Project Boussh: Attack of the Clones
By Josh Cochran


"Ooryl, I'm telling you, there was something fishy about Vickie."

"Three, Four," Ooryl reminded him.

Josh actually took his hand off the throttle long enough to wave it 
dismissively. "Whatever."

"And Two is as much a mammal as you are."

"That's not what I... Oh forget it." Josh sighed and turned his full 
attention back to the battle at hand. He didn't have time to explain 
human metaphors just then. He couldn't explain the feeling very 
well, but since he'd first met her, Vickie had given him a headache.

In frustration, Josh held down the trigger on his control stick and 
sent a long, wasteful stream of laser bolts towards the TIE 
Interceptor he was following. The TIE jinked right and left, and 
every one of his shots missed. 
Josh sighed again and tried to settle his mind down. He'd been doing 
well so far, but now the incident with Vickie was in the back of his 
mind, ruining his concentration. He tried to push it into a dark 
corner to look at later. Right now distraction could be fatal. 

Finally his fighter slid into the perfect position on the 
Interceptor's tail, and Josh fired a much better planned burst. The 
TIE exploded into a molten fireball.

THAT'S SIX, Hyper reported.

Josh turned in his seat to glance momentarily at the blue and white 
R7. "Six? Are you sure? I thought it was five."

TWO EYEBALLS, THREE SQUINTS, AND ONE AVENGER.

"You're counting Vickie!?" 

OF COURSE. IT WAS A FAIR KILL.      

"Oh that's harsh," Josh muttered.

Josh was turning in behind another TIE when Hyper blasted out a 
shrill alarm at him. 

WARNING - NUMEROUS INBOUND FIGHTERS DEPARTING ENEMY SHIPS.

"What the..." Josh began. Then he saw the massive swarm of TIEs 
escaping two of the enemy Star Destroyers. "Oh SHIT."  


"Control, I need an ID on these new guys!" Wedge half yelled into 
the comm.

"We make four squadrons, Red Lead. Mixed Avengers and Defenders."

"That's not possible," Gavin protested. "We've already seen all the 
squadrons from those ships!"

"They must have ripped out extra decks to have space for all those 
fighters," Tycho mused.

"Doesn't matter," Wedge replied. "In thirty seconds we're going to 
be too busy to care."


"Three, there's something fishy about those TIEs," Josh said. As 
soon as he'd seen them his headache had come back full force. With 
it had come a wave of fear. The new fighters were bearing down on 
them, and the sky nearby was already full of enemy fighters.

"Unlikely, Four. There are no aquatic species currently serving in 
the Imperial military."


"Control, Red Lead. Can you get us some reinforcements?"

"Negative, Lead. All fighters are fully engaged."

Wedge scanned the sky around him. Despite almost an hour's worth of 
combat, his fighters were still outnumbered almost three to one. 
*'Fully engaged' doesn't begin to describe it,* he thought glumly.


As the enemy reinforcements drew closer, Josh's headache grew worse 
and his stomach grew less steady. Fighting eyeballs and squints was 
one thing. They were quick and nimble but unshielded. They relied on 
sheer numbers to overwhelm X-wing pilots. In a one on one fight, the 
X-wing's shields and hyperdrive gave it the advantage.  Avengers and 
Defenders, on the other hand, were shielded and faster than any New 
Republic starfighter while retaining the agility of earlier TIE 
models. With them in the fight the Imperial forces would not only 
have a vast numerical advantage, they would also have better ships. 
The tide of the battle might have just turned, in a decidedly bad 
way.

And there was still something *not right* here...

"Ooryl, there's definitely something very fishy about them..." Josh 
said, almost plaintively.

"You keep saying that, but Ooryl does not think it means what you 
think it means."

Then it all snapped into place. "Lead, this is Four. The pilots of 
those new TIEs are clones!"


Wedge frowned. "Are you sure, Four? How do you know?"

But then it was too late. The swarm of new TIEs fell upon the allied 
starfighters at full speed with every laser blasting, and there was 
no more time to talk.