by Sazril "Yale" Murshid

Chapter 3

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."

"Seven, evasive action!"

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.

"Sir, we're in position."

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.

"Captain, the Sinkhole has entered hyperspace."

"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.

"Lead, the fighters are retreating!"

"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.

"Bishop Leader to Red Leader."

"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.

"All starfighters are away, sir."

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.

End Part 3