5BBY
Utapau
"Bat! An imperial pilot is here. He came here in a shuttle. Alone. He says he needs help." A Pau'an soldier tells Bat as he walks into the command center.
"Bring him here." Bat orders.
Ian, Wesley and Four look at each other and Bat around the command center and wait patiently as 2 Pau'an soldiers march a man in a Tie fighter pilot uniform in.
"Remove his helmet." Bat says and the Pau'ans take his helmet off.
A brown haired man looks up at Bat.
"Rebels." He says.
"Who are you?" Bat asks.
"My name is Jon Vander." The pilot says.
"Jon Vander?" Commander Mora asks as he walks in.
"Huh?" Jon turns around to look at the Onderonian commander.
"Jon!" Mora yells.
"You 2 know each other?" Bat asks.
"Hell yeah. We're old friends. He's a fellow Onderonian." Mora says.
"Why are you here?" Four asks Jon.
"The empire asked something of me I couldn't do. I realized that the empire was not the place for me. So I left." Jon says.
"What made you realize that?" Wesley asks.
"They asked me to bomb my home planet, Onderon. I couldn't. I faked a malfunction in my Fighter and I escaped. I made my way here before the shuttle ran out of fuel and crashed in the plains. I walked the rest of the way here." Jon says.
"You a good pilot?" Ian asks.
"Yeah I'm a good pilot." Jon says.
"Could you help us hone our flying skills?" Bat asks.
"I suppose so. What kinda ships you got?" Jon asks.
"A mix. We're more acquainted with Y-wings and bombers though." Bat tells him.
"I can work with you." Jon says.
"Let him go." Wesley tells the Pau'ans and they release him from his binders.
"You sure we can trust you?" Bat asks.
"Yes sir." Jon nods.
Bat nods to him.
"Alright. Mora, you're responsible for him." Bat says.
"Copy that." Mora says and he and Jon walk off.
"That was an odd way to start off the day." Four hisses.
"I have a feeling it'll only get odder." Bat says.
A few hours pass and Bat walks outside where Jon was standing around with the other Onderonian pilots that was already a part of the squad.
"General Spacespawn, has tasked me with training you how to fly. Let's start out with basic fighters first before we move onto things like bombers and interceptors." Jon says.
"Ian, you're up first. Show him what you can do." Bat tells Ian and pats him in the back as he walks past.
"Ian. Nice to meet you." Jon says and shakes Ian hand and they walk over to 2 parked X-wing fighters.
"What do you know about flying?" He asks.
"I know quite a bit. I was a pilot in the clone war and I flew Y-wings and V-19s many times along with my Jedi starfighter." Ian tells him.
"Good. This should be easy then. I'll lead you in the first Fighter and you follow in the second. Lieutenant Verlaine will fly alongside you in his A-wing." Jon says.
"Sounds easy enough." Ian says.
A man in a grey flight suit and a flight helmet with grey markings climbs into the A-wing and nods to Jon and Ian. Jon puts on a basic white flight helmet with the Onderonian rebel emblem on it on his head as Ian climbs into the fighter. The engines roar to life and the 3 fighters lift off the ground and fly into the air.
"Just like how I remember!" Ian yells.
"Let's see what you can do!" Job yells.
"Right, boss." Ian says.
"Do some rolls. Lieutenant, you might wanna spread out from him for this." Jon says.
"Copy that." Verlaine says and slowly decreases speed and falls behind Ian as he does a few rolls in the fighter and such.
"Very good." Jon says.
His droid beeps a little and he chuckles.
"How about we try a strafing run. I'll demonstrate." Jon says and dives down toward the ground.
He pulls up ever so slightly as he squeezes the trigger and the blaster cannons rip apart the ground. He pulls up more and he flies back into the air.
"You turn!" Jon yells to Ian.
"Come on Ian, you got this." Bat tells him.
They watched the fighters fly around in the air and Ian turns and dives toward the ground. He squeezes the trigger as he pulls up slightly and watches the ground get blasted apart.
"Ian pull up! Pull up!" Jon yells.
Ian tries pulling up but it was too late. The bottom of his fighter hits the ground and one of the thrusters's smashes into a rock and starts smoking. The fighter shakes and it slams into the ground, bouncing a few times, ripping off 2 wing and 3 of the cannons. It finally comes to a halt as the dented fighter lay in the plains smoking. The cockpit was cracked and the controls sparked. Ian coughs a little and he looks up. He force pushes the cockpit window off and slowly climbs out. He falls down the side of the fighter and hits the ground, grunting. He looks up as several local Amani start walking over to look at the strange situation. Ian ignites one of his purple blades as he stands up, holding his right side. The Amani scream and scurry off. He deactivates his lightsaber then limps away from the fighter before he drops onto the ground. His droid ejects from the socket and it rolls over. He beeps wildly and watches as Jon and Verlaine land their fighters and run over toward Ian.
"He's alive. His leg feels broken, along with a few ribs." Verlaine says.
"We need to get him back to base. Jon to Bat, we need a speeder out here now." Jon yells him.
"Copy that. We're coming." Bat says.
Ian is eventually taken to the medical center and the X-wing is dragged back to base for the mechanics to work on. Jon continued his training that day with the rest of the pilots. No more incidents followed. The next day they would be working on flying Y-wing bombers then after that A-wing fighters/interceptors. Bat and the rest of his men walked back toward their living quarters and he high fives Four then Abo.
"That was great guys! Four, I never knew you were such a skilled pilot!" Bat yells.
Four hisses.
"Neither did I." He says.
"That's bullshit. Flying The Lobster is probably what helped you. That's what helped me." Abo says.
Bat chuckles.
"Get some rest guys. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Bat says.
"Copy that, Bat Leader." Abo salutes and walks off with Four.
Bat walks into his living quarters and looks around. The room was lit with candles and he looks up at Fernanda who was laying on the bed waiting for him.
"Good evening, love." She smiles.
Bat smirks.
"Wh-what is all of this?" He asks.
"I was thinking we could celebrate." She says standing up and walking over to him.
"Celebrate what?" He asks.
"All of your success." She smiles and puts her arms around his neck.
He looks down at her smiling.
"What about the kids? They're just in the next room." Bat nods his head over to a door.
"No they aren't. I had Mute take them out hunting." She smiles.
"Well..." Bat says smiling and looking down at her.
"Well?" She asks and smirks.
"If you Insist, my love." Bat says and kisses her on the lips.
She leads him over to the bed.
"At least you aren't wearing that clunky armor today." She smiles.
"That one time." Bat says as he slowly removes his flight suit, exposing his black body glove beneath.
Fernanda wraps her arms around him and they fall into bed. He places his hands on her waist as they embrace in a kiss.
"I love you, Fernanda Knappen." Bat says.
"I love you, Chodo Spacespawn." She says and kisses him again as he helps her remove her clothing and she helps to remove his body glove.
Chip walks around outside carrying a datapad with a shipment of ship parts listed. He prepares to knock on the door as his listens. He slowly lowers his hand and gingerly puts his ear against the door.
"Ok....I guess this can wait until in the morning." He says.
He walks over to a Sullustan who stood by a freighter with several workers unloading crates.
"He's um...a little busy now. He'll sign it first thing in the morning. Feel free to stay here overnight if you wish." Chip tells the sullustan.
The sullustan looks Chip up and down then watches as Pau'an soldiers and other rebels walk back and forth in the distance.
"No need. It's a gift, rebels." The sullustan nods and smiles at Chip as he takes the datapad and walks back into the freighter.
Chip smiles and watches as they continue to carry crates out. A few were marked with weapons and food and some with medical supplies. The rest were all marked with the ordered spare vehicle parts. Mawn waddles over. He looks at Chip then at the crates and smiled.
"Oooh! They finally came!" He yells and scurries over to the crates.
Chip chuckles and watches the little Utai enjoy himself while looking at the new parts before carrying them one by one to the workshop where he and the other mechanics worked on the old ships and other vehicles.