Gideon Squadron: Chapter 17 - Facing Destruction
"When a man is faced with his own death, he finds the impossible less of a barrier."
With every last ounce of strength, Sho placed a Force Shield over Eras and himself, protecting them from the poisonous vapors that surrounded them. Space and time seemed to slip away as they plummeted into nothingness. Finally, the fog around them lifted. Eras could see the Arlechi still in freefall. "She was a good ship.", was all Eras could think at the time, resigning himself to certain doom. A sudden flash of light forced him to shut his eyes, leaving him momentarily blinded. "It must be the Arlechi's engines trying to come back online! TRACE!" Eras's despair was now replaced by hope. The ship suddenly appeared to stop as its primary gravitational stabilizers engaged. Eras lifted his wounded arm, the excruciating pain of reality coming back to him. Reaching out through the Force in desperation, he tried to pull them to the ship, but his attempts were futile. They fell past their vessel as they continued towards the frozen chasm below. A loud roar from the Arlechi signaled that power had been restored to its engines. Trace banked hard right and into a full on nose dive as he chased after his comrades. Hitting the boosters, Trace nosed the vessel just to the right of Sho and Eras as the Arlechi began to overtake them. Slowly leveling the ship underneath them, Eras and Sho set down gently onto the hull. Using the upper hatchway, Eras brought Sho down to the improvised medical lab. He placed him in the Bacta tank, thankful for Trace's suggestion to have it installed.
Trace quickly walked in. "I see you made it.", said Eras in a genuinely grateful, yet jovially mocking tone. "Did you ever doubt me sir?", inquired Trase sarcastically. He turned serious at the sight of both team members. "You need treatment for your wounds. I will get the medical droid." Eras shook his head at this. "We have to get off the planet, create a distraction while Master Bu'Narii and the Younglings escape, and get those schematics to Climber. I need you on the ion cannons." Ignoring the pain, he made his way to the bridge, with Trace following right behind. They took their stations. "Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.", Eras quoted to himself as he punched the thrusters and took the Arlechi into a straight vertical climb…
...On the ridge overlooking the Celadon Sea...
"The coward chose to take his own life rather than face me in combat. Typical Jedi weakling.", thought Tarren. With a feeling of nonplus, he stood staring over the edge. While delighted at the thought of gaining revenge for the death of his brother and destroying his previous Master's "pet pupil", he was apprehensive as his new Master would require proof of his success. Failure to do so would mean punishment beyond his endurance. This thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind.
Commander Lanu walked up to his superiors, excited to give his report. "Lord Inquisitors, our mechs have broken the enemy creatures and have forced them to retreat back into the mountains. Should we pursue them?" "No Commander. Gather a search party to retrieve Naan Sho and the rest of his band of traitorous scum. I want to see his remains myself.", responded Tarren (relieved to have some form of good news to pass on). There was a low rumble coming from below the deadly clouds. Suddenly, the Arlechi shot right past them at almost blinding speed. The force behind it caused all three Imperialists to the ground. Tarren was on his feet with a mixture of absolute fear and rage on his face. Whipping around towards his followers, he screamed, "CONTACT ADMIRAL GLEAVES, NOW! I WANT THAT SHIP DESTROYED, OR ELSE…" "Yes my Lord. Right away!", snapped Lanu to attention. He immediately turned on his heels and ran back to his battalion…
...On the bridge of the Arlechi...
"We are leaving the upper atmosphere…, Star Destroyer straight ahead, sir!," reported Trace. Eras was thankful the enemy ship had cut a clean path through the debris field. "One less thing to worry about.", he thought to himself. "Angle deflector shields and prepare for Attack Pattern Zeta Nine.", commanded Eras. "Sir? We are going to attack them?", asked Trace in a tone that made it clear he was not crazy about the idea. "We need to get their attention. I plan on skimming their surface.", explained Eras. An alarm rang out. "Fighters on a direct intercept course.", announced Trace. "Rerouting secondary power to forward shields. Prepare for Afterburn. Make your shots count.", ordered Eras. "Yes sir.", said Trace with more confidence. The Arlechi throttled up and blasted right past the fighter squadron. Dogfights had to be avoided if they wanted to get out of this alive. Trace fired the AG-2Gi ion cannons, disabling two passing enemy fighters before they could acquire a lock on them.
The Horizon had begun firing at the Rebel vessel, clearly aware of the threat it could present if able to fly beneath their shields. "Our shields are holding sir, but not for long.", yelled Trace over the rumble of the engines as Eras increased speed. "Prepare for evasive maneuver sequence: Theta, Delta V, Epsilon I.", commanded Eras. "Aye sir.", responded Trace, repeating the sequence back to confirm his orders. The Arlechi shifted slightly to the starboard side, immediately reversed hard to portside, feigned a steep dive, and completed a gradual starboard climb to a trajectory that would lead right over the Star Destroyer's nose. They were met with a barrage of enemy fire from the Horizon's point defense laser cannons. "Begin Delta 5 maneuver on my mark…Mark.", ordered Eras. The Arlechi shifted hard to port and continued a shallow climb. Trace had his hands full keeping the remaining Imperial fighters at bay, a difficult task with the ship constantly shifting directions. "We have breached their shields, but their fighters are gaining on us!", shouted Trace. "Target the enemy's forward sensor cluster using concussion missiles and prepare to execute maneuver Epsilon I. Fire on my signal…Fire!", bellowed Eras. The Arlechi made a direct hit, followed by a full starboard roll, placing it directly beneath the Destroyer. "Target their reactor and fire." Trace obeyed the command precisely. The Horizon was "dead in the water" with no ability to track their prey. "Engaging the hyperdrive.", said Eras as their ship safely made the jump.
...Aboard the Horizon...
Admiral Gleaves was impressed at the piloting skills displayed by the enemy vessel. "These Rebels are more informed and far better equipped than was reported to us.", he thought to himself, amazed at how precise they were with their targeting and how easily they had crippled the Empire's newly designed Destroyer. It reminded him very much of the piloting strategies during the Clone Wars. "Sir, a transmission is coming through from the surface. It is Commander Lanu.", reported his Ensign, pulling the Admiral back to the present situation. "Put it through." Commander Lanu barked out his message from the Inquisitors. "I regret to inform you COMMANDER,...", he said (emphasizing Lanu's lower rank), "but the intel we received has proven highly inaccurate. The enemy vessel was able to damage our solar ionization reactor before we could scramble all fighters. They have made the jump to hyperspace." Commander Lanu's apprehensiveness of having to pass on this bad news was plain to see, even from a viewscreen in space. "I shall inform the Inquisitors of your failure.", he said with a sneer. The transmission was abruptly cut off at its source. The Admiral stood staring out into space, calculating his next move.