A/N: Credit to Follower38 for BETAing this chapter! Follower did a really, REALLY good job. As in, this chapter sucked before it was revised. Thanks! Also thanks to NeoDarklight who caught a couple of typos. Brodur, thanks for looking it over, too.
Chapter 6: Entering with a Bang
[3 ABY, Tatooine, Mos Eisley Cantina]
It was like that band on stage only played two songs. They played the same two damn songs over and over again.
REPEATEDLY FOR THE PAST HOUR.
Han Solo swore on the nine Corellian Hells that if they played the same two songs again he was going to stick them where the sun don't shine. Thankfully, they decided to take a break.
Han cast a quick glance at his chronometer. Where was the agent he was supposed to meet? The Rebel Alliance had recently received an anonymous message from some group, saying that they wanted to help. This was where they were going to meet, but they were supposed to have arrived almost an hour ago! Chewbacca sat at the bar, constantly scanning for trouble, because with every passing second, the whole thing began to stink more and more like a trap.
The conversations in the bar trailed off as two individuals entered the Cantina. A tall woman with black hair and a soft face cast her gaze around the establishment. Accompanying her was a blonde man of about the same height. They were wearing rather dull gray and brown clothing. Satisfied that they were unimportant, the patrons of the Cantina went back to their conversations. One thing that didn't go unnoticed by Solo was the fact that these people were in some form of military. He himself had served in the Imperial Forces until he deserted. That fact alone alerted him to these people, despite how well they hid their training.
Han recognized the two as people with a purpose, and they quickly zeroed in on Chewbacca. The man sat at the bar as the woman went up to the Wookie. Under his table, Han gripped his blaster, just in case.
"Graaawww," Chewbacca growled the challenge, which translated to, "You look new here."
"No newer than the Emperor's pants," the woman stated the correct reply. Chewbacca nodded, and motioned over to Han, who briefly wondered who came up with their confirmation statements. Unnoticed by any of them, a cloaked figure in the corner of the bar left at that moment, bring out a communicator as they left.
The woman walked over and sat down at Han's table. Before she sat, Han got a glimpse of her sidearm. It was mostly obscured by her holster, but it was silver, blocky, and definitely not like any blaster he had seen before.
"Your Wookie friend is charming," the woman smirked, "He would make a great bouncer."
Han gave her a scathing look, "Yeah, funny. Anyways, you're my contact?"
The woman nodded, "Yes. My name is Toshiko Sato."
"Well I'm Han Solo," he raised his eyebrow in suspicion, "You've got an odd name."
Toshiko shrugged, "Meh, I've heard odder. Sorry for making you meet me in such a public spot, but my superiors seem to think that this was the ideal location."
"It's far from ideal," Han groaned, "Jabba the Hutt is gunning for my hide right now. I kind of owe him some money."
"Sorry to hear that. Anyways, on to business," Toshiko lowered her voice, "It is the understanding of my group that the Rebel Alliance is in desperate need to funding and supplies."
"Yeah," Han whispered back, "We've got a base for now, but who knows how long that will last for. It's all we can do to fight a guerilla war, and even then we don't have too much of an impact on the Empire. Sure, destroying the Death Star was a pretty major blow, but they keep pulling resources out of their ass. We can't match it."
"What if I told you," Toshiko grinned, "that my group is willing to offer our support for the Rebel Alliance? We have a significant number of ships to commit to the fight. More than enough to take on the Empire in a full blown war."
"Really?" Han crossed his arms and leaned back, "Then why hasn't anyone heard of your group? You don't simply accumulate that much power and fly under the radar."
"Oh, nobody knows about us, I guarantee it, Mr. Solo. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that we are unknown to the entire galaxy."
"You're bluffing," Han leaned forward, "This is a trap, isn't it? And I just walked into it like a big idiot."
"I assure you, this is not a trap!" Toshiko hissed, "My organization is willing to help the alliance! Ours is an independent party willing to help your cause!"
"When Banthas fly." Han shot back, "How do I know that you aren't an Imperial spy, and you're trying to get me to divulge sensitive information?"
Taking a brief glance to make sure no others were looking towards them, Toshiko mouthed. 'The location of alliance's hidden base is on the sixth planet in the Hoth system." A chill went down Han's spine. For anyone outside of the alliance to know that information, literally anyone, meant that the alliance had been infiltrated. It didn't matter that fact it was by a non-Imperial, that they had been meant either they were getting sloppy in their security or these people were exceptionally skilled. Either prospect was terrifying.
"If the Empire knew that, Mr. Solo," Toshiko spoke, "they wouldn't bother with deception; they'd simply send in an armada and submit Hoth to a Base Delta Zero." Solo shuddered at the thought, Base Delta Zero was code for essentially annihilating a portion of a planet via Orbital Bombardment. They wouldn't even bother sending an invasion force, just aiming at whatever section on the planet that had a decent energy signature and blasting it till the surface was molten slag. Even a frozen iceball like Hoth.
Han was pretty much convinced; it wasn't the Empire's style to use elaborate deception when such sensitive information was available. He would just send in the fleet, and wouldn't even bother with such a far-fetched ploy.
"Alright" Han tentatively began, "Let's say I trust you, what then?" Han was taking a big risk, to even consider this alliance. But at this point, he realized he needed, no had to, trust them.
"Then," Toshiko replied, "I would give you coordinates for a meeting between our superiors."
The ambient noise in the Cantina dropped again as four more individuals entered the establishment. Toshiko, her partner, Han, and Chewbacca tensed up as they saw just who entered; a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers.
Under the table, Han drew his blaster, and Toshiko slipped her gun out of her holster, thumbing the activation button. A faint whine was heard as it drew power.
The Stormtroopers quickly scanned the room, and quickly picked out Han and Toshiko. Two of them marched over to the table while the third stood guard by the door. The forth taking position a distance way, his line of fire covering his other two comrades with his DLT-20A blaster rifle.
"You two," the first Stormtrooper stated with authority, "you're coming with us." His E-11 series Blas-Tech rifle in his hand, not quite aimed at them but not directly away from them either. His partner aiming his own E-11 at the group.
As one, Han and Toshiko acted. Han's shot nailed the first Stormtrooper in the head, while Toshiko fired her gun point blank at the second Stormtrooper's chest. There was a whirring noise a split second before the sonic boom from the coilgun-accelerated projectile drowned out the blaster as the ferro-magnetic slug punched a clean hole in the Stormtrooper's chest, and blasting a fist sized crater out the back. The cheap, glorified environmental suit stood no chance, and the slug impacted the wall on the far side of the cantina.
Both Imperial soldiers dropped like rocks. Chewbacca shot the third trooper on the far side in the shoulder. Toshiko's partner grabbed an odd jagged piece of silvery metal from his holster, at the same time, charging toward the wounded trooper. As he lifted it, other bits of metal assembled themselves around the disconnected hilt. By the time it was raised, it was whole; an angled, blocky thing that barely resembled a gun. He fired a few shots to prevent the Stormtrooper from aiming his weapon. Bolts of golden energy smacked into the trooper's armor, penetrating it and wounding him but not lethally. As Toshiko's guard got closer, he held down the trigger on his weapon and four glowing yellow translucent fins sprang out of the sides, trembling for a second.
Before the Stormtrooper could react, the man fired. A cluster of golden energy bolts blasted out of the alien weapon, slammed into and through the armor at high speeds. Once through the armor and in the body, the energy spread out. The Stormtrooper, much to Han's shock, and everyone else's, slowly disintegrated outwards from the wound in a flurry of golden sparks.
When they all looked toward the door, the fourth trooper had disappeared, along with the majority of the cantina's patrons. "Move!" Toshiko shouted, rushing for the door.
'Who were these people and what the in the Corellian hells are these people carrying?' Han thought as he followed his newfound 'allies' out the cantina. Toshiko was carrying what he now recognized as a slugthrower! Sure, it fired much faster and did much more damage than most slugthrowers, but the entire concept was so archaic! Most modern armors would stop at slug thrower shot with the odd exception such as Verpine rifles. And that other gun was some sort of energy weapon. It definitely wasn't a blaster, but it didn't resemble any other sort of weapon native to the galaxy! No weapon could switch from a regular blaster into a scattergun! Not like what they had! Han had a lot more questions, but realized now was not the time to ask them.
As the four of them rushed out onto the street, they immediately came under heavy blaster fire. The remaining Stormtrooper had returned with reinforcements. Han, Chewbacca, and Toshiko's guard took cover behind the random crates and speeders strewn out in front of the cantian, but Toshiko was a second too slow. Han watched in muted horror as a blaster bolt streaked its way towards her head. A second before impact, however, it appeared to dissipate, and the area that it occupied momentarily shimmered golden. These people had personal energy shields!
The technology for personal energy shields had since long been lost since the times of the Old Republic. Only within recent decades had they been rediscovered and even then only elite units had access to them. If these people had the means to mass produce personal energy shields, it would turn the tide in favor of the alliance in any infantry-related combat scenario.
Toshiko fired back at her attackers, the crack of her slugthrower echoing throughout the vacated street. The rounds that thing was firing were going so fast that they left plasma trails. Han had never seen a slugthrower capable of firing such high-velocity rounds! A couple of Stormtroopers bought the farm as 12.7x40mm M225 Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive rounds punched clean through their armor and skin, detonating inside their chest cavities. The craters they made out the Stormtrooper's backs were simply massive, coating the ground behind them in obscene amounts of gore. Han gagged a bit, along with the remaining Stormtroopers; they hadn't seen that much literal bloodshed in a long time. A hatch on the top of Toshiko's gun popped open and a canister ejected. A split second after Toshiko slammed in a similar canister into the gun and closed the hatch.
The man accompanying Toshiko raised his silver firearm, and began spamming the remaining Stormtroopers with golden bullets; "Go!" he shouted, the gun dissamebling partially, its parts floating in midair near the other parts as a cylinder dropped from the bottom of the strange weapon. "I'll cover you!" He placed a cylinder in the slot and the Z-110 Directed Energy Pistol/Exotic "Boltshot" reassembled itself and he fired off more shots towards the Stormtroopers.
Han and Chewbacca followed Toshiko as they all made a dash for the spacedock.
The man began to backpedal, about to follow his superior officer, when an ion blast managed to make contact, overloading his shields. He tried to dive for cover, but took a blaster bolt to his left leg. He cried out in shock and pain as the particle beam bolt burned clear through his knee, leaving his leg mangled and useless. He crashed onto the dirt as he still tried to run on the wounded knee.
Seeing their chance, the Stormtroopers began to move up, intending to take the hostile prisoner. As the Stormtroopers approached the crippled solider, he pulled out a sphere studded with spikes from his back. A grin appeared on his facing at the thought of denying his new enemies the satisfaction of taking him prisoner. As they closed in, he pressed one of the spikes on the Z-040 Attenuation Field Generator "Pulse Grenade", a large orange spherical energy field sprang into being from the spiked ball, the almost paralyzing the unfortunate Imperials as every nerve in their body screamed, along with their HUDs.
After a second of the lightshow, the sphere imploded, disintegrating Toshiko's guard and the Stormtroopers surrounding him into thousands of glittering bits of light. Followed by secondary explosions from the other munitions on the guard's body, plasma fire enveloping the area and scorching the Tatooine earth until it naught but ash was left behind.
Toshiko heard the explosion but kept running. Using her Neural Lace, she knew the moment when her bodyguard's vitals flatlined. It was a shame, but his sacrifice was not in vain. He died so that the UNSC could help liberate this oppressed galaxy.
Toshiko, Chewbacca, and Han rounded the corner, entering the main area of the spacedock. At an intersection, Toshiko tossed Han a small datachip.
"Coordinates for the meet up," she quipped, "See you again, Solo."
She took off in the opposite direction, as Han and Chewbacca dashed towards the Millenium Falcon's landing pad.
Two minutes later, a pair of ships lifted off from the spacedock. Han looked out his window to see a Corellian "Blockade Runner" lift off from a landing pad, and make a hard burn for orbit. Deciding he'd stuck around long enough, Han set a course for Hoth, and floored the engines. As the Falcon neared the Hyperspace Lane in space, he began to wonder about their mysterious benefactors. Could their assistance really help win the rebellion?
The Falcon streaked into hyperspace, as the "Blockade Runner" encountered some trouble.
Captain Toshiko Sato sat in the pilot's seat of an empty CR90 Corvette, as she stared at the looming form of an Imperial Star Destroyer on an intercept course.
"Damn," she muttered. This was a good ship, and it would be a shame to lose it.
Toshiko quickly left the bridge, and made her way to the starboard docking hatch. Stepping through it, she entered her Kagemusha-class Prowler, Corner of the Eye. Quickly, she made her way through the utilitarian gray corridors; a stark contrast to the wide whitewashed hallways of the Corellian corvette. A short turbolift ride brought her to the command deck, also colloquially known as the Bridge, or the CIC.
Personally, she preferred the term "Bridge", as she was a particularly avid "Trekkie". Decades ago, in an attempt to wipe out xenophobic sentiments, ONI had managed to revive and promote old Sci-Fi series, such as "Babylon 5", "Stargate", and all the "Star Trek" series. It didn't really work, but it did get Toshiko hooked on TNG.
The turbolift doors slid open, revealing the cramped, utilitarian bridge of the Corner of the Eye. It really wasn't that big, and only had room for the captain, two officers, and three other people. The ceiling was low, and there wasn't that much light. The whole front wall was coated in viewscreens though, which gave a sort of window effect. Of course, the Bridge was ensconced deep within the ship; it wouldn't do to lose the command crew due to an enemy's lucky shot.
The Bridge itself was empty; the helm and weapons station vacant. Toshiko had come alone on this mission, save for her bodyguard.
Come to think of it, that was a stupid mistake. Ah well.
"Bond," Toshiko called out to the Prowler's AI as she sat down, "Charge the Slipspace Drive, set a course to rendezvous point Alpha. Detach the docking clamps, and set the Corellian corvette to full speed, shields to double front." There was no response as the Office of Naval Intelligence's or ONI's, were much like their human counterparts: actions spoke louder than words.
A dull thud echoed throughout the ship, as the much larger Prowler, still cloaked, detached from the little Corellian ship and slowly pushed itself away under the cover of active camouflage.
Meanwhile, the Blockade Runner's engines suddenly flared up with power and light, as the propulsion systems overclocked each other. The diminutive craft immediately set itself on a collision course with the Star Destroyer, and it was only getting faster.
Onboard the Bridge of the Star Destroyer, the Imperial captain smirked.
"They're accelerating!" one of the officers in the pit called out.
"What, do they think they can outrun us?" the captain scoffed, "Don't make me laugh."
"It's on a collision course!" the same officer shouted.
It took a few seconds for the captain to process that tidbit of information, and by then it was too late.
"Evasive maneuvers!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, lurching as the ship tried to throw itself off course.
Maneuvering jets all over the Star Destroyer's hull blasted away as the lumbering behemoth struggled to move its massive bulk. It was too slow.
The Corellian corvette impacted bow-first on the Star Destroyer's underside, the cylindrical bow section crumpling like a tin can while tearing up the impact site. The ship turned a bit, continuing on its path of destruction. Sparks flew as the ship grated itself against the hull, leaving a long, ugly scar. Pieces of the Imperial ship's hull and major chunks of the corvette's superstructure flew off into space, as more and more of the corvette was ground away by the Star Destroyer's rapidly dwindling armor. Both ships trembled like a man dying out in the cold. With most of its form lost, the powerful engines on the corvette sputtered and died, leaving the remainder of the ship embedded in the Star Destroyer's underside midsection.
Then, with a flash of light brighter than a star, the ship's reactor blew, blasting a large chunk of the Star Destroyer into oblivion. The crippled Imperial starship turned slowly in space, venting atmosphere and personnel from the gaping crater in its underside. Power fluctuations caused running lights to flicker on and off as the power grid attempted to reroute itself.
Up on the Bridge, the captain stared out the window at his devastated ship. He was going to have one hell of a time explaining this to the Emperor….
Unnoticed by the distraught Star Destroyer, a small tear in the fabric of reality opened up, and the shadowy form of a starship entered it. Quick as it appeared, it disappeared.
A/N: Up next on my agenda is a chapter of "Fifty Shades of Overkill", but I think I'm going to write a little bit for "The World We Wrote", and a new crossover before I get to it. Goddamnit I'm juggling too many projects.