Arrival

by CPT Jens "Bushmaster" Vigsted

 

   Shuttle Octavian was moving smoothly across the velvet blackness of space, which was freckled with the bright lights of the numerous stars. The shuttle had recently exited hyperspace near the planet Oras 4. It made a beautiful arched turn around the sole navigation buoy, now travelling directly away from the planet.

   On board the shuttle the pilot keyed his intercom, making contact with the personnel compartment at the back.

   “We’re coming up on our destination, Sir. Estimated time of arrival 20 minutes.”

   The voice on the other end of the line was soft, yet with a cold, superior edge to it. “Thank you, Lt. Commander. Get the landing clearance and take us in.”

   Back on cockpit the navigator shared a look with the pilot, “Ungrateful bastard, isn’t he?”

   “Concentrate on the navigation, Lt.” The pilot said, sharing his navigators’ feelings deep inside, but being experienced enough not to show it. “I wonder if the Persuader even knows we’re here. I would have expected a hailing by now.”

   The pilot looked through the view port at the huge creation in front of them. The ISD was looking more ominous than he remembered.

   “Persuader, this is the shuttle Octavian, requesting clearance to land.”

   “Shuttle Octavian, this is the Persuader, you’re cleared to land in the main hangar. Your escort will guide you in. Just follow them whenever you see them. Persuader out.”

   The pilot and navigation officer both scanned the space around the shuttle, and saw 2 Tie Interceptors, one on each side and slightly ahead of them, and at the same time a blip on the sensor screen told them another had been flying behind and above them.

   The subtle taunt made by the Persuader angered the pilot and he was tempted to respond to it, but knew he would only loose more face if he did.

   “I wonder how long they’ve been with us.” The navigation officer said.

   The pilot looked at him, the wrinkles on his face showing his weariness, “Way too long my friend, way too long….”

   As the shuttle neared the main hangar the lead Tie hailed the shuttle. “This is Whirl lead, we’re breaking off to continue our patrol, I assume you can fly the remainder of the trip without an escort?”

   This time the pilot couldn’t keep the anger out of his voice. “Yes, thank you very much for the escort Whirl, shuttle Octavian out!” The pilot adjusted a few switches making the initial checks before starting the landing sequence. As the second Tie crossed in front of the shuttle, he briefly looked up and cursed at those blasted hotshots.

   “We’re entering the hangar bay now, sir.” He informed the passenger of their ride. “I expect actual touchdown in less then two minutes.” As the last words escaped his mouth the door to the cockpit opened and their passenger stepped in. He was dressed in a nondescript cloak, covering his entire body except his head. He was blonde haired, and had dark, penetrating blue eyes.

   “No need for the comlink, Lt. Commander. I am right here.” He said with a smile.

   The pilot flushed, feeling this really wasn’t his day, and thinking how good it would be to go back to hauling cargo for the Deep Space Mining Facility near the rocky moon of Trela.

 

   The entry proceeded without incident and the landing was smooth. As soon as the pilot had switched off the main engines, the exit ramp was lowered and his mysterious passenger wasted no time getting off the ship. At the base of the ramp the deck officer was waiting for him.

   “Welcome aboard the Persuader, Sir. I hope you had a pleasant flight?”

   Being the taller of the two the passenger looked down on him, “It was adequate. Now if you will take me to Commodore Leanje.”

   The deck officer hesitated a moment, “I’m afraid the Commodore is… preoccupied right now, he’ll be glad to see you in an hour or so. You will of course be sent for…”

   The cloaked passenger turned and gave the deck officer a brief, hard stare, then suddenly he changed. “Very well.” He said. “You can escort me to my cabin then.”

   The walk to the cabin was quiet, the deck officer not very keen to make conversation with this strange person, who clearly was not a common man. And the mysterious passenger clearly had his mind elsewhere.

   “Ohh, is the aide that I requested ready for me?” the cloaked man asked the deck officer just as he was about to enter the cabin.

   The deck officer turned back, having already taken his leave. “Yes, sir. He will be down shortly, sir.”

   “Thank you” the cloaked figure said as he turned to enter the cabin, “You may leave.”

 

   Finally alone the cloaked figure removed his cloak, revealing a muscular body covered by a uniform of a naval officer of the Empire. But what made this uniform different from the standard officers uniform were the 2 small letters on each shoulder-strap. They read ‘EH’ signifying that he belonged to the newly formed Elite task force of the Imperial Navy, known as the Emperor’s Hammer. Beyond that his uniform was void of any indication as to name, rank or position, as is custom when on special assignments.

   He made a quick inspection of the room, not expecting to find any bugs, but wanting to make sure. His inspection ended at the large view port. As he stood before it and looked out into the blackness of space there was a slight knock on the door.

   “Enter!” he said, not turning away from the view port. He hard the door open and the tentative footsteps of the young officer he had asked to serve as his aide.

   Still without turning, he spoke to the young officer, using a cold, harsh voice, wanting to make it clear, who was in command. “Are you not going to introduce yourself, soldier?”

   He could almost hear the officer, still standing by the door, flush. “Sorry sir, I’m Lieutenant Nealis, I was… I was asked to be your aide….”

   “Yes I know that, Lt.. Close the door and make yourself comfortable, there’s still some time until we will meet with the commodore.”

   The Lt. closed the door and slowly moved towards the other officer, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

   Sensing there was something on the young officers mind, he half turned his head, his profile outlined against the stars. “There’s something you want to ask me, Lt.?”

   Startled the lieutenant started to deny it, but decided that honesty was the better option. “Yes sir, I err... I was wondering… Are you a... a Dark Jedi?”

   Amused by the question the older officer turned back to the window. “No. I am not a Dark Jedi. I have no need to be. Jedi’s are overrated.” He made a pause. “Yes, sure, they are powerful, but they are not invincible.”

   “Yes sir” Nealis said, still very much afraid of the Dark Jedi. However the other officer continued as if he hadn’t heard him.

   “Ohh yes, our Dark Warriors are very powerful and should not be underestimated. But I feel they’re too devoted to power. In my experience it is not a question of power, it is a question of projection of power. ‘He who projects power hath no need to use it’.”

   He made another pause, this time considering if he should dare say what he wanted to say.

“You know. The Jedi’s of the light side were right. They didn’t focus on physical strength and power, they concerned themselves with the power of the mind, and that is where the real power is.”

Changing his voice, making it sound weary, he went on. “But I know not much of the Force, maybe I am wrong, who is to say. Maybe I am just and old man with a crazy mind.”

   Having gained enough courage, the young officer ventured another question. “What are you then?”

   “Ask not what I am, young one, ask rather what I have become.”

   “Well, what have you become then?” Was the immediate reply.

   With a sigh combined with a small laugh, the older officer ran his hand through his short blonde hair. “’I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.’”

   “I am sorry, sir?” Nealis asked, not understanding what was said.

   “Nothing. It is nothing and you should think nothing of it.” The older officer dismissed any further questions into the subject with a wave of his hand.

   At the same time a comlink on the table, separating the two beeped to life.

   “Yes?” the senior officer said turning to face the comlink.

   “Commodore Leanje is ready to see you now, sir”

   “Thank you, we will be there shortly.” He looked up at the lieutenant, with a smile. “Now all your questions shall be answered.”

 

 

   As they entered the bridge they were greeted by a short, heavyset man, with thinning grey hair and sparkling brown eyes. His uniform rank insignia indicated that he was the commodore of the Star Destroyer. The customary salute was exchanged with a hearty handshake as he invited the 2 officers towards front of the bridge.

   “Ah, I’m so happy to see you, Commander Chiesa. We were afraid you might not come.” Despite voicing concern, the commodore didn’t seem very concerned. Chiesa was about to respond but was cut off by Nealis.

   “Commander Chiesa? You mean…”

   “Yes, Lieutenant Nealis, THE Commander Chiesa.” Was the curt reply from Commodore Leanje, who didn’t like to have his conversations interrupted.

   Chiesa half smiled and then went on with the pleasantries, which he knew Leanje enjoyed. “Ohh, I can always make time when such a pressing situation arises. And of course your request was personally reviewed by the Grand Admiral.”

   Though it was true that the request was sent to the Grand Admiral himself, it was not because of Commodore Leanje, his ship or crew. In fact the Grand Admiral had paid little attention to who was the Imperial contact in the case. What had insured that the request made it’s way straight to the Grand Admirals office were the consequences this incident could have if it was handled correctly. But Chiesa figured it wouldn’t hurt to let the commodore believe that his name was known in the higher echelons of the Empire.

   Undeterred by his earlier scolding by the commodore, Nealis ventured another disbelieving question. “The Commander Chiesa who tracked down and eliminated the pirate warlord Beja? Who helped securing peace between Ravnos and Talion 6 by raiding and killing the terrorists who were holding the Ravnos’ leader hostage? Who is rumoured to have killed many civilians during his interrogations?”

   Chiesa’s eyes flashed with anger, and he pointed an accusing finger at Nealis. “Don’t listen to rumours!” And then after regaining his composure, continued in a softer voice, “And stop asking so many questions. I told you everything would be revealed.”

   “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir” were the only words Nealis could stammer, his face red with shame.

   Chiesa turned his attention back to Leanje. “Now, my good Commodore, if you’d tell me exactly what this is all about?”

   Leanje looked quizzically at him for a moment. “But… I told you everything in the request I sent, surely you’ve read it?”

   “Yes, I’ve read it, but I’d like you to… refresh my memory. Besides young Nealis here doesn’t know what it’s about.”

   Leanje’s eyes darted between Nealis and Chiesa. “But… are you sure… I mean is it safe to tell him?”

   Chiesa’s eyes took on a hard stare. “Is he not a loyal hard working Imperial with an impeccable record, as I ordered?” His voice too had a nasty edge to it, and Leanje knew at once that he was trapped.

   “Yes, yes of course…. well the situation is as follows.” Leanje went on to explain the situation at Oras 4.

   Apparently the local pirates, whom the Empire had been somewhat lenient with, had joined up with the rebels. It was rumoured that the Rebellion were secretly working on a brand new military project on the planet, but so far the local branch of Imperial Intelligence hadn’t been able to get any solid information. In an attempt to get information from the inside, Leanje had ordered their top spy to join the ranks of the pirates, believed to be assisting the rebels in the project. At first the infiltration had gone well, and the spy had been able to give valuable information on pirate movements and shipments, but no word on any coalition with the rebels. Then one day a transmission arrived from the spy, who reported that he may on to something, and that his superior would be taking him to a secret place on the planet, were he was supposed to assist in a highly classified operation. In his last transmission the spy reported that he was about to be taken directly to the rebels, but he didn’t know where they were located yet. After that transmission nothing was heard from him again.

   “So this is where we stand. We know the pirates are working with the rebels, but we haven’t been able to figure out what they’re doing. We have of coursed tried to get more spies into the pirates camp, but they’ve beefed up security and don’t let strangers come anyway near them.” He stopped to make sure Chiesa and Nealis had gotten it all, and then went on. “Also there’s been a dramatic decrease in pirate activity lately, and our analysts believe this could mean that they’re close to finishing the project, and therefore are using all their resources for one last push.”

   Chiesa’s eyebrows took on a curious look. “But clearly you must have an idea about what they’re doing, otherwise you wouldn’t be so concerned, correct?”

   “Yes, well, we’ve had rumours from some of our pilots patrolling the outer regions about what seems to be a dual warhead. Only one pilot claims to have seen it in action, but we have found remains of freighters that support his story. He says the warhead seems to consist of 2 separate units. The first unit apparently manages to create a hole in the targets shield, probably by a huge electrical discharge. The hole is big enough for the missile to slip through. The second then drills it way into the hull of the target, and then explodes within it, thus creating a much stronger blast, ripping the ship apart.”

   “And the freighters you’ve found supports this story in what way?” was Chiesa’s obvious question.

   “Well, all of them exploded from within. At first we figured it was sabotage, but then one of our techs noticed the small hole that been drilled in the centre of freighter, just about where the explosion had occurred.” Leanje explained.

   Nealis, having kept his peace thus far out of fear of being scolded again, decided to ask a question. “You say you have these freighters in custody? Would it possible for us to look at them?”

   Leanje gave him an angry look, still not convinced this very young lieutenant should be allowed to hear all of this classified information, and he surely wasn’t about to let him look at classified material recovered from the enemy. “I doubt you’d find anything that our techs didn’t!”

   “That may be so, but I think he is correct.” Chiesa interrupted. “I should want to see it as well.”

   Leanje, angered by Chiesa’s intervention, quickly regained his composure. “Very well, let’s go then. Major Backholt, you have the bridge!”

 

 

   Chiesa couldn’t help notice the gradual increase in guards along the corridors as they walked to the main cargo hold, which had been cleared out so it could house the remains of one of the freighters. They took a left turn and he could now see the blast doors that lead into the cargo hold. In front of the door were no less than 4 heavily armed Stormtroopers, and 2 more at each of the 2 nearest corners. As they walked towards the cargo hold, he could see the Stormtroopers following them with their blasters, though so subtle, that only an expertly trained veteran like Cheisa could spot it. He couldn’t help but think that these men must be the best of best around here, and in truth, they did seem to be highly skilled. Leanje told them to out their identification, so that the proper check could be made, which pleased Chiesa. Even though Leanje could have ordered the soldiers to let them in without checking their ID, he was enough of a professional to let the soldiers do the job their were supposed to.

   “This is Sergeant Kryliss.” Leanje said, introducing the leader of the stormtroopers. “He was transferred here a couple of weeks ago and has proven himself a loyal trooper, and though keeping much to himself off duty he’s well liked with the other soldiers.” 

   “Commodore Leanje, what an unexpected surprise.” The leader of the stormtroopers said after having checked his ID. “And who are these two gentlement with you?” He asked as he beckoned for them to hand over their ID. “Ahh. Lt. Nealis. You’re from the Comm. Centre aren’t you?”

   Nealis was quite taken aback, the fact that a stormtrooper important enough to be charged with protecting the most precious item on board the ship right knew about him at all now, was a shock for him. “Uh, yes sir.”

   The black slits in the white helmet stared right at Nealis. “Yes. We’ve had our eye on you for some time now.” He said then hastily went on as he saw Nealis go pale. “Oh no, it’s nothing bad. We’ve just been looking for a new communications officer for the platoon, and your credentials are near perfect.”

   Nealis managed a weak smile, but was still somewhat pale, as the lead trooper turned his attention to Chiesa. “And Commander Chiesa? I’ve heard of you…. you’re a tough guy, eh? One of those super secret agents of the Emperor?”

   Chiesa just smiled at him. “I really can’t tell you, even if I wanted to.”

  A laugh came from the troopers helmet, making it sound deep and hollow. “Don’t worry, Commander Chiesa, I have my source, and your secrets are safe with me.”

  Chiesa didn’t like that one bit. He didn’t care if this man had been the Emperor’s personal aide, the fact that on occasion he had worked directly for the Emperor was not supposed to be known by anyone but the Emperor, Vader and Grand Admiral Ronin. But still this trooper, clearly not the average academy breed, was fascinating him.

   “Well, your ID are all ok, you may enter the cargo hold.” He motioned to one of his fellow troopers near the door. The trooper punched in the code that opened the door.

   As Chiesa took his ID card from the stormtrooper he gave him a last look, starring right into the black slits, trying to penetrate them in an attempt to get a better reading of the soldier. “Thank you.”

 

  Inside the cargo hold the bright light that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves, almost blinded Chiesa. But despite the bright light something different caught his eye.

   The cargo hold was a spacious room, and he knew it normally held large amounts of cargo. But today the room was completely empty, except for what looked like one single item, but on closer inspection turned out to be several smaller items pieced together into one.

   “So this what you salvaged from the freighter?” Nealis was completely overwhelmed by the charred remains.

  Leanje moved up to the ship, or what was left of it. “Yes, this is the area around the entry point. I had our technicians rig it together. They reinforced some of the interior so they better could move around inside, to make it easier to analyse the damage. Also we modified one of the cargo cranes to accommodate people for outside inspection.” He turned to look at them. “So, where do you want to start?”

   “Let’s start with the entry point. Them you can show us the damage done inside the ship.” Chiesa said.

 

   They’d spent almost an hour going over the details, when suddenly the Commodores comlink beeped to life. “Yes!”

   “Commmodre, you’re needed on the bridge!”

   Leanje recognized the voice of Major Backholt. “I’m sure I am, Major, would you care to elaborate? I do believe I left instructions not to be interrupted.”

   There was a brief pause at the other end as Backholt considered the hinted scolding there would follow if this weren’t of extreme importance.

   “We have reports of rebel fighters on the far side of planet, Sir. You... you said earlier that you wanted to be notified if we found any rebels.” Backholt finally said, deciding, rightfully, that it was important enough to disturb the Commodore.

  “I see. Right, set your course, Major. I will be there in minute.” He then turned to Chiesa and Nealis. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid the guided tour must end here, you’re free to look further for yourselves but I must head for the bridge.”

   Chiesa nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. Well I think we’ve seen all there is to see anyway. I will return to my chamber to file a report.”

   Just as they were about to leave he turned to Nealis. “Ohh, Lieutenant. If you don’t have any pressing tasks, would you mind joining me, there are some things I would like to hear your opinion on.”

   Nealis looked at Leanje, and getting a confirming nod, he replied. “Yes, Sir.”

 

   As Nealis sealed shut the door behind them, Chiesa was making sure no one had been in his cabin while he’d been out. When he was sure no one had been in there and no listening devices planted, he turned and beckoned for Nealis to take a seat in one of the two large, comfortable chairs in front of the desk, seating himself in the high backed chair on the other side, facing the door and having his back to the view port.

   “Let me have it.” He said, his penetrating blue eyes centred on Nealis.

   Not knowing what he was talking about Nealis face became one big question mark. “Have what, Sir?”

   “Your opinion, Lieutenant. I want your opinion on what you just saw and heard in there.” Chiesa spoke the words softly, making them sound almost despairing, but still managed to make them sound authoritative.

   “Well, it seems the Commodore’s analysis of the situation is correct. The missile obviously penetrated the hull before exploding, but of course we can’t tell from those remains whether this missile also penetrated the shield or if the shield had been destroyed by earlier shots.” He looked at Chiesa, who just returned the look. “Umm, also I’d say the missile is fully functional and that they’re ready for massproduction.”

   Chiesa nodded. “I disagree, I think the rebels are experiencing problems with the missile and that’s why we’ve only seen them attack defenceless freighters. Also you should have noted that the damage of the explosion didn’t correspond to the size of the entry hole. This tells me the rebels aren’t capable of achieving full yield of the missiles explosives… yet.”

   “That is true, but you couldn’t say that for certain from that one freighter. We’d have to inspect the other freighters to see if the other missiles did the same amount of damage.”

    Chiesa smiled at him. “I like your analytical mind, but trust me in this one, I have a few aces up my sleeve that neither you or the Commodore know about. ” Figuring that Nealis was indeed a bright and loyal officer he decided to go on. “I will tell you one thing though. In spite of what Commodore Leanje thinks, this isn’t news to the Imperial High Command. We’ve known about this weapon for some time now through our undercover agents, however this is the first time we’ve seen them in use, and that has lead us to think that this may be the area in which the rebels are developing and testing this and maybe other weapons.”

   “But if you believe it’s here shouldn’t we bring in a larger fleet?”

   Chiesa arched his eyebrows. “If we were to bring in a large fleet of Star Destroyers and accompanying ships before we’ve found the location of the rebel base, we’d be giving the rebels ample time to escape.” He looked at his chronometer. “Hmm, let’s go to the bridge, we should be coming up on the rebel fighters soon, provided they haven’t left already.”

 

 

First Blood

 

   Just as the two men entered the bridge they heard Commodore Leanje order the ISD’s crew to battle stations and make preparation to launch fighters.

   He turned to greet them. “Ah, Commander Chiesa, Lieutenant Nealis, you’re just in time to see our expert pilots deal with these rebel scum.” He turned to the communication console. “To all Fighters, this is Commodore Leanje… execute Fire of Opportunity!” Fire of Opportunity was a rule of engagement that allowed the pilots and gun crews to open fire on any enemy craft within weapons range.

   Chiesa casually strolled up to Leanje. Through the large viewport he could see the small Tie’s shoot out from under the hull of the ISD. The fighters quickly closed the range to the rebel fighters, with the ISD slowly easing into firing range as well. He strained his eyes trying to discern the rebel fighters in the distance. “X-Wings?” He said. “That’s odd, isn’t it? I would have expected them to use Y-Wings to test their weapons…”

   Leanje turned and gave him a thoughtful look. “Yes, I guess it is really… Do you think this is just a lone rebel patrol?”

   Chiesa rubbed the stubble on his chin, he really needed a shave he thought, it had been, what, 4 days since he’d been able to shave. He pushed the distraction away and concentrated on the problem at hand. “Or maybe they’re trying to get our attention away from the real test area.”

   “Sir, we have new ships coming in from hyperspace 6 clicks out!” The officer operating the sensors cried out. “I think… yes, yes it’s B-Wings, Sir! And they’re headed straight for us!”

   Leanje starred in disbelief. “What?? Why?”

   Chiesa instantly knew what was going on, they’d been ambushed. He cursed himself for not being more careful. “It seems we’re going to be the first big test of the rebels new weapon! Quickly get the fighters to head back, those B-Wings are more important than the X-Wings. Launch every craft we have available!” He watched as the orders were given over the radios. “And tell the gun crews to concentrate their firepower on any incoming missiles!”

   Lieutenant Nealis had been completely paralysed by the speed of what had happened, but was now getting his mind into gear again. “Officer, how many B-Wings did you say exited hyperspace?”

   “I read 8 on the scope, sir”

   He walked over to the console, and looked over the officer’s shoulder. “Ok, I think I got a solution. Commodore, change the ships course and fly on a parallel course with the B-Wings, it’ll give the fighters enough time to get between the rebel bombers and us. They can then take them out, while we still have enough distance to be able to take out the incoming warheads.”

   Chiesa turned, looked at Nealis and nodded his consent. At the same time Leanje was barking out orders left and right.

   The ship made a hard turn and at the same time the tie’s reversed their course and went for the B-wings. The X-Wings realized the trap had been spotted and quickly took up the chase. However due to Lieutenant Nealis’ ingenious plan they had to fly right past the ISD in order to catch the fighters, and just as soon as they were within range the ISD’s massive turbolasers opened fire on them, taking out 2 of the 6. As they passed the ISD another X-wing was blown away. The remaining 3 X-wings managed to duck and weave their way through the heavy laser fire, but they’d lost valuable time to the tie’s.

   Commodore Leanje couldn’t help admire the rebel pilots’ guts. Even though they’d lost 2 fighters without even having fired a shot themselves they continued unperturbed.

   Suddenly an alarm klaxon went off. An officer looked up from his console. “Sir, the B-Wings have launched the first volley of warheads!”

   Leanje and Chiesa both moved to the officer’s console. “How many?” Leanje’s voice was cool and calm.

   “We have 32 warheads on an inbound vector.”

   “Order the guns to intensify laserfire on that vector!” The command was relayed quickly and all of the ISD’s guns now turned their attention on the warheads.

   The first barrage of laser fire from the large turbolaser towers and missile launchers managed to knock out 26 of the warheads but the remaining 6 kept flying towards towards the ISD. The first two were blasted by some of the smaller laser batteries on the ISD and the remaining 4 were guided away from the ship by its powerful tractor beams.

   Commodore Leanje wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead. “Well, that was a bit to close for comfort.” He walked over to the sensor console. “What’s the status on the bombers?”

   “Our Tie’s have destroyed 3 of them, Sir. That leaves 5 left, and a possible max load of missiles of roughly 60.” The operator responded.

 

   Explosions rocked the tie as he flew straight through the debris of the B-Wing he had recently disposed of. He brought his tie interceptor to a hard right and executed a perfect loop, bringing him in an advantageous position to engage the lead B-Wing, then his radio crackled to life. “This is Whirl 3, I need assistance, I can’t shake this bogey!”

   In spite of his rage of having to disengage from the lead B-Wing, a price target, he knew he was the closest fighter to Whirl 3 and the B-Wing chasing it wouldn’t take long to finish of the Tie Interceptor. “Roger that Whirl 3, this is Whirl Lead coming to your rescue. Bring you craft hard right on my mark and then execute a spin dive to the right!”

   As the other tie made his turn it allowed him to move into a perfect attack position, right behind the B-Wing, and knowing Whirl 3’s next action, he could anticipate the B-Wings flight path, enabling him to fire off 2 unguided advanced missiles on an intercept course. The B-Wing, not knowing it had another tie on it’s tail, followed Whirl 3 into the dive and didn’t even notice the 2 missiles coming at it before exploding in a large fireball.

   “Yeeeehaaawww! Scratch one more B-Wing! Your tail is clear Whirl 3.” The pilot of Whirl Lead, Lieutenant Commander Milas, quickly found the next B-Wing, while keeping an eye on the X-Wings, who by now had closed the distance and were engaging the Ties

   “Thanks, Whirl Lead, I owe you one.”

   Milas could hear the stress in the other pilot’s voice. “One?? You owe me quite a few by now, however you can make it up to me by taking out those blasted B-Wings.”

   He closed to within gun range of the B-Wing, only to see it being blown to bits by missile. “Dammit, Whirl 2, that one was mine!”

   “Hehe, sawwy. I think 4 just got one too, how many B’s does that leave?” the cocky young pilot in Whirl 2 responded. He was a good pilot, but a little too concerned with his own skills at flying.

   “I think there’s only 2 left, so now would probably be a good time to get those X’s off our tail”

   “Copy that Whirl Lead, I’m on X Lead.” Whirl 4 announced over the radio, only to be followed by a loud explosion as the X-Wing that had been tailing him opened fire.

   “Shit, we’ve lost 4! No wait…. Ok, I see him, the ejection system got him out in time!”

   Shaking with rage Milas radioed the Persuader. “Persuader this is Whirl Lead, we have a pilot in distress please send a pickup.”

   “Copy that, Whirl Lead, Pickup is on its way.” On the flight deck the transport tasked with collecting ejected pilots made ready to leave the hangar.

 

   Back on the bridge Chiesa and Leanje were watching the battle on one of the viewscreens, while Lieutenant Nealis was monitoring the sensor consoles.

   “It seems like they’re breaking of their attack.” Leanje moved to the communication console. “This is Commodore Leanje to all fighters, don’t let any of the rebels escape!”

   Chiesa quickly strode up next to him. “Pilots, disregard that order! Do not destroy all of the rebel crafts, yet don’t make it obvious that you’re letting them get away.” He turned to Leanje whose face was red with anger. “Sir, if we let some of them escape we can get their jump vectors, and maybe figure out where they came from.”

   Leanje looked at him, knowing it was a simple but excellent plan, and that it was the best decision he swallowed his pride and carried on as if it was perfectly alright with him that Chiesa had superseded the chain of command. Of course, had it been necessary, Chiesa could produce orders that allowed him to take command of the Persuader, all her fighters and supporting ships, but he didn’t want to use it without being forced to.

   Through the viewport they could see the remaining rebel fighters escape into hyperspace.

   Chiesa and Leanje walked over to the sensor console.

   “Do we have their jump vectors yet?” Chiesa inquired the officer manning the console.

   The officer looked up for a brief moment. “The computer should have it in just a few seconds…. there!”

   Chiesa leaned forward to read the numbers of the screen, then looked at Leanje. “Right, Commodore, make ready for jump to those coordinates.”

 

 

   The platform was mostly quiet, only a few maintenance crews working in various areas. On the bridge Crimelord Ki’Taj was awaiting the arrival of the supply convoy that had been due the last 2 weeks. On the convoy would be greatly needed food supplies and munitions. Also on the convoy, though not part of the manifest would be a highly secret device that he was supposed to deliver to the rebels.

   He turned away from the viewpanel to see his lieutenant, Razhi, enter the bridge. He raised his eyebrow in an inquisitive manner. Razhi, knowing what the only question on the crimelords mind would be, just shook his head, ‘no news yet’.

    “We really need this one, Razhi” Ki’Taj started chewing on his lower lip.

    “I know. I know” Razhi looked weary. He too was painfully aware that if this shipment didn’t arrive they wouldn’t have any weapons to launch their raids with, and if the deal with the rebels didn’t go through they wouldn’t have the credits to pay their soldiers.

 

   Suddenly an alarm went of. The officer on duty quickly ran to the sensor console, only to confirm what everyone aboard the bridge knew. “We have new ships entering the sector!”

   Ki’Taj casually walked over to the console. “What’s their IFF code?”

   “It’s rebel… they’re rebel ships. From the signal I’d say rebel fighters”

   Razhi had reached the console before his boss and was studying the display carefully.

   “Do you think they got impatient about the delivery?”

   Ki’Taj tugged at his goatee. “No… they came from Imperial space.”

   At that time the alarm went off again and a new blip emerged on the sensor console.

   Razhi’s eyes became wide with relief. “That’s the freighter Carliss! Our supplies have arrived!”

   “Yes, it would seem our slump is over.” Ki’Taj allowed himself to relax a little, though he knew never to assume anything.

   Razhi was already on his way to the communication console to hail the freighter when suddenly the amount of blips on the sensor console doubled and the alarm went off for the 3^rd time in less than 5 minutes.

   “Sir, we have Imperial ships entering the sector… it’s an ISD….” The duty officer became pale.

   Razhi stopped dead in his track, and then slammed his hand repeatedly against the nearest console. “NO NO NO!”

   Ki’Taj just looked at the display, his face looking very tired, and his eyes almost lifeless making him look 30 years older than he actually was. “Oh God…”

 

 

An Unexpected Partnership

 

   The calamari cruiser Obstinacy, the Rebellion’s headquarters for this region, had been lying idle for the last few days, not far from the planet Etkon 2. While they were maintaining position the crew of the cruiser were hard at work. The engineers were making the last repairs after the damage sustained from their last encounter with an Imperial patrol, meanwhile the communications crew were labouring furiously in order to get the newly installed, highly sophisticated long range communications equipment in place. This new systems would not only allow them to broadcast over extreme ranges in secure mode, but would also enable to intercept and crack Imperial transmissions.

   Aboard the cruiser General Len Jyson was walking leisurely onto the bridge. These last few days had been, well to be frank, downright boring for him and his command crew. Now that all the repairs were in order and the comm. system just about operational, he was looking forward to doing some serious work.

   His second in command, Colonel Mark Talli greeted him as soon as he stepped up to the command chair. “Ah, did you have a nice bit of exercise, Sir?”

   Jyson looked at him, returning the friendly smile. “Yes, thank you, Talli. How is the installation of the Baby-carriage going?” Baby-carriage was the nickname given to the communication system by the crew because of its slight resemblance to the vehicle used to carry infant babies.

   “Actually, the duty officer just reported that they’d be making the first series of tests within the next 5 minutes. And did you manage to break your record on the machine?” The second in command asked with interest.

   “No, I didn’t, I came close though, it was a shame, I really wanted to beat it.” He lied. In reality he hated the exercises, but knew that unless he did them every single day, his second in command, who was a health freak, wouldn’t let it pass quietly.

    Talli smiled warmly. “A shame indeed. Maybe tomorrow then.”

    “Yes, maybe.”  Jyson quickly moved on the subject of the repairs so to avoid further questions about the exercises.

    Colonel Talli tapped the status screen. “All systems are ready to go. I gave the engineers the rest of the day off, I thought they’d deserved it, I hope you agree?”

    “Yes, that’s good, we don’t want to overstrain our crew.”

   Jyson sat down in his comfy command chair, overlooking the bridge crew, most of who were starring at blank or nonchanging screens. In all, the bridge was at the moment the quietest place on the entire cruiser, a sight uncommon to this type of warships.

   “How long until the night shift is on?”

   “Four hours, Sir.” The watch officer responded.

   “Good, let’s check in with comms. to see how the tests are proceeding.”

 

   The officer was monitoring the group of crewmen who were opening the crates and going through their inventory, when his comlink attracted his attention.

   “Lieutenant Halbrook, this is the bridge. How are the loading and search operations proceeding?”

   The young officer looked at his notepad. “We’ve unloaded all the crates from the freighter and are currently searching and securing the last 8 of them.”

    “Good. And the platform?”

    The officer who had also been charge of the boarding operations and apprehension of prisoners, made brief eye contact with an army sergeant, who gave him an approving nod. “There was no cargo aboard the platform, sir. All the prisoners have been safely locked away and are awaiting questioning.”

   “Excellent, Lieutenant. The Captain and I will be down in a few hours to conduct the questioning.”

 

   On the bridge Major Backholt relayed the information to the Captain before turning his attention to the Combat Officer. “What about those B-Wings? Has our patrol reported in yet?”

   The officer looked up from his display screen. “Yes, Sir. They just reported in. It seems the B-Wings made a series of small jumps...”

   “And?”

   “We lost them, Sir. They could be anywhere by now.” The officer was starting to sweat a little, he always hated to bring bad news.

   “Hmm, too bad. Maybe we’ll get them next time… Strange though…” He turned and walked back to Commodore Leanje.

 

   In the small containment cell Ki’Taj, sharing it with Razhi due to the limited amount of cells, was sitting on a hard benchlike structure that served as a chair and bed in one. He was starring at the floor. On the other side of the room Razhi was lying on an identical bed, though this one wasn’t normally part of the cell and thus not imbedded in the wall. He looked up at Razhi. “You know. I don’t understand it.”

   Razhi turned his head lazily and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

   “The B-Wings. Why didn’t they stay and protect the freighter? Had they done so it could have escaped.”

   “I don’t know. Maybe they under orders to proceed straight home, what do I care.” He turned on his side, once again trying to go to sleep.

   Ki’Taj glared at him. “Do you know what the punishment for piracy is, my fiend? Death!”

   “So what? They don’t have any evidence, no probable cause.”

   “The freighter was headed for our platform! Don’t you think that’s evidence enough?” Ki’Taj’s voice was shaking with rage.

   “Hey! Remember, you and I were the only ones who knew about this, and there are no records of the freighter on the platform. If we’re lucky the freighter pilot will play dumb and claim to have no knowledge of the cargo, and in any case we can always claim that the crew of the freighter’s lying. Actually the fact, that the B-Wings didn’t stay and fight, works to our advantage. We can claim that the rebels are trying to frame us.” Razhi said, still lying on his back, eyes closed.

   Ki’Taj looked back down at the floor, before he lay down on the bed. “I don’t know… I don’t like this at all.”

   “Get some rest, soon they’ll start the questioning and you’ll need all your energy to avoid getting caught.”

 

   On the bridge Commodore Leanje was discussing the procedures for questioning the prisoners with Major Backholt, while Chiesa was relaxing near the sensor console. One of the junior officers turned to the Commodore. “Sir, we have incoming traffic on the Emergency Band.”

   Chiesa quickly got up and Leanje motioned for the officer to put it on the big screen.

   The main screen flickered a bit and then the image of Grand Admiral Thrawn appeared.

   Leanje became suddenly pale and Chiesa’s eyes widened a bit.

   “Grand Admiral Thrawn, what an unexpected pleasure.”

   The Grand Admiral’s seemed to bore deep into everyone looking at the screen, the red retinas seeming to be ablaze. “Yes, Commodore. I come to you on behalf of Lord Vader.”

   The mere mention of the Dark Lord’s name made everyone on the bridge go pale, and the small chatter that had been in the corners ceased immediately. “He wishes for me to inform you that we’ve received worrying reports from your sector. It seems the Rebellion may have a larger Research facility in this area than first expected. We will be sending you reinforcements at once.”

   Leanje gathered himself. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.”

   “Do not fail me, Commodore” The connection was broken.

   Leanje turned to Chiesa. “Well, I guess it’s always nice with reinforcements.”

   Chiesa looked more troubled. “Yes… very nice… if you’ll excuse me Commodore I need the quiet of my room to evaluate this new information.”

   “By all means, Commander. I’ll send for you if anything interesting happens.”

   “Thank you, sir.” Chiesa walked off the bridge.

 

   The door slammed open and the bright light rudely awoke Ki’Taj and Razhi.

   “On your feet, you pirate scum!” a voice bellowed from the doorway.

   Looking up the two pirates could see a large figure outlined against the bright light, obviously an officer from his posture, he was flanked by 2 armed troopers an behind him Ki’Taj could see the shape of yet another officer.

   Ki’Taj and Razhi got up from their bunks slowly to show their unwillingness to cooperate but not slowly enough to encourage the troopers to get violent.

   “What do you want, Imperial?” Razhi said, making his voice sound indifferent, hoping the Imperials hadn’t figured out they were the leaders of the pirates.

   “We want to know exactly what was going on at your platform, and why several rebel B-Wings happened to plot a course for it after having attacked an Imperial destroyer!”

   “We don’t know about the rebel B-wings.” Ki’Taj responded.

   “I don’t think you do, not exactly.” The second officer entered the room. “However the freighter bound for your platform, carrying illegal contraband I might add, is known to have cooperated with the rebels before.”

    Razhi glared at the officer, he couldn’t quite make out the rank, having the bright light in his eyes, but he was sure it was someone senior. “We don’t know what you’re talking about, we’ve never seen or heard of that freighter before.”

   Leanje’s eyes centred on Razhi. “That’s funny, the freighters log shows in great detail the deal you made with it, Mr….” He inspected the fake nametag on Razhi’s shirt. “… Kealla, or should I say Mr. Razhi?”

   Razhi went hot with anger but also cold with fear. How could they know who he was?

   Leanje saw his discomfort. “Yes, the freighter crew were very happy to give your physical descriptions to us. In fact, they were a little to eager.”

   Ki’Taj looked up. “What do you mean ‘too eager’?”

   “Well, as I said this particular freighter has connections to the Rebellion, and the log claims the cargo did indeed come from a known Rebel storage facility.” Leanje motioned for the Major Backholt to leave the room. The two troopers however remained. “Didn’t it strike you as odd that the rebel B-Wings happened to lead us straight to your platform just as a freighter carrying goods supposedly from the Rebellion was arriving, and then not even staying to help you escape?”

   Ki’Taj, realizing there was no point in trying to resist agreed, “Yes, we did find that a bit odd… but what are you getting at?”

   “We think the Rebels were setting you up. They wanted you out of this are for good.”

   “But why?”

   “We don’t know yet. But we’re working on it, and for this we need your help, if you’re interested?”

    Ki’Taj looked at Razhi who just shrugged. “What are you proposing?”

 

 

   General Jyson looked at Talli. “Are we ready to go?”

   “In a moment, Sir. Engineering needs to make some last adjustments to the engines, I expect it to take no longer than say 8 minutes.”

   “Good, I don’t want us to be late for our appointment.” He laughed, something he hadn’t done in a long time.

   Talli looked at him. “So, after this one we only need to lure the Imperial force away and we’ll have this entire sector for ourselves?”

   Jyson scratched his head. It was time for a haircut it was getting too long for his liking. “That’s the idea, my friend.”

   The intercom flashed to life. “Bridge, Engineering. We’re ready down here, you may engage the engines.”

   Jyson took it himself. “Engineering, this is the captain. Good work.” He turned to the helmsman. “Well, let’s shake it, boys!”

   “Aye aye, cap’n. Plotting course for Casino d’Legra.”

   “Tallis, order all crews to battle stations, this one could get hairy.”

   “Yes, sir, right away.” He took the comlink, switched it to 1MC. “This is the XO speaking. All hands to battle stations, I repeat all hands to battle stations, we’re going in.”

 

 

   “So if we cooperate we get away without punishment?”

   “That is the deal.” Leanje was getting impatient, though he could easily understand their uneasiness.

   Ki’Taj looked at Razhi who returned the look. Then finally he nodded slowly. Ki’Taj looked back at Leanje. “OK, Commodore, we accept.”

   “Great. I’ll give you more information later, for now get some rest.” He turned to leave. “Ohh, I’ll have my adjutant send down some more pleasant sleeping bunks.”

   “Thank you, commodore.” Ki’Taj said in earnest, his back was feeling rather badly after having spent a few hours on the hard bunk.

   When the troopers had left and they were alone again he laid back on the bunk carefully as to not further hurt his back. “So what do you think of all this?”

   Razhi sat back on his bunk and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. The stuff about the rebels seems right. The way the rebels and the freighter crew have acted supports the idea. But I never thought I’d ever work with the Empire.”

   “I know how you feel… it’s a strange world….”

    At that point the door slid open and a trooper came in and removed the makeshift bunk Razhi was lying on, pushing him aside, while two others came in, one with a new and better makeshift bunk, the other with some padding for Ki’Taj’s bunk.

   After having made sure the bunks were safely secured Major Backholt walked out followed by the troopers and the two pirates were alone once again.

   “I don’t like it much.” Ki’Taj said. “The whole cloak and dagger thing sounds very circumspect. And he won’t tell us the details until later, what’s that all about?”

   “He’s Imperial… he thrives on cloak and dagger….”

   Ki’Taj almost laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

   Razhi got up and walked about the cell. “Well, if things work out the way the Imperials want we hurt the Rebels and get well in the mean time.”

   “If you say so.”

 

 

   At the casino Het Del’Gra, a humanoid of average height and weight with curly brown hair and steel blue eyes, and Jul Feyat, a dark-skinned humanoid with short dark hair, were picking their way through the wrecked hallways. Trying to get to the hangar in hope that their transport hadn’t been destroyed in the attack.

   “Blasted Rebels, why did they attack us like that? We’re honest civilians…. So I did a little time, does that mean I get railed every time the Rebels wants to flex their muscles? They treat you like a criminal, I’m gonna become a criminal.” Feyat was grumbling as he was carefully crossing a particularly large piece of the ceiling that had dropped to the floor.

   “You ARE a criminal!” Del’Gra who’d already passed the obstacle Feyat was struggling with had come up to an electronic door, which of course didn’t work as all power on the casino was out.

   “Now why you go an do that? I was trying to make a point!”

   “Yea yea, then why don’t you make your point? Look we gotta find a way to open this door, it’s jammed shut…” Del’Gra was desperately trying to force the door open, when Feyat caught up with him. Feyat seized the door up and down for a second, and then pushed Del’Gra aside.

   “Take cover and watch daddy here work his magic.” He then pulled his blaster pistol and carefully shot at the doors sensors, knowing that the door had an emergency supply of electricity and if the sensors went dead the door would open automatically. When they were sure the door wouldn’t drop on them they hurried through.

   “What was that?” Feyat stopped and listened.

   Del’Gra stopped and looked at him. “What was what? I didn’t hear anything… comeon, let’s go!”

   They both continued down the hallway that lead to Hangar B3 where their YT-1300 Correlian Transport was parked.

   “There she is.” Del’Gra exclaimed as he saw the ship. “And she looks unscathed.”

   Feyat was more pessimistic. “Yes, but I want to see her start before I believe anything.”

   Del’Gra glared at him as they ran to the entrance ramp. “Don’t talk about my ship like that.”

   Upon entering the cockpit Del’Gra tossed the pre-flight checklist to the side and initiated takeoff procedures. However as he tried to start the engines he noticed nothing was happening.

   “Dammit, there’s a problem with the engine. Comeon let’s look at it.”

 

    Five minutes later and still no result despite their laborious work, Feyat was down in the maintenance shaft, with Del’Gra lying on the deck above, his whole head down the hatch.

   Suddenly a voice came from behind Del’Gra. “Het Del’Gra?”

   “Who want’s to know?” Del’Gra still had his head down the hatch.

   “The Imperial Security Bureau.” The voice remained calm.

   Del’Gra slowly got up, the troopers quickly aimed their blasters at him, but he just walked over to group of Imperial officers and stromtroopers, who quickly cuffed him. One of the officers and 3 stormtroopers walked over to the maintenance shaft.

   “Jul Feyat. We have a warrant for your arrest.”

   “Go away, pig.” Feyat had only just uttered the words as 3 pair of arms grabbed him and dragged him out of the shaft.

 

 

   The door closed shut behind them. As Feyat and Del’Gra adjusted to the darkness of the cell, they could see two other humans seemingly sleeping on a pair of bunks. The man on the left side of the room opened one eye and peered at them. After having seized them both up he closed it again and rolled over.

   “Sorry, we’re full, please try further down the road.”

   Feyat just looked at him with wonder. This was not exactly what he would have expected of an Imperial Detention cell. He’d expected a small room with lousy bunks, if any at all. And here he found 2 humans sleeping on what looked like quite comfortable bunks. Maybe it’s a new way of torturing people, he thought. Put them in a room with 2 people who apparently are living the good life, while they’d probably had to sleep on the floor. He quickly discounted that idea. The possibility of the inmates to kill the other occupants and use their bunks was too great. But what was this all about then? His train of thought was broken by Del’Gra.

   “Who the hell are you?? We ordered a room for ourselves!”

   Razhi turned back and this time opened both his eyes. “Look pal, we were here first. If you want another room fine, but please don’t bother us when we’re trying to sleep.”

   “Sleep? Who could sleep in that noise, your snoring is so loud I’m surprised they didn’t put a muffler on you yet.” Ki’Taj intervened. He then turned to the new arrivals. “But since we DID come here first, you are technically in our room. So if you’d please identify yourselves and maybe we can solve this matter.”

   Feyat stepped forward. “I’m Jul Feyat and this is Het Del’Gra.” He pointed at Del’Gra. ”You’ve probably heard about us.”

   Razhi, still in a playfull mood, responded. “Ohh you’re the ones with the err… the crimelord with the dysentery?”

   Feyat’s icy stare bore down on Razhi. “Funny, very funny indeed…”

   The door opened and a couple of stormtroopers placed another 2 bunks inside the already crowded cell. While 2 of them exited the room the other 2 stayed blasted ready. Commodore Leanje then entered the small room.

   “Greetings gentlemen, I trust you’ve already concluded the initial introductions?”

   Del’Gra eyed him. “Actually no, we haven’t been told who they are.” He waved vaguely at Ki’Taj and Razhi.

   Leanje looked down at Ki’Taj. “You didn’t even bother introducing yourself? I’m surprised.” He turned to Feyat and Del’Gra. “Well, the one on the right is Mr. Ki’Taj and on the left you have Mr. Razhi. Respectively, leader and second in command of the GoldenMoon Pirates.”

   Del’Gra nodded appreciatively. “But why have you put us in with them?”

   Leanje smiled. “Well I’m afraid we’ll need one more person before I can tell you what this is all about. I expect him to… arrive within the hour. Until then, take care gentlemen.” He walked out of the room followed by the troopers.

   “Christ, he wants there to be room for ANOTHER? Maybe they’re implying we need to loose weight or something…” Razhi was still trying to take everything lightly but it was getting harder and harder.

 

   “Are you sure you want to do this?” Leanje was still feeling a bit uneasy about the plan.

   Chiesa smiled. “Yes. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” He looked at the trooper who’d handcuffed him. “Ready? And don’t be afraid to get a little rough.”

   “Yes, Sir.”

   Chiesa winked at Leanje. “Let’s go then.”

   The door opened and the trooper forcefully tossed Cheisa into the cell. “Get in there you filthy scum!”

   “Shut up, Imperial pig. Why don’t you go back to your farmyard, pigboy?”

   The trooper stooped imposingly over Chiesa. “Aye, one more word out of you mate, and I’ll punch your face in!” He then turned and left the cell.

    Razhi, who’d caught Chiesa when he was almost tossed to the floor, was the first of the group to react. “So you must be the last one?”

   Chiesa got up and looked at him inquisitively. “The last what? What are you talking about?”

   Before anyone could answer, the door opened and Commodore Leanje made yet another entry in less than 15 minutes, this time with Major Backholt. He looked around, satisfied that everyone was present and paying close attention, he motioned for them to take a seat. After the pirates had all seated themselves he seated himself casually, though deliberately, next to Chiesa.

   “Good, you’re all here. In case you didn’t have the time to get introduced, this is Mejh Kletu.” He pointed to Chiesa. “He too has agreed to do a little onetime job for us, in exchange for his freedom.”

   Ki’Taj interrupted just as Leanje was about to go on. “And what is this ‘job’ exactly?”

   Leanje sighed dramatically and Major Backholt couldn’t help smiling. “Impatient are we, Mr. Ki’Taj? Don’t worry you have good time.” He looked at Backholt. “The projector?”

   Backholt left and quickly came back with a small portable holographic projector. “Here you go, Sir”

   “Now this is the plan, Gentlemen.” He turned on the projector and the image of a large building, or more like a castle, emerged. “As you know the Rebellion has been waging war with the Empire for quite some time now. Competing, shall we say, with the Empire has taken its toll on the Rebellion. In 3 days time several a high profile Rebel leader will be in this building to facilitate a deal with the local crimebosses. Needless to say this deal would… revitalize the Rebellion’s struggle against the Empire. We want you to disrupt the deal. If you wish you may loot the castle of valuables, anything you pick up is yours.”

    Ki’Taj looked at the building closely. “That looks like Raal C’Nyt’s castle…. how is transportation to be arranged?”

   “You are correct, Mr. Ki’Taj, it is C’Nyt’s castle, he is the intermediary for the deal between the Rebels and the crimebosses we understand. As for transportation, we will make the insertion onto the planet, but from then on you’re on your own.”

    “And what would keep us from just escaping once we’re on the planet?” Del’Gra didn’t like the plan at all.

   Leanje smiled a cold smile at him. “If you run Mr. Del’Gra you will be solely responsible for the untimely death of all your former employees. The same goes for Mr. Ki’Taj, Mr. Razhi and Mr. Feyat.” His eyes turned cold. “Also we have… contacts on the planet who will make sure you do not try to evade. Any other questions? No? Then get ready to ship out in one hour.”

 

 

The Mission

 

   It was night on Oras 4, the sky was void of skies and you could see the thousands of stars twinkling on the velvet black background. A soft wind was blowing down the streets of the city of Orastia. Only a few people were up at this late hour and they were all too preoccupied with their own business, or misery, as the poor guards who’d been chosen for the nightshift would call it. None of them saw or heard the specially modified Lambda Shuttle, painted all in black, that flew gently on low course over the city headed for the small unobstructed and unobserved landing spot just outside the eastern wall of the town. As the shuttle gently hovered close to the ground it turned on a soft red external light to assist the small group of people jumping from the shuttle’s ramp in avoiding the large rocks that were scattered throughout the area. As soon as the last person had leapt of the ramp it was raised, the lights switched off and the shuttle gently pulled away and vanished into the blackness of space.

   On the ground the group of people quickly gathered at the outer wall. The lead figure quickly made sure everyone was in line and then moved slowly and quietly towards a predetermined point on the wall, where they would scale it.

   Moving between the scattered rocks and close to the walls the figures could only be seen as vague shadows, and only by a very keen eye. From topside the wall they were totally invisible.

   As the 5 figures reached the place in the wall where it was a few metres lower and set a bit apart from the rest of the wall to allow for an old-fashioned lookout post, now only used as a decoration for the wall, they quickly brought out their ascending ropes. Using only their own power out of fear of being spotted they quickly scaled the wall and made their way down the opposite side.

   Once inside the city the figures quickly removed their dark camouflage robes.

   Ki’Taj gathered their robes, quickly found a trash disposal unit and tossed them in. Returning to the group he quickly refreshed the next step in the plan. “Ok, it’s around 2-3 hours until daybreak, so we’ll have to lay low until then because of the local curfew. As soon as people start coming on to the streets will move on. The building is located in the eastern end of the city and we’re now in the northernmost part. The meeting is scheduled for tonight so we only have today to stake it out so we’d better move fast.”

   On Ki’Taj command they all moved out. Keeping in the shadows they carefully made their way down the small street. As they reached the corner Razhi, who was on point, carefully peeked around, when he was sure it was clear he waved for the group to cross the street. They hurried across the open street just as a police patrol came onto the street from an unseen doorway. Luckily they were busy talking and weren’t looking in the direction of the group.

   For the next couple of hours the sneaked through the city, getting ever closer to the residential area where the large castle would be.

   As they turned a corner and looked into a large open plaza they could see that people were beginning to leave their homes, thus the curfew must have been lifted. However it was still early and only few people were out, so a large group moving together would warrant unwanted attention. On Del’Gra’s suggestion they decided to split up and move with 2 minutes intervals, trying to keep the distance between them as small as possible in case of trouble but not close enough to look suspicious.

   Razhi was the first to leave the safety of the dark alley and cross the open plaza. He walked purposely but being a hasty. As he was in the middle of the plaza he slowed down and did a quick scan of the area, ostensibly admiring the nice weather. As he picked up his pace again he slowly scratched the back of his head, Del’Gra reacted to the concealed signal and walked out in the plaza.

   Ki’Taj was the last to cross the plaza following Feyat. He could also see Del’Gra a bit further down the street, but Razhi was out of sight. However since Del’Gra didn’t react he must have been in visual contact with him.

   As they walked the amount of civilians on the streets picked up, and Ki’Taj decided to close the distance to Feyat. When Feyat out of the corner of his eye saw Ki’Taj close in he decided to do the same, and the members of the group were quickly within 5 metres of each other.

   Entering the fashionable residential area the crowd of people thinned out until there were only a few people passing them every 10 minutes or so.

   Despite being called a castle it didn’t resemble a castle at all. It was in fact just a large mansion, with 2 towers on each side flanking a low building in the middle, which lead into a large courtyard with rows of columns running down the sides. At the end of the courtyard was the main building, a 2-story slightly triangular building with numerous exits. All around the main complex was a large garden, with many trees and bushes, which would be useful for a concealed approach. On the outskirts of the grounds were a few scattered servant houses and finally came the large wall that encapsulated the ground and ended in the large building in the front. It was this large building they were now standing in front of.

   “I don’t like it.” Ki’Taj was concerned from the first time they saw the place.

   Razhi scanned the building. “Any chance of surprise?”

   Ki’Taj shook his head and looked at the other. “Not with a top official there, they’re going to be on their toes even before the crimelords arrive. In my opinion it can’t be done, anyone who goes in there isn’t coming out.”

   Feyat appeared not to have heard what Ki’Taj was saying. “What about waiting until after they arrive?”

   Ki’Taj shrugged. “Means another 20 men at least. But could cause more confusion.”

   Del’Gra motioned for them to follow him. He wanted to get away from the building as he felt people would notice a group of people standing around doing nothing for a long time.

   They’d walked a few blocks before they started talking again. They all wanted to express their opinions, and they all wanted to do it at once, which meant that everyone was talking but no one listened. Only when Chiesa stopped dead in his track did the other quiet down, and he could announce his plan for the assault.

   He gently waved them into a doorway where they would be sheltered from passers by. Once he’d made sure no one was around, he pulled out a small sketchpad that contained a highly detailed drawing of the estate.

   Chiesa used his marker to point at the building across the main gate. “I want Feyat to be stationed here with the sniper rifle.” He looked at Feyat. “Your responsibility will be to take out the 2 or 3 guards patrolling the main gate, thus clearing an entry way for yourself over this wall.” He moved the marker to a spot on the wall already marked by a green cross.

   Feyat looked at Chiesa and cocked his left eyebrow. “And how will I be able to scale that wall? You saw it yourself it’s large as hell, no way I can get onto the street, across to the wall and over it fast enough not to be noticed.”

   A smile came across Chiesa’s face, but not his eyes. “These lines.” he said, pointing at 2 black lines running from the main gate to the opposite house. “These lines are powerlines. However tonight the left one will not be functional. After you’ve eliminated the guards you will make your way across this line, as you can see it will lead you into the main ground of the estate without problems.”

   “If I don’t get noticed…. But yea I guess it’s doable.”

   Chiesa moved the pointer to a spot on the right part of the wall surrounding the garden. “I want an explosion set off here. Its detonation will be our cue to begin the assault.” He looked around at the others. “Hopefully this will draw their attention and allow for us to easily slip across the wall here.” He tapped the marker on the wall on the opposite side, near the servant houses.

   “If we encounter anyone within the first few minutes it will likely be servants and won’t cause problems. Once we’re inside the ground we will make our way to the main building. This will allow Feyat to get whoever might be attacking us from behind.”

   He pointed to the main building. “Once inside the building we’ll have to improvise, since we have no idea of the layout. Any objections or suggestions?”

   The rest of the group just shook their heads, their eyes focused on the small map.

 

   A few hours later a sole figure was casually walking down the street leading to the estate. He was had a large carrybag in his right hand, the dark dusk made it hard to distinguish it from the rest of the figure. He kept on moving past the main gate, slightly nodding to the 2 guards at the front, who both nodded back. He walked around the corner and quickly slipped into the doorway that allowed access to the back of the building. He quickly ascended the stairs and found his perch. Here he unpacked his bag, revealing a high-tech rifle with a sound muffler. He steadied it on a bipod and took aim on one of the guards.

    He’d only had his sight on the man for a few seconds when an earshattering explosion sounded through the silent streets. The 2 guards turned, but never got any further, as 2 small thuds stopped them dead in their tracks and they slumped on the street. The hidden sniper quickly slung the rifle over his shoulder and climbed out onto the disabled powerline.

 

   At the same time 4 men leapt of the eastern wall and landed softly on a flat rooftop. They quickly swung down to the ground. As the last of them touched down they saw someone come around the corner. The man in the lead reacted quickly and fired of single shot that hit the unknown person in the head, causing him to fall to the ground lifeless. The muffled gun in Chiesa’s steady hands had hardly made any sound, but as they moved away from the little house in a rapid advance they noticed a lot of people running around. However they were all running towards the area of the explosion and away from them. Razhi had now taken the point and was leading the group toward the main entrance to the building. As they entered through the large doubledoors they stood face to face with a group of 7 heavily armed bodyguards, however surprise was on their side, so they quickly and quietly took them out, before the guards could even utter a single word. They proceeded up the main stairway located in the middle of the room, as intelligence believed the conference room to be on the 1^st floor.

 

   Outside in the garden Feyat had managed to get across the wall unnoticed and had taken up position where he could take the guards inside the courtyard out with ease. He managed to take out 5 guards before the rest even realized they were under fire. While they were diving for cover he quickly made his way to the main building and took position near east corner. From that position he kept suppressing the guards.

 

   Razhi had reached the top of the stairs, by now the guards were alarmed though and he stumbled on a group of 4 guards who pinned him down. He looked at the others still down the stairs. “Go around, find a way to go around, I’ll hold them here!”

   Ki’Taj saluted Razhi as he lead Chiesa and Del’Gra back down the stairs and into the kitchen area. It took them no more than a minute to find the secondary stairway that lead to the private areas of the upstairs level. They got up the stairs and noticed that everything seemed quiet in this part of the building. They carefully made their way from room to room. Unfortunately the lack of enemy sightings made Del’Gra loose his concentration, and when he almost casually walked into a workroom, he didn’t expect to find a servant armed with a blaster. His eyes went wide in shock as the blaster bolt pierced his stomach. He dropped to his knees clutching his wound, he then fell over and as his head hit the floor his last breath of air escaped his throat.

   Chiesa had been right behind him and didn’t waste much time firing 5 bolts at the servant, whose body was thrown against the far wall due to the sheer force of the impact.

   Chiesa and Ki’Taj were now right next to the conference room. Listening to the wall Chiesa could hear a heated debate inside the room, and he figured the officials were still in there.

   He motioned for Ki’Taj to bring out the high explosive grenades. “I’ll cover us as we make our way to the door, you just make sure you toss those grenades into the room.”

   Ki’Taj just nodded and primed the grenades.

   Chiesa ran in front as they stormed from the room and down the corridor towards the door leading to the conference room. Chiesa’s blaster was firing repeatedly in short bursts, intended to persuade any would be defender to poke his head out. As they neared the door Ki’Taj brought up the grenades, one in each hand, and as soon as he could see the opening he tossed them into the room.

They quickly entered the room after the explosions and were gratified to see the main target lying in a large puddle of blood, his lifeless body hideously malformed. Next to him lay the body of a Rebel Officer, Chiesa quickly made sure he was dead as well by putting 2 laserbolts to his head.

   As they left the room a guard down the hall opened fire on them, they both made a leap to the right and rolled down the main stairway.

   As they got up they noticed Razhi lying limp next to the foot of the stairs. His upper body was almost entirely black with scorch marks from the many blast hits he’d taken.

   Ki’Taj shed a single tear as he got up and followed Chiesa out the main door.

   Outside they found Feyat lying on the ground moaning in pain. Chiesa quickly made his way to him.

   “Are you hit? Can you walk?”

   Feyat looked at him and smiled, but his voice was forced. “I’m just peachy… not sure I can walk without assistance though.” He rolled over revealing that his left leg was shot up pretty badly, most likely beyond repair. He looked down at the wounds, his mouth twisted. “Yea... but I got them, I got them all. Now let’s get out of here.”

   Chiesa picked up Feyat as Ki’Taj covered their rear. They quickly moved across the empty courtyard, through the abandoned gate and out into the street.

   Once in the street they quickly discarded their weapons, and did their best to cover up Feyat’s wounded leg, before moving towards the extraction point.

 

   They reached the extraction point without problems. Chiesa contacted the shuttle. As he switched off the comlink, Ki’Taj turned to him.

   “I’m not going back to the Empire.” His eyes bore down on Chiesa. “I think we can escape them…”

   Chiesa looked at Feyat. “I have to take him back, he needs medical attention.”

   Ki’Taj nodded. “Yes, I’m sorry but I’m not going back…. if only you tell them I died in the battle, at least that’ll give me a headstart?”

   “Sure, I can do that.” Chiesa responded, well knowing the Empire wouldn’t bother going after this small time criminal anyway.

   With a thanks, a handshake and a nod, Ki’Taj made his way into the dark night.

   Chiesa stood supporting Feyat, who’d fallen asleep, exhausted by his injuries, until the shuttle arrived and the medical personnel could take care of him.

 

 

Debriefing

 

   Aboard the Persuader the Commodore was pacing the bridge in a restless manner. Ever since the call for a dust off had come in he’d been unable to sit down, his mind wandering, concerned with the outcome of the mission.

   The entrance to the bridge slid open and Major Backholt entered accompanied by Chiesa. Leanje quickly greeted them and led them into his office. Cheisa and Backholt took their seats in the comfy chairs opposite Leanje’s highbacked chair. Leanje made sure the door was locked and then proceeded to the mini bar he kept in the file cabinet next to the desk.

   “Want something to drink before we begin?” he asked them as he took a bottle of Fine Spirit of Kessel, a strong drink brewed on the spices mined on the planet. Despite their incredible flavour, the spice mined on Kessel weren’t meant for drinks and thus the Fine Spirit of Kessel was highly illegal, and highly valuable.

   Both Chiesa and Backholt politely refused the drink and Leanje put the bottle back and took his seat opposite the two officers.

   Leanje looked at Chiesa. “Well?”

   “Well what?” Chiesa replied, looking back while relaxing in his chair.

   Leanje was about to explode with excitement. “The mission, man, the mission!!”

   “Well, the mission was accomplished a...”

   “So Raal C’Nyt is dead?” Leanje interrupted.

   “Yes, he is quite dead. I checked myself, now as I….”

   “And what about the Rebel Officer?” Leanje interrupted yet again.

   “They’re dead too, most of them anyway. Now please, let me continue.” Chiesa was getting a little annoyed by Leanje’s interrupts.

   “Sorry, go on.”

   Chiesa quickly recounted for what had happened on the planet excluding the escape of Ki’Taj.

   Leanje folded his hands and leaned back in his chair, contemplating the events that had transpired.

   “So, only you and Feyat survived the raid?”

   “Yes.”

   “Alright, we didn’t expect many, if any, of them to return to begin with. And this Feyat, he’s in the medical bay right now?” Leanje looked at Backholt.

   “Yes, he’s undergoing intensive surgery.” The Major replied.

   Chiesa leaned forward in his chair. “Commodore. What do you plan on doing with him after he recovers?”

    Leanje was somewhat surprised by the question and exchanged a quick glance with Major Backholt. “I… I don’t know. Do you have any plans for him?”

   “Well, no, it’s just that he proved himself a good comrade down there, and he saved my butt a few times. I think he has earned his freedom.”

   Backholt raised an eyebrow. Usually criminals the likes of Feyat could not be set free under standard Imperial Rules no matter how much they’d been of help. Leanje however knew that the standard rules didn’t apply to this mission. “Very well. We will set him off at the nearest space station once he recovers.”

   “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to retire to my quarters. It’s been a tough mission.”

   “By all means, Commander.”

Chiesa got up, saluted the Commodore and left the room.

 

   Leanje sat in his chair, finally able to relax, knowing the mission was a success. Backholt looked at him, also feeling very relaxed.

   “So… How does a week or 2 of patrols around the Nerubian Space Colony sound to you?”

   Leanje looked at him quizzically. “NSC? But nothing ever happens there, it’s the single most uninteresting point in the galaxy.”

   “Exactly, I think we can do with a bit of peace after these hectic days, don’t you think?” Backholt smiled.

   “Ahh, yes indeed, I think we could. I guess NSC isn’t such a bad place after all, also the…err Rogue, should have recovered and we can arrange for a cargo ship to take him from NSC to a more trafficked area.”

   Leanje got up from his chair and flexed his body with a groan.

   “I’m too old for this shit. Come, lets go to the bridge, this ship isn’t flying itself you know. Oh and see if we can get an ID on the Rebel Officer from Chiesa’s recording.”

 

 

An Unexpected Visitor

 

   As they opened the door to the bridge they stood face to with a junior officer who’d been on his way to the office. Leanje recovered from the shock first and arched an eyebrow at the young officer. The officer regained his composure almost as fast as the Commodore.

   “Sir, we have detected new ships emerging from hyperspace. We read 4 new contacts, all heading for our position.”

   “Do we know the identity of the ships?”

   “Not yet, Sir. They only just emerged, I’d expect we have a preliminary ID in a few seconds.”

   A Captain near the scanner console, turned to face the Commodore.

   “Sir, we have 2 Imperial Class Star Destroyers, a Victory Class Star Destroyer and… a Super Star Destroyer….”

   Leanje blinked and his heart skipped a beat. “The Executor?? Here??”

   “It would appear so, Sir.”

   Leanje raced to the console, Backholt close behind. As he stooped to watch the final ID scan had been completed. The 4 ships were identified as SSD Executor, ISD Grey Wolf, ISD Relentless and VSD Vanguard.

   Backholt muttered a short prayer. Leanje was looking very pale. Suddenly the main viewscreen flickered and the picture of the Dark Lord imposed itself on the entire bridge. It was dead silent as Leanje straightened up and moved toward the centre of the bridge.

   “Ah, Lord Vader, what an unexpected pleasure.”

   “Dispense with the pleasantries Commodore. Where is Commander Chiesa?” the Sith Lord’s voice sounded strangely agitated.

   Leanje was very feeling uneasy about the situation.

   “He has retired to his chamber for now. I’ll call for him.” Leanje motioned to an officer to call Chiesa’s quarters. After a few seconds of trying the officer looked back at Leanje and shook his head. Leanje turned back to the screen.

   “Yes, Commodore?”

   “Um, we can’t get through to his quarters… maybe he’s asleep…”

   “Commodore, get the Commander on the bridge at once!” Vader had passed from agitated to furious.

   “Yes, Sir.” He turned to Backholt. “Send a team of troopers to fetch Chiesa, tell them to break down the door if needed!”

   The Major keyed his comlink and quickly dispatched a group of security personnel to Chiesa’s quarters. All of the special suites, like the once Chiesa was given, were situated near a security station, and thus it took only seconds for them to arrive at Chiesa’s suite. A few more seconds and the report was given to Major Backholt. No Commander Chiesa.

   Backholt looked at leanje. “He’s not there.”

   “What do you mean, he’s not there??”

   “Sir!” the Captain at the sensor console yelled out. “I show a shuttle launching from our hangar bay!”

   “WHAT??” Leanje was nearing a breakdown.

   “Stop that shuttle at all cost!” Vader’s voice boomed throughout the bridge. The link was broken.

 

   Aboard the SSD Vader’s officers were already ordering several squadrons to launch, as well as ordering the ISD Grey Wolf and Relentless to manoeuvre into a position to box in the shuttle.

Aboard the Grey Wolf and the Relentless activity was high as well, the ships were going full speed to deny the shuttle an easy hyperjump. Through the viewscreen Grand Admiral Thrawn could see swarms of fighters launching from the Executor. He leaned back in his chair and pondered the situation. On the Relentless another Grand Admiral, taken on this mission in all secrecy, was outwardly taking things equally calm, though inside he was excited.

 

   Back on the Persuader Leanje was walking around the bridge, enraged by not knowing what was going on.

   “Where is Chiesa? Is he on that shuttle? And what is the Dark Lord doing here?”

   “And Thrawn.” Backholt muttered, also taken aback by it all.

   “What?”

   “Thrawn. The Grey Wolf, that’s Thrawn’s flagship.” Backholt explained.

   “You’re right. Both Vader and Thrawn. Something strange is going on here.”

   Backholt went to one of the consoles as an officer indicated he had something of interest.

   “We’ve successfully identified the rebel officer at the scene.” He handed Backholt a datacard with the information, which Backholt took with him back to Leanje.

   “The rebel was an officer by the name of Leighton Jarret. Hmm, that name sounds familiar.”

   “Indeed it does. Jarret was in the last report we got from HQ. He had expressed a wish to defect to the Empire.”

   Backholt remembered the report. “But what was he doing with the criminal scum down there?”

   “I’m not sure. My guess is he was captured by them, and that they were probably negotiating a deal either to sell him to us or to the Rebels.” A terrifying thought was beginning to form in Leanje’s head.

 

   Another contact splashed on the sensorscreen, this one on a direct bearing from the shuttle.

   “Sir! I show a new contact… it’s a rebel ship, a Calamarian Cruiser. It’s in the path of the shuttle.”

   “Launch all fighters, engage that Cruiser and bring me the shuttle in one piece!”

   The Captain turned around, despair on his face.

   “It’s too late. The shuttle is within range of the Cruiser. We can’t get to it in time. Not even the Executors fighters can catch it.”

   “Well we’re going to bloody well try!! Major Backholt, make it so!” Leanje yelled.

   “Yes Sir!”

   A communications officer turned around from his console.

   “Sir, we have found the crew of the shuttle in the hangar bay. They say Commander Chiesa came and knocked them down and then proceed to take off in the shuttle.”

   At the same time the Captain at the sensor console reported that the shuttle was docking with the Cruiser.

   “Chiesa? A traitor? I can’t believe it.” Backholt was stunned.

   “Not hard to believe my dear major, he used us, he used us to get rid of a rebel leak, who could have endangered their operations in this area. Damn clever, and very bold plan!”

   “Sir, the Cruiser is making ready for a hyperjump.”

   “Can we stop it?”

   “No, Sir. The distance is still too great.”

   The Commodore walked up to the main viewport, gazing at the Rebel Cruiser in the distance. A few seconds later the Cruisers hyperspace engines cut in and it vanished into space. Leanje walked back to his chair in the centre of the bridge, preparing himself for the Dark Lords anger. But the message he received was not one he had expected.

   “Sir, the Executor is engaging its hyperspace engines. Also the Grey Wolf, the Relentless and the Vanguard are making ready to jump.” A bright flash told the Commodore that the Executor had in fact left the system. Another 2 flashes saw the Relentless and the Vanguard leaving.

   “They’re headed for Coruscant it would seem.”

   “Yes. I can imagine the Emperor will want a full explanation of the events. Right, our job here is done, set course for NSC, engage when ready.”

 

    Twenty seconds later, when all its fighters had returned, the Persuader engaged its engine and leapt into hyperspace.

   Aboard the Grey Wolf, still picking up its fighters, Grand Admiral Thrawn ran a hand down his chin, hiding a mutter.

   “It has begun.”

 

To be continued…