Ugly Mynock; Status Report

Captain Mii’sui touched the screen of his data pad and heaved a sigh, he touched it again, the screen flickered and another report came up. It was no more encouraging than the first. The Ugly Mynock was in bad shape; reports from all stations indicated that it was close to being impossible to maintain her for much longer. Engineering had been all hands on deck, round the clock, for over a week and no sooner had they got on top of one problem than another emerged.

“Sir, we are having problems with the communications system,” the voice of Commander Richard Vogel broke the quiet of his private quarters.

“Ahh, of course, Commander, I’m on my way,” Captain Traek Mii’sui replied.

It was probably the only system that had been functioning pretty much to full capacity, up to now.

It would be true to say that the Ugly Mynock had not been Traek Mii’sui’s favorite command, she lived up to her name, she was ugly, and had never quite fulfilled her potential. Added to which, much like her names sake, she had the parasitic inclination to drain him of all optimism with monotonous regularity, and right now it felt as if she was fighting her own campaign of attrition against their cause, and him in particular.

However it was also fair to say that in many ways, she’d served the Rebel Alliance well. She’d seen several victories, and been in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion, but even as he flicked to another report he knew what it would say. The end of the Ugly Mynock’s serviceable life was definitely in sight.

The report from Engineering was by far the most depressing,

- Failing hyper-drive

- Superstructure damage to drive casings

- Failing hydrogen vents

- Reduced drive efficiency

- Failing life support

~Conclusion, we can make one, possibly two hyper-jumps at most ~

The Ugly Mynock was not going to last much longer, which was why Red Squadron had been searching for a new base, whether planet, moon or space station, right now anything would have been welcome news. Traek ground his teeth, if ‘something’ didn’t start going right soon they were all going to end up as space debris, they had to have a break soon.

The Imperial Forces had stepped up operations to find and eliminate the rebel insurgence, like an unwelcome infestation they seemed to pop up in pockets throughout the galaxy. Suddenly there seemed to be twice as many Stormtroopers, and Imperial starships seemed to be everywhere. The Rebel forces were under pressure, several of their bases had been destroyed, there had been talk about Imperial spies, but most of the Rebel leaders were of the opinion that it was the sheer weight of numbers that was the problem.

Captain Mii’sui was under the same pressure as every other Rebel commanding officer, the small squadron of X-wings, and the Rancors, the corps of SpecForces attached to the Ugly Mynock were in need of some sort of base, a place for them to hole up between raiding missions, whether celebrating or licking their wounds. From choice it would be a sympathetic planet or better still an uninhibited moon, but beggars can’t be choosers and any option would be acceptable.

Red Squadron had borne the brunt of the search; they had flown several sorties in search of a potential location but so far, with no success

“Red One to Ugly Mynock, we’re coming in.”

“Red One, this is Ugly Mynock you are cleared to approach. Note we had a minor problem with the shield control earlier, so approach to the cargo hold should be made from the stern and pilots should maneuver across once they are within the confines of the bay.”

Captain Mii’sui heaved a sigh as he watched the X-wings through the bridge forward view port. Earlier a pressure valve had failed, the resulting explosion, although relatively small, had sent shrapnel spraying across the cargo hold. The debris was still being cleared, along with the remains of the technician who had been attempting to repair it at the time. Just another problem to add to the list, and yet another casualty.

“We could do with some good newsm Captain Avern,” Captain Mii’sui suggested over the coms line.

“Sorry, sir, nothing.” Meg ‘Flash’ Avern sounded as disheartened as Traek felt.

Captain Mii’sui sat at the helm; the grim line of his mouth spoke volumes in the silence that filled the bridge.

“Ensign Tills, is there anything from the Rancors yet?”

“No, sir, nothing,” the young Mon Calamari despondently replied as he continued to scan all frequencies in the hope that something would crackle through. There had been no word from the Rancors since they’d reported the discovery of hostages and had made the decision not to leave them, but to attempt a rescue.

A New Surprise

Rev and Gnoizic continued to pour on blaster fire as Feral, Faeshard, and Rybs moved forward to get near the hostages. If it had only been the Alliance personnel that were around, everyone involved would have taken their chances, but they came across something they didn’t expect with regards to the hostages.

They were mostly children.

Rev wasn’t entirely surprised that the Empire would stoop so low as to use children as hostages, but he still couldn’t believe that anyone would have been so evil to do such. It made his anger toward the despotic government all that much stronger.

Rev watched as Feral and his team moved the hostages toward the Time, dodging blaster fire. Faeshard signaled for the others to wait while she checked in with the pilot, Nick. As soon as she walked through the hatch, Rev saw one of the Imperials lob two RPGs through after her. He shouted out to her, but it was too late: moments later the Time exploded and air began to rush out into space.

Emergency automatic procedures soon sealed off the destroyed airlock and Rev was once again able to breathe. He looked over to the sealed section and gave a private word of acknowledgement for Faeshard before turning back to Gnoizic. “Get me the Mynock; now.”

Ugly Mynock; Unexpected Report

The uneasy quiet on the bridge of the Mynock was suddenly broken by the sound of static, Mitch Ri’chard’s voice could barely be heard but enough of his report could be understood for everyone to hear that the Rancors were pinned down, their only means of escape, the Time, had been destroyed along with one of their marines, Faeshard, and they had an additional, unexpected problem ... the hostages were predominantly children! If they attempted to fight their way out, a good number of the children, if not all, would almost certainly be killed in the attempt. Imperial forces regularly showed contempt for life, all species and ages, the Rebels were fighting a campaign to change that, they were not about to risk any more lives than they had to, and especially not children!

It was a strange phenomenon that just when you thought everything truly couldn’t get any worse it usually did! The report that there were hostages had been something Captain Mii’sui had NOT wanted to hear, that the Rancors had decided to rescue them, in spite of the fact that they had no means of extricating themselves and said hostages should there be any survivors, was cause for quick planning and a minor miracle. The addendum that the hostages were children was of such minor import at the time, that it would only be later that the complexity of catering to such diverse little creatures would impact his sphere of concern. The captain mentally blocked any creeping reservations that threatened at the fringes of his mind.

A small legion of Jedi’s right now would be very welcome.

Ugly Mynock; Command Room Captain Mii’sui depressed the comm button and spoke with firm authority. “Captain Avern, Commander Vogel, Lieutenant Commander Seras, and Lieutenant Mallara to the Command Room, please.”

Mii’sui paced around the oval table at which his command team was sat.

“The situation is this, the Rancors are pinned down with no means of transport and a number of hostages, we’ve not yet established precisely how many, but I understand they are predominantly children.” He paused to allow his fellow officers to digest this latest information, the scuttlebutt around the ship would almost certainly have kept them abreast of the Rancor’s situation, possibly even that they had encountered the hostage situation, but that those hostages were children was new information. “I would like us to….attempt to rescue them,” he added.

As he’d expected but not assumed; hence this brief meeting before proceeding, there were nods of agreement from all four, along with murmurs of ~of course~ and ~when do we leave~

Mii’sui nodded. “I fully expected your agreement, but we should all be aware that the outcome is likely to be far from successful. The Mynock is already at the point of failing.” He met the chief engineer’s gaze as he acknowledged the report he’d received less than an hour before.

“With luck we might manage to pick up the Rancors and their hostages, but Imperial forces are already on the spot and know the location of our people, with the cover of Red Squadron we might manage to vacate the vicinity, we might even manage to get away relatively intact, but whether we would survive a jump is in question.”

“Sir, I know the feelings of the crew would be behind any attempt. There’s not much hope for the Mynock and we might as well go out in a blaze of glory as end up space dust when she finally dies,” Commander Vogel said with a shrug.

Captain Mii’sui acknowledged his first officer’s observations with the curt nod of his head. That had been his own reading of the crew’s current metal state, but it was always reassuring to hear affirmation.

Mii’sui turned to face Meg ’Flash’ Avern. “Captain Avern and her pilots have the best chance of survival if they leave now and find somewhere to await the opportunity to join up with another faction of the Alliance,” he said. It was important for everyone to be aware of the facts, and they were fighting a rebellion, fighting for the future of their children, and their children’s children, not just themselves. The X-wing squadron could, justifiably, leave the dying Mynock, join up with another section of the Alliance and continue to fight for a lot longer.

“Like that’s going to happen,” Meg growled. “We are all fighting on the same side, we’re in this, too,” she reinforced her initial remark.

Captain Mii’sui seemed to grow several inches as he squared his shoulders and nodded to his senior officers. “Good, then we are in agreement, we will jump in an hour. Please take your stations and Captain Avern, please prepare your pilots.”

He turned to his chief engineer. “Lieutenant Mallara, do your best to keep us together. Lieutenant Commander Seras, I want your advice on our approach and your presence on the bridge at all times. You have fifteen minutes to see to your own needs and then report back to me here please.”

The Bothan looked to each officer in turn. “I’m going to take this opportunity to thank you all for your service to me and the Ugly Mynock, it has been an honor working with each of you. May the Force be with us.”

[Denarii Station]

Biba ‘Tails’ Rar ‘saved’ the last of his ‘letters’ on the data pad to be sealed in the pod that would be the only thing that would survive, should the Ugly Mynock not succeed in this mission. He was in no doubt that it would be the last one the Mynock embarked upon, the question was would it survive, would they survive.

Everyone had been given fifteen minutes to tie up their affairs before the Mynock jumped into combat to rescue the Rancors. Even though there was an hour to jump time the Mynock needed constant attention, the crew couldn’t leave anything unattended, not even for a minute, each of the duty shifts had been given fifteen minutes to see that their affairs were in order before the Ugly Mynock embarked upon her last mission, whatever the outcome she wasn’t going to be flying any more. The question at the back of everyone’s mind was, were they also embarking on their last mission, or would there be a miracle, would they survive to fight another day.

‘Flash’ had attended the meeting between Captain Mii’sui and the tactical officer, Lieutenant Commander Anton Seras, between them they had come up with ‘a plan’. Because Red Squadron had the best chance of survival, it was decided that they would go to hyperspace under their own power, that way if the Ugly Mynock encountered problems the X-wings would be clear of her, and ‘plan B’ would be executed; a backup rescue attempt by Red Squadron alone. Not ideal, but a slim chance of limited success.

Red Squadron had been briefed; they too had attended to any outstanding affairs and had gradually filtered back into the ward room for the final few minutes before action stations and launch.

There was always a strange atmosphere during the lat minutes before an offensive, the ‘lull before the storm’ Racyne ‘Ice’(Red 12) had once heard it referred to. The pre battle banter in the ward room had begun to pall, a cross between exaggerated promises of just how triumphant the squadron would be, and intense exchanges of emotional leave takings. She left the table on the pretense of getting a spiced Pantoran tea; not entirely a lie, she did get the tea, but instead of returning to the group she’d left, she slipped out and made her way down to the make shift cargo hold that served as a hangar.

FrostBite warbled a greeting to her as she approached the X-wing “I just thought I would check that rattle” she told him as she scrambled up on the wing and removed the panel.

Back in the ward room, Lock had been watching the young Pantoran from the corner of his eye and when she slipped out he’d excused himself and followed. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he was her XO, so he should keep an eye on her shouldn’t he? At least he tried to tell himself that, if he was going to be honest it was something quite different, but it wasn’t something he would admit to anyone, certainly not himself. She held a fascination for him. Ever since the night they’d danced in the hangar, and then there was the flight suit debacle. It was difficult enough to keep his mind on things when all too often during a briefing he found himself drowning in the liquid gold of her gaze, but when she and Gemi had turned up in those flight suits…..

He stopped mid step and cocked his head watching her as she tinkered with the X-wing. She was humming to herself, the soft sound was intermittently broken by the sound of metal hitting metal or a grunt as she struggled with her hydro-spanner and he wondered what the frell she could be doing at this late hour before a mission. He cleared his throat.

Racyne looked up. “Oh! It’s you, sir.”

“Precisely what are you doing, pilot?”

“Well I suddenly remembered I’d developed a rattle. I just thought I’d see if I could secure it, whatever it was,” she explained as she sat up and turned to face him.

Lock smiled. “Would you like a hand?” he asked, and without waiting for a reply joined her on the wing. “Show me,” he demanded as he stretched his length along the wing and peered into the access.

Racyne joined him, propping herself on her elbows. “I think it’s that,” she said poking an engine part to make it rock.

Lock reached in and poked a couple of parts. “Well that one is supposed to waggle about like that, but this isn’t.” He pushed at something she couldn’t have put a name to, then pulled it back. “Do you have a…?” He spotted the hydro-spanner and grabbed it.

Racyne watched as he tried to tighten a bolt. “Too big, can’t get it between the heat exchanger and the thermostat; can you get down and get me the small extension head please?” he asked without taking his eyes off the problem engine part.

She pushed herself backwards and to the leading edge of the wing and slid off, elegantly landing on the ground. One of the engineers’ trolleys of tools had been left under the body of the X-wing and she started to rifle around in it. She had a fairly good idea of what she was looking for, but it just didn’t seem to be there.

“It’s the long thin one with the wiggly universal joint thing on the end isn’t it?” she asked all the while describing what she meant with her hands.

“That’s the one, it should have a slot on the other end” Lock’s muffled voice returned. But when there was still no sign of either Ice or the tool extension he pushed himself backwards, spun round on his stomach and dropped his head over the edge of the wing to see what the holdup was.

The sound of humming drifted up to his ears from the enticing view of a neat rear end rocking from side to side. He couldn’t quite see what the top half was doing, but there was a lot of rattling accompanying the humming.

“Ooo! GOT IT!” she shouted as she stood up quickly and spun round to be confronted by an upside down head, peering over the wing. There was a sharp intake of breath from both parties as they froze for a moment.

In the pause after the gasp, the seductive odour of man, thrust engine and something…….. slightly musky, were the only things of which Ice was aware.

Lock lay perfectly still; she looked very strange, upside down. He watched the pulse in her throat as it beat beneath the pale blue skin. He could feel her breath on his chin, and then her lips against his. They felt soft and slid, gently against his own. In spite of his better judgment he kissed her back.

Almost of its own volition one blue hand lifted and gently cupped his upside down face, the day old stubble felt rough against her palm, but there was something rather nice about that.

Racyne drew back, slightly horrified at what she’d initiated. The soft hiss of the personnel door as it slid open, and the sound of chatter and over enthusiastic laughter poured into the black hole of silence that had suddenly formed between them. Racyne glanced towards the oncoming bunch of pilots and engineers, and when she turned back Lock’s head was gone.

“Meet me here later, after it’s all over,” hissed Lock's voice in a loud whisper from behind her. Racyne spun round to find him but there was no one there. She looked at the hydro-spanner extension in her hand and frowned.

“Can I help you with that?” a familiar voce asked.

Racyne spun back around and looked up at the Twi’lek. “Well I was trying to stop that rattle I told you about” she explained regaining her composure rather more quickly than she would have expected after such an intense encounter with her XO.

“Ahhh, yes, well let me see what I can do.” Tails gently took the tool from her hand and climbed up onto the X-wing. “I can see the …….. problem.” There were several grunts and the sound of a panel face being replaced and after a few moments Tails reappeared and slid down to the ground. “That should do it.” Hhe smiled and stepped around her to return the hydrospanner and the extension tool to the trolley. “Now, was there anything else I could help you with?” he asked her with a suggestive grin as one of his brain tails twitched.

Racyne cocked her head, “For the time being I think that will do it thank you.” She grinned back and spun on her heels to face the exit from the hangar, with a deliberately provocative sway of her hips Gemi would have been proud of, she slowly walked away, lifting a hand to waggle her fingers as she reached the door and disappeared through it.

Tails considered following for a moment and then he was called to assist one of the other engineers. He sighed wistfully as he turned and walked away.

The last of the X-wings lifted and hovered momentarily before it accelerated out of the cargo door of the makeshift hangar. “Red 12 clear,” Ice confirmed as she pushed the thrust lever forward and leaned the stick to the left to fall into formation with the rest of the X-wing squadron.

Captain Mii’sui watched as the seconds ticked away towards the jump into hyper-space. Everyone was at their stations, the tension was palpable.

“Jump in ten, nine, eight …….. three, two, one.” The sound of the engines whined up to a tangible pitch, the stars seemed to shimmer and then elongate to form streams of light.

Captain Meg ‘Flash’ Avern counted down the seconds on the secured com her squadron of X-wings. The soft clicks and burbles of astromechs were just discernible to the trained ear. Twelve X-wings disappeared a fraction of a second before the Ugly Mynock.

Red Rancors; The Last Stand

With their original avenue of escape removed, Rev and the other Rancors helped move the hostages towards the closest area large enough to accommodate them—an MC80 cruiser that was being serviced at the shipyard. They were surprised that there was such little security around the cruiser, but given that it was a civilian ship and not military, Rev concluded that the Empire probably hadn’t given it much thought.

Gnoizic was able to break through the airlock so the rest of the squad and the hostages could move forward. He did his best to seal it again, but knew that it wouldn’t last. Soon he and the other marines moved throughout the nearby corridors, setting traps and alerts, before rejoining the hostages to seek out a safer, more defensible position.

Ugly Mynock; Rescuers or Rescuees?

“Out of hyper-space in three….two…..one.” As Ensign ‘Chatter’ Tills counted down the transition from hyper-space to arrival, stars became pin points of light and there was an audible sigh of relief when everyone on the bridge realized they had made it, they and the Mynock had survived the jump.

“Red Squadron, report,” Tills added just as the X-wings streamed into view through the forward view port.

“Red Squadron all present and correct,” Flash reported.

Lieutenant Mallara growled as she adjusted the hydrogen vent control, this was not good, they were venting far too fast. The engine noise hitched up several notches. She growled in Shyriiwook at Storm to get down and check out the noise.

Momentarily the engine noise dropped and everything felt normal. The Wookiee was not taken in; this engine had never run smoothly, not since she stepped aboard and mentally registered the high pitched whine that had never been identified.

There was no whine.

Storm had taken four crewmen along, knowing that as soon as they had sorted the fuel feed and adjusted the thrusters the hydrogen vents and air scrubbers would almost certainly need adjusting too. What they really needed, was replacing, but since they didn’t have replacements they would have to make do with what they had, predominantly extensive knowledge of the wreck of an engine. So they would nurse everything along as best they could.

The Ugly Mynock stuttered and then juddered and shook as the superstructure of the engine casing buckled and exploded, taking the main drive with it, along with the thrusters, hydrogen vents and ten crewmen.

Mallara growled a Wookiee expletive as she picked himself up off the floor.

“Report Lieutenant Mallara!” Captain Mii’sui’s voice barked through the engine room.

The chief engineer did a quick assessment of the situation and growled to the Bothan that the hypderdrive, the men, and ten crew members had just been fried; they were dead in the water.

Treak Mii’sui wanted to throw his hand up, shout ‘end program’ plunging everything around him into pitch blackness for a moment before the door opened and a technician walked in to declare he’d lost the game. It wasn’t going to happen.

“Lieutenant Mallara, do we have any propulsion at all?” Captain Mii’sui asked.

The Wookiee growled that she could get something online, but that it would take time.

“As fast as you can Lieutenant”

Captain Mii’sui flipped a switch to bring secure coms to Red Squadron online. “Mii’sui to Red One, come in.”

“Red One here. What happened, you have a –crshhhhhhhhh- great hole where your engine should be.” Static and the failing communication system drowned any expletive Captain Avern may have used.

“Hyper-drive is gone.” Mii’sui snorted. “We have a marker and a data pad that work, Captain,” he said with heavy irony, “but hopefully will have some means of propulsion shortly,” he added in a more serious tone.

Outside the Ugly Mynock, Red Squadron circled the dying ship like electrons round a nucleus. Inside every X-wing, pilots and astromechs were watching for incoming Imperials. Soft clicks and warbles from the R2 droids could be heard as they searched for the enemy in their own way. Neither had long to wait.

The Ugly Mynock’s Last Stand

The Imperial Space Station was very cleverly placed alongside a shipyard, if one hadn’t known better, one might have made the spurious assumption that the station itself was just another resident of the junkyard.

Captain Mii’sui stood motionless on the bridge, his gaze focused intently on the shipyard. Any second now their presence would be noticed. One of the ‘abandoned’ ships broke away from the edge of the yard and started to approach, a Nebulon-B Frigate.

“Lieutenant Mallara… now would be a good time to tell me we have power,” Mii’sui growled over the com.

Furball replied with a fierce growl, stating that basic propulsion was almost repaired.

The frigate stopped and held its position between the Space station and the Ugly Mynock, Mii’sui glowered and then ground his teeth

“All stations prepare for incoming,” he barked as tiny black dots streamed from the frigate and the shipyard like ants from a disturbed mound.

Two full wings of TIEs streamed towards the stricken ship. Reds Six and Nine broke away to meet them eight and five circled in opposite directions, to draw them away from the Mynock. The rest of Red Squadron stayed close to the Ugly Mynock, at the moment it was still the best hope for the Rancors.

Down in Engineering every hand was applied to the impossible task of getting the Mynock moving by any means possible. The hyper-drive was gone, damaged beyond hope of repair, which was just as well as its dying gesture had taken with it the engineers most familiar with its foibles.

Chief Engineer Mallara growled orders and directed her crew from one side of the remaining propulsion engine to the other as they battled to get the gravity well generator working again. Fortunately, Tails had discovered that the propulsion engine itself had escaped any serious damage when the hyper-drive had exploded, if they could just repair the gravity well generator they would at least be mobile.

Captain Traek Mii’sui watched the battle between the hugely outnumbered X-wings of Red Squadron and the Imperial TIEs through the forward view screen. The far more maneuverable X-wings and clearly the skills of their pilots were doing a more than adequate job of protecting the Mynock but that would all be to no avail if they didn’t find a means to get the frack out of there, preferable with the Rancors and their hostages. His eyes were constantly drawn to the shipyard and its residents. If they could just exchange the Ugly Mynock for say that MC80a Mon Calamari cruiser……… Just like constructing the final section of a puzzle, a daring plot formed in the Bothan captain’s mind.

“Hook, keep me appraised, Seras, with me,” he ordered as he led the way to the Command Room.

“What if we head right into the shipyard, take over that MC80a?” he blurted to the Tactical Officer.

Lieutenant Commander Anton Seras pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. “Daring, probably impossible…” He heaved a sigh. “But if we could get away with it, we might have a chance. If…IF the MC80a is space ready, and hasn’t been stripped.”

A plan was hatched, reports from Red Squadron confirmed that the Mon Calamari cruiser had been newly commissioned, it was flight ready. The plan was to get to the shipyard and once close enough to the Space Station Jack McCauley would slip across in the Rimward Liberty and collect the Rancors, and their hostages, then return them to the Ugly Mynock. Once everyone was onboard they would transfer the crew and hostages onto the Morning Star.

Captain Mii’sui announced the plan to the crew over the secured internal coms unit, and then he briefed Captain Avern of the plan and trusted to her skilled pilots to manage their part in the operation. So much of its success depended on the ability of Red Squadron to keep the TIEs busy and distracted from the Ugly Mynock for the next half an hour or so.

All Hands Abandon Ship

Engineering finally managed to get the propulsion engine working and the gravity well generator partially working, which gave the Ugly Mynock a limited drive.

As the damage to the Ugly Mynock was so obvious, Mii’sui decided a game of lame duck might be worth a try. If they could fool the Imperials into thinking they were drifting, damaged and relatively ‘helpless’ they might manage to get past the Nebulon-b frigate and into the shipyard before any one from the Imperial Forces realized anything was amiss, as long as the Red’s could keep them sufficiently distracted in the meantime.

Avern and her squadron did a sterling job at keeping the TIEs away from the Mynock but even so the odd TIE fighter managed to break through the cordon and fire a few well aimed lasers and explosives at the ‘drifting’ Carrack cruiser. As a parting gesture the Ugly Mynock even managed to fire a few well aimed cannons when a second TIE interceptor managed to get a little too close to her.

One of the TIE interceptors managed a glancing blow at Red 11, taking out the HUD for a few seconds, it was just long enough for the TIE to fire a laser at the gravity well generator. Initially everyone had felt it had been fortunate that it just missed and hit the outer hull plating instead. Unfortunately that feeling of relief was quickly quenched when they discovered that the impact was sufficient to cause a short in one of the circuits on which chief engineer, Lieutenant Mallara was working. She was flung across the passage way and impaled on part of the damaged thrust engine superstructure. At this point there were so few engineers left that the plan to hijack the Mon Calamari cruiser was appearing ever more crucial.

By the time the Ugly Mynock finally made it to the vicinity of the shipyard, engineering had done everything it could to keep it ‘alive’. The gravity well generator had finally given up the ghost and with just a handful of engineering staff left there was no hope of reviving it. Just as Petty Officer Biba Rar was reporting to Captain Mii’sui there was a soft muffled explosion from deep inside the propulsion engine and the whine that had been their constant companion ever since they had taken the Mynock , and had so recently died, returned, the engine stuttered and stopped. Once again, they had become little more than flotsam.

“What’s the damage assessment? Someone get Mallara on the comm, I want to talk to her!” shouted Mii’sui.

Tills looked up from his console and shook his bulbous head. “Captain, Mallara’s dead. The explosion knocked out the entire engineering section.”

“Well, get me the surviving senior engineer, then!”

Tills’ fingers danced on his controls for a moment and then he looked back up at the Bothan and pointed over at where Rar was standing. “The petty officer’s all that’s left, sir.”

Mii’sui turned around and addressed the petty officer. “Can you give me any ideas on how to fix the damage?”

“There’s too much damage to fix, sir,” said the Twi’lek. “The Mynock’s had it, for good this time.”

Mii’sui turned around and looked out of the main viewport. The Ugly Mynock was just within striking range of the Morning Star it was a bit of a stretch, but with a bit of luck, something that surely they were well overdue of a hefty dose, they could make the transfer.

Captain Mii’sui turned back around and promoted Petty Officer Biba ‘Tails’ Rar to Lieutenant and put him in charge of Engineering, thereby giving him the responsibility of getting the engines of the Morning Star up and running as soon as they boarded her.

The order to abandon ship was issued, all the crew evacuated to escape pods, which were launched at the Morning Star. Captain Mii’sui, First Officer Richard Vogel, Lieutenant Commander Seras, ‘Chatter’ Tills and Alexa ‘Black Hole’ Marn, the newly promoted Lieutenant Rar along with as many of the Rancors as there was space for boarded the Rimward Liberty, with pilot Jack McCauley. It was all or nothing now, this was the most dangerous part of the plan; they were all at the mercy of Captain Avern and the pilots of Red Squadron.

It would have been too much to hope that the mass migration of escape pods from the dead Carrack cruiser would have gone unnoticed by the TIE fighters. Even if they hadn’t surmised precisely what was going on, the escape pods would register as having life signs and were therefore perfect for ‘target practice’

Like buzz beetles attracted to Rontos, the Imperials honed in on the escape pods. Red Squadron responded with dare devil like tactics and determination. Red and green laser probed, crossed and sparked all around the helpless pods as they honed in on the huge Mon Calamari cruiser.

The Rimward Liberty was not as helpless as the escape pods, she was steered unerringly towards the hangar bays of the Morning Star and without hesitation access was achieved with a well-aimed laser at the control panel. Once inside the huge cruiser Rancors and bridge crew spilled from the transporter. Captain Mii’sui and his crew, with the assistance of the Rancors, set about bringing the Mon Calamari cruiser to life. Tails headed to the engine room taking a couple of Rancors with him.

Finally luck or maybe the Force seemed to reward their audacity, the huge cruiser responded favorably to her invasion, and in short time the engines were whining into life and the bridge controls were responding willingly to their new masters.

There was no doubt in the minds of several of the pilots of Red Squadron that they would be telling tales of this ‘little skirmish’ for years to come. They were well out numbered, had no major back up and were a part of one of the most audacious escapades attempted! Nevertheless none of them had time to dwell on details at the moment. The TIE fighters had started to concentrate their efforts on the escape pods and inevitably several were picked off when they strayed away from the main clump. Red Squadron looked like shepherds as they darted around the spheres, seeming to herd them towards the Morning Star.

Try as they might to scatter both the pods and their X-wing escort the TIE fighters failed, they managed to pick of a few of the straggling pods, one of which contained Grabby, but made no significant impact on the little convoy.

The Nebulon-B frigate finally seemed to realize that it had been duped and slowly turned to add its fire power to the TIE fighters, and to prevent the theft of the prized Mon Calamari cruiser. Red ten and Red six broke away from the ‘escort’ to engage the Imperial frigate.

For a second time in an hour either luck or the Force seemed to smile on the rebels. As if dismissing the two X-wings as insignificant irritations, the frigate never attempted to defend itself when they set about attacking it. Neither did the TIE interceptors pursue them. Seagulls and Raven coordinated their runs, aiming for the one weak spot on the Nebulon-B design, the midsection connecting spar. Firing proton canons in dual formation the two X-wings spiraled round each other in a double helix, separating only to perform mirrored loops and come back together to repeat the performance. The narrow spar split and divided, venting the inner atmosphere and spilling crew and equipment into the vacuum of space.

One Last victory

Captain Traek Mii’sui almost breathed a sigh of relief when he was informed that the last of the escape pods was safe onboard and the bay door secured, He almost dared to hope that they had got away with it……

“Ensign Marne, get us out….” The order froze in the Captains throat as seemingly from nowhere a huge Star Destroyer materialized ahead of them. A blanket of silence fell on the bridge as every pair of eyes looked through the forward view port and settled on the growing image of the Star Destroyer.

Weapons bristled from every section of the huge wedge shaped vessel, it wasn’t called a Star Destroyer without cause, and right now there was only a puny, unarmed Mon Calamari cruiser in its sights.

In response to the appearance of the Star Destroyer, Red Squadron threw themselves into a vicious attack in an attempt to buy the Morning Star time to escape. At first it looked as though the Imperials were going to get the better of Red as two pilots—Hacker and Zippy—died due to extensive defensive fire from the starship, but Avern let the pilots through a series of maneuvers to start pounding away at the enemy vessel.

Captain Mii’sui’s eyes narrowed and the Bothan killer instinct rose to the surface, they hadn’t come this far just to add to the space debris. The Morning Star may not have weapons, but within tractor reach of her was a ship that had more explosive potential than was needed to tackle anything the Imperial Fleet could present, except maybe a Planet Destroyer.

“Get a tractor beam on the Mynock and lay a course directly at that Destroyer,” he growled. “Ensign Marn, do you think we could gather enough speed to sling shot the Mynock?”

It took a few seconds for the question to register and just half that time for the ensign to comprehend exactly what her captain was proposing. A slow, almost feral, smile grew on Alexa’s face. “I think I could manage that, sir,” she said as her fingers danced across the control board in front of her.

Over a secured com Captain Mii’sui quickly appraised Captain Avern of the course of action he had set in motion, and in response Red Squadron withdrew slightly to lend support to the Morning Star and her burden.

It looked as if the Mon Calamari cruiser was set on a suicide flight course as she headed straight at the Star Destroyer, gathering speed all the time. Seemingly reluctant, the much smaller Carrick cruiser Ugly Mynock trailed behind it. Just as the Morning Star approached the point of no return and irretrievable self-destruction seemed inevitable, she came to a sudden halt, the Ugly Mynock whiplashed ahead of her and at the last moment Ensign Marn released the tractor beam and the Mynock was hurled towards the Star Destroyer.

In one, final glorious act the Ugly Mynock flew straight and true towards the Imperial Star Destroyer Battle of New Plympto. Just before the moment of impact the Plympto started to bank, as if suddenly realizing she was going to collide with the cruiser. As if realizing this might be her finest hour the Ugly Mynock twisted and dipped her nose, burying it deep into the engineering section of the Star Destroyer. The impact was sufficient to cause the Mynock to implode and ignite the last remaining fuel in her drive. That explosion was enough to ignite every system in the Star Destroyer. The Battle of New Plympto appeared to pulse momentarily before lighting up from inside as a series of explosions ricochet through its length before she split apart like a ripe fruit.

A cheer suddenly broke the silence on the bridge of the Morning Star and echoes of it spewed through the com links with the X-wings of Red Squadron. Captain Mii’sui actually smiled or at least the Bothan equivalent of a smile.

The unexpected spike of triumph the TIE pilots had felt when the Star Destroyer had appeared was quickly replaced by a spike of uneasy anxiety as they all headed back towards the relative safety of the shipyard, a few of them taking pot shots at the Rebel fighters—and one of them hitting Sensei’s canopy, causing the oxygen inside to flash-burn and boil the pilot alive. Red Squadron’s instincts kicked in and they started to pursue the routed Imperial troops, hoping to seek vengeance for their fallen comrades.

“Red One, do not pursue, repeat do NOT pursue,” Captain Mii’sui called back the X-wing squadron. “I think we’ve made the point, and whilst I have you all still intact, I’d like to keep it that way for today,” he added.

Down in the bowels of the newly commissioned MC80a Mon Calamari cruiser Morning Star, Lieutenant Biba Rar smoothed his hand affectionately over the shiny superstructure of the brand new, almost silent, hyper-drive. He paused and breathed on a dull spot, then rubbed it clean with his sleeve.

Captain Traek Mii’sui strolled around the bridge, peering over the shoulder of one or other of his bridge crew to look at the read outs on the data boards. It was nice to see statistics looking.

In the shared and recreational areas friendly banter filled the passageways as Rancors and crew bid for quarters and explored what facilities were available. The hostages laid claim to the huge dining area, hide and seek was easier with lots of furniture.

“Lay in the coordinates for the staging area and prepare to jump, Ensign Marn,” Mii’sui ordered as he sat down in the Captain’s chair.

“Laid in and ready to jump in…three…two…one”

Avern watched as the holoprojecter sprang to life before her, the blue outline of an all-too-familiar Bothan taking shape. The lieutenant next to her saluted casually whereas she just stood before the holoimage. “General.”

“Captain,” Nole replied. “Lieutenant Layne, always good to see you,” he said, nodding to the man. “I was pleased to receive your reports about the escape from the shipyard, though I am sorry to hear about the destruction of the Ugly Mynock.”

“It wasn’t holding up much anyway, General, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“In any event, good job on rescuing those hostages and securing a new base of operations.”

Avern nodded but did not smile at the compliment. “Thank you, but it’s really the Red Rancors who deserve the credit. Speaking of them, I’d like to make a suggestion.”

“You’ve always been forthright in the past, Captain, no reason to stop now.”

Now Avern smiled. “They could use some support personnel, sir. They’re down to just three at the moment, that’s not even half-strength.”

Nole’s expression changed for a moment before he returned to his trademark form. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen…at least not in the way you mean.”

“And what does that mean, exactly?” asked Lock, who had remained silent throughout the exchange.

“The Red Rancors are being disbanded,” said Nole as he looked to Lock before turning back to Avern. “And as for Red Squadron, I’m afraid there’s going to be some changes as well.”

“Excuse me?” asked Avern in disbelief. Was she being booted already?

“Red’s being retasked to another command.” He stood up as straight as the holoprojector could make him and placed his paws behind his back. “Captain, Lieutenant, welcome to Special Operations Command.”

To Be Continued in Unbecoming An Officer