Having received his commission, his orders, and his ship, Naro had hoped to set out for the Mid Rim immediately. Unfortunately reality didn't work like that.
There were things to do on Raxus. His new ship, the Wrathful, was apparently still undergoing a refit, and it didn't have a full complement of crew yet. The ship was awaiting two squadrons of vulture droids and four thousand battle droids from a nearby factory. Junior officers still had to be appointed. Supplies needed to be loaded.
In essence, Naro had to wait.
He spent three agonizing days with his parents. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with them. He did, and he'd missed them. But there was just nothing to do. He couldn't stand having that much time on his hands; it made him think too much about Lynara. He needed a distraction.
By the fourth day, Naro had had enough. He booked a shuttle to his ship, determined to find something to do.
The Wrathful was a Munificent-class star frigate which, until recently, had been a security ship for the Trade Federation. For a frigate, the Wrathful was a beast of a ship. Whoever had decided the Munificent-class was a type of star frigate had either been subverting some kind of treaty regulation or was simply an idiot. Mounted on the Wrathful's bow were two massive turbolasers and an additional two heavy ion cannons, giving the ship an obscene amount of forward firepower. Adding to the farce were twenty-six twin light turbolasers, twenty light turbolaser turrets, twelve medium flak cannons, and forty retractable twin light turbolaser turrets placed at various points on the port, starboard, dorsal, and ventral sides of the ship. Eight ordinance launchers, armed with proton torpedoes, topped off the Wrathful's impressive armament, making it decisively not a frigate.
Frigates were meant to be screening ships. The Wrathful was clearly a capital ship. A pocket cruiser at least, capable of standing up against even star destroyers.
Regardless, it was Naro's first command, and he wasn't going to gripe about its misclassification if it gave him a bigger ship to work with. He was happy to command a capital ship. Real frigates spent most of their existence protecting ships more important than them. Naro had bigger dreams than that.
His shuttle docked with the Wrathful while it was still having additional hull armor welded onto it by a work party of droids. The ship was, as Naro had expected, mostly empty. Munificent-class frigates only carried crews of two hundred since all of their major systems were automated. Even then, the crews were usually made up of droids.
It was widely speculated that the Separatist Admiralty intended most of its fleet to be manned entirely by droids. Given the need to rapidly crew its massively expanding navy, droids were the obvious solution. Only the big dreadnoughts, battleships, and a select few frigates like Naro's would be given organic crews to supplement their droid complements.
A single battle droid was on duty at the hangar bay. It stood at attention when Naro came down the ramp of his shuttle.
"Excuse me sir, we err…" the battle droid began. "We weren't expecting any visitors."
Naro raised an eyebrow, more for his own sake than the droid's. "I am the captain of this ship, not a visitor," he said firmly. "I have come to inspect my ship."
"Captain Tarrik!" the droid exclaimed as if it was a person. "I err… apologize for the misunderstanding, sir. We weren't expecting you for several more days."
Naro began to wonder just how much personality these battle droids were capable of.
"Who is currently in command of the ship?" he demanded.
"That would be Lieutenant Grimyee, sir. He's on the bridge currently. I can inform him you're here if you would like to see him, sir."
Naro shook his head. "That won't be necessary; I'll go to the bridge myself. Return to your duties as normal."
"Roger, roger," the droid replied.
Naro stepped past it. He entered the ship's maze of passageways. Ever the attentive student, Naro had prepared for his command by memorizing the ship's layout while waiting at his parents' estate. He headed straight for the central turbolift.
It was only a short ride to the bridge. When the turbolift doors opened, they revealed a dark interior illuminated by green panels. It wasn't a pretty room, meant more for function than anything else, but it was sizable, and the viewports provided a magnificent view of space.
Naro forced his excitement down. He stepped into the bridge, allowing his footsteps to ring off the deck plating.
The captain's seat was on the top level of a terraced platform. It was made of darkened durasteel, worn from long use by its previous owner. To either side of it were stations for senior officers, green screens that communicated directly with the ship's central droid processor. Below were stations for junior officers and technicians with similar screens.
Naro walked to the captain's seat and traced his hand along one of its armrests.
A Neimoidian looked up from one of the lower stations. He'd been reclining in his seat but suddenly sat up when he noticed Naro.
The Neimoidian began to say, "Who are you and what…" but he trailed off when his eyes settled on the rank insignia pinned to Naro's uniform.
"Captain Naro Tarrik. Here to inspect my ship," Naro answered dryly.
The Neimoidian instantly rose to his feet. He bowed instead of saluting and said, "Welcome aboard the Wrathful, Captain Tarrik. I am Lieutenant Salb Grimyee. The Wrathful was formerly my ship, but it was seized for the war effort and I was made an astrogation officer. As such, I have extensive knowledge of this ship. I would be able to give you a tour of its facilities if you require it."
Naro noted there was a tinge of bitterness in Grimyee's words.
"It's good to have someone with your experience aboard. I would be glad to have a tour," Naro said carefully. "You are my head of astrogation, I presume?"
"I am," Grimyee said.
Naro pursed his lips at the Neimoidians tone. "And you've been acting captain while the ship's been undergoing its refit?"
"Of course."
"And you are the only officer aside from me currently onboard?"
"Yes," Grimyee said, his arms crossed.
"Yes, sir," Naro corrected.
"Hmmm?"
Naro forced away his uncertainty, plastered a stern look on his face, and said, "I am your superior officer, Lieutenant. Address me properly, especially on the bridge. I understand that you are used to being in command, but I cannot have you undermining my authority. You will address me as 'sir' or 'Captain' or you will not address me at all. Is that understood, Lieutenant?"
Naro hoped he hadn't just made an enemy.
The Neimoidian was quiet for a moment but then gave a slight bow. "Of course, sir. My apologies for my carelessness, sir."
It only sounded a little forced.
"Excellent," Naro said as warmly as he could. "Now, if you'd please, I think I'll take you up on your offer of a tour." He smiled. "I would appreciate learning from your experience."
Lieutenant Grimyee gave what Naro hoped was a pleased look.
The situation on the Wrathful was worse than Naro had expected. Grimyee took him through the major systems of the ship. A skeleton crew of battle droids was running the ship, and they seemed content to wait around doing nothing while the refit was underway. Several systems were antiquated or simply didn't function correctly. The ship's communications array lacked integrated encryption modules. The sensors had sustained damage which hadn't been recorded properly and thus wasn't being fixed as part of the refit. Further, the droid complement onboard was severely understrength. Munificent-class frigates were intended to store up to 150,000 battle droids for ground operations, but Grimyee informed him the Wrathful only had 10,000. The Wrathful was slated to receive an additional 4,000 battle droids, but that would only bring its droid complement to less than a tenth of its full capacity. Worse, there weren't enough command droids for the ship crew, so the droids manning the ship's systems were mostly directionless. To top it off, tibanna gas was in short supply, meaning that the Wrathful's impressive array of weaponry only had enough ammunition for a few minor engagements.
At the end of the tour, Grimyee turned to Naro and asked, "So, what do you think of your ship?"
Naro sighed, "There's a lot of work to be done."
He spent the night aboard the ship in the captain's quarters, thinking about what he could do. The next morning, he went to Lieutenant Grimyee with a list of ideas to implement.
He began by stripping his ground operations force of their command droids. He needed his crew to be properly led, and he didn't expect to be engaging in many ground invasions in the foreseeable future. Naro requisitioned a team of technicians working on the refit to install naval command programming packages on the command droids. He made sure that each major system had at least three command droids directing them.
Next, Naro ordered his new command droids to begin repairs on the ship's sensor array. He didn't have a dedicated maintenance droid team, but B1 battle droids were incredibly versatile, so, with the supervision of command droids, they could make due with some basic tools and a new programming package.
The repairs were simple anyway. Mostly it involved planting antennas along the ship's hull to make up for the damaged main antenna. It made the ship look like a wet bantha, but it was functional enough.
As for the communications array, Naro tried to requisition new encryption modules but found he was denied at every turn. The local supply officers were overworked and didn't have enough of anything to go around. New encryption modules were being diverted to shipyards for newly constructed frigates, leaving Naro's ship out to dry. He tried taking a shuttle to meet with the supply officers personally but found that to be a frustrating experience.
"Your request was rejected," an uptight Muun lieutenant informed him.
"I know it was rejected. I want to know why it was rejected," Naro demanded.
"Encryption modules are for new ships only. Next!"
Returning the next day to speak with the Muun lieutenant's supervisor didn't bear any fruits either.
But Naro had a plan. Technically, all CIS Navy ships were meant to have a tactical droid assigned to them. Usually, they were intended to act as the ship's captain, but Naro obviously fulfilled that role. He didn't need a tactical droid, nor did he want one second guessing him. The Wrathful hadn't been assigned one as a result, but the CIS Admiralty's regulations still stated that it should have one.
After his third time trying to get a new encryption module, Naro decided to change tack. He went back to the supply officers and demanded his ship be assigned a tactical droid.
They refused him, protesting that as his ship had an organic captain it did not need a tactical droid, so Naro went back to the Wrathful empty handed. The next day, however, Naro returned to the supply officers with a sheet of flimsiplast that had the exact subsection of the CIS Admiralty regulations stating all Munificent-class frigates, without exception, should be provided a tactical droid.
The Muun lieutenant scratched his head and asked for a moment to consult with his superior. The lieutenant's supervisor stared at the flimsiplast, scrolled through her datapad, then asked for a moment to call her supervisor.
An hour later, Naro walked out of the supply office followed by a T-1 tactical droid.
When they reached the Wrathful, Naro had the droid's programming wiped. He didn't need a tactical droid. He needed a droid brain with sufficient processing power to run a heavily modified encryption program. Naro had the technicians jury rig the tactical droid's processor to the communications array, install a somewhat unofficial programming package, and like that he had a new encryption module.
It was slower than a purpose built module would have been, but it got the job done. That was good enough for Naro.
Tibanna was the one thing Naro couldn't solve. He put in five separate requests with the supply office, and each one was rejected. He decided he'd just need to ration his ammunition.
Meanwhile, the refit was making good progress. Additional hull armor was welded onto vital areas of the ship, and the power system was reworked to accommodate stronger deflector shields. The sublight thrusters were replaced with newer and more efficient ones. Four thousand fresh battle droids arrived to fill out the ground operations force. A new paint scheme with the Separatist Hex proudly displayed was painted on the hull.
Around the time that the Wrathful was beginning to transform into a functioning warship, Naro's subordinate officers started to arrive. The first was a Zygerrian woman. She arrived on the bridge as Naro was finishing up a test of the newly reworked power system.
"Lieutenant Irash Krasa, reporting for duty, sir!" the Zygerrian snapped with a crisp salute.
Naro glanced at her. She was standing stiffly at attention, eyes plastered straight ahead. Her uniform had clearly been tailored to fit her, and she carried a datapad with what were presumably her orders already displayed.
"Lieutenant Grimyee, finish the test then get me a summarized diagnostic report," Naro ordered
The Neimoidian looked over, noted the new arrival, and with a little too much emphasis replied, "Of course, sir."
Naro stood from the captain's seat. "At ease, Lieutenant," he said as he approached Lieutenant Krasa.
Krasa shifted her position slightly but remained stiff.
"Your orders?" Naro asked.
Krasa handed over the datapad. Her eyes were still plastered ahead of her.
Naro quickly read her orders over. "You've been assigned as my Chief Weapons Officer?"
"Yes, sir," Krasa snapped.
"Any experience?"
Krasa hesitated for a tiny moment before saying, "None, sir." She paused for another second. "But I passed my evals with top marks, sir."
Naro grinned and said, "Me too."
Krasa blinked, but she regained her composure.
"Zygerria hasn't declared for the Confederacy yet, has it?" Naro continued.
"No, sir."
"Most Zygerrians would prefer to serve either with the Zygerrian Alliance or aboard a private vessel," Naro said. He looked her up and down. "May I ask why you've decided to enlist with the Confederacy?"
Lieutenant Krasa breathed in then met his eye. "With respect, sir, I'm not interested in protecting work colonies or ferrying laborers. The Republic has looked down on my people's way of life for thousands of years. They've impoverished my planet and forced their laws onto us. I want to fight the Republic, and it was my understanding that this was the place to do that."
Your people's way of life is the enslavement of other sentient beings. Those laws were made to end slavery in the galaxy, Naro thought quietly.
But he said nothing. He didn't want any unnecessary hostility in his command. If Krasa wanted to fight the Republic, Naro wasn't going to get in her way. So long as she was motivated, that was good enough.
He forced himself to smile. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Krasa."
Other officers began arriving as well. Two days after Krasa stepped onto the bridge, Naro's Chief Engineering Officer showed up. He was a Skakoan named Lieutenant Hag Derbon, and his arrival was marked by the heavy footsteps of his pressure suit which made him look like a massive droid. Despite his unsettling appearance, his prior service in the Techno Union meant he was probably the best engineer Naro could get his hands on.
The next two arrivals were both command battle droids. They introduced themselves as OOM-34 and OOM-62 before informing Naro that they had been assigned to the Wrathful as officers. OOM-34 was to be the Chief Operations Officer while OOM-62 would be the Chief Intelligence Officer. Personally, Naro was skeptical of the ability of battle droids to fulfill such complicated positions, but he didn't have many options. He welcomed them aboard.
Naro's final officer to arrive came just as the ship's refit was being completed and they were preparing to begin loading supplies. Naro was in his quarters, trying to decipher a manifest of the supplies that would be loaded onto the Wrathful, when there was a knock on the door.
He sighed and tossed the datapad onto his desk before straightening out his uniform. "Enter," he said clearly.
The door opened and a human woman stepped through the door. "Lieutenant Galara Thaliss, reporting for-"
Galara didn't get a chance to finish before Naro was crushing her in his arms.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he laughed. "Didn't your mother get you a position on the Invisible Hand?"
Galara squeezed Naro back before separating. "The Invisible Hand is Nute Gunray's personal vessel, so it'll be in reserve for most of the war. I don't want to sit in some spaceport while others are fighting for a better galaxy, and I heard a rumor that you're off for the Mid Rim soon, so I requested a transfer to your ship," She explained. Galara straightened up and saluted him. "If you'll have me, Captain."
Naro returned her salute. "At ease, Lieutenant. Welcome aboard. I presume you're my head of logistics?"
"Head of logistics and maintenance," Galara said. She shrugged. "The Navy's lacking qualified officers, so someone figured that they could merge the positions on Munificent-class frigates without decreasing effectiveness too much." She shrugged a second time. "I took a course and passed all the evals."
"This Navy is being held together by rusty bolts and mesh tape," Naro sighed. "I hope you're ready to work.
Galara grinned.
A month after Naro had stepped aboard, the Wrathful was ready to set off.
It had taken quite a lot to get her into the state she was in. Galara's arrival had been a godsend, because she could both understand the massive spreadsheets of information that detailed exactly what was on board and had the political connections to get what they needed. Her mother, while no longer a senator, still had enough clout to cut through the Admiralty bureaucracy. Thanks to her, the ship was now fully stocked with ammunition, vulture droids, and had a battle droid complement of 50,000. Naro's command was ready for action.
Before their departure, Naro spoke to his bridge officers.
"Proceed to the Mid Rim to carry the war into those systems. Destroy, capture, or cripple all Republic commercial shipping encountered," Naro read from his datapad. He looked to his officers. "Those are our orders. That is our task. Let's get it done."
"Yes sir!" Lieutenant Krasa snapped.
Galara and Derbon gave small cheers.
"THE REPUBLIC DOGS WILL BE EVISCERATED," OOM-34 stated.
Grimyee and OOM-62 were quiet.
The Wrathful entered hyperspace from the Raxus System, and they spent the rest of the day making minor jumps to Janodral Mizar. That put them on the Perlimian Trade Route which gave them a clear run all the way to Centares. OOM-62 informed Naro that the CIS Star Frigate Patriarch had gone down the route just two days prior and reported it clear, so Naro ordered Grimyee to take them along the same way. They entered hyperspace on the Perlimian Trade Route, and it only took another day to jump to Centares.
Their arrival in Centares meant they were now in the Mid Rim. While a few Mid Rim planets had joined the Confederacy, most were either neutral or Loyalist. Naro ordered everyone to be on high alert and to treat any unknown ships as hostile unless identified otherwise.
"Time to suit actions to words," Galara murmured from her station. Her screen had a log tracking their ship's fuel consumption open on it.
Krasa looked over from her own station. "Ready to fight the Republic?" she asked
"Of course," Galara replied. She was grinning.
OOM-34 pivoted its head. "I AM PREPARED TO CRUSH THE REPUBLIC DOGS."
"Quiet on the bridge," Naro ordered. He was looking at a star chart showing their local surroundings. The Maldrood Sector they were in was a prime location to hunt commercial vessels, but it was also the most likely place to encounter a Republic Navy ship due to its positioning along a major hyperspace lane. He turned to OOM-62 and asked, "Have there been any reports of Republic activity in this sector?"
"I… err…" OOM-62 tapped on its screen a few times. "I don't see any reports, sir. But I can't guarantee anything, sir. Not many of our ships have gone through here."
"The Patriarch traveled along this route a few days ago, correct? What did it report?" Naro asked.
The droid made a few more taps. "Err… yes sir. It reported no contact with any Republic vessels. But it was only in this sector for a day before moving into the Bryx sector, sir."
"Hmmm," Naro murmured, stroking his chin. He analyzed the star chart again.
So this is what command is like, he mused. A thousand options with no clear answer.
Finally, Naro made a decision. "Lieutenant Grimyee, take us off the Perlimian Trade Route and chart a course for the Perkell Sector. We don't want to catch anything we can't kill."
"Understood, sir," Grimyee replied. He made a few taps on his screen. The entire ship began to shift in space.
A short hyperspace jump later, and they were in the Perkell Sector, cruising past the planet Aargonar. The planet was a desolate world with little commercial value, and Naro was getting ready to retire for the night when OOM-62 caught something on the sensors as it came out of hyperspace.
"It err… appears to be a trade vessel, sir. Temple-class heavy freighter. Its transponder beacon reads Coruscant-233249, registered as the Noble Scavenger."
Galara looked up from her station. "If she's from Coruscant then she's a legitimate target, Captain."
Naro grinned at her before looking back to OOM-62. "How far off?" he demanded.
OOM-62 did something on its control panel. It turned its head. "1,623 klicks off the starboard side and gaining, sir."
Naro turned his head. "Lieutenant Krasa?"
"Just in range of the forward heavy turbolasers, sir," she responded.
Naro began listing orders, "Lieutenant Grimyee, set course to intercept the Noble Scavenger. Lieutenant Derbon, all power to sublight thrusters. Lieutenant Krasa, prepare to fire on their engines; I want them dead in space on the first volley if possible. OOM-34, get me comms with their captain."
A chorus of 'Yes, sirs' followed.
"ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE REPUBLIC DOGS," OOM-34 announced.
Naro cleared his throat.
"COMMUNICATIONS LIVE."
"Noble Scavenger, this is Captain Tarrik of the Confederacy of Independent Systems Navy Ship Wrathful. Please cut power to all propulsion units and stand by to be boarded."
A staticky response came back, "Wrathful, this is Captain Yanshi of the Noble Scavenger. We are in compliance with all Republic and Trade Federation regulations regarding our cargo and transit. This ship is a private vessel of no political affiliation. What is the problem, Wrathful?"
Naro took a deep breath and asked, "Noble Scavenger, what is your port of origin?"
There was silence over the comms. Naro watched the Wrathful inch closer to the Noble Scavenger on the star chart.
Finally, the comms crackled again, "Our port of origin is Coruscant, Wrathful. But I'm assuming you already knew that from our transponder beacon. We have no connection to the Republic-"
"Noble Scavenger, prepare to be boarded," Naro interrupted.
Another moment of silence.
"THE REPUBLIC DOGS HAVE CUT COMMUNICATIONS," OOM-34 reported.
OOM-62 looked up at Naro. "Sensors are detecting increased heat emissions from their thrusters. This is er… consistent with signs of increased power to-"
Naro didn't wait for the droid to finish. "Weapons free! Take out their engines, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir!" Krasa returned. Immediately the ship shook as its heavy turbolasers opened fire.
Two giant bolts of superheated plasma shot forward into space. At this range, they were being aimed entirely through sensor readouts. The naked eye simply wasn't good enough.
Two more bolts followed and then another two as the turbolasers fired their bursts in quick succession. Each bolt was angled slightly off from the previous one, aiming to predict the course of the Noble Scavenger as it took evasive action.
"Lieutenant Derbon, is this the fastest we can go?" Naro demanded.
The Skakoan didn't bother to turn his head. "Sublight thrusters are currently at their maximum safe power capacity, sir. Any increase in power would risk damage to the engines."
Another burst of turbolaser fire flew out into space.
Naro looked at OOM-62. "Distance from their ship?"
"1,461 klicks and closing, sir."
"PERMISSION TO LAUNCH VULTURE DROID SQUADRONS, SIR?" OOM-34 asked.
"Denied," Naro spat. "That's a freighter, not a warship. I want our starfighters close at hand in case something goes wrong."
More turbolaser fire shot forward.
"Hit!" Krasa announced. "One hit to… Scratch that, two hits to the rear thrusters, sir!"
Naro couldn't see any of it. They were beyond visual combat range. But the ship's sensors picked up each hit as a sudden burst of heat against the rear of the Noble Scavenger.
"There is a significant reduction to their thrusters' heat emissions, sir," OOM-62 said. "The Noble Scavenger appears to no longer be accelerating. Distance is 1,298 klicks and closing, sir."
"Cease fire," Naro ordered.
Krasa slumped back in her seat.
Naro turned to Galara. "Lieutenant Thaliss, activate a thousand battle droids and prepare a boarding party."
"Yes, sir," she replied before standing from her seat to leave the bridge.
By the time, the Wrathful had closed distance with the Noble Scavenger, the Noble Scavenger had already broadcasted its surrender to Naro. Their captain agreed to comply with Naro's orders and shut down all non-essential systems. Galara boarded the ship without any resistance.
She discovered that the Noble Scavenger had a hull full of durelium. The ship's log stated that they were transporting it to Kuat's orbital shipyards which was all the justification Naro needed to seize the cargo as a legitimate prize of war. He had Galara transfer the entire cargo over to the Wrathful.
Naro had hoped to seize the Noble Scavenger and send it to Raxus as a prize, but Lieutenant Derbon quickly reported to him that it would be impossible to do so. The Noble Scavenger's engines were crippled, and any repairs would take weeks, too long for Naro's liking.
Instead, Naro ordered that the Noble Scavenger be destroyed. He had Galara rig its reactors to overload themselves and then flooded the engine rooms with rhydonium.
"Sir, what about the crew?" Lieutenant Grimyee asked while Galara was busy rigging the reactors.
"I intend to allow them to board their ship's escape pods and broadcast a distress signal," Naro said. He noted Grimyee's expression. "I take it you disapprove?"
"They would only report on our presence here," Grimyee said. "It would be best if we disposed of them with the ship. Then no one would know of our activities, sir."
OOM-34 immediately bobbed its head. "I CONCUR. WE SHOULD DESTROY THE REPUBLIC DOGS, SIR."
Lieutenant Krasa shook her head. "This is wasteful," she said. "They are able bodied laborers. They can be put to use working for our cause."
Naro held back a disparaging comment. Instead he said, "Be aware, I will not condone slavery on my ship." He snapped his head toward Grimyee. "And I especially will not condone the execution of prisoners of war. If we want a better galaxy, we need to act like it. The crew will be allowed to board their escape pods."
There was a light grumble from Grimyee and Krasa but nothing more.
Galara finished rigging the reactors and began herding the Noble Scavenger's crew into escape pods. She informed Naro that their captain wanted to speak with him before entering the escape pods. Naro told her to patch the captain through to the bridge's holoprojector.
Captain Yanshi of the Noble Scavenger was a middle-aged human woman with bitterness all over her face. "So you're the pirate then?" she spat when Naro stepped into view.
Naro frowned. "I am Captain Naro Tarrik of the Confederacy of Independent-"
"I don't give two karks who the hell you think you are," Captain Yanshi interrupted. "This is my livelihood you're taking. Thirty kriffing years I built up this ship. I bought her from a scrap yard, spent the best years of my life fixing her up, scraped together every credit I could. Now some young pup comes in to tell me he's destroying my life's work?" She spat onto the holocam, distorting her image. "Kriff you, and kriff your Confederacy. You're pirates. Nothing more. I hope one day someone gives you what you deserve."
"Lieutenant Thaliss, please escort Captain Yanshi to an escape pod," Naro ordered, voice firm.
"Aye, Captain," Galara replied.
As soon as the holofeed cut off, Naro rocked back into his seat. For a moment, he could only stare out into space. He was the captain of a navy vessel. He was fighting for the freedom of the galaxy against a corrupt government. He was not a pirate seeking personal gain at the expense of others.
Right?
The words hurt. But in the end, he gave the order to destroy the Noble Scavenger anyways. He watched the rhydonium explosion rip it apart from the bridge of the Wrathful.
A dozen escape pods floated through space as witnesses.
Naro watched the broken ship drift apart for a quiet minute. Then he turned to Lieutenant Grimyee.
"Chart a course for Ord Tiddell, Lieutenant. Let's find our next catch," he said. But Naro's voice betrayed his lack of enthusiasm.
They spent a day making short jumps through hyperspace.
Ord Tiddell was in the Tennuutta Sector and was a much richer hunting ground than the Perkell Sector had been. As soon as the Wrathful jumped into the system, a dozen merchant ships immediately began to scatter from the planet's orbit. Naro ordered Grimyee to chase down the biggest of the merchant ships, a heavy freighter with a transponder beacon identifying it as Alderaanian, and they sped through space to catch it.
The other merchant ships ran, not willing to risk interfering and becoming the Wrathful's new target. They jumped into hyperspace as soon as their astrogators got them clear of Ord Tiddell's gravity. The heavy freighter from Alderaan tried to jump as well, but Krasa scored three hits on its reactor with the Wrathful's heavy ion cannons, and the freighter lost all power.
Galara boarded the ship with a contingent of droids and rounded up the crew. She discovered the freighter had a hull full of exotic perfumes and cosmetics. Naro had the cargo transferred to the Wrathful, packed the crew in escape pods launched at Ord Tiddell, and had the freighter destroyed. It was too big and too slow for him to send back to Raxus as a prize.
The freighter's captain had wanted to speak with him before the ship's destruction, but Naro refused him. He didn't need anymore lost sleep.
Then Naro had them set a course for Talcene, situated on the Perlimian Trade Route. The Wrathful now had a hull full of seized goods, and Naro wanted to offload them in the Outer Rim before he continued attacking commercial shipping. Grimyee, based on his years of experience shipping cargo in the Outer Rim, informed him that Columex would be a suitable planet to offload the seized goods. It would only be a day's travel along the Perlimian Trade Route.
They arrived in the Talcene System early the next morning. Naro had just arrived on the bridge, and his officers were in the process of taking over from the automated systems that ran the night watch. The Talcene System was composed of a cluster of planets, only one of which was habitable, and a giant asteroid belt which the locals mined resources from. The asteroid belt was taller than many planets and made for a pretty sight. Naro admired it for a few minutes from the forward viewports on the bridge.
He was settling down in his seat when OOM-62 said, "Sir, a large ship is entering the system from hyperspace. Possibly a heavy freighter. It… err… appears to be arriving approximately ten klicks off our bow."
"Ten klicks?" Galara muttered. "That's practically on top of us."
"Easier for boarding," Naro said. "If she's a freighter, we'll have her immediately." He turned in his seat. "Power up weapons and shields. Lieutenant Krasa, be prepared to fire on her engines."
"We'll be too close in to aim our heavy weapons, sir," Krasa reported.
"Freighters don't have good shields," Naro said. "The light turbolasers can do the job."
OOM-62 started counting, "Ship arriving in three, two, one-"
A massive ship suddenly dominated the forward viewports. It was shaped like a giant wedge with two bridges rising from the hull towards its aft. It emerged just past the system's asteroid belt. Naro counted at least eight heavy turbolaser turrets and a great deal more light weapon systems.
"That's not a kriffing freighter!" Naro roared. "Power to engines, Lieutenant Derbon. Lieutenant Grimyee, get us past her forward weapons. OOM-62, get me information on what the hell that thing is!"
The Wrathful's engines immediately came online. The two ships began speeding towards each other, rapidly closing the short distance.
"Its transponder identifies her as a Republic Navy ship. Venator-class star destroyer. Registered as the Hurricane," OOM-62 relayed.
"Commissioned and built in secret years before the war no doubt," Galara spat bitterly.
"WE ARE RECEIVING A TRANSMISSION FROM THE REPUBLIC DOGS," OOM-34 reported.
"Patch it through," Naro ordered.
The hologram of a middle-aged human man in uniform appeared before Naro. "Separatist ship, I am Captain Draus of the Hurricane. You have twenty seconds to transmit your surrender before you are fired upon. If you attempt to resist, you will be annihilated. I repeat, you have twenty seconds-"
"Cut communications," Naro ordered, not bothering to dignify Captain Draus with a response. "Weapons free, Lieutenant Krasa! OOM-34, get our starfighters out there!"
"Aye, sir!"
"VULTURE DROIDS DEPLOYING."
A torrent of superheated plasma began to pour against the enemy ship from the Wrathful's light turbolasers. Instantly, the Republic ship returned fire with a combination of medium and heavy turbolasers. Bolts of plasma struck the Wrathful's starboard side with bright flashes of light.
Starfighters flew out in long streams from the hangars of both ships. They began circling in the space between the capital ships as they sped past each other. The Wrathful and the Hurricane were now presenting their broadsides to each other, and the Hurricane rained heavy bolts of plasma from its side-mounted artillery while the Wrathful retaliated with its smaller turbolasers.
The bridge of the Wrathful shuddered under the barrage.
"STARBOARD SHIELDS AT FORTY PERCENT, SIR," OOM-34 announced.
Lieutenant Derbon's translation module made a series of high pitched mechanical noises. "The starboard reactor's power output has declined significantly," he stated after adjusting it.
"Damage report, Lieutenant Thaliss!" Naro turned his head. "Lieutenant Krasa, how's the enemy looking?!"
"STARBOARD SHIELDS AT TWENTY PERCENT, SIR,"
"Our light turbolasers are barely scratching her shields, sir! I don't have the angle to bring the heavy weapons to bear!" Lieutenant Krasa shouted.
"STARBOARD SHIELDS ARE DOWN, SIR."
"Launch proton torpedoes!" Naro ordered. "Get us some breathing room!"
The Wrathful had now almost flown past the Hurricane, but the two ships continued their close range brawl. The Hurricane's artillery now blasted holes in the Wrathful's side armor. In response, all eight of the Wrathful's ordinance launchers turned to send proton torpedoes at the Hurricane in a wide spread. The warheads were slower than turbolaser fire but far more potent, and the Hurricane took evasive action. She turned hard to port, suddenly shifting her whole trajectory to avoid them.
That gave the Wrathful a reprieve from the barrage. She continued to speed forward while the Hurricane evaded behind her. Both ships presented their rear thrusters to each other. As neither ship had significant rear-facing weaponry, the storm of plasma temporarily ceased, but starfighters continued to face off in the space between them.
For three minutes, the ships drifted apart from each other.
"Sir," Galara reported, "the starboard reactor has sustained significant damage and is non-operational. Power supply is at forty-eight percent capacity. The hull has several breaches in its starboard side. Repair crews are enroute to all damaged systems. Overall structural integrity is fine, but I don't think we can take another pounding like that."
"The Hurricane has begun turning to face us, sir," OOM-62 stated. "Distance is approximately one hundred klicks."
"With only one reactor, we won't be able to outrun her with our thrusters, and it will take too long to jump to hyperspace," Lieutenant Grimyee declared. His voice was full of either fear or anger, and Naro couldn't tell which. "We should not have let those crews go! They reported our activities!"
Naro stared out the forward viewports. He glanced between them and the bridge's star chart depicting the two ships in space, the planets, and the system's asteroid belt.
Lieutenant Krasa was muttering to herself, "We couldn't even touch her…"
"We cannot run! We cannot fight! We need to surrender!" Grimyee shouted. "Otherwise we will all be dead!"
"Sir," Galara said carefully. "What are your orders, sir?"
Naro breathed in then forced himself to smile. "Divert all spare power to sublight thrusters and rear shields. Cut power from heavy weapons, sensors, and communications. Shift the light turbolasers and flak cannons to target enemy starfighters." He pointed his finger at the forward viewports and grinned at Lieutenant Grimyee. "Put us in that asteroid belt, Lieutenant."
The next eight minutes were crucial for Naro.
As the Wrathful accelerated as best she could with a single reactor, the Hurricane came on her tail and began to pursue. Her forward turbolasers unleashed a torrent of fire on the Wrathful, but the distance meant she no longer scored a hit with every shot and the Wrathful's rear shields held up.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Krasa turned the Wrathful's weapons on the enemy starfighters. Bursts of turbolaser fire lit up the space around the Wrathful while clouds of scrap metal were launched from flak cannons. The storm of projectiles tore into swarms of starfighters, both Republic and Separatist, and took out dozens. But while the Separatist starfighters were expendable vulture droids, the Republic's starfighters were flown by men. Cloned slave soldiers, perhaps. But still men.
The enemy starfighters began to fall back from the Wrathful.
Still, the Hurricane continued to gain on the Wrathful. With every gained kilometer, her turbolaser fire became more accurate. OOM-34 reported the shields being constantly degraded.
"We need to go faster. Can you get us any more power?" Naro asked Lieutenant Derbon.
The Skakoan's pressure suit meant he couldn't show his facial expressions, but Naro imagined Derbon had a very annoyed look on his face. "Our only reactor is at its maximum safe generative capacity, sir," he stated.
Naro watched the Wrathful's shields lose another percentage point of integrity on OOM-34's station monitor.
"Can you push it beyond that?" Naro demanded. "Just a little bit more for the sublight thrusters. Anything!"
"Pushing it beyond its safe capacity risks a total reactor meltdown," Derbon stated. "Even a thirty percent increase brings the chance of a meltdown to five percent per minute. The results could be catastrophic, sir."
"If we don't increase our speed, we have a one hundred percent chance of being torn apart before we can make it to the asteroid belt," Naro countered.
"This is madness!" Lieutenant Grimyee cried. "We should surrender!"
Naro ignored him. "Push it as far as you're able," he ordered Lieutenant Derbon.
Derbon hesitated for a moment but then replied, "Yes, sir."
Immediately, the Wrathful shuddered.
A sudden surge went into the sublight thrusters, and the Wrathful shot forward in space. They gained speed on the enemy, not much but enough to matter. Suddenly the asteroid belt was no longer so far away.
The Hurricane continued firing on them, plinking away at the rear shields. Her starfighters regained some courage and went for an attack run, only to immediately be driven off by Lieutenant Krasa's gunnery. Galara's repair crews kept trying to keep the ship together with hasty repairs and jury rigged solutions. Lieutenant Derbon watched in fear as their reactor core's temperature continued to spike. OOM-34 reported on the constant degradation of their shields.
After eight minutes of running, the Wrathful reached the asteroid belt.
Immediately, Lieutenant Krasa fired all twelve of the ship's flak cannons into the space behind them. It created a cloud of scrap metal which, hopefully, covered them from the Hurricane's sensors. Then, as asteroids battered their hull armor, Lieutenant Grimyee took them hard to starboard before halting and having them descend three klicks. That put them behind several large asteroids, covering them from any pursuit. He repeated his erratic maneuvering three more times before declaring that they were probably safe.
Just for safe measure, Naro ordered them to continue through the asteroid belt for another fifty klicks before surfacing to jump to hyperspace. Despite his cowardice in battle, Grimyee proved his worth by maneuvering them through the asteroid field with only minor collisions. At the same time, Galara and Derbon worked feverishly to cool down the ship's sole functioning reactor and patch up what they could.
After an hour in the asteroid field, they finally surfaced and, with no sign of the Hurricane, jumped to hyperspace towards Ringo Vinda.
"Stars above," Galara sighed. She had just returned to the bridge from the reactor and was covered in oil and grime. "That's done then."
Lieutenant Grimyee sat back in his seat, exhaustion evident. "It is a miracle we survived." He looked at Naro. "I would like to apologize for my behavior, sir. When we arrive at Columex, I will be sure to attest to your leadership."
"Apology accepted," Naro said, "but we're not going to Columex."
"Directly to Raxus, sir?" Grimyee asked. "That may strain the reactor, but it would be good to refit there considering the damage we have taken."
Naro shook his head. "We'll refit at Ringo Vinda; they recently declared for the Confederacy and should have sufficient facilities to repair our ship. Then we'll turn back here to see if we can take on the Hurricane again."
"Take on the Hurricane?!" Grimyee exclaimed. "That is insanity!"
"Sir," Lieutenant Krasa started, "the Hurricane's out of our class. She's a star destroyer, and we're a pocket cruiser at best. We could barely touch her today. Trying to take her on again is…"
"She had us by the hip in a close range brawl today," Naro said. "If we can engage her at range with our heavy weapons, we'll be able to take her on. It's just a matter of maneuvering."
That seemed to satisfy Krasa, but Grimyee continued to protest. In the end, however, Naro was the captain and his word was absolute. Grimyee had no choice but to accept that.
It was the right move, in Naro's mind. His orders were to target commercial shipping, but orders weren't everything. Allowing the Hurricane to go unopposed would threaten their control of the Perlimian Trade Route. It would bottle them up in the Outer Rim, unable to project force into the Mid Rim. He couldn't just allow an enemy ship free reign of a major hyperspace lane.
Besides, Naro admitted to himself, I'd rather hunt a military vessel than prey on civilians.
He hadn't signed up to be a pirate. He wanted to fight.
So, this is the moment that readers will be realizing that this romance story about star crossed lovers is actually an excuse for me to write about interstellar warfare based on Napoleonic and WW2 naval warfare. Hopefully I don't lose anyone here.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It means a lot to me that people are enjoying this story. I'm definitely enjoying writing it, so please review if you can as it's great motivation.