Project Boussh: The Cavalry
by scifantasy

"Fel, are you there? Soontir Fel! Answer me! What in blazes are you
doing?" Sci dove left to avoid a laser shot and shed more altitude for
cover. He had his hands full already, and suddenly this clone of Fel
was entering into the mix. He was about to hit his comm control again
when it squawked to life.
"You called me Soontir Fel...But I'm not." The silence was present
even through the static. Sci dropped to treetop level. "I'm just a
clone of Fel. And I'm not even the only one." Sci's hands raced over
the controls of his shuttle. Within moments he had pinpointed the comm
transmissions and identified which X-Wing Fel was flying.
Sci turned his attention back to piloting, and quickly regained
altitude. Fel was flying away from the battle, but very slowly, as if
he was trying to make a tough decision while keeping himself alive.
"So? Just because you're a clone doesn't mean you're not a person in
your own right!"
"Don't make me laugh. You're disgusted by me. I'm disgusted by me.
Clones are the most horrible creation of the past hundred years."
Fel's X-Wing began to turn around and fly towards the battle. Sci
turned to follow. "Why are you following me? Isn't there a battle
being fought now?"
"Fel, the pilots fighting this battle are some of the best in the
galaxy. You really think I would make one bit of difference, all
told?" Silence. No surprise. Fel now turned back away from the
dogfight. "Fel, you said that it was time to make your life worth
something. What did you mean?"
"I don't know. Maybe I was just shooting off at the mouth. Maybe..."
He trailed off. "They'll lose, you know."
"Who? Our pilots?"
"Your pilots. I don't have anything to do with them."
"Fine." Sci was beginning to feel that Fel was having a major crisis
of self. "Why will they lose?"
"I'm flying against them."
"You mean the other clone of you?"
"Only Wedge can touch me, and I don't know if he can. Can he kill his
brother-in-law, even a clone of him?"
"He doesn't want to, Fel, but you know better than I whether or not he
will."
"I know. He won't be able to. But I can." Fel's X-Wing turned back
towards the battle and he throttled forwards at full. Sci kept on
Fel's wing as best he could.
"What?"
"I can shoot myself down. I can make my life worth something."
"You're going to help us stop them?"
"In death, I will find what I never did in life." Sci shivered. *In
death...* "You're going to go kamikaze on him?"
"He is me. He can't shoot me down any more than I can shoot him. But
if I take him down with me..." Suddenly Sci saw where he was
heading--full throttle towards the center of the Defender formation,
on a crash course for the lead TIE. His comm registered a clear-air
broadcast from Fel's X-Wing. "Baron Soontir Fel, this is Baron Soontir
Fel. I would be honored to join you."
The lead Defender's cannons had been lining up for a shot at the
X-Wing, but now they did not fire, and slowly rotated 180 degrees. The
other Defenders, which had also been preparing to vape the X-Wing and
shuttle if necessary, turned their attention back to the Rogues'
X-Wings. The same voice crackled over the comm. "Welcome, Baron. I,
too, would be honored have you join us."
"Oh no, not all of you, Fel."
Suspicion creeped into the enemy Fel's voice. "What do you mean, not
all of us?"
"Just you." The X-wing was now within a hundred meters of the
Defender, and from its lasers spat forth a quad-linked blast that
impacted off the TIE's shields. Then came a second, and a third. Sci's
shuttle registered a loss of rear shields on the Defender, and he
noticed the X-Wing did the same to its front shields. Then the
distance between the two snubfighters became zero.
Sci was barely able to pull up away from the fiery explosion. When he
was clear, he activated his comm. "Rogue Lead, Terra Lead. Scratch two
clone Baron Fel's. I'm sorry it wasn't him."
"So am I," came Wedge's voice, tinged with a touch of regret. "But he
may have given us a fighting chance at this battle, so it's time to
use it."
"I copy. I'm going back to join the Wraiths--they have fewer pilots
flying. Care to detail a few to join us?"
"Check your sensors, mark oh-oh-three." Sci did so, and smiled at what
he saw.
A pair of X-Wings were flying into the battle. He activated his comm.
"Rogue Six, Rogue Twelve, good to see you. Where's Terra Eight?"
"I'm here, Lead," came Sharon's voice. "Sorry for the delay--I have
quite a story to tell you."
"Another time, Eight. Six, Twelve, let's go." Gavin and Inyri formed
up on Sci's wing, and the three raced off to where the Wraiths were
bravely holding their ground. Sci felt like cheering. The lead
Defender was gone, the Empire's best pilot was gone as well, and the
numbers were looking more and more favorable for the New Republic and
its allies.
"Wraiths, Lead. The cavalry has arrived."