Jedi Council Forums - Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, OT, completed 3/30

Jedi Council Forums » Fan Fiction » The Saga »

The 2009 Saga Awards are in progress! See this thread for details.

Locked Topic | Read Only Topic | Previous Active Topic | Next Active Topic

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - ~~Previous~~ | Next | Reload

Author	Topic: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, OT, completed 3/30
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/6/04 4:39pm Subject: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, OT, completed 3/30 - Date Edited: 3/30/04 2:50pm (13 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Hi, everyone. I decided to take the plunge again and post a story. Title: Solid Ground Who: All original characters (roster follows) Timeframe: One year after the Battle of Yavin Summary: The Imperials set a trap for the Rebels on an isolated colony world, causing the X-wing pilots on the mission to get much more than they bargained for. Disclaimer: All characters are mine, but the universe and all its toys belong to George Lucas. Many thanks to LordGoldenArrow, who never complains about hearing me go on and on about story stuff and who also gave me the idea for this story in the first place. All but one of the main characters are introduced in a fic I posted here a couple of years ago, Commencement (a more recent and somewhat smoother version of the fic can be found offsite here). However, I've done my best to make this into a stand-alone story, so if I did my job right then you won't need to have read "Commencement" to understand this one. This is a completed story that I'll be posting in sections. The first post will be up in a few minutes, and it will probably be a page or two longer than other posts because I want to get the background and introduction done up front and without breaking it up. Constructive comments are welcome. Thanks for reading. -Katie Dramatis Personae Corona Squadron Corona One / Lead - Commander Quentell "Mack" Mackin, human male from Treminal III Corona Two - Lieutenant Ikoa Fyndcap, human female from Rin Corona Three - Lieutenant Jayke "Chopper" Forsgren, human male from Brentaal Corona Four - Flight Officer Kalre Unatel, Rodian male from Druckenwell Corona Five - Lieutenant Shaun "Scoop" Pellicer, human male from Commenor Corona Six - Flight Officer Chryse "CC" Cerac, human female from Avalar Corona Seven - Lieutenant Tictintco "Slurry" Tnis, Bilgana male from Bilgan Corona Eight / XO - Lieutenant Steen "Snubber" Weas, human male from Plonia V Corona Nine - Flight Officer Darin "Thumper" Stanic, human male from Craci IV Corona Ten - Flight Officer Hentil "Quiver" Yanilr, human male from Druzien Corona Eleven - xxxx Corona Twelve - xxxx Rebellion Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Trainneer, human male from Coruscant -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/6/04 5:52pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, started 1/6 - Date Edited: 3/24/04 5:25pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Solid Ground by Thumper09 Prologue The voice coming over the communication system's speakers sounded concerned, troubled, anxious to help, matching the expression of the Rebel officer on the screen who was speaking. "We'll do what we can." "Thank you," Tayer Fohl'zic said before closing the transmission. As his screen went blank he sighed bleakly and looked up at the Imperial officer standing out of sight of the transmitter and flanked by two stormtroopers. The officer, a major, offered Fohl'zic a cold, ruthless smile. "Excellent performance. I almost believed it myself. Now you'd just better hope that your Rebel friends do." ***** A few days later and light-years away aboard the Rebel Dauntless-class cruiser Crescent Star, Commander Quentell Mackin frowned at the computer console as the recorded conversation ended. "And who is this person again?" "His name is Tayer Fohl'zic," said Lieutenant Colonel Trainneer, a rather tall but scrawny redhead wearing the uniform of Rebellion Special Forces. "He's the leader of a small industrial colony nearby that has secretly helped the Rebellion in the past by providing us with trilithide. That's expensive and hard to come by, as you know, and also very useful in several different applications. It's no wonder that the Imperials are interested in it enough to send in some troops." When Mackin and the other officers present nodded thoughtfully, taking everything in, Trainneer continued, "We've been authorized to go assist, and I've already worked out a preliminary plan. My Special Forces teams can handle the beginning phases but we'll need involvement from both the army and Starfighter Command, which is why you're here. What I need from all of you is input on your aspects of the mission so we can make this work. If there are no questions up front, we can get started." Chapter One The pilot briefing room on Crescent Star was a small, simple room. Its chairs, numbering just enough for two squadrons plus change, were arranged theater-style facing the far side of the room, away from the single doorway. The chairs themselves were hard, uncomfortable things made from scrap metal and discarded coolant pipes, no two exactly alike, and it was rumored that they were made that way without any padding because one too many pilots had fallen asleep during briefings. The small open area that the chairs faced contained a table with a holoprojector atop it. It sometimes contained a lectern as well, but that was usually pushed off into a corner where it was out of the way, as it was now. Few events in that room were formal enough to require its use or even benefit from it. The room's walls, bland except for a prominent painting of the emblems of both fighter squadrons stationed on Crescent Star, had seen a lot. They had been witness to the plannings of many missions, both wonderful victories and heartbreaking defeats, not to mention promotions and award ceremonies as well as preparations for the next memorial service. They had heard countless jokes, countless taunts, ringing laughter and somber silence. The scene the walls beheld now was not a new one: in fact, it happened every day at 1400 hours with some variations and exceptions. The fighter pilots of Corona Squadron were scattered across the room in their usual seating arrangement, having noisy yet private discussions amongst themselves with an occasional shout to get someone else's attention. Normally the discussions wouldn't have lasted this long, but for some reason both their commander and executive officer had not yet arrived to brief them so there was no reason to stop. Though some of the pilots were getting impatient, the atmosphere was relaxed overall. One large contributor to this was their clothing: most were suited up in their baggy, comfortable general duty uniforms. The remaining handful that had just come back from patrol were still in their bright orange flightsuits, which were just as relaxing to wear but much less easy on the eyes. The pilots didn't seem particularly perturbed by the hard chairs, either due to their comfortable clothing making up for it or due to how accustomed they were to living with little and simply having to make do with it. A prime example of that was their roster. The Coronas were not immune to the Rebel pilot shortage in the time following the Battle of Yavin: even now they only had ten pilots and long-standing promises from Starfighter Command to get them two more "as soon as they could." They had been told that for so long now that the Coronas and the pilots of Quake Squadron, a Y-wing squadron stationed on Crescent Star with the Coronas, had created a pool where the pilots had placed bets on the month (first half or last half) and year that Command would finally fulfill its promise. Everyone had wanted to get in on it, and the amount of money up for grabs would definitely make the eventual winner a very happy person. But even without a full squadron, they had learned to get by. The Coronas were also adept at making the most of their precious little free time, and that included the extra few minutes unexpectedly being given to them while they waited for their officers. The eight pilots currently in the room continued waiting and talking, their lack of numbers not causing a lack of noise. Occasional speculations about the reason for their superiors' tardiness were scattered in between the random discussions, but no one knew the reason why they were late. Finally, their collective thoughts were directly voiced by the lone Rodian in the squadron, though he was one of the more impatient ones who only saw the time he was losing, not the time he was gaining. "This is ridiculous," said Flight Officer Kalre Unatel as he looked at his chrono for the fifth time in as many minutes. "It's 1415 hours. They've never been fifteen minutes late before. I thought this was supposed to be a very important briefing. Are they coming?" It was asked half-rhetorically, but he was given an answer anyway. On the other side of the small room, Flight Officer Chryse Cerac, or CC for short, just shrugged her shoulders, not overly concerned. "Maybe they forgot about it." The other female human pilot, Lt. Ikoa Fyndcap, shook her head, an action that caused her soft brown hair to swat gently across her face. "Both Mack and Snubber? That's hardly likely. They never forget anything like this." "Or the pranks Quiver wishes they'd forget." CC threw a mischievous smirk in the direction of the man sitting beside her, who feigned complete and utter innocence, then she turned back to the rest of the squadron around her. "So...what? Should we try comming one of them? What if they're in the middle of something more important?" Erasing his innocent expression, the tall, lanky man sitting next to CC sighed and rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you guys. Are all of you that desperate for a briefing? Here, I'll give you a briefing." True to his word, Flight Officer Hentil "Quiver" Yanilr stood up and walked to the front of the room beside the holoprojector. The other Coronas quieted and looked on curiously from their seats as Quiver turned to face them. Just as Commander Mackin did each time, Quiver quickly counted the pilots, cleared his throat and began. "Okay, Coronas, let's get started," he said in a decent imitation of Mackin's accent. "Mack and Snubber will be required to contribute to the Squadron Pot for being late, at the going rate of two credits for each minute they’re overdue." Some of the Coronas snickered at his performance. Quiver mimicked Mackin's mannerisms again as he loosely crossed his arms and sighed quietly yet pointedly, waiting for them to quiet down. That only made them laugh harder. Finally Quiver continued in a serious tone, forgetting about the accent, "Our mission is a difficult one and will require us all to be on top of our game." He quickly called up a holoprojection of Coruscant on the front table. "Our destination: Coruscant, or Imperial Center. Former capital of the Republic, current capital of the Empire. Defense stations, fighter patrols and planetary shielding will all have to be dealt with or avoided to reach our primary target: The Swordcat's Lair, home of the best nerf steaks this side of Corellia. Our objective: take-out." Now the Coronas could sense where Quiver was going with all this, and they were more than willing to play along and be entertained while waiting for their CO and XO. The mock gasp coming from them was done so perfectly in unison that an outsider who was watching would have been convinced the whole thing was scripted beforehand. Before the gasp and associated murmurings had completely died out, Quiver's wingman, Flight Officer Darin "Thumper" Stanic, opened his eyes wide and said, "But that's a suicide mission! We'll never make it!" "We have to try, though, Thumper. The future of the entire Rebellion is at stake!" Quiver said with conviction. "I don't take orders from someone who makes such bad puns!" CC joined in. "You have no choice. We need everyone, and this mission must succeed." "So what's the plan for getting on-planet then?" Lt. Jayke Forsgren, better known as Chopper, asked in a skeptical tone. The solidly-built human with a black crew cut sat back and crossed his arms as if to defy the very notion that this mission could possibly work. Quiver eagerly accepted the challenge. "Well," he said reasonably, "the first step is to steal a Star Destroyer. Any class will do, though I’m partial to the Victories myself. Slurry, Chopper and Snubber will be in charge of this. Tell Snubber when he gets here." Enjoying the game, the pilots fidgeted and looked dubiously at each other. The exception was Slurry, who nodded and said in a thick accent that showed Basic was not his first language, "Star received reports of those Star Destroyers three a time short ago. Maybe one is nearby still and we can get it before it moves away far too." Slurry's real name was Lieutenant Tictintco Tnis, but since none of the pilots could easily pronounce that mouthful they always called him Slurry. He was a Bilgana, a short humanoid species with four arms, four eyes, charcoal-colored skin, fingers that more closely resembled talons and knees that bent the "wrong" way. Needless to say, out of all the pilots in the squadron it was Slurry's flightsuit and ejection seat that had needed the most modifications to accommodate his physiology. "That's a really good place to start. You guys can work out all the details, and I want a preliminary report by 1700," said Quiver before he addressed the whole squadron again. "Once we steal the SD, if it comes with a crew then CC and I will get them to defect and help us." CC interrupted with a small laugh. "Oh, that's easy," she teased. "All we have to do is introduce you to the crew and say you're joining the Imperials. They'll be so afraid that they might be assigned to the same ship as you that they’ll join the Rebellion in an instant!" Quiver just smirked back, his enjoyment of the banter all too obvious. "Yes, my mere presence does seem to influence vast numbers of people for the better, doesn't it? But back to the mission. If there is no crew, we'll have to figure out a way to fly it on our own." Ikoa spoke up. "We can temporarily reprogram our astromechs to help run the ship. Each of them could probably do the jobs of a few hundred crewmen." Nodding in approval, Quiver said, "Great idea. You and Kalre start on the program just in case there's no crew. Darin, get as many droids as possible, astromech and otherwise, to agree to help." "What makes you think the droids will listen to me?" Darin asked in confusion. "Because Botch is near the top of the pecking order, and he listens to you. Usually." "That's my point. What if he doesn't?" "Make it work. Threaten that astromech of yours with a memory wipe if you have to. Where was I? Oh, yeah. We now have a Star Destroyer to fly to Coruscant and we'll use that to blend in." Quiver now turned his attention to Lt. Shaun Pellicer, sometimes called Scoop, a former Imperial TIE pilot. "Scoop, you'll pretend to be the captain because you had that whole 'Imperial thing' going. Mack and whoever else is available will be the bridge crew. You'll have to talk us through their defenses using whatever secret language Imperials speak to each other." If Pellicer was upset at still being associated with the Imperials even after being a Rebel since the destruction of Alderaan a year ago, he didn't show it. Years of military training and a lifetime of belonging to a military family gave him a strong internal discipline reflected externally in his dark brown regulation crew cut and self-assured posture. He merely replied, "I'm fluent in over ten million forms of Imperial dialects. I'll get you through. Lesson one: all Imperial transmissions must contain the phrases 'Rebel scum' or 'for the glory of the Empire.' See, I'm not rusty at all." "Good deal, Scoop. We'll need that." Quiver grinned briefly and then became serious again, though his sloppy blond crew cut and mischievous pale blue eyes made it hard for anyone to really take him seriously. "If we get into trouble we'll have our X-wings in the hangar, and the Quakes can come too if they want. You'll each have the choice of using your X-wing or the Destroyer's big guns if we get into a firefight. If you use the SD's guns, though, please remember to flag Rebel ships as 'friendly' beforehand. "Once Lt. Pellicer gets us into orbit, we'll take a shuttle to Quadrant 38 on-planet. The pilot of the shuttle will be whoever loses the most games of sabacc on the way to Coruscant, whoever is most sober at the time, or both, if applicable. The rest of us will disguise ourselves as Vader, the Emperor, and various other well-known, high-ranking Imperial officers who no one will dare ask for identification upon landing." The Coronas looked at each other and nodded like that idea made a lot of sense. "From there, we go to the restaurant, get our delicious nerf steak take-out, and get out the way we came in. Any questions?" Several pilots spoke up at once. "Can I be the Emperor?" "I'm not playing if we're using Chopper's sabacc deck." "Who's bringing the drinks?" "Wait, wait, wait, one at a time." Quiver held his hands up, palms out, to stop the outburst of questions. "We will not be using Chopper's sabacc deck. I know better than that." "Aww." Chopper sounded crestfallen. "Next," Quiver continued, "whoever asked about being the Emperor can be the Emperor. I want to be a Grand Admiral, and Darin has to be Vader." "What? Why do I have to be Vader?" "Because you already look like him. Now, are there any other questions relating to planning this mission?" "Yeah," Commander Mackin said from the doorway in the back. "What if the restaurant runs out of Savor Sauce before you get there? You're not planning on going during lunchtime and fighting the crowds, are you? And have you fully explored the option of delivery instead of take-out?" The surprised pilots all turned around in their seats to see Commander Quentell Mackin, Lt. Steen "Snubber" Weas and a Special Forces officer standing in the back, their expressions quite unreadable. Normally Mackin might have found something like Quiver's impromptu briefing somewhat amusing, but the timing was horrible with another officer standing there watching as well. Quiver grinned sheepishly at them from the front of the room. "Just warming up the holoprojector for you, sir." He turned off the image of Coruscant and quickly retreated to his seat between Darin and CC, who were having a very hard time stifling their laughter. As the other pilots likewise tried to keep quiet and while the three officers walked to the front of the room, Quiver hissed to Darin, "Why didn't you tell me they were there?" Darin finally got enough control to whisper back, "I didn't know they were there. My back's to them-–you were the one facing their direction. It's nice to know my wingman's blind. Besides, even if I had known, I wouldn't have said anything because it's a lot funnier this way." Quiver elbowed him in the side as Darin again struggled to regain control of his laughter. The second Darin did, though, he looked sidelong at Quiver and quietly imitated Darth Vader's mechanized breathing. "Hhhhh hhhhh. Hhhhh hhhhh." Quiver reached over and put Darin in a headlock so calmly that no one seemed to notice besides CC, who just shook her head as if to hopelessly say, "Children." Then she joined in the antics and in turn discreetly elbowed Quiver in the side to get him to release Darin. He did so, throwing a mock hurt expression her way, and then as suddenly as if someone had flipped a switch, they all stopped the horseplay and focused on Mackin at the front of the room. It was just in time, because an instant later Mackin said, "I apologize for being late. And I regret to inform you all that this mission does not involve coming away with nerf steaks." The pilots, still getting over Quiver’s performance, moaned a bit and looked disappointed. Woeful comments likely would have followed if the other officer had not been there. Mackin allowed the Coronas to usually dispense with most military formalities within the confines of the squadron and keep things relaxed to some degree, but all that changed the minute someone was in trouble or when they were dealing with a higher-ranking officer who might not understand or appreciate the looser atmosphere. A holoprojection of a pale green planet appeared in the air a moment later, and the Special Forces officer began. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Trainneer of Special Forces, and we will be working with you on this mission." His expression suggested that he was no longer certain he was entirely happy with that idea. "This is the planet Lokinha. Its main feature of note is an industrial colony of the same name. The colony is relatively new, and the only population on the planet resides there. They have secretly supported the Rebellion in the past and are one of our main suppliers of trilithide, which is a scarce and very useful commodity. "Very recently, the Imperials apparently took an interest in Lokinha. We received a transmission from the colony leader requesting assistance because the Imperials have sent a small force down to the planet to take control. The colony has yet to make enough of a profit to be able to afford adequate defensive equipment, so there is little they can do to resist." Chopper raised his hand, then spoke up. "What's a 'small force'? Sir." "The leader reported a couple of squads, maybe a platoon, of stormtroopers and a handful of TIEs." "That's it?" Pellicer asked, somewhat surprised. "Yes. Keep in mind that the colony is not yet very large, either in size or population, and has few defenses to speak of. A large amount of Imperial forces would not be needed to take or hold the planet. Proportionately, it's the amount we'd expect. "Continuing on, Crescent Star is the nearest ship and so we are going in to help them. Commander?" The tall redhead yielded the floor to Mackin, who pressed some buttons on the holoprojector. An instant later, the planet's image was replaced with the image of a star whose surface was coated in an abnormal number of eruptions, with an occasional flare or prominence visible. "We're going in and we're going in quick," Mackin announced. "The system's star currently has a large storm erupting on it, and that's predicted to last for about another day or so. If we go in during that time, the storm will cover our tracks, so to speak, and should allow us to land undetected because it will scramble any sensors they have in orbit. That works both ways, however: we won't be able to use our comm system or sensors while in the storm's area of effect, at the very least until we drop below their magnetosphere and are shielded from it. Your X-wings' windows and hull will be coated with a layer of radiation shielding to protect both it and you from the storm. There will be no performance lost, as this is only a thin, clear film. The techs are applying it as we speak. "Normally a scout team would be sent in first, but because of the limited window of opportunity available due to this solar storm we'll all be going down at once. After we land, Special Forces will send a scout team on ahead to gather intel. Past Alliance missions to this planet have used a relatively close canyon to the east of the colony as a landing and hiding spot, and we'll be using it too. "So basically, this is what to expect in terms of scheduling: at 1630 hours today we're leaving to escort the Special Forces teams to Lokinha. Our fighters and their shuttles are faster than Crescent Star, so we'll be getting there in time to sneak in during the storm. After we arrive tonight we'll head down to the canyon with the majority of the Special Forces commandos and wait while a small SF team goes into the colony to scout out the exact situation. They'll report back in the morning. Meanwhile, Star has to make a brief stopover elsewhere to pick up enough army forces to protect the colony afterward and then will be arriving there early tomorrow morning to join us. Once Star arrives and the team reports in, we'll provide air support for the rest of the Special Forces members and troops going into the colony." Mackin changed the holoprojector's display to a schematic showing different buildings and structures. "You'll each get a map of the colony to study on the way there so you know what's what when we're flying cover. The west side of the colony has aqueducts going into the high hills to the west to provide the needed water pressure for their manufacturing equipment, so you'll have to watch out for them if we end up over there. There are also several processing plants that use highly explosive materials, and if we get into a scuffle the Imperials may try to blow them up under you. Make sure you study up on the layout and the potential dangers. Are there any questions?" The pilots were silent. Mackin glanced at Lt. Weas. "Did I forget anything?" When the XO simply shook his head, Mackin looked back at the rest of his pilots. "All right, then. Pack up and get ready to ship out at 1630." With scattered acknowledgments, the Coronas started heading out. As Quiver, Darin and CC stood, CC turned to them and said, "Yet another mission where I need a pet-sitter. I'd better go see if Kile can watch Hue until we get back. You guys want to meet at 1530 to get something to eat beforehand?" "Sounds good," Quiver said. "Okay, see you then. Quiver, you're treating us all to nerf steaks now because you really got me in the mood for one," CC told him. "Sure, go kill me a nerf and I'll cook it right up." "Stop talking about nerf steaks! You're making it worse," Darin said as he brushed aside his blond bangs. "That sounds so good right now." "Hey, for all we know, the mess hall could be serving us nerf," said Quiver. "They have to get mystery meat from somewhere, don't they? Maybe we've been having nerf all along and don't even know it." "I don't want to know what part of the nerf they got that from then," muttered Darin. "I can't remember the last time I had real food." Quiver raised an eyebrow at CC as they walked out. "Does your wingman complain this much?" She matched his deadpan. "Nope, just yours. And the poor guy's got a lot to rightfully complain about if he's stuck with you." "Want to trade?" "No," she answered. "Damage control. Quarantine. You've already messed up Darin, so he has to stay with you so it doesn't spread. Don't want you messing up Scoop or any of the others as well. Sorry, Thumper, but it's up to you to contain the damage." "Oh, wonderful. Thanks," Darin answered. "I feel like such a useful part of the squadron now." "Are you kidding? You don't get much more useful than that," CC said as she grinned at him, her eyes twinkling. ***** (edit: two formatting mistakes) -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Xaara Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 1/6/04 7:55pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, started 1/6
	A great start, Thumper! I loved the ominousness of the prologue, and the way it cut back to the Rebels who, presumeably, are in quite a good deal of danger. We're in suspense, and it's only a few paragraphs into the story! The description of the conference room was authentic and made it easy to visualize the pilots lounging around talking to each other, exchanging gossip and just conversing about the day's events. I especially liked the observation about the orange flight suits - that they were comfortable for the wearer but less so for the other occupants of the nearby space. The next part was hilarious, with Quiver's imitation of Mackin and the rest of the squadron playing along. Pellicer's, "I'm fluent in over ten million forms of Imperial dialects. I'll get you through. Lesson one: all Imperial transmissions must contain the phrases 'Rebel scum' or 'for the glory of the Empire.'" and then the argument about who would be the "bad guys" made me laugh out loud. Of course, the whole time, I was just waiting for Mackin to show up with some sort of perfectly timed phrase. And show up he did! His, And have you fully explored the option of delivery instead of take-out? had me laughing again. (Which is bad, because it's late and I shouldn't be waking my sister up... ) This mission sounds intriguing and slightly dangerous. Of course, if it all went according to plan then there wouldn't be anything to write about, so I'm going to make a wild prediction here and say that something will go wrong. I can't wait to read what happens. The last section of dialogue was wonderful as well. I'm beginning to like the squadron - you've managed to create complete impressions of them within a short space. I'm looking forward to reading more. Keep up the great work! -----signature----- My Ramblings: http://www.livejournal.com/users/xaara/ My lil bro/sis: Flyboy_7/Wyn_Fel Wyomé, Handmaiden of the Crest
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
-Z- Registered: Dec '03	Date Posted: 1/7/04 10:13am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, started 1/6
	I'm likin' it. I always liked the diversity of characters in squad fics; each person has a unique history with strengths and weaknesses. You developed the characters very well. I feel like I know them a little. Definitely want to read more! -----signature----- "...Who said anything about slicing you up, man? I just wanted to carve a little Z on your forehead..." Check profile for stories.
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/8/04 9:10am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, started 1/6
	Thanks for the responses and comments, Xaara and -Z-! Xaara, the briefing room scene was a lot of fun to write. I'm glad it came across as showing the pilots just having a good time. And doesn't Murphy's Law imply that the teacher will come back into the room just when the kids start goofing around? Wow, did you actually wake your sister up? I hope she got back to sleep! ...so I'm going to make a wild prediction here and say that something will go wrong. Nah...it's gonna be a walk in the park. Nothing to worry about. Z, I agree, squad fics are great places to play with a wide range of characters. The problem then becomes letting each character develop and not get pushed to the background because of the number of others vying for screen time. That gets hard, especially when all the characters are brand-new to the reader. (Kinda like the challenge of watching Firefly without having the pilot episode shown first. g) I'm planning on updating at least every Tuesday. Hopefully it'll be up earlier than the last one (browser died in the middle of posting). Thanks again! -Katie -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/13/04 4:27pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, started 1/6 - Date Edited: 1/13/04 4:39pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Next installment. This is more of what I expect a "normal" post length to be. ***** Chapter Two "I swear, Thumper, only you could fall asleep on an S-foil." Darin woke up when he heard Quiver's remark, and it took him a moment to get his bearings. Corona Squadron and the two Special Forces shuttles had reached the canyon on Lokinha without incident, and after throwing camouflage netting over the ships as a precaution there was nothing for them to do but wait for the scout party to report back the next morning. Darin was stretched out on his X-wing's port S-foil on top of the netting, with his feet pointing toward the laser cannon and his hands cushioning his head. When he opened his eyes, he looked up past the top of his head to see Quiver sitting on that S-foil's engine and grinning in amusement in the darkness. Darin stretched his stiff muscles but made no move to get up. "Sorry, I was stargazing a little. I guess I drifted off." "Don't be sorry," Quiver replied. "Take all the sleep you can get. Though how you can sleep with no blanket when it's this chilly out is beyond me." Darin smiled. "It's nice out." "It's cold." "It's nice out." Quiver shook his head hopelessly at his wingman and pulled his jacket closer around himself before looking up at the sky. "Nice night for stargazing, at least. Hopefully those clouds to the west will hold off." "Yeah." Darin looked at the twinkling stars and then said a little more quietly, "My friends back home and I used to stargaze for hours. We'd single out a distant star and then argue about what system it was, though none of us honestly knew. And whenever a ship would go by overhead at night, we'd try to figure out what kind it was based on the lights alone, or the sound too if we could hear it. We were better at identifying ships than identifying stars." The smaller pilot paused, and as he gazed up into the limitless universe he seemed to get even smaller. "Doesn't it ever make you feel–-I don't know, homesick?" Quiver raised an eyebrow curiously though Darin couldn't see it. "What do you mean?" Darin shrugged a bit. "Being on a planet somewhere and looking up at the stars, but not seeing one familiar constellation. Not one. I mean, I–-" He abruptly cut himself off. No reason to bother his friend with his neverending homesickness again. His squadmate looked back at the sky. "I don't know. I never really thought about it." Still on his back, Darin picked up a datapad laying beside him and held it up to show Quiver under the light of the two moons. "I had Botch give me the starmaps as seen from this system." He pointed to a group of dim stars not far above the northeastern canyon ridge. "You see that group of stars that's kind of clustered together but spread out at the same time? Well, I guess it's more of a small band, a little denser than the surrounding area. Just above the ridge?" "Yeah." "That's the Corporate Sector. My planet's in there somewhere. Redu–-" Darin cut himself off again and absently chewed on his bottom lip a little. Just as abruptly, he changed the subject slightly. "And you know what? We're so far away that I wasn't even born yet when the light we're seeing now left our sun and reflected off my homeworld to merge with and join the starlight out here, if that makes sense. There's no reflection of me in it, just as there's no reflection of the Empire's occupation in it quite yet. I wish it had stayed that way...the occupation part, not the ‘me' part. Given the distance, I doubt my parents are even part of that reflected light. Maybe I'm seeing my grandparents or great-grandparents as children right now. Makes you think." While Quiver enjoyed philosophical discussions, there were times, such as this one if the look on his face was any indication, when he felt that Darin gave that kind of stuff much more thought than any nineteen-year-old had a right to. Quiver looked at the group of stars Darin had pointed out and squinted, but apparently couldn't see what Darin was seeing in the pinpoints of light. Darin's home system, the Craci System, wasn't even distinguishable from the other Corporate Sector stars at that distance. Going back to the original topic, Quiver asked, "Where are the Core Worlds?" The younger pilot pointed straight up at the zenith, where a pale, wavy band cut across the sky. "Up there. I think the area is generally brighter, but the moons are drowning it out." Quiver leaned back a bit and craned his head back to look up. "That's where I'm from. Where specifically is Druzien?" Darin pointed out the star, and Quiver grinned as he looked at it. "It's a lot warmer in person. You know how many sunburns I got from that thing?" "I can imagine. So what do they call someone from Druzien? Are you a Druzienian?" The smirk on Darin's face was essentially audible in his tone of voice, replacing the contemplativeness from before. Quiver deadpanned back, "It depends. If you're bigger than me you can call me whatever you want." "And what should someone smaller than you call you?" "Master." The two pilots laughed a bit, and Darin shook his head slightly. "I'll remember that, master." Another voice spoke up nearby. "Quiver, for the last time, stop making your wingmen into your personal slaves. That's not what they're there for." Quiver gave a half-snort as the other pilot approached the X-wing. "Of course that's what they're there for, CC. What, do you think I'm going to go risk my life in battle if I haven't gotten my X-wing spit-polished? Absolutely not!" He glared down at Darin. "Well? What are you lying around here for? I know you're not done with it yet. Get back to work!" Darin sat up and slowly spun around to face Quiver, hanging his head. "Yes, master. I'm sorry, master. It won't happen again, master. I go now." "And stop groveling. I hate it when you grovel." "Yes, master. I'm sorry, master. It won't happen again, master." By now CC had climbed up on Darin's X-wing, and she playfully gave Quiver's shoulder a little shove. "You are such a bad influence on him. Poor guy, stuck with you." Darin tried to hide a grin at the comment. The third member of what Mackin called "The Trio," CC was close to Quiver's age, making them both a couple years Darin's senior, at least physically. Like Quiver, playing pranks was one of CC's favorite past-times, and in addition to that she adored teasing Quiver, especially when it took the form of expressing sympathy for Darin at being assigned the position of Quiver's wingman and being "stuck with him." Not to be outdone, Quiver always fought back and usually fought back exceptionally well, and the nearly constant banter between those two was always amusing to listen to. CC and Quiver had been good friends before Darin had even joined the squadron a year ago, and when he did, the group of two increased to a group of three, something that seemed to give Mackin more than a few grey hairs despite his relative youth. Darin was always more on the quiet side, which helped, but Quiver and CC considered it their solemn duty to make sure no one in the unit was ever too depressed or taking things more seriously than they should, and if they felt that playing a prank on their usual victim (Darin) or someone else was the best way to lighten the mood, then so be it. Sitting down on the fighter's wing between the two other pilots, CC brushed her black hair behind her shoulders and asked, "So what are you guys up to? Is anyone else bored just sitting around here waiting?" "Darin was stargazing," Quiver offered. "Really?" CC turned to Darin, who still had his head bowed. "Find anything interesting?" Darin didn't say anything for a moment, then, still not looking up, meekly asked, "Permission to speak, master?" "Granted. Just don't grovel," Quiver replied. Darin finally raised his head like nothing was out of the ordinary and said to CC, "I was just trying to find my home system." "Did you?" "I found the Corporate Sector, which is as good as I can hope for at this distance." He pointed out the stars. A few seconds later, Quiver spoke up. "Okay, okay, CC has to look at my star now." Quiver proudly pointed it out in turn. CC looked at the speck of light high above and said to Quiver, "So you mean to tell me that that beautiful, shining star up there produced something as strange as you? Please say you're the exception rather than the rule." Quiver grinned and replied, "Yup, one in a billion, that's me." "Let's hope so. Then there can't be too many more of you running around out here. What's the population of the galaxy again, in billions?" Darin snickered at CC's comment, causing Quiver to lightly kick him in the knee. "Hey!" Darin laughingly protested. CC never seemed to notice the interruption. "So that's your home system," she continued in wonder, still looking at the star of the Druzien System. "That's where your family is. Do they have trouble sleeping at night, knowing that you're out here on the front lines?" Quiver shook his head. "No, they don't worry about me. In fact–-" "No," CC interrupted with a mischievous grin, "I meant, do they have trouble sleeping at night knowing that a crazy guy like you is out here on the front lines, and that's their protection? That's not very comforting." Darin outright laughed at that while Quiver slapped a hand over his heart and affected an exaggerated look of pain. "Shot down by my own ally! She wins again! Another Quiver kill-marker to go on the side of her fighter!" Once Darin had some control back, he said, "Quiv, you're slipping. She's been winning a lot lately. You losing your touch or something?" Quiver smirked. "No, just giving her some victories to keep her morale up and the competition sharp," he answered. "Oh, you wish," CC said. She briefly stuck her tongue out at Quiver, who returned the gesture. Darin laughed a little more and then turned to CC. "At the risk of giving Quiver an equal opportunity for jabs at you, do you want to try to find your home system?" "Sure." CC definitely was interested. "Avalar, right?" "Right. Hot star. Almost blue." CC and Quiver moved closer to read over Darin's shoulder as he called up the coordinates on his datapad. It wasn't long before they had found the bluish star and had also drawn the attention of a few other pilots. The rest of the night was fairly enjoyable. The stargazing activity quickly became popular, both with the pilots and with some of the Special Forces personnel that eventually wandered over, and soon all of the participants' home systems that were visible and had risen had been pinpointed. Other worlds were located and personal stories about them were told, which soon escalated into a friendly storytelling competition between the service branches of Starfighter Command and Special Ops, and then that too proceeded off on a number of different tangents. It was shortly before local midnight when Lt. Weas came up to the now-large group of Rebels all sitting on the ground beside Darin's X-wing and said, "Okay, Coronas, wrap it up. I know the time difference between here and the ship is messing with your internal clocks, but it's time to get some sleep." A collective moan greeted his order. "Come on, Snubber," Ikoa pleaded, "give us a few more minutes. We're trying to figure out if the constellation of the Corellian Sector looks more like a sleeping gundark or a speeder bike. What do you think?" "I think you'd all better get some sleep. Now." The pilots moaned again and reluctantly broke up, each one heading to his or her snubfighter to get out the bedroll each had brought. The Special Forces operatives likewise went back to their shuttle. Darin stood, pocketed his datapad, ducked under his S-foils to reach the access of the cargo hold in the belly of his X-wing and got his bedroll out. Weas waited there until the other pilots were out of earshot, and then he walked softly over behind Darin. "So where's the Plonian System?" he asked quietly. Darin looked behind him in surprise, not expecting Lt. Weas to still be there. He wordlessly got out his datapad again and called up the coordinates. Studying the map, he answered just as quietly, "Sorry, sir, it's on the day side of the planet right now. It's not visible." The squadron's Executive Officer nodded in acceptance and walked away toward his own X-wing. Darin just raised an eyebrow before pocketing the datapad once again and getting ready to go to sleep. Chapter Three The eastern sky had brightened only slightly the next morning when Darin jerked awake from something big and wet hitting his face. He flinched, automatically wiped his face with his sleeve and felt another big drop before he had even opened his eyes. He wiped his face again and sat up, this time feeling more drops hit the top of his head and his shoulders. No predawn stars were visible as the sky overhead was heavy with dark clouds, and it began to rain harder. Darin grimaced and picked up his bedroll, then he walked over to Quiver, who likewise was not under substantial cover, and nudged him with his foot. "Hey, Quiv, get up. It's raining." "That's what blankets are for," Quiver muttered groggily as he pulled his blanket up over his head. Darin shrugged sleepily. "Suit yourself. Just don't blame me when you get soaked." He walked back to his X-wing, laid out his bedroll underneath one of the S-foils and had just begun trying to get back to sleep when he heard some commotion. Rolling onto his stomach and praying he was only dreaming it so he wouldn't have to get up, he peered in the direction of the sound and saw Lt. Weas running between the squadron's fighters and calling to the pilots asleep under the wings. Unfortunately, it was reality. "Coronas, up, now! We've got a situation! Wake up!" The pilots started getting out of their bedrolls as Weas continued his rounds through the makeshift camp. "Up, everyone! Let's go! Now! Three and Four, get ready, you're launching in five minutes." Within one minute, all of the Coronas had gathered around Mackin, and Chopper and Kalre were both donning their flight equipment. Mackin quickly met each of their gazes in turn to signal the need for their undivided attention, and Darin recognized the look in Mackin's eyes that always seemed to transform him into someone else. The commander was a rather plain-looking man, about average height with a build that was a little on the stocky side. Normally, not much about him really made a lasting impression; however, at certain times when he felt his squadron may be in danger due to either a known or potential threat, his face contained a look of such intensity that it actually made his pilots feel safer. He looked that way now, though the intensity was tempered by a healthy dose of what Darin assumed to be caution and an acknowledgment of a lack of solid information. Mackin ran a hand through his black crew cut and started his impromptu briefing. "Sorry to get you all up a bit early, especially since rainy mornings were just made for sleeping in, but about ten minutes ago we picked up a distress call from the scout team that had gone into the colony last night. It was cut off before we got any useful information, and we have been unable to contact anyone on the team since. "Three and Four, because of the unknown situation you two will be escorting a Special Forces shuttle out to last night's drop-off point. Make sure you do terrain-following flight so it'll be harder for any sensors to pick you up. Once you reach that point, the second Special Forces team will be dropped off and will go in to try to find the first team. They'll go most of the way on speeder bikes and then sneak into the colony on foot, just like before. You two will remain with the shuttle at the drop-off point as backup or until you hear otherwise. Everyone else, just be ready to go. We've received no transmissions from Crescent Star yet saying she's in-system, so at this point we have to assume she's not. Any questions?" All of the Corona pilots shook their heads. "Let's go then. I want us prepared to lift at a moment's notice. Snap to it, everyone." Chopper and Kalre jogged to their X-wings as the other pilots hurriedly began packing up all the bedrolls and camouflage and putting on their flight equipment. A couple minutes later Chopper and Kalre lifted up, rendezvoused with one of the two Special Forces shuttles and headed toward the colony. ***** -Katie -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
-Z- Registered: Dec '03	Date Posted: 1/14/04 4:15pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/13
	Great stuff! You've created an entire squadron's worth of original and entertaining characters. The character development is nicely paced, and I really liked the scene between Darin and Quiver talking about stargazing. There was a lot of "heavy" dialogue that shows the characters aren't all bluster. But the banter was my favorite part: Darin sat up and slowly spun around to face Quiver, hanging his head. "Yes, master. I'm sorry, master. It won't happen again, master. I go now." "And stop groveling. I hate it when you grovel." "Yes, master. I'm sorry, master. It won't happen again, master." That had me laughing. Can't wait for more! -----signature----- "...Who said anything about slicing you up, man? I just wanted to carve a little Z on your forehead..." Check profile for stories.
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/20/04 5:27pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/13
	Thanks, Z. One of my biggest concerns is always whether the characters are distinct enough so that someone who isn't as familiar with them as I am can tell them apart. From your post, it doesn't sound like that's a problem now. Let me know if it ever becomes one. And banter is always fun. Gotta have fun with the characters. ***** The eight remaining Corona Squadron pilots all sat under the S-foils of Mackin's X-wing to get out of the rain as they listened for reports over the comm. All of their X-wings had been prepped as far as they could go on the checklists without starting the engines and all of their equipment was packed, so the pilots had nothing to do now but wait and listen for more news from their squadmates or either of the Special Forces teams. The first minutes passed uneventfully; however, all of their ears perked up when they heard Kalre say over the squadron frequency before they had reached the drop-off point, "Three, you see that?" "I see something, Four, but what–" Chopper stopped abruptly and paused, then his words rushed out. "No, that's not possible! They said they only had a small amount of troops here! Lead, this is Three, come in!" The pilots on the ground all looked worriedly at each other while Mackin answered, "What's going on, Three?" "We have a squadron of TIEs coming right for us, repeat, a squadron. We need help, now!" The other Coronas didn't even wait for Mackin's orders before they jumped up and ran to their snubfighters. Each pilot climbed into his or her cockpit and finished the remaining items on the checklist in a hurry. When they patched their headsets into the communications system, they heard the tail end of Chopper's conversation with Mackin. "They just entered firing range, Lead. Tell Special Forces to get a faster shuttle next time!" "Hold on, Three, we're lifting now. Help is on the way." The eight pilots fired up their repulsorlifts and engines and climbed out of the canyon, flying full-throttle toward the fight. At the same time, Mackin coordinated some last-minute details with Lt. Col. Trainneer, who was aboard the remaining Special Forces shuttle back in the canyon. It seemed to take forever for the Coronas to cover the distance, and during that time the situation did not improve. "We can't hold them! There's just too many! The shuttle's getting hit hard, and so are we!" Kalre reported. "Four, my shields are gone, I lo–-" Chopper's urgent voice was cut off. "Three, punch out!" There was a pause before Kalre continued, "Lead, we just lost the shuttle and Three ejected right before his X-wing was destroyed. I think." "Get out of there, Four," Mackin ordered. "We just entered visual range. We'll cover you. Mark Three's location." The Rebel reinforcements soon left the rain behind, though the sky remained thick with clouds. They could now make out the TIEs' green lasers ahead and two black clouds of smoke sticking out against the dark grey clouds. Debris was leaving trails in the sky as it rained down from the dissipating black puffs like it was trying to mimic the storm clouds behind the X-wings. The clouds and haze blurred the reference line of the horizon, making the ground seem closer than it really was. In addition to that, the cloud ceiling above them seemed oppressive and solid, and the Rebel fighter pilots who were more accustomed to dogfights in outer space than anywhere else felt a couple uneasy flutters of claustrophobia momentarily in their stomachs. Each affected pilot shook it off to the best of his or her ability and focused instead on the fight ahead that was rapidly approaching. At their maximum targeting range Mackin ordered the Coronas to set up for a simultaneous proton torpedo launch, and it was evident his pilots were doing as they were told when multiple TIEs broke off their attack runs on Kalre and started dancing around to break the targeting locks the Coronas had on them. With one word from Mackin, eight proton torpedoes streaked out from the X-wings, blazing a blue trail in the sky for the snubfighters to follow. Most of the TIEs managed to break the locks before they were hit. The less nimble or less experienced ones, three in all, did not. The TIEs regrouped and came at the X-wings, setting up for a standard head-to-head run. They ignored Kalre for the time being, who was just about to reach the Coronas and was intending to fly past underneath them before circling around behind and following the screen back into the fight. "After the first pass, we're taking this higher," said Mackin. Most of the Coronas switched their lasers to dual-fire mode, and all of them strengthened their forward shields in preparation for the head-to-head. As the fighters converged, there was a blur of red and green crisscrossing lasers, a screech of fighters flying past each other, and explosions marking the deaths of two Imperial TIE pilots. Then they were separate again, moving away from each other, and the more maneuverable TIEs made tight turns to try to settle in on the X-wings' tails. The Coronas' response to this standard Imperial tactic was to pull straight up and momentarily disappear from sight above the low-hanging clouds. They only had an instant to recover before the TIE fighters tore through the clouds and were upon them again. Another six dots appeared on their scopes, coming from the direction of the colony. The blood red color tagged them as enemies, likely more TIE fighters. "Heads up, everyone, we have more coming. We must be harder to kill than they thought. Break by pairs and fire at will," ordered Mackin. Mackin's astromech, Bluehill, positively identified the incoming craft as TIEs, or eyeballs in Rebel pilot parlance. After accounting for all the kills to this point, the Coronas were still outnumbered eleven to nine. Nothing new. But it would still be tricky. ***** Darin did his best to keep tabs on the different parts of the battle around him as he flew with Quiver and snapped off shot after shot. Kalre's already-damaged fighter didn't last much longer. Since the destruction of Chopper's X-wing had left him without a wingman, Kalre had joined up with Pellicer and CC, Coronas Five and Six respectively. At one point when they had been engaged with two TIEs and distracted, an eyeball came up unnoticed from behind and took some shots of opportunity at Kalre's fighter. The X-wing couldn't take anymore and it plummeted to the south, trailing black smoke before it was lost from sight under the clouds. Kalre reported ejecting. That situation put CC and Pellicer in the middle of some nasty crossfire. Darin and Quiver tried to disengage from their current skirmish to go help, but before they could, a barrage of laser blasts hit Five and Six. Some desperate evasive maneuvers got Pellicer and CC out of immediate harm's way, but the TIEs easily looped around and settled in behind them. Quiver and Darin remained occupied with their TIE, which was flown by a dogged pilot who always seemed to have at least one of them in his crosshairs. While they worked at fighting that Imperial, Pellicer reported, "My hyperdrive is gone. Shields are failing. We're trying to get clear." CC distractedly added, "Five, your X-wing is venting a white gas. Is that your life support?" Her words were laced with both static and worry, and cockpit alarms blared in the background of her transmission. There was a slight pause, and then Pellicer responded, "No, the venting is coming from my hyperdrive. Six, what's your status?" Darin's scope showed the pair of Mackin and Ikoa coming to help Pellicer and CC. The pair of Slurry and Weas were also heading that way from a different direction, each with a TIE gaining on them. The distraction resulted in Darin's shields being weakened by the determined eyeball fighting him. He cursed at his lapse and threw his attention into evasive maneuvers. CC's troubled reply left little doubt as to how seriously her fighter was damaged. "Not good. I lost all–-" An explosion coincided with CC's words being cut off. Its job done, a TIE flew past her as her X-wing bucked, belched sparks and smoke and started spinning, heading groundward at a shallow angle to the north. It was on a course to hit the ground not far from the beacon on their scopes marking Chopper's location. "Six?!" Pellicer and Quiver anxiously called at the same time. "Six, eject! You hear me? Eject!" Pellicer continued. The only answer was a short burst of static. Quiver finally shot down the TIE antagonizing him and Darin, freeing them to wheel around and look for CC's X-wing. It wasn't hard to spot with the black smoke erupting from it. They throttled up; their skirmish had taken them rather far from the rest of the fight. Just before CC's fighter plummeted beneath the lower cloud layer, a TIE turned to make a run at the mortally wounded fighter and finish it off. Pellicer immediately angled toward it and sent a quad-linked burst of red light in at the TIE to protect his wingman. His aim was true: the shot hit the bottom of the TIE's spherical cockpit and went all the way through to the engines in back, one of which exploded and ripped the rest of the TIE apart. After that, a head-to-head run with Slurry and Weas relieved Pellicer of his pursuit while Pellicer simultaneously relieved the Bilgana of his. Darin heard a transmission come over the Rebels' tactical frequency just as he saw Mackin begin to follow the TIE chasing Weas. "Starsmoke to Corona Lead." Starsmoke was the remaining Special Forces shuttle. "This is Corona Lead," responded Mackin. "Things are pretty hectic over here." "I know, Corona Lead," Lt. Col. Trainneer replied. "That's why we're getting out. The Imperial forces here are much stronger than we anticipated. We're temporarily aborting the mission. You and your pilots are to break off and head for Point Delta. Omega Signal. Acknowledge." "Omega Signal acknowledged," Mackin answered to indicate he heard the retreat order. The TIE in his sights danced, trying to throw off Mackin's aim. The Rebel danced with it. "Starsmoke, I have three pilots down and one with a damaged hyperdrive. We'll send you their locations and move the fighting away from them before we disengage. I need you to come retrieve them so we can leave." He fired and missed. "Negative, Corona Lead. I said get out. Our last team member inside the colony managed to get one more report through before we lost contact completely, and he said more Imperial forces are on the way. Cut your losses. We're leaving and so are you." "Starsmoke," Mackin said in a quiet but dangerous voice the Coronas knew meant business, "I need you to get my downed pilots out. We can't carry extra people in our fighters, so we can't do it." The next laser salvo coming from Mackin's fighter actually seemed angry, somehow. The TIE exploded and Mackin twisted around, apparently looking for the next threat. It came over the radio waves. "For the last time, Commander, we are not flying into that firefight and we are not coming back that way, especially with more Imperials coming. Get out of there now!" A few surprised, protesting voices were heard in the background inside Starsmoke before Trainneer closed the transmission. Even in the midst of the dogfight there was a momentary shocked silence, then the Coronas' squadron frequency erupted with angry questions. "What the hell was that?!" "Are they just abandoning us here? What kind of Special Forces team is that?!" "We're not leaving the others, are we?" "Everyone, enough!" Mackin said, silencing them. "Listen up. My sensors show Starsmoke already well on its way to orbit and two TIEs going after it. Seven, Eight, you two go cover our friends. Make sure they send help down for us ASAP if they won't do it themselves, or send a transmission to Crescent Star if you see her." Slurry and Weas acknowledged grimly and peeled off in the direction of the shuttle. The numerical odds had been turned to the Rebels' favor now, but in exchange for considerable damage to the Coronas' fighters as well as failing shields. As if to emphasize that, not ten seconds after Slurry and Weas had left, Pellicer's fighter was hit again. "Damn it," he hissed, "I just got some shields back, but now they took them out again along with my targeting and sensors!" Pellicer wasn't the only one with problems. "Ten," Darin said to Quiver, "you've got one. I'll be right there." Darin twisted his X-wing around and came up behind a TIE chasing Quiver. No sooner had he done so than he heard Ikoa say, "Nine, on your six. Hold on." Trying to ignore his astromech squawking at him in warning, Darin chewed his lip in concentration and randomly sideslipped to avoid the shots coming from behind as he simultaneously shot at the TIE ahead of him. This situation wasn't particularly new to him, as he often allowed TIEs to chase him so they'd be distracted while Quiver snuck up from behind and picked them off. The wingmates called it their "bait game," and between Darin's piloting skills and Quiver's gunnery skills, it usually worked pretty well. In the back of Darin's mind, however, it felt a bit odd to have Ikoa being the one going after his pursuer now instead of Quiver. Not that he didn't trust Ikoa, it was just...different. After a couple of shots from the Imperial fighter ahead impacted Quiver's weakening shields, Darin finally connected with a blast and sheared off one of the TIE's solar panel wings, sending it out of control and dooming the TIE to a fate as a crater. Almost instantly after that Imperial was fatally wounded, the TIE behind Darin punched through the last of Darin's shields and managed to get one more shot off before Lt. Fyndcap took care of him from behind. That last shot hit the starboard hull just below Darin's cockpit canopy and would have been instantly fatal had it been direct, but since it was only a glancing blow, Darin lived to draw another breath. As the laser energy hit his fighter, his side canopy window shattered and exploded inward like a vicious, bloodthirsty snowstorm before Darin could even begin to realize he was still alive. He flinched severely as he felt himself getting showered with the transparisteel fragments. He heard a lot hit off his helmet and visor, though thankfully most of the shards flew forward and hit his cockpit consoles instead of him. The sudden gust of air inside his fighter threw off his control momentarily, and the abrupt change in pressure made Thumper's ears pop. Botch beeped urgently as Darin wrestled the controls for a second and managed to move out of the sights of another TIE fighter off to his starboard. He noticed Quiver and Ikoa moving off to deal with that one and give him cover. The exposed parts of his face and neck and even his covered right arm stung, and the air howling into his cockpit was deafening, forcing him to turn up his headset's receiving volume to hear the other pilots. "Nine?" Quiver called in concern. "Stand by." Above the noise, Darin yelled to his R5-D4 unit, "Botch, you okay?" Botch beeped quickly in affirmation, then went back to work trying to restore their shields. "Good." Darin took half an instant to brush some of the fragments off of his flightsuit, and in doing so he noticed some larger transparisteel pieces had hit his flak vest, which had thankfully done its job and protected him. But his heart sank as he also saw that his chestbox hose had been cut halfway through by a shard and punctured in numerous other places, meaning that between his permanently open window and the damage to his suit's emergency life support, he could not reach orbit. He'd suffocate as soon as the atmosphere thinned out enough, and if the magcon field generator inside his chestbox was also damaged then he could freeze to death or die from the decompression. Darin quickly forced himself to stop wondering which would happen first as he reported his status to Mackin. A little bit later, Slurry and Weas returned just as Mackin shot down the last TIE fighter, the one that had hit Pellicer again. "Lead," Weas reported, "Crescent Star is nowhere in sight and there are two Imperial cruisers up there. Our shuttle managed to hyper out, but we can't be sure that the cruisers didn't see us. There's still interference from the solar storm, but they might be able to compensate for that." "Okay, we need to get our people, regroup, and then figure out what to do. Five can't jump and Nine can't reach orbit, and we've got three down on the surface. Eight, take Two Flight and go get Three and Six. One Flight, we're getting Four. Meet at Point Alpha." "Yes, sir," Weas responded. Mackin, Ikoa and Pellicer joined up and turned southward to go after Kalre while Weas, Slurry, Darin and Quiver joined up to head north and find Chopper and CC. "Here's the deal," Weas told his flight on the way. "I'll land by Three and help him out. Nine and Ten, help Six. Seven, fly cover for us. All of you, think of ways to get them from here to the rendezvous point." "Yes, sir," came the chorus of acknowledgments. As they split slightly and headed to their respective destinations, Darin said, "Looking back, I think your nerf steak mission was safer, Ten." "What?" Quiver said loudly. "I can't hear you! Too much wind noise on your transmission." "Never mind!" Darin yelled into his mic. He'd tell him later. ***** -Katie -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
-Z- Registered: Dec '03	Date Posted: 1/23/04 11:10am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	Awesome. Great combat imagery. It's a good sign when a Corona gets hit and I'm actually worried about whether they're OK or not. It came over the radio waves. "For the last time, Commander, we are not flying into that firefight and we are not coming back that way, especially with more Imperials coming. Get out of there now!" A few surprised, protesting voices were heard in the background inside Starsmoke before Trainneer closed the transmission. Hey, what's HIS problem?! Sounds like he should be behind a desk and not out in the field. I never liked officers like that. -----signature----- "...Who said anything about slicing you up, man? I just wanted to carve a little Z on your forehead..." Check profile for stories.
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
LumiKuningatar Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 1/25/04 3:25am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	stunned silence I'm loving this You managed to create a whole X-wing squadron full of new characters and you managed to give them all a personality and deapth... I loved it This is beautifully written and I was caught in the very first lines I read.. I am a very big fan of languages and you wove the words together really nicely... I absolutely, most definately will want more of this... I'm already addicted... -----signature----- Tell a man there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you, tell a man that a bench is wet and he'll have to touch it... Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. It's a bird, no wait a plane.. damn.. it IS a b
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Wedgeatbarkura Registered: Aug '03	Date Posted: 1/25/04 10:55am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	It's amazing how you could create an entire starfighter squardron, just like that.... I also find the flight scenes extremely realistic, as in they were really good and uhh, didn't seem extraordinary.... Wedge -----signature----- My Fanfiction, "With Fire and Sword" http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=14944666&start=14954366
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/25/04 2:03pm Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	Z, yeah, Trainneer isn't too "field"-savvy (is that a word? probably not. oh well). A little more explanation should be coming down the road. The Coronas aren't too happy with him right now, either. Welcome, LumiKuningatar and Wedge! LumiKuningatar (is that what you prefer to be called?), wow, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Wedge, thanks to you too. I'm glad it seemed realistic--I always worry about that since dogfights are a pain for me to write. Update coming Tuesday. Thanks again for reading! -Katie -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
LumiKuningatar Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 1/26/04 2:39am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	No, thank you for writing it.. I prefer Lumi, since LumiKuningatar is finnish and means snow queen and Lumi means snow... -----signature----- Tell a man there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you, tell a man that a bench is wet and he'll have to touch it... Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. It's a bird, no wait a plane.. damn.. it IS a b
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Wedgeatbarkura Registered: Aug '03	Date Posted: 1/26/04 9:42am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	I also compliment you on the pretty long posts... I find it really hard to concentrate on something that long.... and to type it all out at one time. -----signature----- My Fanfiction, "With Fire and Sword" http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=14944666&start=14954366
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
LumiKuningatar Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 1/27/04 3:00am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/20
	-----signature----- Tell a man there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you, tell a man that a bench is wet and he'll have to touch it... Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. It's a bird, no wait a plane.. damn.. it IS a b
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History
Thumper09 Registered: Dec '01	Date Posted: 1/28/04 3:17am Subject: RE: Solid Ground - X-wing squad fic, OCs, updated 1/28 - Date Edited: 1/28/04 3:30am (1 edits total) Edited By: Thumper09
	Thanks Wedge, but actually it doesn't take that long for me to post because I have the whole story written out in a WordPerfect file already. I just take the next section and find a stopping point after about four or five pages, copy, paste, and then correct the formatting and make last-minute adjustments. Here's the next installment. The boards were down yesterday evening when I tried to get on so you get a Wednesday morning post instead. ***** Chapter Four Quiver and Darin landed near CC's smoldering wreck. They yanked off their helmets and flight gloves, unbuckled their seat restraints and jumped out of their cockpits, landing hard on the ground from the height. Each shouted an order back to his astromech to secure the X-wing for them, and then they ran the rest of the way across the field to CC's fighter. Quiver silently prayed they weren't too late. Slurry flew by overhead, but when he was a few klicks away something suddenly flashed brightly, and abruptly his X-wing headed down, out-of-control and trailing smoke. The initial airborne explosion was heard a second or two later. By that time, and before the X-wing's ground impact was heard, Darin had hit the combadge on his sleeve and told the squadron, "Seven is down, unknown cause!" There was nothing those two could immediately do for Slurry at that point, so they focused their attention on helping CC. The scene right in front of them was horrible. CC's X-wing was basically nothing but a long line of wreckage strewn about from the first place the snubfighter hit the ground a short distance away. The largest piece, and the piece they were most focused on, consisted of one S-foil, one engine and a large part of the fuselage, including the cockpit. It was almost completely upside-down and the nose had dug itself partway into the ground, leaving a short furrow in its wake. Ruby, CC's R2 unit, wasn't even visible and with the X-wing positioned that way, the droid was most likely crushed underneath beyond any hope of repair. CC hadn't ejected and they could still see her inside the buckled and crumpled cockpit, strapped to her upside-down seat and not moving. The bent and twisted metal of the fighter's canopy that had been driven partially into the solid ground refused to cooperate as the two wingmates tried desperately to pry it apart. After a couple frantic minutes of pulling and pushing and digging away at the dirt underneath, they finally cracked it open a little bit. Quiver got down on his back, and with difficulty the lanky pilot squeezed partway inside to look up at CC and check for a pulse. "Darin, she's in really bad shape!" he called, nearly in a panic. "Alive, but unconscious and bleeding. Bad head wound and barely a pulse. We've got to get her out!" "Let me run back to my X-wing and see if I can find anything to cut the canopy with. Hold–-" Darin's combadge beeped, cutting him off, and then a series of urgent-sounding beeps and whistles from Botch sounded over it. As Darin stood and moved away, he hit his combadge and asked, "Botch, what–-" Quiver couldn't hear any more of the conversation, and he put it out of his mind. Let Darin handle it. He was too worried about CC. Part of Quiver's right sleeve became a casualty as he tore it off and with shaking hands tried to make it into a bandage for the nasty wound on her temple. He had no medical training, but even he could tell CC was in serious trouble. "CC?" he asked in a low, frightened voice despite his attempts to remain calm. "Can you hear me?" Quiver's voice started wavering, and he only partially succeeded at forcing it under control as he pleaded, "You need to stay with me! We have to play that prank on Darin we were planning, remember? We'll get you out of here. You have to be–-" He was cut off as Darin suddenly shouted fearfully, "Quiver! Get out! Hurry!" Darin grabbed one of Quiver's legs and pulled hard, but Quiver was wedged in the small space pretty well. "Ow!" Quiver yelled. He didn't have time for this. "Darin, I'm trying to bandage this! Just go–-" "Ten, there's a TIE right on top of us! Get out!" Darin pulled again. Quiver reacted that time. Feeling the color drain from his face, he worked his way out of the inverted cockpit as fast as he could. Darin hurriedly took his arm to pull him to his feet, and then the ground exploded twenty meters off to the side from a laser blast from the TIE fighter approaching. The Rebels instinctively ducked down and flattened themselves against the hull of CC's fighter as the TIE flew overhead and began a slow turn to come back around. The two Coronas' X-wings were inaccessible, with virtually nothing but an area of open field between the pilots and the snubfighters. They couldn't cross the space before the TIE could fire at them. The Rebels were now exposed between the TIE and CC's fuselage, so they ran behind a piece of wreckage a few steps away that was large enough to shield both of them from the eyeball when it turned. It realistically wouldn't protect either of them from a TIE's lasers, but the psychological aspect of having some sort of cover was at least a little comforting. Darin and Quiver held their breaths as the TIE approached again. They flinched as it fired a lazy shot well short of them that hit the ground almost in the same place as the first one. Then it was past them with a shriek from its engines and a gust of wind, continuing its figure-eight maneuver. They moved the few steps back to be better protected by the hull of CC's fighter again. Quiver anxiously looked back and forth between the TIE and CC's cockpit. "It's trying to pin us here," he whispered. "And it's doing a damn good job at it, too," Darin whispered back. "There's no way we can make it to our fighters." The strain in Quiver's voice was evident. "CC's going to bleed to death if we don't get her out of there and help her." His last words were almost drowned out by another laser blast hitting the same spot. The pilots ducked again, and once the TIE was past them Quiver started climbing to his feet. "I'm going for my fighter." Darin immediately reached up and grabbed the bottom of Quiver's flak vest, then yanked him back down to the ground behind their cover. "Ten, no! You won't make it!" "We have to do something!" Quiver retorted. "I know, but–-" Before Darin could finish his sentence, they noticed that the TIE was spiraling up high into the sky, straight above them, and then it disappeared into the clouds. This was the best chance they'd likely ever get, and they were getting desperate. Even Darin seemed to recognize that, since he let go of Quiver's flak vest and scrambled to his feet along with him. Maybe at least one of them would make it since their fighters were on opposite sides of CC's crash site, and the TIE couldn't fire at both of them at once. Quiver was fully intent on sprinting to his fighter and began to do just that, but before he had even taken two steps, laser bolts from handheld blasters came in at them and he heard Darin give a surprised cry. Quiver couldn't reverse his momentum quickly enough to stop gracefully so he altered its direction downward, essentially tripping himself to flop to the ground. He turned and scooted back behind their cover as fast as he could. Darin was already there, breathing hard from fear and fumbling for his blaster. Once he had it, Darin hit his combadge to call for help but all he got was static from a jammer. An occasional blaster bolt still came in, peppering CC's hull behind them and the front of their small cover. Their situation had just gotten a whole lot worse. Quiver had his blaster out as well, but Darin only grimaced when he saw it. "Please, let this be the day you actually hit something with that," Darin whispered. "I can use it just fine," retorted Quiver. To prove the point, he stole a glance over the wreckage they were using as cover and fired off some wild shots before ducking back down. "Imperial biker scouts," he reported. "With speeder bikes, but stopped now. Too many." "Hit any?" "Next time." Darin threw him a brief, helpless look that suggested he was still trying to figure out how his wingman could be such a good shot in his fighter but so horrible with a blaster. Thumper awkwardly leaned slightly out from the left side of their cover, fired a couple of shots and pulled back while a fresh Imperial barrage came their way. "I think I hit one in the leg. They're on foot and advancing on us quick. We don't have much time." Quiver gritted his teeth and leaned out as little as possible past the opposite side of the wreckage, shooting so much that it looked like he was trying to lay down his own suppression fire. Maybe he could make a break for his fighter... A shot, most likely from Darin's blaster, hit a biker scout in his chest armor, and he went down. Not more than a second later, Quiver gave a short yelp of pain and quickly moved back completely behind their cover. Darin did the same to check on him. Quiver gripped his right lower arm near his elbow where part of what remained of his sleeve was blackened and burned away. A burn on the skin beneath from a blaster graze was also partly visible. "Ten, you okay?" Darin asked anxiously. Darin's only answer was the sight of Quiver resolutely gripping his blaster even harder in his right hand and shifting his weight to start firing again. They were fast running out of time and options. Darin also prepared to shoot again but before either of them could, a voice a little above them and immediately behind made Quiver's heart skip a beat. "Freeze, Rebel scum. Drop the blasters." Both of them froze. Stealing a glance over his shoulder, Quiver saw that two biker scouts had circled around and climbed up behind them on top of the hull of CC's X-wing, and they were now aiming their blaster pistols directly down at the two pilots. There was nothing between them to stop a blaster bolt, and at point-blank range the biker scouts wouldn't miss. Quiver's heart sank even as it hammered in his chest, and he slowly laid his blaster on the ground and raised his hands. Darin did the same. Neither dared moving enough to even turn around and face the two scouts. The Imperials they had been shooting at emerged from the other side of the Coronas' small piece of cover. One biker scout limped up and took the Rebels' blasters, and another two cuffed their wrists in front of them after removing the combadges from the pilots' left sleeves. Then they grabbed the back of the pilots' collars and roughly hauled them to their feet. "Come on," ordered one. Quiver and Darin exchanged a frightened look with each other as they were pushed out about fifteen steps from CC's wreckage. A quick glance around showed three biker scouts guarding them and the other two from the firefight walking toward the nearest speeder bikes, possibly to secure the perimeter or provide high-speed backup if needed. Astride a stationary speeder bike was another Imperial, holding his helmet and his blackened armor chestplate. He had a bacta patch on his chest, but his injury didn't appear to be life-threatening: he was alert and was merely keeping an eye on everything. Finally, there was one scout crouching beside CC's cockpit and peering inside at her, and another scout approaching him. The two prisoners were thrown down onto their knees. From there, they anxiously watched the biker scouts next to CC's cockpit. The one that had been looking at her stood up to talk to the newcomer. Quiver visibly tensed and asked, "What's he doing?" "Shut up," one of the guards said. "No talking." Agitated, Quiver shifted his weight from knee to knee. He looked around, trying to keep the action subtle, and desperately began attempting to map out a strategy in his head. How could they get out of this? Where were the greatest threats? How could they deal with them? How could they rescue CC? From the corner of his eye, he saw Darin glance at him, looking scared. Quiver didn't blame him. Darin also looked worried, and Quiver knew he knew what Quiver was thinking. True, they probably wouldn't survive more than twenty seconds after jumping the guards, but Quiver couldn't just sit there and do nothing. There was a chance they could make it. It was a small one, but it existed... The activity beside CC's cockpit caught Quiver's attention again. The Rebel strained to hear what was being said over there, but those two scouts must have been using internal communications because Quiver couldn't hear anything despite their relative proximity. What he saw told him a lot, though. The Imperial who had looked at CC shook his head and pointed to his left temple, where CC had been injured. There was a pause, and then he shook his head again. He spread his hands as if to imply helplessness or uncertainty, and firmly shook his head a final time. The biker scout with whom he was speaking just nodded, and then knelt down as if to look inside at the injured pilot. In one smooth motion, he pulled out his blaster pistol, stuck it inside the cockpit, aimed directly at CC and fired a few point-blank shots. "Aaah!" Quiver and Darin cried out and jerked back violently in horror and shock. Their sudden movements jolted the guards into action, and after a split second of blurry chaos each pilot found himself on his back and pinned to the ground. Darin futilely struggled as much as he could to get free. "You killed her!" he yelled. "You–-you–-" He spat out a string of curses, worse ones than Quiver had realized he knew. The Imperial who had shot CC stepped up to Darin and calmly said, "Keep that up and you'll be two out of three very soon." It obviously took a considerable effort, but Darin stopped actively struggling. His tenseness remained as he glared venomously up at the scout. Beside him, Quiver was shell-shocked. He was shaking and all he could do was worriedly watch his wingman as much as his position would allow. The look on Quiver's pale face said all too plainly that he hoped Darin wouldn't do something stupid. Darin had a tendency to get impulsive when he was upset. "You should thank us. We did her a favor," the scout added. Darin struggled a little more at that and swore incoherently for another few seconds, but the scout ignored him and turned to the guard who had remained on his feet to cover the other two. He continued to use his external speaker as he said, "Call our pilot up there and tell him to clean that up once we're a safe distance away. We don't need any surprises. But if he so much as scratches the two operational fighters, he's in for it." "Yes, sir." The leader nodded in acceptance, looked down at the other two guards and said, "Let's go." Simultaneously the biker scouts pinning them down got off and grabbed the pilots, dragging them to their feet. Quiver and Darin awkwardly climbed up, and the guards were careful to keep the pilots on a very short leash. The Imperials started pushing them away from the wreckage, but Darin resisted a bit and worriedly demanded, "Wait, clean up what?" No one answered him, and instead his guard pushed him harder. All the voices seemed detached to Quiver, like they came from far away. He felt faint and was having trouble breathing. He numbly stumbled along, unable to escape the horrible scene that kept replaying itself in his mind. He could see the flash of the blaster inside her cockpit, hear the whine of the TIE fighter that started this nightmare here... With a start, Quiver realized that he actually was hearing a TIE fighter. He looked back and saw the TIE diving toward the ground, straight at CC's crash site. He stopped dead in his tracks, and his throat tightened even more. Beside him, Darin had stopped and was watching wide-eyed as well. "No," Darin breathed. Quiver hardly even realized it when he and Darin started distractedly struggling to get back to CC's fighter, though there was absolutely nothing they could do at that point. Just before it leveled off, the TIE opened up with its lasers. It hit the remaining fusial engine on what was left of CC's X-wing, and the sight was enough to paralyze the two Coronas in the midst of their struggles. They squeezed their eyes shut not even an instant later as her fighter immediately blossomed into a miniature sun in front of them that proclaimed its combined birth and death with a deafening noise. The light died away almost as quickly as it had come into being, and a wave of dissipating heat washed over the group, though they were too far away to feel more warmth than that made by a springtime sunbeam. A few long seconds later, the Rebels pried their eyes open and saw only emptiness where CC's fighter had been. The two friends stood there and stared, silently watching as some debris rained down after being launched by the blast. A large piece fell on Quiver's stationary X-wing and looked like it hit one of the upper engines. There was a void in Quiver's gut as big as the crater marking where CC and her fighter had once existed. Everything seemed unreal, like it was part of a horrible, horrible dream, and time was moving in slow motion. All at once the galaxy seemed a cold, bleak, hopeless place. The Imperials punctuated that thought with a shove to get the prisoners moving again. The other biker scouts were on speeder bikes, and they were towing the empty bikes and the one with the wounded scout aboard. They joined up with the group on foot, and together the captors and captives alike all headed in the direction of where Lt. Weas had landed to help Chopper. ***** -Katie -----signature----- "Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel, _Stranger Than Fiction_ "A reader doesn't really see the characters in a story; he feels them." - _Inkdeath_
	Locked Topic \| Active Topic Notification \| Private Message \| Post History

Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 - ~~Previous~~ | Next | Reload

Jedi Council Forums » Fan Fiction » The Saga »

The 2009 Saga Awards are in progress! See this thread for details.