Kelly jumped down from the sim pod with a grin on her face. This had been the best week of her life. Commander Roth had asked her to stay as long as she could and train on the simulator. How could she pass up an offer like that! The time she had to spend with her brother made it even better.

So far, she had one of the best records on the sims. The other pilots found if very strange to see two Antilles up on the scoreboards, but they were happy for her. In fact, nearly every pilot in Blue Squadron and even some in Yellow were responsible for her quickly learning the ropes. Wes Janson had made it his "solemn duty" to teach her the ins and outs of flying through an asteroid field.

She scratched her head as she looked over her latest run. They weren’t bad. She had made it out alive, but failed to meet all the objectives. Her mind ran through her options of how to do better next time.

"Nice job, Kelly," said Captain Aric Cherin. He was the executive officer of Blue Squadron and had become her staunchest supporter.

"Thanks Cap, but I could have done better," she responded rather downtrodden.

"Hey, that run was in league with fighting a Star Destroyer."

She grinned. "I probably could have taken a Star Destroyer."

Cherin chuckled. "You probably could in the Revenge, but an X-Wing is very different."

"So I’ve learned."

Cherin’s comlink beeped. "Yes?" He listened for a moment. His face became more serious as time passed. "I’ll be right there, Sir." He cut the comlink off and turned to Kelly. "Think you’re ready for the big time?"

"You mean actually flying for real?"

"Yes."

"I guess."

"You better hope so."

Running back to the quarters she shared with Karyn Donne, her mind ran through what might be going on. She wasn’t sure what had made Cherin so worried.

She opened the door and ran headlong into Karyn. "Oh geez, I’m sorry!"

"No problem," said Karyn with a smile. "You need to be going the other way."

"I was just going to drop off my datapad."

"You can do that later," she said ushering Kelly down the hall. "We have a meeting we have to attend."

"Already," Kelly said in astonishment. "But Cherin had just gotten the message from the Commander when I left."

"They work fast." Karyn grinned and led Kelly to the briefing room.

The members of Blue and Yellow Squadrons milled about while waiting on their Commanders to tell them what was going on. Captain Cherin stood up at the front of the room and whistled to get everyone’s attention. "Ok, sit down. We’ve got to get this thing started."

Everyone quickly sat in the nearest seat available. Kelly sat beside her brother Wedge Antilles and Karyn ended up beside Wes Janson. All four put their attention to the front where Commander Jascen Smyth, executive officer of Yellow Squadron, was about to address the assembled pilots.

"We finally have a mission, folks." Commander Smyth paused to allow the mumbling of glee to fade. He pressed a button on the console to bring up a holographic image of a rather empty spot in space. "This is the Goldaan system. An Imperial supply convoy will be going through this area on its way to an outpost. There are nine supply ships guarded by what we believe to be two flights of TIEs."

He hit another button to bring up the possible convoy layout. Six boxy ships flanked about two dozen TIE-fighters. Kelly squinted at the images. The shape of the TIEs looked wrong, however not to her. A slight gasp escaped her lips as she realized at what she was looking.

Smyth zoomed in on one of the supply ships, which brought the TIE into focus. A ripple of confusion flowed through the room. Kelly could feel their uncertainty in the Force. What really disturbed her is that she knew what the ship was. It was exactly like the prototype Master Aulduin had "confiscated". She heard a startled gasp beside her and looked at Wedge. His face had gone white as a sheet.

"This, as you can tell, is obviously a new type of TIE. The wing shape is the only difference we know at this time." He pointed to the bending at the ends of the wings that gave this TIE its distinctive appearance. "It is not known how many of these types are with the convoy."

"That’s like the TIE Darth Vader flew in at Yavin," Wedge whispered to himself.

Kelly’s eyes went wide. So, Master Aulduin didn’t have the first prototype. She wondered how many modifications had been made on the ship since they had come across the ones they found.

Commander Smyth ignored the crowd’s grumbling. "Yellow Squadron will be flying Y-wings to disable the supply ships. Blue Squadron will be flying cover. There will be two transports with commandos to board the ships to bring them here. We now will divide into respective squads to discuss each mission. All Blue members need to go to briefing room seven. Commander Roth is awaiting you." He turned to his first officer and began talking. Everyone took that as a dismissal and the members of Blue Squadron began filing out.

Kelly stopped Wedge as they stepped through the door. "It’s called a TIE-Interceptor. We, that is Master Aulduin, Talon, Meowth and I, came across one of the Imperial testing bases for them. I know Aulduin’s inside and out."

"You’ve got to tell the Commanders everything you know. Come on. We’ll let Commander Roth know first." He took her by the elbow and led her to briefing room seven.

Once inside, they quickly crossed the room to where Roth and Cherin were seated talking quietly. "Commander, we have something we need to discuss with you," Wedge said.

Roth looked up with a sigh. "Make it quick. We’ve got to get this show in the air quickly."

"We know what those new TIEs are."

That made Cherin look up. Both men looked expectantly at the siblings. "Well, go on."

Wedge looked at his sister and nodded. Kelly took a deep breath. "The TIE that was shown on the holo with the convoy is a TIE-Interceptor. It is, or was, a prototype that has shields and a hyperdrive, although a slow one."

Roth and Cherin looked at her in disbelief.  "And how do you know this," Commander Roth asked.

"Because, sir, my Jedi instructor, Master Aulduin, flies one. We, uh, liberated it from an Imperial testing base right before we blew it up."

Cherin grinned widely and Roth covered his mouth with his hand in a vain attempt to hide his own. "Well then, do you have more information on this TIE-Interceptor as you called it?"

"Yes sir. On my ship’s computer, I have the entire schematics of the original, minus the modifications Master Aulduin and I have made."

Roth raised an eyebrow at the word ‘modifications’.

Kelly noticed and quickly explained. "We upgraded the hyperdrive and boosted the shields. We added a little more to the hull too."

Roth nodded and looked past her. "Donne, get over here."

Karyn looked up confused then immediately came to stand at attention beside Kelly. "Yes sir!"

"Escort Flight Officer Antilles to her ship, please. She needs to retrieve some information from the computer about our adversaries."

"Yes sir," she said. She looked at Kelly quizzingly, who just shrugged, then started out the door with Kelly right behind.

"What’s going on," Karyn asked after they had gotten far enough away from possible eavesdroppers.

"Just like the Commander said. I have information."

"You’re starting to sound like a smuggler."

Kelly grinned widely. "Why thank you. I AM a smuggler, Karyn."

She shook her head, "Yes, but you’ve not sounded like one until right then."

Kelly sighed. "I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you. Those new TIEs are called TIE-Interceptors. They are, or were, a prototype. My companions and I raided and destroyed an Imperial base where they were being tested. I’ve got lots of information about them."

"Really?" Karyn looked at her in shock.

Kelly stopped. "Why is that so unbelievable?"

Karyn grabbed her arm to keep her moving. "Not unbelievable. Well, not really. But more like astonishing. You hadn’t told me that was the kind of missions you did for the Rebellion."

Kelly shook her head at her new friend. "You never asked."

Twenty minutes later, the two ladies returned to the briefing room with a data disk. Kelly took the disk over to Commander Roth and he nodded for her to sit next to him. "Let’s get this started," Roth said.

Everyone came to order quickly. Roth leaned over to Kelly, "do you have a diagram of this thing?"

She nodded and took the disk from him and put it in the holoprojector’s slot. She punched a few numbers in and an image of the TIE-Interceptor appeared above the table. Roth shook his head slightly and grinned. He stood to address his crew. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is a TIE-Interceptor. What was once a prototype is now the real thing. Flight Officer Antilles is going to fill you in on it." He looked down at Kelly whose eyes had widened.

"I can’t, sir," she whispered.

"Get used to it, Antilles. You’re planning to be a Jedi one day, right? You’ll need the practice."

With a resigned sigh, she stood before her new peers. "This is an Incom Twin-Ion Engine Interceptor. Just like it’s predecessor, the TIE-Fighter, the TIE-Interceptor has the distinctive ball cockpit with solar panel wings. These wings are more improved as they bend inward on the ends to make the ship even faster." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Another thing that makes this ship much more advanced is that it has a hyperdrive and some shielding. That makes it a very difficult opponent. If there really is a flight of TIE-Ins guarding those supply ships, we’ll need to be very careful."

"How do you know all this," asked Falken.

Kelly looked nervously down at Commander Roth. He just shrugged, "Your call."

She licked her lips before continuing. "I have had the opportunity to see one up close." She paused for a reaction. "Very close," she continued. "I have been doing missions for the Rebellion for about a year now. A mission we did about six months ago was to take out an Imperial base where these ships were being tested. One of my companions apprehended one before we left so that he could study it and be able to give the Rebellion the information on these ships."

Falken just stared at her as if he didn’t believe that. Kelly closed her eyes and meditated quickly to regain her peace before she got too nervous and angry. "So," he started again. "You’re saying that you and a few companions took out an entire Imperial testing base that was making these TIE-Interceptors." He said the ship name with a condescending tone.

"Yes," she responded sticking her chin out proudly. "We have destroyed," she paused to count, "five secret Imperial bases."

"Impossible." Falken goaded her even more.

Kelly narrowed her eyes. "We have a demolitions expert, three Jedi, a Togorian, a diplomat and several very competent droids. And yes, we have destroyed them all by ourselves." She placed her hands on the table and leaned towards where Falken was sitting. "True, we didn’t just fly in there and blast the entire base. We took the hard way and went in to check what was there first. If you wish, I can probably get Senator Organa to give you the mission objectives and our success rate."

Commander Roth sighed and placed a hand lightly on Kelly’s arm. He felt her tense up momentarily, then relax and stand upright again. "Does anyone have any other questions?"

"Does it have any weak spots," asked Karyn.

That was a logical question and Kelly had to think about it. "Well, it’s just like any other TIE, weak in the wings. It will just take a few more shots to take one down."

Commander Roth stood up beside her. "Ok, now that we know what to expect, here’s the deal. We’re going to pair up on the Y-wings. We will go in first to make a path then come back to escort Yellow Squad to obtain their objective. The commandos will come in after the ships are disabled and board them. Any questions?" The pilots were silent. "Ok then, go get ready. We leave within the hour."

Roth caught Kelly’s elbow before she got far away. "Antilles, I want you to be Captain Cherin’s wing."

"But what about his wing?"

"Falken will line up with Donne. She can take care of him. I just want you with Cherin. He’s watched your training exercises enough to know your skills."

"Yes sir," she responded.

"Good, now go get ready. Your droid will be loaded onto Taryn’s X-wing and will be waiting for you."

Kelly nodded and ran out of the room.

The Commander turned to his XO, "Take care of her Cherin. She’s our best hope."

"Aye sir," Cherin said with a smile.

Kelly took off down the hall towards her quarters. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and ran right into Pash Cracken. The force of the bump knocked her down. She looked up from the floor flabbergasted. "My fault," she said. "I wasn’t..." She paused when she saw whom she had run into. "Sorry."

He looked down at her with a grin. "Why are you in such a hurry," he asked as he held a hand out to help her up.

She took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up to a standing position. He yanked with such force that she bumped into his chest as she stood. Quickly taking a step back and catching her breath, she released his hand. "Thanks. I have to get changed. I’m taking Taryn’s place in this mission."

"Congratulations!" He smiled showing his bright white teeth. Her heart began to flutter. He was so handsome.

"Thanks," she finally responded. "I better go." She trotted down the hall leaving Pash in her wake.

Kelly walked up to the well-used X-wing. Winger beeped something to her, which she ignored. She ran a hand along the nose of the ship, using the Force to enhance her touch. She felt every knick on the hull. It was as if the ship itself was alive to her.

A ground crew member ran up to her. "Hey, we knew you didn’t have your own helmet so we found one for you," she said shoving the helmet into her hands.

Kelly smiled. They had painted it just like her brothers with green stripes down the sides, but the center stripe was silver. "Thanks," she said appreciatively. "But why the silver stripe?"

"We wanted to be able to tell the difference between you and Wedge. Silver just seemed like a Jedi color."

She grinned and slid the helmet down over her head. It fit perfectly. "I guess I better get onboard," she yelled above the sound of the starting engines.

The girl grinned back and jerked her thumb in an upward motion for her to go ahead. After Kelly got in, she pulled the ladder away and gave the ok symbol to the rest of the ground crew.

Kelly finally heard Winger fussing. "What is it," she asked agitated.

ARE YOU PLUGGED IN AND READY FOR LIFTOFF? The words scrolled across the screen in front of her. She really didn’t need the translator, but it might be useful once they were in battle.

"Yeah, I’m plugged in, but I’m not sure I’m ready."

TURN ON YOUR COMM BUTTON.

Her brow creased as she looked for the comm switch. For a moment, she forgot where she was and looked where the comm switch was on the Revenge.

YOU ARE NOT ON THE TL-1800. YOU ARE IN AN X-WING.

She mentally stuck out her tongue at the droid as she finally found the switch in question. Flipping it to the on position she heard Commander Roth speaking. "...ue Squadron ready for launch."

The control tower responded to his request. "You may launch at any time Commander. May the Force be with you."

One by one, X-Wings lifted from the deck and easily flew through the bay doors. Kelly’s private comm beeped and she switched over. "Are you scared enough yet," Cherin asked teasingly.

She grinned. "Nope. I still have a few more levels of fright to go. What if I blow the takeoff? I never really practiced that."

"It’s just like taking your TL-1800 out, only a lot smaller," he said reassuring her.

"I hope so." She watched for the signal for her to take off. "Here goes nothing," she said as she saw the signal. Gently she pulled back on the yoke and the X-Wing lifted from the deck. Once high enough, she turned towards the doors and eased the stick forward.

"Just relax," Cherin told her.

She inhaled deeply and concentrated on the Force. Her nerves quickly calmed and she flew steadily out into the atmosphere. She heard lots of cheering over the Blue Squad channel.

"Way to go, Antilles," Karyn said.

"Nice job, kiddo," replied Wes.

"I knew you could do it," came Cherin’s reply as he emerged from the station.

"Thanks," she said sincerely.

"Line up and prepare for hyperspace," Roth commanded.

Kelly lined up to the right and behind Cherin’s wing. Winger got the coordinates and fed them to the nav computer. In a few moments, twelve X-Wings and six Y-Wings disappeared.

Kelly mentally calculated the time they would be in hyperspace. They should be emerging in about twenty minutes. That meant the Goldaan system was very near the Outer Rim, if not in it.

With nothing better to do, her thoughts drifted to the collision she had with Cracken. She was so embarrassed and upset with herself for not watching where she was going, either with her eyes or through the Force. Master Aulduin had told her to always keep her senses open in the Force, especially when flying. That way she could have an idea of what may be happening next.

She thought about when he helped her up and she bumped into him. His chest and arms were so strong, yet his hands were gentle. She blushed as her mind wandered and thought about having his arms wrapped around her.

Winger’s incessant beeping brought her thoughts back to the present. "Alright already. I’m awake."

WE HAVE ONE MINUTE BEFORE WE COME OUT OF HYPERSPACE. I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO BE AWAKE FOR THAT.

She rolled her eyes. Why did she have to have one of the most contemptuous R2 units in the galaxy. Obviously, R5 was rubbing off on him. "Thank you," she finally replied as she adjusted herself in a vain attempt to stretch. Rolling her head from side to side to get the kinks out, she concentrated on the Force to see what lay ahead.

She watched the stars bleed into existence as they reverted to normal space. Her comm came to life immediately. "Blue Group report in," said Commander Roth.

"Blue Five ready and waiting."

"Blue Three standing by."

One by one, the squad counted off, reporting that they were ready to go. Kelly responded last. "Blue Twelve ready to..." She paused as she felt a slight spark in the Force.

"Is there a problem Blue Twelve," asked the Commander.

"They’re here, sir," she responded.

"Anyone have them on your scopes yet?"

There was a chorus of ‘no’ until Blue Nine, Wes Janson, chimed in. "Wait, I’ve got something. Six freighters with twelve, no sixteen, no twenty..." He paused to count again. "Thirty-six. I repeat, thirty-six bogeys."

Three full squads of TIEs were escorting the supply ships. That was a lot more than they were expecting. Kelly checked the signatures and found them to be two squads of TIE-Interceptors with one squad of TIE-Fighters. She sighed deeply. They were in trouble. Could just twelve fighters last against thirty-six opponents? Sure, the Rebellion was full of pilots who broke the odds, but three to one against a rather green group was almost suicide.

Saren Roth’s commanding voice came over the comm. "Pair up and move out!"

Kelly stayed just behind and to the right of Cherin’s ship. They cut through towards the TIEs quickly. "Just think that this is a sim, Kelly," Aric told her.

"Yeah," she responded. "But if I get hit here, I really get hit."

"Well, yes, but..."

"But nothing Captain. Don’t worry. I think once I get out there, I’ll be fine."

"Well, we’re here. Two coming in at point zero six. I’ll take the lead."

"Yes sir," she said as she prepared to follow the second TIE.

The two TIEs split and passed the X-Wings. Cherin pulled to follow the lead and Kelly turned the opposite direction to follow the other. Within moments, she was behind the TIE. It constantly jinked out of her crosshairs. Cursing under her breath, she flipped her lasers to single fire and began strafing the area. She was rewarded with the glow of the TIEs shields as each shot hit its mark. Soon, his shields were down and she finally ripped through his port solar panel sending him spiraling out of control.

"Nice shot," Aric said as he looped back to put her on his wing again.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly.

"Here comes the next wave. Are you ready?"

"Let’s have at ‘em."

Kelly weaved and jinked and fired, taking out two more TIE-Ins until she heard a desperate cry over her comm. "This is Yellow Three. We have a problem here."

That was the Y-Wing she and Cherin were to escort. She quickly scanned her radar. "Winger, mark Yellow Three for me." A small dot flashed repeatedly on the screen. They were being chased by two TIEs, one Fighter and one Interceptor. She saw shots being fired from the Ys top guns, but their slow speed would let the TIEs buzz around the ship like bees. "I’m on my way, Three," she said into her comm.

"Hurry up, will ya," responded one of the pilots. "They’re killing me here."

"Well, they didn’t get past me," she retorted. "I’ve taken care of all the bogeys I’ve come across."

"Don’t worry about that," said Aric. "Just concentrate on the TIEs. I’m right behind you."

Kelly bit her lip and nodded. "Ok. I’ve got them." She pulled everything from her shields and put it into her engines. The quick boost in power catapulted her towards their location. Once she reached close enough that the TIEs may turn on her, she switched her shields back to fifty percent.

"Winger, what’s the status of each of those fighters?"

Numbers scrolled across the screen and Kelly took them in, turning them over in her head to find the weakness. "Yellow Three, concentrate on the Fighter. I’ll get the Interceptor."

"You got it," said the same pilot as before. He turned his guns to fire on the TIE-Fighter, leaving the Interceptor to his hopeful savior.

Kelly focused herself on the TIE-Interceptor she was gaining on. This one was smart. He zigged and zagged across her line of sight. She followed his pattern as best she could. Then he changed and pulled into a climb. She followed before realizing what he was doing. Next thing she knew, he was on her tail.

She grimaced as the TIEs shots lit up her shields. "Damnit," she said as she redistributed her shields to full rear. The numbers steadily dropped as the laser blasts peppered her tail.

Something in the back of her mind gave her a great idea. She grinned fiendishly as she nudged the stick forward giving her some distance from the TIE. When she was far enough from him, she cut the throttle and flipped the rudder to do a quick one-eighty.

As she spun, she readied her torpedoes. The target lock began glowing as she turned more into the TIEs path. Suddenly they went red, Winger beeped that she had obtained a target and she fired all at once. The torp hurled towards the TIE. He had no chance to adjust his course.

Kelly restarted her engines and boosted her front shields to full before the explosion. "Waaahooooo!!!!! That got ‘em!" She looked down to check her shields. She barely had made it with eight percent to spare.

"You ok, Antilles," asked a worried Cherin.

"My shields are fried, but I’m better off than that guy," she responded rather smugly.

"Thanks for the assist, Blue Twelve," said the other pilot of Yellow Three. The voice was very familiar.

"No problem Twelve. Glad to do it."

"Hey Kelly," came in Aric. "The Yellow’s are beginning to make their run. I want you to escort Three in while I go take care of the last few TIEs."

"Aye sir," she said as she guided her X-Wing to come alongside Yellow Three. She looked in the cockpit to see two pilots salute her. She could see the distinctive red color of the forward pilot’s hair and knew exactly who it was. "Welcome to Blue Airlines," she quipped. "I am your escort for this evening."

"We don’t need no stinking escort," jested the second pilot.

"Ok then," she said while pulling her ship slightly away from theirs. "I’ll just wait for you over here."

She could see Cracken try to reach back and smack his companion. "He didn’t mean that."

"I know. Now come on. We’ve got the second transport, right?"

"Affirmative."

The closer she got to the freighters, the more nervous she became. Kelly closed her eyes for a moment and concentrated on the Force. Her eyes shot open and she slammed her comm button. "Commander, there is a problem."

"What is it Twelve," asked Roth.

"The second and fifth transports are traps. They have guns on them."

"Are you sure about that Antilles?"

"Not positive, but I am willing to go in and check."

"Negative, Twelve. I know how toasted your shields got from that last blast. Three, Nine, go in and check those two transports."

"Roger, boss," said Wes Janson, Blue Nine.

"Right away," responded Wedge, Blue Three.

The two X-Wings dodged through the last of the firefight and approached the freighters. The Y-Wings and their escorts continued to move in slowly. Wedge reached the fifth supply ship first. He cautiously flew closer. "I don’t see anything," he said over the comm. "It looks like a normal supply ship."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when a hatch slid aside to allow the laser cannon behind it to fire. Wedge jumped and swore as the blasts began to light up his shields. "Boost the shields, Mynock," he told his droid hurriedly. He linked his own laser cannons and fired back. It took several shots but he blasted the cannon into slag.

"Antilles, are you ok," queried Commander Roth.

"I’m fine. Kelly was right. There was a hidden cannon. I got it and it doesn’t look like it damaged the ship much."

"No fair," piped in Wes. "Mine had two guns."

Wedge’s brow wrinkled. "Two? I better check for a second on this one."

"No need Antilles," responded Commander Smyth. "That ship has surrendered. It seems you took out all their gunners with your shot."

Wedge breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure if he could take out another gun so precisely.

Kelly watched as the rest of the Blues took out the remaining TIEs. She was upset that she couldn’t help, but that one Interceptor had torn her shields to pieces. Escorting Yellow Three was better than doing nothing. She looked over and saw Pash concentrating on making his first shot count. Blue energy shot from the Y-Wing and crackled over the freighter. Her computer told her that all systems had shut down due to the blast. "Nice shot, Yellow Three."

As if on cue, two shuttles emerged from hyperspace and began hooking up with the disabled freighters. "Nice job, everyone," said Commander Roth. "We only lost two ships."

Kelly looked out to see a shuttle picking up the two pilots that had ejected from their ships before they exploded. One of the two was hurt badly. His life force was faint. She hoped that he or she had been picked up in time.

"Blue Twelve, I want you to go back with Yellow Squadron."

"But sir, I wanted to see this mission through."

"You’re going back. We’ll take care of the rest of this. End of discussion."

Kelly sighed. "Yes sir," she said dejectedly.

"And besides, I want you there to make sure Captain Cherin is ok."

Her gut clinched. "He lost his ship?"

"Yes, but they say he’s ok. Just keep an eye on him."

"Yes sir," she said as she turned to move with the Y-Wings and the shuttle that had picked up Cherin and the other pilot. "Sir, who was the other pilot?"

"Lieutenant Donne. She’s in a lot worse shape."

She realized that Karyn was the life force she felt ebbing. Hopefully she would be ok. "I’ll make sure they both can return to duty soon, sir."

"Good."

The entire jump back, Kelly’s mind was filled with worry over Aric and Karyn. She prayed to every higher power that she could think of to let them live. If only Cain had stayed around long enough to show her how to use the Force to heal other people. She mentally cursed herself for never having asked.

It seemed like an eternity, but she finally reverted to realspace before the station. Her comm came alive with voices. She heard the shuttle request the medical team to be on the deck as soon as they landed. Since they had wounded, the shuttle was first to go in. She leaned her head back and waited for her turn.

ARE CAPTAIN CHERIN AND LIEUTENANT DONNE GOING TO BE OK?

"I hope so," she responded softly. "Why do you ask?"

I HAVE SEEN HOW HELPFUL THEY HAVE BEEN TO YOU. THEY HAVE ALSO BEEN HELPFUL TO ME.

She grinned. "So, they’ve become your friends, huh?"

The droid paused as if thinking. YES. I WOULD HAVE TO SAY THAT THEY HAVE BECOME IMPORTANT TO ME. I WOULD DEFEND THEM AS I DEFEND YOU.

"I’m impressed Winger. I guess we’ve been a good influence on each other."

THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE MED LAB.

"How do you know that?"

BECAUSE I AM MONITORING THE COMMUNICATIONS INSIDE THE STATION, SILLY.

Kelly giggled. Yep, she was a good influence on the droid. "Was there anything said about how they were?"

NO. JUST THAT THE MED LAB SHOULD GET THE BACTA TANKS READY STAT.

That worried her, but only a little. If they had internal injuries, a dip in the tank was the only way to heal those. Her comm beeped and she switched it on.

"Blue Twelve, you are clear to land."

"Acknowledged. Blue Twelve preparing to land." She sat up and adjusted her straps. A light touch to the flight stick nudged the craft forward. The X-Wing glided through the atmosphere and into the station. She felt the slight bump of the shields as she passed through the door. The landing gear dropped and she landed gently on the deck.

Three deckhands greeted  her. Two began to work on the ship and the third brought the ladder up to the cockpit. Kelly popped the hatch and pulled off her helmet. With a shake of her head, her hair fell over her shoulder. It was a mess. She looked over to see the same girl who had helped her into the ship earlier.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "You made it back in one piece! That’s great."

"Wish I could say the same for the shields. They’re shot."

"That’s ok. We can fix that." She took the helmet from Kelly and helped her unhook the life support hoses.

"Any word on Cherin and Donne," Kelly asked.

She looked up with a frown. "No. Karyn didn’t look too good when they rolled her out on the gurney. Cherin walked out with help."

The girl slid down the ladder so Kelly could get out. "Which way is the Med Lab?"

"Go up two decks and turn left. Go down seven halls and turn right. You can’t miss it."

"Thanks," Kelly yelled as she started running for the door.

"Hey," yelled the girl. "Let me know how they are, ok?"

"Will do!"

Kelly skidded to a stop as she rounded the corner out the door. Suddenly she was face to face with Commander Smyth. "I’m sorry sir. I just was on my way to..."

"You don’t have to explain, Antilles. I know where you’re going. Just make sure to let everyone know how they are doing. I know Lieutenant Donne had nearly run out of oxygen when they got to her."

Her brow creased with worry. "I do hope she’s ok."

"Well, they should have gotten her in the bacta tank in time. Now go, and try not to run into anyone."

"Yes sir," she said with a smile as she took off down the hall again.

The girl on the flight deck was right about the Med Lab being easy to find. She smelled the bacta from the time she got to that floor. She slowed to a fast walk down the hall to the lab. There were medical personnel running everywhere.

"Can I help you," asked a man in a green lab coat.

"Yeah, I was checking on Captain Cherin and Lieutenant Donne." She tried looking past the doctor into the room to see if she could see them.

"Captain Cherin will be emerging from the tank in about ten minutes. The Lieutenant may be there a while. She was oxygen deficient when we got her."

Kelly swallowed hard and frowned. "That’s what I was told. Can I see her?"

The doctor looked at her hard. "You’re the Antilles woman, correct?"

"Yes sir."

The hard look became thoughtful. "I suppose so since she is your roommate. Do you have any skills in Jedi healing?"

"No," she sighed. "I wish I did."

"That’s ok," he responded. He turned and led her towards a room where four bacta tanks were lined against a wall. Karyn was in the second one.

Kelly walked slowly over to the tank. They had quickly stripped Karyn and dumped her in. She could see marks on her arms and legs where the cold had started to burn her skin. The bacta was repairing the damage, but it was a slow process. She lay a hand against the cool glass and stretched out with the Force. A smile cracked her lips as she felt Karyn’s life force getting stronger. "You’re gonna make it," she whispered. "You better make it."

"Is she ok," asked a voice from behind her.

She turned to see Cherin limping towards her. He stopped and coughed hard. "Ugh, I hate bacta," he said with a weak grin.

Kelly went to help him to a chair near Karyn’s tank. "You were supposed to blow up the TIEs, not your X-Wing, Captain."

Aric looked up at the tank where Karyn hung lifeless. "I tried to get the bogey off her tail. He was just too quick." A sad frown creased his brow.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "It’s ok Aric. She’s very strong. I can already tell how much she’s healed. I felt her life force draining when the shuttle picked her up."

He reached up to touch her hand. It was slightly cold from where she had been touching the tank. She was shaking a little too. He wasn’t sure if that was from the cold or the worry. Pushing himself up from the chair, he put an arm around her shoulder. "Walk me back to the slab they have for me here, will ya?"

She pulled her eyes away from the tank. "Sure," she said with a forced grin.

"You’ve already told me she’s going to be okay. Believe what you say."

The smile became more sincere. "You’re right. No wonder you’re a Captain."

"That’s right. Now I order you to get me to my bed before they say that the squad is back and you go running off to see your brother."

She grinned. "Aye Captain."

After she got Aric tucked in and settled down, she headed towards the landing bay. She stopped by Karyn’s tank before leaving and saw that nearly all the burns were healed. With a smile on her face, she quickly made her way down the hall.

The bay was much quieter than when she had arrived. She found several techs sitting in the control room playing cards. They looked up as she entered. "Are they ok," asked the girl. Her name, according to the patch on her coveralls, was Malten.

"The Captain is out of the tank and just weak. He’ll be fine after some rest. Karyn will be in for a while more. She’s improving steadily, though."

Malten sighed with relief. "Thanks for letting us know." A chorus of thanks came from the others in the room.

"No problem. Have you heard from Commander Roth yet on their status?"

"No word as of yet," replied an older tech. "It would take a little while for them to get the systems back up on the freighters."

Kelly nodded. "True. I forgot about that. Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go let Commander Smyth know about Cherin and Donne." She turned and walked out and down the hall.

She came to a door labeled Commander Smyth, Executive Officer, Yellow Squadron. She knocked firmly, hoping the Commander would be in. "Enter," came a voice from within.

She touched the door open. The office was rather sparse, much like she would imagine Wedge’s would be when he became a Commander. Smyth sat behind his desk reviewing the stats of the raid. Kelly stood waiting patiently before him.

Finally, Smyth looked up. "At ease, Antilles," he said and she noticeably relaxed. "So, how are they?"

"Captain Cherin is already out of the bacta and just needs some rest."

"And Lieutenant Donne?"

"She is doing much better. When I left, nearly all the cold burns were healed."

"That’s very encouraging. Thank you."

"You’re welcome sir."

"I wanted also to thank you for helping Yellow Three. I don’t think they would have been able to take two TIEs, even with Cracken at the helm."

"He did a great job, considering the odds."

"Yes, he is one of my best pilots. He really should be leading his own Squadron. I don’t know if you knew this or not, but Pash used to be one of the Empire’s greatest pilots. He decided the Empire wasn’t for him and jumped ship. His entire squadron followed him. They’re still here. Most of them, that is. They think he’s some kind of god that will protect them. He’s invincible they say."

She snorted, "not even Jedi are invincible."

"You know that. I know that. These pilots are young and easily influenced."

"Sir, if I may ask, why are you telling me this?"

Smyth leaned forward, "I wanted to warn you. They may not take kindly to a woman saving their hero. Or they may and try to set you up with him. Just go easy on him. Pash is like his father, except he’s more human."

Kelly mulled through what he had just told her. She wasn’t sure if he was saying she should treat Cracken with kid gloves or not break his heart. Maybe he meant both. She had to admit that she was harboring some kind of feelings for him, she just wasn’t sure what they were. "Yes sir," she responded.

"Go on. I’m sure Roth’s team will be back soon. Please keep me updated on our invalids."

"Certainly," she said as she turned towards the door.

"And I meant for you to be careful with Cracken’s feelings."

She looked back at the Commander. "I try to be careful with everyone’s feelings, sir."

Kelly went straight to the pilot lounge. She needed a drink to help think about what was going on. She got a lomin ale and sat on a couch that faced a window. It was peaceful as she sipped her drink.

This peace gave her plenty of time to think. The first thing to her mind was hope that Wedge and the rest of Blue Squadron would be there soon. That made her think about Aric and Karyn. She hoped they both were ok. Then she started thinking about all that happened on the mission, the TIEs she had shot down. There was no remorse where she thought she should have had some. They had attacked so they could get the supplies to Rebels who needed them more than the Imperials. She thought about chasing down that one TIE-Interceptor who had out foxed her just for a moment. She felt a bit of remorse there, but it was either he blew her up or she got him. She preferred to live. She remembered the sincere thanks she received from Pash and his partner.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice when someone sat beside her. "Is this seat taken," he asked after looking at her for a moment.

Kelly looked up into Pash Cracken’s eyes. She tried to hide her surprise with a swallow of ale. "Uh, yes. I  mean no. Please sit. Well, you already are sitting. And now I’m babbling."

He grinned. "How many have you had?"

"Just the one," she said with her own grin. "Can I buy you one?"

"Hey, I’m the one who should be buying them for you. You’re the one who saved my ass today."

"I would have done that for anyone. I don’t expect a reward or anything. At least not from you." She chuckled at her jest. "Now if you were some ambassador or senator, I might charge you."

He laughed. "Ah, so you really are a mercenary."

"No," she said seriously. "I’m a pilot. I do what I have to in order to get by in this galaxy." She shrugged, "if that means saving a fellow pilot’s life, then that’s what I’ll do. I’m more like that old Corellian fable of the guy who robbed from the rich to give to the poor."

"That sounds like the entire Rebellion."

"Sort of, yes. I guess you would say that Princess Organa is the leader and we are her ‘merry men’."

He grinned. "And women," he added. "That was a really nice move you made to take out that TIE."

"Thanks. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment."

"I was starting to have the same idea myself. You beat me to the punch. Excuse me a moment." He stood and went over to get two more glasses of ale. He came back and handed one to her.

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "You wouldn’t have been able to get enough space between you and the TIE in that Y."

"True, but it would have confused the hell out of the pilot."

"True." She chuckled. "I can just see the look on his face." She opened her eyes wide in shock and dropped her jaw.

Pash laughed at her facial expression. "Yeah," he said still laughing. "He’d be saying ‘what the hell was that?’" He dropped his face in an equally shocked expression.

It was Kelly’s turn to laugh. "That’s great!" They continued to laugh for a few minutes then dwindled to chuckles. Kelly finally smiled at Pash. "Thanks," she said. "I needed that. I’ve been so worried about Karyn and Aric that I was feeling kinda down. You’ve perked me right up."

"The pleasure was all mine, lady," he replied with a short bow.

"Would you do me a favor?"

"Like what?"

"Would you please stay here with me and keep me company until my brother gets back?"

"I would be honored."

They sat and talked for several hours. Neither knew how long it had been until a runner came in to tell Kelly that Karyn had been taken out of the bacta and Captain Cherin was asking for her. She politely thanked the Ensign for letting her know and excused herself.

She wasn’t halfway down the hall when Pash ran up behind her. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all," she smiled. "How long were we talking?"

Pash looked at his chrono. "Wow, almost two and a half hours."

Kelly frowned. "Blue Squadron isn’t back yet? Do you think something bad happened?"

"Maybe we just missed them."

"I don’t think so."

"How about I go check then meet you in Captain Cherin’s room."

She nodded. "Ok. See you shortly."

A med tech told her where to find Karyn, but suggested she wait awhile since she was still unconscious. She agreed and went on to see Aric. He was sitting up in the bed with a frown on his face when she came in. "You’ve looked better, Captain."

He lowered the datapad and looked up at her. "This isn’t funny, Kel. It seems we’ve lost contact with the squad."

"What?!" She moved quickly to his side. "You’ve got to be kidding."

"Nope," he said showing her the datapad. "We lost their beacon about an hour ago. They just disappeared."

Is this the end of Blue Squadron?
Can Kelly figure out where they are by using the Force?
Will she and Pash ever get together?

Check out Part 3: The Search for Blue Squadron for the answers to those quesitons and more.