Kappa and Cyclone Squadron: Leave no one behind - CPT Katherine Cantor Flyer
Daylight was just beginning over
Aurora Prime's terminator when the Shuttle Monsoon
gently dropped from the ISD Challenge's
hangar bay, two TIE Avengers in tow.
Commander Kate Flyer sat quietly in
the cockpit and placidly eyed her destination.
The SSSD Sovereign, hanging as
it was above Aurora Prime and blotting out much of the light from the local
sun, seemed big enough to ignite and become a star itself.
Stretching fifteen kilometers from
stem to stern, the grey behemoth was indeed an impressive sight. Kate often wondered why the Command Staff
didn't use it to the burn down the entire rebel fleet, but she supposed that
they had their own motives for holding back the flagship.
"Geez, look at that
thing," Lieutenant Phelan moved to sit next to Kate. "Never really seen it up close. I missed the free tour the recruitment bureau
always gives to cadets."
"Yeah?" Kate turned to Phelan.
"Yeah. I guess I was out drinking," Phelan
smirked.
"Well, you didn't miss
much," Kate shrugged. "It
looks like pretty much any other Star Destroyer on the inside. It's just really, really big."
"Really really?"
"Yeah, really really,"
Kate winked. The crew of the ISD
Challenge had a healthy dislike for the Sovereign, owing in part to a perceived
arrogance that seemed to permeate the "pride of the fleet." Now Kate's Cyclone Squadron would be
participating in a joint mission with Kappa Squadron, a squadron with a proud
history of snobbery, or so it seemed.
As Kate reflected on the mission to
come, the Monsoon maneuvered its way
into the Sovereign’s mammoth lower
hangar bay. The bay, large enough to
accommodate a Star Destroyer, seemed to dwarf the tiny craft as it gently
glided toward one of the many airlocks located within the bowels of the
ship.
Kate buckled in while Phelan went to
rejoin the rest of Cyclone Squadron in the rear of the shuttle. The shuttle, its delta-winged now folded
gracefully about its body like a nesting bird, hit the magnetic grapples with a
distinct clunk and settled in as the bay was pressurized with a whoosh. A few minutes later, Kate and the rest of
Cyclone Squadron were on their way down the shuttle’s ramp and into the docking
bay.
Two men were waiting at the bottom
of the ramp as they debarked, each wearing the rank of Admiral. One of them, a rangy looking, older man
stepped forward and took Kate’s hand, “Hello Kate. Stuart and I heard you were coming aboard the
Challenge, so we thought we’d come and see you aboard.”
“Thanks, Master.”
Stuart and Master both smiled, then
moved to flank Kate as the whole group moved toward the briefing rooms,
alternately swapping war stories from their days in Thunder and Tempest, and
complaining about the Sovereign.
“..
And the beer, geez,” Stuart was waving animatedly. “So anyway, how is Locke?”
“Locke retired,” Kate winced. Just two weeks ago, she had accompanied the
rest of the commanders in forming an honor guard to escorting Locke to the
Modified Frigate Phoenix. His retired had been a blow to Kate, since he
had been a friend since she first came aboard.
She didn’t know what to make of the new commodore, the former inquisitor
Maverick. He was charming, and quite
experience, but an enigma.
Stuart, meanwhile, had nearly
stopped dead at the news.
“And why doesn’t anybody tell me
anything?”
“You weren’t paying attention?” Master offered.
“That’s no excuse!” Stuart huffed. He was still complaining about not hearing
about Locke’s retirement as Kate and the rest of the Cyclone stepped through a
non-descript sliding door, muffling the admiral as he continued to grumble to
Master.
The briefing room behind the doors
was quite a bit more comfortable than the ready room on the Challenge. The room was set up so the pilot chairs
comprised two levels situated in a half-moon around a holographic
projector. Kate and her squad mates
seated themselves in cushy seats in the upper level, muttering among themselves
as Kappa Squadron sauntered in.
“Have a look at those guys,” Fink
muttered in Kate’s ear.
The Kappans had an air of
professional arrogance about them as they silently took a seat near the front
of the briefing room. Their commander, a
man named Moagim Daar, was flanked by his two chief lieutenants Tempest and
Brukhar. Kate knew them by reputation
only, but it was a fearsome reputation.
A couple of them glanced back at the assembled Cyclone pilots and
smirked before returning to their conversations, leaving Kate with an ugly
feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Alright, alright, let’s get
started,” Zeth Durron, the slight-looking Wing II commander, stepped up to the
podium. “I’ll be handling the briefing
today. Welcome to our guests from the
ISD Challenge by the way. I hope the Sov
has been accommodating.”
There was a faintly agreeable mutter
from the Cyclone pilots, followed by Zeth clearing his throat and activating
the holo-projector. As Zeth spoke, Kate
found that she had to take notes quicker than usual on her data pad, as his
style differed considerably from Coranel’s slow, silky report.
Glancing about her pilots, Kate saw
Blenheim and Phelan trading quiet jokes; Fink dozing in his seat and the new
pilot Augustus nervously transcribing the briefing. By contrast, the Kappans were almost
uniformly silent and attentive. Kate
found herself craving that kind of discipline in her squadron.
“..
Any questions?” Zeth deactivated
the holo-projector.
Kate glanced around, expecting at
least a few questions. But this time
around, even the talkative Alex Shrike had clapped his mouth shut. Taking the silence as his cue to leave, Zeth
nodded respectfully to the assembled pilots and headed out the door, leaving
their respective commanders to get them ready.
“Alright guys,” Kate gestured for
her pilots to gather around, seeing out of the corner of her eye that Moagim
was doing the same thing. “Mission is to
knock out a rebel transfer point along our border. I think you all pretty much know what to do.”
“Is there a reason that we have to
fly with the Kappans?” Enzo Matrix asked
distastefully. Kate felt a light pang of
sympathy for the pilot – He had served with them as Sin commander in Wing II,
and they had apparently not gotten along.
“They’re the best and we’re the
best,” Kate said shortly. “Anything
else?”
Fink and Enzo looked like they
didn’t consider this a very satisfactory answer, but it was the only one that
Kate was prepared to give. She dismissed
her pilots and started toward the door, only to be met by Captain Daar.
“Good evening Commander Flyer,” Moagim
said silkily, his gravelly voice hiding a hint of an accent that Kate didn’t
recognized. He was taller than she was,
and carried himself as a man who seemed used to luxury. Moagim offered his hand, but Kate
hesitated. Finally, she took it, and found
that it engulfed hers. “My pilots look
forward to flying on your wing.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Kate said.
“Your squadron has gained something
of a reputation in the fleet,” Moagim said sleekly. “I’m told that you engaged a rebel MC-90 and
were able to destroy it with no losses.
That is a formidable accomplishment.”
“Glad you think so.”
“You know that Cyclone has a.. colorful history, yes?” Moagim seemed to be trying to put something
delicately, but Kate wasn’t sure what it was.
“Your surname Cantor.. It was
shared by another who commanded your squadron.
A traitor, as I recall.”
Kate felt anger swell a bit in her
throat. It was true that she had never
met Keirdagh Cantor, the once commander of Cyclone. And it was also true that he had indeed gone over
to the Rogue Dark Brotherhood, a sworn enemy of the Emperor’s Hammer. But something about calling another family
member a traitor touched a nerve.
“I think Cyclone has a brilliant
history,” Kate said coldly.
“As does Kappa,” Moagim said airily,
seemingly unaware that he had caused any bad feelings. “Well then, I suppose we had better be off,
hmm?”
The pair exchanged a few more vague
pleasantries, and the moved off to rejoin their respective squadrons. Now, Kate wanted to show Moagim just what sort
of squadron Cyclone really was..
* * *
“Disengaging
from hyperspace.. Targeting computer and
scopes are on.. All pilots report in.”
The reports streamed in over Kate’s
headset as she pulled her Missile Boat to the fore of her squadron’s formation
and sprinted toward the rebel communications outpost in the distance.
The mission was a simple one –
Destroy the outpost and while Kappa ran interference from any fighters. But even that had gotten complicated. It had started when they found a full-blown
MC-90 guarding the outpost.
Crikey,
what are we going to do about that thing, one?
“We’re going to ignore it,” Kate
said resolutely. A quick scan of her
scope revealed that the MC-90 hadn’t even launched fighters yet, and now they
were almost in warhead range.
‘Cyclone
this is Kappa One.. Looks like smooth
sailing for you guys right now.”
“Right, I..” Kate caught a message on her screen. “No wait, a squadron of A-wings has just
launched from the MC-90. You think you
guys can take them?”
“What’s a
soviet for?”
“Not much, actually,” Kate smirked
as she switched to her rocket launchers and her targeting reticule leapt to
life. The outpost was doomed now – As
soon as the Missile Boat launched their payload, the rebel type-six platform
would be so much debris. A steady whine
filled the cockpit to indicate that lock had been achieved, and Kate pulled the
trigger.
“Flight One..
Launch!”
Kate launched three pairs of
rockets, then dropped back and watched as Phelan, Alex and Augustus soared
ahead and launched their own warheads.
She appreciated that they were still in perfect formation, a product of
the intense training regime she had been putting them through, though Augustus
looked to be a bit wobbly.
As Kate watched, the tons of
ordnance launched by the Missile Boat impacted against the platform’s shields
and swiftly annihilated them. Fires
sprang up as the hull plating buckled and explosions rocked the station from
within. A final pair of rockets was
enough to ignite the platform’s reactor, sending it up in a brief, but
spectacular explosion.
“We got it, guys,” Kate smirked
proudly as she keyed her comm. “Alright,
let’s get out of here.”
“Cyclone,
this is Kappa One. That might be
difficult.”
Kate frowned and glanced at her
scope, and to her horror, she saw it. A
rebel modified strike cruiser had dropped out of hyperspace with a light
cruiser. Fat and misshapen, the crude
ship was nevertheless capable of generating the mass shadow necessary to keep
Cyclone and Kappa from escaping into hyperspace.
Kate tried to keep a brave face as
the green blips began to multiply exponentially on her scope, “All this for two
starfighter squadrons? I think I feel
special. Alright, hey nine, I need you
to cover us as while we take out that modified strike cruiser.”
“Kappa
flights one and two will assist.”
Kate couldn’t help but smile as she
swung around on the modified strike cruiser.
Between Cyclone and Kappa, they had almost a full squadron of Missile
Boat at their disposal. They had almost
enough ordnance to reduce half the rebel fleet to scrap, let alone a solitary
modified strike cruiser.
The rebels seemed to sense this too,
as a raft of A-wings immediately bared down on them.
“Anybody want to kill those
A-wings?”
“Sorry one,
a little busy here.”
“We’ll just try and ignore them
then,” Kate said tightly. “Kappa and
Cyclone.. Activate your SLAM boosters
and try to take out that rebel hunk of junk as quickly as possible so we can
get out here.”
Kate activated her SLAM boosters and
abruptly felt as if she was being shoved into her seat by an invisible hand as
the thrust overwhelmed her inertial dampeners.
“One, break
right!”
The A-wings had pounced on the
streaking Missile Boat in a furious hail of azure bolts and warheads, forcing
them to break off their run and scatter.
The A-wings, hardly content to let them escape so easily, did their best
to pursue.
As Kate threw her own fighter into
evasive maneuvers, she caught a glimpse of a handful of TIE Defenders engaging
to try and keep them safe. One of the
Defenders bought it at the end of a missile, and Kate suddenly had the sinking
feeling that she had lost one of her pilots.
But no, she could see that he had ejected safely, and was now waving his
arms frantically as he tried to avoid being cut in half by a passing fighter.
Hang in
there.. Hang in there..
The Kappa and Cyclone Missile Boat
had managed to regroup with the assistance of the TIE Defenders, and had turned
back to target the modified strike cruiser.
Kate swung around to join them as they began to launch their warheads
and loosed her own warheads, the whoops of joy from her pilots audible with
every volley. The strike cruiser tried
to turn to evade the volley of rockets, but it was already too late. It detonated amid an expanding corona of
light and shrapnel, and Kate’s hyperdrive abruptly came back on line.
“Gravity
well is down! All fighters
withdraw! Withdraw!”
“Negative Kappa One,” Kate
hissed. “One of my pilots is EVA. We need to get a team in here..”
“Belay
that. We need to get out of here while
we still can.”
“He’s still alive! We need to..”
“That’s an
order, Commander!”
Kate stopped short, her breath
caught in her chest as she watched her pilot wriggle helplessly in space,
hardly able to suppress her rage. For
just an instant, she was tempted to turn her missiles on Moagim’s Missile Boat,
making Kappa and Cyclone even.
Still spitting and hissing over the
comm., Kate keyed in the calculations to enter hyperspace.
“Cyclone, this is One. Prepare to withdraw.”
“But
Marlin’s still out-“
“Now!”
Kate hung there in space for a
minute, a hundred different possibilities occurring to her at once. Then the stars stretched into lines, and she
was away.
* * *
When Kate finished docking with the
ISD Challenge sometime later, she was even angrier than before. She threw her helmet and gear against the
bulkhead as she exited the airlock, sending it clattering to the floor and
bringing about another stream of curses.
She stopped short as she heard
voices further down the corridor. As she
listened, she heard Coranel’s familiar hiss mingled with Moagim’s faint accent,
and that was all Kate needed. Forgetting
about her gear in her corner, she broke into a dead run.
Her fist connected with Moagim’s jaw
with a loud pop, sending the captain to the ground with Kate on top of
him. She did her best to pummel the
Kappa commander, screaming curses as Zeth and Coranel struggled to pull her
off.
“You’re out of order,
commander!” Zeth yelled as she managed
to pull Kate away and shove her against the bulkhead. Kate started toward Moagim again, but Zeth
grabbed her by the arm as the captain rose and brushed himself off.
“You have.. a problem..
commander?” Moagim gingerly
touched his jaw.
“One
of my men is dead out there, and that’s all you can say? That’s all you can say!?”
“If we had waited for an EVA team,
the rest of us would be floating out there with him!”
“We won’t leave anybody behind!”
“You expected two squadrons to
defeat the combined forces of an MC-90, an MC-40, a platform and a modified
strike cruiser?”
Kate just stood there, tears
starting to brim as she stood half straining against Coranel and Zeth’s
grip. Finally, she went slack, shaking
her head as she walked away. She heard
Coranel call after her, but she didn’t care.
She needed to get away. Somebody
under her commander had died.
She had worked hard to get Marlin,
one of Typhoon’s best pilots, in Cyclone with her when Coranel had first
reopened the squadron. He had been an
asset, and Kate had been proud to promote him to flight leader. More than any of that though, Kate had
counted “Fish Boy” as a friend, and she could hardly believe he was gone.
No more
songs in the cantina.. No more drinking
buddy.. No more Marlin. He’s floating out there in space somewhere
because Moagim wouldn’t go back for him.
Because Moagim wouldn’t understand.
Before Kate knew it, she was back in
her office. She flopped down in her
chair, not bothering to strip off her flight suit, and just laid there slack
for a moment. Her anger toward Moagim
was swelling again, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. There was nothing she could do.
Damn me for
not being able to do anything..
Kate leaned forward and tapped the
comm. button on her desk, “Phel, Jondaar, I need you here now.” There were separate acknowledgements, and
Kate switched it off.
She just laid there now, waiting for
her two officers to arrive and wondering what she would do now. Domi was the first to arrive, politely
tapping on the bulkhead door before striding in and taking a seat. Phelan followed a few minutes later, taking a
seat across from Kate’s desk and leaning forward with his legs spread.
“Gentlemen,” Kate could hardly look
up. “As you probably saw, Marlin is
either missing or dead.”
Domi nodded, the regretful look in
his eyes telling Kate that death was something he had seen far too often in his
long career. Phelan mostly looked
shocked.
Trying to keep a grip on herself,
Kate took a shaky breath and leaned forward, “Phelan, I’m granting you a field
promotion to flight leader. You’ll get
the new insignia as soon as the request goes through the flight office.”
Another deep breath.
“And I wouldn’t be surprised if one
of you weren’t Cyclone commander in the next couple hours,” Kate tapped her
finger on her desk. “I kind of punched
out a superior officer a few minutes ago.”
“You did what?” Phelan croaked. Domi just smiled.
“I punched out Captain Moagim Daar.”
“Oh..”
“Kate, can we talk alone for a
moment?” Domi asked gently. Kate glanced up to offer an apologetic smile
to Phelan, but the newly-minted flight leader was already up and walking out of
the room.
When he was gone, Domi leaned
forward and looked Kate carefully in the eye, “Kate, you can’t punch out a
superior officer.”
“You were there!” Kate was starting to feel angry again. “He ordered us out of the system when we
could have ordered an EVA rescue! We could
have ordered a rescue! Damnit, we could
have ordered a rescue!”
“Yes, I was there, Kate. And you know as well as I do that we all
would be dead now if we had waited for that EVA extraction. There were five squadrons of rebel fighters
in space when we left, and that was only the beginning. Five squadrons to our two, Kate.”
“What’s your point?” She snapped.
“My point, Kate,” Domi’s voice
sharpened a bit. “My point is that you
need to learn the meaning of sacrifice.
No good commander ever risked their whole squadron for one pilot. Fink didn’t, I didn’t, Locke didn’t..”
“No offense, but spare me the
sacrifice crap,” Kate’s eyes were bloodshot.
“What is a commander without absolute loyalty to their pilots? Nothing.
Because a commander who isn’t loyal to her pilots deserves no loyalty in
return. I would sacrifice my life for
every one of them. Always.”
“There will come a time, Kate, when
that creed of yours will be tested. And
then, I think you’ll begin to understand what your job is really all
about.”
“And what is the job really about, Domi?”
Kate asked testily.
“Getting the job done, with whatever
you’ve got, and with as few casualties as possible. What does it matter if you save one, if two
more die? How about the whole squadron? How about both squadrons?”
“Yeah well, while you deal in
what-ifs,” Kate stood to leave. “I see a
man dead on my watch. A man I could have
saved. Don’t ever tell me his death was
worth it. Don’t ever tell me that Moagim
was right. One of my men is dead. That’s all I see. That’s all that matters.”
Kate walked out, hardly caring that
she had just left Domi sitting alone in her office. Phelan was there by the door, waiting for
her. He glanced up hopefully when Kate
stepped out, and she realized that he was waiting for some kind of
direction. She hesitated, not sure what
to say.
Finally, she put a hand on his
shoulder, smiled tightly and said, “They’re always worth it, Phel. Remember that, and you’ll do just fine.”
* * *
Kate spent the next several days
going to the ISD Challenge cantina, a bottle of lum sitting firmly in front of
her on the table as she tried to bury herself in paperwork. But as much as she tried to worry about
after-action reports and evaluations, she couldn’t get the image of Marlin
flailing about in space out of her head.
The guilt was heavy as ever.
On the fourth day, the scrape of a
chair caught Kate’s attention, and she looked up to see Moagim settling down in
front of her. The Kappa commander set
his jaw as he quietly appraised Kate, then asked, “Mind if I join you?”
Kate gestured absently toward the
bottle on the table, and Moagim smiled.
Producing a glass of his own, he poured himself some lum and leaned
forward, “Zeth wanted you to get 60 days in the brig for striking me like
that. He was ready to go to the JAG over
it. I told him to drop it.”
Kate said nothing as Moagim
continued.
“I’ll admit that I deserved
everything you gave me. Yes, of course
you’re not going to like losing a pilot like that. Of course you thought you could save him. I would have been the same way in your
position,” Moagim took a heavy drought of the lum. “I made the call. You had every right to be angry.”
Snorting a bit to clear his sinuses,
Moagim leaned back in his seat, “You never get used to the death, even when
death is an everyday part of your life, I guess. I watched my father die when I was a
kid. You have to believe that everything
in me wanted to stay and tear those pirates apart. But..
I was just a kid. What would my
life have been worth if I had stayed behind?
My dad and I would just be two bodies on the deck.”
“I’m sorry for your father,” Kate
said heavily. “But you wanted
revenge. I had a chance to save
him.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“Of course.”
“You can’t save everybody,” Moagim
narrowed his eyes. “In my first
squadron, I watched one of my squadmates die.
You know how it happened? A rebel
frigate happened to decelerate from hyperspace right into his position. Damndest bit of luck I’ve ever seen. He was obliterated in a second. He didn’t even scratch that frigate’s
paint. You wonder what you could have
done but..” He shook his head. “You realize that you can’t save
everybody. And if you are tear yourself
up inside about it, well.. I suppose I
have to wonder if, when the time comes, you’ll be able to make the tough
call.”
Stony silence fell. Kate didn’t know whether to poor Moagim
another drink or to punch him again. The
former instinct finally won out, and she handed him another glass, “What was
the name of the guy who bought it on the end of the frigate.”
“His name.. I believe it was Ryu Hawking. Good kid, sad end.”
“You said you couldn’t save Ryu’s
life. Do you think we could have saved
Marlin’s life if we had stayed? I want
you to look me in the eye and tell me what you think.”
“I don’t know. All I remember if weighing one pilot against
twenty-three. I made my choice.”
“You stand by your choice?”
“Always.”
“Then I can respect that,” Kate
raised a glass. “Captain, I don’t really
like you or your squadron, but I can respect the spot you were in as the
commander of that mission. This is for
Ryu Hawking.”
“And your Lieutenant Commander
Marlin.”
Kate and Moagim clinked glasses and
took a sip. As she did so, she spotted a
black protocol droid ambling up to their table with a data pad.
“Excuse me sirs,” the droid inclined
its head toward the two squadron commanders.
“I have a message from Vice Admiral Maverick for Commander Flyer. He wishes to see her in his office
immediately.”
“Hmmn, are you sure I’m not getting
a court martial for giving you a fat lip?”
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Good luck, Flyer.”
“Yeah, thanks..”
* * *
“What do you mean you think Marlin
is alive?”
Kate stood disbelieving in
Maverick’s office, uncertain if her hearing was failing her.
“I mean that I have reliable
intelligence that indicates that the rebels plucked him out of space after you
left and imprisoned him with a number of other Imperial prisoners,” Maverick
said. “And I think we’re going to go and
get them, all of them. Including your
pilot.”
Kate stood staring at Maverick, hardly
knowing what to think. She had
previously been so wrapped up in Locke’s departure that she had had hardly any
time to appraise the new commodore. Now
she found that her respect for the tall, rakish looking former-inquisitor had
gone up a notch.
“I don’t.. I don’t know what to say. You don’t know what it means to me to hear
this.”
“Yeah I do,” Maverick smiled as he
poured himself a drink.
“I..
I’d better go brief my squadron then.
How soon until we launch?”
“Two days. Get your pilots together,” Maverick
said. “Don’t forget though, this is a
major operation. It’s not just about
your guy.”
“Yeah,” Kate threw a salute. “But I still appreciate the information.”
“Ric was happy to pass it along.”
Kate smiled as she silently thanked
her friend Ric Taldrya in Praetorian Squadron.
He had been keeping an eye on her since they fought together for Clan
Arcona against the Akumvah. Kate made a
mental note to send along a thank-you letter to the Sith Warrior.
She stepped out of Maverick’s
office, her mind suddenly alive with possibilities.
“So I see that you heard the
news?” Domi was standing outside out
Maverick’s office when Kate walked out.
“That Marlin is alive?”
“Possibly alive,” Domi
admonished.
“Doesn’t matter. There’s a chance,” Kate said as she hurried
down the corridor. “I need you to put
together a simulation package based on Maverick’s specifications by
tomorrow. We’ll be going in, and we’ll
be going in hot.”
“I hear you, commander.”
Kate was hardly able to sleep over
the next two day. She had left the
majority of the simulation and briefing work to Phelan and Domi, taking the
time to lift weights and think on the mission ahead. On the nights she couldn’t sleep, she
wandered down to the simulators and tested out the package again and
again.
After the second night, she stepped
out of the simulation pod to find Moagim waiting for her.
“Figured you would be here.”
“You figured right,” Kate stripped
off her gloves and stuck them in her teeth as she slipped a jacket over her
flightsuit. “Hmmph murrff ‘lin..”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“This is our chance to save Marlin,”
Kate said. “And what are you still doing
on the Challenge, anyway?”
“I stop by periodically,” Moagim
admitted. “Not too hard, since the
Challenge is part of the Auroran Home Guard.
Most of the time, it’s like you’re right next door.”
“Don’t you have your own squadron to
run?”
“Brukhar and Tempest do a pretty good
job of that on their own.”
“Ah,” Kate said. “Well, we launch tomorrow.”
“Launching to find Marlin, or to
rescue hundreds of Imperial personnel?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you shouldn’t let this
mission get too personal.”
“Well, thanks for the sage advice,
conscience of mine, but don’t you think it’s a little late for you to be
wandered around dispensing free advice?”
“Of course not. I’m a terrible insomniac sometimes.”
“Well, if you put it that way,” Kate
rolled her eyes. “Anything you want to
add?”
“Aside from making it too
personal?” Moagim frowned. “I was wondering if I could join your
squadron for this mission.”
“Why?”
“I gave the order to withdraw. If I can help atone for that, then I’d like
to.”
“Do I sense regret from that
decision?”
“No, I never regret the orders I
give. But if I can help to reverse some
of consequences.. Well.. It was your man who was lost. I owe it to you to try and help you as best I
can.”
He stuck out his hand, and this
time, Kate shook it without hesitation.
* * *
The New Republic prison system PRI-3681, located on the border between
the Greeop and Pirath systems, was the first transfer point for all Imperial
prisoners from the outlying sectors before they were sent coreward. Known as Ackbar’s
Toolbox by some of the Imperial pilots that had spent extensive time there,
it had repelled several EH attacks since being established.
The ISD Challenge Task Force had been in hyperspace the past two days,
gradually making its way toward the prisoner through a variety of different
transfer points to avoid detection.
Now, at the edge of the system, the
Imperial Star Destroyer burst out of hyperspace with its accompanying frigates,
corvettes and gunships, fighters pouring from her belly. It was hardly any time at all before the
three platforms that comprised the prison system responded in turn, sending out
X-wings, Y-wings and A-wings while simultaneously sounding the alert that
Emperor’s Hammer forces were in the system.
“Cyclone Squadron ready?”
Kate smiled as she heard similar
inquiries go out through Thunder, Inferno and Tornado squadrons. She drew even with Azurin Luna, the Thunder
Squadron commander.
“Fighters
are incoming.”
They didn’t need to tell Kate
twice. The incoming A-wings and X-wings
had already split the fighter formation, forcing them to fend for themselves as
the Challenge worked to get into
position. The rebels hadn’t wasted any
time bringing in reinforcements, as two rebel strike cruisers had arrived to
cover the rebel platforms. On the
Imperial side, the Missile Boat were having a hard time grouping up to make a
proper run on the platform.
“Tornado.. Cyclone..
This is the Challenge. We need
the shields on those platforms down so we can launch Assault Transports.
‘Right, right, working on it,” Kate dropped a concussion missile into
a passing X-wing, hardly able to distinguish the messages meant for her over
the comm. over the constant chatter of other pilots on the same channel.
She tried again and again to bring
her Missile Boat around to get a proper shot on one of the rebel strike
cruisers, but she was constantly stymied by the harrying rebel fighters. Finally, she sought cover in the shadow of
the Challenge as she tried to
recharge her shields for another run.
Further out, the Missile Boats had
managed to get off a few piecemeal shots on the platforms in the distance, but
it was obvious that the rebels were doing just fine in holding off the
imperials.
This is
getting bad.. Need to do something
fast..
“Moagim, are you there?”
“This is
Ten. Can I help you, One?”
“I need cover so I can use my
rockets properly. Do you mind giving me
a hand with that TIE Defender of yours?”
“Confirmed. I’ll be there in a few moment.”
Kate spotted Moagim’s TIE Defender
weaving in and out of a pack of X-wings, deftly knocking them down with
superior laser and warhead management. A
moment later, he was on her wing and they were on their way back to the
platforms.
As much as Kate hated to admit it,
Moagim was no slouch behind the stick.
He burned fighter after fighter after space as they pushed toward the
triad platforms, expertly keeping rebels from her back as she moved within
range of a lock.
“That’s some nice flying, Ten,” Kate
whistled as he annihilated another X-wing with a pair of dumbfired
missiles.
“They
didn’t make me Kappa commander for nothing, One.”
Kate ignored the mild bluster
contained within the comment (she was just getting to like him, after all) and
loosed her rockets. A moment later, Ackbar’s Toolbox had been reduced from
three to two. Using the explosion as
cover, the imperial fighters were able to regroup and begin pushing back
against the rebels as the Challenge and
her accompanying ships engaged the enemy cruisers and more and more Missile
Boats poured their warheads into the remaining platforms.
Another platform went up, leaving
only the primary prisoner platform. A
stream of azure bolts pounded against it now, scrambling its electronics and
paving the way for Imperial boarding parties.
“Hey One, looks
like the rebels are launching escape transports.”
Kate checked her scope, and sure
enough, a host of transports, shuttles and freighters had launched from the
platform. She needed no further
prompting to activate her SLAM boosters and rush toward the departing
convoy.
Wish I had
ion cannons..
“Hey One,
we’ve got trouble over here!”
Kate’s skin prickled as a fresh wave
of fighters pounced on Cyclone Squadron.
It was quickly apparent that Phelan, Augustus and a few others wouldn’t
last much longer. She hesitated just a
moment as she realized that she was the only one in the vicinity. She knew she had a mission to complete, but
it didn’t seem she could do much without ion cannons. Checking her sensors, she saw that Thunder
was tangling with an A-wing squadron near the Challenge, and that Tornado was limping back to base for
repairs.
Finally, realizing that there was
little she could do for the mission, she turned and readied her advanced
missiles. The first X-wing hardly even
knew what hit him as Kate popped him like a bubble with her missiles and scattered
the rebel’s atoms through space. The
other rebels were sluggish to respond, and Kate similarly loaded them up with
ordinance. But as she worked to help her
squadron clear away the remaining fighters, she saw the rebel transports
beginning to leap to hyperspace. Worse,
Thunder Squadron had been in range to disable them, but hadn’t been able to
punch through the shields fast enough.
If I had
just lowered their shields..
But even as the last freighter leapt
to hyperspace, Kate realized that she had no regrets. Her loyalty would always be to her squadron
first. Heeding the call to return to
base, Kate turned around and made her way back to the Challenge’s hangar.
Marlin,
we’ll be coming for you. Promise.
* * *
“Another hand.. How does she do it?”
A collective groan went through the
assembled commanders as Kate grinned and collected her winnings. It had been two days since the prison raid,
and Moagim had politely invited Kate to the weekly commander’s sabacc game in
the Sovereign cantina. But the soviets were fast beginning to regret
it.
Kate, smoking a foul cigar (“I
hardly ever smoke, this is my big chance!”) and her feet on the table, had won
four hands in a row.
“Hey Flyer, I heard that you decked
Moagim the other day in the hangar.
Wanna tell us anything about that?”
“He was being a bantha turd, like
every soviet.”
“Heh, careful Kate, remember where
you are.”
“Oh, I remember where I am,” Kate
winked and pointed at her winnings, and the commanders laughed.
“Sorry about the guy you lost.”
“Thanks.”
“Easy come, easy go, Flyer?” Moagim glanced up from behind his cards.
“Yeah, I suppose.”
“Well, you’re always welcome to fly
along with Kappa Squadron.”
“Hah, yeah right,” Kate snuffed her
cigar and stood. “Guys, I’m out of
here. Thanks for the game.”
There was a round of ‘ayes’ followed
by relieved muttering as Kate rose to leave.
But as she went, she was met at the door by Moagim. He ushered her out, then offered his hand one
last time, “It was a pleasure flying with you out there, Flyer.”
“And you, Moagim. Sorry I plastered you on the deck a couple
days ago.”
“Think you’ll be going after your
pilot again?”
“Count on it.”
“Kappa will be there.”
“Appreciate it,” Kate said, then
thought for a moment. “If you had
another chance, would you give the same order?
Or would you reconsider?”
“Like I said, Flyer, I never have
any regrets about the orders I give.
Part of being a good commander is
being able to never look back.”
“Maybe,” Kate said. “Well, I had wondered a bit at what I would
do after that last mission I had flown.
Whether I would give the order to withdraw when one of my guys was still
out there.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. And I realized that I wouldn’t. My squadron always comes first.”
“You’re willing to risk your whole
squadron for one life?”
“Always.”
“Hmmn,” Moagim said
thoughtfully.
“Anyway, buy you a drink?”
“Sure.”
The Kappa and Cyclone commanders
turned and walked off down the corridor, chatting quietly amongst
themselves. In a few days, they would
both be out in space again. But there
was always a chance to have a drink with friends still living. Kate smiled a bit.
Easy come,
easy go..
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