PROLOUGE
Yon Fariba, the Emperor of the Tagii Imperium, looked out nervously at the Imperial City of the Tagii throne-world of Xarn, four kilometers from the Navity Palace. It was a near replica in miniature of Courscant and had taken long to turn into a place that could even come close to the Capital's majesty. To the untrained eye, all was right on this world. But that was far from the truth. It was a planet under siege by some of its own people. Tagii was a colony system, settled some five hundred years ago by a group of people that wanted their own way of life, free from their tyrannical rulers. They found a system of twelve planets and one primary. Unfortunately, only one of the dozen worlds was habitable-Xarn. Named after a great scholar and leader that died for their cause, Tagii Xarn. All looked-up to the memory of the great Xarn and none disagreed. The colonists came from a polluted democratic world that was plagued with crime and intolerance. They pursued a planet where the government dealt with the cries of the people, was willing to defy greedy corporations for the sake of a clean home, and was willing to send criminals exactly where they came from. Thus, the Tagii Imperium was born. One leader of the cause, the female Twi'lek, Leonore Navity, was crowned the first empress of the Tagii system. She lived-up to the honor bestowed upon her by recognizing the great wealth in mining the surrounding planets in the sector. The worlds were rich in untapped minerals, as was the asteroid belt near the fourth planet, Arabas. If those places were used to their best potential, the money would be endless. After that, a monumental tragedy befell Tagii in the form of bold conquistadors from a neighboring system. The citizens of Xarn were relatively defenseless against their attackers. But luck was with them, and aide came from the Galactic Republic. They Republic battled back the invaders within a month. And in the end, the now Emperor Trovis was so obliged that he asked for the Republic to allow the Tagii Imperium into their galactic government. The people were overjoyed by this fact and Xarn entered a golden age, In that age, Emperor Trovis expanded the Imperium's military and navy each year until they had become quite capable of protecting themselves from the scum of the galaxy. By the fall of the Republic and the purge of the Jedi Knights, Xarn had an intimidating military. But that fact was kept unknown to the masses for security reasons as the Republic became corrupt and changed into the Galactic Empire. That saw the birth of the clone armies, what soon came to be known as the Imperial Stormtroopers. Tagii saw them as both a great threat and an abomination. The very idea of degrading life with millions of clones was unthinkable. It showed the Imperium who monstrous the Empire could be. Nonetheless, the Empire had an inexhaustible army with the clones. Tagii felt like they had no defense against such detestable creations and need to take steps to keep the Imperium untainted by the mad Palpatine. Thus they procured a wealth in Commerce Guild surplus. Millions of battle droids, super battle droids, destroyer droids, and other machinations, along with thousands of ships were purchased to protect the system. But it didn't stop there. The Imperium had ingenious technicians, scientist, and military tacticians. They took the designs of the battle and destroyer droids and made them into automated warriors that were capable of outfighting the storm troopers. Within two years, the new droids were in mass production. The need for control satellites was all but gone. The X-class battle and destroyer droids were independent and as intelligent as some protocol droids. What was kept was the hive mind. All X-droids could be given orders at the speed of light and would obey to a logical extent. It was more than the Imperials could say about their living troops. X-droids had improved accuracy, stronger firepower, and improved armor-no mere tap would knock these automations out-cold. What's more, Xarn's droids required no sleep or nourishment. The design of acquired federation warships, droid control ships, and star fighters was put under close scrutiny by Tagii ship builders and fused with the designs of Star Destroyers and the latest snub craft to create powerful vessels, suitable for defense and patrol. And the sleek and mighty Tagii Star Patrollers were created; though none were ever completed until around the time of the Battle of Endor. They soon fully replaced the old federation ships as the defenders of the Imperium. To complement the larger ships, the new Tagii droid fighters were produced, taking in some of the best qualities that could be put into a star fighter and remain cost-effective to mass produce. The newer versions created were even faster, stronger, and better defended than the original Tagii fighters were. It was the decision of the populace that the bulk of the Tagii fleet and army should be placed into hiding and that the Imperium remains out of the war-only the highest in the Imperium knew the true number of war materiel the system had. That doctrine was kept all throughout the war and into the invasion of the galaxy, where the previous Emperor Mason decreed that the military would be used only to protect the Imperium from the Vong. Again the people agreed, but quickly turned on their ruler as soon as that fact came to light. Mason was faced with a choice of either abdicating the throne or risk a revolt from the citizenry he tried to protect. He chose the former of the two and resigned as Emperor. Thus a regional governor, from a rich family that had the honor of proclaiming one of their own had been Emperor once, was crowned by the people in a close election. That man was Yon Fariba. He was a kind man, though often ignorant of what was going on. Coming from a wealthy family made him proud and some would say childishly arrogant. But Fariba did the best he could. The Imperium hadn't suffered any misfortunes since he was elected twenty years ago. In fact, since than the Tagii Imperium had joined the New Republic and was accepted with open arms-once it was explained that the former ruler was to blame for the lack of aide during the invasion, not Fariba. Everything seemed tranquil-until the strangers arrived seven years ago. That was where this whole problem began. It seemed like less than that to Fariba, but it had been at least seven years since that tall, bald-headed man with two small fleshy horns jutting from his chin, had arrived in his court with promises of conquering the galaxy with the Tagii fleet. A proposal that Fariba denied. The Emperor didn't want power or control of the galaxy. And for that matter, his sixth sense told him that the visitor in black robes could not be trusted. He shunned the man and his band of followers, hence they disappeared. But as the Emperor had found out last month, they had not gone far. Instead they seduced to their cause one of Fariba's most powerful subjects-the general of the Imperium's armed forces and the man in charge of the droid armies. Fariba turned away from the large window in the palace's main conference room. The large double doors at the end of the long room had swung open and a group of mixed peoples rushed in. They wore gray uniforms under black chest armor and gloves. Each carried a sidearm. The lead one, a middle aged, black and gray hair man came up to him. "My Emperor, the droids have the imperial city and are almost at our doorstep." Fariba was still in disbelief over the situation and shook his head at the comment. "The audacity, Captain Stewart. He sends my own army against me." The Imperial guard restated himself. "Please, your majesty. We don't have much time to get to your transport." Fariba laughed at the thought. "You expect me run with my tail between my legs, Captain? I'm not afraid of these automatons. Besides, they wouldn't dare kill me-I mean too much to the public." "Sir, we must leave immediately!" Stewart explained. "What does the congress think of my leaving, huh? I must save face." "The congress has been destroyed. The members are all dead!" The Emperor froze in place. "Please, sir. We." Stewart's attention went to the gates of the palace. There, mammoth droid transports rolled through were there had once been a durasteel wall. Droid piloted battle sleds roared in and free battle droid platoons raced in. "Let's move!" Stewart cried. That rattled the monarch and he followed the Captain out of the room. Three guards held back until they passed to protect Emperor Fariba's aft. The groups filed out in a hurried pace for the stairs a few dozen meters away. Placed throughout were guards armed with heavier weapons and armor, all poised for the oncoming assault. There came a pounding from outside and at the lower level, guards scurried about, barking commands into their standard issue wrist comlinks. There would be no stopping the droids once they got inside. Captain Stewart led the procession down the marble stairs and into more closely, though equally as lavish, guarded corridors that contained a secret passage to the Imperial Hanger. Suddenly, on the monitors that lay throughout the palace, was the image of a thin-hared man with a long mustache. He wore a military uniform that displayed his high rank. "The droids will be inside any moment, my dear Emperor. Make no mistake, your security forces will quickly be overwhelmed and you will die. Unless," The man gave a devious grin, "you give the throne to me. One push of a button and the droids will be ordered to stand down and only take prisoners. Either way, it is your choice. Live.or die. Which is it?" Fariba was further outraged. "I will never, in a million years, give you this thrown. Mark my words, I will have my revenge." It didn't take much coaching from Stewart to get the angry monarch, moving on. "Have it your way." The man told him. A resounding boom echoed through the palace. Pieces of marble, duraplas, and durasteel were sent airborne. Black, blue-stripped Battle Sleds roared in through the smoke and dust, adding lasers to the oncoming blaster fire that ripped through anything the imperial guards might be hiding behind. "Run, you majesty. Run!" The Captain cried. Fariba didn't disagree with that. He couldn't have even if he wanted to; fore two of the bigger guards had grabbed on to him to keep him sprinting down the halls. A battle sled found the group and came in hot. Its twin laser cannons blew the walls to chunks as it tried to vaporize the guards and the Emperor. Stewart and a young, ebony-skinned female officer took the initiative and rained hard green light on the vehicle. They were much better shots than the battle droid pilot and sent it careening into a pillar. That was just the beginning. Stewart continued on with Emperor Fariba, as was his duty, but the woman stay back to provide cover against the coming droids. A slightly older, brown-haired man in a gray cap broke rank and helped her pick-off the automatons. They blasted away as Stewart led his leader to a bare wall and depressed a camouflaged tile that made the wall swing open to make an entrance to a dark tunnel beyond it. The captain guided a Saurian guard, Fariba, and four more human guards into the passage, and then called out to the two officers to go next. "I've got your backs." He assured them. "You can't handle them all, sir." The female said. "Go on with them." The male added. Stewart grunted. He all ready understood what he had to do, but this was making it tougher. "I'm not joking, let's go. Now!" "But, sir." The woman pleaded. "That's an order!" He screamed. "Get Emperor Fariba to Courscant, I'm trusting you two." They hesitated, and then circumspectly made their retreat. Both eyed their captain with respect before they went in. Stewart closed the tunnel behind them and began placing magnetic grenades on the narrow walls beside him. A squad of X3's-the newest battle droids-ran in, firing glancing shots. Stewart opened fire on the droids, taking down half the squad before a shot grazed his left arm. He bellowed, but took down the rest of the formation before any more shots hit. Another squad came, followed closely by two more. And the sound of more than them coming was evident. Stewart continued with bravery. Another half squad was down before a beam slammed into his left shoulder. Still, he kept firing. A droid took out his right leg and toppled him over. He purposely dropped the weapon and took out a detonator on his belt. "Long live Emperor Fariba!" He roared. Scorching fire erupted from the corridor in a vociferous explosion that caved-in the entire hall. No one was getting through there anytime soon.
Emperor Yon Fariba whimpered as the explosion sent dust and heat his way. The guards were startled for a moment, but relatively unfazed by the situation. Nonetheless, they halted in order to stay with their ruler who was cowering in fear. "Captain Stewart!" He cried. "He's.he's gone. Dead! We're all going to die! I knew I should have abdicated when I had the chance. I knew it!" The two lagging guards appeared from the obscurity; the female grabbed Fariba by the arm and began to drag him. Fariba shook it off. "Just what do you think you're doing Officer Hunter?" He asked. "What the captain told me to do, sir. I'm getting you to Courscant." She replied. "What gives you the right to man-handle me like that, huh?" He demanded. "With all due respect, sir, you're in a state of panic. You're endangering your life by standing there. We need to get to the hanger before the droids do." Hunter told him. "She's right, sir." Her partner and friend Wes Devin agreed. "Please, let's keep moving." Hunter restated. One of the other human guards spoke-up. "Who died and left you in charge, Hunter?" She gave him a grim look. "Captain Stewart." That quieted him. With all the arguing finished, the Saurian at the front led them through the winding passage that let out into the Emperor's secret underground hanger where his imperial cruiser waited. It was controlled by an advance pilot droid-untainted by the rebellious orders the other machines had received and had all ready been notified to start preflight operations. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel became apparent to the group. They where almost free. The alien imperial guard took a cautious step out into the hanger and was greeted by a volley of blaster fire that tore his scaly flesh to shreds. He fell back, a blackened chunk of charred being. The guards instinctively covered Fariba with their own bodies and trained their blasters on the opening. "Target sighted." A battle droid announced in the same monotone voice they all shared. "Squad one, check the tunnel." "Copy, commander" Another replied. Once again, Hunter quickly took the initiative. "Devin, Benzi, and Pluum- we're going out to provide cover. Ikali, stay with the Emperor until told otherwise. If a bolt comes in this tunnel, it had better hit you before it hits his Highness-is this all clear?" "Do we have a choice?" The stout Benzi asked. "No." Hunter said tersely. "Than let's give'em hell." He replied as he readied his blaster. The four guards went on the offensive, firing wildly as they exited. The advancing X3-battle droids were forced to take cover. Four were not quick enough. Large durasteel storage crates were scattered all about the room and would take a turbolaser to hole through. Benzi hoped behind the closest, Devin and Pluum went together behind a set of three, and Hunter dashed behind the one farthest away. The platoon of battle droids was on the opposite side of the cruiser, using the landing struts for protection. "Your plan, Hunter," sounded the voice of Pluum from the woman's wristlink. She fired a few poorly aimed shots, and then spoke into it. "We have the advantage, here. Our accuracy and resourcefulness tips the scale in our favor." "Roger." The man replied. Hunter got-up, fired a shot, it splashed harmlessly against the cruiser, but found a droid with her second. Benzi scrapped a droid. It made him cocky, and he tried to take another before falling back behind the crate. His shot went wide as he finally dropped behind the box with a black hole in his throat. "Ericc!" cried a voice. It belonged to Devin. "Stay on them," Hunter ordered. "We almost have'em." If they could just hold on a few more moments, they could destroy the second squad of battle droids. But that situation could change at any moment. By now, reinforcements had to be on their way here through the main entrance. Pluum got-up to fire and hit the commander square in the head, popping it off. He evaded a few crimson beams by ducking, and then came up again. A blaster bolt caught him in the top of his firing arm, then another in the head as he flinched. "We're not going to make it." Devin panicked. "Focus, Wes, or we all die." She said from behind the crate. "There's only a few left." Devin pulled himself together and took down two droids with three blasts. There were now only seven droids left-manageable. As if to tell them they had no hope of success, a distant voice sounded, "There they are! Blast'em!" Another platoon sprinted through the main entrance, adding to the sprays of hard light. "What's going on out there," exclaimed Fariba's voice on the comm. Hunter ignored the incursion and yelled to Devin, "I'm open to suggestions!" Wes held back for a moment in order to think, then said into his comlink, "The ship's only ten meters away from the landing ramp. If we cover the room in fire, Ikali, you should be able to get the Emperor to the ship." "That's suicide." The unseen guard answered. "We'll get cooked for sure." "It's either a chance of suicide or a definite execution-which way would you have it?" There was radio silence for a few seconds. "Come on, Ikali, we don't have all day." "You better cover us." The young man stated. "On my signal." Hunter told the man. "Copy." "Hey, Ikali." Devin called. "Yeah?" "Do you believe in the Force?" Wes asked. "I don't know. Why?" "Well, you better hope it's smiling on us right now." Devin explained.
"On my mark, Wes, let's give'em hell." "Roger that." The officers checked their blasters and prepared to spray the hanger with enough energy to out-do Tagii's star. "Go!" Hunter cried. Simultaneously, the two guards popped up and let lose with blaster fire. Two droids were caught, but the others hid. Ikali, Emperor in tow, bolted out of the passageway, adding his terrified screams with that of Fariba's. All around them, scarlet blasts scorched the marble floor and sent debris up into the air they had formerly occupied. Miraculously, the two made it in unscathed. "Go on!" Devin yelled into his comlink. It was directed at his partner. Across the room, Hunter dropped a battle droid with less than accuracy. Still it was all too much. "You first." She replied. "Come on, Jan, it's for your own good. At least one of us needs to make it to Courscant with Emperor Fariba. Don't worry; I'll be right behind you." "Just go ahead, Wes." Hunter told him. "I've got your back." "Damn it Jan, I'm the better shot here. You're the better leader." Devin admitted. "If you don't go, I'll make you. Don't think I won't stun you and load you into the cruiser." Hunter shook her head in disbelief. "You would never do something so dangerous." Wes Devin took cover as a bolt zipped passed his head. He set his blaster on 'stun', and pointed it at Hunter. "Last chance. Emperor Fariba has a lot better chance of surviving if you're conscious." Hunter grimaced. "Damn you, Devin." With that, she launched herself up and out into the open. The droids took notice immediately and aimed accordingly. One was about to fire when Devin scrapped it. Damn you, she repeated in her head. 'Always have-to be the hero, don't you, Wes. Officer Hunter jumped forward with all her available strength and landed halfway up the red-carpeted boarding ramp. Bolts whizzed by as she finally made it inside. The anteroom of Fariba's cruiser was decorated in the seals and insignias of the Tagii Imperium and furnished far better than Hunter's personal quarters in the palace. The room was empty, meaning Ikali and the Emperor had to have moved to the cockpit to give orders to take off to the pilot. Hunter continued on into the adjoining den and at first glance she saw Fariba standing still, Ikali unseen. As she arrived, Hunter found a commander-type battle droid holding his rifle to the monarch. Ikali still on the floor. In a flash-before Hunter could bring up her blaster-the droid spun and trained its weapon on her, shouting, "Drop your weapon!" The pistol gave a thump as it hit the lightly covered ground. "Stupid human." It told her. "I'm going to kill you all anyway." A blaster beam filled the room with superfluous illumination and struck down its target. Though the X3-Battle droids had improved armor, the commander still went down in one hit. As was to Wes Devin's delight. Stunned, Hunter turned around to face her partner. "Close the ramp and initiate deflector shields," He ordered the pilot droid. "Copy, sir." It sounded in a melodious voice. "Wes.you're alive." The man grunted. "Just who was going around saying I was dead, huh?"
Hunter leaned over and wrapped her arms around him in a joyful embrace. "You old dog, you." She said. "I thought you were a gone for good." "Hey, celebrate later." Devin told her. "We're not out of this yet." Hunter composed herself and stood straight up again. "Right."
A groan came from the ground beside Fariba. Ikali slowly rose with a black hole in his armor, causing the monarch to startle. "Did anyone get the name of that landspeeder that hit me?" The guard asked while he rubbed his head. Devin chuckled in amazement. "Perhaps the Force is with you." "Enough talk," Hunter took command of the situation. "We still need to get out of here and blast our way through the fleet." "You make it sound so impossible." Devin commented sarcastically. "Ikali, take his highness to his quarters and strap'em down tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride." "Yes, sir." The younger man told him. "This way, sir." Fariba went without objection and the two disappeared down the hall. To the pilot droid, Hunter said. "Take us into orbit. Shields and engines at maximum." "Right away, ma'am." Hunter and Devin moved to the seats behind the droid and buckled into the flight harnesses. The multi-armed droid worked the controls before it. It retracted the seven sets of landing gear and initiated repulsorlifts. As it pushed the accelerator, the ship whined and creaked, but did not move. Something was holding onto them. "Now what?" Devin asked. "There is a tether attached to the ship. The antigrav is not strong enough to pull free." "Engage the main drive." Hunter instructed. "I am afraid I cannot do that. The sub-light drive is currently off-line." "What!" "It was the order of General Sheridan that all drives be shutdown for maintenance." "Bring them online then!" Devin shouted. "Yes, sir." The droid fiddled with some controls. "The sub-light engines will be back online in ten minutes." "We don't have that kind of time. Can't you do it faster?" "I'm afraid not, sir." Hunter unhooked her restraints and asked, "Is the tether in sight of the tricannons?" The pilot checked a screen. "No ma'am." Officer Hunter cursed. Devin was up again and ordered, "As soon as that tether is broken, you take off. Understood?" "Yes, sir." "Deactivate the shields until I'm out." "Yes, sir." "Where are you going?" Hunter asked. Without a word, Devin fired a stun bolt into her and caught her as she fell over. As he walked off, he spoke into his comlink. "Ikali, come to the cockpit and wake-up Officer Hunter as soon as possible. That's an order." "But why can't-" Devin deactivated the device, clicked his blaster back to 'lethal' and lowered the ramp. He shot down two droids who had been approaching the ship. The rest of its squad scattered while the other platoons opened fire on him.
"Hunter? Hunter." She heard the voice of Ikali from the blackness. A foul- smelling stench filled her nose and had caused her to jerk awake. She opened her eyes to see the man standing over her. "Whoa.Where am I?" Then it all returned to her. "Wes! Where is he? Oh, I'm gunna kill him!" "We had to leave him. He wanted us to leave him," He told her. "But he saved us. He blasted the tether." "Is.Is.Is he dead." Ikali shook his head. "I don't know. We left as soon as we were free." The female officer bit back her emotions, "How long was I out?" "Oh, only about eight minutes." He told her. "We'll make orbit in about two." Hunter got-up off the floor of the anteroom and sat down on one of the chairs. "Are the drives online now?" "Just started a minute ago." "It's a start. Now let's just hope we can out-fly the Phantoms." "Breaking atmosphere in one minute." The pilot announced over the ship's intercom. "Come on," Hunter said. "We'd better get to the gun pods and be ready for an assault." Ikali nodded reluctantly and followed her to the midsection of the craft. Protruding from both sides of the cruiser were transparent bubbles that both contained a swiveling chair with an attached targeting system and controls. Jutting from the bubbles were powerful tricannon chain-guns, easily capable of tearing through the hull of star fighters. Hunter entered the starboard pod and climbed into the large seat. The bubbles provided a near sense of floating in midair if one didn't look back at the cruiser behind them. It was designed to give the gunner full view of the skies and space. A frightening aspect to new imperium guards. That was why only proven gunners like Hunter were given the duty of using them. Ikali wasn't a proven gunner yet. He was fresh from training at the Imperium academy and had only been a full-fledge guard for three months. But he was a quick learner and, when forced to, showed signs of bravery and valor. That was why he'd been almost immediately placed on the emperor's personal guard unit. He had trained in gun pod simulations before-as was standard practice for the unit protecting the monarch-but was not yet certified in it. He would be relatively unaffected by the sense of floating, but Hunter doubted his ability to remain calm and shoot straight when the time came for him to provided protection to the port side of the ship. But Ikali was a good solider and should fare all right. The Imperium cruiser shot out of Xarn at breakneck-speed and into a mess of black and red capital ships that were created to protect the planet from invaders. A mixture of droids and people usually staffed the blue-crested Star Patrollers and the newer, larger, Imperium war-ships, but Hunter knew that there weren't any life forms aboard those ships. Merely droids with orders to blast the cruiser into dust. Tiny matte-black specs launched out of the sides of the ships, on an intercept course with the Emperor's cruiser. "Enemy fighters inbound at two- twenty." The pilot said over the intercom. "Pilot," Hunter called into the built-in microphone inside the pod. "Take evasive maneuvers and get us to Gamak. We can make the jump to lightspeed once we clear it and the fleet." She told the droid, referring to Xarn's second moon. "Copy, Lieutenant." "Ikali, youR guns had better be hot because we don't have anymore time." The Phantom-class droid star fighters raced forward in wedge formations on five fighters. Each autonomous craft carried duel laser cannons potent enough to cause serious damage to the cruiser if the shields were weakened. "I'm as ready as I can be, Hunter." The man replied from the opposite side of the ship. "Right," The woman replied. "Good luck, Jaims."
"You too." Ikali said back in a desperate tone.
A group of fighters roared in on Hunter's side, cannons blazing. A few shots missed the cruiser and the rest slammed into the shields.
Hunter swiveled hard to port and unleashed her firepower. The scarlet laser beams ripped one fighter to pieces and blew off the side of its wing- mate. That ship veered to starboard and collided with another.
The remainder of the group passed by just as the next wave was coming in.
Jaims Ikali pulled his guns up and clipped a fighter in the second wave on his side. He turned sharply and caught the other four with a flaming path of bolts. The success of the move surprised him. Perhaps the Phantoms weren't as good as everyone had been left to believe. Indeed they were no replacement for living pilots, which made him doubt on their own pilot's skills. Hunter attempted to destroy another wedge of fighters but was unable to catch them due to the cruiser's position. His vessel had turned sharply and avoided a stream of turbolaser fire. "We're in battery range of the Star Patroller Tagii's Fist," Pilot commented. "Orders?" A turbolaser blast rocked the cruiser, but the shields held. "Bee-line it passed the patroller. At full speed the robotic guns shouldn't make much contact." Ikali fired at a half group of fighters but missed by a centimeter. Two more were coming up on their aft. "Ma'am, are you sure that is wise?" Pilot asked. "Wise? Not at all," Hunter answered. "But unless we want to try flying past the bulk of the fleet, it's our best shot." "We got two groups on our six." Ikali broke in. "Copy," She said to the man. "You have any other ideas, Pilot?" She said to the droid. "No." it replied. "Brace for impact." The Imperium cruiser soared over the black and blue hull of the Tagii's Fist. A beam of hard green light whistled past. Most shots glanced off while others were off by meters. A turbolaser shattered one of the perusing phantoms and caused the rest of its group to veer off. The second group opened fire, further weakening the aft shields. Hunter twirled to port and picked of three more of the escaping ships, then tried desperately to destroy their pursuers. The angles just weren't right to pull off any effective shots. "Pilot, pull up hard and turn us ninety-degrees."
"But Officer Hunter, that will put us in range of the two warships. Not to mention, deviate from our course out the planet's gravity." Hunter cursed. "Do it! We can deal with the warships when we get to them. But if that shield takes anymore hits, Ikali and I'll be sitting targets for laser fire. Now unless you want to-" Hunter paused to fire at another phantom. "-unless you want the Emperor's cover destroyed, you'd better do it." "Ma'am, their closing a net around us. If we do not continue on our present course, we won't survive. We can reach lightspeed in one minute." "Not if we're dead first!" She yelled. Turbolaser shots connected with the cruiser and collapsed the rear shields. "Do it now!" Too late. Ikali gave out a defiant cry as a group of fighters came right at him, guns blazing. The man blew one, two, and then three. Laser blasts slammed into the gun pod and initiated a flaring explosion that ended when the source of oxygen was cut-off by the closing of an emergency panel. "Get us out of here," Hunter said in a cold, unforgiving tone. "Now." A moment later, the Imperium cruiser bolted out of sight.
Yon Fariba, the Emperor of the Tagii Imperium, looked out nervously at the Imperial City of the Tagii throne-world of Xarn, four kilometers from the Navity Palace. It was a near replica in miniature of Courscant and had taken long to turn into a place that could even come close to the Capital's majesty. To the untrained eye, all was right on this world. But that was far from the truth. It was a planet under siege by some of its own people. Tagii was a colony system, settled some five hundred years ago by a group of people that wanted their own way of life, free from their tyrannical rulers. They found a system of twelve planets and one primary. Unfortunately, only one of the dozen worlds was habitable-Xarn. Named after a great scholar and leader that died for their cause, Tagii Xarn. All looked-up to the memory of the great Xarn and none disagreed. The colonists came from a polluted democratic world that was plagued with crime and intolerance. They pursued a planet where the government dealt with the cries of the people, was willing to defy greedy corporations for the sake of a clean home, and was willing to send criminals exactly where they came from. Thus, the Tagii Imperium was born. One leader of the cause, the female Twi'lek, Leonore Navity, was crowned the first empress of the Tagii system. She lived-up to the honor bestowed upon her by recognizing the great wealth in mining the surrounding planets in the sector. The worlds were rich in untapped minerals, as was the asteroid belt near the fourth planet, Arabas. If those places were used to their best potential, the money would be endless. After that, a monumental tragedy befell Tagii in the form of bold conquistadors from a neighboring system. The citizens of Xarn were relatively defenseless against their attackers. But luck was with them, and aide came from the Galactic Republic. They Republic battled back the invaders within a month. And in the end, the now Emperor Trovis was so obliged that he asked for the Republic to allow the Tagii Imperium into their galactic government. The people were overjoyed by this fact and Xarn entered a golden age, In that age, Emperor Trovis expanded the Imperium's military and navy each year until they had become quite capable of protecting themselves from the scum of the galaxy. By the fall of the Republic and the purge of the Jedi Knights, Xarn had an intimidating military. But that fact was kept unknown to the masses for security reasons as the Republic became corrupt and changed into the Galactic Empire. That saw the birth of the clone armies, what soon came to be known as the Imperial Stormtroopers. Tagii saw them as both a great threat and an abomination. The very idea of degrading life with millions of clones was unthinkable. It showed the Imperium who monstrous the Empire could be. Nonetheless, the Empire had an inexhaustible army with the clones. Tagii felt like they had no defense against such detestable creations and need to take steps to keep the Imperium untainted by the mad Palpatine. Thus they procured a wealth in Commerce Guild surplus. Millions of battle droids, super battle droids, destroyer droids, and other machinations, along with thousands of ships were purchased to protect the system. But it didn't stop there. The Imperium had ingenious technicians, scientist, and military tacticians. They took the designs of the battle and destroyer droids and made them into automated warriors that were capable of outfighting the storm troopers. Within two years, the new droids were in mass production. The need for control satellites was all but gone. The X-class battle and destroyer droids were independent and as intelligent as some protocol droids. What was kept was the hive mind. All X-droids could be given orders at the speed of light and would obey to a logical extent. It was more than the Imperials could say about their living troops. X-droids had improved accuracy, stronger firepower, and improved armor-no mere tap would knock these automations out-cold. What's more, Xarn's droids required no sleep or nourishment. The design of acquired federation warships, droid control ships, and star fighters was put under close scrutiny by Tagii ship builders and fused with the designs of Star Destroyers and the latest snub craft to create powerful vessels, suitable for defense and patrol. And the sleek and mighty Tagii Star Patrollers were created; though none were ever completed until around the time of the Battle of Endor. They soon fully replaced the old federation ships as the defenders of the Imperium. To complement the larger ships, the new Tagii droid fighters were produced, taking in some of the best qualities that could be put into a star fighter and remain cost-effective to mass produce. The newer versions created were even faster, stronger, and better defended than the original Tagii fighters were. It was the decision of the populace that the bulk of the Tagii fleet and army should be placed into hiding and that the Imperium remains out of the war-only the highest in the Imperium knew the true number of war materiel the system had. That doctrine was kept all throughout the war and into the invasion of the galaxy, where the previous Emperor Mason decreed that the military would be used only to protect the Imperium from the Vong. Again the people agreed, but quickly turned on their ruler as soon as that fact came to light. Mason was faced with a choice of either abdicating the throne or risk a revolt from the citizenry he tried to protect. He chose the former of the two and resigned as Emperor. Thus a regional governor, from a rich family that had the honor of proclaiming one of their own had been Emperor once, was crowned by the people in a close election. That man was Yon Fariba. He was a kind man, though often ignorant of what was going on. Coming from a wealthy family made him proud and some would say childishly arrogant. But Fariba did the best he could. The Imperium hadn't suffered any misfortunes since he was elected twenty years ago. In fact, since than the Tagii Imperium had joined the New Republic and was accepted with open arms-once it was explained that the former ruler was to blame for the lack of aide during the invasion, not Fariba. Everything seemed tranquil-until the strangers arrived seven years ago. That was where this whole problem began. It seemed like less than that to Fariba, but it had been at least seven years since that tall, bald-headed man with two small fleshy horns jutting from his chin, had arrived in his court with promises of conquering the galaxy with the Tagii fleet. A proposal that Fariba denied. The Emperor didn't want power or control of the galaxy. And for that matter, his sixth sense told him that the visitor in black robes could not be trusted. He shunned the man and his band of followers, hence they disappeared. But as the Emperor had found out last month, they had not gone far. Instead they seduced to their cause one of Fariba's most powerful subjects-the general of the Imperium's armed forces and the man in charge of the droid armies. Fariba turned away from the large window in the palace's main conference room. The large double doors at the end of the long room had swung open and a group of mixed peoples rushed in. They wore gray uniforms under black chest armor and gloves. Each carried a sidearm. The lead one, a middle aged, black and gray hair man came up to him. "My Emperor, the droids have the imperial city and are almost at our doorstep." Fariba was still in disbelief over the situation and shook his head at the comment. "The audacity, Captain Stewart. He sends my own army against me." The Imperial guard restated himself. "Please, your majesty. We don't have much time to get to your transport." Fariba laughed at the thought. "You expect me run with my tail between my legs, Captain? I'm not afraid of these automatons. Besides, they wouldn't dare kill me-I mean too much to the public." "Sir, we must leave immediately!" Stewart explained. "What does the congress think of my leaving, huh? I must save face." "The congress has been destroyed. The members are all dead!" The Emperor froze in place. "Please, sir. We." Stewart's attention went to the gates of the palace. There, mammoth droid transports rolled through were there had once been a durasteel wall. Droid piloted battle sleds roared in and free battle droid platoons raced in. "Let's move!" Stewart cried. That rattled the monarch and he followed the Captain out of the room. Three guards held back until they passed to protect Emperor Fariba's aft. The groups filed out in a hurried pace for the stairs a few dozen meters away. Placed throughout were guards armed with heavier weapons and armor, all poised for the oncoming assault. There came a pounding from outside and at the lower level, guards scurried about, barking commands into their standard issue wrist comlinks. There would be no stopping the droids once they got inside. Captain Stewart led the procession down the marble stairs and into more closely, though equally as lavish, guarded corridors that contained a secret passage to the Imperial Hanger. Suddenly, on the monitors that lay throughout the palace, was the image of a thin-hared man with a long mustache. He wore a military uniform that displayed his high rank. "The droids will be inside any moment, my dear Emperor. Make no mistake, your security forces will quickly be overwhelmed and you will die. Unless," The man gave a devious grin, "you give the throne to me. One push of a button and the droids will be ordered to stand down and only take prisoners. Either way, it is your choice. Live.or die. Which is it?" Fariba was further outraged. "I will never, in a million years, give you this thrown. Mark my words, I will have my revenge." It didn't take much coaching from Stewart to get the angry monarch, moving on. "Have it your way." The man told him. A resounding boom echoed through the palace. Pieces of marble, duraplas, and durasteel were sent airborne. Black, blue-stripped Battle Sleds roared in through the smoke and dust, adding lasers to the oncoming blaster fire that ripped through anything the imperial guards might be hiding behind. "Run, you majesty. Run!" The Captain cried. Fariba didn't disagree with that. He couldn't have even if he wanted to; fore two of the bigger guards had grabbed on to him to keep him sprinting down the halls. A battle sled found the group and came in hot. Its twin laser cannons blew the walls to chunks as it tried to vaporize the guards and the Emperor. Stewart and a young, ebony-skinned female officer took the initiative and rained hard green light on the vehicle. They were much better shots than the battle droid pilot and sent it careening into a pillar. That was just the beginning. Stewart continued on with Emperor Fariba, as was his duty, but the woman stay back to provide cover against the coming droids. A slightly older, brown-haired man in a gray cap broke rank and helped her pick-off the automatons. They blasted away as Stewart led his leader to a bare wall and depressed a camouflaged tile that made the wall swing open to make an entrance to a dark tunnel beyond it. The captain guided a Saurian guard, Fariba, and four more human guards into the passage, and then called out to the two officers to go next. "I've got your backs." He assured them. "You can't handle them all, sir." The female said. "Go on with them." The male added. Stewart grunted. He all ready understood what he had to do, but this was making it tougher. "I'm not joking, let's go. Now!" "But, sir." The woman pleaded. "That's an order!" He screamed. "Get Emperor Fariba to Courscant, I'm trusting you two." They hesitated, and then circumspectly made their retreat. Both eyed their captain with respect before they went in. Stewart closed the tunnel behind them and began placing magnetic grenades on the narrow walls beside him. A squad of X3's-the newest battle droids-ran in, firing glancing shots. Stewart opened fire on the droids, taking down half the squad before a shot grazed his left arm. He bellowed, but took down the rest of the formation before any more shots hit. Another squad came, followed closely by two more. And the sound of more than them coming was evident. Stewart continued with bravery. Another half squad was down before a beam slammed into his left shoulder. Still, he kept firing. A droid took out his right leg and toppled him over. He purposely dropped the weapon and took out a detonator on his belt. "Long live Emperor Fariba!" He roared. Scorching fire erupted from the corridor in a vociferous explosion that caved-in the entire hall. No one was getting through there anytime soon.
Emperor Yon Fariba whimpered as the explosion sent dust and heat his way. The guards were startled for a moment, but relatively unfazed by the situation. Nonetheless, they halted in order to stay with their ruler who was cowering in fear. "Captain Stewart!" He cried. "He's.he's gone. Dead! We're all going to die! I knew I should have abdicated when I had the chance. I knew it!" The two lagging guards appeared from the obscurity; the female grabbed Fariba by the arm and began to drag him. Fariba shook it off. "Just what do you think you're doing Officer Hunter?" He asked. "What the captain told me to do, sir. I'm getting you to Courscant." She replied. "What gives you the right to man-handle me like that, huh?" He demanded. "With all due respect, sir, you're in a state of panic. You're endangering your life by standing there. We need to get to the hanger before the droids do." Hunter told him. "She's right, sir." Her partner and friend Wes Devin agreed. "Please, let's keep moving." Hunter restated. One of the other human guards spoke-up. "Who died and left you in charge, Hunter?" She gave him a grim look. "Captain Stewart." That quieted him. With all the arguing finished, the Saurian at the front led them through the winding passage that let out into the Emperor's secret underground hanger where his imperial cruiser waited. It was controlled by an advance pilot droid-untainted by the rebellious orders the other machines had received and had all ready been notified to start preflight operations. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel became apparent to the group. They where almost free. The alien imperial guard took a cautious step out into the hanger and was greeted by a volley of blaster fire that tore his scaly flesh to shreds. He fell back, a blackened chunk of charred being. The guards instinctively covered Fariba with their own bodies and trained their blasters on the opening. "Target sighted." A battle droid announced in the same monotone voice they all shared. "Squad one, check the tunnel." "Copy, commander" Another replied. Once again, Hunter quickly took the initiative. "Devin, Benzi, and Pluum- we're going out to provide cover. Ikali, stay with the Emperor until told otherwise. If a bolt comes in this tunnel, it had better hit you before it hits his Highness-is this all clear?" "Do we have a choice?" The stout Benzi asked. "No." Hunter said tersely. "Than let's give'em hell." He replied as he readied his blaster. The four guards went on the offensive, firing wildly as they exited. The advancing X3-battle droids were forced to take cover. Four were not quick enough. Large durasteel storage crates were scattered all about the room and would take a turbolaser to hole through. Benzi hoped behind the closest, Devin and Pluum went together behind a set of three, and Hunter dashed behind the one farthest away. The platoon of battle droids was on the opposite side of the cruiser, using the landing struts for protection. "Your plan, Hunter," sounded the voice of Pluum from the woman's wristlink. She fired a few poorly aimed shots, and then spoke into it. "We have the advantage, here. Our accuracy and resourcefulness tips the scale in our favor." "Roger." The man replied. Hunter got-up, fired a shot, it splashed harmlessly against the cruiser, but found a droid with her second. Benzi scrapped a droid. It made him cocky, and he tried to take another before falling back behind the crate. His shot went wide as he finally dropped behind the box with a black hole in his throat. "Ericc!" cried a voice. It belonged to Devin. "Stay on them," Hunter ordered. "We almost have'em." If they could just hold on a few more moments, they could destroy the second squad of battle droids. But that situation could change at any moment. By now, reinforcements had to be on their way here through the main entrance. Pluum got-up to fire and hit the commander square in the head, popping it off. He evaded a few crimson beams by ducking, and then came up again. A blaster bolt caught him in the top of his firing arm, then another in the head as he flinched. "We're not going to make it." Devin panicked. "Focus, Wes, or we all die." She said from behind the crate. "There's only a few left." Devin pulled himself together and took down two droids with three blasts. There were now only seven droids left-manageable. As if to tell them they had no hope of success, a distant voice sounded, "There they are! Blast'em!" Another platoon sprinted through the main entrance, adding to the sprays of hard light. "What's going on out there," exclaimed Fariba's voice on the comm. Hunter ignored the incursion and yelled to Devin, "I'm open to suggestions!" Wes held back for a moment in order to think, then said into his comlink, "The ship's only ten meters away from the landing ramp. If we cover the room in fire, Ikali, you should be able to get the Emperor to the ship." "That's suicide." The unseen guard answered. "We'll get cooked for sure." "It's either a chance of suicide or a definite execution-which way would you have it?" There was radio silence for a few seconds. "Come on, Ikali, we don't have all day." "You better cover us." The young man stated. "On my signal." Hunter told the man. "Copy." "Hey, Ikali." Devin called. "Yeah?" "Do you believe in the Force?" Wes asked. "I don't know. Why?" "Well, you better hope it's smiling on us right now." Devin explained.
"On my mark, Wes, let's give'em hell." "Roger that." The officers checked their blasters and prepared to spray the hanger with enough energy to out-do Tagii's star. "Go!" Hunter cried. Simultaneously, the two guards popped up and let lose with blaster fire. Two droids were caught, but the others hid. Ikali, Emperor in tow, bolted out of the passageway, adding his terrified screams with that of Fariba's. All around them, scarlet blasts scorched the marble floor and sent debris up into the air they had formerly occupied. Miraculously, the two made it in unscathed. "Go on!" Devin yelled into his comlink. It was directed at his partner. Across the room, Hunter dropped a battle droid with less than accuracy. Still it was all too much. "You first." She replied. "Come on, Jan, it's for your own good. At least one of us needs to make it to Courscant with Emperor Fariba. Don't worry; I'll be right behind you." "Just go ahead, Wes." Hunter told him. "I've got your back." "Damn it Jan, I'm the better shot here. You're the better leader." Devin admitted. "If you don't go, I'll make you. Don't think I won't stun you and load you into the cruiser." Hunter shook her head in disbelief. "You would never do something so dangerous." Wes Devin took cover as a bolt zipped passed his head. He set his blaster on 'stun', and pointed it at Hunter. "Last chance. Emperor Fariba has a lot better chance of surviving if you're conscious." Hunter grimaced. "Damn you, Devin." With that, she launched herself up and out into the open. The droids took notice immediately and aimed accordingly. One was about to fire when Devin scrapped it. Damn you, she repeated in her head. 'Always have-to be the hero, don't you, Wes. Officer Hunter jumped forward with all her available strength and landed halfway up the red-carpeted boarding ramp. Bolts whizzed by as she finally made it inside. The anteroom of Fariba's cruiser was decorated in the seals and insignias of the Tagii Imperium and furnished far better than Hunter's personal quarters in the palace. The room was empty, meaning Ikali and the Emperor had to have moved to the cockpit to give orders to take off to the pilot. Hunter continued on into the adjoining den and at first glance she saw Fariba standing still, Ikali unseen. As she arrived, Hunter found a commander-type battle droid holding his rifle to the monarch. Ikali still on the floor. In a flash-before Hunter could bring up her blaster-the droid spun and trained its weapon on her, shouting, "Drop your weapon!" The pistol gave a thump as it hit the lightly covered ground. "Stupid human." It told her. "I'm going to kill you all anyway." A blaster beam filled the room with superfluous illumination and struck down its target. Though the X3-Battle droids had improved armor, the commander still went down in one hit. As was to Wes Devin's delight. Stunned, Hunter turned around to face her partner. "Close the ramp and initiate deflector shields," He ordered the pilot droid. "Copy, sir." It sounded in a melodious voice. "Wes.you're alive." The man grunted. "Just who was going around saying I was dead, huh?"
Hunter leaned over and wrapped her arms around him in a joyful embrace. "You old dog, you." She said. "I thought you were a gone for good." "Hey, celebrate later." Devin told her. "We're not out of this yet." Hunter composed herself and stood straight up again. "Right."
A groan came from the ground beside Fariba. Ikali slowly rose with a black hole in his armor, causing the monarch to startle. "Did anyone get the name of that landspeeder that hit me?" The guard asked while he rubbed his head. Devin chuckled in amazement. "Perhaps the Force is with you." "Enough talk," Hunter took command of the situation. "We still need to get out of here and blast our way through the fleet." "You make it sound so impossible." Devin commented sarcastically. "Ikali, take his highness to his quarters and strap'em down tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride." "Yes, sir." The younger man told him. "This way, sir." Fariba went without objection and the two disappeared down the hall. To the pilot droid, Hunter said. "Take us into orbit. Shields and engines at maximum." "Right away, ma'am." Hunter and Devin moved to the seats behind the droid and buckled into the flight harnesses. The multi-armed droid worked the controls before it. It retracted the seven sets of landing gear and initiated repulsorlifts. As it pushed the accelerator, the ship whined and creaked, but did not move. Something was holding onto them. "Now what?" Devin asked. "There is a tether attached to the ship. The antigrav is not strong enough to pull free." "Engage the main drive." Hunter instructed. "I am afraid I cannot do that. The sub-light drive is currently off-line." "What!" "It was the order of General Sheridan that all drives be shutdown for maintenance." "Bring them online then!" Devin shouted. "Yes, sir." The droid fiddled with some controls. "The sub-light engines will be back online in ten minutes." "We don't have that kind of time. Can't you do it faster?" "I'm afraid not, sir." Hunter unhooked her restraints and asked, "Is the tether in sight of the tricannons?" The pilot checked a screen. "No ma'am." Officer Hunter cursed. Devin was up again and ordered, "As soon as that tether is broken, you take off. Understood?" "Yes, sir." "Deactivate the shields until I'm out." "Yes, sir." "Where are you going?" Hunter asked. Without a word, Devin fired a stun bolt into her and caught her as she fell over. As he walked off, he spoke into his comlink. "Ikali, come to the cockpit and wake-up Officer Hunter as soon as possible. That's an order." "But why can't-" Devin deactivated the device, clicked his blaster back to 'lethal' and lowered the ramp. He shot down two droids who had been approaching the ship. The rest of its squad scattered while the other platoons opened fire on him.
"Hunter? Hunter." She heard the voice of Ikali from the blackness. A foul- smelling stench filled her nose and had caused her to jerk awake. She opened her eyes to see the man standing over her. "Whoa.Where am I?" Then it all returned to her. "Wes! Where is he? Oh, I'm gunna kill him!" "We had to leave him. He wanted us to leave him," He told her. "But he saved us. He blasted the tether." "Is.Is.Is he dead." Ikali shook his head. "I don't know. We left as soon as we were free." The female officer bit back her emotions, "How long was I out?" "Oh, only about eight minutes." He told her. "We'll make orbit in about two." Hunter got-up off the floor of the anteroom and sat down on one of the chairs. "Are the drives online now?" "Just started a minute ago." "It's a start. Now let's just hope we can out-fly the Phantoms." "Breaking atmosphere in one minute." The pilot announced over the ship's intercom. "Come on," Hunter said. "We'd better get to the gun pods and be ready for an assault." Ikali nodded reluctantly and followed her to the midsection of the craft. Protruding from both sides of the cruiser were transparent bubbles that both contained a swiveling chair with an attached targeting system and controls. Jutting from the bubbles were powerful tricannon chain-guns, easily capable of tearing through the hull of star fighters. Hunter entered the starboard pod and climbed into the large seat. The bubbles provided a near sense of floating in midair if one didn't look back at the cruiser behind them. It was designed to give the gunner full view of the skies and space. A frightening aspect to new imperium guards. That was why only proven gunners like Hunter were given the duty of using them. Ikali wasn't a proven gunner yet. He was fresh from training at the Imperium academy and had only been a full-fledge guard for three months. But he was a quick learner and, when forced to, showed signs of bravery and valor. That was why he'd been almost immediately placed on the emperor's personal guard unit. He had trained in gun pod simulations before-as was standard practice for the unit protecting the monarch-but was not yet certified in it. He would be relatively unaffected by the sense of floating, but Hunter doubted his ability to remain calm and shoot straight when the time came for him to provided protection to the port side of the ship. But Ikali was a good solider and should fare all right. The Imperium cruiser shot out of Xarn at breakneck-speed and into a mess of black and red capital ships that were created to protect the planet from invaders. A mixture of droids and people usually staffed the blue-crested Star Patrollers and the newer, larger, Imperium war-ships, but Hunter knew that there weren't any life forms aboard those ships. Merely droids with orders to blast the cruiser into dust. Tiny matte-black specs launched out of the sides of the ships, on an intercept course with the Emperor's cruiser. "Enemy fighters inbound at two- twenty." The pilot said over the intercom. "Pilot," Hunter called into the built-in microphone inside the pod. "Take evasive maneuvers and get us to Gamak. We can make the jump to lightspeed once we clear it and the fleet." She told the droid, referring to Xarn's second moon. "Copy, Lieutenant." "Ikali, youR guns had better be hot because we don't have anymore time." The Phantom-class droid star fighters raced forward in wedge formations on five fighters. Each autonomous craft carried duel laser cannons potent enough to cause serious damage to the cruiser if the shields were weakened. "I'm as ready as I can be, Hunter." The man replied from the opposite side of the ship. "Right," The woman replied. "Good luck, Jaims."
"You too." Ikali said back in a desperate tone.
A group of fighters roared in on Hunter's side, cannons blazing. A few shots missed the cruiser and the rest slammed into the shields.
Hunter swiveled hard to port and unleashed her firepower. The scarlet laser beams ripped one fighter to pieces and blew off the side of its wing- mate. That ship veered to starboard and collided with another.
The remainder of the group passed by just as the next wave was coming in.
Jaims Ikali pulled his guns up and clipped a fighter in the second wave on his side. He turned sharply and caught the other four with a flaming path of bolts. The success of the move surprised him. Perhaps the Phantoms weren't as good as everyone had been left to believe. Indeed they were no replacement for living pilots, which made him doubt on their own pilot's skills. Hunter attempted to destroy another wedge of fighters but was unable to catch them due to the cruiser's position. His vessel had turned sharply and avoided a stream of turbolaser fire. "We're in battery range of the Star Patroller Tagii's Fist," Pilot commented. "Orders?" A turbolaser blast rocked the cruiser, but the shields held. "Bee-line it passed the patroller. At full speed the robotic guns shouldn't make much contact." Ikali fired at a half group of fighters but missed by a centimeter. Two more were coming up on their aft. "Ma'am, are you sure that is wise?" Pilot asked. "Wise? Not at all," Hunter answered. "But unless we want to try flying past the bulk of the fleet, it's our best shot." "We got two groups on our six." Ikali broke in. "Copy," She said to the man. "You have any other ideas, Pilot?" She said to the droid. "No." it replied. "Brace for impact." The Imperium cruiser soared over the black and blue hull of the Tagii's Fist. A beam of hard green light whistled past. Most shots glanced off while others were off by meters. A turbolaser shattered one of the perusing phantoms and caused the rest of its group to veer off. The second group opened fire, further weakening the aft shields. Hunter twirled to port and picked of three more of the escaping ships, then tried desperately to destroy their pursuers. The angles just weren't right to pull off any effective shots. "Pilot, pull up hard and turn us ninety-degrees."
"But Officer Hunter, that will put us in range of the two warships. Not to mention, deviate from our course out the planet's gravity." Hunter cursed. "Do it! We can deal with the warships when we get to them. But if that shield takes anymore hits, Ikali and I'll be sitting targets for laser fire. Now unless you want to-" Hunter paused to fire at another phantom. "-unless you want the Emperor's cover destroyed, you'd better do it." "Ma'am, their closing a net around us. If we do not continue on our present course, we won't survive. We can reach lightspeed in one minute." "Not if we're dead first!" She yelled. Turbolaser shots connected with the cruiser and collapsed the rear shields. "Do it now!" Too late. Ikali gave out a defiant cry as a group of fighters came right at him, guns blazing. The man blew one, two, and then three. Laser blasts slammed into the gun pod and initiated a flaring explosion that ended when the source of oxygen was cut-off by the closing of an emergency panel. "Get us out of here," Hunter said in a cold, unforgiving tone. "Now." A moment later, the Imperium cruiser bolted out of sight.