By CMDR/CM Andronicus/Ghost/Wing XI/ISD Immortal

Talin sighed as he stepped from the shuttle’s boarding ramp onto the neatly polished deckplates of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Immortal’s busy hangar bay.

Well, he pondered, here we are.

In reality, Talin hadn’t travelled very far. The Challenge, where he had just come from, was in the same System Force as the Immortal, so it had just been a quick flight over, escorted by Typhoon Squadron, flying under ‘missing man’ formation around the shuttle.

A clicking of boots walking in a determined fashion cut through the hustle and bustle of the Immortal’s flight deck, prompting Talin to turn his head towards the figure coming out of the Wing Commander’s office. "Hello, Blade," he said, smiling. "Reporting for duty."

Lieutenant Colonel Blade smiled. "Excellent. I trust you’ll want to meet your officers. They’ll be wanting to meet their new Commander and get back to work."

Talin nodded. "Lead the way."

"Hmph," Lieutenant Commander Kaymin D’varak grunted. "Too rich for me."

Sax smiled as Kaymin rose from the Sabacc table and went to fix himself a drink. It was down to him and Klemm now, and he had twenty-two in the flux.

"Well, Sax," Klemm said from behind his cards. "The bet’s at fifteen."

"Hmm," Sax said, making a show out of looking contemplative. "I’ll see your fifteen-" he threw a handful of chips into the hand pot- "and I’ll call."

"All right," Klemm said. "You first."

Sax smiled as he retrieved his cards from the flux field. "Twenty-two."

"Oh," Klemm said, his face dropping.

Sax smiled. "Thanks, Commander, I’ll take my credits-"

"Wait a minute," Klemm cut him of as he reached for the hand pot. "You haven’t seen my cards yet."

He pulled the first card from the flux and turned it over. "I have a two."

Sax settled back into his chair. "Uh-huh."

The next card came out of the flux. "I got a three."

Sax suddenly felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Klemm had the Idiot face card, he would have a Pure Sabacc, and would win the Sabacc pot, which was running at some one-hundred and fifty credits.

"And finally," Klemm said, reaching for the third card under the flux, "I’ve got-"

The door opened before he finished reaching for the card. Lieutenant Colonel Blade and a man wearing a Commander’s rank badge strode into the room. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said casually. "Allow me to introduce your new Commander, Commander Talin Andronicus."

Andronicus stepped out from behind the Wing Commander. "Hey, guys. He eyed the table. "Sabacc?"

Sax and Klemm nodded. "We were just wrapping up a hand." Klemm said. "And before we were so rudely interrupted, I’ve got a-"

Before he could pull the card from under the flux, the scramble warning sirens began blaring.

Immediately, Andronicus went into action. "Move it, people!" He yelled. "No time for Sabacc now!"

The pilots rushed out of the door of the quarters behind Andronicus and blade.

Before he left, however, Sax sneaked a look at the last card under the flux. He swore, put the Sabacc pot on Klemm’s bunk, then ran out of the door.

Ghost Squadron was assembled in the hangar bay several minutes later. "Okay people, listen up," Talin said. "We’ve got a pirate raid on the Aurora Home Guard happening out there. It seems they’re taking advantage of the Sovereign being in the Minos Cluster on manoeuvres at the moment, so it’s up to us and the Challenge’s fighters to hold off the attack until the Sov gets back here. Vampire, Demon and Falcon Squadrons are already out there, and we’ll be the last to launch. Any questions?"

Silence.

"No? Good. Get to your ships, and may the Dark Side be with you."

Talin checked all his systems, making sure they were on-line. "Eljay, give me Flight Control."

Silence.

Talin batted his hand over the faceplate of his helmet as he remembered that his droid module hadn’t been installed yet. Guess I’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. He flicked a switch, activating the comm. "Ghost Leader to Flight Control. We are ready for launch orders."

"Acknowledged," the flight controller replied. "You’ll be out after Phantom Squadron."

"Ten-four, Control. Ghost Leader out." He switched to the squadron’s tactical channel. "Ghost Lead to squadron," he said. "This won’t be easy. Stay tight, and call for help if you need it." The Commander sighed. "If we get out of this alive, We’ll all go and get smashed with my friends on the Challenge."

"Sounds good to me, Boss," Captain Sax said.

There was a roar as the fighters of Phantom Squadron launched into the abyss, led by the experienced Major Badlands, a former member of Tornado Squadron. Talin smiled underneath his helmet. I’m a former Typhoon pilot; he’s a former Tornado pilot. I sense some rivalry coming.

A minute and a half later, there was a ping from his comm. "Ghost Squadron; launch when ready."

"Acknowledged, Control." He flipped to the squadron’s tactical channel. "Ghosts, you heard the man. Let’s kick the tyres and light the fires." Talin hovered his hand over a button on his control board. "Five, four, three, two, one, mark!"

In perfect unison, the TIE Advanceds of Ghost Squadron dropped from their racks and shot from the launch bay.

"Ghost Lead to Control," Talin said. "We’re clear of the hangar bay. Give me some targets."

"Ghost Leader, this is Lieutenant Colonel Blade," the Wing Commander said over the comm. "There’s a half-squadron of Y-Wings making a run on the Immortal’s command tower. Take them out."

"Roger that." He flipped channels. "Two Flight, we’ve got a half-squad of wishbones on a decap run on the Immortal. Take them out."

"Acknowledged." Kaymin replied. "Two Flight inbound."

"Three Flight," Talin said. "Cover the Immortal’s bridge tower and intercept any incoming missiles. One Flight, we’ll cover the Immortal’s ass."

There was a chorus of acknowledgements as the pilots took up their positions around the Auroran Home Guard Star Destroyer. Two Flight shot away, closing rapidly with the six Y-Wings, tagged as Rampart Group on Talin’s Combat Multiview Display. Before long, there was a swirling deep-space melee as the four TIE Advanceds closed on the antiquated pirate-owned starfighters. Before long, the Imperial fighters had eaten the pirates for breakfast, settling into a patrol loop high above the immortal.

"Five to Lead," D’Varak said over the comm, "Wishbones broken. Orders?"

"Stand by, Five." He flicked his comm over again. "Control, this is Ghost Lead. Any particular orders, or are we free to engage targets of opportunity?"

"Ghost Lead, Cyclone Squadron is making a run on the pirate Star Galleons. They need some starfighter cover. You’re it."

"Roger." He flicked channels again. "Lee, I hear you want some company."

"That sounds about right, Andron," Captain Lee "Darklord" Chandler said. "Might even bag your boys a piece of the kills too if you play your cards right."

"Well, Klemm just took Sax for one hundred and fifty credits in a Sabacc game just before we left, so playing our cards right shouldn’t be a problem."

Darklord laughed. "Great. Form up on us and keep us out of trouble."

"Acknowledged." Talin flicked his comm over. "Ghosts, we’re covering Cyclone Squadron, they’re making a run on the Star Galleons. Form up and roll out."

A series of double-clicks flitted through the channel as the TIE Advanceds formed an escort formation around Cyclone.

"Ten klicks to target," Darklord said over the fleet-wide comm channel. "Ready warheads."

"Ghost is clear of incoming targets," Talin said. "Looks like most of the fighters are tangled with Wing X Phantom and Falcon Squadron."

"Good," Darklord said. "No-one else is gonna bag the Galleons then."

Talin had a small idea. "Lee, we’ll fly on ahead and tie up the guns on the Galleons, maybe try to knock out the weapon emplacements and give your boys some clear shots."

"Sounds good to me, Andron," Darklord said. "Cyclone, slow to two-thirds and let Ghost run some interference."

The twelve TIE Advanceds shot on ahead of Cyclone squadron. "Okay, Ghosts, here’s what we’ll do," Talin said, determination entering his voice. "There’s three Flights and three Star Galleons. One Flight, we’re on the Jackrabbit, Two Flight, you’re on the Buckshot, Three Flight, you’re taking the Nova Flare. Don’t kill ‘em, just keep them busy and knock out the weapons. When Cyclone launch their warheads, you’ll have about thirty seconds to clear the blast radius."

The rest of the squadron said nothing as the range closed between the TIE Advanceds and the pirate Star Galleons. At two klicks out, the boxy pirate vessels began to fill space with green lances of turbolaser fire, easily dodged by the expert TIE Corps pilots. At one-and-a-half klicks the TIEs began strafing the Galleons, causing turbolaser batteries and missile launchers to blossom into flames.

"They’re turning!" D’varak said. "Looks like an exit vector!"

"Lee, how long until missile launch?" Talin asked.

"Just a few more seconds," the Cyclone commander replied.

"Use your SLAMs, leave your Defenders behind if you have to, just cripple those Galleons."

"Hey, who are you to order me around?" Lee said, mock-indignantly. "Okay, boys, you heard the man."

The Missile Boats of Cyclone Squadron shot forwards at a rapidly increasing rate as the SLAMs engaged.

"Ghost Squadron, pull back and arm concussion missiles," Talin said. "Let’s see if we can give Cyclone some help. Set your targeting to the engine coolant lines."

The TIE Advanceds shot away from the Galleons then turned, slowing their engines and targeting the Galleons Flight by Flight.

"Launch warheads!" Someone in Cyclone said. Talin thought it was Amadeo, but he couldn’t be sure.

Golden pinpricks appeared on Talin’s sensor displays as the Missile boats of Cyclone Squadron launched a salvo of Heavy Rockets at the Galleons. The rockets impacted a short time later, collapsing the shields on each of the Galleons.

"Ghost Squadron, fire!" Talin exclaimed, squeezing the triggers on his control yoke. Shooting away on red-gold flame, the concussion missiles had no problems catching up with the retreating Galleons, punching through the engine coolant lines. The engines on the galleons flickered once, twice, then stopped, leaving the Galleons drifting with no way of entering hyperspace.

Talin smiled as the rest of Cyclone Squadron fell upon the Galleons, picking them apart with ease.

"Ghost Four to Lead," it was Lieutenant Loop. "Will we get a piece of those kills?"

"That’s correct, Four," Talin said. "Unless you didn’t hit it, of course."

"Oh, I hit it all right, sir."

"That’s good. Better get ready to get a nice big Star Galleon painted on your TIE."

There was a flash, and the comm dissolved into static as the Star Galleons exploded silently.

"Cyclone Leader to Control," Darklord said. "Targets destroyed."

"Copy that," Colonel Nighthawk said from the Challenge. "We’re showing a clear combat zone. Nice work on that cover, Andron."

"Thanks, NH." Talin said, smiling.

"Attention, Wing Eleven," blade’s voice cut through. All ships return to the Immortal for debriefing."

Sighing, Talin flicked his comm over. "Acknowledged, Control. Ghost Squadron standing down."

Later that night, Talin settled into his new quarters. It was strange having a room of his own; whilst in Wing X he’d shared a bunk with FireEyes, Domi or Brandon. Perks of the job, I guess, he mused.

Staring out of the viewport, Talin focused on the Star Destroyer drifting lazily past outside. He didn’t need to use his Sith powers to know that it was the Challenge; he had been on the ship so long that he would know it from any angle.

Talin sighed. I wonder how this will turn out? He wondered. Am I really cut out for leading a Squadron? He rolled over and buried his head into the pillows, smiling as a thought occurred to him. I’ll do fine. I served under one of the best Commanders in the Fleet, in one of the best Squads in the Fleet, in one of the best Wings in the Fleet. I’ll be fine.

He was just drifting off to sleep when the scramble siren went off.

FIN