The cadet saluted sharply.
Absently returning the salute, Commander Dante “Stryker” Mitchell strode
into the turbolift, musing to himself over the last set of transmissions
the bridge had just received from Emperor Kane and looking over a datapad
with a slightly worried expression on his face. The Emperor, in his wisdom,
had decided that a full frontal assault upon the large Rebel fleet still
stationed at Endor was the wisest course of action at this point. As a
trusted part of the fleet, he and Rapier Squadron were being transferred
to the flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Supremacy, where Emperor Kane
himself awaited. There, Mitchell would assume the position of Wing Commander,
leading the squadrons on board the Supremacy into battle, and victory for
the Emperor.
Still, something nagged at the Commander’s mind. It was little more
than a feeling, but he could not shake the feeling of impending doom. A
slight cough interrupted Mitchell’s train of thought momentarily, and he
looked up to see the young cadet gazing at him with a strange expression
on his face.
“Is something wrong, Cadet?” asked Mitchell.
“Not at all, sir,” responded the cadet, “I just wish...well, I wish
I was going with you. To fight the Rebellion. To win glory, fame and honour,
all in the name of the Empire...just like you.”
Mitchell sighed, “Cadet, let me tell you something. You may not like
hearing it, but take it from a veteran of this battle. There’s no glory
in war. There’s no fame, and there’s certainly no honour. All war does
is kill people, plain and simple.”
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Of course.”
“If that’s true, sir - then why do you continue to fight?” the cadet
asked, with a puzzled expression on his face.
“I fight, cadet, because I feel it’s my duty. Not for glory. Not for
fame. Not for fortune, or honour, or any other romanticized ideals you
may find on the holo-vids played in the barracks. And if you don’t understand
that, cadet, then you won’t survive very long. I’ve seen one too many young
hotshots who came out here looking to make a name for themselves - and
got one, alright - engraved on a plaque. Far too many. And maybe, just
maybe, if I do my job right, there’ll be a few less plaques to bring home
after this fight.” The turbolift doors opened with a hiss, and Mitchell
stepped out onto the flight deck, then
Turning around, Mitchell watched the last-minute preparations for the
departing shuttle. On the side sat the 11 members of Rapier, light-heartedly
joking around with each other. As he spotted Mitchell, Lieutenant Solon
“Kabar” Vachon, the squad executive officer called out, “Officer on deck,”
at which the Rapiers immediately ceased their horseplay and formed up into
a straight line, each saluting crisply. Mitchell saluted in return, then
said “At ease, men,” at which the 11 pilots all relaxed somewhat. Glancing
over at Vachon, Mitchell asked “Is everything ready?”
Vachon responded, “The final checkout is complete, Commander. All pilots
are accounted for, and the shuttle is ready for departure.”
Mitchell looked up and down the line of pilots, and said, “Then let’s
go lead the fleet to victory.”
A collective cheer came from the 10 throats of the other pilots, then
was quickly silenced by Vachon, who turned and shouted, “All right ladies,
you heard the Commander, now quit hollering like a bunch of raw recruits
fresh out of the Academy and get your butts on
* * * * * * * * * *
The shuttle landed with a thump clearly audible within the cabin.
Mitchell keyed the exit ramp, and with a hiss of escaping air the ramp
began to lower to the waiting deck below. He stepped onto the still-lowering
ramp and waited for it to complete its descent. When it had, Mitchell stepped
off and was immediately greeted with a stiff salute, which he returned.
“Commander Mitchell, sir, it’s a pleasure and an honour to meet you.
I’m Lieutenant-Commander Sawl, callsign “Tracker” - I lead Katana Squadron.
And I just
“Thank you Lieutenant-Commander. Hopefully you’ll say the same thing
once we’re finished. Could you possibly show us the way to the barracks?
I’d like to get my men squared away. And then after that, I’d like to meet
with all the squad leaders on board the
“Of course, sir. If you’ll follow me...” Sawl turned and headed for
one of the lifts on the far side of the bay. Tossing a glance over his
shoulder at Vachon, Mitchell made an almost unnoticable motion with his
head, indicating they were to follow, and then he
* * * * * * * * * *
Sitting in the cockpit of his TIE Fighter, Mitchell felt the Supremacy
jerk slightly as it exited hyperspace. Almost immediately after, the crane
picked up his TIE and dropped him into space. Though he did not look behind
him, Mitchell knew the rest of Rapier Squadron was also being dropped out
into space.
“All wings, report in.” called out Mitchell as he maneuvered his TIE
towards the Rebel Fleet.
As the 11 pilots rang off their numbers, Mitchell noticed a slight shimmer
just to his left. Toggling his communicator, he asked, “Bridge, this is
Rapier Leader. Could I get a reading on that anomaly to the left?”
“Rapier Leader, this is the bridge,” answered a young voice, “Sensors
are unable to determine the nature of the anomaly. However, it does appear
to be luctuating rapidly. The Emperor advises that you maintain your distance;
he appears to be somewhat
“Unnerved, eh?” commented Kabar...“Yeah boss, I think I’d be unnerved
too by a whole lotta lights in space...at least the Emperor doesn’t have
to fly out here in it.”
“Kab, shut it down...I’m getting a funny feeling here too. I don’t like
it. Rapiers, I’m adjusting my course to ensure we maintain a distance of
2 clicks from that thing out there. I want all of you to do the same. No
arguments. It’ll take us a little longer to engage...but I have a bad feeling
about that this.”
Mitchell punched the adjusted course into the computer of his TIE as
his pilots called in affirmatives, then swung his craft to the right onto
his new heading. Glancing back left, he saw the other squadrons continuing
straight ahead. He muttered a curse, then turned on his comm again.
“Alpha Wing, this is Rapier Leader. I want you to adjust your headings
to the same one Rapier and I are on, to keep a safe distance from that
anomaly.”
“Rapier Leader, this is Sabre Leader, the anomaly appears stable enough
to pass close to...we won’t be close to it for long, anyways. And we’ll
be killing Rebels that much sooner. See you on the other side, Rapier.”
“Alpha Wing, this is Rapier Leader. I order you to adjust your heading
to the one I am currently on, to avoid the anomaly. This is a direct or
- ” Mitchell’s transmission was cut off by a sudden burst of static as
the lights suddenly flared up. An amazing display of pyrotechnics lit up
the surrounding space as the anomaly literally exploded into a cascading
storm of what seemed to be pure energy.
“Sweet mother of God,” breathed Mitchell, “It’s an ion storm! Alpha
Wing, get the hell out of there! NOW!!!”
But it was too late. Mitchell watched helplessly as the first wave of
TIEs were shattered by the enormous wave of force which came shooting out
of the core of the storm. Those to follow were no luckier, ending up either
tossed about like a child’s toy, or blasted to
“Rapier Leader, this is the Supremacy. The ion storm appears to be...moving...no
heading as of yet. But it appears to be moving towards your location. You’d
better get out of there as fast as you can.”
“Roger that, Supremacy. Recall the fleet, and prepare to hyperspace
out. Without its fighter cover, the Supremacy is a sitting duck for those
Rebel starfighters. Rapiers, let’s go. Back to the Supremacy, full throttle.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice, boss,” agreed Kabar. “I sure woulda
liked to tangle with some Rebs. But home’s lookin’ a lot nicer than that
thing out there.”
Mitchell glanced up, and saw that, miraculously enough, two TIEs had
survived the passage of the storm and were moving, though they were obviously
crippled.
“Rapiers, you head on home. I’m going to go see if I can bring those
two pilots in.”
“Okay, boss. Don’t go getting any delusions of grandeur on us, though
- it’d be a long trip home without you. Besides, then I’d have to be the
squad leader...and if you do that to me I swear I’ll spit on your grave.”
In spite of himself, Mitchell smiled. “Go on, get out of here. I’ll
see you back in the hangar.”
Flipping his power levels back to normal, Mitchell streaked towards
the two TIEs. “TIE pilots, do you read me? This is Commander Stryker. Do
you read me?”
“Commander, this is Katana Leader...I’m in pretty bad shape here.”
“Can you make it home, Tracker?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Alright, get a move on then.” Continuing onto the second, Mitchell
called, “TIE pilot, please identify yourself.”
“This is Cadet Strider, Shadow 2. Sensors are out, I’ve got propulsion
but only visual navigation.”
“Alright Shadow 2, I’m pulling in front of you. Just follow my lead
and I’ll set you on a heading for the Supremacy.”
“Roger that, Rapier Leader.”
Mitchell deftly brought his TIE in front of the other, and then slowly
set him on a course towards the Supremacy. Glancing at his scopes, Mitchell
noticed a red dot which was slowly getting brighter. Toggling his computer
readouts, he quickly identified the target.
“Dammit, there’s an A-Wing out there...it must have been on patrol.
You two continue ahead, I’ll go stall him as long as I can.” Charging his
lasers, Mitchell adjusted his course so he was on a direct heading towards
the A-Wing. Mitchell took a deep breath to calm himself. A TIE Fighter
was not the ship he would have preferred to take against the A-Wing, but
it was all he had, so he had to make do. As he came within laser range,
Mitchell let fly a quick shot, then, before even looking to see if it had
hit, he threw all
* * * * * * * * *
“Casualty report,” ordered Mitchell as he slumped into his chair in
the officer’s mess.
“Sir, all starfighters on board the Supremacy were lost, with the exception
of Rapier Squadron and the two pilots you rescued.”
“All?” asked Mitchell, his voice slightly wavering before he managed
to control it again.
“All, sir. In addition...” Here the lieutenant looked extremely uncomfortable.
“In addition, sir...the Emperor...has fallen into some kind of coma. The
medical technicians say they’ve never seen anything like it. It’s like
he’s in...hibernation.”
“What?!? Why wasn’t I informed of this???”
“He was just discovered, sir. Normally the Emperor likes to be left
alone, he communicates mostly through holonet transmissions. However, the
technicians did
The lieutenant passed over a small cube. Mitchell took it and said,
“Thank you Lieutenant. You may return to your duties on the bridge...and
not a word of speculation as to the cause of the Emperor’s collapse to
anyone else, you understand? If a single fake rumour begins, it could crush
the morale of everyone on board this ship.”
“I understand, sir.”
Turning, the lieutenant headed back to the bridge. When he had left,
Mitchell pulled out the small holotransmitter in the room and inserted
the cube. Immediately Emperor Kane’s visage appeared. He was obviously
in much pain, as he struggled to get through the whole message.
“Commander...Mitchell...the storm...which the fleet encountered....was
not just an ion
At the last, the Emperor’s strength was clearly fading, and his face
slowly disappeared from view. For a long moment, Mitchell sat, and considered
what he had just heard. Finally he got up and walked to the bridge. There,
he keyed the ship-wide comlink, and
“Crewmen of the Supremacy. I am about to broadcast a holotransmission
from Emperor Kane across the entire ship, and would like all of you to
get to a nearby holotransmitter, so that you can see it for yourselves.”
Mitchell plugged the cube in, and soon he was watching the recording
once more. When it had completed, he shut the transmitter off and glanced
around the bridge, which had sunk into a stunned silence. Then, one officer
turned to face Mitchell and knelt. One by
“En route to the New Cov system, si - my Lord.”
“Very well. I will be in the observation lounge, notify me when we reach
New Cov.” Mitchell turned and entered a waiting turbolift, and as he turned,
he heard one officer begin a chant that slowly swelled until the entire
bridge was shouting it:
turned and said, “Be thankful, cadet,” just as the doors closed again.
board!” Still shouting random obscenities, Vachon herded the Rapiers
up the ramp and on board. Shaking his head and chuckling at Vachon’s antics,
Mitchell waited until all of the pilots were inside before following them
up the ramp and into the shuttle.
wanted to say...well, that I’m looking forward to serving under you.”
Supremacy.”
himself turned and walked after Sawl.
unnerved by it’s prescence.”
atoms by jagged bolts of lightning. Mitchell’s despair was interrupted
only by a communication from the Supremacy.
power to his engines and immediately went evasive. The A-Wing pilot
tried his best to lead the erratic TIE Fighter, but Mitchell was simply
travelling too fast for the pilot to compensate, and he shot past him.
Mitchell immediately transferred power back to his engines and looped up
into a tight turn, cutting his throttle to 1/3rd to make the turn as tight
as he possibly could. As the A-Wing came into his sight again, he opened
the throttle up once more to full, quickly firing another shot off, then
dodging once more. The beleaguered A-Wing pilot obviously had never seen
a TIE pilot fly in the way Mitchell
did, as all the A-Wing did was throttle down to 1/3rd in an attempt
to get a bead on the TIE. With a grim smile on his face, Mitchell continued
his slashing attacks, literally flying circles around his much more maneuverable
opponent. A minute later the A-Wing was
just another pile of scattered parts floating in space. Looking at
his scopes once more, Mitchell saw that the only Rebel starfighters in
the area were still a good 5 kilometers out. So for the last time that
day, he re-routed all the power to his engines, and turned for the shelter
of the Supremacy.
discover this. It appears to be a recorded transmission, sir.”
storm...it sent...ripples...through the Force...an energy field...which
gives me my
power...and now........I am forced to go into a kind.....of coma...to
heal myself. In my
place......I name......you........Emperor. The Force is......strong....in
you.........at least as
strong as in myself.....and I do not.......doubt....that you will carry
on......the fight....and do...what must....be done.”
spoke.
one, all the officers slowly knelt, with awe-struck expressions on
their faces. Mitchell stood in silence for a second, then said, with a
slight smile on his face, “Get up, you all look rather funny on your knees.”
As the officers all slowly returned to their seats, Mitchell spoke again,
“Hail the rest of the fleet. We need to regroup, to plan our next attack.
Helm, what’s our status?”