"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.