Project Boussh: Storms Arising in Litchfield
by Emily Janson

It had been a couple of weeks, at least, since the arrival of Wes
Janson and Derek "Hobbie" Klivian. Emily having to go to school and an
unreliable internet connection made keeping up with the other AFW
teams nearly impossible, but somehow they all managed.

They went to Quiara's Campaign HQ website, which offered little or no
help about anything. The rumors about a ImpStar in orbit around Terra
made Emily, Wes, and Hobbie suspicious about Quiara's
safety...wherever she was. Hobbie suggested searching the Internet
some more which ended up with them stumbling across "Yub yub,
Commander" and "Jedi Starchild's Spaceport". Afterwards, Emily vowed
to change the password or at least keep her bookmarks in a safe place.
Especially after Wes asked what the WEB was and who Yamato Ishida is.

"We can track down and nearly destroy Zsinj through an entire galaxy
but have problems finding one girl on one planet," Hobbie commented,
being the pessimist as usual.

"Hey, it's not my fault," Emily replied. "Everyone else gets to go out
and acheive things while I keep us from getting anywhere because of
school." She scowled. "Okay, so maybe it's a tiny bit my fault."

A high-pitched noise that sounded like something between a whine and a
squeal was heard in the distance.

"I hope that isn't Wes attempting to play my guitar again," Emily
said. The last time it had sounded so horrible that even the dog was
whining from the noise the note with the added distortion and feedback
produced.

"Be careful what you wish for," Hobbie replied, looking out the window
and into Emily's backyard. Stormtroopers were shooting at the house
and were ducking and weaving behind various trees, the pool, the shed,
and the swingset.

Wes came barging in the computer room, tossing Emily a blaster as
Hobbie tore his out of it's holster. "You know how to use one of
these?"

Emily took a look at it. "Only in my dreams. My aim's pretty good, so
it won't take me too long to figure it out."

"Good enough."

They ran out in the backyard, greeted by a brisk wind. Emily wished
she had grabbed a coat and a pair of gloves. Wes and Hobbie knocked
over the picnic table for cover.

"There's only six of them, but reinforcements can come in anytime!"
Hobbie exclaimed, firing off a couple of shots.

Wes joined in on the fire, hitting more precisely and conservatively
than Hobbie. Emily looked at the blaster briefly and tried to get the
feel of the weapon. She aimed and fired to get a sense. It took five
shots before one was successful, hitting a stormtrooper in the knee
and causing him to fall to the ground.

The Rogues had already finished killing the five other members of the
attacking stormie team, and the last wasn't going anywhere fast. Emily
looked around at the dead troopers in her yard. "This is going to be
harder to explain to my parents than you guys were."

Wes set his blaster on stun and shot at the remaining stormtrooper. He
gave her a cocky grin. "It shouldn't be that hard to explain. The
Sithspawn had it coming to them."

Hobbie pointed at the stunned stormie. "We can keep him alive for
interrogation. Whoever he is or wherever he came from, he probably has
some idea about where Quiara is. This stormtrooper is the first real
clue since we got here and he's not going to get away."

Emily nodded. _The movies, books, and comics are never going to seem
as exciting when this is all over. All I need to do now is meet Wedge
and Tycho, fly an X-wing, ooh, and get a lightsaber. Maybe Wes will
even let me keep this blaster. Just think, when I started reading the
X-wing series, I never would have imagined meeting members of Rogue
Squadron, especially Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian. It's almost like a
dream come true!_ "So what are we going to do with him?"

Wes shrugged. "We can tie him up in the basement. That way Hobbie and
I can take a look at him."

Emily was glad that her father had remodeled the basement into a den.
The two pilots got their own space and the couches down there even
unfolded to beds. "If he walks off with my skis, you'll have me to
deal with."

"Trust me," Hobbie said, "I think you're skis will be safe. If he is a
real stormtrooper, your skis will be extremely primitive compared to
what we have back in our so-called 'galaxy far, far away'."

"Probably," Emily retorted, feeling insulted. Her skis were the most
technologically advanced on Terra, and that's all that mattered. "If
he was going to take anything down there, Lt. Kettch is in grave
danger."

"Hey!" Wes said, surprise evident in his voice. "I'm supposed to be
the only one who knows that he's here!" He sighed when he saw the smug
grin on Emily's face. "I know, I know. Yub, yub."

"I'm glad you brought him, though. He could become an integral part of
our plans when things start to heat up a little more around here."
Emily shivered. "Can we hurry up and get back inside? It's freezing
out here!"