Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

9: Violent Reunion

The chaos that surrounded the beginning of an attack never ceased to amaze Luke with its somehow orderly fashion. The fighter pilots were all running around and weaving through crowds to reach their starfighters, the ground soldiers were raiding the barracks and weapons compartments for armor and blasters, the ground assault pilots were fueling their speeders and having their copilots re-check the engine and weapons systems one last time. Luke could have watched forever if he wasn't a part of it.

He jogged to his X-Wing and climbed the ladder, hopping back into one of his favorite places in the galaxy. He would've appreciated it more if there wasn't an imminent attack and adrenaline wasn't scattering his brain. Artoo was brought up and placed inside his compartment as well, and Luke nodded in gratitude at the workers who were prepping his fighter before closing his cockpit and putting his helmet on. "Alright Artoo, ready?"

Artoo whistled confirmation, and his translation read out across the screen. Luke chuckled. "I've been getting antsy too, buddy. But let's stay focused."

The trafficking agent lifted his orange bars and directed the X-Wings to lift off. Luke complied, lifting off first because he was the leader. Rogue squadron was a relatively new one composed of newer and less experienced pilots, but Luke didn't mind because it meant he'd get a chance to exercise his leadership skills. "Rogue squad, check-in." He commanded over the comms.

They went down the list numerically until the last, Rogue Nine, checked in. "Alright, command gave me an update of what we're going to face out there. Two Star Destroyers and a few smaller attack shuttles along with ground transports. The speeders and A-Wings will handle the ground assault, while us and the Y-Wings will go up into the atmosphere to deal with the Destroyers and attack shuttles. Our goal is to dismantle the attack shuttles and shields on the Destroyers, and defend the Y-Wings as they bomb."

"Copy, Rogue Leader." His squad declared, the response bouncing from person to person until the last had said it. Luke took a big breath in and sighed it out slowly, wrapping and unwrapping his hands around the controls as he sped up into the atmosphere.

"This is it, Artoo." He muttered to the droid before speaking into the comms again. "Rogue squad, attack formation. Frontal shields at maximum and lock coils into X formation. We're going in."

One by one the X-Wings expanded into the shape that gave them their name, and Luke sped up and lead the charge as several TIEs greeted them. "Brace yourselves!" He commanded as the squad was hit with a cluster of TIE fighters. The air around him erupted in a flurry of green and red, signifying that the battle had just begun.

:-:-:-:

Leia stood up and peered over Han's chair as the Falcon fell out of hyperspace, gaping as they entered the atmosphere. It seemed as if the Empire hadn't wanted to bother with the effort of bringing its entire military force to Hesk, but the amount of firepower was still enough to make her throat dry. Two Star Destroyers, several smaller attack shuttles, and whatever ground assault they'd decided to use.

"Just remember, you're the one that got us into this." Han grumbled accusingly. Leia said nothing.

Han patched into the private Rebel chatter, an ability he still had because the Falcon has done it before above the Death Star. "Rebel base, this is Han Solo of the Millenium Falcon. It seems like you could use an extra hand."

"Welcome back, Solo. We could use all the help we can get." The officer replied, sounding stressed.

"Copy that, we'll make sure to make a dent for you." Han turned and looked at Leia. "You may wanna strap back in, Sweetheart."

"I'll go man one of the guns." She stood up and walked towards the ladder, hearing Han say to use the ventral ones. In response she slid down the ladder and hopped into the seat, warming up the controls and putting the headgear on. "Can you hear me?"