Chapter 3: Light-speed

"Coordinates approaching, General," said Commander Jay.
"Very good," said Beto. Behind him, Dragon Squad was standing at attention with Lieutenant Eon right behind them. The Bridge was the bustling movement of a well-oiled machine. Although he knew that he had nothing to do with it, Beto couldn't help but feel proud of his small crew. He'd have to personally thank the men and women that had trained them on Kamino.
"Dropping out of hyperspace in Four..." Began the helmsman, Trooper Nev. "Three Two..."

"SHIELDS!" Beto's barked command rang out a few seconds before the ship was out of light-speed, startling just about every clone on the bridge. To his credit, Eon lurched forward to engage the shields himself. But Beto was already moving. He'd crossed the bridge in two strides and taken hold of the controls over the shoulder of Trooper Nev. The Nova lurched to the side, barely missing being obliterated by a volley of laser fire coming from the Separatist cruiser that has been lying in wait for them.
"Red alert!" Barked Beto. "Battle stations! Dragon squad, go, go, go!" Beto was aware of Nicko all but shoving Jolly in the direction of the fighters and then running after his group. The Force told him that the entire ship had erupted into chatter that was contained within helmet comlinks. And the sense of child that had been so apparent in the Force when he first met his men was gone, replaced by the distinct taste of soldiers. Beto wrenched The Nova to the side once again, the Force warning him seconds before to the danger.
"Take over, Nev," said Beto.
"Yes, sir!" The helmsman said, scrambling to comply.
"Jay! Do we have weapons?"
"Yes, General!"
"Fire away! Alpha spread – knock that cruiser out of the sky!"
"You heard the General!" Jay barked. "I want roasted droids for dinner, men!" Space lit up with the laser fire from The Nova. Alarms blared as the enemy ship returned fire but held its ground. A bit unusual for a ship with Nemodian markings. They were usually cowards. Perhaps...Beto half-closed his eyes. Around the bridge, clones gave each other worried looks but kept doing their job. Commander Jay actually took a step forward, exchanging worried glances with Eon.

"Nev!" Beto barked, his eyes flying open. "Move us closer to the planet, now!"
Nev did so. Letting Commander Jay worry about the strange order. Which Jay did. "General? Closer to...?" Jay's protest died on his lips as two much larger intercept vessels dropped out from light-speed. With those vessels in the way, they couldn't escape into hyperspace.
Beto nodded grimly and keyed the com. "Dragon Squad," he said. "I hate to do this to you boys, but you've got to destroy one of those interceptors or no one is getting home."
"Understood," came Nicko's reply. "Docking clamps being released now." Beto glanced at one of the bridge workers for confirmation – he received a nod – and then The Roar and The Flame came into view. Shooting at the enemy vessels with all the skill and daring of ace pilots.
"Concentrate fire on the intercept vessels," he told Commander Jay, trusting him to relate the message to the gunners on the other level. "And then get us out as soon as you can."
"Yes, General," said Jay.
"May the Force be with us," muttered Beto, watching the commando ships with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, sir," said Eon. It sounded like a prayer.

"Time to put some of Artemis' smuggler tricks to good use, gentlemen," said Nicko. He steadied his hands over the weapon's controls and trusted Edge to do the flying. "Over and under."
"Copy that," said Jolly. His voice was a bit warbled over the encrypted comm but his voice was easy enough to understand. Actually, he sounded much too cheerful for the situation. "Don't scare the Sarge, Edge!" Nicko didn't bother to wonder what that meant.
"Weapons ready," said Zar. "Aiming for the weapon towers."
"Over and under in three...two...NOW!" Edge shouted. He flipped the fighter upside down and skirted the edge of the Interceptor, coming much too close for comfort but giving Nicko a lovely shot at the top of the weapon tower closest to them, the part with no shields so that it could shoot at enemy ships. Then they went looping around the entire Separatist vessel. Nicko blasted anything that looked important enough to give the droids below a bad day.

Edge finally righted the ship, grinning like a fool.
"That was much too close," Nicko told him. The panel before him said that the ship below was now only operating with half of its weapons. Not bad.
"That's how he got his name," Jolly said over the comm. "He goes right along the edge of things. Just about every opportunity he gets."
"We got out the other tower," Zar interrupted his partner. "Again?"
"Let's...ah...actually, let's play monkey with these guys, shall we?" Said Nicko, about ten enemy fighters had just come out of the ship's hold.
"Permission to blast the hold doors of the other ship so that these guys can't get help?" Even as he asked, Jolly had already turned The Flame towards the other baddie. The one that was focusing on the General's ship.
"Go, go, go!" Nicko yelled at him. Jolly and Zar zipped away. Nicko gritted his teeth as Edge flipped their ship again and then dived. Two droids pilots crashed into each other but the rest set a pursuit course.

"All right, let's see your aim," Edge hissed. He dropped and skirted the very edge of the enemy's shields. Another droid fried itself and the rest broke off trying to loop around but got caught in the gravity well of their own mother ship. "Shoot something!" Edge yelled. But Nicko had already aimed. A giant fireball lit up the path behind them as something large and important looking exposed into flame.
"What did we hit?" Asked Edge.
"I dunno but they don't look happy about it," said Nicko. He switched to the rear guns and began firing at the fighters. He'd gotten two – and been very happy about the number of drills he'd done in Kamino – when Edge flipped the fighter again and dove down.
"Shield generator!" Edge barked.
"Torpedoes away!" Said Nicko. He fired two. Just in case.

Both hit.

"Woohoo!" Cheered Edge. "Good-bye droids!"
"Fighters, come in," came General Beto's voice.
"Here, General."
"Rendezvous with The Nova, let's get out of here."
"Yes, sir!"
"Ah...Nicko," said Edge. "We've still got company." Nicko glanced at the instruments. Five very angry and slightly better skilled droid fighters.
"Nova?" said Nicko.
"Nova, here." Said Commander Jay.
"We're bringing the party."
"Perfect, I'll make sure we set out some tea and biscuits."
"None for me, thanks!" Edge grunted, dropping their speed so the torpedoes from one of their pursuers went over them and hit the other interceptor. "Oops." He didn't sound too upset though.
Nicko narrowed his eyes and aimed at their trailer. And then realized that the other ship hadn't replied yet. "Zar? Jolly?"
No reply. Fear gripped his heart. No, no, no.
"Zar? Jolly? Come in, Flame."
"I see them," said Edge grimly. "Their comms must be down."
Nicko nodded. And then winced as one of the lasers made contact with their ship. A warning light began to flash yellow. They'd lost one of the rear torpedo launchers. Lasers still worked though. So Nicko let them have it.

"The commandos can dock in about twenty seconds, General," one of the operators called.
"Tell them to hurry," said Beto. The cruiser was doing enough damage that even with the interceptor's crippled, if they didn't leave soon, it wouldn't matter that the hyperdrive was still fine. "Give them cover fire!"
"Confirmed, The Roar is docked." The Roar. Even in a battle, Beto managed to be amused. It was battle humor; the kind of thing that Obi Wan Kenobi loved.
"What about the other fighter?" Even as the words left his mouth, Beto felt a jolt that almost threw him forward.

"Report!"
"They hit the docking clamps," someone yelled. "Automatic docking is disabled. Someone needs to go let them in."
"I've got it!" Lieutenant Eon ran off, armor clacking a bit as he pushed his way around repair crews darting this way and that.
The two commandos in the docked ship had linked their comm with the gunners and were acting as extra heavy artillery, blasting away at the cruiser with renewed vigor after the other shot grazed their squad mates. But the droid fighters had flown out of their range, dropping below The Nova to appear on the other side just as Eon dropped the shields for two seconds to allow The Flame to dock.

Two seconds.

But computers are precise.

And droid fighters are just heavily armed computers.

Beto felt the shot in the Force before the alarms began to blare.
"General! Another ship is approaching at light-speed!"
"Get us out of here!"
"Sir?"
"To light-speed, emergency coordinates gamma. GO!"
The stars became streaks of blue and silver lights as the mercifully intact hyperdrive engaged. Beto dropped his head, clutching the seat in front of him like a life line. Knuckles white against the dark material of the chair.
"General?" Nev, the pilot in the chair, looked very concerned. "Anything I can do, sir?"
"No, Nev," said Beto softly. Commander Jay came forward, looking alarmed, the same question in his eyes. "I felt the explosion in the Force." Beto took a deep breath. "Lieutenant Eon is dead." A shock went through the men in earshot. A ripple through the Force that was only a faint shadow of the one that Beto had just felt when the torpedo had exploded on the docking port.
"Commander Jay," said Beto heavily, it had been a long time since he'd lost anyone in battle. "Please conduct a damage report of the ship. I'll be in my office."

It was dead silent after he left the bridge. Even over the comlinks. The news had traveled around the entire company in seconds. But if was as much an awed silence out of respect towards their General as much as a brief moment of silence over the first man to die on their ship. The General cared about his men. They'd been willing to follow any order before. But now, they were willing to volunteer to die for him.

Nicko and Edge ran across and ship and stood on the other side of the cracklings shields that was in the place the other fighter had once been. Eon was gone. And so was The Flame – with their brothers inside. Again, they'd lost squad mates in battle. Edge dropped to his knees silently. Tears streaming down his face silently within his helmet. Nicko could only put his hand on his brother's shoulder silently.
"Now I'm also the last one left," Edge said dully.
"No, ner vod," said Nicko softly. "You're still one of two." It was bitter comfort.