Jedi Cool Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 chapter 1: Wedge Antilles and the former members of Rogue Squadron fly over Coruscant when they are intercepted by a squad of X-Wings. Lt. “Hobbie” Klivian comms Wedge and informs him that the New Republic had to put together a few ships that they could say was Rogue Squadron in order to keep morale up. So he and Wes Janson, along with some others, were brought back to lead a few pilots from other squadrons until Wedge’s group returned. Now that they’re back, the fake Rogue Squadron can go back to their former duties, except for Hobbie and Janson who are back for good. The two squadrons jockey for position over a huge crowd of spectators gathered to welcome their heroes back. Wedge would rather not have to deal with all of this, but these public spectacles are necessary. Already, Princess Leia is waiting at a podium. The Princess reminds the crowd how instrumental Rogue Squadron was in breaking the bacta cartel. Now that a steady supply of bacta is coming in from Thyferra, the Krytos virus can be treated more effectively and the galaxy is much safer with the death of Ysanne Isard. Of course, Wedge and his squadron had been forced to resign in order to accomplish this, but their victory is now being treated as an officially-sanctioned New Republic operation. In the meantime, Talon Squadron, led by Myn Donos, has sighted a TIE Interceptor over a dark, volcanic world. They move in to pursue, only to encounter a great many more Imperial ships on the world. Within a few minutes, most of the squadron is decimated with only Myn and one more Talon left. The pilot of the Interceptor is fast and skilled. When the remaining Talon’s ship is disabled, he tells her to eject. Her cockpit canopy refuses to open and she hits the top of it before the mechanism finally works. Myn watches her limp body eject into the air and then float down toward the planet. Knowing that the families of his squadronmates deserve to know what happened to their loved ones, Myn makes the difficult choice to run to prevent himself from being destroyed.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The time is now around 8 years ABY. It is 4 years after ROTJ.Originally, the New Republic would not sanction action on Thyferra because the people of that world had installed Ysanne Isard as their leader. Any attempt to change that on the part of the Republic would be seen in a negative light by other worlds that may choose to remain independent or may leave the fledgling New Republic. For that reason, Wedge and his men resigned and became virtual pirates who helped bring down the government of Thyferra. Now that the mission was a success, the New Republic is taking credit for it? How does that change their original concerns? If what the former Rogues did is now an officially-sanctioned New Republic operation, did not the New Republic then engage in a questionable regime change that may concern other worlds?Hobbie’s last name mispelled Klivan when it’s actually Klivian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 chapter 2: Wedge meets with Admiral Ackbar and introduces his plan to form a new squadron of pilots. He learned much from his activities of late, so wants to take commandoes and train them as pilots. Further, he wants to use pilots no one else wants. Those who’ve had too much bad luck or who are known as trouble-makers. Some of them won’t work out, but he hopes to redeem many. He will take the new squadron with Janson as his second. Tycho can take over the Rogues temporarily with Hobbie as his second. Once Wedge gets the new squadron established, he can return to the Rogues. Ackbar isn’t sure this will work, but he offers a wager. If, after three months, Ackbar is satisfied with the set-up of this squadron, Wedge can continue his efforts, either with them or wth Rogue Squadron. If he is not satisfied, Wedge will finally accept a promotion to General and join Ackbar’s advisory staff. He doesn’t accept that Wedge thinks he will win either way. They both know he’d rather fly for the rest of his life. Wedge explains to the small group of pilots with him how the breakdown of leadership will go. He will still command both squadrons, but will be flight leader for the new one. Tycho and Hobbie will take Rogue Squadron which is being assigned to help the search for Warlord Zsinj. Wedge and Janson will take the new squadron and will join the Rogues covertly once they are set up. He takes Janson and Hobbie aside to tell them that Talon Squadron has been wiped out with the exception of Lt. Donos. He explains that the squadron pursued a TIE Interceptor far from any hyperspace-capable ship near a planet that Alliance Intelligence had labeled secure. They were ambushed there so clearly there is a problem.Donos is being debriefed now, but, even if he’s cleared, few squadrons will want him. Wedge wants to bring him over to the new squadron. He sets Janson to find pilots that fit his criteria and bring them to the Folor base. He wants Hobbie to talk to Donos and then set up a simulator run based on Talon Squadron’s experience so neither the Rogues nor the new squadron will meet the same fate as the Talons. Weeks later, Wedge has to deal with General Crespin of the Folor base and commander of two Squadrons of A-Wings who thinks this is a terrible idea. He tells Wedge that New Republic fighter pilots should be photogenic and have spotless records. Those are what heroes should be. Wedge points out that to think along those lines would be to diminish the efforts of Imperial defectors, such as the general himself, or of those they liberated from Kessel who helped during the conquest of Coruscant. To insist upon good-looking pilots would be to set a standard of physical appearance reminiscent of the Empire. Imperial insurgents would be quick to seize upon the New Republic’s hypocrisy in this manner. Besides, everyone loves a good redemption story. If they can take a pilot and give him one more chance to get his life out of the gutter and he succeeds, that makes as good a holodrama as anything else. Crespin still doesn’t think it will work but will allow Wedge to proceed for now. Security is tight here because they are on the border and are a target for Zsinj’s raids. They also have to make sure there aren’t anymore traitors, such as Erisi Dlarit, who, the general points out, came from Wedge’s own squadron. The recruits are being brought here without knowing where they are and the wash-outs will go out the same way.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 chapter 3: Wedge and Janson meet when the last group of candidates comes in. Janson will keep the pilot data to himself while Wedge interviews each candidate to get a gut feeling about them first. Janson starts off trying to convince Wedge that the first candidate is an Ewok named Kettch with leg and arm extensions. After admitting it was a joke, he admits their first candidate is a female from Tatooine named Falynn Sandskimmer. Wedge tells him he’ll get Janson for this. Janson responds, “Yub, yub, Commander”. Falynn Sandskimmer is a great pilot but has an attitude that has cost her two demotions. It seems that Sandskimmer, being from Tatooine, is constantly being compared to or asked if she knows Luke Skywalker. In fact, she wishes she’d never heard of him. Two candidates are removed because one, who insists he will be cleared of charges of theft, steals the holo of Wedge’s dead parents on his way out and the other is a Talz who undergoes severe stress when put in combat simulation runs. Myn Donos is their fourth candidate. While he agrees to join the squadron and perform sniper duties, as well, based on his prior experience in the Corellian armed forces, he answers all of Wedge’s questions without emotion or enthusiasm. Janson tells Wedge this is not the same man he trained. They will have to watch him to make sure he doesn’t have some kind of breakdown. Aboard the Implacable, Admiral Apwar Trigit receives a transmission from Warlord Zsinj that he takes his time answering. After all, he is only loaning out his service to Zsinj, not swearing loyalty to the man. Zsinj is a fat, balding man who wears the uniform of an Imperial Grand Admiral that he did not earn. He congratulates Trigit on the destruction of Talon Squadron. They’d used a code-slicer to enter false information about the security of Gravan Seven. The squadron was decommissioned after its decimation left only one pilot alive. They’d tried to kill him, too, but he was too good of a pilot. His escape isn’t significant as he will surely tell his superiors about his experience with Imperial forces that wipe out whole squadrons with ease. That should rattle Rebel morale somewhat. The code-slicer is on her way back here. Zsinj points out that Isard would have just killed her to keep things clean. Trigit acknowledges that Iceheart had those traits, but giving your subordinates nothing to look forward to except their likely deaths when they fail you does not engender loyalty. Trigit would rather handle things differently and Zsinj approves. Zsinj asks about the Moort project. Trigit explains that the Moort-class parasite-droids have been distributed with hit sites on all manner of worlds, regardless of their allegiances. Zsinj asks to be kept up-to-date and ends the transmission. Though Zsinj does not have Isard’s temperament, his constant need for updates is irritating. However, he keeps the Implacable stocked with food and supplies so Trigit can deal with him until he has enough power to rival Zsinj. By the end of the day, there are only two candidates left. When Janson reports that the second-to-the-last is Voort saBinring, a Gamorrean, Wedge doesn’t believe him. Gamorreans lack the discipline to be able to work within a fighter squadron. Wedge humors Janson until an actual Gamorrean walks into the room wearing an orange flight suit. saBinring explains that he was altered by Binring Biomedical Product which produces rations for Imperial troopers. The Emperor wanted Gamorreans with the ability to control themselves the way humans do. A number of his people were subjected to these experiments but he was the only survivor. The others committed suicide, due to the pressure of being isolated from their species and surrounded by bloodthirsty primitives. Voort saBinring was taught to pilot several types of ships by a sympathetic creator at the lab who then arranged for him to escape before committing suicide himself. Voort has a more-than-human attention span and incredible mathematical skills. After he escaped, he went to Obra-skai, the library world, and read as much as he could until he joined the Alliance. Wedge notes that he is facing a court-martial for striking a superior officer. Voort explains that he must endure a great deal from the people he serves with in the Alliance which is made up of either former Imperials who bring their non-human prejudices with them or beings who’ve had bad experiences with Gamorreans. The officer who accused him of striking him filed the report within a half-an-hour of the incident. Voort assures Wedge that no one he has ever struck in a moderated fight was able to speak within half-an-hour. The officer, in fact, had struck him and Voort had blocked the blow. Obviously, the officer has chosen to remember the facts differently. The charges will be dropped if Voort gets a transfer far away from the man. Wedge asks what Voort would like to be called. The Gamorrean answers that Voort is fine, but that many others call him Piggy which he knows is supposed to be derogatory, but he really isn’t bothered by it. So Piggy is fine. They assure him that one of their late comrades was a human pilot who went by the name Piggy. That nickname isn’t considered derogatory to them. Wedge asks if the next candidate is a womp rat or a mynock. Instead, he finds a human from Sluis Van named Kell Tainer who is every bit the man Crespin would love to have on the holos. When he recognizes Wes Janson’s name, however, he withdraws his candidacy and requests to be allowed to leave. He says Janson killed his father. Janson remembers the last name Doran. After Tainer is sent outside, Wedge asks for an explanation.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 chapter 4: Wes explains that, in the early days of the Alliance, sometimes squadrons of trainees were sent out for missions beyond their expertise. One day, he and Porkins, along with several others, were sent out to ambush an Imperial freighter. When they saw the TIE escort was much larger than anticipated, one of the pilots – a freighter captain from Alderaan named Kissek Doran – had a panic attack and flew off. They pursued him to either get him to come back or shoot him down, lest their attempt at ambush be for nought and many more die. They tried the former, but had to resort to the latter. Since he was from Alderaan, it was thought his family was killed by the Death Star. However, his wife blamed them for her husband’s death and changed the family name to keep their dignity. Wedge notes that Tainer has had a couple of mishaps with ships that he’s blamed on controls. This could indicate a man who doesn’t like to take responsibility for his failures. Janson had put him on the list because it’s possible the controls were at fault. The man’s had commando training under Lt. Page which makes him a valuable asset to the squadron. Wes understands that, if it’s a case of Tainer over him, he’ll have to switch with Hobbie and go back to the Rogues. Back with Tainer, Wedge asks if he’s an honorable man and reminds him that he took an oath to the New Republic. Janson took that oath, too. Their skills are needed more than their need to avoid each other and the memory of things that happened in the past that neither of them could control. If Tainer agrees to stay, he will have to deal with working with Janson. If not, there are no other squadrons who will take him and he’ll be sent back to the commandoes. Tainer points out that he liked the commandoes. Wedge reminds him that doing that will not give him the opportunity to show the galaxy that his family name shouldn’t be remembered for cowardice. It’s a cold move, but Wedge knows that’s what Kell has dreamed of since he was young. This is his chance and it’s his last one. In the simulator, Kell checks in with the others. Janson reports their mission parameters and the use of training protocol 179. No one knows what that means. In the thick of things, they find that the information they were given was wrong and that there are many more opponents than anticipated. They try to hold their own against the increased danger. It’s hard to remember that nothing here is real. Kell has considerable problem with his wingman, Gold Two, who disobeys orders more than once. By the time they are finished, they have no contact from the simulated base, so Kell plots a course that will take them to hyperspace with any viable forces still left. The simulation ends at that point. Janson saves the introductions for later and discusses the simulation results. Gold Three and Four did reasonably well, Two did terribly, while Gold One – Kell- was almost perfect. When he passes out the scores, though, Kell gets a zero. Apparently, to encourage cooperation among trainees who don’t know each other, each wingman gets the other’s points. It seems only Piggy knew about it. Janson dismisses them and tells them not to discuss the mission or its parameters with the other candidates.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------We met Page in book 2 Wedge’s Gamble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 chapter 5: Kell’s wingman is Hohass Ekwesh, an alien who refers to himself as “we” and is sorry that their failure has cost Kell prestige. In the lounge, they sit with Piggy and Tyria Sarkin who is physically very distracting for Kell. Ekwesh explains that he has multiple minds and one of them is the pilot mind. It’s that mind that loused up the mission as it has many other missions, too. He’s called Runt even by those who are not angry at him because he’s small for his species. He doesn’t expect to be around long enough to cause them much trouble. A protocol droid shows up to take their drink orders and gives Kell a hard time. Tyria explains that the droid is Squeaky who was captured on the Tantive IV and, with the other droids, sent to the spice mines of Kessel where he kept inventories. One day, he and several other captive droids swiped a freighter that got back to the Alliance with valuable information on the Imperial garrison and the inmates held there. So he was given his freedom, not even fit with a restraining bolt port. Two more pilots arrive. One of them wears a prosthetic headgear over half of his face. His name is Ton Phanan. He introduces his colleague, a handsome man with a scar across his face, named Garik Loran. Kell asks if Loran is Garik “The Face” Loran. Runt is confused when all the humans recognize Loran, too. It seems that Garik Loran was a child actor, appearing in Imperial holodramas that were produced for propaganda purposes. Many young girls, such as Tyria, had crushes on him. However, when he became a teenager and was transitioning to older roles, he was kidnapped by terrorists who had left the Rebel Alliance and were going to kill him to send a message to those civilians who aided and abetted the Empire. Before that happened, he got a lot of information given to him about the reality of the Empire. His break came when an Imperial commando rescue squad showed up. He got his scar in the crossfire. Fairly traumatized by his experience, he decided to hide from his rescuers who, finding no body, assumed he was killed and reported it as such. He made his way home to Lorrd where his parents arranged to have him live with family on Pantolomin until he got older. His earnings were invested wisely so he doesn’t really need money. They ask why he’s never had the scar fixed. He tells them it’s a reminder of all the help he gave the Empire. Ton Phanan is allergic to bacta which is why he is 20% mechanical and gaining. However, he would love to make the acquaintance of the beautiful Tyria. She wonders if this is one of those squadrons where she’s the only female and is stuck rejecting the male pilots. Phanan goes into full acting mode and compliments her tremendous beauty, but also mentions her Jedi skills. Tyria explains to the others that she is Force-sensitive but not significantly enough to make her a good Jedi. Luke Skywalker put her through some exercises before determining that she was probably not going to progress much further. He was nice about it, though. Phanan laments that because, if he had the Force, he would use it to scratch the itch on his back during long missions. He’s sure Skywalker does that, too. Irritated, Tyria stalks off. Phanan yells for the droid to come take their order and Kell quips that he’s just picked his own punishment for irking Tyria. The next simulation is over a volcanic world where all pilots participate except for one named Myn Donos. Runt doesn’t get any kills then either. The third one, Kell is paired with Runt when he hears loud war cries coming from the wingman before the ship pulls ahead of Kell. Kell locks his weapons on Runt’s fighter, earning Janson’s concern, but it gets Runt’s attention. He reminds his partner that he’s the wingman. Runt moves behind him. After taking out one Interceptor each, Runt moves ahead again so Kell lets him keep lead and uses the opportunity to get another. Runt gets a second one, too. Kell advises him to try to keep the pilot mind under control. The simulation ends, but not before Kell’s ship gets vaped by an Interceptor. Janson notes the lower kills, but compliments him on figuring out how to handle Runt and his pilot mind. When Kell asks if the computer killed him or an actual pilot, Janson mentions that it was Wedge in the Interceptor simulator. Several more candidates are eliminated, including one who couldn’t get past paranoid conspiracy theories, one who backhanded another candidate and another who tried to alter his simulation scores. Kell tells the others that he thought he was the only one who had met a dead end. Phanan explains that he’s got combat experience, but hasn’t been very lucky. On five live-fire situations, he got shot down on two. That’s too unlucky for his commander on top of the cost of Phanan’s prosthetics. Loran bought his way into the fighter corps by buying his own A-Wing which he flew under Crespin and then his own X-Wing which he ended up flying under Crespin again. The general thinks Face did too much for the Empire to be of any use. Runt acknowledges that they know their problem controlling the minds, but is getting better with Kell’s help. Tyria doesn’t want to talk about her problem yet. There are rumors about Myn Donos and that volcanic world simulator. They don’t get a chance to discuss that before they are all asked to come to the amphitheatre.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I realize that getting shot down twice on five missions is not great, but, when you compare it to some of the other pilots in the Alliance, it’s really not bad. How many prosthetics has Hobbie been fitted with by now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 chapter 6: The ten remaining pilots are told they are all that’s left of the 43 who were invited here. They’d wanted to have 12 but the 10 are good enough and the others weren’t. Wedge and Janson will be flying with them to make a full squadron in addition to commanding. Next in line is Lt. Myn Donos who has sniper experience. Going on simulation scoring order, he introduces Kell Tainer who worked setting explosives on Borleias. He will be their backup mechanic and demolitions expert. Garik Loran will be their insertion agent as he does well with make-up and speaks several languages. Falynn Sandskimmer is an expert on land vehicles, as well as a Y-Wing ace. She will work on ground-based acquisitions. Ton Phanan will be the medical officer. It turns out he is licensed but he gave that up because he didn’t like patching up people he didn’t care for. Besides, he enjoys killing. Jesmin Ackbar, niece of the Admiral, is their communications specialist. Piggy is their hand-to-hand combat specialist and can be very helpful when dealing with Gamorreans. Though considered small for the Thakwaash species, Runt has considerable physical strength. Eurrsk “Grinder” Thri’ag, a Bothan, is their code-slicer. Tyria Sarkin is an intrusion expert, having been an Antarian Ranger from Toprawa. Kell’s never heard of the Antarian Rangers, but almost everyone’s heard of Toprawa which had helped the Rebel Alliance steal the data that ultimately caused the destruction of the Death Star. The planet had paid severely for the help it gave them. Wedge hands out wing assignments before dismissing them. He tells Kell that there are four X-Wings that have been delivered and need checked over before their first live-fire exercises tomorrow. Tyria laments that she scored dead last among the pilots. Even among a list of elite pilots, that’s not something to be proud of. In the hangar, Kell admires the factory-new X-Wings, but the chief mechanic, Cubber Daine, points out that he hates them. Factory-new ships often have defects, assembly errors and technological advances that haven’t been tested. He and Kell spend some time sorting out which problems these fighters have before Wedge comes over and asks if they can paint the red stripes gray. The Squadron will be called Gray Squadron for the time being until a new name is chosen. Wedge wanders around just long enough for Cubber not to dismiss the men too soon when a Corellian freighter lands. Cubber tells Kell it’s the Millennium Falcon. He saw it enough times at Hoth but never serviced her as Solo and the Wookiee tended to hate that. They watch Solo come down the ramp and walk off with Wedge. Cubber tells Kell that he can tell his grandchildren that he saw Han Solo walk off his ship once and completely ignore him. The Wookiee follows soon after. While Kell finishes up his work, he thinks he hears a scuttling sound behind him, but cannot locate the source before Cubber dismisses everyone. Solo explains to Wedge that he’s been on the Mon Remonda on a pointless search for Zsinj so affected his escape on the Falcon for now. He’s hand-carrying orders that supersede the ones Coruscant recently sent out because it’s thought that Zsinj may be monitoring those transmissions. Unofficially, he’s looking for some relaxation. Wedge tells him that there’s no gambling, no alcohol and no broadcasts from Commenor allowed here. However, he does have recordings of diplomatic functions on Coruscant available. Solo doesn’t appreciate the humor.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 chapter 7: The next exercise has Kell and Runt in one wing, Phanan and Face in another. Kell hopes that no one can hear his quick breathing or read the tension in his body. This isn’t just a simulation now. He is flying a very expensive, very real ship. Wedge informs them that they can only communicate with their wingmen not with the other wing. He also warns them that Janson is piloting a shuttle that is maneuvering a target. The shuttle itself is not the target. Kell and Run go through on their run when Kell finds he does not have targeting available on his ship. Runt doesn’t have weapons available. Kell gets as close to the target as he can and then fires on visual only. It misses by about 40 meters and crashes into the mountains. Then Wedge enables audio with the other wing and Kell can hear Phanan and Face go through the same thing. No targeting for one, no weapons for the other. However, they work together as a team, the one with targeting feeding his information to the one with weapons who destroys the target. Kell knows this is another one of Antilles’ tricks. In the gym, Kell takes his frustrations out on a punching dummy. Runt watches him before asking if he’s suffering from a mad mind. Runt points out that he has learned some control over his pilot mind and has gotten better. Kell, on the other hand, allows failures to eat at him for days and weeks. It’s something the others have noticed, but no one wishes to say to him. Runt reminds him that the mad mind tells Kell things that are not true. It is his enemy. Falynn and Grinder failed their mission, too, but they are in the lounge eating, laughing and planning for tomorrow while Kell isolates himself in here and beats up on a dummy. Kell asks if Tyria is there. When Runt says she is, he runs off to shower first before going to the lounge. In the lounge, Face finishes up a story about a practical joke that had left him running naked in the halls. They ask Myn if the Corellians pulled jokes like that and he confirms they are pretty much universal. He’s opening up so Falynn asks about his sniper experience. He admits he shot people, which wasn’t desirable, but it’s better than shooting innocents. After he leaves to get some more practice in, the others start to head off to other tasks, too. Phanan points out that Donos seems better and jokes about getting him a bantha toy to cuddle with. Falynn notes that Myn Donos would die for any one of them just as he would his previous squadron. That makes him better than Phanan who apparently likes to joke about people who are better than he is. Then she storms off. Phanan wants to take bets that she’s sweet on Donos, but Grinder, with his expertise on human psychology, would rather bet that she’d determined to rescue a wounded soul. Tainer starts to tell Tyria about his childhood emotional wounds and even Phanan thinks it’s a lame pickup line. Tyria tells them to finish their games alone while she goes to study her hyperspace navigation. On board the Implacable, Admiral Trigit receives a message from Gara Petothel, the code-slicer who’d gotten the information on Talon Squadron. He reviews it and tells his XO to scramble the TIE fighters. The rebels are staging from the Commenor moon Folor.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 chapter 8: Kell tell Tyria he’s in love with her. He’d anticipated many different responses, but not this one. She tells him she thinks he’s in love with the concept of her. He doesn’t know much about her, doesn’t talk to her much and admits that he thought about her for about 15 minutes the day before. Tyria thinks that he’s just fantasized a Tyria who doesn’t exist. She’s not that person. Then he’s the victim of a practical joke when something springs out of his locker at him, causing the amusement of the other pilots. At breakfast, Wedge and Janson are asked who they think the best pilot of their generation is. That’s a hard question because it’s difficult to set the guidelines. There were plenty of exceptional pilots who just got hit by an Interceptor and died. There was Luke Skywalker who has plenty of skill but not many kills to show for it since he didn’t spend that long in combat. Janson speculates that Wedge is probably the best. Falynn thinks that’s no longer the case. After all, Wedge is older now and he’s probably lost his edge. Piloting is for younger people. Wedge warns her that she’ll be his age in 8 or 9 years and face the same fate. She thinks it’s possible, should she live that long. He decides that her youthfulness means she can go without breakfast and pilot against him right now. Falynn notes that she’s still in training so she would have to give up points to him for experience. Wedge challenges her to a repulsorlift ore hauler race instead. Janson thinks this should be interesting. While the squadron watches from the briefing room, Wedge and Falynn take off wearing vaccum suits and driving repulsorlift haulers from an unused hangar. It’s clear that Falynn can handle ground vehicles pretty well, but this particular hauler is different from recreational craft. In the end, Wedge gets creative enough to win. Over her protests that he cheated, he reminds her that, in space, firefights don’t always go by the book. If she ends up dead because an Imp pilot got creative, she won’t be able to complain about fairness. At the next briefing, Wedge tells his crew that the other four fighters are in and have been cleared by Cubber. Thanks to Tyria, they also now have a new name: Wraith Squadron. In addition, they have a new supply officer. Few are happy to see Squeaky. The protocol droid is glad to be serving another officer named Antilles and hopes that he can help prevent this one from meeting the same fate as the last one. He promises to match wits, intelligence and insults with them. Then Janson calls up a map showing Commenor, Corellia and a star system called Doldrums because there’s nothing there. Each of them will plot a three-stage journey there and a two-stage one back, keeping standard protocols of minimizing detection. The one that is best, uses the least fuel and most elegant will be chosen as a test of their hyperspace navigation abilities. They have an hour. As they break, Face tells Tyria, he can’t believe she won the naming contest. He’d suggested Silly Squadron, Rogue Squadron and Dinner Squadron. Two hours later, they are off, using Piggy’s plan, when Jesmin tells Wedge that she’s picking up a tight-beam transmission on Imperial channels that seems to be directed close to their flight path. Wedge says he’ll inform Folor and tells the others to make themselves useful. Kell is irritated that they’ve got another test. After Face asks Piggy to look into the speed of the transmission, Kell fears that Face will end up showing the leadership abilities that are being watched for. He decides to have Grinder slice into Commenor’s computer system and search for Imperial-based reservations or orders. Grinder finds that a shuttle conveying documents landed and they were given permission to hold military exercises over Folor. The pleasure yacht Implacable has also been given the largest docking berth. Since the Implacable cannot possibly be the name of a pleasure yacht, they know that the Folor base is an Imperial target. Wedge confirms that Admiral Trigit, a rogue Imperial, commands the ship. They are headed back to base to give the admiral a few surprises when he shows up. Trigit orders TIE fighters launched to escort them to the far side of the moon. While the base is evacuated, with A-Wings covering the transports, The Wraiths sit and wait. Kell doesn’t understand this strategy and Wedge knows it. Trigit orders a bombing run when there is no sign of defensive action. The TIEs wiggle in respect as they pass the viewscreen, a display of showmanship he considers rewarding. Crespin reports the first wave of bombers have hit their target. Kell sees no tell-tale signs of light coming from the base. After Crespin launches the transports, Kell sits back and understands. Trigit shakes his head at the foolish rebels who put fuel depots on the surface of the planet. Something about this doesn’t seem right, though, with no ships. Especially when the rebel beacons keep transmitting. When Petothel announces the departure of a capital ship on the other side of the moon, Trigit realizes that false beacons were set up around these leftover Commenor mining buildings. He orders the TIEs to accompany Implacable on the other side of the moon. He may not be able to destroy the entire complement of staff, but he can pick off stragglers and destroy the actual base. Crespin reveals one transport away, one will be out before the Implacable gets there and one is delayed due to some ion engine malfunction. He sends the squadrons out to buy it some time. Wedge notes that the route the Imps are taking will bring them over a trench they call the Pig Trough. He suggests they plant ships inside the trench to come out at the Imps when they arrive. Crespin sends two of his squadron, while Wedge sends Kell and Runt.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------At one point, the chapter notes that Wedge is no relation to Captain Antilles of the Tantive IV who was killed by Darth Vader. Since the blockade runner was an Alderaanian ship, was Captain Antilles also Alderaanian? Bail Antilles certainly was. Just wondering if Antilles is a Corellian name or an Alderaanian name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 chapter 9: Kell and Runt reach the Pig Trough and fly through precision-wise before waiting for the TIEs. Kell gives Runt the lead, grateful that no one is depending on his leadership. They trade jibes with the A-Wing pilots from Blue Squadron who value their ships’ speed before the TIEs approach. They know they cannot take the Star Destroyer, so Kell starts thinking of a way to distract it to give the final transport time to take off. He asks the Blues if any of them have old encryption codes and then works on a plan. Wedge and his squadron are beat out of the trench by the Blue Squadron with the faster ships. The Blues go after TIEs and Bombers, while the Wraiths try to hit the Interceptors. Piggy spends time giving advice to his fellow pilots which Wedge hopes Janson, as Piggy’s wingmate, will take care of. Then, Wedge hears, over the comm. unit, someone ask Han if he can’t get more speed out of that pile of junk. Trigit picks it up, too. He assumes the rebels wouldn’t be fighting this badly over their base unless they were protecting something very important. The transmission leads him to believe that Leia Organa and Han Solo are here, something that doesn’t fly with what Intelligence has given him, but must be true, regardless.This provides him with a more alluring target. Wedge realizes that an older encryption code has been used, one the Imperials have cracked, and that Kell is providing a diversion for the Implacable. Now that more time has been bought, he tells his Wraiths to do what they can. During the battle, Jesmin is damaged and has to pull out. The TIEs start coming in faster. By the time Tirgit realizes he’s been had, the last transport is away and he only has two X-Wings and two A-Wings in his grasp. He orders them destroyed but the fighters elude him. On their way out of the system, Kell tells the Implacable that they have been the victims of Dinner Squadron.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 chapter 10: Wedge reports only Ton took some minor injuries, the ships all took damage but not significantly so and that Squeaky evacuated all of the personal possessions from Folor. The droid explains he doesn’t have time to arrange for replacements so he considered the action practical. The Blues lost several ships. Wedge congratulates Kell for his brilliant distraction but chastises him for the last minute open-air contact to the Implacable. They are all still headed to Doldrums as it’s a perfect staging area to regroup. Trigit reports to Zsinj that the base is completely destroyed, but the rebels sustained no significant losses. On the other hand, he lost a good number of TIEs he would like replaced. They banter about whether or not Zsinj is responsible for replacing material that Trigit has lost. Trigit mentions he’s got some plan in place to pick up some evacuees and hopes to have more information soon. Wedge asks Janson what he thinks about the pilots. Janson thinks that the Wraiths are an unusual bunch. They handle ordinary missions with ordinary maneuvers. They handle no mission parameters with ingenuity. Piggy’s acting like a tactical computer, the slicing into Commenor’s computer system and Kell’s diversion are examples of this. They aren’t the Rogues, of course, but they are hard to predict. But, after all, Wedge picked them. Wedge asks what Janson was doing during the interviews. Janson answers that he was daydreaming. Kell is stuck in hyperspace musing about his victory back there and thinking about Tyria. His mind reminds him of how he used to be certain he was in love with a holostar until he found out she was happily married with children. He knows that Tyria is right and he’s just fixed on the image of her. His ship completes the jump early. When he comes out of lightspeed, his X-Wing’s instruments are dead. The others are experiencing the same problem, from nonresponsive astromechs to Piggy’s translator failure. Donos can only talk about his droid and doesn’t sound like himself at all. Wedge considers his options, especially since they don’t have a lot of fuel and they are likely being pursued. He tells them to head toward Xobome 6 to affect repairs. Kell has a couple of ideas about what could have caused this, including a bomb that could pull ships out of hyperspace and affect gravitional and ion charges that wreck havoc with systems. And was probably set by someone who thought the rebels would flee from Commenor to Xabome. While Kell and Cubber try to work on the ships with their limited tools while in space, Donos contacts Kell on a private channel and frets over his droid. This isn’t a significant issue right now but Donos is very agitated about it. He worries the thing is dead. Kell gives him a couple of ideas to try which work. He does caution Donos not to contact him about the memory being gone. It’s happened to all of the astromechs. Ton’s ship is dead and his biomechanics are not doing much better. They’re going to have to put him on the shuttle and leave the ship before whoever follows them shows up in the next couple of hours. Kell and Cubber put together a plan to have the Imps find the ship, along with some debris, hidden among it being a pilot hidden in one of the shuttle’s smuggling compartments with a rigged up weapon that he can use on whatever ship he’s pulled onto. It gives the others a chance to get away and the pilot a chance to cause some damage. Wedge goes over his objections to this plan before finally giving them the time to try it. Afterwards, he tells Janson he feels like an old man dealing with a bunch of crazy kids. Janson confirms this.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 chapter 11: Cubber and Kell find that the shuttle’s smuggling compartment is not big enough to handle the EV suit the pilot would have to wear. Using a regular flight suit would be dangerous as it’s only been rated for pressurized atmospheres. If they wait until the last minute to put him in the debris field, he’ll freeze to death if the Imps take a few minutes to look first. Piggy tells them he needs to be the one who does it, then. His fat will shield him from both starvation and cold for much longer than the rest of them. Over time, the plan is put together. The storage compartment of the shuttle is molded into a coffin-like box. On it, is mounted Phanan’s astromech, fuel pods and thrusters from the ejection seat. The Droid, Gadget, is attached to a cable that connects to a datapad with Piggy and Grinder’s maneuvering program. Piggy will enter the pod with a power generator connection to one of Phanan’s laser cannons.It’s crude, but it should work. They wait with Piggy on the shuttle, the dead X-Wing, some debris and the pod adrift and the remaining ships powered down on large asteroids. Then Kell contacts Cubber and asks about Phanan’s specific fighter. He remembers an odd attachment on the back of one of the X-Wings that he thinks was assigned to Phanan. Cubber doesn’t remember it, but Squeaky points out that he saw a similar attachment on the shuttle. Kell doesn’t remember that, at all and neither does Cubber. There’s something wrong here. But it’s too late to do anything as Imperial chatter begins to pick up. Piggy floats out of the shuttle to the insertion pod and pulls himself in. He chats with Gadget for a time and advises the droid how to answer the Imp’s inquiries, assuring him he will try to protect him. When he’s pulled aboard the ship, he finds himself in a hangar. He pulls out of the compartment with his weapon at the ready and dodges blasterfire. He pulls a TIE fighter around to use its solar panels as shields before getting rid of the intial offense. Then he begins to work on how to protect himself against being ejected into the void. As soon as Wedge confirms that Piggy is inside, he has his ships target the TIEs. Piggy tries to remember what he knows about Corellian Corvettes and blasts a hole in the ceiling, thinking he’s climbing through into officer’s quarters. Instead, he’s reached the bridge and has done enough damage with the one blast that the officers on duty give up.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------At one point it’s mentioned that Phanan’s ship was destroyed by one of the TIEs. Really? They destroy a brand-new X-Wing fighter without even examining it for data? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 17, 2014 Author Share Posted December 17, 2014 chapter 12: It turns out that Piggy’s shot had gone right through Captain Darillian of the Corvette. Farlynn is dealing with the remains while it’s determined that this ship is part of Zsinj’s group, but currently under the general command of Apwar Trigit. A top-of-the-line HoloNet transmitter hadn’t been activated yet which means they hadn’t had the chance to contact Zsinj. The ship is supposed to be laying mines that send signals back to the ship when they are triggered. There’s a schedule of fueling stops, too. Wedge looks it over and starts to form a plan. On Xobome 6, Kell and Cubber find the attachment on the back of the shuttle and pry it loose, finding four arms holding it to the ship. It’s dead, fried by whatever had killed their droids in space. Wedge meets with the others and Piggy asks if he can have the Night Caller. Wedge tells him not as a personal possession, but owing to Alliance tradition, he could probably get the captaincy of it if he transferred out of starfighter command. Piggy was joking, but Wedge explains it would be a joke in the Imperial fleet or many others in the galaxy. PIggy admits he would rather be remembered. Since people tend to remember starfighter pilots over ship captains, he chooses to stay with the Wraiths. The ship has enough fuel that they’ve topped off their own fighters, Phanan is okay except for his missing fighter and some residual problems with his biomechanics and the mystery attachment is yielding some interesting information. They can’t tell where it was transmitting to, but it apparently can go from ship to ship relaying hits and locations back. Wedge wants a communication to all ships to warn them about those things. For now, they will follow the Night Caller’s itinerary until they find a chance to strike at Zsinj. Kell finds Jesmin and Face in the communications center watching the late captain’s logs which detail their mission to lay mines along the likely course the escaping rebels would take. Jesmin just wanted Face to see this man’s self-satisfied performance, since it’s unlikely that Face has ever seen anything so repellant. Face notes that he has actually. When he was a boy, he starred in the holo Win or Die in which he played the son of two Old Republic devotees who killed him after he tried to run away to the Emperor. His character died in the Emperor’s arms. Anyway, young Garik was supposed to meet the real Emperor who was called away with unhappy news about the Alliance’s organization, so he got to meet Ysanne Isard instead who sat him on her lap and told him what a good boy he was. That’s more disgusting. Unfortunately, they cannot use the HoloNet to track Zsinj since the Night Caller isn’t using it to contact him. Kell takes off, passes Janson on the way without speaking to him and runs into Donos outside his quarters. He asks about the droid. Donos happily notes that it’s fine. Kell presses that Donos had seemed very concerned about it earlier, but doesn’t get much more information. In the meantime, the Night Caller’s bow hold is modified to allow for the fitting of the X-Wings.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 chapter 13: Wedge and Falynn take a couple of TIEs down to the next planet on the itinerary, Viamarr 4, which is an agricultural world. They resist any effort by the planet to enforce its authority. Then find out that it’s come up with some ancient Headhunters for defense. The Headhunter pilots are young and eager, but are outflown by the TIEs which is good because neither Wedge nor Falynn want to shoot at them. After the government orders its pilots to land, Wedge decides they’ll buzz the administrative buildings next. On board the ship, Jesmin is unhappy to report that the planet’s governor is calling. They hadn’t planned for that. Since an Imperial ship will not have a Mon Calamari crewman, one of the humans will have to answer. Janson and Face know they will be recognized, so Face puts on goggles, spraypaints the lenses and inserts tubes and nozzles that cover his face, then answers the call. The governor is surprised but asks for the captain whom Face claims is in the bath dictating his memoirs. The governor apologizes for the errant pilots who are new, but he is eager to let the captain know that the planet will become a signatory. Using some bullying tactics, Face gets him to explain that he will trade supplies for the warlord’s protection . Additionally, the land the warlord wanted is ready. The latter part was top secret but Face intimidates him into handing over that data, too. It looks like Zsinj is using the name Cortle Steeze to utilize some land on a large island for something. Wedge notes Face still has paint around his eyes. Face knows but he can’t get it off. Cubber explains that it’s reflective paint he uses to mark work sites. Only a solvent can get it off but he used the last of it to clean off his goggles.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 chapter 14: At their next destination, they find the transport Borleias and the command ship, Home One, waiting for them. Wedge boards the latter and greets Admiral Ackbar who notes that Wedge’s methods are becoming more unorthodox. He is here to tell Wedge that Wraith Squadron has now been commissioned as operational. They’ve found some of the droids like the ones described as being found on the shuttle and are working to pass along incorrect information to Zsinj instead. The mines that the Night Caller has been laying are being analyzed for their frequency so that ships can adjust for them. They don’t have any spare X-Wings, but the Borleias is here to deliver a simulator and backup memories for the astromechs. They have supplies for the Wraiths so the supply master will have to requisition anything else. Wedge says he’ll have Squeaky send over the list. Ackbar recognizes the droid’s name and shudders. He hasn’t yet approved Wedge’s plan for the Night Caller because he doesn’t understand what he hopes to accomplish. Wedge explains that the ship will continue its assigned course until it reaches a world that is clearly collaborating with Zsinj. Wraith Squadron will hit the world after the ship leaves, leading Zsinj to believe the ship is being followed. He will try to set a trap, but will be trapped instead. Ackbar isn’t sure how long he can hope to keep this up. Obviously, some improvisation is needed since it appears Zsinj has given some private instructions to certain people, but they’ve come up with something innovative. A holo of Captain Darillian appears and interacts with everyone who speaks to it. Face is the actual life behind the holographic mask. They can keep that up as long as no one needs to meet Darillian face-to-face and Face can bluff through any circumstance in which the enemy knows more than they do. Ackbar gives his provisional acceptance for now and then asks for some time alone with his niece. Ackbar is pleased she is part of this unit, but was surprised when she came up on a list of candidates for a squadron of misfits. Jesmin explains that, though her grades were good and her piloting skills excellent, no one would ever put her in combat situations because they feared being blamed by her uncle, the Admiral, if she were killed. She felt that she was wasting her time and everyone else’s sitting behind desks. She is happy now that she’s been accepted into this squadron and has been able to handle real-life combat situations. She hopes he will not hold it against Commander Antilles if something should happen. Ackbar assures her that, so long as she follows her superior’s example, she should never have to worry about that. The Imperial crew is taken aboard the Home One and replaced with New Republic crewers, including Captain Choday Hrakness and his second-in-command, Lt. Atril Tabanne. After the other ships leave, the Night Caller is left with the Wraiths who convert it into a more casual vessel than it was. Unfortunately, it’s smaller than the Folor base which makes it hard for Tainer to avoid Janson. Runt tells him that seems afraid of Janson. Kell explains that part of him wonders whether the man will tank his career or vape him in combat. Runt assures him that neither of those scenarios is logical. He is listening to the mad mind again. Runt’s minds are learning to work together as he is given the job of keeping up with correspondence sent to the former crewmen of the ship so that everything looks normal. He switches from mind to mind to return messages in kind. The simulators are always busy with Tyria using the X-Wing to try to bring her scores up and Falynn trying to make herself the best TIE wingman for Wedge. In the lounge, Kell, Phanan and Grinder find Tyria reading and joke about the grueling schedule she puts herself through. She explains she wants to bring her scores up. Grinder offers to slice into the computer and manipulate the scores for her, causing her to leap on him and start pummeling him. Wedge appears and wants to know what’s going on. Phanan fails to convince him it was a hand-to-hand combat discussion. Privately, Grinder tells Wedge that she failed to get a joke he was making. Wedge cautions him to consider his audience when telling a joke from now on. Tyria makes no excuse for her attacking him. Since she has already been written up once for insubordination, Wedge has to put this on her record. He reassigns her X-Wing to Phanan for the time being. He asks Janson to write up the report and keep it flexible enough so Wedge can alter it before he files it. He asks how things are going with Tainer. Janson is worried because it’s worse than ever and Tainer got some demolitions material from the Home One. His friend tells him not to worry about it, but Wes reminds him how he’d also thought Tyria was a steady character. Tyria finds Kell and Phanan in her quarters. They want to know what happened with her in the mess hall. She explains that she was accepted into the starfighter command because of her Force-sensitivity which they’d hoped would turn her into a pilot like Skywalker. However, her skills were terrible so she was transferred to a remedial class under the command of a Colonel Repness who had offered her a chance to turn her acceptable scores into better ones for the final examination. All she had to do was to take test run in an X-Wing, claim mechanical failure, ditch into the ocean and let the crews rescue her, presumably with a lost ship. Repness would have actually met her at the ditch site and taken the ship to sell on the black market. She refused and threatened to expose him. She assumed that she would have time to do that, but, the next day, she found he’d written her up for insubordination, accusing her of making advances toward him. He’d also shown that he had altered her flight logs the whole time, making her look better than she was. If she exposed him, she would have no career as a pilot at all. She kept quiet, graduated at the bottom of her class and was immediately offered this opportunity, despite the reprimand on her record. It was only after that she found out that she was wanted for her Ranger experience. They tell her that Wedge wouldn’t let an inferior pilot into the unit, but she thinks he’s holding out hope that her Force sensitivity will be of use. They remind her she can use her grounding opportunity to practice in the TIE simulator or get shuttle lessons from Cubber. Tainer asks about the Rangers. Tyria explains that the Antarian Rangers were founded centuries ago to help the Jedi Knights who valued having warriors who were trained in insertion and stealth. Some worlds, like Toprawa, had clans of Rangers which intermarried with Jedi which could explain why she was born with some lingering Force connection. Gradually, their numbers reduced and many were killed in the Clone Wars with much of the rest purged along with the Jedi. Her family hid on Toprawa until the Empire decimated it, leaving no more Rangers. She doesn’t think she’s the last one. She’s not sure she will live long enough to carry on that tradition. Tyria has failed at everything she’s ever tried, having lost her family, her chance to learn the ways of the Force and to earn a place as a pilot honestly. She just wants to do something for herself to make up for her failures. Kell understands that need well. She tells Phanan to take care of her fighter because she wants it back.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------So X-Wings are sold on the black market? Great! That really means the Night Caller was dumb to wipe out Phanan’s brand-spanking-new fighter.We’ve run into the Antarian Rangers before in Imperial Commando: 501st. They were also mentioned in the Dark Horse Comic Jedi: “The Dark Side #2”.However, this idea that they intermarried with Jedi is unusual, especially since we know that Jedi didn’t marry. One could argue that some might have intermingled with Zaltis’s group of unconventional Jedi and produced children, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 chapter 15: Wearing make-up to disguise himself, Face meets with Governor Nojin Koolb of Xartun who has made promises to Warlord Zsinj – the owner, under an alias, of a bunker where the manufacture of fighter canopies takes place – despite the agreement between his predecessor and the New Republic. After Face boards the shuttle, the commandos move into position. He transmits his tour information via some loud Verpine music and, after noting Cubber’s piloting skills are severely lacking, offers to trade him some piloting lessons for modifications to his R2 unit, Vape. The rest of the Wraiths remain behind as commandoes, led by Kell Tainer. They check their equipment, review information taken from a camera hidden on Face that recorded things the governor may not have wanted him to notice and then enter the bunker. They find areas not shown to Face which suggests that Zsinj is operating much of his workings like a resistance movement, using cells so that little information is lost if a cell falls. On another level, Wedge and Kell find more machinery parts and then something comes at them.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 chapter 16: By a turbolift, Tyria and Runt are attacked by a running silhouette. Wedge fires at the probe droid attacking Kell, gaining enough time to pull Kell to safety. Down below, Phanan starts blasting the probe droid in Tyria’s area before being forced to take cover. Wedge confirms with Jesmin that they are under attack, too. Kell has an idea to fight them off. Wedge creates a diversion while Kell prepares a charge, then jumps on top of the droid, gets knocked off and rolls for cover before it explodes. Tyria jumps into a repulsorlift cart and raises it up, protected somewhat by the load of transparisteel windows on board it. Runt traps it with another cart when Wedge and Kell emerge and tell them to run. Whie Kell plants the remainder of the charges in record time, Grinder dispatches one probe droid with a turbolift door. Meanwhile, troopers and TIEs have arrived. Janson waits outside the hangar door and blasts several troopers before being hauled inside the hangar by Grinder. He continues to fire which causes them to enter the building a different way through which they have only one approach to the hangar. That will take them to Runt and Tyria who are really not marksmen. Falynn is able to enable a landspeeder which they will use as a diversion and send out first. That will allow them to get out on a cargo skiff. They used the armatures of the load lifters on the skiff to swipe at TIE fighters along the way, while the troopers finally run into the bunker shortly before Kell’s explosives erupt.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 chapter 17: Back aboard the Night Caller, they discuss that Zsinj is obviously building up a business empire to support his military might. Wedge notes that he feels odd being in a position the Empire was in a few years ago. Now, it’s the Empire resorting to hit and run tactics. While he’s glad to not have to run and hide, he knows he can adapt to new Imperial tactics while there are some in the New Republic who cannot. It appears that Zsinj is also offering bits of technology to his partners, on top of protection. The probe droids are good indicators of this. A review of the recording of the facility also notes the presence of cells that Piggy identifies as being identical to those he was held in at Binring Biomed. Zsinj may have some ties to the company which is located on Saffalore in the Corporate Sector. Wedge notes they had a successful mission but cannot count on pulling the same tactic each time they reach a world. Zsinj will grow suspicious and they really want him to think the Night Caller is being followed, not that it’s responsible for the damage. General Cracken’s intelligence people will be putting agents on the worlds they will be visiting in order to provide information to them. He wants Grinder to slice into the ship’s logs and try to find out about businesses that were transferred to new owners during or right after a visit by Night Caller. Those are likely Zsinj-held properties and can be taken out a few days after the ship leaves the system. He wants Face to report anyone who tells him they are a collaborator for Zsinj so Grinder can check them out, but he doesn’t want Face to press for more information. He also asks Piggy to provide as much information as he can about the Binring facility he was in. Face meets Tyria outside the X-Wing simulator. She notes he’s painted his astromech a different color to match the Wraith’s gray. Face points out that it’s actually so that he can hide some modifications he had made to the droid. He asks Vape for a cold one and the droid pops open a hatch that dispenses a cold alcoholic beverage. The next operation starts off well. They use Face to find out about the standard ore shipments on Belthu where he is also told about a secret durasteel shipment. The intelligence agents note the location of the shipment where Grinder is inserted to find out about the transfer which it to be to a foundry owned by another of Zsinj’s pseudonyms. A couple of days after the transfer, the Wraiths destroy the foundry. But the next world is M2398 which is supposed to be uninhabited. Transmissions indicate some kind of outpost which they determine might belong to pilots. Wedge and Falynn are going to take TIEs while the others take their X-Wings, including Tyria who is unsuspended for this one time. Wedge tells Captain Hrakness to call battle stations. He boards his TIE in enough time to hear Falynn cursing the prankster who had set up a pressure suit in her locker to fall out with a knife taped to its glove. She assures him she doesn’t need help, but he points out that her prankster does. When the pirate base, Blood Nest, contacts the Night Caller, Face puts on his best Darillian voice and bluffs his way clear. The signal from the base is used as a homing signal to move in. Waiting in the TIE Fighter attached to the Caller, Wedge remembers one of his early zero-G experiences that involved him nearly losing two fingers after Luke Skywalker came to rescue him. As they approach the Blood Nest, he spots a crater on the moon that reveals a laser cannot pointed at them. He orders the bridge to raise the shields, launches his TIE and tells the Wraiths they are under attack. After the cannon is destroyed, Hrakness warns them they’ve got incoming. Kell launches first, but the rest have to hold off while the Caller maneuvers its open bow away from the opposing fighters lest a lucky torpedo shot compromise the hull, destroy the fighters and anyone inside the bow bay.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The incident in zero-g occurred in The Truce at Bakura. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 chapter 18: As the other Wraiths carefully launch during the ship’s maneuver, Wedge notes that they are facing Uglies. He and Falynn shoot down a couple before one gets a lock on him with no time for him to maneuver away. As more launch, Kell takes Tyria as his wing. Runt launches and announces his poetic warnings to the Uglies. Tainer notices that Runt’s pilot mind is obviously not asserting himself at this time. Wedge causes his ship to lose thrust which allows it to avoid the concussion missle coming at him. Falynn shoots at the Ugly which causes it lose altitude. The Ugly offers a surrender. When two Uglies break off and appear to flee, Tyria tells Kell she doesn’t think they are fleeing but setting up some strategy. He sees where they are headed and remembers the Pig Trough. Janson notes Face is out there and in trouble. The Caller takes care of his pursuers as Lt. Tabanne will not let the fighter pilots get all of the kills, too. Kell and Tyria switch to torpedoes when the craters show vehicles hiding in them. Jesmin reports she’s been hit. Kell and Tyria finish off the crawlers and go to help her and Donos who are both smoking and drifting apart. Jesmin’s is damaged worse and she seems to have problems speaking. She cannot reach her stick because her inertial compensator has been damaged. Her R2 unit has lost contact with the ship’s control so it cannot cut the thrust as she heads toward a hillside. Kell flies his ship around hers and then under it which causes some damage to his own before Jesmin’s ship pulls out ahead. She cannot eject or stop because her ship reports unconsciousness to Thirteen. The Caller cannot catch her with a tractor beam because she’s too far out of range. Wedge tells him they can’t help her. Kell watches the ship shred against the hillside. Tyria is trying desperately to reach Myn Donos whose ship has less damage but he’s not responding. She finally gets him to say that his droid – Shiner- is gone. She yells that Jesmin may die and he’s worried about his droid. She tries to order him to be her wingman and follow him but he will not answer. Finally, she addresses him as a Talon and he answers. She tells him his ship is damaged and he’s injured. She is going to lead him back to base. As he follows her out, Jesmin’s Wraith 2 designation blinks out. Wedge and Janson tour the base and discuss the options with the pirate chief who insist they are all colonists who came here because there was no law. Playing on that, Wedge notes that they could just shoot all the pirates. He plans to take what they need in supplies, but, to get all his men off this place before he has his pilots destroy it, Wedge wants information.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 chapter 19: On the way back to the Night Caller, Wedge tells Janson to have the fuel tested and any that can be used for the ship or the fighters to be transferred to them. He also wants Kell to look it over to make sure nothing’s been booby-trapped. Janson tells him Kell is suffering violent nausea. Phanan hopes he’ll come out of it. Donos is suffering a concussion from the same explosion that did the damage to Jesmin’s fighter. He’s been sent to rest. Wedge tells Janson to transfer Phanan’s droid, Gadget, to Donos. Then he goes to sickbay and lectures Kell on falling to pieces. The maneuver he’d done was brilliant and should have bought Jesmin enough time to get to her ejection controls. But her death was not his fault. He cannot have a pilot who falls apart every time he faces responsibility. They all lost a friend today, even Myn Donos who is sleeping off his concussion instead of sitting here in sick bay trying to avoid being counted on for something. He wants Tainer down at the warehouse base to check for explosives. As for Wedge, he has to make a report to the New Republic advising they seize this base and its resources. After that, he has to contact Admiral Ackbar to let him know his niece is dead. The letter is difficult to write, knowing that he and Ackbar are fellow officers, so he doesn’t want to sound detached or rote. He finally finishes what he wants to say, praising Jesmin’s skill and courage, before letting himself sleep. In the meantime, Kell has defused all the explosives the pirates had set up but is still feeling nauseous. Tyria tells him that Myn eats and drinks when it’s put before him, but he has retreated somewhere else. They don’t want to report it because his career might be over, so decide to hide it for awhile and see if he gets better. He asks how she knew something was wrong with the retreating ships. She explains she thinks that was the Force at work, but she wasn’t concentrating on it. Concentrating on it is like putting her foot in a warm stream on Toprawa, looking behind her to see all her ancestors looking at her like she’s not going to do it right and then taking her foot out because she knows she’ll drown as she’s not a good enough swimmer. Wedge and Janson talk about the two destroyed X-Wings and the two absent pilots. At least, Donos will be back soon. He wants Janson to get some people from the Caller to sub as TIE pilots. After Jesmin’s memorial service, Janson asks Kell to help the mechanics fix some damage to the Caller. On the way, he asks Tyria if Myn is any better. She tells him he isn’t and that they may have to start pretending Donos is actually working. She gives him a kiss on the cheek before heading off. He remembers their conversation many months ago and realizes he has probably dropped so far down on the pathetic scale that she feels he needs rescued now. Zsinj contacts Admiral Trigit and tells him that several of the Night Caller’s last stops has been hit by rebel forces in a variety of ways. Obviously, the ship is being shadowed. He’d like Trigit to take care of it. Trigit thinks he may have something more important to discuss. The world of Talasea is an abandoned agricultural planet that was once used as a base for Rogue Squadron. It’s in the Morobe system and the Moort droids are recording a number of hits there, including A-Wings, X-Wings and the Borleias transport. The rebels may have a base there. Zsinj agrees and decides to send the Provocateur, the Constrictor and the Night Caller to help. After that, Trigit can deal with those who are following the Caller. Kell is hanging upside, trying to reset a relay when he hears Wedge and Janson talking. They know they are in trouble if they have to scramble their fighters and Donos isn’t ready. Janson suggests putting only half a squadron on duty at a time and make sure Donos isn’t in the squadron that’s on duty when they make their hits. Wedge can’t risk an ambush that would quickly eliminate half-a-dozen fighters. Janson has to think of something else. Realizing that the two officers are doing the same thing he and Tyria are doing, Tainer understands something now. After Wedge walks away, he drops to the floor, startling Janson. He knows that Janson knows about Myn and wonders why he’s giving him another chance. He had thought that Janson was the type to just blast away when a mistake was made. Now that he knows the bogeyman from his childhood dreams is really just a figment, he sees Janson differently. He’ll always be the man who killed his father but, at least, the bogeyman is gone.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Donos is sleeping off a concussion? Is that a good idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 chapter 20: Myn Donos is stunned to find himself in an X-Wing over a dark, polluted planet again. The mission is happening again. When he’s pulled out of the simulator and finds himself on the deck of the Night Caller, he is furious enough to attack Kell Tainer. He, Tyria and Falynn tell him they didn’t have a choice as he was drifting away from them. He’s their squadmate and they need him. He doesn’t care about any of that. He’s lost everything, including Shiner. They don’t understand why he’s so upset about a droid. Tyria realizes that Shiner was the last Talon. The last member of the squadron that Myn had failed to protect. She reminds him that she had tried to keep friends away, but she realizes that Jesmin would not want her to throw her life away. Shiner and the Talons would not want that either. Donos points out that Kell knows how he feels. He wants to kill Janson, after all. Tainer admits that he’s killed the man in his mind many times, but that feeling is gone. Janson and he will probably never be friends, but he knows that him being alive and in an X-Wing reduces on a yearly basis the threat the Imps pose. If Donos dies, then all of the Talons’ family members will think that their loved ones died because they’d been led by a coward rather than dying fighting for their freedom. Donos says he’s sorry about Jesmin. He also apologizes to Falynn whom he realizes was trying to get close to him but he had been brushing her off. He is still in pain but the mental exhaustion is gone. He goes back to his quarters to sleep. Since it’s very late at night, the rest head off to get a few hours before it’s time to be up. Kell compliments Tyria on her insight and asks if that’s the Force. She thinks it might be but it doesn’t matter as she only seems to have it when she’s not thinking about it. She asks if he meant what he said about Janson. For the most part, he does. He won’t be able to forget what happened, but he knows Janson had reason. Kell refers back to her telling Donos that she’d changed her attitude about having people in her life. He agrees that what she’d told him about falling in love with her all that time ago was right. He had decided to let her be his friend instead…then he fell in love with her again. She is irritated and reminds him to be honest. Starting over, she asks how much time he spent thinking about her. This time, he says all the time. He thought about a life they might have together and that they won’t have the chance to explore all the possibilities. Since he’s already told her his strategy to make her fall in love with him, he’s probably not a good leader. It’s good enough that she tackles him and kisses him. He asks her how long she’s wanted to do that. She explains since she met him but she couldn’t because he was in love with the Tyria who didn’t exist. He seems to be over that girl. Wedge is surprised to enter the lounge and find Donos laughing with the other pilots. He needs Face, who looks tired, to impersonate Captain Darillian again and tasks Janson to come with him. Janson doesn’t know what’s going on with Donos as no one will say. He also notes that Kell Tainer seems to have relaxed. There was an odd incident in which Janson had gotten the impression that the man had thought he was some kind of pilot avenger, vaping those who were not good enough, but he no longer tenses up when Janson sits down. Face gets in character for Captain Darillian by remembering an aging prima donna of an actor he’d worked with once. Zsinj explains that rebel alliances and fighters have visited nearly every stop the Night Caller has visited recently. Face is adamant that he will lie in wait for those who are trailing him, but Zsinj tells him to save that for another time. For now, the Night Caller will help Trigit eliminate the survivors of Folor base. Wedge explains the difficulties of what they must do next. The Implacable is going to the Morobe system. They could muster as many ships as they can there but that would risk alerting Zsinj that they are aware an attack is imminent. Fortunately, the Iron Fist won’t be there. The problem also involves Zsinj’s order to rendezvous with Hawkbat to take aboard surveillance satellites and the ship’s captain to speak with Darillian. They have to find some way to keep that meeting from happening. It’s suggested they feign an illness, but Zsinj will likely be suspicious if it comes from the Night Caller. They decide to find some contaminent at a hospital along their route, then make arrangements for some of the Wraiths to show up at one of the Hawkbat’s stops before the rendezous and expose them to it. When the time comes, the face-to-face meeting won’t happen because of sickness aboard the Hawkbat. Zsinj can investigate them all he wants. Wedge approves but tells them all to get some sleep as they’ve got the day. He doesn’t understand why they all laugh.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 chapter 21: The world of Storinal is in Imperial hands, but far enough away from the Core to consider either the New Republic or Zsinj. But there could be trouble on a planet swarming with Imps, especially since they don’t know what contaminant they’re going to pick up at the hospital until Phanan has a look to see what’s there. They also have to get through customs and deal with swiping a couple of TIEs so that the Caller will have the number it is supposed to have when they reach Folor base. Fortunately, this tourist world has a Gamorrean population so Piggy will not look out of place. Their shuttle gets a routine inquiry, so Grinder goes back and is sealed into a compartment so that no one notices a Bothan on board. Runt is waiting on his ship on one of Storinal’s moons. As they are cleared to land, they make sure they have their fake IDs in order. There is a momentary panic when Janson can’t find his and it turns up in his other boot. This gives Wedge a chance to quip, “Yub, yub”. Wes is wearing the elaborate disguise of an elegant robe and a long white beard. Atril Tabanne and Falynn accompany him as matching bodyguards and Piggy is dressed in full Gamorrean gear carrying a vibroaxe. The customs official reads Janson’s id as that of Senator-in-exile Iskit Tyestin of Bakura who is here to raise funds for the Bakuran Loyalist Committee. The real senator is dead, killed while fleeing the planet, but that’s not in the Imperial database yet. Ton and Tyria pass through as a down-on-his luck pilot and his wife. Wedge, Myn and Face have a harder job as Wedge’s likeness is everywhere. Face is wearing prosthetics and they all have matching mustaches and drab ponchos. They are posing as brothers, Dod, Fod and Lod Nobrin from Agamar who have come to Storinal looking for wives. The world of Agamar has an undeserved reputation for being the home of unintelligent yokels. Having pried information out of Captain Hrakness, who is from Agamar, they have put together a very stereotypical performance that wearies the customs official enough to move them along. Kell follows, under the guise of the shuttle captain, who trades comments with the official about his passengers. He gives some advice on dealing with the Senator and then indicates his displeasure at having to take the whole group back with him before he is allowed through. Janson’s group is the one here looking for TIE fighters. Since he and Piggy are more conspicuous than the two women, who can change their appearance with wigs and outfits, they will scout out the fighters while he stays in the hotel and runs up a big room service bill. Kell, Tyria and Ton head to the capital city and check in near the planet’s disease control facility where they hope to find a contamination agent appropriate for the job. In the meantime, Face is giving Wedge and Myn clothing appropriate for their tourist personas. In the hostel where they are staying, they unhappily change into gaudy flowery outfits.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 chapter 22: Wedge and company play up the yokel angle at a lounge where the Nobrin brothers keep the drinks flowing for the crewmen of the Hawkbat while an NCO from the ship wearily fields questions about how not all Imperial Navy men are TIE pilots. During this conversation, he reveals the names of his ship’s two shuttles. Ton tries to find information on what the medical facility has in stock but can’t get past anything that might alert the authorities. This is more difficult because Kell and Tyria keep snuggling. Then he tries doing a general search to find out what kinds of diseases have broken out here and finds one that breaks down the nutrients in foods one eats and gives the equivalence of food poisoning to the victim. Not fatal, normally. Wedge and Kell find Falynn and Piggy in a bar that’s desperate enough even for credits from non-humans. After Falynn gets past Wedge’s garb, they discuss what they know. Wedge had hoped to infect the crew of Hawkbat at a meal, but he thinks they can use the two shuttles which should affect most of the crew. Falynn has actually had the Brunkard Sewer Disease herself and can attest that it is both airborne and unpleasant. They’d like to take Grinder along so Wedge suggests Kell can go back to the shuttle for maintenance and just bring along a Bothan tourist. Falynn has checked out the security on the shuttles and on the TIE fighter bay at the spaceport. The spaceport is heavily guarded at the doors, but they will have to check out the ceiling doors at the top tonight. So Wedge is going to send Grinder, Ton, Kell and Tyria to the medical facility, Falynn and Donos to the spaceport to test TIE fighter security and, if that works out, tomorrow, Janson will command a unit to go infect the shuttles while Wedge will lead a unit to steal all four TIEs. They’ll get in through the ceiling when a TIE comes out to counter the strafing run that he’ll have Runt do. Wedge leaves first, then Kell. Then the spotlight is shown on Falynn and Piggy and an announcer singles them out for their fifth wedding anniversary celebration. Falynn is incensed at Tainer’s joke which Piggy brushes off. He agrees that they’ll get back at Kell but presses why she’s so upset about it. He thinks that she might not have been so angry if it were implied that she and Face were married. He pinpoints that she fears people may think less of her for stooping so low to marry a Gamorrean. She apologizes and he says it’s enough for now. When it’s time to leave, he asks if they shouldn’t hold hands as the young marrieds they are. She grins and agrees. Always second-best at everything, Falynn Sandskimmer, dressed in her black stealth suit, sneaks around the TIE Fighter bunker. She jumps aboard a food carrier headed toward the base and uses it to hop on the roof where she waits to see how well it’s guarded. Tyria is sent with a camera in her hat to surveil the medical facility where Grinder determines the only way to get in that doesn’t have a security camera is the waste vent. When the TIE bay doors begin to open, Falynn wakes up. She holds onto the opening doors and watches down into the bay to see how the mechanic and others on the floor act. She watches how the doors are opened and closed, then has to let go when the doors begin to close. Unfortunately, she cannot grab onto anything as they close and slides down off the roof and onto the ground.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 chapter 23: Kell, Tyria and Ton Phanan are given the go-ahead by Grinder to get into the waste flue and enter. Phanan sprays the area with a sealing agent that should prevent against anything clinging to the surface from being transferred to them. They make their way up into a mess hall and other areas where Grinder finds directions to the experimental labs. He warns them there is a plasma bomb array there that could be triggered if a leak is detected. He’ll have to be sure not to be sloppy. Falynn explains that she was out for a couple of more hours on the ground before waking up before dawn and finding that she had landed on the side where all of the garrison’s personal vehicles were kept. So she climbed into one and hid until the owner came out and headed home. She crawled out when he stopped first for something to eat. Atril puts a healing agent on her face which is all she can do until Ton comes back. Janson tells her to get some more sleep as they’ll be going out tonight. Donos frets over her, but she insists she’s alright, telling him he looks funny in his mustache. The Plague Team gets out and meets Wedge at the hostel where they explain that they just need to insert this into the airborne systems of the shuttles. They are going to innoculate the teams and the crew of the Night Caller, though. Kell and Tyria use a maintenance speeder with Piggy following behind to reach the bunker where they claim to be a crew sent to service the shuttles ahead of time. Grinder has already climbed to the roof and put a module on the transmitter that will reroute requests for authorizations away from the central computer. Janson, Phanan and Grinder are hiding in the speeder until they get inside the bay. They find that it will be easy to insert the contagion into the air filter of the shuttles, but, to keep up appearances, they actually have to servicethem, too. In the meantime, Wedge, Falynn, Atril and Face arrange transportation by swiping a skimmer. The shuttle intrusion is finished just as the real maintenance crew shows up. Kell bluffs for a while, hoping to cut a deal with the real mechanic. When that doesn’t work, he hits the guy with his cockpit door and gets out to settle the dispute.------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 chapter 24: Wedge and his team fly the skimmer high enough that they can jump onto the roof and, by the time the guards get to the skimmer, it’s unoccupied. The guard at the shuttle facility knows he should stop the fight, but Kell tells him to take bets down. The other mechanic pulls a large hydrospanner out and they do a great deal of sparring with Kell taking some jabs to the ribs that don’t feel so good. Eventually he comes out ahead and wants to report the mechanic for trying to kill him. The man’s partner urges him to reconsider and let him sleep it off. It’s less paperwork which all of them, even the guard, is happy about. Runt arrives to strafe the city which results in the TIEs being launched. A ground emplacement rises to meet Runt when he comes back. The gunner is handled by Donos from his sniper position. Tyria goes out to cover his arrival. In the hangar bunker, two commandos hold the mechanics at bay while two more head into the office. Face shoots the officer on duty and forces the woman remaining to give him the recall code for the TIEs. The confused pilots agree to return to base. Troopers move to replace the gunner at the ground emplacement that Donos shot. The sniper has already moved away from his original position. He and Tyria head up the ramp of the shuttle. Face tries to bluff his way through a call from Central demanding to know why the TIEs were recalled, but accidentally uses rebel jargon when referring to TIEs as Eyeballs. Wedge and Falynn sit in their confiscated TIEs waiting while the other two return. Then the arrivals abruptly lift up again, so they are forced to shoot them down. Face and Atril will have to find their own ride out. The replacement gunner is told to target an approaching shuttle that is probably part of the same crew that is responsible for the TIE situation. The gunner doesn’t get the chance to destroy it, as two figures run toward it, because one of the rogue TIEs targets the gun. The gunner leaps off it just in time as the TIE destroys it. Aboard the Night Caller, the shuttle and the two stolen TIEs dock and the ship goes to hyperspace. Janson notes that they should probably steal one of every type of ship the Imperial Navy makes, including the Iron Fist.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wedge refers to Face and Atril as Gray 8 and Gray 13, not Wraith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 chapter 25: The rendezvous with the Hawkbat takes place, but the spy satellites are loaded with crewmen in spacesuits because of an unknown illness that has put the Hawkbat on quarantine. The next stop is the Todirium system where they are asked if they want to take on a load of refined alloys. They are advised that Zsinj will send a cargo hauler, but Face is sent down posing as an underling to inspect the cargo. He returns with the location of the warehouses they can target. Since the Caller is now expected to set spy satellites around their stops to watch for the unknown pursuers, their mission is more difficult. They must give Zsinj bad information. Wedge has Cubber paint all the X-Wings in Rogue Squadron colors. After the attack, the ships will be repainted in Wraith Squadron gray. Cubber would rather do that than pilot, but painting and repainting are not exciting. Piggy and Grinder will be setting up the satellites in areas where an X-Wing attack would most likely emerge so that there will be clear images. They will need to practice using Rogue call signs and Wedge should be called Tycho a couple of times, too. Then they’ll return to the Caller and jump to hyperspace. He wants Piggy and Grinder to begin working on the positions for the satellites, then notices Grinder is the first person out of the room. It turns out Grinder has swiped a Storini Glass Prowler from the medical facility and is dumping it in Face’s fighter. Unfortunately, the satellite placing mission goes off without a hitch and no embarrassing noises from Face. Grinder considers that Face could have sat on it and vows to find a more noisy animal next time. He is awakened in the middle of the night by scratches at his door. He opens it and finds nothing there.Phanan is in the corridor and says he didn’t see anything but heard some skittering noises. The Wraiths execute their mission quickly and successfully as the defensive set up on the planet was sloppy enough that the explosion of one set off the others. The Wraiths lament that Rogue Squadron will get the publicity for their mission when Face gets a message that Admiral Trigit wants to speak with Captain Darillian. Trigit gives the man he thinks is Darillian the plan of attack at Talasea, then asks if he might have some of Darillian’s unrecorded conversations on his missions. Face starts to panic, thinking that Trigit has them figured out, but realizes that the man only wants to know about Darillian’s business dealings on Zsinj’s behalf. Putting on his most honorable face, Face explains that people think him to be shallow but he serves his commander, whomever that may be, loyally. He cannot betray Zsinj’s trust and, if he doesn’t, then Trigit should know, on the day that Darillian’s loyalty is transferred to him, that he will not betray the admiral either. Trigit is surprised but accepts this. In the middle of the night, Grinder hears the scratching again. He looks outside, but sees nothing. He calls up the information on the Crystal Prowler to find anything he can about it. He sees a notation referencing a Storini Crystal Deceiver which is often mistaken for the Prowler and, in fact, uses that as a predatory advantage. It is very dangerous to mammalian life forms and imprints the scent of a mammal for life, sometimes following it whenever it encounters the scent again and attacking. Fearing that the medical researchers captured a Deceiver instead, he runs to Phanan’s quarters and asks for the sealant he’d used in the waste system. Then he heads back to his quarters and plugs every conceiveable gap in his room that would allow the creature to come inside. Then he goes to sleep. He is awakened by scratching again. He fears the creature slipped in while he was at Phanan’s, so he reaches for the light switch. It doesn’t come on. No power in his room causes him to panic. He has to force the door open and, when he does, a glassy mass hits his face. He screams, falls backward and hits the floor of his quarters.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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