(Written by Bethan Leitbur)

The lull was already beginning to subside as Captain Aren Solan actvated his 
twin ion engines and blasted out into space.  He had been on standby duty 
when everything had gone to Hell out there.  Had the tech crews primed the 
TIE Advanced craft at the beginning of the mission he would have been out 
there long ago, but they hadn't, leaving the first wave to take their licks 
until the cavalry was ready to go.

That time had come.  Swinging out to his port side and doing a quick barrel 
role to make sure the fighter was working correctly, Aren shot off towards 
the enemy capital ships.  Even in the distance the Siege looked huge, and 
with those frigates guarding it any penetration of the formation would 
require quite a lot of firepower and coordination.  At the moment, that was 
something they did not have.

The Idiot's Array was making the jump to hyperspace now. It had took a 
horrid beating by the first wave of attacks, much like the Prometheus.  
Wildcard had truly outdone itself this time in screening the Prometheus, and 
with its departure they would be stretched to keep the fighters off the 
Retribution Fleet Flagship.

"R2F 1, be ready."  It was the comm officer on the Promtheus, "Here comes 
the next batch."  He was right, Interceptors and Fighters were pouring out 
of the belly of the Siege now, coming into formation and heading straight 
for him.

"All right everyone, get through them quickly, take out what you can, and be 
prepared for a wave of bombers.  They're setting up to draw us away into a 
dogfight."

"Copy that."

Switching over to dual fire, Aren lined up his reticle for the lead fighter, 
then waited as the klicks fell away.  It seemed to take forever, even though 
he knew that in reality very little time had progressed.  Finally they 
reached 1.5 klicks and his reticle went green.  Pouring out bolts of energy 
at the fighter, he let his blasts spread out some, and was rewarded 
handsomely.  Out of the four fighters that had come at his formation, only 
one shot passed him.  "Nice shooting group, R2F 3, sweep back and get those 
survivors, R2F 2, you're with me, we have dupes to vape."

"All right!  Let's do it!"

He had to admire his wingman's enthusiasm.  He was a nice kid, in his early 
twenties, impressionable, interested in making a mark on the galaxy.  
Unfortunately he probably wouldn't last that long, not in a war zone this 
intense, but who knew.

The dupes were arriving now, and as expected were moving straight for the 
Prometheus.  Flipping over to missiles, he lined himself up and again waited 
for the klicks to fall.  Suddenly though his alarm went off as he saw a bolt 
fly passed his starboard side, and shouted, "Break!"

Diving hard then rolling out to his port, he checked his sensors quickly and 
saw that those Interceptors were back on his tail.  "Sithspawn!  R2F 3, what 
are those squints doing on my backside?"

"Sorry boss, he got passed us."

Great, just great.  Another juke to the right saved him from a dual blast, 
and Aren killed his speed and did a sharp loop, undercutting his pursuer and 
coming in behind him.  Flipping his speed to match and switching back to 
lasers, he followed every move the Interceptor made, hunting him down, and 
finally got a green light, slashing a pair of bolts through his cockpit.

"Sir, the dupes are launching torpedoes!"

"Emperor's black bones!  All right, get on them NOW!"

"Aye sir."

Kicking his engines back up to full power, he blasted off after the Bombers. 
  Rearming his missiles, he set his bracket over one and waited as he slowly 
got a ping, then a steady tone indicating a lock.  With that knowledge 
secured, he let loose his missile, then switching over to the next target 
and acquiring a lock there as well as his first missile rammed itself home.  
He did this until all the Bombers were gone, but more Interceptors were 
already launching from the Siege.

"Shaavit" he cursed to himself, "I really don't want to die on the moons of 
Morba."  Suddenly Aren's sensors went nuts as another Star Destroyer hyped 
in.  A moan escaped him until his sensors identified it as the Liberator.  
"YES!!  Thank whatever gods exist for small miracles, she made it!"

Reality hit him quickly though.  It had hyped in too close to the enemy 
force.  Already the Siege and the Durga were firing into the Liberator, even 
as it returned fire, concentrating on the Durga.  His comm then went off 
saying, "New orders, keep the fire off the Liberator, give it some cover."

"Copy that.  All right pilots, lets give those Imps hell."

Swinging around towards the Liberator, Aren took off for the fighters that 
were diverting to the Liberator.  Activating his missiles again, he waited 
until he received a lock on one, and then let the fighter break off.  He 
only had two missiles left, and at this range it was harldy worth the risk, 
but it sure would keep those fighters from firing on the Liberator for 
awhile.

An explosion ripped through space as the Liberator's guns found the frame of 
the Durga, puncuring its shields and cutting through its hull, and finally 
snapping it in two.  Now that just left one more frigate and the Siege.

The Prometheus was moving away already, preparing to hype out.  It made 
sense, it was in no condition to continue.  Finally entering opitmal range, 
Aren let loose one of his two remaining missiles, which impacted and cut an 
Interceptor to nothing more than space dust.  Switching over to lasers 
again, he suddenly got a new set of data.  "Sir, I'm picking up freightors 
entering the area and launching what appear to be more squints at us."

"I see them, lets get them before they reach the Liberator.  Lock and load 
boys and girls."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Aren was dragged out of his fighter by the medical crew on board the 
Liberator.  His fighter had been hit hard by a pair of laser bolts that had 
sent him into a spin he almost hadn't recovered from.  His left solar panel 
was laced with burns and holes, and how he had gotten within range of the 
Liberator's tractor beam he didn't know.  The burns on his body were also 
mean from the heat and the fire that had started in the cockpit.  He didn't 
know what was going on outside, but he sure knew that a bacta bath would 
feel nice.