Prologue

Flight through Begger's Canyon





 

        Sitting on the cockpit of his T-65, a new pilot for the Rebel Alliance was about to make his first step on the road to greatness, even if she didn't know it themselves. Slipping on the trademark X-Wing helmet, the glass on the visor glowed as the instruments came to life. The pilot took the controls and the engines roared to life.





        It was a nice, brisk early morning on Tatooine, the origins of a lineage that will change the fate of the galaxy. But this was not a tale of Skywalkers, but of a group of pilots, out on their daily patrol. A group of X-Wings flew over the rocky countryside, taking in the scenic view before things turned bad, as they always do.

        Red Leader and his co-pilot flew up towards the entrance of the iconic Begger's Canyon, a fabled racing location for Tatooine locals. Far too boring for pod-racing, but Skyhoppers, now that's another story. "Recon mission over Sector 10, nothing to report so far." Red leader reported. "We'll make a pass through the canyon before heading back." The engines flared to life and the pair flew into the canyon, flying below the mesa housing the Jawa Retreat.

        On the other side of the canyon, a group of four X-Wings were making their approach over the terrain. Before long, all six members of Red flight got the same transmission.  "{Red Group, Scanners are picking up unidentified contacts ahead of your position. Proceed with caution.}"

        Red 2, the second in command, flew ahead of the group as he took point. "Follow me into the canyon. Reduce speed and stay low to avoid Imperial scans." The three behind him followed suit. The group entered the twisty, windy portions of the canyon. It's a good thing they were all excellent pilots, otherwise this part of the canyon would be stained with the blast marks of their crafts.

        "{Contacts Confirmed. We'll move to intercept.}"

        After a prolonged exposure to rookie's first stunt flight through steep turns and overhangs, the group came to the opening in the canyon where the Retreat laid.... and right into a waiting Tie Fighter patrol. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the group of Ties blasted at Red 2...  "{He's on my tai--}" until he was nothing but scrap and memories.

        As Red Leader and Red 5 passed them by in pursuit of their own quarries, Reds 3, 6, and 9 locked their X-Foils into attack position. As more Ties came into scanner range, they broke off and went to work. 

        "{Enemies sighted!}"

        "{Use your targeting system to log onto enemies!}"

        Red 9 headed up towards the clouds, with a pair of Ties in hot pursuit. They fired non-stop at their prey, which pulled into a cloud to cut their visuals. The Ties flew into the same cloud Red 9 did, and emerged out of the other side with no sign of the X-Wing. That's because the pilot pulled up when they entered, then rolled 180 and sped back towards them. A proton torpedo to one and a salvo of lasers to the other finished them off. 

        "{Nice shooting!}" Red 3 called out when he saw the maneuver 9 just did. His admiration went away when the trademark green bolts of the empire blazed him by, forcing him to make a sharp turn. A quick spin and burst fire took that Tie out.

        "{Red Leader, we picked up a new group of signals! Enemy fighters coming your way!}"

        "{Alright, pick up your visual scanning!}" Red Leader commanded. He pulled up behind the newcomers and blasted them until their scrap rained on the canyon below. 

        Meanwhile, Red 5 was being chased by a trio of Ties, whose relentless firing left him with no room to escape. They have him in a bad spot and he knows what his future holds; pain, fire, and death. "{I can't shake him!}" He called out. Laser fire from above cut that thought short as a X-Wing swooped in from above, taking out two of the three Imps chasing Red 5. 

        "Yeah, that got him!" Red 6 called out in a whoop.

        "{Good shot!}" 5 called out.

        For a moment, that was the last of it. They had a chance to take a breather, which lasted only a few seconds. "{Squad leader, more enemy signals, incoming!}" Command reported just as Tie Interceptors came blazing in from the direction of Mos Eisley. 

        The Interceptors were a lot faster and more maneuverable then their Fighter brothers and Red Group was going to feel it. They didn't even have time to form up before they were forced to split apart and take on the Interceptors.

         Red 6 pulled a sharp turn, taking potshots at a Interceptor, but his shots didn't connect, making him hit his console. 

        "{We're picking up more targets, dead ahead!}"

        "Yeah, i got that the first time!" 6 sharply said before cutting comms. Bad timing as the Interceptor he fired at quickly turned around and fired upon him. "You can turn that fast?!" He commented before he directed his ship down into the canyons, hoping to lose them by quickly turning around the mesa. It didn't work; they were still right on him. 

        "{Watch it!}" he heard one of his wingmates shout.

        "{These Tie Pilots are relentless!}" Another cried. That they were; the Empire trains them to be brutal.

        She had to deal with these Interceptors quick, otherwise he was toast. With quick wit, she quickly hit the air breaks, slowing his craft down to a crawl to make the Interceptors fly by. A couple torpedo's took care of them no problem.

        "{They're all over me!}" He heard Red Leader shout. Putting full power to engines, the X-Wing pulled a sharp turn that would make most organics black out and sped back towards his comrades. He spotted Red Leader, on his side as he passed in the opening between the Mesa and a smaller one that was sort of a natural tower. One of the Interceptors had to break off its pursuit, but another kept it up. And this one had red markings on the solar panels; the Ace. 

        All of Red 6's focus was now on the Ace, who was now speeding towards him as Red Leader went his way. Closing his S-Foils, 6 pulled back on the stick, and then stepped on one of the pedals, sending the ship into a dangerous spin. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as both the X-Wings were daaaangerously close to each other; so close, the astromechs could reach out and shake hands. 6 could see into Red Leaders cockpit, and he into hers. Time then resumed and both ships passed each other.

        "{Check your distance!!}" Red Leader called back to 6, but he wasn't listening. Opening the S-Foils back up, he unleashed a hailfire of lasers that the Ace had no chances of avoiding. It wasn't long until only a few small bits of shrapnel remained.

        "That was close!" 6 commented as he wiped his brow.

        "{I can't lo--}" Off in the distance, he saw Red 9 blow up, only for that Interceptor- the last Interceptor- to be blown up in kind by Red 3. The patrol was over. 

        All ships soon joined back up as they did a flyby over the Retreat. Some shrapnel and scrap fell into the city, but that was gonna make the Jawas day. "{All targets eliminated! We're not picking up any more targets on our scanners. Well done! Return to base.}" Command said.

        "{Regroup on my position, pilots. We're heading home.}" Red Leader ordered, and they all did, with Red 5 pulling a spin similar to what 6 did before they headed off into space.





        A pair of stars appeared in the center of view, with two stars lit but the one in the middle was blacked out, with "great" plasted in white letters underneath. The pilot sat back and exhaled as the vista shifted from a solid background to hexagons that slowly faded away, turning the colors screen black. With another exhale, he undid the straps on her helmet as the canopy hissed open. Outside was a room, a large cold blue room filled with over a dozen flight machines rigged up to train new recruits.

        The pilot stood up and took off the helmet, revealing and showing off his Clawdite heritage. Clawdite's are known shape-shifters in the galaxy; as long as it is vaguely humanoid, they can change their body to appear as said species. It doesn't work on all, though; insectoids like Geonosians and Killiks, or complicated designs like Ithorians or Gands aren't on their list of species they can copy. Not a lot are in the galaxy at large, and two of the most famous of their kind are, or were, Bounty Hunters.... doesn't exactly paint his species in the best light.

        "Well, that went well." A voice below him snarked. The Clawdite looked down at his fellow squaddies; a female Karkadon and a male Zeltron standing below it. "You almost broke the record of being reckless." The owner of the voice, the humanoid shark, snarkily said as she leaned against it with her arms crossed. Every one of them were so young, barely in their twenties, or what passes for twenty in their respective races. They still had that rebellious, high-energy spirit of teenage hood in them.

        "Like you could've done better, Barnc." The Clawdite commented before jumping down to join his squadmates. 

        "I could have. In fact, i know i did." She gestured to the leaderboard. Her name was number 3 on the leader board in terms of points, with the second best being their squadron leader, Ace Merrick, and the best pilot of the whole base being the base commander, Hera Syndulla. Those two were in six digit figures while everyone else was in five. "I know i'm not going to top a couple of war veterans like them, so i'll take 3rd place."

        "Gee.... where was that acceptance when we got him?" The Zeltron asked as he pointed to the rookie. The Clawdite doesn't know if he should be taking that as a compliment towards her or a dig towards him. Doesn't really matter, the Mon Cala rolled her eyes and stepped away.

        At at the same time, one of the instructors of the flight academy, Gavyn Sykes, was approaching with the pilots aptitude score. The Clawdite stood at attention and saluted. "At ease." The grizzled war veteran ordered, and the alien complied. Sykes is a long standing and well-respected pilot whose service record dates all the way back to his days as a rookie at the Battle of Naboo. "Alright... Pilot Roe, codename Rookie One... step forward."

        And he did. "Give it to me straight, sir." The Clawdite asked. "How did i do?"

        "You want the honest truth?" Sykes asked, to which Rookie One nodded. "You need to cut off the showboating and improve on your flying." Those weren't the words he wanted to hear. "I wont' lie, that trick you did spinning over Red Leader was impressive, but you should be thankful it was a simulation, otherwise you would've killed Red Leader and yourself. And on top of that, you let the rest of your team handle most of the Ties and that resulted in the death of your wingmates."

        "But, sir, the death of Red 2 is scripted."

        "But you let Red 9 die when he needed assistance."

        "But he said he was safe over the radio."

        "That was Red 5 who said it. That is also another thing you need improvement on; your spatial awareness. I know it is easy to rely solely on scanners, but you also need to use your eyes. Scanners don't show you everything and they can easily break." Sykes could see Rookie One's posture slink, making the veteran sigh. "... look, i won't deny that i didn't do the same mistakes when i was a rookie- even rhys did too, but i learned quick that those choices mean the difference between life and death. If we didn't, we both would've died during the Trade Federation Blockade. Don't forget, it's not just your life in danger, but also the lives of your wingmates. We all see potential in you; i can see it, General Syndulla can see it, Captain Merrick can see it; even Commander Serra saw it during the Shadowblade incident. You just need to refine it so that you don't put your fellow pilots in danger" A little green and orange astromech rolled up behind the Clawdite, beeping. "And their astromechs too; i didn't forget you, K9." The droid beeped again, doing a little dance. The Clawdite lightly chuckled as she placed a hand on the trashcan's head.        

        "Other then those areas you need to improve in, your skills are impressive- your accuracy is top-notch and, as i said, the tricks are impressive, but do a stunt like that in the combat field and you're risking both your lives. Do that, and you may replace Barnc on the leaderboard." That made the shark growl.

        "Sir, yes sir." The pilot saluted.

        "No need for formalities, Roe." Roe lowered his hand. "You're dismissed." He then left, allowing Roe to finally exhale. "Oh, and before i forget..." Sykes turned around at the entrance. "Rookie Flight is getting a new pilot later in the week, so i expect you to be on your best behavior when she arrives... Barnc." He then left for real.

        "Why did he single me out?" The Karkadon commented, feeling a little insulted.

        Why, indeed? "Because you are rather brutish and scary?" The Zeltron commented with a shit-eating grin. 

        "Oh, shove it, Lehong." Barnc commented before storming past, hitting her shoulder against his.

        "She is just in a good mood today." Roe sarcastically commented as he put his helmet on top of K9. 

        "How is that any different from any other day?" Lehong asked, to which Roe had no answer. Lehong's stomach growled, making him feel a little embarrassed. "Un... what do you say we go get something to eat?"

        "Sounds good." The two of them, and K9, then made their way to the exit of the simulation room and out into a eerily familiar hallway to anyone who was present at Naboo. For Sykes, it was some cruel irony that he was posted here. Putting his hands behind his head, Roe asked, "So what are they serving today?" 

        "I think it's Kalabash Eggplant." Lehong replied, which made Roe stick his tongue out in disgust. "They're not that bad."

        "I know that. But it's how Cookie prepares them; always so damn greasy. How do you make a eggplant greasy? Honestly." The astromech beeped as it made a comment of its own, which made Roe laugh. "Hahaha... yeah, Chort will eat it regardless."

        "Speaking of whom, we should probably get there before Chort."

        "And if we don't, the rookie is buying the next round of shots at the cantina!" Barnc in the distance.

        "I'm what?!" Rookie One shouted. Lehong shrugged- it wasn't his night to buy, so he ran off to join with their wingmate. "Like hell i am!" Roe shouted as he chased after them. "You down that stuff like it's going out of style!"

        K9, being the only mature member of the flight group outside of Captain Ace and the other astromechs, disappointingly shook its head as a disappointed parent would. It then looked out the nearest window and gazed out at the stars, which wasn't easy given the giant spherical vessel in the center of their home; the mobile Rebel Flight Academy, Lucrehulk Prime.









Star Wars
Rookie Flight

Chapter 1

Speculations





        The story of Lucrehulk Prime is a pretty simple one: it was once a Warship used by the CIS Separatists during the Clone Wars, but following the Battle of Umbara, it has been left drifting in space aimlessly. By the time of the Battle of Lothal 20 years later, the former CIS battleship had been recovered by the Rebel Alliance and repaired to the best of their limited abilities, though the repairs went faster thanks to the surge in supplies following the formal declaration of war at Yavin and many planets and systems chose their sides.

        Now, Lucrehulk Prime, now under the command of Lothal hero Hera Syndulla, serves as one of several training grounds for new recruits joining the Rebel Alliance, focusing on the intricacies and fine art of starship combat. It rarely gets involved in missions, but when it does, things get messy, such as when the crazed Doctor Aphra used it to attack a facility known as Hivebase-1 to steal a Datacore, a mission that resulted in Hivebase-1's destruction.

        Today, approximately 11 months following the Battle of Yavin, a new squadron was being trained: all new recruits are put into Rookie Flight, an aptly named trainee squadron for everyone who joins the Alliance to fly, but have little to none flight training. Even those who do have some experience still need to be put to the test, as they need to learn to fly like a unit, not as a lone wolf hot-shot. 

        Now if only they could grow up...




        Jumping over a mouse droid and side-stepping past a Engineer-style B1 Droid, Roe had gained the lead in his race against Lehong and Barnc, but they were catching up. There was no way he was going to pay for all their drinks today, not a chance. But just as he was so close to the mess hall, Barnc tackled him from behind and pinned him to the floor, allowing Lehong to pass them by and win their little compititon. 

        "Wooooooo...." She panted as she tapped her webbed hand on the wall by the mess hall. Roe kicked Barnc off his foot and stood up off the floor. "You... are buying drinks..." She panted again. "Whew, my lungs hurt."

        "We did... just run... the length of the ship." Barnc panted as well. 

        Roe grunted in annoyance as he brushed off his front. "Fine... but if i'm buying, you're getting the cheap stuff!" He proclaimed, eliciting boos from the two girls he tiredly walked past. "Hey, i get the feeling i'm going to have to pay for Chort's banquet today, so don't get pissy with me." He then pressed the button on the side, opening up the doors.

        The mess hall was mostly vacant at this hour. Everyone was either ship crew doing their jobs to keep the ship functional, or other squadrons off on missions. One squadron, via a rotation pool, remains on the ship at all times for defensive duties. This time, it was Red Squadron, or rather the one that was remade to replace the last Red Squadron, after the heroes of Yavin, Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles, took the survivors of Red and Gold and formed Rogue Squadron. Red were in a corner, sharing stories of their last mission with crew members that were off duty.

        At the other end of the mess hall was... Cookie. A strange old curmudgeon, Cookie is... weird. He dresses weird, he looks weird for a human, he always makes everything with a heavy amount of grease, and he believes in four basic food groups: Beans, Bacon, Whiskey, and Lard. Not the healthiest cook around, but at least the other chefs can supply the rest of the crew with more healthier alternatives. Not to say Cookie doesn't have his fans; some actually like his weird style.

        Such was the case for Chort, the 4th member of Rookie Flight and a rare sight to see among fighter groups: a Wookiee. When people hear the name Wookiee, they expect to see a vicious and mighty tower of fur and muscle, powerful enough to rip arms out of the sockets of their enemies, not a fighter pilot. But as it turns out, even Wookiee's can be deadly fighter pilots too. They don't know if it works for every other Wookiee, but Chort at least could channel his Wookiee rage to increase his reflexes behind the controls. It works in simulations, but nobody knows if it'll work in reality.

        Roe put his hands to his hips and exhaled disapprovingly, "And there he is... stuffing his face away, as usual." And rather grossly too, as bits of food were in his grey fur and on his translation collar. He's gonna get it busted up again if this keeps up. ... at least there's no soup today; thank whatever god exists for that.

        Chort responded with his usual growling roar, which the translator collar was supposed to, well, translate, but sparks came out of the speaker instead. The Wookiee noticed, but ignored it.

        "Great...." Branc sighed as she sat down. "The collar's fritzing out again."

        "Didn't Frintho just fix this?" Lehond asked as she sat down too. "How does it keep breaking?"

        "Do ya really need to ask?" Roe scoffed. "Blame the cooking of the grease lord." He pointed to Cookie, who was dumping the used grease into a vat of unused grease. How is nobody dead from his cooking? "Ew..." The three went, but Chort didn't mind. Roe looked at the fritzing collar and pouted. "I keep telling ya, Chort, you need to get a Protocol Droid. Not the whole body, just the head that you can belt right on your chest, like un, un, un, that one smuggler that helped out Twilight Company back on Xo; what was he called again? It's slipping my mind."

        "Jakarro?" Barnc guessed. 

        "Yeah, that's him. That's something that can work out for ya, right Chroty?" Chort simply ignored and kept on eating. "... not even gonna entertain the idea, are you?" No he wasn't.

        Lehong puffed out her lips as she rested her head on her hand. "Switching topics before Chort uses Roe as a punching bag..." The Wookiee gave the Clawdite a sinister look, which made him feel uneasy. "Did you hear we're getting a new squad member?" As his fellows don't speak Wookiees, Chort simply responded with a shake of his head to indicate 'no'. "Well, we are. Captain Sykes is being strangely secretive about it, though. All we know is that it's a woman."

        "Maybe it's someone who's on the Empire's naughty list, like a rogue pilot." Barnc suggested. 

        "Then why would she be assigned to a squad of rookies?" Lehong replied. 

        "... fair point. Maybe she's like Wedge and defected while in the academy."

        "Possibly" Roe dismissively said. "But then again, i was the MVP back on Tatooine... and i still got assigned to a rookie squadron. Even have Commander Serra's letter of recommendation back in my room." A fair point, to be sure, but he was constantly showboating, almost hit the evac ship, and almost got his wingmate shot down. And just because he has some backing from a Commander doesn't mean he's an ace just yet. He grabbed one of Chort's forks and messed with it. "Or she could be a repentant thief who stole something she shouldn't have from the Empire and figured this was the safest place she could be."

        "At a training school?"

        Chort took his fork back out of Roe's fingers in a painful manner. "Ow..." He waved his hand to dull the pain. "That's what that Aphra lady did, didn't she? At least that's what i heard from everyone else."

        "She used us to rob a datacore from a greenhouse ship that she promptly blew up; the maniac wasn't here to hide." Barnc replied with distain. "The lady is crazy but she knew what to say to General Syndulla to get her to cooperate. I don't even know why she wanted the datacore to begin with."

        "The galaxy may never know." Lehong joked, sounding and acting like the announcer for a commercial on the Holonet. "But by the sounds of it, we should be glad she's not around." She said to Roe and Chort, who both nodded in response.

        As Chort finished up his food, his other three squadmates got up to go get food of their own. but stopped when they saw other squads running out the door, all excited about something. "Interesting...." Roe said to himself. He called out to one of the last ones in the room before he could leave. "What's with all the hub-bub?"

        "Leopard Squadron just came back." The young Human hopeful replied as she ran out.

        "Already?" Roe and Lehong said in unison before heading out the same door. "Didn't they just leave?" Roe asked. 20 minutes ago, but who's counting. "How are they back this soon?"

        Branc slowly followed suit, not seeing why everyone should freak out why a squad is returning from a mission. She stopped and looked back to Chort, who was licking his plate. "Oh, come on, Chort, have some dignity." Chort gave her a mean glare as she turned to leave. Finished, he put his plate down and ran out to join the rest of them. It took no time to find them as they were at the nearest window, looking out into space.

        Out of Hyperspace came Leopard Squadron, a squadron built around speed. It doesn't matter what ship it is, as long as it's fast, it's viable for them. They are so fast, the Empire and enemy pirates and smugglers never know what hit 'em. The squadron was comprised of 5 A-Wings, 2 salvaged and rebuilt Kor'mk-class starfighters from Mandalore, 2 Lancer-Class pursuit crafts, 3 captured Tie Interceptors kitted with Hyperdrives, and a Lancer-Class corvette with so many engines welded on, it should be a rocket. The fastest ships- those being the A-Wings- zoomed on ahead, putting on a show for the hopefuls they know were watching them come in.

        All the new recruits looked at the approaching squad with amazement, all ready and eager to do their part.... if they can ever finish training. The windows shook when the A-Wings of the squad zoomed on by, making some whoop in amazement. The five wings sped over the Core and rejoined with the rest of their forces as they entered the starboard hanger.

        Watching as Leopard Squadron went into the hanger arm opposite of theirs, Roe closed his hands up into fists of determination. "That's gonne be us, someday." He said confidently, loud enough so that his squadmates can hear. "We're gonna be a squadron someday. Then the Empire won't know what hit'em." Lehong nodded in agreement, Barnc hit her fists together, and Chort roared with anticipation. They will get there.

        Someday.




        Grabbing ahold of her cup, General Hera Syndulla took a sip as Leopard did their flyby, making the windows and the interior vibrate. The squad does it every time they come back from a successful mission. She was resting back in the second seat, looking over progress reports from the other fleets in the Alliance. The command tower of a Lucrehulk has a very impressive view, offering a panoramic view of the ship. The reprogrammed CiS droids operated around her as they kept the ship in operational status. They make up half of all the personnel on the ship, so they are a very valued part of the team.

        "Seems Leopards back." Bini, her second-in-command when it comes to the training simulations, said as he approached the Hero of Lothal with a report in his left cybernetic hand. Bini's race are not common within the Galaxy, to the point where the name of their race is still fairly unknown to most of the population, with some thinking his race doesn't have a name. People have described them as a green-Duros with a deflated forehead. Not the most polite way to describe someone, but it works in place of the lack of a name.

        "And their mission was successful, too. This makes four in a row for them." She took another sip. "Wish they would cut back on the showboating, though."

        "They know how to put on a good show, at least." They heard Sykes say. They looked towards the entrance to the bridge and saw him walking in, with the door closing behind him. 

        "That they do, Captain Sykes." Hera grunted as she got up out of the seat and grabbed a report that Sykes handed to her. "How goes the training for the rookies?"

        "It goes as well as you expect for kids thinking they have a shot at glory: slow and painful." They know that pain; both Hera and Sykes were causes of that pain back during their younger years. That mindset, where you think you are the most impressive pilot in the world and you think you can do no wrong; that mindset you think a bunch of fancy showboating and loud mouthing-offs equates to good flying, but it just ends up getting you or your squadmates killed.

        "Now i know how OUR instructors felt when we started out as rookies." Hera commented, which made Sykes lightly laugh. She looked at the report, setting her cup down. "They all have skill, but their egos need to be checked. Like this kid here, callsign Rookie One." She pointed to the name on the report for Bini to look at. "He's got good marks, he has impressive accuracy; even Commander Serra recommended him after seeing him in action at Tatooine, but his showboating keeps getting his squadmates killed in the simulations."

        "Even i wasn't that bad when i took a crack at it." Bini commented.

        "Because you kept on crashing." Sykes joked in his response. Bini sarcastically laughed, brushing the veteran off. "And Branc needs to work on her anger issues."

        "Well, what can you expect from a Karkarodon?" She mumbled in her reply. "They are violent creatures by nature, after all." Sad, but true. Moving on to the other members on Roe's group, "...Lehong isn't hitting her targets, even when she has clear shots, almost as if she's afraid to kill..." And that's not a good thing as flying is a do-or-die type of fighting. "... The only pilot from the group we can actually graduate is Chort, but his eating habits are going to have consequences."

        "It's bad enough already, even without Cookie's cooking." Bini commented. "It's gonna make him unable to get into his ship, not to mention all the health problems he's going to get. I get that Wookiees eat a lot, but not on his level."

        "Hopefully, the fifth member of their group will be able to bring them into a cohesive unit." Sykes said.

        "<Assuming she arrives here on time.>" A synthesized voice, accompanied by clicking sounds, said. Looking behind the captains seat stood a huge, human-sized insectoid being known as Killik- this ones particular name is Tilolit, or Til as the young folk like to call him. 

        While native to a planet within the Unknown Regions, Killiks have migrated to the known regions numerous times and made nests upon several planets, with their largest colony found of the planet of Alderaan, leading many to believe that they were native to the planet. After several thousand years of on-again, off-again tensions and conflict, the Killik's and the Alderaanians were able to achieve a peaceful coexistence, and it worked.... for the two years it lasted. All those who know their history knows what happened to Alderaan.

        As they are insects, Killiks have a hive mind... so nests and hives on other worlds felt the sudden yet brief pain the brood on Alderaan was erased from existence by the Death Star. After the hunt for Alderaanian refugees began, many Killik's returned to their home planet for when the Empire would launch an invasion given their history with the planet. While many returned, others stayed in known space ready to fight in Alderaan's memory, with many joining the Rebellion.

        Whether it was their one of the many Queen's that ordered it, or a exercise in free will, nobody can say.  Most of the Killik's that stayed behind weren't warriors- they were builders, so they built their own factory in tandem with Incom within one of Alderaan's moons, which now serves as a production line for the Alliances U-Wings after Scarif left the Rebellion critically low. Others went on to fight in their own way; like for example, Til's captaining of a ship.

        "She'll arrive here on time." Hera said. 

        The translation collar around Til's neck lit up when he spoke; the robotic voice that came from it was mixed with the natural noises his mandibles made when he talked. "<But how are you sure? i've seen her bio- she is not a valuable member of her hive.>"

        The three of them to learned to ignore Til's comments about hives- Killik hives never operate on individuality; even the thralls they attract lose their sense of individuality. Even when one is alone, they are still connected to one another, like distance has no effect. "But she will be a valuable member to ours." Hera insisted. "I just hope she can actually rope her squadmates into a cohesive team when she gets here."

        "<If she gets here. The Empire has been stepping up their attacks since Chandrila.>"

        "That is true..." Hera said to herself. She looked to Sykes. "Do we have any pilots we can spare to escort her here?"

        "Axe and Grey squadrons are still out on their missions. Leopard just got back and will most assuredly be exhausted. If Dragon Flight were still here, then maybe. The only ones we have to spare outside of our rookies are..."

        "Iron Squadron." Hera concluded. Iron Squadron had been with her since Chopper Base on Atollon. They are a group of kids who operate out of a plus-sized YT-2400, and while they are young and immature, they have proven to be an effective unit, to the point that Hera would trust them with her life. "But aren't they on a mission too?"

        "A simple cargo run, but they are near her location. Once they finish, they could escort her."

        Hera thought about it for a brief moment. "Alright. I'll have Packard contact Matt and tell him his objectives had updated. In the meantime, we better amp up their training. Move them to simulations that require a Five-person squad."

        "<But they don't have their fifth member.>" Til mentioned.

        "I know. Now they're going to learn the importance of having that fifth member on their squad." Bini said. That kinda makes a small amount of sense, but it does leave them with a handicap until she arrives. A light alarm tune came from Hera's back pocket. She reached in and pulled it out. "Him again?"

        "Him again." Hera put the alarm back in. She gave Sykes back his report and walked on past. "Some duties will never end." She said as she left.

        "What duties?" Sykes asked, completely oblivious to the most important task in her life.

        Bini and Til looked at each other, wondering what rock he's been under to not know about it, but remembered he's only been here as long as Roe. Bini facepalmed to himself, bouncing it off his forehead when he realized, "That's right, you haven't been here long, so you don't know." 

        "Know what?" 

        "<The queen of the hive had an heir.>" Til answered in his usual 'part of the hive' mentality way.

        The answer puzzled Sykes even more. If he had pupils and iris' to show them, Bini would be rolling his eyes right about now. "He means Hera has a kid. A 2 year old son named Jacen."

        That's when he caught on. "Oh, wait, is he that little kid i've seen running around in the hanger a few times with a mish-mashed Astromech chasing after it?" 

        "That would be him." Bini confirmed.

        If that's the case, something doesn't add up. "But, wait, she's a Twi'lek, but the kid looks human."

        "That would be the father. Nobody knows the full story, and it's doubtful that she will ever tell us the story, but near as most of us can surmise: she had a fling with a human under her command, but something happened 3 years ago. He either left after a nasty break-up, or he's dead, and given how protective she is of that kid, my money's on dead."

        "Not a bet you want to bet money on... but I'm betting he's dead too. I've seen pilots who have seen death in the face after one of their mates dies right in front of them; it even happened to me back during the Invasion of Naboo..." He looked at the reports. "A story i would tell you, someday. But right now, I have to get my trainees presentable for their new wingman."

        "I won't keep ya then." Bini said as he and Til walked away to take care of their duties for the day on the bridge whilst Sykes left to find his underlings, silently praying they're not getting into trouble....


       
        ...And much to his relief when he would eventually find them, they weren't in trouble. At least, not with anyone of rank or their fellow trainees. When he found them in the hanger, he heard them placing a wager with several members of the returned Leopard squad, both veteran and trainee; a wager on on what the new member of the rookie team was going to be and if she is going to be a seasoned vet or a complete and utter nugget- pilot term for new and inexperienced pilots. There was a infinite amount of guesses they could guess, so doubtful anyone is going to be right on and hit the jackpot they set up.

        "Ok, ok, ok, i bet she's going to be a Trandoshan." A Human pilot said as she put down her wager of 32 Credits onto the storage crate they were using to pool their funds. The only one not participating is Lehong, who wasn't there at all. Knowing her, she's likely back at her bunk, reading.

        "I'm guessing a Rodian." Roe said as he put down his cash-bet.

        "Nah nah nah, you're both wrong." A Twi'lek pilot protested as she started putting the cash-money into a coin purse. He picked up a credit and pointed it at them. "The newbie is going to be a plain ol' Jawa."

        Roe, the human pilot, two other pilots of Zabrak and Mirialan heritages, and Chort towards each other, then the humanoids burst out laughing, with Roe falling backwards and rolling on the floor. "Oh, gods. Oh, gods. Ooooooh, gods." He laughed. The Twi'lek glared glared, crossing his arms as he waited for them to finish. "Hahahahaha. Hahaha... hooooooo...." Roe wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, that is just hilarious."

        "It wasn't that funny." The Twi'lek pouted.

        "It was kinda funny." Barnc said, holding in a chuckle, with Chort nodded in agreement while putting his fingers close together. 

        "Yeah, cause when was the last time you saw a Jawa fly a ship?" The Zabrak snorted as she wiped her eyes from laughing too hard.

        "You'd be surprised." Sykes said as he walked around from behind the crates. His sudden arrival made everyone get up off the floor and salute their superior. "As you were." He said and they all relaxed. "I see you're all making a friendly little wager. That excited about the newcomer, are we?"

        "Un, yeah. sure." Barnc replied, flaking around the question. "I hope you don't mind."

        "I don't mind tricks that help you unwind after a fight- i know from firsthand experience that flying can be extremely stressful, but this..." He gestured to the purse holding the credits. "...is a little unorthodox. Of all the things to bet on, why would you bet on the identity of your new squad member?" Roe, Chort, and Barnc looked towards each other. "You don't know why, do you? You just thought it was something to pass the time?"

        "That may be the best answer to go with, sir." Roe said.

        "If i may ask, sir...." The Mirialan said as he stepped forward. "... well, we don't know who or what their new squad member is. For all we know, this new squad member of theirs is a spy. It happened with Commander Skywalker a few weeks ago."

        "Sunbar took advantage of their friendship. When you reunite with someone you haven't met in years, you'd become blind too." Would they be, though? The pilots feel they would've been smart in Skywalker's position, but they don't know the full story. "And I can tell you right now new new pilot is not a spy. She is going through great lengths to get here, most of which are illegal under Imperial doctrine, but i will let her tell you all the nitty-gritty details herself." He picked up the prize money and weighed it in his hand- it's a hefty amount he felt in there. "But switching back to this, what will you do if none of you are right?" They all stayed silent- they hadn't really thought about that yet. "Haven't decided?" They all nodded. He popped his lips. "Alrighty then. Then i guess i'll be taking this." He said as he pocketed the purse and began to walk away with a grin on his face, much to the dismay of the rest.

        "Hey- that's our money!" The Twi'lek called out to him.

        "I know, but i think we can all agree this type of betting is a bit too much." He dangled the purse, which made the Leopard squad members pout. "Find something better to bet on, Like Nuna-Ball matches or something." He then walked off, pocketing the purse as he did.

        "Well, that was a waste of time." Barnc puffed, putting a hand on her hips. "And a waste of money."

        "Lehong did warn us." Roe said, reminding her that their absent squadie did warn them about the gambling as he started walking away. 

        Barnc merely scoffed in response. "The day i listen to a Calamari is the day Hell freezes over..." She muttered under her breath as she and Chort followed him.




        Speaking of Lehong, she was in the barrack assigned to the four of them shared, sitting in the common area that connected the six tiny rooms. In one corner, their Astromechs were hooked up to their recharge sockets, while the center Holo-table was offline. She was lazing back in a rugged recliner, reading a good book, when she heard talking outside the door, and based on how obnoxious one of them is being, it's her squadmates.

        And sure enough, the door hissed open and in came the other three came in. When they entered, the three went off in different directions: Barnc went straight towards her room while briefly giving Lehong the stink eye, which she ignored. Roe went to a built-in sofa at another corner of the common area, while Chort went to their kitchenaire in a third corner and pulled out a box of snacks. 

        As Roe plopped down on the sofa and grabbed a toy ARC-170 off a nearby coffee table, Lehong asked, "So how did the betting go?"

        "Sykes found out and took the money." Roe replied as he "flew" the 170 with his hand.

        "I warned you." Lehong replied. Chort sat down near the Holo-Table and turned it on. He flipped through the many stations until, funnily enough, he found a game of Nuna-Ball. "You can't say i never warn you."

        "Heard you the first time, mom." Roe sarcastically responded.

        Flipping the page, Lehong responded under her breath, "If i was your mother, you'd be getting disciplined right now..." 

        Tilting his head up, he asked, "What was that?"
        
        To which she replied, "Nothing. Nothing." 

        "Un-huh." He replied with a twisted mouth as he rested his head back down.

        "Did he at least say WHO we are getting?"

        He shook his head. "Nope. Nothing we don't already know. All he let lost were just some useless morsels of information: she's apparently using a lot of shady ways the Empire wouldn't like to make her way here." She looked up from her book. "He didn't detail on what, though."

        She closed her book and set it on the armrest, after folding a page to leave a bookmark, of course. "If she's using shady tactics the Empire dislikes in order to make her way here, she must be someone important. Maybe... a member of a proficient Imperial household is defecting."

        "Or a runaway slave who knows all the smuggling tricks. Either way..." With a grunt, he rolled himself forward and sat upright. "... we'll find out in a few days." He put the toy down. "One of the Leopards actually thought she is going to be a spy."

        "Well, you never know. Commander Skywalker had a that situation with one of his old friends." Roe was going to retort, but stayed silent. The same argument was made with Sykes, but there's no way it's going to happen to them. Right?




        Out in the depths of space, a lone super-sized YT-2400 Cargo Ship, the Sato's Hammer, was on approach to its destination, when it got a incoming transmission, one that relates to the new member of the Rookie squadron, and one the kids aren't too keen on doing.

        "You want us to do what?" Mart Mattin, the leader of Iron Squadron, replied to the transmission.

        "<Escort the newbie after your mission>" Packard, the main communication officer on Lucrehulk Prime, dimly replied. "<That's what i was told to transmit, so it's transmitted.>"

        "But we're currently in the middle of a supply run."

        "<Hera wants you to do it after- you're in the same sector and all. Just drop off your stuff, give some thank you's, then go meet up with the pilot at Galitan.>"

        Mart looked to the pilot, who just simply shrugged his shoulders. If it's not that far out of their way, they can easily go and pick her up. Given the Imperial presence in this area, it may be for the best. "I suppose we can do that. But, who exactly are we escorting?"

        "<Let's see here, let's see here.. i don't get paid enough to sift through papers.>" Always the crudely sarcastic wit. "<Ah, here it is. Her name is Grace; Grace Sienar.>"