Star Wars Fanfic: The True Rebellion
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consequences
- Homicidal Maniac
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pellaeons_scion
- Jedi Knight
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consequences
- Homicidal Maniac
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Technical notes for the last chapter: normally a strike cruiser would have no real chance of eliminating an Allegiance by ramming, unless they were both going at about .99c towards each other, but these strikes were specifically rigged, and the Allegiance's shields had been previously been brought down, at least momentarily, by asteroid strikes.
For jamming the Hyper-Comm, I figured if they moved the majority of the captured fleet to outside sensor range, and turned on all of those ships transmitters blasting out white noise, it couldn't do anything good for people trying to communicate in the area. If anyone has serious technical problems with this from established SW evidence, please, bring them up and I'll pull an entirely different jamming method out of my ass for you to tear apart.
Loronar FSCVs from what I remember generate a big honking field of some type to drag large amounts of cargo with them into hyperspace. The main drawback is that their engines are absolute crap, so their Inertial compensators probably aren't great by Imperial standards, so my solution was to take the crew off, and use the proven multi-thousand g engines of the SDs to accomplih the mission. As a side note, I consider the description of the operation of the FSCV in the WEG Imperial Sourcebook to be considerable evidence in favor of ships coming out of hyper space at high velocities as a default.
Recipe for 1 Squished Bastion(a class of fortress I cheerfully made up when I realised I didn't have anything between a Golan III and The Death Star)
1:Take a 6km rock, of approximately the same mass as a Shockwave.
2:Take a captured Shockwave backup hyperdrive, and sufficient power to utilise it once
3:Hook the hyperdrive and power supply to the 6km rock
4:Position the rock with a clear path to the target
5:For best results, duplicate procedure on other side of the Bastion
6:Launch rock(s) to impact target, preferably with as little warning as possible
For Golans, use ISD drives and Rocks, For Novaguns, Dreadnaught or Victory Drives should suffice
My apologies for how cryptic the initial meeting was, but you should be able to figure out at least some of what is coming from it.
For jamming the Hyper-Comm, I figured if they moved the majority of the captured fleet to outside sensor range, and turned on all of those ships transmitters blasting out white noise, it couldn't do anything good for people trying to communicate in the area. If anyone has serious technical problems with this from established SW evidence, please, bring them up and I'll pull an entirely different jamming method out of my ass for you to tear apart.
Loronar FSCVs from what I remember generate a big honking field of some type to drag large amounts of cargo with them into hyperspace. The main drawback is that their engines are absolute crap, so their Inertial compensators probably aren't great by Imperial standards, so my solution was to take the crew off, and use the proven multi-thousand g engines of the SDs to accomplih the mission. As a side note, I consider the description of the operation of the FSCV in the WEG Imperial Sourcebook to be considerable evidence in favor of ships coming out of hyper space at high velocities as a default.
Recipe for 1 Squished Bastion(a class of fortress I cheerfully made up when I realised I didn't have anything between a Golan III and The Death Star)
1:Take a 6km rock, of approximately the same mass as a Shockwave.
2:Take a captured Shockwave backup hyperdrive, and sufficient power to utilise it once
3:Hook the hyperdrive and power supply to the 6km rock
4:Position the rock with a clear path to the target
5:For best results, duplicate procedure on other side of the Bastion
6:Launch rock(s) to impact target, preferably with as little warning as possible
For Golans, use ISD drives and Rocks, For Novaguns, Dreadnaught or Victory Drives should suffice
My apologies for how cryptic the initial meeting was, but you should be able to figure out at least some of what is coming from it.
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Singular Quartet
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consequences
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been a while hasn't it? Here goes:
Chapter 6: "Not with a bang, but with a KABOOM!"
The newly repaired rebellion fleet maintained station in an out of the way uninhabited system, while it performed its final diagnostic checks. Captain Iruled sat in the command chair of the Mildly Aggressive, pondering the latest revelations of 'The Admiral's' cause. It seemed nearly impossible to believe, but all of the details checked out, and Iruled had little choice but to accept the information he was given. It even made a bizarre sort of sense that-.
His train of thought was abrubtly derailed by the sounding of the General Quarters alarm. Hundreds of hostile icons appeared in the tactical display, followed by the immediate creation of grav-wells encompassing the rebel fleet. as soon as he assimilated this information, the report came in:
"The Admiral's down, some bastard traitor just shot him up. We're getting him to the medical ward now, but he says... He says Iruled's in charge."
"Meh" was Iruled's only response as he called up a fleet schematic. after several seconds of thought, he began rapidly barking out orders, "Evacuate all frigates personnel to the Imperators, slave the controls to me. I want everyone but a skeleton volunteer force off of the Liegelord, let them know they aren't coming out with us if they stay aboard. Technical, I need the best cloaks you can jury rig to all of our auxiliary craft and heavy equipment. Navigation, plot us a course that will slingshot us around the nearest planet multiple times before we make a break for it. Tactical, link with Navigation, and plot out the maximum number of ballistic paths to their fleet, make sure you include every Interdictor you can."
The Rebellion fleet turned in unison for the nearest planet, as shuttles and transport craft began to dart between the ships. Upon reaching its location, they began orbiting it as rapidly as possible, in an apparent effort to genberate confusion as to their chosen escape route. For their part, the Imperials were satisfied with slowly closing the net around their quarry, certain there was no path left open.
Soon enough, the Rebellion fleet made its break for freedom, defying all logic by heading directly for the strongest concentration of enemy vessels. The Imperials in their path tightened their ranks, as additional task forces positioned themselves to cover any contingency.
The Rebel fleet rapidly drew closer, decelerating slightly as they came. An array of lights poured for from them as they rushed on. Incredibly intense and focused, they played across the length of each of the blocking vessels, just before entering conventional engagement range. For all of their visual impressiveness, all they accomplished was the momentary disorientation of personnel in clear view of the windows, and the automatic darkening of the transparent Durasteel panels.
This however was all that was needed, as the detached and cloaked Landing Barges and Ground combat equipment arrived at their targets. Globes of fire began to erupt, both in the main fleet, and among the scattered Interdictors englobing their supposed prey. A moment before, two hundred Frigates, and fifty Imperators blocked the path to freedom, instantly transformed into a force of half a hundred star destroyers, alone except for a handful of scattered ships. A second later, it didn't matter, as thirty-six Carracks plunged into hyperspace, each ending in the detonation of an Imperator.
The Rebellion fleet casually tore through the remaining forces, concentrating three full Destroyer broadsides on each of a dozen surviving enemy units. All except for two targets died within four volleys. Those unlucky two were singled out for attention by the Liegelord, which made even shorter work of its outclassed victims.
The Rebel flag bridge eruped into quickly stifled cheers, as they rapidly worked to plot a safe Hyperspace jump from the area. Their elation vanished instantly, as another Imperial force, the same size as the one just vanquished, appeared directly in their path.
"Damnit. Bugout alpha three, straight down their throats." Iruled ordered.
The fleet changed course slightly, with the Liegelord taking the lead as they accelerated toward their latest obstacle. As they approached their targets, they began random decelerations, throwing off the majority of the incoming fire. Once again, the over-powered searchlights did their work, and forty more frigates blew the fuses on their drives to make a brief jump within the interdiction field, and tear the guts out of the enemy formation. Forty Imperators vaporised, and the Rebellion fleet tore through the gap, firing in all directions. Despite their tricks, the fleet did not escape unscathed this time, and twenty more frigates died in the maelstrom, leaving barely half of their starting number in the formation.
The fleet began to steadily accelerate once more, as the surviving ships behind them came about and began to accelerate after them. Even as they began to make preparations for their escape, yet another fleet, just as strong as the last two, dropped out of hyperspace in their path.
"Oh for kriff's sake, same plan as last time people, and I want to be able to leave the minute we're though them" Iruled growled.
History repeated itself one more time, but the Imperials had learned form the last two debacles, and did not waste nearly as much of their fire on the Liegelord, which was simply too tough for them to hurt. Frigate after frigate exploded, or fell out of formation and attempted to ram the nearest target. When the Rebel ship's won free, only thirty-eight Imperators and one Allegiance remained. Even as they cleared their opponents, still another force decelerated from hyperspace, blocking them.
"Now I know we are supposed to fight against impossible odds, but this is just ludicrous. Time to contact with blocking force Delta, and for overhaul by the others?"
"Five minute till we reach them sir, if our pursuers microjump after us, they'll be in range approximately the same time."
"Fine, implement Friendly Fire and Didee-Mao Alpha, at a fifteen degree offset."
The fleets rapidly converged on each other, as almost unnoticed, Tie Bombers launched from the Rebel fleet. Half took up position behind the force, as the remainder assumed the point position. Just as both fleets reached firing range, the Rebels adjusted course slightly, and impossibly vanished into hyper. The Tie bombers, abandoned, broke for both fleets, dropping projectiles all the way. Their purpose was soon revealed, as thousands of seismic charges detonated throughout the lead portions of the Imperial fleet. While they had a negligible effect on the ships shields, they did serve to unbalance their victims, wrecking their formations at the worst possible time. Before the fleets could recover, they interpenetrated, with more than a few collisions.
Meanwhile, the Rebel fleet, almost unnoticed in the chaos, reappeared over a billion kilometers away.
"Report" Iruled snapped.
"Sir, Backup hyperdrives are a writeoff, but we should have rerouted to the primaries within the next minute, we made it sir!"
"Or Not" Iruled sighed, as an even larger fleet than the combined forces already evaded chose that moment to reveal itself, with more than twenty ships heavy cruiser sized or better, lead by the Executor itself. "Launch a probe droid, and have it ask for terms of surrender"
"Sir?"
"Do it". After giving the command, Iruled watched the droid launched shortly, only to be enveloped in a storm of Dark Side Energy, and folded, spindled, and mutilated. "Well, it seems that Lord Vader isn't accepting surrenders today, let's see if we can get his successor to change his mind on that policy. Battle plan Starfleet one."
The fleet lunged forward, ignoring the spattering of long ranged fire that harmlessly was absorbed by their shields. In perfect unison, they plunged into hyperspace, reverting an imperceptible fraction of a second later in the middle of Vader's fleet. Within the next half a second, a dozen Imperators died, taking a like number of screening light cruisers with them. Six more ships were torn apart by the shocked, but still lethal fire of the Imperials, even as the ships that had chosen heavy cruisers began to strike home. Another second passed, seemingly endlessly, as half a dozen ships tag-teamed the three escorting Vengeance battle cruisers. Then there were only two, then one, as the Liegelord shattered on the Executor's inconceivably strong shields. Captain Iruled had one timeless moment to appreciate Darth Vader's shocked body language on the Executor's flag bridge, before his ship hit as well, and the world flashed white.
The End?
Chapter 6: "Not with a bang, but with a KABOOM!"
The newly repaired rebellion fleet maintained station in an out of the way uninhabited system, while it performed its final diagnostic checks. Captain Iruled sat in the command chair of the Mildly Aggressive, pondering the latest revelations of 'The Admiral's' cause. It seemed nearly impossible to believe, but all of the details checked out, and Iruled had little choice but to accept the information he was given. It even made a bizarre sort of sense that-.
His train of thought was abrubtly derailed by the sounding of the General Quarters alarm. Hundreds of hostile icons appeared in the tactical display, followed by the immediate creation of grav-wells encompassing the rebel fleet. as soon as he assimilated this information, the report came in:
"The Admiral's down, some bastard traitor just shot him up. We're getting him to the medical ward now, but he says... He says Iruled's in charge."
"Meh" was Iruled's only response as he called up a fleet schematic. after several seconds of thought, he began rapidly barking out orders, "Evacuate all frigates personnel to the Imperators, slave the controls to me. I want everyone but a skeleton volunteer force off of the Liegelord, let them know they aren't coming out with us if they stay aboard. Technical, I need the best cloaks you can jury rig to all of our auxiliary craft and heavy equipment. Navigation, plot us a course that will slingshot us around the nearest planet multiple times before we make a break for it. Tactical, link with Navigation, and plot out the maximum number of ballistic paths to their fleet, make sure you include every Interdictor you can."
The Rebellion fleet turned in unison for the nearest planet, as shuttles and transport craft began to dart between the ships. Upon reaching its location, they began orbiting it as rapidly as possible, in an apparent effort to genberate confusion as to their chosen escape route. For their part, the Imperials were satisfied with slowly closing the net around their quarry, certain there was no path left open.
Soon enough, the Rebellion fleet made its break for freedom, defying all logic by heading directly for the strongest concentration of enemy vessels. The Imperials in their path tightened their ranks, as additional task forces positioned themselves to cover any contingency.
The Rebel fleet rapidly drew closer, decelerating slightly as they came. An array of lights poured for from them as they rushed on. Incredibly intense and focused, they played across the length of each of the blocking vessels, just before entering conventional engagement range. For all of their visual impressiveness, all they accomplished was the momentary disorientation of personnel in clear view of the windows, and the automatic darkening of the transparent Durasteel panels.
This however was all that was needed, as the detached and cloaked Landing Barges and Ground combat equipment arrived at their targets. Globes of fire began to erupt, both in the main fleet, and among the scattered Interdictors englobing their supposed prey. A moment before, two hundred Frigates, and fifty Imperators blocked the path to freedom, instantly transformed into a force of half a hundred star destroyers, alone except for a handful of scattered ships. A second later, it didn't matter, as thirty-six Carracks plunged into hyperspace, each ending in the detonation of an Imperator.
The Rebellion fleet casually tore through the remaining forces, concentrating three full Destroyer broadsides on each of a dozen surviving enemy units. All except for two targets died within four volleys. Those unlucky two were singled out for attention by the Liegelord, which made even shorter work of its outclassed victims.
The Rebel flag bridge eruped into quickly stifled cheers, as they rapidly worked to plot a safe Hyperspace jump from the area. Their elation vanished instantly, as another Imperial force, the same size as the one just vanquished, appeared directly in their path.
"Damnit. Bugout alpha three, straight down their throats." Iruled ordered.
The fleet changed course slightly, with the Liegelord taking the lead as they accelerated toward their latest obstacle. As they approached their targets, they began random decelerations, throwing off the majority of the incoming fire. Once again, the over-powered searchlights did their work, and forty more frigates blew the fuses on their drives to make a brief jump within the interdiction field, and tear the guts out of the enemy formation. Forty Imperators vaporised, and the Rebellion fleet tore through the gap, firing in all directions. Despite their tricks, the fleet did not escape unscathed this time, and twenty more frigates died in the maelstrom, leaving barely half of their starting number in the formation.
The fleet began to steadily accelerate once more, as the surviving ships behind them came about and began to accelerate after them. Even as they began to make preparations for their escape, yet another fleet, just as strong as the last two, dropped out of hyperspace in their path.
"Oh for kriff's sake, same plan as last time people, and I want to be able to leave the minute we're though them" Iruled growled.
History repeated itself one more time, but the Imperials had learned form the last two debacles, and did not waste nearly as much of their fire on the Liegelord, which was simply too tough for them to hurt. Frigate after frigate exploded, or fell out of formation and attempted to ram the nearest target. When the Rebel ship's won free, only thirty-eight Imperators and one Allegiance remained. Even as they cleared their opponents, still another force decelerated from hyperspace, blocking them.
"Now I know we are supposed to fight against impossible odds, but this is just ludicrous. Time to contact with blocking force Delta, and for overhaul by the others?"
"Five minute till we reach them sir, if our pursuers microjump after us, they'll be in range approximately the same time."
"Fine, implement Friendly Fire and Didee-Mao Alpha, at a fifteen degree offset."
The fleets rapidly converged on each other, as almost unnoticed, Tie Bombers launched from the Rebel fleet. Half took up position behind the force, as the remainder assumed the point position. Just as both fleets reached firing range, the Rebels adjusted course slightly, and impossibly vanished into hyper. The Tie bombers, abandoned, broke for both fleets, dropping projectiles all the way. Their purpose was soon revealed, as thousands of seismic charges detonated throughout the lead portions of the Imperial fleet. While they had a negligible effect on the ships shields, they did serve to unbalance their victims, wrecking their formations at the worst possible time. Before the fleets could recover, they interpenetrated, with more than a few collisions.
Meanwhile, the Rebel fleet, almost unnoticed in the chaos, reappeared over a billion kilometers away.
"Report" Iruled snapped.
"Sir, Backup hyperdrives are a writeoff, but we should have rerouted to the primaries within the next minute, we made it sir!"
"Or Not" Iruled sighed, as an even larger fleet than the combined forces already evaded chose that moment to reveal itself, with more than twenty ships heavy cruiser sized or better, lead by the Executor itself. "Launch a probe droid, and have it ask for terms of surrender"
"Sir?"
"Do it". After giving the command, Iruled watched the droid launched shortly, only to be enveloped in a storm of Dark Side Energy, and folded, spindled, and mutilated. "Well, it seems that Lord Vader isn't accepting surrenders today, let's see if we can get his successor to change his mind on that policy. Battle plan Starfleet one."
The fleet lunged forward, ignoring the spattering of long ranged fire that harmlessly was absorbed by their shields. In perfect unison, they plunged into hyperspace, reverting an imperceptible fraction of a second later in the middle of Vader's fleet. Within the next half a second, a dozen Imperators died, taking a like number of screening light cruisers with them. Six more ships were torn apart by the shocked, but still lethal fire of the Imperials, even as the ships that had chosen heavy cruisers began to strike home. Another second passed, seemingly endlessly, as half a dozen ships tag-teamed the three escorting Vengeance battle cruisers. Then there were only two, then one, as the Liegelord shattered on the Executor's inconceivably strong shields. Captain Iruled had one timeless moment to appreciate Darth Vader's shocked body language on the Executor's flag bridge, before his ship hit as well, and the world flashed white.
The End?
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Singular Quartet
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 3896
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consequences
- Homicidal Maniac
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Well duh. 
And come on, I updated it within half a year, that's nowhere near the record for a supposedly active fic(granted, most of those tend to be better written, and lengthier, have a broader audience, and provide more enjoyment, etc. etc.)
I've figured it out though, and if I can just totally dispense with sleep, I will be able to give all of my hobbies the attention they deserve.
And come on, I updated it within half a year, that's nowhere near the record for a supposedly active fic(granted, most of those tend to be better written, and lengthier, have a broader audience, and provide more enjoyment, etc. etc.)
I've figured it out though, and if I can just totally dispense with sleep, I will be able to give all of my hobbies the attention they deserve.
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Singular Quartet
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 3896
- Joined: 2002-07-04 05:33pm
- Location: This is sky. It is made of FUCKING and LIMIT.
You sleep?consequences wrote:Well duh.
And come on, I updated it within half a year, that's nowhere near the record for a supposedly active fic(granted, most of those tend to be better written, and lengthier, have a broader audience, and provide more enjoyment, etc. etc.)
I've figured it out though, and if I can just totally dispense with sleep, I will be able to give all of my hobbies the attention they deserve.
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Peregrin Toker
- Emperor's Hand
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- Location: Denmark
- Contact:
It's certainly one of the better fanfics I've done yet.
BTW, my sci-fi novella which is elsewhere on this forum is going to be updated with its 3rd chapter in a few days - be sure to check it out!! (I'll be very grateful if you comment on it)
BTW, my sci-fi novella which is elsewhere on this forum is going to be updated with its 3rd chapter in a few days - be sure to check it out!! (I'll be very grateful if you comment on it)
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
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consequences
- Homicidal Maniac
- Posts: 6964
- Joined: 2002-07-07 03:06pm
Chapter 7: "Do you want a rematch?"
Darkness.
Darkness, and a vague sensation of falling.
Apath Iruled drifted in a timeless state, with no awareness of anything going on around him, or for that matter, any indication that there was anything to be aware of. If this was Oblivion, then the builders certainly did a good job.
With no warning, as if a cosmic light switch had been thrown, Iruled found himself blinded by a brilliant bright light, standing on an endless plain of grass. Un-Coruscantly music played in the background, and a figure walked towards him from the light. It bore more than a slight resemblance to the Admiral.
"Apath Iruled, it is time to move on" the figure intoned in a sepulchral voice, exactly as if the Admiral was trying to sound pretentiously spooky.
"No. I absolutely refuse to believe that you are any sort of servant of a higher power, or that any right-minded deity would make its servants resemble you in the slightest."
"Very well, since you refuse to go on to your destiny, you shall be returned", Saying this, the figure vanished, and ten foot tall letters of fire appeared in his place, reading:
'Do Wou Want to Continue? Y/N?'.
"Yes, why not."
'To the same spot? Y/N?'
"Whatever, yes" Upon saying this the world dissolved around Iruled, only to reform as:
******************
"...Captain Iruled had one timeless moment to appreciate Darth Vader's shocked body language on the Executor's flag bridge, before his ship hit as well, and the world flashed white.
******************
Darkness.
Darkness, and a vague sensation of falling.
Suddenly, Iruled found himself on the same plain as before, with a new message burning in the air before him, reading:
'From not quite the same spot? Y/N?'
"Now I know this has to be some sort of joke, its really not funny anymore, you bug-fuck crazy bastard, sir."
"Joke, personality evaluation, it served its purpose" Maverick said, appearing before him.
"So what the hell was all of that?" Iruled demanded.
"Training simulation, adapted from a planet I once fought. I had to know how you would react in a truly hopeless situation, whether you would fight as long as possible, and try to avoid fighting when it would accomplish nothing. For a true character test, you had to be unaware it wasn't real, which is why we brought you in here while you were asleep. Deactivate Program." Their surroundings vanished, leaving a small empty black room, overlayed with a golden grid upon the walls ceiling and floor. A door opened in one side of the room, which Maverick immediately walked through.
"So you weren't just being pointlessly sadistic, that's good to know" Iruled said as he hastened to follow, finding himself in a briefing room adjoining the bridge, already filled with the Admiral's staff, in the midst of exchanging large quantities of credits.
"Right, do you have my cut?" Maverick asked, taking the briefcase full of cash then offered. "And my winnings?" He inquired as another, much larger briefcase was handed over. He then turned to Iruled, "Congratulations, no one else really expected you to escape that fourth group, much less take out Vader. Get this down to fleet accounting" he ordered a utility droid, which whirred out of the room, carrying the bags. "Right, we have a campaign to carry out, I want to be hitting the Imperial Mining Guild where it hurts by the end of tomorrow, and have set up to take down the Corporate Sector within two months"
****************
Mining Guild Operation AGD-5678 was pretty typical, almost wholely automated machinery extracting heavy elements for loading on a convoy of vast transports that arrived with clockwork precision every week. The installations had minimal protection, a squadron of Tie fighters and a pair of armed Lambda shuttles, and minimal fixed defenses, but reinforcements could be there in minutes, and its product wasn't worth the effort of a pirate group to acquire, since such groups lacked the means to effectively transform the raw materials into a more useful form. The convoys were another matter, but the Line of warships that always accompanied them made it to expensive to make an attack.
The convoy arrived in-system exactly on schedule, steadily decelerating towards the waiting orbital warehouses. They arrived, as always, without incident, and went about loading their cargo.
Six unidentified Strike 'Cruisers' and one Interdictor hypered in without warning, and immediately broadcast surrender demands to the convoy. The escorting force came around immediately, and interposed itself between the attackers and their charges, as the Interdictor's grav-well generators came up, locking all of the parties in-system. Both groups rapidly approached each other, in standard line formations.
The attackers rolled ship, revealing that their modular nature had been stressed to the utmost to reconfigure the ships around a KDY-150 Planet defender. Simultaneously, an Imperator was pulled out of hyperspace by the grav-wells of the Interdictor, and immediately opened fire on the defending force.
A furious turbolaser barrage from the Imperator dropped the shields of the eight frigates, followed by continuous Ion cannon fire from all seven attackers, rendered their targets completely helpless. The fighter squadrons, presented with the options of surrender or death, unanimously decided that Dishonor wasn't so bad after all. The Imperator moved in on them, maintaining its constant Ion fire, and did the patented 'Gravity bounce' on each capital ship in turn before sending over boarding parties. At the same time, shuttles detached from the Strike Cruisers, and quickly docked with the freighters of the convoy, securing control over them.
The newly captured ships were assembled under the watchful eye, and guns, of the Rebellion ships, and promptly jumped to hyperspace as soon as the Interdictor canceled its fields.
tbc later, how much later I don't know
cookie, and a minor role in the fic if they want it for the first person who gets the obscure reference embedded in the silliness at the start.
Darkness.
Darkness, and a vague sensation of falling.
Apath Iruled drifted in a timeless state, with no awareness of anything going on around him, or for that matter, any indication that there was anything to be aware of. If this was Oblivion, then the builders certainly did a good job.
With no warning, as if a cosmic light switch had been thrown, Iruled found himself blinded by a brilliant bright light, standing on an endless plain of grass. Un-Coruscantly music played in the background, and a figure walked towards him from the light. It bore more than a slight resemblance to the Admiral.
"Apath Iruled, it is time to move on" the figure intoned in a sepulchral voice, exactly as if the Admiral was trying to sound pretentiously spooky.
"No. I absolutely refuse to believe that you are any sort of servant of a higher power, or that any right-minded deity would make its servants resemble you in the slightest."
"Very well, since you refuse to go on to your destiny, you shall be returned", Saying this, the figure vanished, and ten foot tall letters of fire appeared in his place, reading:
'Do Wou Want to Continue? Y/N?'.
"Yes, why not."
'To the same spot? Y/N?'
"Whatever, yes" Upon saying this the world dissolved around Iruled, only to reform as:
******************
"...Captain Iruled had one timeless moment to appreciate Darth Vader's shocked body language on the Executor's flag bridge, before his ship hit as well, and the world flashed white.
******************
Darkness.
Darkness, and a vague sensation of falling.
Suddenly, Iruled found himself on the same plain as before, with a new message burning in the air before him, reading:
'From not quite the same spot? Y/N?'
"Now I know this has to be some sort of joke, its really not funny anymore, you bug-fuck crazy bastard, sir."
"Joke, personality evaluation, it served its purpose" Maverick said, appearing before him.
"So what the hell was all of that?" Iruled demanded.
"Training simulation, adapted from a planet I once fought. I had to know how you would react in a truly hopeless situation, whether you would fight as long as possible, and try to avoid fighting when it would accomplish nothing. For a true character test, you had to be unaware it wasn't real, which is why we brought you in here while you were asleep. Deactivate Program." Their surroundings vanished, leaving a small empty black room, overlayed with a golden grid upon the walls ceiling and floor. A door opened in one side of the room, which Maverick immediately walked through.
"So you weren't just being pointlessly sadistic, that's good to know" Iruled said as he hastened to follow, finding himself in a briefing room adjoining the bridge, already filled with the Admiral's staff, in the midst of exchanging large quantities of credits.
"Right, do you have my cut?" Maverick asked, taking the briefcase full of cash then offered. "And my winnings?" He inquired as another, much larger briefcase was handed over. He then turned to Iruled, "Congratulations, no one else really expected you to escape that fourth group, much less take out Vader. Get this down to fleet accounting" he ordered a utility droid, which whirred out of the room, carrying the bags. "Right, we have a campaign to carry out, I want to be hitting the Imperial Mining Guild where it hurts by the end of tomorrow, and have set up to take down the Corporate Sector within two months"
****************
Mining Guild Operation AGD-5678 was pretty typical, almost wholely automated machinery extracting heavy elements for loading on a convoy of vast transports that arrived with clockwork precision every week. The installations had minimal protection, a squadron of Tie fighters and a pair of armed Lambda shuttles, and minimal fixed defenses, but reinforcements could be there in minutes, and its product wasn't worth the effort of a pirate group to acquire, since such groups lacked the means to effectively transform the raw materials into a more useful form. The convoys were another matter, but the Line of warships that always accompanied them made it to expensive to make an attack.
The convoy arrived in-system exactly on schedule, steadily decelerating towards the waiting orbital warehouses. They arrived, as always, without incident, and went about loading their cargo.
Six unidentified Strike 'Cruisers' and one Interdictor hypered in without warning, and immediately broadcast surrender demands to the convoy. The escorting force came around immediately, and interposed itself between the attackers and their charges, as the Interdictor's grav-well generators came up, locking all of the parties in-system. Both groups rapidly approached each other, in standard line formations.
The attackers rolled ship, revealing that their modular nature had been stressed to the utmost to reconfigure the ships around a KDY-150 Planet defender. Simultaneously, an Imperator was pulled out of hyperspace by the grav-wells of the Interdictor, and immediately opened fire on the defending force.
A furious turbolaser barrage from the Imperator dropped the shields of the eight frigates, followed by continuous Ion cannon fire from all seven attackers, rendered their targets completely helpless. The fighter squadrons, presented with the options of surrender or death, unanimously decided that Dishonor wasn't so bad after all. The Imperator moved in on them, maintaining its constant Ion fire, and did the patented 'Gravity bounce' on each capital ship in turn before sending over boarding parties. At the same time, shuttles detached from the Strike Cruisers, and quickly docked with the freighters of the convoy, securing control over them.
The newly captured ships were assembled under the watchful eye, and guns, of the Rebellion ships, and promptly jumped to hyperspace as soon as the Interdictor canceled its fields.
tbc later, how much later I don't know
cookie, and a minor role in the fic if they want it for the first person who gets the obscure reference embedded in the silliness at the start.
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Singular Quartet
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Yeah, I love the style that this fic is written, reminds me of DNA's work (may he rest in peace).
Excellent fic, keep up the good work! I loved the part where they exited the holosim and entered the briefing room full of people exchanging money from the bet, much to the chargin of the poor Admiral, who assumed that Maverick wasn't just being pointlessly sadistic!
Excellent fic, keep up the good work! I loved the part where they exited the holosim and entered the briefing room full of people exchanging money from the bet, much to the chargin of the poor Admiral, who assumed that Maverick wasn't just being pointlessly sadistic!
-Luke
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Well, drat. The game in question was Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the PC, and the quote was what you got if you got killed during the game. It would ask if you want to continue, then ask if you wanted to cotinue from the same spot, and if you answered yes to the second question, it returned you to the exact moment you died, then, after your second death, asked if you wanted to continue in not quite the same place. Highly rcommend the game if you can find it to any Monty Python fan.
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Singular Quartet
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It lives Hahahahaha!(Incredibly, massively, horrendously, unspeakably sorry for the delay, especially in regards to people who aren't Writer's Guild members) That said:
Chapter 8:
The assembled staff of the rebellion gathered in one of the holodecks, where a dozen hulking droids and one dark robed figure faced each other.
"This is the best approximation we could achieve to represent a worst case opponent for the new model droids. Computer, engage full strength forcefield around us, and begin combat." Maverick announced.
Instantly, the combatants expoded into action, rapidly blurring out of normal human perception. Continuous blaster fire decimated the area, along with constant clashes of energy on force-fields. Without warning, two explosions sounded, and a pair of droid collapsed in pieces on the floor. From that moment on, one by one, the remaining droids were dispatched, until a thunderous detonation occurred, followed shortly by another, launching wreckage throughout the area. The robed figure came into focus again, burned in half a dozen places, and assumed a lotus position on the ground.
"Computer, diplay playback at one tenth speed on the wall please"
On the wall, the droids instantly moved away from each other, to encircle the figure, firing from built in light blasters. Their target immediately ignited a pair of lightsabers, and dashed towards one of his opponents, swatting aside a dozen basts as he moved. On reaching his intended victim, he slashed at it quickly with one saber, the other never pausing in its intricate defensive pattern. His efforts were ineffectual, as a shield protected the droid from harm. He then turned slightly,extending one hand towards the other droids, which were launched briefly into the air. Momentary surprise registered on his face, as the droids caught themselves in mid-air, and righted themselves using previously concealed micro-thrusters, still firing without pause.
The lone figure suffered several minor hits in that moment, before launching himself above and behind two droids that had come within arms reach of each other. The droids started to move away, even as rear mounted blasters commence firing on him. Without pause, he stabbed each droid through the hole in their shield they created by firing, impaling each of them, and then ripping the blades through their bodies. As they fell, he moved onto the closest, positioning himself so that it blocked the barrage let loose by its cohorts. Using his left hand weapon to deflect the remaining fire, he pressed his second saber against the droid until its shield was pierced, followed shortly by its armor and internal systems.
This pattern repeated itself four more times, but the fifth droid, in electronic desperation, overloaded its own power supply, sending its attacker flying amidst a spray of wreckage. One of the figures lightsabers was jarred from his hand by the impact, deactivating instantly, and flew toward the droids, which moved aside, tracking it in case it proved dangerous, even as the limp body of their assailant neared the floor.
With no warning, the lighsaber exploded, the ball of fire enveloping the remaining robots, overwhelming their defenses before scattering them about the room. A heartbeat later, the figure hit the ground in a perfect roll, coming to a standing position, glancing once at his victims, before sitting.
"Well, there is definite potential there. Suggestions?" Maverick drily inquired.
One of the engineers immediately responded "Well, clearly the sensors need to be upgraded, along with the threat analysis and combat response software."
"Good, then your in charge of making that happen, Conrad. Everyone out, we have work to do." The watchers filed out of the room, and Maverick waited until the door closed, before saying "Computer, end program"
At those words, all of the assorted droid wreckage dissapeared, leaving the robed figure still sitting.
"You know, there has to be an easier way for you to keep up your training." Maverick observed, "And what kind of maniac builds his lightsabers to include a low-yield thermal detonator anyway?
The robed man just grinned at him unrepentantly.
***************
Corporate Sector, Raw Materials Inprocessing System Alpha:
The Corporate Sector, if anything, had a more organised and efficient system of resource gathering than the Imperial Mining Guild. This was mainly due to the fact that the Mining Guild had been subsumed into the Imperial hierarchy, losing much of its focus on pure profit gathering, and had been infected by the government's bureacracy. Most of the refining, processing, and manufacturing was done at a few locations located in systems very near to the main Corporate Sector holdings. Thus, when the scheduled convoys and their escorts arrived in system, they were met by a sizable defense force of a dozen Invincible class light cruisers, accompanied by ten refurbished Victory destroyers, as well as nearly a hundred light frigates and corvettes. Tensions were very high, as over the last three months, repeated attacks had been launched on various sectors, in circumstances very similar to these. So it was that when a force of twenty Imperators with hundreds of escorts hypered in and demanded the surrender of the convoys, it almost came as a relief to the over-stressed officers.
The system defense force quickly moved to join the convoy escorts in interposing themselves between the attackers, and the freighters desperately running in-system. By now, the marauders tactics were well known, and it came as no surprise when sixteen more Imperators, an Allegiance, and several hundred more frigates used the interdiction fields created by their counterparts to precisely flank the defenders. All ftl transmissions were jammed throughout the system, but this didn't prevent several small ships from vanisishing into hyper from the outskirts of the area.
Another minute passed, as the fleets manuevered to confront each other. Then, without warning, eighty Corp-Sec interdictors jumped in behind the rebel fleet. Within seconds, they had their Grav-wells up, and hundreds of Invincibles and Victories began to appear, surrounded by even more escorts. More and more Corporate ships made transit, as it became clear that the majority of the Corporate Sector fleet had been commited to this trap. A single broadcast was made to the hideously outnumbered attackers, of one word only, "Surrender".
The reply was only slightly lengthier, "You wish to surrender to us"? Very Well, we accept". As soon as those words were said, Another fleet began to arrive behind the Corporate forces. Numerically inferior, they still were an imposing sight, centered around fifteen ships of heavy cruiser size or better, covered by thirty light cruisers and two hundred Imperators.
******
On board the Corporate Sector flagship, Will of the Profits , Admiral Pranale closed his eyes for a second, wondering why he couldn't have just stayed retired after the Clone Wars. His duty to his men overrode his impulse to wallow in despair, and he quickly ordered "Signal our ships to surrender, and signal the enemy that we are standing down".
"What the hell are you doing Admiral? We outnumber them at least five to one in heavy ships!" Corporate Sector Administrator Hasne Openis demanded.
"Let me give you a quick lesson in naval power, administrator. You see those Imperators? Each of those, stock from the factory, can easily match one of your best ships. According to our sensors, they are not even trying to conceal their abilities, and each of those ships is producing more than twice the power of a standard Imperator. Those light cruisers? Each of them on their worst day would take twenty of our Invincibles with them to hell. The heavy cruisers would eliminate a minimum of fifty of your so called cruisers for every one that we managed to drag down. And it would take a miracle for us to lose less than a hundred ships trying to kill one of their battle-cruisers."
"That only matters if you fight this their way. I order you to send all of our lighter ships on ramming attacks against their fleet!" The administrator blustered.
Pranale's eyes narrowed in contempt, as the entire bridge went silent after hearing those words. "Are you absolutely certain you wish me to give that order? he quietly asked, as he gave shook his head almost imperceptibly while looking directly at the communications officer.
"Do I have to repeat myself. Order them to do it now, or I will have you relieved, no, shot!" Openis shouted. A bare instant later, he and his bodyguards were cut down by the combined fire of every crewmember in sight.
"Stand all of our ships down, and signal the enemy that we will not resist." Pranale quietly slumped into his command chair, whispering "I'm sorry".
********
On board the Liegelord, the crew of the flag bridge were cheering.
"Crew" Maverick said quietly, and was ignored completely.
"Crew" He said, more forcefully, and looking slightly peeved, to no avail.
"Crew" He announced, quite loudly, with one of his eyes twitching, without anyone paying the slightest atention.
"SHADDUP!!!" He bellowed, overriding all other noise on the bridge. Shocked, the entire crew froze in place. "Thank you" he continued softly, "Now that I have your attention: Iruled, Front and Center" he barked.
Iruled disentangled himself as silently as humanly possible from the cute brunette he'd been quietly snogging behind Maverick's chair, straightened his collar, and came around to face 'The Admiral', "Yes Sir"
"In accordance with the guidelines set forth in the 'Unnamed Fleet's' Operating procedures, and finding that you haven't been stupid enough to get yourself killed, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commodore, with all of the rights, responsibilities, long hours, and being shouted at that that entails. Now go away. Cid, your fired."
"Oh, woe is me, the dishonor, I can't bear to exist", the droid somehow managed to be blatantly sarcastic in a monotone.
"Whatever, go clean the Rancor pits or something."
"Ha Ha Ha, We don't have Rancor Pits on this ship, Thpbbbttttt"
"Computer, program Holodeck One to simulate a Rancor Pit after ten years without cleaning"
"Crap", with that, Cid dejectedly started to move to the lift.
"Now that that's settled, HK-47, get over here."
"Your wish is my command, Meatbag. My only desire is to ease your hellish meatbag existence, oh Exalted Meatbag"
"Iruled, this is your new bodyguard. If you can destroy it without using weapons of mass destruction, you immediately get promoted two ranks, if you fail, it has arcane and unknowable methods of torture it will inflict on you until something draws its sadistic attention elsewhere."
"Oh, please try to destroy me, master meatbag, I haven't been able to use the poetry of Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings for such a long time"
Upon hearing those words, everyone within earshot gave a collective shudder.
Chapter 8:
The assembled staff of the rebellion gathered in one of the holodecks, where a dozen hulking droids and one dark robed figure faced each other.
"This is the best approximation we could achieve to represent a worst case opponent for the new model droids. Computer, engage full strength forcefield around us, and begin combat." Maverick announced.
Instantly, the combatants expoded into action, rapidly blurring out of normal human perception. Continuous blaster fire decimated the area, along with constant clashes of energy on force-fields. Without warning, two explosions sounded, and a pair of droid collapsed in pieces on the floor. From that moment on, one by one, the remaining droids were dispatched, until a thunderous detonation occurred, followed shortly by another, launching wreckage throughout the area. The robed figure came into focus again, burned in half a dozen places, and assumed a lotus position on the ground.
"Computer, diplay playback at one tenth speed on the wall please"
On the wall, the droids instantly moved away from each other, to encircle the figure, firing from built in light blasters. Their target immediately ignited a pair of lightsabers, and dashed towards one of his opponents, swatting aside a dozen basts as he moved. On reaching his intended victim, he slashed at it quickly with one saber, the other never pausing in its intricate defensive pattern. His efforts were ineffectual, as a shield protected the droid from harm. He then turned slightly,extending one hand towards the other droids, which were launched briefly into the air. Momentary surprise registered on his face, as the droids caught themselves in mid-air, and righted themselves using previously concealed micro-thrusters, still firing without pause.
The lone figure suffered several minor hits in that moment, before launching himself above and behind two droids that had come within arms reach of each other. The droids started to move away, even as rear mounted blasters commence firing on him. Without pause, he stabbed each droid through the hole in their shield they created by firing, impaling each of them, and then ripping the blades through their bodies. As they fell, he moved onto the closest, positioning himself so that it blocked the barrage let loose by its cohorts. Using his left hand weapon to deflect the remaining fire, he pressed his second saber against the droid until its shield was pierced, followed shortly by its armor and internal systems.
This pattern repeated itself four more times, but the fifth droid, in electronic desperation, overloaded its own power supply, sending its attacker flying amidst a spray of wreckage. One of the figures lightsabers was jarred from his hand by the impact, deactivating instantly, and flew toward the droids, which moved aside, tracking it in case it proved dangerous, even as the limp body of their assailant neared the floor.
With no warning, the lighsaber exploded, the ball of fire enveloping the remaining robots, overwhelming their defenses before scattering them about the room. A heartbeat later, the figure hit the ground in a perfect roll, coming to a standing position, glancing once at his victims, before sitting.
"Well, there is definite potential there. Suggestions?" Maverick drily inquired.
One of the engineers immediately responded "Well, clearly the sensors need to be upgraded, along with the threat analysis and combat response software."
"Good, then your in charge of making that happen, Conrad. Everyone out, we have work to do." The watchers filed out of the room, and Maverick waited until the door closed, before saying "Computer, end program"
At those words, all of the assorted droid wreckage dissapeared, leaving the robed figure still sitting.
"You know, there has to be an easier way for you to keep up your training." Maverick observed, "And what kind of maniac builds his lightsabers to include a low-yield thermal detonator anyway?
The robed man just grinned at him unrepentantly.
***************
Corporate Sector, Raw Materials Inprocessing System Alpha:
The Corporate Sector, if anything, had a more organised and efficient system of resource gathering than the Imperial Mining Guild. This was mainly due to the fact that the Mining Guild had been subsumed into the Imperial hierarchy, losing much of its focus on pure profit gathering, and had been infected by the government's bureacracy. Most of the refining, processing, and manufacturing was done at a few locations located in systems very near to the main Corporate Sector holdings. Thus, when the scheduled convoys and their escorts arrived in system, they were met by a sizable defense force of a dozen Invincible class light cruisers, accompanied by ten refurbished Victory destroyers, as well as nearly a hundred light frigates and corvettes. Tensions were very high, as over the last three months, repeated attacks had been launched on various sectors, in circumstances very similar to these. So it was that when a force of twenty Imperators with hundreds of escorts hypered in and demanded the surrender of the convoys, it almost came as a relief to the over-stressed officers.
The system defense force quickly moved to join the convoy escorts in interposing themselves between the attackers, and the freighters desperately running in-system. By now, the marauders tactics were well known, and it came as no surprise when sixteen more Imperators, an Allegiance, and several hundred more frigates used the interdiction fields created by their counterparts to precisely flank the defenders. All ftl transmissions were jammed throughout the system, but this didn't prevent several small ships from vanisishing into hyper from the outskirts of the area.
Another minute passed, as the fleets manuevered to confront each other. Then, without warning, eighty Corp-Sec interdictors jumped in behind the rebel fleet. Within seconds, they had their Grav-wells up, and hundreds of Invincibles and Victories began to appear, surrounded by even more escorts. More and more Corporate ships made transit, as it became clear that the majority of the Corporate Sector fleet had been commited to this trap. A single broadcast was made to the hideously outnumbered attackers, of one word only, "Surrender".
The reply was only slightly lengthier, "You wish to surrender to us"? Very Well, we accept". As soon as those words were said, Another fleet began to arrive behind the Corporate forces. Numerically inferior, they still were an imposing sight, centered around fifteen ships of heavy cruiser size or better, covered by thirty light cruisers and two hundred Imperators.
******
On board the Corporate Sector flagship, Will of the Profits , Admiral Pranale closed his eyes for a second, wondering why he couldn't have just stayed retired after the Clone Wars. His duty to his men overrode his impulse to wallow in despair, and he quickly ordered "Signal our ships to surrender, and signal the enemy that we are standing down".
"What the hell are you doing Admiral? We outnumber them at least five to one in heavy ships!" Corporate Sector Administrator Hasne Openis demanded.
"Let me give you a quick lesson in naval power, administrator. You see those Imperators? Each of those, stock from the factory, can easily match one of your best ships. According to our sensors, they are not even trying to conceal their abilities, and each of those ships is producing more than twice the power of a standard Imperator. Those light cruisers? Each of them on their worst day would take twenty of our Invincibles with them to hell. The heavy cruisers would eliminate a minimum of fifty of your so called cruisers for every one that we managed to drag down. And it would take a miracle for us to lose less than a hundred ships trying to kill one of their battle-cruisers."
"That only matters if you fight this their way. I order you to send all of our lighter ships on ramming attacks against their fleet!" The administrator blustered.
Pranale's eyes narrowed in contempt, as the entire bridge went silent after hearing those words. "Are you absolutely certain you wish me to give that order? he quietly asked, as he gave shook his head almost imperceptibly while looking directly at the communications officer.
"Do I have to repeat myself. Order them to do it now, or I will have you relieved, no, shot!" Openis shouted. A bare instant later, he and his bodyguards were cut down by the combined fire of every crewmember in sight.
"Stand all of our ships down, and signal the enemy that we will not resist." Pranale quietly slumped into his command chair, whispering "I'm sorry".
********
On board the Liegelord, the crew of the flag bridge were cheering.
"Crew" Maverick said quietly, and was ignored completely.
"Crew" He said, more forcefully, and looking slightly peeved, to no avail.
"Crew" He announced, quite loudly, with one of his eyes twitching, without anyone paying the slightest atention.
"SHADDUP!!!" He bellowed, overriding all other noise on the bridge. Shocked, the entire crew froze in place. "Thank you" he continued softly, "Now that I have your attention: Iruled, Front and Center" he barked.
Iruled disentangled himself as silently as humanly possible from the cute brunette he'd been quietly snogging behind Maverick's chair, straightened his collar, and came around to face 'The Admiral', "Yes Sir"
"In accordance with the guidelines set forth in the 'Unnamed Fleet's' Operating procedures, and finding that you haven't been stupid enough to get yourself killed, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commodore, with all of the rights, responsibilities, long hours, and being shouted at that that entails. Now go away. Cid, your fired."
"Oh, woe is me, the dishonor, I can't bear to exist", the droid somehow managed to be blatantly sarcastic in a monotone.
"Whatever, go clean the Rancor pits or something."
"Ha Ha Ha, We don't have Rancor Pits on this ship, Thpbbbttttt"
"Computer, program Holodeck One to simulate a Rancor Pit after ten years without cleaning"
"Crap", with that, Cid dejectedly started to move to the lift.
"Now that that's settled, HK-47, get over here."
"Your wish is my command, Meatbag. My only desire is to ease your hellish meatbag existence, oh Exalted Meatbag"
"Iruled, this is your new bodyguard. If you can destroy it without using weapons of mass destruction, you immediately get promoted two ranks, if you fail, it has arcane and unknowable methods of torture it will inflict on you until something draws its sadistic attention elsewhere."
"Oh, please try to destroy me, master meatbag, I haven't been able to use the poetry of Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings for such a long time"
Upon hearing those words, everyone within earshot gave a collective shudder.
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- Homicidal Maniac
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- Joined: 2002-07-07 03:06pm
Chapter 9:
"Vermintide?"
"In place Sir."
"Hegemonising Swarm?"
"Ready to go on your order Admiral."
"Proceed."
***********
The Pallatin system picket was at standby, when a single unidentified star destroyer entered the system. Analysis of the intruders emissions quickly confirmed that it had been captured by unfriendly hands. The main striking force of the picket immediately moved to engage. As they approached, a series of green light pulses played across the formation, concentrating on the three Imperators present, with no apparent effect. As the Imperial force continued to approach, coming to full combat readiness, there was no doubt as to their ability to triumph, especially as the marauding vessel turned, and began accelerating out-system.
With no warning, communication instantly cut off from the three Star Destroyers in the fleet, and their shields and engines immediately jumped to maximum power. Frantic communication attempts produced no result, and neither did the efforts a number of frigate skippers made to disable the Destroyers as they pulled away. The hostle ship, and the three nominally Imperial craft following it, hyper jumped out of system within seconds.
The ranking commander remaining immediately contacted higher headquarters, only to learn that the incident was far from isolated.
********
"Over a thousand incidents, all disastrous, in a single day." Moff Eaton flatly stated, "If this continues, we might as well pledge allegiance to whoever is leading these people by the end of the month."
Billy rapidly typed information into a datapad, before throwing it to the table, snarling, "This makes no kriffing sense. There is no conceivable Sith-Spawned way for pulses of visible green light to completely incapacitate any vessel, much less the ships that are being hit."
"So look at other common factors" Admiral Hall suggested.
"We are, but a complete analysis of the computer cores of six different classes of capital ships takes time, which we don't have."
"New orders, until we isolate the cause of this, all capital ships are to remove themselves to isolated systems, and avoid all contact with hostile forces. Remaining forces are to make every effort to track hostiles, but not to engage when no appreciable benefit to the Empire wll result" Moff Eaton dictated.
**********
1 week later, in the same conference room, Moff Eaton looked faintly disgusted at the special report in his hands. "So, we know that computer security in a large number of ships has been compromised, but we don't know how, or by whom."
"Yes sir, our analysis has isolated the code, and we know it was tied into the Alert Status One directives. However, in every case, it has completely wiped itself from the system whenever we've been able to track it down. As near as we can determine, given the fact that we have lost every single affected vessel, as soon as the program is activated, it completely shuts down every crew interface, emits a jamming field, incapacitates the crew using the environmental systems, devotes maximum power to defenses, and sets course for any of a number of predetermined locations." Billy reported, admiration evident in his voice, "We've given orders to purge all systems, and maintain a higher degree of security, but we're going to need ISB and the Ubiqtorate to track down those responsible, immediately. Otherwise they'll just find a new way past our safeguards."
"Understood, I'm assured that this is being given the highest priority." Eaton replied.
"We have to find their bases, otherwise we'll never be able to stop them" Commander Captanob Viuus, one of Admiral Hall's staffers, stated forcefully.
Upon hearing this, Moff Eaton gestured to his aide, who handed him a small handlight. Moff Eaton looked over the device, adjusted the power, pointed it at Commander Viuus, and turned it on.
"Aggghh, I can't see!" Captanob Viuus screamed, clutching his face as a circle of light appeared upon it.
"Back to work people" Eaton said as he handed the light back to his aide.
************
2 weeks later, Moff Eaton met Admiral Hall, and Billy in the same conference room. "What, in the name of our Emperor, who will undoubtedly kill us for this, happened, precisely?", he whispered.
"No clue. There were no indications of any slicing attempts made on the computers of the ships we have lost. We had watchdog programs, set at the highest security level, to report any alteration whatsoever of programming. These programs reported numerous authorised changes during the last two weeks, all of which were taken apart down to the individual lines of code. Our best analysts and slicers found nothing, and a Ubiqtorate team assigned to crack our security procedures achieved not a damned thing." Billy replied, completely befuddled. "The only way to get around this would be to have some form of hardwired provisions built into the system from time of construction. If they could do that, why wait until now, when they could have taken over practically our entire fleet at any time?"
"Why go to all of the effort to capture such a variety of ships? Why wait so long to bring them back into service?" Moff Eaton said, resignedly, as he activated his personal Holocomm unit. Within seconds, the link to Coruscant was confirmed, and Eaton immediately overrode the rote speech the functionar started into, "This is Regional Moff Eaton, communicating under maximum encryption. You will connect me to the Emperor now"
The functionary sniffed haughtily, saying, "That is hardly the proper procedure, as you well know. The Emperor does not deign to-"
"Admiral Hall, you will identify every relative that functionary. If I am not connected to the Emperor within 5 minutes, you will ensure that every one of them in the Astraea Region is dead by the end of the week. If I am not connected within ten minutes, you will dispatch Assassination squads to remove everything he has ever had the slightest attachment to according to his record."
"You can't do this, the Emperor will have your head for this impertinence, and-"
"The Emperor will undoubtedly personally execute you for the delay you have already incurred. You have 4 minutes thirty seconds to save your family."
"I... I..."the functionary stammered, before the please standby Icon filled the holographic display.
Eaton smiled slightly, before activating his personal communicator "Priority Omega. Effective immediately, all warships destroyer or larger are to completely shut down all computer cores, and prepare for towing to shipyard facilities for full rebuilds. Any officer found interfering with this directive to be summarily executed. Authorisation Six Seven Naboo Four Three Ithor." He then handed the communicator to Admiral Hall
"This is Flag Admiral Hall, confirming the Moff's order, Authorisation Two Eight Bilbringi Seven One Corellia" he stated, shutting off the communicator, and handing it back to Moff Eaton.
"Gentlemen?" Eaton inquired, glancing at Billy and Admiral Hall.
"2 Minutes to spare" Admiral Hall said, laying a hundred credits on the table.
"Ten Seconds" Billy replied, putting down is own cred chips.
With fifteen seconds left, the Emperor's cloaked form appeared, and the three knelt. He looked over them and rasped "What is the meaning of this intrusion, Eaton?
"Milord Emperor, whatever hardwired imperatives you have embedded in the Imperial Fleet have been compromised."
An ancient eyebrow raised slightly, "What hardwired Imperatives would these be"
"Sire, there is no time. There is no way that any sort of software override could have made it past our security in the last two weeks unnoticed. Therefore, whatever is happening is an integral part of the computers themselves. And every second you delay costs us more ships Milord."
The Emperor's expression froze completely, as he whispered, "Your Recommendation?
"Shut down all relevant computer systems immediately, get the ships to the yard, and replace all computer cores with absolutely clean versions. We will take severe losses due to the lack of security, but handing the ships over will just make the long-term situation worse. And every strike they make gives us an opportunity to trace them to their bases."
"Proceed with the Moff's plan" the Emperor hissed, looking away. Turning back, he glared at Eaton, grinding out "We will discuss your lack of manners later Eaton", as he disappeared.
The trio rose, Billy grabbing the credits and saying "Let's hit the bar, drinks are on me."
*********
Hailstorm Base, Hoth system:
Maverick watched as a steady stream of ships manuevered toward the Hoth system's asteroid belts, his smile widening as each ship abruptly vanished from view. Already, hundreds of ships had disappeared, and the numbers arriving were only increasing.
Commodore Iruled approached him,holding a report, "According to this, the Imperial fleet has located one of your Alpha Sites, in the Astraea Region."
"Good."
"Good? Our enemy locating one of your primary production facilities is good?"
"Of course, how will they be able to hit us with overwhelming force if they can't find us?"
"Oh, of course, what was I thinking?" Iruled then turned to HK-47, mouthing "huh?"
"Search me Meatbag. Half the reason I stick around is to see what crazy bullshit the Lord High Meatbag here tries next."
"Of course, want to go watch Cid working on that Rancor pit?"
"Sounds good to me meatbag"
tbc...
With this chapter, the 1st draft of arc 1 of the True Rebellion draws within 3-4 chapters of concluding(presuming you can keep a straight face when referring to one of my updates as a chapter).
More of this anon. Actually very soon anon, if no one cares at the Guild, the next chapter will be posted within the week. Sooner if I get feedback.
"Vermintide?"
"In place Sir."
"Hegemonising Swarm?"
"Ready to go on your order Admiral."
"Proceed."
***********
The Pallatin system picket was at standby, when a single unidentified star destroyer entered the system. Analysis of the intruders emissions quickly confirmed that it had been captured by unfriendly hands. The main striking force of the picket immediately moved to engage. As they approached, a series of green light pulses played across the formation, concentrating on the three Imperators present, with no apparent effect. As the Imperial force continued to approach, coming to full combat readiness, there was no doubt as to their ability to triumph, especially as the marauding vessel turned, and began accelerating out-system.
With no warning, communication instantly cut off from the three Star Destroyers in the fleet, and their shields and engines immediately jumped to maximum power. Frantic communication attempts produced no result, and neither did the efforts a number of frigate skippers made to disable the Destroyers as they pulled away. The hostle ship, and the three nominally Imperial craft following it, hyper jumped out of system within seconds.
The ranking commander remaining immediately contacted higher headquarters, only to learn that the incident was far from isolated.
********
"Over a thousand incidents, all disastrous, in a single day." Moff Eaton flatly stated, "If this continues, we might as well pledge allegiance to whoever is leading these people by the end of the month."
Billy rapidly typed information into a datapad, before throwing it to the table, snarling, "This makes no kriffing sense. There is no conceivable Sith-Spawned way for pulses of visible green light to completely incapacitate any vessel, much less the ships that are being hit."
"So look at other common factors" Admiral Hall suggested.
"We are, but a complete analysis of the computer cores of six different classes of capital ships takes time, which we don't have."
"New orders, until we isolate the cause of this, all capital ships are to remove themselves to isolated systems, and avoid all contact with hostile forces. Remaining forces are to make every effort to track hostiles, but not to engage when no appreciable benefit to the Empire wll result" Moff Eaton dictated.
**********
1 week later, in the same conference room, Moff Eaton looked faintly disgusted at the special report in his hands. "So, we know that computer security in a large number of ships has been compromised, but we don't know how, or by whom."
"Yes sir, our analysis has isolated the code, and we know it was tied into the Alert Status One directives. However, in every case, it has completely wiped itself from the system whenever we've been able to track it down. As near as we can determine, given the fact that we have lost every single affected vessel, as soon as the program is activated, it completely shuts down every crew interface, emits a jamming field, incapacitates the crew using the environmental systems, devotes maximum power to defenses, and sets course for any of a number of predetermined locations." Billy reported, admiration evident in his voice, "We've given orders to purge all systems, and maintain a higher degree of security, but we're going to need ISB and the Ubiqtorate to track down those responsible, immediately. Otherwise they'll just find a new way past our safeguards."
"Understood, I'm assured that this is being given the highest priority." Eaton replied.
"We have to find their bases, otherwise we'll never be able to stop them" Commander Captanob Viuus, one of Admiral Hall's staffers, stated forcefully.
Upon hearing this, Moff Eaton gestured to his aide, who handed him a small handlight. Moff Eaton looked over the device, adjusted the power, pointed it at Commander Viuus, and turned it on.
"Aggghh, I can't see!" Captanob Viuus screamed, clutching his face as a circle of light appeared upon it.
"Back to work people" Eaton said as he handed the light back to his aide.
************
2 weeks later, Moff Eaton met Admiral Hall, and Billy in the same conference room. "What, in the name of our Emperor, who will undoubtedly kill us for this, happened, precisely?", he whispered.
"No clue. There were no indications of any slicing attempts made on the computers of the ships we have lost. We had watchdog programs, set at the highest security level, to report any alteration whatsoever of programming. These programs reported numerous authorised changes during the last two weeks, all of which were taken apart down to the individual lines of code. Our best analysts and slicers found nothing, and a Ubiqtorate team assigned to crack our security procedures achieved not a damned thing." Billy replied, completely befuddled. "The only way to get around this would be to have some form of hardwired provisions built into the system from time of construction. If they could do that, why wait until now, when they could have taken over practically our entire fleet at any time?"
"Why go to all of the effort to capture such a variety of ships? Why wait so long to bring them back into service?" Moff Eaton said, resignedly, as he activated his personal Holocomm unit. Within seconds, the link to Coruscant was confirmed, and Eaton immediately overrode the rote speech the functionar started into, "This is Regional Moff Eaton, communicating under maximum encryption. You will connect me to the Emperor now"
The functionary sniffed haughtily, saying, "That is hardly the proper procedure, as you well know. The Emperor does not deign to-"
"Admiral Hall, you will identify every relative that functionary. If I am not connected to the Emperor within 5 minutes, you will ensure that every one of them in the Astraea Region is dead by the end of the week. If I am not connected within ten minutes, you will dispatch Assassination squads to remove everything he has ever had the slightest attachment to according to his record."
"You can't do this, the Emperor will have your head for this impertinence, and-"
"The Emperor will undoubtedly personally execute you for the delay you have already incurred. You have 4 minutes thirty seconds to save your family."
"I... I..."the functionary stammered, before the please standby Icon filled the holographic display.
Eaton smiled slightly, before activating his personal communicator "Priority Omega. Effective immediately, all warships destroyer or larger are to completely shut down all computer cores, and prepare for towing to shipyard facilities for full rebuilds. Any officer found interfering with this directive to be summarily executed. Authorisation Six Seven Naboo Four Three Ithor." He then handed the communicator to Admiral Hall
"This is Flag Admiral Hall, confirming the Moff's order, Authorisation Two Eight Bilbringi Seven One Corellia" he stated, shutting off the communicator, and handing it back to Moff Eaton.
"Gentlemen?" Eaton inquired, glancing at Billy and Admiral Hall.
"2 Minutes to spare" Admiral Hall said, laying a hundred credits on the table.
"Ten Seconds" Billy replied, putting down is own cred chips.
With fifteen seconds left, the Emperor's cloaked form appeared, and the three knelt. He looked over them and rasped "What is the meaning of this intrusion, Eaton?
"Milord Emperor, whatever hardwired imperatives you have embedded in the Imperial Fleet have been compromised."
An ancient eyebrow raised slightly, "What hardwired Imperatives would these be"
"Sire, there is no time. There is no way that any sort of software override could have made it past our security in the last two weeks unnoticed. Therefore, whatever is happening is an integral part of the computers themselves. And every second you delay costs us more ships Milord."
The Emperor's expression froze completely, as he whispered, "Your Recommendation?
"Shut down all relevant computer systems immediately, get the ships to the yard, and replace all computer cores with absolutely clean versions. We will take severe losses due to the lack of security, but handing the ships over will just make the long-term situation worse. And every strike they make gives us an opportunity to trace them to their bases."
"Proceed with the Moff's plan" the Emperor hissed, looking away. Turning back, he glared at Eaton, grinding out "We will discuss your lack of manners later Eaton", as he disappeared.
The trio rose, Billy grabbing the credits and saying "Let's hit the bar, drinks are on me."
*********
Hailstorm Base, Hoth system:
Maverick watched as a steady stream of ships manuevered toward the Hoth system's asteroid belts, his smile widening as each ship abruptly vanished from view. Already, hundreds of ships had disappeared, and the numbers arriving were only increasing.
Commodore Iruled approached him,holding a report, "According to this, the Imperial fleet has located one of your Alpha Sites, in the Astraea Region."
"Good."
"Good? Our enemy locating one of your primary production facilities is good?"
"Of course, how will they be able to hit us with overwhelming force if they can't find us?"
"Oh, of course, what was I thinking?" Iruled then turned to HK-47, mouthing "huh?"
"Search me Meatbag. Half the reason I stick around is to see what crazy bullshit the Lord High Meatbag here tries next."
"Of course, want to go watch Cid working on that Rancor pit?"
"Sounds good to me meatbag"
tbc...
With this chapter, the 1st draft of arc 1 of the True Rebellion draws within 3-4 chapters of concluding(presuming you can keep a straight face when referring to one of my updates as a chapter).
More of this anon. Actually very soon anon, if no one cares at the Guild, the next chapter will be posted within the week. Sooner if I get feedback.
-
Crazedwraith
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 11937
- Joined: 2003-04-10 03:45pm
- Location: Cheshire, England