Operation Darkness: One Hundred Things At Once
by Majick

The Batwing came to a gentle halt on the floor of the hangar. Immediately,
Brad was out of the ship, and striding towards the small group of leaders.
I heaved a sigh of relief and frustration at being alive, but I knew that
many were not. Loosing my seat restraints, I clambered wearily from the
craft, and walked over to where Thayer and Becki, King and Queen of
Mendellia, were standing, together with Sharon Kerr.

As I approached, Sylvana Lorrdain saluted the royal couple, before
crumpling into Josh Cochran's arms. A dour looking man slipped from the
shadows of the cave, and snatched her from the weary looking Josh, before
heading off infirmary-wards.

I joined the group as the man passed through the doorway, and sketched a
salute for the King and Queen.

"Your majesties," I said. "What do we know?"

"Too little," Thayer said, his face indescribably weary. "The first we
knew of anything was when the alarms were sounded. What news do you
bring?"

"Luna base is dead, and all who were on it," Brad said. "Sci is dead, as
well," he added soberly. "I think."

"Arrek, too," Josh said, quietly. "And Alison," he added. We looked at the
floor, partly out of respect for our fallen comrades, partly because
anything was better than looking at Josh at that particular moment. 

Becki shook, silently. Thayer slipped an arm around her shoulders, but
stood firm.

"How did it happen?" he asked.

"First off, I should say that I'm not sure Sci is dead," Brad began. "I
can hear him. It's like he's trapped in the Force or something."

Thayer looked at him skeptically. I shook my head.

"He's right, Thayer," I said. "I can hear... something as well. I don't
know what it is, but I believe Brad if he says it's Sci. And if we have
Sci, then we have the advantage on the Vong."

"Who's in command?" Brad asked. We all looked around. Thayer looked out of
sorts, and shook his head.

"This is one battle in which I cannot lead," he said. "With the Yuuzhan
Vong attacking, the world must be warned. My time must be spent making
contact with the world leaders. If we fall here, they must know what they
are up against."

"They won't have a chance," Brad said. It wasn't defeatist, it was the
truth. The Vong had torn their way through the GFFA. Our planet wouldn't
be much more than a morsel.

"They must be given the chance," Thayer said.

"Then it's up to us," I said, looking at Josh and Brad. "Becki, you'll
have to help Thayer. The three of us, and Sci, will co-ordinate the first
wave of defence. We're the only nation that can put ships into orbit."

"Agreed. The squadrons have already been alerted."

"How serious is this?" Becki asked.

"We can't be sure," Brad said, a distant look on his face. "We were able
to take out the ship that destroyed Luna, but that was likely just a
scout." He sighed. "We can expect reinforcements, many reinforcements, to
arrive within the next thirty-six hours."

"What must we do?" Sharon asked. Her face was pale as a sheet, her voice
unsteady. Becki reached out and took her hand in hers.

"We'll have to reconfigure the TIEs and the X-wings," Brad began. "Sci
knows a way of setting up the weapons so they're more effective against
the Vong defences."

"The Gaia is gone," Josh said, his voice strained. "We had to destroy it
to get away."

"The Red Home is here," I said. "That can be set up, too."

"Then we would appear to have our tasks," Thayer said, straightening up.
Confidence fit for a king burned within him for the first time since we
had landed.

"Agreed," I said. I looked at Josh., beside himself with grief. "Are you
okay to carry on?" I asked, knowing it was an inane question.

He looked up at me, and swallowed. His eyes were red, but he nodded.

"Whatever I have to do to get to them," he said, his voice gaining
strength, "I'll do."

"Then can you work on preparing the ground defences here?" Brad asked.
Josh nodded, and stood up straight. Years of Air Force training slammed
the doors to his emotions shut, and steel was injected into his spine.

I looked at Brad. "You'll have to brief the squadrons on what they're
about to face," I began. "You're the one who know the secrets of the Vong,
better than anyone."

He nodded, and looked at Sharon. "Have you been keeping up on the Vong
material?" he asked her. She nodded, and stepped up beside him.

"I can help you," she said, her voice less shaky.

He nodded, and looked at me.

"I'll help get the ships configured," I said. "I'll need to look at what
you've done to the Batwing, though."

Brad looked momentarily pained, before nodding, briefly.

***

The next several hours were tense. At my suggestion, Thayer's first call
went to President Bush, a man who'd had experience of alien encounters
even before being officially sworn into office.

The call hadn't gone well, unsurprisingly. Bush's previous experience of
Mendellian dictators had soured him on Thayer's clan, and nothing could
convince him to take Thayer's claim seriously. Eventually, he cut him
dead. Calls to other world leaders were met with a similar lack of
success.

The news came through as I was helping rewire the laser cannons on Grace
Squadron's TIEs. Noreh S'yrtsirk was helping me with the wiring and that,
at least, was going according to plan.

"They would not listen," Thayer said. Over the comlink, I heard Brad
curse.

"Not any of them?" he said.

"None," Thayer confirmed. "But Becki had an idea that could be of
interest. When the battle begins, we record footage of the ships lifting
off, and add a commentary, and we send it to the world leaders."

"Desperate times..." Brad commented. "Anything is worth a try, I guess.
Let us know how things are going."

"That I will, my friends," Thayer signed off.

"Things aren't going well," Noreh said, as I pocketed the commlink.

"Not as well as I'd like," I said. "We'll be fine, but this is going to be
tight," I said, with what I hoped was a confident grin.

"You're a terrible liar," she said, banging the hatch shut on her side of
the ship. Smiling, she leant towards me and kissed me, before rolling out
from under the TIE, and moving onto another one. My heart caught in my
throat as I watched her walk away, and I called out to her.

"I..." I couldn't say it. Not here, not now.

Turning, she smiled and waved her hand at me. The gold ring on her finger
flashed in the light, and she smiled. Then she was gone, hidden behind
another TIE.

My head dropped, briefly, as I thought of her fighting the Vong in what
amounted to a powered tin can. We'd been talking about installing shields
on the TIEs for months, but had been putting it off for so long. Silently,
I cursed the sense of laziness that had pervaded the Group since Becki and
Thayer's wedding. It was as though that had brought an end to our
adventures, and there was no need for constant vigilance and readiness.

I returned to the rewiring job, trying not to think of hunks of coral the
size of cities spitting fire at us.