As a young boy, I liked to sit in the sand, just outside the defense grid, and watch the ships come and go for hours at a time. The big freighters, the small, sleek fighters: it didn't matter which, I wanted to be a Rebel pilot.

As I grew older, my dreams faded. Like all young men, I was forced into flight training school for a militia that would never be needed. After my successful completion of training, I was one of the few selected by the Rebel Education Administration to attend the higher learning facility. It was there, that I learned most of my knowledge concerning the Rebel Occupation and Assimilation.

Apparently, a fleeing Rebel force had been pulled out of hyperspace, as their flight path crossed through the uncharted Sedai system. Desperately needing supplies and rest, the Rebels approached the only two life-bearing planets in the system. Immediately, the Rebels came under attack by the Aiel and the Shaido, who had been at war since time immemorial.

After putting a quick end to the civil war, the Rebels set up an outpost on the more hospitable Shaidoris....and here they remained for the past several generations.

I didn't learn EVERYTHING in school. Taken from my father's farm after completeing my education, I was forced into a job at the Rebel Government Offices. Living in the city with, and working with, the Rebels taught me just how cruel, lazy, and corrupt the Rebels were. With distaste, I had to handle paperwork that in effect, stripped my home world of resources for the Rebellion. While the politicians grew fatter and lazier, the poor grew poorer, and more in despair.

I remember my turning point well. My best friend, and boon companion, was beaten to death by a roving Rebel patrol........for whistling at a female officer. Since that day, I had searched for the Resistance. A secret organization of loosely affiliated groups. It was rumored that a young engineer had been experimenting with long range comm link equipment, and had tapped into a weak Imperial comm transmitter buoy. No one had ever heard of the Empire, but it was soon realized that they shared a common enemy..the Rebel whores. We assumed that if we could somehow send a message to the Imperials, we could be rid of these leeches. Unfortunately, we lacked the technology to transmit a high powered signal.

Soon, I discovered the Resistance, and was taken into the fold. My duties were to gather and pass on information from my office, to the Resistance, and hopefully, one day to the Empire.

A few years passed with no new developments. Then, one day, the hammer fell. News came through my office that a pending investigation was concluding, and that mass arrests of Resistance members was about to begin. Attached was a list of names. Mine was on it.

After contacting the next "link in the chain" of warnings, I went out to lunch. That favorite time of day for all: the Rebels had decreed that for two hours midday, no one was allowed to work, or be near their job sites. (It was rumored that the Rebel Secret Police used this time to spy and gather any "evidence"). Knowing that one day I must flee, I had developed a "pattern", so as not to be noticed. Two years ago, I began to visit the Aerodrome every day during lunch. I walked among the ships, examining, sometimes entering them, learning how to control different types of ships. I talked to the pilots lounging outside the hangars, and also with the tower controllers in the cantina.

Eight months ago, I had secretly purchased a hyper drive capable cargo transport that had been laying derelict in a dark, dusty corner of the main hangar. Up until two nights ago, I had been sneaking into the hangar after hours, and worked on my ship, replacing and tuning equipment. Now it was time.

As the Rebels sat and relaxed, I strapped myself into my command chair, and began the startup procedures. Normal procedure dictated that the main thrusters should be started before powering up the systems, but knowing that the racket of those old puppies would wake the dead, I chose to test the systems first. Once all systems checked green, I cranked the engines. All my systems went down immediately , as all power was diverted to the starting core, but knowing the systems checked out was good enough for me.

As soon as the engines roared to life, I savagely threw the throttle to full, and yanked the stick back. Jetting like a bat out of hell, the ship roared like thunder through the open air top of the Aerodrome. I never even gave the laser turret defenses a second thought, since no one could remember the last time they had been manned, let alone FIRED!

With a sick feeling in my stomach, I could hear the twang and snap of the engine mount bolts letting go as the ship hurtled towards the void, savagely trying to shake itself apart.

The systems came back online one at a time, and instantly turned to warning lights as the ship barrelled through the atmosphere. The cockpit was lit with an eery red glow cast by the abundance of lights. My thoughts were calm, even though the status boards indicated I that I should be plummeting to my death by now. Odd thoughts came and went ..."Gee, I'm surprised the battery power hasn't been diverted to the cockpit to keep all these pretty lights lit".."I wonder how long my body will remain attached to the engine when she rips off her mounts and through the front of the ship?"

As the last thought crossed my mind, the ship burst from the atmosphere, and instantly smoothed out. I quickly shut down and headed back to examine the mounts. I had a lot of spare parts on board, enough to replace the entire engine if necessary. I also had plenty of time. By the time they roused the lazy, drunken Rebel pilots, I would be done, and long gone.

As I tightened the last replacement bolt, I heard a warbling tone from the cockpit. "Damn!" I exclaimed. Dropping my tools, I ran for the cockpit. The threat display indicated a flight of 3 X-Wings targeting me.

As the first laser bolts struck my unshielded hull, I casually reached over, started my engines, and engaged the hyperdrive..with no coordinates for drop out, my direction was aimed at what was generally believed to be Imperial space.

For months I had been in hyperspace. My food and water rapidly dwindling. Suddenly, the hyper drive panel blew out. Cursing fiercely at the melted control panel, I slowed the ship to a halt and headed back to find a replacement board. Rooting around for several minutes, I finally located the desired part, and headed back to the cockpit. I looked up.....and froze. Directly in front of my viewscreen, was a small fighter like none I had ever seen. It looked like a ball with raked, angled wings. I could see the other pilot, wearing a helmet, and some kind of breathing apparatus.

I looked at him quizzically as he tapped his helmet in the area of the ear. With sudden understanding, I reached over and turned on my comm panel.

"Unidentified cargo vessel, what is your purpose and destination."

"Ummm..I'm lost sir. I've been in hyperspace for two and a half months, I escaped from the Rebels on my home world.I'm looking for the Imperials. Do you know where I may find them?"

"Your ship is unarmed. You have no shields. Your cargo includes parts for this vessel. Scanners indicate that you have been in hyperspace for some time."

"Ummm..yessir..that is correct."

A moment of silence passed, in which I supposed he was contacting his base for instructions.

"Follow me cargo vessel", crackled over my comm speaker. The small fighter turned abruptly and accelerated. To my surprise, two more fighters passed my viewscreen from behind. I felt sick. Those two fighters were positioned out of my line of sight..ready to destroy me if necessary.

I accelerated my ship to catch up, but my crate was slow, and the Imperials soon had to slow down to provide escort. I looked at my sensor screen, but I couldn't seem to locate a planet or other form of base. As I was about to question my escorts, a huge wedge-shaped vessel appeared before us out of hyperspace.

"Turn your engines off cargo vessel".....crackle.

A tractor beam seized my ship and towed it into the bay. I was taken to the Medical Officer, where I was declared "Fit: Human, Male, 25 years of age".

After my interrogation, I was bundled up and tossed into Flight Training School.

My training was a blur of activity. My first assignment was to inspect cargo vessels on a remote outpost. From there, I led an eventful life battling the Rebellion, but I won't bore you with the details. Then one day, I received orders from my W.C. to report aboard the SSD Avenger for duty as a missile boat flight leader. A new adventure was about to begin.

FLT LDR/GN Hammer/Sigma-2/SSD Avr.

Nio Scaan gazed in awe as the shuttle came out of hyperspace. Through the viewport, the massive Avenger loomed, surrounded by seemingly dwarf-sized Star Destroyers. On the Avenger's aft hung a Task Force Cruiser. Most likely the Roxanna, he thought to himself. On the starboard and sides, the Victory Class Star Destroyers Formidible and Monitor stood close watch over the Avenger.

The shuttle proceeded to the Avenger's hanger bay, a massive maw enveloping the

shuttle. The shuttle slowed to a stop as the repulsor lifts sputtered and finally shut down. The hatch hissed as it slowly opened, revealing a small welcoming party. If you could call it a welcoming party. Two men erupted from a group of howling, drunken men. Nio could tell from their insignias that they were men of authority. One approached, wobbling slightly, and tried to say something, but only managed to babble. He composed himself and finally managed, "I am Commander/General Lucas, commander of the Delta Squadron. This is General Darkstar. He, uh, will be your flight leader." Both saluted and staggered off. This could be fun...how am I supposed to kick the crap out of the Rebellion with pilots like that on my wing, Nio thought to himself. Celebration would only be appropriate after the Rebellion has been shut down...out there killing innocents...my family...

Nio headed down the corridors looking for his sleeping quarters. He soon found it and packed away his personal items. As he started towards the hatch, it raised suddenly, revealing Grand Admiral Ronin. "Have a seat, General." Slightly shocked from the Grand Admiral's presence, Nio stumbled backward onto his cot. "I have heard many good things about you from the Academy, General Scaan." Nio tried to keep a straight face as his pride swelled within him. "You have been assigned to one of our strongest squadrons. I have read your file from the Academy...impressive, but I won't be easily satisfied...not until you have proved your worth to this organization!" he said sternly. "You will be seeing action soon...be alert for anything. Good day, General." With that, the Grand Admiral silently strode from the barracks with a slight gracefulness, but also a keen sense of authority.

Alarms rang throughout the ship. Stormtroopers and pilots rushed down the corridors heading for their battle stations. A mixture of anger, fear, and hate streamed throughout Nio's body as he headed for the hanger bay. He rendezvoused with the rest of his flight group, which had surprisingly sobered up, and climbed through the top hatch of his newly-developed Tie Defender. In Vic formation, the group exited the hangar to find a Rebel convoy awaiting destruction. Each squadron received in-flight briefing and went to work. Delta Squadron sped up and inspected the cargo-carrying vessels and then proceeded to attack the starfighters. Nio immediately broke from the flight group and pulled in behind a X-Wing. The green indicator flashed wildly, and Nio let several bursts of laser energy explode from the canons. The rear deflector failed, and Nio put a direct hit to the ship's power core. He temporarily was blinded by a bright flash of light and disappeared among X-Wing debris as it shattered into a million pieces.

"Nice shootin' Delta Two! I wish everyone in this fleet could shoot with such determination!" Nio replied a fast thanks as another X-Wing detonated with a pair of concussion missled from Nio's missile launcher. The battle raged on and came to an end. The convoy had suffered complete and utter destruction. Not one Rebel escaped, just the way Nio liked it. He smiled as he glided through the scattered debris towards the Avenger. He had gotten fifteen out of sixty-five kills! Not bad considering there were over one hundred Imperial fighters involved. This will surely put me on the Grand Admiral's A-list, thought Nio with pride.

"Well, General. Nice work, nice work indeed!" the Grand Admiral exclaimed. "Your squadron commander will debrief you further." He continued, "I don't believe I will be seeing you again soon. I will be away for a short time overseeing the beginnings of the construction of our new battle station. You haven't, as of yet, satisfied me, and I will warn you that it will take all within your power to do so. I expect you to take full advantage of this time to train further. Goodday to you, General." And then, he was gone.

After the Grand Admiral had left him, Nio's happiness and pride died down to a whisper as he realized he hadn't even satisfied himself. A sudden lust for revenge came over him...he had had a taste of what he wanted and now wanted more. Anger and determination came back to him as he recalled past memories. He exploded with anger. The Rebels had killed so many...his family, friends...they wouldn't get away with it...the Rebels would pay...

FLT MBR/GN Prophet/Delta-3/SSD Avr