The Rebel Fairy

I wrote this for class a few semesters back and decided to share it. It's here for everyone to enjoy, but comments are always appreciated. FWIW I got the idea from a writing contest here on the boards ("A Rebel Fairy" was the theme), but missed the submission deadline.

Enough gum flapping, on with the story:

The Rebel Fairy
By: Kyle Baker


Lom looked over his shoulder as the wooded planet fell from view. He glanced at his instruments: Cabin pressure: Holding at one atmosphere. Fuel cells: 89%. Weapon pods: Armed, safeties engaged. The sky rapidly fell black as the X-Thing Starfighter rocketed beyond the atmosphere. Three minutes until the Imperial Death-Moon was in range and the attack would begin.

"This is Red leader. All points form up on me, Attack formation Alpha-deuce-niner." "Copy that. Alpha-deuce-niner locked in." replied Lom. The X-Thing listed to port as it moved into attack formation. Butterflies invaded his stomach as the Death-Moon glided onto the X-Thing's navigational display. "Deep breaths. Focus on relaxing thoughts." he told himself.

Suddenly the cabin began to fill with the noxious smell of chemical solvent. Lom forced himself to remain calm, and checked his instrument panel for warning lights. Nothing. "Um, Darryll? We may have a problem here, do you smell--" he stopped mid-sentence as he stared in disbelief at his gunner. "Are you painting your nails? "Pfft. Honey, queens paint, heroes polish." He held his manicured left hand up as evidence of impending herodom.

Darryll was new. He had only enlisted with the rebel army two months ago. His gunning scores had been incredible through his entry exam; markedly higher than anyone the review board had ever seen. It was on account of his marksmanship, a skill which the rebels badly lacked, that the board eventually agreed to make an exception and allow him to enlist. Soon after, they awarded Darryll the honor of 'Battalion's top marksman'. It was why he came to join the rebel cause that made everyone nervous. Darryll was a former member of the Imperial army. He had been mustered out under the new 'Don't ask, don't tell' program.

"Isn't it weird being on the other side?" Lom had asked one day after Darryll was assigned as his gunner. "I don't care who I'm shootin at," Darryll told him, "so long as the reporters catch my good side in the pictures." He then tossed his chin up and hair back in a dramatic pose. "I'm just really good at this. My momma always told me, find what I'm good at and do it."

"So why did you join the Imperials first?" Lom had asked.

"Their uniforms are fabulous. Walter Lanague designs them. The rebels have a whole... destitute bad-boy look." His hands moved dismissively across Lom's profile. "I mean, you pull it off... um... great. But its not for me." Something about the way he paused before 'great' had made Lom aware of how grungy his tattered flight suit had become.

Now, sitting in the cockpit of the ancient fighter craft, Lom felt a sense of pride. The Imperials had mistakenly let the greatest gunner in the universe slip through their fingers. Two minutes from now, the Imperial army would find out exactly how badly that mistake could hurt. All he had to do was get in range and let Darryll do the rest. Piece of cake, he hoped.

"Red-six calling Red-two. Red-two do you copy?"

"Go ahead Red-six" replied Lom.

"Hey you two looked really cute in those matching leather flight suits." quipped Miko, the squadron hot-shot. He was right. Darryll had bought a pair of flight suits from an old school friend. They were costumes from the movie, Battletrek Enterprise, and had been designed by Andraeus Givello. Lom had to admit, he looked pretty good in it.

"You get matching handbags too?" asked Leigha, Miko's gunner.

"Are you kiddin me?" Darryll asked in an uninterested manner before coolly continuing, "a hand bag would clash worse than you and Miko's matchin mustaches."

"Can it you guys, we have hostiles inbound. Red leader to all wings, prepare for combat." Three squadrons of Imperial TRI-fighters blipped to life on the radar. "Blue and gold squadrons, move to intercept. Red squadron continue on attack vector. Watch your wingman and keep an eye open for the laser towers on the Death-Moon's surface. Red leader out."

Scattered laser fire began to fill the air. Blue four let out a terrified scream before exploding into a ball of plasma and shrapnel. Darryll finished filing the nails on his gunning hand.

A lone TRI-fighter flew past and began firing on Red six. "I know you boys are watching my ass, but could you cover it too?" Miko radioed, "I'm lining up for my pass."

"Don't you worry Miko, your ass is too cute to waste." Darryll said as his turbo lasers roared to life. Bolts of coherent ruby light tore through the Imperial ship. "Now blow that moon to hell!"

Miko lined his X-Thing up with the reactor exhaust chute. The chute was the Death-Moon's only vulnerability, a long exhaust vent which connected the reactor core to the outside. It was also smaller than a Sulvarian Inex. Hitting it would be near impossible. Miko dove for the target through a maelstrom of turret fire. Leigha focused on the vent and released her payload. The bombs collided with a turret tower, missing the chute completely.

One after another the Red squadron fighters completed their passes over the chute. Each pass resulted in a spectacular explosion but none found their way down the chute. The radar screen pinged to life as five more squadrons of TRI-fighters launched into the fight. The hopes for a rebel victory were growing bleak.

"Red two, you have the last shot at this. No pressure or anything, but if you fail the rebels forces will be defeated. We'll keep these fighters off you as long as we can. Good luck."

"Thanks Red leader, we won't let you down." Replied Lom. He keyed off the radio and began his approach. "Hey Darryll. You can hit that chute, right?"

"Lom, I've been shootin loads down exhaust chutes longer than you've been flyin." Lom tried not to consider how else Darryll may have meant that. "Relax Lom, I have sooo got this."

Lom began to dive at the chute. Below, laser turrets spat fiery death at the X-Thing. Above, squadrons of X-Things and TRI-fighters fought in desperate combat. Inside the cockpit, Darryll took aim and fired the payload of bombs.

The entire rebel force held their breath.



"Screw you. Bigots."

A muffled "Poomfft" emitted from the chute. Moments later, a sudden fireball erupted from the opening. The entire Death-Moon began to crack apart. An internal ammunition store room exploded, and soon the Death-Moon was no more.

Back at base Lom and Darryll were welcomed as heroes. Reporters took photos of both Darryll's good side, and his better side. Lom received compliments on his stylish new look. During the celebration Miko congratulated Darryll personally.

"I could almost kiss you right now." He told Darryll.

Darryll smiled and winked, "If you don't ask, I won't tell."