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Tonight We Strike

Captain Vortagh's orders became more frantic all the time. The Rebel craft were escaping from Ord Mantell, and he was getting more and more upset. His pilots were not performing up to their best that day, and Rebels were moving out left and right, and Vortagh felt powerless to stop them. He would most definitely be having a "chat" with his squad leaders shortly...

The last Rebel craft was away... Vortagh ordered the pilots back to the Warhammer right away. He walked out of the bridge in a hurry, a dark scowl on his face.

As he traversed through the hallway his comm beeped. "WHAT?!?" he growled.

"Sir, I've got somebody from the planet on the line. He's told me that he's back traced the enemy to a system near Dantooine."

"Put him through..." Vortagh sighed. The conversation was short but simple: The enemy had come from a star system right next to the Rebel-held world of Dantooine.

Vortagh mused the report. Usually the Empire and Rebels would hide their incoming vector by modifying their jump to make it look as though they came from ridiculously far away. Had the Rebels really been so careless as to come straight in? Or had they been in a hurry?

Well, no matter if it was a false lead or a trap, Vortagh wanted to pursue the idea. So many of the Rebels had gotten away... perhaps they were headed back there. And if it was a trap, it would be an excellent opportunity to turn the tables on the Rebels and make them think twice about getting involved with the Warhammer.

The idea was sounding better all the time as he reached the hangar deck. The pilots were busy on their fighters, trying to do anything that would keep Vortagh from lining them all up and letting them know just how happy he was with all of them.

Vortagh ordered them all to line up. The junior officers were avoiding eye contact with the imposing captain, but the more senior knew better than to avoid it.

"You will not avoid eye contact with me!" Vortagh barked, and the junior officers complied. "Normally I would be even more upset. But you have a chance to prove to me that your half-hearted effort was abnormal. The Rebels forgot to cover their jump's start point, so we are going for a reprisal. If it's a trap, you had best be on your game if we want any hope of surviving."

"When are we going, sir?"

"Tonight we strike!"

Jagged Fel surveyed the territory with his macrobinoculars. In the distance he could make out cliffs and very little indigenous life. Such was normal for Geonosis.

The latest scout reports showed that some pirates had broken away from the main group, evidently frustrated with the pirate "leadership". No doubt they would be in the field already, making a lot of trouble for both the Empire and the remaining pirates.

If Jansen's assessments of the pirates were correct, there wouldn't be many left after this. Perhaps only those in space, which the Navy would clean up before long. Then the Imperial Army would be free to liberate planets from the Rebels...

Jagged descended from the rock and picked up some of his heavier equipment. No time to waste...

Wedge's door chimed and Lieutenant Commander Stark entered. Wedge was off duty and Stark was supposed to be manning the bridge. What he was doing here, however, certainly meant that Wedge was going to need to handle it personally.

"Yes, commander?"

"Some interesting news, sir. We've received a distress call... from the pirates."

"Interesting indeed," Wedge mused. "Go on."

"They were dropping off some supplies with explosives hidden inside as a trick against the Rebels. The Rebels found out and they're attacking the convoy."

"How far away are they?"

"Not far, sir. Just a couple of systems over. We can be there in a few minutes if we leave right away."

"Let's do that. Only when we arrive, we're not going to just help the pirates: We're going to take them out, too," Wedge decided.

"It's cunning, it's clever, it's devilish. I like it." Stark smiled.

"Ready, Commander?" Wedge got up from his chair and started getting his things together. "Let's get moving. I'll see you on the bridge in five minutes."

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