//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Storm // Story: The Imperial Ace // by Navanastra //------------------------------// The Imperial Ace Story by: Navanastra Edited by: WrittenWord333 /Chapter 1: The Storm/ “RIGGS ARE YOU THERE? I GOT THIS TIE ON MY TAIL AND I CAN’T SHAKE THIS BASTARD OFF!!!” “Don’t worry Hedge, I got this guy.” “DARN IT RIGGS MY SHIELDS ARE DOWN, I CAN’T KEEP THIS UP ANY LONGER!” “Almost in range…” “RIGGS!!!” “…Annnnd he’s gone.” Riggs announced quietly to no one in particular as his targeting reticules aligned perfectly with the target in front of him as he quickly slammed down the triggers on his controls and unleashed a deadly shower of laser fire down upon the unfortunate TIE Interceptor. Riggs watched with great satisfaction as the TIE Interceptor in front of him exploded in a spectacular fashion, illuminating the space around it for a very brief moment before quickly fading away, leaving nothing but junk floating in space. “Damn it Riggs if you could have just come a few seconds earlier…” Hedge began. “Hey, hey, it’s not my fault that there were two TIE Phantoms keeping me busy back there. I had to get rid of them first before I could even consider breaking off to save your sorry ass for the third time of this month.” Riggs interrupted as he pulled up beside his old friend and squad-mate. “Third time? The first one does not count, I shot that bastard down myself. Remember the mission we had on Dantooine?” Hedge replied over the comms with a hint of annoyance. …………………………………………………………………………………… A flashback suddenly pulled Riggs away from reality the moment his friend mentioned that particular mission, It happened like a couple of months back when he and the rest of Shadow squad were sent over there to snuff out a potential uprisings on a large settlement before It could fully ignite into something. It was a mission that left him feeling a bit empty within himself, mostly because it was something that involved the deaths of many innocent civilians that had absolutely nothing to do with the uprising, or even the rebellion for that matter. But Riggs had to do it. He had to bomb and assault large civilian sections in order to make sure that all the potential targets were dealt with, and to send out a message that all possible ideas of insurrections and rebellion would be dealt with swiftly and brutally by the Empire. An act that was sadly not his first. But they were his orders, and as a member of the Imperial Elites it was his duty to obey these orders or lose everything he had worked for, for so many years. To get thrown out of the Imperial elites, to leave Shadow squadron, to leave behind the only friends he had ever made. To be forced to go back to his old life…his old past he tries to forget. Personally he had nothing against the concept of assaulting Rebels, Pirates and other such factions that are only there to disturb the peace and order within the galaxy. But attacking and killing innocent civilians who had nothing to do with these groups and were just trying to live their lives was a completely different matter. It was something that never sat well with him every time he was ordered to do so. For the good of the Galaxy they say, for freedom and justice they say, but there was nothing just about killing innocent civilians, even if they happen to be in the crossfire. Actions such as these would always cause him to question his actions, his motivations, to question his true cause,and fate in all of this. …………………………………………………………………………………… Riggs quickly shook his head bringing him back to reality before turning back to his ear piece to reply to his friend. “Yeah I know, only because I kept these rebel fighters distracted and diverted their focus from you to me.” Riggs replied still feeling a bit dazed from his previous thoughts. He heard Hedge growl in annoyance over the comm link which actually made him chuckle a bit. “That’s enough fooling around you two, we still have some cleaning up to do or Grand Admiral Demetrius Zaarin is going to have our asses…that is if the old fool survives this onslaught or not…Trying to kidnap the Emperor and take the whole of the empire for himself has to be the ballsiest move he has ever done. I would be surprised if even half of his fleet would survive. Besides the planets garrison fleet we also have to deal with Lord Vader’s forces and cover this fool’s ass for his hasty actions.” An old voice grumbled in Riggs’ ear piece which brought him back to reality. Both Riggs and Hedge nodded as they quickly turned around their Tie-Defenders and raced back into the fray. Lasers of varying colour whined through space as two forces fought for supremacy of the planet below, a planet that had served as the seat of power for the Galaxy for many thousands of years. Soon both of Riggs and Hedge were back into the firefight of the battle as a squad of enemy TIE-Interceptors immediately gave chase them as soon as they appeared, passing by incoming lasers from nearby Star destroyers, cruisers and frigates as they flew deeper into the action. “A squad of Interceptors are emerging from an enemy ship, red ones, seems like the Royal Guards are getting into the mix as well.” Hedge replied while avoiding turbolaser fire from a nearby frigate. “Affirmative, got them on my scanners, fifteen of them max. They're heading directly for Captain Palius and the rest of our squad. Captain?” Riggs replied as shots came whizzing by his craft from the distant pursuing interceptors on his tail. “I see them, these guys are definitely going to prove more of a pain to deal with than any Imperial or even Rebel Pilots. Istan, Cornelle and I are going to force them to break up their formation and split them up in two separate groups, we will take care of one half and lead them directly into our friendlies, you two and Berren take care of the rest, the kid should be close to your location dealing with some TIE-Fighters above you location.” Captain Palius commanded over the comm-link as the battle raged on above the planet's orbit. “Copy that captain, will do, right after we lose these bastards breathing down our necks.” Riggs replied as he quickly twisted the controls on his cockpit causing his ship to sharply turn around in a one-eighty degree turn as he throttled down into attack speed and prepared to engage his pursuers. Riggs immediately began to open fire at their ‘leader’ ripping its left wings clean off causing the craft burst into flames and spin out of control as it crashed into the hull of a Victory class Star destroyer that was below them. The remaining enemy fighter immediately returned fire as Riggs did his best to dodge them, his deflector shield catching some of the shots as he unleashed another barrage with his six laser cannons, ripping another Interceptor into pieces and flying right through its debris as him and the remaining two fighters past by on another. Riggs was about to turn around for a second engagement when both Interceptors suddenly lit up in a fantastic explosion as Hedge zipped past Riggs' Defender and caught the Interceptor in a lethal hail of laser-fire joining him as they tore into another cluster of incoming enemy fighters above them where they spotted Berren’s own Defender Berren's own Defender grappling with a duo of TIE Fighters in the shadows of an enormous Star Destroyer. The barrage of gunfire the Star Destroyer was pouring out was immense, the barrage of laser rounds tearing through heavy and light armour alike. A floating graveyard had formed about its bulk, a testament to those who had gotten very, very unlucky creating a floating debri of shattered fighters and enemy ships around its space. Both Riggs and Hedges began to fly along the underbelly of the ship dodging and taking out incoming enemy fighters along the way. “Berren, this is Riggs, we got orders from our captain to deal with an incoming wave of Royal Guard Interceptors, he, Istan and Cornelle are already engaging them as we speak. We need to head over there and assist them in taking these out, otherwise they will make our escape a serious problem. We need to form up.” Riggs quickly called out over the comm link.The bulk of the Star Destroyer made for exceptional cover, since any fighters trying to reach them had to make it through the blizzard of lasers that the Destroyer was still pouring out There was a momentary silence before a young sounding male voice suddenly came up over Riggs earpiece. “Copy that. I am right next to the two of you, we can form up and head at Captain Palius location.” Berren replied. “Alright Captain, we are formed up and ready, heading to your location now. How is the situation over there? I am suddenly reading a lot more hostile targets at your location. What’s going on over there?” Riggs called over the comm as he, Hedge and Berren formed up. “Not very good. These Royal Guard pilots are really damn good, they keep evading our shots while still shooting down our men with ease. We just lost C and D squadron to these bastards. The hostile targets you are referring to is a whole formation of enemy bombers heading our way, and judging their trajectory seem to be taking a direct Bee-line for our Carriers. We would engage them and halt their advances but these Royal Bastards are keeping us busy. We are fighting against time here, time we don't have anymore, this whole operation is already a lost cause and it won’t be long until the main front of Lord Vader’s fleet is here. We need to finish this fight quickly.”Riggs turned his craft towards his team-mates, but before a single laser-blast could be exchanged a sudden flash of light illuminated everything on the battlefield, throwing everything into stark relief. Riggs' fighter began to shake and rattle as an enormous wave of energy blasted out across the intervening space, making Riggs' instruments flicker dangerously. “What the…what the hell was that?” Berren called in in shock. “That was one of our Star Destroyer’s. The ISS Vanguard has been destroyed.” Hedge stated in shock. “What…how? It was an Imperial class 2 Star Destroyer. How can such a ship just…” Berren began but quickly got interrupted as Riggs began to speak. “…From that.” Riggs simply stated as he looked up from his cockpit. Out of nowhere a massive shadow was cast above Riggs, Hedge and Berren’s ships. They looked up and were immediately shock to see what emerged above them from hyperspace. A Executor class Super Star Destroyer. Darth Vader himself had arrived. “Well…things are now going to get a lot more hectic now.” Riggs thought with dread as he quickly forced the acceleration throttle to max, speeding away from the line of fire as quickly as possible, his two wingmen quickly following as they sped away towards their own forces. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. On another world, far, far away... “WHERE THE BUCK HAS THIS BLOODY STORM SUDDENLY COME FROM?” A blue pegasus stallion shouted over the roaring wind. “THE BUCK I KNOW…IT WAS SUNNY AND CLEAR WHEN WE LIFTED OFF, IF WE SURVIVE THIS I HAVE A THING OR TWO TO SAY TO THESE WEATHER PONIES FOR NOT GIVING US A BLOODY MEMO THAT THERE WAS A THUNDERSTORM SCHEDULED TODAY!!!” A female pegasus shouted back as she tried desperately to fight against the heavy winds. “WOULD YOU TWO STOP YOUR BICKERING AND JUST FOCUS, THE LAST THING I WANT IS FOR THE THREE OF US TO GET SEPARATED, IF THAT HAPPENS YOU CAN KISS YOUR SORRY FLANKS GOODBYE. LET'S JUST STAY CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER SO WE DON'T GET LOST, THE RAIN IS GETTING THICKER AND I CAN BARELY SEE MY OWN HOOVES NOW.” A yellow pegasus mare shouted back. Lightning began to flash with every passing minute they flew, the winds around them getting stronger and stronger making flying through this storm even more challenging and dangerous than it already was. The three pegasi began to feel the strain of flying against the heavy winds as their wings slowly started to feel sore and heavy, their muscles burning from the strain as they tried desperately to fight against the winds. “Well…at least we’re getting a very good workout from this.” The orange mare thought to herself as she tried desperately to navigate herself and her two buddies through the cloud layers, in hopes of eventually breaking through and out of this terrible storm. Thank goodness they were wearing their flight goggles or keeping their eyes open would have been impossible within the maelstrom of swirling cloud and rain. Not to mention their flight suits which were lined carefully in rubber so as to insulate the wearer against possible lightning strikes. “SPITFIRE! SHOULDN’T WE JUST TRY TO FLY TOWARDS THE GROUND? IT WOULD SAFER THAN UP HERE!” The blue Pegasus mare yelled as the roaring of the winds intensified. “WE CAN'T FLEETFOOT, FOR ONE WE DON'T KNOW HOW HIGH OR LOW WE ACTUALLY ARE, AND WITH THESE HEAVY WINDS AND LOW VISIBILITY IT'S GOING TO BE IMPOSSIBLE TO JUDGE THE SPEED OF OUR DESCENT! Spitfire answered. WE COULD BE COMING DOWN AT A 100 MILES PER HOUR. PLUS WITH THESE WINDS IT’S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO ADJUST OUR SPEED ACCORDINGLY, WE WOULD MOSTLY LIKELY JUST ACCELERATE OUR DESCENT.” Spitfire quickly added as the thunder flashes began to intensify, illuminating the sky with bright flashes of white before going dark again. More minutes of aimless flying and fighting went by which could have easily been hours for these three ponies, as only adrenaline still kept them flying. But then the inevitable happened, and their tenuous hoof-grips finally broke. The ravenous winds tore Spitfire from her friends desperate hooves, flinging her into the maelstrom. "SPITFIRE!" Came the terrified shout from above, all but annihilated by the roaring of the stormy winds. …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………. “Oh no no no NO NOOO!!!” Spitfire yelled as she felt her body pulled roughly from her teammate's limbs and she was thrust roughly out into the storm. The voracious winds tore at her feathers as it yanked her body first one way, then the other, with little regard for her personal preference. As titanic forces whirled about her, she realised that she was little more than an ant to this storm. An ant, tiny and easily crushed. The winds around her were too strong for her wings to do anything at the moment, she was simply tumbling along, at the utter mercy of the winds. She tried her best to keep her flight under control by spreading out her wings, but her efforts were in vain as she continued to be nothing but a toy for the winds. The rush of adrenaline she'd been riding as she tried to carry her friends to safety was wearing off though, since she herself was hardly safe. The muscles in her back and wings were going slowly numb with the freezing rain and the constant effort to stop her from being pancaked into the ground Her coat and wings were soaking wet, her body starting to shiver from the icy cold as the freezing rain and winds pounded her numb frame. Besides being mercilessly carried away by the winds to Celestia-know- where, getting stricken by lightning or eventually falling from the sky of hypothermia was another item to add to her list of serious problems she has at the moment. It was at that point that this might be it for her. That she would black out and never wake up again. A single tear left the corner of her eyes as she closed them, fully accepting her fate as her wings and body were too weak to continue. “I…I am sorry guys…for dragging us into to this…I’m sorry.” She thought, simply relaxing and allowing the wind to take her wherever it wished. Her body numbed as she flew into the peaceful void.