Shadows over Nazzri

[Shayrina Tarthus]

Five fighter craft flew in a wedge formation, with four behind an X-Wing in the lead. The terrain on the Mid-Rim planet Nazzri was pretty docile, a continental world of plains with a normal atmosphere. Shayrina Tarthus was stationed on a small outpost on a border colony here, running training sorties as a new pilot. She was a dark haired human, with average skin tone and eager eyes.

Shayrina looked over the horizon from behind the controls of her A-Wing starfighter. The mottled brown and greens of the rolling beneath her under the canopy of blue skies and silvery clouds. A hard sighing exhale escaped her lips, as they parted with an excited smile.

Through her helmet radio crackled a familiar voice: “Another bloodless battle down, Indigo. Lets RTB to refuel and debrief.” That was her Squad leader, Benton Remn. A ‘tall’ sullustan with a dark sense of humor. Indigo was her current squadron designation.

Turning her head to the right, his X-Wing was clear in sight, and his head was looking straight back at her. She raised her left hand, shaking him a ‘thumbs up’. His craft then tore off in an acceleration, and Shay followed suit.

“Adversary Tactics had a hay-day today.” Another voice- a mon-cal wingmate with a strangely smooth voice for a Mon-Calamari. They all watched as the other team of more senior pilots- 'Adversary Tactics' with their six fighters blew past overhead.

“What do you say, Indigo 3, get me a coffee for saving your hide?” Shay added over the channel with a jab toward another wingmate- Chaz Errlizer.

“I’ll get your coffee for a week if you just don’t shoot that close to me again.” The masculine voice defended himself over the channel.

The flight zipped back over a ridge of hills down to a landing pad next to a group of hangars. Landing procedures went as normal, and everyone was eager to stretch their legs. Shayrina was no different. Popping up the canopy, she unbuckled, and drug the visor up her helmet to get it out of her face. As any other normal pilot, she kept her helmet on until she was off and away from the airfield. Scrambling down the ladder she leapt to the tarmac, both boots clunking at the same time- she hit and sprung into her swagger toward the rest of her flight group walking to an ‘out of the way’ area to chat, and walk together to debrief.

After their training debrief close to the airfield- they began hearing a rising sound. A wailing siren. Everyone went from at ease- to pucker factor 10. Footfalls and clattering filled the room as everyone shot to their feet and went for the windows and the exit door to get a look at ... well, whatever it was that was happening.

Shayrina slinked past a few squadmates, and exited the small dimly lit room to the outdoors. Shayrina jogged in front of the crowd who began filling out quickly under the day’s sun. Bodies standing shoulder to shoulder in an arc around their commander- Benton Remn.

“Commander?” She caught up to the familiar Sullustan with a hand shielding his eyes, staring intently. His bulbous eyes were looking across over the distant ridge of tall hills.

“Doesn’t sound like a drill... “ he muttered lowly as a grumble. Then, crew-members began scattering around and running out to the tarmac. He then quickly turned around, "Na-Ruul, get me command on a line."

"Yes Commander," a Twi-Lek squadmate barked from behind them all, and scurried off to get his radio.

"Indigo, hold tight. We may need to scramble if this is what we think it is..." the sullust had a grave look about him.

[Neive Undant]

Nazzri... Neive had barely heard of the planet, let alone entered the atmosphere of it. Although he wasnt familiar with the planet, the task at hand was far more important than stopping to observe, which he tended to do from time to time.

The base was fairly large, well built... But being so shiny and new, Neive could tell it would be a target.

"Having such a gleaming base in an area fit for fighters more than any ground assault... Interesting. An imperial attack could almost be certain. Have as many trainees on standby that you can, and evacuate any non-essential personell. Make sure the transports are heavily guarded... After what happened last time, I refuse to let unarmed transports move alone."

Neive thought.

"Make sure they have logistics monitors on the fighters, this could prove to be a perfect test for these young soldiers."

The second-in-command of the base nodded. His boss, the sullustan that Neive had been told about, would want to save as many lives as he could. Neive was sure the evacuation would go through him.

"And should we announce it over PA?" The man asked.

Neive hesitated.
"...no. I want both the trainees and the imperial information to regard this as the real deal. Any less and we wont have accurate results."

The man nodded and prepared the evacuation as Neive looked out at the airfield from the observation deck. The flat area gave no cover to ground forces, and the canyons about 10km out, although too far for ground troops to act, would provide a challenge for both imperial and alliance troopers, if they came to blows in the area.

"May the force be with you... All of you."

The 3 squadrons that were already on standby, including indigo, were under the orders of the sullustan alone. Neive wondered... Could this be a test of his leadership along with a test of skill for the students?

Perhaps, he thought.

[Professor Mors]

A dirtied gray speck flitted into realspace over the planet's surface. With manic momentum, the infinitesimally mass began to rapidly grow in size, until the shape and contour of a Mobquet transport became clear to the eye. With smoke and flames trailing from its portside hull, the freighter made a sharp nosedive, hurriedly descending into Nazzri's lower atmosphere. Mere moments after, the silver wedge of a Victory-Class Star Destroyer sprang into view. Angling its ventral hull up and away from north most longitude, the larger cruiser began to drift slowly towards the planet's surface, figuratively and literally in hot pursuit. In short order, the flaming fragment that had arrived first was succinctly dwarfed by the glimmering orange triangle bearing down upon it. If nothing else, the spectacle was sure to draw the immediate attention of any lifeforms on the ground.

[Independent vessel, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer Reverent], a clear core accent boomed over an open commline, [Throttle back your engines immediately. Failure to do so will result in your termination: this is your only warning]. "Spool up the primary tractor beam emitters", Captain Vassyl softly commanded to his somewhat incredulous aide. "Sir", his Lieutenant contested, "You don't really believe they'll stop now do you?". "I don't", Doren affirmed in response, "But we lose nothing by offering an expedient olive branch". "With conditions?", the young officer quipped. "With conditions", Vassyl offered back with a transient grin. In an instant, the Captain's smile faded into a grimace, as he pondered the events leading up to this encounter.

Rebel spies, having infiltrated a production facility on Vena, were attempting to smuggle out specialized weapon components when their cover was blown soon after their departure from the primary spaceport. Orbital defenses had managed to harangue the escape ship in question, but had failed to disable it. As the freighter attempted to limp towards a friendly system, the Captain and his retinue arrived to give chase, and had persistently done so over the course of several microjumps in the neighboring region. Now, as the slippery vessel desperately sought to make contact with the local militia, Doren prepared to capture it definitively, or, if such action was impossible- destroy it, and ensure its cargo never reached enemy hands. "Get the pilots to their ships", the Captain cooed over to his communications staff, "I want the Black Lances and the Commander's V38's to launch as soon as we exit the upper atmosphere".

Fortunately, Nazzri was not so developed or strategically useful as to warrant a titanic rebel presence. Nonetheless, its proximity to Kashyyyk and Togoria made the likelihood of reinforcements high, to such a degree that an extended stay would not prove viable for the Reverent. Indeed, this was to be a minor errand, and in-and-out sort of affair. Such was the Captain's hope anyways. Observing the columns of fire licking up against the main viewport, Doren continued to muse over the skirmish at hand, while the bridge crew bustled with concerns for the sublight engines and maintaining the proper entry angle. Eventually, the Star Destroyer leveled out, and the azure hue of a calm sky dominated the scene. Then came the familiar metallic howl of ion engines, as a wing of interceptors came pouring out under either side of the bow. "They will not elude us this time Sir", one Lieutenant Torbough piped confidently. "One can never be sure Mr. Torbough", Vassyl countered cautiously, "There's no telling who, or what is lurking beyond these pastures".

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden ground his teeth as the orange flames faded from around the Hydra, he hated entering atmosphere at high speeds, but it couldn't be afforded now. The Task Force had finally caught up with the Captain and his query after their last jump, and Rhoden wasn't about to let them escape. The TIE Phantoms and Starwings launched. The Phantoms were very good ships, particularly in comparison to their unshielded cousins but the Starwings were the superior fighters during atmospheric operations.

Rhoden saw the sleek black bow of the Hydra slide past underneath him, the red logo of the Inferno Squad emblazoned on it and smiled. He understood the need to maintain a certain image to avoid generating propaganda, as was pointed out by the Captain with unnecessary emotion during one of their more recent meetings. Unfortunately for the Captain, Rhoden wasn't interested in being the Empire's propaganda machine, his job was to kill rebels before they killed Imperials, and he would do just that. War was war. But, for now, he could afford to spare some of the murderous traitors should they so chose.

The fighters flew forth and closed on the enemy, "Stay in formation, keep an eye out, the local forces might be less competent but they can still burn you from the sky." he said, "Stating the obvious, Commander." the captain of the Starwing squadron said. "Quiet, you." Rhoden said, smiling. The other chuckled but fell silent immediately as more transmissions came in from Captain Vassyl's ship.

[Lady Kota]

She stood besides Doren, her presence masked. Kota was here to observe this encounter. If spies or information was taken she would see to it that the matter was delt with. It was part of her job to interagate, also if the force was involved she would have to step in. Besides there were other reasons she was here as well.

Argus had told her quietly to come, she was to start guarding the captain. Being the only other person there when she was made Division Alpha and knowing who she is under the mask, there was no objections. He would have to get used to having a guard around, he was growing high in rank. That came with guards among other things.

[Shayrina Tarthus]

Her squadron stood around it's leader- silent. The alarms wailed- riling up and down, and then everybody saw it. A white-orange flash as a smaller ship broke atmo, then the dark wedge apparated. It was all soundless, but everyone heard that muted 'boom' in their heads as they watched.


Simultaneously, everyone's stomachs dropped at the sight.




Rushing boots were heard behind everyone, as the Twi-Lek came back with news for their sullustan commander. Commander Remn turned quickly to the young Twi-Lek and caught a small wrist-comm that was thrown to him.

"Sir- looks like exactly what we were all thinking."

"Thanks L T. . ." A brief pause as he strapped the comm around his wrist. "Everyone get back to your birds. You know what to do. Stay in communication through helmet radio. I'll be with you shortly."

He scurried back into the office, and everyone else scrambled to get back to their lockers. Everyone moved in cliques, as was fairly normal. Each flight of pilots worked together in closely knit groups. A flight was a group of three or four fighters who often flew on missions together. The entire squad was tight, but the flights were tighter.

Everyone was grouping up, asking each other the obvious questions, and Shay was no different.
"What does the Empire gain from this? Just a hit and run?" followed by self-assured comments about being surrounded by nearby friendly fleets.

Shayrina slammed her locker shut after suiting back up in her olive jumpsuit, and her white ejection harness. Her white and orange striped helmet under her arm as she whipped a bag and a belt with a holstered weapon under her other arm. Shay was first by the exit door and waited for her other squadmates- Humans- 'Chaz' Errlizer, Zoff 'Zapper' Jyce, and a Twi-Lek Jun 'King' Na-Ruul. So far, Shay was the only one without a nickname. Her naming ceremony kept getting held off due to a booked and condensed schedule.

As they all approached one by one, they filed out the door and jogged through the short hallway to the exit door that was locked in the 'open' position. Slinging her helmet to her head, she shouldered the bag, and quickly strapped her sidearm to her chest. It was uncomfortable as ever, but she wasn't taking chances. Everyone hated carrying them, most stuffed them in their seat bags. Though it was told to them in training that if it wasn't jabbing them in the ribs as they took their seat, it wasn't proper.

As she and the rest of her squadmates sprinted to their waiting birds, dodging yellow and greenshirt crewmembers as they were carting back and forth, getting launch prep ready.

That alarm was still sounding. Making sure everything and everyone had their attentions split- frantic.

The other three ran off to their X-Wings, and Shay to her A-wing. Zapper was their flight lead, and he had an indigo stripe on his wings. They'd all follow him until their commander joined them. Zapper was an excellent human pilot. Dark skin, and always had a mischevous grin on his face. Shay liked him, always confident, and always had answers.

The ships sat in what looked like a diamond formation, the A-Wing at the back. The Giant wedge of a star destroyer seemed to get bigger, and shift posturing in front of their eyes. They had to have already dropped fighters. Shayrina felt every muscle in her core tense up with anxiety.

"Everyone buckle in, and we'll be airborne soon enough. Chaz, King, and Lieutenant Tarthus- you know what to do." His voice reassured everyone. At least it reassured Shay. Zapper's voice talking at them allowed a focus point for their actions. Not allowing them to give in to the anxiety fully. At least not yet.

That damn alarm...

Climbing her ladder, she all but leapt into her seat. Strapping herself in, she waited for the yellowshirt to get into her view. The guy seemed to take forever as he scurried under her ship's nose and into her view on the right. He gave her a nod, and she hit the 'close' on her canopy. It lowered, and suction-clipped shut. A slight glare over the transparent bubble made her slide her orange visor down.

Her helmet radio clicked and a male voice crackled over- "Fire it up. Lets get quick checks. Quick checks."

The alarm kept blaring.

Shayrina fired on her engine and the quiet rumbling was heard as a crescendo of a whine within the closed cockpit. She checking her gauges, no red lights. Pressure was good, fuel was thankfully replenished after spending most the day in her seat. She switched her cannons to missile tubes, and back, nothing hung, everything was good. Last few checks went fine, and she was given the thumbs up by her crewman on the ground. The poor guy looked panicked, just like everyone else. Frantically looking to the sky, to the other fighters, and back to Shay.


Shay took a look to the sky's horizon and it looked to darken a bit. Maybe it was her outlook, or maybe it was a cloud of enemy fighters inbound.

She could see the other yellow shirts standing strategically around the other fighters. All of them now holding up their thumbs into the air. The other fighters lifted off one by one and took to the sky,

"Come on, shoot it- shoot it" she repeated to herself frantically.

and then Shay's crewman finally knelt and gave her the two finger point to get the hell off the tarmac. Pushing her throttle, and yanking the stick up, she took to the skies, closing up her gear into the bottom of the small fighter.

That's when she saw it for the first time. The destruction that the Empire could bring.

Green bolts came in streaking through the skies toward their headquarters. Replies with heavy, but much slower pounding AA cannons sent red-orange streaks back up toward the horizon.

The incoming hairball of fighters got bigger- these things were lightning fast. TIE fighters were feared for a reason... Then dense shaking thuds were heard as those green bolts struck areas nearby- creating climbing balls of fire followed by swirling clouds of smoke.

[Neive Undant]

Neive watched as the fighters piled out of the destroyer, reaching for his comm as he sent a signal towards the independant vessel that shot towards the base.

"Independant vessel. This is base Alpha-2199. Please state your purpose for your entry, and security codes. We will give you an escort to port and evacuation upon landing."

Neive watched the ship soar past the group of ships that went out to meet the fighters. As he watched the group of trainee pilots make their way into their first battle, neive thought for a moment.

"When they land, I want them debriefed upon evacuation and their information sent to coruscant. I also want the decoy ready when they prepare to leave."

Neive got on a comm and sent another message, on the alliance encrypted frequency.

"Any alliance units in the area, this is alpha-2199 on the surface of Nazzri. An imperial star destroyer is in the atmosphere and headed towards us, assistance needed ASAP. We are undermanned and out-gunned." Neive sent out the transmission before looking at the iron helmet on the desk in front of him. He hesitated before picking it up, walking away from the deck.
"Commander, prepare my fighter. I believe our students need assistance."

"Yes sir!" Exclaimed the second-in-command.

Neive walked towards the hangar bay, donning the helmet-like mask.

[Professor Mors]

"Order the ventral gunners to cease fire!", Doren snapped over to the staff manning the weapons console, "We only waste our power reserves focusing on a target that small". Vassyl was much more keen to save his turbolasers for any sudden entrants to the fray. If and when the alliance sent backup, the already-limited batteries of the Reverent would be pressed to their limit. In that eventuality, the Captain needed all guns hot and ready to bludgeon larger enemies at a moment's notice. Though one or two armaments might have made short work of the local garrison, such was not Vassyl's task at hand. All that mattered was that lone freighter, and the precious materials it housed. "Firing solution for the tractor beam is almost ready Sir", Lieutenant Torbough began, "We'll have them withi-". A foreboding chirp wailed throughout the bridge, and the Lieutenant's mood soured as he turned about to face his superior, "We're detecting new signals: enemy fightercraft!".

***

Commander Walkko Frass sneered out through the latticed viewport of his TIE interceptor . Hunting a single transport was hardly a worthy sport for his talents. Worse still, he'd received no orders to terminate the ship, but rather to bully it into the path of the Star Destroyer's tractor beam emitter. Firing a lazy round off the starboard bow of the dogged vessel, the Anzat's ears perked up as an emergency transmission sounded inside the cockpit. "Enemy fighters!" the vampiric pilot cooed with glee. Wasting no time, the Frass keyed the intra-squadron commline, bellowing, [Black 2, Black 4, Black 6, Black 8, draw in formation alongside me! We're off to greet our visitors: the rest of you maintain your bearing on the freighter!]. A series of affirmatives echoed back over the line, and with renewed vigor, the leader of the Black Lances performed a tight corkscrew maneuver down towards the new arrivals. His companions were quick to follow suit, and a rapid hail of electric green spikes leapt out at the alliance patrol craft. At last, things were getting interesting.

[Zechs Merquise]

Zechs rested in his temporary bunk on the base. The long journey was in progress. Here was but a small stop between there and the other there. Gone were the days where explosions or alarms would rose him from his slumber. If you were going to sleep on a base, you learned to use earplugs. Doubly so if you didn't want to be disturbed.

He rolled over and dreamed of ewoks chasing nerfs through a candy forest. One stopped and looked back at him. It waved with a deadly grin. Birds screamed across the sky, chasing rainbows. Zechs just strolled among the star-like flowers glittering under the cool sun.

There was no place like no where.

[Rhoden Carbine]

"Enemy fighters inbound, move to engage." Rhoden said, switching his comm over to the Phantom squadron's channel. "Pull back, let the Starwings hit 'em first." the TIE's throttled back as one and the slower fighters shot past. Ahead and to the side Rhoden could see the squadron of Interceptors, they began drawing fire and he winced. The distance closed and they began drawing fire of their own.

"Break. Crush them." Rhoden said, swerving hard and sending fire lancing out at one of the enemy fighters. He saw two Starwings flash past in fast pursuit of another fighter. The hostiles were decent, but they were green, this action would devolve into a slaughter given time.