Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. My homework went quicker than I expected, so I was able to get this written.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 70- Operation Cinder
(September 4, 2017)
Jonathan scans his systems, checking to make sure that everything is in order. He then looks down at the navigation system, showing he has one parsec left to go.
Following the Battle of Endor, Jonathan had continued flying along with the rest of the Hammer Squadron. Jonathan had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander and awarded the Jedi Cross for his actions at the Battle of Endor. He was now a celebrity across the Terran Alliance. Some Terran leaders had wanted him to return to Earth for a publicity tour and inspire more hope at home, but Jonathan had insisted he continue to serve on the front lines until the war was over.
Not long after, the Empire, which was beginning to crumble, had enacted a plan that reportedly had been ordered by the Emperor in the event of his death. The plan, known as Operation Cinder, was a plan to destroy multiple important planets across the galaxy using weaponized satellites that could weaponize a planet's weather to wipe out its population. They had first discovered it when an Imperial task force launched an attack against Naboo on August 1 in an attempt to deploy satellites over Naboo. The Terran fleet protecting it beat them back, and the arrival of the Freedom saw the destruction of the Imperial fleet.
Now, the Terran Alliance has been on high alert for the past month to prevent further attacks on other planets. They've already prevented the destruction of three other worlds. The Hammer Squadron, the 352nd, and the 366th Starfighter Wing had all been put on standby for the last month to respond to any moves by the Empire as part of Operation Cinder.
Not long ago, Terran command had learned that the Empire had just targeted the planet Nacronis. At the moment, it seemed that the Empire was taking on Rebel ships while TIE bombers were stoking the planet's atmosphere with vortex detonators to start powerful storms. The Hammers had been ordered to keep the TIE bombers from further stoking the storms, and to then destroy any remaining Imperial forces they could.
"1 minute, Hammer Squadron!" Captain Sharvit calls out over the radio.
"Alex, power up the radar! Get ready to lock up bandits from AMRAAM shots," Jonathan orders.
"Copy that," Alex says, getting to work in the backseat.
Jonathan watches the navigation screen, resting a hand on the hyperspace throttles. Finally, as he sees the countdown reach zero, Jonathan pulls back on the hyperspace throttles, and the SF-15 drops out of hyperspace.
Jonathan immediately scans the area ahead of him with his helmet mounted display, or HMD. The Hammer Squadron had received HMDs in December of 2016. It made tracking targets and targeting them move easier, as well as navigation.
Jonathan swivels his head, all of the Imperial forces present being displayed on his visor. He quickly counts at least several dozen TIE fighters, at least a dozen TIE bombers, and a single Imperial class Star Destroyer. The wreckage of another Star Destroyer and two Rebel ships are floating in orbit over the planet.
"Alright, Hammers! We need to keep them away from the atmosphere. Falchion flight, you handle the bombers. The rest of us, keep those TIE fighters off of 'em!"
Jonathan shoves the throttles into afterburner, and he and the other three pilots in his flight streak towards the TIE bombers as the bombers start heading in for another run to stoke the storms. The rest of the squadron takes a slightly different course, heading for the swarming TIE fighters.
On board the Star Destroyer, the captain is watching his fighters make work of the planet. Suddenly, he hears one of the bridge officers call out, "Captain, a squadron of Terran fighters had dropped out of hyperpace very close to us!"
"What?" the captain shouts, turning towards the officer.
"Yes, captain. Eighteen of their SF-15 fighters," he says.
The captain freezes, instantly guessing what this means. "It's them. The Hammer Squadron," he says. By this point, the Hammer Squadron is infamous among the Empire, inspiring just as much fear among Imperial personnel as the Bismarck.
"Ready all batteries! Order all our TIE fighters to attack!" the captain orders. The bridge crew hurry to issue his orders.
Within a matter of seconds, all of the TIE fighters have been alerted and have spotted the Space Eagles. As one, they turn to engage the Terran fighters.
"We got bandits incoming! Jonathan, press on! We'll keep 'em off of you!" Sharvit yells over the radio.
Jonathan and the other pilots of Falchion flight nose down slightly and continue heading towards the TIE bombers. As they do, the rest of the Hammers begin to fire off SIM-120s at the approaching TIE fighters. They successfully destroy about 20 before the two sides merge and a ferocious dogfight begins.
As Falchion flight closes in on the bombers, Jonathan calls out, "Lock 'em up, Alex!"
Alex starts working with the radar. Seeing that they are indeed within SIM-120 range, he hurries to lock the radar onto one of the bombers. It takes him just a few seconds before the radar is locked. "Locked! Shoot!" Alex calls.
Jonathan pulls the trigger, calling out "Fox Three!" as a SIM-120 launches.
Alex waits until the missile's radar takes over, then shifts the radar to another bomber as the other three SF-15s each launch their own SIM-120. As Alex hurries to lock up another bomber, Jonathan watches his missile hit home.
"Got another lock! Shoot!" Alex calls out. Jonathan pulls the trigger again, again with a call of "Fox Three!" The missile springs away from its launch rail, streaking out and blowing another TIE bomber to pieces. The rest of the flight also fires, destroying three more TIE bombers.
Seeing they're in trouble, the six remaining TIE bombers break away from their attack runs to try and escape. Jonathan smirks as he says to himself, "Not on my watch."
Jonathan banks left after two of the bombers, powering up his laser cannons. Jonathan centers one of the bombers in his gunsight and squeezes the trigger. A volley of laser bolts streak away from the SF-15 and blow one of the wings off of the bomber, sending it spiraling out of control. Jonathan then pulls his fighter into a tighter turn, centers the last bomber in his gunsight and squeezes the trigger. One of the bolts hits the weapons pod, detonating it and blowing the bomber apart.
Jonathan levels off and pulls up a bit. He scans his surroundings and sees that the rest of the squadron is devastating the TIE fighters. Most of the TIE fighters have been destroyed, and the few that are left are fighting for their lives. Seeing this, Jonathan grins a bit and says, "Alright, Falchion flight. We're going after that Star Destroyer."
"Right with you, Jonathan," Abigail calls over the radio.
The four SF-15s turn towards the Star Destroyer and throttle up again. As they close in, a random TIE fighter decides to head straight for them. Without even changing course, Jonathan quickly switches over to his Sidewinders, locks up the TIE while its still 30 degrees off his nose, and fires. The missile tracks smoothly to the TIE, blowing it to pieces.
On board the Star Destroyer, a bridge officer calls out, "Captain! Some of the Terran fighters are heading our way."
"We can't stand alone against the Hammer Squadron with so many of our fighter gone. Retreat into hyperspace!" the captain orders.
The Star Destroyer begins turning away as the bridge crew programs the hyperdrive. Right as Jonathan and his fellow pilots get within missile range, the Star Destroyer jumps into hyperspace.
Jonathan curses as he watches the Star Destroyer jump into hyperspace. "Well, there goes a perfectly good target," he says. He then looks off to his left and sees one of his squadron mates blow the final TIE fighter apart with a missile.
Moment later, Sharvit comes over the radio and says, "Alright, Hammer Squadron. Let's start the seeding."
Before takeoff, each SF-15, in addition to its weapons, was equipped with a tank under its centerline where an F-15E would carry a centerline fuel tank. Instead of fuel, the tank contained special spheres, each containing a solution that had been developed by NOAA using old Republic technology. The formula had been devised as a means of weakening and even dissipating powerful storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes. When word got out regarding Operation Cinder's method of destruction, huge amounts of it were shipped to the Andromeda Galaxy immediately.
The Space Eagles all dive towards Nacronis. Entering the atmosphere, they dive into the gathering storm clouds. Doing their best to hold their fighters steady in the fierce winds, all pilots of the squadron hear Sharvit call on the radio, "Begin seeding!"
The fighters begin flying pre-planned courses through the storm, deploying the spheres from the tanks. A certain amount of time after a sphere is deployed, it bursts apart, spreading the solution through the storm clouds. As more and more of the solution spreads through the storms, the storms begin to weaken and stop spreading.
The seeding takes about 30 minutes to finish. As the last pilot deploys his last sphere, he climbs out of the atmosphere to rejoin the squadron.
The squadron circles around in orbit for about another 30 minutes, watching their work and monitoring the storms. After about 30 minutes, the storms have weakened enough. Captain Sharvit gets back on the radio and says, "Alright. Let's head back to base."
(September 5, 2017)
On the bridge of the Hood, Admiral Jones is going over the intelligence reports. Terran intelligence agents had located an Imperial task force that was reportedly the one deploying the satellites as part of Operation Cinder. Thrawn had immediately dispatched the Hood and a pair of Londons to deal with them quickly.
"Admiral, we're nearing the end of the hyperspace run," an Elvish officer says.
"Good," Jones says. He moves over to the ship's radar display.
Moments later, the Hood and her two escorts drop out of hyperspace. Up ahead, they spot the four Imperial class Star Destroyers up ahead.
"Locate the flagship," Jones orders.
Within moments, an attendant officer points to one of the ships on the radar display and says, "There, Admiral. The Dauntless."
"Good, then we have our primary target. Concentrate our fire on the Dauntless. Order the Phoenix and the Manaus to concentrate fire on two of the escorts and scramble all fighters!" Jones orders.
The three ships move a bit further apart and open fire as their fighters begin to take off and streak towards the Imperial fleet. The Imperial ships, though caught off guard, quickly begin to return fire.
The Hood moves forward, surging ahead of her two escorting Star Destroyers. The other Star Destroyer, currently not being targeted, moves to get between the Hood and the Dauntless, focusing its turbolaser fire on the Hood's bridge.
However, right at that moment, a squadron of B-3 Raiders take off from the Hood. The bombers immediately head straight for the Star Destroyer as the Hood turns its weapons on the intervening Star Destroyer as it also fires a volley of Starhawk cruise missiles. The Starhawks batter the Star Destroyer's shields before turbolaser bolts begin slamming into the ship.
The Star Destroyer rocks under the unrelenting fire. The captain orders all batteries to return fire, but the ship's shields are already wearing down, and some of the weapons batteries have already been destroyed.
The Hood keeps up its fire on the Star Destroyer. As the ship's shields fail and turbolaser bolts begin blasting holes in the hull, the B-3s streak over the ship and eject over a hundred bombs onto the Star Destroyer. The bombs tear through the Star Destroyer's hull, destroying the bridge and setting off a chain reaction of explosions that tear the Star Destroyer apart.
Altering course slightly to port to avoid the wreckage, the Hood's gunners begin to retrain the ship's batteries towards the Dauntless. However, Jones has other ideas. The original report on the Imperial ships suggested that most of the satellites were being carried on the Dauntless. And Jones wants them destroyed for good.
"Captain. I want that flagship obliterated. Nuke it," Jones orders.
Jones' orders are quickly relayed. Nukes had been used before in the war. The Alliance had tried to avoid using them until the attack on Earth, but had become more willing to use nukes since then. Since the Imperial attack on Earth, nukes had been used several times, including at the Battle of Endor.
Jones' order is quickly relayed to the weapons officers. Receiving the confirmation code, the officers arm one of the ship's nuclear Starhawks. Then, with a flip of the switch, the missile launches. The missile streaks away from the Hood and heads straight for the Dauntless, which has been damaged slightly by attacks from starfighters. As the missile gets within a few miles, Imperial gunners notice it coming in and try to direct their weapons to intercept it. However, the missile is moving too fast, and before they can get a firing angle, it hits home.
The warhead detonates on impact. Instantly, the ship's shields that are left are overcome, and the expanding fireball tears through the hull. In an instant, three quarters of the ship is vaporized or blown into tiny fragments. What is left of the ship is blown into several large pieces and set afire.
Aboard the Hood, Admiral Jones watches the expanding fireball, a sense of grim satisfaction filling him as he realizes that, with luck, Operation Cinder has been crippled.
Seeing that the rest of the Imperial ships have also been destroyed, Jones orders, "Alright. Let's head back to Naboo."
The three Terran warships form up and begin a turn to starboard to assume the proper course. Coming out of their turn, they make the jump to hyperspace, heading home.
And, I'll end the chapter.
So, I obviously only showed a portion of Operation Cinder. I didn't want to take up multiple chapters covering it.
Next chapter will be a bit more boring, but should still be good. It should be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!