Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 12- A New Fight
Calvin carefully twists the wrench one last time, tightening the part he's been working on to just the right amount. After Kelly and Luke left with Grogu, the group had realized that the Imperial crew had sabotaged some of the ship's systems and parts in an effort to prevent them from taking off with the ship. Calvin had gone down to the engine room along with Din to repair some of the sabotage done to the engines. He and Din have been working for almost an hour. This is the final part that needs fixing. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of damage done to the engines, and what damage was done was easily repaired.
"Alright, that should be it. Run the diagnostic check, Djarin," Calvin calls out as he wipes some grease off his hands with a rag.
He walks over to the main control panel, where Din is running a diagnostic check on the engines. After a few moments, Din looks up at him. "Everything looks like it's running perfectly," Din says.
"Good," Calvin says. He finishes wiping off the grease as he says, "Ahh, sometimes I just like to get my hands dirty with some good old hard work."
Calvin then looks at Din, and sees Din kind of staring off into the distance. He had replaced his helmet on his head shortly after Kelly and Luke left, so Calvin can no longer see his face, but he knows what is on Din's mind. After a moment, he asks, "You're thinking about the kid, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Din admits after a moment.
"I know you're worried about him. I'm a father myself, and I worry about my little girl every day I'm away from her. While you may not have been his blood father, I know the bond you had with him, and felt like he was as good as your son. You'll always be concerned about him. But I promise you, my sister and brother in law will take good care of him," Calvin says.
Din looks back at him and just nods. After a moment, he says, "Let's get back to the bridge." Calvin nods, and the two head back up to the bridge. On the way, they pass the brig, where Koska is standing guard. They had put Gideon in the brig after Kelly and Luke left, after searching him to make sure he had no weapon or something. They left Koska on guard duty just in case he managed to escape.
It doesn't take them too long to reach the bridge. When they get there, they see Bo-Katan and Cara all looking over different displays. Fennec had left to rejoin Boba after the mission was complete. Bo-Katan turns to them and asks, "Engines fixed?"
"Yup. Back to normal," Calvin says.
"Good. We can take care of Gideon before you all can be on your way," Cara says.
"I already contacted my commanders. Gideon is being remanded into Terran custody. So, our next step is gonna be Naboo," Calvin says. Cara simply nods in understanding.
After a moment, Calvin says, "Alright. Let's get the hyperdrive programmed and make the jump to Naboo."
Suddenly, alarms start to sound. Everyone looks around, wondering what is going on. Then, Bo-Katan looks down at a display. After a second, she curses under her breath before looking up and saying, "We've got company."
Everyone moves closer to the viewport. To their shock, an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer, a Victory-II class Star Destroyer, and an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer.
"What the h***?" Cara says.
Calvin firms his face. "It's more of Gideon's fleet. They must have come to rescue their leader," he says.
The Imperial-II and the Victory-II move in towards the cruiser, while the Interdictor hangs back. However, Calvin knows that the ship has to be projecting gravity wells.
The group just stands there for a few minutes before they see TIE fighters and TIE boarding shuttles launching from the two Star Destroyers and moving towards the cruiser before Calvin says, "We need to hold them off. Cara, stay up here. Call for reinforcements and operate the laser cannons. Try and hold off the TIE fighters. Bo-Katan, Din, follow me."
Cara nods and moves over to a weapons control console as Calvin, Bo-Katan, and Din race out of the bridge, heading in the direction of the hangar. They know they probably won't be able to get to the hangar in time, but hopefully they can hold off boarding forces until someone can come to their rescue.
They race down through the ship's corridors, moving as quickly as they can. When they finally reach the hangar, they find that several TIE boarding shuttles have landed in the hangar, and stormtroopers are already swarming around the hangar. The three of them even see a group of stormtroopers, led by a death trooper, escaping out of an entrance.
Calvin raises his commlink and shouts into it, "Koska! There are stormtroopers boarding the ship, and a bunch are headed in your direction. Stay alert!" He then pulls his HK416 off of his back and opens fire, emptying his magazine in seconds while killing 5 stormtroopers.
Other stormtroopers in the hangar turn to face them and start firing. The three of them separate, Bo-Katan and Din pulling out their blasters and firing back as Calvin also switches over to his normal pistol and his blaster pistol.
The situation in the hangar instantly becomes chaos. Calvin darts from cover to cover, hiding behind crates, remains of TIE fighters, and equipment sticking out of the floor, firing when he can.
About 60 seconds into the fight, Calvin pops up and fires his pistol, killing a stormtrooper. Then he sees a figure walk out of the one of the boarding shuttles.
A second later, Calvin freezes as he focuses on this figure. The figure is clearly feminine, dressed in some kind of tight-fitting body suit, that also looks like a suit of armor. She is wearing silver colored boots that extend past her knees, and almost seem fused into her suit. She also is wearing silver colored gloves. Her suit is black in color, with intricate designs on it. She also has silver colored pauldrons on her shoulders. What looks like a white scarf is wrapped around her neck, and her head looks almost as if it's wrapped with a triangular shaped turban, which leaves only her eyes and the skin around them visible.
Calvin glares as he sees her. He instantly recognizes who this is. Lumiya. Calvin instantly makes the connection, recognizing that Moff Gideon wasn't the real head of his remnant, and that he served Lumiya. He also realizes that Gideon must have sent out a distress signal to Lumiya.
Determined to stop this fight and end her here and now, Calvin stands up and stows his pistols away. He starts walking towards Lumiya, and after a second, shouts, "LUMIYA!"
The combat in the room seems to die down a bit as Lumiya turns to face him. A stormtrooper tries to rush at Calvin with his blaster raised, ready to fire, but Calvin draws and ignites his lightsabers, killing the trooper with one of the blades.
After a moment, Lumiya laughs. "Calvin Adams. I must admit, I've waited a long time for this day," she says.
"I may not have know it, but so do I. I thought the Sith were finished. Good to know I get to kill the last of them," Calvin says, almost with a snarl.
Lumiya lets out a single laugh before she says, "You may try." She then draws what looks like a lightsaber hilt. However, instead of a rigid blade, a long stream of plasma comes out of the hilt.
Calvin narrows his eyes. It's not a lightsaber, but a lightwhip. Instead of a rigid blade, the plasma came out in a much longer, flexible blade just like a whip. They were virtually useless for blocking blaster bolts, and even for cutting through things. They were designed almost purely for attacking others and for combat against other lightsabers. They are extremely dangerous because of their flexibility, and can even be dangerous for the wielder if the wielder is not extensively trained to use it. They are rarely used, and historically almost exclusively by the Sith.
Calvin feels a bit hesitant. He's never encountered someone wielding a lightwhip, nor has he trained to fight against a lightwhip. This is definitely going to be a challenge.
Lumiya lets out a single laugh as she says, "Your move, Adams."
Calvin snarls a bit as he spins one of his sabers in hand before he charges towards Lumiya. Lumiya waits for Calvin to get closer, then lashes her lightwhip at him. Calvin ducks under the lightwhip, sliding across the floor before popping back up to his feet.
Calvin slashes one of his sabers at Lumiya's chest. Lumiya ducks back, but Calvin then tries stabbing his other saber towards her waist. Lumiya responds by sidestepping and lashing her lightwhip around Calvin's saber, then use her light whip to yank Calvin's saber out of his hand. The blade of Calvin's saber deactivates as the hilt goes skidding across the ground.
Lumiya lashes her lightwhip at Calvin again, but Calvin manages to deflect it with his remaining saber. Calvin then sprints in the direction of his second saber. Hearing Lumiya's lightwhip behind him, he ducks and does a combat roll, letting the lightwhip fly over his head. He then snatches up his saber, igniting it, and whips around to face Lumiya, bringing his sabers up into an X to block her lightwhip as she lashes it at him again.
Calvin again charges at Lumiya. She lashes her lightwhip at him twice as he charges, but he deflects it both times. He then slashes at her legs with one saber. Lumiya leaps up and flips over his head, trying to lash her lightwhip at him. Calvin ducks and rolls, missing getting hit in the shoulder by it by about an inch.
Calvin whips back around to face her, this time waiting for Lumiya to come to him. Lumiya turns to face him, but seems reluctant to attack him. The two slowly start circling each other, waiting for the opportune moment to attack.
After several moments, Lumiya suddenly lashes her lightwhip at Calvin. Calvin raises one of his sabers, and the lightwhip lashes around it. Calvin then pulls backwards with his saber, pulling Lumiya off balance. Calvin then charges at her after disentangling his saber. He leaps towards her and tries to bring his sabers down on Lumiya's head, but Lumiya manages to roll out of the way.
Calvin tries to turn and slash one of his sabers at Lumiya, but Lumiya lashes her lightwhip at him, and Calvin just manages to avoid being cut in half.
Calvin looks down at Lumiya, ready to attack. However, he suddenly sees her look behind him. Then, she raises her hand and lets out a blast of Force energy, sending Calvin flying back across the hangar. Calvin manages to right himself in mid air, landing on his knees.
As Calvin looks up, he looks in the direction he thought he saw Lumiya looking to see what had interested her, and his anger increases as he sees a stormtrooper leading Moff Gideon towards one of the boarding shuttles. Calvin curses as he realizes the force sent to rescue the Moff must have gotten past Koska. However, his worry about Koska is assuaged a moment later as he sees her enter the room, trying to catch up to the Moff. Calvin realizes the death trooper and other stormtroopers must have kept her busy long enough for one of them to get into the brig and free Gideon.
"Retreat!" Lumiya calls out. The remaining stormtroopers in the hangar start to pull back towards the boarding shuttles. As they do, several of them throw grenade to cover their escape. The grenades explode, forcing Calvin, Bo-Katan, and Din to take cover.
As the three come out of cover, they see Gideon and Lumiya have already boarded one of the shuttles, and the shuttle, along with the other two, are taking off. The three watch angrily as the three shuttles fly back out of the ship.
Back on the bridge, Cara scowls as she uses the ship's laser cannons to shoot down a TIE fighter. Then, she sees the boarding shuttles flying away. She tries to fire at them, but misses. Now, she's worried, thinking that the Star Destroyers may now fire on them.
Aboard the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the captain is watching when one of his officers calls out, "Captain, Lady Lumiya has rescued Moff Gideon and they have left the cruiser. We'll soon be in the clear to fire."
"Good. Prepare to open fire," the captain says.
Suddenly, there's a beeping. A second later, another officer calls out, "Sir, multiple small craft have dropped out of hyperspace."
"Identify," the captain orders.
The officer is quiet for several moments before saying, in a very nervous tone, "Sir, 19 fighter sized craft. All Terran. I can ID one of their Su-36 fighters, leading 18 of their SF-15 fighters."
The captain blanches. Just 18 SF-15s is very indicative. Whenever the Terrans send just 18 SF-15s, it's usually indicative of a very specific squadron. "It must be them. The Hammer Squadron," the captain says.
Sure enough, in the cockpit of the lead SF-15, Captain Jonathan Page, now the squadron commander, calls out, "Alright, boys. Let's give 'em a good hammering!" The rest of the squadron calls out their affirmation over the radio as the Hammer Squadron accelerates towards the Star Destroyers.
Aboard the lead Star Destroyer, the captain orders, "Contact Lady Lumiya. Inform her the Hammer Squadron has arrived. We must retreat." He knows well that with just the three ships they have, trying to fight the Hammer Squadron is a guarantee that they'll lose at least one of their ships.
The TIE boarding shuttles hurry back to their ships as the few TIE fighters that have been launched that are still intact try to hold off the Hammer Squadron and the Su-36 leading them. However, the TIEs are no match for the elite Terran pilots, and are quickly destroyed.
However, the TIE are able to buy a few extra seconds, allowing the boarding shuttles to return to their ships. Lumiya, not wanting to take chances against the Hammer Squadron with so few ships, orders her ships to retreat into hyperspace. The three ships turn around and make the jump to hyperspace.
Cara watches this in confusion, wondering what just happened. Then, the Terran fighters turn towards the cruiser. The SF-15s reach the cruiser first, setting up a defensive patrol around it. As she watches them, Cara sees the Hammer Squadron insignia on the tail of one of them. She also sees the Su-36 heading for the launch tube.
Getting on the commlink, she calls down to the others, saying, "Guys, the Terran Hammer Squadron just showed up, and the Star Destroyers fled into hyperspace. There's also a Terran Su-36 with them, and its heading to land in the hangar right now."
Bo-Katan, Koska, and Din all look towards Calvin in surprise, who looks surprised himself for a moment before smiling. "Well, thank goodness they showed up, or we would've been screwed," he says.
Calvin then sees the Su-36 flying in. The Flanker flies right into the hangar and lands. Then, as the canopy opens, they see Ahsoka climbing out of the cockpit.
"Ahsoka!" Calvin calls out. He jogs over to the Su-36 as Ahsoka leaps down from the fighter.
Ahsoka turns to Calvin, a very serious look on her face. "Calvin. We need to talk," she says.
And, I'll end there.
So, Lumiya has entered the playing field. And yes, in this, she is the ultimate commander of Gideon's Imperial fragment.
So, I've finished planning out this story. As of now, it will be 30 chapters, but that remains subject to change by a chapter or two. Also, I will be introducing several more Legends characters throughout this story.
Next chapter should be up soon. Until it's up, please leave a review and stay tuned!