Chapter 4

Except for the tunnels leading to Holo Base’s Hangars, the entire facility was under thick rock. In some areas it was as far down as a mile below. The fact that it was hard to tell the Rebels were using the moon, even when looking at its surface, had been its only real defense. The construction of ion cannons would destroy the illusion of the deserted moon the Alliance had wanted to keep. Unfortunately, not even the excess of rock would be able to protect them from the combined firepower of three Imperial Star Destroyers. The ships were moving cautiously, though. Evidently they didn’t know how defenseless the base was. A soldier manning one of the sensor displays yelled out and Reeves rushed to the console. The Destroyers were deploying TIE Bombers. The Bomber looked much like a TIE Fighter that had an extra cockpit attached on the side of the first and had its wings bent inward. The craft’s second hull contained two racks of both proton torpedoes and two of concussion missiles. While the bombardment wouldn’t reach the command center, it could certainly collapse some of the less protected corridors.

Leer looked over at a large board that was projecting the base’s numbers. A harried young man was plugged into a headset comlink and was trying to keep the numbers as accurate as possible. There was no chance for reinforcements; they had to leave Halo Base if they wanted to survive. According to the board, most of the cargo ships were waiting for fighter escorts before they took off. Leer believed they could get two waves into hyperspace before the Star Destroyers and their compliments of TIEs made things more difficult. He barked off a quick set of orders that were relayed to the snubfighter Captains and then looked back to the board. If he was lucky, he would be ready to leave with the sixth wave.

Rian rushed into Hangar Four. During the run to get there, he had been briefed of the situation over his comlink. Inside the hangar, technicians swarmed over X-Wings like insects over a fallen carcass. The sound of machinery and the mechanics trying to yell over the din was nearly deafening. Blue squadron was on the left side of the hangar; they were already prepping for take off. He recognized all of them, even the two replacements that came in as he and Zwick left. On the right hand side was his squadron’s craft. All of them were still painted different colors. They had all been pulled from other supply areas and were going to be all identically painted later in the week. With the Empire’s sudden attack, there was no time for that now. The snubfighters would look as motley as his squadron still felt. He looked over to an X-Wing that had been heavily painted red. Not just minor trim, but also most of the nose and engines were bright scarlet. Tubby was being lowered into the craft’s droid socket and he let out a bleep at Rian. Around his ship, the rest of the squadron’s droids were also being locked in place.

Just as the deck officer moved up to Rian, a small tram could be seen down the hallway cruising toward the hangar. Riding it were his pilots, some of them preparing for their first real combat experience in an X-Wing. As the hovertram stopped in front of him, he looked them over and prayed that they were ready for this. Dire looked as if someone had spent the night hitting him in the face with a pillowcase full of rocks. Mekita looked just as drained for some reason. She hadn’t slept after her talk with Rian; the thought that she may be racist weighed heavily on her. While she was sure she that she was a better pilot then the squadron’s non-humans, she didn’t think that way because they were non-human. At least that is what she spent the night telling herself. The rest of the group carried the same emotions Rian was sure showed on his face; doubt, anxiousness, a little fear, and a large dose of excitement. Cooper leaned against Vied, looking sleepily at the others. Nihil was impossible to read behind his mask. The deck officer spoke up just as his squadron was dismounting. “Sir, Problem Squadron is prepped to leave as soon as Blue Squadron takes off.”

Rian let out a long sigh; that name was starting to catch on with everyone. He nodded once in recognition to the deck officer and turned to his troops. “Okay, everyone. Evidently we’re Problem Squadron. You’ve heard the name; I’ve heard the name. If everyone thinks we are a bunch of problems, then lets become the Empire’s problem. Grab the ship with your astromech plugged into it and prep for take off. Once inside I’ll give you the heads up on our role out there.” He watched a moment as everyone ran towards the ships, quickly picking out where they were supposed to be by the exposed heads of their droids. He glanced over to Blue Squadron and Juve gave him a wave before slipping into his cockpit. Rian waved back and wondered if he was every going to see the annoying Corellian again; he hoped so. Ikner trotted to his own snubfighter and quickly scaled the metal ladder. Tubby filled one of the screens with status updates as he strapped himself into the cockpit. He adjusted his comlink in his ear, preferring it to the ones permanently mounted into helmets. “Tubby, designate the Alliance’s frequency as one and the squad’s as two.” The droid let out a little beep of compliance. The order allowed him to easily switch between two different com channels and always know which one he was on. He powered up his systems, and checked the readouts. A hum came from behind him as power rushed into his engines. All four engines and all the other systems showed to be in perfect working order by appearing green on his screen. “Tubby, com two please. Lets hear your status everyone.”

“Two is a go Captain”

“Three is ready to vape some Imps.”

“Four has four green sir.”

“Five is ready to ante up.”

“Six has four lit and is ready to fly.”

“Ditto for Seven.”

“Eight is all powered up and looking for a target.”

“Nine reports all systems functional Captain”

“Ten has four smoking and ready to kick it.”

“Eleven is all green.”

“Twelve is ready for action.”

Rian smiled; at least the X-Wings were ready for the fight. It was time to see how ready the pilots were. “Okay Problems, here is the game plan. As soon as the Blues clear the ramp we get to head out. We’ve got clean up duty out there. Command just called and said there were TIE Bombers coming to knock on the door. We have to slow them down until the supply ships can get out of here. There are three incoming Star Destroyers out there. Under no circumstances are you to engage them. We’ll be working in flights out there so your flight leader’s word is law. Once HQ gives us the go ahead, get clear of the light fight and make the jump to hyperspace. Tubby is sending your droids the coordinates now.”

Rian watched the ground crew as the last X-Wing of Blue Squadron shot down the launch tube. The tube was a long tunnel that eventually led to the magnetic atmosphere seal and beyond that, the moon’s surface. Rian flicked on his repulsar coils and felt his craft lift off the ground. Another switch was thrown and his landing gear retracted into the hull. The deckman near the runway’s mouth held two glowrods crossed above his head. The gesture held off Problem Squadron’s X-Wings. With his X-Wing floating in the air, Rian was getting more anxious. His squadron’s frequency was starting to fill with chatter; they too were ready to see some action. He could hear Soto claim, “Why I’d take out all three Destroyers on my own if I hadn’t been ordered not to,” but it didn’t sink in. His attention was glued to the glowrods. After another moment dragged itself out into an eternity, the deckman dropped his hands to his side and quickly ran out of the way.

Rian smiled and eased the throttle. His ship slid over the hanger floor and started for the tube. “Problems, we’re going in hot. Halfway up the ramp lock S-foils in attack position and break into flights.” The com broke into a long whoop from Thrash. Rian pushed more power into the throttle and pulled back on the flight stick to compensate for the tube’s rapid ascent before reaching the surface. “It’s show time now Talos. Keep the chatter to a minimum.” Ahead of him and quickly getting close was the mouth of the tube. He opened the wings of his fighter and pushed a little more power to the engines. The X-Wing shot out of the tube’s maw and rolled onto is starboard wing before evening out over the moon’s surface. Behind him the rest of the squadron did the same. His radar was filled with red and blue targets like an insect swarm. The TIE’s port sides were visible at this angle, but that would change by the time they closed the distance between them. “Problem Squadron, break into flights and attack. Two, stay on my wing. Three and Four, follow us and hit what we miss.”

The TIE Bombers had stuck in close formation and were doing their best to rip the ground open. So far they hadn’t encountered any resistance. All of the Alliance fighters were playing escort to cargo ships, leaving the Bombers to do their job to their hearts’ content. The TIE’s pilots spun to face their first real opposition, but the dual-hulled crafts were sluggish. Rian pushed more power to his fighter’s engines and his X-Wing shot forward. Green bolts of energy streaked toward him as he moved the targeting bracket over one of the TIEs. A flip of a switch pushed all his shields to the fore of his fighter seconds before the TIE’s bolts slammed into it. As the bracket turned from yellow to green Rian slid his thumb over the trigger on the top of his throttle. Rian juked his craft out of the path of another pair of bolts and lined his shot up once more. Four red lances of light cut through the cockpit window and gutted the craft. Two more shots followed the first, causing the bomber to explode. Rian’s X-Wing sailed through the middle of the explosion as if he was threading the eye of a needle. His shields dropped to his aft as he cleared the TIE formation. Tubby whistled loudly causing Rian to glance at his radar.

Above the skirmish with the bombers was two squadrons of incoming TIE fighters. “Heads up everyone. Two squads of eyeballs coming in at us.”

Dara was the first to answer, “Where are they? I can’t see them.”

“Coming up from above Eleven. Three Flight, you guys mop up the rest of the dupes. The rest of us will try to slow down those TIEs.”

Mekita’s voice crackled in his ear. “Roger that One. We’ll be joining you soon.”

“I count on that Nine.” Rian pulled back on his throttle and drew the nose of his X-Wing into the sky. Out of the original twelve bombers, only four remained and those were doing their best to get out of the firefight. Eight of the X-Wings pulled up into tight climbs while the remaining four rolled on their port S-Foils and headed towards the fleeing bombers. The bombers split into two groups and prepared to engage the four X-Wings. It was only mere seconds later that Skeng found a bomber directly behind him. A light indicating his fighter had been targeted by a missile lock brightly lit up. Chuta squawked loudly. Skeng glanced to the right edge of his cockpit. Attached to it was a holo of a beautiful blonde woman named Cassy. In the holo Cassy was sitting backwards in a chair, her hands crossed over the back of it and her long hair was draped across her generous cleavage. The back of the chair made it difficult to determine, but it surely looked like the only thing she was wearing was a pair of high heels. Skeng had never actually met Cassy, he had stolen the holo of her the same night he had stolen his first starship. Since then she had become his good luck charm. He especially found her reassuring in times when he was under pressure. Times like now.

Skeng juked his X-Wing to the left, the lock light flickering on and off like a strobe as the bomber kept reacquiring its target. He glanced once more at Cassy, drained a little energy from his engines and strengthened his rear shields. Mekita’s X-Wing drifted in front of him, giving him a good view of her engines before she pulled up into a stiff climb that took her out of his view. The impact of lasers shook his craft. With Chuta still complaining about the blasts, Cooper sent his ship into a corkscrew. As he righted his spin Mekita came out of a long loop directly behind the bomber. Her laser fire shot through the starboard wing and shredded it like paper. The bomber’s port side swung towards its belly and dug into the rocky ground like a plow. The strain ripped that wing off and caused the dual hull to bounce across the ground before it finally exploded. Skeng let out a long sigh of relief and evened out his shields. “Nice shooting Nine. Next time, though, you get to play the decoy.”

Warning lights relentlessly flashed through the hallways as Halla ran down them. Her one hand stayed on the hold-out blaster she had hidden in her tunic. The weapon had taken her longer to acquire then she had thought it would, but having it made her feel more secure. She knew there was bombing taking place up above, but she was too far below the rock to feel any of its impact. Then general air of chaos seemed to increase once the bombing had begun; now everyone was on a mad scramble to get out of the base. She was fighting the flow of escapees trying to get deeper into the southern wing of the base. The intercom crackled to life, “Attention! Stormtroopers have entered the north wing. I repeat stormtroopers have entered the north wing.” Halla quickened her pace as best she could before a squad of Rebel troopers came running down the hallway. She pressed herself against the wall and watched them pass. Each man carried a blaster rifle and wore a pistol on their hips. For a moment she thought of pulling the small blaster from her tunic and firing into their backs, but she knew that would only result in her suicide. She would gladly die for the Empire, but she wouldn’t die stupidly.

Instead she would find her way through the maze of half lit corridors, get out of Holo Base, and return to Seisin. During her stay she had found out about a fourth hangar that was off limits to the rest of the base. It had taken her a little time, but she eventually discovered gold hangar housed four starships for the base’s command section. The decreased lighting made Holo Base’s uneven floors even more dangerous. As she was coming around a corner her heel caught in a hole in the rock. As her ankle twisted, Halla fell across the hall and slammed her shoulder into the wall. Pain shot through her system. She knew that the pain from her shoulder would fade in moments, but judging by the way her ankle throbbed, she guessed she had at least sprained it. Using the wall for support, she helped herself off and limped her way closer towards gold corridor. Despite the pain, she forced herself to hurry. She had been supplied with the code word “sacred nerf.” If confronted with stormtroopers she was supposedly be able to utter the phrase and be safely returned to one of the Star Destroyers orbiting the moon. The reality of the issue, as she saw it though was she was more likely to be shot down in a rain of blaster fire long before anyone would be able to hear what she had to say.

As she moved into the corridor that would take her to the hangar she almost literally ran into two guards. The trooper on the right offered her a smile and steadied her. Halla gripped the handle of her blaster tightly. If she was quick enough she could get two sudden shots into his stomach, use his body as a shield, and hopefully take the second Rebel trooper out with the same amount of ease. As she was beginning to draw the weapon she heard her name echoing through the hallway. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Jace Darkmere running down the corridor. Behind him was the rest of the Void Spiders. Inwardly she cursed as her mind spun, trying to come up with a new plan. Jace continued to close the distance between them. He and his unit dressed in full gear, like when they first met. Halla pushed herself out of the steadying arms of the guard and stumbled towards Jace. She masked her anger with a look of utter relief. “Jace!” As she got closer she fell into his arms and hugged him tight. “The alarms went off and I didn’t know where to go. Everyone was running around and I got lost.”

Jace wrapped his arm tightly around her body and held her for a moment as she nearly sobbed into his shoulder. He glanced over to the other Spiders for a moment and then kissed the top of Halla’s head. “We’ve been looking all over for you. But it’s going to be okay Sabina. We’ve got a shuttle and you’re getting out of here with us.”

Halla looked up at him. She had forced herself to near tears. Her eyes were glassy as she looked into his. Jace was believing every second of her routine. Acting this way nearly made her sick, but she knew most men were willing to believe that a woman would fall to pieces when threatened. Knowing she couldn’t take out all of the Spiders, she would swallow her pride and escape with them. She blinked twice, causing a tear to start a journey down her cheek. “I…I fell. My ankle is twisted pretty bad.”

Jace looked over to Tak; the big man still wore a bandage over his nose. Darkmere’s hand moved reassuringly over the back of Halla’s head. “We’ll carry you out of here if we have to. I’m just glad you’re safe.” Halla fell back against Jace, her face buried into his neck. She let herself smile once. It wasn’t the way she wanted to escape, but at least she would be leaving Holo Base.

Zwick swung his ship into a barrel roll and watched the green laser bolts go flying past his canopy. Another TIE fighter crossed his flight path and he snapped off two quick shots that failed to even clip the TIE’s wings before it disappeared out of sight. Skifter let out a series of beeps reminding him there was still a TIE on his tail when Nihil’s X-Wing dropped into view. The two ships looked as if they were about to slam their noses together when Staamas pointed his nose down and hit his thrusters. As Zwick’s X-Wing dove under the belly of Nihil’s, the Luvium opened fire with all four cannons. The red streaks of light hit the TIE fighter above the canopy and took the entire top of the craft off. Nihil pulled up hard on his flight stick, barely pulling his ship up before the now dead TIE sped into the space his ship was occupying. “Seven this is Six. Thanks for the assist.”

Moments ago the Y-Wing squadron known as Nova Squadron and Blue Squadron joined the battle. What had been a morale-lifting event was quickly crushed as another of the Star Destroyer’s compliment of TIEs streaked into the battle. Suddenly there were five Imperial Squadrons to the Alliance’s three. Following the TIEs were four Imperial landing crafts that flew under the dogfight and landed in the north hanger. The Y-Wings brought with them more firepower then the X-Wings had, but the ships lacked the speed and maneuverability of the X-Wing. Despite being a more durable ship, they were quickly ranking up the highest casualty count. Rian dropped behind one TIE; the pilot pulled into a tight climb trying to lose him. Ikner’s craft followed the TIE with little difficulty. Out the port side of his canopy, he noticed two Novas being chewed to pieces by the quicker TIEs. The rear wishbone, a pilot nickname for the Y-Wing, took four shots into its neck area. An explosion rocked the craft and it separated into two pieces. The gunner managed to squeeze off one more shot before the front of the ship crashed into the moon’s surface. “Tubby, give me com two.” He waited for a console light to come to life before giving his order. “Two Flight, give Nova some cover. They don’t stand a chance in this light fight!”

“Seven is on it Lead.”

“Eight is right behind her.”

“Copy that girls. We just need to buy the transports a little more time. Only two more phases and the base will be empty.” Finally catching the TIE he was pursuing with a pair of laser blasts, Rian smiled at the message. The Verlott sisters flew their crafts as if they were mind linked. The ships were flying so close their wing tips were almost touching. As they swooped down over three Y-Wings, it almost appeared their snubfighters were holding hands. Four incoming TIEs veered off as the sisters sent volleys of crimson racing through space. They were just about to follow the Imperial ships as three more TIEs emerged behind them. The back of Shiel’s ship lit up brightly as the TIEs attacked. The first TIE’s salvo defeated her shields; the remaining two craft unloaded their weapon’s into the rear of her X-Wing. The shots blew up the upper two engines and sent her craft veering out of control. Shiel’s voice rang out over the com. “I’m hit! I’m hit!”

Zwick cursed loudly as Nihil and he crossed the battle. The flashing red and green lasers against the starry backdrop of space would have made a beautiful image if not for the lethality of it all. Zwick watched as Shiel’s X-Wing pulled out of a dive. “Seven, this is Five. Status report.”

Shiel’s voice was calm despite her previous outburst. “I’ve lost two engines and my shield generator is down. I think Widget can get the shields back up though.”

“Negative Seven. You and Eight are getting out of here. Make the jump to hyperspace and we’ll meet you there.”

“Sir, I can still..”

Rian’s voice cut in over the com. “Negative Seven. Get your tails to safety. We’ll be following you soon.”

Soto hit his thrusters charging towards a grouping of TIE fighters. As he did he stood his ship on its starboard S-foil to avoid collision with two fleeing X-Wings from Blue Squadron. While glancing up he noticed a number of transports leaving the base, and the looming shadow of the Star Destroyers had edged even closer. “Blue Squadron couldn’t withstand the combined might of the Empire, their survival rested on the shoulders of one man.” Bleep let out whistle as Soto hit his thrusters. “That’s right Bleep, only Soto Madry could send these black dogs to their graves!” Soto sent a number of crimson beams shooting through space when the TIEs opened fire. Madry’s X-Wing pulled up into a tight climb and banked on its port S-foil. Green laser beams sliced through the lower port wing leaving a melted stump. One of the four TIEs had been hit by Soto’s fire though, and dropped to the moon’s surface like a rock.

Bleep let out a long string of beeps and whistles as Soto eyed the damage report. The metal wing still smoked where the lasers had severed it. Dara moved onto his wing after laying down a field of fire that kept the TIEs from finishing the job they started on Soto. Rian’s voice popped over the com, “Eleven, Twelve; you two are out of here. We’ll see you at the rendezvous point.” Soto and Dara dropped low over the moon’s surface and pushed power into their thrusters. A TIE fighter jumped on their tail, but an ion blast from one of the remaining Nova Y-Wings left the ship floating dead in space. Moments later, the two ships pulled out of the moon’s shadow and disappeared into hyperspace.

Rian looked down at his control panel and paid for it as two shots lit up his forward shield. The only two ships significantly damaged had already been pulled out with their wingmen. Tubby let out three short tones and Rian broke hard to port, sending his craft into a 180-degree spin. Four more green bursts of energy shot through the space his ship would have occupied at that second. “Thanks Tubby I owe you one.” The droid reminded him that the number was actually closer to four hundred twenty three, but no one was counting. A huge lance of red filled his starboard view and Rian cursed loudly. He glanced ahead and saw the six transports heading from the moon. Another barrage of red arced across the surface of one. Armor plating bubbled and left the ship in a steam. “Tubby, find out if that is the last phase out.” Rian pushed his throttle down putting another TIE fighter into his crosshairs. The ship pulled to port, but four thin beams of red cut into its wings. Rian then had enough time to correct his aim and send more fire into the ship’s cockpit. Tubby blipped to get his attention. On his monitor the droid let him know that those were the last vessels leaving the base. A second transport came under the Star Destroyer’s fire. The smaller ship was eaten by turbolasers as they streaked across its hull. “Problems, we’ve done all we can, we’re out of here. Disengage any TIEs and make the jump to hyperspace.”

The few remnants of Nova Squadron and a far healthier Blue Squadron were doing the same. The TIEs continued to pour laser fire at them, most of it connecting with rear shields. Rian flinched as one of the Y-Wing’s shields crumbled under the assault. The ship’s hull ate numerous more shots before it finally disappeared into hyperspace. Seconds later, Tubby let him know they too were ready to make the jump. Stars stretched out in front of him as he left the battle and hit light speed. Rian peeled his hands off of his fighter’s controls. As the adrenaline bled out of him, he felt how cramped up the muscles in his hands were. Pulling a hand out of his gloves he wiped the sweat from his face. He stretched his body as much as the confined cockpit allowed him to and then shut his eyes. The battle had come early in the morning, waking almost everyone. Certainly he would have to worry about how the Empire had found them, but at the moment he was too tired. At least Tubby would wake him up before they exited hyperspace.

Kiatt Jorus sat behind his desk and sifted through the various reports on the three data terminals built into his desk. Kiatt was a squat man whose waist endangered the seams of every imperial uniform he put on. Had he been closer to Coruscant, his level of physical disregard would probably have him removed from office, but even the Empire was less strict in the Outer Rim. Kiatt’s hair hung on the sides of his head in greasy strands. Some of the strands were drawn over his baldpate in a vain attempt to cover up the lack of hair there. Jorus’ cheeks would best be described as jowls; his pale green eyes were small and set deep into his face. The Volmar sun had taken his once pale skin and baked it into a golden brown. His office was filled with the state of the art furnishings. His desk was made out a dark red wood, polished into a high sheen. The desk was fitted with three data screens that seamlessly retracted into the surface when not in use, as did their controls. A holo projector, recording device, and numerous other features were likewise installed. The rest of the office was molded in the sterile design so popular in the Empire. Behind his desk was a thick transparisteel window that looked out over the rest of Cha’ses. Jorus’ building, known as Imperial Central, dwarfed all the other buildings in the city. The architecture was an angular design with thick armored laser towers, making the building look like a cross between a skyscraper and a castle. It was a blatant reminder to the Volmi who was in charge of their planet.

The main doors to his office opened with a hiss of air. Kiatt turned in his chair to face the man who had just entered, although he had known who was moving towards his office for the past five minutes. No one could get through the private corridors that led to his office without being picked up by the security cameras. Captain Ven Sheerk removed his scout trooper helmet and stood in a rigid military stance. Jorus waved his hand with a detached air, “Please sit down Captain, I called you here because we have a lot to discuss.” Sheerk looked over at Jorus and sneered before taking a seat. After a moment Kiatt continued. “The Volmi have made five attacks in the past two weeks.” Jorus’ cheeks grew flush as he began raising his voice. “Things are getting dangerous. You need to do something. I need more of your men guarding Imperial Center and soon. Are you trying to get me killed? I’m going to be their target. There are only fifty troopers in the building at this moment, did you know that?”

Sheerk stood back up abruptly and bore a hard stare into the smaller man. “If that’s why you called me here, I’ll be leaving. Your defenses are adequate here Governor. Any additional troops deployed here will hinder my investigation. At the moment I am close to getting into the resistance faction here.” Kiatt backed deeper into the nerf leather chair as Ven’s barrage of words slammed into him. Sheerk let out a long sigh when he was done and placed the scout trooper helmet back on his head as he started for the door.

Kiatt Jorus stood up, anger rising and causing him to tremble a little. “You will do what I order you to. I am the Regional Governor you will not treat me like one of your underlings!”

Ven turned coolly, the armor hiding his reaction. “We work in conjunction, Governor. You will do well to remember that I take my orders from Moff Dryden and not you.” Kiatt looked ready to protest as Ven closed the distance on them again. Even through the mask’s distortion, his voice was hushed and threatening, “You would also do well to remember who your guards are loyal to.” Jorus fell back into his chair, his eyes wide. He still shook, his fat cheeks quivering. Behind his helmet Sheerk let a grin spread across his features. “I thought you might see it my way. Good day Governor.”