Chapter 12
<A day earlier>
Taber had barely unclipped the safety harness when the comms squawked again. “Hydaspes Star, Impetuous Control, new orders. You are required to tow the captured fighter and bring the prisoner to Executor, comms channel point six five. I repeat, you are required to tow the captured fighter and bring the prisoner to Executor, comms channel point six five.”
Mara rolled her eyes as Taber strapped back in, having not bothered to unstrap herself in the first place. “I suspected this would happen.” she commented to the younger Jedi, getting a snort in response. “Impetuous Control, Hydaspes Star. She said into the comm. “Acknowledged, transport captured fighter and prisoner to Executor, will monitor point six five. Hydaspes Star requesting launch clearance and routing to Executor.”
“You are cleared to launch, vector 260 for one five kilometers, then cleared direct. Repeat, vector 260 for one five kilometers, then cleared direct.”
“Roger, we are cleared for launch, vector 260 for one five kilometers, then cleared for direct. [i[Hydaspes Star[/i] out.” Mara gently manipulated the controls, easing the Intersector out of the only bay on Impetuous large enough to handle the sloop, and oriented the vessel on the indicated bearing.
“Hydaspes Star on point six five to Executor Control, be advised on approach with prisoner and tow, requesting clearance.”
“Hydaspes Star, this is Executor Flight Actual, you are cleared for direct approach, bay 18 bravo.” came a very cultured Coruscanti accented voice, causing Mara to chuckle before she keyed the comms to respond.
“Roger that, Executor Flight Actual, direct approach bay 18 bravo, on the chop.”
Taber was trying, and failing, to keep from rolling her eyes. “Must he make a production out of everything? Not like Stacy’s here to be impressed with his perfect diction.”
Mara just laughed as she slightly advanced the throttle. “Luke’s always like that, thinks it’s funny or something. Should hear him and dad get into a snoot off after a state dinner. Usually lasts until mom threatens them with makeup and hairstyling.”
“Well, I know I lost some credits on betting that I could crack that composure when he was teaching the Advanced Flight School last year.” Taber replied with a laugh. “He’s better at maintaining poise than Master Dooku, then again Master Dooku absolutely hates flying in anything that isn’t a solar sailer and…” the two women chorus together “considers acrobatics uncivilized.”
Mara was grinning as she keyed the comms. “Hydaspes Star to Executor Flight Actual, on approach to 18 bravo, requesting landing clearance. Also, apple tree. Repeat, apple tree.”
There was an honest to the Force sputter over the channel. “Don’t you…” Luke started, then obviously got control over himself. “Hydaspes Star, this is Executor Flight Actual. Clearance granted. And that was completely your fault and you know it.”
“And that, Knight Ban, is how you get my brother to lose his cool.” Mara said to Taber in her very best upper-crust Coruscanti accent, while the twi’lek was laughing in the copilot seat.
“Apple tree?” Taber asked, between guffaws.
Mara nodded soberly. “Apple tree.” she said completely deadpan.
The docking bay they were heading to was one normally used to berth Contentor-class fleet replenishment vessels. Along with 18 alpha, the bay was amongst the largest on the ventral spine of the massive fleet carrier with each capable of internally berthing a pair of the massive logistics vessels. Indeed, one was still berthed, while the other had been deployed to resupply Impetuous and her ad hoc squadron. This left a truly massive amount of room for Mara to land the sloop along with the captured fighter, which settled neatly onto its durasteel ‘wings’.
The actual landing area would normally be blocked off by the Contentor, but was perfectly suitable for flight operations when the logistics vessels were away. As such it was fully equipped for shuttle operations, even if said operations were only an occasional sort of thing.
Mara and Taber rose from the cockpit, heading back to find that Irolia was already waiting for them in the central junction accompanied by the floating form of the still sleeping captured pilot. On the other side of the chiss a holstered blaster pistol, a survival knife, and several pieces of pilot gear floated, while the young chiss just stood there with her hands clasped lightly behind her.
Mara started to say something, reconsidered it, then simply shook her head, gesturing for Irolia and Taber to accompany her, along with the prisoner, down the access ramp.
By the time the ramp was lowered a platoon of Imperial Marines had arrived, along with Luke, wearing his immaculately tailored captain’s uniform, accompanied by a young Sullustan padawan wearing a uniform without any rank insignia. Behind them a medical team waited, with a repulsorlift stretcher. Taber glanced over at Irolia and nodded towards the stretcher, the chiss nodded back and the unconscious pilot floated between the Marines to land gently on the steady platform.
“Welcome aboard!” Luke’s diction was perfect, but he was grinning rather than acting at Full Pompous Formality. He looked over at the Marine Lieutenant who commanded the platoon. “Lt, escort the medics to the secure medbay, normal protocols.”
“Sir!” The Lieutenant snapped a parade-ground perfect salute off, getting one in response from Luke, before turning and nodding to his platoon-sergeant, who nodded back, turned, and evidently gave a command over the internal comm network for the platoon as all of the Marines turned and began escorting the medics out of the bay.
Once they were well away, Luke smiled and stepped forward. Beside Taber Mara suddenly stiffened, just as Luke moved like greased lightning and caught his sister in a headlock and began messing up her hair while smiling amiably at the twi’lek and chiss.
“So, how’s being a copilot to my sister treating you, kid?” Luke asked Taber. Mara was trying to get loose while retaining some dignity, while her big brother messed with her as big brothers are known to do.
“Let… me… go… you nerf herding…” Mara was fast, strong, and capable. Luke was faster, stronger, and more experienced. Taber meanwhile was giving her former flight instructor a very old-fashioned look.
“I was quite happily flying my X” Taber said a bit severely.
“True, but now you are my baby sisters copilot on an Intersector.” he said, finally letting Mara go and stepping just barely out of reach of his sister’s potential counter attacks.
“Luke… one of these days…” Mara growled at her older brother, who just gave her a cheery smile in response.
“C’mon, sis, if I didn’t mess with you you’d think I got replaced by a clone or something.” Luke replied drolly.
“Ha. Ha. Ha.” Mara replied, scarcely mollified and obviously already planning on how to get Luke back. Although from what Taber knew, Mara had yet to succeed at any of her grand plans to get Luke back.
“Anyways, have visiting quarters arranged for all three of you, and that obsolete pile of short-circuits you call a droid.” Luke seemed to completely ignore Mara’s sarcasm. “I’ve already gotten strict orders from the Old Man that I’m not allowed to be the first test pilot of that snub, and before you ask, sis, he also vetoed you or Taber from doing it as well. Irolia, I’ve gotten firm instructions from Master Bnar that you are required to sleep, not simply meditate, for at least 8 hours. Taber, please make sure she does so. Mara, mom is expecting a holocall from us as soon as reasonably possible, have an MSE guide you to my office once you’ve dropped your kit in the guest quarters.”
Command came quite naturally to Luke, both being the Crown Prince and having quite a bit of military command experience, first as a squadron leader and now as Carrier Fighter Commander for a supercarrier. Taber found herself nodding as soon as she got her orders, even as she snapped to attention. Even little blue seemed to catch the ‘command voice’, although it was obvious she’d no actual exposure to military courtesies. Only Mara seemed completely immune to her brother’s ‘I shall be obeyed’ voice, rolling her eyes and looking put out, like any proper little sister.
Luke then paused. “Leli,” he turned to look at his padawan. “Head over to the med bay and let me know when our guest is awake.”
The young Sullustan nodded and scurried off.
“They actually let you have a padawan?” Mara managed to inject some sisterly snide into her voice.
“Of course, after all only the best would do for the job.” Luke was completely unruffled. “Leli’s a good kid, still have to grind down some of the awestruck ‘I’m being taught by a SKYWALKER’ edges, but a good kid.” he then grinned over at Taber. “And she’s a Makashi user, if we have time you might want to see how close she is to acceptable at it.”
Taber nodded “I’ll be taking Irolia to the training room once we’ve dropped our kit off, if you want to send her there.” she said, glancing over at the quiet chiss who winced a little.
“That sounds acceptable.” he looked over towards the lifts. “You’ve been onboard Executor before, sis, you know where the visiting officer quarters are, right?” At Mara’s nod he continued. “I secured three sets for you, just need to check in. I’ll be in my office doing valiant battle against the paperwork monster.”
He then gave Mara a brotherly hug, making it obvious that for all that the siblings teased each other they were very close.
He then turned on his heel and left, heading over towards a bank of turbolifts. Mara led Taber and Irolia to a separate bank at a brisk pace. Behind them bay crews were going over the two landed spacecraft, a much larger crew than you’d normally see with a snubfighter swarming all over the odd little fighter.
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ES-624-16 woke up.
She hadn’t expected to wake up, but she did anyway.
She wasn’t in a bacta tank.
She wasn’t in her cockpit.
She thought she was in a medbay. Which was… good. Maybe. Perhaps they had won. She didn’t open her eyes yet though.
She could feel all of her fingers and toes. That was good.
She opened her eyes.
The overhead looked… typical for an Imperial medbay. Or so she thought, she’d not been in many medbays.
But it looked much like the overhead in the pilots quarters, only with more conduits.
She didn’t hurt anywhere, even the light didn’t hurt her eyes.
She turned her head slightly. Black-armored stormtroopers flanked the hatchway from the compartment. ISB troops perhaps… she couldn’t think of anything she’d done that would get her in trouble with ISB.
Not that… she squashed that thought before it could fully form. ES-624-16 knew better than to even think anything negative about the ISB.
Then an anomaly, a Sullustan, wearing an Imperial officer’s uniform. There were no Sullustans in the Imperial Navy that she knew of. With a… was that…
She blinked. The shiny metal cylinder was still there, hanging from a strap on the aliens belt. Since when would an alien Imperial officer openly carry a lightsaber.
The alien… female alien, ES-624-16 realized, wasn’t looking at her, but rather was at a bulkhead terminal doing… something.
Everything was strange. She could remember the briefing aboard the Endar Spire, that they would be going through the anomaly at Lord Vader’s command. It would be her first combat mission as a full-fledged TIE pilot.
She’d been sitting in her cockpit, ready to launch, when they’d made the crossing, and she could remember the splitting headache that seemed to erupt between her eyes. She’d forced herself to keep her focus, to keep silent, even though she wanted to scream. She’d never screamed during training, even when… her mind shied away from that.
Then she’d launched, last in the launch queue as she was the single most junior pilot on board, and directly into hell. X-Wings far larger than anything in the warbooks. Oversized ARC-170’s. Obviously must be rebels. But they flew like demons.
Her leader went down in moments, not that she did anything to assist him. TIE pilot training was brutal. And she was trained to never help another pilot, but rather to solely focus on killing the enemy.
Her fire was… ineffective. She couldn’t recall a single kill. These oversized X-Wings had ridiculous shields, and never seemed to be where she’d aimed.
But she never took a hit either. Somehow she seemed to know when to turn, when to vary her throttle. She’d seen bolts blast past, millimeters away from killing her, but none so much as scorched her paint.
She’d never flown like this in training.
Then she’d felt like a giant hand was squeezing her, and everything had gone black.
She thought she’d died.
The Sullustan finally turned and approached the bed she was on. “Awake, yes?” came a liquid voice that sounded painfully young to her ears.
Young, a laugh, she was young. Too young her fellow pilots said. And female. Her mind shied away from that as well, remembering hands and dark rooms and… no, focus.
“Master Skywalker will be here shortly.” the Sullustan said, causing ES-624-16 to blink again. Every Imperial knew the name ‘Skywalker’, it was the rebel Lord Vader wanted. Her ears were ringing. The Sullustan was saying something, but she couldn’t hear it as she felt a charge in the room, an oppressive weight.
It was crushing her. Then it wasn’t. It was a warm blanket enveloping her. It was a gentle shower cleansing her. It was a beautiful day invigorating her. It was her grandfather…
Her mind shrieked away from that. Her grandfather was dead. Killed by the rebel bombing. She repeated that by rote. Killed by the rebel bombing. The ISB said that. Therefore it was true. Questioning the ISB led to…
The sensation grew stronger, banishing fear. Banishing… fear… memories… pain…
The hatch slid open, and a figure whose face was familiar from countless wanted holos but who was wearing an… an Imperial uniform… what… how… confusion reigned… Luke Skywalker was a rebel. He destroyed the Death Star. Lord Vader wanted him… here he was… wearing…
Her head felt like she was detached from reality.
“My Padawan tells me you are awake.” came a cultured Coruscanti voice. Skywalker didn’t have a Coruscanti accent, the recordings of his voice gave him a Tatooine accent… what… “Welcome aboard His Imperial Majesty's Ship Executor. I am Captain Luke Skywalker, Imperial Jedi Knight, Carrier Fighter Commander for Executor and, for my many and various sins, Crown Prince and Heir to His Imperial Majesty, Anakin Skywalker, first of his name and house.”
ES-624-16 did the only sensible thing in this madness and passed right back out.