Biggs shook it, “Thank you, I hope whatever makes you look forward to meeting me doesn’t have to do with anything exaggerated the others are spreading in the base.”
“Trained under Soontir Fel, valedictorian of the fleet batch, defeated the legendary ace pilot of Silver Ace Squadron, I’m sure nothing was exaggerated about those.” Wedge said.
“Enough of that, now that you’re finally here, what do you got for us?” Trent grunted.
“Someone missed his meds today huh? Alright Major Grumpy, here is the data chip from our Dantooine Base. Straight from General Jan Dodonna himself.” Wedge handed it over to Trent.
Trent read the orders on his datapad and raised an eyebrow at Wedge, “An Imperial convoy raid? That would require extra pilots to commandeer the ships but it says here they’ll only be sending one squadron? What did I miss here? Did the rebellion suddenly found away to fit passengers on Y-wing and X-wing compartments?”
“Easy mate, I got that part covered. I’ve spoken to General Hoff Siege and he’d agreed to take his Sword of Emberlene and give our extra pilots a ride.” Wedge said.
“General Siege? You’re kidding? I thought he was already in charge of our cell on the Chommell Sector?” Trent frowned.
“Like I said, we’ve already spoken about it and he said yes. So, Biggs, Hobbie, are you ready to meet the general?” Wedge said to the rookies.
* * *
The general was gruff and moody which is at most; temperamental. He is quick to snap and dislike people around him whispering to each other as if everything is about or against him. Biggs though could not deny that the general was an impressive strategist and knows a lot about ship specs, almost any make and model, as Wedge had told him prior to their meeting.
The Imperial convoy consists of a Lambda-class shuttle which according to the Deep Ear rebel spynet would be carrying Chommell Sector Senator Binks who was at the last leg of his prolonged term. Hoff also informed them that the senator was their insider and that they must make it appear that he perished in the encounter.
There were also two standard cargo haulers carrying precious starfighter parts and shielding. Escorts were two TIE fighter squadrons and an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate. They were given to either take over the EF76 or take it down depending on what their situation would call upon during the raid.
General Siege opted to take over the frigate as much as possible. He then gave the assignments; Biggs would lead his flight against the squadron escorts, Hobbie will take his flight against the escort frigate and Wedge would retrieve the Gungan Senator and fake his death.
The General timed their every move down to the last second and stressed that the slightest deviation to the initial plan would result to a reprimand and/or punished depending on the gravity of the trouble such violation was caused.
“What’s wrong with him?” Biggs asked when the meeting was over and they went to the main hangar of the Keff Base.
“Something happened during the Clone Wars and at the early years of the Empire, that’s all I got from the other older guys who knew him way back, something about the name of his Corellian YT-2000.” Wedge explained.
“Wait, his ship is an YT-2000? It only has a seven passenger capacity and we’re going to take about at least fifteen to twenty pilots and skeleton crew.” Hobbie winced.
“The cargo hold was originally designed to be able to carry at least 115 metric tons and those spaces were converted to a small special unit deployment box. The Corellian Resistance prior to the Alliance has repeatedly used it for their commando raids. Believe me, it can house to a maximum of thirty persons.” Wedge assured the two.
“The Sword of Emberlene, right? That was his ship’s name…” Biggs said.
“Man, a piece of advice, non-starfighter pilots treats their ship like a real lady which is usually named after a real woman they’ve been with and more often than not grumpy pilots were usually trying to forget a painful past so let’s just leave it at that and just focus on your first mission for the rebellion.” Wedge advised.
“A smart call,” Hobbie nodded.
“Another lover lost from the Empire. Yeah, I can feel that.” Biggs said almost to himself.
* * *
Their first run went smoothly, almost a perfect raid. They manage to get the Nebulon intact and obliterated the entire TIE squadron escorts, with Biggs getting at least five kills, the third which was claimed by his wingman Amil Karsk. Biggs seeing no big deal about let the pilot have the credits for that certain hit.
General Siege was sent back to reinforce his Chommell Sector base while Biggs, Wedge, Hobbie and the others were given more missions in quick succession. Their remarkable piloting, combat and tactical skills was noticed by General Jan Dodonna had recommended to the Alliance’ council to approve a formation of another elite squadron so they could put their ace pilots into better use.
After a week, Biggs and his team were sent to Dantooine to meet General Dodonna. Biggs was excited; he was going to meet their leader and will finally get to see the largest rebel base. Hobbie surmised that they might even meet Senators Mon Mothma and Bail Organa themselves but Wedge and Trent just chuckled saying that the founders of the rebellion were regularly at the senate keeping up with their charade of indifference to the ongoing rebellion.
Although Trent mentioned that they might see Senator Garm Bel Iblis, another co-founder of the Alliance, Wedge countered that even that can be a long shot as well.
Biggs just shrugged, either way things are looking up for him and his friends. For him, getting a squadron is another step for his payback to the Empire.
Red Squadron
Biggs ran his hand on the chipped paint on the fuselage of his T-65 X-wing. Red Three, he thought, that was his new call sign under Red Squadron.
General Jan Dodonna had introduced him and Hobbie to Captain Garven “Dave” Dreis, along with several other ace pilots from two other squadrons; Dantooine Squadron and the Tierfon Yellow Aces. Biggs’ Ecliptic Evaders was the third and last squadron that sealed the merging.
Major Trent Dayle was assigned as the tactical coordinator for Red Squadron and the pilots unanimously voted Captain Dreis to lead them. Wedge became Red Two followed by Biggs and then Hobbie Klivian, Cesi Eirriss, Jal Te Gneiv, Lt. Jek Porkins (which surprised Biggs), Elyhek Rue, Bren Quersey, Lt. Nozzo Naytaan, Theron Nett and Lt. Wenton Chan with the reserve pilots under Blue Squadron namely John D. Branon, Puck Naeco, Hamo Blastwell, Keyan Farlander, Samuel Raider, Sila Kott, Grizz Fix, Keir Santage, Kirst, Lark Sivrak, Randi, Gayla Riemann, Wister and Wes Janson.
Biggs joined them in several minor sorties and missions until he familiarized himself to each and every one of them. Red and Blue formed a strong bond that made them work in harmony giving them a reputation of the most formidable starfighter squadron in the rebellion.
In his last mission, his team went to escort the Starduster Captain Nera Dantels to Commenor but they encountered Tycho’s squadron once more and the battle that took place was far fiercer than their space fight over Dac.
During their groundside sortie, Hobbie had been infected by an unknown virus. Biggs and Nera went into the jungle to find a cure and they took Hobbie back to Dantooine.
When they arrived at Dantooine, General Dodonna was already leading the evacuation of their base.
“What’s going on?” Biggs asked when he spotted Trent.
“The Toprawa mission went badly. We lost our Corellian cell agents there but Bria managed to complete their mission and had transmitted the codes to Princes Leia.” Trent said as he hurried on stacking their crates on the hoverpod.
“The Princess!” Biggs gasped, he’d heard about Senator Organa, the Princess of Alderaan, it was said that her beauty could soften any hardened men in the galaxy, “She’s here then?”
“No, General Dodonna have been hailing Tantive IV since yesterday and got no answer. He suspects she’s been captured by the Imperials.” Trent shook his head.
Biggs felt
a knot on his stomach, and then he asked, “Is there a rescue mission being arranged?”
“I don’t know, but orders are out, Dantooine is to be abandoned as is our other outer rim bases. We’re pooling them all on the Yavin headquarters.” Trent grunted.
* * *
“Will you be alright?” Biggs asked Hobbie who looks like he’s been trampled on a Bantha stampede.
Captain Nera shook her head, “We’ve given him the medication but so far he’s not showing any sign of improvement. We’re still waiting for that bacta tank from the Keff base.”
“Hang in there Hobbie, everything will be alright.” Biggs nodded at Nera and went out to take a walk. The lush jungle of Yavin 4 offered a fresh environment for Biggs.
Although Dantooine had been similar, somehow Yavin felt cleaner… pure to be exact.
Aside from the presence of the rebels, the entire moon was simply wild and uninhabited by any sentient civilization. There were scattered old temple ruins built by the extinct Massassi and Biggs made a mental note to explore them when opportunity arises.
“He’ll be fine. I don’t think the virus is deadly.” Nera spoke from behind him.
Biggs slowly turned around to face her. She was more beautiful than ever, her green eyes shone brightly over her tattooed face.
“I’ve been thinking…” Biggs started.
Nera wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and kissed his neck, “You’re thinking? That’s dangerous.”
“I’m being serious here, Nera. What I’m meaning to say is that I was thinking of finding us a place like this once this is all over; well, if we both live through this war.” Biggs mused.
“I know. We all feel that way. This rebellion is taking its toll in each and every one of us here. We all have lost friends and loved ones and the least we can do is take this fight down to its conclusion.” Nera agreed.
“Sometimes I feel all of this is futile. The Empire is too big and powerful and all we have are a handful of fighters and second hand if not cobbled up armada.” Biggs sighed.
“You know we can’t give up. Not now.” Nera said.
“Yes. That’s what makes it even harder. We got the read outs from Toprawa but the Empire cut that victory really short. I’ve seen the Death Star in my early mission with the Ecliptic Evaders in Despayre. That read out was our only hope.” Biggs stared at a bright dot at the horizon.
Then he frowned, the bright dot was growing and taking shape. He took his macrobinoculars from his satchel and look at the object in the sky.
“What is it?” Nera asked.
“It’s a Corellian freighter, an YT-1300 by the shape of it…” Biggs said.
The ship zoomed overhead and the tree lines swayed at its wake. Biggs and Nera turned around and watched the freighter went straight to the Great Temple. Biggs instinct tells him he should be there so he and Nera jogged back to their base to see who their visitors were.
Fugitives of the Death Star
General Jan Dodonna was thinking about his friend and mentor, the late General Roons Sewell. The former actor turned rebel was the one who took him in when he defected from the Empire, although at first he had a strained relationship with the unorthodox rebel, he had come to understand and respect him.
Together they built the rebel base here on Yavin 4 and after everything has been settled, he left to facilitate the Dantooine base while Roons stayed. When he had heard of his friend’s demise, the council had given him control of the Yavin base. For the past year, Dodonna had been doing his best to run both Dantooine and Yavin. Now Dantooine is abandoned and the rest of the rebel forces were now converging here.
Somehow, this sudden concentration of their manpower and armada in this remote base made him very uneasy. It was as if their leaders expected something big would happen here.
Then the first hour of his busiest days began. Major Trent Dayle rushed into his office without bothering to knock, “General, you need to be in the main hangar right now!”
“Easy Trent, what’s the rush?” Dodonna asked.
“Princess Leia has arrived.”
* * *
Despite the imminent threat they were facing, and the gravity of that threat, Biggs has never been this happy since Tamis Dayle accepted his love.
Two things happened to him this day.
His bestfriend Luke Skywalker came in with Princess Leia after their escape from the Death Star.
Second, Captain Nera Dantels proposed to him, saying that she wouldn’t waste her time waiting for him to ask her hand in marriage.
The best part was General Dodonna have agreed to wed them after, or if, they survive the coming assault of the Empire.
Nera busied herself evacuating the non-combatant rebels. The news of Alderaan’s destruction fueled the rage of the rebels, sealing their resolve to fight back regardless of the odds.
The Great Temple’s War Room was packed with high ranking officials of the Yavin Base. The holo of Mon Mothma, Borsk Fey’lya and Aluva D’asima loomed before the central projection table alongside with General Jan Dodonna, Princess Leia, See Threepio and several over officers including General Hoff Siege and Captain Garven Dreis with Biggs Darklighter.
“Artoo, please show them the read outs.” Princess Leia said.
A blue and white astromech droid rolled forward from behind the golden protocol droid See Threepio and projected a three dimensional spherical schematic of the Imperial Battlestation called the Death Star.
“The Ecliptic Evaders were the only rebel units that first saw the Death Star in Despayre, or Horuz, prior to its mobilization. Biggs,” Captain Dreis nodded at his ace pilot.
Biggs stepped forward and regarded the high ranking rebel officials before them, he felt very small in their presence but he knew that his brief experience in Horuz would help analyze the Death Star for its weakness.
“We never got too close but we made several sensor sweeps with what little window we had and got a minimal read on several areas of the battlestation.” Biggs began and use a laser pointer to mark the areas they managed to scan.
He handed a datachip to General Siege who inserted it on another projection console. A different holo was superimposed on the original read out and Biggs had it zoomed so that everyone can see it clearly.
“The reactor core is buried deep at the center and there’s no amount of firepower in our disposal could pierce through the surface and reach it.” Biggs said.
“We have another partial schematic obtained. It might shed some light, hopefully.” Borsk, the Bothan spynet liaison stated.
General Dodonna added the Bothan holo, “These are a series of exhaust ports running through the entire station, this one here goes straight to the reactor core.”
Biggs crossed his arms and looked at it closely, General Hoff stood beside him and commented, “I don’t think it’s shielded, a proton torpedo can do the trick.”
“Our capital ships won’t be able to get close,” Mon Mothma said.
“But our starfighters can.” Biggs mused and felt embarrassed to have cut short their leader, “Sorry,” he added.
“No. You’re right.” Mon Mothma gave him a reassuring smile.
“The outer gun turrets of the Death Star would have a hard time to target our small starfighters, they could easily slip in.” Dodonna nodded.
“They would surely deploy their TIE fighters.” Princess Leia reminded them.
“We can handle that.” Biggs said in reflex and blushed when the princess looked at him in the eye.
“Red Squadron is made up of the three best starfighter squadrons the Alliance ever had, if any of their ace pilot says it can be done, it will be done.” Captain Dreis said with pride.
“I second that.” General Siege grunted and somehow his word settled the matter. Biggs looked at the old man with streaks of gray and white, he must have been on hell of an officer to be able to assure the rebel leaders with just one statement.
“Captain Dreis, get all our pilots,
we’ll brief them in an hour.” General Dodonna ordered.
“Yes sir!” Dries saluted and took General Siege and Biggs with him, leaving the others to furnish their battle plan.
* * *
Biggs and Luke sat before the Hobbie’s bed inside the pilot’s quarters. Biggs had introduced them to each other then he check on Hobbie’s condition.
“The bacta immersion helped, I still have two sessions scheduled. The head doctor insisted we continue the session aboard the Rand Ecliptic but I refused. I assured them Red Squadron take down that rolling imperial ball.” Hobbie grinned.
“You’re putting too much faith in us,” Biggs shook his head.
“Hey you said it yourself; Luke here is the best pilot you’ve ever known in your whole life. And if someone out there can eat Biggs like breakfast then that person is truly one hell of a pilot.” Hobbie nodded at Luke.
“What have he been telling everyone out here about me?” Luke protested and the three laughed.
Hobbie adjusted himself in a sitting position and took a vibroblade and began carving his name on the wall of their room.
“What are you doing?” Biggs frowned.
“I’m writing our name, we all should, so that the next generation would know whom they owe their pretty little lives.” Hobbie grinned.
“You’re delirious.” Biggs groaned but took out his own vibroblade and etched his own name beside Hobbie’s. Luke waited for his turn and the other pilots sharing their quarters moved closer to join.
Trent was the last to write his name and when he finished, General Siege opened their door and called out, “The Death Star was entered the system, time to prep!”
Biggs Darklighter tried to contact Nera but she still hasn’t returned from her shuttle duty so he closed the holocomm and went down the hangar looking for Luke. He spotted him speaking to the smuggler pilot and his Wookiee partner so he went straight to his X-wing.
He looked around him. These were ordinary people before the rebellion began, living their own lives, enjoying it with their loved ones. Each of them has a story to tell, a pain to endure and a score to settle.
They wouldn’t have known each other if not for their common fate… and enemy.
Now the Death Star has arrived and was bent on destroying Yavin 4 as it has destroyed Alderaan. This is that moment they’ve all been waiting for, this is the end game.