Pre ANH Roleplay: The Start!!!

[ADarkJedi44]

The Chronicle came out of hyperspace in the Mon Calamari system. The pilots of Green and Blue squadrons immediatly ran towards their fighters. They had been on high alert, as a threat to Mon Calamari had been developing acording to intelligence and reconissance. A large Rebel force still remained at the asteroid base, and would have to be brought up. They most likely wouldn't arrive in time to affect the battle.

It apperaed the situation favored the Rebels, though the Imperials doubtlessly had more forces waiting. The Chronicle had been pulled out by the interdictor and was moving to attack the Imperials from behind. Meanwhile the Mon Calamari cruisers appeared to be superior to the two ISDs. The interdictor was sulking around and the Lancer frigate was moving to menance the fighters.

Meanwhile the Rebel fighters appeared to be in need of help. The TIE force was quite overwhelming. Green and Blue squadrons could be of great help. TIEs immediatly moved to counter them. If the X-wings were let lose in the aft of the ISDs, they could cause major chaos. That will release some pressure from the other pilots....

 

OOC: Ok Thrawn call in more ships or whatnot....

[AdmiralFishface]

OOC: Yup, but be aware my ridiculously superior tactics are going to destroy any ship that dares enter this system [enter mad laugh here]!

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

The Calamari Cruisers were forming into a position that would allow them to assail the Star Destroyers from two sides similtainiously, splitting the firepower into managable ammounts. In the distance the fifth and largest ship of the rebel fleet could be seen, most likely the command ship.

Because of their lighter fire power the two light cruisers were slightly ahead of the heavy cruisers, but thier position below the horison of the Star Destroyers opened them to less direct fire.

"Commander, contact the Black Asp and have her direct the gravity well cone behind the heavy cruisers."

"Sir, the rebels are defending and they have superior numbers. Surely they won't attempt to escape."

"Do as you are ordered commander," Thrawn replied, his glacial tone silencing all conversation on the bridge, "and do not question my orders."

Without word Commander Gherant relayed the orders to the Black Asp. Though there was no visable indication that the order had been followed Thrawn knew that the Asp's crew had been anticipating the command.

"Prepare to initiate a blind hyper-jump commander. Head directly into the gravity well."

There was a brief flash as the ship momentarily entered hyperspace,then the stars collapsed again, this time with a bone jarring shudder. On cue the gunnery crews of both the Judicator and the Visage opened fire on the rebel ships that were now behind them. For a brief second there was the image of two Star Destroyers on the aft sensors light cought up with them. Behind the heavy cruisers the smaller Calamari ships were struggling to adapt to the unexpected change in direction.

Bringing up the rear were the Squadrons of TIE FIghters and Bombers that had been left behind when the Star Destroyers had jumped.

"Bring us around commander. We don't want our tails facing the rebels for too long."

The sounds of return fire could already be heard, the faint hissing of pure energy being obsorbed by the shields. Thrawn noted that the gravity well was no longer being directed towards them and was now at it's original position.

"Your move, Admiral."

 

OOC: What calss is the Chronicle? I can't remember? Also, we ware that interdictor! While they are slow, they are in no way defenceless. They are the equivilant of a VSD!

[ADarkJedi44]

OOC: Chronicle is a strike cruiser. Modified to be more powerful I belive. Considering the interdicor was used in your manuvers I'd assume it would be trying not to engage to avoid being destroyed....

 

The manuver was surprising, but in no way devestating. The Chronicle and Mon Calamari cruisers quickly moved to counter it. The Rebels still had superior capitol ships. Meanwhile the TIEs had been left behind. Without their big ships to cover them, they were suddenly very vulnerable. As the Rebel fleet began to manuver, they fired a volley at the masses of TIEs.

Thirsty for kills, the X-wings dived down upon the now disorganized TIEs. Due to the massive amount of TIEs, a few groups moved to assist their mother ships, but many were attacked by the Rebel fighters. Evan led his squadrons in an attempt to pin down as many as possible. Kills were scored but Evan in general tried to keep the TIEs from escaping. The longer they were kept their, the better their chances of being destroyed.

Seeing a trio of TIEs attacking Green Seven, Evan and his wingmate dived upon them. Evan put one of the TIEs in his crosshairs, but it escaped. Evan saw Green Two score a kill and the other TIE swerve off. Determined not to let his prey escape, Evan quickly manuvered behind it. It attempted evasive manuvers, and even manage to roll and move to attack the X-wing. It came in on a frontal attack, and Evan cooly fired as it approched him. The pilot would not cheat death twice.

Meanwhile the Imperial commander was proving himself, managing to hold his own against superior forces. Nevertheless, the Rebels also had a good man in command....

[Mad78]

OOC: The Chronicle is a moddified Strike Cruiser. It now has Ion Cannons and a bit more firepower. And can carry several fighter squadrons.

 

IC: "It appears our unknowen Commander has struck again. Order the fighters to condense the enemy fighters. Our fighters are to stay on the rim and just stop them from escaping." ordered Merick

The squadrons of X-Wings obeyed the order by circling the tie squadron and destroying any fighters that exited. The tie squadrons were now a giant mass trying to avoid collisn with each other.

"Ion Cannons are to aim for the center of the formation and open fire."

The Ion cann ons of the Chronicle opened fire on the Enemy fighters. One Cannon scored a direct hit on a Tie which imediatly exploded. The plan was working perfectly, the chabces of hiting the ties was small but the fact that they were unshielded meant that they just needed to be within ten meters of the blast to be destroyed or deactivated. Certain ties crashed into each other as they tried to avoid the blast.

"Cease fire! Tel Rechtmann to bring his fighters in."

The X-Wings dived into the enemy formation firing topedoes and blast of lasers. Merick left Rechtmann to his duties. Now he had to concetrate on another menace.

"Pilot, set a Hyperspace jump and engage." understanding the maneouver the pilot asked no questions and the ship jumped. Not even a second later the ship exited Hyperspace right above the Interdictor.

"Open Fire. Aim for the generator domes."

All the chronicle's guns opened fire simultaneously. The blast of pure energy crashed onto the shields of the ship which collapsed. The two domes exploded.

"Open a link with the ship." ordered Merick. A few seconds later a holographic image of a short man wearing the costume of a Imperial captain appeared.

"You have no more Shields Captain. I recommend you surrender imediatly. Otherwise we will be obliged to open fire onto you bridge."

[AdmiralFishface]

"...so that's what they had the Interdictor for..."

"Sir?" the captain, a brown-colored Mon Cal, asked. Ackbar shook his head.

"I was merely talking to myself, Captain." It was time for a change of tactics. "Direct our bombers to attack along these vectors." he said, typing on the keypad of the holoscreen. as the vector appeared onscreen, the captain looked at Ackbar, surprised. "You are directing them into the thick of enemy firepower?"

"The destroyers won't hit them if they keep erratic maneuvers. They themselves, on the other hand, are hard to miss. One more thing..."

 

The Calamari cruisers, halfway turned around to face the Star Destroyers again, stopped firing on the larger ships for a while to redirect fire into the gap between the Judicator and Visage, making it a bad place for TIE fighters to be. Only one TIE was actually hit, but a lot of them panicked, pulling out of the zone or engaging in a series of random maneuvers to stay alive. from above, the rebel bomber squadrons sped in, covered by the newly-arrived reinforcement fighters.

 

Light cruiser Shadow, being more nimble than any other capital ship in the engagement zone, had turned around and once more began an approach on the destroyers from below. As the Calamari cruisers closed in with the destroyers and directed their fire into their shields, the Bombers fired waves of proton torpedoes into the Visage's shield facing the Judicator, the one less powered in order to redirect power to the side facing the Calamari cruisers, still pounding on her.

 

The first wave of torpedoes hit the destroyer's shields, causing a brilliant fireball. Returning fire from the destroyers had killed two Y-Wings, but the losses were still acceptable. Cruiser Mon Celasi had suffered partial shield failure and was slowly pulling away from the Judicator now, rolling to expose less damaged shields. The second wave of torpedoes killed the shields on this side of the destroyer, five or six impacted on the hull already. The fighters withdrew, knowing the Imperials had probably already thought of a plan to hit them and hurt them badly, should they attempt another run like this. They concentrated on the TIEs which were beginning to come after them.

 

This was Shadow's cue to suddenly break and dive upwards between the enemy ships, constantly rolling. It poured fire at the unprotected hull of the Visage, dealing heavy damage. Being much smaller than the destroyers, it was not as easily hit, and the turbolaser fire from Judicator that missed it impacted on Visage's hull as well.

 

Shadow took heavy shield damage, but managed to come out of the crossfire relatively unharmed, whereas Visage had by now lost the shield on the other side as well, and took heavy damage from the Liberty and Mon Sartah.

 

OOC: Witness... the birth of the Ackbar slash!

 

EDIT: Ooops, didn't know Mad was going to post. should have put a placeholder in there. I take it the Chronicle has taken out the Interdictor? Well, that doesn't conflict with my part too well, does it?

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

OOC: Question: How did the shields on the Visage drop? I am at a loss. When last I posted, the two smaller ships were well ahead of the larger Mon Cals, with the ISDs behind them. Aslo, there are no fighters with the Judicator and Visage. The 144 fighters (72, TIES, 72 Bombers) were moving to attack your light cruisers. As for the Interdictor, she is currently avoiding contact with the Chronicle though when she does engae, the battle will not be short. As for the Chronicle its self, her armament could not be too greatly increased if she is modified to cary several squadrons of fighters. ISDs carry 6 squadrons, so if a Strike Cruiser is modified to cary more than that, a large section of her hull would be missing to accomidate the new docking bay. I also believe you are over-estimating the fire power of the heavy Mon Cal cruisers.

 

IC: The Rebel light cruiser continued it's spinning slash upwards between the Judicator and the Visage, firing its turbolasters as it went. A few of the shots fired by the Judicator missed and splashed agains the shields of the Visage, though little damage was done.

The shift in tactics was unexpected, but costly. Even as the light cruiser pulled away the TIE Bombers that were trailing it continued to fire heavy munitions into its drive section. Now clear of the two Star Destroyers, it had begun a slow turn, ceasing it's spinning to come about. It was too late. The combined forward firepower of the Imperial Star Destroyers opened up on the already weakened aft section of the ship, collapsing shields and vaprozing mettle. The engines flashed sever times and then cut out all together. Still more energy was poured into the aft section until whisps of atmosphere could bee seen escaping.

"Commander, have the fighters harrying that cruiser break off and concentrate on the other light cruiser. Let's see how they handle two flights of bombers and fighters atackign them."

The small silver specs that were the fighters and bombers could be seen maneuvering away to engage the second light cruiser.

A look at the tactical display showed that the new arrival, the same Stike Cruiser that had raided Kessel, had dropped out of hyperspace just aft of the Black Asp, but was making no move to engage. The Lancer Frigate was ensuring that any fighters that ventured too close regretted it. At the moment the Chronicle was too far out of combat to be of any great threat.

Both Star Destroyers had completed thier turn and were now facing the two MC-80 cruisers before them. Fighters could be seen flitting around the light cruiser, occasional flashing indicating the loss of life. Most like a TIE pilot.

Even farther away could be seen the red flashes from the Cronicle, it's turbolasers destroying the TIEs from the Black Asp.

The disabled light cruiser was also visable on the tactical display, drifting slowly away from the battle, carried by it's momentum.

The Judicator and the Visage began a slow rotation to port, moving the enemy ships into the relative "up" position, and allowing a greater number of weapons to fire upon the vessels.

"Sir," Commander Gherant said softly, standing behind Thrawn, "perhaps we should call in reenforcements?"

A smile slowly spread across Thrawn's face. "Have faith, commander. Things ar enot always as they seem.

 

 

****

 

 

The three Stormtrooper Transports arrived at their destiniation, moving docking silenly with the disabled light cruiser. They had drifed towards it using only thier maneuvering jets, hiding in the debris from the drive section. As the final magnetic clamp locked on, a laser torch began cutting a hole through the hull. They had latched on to what was once an inside wall, but was now exposed to vacuum. Once the hole was cut, the three squads of Stormtroopers and boarding crews would go about taking the ship, and effecting sufficient repares. The same process was being executed aboard the two other transports affixed to the drifting vessel.

[AdmiralFishface]

OOC:

I also believe you are over-estimating the fire power of the heavy Mon Cal cruisers.

 

Okay, maybe I am, so the Visage is not as damaged as I said, let's just carry on from there. I also got confused with where all the fighters actually were.

 

But I just can't let you retake Mon Cal, can I?

 

IC: "Sir, Shadow's been disabled and boarded. Crews are using escape pods now." The officer was disturbed by this, and Ackbar had also hoped that the smaller ship would hold out longer. The captain of the light cruiser appeared on the holoscreen. The connection was weak, Shadow was undoubtedly experiencing power loss.

 

"Crew has made it out" he said, weakly. "We will not let them take the ship." Ackbar noticed he spoke from the auxiliary bridge, the main bridge was probably taken by stormtroopers by now. The red-skinned captain keyed a few commands into the nav station. "Course set and blocked. Noone will be able to change it, except from this station." With these words, he stepped a few steps back and brought a blaster rifle in line, probably one taken from a dead decurity guard. Ackbar simply nodded to him. As the captain poured red blaster fire into the console, the connection broke off.

 

Shadow, its engines barely online but brought back to life with help from the Stormtroopers, turned around once again, and sped forward towards Judicator. Green Turbolaser fire already poured in and began to blast away pieces of armor. A moment later the engines failed, but momentum would still carry the ship onto a collision course with the destroyer.

 

"Status report of Mon Celasi." Ackbar forced himself to look at the tactical screen. The hologram showed the approriate information. The cruiser's shields were back online, though at minimal power. she was now turning to join the battle.

"Order Mon Celasi to assault the Lancer frigate. Direct all fire to engine section." The ship changed its course...

 

OOC: Okay, your fighters should prove to be a problem for me really soon.

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

OOC: I guess it was a little confusing as to where the fighters were. As the Shadow was up near the ISDs, there would have been fighters following her, si it works out. As for the Visage, let's just say her shields were weakening. Nice maneuver by the way. I'll have to watch out for the Ackbar Slash next time

 

IC:

The shape of the Shadow was growing, steadily larger on the vid screen, displaying the rebel ships final defiant act. No doubt there was no way to change the course, and the engines were dead.

"Order the boarding parties to abandon the ship. I'll not loose them."

"And us sir?"

"Hold for now. Is the interdictor's gravity well still active?"

"Aye sir, but Captain Iillor has requested permission to deactive the generators, should we need to retreat."

Thrawn thought on that a moment. Should he require the generators for ferther maneuvers it would take some time to power them up.

"Very well, commander. have her re-rout that power to her weapons and shields."

The fighter screen near the Black Asp was thinning, though there were still pleanty of rebel starfighters left. The Chronicle had made short work of the TIE fighters, her turbolasers destroying a handfull of TIEs at a time.

Closer at hand the fighters were faring better. They continued thier attack on the second light cruiser, whos shields were weakening under the constant attacks. The few rebel fighters swerving through the combat area were picking off TIE Fighters but wer enot willing to attack the bombers due to their close proximity to thier capital ships.

"Sir," called Commander Gherant," the Shadow is perilously close now. If we don't move soon, there will be no way to avoid her."

"We wait for the boarding party to escape."

As if on cue three small engine trails burst to light behind he crippled vessel, angling towards the Visage's docking bay.

"Begin a roll to starboard."

The massive bulk of the Star Destroyer began rotating, banking as she did so. All fire stopped towards the Shadow as she drifted silently past. There were holes in her hull where escape pods had once been. The crew had evidently escaped.

Without power the ship was unable to maneuver between the two heavy cruiser that were below the Judicator. The cruiser slammed into the shields of the Freedom punching through and cutting a gash in her hull. The impact jarred the ship off course, and the aft of the ship careened, slamming full into the mid section of the Mon Celesi. The Shadow split in two, bodies and flotsam spilling out. The aft section continued to bash the Mon Celesi while the fore of the ship, thrown by the downward motion of the aft, launched in an upward trajectory. The tip of the ship collided with the port side of the Visage's command tower, tearing away the upper quarter of the superstructure, and taking a shield generator with it. Below the Calamari Cruiser wasn't faring any better. Fissures were now visable along the top of the ship, atmosphere leaking out in whisps, the moisure freezing in the cold of space. Power was fluctuating througout the vessel, and much of the fire had ceased from the ship.

"Sir, the Visage reports sever damage to the command tower, and her shileds have dropped to well below critical. They've also lost power to the tractor beams, and a good number ion cannons. No damage was taken to their primary weapons systems."

The damage to the Visage was unexpected, but not fatal to the plan.

"What of the Freedom?"

"Mostly superficial damage sir. There have been no changes in her firing pattern, and no fluctuations in her power readings. her shields have also come back up."

The battlegrounds seemed to be evening out, though there was still pleanty of time for the tides to turn.

 

OOC: That'll teach you to throw a Mon Calamari Cruiser at me!

[ADarkJedi44]

OOC: Alright here I go

[AdmiralFishface]

OOC: You... you dodged!

Okay, anyone else have something to add to this while I think of something to do?

[ADarkJedi44]

Evan looked at the situation with the capitol ships. The still untouched lancer frigate prevented further runs on the ISDs. One of the light cruisers was gone and the other was being chased by TIEs. One of the medium Mon Cals had been terribly damaged, but the other three were still moving to engage the ISDs. The Chronicle was moving to attack the interdictor, having finished the TIEs off. One of the ISDs, also, had been badly damaged.

Looking around, Evan saw the remaining TIEs were moving to attack the other light cruiser. The other Rebel fighters were already on the TIEs tail, but Evan saw that the amount of TIEs was still massive. He turned his fighter at full speed towards the TIEs. Two squadrons of X-wings were quickly moving to join the battle.

By the time he arrived, Evan could see the Mon Calamari was likely to be destroyed no matter what he did. Nevertheless he could prevent the other cruisers from being destroyed. The other could not be destroyed. If the entire first group of Mon Calamari cruisers was lost, it would be disastorus.

The TIE fighters had engage in furballs to prevent the rebel fighters from moving upon the bombers. In a wave of fury, Evan came at them as fast as he could and singe handedly punched a hole through the TIEs. The TIEs immediatly reformed to hold back the Rebels, but they couldn't hold out for long. As the whole strength of two X-wing squadrons was brought upon them, the TIEs were forced to withdraw or be destroyed. The bombers were soon to be destroyed.

But how was the rest of the battle faring?

 

OOC: Oh BTW the Chronicle only carries two squads I think.

[AdmiralFishface]

On the Holoscreens the second light cruiser was being battered by the TIEs. Escape pods shot out in every direction as an explosion ripped a large hole in the engine section. From the far side of the engagement zone the X-Wings finally caught up, but could not prevent the cruiser's destruction. Fires consumed the atmoshpere aboard quickly.

 

The X-Wings raged among the TIEs. Several of the Imperial fighters fell within seconds. Within a few minutes the TIE threat in that sector was reduced to a minimum.

 

On this side of the engagement field, the fight was far from being resolved. Liberty and Freedom now concentrated their fire on the Visage, while the lighter Mon Sartah moved to attack the Lancer frigate. Mon Sartah was relativly untouched because Liberty had succeeded in catching most of the incoming fire, but now the command ship's shields were down to a minimum as well.

 

While Liberty had taken position above Visage, further increasing damage to the command pylon, Freedom concentrated on its engines. The shields on the destroyer had withheld the attacks for a while, but with one shield projector gone, much of the shield's stopping power was gone as well. A Turbolaser salvo from Liberty punched a hole into the second generator dome, further reducing dorsal shield strength.

 

The bridge of the Liberty was suddenly shaken.

"Shields are failing" one officer to the side of the bridge exclaimed. "Power redistribution fails! We can't reinforce!"

Green bolts of energy began to pound the cruiser's armor plating. For now, they withstood the firepower, but they would not do so for long.

"It seems we've run out of functioning shields." the captain commented dryly.

"Move downward again." Ackbar ordered. "We will use Visage as shield from Judicator's fire."

 

That still left them exposed to Visage's own fire, even if there was not quite as much of it as in the beginning, and eventually they would have to deal with Judicator as well. They needed the fighters to assist them.

Behind them, Mon Sartah opened fire onto the Lancer frigate, dealing heavy damage...

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

OOC: Ok, that makes more sense. So, only two more Mon Cals left: the Freedom and the Liberty, which has yet to enter the fray. there is still the smaller cruiser, but it's sort of buisy with the TIEs.

[ADarkJedi44]

As the lancer frigate went up in flames, the ISDs were now vulnerable to fighter attack. The third Mon Calamari cruiser was moving to engage the ISDs. The Chronicle had engaged the interdictor and appeared to have the upper hand. Half of the Mon Calamari cruisers had been losed, losing another one was not acceptable. However, unless they recived further support they would have to continue to engage and one or two would doubtlessly be destroyed or terribly damaged.

Evan now saw his chance. Leaving the rest of the Rebel fighters to deal with the remnants of the TIEs, Green and Blue squadrons moved in for a proton torpedo run on the Visage. With that ISD taken out, and without the lancer frigate, the other other ISD would be forced to play its last card. With the danger of a proton torpedo strike and three Mon Calamari cruiser, the lone ISD would be no match.

The Chronicle would doubtlessly disable the interdictor's gravity well projectors, preventing further manuvers. The other Rebel fighter would also be freed up soon and be a minor threat, but a threat nonetheless. The X-wings fast neared the massive ship. The pilots prepared for the strike as they got closer and closer.

"Launch torpedoes now!"

With the massive ship right in front of them, the X-wings released their warheads. Then they quickly pulled away. Looking back, Evan saw the run had been sucessful. The huge ship was doomed.

[Mad78]

The Interdictor opened fire onto the Chronicle and started to set an escape course.

"Navigator, make us spin."

The Interdictor had managed to get some shields back. It's turbocannons opened fire on the bottom of the Chronicle but the shields held on. The Captain of the Interdictor in his will to escape had presented his back to the side cannons of the Chronicle. They opened fire onto the Motors of the Interdictor, the already weakened shields did not hold for long and finally collapsed.

"Cease fire. Ion Cannons finnish the Job."

The Bridge trembled as the rays of pure energy left the ship. They hit the Interdictor causing serious damage. A few seconds later the motors flashed and stopped.

"Detection, Where is the last ISD?"

"Starboard sir. They are setting an escape course."

"Pilot place us in front of them"

The Chronicle maneouvered and placed itself in front of the fleeing stardestroyer. The Calamari cruisers were behind I and closing in fast.

"All power to the front deflector shield. Pilot full speed ahead."

The Chronicle charged towards the incoming ship. It was going to be close. The captain of the other ship would have to divert to avoid collision.

Merick hoped he was right for these kind of fights often ended up in catastrophies...

 

I guess Thrawn will have to escape in a Shuttle.

[Trejiuvanat]

Admiral Noreto galnced upon the small armada of seventeen Victory Star Destroyers, a group meant to be sold off to the Corporate Sector now that Kuat Drive Yards had increased its output of Imperial Star Destroyers, before its last flight to Mytus VII, the Victorys had one last mission to fulfill.

"The Judicator and its fleet was engaged, yes?"

"Yes sir, the Mon Calamari Fleet were pounding them."

"The Captain is a very good tactician he know how to make them believe that "Victory" is near, have the Victory Group hyper behind the moon of Mon Calamari and join Captain T, have them use the Quarren transponders, that will only confuse the Mon Calamari further.

Noreto smiled, Thrawn would undoubtedly win, the Rebels would scatter and the Mon Cal would be confused by the "Quarren" betrayals.

 

OOC. It's all I can do for you Thrawn, beat them up.

[Mad78]

Thats unfair : (

We were supposed to win

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Life is not fair. If you don't like it challenge him to a dejarik match a zero-g combat or kiss my wookiee.

[ADarkJedi44]

OOC: We'll make sure not to let you win next time we battle Trej. The old out of nowhere squadron trick

 

The ISD and the battered interdictor escaped to fight another day through complex manuvering. The trio of Mon Calamari cruisers and the Chronicle began to repair minor damage and fully regenerate their shields. The fighter pilots looked like they were to get some much needed rest. But it was not to be so.

Only a few moments later, the ISD returned. With seventeen VSDs. Desperatly the Rebel fighters launch and the four rebel capitol ships moved into a tight formation. The VSDs had spread out, so as the prevent any attempt to escape, but to be able to quickly move to pounce on any Rebel attempt to punch a hole through the line. It appeared hopless. As TIEs began to launch, Evan prepared for his last stand. If he got the opportunity to attack a VSD, he would, but the huge amount of TIEs seemed to make the impossible.

The battle had been going on for a while, and so Rebel forces had finally time to organize and revive. The Centauri, two Nebulon-B frigates, another captured frigate and six corvettes. Immediatly they moved to attack the three nearest VSDs from the rear. Orange squadron led the new Rebel fighters. Immediatly the trapped Rebel forced moved to link up.

The Chronicle opened fire on the first wave of TIEs, an entire wing. As the Mon Calamari cruisers joined in the firing, the TIEs scattered and then disappeared. The TIEs clearly weren't the best in the Empire and were at a disadvantage. The haggard Rebel pilots moved upon them with renewed ferocity. Soon the entire wave was retreating.

On the other side of the battle, the corvettes were doing a good job against the first few TIE groups hastily sent against them. Orange squadron and the other Rebel fighters moved against the TIEs quickly, knowing many more were coming. A squadron of Y-wings had taken out the first VSD. The Centauri was already pounding another and the third VSD buckled under the fire of the three frigates. It didn't appear the first group of VSDs would be able to fully turn around before being destroyed.

Nevertheless, three VSDs were already moving on the small task force from either side. The Rebels had to move quickly. The Chronicle continued to fire upon TIEs with the Mon Calamari cruisers following it. Nevertheless, a second wave managed to form up. Six VSDs were also moving at the Rebel group, attempting to prevent them for getting through the hole. The second wave of TIEs also suffered greatly from the capitol ships. The remaining Rebel fighters didn't move to engage immediatly and the TIEs retreated without making contact with any Rebel fighters. They needed capitol ships to back them, or to be in direct contact with Rebel fighters. The capitol ship fire proved to much for the unshielded fighters.

With three VSDs down, the other Rebel group formed up tightly. A few groups of TIEs came at them, but, realizing their error, they retreated. Once again the TIEs needed capitol ship support. The gap was closing. For a moment it appeared as if the Imperial forces would link their forces up and wipe the Rebels out. But the Rebels doubled their efforts and made it through the gap. The Centauri and its supporting ships were already turning around. As the VSDs finally pounced, the Rebel shields held. The Rebel fleet returned fire for a moment, causing no damaged, then disappeared.

Back to Orath, and time to lick our wounds....

[AdmiralFishface]

Back at the Rebel base the lead staff met to review the events of the day. "The Victory Destroyers retreated only half an hour after we were gone." Ackbar said. "The planetary defense batteries were able to heavily damage one of the ships that came too close; it crashed into the southern ocean. They were not outfitted for planetary assault, it seems. Perhaps they are ships that were no longer of any use for the Empire. Point is, Mon Calamari is still free, but we had to pay dearly to fend off an attacker who wanted nothing else than to make us pay."

 

The losses had ben terrifying indeed: One medium calamari cruiser was damaged hard enough to be out of the fight for months, if it could be salvaged, two light cruisers were destroyed, and all of the participating ships had suffered hull damage. Ackbar didn't even dare think about the losses of the fighter squadrons, although General Hechtman had stated his wing had performed admirably.

 

The three ships that made it out are going to return soon to commence repairs. Although at this point a further Imperial attack is unlikely, I would like all the ships that are still in good shape to return with us. They can be repaired at our facilities.

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Just wondering where did we get Lancers from, ain't they post-Yavin? And how come ISDs get destroyed so easy??? You Rebels are really imaginative.

 

The quartersized hologram of Captain Thrawn warped into existence on the holoprojector of his private command room.

"I take it your mission was successful?" The blue alien asked.

"Much more than yours, yes. We caught most of the pirates, one or two crafts escaped and they will tell the Rebels their woes. We captured some war-materiél, that can be put into effective use now that we are in the Rim, and some information, that my Intelligence squads are deciphering."

"The location of the Rebel base?" The alien asked, and Noreto believe to see a glitter in the alien's eyes.

"The leader committed suicide, as soon as he was in reach of the Chimaera's Tractor Beam, his second in command has been rather cooperative, though he did not know much."

"Not that it mattered much, they will all be sentenced to death." Thrawn snorted.

"Certainly, your battle on the other hand..."

"Yes," he responded. "Although your intentions are satisfied."

"Certainly, Captain. The Mon Cal will celebrate their freedom while the Quarren reorganize their pro-Imperial Resistance, a world this far out in the Rim is unimportant and would mean only a waste of men and firepower. In the mean time take the Judicator to Lianna for repairs and have Major Baumer join you temporarily."

"Yes, sir." Thrawn stated and his holo faltered away.

Noreto pressed another button and his roomsized holo depiction of the galaxy burst into life. Another long night awaited him, a night of careful pieceing together of the puzzle that this Rebellion was.

[Stellar_Magic]

Commander Baumer stood in awe of the craft he saw in front of him. Its central section was a cylindrical TIE ball where three triangular shapped solar panels were attatched. It was the V-38 the newest prototype from Sienar Fleet Systems.

 

"Impressive isn't it?" A calm voice asked from behind him and Kirk spun to see an admiral with short cut white hair and an almost smirking expression.

 

"Yes Admiral Zaarin, I've been pushing to get us some more hyper capable fighters. These are hyperspace equipped?" The admiral's face contorted slightly.

 

"Well some are and some aren't we're having trouble on that front but, Imperial Intelligence loves this feature," Zaarin nodded to the nearest technician. Suddenly the V-38 seemed to shimmer then it disappeared completely, "A working cloaking shield, its not very useful however, no shields, no navigation, and so forth when cloaked." He smiled as Kirk walked toward the rear of the vessel as it reappeard, "We're experimenting with a new engine as well, the 'Event Horizon' it'll run rings around most TIE craft, and even all rebel craft."

 

"Sir, someone just hacked into the computer system, they're downloading the V-38 specs." The technician scrambled across the terminal, "The Event Horizon plans sir, they've been downloaded and...deleted."

 

Zaarin balled his fists with anger, "Track them down!" He sighed as the technician shook his head, "At least we still have the prototype."

 

"You do have backups for those plans, right?"

 

Zaarin shook his head, "Not for the engines, and without them this thing isn't nearly as fast as we'd like."

 

"Sir, I managed to stop them from downloading the cloak plans sir, but they've logged out."

 

Suddenly the rear of the craft exploded outward and the craft collapsed to the deck. Kirk glaced up at the engine compartment as he lifted himself off the deck. The engines were gone destroyed completely by the blast.

 

Zaarin starred in disbelief, "Sithspawn, I'd have hoped the Academy would be secure, the Emperor will not be pleased."

 

* * *

 

Kirk was shaken awake by Lara who gestured to the comm terminal. Kirk sighed and got up to face the terminal and nearly jumped out of his skin as a man with blue skin and red eyes appeared before him, "Commander Baumer, My name is Thrawn, under the Admiral's orders you are to return to the Judicator to assist in anti-rebel operations."

 

"I'm sorry but I must protest, the academy, well it seems its been heavily infiltrated by rebel agents, I think I'll be more valuable here."

 

Thrawn listened patiently then smiled, "Send the Admiral a report on the situation, until countermanded, your orders stand."

 

"Thank you sir," Kirk replied as the transmission cut off. He turned to Lara, "Well pack your things, we're shipping out."

[AdmiralFishface]

OOC: We rebels suffer from the "Good guys must always win"-syndrome. We need to be beaten up badly a few times so our egos will shrink again...

 

And is that Rebel Assault 2 I smell?...

[Trejiuvanat]

"The Academy?" Noreto asked.

The holo of Major Baumer nodded.

"Your orders stand, Major. I will deal with the Academy." Noreto commanded and cut off the communication.

Noreto had his own theories about the events at the Lianna Academy and the people there, he knew that it really had to be him, and knew how to save him from a certain death.

Immediately he keyed for the transmission for an old friend. Another holograph hissed into existence.

"Jan!" Noreto said, his voice revealing more enthusiasm than he wanted to admit at the sight of an old friend.

"Now you are a sight I was not expecting to see. What is it, Darac?" Jan Dodonna asked.

"Business, Jan, Business. It is time."

"For what?" Dodonna retorted but immediately knew. "Why?"

"Some people in High Command believe that even training duties are too good for a man who served the Republic for so long."

"Too old for the new times? Yes, I do feel older." Dodonna admitted.

"The Emperor has taken a special interest in your situation and grants you one of Commenor's Moons as a gift now that you are retiring." Noreto said. "You are expected to abandon Lianna in a few days."

Jan said nothing for a long moment.

"Did you volunteer for this duty, Darac? Or does the Empire now wish to make friends cause pain to each other."

"Your retirement had been expected for a long time, one way or another. I did volunteer, because I wanted you to receive the news from an old friend."

"Thank you, Darac." Jan Dodonna said. "And may the Force be with you," he added as he had so many times in the Clone Wars where Noreto had served under his command.

Noreto felt heavier and older as he sat back on his chair, but the anomalous situation at the academy would be under wraps, and perhaps Noreto had just saved his friend's life.