Chapter 77

As the New Republic Military Boarding Party finally entered the damaged Space Pirates Flagship, Larkin's two henchmen were right in the middle of regaining consciousness and were surprised by the fact that a couple of blasters was now aimed at their heads. While he had made sure that the enemy combatants weren't a threat to the safety of Queen Mairayn and the other woman at her side, Captain Marks said:

"Get into the ship now! We don't know what other unpleasant surprises those pesky space pirates have up their sleeves and my instincts keep telling me that they aren't the real architects by this big plan." As Padme and Queen Mairayn were aware of the seriousness of their current situation, they entered the little transport ship without much hesitation and Padme couldn't help but think: It is good to know that someone was actually able to get our distress signal and help us out of this situation before it was too late, as I wasn't really sure if we had found some other way to get out of this well prepared death trap. As the two sat down side by side Queen Mairayn decided to end the silence between by saying: "Thank you for everything that you did for me on this ship Padme and believe me or not but I don't think that I would have survived this whole thing without your help."

Padme smiled a little bit at that, of course being grateful for the compliment from the one person that she didn't know really much but already felt like they had been able to bond so much, that they had become something like good friends in record time. After being able to put the worries about her mother's safety out of her mind, after the short conversation that she had with Mon Mothma on board of the flagship of the New Republic Military Leia now patiently waited for news on the status of the boarding party. I wonder if Luke can somehow see what is happening here, a couple of lightyears away from Coruscant with the help of the Force. She thought as she kept looking at the big screen at the center of the commander center of the ship and even if she didn't understand, how this almighty Force worked her instinct somehow told her that her it was highly likely that her brother was watching over the current proceedings.

Maybe one day she would take him up on his offer, to teach her to use the force as she had this higher power inside herself too and just needed someone to show her how to use it correctly. She sighed shortly, as the problems in the new galactic senate came to mind again. As much as she tried to stay positive about the whole big conflict between the rival groups, she couldn't but think:

Has the New Republic failed already? After all that trouble we had to go through together to free the galaxy from the oppression of the Empire?

But even if it seemed like, that there was no way out to solve this situation without sacrificing everything that she had fought for at Mon Mothma's side as the leaders of the Rebel Alliance she just wasn't willing to give up just yet. Her thoughts were interrupted as one of crewman said to Admiral Ackbar: "Sir, the boarding party is hailing us."

"Put it on the screen and let's hope that they have good news for us." Ackbar replied and of course Leia was immediately standing right next to Mon Mothma before Captain Marks appeared on the big screen of the ship's command center. Captain Marks appeared on the screen and said:

"The mission was a full success Admiral, we have Queen Mairayn and the woman who accompanied her with us on board and are now on our way back to the ship. Marks out"

Leia couldn't help but smile shortly, as she saw that her mother was doing well and now the only thing left do for them, was getting back to the New Republic Military Flagship but how did that old saying go: That's easier said than done? Right at the moment this little thought had crossed her mind, the ship of the Space Pirates was rocked by one huge explosion and she could only watch how the small transport ship was directly hit by the explosion. But as it already brought some distance between itself and the enemy's flagship, it wasn't possible to get away from the explosion wave quick enough to avoid any significant damage to the little transport ship.

Meanwhile on board of the transport ship of the New Republic Military, everybody was busy with recovering from the hard landing on the ground they had endure because of the fact that the ship had been spiraling out of control because of the explosion they had been hit by. It had taken quite a while but Captain Marks was finally able to concentrate enough on the task at hand to say to the Crewman, who had just sat back down on the seat behind the navigation console:

"I want a damage report right now!" Once that words were out of his mouth, the crewman did his best ignore the enormous headache that he had suffered because of his collision with the console in front of him and quickly studied the readings on the console.

"The Hyperdrive Engine is offline and because of the huge force that we were still hit by, the impulse engines are down to fifty percent. The communications system has also been badly damaged, but I'm trying to open a communication channel to our flagship anyway." The Crewman finished his short damage report and of course he knew how important it was to get the communication system online again, considering the fact that they had a very important person on board of the ship. As Mon Mothma had been able to overcome the shock, which had left her standing there in the middle of the Bridge totally speechless for a few minutes, she then got her act together again and said:

"What's the status on the boarding party's transport ship?"

Knowing very well how serious the current situation was the Crewman didn't take long to reply:

"The good news is that the ship is still at the last know coordinates but as far as I can tell it from here, it has been heavily damaged."

AN: So, I guess that little rescue operation got a lot more complicated in a hurry and that leaves on question unanswered at this point: Will the New Republic Military Boarding Party be able to get back to their flagship on their own in time before any other unpleasant surprise arrives on the scene?

Thanks to- Revan Naberrie for adding me to her/his favorite authors list, Thanks to- Deamandredvox for adding this story to her/his favorite stories list, Thanks to- Galaxy Dragon 101 for adding this story to her/his story alert subscription and it to her/his favorite stories list. Please read and review