"Andron!" Calli yelled, "Where are you?!"

                Talin rushed to the stricken Typhoon pilot, his medical bag in his hand.  "The Doctor will see you now," the Scotsman said grimly.  He was the Challenge's Chief Medical Officer and the only one with a chance to save Brandon. 

Reaching out with the Force, the Dark Jedi Guardian touched Brandon's spirit.  "Brandon, listen to me.  You have to go into a deep healing trance.  It's the only way you're gonna get through this."

                "Don't…think…I can," Brandon replied, his voice weak. 

                "Fine.  Ehart, you're the most powerful Jedi amongst us.  Put him under.  Doctor's orders."

                Ehart said nothing, a determined look of concentration on his face.  Brandon's eyes closed slowly, his breathing slowing, his heart rate doing the same.  "There," Ehart said.  "It's done."

                "Good," Talin said.  He reached into his medical bag and produced a hypospray.  "First, I'll administer haemocoagulants to stop the internal bleeding."  He pressed the spray to the 'sleeping' pilot's neck.  "Then, I'll have to set his broken legs."  He grabbed Brandon's left leg and set it with a sickening snap.  Then the right.  Snap.  Callista looked concerned, to put it mildly.

                "What now?"  Drear said.       

                "He should be fine for now," Talin replied. " The healing trance should hopefully take care of the worst of it."

                "When will he awaken?" Callista asked.

                Talin shrugged.  "It could be anything from six hours to three days.  I don't have the facilities or equipment to accurately gauge his injuries."

                "What do we do in the meantime?" Ehart said exasperatedly.  "We can't just sit here surrounded by a planet full of Rebs and a Dreadnought above us!"

                Drear snapped his fingers.  "That's it!"

                "What?" Calli asked. 

                "We surrender, get into the base, they'll take care of Bran, we bust out, get Brandon, blow the base, fly out in whatever fighters they have here, toast the Dread', fly back to Aurora and uncover whoever sold us out!"

                "What if they just kill us?" Ehart asked.  "And what about Blackbird?"

                "I'm here," a voice said from the trees.  Boid appeared, his hands above his head, a Rebel Commando digging a blaster rifle into his back.

                Ehart pulled his lightsaber from his belt.  "Let him go, Reb scum," he said chillingly.  "Or I'll dice you right now."

                Thirty more Rebel commandos appeared from the trees, blasters trained at the Typhoon pilots.

                "Crap," Talin said.

FM/LCM Andronicus/Typhoon 2-4/Wing X/ISD Challenge