"Give me a shot of your strongest drink!"

Werdna Elbee was in a bar. To people who knew him, they wouldn’t notice anything new, but this was a different bar than usual. It was rare for Werdna to be not be onboard the SSSD Sovereign, as he hated leave so much, but this was a special leave for special circumstances. The bar droid poured a brown liquid into a little glass. Werdna knocked it back, and then turned a light shade of green.

"Arghh, what the hell is in that?" Werdna spluttered.

"Alcohol, sir" the droid explained, not quite understanding the question.

"No, I mean…oh, never mind. I’ll just have a beer next."

Werdna shivered a bit. I thought alcohol got better as it mature, he thought, not go off. But this bar, this planet he was on, was not quite right. He was on Corellia, a planet that had been affected very little but the Galactic War. Everything felt strange. It was hard to tell whose side people were on, and the planet had an eerie feeling because of its unharmed beauty. Werdna shivered again, but this time not because of the drink.

There was barely anyone in the bar. There were a couple of humans in the far corner of the room whispering to each other, one male, and one female. Probably lovers, Werdna thought, I better not chat the girl up. There was something else a couple of tables away, but Werdna could not recall what it was. It was a tall and skinny creature, covered with light purple fur. I also only had one eye and the ears of a cat. That’s the problem with the Empire’s Xenophobia, he pondered, we’re not aware of the other races living around us. That’s how the whole Ewok ordeal occurred.

"Where is he," Werdna muttered under his breath, "He’s not usually late."

As Werdna said that, a man burst through the doors of he bar. Everyone looked up to see what the matter was, but soon turned away when the man rested on the bar to catch his breath. He slowly staggered towards Werdna.

"What did you do this time, Sequoh?" Werdna asked.

"Nothing! This time I’m innocent!" Sequoh Marden pleaded, "I was mistaken by someone’s father…I didn’t touch his daughter, honest!"

Sequoh got to the stool next to Werdna and asked, "What’s the plan for the day then? Are we sightseeing or do you have other depressing matters to attend to?"

Werdna replied, "I don’t think finding my parents is a depressing matter. Anyway, we wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t picked up that lead back on Autora Prime."

"You mean, the mysterious man in the mask," laughed Sequoh, "and I do find this search depressing compared to a spot of sightseeing. Hell, I’d be happy to stop in this dump compared to chauffeuring you around the galaxy."

"You didn’t have to help. I could just have easily asked Var Zoraan to help."

"Well, I thought that we could have a look around the planet while we were here too," Sequoh defended, "Var wouldn’t have come along anyway, he’s looking for that promotion to Lieutenant Commander, remember."

"We’ll look around after I get some information about my parents, okay," negotiated Werdna.

"Okay, I’m happy now!"

"Excellent, let me get you a drink then. Excuse me, can I have a shot of your strongest drink for my friend here?"

**********

The briefing room filled up with pilots eager to find out what their next mission was. This eagerness made obvious which squadron they were. Only Beth Squadron could be this happy that they were going to fly for the Empire.

As the pilots sat in their seats, Major Raith entered the room. Chattering died down and the pilots looked towards their Squadron Commander for their orders. The lights in the room faded and the briefing screen lit up, illuminating the room with it’s deep blue light.

"A Rebel supply yard for their starfighter forces has been found by Intel not far from Corellia. It will be our job, along side Daleth Squadron, to take it out. The only resistance we are expecting are a squadron of Y-Wings and a small number of X-Wings because of the "New Republics" lack of resources" informed Raith, "Don’t expect it to be too easy though, we all know how Y-Wing pilots can fool us with their slow, outdated fighters. They tend to contain some of the best pilots in the business. For Rebels anyway."

Representations of the supply yard appeared on the briefing screen, with two flights of Imperial Ships swooping in on it. "We will hyper into the area and take down the fighters in the area using the TIE Defenders and the missile boats will hit transports in the area. After that, every ship can have a go at the containers. Time is of the essence, as the Rebels have had quite a few large ships in the area lately and will try to quickly mobilise against us."

"With Sequoh and Werdna on leave, we are down to the bare-bones of the squadron. Luckily, Daleth have had quite a boost in numbers because of the closing of Gimel Squadron, so we are simply there to help their operation. This means during the mission, Commander Daniel Kamprath will be in charge."

"I suggest that you now go to your fighters now as we are hypering out to the yard immediately!"

**********

"Are we nearly there yet? It feels like I’ve been in this contraption for years." Sequoh asked.

Sequoh was in a two-seater landspeeder, with Werdna driving it. "This is so cool, I’ve never drove one of these things before."

"Oh good, I won’t be uncomfortable for long because you’re soon going to kill the both of us in this terrible excuse of a vehicle." Sequoh turned slightly green at the prospect and stared out of the car. "Why could we not fly to this place? If we took our YT-1300 we would be there already."

"You can’t take ships to were we are going. The person we’re going to see has a problem with things floating over him. Thinks they’re going to fall on him, you see. Well, that’s what my contact said," replied Werdna, "Anyway, I’m not going through customs again. Fake ID’s only work so many times."

"The damned Rebels have too much power on this planet. Still, there should still be some people down here on our side."

"I’m not going to take that chance. You don’t want to be a new prisoner for the new Republic, do you?" asked Werdna, "We’re almost there anyway. We’ll be at the gate to his estate soon."

The landspeeder zipped down the road until it came to the gates of the aforementioned estate. At the gate was what looked like a security officer, who walked slowly over to the vehicle. "What’s your business here?"

"Ehm…someone in a mask back at Autora Prime told me that a man here had some information I needed." Werdna replied to the officer.

"And you presumed that you could just walk in to his estate and talk to him" stated the officer.

"Well, yes!"

"Goodbye, sir."

Sequoh piped up, "Oh dear, he doesn’t want the easy way. Is it time for "Plan B", Werdna?" Werdna nodded back, while Sequoh pulled out a massive blaster from the inside of his jacket. "Call the owner of this place and tell him that we want a word."

The officer walked back towards the gates to use the intercom. "Sir, there are two gentlemen here to see you. They say a man in a mask sent them."

The gates opened and the landspeeder went through. Sequoh gave a thank you as they past the officer.

**********

"We’ll be entering realspace in five…four…three…two…one…"

More than a squadron full of Imperial starfighters appeared in the black vastness of space. The only other thing around was a Rebel supply station, not far from the starfighters entrance point.

CM Daniel Kamprath’s voice came on the fighters radios, "Right people, you have your orders. Do your stuff. We have to complete this operation as soon as possible."

The Rebel ships had mobilised fast and they were already heading towards their enemy. As Intel had said, the number of fighter craft was low. A sense of relief took over the pilots; it was rare that Intel got stuff like that right. Usually there was an Armada waiting for them when they were told that there was going to be little defence.

The TIE Defenders and TIE Advanced flew in first to take superiority from the Rebel fighters. "Defenders, you go after the X-Wings and we Advanced will take on the Y-Wings," informed CM Dan, "Keep them away from the missile boats."

There were a few transport craft trying to leave the area, but the missile boats were already hot on their heels. CPT Hunter and LT Egg’Foo were chasing down a particularly wily YT-2000, trying to get a lock on the target, while avoiding the defensive fire from the turrets.

"Damn it, I just can’t get a lock, shouted Hunter, "Egg’Foo, try to attract the fire while I get in closer on the turret."

Egg’Foo’s missile boat fired a missile, blindly, at the evading ship. It missed only by a hairs-breath but it certainly got the attention of the turret. "Hurry Captain, this guys good. My shield won’t take much of this."

Suddenly, the defensive firing from the ship stopped. "I blew its turret out with a couple of well placed missiles. Quickly finish it off and we’ll hit the containers in the area.

*********

Werdna and Sequoh drove up to the porch of the large marble house in the middle of the estate. Around it was on of the most magnificent gardens you could ever see, containing every colour flower possible and marvellous statues animals from far away lands.

"Impressive!" remarked Werdna, "I wouldn’t mind living in a place like this."

"You never will on our wage. For now we’ll just have to put up with the cold hard barracks back on the Sovereign."

"Yeah, your right, Sequoh. The Sovereign’s bigger than this place anyway."

The two got out of the car and walked towards to huge doors at the front of the building. "Keep your blaster ready, after our entrance we may expect trouble" warned Werdna. The huge door slowly opened inwards, to present a equally extravagant interior. "Please let this guy be a relative!" Werdna mumbled to himself.

"I’m afraid not, Child!" a voice boomed from inside. Werdna and Sequoh quickly looked around the hallway for the origin of the voice. At the top of a long, wide stairway there was a short, plump, old man, whose features were slightly masked because of the lack of lighting.

"What do you mean, "Child"?" asked Werdna, "And what’s with the lighting in this place? If this house was mine, I would want to see everything in it."

"Very well, Child. This estate is yours after all."

**********

"I have several mines on sensors" warned Var Zoraan, "Shall I remove them?"

"Yes," ordered MAJ Raith, "take Mazen with you."

The two TIE Defenders flew to the main group of mines, strafing and swooping to avoid the incoming fire. "Switch to single fire, Var, you’ll take them out faster" informed Mazen.

"Linked is better. There’s less chance of missing," replied Var, "This is a bit tense isn’t it?"

"Tell me about it, my arm always hurts like it’s been hit by a lightsaber after destroying mines. Let’s get this done quickly."

"Arghh, damn! I’m getting pummelled here! This can’t be off a mine!" shouted Var.

"No wonder, there’s a X-Wing up your engine."

"Shields at 25%! Get this mother >kzzz< off me >kzzz<…"

Var Zoraan’s Defender split into three, with its wings fleeing to each side and the cockpit slowly floating away. Mazen let rip on the offending X-Wing, dispatching it with only a few good shots. "Zoraan’s down, but he may have survived. I’m taking out the mines in his area first." Mazen reported in.

"Very well, but the his only chance of rescue is if the Rebels capture him. We’re too deep in Rebel space to send a rescue party." Raith told Mazen, "Let’s get this mission finished first and we’ll see what we can do."

"Hey, aren’t Werdna and Sequoh on leave around here?"

**********

"I just don’t believe it!"

Werdna was sitting at the end of a large table, in what appeared to be a huge dining room. Sequoh was wandering and looking around the room, while the man that they had only just met was kneeling down towards Werdna.

"Looks like drinks are on you, Your Highness!" quipped Sequoh, "Just imagine, if you weren’t stranded on a planet and lost your memory, you could have had all this years ago."

"Please, don’t call me "Your Highness", and for the Emperor’s sake do you have to kneel like that. I’m not royalty."

"But you are, Master Denwar!" exclaimed the old man bowing down to his new master, "And I am your humble servant, Ger Hamsted."

"Well, "Ger", how exactly am I royal?"

"Your father, Lord Nyvyn, was a very trusted aid to the Emperor back in the good old days. He done numerous tasks for the Empire in the past, and was named a Lord as a reward" explain Ger, "While you may not be true royalty, you certainly are aristocracy."

"How did you know that I was the heir to the family title and estate?" asked Werdna, " I have had a different name since I had to crash land on a planet five years ago. I certainly didn’t know that I was in the Nyvyn family."

"Your father also went missing five years ago, and the last place that he had been seen was in the area that you were stranded. The Rebels had found out that your father was an operative for the Emperor and attacked us in this very house. Your mother was killed straight away, but you and your father got to a ship that was prepared round back. Rumours were that a your ship was gunned down by the Rebels, but when I heard about a stranded young man in the same area, I put two and two together."

"…and you got someone to find me and pass on a message to me about my parents" continued Werdna.

**********

"Lets get out off here. Finish off the container your destroying and join your Commander for hyperspace." CM Daniel Kamprath ordered.

"And hurry, I have to get message out for Var to be collected." Raith informed. All of the starfighters grouped up and flew away from where a storage yard had once existed. Suddenly their ships stretched into the distance and disappeared.

**********

"Hey, Werdna, there’s a message on the ships computer." Sequoh shouted.

Werdna walked out of the back room in the YT-1300, hurried towards the main console. "Who’s calling us? If it’s Imperial it might get traced."

"Well, I’m pretty sure it is, it’s from Raith. He say’s that they were on a mission in this area, but Var had to be left behind after he got on the wrong end of an X-Wing."

"I’m guessing that we’re picking him up then. We better get going soon, a Rebel may have picked up the message too." Sequoh started up the engine and Werdna got onto the Comm System to warn the authorities about their departure.

The ship was now starting to rumble in anticipation of it’s upcoming take off. "Ehm…the authorities aren’t letting us go because they are checking out the transmission that we just got," warned Werdna, "so I suppose we had better just leave anyway."

"Good idea, take a seat and enjoy the show. I don’t think that we are going to get off this planet with out a couple of bumps along the way." Sequoh calmly replied.

"Oh well, at least we have a bit of a challenge. I think that the turret seat may have the best view." Werdna paused for a moment, "You know, there was a time when this sort of thing would worry us. Do think that we’re getting too used to this life."

"Perhaps," replied Sequoh as the blaster fire outside began, "there’s the dock’s security guards. We had better leave now."

"Right, get them engines started. We can toast the security as we lift off."

The engines rumbled even harder now and the ship began to slowly rise into the air. There were a few screams outside, but that was to be expected. Not many people survive when they see a throttle activating close up. Werdna jumped into the turret chair and waited for a target. The ship started to pull away towards the hanger door and began strafing in anticipation of the hanger’s defences.

Sure enough, the defences opened fire at the fleeing ship. Some of the blaster fire was connecting with the ship making the rattle of the engines get even louder, but most of the shots were mission and hitting the other ships in the dock. Ha, Werdna thought, try explaining that to the insurance people.

Werdna took a few pot shots at the defences that were in his view, taking them out with ease. "At least give me a challenge!"

"What about this," shouted Sequoh, "the hanger bay doors are closing!"

"Cliché! You’ve done it before."

"Yeah, but usually in a small starfighter."

All of the power was put into the engines and Sequoh flew he ship right at the door. The defenses were having a field day, pummelling into this easy target, but they were no longer the major threat. "Werdna, get out of the turret, we may have to literally squeeze through the gap of the door. Close it off too, or we may get sucked outside."

Werdna slid out of his seat and hit the door controls. There was a massive cluck of impact just as the doorway closed. Werdna looked out of the main window to see that they were now outside, "Is the turret okay?"

"I think so, but don’t expect to make any communications until we get back to the Sovereign, the satellite has been knocked off."

Werdna strapped himself into a seat and took a look at the sensors. "There is a squadron of Z-95’s heading our way at 4km. Apart from that, we have a clear run."

"I’ll take us out of atmosphere now then. We’ll have to run for it, we have no power in our shields and lasers now, and we’ll need to charge up that tractor beam to pick up Var," informed Sequoh, "It will be close, but we should make hyperspace before the fighters are on us."

"There’s no point in going back to the turret then, I guess I’ll have to sit out the rest." Werdna whined.

"Don’t worry, when you learn how to fly this ship, you can go on the run too."

"The fighters are still at 4 km. Charge up the tractor beam now, if the Z-95’s can’t catch up a bit other fighters may be sent out."

The main window slowly turned dark and it was full of stars. "We should be in enough clear to hyper out in two minutes," said Sequoh, "What about the fighters?"

"The Z-95’s will catch up in about the same time. I think we may have made it," replied Werdna, "DAMN!"

"Why are you upset? We made it…" asked Sequoh, "…and with ease."

"Yeah, exactly. I was expecting more of a fight, but instead we had little bother other than a broken satellite," moaned Werdna, "I think I’ve been in this game for a bit too long. I’m almost finished my first year in the Corps and I’m already battle hardened."

"One year is nothing! It just means you’re almost as good as me!" joked Sequoh, "You’ll find a new challenge. Perhaps you need to look for a promotion."

"No, I’m a pilot first and an officer second. I’m also already in the squadron I want to be in. I think that I’m just too fulfilled too soon. I’ll wait until I get my Vanguard and then I’ll see what I can do. I could always live it up with my new found title and wealth."

"That’s a point, should I call you Denwar Nyvyn from now on? Or even Lord Nyvyn?"

"NO!" shouted Werdna, "Perhaps when I remember my life as him, I may return to it, but right now I’m just good, old Werdna Elbee. The money may come in handy though."

The sensors started to beep. "The Z-95’s are just 2km away. They will soon be in firing distance."

"We still have 30 seconds to go on the chrono", informed Sequoh, "Tell me when they start firing and I’ll start swerving."

"They’re 1.7 km away!"

"20 Seconds to go!"

"1.5 km!"

"10 seconds!"

"1.3 km. Start your swerving!"

"5 seconds…"

"BANG!" The ship shook with the impact. "We took that on the hull! The laser system is down completely!"

"…but the Hyperspace system is still intact."

Suddenly, there was a load bang and the stars in the main window stretched back and turned into a spiral of blue.

"YES!" Werdna shouted.

"Was that exciting enough for you? One more hit and we would have been finished," said Sequoh.

"Yeah, that’s exactly what I joined the Corps for! YES!!!"

**********

The coldness of space was enough to kill anyone, but Var Zoraan has never just been an "anyone". He was still fighting off the cold, surviving with the thought that he would be rescued in any minute. He had been doing so for 20 minutes.

Var noticed a spark of light in the distance, but thought nothing of it. The stars shone brightly here in the depths of space. There were no other lights in the area to spoil the view for him. Or was there…

The star that had shone before was now a smaller light moving around from one piece of debris to another. Debris that Var was proud to say that he was part of, because if it were not for him the mines in the area would not have been destroyed and they would have hindered the mission. He was so focused on his job, he did not notice the X-Wing sneaking behind him and taking a few sly shots amidst the confusion. Damned Rebel tactics!

The light was getting bigger now, and was slowly starting to form the shape of a YT-1300. They were magnificent machines, and Var had only just seen one a few days ago when Werdna and Sequoh went on leave in one. But that was no a good example. It was run down and very basic, and the only upgrade it had was a tractor beam. He can remember no that he was making fun of Werdna’s ship, saying "What’s the point of having a tractor beam? Could you not get anything useful?"

The ship was now hovering over Var, and this ship must have had a tractor beam too as Var was surrounded by blue light. He was too weak to get excited or worried, and he focused on staying awake and alive. He could feel himself moving, rather faster than his usual drift, and he closed his eyes as he moved.

Var was drifting off to sleep, but before he had gone off, he could just about remember feeling warmer. As if he had just got out of the cold space and into a nice warm ship.

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