Wraith Squadron: Cell Theory

[TuskenRaider1]

This is the first in a possible trilogy of Wraith Squadron novels. Based on Aaron Allston and some Michael Stackpole, the series here will be the continuing adventures of the Wraiths, with some new additions, some old favorites and a new/old enemy that will put the Squadron to some of its most difficult tests.

[TuskenRaider1]

Chapter 1

Wraith One banked hard to port as the laser fire flashed by his cockpit. The X-Wing juked through the obstacles ahead, debris from what used to be a Carrick Battle Cruiser, the modified TIE fighter following close behind, lining up for the next shot.

"Um, could use some help here..." Garrick "Face" Loran all but yelled into the comm channel. "Where are you Wraith Two?"

Face looked down at his tactical display to show the friend/foe designator blip that normally represented Wraith Two was no longer visible. Sithspit! Another one gone. Face banked again as more laser fire hit the piece of debris he had just avoided. Well, time to get rid of this pest myself. The X-Wing, while lacking the full range of manuverability of the modified TIE dove before colliding into a large moving hunk of durasteel that used to be the hull of the Battle Cruiser. The TIE dove a split second too late, and clipped the top of one of its solar panels on the debris.

The solar panel wing broke off and the TIE entered a spin, its pilot obviously struggling to break out of the out of control manuver. Just as it seemed the pilot had regained a modicum of control, a small chunk of durasteel slammed into the TIEs main cabin, destroying what was left of the fighter in a small explosion.

Wraith One turned, and headed back into the thick of battle. There they are, the ones who got my Wraiths, the ones who'll join them in space... Face raised the nose of the X-Wing, and dove straight into the thick of the remaining TIEs, all guns blazing, destroying two on his intital pass. Other TIEs looped, and as his astromech, Vape, screamed into his cockpit, Face knew his time was running out.

He glanced once more at the display. No other Wraiths registered. All gone, all of them, because of one stupid mistake. My mistake. He raged at himself as he saw one of the TIEs sneak in behind him. The TIEs first shots went wide, and Face thought about how to escape the next set of laser fire.

And then everything went black.

[Master_Kinnon]

Like the start of this, can't wait to see where it's going!

[TuskenRaider1]

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

The lights came back on, causing Face to raise his hands to his eyes, letting them adjust and then prepare to step out of the simulator. 12 pilots had so far flown this sim, and 12 pilots had failed it. He had lasted longer than most, but to be honest, he thought he should have done better.

The sim was a replica of the Second Battle of Belthu. Less than three standard months ago, the New Republic had come to arms with the few renegade Imperial commanders left after the armistice with the Imperial Remnant was signed last year in 19 ABY. It had been Wraith Squadron's second trip to Belthu, the first being when they destroyed a durasteel facility there that was owned by the long dead Warlord Zsinj. The Wraiths had done well on that mission, and hadn’t been overly concerned with returning there.

The Second Battle of Belthu was a shock to the New Republic by the sheer size of the space confrontation. With the majority of the Remnant based on Bastion and under the firm hand of Grand Admiral Paelleon, no one truly believed that any Imperials who chose not to follow the terms of the treaty would be hard to clean up. They were gravely mistaken.

The Wraiths had fought valiantly, released by General Craken and Alliance Intelligence to help in the mop up operations. They had been on the far side of the battle, not in its center, as the sim revolved around. The sheer force of the combined fleet of smaller ships, led by Imperial captains and lieutenants who refused to follow the Moff Council had surprised the smaller New Republic fleet and almost obliterated it. There were new maneuvers, new tactics used in the battle that baffled the New Republic commanders, and sent memories of Thrawn shivering down the backs of many. Only through the quick work of General Bel Iblis had the heart of the fleet managed to escape.

The New Republic was preparing to get some revenge for those lost at Belthu, and Face wanted the Wraith's ready to handle the new tactics being thrown at them. They just hadn’t been all that successful yet.

[Machievelli]

To be posted 9 Nov 2007 on StarwarsKnights under The Critic returns and Lucasforums under the Critic’s Two Cents.

19 Years after Yavin; My favorite Squadron prepares for action.

This is not the first of TR’s works I have reviewed, and it is up to the standards I think we should aspire to. There isn’t much to it yet, but what there is makes me want more.

I said it the last time (Bad Run) I’ll say it again. Keep it up.

One of my Picks of the Week.

[TuskenRaider1]

Thank Machievelli. Next bit should be up today or this weekend. Actually did the research on this the last couple days, so it slowed down the writitng. Im taking Bad Run completely out of the SW universe, redrafting parts and lengthening it, and sending it to some folks for pub. One last bit with Face, then a glimpse at the new/old enemy....

[TuskenRaider1]

Face, with Vape trailing behind headed out of the simulator room on his way back to the mess. He had spent each spare moment working on ways to try and predict what would happen next in the sim, and in the heart of the battle, everything seemed more confusing than normal. A dogfight always had its fair share of chaos, but just when it seemed that the TIEs were forming up, something went wrong, and Face and the others would find themselves out gunned and out flown. Neither was something Face ever got used to.

“Wait up there oh great and glorious leader…” Face turned to see Kell Tainer, head of Three Flght run to catch up with him. Kell stood a good head taller than Face, and his musclar features had not diminished over the time Face had known him. If anything, with Kell’s wife, and former Wraith, Tyria away on some sort of Jedi self-exploration, Kell had even more time to hit the gym.

“The sim get you too huh?” Kell asked, eyebrow raised. Kell had so far flown the best in the mission simulator, but had still been vaped by the third wave of fighters. The two entered the mess hall, as Face nodded his response. A classic Segnor’s Loop had been tried in two of the sim runs, usually a fairly safe bet against Imperial pilots, and had been met with overwhelming disasters. The usual tricks didn’t work, and Face didn’t know why.

The two approached the far table in the mess hall. There, huddled close together were two of the Wraith’s best tactical assets. Voort “Piggy” saBinring and Sharr Latt, a recent addition to the Squadron. Latt had been added by New Republic Intelligence, or NRI shortly after the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty. Latt was a psychological warfare expert, with a keen interest in space tactics. Piggy and Sharr had become fast friends, and one could often find them debating the pros and cons of such Capital Ship maneuvers as the Akbar Slash. The discussion usually went far above the rest of the Wraith’s heads, even with their combat experience, and most were happy Piggy had an outlet for his deep thoughts on the subject.

Piggy looked up as his colleagues approached. “Ah, perfect, we will ask the Captain…what are your feelings about the use of droids or clones in terms of usefulness in battle, and in terms of usefulness in expendability…”

The question brought Face up short as he looked over at Kell. Not exactly the normal lunch conversation, it seemed decidedly out of place. “Well, I guess the Clones won the war, and had the freedom to be more free thinking in terms of battle. But then again, so much is unknown about the true history of what happened, Id say its hard to tell. My gut says always go with the guy who can think, rather than the droid who is programmed to think.” Face paused. “Why?”

“Just thinking about future design plans in the New Republic for how one can confront future enemies. I happen to feel that any type of biological or genetic experimentation and tampering is somewhat, well, unnatural, my own state included, while Sharr here believes like you do…interesting…” Piggy dove back into discussion as Face heard a chuckle behind him.

“This is why you’re lead Face. I get to sit back and watch you take the opportunity to answer your pilots, and then stick your foot squarely in your open mouth…” Kell shook his head and walked back toward the entrance of the mess.

“Attention!” Face yelled out, with Kell freezing ramrod straight and turning. “Lt. Tainer, I think our X-Wings need some extra maintenance, you know, just in case Cubber missed anything…” Face saw Kell’s shoulder drop slightly, “...And while you’re at it, bring along Squeaky so he can inventory any current parts we may need to replace....dismissed.”

“You’re getting good at this command thing Face,” Kell said as he turned to leave, ”Wedge would be proud.”

[Master_Kinnon]

Great update!

[sharyntyre]

coolness, I love the Wraiths, best of the stories I've peeked at this morning. Can't wait to see more of this.

[TuskenRaider1]

Sorry for the delay, lost my data package,so have to retype.

[Darill Cyllem]

This is most enjoyable, Tusken - quite polished as well. :thumbs-up:

[TuskenRaider1]

Chapter 2

The TIEs flew in formation in front of the Imperial Star Destroyer, and the Warlord smiled. He saw the rows of perfect maneuvers in front of him, and watched the small engagement with local planetary defense forces with extreme pleasure. He had been a Warlord since Endor, and other than brief participation in the reborn Emperors attack on the Mon Calamari, had been content to let others draw the Rebels attention. That the "Rebels" had held power since the fall of Coruscant was not important. The New Republic was nothing more than fancy words covering treason.

Treason against whom? After the fall of the Reborn Emperor, the Warlord had watched other petty officers and regional Moffs fight over crumbs. He had watched Isard embarrass herself in her focused obsession with Rogue Squadron, and watched as pretenders such as Admiral Daala and others squandered the few resources of the Empire. When that fool Paelleon had signed his surrender with the alien filth Ponc Gavrisom, the Warlord knew in his heart of hearts that it was all gone. The beautiful dream of the New Order swept away by treason and cowardice and foolhardy greed.

The Warlord heard the sound of his comrade-in-arms footsteps as he continued to stare at the engagement. The perfect formations of his TIEs were decimating the planetary force, with cries of surrender beginning to filter in over the comm channels. He ignored them.

As the footsteps came closer, the Warlord raised his head from the display in front of him and spoke. "So my General. How do you like your inventions?"

Stout, barrel-chested, and with a scar running down the right side of his face, General Arndall Lott smiled at the viewport as he saw his newest version of the TIE/D starfighters wipe out the remaining planetary defense squads. "I tell you Gendarr, its a thing of beauty. More practice like this, and we will make Belthu seem like a peaceful engagement to the rebel swine." His smile sent chills down the spine of a nearby comm officer who was close enough to overhear and see the exchange.

The Comm officer turned back to her display to follow the return of the TIEs to the Star Destroyer. The planet was not the objective of the mission here, just low-level fighting practice for the TIEs. The slaughter of the planetary defense pilots had been target practice. Warlord Iolan Gendarr, survivor of countless engagements, the Battle of Endor, the Battle of Mon Cal, and the true heart of the new Empire smiled back at the General. "That my friend is enough to give me sweet dreams, and hopefully fill the Rebels with horrific nightmares..."

[Darill Cyllem]

This is quite fun to read!

[TuskenRaider1]

The lights went dark in the Briefing room aboard the New Republic Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Galactic Voyager. Formerly the flagship of Admiral Ackbar, the Star Cruiser had seen its fair share of battles from Anoth, Mon Calamari and engagements over Yavin 4 saving the Jedi Praxeum. Its Captain, a well respected Mon Calamari herself, Cha Niathal, sat toward the front of the room, where the most senior officer present, General Airen Cracken, prepared to begin. The room was filled with the Voyager's officer component, the Wraiths, Lancer squadron consisting of B-Wing fighter/bombers that had participated in the Liberation of Coruscant, and Corsair squadron, an X-wing unit that had been founded by Wes Janson during the Liberation of Tyferra and fought alongside the Rogues and Wraiths in the hunt for Warlord Zinsj.

The current Corsair Lead, Ranna "Wing-Ripper" Gorjaye nodded at Face as she took her seat. Ranna had transfered from the FarStar where she served as squadron lead after a series of run-ins with the ship's commnader, but was respected enough that her transfer to the Corsairs was approved. Her orders delayed, she was present at the destruction of the FarStar at Kathol in a battle against Moff Kirne Sarne's fleet. She managed to survive the battle with elements of her squadron, who were added the Corsairs current roster. The Corsairs themselves had seen random duty since the fight for Zinsj, participating a variety of brush ups over the years. Ranna had forged them into a stern disciplined unit, and had improved the reputation of the unit. The fact that the strict, hard-nosed and some would say overly-arrogant woman happened to be a stricking red-head was not lost on Face. He threw her his most charming smile and nodded back.

Gen Cracken cleared his throat and the assembled officers and pilots settled down. A 3 dimensional holo display of the planet Caloria appeared before them. "This is Caloria, a small trade world at the end of the Caloria Run. It is strategically unimportant, and not very political. This is a recording of recent events." The assembled crowd heard yells, curses and screams as the recording from the Imperial attack came over the loudspeakers in the room. Face sat transfixed on the systematic destruction of the planetary defense force, small by most comparisons with such precision, that they looked as if there was no fight in them at all. "The Imperial Star Destroyer, identified as the Reliance appeared, deployed fighters, destroyed the planetary force, and left. No demands, no communication, nothing."

The image changed to show a man, older, with graying hair into widows peaks, and a small grey goatee. "This is the Reliance's commander. His name is Warlord Iolan Gendarr. Gendarr served under Captain Lorth Needa aboard the Avenger at Hoth, however he was promoted after the Imperial victory there and the death of Needa at the hands of Darth Vader. He was given command of the Reliance, which had been assigned to protect the Imperial training facility on Jardeen IV. After the Battle of Endor, Gendarr fled Jardeen IV with this man, General Arndall Lott." The image changed to a shorter man, barrel-chested, scar down the right side of his face. Jardeen IV was an Imperial Army Walker Operation and Tactics training facility, run by Lott. Gendarr evacuated Lott and the facility before our forces could discover the operation.

Cracken turned and focused in on the image of Lott. "Lott served a two year tour of duty under General Maximilian Veers in the Imperial Army before being promoted to the rank of General and getting stationed on Jardeen IV where he was placed in charge of Walker Operations and Tactics training. Inspired by the Katana fleet, Lott had his engineers create a primitive fully-automated slave-rigging system, which allowed one person to command several AT-ATs. This advance was later used in the TIE/D automated starfighter that confronted us during the Battle of Mon Calamari, in our fight against the Reborn Emperor and his World Devastators." He nodded at Captain Niathal and took a seat.

The Mon Cal rose and approached the front. Though she looked somewhat like the great Admiral Akbar to the untrained eye, she had a stricter and straighter demeanor than the Admiral. She had a reputation for running a tight ship, and had busted down more than a few officers for sloppy performance. She also seemed to know what to say, and to whom at the right time. Her future was reputed to be bright within the Fleet.

A display and schematical readout of the TIE/D replaced the image of General Lott. "The TIE/D automated fighter, or droid/drone TIE fighter, was primarilt used by the reborn Emperor in 10 ABY. They were produced in the internal factories of the World Destroyers, which made swarms of TIE/Ds from the elements of the very world they attacked. Most of the TIE/D manufacturing capability was destroyed along with the World Devastators at the Battle of Mon Calamari. As their piloting ability never matched that of living pilots, the droids were eventually abandoned. Or so we thought."

A new sound came over the loud speaker. It was a static transmission with electronic bursts throughout. "One of the pilots in the planetary defense force managed to record this and send it back to Caloria before he was destroyed. Our tactical engineers have not been able to crack the code, but have been able to devise that it was the only transmission sent from the modified fighters that attacked the planetary force."

Face noticed Piggy stir in his seat, and lean over to Hohass Ekwesh, the Wraith's communications expert, whispering in his ear. He'd have to follow up on that after the briefing. If there was a way to crack the transmission, he was sure the Wraiths could find it.

General Cracken stood back up and nodded to Captain Naithal, who took her seat. "This is our objective. We believe it was Gendarr and Lott that led the attack against us at Belthu, and our job is to hunt them down. Wraith, Lancer and Corsair squadrons have all worked together before. You will base out of the Galactic Voyager under the overall command of Captain Niathal. I will be coordinating your efforts on Coruscant with other Fleet elements as needed." Cracken looked over the officers present and nodded, as much to himself as to the group, satisfied with the elements present. "Its time to get some revenge for Belthu, and remind these leftovers that the war is over, and they are nothing but baggage of an age that has passed."

"Good hunting, and may the Force be with you."

[Darill Cyllem]

Another enjoyable segment - am just catching up after a delay. I will hope for more! :)

[sharyntyre]

As usual I am a bit behind. Like the Lady said, most enjoyable installment and I too hope to see more. Nice work Tusken