Edited post to remove the contest submission part.  This work will be begin audio production soon.

The theme of the story is a message of acceptance, that no matter what you look like don't let others shame you for your appearance.

---

The stale air in the cantina clung thick with smoke and desperation. Zara Stormwind hunched over her untouched drink, fingers tightening around the grimy glass. Her hood was pulled low, shadowing the ruin beneath—the melted synth-flesh and twisted durasteel where her TIE fighter's console had exploded in her face. Imperial surgeons had patched her enough to survive, then tossed her out like defective gear.

"Lookin' for work, scrapheap?" A Rodian sneered from the next stool, his bulbous eyes fixed on her hidden profile. "Try the junkyards. They take anything broken." Laughter rippled through the nearby patrons. Zara didn’t flinch. She’d heard worse on Coruscant’s lower levels. Survival meant silence. Pride was a luxury she could not afford.

A figure slid into the seat opposite her—human, lean, with eyes that scanned the room like targeting sensors. "Ignore him," the stranger said, voice low but cutting through the cantina’s drone. "I’ve watched you since you walked in. Your posture. The way you move. That’s military discipline."

Zara kept her gaze fixed on her drink. "Ex-Imperial. Doesn’t mean much now."

"It does to us." The stranger leaned forward. "We need pilots who know Imperial tactics. Who aren’t afraid of tight maneuvers in a debris field."

A bitter laugh escaped Zara. "Look at me. You really want *this* face leading your squadron?"

"We want skill. Courage." The stranger’s tone hardened. "The Empire discarded you for scars. We fight because they discard *everyone* who doesn’t fit their mold."

Zara’s hand trembled. She hadn’t flown since the accident. Hadn’t dared. But the hunger in her gut wasn’t just for food—it was for the stars, for the control she’d lost. "What’s the pay?"

"Enough to eat. To live." A datachip slid across the table. "And a chance to make the Empire regret throwing you away."

Outside, Coruscant’s endless night thrummed with speeders and sirens. Zara palmed the chip, its edges digging into her skin. The Rebellion. The *enemy*. Yet here they were, offering her wings again. She pulled her hood tighter and stepped into the neon glare, the chip containing secret Rebel information burning a hole in her pocket.


***

The Endor system blazed with chaos. Green turbolaser fire crisscrossed the void like poisoned rain. Zara’s B-wing, *Scarlet Phoenix*, shuddered as she banked hard around the skeletal wreckage of an Alliance Mon Calamari cruiser. "Blade Squadron, form up!" Her voice crackled over the comm, steady despite the adrenaline clawing at her throat. "Stay low. Follow my vector." Three other B-wings slid into formation behind her, engines screaming as they skimmed the belly of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer *Iron Fist*.

"Shields concentrated forward, Commander!" yelled her wingman, Jax. "They’re ignoring us!"

"They won’t for long." Zara’s targeting reticule danced over the Destroyer’s massive shield generator dome. Her hands flew across the controls—a symphony of thrusters and torpedo locks. "Arm proton bombs. On my mark… *Now!*" Four pairs of crimson orbs streaked upward, punching through the weak ventral shields. The generator detonated in a silent, blooming flower of white-hot plasma. The *Iron Fist* lurched, its lights flickering like dying stars.

***

On Endor’s forest moon, victory tasted of woodsmoke and spilled Corellian ale. Jubilant rebels hugged, danced, and shouted beneath the towering trees. Jax shoved a foaming tankard into Zara’s hand, his grin splitting his face. "Tore its guts out, Commander! Never seen flying like that!" Around them, pilots from her flight clapped her shoulders, their eyes bright with awe—not a flicker of revulsion at the scarred skin revealed when her hood fell back during the celebration.

***

Zara stood apart for a moment, the cool night air sharp against her exposed cheek. The synth-flesh felt rough, alien… but no longer shameful. A young Twi’lek mechanic, her own lekku marked by an old blaster burn, approached hesitantly. "Commander Stormwind?" she whispered. "My brother… he was on the *Redemption*. You saved them." Her gaze held Zara’s, unwavering. "Thank you." She touched her own scarred temple—a mirror, a salute. Zara’s breath hitched. The Empire saw only damage. Here, they saw courage etched in flesh. For the first time from then on, she didn’t pull her hood up.

Very interesting!

Tanna Lightchaser  is a name of someone in one of my old "commercial parodies." Did you get the name from there? It's ok if you did.

You are the first person to enter the current competition. Good luck!

"Artifact of Vengeance" has been up for a couple of weeks now.  I've been making minor modifications to the forum website, and doing my best to promote things as best I can, as I currently take a break from narrating and sound editing.  But that break won't be for long!

Since we haven't had any new fanfiction posts on the forum lately (I'm working to change that, so that it isn't all just mine), I'm going to announce a fanfiction writing contest on social media. It will be open to the public, but they must register for the forum and submit their fics in the audio production consideration thread, and be subject to the writing requirements therein.

This, of course, is intended to get new members onto the forum, but also generate listener interest and do what we strive for here as HoloNet Audio - the expression of creative imagination. 

I will have a STAR WARS fanfic contest soon, and then down the road will probably to a STAR TREK one, as well.  Rules for those will be the same, and will be posted in that same thread, stickied at the top, when ready.

Artifact of Vengeance - a STAR WARS fan audio production

Two force-sensitive fugitives, on the run from the New Jedi Order, seek refuge on the derelict world of Moraband, once known during ancient times as Korriban - homeworld of the extinct Sith species. Setting up camp in an old Sith Temple in the Valley of the Dark Lords, they find a holocron that does not appear to be as ancient as the rest of the surroundings.

https://youtu.be/l-DaNCfKtI4