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the time! Hope you're ready for some more Thrawn.
-Sci-Fi Nerd
Chapter 5
Luke sighed almost imperceptibly as Bel Iblis closed the comm channel with a decisive flick of a long finger. He had been trying to tell the aging General that he had sensed no deception from the alien emissary, but Bel Iblis wanted better proof. Apparently, he'd gotten it. Maybe now they could get back to the issues at hand.
General Bel Iblis looked the part of the venerable, dangerous old military genius that he was; thin face and weathered skin combined with thinning hair made him an imposing figure when added to his height, and his eyes glinted like fragments of durasteel. He turned back to Hyasa El-doana with a little less tension evident in his body frame and general sense.
"Well, then, Ambassador, it seems that you are telling the truth," he said, only letting a slight disappointment leak out in his voice. He'd probably been looking forward to kicking an alien troublemaker out of the base entirely. "Now, what are your terms and suggestions for such an alliance?"
Luke, just then, caught a slight hint of something odd from Hyasa El- doana. It was something like. relief, mixed with a hint of triumph. Not an emotion normal people displayed when they've been telling the truth all along and just been vindicated. He decided that maybe there was a certain amount of need to keep an eye on this alien ambassador.
The In'ca Din'ca leaned forward across the small conference table, his massive body allowing most of his torso to appear above the rim of the table. Sharp teeth shone in a friendly grin as he spoke.
"We don't have any specific terms for the beginning of such an alliance," said El-doana softly, in a tone that almost said we know you're poor and weak, but we'll put up with you for now. General Bel Iblis' eyebrows lowered, not a good sign. "Once we have more territorial gains and structure, however, we would hope that you would allow us one-fourth of the systems you take back from the Imperials, or else something of equal value. Weapons and ships, perhaps, or maybe trade arrangements."
Bel Iblis nearly exploded. "You want our systems?"
El-doana flinched and hastened to clarify his position. "Not all of them, General. If you prefer, we would take the small, the relatively backwater, and unpopulated areas. The galaxy is too big a place to be managed by one government."
Bel Iblis sat back down, his guard up now. "We'll see. For now, I'd like to see what you can offer us as purely military allies."
El-doana bowed his head in acquiescence. "We thought you might," he said. "Therefore, I have been authorized to take you, and up to fifty others in armed men and equipment, back to our home planet of Din'cash."
Luke and Bel Iblis exchanged surprised glances. "In Wild Space?" the general asked incredulously. "But there could be a thousand bitter enemies and threats in there."
"What?" El-doana laughed. "Oh, forgive me. You haven't explored Wild Space yet, have you? No, there are no credible threats. We've destroyed them all."
Wedge was in the cockpit of his X-wing less than two minutes after Black Hole Base first identified the Imperial interlopers. The engine was on a slow warm-up process constantly (standard procedure at the hidden base), and in less than three minutes, the fighter was soaring out of the hidden docking bay, weapons fully charged and hot to fire.
Wedge glanced around. Rogue Squadron, or the rest of it, was currently with Bel Iblis at their main base, so he had no backup that he knew. However, at least six E-wings and a number of modified Cloakshape fighters were also roaring out of the bay at top speed. He counted eight Cloakshapes, bringing their total number of pilots to fifteen.
"Calling all fighters," Wedge barked into his comm, checking his fuel levels and nodding at the full symbol on the crystal display graph. "This is Wing Commander Wedge Antilles, do you copy?"
"We copy, Antilles," a guttural voice growled into the comm, "My fighters are with you."
"As are mine," a reedy Rodian whistle seconded. All of the other starfighters formed up on Wedge's X-wing fairly harmoniously, and started a hard drive towards the nearly engaged In'ca Din'ca and Imperial battleships.
The In'ca Din'ca had switched to a formation that resembled a waterspout, with the outer rim and inner point at the foremost part of the formation. The small cruisers made up the forward portions, and the battleships (hunt-ships, Wedge reminded himself) bulked behind their smaller forms. Already, the largest cruisers were disgorging slim dart- shaped fighters that quickly oriented on the incoming Imperial forces.
Three Imperial-Class Star Destroyers were coming swiftly up out of their standard patrol formation, but seemed undecided about how to proceed. Their escorts, five Lancer class frigates, seemed steadier, and settled into protective positions around the Destroyers.
"Well, that's torn it," Wedge growled through his clenched teeth. The Lancers, with their twenty quad laser turrets, were the deadliest anti- starfighter ship in the business, and made it almost impossible for even experienced pilots to move in and damage the bigger ships.
A rougher Rodian curse rang out. "I see them," the Rodian hissed irritably. "Now what?"
"We fight," said the earlier growling voice; Wedge supposed it was a Trandoshan or a Klatooinian. "I count twenty four TIEs inbound."
"Normal TIE Fighters?" Wedge asked, checking his board. The Imperials seemed to have noticed his little band of starfighters, and were coming. That was okay with Wedge; as long as they were normal TIEs, even this ragtag group should be able to deal with them quite adequately.
"Uh, the computer seems a bit uncertain-" he broke off in mid- sentence. Wedge's R2 astromech tootled fearfully, and Wedge agreed silently with the droid's pessimistic remarks. They were in trouble. "It's confirmed. Twelve TIE Interceptors and twelve bombers inbound. Wait a sec-"
Wedge hissed in fury. "I see it," he said. The TIE bombers, unwieldy craft that couldn't take the punishment an X-wing could dish out, were staying far away and setting up for missile locks on the fast-moving E- wings of Wedge's group. "Evasive maneuvers. Take them apart."
The TIE Interceptors came in on an angle, staggered in trios. The first three flew straight at Wedge, pouring green laser darts from their wingtip cannons. Wedge threw himself into a rolling spin, spraying out a few random shots as well. Quickly, he flicked over to proton torpedoes and launched a pair blind.
The spinning of his fighter prevented the collapse of his shields and probably his destruction, while the Interceptors didn't even see the torpedoes arriving. The lead fighter caught one of the projectiles dead-on, and shattered in a roiling explosion. The blast damaged both the remaining craft and sent one of them whirling off out of control into the reaches of deep space.
E-wings had been originally developed to combat the threat of faster and more maneuverable Imperial ships like the Interceptor and brand-new TIE Advanced. As such, they were admirably suited to killing the shieldless Interceptors. Four of the TIEs died in the first three seconds of combat, and one E-wing succumbed to a pair of long-distance concussion missiles on a weakened aft shield.
Wedge threw his fighter into a skid as another wing-pair of the TIEs came after him. The two ships roared uselessly past, and two Cloakshapes blew one to dust and drove the other one away.
"Thanks," Wedge breathed. A double comm click answered him, and Wedge smiled at the tight discipline that hearkened back to the glory of the New Republic. That sobered him again.
The combat quickly melted into a slaughterhouse of the more vulnerable TIE Interceptors, due mainly to the speed and power of the E- wings on Wedge's side. The TIE bombers quickly fled the scene once the more dangerous opponents had been destroyed, and Wedge gave orders not to pursue.
The battle between the In'ca Din'ca 'Seeking' and the Imperial forces was not a long one. The brawl was quick and easy; the Imperials only destroyed one cruiser and escaped into hyperspace towing the disabled hulk of an In'ca Din'ca battleship; a wretched loss, to be sure, but the In'ca Din'ca had eliminated all the Lancers and one of the Star Destroyers in twenty minutes.
The first demonstration of camaraderie in battle helped to alleviate some of Wedge's fears about their new ally's trustworthiness. That is, until he reconnected with Talon Karrde.
Captain Dorja arrived back on Coruscant two hours before the Sullust operation was to go off; bearing the massive bulk of the dead enemy battleship, burned straight through in five places, yet still intact and ready for examination. However, Thrawn was not pleased at the loss of most of Dorja's force and the relatively little gain it had brought them.
Of course, that was until he analyzed the data banks.
Pellaeon found the Grand Admiral in his spartan office, as was usual before a campaign. The holographic artwork that traditionally dominated the scene was present in far fewer amounts at this time, however. Only four pieces were arranged in a diamond pattern on the surface of Thrawn's desk; the main theme of the sculptures seemed to be whatever the artist felt would disgust his audience more in their subconscious. Mainly, they formed odd conjunctions of smooth curves, dotted in some places with holes, from which sprang wavy tendrils of some green substance. Pellaeon shuddered to look at them.
"Sir?" he asked Thrawn tentatively. "Captain Brandei reports all is ready for the Sullust operation."
Thrawn didn't respond, and continued staring at the sculptures in a lazily focused manner.
"Sir?" Pellaeon tried again, leaning forward to move into the Grand Admiral's field of vision. "We've finished the hypercomm installation, and Captain Brandei says he's ready to launch." Still nothing. "Admiral?"
The lean, predatory face rose from its lowered position, the red eyes gleaming with victory. "Ah, yes," Thrawn exulted quietly. "I see." He quickly entered whatever it was he'd identified into a datapad on the surface of his desk, and then deigned to look up at Pellaeon. "I heard you, Captain."
"Yes, sir," Pellaeon said. "I'll leave you to-"
"No, no," Thrawn broke in. "Do stay. This promises to be most rewarding." He waved a long finger at some hidden device, and a galactic map sprang up, accompanied by the depiction of a curious alien with a peculiar resemblance to a squid on a hairless Wookie's body. "You recall the unidentified ships that we've seen poking around our systems?"
"Yes-" Pellaeon started to say, and then floundered to a halt. "You mean.?"
"They are indeed a brand new species," Thrawn said quietly. "Apparently, they live in an area of Wild Space, and are not extremely prevalent in galactic affairs until this point in time."
Pellaeon understood, nodding his head. "That's their artwork," he said, pointing to the repulsive figures on the desk. "You've been studying them."
"Good, Captain," Thrawn said. "I was, alas, only able to find four representations among the captured ship's databanks of any adequate art, yet it is most revealing."
"Are they enemies, then?"
Thrawn's eyes glittered coldly. "Indeed. They decimated Captain Dorja's command and repelled an Imperial patrol force in the Borleais system."
Pellaeon hissed angrily. "They've joined the Rebels."
Thrawn nodded slowly, his expression deadly. "They have, or are preparing too. However, I believe that with more data, we can easily defeat these new invaders. Fear not.
"Captain, tell Captain Brandei to launch. We have a system to take and a war to win."
-Sci-Fi Nerd
Chapter 5
Luke sighed almost imperceptibly as Bel Iblis closed the comm channel with a decisive flick of a long finger. He had been trying to tell the aging General that he had sensed no deception from the alien emissary, but Bel Iblis wanted better proof. Apparently, he'd gotten it. Maybe now they could get back to the issues at hand.
General Bel Iblis looked the part of the venerable, dangerous old military genius that he was; thin face and weathered skin combined with thinning hair made him an imposing figure when added to his height, and his eyes glinted like fragments of durasteel. He turned back to Hyasa El-doana with a little less tension evident in his body frame and general sense.
"Well, then, Ambassador, it seems that you are telling the truth," he said, only letting a slight disappointment leak out in his voice. He'd probably been looking forward to kicking an alien troublemaker out of the base entirely. "Now, what are your terms and suggestions for such an alliance?"
Luke, just then, caught a slight hint of something odd from Hyasa El- doana. It was something like. relief, mixed with a hint of triumph. Not an emotion normal people displayed when they've been telling the truth all along and just been vindicated. He decided that maybe there was a certain amount of need to keep an eye on this alien ambassador.
The In'ca Din'ca leaned forward across the small conference table, his massive body allowing most of his torso to appear above the rim of the table. Sharp teeth shone in a friendly grin as he spoke.
"We don't have any specific terms for the beginning of such an alliance," said El-doana softly, in a tone that almost said we know you're poor and weak, but we'll put up with you for now. General Bel Iblis' eyebrows lowered, not a good sign. "Once we have more territorial gains and structure, however, we would hope that you would allow us one-fourth of the systems you take back from the Imperials, or else something of equal value. Weapons and ships, perhaps, or maybe trade arrangements."
Bel Iblis nearly exploded. "You want our systems?"
El-doana flinched and hastened to clarify his position. "Not all of them, General. If you prefer, we would take the small, the relatively backwater, and unpopulated areas. The galaxy is too big a place to be managed by one government."
Bel Iblis sat back down, his guard up now. "We'll see. For now, I'd like to see what you can offer us as purely military allies."
El-doana bowed his head in acquiescence. "We thought you might," he said. "Therefore, I have been authorized to take you, and up to fifty others in armed men and equipment, back to our home planet of Din'cash."
Luke and Bel Iblis exchanged surprised glances. "In Wild Space?" the general asked incredulously. "But there could be a thousand bitter enemies and threats in there."
"What?" El-doana laughed. "Oh, forgive me. You haven't explored Wild Space yet, have you? No, there are no credible threats. We've destroyed them all."
Wedge was in the cockpit of his X-wing less than two minutes after Black Hole Base first identified the Imperial interlopers. The engine was on a slow warm-up process constantly (standard procedure at the hidden base), and in less than three minutes, the fighter was soaring out of the hidden docking bay, weapons fully charged and hot to fire.
Wedge glanced around. Rogue Squadron, or the rest of it, was currently with Bel Iblis at their main base, so he had no backup that he knew. However, at least six E-wings and a number of modified Cloakshape fighters were also roaring out of the bay at top speed. He counted eight Cloakshapes, bringing their total number of pilots to fifteen.
"Calling all fighters," Wedge barked into his comm, checking his fuel levels and nodding at the full symbol on the crystal display graph. "This is Wing Commander Wedge Antilles, do you copy?"
"We copy, Antilles," a guttural voice growled into the comm, "My fighters are with you."
"As are mine," a reedy Rodian whistle seconded. All of the other starfighters formed up on Wedge's X-wing fairly harmoniously, and started a hard drive towards the nearly engaged In'ca Din'ca and Imperial battleships.
The In'ca Din'ca had switched to a formation that resembled a waterspout, with the outer rim and inner point at the foremost part of the formation. The small cruisers made up the forward portions, and the battleships (hunt-ships, Wedge reminded himself) bulked behind their smaller forms. Already, the largest cruisers were disgorging slim dart- shaped fighters that quickly oriented on the incoming Imperial forces.
Three Imperial-Class Star Destroyers were coming swiftly up out of their standard patrol formation, but seemed undecided about how to proceed. Their escorts, five Lancer class frigates, seemed steadier, and settled into protective positions around the Destroyers.
"Well, that's torn it," Wedge growled through his clenched teeth. The Lancers, with their twenty quad laser turrets, were the deadliest anti- starfighter ship in the business, and made it almost impossible for even experienced pilots to move in and damage the bigger ships.
A rougher Rodian curse rang out. "I see them," the Rodian hissed irritably. "Now what?"
"We fight," said the earlier growling voice; Wedge supposed it was a Trandoshan or a Klatooinian. "I count twenty four TIEs inbound."
"Normal TIE Fighters?" Wedge asked, checking his board. The Imperials seemed to have noticed his little band of starfighters, and were coming. That was okay with Wedge; as long as they were normal TIEs, even this ragtag group should be able to deal with them quite adequately.
"Uh, the computer seems a bit uncertain-" he broke off in mid- sentence. Wedge's R2 astromech tootled fearfully, and Wedge agreed silently with the droid's pessimistic remarks. They were in trouble. "It's confirmed. Twelve TIE Interceptors and twelve bombers inbound. Wait a sec-"
Wedge hissed in fury. "I see it," he said. The TIE bombers, unwieldy craft that couldn't take the punishment an X-wing could dish out, were staying far away and setting up for missile locks on the fast-moving E- wings of Wedge's group. "Evasive maneuvers. Take them apart."
The TIE Interceptors came in on an angle, staggered in trios. The first three flew straight at Wedge, pouring green laser darts from their wingtip cannons. Wedge threw himself into a rolling spin, spraying out a few random shots as well. Quickly, he flicked over to proton torpedoes and launched a pair blind.
The spinning of his fighter prevented the collapse of his shields and probably his destruction, while the Interceptors didn't even see the torpedoes arriving. The lead fighter caught one of the projectiles dead-on, and shattered in a roiling explosion. The blast damaged both the remaining craft and sent one of them whirling off out of control into the reaches of deep space.
E-wings had been originally developed to combat the threat of faster and more maneuverable Imperial ships like the Interceptor and brand-new TIE Advanced. As such, they were admirably suited to killing the shieldless Interceptors. Four of the TIEs died in the first three seconds of combat, and one E-wing succumbed to a pair of long-distance concussion missiles on a weakened aft shield.
Wedge threw his fighter into a skid as another wing-pair of the TIEs came after him. The two ships roared uselessly past, and two Cloakshapes blew one to dust and drove the other one away.
"Thanks," Wedge breathed. A double comm click answered him, and Wedge smiled at the tight discipline that hearkened back to the glory of the New Republic. That sobered him again.
The combat quickly melted into a slaughterhouse of the more vulnerable TIE Interceptors, due mainly to the speed and power of the E- wings on Wedge's side. The TIE bombers quickly fled the scene once the more dangerous opponents had been destroyed, and Wedge gave orders not to pursue.
The battle between the In'ca Din'ca 'Seeking' and the Imperial forces was not a long one. The brawl was quick and easy; the Imperials only destroyed one cruiser and escaped into hyperspace towing the disabled hulk of an In'ca Din'ca battleship; a wretched loss, to be sure, but the In'ca Din'ca had eliminated all the Lancers and one of the Star Destroyers in twenty minutes.
The first demonstration of camaraderie in battle helped to alleviate some of Wedge's fears about their new ally's trustworthiness. That is, until he reconnected with Talon Karrde.
Captain Dorja arrived back on Coruscant two hours before the Sullust operation was to go off; bearing the massive bulk of the dead enemy battleship, burned straight through in five places, yet still intact and ready for examination. However, Thrawn was not pleased at the loss of most of Dorja's force and the relatively little gain it had brought them.
Of course, that was until he analyzed the data banks.
Pellaeon found the Grand Admiral in his spartan office, as was usual before a campaign. The holographic artwork that traditionally dominated the scene was present in far fewer amounts at this time, however. Only four pieces were arranged in a diamond pattern on the surface of Thrawn's desk; the main theme of the sculptures seemed to be whatever the artist felt would disgust his audience more in their subconscious. Mainly, they formed odd conjunctions of smooth curves, dotted in some places with holes, from which sprang wavy tendrils of some green substance. Pellaeon shuddered to look at them.
"Sir?" he asked Thrawn tentatively. "Captain Brandei reports all is ready for the Sullust operation."
Thrawn didn't respond, and continued staring at the sculptures in a lazily focused manner.
"Sir?" Pellaeon tried again, leaning forward to move into the Grand Admiral's field of vision. "We've finished the hypercomm installation, and Captain Brandei says he's ready to launch." Still nothing. "Admiral?"
The lean, predatory face rose from its lowered position, the red eyes gleaming with victory. "Ah, yes," Thrawn exulted quietly. "I see." He quickly entered whatever it was he'd identified into a datapad on the surface of his desk, and then deigned to look up at Pellaeon. "I heard you, Captain."
"Yes, sir," Pellaeon said. "I'll leave you to-"
"No, no," Thrawn broke in. "Do stay. This promises to be most rewarding." He waved a long finger at some hidden device, and a galactic map sprang up, accompanied by the depiction of a curious alien with a peculiar resemblance to a squid on a hairless Wookie's body. "You recall the unidentified ships that we've seen poking around our systems?"
"Yes-" Pellaeon started to say, and then floundered to a halt. "You mean.?"
"They are indeed a brand new species," Thrawn said quietly. "Apparently, they live in an area of Wild Space, and are not extremely prevalent in galactic affairs until this point in time."
Pellaeon understood, nodding his head. "That's their artwork," he said, pointing to the repulsive figures on the desk. "You've been studying them."
"Good, Captain," Thrawn said. "I was, alas, only able to find four representations among the captured ship's databanks of any adequate art, yet it is most revealing."
"Are they enemies, then?"
Thrawn's eyes glittered coldly. "Indeed. They decimated Captain Dorja's command and repelled an Imperial patrol force in the Borleais system."
Pellaeon hissed angrily. "They've joined the Rebels."
Thrawn nodded slowly, his expression deadly. "They have, or are preparing too. However, I believe that with more data, we can easily defeat these new invaders. Fear not.
"Captain, tell Captain Brandei to launch. We have a system to take and a war to win."