CHAPTER 22

"Here comes their first wave of bombers," a Lieutenant reported.

Some 40 Y-wings came over the Exar Kun, still fully loaded with proton torpedoes. One squadron came right up the center of the ship, firing a volley at the aft section of one of the forward engine rooms. Forty-eight proton torpedoes exploded in a concentrated area. Others pounded guns and shields.

"Engine room one is down, Sir. We lost starboard shields between frames 1,290 and 1,490, and the bridge lost power," the report came in.

"Bridge, transfer steering to CDC," Neestas said in a calm voice.

"Get some of our interceptor squadrons back here to defend the flagship," Melious ordered.

Just then CDC shuddered as it was hit by 18 proton torpedoes.

"Why are so many fighters getting through," Neestas asked.

"There's a new tactic they're using. They line up a wing of bombers with two or three squadrons of fighters in front of them. The lead squadron are A-wings, their fastest ones. The A-wings scream past, drawing the fire of our quads, making our dreamweaver fire-control-system look silly. The next two squadrons come in and engage our TIE fighter screen. Then six squadrons of bombers punch through and lay waste to our guns and shields," Melious said.

"Well how do we defeat it?" Neestas asked.

"Get more squadrons back here," Melious said plainly.

"Admiral, we're about to make contact with their second wave. It looks like they are lining up some A and X-wings in front six squadrons of B-wings. They are coming in alongside three corvettes and a Correlian gunship," Grant reported.

"Corvettes and gunships making a pass on a Super Star Destroyer?!" Neestas said incredulously. "Conn, roll the ship 90 degrees counterclockwise. Starboard batteries, concentrate your fire on the lead corvette," Neestas ordered. There were more explosions and some alarms rang out in CDC as the ship took fire from 72 B-wings and four small ships. Then the Exar Kun's massive turbolaser batteries opened up on the forward most covette. Within ten seconds the ship exploded.

"Darth Plagueis, Darth Maul, concentrate all fire on those Corellian ships passing the Exar Kun," Melious ordered. "That should teach them a lesson," he said, patting Neestas on the back; and it did.

Some TIE bombers also came in to assist, and all three corvettes were laid to waste on their pass, but the gunship and most of the B-wings got through.

"We're now coming in contact with the main body of their wall," Grant said.

"Rotate the ship back 90 degrees clockwise, bring us back to our normal configuration,"Neestas said.

#

"I see Melious has maneuvered his fleet so that we will come up their starboard side," Ackbar observed.

"Because of the heavy damage to the portside of his flagship, no doubt. Smart move," Peto commented.

"We'll see," Ackbar said. Then he picked up one of the comms. "Alliance, Freedom, Naboo, roll down and to starboard. Push through their wall and engage the other side of the Super Star Destroyer."

With this order, his wall would bend, and wrap itself around the Exar Kun, almost. So that the Super Star Destroyer would have to engage ships on both sides.

"What if they move with us, to block our path?" Mok asked.

"Get around them! Ram them, if you have to!" Ackbar instructed.

The three Calamari cruisers moved to cut through the Imperial wall. As expected, three Imperial class star destroyers moved in front of them and tried to block their path. Captains dutifully ordered their ships to approach at ramming speed, and at the last second, Melious did give permission for his ships to move.

On the Exar Kun, Melious was watching the same thing.

"Go ahead and let them come up on our portside. The Exar Kun can take more pounding than they think. Move to the outside and engage those three cruisers from the other side," Melious instructed those three Imperial class Star Destroyers.

Neestas gave Melious a questioning look, but said nothing. Melious leaned in close to Neestas.

"Even if we can't take the pounding, always show confidence in battle. Your men will fight harder if they think that they will win," he told the Captain.

Back on the Alliance side, Peto observed two events.

"Admiral Ackbar, we have an interesting situation here. The Feegians have just arrived with their fleet."

"Good, so what's the bad news," Ackbar asked, reading Peto's expression.

"Four more Imperial class Star Destroyers just came out of hyperspace in sector 18," Peto answered.

"Ackbar, Sing, where do you want our fleet? We're in perfect position to block their reinforcements. Or we could move into your wall. Your choice Admiral, you're in command," Sing said, making it very clear that he was a team player.

Ackbar stared at the holo for a moment. "What are your thoughts?" he asked Peto.

"Well, let's say that we assign a value of five heavy cruisers, to the Super Star Destroyer. It being beat up and all. Then we still seem to be ahead in this part of the battle. Now, four Imperial-class Star Destroyers are probably better or equal to the Feegians who have what, twelve capital ships. So, I think that it's best if they do block the Imperial reinforcements, so that we can win this part of the battle," Peto reasoned.

"I agree," Ackbar said.

Then he picked up the comm.

"Sing, Ackbar, we agree with you, you should move your fleet to intercept their reinforcements," Ackbar explained.

"Sounds good, Admiral. May the force be with you," Sing said.

#

Luke waited. Patient, but not nervous. Then Khan walked toward him. He approached slowly. Then, from about two meters away, Khan dove into Luke, trying to spear him with his lightsaber. Khan wanted to take Luke out with his first strike. It came with surprising ferocity. Luke had to fall backwards as Khan's lightsaber sailed past, inches over his chest.

Khan, in mid-air over Luke, swung downward. Luke batted away Khan's saber. Then threw up his hand, and, using the force, threw Khan in the direction of his momentum. Khan slammed into the wall 15 feet away. Luke jumped to his feet and spun. Khan had already recovered, and was in the air, coming down on Luke.

Luke blocked, then parried a thrust. Then, finally was able to swing his own weapon, trying to take out Khan's legs. Khan jumped. Luke swung back the other way, but was blocked. Han, Leia, Chewy and Lando were down the hall, peaking around the corner to see what was happening. Their sabers came together, and both men tried to push the other one's lightsaber back. Luke put his left hand out to throw Khan. Khan started to put his hand out, but Luke overpowered him and Khan was thrown 60 feet, to the other side of the giant room.

Luke suddenly realized just how powerful he was. Khan came running back. Luke moved over, allowing Khan's attack to simply pass right by him. Khan turned and started slashing. Luke started parrying, 'this is easy,' he thought. Then his hand got burned by Khan's lightsaber. Luke had gotten too cocky.

"Good one," Luke said, smiling at Khan.

The dark Jedi attacked with even more ferocity. Luke defended, and counter-attacked. He was careful not to get careless again. Something was clear, though. Luke was not having to work as hard as Khan was. Khan threw some objects, Luke stopped them. Then, when Khan seemed especially focused, Luke put out his hand and threw him again.

Khan came running back. He jumped eight feet in the air, and came swinging down on Luke. Luke batted Khan's lightsaber out of his hands, and then swung back around, hitting Khan's upper left leg.

"Ahhh!" Khan screamed, as he propelled himself, with the force, toward his lightsaber.

#

General Rieekan stood in front of a map with his division commanders.

"The Empire has begun a general advance along the whole front. There are heavy concentrations of troops and Imperial walkers here," he said, pointing to the map. "Where our fifth and sixth divisions meet. And in front of the second division," Rieekan explained. "We only have one division in reserve, that's the fourth. So, we will have to use it sparingly."

"What about our flanks?" General Brusilov asked.

"They have a division on each flank. We have one battalion of mountain troops dug in on the left. They're dug in well, using natural strong points. The terrain is really rough, and we've laid mines. We've slowed the advance of the Imperial First Division to a crawl. Our right flank is similar. We have a battalion of troops on Mount Laspada. They're also dug in at natural strong points. We have obstacles and mines, snipers' nests, the whole nine. We even have a few thousand allied, indigenous forces up there," Rieekan finished.

"Ewoks, Sir?" Brusilov asked.

"Yes. They're weapons are primitive, but they know the terrain, and they're ferocious fighters."

"So, the Imperials will get through on the flanks?" General Blimmel asked.

"Yes. My guys up there tell me that it should take at least a week for the Imperials to get through," the General explained.

"How about the areas you said before, where they are concentrating? In front of the second, and the fifth and sixth," Blimmel asked.

"Our troops are holding up for the moment. Their Imperial walkers are getting bogged down in the river," Rieekan said. "They've actually lost two already."

"Lost?" Brusilov questioned.

"At the bottom of the Orca River. Those losses are in addition to the ones that we've knocked out," General Rieekan explained.

#

A blaster bolt exploded right in front of Detrick's bunker, caving in one side of it, and partly burying three soldiers. Lena, Detrick and Castillo ran over and started digging with their hands.

"You guys ok?" Detrick asked, as they pulled one of the guys out of the rubble.

"I think so," the soldier replied.

"Detrick, look," Castillo said. The lead Imperial walker had reached the middle of the river.

"The water is all the way up to the Imperial walker's head!" Lena exclaimed.

"Are those things waterproof?" Castillo asked.

"They must be," Detrick said.

"Detrick, there are sharpshooters laying on top of the walkers' backs," Lena said.

"Try to hit them with some proton-grenades," he replied, before picking up the comm. "Command, Corporal Detrick. Can we have some speeders try to clean those sharp-shooters off the backs of the walkers."

"We're already on it, Corporal," the reply came from Major Roland.

Just then, as if on cue, two speeders flew in and blasted the three sharpshooters off the top of the Imperial walker's back. That same walker then started to lean sideways. The river's current was pushing against the wide side of the Imperial walker. The water covered the legs and most of the body of the walker, as well as some of its head. The walker started to lift its left front leg, and then it tumbled over, to the bottom of the river.

"Did you see that?!" Castillos exclaimed.

"That was awesome!" Lena said.

"They can't cross the river!" Detrick said.

There was some whooping and hollering, even as they continued to take fire. Tesla, in the next bunker over, was still expending ammunition at a record pace. She had a heavy blaster with a shoulder strap. Tesla managed to waste three storm troopers who were on the far bank of the river, quite a good distance away.

"What's bothering Tesla," Castillo asked, remembering Lena's comment from earlier.

"You know," she said, giving Castillo a knowing glance. Detrick did not know, but he didn't ask.

#

"Sir, their reinforcements are blocking ours," Grant reported.

"Grant, let's run through the numbers again," Melious said.

"In their main force, they have ten Mon Calamari Cruisers, three came from their reinforcements," Grant reminded. "Seven Assault Frigates, four Escort Frigates, two Victory-class Star Destroyers, and a Strike-class cruiser. For a total of 24 capital ships," Grant counted. The lights blinked off momentarily, as explosions were heard outside.

"We have eight Imperial-class Star Destroyers, two Victory-class Star Destroyers, two Strike-class cruisers and four Carrack-class cruisers," Grant continued as the lights came back on.. "That's 17 total."

"Now what about over there?" Melious asked, pointing to where the newly arrived fleets were blasting away at each other.

The lights went down and everything went dead. CDC was pitch black. Commander Grant, who was not easily shaken, continued his report from memory.

"What we think is the Feegian fleet, has one Victory-class Star Destroyer, four republic assault ships, one Escort Frigate, two Centillian-class Frigates, two old Trade Federation BattleShips, one converted cargo ship, and one Dreadnought," Grant reported the hodge podge mix of ships in the Feegian fleet.

"Of course, our side has four Imperial class Star Destroyers over there," Grant finished his thorough report.

There was an explosion in Melious' command center.

"Let's all move to the bridge," Melious said calmly.

He flashed a light on Grant, who had a piece of metal in his chest. It was a large, triangular piece, displacing a section of his chest. He was dead. Melious looked at him for a while. Then he felt someone tugging his arm.

"Come on, Admiral, let's get to the bridge," Neestas said.

Outside, Mon Calamari heavy cruisers were teeing off on the Exar Kun, as the walls of ships slowly passed each other. Imperial class Star Destroyers were in turn blasting away at the Alliance fleet.

"What's the score?" Ackbar asked Peto.

"We've destroyed one Carrack-class cruiser, another is damaged. One stike and one victory are also damaged. For us, one Assault Frigate is in bad shape, and one cruiser. Also, the Super Star Destroyer is in bad shape, it looks like she just lost main power" Peto reported.

"Sir, those two ships are asking to come off the wall," Peto added.

"Give them permission. What's the status of the Super Star Destoryer's guns?" Ackbar questioned.

"She has maybe 150 guns still functioning on the whole ship," Peto reported.

"All craft ignore the Super Star Destroyer. Focus on the other ships," Ackbar said. "She's no longer a major threat," he explained to Peto, "And we could blast her all day and she'll still be there".

Some B-wings from Silver Squadron, having gotten the message too late, came up on the Exar Kun from behind and unloaded some torpedoes and blaster fire. One of the Exar Kun's engines exploded, ripping through the aft section of the ship.

"We're passing their fleet," Peto said, not wanting their opportunity to slip away.

"I see it," Ackbar said. "All ships, as you pass the end of their wall, come about and come up the portside of their wall."

The Alliance wall was five ships long by five ships high. There were only 24 ships, so one spot was empty, in the top left corner. The second row of the wall had five Calamari cruisers, one behind the others. The third row was the same. The fourth wall from the top had five Assault Frigates, one behind the other. The fifth row had one Strike Cruiser followed by four Escort Frigates. The top row had an Assault Frigate followed by a Victory-class Star Destroyer and then another Assault Frigate and another victory.

The Imperial wall had five Imperial-class Star Destroyers in the second row, the Super Star Destroyer took up all of the third row. The fourth row had three Imperial-class Star Destroyers and two Victory-class Star Destroyers. The fifth row had two Carrack-class cruisers followed by two Strike Cruisers. The first row had two strike cruisers only.

As the lead column of five ships passed the last three Imperials, the Alliance ships came to starboard. They blasted the Imperials from behind, and then came around to their other side. Now the rear most three Imperial ships were engaging ten Alliance ships, (five on each side). Meanwhile, the forward most Imperial ships were no longer engaged.

"We're crushing them!" Peto said.

"Yes, I don't know why Melious hasn't done the same thing with his lead ships," Ackbar wondered.

#

"Stop, I need a break," Admiral Melious said, catching his breath. They had been running down the dark passageways with flashlights.

"I'll stay with the Admiral," Ensign Shek said.

"No, we'll all stay together," Neestas said. "We'll just move slower."

Neestas turned to walk.

"Ahh," he said, tripping over something. "What the…" he flashed his light down on the floor. He jumped back.

Shek Knelt down and checked the pulse of the man on the floor.

"Captain Brag is dead," she said.

Neestas' mind went back to work, to block out the horrid thoughts in his head.

"Bridge, Neestas," he spoke into his comm. "Brag is dead. CDC is down. We are in a P-way with no light, kilometers away from you. Drakis, you have command of the ship. Do what you have to do, I can't tell you when we'll get there," Neestas said.

Melious then took the comm. "Drakis, tell Captain Sturm, on the Gray Dragon, to take command of the fleet. Tell him that he has complete authority and to do whatever is necessary," Melious ordered.

"Yes Sir," Drakis swallowed.

He felt a sudden dizziness as the blood rushed to his head. He felt hot. Drakis undid his top button on his uniform. He was overwhelmed. But there was no time for that. He had to handle things.

"Captain Sturm, you have command of the fleet," he said simply.

Then he went back to directing his ship.

"Sturm, what do you want us to do? The forward most ships are moving out of the battle and the rear ships are getting blasted to pieces," a Captain asked over the comm.

"All ships, this is Captain Sturm. Break formation, move in and engage the rebel ships wherever you think you will be most useful."

The Imperial wall broke up, and the lead ships came about to re engage the Alliance fleet.

#

"Now they're coming around," Ackbar observed. The lights flickered several times in Ackbar's command center. The ship shook as 18 TIE bombers came in and blasted Home One with proton torpedoes.

"Theo, get me a couple of Corellian gunships over here to help with the TIE's," Ackbar said. "Wedge, send a few squadrons to protect my flagship."

As the Imperial fleet pushed into the Alliance formation, the battle became disorganized and degenerated into a general melee. There were many one on one actions between Mon Calamari star cruisers and Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Some Assault Frigates took on Carrack-class cruisers; others joined heavy cruisers to fight two on one against Star Destroyers. An Alliance Victory-class Star Destroyer and an Escort Frigate took on a battered Victory-class Star Destroyer belonging to the other side. It had been one of the the three ships making up the fifth column of the Imperial wall, and had suffered from Ackbar's folding maneuver.

The Naboo's shields were failing as four squadrons of TIE's came in. The two squadrons of fighters engaged X-wings and A-wings around the Naboo, to clear the path for the bombers. The two squadrons of bombers pounded the side of Naboo with torpedoes and blaster fire. A huge fire erupted in the mid-aft section of the Naboo. However, the gunners on the Naboo and a nearby gunship punished the TIE bombers on the way in, destroying 13 out of 24.

The Assault Frigate Sullust blasted a carrack cruiser into submission. She stopped firing when the lights were out, fires were burning, and escape pods were launching. Then she moved to help a Strike Cruiser fight another carrack. One of the Imperial's Victory-class Star Destroyers exploded, as did an Alliance Assault Frigate, the one that had come out of the wall earlier. Guns that were not otherwise engaged, would fire on the super Star Destroyer, but they mostly ignored her. The occasional corvette would strafe the Super Star Destroyer, as it was sailing by on its way to a more important target.

#

Neestas flashed his light on some double doors. "This is the lift to hang bay 4," he said.

"Let's go Admiral," Shek said.

"No, you stay with Captain Neestas. You're assigned to him now," Melious said.

"Are you sure?" Shek asked.

"Yes. I'll do this alone," Melious said.

Neestas put out his hand, "Good luck Admiral," he said as they shook hands.

"Goodbye Admiral," Ensign Shek said, as she gave him a hug.

"Goodbye Ensign. See you two soon," Melious said with forced optimism. Then he got on the lift, and the doors closed.

Neestas put the comm to his mouth, "Drakis, ask whoever is in command, to get some interceptors over here to protect the Admiral's shuttle." The floor shook as a passing ship unloaded some unneeded energy from its blasters onto the Exar Kun.

"They're barely bothering to target us," Ensign Shek said.

"Yeah, it's kind of insulting. Like we don't even matter anymore," Neestas said.

Shek managed a chuckle, as they walked down the dark, empty passageway.

#

Melious found a shuttle, and managed to scrounge up a pilot. He had to copilot the shuttle himself. They took off quickly and then Melious got up from the copilot seat and moved to the back. He pulled up a holo of the battle

"Give me a report, Sturm," Melious said.

"We're in deep, Admiral. We have eight ISD's, two strikes, and a carrack. They have nine CC's, six Assault Frigates, four Escort Frigates, two VSD's and a strike," Captain Sturm began his efficient report.

"That's bad," Melious said, stating the obvious.

"It gets worse. Your Super Star Destroyer is a pile of space junk. They aren't even bothering to engage her. Which leaves the rest of the ships outgunned."

"Ok."

"And, the battle over on the other side isn't going that well, either."

Now Melious lost his cool. "What!" he exclaimed. "We have four Imperial class Star Destroyers over there, facing a bunch of 30-year-old ships!" he yelled in disbelief.

"They brought a lot of fighters, Sir. 400 Z-95's, 129 Oasis Starfighters, and a bunch of droid controlled fighters," Sturm explained. "Our Star Destroyers each have one wing. Four wings, that's 288 fighters and bombers. Ours are better, but they overwhelmed our guys with numbers. One of those four Star Destroyers has been destroyed already."

#

"Drakis, the fire in Engine room 3 is out of control," Jarlenski reported.

"Send fire teams eight, nine and ten," Drakis said.

Next a voice came over the comm. "Drakis, it's Dehees. Shield generators 11 and 13 have to be shut down. Number 12 is already down, she blew a magnetic bearing and almost killed three crewmen…"

There was a loud bang.

"Dehees, come in," Drakis said, clearly worried. "Dehees, bridge, come in," he said a little louder. The panic in his voice was palpable. "Dehees, say something!" his voice started to crack as he yelled.