by Sazril "Yale" Murshid

Chapter 5

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."

"Team Three to Eight, are you still there?"

"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."

"Order the fleet to pull back," Awlas finally said.

"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.