Chapter 21
...
Location: High Terran Orbit
System: Corinth
Date: 4 ABY, Month 7, Day 4
Time: 2200 hrs
...
Three hours after first contact, reports came in that Hera was safely back aboard her ship, course set to Epsilon Station. Resolute was ordered to remain at this place and provide defense. Somehow, some pirates managed to find the Terrans and constantly harass them for their resources and ships. The ships these people are building are supposed to combat them. I have my battle group here, but it's still not big. Just the Avenger-class star destroyer, a Legacy-class star destroyer, a few Arquitens cruisers, and some CR90 corvettes. Literally the same complement of ships that are able to dock onto the ship. Sabine went down to the hangar to personally assign our pilots to their patrol routes.
My corvettes are setting up long range scanners around the planet and the light cruisers are guarding the shipyards. I needed a place to hide my Legacy and the Resolute, and just our luck, there's a secret hyperspace route that the pirates don't know about, leading to an abandoned mining asteroid that they've cleared out.
"Alright, I think we're set!" I said. "We'll deter these pirates best we can."
"We can't thank you guys enough!"
"Don't thank us yet. We still have some pirates to deal with," I said.
"Of course. We've mapped out a rough schedule for their arrivals. They usually show up once a week, so they should be here later today, or sometime next rotation."
"Acknowledged," I said. My comm officer redirected an incoming transmission to my console: the rough schedule of pirate attacks. "One thing's for sure, they're organized in when they attack... What does their fleet look like?"
"Usually some fighters and freighters, a couple frigates. Nothing major for you guys. I don't know if that's all they've got at their disposal, though."
"Noted. We'll keep our Comms open." I pressed a button on my console and the captain of the Harbinger appeared. "Captain, is everything ready?"
"Yes, sir. All ships reported green across the board. We'll let you know when they arrive."
I nodded to the captain and ordered Nav to jump us to the abandoned mine.
After we entered hyperspace, it only took us 30 seconds to get to our position.
"That's not a long trip... Captain, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, General."
"As soon as you detect ships entering the system, we'll begin our jump," I said as the Resolute turned around.
A couple hours later, we received a message of a handful of ships entering the system.
Our pirates have arrived.
I snapped my fingers and pointed to the Nav officer, who immediately jumped us to hyperspace. Thirty seconds later, when the blue faded, I saw a stand off between two armed freighters, a few outdated ARC 170 fighters, painted in black and orange, and four modified Munificent-class frigates, also painted in black and orange.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my Legacy jump in on the holotable, but I was focused on the new ships in front.
"Open our channels," I told Comm.
"Outbound channel open, sir."
"Attention unknown vessels. State your business here!"
"Who's asking?"
"I'll be asking the questions here, understand?"
"I won't be answering any of yours until you answer mine. Who. Is. Asking?"
"You are ordered to leave this system immediately, or you will be fired upon," I said, not willing to negotiate on this guy's terms.
"I'm not going anywhere without our share of the resources!"
"Go find your resources somewhere else. You're not welcome here."
I heard Sabine say something about launching fighters and I looked to her, only to find she's staring at me, waiting for an answer.
"Launch the alert fighters. Keep all others on standby," I whispered to her. She nodded and ran over to the flight control console to relay the order quietly.
"You are outnumbered, and out gunned. I suggest you leave while you still can," I said.
The forward hangar doors opened and five X-Wings flew out. Five A-Wings followed soon after.
"Both Alert squadrons deployed," Sabine said quietly to me.
The pirates still refused to leave, saying they aren't leaving no matter what.
"So be it," I said, cutting off comms with the enemy ship. "Launch the rest of our fighters. Fire on the ships to disable."
Sabine turned back to her console, relaying the message.
The forward doors opened again and more fighters and some Y-Wing bombers flew out.
"General, any particular targets?" one of the wing leaders asked.
"I need all X-wings to engage the frigates. Knock out their weapons. A-wings, cover the bombers. Any fighters that get in your way, make sure they don't get a chance to get behind you. Bombing target is the hyperdrive on those freighters."
All wings reported ready and I gave the order to engage.
The captain of the Legacy star destroyer requested orders.
"Block off their escape. Anything that gets close, use the tractor beams to create a web," I said. I could almost see the droid crew getting to their stations already. "Jam their transmissions. We won't be getting reinforcements for a time so neither will they."
I watched as out starfighters began knocking out ship armaments and enemy fighters, clearing the way for our fighters to the armed freighters.
The bridge was filled with battle chatter; fighters reporting another fighter or ship turbolaser battery destroyed, fighters calling out incoming fighters or that they've got one on their six, bombers reading out ETA until they can safely deploy their payloads on the freighters. I looked out past the battle and to our light cruisers holding position between the pirates and the Terran shipyard. I began to think about our resources for a second. We may still have shortages for resources, but ship production could still be increased if we keep up demands. Which means we'll need to go out and find suppliers.
Sabine snapped me out of my thoughts because she started calling for a report of the pirate's status.
"Their frigates weapon systems are offline, their shields are failing. All enemy fighters are dealt with and bombers are awaiting the green light to move in!" the XO said.
"The green light is given," Sabine said.
The flight coordinator started talking into his microphone, "Gold Squadron, you are cleared for EMP bombardment."
"Copy that, Resolute. We see our opening. Alright boys, let's get this done!"
...
A couple hours had passed since the battle ended, but I was still amazed at the pirate's resilience to our interrogations. Whoever those guys were, they were a new group, but their members seemed experienced in this sort of thing.
I was sitting in my quarters, staring out into open space as we orbited the Terran homeworld, when I heard a chime at my door.
"Come in," I said, keeping my eyes on the stars.
I heard the door open, then close, and the sound of light footsteps echoed slightly in the open room.
"For a First Contact scenario, that was pretty interesting," I said.
I heard a quiet mhm behind me.
I turned around and faced Sabine directly, "You alright?"
She nodded, "Yeah, just a little tired. Those pirates are giving me a headache."
"Really? You getting a headache?" I joked.
She glared at me, "Even Mandalorians can get headaches easily."
"I know, I was only joking," I said.
Sabine smiled softly, but it faded as fast as it appeared. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're tell is showing... what are you thinking about?" she asked me.
"I was thinking about our new allies... They have their planet and resources to build ships... but we still need more suppliers."
Sabine nodded, "I agree, but for now I think we're okay. We'll find some more suppliers sooner or later."
"The sooner the better," I said. "What did you find from those pirates?"
"How did you know that they talked?" she asked. "The Force?"
"No, I just know you would make them talk," I said, grinning.
"Right," she smiled. "Most of them were persistent in keeping quiet, but there were a few that broke. One of them in particular mentioned that they've been building a fleet of their own."
"A pirate fleet? Did he say what ships they're using?"
"As a matter of fact, he did. They've been commandeering Imperial training ships lately. The type of ship, however, is familiar to us."
She plugged in a data chip and activated the holo on my desk to show me a Venator-class star destroyer...
Or something resembling one, anyway.
"Venators?"
"Yup. However, they've been putting their own touch to them. Some of these stolen vessels were taken from scrapyards, much like how our first Y-wings were taken for General Dodonna," she said. "Quite fascinating if you ask me. Stealing a squadron of Y-wings was hard enough, but an entire capital ship? Whoever these people are, they are very resourceful."
"They don't sound like the kind of pirates we'd get along with," I said.
"Another guy I broke said they don't like outsiders, even more than Mandalorians do."
"I didn't think anybody could hate outsiders more than a Mandalorian!"
"I wasn't really surprised, actually. My people have started getting used to us, after all," she smiled at me before continuing. "He said they wouldn't form any alliances with anybody. Whatever they want, they'll get it by force."
"No treaties with shipyards even?"
"Nope. If they want a shipyard, they'll take it. By the looks of it, they've had this one under their thumb until we showed up. Their leader will send more ships to investigate where his transport fleet went. By the time he realizes it, we'll be ready."
"No objections from me..." I activated my comlink. "Tactical, what's the status of our weapons?"
"Ah General! I was about to contact you about that. Everything's operational at peak efficiency."
"Good. I want all of our artillery cannons charged."
"BAC, too, sir?"
"Why not? Charge the BACs, equal levels to regular artillery."
"Consider it done, sir. All guns should be ready in 10 minutes."
"Good. I want long range scans for any inbound vessels, patrol routes expanded, fighters refueled and rearmed, everything."
"Right away!"
"I'll be on the bridge in Twenty." I clicked off my comlink and looked at Sabine. "I'd like to speak with our prisoners, particularly the one that told you about their fleet."
She smiled at me, "Follow me."
...
"I told you everything I know already! Please just don't hurt me anymore!"
The guy was screaming and crying like crazy, so whatever Sabine did to make him talk, it completely broke his barriers. I could read his thoughts like an open holonovel. Upon arrival, the guard complained to his partner about a headache and getting something to drink afterwards.
"Open the door," I told the guard. "Sabine, if you would stay out here."
"What? Why?"
"I want him calm and he might start screaming again," I said. "Besides, I need you on the bridge."
"Alright, fine," she said, turning around on her heels and walking away.
"Would you like some security with you, sir?" the guard asked. "I've got men...
"I'm fine without it, thank you. Get yourself something to drink, Lieutenant," I said, smiling.
"Sir?"
"Your shift ends in 5 minutes, correct?"
"Y-Yes sir!"
I nodded, "I'll let you off early this time. Get something for that headache of yours."
"Thank you, sir!"
I nodded politely and opened the cell door, activated the shield with the Force. As soon as the prisoner saw me, he continued pleading that he wouldn't be harmed.
I held out my hand to calm him, "Don't be afraid, I'm not here to torture you."
The guy stared at me, warily, "Y-You're not?"
"Of course not," I said, pulling up a chair. "I just want a friendly conversation."
The guy was obviously reluctant about this. "Where's your commanding officer?"
"I am the commanding officer."
"Whatever you want, I already told your people!"
"That's fine, but I want to know more about that fleet of yours."
"My f-f-fleet?"
"Yup. I know it's an old Venator fleet, and very clearly some Munificent-class frigates. Tell me everything about the fleet: number of ships that you know about, how many people do you have, etc."
The guy nodded, "So far we have about 25 Venators that we've salvaged from junkyards and commandeered from Imperial training facilities, even buying some off of private owners. We do have Munificent-class frigates, and even a few light carriers."
"What kind of carriers?"
"I don't remember the class, but it's an old Imperial model..."
"Can you describe this carrier?"
"Four hangar bays near the aft, the bridge sticking out towards the front... overall a triangle shape, more or less."
"Quasar Fire-class?"
"Yes, that's it!"
I nodded, "We've had one of those before. Decent ship."
"We've modified it so it's spaceframe is stable, and even more armaments, but the power supply for those new guns and shields is too high for a ship like that so it can only focus one side of the ship at a time. Shields are already stretched to its breaking point so it doesn't take much to knock those out."
"You're an engineer?" I asked.
"No, but I'm familiar with all kinds of ships... sort of."
I nodded and asked him for more details about his fleets, their foot soldier numbers, tactics, and so on. But it wasn't until I got to his leader that he seemed lost.
"I've only heard about him, and occasionally from him. His voice sounds like it's being changed through the holo so I don't really know what he really sounds like. Almost nobody gets to see him... though usually it's never good when they do."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"If he wants people to go out to do something, he comms them. But if somebody get called to his presence... most never return. If they do, they're not the same. Whoever leave his office alive is just a mentally broken shell of a man..."
The prisoner was silent for a moment, but then he added, "I've seen it happen before. This guy holds no remorse for anything. He never holds back. He tries to overwhelm enemies with not only superior firepower than most private corporations, but he also uses a lot of starfighters. A mix of Imperial and old Republic tactics I like to think."
"With all due respect, there wasn't a lot of 'overwhelming force' today," I said.
"We were just the cargo fleet. We're not equipped for large engagements like this. It's not our job."
I nod, "I suppose that makes sense. How did you guys get old ARC 170s?"
"Same way we got the Venators; we salvaged for them, stole them, and even bought them."
"How long until an investigation fleet arrives?"
"We're supposed to be on our way back by now, and communication report 20 minutes ago. As of right now... I'd say about a couple hours, give or take."
"How big of a fleet should we expect?" I asked.
"Depends on the importance of the situation. Since this is a good source of resources for us..." He fell silent and looked like he was trying to figure something out. "4-6 Venators plus 15-20 frigates and several dozen fighters. However many the Venators are carrying. Your current fleet here won't last long under all that fire."
"I wouldn't doubt it, but we've got something you guys don't."
The prisoner looked at me, clearly puzzled. "What is that?"
"Better tech, better ships, more firepower, stronger shields, longer range..."
"How long of range?"
"You wouldn't believe it. Also, we survived the Death Star."
The prisoner seemed to choke on his own breath. "D-Death Star? You people fought against the Death Star and survived?"
I didn't say another word and I turned to leave. As I did, he started mumbling something about how badly they probably messed up this time.
...
Sure enough, just almost two hours after my meeting with the cooperative pirate, a fleet of Venators appeared from hyperspace right in front of us. The prisoner's guess at the fleet size was fairly accurate so far. Six Venators, 18 frigates, and of course a bunch of fighters: ARC 170s, V-19s, and I think I even saw a few Eta-2 interceptors. All outdated and, judging by comm scan data, weaker weapons. However, weaker doesn't mean any less dangerous.
The holo table behind me started to beep and Sabine reported a transmission from the enemy flagship.
I walked to the back to the table and the holo activated. An armored man appeared in front of me.
"You called?" I asked casually.
I don't think this guy liked that. He seemed agitated.
"I'm going to be direct with you."
I nod, "I'm listening."
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"So... I have to identify myself first?"
"Don't play dumb with me, kid!"
I heard Sabine mutter something, but I kept my focus on the holo in front of me.
I tense a bit, but I don't let me emotions show.
"I am General Ezra Bridger of the New Rebellion Starship Resolute. On behalf of the Terran people, you are ordered to withdraw and never return. If you refuse, there will be consequences."
"The rebellion was killed long ago! Even then, we never supported them! Any act of resistance will be dealt with quickly!"
"You're currently out of weapons range..." I pointed out.
"These ships are fast. We will be on top of you before you even know it!"
"I can say the same..." I look past the hologram towards the tactical officer. "Fire LRACs."
The vibrations from the artillery cannons firing was felt through the entire ship, though faintly. I watched the blue bolts fly through space at speeds faster than the average laser cannon, and the enemy fleet was hit hard. The target ship was a frigate, and it didn't even survive the first volley of cannon fire.
I heard a voice outside the holo start shouting about the shots fired at one of their frigates taking point in a defensive position, and the captain ordering fighters to be launched.
"As you can see, my ship is quite similar to your Venators. The space frame is mostly the same, but it's larger and more powerful."
The enemy commander snarled at me, then seemed to look at something else from a data pad somebody handed him. "All hands, fire at those antennae at the front of that ship! That's got to be a targeting array!"
"I'll take it you're not leaving?" I asked calmly.
His response was a cut off transmission.
"Very well. All ships, order targets by range. Whatever you have locked, keep focused fire. Keep point defense hot. Fire at will."
The space between our two fleets gradually began filling up with red and blue shots as the enemy fleet approached. Many of the frigates started closing distance, but I ordered our Arquitens cruisers to take them out. ARC 170s and V-19 Torrents swarmed, but my X-wings countered them and proved to be more efficient in taking out targets, and our pilots superior in dogfights. The Eta-2 interceptors were, ironically enough, intercepted by our A-wings, but had a little more difficulty taking them out. Of course, we still had losses, but not as fast as the enemy, especially since we had a lot of point defense laser cannons forming a defensive screen between us and the advancing fighters. Even a few frigates that were caught in the screen were completely destroyed in close to a minute.
"General, there's an opening to the enemy capital ships! Should we send in bombers?"
"Negative! They have point defense, too, not to mention they still have frigates deployed around them. Let our capitals take care of them."
"Yes sir!"
"Sir, a few enemy fighters are trying to destroy our BACs!"
"They think they're targeting arrays. Target the nearest Venator and fire, quarter power."
"A quarter-power shot would still weaken our shields..." Sabine said.
"Better than none... A third power, then. Alternative fire rate, 4 shots per cannon."
Sabine grinned, "Oh this is going to be good."
"Full power shots strains the ship, correct? What about half?"
"Minor power fluctuations, most likely, but shield integrity would be so low, it would be best not to have them online," Sabine said.
"Right... one-third power, alternative shots. Fire when ready!"
Our main batteries had a noticeable drop in firing speed, as did our point defense, but the BACs did their job, destroying the shields and breaching the forward hangars, making the main hangars inoperable and effectively slowing down operations to repair and rearm starfighters mid-battle.
"Wait a few minutes before firing another volley, same power level shots!" Sabine said.
Throughout the entire battle, several enemy fighters kept strafing our shields, sometimes even hitting the hull due to lower power levels from firing the BACs. Eventually, I called off BAC strikes and allowed the Legacy to cover us while we recharge our shields and weapons. By the time everything was full power, there were three of the original six Venators were burning wrecks from focused fire from all our ships. Four of the original eighteen frigates were still operational, but were also burning. They turned tail and were about to run before our reinforcement fleet arrived and cut them off, forcing them to surrender.
We took the survivors prisoner aboard the Resolute, but soon I ordered them transferred to the Terrans so they could judge them by their laws. As for the remaining enemy ships, we scuttled them for resources; weapon parts, shield generator parts, engine parts, extra armor and hull plating, we even stripped the hull as best we could of anything that didn't have a mark on the outside, but there really wasn't even a square meter of outer hull plating without some sort of damage. After we stripped the ships of resources, the Terrans offered to send the empty ships to their shipyards for final deconstruction. Whatever was left would be turned to scrap.
...
5 Hours Later
...
I walked into the officer's hub back at Epsilon Station and immediately, some new officers started talking amongst themselves. I looked at the time, then around the room until I found Sabine sitting alone in a far corner booth. I walked over and sat across from her.
"Hey, this seat taken?" I asked.
She looked up at me and smiled, "Of course not."
"You said 1900 hours," I said.
"I almost miss the days when you were always late," she joked.
I heard some more talking behind me. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered by it, but these officers were recently commissioned and are awaiting either their own ships to command, or ground troop units, a few even waiting to be assigned to new fighter wings, and they're specifically talking about me.
"You bothered by something?" Sabine asked.
"Yeah, they're talking about me," I muttered.
Sabine looked over my shoulder, then back at me with a smile, "It's nothing bad. New officers and all... they're inspired."
I must've looked confused because she started explaining.
"It didn't take long before everybody here found out about our most recent battle. Some might say you're becoming 'legendary'."
"Seriously?"
"I'm not bothered by it. Personally, I like not having their attention. Especially from the men. Most of the time it's because of my body. But then again, I do enjoy seeing how quickly they step back and jump to attention every time I show rank on them."
She laughed to herself a little.
"So is anybody calling you legendary?" I asked.
"Well, of course, you dork," she said. "I have a shared command of the Resolute, with you, and everything like that. Every crew member stationed with Resolute are very popular, especially the pilots."
"I can understand that much. As least we're not getting all the glory," I said.
"You never really want the glory," Sabine countered, leaning over the table towards me. She rest her chin on the back of her hands and stared at me.
"Yeah no, I really don't," I laughed.
Sabine raised an eyebrow at me, smirked, then pressed a button on the edge of the table. Immediately, a holo appeared and started asking what we'd like to eat or drink.
Granted this place wasn't a restaurant, but with the nearest place several parsecs away inside the galaxy, we couldn't resist the urge to get these things, especially after a long journey that literally takes us outside the galaxy.
After a few more minutes, we were eating and drinking and enjoying each other's company for the rest of the 'night'.