| abstract
| - On the Broadsword Standing with her hands clasped behind her back, Captain Caiton observes the tactical display with a thoughtful expression, a look of anticipation in her gaze. "Ladies and Gentlemen," she says in a clear, carrying voice, "tonights entertainment will include a light dinner entree of NR fighters and a Carrack Cruiser called the Admiral Rishar and it's escort fighters. Tonights agenda is simple," she continues calmly, "stop their blockade running attempts and blow as many of them into smithereens as possible." The light tone of voice belies the expression on her face and the forward view. His eyes are focused, his face one of seriousness. He mutters, "We will have my family's homeworld back." "We take it back, Count Diaglo, and cleanse it of the filth that has riddled the surface, poisoned the water and atmosphere, and purify it of the alien stench," Caiton replies in a quiet, determined voice. "Coruscant is the home world of our people, and it's time the Empire takes back what is ours." <SPACE> The blockade was set, and ready. Thanks to the information gathered through hours of interrogation, the ISB had given the Navy exactly what was needed to once and for all crush the futile attempts to break the strangle hold the Empire had on the trade routes to Coruscant. The Imperial force had wasted little time in acting on the tips. Operation Shado Kolpo, as the Republic was calling it, was going to meet its demise tonight. With subtle movements across the fleet, the commanders had moved the best and the brightest into position. The Broadsword's battle group which included the Prowler and Pillager were each in position. The War Shrikes and Viper Squadrons patrolled the space between the larger craft, waiting for the Freighters and their escort to make their fateful jump. Like hungry wolves stalking a wounded deer, the Fighters and Cruisers closed the noose. The primary objective of this operation is to escort bulk freighters through the Empire's surrounding blockade of Coruscant, in an effort to bring in necessary trade to bolster an economic crises that the Empire's blockade has caused on Coruscant. The Empire had brought in an Interdictor to stop them blockade runners from being able to escape this time. Tonight, the Empire shattered hopes and dreams. (Jal'Dana) Oblivious to the danger before them, though some of the ranking officers might have that strange tickle at the nape of the neck or chill to the hands, the New Republic forces rendezvous and turn through space to head for the scouted holes in the blockade. Sometimes things are too easy, sometimes they are simply routine, and it is hard to tell the difference. Once they are under way, the comms fall silent and the lights are low, everyone going through the motions and hoping for nothing to say after the fact. Three sleek carracks form a protective triangle, between them smaller corvettes herd a fleet of blocky freighters toward the gap. All around them, the dark is starred with a triad of squadrons; B-Wings and Y-Wings hanging close to the herd, A-Wings and X-Wings pushing forth into the vanguard positions. All of them slide together into the waiting dark, seeing the silence ahead as only safety. (Aramis) In command of the War Shrikes for this battle was Lt Krieg Inrokana, piloting a scimitar bomber. The squadron had four of them flying for this mission, along with 8 TIE Interceptor MKIIs. They were ready and waiting, prepared for the rebels pathetic attempt to bring supplies to an otherwise prison planet. Calling up to the squadron he looks to Blitz to make sure the proper operations checks had been performed, then "War Shrikes, bombers will be in pairs with flanking escorts. Beta 3 and 4 will take 5 and 6 on search and destroy for enemy fighters. Remember your training; fly well." He changes frequencies to the Broadsword, "Control, War Shrike squadron in position." Blitz was on the scanners searching for initial signs when the rebel ships appeared. Calling the squadron and over the Broadsword's comm, "War Shrikes, attack speed - engage targets." Blitz was pulling up targetting solutions, the first thing in range were the A-Wings and X-Wings - very soon did they have a lock on an X-wing. Wasting no time, they open up the initial volley with concussion missiles, an appropriate eye-opener. On board the Admiral Rishar, the leading carrack, the alert goes up as soon as the leading X-Wing rolls out of the path of the oncoming missiles. "Shadow One, this is Shadow Five, I'm taking fire," snaps Lieutenant Allerdyce. He pulls up his targetting array and sets his sights on the source of the first volley. The moment the target goes green, he fires his laser cannons. (Aramis) <Beta-3> Signaling the affirmative of the relayed order, Alex brings up the targeting computer and falls into formation with Beta's 4, 5, and six. Alex's training time in the Mk2 is limited, which makes her both acutely focused and grimly determined to prove worthy of the transfer to the Broadsword and the squadron attached to the ship. While the computer indicates War Shrike leader opening fire on the first x-wing within range, Alex guides the Mk2 into a course adjustment before locking target with the first A-Wing with range and opening fire. The A-wing in question, the one who was targetted by Alex, heads towards the oncoming trio of Imperial ships, forming up with two others of its squadrons as they try to intercept the Ties. It veers slightly of course as soon as the pilot sees the laser bolts headed towards it, going into a sharp climb upwards. And so do the other two accompanying it, trying to draw to them individual fighters. "Copy Shrike Leader. Forming up on your wing, Three, lead us right in there, we've got your back. Everyone make sure they keep their eyes on those bombers." Beta 4 increases throttle to catch up with Beta 3, falling in behind and to port. "Delta formation." Five falls in on his starboard side and behind, with Six to port and behind Five. "Select your targets, fire when ready." Beta 4's pilot, Odion, begins searching the space for targets. He notes 3 firing on an A-Wing and decides to follow up on an X-Wing trailing behind it. Hitting a button, his places crosshairs on the ship on his HUD, maneuvering his firing crosshairs over it and firing a short burst. <Broadsword> With those lightly spoken words, Caiton signals to the Pillager to stand ready with sensors and additional read out information, as a back up loop for the Broadsword, in the adage that two heads working on a problem are better than one. With the Pillager not in the actual action, it affords the Broadsword and this task group a better view of the action from 'afar' such as it is. Caiton signals to her tactical officer to begin pulling up firing solutions, "Fire all weapons when ready," she orders simply, not pulling any punches in this engagement. She turns then to Lt. Nelhrn, "Time to remind them what the word 'blockade' means, Lieutenant," she says with a faint smile, "bring us in." The commander of the NR task force stands on his bridge in stunned silence. "How could this be?" his second officer states. A Twi'lek woman with years of experience at the helm says, "It's like they knew we were coming!" The whole force move forward, no place to run to. The Captain of the ship finally says "All batteries full spead...get the rest of the fighters airbone...and pray!" Guns on the cruiser blaze forward towards the Broadsword. Keline looks over her shoulder as she sees her captain look at her before she nods, says "Aye, ma'am" and turns back to her console. She types out a command on her board and the Broadsword's engines flare in response as the ship begins to move forward toward the enemy force. Keeping on flight path and doing minor adjustments to dodge, Krieg takes the bomber thought a daring path towards the enemy capital ship. It currently was protecting the freighters, and it needs to be taken out before a successful mission can be carried out, or at least disabled enough to take down by the Broadsword. They bring up targetting and lock onto the ship, an easy target if they didn't have to dodge fire incoming and ensure their missile's success. They get good tone and fire off another salvo, destined for the enemy capital ship at long range. Allerdyce, in Eagle Five, follows the blasts from his laser cannons, full-tilt into the heat of things. Nothing fancy, just a roll and dodge as he tries to lock onto Blitz and fire again. Beyond him, Shadow Squadron is similarly occupied, streaking out to stop the incoming larger fighters while the A-Wings of Rapier scatter to meet any incoming TIE fighters. The Y and B wings of Vega are already moving forward to engage as well, trying to draw attention from the freighters. <Beta-3> "Copy that," Beta-3 says as she misses her initial round, tracking the A-wing as it falls back, forming up with others of it's squadron, spreading out in the classic formation to attempt to draw the Mk2's into close combat. Alex checks her visuals, with Beta-4 starboard and slightly aft of her position, 5 and 6 taking up their spots in the Delta formation, she selects another target with care and fires again. By not taking the bait and being drawn closer to the initial fighter spread, it allows more target selection time. Rapier Squadron quickly spreads out, each fighter choosing a target and making it known to their wingmates, of course, they're smart enough(to varying degrees) to stay relatively close to each other should they need to back each other. Rapier-7 changes his heading with surprising ease, his vessel's speed allowing the Sullustan pilot that much, and he heads towards the one that targeted him before, Rapier-6 and Rapier-8 settled ontop, and below him, and formed into a wedge. Rapier-4, preoccupied, with another fighter, just barely manages to roll over this fighter to the side, the fighter's belly facing "up", and the cockpit under it. Odion resists smashing his fist on the panel as his laser streak by the other X-Wing, missing completely. Realigning his targets, he calms himself a little, focusing intently on the other fighter. So much in fact that he begins to drift out of formation a little. Beta Five wakes him and he falls back in, and focuses back in on the X-Wing. Smiling as he gets a solid tone, he squeezes the trigger and sprays death across the space. <Broadsword> "Targeting the cruiser now," the tactical officer calls out in a crisp voice, the display screen tracking the volley as it traces towards the cruiser, intent on the target at hand. With the initial volley landing a decided hit, the bridge crew tackles their jobs with more energy, more vigor. "Again," Captain Caiton says simply, moving to stand near the large transparisteel windows overlooking the battle, "fire at will." She relies on Lt. Nelhrn to maneuver the ship out of harms way once the enemy comes within range. The Griffon warship called the "Admiral Rishar", which is a Carrack Cruiser, and two squadrons of fighters, continue to make a push towards the Broadsword and the Prowler. Fire from both Imperial ships rakes the side of the Carrack causing the crew to shake in their stations. Meanwhile, the 20 plus freighters try and avoid the bomber and heavy turbo laser that pound away at their formations. "RETURN FIRE" screams the commander of the NR cruiser and his ship pours fire upon the Broadsword. (Jal'Dana) Keline recieves a warning on her terminal screen as the Admiral Rishar opens fire. She types in a command on her screen which causes the Broadsword to angle itself away from the enemy ship's fire while keeping it in a position to open fire themselves. Enemy fighters roll in on them, to which Krieg and Blitz were not suprised. A few blaster bolts spray past, and one skims their outer shields dropping them slightly. "Shrikes, keep those fighters off of us." The call is calm, as there is no need to do anything crazy as of just yet. Just a scratch. Blitz lines up the next shot, calling out distance, then good lock. Krieg acknowledges by triggering the next salvo and, "Missles away." The break just as soon as they are clear to again evade enemy fire, making sure of the different ships around them and the threats they currently posed to their craft. <Beta-3> "Like I'm not even at the controls," Alex mutters to herself, not on channel, thankfully keying it off between commands relayed. While the computer rattles off a list of available targets, Alex selects another A-wing to aim for this time, letting that one that so adeptly evades her fire go for the moment. With the tactical display lit up with targets to select from, finding another one to fire at isn't that much of a challenge and she fires on another one while Beta-5 does the same. Allerdyce, in Shadow Five, rolls after Blitz again. The whole convoy is shredding around them and it's obvious that there isn't going to be much left to take home. He waits for the call to come to start the freighters pulling back but it doesn't come and he knows that it would be meaningless anyway. They've come this far, it was succeed or die, and tonight, it's die. His targeting system goes green again and he fires proton torpedos at his target. "Beta 3, I'm peeling off with Six. We're going to get this fighter off that bomber. Make sure no one comes after us." Beta 4 banks and falls out, 6 following behind quickly, both turning for Krieg's bomber. "Fire on my mark, Six..." Odion lined up his crosshairs before going green. "Mark!" They both opened fire at the same time, spraying their green lasers of death at the fighter persuing Krieg and Blitz. Rapier-2 isn't so lucky as its other companions, the Beta's fire taking it straight in its small body, and the cockpit is not spared, fortunately for the pilot, somewhat. There it lies, fire coming out of the holes in its body that should not be there, providing the sole light coming off it. Its engines haven't blown, though they're quite dark. Then, Rapiers-5,6,7, formed into a vertical wedge, finally reach their targets, and while the first two fire on Beta-5, Rapier-7 covering their tail, just in case. The missiles fired from the bomber fly unimpeded for some time, before one of the batteries on their targetted vessel pick them up, and the gunner scrambles to blow them up before it's too late. The resulting fire takes out a few, but not all, the rest finding their targets and sending fragments drift away after they have been blown away. <Broadsword> Calling out the near miss, the Broadsword TO lines up another firing solution through the swarm of the ships in the targeting field of vision and fires yet again. With so many weapons to bring to bear, the delicacy involved in hitting the designated target with such force as to obliterate it and not fill the intervening space with a cloud of debris that would hinder their own fighters is a challenge. The sort of challenge that a good tactical officer lives for. Captain Caiton remains near the transparisteel windows, observing the engagement both visually and through the tactical read out on the nearest computer screen. "Prepare tractor beams as well," she orders after a moment, "we'll lob some of their own debris back into their shields as necessary." The NRCRV Republic Revenge continues to hold in its battle line with the other frieghters and shuttles of its class. The gun batteries continue to remain on full alert awaiting the Imperial Fighters to swarm it...or worse the ISC Broadsword. (Stone) Keline continues to try to keep the ship away from the worst of the enemy fire, her eyes flicking from the screen to her board, as she keeps the ship on a heading that'll give the tactical officer a good firing solution. She glances briefly at Lynae, nodding, before she turns back to her console and prepares the tractor beams for Lynae's command. The leading Carrack, Admiral Rishar, rocks with the blasts from the bombers, its shields shuddering and streaking with light every time a missile strikes. Fire from the Broadsword and the Prowler light up her bow and sides and on the bridge, her commander clutches his console to keep in his seat. To port, one of the flanking carracks rolls away trailing flames into the void, the victim of a lucky strike. She falls so hard and fast that her bow sweeping around catches a corvette and turns it into a ball of blue and orange light. Anyone who thinks that the dark is frightening hasn't been to war in space. "Full speed ahead," comes the order from the leading ship, over all comms. "And return their fire, anyone who's hearing this. We'll hold them as long as we can. When we're gone, they'll start to take the freighters; we can't let that happen while we still anything to throw in their faces." The Rishar's gunners set their sights on the Broadsword and open fire one more time. The Corvette Prowler slips from under the protection of the larger cruiser Broadsword, and pushes past to attack the freighters. Aggressiveness was one of Jal'Dana Rall's standard tactics and she wasn't about to let all the fighters in Viper Squadron get all the kills. The Prowler was going to feast on the bloated forms of the Republic bulk freighters. To late have the ships trying to run the blockade found out that this was a trap. As the Prowler breaks through the formation, it's turbo laser batteries expertly manned rip apart a helpless freighter, reducing the numbers and then moving on to another target. "Offer no quarter" Commander Rall tells her crew. The bombers discontinue their attack run, leaving the capital ships to slug it out unless their assistance is requested. As Krieg and Blitz roll out they're hit again, this time a little harder, but nothing that will bring the shields down significantly. They roll in now on the freighters, targetting and firing when they have tone. Again, they attempt to dodge, but let their escorts do that for them, to a degree. "War Shrikes, we're assaulting the freighters, keep the fighters off our back!" Krieg and Blitz keep juking as they make their next run; trying to keep from being hit. <Beta-3> A quick grin forms on Alex's face as she see's her target explode in a nice ball of flame, adjusting her target accordingly and lining up on the next A-wing in the 'neighborhood'. "We'll keep the road clear," Beta-3 replies to Beta-4 via com, opening the channel again to Beta-5 and preparing to provide cover fire to 3 and 6 to keep the fighter away from the bomber. The X-wings of Shadow squadron form up quickly enough, at least those who can shake off their current targets, or blow them up if they can. Shadow-5 is included in that mix. The pilot veering off his target and sending his fighter fly towards the bombers now headed towards the freighters. After all, they are the reason this battle is happening in the first place. And the pilot quickly lines within his targetting range the bomber that just came back from a bombing run against one of the Carracks, Krieg's, a squeeze of the firing button, and red bolts are headed towards the bomber's tails. The A-wing targetted, Rapier-7, by Beta-3 ziz-zags after being put in the spotlight, the pilot trying to draw away this particular Tie away from the main formation, and at the same time manage to not get hit. (Rasi) Taking aim at the starfighter seeming to take the lead, Shadow-5, Beta 4 begins locking on to that target. "Six, pick someone and take it out. Don't worry Shrike Lead, these boys will be gone in a few minutes." As he tone goes green, he opens up harshly on Shadow-5. (Odion) Sitting on the starboard wing of Shadow 5, the X-Wing Shadow 7 and its pilot take sharp note of the green fire erupting from the direction of Beta 4. Rolling towards the threat craft, Shadow 7's pilot keeps a steady hand on the stick and a sharp eye on the heads-up display of the targeting computer. As his quarry and his cross hairs coincide, the X-Wing driver squeezes his weapons trigger, sending a salvo of hell-fire red blaster bolts in the direction of his adversary, Beta 4. (Kesander) <Broadsword> With the Broadsword maneuvering at ordered, Lynae smiles grimly as one Carrack dissolves in a ball of flame, clipping a Corvette and taking it along with. "So nice of them to take out some of their own vessels, I may have to send a thank you card," she murmurs before shifting tactical displays and surveying the fighters dogging the bomber that War Shrike Leader is piloting. The incoming fire alert sounds off and while relying on Nelhrn to maneuver the ship accordingly, "Incoming fire," she says simply before turning to the TO, "Lets take a few more of them down, shall we?" she suggests, indicating the Admiral Rishar again with a nod, "We'll peel away their escort ships then take the convoy apart," Caiton says with another one of those eerie smiles. The NRCRV Republic, responding to the command from the Rishar, bids farewell to the freighters she's escorting and pulls up to aim for the Broadsword. With any luck, the Empire will be more interested in... no. One of the bombers makes a perfect strike to the drive of a short little freighter out of Tatooine. Maybe it was being piloted by smugglers, maybe it was being piloted by saints, none of that matters except that they're dying because of someone's error in calculation and, maybe worse, everything they're carrying is spinning off in a hail of fire. The Republic rolls to take on the bombers. "Rishar, this is Republic. We're all in." Another freighter dissolves into light and fire even as the Republic is taking aim. Keline glances at her screen as the enemy corvette and cruiser blink from the screen, allowing herself a slight smile at Lynae's words, before she continues her attempts to keep the ship out of the worst of the fire, accelerating gradually and dipping the ship down slightly, so that hopefully different areas of the shields are impacted while not moving the ship enough so that their own shots miss. The Prowler lives up to its name, moving through the freighters, the ship's ten Turbolaser Batteries eating away at shields, hulls, and lives with the ease of a knife through butter. It wasn't a fair fight, the Corellian Corvette was made to hunt the under protected transports and freighters. On the Bridge Jal'Dana watches through the view screen as the hopes for food and medical supplies were dashed as the enemy ships broke apart in flames and twisted metal. Atmosphere venting into the whole of space gives the wreckage a sort of halo. But the Commander of the Prowler has no feelings of mercy "Open a line to the Broadsword, let them know there is blood in the water" the Commander says coolly to her communications officer. "And radio Viper Squadron, tell them to wipe out the enemy fighters, all of them." <SPACE> The last hit wansn't so friendly, as it blows out the shields of the bomber, seding the remaining laser fire into the hull of the craft. It shakes with a severe shudder, to which Krieg calmly says, "Hold course Blitz, we stay on the frieghters." Though the outer hull is scored and damaged, they press on into the attack runs on the freighters, getting good lock and firing missiles. Blitz keeps up with calling things out while Krieg does his best to keep the enemy fighters off their back. "War Shrikes, we need more cover." His voice is still calm, a bomber can take a massive amount of damage before it goes down. They still had a mission to do. They're getting incoming fire from the capital ships, they're in that close engaging freighters and taking them down one by one, fortunately they only get a few near hits as they pass through the shadow of light. On board the Rishar, there is an immense fountain of sparks that rises into the air as the shields finally give their last. On the bridge, the light is red, the halls are dim, and klaxons blare as the ship puts all of her effort into staying intact just a little longer. The carrack lists and starts to roll and her commander snaps out, "Hold her steady. Take aim!" If everyone is focussed on fighting, no one can panic about dying. Smoke boils down through the shield center, fire creeps into the halls. There is a whistling as the void sucks out the air and with it the flame, but that is little consolation to the fleeing technicians. "Close off all compromised areas," comes the order. The emergency doors slam shut without hesitation. The commander doesn't give it another thought, even as the oyxgen drains from that section. "Gunners fire." <Beta-3> With Beta-5 working in tandem and Beta-4 and -6 working on removing the clingons from War Shrike Leader, Alex misses that initial shot, making her average seem to be about fifty percent, but that's subject to change at a moments notice. Seeming to be not in the cross-hairs of any particular fighter at this exact moment so lines up again and takes a shot at the next A-wing with Beta-5 doing the same. One of the shuttles assigned to serve as the last line of defense to the bulky freighters positions itself to stand between the oncoming bombers and the freighters themselves, giving them precious time if ever they are to escape. Its pilot, and the co-pilot seated beside him, yet another Sullustan male and a Twi'lek male respectively give each other grim nods before they set their ship on the nearest bomber. The first taking the helm, while the second whatever meager guns there are. And as soon as they are within range, he fires at the nearest bomber, Krieg's. The A-wing, the one targetted by Beta-3 tries to roll away from the oncoming fire, only to be caught by the other vessel's fire, Beta-5's, being struck first on the right wing, and then on the engines, resulting in quite a nice display of firework, if it wasn't so tragic. Again, Shadow-5 zig-zags away from the bolts directed at it, just before it goes into a sharp downward dive firing of a few more shots at the targetted bomber. Unfortunately, the pilot should have contented himself with dodging, the fire aimed at it catching it straight in the tail and leaving it dead in space. Cursing silently as red lasers fly by his viewport, Odion drops his speed dramatically, falling under and behind the attacking ship and taking aim, firing his lasers at close range. Just as he does he gets on the comm, just thinking. "Beta 3, Shrike Lead could use some help over here. Got a...'few'...fighters on his tail. I thought I saw the shields blink, could get hairy for him real soon. Alphas Three and Four if you would assist us." An affirmative blinked over the comms and the indicated ships began coming in behind Beta 4, falling in and stitching more death into the contingent of Republic fighters behind Krieg and Blitz. The pilot of Shadow 7 emits a string of vile curses as Beta 4 manages to dodge his salvo. The only other available target then being one of the scimitar bombers. Focusing intently on his heads-up display, the X-Wing driver skillfully manuevers his ship into firing position and then upon confirmation of weapons lock, squeezes weapons triggers once more... sending a heavy volley of angry burning crimson blaster bolts at the attacking Imperial craft. Of course, his devotion to his task comes at a price... and a mortal one at that. For as fire from Imperial capital ships and from the TIE interceptors converge on his ship there is no time to evade. "Damn it," are the last words from the pilot's lips. A blinding white flash the last image on his retinas. The human nervous system can only register impulses in microseconds. But a fleeting fraction of that is required for the X-Wing to disintegrate in a catastrophic explosion that vaporizes both machine and pilot. (Kesander) <Broadsword> Captain Caiton braces one hand on the side of the computer terminal nearest as the incoming fire scores a glancing hit on the Broadsword. Thanks to Nelhrn's adept handling, the ship had maneuvered away from the worst of it after the shots fired on the Rishar land and do significant damage to shields and hull, her sensors indicating that the shields are down this time. "Ahh, there's the ticket," Caiton says in a low voice, keying in another firing solution and nodding to the TO to take his time and make this shot count. With a corresponding nod the TO lines up on the Rishar and firing again, tracking the shot carefully, "Steady as she goes," she says quietly, trusting her bridge crew to hold to their designated tasks. The Corvette NRCRV Republic Revenge dives into the fray to defend the freighters, but she's hampered by the fact that her commander is trying not to hit any freighters and the Imperials, capital ships and bombers alike, don't care what they hit as long as it dies when they do. The bombers aren't as fast as some enemies but the area is huge and full of debris, it's like trying to shoot wolves in the trees. Her gunners are tracking for another volley when the scans flare red. A huge freighter, one out of Nar Shaddaa, packed from bulkhead to bulkhead with food, loses her starboard engines and, before she can respond, veers heavily to that side and down. The corvette throws all thrusters aft and away too late. She goes down in flames, crushed between the Nar Shaddaa ship and another freighter out of Bothawui full of medical supplies and droids that was passing too close beneath in the 'safety' of her shadow. The fireworks are stupendous and the three roll away together into the black, skeletons fusing into one with the white heat of the flames. Keline complies with the order, keeping the ship's course steady, as she keeps her eyes on the screen to keep track of the enemy fire that continues to be directed at them, only vaguely registering the destruction of the other ships, as her fingers move across the board. The crippled Rishar, plunging recklessly toward the Broadsword, is already listing heavily, her navigational systems damaged. "Shut down the noise," her commander snaps. "Hold course, fire at will." No one needs the racing red lights and wailing klaxons to tell them to be afraid. In the dim light of the bridge, the crew work silently and quickly to aim and fire as many times as they can before the inevitable comes. The commander sits back in his seat now, his second standing behind him, white-knuckled grip on the back of his chair keeping her on her feet. The burning of the freighters can be seen like lanterns floating on a dark pond. "Sound the retreat," the commander orders the communications officer. "Let them save themselves if they can." It is, in the grand scheme of things, a small gesture, but a fair enough last order. The Rishar holds her course, faltering guns flaring erratically, and the strike from the Broadsword cuts her to the core when it comes. She cracks like an egg and spills fire into space as she falls in two and then breaks again until there's nothing left of her but little flaring lanterns on the dark pond. The Prowler's guns fire at the running craft and then fall silent, as the ship itself slows to a stop, surrounded by the flaming hulls and broken forms of the mangled freighters. Containers drift about, the few whole remains of the once high minded crews looking to ease the strain on Coruscant. For all the idealism the taskforce held, it was shattered against the wall of laser fire and Imperial might. Viper Squadron aims at the running shuttles the green lasers leaping from their solar panels. Rich with victories the Squadron under the Prowler's command heads for the hangar on the corvette while on the bridge Jal'Dana studied the devastation her ship and crew has both reaped and sowed. Opening a holo-channel, a shadowy vestige of a heavily robed being appears. With no preamble, Jal'Dana says to the vision. "My Lord, the Admiral Rishar, two squadrons of fighters and all the freighters were decimated. All survivors that could not flee were annihilate. I believe we have broken the backs of those looking to crack the Blockade" image on the holo-emitter says in a sinister voice "Very good, Commander. Those who fled will carry the word of our dominance to the Republic, their attempts to break the blockade will surely falter after this night." The image cuts off leaving Jal'Dana to her thoughts. Across the Imperial Battle group, a recall order goes out to the fighters and bombers . The time has come to tighten the noose around Coruscant once and for all. The New Republic's plan had failed. Operation Shado Kolpo would turn out to a failure, a wave breaking on the rock that was the Empire's blockade. Thanks to the efforts of the ISB, the Navy had stopped the successes of the Blockade runner in dramatic fashion. The last of the X, A and B-wings limp away jumping into hyperspace in a direction other than the strained world. And with them much of the natives hope.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)