For the glory of the Empire
The tension on the bridge of the Executor was so tense it could have been cut with a vibroblade. The Executor had just been assigned away from Darth Vader to a new commander, yet noone on board seemed to know who it was. Captain Pieterson; captain now that Vader had taken his predecessor away with him for some reason. He just prayed that whoever his superior was, it would be someone with more compassion and reason than Lord Vader.
(Best not to dwell on that) he thought, as the executive turbolift, used only by the commander of the Executor and its captain, hissed open. Out walked a humanoid clad in the uniform of a Grand Admiral. The entire bridge focused on this one individual. He was human in appearance, save his blue skin and his wide, red eyes.
"Greeting gentlemen. My name is Grand Admiral Thrawn, and I hereby assume command of the Super Star Destroyer Executor and all resources assigned to this vessel," he stated in a calm tone, yet with an underlying tone of steel.
"Orders received and understood Grand Admiral, and welcome to the Executor," Pieterson acknowledged in accordance with the established Imperial protocol. (A Grand Admiral? Hadn't they all been assigned to Death Star 2 in order that the Emperor might have them under his direct supervision?)
"Captain, take the Executor to Tyronius. I will give you further orders when we have reached the system." Those red eyes seemed to burn into Peiterson's skull, as if analysing his brain.
"Certainly sir, may I enquire why?" Pieterson regretted the words as soon as they tumbled from his mouth. High-ranking officers were often angry if they were forced to explain their actions, and the anger of a Grand Admiral was not something that he wanted.
"Trust me captain," Thrawn replied, "everything will be revealed in it's own good time".
"Yes sir, no disrespect intended" Pieterson heaved a huge sight of relief.
"Relax. It's no heresy for a captain to show care for the men and equipment under his command." The gleam in Thrawn's eye showed he was slightly amused.
"Well sir, it's just that Tyronius is very remote. I was wondering, shouldn't we be taking the fight to the Rebels? This ship is the mightiest in the Fleet." The memory of horror Pieterson had felt when Death Star 1 had been destroyed was enough to provoke him into redoubling his efforts to destroy the Rebels.
The amused gleam in Thrawn's eyes was replaced with something else. What it was Pieterson couldn't tell, but it wasn't amusement. Once again, he wondered if he'd overstepped his mark.
"Don't worry captain. When this operation is through, the Rebel Alliance will become little more than a blotch on the Empire's history."
Three time units later, the Executor exited hyperspace. Pieterson couldn't believe his eyes. A huge armada of ships was orbiting the only planet in the system. He saw ships ranging from Corellian corvettes to Imperial Star Destroyers. Hundreds of ships drifted in their courses around the planet, with TIE patrols on sentry duty. Pieterson thought he could see that the TIEs were of a different design to the fighter and interceptor that the Executor carried.
"Yes captain, those TIEs are of a new design" Thrawn calmly walked over to the viewport, interrupting Pieterson's contemplation.
"Sir? How did you..." Pieterson was extremely interested in how Thrawn had been able to do that.
"Someday captain, you will figure it out. In the meantime, give me your analysis of the situation." Thrawn stood expectantly.
"Well, there is a large group of the Fleet gathered here. From what you said earlier I'm guessing this force is here for a decisive strike against the Rebellion. Also given the fact that those ships have newer TIEs than we do, I'm guessing this is a resupply operation. But why not replace the Executor's TIEs first?"
"Think captain. Which ship will the Rebellion be watching with the greatest apprehension?"
A light of understanding dawned on Pieterson.
"The Executor. If they see it getting a large resupply, they will suspect something. But surely the pilots will be inexperienced in the new ships?" Unlike most commanders, Pieterson cared about the pilots under his command, and on his previous ship his TIE squadrons had been retrofitted with shields.
Thrawn walked over to the command chair and sat.
"You see captain, when we attack the Rebels they will be expecting TIE fighters and interceptors. Although our pilots are skilled, they are simply outclassed by the X-wing and A-wing starfighters. My intention is to turn the TIE corps into a deadly weapon, rather than a costly burden in terms of both men and equipment. By deploying the TIE Defenders," he said gesturing to one of the new starfighters as it flew past, "the Rebels will not only be outnumbered, they will be outclassed." Thrawn handed Pieterson a datapad. "Those are the specs for the TIE Defender, as well as a list of ships we have assigned to us. Also you will see the co-ordinates for our next jump."
Pieterson thumbed the datapad. He was impressed by what he saw. Hyperdrive, a twin warhead launcher compatible with either concussion missiles or proton torpedoes, three lasers and three ion cannons, as well as shields and an ejector seat. The TIE Defender looked truly supreme. He then called up the list of ships assigned to the taskforce. He recognised several ships, including his former command, the Imperial Star Destroyer Hammerblow.
"Will you want the captains to come aboard to go over the battle plan?" He asked Thrawn. Reviewing a battle plan was standard procedure, for without it commander often got confused.
"No captain." Pieterson looked up, surprise evident on his face. (What in the name of the Empire was he planning?) "The battle plan is in the hands of the captains already. It is simple enough. Starfighter co-ordinator, have the fighters begun their transfer yet?"
"Yes sir," a tentative voice rose from the crew pit, " 3 squadrons are on board already."
"Excellent." Although his voice conveyed no emotion, Thrawn's eyes seemed to grow a shade brighter.
On the Rebel scoutship Nightslip the opposite was being felt by its commanding officer. Jelok Tarr, a human who had seen too much death for his tender years was horrified. They had managed to remain outside of the Imperial detection grid and had even managed to hack into the automated defence scanners, using them to spy on the ships the scanners were meant to protect. The fact that the Nightslip was old and cramped did not help alleviate any tension among the small crew. Although it had been painted nonreflect black and its sensor characteristics drastically reduced, if an Imperial vessel decided to scan outside the automated network, they would be detected and, judging by the size and speed of the build-up, destroyed to keep it a secret. (Still,) Jelok thought, (we must fight the Empire in every way we can.)
"Captain Tarr? I have the sensor readings you requested on the new TIEs" reported a crewman as he advanced towards his captain, holding a computer printout.
Jelok took the printout and studied it intently, squinting to read the semi-legible print in the blackened bridge. To avoid detection, power output was reduced to a minimum and so even lights were dimmed. Suddenly his jaw dropped with amazement. These TIEs were unlike anything he had ever seen before. (High Command must know of this at once!) He turned to his helmsman.
"Naron, we need to get out here. Turn the ship to our nearest exit and head for the fleet at Suulust." (If the Fleet runs into these new starfighters, then heavy loses will be taken. Whatever this big operation the Fleet is massing for, I bet this Imperial force will be there to oppose them.) The helmsman brought the engines online. However, their activation was detected by an Imperial passive sensor, which beamed a databyte to the Executor.
Thrawn glanced at his datapad. Sensor 7 was reporting a spike in its region. So the Rebels had sent a spy to Tyronius. (Was it through accident or design? Never mind, I can always ask them when they are captured.)
"Communications, sent a message to Binder and its taskforce. Order them to jump to point 7 and execute pre-arranged order."
"Come on, you blasted engines, come on!" Naron cursed. Due to this ship's age, the reactor had to be warmed up before main engines could be engaged. Every minute the ship sat here was another minute the Imperials could detect them.
"Relax Naron, those Imperial slugheads won't pick us up until we've engaged main engines and then its 10 secs max 'til we reach hyperspace," his captain declared, sensing Naron's apprehension.
"Contacts dropping out of hyperspace! I count an Interdictor, 2 Carrack - class cruisers and a Lancer - class frigate." The sensor operator screamed. The Interdictor - class vessels generated a field that prevented any ships from entering hyperspace, thus stopping any chance for an escape. The Carrack - class ships were light cruisers equipped mainly with ion cannons for disabling other captial ships, while the Lancer - class frigate was designed for the exact opposite purpose - dealing with enemy starfighters. They looked opposites as well, the Carrack - class ships were long and slim, whilst the Lancer - class frigates were boxy and squat.
"Distance?" Jelok asked. (Please just let it be more ships coming in for a resupply)
"20 klicks and closing. The Interdictor is bringing its projectors online."
"Sithspit!" (If those projectors come on line before we're out of here, this mission is doomed!) He snapped round to Naron. "How long until engines come on line?"
Naron looked at the gauges and blanched, falling back into his seat in disbelief.
"HOW LONG?" Jelok screamed, out of terror and anger.
"Not at all. Engines are shutting down." Regret was evident in Naron's eyes, as if he had just spoken a death sentence on the crew. Jelok turned crimson and spoke through gritted teeth.
"What- do -you -mean?"
Captain Pieterson was amazed with the efficiency of the counter-intelligence section on board the Executor. In the few minutes since the spike was detected they had worked out what the probable mission of the spy was, how they would accomplish this and brought in measure to counter it. By piggy-backing the signal that was beaming the Rebels data from the scanner network the counter-intelligence unit had inserted a command to the ships main engines, shutting them down and placing a computer lockout on them, preventing them from being re-started.
"Couldn't they override the lockout?" He had asked the technician responsible for the idea and its execution.
"Given an hour or two." The tech had replied with a malicious grin born of the knowledge that rewards and maybe promotion were not far away.
The tension on the bridge of the Executor was so tense it could have been cut with a vibroblade. The Executor had just been assigned away from Darth Vader to a new commander, yet noone on board seemed to know who it was. Captain Pieterson; captain now that Vader had taken his predecessor away with him for some reason. He just prayed that whoever his superior was, it would be someone with more compassion and reason than Lord Vader.
(Best not to dwell on that) he thought, as the executive turbolift, used only by the commander of the Executor and its captain, hissed open. Out walked a humanoid clad in the uniform of a Grand Admiral. The entire bridge focused on this one individual. He was human in appearance, save his blue skin and his wide, red eyes.
"Greeting gentlemen. My name is Grand Admiral Thrawn, and I hereby assume command of the Super Star Destroyer Executor and all resources assigned to this vessel," he stated in a calm tone, yet with an underlying tone of steel.
"Orders received and understood Grand Admiral, and welcome to the Executor," Pieterson acknowledged in accordance with the established Imperial protocol. (A Grand Admiral? Hadn't they all been assigned to Death Star 2 in order that the Emperor might have them under his direct supervision?)
"Captain, take the Executor to Tyronius. I will give you further orders when we have reached the system." Those red eyes seemed to burn into Peiterson's skull, as if analysing his brain.
"Certainly sir, may I enquire why?" Pieterson regretted the words as soon as they tumbled from his mouth. High-ranking officers were often angry if they were forced to explain their actions, and the anger of a Grand Admiral was not something that he wanted.
"Trust me captain," Thrawn replied, "everything will be revealed in it's own good time".
"Yes sir, no disrespect intended" Pieterson heaved a huge sight of relief.
"Relax. It's no heresy for a captain to show care for the men and equipment under his command." The gleam in Thrawn's eye showed he was slightly amused.
"Well sir, it's just that Tyronius is very remote. I was wondering, shouldn't we be taking the fight to the Rebels? This ship is the mightiest in the Fleet." The memory of horror Pieterson had felt when Death Star 1 had been destroyed was enough to provoke him into redoubling his efforts to destroy the Rebels.
The amused gleam in Thrawn's eyes was replaced with something else. What it was Pieterson couldn't tell, but it wasn't amusement. Once again, he wondered if he'd overstepped his mark.
"Don't worry captain. When this operation is through, the Rebel Alliance will become little more than a blotch on the Empire's history."
Three time units later, the Executor exited hyperspace. Pieterson couldn't believe his eyes. A huge armada of ships was orbiting the only planet in the system. He saw ships ranging from Corellian corvettes to Imperial Star Destroyers. Hundreds of ships drifted in their courses around the planet, with TIE patrols on sentry duty. Pieterson thought he could see that the TIEs were of a different design to the fighter and interceptor that the Executor carried.
"Yes captain, those TIEs are of a new design" Thrawn calmly walked over to the viewport, interrupting Pieterson's contemplation.
"Sir? How did you..." Pieterson was extremely interested in how Thrawn had been able to do that.
"Someday captain, you will figure it out. In the meantime, give me your analysis of the situation." Thrawn stood expectantly.
"Well, there is a large group of the Fleet gathered here. From what you said earlier I'm guessing this force is here for a decisive strike against the Rebellion. Also given the fact that those ships have newer TIEs than we do, I'm guessing this is a resupply operation. But why not replace the Executor's TIEs first?"
"Think captain. Which ship will the Rebellion be watching with the greatest apprehension?"
A light of understanding dawned on Pieterson.
"The Executor. If they see it getting a large resupply, they will suspect something. But surely the pilots will be inexperienced in the new ships?" Unlike most commanders, Pieterson cared about the pilots under his command, and on his previous ship his TIE squadrons had been retrofitted with shields.
Thrawn walked over to the command chair and sat.
"You see captain, when we attack the Rebels they will be expecting TIE fighters and interceptors. Although our pilots are skilled, they are simply outclassed by the X-wing and A-wing starfighters. My intention is to turn the TIE corps into a deadly weapon, rather than a costly burden in terms of both men and equipment. By deploying the TIE Defenders," he said gesturing to one of the new starfighters as it flew past, "the Rebels will not only be outnumbered, they will be outclassed." Thrawn handed Pieterson a datapad. "Those are the specs for the TIE Defender, as well as a list of ships we have assigned to us. Also you will see the co-ordinates for our next jump."
Pieterson thumbed the datapad. He was impressed by what he saw. Hyperdrive, a twin warhead launcher compatible with either concussion missiles or proton torpedoes, three lasers and three ion cannons, as well as shields and an ejector seat. The TIE Defender looked truly supreme. He then called up the list of ships assigned to the taskforce. He recognised several ships, including his former command, the Imperial Star Destroyer Hammerblow.
"Will you want the captains to come aboard to go over the battle plan?" He asked Thrawn. Reviewing a battle plan was standard procedure, for without it commander often got confused.
"No captain." Pieterson looked up, surprise evident on his face. (What in the name of the Empire was he planning?) "The battle plan is in the hands of the captains already. It is simple enough. Starfighter co-ordinator, have the fighters begun their transfer yet?"
"Yes sir," a tentative voice rose from the crew pit, " 3 squadrons are on board already."
"Excellent." Although his voice conveyed no emotion, Thrawn's eyes seemed to grow a shade brighter.
On the Rebel scoutship Nightslip the opposite was being felt by its commanding officer. Jelok Tarr, a human who had seen too much death for his tender years was horrified. They had managed to remain outside of the Imperial detection grid and had even managed to hack into the automated defence scanners, using them to spy on the ships the scanners were meant to protect. The fact that the Nightslip was old and cramped did not help alleviate any tension among the small crew. Although it had been painted nonreflect black and its sensor characteristics drastically reduced, if an Imperial vessel decided to scan outside the automated network, they would be detected and, judging by the size and speed of the build-up, destroyed to keep it a secret. (Still,) Jelok thought, (we must fight the Empire in every way we can.)
"Captain Tarr? I have the sensor readings you requested on the new TIEs" reported a crewman as he advanced towards his captain, holding a computer printout.
Jelok took the printout and studied it intently, squinting to read the semi-legible print in the blackened bridge. To avoid detection, power output was reduced to a minimum and so even lights were dimmed. Suddenly his jaw dropped with amazement. These TIEs were unlike anything he had ever seen before. (High Command must know of this at once!) He turned to his helmsman.
"Naron, we need to get out here. Turn the ship to our nearest exit and head for the fleet at Suulust." (If the Fleet runs into these new starfighters, then heavy loses will be taken. Whatever this big operation the Fleet is massing for, I bet this Imperial force will be there to oppose them.) The helmsman brought the engines online. However, their activation was detected by an Imperial passive sensor, which beamed a databyte to the Executor.
Thrawn glanced at his datapad. Sensor 7 was reporting a spike in its region. So the Rebels had sent a spy to Tyronius. (Was it through accident or design? Never mind, I can always ask them when they are captured.)
"Communications, sent a message to Binder and its taskforce. Order them to jump to point 7 and execute pre-arranged order."
"Come on, you blasted engines, come on!" Naron cursed. Due to this ship's age, the reactor had to be warmed up before main engines could be engaged. Every minute the ship sat here was another minute the Imperials could detect them.
"Relax Naron, those Imperial slugheads won't pick us up until we've engaged main engines and then its 10 secs max 'til we reach hyperspace," his captain declared, sensing Naron's apprehension.
"Contacts dropping out of hyperspace! I count an Interdictor, 2 Carrack - class cruisers and a Lancer - class frigate." The sensor operator screamed. The Interdictor - class vessels generated a field that prevented any ships from entering hyperspace, thus stopping any chance for an escape. The Carrack - class ships were light cruisers equipped mainly with ion cannons for disabling other captial ships, while the Lancer - class frigate was designed for the exact opposite purpose - dealing with enemy starfighters. They looked opposites as well, the Carrack - class ships were long and slim, whilst the Lancer - class frigates were boxy and squat.
"Distance?" Jelok asked. (Please just let it be more ships coming in for a resupply)
"20 klicks and closing. The Interdictor is bringing its projectors online."
"Sithspit!" (If those projectors come on line before we're out of here, this mission is doomed!) He snapped round to Naron. "How long until engines come on line?"
Naron looked at the gauges and blanched, falling back into his seat in disbelief.
"HOW LONG?" Jelok screamed, out of terror and anger.
"Not at all. Engines are shutting down." Regret was evident in Naron's eyes, as if he had just spoken a death sentence on the crew. Jelok turned crimson and spoke through gritted teeth.
"What- do -you -mean?"
Captain Pieterson was amazed with the efficiency of the counter-intelligence section on board the Executor. In the few minutes since the spike was detected they had worked out what the probable mission of the spy was, how they would accomplish this and brought in measure to counter it. By piggy-backing the signal that was beaming the Rebels data from the scanner network the counter-intelligence unit had inserted a command to the ships main engines, shutting them down and placing a computer lockout on them, preventing them from being re-started.
"Couldn't they override the lockout?" He had asked the technician responsible for the idea and its execution.
"Given an hour or two." The tech had replied with a malicious grin born of the knowledge that rewards and maybe promotion were not far away.