Beyond - Legends X-wing: Terms of Service - Complete! - April 30th - (RFE Teaser, May 7)

Post Forty Six or Chapter Twelve, Post Two

?Try it now.?

Inyri attached the power supply and flipped it on. ?Running.? Climbing along the lower right S-foil, she returned to where her datapad was plugged into the system running diagnostics. ?I?m getting forty four down here, Tainer.?

?I?m getting about forty eight up here.? Kell appeared on the nose of her fighter. ?Shut it down.?

Going down the S-foil was a lot easier than moving back up it. She somehow managed to only slip twice before she reached the open panel. Feeling defeated, she turned off the power source. ?So all the wiring??

?Probably not all of it, but the lines going to the hyperdrive are basically fried. I?m surprised you made it here, actually.? Kell moved along the top of the fighter and then lowered himself down onto the S-foils. ?My guess is that the rest of that journey basically finished it off.?

?And the chances of getting it fixed in the next few days??

?Slim to none. You?ll have to order the parts if they don?t have them on Ukio ? and my guess is they don?t ? or have the fighter shipped out to Sluis Van for work.? He took a seat next to her. ?Did you do the work on the engine??

?Yeah. Haven?t gotten as much done as I wanted thanks to those few days Trae wouldn?t let me near it. Why??

?It?s well done. I thought you joined the rebellion young. Where?d you learn engines? I mean, no offense, but other people who got involved early don?t even know where the engine is located. Look at Wedge.?

Inyri snickered. It was common knowledge that Wedge, although a great pilot, knew nothing about the inside of a starfighter. ?My father taught me. He trained convicted criminals so when they were released they?d have marketable skills. Landspeeder engines are pretty close to X-wings. I don?t have any formal training or anything.? She gestured towards the power supply, ?And I don?t know the first thing about hyperdrives. Thank you, by the way, for helping me with that.?

?Not a problem. Sometimes I miss doing this stuff.?

?So if we could scrounge up the parts, do you think you?d be able to fix it here?? Chances were she could pull together some basics. Even Ukio had to have those.

?Possibly. It?ll take some time, though.? Kell took a moment to most likely do some mental math. ?Best case scenario, probably two days with just me working on it.?

?So no go on the hyperdrive.?

?For the moment. I?d try to put a rush order in, but they aren?t letting anything near the system so even that?s pointless.? He paused, then put on the same sort of devilish face Wes so often wore. ?We could wish for it. ?Shooting Star, I wish very very much for all the parts we need to fix Inyri?s hyperdrive.??

?And a pony, and Pretty Pretty Princess?s enchanted castle playhouse,? she added sarcastically.

?Pretty Pretty Princess?s enchanted castle playhouse? Come on, Forge, I?m a boy. I can?t be seen with that sort of thing,? Kell protested.

?It?s not like I?m asking you to dress up as Pretty Pretty Princess, Tainer.? She rolled her eyes.

?And really, shouldn?t we ask for a puppy instead of a pony??

She glared at him. ?I never got a pony and I asked for one for practically every life day I had until I was twelve.? Inyri leaned against the fuselage and crossed her arms.

There was a long pause. ?You were a girly girl?? He sounded incredulous.

?What??

?No, I?m sorry, but of all people?next thing you know, Shalla will say she liked playing with dolls.?

?Shalla liked playing with dolls?? Wes? voice called up to them. A moment later, his head appeared over the bottom S-foil.

?Did you know Inyri liked girl things as a kid?? Kell asked him.

?No.? Wes looked at her. ?I just can?t see it. I mean, I?ve only seen her wear a dress two or three times.?

?Why is it so hard to believe that I liked to play girl things as a kid? My sister was the closest sibling to me in age and we played together all the time. I liked dolls, I liked dress

 

awesome job! wow!

 

Thanks, JagsGurl. Glad you like.

 

Update!

Will we get to see Corran warning them? Poor Mara everyone knows that she's been influenced by Luke. The things they get her to do!!

The pony conversation cracked me up

 

Post Forty Eight

?How mad is Wedge??

Cera looked up at her from the table. ?On a scale of one to ten? Around seven hundred and thirty six.?

She winced, taking a seat beside Trae. ?I honestly didn?t mean to cause trouble.?

?Give it a few days, it?ll blow over. I don?t think he?ll care about having to send Tycho to pick you up at a police station once everything explodes around us.? Cera took a bite of her lunch. ?Good news, though, is that they?ve gotten most of the people to understand why evacuating is a good idea. Corran should be talking with local law enforcement to have them coordinate what we?re doing; it frees up military personnel to prepare for when the Imps arrive.?

?Any word from where they were congregating?? Kora asked.

?They?ve begun to move. Looks like they?ll be here in two days.? The Trianii didn?t look up from her datapad.

?So we just sit here and wait??

?Basically.? Cera shrugged. ?Help with securing the planet when we can, rest, and be ready.?

Kora nodded, then looked at Trae, ?What are you working on??

?A letter.? She reached for her glass.

?To your boyfriend or something?? Kora asked.

?He has already passed to the next realm,? Trae replied. She looked up, ?This is to our daughter.?

Blinking, Kora just stared at her. Forget the blatant honesty that was so not Trae ? but she had a daughter? She?d never mentioned it before?did she have to leave her daughter because of the exile. Surely, no one would exile a parent and force the child to stay behind, would they? ?I didn?t know you had a daughter.?

Trae nodded once. ?She lives with her grandparents on my homeworld.?

?Um, why doesn?t she live with you?? Across the table, she saw Cera making a slashing motion across her throat.

?It is fine, Cera.? Trae set the datapad aside. ?Kora, I will tell you the entire story, but it is best if it does not get spread throughout the entire New Republic military. As you know, I have been exiled. The reason has to do with my daughter.? She sighed, ?I was being trained by the Elders when I met my?what is your word for life mate? Husband? Yes, husband. He would often come to the gardens to study. We became friends, and after time passed, it moved beyond friendship to love. Unfortunately, I was forbidden to wed because of my status as a healer.?

?But you married anyway?? Kora asked.

?Yes. Secretly. We managed to keep it hidden at first, but it was not long before I became pregnant with our cub. The Elders had us exiled for crimes against the gods. We were told our daughter would be permitted to remain behind, and, as we could not provide for her, we left her with his parents.? Trae leaned back in her seat, ?He has been removed from me for about a year now. We were both pilots.?

?I?m so sorry.?

?Do not be. I have gone against my oaths for love, and I do not regret that. Now I am helping the people I can, and when the time is right, my daughter will come here to live with me. Until then, she is happy and with family who love her.? Trae picked up her glass and her datapad. ?I will have to excuse myself. I have a shift starting in ten minutes.?

Kora watched her leave, then turned to Cera. ?And you knew all this??

The Rodian shrugged, ?Yeah. We?re roommates, it?s kind of hard not to know. I?m sure you know a ton of personal stuff about Inyri.?

?Inyri.? Kora said, trying to emphasize the point.

Cera grinned, ?You?re right. I forget you two don?t exactly talk.?

~

?Your husband just landed.?

Mirax paused and looked at Karrde. ?Corran?s here?? She should have known this was going to happen.

Karrde nodded in response to her question. ?I sent Mara to intercept him. There are two possibilities as to why he?s chosen to visit us. The first is that he knows you?re here and wants to confront you about it. The other is that he?s here to warn us about the Imperial attack.?

Or both. She sighed, ?Where are they??

?South landing platform.? Karrde motioned

 

YEAHHH!!

Seen this post at Downtime but I can't comment there so..

I liked hearing about Trae, and Corran and Mirax interaction is always great. Leaving Valin with Booster! HA!

Great dialogue

 

LOL That was AWESOME!

 

Hey Love the story, read it about 4 times. Loved Deception as well. Please write more soon.

 

Lol, right now I don't envy Corran. Ouch!

 

Eep! So far behind updating here.

Forty Nine


?So, you two had a busy day.? Face looked at both Janine and Shalla. ?You know, I normally wouldn?t care that much; it?s not the first time we?ve had something like this happen.?

?Hey, now, I was just defending myself the last time I was in jail. You try not to get involved when the guy next to you decides to break his beer bottle on the bar and use it as a knife,? Shalla mock protested.

?From what I?ve heard from Lara about that, you first broke his arm, then flipped him over the bar,? Face pointed out.

?I disarmed him,? Shalla corrected, ?Then removed him from the fray so he wouldn?t become injured more than he already was.?

He shook his head, ?Again, I usually don?t care. But why did you get one of Wedge?s people involved??

?You know,? Janine spoke up, ?Technically, Kora made every choice on her own.?

?You and I both know that?s stretching it a lot. That kid desperately wants to be accepted. You two used that to get yourselves a look out.? Face tried not to smile as the thought of how that had backfired suddenly came to mind. When telling people what they did wrong, it wasn?t a good idea to start laughing.

Janine shrugged, ?We needed her to do a job, we got her to do the job. That?s how the system works.?

That killed any mirth threatening to impede the conversation. ?Not in this squadron, it doesn?t. New ground rules, in addition to the ones we?ve talked about in the past. One ? we do not borrow Wedge?s people for any reason. Two ? we do not have a contest with Ukio politicians to see who is the toughest.? He let his eyes stay on Janine, then glanced quickly at Shalla, ?Three ? you check with me before you decide to search anyone?s home. Let?s try to remain within the law as much as we can.?

?And if we can?t?? Janine asked.

?Then that will be my decision, and not yours.?

~

?You know,? Wes caught her around the waist as she moved to unlock her door, ?In two days, the Imperials are going to attack.? He?d been rather flirtatious since dinner, and the fact that he was having trouble keeping his hands to himself made it pretty obvious where his mind was.

Also obvious was that a number of people on base knew it, too. She?d really need to talk with him about when PDA was appropriate and when it wasn?t. At the moment, though, it didn?t seem all that important? ?Wes.?

?Hmmm?? His breath felt warm on her ear.

She turned to give him a mock-smile, ?You know that?s the most overused?? Inyri was cut off as she felt his mouth descend on hrs. The arm around her waist tightened, and she felt Wes pull her against him a moment later. Oh, who the hell was she kidding? She wanted him as much as he obviously wanted her. They both knew where this was going, and she really didn?t feel like playing coy. ?27-64-32,? she murmured into his mouth

?What?? Wes moved away slightly.

?The lock combination. 27-64-32.? She moved to kiss him again.

From behind them, she heard someone clearing their throat. Inyri turned her head and felt her face flush. ?Oh. Hey, Corran.?

?I think I need to go scrub my eyes until they sting,? he replied.

?I can?t believe this,? Wes muttered.

Inyri shot him a look. ?Shush.? Disengaging herself from his arms, she gave Corran a hard glare. ?And I know you were just leaving.?

He opened his mouth to respond, then obviously thought better of it. Instead, he nodded and turned towards his own room. Now that was odd; she?d expected some sort of overprotective brother lecture from Corran.

Deciding not to jinx her luck, she turned back to Wes. ?Now, where were we?? Inyri wrapped an arm around his neck and waited for him to take charge of the next round in their game.

?About here??

?If you two were expecting a romantic interlude in my room, you can just forget it!? Kora?s annoyingly loud voice came down the hallway.

She was going to kill her. A vibroblade to the throat would probably be best? ?Excuse me??

Kora stopped

 

Hooray!

 

Fifty

?Iella? Call on three.? The young kid who she had screening her calls stuck his head in her office.

?Jasan, what did I tell you about calls?? She?d had to explain what ?screening calls? meant a few too many times today.

?You?re in a meeting and cannot be disturbed.? The kid rolled his eyes. ?I know that, but the woman on the phone told me that I should get you out of it.?

Iella gave him a look. ?And what?s the proper response to that??

?Having trouble with your call screener?? Merri appeared behind Jasan, a stack of datacards in her hands.

?I told her I couldn?t do that, but she said to tell you her name?s Kelli and??

Lara. ?Put her through.? Iella glanced at Merri.

?Please tell me that?s not the same Kelli from six months ago,? the lawyer remarked.

Iella debated lying, then figured it was a waste of time. If her gamble worked, Merri would be finding out about Lara?s involvement sooner or later. ?She?s not helping with the Renz investigation. I?ve got her working on something else for me.?

?Does the general know??

?No, but you?ve heard him give me pretty much free reign on how I want to run this investigation.?

Merri sighed, ?You and I both know he never meant getting her involved.? She frowned, ?And we also both know that Han Solo and your husband came up with that crack explanation for her being one of us after the fact.?

Iella raised an eyebrow. Merri was more observant than she gave her credit for. ?They entered testimony under oath. Are you implying that two of the Rebellion?s greatest heroes lied??

Merri just looked at her.

?I need to take this com call. You basically have three choices. You can help me, you can keep quiet, or you can march right into General Cracken?s office and tell him what you know.?

With a sigh, she shook her head. ?I can?t help you with this for a number of reasons, but I won?t get in your way, either.? Merri turned towards the door. ?I?ll be in the building for the next few hours, so call my comlink when you have a chance to go over this stuff.? She paused, then turned back towards Iella. ?I?m right, aren?t I??

Her only response was a thin smile. Reaching out, Iella keyed her com on. ?Lara? I?m hoping you?re calling with good news??

~

She wasn?t dead. Somehow, her foggy mind finally made that connection. She wasn?t dead. Or maybe she was. She really couldn?t feel her body at all. No, that wasn?t true; she could tell she was breathing. That meant she was at least alive. Why hadn?t he killed her?? The rest of the thought was lost in a momentary struggle to remain awake.

It took most of her strength to open her eyes, not that it helped any. She was lying on her side on the floor of?someplace. It was too dark to see. Feeling discouraged, Dena let her eyes close again and tried to discern why she felt so odd. Thinking didn?t last long, and she slowly slipped back into a dreamless sleep.

~

?So, what are you thinking?? Hobbie glanced over at Janson.

?That Inyri?s probably already asleep by now,? he growled.

?Hobbie means do you two want to take first shift or second shift?? Tycho asked, almost tired. He was getting old. Maybe that desk job wouldn?t be such a bad idea?

?The door locks,? Janson protested, ?They won?t be able to get in.?

?Unless they have someone in the military stationed here who could unlock it. Look, Tainer went through our fighters and no one has tampered with the engines yet, but if I were a member of an Imperial group trying to stop us on world, I?d wait until closer to the attack to sabotage X-wings. We?re going to have someone at that door from now until the Imps arrive. End of story.? He really didn?t feel like arguing with Janson at the moment.

Hobbie cleared his throat, ?Wes and I will take first shift if you and Wedge want to take second. Make Wedge sleep until then.?

Tycho raised an eyebrow. ?You do realize there isn?t a power in the universe great enough to make Wedge get rest, right??

 

I'm just glad I can reply--I catch up where you havn't posted by lurking over on Downtime so i've read all this..but I can comment here

Alright. This newest post...my fav line? ?They entered testimony under oath. Are you implying that two of the Rebellion?s greatest heroes lied??

No...Wedge and Han lie? Never!! (Of course we know they did from other stories)

And Dena..where is she!

Also--I love Tycho's internal monologues...Corran go to warn Mirax? Obviously!!!

Nice.

 

Yeah, I forget to come here and update. *shakes head* I've recently been in a slump as far as writing's concerned, but yesterday I got really inspired, so I have the first three posts of the sequel to this written. As for ToS, I've finished two of the plotlines now (the one with Iella, Lara, and Myn, and then the one with Dena). I'm going to try to finish the ground battle stuff tonight and tomorrow, then all I'll have left is the space battle. *hates writing action scenes*

Thank you for pulling that line out! I laughed when I wrote it; I'm glad you liked it.

~Inyri

 

I'm here! JUst read through this over the past few days, and I LOVE It! YOu write my Corrany-baby so well, and everyone else too. LOved Corran strutting in to do his laundry (I always mix reds with white, and they never go pink. ) and the machine blows out soapy water! LOL!!! He's cute with Valin too...

Wes and Inyri are adorable. So is Corran and Gavin's protection of her.

Love Mara in it...and Lukie's cameo. He needs more screen time.

Very good plot...love the Wraiths too, your characterization is excellent.

Need.More.NOW!!!

 

Fifty One:

The turn came up fast, much faster than she?d planned. While the motivation to take it so sharply had been a good one ? she had been determined not to loose again ? it now seemed rather stupid. There was no way the speeder could handle it.

A loud screeching noise reached her ears as the machine fought against inertia, struggling to complete the turn. And then, with a crash, it slammed into the wall of one of the prisoner barracks.

With a jolt, Inyri sat up in bed. While the accident disappeared almost instantly, the screeching did not. As the sleep began to clear from her mind, she realized what she was actually hearing - the sound of the evacuation alarm. For a moment, she sat perfectly still, feeling as if her ultimate nightmare was becoming a reality.

?What?s going on?? Kora asked groggily, sitting up in bed.

The sound of her roommate?s voice broke the spell. Tossing the blankets off, Inyri picked her way through the darkness and reached out to key it open. There was a soft whir as the door tried to open and failed. ?Kora, get up.?

?Are we under attack?? The younger woman was already dressing in the dark. There was a long pause, and when Kora spoke again the horror was apparent. ?The barracks are on fire.?

She noticed the strong smell of smoke as well. ?We?re locked in, too.? And three stories above the ground? Trying not to panic, Inyri turned away from the door. ?Kora, how much experience do you have with electronics??

?None.?

?Figures.? Think. There had to be a solution. ?Put on your flightsuit.?

?Why?? Kora grabbed the towels they?d draped over the backs of their desk chairs and started towards the refresher. She stumbled, tripping over something unseen on the floor. The girl cursed, barely managing to remain on her feet.

?Flightsuits at least have some protection against temperature extremes.? She stripped out of her own nightclothes and began dressing as quickly as she could. ?What are you doing with those??

?Soaking them with water.? Kora called from the refresher. She emerged and passed one to Inyri. ?Hold it over your mouth once we get the door open. It?ll help with the smoke.? She tossed her own over the back of her chair and began slipping into her own flight suit.

Zipping up the flight suit, Inyri returned to her bed. Pulling her service blaster out from under the pillow, she flipped the safety off. ?Kora? A little faster.?

?Can you stop ordering me around for once?? Kora snapped. ?I?m doing the best I can.? There was a long pause. ?Okay, I?m ready.?

?Alright, stand back.? Moving as far away from the door as possible, Inyri raised the blaster and fired two shots into the door control panel. Please work? For a long minute, she held her breath and waited to see if the shots would spring the lock or just make the situation more dire.

~

?So should I go down on one knee, or will that make it look too rehearsed?? Hobbie asked from his perch on one of the X-wings.

?Rehearsed or no, it?s romantic. Women eat that stuff up. If you confess your undying love, get down on one knee, and then ask her to marry you while holding the box open, you?ll be getting laid.? Janson stretched.

?You know, Wes, the point of a proposal is not to get laid.? Hobbie stuck him with a look.

?I know that. But it?s a nice side benefit.? He grinned.

Hobbie held up a hand. ?Did you hear that??

?Hear what??

?Sounded like someone trying to open the side door.? He began to ease his way down the S-foil and motioned for Janson to do the same.

?The door?s locked. Unless they plan to override it?? Janson paused as a small chime signified the door had been unlocked. ?Damn. Could be a mechanic or something.?

?It?s the ?or something? that worries me.? Hobbie muttered, flattening himself along the S-foil as the door admitted a small group of people dressed in black. It looked like Wedge had been right after all. From here, he could count four of them. Two carried large c

 

OMG! u hurt corran????? thats just WRONG! come on now!

but at least we got to see some inyri/wes (yeah i know that was a couple posts back but i had to catch up!!!)

 

*huggles Inyri!*

Love it! Ooh Kora did something...smart with the towels! She sort of reminds me of me...is that bad? Just give her Lukie, it'll be perfect! No! Wait! Write a character named Luney and give HER Lukie!

*ahem*

Stupidbadpeoplewhostartedthe fire! I love Gavin and Corran always meeting in those bad situations...of hte bases being attacked....specially since I just read it in an X-wing book. But, But, BUT!!!! YOU HURT MY CORRANY-BABY! *sobs* *controls self* Wait...I KNOW FIRST AID! Let ME treat him. Excellent action and what not, and GLAD you assured me you wouldn't kill him, you know me too well.

Now that you have me anguished and stuff...

NEED.MORE.NOW!!!!

 

Fifty Two

When she?d learned she?d been given perimeter duty, she?d thought it was the stupidest thing she?d ever heard. Her first argument was that they were on a secure New Republic military base, and the second was that even if there were Imperials in the area, they?d be too small in numbers to actually attempt attacking that base.

She?d been wrong.

How they?d gotten in past security, she?d never know. From the commotion going on in the valley below, though, they?d managed to set fire to a number of the dormitories the pilots had been using, as well as the base hospital. Then, to add sadistic touch, they?d stationed five snipers at various locations to pick off those who managed to survive the inferno.

One of whom was currently less than six feet below her on the hill. He was laying on his stomach, stretched out along the ground, with his eye to the scope. The long barrel of the rifle began swinging towards another door of the nearest building. It would be easiest to just kill him from where she was, but the blaster fire would give her away. No matter how good she was, she wasn?t going to be able to eliminate all five by stalking them in the dark; she?d need to use the rifle to remove them.

Slowly, she pulled a blade from the sheath on her arm before abandoning her silence and leaping onto the man. The surprise attack gave her the upper hand for a minute, and it was all the time she needed. Shoving the body aside, she took up the position the sniper had held a moment earlier and held the scope to her eye. Night vision. At least some luck was going to hold.

It was times like this that she wished she?d asked Myn for some sort of advice on this type of thing. Then again, she?d never expected she would need to know how to use a sniper?s rifle. Swinging it towards a location seventy degrees from where she lay, she searched the dark hills for the others. Sudden motion at the right edge of her scope gave him away. Setting her teeth, she adjusted it to center on the target, and, feeling anger at the slaughter below her, Tyria pulled the trigger.

~

There was the sound of a blaster shot ricocheting off the side of the speeder they?d overturned and crouched behind. Wedge glanced at Tycho. ?What are our chances of righting this thing and making a run for it??

?Slim to none.? His XO winced slightly, nursing the burn on his arm. ?I?m only counting the one with an angle to even see us. I?m not going to be much help in flipping the speeder upright, either.?

Wedge scanned the immediate area for any additional cover. Nothing. He?d already gone through the contents of the speeder ? nothing, the reoccurring theme of the past fifteen minutes ? and was running out of ideas. It was only a matter of time until the sniper on the hill above them called in some back up to finish the job.

Beside him, Tycho finished applying the bacta bandage he?d pulled from the speeder?s first aid kit. ?Face it, we have nothing but a few bandages, and the speeder itself.

?If we could distract him?? Wedge glanced around for anything that could be helpful.

?Not to sound like Hobbie,? Tycho replied, ?But we?d need a damn good distraction. He has us pinned down here, and he knows it.?

?Maybe not?? They?d flipped the speeder so the underside was exposed to the sniper. That left the cap to the gas cylinder on their side of the vehicle. ?There any bottles of meds in there??

?Some basic pain relievers,? Tycho began sifting through the meager contents of the kit. ?Here?s one that?s most likely some sort of injectable??

?Dump it out and help me fill it with fuel from the speeder.? Wedge was already working the cap off with his left hand. ?Dump the pill containers, too.?

?Wedge, what are you thinking?? Tycho sounded dubious.

?There?s a fuel truck about a hundred feet to your right.? He reached for one of the now empty bottles and began filling it. ?Start ripping those extra bandages into strips.?

?You?re going to blow the fuel truck?? Tycho gave him a look of

 

.... ... ... YOU DO THAT TO MY CORRAN AND DON'T EVEN HAVE HIM IN THE NEXT POST??? Do you WANT me to die in suspense?

On the plus side, *mutters incoherently* you offered me a ame and Lukie vig...*sigh*...WHY does he have to go to Mara anyway?

I suppose you want me to comment on this abominablenoCorranpost?

Fine.

The Tyria scene was good...the stupid attackers ARE sadistic! let met at 'em...

LOVED the Tycho and Wedge scene, you brilliant little authoress! They're going to blow up the truck like the wraiths! I'm sure they'll do them proud! My poor Tycho though, being wounded and all. That's just not very nice.

So can I hold you to that promise on not harming my Corran-baby in the sequel? Or will you be evil and hurt my dear sweet Lukie instead?

There's just no trusting you evil Rogue Authoresses.

Need.More.NOW!!!

 

Waves to Lune and JagsGurl.

As for the newest posts....man those are great set ups for the craziness..I love how when you write about the stuff(insert more appropriate word) hitting the fan you build and build and build and build until we just can't stand it!

As for Corran--I adored the parallel to the X-Wing books. Fantastic.

And the one thing I adore about this fic is the Hobbie storyline. He always seems to be the most 2-D in a lot of stories (even I have trouble figuring out what to do with him when I wrote about the squadron) but you add so much depth to his charachter...

Excellent Job. Thanks for the update..and a sequal? Wow what are we on the 4th in a series?

sweet!

 

This is really good. I find myself waiting for the next part. You write very good.

 

Great post! Hope to see more from you soon

 

great job! cant wait to see more soon!

 

Fifty Three

There were a few things she?d done in her life that she would have deemed crazy. Of those, most of them had something to do with one Wraith mission or another. This idea was probably going to make the top of the list.

Having been blocked by the flames outside the door to her room in their two-story building, she?d done the only next logical thing ? she?d escaped onto the roof. That had been a challenge in and of itself. Standing on the windowsill, her fingers had just barely managed to curl around the edge of the cement trough that collected rainwater and sent it down the spouts at either end of the building. At least, Shalla had tried to reassure herself, she wasn?t going to have to start from a dead hang. A leap had given her enough momentum that, when coupled with pure physical strength, had allowed herself to pull her body up to the temporary safety of the gently sloping roof. The whole thing would have been a lot easier if her roommate hadn?t spent the night in Face?s room. She could have hoisted Dia up, then let the other woman pull her onto the roof. She?d laid there a long moment, trying to catch her breath. It wasn?t easy. Already, the dark smoke was billowing across the roof.

It was only then that she?d realized there had been snipers picking off survivors on the ground. Luck seemed to hold for her. Their attention wasn?t on the roof of any of the buildings. Only an idiot would go up to escape a fire. Additionally, as long as she remained pressed against the building, she?d appear as nothing more than a shadow thanks to her gray pajamas.

She?d then made her way to the nearest edge of the building in search of a drainpipe. To her dismay, there was a small spout to send the water falling through the air at each end of the roof instead of the traditional metal pipe. It was then that she remembered the ongoing joke about the Blue Squadron Boys and the pool.

Having checked the distance ? it?d be a stretch but she could reach it if she could gather up enough speed ? she?d moved to a position on the roof where she could get a good running start. Easing up from her crouch, she took off in a dead sprint towards the far edge of the building.

Her left foot hit the place she?d chosen earlier, sending her hurtling into the air. Tucking her legs in to her chest, Shalla felt gravity grab her in a stomach-wrenching pull and she hit the surface of the exercise pool a few seconds later.

~

?Okay, I?ll stay here and hold the hanger,? Janson said, ?And you take your fighter, buzz the bad guys up there in the hills on your way out, and head up to get help from the little that exists in orbit.? Even from the doorway to the hanger, they had been able to tell the base?s communications center had been taken out. If that was any indication as to the type of operation the Imperials were running, there was a good chance the hospital would be gone, too. If anyone survived.

?With my luck, they?ll have a rocket launcher and shoot me out of the sky when I buzz them,? Hobbie remarked as he reached for his helmet. Normally, he?d just write it off as Hobbie being Hobbie, but in light of the recent developments, there was a genuine risk that something similar to the scenario would happen. The raiding party had managed to think of everything.

Janson glanced back at the three Ukio soldiers they?d managed to get inside. They?d been part of the base?s ground support and none of them had ever seen action prior to now. ?Alright then, you stay here and hold the hanger and I?ll go?? The ground suddenly shook and he gave Hobbie an odd look. ?What the??? Did the Imps just blow one of the buildings? Or had the fires reached something far more volatile than barracks?

?Wes!? Hobbie?s blaster snapped up as two figures dove through the doorway.

?Hobbie! Don?t shoot!?

Janson blinked, lowering his own weapon. ?Wedge??

His friend picked himself up off the floor, wincing in the process.

?Wedge?? Tycho remained where he had sprawled on the ground, ?Do