Imperial destroyer class II, ESV262 "Destiny Blade", Command Bridge.

Crebs still wasn't back yet. The admiral stood alone on the bridge, looking out over the bay and the screens.

A controller says: "Port aft battery 36 out of order!"
A female sergeant announced from behind her screen "A laser assailant destroyed starboard!"

A voice added to the concert again:
"Fuel leak in sector L negative 3! Caulking team on the area in two minutes!"

Louchké asked: "What are their losses?"
"Three lasers. No bombers yet. They are standing back"
"Decrease gradually the intensity of our defensive fire. We must spark their attack now. I'll give the order to fire"

"Before we are too weak to return fire" said the Admiral to himself.

The orders were given and the batteries went off one by one. The fleet of bombers suddenly moved forward.

"The moment of truth" He breathed in to prepare to shout the order.

The bombers had just broken their trajectories and were beginning their resources.


Josse's shot was well adjusted. Despite the extremely narrow angle, the flashes of energy pulverized the three B-Wings at the left end of the attack formation. The blast of the bombs and tanks caused damage all the way to the centre of the formation.

Sven and Esan were on their way up to the command post when they saw a huge flash on their left. Their ship was shaken and alarm bells went off.

The bomber, which was in the center of the line of attack and was almost in the middle of the mast that carried the command post, deviated from its trajectory under the effect of the blast and went to the right. Sven shout:

"Esan, full left!"

They were getting dangerously close to their right wingman. The two pilots put the left stick until the ship stopped drifting.

"Esan, neutral!"

Just then the horn for the ejection of charges will sound. The bombing had just started.


Republican flagship RSV115 "Emancipator", Command Bridge.

Admiral Rousseau, fascinated, watched the main screen which was nothing but flashes and explosions. He saw the shot the imperial ship's defenses weaken, the formation advances and begins to pull the destroyer back up by grazing the central nozzle.

"Everything's going perfectly" Judd thought it best to comment.
"Our crews are really great" said the admiral.
"Bombardment in ten seconds!" Announced a checkpoint.

The left half of the screen suddenly turned white. A controller shouted:

"Turbolaser firing! "

Everyone had frozen. The screen was no longer legible, the cameras having been dazzled by the energy of the discharge. Finally, focus was restored and the command room was able to contemplate the the result of the counterattack.

Judd swallowed once. A quarter of the attacking formation was gone. He also saw that some bombers had been hit and were trying to leave the battlefield, framed by the fire of the hostile batteries.

The action was not over yet. The right side of the formation, which had not been fired upon, continued to move closer to the objective. They saw the bombs leave the bunkers and scatter over the target. Explosions appeared.

"Estimated losses: five lasers, four bombs" announced a checkpoint.

The admiral shouted: "Go ahead, boys! Make them pay!"


Although the ceiling of the "Destiny Blade" command post was armored, it resonated under the impacts, all went out, and the hissing of the air escaping into the space was heard.

A voice somewhere exclaimed: "Power supply and emergency lighting on!"
Another station in the darkness added: "Turrets R24 and 27-3 out of order!"

The Admiral had given the order to fire just after the impromptu firing of the turbolaser battery. The bombing had been carried out, but because of the riposte it was scattered, and thus less effective.

"Aiming station, who fired first?"
"Bunker Hill" replied the port manager. "They have changed their deflection parameters. We have them called before the engagement began to restore them, but they disobeyed and disconnected the guidance system"
"And they did the right thing! Change the settings of the other batteries to the same and inform the gunners. The Reps may return"

"They've run out of ammunition, and given what they've taken, we've got a few hours" says a voice behind a console.

The Admiral didn't respond. It was well observed.

The light came back on. The shadows became faces again.

Louchké looked out over the bay. A few fires were visible. The groups of space firemen were out to put them out. He let his gaze wander off in front of the ship and jumped.

"We're drifting! "Is the wheelhouse back up?"
"I can't get the steering back on" replied the starboard helmsman.
"And port?
"It's just gone out!"
"What's going on?" Louchké asked "Navigation station?"

No answer. Heads turned towards the station in question, a little back from the bridge. A neighbouring operator stood up to the designated station, walked around it and froze.

"Oh, shit! He's dead! He's dead!"

One of the coxswains and the Electronic Warfare Officer rushed in and could only measure the extent of the damage.

A shrapnel had managed to penetrate the armoured ceiling and hit the navigator just above left ear. He then continued his trajectory by tearing off the right half of the jaw and finished his run on the station keyboard.

The blood-stained screen was off, and a small crackle came from the punctured keyboard. The three men raised their heads and saw the small oval hole in the ceiling, with jagged edges. The reddish foam of the self-seal was a little bit beyond the wound.

"Decidedly, one dies everywhere" thought Crebs, who had just arrived with Isse.

The helmsman put his hand on the collapsed navigator's neck against the screen and said:

"He's dead. He didn't have time to suffer, it must have been instantaneous"

Assisted by the operator, he lifted the corpse up and laid it on the ground. He came back to the station, turned it off, the restarted and waited a while. He stopped it again and said in a white voice:

"It won't start again. The guidance system is out of order!"

Even Louchké turned pale.

Isse shrugged her shoulders and said: "It's not so bad; there is a secondary command post, if I remember right?"

"It doesn't exist on this ship... we left too quickly" answered the admiral.

He replied in a loud voice:

"Gentlemen, if we don't find a solution in the next quarter of an hour, the ship is lost! The wheel of the first order to whoever unlocks this helm!"

Isse was startled. "What's the matter? Promise the highest decoration in the Empire? By what right?"

He was about to intervene, but an explicit look from Crebs held him back.