A long time ago in a galaxy far far away
OUTTEMP ALLIANCE, part TWO
Season 1, Episode 7
40 years passed since
Emperor Palpatine was defeated.
For years and years chaos remained as
the remnants of the Empire tried to maintain control
of the galaxy and the leaders of the Rebel Alliance tried to unite
the people in an organized democracy. Such attempts failed on both sides,
and the galaxy fell back to the political structure it had known before the creation of
the Old Republic. Small systems, bigger systems, coalition of planets, yet some planets are still
divided and self-regulated countries. Democracies, monarchies, empires, warlords, anarchies, even
the Hutts control a few systems, and still some parts of the universe have not been explored or heard of.
The Jedi have laid a trap for Drika and can now attack her with numbers advantage. At the same time, there is a large-scale space battle trying to liberate Mosester from Ambulian occupation.
– What happened, Capt.?
Webell asked, standing on the bridge of the Ambulia 's peak.
– They… They made the jump to hyperspace, sir. They could be anywhere.
Tantrum appeared from behind, as the turbo lift doors closed behind him.
– Capt., try to find their trace. These ships usually have ion discharge when they go hyperspace, it could give us a clue as to where they went.
The captain ignored him and turned to Webell.
– Chief elect, I suggest we head back to Mosester. Our fleet, our peers, are under attack.
– Mosester is too far. By the time we get there, the battle will be won, by either side.
Tantrum interrupted but was again ignored by the captain.
– Better late than never, or than to chase a ship in hyperspace.
Webell was looking at both of them. On one side, he was uncomfortable having to make a decision, especially a military one. On the other hand, he had been making… Well giving orders ever since they started his association with Drika, based on their will, and it felt good. But he had no idea what to do and therefore saving her, by listening to Tantrum, was tempting. He turned to the captain:
– Do as he says. We need her back.
Tantrum was already on a computer, trying his luck with the ions. Capt. Panito gave his crew's orders and then took Webell aside.
– With all due respect, sir, who is this guy? He doesn't hold any rank among our military. I certainly won't obey him. My crew will have a hard time trusting his judgement on military decisions.
Webell might not have been much of a tactician, but he had always been a good politician.
– Oh, this is not a military decision, it's more a decision of priority, which feels more political. In the grand scheme of things, which only I, he and she are fully aware of, getting her back safely is more important than rushing to a battle that will have been decided before we get there. Don't worry, once we've found and engaged our enemy, you will be in charge of the… Military operation, Capt.
##
Ho-Xin's lightsaber was attacking from every angle. Since their last encounter, he'd obviously been practising.
– Not bad for a man who has spent the last few days locked up in a cell…
It had become evident to her that that Outtemp's were just a creation of the Jedi to lure her here. Brett didn't reply. Damn, the Jedi were no fun. She could feel Skywalker closing in, she had never fought two lightsaber opponents at once in a live battle, and her former master to boot. This was going to be a problem. She had to think creatively in order to separate them and gain some time.
In an unexpected move, she slid down and rolled Brett's ankles. He fell as well, which gave her time to jump back up on a small corniche. The wall was thin, and she pierced thru it with her lightsaber. Within seconds, she was out in the adjacent room. At least this was not the room the Jedi had chosen for their ambush. Before she could familiarize herself with her surroundings, Skywalker entered, followed by Brett.
They spread out. She had to pick one to attack. Her old, yet powerful former master, or his younger and faster sidekick who had previously shown he could fight her at even strength.
She attacked Ho-Xin, just from her gut feeling. Perhaps that meant she still had, somehow, some respect for Skywalker, no matter how much she hated him. Even the thought made her mad.
##
Livan Hnx was flying the candle box around Ambulian fighters, followed by other Basmilian ships, Cumberan freighters and Mosester ships (including the pnes that were « stolen » bybthe Outtemps when the Hutts reinforcements arrived.
– Thank you guys for showing up!
– We do what we're paid to, that's it. And that doesn't include getting killed, so you guys go ahead, we'll cover for you.
That was Boldo in his ship, now lighter having jettisoned his cargo.
The Ambulians weren't expecting an attack and it showed in the way they reacted. The resistance was already gaining important strategic positions under the leadership of Admiral Klenec. Judging by the way he was managing his ragtag fleet, he was a very good tactician according to Livan.
The Mosester ships were keeping the bigger ships busy. The smaller fighters, Basmilian and Cumberan, were closing in on the first wave of defence. Now the reinforcements sent by the Hutts and by the Outtemp's were keeping the enemy in one big battlefield.
– We keep this up, will have them running for their lives within the hour!
Livan was full of enthusiasm and yelled that in his comm, for no one in particular.
To his surprise, the answer came from Klenec himself.
– I don't intend to let any of them run away, Mrs. Hnx. But I like your mindset!
Wow, he was confident. Livan saw an Ambulian fighter engage one of her own.
– Careful, Basmili six, he's on your tail. Keep him at bay for a few seconds and he'll be mine!
She had barely finished her sentence that the opportunity presented itself, the candlebox's lasers were hitting the enemy in stride, and an explosion followed.
– Thanks Livan!
She heard out over the comm, it felt good.
##
– Capt., against all odds I believe I found the trace of the Outtemp ship.
The young officer stood in front of Panito. He whispered back
– great, this way we can track the chief elect's girlfriend…
Young officer wondered what he had done wrong and it showed. Panito regained his composure.
– Good work officer.
He then turned around
– helm, follow these coordinates. We should be faster and be able to catch them.
With a calculation from the trace, he was pretty sure he could go by their target and wait for them as they passed by in hyperspace. He called Webell and he appeared on screen… Along with Tantrum.
– Chief elect, we have found the Outtemp ship and can extrapolate its trajectory. It seems to be headed to Yavin IV.
To Panito's disgust, it was Tantrum who replied.
– That's one of the Jedi bases. Let's catch them before they reach it if we can. Use a gamma array and prepare to lock them in with the tractor beam.
Panito's voice and facial expression left no room for interpretation.
– Chief elect, that would not be a wise course of action from a military standpoint. Our gamma array is not that precise and we could miss our only chance to catch them. I suggest we leapfrog them and intercept them with a sweep of our turbo lasers. One direct hit is all it will take to get them out of hyperspace, surprised and possibly defenceless.
Tantrum started to reply
– but that's a lot…
Webell shut them off.
– Go on Capt., how long to intercept?
– 19 minutes sir.
It meant Drika would have spent a half hour on the hostile ship. Tantrum felt more at ease, even though this now smelled like the Outtemp were in league with the Jedi.
– Well done, Capt.
##
Drika had to summon all the tricks she knew to be able to fight both Jedi at the same time. She had to be very defensive, and eventually, she would be trapped. There had to be a way out of this shorthanded fight. Twice, she had tried to escape, but Skywalker was able to get her route cut off.
He was smooth as silk, barely moving, yet extremely efficient with his blade and using the force with his hands to enhance his actions and defensive manoeuvres. The three lightsaber blades kept interacting, making contact after contact, and Drika had taken several body blows, kicks from Ho-Xin mostly, and was getting tired. She used every means available: flying projectiles, force pushes, but two enemies were a lot to handle. Out of desperation, she leapt upwards and grabbed a handle in the ceiling, only to toss herself over on top of a pile of drums, full of liquid, hopefully volatile. Brett jumped to follow her, but her little manoeuvre had gained her some separation. There were hundreds of those drums, randomly dispersed in the area and she used them as cover to catch her breath for a minute or two. Somehow, she felt the need to gain some time, but the the goal or the desired outcome wasn't clear to her. She could see them and understand their search path, which confirmed to her that they could not sense her presence in the force. She had become very good at hiding her presence. That, once again, proved the superiority of the Dark side.
##
Klenec's orders were coming from everywhere, to everyone, at the same time yet clear.
– Attack pattern Delta 26. Basmilian group four, cover the Cumberan ships approaching to your starboard. I want two incoming Hutt ships in direct path to the second cruiser.
This was going to work, Livan thought. Well, assuming these mercenaries flying the Hutt ships could fly a little and especially, could shoot. For they would get a direct shot and the cruiser's reactor core. But that felt like a big « if » to her. She positioned her ship to cover the incoming Cumberan's, as ordered, but kept a distance that would allow her to follow the Hutt ships if they missed their shot. Yes, she had hoped she would be the one designated to take that shot.
##
There was turmoil on the bridge of the Ambulian cruiser.
– We're losing ships at an alarming rate.
– Any news from the Ambulia's peak?
– They responded but are too far to have an impact on this fight and I was told they had another undisclosed urgent matter to attend. They didn't send any other instructions.
– Make sure we're facing this incoming group of Cumberan ships. Have the Ambulia's Fire focus on them.
There were in deep trouble, but he was gonna stand here and survive until reinforcements could arrive.
– Sir, a couple of the mercenary ships have a flightpath that would lead them to a direct shot at the reactor core of the Ambulia's Fire.
Within seconds, the Fire was rocked, small explosions coming out of it's aft openings.
– He barely missed it, sir. But still the ship is in bad shape.
– Have all remaining pilots and fighters be evacuated out of the Fire. Signal to keep only a skeleton crew and abandon ship.
Before his message could be sent, however, they saw a single Basmilian freighter following the path that the ragtag mercenary ships had taken and have another direct shot at the cruiser's reactor core.
Livan didn't miss her shot, and within seconds the Fire was history, an impressive explosion giving a huge blow to the Ambulian's chances to survive this battle.
– Nice shot, Livan!
That came on a private channel with another Basmilian ship.
– I knew I couldn't trust them to hit it…
She switched channels
– sorry Admiral, I anticipated the order…
There was no response. And she been wrong, she would have had some explaining to. But she knew she could hit it.
##
Brett found Drika faster than she had expected. She lit her weapon again and engaged him. The blades collided, every blow met by an equal defensive manoeuvre. This one-on-one fight was more her style, because she could at least attack a little bit, but it wouldn't last, as Skywalker appeared.
Before he got near enough, however, what she had hoped for happened. The ship was rocked. The lights went dim for a few seconds. She could no longer hear the humming of the hyperdrive. The ship got rocked again, with much more force.
The pile of barrels that Brett was standing on collapsed. Drika took the opportunity to throw a few more barrels using the force, towards Brett, trapping him under a huge pile. It would take him a bit of time to get out of there. Skywalker, however, was standing just in front of her, his weapon powered up.
##
– They've dropped out of hyperspace. Their shields are almost down.
– Fire again, 50% charge.
Panito gave the orders. The laser beam hit the Outtemp ship as it tried to evade combat. From a technical standpoint, their ship could not fight head-to-head with a cruiser like the Ambulia's peak. However, Panito knew he had to get the woman out of there alive, so disabling the shield was not as important as the engines.
– Try to contact her, with any luck she is still in her ship.
– No response.
The Outtemp ship fired at them and tried to evade, but it was pointless.
– Their shields are down.
– Target the engines. Get them to stop moving.
##
The ship rocked again. Skywalker's blade met hers. For the first time she was fighting him one-on-one. That brought out feelings of hatred, jealousy, but also a fear that she had never experienced before.
– You're getting too old for this
– experience with the force is my ally.
he said slowly as he inexplicably stopped another one of her attacks. There was nothing spectacular about his technique, but it was flawless, and every which move was excessively precise and accurate. He might not be as fit or as strong as Ho-Xin, but he was a more difficult foe to fight.
– After all these years, you still don't understand the power of the dark side!
A double manoeuvre combined with the force enhanced jump still could not surprise him. As she landed, having been stopped by the green blade, she lost her footing, as it seemed to her that her ankles were tangled in an invisible web.
Half a second before he could strike a definitive blow, she regained her composure and rolled aside. As she stood up, she was hit in the back by a barrel that came flying in the air, thrown by Luke's thoughts. She had to admit he had the upper hand. And Brett was about to join him. At least the Ambulia's peak was right here and that in itself gave her all she needed, as long as she got out of the fight alive.
– You were a pitiful master, unwilling to let us learn more, so that we couldn't challenge you. But I've learned on my own, more than I could ever have with you.
You had a chance to do great things, Drika, but you chose the lazy path.
You thought you were there to guide me, to stand besides me. But you were only in my way. You were wrong to think that I could be just like you.
Luke grinned as he barely missed her shoulder with his blade. There was another barrel headed for her back but this time she felt it early enough to get it to stop midway in the air. The barrel was just hovering there, lifted by two force users pushing it in opposite directions. They stopped almost simultaneously, and the barrel dropped, with a large bang echoing across the room.
The ship rocked again. The lights went dim. They stopped moving.
##
Tarm had not expected this attack and knew he was overmatched.
– Damage report?
– We've lost thrusters. Hyperspace reactor is still online. Shields are down.
– Can we jump to lightspeed?
– With the shields down, we would need almost a minute without getting hit to engage the hyperdrive.
– That's impossible, I guess. Hail them.
– Sir?
– You heard me. What else can we do? We have someone in the cargo hold that they're obviously trying to recoup. They can't destroy us as long as she's alive.
Capt. Panito appeared on screen with Tantrum to his left.
– It's good to see we got your attention, Tarm. Prepared to surrender your ship.
– Meaning you're going to board me? Maybe you'd like a little description of what's going on… Our hostage has escaped and as engaged your delegate. Jedi fight in the cargo hold. To be honest going in there right now is suicidal. But if you want to, you're more than welcome…
Panito cut the signal and turned to Tantrum
– if she's fighting a Jedi Knight, then she's already dead and we're wasting our time. I say we destroy them and go back to Mosester.
Tantrum hesitated…
– She… She's dueled this Jedi before. Don't ask me how.
Webell acquiesced. Panito had no choice.
– Don't be ridiculous.
In fact, Tantrum was glad Panito did not believe him. He was under strict orders not to reveal Drika's powers.
– What makes you think he's telling the truth. He's just trying to avoid our boarding of his ship. We're not even sure he really had a Jedi as a hostage. I'll go myself if you're scared.
And Tantrum left the room without giving either of them time to speak. He did turn around to address Webell one last time:
– don't let him betray her.
##
- We can't hold on much longer Capt. if we don't leave now, we'll all perish.
– We can fight them still. I'm sure the tacticians accompanying chief elect Webell on the peak have expected this attack and reinforcements will be here soon.
– We've already lost more than half our ships, let's run while we can. And I'm not even sure we still can…
– Don't be so pessimistic. Let's fight.
He cut off the transmission. By looking at the tactical display in front of them, however, he knew the young officer was right they had no chance to survive, and no reinforcements were coming. But he also knew that there was no way they could escape either. This was a total failure.
##
As she got a few seconds of separation between her and Skywalker, she felt his determination. He had gone through all the trouble of this little masquerade to ambush her with Brett, and had obviously come to the conclusion that she needed to die and he was at peace with his decision, no matter how it was uncharacteristic of a Jedi.
Suddenly, she felt a familiar presence. Undoubtedly, Tantrum was on a ship that just attached itself to the docking port at the end of the hanger bay.
Attack, counterattack, defensive manoeuvre, offensive manoeuvre. Skywalker was on top of his game. She tried to bring the battle closer to where Tantrum had docked.
The docking door opened, and Tantrum came out carrying a huge blaster and a portable sensor.
Luke was puzzled. Sure, Tantrum was smart enough to know that firing at him would not help his cause. As Tantrum scanned, she figured out what he was doing. He was scanning the barrels. She moved quickly and led Skywalker to an area where he would be between her and a stack of barrels on which Tantrum was focusing. Right on cue Tantrum shot at the barrels, knowing which ones contained explosive chemicals. Before Skywalker could stop the bolts, there was a huge explosion in his back. He used the force to form a protective bubble around him and then moved it around the explosion to contain it. Drika took the opportunity to run towards the docking port, followed by Tantrum.
When Luke stood up, the door closed. They were gone.
##
– Capt., our ship as detached and is coming back with two life signs on board.
– Excellent.
His facial expression changed but his eyes were empty. He turned to Webell.
– Shall we destroy them?
– Get me a report on the battle in Mosester, are we still too late to help?
There was a long pause.
– We've just received a recorded transmission sir.
– On-screen
The face of the captain leading the defence force around Mosester appeared. The bridge behind him was in chaos.
– We have fought to our last ship, our last men, we have been soundly defeated. May you avenge our souls.
Webell was in shock, paralyzed.
– Play… Play it again.
Panito looked at him :
– Sir, shouldn't we destroy the Outtemp ship?
Webell didn't budge. He seemed lost.
– Well, I mean…
Another hesitation. And before he could finish his sentence, they saw the Outtemp ship taking advantage of their hesitation and leaving in hyperspace again.
##
The Ambulian occupation force was either destroyed or gone from around Mosester. There was one cruiser left with a few fighters. Their captain saw the writing on the wall.
– Send the transmission to Ambulia and to the Ambulia's peak. We have fought to our last ship, our last men, we have been soundly defeated. May you avenge our souls.
On the bridge's main window, he could see an array of ships approaching, firing at them, followed by a Mosester cruiser undoubtedly approaching to deliver the final blow. They received a transmission, audio only.
– Lead Mosester Phrenic, your murder is avenged. People of Mosester, we are free.
Seconds after, the last Ambulian ship exploded.
– Congratulations, Admiral, you did it. We all owe you one.
Livan said over the comm with her usual enthusiasm.
##
– She's improved a lot. She has focus now, to go along with rage. I think we underestimated her. She has become a dangerous foe. But you my friend can handle her one-on-one, as you have impressive control as well. Well done.
Brett was hearing Luke's compliments but couldn't quite enjoy them.
– Thank you, Master. But still…
– Yes, I too have a bad feeling about this.