New Blood: Purple Haze

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(As always, my thanks to George Lucas and Lucasfilm for allowing me to play in this universe. I don't get any profit from this story, but I do get enjoyment out of writing it. If you enjoy reading it, let me know. Special thanks to Vickie Boyd for letting me use some of the characters and locations established in her Station Leave series.)

"Aye, Captain. Station 421, this is New Republic shuttle Tydirium, requesting landing clearance."

"Tydirium, this is control. You are cleared to land on vector 291.2. Welcome to the station."

The shuttle gracefully swung round on it's entry vector, as Tiel Payse, the Sullustan ex-smuggler, bought it in line with the landing bay of Station 421. Descending towards the base, she looked over her shoulder into the passenger area. Her fellow cadets, the members of New Blood training squadron, looked nervous, excited, eager, all kinds of emotions.

In the back of the shuttle, Aric Cheren and Deysha Johats, the training officers for New Blood squadron, worked on their plans for the coming weeks at Station 421. Plotting the course for their first hyperspace exercise, they were interrupted by a tap at the door.

The door slid aside, and three of the pilots stepped into the room. Carson Deniel, Alton Thanas and Tigris Fal stood in front of the commanding officers.

Alton sat down, and rested against the inner hull of the shuttle. Closing his eyes, he nodded once. Sitting across from him, Allens Fynner drew a small cylinder from his belt, and pressed a button on it.

The 'pop' made the cadets look up, just in time for them to receive a gallon of sticky, syrupy, warm treacle in their faces.

Staring at the flatscreen that they had hooked up to the shuttle's holocam, the training officers shared a wry grin. Leaving the officer's cabin, they walked past the trainees, and stared resolutely straight ahead as they made their way to the front of the shuttle, where Tiel Payse was igniting the landing jets.

Waiting until the shuttle was landed, Aric pressed a button on the co-pilots console, activating the comm unit in the passenger area of the shuttle.

"A word to the wise asses among you," Deysha announced, as the cadets struggled to scrape the treacle off themselves. "Haarken Chaymore is an old friend, and he knew I'd be interested in what Mr Thanas and Mr Deniel would want with a gallon of treacle.

"You may also consider yourself all assigned to cleaning this shuttle up tonight, after your briefings," he added with a smile on his face.

Aric and Deysha stood impassively in front of the training class. Aric spoke first.

"I must write a message to the people who make the shuttles. As you all seemed to require a shower after the trip, clearly the air conditioning needs seeing to."

"Now," said Deysha, stepping forward. "You all have another simulated mission to fly tomorrow, and then, you'll be delighted to hear, we're going live. In two days time, the mechanics tell me, the stations complement of fighters will be brought back up to speed. You'll be delighted to hear you'll be flying Y-Wings, also known as wishbones, and Headhunters, or skulls in your first real mission. Just for extra manoeuvrability, the skulls have hyperdrives, too."

"Commander, Captain," he began. "When do we get to fly real ships?" As a former Imperial pilot trainee, Alton's love of quick craft like the TIE Interceptor was well known.

"You fly real ships when you're real pilots, Thanas," Cheren said with a grin. "Myself and the Captain will be flying B-Wings to keep you company, because we can."

The pilots groaned again. Both their teachers had a tendency to show off when flying better craft. Though they were undoubtedly motivated to improve, all of them had put the sims through manoeuvres they weren't ready for, in order to try and keep up. The simulated G-forces had left them all with aches and pains, a vital part of learning process, Johats had said. Learning what you and your craft can and cannot handle.

The pilots of New Blood training squadron all wished their lecturers were more interested in theory than practise at times like this.

Saar Taas, the Gran former commando, climbed into the simulator cockpit, and shared a nod with Ta'a Capti, his wingman. Dogging down the hatch on the simulator, he huffed out a deep breath, and stared at the controls blankly. He felt his pulse beginning to accelerate, and tried to breathe slowly in an attempt to slow it down. As always at times like this, his mind went back to that night on Toprawa.

His canopy lit up with the elongated star lines of simulated hyperspace. His breath rasped in his ears as Cheren's voice came over the comm unit.

"Standard hit and run, kids. Your individual targets are set up for you, attack them by wingpairs. Let's see now… Tigris Fal, it's your turn to command this mission. Fly well."

"New Blood squadron," she said. "Ten seconds to reversion. You heard the man people. Fly well out there."

The ships snapped into hyperspace, and Taas watched the ships around him. In preparation for the next day's mission, all were flying either Y-Wings or Headhunters. As Taas watched, the Headhunter of New Blood Eleven, Tigris Fal, and her wingman Allens Fynner in his Y-wing, pealed off from the group to gain height on the space station that was their target.

"Seventeen, Eighteen, begin attack runs. Those of you with S-Foils, lock them in attack position. We'll follow them in."

"Eighteen, follow me," Capti ordered, pushing her Y-Wing forward, and heading in towards the right side of the station.

"Acknowledged, Seventeen," Taas replied, dropping to Capti's aft port. Switching to missiles, he lined his targeting reticle up with the area indicated as their target. H gimaced as he realise the station was a fuelling dump.

"I'll answer that," came Johats voice over the comm. "It's a refuelling dump for this system's Imperial protection fleet. The crew is believed to be mostly civilian. We've been careful in selecting your targets. You have to be careful shooting them."

Taas deselected torpedoes. He knew the blast from them would likely overwhelm the structural integrity of the station. He set his lasers to single fire, and angled in on an approach vector towards his designated target. He grimaced as he realised it was a huge tank of fuel, with life scans revealing a few dozen people gathered around he tanks. He broke off his run, and turned away from the station.

"Bear with me, Seventeen," Taas replied. He switched the comm system to general broadcast. "This is New Republic fighter pilot New Blood Eighteen calling to the refuelling station we are currently attacking. Move all personnel to non-critical areas. You have two minutes before we begin out attack runs."

The New Bloods waited two minutes, and attacked. The extra time allowed the squadron to plot their targets even more precisely, and their attack was clinically precise.

The extra time allowed the system's defensive ships to make it around the planet and attack. The Interdictor and accompanying Victory Star Destroyer launched their four squadron's of TIE's, and the New Blood's were decimated long before they could escape the Interdictor's mass shadow.

Taas cracked the seal on his cockpit, and winced as light flooded in. Closing each of his three eyes as much as possible, he opened his canopy far enough for him to slide out. He stood with his back to the rest of the hall, taking deep breaths to slow his rapid pulse as he removed his gloves, helmet and flax plate.

"Of course, you have an explanation…" came a voice from behind him. He turned, and winced as he recognised Zander Berkal, New Blood One, and all around overachiever. Flanking him were his wingmate Chinchenza, and Taas' wingmate Ta'a Capti.

"I couldn't do it," Taas said shortly, pushing past the trio of cadets, and heading for the exit. He avoided the gazes of his fellow trainees as he walked.

The pilots sat listlessly in their rooms. They ran through the morning's mission in their minds. Some of them understood Taas' actions. Others commented "It was only a sim!" Taas' roommates, the Noghri Chinchenza, and the Rodian Barchelli Cotay gave up trying to talk to him, and left him to talk to the rest of the squadron.

"We were unable to define the problem," Cotay stated, his educated tones a direct contrast to the simple Basic that was all most Rodians could master. "It would appear to me, due to my psychological training, that at some point, Taas was placed in a position where he was forced to kill in what he believed an unnecessary manner. However, without further revelation of his past, I am currently unable to determine the exact events."

"I do not understand why he would kill if it were not necessary," Chinchenza commented, swilling his fruit drink contemplatively. "My combat training taught me that there is always another way."

"Not every one has your training," Alenns Fynner commented. "I saw a Noghri training group once, when I worked with Team One. They were so far advanced over what the New Republic teaches… Not to say we commandoes are taught poorly, but I don't know of any civilisation that puts as much into combat as the Noghri do."

Chinchenza bowed his head slightly, accepting the remark as a compliment. Ta'a Capti, sitting opposite the Noghri, looked up form her own drink.

"I want to know more," she said. "I don't like my wingmate suddenly deciding he has better things to do than follow orders. What if he decides he has something better to do than watching my back?"

"I have not seen any indication of that before now," Cotay commented. "I think the problem arose when he was placed in a position where he had to fire on innocents. Even in a sim mission, he was uncomfortable enough with the idea to, ah, reinterpret his orders."

"You think it was something from his past?" asked Alton Thanas. "Maybe something from his time in the commandoes?"

"That would be my first guess," Cotay said. He settled back into his plush armchair. "Of course, I know nothing about his past. This is unfounded speculation, until we know more about him."

All eyes in the room turned to Fynner. The former commando shook his head, ruefully.

"Not me, either. I never served with Taas when we were commandoes. I don't have any idea what could make him act this way."

"I am certain the leaders know," Chinchenza commented. "Saar did not speak after returning from his debriefing."

"I'm sure we'll find out more at the mission tomorrow," Enda Sherr offered. The remark from the Tattooine woman dropped like a lead weight across the conversation, ending it.

The New Bloods began to drift off back to their rooms. Chinchenza and Cotay were the last to leave, silently pondering the new situation.

As the two approached the door of the room they shared with Saar Taas, Chinchenza unconsciously slipped in front of Cotay. As he keyed the combination intro the door lock, he tensed, ready for whatever lay within.

The door slid back, revealing blackness beyond. They stepped into the room, alert for anything unusual, but all was normal. By the faint light from the corridor, they could see Saar lying in his bunk, with his back to them. Faint sounds could be heard as the Gran breathed in an out. Barchelli shook his head slightly. After nearly a month in quarters together, he could tell whether Taas was sleeping or not. Right now, he wasn't.

The cadet's of New Blood training squadron trooper silently to their ships. Aric and Deysha watched them silently, recognising the walk of a group of people with something on their minds. Aric looked at his friend, but was rewarded with a shake of the head.

Comm chatter was at a minimum as the New Blood's left Station 421 on their first real live flight mission. Even Alton and Carson, normally the squadron's running mouth's, were silent as they flew their paired Y-Wing and Headhunter out through the station's magcon field.

"OK, everyone. Nice and simple mission to start with," Deysha commented. "We'll be making a jump to a nearby system, about twenty five light-minutes from here, running a long trench in pairs, then coming back to the station."

"Transmitting co-ordinates. As we're so close to the station, we'll all go together. Come to heading 291.2, and engage hyperdrives in five... four... three... two... one... Engage!"

Saar relaxed into his pilot's couch. He rubbed his shovel sized hands over his shoulders, trying to release the tension in his tight shoulder muscles.

Saar looked at his comm unit. Ta'a, his wingmate, was initiating a private conversation with him. He flicked the comm to private.

The countdown hit ninety seconds to reversion, and Deysha reached for the comm switch to broadcast squadron wide. With a jolt, he was thrown forward, and his hand smashed into one of the cockpit panels. Biting back a curse, he looked at his sensors, then out of the cockpit. A ball formed in his stomach, as he recognised the dagger like shape of an Imperial Star Destroyer, twinned with an Interdictor class cruiser.

"Bloods, break by wingpairs. Head for the edge of the gravity cone. Omega signal, repeat, omega signal!"

The comm erupted with nervous chatter. Aric's voice came over the top, issuing orders, soothing fears, coaxing more and more from the the fearful cadets. Deysha spun his B-Wing around as well, and then noticed a cloud of sensor blips erupting from the huge blobs of the capital ships. The Imperials had launched their TIE fighters.

Trapped deep inside the gravity well of the Interdictor, flying slower, less manoeuvrable craft, than their pursuers, the trainees of New Blood squadron were beginning to panic. Deysha knew that it was time to start issuing orders. Orders that could cost his cadets their lives.

"Y-Wings, fall back. Guard your wingmen. You've got better shields, you can take more hits. Headhunters, arm concussions missiles, just in case you get a chance."

Deysha cursed. The weaponry being carried by the squadron was on the light side. With planning, they'd have carried full loads of proton torpedoes into battle.

Deysha and Aric dropped their B-Wings into the rear of the formation, shielding the Y-Wings that shielded the Headhunters. Deysha flicked his comm over to private communication with Aric.

The TIEs closed to within two kilometres, and opened fire. Deysha thanked whatever provenance had kept TIE Defenders out of their way. The pursuing TIEs only seemed to have lasers, which at this range, sizzled against his shields, without causing much damage. Deysha knew, though, that it was a momentary respite. Soon, the TIEs would be close enough to do some real damage. He watched the range indicators, both for the oncoming TIEs, and to the edge of the mass shadow.

With the edge of the shadow still some five kilometres away, and the TIEs now at a klick and a half, he gave in.

"New Bloods," he ordered. "Turn, and engage the enemy. Use missiles and lasers. We have to burn, not shock."

Saar spun his Headhunter around, putting the ageing craft through a hard manoeuvre that flattened him against the side of his cockpit. The spin ended with his crosshairs directly over an oncoming TIE fighter. He fired even as the targeting computer bleeped a confirmation of a lock.

The TIE exploded spectacularly, and was accompanied by a cheer from one of the pilots. Saar guessed it was Carson. A grim smile formed on the Gran's face, as he accelerated through the slower Y-Wings, desperate to be out in front of the pack, without anyone to foul his sights. He'd learned his lesson in that regard, all those moons ago on Toprawa.

"Eighteen? Eighteen! Damn it. Bloods, fly by wingpairs. Shoot straight, and be strong in the Force. Lead out."

Ta'a Capti steered her Y-Wing through the oncoming TIEs, picking up assorted grazes and hits as the pilots of the Imperial fighters used the lumbering Y-Wings for target practise. She saw a lone Headhunter ahead, and realised it was Saar, her wingman. She tapped her comm.

"Eighteen, you are my wing. Drop back, and watch my tail. You have to guard me against these Sithspawn TIEs."

The tone of Ta'a voice cut through Saar's mind. He hauled back on his stick, turning to fly alongside the damaged Y-Wing.

Aboard the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer Hero's Fall, Captain Hlee Astol considered his options.

"Captain, it would appear they are a training squadron. There are ten Y-Wings, ten Headhunters, and two B-Wings, which probably are flown by the instructors."

"Then tell the Interceptors to go after the B-Wings. With the instructors gone, we have the entire squadron."

Saar trailed Ta'a through the furball, unable to fire, even when his crosshairs lit up with a lock. He couldn't risk his wingmate drifting in front of his fire, couldn't risk getting too locked in on a target. It had happened once before.

Saar had been one of the commandoes who'd attacked the Imperial citadel on Toprawa. As the best sniper, he'd mounted a nearby hill, and sighted in on the planetary Moff's office. The Moff was in the office with several subordinates, trying to control his defences as the New Republic troops decimated them

Saar was given release to fire at will, and had dialled in his first target. A single squeeze of the trigger had vaporised the chest of on of the Generals. Slight twitches on the gun had bought up new targets. Soon, Saar's shots had cut down the panicky officers. Only the Moff was left.

He had pulled her in front of him as Saar's finger squeezed the trigger. Saar had not seen the woman, concentrating as he was on the Moff.

The shot hit the woman in the throat, burning through, and slamming into the Moff's shoulder. The Moff released the woman, and Saar fired again, hitting the Moff clean in the face. Saar issued a 'Clear!' over his comm, and urged the med-team to get to the room.

Saar shook his head clear. The episode had eventually made him leave the commandoes. He'd signed up, some time later, for pilot training. And now here he was, once again in a situation where a wrong move could lead to death for an innocent.

Ta'a shrieked as the laser fire bought down her rear shields. She took a deep breath, and tried to bring her rear shields up by diverting power from her lasers and forward shields. Then a TIE dropped down in front of her and fired dual linked blasts into her forward shields from a kilometre away. She watched in horror as the shields contracted rapidly, before failing utterly as the TIE flashed past. She threw her ship into a desperate weave, in order to avoid as much fire as she could.

Saar tried to get the TIE in his sights, selecting missiles to be sure of a kill. The pilot was good, however, and skittered his craft around wildly. While he couldn't fire on Capti's ship, he couldn't be hit either.

Saar shut two of his eyes, unconsciously settling back into his sniper routine. He focussed on a single alley, directly ahead. He waited.

Ta'a dropped her Y-Wing in front of the TIE as her damaged craft began to lose handling.

The first missile detonated in the TIE's engines, vaporising the Imperial fighter. The second missile entered the fireball a split second later, but didn't explode. It accelerated out the other side, and slammed into the unshielded rear of Ta'a Capti's Y-Wing.

Deysha was tangling with a pair of Interceptors when one of the lights on his sensor board blinked off. He heard the animal like scream over his comm unit, and winced.

Aric heard the cry too as he vaped another Interceptor. He looked at his sensors, and realised the desperation of the situation. The New Blood's had lost one, and had several damaged. He keyed his comm.

"I know. Bloods, drop targets. Turn and unload on the drag ship. All missiles, fire when ready."

Hlee Astol winced as the enemy fighters launched their missiles. He quickly considered his options, and sighed.

"Captain," he said over the comm. "Divert power from the grav-projectors to the shields. You're going to take a pounding. We'll have to let the smugglers go for now." He turned to his comm specialist.

"Recall the fighters," he said. "Tell them to take down as many of those missiles as possible."

Deysha breathed a sigh of relief as the Imperial ships turned and accelerated away from the furball. He set his comm to squadron frequency, noting the name of the dead pilot as he did so.

The chorus of reports confirmed his sensor data. All the trainees had take battle damage, with the worst being that of Schwann Lay, whose Y-Wing had lost it's port nacelle and astromech.

He chided himself. The worst was the loss of Ta'a Capti. He reviewed the sensor data of the fight. Or maybe Saar Taas, he amended.

"Squadron, come to heading 138," Aric commanded. "Lay, we'll see how you do. If you can't make hyperspace, I'll hang around and help you, okay?"

Morale upon return to the station was as tattered as Schwann Lay's skin. The Corellian woman was pulled from the cockpit, her left leg ripped to shreds where a laser blast had pierced her ship.

Along with Doma P'Tay and Chinchenza, who'd sustained minor injuries, she was taken to the station's medbay.

Aric and Deysha sat in their office. They stared blankly at the reports they were trying to fill in, unable to decipher the meaning of what they'd experienced. Eventually, there was a chirp from the door.

"Come in," Deysha said, wearily. The door opened, and Saar Taas stepped into the office. He saluted, and the officers returned it.

"Yes. I have come to resign from the squadron. I can no longer put myself in a position where I am a danger to others."

"No, sir. You are aware of the incident on Toprawa, and now the same has happened again. Should it happen a third time, more innocents will die. I cannot risk that."

"Yes, sir" Saar replied. "A shuttle leaves for Coruscant tomorrow. I will be on it."

"I don't like losing pilots, Taas, so I have one last order for you. If you still wish to leave tomorrow morning, then I will accept your resignation." Saar paused before replying.

Saar's mask finally broke, and Deysha detected a hint of unhappiness in his expression. The Gran controlled it well, however.

"As you wish, sir," he replied, dully. He saluted, turned, and left. Deysha stared after him for a short while, before murmuring:

"It should be what you wish, Saar. Only by sharing these troubles do they get easier."

Saar first made his way to the lounge, where the pilot candidates could often be found. Today, it was dark. No-one was serving, no-one was drinking.

He walked slowly back to the sleep area. He'd been planning on spending the night aboard the shuttle, avoiding the rest of the trainees. He couldn't face them, not when they all knew by now that he'd killed one of them.

But Captain Johats had been right. He had to talk to these people. Either that, or he'd always wonder whether they blamed him.

He thought about going to his room first, but knew there was another room he had to walk into.

He tapped gently on the door of the room shared by Cha Pion and Tigris Fal. Until that morning, three people had slept there.

Hidden in the shadows, Anders Swali watched. He'd gotten to know Ta'a a little, and had liked her. Her death had hit him hard, and he wasn't sure how to cope. He knew Saar wasn't to blame, but felt an irrational jolt of anger when he saw the Gran. As he watched Saar enter the room, he sighed, and leant against the bulkhead.

The nineteen members of New Blood squadron were gathered in the tiny bunk room that was home to Cha Pion and Tigris Fal. The Bith female was the first to speak.

"I'm pleased we're all here," she said. "In the short time we've been together, I know not all of us could have gotten to know Ta'a, but I'd like to think we'll not forget her."

"There was something the three of us used to do some nights, and I think some of you may have heard us doing it," Tigris said. "Ta'a had a favourite Hapean melody that she liked to hear me play." The Bith pointed at her Dorenian Beshniquel, a jizz horn that Tigris had learned to play at a very young age.

"Tigris would play, Ta'a would sing, and I would dance. It was nice for me to remember that sometimes dancing could just be for fun."

The New Bloods looked at Cha carefully. She'd held herself closely at all times, never saying more than the bare minimum. To hear her speak of her former life on Ryloth, even in such an oblique manner, was unsettling.

"I have the words," Saar said, his first words since they'd all gathered. "I can send them to your datapads."

Tigris' Beshniquel played it's haunting melody. One by one, the men and women gathered in the room picked up the tune and sung. Saar Taas was the last to join in the singing, his gravelly voice adding a bass line to the song, and the men and women of New Blood squadron sung for the memory of their fallen comrade.