Hey, everybody. Back with another Terran Alliance EU story.
I know many of my readers who have followed this series have been looking forward to this story. This story will explain what happened to the battlecruiser TAS Hood, why she disappeared in The Terran Alliance Strikes Back, and her adventures in the decades following her disappearance. It will carry into the time frame of the sequel story, and will have an impact on it. However, I will not spoil the sequel trilogy story in this story. Also, just so you aren't surprised, there will be a lot of time jumps in this story, sometimes up to a decade in length. This story will cover over 30 years of time.
Alright. Let's get to it.
Chapter 1- The Encounter
(July 10, 2019)
Nothing. Nothing but stars and darkness as far as the eye can see. That's the view Admiral Gilad Pellaeon has from the bridge of the TAS Hood as he looks out of its viewport. While the ship is motionless, undergoing some minor systems maintenance, Pellaeon has been simply gazing out of the viewport at the beautiful sight before him.
It's been only a short time since the Hood departed on its trip into the Unknown Regions. The ship has been moving slowly through the region, mapping its way as it goes. Given the lack of clear maps through the Unknown Regions, the Hood was to use its mission through the Unknown Regions to generate maps to be used for future exploration.
The ship had stopped in orbit above an unknown ice planet to allow the quick maintenance to be performed on the ship's systems. With luck, it'll be done soon and they'll be able to get moving again. Pellaeon doesn't like being stuck in one place.
"Admiral?"
Pellaeon turns around to see the Hood's captain, Captain Steve Moorhouse of Britain, standing a few feet behind him. "Yes, captain?" Pellaeon asks.
"Technical crews report that maintenance will be completed in five minutes, and we'll be ready to get back underway," Captain Moorhouse responds.
"Good," Pellaeon responds. He then turns back to the viewport and says, "A beautiful sight."
"Agreed. I'll never get used to it," Moorhouse responds with a slight smile, walking up beside Pellaeon to look out the viewport, "If this trip does result in us seeing action, at least we get a few peaceful moments like this."
Pellaeon smiles and nods a bit. As he continues to look out of the viewport, he thinks for a moment about maybe going down to one of the mess halls for a bite to eat. After all, by the ship's clock, it's almost time ice cream social in the nearest mess hall.
Suddenly, alarms begin to blare, and both Pellaeon and Moorhouse swivel their heads. "What's going on?" Pellaeon demands loudly.
Several men manning the detection systems consoles work furiously to identify the cause of the alarm. Then, one of the men shouts, "Admiral, unknown ship emerging from hyperspace!"
Pellaeon and Moorhouse look back out of the viewport, scanning for wherever this unknown ship will emerge from hyperspace. Then, to their complete shock, the massive form of an Executor class Super Star Destroyer emerges from hyperspace very close to the Hood.
Pellaeon and Moorhouse both stand there, completely stunned at what they are seeing. After a moment, Pellaeon recognizes the vessel from the markings he can see, and he says in shock, "That's it. The Eclipse."
"The Emperor's former flagship?" Moorhouse asks to clarify, only getting a confirming nod from Pellaeon.
Moorhouse stands there, frozen in shock for only a moment, before he turns and begins shouting orders, "Sound general quarters! All gunners to their stations immediately. I don't care if the maintenance isn't done yet, get all our systems back online now! Power up the engines and get us moving! Call down to the hangar and scramble every fighter we have!"
The bridge crew, despite the shock of the sudden appearance of the Eclipse, react quickly to Moorhouse's orders. Within two seconds, general quarters alarms begin to sound throughout the ship. Despite the fact that about 90 percent of the crew is enjoying downtime at the moment, either on break or eating, the crew react quickly, dropping everything they're doing immediately and racing for their battlestations, some without their uniforms on. Down in the hangar, crews race to get fuel and weapons loaded onto the ship's fighters and bombers as pilots and other crewmen race to get into their flight suits.
On the bridge, Pellaeon watches as the Eclipse moves to engage the Hood. Within moments, he sees the first turbolaser turrets on the Eclipse begin to fire. Pellaeon's mind races through his options, knowing the ship is not yet ready to fight back. It only takes him a moment to shout, "Divert all available power away from the weapons to the deflector shields!"
"Yes, Admiral!" technicians respond as they quickly begin to divert power. Although this move will delay the Hood's ability to respond with its own weapons, the extra power to the deflector shields will hopefully protect the ship until then.
A few turbolaser bolts from the Eclipse hit home, but the strengthened deflector shields are easily able to block the bolts with no damage to the ship. Pellaeon shouts, "Time to weapons readiness?"
"Two minutes, 15 seconds, Admiral," a weapons officer shouts back as a turbolaser bolt rocks the bridge.
Down in the hangar, the first pilots are already racing to their fighters. These pilots are from the 4th Starfighter Wing. The 4th is known as one of the top starfighter units in the Alliance. Although not on the level of the Hammer Squadron or the 352nd, the 4th is still a very capable wing, and were very famous, as they were one of the three units to send fighters to take part in the Battle of Yavin.
Some of the pilots of the 4th had been preparing for a routine training flight before the Eclipse arrived. Now, these six pilots are racing into the hangar to board their Su-38s.
The pilots race to their fighters, bounding up the ladders and leaping into their cockpits. Their hands fly across the controls as the canopies come down and generators power up the fighters. The pilots quickly ramp up their engines, and within just a few minutes, the first six Su-38s from the 4th streak out of the Hood's hangar bay.
On the bridge, Pellaeon is waiting for word. He had just ordered that a warning message be sent to fleet headquarters on Naboo, and is waiting for word of the ship's readiness. However, he instead hears the unwelcome news from one of the radiomen, "Admiral, they're jamming our communications! We can't contact fleet headquarters!"
Pellaeon quietly curses under his breath. However, a second later, an officer calls out, "Admiral, weapons are ready and gunners have manned their stations! And the first starfighters have scrambled!"
"Divert power back to the weapons and open fire!" Pellaeon orders.
The bridge officers quickly redirect power from the reactor back to the weapons. A second later, the first turbolaser turrets begin firing.
Within a matter of seconds, turbolaser bolts are streaking through space between the two vessels, breaking against the ships' shields. At the same time, the first six Su-38s from the 4th streak towards the Eclipse. However, as they close in on the Eclipse, they see starfighters heading for them. However, to their dismay they quickly realize that most of the fighters heading to face them are not just normal TIE fighters and interceptors. In fact, over half of them seem to be TIE Defenders and TIE Advanced X1s. The Teran pilots feel a sense of confusion, as these designs were thought to all be destroyed. However, they realize the Eclipse must have been secretly assigned several squadrons of both types before their production lines had been shut down.
"S***, we've got some real advanced fighters here," the flight leader calls out over the radio before he arms his Adder missiles and fires his first. In a matter of minutes, the six Flankers have fired a total of 24 missiles. However, as they watch, the Imperial pilots begin a series of evasive manuevers to try and evade the missiles. Some manage to cheat death, but 17 are shot down.
The Flankers merge with the incoming TIEs between the two ships, and quickly realize they are for the fight of their lives. TIEs swarm around them, laser bolts flying in every direction. One of the Flankers takes a laser bolt directly to the cockpit and explodes. The other 5 pilots are turning their fighters as tightly as they possibly can, using every manuever they know to avoid getting shot down.
Aboard the Hood, Pellaeon watches as the more fighters streak away from the Hood to join the growing dogfight. However, Pellaeon's frustration grows as he sees the dogfight come closer and closer to the Hood until the two fighter forces are fighting almost directly over the Hood. At this point, the Hood's gunners have to take the ship's CIWS batteries off automatic mode to prevent them from accidently shooting down one of the Hood's fighters. Pellaeon is a little concerned. He knows the Eclipse carried more starfighters than a typical Executor class vessel, and the Hood has a slightly diminished air wing for this mission. She's carrying the 4th Starfighter Wing and its 40 Su-36s and Su-38s, the 219th Starfighter Wing and it's 32 X-Wings, and the 643rd Starfighter Wing and it's 36 SFA-18s, along with the 12 SB-1B bombers of the 213th Bomber Squadron.
As Pellaeon's eyes flit between the dogfights going on around the Hood and the gunnery duel between the Hood and the Eclipse, he suddenly sees something that concerns him. Almost 50 landing vessels and TIE boarding shuttles begin to appear from beneath the Eclipse and fly straight towards the Hood. Pellaeon now realizes the Eclipse's plan. Distract it's fighters and point defense weapons with its fighters, then send in boarding crews to try and take over the ship.
"Sound the alarm! We're about to be boarded! All troops to defend the ship!" Pellaeon shouts.
New alarms begin to sound on the ship. Within seconds, the troops of the British 6th Armoured Division and the Ukrainian 61stMotorized Infantry Brigade, as well as Inferno Squad and the men of an SAS squadron that's aboard the ship, are quickly racing to the armories to grab their weapons and move to establish defensive positions aboard the ship.
On the bridge, Pellaeon watches anxiously as the boarding ships approach the Hood. Several of the ship's X-Wings try to stop them, successfully shooting down three, but are held up several TIE Defenders.
Boarding vessels begin flying in and attaching to the ship's various ports or spots where they can breach through the hull, while several head to the now mostly empty hangar. Within a matter of minutes, hundred of stormtroopers are flooding aboard the ship. Down in the hangar, a platoon of stormtroopers encounters several Ukrainian troops, who fire their assault rifles at the Imperial intruders, who return fire immediately. A firefight quickly breaks out in the hangar, but the continued influx of stormtroopers landing in the hangar pushes back the Ukrainians, allowing troopers to push past them and into the corridors of the ship. The rest of the troops aboard are quickly moving to establish defensive lines to hold off the Imperial troops, and the 6th is even deploying some of its tanks to combat the invading Imperial troops.
On the bridge, Moorhouse is listening to radio calls coming from around the ship. He turns to Pellaeon and shouts, "Admiral, there's been an electrical short in the hyperdrive's circuits! We won't be able to make the jump to hyperspace for at least 30 minutes. And Imperial troops have boarded! We have reports of Imperial troops of all kinds in the corridors surrounding the hangar and in the forward spaces!"
"Full defensive measures! All available crew and droids to arm themselves and prepare for anti-personnel combat!" Pellaeon orders. He looks back out of the viewport, just hoping that the Hood can stay together as best as possible until they can get the hyperdrive online and destroy the invaders aboard.
(Half an hour later)
Pellaeon grips a control panel tightly as the bridge from another round of turbolaser fire from the Eclipse. The battlecruiser has been engaged in a one on one duel with the Eclipse for a half hour now. In that time, troops aboard have also been trying to defend the ship from Imperial troops that successfully boarded the ship. Small portions of the ship have been very heavily damaged by major fights going on, with smaller skirmishes extending throughout the ship.
"Admiral, deflector shields are down to 16 percent! We're sustaining heavy damage! Engines are starting to take damage!" an officer calls out.
"Time to hyperdrive being back online?" Pellaeon asks. As he says this, he can hear laser fire from outside the bridge as several British troops try to hold off a squad of death troopers that had managed to make their way all the way up to the bridge.
"Sir, sixty seconds!" the officer in charge of the hyperdrive calls out.
"Program the navicomputer and make ready to enter hyperspace as soon as the hyperdrive is online and ready!" Pellaeon orders. Right then, several TIE bombers drop their loads close to the bridge, causing some heavy damage to the hull.
Pellaeon frowns as he looks out at the Eclipse. Then, another officer calls out, "Admiral, Brigadier General Gage reports most Imperial troops aboard have been killed, and landing vessels destroyed. Minimal Imperial troops still aboard."
Pellaeon simply nods to acknowledge the news. Agonizing seconds pass, and then he hears, "Admiral, 30 seconds to hyperdrive readiness!"
"Recall all fighters immediately and prepare for hyperspace jump!" Pellaeon orders. The order is immediately relayed, and within a few seconds, all of the Hood's fighters turn back to the ship. One by one, they make their way into the damaged hangar and land, making ready for hyperspace.
Pellaeon waits anxiously, even as more turbolaser bolts from the Eclipse hit home. Then, finally, one of the officers calls out, "Admiral, hyperdrive is back online, and we have just 4 more fighters coming in!"
"Make the jump to hyperspace as soon as those fighters are aboard!" Pellaeon orders.
The hyperdrive officer waits patiently as the last 4 fighters of the ship's air wing return to the hangar. As soon as the officer updating him says that the last fighter is in the hangar and secure, he flips the switches and pushes a lever forward, and the ship jumps to light speed.
Relief quickly begins to flood through the bridge crew as they see the blue of hyperspace out of the viewport, knowing they're safe now. However, it doesn't last long. Within a minute, various alarms begin to blare.
"What's wrong?" Pellaeon demands.
Officers check their consoles, trying to diagnose the alarms. Within seconds, an officer calls out, "Sir, we sustained serious damage to the hyperdrive and some damage to the engines in the battle! Fuel is leaking from the hyperdrive! We can't maintain light speed for long!"
Another officer calls out a second later, "Admiral, we sustained serious damage to some of our systems! Our communications systems and our transponder have been damaged beyond repair! Worse yet, we've lost most of our maps from our computers, all except for the most basic maps of the galaxy. We're flying blind!"
Pellaeon turns and looks out of the viewport to inspect the hull. Although the deflector shields had not been completely depleted, the ship had still sustained damage, and he knows there are fires burning aboard the ship from the damage from the Eclipse and the battles against the Imperial troops. The question at this point is what to do about this. He has no way of knowing how to get back to the civilized galaxy or contact fleet headquarters, and limited ability to repair the ship.
The Hood is able to maintain light speed for only about half an hour before the hyperdrive officer calls out, "Admiral, we have to drop out of hyperspace now! If we keep going, we'll strain the hyperdrive beyond repair."
"Alright, cut to sub light engines," Pellaeon orders. The officer nods and cuts to sub light engines. The Hood drops out of hyperspace, and the bridge crew can immediately see there is no star or planet anywhere close by.
Moorhouse walks up beside Pellaeon. "Well, Admiral. We're in a real pickle. What do we do now?"
Pellaeon is quiet for a moment and says, "Get the crew to work on repairs. We cannot do too much, but we must do as much as we can. As for our course, we will hold course in this direction and just hope that we can find a planet with the resources we need to repair the ship and keep us alive."
Moorhouse nods, and the two officers stare out of the viewport, wondering what will happen to them and to the Hood in the coming months.
And, I'll end the chapter there. I hope this was a good first chapter.
So, I went back and forth on the reason for the Hood's disappearance. I considered having them encounter the Yuuzhan Vong, or having a catastrophic accident, or encountering another alien species I plan to include in the sequel trilogy story. However, for story's sake and not to spoil too much, I settled on them encountering the Eclipse. I hope you guys liked this explanation. Also, if its seems like the Eclipse did too much damage, remember that they caught the Hood in the middle of maintenance.
Next chapter will show them making their first stop on their journey. It should be up soon. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!