"Sir, we have a report from the front."
Captain Mitchell of the modified Worm Cruiser Shaman had anticipated this message for some time; he awaited the arrival of the officer of the watch.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" he asked the young man.
"Sir," he began, "The Wormeara was sighted near Wamino; it attacked the planet and destroyed the relay station and Skua factory." The captain scowled.
"The factory? Damn, return to your duties, I have to brief the council," and with that he set off for the war room.
He found Councilor Weia, Admiral Wackbar, and Won Wothma in a meeting.
"Sorry to bother you Councilors, there was a hit-and-run attack on Wamino, the relay station and a factory were destroyed by a Worm Destroyer." Three pairs of eyes turned to Wackbar.
"Worm is er, up to his usual tricks. Was there any loss of life?"
"No sir" Mitchell replied.
"Good, get those factories back on line, and deploy a battle station." Wackbar paused for a moment. "And fix that damn holonet!"
"Sir, the sentry ships have a message for you." Welleon and Worm turned to meet Wishel, holding a data pad. Worm was the first to speak.
"This better be important Commander," he said coldly.
"S-Sir, the Stormhawk and the Iron Maiden report a Worm Cruiser twenty light-years from Walderann. We think it's the Shaman.
"Hmmmm. The Shaman; that ship is carrying bioforms Wackbar and Weia." He turned to Welleon.
"Captain?"
"Yes sir," Welleon answered his commander.
"Set course for Walderann. Inform the sentry ships they are clear to engage at will." Welleon cringed at the sound of the order.
"Sir?"
"Yes Captain?"
Sir, with all due respect the sentry ships won't stand a chance against a Worm Cruiser. Can't an attack wait?"
"On the contrary," Worm replied. "Its standard procedure to remove turbolasers from ships employed in diplomatic ferrying. Even if the Shaman hasn't bee modified, there probably are not enough worms on board to man half the guns."
All was quiet on the bridge of the Watana fleet Wormnaught Stormhawk; from the view ports Commander Wivile could see the Iron Maiden power up its guns. In thirty minutes the two ships would drop back into realspace and commence their attack on the Worm Cruiser Shaman.
Wishel monitored the many consoles at his command station; all lights were green. It was now twenty minutes to realspace. No one on the bridge spoke a word, until Wishel keyed the intercom and broke the silence.
"Battery commanders, power up the guns, Ion cannon stand-bye." He paused and stared at the clock, three minutes.
"Clear the bridge for battle, set a vector to the defending cruiser as soon as possible, inform the Iron Maiden that they are all clear." He heard another voice.
"Yes sir, setting vector three-zero-zero, four clicks to target."
Wishel grimaced, it would be a tough battle, as he thought this the starlines turned back into dots and he could the see the massive hulk of a Worm Cruiser, the Turbolasers began firing.
The sirens wailed an ear-splitting cry as worm after worm raced to stations, but with only seven manned batteries, the battle was already over.
Weia heard the sirens and gasped, the Shaman was under attack. She raced to the bridge to find Wackbar and Captain Mitchel hovering over a holographic read-out of the surrounding sectors. She saw the Wormnaughts approach.
Damn, they found us. She watched in horror as the Shaman and the Termites exchanged fire, for several minutes this went on, after about ten minutes, by that time only two batteries were left firing, and they had lost most of their starboard shields. The Wormnaughts were taking damage, but no system failures. Weia quickly whispered in Captain Mitchell's ears.
"Yes Councilor," he said. He turned to his crew. "Give me a vector to the closer Wormnaught," he barked.
"Four-three-two," came the reply. Mitchell smiled. "Set course to the vector, make sure our stern is by the bridge, and then concentrate your fire on the bridge deflector shield generators. And send a distress signal."
The Shaman slowly inched forward, it assumed the desired position and the Stormhawk, not wanting to hit its sister ship, stopped firing. The Iron Maiden was on its own to defend its shields from a barrage of fire. After a few minutes, both ships were shieldless, and the Shaman had a leaking hyperdrive. Weia noticed a bright flash in the distance.
Suddenly, four W-Wings and three Skuas formed on the Iron Maiden, unleashing their complement of missiles, the Wormnaught never had a chance. Worm Squadron had arrived.
After blasting through a Wormnaught Dirt felt lively and gay, the melancholy of the past few days had subsided.
"I've got to hand it to ya Ring Leader; you've got some damn good ships! Look out for the fire." Several minutes later the Stormhawk was beginning to break apart. The W-Wings and the Skuas checked the area for other ships, and then flew around the Shaman to survey the damage. It was bad.
The ship was badly scared, two main beams had cracked, and there was a coolant leak; the main reactor was in danger of going critical.
Realizing the danger the Shaman's passengers were in, Dirt switched on his comlink, his voice crackled over the radio.
"Shaman, this is Worm Leader, repeat; Shaman, this is Worm Leader." He paused. After a few minutes he heard a reply, it was Weia's voice.
"Yes Dirt, how bad is the damage?" she asked. Dirt forced over a sigh.
"Severe, I'm already seeing numerous power ire-"He never finished his sentence. A Worm Destroyer had arrived, and from it's horrendous fire, it was out for blood.
"Bad news everybody, you'll have to abandon ship, Shaman?"
"We heard, we're departing on a yacht."
"Roger that," Dirt replied.
Dirt could only watch as the massive Worm Destroyer began firing, small explosions on the Shaman became bigger ones. A squadron of Termite Interceptors was bearing down on Dirt, adjusting laser levels, he quickly knocked two out, then zoomed toward Won Wothma's yacht.
Two Termites formed up, and began firing at the defenseless yacht, Dirt got a lock on the rear, took a deep breath...and blew it out of the sky, the second came down easy. Then he heard the blast.
Oh my dirt... he thought; luckily he saw a small yacht emerging from the debris, a few turbolaser shots hit it, nothing its shields couldn't handle, in the blink of an eye it jumped.
Captain Mitchell of the modified Worm Cruiser Shaman had anticipated this message for some time; he awaited the arrival of the officer of the watch.
"Yes, Lieutenant?" he asked the young man.
"Sir," he began, "The Wormeara was sighted near Wamino; it attacked the planet and destroyed the relay station and Skua factory." The captain scowled.
"The factory? Damn, return to your duties, I have to brief the council," and with that he set off for the war room.
He found Councilor Weia, Admiral Wackbar, and Won Wothma in a meeting.
"Sorry to bother you Councilors, there was a hit-and-run attack on Wamino, the relay station and a factory were destroyed by a Worm Destroyer." Three pairs of eyes turned to Wackbar.
"Worm is er, up to his usual tricks. Was there any loss of life?"
"No sir" Mitchell replied.
"Good, get those factories back on line, and deploy a battle station." Wackbar paused for a moment. "And fix that damn holonet!"
"Sir, the sentry ships have a message for you." Welleon and Worm turned to meet Wishel, holding a data pad. Worm was the first to speak.
"This better be important Commander," he said coldly.
"S-Sir, the Stormhawk and the Iron Maiden report a Worm Cruiser twenty light-years from Walderann. We think it's the Shaman.
"Hmmmm. The Shaman; that ship is carrying bioforms Wackbar and Weia." He turned to Welleon.
"Captain?"
"Yes sir," Welleon answered his commander.
"Set course for Walderann. Inform the sentry ships they are clear to engage at will." Welleon cringed at the sound of the order.
"Sir?"
"Yes Captain?"
Sir, with all due respect the sentry ships won't stand a chance against a Worm Cruiser. Can't an attack wait?"
"On the contrary," Worm replied. "Its standard procedure to remove turbolasers from ships employed in diplomatic ferrying. Even if the Shaman hasn't bee modified, there probably are not enough worms on board to man half the guns."
All was quiet on the bridge of the Watana fleet Wormnaught Stormhawk; from the view ports Commander Wivile could see the Iron Maiden power up its guns. In thirty minutes the two ships would drop back into realspace and commence their attack on the Worm Cruiser Shaman.
Wishel monitored the many consoles at his command station; all lights were green. It was now twenty minutes to realspace. No one on the bridge spoke a word, until Wishel keyed the intercom and broke the silence.
"Battery commanders, power up the guns, Ion cannon stand-bye." He paused and stared at the clock, three minutes.
"Clear the bridge for battle, set a vector to the defending cruiser as soon as possible, inform the Iron Maiden that they are all clear." He heard another voice.
"Yes sir, setting vector three-zero-zero, four clicks to target."
Wishel grimaced, it would be a tough battle, as he thought this the starlines turned back into dots and he could the see the massive hulk of a Worm Cruiser, the Turbolasers began firing.
The sirens wailed an ear-splitting cry as worm after worm raced to stations, but with only seven manned batteries, the battle was already over.
Weia heard the sirens and gasped, the Shaman was under attack. She raced to the bridge to find Wackbar and Captain Mitchel hovering over a holographic read-out of the surrounding sectors. She saw the Wormnaughts approach.
Damn, they found us. She watched in horror as the Shaman and the Termites exchanged fire, for several minutes this went on, after about ten minutes, by that time only two batteries were left firing, and they had lost most of their starboard shields. The Wormnaughts were taking damage, but no system failures. Weia quickly whispered in Captain Mitchell's ears.
"Yes Councilor," he said. He turned to his crew. "Give me a vector to the closer Wormnaught," he barked.
"Four-three-two," came the reply. Mitchell smiled. "Set course to the vector, make sure our stern is by the bridge, and then concentrate your fire on the bridge deflector shield generators. And send a distress signal."
The Shaman slowly inched forward, it assumed the desired position and the Stormhawk, not wanting to hit its sister ship, stopped firing. The Iron Maiden was on its own to defend its shields from a barrage of fire. After a few minutes, both ships were shieldless, and the Shaman had a leaking hyperdrive. Weia noticed a bright flash in the distance.
Suddenly, four W-Wings and three Skuas formed on the Iron Maiden, unleashing their complement of missiles, the Wormnaught never had a chance. Worm Squadron had arrived.
After blasting through a Wormnaught Dirt felt lively and gay, the melancholy of the past few days had subsided.
"I've got to hand it to ya Ring Leader; you've got some damn good ships! Look out for the fire." Several minutes later the Stormhawk was beginning to break apart. The W-Wings and the Skuas checked the area for other ships, and then flew around the Shaman to survey the damage. It was bad.
The ship was badly scared, two main beams had cracked, and there was a coolant leak; the main reactor was in danger of going critical.
Realizing the danger the Shaman's passengers were in, Dirt switched on his comlink, his voice crackled over the radio.
"Shaman, this is Worm Leader, repeat; Shaman, this is Worm Leader." He paused. After a few minutes he heard a reply, it was Weia's voice.
"Yes Dirt, how bad is the damage?" she asked. Dirt forced over a sigh.
"Severe, I'm already seeing numerous power ire-"He never finished his sentence. A Worm Destroyer had arrived, and from it's horrendous fire, it was out for blood.
"Bad news everybody, you'll have to abandon ship, Shaman?"
"We heard, we're departing on a yacht."
"Roger that," Dirt replied.
Dirt could only watch as the massive Worm Destroyer began firing, small explosions on the Shaman became bigger ones. A squadron of Termite Interceptors was bearing down on Dirt, adjusting laser levels, he quickly knocked two out, then zoomed toward Won Wothma's yacht.
Two Termites formed up, and began firing at the defenseless yacht, Dirt got a lock on the rear, took a deep breath...and blew it out of the sky, the second came down easy. Then he heard the blast.
Oh my dirt... he thought; luckily he saw a small yacht emerging from the debris, a few turbolaser shots hit it, nothing its shields couldn't handle, in the blink of an eye it jumped.
