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Baptism of Fire - AD Pickled Yoda
Kysar Xero let a ruthless grin grow on his face as he saw the flaming X-Wing enter his targeting reticle. He would wait until the X-Wing was dead center in his sights, a perfect and clean kill. His prey juked and weaved to no avail.
“Prepare to die, Rebel scum” he muttered under his breath. With his finger getting twitchy, he began to fire his green lasers of death, watching as his target…
BZZZP! BZZZP! BZZZP!
Kysar Xero opened one sleepy eye and fumbled for his alarm clock He whacked the button that should have given him peace three times before he looked at the clock. 6:43AM. His clock alarm shouldn’t have gone off until 7:30AM. Groggily, he sat up and realized what the noise was – the siren that warned of danger. His home, an old space platform, was under attack.
The next ten minutes were a blur in his memory, but Kysar found that he was dressed and had run to the hangar where his prize possession, a Z-95 Headhunter. He laughed as he recalled his dream. ‘Not quite as good as the TIEs I want to fly.’ Kysar thought, ‘but it’s a good ship.’
“Warning, hostile ships have entered the area.” The intercom’s bland voice rang out and shook Kysar from his reminiscing. He had a job to do… he had to protect his family and the station. Those damn mercenaries the station employed as guards were probably still sleeping.
bzzp. bzzp. bzzp.
No alarm, but his comlink this time. Kysar glanced at the small screen, which revealed that his father was making the call.
“Kysar? Where are you?”
“I’m at my ship”
“Your ship?? Go to the transport! We have to leave now!”
“But what about my ship? And what about those hostiles? The transport doesn’t have guns!”
“You’ll have to leave your ship. We can out run the pirates”
“Out-run them? The transport couldn’t out run a tug, let alone a pirate fighter”
“What else can we do? It’s our only chance!”
“I can fly cover!”
“You’re only sixteen Kysar!”
“So what? I can fly”
“It’s not one of your simulator practices. Get to the damn transport!”
“I can do this, Dad!”
There was a long pause as Kysar’s father began to realize something. “I can’t stop you, can I?”
Kysar grinned to himself. “No. Launch as soon as you can, I’ll cover you until you can make the jump to light speed.”
“Force be with you, son”
Kysar turned the comlink off and closed his eyes. ‘Force be with me. I’ll need it all’. He then vaulted into his open cockpit and checked his systems. ‘All green, but do I need fuel? Who can top me up, there’s no mechanics around? Sithspit!’ At that moment Kysar noticed the fuel gauge was reading nearly full and berated himself for getting so panicky. ‘Calm. Be calm! Think logically! I need to know what’s out there.’ He opened a channel to the base command
“Control, this is Kysar Xero, what’s out there?”
“Kysar? Get off the channel kid! This is serious!”
“So am I. Where are your frigging guards? I don’t see them, so why don’t you tell someone with guns what’s going on?”
“Bloody hell! Alright. We see an old Strike Cruiser out there; with six Y-Wings flying cover. ETA five minutes. You’re the only pilot to have contacted me, so you’re on your own for now.”
“Bugger! Thanks!”
Kysar powered on his ship and launched, and was circling the platform within 30 seconds. He checked his sensors. The six Y-Wings were coming ever closer to him. Ungainly though they were, lasers were lasers. Six of them could easily over come his nimbler fighter. He thought about what he knew of Y-Wings from the simulator. ‘Primarily a bomber, though often used by pirates for dogfights as well. Heavy armour, two lasers, two ion cannons and two missile launchers. Sluggish to turn but deadly against large or slow targets’ Large targets like the platform. Slow targets like his family’s transport.
ETA three minutes. Comlink buzzing. His father. “We’re launching now”
ETA two minutes. Two Y-Wings heading straight on, the other two pairs broke off to the left and right. ‘Two on one is much better than six on one’
ETA one minute. Test fire the guns. Check recharge settings. Thirty Seconds. ’For my family!’
Kysar saw the targeting reticle indicate the enemy was in range. He fired on the leading Y-Wing for several seconds, then dove and twisted his fighter around to avoid the counter fire. Pulling back on his joystick, he came up behind the second Y-Wing and pumped laser bolts into it until the shields collapsed. The next volley of shots went straight into the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly. ‘Lucky shot. Maybe this won’t be too bad after all.’
Suddenly red light flared in his eyes and Kysar realized that the other Y-Wing had turned at last. ‘Shields down to twenty percent! Can’t take much more of that firepower!’ Kysar immediately hit full speed and tried to get behind the bomber, but it soon became apparent to him that this pilot was much better than the other one. ‘And it was going so well too’. Soon Kysar and the pirate were locked in a tight battle, each struggling for the upper hand. Just when he felt that he was getting close to a kill, he heard a distress call.
“Help! Pirates are attacking us! Please send help” A female voice, clearly scared.
’No kidding, lady’ Thought Kysar. ‘Wait a second…that’s my mother! Where are they?’
Kysar glanced at his sensors. The four Y-Wings that had ignored him had gone straight on to the platform. Or what had been the platform – all he could pick up was a heap of debris. Now they appeared to be swarming a transport. His family’s transport. He had to go and help them.
“Aaaargh”
Too late. In horror, Kysar watched as his family was blown away by pirates for nothing more than target practice. He felt something powerful building inside of him – a feeling of immense energy and power. Suddenly he was an enraged demon, and he yelled out in anguish. Vengeance. Punishment. Death. With his teeth barred, he turned on the pirates with a fury, no longer caring whether he lived or died – only that he exacted some revenge.
By the time the Imperial Star Destroyer Grey Wolf had arrived and chased off the Strike Cruiser, all that was left in the area was Kysar and his Z-95 Headhunter.
“Headhunter, please come aboard. We’d like to debrief you about the attack.”
Kysar, barely aware of what he was doing and in a trance like state, replied “Okay… but tractor me in… I don’t feel all that good.”
“Roger that. We’ll have a medical team standing by.”
“You … do that.” Slurred Kysar as he passed out.
A day later, Kysar woke up in unfamiliar surrounds. He looked around and saw a smartly dressed man standing next to the bed.
“What….Where am I?”
The man smiled faintly. “You’re on the Star Destroyer Grey Wolf. Pirates attacked you…do you remember?”
“Flying my headhunter….Y-Wings…my family! Where is my family?”
“I’m sorry to report that your family died in the attack.”
“Nooo!”
“I’m afraid so. But if I may get straight to the point, I am Gilad Pelleaeon, commodore of this fine ship. I want you as one of my pilots.”
“But…aren’t I too young?”
“Perhaps. But the Empire always needs good pilots, and after looking at your flight cam, I know you’re a great pilot. You got all six Y-Wings with minimal damage to your ship. I know you must want revenge, and you can get that with us. We’ve been assigned to hunt down pirates; especially the ones we believe attacked you.”
Kysar thought about it and smiled for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. “I accept.” Kysar Xero, the Empire’s newest recruit, swore from that moment on that nothing would get between him and the pursuit of the pirates who killed his family. ‘I will have my vengeance’
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