Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Alarms screamed as Kyp skidded out of the turbolift and scrambled towards his x-wing. The crew chief assigned to his x-wing and the rest of the maintenance team scrambled hurridly away, stripping tubes and hoses away from his x-wing as he dashed up the ladder. Even as he fell sharply into his piloting couch, he heard the comm. link in his cockpit screaming for his attention. He hit the switch to turn it on even as he began the x- wing's start up sequence.
The frantic voice of a young officer filtered through his speakers, giving the voice a tinny sound. "Master Durron, there's another fleet coming out of apace behind us. The Vong are getting reinforcements, sir!"
Kyp was in equal parts irritated and concerned about the officer's frantic report, but it did manage to take his immediate focus away from what was happening to Jaina. She had entrusted him with this portion of their mission and he wouldn't let her down here, either. "Patch the information through to my x-wing," he said quickly. He needed to make his own assessment of the situation before he acted. If the officer was simply exaggerating....Kyp let the thought hang uncompleted. There was no need to decide the man's ultimate fate before he had discovered the truth of the situation.
In the next instant, the consoles in his cockpit were flooded with information and Kyp stopped his flight preparations instantly. As the numbers of the Vong fleet began to scroll in front of him, Kyp forgave the officer's moment of panic. The man had been right. The fleet that they were facing was large, one of the largest that Kyp had sen assembled in quite some time.
In the past few years, battles with the Vong had been smaller in scale, if not necessarily less bloody, rather than the massive battles between large fleets that characterized the start of the war with the Vong. Even as Kyp started assessing the necessary change in tactics for the situation, and rearranging his forces accordingly, the incessant wrongness of the situation hit him.
Jaina had carefully timed this mission and much thought had gone into its planning. Not even Jag had been able to fault her throughness or her sources of information. Jaina had actually refused to reveal many of her sources, and that had concerned Kyp then, but her sources had been accurate. At least they had been accurate thus far. Her sources had also told them that there were no Yuuzhan Vong fleets near enough to their target planet to provide reinforcements.
The Vong were stretched thin these days, and according to Jaina's sources, most spare vessels were massing for a big push on the far side of the galaxy. Either Jaina's sources had been flat wrong or this was something different, secret enough that even Jaina's sources hadn't been able to provide any information.
Kyp shook his head slightly, for the moment the source of this new Vong fleet wasn't as important as how to counter it. Kyp quickly passed off orders to the bridge of the Star Destroyer and waited for the results, watching the consoles of his x-wing carefully.
Two light cruisers, fresh from the ship yards at Kaut, if Kyp remembered correctly, and their attending support ships, pulled away from the main battle and charged at the incoming Yuuzhan Vong vessels. Kyp watched intently as the scene unfolded. As the two cruisers approached the fleet, ships began to trade distant fire. At the last moment possible for course corrections, the two cruisers drew apart, the distances between them expanding exponentially as they arced away from one another. Instead of diving into the heart of the Vong fleet, their altered courses took them whipping around opposites edges of the Vong fleet.
The Vong vessels leading the fleet arced away from the fleet's unerring course and followed the cruisers, splitting the interior of the fleet open like some gruesome carnivorous flower unferling its petals.
Kyp would have been pleased that his ploy had worked as it was intended, but what he saw destroyed any pleasure that he might have had in that small victory. The vessel leading the fleet was one of the most gruesome that Kyp had ever seen.
Rough, jutting coal growths sprouted all over the ship and gouts of molten plasma hurled out from them as lage tentacles speared out of the beast/vessel's gaping maw.
Its maw opened and spat something out. His onboard computer was telling Kyp that the unidentified globule was moving at the same velocity as an x- wing's proton torpedo. Kyp watched in silent horror as the globule inveloped an x-wing. The shields didn't even fizzle. The x-wing simply...dissolved in an instant. It was an effective lesson in horror that even Kyp wouldn't soon scoff at.
The tentacles lashed through space in front of the vessel, creating significant havoc and damage as the vessel advanced. Kyp grimaced, even he would admit that the situation was not good. With a quick glance down at his own tactical boards, he hurriedly searched through the lists of squadrons still active, until he found what he was searching for.
Twin Suns and Spike Squadron had been in the most brutal fighting for most of the battle, but a surprising number of their squadron members were still alive. It was a testament to the skills of the pilots flying in those squadrons. Those above average skills were what Kyp wanted to exploit as he ordered what remained of those squadrons towards the Vong reinforcements.
They were hardly enough to scratch the surface of one of the larger Vong vessels, but it would buy Kyp a few more moments to gather more forces to counter the massive fleet. Small forces like the remains of the two squadrons, however, had always carried the threat of large victories over superior forces in the history of the Alliance and its succeeding governments, but this was a completely different enemy.
Kyp simply hoped that he wasn't sending them on a suicide mission. He watched as the squadrons began their approach and then shot a sharp order off to the bridge. "Find out where this fleet came from and who the Vong have in charge of this. I want to know who I'm dealing with."
Static filled the channel for a long instant, long enough to make Kyp wonder why it was taking so long for the officer on the bridge to respond to him and then the guttural voice of a Yuuzhan Vong filled Kyp's cockpit with a ferocious overwhelming roar. It was like nothing that Kyp had ever heard. The voice was commanding and overpowering in a way that made a person think it was impossible to disobey whatever this voice commanded. All thoughts beside the gigantic booming voice were knocked out of Kyp's mind.
The voice was enough to startle, even Kyp, into jumping at the noise. His instinctive reaction to the voice surprised him almost as much as the voice had and he grimaced as he shook off the effects of the rough, growling voice, as it washed over him.
"Translation?" He demanded quickly, this time directing his query at his astromech unit. He read the words quickly as they scrolled across his screen.
"WHO DARES? WHO DARES INVADE THE PERSONAL DOMAIN OF SHIMMRA, OVERLORD OF THE YUUZHAN VONG, HE WHO WIELDS THE KNOWLEDGE AND POWER OF THE GODS, THE FAVORED OF YUN YUUZHAN?"
Kyp swore loudly.
=======================================================================
Jaina winced as they stopped abruptly. Jag had been right when he said that she had broken ribs. Even with the Force, breathing seemed painful at times. A ripple of surprise tinged with fear from her twin immediately caught Jaina's attention. "What's the matter, Jacen," she asked in a low, quiet voice.
The Force and her normal five senses showed her no danger at the moment. "He is here," Jacen's voice was distant again- cold and dangerous. The Yuuzhan Vong accent was slipping back into his speech. "He is here for me," he turned back to look at Jaina. "He won't let us escape. He believes that the twin sacrifice is what will save the Yuuzhan Vong and insure their victory in the war."
Ignoring her injuries, Jaina took several quick steps closer to her brother. "Who is he, Jasa?" she asked, using the childhood nickname purposefully, recalling a time when they had been the closest as twins.
"He is the Supreme Overlord, Shimmra. This planet is his pet project, reserved for those he deemed worthy of his attention." His eyes gazed at her unseeing. "It is impossible to resist his will, Jaina. He cannot be challenged."
"Anyone can be challenged, Jasa." Her voice was firm. "Even the strongest can be brought down." She smirked roughly, "It's become my life's work. Besides," she added quickly, "Shimmra has never faced us together."
Jacen didn't reply, but she could sense his hesitation to believe her.
"Can you sense where he is?" she asked, when it was clear that he wasn't going to respond.
A look of concentration passed over Jacen's face and Jaina waited expectantly next to him. She gave Jag a small half-smile as he came up beside her and carefully wrapped an arm around her waist. It was probably meant as a protective gesture- aimed, of course, at Jacen- but Jaina didn't care. She liked the opportunity to relax, even a little, and be close to Jag again after so long. If she had been safe, on a ship, and uninjured, it would have been pure bliss. As it was, it was close. The moment that she looked back at Jacen, however, her brief reprieve was broken.
"He is in orbit, Jaina, and he won't let them go. He will destroy the entire fleet simply to get to us."
Jaina smiled grimly, "Let Kyp worry about Shimmra's fleet, I think he can come up with a way to hold his own."
Jacen looked at his twin warily, "Do not make the mistake of underestimating Shimmra. He has never failed to bend someone to his will and he sees an opportunity for the ultimate triumph of the Yuuzhan Vong in us." His face clouded. "Shimmra has spent years trying to destroy me, my mind," he looked at her with the intense insight that seemed to cut through her with a look that had always been uniquely Jacen. "And he did succeed, Jaina. But," he added slowly, "Shimmra wants more. He wants to be able to control us both. It would be a double victory for him. Your capture and your eventual, forced change of loyalties would be a devastating blow to the Galactic Alliance. And most of the Vong see us as the twin gods- Yun Harla and Yun Yammka. If it was known that Shimra controlled us, it would be seen as a sign of his ultimate power."
A cough from behind them caught their attention, quickly, before Jaina could reply to Jacen. Mara studied them with a reproving eye. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said calmly. "For the moment, the Supreme Overlord seems to be tied up in orbit with Kyp's fleet. We need to concentrate on getting off planet, right now. Then we can deal with Shimmra." She looked appraisingly at Jacen. "Are you ready for a little work? While you three have been talking, I've been looking. This alcove opens into a level that houses the Subaltern's personal vessel. It shouldn't be too diffucult for us to commandeer his vessel." She glanced back and forth between Jaina and Jacen. "When this mission is over, then we can decide what needs to be done about Shimmra."
Alarms screamed as Kyp skidded out of the turbolift and scrambled towards his x-wing. The crew chief assigned to his x-wing and the rest of the maintenance team scrambled hurridly away, stripping tubes and hoses away from his x-wing as he dashed up the ladder. Even as he fell sharply into his piloting couch, he heard the comm. link in his cockpit screaming for his attention. He hit the switch to turn it on even as he began the x- wing's start up sequence.
The frantic voice of a young officer filtered through his speakers, giving the voice a tinny sound. "Master Durron, there's another fleet coming out of apace behind us. The Vong are getting reinforcements, sir!"
Kyp was in equal parts irritated and concerned about the officer's frantic report, but it did manage to take his immediate focus away from what was happening to Jaina. She had entrusted him with this portion of their mission and he wouldn't let her down here, either. "Patch the information through to my x-wing," he said quickly. He needed to make his own assessment of the situation before he acted. If the officer was simply exaggerating....Kyp let the thought hang uncompleted. There was no need to decide the man's ultimate fate before he had discovered the truth of the situation.
In the next instant, the consoles in his cockpit were flooded with information and Kyp stopped his flight preparations instantly. As the numbers of the Vong fleet began to scroll in front of him, Kyp forgave the officer's moment of panic. The man had been right. The fleet that they were facing was large, one of the largest that Kyp had sen assembled in quite some time.
In the past few years, battles with the Vong had been smaller in scale, if not necessarily less bloody, rather than the massive battles between large fleets that characterized the start of the war with the Vong. Even as Kyp started assessing the necessary change in tactics for the situation, and rearranging his forces accordingly, the incessant wrongness of the situation hit him.
Jaina had carefully timed this mission and much thought had gone into its planning. Not even Jag had been able to fault her throughness or her sources of information. Jaina had actually refused to reveal many of her sources, and that had concerned Kyp then, but her sources had been accurate. At least they had been accurate thus far. Her sources had also told them that there were no Yuuzhan Vong fleets near enough to their target planet to provide reinforcements.
The Vong were stretched thin these days, and according to Jaina's sources, most spare vessels were massing for a big push on the far side of the galaxy. Either Jaina's sources had been flat wrong or this was something different, secret enough that even Jaina's sources hadn't been able to provide any information.
Kyp shook his head slightly, for the moment the source of this new Vong fleet wasn't as important as how to counter it. Kyp quickly passed off orders to the bridge of the Star Destroyer and waited for the results, watching the consoles of his x-wing carefully.
Two light cruisers, fresh from the ship yards at Kaut, if Kyp remembered correctly, and their attending support ships, pulled away from the main battle and charged at the incoming Yuuzhan Vong vessels. Kyp watched intently as the scene unfolded. As the two cruisers approached the fleet, ships began to trade distant fire. At the last moment possible for course corrections, the two cruisers drew apart, the distances between them expanding exponentially as they arced away from one another. Instead of diving into the heart of the Vong fleet, their altered courses took them whipping around opposites edges of the Vong fleet.
The Vong vessels leading the fleet arced away from the fleet's unerring course and followed the cruisers, splitting the interior of the fleet open like some gruesome carnivorous flower unferling its petals.
Kyp would have been pleased that his ploy had worked as it was intended, but what he saw destroyed any pleasure that he might have had in that small victory. The vessel leading the fleet was one of the most gruesome that Kyp had ever seen.
Rough, jutting coal growths sprouted all over the ship and gouts of molten plasma hurled out from them as lage tentacles speared out of the beast/vessel's gaping maw.
Its maw opened and spat something out. His onboard computer was telling Kyp that the unidentified globule was moving at the same velocity as an x- wing's proton torpedo. Kyp watched in silent horror as the globule inveloped an x-wing. The shields didn't even fizzle. The x-wing simply...dissolved in an instant. It was an effective lesson in horror that even Kyp wouldn't soon scoff at.
The tentacles lashed through space in front of the vessel, creating significant havoc and damage as the vessel advanced. Kyp grimaced, even he would admit that the situation was not good. With a quick glance down at his own tactical boards, he hurriedly searched through the lists of squadrons still active, until he found what he was searching for.
Twin Suns and Spike Squadron had been in the most brutal fighting for most of the battle, but a surprising number of their squadron members were still alive. It was a testament to the skills of the pilots flying in those squadrons. Those above average skills were what Kyp wanted to exploit as he ordered what remained of those squadrons towards the Vong reinforcements.
They were hardly enough to scratch the surface of one of the larger Vong vessels, but it would buy Kyp a few more moments to gather more forces to counter the massive fleet. Small forces like the remains of the two squadrons, however, had always carried the threat of large victories over superior forces in the history of the Alliance and its succeeding governments, but this was a completely different enemy.
Kyp simply hoped that he wasn't sending them on a suicide mission. He watched as the squadrons began their approach and then shot a sharp order off to the bridge. "Find out where this fleet came from and who the Vong have in charge of this. I want to know who I'm dealing with."
Static filled the channel for a long instant, long enough to make Kyp wonder why it was taking so long for the officer on the bridge to respond to him and then the guttural voice of a Yuuzhan Vong filled Kyp's cockpit with a ferocious overwhelming roar. It was like nothing that Kyp had ever heard. The voice was commanding and overpowering in a way that made a person think it was impossible to disobey whatever this voice commanded. All thoughts beside the gigantic booming voice were knocked out of Kyp's mind.
The voice was enough to startle, even Kyp, into jumping at the noise. His instinctive reaction to the voice surprised him almost as much as the voice had and he grimaced as he shook off the effects of the rough, growling voice, as it washed over him.
"Translation?" He demanded quickly, this time directing his query at his astromech unit. He read the words quickly as they scrolled across his screen.
"WHO DARES? WHO DARES INVADE THE PERSONAL DOMAIN OF SHIMMRA, OVERLORD OF THE YUUZHAN VONG, HE WHO WIELDS THE KNOWLEDGE AND POWER OF THE GODS, THE FAVORED OF YUN YUUZHAN?"
Kyp swore loudly.
=======================================================================
Jaina winced as they stopped abruptly. Jag had been right when he said that she had broken ribs. Even with the Force, breathing seemed painful at times. A ripple of surprise tinged with fear from her twin immediately caught Jaina's attention. "What's the matter, Jacen," she asked in a low, quiet voice.
The Force and her normal five senses showed her no danger at the moment. "He is here," Jacen's voice was distant again- cold and dangerous. The Yuuzhan Vong accent was slipping back into his speech. "He is here for me," he turned back to look at Jaina. "He won't let us escape. He believes that the twin sacrifice is what will save the Yuuzhan Vong and insure their victory in the war."
Ignoring her injuries, Jaina took several quick steps closer to her brother. "Who is he, Jasa?" she asked, using the childhood nickname purposefully, recalling a time when they had been the closest as twins.
"He is the Supreme Overlord, Shimmra. This planet is his pet project, reserved for those he deemed worthy of his attention." His eyes gazed at her unseeing. "It is impossible to resist his will, Jaina. He cannot be challenged."
"Anyone can be challenged, Jasa." Her voice was firm. "Even the strongest can be brought down." She smirked roughly, "It's become my life's work. Besides," she added quickly, "Shimmra has never faced us together."
Jacen didn't reply, but she could sense his hesitation to believe her.
"Can you sense where he is?" she asked, when it was clear that he wasn't going to respond.
A look of concentration passed over Jacen's face and Jaina waited expectantly next to him. She gave Jag a small half-smile as he came up beside her and carefully wrapped an arm around her waist. It was probably meant as a protective gesture- aimed, of course, at Jacen- but Jaina didn't care. She liked the opportunity to relax, even a little, and be close to Jag again after so long. If she had been safe, on a ship, and uninjured, it would have been pure bliss. As it was, it was close. The moment that she looked back at Jacen, however, her brief reprieve was broken.
"He is in orbit, Jaina, and he won't let them go. He will destroy the entire fleet simply to get to us."
Jaina smiled grimly, "Let Kyp worry about Shimmra's fleet, I think he can come up with a way to hold his own."
Jacen looked at his twin warily, "Do not make the mistake of underestimating Shimmra. He has never failed to bend someone to his will and he sees an opportunity for the ultimate triumph of the Yuuzhan Vong in us." His face clouded. "Shimmra has spent years trying to destroy me, my mind," he looked at her with the intense insight that seemed to cut through her with a look that had always been uniquely Jacen. "And he did succeed, Jaina. But," he added slowly, "Shimmra wants more. He wants to be able to control us both. It would be a double victory for him. Your capture and your eventual, forced change of loyalties would be a devastating blow to the Galactic Alliance. And most of the Vong see us as the twin gods- Yun Harla and Yun Yammka. If it was known that Shimra controlled us, it would be seen as a sign of his ultimate power."
A cough from behind them caught their attention, quickly, before Jaina could reply to Jacen. Mara studied them with a reproving eye. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said calmly. "For the moment, the Supreme Overlord seems to be tied up in orbit with Kyp's fleet. We need to concentrate on getting off planet, right now. Then we can deal with Shimmra." She looked appraisingly at Jacen. "Are you ready for a little work? While you three have been talking, I've been looking. This alcove opens into a level that houses the Subaltern's personal vessel. It shouldn't be too diffucult for us to commandeer his vessel." She glanced back and forth between Jaina and Jacen. "When this mission is over, then we can decide what needs to be done about Shimmra."