SoftWare: Ouch time.
Jack: What quote is that?
SoftWare: Captain Tarpal, Episode I, Phantom Menace.
Gakowa: Who's he?
SoftWare: He's a Gungan.
Gakowa: What the heck is a Gungan?!
SoftWare: (Sighs)
Chapter Three
Battle of Sector 13-75-18
(EV Poseidon, running on auxiliary power)
Jack looked at the tactical viewer, and faced Gakowa. "Any ideas, G?" Gakowa faced the viewer, then made his decision. He approached his station. "First officer to hangar control." Jack was confused by that. Hangar control answered. "Yes, Commander. How can we help you?" Gakowa didn't even hesitate. "Were the fighters affected by the EMP blast?" The officer replied, "No, sir. We'd just finished unplugging them when it happened." Gakowa faced Jack. "I'll draw them off while you get the ship back online." He ran off the bridge. Jack sat in his command chair. He thumbed his chair comm. "All pilots, to your stations. Commander Tano is on his way to you now." As Gakowa arrived, all the pilots were assembled. Gakowa stood in front of them. "Here's the story. The ship was hit by an EMP blast. There's another ship coming in, and it's not Terran. We're going to draw it away from the Poseidon while the crew gets the power back on. Any questions?" One pilot raised his hand. "Yes?" The pilot cleared his throat. "Sir, what good are snub fighters gonna do against a battle cruiser?" Gakowa sighed, having expected this question. "I don't expect to beat them, just to buy some time for the crew." The pilot nodded. "Yes, sir." Gakowa faced the rest. "Is that understood?" They all nodded. "Get to your fighters." They ran to their ships, and took off, one by one, Gakowa in the lead. He thumbed his comm. "All wings, report in." "Trident Two, standing by." "Trident Three, standing by." "Trident Four, standing by." "Trident Five, standing by." "Trident Six, standing by." "Trident Seven, standing by." "Trident Eight, standing by." "Trident Nine, standing by." "Trident Ten, standing by." "Triton Squadron, standing by." "Amphitrite Squadron, standing by." "Kymophebia Squadron, standing by." Gakowa nodded. "All fighters, attack position." The fifty Terran fighters flew toward the enemy ship, weapons ready. "Trident Leader, we have twenty fighters coming in." Gakowa made up his mind. "Amphitrite Squadron, Kymophebia Squadron, take care of them." After receiving the affirmatives, Gakowa pressed his comm again. "Everyone else, hit the target dead and center." A pilot chimed in. "Trident Leader, this is Trident Five. We got a message from the Poseidon. They detected an ION cannon on the bow of that ship." That got Gakowa's attention. "Trident Squadron, Triton Squadron, go after that ION cannon. Use your missiles. It might be our only chance of stopping them." As they got closer, Gakowa said, "If we do enough damage, the cannon might overload when they try to fire." Letting that settle in, he added, "Fire all missiles!" The thirty fighters launched their missiles, and they struck the cannon, damaging it. The cannon tried to fire, and exploded, causing the enemy shields to drop to 80%. Gakowa thumbed his comm. "Check in." "All fighters accounted for, sir. We didn't lose a single one." Gakowa nodded. "And the Poseidon?" Another voice chimed in. "How about you ask us yourself?" The Terran battle cruiser sailed forward, its power back online. Gakowa grinned. "All fighters, pull back to the Poseidon." As they boarded the cruiser, they heard turbolaser fire strike the enemy ship, effectively destroying it. Gakowa ran to the bridge, and when he arrived, he was surrounded by an applauding bridge crew. Jack sighed. "All right, give him some space. Back to your stations." As they obeyed, Jack approached his apprentice. "Good work out there, G. Your mom would be proud." Gakowa blushed. Jack chuckled, then faced Hawk. "How long until the Warp Gate device cools down?" Hawk faced his captain. "Two hours, sir. I'll engage it as soon as it's ready." Jack nodded. "Good man." He sat down in his command chair, and Gakowa returned to his station, ready for the return home.
A/N
SoftWare: There we go.
Jack: I'm sad.
SoftWare: Why?
Jack: Because we never learned who they were.
Gakowa: Yes, we did! They call themselves the Travelers.
Jack: Oh, yeah, right. Sorry.
Computer: SoftWare, offline.
