Chapter 57: The Best Laid Plans
In a remote corner of the galaxy, floating above a forest moon in turn above a gas giant planet, the Emperor's latest vanity project lay in wait.
That's what Mara Jade thought of it anyway, whenever she was certain the Emperor would not notice. The resources put into the construction could have made an entire fleet of Super Star Destroyers, and the personnel diverted to this project could have been put to better use elsewhere. Very few people were aware of the true cost of construction, and most that did know privately considered the whole affair to be a colossal boondoggle. Rumor had it that this Death Star could bankrupt the Empire, coming so soon after the loss of the first Death Star and the Executor and many other lost Star Destroyers.
But the Emperor was dead set on finishing it, and the very few individuals that confronted him about the cost were dead, as a deterrent to any other objections. He was also dead set on using the unfinished space station as a lure for the Rebellion, plotting a scheme that would surely wipe them out once and for all. The idea was to make it look like they had a chance to destroy the incomplete Death Star, only to turn its firepower on the entire Rebellion fleet and wipe them out once and for all. But even that plan was not ready to put into motion, given the state of the station when Mara Jade arrived.
The first completed portion was the main reactor at the center, and even that had a big gaping hole for construction ships to move about. Further out from the core the station was built in shells, with each one further out being less complete than the one before. The northern hemisphere was further along than the southern half, since it housed the superweapon that was critical to the station's purpose. The station's hyperdrive was also complete and operational, but aside from that and the weapon the Death Star was woefully inadequate as a base of operations.
"I don't care what it takes!" Mara lectured, staring down the officers in charge of construction. "The Emperor is on his way here and he wants this station operational! He does not tolerate failure!"
It didn't help that the Empire was experiencing a labor shortage, given the lives lost in the war and those that joined the Rebellion. Sure the galaxy offered uncountable planets to draw workers from, but the empire needed them throughout its territory, and the vast majority simply could not be diverted from essential needs. Droids helped to lighten the burden on the labor force, but the sheer scale of the Death Star's construction was too great to accommodate. Even with the fleet of Star Destroyers reduced to skeleton crews there still wasn't enough manpower, though it did help considerably.
"Pay them triple overtime," Mara suggested, the next time officers brought their complaints to her. "Do whatever it takes to get this station up and running."
Whenever she had downtime, which was usually less than half an hour a day, Mara would spend it alone in her quarters. She had a view of the nearby planet and its moon, though that was because the bulkheads that should be in the way weren't in place yet. Her gaze was often drawn to the forest moon of Endor, where the shield generator that protected the Death Star was located. It too was subject to the Emperor's plans, having a deliberate tactical weakness for the Rebellion to exploit, all to lure them in to a trap while their fleet believed the shields would be down.
One evening Mara checked the latest status reports, and there was progress to be seen. Construction was still behind schedule, but nowhere near the extent it had been before she arrived. She figured if she had another month it would be on track, and could possibly get it done a few months before the scheduled completion date. That was assuming she could get the resources needed to get it done, and that she had the time to get it done. But the Emperor needed it to be ready now, that much was obvious from the few transmissions sent to her.
All too soon, the Emperor's shuttle arrived.
Mara hoped she would have had more time, but that was not to be. News of the blatant attack on Coruscant had reached this far out, though the identity of the attackers was kept hidden from the workers to limit the blow to morale. It was assumed to be the Rebellion's doing, and that lie was used to further motivate progress on construction. It was actually the work of Darth Vader, hellbent on revenge for all the wrongs the Emperor had done to him. He would be coming here as well, though he would not be as warmly received as the Emperor.
The shuttle landed in the still-incomplete hangar of the Death Star, though enough was finished to make it functional. Stormtroopers were assembled and standing in formation, as per usual for the Emperor's military visits. Mara stood just outside the shuttle, watching as the boarding ramp descended and her master came into view. Clad in his usual black robe, with only his wrinkled face visible to the public eye, Emperor Palpatine walked into the hangar. From there he walked side by side with Mara Jade, one of the few people that knew him as Darth Sidious.
"I am sorry for what happened," Mara said.
"It is Vader's responsibility, not yours," Palpatine said. He observed the condition of the hangar, which mirrored what he had seen on approach to the station. "He will pay for his transgressions."
"When do you believe he will arrive?" Mara asked.
"Soon," Palpatine answered. "I doubt we will have more than a day or two to prepare."
Not bothering to waste time with securing control of Coruscant, Darth Vader returned to the Vengeance and got his fleet underway.
A short jump through hyperspace brought the fleet to open space between systems, where damaged ships could undergo field repairs despite lacking any drydocks. They all had full cargo holds for that purpose, having resources on hand to patch over significant amounts of damage. Still, some ships were too far gone to save, so they were scuttled and any materials that could be salvaged were used to repair other ships. Still, despite the damage taken thus far, the fleet was still in decent enough condition to fight another battle.
Unfortunately, the ground forces had to be left on Coruscant, since there wasn't enough time to withdraw them. However, they would not be needed where the fleet was going next, since it was expected to be space battles only from here on out. The men on the ground were given orders to fortify their positions and hold out as long as possible, and convince the populace to join their cause if the opportunity arose. They were told the fleet would return for them eventually, when the campaign against the Emperor was complete.
Once sufficient repairs were finished, Vader took the fleet through hyperspace again.
There was only one place Sidious would go, the only place more secure than Coruscant. Having been privy to the location of new Death Star's construction site before his betrayal, Vader had the coordinates and charted a course to Endor. It would have been impossible to move the Death Star at its current phase of completion, not without setting back construction by several months. Vader didn't have any current updates on construction progress, but it was easy enough to guess that Sidious would want his new base of operation mobile as quickly as possible, and would finish any remaining construction later.
Standing on the bridge of the Vengeance, Vader looked out at the void of hyperspace, listening to the officer counting down their time to arrival. "Three… two… one… now!"
The Vengeance emerged from hyperspace, followed by the rest of the fleet flying in formation. The incomplete Death Star was directly ahead, though Vader noted that construction had progressed since he last saw it. It was oriented so that the southern hemisphere faced the forest moon, and the fleet was oriented accordingly, putting the moon beneath the fleet. The gas giant planet the moon orbited was further away, looking like a hazy marble off in the distance. Other moons were further out, but they were of no concern to anyone here.
Surrounding the Death Star was another imperial fleet, just as large as the one that had defended Coruscant, reflecting the Emperor's value of this space station. There was a greater number of Super Star Destroyers present, each equal in military might to all the regular Star Destroyers among that fleet. It would be more difficult to prevail this time, given that Vader's fleet was weakened by the earlier battle. The Death Star was the real danger here, since the Emperor was there, whether or not the superweapon was operational.
"The planetary deflector shield is up," one officer reported. "Targeting scanners can't lock onto the shield generator."
"I will deal with it," Vader assured everyone.
The forest moon was protected by a planetary shield generated on the surface, which in turn protected an independent shield generator that protected the Death Star. Both shields could withstand bombardment for days, though if the planetary shield failed it would leave the Death Star's shield generator vulnerable. The Death Star itself was not far enough along to support its own defenses, for all available power aboard the station was needed for construction efforts. It was also part of the Emperor's plot to trap the Rebellion, for the possibility of disabling the shields was the necessary bait.
It would have taken too long to overwhelm the planetary shield with military might, so Vader tended to that matter personally. His eyes glowed red with the Avatar State, he reached toward the planet, and called upon the Force. The planet appeared to shimmer, light reflecting off ripples in the shield, until it was torn apart. A gap formed and grew larger, much to the panic of operators tasked with maintaining shield integrity. Try as they might to compensate for the disruption, there was nothing they could do to stop the Force.
"Open fire," Vader ordered.
The Vengeance launched a barrage of proton torpedoes at the forest moon, aimed at the shield generator on the surface and the surrounding area. The officers half-expected the torpedoes to detonate harmlessly against the planetary shield, as they would have if Vader wasn't here. Instead the torpedoes passed through the hole and kept on going, and there was a collective sigh of relief within the bridge. The bypass of the shield surprised the operators manning the generator, for the few seconds they had left.
The torpedoes struck the surface and detonated on impact, obliterating the building that housed the shield generator. The massive explosions could be heard across the surface of the forest moon, terrifying the local lifeforms with the threat of death from above. A smoldering crater with billowing smoke was left in place of the generator, large enough to be seen from low orbit. The surrounding forest was set ablaze by the explosions and falling debris, though no one cared about the danger that posed to the locals.
"The shield is down," one officer reported.
The red glow left Vader's eyes, and he turned his gaze back on the Death Star. "Keep the fleet in dispersed formation. If the station turns, avoid it at all costs."
The fleet was approaching from the Death Star's 'western' hemisphere, with the superweapon positioned far to one side. By all accounts the superweapon was not functional yet, but that was part of the deception for the Rebellion and Vader would not fall for that. The plan to wipe out the Rebellion called for the Death Star to be fully armed and operational in secret, and Vader was sure the Emperor was doing everything possible to make that happen ahead of schedule. With it the Death Star would be a match for his fleet, even without the other fleet supporting it.
Said fleet was maneuvering into position between them and the station, which Vader took as a sign that the superweapon wasn't ready yet. "Deploy everything we have. Fire all weapons. Show no mercy."
All the TIE Fighters that survived the Coruscant battle were launched again, flying as a swarm toward the other fleet. The other fleet deployed their fighters as well, and they outnumbered the fighters on Vader's side by three to one. Every ship in both fleets opened fire, their blaster bolts crisscrossing in the space between. Shots that missed enemy Star Destroyers kept on going to hit the Death Star, and with the shield down those shots struck the vulnerable inner workings of the station, wherever the outer hull was missing.
Vader watched the battle begin, waiting for his former master to respond. "What will you do now?"
Despite the situation outside the Death Star, construction efforts continued at breakneck pace.
As many workers and droids as possible were diverted to the superweapon, abandoning all unessential areas like the backup power grid or the outer hull or life support. They were not told when the shield generator was destroyed, for that news would have caused a panic and slowed down the work. They weren't even told about the battle taking place right this moment, though many suspected that something was going on outside the Death Star. They could feel it when stray shots hit the station, for the slight tremors could not be ignored, yet the work continued faster and faster.
Even the Emperor was contributing to the construction, using the Force to move components into place, giving the workers a rare glimpse into his power. He did the work of a thousand men, and yet it still wasn't enough to get the Death Star operational in time. He had ordered the fleet into a defensive formation between the station and Vader's fleet, oriented and positioned to maximize protection for the station, even if it would result in massive damage to those ships. Anything to buy enough time to finish the superweapon, so that it could be used against Vader.
"Never thought I would have to lower myself to this…" Palpatine grumbled. He was currently moving an enormous kyber crystal into position, one of the focal points for the immense power channeled by the weapon. "Using my vast knowledge and power for manual labor…"
No one spoke to him while he worked, for they had their own jobs to do, and they didn't want to receive his wrath simply for being nearby. Current estimates placed weapon viability at three hours out, if they skipped all testing and safety precautions, yet it still wasn't soon enough. Many were worried that something would go wrong if the weapon was fired prematurely, and more were terrified that the Emperor might give that order before it was finished. It would certainly damage the station at the very least, with the worst-case scenario being total destruction.
Meanwhile, Mara was in the primary command center of the station, coordinating the efforts to defend the Death Star. "How long until reinforcements arrive?"
"The closest fleet is an hour away," one officer reported.
"Levels fifteen through twenty-five are taking fire," another officer reported. "They won't last more than a few minutes."
"Maneuver the Vehement to shield that segment," Mara ordered. "Vigilance and Subjugator are to cover for its current position."
Those maneuvers would put those ships at risk, but they were expendable next to the Death Star. Everything was expendable in the Emperor's judgement, and one did not argue with him when he was in a bad mood. The Star Destroyers complied with the orders and moved into their new positions, taking increased damage from the enemy fleet. They were inflicting damage on the enemy as well, but the loyal fleet had lost any semblance of a tactically sound formation. Already three Star Destroyers had been disabled, left intact solely because there were other targets still firing back.
Several enemy Star Destroyers had been severely damaged, not enough to destroy them but they had been taken out of the fight. Yet that Super Star Destroyer out there remained undamaged, with its shields still near full capacity. Mara knew that was the ship Vader was on, for the way blaster bolts and moving debris seemed to curve away from that ship could only be done with the Force. The Vengeance was focusing its fire on one Star Destroyer at a time, whittling away at its defenses until it was left adrift before moving on to the next again and again.
"Rotate the station thirty degrees east, fifteen degrees south," Mara ordered, anticipating that the Emperor would order that maneuver anyway. "Aim the weapon at the Vengeance."
When the station began to turn, Vader instantly knew what was going to happen.
"Move every ship away from the Vengeance," Vader ordered. "Take us forward, as close as possible to the enemy flagship."
If the Death Star was going to fire on him, he was going to make sure it cost the Emperor as much as possible. For anyone else this maneuver would get the ship reduced to rubble in a matter of minutes, as every enemy ship would be firing on him from many angles. Vader had the Force with him, and he used it to push against every shot directed at his ship, throwing off the aim of enemy fire. Many shots were still hitting the ship, but the shields were strong enough to handle the reduced barrage. Vader had every intention of surviving this battle, but if his plan failed it would still inflict maximum damage.
The rest of Vader's fleet started moving away from the Vengeance as ordered, so that even a miss from the station would not hit one of them instead. They kept their distance from the forest moon as well, in case the moon was targeted in an attempt to wipe out everything in orbit. The Vengeance charged at one of the Super Star Destroyers in the enemy fleet, the one that commanding all the other ships around it. That ship was trying to maneuver out of the way, its captain likely thinking the Vengeance was going to ram it.
With his eyes glowing red, Vader called upon the Avatar State to grasp through the Force, tearing apart the enemy ship's shields. The Vengeance fired its many blaster turrets into the hole, hitting the ship's underbelly with no resistance whatsoever. The entire ventral hull was shredded in moments, including its turrets and leaving it defenseless to anything from below. Torpedoes were fired as well, hitting the main engines of the ship, obliterating them in a few short moments. The Super Star Destroyer was left adrift in space, it's thrusters nowhere near sufficient to replace its engines.
Once that ship was effectively helpless, Vader smirked. "Did you foresee this, old man?"
With the Force and his immense power Vader took hold of the adrift Super Star Destroyer, making it move according to his wishes. As such it appeared to fly backwards, toward the Death Star. It gathered speed with every second, and was aimed directly at the superweapon. The danger was recognized instantly, and all the other ships nearby opened fire on the Super Star Destroyer, attempting to break it apart before it could hit the station. But the ship was so massive that it would take forever to destroy, time that they did not have.
The Death Star was forced to act now.
Several reactors inside the station increased their output, though it was far short of what was necessary to destroy a planet. That power was channeled through massive conduits into the enormous kyber crystal focusing lenses, transforming the raw energy into a particularly destructive form. Workers got to see that power surging through the ship, wishing the catwalks had handrails to prevent someone from falling into it. Seven large lasers shot from the edges of the dish, converging in the middle when an eighth laser joined from the center, unleashing the combined power as a single shot.
The massive green superlaser struck the incoming Super Star Destroyer, annihilating the massive ship in an equally massive explosion. Only dust was left in place of the enormous ship, which brushed against the station harmlessly. There was a brief pause in the battle as everyone gawked at the destruction, for most of them had never seen it on such a scale before. The fighting resumed with greater vigor, both sides hoping to end the fight before the station would fire again. Every Force sensitive person nearby felt the massive loss of life from that ship, though only one of them cared.
But there was a feeling through the Force that reassured Vader, even if he didn't get details.
Very satisfied with the first test fire of the Death Star, the Emperor was eager to see it again.
"Fire when ready," the Emperor ordered.
However, the nearest officer hesitated to respond, but figured he'd be dead if he said nothing. "My Lord… there is a problem."
Palpatine's gaze narrowed on that officer. "Elaborate."
"Some parts were damaged during the test," the officer said. "Power regulators are burned out, conduits have ruptured, fluctuations across the board. Another shot will cause more severe damage."
From his position near one of the kyber crystal focusing lenses, Palpatine could see some of the damage firsthand. The crystal was intact, but the components near it were blackened and smoking in places. At any other time they would have to be replaced, but it wasn't going to happen in the middle of a battle. There was neither the resources or the manpower available, and even if he had them there was simply no more time. Vader and his ship were right there, close enough to do some serious damage, and completely exposed to another shot.
There was no choice but to take that gamble. "Fire."
With the voice of the Emperor compelling the officer to obey, as well as everyone else that heard him, the order was carried out without hesitation. Any objections they may have were wiped away, for they could not resist the Force. The reactors churned out power once again, channeled it through the conduits, igniting the large lasers that shot from the edges of the station's dish. The station shook violently this time, as if struggling to handle the immense power. The lasers converged and the final one fired, sending all that destructive power directly at the Vengeance.
The massive green superlaser shot through space, crossing the distance in a mere moment. But then the Vengeance suddenly moved to starboard, as if pushed by some giant invisible hand. At the same time the massive superlaser bent slightly the other way, like space itself had warped make the superlaser turn. No doubt this was Vader and the Force at work, using all the power at his disposal to avoid destruction. The Vengeance was still hit by the laser, but with a glancing blow that disintegrated a quarter of the ship, and the laser kept on going.
The shot went past the forest moon and struck one of the other moons instead, one that was covered in oceans and dotted with tiny islands. That world was destroyed in an instant, broken apart into several large chunks and thousands of smaller pieces, all of its water vaporizing in the vacuum of space. The debris was scattered across the space around Endor, some crashing into other moons, some falling into the gas giant planet, and the rest flung into the battlefield to pummel both sides. But the Vengeance was still intact, albeit with its port side missing, now adrift in space but still there.
"Again," Palpatine ordered.
However, not even the Force could make that happen. As just about everyone around him wanted to point out, that last shot further damaged the station. Even the reactors were damaged, having put out too much power into conduits that couldn't support it. Another attempt would cause a critical overload and destroy the station for sure, if repairs were not made first. Palpatine considered using all his power in the Force to hold the station together during the shot, but that would leave him vulnerable if Vader tried something.
And he knew Vader would try something.
It took everything he had to avoid destruction, but Vader persevered.
When the red glow left his eyes Vader felt a wave of exhaustion hit him, and he nearly dropped where he stood. Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, his vision was fading around the edges while he felt lightheaded. He didn't notice the alarms blaring around him, and all the bridge officers scrambling to deal with the sudden loss of the portside hull. The Vengeance was effectively crippled, suffering power losses across the board, with both weapons and shields offline. He vaguely heard someone report engines still functioning, though at severely reduced capacity.
If the Death Star fired again it would destroy the Vengeance, that was absolutely certain. Vader had needed the full power of the Force in the Avatar State to save it the first time, and he wasn't sure if he could do it again. The enemy fleet was still firing on the ship, and with Vader conserving his strength those shots were all meeting their marks. The port side was taking even more damage now, since much of the enemy fleet was targeting the very obvious weak spot. Even if the Death Star did not fire again the Vengeance would be destroyed very soon, so there was only one option remaining.
"Set engines to maximum burn," Vader ordered, collecting himself and restoring his composure. "Ram the Death Star."
Everyone was staring at him, surprised and horrified by the order, but ultimately understanding. Captain Sysco was the only one to respond. "It's been an honor, my Lord."
All available power was diverted to the engines, which flared as the ship suddenly accelerated. The Vengeance picked up speed, though it drifted slightly off course. It was taking more damage every second, especially when the enemy fleet realized what was about to happen. But as a Super Star Destroyer the Vengeance had too much mass to destroy in time, and with Vader using the Force to protect the bridge the enemy fleet could not destroy it. And the Death Star itself had no option to maneuver, being far too large to move in a hurry.
"Attention all hands: Brace for impact!"
Everyone took shelter where they could, preferably as close to the stern as they could manage. Escape pods were launched by the hundred from the front half of the ship, the people inside preferring the almost certain doom of taking enemy fire to the absolutely certain doom of collision. The Death Star was trying to rotate as quickly as possible, so that the weapon would be turned away and the most heavily armored portion of the hull would be taking the hit. But there was only enough time for half of that rotation, and the Vengeance struck a semi-completed part of the station.
The bow of the Vengeance was compacted instantly, along with the outer sections of the station. At just under a tenth the diameter of the Death Star, the Vengeance buried itself within the station, as if it were the galaxy's largest knife. Vast swathes of the station suffered hull breaches and vented atmosphere into space, and the main section of the Vengeance was crippled. At a third of the radius away from the weapon, the ship stopped just short of reaching vital infrastructure, with the command tower sticking out from the northern half of the Death Star.
When the shaking finally stopped, Vader let go of the Force holding the bridge together. "Crude, but simple."
He walked out of the bridge, going to board the Death Star.
If the station couldn't fire before, it wasn't going to fire now.
Having a Super Star Destroyer lodged in the side of the station had inflicted severe damage, to the point where structural integrity was at risk. The only saving grace was that it had struck a mostly completed section of the station, which could withstand the impact far better than the mostly hull-less southern hemisphere. The damage easily set back construction by several years, assuming the station survived the battle intact. That was becoming increasingly unlikely, especially now that Vader could simply walk onto the station and attack from within.
The Emperor had made his way to the command center of the station, where the officers were scrambling to coordinate efforts to repel boarders. He could sense Vader's presence aboard the crashed ship, and he was moving to join the boarding party and lead the incursion personally. Palpatine figured they had only fifteen minutes before they got inside the Death Star, and from there it would be impossible to forcibly remove Vader. The only way to stop this would be to remove the crashed ship, and there was only one tool aboard the station that could make that happen.
"Engage the hyperdrive," Palpatine ordered. He looked at his current apprentice, expecting her to make it happen. "I don't care where we go, just get us moving."
There was hesitation to carry out that order, though they could not refuse the Emperor's command. A hyperspace vector was selected in the navigation computer, the only one viable given the position of all the ships nearby blocking preferred routes, away from the battle but with no specific destination in mind. The station began to shake as its multitude of hyperspace engines came online, needing dozens of them working in tandem to move so much mass at once. It didn't help that some of those engines were damaged, specifically the ones near the crashed ship lodged in the hull.
Just when it seemed like the Death Star would tear itself apart, it lurched forward into the blue void of hyperspace. Various pieces of the station broke off immediately, from unfinished structural components to damaged hull fragments and everything in between. The pieces were flung into the void to return to normal space, scattered across many light-years. Despite the shaking throughout the station it held together, though everything not bolted down was rattling around. Then a loud screech echoed throughout the station, and the shaking intensified so much people were being thrown into walls.
Bit by bit, the ship embedded in the Death Star began to slip free, with twisted and intertwined metal tearing apart. The Vengeance was torn asunder as the stern was pulled by hyperspace drag, with long gashes forming across the middle of the main section, leaving the crumpled front half mixed with crushed sections of the station. Another third of the ship was shredded as the stern came free, and what was left of the Vengeance fell away into the void, along with a steady stream of debris that emerged from hyperspace over several parsecs.
A violent lurch struck the station as the ship came free, and most people inside were knocked off their feet. Then the shaking stopped, save for little vibrations as pieces of debris continued to fall away. A collective sigh of relief went through the station, now that it seemed like the danger had passed. It wasn't of course, there was a big gaping hole in the side of the Death Star, which would take years to clear the damaged sections and replace them with new components. But at least there wouldn't be any further damage, and they could get started on repairs.
Even Palpatine was relieved, for he did not sense Vader aboard the Death Star. "Status report."
Mara was already compiling the many, many reports coming in from across the station. "Where do I even begin…?"
If he had just been a little bit faster, Vader would have made it to the station before the ship fell away.
Instead he was standing at the shredded end of the Vengeance, staring out into the black void of space where there would normally be seemingly endless corridors. If there was one downside to acquiring his vast power, it was that the transformation left him in need of a spacesuit to survive in a vacuum, rather than having life support self-contained in his old armor. The minute it had taken to get suited up was the minute he needed to make the crossing, and now it was going to take even longer to reach the Death Star.
Still, the Death Star wasn't going to be destroying any planets anytime soon, or even any capital ships for that matter. The only threat remaining was the Emperor himself, now that his vanity project was effectively crippled. If it was anyone else in charge the entire station would likely be abandoned, but Vader knew the Emperor was dead set on his new Death Star and would not let it slip from his grasp. The Emperor believed that it was essential to maintaining his reign over of the galaxy, so that he could rule through fear of entire planets being obliterated instantly and without warning.
Vader used the comms in his spacesuit to contact the bridge. "Where did we fall out of hyperspace?"
It took a moment for a reply to come, since the bridge crew were still determining their location. Once the navigators finished their work the response arrived. "We are three lightyears out from the Bakura system. The Death Star has likely passed that system and kept on going until its engines burn out."
"Summon the rest of the fleet here," Vader ordered. He was already walking back into what was left of the Vengeance, mentally picturing a map of the galaxy to figure out where the Emperor would go. "We will rendezvous, transfer everyone off this wreck, and move out before the Emperor can reinforce his position."
There was no point in even trying to salvage the Vengeance, given that two thirds of it was missing and the rest was heavily damaged, so far beyond repair that it wasn't even considered. Even if the hyperdrive engines were working, which Vader was sure they weren't, the ship would simply tear itself apart. They wouldn't bother to scuttle the ship either, since scavenging for spare parts would take too long. It would just be left adrift in space, until scavengers came across it at some point. He might send someone to recover the remains later, if he bothered to remember after acquiring his true vengeance.
By the time he reached the bridge there were other ships emerging from hyperspace, the first of the fleet to slip away from the battle over Endor. They had taken a beating, with battle damage readily visible from afar, though nothing that would severely impair their fighting ability. One of the other Super Star Destroyers was among them, which Vader recognized as the Reaper. That ship would suffice for command of the fleet, what was left of it anyway. As the ships continued to arrive it was clear that much of his military might was depleted, yet he didn't have the time to acquire new ships.
Vader couldn't allow his former master any time to rest.
When the Death Star couldn't sustain its velocity any longer, it emerged from hyperspace in the black void between solar systems.
Pieces of the station were still coming off, though now they stayed close enough to recover for raw materials. The crew and all the workers took stock of the damage, determining what could be repaired and what would need to be scrapped altogether, with the latter far greater than the former. Entire sections were slated for demolition, including the big gaping hole from the collision. Conservative estimates gave a year for clearing debris and making repairs, then another five years to resume and finish construction of the Death Star.
The Emperor was not willing to accept that.
"Put everyone on the weapon, everything else can wait." The Emperor turned from one officer to another. "When the next attack comes, the enemy must be destroyed by overwhelming power."
Meanwhile Mara was at the navigation post, looking over the shoulder of the officer at work determining the station's location. "That can't be right…"
The officer reran the calculations to be sure, but the same result appeared on the screen. "We went into hyperspace without proper calculations or a viable insertion vector. We're lucky that we made it this close to any imperial world at all."
"Not that," Mara corrected. It wasn't that they were near imperial territory, but the specific planet that was nearby. "Of all the places to head toward, it had to be Earth."