Sharpening the Needle
Flying through hyperspace shot the Talon, Captain Tieak's Flagship. It was a heavily modified Rebellion Escort Frigate that had seen numerous battles in the past, but always seemed to make it out ok.
What was going on now, however, was like no skirmish they had ever seen before. This time, the odds were larger, the stakes were higher and the risks were greater. Now that many of the Rebel ships have already been damaged or destroyed in the war, it would take more then just sheer luck to make it out without a scratch. Fortunate for them, they had just what they needed, cooking up in hanger bay three.
Captain Tieak turned towards the pilot. "Helm, disengage hyperdrive and adjust course to vector 245.961. Shift all auxiliary power to forward shields."
The pilot turned his head in the direction of the captain and looked confused.
Tieak kept his calm demeanor and responded to the obvious questioning of orders, "Is there something wrong?"
"No sir; I just wanted to verify the adjusted course."
"There is no need to verify them; I'm sick of running from these Imperials. We are going to hit them head on."
The pilot tilted his head back to the console and after a moment, responded to Tieak. "Sir, course and power adjusted to specifications."
"Good…now we wait." Tieak brought his hands together and sat forward in his chair, waiting for the Imperials to shoot out of the stars.
"Captain, I'm picking up high energy patterns coming at an intercept vector."
"Hold position helm." He paused looking at the view screen. "Now we see how important they think we are."
Moments later, four Imperial Star Destroyers exited hyperspace 40 kilometers straight ahead of the Talon. As soon as the Star Destroyers came to, numerous new 'blips' began to appear on radar.
"Sir, radar is picking up eight squadrons of Tie fighters. Shall I have Alpha and Omega squadrons' prep for launch?"
"Yes, have them launch as soon as they are ready. I want them out there engaging those Tie fighters on my order." Tieak let out a sigh and watched the Star Destroyers move into attack position. Had they had enough time to get their plan into motion? Only time would tell.
"Sir, I'm picking up a transmission from the lead Star Destroyer. It's The Venture.They're hailing us."
"On screen." The viewscreen went black and then showed a picture of Admiral Junta. He was one of the oldest Admirals in the Imperial Navy and has been one of the few who have been fighting the Rebels since their infancy.
"Ah, Captain Tieak, I should have known you would be the only man brave enough to try your hand at a frontal assault." He smiled to let Tieak know, he thought his plan was hopeless.
"Admiral, I don't necessarily like that tone of voice you are giving me. You make it sound as if we are bound to lose this fight from the get go." Tieak smiled back to let Junta know that he had all the confidence in the world, or at least to give the impression he did. Something would happen today, that was for sure. It was just a matter of if the installations had finished yet.
"Hmp…Captain, let's skip this pesky banter and move into the reason I hailed you. You have something of the Galactic Empire's. Surrender your ship, and we'll let you live. If you don't surrender, we will have to take measures to ensure we get back what is rightfully ours; even if it means destroying your ship." He paused to smile. "You have three minutes to decide." The transmission cut off and Tieak was left with a black screen to look at.
The Talon's first officer, Linad Onar, walked up to the Captain. "What was he talking about sir? What do we have that they want?" He asked, sounding concerned.
"Most likely what our spies stole from the Kuat Drive Yards a week or so ago. From our estimates, we have blueprints of a new ship design that would have probably ended our Civil War in a hurry."
"So you're saying that we have those plans in our ship right now?" The first officer asked, almost making it sound like he didn't want to hear the answer.
"Fortunately, that is where the Imperial intelligence networks seem to fail. We don't have the plans on our ship. They're being dissected as we speak on board the Engethi." Tieak paused, thinking what could've made the Imperials think that they had it. "Alright crew, let's stay sharp. We are going to give them a taste of what people with determined wills can do." Tieak moved closer to Linad and said quietly, "Did we have time to get the new prototypes installed into our squads?"
Linad nodded, "Barely; the squad leads have been informed and are briefing their men as we speak."
"Good, good. We want this to go as smoothly as it can. We can't afford any mistakes now."
"I have seen the battle simulations of the prototype and it is a thing of beauty. You will not be disappointed." Linad smiled, looking confident.
"Sir." The pilot said. "The three minutes have expired and The Venture has asked for our decision."
Tieak sat back in his chair and got comfortable. This would be a day long remembered by both the Imperials and the Rebels and he was finally beginning to loosen up. "We shall give them our response. Alpha and Omega squadrons, begin the attack runs at your discretion". Tieak smiled and waited for the fireworks to begin.
"This is Alpha Lead; everyone report in." Alpha Lead, better known as Jaron, listened as his squad sounded off. Somehow, it was different this time. He had seen probably close to 30 engagements as squad lead and another 40-50 as Alpha 6. Almost every battle or skirmish that would happen; someone he knew or cared for had been hurt or worse even, died. He thought for a moment and it dawned on him. This time, and only this time he realized, they had the upper hand. "Alright everyone, form up and look alive. We're going to hit them where it hurts."
The squad came to and formed up as they had planned. From the looks of things, the Imperials had seen the Rebels answer and coming on an intercept were three squads of Ties. The rest were banking towards the Talon and unloading shots at the engines or heading towards Omega squad.
"Wow, the Imperials weren't kidding, they really want to get something from the ship." A squad member said in amazement.
"Cut the chatter Alpha 4." Jaron turned his comm. over to Omega lead. "Alex, this is Jaron. I see eight squads of Ties. Want to take care of them first, or go for the star Destroyers for a little shock and awe?" He asked, definitely leaning towards the second option.
"Oh Jaron, you know what I would pick." He said laughing.
"Alright, shock and awe it is." Jaron smiled and switched back to his squad's channel. "Alright Alpha wing, we are going to hit the Star Destroyers head on. Execute order bravo on my mark." Jaron waited a second to bask in the glory that would soon be the Rebellion; knowing full well that this would guarantee success for the Rebels in all battles to follow. This would be the major moment and he would be crowned as part of the success. With a smile he said the defining word. "Mark."
Admiral Junta smiled as three of the Star Destroyers moved closer to engage the Talon. This would be a day long remembered by the Imperials. They would soon have the plans stolen from Kuat and the audacity of the rebels would be crushed. Nothing would make him happier.
"Uh, Admiral, something unusual is going on." Junta broke from his thoughts and turned to the officer that had summoned him.
"What is it?" he asked.
The officer looked confused as he pointed to the radar. The blips that designated the X-wings were not engaging the Ties, but rather heading for the Star Destroyers.
"You think they have a death wish or are all rebels just idiots?" The officer asked.
Junta looked mystified at the radar and saw the ships get closer to the Star Destroyers, being followed by the three squadrons of Ties. "I've always known the rebels to be inferior, but they are generally not this moronic." He thought for a moment, trying to dissect their obvious flaw in tactics and then it dawned on him. "Alright, the rebels aren't that stupid, they must have something up their sleeves. Have The Gallup break formation and focus on the X-wings. We can't let them interfere once we send boarding parties to the Talon."
"Copy that Admiral; I'm relaying the message now." Junta watched the radar as The Gallup turned to face the incoming X-wings. All of a sudden, the X-wings started o bleep off the radar. He smiled as each one was shot and destroyed. "Apparently, they do have a death wish." He turned his attention away from the X-wings and focused on the Talon. "Have The Gallup form back up and focus it's batteries on…" He was trailed off as they received a message from The Gallup. Only small bits were coming through though and it was followed by explosions.
"Venture……..what happe……….out of no where…….weren't on rad……pons we haven't se……" Everyone stared blankly as the message went to static. Junta focused back on The Gallup's blip on radar and it began to fade away until it was gone.
"What in god's name…." someone said. Junta had no idea what to think. He was shell-shocked. A rag tag group of a few X-wings destroyed a Star Destroyer? How was this possible?
"Uh, admiral, orders?"
Junta snapped out of thoughts and decided what to do next. "Order all Ties attack the X-wings. I want them destroyed!"
"Copy that." The comm. officer flipped channels until he came to the right frequency. "All squadrons proceed to engage the X-wings. Repeat, break off attack of the Talon and engage the X-wings."
Junta moved back to his chair and sat down. He never realized that this might actually be a challenge...but he knew for certain that this was a challenge he would overcome.