Chapter 24: Discoveries
Ex-stormtrooper Davin Felth sat in awe as the Moldy Crow emerged from hyperspace near Centerpoint Station in-between the Corellian Twin Worlds Talus and Tralus.
Centerpoint Station was gigantic, and ancient. The species that had originally created the station were long gone, and no one knew who they were. The Corellians, Selonians, and Drall who lived in the Corellian system had discovered the station centuries ago when they had first used rockets to explore their system. Rumors abound as to what the station's purpose was, from a observation post, to a neutral meeting ground for species to meet in peace, even to a gigantic repulsor system that had actually dragged the planets of the Corellian system into their orbit around the star Corel.
Besides him in the pilots' chair, Kyle Katarn smiled as he approached the Eldest of the Five Brothers, Corellia itself. "Coronet Command, this is the Moldy Crow approaching at vector 26 point seven nine. Requesting landing instructions."
There was a moment's pause, and then Coronet Command responded. "Moldy Crow, permission to land in Kor Vella granted, docking bay 1138. Follow the landing beacon."
"Thank you, Coronet." Kyle said, flicking off his comm. "Well, that part was easy." He said, turning to Davin. "We should be planetside within the hour, and then we can begin our search… any idea where to begin?"
Davin thought about it for a moment. "Well, we can ask around some of the bars. Garm Bel Iblis is a pretty well known guy around here. We can ask people we want to hook up with him."
"If he was that easy to find, the Empire would have arrested and executed him a long time ago." Kyle said with a huff. "Why did they have to send us to find this guy?"
Davin shrugged. "No idea. But even if they check us out, they'll discover that we are part of the Rebel alliance."
Kyle looked at him after a moment. "They will also discover that we both used to be Imperial Stormtroopers."
Davin's eyes opened a little wider. "Oh man… that's not good either."
Suddenly six Imperial Star Destroyers jumped into the system above them, and began to fire upon the Corellian defense ships in orbit of the planet. "What the hell!?" Kyle said, turning towards his controls. "Oh man! The Empire just attacked the Corellian shipyards!"
Davin couldn't believe it. "What are they thinking? The Corellians will now unite against them! What is Palpatine thinking!? Even at the height of his power he never tried to enslave the Corellian system!"
Kyle continued to follow the landing beacon. "Well, whatever the case, those Imperial ships up there are gonna learn a harsh lesson when…"
Suddenly more ships jumped out of hyperspace. Six old style Dreadnaughts in a ring formation opened fire upon the Imperial ships. Caught by surprise, the Star Destroyers were unprepared for an attack on both sides. The Corellian gunships charged into their midsts, turbolasers firing non-stop, while the Dreadnaughts concentrated all of their firepower onto one ship at a time.
"Look at those old ships!" Davin exclaimed. "Dreadnaughts from before the Clone Wars!"
Kyle got a good readout on the ships. "Oh man… look at the color scheme! I can't believe I'm seeing this!"
"What is it?" Davin asked, trying to watch the battle and look at the scanners at the same time.
"Those ships markings are identical to the Katana Fleet!" Kyle exclaimed.
The legendary Katana Fleet. Two hundred heavily armed Dreadnaught battlecruisers that had all been slave-linked together to create the single greatest fighting force the galaxy ever seen. Where the Flagship the Katana fired, all 199 of the other ships would fire at the same target. It cut down on crew compliment, and saved billions of credits when the fleet had been created…
But that was before the hive virus had hit the crew of the Katana.
A hive virus was an old weapon from the deadly species called the Kremai. A sinister biological weapon that had multiple affects, this one in particular had the distinct power of driving the crew insane before killing them. The Katana jumped into hyperspace on a completely random vector, and the entire Katana Fleet jumped with them, never to be seen again.
Until now.
"Someone's found the Katana Fleet?" Davin asked incredulously. "Impossible! It was lost before the Clone Wars! Who could have found it?"
Suddenly through the comm, a voice emerged, calm and smooth as plate steel. "This is Garm Bel Iblis aboard the Dreadnaught Peregrin to attacking vessels. You will stand down and surrender or you will be destroyed."
Kyle grabbed the controls and flipped the Moldy Crow towards the battle. "Well, found him!" he said with a grin. "Now the hard part… getting past that battleline and getting him to talk to us!"