Episode II - Full Stop - Part 8

“Deflector power at 15-percent. Rerouting life-support to deflectors!”

Captain Sarcune curled his lip and pulled on his beard. The Absolute couldn’t take much more, but they had no target to fire upon. The enemy had somehow been able to essentially act like a one-ship fleet, pummeling The Star Destroyer from all sides. Apart from retreat, the only logical tactic was to either continue putting up diminishing defenses while waiting for an opening, or waste fire in a blind spray, hoping to get lucky. Sarcune did not believe in luck, but he believed in his men. And he believed in The Absolute.

“Can we jump to hyperspace?” asked Sarcune.

“Not without lowering deflectors,” said the nav-officer. “Primary power is too diminished. We’d certainly take direct hits.”

“If we stay here, we’re dead anyway,” said Sarcune. “Plot a course. We need a new strategy. Recall all remaining fighters! Once they’re aboard, we jump.”

“Course set,” said the nav officer. The Absolute was rocked again as blaster bolts slammed into the deflectors.

“Where are our fighters?” demanded Sarcune.

“Vardis can’t break off. She’s covering Junto, who is being pursued by Vultures!”

“Put her on speaker,” said Sarcune.

“Captain!” it was Vardis. The distress in her voice was tempered, but evident. “Get The Absolute out of here. Junto and I won’t be able to make it back without pursuit, and you need to get the ship a safe distance from that monster!”

“We’re not leaving you alone out here!” roared Sarcune.

“They’re not alone!” Reidus Kain’s voice broke over the channel. “Vardis is right, Captain. If you can get away, do it! No telling what Bondi and his men were able to accomplish, but as long as that droid ship keeps moving like that, it’s like The Absolute is just target practice!”

Sarcune clenched his fist, straining the skin, threatening to drive his nails into his palms. He was never one to run from a fight, and especially not when it meant leaving his men behind. There had to be a better way. But he considered the rest of his crew, and knew he had to make a tough decision or risk losing even more them. He resolved to give the order to jump, when he was interrupted.

“Captain, the droid command ship! It’s stopped jumping. It’s at our starboard!” No sooner had the attentive scan-tech said the words than blaster fire from the droid ship slammed into the starboard deflectors.

“Deflectors at 5 percent, Captain!”

For a moment, Sarcune considered that this could be a trick to lure the Absolute into committing to a starboard attack. Regardless, he had no choice.

“Reroute primary power to the starboard deflectors. Weapons, can we get a lock?”

“We have lock! Proton torpedoes are ready to fire on your command.”

“Fire all volleys!” shouted Captain Sarcune.

The torpedoes launched from their tubes. Sarcune held his breath. The bridge joined his silence. For a moment, it seemed as if nothing moved. The crew stood frozen still, listening for a report from weapons control.

“Direct hit! All torpedoes, direct hit!”

The bridge exploded in cheers. Sarcune allowed himself a slight grin, but didn’t hesitate in issuing his next command, shouting above the din. Before he could get the words out, another volley of blaster fire slammed into The Absolute from the Droid Command ship. Despite no longer jumping from position to position, the damned ship was still able to unleash fury.

“Deflectors are gone, sir!”

“All starboard batteries, fire! Launch all standby fighters, and tell them to focus on that command ship! Ignore interceptors! Bring down that relic!” Sarcune abandoned his thoughts of flight. No telling if the abilities of the enemy were permanently crippled, but if not, this might be the only chance to crush this ghost of a past war. “Helm, turn us toward that ship. Let’s show them the face of the Empire!”

***

Reidus Kain saw the explosions as the proton torpedoes slammed into the droid ship above him. His heart leapt into his throat, and he yelled out a whoop. A tingle down his spine brought him back into the moment. A Vulture droid screamed at him from the darkness. Kain rolled through the blaster fire, twisting his V-19 through cold combat space. Bolts of energy drained his deflectors, striking one of his thrusters. Kain felt the effects right away, as his maneuverability was cut in half.

“I got you covered, Commander!” Solay Vardis’ voice came across the comms. She drew down on the Vulture and squeezed the trigger, twin bolts of green energy ripping the artificially-intelligent ship into useless scrap.

“Nice shot!” said Kain. He was interrupted by communication from The Absolute’s Flight Controller.

“New Orders! All wings, focus fire on the Droid Command ship. Reserve wings, launch immediately!”

“Acknowledged,” said Solay Vardis. “All wings, this is acting Wing Commander Vardis. Commander Kain is back in the fight. I am relinquishing command to him.”

Kain didn’t pause for formalities. “All wings, report!”

“This is Bardox and Gamma Wing.”

Kain was surprised to be pleased to hear the new transfer’s voice. Despite their cultural differences, he knew Bardox and his cohorts were good to have in his corner.

“This is Stromb and Delta Wing. Welcome back, Commander!”

“Stromb, what’re you flying?”

“Delta Wing is pushing Y’s” said Stromb.

“Delta, that Droid Ship is still wielding deflectors. You’ve gotta get close and pop their generator. Junto, join up with Delta Wing. Gamma Wing, cover them. Take out any Vultures who pursue. Vardis, you’re with Gamma.”

“What’s your play. Commander?” asked Vardis.

“My Torrent is done. I’m going back to The Absolute to trade up,” said Kain. “You all have your orders. Execute!”

“Delta Wing, acknowledged,” said Stromb.

“Gamma Wing, acknowledged,” said both Vardis and Bardox.

Kain bit his lip and turned toward The Absolute, limping back under whatever power the crippled ship could muster.

“Flight Deck, this is Commander Kain. I need a ship prepped and ready for immediate launch as soon as I land,” said Kain.

“This is Flight Deck. Acknowledged.”

“Commander Kain to Captain Sarcune. Dolan and the remaining crew of the Bold Born are still down there, on the ship, and I think our enemy knows they are. Lieutenant Bondi and his marines are on mission, probably responsible for our opening, but I don’t know their status.”

“Understood, Commander,” replied Sarcune. “I’ll send backup ASAP.”

Kain brought his V-19 up through the atmospheric shield of The Absolute and maneuvered into landing position. He popped the canopy and launched himself out of the damaged fighter, running to the Deck Chief, who was shouting orders to the flight crews. Kain realized that there were fires and wreckage strewn about. A wrecked Vulture Droid lay broken in a corner of the deck.

“Chief, what happened?” asked Kain.

“One of those droids got through our defensive battery,” said the Deck Chief, a middle-aged man with bulky forearms and a paunch hiding under his uniform named Alton Quincy. “Damn droid took out three fighters before we were able to put it down.”

Kain looked around the hangar. The droid had destroyed the last two Torrents on the deck, as well as the last Y-wing. Upon closer inspection, Kain noticed something strange that lined up with an earlier theory.

“The TIEs. There are two on deck, open targets. And between the destroyed ships,” said Kain.

“What?” The Deck Chief was distracted. He didn’t have time to evaluate Kain’s reasoning.

“Nevermind,” said Kain. “Point me at my ship.”

“Pick one,” said the Chief, motioning towards the TIE Fighters. “They’re prepped and ready to go.”

Kain shook his head, and ran toward the odd looking fighter. He climbed up the ladder to the top of the ball-shaped control pod, and dropped in. Just like the simulator, he thought to himself. He looked to either side. The large, dark panels used to vent heat from the twin ion-engines completely obscured his peripheral vision. “Ridiculous,” he thought to himself. He knew, from the simulator, that there were proximity alarms in place to make up for the obstructed line-of-sight, but it was a cold comfort. A quick systems check reminded him that he also had no shields to speak of.

“Don’t forget this, Commander!” came a voice above him. A deck-mechanic was looking down at Kain from the hatch, handing him a black flight helmet.

Kain took the new piece of gear, designed specifically for TIE pilots, and placed it over his head, sealing it to his flight suit. The TIE had no built in life support – The flight suit was what would keep him alive in the blackness of space. He connected the auxiliary cables to his chest plate and the internal displays lit up. The helmet synced with his TIE fighter’s control panel seamlessly. Kain started to understand the appeal. He felt like he was part of the TIE itself. He fired up the engine, and received clearance for launch. The scream of the engines wasn’t as intense within the command pod, and the controls felt intuitive, but very sensitive. He barely touched the stick, and the TIE lurched forward. He adjusted the pressure, and moved out over the bay shield. Pulling the altitude control, Kain dropped down through the blue atmosphere shield, then engaged the TIE’s forward thrust. Kain smiled inside his helmet, despite himself. He had grown accustomed to the feel of his V-19, but the power and speed he felt from the TIE was encouraging.

“Wings, report!” he said over the comms. The Droid Command ship was erupting with blaster fire, spitting green bolts through space.

“Commander! This is Vardis! We’ve lost two from Delta Wing! We can’t get near that thing, and it keeps sending out Vultures! We can’t keep them off our Y’s!”

“Any losses for Gamma? Bardox?”

“We are here all, Commander,” replied Bardox. “Vardis is correct. The enemy is overwhelming us. We need more fighters.”

“I may have an idea,” spoke up a new voice. “This is Tallsun in Gamma 03. I suggest we change targets with Delta Wing.”

“You took the words out of my mouth,” said Kain. “But we need an opening. Delta, pull back to point 3. The Droids are going to follow you. Reroute your weapon power to deflectors, and get as many of them to trailing you as possible. Delta, follow me. Captain Sarcune, can you hear me?”

“Go ahead, Commander,” replied Sarcune.

“For some reason, the Vulture’s don’t see the TIE’s, either because they’re too new, or some other reason. At this point, I don’t care why. The Y’s are going to lead the Vultures around The Absolute and into our battery fire. Meanwhile, Gamma and I are going in to take down that Command Ship.”

“Understood,” said Sarcune. “Execute your plan.”

“You heard the Captain,” said Kain. “Delta, good luck. Gamma, follow me!”

The TIEs turned towards the droid ship, which was still firing upon The Absolute. They faced no resistance, and in fact, passed some newly released Vultures as they screamed towards the Star Destroyer.

“Target the shield generators…and fire!” called out Kain. The five TIE fighters spat out their green death, unobstructed by any resistance. The focused energy bolts tore a hole through the remaining weakened deflectors, then slammed into the exposed generator. The power source exploded into brilliant orange flame that died almost instantly in the airless space. Gamma peeled off as one, coming around for another pass.

“Kain, pull your men back,” said Sarcune over the comms. “Proton torpedoes incoming!”

“Acknowledged!” said Kain, leading Gamma Wing away from the capital ship. The torpedoes, unhindered by deflectors, exploded in a fury of light, sending shockwaves through the whole of the Droid ship. Kain and the TIEs turned to watch the destruction. The droid ship stopped firing, tilting off its axis. The center pod buckled, then cracked open like an egg hitting the floor, spilling flame and debris and droid-crew into space.

“Well done, Commander,” said Sarcune with a sigh. “Delta Wing reports that the Vultures have ceased pursuit. Come back and clean ‘em up before they reset and default to a failsafe AI.”

“Yes sir,” said Kain, with a smile. “Gamma, let’s have some target practice.”