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Subject: {Walter Slaven}"STAR WARS: The Tie Fighter"( MF MMF MFF cons Sci-Fi ) [4/5]
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STAR WARS THE TIE FIGHTER

Part Four- The Sepan Civil War

GUSTAV jumped to hyperspace, leaving the Death Star, Tarkin, Vader,
and J'Una behind. We had embarked Admiral Haarkov and several members
of his staff and were enroute to the Sepan system.

The most difficult, and potentially frustrating, mission that any
military organization can be assigned is one whose objective is not
clear.  The real purpose of any military, when you think about it, is
twofold: 1)to kill people and break things when so directed, and 2)use
the threat of force to keep potential adversaries at bay and preclude
the necessity for 1). The political and diplomatic machinations which
direct the use of a military force may vary, but it all comes down to
the same thing.   When it involved fighting the Rebels our mission was
very clear: find them and kill them. Period. Their mission was the
same regarding Imperials.   One might debate the motivations of the
respective governments involved, but the missions of the two military
organizations were the same: defeat the enemy.

All of which brings me to our mission to the Sepan system. As its
details unfolded during briefings with Admiral Haarkov and his staff,
our mission was not to destroy an enemy or capture an objective, but
rather to use force, or the threat of it, to separate two enemies and
then bring about a settlement. Not an easy task for an organization
that likes clear, precise missions. Almost no senior Imperial officer
that I knew of was temperament- ally suited for diplomatic service- it
requires too much give and take, too much compromise. I wondered if
Admiral Haarkov was really any different.

"We want to remind you," the admiral was telling us during one
briefing, "that this is a peace mission. Our objective will be to come
to the aid, if necessary, of whichever side is currently  being
attacked. These will not be mop-up missions. We will deliver a telling
blow to the aggressor, whichever side that is, but always allow some
to escape to tell their superiors of the might and will of the Empire.
The peoples of both  Dimok and Repoblus must realize that the Empire
will not tolerate the undermining of its interests in this sector
because of some inter-planetary squabbling."

Talk about a convoluted mission, I thought. We'd probably just end up
pissing off both sides and uniting them against us. And what force did
we bring out here? Just our battered old frigate with a few squadrons
of TIEs. Not a whole lot. The good news was that the best that either
the Dimoks or Repoblans could put up against us were some older
modified corvettes and some Y- wings they bought from the Rebels. They
also had a lot of old Z-95's.

"I want to emphasize," Haarkov continued, "that the Emperor desires a
peaceful solution to the Sepan problem."  Admiral Haarkov was a short
man with a thin, haggard appearance. His face was gaunt, and he had
the general look of a man who was under a lot of pressure and needed
some sleep. He seemed to be on edge, and his voice cracked and wavered
at times, but he was intense, alert and knew his mission thoroughly.  

"We must be prepared," the admiral said, "to act quickly and intervene
to break up this conflict as soon as we reach the Sepan system." He
stepped back from the podium in the center of the conference room and
gestured to one of his staff officers.

Commander Solut, as he had been introduced, was every bit the
stereotypical mindless Imperial automoton that the general public is
now so familiar with. He was tall, thin, pale, had blue eyes and spoke
in a monotone. His voice never betrayed any emotion and he always
acted as though he expected that the admiral would hit him at any
moment. His whole demeanor was quite disconcerting.

Solut moved to the podium, blinked, and shot a nervous glance at the
admiral.  "The Repoblans," he began, "have a mining operation on the
outer moon that orbits their planet."  A holographic image of Repoblus
with its three moons appeared. The outer moon, by far the smallest,
was colored differently, highlighting it.

"Although this moon is smaller," Solut continued, "it contains great
concentrations of minerals and other resources. The Repoblans
routinely run convoys from the moon to refineries and manufacturing
installations on Repoblus. We have information that, as a result of
the current dispute, the Dimoks will attempt to disrupt these
convoys."

I was sitting next to Captain Kao Ijuf, flight leader of the SHAMUS
groups currently stationed aboard GUSTAV. SHAMUS had suffered serious
damage in an earlier operation [see pt 2] and was undergoing repairs.
I leaned over to her and said dryly, "This ought to be fun. Escorting
some convoy and not knowing who's going to shoot at us first." Kao
nodded her agreement, the movement sending shimmers through her long,
luscious red hair.

"There may be instances," Commander Solut continued, "when we will
have to sieze installations or vessels. Our stormtroopers must be
ready if such an occasion arises."

Major Maarek, our stormtrooper commander, nodded vigorously and
smiled. He couldn't wait to kill people and break things.

Commander Solut droned on. "We also suspect that there may be other
forces at work here. Specifically, we think that the Rebel Alliance
may be fomenting some of these troubles." We all perked up at that,
and I noticed Admiral Haarkov shift uncomfortably, eyes darting about.
The guy was definitely nervous. 

Kao leaned over to me. "All this and Rebels, too," she said
sarcastically.  "What more could a girl ask for on a mission?"

I chuckled. 

Admiral Haarkov stood up. Commander Solut immediately resumed his
seat.  "The Rebel connection," the admiral began, "has not been
verified." He scowled at Solut. "Imperial intelligence has received
some indications that the Rebels may be involved in supplying arms to
one or both sides but, again, there is no solid evidence that such a
connection exists." Haarkov looked around the room, then nodded to
Commander Cibock, GUSTAV's Commanding Officer. 

"I think that's enough for now, Commander," Haarkov said, trying to
sound pleasant. "Let me know when we're entering the Sepan system."

"Yes, sir," Cibock responded. "We should be there shortly."

Haarkov nodded curtly in acknowledgement then abruptly left the room
before we could even stand to attention, as is customary. Commander
Solut and other members of Haarkov's staff scrambled after the
admiral.

As the room cleared out, Kao looked at me, shaking her head slightly.
"I don't know about you," she said, "but I'm not used to allowing
people who have been shooting at me to run away so they can come back
and shoot at me again later."

I nodded. "I was wondering about that, too," I said. "I suppose that
the purpose is to impress these folks by not destroying an entire
attack force even though we could." I shrugged.

Kao's blue eyes narrowed and she scowled. "I don't like it," she said.
"We ought to kick their asses and keep on kicking them until they've
had enough and decide to do what we tell them to do. This half-assed
approach could get a lot of us killed and still not do the job."

It was hard to argue with her logic, but I looked around to make sure
no one was listening. Her kind of "logic" could get us into a lot of
trouble.  As I've said before, opinions that differed from official
Imperial policy were not well received. They usually resulted in
accusations of disloyalty or other such nonsense against the person
voicing the opinion.
  "We'll need to be careful," I said. "But you heard the admiral: hit
'em hard then let 'em go." I paused. "At least these guys don't have
X-wings."

Kao snorted. "Unless the Rebels show up," she said, scoffing. "Are we
supposed to let them get away, too?"

"I don't think so," I said, chuckling. "Obviously Haarkov and his
staff don't agree on Rebel involvement to begin with."

"Yeah, that whole exchange was a little odd," she said. "First Solut
says there might be Rebel involvement, then Haarkov all but says there
isn't.  So which is it?"

"I guess we'll find out," I said.

"Yeah. When some X-wing flames your ass. It'll be a little late then."
Kao paused, then lowered her voice. "You know, Vel," she said, "I have
a bad feeling about Admiral Haarkov."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious. I took another quick look
around.   The room was empty, the passageways quiet.

"He seems so jumpy and edgy," Kao responded. "Marina came to talk to
me about that earlier."

Hmmm, I thought. So it's "Marina" now, and not "Ensign Haarkov." I was
unaware that Kao and the admiral's daughter, one of our maintenance
officers, had anything other than a distant, professional
relationship.

"Ensign Haarkov came to you?" I asked, sounding surprised. "What did
she want?"

Kao laughed. "Of course she did. There aren't many females in this
outfit so we tend to stick together.  Marina is one of a handful of
female officers assigned to the ship. Commander Selena's departure has
left a pretty big void. She was a mentor, a counsellor to a lot of
them. Now I'm the senior female onboard, so they come to me. Marina
was upset and needed someone to talk to." 

I nodded. That all made sense.

"Marina's concerned about her father," Kao said directly. "She's his
only child, her mother's dead, she hasn't seen her father for over a
year and he's made virtually no effort to see her or to spend time
with her since coming aboard."

"He is kind of busy, Kao," I said. "He's got a tough assignment, and
he probably has the Emperor, Vader, Tarkin or all three breathing down
his neck. That would make me jumpy and edgy."

"That's what I said," Kao replied. "But Marina wouldn't buy it. She
thinks there's something else going on."

"Like what?" I asked, a little impatiently.

Kao sighed. "Marina doesn't know. She just feels that something isn't
right and it has upset her."

"I hadn't noticed anything," I said.

"Of course not," Kao said with a slight smile. "Marina's very brave,
very professional. She wouldn't let on in public or let her personal
life affect her professional performance. But believe me, we had a
very long talk and I can tell you that she's worried."

"OK, she's worried," I said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, really," Kao replied. "I just thought you should know
because Marina is a friend of yours and so that you could keep your
eyes and ears open."

"I'll do that," I said. "Thanks for telling me."

Kao smiled and started to leave. She stopped abruptly and turned
around.

"So, how are you doing?" she asked.

I was momentarily taken aback. "Me?" I finally managed to blurt out .
"I'm fine. Why?"

"I was just wondering," Kao said softly,"how you were feeling now that
Commander Selena is gone."

"Oh," I said. Then, after a pause, "She hasn't been gone that long,
and we've been pretty busy, so I guess I haven't had much time to
think about it."

Kao looked at me for a long moment. "You miss her already, don't you?"

"I guess I do," I responded quietly. I smiled bravely. "But I'll get
over it."

Kao smiled warmly. "Well, captain," she said, "maybe I'll be around
when you do." She turned and left the room, and I watched  her
gorgeous ass sway gently as she walked. 

I smiled to myself. Well whaddya know? 


A short time later, after completing a routine inspection of my
squadron's TIEs to make sure that the equipment was ready if needed on
short notice, I went to the Pilot's Lounge at the extreme forward part
of the ship, just below the bridge. I wanted to check on the pilots
and assure myself that they, too, were ready if needed. 

 I didn't make a habit of spending a lot of time in the lounge. I felt
that, in general, it was a good idea not to get too chummy with guys
that I might have to order to their deaths tomorrow. Although I have
been critical of the way a lot of things are done in the Imperial
Navy,  I agreed with the concept of a commander keeping a distance
between himself and his subordinates.   Most good commanders followed
this rule. It made things easier. Although my  wingman, Dromo Acer,
and I had become friends, that relationship was confined  to off-ship
and off-duty activities. Onboard GUSTAV Dromo was just another pilot
in my squadron.

The Pilot's Lounge was one of the nicest compartments on the ship. It
was very large, spacious, comfortably appointed, had a huge window
that looked forward, and, best of all, the bar was always open. Say
what you will about the Empire being a rigid, autocratic, unfeeling
organization.  The Imperial Navy knew how to take care of its pilots,
even on a small starship like GUSTAV.

The lounge was crowded with both GUSTAV and SHAMUS pilots. I was
pleased to see that it was getting harder to tell them apart. The
efforts that Kao and I had been making to integrate all of the pilots
into one team seemed to be working. A new sense of comradship was de-
veloping that could only help us.

I was warmly greeted by several pilots as I made my way to a large
table where Dromo and several other officers were seated next to the
window.  Through the window I could see the stars streaking by as
GUSTAV continued her hyperspace journey to the Sepan system.

Dromo rose to greet me, offering a chair. "Please join us, captain,"
he said pleasantly.

"Thanks," I replied as I sat down. Dromo handed me a glass of some
kind of ale. I had to watch it with Dromo. He could come up with some
pretty strange stuff. This ale, I decided as I took a preliminary sip,
wasn't too bad.

"Hey, captain," one of the pilots called, "any chance of getting some
liberty out here?" He was one of the SHAMUS pilots, a big burly man
who looked as though he would barely be able to fit into a TIE.

His companion, a smaller man who had had half his face shot away and
then surgically reconstructed, took a gulp from his drink, nodded and
said, "I hear Dimok women can't get enough."

"But, Zeno," another called, "you don't have that much to give
anyway!"

I joined in the laughter that erupted around the table. Typical
pilots, I thought. Always worried about getting off the ship and
getting laid. The pilot called Zeno scowled and took another drink.

"I'm not sure how much time off we'll get out here," I said.
"Remember, we're here to break up a civil war, so we probably won't
endear our- selves to either side." There was a murmur of agreement.
"But," I continued, "I'll keep an eye open for any liberty
opportunities that arise."

There were some murmured 'thank you's' and I craned my neck, looking
around the room for that long flowing red hair that would identify Kao
Ijuf. I couldn't find her.

"Anyone seen Captain Ijuf?" I asked. Heads shook.

"No, sir," one pilot said. "The captain is a great pilot and a good
leader, but she doesn't socialize with us very often."

Another pilot laughed. "That's because she's probably tired of most of
these guys trying to get into her pants." Several pilots chuckled.

"Most?" said the first in mock indignation. "You mean there's some who
aren't?"  Uproarious laughter greeted that remark. I was sure that
every one of those SHAMUS pilots was just itching to get into bed with
Kao Ijuf. What the hell? So was I.

"Hey, look," said Dromo, pointing to the window. "We're coming out of
hyperspace." 

He was right. The panoply of streaking colors gave way to the still
blackness of space. In the distance I saw what I presumed was the
Sepan sun. 

"What now?" Dromo asked me.

"Well," I said thoughtfully. "Commander Cibock said he was going to
patrol the space between the two rival planets, Dimok and Repoblus.
That would put us in a good position to respond to trouble."

I sat back in my chair and chuckled. "Sounds more like a job for a
traffic cop than for an Imperial warrior, doesn't it?"

Dromo scowled. He was pro-Imperial through and through. His family was
very wealthy and well connected on Coruscant, the Imperial capital.
They viewed the conflict strictly in economic terms.  To them the
Rebellion was a threat to trade, commerce, and economic development.
The political ideologies involved interested them not at all.

Dromo leaned forward and said to me, "I read somewhere that some
military philosopher once said 'Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but
to do or die.'"

"That certainly fits us, doesn't it?" I said sarcastically. "We've
done a lot of dying."

Dromo's reply was cut off by the clanging, klaxon sound of the general
quarters alarm.

"Red alert! Red alert! Dimok attack. All pilots to your ships. All
hands to battle stations. Briefing in the hangar. Red alert!"

"That didn't take long," I said, taking one last gulp.

Dromo and I and all the other pilots piled through the doors in a mad
scramble to get to our TIEs. The alarm clanged loudly in our ears, the
red lights flashing. We lumbered down stairwells and through
passageways, almost like a herd of  Tatooine Banthas in a stampede in
our relentless drive toward the hangars.

Finally, the mob dispersed as we entered the hangar, each pilot
dashing off to his own TIE. I spotted Admiral Haarkov and Commander
Cibock in a corner and ran toward them to find out what was happening.
Kao Ijuf was just arriving also, zipping up her flight suit. I caught
a glimpse of her breast as she did so and realized she was wearing
nothing underneath.  What had she been doing, I wondered briefly.

"A Repoblus convoy is under attack," Admiral Haarkov was saying. "Just
as we feared. The Dimoks intend to disrupt the Repoblan convoy
system."

Kao and I nodded.

"You will defend the Repoblan convoy," Haarkov said to us. "But,
before using force against the Dimoks, I want you to issue them a
warning."

Kao and I looked at each other, surprised.

"A warning, admiral?" I asked.

"Yes," he said tersely. "Maybe a warning will be all that is
necessary."

"But, admiral," Kao said, "won't a warning alert them, and give them a
chance to turn and shoot first? Wouldn't it be better....." Haarkov
cut her off.

"Captain I gave you an order!" he shouted, almost trembling with rage.
"How dare you question me. There will be no shooting on Dimok vessels
until a warning has been given! Do you understand me, captain?"

Kao nodded. "Yes, sir."

Haarkov turned to me. His face was flushed, the veins in his neck
throbbing. "What about you, Captain Tallig?"

"Understood, sir," I said in my best automoton voice. "They'll get a
warning."

"Very well," Haarkov said, decompressing a little. During this entire
exchange I noticed that Commander Cibock had been looking at Haarkov,
an expression of deep concern on his face. However, he said nothing.

"Any other questions, captains?" Haarkov asked.

I wanted to say 'are you kidding?' but merely shook my head, as did
Kao.

"Dismissed," the admiral said curtly, then turned and left the hangar.

Kao and I looked at each other and shrugged. She ran off toward her
TIE as the hangar started to fill with the noise of TIE fighters
winding up.

I was approaching my TIE when I heard a voice behind me.

"Captain Tallig! Captain Tallig!" I turned around as Marina Haarkov
came running up to me.

"I'm in a hurry, ensign," I said. "What is it?"

"Yes, sir," she said. "We've installed a prototype of a new cargo
scanner in your TIE."

"Cargo scanner?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. It scans the interior of ships for cargo. Things like
munitions, contraband, droids, that sort of thing."

I nodded. Another new gadget.

"If you get a chance," she said, shouting above the noise, "try to fly
close to a couple of container vessels and test it for us."

I nodded. "I will if I can," I shouted. She nodded her thanks and ran
off to assist with the launchings.

I climbed into my TIE, strapped in, put on my helmet and connected the
comm link.

The overhead cranes began picking us up and moving the TIEs to the
launching bay. The huge door in the bottom of the ship slid open, the
crane lowered me through it and released my TIE into space. I engaged
the twin ion engines and the craft  shot forward. I looped around
GUSTAV and established communications as I waited for the rest of my
flight to form up. 

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "Flight group forming up."

"Acknowledged, Gamma One." I almost wet my pants. The voice was
Admiral Haarkov's! What the hell was he doing taking direct tactical
control of a mission? That was something Commander Cibock or another
officer should be doing, not an admiral. Was it that he didn't trust
us? Or was it that he was so nervous about this operation that he felt
compelled to direct it himself? Either way, it was most unusual.

On my tactical displays I could see the Repoblan convoy heading toward
Repoblus. It consisted of a large number of ASBO class container
vessels guarded only by a handful of old Z-95's. These guys must
really be counting on Imperial support, I thought.

I could also see the Dimok attack force approaching. It was
considerable- a flight of Y-wings, a large number of Z-95's and a
Corvette. Uh, oh.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Dimoks have a Corvette. We'll need
TIE bombers with some heavy stuff to tackle that one."

Admiral Haarkov's reply was gruff.

"We don't know that we'll need to shoot at all, Gamma One. Close the
Dimoks and issue your warning. We'll worry about the Corvette later."

"Roger, GUSTAV," I said. Then,"Gamma One to flight group. Formation
Delta. We'll approach at two-thirds speed. Keep your lasers charged
up."

Formation Delta is a tight wedge formation. I chose this because, if
we needed to fight, it would give us a concentrated attack. I chose a
slower approach speed so as to give the Dimoks time to back off.

I switched to the Sepan channel that we had been instructed to use
when communicating with the Dimoks and Repoblans.

"Dimok flight leader," I called, "this is Captain Tallig of the
Imperial Navy."

There was a pause. On my displays I saw that Kao's flight group had
formed up and was following at some distance. We had planned it that
way so that her group would be free to respond as the situation
dictated.

"Imperial Navy, this is Commander Tegy of the Dimok Self Defense
Force. What do you want?" The voice was edgy and impatient. Self
Defense Force? That was a new one, especially coming from a guy who
was leading a flight in an attack on a convoy. I also noticed that he
did not respond to my name. He wanted to remain impersonal. OK by me.

"Dimok flight leader," I said in my most authoritarian sounding voice,
"you are ordered to cease and desist your aggressive action against
the Repoblan convoy."

The response was quick. "Imperial Navy, you have no business here. I
suggest you get out of our way. Any interference will be met by
force."

I decided to try one more time. 

"Dimok flight leader," I said sternly, "I must warn you that if you
persist in this attack the Imperial Navy will stop you." If that
didn't do it, I thought, nothing will.

There was no response. Instead, a large part of the Dimok attack force
turned and headed toward us, just as Kao had predicted. Giving the
warning had cost us the element of surprise.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One, " I said. "The warning didn't work.They are moving
to attack us."

"Roger, Gamma One," Haarkov said with a sigh. "Commence your attack,
but remember, hit them hard but don't chase them if they run. We'll
commence launching TIE bombers to take on the Corvette."

"Acknowledged," I replied. At least he was doing that.

"Gamma One to Gamma flight," I called, "accelerate to maximum speed
and begin attack. Gamma Two, you're with me."

"Roger, Gamma One," Dromo replied. Through my viewfinder I could see
him take up his customary position just behind and to the left of me.

"Tau leader, this is Gamma leader," I said, calling Kao. "A group of
Dimok craft is still closing the convoy. Move to intercept. We'll
handle this group."

"Acknowledged, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We're on our way."

Having covered all the bases, I now concentrated on our attack. Our
tight formation sped toward the Dimoks, who had sent a couple of
Y-wings and a lot of Z-95's against us. Although they heavily
outnumbered us I was confident. For all its faults the TIE thoroughly
outclassed both the Z-95, which was quite obsolete, and the Y-wing,
though the latter was heavily shielded and tough to knock out. I was
also supremely confident in my pilots. Most of us had flown together a
long time and operated as a smooth, efficient Imperial machine. Add to
this the fact that our TIEs had recently been modified to carry
concussion missiles and you had what I felt was a truly superior
fighting force. Particularly against relatively inexperienced pilots
in out of date starfighters.

As we closed the Dimoks I noticed that they were approaching in a
rather loose formation. Too bad for them, I thought.

Our tight wedge of TIEs barrelled into the Dimoks at top speed and
three Dimok craft became space junk in a matter of seconds. Our
formation dissolved as the battle quickly became one of individual
contests. Dromo broke off to flame a Z-95 that had gotten behind one
of our TIEs.

I targeted a Y-wing and got behind him. I activated the speed matching
device, set my lasers on dual fire and began pounding away. I quickly
took down his shields but the Y-wing twisted and turned violently,
making it difficult to maintain a lock. I stayed with him but the
bastard was re- charging his shields. He twisted and turned and looped
and dove all over the place but, since the TIE is considerably more
maneuverable than a Y-wing, I was able to hang on and take the
occasional shot as I tried to regain a lock. 

The Y-wing jerked wildly to the right and headed toward a couple of
Dimok Z-95's which were headed toward us. Uh-oh. He's got help on the
way. I didn't like one on three even if I was in a TIE. I activated
the missile system, got a partial lock and fired two of my four
missiles, then jerked my TIE upward in a loop to meet the Z-95's.

Sometimes you're lucky, and sometimes you're not. This time I was
lucky.  My two missiles found their mark and the Y-wing disintegrated.
I didn't savor the victory long, however. The two Z-95's approached
me, lasers blazing away. I put my TIE into a tight roll, sidestepped
them, then jerked her around hard to the left and came in behind them.
It was a pretty fancy maneuver that I'm sure those poor Dimok bastards
never saw before. Or would see again. I got a quick lock on the
nearest Z-95, put my lasers on rapid single fire and hammered away. My
lasers quickly disabled the Z-95's shields then cut into his port
engine mount. The port wing disintegrated and then the entire craft
exploded. I was so close that I had to fly through the debris and I
felt it clatter against my hull.

The second Z-95 had looped to the right, hoping to evade me. I was on
his ass before he knew it. His attempts at evasion were pathetically
amateur and, as I blew his ship apart, I thought that this was quickly
becoming a massacre.
 We had lost only one TIE so far and the Dimok force sent to attack us
had been decimated. On my tactical display I could see that Kao's
flight was having similar success nearer the convoy, though that
Corvette was causing problems. I noticed that the TIE bombers had
launched, however, and should make short work of that Corvette if it
stayed around.

The remnants of the Dimok force facing my group turned and began
running away. A couple of my pilots, their blood up, pursued. I put a
quick halt to that.

"Gamma One to Gamma flight, let them go, boys," I called. "All units
form up on me. That convoy still needs help."

Kao's flight group now had its hands full. That damned Corvette was
stubbornly pressing home its attack, trying to get at the Repoblan
convoy. Kao had lost two TIE's and still had a bunch of Z-95's to
worry about. The few Repoblan Z-95's stayed well clear of the action,
content to let the Empire's minions save their asses.

"Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "we've run off this
bunch.  We're on our way to assist you."

"Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We can use the help."

Several Dimok Z-95s had managed to break away and get in among the
Repoblan convoy. The Repoblan Z-95s fired a few shots then took off,
the bastards. The convoy broke up and scattered all over the place as
the Dimok vessels made repeated attack runs. 

The ASBO container vessel, while slow and underarmed, is quite large,
much larger than a starfighter. It takes more than a few laser hits to
knock one out. Also, when operating in close to these vessels you have
to be careful that you don't collide with one. The ASBO has the law of
gross tonnage on its side and you lose. Particularly in an unshielded
fighter.

I was pretty pissed off when I saw the Repoblan Z-95s, who were
supposed to be guarding the convoy, run away. I wanted to call the
whole thing off and let the Dimoks have their way, but I remembered
that our primary mission was to protect the convoy.

We formed up and dove in among the ASBOs and the Dimok starfighters,
adding to the total mess and confusion that the melee had become.

I maneuvered between two ASBOs and flamed a Z-95 that had been
strafing them. I looped around another container and covered Dromo
while he killed another Z-95.

The Dimok Corvette was shooting at the container vessels now, scoring
several hits. Finally, the TIE bombers were within range to commence
attacking the Corvette with heavy space bombs. The space bomb can be a
devastating weapon, but it must be launched at point blank range.
Unlike the missile or proton torpedo, the space bomb does not have its
own propulsion. It is "lobbed" at its target. Thus, the bomber has to
get very close, release the bomb, pull up and get the hell away. It is
not conducive to a long life and I had nothing but respect for those
guys in slow, unmaneuverable craft flying right into the teeth of
enemy fire to deliver their weapon.

Apparently, the Dimoks in the Corvette knew enough about TIE bombers
and space bombs to know they'd get wasted real fast if they hung
around.  The Corvette turned and started heading away. We let it go,
though I knew that the bomber pilots really wanted to blow the thing
to hell.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Dimoks are retiring."

"Acknowledged, Gamma One," Haarkov replied. "What is the condition of
the convoy?"

"They're fairly scattered and confused right now," I replied. "A few
were shot up a bit, but nothing serious. Their escorts ran away."

"Understood," Haarkov said gruffly. "Form up your groups and return to
GUSTAV."

That was odd. The convoy would have no escort for the remainder of the
trip to Repoblus.

"GUSTAV, do you want me to have a couple TIEs provide an escort?"

"Negative!" Haarkov exclaimed, almost blowing out my earpiece. "All
units return at once."

"Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. At least that was clear enough.  I
directed Dromo and Kao to form up the groups and head back to the
ship. I remembered that Marina Haarkov had asked me to test a new
scanner, so, while I was in among the ASBOs, I thought this would be
as good a time as any.

I activated the scanner and flew past the nearest vessels. The readout
on the scanner indicated that their cargo consisted of raw materials
found on the Repoblan moon. Normal enough.

It was when I flew past the third ASBO that I did a double take. A red
light flashed on the scanner and the readout indicated that the cargo
consisted of Imperial style arms and munitions. What the hell?

Since the scanner was a new gadget I thought it might have a few bugs.
I reset it and flew past the container vessel again. Again, the red
light flashed and the readout indicated Imperial war materials. This
merited reporting.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. 

Admiral Haarkov seemed annoyed. "What is it, Captain," he said,
ignoring call signs and other communications protocol. I guess
admirals can do that.

"GUSTAV, I just flew by a container vessel that appears to be carrying
Imperial weaponry."

I could hear the jaws hit the deck in GUSTAV's Operations Center. I
was only sorry I couldn't see Haarkov's face.

"Imperial weaponry!" Haarkov spluttered. "How the hell would you
know?" I couldn't tell if he was more angry at the possibility of
Imperial weapons in the hands of the Repoblans, or at me for finding
it out.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called, refusing to abandon procedure. "I'm
testing a scanner. It identified two vessels as containing raw
materials, but lit up on the third."

There was a long pause. I kept circling the containers. I noticed that
the other flight groups had been recovered.

"Gamma One, GUSTAV," a new voice called. Commander Cibock.  "Allow the
vessels to proceed and return to GUSTAV."

I was still confused. Why let a ship with Imperial weapons, which no
one but us is supposed to have, proceed? Shouldn't we stop it or board
it or something? I decided that it would be useless to ask these
questions.

"Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. "I'm on my way in."

I turned my TIE away from the container vessels and sped toward home,
my mind full of questions, doubts and suspicions.

I knew something was amiss shortly after I landed. The tractor beam
operator set my TIE down into its stall and I quickly went through the
post-flight checklist. I disconnected my comm link and dropped through
the hatch at the bottom of the starfighter. I pulled off my helmet and
saw Commander Solut, one of Haarkov's staffers, waiting for me near
the hangar door. Times change, I thought, remembering how it had
always been J'Una, tall, passionate, sexy, waiting for me at the end
of a mission. Instead, here was this toady. What concerned me more was
the fact that with him were two fully armed and equipped storm-
troopers. Uh-oh.

"Hi, Commander," I said, trying hard to be friendly. "Pretty
successful mission, eh?"

The commander was not impressed and his expression never changed.

"The admiral would like to see you, Captain," he said mechanically.
"Please follow me." He turned abruptly and started out of the hangar.
The two stormtroopers fell in behind us, an uncomfortable presence.

Commander Solut remained stoically silent throughout our walk from the
hangar forward and up to the Admiral's cabin, located above the
bridge. The stormtrooper on guard outside the cabin saluted the
commander and announced our arrival over his intercom. The door slid
open and Solut and I entered, our escorts remaining outide.

Even smaller ships like GUSTAV have special quarters reserved for
Admirals and other dignitaries or VIPs. The Admiral's cabin on GUSTAV
was relatively palatial when compared to those of lesser officers.
Rank does have its privileges.

Admiral Haarkov was seated behind a large desk flanked by several
computer consoles. I was relieved to see that Commander Cibock was
also in the room, standing next to Haarkov's desk. The admiral looked
even more worn out than he had earlier. 

Haarkov looked up from one of the consoles.

"Greetings, captain," he said without feeling. "Your people did a fine
job today. The Dimoks were driven off and the Repoblan convoy made it
safely to its destination."

I nodded stiffly. "Thank you, admiral," I said.

"So where in your orders," Haarkov said grimly, "were you authorized
to inspect the cargo of Repoblan container vessels?" He glared first
at me, then at Commander Cibock.

"I wasn't, sir," I acknowledged. 

"Then, what were you doing, captain?" Haarkov's voice grew more
menacing. I had the feeling that there was something going on here,
but I couldn't figure out what. Shouldn't the admiral be glad we
discovered Imperial arms on a Repoblan vessel. Shouldn't we be trying
to find out how they got there?

"I was asked by the maintenance department to check out a new scanner,
admiral," I responded. "After our mission was accomplished I saw an
opportunity to do so, so I did." I decided not to mention the fact
that Ensign Haarkov, the admiral's own daughter, had been the one who
had made the request. I figured it might piss him off even more and
get her into trouble.

"You were requested by the maintenance department?" Haarkov asked
sarcastically. "Did it ever occur to you that the Repoblans might take
offense to such action? That they might think we're giving information
to the Dimoks?" His voice rose in anger. "We're here trying to break
up a civil war, dammit, not throw fuel onto the fire!"  He was really
pissed now, but I couldn't see how inspecting cargo could cause such a
fuss, unless we weren't supposed to know about the arms. I could see
how that might upset the Repoblans, but it shouldn't upset our admiral
so much. Unless......

"Admiral, if I may," Commander Cibock interjected, derailing my
thoughts. Haarkov glared at him.

"We received several prototypes of a new scanner while we were at the
Death Star," Cibock began. He was defending me in front of the
admiral, and I appreciated it.

"We also received a request from Imperial R&D to test the prototypes
at our convenience. I instructed the maintenance department to do just
that." Haarkov seemed to relax a little, but he was still tense and
angry.

"Very well, commander," Haarkov said reluctantly. "I can appreciate
your position. In the future, however," and his voice became cold
again, "you will make no changes to my instructions without my
approval. Is that clear, commander?"

Cibock stiffened. "Yes, sir, it is."

"Alright, then," Haarkov said, smiling. He sat back in his chair.
"Just so we understand each other." Commander Cibock nodded.

There was an uneasy silence, then, feeling either bold or foolish, I
opened a can of worms.

"Admiral," I said softly, "what about the Imperial arms I found on
that Repoblan container vessel?" 

Haarkov's eyes narrowed, his face became red and I could quickly see
that I had succeeded in pissing him off again. Commander Cibock looked
at me as if to say 'what did you do that for?'

Haarkov could barely control his anger. "There will be no talk outside
of this room about Imperial arms on a container vessel." He glared at
Cibock. "No mention will made in any reports, is that clear,
Commander?"

Cibock nodded. "Yes, sir."

"We are not here to act as customs agents," Haarkov continued. "Our
job is to prevent a civil war and I won't jeopardize that mission by
irritating the Repoblans by spying on them!"

"Understood, sir," Cibock said.

Haarkov stood up abruptly. "Commander, captain," he said to us, "that
is all. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, admiral," Commander Cibock said formally. He and I turned
and walked past a silent Commander Solut and through the doors. The
stormtroopers acknowledged Cibock and he beckoned me to follow him. 

We walked in silence down the passageway to the Commanding Officer's
stateroom, located right behind the bridge. Cibock entered his access
code, the doors slid open and we entered. 

Cibock walked across the room to the large window behind his desk and
spent several moments staring out into space. The Sepan sun was
visible, a bright ball far in the distance as GUSTAV patrolled the
system at sub- light speed.

I had served with Commander Cibock long enough to know that he had
something on his mind and would talk about it when he was ready, so I
waited in respectful silence. After all, he had just gone to bat for
me with Admiral Haarkov. Many senior Imperial officers would have
covered their own asses and let their subordinates hang.

Finally, Commander Cibock turned around. He suddenly looked much older
than he was. His forehead was furrowed and the wrinkles around his
eyes seemed deeper than they had been.

"Captain," he said slowly, "I never thought I'd say this, but I want
you to disregard the admiral's order and to continue testing that
scanner."

"Sir?" I asked, confused. This was extraordinary! A commander
directing a subordinate to disregard an admiral's order? He could get
us both killed.

"Captain," Cibock continued, "there's something more going on here
than merely preventing a civil war. Someone had to provide those
Imperial weapons to the Repoblans. And what are they doing with them?
I think these questions need answering because the answer may involve
treason and open collaboration with the enemy."

"Enemy, sir?" Now I was really confused. "I thought we weren't to
consider the Dimoks or Repoblans as enemies." What was he getting at?

"I'm not talking about the Dimoks or Repoblans," he said calmly. "I'm
talking about collaboration with the Rebel Alliance."

I was stunned. "Are you suggesting that Admiral Haarkov is providing
Imperial weapons to the Rebels?"

Cibock smiled. "Not yet. But I think we owe it to ourselves to find
out.  After all, getting killed by one's own weapons in the hands of
the enemy is a most unsuitable fate, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir," I said slowly. I sure wouldn't want Imperial lasers or
missile technology used against me or my pilots.

"I want you to continue scanning for contraband shipments while we're
here," Cibock continued. "Cargo vessels, space platforms, whatever
presents itself. But be discreet. Don't call in or download your
findings.  Wait until you return and tell me only."

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Also, don't be obvious it, either. If the mission doesn't get you
close enough to scan, wait for another opportunity. Haarkov will be
watching closely."

"That shouldn't be a problem, commander," I said. "I can stretch or
modify most flights to go where we need to go."

Cibock smiled. "Good. I don't think I need to tell you that we must
keep this between us. It could be that my suspicions are groundless.
In that case, embarassing the admiral and pissing off the Dimoks or
Repoblans would be counter-productive." He smiled again. What he meant
was that it would be the end for both of us.

"But if I'm right," he continued, "then we will pass along what we
find to Imperial High Command for them to take action." He paused, and
I could tell that this whole business bothered him.

"I don't like spying on a fellow officer," he said gravely. "There's
too much spying and distrust in the Navy to begin with. But I can't
stand the thought of an officer in the Imperial Navy smuggling weapons
to our enemies.   Admiral Haarkov is also in charge of some large
supply installations. It might be interesting to check their
inventories."

"Why would somebody like Admiral Haarkov do that?" I asked. "Assuming
that he is."

Commander Cibock sighed. "I don't know, captain," he said slowly. "I
suppose there are a lot of reasons. Money, power, revenge, ideology.
Who knows? It could be that Admiral Haarkov isn't directly involved
but knows who is. Of course," he said smiling, "we could be getting
ahead of ourselves here. So, let's just continue our informal inquiry
and see where it leads us. OK?"

"Yes, sir," I responded. Cibock nodded and I knew the conversation was
over. I saluted and left.



We didn't fly at all for the next three days. All was quiet between
the Dimoks and Repoblans, at least as far as we could tell, and
Admiral Haarkov refused even to allow us to fly patrols. He said he
wanted to avoid any chance of provocation, but Commander Cibock and I
felt that he really wanted to keep us away from any convoys.

We had daily briefings, of course. The admiral kept telling us how
tense the situation still was. He had tried to mediate the
Dimok-Repoblan dispute, but hadn't had much luck. The Repoblans were
still pissed about the attack on their convoy. Admiral Haarkov was
afraid that they would retaliate in spite of the fact that he had
warned them that GUSTAV would intervene.

Another interesting development was my relationship with Kao. From a
rather stormy beginning, we were developing a respect and a friendship
that seemed to be warm and genuine. We spent a lot of time together
when we weren't checking  our TIEs or conducting training sessions for
our pilots.  We took walks around the ship together and she actually
came into the Pilots' Lounge with me a couple of times. There wasn't
anything physical, yet.  I could tell that, for whatever reason, she
wasn't ready for that. Maybe she was being sensitive to the fact  that
I still missed J'Una and didn't want to appear intrusive. There were
enough hints, though, to keep my hopes, and my cock, up.

Despite the warmth and openness she was displaying, which was a
significant change from her previous behavior, I could sense that Kao
was holding something back. Not just the sex. Something else.
Something that was an integral part of who she was, or had become.
Something that would help explain the intensity that she brought to
her role as a starfighter pilot. I tried several times to bring it
out, sensing that she really did want to talk about it, but I was
politely rebuffed each time. I finally came to the conclusion that
she'd tell me when she was ready, when she could trust me.

After three days of doing nothing but sit around as GUSTAV slowly
patrolled back and forth between Dimok and Repoblus, we were hurriedly
summoned to a briefing with Admiral Haarkov.

We had barely gotten into our seats when Haarkov hurried in, waving us
back into our seats as we began to rise. He seemed to be quite dis-
traught and agitated. Commander Cibock followed him into the room.
His face was ashen, his head was slightly bowed and he appeared to be
in a complete daze, as though he was unaware of where he was, but was
operating on some kind of  reflex or instinct. I had never seen him
like this. 

Kao and I exchanged worried looks. The thought briefly flashed through
my mind that somehow Haarkov had discovered Commander Cibock's intent
to continue searching for stolen Imperial weapons. I quickly dismissed
that thought because we hadn't done any actual searching. It didn't
take a well  developed sixth sense or a  Jedi to figure out that
something wasn't right. I was, however, completely unprepared  for
what came next.

Admiral Haarkov, his hands visibly trembling, moved to the podium. He
stood there for a long moment, seemingly unable to speak. Finally, he
glanced over at Commander Cibock, then took a deep breath.

"Officers of the Imperial Frigate GUSTAV," he began slowly, almost
inaudibly, "it is my sad duty to relay some most unfortunate news. We
have just received word from Imperial Headquarters that the Death Star
was destroyed in battle by the Rebel  Alliance."

Startled murmurs and exclamations immediately broke out among the
officers. I sat stunned and disbelieveing. My heart started racing un-
controllably until I felt it would explode out of my chest and, as a
reflex, I grabbed Kao's arm which had been resting on the arm of my
chair.  She turned and looked at me, a mixture of horror and fury in
her eyes that suddenly changed to concern as she saw how distraught I
must have appeared. I was almost oblivious to my surroundings, to
everything, in fact except  the image of J'Una that was now dancing
through my brain.

Admiral Haarkov allowed the shock to pass through us before
continuing.  "Unfortunately I must also tell you that other than Lord
Vader whose fighter was thrown clear somehow, there are no known
survivors."

There was an audible gasp in the room  and I saw Commander Cibock put
his head in his hands. Through the veil of grief, disbelief, and anger
that I felt coming over me I recalled that Commander Cibock had a son
on the Death Star.

My grip on Kao's arm tightened to the point  where she had to gently
pry my fingers loose.

"How could this have happened, admiral?" someone in the back called
out.

"Details are sketchy," Haarkov responded, "but here is what we know.
Imperial intelligence had traced a Rebel base to a moon of the planet
Yavin. The Death Star was ordered to proceed to Yavin and destroy the
base. The Rebels resisted and attacked the Death Star. In the ensuing
battle the Death Star was destroyed. I'm afraid we know little more
than that."

Shock was beginning to turn to anger. "How could the Rebels have
possibly destroyed the Death Star?" one officer shouted angrily.
"There must have been treachery involved." An ominous murmur passed
through the room. Haarkov cut it off.

"Silence," he commanded sternly. Immediately the room got quiet.
Haarkov softened his tone. "I know that this comes as a great shock to
us all. To lose so many comrades, over twenty thousand, at once will
be difficult for us to accept, and I want to express my sympathies to
you, Commander Cibock," Haarkov turned and bowed toward GUSTAV's
Commanding Officer, "and to all of you who may have lost a friend or
loved one aboard the Death Star. It is a great blow to us all.
Commander Cibock will make the announcement to the ship's crew
shortly.I assure you that we will pass along relevant information when
it becomes  available." He paused for a moment, hands still trembling.
"In the meantime, we have a mission to accomplish out here, so let's
all remain professional and do our jobs well. In that way we can pay
tribute to those who have perished."

Haarkov nodded to Commander Cibock and quickly exited the room. I was
still too stunned to stand with the rest of the officers. I just sat
there.   I don't think Haarkov noticed or cared. As he walked past
where I was sitting I could see, now, that he was livid and I heard
him mutter, "This madness must stop."

Then he was gone and the room dissolved into expressions of shock,
disbelief and anger. Several officers crowded around Commander Cibock,
offering condolences. I had never met his son, but I knew how proud
Cibock had been of him.

I  just sat there, staring at nothing, my mind reeling. Kao leaned
over and asked me if I was alright. I nodded and then stood up and
walked out. I had to get away from that room, from those people. 

I started wandering down a passageway, not knowing where I was going,
oblivious to the activity around me. My mind was having trouble
accept- ing what I had just heard. The Death Star? Gone? Just like
that? J'Una gone, too? All those people gone? Tarkin? All gone except
Vader? How did he manage to get away, the scumbag. Did he abandon
everyone?  How could the Rebels have destroyed something that seemed
so power- ful?

My mind was so overwhelmed by an onslaught of thoughts and emotions
that I became confused and disoriented and, for a moment, forgot where
I was or what I was doing.

My legs were working, however, and I continued through passageways and
down ladders until I found myself in the hangar. I walked over to
where my TIE was parked and sat down underneath it, my back resting
against one of the solar panels, the bottoms of which served as
landing gear.

It felt somewhat comforting, sitting there under my TIE. In that part
of the ship I could feel the deck vibrate softly with the hum of the
engines and I tried to relax and get control. It was difficult. For a
while, every- where I looked all I could see was J'Una with her big
smile, sleek ebony skin and fire red eyes.  No more would I hear her
laugh, share our hopes and aspirations or feel her powerful embrace.
She was gone, and for what?  For the Emperor? For the Imperial Navy?
For what great purpose had she and all the people who had loyally
served on the Death Star perished?

It suddenly occurred to me, as I was asking myself these questions and
trying to find a focus for my anger, that this was what war was really
all about. This was what the survivors had to endure. And,
undoubtedly, I had caused this very same thing to happen to others.
Everytime I flamed a Rebel starfighter, or everytime I lost a TIE
pilot, someone, somewhere surely went through these same feelings and
asked themselves similar questions. I had approached combat with a
cold, detached, 'just another day at the office' attitude. That's the
way we were taught and that's what all the Imperial leadership manuals
said. The 'people' cost of what we were doing did not enter into the
picture. It wasn't supposed to. Never allow emotions to play a part. I
wondered if I would ever be able to view combat in the same way again. 

Yes, I told myself, this is what war really is all about. And it
stinks.

I don't know how long I sat there before I heard footsteps
approaching.  I looked up and saw Kao smile and sit down next to me,
her red hair flowing about her.

"I thought I'd find you here," she said softly. "Are you alright?"

I nodded. "I guess so."

Kao looked at me skeptically. "If you say so," she said wryly.
Obviously she didn't believe me. "Admiral Haarkov  received another
communique from Imperial Headquarters," she continued. "Do you want to
hear what happened?"

"Sure," I said quietly. 

"The Rebels attacked with X and Y-wing starfighters," she began. "They
got under the Death Star's heavy defenses, so Vader led a bunch of
TIEs out to defeat them. He didn't get them all. The Rebels used
proton torpedoes and managed to find a weakness in the Death Star.
That's how they destroyed it. Imperial Headquarters says that the
Rebels had somehow obtained a set of plans for the Death Star. I guess
that's how they found the weakness."

I  leaned back and closed my eyes for a moment. Suddenly,  the pattern
of recent events became startlingly clear. I sat up straight.

"So that explains it," I  exclaimed.

"Explains what, Vel?" Kao asked, puzzled.

"It explains everything, Kao."  The light bulb had really come on
inside my brain and in my exhuberance to explain it, I babbled.

"It explains the whole fucking mess we've been through," I said. "The
appearance of the Rebels out in the badlands in the Epsilon quadrant.
Admiral Thrawn and two fucking fleets chasing ghosts all over the
place.  And the attack on Resead [see pts 1 and 2]. Don't you see?" I
was intense now.  Talking about this gave me an opportunity, albeit
brief, to forget about J'Una and I was taking full advantage of it.
Kao, however was completely confused and must have thought I'd lost
it.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, shaking her head.

"They fucked us, Kao," I said, my voice rising. "They fucked us good."

"Who?" she asked, still not following.

"The Rebels," I responded. "They were after the Death Star all the
time.  All that noise out in Epsilon was just that. Noise. They wanted
us to go charging out there to divert our attention from agents they
must have had stealing the Death Star plans. They even sacrificed an
entire planet to ensure that we took the bait."

Kao looked at me, amazed.

"And we took it," I said bitterly. "We took the whole thing." I
started winding down. My exhuberance had expended itself. "And now," I
said "I don't know who to be more pissed at: the Rebels, the Empire,
or at J'Una for taking that damned job and getting herself killed." I
looked at Kao and tried to smile.

Kao stood up next to the TIE. She extended her hand toward me and
said, "Come on."

I got up and she turned and started walking. I went along, not sure
where she was going or what she had in mind.

We walked wordlessly through the ship. Crew members were still going
about their normal activities, but I noticed that they seemed somewhat
subdued.

We arrived at Kao's quarters. She punched in her access code, the door
slid open and we entered her room, the door sliding closed be- hind
us. Kao led me into the room, which was similar to my own, and
motioned for me to sit in a chair. I sat down, saying nothing, and
waited.

Kao remained standing, and began pacing back and forth in front of me.
She stopped suddenly and turned to face me,  blue eyes fierce with
intensity.

"I want to tell you something, Vel," she began, "something I don't
talk about much." She paused as if to gather herself for some
difficult task.

"A number of years ago I lived with my parents on Sienar 6. They both
worked for Sienar Fleet Systems." I nodded. Sienar Fleet Systems was
the largest manufacturer of Imperial war materials and built, among
other things, the TIE series of starfighters. They had constructed
numerous large installations, usually on a terra-formed planet or
moon.

"We had a nice house," Kao continued. "My mother was a design engineer
and my father was a production manager. Sienar had built a university
there and I was attending classes, like lots of other kids. Life was
pretty good." Her voice broke and her eyes became moist. 

"The Rebel High Command," she went on, "had decided that one way to
defeat the Empire was to attack its source of  production of
starfighters and other munitions. So, they  conducted a series of
raids on Sienar installations. They sent fifty or sixty starfighters
after Sienar 6. X-wings and Y-wings." She stopped again, her eyes
filling with tears. One slipped out of the corner of her left eye and
slid down her face. She quickly wiped at it.

"The Rebels also had collaborators on the planet who disabled the
ground defenses," she said, struggling to continue. I was moved by her
vulnerability.  Right then she was far from the brassy, overconfident,
kick-ass starfighter pilot. She was revealing another side of herself
and I felt somehow honored that she would reveal it to me.

"The starfighters hyperspaced in," she went on, "and attacked the
installation.  They used laser cannon, missiles, proton torpedoes.
They strafed and they bombed until the whole place was a smoking
wreck. Then they left. Two thousand civilian workers, including my
parents, were killed." Tears were flowing freely now. I stood up.

"Kao, I'm sorry," I said and held my arms open to her, but she shook
her head.

"There's more," she said. "My life was completely destroyed that day
and I swore to get even with the bastards. I had an uncle- my mom's
brother- who had some influence and was able to get me into the
academy. Not many females get in, but I did. The whole time I was
there I had one goal: to become a starfighter pilot. I didn't care
that no female had qualified as a pilot before.  I just wanted to kill
Rebels, and I let nothing stop me. I made it, and here I am." She
laughed harshly. "I've made few friends, had fewer loves. My sole
purpose in life since that day on Sienar 6 has been to kill Rebels.
And I've killed hundreds of them. And you know," she said, voice
breaking, "every time I flame one of those bastards, I say to myself ,
'there's one less son of a bitch who can kill some kid's parents.'"

Sobbing uncontrollably now, Kao threw herself into my arms and buried
her face in my shoulder.  I put my arms around her and held her
tightly. I felt her body heave and shudder as she cried. It had
obviously been a long time since she had talked about her parents and
about what had happened.  She was trying to tell me that she
understood what I must be feeling, having suffered a grievous loss of
her own at the hands of our enemies. She was trying to alleviate some
of my pain by sharing her own, even though it was costing her. Perhaps
she was also trying to warn me against becoming consumed with hatred,
against becoming  an unfeeling, mindless killing machine which  she
evidently feared was happening to her. What she was doing struck me as
an incredible act of kindness. I held her even closer to me and I
gently stroked her long red hair.  After a while she pulled back and
looked at me.

"Vel," she said, her voice still heavy with emotion, "I hate this
fucking war.  I hate what it's done to me, and I hate what it's going
to do to you."

I looked at her for a long moment, then smiled at her. "I think we'll
be alright, Kao," I said, trying to reassure her. Trying to reassure
myself, as well, in all honesty. "I'm not at all certain what the
greater purpose of this war is, either. Ever since I left Kuan, it's
what I do."

Kao had stopped crying now, but her eyes were still moist. Smiling at
me, she pulled off her jacket and then began to slowly unbutton her
shirt. I was momentarily taken aback. I hadn't foreseen that our
emotional con- versation would end in a sexual encounter. 

"Kao," I said softly. "Are you sure about this?"

She pulled open the shirt, revealing her beautiful, full breasts. She
stood looking at me, her blue eyes no longer sad, her luscious red
hair framing her face and flowing down over her shoulders to her
breasts. Kao smiled at me and cupped her hands under her breasts.

"Yes," she said quietly. "I'm very sure."

I may not have anticipated this, but I had learned to take advantage
of an opportunity when it presented itself, and I knew Kao well enough
to know that she knew what she was doing, so I didn't hesitate. I
walked over to her and kissed her deeply, my hands fondling her tits.
The luscious round globes filled my palms and, as our tongues battled
each other, I gently stroked the undersides of her breasts, causing
her to shudder.

Kao pressed herself more forcefully against my palms and wrapped her
arms around my neck, pulling my mouth more tightly against hers. It
was a long, slow, languorous kiss and I had no desire to hurry it,
though my cock was surging into a full erection inside my pants. 

I ran my hands along the sides of Kao's breasts, then slowly up and
down her sides inside her opened shirt. I could feel her breathing
quicken. Her tongue continued to explore deep inside my mouth and she
occasionally uttered soft little moans. She finally broke the kiss,
leaving us both gasp- ing with its intensity. Kao smiled at me, blue
eyes shining, and then ran her tongue sensuously around her lips. The
sight was incredibly arousing and I pulled her toward me and began
another kiss. I couldn't get enough of her lips. I ran my hands down
her back and slipped them inside her pants to cup her ass. It was slim
and firm and, still kissing her, I pulled her against me so that she
could feel my erection against her. She moaned and ground her pelvis
slowly against me.

I slowly peeled Kao's shirt off of her shoulder, kissing and licking
at the base of her neck, her collarbone and her shoulder. Kao moaned
softly and licked my ear. The sensation ran straight to my cock,
causing it to become even harder. I continued to kiss and lick my way
down her arm. I pulled the sleeve off of the end of her hand and
kissed her fingers. I started to work my way slowly back up her arm to
do the same thing with the other sleeve.

I kissed her upper arm, her shoulder and worked my way to the top of
her chest. Kao was breathing heavily now, breasts heaving, and her
sur- prisingly strong arm gripped the back of my head, holding me to
her. I ran my tongue slowly down her chest, over her breast to the
nipple, leaving a wet trail. I flicked the nipple with my tongue and
then gently sucked on it, but only for a moment. I was teasing her and
I could feel her trembling with anticipation. I moved to the other
breast, flicked the nipple, then slowly licked up to the shoulder that
was still covered by the shirt. I kissed her arm, easing the shirt off
and letting it drop. Kao was now naked from the waist up and I stopped
kissing her to step back and look at her.

Kao was stunning, a vision of beauty. Her blue eyes were moist with
passion and emotion, her long red hair framed her face and flowed down
to her breasts, whose nipples were erect with arousal. There was a
slight red flush across the white skin of her chest, giving evidence
of her grow- ing excitement.  Looking at her then it was hard to think
of her as a steel- nerved, dispassionate starfighter pilot. She seemed
soft, sensuous, vulnerable.  In many ways, I thought, Kao was the
antithesis of J'Una, who had radiated strength, power, lust and raw
sexuality. I drove thoughts of  J'Una from my mind.

Standing there looking at Kao, I felt a strange and unique feeling
begin to wash over me. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I
welcomed it and let it flow through me. I really wanted this woman,
but it was more than that. I wanted to share myself with her, which is
more than just fucking.

I stripped off my shirt and Kao moved close to me and ran her hands
over my chest in a soft, tentative, exploring way. She bent her head
down and began kissing and licking my chest and my nipples as I had
hers. I reveled in the sensations she caused as she nipped at my chest
with her teeth.

I eased her into a sitting position on a couch and crouched down at
her feet. I removed one of her boots and the sock and then kissed her
foot, running my tongue across her ankle, and then sucking on her
toes. She shivered when I took her big toe into my mouth and sucked
and bit it.  I did the same with the other foot. Kao was breathing
heavily in her arousal. I ran my hands up the insides of her thighs,
caressing her through her trousers. She moaned and thrust her pelvis
back at my hand.

We had said nothing to each other thus far. Words somehow seemed
unnecessary. We were so caught up in passion, in the blossoming forth
of very deep and powerful feelings that we were exactly in tune with
each other and, without saying anything, each seemed to know what the
other wanted and needed. At that moment, as I looked up at Kao, it
felt almost as though the very core of our beings had merged. It was a
wonderful, exciting and frightening rush of emotions and sensations.
And we both still had our pants on!

I leaned forward and planted a kiss on Kao's crotch, tongueing it
through the fabric of her dark uniform trousers. I moved up and kissed
her flat, toned belly and tongued her navel. She squirmed and raised
her ass off the couch and unsnapped the trousers in an unspoken
invitation to me to remove them. I reached around her and began
peeling the tight-fitting garment off of her hips and down her thighs.
As her crotch was uncovered I was inundated with the wonderful smell
of a very aroused woman. I pulled the trousers off of her, tossed them
behind me somewhere, and returned my attention to her pussy.

I ran my hand slowly up the inside of Kao's thigh to her cunt, feeling
her shiver with pleasure. Her cunt was already dripping with her
passion and I drew my finger along her outer lips, feeling her cunt
juices flow over it.  Kao spread her legs opening her pussy to me and
I swiftly shoved two fingers inside and began a slow in and out
motion, flicking her clit with my thumb. A low moan which almost
sounded like a grunt escaped her and she lay back on the couch, legs
spread, back arched, her fingers pulling at her aroused nipples. She
was an incredible sight. I kept moving my hand in and out of her wet
cunt, slowly but forcefully. Kao really seemed to like that and she
moved her pelvis in time with my thrusting hand. She removed her hands
from her breasts and slid them down her body to spread her pussy
wider. I responded by shoving a third finger into her and thrusting my
hand even harder, using my free hand to stroke her belly and her tits
and her thighs. Kao grunted again and started slamming herself against
my hand. She was sopping wet and my hand was almost completely covered
with her essence. Her juices ran down inside her thighs to the crack
of her ass.

I kept up the strong thrusting of my hand into Kao's cunt and she
started thrashing about on the couch as her orgasm began to erupt. 

"That's so good, Vel," she gasped, finally breaking our strain of un-
spoken communication. "Do it harder."

I immediately obliged, ramming my whole hand into her now, working her
clit incessantly. Kao shrieked and shuddered and bounced around as her
orgasm hit her with the force of a quad laser blast. Her juices gushed
forth in a torrent over my fingers and hand as the force of her
ecstacy finally began to subside, leaving her breathless and glowing.

Kao flopped back on the couch, spent. She looked at me and smiled as
her breathing started to return to normal.

"Damn, that was good, Vel," she said finally. "It's really been a long
time for me. I'd almost forgotten." And she laughed softly. I stood up
next to the couch and looked down at her. Kao reached up and gently
stroked the inside of my thigh.

"Captain Tallig," she said in mock seriousness, "will you please take
these fucking pants off?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, smiling at her. Very quickly I yanked off my
boots, nearly falling over in the process, and pulled my pants off. My
erection sprang forth and Kao reached for it, seemingly mesmerized by
it. She softly caressed and stroked the shaft, then slipped her hand
under- neath to fondle my balls.

For several long minutes she stroked and caressed and fondled me, her
eyes locked onto my cock. I spread my legs slightly to give her better
access, feeling the pleasurable sensations radiate outward from my
cock to every part of me. My cock throbbed and quivered under her
touch. I couldn't remember ever feeling this hard before.

Kao spread her legs and, pulling gently on my cock, guided me in
between them. I climbed onto the couch and she threw her legs up over
my shoulders and pulled me into her. I slipped into her warm, wet cunt
easily. She was still dripping from her orgasm. Kao sighed deeply as
she felt me slide in to the hilt. For a moment I was motionless,
savoring the sensation of Kao's vagina grip me. Though she obviously
did not possess those special Bardin cunt muscles that J'Una had liked
to use on me, Kao's cunt walls fit themselves around my cock like a
glove. I revelled in the feeling before starting a slow in and out
motion, pulling my cock almost entirely out of her before easing it
back in. 

I was raised up on my hands, one on either side of her, and her legs
were draped over my shoulders, bending her back and opening her up
complete- ly to my thrusts. Her hands were in constant motion, running
over my chest, raking my back and ass, playing with my balls. 

Kao's cunt was like a cauldron, hot and bubbling, and it sucked me in
deeper each time I plunged into its inviting depth. She was open so
wide, and thrusting back at me so hard that it felt as though my
entire penis, balls and all, was engulfed by her passion. It was an
indescribable feeling and I simply went with it, feeling her seemingly
endless supply of cunt juices spill over my balls and dribble down her
ass.

Kao threw her arms around my neck and pulled herself up against me,
kissing my face and mouth with the same intensity she brought to her
flying. Now I knew how some poor Rebel bastard must have felt when Kao
got him in her sights. She was relentless. In her current position she
resembled some bizarre pretzel, but she didn't let go and she didn't
slacken the pace of her thrusting against me. If anything, it
increased as she moaned and cried into my mouth.

My arms began to ache from the strain of supporting both of us, but I
ignored it, so wrapped up was I in fulfilling this unbelievably hot
woman beneath me. And fill her I was about to do. My cock was
straining, pain- fully hard and erect. My thrusts had become an
incessant hammering and I could feel my own orgasm begin to churn deep
within me and move into the base of my penis.

I bent my elbows and lowered Kao, who was still wrapped around me, to
the couch. She writhed and moaned and thrust herself against me in
increased frenzy as I pounded into her with renewed vigor. Kao came.
She raked my back with her nails, threw her head back and cried out as
she abandoned herself to her climax.

"God, Vel," she wailed, tears streaming down the sides of her face.
"Please fuck me. Please!" Her body was covered in a light sheen of
sweat and her red hair was matted against her face and neck. Her
muscles were taut and her erect nipples stabbed into my chest. She was
completely immersed in her orgasm, and her intensity sent me over the
edge.

My orgasm, which had been boiling and churning in my balls was now re-
leased. Hot sperm rose like lava in a volcano, shot through the tube
of my penis and blasted forth deep within Kao's hot, grasping cunt.
Spasm after spasm racked my body as I shot my cum into her. I kept up
my thrusting as I emptied myself into her, feeling wonderfully alive
and rejuvenated. My cum overflowed her pussy and spilled out between
our bodies, dripping over my balls and into the crack of her ass. God,
what a fuck that was.

We came down slowly, kissing and stroking each other as we savored our
intimacy. Kao unwrapped her legs from around me and curled up against
me, almost purring in gratification. She turned her head around to
look at me abd smiled.

"It's nice to know that you can do more than just fly a TIE fighter,"
she said, chuckling.

"We aim to please," I responded, wrapping my arms around her. We lay
quietly in each other's arms and gradually fell asleep.



I awoke several hours later with Kao curled up tightly against me. I
could smell her hair and feel her breasts move against my chest with
her breathing. I reached down and gently stroked her gorgeous ass,
running my hand along her sexy flank.  As I lay there, softly stroking
Kao, I felt a wave of conflicting emotions wash over me. I felt
sadness at the loss of J'Una, a truly wonderful friend, companion and
lover; anger at the fucking Rebels; mistrust of our own leadership and
high command; joy at this new relationship with Kao; and guilt for
having it.

I was still ruminating when Kao, not fully awake, threw a leg over
mine and began grinding her groin against me. My emotional conflict
suddenly vanished as my cock surged to erection, pulsating against her
slit. I was beginning to guide my cock into Kao when the goddamn red
alert alarms went off.

"Red alert! Red alert! Repoblan attack force approaching a Dimok space
installation. All pilots to your ships. Flight leaders report to
Admiral Haarkov in the hangar. Red alert." The red lights were
flashing, and the klaxon was sounding.

Fully awake now, Kao and I disentangled ourselves and sprang for our
uniforms. I struggled mightily with my trousers, unable to get them
on, until I realized that they were Kao's. I stripped them off and
tossed them to her.

Finally, we managed to get our uniforms on and we took off out of
Kao's quarters and down the passageway. The red lights were flashing
all through the ship and the noise of the alarm was almost deafening.
Crewmembers were hurrying to their stations. We reached the hangar and
ran over to where Admiral Haarkov was standing with  Commander Cibock.

The Admiral gave us a long, stern look. I'm sure he was wondering what
had taken us so long, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he
proceeded to outline the situation.

"As we feared they might," he began, "the Repoblans have launched a
counter-attack against one of the Dimoks' space installations. We do
not want an escalation of this conflict. You will drive off the
Repoblans and show them that we do not favor either side." He paused,
looking at us.  He appeared to be waiting for questions, so I asked
one.

"Do we issue a warning this time, Admiral?" I asked. The last time
this subject came up he became quite angry, but we needed
clarification.

"No, captain," he said smiling. "No warnings unless you deem it to be
necessary."

I nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Make sure you deliver a forceful, but not fatal, blow to the
Repoblans," the admiral continued. "You are also to ensure the safety
of the Dimok installation."

"Do they know we're coming as friends this time?" Kao asked. "I'd hate
to start getting shot at by both sides."

"The Dimoks requested our assistance, captain," the admiral responded.
"It appears they wish to test our impartiality. They will not fire on
you."

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"These are important missions, captains," the admiral said. "I realize
that being ordered not to completely destroy an enemy seems unusual to
you, but it is vital to our success out here. With the destruction of
the Death Star, the Empire can use all the success it can get right
now."

He paused for a few moments. Noise was building in the hangar as TIE
fighters began winding up.

"Good luck, captains," Haarkov said and abruptly turned and walked
away.

Kao and I nodded to each other and she turned and hurried toward her
TIE. I started to turn away but Commander Cibock grabbed my elbow.  He
leaned forward so that his lips were near my ear. Even so, he had to
shout to be heard above the noise.

"See if you can get a look at that Dimok research station."

I nodded acknowledgement. Cibock smiled and hurried off after the
admiral.

I climbed into my TIE, put on my helmet and hooked up the comm link.
The overhead cranes were already starting to move us and, soon, my TIE
was lowered through the launch doors and released into space. I
engaged the twin ion engines and my craft surged forward. I pulled her
into a tight turn and did the customary loop around GUSTAV, waiting
for the rest of my flight to form up.

I activated the sensors and began sizing up the situation. The Dimok
installation was a large platform designed primarily for research. For
defense it had shields and a couple of laser cannons but that was
about it. There were several container vessels moored to its docking
bays.  The installation was guarded by only three old Z-95's. Not
much. No wonder they requested our assistance.

My sensors began picking up the Repoblan attack force. It was quickly
evident that the Repoblans were intending not only to attack the
station but to occupy it. Among the Z-95's and Y-wings that made up
the bulk of the attack force were several Corvettes escorting assault
transports.  This was a huge force and represented, in my view, a
major effort by the Repoblans, perhaps everything they had.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "The Repoblan attack force is quite
large and contains Corvettes and ATR's." ATR was shorthand for assault
transport.

"Roger, Gamma One." Haarkov's voice. So, he was still directly in
control.  "Proceed with your attack. Maybe a quick strike will be
enough to turn them back."

"Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I replied. "I'm not sure that our two flights
can handle a force like this, however. Recommend loading up TIE
bombers with some proton torpedoes to go after the ATRs. You might
also want to have our stormtroopers standing by in case we have to
retake that station."

There was a pause. I'm sure that Haarkov, being an admiral, didn't
like hearing recommendations from a mere starfighter pilot. 

"Recommendations noted, Gamma One," he replied. "Proceed."

"Roger, GUSTAV."  I switched to the flight leader channel and called
Kao.

"Tau leader, this is Gamma leader."

"Roger, Gamma leader," Kao responded. "We are forming up now."

"Very well. This Repoblan attack force is a big one," I informed her.
"I will take Gamma flight in for a direct attack, try to break up
their formation and cause confusion. See if you can work your way
around behind them and hit them while they're busy with us. They may
not have realized that GUSTAV is carrying twice her normal compliment
of TIE fighters and may think that Gamma flight is it."

"Concur, Gamma leader," Kao said. "We'll head out at three-one- four
mark six-six. That should put us in a position to loop around and end
up above and behind them."

I glanced at my display. Her idea was a good one, provided my guys and
I could hold the Repoblans long enough for her to get into position.

"Agreed," I said. "Just don't take too long."

I could hear her chuckle. "We'll do our best, Gamma leader." She
paused and then her voice became serious. "Be careful."

"Don't worry about us," I said lightly. "Gamma leader out."

When attacking an enemy who is numerically superior but tactically and
technologically inferior (except that they had shields)one tactic is
to hit hard, cause confusion, and break the enemy's formation up into
pieces that can be handled one at a time. I noticed that the Repoblans
were in a large massed formation. While this formation promotes
cohesion and focuses an attack, it also restricts the maneuverability
of the starfighters and other vessels that are in the center of the
mass. Thus the formation is vulnerable to being picked apart from the
outside in.

I decided to employ this tactic hoping to create confusion and un-
certainty within the Repoblans causing them to just go away without a
wholesale battle royal.

"Gamma flight, this is Gamma leader," I called. "We will commence
attack run on the near wing of the formation. Stay away from the
center of that mass for now. There's too much firepower in there.
Don't waste your missiles on Z-95s. Save them for Y-wings and bigger."

All TIEs acknowledged and Dromo moved into his customary position
behind and to the left of me.

"Accelerate to maximum speed, charge lasers," I coached. Most of these
pilots didn't need to be told this stuff, but I felt better en- suring
that we followed attack procedure step by step. It had kept me alive
to this point.

"Remember," I continued as I powered my TIE to full throttle, "speed
and maneuverability are your only advantages. Move fast, hit hard and
get the hell out of the way. There's a lot of bad guys in there."
Bread and butter stuff that every experienced TIE pilot knew.
Nevertheless, in the heat of battle, one sometimes forgets the basics.
That's why you have leaders: to remind you.

Then we hit the Repoblan formation at the point where the outer escort
wing, mostly Z-95s and Y-wings, joined the main body. Fireworks
erupted quickly as my TIEs wasted several Z-95s on the first pass. I
targeted a Z-95 and approached head-on. I threw my TIE into a Wotan
weave, a maneuver designed to avoid enemy fire while maintaining a
constant heading, switched my lasers to rapid single fire and pounded
away. The Repoblan Z-95 tried to counter my move, but flew right into
the pattern of my laser fire. He died without getting a shot off.

I maneuvered through the debris, yanked my TIE hard left and flamed
the guy's wingman who was trying to go after Dromo. He didn't get a
shot off, either.

We had completed our first pass and had achieved the desired result.
The outer wing of the Repoblan formation was in complete disarray with
starfighters buzzing around angrily wondering what had hit them. More
significantly, several ships from the main body were maneuvering
toward us. This was good and bad. Good because it further disrupted
the Re- poblan attack and slowed its progress toward the Dimok
installation.  Bad because it meant we had more enemy ships to contend
with.

Over the common channel that I had on loudspeaker in the background, I
could hear Admiral Haarkov trying without success to get the Repoblans
to break off.

Although we were chewing up the outer formation, the main Repoblan
attack force was proceeding undaunted toward the Dimok installation.

Reinforcements started arriving from the Repoblan main force and
things got ugly fast. I lost two TIEs to Y-wing missiles in the blink
of an eye and I had to do some wild maneuvering to avoid becoming the
third. Dromo took care of my attacker and I reversed course and
charged back into the fray, frantically looking for signs of Kao's
flight. Apparently she wasn't in position, yet. 

"Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao. "We need some help
now."

"Hang on, Gamma leader," Kao replied. "We will be in position momen-
tarily and will attack the rear of the main body."

"Roger, Tau leader," I replied. "Watch out for those ATRs."

"Acknowledged, Gamma leader."

I switched channels and called GUSTAV.

"GUSTAV, Gamma one. The main Repoblan attack force will be in range of
the Dimok station soon. Tau flight will hit them from behind but I
think we could use some TIE bombers."

"Concur, Gamma One," Admiral Haarkov replied. "I have tried to talk
sense to these Repoblans but they're bent on attacking this station.
We'll launch TIE bombers and follow them with our own ATRs to deliver
some stormtrooper firepower to the station should the Repoblans
assault it."

Sounded good to me. "Acknowledged, GUSTAV," I said as a Z-95 laser
shot passed uncomfortably close to my port solar panel. I turned hard
right to avoid the second shot, then rolled left, sideslipped behind
the bastard and pressed the trigger. My lasers quickly took his
shields down and then, before he could turn, ripped into the rear of
the main fuselage. The Z-95 exploded and I dived down to avoid its
remains.

"Tau leader to Gamma leader, we are commencing our attack." I heard
Kao's voice and smiled. On my display I saw her flight pile into the
rear of the main Repoblan attack force and the entire formation
completely dissolved into little more than an organized rabble.
Except, that is, for the ATRs and their Corvette escorts. They
stubbornly con- tinued to proceed toward the Dimok installation.

Our TIE bombers had just been launched and it would be some time
before they could attack, so I decided to run some interference to
slow down the ATRs.

"Gamma Two," I called to Dromo, "form up on me. We're going in to make
a run through the ATRs."

"I'm with you, Gamma One," Dromo replied. "But I'm not sure I like
going up against a bunch of ATRs in two unshielded TIEs."

"I just want to slow them up a little until the bombers can attack," I
explained. "Throw some missiles at them, cause them to take defensive
actions."

"OK," Dromo said reluctantly, "Let's go."

"Roger, Gamma Two. We'll go in at full throttle, pass underneath the
Corvettes, take a shot at the lead ATR and go out the other side of
the formation."

"If you say so," Dromo said, unconvinced.

I  opened up to full throttle, drained power from my lasers to get
more speed, switched on my missile targeting system, turned hard left
and dove toward the attack force.

Dromo and I passed under the lead Corvette, evading its turbo laser
fire and headed toward the ATRs. This was a highly unorthodox man-
euver and I was hoping to catch the Repoblans by surprise. The feeble-
ness of their poorly directed laser fire gave me hope.

We shot through the Corvettes, jerking our craft wildly about to avoid
fire. I picked out the lead Repoblan ATR and targeted it with my
missiles, directing Dromo to do the same.

By this time the ATRs had been alerted to us and a hail of laser fire
poured forth to greet us. Dromo and I dodged and weaved our way closer
to the lead ATR, then steadied up and quickly got a missile lock.

"Gamma Two, fire missiles now!" I ordered as I fired two of my
missiles.

Four missiles streaked toward the ATR as Dromo and I split apart, he
making a hard left turn, I a hard right. The Repoblan crewmembers on
that ATR were better than I would have thought. They actually managed
to shoot down one of the missiles. Not so the other three, however.

The three missiles slammed into the ATR, taking down its shields and
destroying its forward laser mount. Although three missiles aren't
enough to destroy an ATR outright, this one had been badly damaged and
was drifting. 

Our attack on the lead ATR had the desired effect on the rest of them.
They slowed down and closed up into an even tighter formation. The
Corvettes broke their formation and began turning about to come back
to protect the ATRs. In short, we had succeeded in disrupting the
entire Repoblan attack force. Not bad for a couple of Imperials in
unshielded starfighters. It helped that the Repoblans, though brave,
were stupid.

Nevertheless, the battle had moved steadily toward the Dimok space
station to a point where individual Repoblan Y-wings and Z-95s were
making strafing runs to start bringing down the station's shields. The
few Dimok Z-95s made a feeble effort against the attackers, but were
quickly destroyed or driven off.

While the Repoblan ATRs and Corvettes were trying to reform, and Kao's
flight was chewing up their escorts, I led Dromo and the rest of my
flight toward the space station, powering up my lasers as I did so.

The Dimok station had sustained a few hits, but it was gamely hammer-
ing back with what defenses it did have. The station's gunners had
actually destroyed a few Repoblan ships.

I attacked a Y-wing just as it released a proton torpedo, the blue
streak headed straight for the station. I couldn't do anything about
the torpedo so I targeted the Y-wing, set my lasers for dual fire and
blew it away. The torpedo, however, slammed into the station, shaking
it violently. My sensors indicated that the station's shields were
down. Uh-oh. And here came the damned ATRs and Corvettes. 

"Gamma leader to Tau leader," I called to Kao, "break off your
engagement with the escorts and get over here to the space station
immediately. We need help."

"Roger, Gamma leader," Kao replied, sounding cool and detached. "We've
just about mopped this bunch up. We're on our way."

"Thanks," I said curtly and jerked my TIE violently up to avoid a
laser blast from somebody. I couldn't tell if it was one of ours or
one of theirs. On my display I saw the TIE bombers approaching,
followed by our own ATRs.  Kao's flight was arriving from the opposite
direction. If we were lucky we could catch these Repoblan bastards
from two sides at once. Lovely.

In the meantime I dodged and weaved my way toward the station. They
had restored power to their weapons and were hammering away again, but
their shields were still down. I activated the cargo scanner and flew
closely underneath the station to "have a look," as Commander Cibock
had put it.

At first there was a lot of static and scrambled readings, probably
due to all the shooting and explosions going on. I made another pass
at a slower speed and hit paydirt. The scanner's alarm sounded and the
little red light flashed. It identified Imperial arms and weaponry on
the station itself and on two of the conveyors moored there. A shuttle
was powering up in preparation for what appeared to be a hurried
departure, but it carried no Imperial contraband. I made note of the
fact that Imperial arms were in the hands of the Dimoks as well as the
Repoblans and shut off the scanner lest it be detected by GUSTAV's
operators. Something was going on, but I'd let Commander Cibock figure
it out. In the meantime I was still in a fight.


I looped back around the platform and quickly flamed a Z-95. The
shuttle I had seen had lifted off and was heading away from the
platform, accelerating quickly. I thought it worth reporting.

"GUSTAV, Gamma One," I called. "There's a Dimok shuttle leaving the
platform in a big hurry. You wan't us to stop it?"

Admiral Haarkov's answer was quick and curt. "Negative, Gamma One.
Let it go."

"Roger," I acknowledged. I was about to turn away when I saw a
Repoblan Y-wing streak in from out of nowhere and start shooting at
the shuttle with its ion cannons. As opposed to lasers, which are
designed to destroy, ion cannons are used to disable enemy craft. The
Y-wing scored several hits and the shuttle was quickly adrift without
power.  I looped around, came up behind the Y-wing and  pounded him
into space junk. Not sure what to do with the shuttle, I figured he
wasn't going anywhere so I turned back to the battle.

The battle was about over. The TIE bombers finally showed up and their
proton torpedoes made quick work of two Repoblan ATRs and a Corvette.
The explosions were incredible and I briefly thought of the two
hundred odd crewmembers normally found on a Corvette.  The Repoblans,
being hammered by TIE bombers from one side and from Kao's flight from
the other, had finally had enough. The remaining Corvettes and ATRs
started withdrawing. 

I  flew past the platform and took a quick shot at a fleeing Y-wing.
I missed and then turned away, letting him go. I remembered the
shuttle and contacted one of our ATRs to go help him out, thinking no
more about it.

I found Dromo and we reformed our flight group. We had taken losses,
but were not hit nearly as bad as the Repoblans had been. Although
battlefields in space tend to disappear rather quickly, there was, at
the moment, ample evidence of the carnage of war. Pieces of
starfighters, the shattered hulk of a Corvette and lots of other
indistinguishable junk floated around. I tried not to think about that
aspect of it, but the image of J'Una's face kept dancing before my
eyes.

I shook my head to clear it, then led my group back toward GUSTAV.

The landing was uneventful and my TIE was set down in its stall by the
tractor beam operator. I went through the post-flight check-list
swiftly, disconnected my comm link and climbed out of the starfighter,
dropping lightly to the hangar deck. Pulling off my helmet, I saw
Commander Cibock approaching me. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

I took a quick look around to make sure that no one was listening.

I nodded and said, "The scanner picked up Imperial weaponry in the
space platform and in two of the container vessels moored there."

Cibock grimaced. " That adds up," he said. "Do you know who was on
that shuttle?"

"No. A Repoblan Y-wing disabled it, I took out the Y-wing and called
in an ATR to help out."

"There was a Rebel officer onboard," Cibock said matter-of-factly.

"What?" I was incredulous.

"The ATR that responded," Cibock continued,"was Maarek's. When Maarek
and some of his troopers boarded the shuttle, the Rebel resisted so
Maarek killed him."

"I'll bet he liked that," I said wryly.

"Probably," Cibock agreed. "They found some data disks on this guy,
but when Maarek called it in and told Haarkov he'd upload it, Haarkov
got livid and told him not to."

"That seems odd," I said. "It's standard procedure. Gets the data back
to the ship quicker."

"I know," Cibock replied."But Haarkov insisted that Maarek carry the
disks back and deliver them to Haarkov personally. It's as if he
didn't want any record of whatever is on the disks."

"What do you think is going on?" I asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Cibock said, glancing around, "but a Rebel
officer on a Dimok station with Imperial weapons does lead to some
conclusions."

"The Rebel Alliance is fomenting this civil war?" I asked.

Cibock smiled paternally. "No," he said. "As I told you before, I
think, but can't prove yet, that Admiral Haarkov has been funneling
weapons to the Rebels."

I was astounded. "Are you sure, sir?"

Cibock nodded. "I think so. He's been channeling them through this
system and the Dimoks and Repoblans have been making a lot of money
acting as middlemen. A discreet inquiry has revealed that there are,
indeed, some- shall we say- inventory shortfalls at a couple of depots
that the admiral controls." 

"How were you able to determine that, sir?" I asked skeptically.

"I have my ways, captain," he said vaguely. Cibock was looking
intently at me, deciding, I assumed, if he should continue. 

"This 'civil war' started," he said quietly,  "because one side, and
I'm not sure which, got greedy. So, Haarkov had to rush out here in
the guise of quelling a disturbance when actually what's happening is
a turf war between rival distributors. Of course, it's only theory."
He smiled sarcastically.

I was stunned by all this intrigue and subterfuge. I was a mere star-
fighter pilot and tended to view things as black or white, us or them,
never thinking that one of us could also be one of them.

"Why would Haarkov come out here on GUSTAV?" I asked. "He doesn't know
if he can trust us. Why not use the PREDATOR, his normal flagship?"

"PREDATOR was unavailable when all this happened," Cibock replied.
"But she's on her way. Once she gets here Haarkov will probably
release us."

I shook my head. "You mean my pilots are dying to protect a gun-
running operation?" Now I was getting pissed.

"Looks like it to me, captain," Cibock said, trying to calm me. "But
you cannot let this knowledge affect how you do your job, and you must
not relay any of this to anybody.  I can't prove any of this and if we
let on that we  know anything...." He left the rest unsaid. "We'll
just have to play this out. When I get a chance, I'll report what we
know, which, frankly, is more supposition than fact."

"Yes, sir," I said. 

"You have served the Emperor well, captain." Commander Cibock patted
me on the shoulder and left the hangar.

'Served the Emperor?' Not 'served the Imperial Navy?' Was that a slip?
What the fuck was going on? What did Cibock care about serving the
Emperor? Most Imperial Naval officers served the Navy first. That's
why there was some friction between the government and the Naval High
Command. That's why thugs like Vader were placed in positions of high
command, to ensure the political loyalty of the Navy's officer corps.
Most of these political appointees, Vader and Tarkin included, were
lousy field commanders. Tarkin's incredible ego and sense of
self-importance led him to underestimate his enemies and caused him to
make a series of stupid decisions which led to the destruction of the
Death Star. Vader was merely a half-mad religious wacko who worshipped
the Emperor and had mastered enough sorcery tricks to scare a lot of
people. He, too, was a lousy commander because he had long lost the
ability to listen.

So, why did Commander Cibock, a loyal officer in the Imperial Navy,
worry about serving an Emperor whom none of us knew, and who
surrounded himself with psychophants, despots and idiots? I shrugged
my shoulders, shook my head in disbelief, and left the hangar.



We flew two more missions, one against each side, in this so-called
Sepan Civil War, though neither was anywhere near as arduous or costly
as the first two had been. In both cases we did little more than "wave
the flag," to cause the Dimoks and Repoblans to retire. It was
apparent that they were reluctant to engage us again.

Admiral Haarkov was still trying to negotiate some kind of arrangement
and he kept us informed with briefings. Every time I saw him, however,
I seethed inside. How could an admiral in the Imperial Navy smuggle
weapons to the very people who destroyed the Death Star, who killed
J'Una? I had to caution myself that Commander Cibock and I really
didn't "know" that Haarkov was doing this, we only "believed" it. I
convinced myself, however, that Haarkov was just the sort to do this
kind of thing. Maybe he even sold the plans to the Death Star! You can
see how even I can get carried away. Treachery and disaster tend to do
that to people.

I worried about how this would, eventually, affect Marina Haarkov.
Every time I saw her: at work in the hangar, relaxing in the wardroom,
I worried about the pain that this might cause her. What made it
harder was the fact I couldn't talk to her about it. Or to Kao. Or
anybody.

After our fourth sortie, the Star Destroyer PREDATOR showed up.  She
was Imperial class and was easily three or four times larger than poor
old GUSTAV. She carried twelve squadrons of TIEs and poss- essed
incredible shipboard firepower. Things changed rapidly after her
arrival.

Admiral Haarkov immediately transferred back to his old ship. It was
almost as though he couldn't get off of GUSTAV fast enough. He didn't
even say goodbye to Marina. Shortly thereafter he somehow arranged for
a meeting with the Dimok and Repoblan leaders onboard PREDATOR.

We weren't privy to the negotiations, of course, but Commander Cibock
expressed no surprise when Admiral Haarkov sent a message to Imperial
High Command announcing he had negotiated a peaceful end to the Sepan
problem. Commander Cibock shared with me his suspicions that the
PREDATOR'S crew was in league with Haarkov and brought with them
something that Haarkov used to bribe the Dimok and Repoblan leaders.
What that something was he had no idea.

Admiral Haarkov reported to the Imperial High Command that, while
PREDATOR's presence was still required in the Sepan System, GUSTAV's
part in the mission had been completed. He closed his message by
lavishing great praise on GUSTAV and her crew. It rang hollow to me.

Almost immediately GUSTAV received new orders and Commander Cibock
gathered us in the briefing room to tell us what we were going to do
next. That's the way it is in the Imperial Navy. Finish one assignment
and move on to the next. The fact that you did a great job mattered
only briefly. It was always "what else can you do?" As far as the next
assignment was concerned, one's record of past success guaranteed
nothing.

Commander Cibock still looked a little haggard and worn down. I knew
that the death of his son on the Death Star had deeply affected him,
but I was proud of the way he had held up and always put the interests
of the crew ahead of his own grief. That's what always separated him
in my mind from most senior Imperial officers: Commander Cibock led by
compassion and example and professionalism, rather than fear,
intimidation and equivocation. It was really too bad we didn't have
more officers like him.

"I want to tell all of you," he began when we had been seated, "how
proud I am of the way you conducted yourselves during this mission.
It was very difficult, with unusual and vague objectives, yet you per-
formed flawlessly." We all smiled at each other. Commander Cibock
smiled, too, for the first time in a while.

"I have nominated several of you," he continued, "including Captains
Tallig and Ijuf, for decorations." We smiled some more.

"While we're waiting on those, however, we still have work to do."
GUSTAV's Commanding Officer paused, making sure he had our full
attention.

"As soon as this briefing is over," he resumed, " we will depart the
Sepan system and jump to hyperspace. Our ultimate destination is to
rendezvous with a large fleet being amassed in Beta quadrant under the
personal command of Lord Vader."

Again, that chill that Vader's name invariably causes ran through the
assembled officers. Cibock let it pass.

"Lord Vader is tracing the whereabouts of the Rebels who were on the
base at Yavin and played a role in destroying the Death Star.   They
have apparently relocated to another system. We don't know which one,
yet, but there are thousands of probes and hundreds of ships searching
the sector. When we rendezvous with the main fleet we will undoubtedly
be used in a reconnaissance role to assist in locating the Rebels."

So, we'd be going up against real competition again. I found myself
hoping we hadn't lost anything by taking on second-line opposition
like the Dimoks and Repoblans. I also found myself hoping to get a
chance to kill a whole bunch of those bastards that had been part of
the Death Star's demise.

"Once this new Rebel base is located," Cibock continued,"all available
force will be brought to bear to crush this part of the Rebellion. We
can anticipate a high tempo of operations and the possibility of some
heavy fighting." We all nodded. We'd been through this drill before.

"Enroute to the fleet we will stop briefly at the base at Letni Edisni
to pick up some replacement crews and starfighters. Captains Tallig
and Ijuf," he said looking at Kao and me, "you won't have much time to
get these new pilots ready for battle, so make best use of it." 

"Yes, sir," I replied. "We'll get them ready."

"That's all for now. Good luck," Cibock said then strode out the door
as we all stood to attention.

An hour later Commander Cibock sent a message to Admiral Haarkov
paying his respects and requesting permission to depart. This was a
custom which had been traditionally followed in the Imperial Navy,
though it was mere formality. Admiral Haarkov granted permission, of
course, and GUSTAV jumped to hyperspace.

I was awakened in the middle of the night by an incessant knocking at
the door to my quarters. The chimes were buzzed repeatedly and I
finally managed to fight my way through the fog of sleep. I started to
move, but then became aware of a weight on my chest and legs. Kao.  I
gently disentangled myself from her and she rolled over and went back
to sleep. 

The knocking and chiming continued, and I was becoming irritated. I
grabbed a robe and cast a backward glance at Kao's naked, sleeping
form, recalling for a moment our latest bout of lovemaking. My prick
started twitching so I stopped thinking about it and went to the door.
This had better be good, I thought.

I released the lock and the door slid open. Standing there, obviously
uncomfortable, was a young crewmember whose red tabs on his collar
identified him as a member of the ship's communications department.

"What is it?" I asked groggily.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir," the young man said crisply, "but
Commander Cibock said you'd want to see this right away." He held out
a text data pad.

"A text pad?" I asked, a little surprised. "Not a hologram?" Usually,
personal messages, which I assumed this to be, came via a hologram.

"No, sir," the crewman answered. "This came from one of our more re-
mote stations, which doesn't have holographic capability."

"That's odd," I said. "I don't know anybody on any remote outposts."

The crewman offered the pad to me again. "Commander Cibock insisted,
sir."

I nodded and took the pad. "Okay. Thanks."

"Yes, sir," the crewman said as he spun on his heel and left. I went
back inside my quarters, the door closing behind me, and turned on a
light. I flipped open the data pad and nearly fainted.

VEL,

THE BASTARDS MISSED ME!! SEE YOU SOON!

				J'UNA Tatooine




END OF PART FOUR



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