It is recommended that you read all previous chapters in order to fully enjoy this story.
The Imperial commander was stunned. Most of his men were gone. He hadn't given a thought to the Walker being blown up like that. That was his weakness, though. If someone thought, they thought like an Imperial, attemting to salvage, not destroy, any lost equipment. He would have done that long ago, had the equipment been available.
He knew there were only two things he could do. One of them was calling in reinforcements. The other was going in directly and trying to kill Sygal before the ship could get off the ground. The latter would work out better, since it would not look good on his record for him to call in reinforcements, even if the Empire had forgotten about him. He layed the plan out for his men.
"Ragal, you and your men will move around the back of the ship, using these drifts to hide you. I'll be taking the rest of you around the side where the Walker was. We can try to infiltrate the ship, or just destroy it with detonators." He thought to himself, "If they still work!" They had been out here for a good number of years. However, just in case they were defeated, he programmed the comm station to send out an uncoded message in 1 hour. "Thats how long we have, men. Only one hour to get the job done and get back."
They got into their old Snowtrooper suits, and filed out the door, never to return.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The life support was finally back up and running on the ship. But now there was another problem. Although the reactor was running, that sudden burst to the engines had put a crack in the focusing nozzle, as they had not been warmed up yet. It wouldn't take that long to repair it, but they had to be sure it was solid and secured before they could lift off. That could take up to another hour.
Earlier, Payl had sent a droid out on a scouting mission to see what he could find. When the droid retrurned, he reported finding an abandoned T-47, as well as a disabled tower near the ship; he thought they may be able to use that as a fortification. One of the droids could man the gun of the T-47; he wouldn't have to fly it. Payl and Sygal could each take up an A-wing, in the event of more troopers.
Sygal was the first to see them. Solid white figures moving across the wasteland, ducking behind snowdrifts as they came closer. Sygal walked down the length of the ship to the engines where Payl was, and said to him, "It would be fitting now to use the fighters. The rest of the troopers are coming."
"What?!" Payl jumped up. "I could've sworn there were no more after that sensor sweep. Although, I guess it was only a low-level energy scan."
"The A-wings?" Sygal asked again.
"Oh, right. You get in the forward fighter, and I'll join you as soon as I get one of the droids to the T-47. I'll be sending the guard droids to the old tower, so don't shoot them."
Sygal nodded and headed toward the access hatch, while Payl called out the orders to the droids. Then he headed down towards the ships. Before he got his com-helmet on , he saw Sygal coming towards him. "I am not familiar with the controls of this vessel. Can you offer a "crash course"?"
"That's a problem. It takes pilots several flights to master the A-wings flight system. It's extremely sensitive, but on these flatlands you shouldn't have that much trouble. Just don't overcompensate; you'll spin out and wreck. Actually, if youi don't feel comfortable, don't even shoot; the shielding will keep you safe from their blasters."
Sygal paused a moment, pondering the situation. "If I am able to graft with the computer system, I can directly control the ships movement, and I will be able to see through its sensors." Sygal didn't wait for a response; instead he turned and climbed into the cockpit, not even bothering to use a helmet. The panels were clearly marked, so Sygal had no trouble finding the computer outlet. He plugged a cable into the graft on his neck and into the ship's socket. Payl looked at him take off, somewhat concerned. Sygal was staring straight ahead, hands not on the controls, but he flew the ship as if he had been doing it for years.
Payl took off shortly afterward, following a widening, circular pattern. Shortly he came to the first group of troopers. He transmitted down to them on the old Imperial frequency. "You have inferior weaponry. We will allow you to leave now, or we can dispose of you. You have five minutes to decide. We can arrange transport." The troopers stopped and reconsidered. Ragal shot back with a humorous response several minutes later, "You got any job openings?"
Payl doubted they were serious, but gave it a shot anyways, "Uhh, yes actually, if you're interested. I need a command crew for some refitted ships, and if we ever get a base up here, we need someone in mission control."
But the troopers quickly turned serious. "You know, I'm actually pretty bored with this job. We've been here near to 35 years, and I could use a change. The Empires all but forgotten about us. We accept."
Payl was genuinely surprised, but also glad that he didn't have to kill the troopers. "Well, the Empires been defeated. There are still a few remnants. Until the rest of my fleet gets here, I'll have to hold you in the brig. Standard safety precautions."
"I understand. I'll be sending this transmission to the other group, and ask if they accept, you can pick them up as well."
Payl heaved a sigh of relief. He flew back to the ship, and called Sygal back as well. The droids stayed in the tower as a safety precaution, but he still had some heavy construction droids inside in case the troopers tried something sneaky. He got on the ships comm system.
"Please put down your weapons and enter the ship through the open loading ramp." He directed them towards the living quarters side of the ship, where they'd be staying for a while. He and Sygal would stay locked in the command pod, with droids patrolling the corridors.
