Chapter 1: The Assault on Yavin
Standing at the front viewport, Tash stared into the blue tunnel of Hyperspace. He was doing his best to stand up straight, to seem focused and confident, to give off an air that he knew what he was doing. Whether the command crew on the bridge around him saw through his facade or not he thankfully couldn't tell.
They were en-route to the Yavin system, a small foothold in the quadrant to be certain, but Canth had intercepted a transmission just before Task Force Trident had separated from Firaxian Group; an Imperial patrol had made an incursion into the system. The voices on the transmission said something about a clone-wars era space station near the large gas giant, various ordnance and starship components hidden within it, like a treasure trove of war supplies. Being only a jump or two away, Tash agreed with his elder brother that it would be the perfect place for a first strike, and a good way to give his budding new fleet an early edge.
As if on-cue, the Neb B's hyperdrive announced their approach on the system. Tash turned to the comms officer and nodded. "Open the fleet frequency, it'll have to be brief, but I've got a battle-plan," Tash ordered. The officer gave an affirmation and the moment the stars around the ship sprang from white lines back to normal glittering white dots, the network was open. Right before them sat a small field of debris fields and asteroids, and nestled in-between them was a small, abandoned C.I.S. orbital facility. Studying the sensors, he caught sight of the Imperial signals… and had a moment of internal panic. Those weren't Gozanti Cruisers, not Arquitens, not even Gladiator-class Star Destroyers; what he saw on the radar was Victory-class Star Destroyers, two of them. This wasn't some casual exploratory force or a light Imperial raiding party, this was a small war fleet on the other edge of this sector. All the same, he couldn't choke now. People were relying on him… the Alliance was relying on him.
"All ships, form up on my starboard, Ramora take point, Morning Star you have the far flank. We have two marks only a handful of kilometers off my port; VSDs, both of them," he ordered into the open channel. His initial worries might be an overreaction he realized. Victories were strong and intimidating, yes; however, they had their drawbacks as well. If flanked or out-maneuvered they no longer possessed the same level of threat. "Timing will be everything here. Remora, swing just wide of the station and we'll cover your flank; take aim at the starboard VSD. Morning Star, I want you to speed around the debris and come at the same target from their port. Hold your external racks until you have them in range, then focus all fire on them." Affirmative replies answered him and he watched as the other Nebulon took its place just ahead of the Trident and the Hammerhead pushed its way toward the far asteroid fields. "Alright, all squads report in."
"Cobalt Squadron, covering your approach Trident," a female voice sounded off, a group of X-wings flew past the port side viewport, followed directly by a second.
"Cardinal Squadron here, backing up Cobalt," this time a male voice spoke. "Locking s-foils in the attack position."
Finally, a group of Y-wings settled into position just ahead of the Trident, an older sounding male voice reporting. "This is Gold Squadron, all ordnance is loaded and ready for delivery. We'll stick close until the enemy is in-range." Tash felt the corners of his mouth curl into a more solid smile. Gold squadron was outfitted with advanced targeting computers, making their bombing runs all the more effective. They would have to be, since even between the three ships, taking down even a single VSD was a tall order. Fortunately the enemy's squadron complement was lower, but that didn't mean the Wings were in for an easy time. Just a single squadron of TIEs… and an Aggressor-class starfighter? The imps had brought a mercenary with them? Odd…
All the same, Tash shook his head and returned his attention to the main focus. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's do this. Godspeed Rebels!" With that, he nodded to the comms officer and the broadcast ceased. He then settled into his command chair and turned to the turbolaser stations. "Gunners, as we approach, keep an eye on the gaps between the pieces of debris," he instructed. "I have a few little tricks I learned on my way out of the core. Let's just see how they react to some good old ambush tactics."
The Trident came about and settled into place next to the station, the docking clamps engaging. "Sir, we have a successful seal. Looks like the main airlock's maintained integrity over the years," the life-support tech reported. "No guarantees on the rest of the station, of course, but the boarding crews should be fine with rebreathers and thermal-gear at the very least."
Tash breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up from his command chair. "Excellent. Comms send a message to the boarding crews and tell them they have clearance to investigate the station. Make sure they prioritize repair supplies and shield-generator parts. As much as more ordnance might be tempting, our portside shield took more of a beating than expected. I'm certain the Remora could use a refit as well if there's enough left over."
"Yes sir," the comm officer replied before relaying the message. After a moment, she turned back and addressed him again. "Lieutenant Commander, we've reacquired contact with the squadrons. They made a micro-jump out of the combat area and made their way to one of the planet's moons… fourth largest sir. They're down a few pilots, but each leader reports that all survivors are still space-worthy, though 'combat-worthy' will require extensive repairs and rearmament."
"Even more good news," Tash said, his voice growing more hopeful by the minute. The squadrons had done their job well during the battle, but in the end, the coordination between the smaller group of enemy fighters (especially the Aggressor) had caused them all to retreat after taking significant losses. Fortunately, while the enemy's squadrons had focused on the X and Y-wings, all three Rebel ships had traded blows with the VSDs which resulted in minimal damage to their task force and had resulted in one of the Star Destroyers making an emergency jump from the system. Moments later, as the other Neb B and the Hammerhead made their way back around, the remaining VSD retreated as well. They'd done it, and the costs hadn't been crippling. Now, however, it was all a matter of what they'd find in the derelict station whether those losses would be worth the reward. "Contact the Morning Star and send them down with some engineers. After that, send word back to Mon Cala. Perhaps the Admiral can spare a few transports and personnel to get us back to fighting shape."
The officer paused a moment, her hand on her headset as the squadron commanders continued. "Sir… they've found buildings down there. Some kind of ancient stone structures," she reported. "They're requesting permission to investigate." That caused Tash to pause, his own curiosity piqued. After taking a moment to mull it over in his mind, he nodded.
"Tell them they can take a look, but cautiously. And, have the Morning Star dock with the Trident first," he said, turning and heading toward the exit to the bridge. "I think I'll take an away team and have a look for myself."
The sound of calling birds was the first thing that hit Tash as he made his way down the Hammerhead's loading ramp. The corvette had landed only a few meters from the battered squadrons. Several ship's engineers were already making their way over to the wounded fighters to begin repairs. Tash was too busy with the massive pyramid-like structure that stretched before him just beyond the X and Y-wings to notice. Motioning to the two fleet troopers beside him, he stepped forward and made his way toward the base of the temple.
"Lieutenant Commander," a human female pilot saluted him as he drew close, her helmet under her arm adorned with a pair of deep blue crosshairs above black TIE Fighter silhouettes. "Didn't know you'd be making planet-fall sir. Come to see what we've discovered?"
Tash returned the salute and gave Cobalt leader a nod. "What have you all seen of it so far?" he asked, gazing in at the wide open main entrance, an expansive dirt floor dominating as far as the eye could travel in the low light.
"Well the place is multi-story, if you can believe it. We didn't try the stairs yet since we couldn't be sure they were safe, but it looks like there's a number of anti-chambers on the second floor, based on some windows and elevated walkways," she reported, gesturing at a few of the features she named. "No sign of recent use either. Whoever made this place is long gone." Tash stepped his way inside, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust, and confirmed that there was no want for room within. Looking back outside he guessed that the main opening could easily fit two Y-wings floating in on repulsors side-by-side and perhaps even a couple X-wings. Add in those antichambers around the structure and he was already getting ideas on how the place could be used by the Alliance in the future. Sure, right now the system was pretty hot. If the Rebels wanted to keep up their hit and run tactics then there was no question, they had to leave the system alone for a few cycles. However, if the Imperials returned and found the CIS station stripped clean and abandoned, they wouldn't likely leave a sensor trap behind or anything.
"I think this is worth noting to high-command," he finally said, turning back to Cobalt Leader with a smile. "Excellent work on finding this, Commander…"
"Sunrider, sir. Cora Sunrider," she said giving a nod.
"Very good, Commander Sunrider. I'll be sure to credit you, Cardinal Leader and Gold Leader in my report tonight. Force-willing, this would be an excellent future base location, in case we need to relocate or give ourselves a foothold," he said before turning and walking back out. "I've sent for a GR-75 from Mon Cala. With any luck, they should be here within the next cycle; then we can get all of your squadrons repaired and replenished."
"Happy to hear sir," she replied, her smile genuine, if a little bitter-sweet. "We unfortunately lost a number of good pilots in that battle. I'm just happy that their sacrifices helped to further the cause of galaxy-wide liberty."
Tash nodded his understanding. "If you would, please send me their names and I'll ask command to give them a proper memorial." Sunrider said nothing, but her smile became a bit more heartfelt and she saluted him once more. Returning the gesture, he began making his way back toward the Morning Star, just as his comm began to beep. "Walden here."
"Major Praxon reporting for the boarding crew, sir," came the slightly garbled voice of the Mirialan officer. "We've successfully brought the station back online. The long-range comms aren't operational, so we're boosting the signal via the Trident."
"Understood, Major. I read you clearly enough. Once I return to the Morning Star, the signal should strengthen. Any luck with the station itself?"
There was a pause before the Major's voice returned. "Not much in the way of general supplies. The CIS gutted the place of any rations or fuel. However, there is a cache of general ordnance in the sub-level of the station. We also were able to reactivate some maintenance droids. They seemed surprised to see organic beings coming to their 'rescue'. They seem eager to join us if we can make use of their labor."
Tash thought for a moment. The CIS were known for having a diverse fleet at their command. Given the rag-tag nature of the Alliance's fleet makeup, more hands to help the maintenance teams would be excellent. "What types of ships were they stationed on prior? Also, what stations did they assist?"
Another pause followed before the new answer. "Shield maintenance. The droids report they saw service aboard Munificent-class frigates as well as a few who were aboard Recusant-class destroyers. Sir, if I may give my own opinion, these droids may be a good answer to our shield difficulties on the port and starboard sides of our Nebulon-Bs."
Giving the recommendation some thought, Tash nodded as he made his way up the loading ramp back to the Morning Star. "Bring them back to the Trident and test their knowledge. If they can boost those lighter shields, we may have found the answer to our pesky flanking-shields dilema." Following a quick affirmative from the Major, Tash sent word back to the Trident before retiring to the corvette's crew lounge, beginning to draft his report back to Mon Cala and to his elder brother. So far the campaign was running smoothly. Force-willing, their good fortune would continue.