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[Spiera System, Mantara Sector]

The X Wings arrived at Spiera VI and reoriented for a close pass of the planet.

"Well," said Drake, "Looks like it's all clear. Your hunk of junk picked anything up over there, Raiven?"

Before Raiven could reply, the Transmit light glowed briefly on the instrument panel, showing that Arpin had replied on his own.

"Why Arpin," said Drake, with fake shock in his voice. "Where did a little droid like yourself learn such nasty words?"


Sacart sat in the cockpit of his X Wing, scanning his instruments. The sensors had picked up an energy spike a minute or so before, but it had gone as suddenly as it had appeared. He waited for another signal, unsure of whether it was real data or just a sensor glitch.

There it was. And again. This was definitely urgent. He keyed the comlink.

"Lead, this is seventeen. I have energy spikes from the farside of the second moon."

"Affirmative, seventeen. Let's check it out. Patrol, come left to 284 mark 14," replied Hardrive.

Sacart kept watching the scopes. "Geetee," he asked the R5 droid behind him "can you clean it up a little?"

The droid warbled an affirmative.

"Lead, seventeen. Energy spikes register as probable proton warhead detonations," reported Sacart a few seconds later.

"Copy that. Guns Hot. Lock S Foils in attack position!" ordered Hardrive.

Arpin practically screeched.

[WHAT!!! Combat!! I didn't sign up for this! Arm my ejector, I'm getting off here!]

"Now, now, Arpin," said Raiven, surprised at the vehemence of Arpin's protests, "Calm down. I need you focused in case we run into trouble."

[I don't do combat,] said Arpin. [I'm not putting my life in the hands of a slow thinking vegetable like you!]

"That's animal, not vegetable!"

[That's a matter for discussion...]

"Shut up and charge the shields, I've heard protocol droids who are quieter than you."

Arpin stopped ranting, speechless.

The four Republic X Wings approached the planet's second moon, a small dark grey, airless rock sphere.

"Trench time?" Asked Raiven.

"Affirmative," replied Hardrive, "Surface hugging. Watch out for mountains and hills."

The fighters dived low to the moon's surface to hide their sensor signatures.

"You do that, we'll watch for the pebbles," said Drake, diving even closer to the surface. Raiven maintained his fingertip formation.

Hardrive shook his head. Great, he thought. Now I know how the Commander feels. Damn hotshots.


The patrol shot over a crater wall, nearly opposite the face from which it had approached.

"I'm picking up the proton detonations again!" said Sacart. "15 clicks."

"Combat Pairs," came the order from the patrol leader. "Sacart, you're my wing. Raiven, stick with Drake."

"Seventeen."

"Fourteen."

"Two-two."

Drake's element dodged left around a large monolith, while Hardrive's flew overhead. The patrol crested a clifftop that formed part of a large impact crater. Above the crater, a KDY Escort Frigate hovered 5 klicks from the surface, seemingly motionless against the stars. Under the frigate, six low, rectangular buildings formed a hexagonal ring around a cluster of silver domes. To the left of the installation, a pressurised hangar and port complex serviced three white landing pads.

Two of the low, grey buildings burned with the bright white flames of oxygen fires in vacuum, as atmosphere leaked from their shattered shells. Circling the destruction were three pairs of TIE Bombers, dropping proton bombs.

"Imps," said Drake.

"What did you expect, fairies?" asked Hardrive. "Sacart, get on the comlink and call in some heavy backup. Iceman's Patrol should be patrolling in the next zone over. We could use some help. If the Empire wants this place destroyed, we want it whole."

"Affirmative, Lead," replied Sacart, "Geetee, activate the subspace radio antenna."

[Negative lock on beacon Wolf's Lair 1. Planetary body blocking signal. Suggest increase in relative altitude.]

Sacart sighed and pulled back on the stick, zoom climbing above the moon's surface.

[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Sir!" yelled the young officer manning the primary sensor station "Rebel fighters, 8 km out. X Wing class. They're heading our way!"

"Launch Alpha and Beta Flights. Destroy the Rebels, protect the bombers. We must complete our mission."

[X Wing Patrol]

"Fighters launching from the Frigate!" reported Drake "2 Flight groups of four eyeballs each."

"We'll take those, Lead, if you want the dupes," suggested Raiven.

Hardrive banged his head gently against his cockpit canopy. "Affirmative. I've got the dupes. Watch my back and make sure Sacart gets enough time to get that message off."

[There are 8 TIEs out there, all intent on turning us into free floating space dust!! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!!]

"Shut up Arpin or you'll get us both killed. I need to focus!" said Raiven angrily.

Drake shoved his throttles to max and rolled onto his port S Foil, watching his forward sensor screen. He levelled out facing the TIE Fighters, who by now were less than 3 klicks out.

"Combat spacing," he said on the element channel.

Raiven double clicked his comlink and drifted slightly to the right.

"Looks like Alpha have an interest in me," He said, "Scissor cross?"

"Roger, I'll take Beta," replied Drake "On my mark..."

The two X Wings continued to drift apart as the Imperial fighters closed. At around 1.5 Klicks, the TIEs opened fire, Alpha flight targeting Raiven, Beta targeting Drake.

"Mark!" said Drake, and the two fighters rolled toward each other, crossed less than 3 meters apart and broke in opposite directions. The Imperial laser fire tracked the respective X Wings until crossover, then momentarily lost direction as the TIE pilots hesitated for a fraction of a second over which X Wing to fire on. This distraction was all the outnumbered Republic pilots needed. In a flash, both had inverted and dived in towards their respective targets.

As the TIEs attempted to manoeuvre, Hardrive dived through the centre of the formation towards the bombers.

Raivens gunsight flashed green, and a fraction of a second later, Alpha 2 exploded in a ball of fire. Beta 3 went next as Drake's crimson laser beams converged on the fighter's cockpit. The remaining TIEs broke formation and scattered, trying to out-turn the less manoeuvrable X Wings, but Raiven reduced throttle to stay on the tail of Alpha 1. He fired a quad burst into the port side of the TIE, shearing it into two pieces and sending them both spinning towards the moon's surface. Bolts spattered across his rear shields as Beta 2 fired a high-deflection shot as he flashed past. The TIE rolled in behind Raiven, only to die less than two seconds later when Drake slotted neatly in behind him and vaped him with two quick bursts of laser fire. Raiven ignored his shield indicator - they were still well in the green zone - as he swooped on the nearest fighter from Alpha, who broke from a strafing run on Drake as red laser bolts flashed around him. Diving towards the ground, the TIE swung around the left side of one of the low buildings, while Raiven swept around the other side. Once behind the building, the TIE broke to the right for cover, flying straight into the path of Raiven's X Wing. The Republic pilot fired a quad burst into the left solar panel, puncturing through the armoured durasteel and shredding the lightweight fighter. Raiven pulled up and turned away from the moonbase toward Drake in time to see the Arrebnacian pilot claim his third kill of the mission.

"Arpin, locate Alpha 4," said Raiven, checking his sensor screens. A white bracket outlined a red dot a couple of klicks away - and closing fast on Hardrive, who was busy blasting away at the TIE bombers. Another one exploded under the withering hail of fire from the flight leader's fighter as Raiven and Drake reformed and gave chase.

"Arpin, redirect laser energy to engines."

The R2 unit beeped an affirmative and Raiven's X Wing leapt ahead like a scalded tauntaun, closely followed by Drake as he likewise adjusted his power settings.

"Two-two, take lead."

"Two-two has lead. Thanks, slowcoach..."

As the range on Alpha 4 decreased, Arpin beeped. [TIE fighter Beta 4 approaching, 3 o'clock low, range 2 km.]

"Trying to sneak in on us while our attention's diverted. Hmm," said Raiven, thumbing his comlink. "Drake, your little friend is back. You want to teach him it's impolite to gatecrash a party?"

Drake grinned and reset his targeting computer to lock onto the remaining Beta group fighter.

"I've got him," he said, and rolled 90 degrees to starboard to set up for a head on pass. The TIE spattered laser fire over the X Wings front shields, but Drake waited for a fraction of a second past maximum firing range before tightening his fingers on the trigger, waiting for a target lock despite Ledner's shrieks. The quad burst struck the TIE slightly above the centreline on the front viewport, tearing the fighter apart and leaving the solar wings to spin off towards the dusty surface of the moon.

Raiven chased after Alpha 1 as Hardrive extended and started a long, looping turn to make another pass on the bombers. By now, four of the low buildings were destroyed or burning, as was one of the domes near the centre of the base.

As Raiven reached 1.5 km from the errant TIE, he ordered Arpin to rebalance the energy systems and shunt shield power into the laser banks. By now, Hardrive had turned and was beginning his next pass on the bombers. Focused on the easy target ahead of him and secure in the knowledge that his fighter was faster than the X Wing in standard combat conditions, the inexperienced TIE pilot was unaware of Raiven's burst of speed, only realising when a laser bolt clipped his port wing, threatening to send him into a spin. Fighting the stick, he managed to stabilise the small fighter, just as the X Wing rolled in behind him and fired a pair of quad bursts into the engines. The TIE came to pieces and scattered across the crater floor.


Sacart's R5 beeped to signal it's lock on the Wolf's Den's communications beacon.

"Wolf's Den, this is patrol X-1. Have encountered Imperial Forces, Spiera IV, second moon, Escort Frigate plus TIES, firing on unidentified lunar base. Request backup."

[Bridge, Imperial Star Destroyer Dominance]

Vice Admiral Piett stood tensely, his hands clasped behind his back. The time has come at last.

"Communications, report," he ordered, in the clipped, precise voice which was his trademark.

"Admiral, jamming is successful, sir," a crewman reported from his pit. "They haven't got a single message off, sir." Piett nodded.

"Very good. Keep your eye out for possible new comms sources on the planet itself."

"Aye, sir."

Piett crossed over to his command chair and hit a switch set into the arm.

"Colonel Richt, report."

"Admiral, my troops and I are ready," the gravelly reply came back. "The transport boys flying Omicron assure me they're ready. We're already embarked and on standby."

"Good," the vice admiral replied into the intercom. "Stay sharp, you'll probably be launching in a few minutes."

"Affirmative, sir. Richt out."

Vice Admiral Norvad Piett looked out the bridge windows at the other Star Destroyers curving around to the left and right, getting ready to trap the planet Talonis in a deadly set of pincers.

"Launch Alpha and Beta squadrons now," he ordered.

[Flight deck, Talonian Space Platform Stalwart]

Captain Jergen Hunt strapped himself into his aging Z-95 Headhunter cockpit and immediately keyed his comm, even as he fumbled with his helmet straps.

"Condor Squadron, this is Condor One," he said tersely. "Launch by flights, One Flight leading. Stay sharp. All flights report in."

He began to lift his fighter off the deck even as the acknowledgments came rolling in.

"Condor Five, standing by."

"Condor Ten, standing by."

"Condor Fifteen, ready."

Within two minutes all his fighters were off the deck. An impressive effort, Captain Hunt thought. The rest of the Talonian Militia might be lazy and corrupt, but his pilots weren't. He saw to that.

"One, this is Five," the leader of Two Flight cut in. "I register four squadrons of bogeys, two fighter squadrons and two bomber." Hunt's response was immediate.

"Copy, Five," he replied. "One and Three flights, engage squadrons Alpha and Beta. Two and Four, break off and engage Gamma and Delta. Don't let a single bomber get through!"

[Comms Room, Strike Carrier Wolf's Lair]

"Affirmative, Sacart, message received," replied Torpedo, the Squadron's Tactical officer. He looked up as Foxfire strode in from the adjacent bridge, closely followed by the Dens' Bothan captain.

"Looks like Hardrive's patrol has run into some Imperials in system S46. Frigate plus TIEs. What should I tell them?"

"Iceman's A & B Wing patrol is in the next search grid. Send them to help," ordered Foxfire. She looked around at the Frigate's Captain and raised an eyebrow.

"How long to reach them, Colonel?" she asked, as the TacO changed frequencies and began speaking to the B Wing patrol.

Colonel Gen'yaa suppressed her irritation at Foxfire's initiative, but Wolfshead Squadron was the commander's, not hers. She stepped back onto the bridge.

"Lieutenant Vaiweehanen. Plot hyperjump to system S46. How long?"

The Twi'lek navigator punched up a program calculated earlier in the day, when the patrol routes had been finalised. "Approximately 2 hours from jump to reversion, Ma'am."

"Alert the crew. Jump in two minutes."

She turned back to the comms room and raised a questioning eyebrow towards Foxfire. The squadron CO nodded repectfully, one professional to another.

"Thank you, Colonel. Torpedo, tell Sacart we're on our way as well."

Torpedo nodded and turned to the communications equipment.

"Help is on the way X-1, ETA..." he looked at the clock "...7 minutes. We'll be there ourselves in less than 2 hours. Hang in there!"

[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Sir, sensor building 4 destroyed," reported Lieutenant Jarnik, the flight control officer.

"Good," said Captain Haart. "What's the status of the fighters?"

"Alpha and Beta groups destroyed. Gamma 4 destroyed... just a second, sir, Gamma 3 has also been destroyed by the third X Wing."

"Order the remaining Gamma group bombers to continue the strikes on the outlier buildings. Launch Iota and Theta groups to sweep those X Wings. What's the status of the fourth X Wing?"

"Engaging now, sir."

[Operations Room, PLT Stalwart]

Sergeant Yazd Wik sat bolt upright, drumming his huge fingers impatiently on his control board. Dammit, why wouldn't Central call him back?

No doubt there's some officer up there who's heard of me, and after my report ten minutes ago... He answered his own question.

Ah, what do I care? Whatever the Imperials want, I'm sure I don't have it. This isn't my fight, he said to himself. But the words which had characterised his life of the last fifteen years were hollow, and he knew it.

[Outer defence perimeter, Talonian space]

"Here they come!" Captain Hunt warned his pilots.

"Break - now!" The four Z-95s in his flight scattered as if a space bomb had gone off in the centre of their formation. It was useless, Hunt knew, to try and play chicken, even with TIE fighters, in a Z-95. The latter's shields were so flimsy as to be laughable, and the superior numbers of unshielded TIEs would ensure a quick but painful death.

In a flash Hunt had dragged his comparatively sluggish fighter around and onto the enemy lead's tail. His brown gloved hand found the fire selector switch on his stick and he thumbed it over to double fire. His two concussion missiles would be saved for any runaway bombers that might make it through the Talonian defensive screen. He'd instructed his squadron members to do likewise.

The Talonian Headhunter spat fire at the tail of the TIE evading it, but the Imperial pilot, Hunt had to admit, was very good. Still, good is only a relative term...

Jergen Hunt waited until the TIE pulled into a huge banking turn, then he slammed his throttle back down to less than half power. There was a jolt of deceleration as the Z-95 came rushing to a snail's pace, but at the same time the stick suddenly became almost free in his hands. Hunt slammed it hard over, overtaking the rapidly fleeing TIE, and he squeezed the trigger three times. Five of six laser blasts caught the enemy TIE, either on the ball cockpit or its solar panels. The fragile fighter shattered into fiery fragments as it spun out of control. Tense but jubilant despite himself, Captain Hunt keyed his radio.

"That's one for Talonis, Condors!" he growled exultantly.

[Bridge, Imperial Star Destroyer Dominance]

Vice Admiral Norvad Piett watched in fascination as the tiny specks which were his starfighters clashed with the pitiful, obsolete ships of the Talonian Militia. A shower of bright green and red laser blasts erupted, changing direction every second. To Piett, who observed the twisting melee from far off in his command ship, it looked as if a large group brightly coloured laser blasts was reflecting off the walls in a tight space.

"Forward fighters have engaged, sir," Captain Gillett reported at his elbow.

"Very good, Captain," he acknowledged. "Get the Assault Transports launched." His XO needed no further prompting. "Yes, sir," he nodded.

"Launch Assault Transports Omicron," he ordered. Striding forward a little, Gillett could see the bulky little assault craft emerge from under the sharp point that was the Star Destroyer's bow.

"Remind Colonel Richt that he is only to secure their shield facilities and engage military forces," Piett said mildly. "I don't want a bloodbath down there," he muttered under his breath.

[Outer defence perimeter, Talonian space]

Things were no longer going so well for his squadron, Captain Jergen Hunt saw. Of his twenty fighters, only eleven remained, and half of them had sustained hull damage. He set his lips in a grim line.

"Keep at it, Condors," he said darkly. "We'll fight them to the last man, if necessary. We've got to buy time for reinforcements to arrive!" Even as the words left his lips, though, he knew their efforts would be useless. Any Imperial worth his salt would have jammed all communications; and with an isolated world like Talonis, no one would notice their silence or come to their aid.

We're doomed.

Jergen Hunt cursed and pulled his Headhunter into a tight roll.

But they're sure as Kessel going to have to work hard to kill us.

As his fighter came out of the roll he threw it over on to his port wing, cleaning intersecting the path of a TIE fighter and reducing it to free floating atoms with a double burst from his twin linked lasers. With a fierce snarl of exultation, he brutally whipped his Z-95 into a sharp turn.

[The Second Moon of Spiera VI]

Hardrive's finger tightened on the trigger. The laser bolts converged on the port hull of the TIE bomber in front of him, tearing it to pieces and detonating the proton bombs stored there with a brilliant flash. He blinked his eyes to clear the momentary blindness as a quad burst struck a bomber a kilometre or so ahead of him, breaking it in half.

"Nice shooting, Raiven, but you'd better watch your back. TIE Interceptors, 2 kilometres out, your 5 o'clock."

"Affirmative, Lead. You want to watch my back?"

Raiven pulled a loop and then executed a half barrel roll to place his fighter less than 3 metres from Hardrive's X Wing. At 1.5 km, the six TIE interceptors opened fire, scattering green laser bolts across the sky.


Drake was having difficulties of his own. After destroying the final fighter of Alpha flight, he had turned to follow Raiven towards the bombers, only to run into the four TIE Fighters of Theta Flight as they launched from the frigate. Obviously angry and seeking revenge for the deaths of their squad mates, Drake had destroyed one at extreme range, but had then been forced to evade fire from the remaining fighters. He was unable to fire more than snap shots at the imperial craft as they flashed past, never letting him settle long enough for an aimed shot that would destroy one of the unshielded TIEs without levelling out himself and leaving his rear arc vulnerable. Still, he had managed to hit one with a glancing blow, reducing its manoeuvrability somewhat. Another TIE fired a burst at his rear shields, striking with a few bolts and reducing their strength as it flashed past. Drake rolled slightly and fired a quad burst into the rear of the imperial, destroying it, as one of the others poured fire into his rear shields. As Drake broke to evade, a flurry of red laser bolts accompanied the flash of an explosion, and Sacart's X Wing flashed overhead without slowing down. The remaining TIE broke off from pursuing Drake and moved to chase the now fast-moving X Wing as Drake cut the throttle and heaved the stick over, pointing his nose towards the moonbase and the path of the TIE. He fired a pair of quad bursts, the first missing high, but the second striking the TIE with two bolts on the already damaged wing, tearing it from the fighter. A flash of light from the top of the cockpit signalled the pilot's ejection moments before the command chair threw him clear of the stricken fighter.

Drake pushed his throttle to the stops to chase after Sacart but it was clear that he would not catch him - the other pilot had clearly redirected energy to his engines, a luxury Drake could not afford as he recharged his shields.


"Damn it, Lead, there's two on me and my shields are taking a pounding." Raiven's voice sounded in Hardrive's ear as he threw his X Wing into a tight right turn.

"Break left on my mark... Mark!"

Raiven heeled his craft hard over as Hardrive fired a stream of laser bolts across the path of the pursuing TIE Interceptors. Intent on sticking with his prey, one ran straight through the fire and was destroyed, while his wingman pulled up sharply. Hardrive stuck with him as Raiven turned to engage the Interceptor on his flight leaders' tail.

"That's four. Two left."

Focused too much on the X Wing ahead, the TIE pilot was not expecting an attack from such a high angle of deflection, but Raiven's precision quad burst hit the underside of the rapidly climbing fighter and blew through the floor of the cockpit, killing him instantly.

Clever boy thought Hardrive as he manoeuvred for a clean shot on the fleeing TIE, going for the Frigate's gun cover, eh? Well, too late. He fired his lasers into the rear of the TIE as frigate opened fire from the lower gun turrets. Instead of pulling away from the frigate, Hardrive rolled slightly and climbed towards the main hull of the Imperial Warship above him, dodging the incoming streams of laser fire. His astromech unit beeped as the sensors collected data on the ship, including the name. Pacifier. He pulled back on the stick and looped back towards the moon's surface.

To his left, Hardrive could see the remaining TIE bomber pair continue to drop bombs on the single undamaged periphery building, blasting open it's thick walls and venting the atmosphere inside. They turned towards the central pressure dome, but as they did so Sacart's rapidly approaching X Wing opened fire. The laser fire stitched across one of the bombers - Gamma 6 - tearing it into pieces, but it's wingman evaded long enough begin dropping its bombs on the central dome. Two laser bolts struck the rear of the fighter as the second and third bombs were released, throwing them off target, before the fourth was detonated by one of Sacart's stray shots. A flash illuminated the battle site as the proton bomb's high-yield warhead destroyed its launching fighter and the third bomb.

[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Captain, Gamma 5 has been destroyed. We have destroyed all six sensor bunkers and the main base domes have taken heavy damage."

"Not good enough, Lieutenant. We need the base destroyed. Prepare to take us in l-"

"Sir! More Rebel Fighters! A and B Wings, 5 kilometres out!"

Haart's blood ran cold. B Wings, he thought, Designed to destroy capital ships. Particularly frigates. He weighed up the tactical situation. Two B wings approaching from above plus A Wing escort, four X Wings forming up below, undoubtedly for a torpedo run of their own. No TIE support. The Listening post largely destroyed.

"Load the warhead launcher with four torpedoes. Fire on the main base buildings. Move away from the moon and prepare to jump to hyperspace."

He stared at the image on the monitor in front of him, a computer-scrubbed image of the X Wing that had dared taunt his ship by sauntering in so close. As if we weren't a threat! The Rebel scum will pay for this. The silver image of a Wolf's head glinted in the light of Spiera IV's star.

[X Wing Patrol]

"Nice of you guys to drop by," said Hardrive into the comlink, grinning.

"Well, we couldn't let you guys get all the glory!" replied Iceman from his A Wing "Stand by."

Hardrive and Raiven orbited the still burning moonbase as Drake and Sacart rejoined formation, and as they waited, the A wings of Iceman's patrol leapt ahead of their slower companions, firing concussion missiles and lasers to draw the frigate's fire.

"Arm proton torpedoes!" ordered Hardrive "Prepare for run against the frigate..."

"Torpedoes launching from the frigate!" yelled Drake.

The blue torpedoes closed rapidly on the X Wings as the patrol switched back to lasers and opened fire. Two of the torpedoes were hit, destroying them, but the other two plunged past, striking one of the domes below and puncturing it like a balloon.

Raiven rearmed his torpedoes, dropping his targeting box over the frigate's silhouette, and was rewarded by a solid tone from Arpin. He pulled his trigger just after Sacart, and their torpedoes were joined not only by Hardrive' and Drake's, but also by those launched from Granite and Sparks' B Wings.

The frigate pitched up, away from the moon's surface and engaged her engines, climbing slowly from the moon's weak gravitational well. As the blue streaks of the fighters' proton torpedoes closed on the fleeing imperial warship, the Pacifier's cannon opened fire, spraying green turbolaser bolts across space. Four of the incoming warheads were hit, leaving eight to explode around the shield perimeter.

[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Status!" yelled Captain Haart.

"Shields at 70%! Here comes another volley!"

The bridge crew grabbed the nearest fixed object and held on as the ship shook with second round of torpedo impacts. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as he watched the numbers scroll slowly down to zero.

"Jump!"

The stars flared and elongated as the Nebulon B frigate jumped to hyperspace.


"Damn!" said Sparks, pulling his B Wing up from the strafing run on the frigate's engine section as the warship jumped to hyperspace "Almost had him!"

The X Wing patrol climbed away from the moon's surface, forming into a standard Vee formation as they approached the A and B wing patrol orbiting above the moonbase.

"OK, let's secure the area," said Iceman from the lead A Wing. "Solo and I will do a quick orbit over the rest of the moon, see if there's anything else of interest here. Granite, take a selenosynchronous orbit over the installation and watch for any incoming. Sparks, take a 15km altitude CAP orbit."

"Sacart, escort Granite. I'll stay with Sparks. Since you two like low altitude work so much, Drake, Raiven, you can check out the base," added Hardrive.

"You know your jobs. Execute," ordered Iceman, and the A wings leapt ahead. In unison, one X and one B Wing pulled up to head into lunar orbit as two X Wings rolled and dived towards the moon's surface.

"I'll start with the buildings over by the spaceport. See if you can find any of the TIE pilots who punched out," said Drake, adjusting his course appropriately.

"Acknowledged," replied Raiven, and headed for the rim of the crater housing the moonbase to start a spiral search pattern.


[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Captain, Gamma 5 has been destroyed. We have destroyed all six sensor bunkers and the main base domes have taken heavy damage."

"Not good enough, Lieutenant. We need the base destroyed. Prepare to take us in l-"

"Sir! More Rebel Fighters! A and B Wings, 5 kilometres out!"

Haart's blood ran cold. B Wings, he thought, Designed to destroy capital ships. Particularly frigates. He weighed up the tactical situation. Two B wings approaching from above plus A Wing escort, four X Wings forming up below, undoubtedly for a torpedo run of their own. No TIE support. The Listening post largely destroyed.

"Load the warhead launcher with four torpedoes. Fire on the main base buildings. Move away from the moon and prepare to jump to hyperspace."

He stared at the image on the monitor in front of him, a computer-scrubbed image of the X Wing that had dared taunt his ship by sauntering in so close. As if we weren't a threat! The Rebel scum will pay for this. The silver image of a Wolf's head glinted in the light of Spiera IV's star.

[X Wing Patrol]

"Nice of you guys to drop by," said Hardrive into the comlink, grinning.

"Well, we couldn't let you guys get all the glory!" replied Iceman from his A Wing "Stand by."

Hardrive and Raiven orbited the still burning moonbase as Drake and Sacart rejoined formation, and as they waited, the A wings of Iceman's patrol leapt ahead of their slower companions, firing concussion missiles and lasers to draw the frigate's fire.

"Arm proton torpedoes!" ordered Hardrive "Prepare for run against the frigate..."

"Torpedoes launching from the frigate!" yelled Drake.

The blue torpedoes closed rapidly on the X Wings as the patrol switched back to lasers and opened fire. Two of the torpedoes were hit, destroying them, but the other two plunged past, striking one of the domes below and puncturing it like a balloon.

Raiven rearmed his torpedoes, dropping his targeting box over the frigate's silhouette, and was rewarded by a solid tone from Arpin. He pulled his trigger just after Sacart, and their torpedoes were joined not only by Hardrive' and Drake's, but also by those launched from Granite and Sparks' B Wings.

The frigate pitched up, away from the moon's surface and engaged her engines, climbing slowly from the moon's weak gravitational well. As the blue streaks of the fighters' proton torpedoes closed on the fleeing imperial warship, the Pacifier's cannon opened fire, spraying green turbolaser bolts across space. Four of the incoming warheads were hit, leaving eight to explode around the shield perimeter.

[Bridge, Imperial FRG Pacifier]

"Status!" yelled Captain Haart.

"Shields at 70%! Here comes another volley!"

The bridge crew grabbed the nearest fixed object and held on as the ship shook with second round of torpedo impacts. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours as he watched the numbers scroll slowly down to zero.

"Jump!"

The stars flared and elongated as the Nebulon B frigate jumped to hyperspace.


"Damn!" said Sparks, pulling his B Wing up from the strafing run on the frigate's engine section as the warship jumped to hyperspace "Almost had him!"

The X Wing patrol climbed away from the moon's surface, forming into a standard Vee formation as they approached the A and B wing patrol orbiting above the moonbase.

"OK, let's secure the area," said Iceman from the lead A Wing. "Solo and I will do a quick orbit over the rest of the moon, see if there's anything else of interest here. Granite, take a selenosynchronous orbit over the installation and watch for any incoming. Sparks, take a 15km altitude CAP orbit."

"Sacart, escort Granite. I'll stay with Sparks. Since you two like low altitude work so much, Drake, Raiven, you can check out the base," added Hardrive.

"You know your jobs. Execute," ordered Iceman, and the A wings leapt ahead. In unison, one X and one B Wing pulled up to head into lunar orbit as two X Wings rolled and dived towards the moon's surface.

"I'll start with the buildings over by the spaceport. See if you can find any of the TIE pilots who punched out," said Drake, adjusting his course appropriately.

"Acknowledged," replied Raiven, and headed for the rim of the crater housing the moonbase to start a spiral search pattern.

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