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Star Wars: X-Wing: Lusankya - Chapter One
Rating: R Shadow Chaser Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Star Wars characters except those of Akiba Muune, Lieutenant Dysune Tayib, and Captain Falco Avin. All other characters belong to Lucasfilm and their respective authors. I am not making a profit out of this story, it is only written for fans to enjoy. Summary: Tycho Celchu, son of Alderaan, is sent out to infiltrate Courscant with the highest rating of not coming back alive. This is the recount of his capture aboard Lusankya and his subsequent return to the New Republic under the heavy eye of being a possible spy. Author’s Warning: This fic is rated R for heavy graphic violence, torture, and imprisonment. Characters: Commander Wedge Antilles ... human male from Corellia Captain Tycho Celchu ... human male from Alderaan Winter ... human female from Alderaan Admiral Ackbar ... Mon Calamari male from Mon Calamari General Horton Salm ... human male from Norval II General Airen Cracken ... human male from Contruum Ella Westerly ... human female from Corellia Grania ... human female from Coruscant Akiba Muune ... Mon Calamari female from Mon Calamari Lieutenant Dysune Tayib ... human male from Agamar Director Ysanne Isard ... human female from Coruscant Captain Falco Avin ... human male from Bakura (character list subject to change) “I would like to make a toast,” the recently promoted Commander Wedge Antilles suddenly spoke up from his end of a long table, which sat his squadron and a few others who had been invited to the party held in their honor of those who had fallen on the eve of the Battle of Yavin almost five years ago. “I wish to toast those who have long been gone from us. And those who have recently died while fighting bravely,” he paused for a second, watching his squadron, now only with eleven pilots himself included, “we honor them tonight.” There was a chorus of agreements and then a brief silence followed. Wedge broke the silence by clearing his throat a bit loudly, making everyone at the table focus on him. “In light of things, there is another reason I gathered all of you here,” he knelt down and picked up a thin long case and opened it up, showing everyone what was inside. “Three people have been a valuable asset to this squadron since our recent battles.” He picked up one of the three promotion ranks in the case ... “Flight Officer Nrin Vakil, please step forward,” Wedge ordered then watched as the Quarren, who was recently devastated with the death of his very close friend and wingmate Ibtisam, stand up uneasily. “Congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant Vakil,” he continued then placed the new bar over the old one and shook Nrin’s hand. “Ibtisam would be proud, Nrin,” he whispered before releasing the Quarren’s hand. “I know Commander, I know,” Vakil replied then saluted curtly and returned to his seat. “Flight Officer Derek Klivan,” Wedge watched as Hobbie stood up and received some backslaps and some laughing. “Congratulations on your promotion Lieutenant Klivan,” he let a grin blossom on his face as Hobbie, who was known to have spent more time in bacta than anyone else in the New Republic Starfighter Command, stood in front of him. Hobbie’s normally mournful face was all cheer as he saluted and shook Wedge’s hand then sat back down. “And last of the promotions, Lieutenant Tycho Celchu,” Wedge called out and watched as his second-in-command stood up, a grin on his handsome poster-boy face. Only a few months ago, he was injured in an attempt by Leonia Tavira to get information out of him when he and Winter, who was in the guise of Princess Leia, were kidnapped. Now, he was back in action and all ready to be the deadly fighter pilot he was. “You’re promoted to the rank of Captain, Tycho,” Wedge pinned the rank on his dress uniform and shook his hand. “Thank you sir,” Tycho replied formally then saluted and walked back to his seat. “Hey, does this mean he’s commanding his own squadron?” Feylis Ardele suddenly spoke up, as the table burst out into laughter. “No ... Rogue Squadron still has its same old pilots,” Lieutenant Wes Janson replied, “we’re the same old people in the same old squadron that kicked the Empire’s butt!” Wedge grinned also, but it faltered as he heard the distinct beep of someone calling his comlink. He hated it when anyone bothered him…and it was probably one of the Generals or Admirals calling him back to duty. He left his seat quietly and stepped into a comlink booth that was soundproof. Taking out his comlink from the inside of his dress uniform’s jacket, he thumbed it on and a small frown appeared on his face as he saw that it was Admiral Ackbar calling him. “Admiral,” he greeted. “Commander Antilles, I need to talk with you about an assignment for Rogue Squadron right now. Bring Captain Celchu with you,” Ackbar’s bulbous eyes blinked once. “As ordered,” Wedge replied then shut off the link and walked back to the rest of his squadmates. He hated to ruin their party, but he knew that Ackbar would not call him if there were something not important. “Hey boss, what’s up?” Wes spoke up; his baby-like face a mask of concern. “Ackbar just called, so I’ll have to leave. Sorry for running out like this,” he replied then glanced at Tycho who had been talking to Winter, “Tycho, Ackbar wants to see you too.” “Enjoy the rest of the meal,” Wedge saluted briefly then left them, Tycho on his heels. * * * Tycho Celchu adjusted the rank bar on his dress uniform before running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. He was surprised that Admiral Ackbar had requested for him to come along, after all Rogue Squadron was due for a reprieve for their recent battles near the Tion Cluster and he had wanted to spend that time with Winter who was going to be off of Home One for an undercover mission in a few days. “Any idea what the Admiral called us for?” he asked Wedge as both of them made their way towards where the Mon Calamari’s office was aboard his flagship. “Not really,” Wedge replied and he frowned a bit as they stopped in front of Ackbar’s office and Wedge knocked. The door slid open and Tycho followed Wedge in. An air of oppressive humidity greeted him, making the air seem heavier than it was. Admiral Ackbar was a Mon Calamari, and found the rest of the ship’s air too thin and stale for his aquatic-like lungs. A good-sized fish-sphere was on Tycho’s left and he took a look at it. There were small little fishes swimming within and he reached out to touch it- “I wouldn’t if I were you Captain Celchu,” Ackbar’s ruddery voice greeted them and he took back his hand just as one of the fishes jumped out of the sphere, its mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth. Tycho blinked a bit in surprise then remembered who was in the room and quickly stood at attention, holding a salute to his head. “Sir.” “At ease gentlemen,” Ackbar waved the salute away then motioned to them to follow him and Tycho fell in step behind Wedge. Ackbar lead them to a holographic table and motioned for them to sit down. He dimmed the lights and turned on the holo-projector, which sprang to life an image of what looked like Coruscant. “I asked you two to be here because this mission which I am going to be assigning is highly dangerous and heavily classified. We need a volunteer who can masquerade as an Imperial officer and head to Coruscant in the TIE fighter we’ve impounded on Bakura. Once near Coruscant, the person will be gathering various data on the Golan Space Defense system, the mirrors and anything of importance. Then he or she will land on Coruscant and send the information out on various routes and then we will contact him or her and they will fly out and meet up with an Alliance freighter and return back here,” Ackbar’s barells twitched then he drew in a watery breath, “and I need both your opinions on who is the best candidate within your squadron to head out on this kind of mission.” “Wait, you want Rogue Squadron to do this mission?” Wedge started and Tycho instantly knew the real reason why Ackbar called on him and Wedge to come here. “I’ll go,” he said, not looking at Wedge’s surprised face. It was one of the rare moments that he had surprised his commander, and he knew that Wedge wasn’t the one that was easily surprised. “I’m the one with the most experience into Imperial territory since I graduated from the Academy and back on Clipar, you knew that I infiltrated the Imperial base there ...” “But…” Wedge started to protest and Tycho shook his head slightly. “Don’t worry about me. I can conform easily in and out,” he replied then glanced at the Admiral as he cleared his throat. “There is also another assignment Commander Antilles,” Ackbar spoke up, “while Captain Celchu is on his mission…you will take Rogue Squadron to meet with the Dreadnaught New Hope who is located in the Milagro System. Commander Skywalker will be there, and you are just there for air support. I know your leaves are coming up, so you will leave as soon as they are over.” “Yes sir,” was Wedge’s monotonic reply and Tycho could feel some undercurrent of resentment coming out of his commander. He also took the hint that their briefing was over and started to salute when Ackbar interrupted them. “You are dismissed Commander, but I need Captain Celchu to remain to talk with him about his mission…Also Commander, none of this is to leave the room,” Ackbar spoke gravely. “Understood sir,” Wedge replied then saluted and left. Tycho watched his long time friend walk out, some hint of coolness within his pace and he could tell that he was not happy with the current situation. “Now then ... General Cracken, can you come here,” Admiral Ackbar suddenly called out and Tycho blinked his eyes in surprise as the slightly graying redheaded general stepped out from the shadows of the Admiral’s room. “Sir,” he saluted the general then glanced at Ackbar. What was going on with the two of them that made him feel uncomfortable. Ease up on it Celchu ... you volunteered for this mission, a mental voice chastised him. Cracken reached over and turned back on the holo-projector and tapped a few buttons, “The TIE fighter you’ll be piloting is equipped with sensor packages and stuffed with everything we can fit onto it so you can record the maximum amount of data into the fighter’s memory banks. You will then land on Coruscant in your guise of a TIE pilot that has been separated from his convoy. When you land you will be escorted by one of my men to your temporary quarters. Within the next few days you are on Coruscant, my men will be going through your TIE fighter and sending out the information at various paces and places. It is then that we will contact you again with your exit cover and you will rendezvous with the freighter Ion Scurrier and make your way back to Home One.” He handed Tycho a package that was vacuumed-sealed. “This is your cover for getting in. The clothing was taken in and scanned for anything that might reveal you are a Alliance pilot,” Cracken handed him a small satchel, “this is for your stay on Coruscant. It contains your cover ID, a couple of civilian clothing, comlinks, credit chits, and a blaster.” Tycho took the satchel and placed it on top of the vacuumed package. He knew that the mission was dangerous and could mean his life if he was caught by the Imps, but he knew that this was vital to the Alliance’s assault on the capital of the Empire. He didn’t know what would happen on Coruscant, but he did know that this was important. “Who are my contacts?” he asked, looking at both Ackbar and Cracken. “We can’t tell you that, but you’ll be meeting them with these phrase words,” Cracken handed him a datacard, “due to the level of danger in this mission, you would only get the chance to identify them by their code names. The name you’ll be using is Farell Tynnia, a pilot from Alderaan who had joined the Empire after the destruction of his home planet. He seemed to have bore no love for the rebel forces that were massing on Alderaan and preferred to fight for the Empire. Farell is like the black sheep among his people and you’ll be playing his role.” “We know that this role is hard on you, but-“ “I’ll execute it to the best of my abilities,” Tycho interrupted Admiral Ackbar then shut up as he realized that he had just cut off a superior officer. “Very well then,” Ackbar replied, giving no hint to him as if he had heard his interruption or not. “You’ll be leaving tomorrow at eleven-hundred.” He handed him another datacard that contained his mission orders. “All of this information does not go out of this room, is that clear Captain Celchu,” Cracken spoke up, his voice gruff. “As ordered,” Tycho gathered his things in one hand while in the other gave his commanding officers a crisp salute. He then turned around and left them. “You think this will work?” Ackbar turned to Cracken. “It better…or else we won’t be able to get Coruscant and bring the Empire down,” Cracken replied gravely. * * * Tycho walked away from Ackbar’s office and took a lift down towards his single occupancy quarters aboard Home One. He was lucky to have his own quarters, since he was second in command of Rogue Squadron. Keying open his door he stepped in and flicked on the lights as the door hissed closed and locked automatically. He placed the things in his arms down on a desk in which he had been working on, filing various reports, and turned and looked around his room. The walls were sparse with pictures, only two of them hanging on them. One was of the Wuitho Trifalls, the other a picture of the beautiful city of Aldera, his hometown. He glanced at his desk and tears pricked in his eyes at the holo-image of his parents, sister, and his fiancée. They had all died on his birthday…the day that the Death Star blew Alderaan up. And now I’m portraying someone with the exact opposite heart…what a hypocrite, he thought to himself as he swiped at the tears then took the satchel he had on his desk and opened it. It was what Cracken had told him. Everything he needed for his stay on Coruscant. He was about to reach in and take the blaster out when there was a knock on his door. “Who is it?” Tycho asked as he closed the satchel and tried to find a place in his room where he could hide everything. “Its Winter, flyboy,” Winter’s teasing voice filtered through and Tycho silently swore. Sithspawn ... I can’t let her see this, he thought as he opened the door to his small closet and tossed the things in. “Hold on a minute,” he called to her then reached into the closet and tried to straighten everything out. He didn’t want any of the things that Cracken had given to him to be messed up with his own belongings. After straightening out the things, he closed the door and looked himself over. He was still dressed in his dress uniform, but that was okay. Tycho unlocked the door and it slid open, revealing Winter still in her evening gown that she wore to the small dinner party Wedge had called for earlier. “Hi, anything wrong?” “Looks like you’re still dressed up,” Winter commented, letting her cool gaze run over him. Tycho suppressed a blush that was threatening to erupt around his face, “If you give me a minute I can get changed or something …” “Its okay. I saw you walking towards your quarters before and you looked a bit worried, so I came to check on you. You want to take a walk?” Winter offered and Tycho blinked in surprise. “You’re asking me? I thought I was the one that always asked you, Winter…the cold, ice water veined agent who can shoot through anything,” Tycho smiled slightly as Winter frowned. “But sure ... I guess I would.” He offered her his arm and the two of them left his quarters. Tycho took a quick glance back at the closet before the door closed and he felt as if he was blackmailing himself. I volunteered ... I have to get through this, he reminded himself as the two of them headed towards the starlight balcony, one of the most romantic places aboard the vessel. * * * “This place will be a major contrast to Coruscant when we achieve it,” Winter commented softly beside him as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Tycho nodded slightly, as he kept one arm around her, his gaze lost among the stars. He felt Winter shift a bit in his arms and he glanced down at her brilliant white hair, which was cropped stylishly short. She seemed contented tonight and he knew that he didn’t exactly share her sentiments. Suddenly she looked up and Tycho found himself gazing into her cool green eyes. “Tycho, what’s wrong? You’ve been quiet all this time since you came back from your meeting with Admiral Ackbar,” she asked, her white brows furrowing in concentration. He hesitated for a fraction of a second then gave her a smile, “Its okay ... its just that I’ve been tired recently. I mean with all the fighting going on, and Rogue Squadron’s recent battles at the edges of the Tion Cluster ...” he trailed off as Winter’s mouth found his and he relented to her kiss. Tycho felt his hands brushing her face and pulling her closer to him as the kiss lasted longer and longer ... until he broke away from her, his breath coming in a bit ragged. He shook his head slightly and looked down at her, to see a smile forming on her lips. “What ... was that for?” He asked, almost breathlessly. “To stop your worries and to shut you up for now,” Winter replied in her own sarcastic manner. She softened her words with another gentle kiss to his lips then settled down against his shoulder once more. “Oh ... um ... okay,” Tycho replied, feeling a small blush erupt on his face. He was about to say more when a comlink bleeped and he saw Winter’s face turn from happiness to a neutral expression, but there were hints of frustration in her eyes. “Winter here,” she thumbed on her own comlink from a concealed pocket in her evening gown. “Sorry boss for interrupting you ... but we’ve just got something you might want to see,” Kapp Dendo’s voice filtered through and he saw her face turn from neutral into serious. “Roger that, Kapp. I’m on my way,” she replied then shut off the link and started to move away. He grabbed her hand and looked deep into her eyes and face, “Be careful on your mission.” “I will Captain Celchu ... don’t worry,” Winter replied then gave him a smile before leaving, the shimmers on her gown trailing her wake. Tycho watched her leave then turned his gaze back to the stars that were winking with their own light outside of Home One. The planet in which the fleet was orbiting around occasionally came into view every few minutes or so. Tomorrow, Rogue Squadron gets their leave, while mine is cancelled ... I know why they specifically chose me ... they want to know where my allegiances stand. No one in high command trusts me fully, except for Wedge, he thought to himself as he glanced down at his Captain bar rank. It was all a joke ... if he came back from the mission alive, then they would be able to trust him fully ... but if something happened to him, then there was nothing to worry about. The guys in High Command would probably say ‘Oh he was a good pilot. Another one who had died serving the Alliance.’ He thought bitterly and one of his hands curled into a fist. “Who am I kidding ... sithspawn, I don’t need to be like this before a mission,” Tycho chastened himself softly then got up, stretching his sore leg muscles from sitting down too long. He took one more look at the winking stars and then left the starlight room, headed back to his quarters. Whatever those guys at High Command say about my record, its nothing when I come back with the information vital to capturing Coruscant since Princess Leia’s trade agreement with Sate Pestage ended in disaster, he thought grimly as he entered his room and locked the door behind him. Tomorrow, he would become Farell Tynnia. Tycho Celchu, the son of Alderaan would stay in the shadows as a new Alderaanian emerged. * * * Author’s Notes: Well, this is the beginning of Tycho’s trip into the depths of the Maw. I hoped you enjoy this first chapter and look for more in the coming months. I will be starting school very soon, so these may come in slow, but I will try to write them with the best of my abilities. C-ya next chapter! Disclaimer: All content is made up, and no profit or lucre is expected, solicited, advocated or paid. This is all just for fun. Any comments, please e-mail the author or WOOKIEEhut directly. Flames will be ignored. Characters and situations are based on those which are the property of LucasFilms Ltd., Bantam Publishing, Random House, and their respective original owners and developers. The rest is this story's author's own fault. This story may not be posted anywhere without the author's knowledge, consent, and permission. This web page is presented by Wookieehut.com. |