Project Boussh: Obligatory Dogfight
by Vickie Boyd



Tycho flipped on his comm. "All wings report in."

"Wraith 4 ready to go."
"Gonad 1, all is a go."
"Rogue 4, I'm here."
"Wraith 11 is here as well."
"Ace 1 reporting."
"Rogue 6 ready to fight."
"Rogue 12, all is green."
"Wraith 8 reporting."
"Wraith 10 is here oh captain, my captain."

He groaned at the last report. Face had warned him long ago that Elassar
was quite a handful. "Remember we will have friendly eyeballs in the air
soon." He looked out at the approaching island and wondered what lay
ahead.

"Rogue 2, this is Grace 7. We're approaching from the south. I have 5, I
repeat 5, friendly TIEs and 3 Xs flanking me."

Tycho easily recognized Mirax's voice. "Roger Grace 7. You heard her, 5
friendlies. Paint 'em up and move 'em out." He locked his s-foils into
attack position and headed for the fray.


Kirney saw the oncoming assault. There had to be three or four full
flights of TIEs approaching. She sighed and opened her private comm.
"Kolot, on my wing. We'll head for the group nearest the large
settlement."

Kolot double clicked a reply and settled on her port side. Kirney
squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and thought of Myn. She hoped he was
ok. There had been no report of where he was when they left New
Hampshire. She guided the X-Wing towards a group of ties and set out to
slaughter the enemy.


To Bror, this was all in a days work. Not long ago he had lead a
revolution on his own homeworld. He flew into a group of TIEs and tried
to draw them away from land. "Pull them out over the water," he said
over the comm. "Less chance of ground injuries that way."

Pash followed Bror's lead and slipped his A-Wing in amongst the TIEs. He
sprayed green fire to gain their attention, then did a quick turn back
towards the ocean. Seeing the beach below him made him think of Vickie.
She had commented to him at one time at how much she loved going to the
beach. Hopefully this fight would be over quick so they could go find
her and Wedge.


Gavin and Inyri flew in tandem. It was as if they had been flying
together forever. They both covered each other well. When Gavin suddenly
had a TIE quick on his tail, Inyri quickly took it out with a head-on
shot. Doing so left her open.

Gavin tried to warn Inyri, but saw a small Terran craft flying up
towards the TIE. Suddenly, a missile of some kind shot from the tiny
ship. It connected with the TIE, shattering it to
pieces.

A stranger's voice reported in, "Terra Thirteen to Rogue Twelve. Your
tail is clear."

Inyri was confused, but grateful. "Thanks, uh, Thirteen." She switched
to private comm. "Who is Thirteen," she asked Gavin.

"I have no idea," he responded. Noticing another group of TIEs, he
turned his attention to them. "Come on, let's get this over with."


Mirax saw the small Terran craft fly through the fray. She recognized it
as being like ones she had to sneak past when she landed to meet Morwen
and Kristy. She listened to the pilot talk to Tycho. Who is this guy,
she thought. He seemed to be rather brave, though.

Iris fired the *Skate*'s guns at the oncoming fighters. "Take that, you
bastard," she mumbled as she took down another one.

Mirax looked at her curiously, then smiled. "Fun, isn't it?"

Iris grinned. "If Thayer comes out a winner, then everything will not
have been for naught."

She nodded and turned her attention back to piloting.



Thayer Atner turned his ship and flew into the oncoming swarm. A battle
cry escaped his lips. He pressed the trigger for the lasers and sprayed
his enemy with burning fire. He quickly blasted three fighters to pieces
and turned to face a dozen more.

Another two dropped and he homed in on the third. "I've got one on my
tail tight," came Wraith 7, Tyria. "I can't shake him!" Her voice was
strained.

Thayer looked at the red crosshairs. He had a lock. Tyria's voice came
to his ears again. "Damn, shields almost gone!"

He cursed his morals and turned towards Tyria. "Grace 9 to Wraith 7, I'm
on him." He dove straight at the Wraith pilot. "Switch all your shields
to the rear, 7. I will protect you."

Tyria saw Thayer's TIE-fighter diving towards her. She flicked the
switch to push all shields to the rear. They continued to light and drop
in strength as she did so. "I sure hope you can," she whispered to
herself.

Thayer pulled to starboard as he passed Tyria and her pursuer. A quick
180 turn put him right on the tail of the TIE. He jinked and turned,
trying to keep the ship in his crosshairs. He fired and peppered the
ship with laser blasts. Another salvo and it finally exploded.

"Thanks 9," Tyria said with relief.

Thayer pulled alongside her ship. "Out of the fight until your shields
return," he told her.

She nodded and turned the X-Wing towards the south.

Thayer sighed and headed back into the fight.


Grace 11 and 12 talked to each other on a private comm. "These can't be
Imps," Winter commented. "They are going down too quick."

"I agree," Iella replied as she took down yet another TIE. "There is no
semblance of order."

"Watch your tail." Winter dove and came back up behind Iella and quickly
disposed of the annoyance and the two women dove back into action.


Tycho caught site of two TIEs flying in perfect tandem. His console lit
them as friendlies. According to the list Ugh had gotten from Mirax,
they were none other than his and Wedge's wives. He watched them fly
like pros and almost laughed when he saw Winter take the TIE off Iella's
tail then line on her wing yet again.



Hobbie Klivian had flown against eyeballs for so long they all looked
alike to him. Sighing, he relied on his radar to tell him who to shoot.
He was about to trigger his lasers when his ship shook. "What the?" He
looked out his canopy to see anti-aircraft weapons on the battlements of
the castle. "Uh, Two? There's a problem. I'm taking ground fire."

Tyco looked back towards the island as he turned towards another
opponent. Sure enough, Hobbie's ship was being battered by fire from the
ground. "Get away from the island, Four."

Hobbie jinked left and right. It was impossible. They had emplacements
on every corner! "I'm trying, Two. There's too many of them." His
shields suddenly dropped to zero. "Oh sithspit." One more hit and his
port engine was toast. He sighed, resigned to his never-ending fate and
punched out.

Tycho saw Hobbie's seat eject from the cockpit of his X-Wing. The
parachute opened and he turned his attention to the ship. Out beyond
where Hobbie had ejected, he saw another parachute. Terra Thirteen's
ship was damaged as well and falling towards the ocean.


Thayer saw Rogue Four getting shot. He turned his ship towards his home.
"I need any help, preferably fast help, to remove the anti-aircraft
weapons on the battlements of the castle."

Piggy quickly keyed his comm. "Wraith 8 and 10 are on our way."

"Wraith 5 and 6 are right behind you." Kell turned with Runt tight on
his wing towards the castle.

Thayer sighed with relief as he noticed Tede was already beginning to
take out the emplacements. He turned his TIE to join in the fray.


By a miracle of fate or bad luck, the X-Wing and the F-16 hit
simultaneously. The resulting fireball was spectacular. Both exploded,
setting the oil on the water afire. The flames spread like wildfires,
heading right for each other.

Mirax flew over the flames, looking for both pilots. She failed to
notice the fires were about to converge. The explosion caused an updraft
that caught the *Skate* and tossed it like a rag doll. A stream of
Corellian curses escaped her lips as she tried to level the ship off.

Iris looked as white as a sheet by the time the ship stopped shaking.
"Sorry about that," Mirax apologized. "Looks as though the inertial
dampeners took some damage. We better set down." She guided the *Skate*
towards the island. "Grace 7 to Rogue 2. Hit some major turbulence and
took some damage. We have to land."

"Copy, Grace 7. There is a clear shot to medical in the castle, if
anyone of your crew needs it after that nasty hit."

"Roger, Seven out." Mirax keyed off the comm and set her jaw to land the
ship.


"Hey 8," said Elassar to his wingmate. "What do you call a ship without
shields that tries to take out an anti-aircraft battlement?"

Piggy rolled his eyes. How did he ever get stuck with this Devorian? "It
will be a dead ship if we do not help."

"You've heard that one before, huh?" He turned his ship towards where
Tede's TIE was dodging ground fire. "Here I come to save the day.
Elassar is on his way!"


Kell headed for one of the outer battlements. His shields were peppered
by laserblasts from the cannons. He focused in on one, and waited for
his crosshairs to turn red. His droid beeped a lock and he released a
torpedo. It shot out from his ship and struck the laser cannon dead
center. It exploded brilliantly and Kell grinned as he turned towards
another target.

Thayer took out yet another laser cannon with Reth's help when he
overheard Mirax's conversation with Rogue 2. He saw the ship moving
towards the island to land. He switched to a private comm. "Reth, follow
me. I am going to lead the *Skate* to the ground and help them get Rekla
to medical."

"Yes sir. I'll provide cover for you." Reth flew a lazy pattern behind
Thayer's ship.

"Grace 9 to Grace 7, do you copy."

"Right here, Nine," Mirax answered. "We've taken damage and are
landing."

"Follow me. I will help you land safely." Thayer flew to take lead on
the *Skate*. He led the ship towards the large garden. He winced when he
realized the ships would kill all the beautiful flowers. The safety of
those in the ships was more important.

The two ships landed side-by-side. Thayer jumped from the ball cockpit
as Mirax and Iris came down the *Skate's* gangplank with Rekla on a
hover-stretcher between them. They began to move towards the main tower,
blasters at the ready.

"Hey, a little help," came a voice nearby.

The three looked up in a tree to see Hobbie hanging by his parachute.
His leg hung at an odd angle. "Hobbie, you klutz, you can't even
parachute right." Mirax walked over and fired at the tangled lines.

Hobbie fell limply to the ground. "Ow. I would kiss the ground, but my
leg hurts too much."

She chuckled as she helped him up. "We don't have any crutches with us,
but you can lean on me."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "Oh, the way looks clear. I've watched
a few Ewoks running around."

Thayer nodded as he turned towards the tower. "I will lead the way."