The freighter moved in no fashion that John had ever seen. The station's shielding protected them, but the freighter was vaporized immediately. The stars moved slightly to the left, and he realized that something had gone terribly wrong. Alarms began to sound and pressure doors began to close. John and Ben raced back to the Minnesota, but didn't make it to the pressure doors in time.

They made a run for the station and ducked beneath the pressure doors. The two stood on the docking level and looked out the view port. Imperial TIE Fighters were swarming around the station, and off in the distance, large Imperial Star Destroyers bombarded the ships that were docked.

An explosion sent Ben sailing over a railing and into the people running below. John ran down and around the stairway to help, but another explosion sent him flying backwards. A large hole was blown open in the ceiling, and the vacuum of space began to engulf the room. John had to hold on to the railing of the stairs to keep from getting pulled into outer space, and Ben managed to do the same. Others were not as lucky.

As the hole began to close up with the station's emergency magnetic field, those who were still conscious were able to get up and move on. The pressure inside returned to normal, and John ran to see Ben. He had a large gash on his forehead, and was unconscious.

"Do we have helm control?" Captain Megan Hubert asked as quickly as possible.

"We do now ma'am." The ensign at the controls said. "But we took a blow to the starboard nacelle. Our sub light drive is functional but we don't seem to be able to enter hyperspace."

"The Empire must be using Interdictor Crusiers. We have to do something. Go to red alert."
The ship's bridge began to pulse red at the ceiling. The lighting darkened slightly to provide a better view of the battle. The shields automatically engaged on her red alert command, and the weapon systems were brought online to charge up.

"Launch the fighters. Prepare to engage the nearest Imperial capital ship. Try to find that Interdictor"

The Minnesota swung around the station and opened fire with its turbolasers. The Poseidon class fighters in the Minnesota's green fighter group launched out of its forward docking bay and began to engage the TIE fighters. Hubert looked to her communications officer. "Bring scanner readings on screen."

The computer generated image of the area appeared on the screen. Seven Imperial Star Destroyers were surrounding the station, bombarding it with torpedoes and turbo lasers. An interdictor cruiser loomed behind them, using its gravity well projectors to keep any ships from escaping into hyperspace, as well as pulling other ships passing by into the sector

"Damn," she said, "They have us surrounded. Bring us about. We have to take out that Interdictor."

The ship began to lumber toward the interdictor, when the Star Destroyer next to it began to bombard them. "Divert all non-essential power to shields. We have to reach that interdictor!" Hubert yelled as sparks flew around her.

"Captain, we have an incoming message." the helm officer said.

"Put it on screen"

A man in a flight suit came on screen.

"Captain Hubert, this is General Corran Horn of Rogue Squadron. We have the Interdictor on sensor. We are going to engage and then draw the Star Destroyer's fire away from you."

"Copy that, Rogue leader. Green group, we need help. Aid Rogue squadron in drawing that fire away from us."

"Copy that, captain Hubert."

The fighters of Rogue Squadron flew overtop the Minnesota and engaged the Star Destroyer. The fighters from green group engaged the TIE fighters swarming in the area. The Minnesota passed the Star Destroyer and began to open fire on the Interdictor.

"All batteries continue fire." Hubert screamed into her comm. link.

"Captain, our reactor is reaching critical mass. We cannot hold this much longer." The engineering officer shouted.

"Just keep firing!"

The Minnesota shot a large ion cannon pulse toward the Interdictor's shield generator, taking out its forward shields.

"Rogue Leader, this is the Minnesota, the interdictor cruiser's shields are down. You must take out their bridge."

"Copy that Minnesota. Get yourself clear. You've done all you can."

The Minnesota turned to flee, but a stray torpedo hit its starboard engines. Sparks flew across the bridge, and Hubert was flung out of her chair. She slammed her head into the railing and blacked out. The Minnesota was adrift.

"Rogue leader this is Rogue three, the Minnesota has been hit. Their starboard engine is out, and I believe the bridge has been taken out. She's adrift sir."

"Damn, J'P'Tan station, this is Rogue Leader, send out a support craft for the Minnesota."

"This is J'P'Tan station, no support craft available."

"Rogue squadron, this is Rogue leader, take flanking positions around the Minnesota, I don't want another scratch on her. Green group, continue focus on the Interdictor."

A resounding "Copy that," came over the COM link.

Horn threw his craft into a steep barrel roll, picking off a TIE fighter and hurling a proton torpedo toward the Interdictor. The torpedo slammed into the side of the ship's bridge, exploding into a ball of flame. He flipped his ship up, putting the Minnesota into his sight, and shot another TIE fighter. The TIE veered off and exploded. The swarms of TIEs began to grow in number, and the Minnesota was losing support.

"Green twelve to base, I'm hit!"

The X-wing fighter blasted into the side of the Interdictor, while the pursuing TIE veered off into space, attacking the next fighter it saw. Horn decided it was time to eliminate the Interdictor himself. Who knew how many ships could be attempting to get out of the dock with survivors, as well as reinforcements that may be trapped at the edge of the system, trying to get in and help...

"Admiral Galvan, what is the status of the attack?"

The hooded figure moved toward the captain's screen. His face could hardly be seen, but this voice echoed throughout the ship.

"My lord, we have been bombarding the Alliance's station and its surrounding ships for nearly an hour now. We have suffered only minor losses. The Interdictor cruiser is in stable condition, recovering from an Alliance battleship attack."

"Prepare to initiate the second phase. Move the fleet into position."

Galvan gulped. "Yes my lord."

John was almost to the station's docking bay when Ben began to wake up. The damage to the station was extensive. People were still running to their escape craft, only to be told not to board. The Imperials were shooting them down.

"Ben, we need to get to your ship. Where is the Betazed?"

"Bay 1138, southern axis. It has been here for a long while, I hope it still flies...Damn do I ever have a headache."

"You'll be fine Ben, don't worry."

John headed down an observatory corridor, toward the lower docking bay. Through the view port he could see the battle raging on. Suddenly, the station was torpedoed above the corridor, sending John and Ben off their feet. The glass was cracked, and the alarms began to sound signaling that the pressure doors were closing. The door closed between John and Ben, and Ben was again unconscious. Someone nearby signaled that he would take care of Ben, so John turned to run for the Betazed.

"Mr. Matthews, I seemed to have hurt my leg. Help me get out of here."

John turned around to see Admiral Picard slumped over next to him.

"Admiral, what happened?"

"I was in the section above when that missile hit. The floor gave way and I landed here."

"Here, I'll help you. Sika's ship is in the bay ahead. We can escape there."

The two slowly made their way to the bay. They needed to escape the station before the bombardment intensified.

"Mr. Matheews, I hope you have some sort of plan. We cannot take on the entire Imperial Armada in that junk heap of a ship your counterpart flies."

"Don't worry Admiral, I have a plan."

I just haven't figured it out yet...