Prologue
7 years after the Rise of the Empire
Near the planet Doros, the Star Destroyer Avenger
Admiral Varinth, Imperial Navy
The bridge rocked again, sirens screeching throughout the whole Star Destroyer as another salvo of proton torpedo's made contact with the shields. I sat in the admirals chair on the Star Destroyer Avenger, clutching the arm rest as the capital ship rocked again from yet another salvo. It was only an hour ago I was wishing for something to actually happen, wishing to see some action.
By order of the Emporer, the 623rd Navy Division was instructed to set up a blockade around the planet of Doros. And the Doros Government was not happy with it. So here we were, the Avenger, the Black Hand, the Carbonate, plus 2 Imperial Frigates, fighting against mercenaries called on by the Doros militia.
I turned on my holo-comunicator, sending out a message to the other captains. 4 Holo-Images appeared in front of me, showing me the captains from the 4 other cruisers.
"Captain Nickerson, what is the enemy count?" I asked the captain of one of the Frigates. Nickerson was a young man, looking to have just come out of the Imperial Academy. He had black hair, cut to Imperial Regulation, and wore the standard olive green uniform of an Imperial Officer. He had a grim look on his face as he stood erect in his commanding chair.
"Sir, from what my Navigator tells me, we are dealing with 3 enemy frigates, 2 heavy cruisers, and at least 30 small fighter craft. The frigates appear to be standard Correlian Corvettes, and the Heavy ships consist of a Bothan fleet command ship and the other a Mandalorian Cruiser."
I cursed to myself. Where did these mercenaries get a Bothan Command ship from? Focusing my attention back on the 4 commanders in front of me, I began giving out orders.
"Have all forward shields set to 50% power, and divert the rest to your sides. I don't want those small hand fighters to flank us. I also want Frigates to get in a Shield Formation, and focus fire on the other frigates. I want all Star Destroyers to focus long range turbo lasers on the Command ships." Then Captain Farthers, commanding officer of the Carbonate, spoke up.
He was an older fellow, in his mid 30, and was at one point a junior officer for the Republic Fleets, helping with the defence of the planet Kashyyyk. (And I looked it up. I spelled Kashyyyk right)
"Admiral, what do we do about the fighters?" I bit my lip and tried to form up the strategy. The fighters were Head Hunter class, which were weak but agile fighters. The lasers alone would not be enough to take down even a frigate, but if they traveled in a large enough pack, they could wipe out a Star Destroyer. They were too small for turbo lasers to sight them, which made the situation even more disastrous.
"Scramble all TIE fighters. I want 5 squads of 5 TIEs to attack the headhunters. Have the rest provide cover fire for any TIE Bombers making runs on the enemy frigates. You have your orders. Admiral Varinth out." And with that, the 4 captains disappeared, leaving me alone with the rest of the bridge staff. The officer on the scanners suddenly stood and addressed me.
"Sir, another squad of Headhunters is making an attack run on our shields!" I looked out the view-port and saw them approaching. 10 Headhunters began descending on the Avenger, aiming for its midsection. They swiftly evaded our short range Turbo Lasers, all accept one, which blew up upon impact. As they descended, they began launching a volley of proton torpedoes, which hit the shields. But before all the Head Hunters could fire, however, one of the TIE squads rounded out and began firing on the Hunters. 2 of them exploded, and the rest quickly dispersed. Another alarm began going off, and the Attack Coordinator approached me, sweat dripping from his face.
"Sir, our shields have been reduced to 10% in the front. Our side shields have been diminished. We cannot take another salvo like that!" I grunt in response, sweat beginning to drip down my face as I began thinking. It would only take 2 more torpedoes to disable the shields, plus any remaining bombs would tear the ship apart. Not to mention it would expose the Star Destroyer to boarding parties. I gulped as I went back to my command chair, calling up the other captains. They all appeared and began giving reports.
"My shields have been disabled, and I don't know how much longer I will be able to hold out," Captain Garanger, commander of the second frigate, reported.
"Admiral, my TIES report that one of the enemy corvettes have been disabled. They will be completely down in a few minutes," Captain Farthers reported.
"I believe we need to change our strateg... ahhhh!" Captain Nickerson suddenly screamed, and his holo-image turned to static. I looked out my view port and watched as Headhunters launched Proton Torpedoes at the Frigate's bridge, watching as it went up in a all of flames. This was not good. With only one frigate left, the Star Destroyers were completely exposed to the command ships heavy lasers, which would tear through the Avengers weak shield and end my military career.
"We have lost Nickerson! Captain Garanger, I need you to pull your frigate back. I will not lose another frigate. I need all long range turbo lasers to pick a target on the heavy ships. Have the TIEs go on an attack formation to take out the enemy frigate. Garanger, I need you to use your short range lasers to defend against the fighters."
"But sir, our turbo lasers are useless against those fighters!"
"Do you want to lose your ship?" Garanger shut up at this, turning to one of his navigators as his Holo-Image disappeared. Staring out of the view port, I watched as Garangers frigate began to turn around, coming in closer to the other Star Destroyers. I shut off the Holo frequency, walking down the narrow walkway to the front of the bridge.
Another strategy officer came up to me, handing me a Holopad. He saluted and walked away as I began reading. The pad gave reports that our navigational systems and long range communications had been destroyed. Our shield was mostly depleted, and there was a breach in Hanger 5. On a positive note, the Bothan ship's shield and Hyperdrive were down, and the Mandalorian Cruiser had a major breach in its side. One of the Corvettes were seriously damaged, and a few more shots would tear it apart. The other Corvettes, on the other hand, seemed almost in perfect condition. Then I saw something that would give us an advantage. The damaged Corvette was dangerously close to the other 2 corvettes. I quickly ran over to the ship intercom, right as the ship rocked again.
"Our shields have been disabled!" One of the officers said, fear trickled throughout his voice. I cursed as I stumbled onto the comm station. I rerouted the call to go to our strategy center. "Gunnery Corp, this is Admiral Varinth. Respond." The response came almost immediately.
"This is Gunnery Officer Mari. What are your orders, sir?" I coughed and gave the order.
"Those two Corvettes that are next to each other? I need you to relay orders for our TIES to concentrate fire on the damaged corvettes main stabilizers." The Gunnery hesitated, as if he was going to question, but apparently decided against it.
"Yes, Sir!" He signed off and I went back to my seat. The ship rocked yet again as the head hunters made another swoop, attacking the main hull. The hull was thick, however, and was able to fend off the incoming lasers. I continued to watch out the view port as a TIE squad made its way over to the damaged Corvette, taking out its engines and stabilizers.
I smiled as the Corvette began to tumble, heading straight for the healthy Corvettes. I watched as the 2nd Corvette tried to get away, but it was too late. The damaged Corvette rammed right into the center of the 2nd one, making it break apart from the tension and exploded in a massive fireball. A few of the other officers began to whoop, until things went downhill. A large explosion sounded to my left.
I turned and looked with terror as The Black Hand literally tore in half. Explosions rocked the Star Destroyer as it blew up, the debris showering everywhere. No escape pods. The ship had gone down with all hands on deck. Suddenly, my holo-net started beeping. I sat down and activated it, surprised to see that it wasn't one of the ship captains. Instead, the hologram of a middle aged man appeared on the screen, clothed in the Black and white uniform of an ISB (Imperial Security Bureau) Agent. He had a clean shaven face, with side burns and piercing blue eyes. "Admiral! This is Agent Tailon."
"Yes Agent, go ahead."
"Sir, we have multiple boarding craft heading in our direction from the Bothan Warship." I froze and stared out the viewport. Sure enough, multiple Bothan Boarding craft were heading in our direction.
"What are your orders, sir?" The Agent asked. I thought this over in my head, trying to figure out the most effective solution.
"Agent Tailon, I need you to anticipate where those boarding craft are heading. I want a squad of troopers at each of those intervals. If one Bothan gets on board, we are done for." The Agent saluted and shut off communications. I sighed and looked again into the intense battle proceeding outside. The Imperials only had 2 Star Destroyers and a Frigate left. Only half of our original fleet.
The boarding craft closed in, landing in a multitude of spots in the hull. There were 4 of them in all. I was praying that Agent Tailon knew where those areas were. I looked forward and saw yet another relief in the battle. The Bothan ship's main bridge exploded as the TIE bombers made another run. The ship followed quickly, its remains getting caught in Doros's gravitational pull and bringing it to the planets surface. My comm came back on, and Tailon's voice came over the airwaves, blaster fire shooting off in the back ground.
"We are holding off the Bothans off as much as we can. I don't know how long we will hold, though." I cursed, about to relay an order to send reinforcements, when the hyperdrive officer stood and addressed me.
"Sir, ships are emerging from hyperspace! 6 of them." A little bit of hope emerged in me at that second. The Empire was sending reinforcements to assist against these blasted insurgents. My hope diminished when I saw 3 Mandalorian Cruisers and 3 more Correlian Corvettes emerge from hyperspace, and they immediately began firing on the Star Destroyers, ripping through them. My holo-net went crazy as the fleet commanders began screaming orders for a tactical retreat. The first ship to go down was the Carbonate, which exploded in a fiery wonder.
I began to panic. there was no way we were going to hold off such an onslaught. I went to the intercom, right as the enemy ships began to focus fire on my final Star Destroyer. "This is Admiral Varinth. I need the whole ship on lock-down. Prepare to make a tactical retreat into hyperspace!"
The first response came from the navigators. "But sir, our Navigation's are haywire! We wont be able to coordinate a complete Hyperspace jump!" I quickly responded, "Better than being blown to shreds here!" the second response came from Tailon.
"What about the Bothans?" My response came even quicker as my heart rate went through the roof.
"Lock them in the room with the boarding craft and get out! The jump will tear the craft out and suck them into space!" The ship rocked and sirens blared as the Corvettes began concentrating fire on the final Star Destroyer and frigate. "We have a breach on Levels 2 and 3!" The alarm blared. The lights suddenly went out as the power cuplinks were shot out, and red emergency lights came on.
"Switching to auxiliary power." The alarm stated. One more salvo, and we would be space dust. Suddenly, our ship began aiming upwards, away from the enemy vessels. Blue light engulfed the Star Destroyer and the remaining Frigate as we shot into hyperspace. I sighed with relief, until the ship jerked violently.
"Sir, without shields, the ship is being torn apart!" One of the officers screamed in terror.
I was about to say something when another jerk made me fly forwards, landing head first into the pit where all the navigational officers were. My head struck a computer and I tumbled to the ground, beginning to black out. As my vision dimmed, the last thing I saw were 3 Imperial Officers surrounding me, while the rest began to shout orders in a frenzied panic.
Chapter 1
5 Minutes previous to hyperspace jump
Star Destroyer Avenger, Hyperspace
Agent Tailon, Imperial Security Bureau
I had barely escaped the confrontation with my life.
I had followed orders and taken a small squad of 10 Stormtroopers to one of the anticipated areas. We got into position and awaited the boarding party. I pulled out my Scout Commando Pistol, aiming it at the boarding door. The rest of the Stormtroopers aimed there E-11 Blaster Rifles at the door. Suddenly, the door opened, and havoc ensued.
A smoke grenade went off in front of the door, and blaster fire erupted from inside the boarding pod. One of my troopers instantly went hit, getting hit right in the throat. The rest of the squad returned fire, and I could here a few groans from inside the pod. Suddenly, the enemy stopped firing there blasters.
I raised my hand to hold fire. When nothing happened, I signaled for 2 of my men to move forward. The white armored troopers nodded, and, with weapons raised, began moving towards the pod.
Suddenly, one of the troopers dropped his blaster and hunched over, like he was punched. The other turned in surprise, when suddenly something was stabbed into his neck from behind. A vibro blade. The blade came out of thin air. That was when I realized what was happening. I fired at the air where the vibro blade had come from.
There was a squeal, and I watched as a now dead Bothan fell to the ground. I could feel the other Bothan Mercenaries in the room, and I quickly gave the order to fire. The Stormtroopers began to fire again, and I watched as 2 more of the cloaked Bothan's screamed and went down. The rest of them materialized in front of my, pulling out blasters and vibro weapons. I turned my comm on and relayed a report to the Admiral.
"We are holding off the Bothans as much as we can. I don't know how long we will be able to last, though."Then I saw one of them draw a weapon that sent shivers down my spine.
An Incinerator Rifle, meant to disintegrate an enemy in a matter of seconds, and was outlawed by the Empire years ago. I watched as he shot multiple shots into the closest Stormtrooper. The trooper didn't even get a chance to scream as he was turned to dust by the hundreds of miniature blasters that tore his very being apart.
Acting quickly, I jumped at the Bothan, tackling him before he could turn the weapon on me. My arm around his neck, I quickly snapped it, bringing his limp body to use as a body shield. Then, more beings emerged from the pod, but were not Bothans. 2 of them were Gamoreans, armed with Repeater blasters.
The other 3 were humans wearing purple and green Mandalorian armor, carrying standard DH Blaster pistols. I turned my comlink on as I used the Bothan's body to absorb the Gamoreans shots. "I need all troopers to fall back. We will fend them off in the main hall." Then, the Admiral spoke into my comlink, saying, "This is Admiral Varinth. I need the whole ship on lockdown. Prepare to make a tactical retreat into hyperspace!" I processed this in my mind. This meant that the battle up top was not going well. I turned the com on again as a blaster hit a few centimeters from my head.
"What about the Bothans?" The response came back quickly, as the Admiral replied, "Lock them in the room with the boarding craft and get out. The Hyper jump will tear the craft out and suck them into space." Suddenly, the ship rocked and the power went out, replaced by blaring red lights. The power had gone out.
I turned to my 5 remaining troopers and began yelling at them. "You heard the Admiral! Push them to the room!" I began running towards the blast doors, going for the lock button. They would be able to easily unlock it, but it would buy time for the Admiral. Suddenly, A big, burly hand grabbed my throat.
It was a Gamorean, his pig like snout flared in rage. I tried reaching the button, but it was too late. A loud noise sounded as we entered hyperspace. Just as the Admiral predicted, the boarding craft was literally torn from the ship, sucking the Mandalorians and remaining Bothans into the vacuum of space, their screams drowned out by the sound of air being sucked out of the pod.
The Gamorean squealed as he tried to grab at the wall, but couldn't get a good grip. I decided to act, and kicked him in the leg. He squealed again as he let go of me, and was flung into the vacuum of space. I clung to the door, knowing that I would soon be sucked out as well. I felt my grip loosen against the air being sucked into the abyss.
As soon as I let go, however, I felt a hand clasp mine, keeping me from entering space. It was one of the Stormtroopers, and he quickly pulled me against the wall. As soon as I was in the hall, another trooper closed the blast door. I collapsed to the ground, the lack of air making me dizzy. One of the troopers approached me, laying a hand on my shoulder.
"Sir, are you alright?" He asked with genuine concern in his voice. I nodded, still gasping for air. I stood, brushing off my uniform. I looked t my remaining men and began issuing orders. "I need you to secure the rest of the floors. Check on the other troopers." They saluted and began running off. I began walking to the nearest turbo lift, turning my comlink on.
"Admiral Varinth, we were able to repel the invasion. Do you copy, over?" Silence. My walk quickly turned into a run as I went to the turbo lift. As soon as I reached it, I pulled my ID out, and made pressed the button to go to the bridge. I quickly reached the top, and was surprised at what I saw. Highly trained Imperial officers were scrambling around in panic, and the Admiral lay on the ground in one of the command pits, unconscious. I looked around and began walking to the Navigator.
He was not at his post, and I began to examine his station the monitor was flashing, showing a small green dot, heading right towards large yellow dots. I racked my brain, relying on my old Navigator training to remember what the yellow dots meant. My eyes widened as I realized what they were.
Asteroids.
I quickly sat in the seat, typing in some calculations, and pressed one of the buttons. The ship slowed down, exiting hyperspace. The crew was still running around in panic, however. I stood up, shouting, "SHUT UP!" The officers all froze, turning to me, and realizing for the first time they were out of hyperspace. I climbed out of the pit and went to the observation deck of the ship. The officers, now calmed, began going to there stations, checking on the vitals of the ship. I watched as the Frigate emerged next to us from hyperspace, looking to have taken little damage from the battle.
"What happened to the Admiral?" I asked to no one in particular.
"He fell into the pit, sir." One of the Black outfitted security officers said.
"Alright men, I need someone to take the Admiral to the sick bay immediately. I will be taking over as Admiral until he is fit for duty again. Am I understood?" The officers saluted and went back to work. I sat in the Admirals chair went straight to work, contacting Captain Garanger. Garanger seemed surprised at first to see me instead of the Admiral Varinth at the command chair. I quickly filled him in on all that was happening, including the shape of our ship.
"Our shields are gone, we have multiple breached, and our Navigations and long range communications are severally damaged." Garanger nodded. "I have some engineers on board my ship that could come and help with the repairs. But we will have to land to be able to take a full damage report." I nod and lean back into the Admiral's chair.
"Our navigations are haywire. Can any of you find a planet? And maybe call for support?" Garanger shrugged at me. "I can ask my navigators to find a nearby planet, but I cannot call for support. Frigates don't have long range capabilities." I cursed as I remembered. Frigates were mainly used for transporting troops and short Fighter skirmishes.
That was why they were normally accompanied by the larger and more battle ready Star Destroyer. Garanger remained silent on his holo picture as he went to figure out anything. He quickly returned though, with some startling news.
"Sir, we are in the unknown region. Our star maps our useless." I was shocked. The Unknown region was beyond the outer rim. It was an unexplored part of the galaxy. Any expeditions that have gone out have never returned. The only planet that is known out there is Chiss, and we did not have a lot on them.
"But you are in luck, Agent. There is a planet not to far away with positive oxygen support. We could land and make any necessary repairs." I gave a sigh of relief. "Alright. use your navigations and begin heading for the planet. We will follow." Garanger nodded and signed out. The Frigate began to move, and I ordered the Navigator to follow. After engaging what was left of our engines, we took off after Garangers Frigate.
Within 3 hours, the planet came into view. It honestly reminded me of Yavin 4, while looking at it from space. I gave the order to begin descending towards the planet, and, with Garanger's ship beside me, we began to land. Their was surprisingly little turbulence as we descended towards the continent bellow us.
As soon as we broke through the surface, I told our navigator to land in what looked to be a clearing a few clicks south. We landed with a very rough bump, but at least we were still alive. I exited the bridge, and used to turbo lift to head for the exit. I emerged on the first floor and walked down a long ramp to the outside world.
I shielded my eyes as I came into contact with the suns light. After giving a small shudder, I began walking towards the ground bellow. The grass was a bright green, almost the perfect length. Everything in the area was perfect. The trees, the grass, even the clouds. I soon stepped onto the grass and turned back to look at the Star Destroyer. It was only now that I took in the full extent of the damage. There were several breaches in the hull, as well as large holes made by the boarding craft.
"Agent Tailon, I presume?" I turned around to see a black outfitted officer approach me, a holo-pad in his hand.
"That would be me." I responded. The officer gave a grim smile as he handed me the holo-pad. "Captain Garanger says he can supply up to 30 Engineers where they are needed. He has landed 2 clicks to the south, and is preparing necessary troop movements to set up camps." I nod.
"Excellent. Tell Garanger to send out a few Scouts to map the area out and report any wildlife. I want a map of our area by the time night arrives." The officer nods and begins to walk away. I look down at the holo-pad, scrolling through the backrounds and abilities of the different engineers.
I waved to a stormtrooper, who's squad was currently bringing supplies down the ramp. He ran over and saluted. Handing him the holo-pad, I said, "Go and take this to the Chief Engineer. Tell him that we need to get our long range communications up as fast as possible." The trooper saluted and ran off. I sighed as I looked out across the beautiful landscape.
Soon, this world will belong to the Empire. Just like the rest of the galaxy.
5 Minutes later
Noran Davil, 623d Combat Driver Regiment
I mounted my speeder bike, putting on my standard Scout Helmet. I turned and adjusted the cables holding down my E-11 Sniper rifle, making sure it was attached properly. I then sat properly in the seat, adjusting the map creator to the side of the bike. I heard an engine rev behind me and I turned, seeing the other 2 scouts that would be going with me.
"Ready to go, Noran?" One of them asked. I nod, and we zoom off, going at top speed to the West. Every centimeter we flew over was instantly put into the map creators data bank, which would be transferred to the orbital map. We continued to speed across the plain, encountering very little. Then suddenly, our group leader ordered us to stop.
The speeder bike skidded to a halt right in front of a forest.
"Too dense to move our speeders through." I thought out loud. The group leader nodded, going over to his tracker and detaching it, instead sticking it to his belt. He then proceeded to pull out his pistol.
"Move out throughout the woods. We will rendezvous on the other side." Me and my partner nod, and began to move in on the forest, pistols drawn. The undergrowth was dense, and I could barely move without bumping into a vine. My headset turned on as the other scouts began to speak.
"This is Dori. Anything to report yet?" I turned my com on. "Negative, captain, I have seen no conta... wait!" I crouched down as I saw something in the sky. I was amazed at the sight in front of me. it was a horse, or a pony of sorts. But the miraculous thing was that it was flying! A Pegasus.
"Sir, I think I see a Pegasus." I heard the other scout on the line snort. "Pegasus? Those things are myth. Get back to... wait, I see it as well!" I just stared up at the creature. It was majestic and beautiful, speeding across the sky heading towards... "Sir! The creature is heading towards home base." The captain cursed as he saw the same.
"I will contact headquarters. And tell them we are about to have..." He just stopped mid sentence.
"Captain Dori, do you read me?" No response. Then the other scout trooper spoke up. "Where is the captain?" I went to respond, when something suddenly grabbed my leg.
I turned just in time to see a giant plant growl at me. It looked like a Trapper plant, which were carnivorous plants on Felucia. It showed off its teeth as black vines began emerging from it, and began to tie me up. As quickly as I could register, I pulled out my blaster pistol, firing a few shots at the tendrils.
The creature screeched, and lunged full scale at me. I only had enough time to roll away as the creature dived to where I once was. I went to aim my pistol again, only to find it gone. The creature retracted, hissing a snake like tongue as it prepared to lunge again. I pulled out a Vibro blade, feeling the vibrating hum as it turned on. The creature snarled again as it prepared to lunge again.
