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Kelly paced back and forth in the bridge of the Revenge. She was ready to take off at a moments notice, but the waiting was excruciating. Winger sat in his place monitoring the channels for the word to leave. He beeped something to Kelly.

"The Imps are finally collecting their TIEs?" Part one of the plan was underway. They had sent a false report to the Star Destroyer, calling them to come join the Executor in another system. Once they pulled in all the TIEs, step two would get underway.

Winger scanned all frequencies. He filtered out unnecessary channels and broadcast the Imperial channel. "Colonel Fel, you are in charge of the troops while we are gone," a weasely voice said.

"Yes Admiral," replied Fel. His voice was deep and commanding. "We will continue training and testing while you are gone. However, I believe the ships are ready. Would you not like to go ahead and deliver them to Lord Vader?"

"No Colonel. We are assisting the Executor in subduing a Rebel revolt. We will be too busy to look over your ships."

"Yes Admiral." Fel sounded none too happy about this turn of events.

"Well, all of our TIEs are in. We are about to…" The Admiral’s voice trailed off. "What the hell is that?!"

Phase two had begun.

"Launch fighters immediately," Admiral Ackbar commanded. "The enemy is caught off guard."

A squad of B-Wings and Y-Wings dropped from the belly of the Mon Calamari cruiser followed by a few X-Wings. The X-Wings quickly were upon their prey. They pounded on the Star Destroyer’s shields. Torpedo after torpedo impacted against them. The Y-Wings began a barrage of ion shots.

A small group of TIE-Fighters returned to the skies. They quickly began to terrorize the Y-Wings. The X-Wings turned their attention to these new threats and left the Destroyer to the Y-Wings and B-Wings.

Kelly strapped herself into the pilot’s seat and prepared to lift off the ground. By now the Imps should be in complete chaos. She heard the signal from Commander Roth and flew up through the canopy of trees. Eight X-Wings mimicked her movement and they sped off towards Theed.

Wedge Antilles looked over the stack of crates that served as his hiding place. Soon, the pilots should be scrambling for their fighters. That would be the sign for them to begin their attack.

One of the Imperial officers screamed at the Stormtroopers standing in a cluster. They scattered like rats.

"Commence Retaking of Theed," a voice commanded through Wedge’s comm. He looked towards the remaining Troopers and fired. Beside him, Wes was also laying down an intense cover. Together they moved forward. Now it was their turn.

Zooming over the horizon, two flights of X-Wings and one freighter approached Theed. The X-Wings split in two directions. Kelly watched the fighters peel off from her. May the Force be with you, she whispered to herself. Ahead of her, she saw the great temple. Little white and grey dots scrambled around the courtyard. She grinned and flew low over the masses.

Winger scolded her. YOU SHOULD NOT FLY THAT LOW.

"Just putting a little fear into those Imps," she replied. She pulled into a steep climb and felt a familiar tingle. Just over the top of the temple came four of the three-winged TIEs. "Emperor’s Black Bones!" She quickly pulled the Revenge out of the climb and flew south. The TIEs followed.

She grinned. "Ok boys, let’s play."

Once out of the city proper, she headed towards the woods. There was no way they would be able to keep up with her in there. Winger whined excitedly. THEY ARE RIGHT ON OUR TAIL!

She looked at her radar. He was right. In gravity, those ships were much more maneuverable than hers. They cut through the air like a vibroblade. "Damnit," she cursed to herself. Opening the comms channel, she hailed the X-Wings. "Revenge to Blue Lead. Commander, I’ve got a group of those new fighters on my tail. They’re pretty damn maneuverable in atmosphere."

"We’ve disabled the rest, Revenge. Help is on the way."

"Sir, I think it would work best if we went topside. They have a decided advantage down here."

"Understood. We will assist you there. Blue Lead out."

Kelly gritted her teeth as she pushed the Revenge for all she was worth. The steep climb pulled on the engines. Winger whined beside her. "She can do it," she protested. "Come on baby, show ‘em what you’ve got."

Two of the TIEs followed her, the others split off. She couldn’t tell where they were going. All she was interested in what getting into zero-g. The engines moaned. She reached out with the Force and protected the engines with a Force shield. They held together.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAA!" The Revenge burst through the atmosphere and screamed across the sky. Suddenly, alarms started blaring. Someone had a lock on her. She checked her radar and saw the two TIEs that had broken off were directly in front of her. "So, you want to play chicken," she said. "Well, bring it on." She punched the engines and headed right for the two TIEs.

Winger screamed. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

"Just trust me," she said through gritted teeth. "Come on. Don’t let me down."

It was about that time when warning klaxons went off. A torpedo had been fired from one of the TIEs before her. She slowed down, allowing the ones behind her to catch up. Alarms blasted in the cockpit. "Shut those things up," she yelled to the droid. Another torpedo was now coming at her from behind. "Let me know when they are 3 klicks away."

She closed her eyes and let the Force flow into her. She could sense the torps and her ship. "Come on, come on," she said under her breath. "We can do this."

Winger wailed as the torps got within 3 klicks. She didn’t move. The droid began to panic. She ignored him and concentrated on what she saw in her mind. "NOW," she screamed as she pushed the control stick forward as hard as she could. The Revenge dove downward, then shook as the two torpedoes impacted. "Status," she demanded of Winger.

REAR SHIELDS ARE GONE. ENGINES AT 40%.

"Even out the shields. We’ll head for Home One. Hopefully we can make it without another lock on." She turned her ship towards the Mon Calamari cruiser. A smile crossed her face as she saw six X-Wings chasing the TIEs.

Aulduin reflected blaster bolts from every side. Wedge and Wes bolted for the main hall of the temple. They saw a row of Stormtroopers before them firing. Wedge dove to the left and Wes to the right.

Aulduin marched into the hall and with a wave of his hand, pulled all the blasters away from the Troopers. "You would do well to surrender," he commanded. "Your troops have been defeated."

A tall blonde man, hands clasped at the small of his back, stepped from a side room. He wore a dark uniform with a Commander rank insignia on the left breast. "We best do what he says. There is no use in our continued fighting."

Wedge and Wes looked at each other in disbelief. It certainly looked like the Imperial was acting of his own free will. Never before had they known an Imp who gave up so willingly. They kept their blasters trained on him just in case.

The Stormtroopers raised their arms when a larger group came in behind Wedge and Wes. Aulduin approached the Commander. "Thank you for cooperating."

"My pleasure, Jedi. I do not wish to see any more bloodshed." The Commander bowed respectfully to Aulduin. "There already has been too much."

Aulduin raised an eyebrow. This man did not speak as most Imperials. Perhaps he had ulterior motives. "Good. Let us discuss the details of your surrender."

The Commander nodded, "Please, let us go somewhere more comfortable."

Aulduin followed him into the Governor’s office. Wedge and Wes followed. They were not about to let the Jedi Master be alone with an Imperial Commander.

"Revenge to Home One, do you copy?"

"We copy Revenge. What is your status?"

"Engines badly damaged and shields about gone."

"Understood, Revenge. Prepare to dock in main hangar."

"Thanks Home One. Revenge out." Kelly turned her ship and limped towards the yawning bay doors on the belly of the large Mon Calamari cruiser. The doors opened and seemed to swallow her ship whole. She set the Revenge down on the deck and quickly began shut-down. "Winger, take care of this. I want to get to the bridge."

The droid whistled and beeped, acknowledging her commands. YOU KNOW THAT HE IS OK.

"Yes, I know. But, I still want to check." She jogged to the hatch and lowered the ramp. Three techs ran up as she ran down. "What are you doing," she asked them.

"The Admiral wanted us to get to work on your ship immediately, Captain."

She was shocked. "Really? Why?"

"We don’t ask, ma’am. We just follow directions."

She stood dumfounded for a moment before dismissing the tech. "My droid can help you if you need anything."

"Thank you, Captain." The tech turned and disappeared inside the ship.

Kelly shook her head in disbelief and ran towards the bridge. As she entered, the bridge brightened as the Star Destroyer vanished into hyperspace. Her mouth fell open as she skidded to a stop.

Admiral Ackbar turned and saw her. "They will not get far," he said. "Their drives are badly damaged."

"Are you going to pursue them?"

The Mon Calamari looked back at the viewscreen. Most of the fighting had ceased. From the looks of it, they had captured over a dozen Imperials in TIE fighters. Those would be quite useful, mostly for parts. "No, I believe we have made them suffer enough. They will not try to take Naboo again."

It took a moment for her to understand the Admiral’s thoughts. When she did, it was very clear to her. "Sir, have you heard from the ground crew?"

The young man at the comms station interrupted any response the Admiral might give. "Sir, we are receiving a signal from Commander Smyth."

"Patch it through. Commander, well done."

"Thank you, Admiral. We are beginning to escort the remaining TIEs down to the surface. When they realized they had been abandoned, they were very cooperative. Blue Lead does report that one of the prototypes did get away."

"That is alright. We will join you in Theed shortly."

"Yes sir. Yellow Lead out."

The Admiral turned back to Kelly. "To answer your question, yes we have heard from the ground crew. They were quite successful, thanks to your Jedi Master."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"I believe there are several injuries, non of whom are your brother."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Admiral. I’ll go help the techs work on my ship."

The fish-like Admiral stopped her before she could turn around. "You will do no such thing, Captain. You will come with me to the surface. I wish you to be there when I meet with the Imperial Commander who surrendered."

"Yes, sir," she said as she followed the Admiral to his waiting shuttle.

Wedge watched the Imp carefully, yet the man seemed genuine in all he said and did. Maybe some of them really aren’t all that bad, he thought to himself. Wes nudged him in the ribs and stood up quickly. He looked around to see why his friend was so jumpy and saw Admiral Ackbar entering the room. He jumped to his feet and saluted.

Ackbar waved a fin to the two pilots, dismissing their formality. He walked straight to where the Jedi and Imperial Commander stood. "Jedi Aulduin. Commander Schanski. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

Aulduin bowed respectfully to the Admiral. Schanski nodded curtly. "I see that you have brought my Padowan with you," Aulduin said looking directly at Kelly. She met his gaze unflinching.

"Ah, yes. Now, shall we get down to business?" Ackbar wordlessly dismissed his guards.

"Please," Schanski said pointing to a chair. "Have a seat."

You may take your brother and his friend and leave, Aulduin told Kelly telepathically.

She bowed respectfully and motioned Wedge and Wes to follow her out. The two young men looked at each other and shrugged before rising to follow. "Will you be alright," Wedge whispered to Aulduin.

He merely nodded in response.

Several hours later, the three men emerged from the room with smiles on their faces. Commander Schanski had decided to defect to the Rebellion and would offer any of the rest of his men to join him. He relinquished the Governorship back to the Governor. Naboo was independent once again.

The citizens of Naboo held a grand party for everyone. Schanski decided to stay on Naboo in case the Imperials came back. His men were welcomed into the Security Force. Sabé  took personal responsibility for each of the pilots.

Kelly stood out on one of the balconies away from the party. The city was beautiful from here. "Hello, Master Aulduin," she said as she felt his presence.

"You are progressing well, Apprentice." He stepped up to the rail and looked over. "Do you feel how alive with the Force this planet is?"

She nodded. "You’re staying, aren’t you?"

A grin crossed his tired face. "You have become quite proficient in the Force."

The compliment took her aback. "Um, thank you. I must be right. So, you’re stopping my training?"

He shook his head. "No, you will continue your training, just without me. I believe you can handle yourself well alone."

"I appreciate your confidence in me. I won’t let you down."

"I know you won’t. Take care of the others. They will need your help in the future." He turned back towards the party. "Good luck, Kelly. And may the Force be with you." He moved off and disappeared into the crowd.

Kelly sighed deeply. She was alone once again. It wasn’t a feeling she didn’t know. It was something she knew rather intimately. A soft smile crossed her face. "Hi big brother."

Wedge stopped and blinked. "I am not sure I’m going to be able to get used to that." He walked over to the space Aulduin had just vacated. "Commanders Roth and Smyth said you did a great job."

"Yeah, well, I had a good role model." She looked over at her brother. His profile reminded her so much of her mother. Tears began to well in her eyes. "I’m just glad you are ok."

The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. "You can’t get rid of me."

"I don’t want to," she said softly.

He cocked his head and looked at her curiously. He saw the tears begin to fall. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes. "Aulduin is staying here. I’m on my own. Again."

"Stay with us for a while. We always need alternate pilots."

"No, I think there are probably better ways for me to serve the Rebellion."

"How about we just think about that later." He pulled her into a hug before grabbing her arm and dragging her back into the party. "It’s time to celebrate right now."