and observe. Retake the area if there is a chance."

"Yes sir," Zikk responded. He switched off and gave the hand signal to fall back and disappear. The other commandos immediately scattered for the corners of the reactor room, looking for hiding places. Zikk fired another two shots to keep the Rebels' heads down and then did the same.

Cautiously, the Rebels advanced into the reactor room only to find it apparently deserted. They shifted their pistols and rifles nervously.

"Bartle here," the corporal in charge of this security team reported into his own commlink. "We've taken the main reactor. No sign of Imperials. We need more people to secure the room."

In between overseeing the evacuation and dogfighting the TIEs, all the pilots were listening to comm signals from the platform. They were disappointed to hear the capture of the control tower. Without the control tower, the Red pilots would have to rely on the Tactical Officer from Knight's Errand, who was already hard pressed directing his own two squadrons. Even worse were the ten squadrons of TIEs they faced.

"Red Squadron, concentrate your attack on the Star Destroyer! We'll try to draw fighters away from you!"

From the radio chatter, the scene was one of chaos and extreme pressure. Everyone was trying to keep themselves and their wingmen from becoming statistics.

In the midst of the battle, three transports launched from the Star Destroyer. Ranger, acting as Red Squadron's Tactical Officer, saw the new craft first. His own flight happened to be closest.

"Three transports just launched from the Star Destroyer. Training Flight, form up on me and arm your torps for dual fire!"

"Go ahead, Training Flight, Two Flight will take care of your bandits," Zoom said, approving his Tact Officer's decision.

The three Y-wings and lone X-wing of Training Flight joined up to go after the transports. They were typical Delta-class stormtrooper transports, flying without escorts. The Star Destroyer's commander had thought that the Rebel fighters would be too busy to engage the transports; he thought wrong. Rebel training always assigned priority targets to transports or other craft on boarding missions.

Ranger targeted Sigma 1 and assigned Sigma 2 to Jackal and Falcon. Eggman followed Ranger in. Ranger quickly bracketed Sigma 1 and fired his torps as soon as he heard the shoot cue. The torpedoes were spat out of the launch tubes on the side of the X-wing and hit the transport just behind the cockpit. The boxy craft split open as the fireball engulfed it.

Training Flight kept pounding the transports with lasers until they blew apart. Jackal and Falcon took care of their transports first before Ranger and Eggman destroyed theirs. Then, ganging up, they quickly made a meal of the remaining transport.

"Sir, a group of Y-wings have destroyed the transports!" Lt. Cmdr. Eton reported.

"Send in another wave. This time use the Assault Transports and detail half a squad of Interceptors as escorts," Awlas said to his first officer.

A moment later another wave of three transports launched from the belly of the Star Destroyer. But these were the larger and better-armed Gamma-class ships. As they moved towards their objective, Red Base, six Interceptors peeled off from the running dogfight towards the transports.

Ranger saw the Interceptors vectoring off and wondered why. Checking his scope, he saw the new threats. His trainees were good, but not good enough to take out three ATRs and their escorts. All of the starfighters nearby seemed to be engaged, so he decided to put out a call for help.

"This is Red Eighteen, I need someone to occupy the escorts of the Assault Transports in sector Three-Seven B. Can anybody respond?"

A female voice answered. "This is Rook Five, Six and I are on the way. Start your attack run. We'll play with the Interceptors while you slow pokes take out the transports."

Two A-wings targeted Interceptors and fired their concussion missiles at long range. The two Interceptors broke formation to evade the incoming missiles while the other four turned to engage the A-wings before they could launch any more..

Even without their escorts, the Assault Transports were formidable opponents. But with a wingman, the task became slightly easier. One fighter would play bait and the other would strafe the unprotected side. Luckily Ranger had already taught this tactic to all of his trainees, except Eggman. And it looked like the newcomer knew the tactic as well.

Eggman fired his torps from beyond the transports' laser range and continued forward, his lasers on dual fire trying to get the gunners' attention. They obliged by returning his fire, with interest. Ranger came in at another angle, also firing. Imperial gunners usually stayed locked on to one fighter until it went out of range, allowing his wingman a few seconds of uninterrupted strafing. Once the transport gunners acquired the new target, the Rebels switched roles.

It took almost a minute, but Ranger and Eggman managed to finish off their transport. After Eggman's first salvo they used no more torps, saving them for real emergencies - like if any of the capital ships decided to get up close and personal with Red Base.

Jackal and Falcon worked on the other transport using the same bait-and-switch tactic. With the TIE Interceptors off playing tag with the A-wings, the two Y-wings were unmolested. Once their transport was destroyed as well, all four Red pilots made short work out of the final ATR. The A-wings, in the meantime, had taken care of the Interceptors. The last survivor of the squint group turned to run as soon as he saw that the transports were destroyed.

Ranger looked at the two A-wings alongside him. One looked slightly battered with a fist-sized hole on the left side of its fuselage. "Couldn't have done it without your help."

"Well, back into the worst of it," Rook Six said, as she turned back toward the thick of the fighting. Rook Five followed closely behind. Ranger ordered the trainees to find new targets as he himself targeted a fighter.

"Fifteen, let's check out the corvettes. I have a bad feeling about them." Dragon had seen that the Imperial corvettes were not heading for the base but towards the Rebel frigates. As his fighter drew closer to the hammerhead shapes, a quick visual sweep of the corvettes revealed modifications not registered by the scanners. The bow guns were not the standard laser cannons but ion cannons. They were also fitted with warhead launchers amidships.

Realization hit Dragon like a Wolfshead's hammer. They were going to disable the frigates. If that happened, the evacuees would be stuck here.

"Red Fifteen to Red Leader, the corvettes are non-standard. They have ion cannons installed. They're after the frigates!"

But the corvettes were already launching torpedoes at Knight's Errand. The Victory-class Star Destroyer that had arrived with the corvettes followed in their wake, its turbolasers firing as well.

"Suty ofgur emm!" Rook Four burbled into his mike. He wrestled his A-wing around, trying to get on the tail of the squint harassing his wingman. Though as a Sullustan flying came naturally to him, he was having a hard time lining up the shot. He forced himself to relax and let his instincts guide him.

The interceptor seemed to drift into his targeting bracket. He squeezed the trigger almost gently and crimson bolts rained on the interceptor, battering its hull before punching a hole through the power regulators. The squint lost power and continued in a straight line, out of the fight.

The improvised strike team consisted of Training Flight and two X-wings also from Red Squadron. Their priority was the modified corvettes. Because the corvettes were in a formation which let them provide covering fire for each other, the usual trick of dropping in directly aft and firing into their engines wasn't an option. And because their modifications included more powerful shields, they would take more torpedoes. That was why the trainee-flown Y-wings had been chosen.

"Okay, Ranger, we'll go in first to draw their fire," Zoom said. "Dumb fire your torps. Those ships have missile lock counter-measures."

"Acknowledged, Lead," Ranger replied. "And could someone clear our six as well?"

"Three Flight here, Eighteen. Just stay on target and we'll sweep up behind you," Kyp answered.

Ranger switched to the frequency he used with the trainees. "Okay, listen up. A slight change to our usual torpedo run. This advanced class was supposed to be conducted tomorrow, but nothing's better than real combat training."

"We are going to fire our torps without locks. Get in as close as you can to the corvettes and fire the torps straight in."

Ranger smiled, then switched back to the main squadron frequency. "You heard, Lead?"

"Every word, Eighteen. Time to show them that advanced training is fun." With that Zoom went to full thrust, passing the trainees with Rapier close on his port wing. "Three, let's show these boys how to fire a torp."

The two X-wings charged in on the nearest corvette. Zoom waited until he saw green turbolaser lines start to reach out for him before launching his torpedoes. Rapier had already fired, being surer of his shots after years of experience. The four torpedoes slammed into the topside shields. The trainees were close behind, weaving and ducking the fire that came their way.

Ranger concentrated on his target and fired his own torpedoes before reprimanding Jackal. "Cut the chatter, Trainee Four!"

The six Rebel fighters turned and headed for the corvettes again. By now some of the TIEs had noticed the attack and moved to engage the Y-wings, but Three Flight was true to their word and the Imperial pilots soon had other things to worry about - like staying alive.

Gundark Leader scrutinized his team. All of them were wearing the standard Rebel Infiltrator combat uniform, which was black with padding at the elbows and knees. Rubber-soled combat boots, gloves and a helmet with integrated low-light goggles and commlink made up the rest of the uniform. Each also carried a vibroblade, a blaster carbine and a silenced slug thrower in a belt holster as standard kit.

Some of the team carried additional equipment appropriate to their specialty: demolitions, communications, computer intrusion. A few carried extra weapons, like Gundark Eight's throwing blades.

Once their gear was checked and stowed, Gundark Leader contacted the shuttle's command crew. The pilot and co-pilot were Gundarks as well; no one else could be trusted to fly them into combat.

Gundark Leader sat down in one of the seats in the escort shuttle, his mind going through the mission step by step, trying to plan for all possible contingencies, anticipating things that could go wrong. A resistance fighter for ten years - longer than there had been an Alliance - he looked calm and collected to his squad.

Zoom nodded in satisfaction as a series of explosions left the last modified corvette a drifting hulk. "That's all of the corvettes down. Torpedo count, people. Let's go after the Vicstar next." Jo had already tagged it as the VSD Valiant.

An unfamiliar voice, one of the Bishops probably, spoke. "Red Leader, another frigate just hypered in. It's Imperial... the Heinous."

Zoom sighed in relief. Without the Interdictor, the Rebel evacuation convoy had a good chance of escape. But there was still the matter of the Valiant bearing down on them...

Rusgry's interceptor was the first to launch, at the head of a flight of three. Others followed as fast as the Heinous's racks could put them into space: a total of twelve TIEs of mixed type, interceptors and fighters.

An A-wing from Rook Squadron had the bad luck to be the nearest Rebel fighter. Green laser bolts battered down his shields and then tore through the thin armor. One engine almost overloaded before it shut down; the other remained at full thrust, sending the A-wing into a flat spin. The pilot managed to reach his eject lever and punch out just before another salvo destroyed the whirling starfighter.

"Close up formation," Rusgry ordered his wingmen. "We're going after a Rebel officer I had to leave earlier."

"The Sinkhole had to retreat, sir. Two of its generators were heavily damaged and another two knocked offline."

"I hope for your sake - and Captain Chew's - that the report of the damage is true." Awlas scowled. "I don't need to tell you the penalty for desertion."

"No, sir," Jashikar answered stiffly. "Nor should I need to tell you that Captain Chew would not abandon his post. Sir."

"Bishop Leader, we're low on torpedoes and full up on TIEs. We need help if we're going to drive off that VSD."

"We're trying as hard as we can, Red Leader, but there are just too many of them. I've already lost three of my X-wings and two Rooks!"

"Read you, Bishop Leader. We'll just have to take down the fighters first and hope our frigates can hold on."

"Affirmative, Red Leader." Bishop Leader's voice became even more tense. "Knight's Errand reports that they are taking more torpedo hits!"

Zoom checked his scanners for the source of the attack. "Training Flight, forget the Valiant and engage those bombers," he ordered.

Because the T/Bs had been launched from the Valiant, Training Flight was in the best position to go after them. As the double-hulled craft continued in a straight line toward their target, Ranger led his trainees in pursuit. The Y-wings fired at extreme range to break up the bombers' formation. Not only did this remove the immediate threat of them launching more torpedoes, it also made the T/Bs more vulnerable to starfighter attack.

Rusgry saw the Rebel fighter-bombers heading towards their Imperial counterparts. He turned toward them, twisting his throttle wide open as he ordered his wingmen to do the same. His interceptor closed the range rapidly.

Ranger saw the incoming fighters and scattered Training Flight. "Red Eighteen here. I need backup fast! Squints in range... they're firing!" Ranger pulled his fighter's nose up as deadly green fingers reached for him.

"I copy, Red Eighteen. We're on it!" Two Rook A-wings came to the trainees' assistance, matching Rebel interceptor against Imperial. Meanwhile the squints kept firing at the Y-wings, the Y-wings fired back or at the TIE bombers, and the bomber pilots just tried to survive and deliver their warheads.

One of the A-wings cut across Rusgry's flight path to entice him to follow as the other swung in on his six. The Imperial ace ignored the obvious bait, instead cutting his throttle. The pursuing A-wing shot past, narrowly avoiding a collision. Quick bursts of quad lasers blew down its rear shields and added some more carbon scoring to its hull before it was out of range.

Two assault gunboats appeared out of hyperspace near the Gundarks' shuttle. Noticing that it did not have any escorts, they immediately closed in for an easy kill.

"Sir, we have missile track!" Gundark Fourteen called out as he began evasive maneuvers.

Four missiles shot from the missile pods of the gunboats, heading straight for the shuttle. Gundark Fourteen slid the shuttle around, bringing their forward laser cannons to bear on the incoming missiles.

Laser bolts from the forward guns converged the missiles in a series of bright detonations. Next on the agenda were the gunboats. Gundark Fourteen targeted Rho Two and started a head to head approach with it.

The distance scrolled down to 1.5 klicks and the lasers on the shuttle opened fire again. The scarlet bolts from the shuttle connected with the lead gunboat, depleting its shields. Rho Two veered off to recharge his lasers after transferring all extra power to his shields. Relying on his co-pilot to keep tabs on the other gunboat, the Gundark pilot followed.

Keeping his eye on the craft he was chasing, the pilot spoke into his headset. "Sal, fire at will!'

One of the features of the escort shuttle was an aft-firing turret. This gave the slow, ungainly shuttle an edge in combat. The first laser shots raked across the gunboat's forward shields. Rho One frantically tried to rebalance his shields. But this involved first shifting the remaining shield energy aft, then forward again - and in the moment while the forward shields were down, another shot blasted through the transparisteel of the gunboat's cockpit, instantly killing the pilot.

"One down!" Sal, the turret gunner, called forward as the pilotless craft began to fall away to stern.

"Good work, Sixteen." The pilot turned to the man in the other seat. "Take the shot, already! We don't have much time."

A single advanced torpedo jetted from the escort shuttle's belly launcher and struck the gunboat square between its glowing ion engines, sending it into a tumble. A few more laser shots finished it.

"Sir, there's a single escort shuttle heading toward the platform. It just destroyed two of our gunboats."

"Order half a dozen Interceptors to check it out, Lieutenant. It might be a demolition team," Awlas said.

With the immediate threats taken care of, Gundark Fourteen redirected the shuttle towards their destination. Another minute went by before he noticed the flight of squints heading their way.

"One, I think we're made. Six squints are heading straight towards us at full speed. Too many for us to engage."

"Understood," Gundark Leader replied. "Continue to the LZ. I'll try to get some assistance."

Gundark Leader went aft again and hunkered down next to his comm specialist. "Patch me through to Red Leader on his private channel."

Gundark Four activated her gear, setting it to scan through the frequencies in its memory. It quickly found those in use by Red Squadron and in just a few moments more had narrowed the choices to one. She passed the SpecForce leader the microphone.

"Red Leader, this is Gundark One. We need fighter cover at grid seven-zeta-three-nine-two."

"What the...?" Zoom was startled when an unknown voice spoke on his private channel. "How did you... Who is this?"

"A moment, Gundark One," Zoom said. He quickly asked Jo to scan the area designated by the new voice. His CMD soon displayed a shuttle designated Gundark One with six T/Is moving toward it. Its IFF was friendly. "Roger that Gundark One, fighter cover en route."

Zoom switched his comm over to Rook's channel. "Rook Leader, this is Red Leader. I need two of your fighters over in grid seven-zeta-three-nine-two to protect a shuttle. I'm on my way there now."

"Copy that," Rook Leader answered. "Rook Three, Rook Four, follow Red Leader. He's got some squints for you."

Two A-wings sped towards their targets, racing for the shuttle. The A-wing pilots diverted more power to their engines in order to get there before the T/Is did. Their shields and lasers began to drain as the thrust from the massive Event Horizon engines reached full power. The Red X-wings began to fall behind.

"Rook Four, let's take out the leading two squints and leave the rest to the X-wings."

"Don't worry about the shuttle, just the TIEs. And what did I tell you about speaking Sullustan in a dogfight?"

"Sir, we've got four friendlies inbound. I'm going to make a run for it. Everybody hold tight!"

Gundark Leader braced himself in the doorway of the shuttle's control cabin. "Go for it!"

As the flight of interceptors opened fire, the shuttle accelerated. Gundark Fourteen gritted his teeth and aimed right for one of the squints as emerald fire splashed against the forward shields. The interceptors scattered. The tail gunner got off a few shots with the last of her laser power before the pilot diverted it all to engines.

The A-wings were right behind the interceptors, engaging them before any had a chance to attack the shuttle again. Those that did try to pursue were met by the X-wings of Red Leader and his wingman.

With the path cleared for them, the SpecForce shuttle closed in on the base quickly. Gundark Leader looked over his team and decided to give the final orders.

"Okay, team, listen up. This a demolition mission. We have ten minutes to rig the whole base. We are going in as four squads."

"Yes, four teams. The command crew is Team Four and will stay with the shuttle to secure our exit vector. Team One will head for the control tower. Team Two and Three are to target the main reactor and secondary generators respectively, as well as other critical targets as listed in the pre-mission briefing. And the databases are priority targets. Questions?"

"There shouldn't be any. But if they check out, take them along with you. Just be careful. Any other questions?"

"Possibly an Imperial Special Forces Unit, their Storm Commandoes. One of the saboteurs was captured and identified."

"Yes, one of Red Squadron's pilots had SpecForce training and was able to disable the detonation unit."

"Interesting," Eight said with her typical knack for understatement. "I'd like to meet him."

"Then for those of you who believe in the Force, may it be with you and for others, good luck."

Everyone aboard the shuttle tensed, waiting for the countdown. A quick check revealed no failed or missing items. Their weapons were locked and loaded.

"Touchdown in ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... contact!"

A thump was heard as the landing gear contacted the solid base just beyond the magnetic field. The boarding ramp lowered and Team One moved out, securing the landing bay.

"Area is secure. Okay, move up by teams. Team Four, take over Team One. We have ten minutes before the rocket jocks start strafing the base."

Three teams moved quickly but cautiously towards their assigned targets. One seemed to be short a man, but a trained eye would have noticed a vague flicker in the air following them.

"Okay... whoever those guys are, let's buy them some time," Zoom announced on the common tactical frequency.

"Salvation to all fighter groups. Evacuation complete. We are heading for our hyperspace point."

Bishop Leader looked at the X-wings and A-wings still locked in a struggle with about six TIE squadrons. He wanted to stay and help, but that would leave the Salvation and Knight's Errand without any fighter escorts once they entered hyperspace and reached their destination.

Suddenly, one of the Rebel corvettes called for help. "We are under starfighter attack! We need assistance! We are under starfighter attack!"

Being the nearest, Bishop Squadron went to the corvette's aid. But they were too late as torpedoes from six TIE bombers tore through the corvette's hull and broke it in two. Escape pods launched from the crippled corvette before it blew up, the fireball and fragments claiming two of the bombers attacking it.

"Knight's Errand to Bishop Leader, we are sending out shuttles to retrieve the pods. Cover them!"

Three shuttles launched from Knight's Errand, heading for the beacons from the escape pods. Combat search-and-rescue was very dangerous, launching into a combat zone in an unarmed craft. The SAR pilots and crews put their own lives on the line to save others.

Two of the shuttles made it back, with escape pods tractored behind them, but one was destroyed just before it entered the hangar bay of Knight's Errand. The shockwave went through the magnetic field, shoving a bubble of air out into vacuum and causing little bits of shrapnel to ping off the hulls of the grounded shuttles.

"Knight's Errand to Bishop Leader, we can't do anything more," the frigate's captain said. "That explosion damaged our magnetic field generators. We're heading into hyperspace now."

The two frigates and remaining corvettes jumped into hyperspace. They were followed by eight battered X-wings of Bishop Squadron, leaving behind Red and Rook Squadrons to buy the SpecForce commandos the time they needed.

After the prolonged battle, Zoom was beginning to get worried about his squadron's status. "Red Leader to flight leaders, report status." A few seconds went by as the respective flight leaders queried their pilots.

"Two Flight fuel safe, torpedoes zero, no major system failures," Kyp reported back.

"Three Flight fuel safe, Two fighters with one torpedo each. Red Ten shields erratic," Redjed responded, acting as Flight Leader in Ranger's absence.

Satisfied with the condition of his squadron, Zoom contacted the Rooks who were facing heavy oppositions. "Red Leader to Rook Leader, how's your squadron doing?"

The fight was taking its toll. They had already lost one corvette and the Force alone knew how many who went down with it. Zoom himself was not sure how long he could keep this up. If it was not because the base need to be totally destroyed, he would have ordered everyone out as soon as the Salvation and Knight's Errand hypered out.

The information in Red Base's computers could cripple a number of Rebel operations as well as revealing Rebel fighter combat tactics. They had to ensure that none of it was downloaded to the Imperials. If the self-destruct was still working, it would have been easy; but now, they needed demolition and technical experts to ensure total destruction. A normal torpedo run would have left some of the computers salvageable, due to the very measures meant to protect them from Imperial attack .

Thus, the SpecForce commandos were needed to help destroy the platform. Zoom hoped that they could do it. If not, he didn't think his squadron would be able to destroy the base while dogfighting TIEs, with or without help from Rook Squadron.

Team One headed to the control tower. When they reached their destination, they found a few determined stragglers preparing to burn through the barricaded door with a fusion cutter, and probably get themselves burned down in the bargain. Gundark Lead sent the amateurs packing, telling them to get to the last transport. Once they were gone, he turned to his scan specialist. "Five, check the room."

Gundark Five fished the portable scanner out of her pack and set it against the wall. "Sir, I have six life forms. One is secured to a chair directly in front of the door. We have to find another way in."

"I don't think so, sir. Scanner indicates the prisoner to be female, and you know how the Imps are. I also have three on guard and one near a terminal. Another is returning weak vital signs, badly injured. Maybe one of ours."

"There are a few weak spots on this wall. I could use some of the breaching charges we have and make us some new doors," Gundark Four began. "But we won't have much cover going in."

"Already done, sir," Gundark Four said, proceeding to retrieve his demolition charges from his backpack. He handed a frame charge to Gundark Three. "Here, put this four meters to the left of the door."

"Three, you're with me. Four, Five, you take the one on the left. Wait for my signal."

Four and Five positioned themselves on both sides of the shaped charge. No flashbangs were used this time; the breaching charges should provide plenty of a distraction, and the SpecForce team didn't intend to give their opposite numbers time to recover from that surprise.

Four and Three held detonators in their left hands and assault rifles at the ready in their right. Gundark Leader and Five stood at point, weapons pointing at where the holes would be, ready to rush in the moment the breaching charges detonated.

Two explosions rocked the control tower. Team One rushed in before the debris had time to clear. The Imperial Commandos, surprised and disoriented, opened fire.

Team Two was making their way down to the main reactor. Gundark Two was leader here. On arrival, they saw that the reactor room had been retaken by the Imperials. The Rebel security detail lay where they had fallen.

Two whispered to his comrades, "Two guards, no armor, at the entrance to the reactor room. Six, flashbang."

Gundark Six unhooked a small cylindrical grenade from his utility belt and armed it. Flashbangs were designed to produce bright light and a loud noise to temporarily stun an opponent.

Six threw the grenade and quickly took cover; even with his eyes and ears protected, he preferred not to take chances. There was a loud BANG and Gundark Seven and Eight moved in, taking out the two guards before surveying the room.

Gundark Two and Six opened the blast doors leading into the reactor chamber. Another scan showed no hostiles in the area, but Gundark Two was not satisfied; the reactor would interfere with electronic scanning.

Gundark Lead moved in low, double-tapping the rightmost Imperial commando. As his target began to fall, already dead, he heard Gundark Three grunt. He turned toward Three's target and switched to full automatic. Laser fire sprayed brightly across the room, felling the other commando and nearly sawing his weapon in half.

On the other side, Gundark Four and Five had already double-tapped their targets and secured their weapons, by first putting them on safety and then throwing them away. The one at the terminal had been shot as he was reaching for his carbine.

There was a chorus of "Clear!" Gundark Leader looked around and saw that all the commandos were neutralized. "Five, check the terminal."

Gundark Four moved towards Three, taking out his medkit as Gundark Lead looked on.

"Stable, but he's not going to be able to use that left arm for a few weeks. I'm going to wake him up."

Four pressed a spray hypo to Three's neck. The fallen SpecForce man's eyes snapped open.

Gundark Four went around to check on the two hostages. He left the one tied to the chair tied as a precaution against her being one of the commandos in disguise. When he got to Harrison, he unhooked his own medpack.

Meanwhile, Gundark Lead was checking the room for traps after he propped Three against the wall facing the two holes. Three, a rifle at ready, watched the openings for new hostiles.

Gundark Nine finally answered, gasping. "Nine here, Lead. Status Alpha-Two-Zero. We have control of the secondary generators. Proceeding with demolition operations."

Gundark Eight kept watch as Seven placed charges on the reactor. Suddenly a figure dropped from the ceiling like a glob of black oil and fired a silenced slugthrower at Seven, who fell backward.

Eight shouted a warning into her commlink as she dived to the right evading a shot coming at her from another dark figure that had just appeared. A shot from her sub-rifle took out the one attacking her. She turned to fire at the one attacking Seven, but he had disappeared again. She immediately took cover near Seven.

"Unknown number of assailants, Two. Seven's down and I'm flying solo. Plus, they have shadowsuits."

Eight moved towards Seven lying prone on the ground. A few explosive packs were scattered around him. Switching to her low-light visor, she looked around. A quick check revealed that Seven was dead; he had taken the slug right in the face. She warily eyed the area, especially the shadows.

Shadowsuits were handsewn from shadow silk and carefully dyed in shades of black. They relied entirely on passive stealth and had no telltale energy signature, rendering its wearer nearly invisible even without sensor scramblers.

Gundark Eight moved silently towards the fire fight. But when she got there, Two was already dead and Six seriously wounded. Two pitch-black forms lay dead on the floor while another two were advancing towards Six's refuge.

Eight made her entrance with a full-auto burst. She hit one square in the chest, but the remaining commando dived behind a storage crate. Eight unhooked an impact grenade and threw it over the crate. The resulting explosion threw the Imperial commando against the wall like a rag doll. His shadowsuit had been shredded.

"Eight to Lead, Team Two's status: team leader down, one man down and another seriously injured."

"I read you, Eight. Stay tight!" Gundark Leader contacted his other teams. "Team Three, evacuate Team Two! Team Four prepare for immediate departure. We've done all we can."

"Almost, sir," Five answered. "I'm sending a trace program over to the lead Impstar."

"They were downloading the database straight to the Impstar. I'm just adding my own program to the data to alter and destroy what they have, as well as a trace program. We can track them later with that. I think Red Squadron might want to go hunting for another Star Destroyer."

"Good work. But don't tell Red Squadron just yet. They're as busy as we are right now."

"The Empire must want Red Base, or something on it, real bad," noted Rapier as the assault transport in his crosshairs began to roll over and break up under his continued laser fire. By his count that made four waves, for a total of sixteen ATRs - a lot of stormtroopers to throw at one out-of-the-way platform. "Any ideas, Lead?"

"You've got me, Rapier," Zoom answered. "We seem to be really popular lately. I just hope we'll get through this to find out."

By this time the TIEs were down to four squadrons, but the appearance of the assault transports forced Red Squadron to concentrate on the boarding craft, leaving Rook Squadron to engage the starfighters. The odds had already taken a toll, as Rook had lost another of their A-wings.

Rapier's astromech alerted him to a new set of sensor contacts. Turning his head, he saw more transports dropping from the bellies of the nearby Star Destroyers. "Lead, another ATR wave on the way."

Four X-wings from Two Flight turned from the fight to engage the newcomers. Kyp noticed that Dragon was lagging behind. "Fourteen, how are you doing?"

"Admiral, we are running out of TIEs," an Imperial lieutenant reported. "And we're losing our commando teams. None of our transports have been able to make it through to reinforce them."

"Move the fleet in," Awlas ordered. "Let's use the ion cannons to take out the base's systems and give some support to our fighters."

"I'm here," Eight responded. "Six's vital signs are fading in and out. I've got him on the portable med-unit."

Gundark Eight looked down at her companion resting against a crate, a med-unit strapped to his chest to try and keep him stable. Sweat trickled down her forehead. Suddenly, she felt a prickling sensation on her neck. Someone was watching her.

She dropped down on one knee and turned, firing as she did so. "UNDER FIRE! UNDER FIRE!" One of her assailants took her full auto burst in his chest and was left with a gaping hole. But the second managed to move in and disarm her, yanking the rifle away. Rather than go after it, she kicked at his wrist, sending his pistol flying into a corner. He backed off for a moment, then came at her again in combat stance.

She unhooked a vibroblade sheathed at her left forearm and prepared to receive the attack. The Imperial commando did the same. At least he wasn't wearing a shadowsuit, she thought. Eight and the commando circled each other, waiting for an opening. No taunts came from either combatant as they eyed the other; both were professionals.

Gundark Eight moved in first. She lunged forward, stabbing out. The commando parried her lunge with his own blade and forced her back. They continued circling each other.

Suddenly, the commando made his move, slicing at her throat. She stepped back and then in again as soon as he was committed to his swing, aiming a backhand cut of her own at him. The commando brought up his free hand and blocked her wrist.

Eight disengaged quickly, backing out of reach. He had her beat in strength, so she couldn't let him get a grip on her; she had to rely on her agility and speed. But luck was not with her either. As she stepped back, she tripped over the body of the other Imperial commando and fell to the floor. Her opponent moved in for the kill.

Zoom was neck-deep in TIEs and was beginning to wish he was back in his office filing reports. But the situation wasn't as bad as it seemed; Rapier was on his wing, and the Imperials had finally stopped launching transports, so he could concentrate on vaping eyeballs. He lined up on one that had darted in front of him and squeezed the trigger. Solar panels tumbled away in both directions from the explosion.

"Watch it, Twelve! You got one on your tail!" Phoenix warned his wingmate, Vape.

Vape tried nearly every trick in the book but the bandit still followed her X-wing. Suddenly, Phoenix spoke again. "Twelve, on my mark break left! I'm going for the shot!"

Vape yanked her flight stick to the left and stomped hard on the rudder to take her X-wing into a tight left turn. Phoenix followed the Interceptor as it went straight on and squeezed the trigger on his stick. The quad-linked crimson bolts shot through the engine of the TIE and the pilot, one of them leaving a hole where his chest used to be before exiting through the octagonal viewport.

Just when the odds were starting to turn in the Rebels' favor, flight computers chirped and astromechs wailed as another pair of ships dropped out of hyperspace: two Imperial escort carriers, each carrying an entire wing of TIEs to add to the fight.

Looking at the rounded-off box of one of the carriers on his CMD, Zoom knew that the situation had just gone from manageable to practically hopeless. They'd be lucky now just to escape with everyone alive. "Red Leader to all craft. Omega signal; prepare to withdraw. Gundark One, are you listening?"

"Read you loud and clear, Red Leader. Just give us a couple of minutes to get back to our shuttle."

Zoom gritted his teeth, but nodded. "Acknowledged, Gundark One. Red Group, rendezvous at Red Base and cover the shuttle. Rooks, get out while you can!"

"Two Flight, form up on me and Rapier and prepare to receive target information," Zoom ordered.

The six X-wings farthest from Red Base broke off their attack and closed in on Three Flight's location. TIEs tried to follow the retreating fighters.

"Four Flight in position, reporting Red-Alpha-Two is a go!" Ranger reported. He watched his sensors closely, waiting until the range between the two group of fighters was optimal for this maneuver. "Red-Alpha-Two, execute! Execute!"

"Sir, we have a problem," Gundark Four reported. "With all the jamming and counter-jamming out there, there's no way we could activate the charges by remote."

"No, it's a fine idea, trooper," Harrison said, weakly. His face shown the strain of trying to keep the pain of his injuries from overwhelming him. "But it'd better be me. There's no way I could get to your shuttle in this condition, let alone live long enough to get to a medical facility."

"No buts. I'm the commander of this base and I have my duty to perform. The longer you stay here, the more pilots out there are going to die. It's my job to make sure they survive. Now go!"

"Give me the remote and set the timer as back up," Gundark Leader said. He knelt in front of the injured base commander and handed him the remote. "Anything else I can do for you, Captain?"

"Yes, here. Take this and give it to Cmdr. St. Clair or Jeff Mitchell," Harrison said, tearing off his rank insignia and Captain's pips before placing them in the SpecForce leader's hand. "They know what to do with this."

Gundark Leader took a last look at the captain before ordering his team to fall back to the landing bay. The former Rebel hostage carried Gundark Three's gear while the wounded man was helped along by Gundark Four.

"Are you okay, Eight?" Nine asked as he picked her up. Gundark Eleven and Twelve stood near by, covering the area with their rifles..

"I'm okay, thanks to you guys," she said. She gestured to her opponent, who was now lying sprawled among the crates. "Is he still alive?"

"I don't think so. Rikhush isn't very forgiving of those attacking someone he's rescuing."

"You want to carry Two as well? Okay. Eleven, grab Seven and we're out of here."

The SpecForce team rushed out of the sector towards their extraction point. "Lead, this is Nine. En route to exit vector!"

Speed was of the essence, so rather than returning fire at the ambusher, the team kept going. Gundark Twelve took a blaster bolt to his arm; he gasped and pressed it to his side, but didn't slow down. Nine and Eight took rear guard, stopping at corners to give cover fire to their retreating colleagues. Soon they reached the hangar bay, sprinting across it and up into the waiting shuttle. The Imperial commando who'd been following them was mowed down by the shuttle's laser cannons.

The shuttle rose from the deck and had not completely turned when it passed through the magnetic field. As soon as it was facing away from the platform, the pilot went to full throttle to get clear.

At Ranger's command, the two groups of X-wings (which had been flying at each other head-on) broke formation and started firing at will. The TIEs which had been pursuing both flights found themselves suddenly under fire. Five were destroyed in short order, flaring into bright clouds of sparks and vapor amid the shower of red-orange bolts. One TIE pilot tried to veer out of the path of the lasers and crashed into his wingman, destroying both fighters. Meanwhile the X-wings flashed past each other safely, though with little room to spare.

Three eyeballs which had made it through the storm stayed tight on Dragon's tail, hammering him repeatedly with emerald light. "This is Fourteen! My throttle's stuck again!" Dragon called out. "Shields down! Shields down! Ejec... !"

Zoom looked to his left just in time to see Dragon's X-wing break up. "Dragon!" As he turned to engage the TIEs who had shot Firebrand down, he asked, "Anyone have a fix on his beacon?"

"I'll try, Lead," Kyp said, diving into the cloud of debris and cutting his own throttle. Seconds dragged by, during which time Zoom chased down and destroyed two of the eyeballs. "... Negative on visual sighting. Sorry."

Zoom's hopes rose. The shuttle's more powerful sensors might be able to find Dragon where an X-wing's couldn't. "Gundark One, do you track a downed Rebel pilot?"

"Negative, Red Leader. I can't even track any Imperial beacons. The jamming is interfering with our sensors."

"Damn!" Zoom banged his helmet against his seat's headrest, then let out a regretful sigh. "All fighters retreat. Repeat, all fighters, retreat!"

"There's nothing we can do about him for now, Fifteen. Let's get out of here... and hope for a miracle."

"Our mission has failed. We have lost contact with all our commandos on the platform."

The platform hung in space as the admiral gazed on it from the safety of his Star Destroyer's bridge. All he could do now was wait and see how thorough the Rebel demolition team had been. Such a waste, he thought. But if he was in their place he would have done the same.

He did not have to wait very long. There was a bright flare at the base of the platform as the reactor blew. A crack split the center section before secondary explosions scattered debris in all directions. Then a final series of detonations built to a fireball that consumed the entire platform. A ring-shaped shockwave expanded outward from what had been Red Squadron's home port.

At the first flash, most of the Red pilots turned to have a final look back. Some of them had trained here; a few had been present when Red Base was made operational. All remembered the drinks and good times they'd had at the Crash Site. And those who had left for other posts would feel the loss as well, when the news reached them.

Zoom watched until Red Base's funeral pyre had burned itself out. When he spoke again, it was almost a whisper. "Red Squadron, go to hyperspace on my mark. Gundark One, lead the way."

The SpecForce shuttle leapt beyond lightspeed, followed by three Y-wings and ten battered X-wings.

"If you say so. But I have my orders, just like you. Now, let's start this again. Why did you attack the platform?"

Outside the interrogation room, Gundark Leader was overseeing the session through a window. Zoom and Kyp were with him, both anxious to know anything about their attackers.

"It's still too early to tell," the SpecForce Major answered. "But I'd love to see his face when he winds up in a room with two Horteks from Intel."

"Big, mean, armored like a Barabel, and telepathic, at least among themselves," the Major explained. "Some of them have learned to 'read' other species, like humans. Not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley." He chuckled, then changed the subject. "How's that pilot of yours? The one who captured him?"

"He's supposed to be out later today for the funeral. But the doctor said he could have visitors."

The Major turned to the ink-black monster beside him, currently visible. "Rikhush, go and get Keisya will you? She wanted to meet him as well."

"Growor," the shadow answered. The overhead lights glinted off the smooth curve of the visor that hid its eyes as it nodded and turned away. Both Reds stared after it.

"He's okay. Not a bad team member, even though a tad too aggressive about completing objectives," the Major answered. "By the way, what can you tell me about that pilot?"

"Only what was declassified. He was on a cross-department transfer to Red Squadron for advanced starfighter training. Other than that was for my eyes only."

In the Med Bay, Yale was being teased by Leo, whose head was still bandaged, about breaking his arm and ribs.

"You sure have a weak arm, Yale. Look at me: a few knocks to the head and I'm still walking unaided."

Suddenly the door hissed open, revealing Gundark Leader, Zoom, Kyp and Gundark Eight, who had joined the party of commanding officers. With her helmet off, it was easy to see that Gundark Eight was a small woman, brunette with a fair complexion and greenish-blue eyes. Those eyes narrowed to slits when she saw Yale.

Her throwing blade slid into her right hand and with one fluid motion she threw it. The blade imbedded itself in the back of a datapad Yale had quickly snatched up. She was about to throw another when Gundark Leader chopped at her left wrist, knocking the blade to the floor.

Zoom and Kyp were pushed aside by a shadowy shimmer, which then partially enveloped Eight, wrapping strong hairy arms around her body. She squirmed.

Assessing the situation, Gundark Leader gave an order he would rather not have. "One-Bee, sedate her!"

With professional calm, the medical droid rolled up and did his duty. Keisya sagged in the restraining grasp of the invisible Defel.

"What's the meaning of this, Major?" Zoom asked, holstering his blaster. He was about to stun the SpecForce woman when the Defel moved in.

"I'm sorry, Commander. I should have seen this coming," the Major said. He turned and motioned to Yale. "Captain, if you would care to make things clearer?"

"Yes, sir. I know him," Yale said. He turned to Leo. "I'm sorry Leo, but you can't hear this. Could you excuse us for a few minutes?"

"Sure thing," Leo said, glad to leave the uncomfortable atmosphere that had just developed in the Med Bay. "But give me a declassified version or something later, okay?"

They all waited until Leo left the area and the door securely shut behind him. Then the Major asked again, "Captain?"

"Can I leave too, sir? I don't want to listen to any of his lies," Keisya said with a bit of a slur, struggling against the Defel and the drug in her system.

"Permission denied. Rikhush, let go of her but watch her close. Captain, please continue."

"Perhaps I'd better explain to the Commander and Lt. Commander how I knew you," Yale said. Taking a deep breath, he continued. "Major Carjoun, here, was my instructor. He trained me as a SpecForce Infiltrator before my posting to the intelligence based SpecForce unit."

"And Keisya...," Yale's eyes turned glassy with tears for a moment, but he blinked them away. "Keisya is my fiancé's younger sister."

"Your ex-fiancé. You killed her! You took a civilian into a fire fight! She wasn't trained for that!"

"You know how it is with Intel, Commander," Yale said sadly, recalling that Zoom had read his personnel file. "Need to know. Keisya and her family did not know."

"The secret I have been holding from your family for the last two years." Yale sighed. "Petresya wasn't a civilian; she was Intelligence, Special Ops. She was part of my team from the moment it was formed. She made me promise not to tell you or your family unless it was really necessary."

"Yes, she specialized in deep cover and electronics. I was her deep cover partner. Because of her work in Intel, no one must know about her work. It's her way to protect you and your family."

"I... I need to sit down," Keisya said. She slumped into a chair, looking up at Yale and then Major Carjoun. "You knew... and you didn't tell me?"

"I trained her, Keisya. Just like I've trained you. The difference is that she was in intelligence whereas you were in the military. You knew the protocols. I was the one who wrote the report to your family with her promise in mind, to tell you as little as possible about her work. It came as a surprise to me when I found your name on the list to be trained as an infiltrator."

The Major turned to Zoom and Kyp. "Come, gentlemen. Let's leave them for a while. I think these two have a lot to talk about."

They left Yale and Keisya in the Med Bay, watched over by the vigilant Defel and the Emdees.

Later, in one of the three mess halls onboard the Salvation, a group of somber people gathered. They were pilots from three squadrons, Red, Bishop and Rook, minus those badly injured and deceased. Surviving support personnel from Red Squadron were joined by personnel from both the Salvation and Knight's Errand as well as others involved in the battle like Gundark Unit. Among the officers present was Fleet Admiral Ackbar, who arrived by shuttle short moments ago.

Bishop Leader and the Salvation Group commanders began to read the list of casualties and those missing in action or presumed dead. The list began with the support staff and civilian crewmen before moving on to pilots. Gundark Unit declined to be included in the ceremony, preferring to mourn their dead in private. But their contributions to the battle were noted.

Zoom stepped forward to take his turn. He swept his gaze over the faces before him, Red Squadron's pilots, trainees and their support personnel. He could see Trixel Narmi, the Idiri woman, consoling a lady at the back of the room. With a heavy heart he began to read the list of casualties from Red Squadron.

"Killed in Action: Harrison, D. Captain; Jarvis, C. Ensign; Arvis, D. Chief Technician; Juxit, T. Private..." He continued to call out the names of the security personnel and staff found dead.

He paused then continued. "Missing in Action, presumed dead: Ames, H. Captain; Batt, D. Lieutenant..." He ended with Red Fourteen. "Pilot Firebrand, J. Lieutenant."

The other commanders had stepped back after reading out their list, but Zoom stayed on. He had been chosen to give the final speech to pay homage for those who went before them.

"Many of these people probably never wanted to be heroes. But if not for their courage and sacrifice, many more of us - myself included - would not be standing here today. Quite simply, we owe them our lives."

"Some of you may ask yourselves, 'Why them, and not me?' The sad truth is that war doesn't work like that. War is arbitrary and often unfair, and it rarely allows substitutions. Some of our fallen comrades did have a choice... and they chose, in the end, to save others rather than themselves. Nor should we question their decision."

Kelly found himself thinking of Deela, and Dragon, and even Yale's fiancee, who he'd never met. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the tightness in his throat.

"The war goes on. But today, we pause to rest, to think of absent friends... and thank them."

As he finished his speech, a tech from the Salvation activated the launch system to send the caskets in single file towards a small sun on a final convoy. With most of their homeworlds still under Imperial control, the Alliance had decided that the stars themselves would be the most suitable and efficient final resting place for their personnel.

Zoom followed the convoy with his eyes until the brilliance of the sun hid them from his view. He saluted and all present followed suit.

In small briefing rooms after the official ceremony, small private ceremonies were held by each squadron. Admiral Ackbar attended each one. At Red Squadron's ceremony, he passed Red Leader a small package and addressed the pilots in his gravelly voice.

"Earlier, we honored the dead. Now it is time for us to honor the living. Commander, if you would?"

"Thank you, Admiral," Zoom said. "Please step forward as I call your name. Flight Officers Sean Healey, Mario Rodgers, Stjepan Bedic and Chelsey Maxfield."

The four pilots stood at attention, one step in front of the others. All were anxious and tense, especially Vape, the newest member of the Combat Wing.

"All of you have shown initiative, quick thinking, bravery, and piloting skill - some of which, I would like to think, is the result of your training with us. Therefore, it is my pleasure to convey upon you the rank of lieutenant in the Alliance Starfighter Command."

Zoom proceeded to place the lieutenant pips on each of the four pilots, amid applause from all those around them. Once he completed fastening the pips, all four of them saluted their squadron leader who returned the salute.

Once the applause had subsided, the Admiral spoke again. "All of you deserve these commendations and recognition of your service to the Alliance. Now, I must take my leave."

"The least I could do, Commander," the admiral said, before he left the room. The others were beginning to follow the admiral out, but Zoom signalled that the ceremony was not yet at its end.

"A few other items of business. First, to Red Base support personnel. I know most of you put in a transfer to follow the Training Wing or the Regis. Unfortunately, only a few vacancies were available on the Regis. Some of you, I regret would be transferred to other locations. But the moment there is any vacancy, I'll personally contact all of you. You were all people I'm proud to have had the pleasure to work with. And I look forward to working with all of you again if the opportunity arises. Thank you all for your support to Red Squadron."

Red Base's support personnel began filing out of the room. The pilots and Trix remained behind. Trix was detained from leaving by Kyp, who waited at the door to get hold of her privately. Once everyone left, Zoom turned to the Idiri standing nervously at the side.

"I don't know. I wish I could stay with the Training Wing, but I don't think that's possible. As far as I know, civilians aren't allowed on warships, even Rebel ones."

"First of all, the Regis has been reclassified as a Combat Ready Training Frigate," Zoom began, to the surprise of the trainees. "Secondly, only non-working civilians are not allowed on the frigates. I've talked to Capt. Daly about you. You showed how well you handle people like Miki. We need someone like you to look after the morale of the pilots and staffs on the Regis. And Capt. Daly agreed. Do you want it?"

"Officially you don't, but you can have the Mug as your office. About time we had a good bartender. You'll do quite nicely, I think."

"Okay, now the second part of the debriefing. Here in my hands are the new general orders for Red Squadron."

Zoom quickly referred to the datapad. "First of all, the reclassification of the Regis as a Combat Ready Training Frigate. So all of you still in the Training Wing, don't bother unpacking because you're coming with us. You'll also be pulling regular patrols with the Training Officer, who will still be Capt. Magill."

All the Combat Wing pilots smiled, thinking of the many hours they were going to have in the simulators 'training' the trainees.

"There will be a reshuffling of numbers. I am still Red One or Leader with Kyp and Rapier retaining their numbers too. Ranger is Red Four and Training Leader. Red Five and Nineteen are still reserved. Leo is Six and Wire is Seven."

Everyone took note of their new squadron numbers, waiting for other names to be called out. Things were going to be slightly confusing until they were familiar with the new assignments. Ranger grinned, thinking of the runs he would put the Combat Wing through to familiarize themselves with the reshuffling.

"Jaguar and Phoenix are Eight and Nine respectively. Next is Redjed, Ten, Carcajou is Eleven and Vape is still Twelve. Yale is now Thirteen and Kiki Fourteen."

"I'll lead One Flight with Rapier on my wing and Leo and Wire as Element Two. Kyp will lead Two Flight with Jaguar as his wingman and Phoenix and Redjed completing his flight as Element Four."

"That's you and Carcajou, and when you're leading the Training Flight, which is designated as Four Flight, Carcajou will take over lead. Vape and Yale are Element Six. Kiki, you'll also be attached to Element Six for now, until we can find you a wingman of your own. Any questions?"

"Okay, that's all for now. We'll transfer back to the Regis at the end of the week. Until then, we'll be filling in here with the Salvation Group until Rook and Bishop get their new pilots. Which reminds me, I'm on the flight line in an hour. Dismissed."

Epilogue

Later, in his temporary office aboard Knight's Errand, Zoom mused over the set of Captain pips he'd been given, turning the rank badge over and over in his fingers. On the terminal screen was a half-written form letter to Harrison's family.

Kelly had met Dayn Harrison shortly after he was assigned as the commander of Red Base. Arguments between the two were inevitable, but the man was dedicated and protective like hell over his pilots, especially the trainees. Kelly had come to respect and even like him.

He didn't know how to break the news to Harrison's family, especially to his fourteen year old son. The boy wanted to be like his father and had said wanted to wear his father's pips if he ever got to be a captain in the Alliance Armed Forces. The idea was for the elder Harrison to do the pinning himself. But now, only the pips were going to be there, not his father.

When is this war going to end? He had lost too many friends, too many pilots, killed too many people already. He didn't know how long he could keep this up. Zoom rubbed a hand over his face and glanced down at the desk. The pips looked up at him like unblinking eyes, daring him to quit. He closed his fingers around them and placed them back in the pouch.

One thing he did know: Harrison's son did not deserve an impersonal form letter. He picked up a stack of flimsies and a stylus and began to write his own letter of condolence to the fourteen year old.

Many light years away, in another office, an Imperial captain was looking at two datapads. One had the report on his ship's gravity well generators, the other a show-cause letter from his superior officers. He was disillusioned by the Empire. He had entered the Navy to fight for what he believed in, not for power. Now, he did not know what his beliefs were anymore. Perhaps it was time for a change.

He looked up from the datapads he was reading. Sitting in front of him were a man dressed in a TIE pilot's shipboard uniform and another, younger Navy captain. Both looked questioningly at him.