The bright stars filled the sky, their beauty betraying the true danger that lay among them. The Unknown Regions were a dangerous place, filled with navigational obstacles and countless threats from the species and groups that lived there. Traveling between systems and planets was a slow and painstaking process, with the possibility of a minor miscalculation resulting in flying into a black hole, supernova, gravity well, or some other strange and deadly obstacle. After all, it was called the Chaos by those that lived there for a reason.
Separated from the icy vacuum of space and the threats among it by a sheet of thick transparisteel, Commodore Stybla’cee’yarco looked out the viewport of her Class-546B light cruiser, Ethereal, at the vast array of stars. She sighed softly, stepping away from the viewport. Stybla’cee’yarco, or more commonly known by her core name Laceeya, was tall, with blue-black hair that was worn down and loose. Bangs framed her face and the rest of her hair fell to the middle of her back, and she had the pale blue skin and glowing red eyes that marked her as a member of the Chiss species.
However, Laceeya wore the grey uniform of an Imperial Navy officer, with a rank plaque of four red tiles over four blue situated on the left of her chest. At first glance the uniform may appear to be simply Imperial, a closer look would show a red stripe running down each sleeve, around the cuffs and the collar.
This was the uniform of an officer of the Empire of the Hand, which Laceeya proudly wore. It was an Empire of justice and fairness, not of cruelty and fear. The Empire of the Hand had been exploring and pacifying parts of the Chaos for years now, occasionally placing a base or outpost on a planet or moon. The goal was not to conquer, but to help protect the galaxy from the numerous threats that lived between the stars.
There were indeed many dangers lurking out there in the Chaos, some greater and some lesser, and the danger Laceeya was hunting today was one of the greater ones. The Grysks were a mysterious and frightening species, once thought of as more of a legend or myth than reality. That had changed, and Grand Admiral Mitth’raw’nuruodo had provided the Empire of the Hand with all the information from his encounters with the Grysks. They were said to be able to twist a species or group to do what the Grysks desired of them, making them a far more elusive and dangerous enemy, being able to hide in the shadows behind their client species.
Thrawn was very thorough as always, and the information he’d given on the Grysks told of their multiple attempts to attack the Chiss Ascendency. All of them involved the Grysks using other client species to do their bidding for them, while the Grysks themselves pulled the strings from the background.
Initially, the Grysks had planned for one of their client species to soften up the Chiss Ascendancy, attacking from the outside. After that had failed, they focused on more subtle internal manipulation to stir up political rivalries among the Chiss families, which nearly sparked a civil war.
Thrawn had fortunately managed to foil the Grysks’ machinations in both instances, though the threat they posed was far from extinguished. Battles that Thrawn and other Chiss had fought against the Grysks told of their ships and provided weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and their cultural blind spots. Thrawn had faced them while with the Ascendency, and then later as a part of the Empire, where the Grysks had appeared to be scouting and possibly looking for inroads into subverting populations. Knowing their true danger, when Thrawn had founded the Empire of the Hand, the Grysks were one of the primary threats that he had in mind to protect against.
Since those initial encounters with the Grysks, the Hand had faced them many more times since, and Laceeya’s personal experience with them proved them to be deadly adversaries. She now hunted a Grysk task force that had been spotted by a scout, and which appeared to be on its way to launch an attack on one of the Hand’s key bases located in the Nyar system.
Looking back out the viewport, Laceeya watched as the stars blurred into streaks of light, and then into the swirling and tumultuous tunnel of hyperspace as the Ethereal continued on its way after one of the frequent course corrections necessary when navigating through the Chaos.
Pursing her lips, Laceeya grimly considered the facts; her own flotilla consisted of only a few ships. Her flagship, the Ethereal, was a Class-546B light cruiser, which was the more heavily armed and armored battleship variant of a regular Class-546, and measured just over 380 meters in length. The Ethereal had an upgraded reactor and bristled with weaponry from bow to stern, armed with numerous powerful turbolasers, laser cannons, and missile launchers. Additionally, an elite squadron of starfighters were housed in her hangar. Her ship sported many scars and mismatched hull panels from repairs, signifying the constant action the Hand faced in the Chaos.
The next ship was a battered Quasar Fire-Class cruiser-carrier, the Paladin. Outfitted with only light defenses for its size, the Quasar was not meant to go head to head with other capital ships; its strength was that it could carry four squadrons of fighters in its hangars. The Paladin currently was stocked with four squadrons, mixed between different TIE variants and some Nssis-class Clawcraft.
Rounding out Laceeya’s task force were two Raider-Class corvettes, the Blitz and the Crux. 150 meters in length, they had a distinctly Imperial triangular wedge shape to them, but lacking a protruding command tower and instead possessing a low and much more integrated bridge. There were solar arrays on the rear flanks similar in shape to those on a TIE Interceptor, but much larger. Raider-Class corvettes were sleek and fast, but were still armed with turbolasers, laser cannons, and even ion weaponry.
Due to the hazards and the strenuous nature of hyperspace travel in the Chaos, reinforcements were generally unable to quickly arrive. It was fortunate that their scout had caught the Grysks’ intent and that the Hand had forces nearby, Laceeya thought, as she swiveled away from the viewport and walked to a nearby console.
An officer and crew member sat at their stations, a mirror image of the other console directly across the center walkway. “Lieutenant Apoyarp,” Laceeya said to the young Chiss man sitting at the console on the left. “How much longer until our arrival in the Nyar system?”
“Seventeen minutes Commodore, and Shadow’s Bane and First Light should arrive seven minutes after that if they remain on schedule.” Lieutenant Csap’oyar’pai, who was known by his Chiss core name Apoyarp, answered.
Shadow’s Bane was a Victory I-Class Star Destroyer, a powerful, albeit slow, 900 meter long warship that was packed with turbolasers and concussion missile launchers. The aging vessel had been retrofitted and upgraded with the engines from a Victory II-Class, improving its speed and maneuverability significantly.
First Light was a comparatively much smaller ship, a 250 meter in length Lancer-Class Frigate. Lancers were designed specifically with anti-starfighter defense in mind, and they were armed with twenty quad laser cannon turrets. Being smaller and lighter than turbolasers, laser cannons were more effective for tracking and targeting small, fast, and nimble fighters.
Their more compact size however meant laser cannons inherently were less powerful and thus output less damage than a turbolaser, but when firing at a small ship the ability to aim and fire much quicker made them far more effective for anti-starfighter duties despite that.
The Victory-Class and Lancer-Class complemented each other perfectly, each ship specialized to fill its niche role. Hence why the two were paired up, filling in for the weaknesses of each other.
“Let me know five minutes before breakout. It's going to be a tough battle,” Laceeya said with a sigh, biting the inside of her cheek. “And we all need to be prepared.” She added, raising her hand in a gesture to take in the rest of the ship.
“Yes ma’am,” Apoyarp nodded, facing back toward the controls in front of him, “I’ll be sure to do so.”
Briskly nodding in return, Laceeya strolled further back into the bridge, stopping at a holotable where a man and a woman stood, conversing quietly over the holograms of a few ships. “Captain; Senior Lieutenant.”
“Commodore,” The man with a Captain’s rank plaque on his uniform said, inclining his head toward Laceeya as he straightened. “Senior Lieutenant Shyka and I have just been reviewing our information on Grysk warship designs.”
“Exactly what I came to look at,” Laceeya replied with a hint of a smile. “Give me another overview of the Grysk task force.”
“Yes ma’am,” Captain Kenth Harax said. He was a tall man, with fair skin and dirty blonde hair streaked with grey, and a face that seemed permanently set in a grimly determined expression. He reached down to touch a few buttons on the holotable. “Here they are.” Holograms of four ships of various sizes were projected above the table in ghostly glowing blue. Having already seen the list of ships, Laceeya knew they were in trouble, and reviewing the details of the ships again confirmed her worries.
The scout had reported the Grysk flotilla as being led by a large destroyer-sized ship that was around 1500 meters, roughly half again as large as a Victory Star Destroyer, and just short of an Imperial-Class. Its distinctive dual hulls and wave-break design characterized it as a Grysk ship. It was a class of ship that had previously been encountered by the Empire of the Hand’s forces in past skirmishes.
Laceeya nervously bit her lower lip as she examined the details of the enemy ships for yet another time. A sense of nervousness was continuing to grow inside her at the image in her mind of the battle soon to come.
In addition to the Grysk destroyer, there were two heavy cruiser-sized ships of an unknown design, estimated to be around 700 meters in length from the intel that had been gathered. These two cruisers had a completely different design language from that of known Grysk warships, with boxy angles and a large viewport at the bow. It was likely that of a client species of the Grysk, Laceeya assumed.
One of the reasons the Grysks were so deadly was their ability to suborn, enslave, manipulate, or otherwise coerce a species into carrying out the Grysks' will. If they were able to find inroads to a species’ culture, a relatively small number of Grysks could rule and control a population, or twist a species to send them into civil war. They could essentially multiply their numbers through using their client species as tools and weapons, and gain access to any potentially useful technology or weaponry that species might have.
Laceeya had seen plenty of evidence of the Grysks’ evil, and their ravenous desire for conquest.
The final ship of the Grysk task force was around the size of a light cruiser, roughly 400 meters in length, just longer than the Ethereal. It was clearly of Grysk origin, possessing a similar design language as that of the destroyer.
Laceeya softly exhaled a breath. ”We’re going to have a difficult fight on our hands,” She said darkly, pursing her lips momentarily. Difficult was somewhat of an understatement, she thought darkly to herself. “The facility on Nyar Three has a Nebulon-B frigate, a squadron of TIE Interceptors and a squadron of Clawcraft as its defenses. It’s likely between the enemy fleet that the Grysk task force carries at least two wings of fighters, maybe more. Was there any other data relayed by our scout?”
Senior Lieutenant Bren Shyka shook her head. “I looked over it all myself ma’am, that was all.” Shyka was tall, around Laceeya’s height, likewise wearing a dark grey uniform with red trim, adorned with a single row rank plaque of three blue tiles and one red tile on the left of her chest. Her blonde hair was tied back in a bun beneath her officer’s cap, aside from bangs that laid on either side of her face, falling to her chin.
“Got it.” Laceeya replied, focusing her attention back to the holograms, reviewing details of the Grysk ships. Her eyes scanned the data, noting the specifications of the Grysk ships that had been encountered before, examining their known armament, weaknesses, and other possibly useful details. She thoughtfully chewed the inside of her lower lip as she continued to look over the data. Laceeya had fought against the same types of Grysk warships in battle before, and she knew them to be formidable vessels, strong and powerful.
Warships just like these had killed people she’d served alongside. She knew these would surely kill today. It was a sickening feeling, Laceeya thought, knowing you were entering a battle where people would die. It was inevitable when facing a force so much larger than her own. Her mind ran through scenarios, wishing futilely that there was a solution that didn’t involve loss of life on the Hand’s part. But in this situation it wasn’t a realistic possibility, and thinking otherwise just made it harder when the time came. As always, Laceeya vowed to do absolutely everything she could to protect those under her command, to save as many lives as possible. It was all she could do.
Pulling her attention away from her thoughts and slowly taking a deep breath, Laceeya focused again on the holotable before her. It was easy to spiral into fear, fear of failing and losing her people. She looked closely at the hologram of the Grysk destroyer, where she had found in a prior encounter that the destroyer had a vulnerability around the ventral midsection; there appeared to be an ordnance store in that location that if ignited could explode and set off a reaction that could cause significant damage to the vessel.
Admittedly, it still required the shields to be taken down, and layers of armor to be pierced, but it multiplied the amount of damage dealt than would be able to conventionally be inflicted to the area otherwise. Certainly it was something that Laceeya would keep in mind, even if it was only a relatively insignificant weakness that wouldn’t completely destroy the ship.
“Being familiar with the Grysk ships should at least give us some benefit,” Laceeya said to Harax and Shyka. “The commanders of Shadow’s Bane and First Light will surely have reviewed the data themselves, so we should all be on the same page in regards to their capabilities. As the Grand Admiral originally found, and we’ve seen evidence of, the Grysks seem to focus their attack on enemies closest to them in a battle, regardless of which are actually attacking them. Could be something to take advantage of.”
She stopped and considered for a moment, clasping her hands behind her back. “The attackers will likely have engaged the defense forces for a minute or two when we arrive. The Grysks will probably have sent their client species’ ships to attack, while their own ships stay prepared; they’ll certainly be expecting reinforcements to arrive. We’ll arrive in the outer Nyar system, and then make an in-system jump to Nyar Three. Before that final jump, Paladin will drop off two squadrons of its hyperspace capable fighters, where they’ll separately make the jump.”
“Our pilots are situated in their fighters as well, Commodore, and will be prepared to deploy when the time comes.” Harax put in.
“Good, thanks Captain.” Laceeya replied, inclining her head towards him.
“I have to admit I don’t like our odds ma’am,” Shyka said. “Even with the First Light and Shadow’s Bane, we’re still significantly outnumbered.”
Laceeya pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t like it either, Shyka.”
“Then again we’ve got you here ma’am, so maybe they’re the ones who should be worried.” Shkya said with a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips.
“I appreciate your vote of confidence,” Laceeya said, rolling her eyes, and shooting Shyka a mock glare. “We’ll see if you feel the same way when you find out my strategy is sending you out alone in a single TIE.”
“I feel more confident already ma’am,” Shyka said, the smile on her face growing. “Ah, if only everyone had your strategic genius,” She said in a philosophical tone. “The simple plans are always the best ones they say.” Aside from being the weapons officer, Shyka also specialized in diffusing tension before or during a battle.
Captain Harax cleared his throat, “Shall I do a final check in with the bridge crew, Commodore?”
Laceeya trusted Harax with her life, but he had always been a bit serious. “Yes Captain,” Laceeya replied, bringing herself back to the situation at hand. “Please do.”
Harax nodded and briskly walked away to complete his task. Shyka watched him go and shrugged.
“Not everyone can have your impeccable sense of humor, Shyka.” Laceeya said in response, a wry smile on her face.
“I’ve been told I’m quite gifted in that regard ma’am.” Shyka said.
“I wonder who told you that,” Laceeya said with a raised eyebrow. “Return to your duties now Shyka.”
“Yes, Commodore.” Shyka said professionally, straightening up, and walking over to take her position at the weapons station.
Laceeya turned her attention back to the bridge. She went from console to console, methodically checking systems, and offering encouragement or advice to the crew and officers when necessary. The minutes continued ticking by, and she completed her trip around the bridge and made her way back to the front.
Waiting for a battle like this was always difficult for Laceeya. The knowledge that people would die, and the certainty of that future hung over her. She took a slow deep breath, trying to exhale her tension.
“One minute until our arrival in the Nyar system Commodore,” Lieutenant Apoyarp said from the helm, looking up from his controls and displays to glance over at Laceeya. “All sublight engine systems are prepped and online, and operating at maximum efficiency.”
“Thank you Lieutenant,” Laceeya replied, looking over to the dark-haired woman, clothed in a light grey navy crew jumpsuit, sitting at the communications console located beside and to the right of Apoyarp’s. “Rikal, I’ll want you standing by and ready to open up communications with the Paladin once we exit hyperspace, and then the local defense forces once we arrive at Nyar Three.”
“Yes ma’am.” Communications specialist Renayy Rikal replied.
Laceeya walked closer to the viewport, watching the swirling tunnel of hyperspace with anticipation, wetting her lips. She heard the sound of footsteps on the deck behind her, announcing the arrival of Captain Harax.
“Ten seconds until emergence from hyperspace Commodore.” Apoyarp said into her thoughts.
Laceeya took another deep breath, counting the seconds in her head.
“Breakout in three, two, one, now.” Apoyarp called out, the tunnel of hyperspace morphing into streaks of stars, and then into the stillness of open space. “Arrived in the Nyar system Commodore.”
“Thanks, Apoyarp,” Laceeya said, looking out the viewport into the star-filled void of space to see a Raider-class corvette arrive on either side of Ethereal, and with a flicker a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier joined the Raider on the starboard side. Her task force had arrived at the edge of the Nyar system, and in mere minutes Laceeya knew they’d be engaged in fierce combat. She squared her shoulders and swiveled to face behind her. “Prepare an in-system jump to Nyar Three, be sure to provide some space so we don’t come out right on top of the Grysks. I’ll give you the signal when it’s time to jump. Rikal?”
“Comm is all yours Commodore, here’s the Paladin.” Rikal confirmed.
“Thanks, Rikal,” Laceeya said before speaking into the microphone. “Captain Temana?”
“I’m here Commodore,” Captain Temana, the commander of the Paladin, replied over the comm, “The Paladin and our fighters are ready.”
“Good. Launch Scythe and Scimitar squadrons, and tell them to stand by for our signal to make the final in-system jump,” Laceeya ordered. “We’ll be sending you both calculations for the jump.” She gestured toward Apoyarp and Rikal, indicating for them to send the hyperspace calculations to the other ships of the task force.
“Understood Commodore, giving the order for them to launch now.” Temana replied.
Out the viewport, Laceeya could see the small forms of starfighters emerge from the glowing blue hangars of the Paladin. The two dozen fighters formed up by their respective squadrons, with Scythe being a uniform group of Nssis-class Clawcraft, and Scimitar being an eclectic group of various advanced TIEs.
“Scythe and Scimitar squadrons have launched and are standing by,” Captain Temana’s deep voice said over the comm. “And we have received hyperspace calculations.”
“Rikal, bring the Blitz and Crux into this comm channel.” Laceeya said. Rikal promptly pressed a few buttons on her controls before giving Laceeya a nod in confirmation. “This is the Ethereal, all ships check in and stand by to jump on our signal.”
“This is Crux standing by.”
“Blitz is ready and standing by.”
“This is the Paladin, we await your signal.”
“May warriors fortune smile on our efforts,” Laceeya said, swallowing. “Prepare for in-system jump…now.”
The stars flashed into lines, but before they could shift to the swirling tunnel of hyperspace, they transformed back into stars, and the flotilla of vessels were there, the cold star-filled darkness of space all around them.
“Arrived at Nyar Three ma’am.” Apoyarp reported.
“Sensors, full scan,” Captain Harax called out from behind Laceeya.
“Have the other ships launch remaining fighters, but hold off on our own.” Laceeya ordered, narrowing her eyes to peer at the distant red, purple, blue, and white mottled form of Nyar Three. The Empire of the Hand had an important installation on Nyar Three, one which contained a small production facility that turned out Clawcraft starfighters.
It was a key installation, and the base also housed numerous repair barges and the necessary parts and equipment to repair larger warships, albeit not with the same capabilities as a full shipyard. Regardless, having a facility that held the resources to repair warships this far out in the Chaos was extremely valuable.
Laceeya wondered how costly the battle would prove to be as her eyes discerned the small specks of far off warships occupying a point in space between her task force and the planet.
“Sensors show four enemy warships,” Ensign Frenara reported from the sensor station, on the port side of the bridge. “They match those seen by our scout. The two heavy cruisers appear to be preparing to engage the defense force.”
“Understood. Apoyarp, bring us toward them.” Laceeya said, wetting her lips expectantly. Flashes of light in the distance showed the exchange of laser fire from the ships, and the hum of the Ethereal’s engines increased as the thrusters pushed the massive bulk of a capital ship forward.
Captain Harax relayed the command to the rest of the task force, and the two corvettes and the Paladin began to move alongside the Ethereal. Forming up in flocks around the capital ships, the remaining fighters took their places, and as the group moved forward the more vulnerable Paladin fell back slightly behind the others in a protected position.
Rikal looked up at Laceeya from the communications console. “Commodore, the commander of the Hailstorm is on the comm.” She stated.
“Thank you Rikal,” Laceeya responded, taking a step over to stand beside her, speaking into the comm, “This is Commodore Laceeya of the Ethereal.”
“Commodore, this is Commander Olpheng of the Hailstorm. It’s a relief to see you,” The relieved voice of the Nebulon-B frigate’s commander said. “You’re here just in time. We’ve begun to engage the two heavy cruisers, but the Grysk ships appear to be hanging back.”
Sure enough, just as Laceeya had expected the two Grysk ships were sitting back out of range of the ground defenses, letting their clients do the dirty work, while they remained prepared for Imperial reinforcements to arrive. Taking refuge in the upper planetary atmosphere, she noted that the Nebulon-B frigate Hailstorm was wisely utilizing the additional protection from the weapons emplacements on the ground. The Hailstorm was an Imperial Nebulon-B, a 300 meter impressively capable warship that was far more armored and protected than the stripped down and unfinished version used by other factions. Armor shrouded the ship, with a bulkier midsection was built up to be significantly sturdier.
”Order the base’s commander to open fire with all the weapons they have,” Laceeya said chewing her lip anxiously, watching as the two heavy cruisers moved into range of the Nebulon-B. “Have them lower the shield for just a moment, fire a burst and then close it.”
“Very good, Commodore.” Harax replied with a nod. Flurries of light crossed between the opposing ships as they exchanged volleys of laser fire.
Slicing through the atmosphere, bright green bolts from the three ground turbolasers lanced into the attacking heavy cruisers, their shields soaking up the bursts. One of the cruisers returned fire to the locations of the ground weaponry, but following Laceeya’s directive, the base’s commander had anticipated the response and the shield was raised preemptively, absorbing the bolts with ease.
Hailstorm continued to trade shots with the larger enemy ships, while doing its best to stay at the edge of their range. It was performing admirably, but its shields were clearly being strained against the pair of larger vessels. Retreating further into the upper atmosphere with its thrusters radiating a blue glue, the Hailstorm attempted to seek shelter in the safety provided by the ground weaponry.
Shifting its vector to follow, one of the alien heavy cruisers lined up its bow on its new trajectory, and as it did the base’s shield began to lower. The three huge ground turbolasers fired quick bursts at the cruiser, supplemented by the massive ground ion cannon unleashing a couple shots of its own. Splashing across the cruiser's shield, the bolts broke through to hit the exposed hull. Slamming against the vessel, the powerful ion blasts discharged electrical energy that arced across its body, disabling sensors and weapons.
The other heavy cruiser had promptly returned fire in an attempt to eliminate the ground weapons, but the shield was again raised just in time. Vulnerable from the ion attack it had sustained, the first heavy cruiser abandoned its pursuit of the Hailstorm, seeking safety outside the range of the ground based weaponry to recover.
Laceeya shifted her attention to the ships that the Ethereal was driving towards, tapping her fingers on the side of her leg in nervous anticipation.
Maneuvering to face the Ethereal’s approach vector, the bows of the destroyer and light cruiser were ponderously swinging around. As the Ethereal continued to near the waiting vessels, Laceeya could make out the small forms of starfighters weaving around the engagement zone, exchanging bursts of laser fire and dodging blasts from capital ships.
As she watched, two Grysk fighters were clinging to the tail of a Nsiss-Class Clawcraft, the small fighter juking and weaving to evade their blasts but unable to break free from their intrepid pursuit. A TIE Interceptor sped across perpendicularly to the Clawcraft’s vector, its quad laser cannons firing brilliant green bolts of plasma precisely into the first Grysk fighter. The assault was right on target, quickly overwhelming the electrostatic barrier and then ripping into the fighter. Shattering with a violent explosion, debris from the small craft was hurled haphazardly into the path of the second Grysk fighter.
The accuracy and ferocity of the attack made it so sudden that the Grysk pilot was unable to fully evade the debris, and it glanced off a small chunk of metal. Recovering quickly, the Grysk pilot regained control, but it disrupted the fighter enough for the Interceptor pilot to swing in behind and unleash a quick salvo of laser fire, taking down the electrostatic barrier and striking a glancing blow on the fighter’s side. The Grysk fighter relinquished its pursuit on the Clawcraft and dove hard, coming around in the opposite direction it had been heading.
Like a determined nighthunter, the Interceptor stuck with its prey, tailing behind as it matched the enemy craft’s maneuvers. Frantically swerving side to side and up and down in unpredictable motions to remain a difficult target, the Grysk fighter leaned into a sweeping left turn, before pulling hard to starboard to try and escape to a group of fellow fighters.
But its attempts at escape were to no avail, and the Interceptor stayed glued behind it. Following with a dizzyingly tight right turn that allowed it to line up its weapons, lasers streaked from the wingtip cannons and blasted the enemy craft’s thrusters, turning the starfighter to slag in a roiling ball of fire and gas and shrapnel.
Laceeya let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been keeping in. The brief scene of the dogfight she’d witnessed had taken no more than ten seconds, and other groups of opposing fighters clashed elsewhere throughout the battle zone.
The Paladin had disgorged its remaining two squadrons of fighters, and they formed up around the Hand’s task force, ready to join the skirmish themselves.
“Commander Olpheng,” Laceeya said, speaking to the commander of the Nebulon-B. “We need to keep them occupied for a little longer. We have a Victory Star Destroyer and a Lancer on the way, which should be arriving in around five minutes.”
“Understood, Commodore.” Olpheng responded.
Laceeya signed off, her eyes sweeping the space ahead. “Swing us wide to port, and skirt around the outside,” Laceeya ordered. “Captain, get on the comm and have a squadron of fighters as well as the Blitz sent to support the Hailstorm.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Laceeya eyed the approaching enemy vessels. The two Grysk ships faced the Ethereal, the massive destroyer dwarfing the light cruiser that was sitting to its starboard side. It was a harrowing sight, the immense bulk eclipsing the view of Nyar Three.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Laceeya did her best to calm her fears. It wasn’t fear for herself, but for the officers and warriors under her command. They were her responsibility, and she’d do everything she could to keep them alive.
Of course, in war that wasn’t always possible. Sacrifices had to be made, and warriors died to protect the lives of others. But Laceeya would do anything to minimize the loss of life. As she gazed out the viewport, she knew she’d be sending many brave warriors to die today. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach, but she pushed it down, doing her best to display confidence and calm.
She spun around to speak to Apoyarp. “Keep the Grysk destroyer between us and the light cruiser as long as possible. The longer we can keep this a one on one the better.” Laceeya said.
“A one on one between a hawkbat and a rancor.” Shyka muttered from the weapons station.
“Thanks for your input Shyka.” Laceeya said drily, motioning to Rikal at the comm station to reopen the channel to the Hailstorm, and then moving to the sensor console to look at the displays. Shyka was right. Peering at the display screen, she examined the destroyer. The huge Grysk ship was four times longer than the Ethereal, but length only told half the story, with the mass and surface area allowing a devastating amount of weaponry.
Shifting her attention back to the Hailstorm, she saw where the Blitz and a squadron of Imperial fighters were on their way to offer support for the besieged frigate. “Commander Olpheng,” Laceeya said into the comm, “Be sure to stay within range of the ground weapons, and take vector…237. We’re sending help your way.”
The Nebulon-B had continued fleeing from the two heavy cruisers intent on destroying it, hoping to nurse its wounds. As ordered, the frigate stayed within the protective range of the ground based weaponry, and its fighter squadron pulled back to help support it. As the Hailstorm shifted its vector to the one specified, the two heavy cruisers followed at the same angle, farther away from the planet where they couldn’t be damaged by the base’s weapons emplacements. This kept them just out of range of their prey, allowing the Hailstorm some breathing room to recharge its shields and assess damage.
With its drives humming, the Ethereal continued to move forward, the Crux ahead of it and the Blitz off to the side, with the Paladin taking up the rear. Splitting off, the Blitz and a squadron of TIE Interceptors from the Paladin headed on their way along the vector that would bring them to the aid of the Hailstorm.
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“Senior Lieutenant,” Laceeya said. “Prepare to open fire on the incoming enemy fighters.”
“Yes ma’am,” Shyka said with a nod, her hands in action as she tapped at buttons. Speaking into her headset, she began issuing orders to the gunners.
Laceeya stood at the viewport, tapping her fingers on the side of her leg in anticipation, feeling her heart speed up from anxiety and adrenaline. Gazing out at the approaching Grysk fighters, the groups of enemy craft emulated a swarm of angry stingflies as they approached. The Crux and Ethereal plunged into the cloud of fighters, laser cannons and turbolasers blazing with flashes of light. The squadron of Imperial fighters, consisting of twelve TIE Interceptors that had been upgraded to have deflector shields, mixed with the Grysks, chasing down targets and dodging laser fire.
“Enemy fighters approaching.” Frenara called out in warning.
“Target the lead fighters of the squadron.” Laceeya ordered.
“On it.” Shyka acknowledged quickly.
Sweeping towards Ethereal, the squadron of Grysk starfighters raked the light cruiser with their laser cannons. Laceeya winced slightly to herself as the deck vibrated beneath her boots, the bursts of energy absorbed by the shields. Retaliating at its attackers, the Ethereal’s own point defense laser cannons spat shafts of green energy, managing to shoot down three of the fighters as they approached, and another two as they passed by.
“Keep us on the portside of the destroyer Apoyarp,” Laceeya said. “They’re overconfident and will assume a ship that big is easily capable of taking us out on its own. If we keep the destroyer between us and the light cruiser, I doubt that it’ll move to attack us unless it’s needed. Should buy us some time of having only one ship shooting at us.” She pursed her lips. “Even if it is a destroyer.”
Laceeya stared out the viewport in thought for another moment, forming a plan. She stepped over to the sensor station, looking over Ensign Frenara’s shoulder at the displays.
“Captain,” Laceeya said. “Order the Crux to take vector 139 by 241 towards the Grysk destroyer. Have it be prepared to break off its attack run on my command. Apoyarp, you’ll keep the Crux directly between us and the destroyer.”
“Yes, Commodore.” Captain Harax said.
“Shyka, ready the bow ordnance launchers with ion torpedoes,” Laceeya ordered to Senior Lieutenant Shyka, who was seated at her position at the weapons console on the left side of the bridge, “And fire three salvos at my command.”
“On it, Commodore.” Shyka said, her fingers deftly flying across the console as she murmured into her headset, communicating orders to gunners and readying the ordnance launchers. Modified to have six variable munitions launchers that gave the Ethereal additional firepower, the launchers offered unique flexibility and could be loaded to fire either proton torpedoes, concussion missiles, ion torpedoes, or even breacher missiles. Located around the ship, there were two launch tubes positioned at the tip of the prow, as well as two each on the starboard and port side.
“Rikal,” Laceeya said. “Make sure the Crux ready to break off its attack when I signal.”
Rikal nodded in confirmation from her seat at the comm station.
Beginning its run, the Crux was aggressively arrowing in at full speed toward the massive Grysk destroyer. The destroyer’s lasers lashed out, intent on swatting down the annoyance of the smaller ship. With the Ethereal carefully positioned where the Crux was between it and the destroyer, Laceeya waited as patiently as she could manage while the Raider-Class corvette closed in.
“Fire now.”
There was a small jolt as the two capital ship grade ion torpedoes were shot from their tubes, followed by another, and another, as two more pairs of torpedoes were fired. Riding trails of vibrant flame, the torpedoes traced the exact vector as the Crux, concealed from the destroyer’s line of sight and hidden from sensors by the corvette’s engine emissions.
A thunderstorm of laser fire was raining upon the Crux as it accelerated towards the destroyer, battering through its shields. Her heart beating in her ears as each second crawled by, Laceeya knew she had to get the timing just right for this to work.
“Get ready to have them break off…now!” Laceeya ordered, and just as the first pair of torpedoes were nearing the Crux, the smaller ship brought itself in a hard turn to portside, projectiles just missing its stern as they flew past unimpeded.
With the ion torpedoes concealed from view, and distracted by the Crux’s attack, the Grysks didn’t notice the threat until it was too late. Lasers fired out desperately at the groups of torpedoes in an attempt to shoot them down, but they were already too close and there was no time for the Grysks to neutralize them.
The torpedoes successively slammed into the ventral midsection of the Grysk destroyer, sending crackling electrical energy snaking across the hull. Particularly effective at taking down shields, the six ion torpedoes were enough to overwhelm the defenses in that location, with the last pair discharging their payload against the hull, disabling weapons and sensors in the affected area.
Sporting fresh battle scarring across its hull from its brief encounter with the destroyer, the Crux was driving hard away from the larger ship.
“Take us in Lieutenant,” Laceeya said to Apoyarp at the helm, “And open the bow hangar doors and prepare fighter launch. Captain, get on the comm and order our remaining fighters in the outer system to jump in. Send one squadron to help the Hailstorm and the other here with us.”
“Yes, Commodore.” Captain Harax’s gruff voice replied.
The Ethereal moved forward toward the destroyer, opening fire with its turbolasers as it approached their effective range. Ethereal’s gunners targeted the vulnerable point on the enemy vessel, and turbolaser blasts bit away at the strong hull.
Dozens of weapon emplacements rotating to line up shots, the destroyer returned fire, and Grysk fighters continued to swarm the Ethereal. Jarring impacts from laser fire shook the Class-546B as its shields strained to absorb the torrential onslaught from the destroyer. Laceeya winced from the battering, silently urging the shields to hold. Her task force just needed to hang on a little longer, until Shadow’s Bane arrived.
Clusters of Grysk starfighters flew in at the Ethereal, the more nimble laser cannons swiveling to track and shoot down the fighters. Turning her gaze away from the destroyer for just a second, Laceeya saw an accurate shot pierce the cockpit of one of the enemy fighters, leaving the craft mostly intact, drifting lazily off into space with its pilot killed.
Laceeya sucked in a breath, filling her lungs. “Launch fighters and have them target where the torpedoes hit.” She directed. The deflector shield projectors in the area had been shorted out by the ion attack, leaving the Grysks unable to redistribute shield power to that small section. The destroyer began to roll, trying to keep its weak spot out of the Ethereal’s turbolaser fire.
The first starfighter, a TIE Defender, shot out of the bow hanger of the Ethereal. A unique feature of the 546 cruiser and its variants, the launch tube had repulsors between the mandibles of the bow, allowing it to rocket the ship to attack speed immediately, as if the fighter was a missile. A TIE Avenger followed next, and one by one the fighters exited the hangar in quick succession, a mix of other advanced TIEs and Nssis-class Clawcraft.
Immediately accelerating to reach attack speed, the Ethereal’s squadron caught the Grysks off guard. The combination of that and the incredible speed and agility of the advanced TIEs allowed them to sail through the enemy fighter screen and penetrate the effective range of the destroyer’s weapons. Turrets spun in response as point defense cannons attempted to target the new threat, but the Imperial pilots evaded the laser fire with graceful maneuvers, twisting around shafts of lasers.
With impressive agility and finesse, the Hand’s starfighters pulled up as they neared the destroyer, briefly skimming over its hull before they unleashed a salvo of proton torpedoes and concussion missiles into the unshielded and already blackened location on the Grysk destroyer. Explosions erupted and dug deeper into the destroyer, exposing decks to space and venting the ship’s atmosphere. Air flooded out to nourish the flames that now billowed from the fresh wounds on the destroyer.
Splitting off in all directions, the Hand’s fighters broke by pairs as they sped across the destroyer. A horde of Grysk fighters that had been diving in at them latched onto their tails, frantically firing to protect the besieged destroyer. Dogfights broke out between the starfighters, and Laceeya watched the Imperials execute maneuvers with incredible precision, tearing apart multiple Grysk fighters with their laser cannons.
As a violent tremor ran through the deck, Laceeya consciously shifted her focus away from the duels between the opposing starfighters. The Ethereal was pouring turbolaser fire into the Grysk destroyer, its bow turning as it approached to bring all of its portside weapons to bear. Green bolts of plasma erupted again and again from the turbolasers, a stream of energy flowing into the destroyer’s shields and the smoking section of the hull.
Sheets of laser fire and missiles returned from the Grysk destroyer toward the direction of the Ethereal. Laceeya chewed her lower lip nervously, feeling her ship rumble beneath her soles as lasers continued to strike the shields. The smaller ship was moving at full speed parallel to the Grysk destroyer, making itself a difficult target and allowing it to evade some shots. Yet the sheer quantity of laser fire meant that the Ethereal was still undergoing heavy fire.
“We’re losing shields in a few spots ma’am,” Ensign Asmaril called out to Laceeya from the defense station further back on the port side of the bridge, his tone focused but with an underlying hint of worry. “Redistributing deflectors to try and fill in the gaps.”
Laceeya nodded in silent acknowledgment as the Ethereal continued its pass, a rain of relentless fire directed toward them from the destroyer. She could feel her ship rattle as spectrum laser bolts found their way through weak spots in the deflector shields and scorched the hull. She worriedly compressed her lips together in thought, conscious of her heart beating rapidly in her chest. That destroyer had a lot of weaponry, and the Ethereal’s defenses were being fatigued against the onslaught of firepower.
“Missiles incoming on vector 302, ma’am.” Frenara warned.
“On it.” Shyka responded, giving orders to the weapons crew to target the approaching missiles. A few point defense laser cannons had shifted their attention from enemy fighters to approaching missiles, firing at them until they exploded, leaving nothing but bits of missile shells to drift through space.
Vibrations continued to course through the Ethereal beneath Laceeya’s feet as the destroyer assaulted the smaller light cruiser. A jarring impact rocked the ship, and she held herself upright on the frame of the viewport. “Shields down in sections 4, 7, and 8!” Asmaril said urgently, tension filling his voice. There was a small clatter as fragments of missile debris harmlessly drifted into the Ethereal, and then a couple larger jolts as more laser fire exploded against the hull. Despite the thick armor plating, the blasts were still chewing into the metal.
And then the Ethereal was slipping past the destroyer’s range, sections of hull still glowing orange from the heat of lasers, and ghostly wisps of smoke rising from gouges. Laceeya took a deep breath, her body tense and heart racing.
“Commodore, communications from Senior Captain Farwick,” Rikal reported, sounding relieved. “Shadow’s Bane and First Light have arrived in the outer Nyar system.”
“Finally.” Captain Harax muttered from behind Laceeya. She exhaled a sigh of relief herself. The Victory-Class Star Destroyer held a significant amount of firepower. Her small task force wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer without assistance.
“I have them on the comm ma’am.” Rikal said.
Laceeya nodded, taking a couple long strides to stand beside her. “This is Commodore Laceeya,” She said, narrowing her eyes in thought as a plan formed in her mind.
“Commodore,” A man’s voice said from the speaker. “This is Senior Captain Farwick of Shadow’s Bane. We’re calculating an in-system jump as we speak.”
“Hold off a minute Senior Captain,” Laceeya said slowly. “I have an idea. Ready a jump along the vector we send you, and let the planet’s gravity pull you out of hyperspace. No need to calculate a jump, just wait for my signal.”
“Yes ma’am.” Farwick said slowly, sounding a little confused by Laceeya’s instructions, but trusting her intuition nonetheless.
“Apoyarp,” Laceeya said, getting the helm officer’s attention. “Start taking the ship into the planet’s gravity well, the Grysks will follow,” She licked her lips in anticipatory nervousness. “Senior Captain Farwick, when the Grysk destroyer enters Nyar Three’s mass shadow, you’ll jump in along the vector we specify. The planet’s mass shadow should pull you out of hyperspace right alongside the Grysk destroyer.”
“Yes Commodore,” Farwick said, sounding more confident now with the plan laid out. “I understand.”
“You’ll then perform a broadside fusillade, firing all your available missiles and weapons at the Grysk destroyer.” Laceeya continued. “And be sure you raise your shields immediately after hyperspace breakout, and launch fighters when it’s safe to do so.” She added.
“Commodore,” Apoyarp called out. “We’re entering Nyar Three’s mass shadow now. The destroyer is pursuing and will be in the mass shadow itself in less than twenty seconds.”
Laboriously turning its immense bulk around, the destroyer’s massive thrusters were burning to propel the ship in pursuit of its intended prey.
“Stand ready to jump, Senior Captain,” Laceeya said, counting down the seconds. She traced her fingers over the seam of her pants in nervous anticipation. Spectrum laser fire from the pursuing destroyer flickered past the Ethereal on all sides, and Laceeya could feel the ship rumble slightly through her feet every time one found its mark. Apoyarp nodded in her direction, indicating that it was time.
“Now.” Laceeya snapped.
With a flicker of motion as it tore open the void to shoot in from hyperspace, the triangular shape of a Victory I-Class Star Destroyer appeared off the starboard side of the Grysk destroyer. Shadow’s Bane promptly raised its shields, and immediately began unleashing its powerful weapons armament. The turbolasers lashed out, picking away at the larger ships shields, and a thunderous salvo of concussion missiles tore from its forty portside launchers.
The volley of missiles caught the Grysks off guard, and although the point defenses were able to shoot down a few of the missiles, a dominant portion still slipped through and slammed into the destroyer. Fire enveloped the starboard side as missiles exploded, overwhelming the shields and digging into the hull. Armored panels were blackened and vaporized, sensors and weapons emplacements were razed from the surface of the ship.
A light storm erupted between the two ships, flashes of green and red and white and the trails of missiles crossed the space. Shadow’s Bane was firing another round of concussion missiles, but this time the Grysks were prepared. The Grysk destroyer fired clusters of tiny missiles, a technology known as “dibbers”, designed to intercept and destroy enemy projectiles.
As the dozens of tiny projectiles streamed away to neutralize Shadow’s Bane’s second fusillade, the huge Grysk ship rolled on its center axis, attempting to hide its wounds from the Victory-Class that was assailing it.
“Bring us around,” Laceeya snapped. “And get those shields back up. We’ll catch the destroyer between us and Shadow’s Bane. And Captain, get on the comm and have the Crux stay with us to help screen against fighters.”
The two acknowledged their orders and set about completing their tasks.
Laceeya turned her attention to the fighters that were flitting around the Ethereal. The TIEs were ferociously protecting the Ethereal from the horde of small Grysk craft, but they weren’t invulnerable. As Laceeya watched, a Grysk fighter scored a glancing blow on a TIE Interceptor that was separated from its wingmate.
The Interceptor fired a few bursts into the fighter that it was pursuing, destroying it in an explosion that seared the darkness of space, before pulling up into a climb with smoke pouring from its left ion engine. Two Grysk fighters swung in behind it, firing laser cannons at the TIE. The pilot rolled to the left, dodged down, and threw the ship into a tight right turn, attempting to lose the Grysks.
“Shyka,” Laceeya said with urgency. “That Interceptor is damaged and needs help.”
“On it, ma’am.” Shyka replied promptly.
Watching with nervous anticipation, Laceeya saw lasers slice through the void at the pursuing Grysks. On the other side of the engagement zone she could see another TIE accelerating to full speed, desperately trying to come to the aid of their wingmate.
The Interceptor continued to dodge and juke and turn, pulling a 180 degree turn to head in the direction of their approaching wingmate, with the Grysks in tow. One of Ethereal’s gunners managed to take out the second pursuing Grysk ship, puncturing its hull and transforming the small ship into a rain of shrapnel.
But the Interceptor was moving more sluggishly with the damage it had taken, and with a final burst from its laser cannons the remaining Grysk pursuer found its target. Chunks of shrapnel from the solar arrays and hull were flung in all directions as the TIE detonated.
On the bridge, Laceeya sighed heavily, an empty feeling growing in her stomach. Losing anyone always felt like a stab in her heart. Inhaling deeply, she pushed down the feelings, trying not to think of the pilot who had died because she had sent them into battle.
Only seconds later, the other TIE Interceptor arrived to aid their wingmate. It rocketed in with incredible speed, firing a burst of verdant green energy at point blank range, destroying the Grysk fighter and avenging their fallen friend.
Pulling her attention inward, Laceeya stepped over behind Frenara, looking over his shoulder to study the sensor display. The two heavy cruisers that had been pursuing Hailstorm had broken off upon the arrival of the Victory Star Destroyer, and were now moving in the direction of the main battle, with the first heavy cruiser driving directly toward Shadow’s Bane.
The second heavy cruiser’s vector put it on course to intercept the Ethereal, but it had pursued Hailstorm much further and thus had more space to cover. The Grysk light cruiser that previously hadn’t engaged the Hand’s ships was in motion as well, moving underneath the larger destroyer so that it could fire on Shadow’s Bane.
Swiveling around to face the bow of the Grysk destroyer, Laceeya felt the hum of the engines rise as the Ethereal moved toward the port side of the destroyer. With Shadow’s Bane situated on the starboard side of the huge enemy ship, and Ethereal approaching from port, the Hand’s ships were able to pin the destroyer between them, both vessels preparing for broadside salvos against the larger ship.
Discharging laser blasts at enemy fighter craft from its position off to the Ethereal’s starboard flank, the Raider-Class Corvette Crux lurked farther from the Grysk destroyer but still in a position where it could help protect from enemy fighters. It was doing its job well, peppering Grysk craft with blasts from its multiple laser cannons, sending one careening out of control.
“Shyka,” Laceeya said. “Prepare breacher missiles in the port side launchers and proton torpedoes in the starboard side launchers. Asmaril, what’s the status on the shields?”
“They’re back up ma’am,” Asmaril replied, looking at the readouts on his displays, “But not at full power. The enemy fighters’ continuous attacks have prevented them from fully recharging.”
“Understood.” Laceeya said. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully as she gazed out the viewport at Grysk starfighters that continued to make attack runs on the Ethereal. The Hand’s fighters and the Ethereal’s point defense weaponry was preventing most of them from causing any serious damage, but there were so many of them. Their numbers, combined with the skill of the Grysk pilots, made it impossible to stop them from dishing out enough damage to weaken the shields and scorch the hull in a few places.
“Missiles and torpedoes are loaded and ready, Commodore.” Shyka spoke up from the weapons station.
Turbolasers exchanged fire as the Ethereal entered the effective range of the Grysk destroyer. Impacts from laser blasts shook the Ethereal, the shields weakened but holding for the moment. Deep gashes and smoldering flames covered the side of the destroyer that faced the Ethereal in a number of locations from the missile barrage dealt by Shadow’s Bane.
Although weakened, the destroyer still had plenty of life in it to put up a strong fight, spraying laser fire and shooting missiles at the Imperial ships on either side.
“Take us in close for a broadside,” Laceeya said to Apoyarp. “Get ready to invert the ship to present our starboard side, on my signal.”
Apoyarp nodded, and the Ethereal shifted to move closer to the destroyer. Laceeya felt cold sweat accumulating on her palms from the stress of the intense battle. Joining the main skirmish, one of the enemy heavy cruisers was beginning to shower Shadow’s Bane with laser fire as it came towards it.
“Shyka, fire breacher missiles on my command,” Laceeya commanded. “Aim for the weak spot ton the destroyer that I pointed out earlier.”
“Yes ma’am.” Shyka replied.
Thrusters propelling it forward, the Ethereal slid alongside the larger ship, flashes of laser fire lighting up the void between them. “Fire now, three salvos.” Laceeya called out.
Laceeya felt the slight jolt beneath her feet as the breacher missiles shot from their launch tubes, three successive pairs aiming for the ventral midsection of the Grysk warship. The Grysks saw the attack and responded, groups of tiny dibber missiles intercepting the breachers.
Shortly before the missiles could impact the hull, the dibbers smashed into them with small explosions, preventing them from impacting the destroyer.
However, breachers were not normal missiles; they were a technology developed by the Chiss, and adopted by the Empire of the Hand through Chiss who had brought the designs. The unique ordnance carried a payload of acid with the ability to eat through a warship’s hull, damaging and weakening the metal to make the area particularly vulnerable to laser fire.
So when the dibbers intercepted the breacher missiles so close to the destroyer, the acid inside was released. The speed of the missile meant the globs of acid continued to drift forward, splashing over the already damaged hull and burning into it. The attack by Shadow’s Bane had battered the shields down in that area of the destroyer, leaving it exposed to such an attack.
“Shyka, focus all turbolasers on the area of impact.” Laceeya said. The Ethereal shook violently as a couple missiles found their way through to the hull. “Apoyarp, roll the ship now.”
“Commodore, we have hull breaches in sections 4 and 7,” Captain Harax said tightly. “We’re evacuating the areas and sealing them off.”
Laceeya clenched her jaw, gritting her teeth. Her heart pounded in her chest. She could see fires burning in a few spots on the port side of her ship, where the missiles had impacted and dug deep gashes, piercing the armor. Her ship was taking a serious beating, and she tried not to think about the possible casualties caused by the hull breach.
The scene outside the viewport was slowly turning upside down, as the Ethereal rolled, inverting itself to cover the damaged areas from the destroyer’s weapons, and present the fresher shields and armor on the starboard side.
“Asmaril, redistribute deflector shields,” Laceeya said, wiping her sweaty hands on the sides of her pants.. “And Shyka, intensify turbolasers and fire proton torpedoes.”
Shyka nodded, the green bolts of plasma from Ethereal’s turbolasers converging on the ventral midsection of the destroyer. Two pairs of powerful capital ship-grade proton torpedoes swept away from the Ethereal, arrowing straight at the targeted area of the destroyer. Damage to that area from the previous attacks had destroyed or damaged weapons emplacements and sensors, allowing three of the four torpedoes to get through and collide with an explosion into the blackened pit.
Suddenly the ordnance cache in that section ignited, and a large explosion eclipsed the many small ones. A second and third explosion followed, trailing down the underside of the destroyer from the chain reaction set off by the detonation of the ordnance store. A few weapons clusters burst on the hull of the ship, and the crippled destroyer ceased firing as it redirected all its power into the thrusters and recharging its shields.
The destroyer drove hard away from the Imperial ships, fleeing the enemies that had hurt it so severely. The second heavy cruiser that had abandoned its fight with the Nebulon-B was nearing, on its way to try and protect the larger Grysk vessel.
Laceeya let out a long breath in relief upon seeing the damage that was done to the Grysk ship.
“Apoyarp,” Laceeya called out. “Move us to help Shadow’s Bane. Asmaril, divert some of the power from weapons to recharging our shields.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Senior Lieutenant, excellent work, both you and your gunners.” Laceeya said to Shyka.
“Thank you Commodore.” Shyka said.
“I guess you’ll be getting a raise.” Laceeya said with a wry smile, trying her best to release the tension and anxiety she felt.
Shyka rolled her eyes in response. “Finally someone appreciates my greatness.” She said, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“This battle’s still far from over,” Laceeya said grimly as the Ethereal began to close in on the enemy heavy cruiser. Shadow’s Bane had received heavy fire from the destroyer, and its hull was now pitted in multiple spots from lasers and missiles. The Grysk light cruiser was attempting to position itself behind Shadow’s Bane, where it could strike at the thrusters and be out of range of many of its weapons.
First Light, the Lancer-Class frigate, was staying within range of the Victory Star Destroyer, picking off enemy starfighters with its 20 quad laser cannons. Shadow’s Bane had also launched its starfighter complement, and the TIE Interceptors were shooting down fighters, and one squadron began an attack run on the Grysk light cruiser.
The light cruiser’s point defense weapons flashed as they fired at the Interceptors, striking the solar array of one and sending it spinning out of control. Another Interceptor was hit, and it exploded in a ball of flame.
“Captain,” Laceeya said. “We need to get that light cruiser off Shadow’s Bane. Send the Crux and a Clawcraft squadron to help.”
“Yes, Commodore.” Harax replied, speaking into his headset to issue the orders.
The enemy heavy cruisers had launched their remaining two fighter squadrons that they had been holding in reserve, which were now skimming over Shadow’s Bane, followed closely by TIEs. A couple were vaporized by the point defense cannons, and more were shot down by the pursuing Interceptors. The enemy fighters fired missiles at the Victory Star Destroyer, and although a few were picked off many went through to hit the weakened shields, overwhelming them and punching through to the hull.
Explosions gouged into the armor of Shadow’s Bane, opening decks to space and leaving fires burning. The fighters swooped past, moving to the rear of the vessel to support the Grysk light cruiser in an attempt to damage the engines and cripple the Star Destroyer.
Shadow’s Bane was trying to get clear, but it was being pummeled on its side by one of the heavy cruisers, while the second one was accelerating to intercept Ethereal and prevent it from aiding the damaged Victory-Class.
The Nebulon-B Frigate Hailstorm and its squadron of TIE Interceptors was returning to the battle, having fled long enough earlier to recharge its shields and complete running repairs on the damage that it had sustained. Blitz and the two squadrons of fighters that Laceeya had sent to aid the Nebulon-B had been crucial in allowing Hailstorm to recover.
The smaller Raider-Class Corvette and the TIE’s had screened Hailstorm from fighters. With the help of the weapons emplacements on the ground they had been able to harass the two heavy cruisers, keeping them away from the damaged Hailstorm. The corvette would dash into range of one of the heavy cruisers and make a quick pass, firing all its weapons before quickly breaking off and escaping to flee outside of the larger ships weapons.
This process was repeated, and whenever one of the heavy cruisers made a move on Hailstorm, the three powerful turbolasers and the ion cannon on the ground would open fire. The Blitz had sustained significant damage however, and several TIEs had been lost, along with one of the huge turbolaser emplacements on the base having been destroyed by a concentrated volley of laser fire that had slipped through before the shield was raised.
“Captain Harax, send the two squadrons we sent to support Hailstorm to make an attack run on the first heavy cruiser,” Laceeya said, “Have them focus fire on the engines, and send Blitz to do the same.”
“Yes ma’am,” Harax replied, “The commanders of those two squadrons report they’ve taken losses, the Interceptor squadron lost five and Scythe squadron lost three.”
Laceeya grimaced. Being a starfighter pilot was incredibly dangerous, and although losses were expected it didn’t make them any less painful. Laceeya knew the other Imperial fighter squadrons were taking losses as well. The number of Grysk fighters vastly outnumbered the Imperial, and despite many having been destroyed they still swarmed the Imperial ships.
The two squadrons weaved through enemy fighters, and one of the Clawcraft juked around a missile with incredible maneuverability, and fired a burst from its laser cannons. The bolts ripped through the cockpit of the Grysk starfighter, tearing it apart and sending chunks of it flying.
Shadow’s Bane was completing a pass on the heavy cruiser, charging forward parallel to it with its turbolasers blazing in a broadside. Lasers tore into the hull of both ships, as they slid past each other, and the Victory fired another round of missiles, aiming at the thrusters of the heavy cruiser.
Explosions dotted the space between the ships as missiles were picked off by laser cannons, the rest finding their mark and detonating. Clouds of smoke poured from the engines of the enemy vessel s the missiles exploded, and a few of the thrusters went dead, their glow extinguished.
Shadow’s Bane passed it by, its port side a mess of charred metal from the enemy’s attack. Starfighters clashed in the space around the capital ships. First Light was picking off Grysk fighters with its laser cannons, and the Grysk light cruiser had shifted its focus to the smaller ship to try and prevent this.
Shadow’s Bane was sluggishly swinging its bow around to make another pass, but it had received damage to its engines as well from the Grysk light cruiser’s attack. It ponderously completed its turn, moving even slower than usual due to the damage to its thrusters.
The two squadrons of fighters that had been sent to deal with the heavy cruiser were now making their attack run, unloading ordnance and firing laser cannons at the large ship. A point defense cannon caught one of the TIE Interceptors on its starboard solar array, vaporizing the wing and causing the fighter to spin wildly out of control, crashing down into the cruiser and smashing across its hull. A Clawcraft was shot down by a Grysk fighter, exploding into a ball of fire.
The rest of the Imperial fighters reached their primary target, unleashing their full firepower into the damaged thrusters of the heavy cruiser. With a brilliant flash the reactor blew, sending a chain reaction of explosions down the ship. Chunks of the hull ripped out from it and flew in all directions.
The carcass of the heavy cruiser drifted lifelessly, permanently out of the fight.
“Bring us toward the light cruiser and open fire.” Laceeya said, indicating the enemy vessel which had singled out and was pummeling the smaller Lancer-Class Frigate, First Light. She tapped her fingers against her thigh in anticipation as the Ethereal reached the Grysk ship and began to fire its turbolasers.
“Ready a round of breachers in the port side launchers,” Laceeya said. “Followed by ion torpedoes.”
“Yes ma’am.” Shyka responded.
The Ethereal rumbled as laser fire splashed over its shields. Green and red bolts of plasma and the shimmering white of spectrum lasers were exchanged between the two ships.
“I need perfect timing and accuracy from you and your gunners,” Laceeya said. “You’ll fire breacher missiles, followed by three pairs of ion torpedoes. Get ready for a breacher screen, targeting them with laser cannons, and fire at them on my command. Got all that?”
“Yes, Commodore.” Shyka nodded, throwing a tight smile her way.
With its turbolasers blazing brilliantly at the enemy vessel, the Ethereal moved alongside the light cruiser, laser cannons procedurally shooting down missiles that were being fired from the enemy ship. One of the many missiles managed to penetrate the point defenses, exploding against the hull and taking down a section of the Ethereal’s shields.
Violent tremors shook the deck from the explosion, as if an earthquake was happening inside the ship. “Asmaril, redistribute shields to strengthen section 5.” Laceeya called out, wincing to herself at the punishment to her ship. “Shyka, fire breachers and then ion torpedoes. Stand by with laser cannons for a breacher screen.”
Shyka and Asmaril gave confirmation on their orders, and Ethereal lurched with the launch of the missiles. As Laceeya expected, the Grysk light cruiser fired a cluster of dibbers, tiny missiles to intercept those fired by Ethereal.
“Fire now.” Laceeya directed.
“On it, ma’am.” Shyka’s gunners carried out their orders with their usual precision, green shafts of energy from the laser cannons lancing out and into the two breacher missiles. The projectiles burst into a cloud of acid, spreading wider as its momentum carried it forward, sweeping across the tiny dibber missiles. The acid melted through the shell of the tiny missiles, seeping into their innards and detonating them in small balls of fire.
Sailing through the space that was now free of dibbers after jumping from their launch tubes, the ion torpedoes impacted the Grysk light cruiser on its flank. Arcs of electrical current crawled over the ship, tearing down shields and disabling weapons and sensors.
With the Grysk light cruiser’s full attention now on the Ethereal, the damaged Lancer-Class First Light was making its escape. The Ethereal glided past the enemy vessel, which itself was in motion to try and obtain a better line of fire for its guns.
“Bring us around for another pass, and focus all turbolasers on where the shields are down,” Laceeya said, trying to work moisture into her dry mouth as she looked to take advantage of the Grysk ship’s vulnerability. “Load and fire breacher missiles on our next pass, aiming at the same area. Captain, order Major Safiram and his squadron to hit the opposite side of the light cruiser.”
“Very good, ma’am.” Captain Harax replied.
Banking around in a tight arc, the Ethereal was lining up its bow for another broadside. The Grysk light cruiser had done the same, driving hard at the Imperial ship. Missiles and lasers began shooting out toward Ethereal, and turbolasers rained green fire in return.
A TIE Avenger and a TIE Defender shot by the viewport, followed by other advanced TIEs from Ethereal’s elite squadron. The Avenger jinked side to side and up and down, evading laser bolts from an oncoming fighter.
The two ships arrowed toward each other in a head to head, the TIE Avenger dancing around laser fire. It rolled to its left side, and then fired a burst from its four wingtip laser cannons, which hit the center of the Grysk fighter, popping its shields like a bubble and blowing the craft apart in a fireball. The pilot of the Avenger side slipped to skirt around the explosion, and came alongside their wingmate as they approached the light cruiser.
They systematically targeted weapons emplacements and sensors, using data obtained from previous encounters with the Grysks to strike in the optimal locations to inflict the most catastrophic damage. The two fighters weaved around the enemy light cruiser, destroying weapons with laser cannons or missiles. The remaining ships of the squadron were following, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
The Ethereal was pouring turbolaser blasts into the Grysk ship, and two breacher missiles managed to slip through and disgorge their acid payload. The acid leeched into the hull, making it a ripe target for laser fire. Laser bolts delved deeper into the body of the light cruiser, eating away at armor and bulkheads.
“Shields down in section 6 ma’am!” Asmaril called out urgently.
The Ethereal trembled suddenly as a pair of missiles, shielded by dibbers, from the light cruiser sneaked through the Ethereal’s point defenses. With an explosion they impacted the hull towards the bow of the ship, breaking through the armor and sending a jolt coursing through the deck.
“Evacuate and seal off those areas!” Captain Harax’s voice boomed. “And get those shields back up!”
“Apoyarp, roll the ship to present our ventral side.” Laceeya said, her heart pounding in her chest, working to keep her voice calm.
The Imperial starfighters were making another pass, and as they reached the deep scar caused by the Ethereal, they unloaded all their ordnance. Proton torpedoes and missiles all lanced into the deep gouge. Explosions racked the middle of the ship, and it began to disintegrate around the area of impact.
“Get us clear of the Grysk ship.” Laceeya said to Apoyarp. He nodded briskly, adjusting the ship’s position.
As the Ethereal and its fighters turned and put all power to their thrusters, the Grysk light cruiser detonated in a cloud of fire behind them. Bits of shrapnel, the remnants of what had been the enemy vessel, rained harmlessly across the surface of the Ethereal. The Grysks were incredibly thorough about not allowing their information and technology to fall into enemy hands, and thus employed self destruct systems on all their ships for this reason.
The remaining heavy cruiser was engaging the Shadow’s Bane, and had dealt out more damage to the already wounded Star Destroyer. Blitz was drifting motionless to the side, its engines smoking and gashes covering its armored hull. The Hailstorm was supporting the scarred Victory-Class in attacking the enemy heavy cruiser, streaks of lasers shooting from the Nebulon-B’s weapons. The heavy cruiser was receiving significant damage itself, with ghostly wisps of smoke rising from fires that smoldered across its body.
As Laceeya watched, the heavy cruiser fired up its thrusters to full power and began to drive away. The remaining Grysk fighters pulled away from their assault, retreating in the direction of the crippled Grysk destroyer that was waiting far in the distance. Behind them, the lifeless heavy cruiser that had gone down in the battle was vaporized in an explosion, as it too triggered its self-destruct.
“Let them go,” Laceeya said wearily. “They’re going to escape regardless. We’ve bled enough today.”
“Yes ma’am.” Harax confirmed, and relayed the order to the other ships.
“Secure from battle stations,” Laceeya said with a weary sigh. “Get started on repairs, and send one of our TIE Reapers to help look for surviving pilots.”
Laceeya stood at the viewport, looking out at the carnage from the battle. Partially destroyed fighters sat dead in space, and chunks of shrapnel drifted throughout the area. It had been a bloody battle, but it was a resounding victory against the overwhelming size of the Grysk task force.
Of the almost 200 Grysk fighters that had been fielded, around half had been eliminated by the Hand. The massive Grysk flagship had been crippled severely and their light cruiser destroyed. Of the two heavy cruisers used by their client species, one had been destroyed and the other extensively damaged.
The Ethereal was the second largest ship in the group of Imperial ships, and yet it had been slightly smaller than the smallest capital ship the Grysks had brought. The two heavy cruisers had each been nearly double the size of Ethereal and only slightly smaller than Shadow’s Bane, which was the largest ship the Imperials had at the battle. The huge Grysk destroyer had dwarfed even the Victory-Class, and had measured around four times the length of Ethereal.
Looking at it from the surface, there was no way the Empire of the Hand should have won. Her glowing red eyes flicking around the bridge, Laceeya was filled with pride at what they had been able to accomplish. The trust that had been so strongly built between her crew and the other ships of her task force had certainly not been misplaced.
Laceeya cleared her throat and wet her lips. “You all performed exceptionally today,” She called out, raising her voice so the whole bridge could hear. “A lot of people would have died without you all. I’m honored to have the privilege of serving alongside each one of you.”
But Laceeya knew that despite the valiant efforts of the Hand’s warriors, victory was not without a price, and as reports from the other commanders came in, that price was made clear.
Shadow’s Bane sported fresh scars from bow to stern, with chunks taken out of its hull in small places across it. Thankfully, Victory Star Destroyers were strong ships, capable of withstanding heavy punishment. However, it had lost half of its 36 TIE Interceptors. Laceeya exhaled heavily, thinking of all the brave pilots who had died fighting to protect others.
The other fighter squadrons had suffered as well, and of the total 124 starfighters fielded by the Empire of the Hand, 78 now remained. The damage the Hand’s capital ships sustained had inflicted numerous casualties as well, where decks had been opened to space or explosions had broken through the hull.
The burden of command never got easier, and Laceeya always had the thought that perhaps there was something more she could have done to save lives. She breathed deeply, steadying herself and doing her best to push down her feelings. She could feel them later in private, for now she still had to present herself as the calm and implacable commander that her crew needed her to be.
Laceeya tried to take solace in the fact that in the face of overwhelming odds, they had managed to pull a victory, and that was the most important thing. The Empire of the Hand’s base on Nyar Three had been protected, and all the Hand’s capital ships had survived, despite severe damage to several.
She glanced back out the viewport, at the sea of carnage. The other capital ships floated in space, assessing and nursing their wounds. Shuttles scoured the battlefield, searching for surviving pilots.
Thoughts swirled through Laceeya’s mind as she stared out the viewport. Will it ever get easier? Will death never not hurt?
But no, to be invulnerable to the death of others would require sacrificing a part of herself that she could not. Laceeya cared deeply about those under her command. She didn’t distance herself from her subordinates the way some commanding officers did, it simply wasn’t in her nature to be able to do so. But the stronger personal connections she had with them made death all the more painful when it occurred.
Laceeya continued to oversee things on the bridge, checking in with the commanders of the other ships and assessing damage. Starfighters returned to their ships, and wounded crew were rushed to medical bays. Diagnostics were run and repairs started.
The chaos finally began to die down, and after a few hours Laceeya turned over the watch to Lieutenant Stanis, and began walking to her quarters.
It was a victory, she told herself. But the ghosts of her fellow warriors who had died continued to haunt her.
