The battle had begun in earnest. Lasers flashed through the cold black of space, creating an amazing spectacle. Amazing yes, thought Cronin, but also deadly. His flagship, the Akurish Sun sustained yet another salvo from the Star Destroyers turbo lasers. It shuddered beneath his feet.
"Sir, the Hunters Sight has taken a direct hit, they're falling behind. It appears they lost there main ion drive," said a young officer leaning over a console. The Hunters Sight was the Corellian Corvette and now it looked like they would be captured.
"Ensign, make sure nobody stops to assist. Give Captain Marse my sympathies and add more power to the thrusters."
Cronin would have liked to stop and save the ship and its crew. They couldn't afford to, unfortunatly. Any rescue attempt would take several hours and in a few minutes the second Star Destroyer in the system would be appearing to assist. Cronin glanced at the HUD, only five more minutes and they would clear the gravitational well of the asteroid field. It was looking to be a remarkably bloody five minutes.
There was a bright flash in front of the viewscreen and a massive concussion. Cronin was blown off his feet and landed hard on the floor. When he regained his senses he tried to stand up, and found it incredible difficult to do so. He gripped one of the posts holding up the railing and tried to make out the sight in front of him.
The bridge was covered in a hazy fog and small fires burnt on the computer stations throughout the lower deck. Most of his crew were up and stirring, but others, to many others lay in pools of their own blood. The white deck was stained red with the lifesource of Cronin's crew.
"Status report, Status report," moaned Cronin through clenched teeth. The right side of his head felt like it was splitting open. He touched it with his hand and pulled it back when he felt warm liquid. "Sithspawn, thats worth a dip in the bacta tank," he swore. He hated the bacta tanks. Cronin took a look at the carnage below him. "I don't think I'll have to worry about surviving to use a bacta tank," he said grimly.
"Sir, engines are still running and we will reach our jumping point in thirty seconds," said Ensign Neiil. He was bandaging a rather bloody wound on his right arm.
"Are you alright, Ensign?" asked Cronin.
The ensign smiled weakly, "As well as everybody else sir."
Slowly the bridge seemed to come back to life. Emergency lights kicked on, dimly lighting the still smokey bridge. Red lights still flashed but the horns had been muted by the explosion. Cronin relinquished his death grip on the railing and tried to regain his balance.
"Sir, we are free of the gravity well. Ready to jump?" called up Neiil. In the distance the ship rumbled as they presumably took another hit. "Jump on my mark," he ordered wiping the blood from his head. He needed a bandage, but that could wait until after they made it to hyperspace. The HUD was still down and Cronin had no idea how close the Star Destroyer was or the rest of his own fleet. There was no time for information gathering, only time for action. "Mark," he called out. The ship rumbled and then lurched into hyperspace.
"Sir, we are officialy on our way to Endor. Congratulations," said leutanent Hirosh, he stuck out his hand. Cronin brushed it aside and pointed to the bloody wreck below. "We didn't come out unscathed leutanent."
Half an hour later Cronin stood in the auxilary bridge. The main bridge had been to badly damaged in the fight to be used. His new command station was smaller, and only had one floor, but it suited his needs fine. Plus it had a chair.
"What is our status now Ensign Gilmar?" asked Cronin, still trying to get rid of his splitting headache. His head was bandaged but it needed more medical attention and more importantly, time to heal. Unfortunatly Cronin didn't have enough of the latter to use on himself.
"Sir, our warp drive is functioning perfectly, as are our life support systems. The bad news is that our main shield generator is down, but the back up generator is working perfectly. Both Ion drives are functioning, but our hanger has been demolished and three quarters of our turbolasers are out."
Cronin thought for a moment. The ship was badly damaged but if they could make the rest of the journey in peace the Akurish Sun could be repaired and returned to service. At least the crew would survive. But that would depend on the rest of the journey. Any more run ins with imperials could result in the loss of the ship.
Cronin had never truly loved anything in his life. His mother and father were killed in a series of purges just after he had been born. He was raised in an orphanage and had lived a life of solitute and loneliness until he had joined the rebellion. Now he had something he loved, a cause, and a ship. He couldn't bear to lose either, but he might have to sacrifice the ship.
He decided there that if it came down to it, he would die with his glorious flagship. Cronin would allow his crew to escape and then go down with the ship. He would not allow anyone to die in his stead or defence. He would do it alone, and he would do it proudly.
Then a thought came to him like a bolt of lightning. "Ensign, can you open a commlink with the other ships in the fleet?"
"Aye, Aye sir." The ensign pressed a few buttons on the console and a list of his ships came up with their individual frequencies.
"All ships this is Captain Cronin, report in from largest class to smallest class."
"Sir, Rebel Dreadnaught Bilbringi fit for duty."
"Captain Cronin, Rebel Alliance Dreadnaught Akurish Moon, fit for service."
Next the two Maurader Corvettes checked in within seconds of each other. They were followed by all three of the rebel transports. Only one reported serious damage, The Liberty. Finaly the Howling Mynock, the bulk carrier, reported fit for duty. But one ship had not called in. Cronin waited for a full minute before continuing.
"Corellian Corvette, Hunters Sight, check in."
There was nothing but silence. Cronin flipped the switch to open the commlink again, this time using all available frequencies.
"Rebel Alliance ship, Hunters Sight, report in."
"Alliance Ship, Hunters Sight, Make contact."
Then the comm sprang to life as a staticy voice broke through. Cronin's heart lept as he jumped to respond to the Hunters Sight's message. But it was not the Hunters Sight that radioed in, it was one of the other Dreadnaughts.
"Sir, this is Captain Joyce of the Akurish Moon. Sir, we detected that the warp drive on the Hunters Sight failed shortly before we jumped. After scanning the ships on our course with our time of jump we could not locate the Hunters Sight. I don't believe they made it."
"Sithspawn," Cronin was never one to hide his emotions and the loss of several hundred loyal soldiers was a sever one.
"Yes sir, but more importantly did you send the jump coordinates to the Hunters Sight before you jumped?"
Cronin thought for a moment, he had sent the coordinates to the Hunters Sight, but of what importance was it. What was Joyce getting at. Then it hit him like a turbolaser fired at full power.
"The imps have our coordinates," he gasped.
"Yes sir, I believe they do. The will most likely be already moving towards our coordinates right now," said Captain Joyce in a grim , but steady voice. Joyce was a good man and would not panic under pressure.
"They will have a few ships at our coordinates, yes," said Cronin nodding, but something was tugging at the back of his mind. There was something he was forgetting.
"Wait, they might have enough time to move an interdictor between us and our coordinates."
"I believe so to sir. We need to prepare the men again." Joyce nodded sagely. "Shall I put my men on full alert?"
"You may Captain. Prepare for an imminent attack between now and the point at which we leave hyperspace."
Joyce nodded. "Captain Joyce out." His image flickered off the smaller viewscreen in the auxilary bridge. Cronin turned to Gilmar, who was working earnestly on the computer panels next to him. "Ensign, open a commlink to the rest of the fleet.
"Open sir," replied Gilmar as he flipped a small metallic switch.
"Ships of the Hallenot Rebel Fleet. It has come to my attention that Imperials have learned the coordinates of our jump. You will now go to battle level five and make emergency preperations. Be ready to be pulled out of hyperspace and into battle by one or more interdictor cruisers in the next several hours. Captain Cronin out."
Cronin motioned to the Ensign, who quickly flipped off the commlink transmittion. "Sir, shall I order the men to their battle stations?" he asked nervously.
"You may Ensing," replied Cronin gravely. They weren't out of the woods yet.
"Sir, the Hunters Sight has taken a direct hit, they're falling behind. It appears they lost there main ion drive," said a young officer leaning over a console. The Hunters Sight was the Corellian Corvette and now it looked like they would be captured.
"Ensign, make sure nobody stops to assist. Give Captain Marse my sympathies and add more power to the thrusters."
Cronin would have liked to stop and save the ship and its crew. They couldn't afford to, unfortunatly. Any rescue attempt would take several hours and in a few minutes the second Star Destroyer in the system would be appearing to assist. Cronin glanced at the HUD, only five more minutes and they would clear the gravitational well of the asteroid field. It was looking to be a remarkably bloody five minutes.
There was a bright flash in front of the viewscreen and a massive concussion. Cronin was blown off his feet and landed hard on the floor. When he regained his senses he tried to stand up, and found it incredible difficult to do so. He gripped one of the posts holding up the railing and tried to make out the sight in front of him.
The bridge was covered in a hazy fog and small fires burnt on the computer stations throughout the lower deck. Most of his crew were up and stirring, but others, to many others lay in pools of their own blood. The white deck was stained red with the lifesource of Cronin's crew.
"Status report, Status report," moaned Cronin through clenched teeth. The right side of his head felt like it was splitting open. He touched it with his hand and pulled it back when he felt warm liquid. "Sithspawn, thats worth a dip in the bacta tank," he swore. He hated the bacta tanks. Cronin took a look at the carnage below him. "I don't think I'll have to worry about surviving to use a bacta tank," he said grimly.
"Sir, engines are still running and we will reach our jumping point in thirty seconds," said Ensign Neiil. He was bandaging a rather bloody wound on his right arm.
"Are you alright, Ensign?" asked Cronin.
The ensign smiled weakly, "As well as everybody else sir."
Slowly the bridge seemed to come back to life. Emergency lights kicked on, dimly lighting the still smokey bridge. Red lights still flashed but the horns had been muted by the explosion. Cronin relinquished his death grip on the railing and tried to regain his balance.
"Sir, we are free of the gravity well. Ready to jump?" called up Neiil. In the distance the ship rumbled as they presumably took another hit. "Jump on my mark," he ordered wiping the blood from his head. He needed a bandage, but that could wait until after they made it to hyperspace. The HUD was still down and Cronin had no idea how close the Star Destroyer was or the rest of his own fleet. There was no time for information gathering, only time for action. "Mark," he called out. The ship rumbled and then lurched into hyperspace.
"Sir, we are officialy on our way to Endor. Congratulations," said leutanent Hirosh, he stuck out his hand. Cronin brushed it aside and pointed to the bloody wreck below. "We didn't come out unscathed leutanent."
Half an hour later Cronin stood in the auxilary bridge. The main bridge had been to badly damaged in the fight to be used. His new command station was smaller, and only had one floor, but it suited his needs fine. Plus it had a chair.
"What is our status now Ensign Gilmar?" asked Cronin, still trying to get rid of his splitting headache. His head was bandaged but it needed more medical attention and more importantly, time to heal. Unfortunatly Cronin didn't have enough of the latter to use on himself.
"Sir, our warp drive is functioning perfectly, as are our life support systems. The bad news is that our main shield generator is down, but the back up generator is working perfectly. Both Ion drives are functioning, but our hanger has been demolished and three quarters of our turbolasers are out."
Cronin thought for a moment. The ship was badly damaged but if they could make the rest of the journey in peace the Akurish Sun could be repaired and returned to service. At least the crew would survive. But that would depend on the rest of the journey. Any more run ins with imperials could result in the loss of the ship.
Cronin had never truly loved anything in his life. His mother and father were killed in a series of purges just after he had been born. He was raised in an orphanage and had lived a life of solitute and loneliness until he had joined the rebellion. Now he had something he loved, a cause, and a ship. He couldn't bear to lose either, but he might have to sacrifice the ship.
He decided there that if it came down to it, he would die with his glorious flagship. Cronin would allow his crew to escape and then go down with the ship. He would not allow anyone to die in his stead or defence. He would do it alone, and he would do it proudly.
Then a thought came to him like a bolt of lightning. "Ensign, can you open a commlink with the other ships in the fleet?"
"Aye, Aye sir." The ensign pressed a few buttons on the console and a list of his ships came up with their individual frequencies.
"All ships this is Captain Cronin, report in from largest class to smallest class."
"Sir, Rebel Dreadnaught Bilbringi fit for duty."
"Captain Cronin, Rebel Alliance Dreadnaught Akurish Moon, fit for service."
Next the two Maurader Corvettes checked in within seconds of each other. They were followed by all three of the rebel transports. Only one reported serious damage, The Liberty. Finaly the Howling Mynock, the bulk carrier, reported fit for duty. But one ship had not called in. Cronin waited for a full minute before continuing.
"Corellian Corvette, Hunters Sight, check in."
There was nothing but silence. Cronin flipped the switch to open the commlink again, this time using all available frequencies.
"Rebel Alliance ship, Hunters Sight, report in."
"Alliance Ship, Hunters Sight, Make contact."
Then the comm sprang to life as a staticy voice broke through. Cronin's heart lept as he jumped to respond to the Hunters Sight's message. But it was not the Hunters Sight that radioed in, it was one of the other Dreadnaughts.
"Sir, this is Captain Joyce of the Akurish Moon. Sir, we detected that the warp drive on the Hunters Sight failed shortly before we jumped. After scanning the ships on our course with our time of jump we could not locate the Hunters Sight. I don't believe they made it."
"Sithspawn," Cronin was never one to hide his emotions and the loss of several hundred loyal soldiers was a sever one.
"Yes sir, but more importantly did you send the jump coordinates to the Hunters Sight before you jumped?"
Cronin thought for a moment, he had sent the coordinates to the Hunters Sight, but of what importance was it. What was Joyce getting at. Then it hit him like a turbolaser fired at full power.
"The imps have our coordinates," he gasped.
"Yes sir, I believe they do. The will most likely be already moving towards our coordinates right now," said Captain Joyce in a grim , but steady voice. Joyce was a good man and would not panic under pressure.
"They will have a few ships at our coordinates, yes," said Cronin nodding, but something was tugging at the back of his mind. There was something he was forgetting.
"Wait, they might have enough time to move an interdictor between us and our coordinates."
"I believe so to sir. We need to prepare the men again." Joyce nodded sagely. "Shall I put my men on full alert?"
"You may Captain. Prepare for an imminent attack between now and the point at which we leave hyperspace."
Joyce nodded. "Captain Joyce out." His image flickered off the smaller viewscreen in the auxilary bridge. Cronin turned to Gilmar, who was working earnestly on the computer panels next to him. "Ensign, open a commlink to the rest of the fleet.
"Open sir," replied Gilmar as he flipped a small metallic switch.
"Ships of the Hallenot Rebel Fleet. It has come to my attention that Imperials have learned the coordinates of our jump. You will now go to battle level five and make emergency preperations. Be ready to be pulled out of hyperspace and into battle by one or more interdictor cruisers in the next several hours. Captain Cronin out."
Cronin motioned to the Ensign, who quickly flipped off the commlink transmittion. "Sir, shall I order the men to their battle stations?" he asked nervously.
"You may Ensing," replied Cronin gravely. They weren't out of the woods yet.