Recreational Area
Reading Room
Something is happening in Yavin IV (III)
By Dario Pozo

[Gray Wolf's bridge]

"How serious it is?"

"As I've said, the  shield generator is under a big stress, trying to make all the work that usually is done by two of them. The readings about the dome show that its armor presents fails of integrity in several points. A new impact on it and we can lose it."

"Forget that now." Guindamonn said, looking at the images sent by one of the bay's cameras. "I want that pilot captured!" he ordered.

"At once, sir."

"If there is something to know about what is happening in Yavin IV that pilot will tell us!" Oh, yes, of course he will do _just_ fine!
 
 
 

[Space close to Gray Wolf's main bay]

"More problems incoming," Daolaris said. "Look at that shuttle!"

A shuttle had exited from the bay and was directing its path towards the crippled B-Wing. His intentions were painfully clear. More and more TIEs were joining there as well.

"Moose has serious difficulties, we need some help immediately!" Vyper yelled as he tried to destroy some of the TIE Fighters that were around Moose's ship.

"All fighters, get to the bay!" Foxfire ordered. I can't understand how he always manage to get in trouble! "We must do all we can to save Moose!"

"I'm on my way!" Zeppelin replied, who had caused a great headache to the Imperial gunners that had been trying to stop him from launching his torpedoes against their laser turrets.

This is not my day! Moose thought. He was unable to move or rotate his ship, but he could shoot while there was remaining energy, so every time an enemy fighter crossed in front of him he saluted him in his own way. But if that shuttle behind him reached him before the others could get there to help, it would be all over for him. Moose knew that it wouldn't take that many ion shots to complete their task.

A desperate idea came to Torpedo.

"Zeppelin, we are going to push Moose's fighter! " Torpedo exclaimed through the intercom. "Everybody, cover us!"

"You heard that," Foxfire said. "let's clean this zone of TIEs!"

An impressive cross of laser bolts were taking place in a very reduced amount of space. The Imperial fighters were trying to avoid that none of the Rebels could approximate neither to Moose's B-Wing nor to the shuttle that was now using its ion cannons to disable him. Nobody could do anything. In a matter of seconds Moose would be a prisoner.
 
 

Relatively far from there, Shok'wave and Joker, with Psycho and Tempest as escorts, were the only pilots who were attacking the Star Destroyer now. The two women were the last ones who had torpedoes left in store.

"Tempest, cover me!" Shok'wave ordered. "I'm going to destroy that damned tower this time. Joker, take a position from where you can launch all your remaining torpedoes against the engines! Psycho, cover her!"

Every pilot obeyed without reply. Shok'wave directed her fighter one more time towards the right shield generator tower. At least six fighters were trying to shoot her down, and all the lasers towers of that part of the Star Destroyer were pointing at her too. She redirected all her shield energy to forward settings, hoping that Tempest was able to protect her back. While Joker was moving away from the Star Destroyer, she was getting closer every second. She couldn't evade all of the laser bolts from the Imperial ship, but her shields were resisting and Tempest had put his A-Wing on her tail, with all the energy from the cannons transferred to the rear shields, receiving most of the shots from the TIEs that were trying to kill Shok'wave.

"Shoot now, Shok'wave!" the desperate pilot cried. His shields were about to collapse, but he didn't abandon his position covering his flight leader.

"There it goes!" Shok'wave said while launching her last torpedo against the tower. She maneuvered to avoid the collision, and her fighter was shaken by the expansive wave from two explosions. The tower and Tempest's fighter.

Poor courageous guy! Shok'wave thought. Thank you, Tempest. I'll never forget you!
 
 

[Gray Wolf's bridge]

"Sir, we have lost our shields!" Captain Zelia looked at his higher  officer waiting for his reaction. He was glad not to be in his position in that moment, but on the other hand, had been he in command, this situation would have never happened. He should have reported about what we had discovered and his theory, in the first place, or at least informed about where we were going, but no... Guindamonn turned to look at him.

"Sir?"

"Captain, order our TIE fighters to come back to the Gray Wolf just after the shuttle reports that they have taken that pilot as prisoner." He ordered. "And tell the Navigation officer to make the calculations to jump towards the Punisher's position."

"At once, sir." I hope that what that pilot has to say is worth the effort, or someone is going to be in serious trouble.
 
 

[Space close to Gray Wolf's main bay]

"Target that shuttle Edu!" Dario said. "We are going to save that pilot!"

"Or die in the attempt..." Edu whispered, but he made the cannon turn, forgot the TIEs and targeted the Imperial shuttle.

"NOW, NOW, NOW!" Dario shouted with all his strength.

The combined fire from the laser and the ion cannons consumed all the weapons energy in just seconds, but when Dario maneuvered to pass under the shuttle, her thrusters were died. The two friends had managed to disable it. None of them saw the TIE Interceptor that had been about to shoot them down, but Iceman did. The Imperial fighter crashed against the Star Destroyer spinning without control.

"Those guys got it!" Granite exclaimed. "Don't give up now!"

Zeppelin had put his fighter touching what remained of the main wing of Moose's ship. Torpedo had done the same over the thick part that joined the cockpit with the engines section. The three fighters were stopped in space. The rest of the pilots were trying to keep the Imperial fighters busy.

"We need to do this at the same time, Zeppelin." Torpedo said. "Push your throttle at my signals!"

"Ok, let's go!"

"Don't let any of those fighters shoot at them!" Foxfire cried. She was not going to allow the Imperials to harm Moose while she had something to fight with. Her A-Wing had suffered serious damage, and her control panel was a mess of junk and smoke. The computer was inoperative and she was fighting with her eyes as the only sensor device. She didn't need more. A TIE fighter that had shot a laser bolt over Zeppelin's fighter couldn't shoot any more.

"Throttle at ten percent, NOW!" Torpedo said. The three B-Wings started to move like they were one ship.

Moose heard a bump when his two partners started to push his fighter. There was something worse than the cold he had felt on the cockpit until some minutes ago, and was starting to feel again, with all his systems disabled. It was to see the battle raging around him and not being able to do anything but watch. With the onboard computer out of line, he couldn't hear anything from outside the B-Wing. Only his own breath and the creaking of the hull broke the frightening silence. The laser bolts lightened the space in a noiseless tempest, one loaded with lightnings but with no thunders. A TIE fighter was hit and exploded almost in front of him, creating a burning flower of fire that disappeared an instant later, leaving no trace of the machine and the man consumed between its deadly petals, but Moose couldn't hear it. Somehow that made it seem less real, his eyes telling something to his mind, but his ears denying it. He cursed noisily only to hear his own voice. The absence of sounds was getting to his nerves as he could have never imagined. "If you bring me out of this one..." Moose said although nobody could hear him, "I'll buy you all that you two can drink!"

"Twenty percent, NOW!"

Daolaris finished off another TIE.

"Thirty percent, NOW!"

Vyper hit an Interceptor, and the damaged fighter entered in the sight of Granite for just one second. It was enough.

"Forty percent, NOW!"

The three B-Wings were moving away from the Star Destroyer as they increased speed. They couldn't turn, but all they needed was to put the most possible distance between them and the Capital ship.
 
 

[Gray Wolf's bridge]

"Let's get out of here." Guindamonn said.

"But most of our fighters are still out there!" Captain Zelia objected.

"Our pilots will be able to care of themselves. We'll return later with reinforcements, Captain. Obey my orders!"

Captain Zelia looked at his higher official with scorn, but he didn't say a word. Not even to point out that their terrain troops were being abandoned on the planet, too. He would reserve it for his report.
 
 

The Gray Wolf was performing a wide turn on its powerful maneuver thrusters. The stern kept pointing towards Yavin, while its bow headed towards the outer space, avoiding carefully one of the uninhabitable moons, too small as to cause a significative gravity effect. The shields of the Star Destroyer had just fallen, but a different reading, the one indicating the activity from the Imperial vessel's main reactors, was increasing quickly in Shok'wave's screen. She introduced the new course on her onboard computer and the answer confirmed what her experience had suggested first: the Gray Wolf was heading towards a valid exit point from the system, and judging by the energy readings, it would be ready to make the jump before a minute.

"Assault group, they have lost the shields and are powering up their engines." Shok'wave said. She knew that Zeppelin and Torpedo were trying to take Moose away from the danger zone, but this was the crucial moment. She need all the available B-Wings to try to disable the Star Destroyer before it could escape. A hard order to give. "Change to ion cannons and attack the objective. All other considerations are secondary!"

"Roger, Leader." Torpedo's voice came through. "We are attacking the Destroyer now, with the help of our friends on the Y-Wing. White Six is safe, repeat, Moose is safe. "

"Copy that, Torpedo, glad to know." Shok'wave said, with real relief showing in her voice. Thanks to the Force! "Joker, are you with me?"

"As soon as I can get free of my excess of weight, Leader." The two TIEs that had been chasing her were being kept away by Psycho, what gave her the breath she needed to obtain a lock on a worth target and launch her remaining warheads. "Two... and two more. Four torpedoes on their way! Changing to ion cannons." Scarce seconds later, the blue streaks of the proton torpedoes reached the rear side of the Gray Wolf. They hit the ship with a big detonation. One of the three main engines, the central one, ceased working, black smoke the only thing coming out from the twisted thruster.

"Nice shot, Joker! Now let's see if we can made her definitely stop." She took a look with concern at the readings of the Star Destroyer status. Its rear batteries were shooting unceasingly, preventing the Rebel pilots from shoot accurately at the most vulnerable spots. Their ion blasts had started to cause fails on the Imperial ship's systems, but not fast enough.

The Gray Wolf was increasing its speed, and soon it would be far from the reach of the Rebels.

"Oh, those cowards!" Granite's voice sounded through the intercom. "We are losing them!"

"Yes, we are, damn it." Shok'wave cursed. She saw the Star Destroyer move away with frustration.

Suddenly, just in front of the Star Destroyer a new capital ship exited from hyperspace. It was a Nebulon B Frigate, and it was almost exactly in the point where the Gray Wolf would jump to hyperspace.
 
 
 

[Gray Wolf's bridge]

Dozens of proton torpedoes were being launched by the Frigate. Alarms sounded into the Gray Wolf's bridge.  Those warheads had been launched at them.

"That is not the Punisher." Captain Zelia said coldly.
 
 

[Back in the battle]

The Gray Wolf was turning to avoid the collision against the Frigate, and that combined with the high speed that it had in that moment caused many of the torpedoes to fail its target, but the rest impacted against the now unprotected hull, and big sections of the ship erupted in flames that disappeared in the void of space. Full areas got exposed to vacuum and the fatal decompression killed all those unfortunate crewmen who were inside. The Star Destroyer was deadly injured. It was only moving by inertia, and the force of the explosions made it start to turn and spin.

"Fire with all the ion cannons!" Captain Orris ordered on the Joan d'Arc's bridge. Lines of blue filled the space between the two ships. In a matter of seconds the Star Destroyer was disabled, most of its electronics saturated and burned, unable to shoot or even change its erratic movements. The Joan d'Arc's tractor beams managed to stop it from moving completely.

"Cease fire!" Orris ordered. "Shoot only against any Imperial fighters who try to continue fighting."
 
 

[Gray Wolf's bridge]

"What is going on?" Guindamonn asked completely confused, his eyes widely opened, trying to contain the blood from an injury on his forehead with his hand.

"We have been disabled." Zelia replied calmly. "And soon we'll be boarded."

"What are you saying? Boarded?" Guindamonn couldn't understand anything, not even the blaster that was pointing at his chest. "What are you doing, Captain Zelia?"

"Taking satisfaction!" His eyes didn't show any emotion when he shot his weapon, the energy settings adjusted to kill. Guindamonn collapsed on the deck with a steaming hole where his heart had been, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. None of the officials who had seen the scene said a word.
 
 

[Space around Yavin IV]

This is over. Joker thought. And I'm still here. She let out a very big sigh.

"Open a protected line with General Madine." Captain Orris said to the  Communications officer. "We do not have enough troops to take something so huge like a Star Destroyer." He pushed the button that opened the comms with the boarding teams. "Captain Tederis, this is Captain Orris."

"Yes, sir." Came the answer from the intercom.

"Go out there with our armored transports and make prisoners of all those fighter pilots."

"At once, sir!"

Orris pushed a different button.

"All gunners, keep your cannons trained at the Star Destroyer. If any more Imperial capital ships appear before we have received reinforcements, destroy it without waiting for my orders." Affirmative answers came from the gunner officers.

One by one, the Imperial pilots made their fighters stop near the quiet Star Destroyer. The Rebel fighters started to fly in circles around the Imperial ships, waiting for the boarding transports.

Orris looked over the shoulders of the man who was using the ship's sensors to see how many fighters from White Squadron were still there and identified them. The man noted the presence of his Commander.

"They have lost three fighters, sir, although it seems that one of the pilots is still alive." he said without even moving his eyes from the screen. "There is an Alliance Y-Wing with them. Its transponder identifies it as Gold Seven.

"Gold Seven? An Y-Wing? Well, thank you, Lieutenant." Captain Orris said. He would find out later where that Y-Wing had come from. White's casualties, although somewhat expected, were bad news. He made a mental note to present his condolences to Commander Krenzel as soon as she returned.
 
 

"White Leader to the Joan d'Arc." Shok'wave began, "We need a shuttle to pick up Captain Gregory. His fighter has been disabled."

"Roger, White Leader." Came the answer. "Shuttle Anubis is parting right now.

"Thank you, Joan d'Arc. Torpedo, Zeppelin, stay there until that shuttle arrives and then provide escort to the Joan d'Arc."

"Roger, Shok'wave. We'll take care of this lucky guy." Torpedo replied.

The Y-Wing occupied by Dario and Edu was flying near the A-Wings that were watching the Imperial fighters and the transports docking with them. The two friends looked at both sides. They were flanked by an A-Wing and a B-Wing.

"Y-Wing's pilot, this is White Leader." The female voice they had been hearing all the time giving the orders said. "Can you hear me?"

"Come on, Dario, reply!" Edu said.

"Sí, nosotros..."

"In Basic, not in Iberyan, you dumb!"

"Oh... Yes, White Leader, we've been hearing you the whole time." Dario said at last. "Eeeer... Nice to meet you?"

"Would you mind telling us who you are and where you are coming from? Because I don't believe for an instant that you're part of Gold squadron." Shok'wave asked.

"Gold squadron? Ah, no, we aren't. You see, it's a long story..."

"Well, you are going to tell it more than one time when we arrive on the Joan d'Arc. Follow us now please." Vyper interrupted from the other side.

"Ok, we are going. Perhaps someone will have to push us inside, because we have burned out almost all the fuel we had."

"That won't be a problem. I'll do that myself. Ah, one more thing." Shok'wave said. "Thank you very much for your help."

"You are welcome!" Dario exclaimed with joy and relief.

Two kilometers away, Foxfire had taken Zeppelin's place beside Moose's ship. She passed slowly close to the B-Wing's cockpit. She saw Moose waving his hand, and her heart started to calm down at last. He was going to hear her when they were back on the Joan, but now she was too glad as to think what she was going to tell him. Then she noticed that Moose was trying to tell her something with gestures. He was holding himself with his arms insistently.

"This is White Two to rescue shuttle Anubis." Foxfire said. Moose's message was not hard to understand. "Barris, you better hurry or you will recover only a frozen pilot!"

"This is Anubis." The known voice of the shuttle's pilot said. "We'll take just forty seconds to made it there."

With his fighter disabled, Moose had lost the heat in his fighter again. The entire battle had not lasted more than fifteen minutes, and the cockpit's temperature was descending one more time. "It's hot, very very hot!" Moose whispered between his chattering teeth. "Very very very hot... Damn, suggestion doesn't work!"
 
 

Half an hour later, the Calamari Cruiser Star of Dawn dropped from hyperspace, with the company of two big troop carriers and immediately started to launch its X-Wing fighters complement. The tired White Squadron's pilots who were still escorting the Joan d'Arc and the Gray Wolf were relieved at last. Several transports docked with the Imperial ship, capturing its crew almost without resistance, while the carriers descended to Yavin IV. Equipped with heavy weapons, the Alliance troops would be able to force the Imperial platoon sent to the moon to give up.

The Joan d'Arc's transports transferred the Imperial pilots to the Star of Dawn. Everyone of those men and women would be interrogated first on board the Rebel cruiser by some of the Fleet officers, and then many of them would be delivered to the Intelligence Services' facilities, where General Crix Madine's agents would interrogate them a lot harder and in more detail. From there, there was more than a possible destiny. It was a known fact that the Empire used to recruit a considerable part of his crews by force, so probably some of those prisoners recovered their freedom after some time. And amongst them, a few could even join the Rebel cause in the future. The Alliance was able to forgive, as Michael "Vyper" Stauber, now White Squadron's Intelligence officer, but ancient member of the Imperial elite squadron "Black Knights", knew very well.
 
 

[Onboard the Joan d'Arc]

When she arrived to the bay, everybody was watching the crippled Y-Wing that had just been softly parked by the tractor beam. Nice to have a tractor beam now. Dario thought with a faint smile. He opened the canopy and the two men used the stairs that the bay's personnel had adjusted to the fighter.  Edu whistled when he noticed the Y-Wing's shape. New scorches decorated its hull at several places, and there were even some deep scratches, the still hot metal twisted and melted on the edges. The two Iberyans stood besides the ship uneasily. With their tourist clothes, they couldn't seem more out of place amongst the military uniforms and flight suits.

"Hi, there!" Dario said. Edu waved his hand timidly.

Two women in orange flight suits were approaching them.

"Nice to meet you, gentlemen." One of the ladies began, "I'm Commander Sherry Krenzel, White Leader, and this is my Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Avery Schroeder.

"Nice to meet you too." Replied the two men at the same time, while shaking their hands.

"My name is Dario Pozo, and this is my friend Eduardo Yanes." Dario said. "We are from the planet Iberya and... "

"Wait a minute." Shok'wave interrupted. "We are not the only ones who wants to hear your story. So, please come with us for now."

Foxfire was looking at the way they were dressed.

"And what exactly would you have done if you had been forced to eject?" Foxfire asked. Dario and Edu opened their eyes widely, looked at what Foxfire was looking at, looked at each other, and finally looked back at Foxfire again.

"Well, that's a legit question indeed." Edu replied at last.

Foxfire smiled first. Then Shok'wave began to smile as well. Then Foxfire's smile became a grin. Shok'wave grinned too. And then the two women began to laugh, the people who were surrounding them did the same, Dario and Edu were the next, and soon, everybody, even those who had not heard the chat were all laughing out of control.

"If the rest of your story is like that," Foxfire said wiping the tears from her face, "I don't want to miss a single word."

With that statement the laughter started again.
 
 

Not all of the story was so funny. Captain Orris, Shok'wave and the rest of her staff, with the exception of Moose, still in the bacta tank, listened as they told the story beginning with the events in Lorance City ten months ago, to the beginning of the battle, when the absent pilot had saved them in the first place. Captain Orris interrupted them a moment to talk with the commandos sent to Yavin IV by the Star of Dawn. Shok'wave wrote something in her datapad, and showed it to the Captain. "Tell them that they should try to find this too!" she whispered. When Edu and Dario ended their story, there was a brief moment of silence, broken at last by Captain Orris.

"Well, gentlemen. I think this has been a hard day for you both. I've asked the troops that are now in Yavin IV to try and recover your ship," Edu's relief at that was more than evident. "and it will be repaired by our technicians immediately upon arrival at the Joan d'Arc."

"You don't know how much we thank you for that, sir." Edu said.

"It will be nothing at all, it's the least we can do for you." Orris said. "When that job is done, you two can leave at your discretion. But now, Lieutenant Harris will show you where you can rest while you will be our guest."

"Thank you again, sir!" the two friends said.

"Are you aware that between the two of you have scored four enemy fighters, besides disabling the shuttle?" Shok'wave asked, with a curious expression on her face.

"Only four? I thought it was a dozen!" Edu replied, making the presents break into laughter.

"Well, it was, how do you call it?" Dario continued. "Hmmm, yes, a rich target environment." That caused new laughs, and an even more intent look in Shok'wave.
 
 

While that was happening on the Joan d'Arc, all the Imperial personnel were made prisoners, and the fighters, shuttles and transports that were in conditions to fly were captured as well. General Madine could surely find many uses for them. Too bad that all the AT-ATs that were in Yavin IV were destroyed in the fight against the Rebel troops before the Imperial soldiers decided to give up.

Finally, two hours after the arrival of the Star of Dawn, nothing interesting remained on the Gray Wolf, and the ship itself was damaged beyond any chance of repair. Looking through the main window on the Star of Dawn's bridge, her captain, a Calamarian General called Berin, opened the line with the Joan d'Arc.

"Captain Orris, it's your capture."

"With your permission." The Captain said with a nod towards White Leader, present on the bridge besides him.  "It's your and your pilots' work as much as mine and my crew."

"Only as much, sir?" Shok'wave said arching an eyebrow. "You can have the final shot, although we both know very well who made most of the work."

Orris looked at her puzzled for a second, and then remembered that General Benin was waiting for an answer. "Thank you, sir. All batteries, fire!"

The Joan d'Arc shot laser after laser bolt against the tortured hull from a secure distance. The Gray Wolf exploded at last, although the Joan d'Arc turbolasers kept firing at the bigger rests for half a minute. The Star of Dawn's tractor beams took care that what remained of the Victory II Class Star Destroyer was pushed in the adequate direction. In some hours, all that would fall under the gravitational field of the biggest planet of the Yavin system, the gassy red giant that gave it its name. Those pieces that did not disappear under its thick atmosphere, would merge with the great amount of spatial debris already orbiting the planet, the remainings of what had once been the Emperor's Death Star, and the ships of all those pilots who died in the battle that ended with its destruction, were they Rebels or Imperials.

"Excellent work, Captain Orris." General Benin said. "My congratulations to White Squadron, too."

"Thank you again, sir." He answered looking at Shok'wave.

"Now seriously, thank you for coming in our help, Captain." She said sincerely.

"My intention was not to help you, but have the mission accomplished." He said coldly. "But you are welcome anyway." With that he gave the conversation as finished.

This man has not a bit of sense of humor! White Leader thought while leaving the bridge.

The Star of Dawn and the two troop carriers jumped to hyperspace, followed by the Joan d'Arc some minutes later. The first question that had been asked to the captured Imperial high officers was if they were expecting reinforcements. Those who had cooperated during the capture gave a negative answer, but it was better not to take any risk giving their word too much credit. The Rebel ships would be safer in any other place.
 
 
 

[Three days later, Joan d'Arc's pilot's quarters]

"Come on, Dario, hurry up, time to go home!" He stopped when he saw that his friend didn't move.

"I'm not going with you, my friend." Dario said seriously.

"What?"

"When the troops recovered the Little Laura, they were suggested to recover something more. My pilot file."

"Your pilot file?" Edu questioned without understanding what Dario was talking about.

"Yes, the file generated by the simulator with the results of my training sessions. Shok'wave took a look at my file and she has asked me if I wanted to join White Squadron. To join the Alliance." As his friend seemed unable to answer, he continued. "She said that I'm a born pilot." That made Edu let out a short laugh. "Yes, I suppose what you think about my piloting abilities. They had just lost two pilots in the fight, and she said that it would take less time to train me themselves and get over the bureaucratic stuff to have me on the squad without passing through the official test, than  receiving new fresh pilots. She said also that you could have a place, if you wanted it, but I told her that you had a family to care of, back at Iberya."

Edu stood in silence half a minute looking at his friend. He knew what Dario was feeling, his personal tragedy and his not very well hidden desire to join the Rebels that had been growing inside him from the day he had been trying in vain to enter into his city, to find his wife. Edu walked the steps that separated them, and they embraced each other. Neither of them said a word until Edu was in Little Laura's cockpit as Dario was holding the door open.

"We'll miss you." Edu said. "Nuria, Laura and I will miss you, my dear and hard-headed friend."

"I'll miss you too." Dario answered with a smile. "You can be sure of that. But I do need to stay here."

"I know."

"Then try to explain it to Nuria. Tell her how I thank all three of you for what you have done for me, please."

"I'll do that, don't you worry. And if the blockade over Lorance is broken, I'll go there and I'll find Marife. I promise you that."

Dario fought to contain the tears and he almost succeeded.

"Thank you, Edu. Thank you very much. Ah, I almost forget it..." He searched in his jumpsuit and produced what seemed a brown furred  Drallian teddy bear with several hand made modifications. The ears had been removed and its fur used to increase the amount of it on the head, in a purposely made ruffled way. The round nose had been painted in black, and small white teeth added over its wide smile. To complete the disguise, two black plastic bands were crossed on its chest, with small silver square pieces glued on, in a decent imitation of a Wookie bandoliers.

"You can't be back without your gift for Laura. This is the closest to a Wookie I've been able to put together." Edu took it fighting with the deep emotion coming through.

"Oh, thanks... I'll tell her it's a Wookie baby. I don't think she has seen enough Wookies to notice the difference."

"Now you must go. If some of these guys see me crying like a baby I'll have a very low name around here!"

"I'll be seeing you my friend." Edu said.

"You can bet on that." Dario was about to close the door, but then he remembered something.

"One last thing, Edu. When we were in the middle of that battle, we had many possibilities of jumping to hyperspace and run away from there, specially when we had that breath to recharge our shields without opposition. Why didn't you propose it?"

"I don't know." Edu answered. "I've wondered about that same question myself these last days, and I just don't know why. When we were there, I couldn't think of anything else but targeting the next enemy fighter. I was terribly frightened, but if I would have had the hyperspace controls in my hands, I still wouldn't have used it. That pilot, Moose, had just saved us minutes before, and I suppose that we just couldn't run away and leave those people fighting behind us. Furthermore, no matter what I've made you think all these months. I hate the Empire and what they are doing with all of us. It was good to return them part of it."

"That is all I wanted to know." Dario said nodding. "Well, almost all. The other part is... what did you feel?"

Edu grinned before replying.

"It was the most incredible, craziest, frightening... and funniest thing that I've ever done."

Dario laughed and closed the door. The Little Laura was driven out of the bay by the tractor beam, and then it was authorized to depart. Edu was thinking of his wife and their daughter, how worried they would be. He had not been allowed to contact them from the Joan d'Arc due to security reasons, and now he just couldn't wait to be with them again. He made the Wookie baby sit on the copilot's seat and attached the belt on it. Only a scarce half of the toy showed up.

"Don't worry, kid, my last co-pilot was not very tall, either."

He pushed the hyperspace motivator controls and the Little Laura disappeared into space.
 
 

Shok'wave was informed that the communication she had asked about was ready. It seemed that the code that Captain Orris had given her, after explaining what she was up to, still worked. The hologram showed a not unfamiliar face.

"Nice to see you, Commander Krenzel." General Madine said. "I was about to call to congratulate you and White Squadron for your recent victory's consequences. It seems that the Gray Wolf never communicated its exact position to the Imperial High Command, so they are still very busy trying to find it. There has appeared some rumors that some guys in the Imperial Intelligence seriously believe that the ship has defected and joined us!" Madine laughed, "Of course, we have helped them out a little by allowing them to recapture one of their TIE fighters with our sign painted on it..." More laughs. "White Squadron did a great job, Commander."

"Thank you, General, but..."

"But you are not calling to hear that, are you?"

"Well, actually I needed to hear it. Now I think you owe me a little favor..."
 
 
 

[Lorance City, planet Iberya]

"Don't worry," whispered the young man, "I'm a friend."

The woman didn't seem to believe him, and didn't say anything. There was a time when she would have probably smiled to the stranger, and asked him what was all about, but that time had passed away the day when the combat shuttles landed without warning all over the place and the city was occupied by Imperial troops.

"I have news from your husband." the man whispered. The woman's neutral expression disappeared for an instant, her eyes suddenly bright, and her breath hurrying, but she quickly recovered her self-control. That was something she had had to learn since that same day, when her life, as many others, had been shaken and torn apart.

"Follow me."

The woman put her right hand over the lock display and the door opened when the recognition routine identified her. They entered.

"Sit down, please," the woman said, "and say what you've got to say." Her voice was cold on purpose, but her eyelashes uncontrolled motion and her pale face betrayed her real feelings.

"I know that it must be difficult to believe in a stranger like me," he began, "but you must believe me. Your husband is alive, of course he is, and he has joined the Rebellion. He is receiving training to be a pilot in a fighter unit. I'm risking my own life to come here to tell you this."

Something in the man's voice made Marife believe him. A tear began to run down her face, but she didn't bother to wipe it dry.

"He doesn't know that we are trying to contact you. He is growing mad not knowing anything about you."

"Can you give him a message?" Marife asked.

"I can do more than that." He took a little device from his pocket and pushed a small button. "This can take a holographic recording with nice quality. Say what you want. I promise that he will hear and see you."

"Oh, just a moment." she said smiling, "First I must do something with my hair..."

When they were finished, the man prepared everything to leave. Marife said, "Before you leave... there is something that I need to ask you." The Rebel agent nodded, inviting her to continue.

"There was a Rebel group here in Lorance after all, wasn't there?"

"No." the man replied. "That was just an excuse to deploy their troops on the planet, although we still don't know what they are up to. With the exception of myself today, there has not been a single Rebel in this town."

"Now there is one." Marife said with a light smile..

"Are you serious about that?" the man asked.

"Yes, I am." There was a great determination in her voice. The nervous tic had disappeared, but the brightness on her eyes was there to stay.

"Then you will have more news from us very soon." The man smiled and turned to go, but before he opened the door, he said one last thing.

"May the Force be with you, Marife."

"And with you and all those in the Rebellion."
 
 

[Onboard the Nebulon B Frigate Joan d'Arc.]

"Hi, Dario." Shok'wave began. "You are just the person I was looking for."

"Hello, Shok'wave. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you have chosen a callsign yet, you know, like Shok'wave for me?"

"Well, I believe that there is nobody else from Iberya in the Squadron... right?"

"No, you are the first one." Shok'wave answered.

"Then, I would like to be known as Ibero." Dario said.

"All right, Ibero it is then." Shok'wave wrote it down in her datapad. "Is that a different form of the word Iberyan?"

"Not since some thousands of years ago. If you're interested about History, I'll tell you about what that name means."

"It will be a pleasure, but first I've got something for you..."

She gave him a little metallic cylinder.

"It's a little holographic recording that I think you will find very interesting."

"Ok, thank you." Dario said as he accepted the cylinder. "Do you want to come and view it with me?"

"No, I better not. I've still got some jobs on my list to complete. You can use your room's holo-player and I'll see you later."

"I'll take a look right now. Thanks again!" The door closed behind him.

Five minutes later, the door slipped open again. Shok'wave had been standing there the entire time waiting for his response. Dario's eyes still contained the glassiness of fresh tears, but his face held the mask of happiness.

"Oh, Shok'wave, I just...!"

"I know." Shok'wave interrupted with a smile. "You don't need to say anything. Captain Orris has some friends here and there, although don't ask me how he does."

"I'll go to thank him personally this evening. " Ibero said.

"Very considerate, but I just warn you that he is not known as Orris the Stone for nothing." Shok'wave said grimacing. "There is one more thing. The minute after ending that recording, your wife took on the position of the local leader and first member of the Rebel Alliance in Lorance City." Dario was astonished at that piece of information. "From time to time, someone will give you news from her."

"Marife has joined the Rebellion?" Dario asked very impressed. Shok'wave grinned. "Every time I think I know her, she does something else that surprises me!"

Shok'wave laughed.

"We women always do. And now, I think there is a place in the ship you must know. And I hope you are carrying some money in those pockets."

"Money? Yes, I think so." Dario said introducing the hand in one of his pockets to make sure.

"Then follow me, and learn the path to "The Bomb Shelter."

"The Bomb Shelter? Are we under attack?"

"Not exactly," Shok'wave said laughing, "but if you exceed with the Blue Stuff your head will think tomorrow that there was an attack after all."

"Hmmm... Blue Stuff...?"
 
 

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