Beginning, Previous Section, Section VI
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Part Thirty-Two
Posted on Monday, 14 February, 2000
"And so, Engineer Lemelisk will be arriving her at Helfire Laboratories to collect the completed updated plans for the second Death Star Laser, code-named Hammertong, at exactly seventeen hundred hours Coordinated Galactic time tomorrow, or in Niciran local time-"
Lady Katrin cut off the newly repaired droid with a wave of her hand. "Collins, be silent. Go call Captain M'Ann Bourg to my quarters."
The golden protocol droid did not immediately obey. "But can't you call the Captain over the communicator?" he replied in a slightly miffed tone. "Surely if I were to leave, some situation may arise in which you would need my help and I am fully capable of-"
The commander of the hidden Imperial research facility closed her eyes against the metallic, prissy voice and repeated softly, but with menace still evident, "Go."
"Yes ma'am" replied the droid in a subdued tone as he turned a hundred and eighty degrees and left the room, the door hissing shut behind him. Lady Katrin made a mental note to ask the technical division if they had reassembled Collins properly. Properly or not, she decided that she was going to send the droid for a memory wipe and a complete personality re-programming.
The door hissed open again and revealed the beautiful young Captain. Lady Katrin smiled, taking pride in not only her daughter, but in her efforts for raising such a perfect copy of herself. The jet-black hair was the same, the fine-boned face a younger version of hers, the straight-backed Imperial salute impeccably like her own. Only the steel-grey eyes were slightly different - there was a sadness about them that Lady Katrin had never seen before - not in her daughter, and certainly not in herself.
She hadn't cried when M'Ann's father had died in the line of duty as he took part in the invasion of another planet to add to the Empire's long string of conquests. He had done what was needed - but he had been a mere fighter pilot, without rank or privileges. He had had no ambition besides surviving another fight, so that he could one day return home to Coruscant and see his baby daughter. Katrin Bourg, however, held enough ambition for both of them. She was the one who realised that if one wanted to succeed in the Empire, family had to take second place - or third, or fourth, or fifth. Love and family was unimportant compared to the glories one could achieve.
And so, after her husband's death, Katrin worked to improve herself. It was difficult, for she was a woman and the Emperor saw women as lesser beings to human males, but certainly above the alien scum that dared call themselves the human's equal. It was even more difficult, taking care of a small child. But she had set her goals, and achieved them, despite the oppression she suffered as a woman. She graduated at the top of her class, though this was never acknowledged.
Then she got passed from miserable post to another miserable post, dead-end places virtually in the Unknown Regions where no one ever took notice of the hard working members of the Empire, and where promotions came as often as the birth of a galaxy. Knowing that she could go no further, Lady Katrin pinned all her dreams onto her daughter, hoping to see her achieve what she had not - recognition from the Emperor himself, and so, from the Empire.
"You sent for me, my lady?" asked the Captain.
Lady Katrin smiled. "Come my dear, no need for such formality. I merely wished to know how you are doing."
The younger lady shrugged and sat casually on the floor by Lady Katrin's feet. "About the same as always. Nothing changes here on Nicira." There was a longing in her voice that the elder did not miss.
"Don't worry, M'Ann," she said soothingly, stroking her daughter's fine jet-black hair. "We shall return to Coruscant soon when we have completed our duty. And it will finish when the Imperial Engineer comes to collect the work we have done and bring it to the Emperor."
"Finally. I miss home, civilisation. This place is barbaric. I just received a report that the scouting party sent to investigate the jungle was ambushed by a gang of that non-human Anatib trash. Seems they have moved closer to base this time."
Lady Katrin sighed with impatience. The Niciran natives, insect-like aliens they had called the Anatib were nomadic, roaming through the jungle as they followed the migrations of the duumka. Considered to be little more than an annoyance, encounters between them and the Imperials had shown them to be timid, but extremely territorial. If the Imperials met the Anatib while outside their territory, the Imperials had to do little other than fire a few shots before the mob broke and ran. However if chased into their territory, they would fight like nek battle dogs - savagely, and to the death, and usually taking a dozen or so of the foe with them. Lady Katrin had repeatedly thought about wiping them out with an air strike, but M'Ann countered that it would be a waste of resources and unnecessary.
"Perhaps it is time for us to punish them more severely this time," mused Lady Katrin, "but that can be taken care of later. What do you think of Wills Darcy? Do you think he can be trusted?"
M'Ann twisted around to look at her mother. "Yes," she said firmly. "I trust him. I know him."
"You do? Where from?"
The young Captain blushed slightly. "I - I never told you, mother, that I met a man while I was at Carida."
"And why not?"
She blushed even more and lowered her eyes. "Because, you had always said that love was for fools. That is was a weakness that could prevent me from succeeding in the Empire."
Lady Katrin thought carefully before answering. "That still holds, and you are never to forget that. But, love between equals, in a relationship in which both sides benefit, is permitted. Tell me about this Wills Darcy, so I may determine if he is worthy of you."
M'Ann's face lit up in a smile, though there was still a sadness in her eyes. She turned to face her mother, and regaled her with tales and glowing information about the one she loved and as she did, Lady Katrin began to smile approvingly. He seemed to be everything she had desired her late husband to be - a loyal and determined Imperial, ambitious, intelligent, wealthy and more. A high-ranking Imperial too, and a more than simply competent pilot. Perfect, not only for M'Ann, but for Lady Katrin's hopes of seeing her daughter's star rise.
But as M'Ann spoke more of Darcy's character, Lady Katrin began to have slight misgivings. According to her daughter, he was sensitive and caring. A common trait in Rebels, but out of place for an Imperial.
Apart from that, Lady Katrin had no objections to him.
"You obviously like him very much, M'Ann," stated the Imperial commander. "Yet though he is here - albeit unexpectedly, you seem unhappy. What is wrong? Has something happened between you?"
M'Ann looked away and bit her lip. "I hurt him, mother."
"How?"
The young woman didn't reply immediately. "I had a mission on Corellia. To execute a suspected Rebel sympathiser. It was Wills' father."
"Does he understand that his father's death was for the greater good?"
"I think he does. But despite this, he has told me that there can be no relationship between us, other than one officer to another." She drew her knees up under her chin and clasped her arms around them.
Lady Katrin thought. "M'Ann, I think that by killing his father, you may have solved the problem. You have removed the only obstacle between you and him. Without the weakness of family holding him back, Darcy can, no already has, given his entire attention and being to the Empire. You, my dear, are perfect for each other."
M'Ann faced her mother, a child-like smile on her face. "Really?"
Lady Katrin smiled benevolently. "Yes M'Ann. Really."
Wills took a deep breath before keying the cell door open. Checking up and down the detention corridor to make sure there was no unwanted company, he stepped inside.
Lizzi sat tensely on the single hard bench as she looked up at him. He hands were under her legs as she rocked slowly back and forth, feet tucked underneath. She did not smile, but nor did she glare. Her expression was not inviting, but neither was it antagonistic.
The door closed behind him. He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say.
Lizzi took that decision away. She looked away from his face.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
Wills shook his head and unconsciously went to sit next to her. "It's - it's all right..." he said hoarsely. "I've learned to live with it now."
He was lying. And Lizzi knew it. Slowly, she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. With this light contact of sympathy and compassion, Wills broke.
Everything he had done his best to forget for the past few standard months came crashing down. He had done his best to hold back his emotions that resulted from a combination of betrayal, grief and shattered dreams while writing the letter, but he couldn't hold it back forever. In fact, a part of him realised that hadn't released his emotions like this for a very long time. Perhaps it was best that he had not - without the support of friends and family, he might have been reduced to nothing but a burning desire for revenge.
Now, he had someone to hold him at least. Even if she couldn't really help.
"Feeling better?" asked Lizzi when the tears had stopped. She had wrapped her arms around him and was holding him in a comforting embrace.
Unable to speak, Wills nodded.
Lizzi shook her head, astounded at herself. "I shouldn't have kept hurting you. I should have realised that things were going a bit deeper than I intended."
Wills looked at the floor. "No, you didn't know. I should have told you long ago."
A silence fell over them - not easy, but comfortable nonetheless. Wills looked around the seemingly bare walls, mentally locating surveillance cameras. Not that he had to worry - he had already fixed them so they showed Lizzi alone in the cell.
Lizzi looked at his tear-streaked uniform. "You've got all that nice black clothing all dirty," she said lightly. "Not good form for an Imperial officer."
She was trying to take his mind off the tragedy. It worked - sort of. "The Imperial crest is already stained with blood - maybe a few tears helped clean it," replied Wills, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"I don't think so."
He was content to stay where he was, head resting on her shoulder. "I have such a hard time holding myself back whenever I'm with M'Ann," he said, painfully conversational. "I want to kill her, to hurt her - and yet I know that it isn't really her fault. M'Ann was wonderful when she wasn't being an Imperial. Sometimes I used to hope that I would see that girl again. She's gone forever though."
Lizzi was silent. What could she say? He continued.
"Even Wickham, circumstances beyond his control made him what he is. I try to imagine what he would have been like if the Empire hadn't so nearly destroyed his life."
"M'Ann and Wickham, as people, are to be pitied," said Lizzi. "The Empire made them into what they are. Unfortunately, we're just mortals and we can't help hating them. If it helps any, if and when we get out of here, I'll help you rip Wickham's ugly head off."
Wills laughed shortly, then reached up one hand to entwine his fingers in her slim ones. "I'll be happy to have you with me."
Part Thirty-Three
Posted on Thursday, 24 February, 2000
Charls sat in the relatively comfortable cockpit of his X-wing, drumming his fingers on his knees. Much as he enjoyed anticipating the moment of a hyperspace exit, to have arrived somewhere, patience was not one of his strong points.
"ETA?" he asked his R2 unit positioned in the niche behind. The droid warbled in response and Charls glanced at the screen for the translation.
"Another three minutes and forty-six seconds, great," he muttered. He willed time to move faster to no avail. He was sick of staring outside the cockpit at the swirls of hyperspace, sick of waiting, sick of doing nothing. Thankfully he only had to endure this for the last, short stage of the journey, having ridden on the freighter for the majority of it. Charls didn't think he could stand having to make the whole flight in his X-wing.
Doing nothing made his mind wander.
Almost automatically, his thoughts flicked to Jain, light-years away with the rest of the Rebellion. He thought of her often, wondering how she was, what she was doing, if she was thinking of him. Perhaps she had met someone else? Someone better than him? What if she had forgotten him?
Charls scowled and gave himself a mental kick. Of course that wouldn't happen. Jain loved him, she had shown that certainly.
Though she hadn't said it...
He tried to squish a needling little voice inside him that kept whispering that Jain's work came first before anything and anyone.
Maybe she had forgotten him, distracted as she was by her calling of being a doctor, helping people, healing people, making everything better.
What was so gratifying about that anyway? People died all the time. Couldn't Jain understand that?
You're getting jealous, you're getting jealous... He heard Lijia's singsong almost as if she was right beside him. Selfish little man aren't you.
"Shut up," he growled.
You want her all to yourself. You don't want her to think of anything but you. chirped Lijia. He could almost imagine her, dancing around like a young child in her dancing costume pulling faces at him.
"I said, shut up!"
The image of his feline friend giggled. Meanie. Selfish little meanie.
Charls squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his hand into the transparisteel window. "Sithspawn!"
"Charls? You all right?" squawked a voice over the comm.
The young man gasped, brushing sweat-damped blond hair out of his eyes. "Y-yeah," he mumbled. "Sorry, just thinking about something."
"Lemme guess," said Clmney Carter. "Jain Benyt, right?"
Charls blushed and mumbled an answer in the affirmative under his breath.
"Ah, you don't know how lucky you are having a sweetie like her," sighed the older man dramatically. "Anyway, back on track, get ready, ETA in thirty seconds."
"Right."
The comm switched off and Charls closed his eyes again, trying to forget the Lijia-like voice of his conscience.
That doesn't matter. You can deal with it when you get back. The here is the now. Here is what matters. He took a deep breath to compose himself.
"All right," he said aloud, reaching for the controls. "Here we go. Five, four, three, two, one, now!"
He pulled back the lever and the whirlpool turned into a white tunnel of starlines that slowly shortened into bright pinpoints of light, some close, some millions of parsecs away, some with their own necklace of planets, others alone with no hint of life. All of them making up the galaxy which was fighting to be free.
Charls didn't take any notice of this, or paused to reflect. His attention was immediately caught by a group of ships directly in the path of his exit vector.
A loose string of about three transports and six tending ships were drifting slowly as the crew no doubt paused for a navigational check. No warships of any kind, which made Charls feel both relieved and disappointed. The transports were much like the ones the Rebels had used to escape from Hoth, except more square rather than rounded. The freighters were all the same - that was the standard Imperial lack of imagination showing.
"Comet Two, tighten up," ordered Captain Nyanti Zyol.
Charls realised that in his study of the convoy his X-wing had slipped out of formation. "Sorry, Four," he replied, hastily correcting his error.
"Weapons convoy, this is Commander Ricard Fitzwilliam of the Rebellion," said the calm but firm voice of Comet Leader. "You will deviate from your present course to the co-ordinates I will send to you."
A harsher voice crackled into the broad band frequency of the comms. "Commander, we do not acknowledge your authority to give us orders."
"You will follow us to where we shall lead you," continued the Commander, "or we shall fire."
"Rebel scum, you do not have the capabilities to pirate an Imperial force."
"We shall see." The static cleared as the Commander switched back to the Comet's private frequency. "Peaceful negotiations were short and unsuccessful, not that it surprises me. Comet Flight Two, make your run."
Charls heard the order, and looked behind him to see Comets Four, Five and Six breaking away from the main group. Two Flight, composed of Captain Nyanti Zyol, Zri'an Hodge and Denny Cathos locked their S-foils into attack position which gave the X-wing its name. Sub-lights roaring - not that it could be heard in the vacuum of space, the swerved towards the convoy, crimson darts from their lasers raking the freighter's shields.
Comet Ten's voice broke in. "Watch it - those freighters are doing something," warned Clmney Cater from his position behind the rest.
In front of Charls, the six freighters had arranged themselves so that the three transports were surrounded by a protective ring of ships. Guns pointed outwards on their port flanks and starboard hangars facing inside they looked as if they had anticipated the attack.
"They can't have moved into position that quickly," muttered Hendri Sanderson. "Did they know we were coming?"
"Enemy fighter incoming!" shouted the Captain.
The ring of freighters suddenly opened like a flower and a dozen TIE fighters came screaming out. The agile Imperial ships rushed at Two Flight head on green lasers flashing, then broke off in several directions, forming into respective squadrons.
"I knew this wasn't going to be easy," said Charls. He threw his engines to full power just as he heard the Commander's 'fire at will' order.
"Balance out the engines and shields," Charls ordered his R2 unit. He pulled the X-wing into a roll to avoid a series of laser blasts from a TIE fighter that zoomed past. Latching onto that TIE as his first target, Charls went into pursuit.
To match the TIE's faster speed, he drained power from his shields and diverted it to the engines. Bringing the fighter into a loop that put him behind the TIE, Charls did his best to match his prey's every maneuver with some success. He wasn't the best pilot there was, but he did have some skill.
The TIE allowed Charls to draw nearer, not even executing the simplest of evasive tactics but rather stayed on a straight course, even slowing down. Charls grinned at the thought of his first kill ever. He tensed his thumbs to press the lasers.
Just before he could shoot though, the TIE gave a sudden burst of speed and sipped away to port. Caught off guard, Charls didn't respond immediately, craning his head to watch where the TIE had gone. Only when he couldn't turn his head a full hundred and eighty degrees did he realise that the TIE had in the space of a second, swapped positions so that it was the hunter and he was the prey.
"Oh, Sithspawn," said Charls, trying to fight down the sense of panic that amassed in his gut. Shaking tails had never been his strength in the simulators - eighty five percent of the time when he was being chased he got shot down. That had been in the sims - this was reality.
"Full back shields and as much engine power as possible!" he yelled to his astromech droid. The R2 unit beeped and Charls watched his shield diagnostics change to two layers of green at the back and a layer of yellow in the front. But the outer green shell at the back quickly changed to yellow as the TIE pumped a laser blast into the back of his fighter.
He pulled hard on the controls, sending the X-wing shooting off to port. Randomly he tried every maneuver he could remember, trying to shake his tail without success. Slowly with every impact the back shields were eroded away until there was only a red line left.
"I can use some help here!" screamed Charls into the comm.
"Keep flying!" snapped Comet Ten.
"Where the hell are you Carter?!"
"Right in front of you."
Charls turned his head forward and quickly pulled the fighter down as another X-wing with Comet Ten's markings came streaking from ahead of him straight to the TIE lasers firing. Taken by surprise by this unexpected counter attack the TIE was blasted to pieces.
Charls breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh burning stars, thank you so much," he babbled.
"No prob. Get back and help," replied Clmney Cater, bringing his own fighter back to the main fight.
Comet Two then realised that his little competition with the TIE had brought him several kilometers away from the rest of the battle. Kicking the engines to full, he sped as fast as he could, listening to the various comments and information from the rest of his squadron.
"Three, you have a tail."
"Not any more."
"This is Eight, I want you to break right on my signal...now!"
"I got him!"
"You all right, Five?"
"Minor damage, nothing serious."
Charls scanned through the Friend/Foes and found to his dismay that there were only two TIE's left. That number was halved as Comet Leader sent another the way of the rest.
"Hey, leave some for me!" shouted Charls. Everyone had at least one kill except him.
Charls knew that he was the weakest pilot in the squadron and he wanted desperately to prove that he could keep up with the rest. He had hoped to show that in this skirmish, but instead had been chased by an eyeball for several minutes, needed rescuing and was unable to help with the rest.
"No fair!" protested Charls as Zri'an lit up the surrounding area with a fireball that marked the end of another Imperial fighter.
"All clear," reported Zri'an triumphantly.
"What is the rush?" asked high-pitched voice Comet Six. "Denny thinks that it is better that we have escaped without loss."
Charls sat on his disappointment. "Yeah, you're right."
"Good job all," complimented the Commander. The channel became filled with static as the Commander spoke on the broad wave frequency. "Do you now recognise our authority, convoy?"
The Imperial on the other end chuckled. "Not at all."
"Commander!" snapped Nyanti.
Charls turned and gasped with the rest of the squadron as they stared at what had been an empty patch of space.
An Imperial Star Destroyer, bristling with more guns than the freighters put together and over a dozen squadrons of TIEs, came slowly towards them with deadly intent. Behind the bone-white dagger of destruction was another shape, smaller than the Destroyer was and more bulky. The most distinguishing characteristic of this ship was a quartet of domed gravity well projectors.
An Interdictor Cruiser. When its gravity well projectors were at full it could generate a gravitational force of a small planet. With such a force in place, it could effectively prevent any ships in the area from fleeing to hyperspace.
They were trapped. With a massive Imperial warship heading straight towards them. They had only eleven fighters and a freighter. Not good odds.
"Heads up," said the Commander sharply. "Here they come."
SW notes - Rebel squadrons are twelve ships to a squad, with sub-flights of four ships in that. Imperial squadrons consist of four ships.
Yes, I have played some of the SW X-wing and TIE fighter games, so I do have some idea of what I'm talking about. And I know none of you have heard of Interdictor Cruisers - they weren't in the movies - but they play an effective role in trapping an enemy so you can destroy him completely.
Part Thirty-Four
A cloud of TIE fighters emerged from the belly of the Star Destroyer. Charls's sensors identified it as the Tyrannic, and pointed out the various parts of the ship that could be targeted - gun emplacements, shield generators, command modules and such, as well as the ship's weaknesses. There weren't many. Usually the best way to take out a capital ship such as the Destroyer was to pummel away until the ship's shields were down, and then to blast away at the hull. However the only thing that could take down the shields was the firepower of another capital ship, and they had none of them. Charls was definitely going to leave the Tyrannic alone.
The TIEs were a different matter. The TIEs Charls could handle. He kicked the X-wing's engines to full and shot off towards the swarm of black and gray fighters.
"Comet Two, get back here at once," ordered Commander Fitzwilliam. "Don't take unnecessary risks."
Unwillingly, Charls complied. He turned back and joined in formation with the other X-wings, facing the Imperial reinforcements with the freighter behind them.
"We have less than a minute until they come into contact," said the Commander. "I want everyone to stay alive - that is the top, and the only priority we have now. The mission is abandoned; all we want is to get out of here in one piece. I don't want any heroics or competitions, I want you to keep an eye on each other. Leave the freighters alone and stay away from the Destroyer. Target the eyeballs and Interdictor only so we can get the hell out of here. Got that?"
There was a chorus of affirmatives. That was all they could say before the lead TIE fighters came on top of them.
Charls swerved to starboard in time with the other Comets as they spread out like an opening flower. The TIEs flew through the middle then copied the maneuver so they came out behind most of the X-wings.
Charls did his best to keep calm as his R2 unit announced that he had a TIE on his tail. Gritting his teeth he executed a tight loop that the other pilot tried to replicate in time. The Imperial didn't make it and Charls came out above him lasers instinctively firing. But although the TIE pilot hadn't been able to follow Charls's path he adroitly jigged the Imperial fighter out of the X-wing's line of fire.
"Damn it," swore Charls. He was not going to let this TIE get away.
The TIE turned sharply to port and zoomed off as fast as its engines could go. His world having narrowed to himself and the TIE, Charls followed.
The Bulk Freighter was the first to go. The TIEs attacked it like a swarm of piranha beetles. Unable to hold up against so many attacks from all directions, the freighter's shields fizzled and died, leaving it open to attack, an opening that the Imperials took advantage of. Blasting away at the hull, the metal buckled and melted under the barrage of laser fire. Flames bleeding from a dozen places, the freighter began to spin lazily out of control as escape pods zoomed away like mynocks from a dying host. Then it exploded. The escape pods which weren't caught in the blast, were mercilessly destroyed by the agile Imperial fighters.
There was no time to mourn the loss of the entire crew. Commander Fitzwilliam idly blasted a TIE fighter into dust while the majority of his mind busily ran down paths trying to determine the best way to take out the Interdictor Cruiser. The Comets had to get rid of it; there was no two ways about that. If they didn't, the Cruiser could hold them here for as long as the Imperials needed to wear the Rebels down, and finally kill them.
The best way to do it, thought the Commander as he chased down another TIE, was to get all the Comets and the bulk freighter to fire all the proton torpedoes they had at the Cruiser. It would take down its shields and hopefully allow them to disable the gravity projectors so they could escape. It was, considering the situation, the only option open to them.
He hit the trigger and the TIE turned into a fireball. Unfortunately, that plan would mean that they would have to fly through a swarm of TIE fighters to get to the Cruiser. And once they were there, it would mean they were in range of the Tyrannic's fire. But they didn't have any choice.
Commander Ricard Fitzwilliam scanned through the Friend/Foes listings, thankful to see that so far all of the Comets were still alive. He hit the comm.
"Nyanti, how you holding up?" he asked the Twi'lek Captain.
Her voice came back, calm and under control. "We just lost the freighter and I'm actually rather annoyed. Commander, we have to take out the Interdictor, otherwise we're stuck here."
"I couldn't agree more." He pulled the fighter to port as a pair of green laser darts flashed past. "We don't have many options. I think we just have to use the direct approach."
He heard a sigh, and an explosion in the background. "I was afraid you'd say that. You know what the statistics for surviving that kind of attack is?"
"I have a vague idea and no, I do not want to know exactly." Ricard depressed the triggers again, catching another TIE on the right solar panel, causing the Imperial fighter to spin wildly out of control until it exploded. He sighed and switched comm channels to the Comet's frequency.
"This is Comet Leader," he announced. "We're going to have to attack the Interdictor Cruiser if we want to make it out of here. I want you all to follow my lead as we go though those TIEs. Then when I give the word, you will all fire two proton torpedoes at the shields over the gravity well generators. Then on my mark we fire at the generators themselves. Everyone got that?"
There was a chorus of affirmatives, all sounding optimistic and excited. "You can all see for yourselves the risks involved in this attack. Watch each other's backs. This is the kind of situation where cooperation could mean the difference between life and death. On my mark, head for the Cruiser. Three, two one, mark!"
He peeled off from the edge of the battle and dashed towards the group of TIEs in front. Behind him, the other Comets disengaged and followed. The TIEs, caught off guard by this, for most part hesitated for a second, wondering why the Rebels had seemingly given up. Then they caught on and followed behind.
"This is not good," muttered Carter. "We're a Rebel sandwich."
"Keep going, Ten," ordered Nyanti.
The cloud of TIEs in front came towards them, and the group of TIEs behind kept chasing. Ricard led the way as point, the other Rebels for most part spread out in loose formation behind him. Charls kept a death grip on the controls near the back of the group, the last save for Uid Chamberlyne.
The TIEs behind them were faster. They jumped on the lagging X-wings and fired away at the shields. Charls winced with every tremor through his fighter but his shields were at full strength as he had done nothing except chase TIEs without incurring any damage himself.
Comet Seven however, was not so lucky. Having been involved in two intense dogfights, his shields had taken a battering. What's more, he had drained even more power from his shields to power the engines, leaving his back protected by the barest shell. A shell that was blown away with the first two darts of Imperial fire. The next two laser blasts pierced the sub-light engines themselves.
Chamberlyne didn't even have time to scream as his body turned into flames.
"We lost Uid!" screamed Hendri.
Charls froze, his mind not even registering that The Commander had made contact with the first of the TIEs in front of them. Uid Chamberlyne was gone. He couldn't believe it. The little Sullustan who had always been willing to practise with him or any of the others was dead. In his mind he could see the former miner as he had been in life, chattering loudly and congratulating him on a successful simulator run.
"Heads up!" snapped the Commander.
Charls jerked his mind back to the deadly situation and evaded the laser fire of the Imperial fighters, both from behind and in front. The two groups of TIEs clashed, a pair of them even colliding and exploding. The fray was too chaotic and messy for any precision flying or fighting, all Charls could see was a hellish mixture of screaming TIEs and the occasional glimpse of his fellow Rebels. Green lasers flashed everywhere, easily out numbering the red lasers. The sole consolation was that since the ratio of Imperial fighters to the nine X-wings was so high, the TIEs had as much chance as hitting each other as the Rebels and the Comets had a much easier time hitting the enemy fighters. Even as Charls watched out of the corner of his eye, there were three or four Imperial explosions. However he found himself unable to take advantage of the situation, his fingers too frozen from Uid Chamberlyne's death to work properly.
Then over the comm, there was an alien scream. A scream that was abruptly cut off. Charls whipped his head around to see an X-wing with Comet Three's markings turn into a ball of incandescent gas.
"Forster," whispered Charls. The politics-loving Bothan from his Flight group wouldn't fly with him any more. Two of his friends had died in as many minutes. He couldn't believe it. Charls let his hands slide down the stick and into his lap.
There was an explosion behind him as a TIE fighter who had been tailing him exploded. Charls jumped, wiping tears from his eyes to clear his vision.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" snapped Zri'an.
"They're dead," said Charls dully. "Uid's not going to help me train any more, Forster's not going to be around to fight with Servan any more. They're dead, and we're all going to follow them."
"Shut up!" screamed Zri'an hysterically. "Don't say that! Don't you dare say that!"
"Get a grip you two!" yelled Carter. "We are not going to die, not now, not today. We've lost Uid and Forster and the entire crew of the freighter but we can't do a kriffing thing about it! We don't have the time to mourn, so lets get out of here so we can mourn back home, all right?!"
Comet Ten's tirade brought him back to his senses. Charls wiped his eyes and set his mouth in a tight line, ignoring the sounds of battle around him. "All right. Let's finish this."
They came to the edge of the TIEs and broke through the sentry line. The Star Destroyer loomed in his view screen, a deadly white dagger. Just beyond it, holding the Comets in place was the Interdictor Cruiser.
"Keep on target," said Ricard coolly, as if the deaths of two of his pilots had not affected him at all. "Stay away from the Star Destr -"
The rest of his order was cut off as Charls heard an Ishori battle cry. As soon as Comet Nine cleared the fray he altered course towards the command module of the Tyrannic. Maddened by the lost of his friend, Servan Fosset had decided to take his anger out on the Imperial warship.
"Servan!" yelled Nyanti in vain.
Comet Nine skimmed the surface of the Star Destroyer swerving left and right avoiding the turbolaser blasts. Charls held his breath, for the power behind the turbolasers was such that the presence or absence of shields didn't matter. Somehow the X-wing, looking terribly tiny against the enormous capital ship, managed to avoid getting blown to oblivion.
"Sithspawn," whispered Zri'an. "You damned fool!"
Carter tried to talk some sense into his friend. "Get back here, Servan, you're going to get yourself killed! That's not going to help or change anything!"
The Ishori didn't answer but continued on his deadly course all the way up the spine of the Destroyer and up to the command module. He continued, not slowing but rather increasing speed. He didn't stop accelerating until he shot off a pair of proton torpedoes at the command module. The torpedoes detonated uselessly on the shields. As if unable to believe that he had not accomplished anything, Servan accidentally - or maybe it was intentionally, forgot to pull up.
There was a second, larger explosion on the Destroyer's shields.
Cries of disbelief were heard over the communicator. Charls felt a stab of pain in his gut. A third pilot down, a third friend dead and they were no closer to escape than they were before.
"This is hopeless," said Charls brokenly. "We're just going to get killed."
"We still have to try," said Ricard firmly, though Charls thought he could detect something in the Commander's voice that spoke of a deeper hurt. "We have to try, and hope that we don't lose anymore. I'm sending your R2 units all target data now. Arm your proton torps and get ready to fire on my mark. Evasive!"
Charls instinctively jerked the fighter down as a storm of turbolasers came at them. The group of X-wings broke and made for the Interdictor, away from the Star Destroyer. The TIEs hung back, letting the Tyrannic take over, but merely waiting for the order to engage again.
His R2 unit beeped and a schematic of the Interdictor Cruiser appeared on his screen. There was a yellow box around the four gravity well generators. He switched off the lasers and prepared the proton torpedoes for firing.
As one, the remaining seven fighters made their way towards the Cruiser. They flew quickly and were soon out of range of the Tyrannic's guns. The distance between them and the Cruiser shrank rapidly. Charls held his breath, fingers poised ready to shoot the moment he heard the order.
When they reached two hundred and fifty meters away, he heard it.
"Mark!"
Charls hit the firing stud, venting all of his anger and grief into the action. He breathed quickly as he watched the fourteen blue trails, fourteen shooting stars, two torpedoes from each fighter, streak towards the Interdictor. They impacted on the shields. On Charls's screen, the shields rating for the Cruiser dropped from one hundred percent to sixty eight.
"Mark!"
Another fourteen tiny comets made their way to the Imperial ship, and again they exploded on the shields.
The shield readings dropped to thirty-one percent.
"Mark!"
There was no way the Cruiser could avoid the barrage. Charls could see the shields flicker with his naked eye.
The reading dropped to two percent.
Charls hit the firing studs again, but nothing happened. Belatedly he realised that X-wings only carried six proton torpedoes.
They had nothing left. And they were still unable to escape.
As if sensing that their victory was at hand, the TIE fighters were set free. Charls felt his heart sinking as he saw the cloud of TIEs boiling towards him, the white dagger of the Star Destroyer behind them.
After all that happened, this is how it ends, thought Charls. He felt very tired and saw Jain's lovely face in front of his eyes. He sighed.
Suddenly there was an explosion behind the Comets.
"What was that?"
Posted on Wednesday, 29 March 2000
Sharl sighed as she pulled the covers further up Gianna's small form. The fear, pain and exhaustion of her ordeal on Nicira had hit the Omwat scientist hard, and Gianna was too young and not strong enough to deal with it properly.
"Well?" asked Myra as she slouched in a chair, staring at the chaotic mix of light and colours of hyperspace outside the Cozino. "How is she?"
Sharl gave her younger sister a tired smile. "I think she'll be fine with some rest."
The slicer sighed. "We all need a rest."
"I can't rest properly," admitted Sharl, taking the other chair. "We're going to have to go back and get Lizzi and Wills out of there."
"I was afraid you would say that - what the hell?"
The ship rocked and there was a crack of the sudden release of energy from the vicinity of the hyperdrive. Myra and Sharl sat bolt upright and stared out the viewports as the mottled space around them abruptly turned into starlines that shrank into twinkling stars.
"Sarlaac's teeth, what's wrong?" demanded Myra.
"Don't tell me we have a hyperdrive failure," groaned Sharl, jumping to her feet and running towards to aft of the ship, visions of a major repair job rising before her eyes. Just before she got to the door, she saw a large flash out of the corner of her eye. Almost like a ship exploding . . .
With a sinking feeling, Sharl rushed to the cockpit and stared at the controls. There were no emergency lights flashing that would have indicated a systems failure. Instead the displays indicated that they had simply come into the gravity shadow of a planet and had automatically dropped put of hyperspace.
The problem was that the nav computer said that there were no such planetary bodies around.
The sinking feeling grew even bigger and Sharl looked out the forward viewport.
In front of her was an Imperial Interdictor Cruiser. That wasn't good.
Interdictor's never traveled alone. Sharl stabbed her fingers at the ID's, scanning through the area for other ships. A few kilometers to starboard was an Imperial Star Destroyer, Tyrannic. In between that and the Interdictor were a dozen or so TIE fighters and a group of seven X-wings with Rebellion markings.
Sharl swore and threw herself at the helm and slapped the emergency power boost switch. Then she turned the Askme Cozino hard to port.
"So what's wrong - oh shavit," said Myra as she came in behind her sister and saw the Imperial ships.
"First rule of smuggling - never take sides in any kind of political conflict," quoted Sharl as the ship's nose slowly turned around.
"Sharl?" said another voice behind them.
Myra turned and frowned as she looked at Gianna standing in the entrance, holding onto the door frame for support. "We've just blundered into a Rebellion/Empire skirmish, and we're trying to get out of here before anyone sees us. Go back to sleep," she said, trying to be calm.
Gianna blinked and squinted out the viewports, taking in the situation. "There are only seven X-wings out there," she protested.
Sharl's mouth tightened. "Well, we know who's going to win this time." The ship had nearly turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees. "You've got to admit that the Rebels did put up a bit of a fight though," she commented, pointing at another screen which displayed all the ships in the vicinity as well as their statistics and identity. "There's enough debris out there for a dozen TIEs and the Tyrannic took a bit of a blow too. The Comets even managed to take out a huge bit of the interdictor's shields."
Gianna froze. "What did you say?"
"About what?" asked Sharl, irritated by the interruption as she tried to get them away.
"What's the name of the X-wings?"
"Go look at the ID's yourself!" snapped Sharl. "We don't have time for this, we've got to get out of here."
Gianna seemed to fling herself at the screen, scanning through the displays.
Tyrannic. Comet One. Comet Two. Comet Four. Comet Five. Comet . . .
Gianna didn't bother to see the rest, but spun towards the pilot with a strangled scream. "We've got to help them!"
Sharl stopped and stared at her. "What - ?"
"It's the Comets, and they're dying! We've got to help!" shouted Gianna.
"Now wait a sec," said Myra. "Why should we help anyone? Smugglers don't take sides."
"You don't understand!" The girl was almost in hysterics again. "That's Lizzi and Wills' X-wing squadron out there!"
Sharl hesitated, but didn't stop revving the Cozino's engines.
"What are you waiting for?" demanded Gianna.
Sharl sighed. "Gianna, there's nothing we can do," she said. "You can already see that the Comets aren't trying to win, they're just trying to escape. They've tried to take out or disable the Interdictor without success and now there's an Imperial Star Destroyer and a bunch of TIEs who are going to finish them off. You're the scientist, work out the odds. Even if we helped it wouldn't do much."
"So you're just going to run away?"
"The more a smuggler survives the more money she makes."
Gianna couldn't believe her ears. Near to tears, her body shook. "You've already just left Lizzi and Wills behind. Don't you feel guilty?"
"There was nothing we could do, Gianna," said Myra, though her voice was choked.
The girl turned to her. "But you can make up for that now! You can help their friends! Or are you just going to be pair of cowardly Ranats?"
Sharl growled at the insult. "At least cowards live longer," she said automatically, but even as she did so she knew what her conscience would make her do. The smuggler gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"Damn it!" she yelled. Then she swung the ship around.
"Sharl, what the hell are you doing?" demanded Myra as she was flung into the other chair.
"All I'm going to do is give your friends the opportunity to get out of here," said Sharl, ignoring her sister. "I'm am not going to take on a Star Destroyer."
Gianna smiled. "I understand."
Muttering curses under her breath, Sharl armed the concussion missiles. Myra groaned, then gave in, going up to the gun turret without being told.
Sharl felt the beginnings of a tight smile. Caught up in the final showdown, none of the combatants had even noticed the small freighter on the edges of the gravity well cast by the Interdictor. Which gave Sharl the perfect surprise attack. She pressed FIRE.
A pair of glowing streaks zoomed towards the Interdictor Cruiser. Sharl watched them disappear, then explode.
Concussion missiles had much more power than proton torpedoes, and so as well as tearing down the last of the interdictor's shields, it managed to take out one of the four gravity well generators and damage two others. Sharl was pretty pleased with herself.
"What was that?" the three females heard someone exclaim over the comm. Gianna grabbed the comm and yelled into it.
"Charls! Are you still there?"
There was a pause, punctuated by the crackling of static, then a male voice replied. "Gianna? Is that you?" he asked in disbelief.
Gianna smiled with relief. "I'm so glad you're alive. You've got to get out of there now!"
It wasn't Charls who replied. Another voice, laden with authority answered instead. "Freighter Askme Cozino, this is Commander Ricard Fitzwilliam. Thank you for your assistance," he began.
"I'll say 'you're welcome' when get some payment for our services," muttered Sharl. "Look, Commander, we're just giving you the break you Rebels need to get out of here, as a favor for our friend. We don't take sides. And we want a reward."
"That'll be discussed later."
Sharl didn't bother replying, for the cloud of TIE's had spotted them. Half of the group veered towards them, ion engines screeching and lasers already firing. She turned the larger freighter into a loop towards the thick of the fighting.
"It'd better be a big reward," muttered Myra over the comm. Already she was firing at the lead fighters, which pulled away at the last moment without harm. She didn't have time to worry, for already the Imperials had labeled them as 'threat' and were setting out to make them keep the Comets company on the way to the afterlife.
Charls blinked as he heard Gianna's voice over the comm. "Gianna? Is that you?" he asked in utter disbelief.
"I'm so glad you're alive!" replied the familiar voice. "You've got to get out of there now!"
Before Charls could say anything to that, he heard his Commander break into the conversation, and an unfamiliar woman's voice telling them that they were only here to let them escape.
"All right, Comets," said Commander Fitzwilliam sharply as the TIEs came rapidly towards them again. "We've got some unexpected help. Don't bother about them now, ask questions later. We are going to keep the eyeballs away from the freighter while it makes another run at the Cruiser. Our lives are depending on this lady, so you'd all better do a good job. Heads up!"
Charls frantically pulled his thoughts away from Gianna's sudden appearance and his X-wing into a spin as a TIE came full at him then gunned the engines at full. Behind him, the TIE pulled around and followed, lasers flashing. Skills heightened by nerves and fear, the young pilot swung the fighter to starboard where he could see Carter doggedly pursuing another Imperial. Executing a tight one-eighty turn, he came out directly behind the TIE. The target crosshairs came together, turned red and beeped.
Instinctively, Charls pressed the trigger.
Red needles of fire lanced into the Imperial starfighter, and it immediately turned into a ball of flame.
Charls stared at his handiwork. His first kill. He had finally shot down a target, an Imperial -
- a pilot just like him. A living, breathing, thinking fellow being, who just happened to be fighting on the opposite side. And now that person was gone, his body was blasted into his constituent atoms.
"Watch it kid!" yelled a voice as sharp as a lightsaber.
Charls turned his head then forced his tight grip to work and pull him to the left. Racing through the spot he had just vacated was a TIE fighter. Also racing to the same spot to save him was Comet Five.
The TIE pilot obviously realised that in a crash he would be the one who would lose, without the advantage of shields. Too late, he tried to pull up.
He rammed head on into Zri'an's fighter.
Zri'an's X-wing continued through the fireball, worse for wear with shields down to zero and light scoring on the metal. Charls followed her frantically with his eyes and scanners, a difficult task with all the dogfights taking place around him.
"Zri'an!" he shouted into the comm, dodging another green laser blast. "You okay?"
There was the sound of shallow breathing. "I-I think I'm all right," he heard the woman stutter.
Charls breathed a sigh of relief, then targeted another TIE. His prey noticed his attentions almost immediately and jigged hard to starboard, ducking and weaving through a deadly green and red tapestry of laser bolts. Charls followed grimly, trying to keep the eyeball in his sights. He focused on the grey and black solar panel, the crosshairs came together, his fingers tensed . . .
And held.
He tried to will his hands to follow through to the dogfight's obvious conclusion, but his fingers firmly refused to obey. There was a person in that cockpit. A pilot, maybe a young man like him, frightened out of his wits at the X-shaped harbinger of death.
There was an explosion close to him and he instinctively looked towards it, letting the Imperial go.
"Five is extravehicular!" shouted someone.
"Zri'an!" yelled Carter fearfully.
Charls twisted around in his seat looking for Zri'an's eject seat. He saw it out of the corner of his eye to port, a tiny lifeboat adrift in a sea of destruction. Needles of green and red flashed dangerously close to her.
"Charls!" yelled Carter desperately. "Please, you've got to help her! I can't - there's an eyeball on my back! Please!"
The fear in Carter's voice, of losing a loved one hit the younger pilot in the gut. "All right!" shouted Charls. He was already bringing his fighter on a vector that would take him right next to Zri'an in her eject seat. Heedless of the other TIE's and Comets, of the freighter making a second run on the Interdictor, he brought the X-wing closer.
There was already a TIE fighter nosing around the woman, lured by an easy target. Over the comm, Charls could hear Zri'an's sobs of fear and the helpless rage she felt on being utterly defenceless.
Charls didn't bother saying anything. He threw the fighter into a spin that made him come out with the X-wing's nose almost directly on top of the TIE. He gripped the trigger.
What is a doctor's role in the galaxy? came the measured voice of his Ithorian medical professor, all those years ago, It is the saving and healing of people. One does not kill. For every plant destroyed in the harvest, two must be cultivated to replace it.
His fingers held.
Thankfully, the mere threat of his lasers was enough to dissuade the Imperial from the helpless Rebel. It swerved away to the rest of the fighting, leaving Charls to hover protectively over Comet Five in her ejection seat.
"Charls!" screamed Zri'an almost hysterically. "Oh thank the Force, please, don't leave me here!"
"It's all right, really Zri'an it's all right!" said Charls trying to calm her. "I'm here. Carter told me to protect you and I will, don't worry."
"Where's Clmney?"
"He's got an eyeball chasing him."
"He is okay, isn't he?" demanded Zri'an desperately.
Charls skimmed through the ID's, his heart in his throat. "He's still alive - oh no."
"What? What?!"
Charls bit back another sob, another one in this hopeless fight. "We lost Captain Zyol."
"Burning stars . . ." The epithet trailed off into weeping. "Not her. Whose going to motivate us to do our best with those cynical comments she was so good at?"
Charls shook his head to clear away another wave of hurt. Uid Chamberlyne, Forster Par'yla, Servan Fosset, three of his friends and now Nyanti Zyol, his Captain. "I hope she took a hell of a lot of Imps with her," he said angrily.
"Damn these Imperial bastards . . . Charls!"
The young pilot's head snapped up at the cry and he realised that in his grief he hadn't noticed another TIE fighter coming towards them. Quickly he gunned his engines to a higher speed and lasers to a higher power and raced towards it, leaving Zri'an stranded behind him.
The TIE slowed at his approach and seemed to hang in space for a second, letting Charls come within a few hundred meters of it. Then it swiftly slipped around Charls and headed directly towards the helpless Comet pilot.
"Oh no you don't," muttered Charls, wanting to direct all his rage into the Imperial with a crimson laser blast. He turned the X-wing around and followed the TIE closely.
Perhaps made wary by the X-wing on its tail, the eyeball merely flew past Zri'an, and executed a few simple evasive maneuvers trying to get rid of Charls. However it wasn't trying very hard.
Charls' mouth tightened. He was not going to let this one get away from him. His world narrowed down into him and the Imperial so tantalizingly close in front of his nose.
"Charls!" screamed Zri'an, a cry of horror and pure unadulterated fear.
The young Comet turned towards that cry.
Without warning, a second TIE darted behind him. In the split second it took for Charls' brain to register its sudden presence, two green needles of energy burst from it and pierced the helpless eject seat.
Then his eyes were blinded by a bright explosion.
There was another explosion, farther away on the Interdictor Cruiser.
"Ok, Comets, you're loose!" shouted an unfamiliar female voice.
"The gravity well's gone!" shouted the Commander in a ringing voice over the comm. "Hit it!"
Automatically Charls obeyed, his finger stabbing into the hyperdrive controls even before the after image of Zri'an's fiery death had faded on his retina.
The stars flared into starlines and with an inarticulate cry of rage and despair, Charls followed the rest of the shattered squadron into the safety of hyperspace.
Posted on Sunday, 9 April 2000
It was a very sorry group that gathered near an uninhabitable planet that no one knew the name of. It was merely a point Sharl and Myra used as a resting point when on smuggling trips. Now the rest was desperately needed, not for the Lukas sisters but for what remained of Comet Squadron.
Wearily, Commander Fitzwilliam, Charls Bingley, Clmney Carter, Hendri Sanderson and Denny Cathos transferred over to the Askme Cozino in vacuum suits. One by one they stumbled inside fatigued physically and emotionally by the battle. Only the Commander seemed remotely steady on his feet, but he, like the other survivors collapsed into the barely comfortable utilitarian chairs in the lounge. The three women helped them wordlessly bringing drinks and blankets. Sharl kept her face expressionless - she wasn't entirely comfortable with having five Rebels on her ship, but out of courtesy and more than a little sympathy, she put up with it. Her sister, though she tried to keep a stern face when Clmney's shaking hands spilled his drink didn't have the heart when the man broke down in tears on her arm when she reached across to clean the mess.
Gianna on the other hand flitted from each man like an angel of hope, helping each and offering comfort. Her unexpected arrival was not questioned as of yet - the sorrows of failure and lost friends took up any energy the X-wing pilots had left.
It would be harder to say who felt the greatest measure of guilt. Commander Fitzwilliam's usually implacable features were twisted as the realisation that he had lost more than half his people slowly hit him with all the delicacy of a Death Star. However he was older and certainly no innocent. The youngest Comet was not.
Charls sat stunned in his seat, unresponsive to Gianna's ministrations, eyes wide and dark. They flickered now and again to each of the Comets: Ricard to Hendri to Clmney to Denny then to Ricard again. That was all. No Nyanti, no Uid, no Servan, no Zri'an, no Forster. No Wills or Lizzi either. He dully wondered if the ever-squabbling pair was still alive. With the general dark atmosphere surrounding him, he didn't think so.
Seven of his friends gone. He himself had barely escaped with his life.
In front of him, Clmney was still sobbing over Zri'an's loss. Charls felt a stabbing pain in his gut. Zri'an had been under his protection, and she had died screaming his name in agonised fear. If he hadn't been so stupid to leave her while chasing Imperials, been so foolish as to follow one TIE single-mindedly at the expense of everything else, she might have lived. Fearfully he watched Clmney's body shake, not wanting the man to look at him, to blame him for Zri'an's loss.
He had nothing to show for the ordeal. Nothing to be proud of - except one kill. But was that really something to be proud of?
In his mind's eye he saw the TIE blow up. It replayed over and over. With each time, Charls' imagination painted a different image. He imagined the pilot's desperation and fear, his vain attempts to escape, emotions ranging from hate to sorrow and finally the fiery pain of violent death.
One last time he saw that image - this time from the interior of the TIE fighter, as if he sat in the pilot's seat. He desperately shoved the controls left and right, up and down trying to avoid the X-shaped harbinger of death behind him. He twisted in his seat, the black breath mask hissing with shallow gasps, trying to see where his hunter had gone. Then there were two crimson shots coming straight at him. In the one second after the lasers' impact there was shock, despair and fear all reflected in one helpless scream that was quickly cut off. And pain, a burning sensation that spread through his entire being, skin flashed burned down to the bone that turned black under the heat. Flames licking at him through his smoldering flight suit, setting his hair alight as his tightly closed eyes boiled and body crumbled.
What came after the pain? A peaceful lassitude that seemed to last for eternity? Maybe a disconnection of the senses and emotions from the body? What would the dying see? Is the cliché of one's life flashing before one's eyes true? Would the Imperial have seen his birth, his childhood, his loves and hates and experiences that made him what he was all in the space of one long second? Maybe there was a sorrow at leaving, never seeing family and friends again, sorrow at causing a loved one grief, a girl who would be waiting each day for news and on the day she knows he is dead, would see her life collapse? Or maybe there was nothing after wards, and there was just the darkness people saw when they slept. Except this sleep would be for eternity.
Charls had, with simple flick of the trigger, changed the lives of some people in the galaxy forever.
What is a doctor's role in the galaxy? It is the saving and healing of people. One does not kill. For every plant destroyed in the harvest, two must be cultivated to replace it. One does not kill. One does not kill. One does not kill. Not kill, not kill, not kill...
"STOP!" screamed Charls, desperately clutching his head.
Every weary eye in the room turned to him.
"Charls? What is it?" asked Gianna softly. She came over to him and gently twined her fingers in his blond curls, bringing his head down onto her shoulder. The young man welcomed this scant comfort and buried his face away from the world.
"I've killed so many people today," he sobbed. "I could have helped Uid or Chamberlyne or made Servan stop but I didn't. I killed an Imperial and he'll never come back. I left Zri'an -"
"You abandoned her," bit out Clmney harshly. "You got distracted and forgot all about her."
Charls squeezed his eyes shut. If he could have shut his ears too, he would have done so.
"I asked you to take care of her," continued the other man, his voice rising. "Her life was in your hands and you couldn't fulfil that duty!" He suddenly got out of his seat and staggered over to Charls still in Gianna's comforting embrace. "Look at me, kid!" yelled Clmney. "Aren't you man enough to face me? The partner of the one you killed?"
"Get a grip, Clmney," said Gianna crisply.
The taller man glared down at Charls, his fists clenched. Behind him, Commander Fitzwilliam slowly put a hand on his shoulder.
"Get some rest, Carter," said the older man softly. "Blaming others isn't going to change matters. And you know that Charls couldn't have done a thing."
Clmney did know. His eyes closed, the action displacing more tears. Then he straightened up. "I'm...sorry, Charls," whispered Clmney softly. "I know I'm just blaming you because you're here and I know I shouldn't. It's just...it's just that...that..."
"We know," Charls replied. He looked to each of the survivors who wordlessly gave - and accepted support, for and from everyone, new links forged through shared grief. "We know."
It was only later that the attention turned to Gianna and her story, starting from Smuggler's Moon and the Lukas sisters to her abduction then rescue from Nicira. And when she had finished, it was her turn to be comforted.
Hendri turned to Sharl with an angry look of disbelief on his rugged face. "So you just left Lizzi and Wills behind?" he demanded.
The brunette smuggler returned his glare coolly. "I told you we didn't have a choice."
Charls looked up from where he was holding a weeping Gianna, a worried Clmney and Denny hovering nearby. "They were alive when you escaped, though, right?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes. Though how long they stay that was I have no idea."
The young man looked up at the human and Gand beside him, then at Gianna and the commander. "We've got to rescue them," he blurted out.
"Please!" begged Gianna. "Lady Katrin won't stop at anything to get what she wants - including revenge."
Commander Fitzwilliam though, was staring at Gianna with an expression of shock. He had been doing so ever since Gianna had finished relating her story. "You said that you were abducted to do what?" he said in a strangled voice.
The little, tiny detail of Gianna's task for the Imperials that she had just mentioned had slipped by everyone. Now they thought back to what the Omwat girl had said . . . and as one they turned white.
"Upgraded Death Star laser?" whispered Denny.
"A second Death Star?" said Sharl in a pinched voice.
The small room came alive with a babble of shouts of outrage and shock.
"You have got to be joking!"
"Is Palpatine insane?!"
"Another Death Star? Another Alderaan?!"
"Why would anyone want to build another one of those cursed things?"
"The Empire would be invincible! We don't stand a chance!"
"How many more planets are going to be destroyed like Alderaan?"
"The Rebellion only just managed to defeat the first one - what can we do against a bigger and better one?!"
"Calm down!" cried Commander Fitzwilliam. Instinctively the Comets and Gianna obeyed. Sharl and Myra did as well, subdued by the threat of another planet-destroying weapon.
"It's obvious what needs to be done then," said the Commander with finality. "The most urgent business is to return to the Rebellion and inform them of this latest development."
"But what about Wills and Lizzi?" Gianna squeaked. Charls stared at his superior, not believing that after all the people who had died, the Commander was now going to leave Lizzi and Wills to their fates, but in his heart understood that sometimes, individuals needed to be sacrificed for the greater cause.
It didn't mean that he had to like it, though.
"We can't help them, Miss Drax," Ricard said gently. "In the first place, how can we attack a heavily defended Imperial base with only five X-wings? And now that we know the Emperor has a second Death Star being constructed we can't make a choice. You must understand this."
"But, but -" The girl's voice trailed off, and her eyes drooped. "Yes, sir."
The man turned away. "The problem is now how are we going to bring Miss Drax back since we only have one-man fighters. Unless..." he added. The Commander turned and looked inquiringly at Sharl and Myra.
The smuggler and the slicer shook their heads. "Sorry. We've got more than we bargained for already - we're not going to be a passenger service."
"We can make it worth your while -"
"And we can't exactly take her to Nicira with us," said Sharl, her voice rising just enough to override the Rebel officer.
There was a stunned silence. The exact reaction Sharl had wanted. She smiled thinly.
"I'm going back to get Lizzi and Wills out."
Part Thirty-Seven
Posted on Monday, 13 Monday, 2000
For once there was nothing to be done. There were no patients needing treatment other than rest and there was no cleaning or anything to do. For once, Jain found that she had free time.
She smiled as she gave the main room of the medical center on Home One last cursory check, then hung up her coat and went to the droid on standby by the door.
"Call me if anything comes up, alright?" she asked.
The medic droid merely flashed its lights at her in response. With a thank you, Jain keyed the doors open and stepped outside into the corridor. There weren't many people around, an atmosphere of calm permeating throughout the ship - the entire fleet in fact.
It had been actually rather quiet lately. Oh sure, there had been an Imperial attack several weeks ago, not long after Jain had attached Commander Skywalker's artificial hand, but Rogue Squadron had fought them off easily, making sure that there was no way the Imperials could have reported the Fleet's location to their masters. Yet the Rebels hadn't survived this long by taking chances, and the High Command had chosen to alter their course just in case. And ever since then, things had been quiet. Jain found herself working less and less each day, as each of her patients responded well to her treatments. In fact, the only real patient who had been a source of worry had gotten used to his prosthetic hand and Commander Skywalker had left ages ago along with Princess Organa, former Baron-Administrator Calrissian, the Wookie Chewbacca and his droids on yet another mission.
The only thing bothering her now was that Comet Squadron was still out. She knew that they had been sent to somewhere several days of hyperspace flight away without easy means of reporting back and not knowing what was happening to them and her dear Charls was unsettling her. Was Charls alright?
Not only Charls, but Lizzi, Wills and Gianna too. They had been gone for ages! Had anything happened to them?
Her careful steps slowed as she approached her destination, a door no different from any of the others lining the living quarters of Home One. Jain stopped and pressed the buzzer. The music that had been pounding through it suddenly died away.
The door was flung open and the person behind it flung herself into Jain's arms.
"Jainy!" squealed Lijia happily.
'Jainy' laughed and gave the feline girl a hug. "I hope I'm not disturbing you."
Lijia giggled and grabbed Jain's arm, dragging her inside her room. "Course you aren't - it's not like I do anything anyway," she replied, skipping over to the bed and sitting down.
The beautiful blond woman followed suit in a calmer manner and gave the girl a smile. In the time since Comet Squadron had left, Jain had gone out of her way to become acquainted with Charls' little friend. She had found Lijia to be a lively and open person, a little naïve and scatterbrained but with such a bubbly personality, it was impossible not to like her.
Lijia on the other hand was pleasantly surprised when Jain Benyt, of who she had heard spoken of in glowing terms by so many, visited her so many times and asked to spend time with her. As friendly as she was, Lijia had few real companions and she was eternally grateful for the sensible advice Jain gave her. Not only that, many times their conversation ran to Charls, Lijia teasing the more reserved Jain for romantic details. In no time at all, Jain found herself treating Lijia like a little sister.
"Work finished already?" Lijia asked, sweeping a few clothes that were lying on the bed onto the floor and shoving them under the bed. Jain gently stopped her and pulled the discarded clothing back. Meticulously, she laid them out and began to fold them properly. The feline girl watched her without comprehending for a moment, then sat down on the bed and copied the other woman's actions. Jain smiled approvingly and Lijia literally glowed at the unspoken praise.
"It's been peaceful lately and I don't have to do so much when it's quiet like this," replied Jain.
"Ha." Lijia retracted her claws so that they wouldn't get caught on the smooth fabric. "When it's quiet, I have to work harder."
The human female put the neatly folded skirt on the floor. "And this is still wartime. Imagine the contracts you'll get when peace is restored to the galaxy." She sighed wistfully as Lijia added her own, rather messily folded dress onto the pile. "What do you see yourself doing when the war's over?"
"Over?" The dancer looked at Jain with a questioning look. "You mean when the Empire's gone?"
"Yes."
Lijia curled up and hugged her long legs close to her chest. "No idea. I can't even imagine a galaxy without the Empire." She glanced at Jain. "What about you?"
"Where do I see myself after the Empire?" Lijia nodded. The medic gazed off into the distance for a moment, deep in thought. Lijia watched her carefully, intrigued.
"I suppose . . . I see myself continuing with medicine and helping people, certainly," said Jain slowly. "That won't change. I want to see Lizzi happy, and maybe the two of us making our home somewhere where we can live peacefully."
"Is that it, or is Charls going to fit into that happy picture somewhere?" asked Lijia mischievously. Jain's face flushed slightly.
"Yes. I want to be with Charls as well," Jain said softly.
Lijia swooned melodramatically. "Ah, you two are so sweet," she gushed. "I just hope Charls gets the picture soon."
Jain frowned. "What do you mean?"
The other girl winked at her. "Charls needs a little advice sometimes. I give him hints and let him find his own way. Just that he's a little slow sometimes."
Jain delicately decided not to press any further. "But what about you? What do you want to do when the war's over?"
Lijia hummed and put a finger to her lips, eyes turning a dark green. "I don't know. Never thought about it before. Don't know." She giggled a shade too lightly, then stopped when she looked at Jain.
"Don't you have any dreams?" she beautiful woman asked. Lijia glared without any real heat.
"Of course I do!" she retorted. "It's just that . . . everyone thinks my dreams are . . ." She trailed off and looked away.
"What?" Jain pressed.
Lijia muttered something under her breath.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you."
"Everyone thinks my dreams are dumb, okay?!" spat out Lijia. She refused to meet Jain's eyes. Viciously she grabbed another bright article of clothing and began to fold it. Her claws caught on a thread and pulled it out, creating a small tear. With a hiss, Lijia threw it against the wall and folded her arms.
For a minute, Jain merely looked at her. Lijia refused to look back, glaring at the wall. If eyes were blasters, the people in the next room would have had a nasty surprise.
Then Jain smiled.
"Dreams are never dumb."
Almost against her will, Lijia turned around, eyes wide. Jain's smile softened as she half-stood and came to hold the girl in her arms. Lijia froze.
"You know, people thought my dream of going to Naboo to study was dumb," said Jain softly. "They thought, why leave Alderaan when it has one of the best universities in the galaxy? I said that I wanted to leave because it meant that I got to see new places and meet new people." She rested her chin on Lijia's head and stared off into the distance. "I let people think what they wanted. My dream was only stupid because they had dreams of their own and to them, their dream was the highest achievement."
Lijia was silent.
"You shouldn't let what other people think influence what you do with your life, Lijia dear," said Jain softly, rocking back and forth slightly with the tense form in her arms. "Do you think the Rebellion is a dumb dream?"
"No, of course not," replied Lijia immediately.
Jain smiled. "Well, I'm sure there are people in the Empire who think it is. But that doesn't stop us, does it."
Lijia didn't reply, her eyes a pale green.
"So what do you dream about?" pressed Jain gently.
The feline girl bit her lip and looked at Jain warily. Seeing only kindness and encouragement in those warm eyes, she took a deep breath and made the plunge.
"I want . . . I want to . . . get married."
Jain smiled. "And?"
"That's it." Lijia's voice was unemotional.
"Oh."
Lijia pushed herself away. "Even you think it's dumb."
"I do not."
"Yeah you do. You said, 'And?' as if expecting something more."
Jain looked mortified. "That's not true! Getting married is a wonderful dream!"
"Heh." Lijia turned to look at her with a humorless smile. "It is wonderful. But according to other people, it's also very old-fashioned and narrow-minded, a childish dream to meet a guy who will sweep you off your feet to some castle to live happily ever after."
"But-"
Lijia stood up, cutting off anything the medic had to say. "So it's not something unselfish as being a doctor or a starfighter pilot," she said. "So it's not something great like a scientist or a hyperdrive-engineer or a commander in the Rebellion. So what if it's something just for me? I don't care, I don't care what anyone else thinks, I want it to happen and it will!" Her voice was rising and the girl was desperately defiant as she looked down at the older woman, as if daring her to say something.
Jain quickly stood up and took the girl's feline hands in her own. "I'm not criticising you - if I have it was unintentional and I'm sorry." Lijia started in her gentle grip - she began to rub the hands until they relaxed. "Your dream - you want something for yourself because you want to be happy." She smiled into those eyes, pale green now, and wide. "That's what everyone's dream is - to be happy. It's just that everyone has their own idea of happiness that is theirs alone." She looked closely at the girl. "Do you have someone?"
Shyly Lijia replied, "Yes."
Jain smiled. "And does he love you?"
The girl's face broke into a shining, radiant smile. "Yes! He told me that he does love me and that we will get married as soon as he has the money!"
"That is wonderful!" Impulsively Jain caught the girl in a hug, which the alien returned. "I'm so happy for you!"
As if some tension in her had broken, finally, Lijia grabbed Jain's hands and led the beautiful medic around the room in a jig. It was rather difficult to dance due to the size of the room but it exuberant nonetheless. They whirled like that, forgetting all the troubles in the galaxy until they fell down laughing, breathless.
Jain brought Lijia's head to lean against her shoulder. Lijia was such an innocent and good-humored child. She blinked tears away as she thought of her own younger sisters, wondering if they had looked up into the sky as a metallic moon appeared over moonless Alderaan with Lijia's same gaiety. She wondered if they had been smiling as their world exploded.
Perhaps feeling the other woman's sadness, Lijia twined her arms around Jain again. "Thank you."
Jain gave the girl a kiss. "Where is your fiancé now?"
Lijia murmured tiredly against her. "I'm not sure. But I know he'll come for me." She sighed dreamily, contentedly and closed her eyes as Jain began to run her fingers comfortingly through her short, catlike golden hair.
"I know in my heart that Wickham will come for me."