Playing through the Heroes of Aturi Cluster campaign with my two sons. Had so much fun with the first few missions that I wanted to do a quick battle report. Instead it grew into a 6-page short story. Haven't written any fiction in a looooong time and this was fun. Hope you like it. And if you haven't tried the HotAC co-op campaign, you owe it to yourself to make some memories of your own.

“New intel report coming in sir. Looks like a potential problem in the Nulan system.” The executive officers report echoed across the mostly empty command center. Wearily, the commanding officer turned away from the sector map.

“Only a potential problem? We seem to be making progress.” Commander Hairn did his best to put on a wry smile but the permanent furrow to his brows belied the increasing strain that the Rebel’s precarious situation placed on his nerves.

“Perhaps not Commander. The Imperials have begun mining the hyperspace routes leading into the system.”

“We are making progress. Excellent.”

“But sir, if the Imperials manage to cut-off those routes-”

“Our supply issues will go from problematic to critical yes. But Lieutenant, this means our activities are finally attracting some Imperial attention. We have progressed from a minor annoyance to a genuine distraction.”

“Yes sir.” The much younger executive officer responded, unconvinced. “But we cannot continue to be either without supplies.”

“You’re right of course, Lieutenant. Unfortunately, we simply don’t have much of an opportunity to respond at the moment. We simply don’t have the pilots.”

Mentally bracing himself, Hairn turned to face the roster of available pilots. As he scanned the all-too-brief list, he could not help but see the names not represented. Unbidden, the faces of those he had lost rose up in his memory. Again, the voices of pilots killed in the struggle against the Empire rang in his ears.

Like all cells in the Rebel Alliance, theirs continued to attract a small but steady supply of new recruits. The tyranny and injustice of the Galactic Empire could be relied upon to create plenty of converts to the Rebellion’s cause. But so few had any real experience as pilots, let alone combat experience in craft like the X-wing. So few…

“Sir…” The XO’s voice broke through his melancholy. “There are the new recruits from the Illiani sector.”

“Those three?” The commanding officer’s was thick with barely concealed contempt. “I wouldn’t trust them to mop the hangar floor, let alone fly an operation like this.”

“They did manage to acquit themselves fairly well on their inbound flight into the sector.”

“That was a minor skirmish against untrained Academy rookies. My grandmother could have scared off that patrol.”

“You forget Sir, I’ve met your grandmother.”

“Okay, bad example.” Commander Hairn could not help but smile. Lieutenant Boudreaux had been his executive officer even before they had both joined the Rebellion and he knew his commanding officer well. The Lieutenant did seem unrealistically optimistic about their most recent recruits however.

“Two of them are children. I'm not eager to send half-trained pilots out on such a vital mission.

“If they were in the Academy, they would be halfway to graduation.” The XO reminded his commanding officer.

“The Academy? These three would never have been considered for admission, much less graduation.”

Undeterred, the Lieutenant continued, “They also managed to single-handedly disable Moff Lankin’s shuttle.”

“And nearly destroyed themselves in the process. Did you see the state of their ships when they limped home? Besides, the got in a few lucky shots when the idiot shuttle pilot managed to land on an asteroid.”

“A wise man once said, Never under-estimate the value of luck.”

“Don’t you try to use my own words against me Lieutenant.” Disgustedly, Commander Hairn pointed to the very bottom of the pilot roster. “Look at these callsigns!” He practically shouted and the handful of systems and control officers began to shoot weary looks in their direction. Keeping his voice at a more dignified level, Commander Hairn continued, “Gambler I can live with, although it doesn’t speak well of the pilot’s moral fiber. But who in their right mind chooses Dingleberry as a callsign? It sounds like something an eight-year-old would come up with. This is why Academy pilots never choose their own callsign.”

“You and I both know the reasons we left the Academy and the Empire behind. I’m sure these pilots have equally valid reasons for choosing to fight for the Rebellion.”

“Perhaps.” Hairn reluctantly shook free from the memories of his wife and daughters and returned to the present. “But calling yourself Goldie just because your Y-wing is yellow? Shows the imagination of a ten-year-old.”

“Maybe.” The XO replied. “But they can fly, and we are low on options.”

“That we are Lieutenant, that we are…”

***

“Have they reached the minefield?” Commander Hairn pitched his voice to carry over the increased noise and bustle of the command center. As always, the impending combat filled the air with both an audible buzz and an unmistakeable electricity.

“Just dropping out of hyperspace now.” The comms officer was young but she had already proven herself to be efficient and resourceful.

“Opposition?”

“Scanners indicate two Fighters and two Bombers. Bombers seem to be laying a minefield… Fighters turning to engage.”

Grimly, the Commander turned to his XO and said “Now we find out if your faith in these rookies was justified.”

The Lieutenant simply nodded and returned his attention to the tactical map that occupied the middle of the command center. Commander Hairn did the same and quickly counted a total of nine proximity mine formations scattered across the combat area. He knew that any one cloud of proximity mines could cripple a Rebel pilot foolish enough to fly too close.

“They appear to be splitting up Sir.”

Cursing silently to himself, the Commander watched as the two X-wings made a bee-line for the Tie Fighters while the Y-wing lined up a shot against the nearest mine cluster. Not for the first time, Hairn found himself cursing the constraints of interstellar combat that made effective communication impossible. The delay involved in sending and receiving information left the fighter pilots virtually on their own and relegated their Commanders to the role of impotent observers.

“I’ll take the leader.” The flight leader, Gambler’s voice crackled through the speakers in the command center, fighting through the cold distances of interstellar space.

“Positive lock, torpedoes away!”

“Lock on Alpha two, firing torpedoes.” Red two’s voice came in a split second behind his wingman’s.

The explosion of the two proton torpedoes was almost simultaneous. Commander Hairn watched as one Tie Fighter’s signature flickered and disappeared from the tactical holo. The second Tie fighter limped through the explosion and reflexively fired off a few ineffectual laser blasts.

“Well, that’s a good start.” Lieutenant Boudreaux smiled widely.

“Rookies.” Replied the CO. “They just spent their ordnance on a secondary target. Those bombers aren’t going to go down so easily. And they had better pray that the Empire doesn’t have reinforcements on the way. Tell the flight engineers to make sure those expanded munition retrofits are ready by this time tomorrow.”

“Yes sir.”

Hairn and his XO turned their attention back to the holo display in front of them and the combat taking place light years away. Goldie in his Y-wing continued to whittle away at the proximity mines while the two X-wings turned in to engage the two Tie Bombers. One bomber began to blink yellow on the tactical readout as its hull withered away under the concentrated fire from both Gambler and DB. (Hairn refused to even think his juvenile callsign.)

“Those bombers are still laying mines!” Gambler’s panicked shout was followed immediately by the muted sounds of explosions dissipated by his crafts shielding and then the pained metallic shriek of shrapnel hitting exposed hull.

“Gambler! You still with us?”

“Ran through a mine emplacement. I’ve lost my R2 unit but I can still fight. Let’s finish this.”

“New signal coming in, watch your six!”

The remnants of the Lieutenant’s smile faded as another Tie Bomber entered the combat area. Something about the way the bomber moved gave the distinct impression that a veteran pilot lay behind the controls. Confidently, the Imperial craft took up a position directly behind the two X-wings.

“I don’t think this guy is here to lay mines, he’s going for a lock.” Gambler, flying a craft already crippled by mines sounded on the edge of panic.

“Evasive-” DB was shifting his craft trying to bring his guns to bear on the new target.

“Like Hell, there’s no room to maneuver in here. Lock acquired. Been nice knowing you guys...”

Hairn watched as the target lock indicator went from blinking to a solid red on Gambler’s wounded X-wing. Suddenly he noticed the exact signature of the target lock signal.

“Assault missiles…” He didn’t realize that he had spoken out loud until he saw his XO glance over, his face a mask of concern. Enclosed in the minefield as they were, the Rebel pilots stood almost no chance of avoiding the Bomber pilot’s missile.

“Mind if I join the fun?”

Goldie’s voice broke through the static just as his proton torpedo arced through space towards the bomber. A small cheer broke out across the command center. Prematurely, as the CO knew all too well. Even a well aimed proton torpedo isn’t enough to drop a Tie Bomber. All eyes in the command center watched as an explosion enveloped the newly arrived Bomber. For a split second, Hairn allowed himself to hope the Bomber had been destroyed. That fantasy evaporated as the Bomber emerged from the explosion, singed but still very much in the fight.

With a deep sigh, the CO prepared himself to add another name and face to the list of pilots that he had seen die under his command. A list that was far too long already. The two X-wings attempted to turn their craft around in the tight corridor available to them but they were still facing the wrong way as the Bomber lined itself up for the kill shot. Hairn waited...

And waited some more.

“What the…”

“I’ve got a shot!” DB, finally completing a turn, lanced off a shot that blew the Tie Bomber to flaming debris.

Silently repeating the sequence of events in his mind, the Commander realized just how lucky his pilot’s had been. While the proton torpedo had failed to destroy the Tie Bomber, the explosion must have temporarily blinded the Bomber pilot and given Red Two just enough time to destroy the craft before its assault missiles decimated the Rebels.

To their credit, the young pilots took advantage of their good fortune and finished off the remaining bomber and then set about destroying the remaining mines. With a glance at the chrono displayed under the tactical readout, the CO did some quick calculations and realized the flight group might not have time to finish the task before the risk of Imperial reinforcements would force them to abandon the mission.

“Two new targets entering combat area. Just a couple eyeballs. I’ve got these jokers, you two clean up the mines.”

The confidence in DB’s voice would have inspired some confidence if Commander Hairn weren’t so convinced that it was misplaced. Seriously, what kind of pilot chooses to call themselves Dingleberry?

“Dammit. Missed that one” Gambler’s X-wing nearly grazed a mine emplacement as the quad lasers blasted away but failed to destroy the charges.

“Guys, I don’t think we are going to be able to get enough of these things before we need to bug out.”

“He’s right.” Sweat had sprung out on the XO’s face as he stared grimly as the time remaining on the chrono ticked its way towards zero. “Tell them to head home, we can’t afford to lose an entire flight group.”

It would take time for the command to reach his pilot’s but they should still be able to make hyperspace before an Interdictor Cruiser could arrive trapping them in system.

“Don’t worry fellas. I’ve got this.” Goldie’s comm channel practically sparked in the air. As his twin laser turret finished off a set of mines, his targeting computer suddenly went dark on the tactical display.

“What does he think he is-”

Before the XO could finish his sentence, the roar of a Y-wing’s engines, pushed to their operational limit, crackled through the comm channel. The XO could not help but flinch as repeated explosions, first against shields and then the craft’s unprotected hull, echoed through the command center.

“Waaaaaaahoooo! That’s what I call flying boys!”

With a brief surge of pity for the ground crew that would attempt to repair the damage, Commander Hairn watched as two more minefields disappeared from the holo.

“One Tie down. I’m going to take out the last set of mines and let’s get out of here boys.”

DB ignored the parting shots of the remaining Tie Fighter as he calmly destroyed the last set of mines. All three Rebel ships flickered with the pseudo-motion of hyperspace and disappeared, simultaneously, from the display. They left behind an area of space now cleared of deadly proximity mines and a single wounded Tie Fighter left to limp its way back to its base of operations.

Command Hairn released the breath that he had not been aware that he was holding and turned to his XO.

“Lieutenant, I have seldom been so pleased to be proven wrong. Get those ships patched up and we’ll get those pilots back out there. We’ve got an Empire to bring down.”

Reluctantly, Hairn allowed the small flame of hope he carried inside him to grow, just a bit. He had known the day that he abandoned his life as an Imperial officer that his odds of seeing the end of the Empire were vanishingly small. That small flame of hope and the memory of his lost family continued to propel him forward however.

Suddenly, Commander Hairn realized why he was so reluctant to send these particular pilots into danger. The younger two were the same age as his daughters. At least, the age his daughters would have been if the universe had proved more kind. Steeling himself once again for the long struggle ahead, Hairn turned to his XO.

“Lieutenant, get those pilots in the simulator and make sure they know what they are doing by the time their ships are repaired.”

“Yes sir.”

“And lieutenant?”

“Sir?”

“See if you can’t get them to change those callsigns…”

Loved it! Thanks for writing this up.

Thank you for this, it made my day! DB - ROFLMAO

What a great story. I can just picture how much fun the three of you were having to come up with this.

Fantastic! Thank you for taking the time to write this up.