Message-ID: <11239eli$9805131458@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Archived-At: From: "Walter Slaven" Subject: {Walter Slaven}"STAR WARS: The Tie Fighter"( MF MMF MFF cons Sci-Fi ) [4/5] Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d Path: qz!not-for-mail Organization: The Committee To Thwart Spam Approved: X-Moderator-Contact: Eli the Bearded X-Story-Submission: STAR WARS THE TIE FIGHTER Part Four- The Sepan Civil War GUSTAV jumped to hyperspace, leaving the Death Star, Tarkin, Vader, and J'Una behind. We had embarked Admiral Haarkov and several members of his staff and were enroute to the Sepan system. The most difficult, and potentially frustrating, mission that any military organization can be assigned is one whose objective is not clear. The real purpose of any military, when you think about it, is twofold: 1)to kill people and break things when so directed, and 2)use the threat of force to keep potential adversaries at bay and preclude the necessity for 1). The political and diplomatic machinations which direct the use of a military force may vary, but it all comes down to the same thing. When it involved fighting the Rebels our mission was very clear: find them and kill them. Period. Their mission was the same regarding Imperials. One might debate the motivations of the respective governments involved, but the missions of the two military organizations were the same: defeat the enemy. All of which brings me to our mission to the Sepan system. As its details unfolded during briefings with Admiral Haarkov and his staff, our mission was not to destroy an enemy or capture an objective, but rather to use force, or the threat of it, to separate two enemies and then bring about a settlement. Not an easy task for an organization that likes clear, precise missions. Almost no senior Imperial officer that I knew of was temperament- ally suited for diplomatic service- it requires too much give and take, too much compromise. I wondered if Admiral Haarkov was really any different. "We want to remind you," the admiral was telling us during one briefing, "that this is a peace mission. Our objective will be to come to the aid, if necessary, of whichever side is currently being attacked. These will not be mop-up missions. We will deliver a telling blow to the aggressor, whichever side that is, but always allow some to escape to tell their superiors of the might and will of the Empire. The peoples of both Dimok and Repoblus must realize that the Empire will not tolerate the undermining of its interests in this sector because of some inter-planetary squabbling." Talk about a convoluted mission, I thought. We'd probably just end up pissing off both sides and uniting them against us. And what force did we bring out here? Just our battered old frigate with a few squadrons of TIEs. Not a whole lot. The good news was that the best that either the Dimoks or Repoblans could put up against us were some older modified corvettes and some Y- wings they bought from the Rebels. They also had a lot of old Z-95's. "I want to emphasize," Haarkov continued, "that the Emperor desires a peaceful solution to the Sepan problem." Admiral Haarkov was a short man with a thin, haggard appearance. His face was gaunt, and he had the general look of a man who was under a lot of pressure and needed some sleep. He seemed to be on edge, and his voice cracked and wavered at times, but he was intense, alert and knew his mission thoroughly. "We must be prepared," the admiral said, "to act quickly and intervene to break up this conflict as soon as we reach the Sepan system." He stepped back from the podium in the center of the conference room and gestured to one of his staff officers. Commander Solut, as he had been introduced, was every bit the stereotypical mindless Imperial automoton that the general public is now so familiar with. He was tall, thin, pale, had blue eyes and spoke in a monotone. His voice never betrayed any emotion and he always acted as though he expected that the admiral would hit him at any moment. His whole demeanor was quite disconcerting. Solut moved to the podium, blinked, and shot a nervous glance at the admiral. "The Repoblans," he began, "have a mining operation on the outer moon that orbits their planet." A holographic image of Repoblus with its three moons appeared. The outer moon, by far the smallest, was colored differently, highlighting it. "Although this moon is smaller," Solut continued, "it contains great concentrations of minerals and other resources. The Repoblans routinely run convoys from the moon to refineries and manufacturing installations on Repoblus. We have information that, as a result of the current dispute, the Dimoks will attempt to disrupt these convoys." I was sitting next to Captain Kao Ijuf, flight leader of the SHAMUS groups currently stationed aboard GUSTAV. SHAMUS had suffered serious damage in an earlier operation [see pt 2] and was undergoing repairs. I leaned over to her and said dryly, "This ought to be fun. Escorting some convoy and not knowing who's going to shoot at us first." Kao nodded her agreement, the movement sending shimmers through her long, luscious red hair. "There may be instances," Commander Solut continued, "when we will have to sieze installations or vessels. Our stormtroopers must be ready if such an occasion arises." Major Maarek, our stormtrooper commander, nodded vigorously and smiled. He couldn't wait to kill people and break things. Commander Solut droned on. "We also suspect that there may be other forces at work here. Specifically, we think that the Rebel Alliance may be fomenting some of these troubles." We all perked up at that, and I noticed Admiral Haarkov shift uncomfortably, eyes darting about. The guy was definitely nervous. Kao leaned over to me. "All this and Rebels, too," she said sarcastically. "What more could a girl ask for on a mission?" I chuckled. Admiral Haarkov stood up. Commander Solut immediately resumed his seat. "The Rebel connection," the admiral began, "has not been verified." He scowled at Solut. "Imperial intelligence has received some indications that the Rebels may be involved in supplying arms to one or both sides but, again, there is no solid evidence that such a connection exists." Haarkov looked around the room, then nodded to Commander Cibock, GUSTAV's Commanding Officer. "I think that's enough for now, Commander," Haarkov said, trying to sound pleasant. "Let me know when we're entering the Sepan system." "Yes, sir," Cibock responded. "We should be there shortly." Haarkov nodded curtly in acknowledgement then abruptly left the room before we could even stand to attention, as is customary. Commander Solut and other members of Haarkov's staff scrambled after the admiral. As the room cleared out, Kao looked at me, shaking her head slightly. "I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm not used to allowing people who have been shooting at me to run away so they can come back and shoot at me again later." I nodded. "I was wondering about that, too," I said. "I suppose that the purpose is to impress these folks by not destroying an entire attack force even though we could." I shrugged. Kao's blue eyes narrowed and she scowled. "I don't like it," she said. "We ought to kick their asses and keep on kicking them until they've had enough and decide to do what we tell them to do. This half-assed approach could get a lot of us killed and still not do the job." It was hard to argue with her logic, but I looked around to make sure no one was listening. Her kind of "logic" could get us into a lot of trouble. As I've said before, opinions that differed from official Imperial policy were not well received. They usually resulted in accusations of disloyalty or other such nonsense against the person voicing the opinion. "We'll need to be careful," I said. "But you heard the admiral: hit 'em hard then let 'em go." I paused. "At least these guys don't have X-wings." Kao snorted. "Unless the Rebels show up," she said, scoffing. "Are we supposed to let them get away, too?" "I don't think so," I said, chuckling. "Obviously Haarkov and his staff don't agree on Rebel involvement to begin with." "Yeah, that whole exchange was a little odd," she said. "First Solut says there might be Rebel involvement, then Haarkov all but says there isn't. So which is it?" "I guess we'll find out," I said. "Yeah. When some X-wing flames your ass. It'll be a little late then." Kao paused, then lowered her voice. "You know, Vel," she said, "I have a bad feeling about Admiral Haarkov." "What do you mean?" I asked, curious. I took another quick look around. The room was empty, the passageways quiet. "He seems so jumpy and edgy," Kao responded. "Marina came to talk to me about that earlier." Hmmm, I thought. So it's "Marina" now, and not "Ensign Haarkov." I was unaware that Kao and the admiral's daughter, one of our maintenance officers, had anything other than a distant, professional relationship. "Ensign Haarkov came to you?" I asked, sounding surprised. "What did she want?" Kao laughed. "Of course she did. There aren't many females in this outfit so we tend to stick together. Marina is one of a handful of female officers assigned to the ship. Commander Selena's departure has left a pretty big void. She was a mentor, a counsellor to a lot of them. Now I'm the senior female onboard, so they come to me. Marina was upset and needed someone to talk to." I nodded. That all made sense. "Marina's concerned about her father," Kao said directly. "She's his only child, her mother's dead, she hasn't seen her father for over a year and he's made virtually no effort to see her or to spend time with her since coming aboard." "He is kind of busy, Kao," I said. "He's got a tough assignment, and he probably has the Emperor, Vader, Tarkin or all three breathing down his neck. That would make me jumpy and edgy." "That's what I said," Kao replied. "But Marina wouldn't buy it. She thinks there's something else going on." "Like what?" I asked, a little impatiently. Kao sighed. "Marina doesn't know. She just feels that something isn't right and it has upset her." "I hadn't noticed anything," I said. "Of course not," Kao said with a slight smile. "Marina's very brave, very professional. She wouldn't let on in public or let her personal life affect her professional performance. But believe me, we had a very long talk and I can tell you that she's worried." "OK, she's worried," I said. "What do you want me to do?" "Nothing, really," Kao replied. "I just thought you should know because Marina is a friend of yours and so that you could keep your eyes and ears open." "I'll do that," I said. "Thanks for telling me." Kao smiled and started to leave. She stopped abruptly and turned around. "So, how are you doing?" she asked. I was momentarily taken aback. "Me?" I finally managed to blurt out . "I'm fine. Why?" "I was just wondering," Kao said softly,"how you were feeling now that Commander Selena is gone." "Oh," I said. Then, after a pause, "She hasn't been gone that long, and we've been pretty busy, so I guess I haven't had much time to think about it." Kao looked at me for a long moment. "You miss her already, don't you?" "I guess I do," I responded quietly. I smiled bravely. "But I'll get over it." Kao smiled warmly. "Well, captain," she said, "maybe I'll be around when you do." She turned and left the room, and I watched her gorgeous ass sway gently as she walked. I smiled to myself. Well whaddya know? A short time later, after completing a routine inspection of my squadron's TIEs to make sure that the equipment was ready if needed on short notice, I went to the Pilot's Lounge at the extreme forward part of the ship, just below the bridge. I wanted to check on the pilots and assure myself that they, too, were ready if needed. I didn't make a habit of spending a lot of time in the lounge. I felt that, in general, it was a good idea not to get too chummy with guys that I might have to order to their deaths tomorrow. Although I have been critical of the way a lot of things are done in the Imperial Navy, I agreed with the concept of a commander keeping a distance between himself and his subordinates. Most good commanders followed this rule. It made things easier. Although my wingman, Dromo Acer, and I had become friends, that relationship was confined to off-ship and off-duty activities. Onboard GUSTAV Dromo was just another pilot in my squadron. The Pilot's Lounge was one of the nicest compartments on the ship. It was very large, spacious, comfortably appointed, had a huge window that looked forward, and, best of all, the bar was always open. Say what you will about the Empire being a rigid, autocratic, unfeeling organization. The Imperial Navy knew how to take care of its pilots, even on a small starship like GUSTAV. The lounge was crowded with both GUSTAV and SHAMUS pilots. I was pleased to see that it was getting harder to tell them apart. The efforts that Kao and I had been making to integrate all of the pilots into one team seemed to be working. A new sense of comradship was de- veloping that could only help us. I was warmly greeted by several pilots as I made my way to a large table where Dromo and several other officers were seated next to the window. Through the window I could see the stars streaking by as GUSTAV continued her hyperspace journey to the Sepan system. Dromo rose to greet me, offering a chair. "Please join us, captain," he said pleasantly. "Thanks," I replied as I sat down. Dromo handed me a glass of some kind of ale. I had to watch it with Dromo. He could come up with some pretty strange stuff. This ale, I decided as I took a preliminary sip, wasn't too bad. "Hey, captain," one of the pilots called, "any chance of getting some liberty out here?" He was one of the SHAMUS pilots, a big burly man who looked as though he would barely be able to fit into a TIE. His companion, a smaller man who had had half his face shot away and then surgically reconstructed, took a gulp from his drink, nodded and said, "I hear Dimok women can't get enough." "But, Zeno," another called, "you don't have that much to give anyway!" I joined in the laughter that erupted around the table. Typical pilots, I thought. Always worried about getting off the ship and getting laid. The pilot called Zeno scowled and took another drink. "I'm not sure how much time off we'll get out here," I said. "Remember, we're here to break up a civil war, so we probably won't endear our- selves to either side." There was a murmur of agreement. "But," I continued, "I'll keep an eye open for any liberty opportunities that arise." There were some murmured 'thank you's' and I craned my neck, looking around the room for that long flowing red hair that would identify Kao Ijuf. I couldn't find her. "Anyone seen Captain Ijuf?" I asked. Heads shook. "No, sir," one pilot said. "The captain is a great pilot and a good leader, but she doesn't socialize with us very often." Another pilot laughed. "That's because she's probably tired of most of these guys trying to get into her pants." Several pilots chuckled. "Most?" said the first in mock indignation. "You mean there's some who aren't?" Uproarious laughter greeted that remark. I was sure that every one of those SHAMUS pilots was just itching to get into bed with Kao Ijuf. What the hell? So was I. "Hey, look," said Dromo, pointing to the window. "We're coming out of hyperspace." He was right. The panoply of streaking colors gave way to the still blackness of space. In the distance I saw what I presumed was the Sepan sun. "What now?" Dromo asked me. "Well," I said thoughtfully. "Commander Cibock said he was going to patrol the space between the two rival planets, Dimok and Repoblus. That would put us in a good position to respond to trouble." I sat back in my chair and chuckled. "Sounds more like a job for a traffic cop than for an Imperial warrior, doesn't it?" Dromo scowled. He was pro-Imperial through and through. His family was very wealthy and well connected on Coruscant, the Imperial capital. They viewed the conflict strictly in economic terms. To them the Rebellion was a threat to trade, commerce, and economic development. The political ideologies involved interested them not at all. Dromo leaned forward and said to me, "I read somewhere that some military philosopher once said 'Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do or die.'" "That certainly fits us, doesn't it?" I said sarcastically. "We've done a lot of dying." Dromo's reply was cut off by the clanging, klaxon sound of the general quarters alarm. "Red alert! Red alert! Dimok attack. All pilots to your ships. All hands to battle stations. Briefing in the hangar. Red alert!" "That didn't take long," I said, taking one last gulp. Dromo and I and all the other pilots piled through the doors in a mad scramble to get to our TIEs. The alarm clanged loudly in our ears, the red lights flashing. We lumbered down stairwells and through passageways, almost like a herd of Tatooine Banthas in a stampede in our relentless drive toward the hangars. Finally, the mob dispersed as we entered the hangar, each pilot dashing off to his own TIE. I spotted Admiral Haarkov and Commander Cibock in a corner and ran toward them to find out what was happening. Kao Ijuf was just arriving also, zipping up her flight suit. I caught a glimpse of her breast as she did so and realized she was wearing nothing underneath. What had she been doing, I wondered briefly. "A Repoblus convoy is under attack," Admiral Haarkov was saying. "Just as we feared. The Dimoks intend to disrupt the Repoblan convoy system." Kao and I nodded. "You will defend the Repoblan convoy," Haarkov said to us. "But, before using force against the Dimoks, I want you to issue them a warning." Kao and I looked at each other, surprised. "A warning, admiral?" I asked. "Yes," he said tersely. "Maybe a warning will be all that is necessary." "But, admiral," Kao said, "won't a warning alert them, and give them a chance to turn and shoot first? Wouldn't it be better....." Haarkov cut her off. "Captain I gave you an order!" he shouted, almost trembling with rage. "How dare you question me. There will be no shooting on Dimok vessels until a warning has been given! Do you understand me, captain?" Kao nodded. "Yes, sir." Haarkov turned to me. His face was flushed, the veins in his neck throbbing. "What about you, Captain Tallig?" "Understood, sir," I said in my best automoton voice. "They'll get a warning." "Very well," Haarkov said, decompressing a little. During this entire exchange I noticed that Commander Cibock had been looking at Haarkov, an expression of deep concern on his face. However, he said nothing. "Any other questions, captains?" Haarkov asked. I wanted to say 'are you kidding?' but merely shook my head, as did Kao. "Dismissed," the admiral said curtly, then turned and left the hangar. Kao and I looked at each other and shrugged. She ran off toward her TIE as the hangar started to fill with the noise of TIE fighters winding up. I was approaching my TIE when I heard a voice behind me. "Captain Tallig! Captain Tallig!" I turned around as Marina Haarkov came running up to me. "I'm in a hurry, ensign," I said. "What is it?" "Yes, sir," she said. "We've installed a prototype of a new cargo scanner in your TIE." "Cargo scanner?" I asked. "Yes, sir. It scans the interior of ships for cargo. Things like munitions, contraband, droids, that sort of thing." I nodded. Another new gadget. "If you get a chance," she said, shouting above the noise, "try to fly close to a couple of container vessels and test it for us." I nodded. "I will if I can," I shouted. She nodded her thanks and ran off to assist with the launchings. I climbed into my TIE, strapped in, put on my helmet and connected the comm link. The overhead cranes began picking us up and moving the TIEs to the launching bay. The huge door in the bottom of the ship slid open, the crane lowered me through it and released my TIE into space. I engaged the twin ion engines and the craft shot forward. I looped around GUSTAV and established communications as I waited for the rest of my flight to form up. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "Flight group forming up." "Acknowledged, Gamma One." I almost wet my pants. The voice was Admiral Haarkov's! What the hell was he doing taking direct tactical control of a mission? That was something Commander Cibock or another officer should be doing, not an admiral. Was it that he didn't trust us? Or was it that he was so nervous about this operation that he felt compelled to direct it himself? Either way, it was most unusual. On my tactical displays I could see the Repoblan convoy heading toward Repoblus. It consisted of a large number of ASBO class container vessels guarded only by a handful of old Z-95's. These guys must really be counting on Imperial support, I thought. I could also see the Dimok attack force approaching. It was considerable- a flight of Y-wings, a large number of Z-95's and a Corvette. Uh, oh. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Dimoks have a Corvette. We'll need TIE bombers with some heavy stuff to tackle that one." Admiral Haarkov's reply was gruff. "We don't know that we'll need to shoot at all, Gamma One. Close the Dimoks and issue your warning. We'll worry about the Corvette later." "Roger, GUSTAV," I said. Then,"Gamma One to flight group. Formation Delta. We'll approach at two-thirds speed. Keep your lasers charged up." Formation Delta is a tight wedge formation. I chose this because, if we needed to fight, it would give us a concentrated attack. I chose a slower approach speed so as to give the Dimoks time to back off. I switched to the Sepan channel that we had been instructed to use when communicating with the Dimoks and Repoblans. "Dimok flight leader," I called, "this is Captain Tallig of the Imperial Navy." There was a pause. On my displays I saw that Kao's flight group had formed up and was following at some distance. We had planned it that way so that her group would be free to respond as the situation dictated. "Imperial Navy, this is Commander Tegy of the Dimok Self Defense Force. What do you want?" The voice was edgy and impatient. Self Defense Force? That was a new one, especially coming from a guy who was leading a flight in an attack on a convoy. I also noticed that he did not respond to my name. He wanted to remain impersonal. OK by me. "Dimok flight leader," I said in my most authoritarian sounding voice, "you are ordered to cease and desist your aggressive action against the Repoblan convoy." The response was quick. "Imperial Navy, you have no business here. I suggest you get out of our way. Any interference will be met by force." I decided to try one more time. "Dimok flight leader," I said sternly, "I must warn you that if you persist in this attack the Imperial Navy will stop you." If that didn't do it, I thought, nothing will. There was no response. Instead, a large part of the Dimok attack force turned and headed toward us, just as Kao had predicted. Giving the warning had cost us the element of surprise. "GUSTAV, Gamma One, " I said. "The warning didn't work.They are moving to attack us." "Roger, Gamma One," Haarkov said with a sigh. "Commence your attack, but remember, hit them hard but don't chase them if they run. We'll commence launching TIE bombers to take on the Corvette." "Acknowledged," I replied. At least he was doing that. "Gamma One to Gamma flight," I called, "accelerate to maximum speed and begin attack. Gamma Two, you're with me." "Roger, Gamma One," Dromo replied. Through my viewfinder I could see him take up his customary position just behind and to the left of me. "Tau leader, this is Gamma leader," I said, calling Kao. "A group of Dimok craft is still closing the convoy. Move to intercept. We'll handle this group." "Acknowledged, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We're on our way." Having covered all the bases, I now concentrated on our attack. Our tight formation sped toward the Dimoks, who had sent a couple of Y-wings and a lot of Z-95's against us. Although they heavily outnumbered us I was confident. For all its faults the TIE thoroughly outclassed both the Z-95, which was quite obsolete, and the Y-wing, though the latter was heavily shielded and tough to knock out. I was also supremely confident in my pilots. Most of us had flown together a long time and operated as a smooth, efficient Imperial machine. Add to this the fact that our TIEs had recently been modified to carry concussion missiles and you had what I felt was a truly superior fighting force. Particularly against relatively inexperienced pilots in out of date starfighters. As we closed the Dimoks I noticed that they were approaching in a rather loose formation. Too bad for them, I thought. Our tight wedge of TIEs barrelled into the Dimoks at top speed and three Dimok craft became space junk in a matter of seconds. Our formation dissolved as the battle quickly became one of individual contests. Dromo broke off to flame a Z-95 that had gotten behind one of our TIEs. I targeted a Y-wing and got behind him. I activated the speed matching device, set my lasers on dual fire and began pounding away. I quickly took down his shields but the Y-wing twisted and turned violently, making it difficult to maintain a lock. I stayed with him but the bastard was re- charging his shields. He twisted and turned and looped and dove all over the place but, since the TIE is considerably more maneuverable than a Y-wing, I was able to hang on and take the occasional shot as I tried to regain a lock. The Y-wing jerked wildly to the right and headed toward a couple of Dimok Z-95's which were headed toward us. Uh-oh. He's got help on the way. I didn't like one on three even if I was in a TIE. I activated the missile system, got a partial lock and fired two of my four missiles, then jerked my TIE upward in a loop to meet the Z-95's. Sometimes you're lucky, and sometimes you're not. This time I was lucky. My two missiles found their mark and the Y-wing disintegrated. I didn't savor the victory long, however. The two Z-95's approached me, lasers blazing away. I put my TIE into a tight roll, sidestepped them, then jerked her around hard to the left and came in behind them. It was a pretty fancy maneuver that I'm sure those poor Dimok bastards never saw before. Or would see again. I got a quick lock on the nearest Z-95, put my lasers on rapid single fire and hammered away. My lasers quickly disabled the Z-95's shields then cut into his port engine mount. The port wing disintegrated and then the entire craft exploded. I was so close that I had to fly through the debris and I felt it clatter against my hull. The second Z-95 had looped to the right, hoping to evade me. I was on his ass before he knew it. His attempts at evasion were pathetically amateur and, as I blew his ship apart, I thought that this was quickly becoming a massacre. We had lost only one TIE so far and the Dimok force sent to attack us had been decimated. On my tactical display I could see that Kao's flight was having similar success nearer the convoy, though that Corvette was causing problems. I noticed that the TIE bombers had launched, however, and should make short work of that Corvette if it stayed around. The remnants of the Dimok force facing my group turned and began running away. A couple of my pilots, their blood up, pursued. I put a quick halt to that. "Gamma One to Gamma flight, let them go, boys," I called. "All units form up on me. That convoy still needs help." Kao's flight group now had its hands full. That damned Corvette was stubbornly pressing home its attack, trying to get at the Repoblan convoy. Kao had lost two TIE's and still had a bunch of Z-95's to worry about. The few Repoblan Z-95's stayed well clear of the action, content to let the Empire's minions save their asses. "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "we've run off this bunch. We're on our way to assist you." "Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We can use the help." Several Dimok Z-95s had managed to break away and get in among the Repoblan convoy. The Repoblan Z-95s fired a few shots then took off, the bastards. The convoy broke up and scattered all over the place as the Dimok vessels made repeated attack runs. The ASBO container vessel, while slow and underarmed, is quite large, much larger than a starfighter. It takes more than a few laser hits to knock one out. Also, when operating in close to these vessels you have to be careful that you don't collide with one. The ASBO has the law of gross tonnage on its side and you lose. Particularly in an unshielded fighter. I was pretty pissed off when I saw the Repoblan Z-95s, who were supposed to be guarding the convoy, run away. I wanted to call the whole thing off and let the Dimoks have their way, but I remembered that our primary mission was to protect the convoy. We formed up and dove in among the ASBOs and the Dimok starfighters, adding to the total mess and confusion that the melee had become. I maneuvered between two ASBOs and flamed a Z-95 that had been strafing them. I looped around another container and covered Dromo while he killed another Z-95. The Dimok Corvette was shooting at the container vessels now, scoring several hits. Finally, the TIE bombers were within range to commence attacking the Corvette with heavy space bombs. The space bomb can be a devastating weapon, but it must be launched at point blank range. Unlike the missile or proton torpedo, the space bomb does not have its own propulsion. It is "lobbed" at its target. Thus, the bomber has to get very close, release the bomb, pull up and get the hell away. It is not conducive to a long life and I had nothing but respect for those guys in slow, unmaneuverable craft flying right into the teeth of enemy fire to deliver their weapon. Apparently, the Dimoks in the Corvette knew enough about TIE bombers and space bombs to know they'd get wasted real fast if they hung around. The Corvette turned and started heading away. We let it go, though I knew that the bomber pilots really wanted to blow the thing to hell. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Dimoks are retiring." "Acknowledged, Gamma One," Haarkov replied. "What is the condition of the convoy?" "They're fairly scattered and confused right now," I replied. "A few were shot up a bit, but nothing serious. Their escorts ran away." "Understood," Haarkov said gruffly. "Form up your groups and return to GUSTAV." That was odd. The convoy would have no escort for the remainder of the trip to Repoblus. "GUSTAV, do you want me to have a couple TIEs provide an escort?" "Negative!" Haarkov exclaimed, almost blowing out my earpiece. "All units return at once." "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. At least that was clear enough. I directed Dromo and Kao to form up the groups and head back to the ship. I remembered that Marina Haarkov had asked me to test a new scanner, so, while I was in among the ASBOs, I thought this would be as good a time as any. I activated the scanner and flew past the nearest vessels. The readout on the scanner indicated that their cargo consisted of raw materials found on the Repoblan moon. Normal enough. It was when I flew past the third ASBO that I did a double take. A red light flashed on the scanner and the readout indicated that the cargo consisted of Imperial style arms and munitions. What the hell? Since the scanner was a new gadget I thought it might have a few bugs. I reset it and flew past the container vessel again. Again, the red light flashed and the readout indicated Imperial war materials. This merited reporting. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. Admiral Haarkov seemed annoyed. "What is it, Captain," he said, ignoring call signs and other communications protocol. I guess admirals can do that. "GUSTAV, I just flew by a container vessel that appears to be carrying Imperial weaponry." I could hear the jaws hit the deck in GUSTAV's Operations Center. I was only sorry I couldn't see Haarkov's face. "Imperial weaponry!" Haarkov spluttered. "How the hell would you know?" I couldn't tell if he was more angry at the possibility of Imperial weapons in the hands of the Repoblans, or at me for finding it out. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called, refusing to abandon procedure. "I'm testing a scanner. It identified two vessels as containing raw materials, but lit up on the third." There was a long pause. I kept circling the containers. I noticed that the other flight groups had been recovered. "Gamma One, GUSTAV," a new voice called. Commander Cibock. "Allow the vessels to proceed and return to GUSTAV." I was still confused. Why let a ship with Imperial weapons, which no one but us is supposed to have, proceed? Shouldn't we stop it or board it or something? I decided that it would be useless to ask these questions. "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. "I'm on my way in." I turned my TIE away from the container vessels and sped toward home, my mind full of questions, doubts and suspicions. I knew something was amiss shortly after I landed. The tractor beam operator set my TIE down into its stall and I quickly went through the post-flight checklist. I disconnected my comm link and dropped through the hatch at the bottom of the starfighter. I pulled off my helmet and saw Commander Solut, one of Haarkov's staffers, waiting for me near the hangar door. Times change, I thought, remembering how it had always been J'Una, tall, passionate, sexy, waiting for me at the end of a mission. Instead, here was this toady. What concerned me more was the fact that with him were two fully armed and equipped storm- troopers. Uh-oh. "Hi, Commander," I said, trying hard to be friendly. "Pretty successful mission, eh?" The commander was not impressed and his expression never changed. "The admiral would like to see you, Captain," he said mechanically. "Please follow me." He turned abruptly and started out of the hangar. The two stormtroopers fell in behind us, an uncomfortable presence. Commander Solut remained stoically silent throughout our walk from the hangar forward and up to the Admiral's cabin, located above the bridge. The stormtrooper on guard outside the cabin saluted the commander and announced our arrival over his intercom. The door slid open and Solut and I entered, our escorts remaining outide. Even smaller ships like GUSTAV have special quarters reserved for Admirals and other dignitaries or VIPs. The Admiral's cabin on GUSTAV was relatively palatial when compared to those of lesser officers. Rank does have its privileges. Admiral Haarkov was seated behind a large desk flanked by several computer consoles. I was relieved to see that Commander Cibock was also in the room, standing next to Haarkov's desk. The admiral looked even more worn out than he had earlier. Haarkov looked up from one of the consoles. "Greetings, captain," he said without feeling. "Your people did a fine job today. The Dimoks were driven off and the Repoblan convoy made it safely to its destination." I nodded stiffly. "Thank you, admiral," I said. "So where in your orders," Haarkov said grimly, "were you authorized to inspect the cargo of Repoblan container vessels?" He glared first at me, then at Commander Cibock. "I wasn't, sir," I acknowledged. "Then, what were you doing, captain?" Haarkov's voice grew more menacing. I had the feeling that there was something going on here, but I couldn't figure out what. Shouldn't the admiral be glad we discovered Imperial arms on a Repoblan vessel. Shouldn't we be trying to find out how they got there? "I was asked by the maintenance department to check out a new scanner, admiral," I responded. "After our mission was accomplished I saw an opportunity to do so, so I did." I decided not to mention the fact that Ensign Haarkov, the admiral's own daughter, had been the one who had made the request. I figured it might piss him off even more and get her into trouble. "You were requested by the maintenance department?" Haarkov asked sarcastically. "Did it ever occur to you that the Repoblans might take offense to such action? That they might think we're giving information to the Dimoks?" His voice rose in anger. "We're here trying to break up a civil war, dammit, not throw fuel onto the fire!" He was really pissed now, but I couldn't see how inspecting cargo could cause such a fuss, unless we weren't supposed to know about the arms. I could see how that might upset the Repoblans, but it shouldn't upset our admiral so much. Unless...... "Admiral, if I may," Commander Cibock interjected, derailing my thoughts. Haarkov glared at him. "We received several prototypes of a new scanner while we were at the Death Star," Cibock began. He was defending me in front of the admiral, and I appreciated it. "We also received a request from Imperial R&D to test the prototypes at our convenience. I instructed the maintenance department to do just that." Haarkov seemed to relax a little, but he was still tense and angry. "Very well, commander," Haarkov said reluctantly. "I can appreciate your position. In the future, however," and his voice became cold again, "you will make no changes to my instructions without my approval. Is that clear, commander?" Cibock stiffened. "Yes, sir, it is." "Alright, then," Haarkov said, smiling. He sat back in his chair. "Just so we understand each other." Commander Cibock nodded. There was an uneasy silence, then, feeling either bold or foolish, I opened a can of worms. "Admiral," I said softly, "what about the Imperial arms I found on that Repoblan container vessel?" Haarkov's eyes narrowed, his face became red and I could quickly see that I had succeeded in pissing him off again. Commander Cibock looked at me as if to say 'what did you do that for?' Haarkov could barely control his anger. "There will be no talk outside of this room about Imperial arms on a container vessel." He glared at Cibock. "No mention will made in any reports, is that clear, Commander?" Cibock nodded. "Yes, sir." "We are not here to act as customs agents," Haarkov continued. "Our job is to prevent a civil war and I won't jeopardize that mission by irritating the Repoblans by spying on them!" "Understood, sir," Cibock said. Haarkov stood up abruptly. "Commander, captain," he said to us, "that is all. You are dismissed." "Thank you, admiral," Commander Cibock said formally. He and I turned and walked past a silent Commander Solut and through the doors. The stormtroopers acknowledged Cibock and he beckoned me to follow him. We walked in silence down the passageway to the Commanding Officer's stateroom, located right behind the bridge. Cibock entered his access code, the doors slid open and we entered. Cibock walked across the room to the large window behind his desk and spent several moments staring out into space. The Sepan sun was visible, a bright ball far in the distance as GUSTAV patrolled the system at sub- light speed. I had served with Commander Cibock long enough to know that he had something on his mind and would talk about it when he was ready, so I waited in respectful silence. After all, he had just gone to bat for me with Admiral Haarkov. Many senior Imperial officers would have covered their own asses and let their subordinates hang. Finally, Commander Cibock turned around. He suddenly looked much older than he was. His forehead was furrowed and the wrinkles around his eyes seemed deeper than they had been. "Captain," he said slowly, "I never thought I'd say this, but I want you to disregard the admiral's order and to continue testing that scanner." "Sir?" I asked, confused. This was extraordinary! A commander directing a subordinate to disregard an admiral's order? He could get us both killed. "Captain," Cibock continued, "there's something more going on here than merely preventing a civil war. Someone had to provide those Imperial weapons to the Repoblans. And what are they doing with them? I think these questions need answering because the answer may involve treason and open collaboration with the enemy." "Enemy, sir?" Now I was really confused. "I thought we weren't to consider the Dimoks or Repoblans as enemies." What was he getting at? "I'm not talking about the Dimoks or Repoblans," he said calmly. "I'm talking about collaboration with the Rebel Alliance." I was stunned. "Are you suggesting that Admiral Haarkov is providing Imperial weapons to the Rebels?" Cibock smiled. "Not yet. But I think we owe it to ourselves to find out. After all, getting killed by one's own weapons in the hands of the enemy is a most unsuitable fate, don't you think?" "Yes, sir," I said slowly. I sure wouldn't want Imperial lasers or missile technology used against me or my pilots. "I want you to continue scanning for contraband shipments while we're here," Cibock continued. "Cargo vessels, space platforms, whatever presents itself. But be discreet. Don't call in or download your findings. Wait until you return and tell me only." I nodded. "Yes, sir." "Also, don't be obvious it, either. If the mission doesn't get you close enough to scan, wait for another opportunity. Haarkov will be watching closely." "That shouldn't be a problem, commander," I said. "I can stretch or modify most flights to go where we need to go." Cibock smiled. "Good. I don't think I need to tell you that we must keep this between us. It could be that my suspicions are groundless. In that case, embarassing the admiral and pissing off the Dimoks or Repoblans would be counter-productive." He smiled again. What he meant was that it would be the end for both of us. "But if I'm right," he continued, "then we will pass along what we find to Imperial High Command for them to take action." He paused, and I could tell that this whole business bothered him. "I don't like spying on a fellow officer," he said gravely. "There's too much spying and distrust in the Navy to begin with. But I can't stand the thought of an officer in the Imperial Navy smuggling weapons to our enemies. Admiral Haarkov is also in charge of some large supply installations. It might be interesting to check their inventories." "Why would somebody like Admiral Haarkov do that?" I asked. "Assuming that he is." Commander Cibock sighed. "I don't know, captain," he said slowly. "I suppose there are a lot of reasons. Money, power, revenge, ideology. Who knows? It could be that Admiral Haarkov isn't directly involved but knows who is. Of course," he said smiling, "we could be getting ahead of ourselves here. So, let's just continue our informal inquiry and see where it leads us. OK?" "Yes, sir," I responded. Cibock nodded and I knew the conversation was over. I saluted and left. We didn't fly at all for the next three days. All was quiet between the Dimoks and Repoblans, at least as far as we could tell, and Admiral Haarkov refused even to allow us to fly patrols. He said he wanted to avoid any chance of provocation, but Commander Cibock and I felt that he really wanted to keep us away from any convoys. We had daily briefings, of course. The admiral kept telling us how tense the situation still was. He had tried to mediate the Dimok-Repoblan dispute, but hadn't had much luck. The Repoblans were still pissed about the attack on their convoy. Admiral Haarkov was afraid that they would retaliate in spite of the fact that he had warned them that GUSTAV would intervene. Another interesting development was my relationship with Kao. From a rather stormy beginning, we were developing a respect and a friendship that seemed to be warm and genuine. We spent a lot of time together when we weren't checking our TIEs or conducting training sessions for our pilots. We took walks around the ship together and she actually came into the Pilots' Lounge with me a couple of times. There wasn't anything physical, yet. I could tell that, for whatever reason, she wasn't ready for that. Maybe she was being sensitive to the fact that I still missed J'Una and didn't want to appear intrusive. There were enough hints, though, to keep my hopes, and my cock, up. Despite the warmth and openness she was displaying, which was a significant change from her previous behavior, I could sense that Kao was holding something back. Not just the sex. Something else. Something that was an integral part of who she was, or had become. Something that would help explain the intensity that she brought to her role as a starfighter pilot. I tried several times to bring it out, sensing that she really did want to talk about it, but I was politely rebuffed each time. I finally came to the conclusion that she'd tell me when she was ready, when she could trust me. After three days of doing nothing but sit around as GUSTAV slowly patrolled back and forth between Dimok and Repoblus, we were hurriedly summoned to a briefing with Admiral Haarkov. We had barely gotten into our seats when Haarkov hurried in, waving us back into our seats as we began to rise. He seemed to be quite dis- traught and agitated. Commander Cibock followed him into the room. His face was ashen, his head was slightly bowed and he appeared to be in a complete daze, as though he was unaware of where he was, but was operating on some kind of reflex or instinct. I had never seen him like this. Kao and I exchanged worried looks. The thought briefly flashed through my mind that somehow Haarkov had discovered Commander Cibock's intent to continue searching for stolen Imperial weapons. I quickly dismissed that thought because we hadn't done any actual searching. It didn't take a well developed sixth sense or a Jedi to figure out that something wasn't right. I was, however, completely unprepared for what came next. Admiral Haarkov, his hands visibly trembling, moved to the podium. He stood there for a long moment, seemingly unable to speak. Finally, he glanced over at Commander Cibock, then took a deep breath. "Officers of the Imperial Frigate GUSTAV," he began slowly, almost inaudibly, "it is my sad duty to relay some most unfortunate news. We have just received word from Imperial Headquarters that the Death Star was destroyed in battle by the Rebel Alliance." Startled murmurs and exclamations immediately broke out among the officers. I sat stunned and disbelieveing. My heart started racing un- controllably until I felt it would explode out of my chest and, as a reflex, I grabbed Kao's arm which had been resting on the arm of my chair. She turned and looked at me, a mixture of horror and fury in her eyes that suddenly changed to concern as she saw how distraught I must have appeared. I was almost oblivious to my surroundings, to everything, in fact except the image of J'Una that was now dancing through my brain. Admiral Haarkov allowed the shock to pass through us before continuing. "Unfortunately I must also tell you that other than Lord Vader whose fighter was thrown clear somehow, there are no known survivors." There was an audible gasp in the room and I saw Commander Cibock put his head in his hands. Through the veil of grief, disbelief, and anger that I felt coming over me I recalled that Commander Cibock had a son on the Death Star. My grip on Kao's arm tightened to the point where she had to gently pry my fingers loose. "How could this have happened, admiral?" someone in the back called out. "Details are sketchy," Haarkov responded, "but here is what we know. Imperial intelligence had traced a Rebel base to a moon of the planet Yavin. The Death Star was ordered to proceed to Yavin and destroy the base. The Rebels resisted and attacked the Death Star. In the ensuing battle the Death Star was destroyed. I'm afraid we know little more than that." Shock was beginning to turn to anger. "How could the Rebels have possibly destroyed the Death Star?" one officer shouted angrily. "There must have been treachery involved." An ominous murmur passed through the room. Haarkov cut it off. "Silence," he commanded sternly. Immediately the room got quiet. Haarkov softened his tone. "I know that this comes as a great shock to us all. To lose so many comrades, over twenty thousand, at once will be difficult for us to accept, and I want to express my sympathies to you, Commander Cibock," Haarkov turned and bowed toward GUSTAV's Commanding Officer, "and to all of you who may have lost a friend or loved one aboard the Death Star. It is a great blow to us all. Commander Cibock will make the announcement to the ship's crew shortly.I assure you that we will pass along relevant information when it becomes available." He paused for a moment, hands still trembling. "In the meantime, we have a mission to accomplish out here, so let's all remain professional and do our jobs well. In that way we can pay tribute to those who have perished." Haarkov nodded to Commander Cibock and quickly exited the room. I was still too stunned to stand with the rest of the officers. I just sat there. I don't think Haarkov noticed or cared. As he walked past where I was sitting I could see, now, that he was livid and I heard him mutter, "This madness must stop." Then he was gone and the room dissolved into expressions of shock, disbelief and anger. Several officers crowded around Commander Cibock, offering condolences. I had never met his son, but I knew how proud Cibock had been of him. I just sat there, staring at nothing, my mind reeling. Kao leaned over and asked me if I was alright. I nodded and then stood up and walked out. I had to get away from that room, from those people. I started wandering down a passageway, not knowing where I was going, oblivious to the activity around me. My mind was having trouble accept- ing what I had just heard. The Death Star? Gone? Just like that? J'Una gone, too? All those people gone? Tarkin? All gone except Vader? How did he manage to get away, the scumbag. Did he abandon everyone? How could the Rebels have destroyed something that seemed so power- ful? My mind was so overwhelmed by an onslaught of thoughts and emotions that I became confused and disoriented and, for a moment, forgot where I was or what I was doing. My legs were working, however, and I continued through passageways and down ladders until I found myself in the hangar. I walked over to where my TIE was parked and sat down underneath it, my back resting against one of the solar panels, the bottoms of which served as landing gear. It felt somewhat comforting, sitting there under my TIE. In that part of the ship I could feel the deck vibrate softly with the hum of the engines and I tried to relax and get control. It was difficult. For a while, every- where I looked all I could see was J'Una with her big smile, sleek ebony skin and fire red eyes. No more would I hear her laugh, share our hopes and aspirations or feel her powerful embrace. She was gone, and for what? For the Emperor? For the Imperial Navy? For what great purpose had she and all the people who had loyally served on the Death Star perished? It suddenly occurred to me, as I was asking myself these questions and trying to find a focus for my anger, that this was what war was really all about. This was what the survivors had to endure. And, undoubtedly, I had caused this very same thing to happen to others. Everytime I flamed a Rebel starfighter, or everytime I lost a TIE pilot, someone, somewhere surely went through these same feelings and asked themselves similar questions. I had approached combat with a cold, detached, 'just another day at the office' attitude. That's the way we were taught and that's what all the Imperial leadership manuals said. The 'people' cost of what we were doing did not enter into the picture. It wasn't supposed to. Never allow emotions to play a part. I wondered if I would ever be able to view combat in the same way again. Yes, I told myself, this is what war really is all about. And it stinks. I don't know how long I sat there before I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up and saw Kao smile and sit down next to me, her red hair flowing about her. "I thought I'd find you here," she said softly. "Are you alright?" I nodded. "I guess so." Kao looked at me skeptically. "If you say so," she said wryly. Obviously she didn't believe me. "Admiral Haarkov received another communique from Imperial Headquarters," she continued. "Do you want to hear what happened?" "Sure," I said quietly. "The Rebels attacked with X and Y-wing starfighters," she began. "They got under the Death Star's heavy defenses, so Vader led a bunch of TIEs out to defeat them. He didn't get them all. The Rebels used proton torpedoes and managed to find a weakness in the Death Star. That's how they destroyed it. Imperial Headquarters says that the Rebels had somehow obtained a set of plans for the Death Star. I guess that's how they found the weakness." I leaned back and closed my eyes for a moment. Suddenly, the pattern of recent events became startlingly clear. I sat up straight. "So that explains it," I exclaimed. "Explains what, Vel?" Kao asked, puzzled. "It explains everything, Kao." The light bulb had really come on inside my brain and in my exhuberance to explain it, I babbled. "It explains the whole fucking mess we've been through," I said. "The appearance of the Rebels out in the badlands in the Epsilon quadrant. Admiral Thrawn and two fucking fleets chasing ghosts all over the place. And the attack on Resead [see pts 1 and 2]. Don't you see?" I was intense now. Talking about this gave me an opportunity, albeit brief, to forget about J'Una and I was taking full advantage of it. Kao, however was completely confused and must have thought I'd lost it. "What are you talking about?" she asked, shaking her head. "They fucked us, Kao," I said, my voice rising. "They fucked us good." "Who?" she asked, still not following. "The Rebels," I responded. "They were after the Death Star all the time. All that noise out in Epsilon was just that. Noise. They wanted us to go charging out there to divert our attention from agents they must have had stealing the Death Star plans. They even sacrificed an entire planet to ensure that we took the bait." Kao looked at me, amazed. "And we took it," I said bitterly. "We took the whole thing." I started winding down. My exhuberance had expended itself. "And now," I said "I don't know who to be more pissed at: the Rebels, the Empire, or at J'Una for taking that damned job and getting herself killed." I looked at Kao and tried to smile. Kao stood up next to the TIE. She extended her hand toward me and said, "Come on." I got up and she turned and started walking. I went along, not sure where she was going or what she had in mind. We walked wordlessly through the ship. Crew members were still going about their normal activities, but I noticed that they seemed somewhat subdued. We arrived at Kao's quarters. She punched in her access code, the door slid open and we entered her room, the door sliding closed be- hind us. Kao led me into the room, which was similar to my own, and motioned for me to sit in a chair. I sat down, saying nothing, and waited. Kao remained standing, and began pacing back and forth in front of me. She stopped suddenly and turned to face me, blue eyes fierce with intensity. "I want to tell you something, Vel," she began, "something I don't talk about much." She paused as if to gather herself for some difficult task. "A number of years ago I lived with my parents on Sienar 6. They both worked for Sienar Fleet Systems." I nodded. Sienar Fleet Systems was the largest manufacturer of Imperial war materials and built, among other things, the TIE series of starfighters. They had constructed numerous large installations, usually on a terra-formed planet or moon. "We had a nice house," Kao continued. "My mother was a design engineer and my father was a production manager. Sienar had built a university there and I was attending classes, like lots of other kids. Life was pretty good." Her voice broke and her eyes became moist. "The Rebel High Command," she went on, "had decided that one way to defeat the Empire was to attack its source of production of starfighters and other munitions. So, they conducted a series of raids on Sienar installations. They sent fifty or sixty starfighters after Sienar 6. X-wings and Y-wings." She stopped again, her eyes filling with tears. One slipped out of the corner of her left eye and slid down her face. She quickly wiped at it. "The Rebels also had collaborators on the planet who disabled the ground defenses," she said, struggling to continue. I was moved by her vulnerability. Right then she was far from the brassy, overconfident, kick-ass starfighter pilot. She was revealing another side of herself and I felt somehow honored that she would reveal it to me. "The starfighters hyperspaced in," she went on, "and attacked the installation. They used laser cannon, missiles, proton torpedoes. They strafed and they bombed until the whole place was a smoking wreck. Then they left. Two thousand civilian workers, including my parents, were killed." Tears were flowing freely now. I stood up. "Kao, I'm sorry," I said and held my arms open to her, but she shook her head. "There's more," she said. "My life was completely destroyed that day and I swore to get even with the bastards. I had an uncle- my mom's brother- who had some influence and was able to get me into the academy. Not many females get in, but I did. The whole time I was there I had one goal: to become a starfighter pilot. I didn't care that no female had qualified as a pilot before. I just wanted to kill Rebels, and I let nothing stop me. I made it, and here I am." She laughed harshly. "I've made few friends, had fewer loves. My sole purpose in life since that day on Sienar 6 has been to kill Rebels. And I've killed hundreds of them. And you know," she said, voice breaking, "every time I flame one of those bastards, I say to myself , 'there's one less son of a bitch who can kill some kid's parents.'" Sobbing uncontrollably now, Kao threw herself into my arms and buried her face in my shoulder. I put my arms around her and held her tightly. I felt her body heave and shudder as she cried. It had obviously been a long time since she had talked about her parents and about what had happened. She was trying to tell me that she understood what I must be feeling, having suffered a grievous loss of her own at the hands of our enemies. She was trying to alleviate some of my pain by sharing her own, even though it was costing her. Perhaps she was also trying to warn me against becoming consumed with hatred, against becoming an unfeeling, mindless killing machine which she evidently feared was happening to her. What she was doing struck me as an incredible act of kindness. I held her even closer to me and I gently stroked her long red hair. After a while she pulled back and looked at me. "Vel," she said, her voice still heavy with emotion, "I hate this fucking war. I hate what it's done to me, and I hate what it's going to do to you." I looked at her for a long moment, then smiled at her. "I think we'll be alright, Kao," I said, trying to reassure her. Trying to reassure myself, as well, in all honesty. "I'm not at all certain what the greater purpose of this war is, either. Ever since I left Kuan, it's what I do." Kao had stopped crying now, but her eyes were still moist. Smiling at me, she pulled off her jacket and then began to slowly unbutton her shirt. I was momentarily taken aback. I hadn't foreseen that our emotional con- versation would end in a sexual encounter. "Kao," I said softly. "Are you sure about this?" She pulled open the shirt, revealing her beautiful, full breasts. She stood looking at me, her blue eyes no longer sad, her luscious red hair framing her face and flowing down over her shoulders to her breasts. Kao smiled at me and cupped her hands under her breasts. "Yes," she said quietly. "I'm very sure." I may not have anticipated this, but I had learned to take advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself, and I knew Kao well enough to know that she knew what she was doing, so I didn't hesitate. I walked over to her and kissed her deeply, my hands fondling her tits. The luscious round globes filled my palms and, as our tongues battled each other, I gently stroked the undersides of her breasts, causing her to shudder. Kao pressed herself more forcefully against my palms and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling my mouth more tightly against hers. It was a long, slow, languorous kiss and I had no desire to hurry it, though my cock was surging into a full erection inside my pants. I ran my hands along the sides of Kao's breasts, then slowly up and down her sides inside her opened shirt. I could feel her breathing quicken. Her tongue continued to explore deep inside my mouth and she occasionally uttered soft little moans. She finally broke the kiss, leaving us both gasp- ing with its intensity. Kao smiled at me, blue eyes shining, and then ran her tongue sensuously around her lips. The sight was incredibly arousing and I pulled her toward me and began another kiss. I couldn't get enough of her lips. I ran my hands down her back and slipped them inside her pants to cup her ass. It was slim and firm and, still kissing her, I pulled her against me so that she could feel my erection against her. She moaned and ground her pelvis slowly against me. I slowly peeled Kao's shirt off of her shoulder, kissing and licking at the base of her neck, her collarbone and her shoulder. Kao moaned softly and licked my ear. The sensation ran straight to my cock, causing it to become even harder. I continued to kiss and lick my way down her arm. I pulled the sleeve off of the end of her hand and kissed her fingers. I started to work my way slowly back up her arm to do the same thing with the other sleeve. I kissed her upper arm, her shoulder and worked my way to the top of her chest. Kao was breathing heavily now, breasts heaving, and her sur- prisingly strong arm gripped the back of my head, holding me to her. I ran my tongue slowly down her chest, over her breast to the nipple, leaving a wet trail. I flicked the nipple with my tongue and then gently sucked on it, but only for a moment. I was teasing her and I could feel her trembling with anticipation. I moved to the other breast, flicked the nipple, then slowly licked up to the shoulder that was still covered by the shirt. I kissed her arm, easing the shirt off and letting it drop. Kao was now naked from the waist up and I stopped kissing her to step back and look at her. Kao was stunning, a vision of beauty. Her blue eyes were moist with passion and emotion, her long red hair framed her face and flowed down to her breasts, whose nipples were erect with arousal. There was a slight red flush across the white skin of her chest, giving evidence of her grow- ing excitement. Looking at her then it was hard to think of her as a steel- nerved, dispassionate starfighter pilot. She seemed soft, sensuous, vulnerable. In many ways, I thought, Kao was the antithesis of J'Una, who had radiated strength, power, lust and raw sexuality. I drove thoughts of J'Una from my mind. Standing there looking at Kao, I felt a strange and unique feeling begin to wash over me. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I welcomed it and let it flow through me. I really wanted this woman, but it was more than that. I wanted to share myself with her, which is more than just fucking. I stripped off my shirt and Kao moved close to me and ran her hands over my chest in a soft, tentative, exploring way. She bent her head down and began kissing and licking my chest and my nipples as I had hers. I reveled in the sensations she caused as she nipped at my chest with her teeth. I eased her into a sitting position on a couch and crouched down at her feet. I removed one of her boots and the sock and then kissed her foot, running my tongue across her ankle, and then sucking on her toes. She shivered when I took her big toe into my mouth and sucked and bit it. I did the same with the other foot. Kao was breathing heavily in her arousal. I ran my hands up the insides of her thighs, caressing her through her trousers. She moaned and thrust her pelvis back at my hand. We had said nothing to each other thus far. Words somehow seemed unnecessary. We were so caught up in passion, in the blossoming forth of very deep and powerful feelings that we were exactly in tune with each other and, without saying anything, each seemed to know what the other wanted and needed. At that moment, as I looked up at Kao, it felt almost as though the very core of our beings had merged. It was a wonderful, exciting and frightening rush of emotions and sensations. And we both still had our pants on! I leaned forward and planted a kiss on Kao's crotch, tongueing it through the fabric of her dark uniform trousers. I moved up and kissed her flat, toned belly and tongued her navel. She squirmed and raised her ass off the couch and unsnapped the trousers in an unspoken invitation to me to remove them. I reached around her and began peeling the tight-fitting garment off of her hips and down her thighs. As her crotch was uncovered I was inundated with the wonderful smell of a very aroused woman. I pulled the trousers off of her, tossed them behind me somewhere, and returned my attention to her pussy. I ran my hand slowly up the inside of Kao's thigh to her cunt, feeling her shiver with pleasure. Her cunt was already dripping with her passion and I drew my finger along her outer lips, feeling her cunt juices flow over it. Kao spread her legs opening her pussy to me and I swiftly shoved two fingers inside and began a slow in and out motion, flicking her clit with my thumb. A low moan which almost sounded like a grunt escaped her and she lay back on the couch, legs spread, back arched, her fingers pulling at her aroused nipples. She was an incredible sight. I kept moving my hand in and out of her wet cunt, slowly but forcefully. Kao really seemed to like that and she moved her pelvis in time with my thrusting hand. She removed her hands from her breasts and slid them down her body to spread her pussy wider. I responded by shoving a third finger into her and thrusting my hand even harder, using my free hand to stroke her belly and her tits and her thighs. Kao grunted again and started slamming herself against my hand. She was sopping wet and my hand was almost completely covered with her essence. Her juices ran down inside her thighs to the crack of her ass. I kept up the strong thrusting of my hand into Kao's cunt and she started thrashing about on the couch as her orgasm began to erupt. "That's so good, Vel," she gasped, finally breaking our strain of un- spoken communication. "Do it harder." I immediately obliged, ramming my whole hand into her now, working her clit incessantly. Kao shrieked and shuddered and bounced around as her orgasm hit her with the force of a quad laser blast. Her juices gushed forth in a torrent over my fingers and hand as the force of her ecstacy finally began to subside, leaving her breathless and glowing. Kao flopped back on the couch, spent. She looked at me and smiled as her breathing started to return to normal. "Damn, that was good, Vel," she said finally. "It's really been a long time for me. I'd almost forgotten." And she laughed softly. I stood up next to the couch and looked down at her. Kao reached up and gently stroked the inside of my thigh. "Captain Tallig," she said in mock seriousness, "will you please take these fucking pants off?" "Yes, ma'am," I replied, smiling at her. Very quickly I yanked off my boots, nearly falling over in the process, and pulled my pants off. My erection sprang forth and Kao reached for it, seemingly mesmerized by it. She softly caressed and stroked the shaft, then slipped her hand under- neath to fondle my balls. For several long minutes she stroked and caressed and fondled me, her eyes locked onto my cock. I spread my legs slightly to give her better access, feeling the pleasurable sensations radiate outward from my cock to every part of me. My cock throbbed and quivered under her touch. I couldn't remember ever feeling this hard before. Kao spread her legs and, pulling gently on my cock, guided me in between them. I climbed onto the couch and she threw her legs up over my shoulders and pulled me into her. I slipped into her warm, wet cunt easily. She was still dripping from her orgasm. Kao sighed deeply as she felt me slide in to the hilt. For a moment I was motionless, savoring the sensation of Kao's vagina grip me. Though she obviously did not possess those special Bardin cunt muscles that J'Una had liked to use on me, Kao's cunt walls fit themselves around my cock like a glove. I revelled in the feeling before starting a slow in and out motion, pulling my cock almost entirely out of her before easing it back in. I was raised up on my hands, one on either side of her, and her legs were draped over my shoulders, bending her back and opening her up complete- ly to my thrusts. Her hands were in constant motion, running over my chest, raking my back and ass, playing with my balls. Kao's cunt was like a cauldron, hot and bubbling, and it sucked me in deeper each time I plunged into its inviting depth. She was open so wide, and thrusting back at me so hard that it felt as though my entire penis, balls and all, was engulfed by her passion. It was an indescribable feeling and I simply went with it, feeling her seemingly endless supply of cunt juices spill over my balls and dribble down her ass. Kao threw her arms around my neck and pulled herself up against me, kissing my face and mouth with the same intensity she brought to her flying. Now I knew how some poor Rebel bastard must have felt when Kao got him in her sights. She was relentless. In her current position she resembled some bizarre pretzel, but she didn't let go and she didn't slacken the pace of her thrusting against me. If anything, it increased as she moaned and cried into my mouth. My arms began to ache from the strain of supporting both of us, but I ignored it, so wrapped up was I in fulfilling this unbelievably hot woman beneath me. And fill her I was about to do. My cock was straining, pain- fully hard and erect. My thrusts had become an incessant hammering and I could feel my own orgasm begin to churn deep within me and move into the base of my penis. I bent my elbows and lowered Kao, who was still wrapped around me, to the couch. She writhed and moaned and thrust herself against me in increased frenzy as I pounded into her with renewed vigor. Kao came. She raked my back with her nails, threw her head back and cried out as she abandoned herself to her climax. "God, Vel," she wailed, tears streaming down the sides of her face. "Please fuck me. Please!" Her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat and her red hair was matted against her face and neck. Her muscles were taut and her erect nipples stabbed into my chest. She was completely immersed in her orgasm, and her intensity sent me over the edge. My orgasm, which had been boiling and churning in my balls was now re- leased. Hot sperm rose like lava in a volcano, shot through the tube of my penis and blasted forth deep within Kao's hot, grasping cunt. Spasm after spasm racked my body as I shot my cum into her. I kept up my thrusting as I emptied myself into her, feeling wonderfully alive and rejuvenated. My cum overflowed her pussy and spilled out between our bodies, dripping over my balls and into the crack of her ass. God, what a fuck that was. We came down slowly, kissing and stroking each other as we savored our intimacy. Kao unwrapped her legs from around me and curled up against me, almost purring in gratification. She turned her head around to look at me abd smiled. "It's nice to know that you can do more than just fly a TIE fighter," she said, chuckling. "We aim to please," I responded, wrapping my arms around her. We lay quietly in each other's arms and gradually fell asleep. I awoke several hours later with Kao curled up tightly against me. I could smell her hair and feel her breasts move against my chest with her breathing. I reached down and gently stroked her gorgeous ass, running my hand along her sexy flank. As I lay there, softly stroking Kao, I felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over me. I felt sadness at the loss of J'Una, a truly wonderful friend, companion and lover; anger at the fucking Rebels; mistrust of our own leadership and high command; joy at this new relationship with Kao; and guilt for having it. I was still ruminating when Kao, not fully awake, threw a leg over mine and began grinding her groin against me. My emotional conflict suddenly vanished as my cock surged to erection, pulsating against her slit. I was beginning to guide my cock into Kao when the goddamn red alert alarms went off. "Red alert! Red alert! Repoblan attack force approaching a Dimok space installation. All pilots to your ships. Flight leaders report to Admiral Haarkov in the hangar. Red alert." The red lights were flashing, and the klaxon was sounding. Fully awake now, Kao and I disentangled ourselves and sprang for our uniforms. I struggled mightily with my trousers, unable to get them on, until I realized that they were Kao's. I stripped them off and tossed them to her. Finally, we managed to get our uniforms on and we took off out of Kao's quarters and down the passageway. The red lights were flashing all through the ship and the noise of the alarm was almost deafening. Crewmembers were hurrying to their stations. We reached the hangar and ran over to where Admiral Haarkov was standing with Commander Cibock. The Admiral gave us a long, stern look. I'm sure he was wondering what had taken us so long, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he proceeded to outline the situation. "As we feared they might," he began, "the Repoblans have launched a counter-attack against one of the Dimoks' space installations. We do not want an escalation of this conflict. You will drive off the Repoblans and show them that we do not favor either side." He paused, looking at us. He appeared to be waiting for questions, so I asked one. "Do we issue a warning this time, Admiral?" I asked. The last time this subject came up he became quite angry, but we needed clarification. "No, captain," he said smiling. "No warnings unless you deem it to be necessary." I nodded. "Thank you, sir." "Make sure you deliver a forceful, but not fatal, blow to the Repoblans," the admiral continued. "You are also to ensure the safety of the Dimok installation." "Do they know we're coming as friends this time?" Kao asked. "I'd hate to start getting shot at by both sides." "The Dimoks requested our assistance, captain," the admiral responded. "It appears they wish to test our impartiality. They will not fire on you." "Yes, sir," she replied. "These are important missions, captains," the admiral said. "I realize that being ordered not to completely destroy an enemy seems unusual to you, but it is vital to our success out here. With the destruction of the Death Star, the Empire can use all the success it can get right now." He paused for a few moments. Noise was building in the hangar as TIE fighters began winding up. "Good luck, captains," Haarkov said and abruptly turned and walked away. Kao and I nodded to each other and she turned and hurried toward her TIE. I started to turn away but Commander Cibock grabbed my elbow. He leaned forward so that his lips were near my ear. Even so, he had to shout to be heard above the noise. "See if you can get a look at that Dimok research station." I nodded acknowledgement. Cibock smiled and hurried off after the admiral. I climbed into my TIE, put on my helmet and hooked up the comm link. The overhead cranes were already starting to move us and, soon, my TIE was lowered through the launch doors and released into space. I engaged the twin ion engines and my craft surged forward. I pulled her into a tight turn and did the customary loop around GUSTAV, waiting for the rest of my flight to form up. I activated the sensors and began sizing up the situation. The Dimok installation was a large platform designed primarily for research. For defense it had shields and a couple of laser cannons but that was about it. There were several container vessels moored to its docking bays. The installation was guarded by only three old Z-95's. Not much. No wonder they requested our assistance. My sensors began picking up the Repoblan attack force. It was quickly evident that the Repoblans were intending not only to attack the station but to occupy it. Among the Z-95's and Y-wings that made up the bulk of the attack force were several Corvettes escorting assault transports. This was a huge force and represented, in my view, a major effort by the Repoblans, perhaps everything they had. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Repoblan attack force is quite large and contains Corvettes and ATR's." ATR was shorthand for assault transport. "Roger, Gamma One." Haarkov's voice. So, he was still directly in control. "Proceed with your attack. Maybe a quick strike will be enough to turn them back." "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. "I'm not sure that our two flights can handle a force like this, however. Recommend loading up TIE bombers with some proton torpedoes to go after the ATRs. You might also want to have our stormtroopers standing by in case we have to retake that station." There was a pause. I'm sure that Haarkov, being an admiral, didn't like hearing recommendations from a mere starfighter pilot. "Recommendations noted, Gamma One," he replied. "Proceed." "Roger, GUSTAV." I switched to the flight leader channel and called Kao. "Tau leader, this is Gamma leader." "Roger, Gamma leader," Kao responded. "We are forming up now." "Very well. This Repoblan attack force is a big one," I informed her. "I will take Gamma flight in for a direct attack, try to break up their formation and cause confusion. See if you can work your way around behind them and hit them while they're busy with us. They may not have realized that GUSTAV is carrying twice her normal compliment of TIE fighters and may think that Gamma flight is it." "Concur, Gamma leader," Kao said. "We'll head out at three-one- four mark six-six. That should put us in a position to loop around and end up above and behind them." I glanced at my display. Her idea was a good one, provided my guys and I could hold the Repoblans long enough for her to get into position. "Agreed," I said. "Just don't take too long." I could hear her chuckle. "We'll do our best, Gamma leader." She paused and then her voice became serious. "Be careful." "Don't worry about us," I said lightly. "Gamma leader out." When attacking an enemy who is numerically superior but tactically and technologically inferior (except that they had shields)one tactic is to hit hard, cause confusion, and break the enemy's formation up into pieces that can be handled one at a time. I noticed that the Repoblans were in a large massed formation. While this formation promotes cohesion and focuses an attack, it also restricts the maneuverability of the starfighters and other vessels that are in the center of the mass. Thus the formation is vulnerable to being picked apart from the outside in. I decided to employ this tactic hoping to create confusion and un- certainty within the Repoblans causing them to just go away without a wholesale battle royal. "Gamma flight, this is Gamma leader," I called. "We will commence attack run on the near wing of the formation. Stay away from the center of that mass for now. There's too much firepower in there. Don't waste your missiles on Z-95s. Save them for Y-wings and bigger." All TIEs acknowledged and Dromo moved into his customary position behind and to the left of me. "Accelerate to maximum speed, charge lasers," I coached. Most of these pilots didn't need to be told this stuff, but I felt better en- suring that we followed attack procedure step by step. It had kept me alive to this point. "Remember," I continued as I powered my TIE to full throttle, "speed and maneuverability are your only advantages. Move fast, hit hard and get the hell out of the way. There's a lot of bad guys in there." Bread and butter stuff that every experienced TIE pilot knew. Nevertheless, in the heat of battle, one sometimes forgets the basics. That's why you have leaders: to remind you. Then we hit the Repoblan formation at the point where the outer escort wing, mostly Z-95s and Y-wings, joined the main body. Fireworks erupted quickly as my TIEs wasted several Z-95s on the first pass. I targeted a Z-95 and approached head-on. I threw my TIE into a Wotan weave, a maneuver designed to avoid enemy fire while maintaining a constant heading, switched my lasers to rapid single fire and pounded away. The Repoblan Z-95 tried to counter my move, but flew right into the pattern of my laser fire. He died without getting a shot off. I maneuvered through the debris, yanked my TIE hard left and flamed the guy's wingman who was trying to go after Dromo. He didn't get a shot off, either. We had completed our first pass and had achieved the desired result. The outer wing of the Repoblan formation was in complete disarray with starfighters buzzing around angrily wondering what had hit them. More significantly, several ships from the main body were maneuvering toward us. This was good and bad. Good because it further disrupted the Re- poblan attack and slowed its progress toward the Dimok installation. Bad because it meant we had more enemy ships to contend with. Over the common channel that I had on loudspeaker in the background, I could hear Admiral Haarkov trying without success to get the Repoblans to break off. Although we were chewing up the outer formation, the main Repoblan attack force was proceeding undaunted toward the Dimok installation. Reinforcements started arriving from the Repoblan main force and things got ugly fast. I lost two TIEs to Y-wing missiles in the blink of an eye and I had to do some wild maneuvering to avoid becoming the third. Dromo took care of my attacker and I reversed course and charged back into the fray, frantically looking for signs of Kao's flight. Apparently she wasn't in position, yet. "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao. "We need some help now." "Hang on, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We will be in position momen- tarily and will attack the rear of the main body." "Roger, Tau leader," I replied. "Watch out for those ATRs." "Acknowledged, Gamma leader." I switched channels and called GUSTAV. "GUSTAV, Gamma one. The main Repoblan attack force will be in range of the Dimok station soon. Tau flight will hit them from behind but I think we could use some TIE bombers." "Concur, Gamma One," Admiral Haarkov replied. "I have tried to talk sense to these Repoblans but they're bent on attacking this station. We'll launch TIE bombers and follow them with our own ATRs to deliver some stormtrooper firepower to the station should the Repoblans assault it." Sounded good to me. "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I said as a Z-95 laser shot passed uncomfortably close to my port solar panel. I turned hard right to avoid the second shot, then rolled left, sideslipped behind the bastard and pressed the trigger. My lasers quickly took his shields down and then, before he could turn, ripped into the rear of the main fuselage. The Z-95 exploded and I dived down to avoid its remains. "Tau leader to Gamma leader, we are commencing our attack." I heard Kao's voice and smiled. On my display I saw her flight pile into the rear of the main Repoblan attack force and the entire formation completely dissolved into little more than an organized rabble. Except, that is, for the ATRs and their Corvette escorts. They stubbornly con- tinued to proceed toward the Dimok installation. Our TIE bombers had just been launched and it would be some time before they could attack, so I decided to run some interference to slow down the ATRs. "Gamma Two," I called to Dromo, "form up on me. We're going in to make a run through the ATRs." "I'm with you, Gamma One," Dromo replied. "But I'm not sure I like going up against a bunch of ATRs in two unshielded TIEs." "I just want to slow them up a little until the bombers can attack," I explained. "Throw some missiles at them, cause them to take defensive actions." "OK," Dromo said reluctantly, "Let's go." "Roger, Gamma Two. We'll go in at full throttle, pass underneath the Corvettes, take a shot at the lead ATR and go out the other side of the formation." "If you say so," Dromo said, unconvinced. I opened up to full throttle, drained power from my lasers to get more speed, switched on my missile targeting system, turned hard left and dove toward the attack force. Dromo and I passed under the lead Corvette, evading its turbo laser fire and headed toward the ATRs. This was a highly unorthodox man- euver and I was hoping to catch the Repoblans by surprise. The feeble- ness of their poorly directed laser fire gave me hope. We shot through the Corvettes, jerking our craft wildly about to avoid fire. I picked out the lead Repoblan ATR and targeted it with my missiles, directing Dromo to do the same. By this time the ATRs had been alerted to us and a hail of laser fire poured forth to greet us. Dromo and I dodged and weaved our way closer to the lead ATR, then steadied up and quickly got a missile lock. "Gamma Two, fire missiles now!" I ordered as I fired two of my missiles. Four missiles streaked toward the ATR as Dromo and I split apart, he making a hard left turn, I a hard right. The Repoblan crewmembers on that ATR were better than I would have thought. They actually managed to shoot down one of the missiles. Not so the other three, however. The three missiles slammed into the ATR, taking down its shields and destroying its forward laser mount. Although three missiles aren't enough to destroy an ATR outright, this one had been badly damaged and was drifting. Our attack on the lead ATR had the desired effect on the rest of them. They slowed down and closed up into an even tighter formation. The Corvettes broke their formation and began turning about to come back to protect the ATRs. In short, we had succeeded in disrupting the entire Repoblan attack force. Not bad for a couple of Imperials in unshielded starfighters. It helped that the Repoblans, though brave, were stupid. Nevertheless, the battle had moved steadily toward the Dimok space station to a point where individual Repoblan Y-wings and Z-95s were making strafing runs to start bringing down the station's shields. The few Dimok Z-95s made a feeble effort against the attackers, but were quickly destroyed or driven off. While the Repoblan ATRs and Corvettes were trying to reform, and Kao's flight was chewing up their escorts, I led Dromo and the rest of my flight toward the space station, powering up my lasers as I did so. The Dimok station had sustained a few hits, but it was gamely hammer- ing back with what defenses it did have. The station's gunners had actually destroyed a few Repoblan ships. I attacked a Y-wing just as it released a proton torpedo, the blue streak headed straight for the station. I couldn't do anything about the torpedo so I targeted the Y-wing, set my lasers for dual fire and blew it away. The torpedo, however, slammed into the station, shaking it violently. My sensors indicated that the station's shields were down. Uh-oh. And here came the damned ATRs and Corvettes. "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "break off your engagement with the escorts and get over here to the space station immediately. We need help." "Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied, sounding cool and detached. "We've just about mopped this bunch up. We're on our way." "Thanks," I said curtly and jerked my TIE violently up to avoid a laser blast from somebody. I couldn't tell if it was one of ours or one of theirs. On my display I saw the TIE bombers approaching, followed by our own ATRs. Kao's flight was arriving from the opposite direction. If we were lucky we could catch these Repoblan bastards from two sides at once. Lovely. In the meantime I dodged and weaved my way toward the station. They had restored power to their weapons and were hammering away again, but their shields were still down. I activated the cargo scanner and flew closely underneath the station to "have a look," as Commander Cibock had put it. At first there was a lot of static and scrambled readings, probably due to all the shooting and explosions going on. I made another pass at a slower speed and hit paydirt. The scanner's alarm sounded and the little red light flashed. It identified Imperial arms and weaponry on the station itself and on two of the conveyors moored there. A shuttle was powering up in preparation for what appeared to be a hurried departure, but it carried no Imperial contraband. I made note of the fact that Imperial arms were in the hands of the Dimoks as well as the Repoblans and shut off the scanner lest it be detected by GUSTAV's operators. Something was going on, but I'd let Commander Cibock figure it out. In the meantime I was still in a fight. I looped back around the platform and quickly flamed a Z-95. The shuttle I had seen had lifted off and was heading away from the platform, accelerating quickly. I thought it worth reporting. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "There's a Dimok shuttle leaving the platform in a big hurry. You wan't us to stop it?" Admiral Haarkov's answer was quick and curt. "Negative, Gamma One. Let it go." "Roger," I acknowledged. I was about to turn away when I saw a Repoblan Y-wing streak in from out of nowhere and start shooting at the shuttle with its ion cannons. As opposed to lasers, which are designed to destroy, ion cannons are used to disable enemy craft. The Y-wing scored several hits and the shuttle was quickly adrift without power. I looped around, came up behind the Y-wing and pounded him into space junk. Not sure what to do with the shuttle, I figured he wasn't going anywhere so I turned back to the battle. The battle was about over. The TIE bombers finally showed up and their proton torpedoes made quick work of two Repoblan ATRs and a Corvette. The explosions were incredible and I briefly thought of the two hundred odd crewmembers normally found on a Corvette. The Repoblans, being hammered by TIE bombers from one side and from Kao's flight from the other, had finally had enough. The remaining Corvettes and ATRs started withdrawing. I flew past the platform and took a quick shot at a fleeing Y-wing. I missed and then turned away, letting him go. I remembered the shuttle and contacted one of our ATRs to go help him out, thinking no more about it. I found Dromo and we reformed our flight group. We had taken losses, but were not hit nearly as bad as the Repoblans had been. Although battlefields in space tend to disappear rather quickly, there was, at the moment, ample evidence of the carnage of war. Pieces of starfighters, the shattered hulk of a Corvette and lots of other indistinguishable junk floated around. I tried not to think about that aspect of it, but the image of J'Una's face kept dancing before my eyes. I shook my head to clear it, then led my group back toward GUSTAV. The landing was uneventful and my TIE was set down in its stall by the tractor beam operator. I went through the post-flight check-list swiftly, disconnected my comm link and climbed out of the starfighter, dropping lightly to the hangar deck. Pulling off my helmet, I saw Commander Cibock approaching me. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. I took a quick look around to make sure that no one was listening. I nodded and said, "The scanner picked up Imperial weaponry in the space platform and in two of the container vessels moored there." Cibock grimaced. " That adds up," he said. "Do you know who was on that shuttle?" "No. A Repoblan Y-wing disabled it, I took out the Y-wing and called in an ATR to help out." "There was a Rebel officer onboard," Cibock said matter-of-factly. "What?" I was incredulous. "The ATR that responded," Cibock continued,"was Maarek's. When Maarek and some of his troopers boarded the shuttle, the Rebel resisted so Maarek killed him." "I'll bet he liked that," I said wryly. "Probably," Cibock agreed. "They found some data disks on this guy, but when Maarek called it in and told Haarkov he'd upload it, Haarkov got livid and told him not to." "That seems odd," I said. "It's standard procedure. Gets the data back to the ship quicker." "I know," Cibock replied."But Haarkov insisted that Maarek carry the disks back and deliver them to Haarkov personally. It's as if he didn't want any record of whatever is on the disks." "What do you think is going on?" I asked. "I'm not exactly sure," Cibock said, glancing around, "but a Rebel officer on a Dimok station with Imperial weapons does lead to some conclusions." "The Rebel Alliance is fomenting this civil war?" I asked. Cibock smiled paternally. "No," he said. "As I told you before, I think, but can't prove yet, that Admiral Haarkov has been funneling weapons to the Rebels." I was astounded. "Are you sure, sir?" Cibock nodded. "I think so. He's been channeling them through this system and the Dimoks and Repoblans have been making a lot of money acting as middlemen. A discreet inquiry has revealed that there are, indeed, some- shall we say- inventory shortfalls at a couple of depots that the admiral controls." "How were you able to determine that, sir?" I asked skeptically. "I have my ways, captain," he said vaguely. Cibock was looking intently at me, deciding, I assumed, if he should continue. "This 'civil war' started," he said quietly, "because one side, and I'm not sure which, got greedy. So, Haarkov had to rush out here in the guise of quelling a disturbance when actually what's happening is a turf war between rival distributors. Of course, it's only theory." He smiled sarcastically. I was stunned by all this intrigue and subterfuge. I was a mere star- fighter pilot and tended to view things as black or white, us or them, never thinking that one of us could also be one of them. "Why would Haarkov come out here on GUSTAV?" I asked. "He doesn't know if he can trust us. Why not use the PREDATOR, his normal flagship?" "PREDATOR was unavailable when all this happened," Cibock replied. "But she's on her way. Once she gets here Haarkov will probably release us." I shook my head. "You mean my pilots are dying to protect a gun- running operation?" Now I was getting pissed. "Looks like it to me, captain," Cibock said, trying to calm me. "But you cannot let this knowledge affect how you do your job, and you must not relay any of this to anybody. I can't prove any of this and if we let on that we know anything...." He left the rest unsaid. "We'll just have to play this out. When I get a chance, I'll report what we know, which, frankly, is more supposition than fact." "Yes, sir," I said. "You have served the Emperor well, captain." Commander Cibock patted me on the shoulder and left the hangar. 'Served the Emperor?' Not 'served the Imperial Navy?' Was that a slip? What the fuck was going on? What did Cibock care about serving the Emperor? Most Imperial Naval officers served the Navy first. That's why there was some friction between the government and the Naval High Command. That's why thugs like Vader were placed in positions of high command, to ensure the political loyalty of the Navy's officer corps. Most of these political appointees, Vader and Tarkin included, were lousy field commanders. Tarkin's incredible ego and sense of self-importance led him to underestimate his enemies and caused him to make a series of stupid decisions which led to the destruction of the Death Star. Vader was merely a half-mad religious wacko who worshipped the Emperor and had mastered enough sorcery tricks to scare a lot of people. He, too, was a lousy commander because he had long lost the ability to listen. So, why did Commander Cibock, a loyal officer in the Imperial Navy, worry about serving an Emperor whom none of us knew, and who surrounded himself with psychophants, despots and idiots? I shrugged my shoulders, shook my head in disbelief, and left the hangar. We flew two more missions, one against each side, in this so-called Sepan Civil War, though neither was anywhere near as arduous or costly as the first two had been. In both cases we did little more than "wave the flag," to cause the Dimoks and Repoblans to retire. It was apparent that they were reluctant to engage us again. Admiral Haarkov was still trying to negotiate some kind of arrangement and he kept us informed with briefings. Every time I saw him, however, I seethed inside. How could an admiral in the Imperial Navy smuggle weapons to the very people who destroyed the Death Star, who killed J'Una? I had to caution myself that Commander Cibock and I really didn't "know" that Haarkov was doing this, we only "believed" it. I convinced myself, however, that Haarkov was just the sort to do this kind of thing. Maybe he even sold the plans to the Death Star! You can see how even I can get carried away. Treachery and disaster tend to do that to people. I worried about how this would, eventually, affect Marina Haarkov. Every time I saw her: at work in the hangar, relaxing in the wardroom, I worried about the pain that this might cause her. What made it harder was the fact I couldn't talk to her about it. Or to Kao. Or anybody. After our fourth sortie, the Star Destroyer PREDATOR showed up. She was Imperial class and was easily three or four times larger than poor old GUSTAV. She carried twelve squadrons of TIEs and poss- essed incredible shipboard firepower. Things changed rapidly after her arrival. Admiral Haarkov immediately transferred back to his old ship. It was almost as though he couldn't get off of GUSTAV fast enough. He didn't even say goodbye to Marina. Shortly thereafter he somehow arranged for a meeting with the Dimok and Repoblan leaders onboard PREDATOR. We weren't privy to the negotiations, of course, but Commander Cibock expressed no surprise when Admiral Haarkov sent a message to Imperial High Command announcing he had negotiated a peaceful end to the Sepan problem. Commander Cibock shared with me his suspicions that the PREDATOR'S crew was in league with Haarkov and brought with them something that Haarkov used to bribe the Dimok and Repoblan leaders. What that something was he had no idea. Admiral Haarkov reported to the Imperial High Command that, while PREDATOR's presence was still required in the Sepan System, GUSTAV's part in the mission had been completed. He closed his message by lavishing great praise on GUSTAV and her crew. It rang hollow to me. Almost immediately GUSTAV received new orders and Commander Cibock gathered us in the briefing room to tell us what we were going to do next. That's the way it is in the Imperial Navy. Finish one assignment and move on to the next. The fact that you did a great job mattered only briefly. It was always "what else can you do?" As far as the next assignment was concerned, one's record of past success guaranteed nothing. Commander Cibock still looked a little haggard and worn down. I knew that the death of his son on the Death Star had deeply affected him, but I was proud of the way he had held up and always put the interests of the crew ahead of his own grief. That's what always separated him in my mind from most senior Imperial officers: Commander Cibock led by compassion and example and professionalism, rather than fear, intimidation and equivocation. It was really too bad we didn't have more officers like him. "I want to tell all of you," he began when we had been seated, "how proud I am of the way you conducted yourselves during this mission. It was very difficult, with unusual and vague objectives, yet you per- formed flawlessly." We all smiled at each other. Commander Cibock smiled, too, for the first time in a while. "I have nominated several of you," he continued, "including Captains Tallig and Ijuf, for decorations." We smiled some more. "While we're waiting on those, however, we still have work to do." GUSTAV's Commanding Officer paused, making sure he had our full attention. "As soon as this briefing is over," he resumed, " we will depart the Sepan system and jump to hyperspace. Our ultimate destination is to rendezvous with a large fleet being amassed in Beta quadrant under the personal command of Lord Vader." Again, that chill that Vader's name invariably causes ran through the assembled officers. Cibock let it pass. "Lord Vader is tracing the whereabouts of the Rebels who were on the base at Yavin and played a role in destroying the Death Star. They have apparently relocated to another system. We don't know which one, yet, but there are thousands of probes and hundreds of ships searching the sector. When we rendezvous with the main fleet we will undoubtedly be used in a reconnaissance role to assist in locating the Rebels." So, we'd be going up against real competition again. I found myself hoping we hadn't lost anything by taking on second-line opposition like the Dimoks and Repoblans. I also found myself hoping to get a chance to kill a whole bunch of those bastards that had been part of the Death Star's demise. "Once this new Rebel base is located," Cibock continued,"all available force will be brought to bear to crush this part of the Rebellion. We can anticipate a high tempo of operations and the possibility of some heavy fighting." We all nodded. We'd been through this drill before. "Enroute to the fleet we will stop briefly at the base at Letni Edisni to pick up some replacement crews and starfighters. Captains Tallig and Ijuf," he said looking at Kao and me, "you won't have much time to get these new pilots ready for battle, so make best use of it." "Yes, sir," I replied. "We'll get them ready." "That's all for now. Good luck," Cibock said then strode out the door as we all stood to attention. An hour later Commander Cibock sent a message to Admiral Haarkov paying his respects and requesting permission to depart. This was a custom which had been traditionally followed in the Imperial Navy, though it was mere formality. Admiral Haarkov granted permission, of course, and GUSTAV jumped to hyperspace. I was awakened in the middle of the night by an incessant knocking at the door to my quarters. The chimes were buzzed repeatedly and I finally managed to fight my way through the fog of sleep. I started to move, but then became aware of a weight on my chest and legs. Kao. I gently disentangled myself from her and she rolled over and went back to sleep. The knocking and chiming continued, and I was becoming irritated. I grabbed a robe and cast a backward glance at Kao's naked, sleeping form, recalling for a moment our latest bout of lovemaking. My prick started twitching so I stopped thinking about it and went to the door. This had better be good, I thought. I released the lock and the door slid open. Standing there, obviously uncomfortable, was a young crewmember whose red tabs on his collar identified him as a member of the ship's communications department. "What is it?" I asked groggily. "Sorry to disturb you, sir," the young man said crisply, "but Commander Cibock said you'd want to see this right away." He held out a text data pad. "A text pad?" I asked, a little surprised. "Not a hologram?" Usually, personal messages, which I assumed this to be, came via a hologram. "No, sir," the crewman answered. "This came from one of our more re- mote stations, which doesn't have holographic capability." "That's odd," I said. "I don't know anybody on any remote outposts." The crewman offered the pad to me again. "Commander Cibock insisted, sir." I nodded and took the pad. "Okay. Thanks." "Yes, sir," the crewman said as he spun on his heel and left. I went back inside my quarters, the door closing behind me, and turned on a light. I flipped open the data pad and nearly fainted. VEL, THE BASTARDS MISSED ME!! SEE YOU SOON! J'UNA Tatooine END OF PART FOUR -- +----------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `--------------+ | | | | Archive site +----------------------+--------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ | ----