The wall of double-disc Battle Dragons and long, narrow Nova cruisers was spread thin, but there were enough vessels to guard the pulse mass generator mines the Hapans had laid out along the edge of this system. Their artificial gravity well generators had pulled the Imperial fleet from hyperspace and dropped them into a maelstrom of lancing turbolasers and arching missiles. The star destroyers and support ships quickly dropped into a defensive formation while hundreds of TIE fighters streaked out to battle the Hapan Miy'tils and knock out the interdiction mines one-by-one.
Allana watched it all in silence from the bridge of Davek's Fel's flagship, the super star destroyer Invincible. The sole habitable world in the Arabanth system was a small blue sphere in the far distance, barely visible through the strobing laserfire and constant explosions. Allana had last been there more than half a lifetime ago but its distant dot was enough to bring back memories of its beautiful seas, modestly elegant cities, and playful logic games the people had entertained her with. She was afraid the sight of Hapes itself might overwhelm her.
The Transitory Mists provided a natural defensive wall that had encouraged Hapes' history of isolation. The capital world lay at the heart of the cluster and could only be reached by several precise, winding paths that required many hyperspace jumps through clear channels in the Mists. Davek had explained that his goal was a series of fast, precise strikes that would carve them a path to Hapes itself. Once there, they'd eliminate Serissa. To accelerate their thrust, Davek had plotted a series of jumps that skirted them well-clear of inhabited star systems wherever possible and limited the chances for engagement with Hapan ships before they reached their target.
The Sith queen seemed to have anticipated this. With the route Davek had plotted, there were only four places where they were forced to drop inside the borders of a star system and align for the next jump. The Hapans had been waiting with pulse mass generators and warships at each of those, and their defenses were greater at each successive location. The Arabanth system was the last stop before jumping to Hapes itself, and Serissa's ships were stubborn in their defense.
Allana was no naval tactician and for the most part she watched Davek handle the fight, often directly but also through Invincible's commanding officer, General Briggs. The super star destroyer was mighty in itself, and it was just a fraction of what they'd brought with them. After initially keeping his capital ships back and letting the TIEs scout the locations of the pulse mass generators- hard to spot, she gathered, for the Hapans' jamming and the aggregate chaos of battle- Davek ordered many of his destroyers to charge the wall head-on.
Invincible was not exempt from that order. The giant warship unleashed wave after wave of green turbolaser fire. Allana watched as they tore through the shields of a nearby Battle Dragon. A great explosion at the center blasted apart the vessel's twin discs and sent them drifting, but Invincible kept firing until both discs had been shredded to drifting debris.
These Imperial ships were liberators helping Allana, but a lot of Hapans had already died under their fire. When this was all over and Serissa was removed, she didn't know how Hapans would look back on this campaign. It was an invasion and a restoration both, and how history recorded it would depend so much on what happened afterward. Hapan society would need to be drastically rebuilt, and she didn't even know if there'd be a foundation left once this battle was over. Nor was she sure that a new queen was what Hapes needed. The old aristocracy had been smashed forever; on both New Hapes and under Serissa, society had already been remade.
A shudder through the deck reminded her that future problems were less important than the current battle. Invincible and its support ships were still pressing forward. Davek was splitting his fleet into smaller attack units and directing them after different interdiction mines. They unleashed massive washes of turbolaser fire against the Hapan ships that clustered close to defend. Against the superior Imperial firepower they didn't have a chance, but they kept on defending, bravely, futilely. It ached Allana's heart to see every Hapan warship explode, and she knew that the ones gathered to defend the capital would fight even harder.
The space ahead was still lit bright by explosions and laserfire when Briggs announced, "Your Majesty, the last pulse mass generator is down. We can go to hyperspace again."
"Not until the path is clear," Davek said.
Allana came up behind him and touched his shoulder. "Can I try speaking to the Hapan fleet?"
Davek frowned. "What do you think that can accomplish?"
"I'm hoping that if they hear from me, at least some of them may surrender."
His eyes showed how likely he thought that was, but Davek said, "All right. You can try."
While Davek went back to directing the fight, Briggs showed her over to the communications station. Its lieutenant initialized an all-frequency broadcast and let Allana her lean close to speak.
She'd barely had time to formulate what she'd say. Just as important was how she said it and that part came easily. She let her voice convey both regal resolve and personal heartbreak as she said, "I am Allana Djo, rightful Queen of Hapes. The Imperial forces have come on my behalf to remove Serissa Lohr from the Fountain Palace and liberate the Hapan Consortium from her oppression. Our war is not against Hapan civilians or soldiers. It is against Queen Serissa and her Sith allies, who have been using the Hapes' people as their pawns for forty years.
"All Hapan warships, please stand down. Captains who do so will receive a total amnesty. We will only fire on ships that stand in the way of preventing our singular goal. To the commander of each and every ship, I beg you, stand down. Save the lives of your crew. Serissa does not deserve your loyalty and you do not deserve to die. For the sake of the future for all Hapans, please stand down!"
When Allana got all the words out and stepped back from the console, the broadcast ended. She felt emptied and hollow inside. She and Briggs watched the tactical displays and watched the forward viewport and waited for some ship, any ship, to pull out of the line of fire and offer surrender. Not one did.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," whispered Briggs.
It took twenty more minutes of nonstop destruction for the Imperials to force their way through the Hapan blockade. Only one of Davek's star destroyers was lost, while more than half of the Hapan ships were destroyed or crippled. The rest fell back for the capital. When Invincible jumped to hyperspace, Allana saw Davek's body wilt. He turned around and found her eyes from across the bridge. He shook his head slowly. He looked so very tired, and the worst fighting was ahead.
Allana drifted across the deck until she was close enough to lay a hand on his shoulder. She leaned close and whispered, "Just hold on a little longer. I can't thank you enough for this."
He smiled weakly. "I thought you needed encouragement."
"We all do. But this is my fight."
"It's mine too," Davek said.
In his eyes she found resonance with her own feelings: the weight of command and royal responsibility, mixed with the aching personal need to do right by the legacy of a mother. Allana had never known her cousin very well, but at that moment Davek understood her better than anyone.
"It's been an honor, Your Majesty," Allana squeezed his shoulder and released. "I have to get ready. May the Force be with you."
As he hurried to leave the bridge she heard General Briggs called for the whole deck to hear. "Thirty-two standard minutes until we reach Hapes! Set your timers! Repeat, thirty-two minutes and we start again."
-{}-
When Vitor stepped onto Invincible's bridge he found it in a lull. His father was easy to spot. Davek had ditched the ceremonial robes he'd never liked in favor of a gold-braided version of an admiral's uniform, elegant and functional at once.
As he walked across the deck toward his father Vitor let his gaze pass over the rest of the bridge. The scene seemed packed with vivid detail: The lieutenant at the tactical station, hunched over his console, running last-minute checks. A row of comm officers relaying different orders to the other ships. The yellow-skinned Ansonian in the gunnery pit talking quietly and fast on his headset. The young ensign two stations down, anxiously biting her nails. Every scrap of life seemed precious when you were about to die.
The thought was enough to made his chest tight with fear, but since his dream he'd almost become used to that feeling. When he stepped up in front of his father he snapped his father a firm salute.
"Vitor! You should get down to the hangar. You have to be ready to deploy as soon as we enter the system." His words were a reprimand, his tone pleasantly surprised.
"I don't think they'll taking off first thing," Vitor said.
"You're right. We'll have to clear the way." Davek clapped his son the shoulders and looked him up and down. Like the rest of the Imperial Knights who'd be going down there, Vitor was dressed in scarlet body armor. He'd left off the ceremonial cape for this mission but added a utility belt heavy with blaster, grappler, and other tools. A cortosis buckler, made from the armor of Veers' stormtroopers, was attached to his right forearm.
"I just wanted to stop by and see you before I went down," Vitor explained.
"I understand," his father nodded seriously, which couldn't be further from the truth. "Watch out for your brother and Marin. They'll watch out for you."
"I know."
It was suddenly hard to speak. He told himself he'd come up here just to see his father one last time. He wouldn't try to say goodbye here. He'd recorded farewell messages on a collection of data rods and left them with the rest of his things in Invincible's barracks. He'd made them carefully, saying all he thought was important.
But as he looked in his father's eyes for the last time, Vitor felt he had to say something. Davek saw him struggling, and he saw pure paternal care in the emperor's face, and he bleated out, "Take care, Dad. I love you."
It was so simple and direct and honest. Neither of them talked that way often. Davek squeezed his shoulders one last time, leaned close, and said softly, "I love you too, son. Get going. I'll see you later."
Vitor nodded, turned, and walked away. He didn't risk looking back at his father one more time. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop the tears if he did.
-{}-
In all his deployments as an Imperial Knight, Roan Fel had never taken part an amphibious assault and he'd certainly never been dropped into an ocean from lower orbit. He'd thought himself an experienced veteran at seventeen, but the universe always had another surprise for him.
Invincible had room in its kilometers-long main hangar for a half-dozen heavy drop ships, most of which were filled with Imperial infantry and weapons for aquatic warfare. Once the fleet jumped clear of the Arabanth system, Allana Djo and a company of well-armed Hapan exiles boarded the most well-armored drop ship. Roan and the other Imperial Knights were tasked with protecting Allana, so they all boarded with her except for Vitor, who surprised them by announcing a last-minute run up to the bridge.
Roan resisted the urge to join him and say goodbye to their father. Instead he joined the Hapans in boarding one of the aquatic armored transports ready to be deployed from the drop ship. Each vehicle used the main body of a traditional AT-AT walker with the legs removed and water-based propulsion systems added. The aquatic transports were just as heavily armored, and as the passengers took their seats and strapped into their crash webbing Roan calculated that the riskiest part of deployment would be getting close to the planet. He had no way to know what was going on outside the cramped hold, and he'd get little warning when the time came to drop.
When Vitor showed up it made him feel a little better. His brother dropped into the last open seat beside him and secured the restraints over his armor.
"Any idea when we'll reach Hapes?" Roan asked.
"I don't know. I think we were about ten minutes away."
Roan didn't like waiting. He looked at the aisle across from them. Not many had joined them in the drop ship, but his cousins Marin and Nat were strapped in side-by-side. He caught Marin and Vitor exchanging glances, but no words. Nat was alert and anxious. He'd balled up his messy blonde hair into a ponytail and while the Jedi hadn't taken up suits of plasteel armor like the Imperial Knights, he'd at least ditched the awkward monastic robes and added a cortosis buckler. Marin had done better, donning scarlet beskar plates received from the other side of her family.
Roan looked over the Jedi's heads at the rows beyond. The Hapans took up the entire front section of the hold and he could spot two red-haired crowns side-by-side marking to Allana and Tanith Zel. The black head beside theirs was probably Elliah's. When the heavy fighting started Allana, as a Jedi, would at least be able to defend herself. Roan would keep an extra eye on Elliah.
The waiting drew out long and became agonizing. Roan didn't even know if they'd left hyperspace yet. In a low voice he asked Vitor, "How was father?"
"He's handling it."
His brother's voice was level, almost dull, and he looked straight ahead, seemingly into nothing. Vitor had been acting distracted for a long time now and Roan didn't know why. He'd seemed to have gotten more focused after Zonama Sekot but now it was like he was losing it again. Roan still wanted to know but this wasn't the time to pry. He'd get his explanation once this was all done.
"Just stay on target," Roan told him. "Once today's done, our fight will really be over."
"Yes," Vitor said seriously. "I know it will."
Another silence drew out. Then the hold rattled. Through its armored bulkheads they could hear rumbling like distant thunder. Violence still seemed far away but Roan knew the wait was over.
Across the aisle, Nat Skywalker whispered, "Showtime."
-{}-
The view from Invincible's bridge was a grim panorama. As Davek had expected from the relatively light opposition thus far, Serissa had elected to gather the bulk of her forces around Hapes itself. She'd known exactly what vector he'd attack from and had raised three layers of walls between him and the planet. Battle Dragons, Nova cruisers, and more were gathered by the dozens.
He waited until the tactical team could tally the enemy fleet before giving orders. His force still outgunned the Hapans, especially with Invincible in its arsenal, but it would be a very fierce fight. His goal was simple: get close enough to the planet to deploy his ground teams. Invincible alone, mighty as it was, would get torn to pieces by all those Battle Dragons unless he could find a weak spot in their wall and break through with proper cover.
He knew the Hapans would do whatever possible to block Invincible's advance, so he ordered his flagship to hang back at first and sent three task forces ahead to attack different points in the enemy's wall. Davek watched the tactical displays as a trio of massive brawls erupted and waited to see if the Hapans would start to redistribute their forces to defend the attacked zones. Battle Dragons and Nova cruisers began to shift position, but not as much as he'd hoped. The Hapan ships in the second and third layers of their barrier changed instead, with clusters of ships forming behind the attacked points on the first wall. It was a smart strategy, Davek thought, and one that would buy the Hapans more time, but they'd need all three layers to stop Invincible.
When the task forces commanded by Captain Korak and Captain Yorus broke holes in the first wall and pushed through, Davek ordered Briggs to take Invincible in also. He'd initially planned to break through a fourth point in the wall, but since the Hapans had refused to give him an easy opening he decided to push through the one made by Korak's ships. The captain's force was already smashing hard against the second wall, and through the bridge's viewport Davek could see space light up past Invincible's bow.
"Nightwatch reports she is taking having fire," Briggs informed him. "Six Nova cruisers cut their advance. The Battle Dragons are starting to release missile volleys."
"Stars launching fighter and bomber wings. See if they can't help with those Novas. Once they're done, take us in range of the Battle Dragons."
"Gladly, sir."
Invincible was vastly more powerful than any vessel Davek had commanded before and also more complex. Briggs had learned how to coordinate operations impressively fast, but Davek knew that the officers and crew, hastily compiled from other ships, might get overwhelmed when fighting got fierce. He had engaged against this ship in multiple battles and he knew the key to foiling it was fast, distracting attack runs that prevented smaller ships from getting caught in slug-fests. The Novas would be better at that than the Battle Dragons, and Davek watched as his bomber wings began chasing down and pummeling the Hapan cruisers.
"Majesty, Captains Yorus and Nesdor report their task forces are running hard against the second wall," Briggs said, and directed his attention to the other points on the tactical display.
"Have them withdraw to the outer edge of the combat zone but do not disengage."
"You don't want them to form up on us?"
"No, I want them to keep the ships from the first wall busy so they don't all come around on our aft. Understood?"
Briggs nodded and relayed the order. Davek turned his attention back to the fight dead ahead. Nightwatch and Korak's other ships were still taking heavy fire but Invincible's TIE Demolishers had destroyed two Nova cruisers and crippled a third. The remaining ones were falling back to the Battle Dragons, and Davek could see that most of the second and third wall was now folding in on them, ready to attack from all sides.
"All ships, press ahead now," Davek commanded. "Don't let them slow us down."
As more Hapan ships closed on their aft and flanks, the Imperials formed a tight formation and charged. Invincible crept to the tip of the spearhead and used its mighty firepower to pummel the Battle Dragons arranged to stop them. The Hapans attempted to withstand its volleys for only a few minutes before drawing back, but Davek ordered his ships to keep firing. Allana wanted to end this fight with as few Hapans dead as possible; that was right and good for their monarch, but Davek was fighting to win, and even a damaged enemy could come back on him. Once they got close to Hapes and deployed the drop ships they'd find themselves pinned to the planet by Hapan ships still eager to destroy them. Davek wanted to cut their numbers as low as possible before the battle moved to that stage.
After Invincible pushed through the second wall it hit the third. Explosions flared on all sides and the command deck started to rock as the super star destroyer's shields absorbed heavy volleys from Battle Dragons brave enough to engage it. The Hapans still hadn't started using Nova cruisers for fast, distracting attacks, though some Miy'til fighters and bombers had begun long-shot runs for the bridge.
"General Briggs, let's tighten the fighter screen," Davek said. "How are our bombers looking?"
"Still chasing the last Novas, sir."
"Have them form up with the Demolishers from Nightwatch and send them to knock out the Battle Dragons up ahead. If we can push through those, we should be able to get to the planet."
As Briggs relayed his orders Davek looked out the viewport. Hapes itself had swelled so he could see its blue oceans, lazy cloud-drifts and serene continents in detail. As another layer of explosions obscured his view, Davek asked Briggs, "What kind of orbital defenses are we looking at?"
"Very modest, sir. There look to be a half-dozen orbital defense platforms roughly analog to Golan IIIs. We're detecting a local shield over the major cities, including the Chume'Dan."
Davek was glad intel from the loyalists hadn't proved wrong. Centuries of seclusion and security inside the Transitory Mists meant the Hapans skimped out on planetary defense in favor of mobile assets. The fighting would be continuous and fierce even after he deployed drop ships, but at least he wouldn't have to deal with heavy fire from the planet.
A bright flare off Invincible's port bow made him shield his eyes. Tactical announced that one of their own destroyers had just burst apart after taking heavy fire from three Battle Dragons. The double-disc warships dove down on the super star destroyer, this time with three more Novas to help. Davek scowled as more explosions scattered across their shields and rocked the bridge. Invincible could handle this attack, but if it slowed them down too much they'd be mobbed from behind.
Captain Korak brought Nightwatch and two of his smaller destroyers to help. The Hapans were forced to split targets, half defending and half attacking, and even after Korak's barrages tore apart the first Battle Dragon the other two stood fast and continued their assault on Invincible. After another tremor the bridge crew reported down shields and hull breaches, but thankfully nothing near the command section.
The tactical display lit up with some good news. The bombers teams had succeeded in crippling the Battle Dragons sitting dead ahead, which meant the time had come for the final charge to the planet.
"All ships, best speed ahead," Davek commanded. "Tell the ground teams to stand by for deployment."
Briggs eagerly got to it. Invincible, Nightwatch and the others pointed their noses for Hapes and pressed on, leaving the damaged Battle Dragons to chase them. The ships under Yorus and Nesdor were hanging back on the edge of Hapes' gravity well and continued to keep the enemy from the initial wall busy, but the second and third walls were folding fast around Davek's ships. He only hoped the ground teams could neutralize Serissa quickly and keep this bloody fight from drawing on too long.
Hapes grew larger until it filled most of the viewport. While other destroyers moved to attack the orbital defense stations, Invincible dropped lower over the planet. Briggs reported that a cloud system was currently over the Chume'Dan but their sensors clearly marked the Fountain Palace and the energy shield's protective dome.
One glance at the tactical holo told Davek the Hapans ships were closing fast and would soon resume firing on Invincible. It was now or never.
"General Briggs," he said, "Are in position to deploy?"
"Five minutes until we're directly above the target."
"The drop ships can make up the difference. Launch now."
"Right away, Majesty."
Invincible shifted position so its dorsal side faced away from the planet, toward the encroaching wall of Hapan ships. He couldn't see Hapes and couldn't see the drop ships as they launched from Invincible's ventral hangar. He simply held his breath until Briggs announced the ground teams were away. Then he released it. He'd done his part and fought the fight his mother had wanted.
From here on out, it was up to Allana and his sons.
-{}-
Marin Fel was neither a commando nor an ace pilot, but she'd done enough tricky maneuvers in her X-wing and she'd thought she'd be prepared for the dizzying inertia of a suborbital drop. She was dead wrong. During the long, tense wait to deploy, Vitor had explained to her and Nat that Invincible's six heavy drop ships would fall like meteors through the upper atmosphere before finally engaging retro-burn engines to slow their descent. Just when they'd decreased speed enough to aim properly, the drop ships would release their cargo into the ocean from an altitude of five hundred meters. That was a long way to fall, even if you were in a heavily-armored submarine.
They got a warning before the initial drop, but not enough. Marin felt like her stomach was trying to jump from her chest and her brain out of her skull. Whatever inertial dampeners these drop ships had they weren't enough. Everything around her rattled violently as they tore like a fireball through the atmosphere. After a few agonizing minutes the shaking stopped but they were still falling. Deceleration came with no warning at all. Stomach and brain both tried jumping down. Several people in the hold- Knights, Hapans, Jedi, she couldn't tell- let out yelps of surprise. She might have been one of them. Then they were falling again, fast and hard and smooth, and when they smacked into the water she thought every wall would fall in and crush them. The initial tremors became smooth movement as the aquatic transport began pushing through the currents of Hapes' oceans.
"Fierfek!" Marin spat. "Have you done this before?"
Vitor was smiling, honestly smiling, like she was amusing him. "Can't say I have."
"Is it wrong if I thought that was fun?" asked Nat.
"Yes. Very wrong." She looked to Vitor. "What happens now?"
"Let me check." Vitor reached to the bulkhead behind him and tapped the controls on the comm panel. "This is the hold. Can we get a sitrep?"
"All teams deployed," a crisp voice said. "Approaching target at optimal speed, north-north west. Depth, three hundred meters. Time to target approximately eleven minutes."
"Thank you, pilot." Vitor switched off the comm. "Answer your question?"
"Mostly. Do we know what defenses they have along the coast?"
"We don't have a clue," a woman said, matter-of-fact, from a few rows behind her. Taryn Zel, probably.
"These transports are made to handle a fight," Vitor told her. "We also have seatroopers ready to deploy if we need them."
He sounded dead-confident they'd reach land safe. He was waiting to die elsewhere. Marin still couldn't accept Vitor's aplomb. She was determined to keep him alive through the coming battle and didn't let herself entertain thought of failure. That was a black pit she couldn't afford to fall down.
Suddenly the entire ship lurched. Her crash webbing barely kept her from spilling onto Nat. As she steadied herself by gripping the restraints that pilot's cool, crisp voice came back on the speaker. "The enemy is dropping concussion depth charges from the surface. Conducting evasive maneuvers. Please stand by for turbulence."
She looked at Nat. "Still having fun?"
"Not really." His voice trembled.
"Hang in there," Vitor told them. "We're just getting started."
-{}-
Davek's heart beat fast until confirmation came that all the drop ships had deployed their assault teams as planned. Once he knew his sons were in the water safely, he allowed his attention to return to the Hapan ships encroaching his on all sides as they sat with their backs to the planet. This would be a long and difficult fight, but also a simple one. All he had to do was hold.
He had no better shield than Invincible itself, and he gave the order to edge the ship outward so it faced the enemy with a seventeen-kilometer port flank bristling with cannons. Davek then ordered his fighter wings to create a defensive screen around his flagship while the supporting destroyers hung behind Invincible's starboard side, closer to the planet. If the Hapans tried to slip backup forces of their own down to the Chume'dan, or if Davek's ground troops needed reinforcements, they'd be ready to act. Invincible would take a heavy beating but it was built for that, and just the sight of the super star destroyer gave the Hapans visible pause. They slowed their advance to a crawl and began to shift formation in preparation for the next advance.
As Davek watched all the red markers rearrange on the tactical display, he was surprised to see a single green one dropping out of the swarm. The computer marked it as an Imperial frigate being chased by a trio of Nova cruisers.
"Tactical, what's going on there?" he pointed at the holo. "Can we hail that ship?"
"One second, Majesty." The lieutenant tapped her earpiece and tried to patch in a comm line to her counterpart on the frigate. She was young, as young as Davek had been when he'd held the same position aboard Voidwalker. Back then he'd constantly been back and forth on his headset with his counterpart on Shieldbreaker, the woman with the soothing face whose face he never got a chance to see. He hadn't thought of Lieutenant Pelky in years; strange that she'd come up now.
"They're identifying as the frigate Swordbearer, Kontos-class. From Captain Yorus' strike team. They said they got stuck in the swarm and are badly damaged. They need cover."
Davek didn't want to break formation but he didn't want to abandon the ship to die either. Despite the massive dreadnaught he commanded from now, he could never forget that all his accomplishments had started with a frigate just like that. "Pull a full fighter wing off the line to intercept. TIE-Xs, Sabers, Demolishers. Ask Swordbearer if they'll need assistance."
"Yes, Majesty."
Davek watched the tactical display as dozens of starfighters rushed out to help the fleeing frigate. The Nova cruisers were crowding it on every flank and they seemed to be giving it a good pounding. They didn't seem to have brought a fighter screen with them, and soon the Hapans were the ones taking heavy fire from the TIE Demolishers. The attacks forced the Novas to slow, which in turn allowed Swordbearer to lurch closer to the friendly line. The TIEs kept up their attacks until all three Novas turned and headed back the way they'd came.
"Tell the TIEs to break pursuit," Davek said. "Call them back on the line. What's the status on Swordbearer?"
"They're reporting severe damage, heavy causalities. They're requesting to offload their wounded."
"Understood. Tell them to dock with Nightwatch. Alert Captain Korak to prep his medical bays."
"Yes, Majesty."
Davek glanced at the tactical holo. The Hapan line was still holding back, but he doubted they'd hesitate much longer. Swordbearer, meanwhile, was crossing past Invincible and vectoring toward Nightwatch. Davek stepped away from the tactical station to get a better look out the forward viewport. He saw the frigate's familiar angular form cutting high above the super star destroyer's bow, about halfway down from the bridge. Even from seven kilometers away, Davek could make out the black scars that had ripped open Swordbearer's hull and the ugly gouges left by exploding missile canons. The little ship had endured despite that. Just looking at it gave him an acute pang of nostalgia.
Then a huge fireball tore through the aft section of the frigate. Its bow went drifting ahead, pushed through the vacuum by the force of the explosion. Debris spiraled away from the point of explosion and scattered against Invincible's shields.
Davek spun back to the tactical lieutenant. "What the hell happened?"
"We got a message right before it blew, sir." The girl's face had gone pale. "They said they were having problems with their engines, some kind of reactor leak."
"Tractor beams, move that debris out before it hits anyone!" Briggs called. "Do we have escape pods?"
"They said they were evacuating," the tactical lieutenant said meekly.
"Escape pods confirmed. Over a dozen," someone in the crew pit reported.
"Then reel them in and bring their people aboard," said Davek. "Tell sick bay to prep for causalities."
He wondered what fraction of the crew had survived. A Kontos-class had an optimal crew of eleven hundred; he'd never forget that number. He'd managed to get seven-hundred and sixty-two home aboard Voidwalker. The number of survivors from Swordbearer was going to be much lower, and his heart went out to the crew who'd fought hard only to fail.
Then Briggs directed his attention to the tactical holo. "Majesty, the Hapans are advancing."
"So they are," Davek breathed. That red swarm was coming at them on all sides. The battle would rejoin in moments. No time for second-hand grief. He tore his thoughts away from tough little ships to focus on the fight.
-{}-
When the escape pod's hatch was wrenched open from the outside, the first faces Korosh Vull saw belonged to two frazzled ensigns and one white-clothed medic whose evaluating eyes swept over all thirteen people crammed inside the capsule.
"Please, don't panic," the medic said, as much to ensigns as the escapees. "Does anyone need immediate medical attention?"
"We've got a couple scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious," Vull said. "Some of the other pods might be worse."
The ensigns reached their hands out. Vull grabbed one and let the younger man pull him out of the escape hatch and onto the deck.
"Where are we? What ship is this?" asked Nair, a man in corporal's bars behind Vull.
"This is Invincible, sir. Welcome aboard."
Vull wasn't used to hearing the ship's old name. He steadied himself and clamped a hand on the medic's shoulder. "How many other pods made it?"
"I believe fourteen are recoverable. I can't vouch for their condition."
Fourteen pods, a dozen survivors each. That meant hundreds still dead on Oathkeeper. Vull had hoped it would go better. He'd hoped that, once the three Nova cruisers chased their battered frigate back to Invincible's protective cover, the super star destroyer would allow them to send ostensibly injured crew aboard. They'd been ordered instead to dock with another warship, which would gain them nothing, so they'd been forced to fall back on the self-destruct device they'd hastily rigged before joining this mad battle. Anyone who analyzed the wreckage would tell the explosion inside Oathkeeper had come from a concussion warhead attached to the main power core and rigged to blow, but Fel's people had more important things to do right now.
The explosion had been bigger and more lethal than intended, but it has certainly met its goal. Vull and the other Oathkeepers who'd stuffed into escape pods at the start of the battle were exactly where they needed to be. It was tragic that so many crew had perished with the ship, young Captain Leland among them, but once Vull accomplished his mission here, the ones who'd escaped might wish they'd died with their comrades. Whatever fate brought next, imprisonment or execution, at least they'd done something more than surrender pathetically at Kovix-589. They could be proud of that.
The medic scoured the men and women who came crawling out of the escape pod. He marked several with burn, bruises, and skin lacerations, most of them honestly earned. Darth Kroan had promised the Nova cruisers would make the pursuit look real, and they certainly had. At a few points Vull had been afraid he'd be killed by overzealous Hapans before reaching Invincible.
"Alright, you, you, you, and you," the medic said, "Come with me. We've got beds for you in sickbay. You'll get a full look-over."
"What about the rest of us?" asked a lieutenant, Zaydis.
"Where can we find out who else made it off?" asked Nair.
The medic began leading them down the hall, walking backwards as he talked. "We've set aside a room for those without visible injuries, not far from the medical bay. Other escape pods are being recovered now. Please, come with me."
As the medic led them down a series of hall, Vull examined every bulkhead and intersection, trying to play their location within Invincible. The ship's entrails were a huge maze and despite living here for eight years he didn't know all of them. After glimpsing a few deck markers over doorways he estimated they'd been reeled in to some airlocks on the star destroyer's dorsal hull, starboard side, about four kilometers down from the bridge. That would mean a decent trek, but they were all wearing standard Imperial uniforms, indistinguishable from Fel's own crew.
The medic announced they were almost at the sick bay right after Vull guessed as much. When they came to a branching point the medic and one ensign began escorting the wounded toward sick bay.
"Everyone without major industries, please follow me," the second ensign announced, then turned down the other branch.
Vull dropped behind a man named Locum, patted him in the back, and whispered, "Take one for the team, Corporal."
"Yes, sir," the young man said firmly, then picked weight off one leg and tilted it so it rested on the edge of his boot's sole.
Vull stomped down on the ankle. Locum grunted and almost fell, but Vull already had an arm around his back and kept him up.
"Wait, wait!" he called. "I think we've got a sprained ankle!"
The two ensigns rushed back into view. Locum growled, "Thought I was doing okay… but… stang, I can't stand."
"We'll get you to sick bay," one ensign said as he grabbed Locum from the other side. The second touched Vull's arm and said, "We'll take him. The room for you's down that hallway. Turn a left at the end, and the door's ten meters down. Some of your people are probably there already."
"Got it." Vull slipped away and let both ensigns hoist Locum up. "We can't thank you enough."
"Just doing our part, sir."
They were indeed. Shaken but still professional, ideal Imperial officers. They deserved to serve a better man. Maybe that would happen after today, maybe not. That wouldn't be for Vull to decide.
He knew his men were tempted to stop by that meeting room, to see who of their comrades had survived and maybe gather allies, but they wouldn't risk being waylaid by more of Fel's people. They'd lost the first set easily enough but they couldn't count on luck. He had eight men left, able-bodied and mostly equipped with standard-issue, unremarkable sidearms. That would be enough.
His men seemed to know that too. After the medic, ensigns, and wounded Oathkeepers were out of sight, the remaining ones all turned to Vull.
"Do you know where we are, sir?" asked Zaydis.
"Close enough. I can get us to the bridge from here. Remember, don't hurry and don't do anything to stand out."
"Do we want to look for weapons?" Nair asked.
"Keep alert and don't risk grabbing something if it would draw too much attention. Now fall behind me and let's march."
He'd lived on this ship for years. Even if Fel's people had wiped and replaced the most elite security codes, Vull still knew ways to get them close to the bridge without drawing attention. Once they succeeded in getting that far, they would do what they'd come here to do. And after that, finally, their war would be over.