A Reputation to Maintain

[Tannis V'larr]

The raid Klaxons thundered through the Imperial fabrication plant on Bandomeer. It was locally the middle of the night, and the commandant in his complacency had allowed the graveyard shift to dwindle to a third the standard complement. Tannis V'larr took a mental note to deliver a brutal and incisive report of his failings to the appropriate authorities as soon as he left the dismal mining world.

The Sikarran halfbreed seized a passing mid-command officer in an iron grip as they passed in the corridor. "Walk with me, captain," he snapped. "I must know the situation."

The fresh-faced officer gulped and staggered to keep up with V'larr's long, angry strides. "A raid by an insurgent squadron, sir. We think they're X-Wings."

"You think. Has our orbital picket neglected to share their telemetry with you?"

"Yes, sir-- I mean, no, sir. Data is coming in as we speak, and the continental base is already scrambling its wing of TIEs."

Tannis made the sharp turn toward the hangar, dragging the unhappy captain along with him. This installation's defenses were paltry compared to the primary base in the other hemisphere, but the enemies were crossing the skies here on their way to bigger targets to the West. Even under the best of circumstances, the wing of TIE/lns could not prevent a pack of X-Wings from dealing considerable damage before scattering before superior numbers. To say nothing of the dismal kill ratio the standard TIE/ln possessed against the Rebel X-Wing.

"You will order the flight tower to give my fighter emergency clearance to launch."

The officer blanched. "A-alone, sir?"

"As your commandant has seen fit to leave this installation so woefully unguarded, I have no other choice."

"But your fighter is still armed with the experimental--"

"Then this will be an excellent opportunity for a field test."

Tannis released the captain and hurried into the base's hangar, where his TIE Defender sat racked and ready for launch. Flight engineers, mindful of the Sikarran half-breed's disposition, scrambled like so many ants to finish fueling and charging her power cells as he climbed into the eyeball cockpit.

A minute later, he was rocketing through the upper atmosphere toward the insurgent Rogues.