Trooper

Survivors

Kartoosh: 12 BBY
Imperial Salvage Yard
Jess

    Jess rubbed his eyes and flipped a few switches as they dropped out of hyperspace. The Black Squadron pilots were waiting in the cargo hold. He could hear the faint hum of their voices. Feylin stood behind Ryn, watching as her hands flew over the controls. Azie was running some last minute diagnostics, chirping to himself.

    Kartoosh appeared below them. Several Imperial ships surrounded the planet, but none paid them any notice. Ryn glanced at him and nodded. Jess stood and headed back to the cargo hold.

    The pilots looked up as he entered. "We've reached Kartoosh. As soon as we touch down, the Empire will be on top of us. Get to the bombers as fast as you can and take off. The X-wings will give you cover until we can come with the Remnant and the freighter," Jess explained. The pilots all nodded and murmured their agreement. A few of them stood and began pulling their helmets on.

    Jess returned to the cockpit and slid into his seat. "Feylin is going to fly the Remnant while we go after the freighter," Ryn said.

    "Good. Help the X-wings cover the bombers," he said, glancing back at the young Twi'lek. She nodded and grinned to herself. Jess turned his attention back to the viewport as the salvage yard appeared below them. Stormtroopers seemed to notice them, suddenly. Blasters opened fire.

    Ryn swerved into between the shots as best she could, then landed with the back of the ship facing the troopers. "Pilots, get going!" Jess called. He heard the hiss of the boarding ramp as he threw on his helmet and set his blasters. "Azie, stay with Feylin." The droid chirped and plugged into the ship, waiting.

    Ryn jumped up beside Jess and pulled out her own blasters. "Make the jump back to the fleet as soon as the other ships can too," she called to Feylin. Fey nodded and took her vacated seat.

    They charged off the ship and opened fire on the stormtroopers. Already, the pilots were racing towards the bombers. Stormtroopers were surrounding the ships in an attempt to guard them. Jess watched as one of the rebel pilots kicked a trooper off the platform. He plummeted to the ground a few feet below.

    Jess blasted left and right, taking down troopers. A short distance ahead, Ryn whirled back into a trooper and rolled him over her shoulder, as Jess had taught her. He smirked beneath his helmet as she blasted the trooper and kept running.

    "The freighter is up there," she called, pointing. Jess followed her finger to the edge of the platform. Sure enough, the CT-900 was sitting there. Stormtroopers surrounded it, but they were covered in black armor. He hadn't seen anything like them before. They weren't Purge Troopers; that much was obvious.

    Ryn matched her pace with his as they scrambled towards the ships. Behind them, Jess could hear the roar of engines. A few of the bombers soared overhead, firing at the stormtroopers. A few of the shots hit four troopers guarding the freighter. They darted towards the ship and opened fire on the remaining stormtroopers.

    Ryn opened up the boarding ramp and they scrambled on board. "Make sure we have a hyperdrive," she called, making her way towards the cockpit. Jess nodded and switched directions. He pulled a panel off the floor and dropped down into the ship's small maintenance shafts. He worked his way through the inner workings until he came up to a larger chamber.

    A hyperdrive was there. Jess quickly checked it over, then returned to his entry point and crawled back up. "We've got one," he called. "Have you checked for trackers or anything like that?"

    "Nope, I'm trying to take off," Ryn replied.

    Jess returned the panel to the ground and hurried into the cockpit. He slid beneath the control panel as they lifted off. Ryn let out a giddy laugh. He smiled and began examining the wires within the console. "This would go a lot faster if Azie was here to scan," he muttered. "Is there a datapad up there?"