Message-ID: <11240eli$9805131459@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 ) [5/5] 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 Five A Dirty Little War 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 my- self from her and she rolled over and went back to sleep. The knocking and chiming continued, and I was becoming irr- itated. 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, ob- viously 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 remote stations, which doesn't yet 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 I suddenly had trouble breathing and my vision fogged up as waves of powerfully strong emotions crashed over me. Through the tears welling up in my eyes I reread the message several times to make sure that it was real. J'Una alive? Could it really be? Where the fuck was Tatooine anyway? I was so overcome that I became somewhat giddy and I think I even jumped up and down a little. Not what you'd expect from a veteran Imperial TIE fighter pilot, but there it is. I must have made more noise than I thought because, when I turned around, there was Kao standing in the doorway to the bedroom. She had put on one of those black Imperial issue robes but hadn't belted it. It hung open in the front, exposing her breasts and crotch. Her red hair was wildly unkempt and stood out from her head like tongues of fire. She was still half asleep and was leaning against the doorframe. As quickly as it had started, the euphoria inside me stopped. I suddenly realized that the relationship that was rapidly devel- oping between Kao and me grew, in part, out of the assump- tion that J'Una had been killed. Now that I had in my hand a message that said J'Una was very much alive, I was uncertain, and a little apprehensive as to what would happen next. I sud- denly remembered why I had never allowed myself to get too involved with females. "What's going on, Vel?" Kao asked sleepily. "You won't believe this," I said, handing her the data pad. Kao took it and I watched her as she read it. Her eyes grew wide with amazement, and a large smile broke out on her face. She looked up at me with tears of joy in her eyes. "This is wonderful, Vel" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. I was a little surprised. I'm not sure what I ex- pected, but this wasn't it. I was relieved, however, that she seemed happy at the news. She pulled back and looked at me for a moment, then kissed me. "You're not the only one who loves J'Una and misses her," she said softly. My raised eyebrow and obviously puzzled ex- pression elicited a smile. "J'Una is a wonderful person and a fine officer," she said in a direct, almost scolding tone. "The fact that she is apparently not dead makes me very happy." She paused, looking intently at me. Then her eyes brightened and she actually giggled. "Did you think," she said between giggles, "that I would be- come jealous, or that this news would somehow create fric- tion? Is that what you thought?" I didn't say anything, but my expression must have given me away. Kao broke out in laughter and kissed me on the cheek. "You silly, silly man," she said, still laughing. "You men all think that everything revolves around you. That you're the center of the universe." She laughed again. "I've grown very fond of you recently, Vel," she said, the laughter finally giving way, at least temporarily, to seriousness. "But I know what J'Una meant to you, and what the thought of her dying did to you. What you don't know," she said and her eyes twinkled again,"was what she meant to me. We were developing a very close relation- ship and I'll be very glad to have the chance to resume it." 'Very close relationship'? Now I was thoroughly confused. I wasn't at all sure what she was telling me, but at least she seemed pleased by the turn of events. I smiled at her and shook my head. "I guess I didn't realize that you and she had become so close," I said. "That," she said as she kissed me and snaked her hand under my robe and grabbed my cock, " is because you're a man." I quickly tried to come up with a suitable rejoinder but Kao was kissing me and running her tongue inside my mouth while she grabbed my cock with both hands and began stroking it to life. I forgot all about a witty reply as I slipped my hands inside her robe and fondled her breasts, the nipples already hard with arousal. We pulled each other's robes off and sank to the floor right in the middle of the room. Our hands were all over each other and our tongues battled as we kissed deeply. Kao was a wonderful woman and a great fuck, but the news that J'Una was alive somehow stimulated me in a way that I hadn't be- fore experienced. My cock was painfully hard and I went at Kao with little of the soft, tender approach that had charac- terized our first union. For her part, Kao returned the frenzy. Apparently she was as excitied by the prospect of seeing J'Una again as I was. She tore at my back with her finger- nails while I bit and sucked roughly on her tits, both of us moaning, yearning for a release. Kao scissored her legs around my back and reached be- tween our thrashing bodies to grab my cock. She jerked it hard several times and I nearly shot into her hand. She placed the tip against the entrance to her cunt and pulled me into her. She was like a cauldron inside and I gasped at the heat that engulfed me. We rolled over on the deck so that she was on top of me. I grabbed her breasts and squeezed them as she began a slow thrusting motion, impaling herself on me. Her movements didn't stay slow for very long. We were both too hot, too out of control with lust for that. I'm not sure if our frenzy was caused by our desire for each other, or that we were each thinking of J'Una, or simply a longing for release from the stresses of incessant warfare. Maybe it was all three. In any case, neither of us was concerned with gentle foreplay. We slammed into each other with an intensity that was almost painful. I continued to manhandle Kao's tits, squeezing them hard and pinching the nipples as she rode me. Her head was thrown back in ecstacy, her long red hair draping over my upraised knees like a soft fur rug. After several more sav- age thrusts, Kao let out a sharp cry and flung herself for- ward onto me, her breasts in my face, her hair flowing over me and onto the deck. I took a nipple into my mouth and bit on it, sending a shock wave through her that ended with another hard downward thrust onto my cock. She shudder- ed and moaned and I could feel her orgasm flowing out from the depths of her cunt and onto my cock and balls. She flooded us with her juices, smearing our thighs and my belly. The force of her orgasm nearly overwhelmed her and she buried her face in my neck, moaning and weeping. "That is so good, Vel," she gasped into my ear. "So fucking good." She wriggled around on my cock. I grabbed her hips and thrust into her with renewed vigor, my own climax fast approaching. Kao sat up and began thrusting back down on me again, wanting to give me pleasure also. I didn't have long to wait until I felt the cum boiling within my balls. She smiled down at me as she re- cognized the signs of my impending orgasm. "Let it go," she cooed softly at me. I didn't need much more encouragement. I gave another powerful upward thrust, lifting her off the deck, impaling her completely as my prick shot blast after blast of cum into her. I groaned with the effort. My cock finished spewing its load and we collapsed together in a heap in the middle of the room. We fell asleep that way. "Many of you may have heard by now," Commander Cibock said at the next morning's briefing, "that Commander Selena, our former Operations Officer, was not onboard the Death Star at the time of its destruction." Several officers applauded. All were smiling and the supply officer, who was sitting behind me, clapped me on the shoul- der. J'Una had been very popular among GUSTAV's crew, and highly respected by her fellow officers. It was good to see that they cared about her. Kao smiled at me and squee- zed my hand. "Commander Selena is presently at a place called Tatooine," Cibock continued. A holographic map appeared near the front of the room showing a dry, desert looking planet orbiting a binary star system. "Several other Death Star personnel, "Cibock said,"are also at Tatooine. It seems that Commander Selena was assisting in the establishment of a permanent and extensive Imperial installation on that planet." Several officers exchanged questioning looks. What did we need an installation there for? Commander Cibock sensed the questions and moved im mediately to answer them. "I do not have all of the details yet," he said,"but it appears that Tatooine has harbored Rebel sympathizers for some time and that several spies transported the plans for the Death Star through Mos Eisley, Tatooine's spaceport. Commander Selena was conducting a follow-up investigation when the Death Star was destroyed. As a result, Tatooine is being secured as a major base to support operations in the surrounding sectors." Major Maarek, our stormtrooper commander nodded in satisfaction. "That'll teach the treacherous scum," he said. Commander Cibock looked sternly at the major but said no- thing in response. "We are being diverted to Tatooine," he went on. "A shipment of replacement TIE fighters along with some new pilots has arrived. They were originally meant to be transported to the Death Star." Diverted to Tatooine? I would get to see J'Una again? So much sooner than I would have expected. Kao and I smiled at each other. I knew she was just as happy about it as I was. "Once we arrive," Cibock continued,"we will take the TIEs aboard and immediately commence integrating the new pilots." He nodded at Kao and me. "Captains Tallig and Ijuf will ensure that these new pilots are ready for future assignment." "Yes, sir," I responded. "Upon arrival we will receive new instructions from an Imperial Special Envoy at the new Tatooine installation." Seeing our puzzled expressions Cibock smiled. "I don't know what an 'Imperial Special Envoy' is, either." He shrugged. "I guess we'll find out together." And he left the room as we all stood to attention. Kao and I looked at each other as the other officers filed out. "It will be great to see J'Una again so soon," she said with a smile. "I'll bet she's had quite an exciting time." "No doubt," I said. "Knowing J'Una." Kao laughed. "What are you implying, captain?" she asked, her voice rising musically. "Only that J'Una has always had the ability to insert herself into the middle of things," I replied, smiling back at her. "And get things inserted into her?" Kao asked, teasing me. Her eyes were bright, and her smile had broadened. "That, too," I said, chuckling. "You must remember that she's a Bardin." "Horny or not," Kao said, still smiling, "it'll be good to see her again. Do you think she'll be transferred back aboard GUSTAV?" "I don't really know, Kao," I replied. "It would depend on what they have her doing on Tatooine. She may be heavily involved in setting up the new base there." Kao grew serious. Her brow furrowed, the smile disappeared. "Is it true, Val?" "Is what true?" I was somewhat taken aback by her abrupt change of mood. Unlike J'Una, whose mood could change from moment to moment, Kao was far from being mercurial. "Is it true what I hear about what happens when we occupy a planet?" "Surely you know what goes on, Kao," I said, somewhat flabbergasted at her display of apparent naivete. She averted my gaze. "I guess I never paid much attention. I just flew my missions and killed Rebels." I just stared at her for a moment. This side of her was completely uncharted territory. "If you don't know, Kao, it's because you didn't want to know." "Maybe," she said softly, then raised her gaze to meet mine. "But I want to know now. I want you to tell me." "What do you think happens, Kao?" I asked rhetorically. My voice had started to rise and I had to tell myself to lower it. "What do you think happens when the Empire takes over a planet that has shown the slightest sympathy to the Rebellion? You were at Resead, dammit.[see pt 3] Didn't you see the shuttles transporting the leaders and their families and anyone who might cause trouble off the planet? Where did you think they were taking those people? They're all on a prison planet. Or dead." I paused. Kao was staring at me. "You want to know what else usually happens?" I went on. "A military governor takes over. Whatever personal freedoms the inhabitants once had are gone. Stormtroopers are everywhere, and they get the people to start spying on each other. All of the planet's resources are taken to support the Empire's war efforts. In short, life becomes pretty unpleasant. And that," I said finishing, "is what happens to a system that had supported the Rebellion. It happened on Resead, and it's probably happening on Tatooine. Hell, my homeworld of Kuan isn't in a whole lot better shape, and we welcomed the Empire in." Kao snorted sarcastically. "I thought the Rebels were the bad guys," she said. "They're no better," I said. "They're just as capable of using people or exploiting worlds for their own agenda. My experience tells me that in a war like this one, the lines between good guys and bad guys often get blurred and confused." Kao shook her head. "Is this what we're really about, Vel?" "It's what the Emperor's about," I said grimly. "And he's in charge." >From a geosynchronous orbit high above the planet's surface Tatooine looked like a big, dirty brown ball. There was very little surface water visible, and large brown clouds, which were in fact enormous dust storms, roamed the planet's surface. Mos Eisley spaceport was the only visible sign that the planet was inhabited. There were, we knew, other settle- ments scattered around the planet, but they were too small to be seen from this height. GUSTAV had entered orbit above Mos Eisley and one of the first things I noticed was the traffic. Imperial freighters and transports of all shapes and sizes were maneuvering into and out of the spaceport. From several ships that were just too large to land at the spaceport an endless stream of shuttles flowed back and forth, offloading and delivering cargo. Among those were several large assault transports delivering more stormtroopers. The occupation of Tatooine, and its conversion to an advanced Imperial base, was evidently well underway. I was standing to one side on the bridge, gazing out of the large observation windows as Commander Cibock and his bridge team completed the maneuvers that placed GUSTAV in her assigned orbit. "Quite a lot of activity, eh, Captain?" Commander Cibock was standing behind me, looking out of the window as well. I turned around. "Yes, sir," I agreed. "Looks like we're serious here." "It would appear so, " Cibock replied smiling. "I suppose the Empire is in dire need of another desert planet," he continued sarcastically. I was a little taken aback, hearing such sarcasm directed at Imperial activities by the Commanding Officer of an Imperial Starship. But, I had served with Commander Cibock long enough to know that he was a competent and loyal officer, if a bit outspokenly skeptical at times. It occurred to me that perhaps the recent death of his son aboard the Death Star might have jaded him a little more. I smiled at his attempt at humor. "It doesn't look very inviting, does it, sir?" Cibock shrugged. "No, but we're here," he said quietly. "And, unfortunately for the people of Tatooine, we'll be here for a long time." He turned away abruptly and addressed the Deck Officer. "Is the shuttle ready to take Captains Tallig and Ijuf and myself down to the surface?" "Yes, sir," he replied. "Your shuttle is ready to depart at your convenience." "Very well," Cibock said. "Ask Captain Ijuf to meet us in the shuttle bay. I want to depart immediately." "Yes, sir," the Deck Officer responded and turned away to carry out Cibock's instructions. Cibock nodded toward the turbolift doors. "Let's go, captain," he said and headed off the bridge. I fell in step with him. Less than ten minutes later, having been joined in the hangar bay by Kao, we boarded our shuttle and departed at once . The shuttle pilot darted and weaved his way through the freight- er traffic in a long looping spiral down toward Mos Eisley. As the detail of the city emerged, Mos Eisley began to resemble an egg that had been hurled against a wall. It was spread out all over the place in an apparently random and unplanned manner. The spaceport itself dominated the city's central sec- tion, with numerous webs of streets and alleys weaving a sinuous pattern outward from the facility. The new con- struction needed to support an Imperial base could also be seen. These new installations were going up near the space- port and, as we got closer, we could see piles of rubble from previously existing structures that had been demolished to make room for them. Yes, I thought to myself, the Empire has arrived in force. The spaceport appeared primitive by modern Imperial standards and had obviously not been designed to handle the current volume of traffic. The pilot gently set us down in an open air docking bay and opened the main hatch to the passenger compartment. Instantly, we were nearly overwhelmed by the planet's intense heat. As we stepped out of the shuttle, it felt like we were walking into a blast furnace. Dressed as we were in our heavy Imperial uniforms, all three of us broke out in a sweat. The two suns were directly overhead hammering us as we walked across the docking bay toward the squad of stormtroopers who were waiting for us. I don't know how they managed to survive in that heavy armor that they wore. I guess it must have been because storm- troopers were such well conditioned and exceptionally tough bastards. I also think that they were too fearful of their superiors to allow themselves to be affected by heat or cold or anything else. The squad leader stepped forward and saluted Commander Cibock. "Welcome to Tatooine, sir," he said briskly. "The Special Envoy and Commander Selena are waiting for you." He turned and led us into a new and hurriedly constructed headquarters building, the rest of the troopers falling in behind us. I was grateful to get out of the sun. The trooper led us through a maze of hallways and down two flights of stairs. Obviously, the headquarters' nerve center was below ground. It got cooler and more comfortable as we de- scended. There was a great deal of activity as personnel hurried about, and construction workers, assisted by droids, mounted equipment and strung communications cable. The trooper finally came to a stop before a large set of double blast doors. He activated the comm link and announced our arrival. He stepped aside as the door slid open noiselessly. The room, obviously a command office, was huge. It had been so hurriedly constructed that the rock out of which it was cut was still visible in several places where wall covering had yet to be applied. Comm screens were hung haphazardly and computer equipment was stacked along the sides. At the far end was an enormous desk. And standing next to the desk, tall, black, beautiful and sexy, was J'Una. She was smiling broadly at me and I felt relief surge through me, followed immediately by joy, then, inevitably, arousal. I wanted to dash across the room, take her in my arms and fuck her brains out. She always did have that effect on me. But, Imperial etiquette prevailed and I merely smiled back and nodded a wordless hello. I glanced at Kao, who was smiling broadly, as well. There were three other people standing with J'Una around the desk on the far side of the room. At the end of the desk opposite from J'Una stood two men. One was middle aged with graying hair, fierce blue eyes, stocky build and was wearing the uniform of a stormtrooper general. The other was very tall, very big and very blonde. His shoulders were broad, his hands were huge and his biceps were massive. He wore two blasters strapped to his hips and stood with his arms folded, leaning casually against the wall. Easily the most dominating presence, however, was that of the woman standing behind the desk. She was only of average height, but she was exceptionally well proportioned with beauti- ful sloping hips, a firm round ass and large upsweeping breasts. She had short black hair that neatly framed her face, dark eyes, very red lips and finely chiseled features that stood out in stark relief. Her demeanor was one of a person who is used to being in charge, used to being deferred to, used to being important. Her eyes seemed to glow with the intensity of a person on a mission. She wore a simple black tunic with dark grey trousers. In contrast to J'Una and the general, she wore no medals or decorations or any rank insignia. Though hers was the least impressive presence physically, it was immediately obvious that she was in charge and that the others, including the gen- eral, deferred to her. "Welcome to Tatooine, Commander Cibock," the woman said as she gestured, somewhat imperiously I thought, for us to cross the room and approach the desk. "I am Marta Emoh," the woman said, "Special Envoy to the Imperial Staff." She paused a moment to let the importance of her title sink in. I had never paid much attention to Imperial politics, and was not easily impressed by titles or rank, but I instantly caught the significance of what she said. So, too, did Commander Cibock. The 'Imperial Staff', as opposed to Imperial Headquarters, was the Emperor's personal organi- zation, which was apart from the Imperial Navy. It also placed itself outside the military's sphere of authority. This had often caused friction. There were rumors of a 'secret order,' of which the Emperor and Vader were the founding members, and which pledged undying loyalty and allegiance to the Em- peror personally. I had no first hand knowledge of such a 'secret order' but it wouldn't have surprised me. Marta continued with the introductions. She waved a hand toward the general. "This is General Koss," she said. "General Koss is the Commanding General of this installation. It is his job," she continued, her voice suddenly turning cold, "to get this installation fully operational on schedule and to con- tinue the extermination of Rebel sympathizers." Koss shot her a quick glance, but said nothing. Instead, he turned and welcomed Commander Cibock. "I believe you all already know Commander Selena," Marta said with a smile. "It's good to see you safe, Commander," Cibock said warmly. "When we heard about the Death Star, we feared the worst." J'Una smiled, and was about to say something, but Marta inter- jected. "No time for sorrows, Commander. There is much to be done." She paused, and smiled. "Commander Selena and I and a few others," she said smoothly, "had been sent here by Grand Moff Tarkin to begin preparations for this base. At that time I was the Grand Moff's Chief Assistant." For a moment I thought her eyes were starting to tear up, but she quickly regained her imperial air. Casting a quick glance at the blonde giant in the corner Marta said, "And this is Tomba, my assistant." The way she said assistant made it clear to me that he was her muscle, to be used when she needed to exert some force. Judging from his physique and the way she had looked at him I figured he probably used some muscle on her from time to time. Marta definitely im- pressed me as someone you didn't fuck with, unless she want- ed you to fuck with her. Marta sat down behind the desk. As there were no other chairs in the room, the rest of us remained standing, which is probably what she had had in mind. It helped to reaffirm her superior status. "Now, Commander," Marta said briskly, "let's discuss your orders." Cibock nodded, but said nothing. "Since the cowardly attack by the Rebels on the Death Star," she continued, "we have been pursuing those responsible. What you must understand is that although Yavin was a principle Rebel base, it was not the only one. There are many other Rebel cells who, along with their allies, have become emboldened by the Death Star's destruction. Lord Vader has amassed an enormous fleet to pursue the Yavin Rebels. Unfortunately, this has left us with painfully few assets elsewhere." She paused, and leaned back in her chair. "We have received disturbing reports that a group of pirates, supported and supplied by the Rebels, have begun operating out of the Pakuuni system. A primary trade artery runs through Pakuuni and on to Mylok IV, a major Imperial industrial base. These pirates have become quite bold, and unfortunately quite successful, in raiding our commerce vessels. We have been unable to counter them due to commitments elsewhere." She smiled grimly. "Even the Empire has its limits, Commander." "Yes, Special Envoy," Cibock agreed deferentially. "What are the orders for GUSTAV?" "There are two full squadrons of replacement TIE fighters here at Tatooine," she began. "They were meant to be transported to the Death Star. Take aboard as many as you can fit in GUSTAV's hangars. It will be crowded, but you will need as much firepower as you can get." Cibock nodded, but I could see a questioning look on his face. Why was it necessary for a 'Special Envoy' to issue what looked to be routine patrol orders? We could just as easily have re- ceived the orders by message, taken the replacements onboard, and headed out. "Once that's done," Marta continued, "we will proceed directly to the Pakuuni system." WE? Kao and I exchanged questioning looks, and Commander Cibock's puzzled expression was not lost on the Special Envoy. "Yes, Commander," she said smoothly, responding to the un- asked question. "I will be accompanying you. And Commander Selena will be reassigned to GUSTAV, at least temporarily." A surge of joy rushed through me and I looked over at J'Una and smiled. She smiled back warmly. "Her tactical abilities," Marta continued, "were remarked on frequently by Grand Moff Tarkin, who held her in very high regard. Our mission is to smash the pirates and their Rebel friends and establish a permanent, enduring Imperial presence." "Yes, Special Envoy," Commander Cibock replied. "But isn't that a rather large task for one frigate with a few squadrons of TIEs and a couple of companies of stormtroopers?" Marta stood up and walked around the desk until she was standing directly in front of us. "Oh, we'll have help, Commander," she said vaguely in a voice that held out the prospect of sinister things to come. Obviously, there was more going on here than merely nailing some pirates, but Commander Cibock remained silent. Marta Emoh paused for what seemed to be a long time. Then, she raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't Admiral Haarkov's daughter serve aboard your vessel, Commander?" she asked. Even some- one as politically unaware as I could quickly make the connection. She was after Admiral Haarkov. What that had to do with us and our assignment I hadn't a clue. I assumed that the reports that Commander Cibock had sent in regarding the admiral's activities during the Sepan operation [see pt 4] were the catalyst for this development. Instantly I was afraid for Marina Haarkov. I was sure that she was unaware of her father's "questionable" activities, but it was also clear to me that this Marta Emoh had a game plan, and that Marina would play a part in it. Commander Cibock must have been thinking the same thing because he stiffened noticeably. "Ensign Haarkov is one of our leading maintenance officers," Cibock said slowly, measuring his words. "She has an exemplary record." Marta smiled at him. "I'm sure that she does, Commander," she said. She turned and moved back behind the desk and sat down. Abruptly, she turned to J'Una. "Commander," she said as she waved her hand imperiously toward Kao and me, "perhaps you could show the captains around for a few minutes. Commander Cibock, the general and I have a few more things to discuss." She didn't mention her 'assistant', and he wasn't moving from his position against the wall, so I assumed it was understood that he was staying. "Of course," J'Una replied, then motioned Kao and me to exit through the same double blast doors through which we had entered. Once we were outside and the heavy doors had slammed shut, J'Una and I flew into each other's arms, our lips meeting in an intense, almost savage kiss. It's amazing the emotions that come over you when you see someone after getting used to the idea that they're dead. J'Una grabbed me in her powerful arms and slammed me against the wall, her tongue probing deeply into my mouth. For a few moments we forgot where we were, forgot Imperial decorum, lost in our mutual longing. Suddenly, almost as one, we remembered Kao, who was standing there looking at us, a wry smile on her face. J'Una and I broke apart, grinning sheepishly like a couple of schoolkids who had been caught necking by their parents. "It's alright," Kao said softly. "In fact, I feel like doing the same." And she stepped up to J'Una and placed a gentle, soft kiss on her lips. J'Una returned the kiss hungrily and it was obvious to me that this wasn't the first time they'd kissed like this. Kao broke away and stepped back. "Well, Commander," she said in mock deference, "aren't you going to show us around?" J'Una laughed. "There really isn't much to see around here," she said. "Everything's a mess, what with all the construction going on." As if to validate her statement several base personnel, their uniforms wrinkled and dusty, hurried past accompanied by two droids carrying heavy construction materials. J'Una followed them with her eyes as they disappeared down the passageway. She stared after them, then her face brightened, her red eyes lit up and she turned to us with that wide, beaming smile of hers. "Come with me," she said as she began striding purposefully toward a stairwell that led up. "I know a great little cantina that's just down the street, and it's got a band that you won't believe." J'Una and I were naked, locked in a fierce embrace, my cock plunging deep into her pussy, her Bardin cunt muscles working me over. It had been two days since our reunion on the base at Mos Eisley, but we had each been so busy that we had had no opportunity to be alone together. Kao and I had supervised the onload of the replacement TIE fighters and the indoctrination and berthing of the new pilots. J'Una had been busy gathering the latest intelligence reports on the Pakuuni situation, and ensuring sufficiently lavish quarters were made available to Marta Emoh and her 'assistant,' Tomba. Not an easy task on a frigate, but J'Una had managed to satisfy the Special Envoy. It had been a hectic two days. And a long two days. Finally, however, GUSTAV was underway and we began to settle into our transit routine. J'Una and I had been able to arrange to meet in my quarters the evening after we'd left Tatooine. When she arrived, we went at each other like a couple of rutting animals. No preliminaries, no conversation, no petting, no foreplay. We tore each other's clothes off and tumbled onto my bed. I raised myself up onto my elbows and sucked on J'Una's fantastic ebony breasts as my cock continued to piston in and out of her cunt. Her long, powerful legs wrapped around me and pulled me deeper into her. I ran my tongue over a nipple and then sucked the breast into my mouth, biting it, remember- ing how much she loved having her tits handled roughly. She moaned and thrust her pelvis up hard at me, exercising that incredible vaginal muscle control that sent lightning bolts of ex- quisite pleasure up and down my spine. My balls churned as I felt my desire grow to new heights. I increased the tempo of my thrusting, my balls noisily slapping against J'Una's ass. My cock is not huge by any standards, but, fortunately, it's big enough to get the full benefit of those exquisite Bardin cunt muscles which actually felt like an internal hand grasp- ing and milking my cock. I raised myself up on my arms and looked down at her as I continued pounding away at her pussy. J'Una's red eyes were glowing and her lips were curled back in a kind of snarl and I could hear a low growling in her throat as she became more and more aroused. She grabbed my arms and pulled herself up onto me until her tits pressed against my chest and her lips ground against mine. She was getting hotter by the second and I knew her well enough to know that her orgasm was fast approaching. The tingling at the base of my cock told me that mine was, too. "Fuck me, Vel. Fuck me," J'Una whispered as she licked my ear. I pounded away, harder and faster, my cock slamming into her sopping pussy. J'Una released her grip on me and flopped back onto the bed, arms stretched out above her head, breasts heaving, red eyes rolling back into her head. That was the signal to me that she was cumming, so I slammed even harder into her, grunting and perspiring with the effort. J'Una uttered a moan which started deep in her throat and worked its way up until it exited her mouth as an ear splitting shriek and her legs scissored around behind me and threatened to chop me in half. I felt a shudder deep within her and her Bardin cunt muscles gave my cock one last squeeze which sent me over the edge. My cum poured out of my balls and raced up the length of my prick, blasting out deep within her. I slammed into her again, feeling spurt after spurt of my cum shooting out of my prick. It felt so good that it almost hurt. The memory of the emotions I had experienced when I thought she had been killed suddenly washed over me and my eyes teared up. I buried my face in her neck so she wouldn't notice. We held each other tightly as we slowly came down from our mutual ecstacy, our breathing grad- ually returning to normal. Presently we disentangled ourselves and J'Una sat up, leaning back against a bulkhead, the scent of our sex hanging over us. I stretched out next to her, my penis resting limply against my thigh. J'Una seemed pensive, and her expression, for a moment, was far away. Since returning to GUSTAV after serving on the ill-fated Death Star, J'Una seemed to have changed. She seem- ed to have lost some of the exhuberance and enthusiasm which was so characteristic of her. Her lovemaking was still the best, but she seemed somehow detached. I was sure that something was troubling her, probably something that had happened while she was on the Death Star, but I wasn't sure how to broach the subject with her. So, I just did. "Do you want to talk about the Death Star?" I asked directly. I thought that she did, and didn't know how else to get her going. Hell, I'm a pilot, not a diplomat or a politician. I tend to take a straight line approach to things. Sometimes that gets me into trouble. J'Una looked at me for a long moment. Her expression was tough to read, but I noticed lines and wrinkles around her eyes that hadn't been there before. She heaved a sigh and patted my thigh. "I'm not sure I like what we've become," she said quietly. "What do you mean?" I asked, surprised by her answer. I'm not really certain I knew what kind of response I should have expected, but that one wasn't among them. "The things that we do in the name of the Emperor...." she said, her voice trailing off. She had definitely aroused my curiosity now, and I sat up next to her. It was hard not to be aware of her nakedness, of her smooth, gleaming black skin, of her overpowering sexuality, but I forced myself to concen- trate on what she was saying. "What things, J'Una," I asked quietly, not certain I really want- ed to know the answer. She looked at me intently, her red eyes glowing, and let out a deep sigh, almost of resignation. "Remember when we first brought Tarkin to the Death Star, and he met Vader and there was talk of busting up some Rebel spy ring?" I nodded. We had delivered Grand Moff Tarkin to take over the Death Star amid a great deal of activity involving Vader's pursuit of some Rebel spies [see pt 3]. I hadn't paid much attention then. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself because J'Una had chosen to take a position on Tarkin's staff. Now, I was paying very close attention. "Well," J'Una continued, "Vader caught one." "A spy?" J'Una nodded. "At least someone he thought was a spy. Her name was Leia." "A female?" I asked, surprised. I don't know why I was sur- prised. A woman can be a spy just as well as a man can, I suppose. I guess I was just expecting something else. "Yes, a female," J'Una replied smiling. "She was a princess or senator or something, a fairly important person. But Vader was convinced she was involved with the Rebels so he attacked her ship not far from Tatooine and took her prisoner." Tatooine. I made the connection. "So that's why we've occupied Tatooine?" "Yes," J'Una said bitterly. "Vader thought that this Leia person was meeting contacts on Tatooine so he sent a bunch of storm- troopers down to find out while he interrogated her." "Did the stormtroopers find out anything?" J'Una shook her head. "Not much," she said. "But it wasn't from lack of effort. They killed and tortured people. They arrested people on sight. They burned farms. Lots of nasty stuff. And for what?" She looked at me with a deeply troubled expression. "So," she continued, "Vader and Tarkin decided that Tatooine was a hotbed of Rebel activity and ordered it occupied. You saw the results." She slowly shook her head. "So, what happened to that woman?" J'Una laughed derisively. "Oh, it gets better," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Vader and his people did the most un- speakable things to her. They drugged her. They beat her. They raped her. They forced her to eat her own shit." J,Una's eyes welled with tears and she continued with difficulty. "Vader's men took turns raping her. One after another after another until she passed out. Then they'd revive her and rape her some more." A single tear ran down her cheek. "It was horrible, Vel. Horrible." I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I suppose I was guilty of the same kind of naivete that I had accused Kao of earlier. Or, maybe, I had refused to acknowledge what was really happening, while pretending that I did. If I had really allowed myself to understand and accept the reality that inci- dents like this actually took place, I wouldn't have been so shocked. But now, confronted by J'Una's first hand descrip- tion of accepted Imperial methods, I found myself questioning myself and, thus, was unable to respond. "That woman was a tough little bitch," J'Una said smiling and sniffling at the same time. "She didn't tell Vader anything. I don't know if she knew anything, but she didn't tell him anything. No matter what he did, the humiliations, the raping the drugging, she defied him. This little woman didn't give an inch." There was a tone of admiration in her voice. "So, what did Vader do with her?" I asked, finally able to speak. "He went nuts trying to get her to give him the location of a Rebel base. He and Tarkin wanted to use the Death Star to destroy the base and bully others into submission. But she just wouldn't talk. So Vader wanted to kill her. That's usually Vader's approach." Her tone became bitterly sarcastic. "If they don't cooperate, kill them." She shook her head. "I don't know how lunatics like him get into positions of power." My eyebrows must have shot up because she smiled at me. I had never heard her talk like that before. She got up from the bed and grabbed a robe and put it on. "Anyway," she continued and started to pace in front of the bed where I still sat, naked, "Tarkin got a bright idea to try to make this Leia talk. It turns out she was from a place called Alderaan, not far from the Tatooine system. So, Tarkin takes the Death Star to Alderaan and brings Leia up to the bridge and tells her he'll blow up the planet if she doesn't tell him where her Rebel friends are." "Blow up the whole planet?" I asked exasperated. "Yep," she said. "He threatened to use the Death Star's weaponry. I was there. I saw everything." Her eyes teared up again. "Everything." She paused and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments, then turned back to me, tears flowing freely down her face. "Well, that broke her," she said quietly. "Or, at least that's what Tarkin thought. She gave him the name of some planet on the other side of the quadrant. Dantooie or something like that. Tarkin got all puffed up and strutted around in front of Vader, crowing how he had made her talk and Vader couldn't. Then," and she stopped and looked right through me, seemingly right into my soul, "he blew up the planet anyway." She struggled to maintain her composure, but the tears were flowing. "The bastard destroyed that entire planet, Vel. Tens of millions of people vaporized in an instant. Is that what we've become, Vel? Is that what I've become? I fucked that bastard more than once so I could get a job on his staff and serve on the Death Star and be real important and get promoted. Instead, I feel like I have blood on my hands and it won't wash off." She collapsed into a chair and pulled the robe tightly about her. She seemed tired, though her red eyes were still blazing. I just sat there, unable, or maybe unwilling, to comprehend what she had just said. "Not long after that," she continued quietly, "Marta and I were sent back to Tatooine to oversee the establishment of a base. Later, I heard that there wasn't any Rebel base on that planet that Leia had given them. They were chasing phantoms. I don't really know what happened at Yavin, or how the Death Star was destroyed. I do know that that woman Leia somehow ma- naged to escape and wasn't onboard when the Death Star was attacked." She paused and smiled at me. "Vader's still chasing her and the other Rebel leaders. I guess she got the last laugh on all of us." I could tell that J'Una was pleased by that thought. "Who is this Marta person, J'Una," I asked innocently, trying to change the subject a little, "and why is she here? Why is she important?" J'Una's brow furrowed and her eyes glowed like two embers. "Marta Emoh was Tarkin's chief assistant," she began. "She was devoted to him, did anything he asked. Tarkin's death really got to her. I don't think she's gotten over it. She's also a loyal follower of the Emperor, so watch what you say around her. She's very sharp and well connected, but ruthless. She gets what she wants. Watch out for that Tomba character she hangs out with. He's little more than a hired gun." "I got that impression," I said. "Marta's not as bad as Vader," J'Una continued, "but she has been known to kill and torture in the name of the Emperor." She chuckled. "She's also known for getting the hots for any- one she finds attractive, or thinks can be useful, so watch your- self, stud." She laughed. "Marta's not all that bad, I guess," she continued, "considering some of the real sick characters I've heard about. But she is passionately devoted to the cause of the Emperor. She is also passionately devoted to the cause of Marta Emoh. She is a very tough woman." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You may not be aware of this, Vel," she said and she leaned forward, almost as though we were engaging in a conspiracy, "but there's a growing rift between various elements within the Imperial hierarchy." I shook my head. I hadn't a clue what she was talking about, other than the fact that while we were in the Sepan system Commander Cibock had suspected Admiral Haarkov of supplying arms to the Rebels [see pt 4]. "First, there's the Emperor's faction," she went on. "These people are devoted to the Emperor personally. They derive all of their power and status from association with him. They hate the Rebels and want to wipe them out, because the Rebels pose the greatest threat to an Imperial domination of this part of the galaxy. The Rebels are so opposed to the Emperor that they won't even consider negotiating. So, the Emperor's faction has to destroy the Rebellion in order to survive." I merely nodded stupidly, dumbfounded and fascinated by this analysis. "Marta Emoh," J'Una continued, "is part of that faction. So was Tarkin. So is Vader. Vice Admiral Thrawn might be, too. Right now they have the upper hand but I think they're getting ner- vous. That's why they're going to such extreme measures." "What are they nervous about?" "The other factions, of course," J'Una said smiling. "There seems to be a growing number of senior military officers who, while loyal to the Empire, are not personally loyal to the Emperor. They aren't fans of the Rebels, but I get the impression that they would like to see this war ended. After all, they and their troops are the ones doing the dying. I don't think they'd be averse to some kind of negotiated settlement but, since the Rebels think the Emperor is a criminal and won't negotiate, they have little room to maneuver, unless they want to try to depose the Emperor and I don't think they have the strength or the balls for that. Yet." She said 'yet' with such finality that I knew she believed that it was only a matter of time before a coup was attempted. I was stunned. I was also getting angry. Here we were, my pilots and I, out here flying combat mission after combat mission in inferior starfighters and our leaders, the very people who should be giving us the most support, were busy maneuvering against each other. Unfuckingbelievable! "That leads us to the third faction," J'Una continued matter-of- factly, "and the reason that Marta Emoh is with us on this assignment. There appears to be a very small but growing num- ber of people in the military who are so disgusted with what the Empire has become that they are willing to actively help the Rebels. A few of these people have been exposed and ex- ecuted as traitors. Admiral Haarkov is suspected of being one of those people." She sat back, finished. "We're out here to get Haarkov?" I asked. "If he's dealing with the Rebels, yes," J'Una replied. "That's what Marta is going to confirm. The Emperor has to be care- ful how he handles senior officers like Haarkov, or he'll just piss a lot of them off, and drive them away from him. He may be the Emperor and he may be very powerful, but he's not untouchable. If Marta establishes proof that Haarkov is giving arms to the Rebels they'll move against him." "Do you think Marina's in any danger?" I asked. J'Una paused for several moments. "Assuming she doesn't know anything about what her father is suspected of doing," she looked at me and I shook my head, "probably not. But you never know what someone like Marta will do. She may try to use Marina to force the admiral to make a move. Who knows? I'll keep an eye on Marina, though. Marta and I get along pretty well. We were the only two females in any kind of leadership position on Tatooine, so we became close." She stopped, pondering, it seemed to me, whether to elaborate. She didn't, and I didn't ask. "So what do we do?" I asked, finally. "Why, captain," she said with a smile. "We do what we were sent here to do- smash a bunch of pirates." She stood up. "And now that I've given you all of this cheery information," she said, smiling devilishly, "I'm going to take a shower." She walked to the doorway of the bathroom, turned and dropped the robe. "Care to join me?" she asked, batting her eyes in mock innocence. Instantly I forgot all about the Emperor and Marta and Haarkov and infighting. My prick sprang quickly to life and I swiftly crossed the room and followed J'Una's gorgeous, swaying black ass into the shower. Caught up in my rapidly reviving lust, I forgot to ask her which of these three 'factions' she thought she belonged to. GUSTAV was still in hyperspace, but we were nearing our objective, the Pakuuni system. Commander Cibock had had the word passed for all senior officers to assemble in the briefing room. Special Envoy Emoh, we were told, wished to give us some final instructions for our mission. We hadn't seen much of the Imperial Special Envoy or her muscle bound assistant Tomba during our transit. One of the galley stewards who was tasked with delivering meals to their quarters told me that they were nearly always in a state of undress when she arrived. She had been quite shocked, in fact, when she saw Tomba enter the room completely naked while she was setting up the meal. Some 'assistant,' I thought. I took my customary seat up front next to Kao as the other officers filed in. J'Una was at the podium, organizing briefing materials, holographs and displays. It was good to see her there again. She fit into GUSTAV'S routine so naturally. Or, maybe, GUSTAV fit her routine. She exchanged pleasantries with many of the officers as they entered and sat down. They were obviously happy to see her back. A warship that operates on its own for an extended period of time, as we had [see part 1], develops its own rhythm, its own cadence. Each memb- er of the crew occupies a unique place in the ship's life. The more senior the person, as J'Una was, the more important and vital a part they played. J'Una's departure had disrupted that cadence and we hadn't established a new one. Her return re- established a sense of balance and familiarity. The crew seemed more relaxed and less tense and edgy than we'd been during the Sepan operation. I always preferred to take a relaxed group of starfighter pilots into combat. It improved my chances of staying alive. The hubbub of conversation ended abruptly and we sprang to our feet as Commander Cibock, followed by the Special Envoy and her assistant, entered the room. There were no preliminaries. Marta strode directly to the podium and took charge. "Good morning," she began. There was no pleasantness in her voice. The greeting was merely perfunctory. She looked around the room at the assembled officers, her eyes bright with intensity, her bearing rigid, imperious, businesslike. "As many of you may know, Lord Vader has most of the Im- perial Navy's assets employed in hunting down and exterminat- ing the Rebel terrorists who were responsible for murdering our colleagues aboard the Death Star." There was a support- ive murmur among the officers in the room. Most everyone there had known someone who perished on the Death Star and we were still out for blood. Marta gave a thin smile, then proceeded. "Although Lord Vader has not yet located these scum," she continued, "I assure you it is only a matter of time until he does." Her voice was chilling in its tone and I almost, but not quite, felt sorry for those Rebel bastards once Vader caught up with them. I glanced at Kao, who was sitting stoically, her face betraying no emotion. I knew she had no love for the Rebels. After all, they had killed her parents and shattered her comfortable, privileged existence [see pt 4]. But I had been sensing a change in her. It seemed that the zeal which she had displayed for kill- ing Rebels was slowly being tempered by a realization that all was not black and white, good and bad, and that pure ven- geance was an insufficient foundation upon which to base one's life. "Because of the large force gathered by Lord Vader," Marta continued, "our assets in other regions of the Empire have been stretched fairly thin." She gave a rather wan smile before pro- ceeding. "In the Pakuuni system there has been an alarming in- crease in pirate activity. These pirates, supported by the Rebel- lion, have become quite bold in attacking our commerce." She paused, her eyes narrowing in intensity. "Our job here is to smash these pirates and anyone who helps them." I noticed, as I'm sure J'Una did also, that Marta didn't just say 'Rebels.' The implication was clear to me. Treachery was suspected and that was really what Marta was here about. "I am not a military person," Marta continued, suddenly showing some warmth, "so I will not tell you how to do your jobs. Com- manders Cibock and Selena have come up with an impressive operational plan, which Commander Selena will brief you on. My role is to represent the Emperor and emphasize the import- ance of this assignment." She turned to J'Una. "Commander Selena." J'Una rose and walked to the podium as Marta took a seat. I had to hand it to the Special Envoy. Marta had been direct and professional and had shown due respect for GUSTAV's senior leadership. I could tell that she had won a grudging re- spect from most of the officers, many of whom were naturally reluctant to trust a civilian. She had done well. "Thank you, Special Envoy," J'Una said, bowing in Marta's direction. She turned to face us. "Our battle plan for this oper- ation employs a series of hit and run raids against several locations that we have identified as being centers of pirate activity throughout the Pakuuni system." A holographic repre- sentation of the Pakuuni system appeared on the front table. While there were several sizeable planets, what dominated the system was asteroids. They were all over the place, large and small, floating in a seemingly random pattern throughout the system. The only significant open area was near one of the inner planets. That was the jump point for the merchant traffic that Marta had alluded to. The rest of the system was a floating rock pile. A good place for pirates to hide in, and a tough place to operate with unshielded starfighters. I let out a soft groan. Kao looked at me and nodded. She was thinking the same thing. "Our first target," J'Una continued, "will be a large asteroid identified as Delta 5." The holographic display changed, highlighting a medium to large sized asteroid orbiting one of the system's outer planets. At least we won't have to penetrate too far into the field, I thought. "Intelligence reports indicate increased pirate activity coming from this asteroid. It is an old abandoned mining facility that we believe is now being used by pirates and their Rebel friends. As soon as we come out of hyperspace we'll launch all of our TIE Fighters. Captains Tallig and Ijuf will establish local superiority by defeating any enemy craft that oppose us. Hopefully, we will achieve sufficient surprise that the pirates are unable to respond quickly." She paused and smiled at Kao and me. "Once Cap- tains Tallig and Ijuf have eliminated the opposition, TIE bomb- ers will attack the asteroid with heavy space bombs. Major Maarek's stormtroopers, in three Assault Transports, will land on the asteroid, overcome any resistance and destroy as much of the installation as time permits." "Excuse me, commander," said Major Maarek, our erst- while stormtrooper commander, as he rose from his seat. "But what about the pirates who are still on the asteroid after we secure it? Do I kill them all?" He asked the question in such a casual, detached tone that J'Una was momentarily taken aback. He could just as well have been asking about the weather, or the price of blaster rechargers. "I want prisoners, Major," Marta Emoh said from her seat. "No wholesale killing. We want some to survive to spread the word about what's happening." Maarek sat back down, clearly disappointed. J'Una, having re- gained her composure, continued her briefing. "Once the installation has been sufficiently damaged," she said, "the stormtroopers and any prisoners will return. GUSTAV will hyperspace out of the system and we will begin planning future attacks. The pirates have been working with the Rebels, so it is possible that during this or subsequent raids we could see Rebel starfighters. Keep alert." The holographic display terminated and J'Una looked out at us. "This series of operations is de- signed to eliminate the threat posed by these pirates to Imperial commerce. We will be coming out of hyperspace shortly, so let's man our stations." She turned toward Marta. "Special En- voy Emoh?" Marta stood up and smiled at us. "I know that you will all serve the Emperor well," she said. "Good luck. That is all." She strode quickly out of the room, followed by Commander Cibock and the ever present Tomba. Kao and I looked at each other. "Great," Kao said sarcastically, "Fighting X-wings in an asteroid field in unshielded starfighters again. Not my idea of a good time." "Nor mine," I agreed. "At least you'd think we could get shield- ed fighters." "Preferably before the war is over." Kao didn't look too hopeful. She picked up her flight helmet and strode from the room. I climbed into my TIE, strapped in and hooked up the comm link. Kao and I had briefed our pilots on the upcoming opera- tion and GUSTAV had just come out of hyperspace on the edge of the Pakuuni asteroid field closest to our target. Comm- ander Cibock demonstrated once again his superior ship handling skills as he kept GUSTAV as close to the field as possible without risking a collision with a boulder. The hangar deck filled with the high pitched whine of TIEs winding up, and the overhead cranes began picking us up and maneuvering us to the launch bay. I quickly went through the pre-flight checklist and energized the ship's sensors and weapons systems. The heavy launch bay doors in the bottom of the ship opened, the crane lowered me through them and re- leased me out into space. I engaged the twin ion engines and my craft surged forward. It felt good to be at the controls of my TIE again, away from the intrigue and the politics and the bureacratic bullshit that permeated the Empire. When all was said and done, this is where I belonged, where I felt most com- fortable. Flying a TIE, particularly in combat, gave me a sense of accomplishment and importance like nothing else I had ever done. Leading a highly trained and motivated group of TIE pilots into a combat mission was an incredible rush and, for a time, any doubts I had about the Empire were set aside. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called, establishing comms. "Flight group forming up." "Roger, Gamma One," J'Una replied. It was good to hear her voice on the other end again. "Commence your attack as soon as you and Tau leader are ready. No signs of enemy craft." That was good. Maybe we'd surprise them after all. "Roger, GUSTAV," I acknowledged. My flight had formed up, Dromo in his usual position off my port side. My sensors showed that Kao's group was about ready as well. "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to her, changing fre- quencies. "Go ahead, Gamma leader," Kao replied. I could see that her flight had formed and they had taken up station behind mine. We were approaching the asteroid field in two loose formations. "We'll attack the installation and take out their ground de- fenses," I told her. "You cover us and watch for any new- comers." "Acknowledged, Gamma leader," Kao said coolly. "Give 'em hell, Vel." "Gamma leader to Gamma flight," I called to my group, "stay in a loose formation until we pass through the asteroids to the pirate base, Delta 5. We'll make a few strafing runs to take out their ground defenses and soften them up for the bombers. Watch for any fighters that may rise to meet us." I increased speed and turned into the asteroids. We threaded our way through with little difficulty. It wasn't a particularly thick asteroid field and we weren't being shot at- yet- so it was fairly easy going. The dodging and weaving was actually fun and I enjoyed watching Dromo trying to stay with me through all the twists and turns. Of course, he did. We were nearing our objective, Delta 5, and still no sign of any response. The hair started rising on the back of my neck. Although there was no reason to suspect an ambush, I had had too many bad experiences not to be wary. Either we had actually achieved complete surprise, or they were waiting for us, or they were gone. Since I had no way of knowing which was the case, I activated my targeting computer as I led my group down toward the asteroid's surface. I switched my weapons to missiles and sighted a turbo laser installation. "These guys must really be asleep," Dromo said curtly. "Commence attack," I ordered, ignoring him. My targeting system gave off a series of beeps indicating that my missiles had a lock on the turbo mount. I fired two missiles -out of the four we each carried- switched to lasers and opened up. My missiles found their mark and the laser mount disappeared in a series of explosions. Other surface installations were suffering the same fate as the rest of my TIEs commenced their runs. The pirates on Delta 5 finally responded to our attack. I didn't understand how people who made their living off of illegal activities could be so lax in their security arrangements. Maybe they thought the Rebels would protect them. Or perhaps they got lazy because the Empire had not had a presence in this area for so long. Whatever the case, these guys had definitely been caught napping. Once they did begin to return fire, the pirates did so with im- pressive ferocity. Green and red laser bolts leapt up at us from several turbo laser mounts and the space around the base be- came thick with missiles. Several fighters launched and rose to meet us, mostly old Z-95s. I looped around a small, drifting asteroid- really a big boulder- and targeted a Z-95. I activated speed matching, switched my lasers to rapid single fire and opened up. My shots quickly took the pirate's shields down (Z-95 shields aren't all that strong anyway, but, hell! They're shields). He twisted to the right to avoid my fire and flew straight into an asteroid. His craft disintegrated in a blinding flash of color. I flew past the asteroid and locked onto another pirate craft that had somehow gotten onto the tail of one of my TIEs and was blasting away. Once again I intended to approach from the rear. "Gamma Four, Gamma One," I called to the pursued TIE pilot, "Hang on. I'm on him." "Thanks, Captain," came the relieved reply. The three ships twisted and darted through the floating rocks. The pirate seemed so intent on his prey that he never checked his six. I crept closer and closer, wanting a clear shot so that I wouldn't miss and hit my own pilot. As we rounded another boulder I saw my chance. The Z-95 and the other TIE were now no longer in a direct line so I opened up and rapidly cut the pirate into pieces. I don't think he ever knew I was there. "Gamma One, GUSTAV," J'Una's voice in my ear. "There are more Z-95s approaching from outside the field. They appear to have launched from another asteroid." "GUSTAV, this is Tau Leader," Kao broke in. "This group has just passed between my flight and the field. I'm above and behind them." "Roger, Tau Leader," J'Una responded. "Attack." "Tau flight attacking," Kao acknowledged. "Gamma One," J'Una called to me, "the TIE bombers are launching, as well as the ATRs. Cover their approach." "Roger, GUSTAV," I replied. "We've taken care of most of the opposition here. It should be clear for the bombers." "Acknowledged, Gamma One. Commencing launch." On my screen I could see the wave of TIE bombers form up and begin navigating the asteroid field as they approached the pirate base. I could also see the three ATRs carrying the stormtroopers following behind them. Dromo was back with me and he and I looped around some asteroids to close up with the bombers and provide escort. The rest of my flight was finishing off the meager opposition. I watched the bombers go in and begin pounding the asteroid with their heavy space bombs. The idea, as I was told by one of the bomber pilots, was to collapse some of the many tun- els that had been dug into the asteroid, first by the mining interest, then expanded by the pirates. The asteroid seemed to literally shudder from the pounding as bomber after bomber delivered its weapons. At one point I half expected the asteroid to fly apart into a million little pieces. It didn't, of course, but it took a horrific beating. It was while I was watching the bombers in action that I com- mitted an error which few combat pilots commit and live to tell about. I got lazy and inattentive. I didn't see a lone Z-95 emerge from its hiding place among a series of large aster- oids and target me from behind. In fact, I had no inclination that anything was amiss until his laser bolts started slamming into my ass. Then it was too late. My TIE was shaken and thrown about violently from the force of the laser hits. I fought for control, but my maneuvering jets were gone. The cockpit started filling with smoke and the smell of fried electronics filled my nostrils. "Dromo, I'm hit. I'm hit," I yelled, not knowing if the comm link still worked. The Z-95 fired again and ripped the starboard solar panel to pieces. I was still fighting for control when I heard Dromo's voice in my ear. "Eject, captain," he called. "Eject NOW!" A pilot's instinct is to stay with his ship and I hesitated a mo- ment. I also had another consideration. The TIE's ejection sys- tem was notoriously unreliable. Sometimes the hatch wouldn't open and the pilot would be smashed to a bloody pulp by the force of the ejection. Sometimes the life support cocoon wouldn't activate and the pilot would instantly freeze to death in space. Sometimes nothing at all would happen and the pilot would die with his ship. All of those things flashed through my mind in an instant and I refrained from activating the ejection system. My mind was changed, however, by the fire that started inside the electronics suite and spread rapidly through- out the cockpit. "Dromo, I'm ejecting," I called and hit the button and prayed. This time, everything worked right. The life support cocoon wrapped itself around me in a moment, the escape hatch blew off and the chair rocketed itself out of the top of the TIE and into space. I hoped that there weren't any asteroids close by. I also hoped that the homing beacon had activated. I couldn't see much, being wrapped up like I was, but I knew that Dromo would have to get help. A TIE fighter is just too small for a second person to fit inside. Also, it doesn't have a tractor beam. So, I figured I'd be out there awhile until a shuttle from GUSTAV could pick me up. The emergency life support system was rated to last about three hours. I didn't want to test it, however. I had been floating less than five minutes when I felt the unmis- takeable tug of a tractor beam pulling me in. It was 'way too soon for a shuttle to have gotten out here, and I knew that the Z-95 didn't normally have a tractor beam. Well, I thought, at the very least I'll get out of this damned cocoon. I could hardly move and I was starting to feel claustrophobic. The tractor beam continued pulling me in. I strained to get a look at the ship that had found me, but the life support co- coon so severely restricts your field of vision that I couldn't see it. So, I waited, and longed for a blaster. The tractor beam ride ended abruptly. A hatch on the bottom of the ship opened and I was pulled inside, the hatch closing behind me. My chair landed heavily on the deck. I heard the loud hissing sound of the compartment being pressurized, followed by the sound of a door sliding open. Hands pulled at the life support unit, unwrapping it. My legs were freed first and I was able to rise from the pilot seat to facilitate the removal of the rest of the unit. The cocoon was removed from around my head and I found myself looking into the smiling face of Major Maarek, who was in full stormtrooper gear, minus the helmet. Two other troopers were busy helping me out of the life support unit. I stepped free of it and moved my arms and legs to get the blood flowing again. I had never felt so cramped, but was grateful that the ejection system had actually worked. "Welcome aboard, captain," Maarek said pleasantly. "We saw you eject, but had to double back through some boulders to pick you up." The intercom speaker on the bulkhead squawked. "Pilot to Major Maarek. Do we have the ejected pilot, sir?" "Yes, lieutenant," he called. "Let's proceed to the assault point." "Yes, sir." I felt the ATR surge ahead. Maarek turned to me with a sarcastic grin. "Looks like you're joining the grunts on this one, captain." I smiled thinly. If I had wanted to experience ground combat I wouldn't have become a pilot. Maarek chuckled. "That Z-95 really flamed your ass, didn't he?" He laughed. He was really enjoying this. "Shouldn't we notify GUSTAV that I'm aboard?" I asked, ig- noring his sarcasm. "Can't break comm silence, captain," he said. "Major," I said, somewhat exasperated, "don't you think that the pirates know by now that we're here?" Maarek gave me a long, cold look. I was questioning him in front of his men and he didn't like it. "Of course the pirates know that we are attacking them with starfighters," he said calmly, patiently, as though explaining something to a child. "But they might not know that three ATRs loaded with stormtroopers are about to descend on them. If it's alright with you, captain, I'd like to keep it that way." I said nothing. He was right, of course. "If you'll excuse me, captain," Maarek said impatiently, "I have an assault to lead." He turned and left the airlock chamber followed by the two troopers. I trailed behind them. We walked down a short passageway, through a blast door into a large troop assembly area. It was the largest compart- ment on the transport. Fifty or more stormtroopers were seat- ed on the long benches that ran the length of the compartment along either bulkhead. They were in full combat gear, assault rifles at the ready. Maarek and the two troopers sat down and strapped themselves in. "Better take a seat, captain," he said indicating a jump seat at the front of the compartment. "It can get a little rough." I sat down and strapped myself in. Maarek grinned at me, then reached behind him and unfastened an assault rifle from a rack on the bulkhead. He looked at the rifle, then tossed it to me. "Here, captain," he said. "You might need this. Try not to hurt yourself." He laughed and pulled on his helmet. I could hear snickers and chuckles from nearby troopers. I examined the rifle. It was set on 'kill.' The intercom speaker squawked with the pilot's voice. "We are commencing our approach on the target. Stand by for evasive maneuvers." The pilot put the ATR through a series of gutwrenching twists and turns as a precaution against possible enemy fire. I don't know if the pirates were shooting at us or not, but we weren't hit. "We are approaching the main tunnel," said the pilot. "Standby for touchdown." "Feet up!" Maarek bellowed. Almost as one man the storm- troopers lifted their feet up off the deck. I had no idea why, but I figured there must be a good reason, so I did the same. Maarek turned his helmeted head toward me. "If the landing is too hard," he said, his voice muffled by the face shield, "the shock can break your ankles." I nodded. The ATR touched down with a heavy thud, and skidded to a stop. The back of the transport opened up as a large ramp, which formed the rear wall of the troop compartment, dropped into position. "Let's move," Maarek called as the troopers swiftly released their harnesses and exited the transport. I followed them out. The other two transports had landed on either side of ours and their troops were filing out and forming up quickly. I had to admit that the precision and discipline that they displayed were impressive. The troopers formed up into teams and began moving down the tunnel. The tunnel was quite large, larger than I had thought it would be. It was wide enough for the three ATRs to land side-by-side with plenty of room between them. The tunnel was dimly lit and, due to the smoke and debris from the bombing, I couldn't see to the end. In fact I soon lost sight of the stormtroopers as they systematically moved down the tunnel. The three ATR pilots were standing near the center shuttle, talking. I started to walk toward them when I heard an ex- plosion, then laser fire, erupt down the tunnel. I stopped and turned toward it. The fire got heavier and heavier, the sound reverberating through the tunnel. I could see laser bolts flying about and, above the din, I heard screaming. Presently the firing sputtered and stopped. I couldn't restrain my curiosity and began walking slowly, carefully, down the tunnel, the assault rifle at the ready. I had gone about fifty meters when I came upon the bodies of two stormtroopers that had been ripped apart by some sort of blast. There were parts of another, non-uniformed, body strewn about. I took a deep breath and continued down the tunnel, trying not to slip on the blood and the gore. I went another ten meters and then I saw them. Bodies. Many, many bodies. Some were piled in heaps, some scattered about the tunnel. I drew closer and the vomit suddenly rose in my throat. Many of the bodies were children! Some very young children. At first I thought they must have been killed in the bombing, but then I saw the unmistakable scorch marks of assault rifle blasts. The little bodies had been ripped and blast- ed and were horribly contorted. Amidst the dead children was the occasional body of an adult, some of whom had weapons nearby. In a small alcove, where she had obviously tried to take refuge, was a dead woman, the headless body of an in- fant clutched in her arms. This part of the tunnel was literally awash in gore, blood, limbs and internal organs that had been splattered about. Leading away from the carnage down the tunnel were the bloody footprints of the stormtroopers. It was the most horrific sight I had ever seen. My eyes welled up with tears and I could go no further. I turned my back on the carnage and slowly walked back to the ATRs. The pilots acknowledged me but I walked past them to the rear of Maarek's ATR and sat down on the ramp, my mind numb. I don't know how long I sat there, staring out at the tunnel en- trance, before I heard heavy footsteps approaching. I stood up and looked down the tunnel. Maarek and some of the troopers had returned. Maarek's body armor was splattered with blood, but it was obviously not his own. Maarek pulled off his helmet and grinned at me. "What's the matter, captain?" he asked in mock seriousness. "Does the sight of real combat make you ill?" Again, snickers among the troopers. I walked up to Maarek and looked him coldly in the eye. "Since when," I said slowly, deliberately, biting off each word, "do we massacre children, major?" I was glad to see that Maarek actually flinched. Not much, but he did flinch. He recovered quickly, however. "Ground combat isn't clean and neat and tidy, captain," he said indignantly. "We don't have sensors and scanners that clearly label the enemy, like starfighter pilots do." The contempt was heavy in his voice. "We don't always know what or who will be waiting for us in a tunnel, or on a space platform or down an alley. My orders were to secure this asteroid, and I have done so." I was becoming angrier by the moment. "What orders gave you the right to butcher children?" I noticed that all other con- versation among the troopers had ceased. They were looking at Maarek and me. Senior officers aren't supposed to argue in front of the troops, but I was unconcerned with Imperial protocol at that point. Maarek gave me a long, cold stare. I could tell that he was seething. His disdain for pilots was well known and he was damned if he was going to allow his ground combat leader- ship to be questioned by one. "Captain," he said slowly, fighting to control himself, "we were advancing down a dark tunnel and we were attacked. We returned fire and kept firing until the resistance was over- come. Then we moved on. If these damned Pakuunis want to bring children into a war zone they have only themselves to blame for what happens to them." I was furious at what I was hearing. "What kind of threat did those children pose, Major?" "There was fire coming from that area, captain," Maarek re- plied, obviously becoming as furious as I, but for different reasons. "When someone's shooting at me I don't stop to check their age. How do you know that that pilot who flamed your ass today wasn't some kid? The Rebels have been known to make up for pilot shortages by using sixteen year olds. Are you so sure that none of the pilots you've ever flamed was a kid? Do you even think about it up there?" He paused only for a moment, then answered his own question. "Of course you don't. All you see is an enemy fighter shooting at you. You take him out. That's what we did. I'm sorry if it offends your moral sensibilities, but warfare isn't always clean and neat. I suggest you pull your head out of your flyboy ass and join reality. As long as the Rebels continue to defy our Emperor, and as long as scum like these cooperate with them, this kind of thing is going to happen. Get used to it, captain. This is only the first raid on these pirates." "I don't think you give a fuck what you're shooting at, Major," I said, spitting my words at him. "And I don't think you plan- ned to take any prisoners, either. I think you and your men get your rocks off massacreing anything that gets in your way. The fact that they were children doesn't matter to you at all." Maarek took a step toward me. He was sweating profusely inside that heavy body armor. "My job, captain," he said through clenched teeth,"is to accomplish my mission with as few casualties as possible. I lost two men today. One of your precious 'children'" and he spat the word out,"approached with his hands in the air then detonated a bomb that was hid- den in his clothing. He blew himself up, along with my two men. They were good men, captain, and they both had fam- ilies. Maybe you ought to worry about their kids." He turned away from me and walked into the ATR, where one of the troopers had activated the comm link with GUSTAV. "Notify GUSTAV that we've secured the asteroid," he told the trooper. He turned and looked at me, disgust in his eyes. "Tell them also," he continued, "that we have recovered Cap- tain Tallig and will return him to the ship as soon as we can." I walked away from the ATRs, found a big rock, knelt down behind it and threw up. Several hours later I stepped out of the shower in my quarters on GUSTAV and toweled myself off. I had felt unclean and was trying, unsuccessfully, to wash that feeling away. GUSTAV had jumped into hyperspace after recovering the stormtroopers and starfighters and was proceeding out of the Pakuuni system to prepare for the next raid. The pirate installation on Delta5 had been thoroughly wrecked, and Special Envoy Emoh had seemed quite pleased with the re- sults. My description of what had happened inside the aster- oid hadn't seemed to bother her much. I guess I wasn't really surprised, particularly not after hearing J'Una talk about what kind of person she was. I finished drying off and put on a robe. I went into my sitting room and collapsed onto a couch. I realized just how long and arduous a day it had been, and I suddenly felt very tired. I put my feet up on a stool and was just starting to relax when my door chimed, and I heard the access code being entered. Only J'Una and Kao knew my access code, other than ship security, of course, and I briefly wondered which one of them it was. The door slid open and, to my surprise, both J'Una and Kao strode into my quarters, the door sliding shut behind them. They were both smiling but, at the same time, looked worried or concerned about something. Kao seemed to look me over critically. There I was in my bathrobe lying on the couch, feet propped on a stool, too tired to even stand up and say hello. "Did we have a tough day, captain?" she asked in mock sympathy. Obviously, they weren't worried about me. I smiled weakly. "You could say that." "Pretty dirty business, isn't it?" J'Una asked as she sat down in a chair opposite my couch. Kao pulled up another chair and sat down next to her. I nodded. "If this is the way the Empire operates," I said, "no wonder the Rebels hate us so much. No wonder they have so many allies." J'Una looked at me skeptically. "Just remember that the Rebels destroyed the Death Star and everyone on it," she said. "After Tarkin blew up Alderaan," I said. "At least the Death Star was a military target." "Maarek would tell you that that tunnel was, too," J'Una said. "And the Rebels certainly think that industrial installations are legitimate targets," Kao added. "My parents weren't in the mil- itary." [see pt 4] I stared at them. Were they serious? Were they justifying what I'd seen today? I shook my head in bewilderment and longed for a time, which wasn't that long ago, when things seemed so clear. "So, what are you telling me?" I asked, somewhat plaintively. J'Una gave me a long, cold stare. She was being all business, the complete professional. "I'm telling you something you ought to already know," she said. "War is a dirty, nasty, bloody business and yelling at Maarek in front of his men doesn't help." I had never heard such sternness in her voice directed at me, but she was just getting started. "You are a professional officer in the Imperial Navy, Vel," she continued, her voice rising. "We have a job to do here, so you'd better realize that and not let emotion cloud your good judgment. You wouldn't have survived as long as you have flying TIEs if you did." She paused, and seemed to soften a bit. "A lot of us dislike what we see going on," she said. "But we are professionals and we do our duty. I suggest you remember that." She looked at me, red eyes blazing. I nodded in silent agreement with what she had said. She sat back, speech over. Kao looked back and forth at J'Una and me, then said quietly, "From what J'Una tells me, Vel, the Pakuuni have been more than just space pirates." "What do you mean?" I asked. Kao was about to answer when J'Una interrupted. "What she means is that the Pakuuni are actively supporting the Rebels by funneling stolen Imperial weapons and munitions to them." I sat up, alert. "Imperial weapons? Where do they get them?" J'Una just smiled. I wasn't sure at first why she was smiling. Then, the lights came on inside my head. "Haarkov?" I asked. "Quite possibly," J'Una replied. "Marta Emoh has recently re- ceived some reports from Intelligence that indicate that a lot of ordnance has been moved through here lately and on to the Rebels. So, our raids here may bust up the Rebels' supply lines." "If that's true," I said, "we could be getting some visitors." "If that's true," J'Una echoed, "that would be the whole idea." J'Una deliberated for a moment, then continued. "Marta is also sending and receiving a lot of high level, high- ly encrypted communications from somewhere, but we don't know where. She has her own dedicated comm channels." We sat silently for a few moments. We could all see what was going on. Marta Emoh was attempting to lay a trap, and GUSTAV was the bait. "So you see," J'Una said quietly, "the Pakuuni aren't exactly innocent, either." "I guess no one is," I said, almost to myself. "Not even child- ren." I looked up at J'Una and Kao and, for some reason, thought of Marina Haarkov. "Does Marina know any of this?" I asked. J'Una and Kao shot each other a worried look. Something was up. "She does now," Kao said bitterly. I looked quizzically at J'Una. "That's the other thing we wanted to discuss with you," she said. "Marta has already moved on Marina Haarkov." 'Moved on'? What did that mean? I began to get alarmed. "Did she arrest Marina?" I asked. J'Una and Kao both shook their heads. "No, Vel," J'Una said. "At least not yet. She questioned Marina at considerable length about her father and then flat out told her he is suspected of treason." "She told Marina that?" I was incredulous. What purpose could it have served? J'Una nodded. "Naturally Marina became quite upset and, as she told Kao and me, Marta tried to take advantage of that by seducing her." "Seducing her? What the fuck are you talking about?" Sud- denly that bloody damned tunnel didn't seem so bad. At least there one knew what the fuck was real, and what wasn't. "I told you that Marta is a real smooth operator, and usually gets what she wants," J'Una said. "Marina told us that before she knew what was happening Marta had her coveralls un- zipped and was fondling her breasts and kissing her. She has quite an effective technique." She paused, looking directly at me. "I know." I sat back, slightly stunned. Kao looked nervously from me to J'Una. "Marina started to submit," she said to me, "but then she saw that Tomba character approaching with his cock hanging out and she wanted nothing more to do with them. So she left and came to see us. She was nearly hy- sterical." "How did Marina manage to get away?" "Marta let her go," J'Una said matter-of-factly. "She may be somewhat predatory, but she's not a rapist. Nothing's been proven about Admiral Haarkov yet, and Marina is an Im- perial officer. Marta knows her limitations." "Does Commander Cibock know any of this?" I asked. J'Una nodded. "I discussed it with him. There isn't much he can do, however. Marta has been given virtually unlimited authority by the Imperial Staff. Cibock can protest through channels if he wants to, but it won't do much good." "So, what do we do?" "'WE' do nothing," J'Una said sternly. "I will talk to Marta about Marina. You two say nothing about this and stick to flying your missions and accomplishing what we need to accomplish out here." Kao and I nodded our concurrence. "Remember," J'Una continued, "Marta is out here trying to find and stop whomever it is that's supplying weapons to our enemies." "And, after all," I said sarcastically, "it is only the word of an Ensign against an Imperial Special Envoy who was merely con- ducting an inquiry." J'Una looked at me and smiled. "That's the smartest thing you've said all evening." I flopped back on the couch, defeated. J'Una was right, and I knew it and it angered me. I couldn't get the vision of those slaughtered children out of my mind, and no amount of words about 'targets' and 'Rebel sympathizers' could change the way I felt about it. Pragmatically speaking, J'Una was right. I knew that she had been disturbed by the Alderaan episode, but she seemed to have been able to put it behind her and carry on as a loyal, professional Imperial Officer. I wondered if I could. I gazed at the overhead and let out a sigh. "It looks like the captain has had a tough day, Commander." Kao's voice. I moved my gaze from the cieling to the two females. Kao was looking at me and smiling mischievously, blue eyes sparkling, red hair flowing about her shoulders. J'Una glanced at Kao, then looked at me. Her red eyes were glowing as she stood up and walked purposefully over to where I was sitting. She reached down and unceremoniously opened my robe. She looked down at my penis, which was resting limply against my thigh. She straightened and looked over at Kao. "I think you're right, Captain," she said to her. "He has had a tough day." She sank to her knees next to the couch and took my cock in her hands, stroking it softly at first. She smiled up at me, then bent her head down and licked the tip of my penis, running her tongue around the head. My cock began surging to life and I suddenly didn't feel so tired. Kao stood up from her chair and began peeling off her uni- form. Naked, she moved toward the couch, her blue eyes sparkling, her full lips slightly parted, her red hair flowing gent- ly over her shoulders and caressing her breasts, whose nipples were already hard with arousal. She was a true vision of ele- gant beauty and my prick surged to greater hardness at the sight of her. Kao knelt down next to J'Una and ran her hands through the Bardin's lush black hair. J'Una lifted her mouth from my cock and turned to Kao, her hands never missing a stroke on my rod. The two females leaned toward each other, their lips pressing in a deep, passionate kiss, their tongues battling in- side their mouths. Kao moaned and her hands clutched J'Una's hair firmly, pulling her tighter against her mouth. J'Una's hands abruptly abandoned my cock and moved to Kao's breasts. Her long fingers, ebony against the ivory white- ness of Kao's skin, fondled and gently caressed the redhead's breasts, eliciting soft groans of pleasure. Kao broke the kiss and drew her face back, gazing at J'Una with lust in her eyes as J'Una pinched and tugged at Kao's swollen nipples. J'Una gently cupped one of Kao's breasts in her hand and, bending down, ran her tongue over the turgid nipple. Kao gasped and looked over J'Una to me. "You like this?" she asked, teasing me. She gasped again as J'Una opened her mouth wide and took as much of Kao's tit inside her mouth as she could. J'Una, who hadn't removed any of her clothing yet, wrapped her powerful arms around the red- headed starfighter pilot and pulled her to her, her mouth sucking insatiably at Kao's breast. I knew what it felt like to have J'Una's hot mouth go to work on my cock, so I could imagine that Kao was feeling similar pleasure. "You see why I'm glad she's not dead?" Kao said, laughing. "I get the picture," I replied, grinning at her. "It would have been a shame to have wasted such a good fuck." Kao laughed again and nodded in sarcastic agreement. J'Una released Kao's tit from her mouth and sat up, looking at each of us in turn. "It's good to be appreciated," J'Una said, her voice caustic. J'Una stood up and began unbutton- ing her tunic. Kao remained on her knees and, reaching up, began tugging at J'Una's trousers, eager to get at her pussy. J'Una pulled off the tunic and tossed it aside, her magnificent breasts coming into view. She cupped her hands under those twin ebony towers, pinching the nipples with finger and thumb, pointing them at me in a gesture of offering. Her red eyes were hot and she smiled salaciously at me. Kao finally worked J'Una's boots and trousers off and ran her hands up along the insides of the Bardin's sleek, dark thighs. As Kao's fingers slid inexorably toward the juncture of her thighs, J'Una straddled her legs slightly, and reached down and ran her hands through Kao's long red hair. Kao's probing fingers met at the entrance to J'Una's cunt. She inserted a fin- ger and moved it in and out of J'Una's very wet pussy. J'una straightened and gasped in pleasure. Kao's tongue quickly accompanied her finger and she licked and sucked at J'Una's pussy lips. Needless to say, I was becoming quite aroused by the sight of these two beautiful females going at it right in front of me. My cock was rock hard and, after the day I'd had, some sex- ual diversion seemed just what I needed. As much as I want- ed to dive right in, I was enjoying watching Kao lap noisily at J'Una's dripping snatch, and hearing J'Una moan and grunt with pleasure. It was quite stimulating, so I contented myself with sitting on the couch and lazily stroking my prick, my eyes glued to the sight before me. Kao reached through J'Una's legs and grasped her buttocks, pulling her snatch against her mouth, her tongue snaking into J'Una's cunt. J'Una was moaning and wriggling with excite- ment, her breasts tense, nipples hard, her hands firmly grasp- ing Kao's head, holding it against her. I could see Kao's teeth and tongue working on J'Una's cuntlips and clit, causing the Bardin to shudder with ecstacy. Although Kao was lapping hungrily, she missed some of the heavy flow of cunt juice that poured out of J'Una's pussy and ran down the insides of her thighs, a sheen on her already gleaming black skin. Kao's fingers worked their way between J'Una's buttocks and probed her asshole. She thrust a finger hard into J'Una's anus as she increased the tempo of her licking and sucking on J'Una's cunt. I could sense that J'Una was losing control, and was about to explode. Her head was back, her red eyes were blazing and she thrust against Kao's invading finger, brutally impaling herself as she held Kao's face even tighter against her, nearly smothering Kao with her cunt. J'Una grunted and groaned and thrashed her hips about, but Kao kept her face glued to the tall Bardin's cunt, licking, biting, sucking at her. Kao's finger continued its brutal probe of J'Una's ass, pushing in deeper and deeper with each thrust. Kao continued her assault on J'Una's pussy, her tongue a blur against J'Una's swollen and distended cuntlips. J'Una threw her head back and growled in ecstacy, her thighs qui- vered visibly and her knees buckled collapsing her and Kao into a heap on the deck, Kao's mouth never losing contact with J'Una's cunt. Kao's finger continued to penetrate J'Una as she thrashed about on the deck in the throes of her or- gasm. The sight of Kao's puckered asshole and dripping pussy pointing directly at me was too much. I could remain a silent onlooker no longer. I walked on my knees across the deck to where the two females were thrashing and writhing, my bobbing erection leading the way. I maneuvered in between Kao's legs, her ass facing me as she continued to eat at J'Una's pussy. I gripped her hips and, placing the head of my cock against her cuntlips, plunged it deep into her, shoving her face against J'Una. Kao raised her face, now covered with J'Una's cuntjuice, and smiled at her Bardin lover. "He is good, isn't he?" she asked, grunting as I thrust into her again. J'Una smiled down at Kao, running her hand through the pi- lot's long red hair. "Yes he is," she agreed, smiling over her at me. "For a man." She laughed at her own joke, gasping as Kao resumed lick- ing her pussy. I got into a comfortable rhythm as I fucked Kao's hot, wet pussy. She thrust back at me, her pussy gripping me tightly. She didn't have J'Una's amazing cunt muscles, but her cunt had a good grip just the same. J'Una disengaged herself from Kao's mouth and moved to kneel next to me behind Kao as I started to pound into Kao. She kissed me and ran her hands across my chest, pinching my nipples. I closed my eyes, savoring the sensations, my pulsating erection pistoning in and out of Kao's cunt, my balls slapping against her. J'Una bent down and kissed and licked Kao's buttocks and gently probed her anus with her tongue. Kao groaned, burying her face in her hands, and thrust her ass harder against me. "Turnabout is fair play, no?" J'Una asked as she continued to lick at Kao's anus. Kao's entire body shuddered and she moved her hands to her breasts, pulling harshly at the nipples. J'Una moved a hand between my legs and squeezed my balls. I groaned and increased my thrusting into Kao. J'Una maneuvered herself so that she slithered between my legs and laid on her back underneath us, her face inches from the juncture of my cock and Kao's cunt. She reached up with her tongue and licked us, her hands stroking Kao's legs. "God, J'Una," Kao gasped, grunting with my thrusts, "This is so good. So good." Looking down between us I could see J'Una's tongue going to work on Kao's swollen clit. That did it. Kao started to wail and shudder, overcome by her orgasm. J'Una grasped my cock, pulled it out of Kao and took it into her mouth sucking and stroking me. J'Una's artful mouth on my cock quickly sent me over the edge. Cum shot forth from my prick, rapidly filling her mouth, spilling out of the corners like white lava. J'Una swallowed heavily and continued sucking on me. Kao quickly reversed her position and licked my balls, moving up my cock to where it entered J'Una's mouth. She licked the cum that had dribbled down the side of J'Una's face. Kao grasped my cock and eased it out of J'Una's cum filled mouth and licked and sucked the last of my orgasm from me. I collapsed onto the deck as the two females began kissing each other, my cum still drooling from J'Una's mouth. It was an exhausting end to a long day. I fell asleep on the deck. We flew two more missions against Pakuuni installations with similar results, with the exception that I managed to get through them without getting my ass shot off. I also didn't have to get a closeup view of Major Maarek's handiwork. I was grateful for that. Although the Pakuuni weren't caught napping the way they were on the first raid, they offered feeble opposition to our forces. As I've pointed out before the Z-95, while still avail- able in great numbers, is obsolete and seriously flawed, and the fact that the Pakuuni were not trained to fight as a military unit only made things worse for them. I was impressed, how- ever, by the bravery demonstrated by those pilots. They had to know they were totally outclassed, yet they still put up the stiffest resistance that they could. And they died doing it. It was on the second of those two missions that Maarek's men hit the jackpot, and validated the suspicions that Marta Emoh and the Imperial High Command had held all along. Maarek's men discovered and siezed a huge cache of Im- perial weapons and munitions that were being prepared for transfer to the Rebels. Now, there was no longer any doubt that someone was supplying arms to our enemies. The ques- tion of who that someone was was quickly answered. Marta and J'Una ran a trace on the weapons siezed and discovered, to no one's surprise, that they came from Imperial depots that were under the authority of Admiral Haarkov. "The trap's been baited," J'Una told me. "Now we'll see what we catch." GUSTAV came out of hyperspace and, once again, we pre- pared to strike. This time our target was an installation that had been identified on a small moon called Echo 3 that orbit- ed the outer most planet of the system. Since the Pakuuni and, presumably, the Rebels knew we would be coming again, it was speculated that they might have moved much of their supplies and munitions out of the system. Marta Emoh had acknowledged such speculation but stated her be- lief that our incessant destruction of these installations had to be hurting the Rebels and that the mission was worth con- tinuing. I found myself in complete agreement with her view. The overhead crane had lowered my TIE through the open launch bay doors in the bottom of GUSTAV's hull and re- leased me into space. I engaged the twin ion engines and my new TIE- it was one of the replacements we picked up at Tatooine- surged forward. I did my customary loop around GUSTAV and established communications while I waited for my flight group to assemble. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "Flight group forming up." "Roger, Gamma One." J'Una's voice, confident, professional, assured. "Be advised that our sensors are detecting no, re- peat no, Pakuuni activity." I glanced at my sensor displays. They didn't show anything, either. No electronic emissions at all; not from Z-95s; not even from our intended target. The hair started to rise on the back of my neck. "Concur, GUSTAV," I replied. "I don't have anything." "They might be hiding among the asteroids," J'Una offered, but I could tell that she was no more convinced of that theory than I was. To hide a large group of Z-95s among an asteroid field without emitting any kind of signal, be it a stray communication or a scanner, required a much high- er degree of training and discipline than what the Pak- uuni had thus far demonstrated. No, I was starting to feel that maybe, this time, we were the ones being set up. "I don't think so, GUSTAV," I replied. "Nevertheless, my flight has formed up, as has Tau flight." On my sensor dis- play I could see Kao's group in formation following my own. "We will proceed through the asteroids toward the tar- get." "Roger, Gamma One," J'Una replied. "Proceed." "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "we're moving out to transit the asteroids. Neither GUSTAV nor we have detected any enemy activity at all. Follow at a safe distance." "Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied, "we'll take station about-" "Hyperspace alert! Hyperspace alert!" J'Una's voice, excited. "Vessels coming out of hyperspace and they aren't ours!" Flashes of blue streaked across the blackness of space as numerous vessels exited hyperspace right in front of us. X- wings. Lots of them. Shit. "Gamma leader to all flights," I called, a little excited myself. Now we were up against Rebel pilots, not poor, untrained Pakuuni in inferior craft. "We have Rebel X-wings exiting hyperspace at zero-one-four, mark six. Attack formation delta. Let's hit them before they get organized." Formation delta is a tight wedge formation. I figured we had to respond fast and strike quickly. The Rebels would need a little time to get formed up and see where everybody was once they all ended their hyperspace journey. They wouldn't need much time, mind you. They were highly trained pro- fessionals who knew their business. My initial goal was to hit them with a tight formation, a mailed fist, and take some of them out. This would have the effect of improving our odds and disrupting their formation. "Accelerate to max speed, charge lasers, activate missile targeting." I increased speed and my TIE raced forward, the rest of my group in a tight wedge on either side of me. As usual, Dromo was on my left wing. I activated my missile targeting and picked out the first X-wing that I saw. The TIE fighter doesn't normally carry missiles. Many of ours had been modified by Vice Admiral Thrawn's technicians on MoftaIV [see pt 2] and, since then, our own techs, armed with new schematics and materials, had modified all new TIEs. I was counting on the fact that these Rebels probably didn't know we had missiles and were expecting your aver- age TIE with just two lasers. A series of high pitched beeps told me that I had a lock on the X-wing. I fired a missile and toggled to dual lasers. I had vectored our approach so that we closed from an angle. It was near suicide for an unshielded TIE to attack head-on against the heavily shielded, quad laser firing, X-wing. The X-wing pilot had nearly all of the advantages: shields, heavy armor, four lasers, missiles and a companion droid which acted as a second pilot. The X-wing had a superior power plant, an ejection system that was flawless, and could match the TIE in speed. The TIE's only advantage was superior maneuverability. It could turn circles around the X-wing and accelerate and decelerate much faster. We also had certain technological advantages such as speed-matching which we had to exploit to the fullest if we were to survive combat with X-wings. All of these considerations passed swiftly through my mind as my missile found its mark, taking down the X-wing's shields. We piled into the X-wings and I destroyed my target with several well-placed laser blasts. I saw a number of ex- plosions as other X-wings suffered similar fates. We had suc- ceeded in getting in the first blow. More X-wings came out of hyperspace and the battle degen- erated into a free-for-all. Kao's group slammed into the melee and all semblance of cohesion was lost. Several TIEs were vaporized as the Rebels started shooting back with a vengeance. Green and red laser bolts streaked across space and the commlinks were alive with excited pilot chatter. Dromo and I teamed up and dispached several more X- wings, always endeavoring to attack from behind. We were holding our own against the X-wings and, as the battle de- veloped, we were actually beginning to gain the upper hand. The Rebels, however, were disciplined, seasoned pilots and fought back hard. Their quad lasers blasted more TIEs into space junk and we continued our dance of death. I performed a series of twists and loops, using the TIE's maneuverability, and targeted an X-wing from behind. My missile system had just achieved a lock when J'Una's voice, now almost electric with tension, came across the comm link. "Hyperspace alert! Capital ship coming out of hyperspace." A capital ship? That's all we needed was some Rebel Cal- amari light cruiser or something. A large blue streak flashed across my field of vision as a sizeable ship came out of hy- perspace. My sensors immediately told me that it was an Imperial class Star Destroyer. It immediately began launch- ing TIEs. Help had arrived. I started to relax just a bit. My sense of relief lasted about five seconds. "Gamma One, GUSTAV," J'Una called. "You are to con- sider the Star Destroyer and its fighters as enemy craft. Attack at once. I say again, the Star Destroyer is to be considered an enemy vessel." What the fuck? Had they been drinking some of Dromo's nasty concoctions? "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I replied, "Repeat instructions." "That Star Destroyer is the PREDATOR," J'Una said stern- ly. PREDATOR was Admiral Haarkov's ship. But, would Haarkov attack fellow Imperials? That would give him away for certain. "Captain Tallig," Marta's voice, stern, forceful, exasperated. "Captain Tallig, this is Special Envoy Emoh. We have reason to believe that Admiral Haarkov and his entire crew are de- fecting. Do you understand? Defecting! Now shut up and attack before they destroy us all and take an entire Star Des- troyer over to the Rebels!" Defecting? An Admiral in the Imperial Navy? What the fuck was happening to us? "Roger, GUSTAV," I replied. "Gamma Leader to all flights, this is Captain Tallig. Consider Star Destroyer and her fight- ers as hostiles. Change squawk to two-three-two-two. I say again, change squawk to two-three-two-two. Authentication code Alfa Sierra one." I ordered all of our starfighters to change their identification codes to read 2322 as friendly, and all other codes as hos- tile. This would help us differentiate between ourselves and the PREDATOR's TIE's who I assumed would be squawk- ing standard Imperial codes. Or maybe not, but I didn't want to take the chance. I received verification that our flights had switched codes and confirmed it by checking my sensors. The PREDA- TOR's TIEs now showed up as hostile. The PREDATOR's TIEs had formed up and were approaching us while the PREDATOR herself closed on GUSTAV, intending to take her under fire with her considerable battery of heavy lasers. This did not look good. We were heavily outnumbered by the combination of X-wings and TIEs, and PREDATOR, an IMPERIAL class Star Destroyer, was easily three times GUSTAV's size. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "We will engage these TIEs, but there's an awful lot of them." "Roger, Gamma One," J'Una replied. "We are launching our TIE bombers to assist you." Bombers? To assist us in a dog- fight? Things must be desperate. "I don't know how much good those bombers can do, GUSTAV," I replied. "Unless they can make some torp- edo runs on that Star Destroyer. Watch out for those heavy turbo lasers." "Acknowledged, Gamma One," she replied. "Let's all do our best." Her voice sounded expectant, as though she were an- ticipating something. I couldn't imagine what, and drove those thoughts from my mind as I concentrated on the task at hand: killing fellow Imperials. I targeted an approaching TIE, switching my weapons system to use my last missile. I was hoping that PREDATOR's TIEs hadn't been modified, and that we could get the jump on them. "Gamma leader to all flights," I called, "If you have any miss- iles left, use them now." My targeting system beeped, indicating a lock, and I pressed the trigger, lamenting for a moment the fact that I was about to kill a fellow Imperial pilot. Seconds later the missile slammed into the unshielded TIE, disintegrating it in a bright flash. Other missiles streaked toward the opposing TIEs, most of them finding their marks. We had narrowed the odds a bit, and messed up their formation. We attacked while they were trying to reform. "Stay with me, Dromo," I called as we piled into the PRE- DATOR's TIEs. I quickly took one out with my lasers. "I'm right with you, captain," he replied. With Dromo on my wing I threaded my way through the giant fuzzball of battling starfighters. I targeted a PREDATOR TIE that had just flamed one of ours. I slipped behind him, switch- ed my lasers to rapid single fire and opened up. My shots ripped the port solar panel to shreds, then pounded the hull. The TIE exploded. "Gamma One, GUSTAV," J'Una's voice in my ear. "PRE- DATOR is launching more TIE fighters." Shit. We were having a hard enough time with those we were already en- gaged with. "Roger, GUSTAV," I replied. "This isn't looking too good." "Continue your attack, Captain," Marta Emoh interjected. Her voice was tough, hard, no-nonsense. "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I said. On my sensor display I could see more TIEs pouring out of the bottom of the Star Destroyer. I could also see that PREDATOR was closing on GUSTAV. Soon the two ships would be exchanging turbo laser fire and there was only one way that that fight could end. I dived through the wave of oncoming TIEs, taking out two on the first pass. Dromo nailed one that had tried to slip in behind me. The perfect wingman, always watching my ass. PREDATOR had closed GUSTAV and the two starships began exchanging heavy laser fire. A spectacular fireworks show erupted as huge green and red laser bolts were flung through space. I saw GUSTAV shudder as she took seve- ral hits. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "You still there?" There was a pause, then J'Una's voice. She was coughing and sputtering. "We've taken several hits, Gamma One," she replied. "Damage and casualties," she coughed again. I could see that GUSTAV would get pounded into space junk if this continued. With no place to land, and no hyper- space capability to get us anywhere, my pilots and I would be doomed. The TIE bombers that J'Una had mentioned earlier had finished launching. I had the idea that maybe we could buy some time. Time for what I wasn't sure. "Alpha One, Gamma One," I called to the bomber leader. "You guys got torpedoes?" I hoped like hell that they did. "Affirmative, Gamma One," was the reply. "This is Captain Tallig," I said. "I want you to form your group for an attack run on the Star Destroyer." There was a pause. "Attack a Star Destroyer?" "That's what I said, Alpha One," I nearly yelled back at him. "She's about to pound GUSTAV into space junk, so move your ass or you won't have a place to park it later." That got his attention. "Roger, Gamma One." "I'll provide escort," I told him. "Now move." I saw the bombers form up and start toward PREDATOR. "Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao. "Keep those fighters busy. Gamma Two and I will cover the bom- bers while they make a run on PREDATOR." "Acknowledged, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "Good luck." "Let's go, Dromo," I called to my wingman. We quickly intercepted the bombers and slowed to match their speed. The PREDATOR's TIEs were preoccupied with dogfighting our groups and didn't molest Dromo and me and the bombers as we approached her. PREDATOR's crew must have noticed us, but didn't recall any fighter support, probably be- cause she was so heavily armed with missile batteries and heavy turbo-lasers that an attack by a group of TIE bombers wasn't deemed serious enough. I'm not sure what they were thinking, but no fighters interfered with our approach. I didn't complain. PREDATOR's heavy batteries opened up on us and two bombers disappeared in a matter of milliseconds. The bomber leader ordered evasive action and his formation dissolved as each pilot attempted to approach on his own. With only our puny lasers, Dromo and I could do nothing to a Star Destroyer, but we hung around anyway, drawing fire away from the bombers and covering them in case the fighters returned. Several of the bombers actually got close enough to launch and the heavy blue streaks of proton torpedoes slashed across space as they released their weapons. Incredibly, several of the torpedoes made it through PREDATOR's heavy defensive fire and slammed into the Star Destroyer's port side. I knew the a mere three torpedoes would neither destroy, nor seriously disable, a Star Destroyer. I did hope, however, that a few hits might take out a vital system or two, maybe cut power to some weapons, cause confusion, or merely make Haarkov and his people reconsider what it was that they were doing. Small chance of that, though. "GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "We've scored several hits on PREDATOR. We've damaged her shields, but be- yond that I cannot assess any damage." "Roger, Gamma One," J'Una replied, her voice now com- posed, calm, in control. "PREDATOR's fire has slackened noticeably. Well done. We will recall the bombers for re- loading. Stand by for ATR launch." Reload bombers? ATR launch? What the fuck were these people thinking? I was thinking that, now that we might have a little time on our side we'd recall all of our starfighters and GUSTAV could hyperspace the hell out of here. That seem- ed the rational approach to me. I couldn't imagine Comman- der Cibock leaving his ship in danger any longer than he had to. But, perhaps Marta Emoh was overruling him. Who knew? "Roger, GUSTAV," I replied. Dromo and I shepherded the remaining bombers back toward GUSTAV. The TIE vs TIE dogfight was still going strong. Kao and her groups seemed to be holding their own, though their losses were considerable. I still had trouble believing that Imperials were killing Imperials. The Rebels must be laughing their heads off. Dromo and I had just looped around GUSTAV, the last of the bombers having returned, when J'Una's voice came over the commlink. "Hyperspace alert! Large capital ship coming out of hyper- space!" Oh, shit, I thought. Not some Rebel ship like a Calamari cruiser. We'd be fucked for sure. Funny, though. J'Una didn't sound terrified. I would have been. I saw the ATRs, carrying Maarek and his stormtroopers, launch and begin their transit toward PREDATOR in what I thought was a suicidal gesture. Dromo and I made a hard left turn, placing us between GUSTAV and PREDATOR, who seemed to have re- covered from the torpedo attack and was once again clo- sing our frigate. Suddenly, the entire expanse of space in front of me seemed to be ripped asunder by an enormous blue flash. My sensors, temporarily overwhelmed, whited out on me and I squinted through the brightness in an effort to see what was happening. A VICTORY class Star Destroyer, several times larger than PREDATOR, came out of hyperspace and immediately began launching dozens of TIE squadrons. They poured out of her like angry bees, heading swiftly toward the dogfight that was still going on. My first thought was, whose side are these guys on? My sensors had recovered enough to get an ID on the newcomer. It was VANGUARD, Vice Admiral Thrawn's ship. I smiled to myself because I figured he had to be on our side. "Gamma One, GUSTAV," J'Una called. She sounded bouy- ant, optimistic. "VANGUARD will attack and disable PRE- DATOR. Escort the ATRs who will board her." "Yes, Ma'am," I said, relieved. Perhaps we'd live through this after all. Dromo and I raced after the ATRs as VANGUARD op- ened up with a heavy ion cannon volley, the blue bolts pounding into PREDATOR. The ion cannon is designed to disable a ship's ion driven power plant, thus crippling its prop- ulsion and weapons systems. From where I sat, PREDATOR was having the crap pounded out of her. The dogfight ended almost immediately. Seeing the swarm of TIEs from VANGUARD descending on them, the re- maining PREDATOR TIEs either surrendered on the spot or ran. They might have been seeking refuge among the pirates in the asteroids, but that didn't bode well. The Re- bels had all hyperspaced out, leaving their Allies out on a limb. Typical. For all their talk about liberty and taking on the Empire, the Rebels were little more than cowardly terrorists in my book. When the going got tough, they got gone. Kao and her fighters turned over the renegades to VANGUARD's fighters, then proceeded back to GUSTAV. VANGUARD's ion cannon barrage continued to slam into PREDATOR. The smaller ship tried to fight back but was quickly overwhelmed. Her ion power disrupted, PRE- DATOR drifted limply, helpless. Dromo and I escorted Maarek's ATRs to PREDATOR's launching bays, then doubled back to do likewise for a dozen ATRs from VAN- GUARD. It was apparent that PREDATOR was to be boarded and siezed, and the ringleaders arrested. I shook my head in admiration. Marta Emoh had apparently had this entire operation planned to the second, and she pulled it off. Dromo and I linked up with VANGUARD's ATRs and head- ed toward PREDATOR. Halfway there, I saw Maarek's lead ATR exit PREDATOR's launching bay, heading toward GUSTAV. At the same time, a command shuttle departed VANGUARD, also headed for GUSTAV. I didn't see a need to provide escort for VANGUARD's ATRs since their was no opposition, so Dromo and I broke off and headed toward GUSTAV. Most of our fighters, in- cluding Kao's group had been recalled. VANGUARD's nu- merous squadrons had fanned out, patrolling the area. It was the most abrupt, and decisive, end to a battle I had ever seen. "GUSTAV, Gamma One, requesting landing sequence," I called, changing frequencies. "You'll have to come in manually, Gamma One," was the reply from the flight control officer. "The tractor beams are at reduced power, and we have priority traffic ahead of you." "Roger, GUSTAV," I responded. "Manual it is." "Be advised that there is a lot of traffic and activity in the hangar," the flight control officer said, almost apologetically. "I'll have my people clear a path for you to your stalls." "Thanks," I said dryly. Great. We damn near get wiped out by our own people and I have to thread my way through who knew what on retros just to land. I shook my head. "Gamma Two, we're going in on retros," I called to Dromo. "Understood." I made my approach toward GUSTAV's landing bay and saw the shuttle from VANGUARD begin her landing se- quence. As I drew closer I saw the markings on the craft. It was Vice Admiral Thrawn's personal shuttle. Major Maarek's ATR had just completed landing. I could see a crowd of people in the landing bay. I guessed that that was what the flight control officer was talking about. I cut my engines and engaged the retros, gliding slowly into the bay. I saw a lot of heads turning toward me. The TIE's power plant makes a lot of noise. Combined with the retros, the sound can be deafening, particularly within the confines of an enclosed hangar deck. I set my TIE down in my stall and rapidly flipped all the switches to 'off', not bothering to go through the post-flight check-list. Once everything was shut down I unhooked the commlink, took off my helmet, dropped through the hatch in the bottom of the hull to the hangar's deck, and walked across the hangar toward the shuttles, both of which had completed their landing sequen- ces. I pulled rank a few times and managed to push my way to the front of the crowd that had gathered around the shuttles. I saw Kao near the front and moved to stand next to her. Marta Emoh, with Tomba and a squad of stormtroopers, was in the center of the area between the shuttles. She was unarmed, but Tomba had his hands on his holstered blasters, and the stormtroopers had their assault rifles at the ready. I looked at Kao inquisitively. "Maarek's brought in Admiral Haarkov," she said. "Captured him after a fire-fight on PREDATOR." "So it was him after all," I said quietly. Kao nodded. The buzz of conversation among the crowd in the hangar deck came to an abrupt halt as the door to VANGUARD's shuttle opened and Vice-Admiral Thrawn stepped out. As usual, he was impeccably dressed, his admiral's uniform crisp and neat, medals clinking softly as he descended the stepladder. I realized that most of the crew had never seen him before and his blue skin, deep red eyes and gleaming black hair must have seemed an odd combination. Most people, I was sure, didn't know that there was a non-human admiral in the Imperial Navy. Thrawn moved with seemingly effortless grace to where Marta was standing. They nodded acknowledgement to each other, but said not a word. I guess they didn't have to. Marta and Thrawn turned their attention to the ATR as the rear ramp opened. Several troopers, weapons at the ready, came down the ramp followed by Major Maarek, who was holding Admiral Haarkov by his uniform collar, shoving him roughly down the ramp. I heard Kao gasp as we got a good look at Haarkov. A blow to the left side of his face had swollen the eye shut. There was blood on the side of his face, in his mouth, and mat- ted in his hair. His complexion was pasty and he was sweating profusely. His uniform was torn and soiled. As he descended the ramp he grimaced in pain at the restrainers that bound his arms tightly behind his back. He was, in short, a mess. It was hard to believe that this was the same man who had been a- board our ship, in command of an operation, only a short time ago. Straggling out behind the admiral, similarly bruised and bound, were other officers. I presumed that they were Haar- kov's fellow defectors from PREDATOR. Maarek rudely jerked Haarkov along by the collar until they were standing in front of Thrawn's shuttle facing the admiral and Marta Emoh. Haarkov drew himself up straight and, with his one good eye, glared at the Special Envoy. Marta glared right back and, for a long moment, the two of them were lock- ed in some kind of psychological power struggle. Haarkov's stare was one of defiance, Marta's one of sheer malevolence. Finally, the Imperial Special Envoy broke the silence. "Well, Admiral Haarkov," she said, her voice dripping with a combination of hatred and triumph, "it would appear that the Emperor's suspicions about you were well founded." Haarkov, for his part, didn't try to deny the obvious. He drew himself up and spat a great gob of spit and blood at Marta. It struck her tunic just above the left breast and dribbled down her front. Marta shook with rage and raised her hand as if to strike Haarkov. Haarkov just looked at her, not seeming to care if she hit him or not. Marta lowered her hand. Sneering at her from behind a bruised face, cut lips and broken teeth, Haarkov spoke loudly, but with some difficulty. "This Empire is evil!" he shouted. "Evil! The Emperor and Vader murder millions! You all have blood on your hands." This time Marta did hit him, the sound of her slap echoing across the hangar. Haarkov's head snapped sharply to one side with the force of the blow, but he returned his defiant stare to Marta. "You are a traitor, Admiral," she said quietly, her voice heavy with emotion. "You tried to turn over weapons and technology and a starship to our enemies! I am sure Lord Vader will look forward to questioning you." Her voice oozed maliciousness. At the mention of Vader's name all color seemed to drain from Haarkov's face. "NO! Daddy!" A voice shrieked across the hangar and Marina Haarkov pushed her way through the crowd, past the stormtroopers and flung her arms around Haarkov, sob- bing. The admiral tried to comfort her, but his arms were securely bound and he struggled in vain. He could only kiss her head and murmur something which I couldn't hear. Marta stared at them for a long moment and I saw a look of absolute evil pass across her face. Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled upward in a snarl. "Arrest the daughter," she said to Maarek, who seemed stunned. "No!" Haarkov shouted. "You can't. She's done nothing." An angry buzz passed through the crowd of assembled GUSTAV crewmembers. They may not have known all of the particulars of what was going on, but they knew Marina and cared about her and couldn't believe she had done any- thing wrong. In response, some of Thrawn's stormtroopers formed a wall between us and the scene that was playing itself out on our hangar deck. One of them shoved Kao into me and I had to grab her to keep her from falling. Marta seemed surprised by our reaction and was momen- tarily taken aback. Her gaze darted fleetingly from the crowd to the troopers to Thrawn to the Haarkovs and Maarek, and back. She took a deep breath and glared at Major Maarek who actually seemed unsure what to do. "Major," she said loudly, imperiously. "You will take Ensign Haarkov into custody." "No you won't." Another voice. J'Una's. I strained to locate her. She pushed her way through the crowd and shoved a stormtrooper aside. He didn't resist. Heads turned as she strode toward Marta and Admiral Thrawn. She had an open cut above her left eye, her uniform was torn and splattered with blood, her hair was in disarray and her black skin was gleaming. She appeared to be almost wild, but her eyes were cool and determined and she strode purposefully, ra- diating power and authority. I didn't start to worry until I saw the blaster in her right hand. I started to worry even more when I saw Tomba, hands on his holstered blasters, edge closer to Marta. I cursed the fact that I was unarmed. J'Una walked directly toward Marta and placed herself be- tween the Special Envoy and the Haarkovs and Maarek, who still looked confused. She held the blaster by her side, not pointing it at anybody. But Marta saw it, and frequently glanced down at it. "This officer has done nothing," J'Una said quietly, coldly, indicating Marina with a nod. "There is no evidence against her. You will not take her." She spoke as though what she was saying was a simple, unrefuted fact. Marta looked as though she had been slapped. "By what authority do you dare speak to me this way, Commander?" she asked haughtily. She glared hotly at J'Una. J'Una return- ed the glare with a cool stare. "Commander Cibock was seriously injured during the attack," she said, "and is receiving medical attention. I have assumed command of this vessel and as Commander I am telling you that you will not take one of my officers for your own personal reasons." She left unspoken what she meant by 'personal reasons,' but I'm sure Marta got the point. Her eyes widened in surprise and anger. "How dare you speak to me this way," Marta said angrily, almost spitting the words at J'Una. While the two females were glaring at each other Tomba made his move. He stepped forward, his hands pulling the blasters out of their holsters. Before a surprised J'Una could react Major Maarek lunged forward and jammed the barrel of his assault rifle into Tomba's chest. "I don't think so," Maarek snarled. Tomba stepped back quickly and raised his hands, the blasters sliding back into their holsters. J'Una returned her gaze to Marta. Vice Admiral Thrawn, who had been watching all this with a somewhat bemused expression on his face, stepped forward and spoke to Marta. "Special Envoy," he said smoothly, "perhaps the commander is right. After all, we have the traitor, Admiral Haarkov, and his lackies and their starship, surely not a bad day's work?" Marta glared at him but said nothing. Thrawn smiled wanly at her and continued. "Ensign Haarkov isn't going anywhere," he said. "If further investigation reveals complicity on her part we know where to find her." He paused, then added almost as an afterthought,"With your concurrence of course." Marta stared at him, shock etched in her features. J'Una turned back toward Marina. "Ensign Haarkov," she said forcefully, "lay to your quarters immediately." Marina continued to sob, and looked up at J'Una with tears streaming down her face. "I can't leave my father, commander," she said plaintively. "Go," Haarkov said to her as he looked thankfully at J'Una. "Ensign, I am ordering you to leave this hangar now," J'Una persisted, her voice firm and professional. Marina just looked at her, sniffling, and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. But she made no move to leave. There was a slight commotion to my right and, turning, I saw Kao push past the stormtroopers, who weren't offering any real resistance at this point, and walk up to Marina. Kao gently put her arms around the young blonde's shoulders and slowly led her off of the hangar deck. We could hear mar- ina's sobs the whole way. No one tried to stop them. Marta, who could barely contain her fury, looked first at Thrawn, then at J'Una, then back at Thrawn. Without a word she spun on her heel and stormed onto Thrawn's shuttle, Tomba following close behind. The Vice Admiral nodded wordlessly to his troopers who quickly escorted Haarkov and the others onto the shuttle. I could hear the pilot begin his pre-launch sequence. Thrawn turned once again to face J'Una, and smiled. "I respect your loyalty to your crew, commander," he said, bowing to her."They and you have served the Emperor well." He straightened. "Thank you, Vice Admiral," J'Una replied. "We shall always try to do so." Thrawn smiled again, then turned and boarded the shuttle. Seconds later it lifted off on its retros and quickly exited GUSTAV's launching bay. J'Una stared after it, oblivious to the cheers rising from the crewmembers on the hangar deck. I walked over to her, smiling. "You were pretty good," I said. She looked at me, a sad expression on her face, and tried to smile. She turned to Maarek, who was still standing there looking like he was ready to shoot somebody. "I appreciate your support, Major," she said warmly. "I always support my Commanding Officer, Commander," he said gruffly, then whirled about and walked away. J'Una turned back to me. "What will happen to Haarkov?" I asked her. I thought I knew the answer, but felt compelled to ask the question. "He's a dead man," she answered simply. "They're all dead men." She looked down at the deck, and then at me. "They took a gamble, Vel. And they lost. So they're dead." "What about what Haarkov said," I continued, not quite ready to close the subject. "About the Empire being evil and us being evil and having blood on our hands?" J'Una heaved a sigh. "I'm not sure that he was wrong in what he said," she said quietly. "But I am sure that he was wrong in what he did." She seemed to stare off into space, her red eyes moist with tears. "Would you really have used that?" I asked her, indicating the blaster that she still held by her side. She looked at me and flashed one if her trademark bright, wide smiles. "I don't think so," she said, handing it to me."It isn't charged." She laughed, and so did I. She had taken on one of the most powerful people in the Empire, her heavily armed sidekick and a bunch of stormtroopers with an uncharged blaster. She was either incredibly shrewd or she was fuck- ing crazy. I honestly had no idea which she was. But I was amazed. We were still standing in the middle of the hangar deck, laughing our asses off, when a crewman from the commun- ications department hurriedly approached us. "Commander Selena," he said. J'Una nodded for him to continue. "We have received urgent orders from the Imperial High Command. Lord Vader has located the Yavin Rebels." J'Una and I looked at each other. "Go on," she said to the crewman. "Yes, commander," he said. "We are to rendezvous with the main fleet at a place called Hoth." J'Una nodded to the crewman and he turned and walked away across the hangar. She looked at me and shook her head in a sad, almost resigned way. "And so it goes," she said. -- +----------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `--------------+ | | | | Archive site +----------------------+--------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ | ----