Project Boussh: The Awful Truth
by scifantasy

"Okay, come on!" Sci shot at another stormtrooper who was nearing, and
saw out of the corner of his eye Myn firing as well. Most of
the pilots had gone for their ships, but a few had stayed to help
clean out any trace of the group's presence from the area. Luckily,
they had clean habits, so it wasn't as hard as they expected. Soon
Dia's voice came over Sci's comlink.
"All clear." Sci fired again, hitting another trooper dead-on. He
tapped his comlink. "All right, that's it! We're ready to evac if
necessary. My shuttle is on the ground now, so I'm taking to the sky
in case I'm needed up there."
He returned to firing, and ran towards where the shuttle he'd borrowed
from Coruscant was landed. Across the way he saw a walker blow up. *I
don't care what they say, Ewoks can beat stormtroopers any day of the
week.* Behind him, he heard the whine of repulsorlifts as the _Red
Home_ prepared to move, and the remaining starfighters blasted clear.
A few, Sci knew, were still aboard _Red Home_, since the pilots were
considered more useful on the ground, namely Myn.
Sci reached his shuttle and tapped his code into the door. It opened
quickly and he ran inside. Strapping himself in, Sci closed the doors
and made for the sky. He was there very quickly--this shuttle had been
modified to be better in a fight than the average Lambda shuttle.
Sci brought up his sensors for maximum range. Sure enough, just like
Piggy had predicted, there were twelve Defenders on attack
vectors...ETA was two minutes. Sci turned his shuttle back down,
bringing up the primary weapon system. Maybe AT-AT armor was too
strong for vehicle-scale blasters, but this ship's lasers should be
able to waste one or two of the chicken walkers.
Sci veered earthward, then straightened out. His shuttle was about to
get a lock when the walker blew up. Sci was barely able to pull away
from the explosion. When he looked back he saw the walker was now
nothing more than legs. Sci laughed. "Five, Six, congratulations on
your Ewoks."
A chorus of "Thanks" met him, and Sci pulled back up. The Defenders
were almost in firing range, but where were the X-Wings? One group,
the Rogues, was off to the distance, but his shuttle was alone. The
Wraiths weren't present. As six of the Imperials angled towards him, a
transmission came over his comlink.
"Wraith Eight to Terra Lead, A-wing slash modified." Sci smiled
tightly. He and Piggy had discussed this possibility. Sci turned his
shuttle until he was head-to-head with the Defenders, shunted almost
all power to his engines, and throttled forwards.
His shuttle had no lasers or shields, but it would give him what he
needed. His sensors indicated impending laser locks, and he hovered
his hand over a few of the controls,  hoping this would work. Suddenly
his sensors beeped, indicating optimal firing solutions, and Sci hit
the controls.
The shuttle's engine power was put fully into the shields, dropping
his speed to near zero. The Defenders, which were coming at him with
full speed, didn't have time to react until they were past him. One
glanced off his shields, but survived. Behind him, the Defenders met
Sci's surprise--his engine trails had been covering for a group of
X-Wings, which had been in a single-file pattern, each one covering
for the one behind it. The X-Wings now opened fire on the Defenders.
Two exploded, and the other three were damaged moderately before they
could pull away.
"Good shooting, Wraiths."
"Anytime, Terra Lead." That was Piggy, who was leading the Wraiths at
the moment.
A new voice came over the comlink. "Rogues, Wraiths, this is Baron
Soontir Fel. Surrender now and you will not be destroyed."
*What?* Sci switched to a private frequency with the _Red Home_,
which Kolot was piloting with Kirney. "Guys, isn't Fel with you?"
Kirney answered. "Kolot says he came onboard. I don't--Sith!"
"What?"
"An X-Wing just blasted out of the main bay. I think Fel's in
it."
"Clones." Sci shuddered as the awful truth hit him. "No wonder
Thrawn's here, along with a couple of Fel's. They're clones."
"Looks that way, Lead."
Wedge's voice cut in. "I think we can assume that neither clone is the
original then."
"Right. And what about our Fel?" "He's joining the fight--but I don't
know which side."
Fel's voice cut in. "A clone...I'm a clone. Well, time to make my life
worth something."
"What in hell is he trying?" Sci was suddenly very concerned.