Elladan finally got his hard...VERY hard earned break. He had come to the Imperial Navy only 7 months before and had already seen more action than many veterans. But now, floating in a bacta tank with the gooey substance that filled his nearly severed limbs with energy, Elladan for the first time had the time to think about what had led him to this point...

~~~~Flash Back~~~~

"Stay with him, Ell!" came Aero's voice on the com.

Elladan weaved in and with a flick of a button, was at maximum turning thrust and weaving behind the Mercenary Alliance fighter. With rapid succession of quad laser fire, his TIE Interceptor cut the Merc Alliance Ywing to shreds.

That had been my first engagement of the war...it had been a gruesome war that had utterly devasted the Mercenaries. I would never forget the day.

Elladan then thought of what transpired to bring him out of the RIM

~~~~History of the RIM~~~~

Elladan and his younger twin, Aero, had been born and raised on Abregado-Rae, a planet still loyal to the Empire in the Outer Rim. While still young, their superior sense of depth perception got them into the local militia, and later, to the planetary defense systems. Aero had always excelled just a little beyond that of Elladan, but they worked well together, so when Aero joined a local Mercenary unit called Crimson NOVA, Elladan eventually tagged along.

Crimson NOVA was more a small grouping of experienced pilots that had retired from service to just hang out. They had controlled a small section of space in the RIM when the Battle of Endor had ripped apart the Empire. Crimson NOVA had a small fleet of fighters and support craft, but no capital ships. The other organizations that had taken power in the Outer RIM were much bigger. There were several colossus units: Smugglers Coalition, Fatal Shadows, BlackFire, and Rapid Assault, and some surviving factions of the New Imperial Navy and the Black Sun Dominion. Then, the great economic troubles had begun. At the time, none of the habitable planets in the RIM were self-sufficient, and many of the larger powers were totally annihilated when their cash supplies simply vanished.

This time became known as the Race For Galactic Supremacy in the Outer Rim. The Empire, anxious to regain its footholds in the RIM offered money, resources and technology to any organization that would fight in the name of the Emperor. During this time, three factions joined the Empire: Smugglers Coalition (who changed it's name to Sigma Command), Adversary Recon Force, and CrimsonNOVA. Several of the old organizations tried to also to rise back to power, including the Mercenary Alliance, only to be utterly crushed by the Imperial factions. The rebels never did gain a strong foot hold there. A group known as Wraith Squadron tried to set up base, but gave away the location of their homebase accidently and the forces of ARF rampaged through their space and utterly annihilated them. Soon, only three factions remained in power (Sigma command, under the wise leadership of Uncas having sealed a merger with Crimson NOVA made CN the most powerful navy in the RIM) Crimson NOVA, ARF, and the Pirate Organization, Fatal Shadows. During this time, the Imperials patrolled all space lanes methodically, and the pirates could find no profit. The Fatal Shadows packed their bags and moved Coreward towards the center of action...the ZONE. Once the RIM was quiet, Aero once again became restless and headed towards the ZONE to seek more glories. At first, I was content to remain in my home sector, and seek a comfortable career as a pilot with nothing to do. But, that grows old quickly. So, I proceeded to the zone in an attempt to find my hot blooded brother.

~~~LSF~~~

When I found him, he was already an outstanding officer in the Imperial Navy. Having served in Rapier Squadron, he quickly became known as the most deadly of starfighters. He had been moved to the Elite Avenger Squadron, and been promoted to the rank of Lt. Commander. When Aero found that I had once again offered my services to the Empire, he accepted an offer from the Emperor to be the CO of a training squadron (and accept his promotion to Commander). Aero was assigned as the CO of my training squadron, Executioner Squad. Aero knew already that I was a capable enough pilot, that I was hardly a rookie, so he convinced Vice Admiral Smoke to grant me my commission as Ensign. There were many in Executioner command staff to be looked up to...Aero, being the foremost, and Ajax, BenK, and Clownman. I was the only "trainee" to not wash out of Aero's vigorous excercises, and when The Emperor declared war on a rival Warlords TIE Figheter Alliance, I was there supporting the Executioners.

Seeing how Executioner had turned from a Training Squad to a small elitist squad, Vice Admiral Smoke had then Transferred all the remaining Executioners to Avenger Squadron, to bolster their numbers that had begun to fail to attrition.

I was proud to wear that shiny Avenger medallion on my sleeve. We were the few, the proud, the BEST! And we knew it.

Then on a short leave before we had been sent to the front lines against rebels who had forced passage all the way to Byss (the last jump before Coruscant!) Aero and I had returned to the RIM to say hello, and perhaps good bye...

There, we had run into our old comrades from Crimson NOVA. CN had grown strong in the RIM, and was the only remaining power. Our tales of gruesome battles and wonderful victories opened the hearts of our companions. MOK-()rion, the NOVA leader decided he would seek fame and glory in the name of the emperor.

Upon our return, we quickly joined the battle. It was Defender Wing, supposedly the more deadly of the Rebel Fleet. But we were Avengers and NOVAs. We were death. My lone battle that day had come with Ender, and he had met my wrath.

The Rebels were routed from Byss, and Aero and I completed our transfers to the official Crimson NOVA Squad. By this time, "Captain" Aeropagitica held the higher rank, but yielded control to MOK, who had been granted a direct commission to Commander. Ajax, who had been pushing papers in the Imperial Counsulate for so long, decided he would join the NOVAs, also.

Admiral McRat wanted to again test the NOVAs, this time in conjuctions with smaller squads at Raltiir. Once again, I only faced one opponent. Rookie1, too, felt the wrath of Crimson NOVA. ~~~Present~~~

Emperor Ripper himself stood over Elladan's cot in the SSD Vengeance's finest medical facility. "Tell me again, my son, what happened?" Ripper asks.

Elladan, still weak and recovering, shuddered violently. He stared up in awe at the glorious Ripper. Ell stuttered," Ah, sir? It was a typical engagement..I guess. There was an xwing that just kept showing up...and harassing me!"

Ripper pondered silently..that made no sense...Elladan should be able to easily overcome any rebel starfighter..in any ship. "Tell me about it...all of it."

Elladan sighed in surrender, "Very well. The first time I ran into this xwing, I had been making a torpedo run on one of their cruisers in WarHammer patrolled space. I had been seperated from my wing, and only this lone xwing came to intercept me. I thought, surely, I can take on ONE X-wing! I changed course, and set my HUD to take her down. We both squeezed off shots, but my evasive maneuvers did nothing to faze the pilot! My TIE Bomber had been shot up bad, but, fortunately for me, she was recalled immediately giving me time to limp back to the command ship. I was anxious to get into another ship to test this pilot again! I took out my Avenger ship, since I'm still a reserve Avenger, and went to hunt down this pilot who had shamed me so!"

Ripper continued to ponder, and was joined by MOK, Aeropagitica, and Ajax, who had come to hear the story.

Ajax piped up, "Yeah, I know that Xwing..that one and a wing had come across Uncas and I...we hit the other X pretty good, but got hit hard ourselves, doing it."

MOK grinned, "Hm, perhaps I should seek this one out."

Aero grins, also. "Heh, I'll try to leave you SOMETHING to shoot at...but, I can't guarentee anything..." and walks off to prep his ship.

MOK motions to Ajax," Come with me, Ajax..let's hunt!"

Ajax beamed, "With Pleasure, sir!"

Elladan continued, "Once out in the Avenger, I managed to track down that Xwing again. We picked up as if we hadn't even stopped from the previous engagement. Both of us twiseted, turned, but then...she stops! Right there in midspace..just come to a complete halt! I was going so fast, that I couldn't stop, and BOOM, I collided. TIEs just aren't made like they used to be...I could feel the ship breaking up under me. I guess I'm fortunate that your majesty has installed the eject seats for pilots who know their ship's about to go. I suppose I'm fortunate that we won this battle, or else I would be in the hands of the rebels."

Ripper then started," We know who it is you encountered. Her name is Improv. Until now, we had considered her as merely a nuisance and certainly not a threat to any of ours. She was raised on a small world, still loyal to the Empire, much like yours, I believe. However, in chasing a man...our records are not complete, but it could have been a lover, or a sibling..., she managed to come to the rebellion where this man was. He died at the battle of Endor, and since then, she has been, as best as I can assume, becoming as good, if not better, as the man she pursued."

Elladan was shocked! He had been bested by a woman! Ah, but what a woman! He would enjoy meeting this woman, perhaps, one day, when the tides of war didn't set them on opposing sides. But, until then...

Vice Admiral Smoke walked cooly into the room. He met Ripper glance with a slight bow. "My lord, Crimson NOVA has won the day. My Avengers met no resistance in the sectors we were assigned to patrol, but Captain Aeropagitica has led his men wisely, and the rebels have fled." Ripper looked down once more to the prone pilot on the medical cot. "Rest easy, child, you're getting a long deserved leave, and you'll meet up with Improv again, I assure you."

===End Personal Log, Lt. Elladan===