[Spaceport, Cloud City]
Lieutenant Knessel wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. The combined Bespin/Rebel fighters were slowly withdrawing from the spaceport. As their frontline provided covering fire, the rearguard sprinted to the planetary defense compound. It was heavily guarded. She could tell because, atop the ramparts, Rebel gunners were showering her troops with laser fire.
The rebel forces suffered more losses, but the bulk of the force managed to run to the relative security of the defense compound.
"Where are the grenadier troops?" she ordered. Her party now crouched behind the burning hulls of grounded cloud cars. Half a dozen stormtroopers with concussion grenade rifles knelt beside her.
"Take out those gunners, or we're done for!"
While one company of troops drew the gunners' fire, the grenadiers moved into position. "Fire!" Several grenades launched into the Bespin sky, then landed onto the compound ramparts. After a few explosions, the gunners were finally silenced.
Knessel picked up her comlink. "Avenger, do you copy. We have the spaceport."
"This is General Veers. Report, lieutenant."
"We have captured a spaceport in Cloud City's industrial sector. Awaiting further reinforcements."
Veers glanced at Captain Mitan, who promptly shook his head. It would be too risky to deploy another landing party now. "I regret that your situation has become more dismal, lieutenant. A Rebel assault fleet has entered orbit around Bespin – with undoubtedly more Rebel reinforcements. The best that we can do is a TIE bomber raid. If you have a target in mind, we can send the bombers in. If they evade the Rebel ships, that is. They'll have one – maybe two – attack runs before the Rebel starfighters try to intercept them."
Knessel placed a tracer chip on the defense compound. "We cannot capture the ion cannons until we get into the defense compound. A couple of TIE bomber attacks at this location should weaken the armour shielding enough for a breach."
"Very well, lieutenant. You must get those cannons offline, or the Avenger will not be able to enter orbit. That would mean ..."
"... the landing party would be trapped here. I understand, General. Knessel out."
Her squadron gathered around her. "Our priority is to get those ion cannons offline. The Rebel fleet has blockaded the planet. We cannot expect reinforcements at this time, but the Avenger is sending in a TIE bomber squadron. I've instructed TK-4201's squadron to begin a diversionary attack on the main civic building. Hopefully, that will draw attention away from our mission here."
Knessel did not like her prospects. The attack on the main civic building was extremely dangerous. The majority of the Rebels' forces were concentrated there. They knew that the capture of the Imperial garrison would effectively end the Empire's control over the planet. The fighting would be intense. She would have relished the battle, but she had her orders.
The ion cannons must be disabled, or Bespin may well be our last battle.
[Cellblock 1981, the Relentless]
Commander Kosst paced around his room. He had been in isolation for days. He once thought mess hall food was bad. After nearly a week of cellblock food, he had to revise that conclusion.
"Dinner." The door whisked open and a stormtrooper handed Kosst his meal. "I believe you have dessert today, Commander." The door closed shut again.
Dessert? Kosst opened his plate. The same meal as yesterday. But there was Corellian pudding. On the spoon was a coin-sized disc.
He clicked the disc. A small hologram appeared. "Hello, Commander. I trust you are well. This is a short-term holographic message. It will disintegrate at the end of the message. I am Colonel Virett of the Imperial Sandtrooper Corps. We have two battalions aboard the Relentless. The troops are loyal to me personally. I've spoken with members of the Intelligence corps and one or two TIE squadron commanders. Regrettably, most of the naval crew is loyal to Captain Silec. But that could change. I want to assure you that, when that change does occur, we will make our move. Know that you have allies aboard this vessel."
The hologram faded. Kosst dropped the disc, which promptly evaporated in a puff of smoke. That fool Silec is a danger to everyone on this ship. And a threat to the stability of the Imperial fleet. Someone has to warn the Admiral. Soon.
[Above Bespin]
Wedge checked his long-range scanners. Alarms were ringing in his cockpit. TIE bombers!! They were short range bombers. That could only mean an Imperial ship was somewhere in this sector.
"Gold leader. A squadron of TIE bombers is about to enter the Bespin system. Prepare to intercept."
"Copy that, Rogue leader." A dozen A-Wings roared towards TIE bomber squadron Alpha.
Wedge tapped his console. "Bomber squadron. This is Wedge Antilles of the Rebel fleet. Power down your engines and prepare to surrender. This is your last warning. Continue on this course and we will be forced to engage."
"This is TIE bomber squadron Alpha. We have orders to suppress an insurrection on Cloud City. Withdraw your squadrons." One TIE bomber disengaged from the main squadron and fired on a stray Y-Wing.
The Y-Wing tried to evade the TIE bomber. "This is Green 2. I can't shake him." The TIE bomber caught the Y-Wing in his sights and fired. The vessel exploded. The opening shot of the battle.
They had their warning, Wedge grimaced. "Gold leader, Green leader, keep those bombers away from the frigates. Rogue Squadron, prepare to intercept – and destroy." A score of X-Wings zoomed towards their prey. If the Imperial Navy wanted to pick a fight with the Rebel Fleet, Rogue Squadron would give them one to remember.
[Bridge, the Avenger]
A radar controller reported to Captain Mitan. "Sir, our bombers have engaged the Rebel starfighters. Should we direct them to attack the frigates?"
"No. Their mission is to provide aerial support for the landing party. I don't want them entangled in a fruitless skirmish with the Rebel fleet!!"
Mitan climbed down into the communications section. "TIE bomber squadron Alpha. Your orders are to proceed directly to Cloud City and commence an aerial bombardment of the defense compound."
"Acknowledged. Squadron Alpha, proceed to target." Mitan watched the radar. The bombers were disengaging – with dozens of rebel starfighters close behind them.
Mitan glanced at Veers. "If the bombers succeed, the landing party can disable the ion cannons. If not, they and the TIE bombers are trapped."
General Veers clenched his fist. Should I sacrifice the landing party and the bombers and make a hasty retreat to the Imperial armada? No. The battle is not lost. The landing party had excellent troops. And Lieutenant Knessel was a proven officer, hand-picked by Admiral Piett. Soldiers were disposable during the heady days of the Emperor's reign.
They are not disposable now.
"I think we're agreed on our next course of action, Captain."
Mitan beamed. "Alert all commands. Set co-ordinates to Bespin." He noticed Veers heading for the lift.
"General?"
Veers put on his helmet. "I promised the landing party some reinforcements. They shall have them!" He tapped the lift console: transport docking bay.
The stormtroopers were packing away their equipment when Veers arrived.
"Get back on that transport! Your friends on Bespin are expecting you!!"
"Will you be accompanying the landing party, General?" an officer inquired.
"Someone's going to have to show you how to deal with Rebel scum," Veers remarked, to the cheers of the squadron.
The Rebels picked a terrible day to challenge the Imperial Army.
Lieutenant Knessel wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. The combined Bespin/Rebel fighters were slowly withdrawing from the spaceport. As their frontline provided covering fire, the rearguard sprinted to the planetary defense compound. It was heavily guarded. She could tell because, atop the ramparts, Rebel gunners were showering her troops with laser fire.
The rebel forces suffered more losses, but the bulk of the force managed to run to the relative security of the defense compound.
"Where are the grenadier troops?" she ordered. Her party now crouched behind the burning hulls of grounded cloud cars. Half a dozen stormtroopers with concussion grenade rifles knelt beside her.
"Take out those gunners, or we're done for!"
While one company of troops drew the gunners' fire, the grenadiers moved into position. "Fire!" Several grenades launched into the Bespin sky, then landed onto the compound ramparts. After a few explosions, the gunners were finally silenced.
Knessel picked up her comlink. "Avenger, do you copy. We have the spaceport."
"This is General Veers. Report, lieutenant."
"We have captured a spaceport in Cloud City's industrial sector. Awaiting further reinforcements."
Veers glanced at Captain Mitan, who promptly shook his head. It would be too risky to deploy another landing party now. "I regret that your situation has become more dismal, lieutenant. A Rebel assault fleet has entered orbit around Bespin – with undoubtedly more Rebel reinforcements. The best that we can do is a TIE bomber raid. If you have a target in mind, we can send the bombers in. If they evade the Rebel ships, that is. They'll have one – maybe two – attack runs before the Rebel starfighters try to intercept them."
Knessel placed a tracer chip on the defense compound. "We cannot capture the ion cannons until we get into the defense compound. A couple of TIE bomber attacks at this location should weaken the armour shielding enough for a breach."
"Very well, lieutenant. You must get those cannons offline, or the Avenger will not be able to enter orbit. That would mean ..."
"... the landing party would be trapped here. I understand, General. Knessel out."
Her squadron gathered around her. "Our priority is to get those ion cannons offline. The Rebel fleet has blockaded the planet. We cannot expect reinforcements at this time, but the Avenger is sending in a TIE bomber squadron. I've instructed TK-4201's squadron to begin a diversionary attack on the main civic building. Hopefully, that will draw attention away from our mission here."
Knessel did not like her prospects. The attack on the main civic building was extremely dangerous. The majority of the Rebels' forces were concentrated there. They knew that the capture of the Imperial garrison would effectively end the Empire's control over the planet. The fighting would be intense. She would have relished the battle, but she had her orders.
The ion cannons must be disabled, or Bespin may well be our last battle.
[Cellblock 1981, the Relentless]
Commander Kosst paced around his room. He had been in isolation for days. He once thought mess hall food was bad. After nearly a week of cellblock food, he had to revise that conclusion.
"Dinner." The door whisked open and a stormtrooper handed Kosst his meal. "I believe you have dessert today, Commander." The door closed shut again.
Dessert? Kosst opened his plate. The same meal as yesterday. But there was Corellian pudding. On the spoon was a coin-sized disc.
He clicked the disc. A small hologram appeared. "Hello, Commander. I trust you are well. This is a short-term holographic message. It will disintegrate at the end of the message. I am Colonel Virett of the Imperial Sandtrooper Corps. We have two battalions aboard the Relentless. The troops are loyal to me personally. I've spoken with members of the Intelligence corps and one or two TIE squadron commanders. Regrettably, most of the naval crew is loyal to Captain Silec. But that could change. I want to assure you that, when that change does occur, we will make our move. Know that you have allies aboard this vessel."
The hologram faded. Kosst dropped the disc, which promptly evaporated in a puff of smoke. That fool Silec is a danger to everyone on this ship. And a threat to the stability of the Imperial fleet. Someone has to warn the Admiral. Soon.
[Above Bespin]
Wedge checked his long-range scanners. Alarms were ringing in his cockpit. TIE bombers!! They were short range bombers. That could only mean an Imperial ship was somewhere in this sector.
"Gold leader. A squadron of TIE bombers is about to enter the Bespin system. Prepare to intercept."
"Copy that, Rogue leader." A dozen A-Wings roared towards TIE bomber squadron Alpha.
Wedge tapped his console. "Bomber squadron. This is Wedge Antilles of the Rebel fleet. Power down your engines and prepare to surrender. This is your last warning. Continue on this course and we will be forced to engage."
"This is TIE bomber squadron Alpha. We have orders to suppress an insurrection on Cloud City. Withdraw your squadrons." One TIE bomber disengaged from the main squadron and fired on a stray Y-Wing.
The Y-Wing tried to evade the TIE bomber. "This is Green 2. I can't shake him." The TIE bomber caught the Y-Wing in his sights and fired. The vessel exploded. The opening shot of the battle.
They had their warning, Wedge grimaced. "Gold leader, Green leader, keep those bombers away from the frigates. Rogue Squadron, prepare to intercept – and destroy." A score of X-Wings zoomed towards their prey. If the Imperial Navy wanted to pick a fight with the Rebel Fleet, Rogue Squadron would give them one to remember.
[Bridge, the Avenger]
A radar controller reported to Captain Mitan. "Sir, our bombers have engaged the Rebel starfighters. Should we direct them to attack the frigates?"
"No. Their mission is to provide aerial support for the landing party. I don't want them entangled in a fruitless skirmish with the Rebel fleet!!"
Mitan climbed down into the communications section. "TIE bomber squadron Alpha. Your orders are to proceed directly to Cloud City and commence an aerial bombardment of the defense compound."
"Acknowledged. Squadron Alpha, proceed to target." Mitan watched the radar. The bombers were disengaging – with dozens of rebel starfighters close behind them.
Mitan glanced at Veers. "If the bombers succeed, the landing party can disable the ion cannons. If not, they and the TIE bombers are trapped."
General Veers clenched his fist. Should I sacrifice the landing party and the bombers and make a hasty retreat to the Imperial armada? No. The battle is not lost. The landing party had excellent troops. And Lieutenant Knessel was a proven officer, hand-picked by Admiral Piett. Soldiers were disposable during the heady days of the Emperor's reign.
They are not disposable now.
"I think we're agreed on our next course of action, Captain."
Mitan beamed. "Alert all commands. Set co-ordinates to Bespin." He noticed Veers heading for the lift.
"General?"
Veers put on his helmet. "I promised the landing party some reinforcements. They shall have them!" He tapped the lift console: transport docking bay.
The stormtroopers were packing away their equipment when Veers arrived.
"Get back on that transport! Your friends on Bespin are expecting you!!"
"Will you be accompanying the landing party, General?" an officer inquired.
"Someone's going to have to show you how to deal with Rebel scum," Veers remarked, to the cheers of the squadron.
The Rebels picked a terrible day to challenge the Imperial Army.