Page 1 of 1

The Hunt For the Vendetta

Posted: 2002-12-10 07:03pm
by Oberleutnant
To this very day, "The Hunt For the Vendetta" remains as my only attempt at writing a fanfic. The story is full of bad charecterization, fuzzy logic and all the errors you can think of. I wrote this piece of junk at the sweet age of 14, and since English isn't my mother tongue, the language of the story isn't very complex.

A very nice bloke called John Burke, the author of "Freedom" Star Wars fanfics, edited it so that my not-so-good English is comprehensible for all.

Aw, just read it! I'm sure that after you're finished with it, you'll see that "The Portal" isn't the crappiest fanfic in the wonderful world of Internet! God knows how many people have commited suicide because of my work...

I'll be posting the story in parts so stay tuned for more -- if you dare! ;)


Synopsis: A bitter man, in command of Empire's newest Super Star Destroyer, plans to defect to the Rebels with secret help from Black Sun. A game of cat and mouse begins: The mouse is the Vendetta, and the cat is Grand Admiral Thrawn, in command of his own task force.



*****************************************************
Characters

IMPERIALS:
Grand Admiral Thrawn: ???? male from ????
Captain Toasn Dereket: Human male from Coruscant
General Suarks: Human male from Carida
Lieutenant Commander Doran Feas: Human male from
Sluis Van
Telan Akit: Human male from Coruscant
Captain Paetor Mensk Human male from Coruscant
Emperor's Hand Mara Jade: Human female from ????

RENEGADES:
Captain Eman Hofret: Human male from Alderaan
Commander Myerken Seeadred: Human male from Uthak

REBELS:
Rogue 1 Commander Wedge Antilles: Human male from Coruscant
Green 1 Seline Posh: Human female from Bothawui
Admiral Ackbar: Mon Calamari male from Mon Calamari
General Lando Calrissian: Human male from ????
Chewbacca: Wookiee male from Kashyyk

BLACK SUN:
Prince Xizor: Falleen male from Falleen
Guri: Human replica droid with female body and
programming

*****************************************************

Chapter One:

Fore turbolaser cannons from the Imperial II-Class
Star Destroyer Avenger, sprayed their deadly green
blasts towards the Corellian YT-1300 freighter that
suddenly turned towards the Star Destroyer. Captain
Needa, the commanding officer of the Avenger, watched
as the small freighter came closer. Commander Steele whose
promotion to the rank of the Captain would come soon,
stood at Needa's right side and watched also.

"It's moving into attack position!" Needa wondered
loudly. He waited a few seconds and then gave the command:
"Raise shields!"

The freighter evaded the turbolaser-fire with
utmost professional skill and still kept coming
closer. Then as it filled a third of the Avenger's
bridge's windows, it flew over the bridge and the ISD's
tower section. From an automatic reflex, Needa
and Steele dodged. They stood up quickly and surveyed
the empty space, trying to find the YT-1300.

"Track them. It may come for another pass." Needa
advised.

From the left crew pit, Commander Dereket quickly
checked the sensor monitor and raised his head towards
Needa. "Captain Needa, the ship no longer appears in our
scopes." he said, surprised.

"That's impossible." Needa replied, and then turned
to Steele, "No ship of that size has a cloaking device!"

"Well, there's no trace of them, sir." Dereket said.

"Captain, Lord Vader demands an update on the
pursuit." said the communications officer from near
Dereket in the left crew pit. A cold shiver went down
Needa's body. Losing that Corellian freighter would mean
certain death to him, and to his senior staff if he didn't
take action.

"Get a shuttle ready. I shall take a full
responsibility for losing them, and apologize to Lord
Vader. Meanwhile, continue to scan the area."
Dereket watched as Steele nodded to Needa, who then
walked away. It was not hard to guess that Needa was
walking straight to his doom. . .

As Needa stepped out of the turbolift aboard the
Executor, he could see the Dark Lord of The Sith
himself waiting for him in his black mask and armor.
The Dark Lord's mechanical breathing was the only sound
Needa could hear over the background hum of computers.

"So you did not manage to capture the freighter."
Vader said in his overwhelming tones.

"My apologies, my Lord. The freighter did manage to
escape and we. . . lost track of it." Vader
raised his hand and soon Needa's breathing was not
ordinary breathing. It was closer to a fish's
breathing when taken out of the water.

"The Empire no longer has use for your abilities,
Captain."

Needa fell down to the deck, his right hand
gripped around his throat. Slow gasps followed each
other, and then he died from loss of oxygen.

Vader looked at the lifeless corpse from behind his
black life support mask. "Apology accepted, Captain
Needa." he said, and turned away. A few seconds later,
two fleet officers took Needa's body away from the deck.

Two weeks later, in the Coruscant system. . .

The majestic Death Squadron jumped out of hyperspace near
Coruscant. The Fleet's flagship, the massive, dagger-
shaped, eighteen kilometer long Super Star Destroyer
Executor, took the lead, followed by eleven Imperial and
Imperial II-class Star Destroyers. They were dwarfed by
the sheer size of the behemoth vessel. It was the Empire's
most impressive technological and manufacturing achievement
since the Death Star. Executor was an ultimate weapon
designed to put fear into its enemies.

As the fleet came into Coruscant's orbit, a Lambda-class
shuttle was launched from one of the many hangar bays on
the Executor. Two TIE interceptors took escort positions at
the shuttle's port and starboard sides as the trio of ships
went in perfect formation towards the planet-wide city.

The Shuttle's pilot, Lieutenant Maldok, was not nervous,
although he knew who his passenger was. He adjusted the
power settings and engines carefully and professionally as
entered Coruscant's atmosphere. All kind of ships belonging
to the Imperial Navy and other groups and organizations
swarmed around them, but they kept their distance, as the
shuttle had Class 1 Priority. The shuttle was going to the
heart of the planet, and the Empire: The Emperor's Palace.

They went trough the planet's polluted clouds as they
came closer to the rooftops of the buildings. Now Maldok
and his copilot only saw a city around them in every
direction; a planet-wide city where the tallest buildings
extended well over three thousand meters from the planet's
surface. It was the dawn and the Emperor's Palace was
already visible to the human eyes. The pyramid-shaped
building stood before them, ominously silent, while the
shuttle's comm system came online.

"This is Imperial Palace Monitoring Station," the
well controlled voice of a human male said, "Shuttle
Envoy, transmit the landing code or you will not be
allowed to land."

"This is Imperial shuttle Envoy from the SSD Executor.
I am transmitting the code now, Monitoring Station."
Maldok pressed the transmit button on the cockpit panel.
There was a moment of silence as the code was verified
by computers.

"Your code has been verified, Envoy. You may proceed.
Have a good landing."

"Acknowledged," Maldok confirmed, and continued the
landing operation.

The Envoy made a quiet thump as it settled onto
landing pad 42 on the Emperor's Palace. Maldok stood
up from his seat and walked to the passenger cabin.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "My Lord, we
have arrived at the Emperor's Palace. The Emperor is
waiting for you."

The man who stood in front of him wearing the life
support helmet and completely covered in his black
armor said, "Stay here, Lieutenant. I might be coming
back very soon."

"As you wish, my Lord." Maldok saluted and
watched as the Dark Lord of The Sith walked away
from the shuttle and into the palace.


The red-armored Imperial Royal Guards stood at
attention at the door of turbolift that would lead to
the tower and the throne room. The doors opened
automatically and Vader stepped in the turbolift. The
lift went 300 meters straight towards the roof with
Vader inside. From the transparent walls, Vader watched
the life of Coruscant. Imperial fighters swooped over
the palace, guarding it. AT-STs patrolled near the
palace, with a strong Imperial garrison located in the
next building, which had an underground entrance to the
palace in case of an emergency. Any attacks against the
building would be futile. Vader had many things to
discuss with the Emperor, most of them concerning Luke
Skywalker, his own son, and the boy's new powers.
Although Vader had spoken many times with the Emperor
via the holonet, the Emperor wished to speak in person.

The man who controlled and basically owned the Empire
was coming to the end of his way very soon. As soon
as Vader could turn Luke to the dark side with the
Emperor's help, they would kill the Emperor together and
take command of the Empire. There was only one trouble
ahead of them: Prince Xizor, the Falleen underworld
prince. Xizor owned the criminal syndicate Black Sun,
which was one of the wealthiest organizations in the
Empire. There was a possibility that Xizor would attempt
to take advantage of the Emperor's death by taking command
of the Empire. But that would be a problem for the future.
Now, Vader had to deal with the Emperor himself.

To Vader's surprise, there was an another person
standing in the entrance hall that lead to the throne
room, a blonde female, Guri. Guri was Prince Xizor's
personal assistant, counselor and Vader suspected, spy.
Vader knew well that Guri was a human replica droid, an
HRD. If Guri was present here, it meant that Xizor was
in the throne room with the Emperor.

"Lord Vader, what a pleasant surprise." Guri greeted
him coldly.

Vader nodded to her and said, "I believe that Prince
Xizor is in the throne room?"

"You are right, he is there."

Suddenly the door opened and a green-skinned reptilian
alien stepped to the entrance room, pony tail flowing
behind him.

"Ah, Lord Vader! I haven't seen you for a long time!
If I may ask, how did your little chase in the Anoat
system go?" Xizor smiled, his green eyes watching Vader.

Inside his mask, Vader did not smile. "As planned,
Prince Xizor. As planned." he replied, trying to hide
the annoyance that he felt towards the Falleen.

" I thought so. I would enjoy chatting further, but
I'm afraid that I have an important business meeting,
and I must hurry, so goodbye." Xizor smiled and turned
towards the turbolift, followed by Guri.

As the doors closed behind Xizor, he thought of his
possible future at the right side of the Emperor. At
the moment there was only a one thing in the galaxy
stopping him from achieving that goal: Darth Vader.
There was also another detail. He hated Vader. Very
deeply. The pain that Vader had caused him was too
great to ever be cured. Two weeks ago, when the Imperial
Fleet had been chasing Rebels at the Hoth asteroid field,
the Emperor had contacted Vader and spoken of a new enemy:
Luke Skywalker.

Xizor had been present when Emperor and Vader had talked
about Skywalker, Vader's son that Xizor had not known
existed. Soon after that conversation, Vader and the Emperor
had spokenagain, about the Empire's new ship, the Super Star
Destroyer Vendetta. The Underworld Prince had not been present,
but his vast network of spies had intercepted the message.
According to it, the Vendetta was nearing completion at Kuat
Drive Yards' secret shipbuilding facility on the Outer Rim.
In his razor sharp mind, Xizor had immediately started to
develop a plan to get rid of Vader once and for all. Xizor
knew exactly what Vader and the Emperor were talking about
at the moment, and that pleased him very much.

In the Emperor's throne room, the lights were very dim
and the feeling of the dark side and evil was everywhere,
especially on the "seat of power" where the Emperor usually
observed the city and meditated.

"Losing Skywalker is not a problem, my child. He will come
to us later as I have foreseen," the Emperor said after
listening to Vader's report. "As you are aware, Kuat Drive
Yards' secret shipbuilding facility in the Outer Rim system
Sur, is finishing work on the SSD Vendetta, our newest weapon
in delivering the New Order to the systems around the galaxy.
You shall go there aboard the Executor and be a part of
Vendetta's maiden voyage, when she attacks the Rebels' new
base on the Outer Rim planet Elama."

"I will do as you order," Vader said. He was going
to ask about what Xizor had said just a few minutes
ago but had decided not to.

"Very good. Now go, and make certain the Rebels see the
power of the Empire."

"As you wish, my master," Vader said. He bowed and left
the room.



A week later. . .

Jukiata IV, a planet located on the Outer Rim, was
basically a big ball of water in space. Before the original
inhabitants had been wiped out by a natural disaster during
the Clone Wars, they had constructed their buildings under
the water. The only building material used was a transparent
material that was hard as anything used in the buildings on
Coruscant. Now these old buildings had been converted to
hotels and bars where tourists from different systems across
the galaxy spent their money on the casinos, bars, tourist
traps and hotels. The only entrance for spaceships was a
huge tunnel with one end that extended just above the water,
when the other led to a hangar bay deep under the water.

A lone figure dressed in a long hood and jumpsuit
walked out of the hangar bay and went to one of the
many access tubes that lead to the other buildings.
The walls on the access tubes were constructed from the
transparent material-- just like almost anything else on
this water planet. Of course engineers had also put shields
in the walls, in case one of the tubes was breached.
The figure watched the fish in the water around him as
he walked down the straight corridor. It was a
spectacular view and he would have liked to stop and
watch it, but there was simply no time for that. He had
a meeting in a room of Jukiata's biggest hotel, Jukiata
Alpha, in a few minutes, and he couldn't be late for that.

The entrance to the hotel was not far away. The figure
could already see it, but there were three Imperial
stormtroopers in the entrance, checking people's IDs. The
figure sighed and hoped that his fake-ID would work. Ahead
of him walked a Tusken male and he reached the checkpoint
first. Figure's instinct told him that there was some trouble
with checking the Tusken's ID. One of the troopers scanned,
checked his the scanner's screen, and scanned again.

"I'm not finding a Tusken male called Ta'thaka in the
Imperial Databanks," one of the stormtroopers said.

"There might be a malfunction in the card," the other
trooper suggested.

"I checked it for malfunctions already. Doesn't work.
Let's try to decode it. We'll see if this is unauthorized
card."

Suddenly, the Tusken raised a blaster and fired it at the
stormtroopers, killing two of them. The remaining trooper
activated his comlink.

"We have a Security Violation in the Access Tube 92,
Entrance 6! One Tusken male armed with a blaster! He is
considered armed and dangerous!" Just after the trooper
had finished his sentence, the Tusken fired his blaster at
his head. The trooper's body smashed to the hard floor.

The figure decided that now was the time to act. He drew
his modified T-45 blaster and pointed it against the
Tusken's back. The Tusken, who had not noticed the figure
before, turned around and found a mean-looking blaster
staring him in the face. The figure's finger gripped the
trigger.

"Don't make a single move or you won't be identifiable
as a Tusken anymore," the figure snorted.

The Tusken grunted something in his own language, then
dropped his blaster. At the same time more stormtroopers
arrived to arrest him. While they were busy with that,
the figure slipped through the door to the hotel.

A protocol droid, a modified commercial version of C-3PO
series, sat on a chair behind the reception desk. The figure
walked in front of the droid and said, "My name is Poarks
Serven. Are there any messages for me, or visitors to my
room?"

"There are no messages for you, Mr. Serven, and nobody
has entered your room," the receptionist droid said after
checking the requested information from the computer. "Do
you now wish to take your room and pay for it?"

"How much is the room?"

"Room 68324 is two hundred Imperial Credits for a night,
and if you are going to stay here for two days, free use of
hotel's services and a tour of the planet is included in
the price."

"That doesn't sound like too much..." Serven said, and
gave the droid an Imperial Credit Card -- a fake, like his ID
card.

"Thank you." the droid answered in its mechanical voice.
It scanned the card and gave it back.

The elevator stopped at floor 68 and the door opened
automatically. Serven walked through the long corridors,
following the help signs. Soon he was standing in front of
door 68324, taking the key card from his pocket. The key
card went inside the card slot easily, and the door slid open.
Serven stepped in.

It took a few seconds for Serven's eyes to get used to the
dark. Something disturbed him very much. He felt that
somebody or something was watching him. He drew his blaster
again.

The hotel room consisted of three rooms: The bedroom,
living room, and bathroom. The living room's large transparent
windows showed the night sky of Jukiata. He moved ahead slowly,
watching around every corner, cold hands went around his neck,
gripping it tightly. Serven tried to struggle, but it was
useless. The attacker, whoever it was, was too powerful and
strong.

"Do not move, Captain Hofret," said a cold voice.

Serven-- or Hofret-- knew that the attacker meant what she
said. He lowered his arms and didn't move. The attacker
took his blaster and moved to the light switch. In a second
every light on the room came to life. The attacker was a
young blond woman wearing a silver jumpsuit.

"You must understand, I couldn't take any risks," the woman
said, "And besides, you said that you would be here sooner."

"There was some trouble when I arrived at the hotel," Hofret
said.

The woman watched Hofret with her blue eyes for a moment.
"I am Guri, representative of Black Sun, and Prince Xizor."

"I'm Captain Hofret of the Imperial Navy." Hofret said and
offered his hand to shake. When Guri did not return the
gesture, Hofret lowered his hand. "This is very dangerous.
If someone loyal to the Empire hears about this meeting it will
be the end of me!" Hofret warned.

"Nobody will hear of this, Captain Hofret," Guri assured him,
"You will be paid when the Rebels receive the Vendetta."

"Yes, but what about the crew? I'm sure that not many of them
want to defect to the Rebels!"

"That has been taken care of. We have chosen the crew members
from those who have some sympathy for the Rebellion."

"How did you manage that?"

"That's not your business, Captain. The only thing you must
do is to give the Vendetta to the Rebels."

"And what will the Black Sun gain from that? I thought that
your Prince Xizor was a good friend of the Emperor's. I don't
think the Emperor will stand for this."

"As I said before," Guri said in a stronger tone, "That's
not your business. I repeat: Your mission is to-"

"I know what my mission is!" the Imperial Captain sighed,
"To bring the Vendetta to some system on the Outer Rim where
the Rebels are waiting for it.
You've already told them we're coming."

"Remember that if you tell anything about Black Sun and the
Prince to the Imperials, we will not hesitate to kill you. Do
not underestimate the efficiency of our spy network. We will
find out if betray us."

"Tell your Prince that there's no need to worry about that."

"I do hope that there isn't," Guri replied, and walked to the
door. "I shall go now. I suggest you also go to your ship
as soon as possible."


Prince Xizor's Skyhook in orbit of Coruscant was the largest
Skyhook on the galaxy after the Emperor's. It had several
docking bays, one reserved for only his ships, a crew of several
thousands, and even two huge gardens that housed real plants
and trees from across the known galaxy.

Now, a ship was landing in one of Xizor's private docking
bays. The name of the ship was Virago. The Virago was one-of-a-kind,
a prototype vessel. Its speed was higher than Imperial Tie
Advanced, its shields as strong as those of a small attack
cruiser. It was very sleek caught the attention of people
everywhere it traveled.

The hatch opened and Guri stepped to the deck. Xizor watched
how Guri walked towards him on the glimmering deck. His HRD's
walking was flawless and perfect, just like she was.

"How did your little mission go?" Xizor asked.

"At first, Captain Hofret was not sure, but when I mentioned
his payment, he agreed." Guri said without any emotion.

Xizor allowed himself a small smile. "There's no problem
that enough credits can't solve. I can't wait to see what the
Emperor says when a new SSD defects with its crew to the
Rebels under the nose of the Dark Lord of The Sith himself."


Sur system, Kuat Drive Yards secret shipbuilding drydock

The turbolift doors in front of Captain Hofret opened,
revealing the main bridge of an Imperial Super Star Destroyer.
He had just arrived to the Sur system, where the Vendetta was
being prepared for her maiden voyage.

On her bridge, crewmembers walked from side to side,
delivering reports and finishing system checks. A young
Imperial officer, Commander Myerken Seeadred stood in the
starboard crew pit talking to the damage control chief. As
he finished talking, he noticed Hofret standing on the
turbolift door.

"Welcome aboard Captain." he said, and saluted.

Hofret returned the salute almost lazily and walked
towards the young commander. "Thank you Commander. I believe
you have discussed our intentions with the senior staff?"

"Yes, I have. Everyone on the senior staff is on our side
and wants to do it."

"So far, so good. Commander, you have the bridge. I shall
go to my office." Hofret said, and turned away.


The Captain's office behind the main bridge was larger
than a bridge of the Victory-class Star Destroyer that had
been Hofret's previous command. There was a long conference
table for senior staff meetings, four large tactical displays,
a private turbolift, leading to the shuttle docking bay which
hosted Hofret's own Escort Shuttle, and a door that lead to
his private office. As in every other Imperial installation
or ship, the bulkheads were completely gray.

Hofret sat at his chair on his private office. On a small
screen of the information PADD, he scrolled down the huge
crew manifest. Like Guri had said three days ago, they had
arranged the crew perfectly. Most of the crew members were
from planets that the Empire controlled with its iron fist.
Several of them required large garrisons to maintain the public
order.

Hofret himself was from Alderaan, a peaceful planet that had
been destroyed by the Death Star and the Emperor. When Hofret
had been young, he'd had an interest in the military and
spaceships. When he'd been seventeen, the Empire had started a
massive recruitment program on those planets they considered
important, and Alderaan was one of them. He had decided to join
the Imperial Navy although his father and mother, both
Alderaanian senators, had been strongly against it. For the
first time in his life Hofret had really decided to defend
what he believed, in this case joining the Empire. After a long
argument, they had finally allowed him to join.

His first post had been on an Imperial Outpost as a
communications officer, a post where he had stayed for three
years. When he had been promoted to Lieutenant, he was assigned
to the Victory-class Star Destroyer Forseth, where he climbed
through the ranks to become its executive officer. Then, when
the Captain of the vessel had been killed, Hofret had assumed
the command and had been promoted to Captain.

When Forseth had been under refit at an Imperial drydock, Hofret
had got the news of the destruction of Alderaan and all its
inhabitants. The Imperial "News" Network had given its "true"
account that the Rebels had several thousand ground troops
stationed there, ready to attack and conquer other peaceful
planets nearby. The Emperor's propaganda machine had really
been put to use.

Hofret had doubted their missions and their morality before,
but this was the thing that changed his way of thinking.
Still, he had managed to keep it in secret. Then the Emperor
had contacted him directly and said that he would the commanding
officer of his second SSD that was nearing completion. Almost
immediately after the Emperor's message, somebody had contacted
him and told about the possibility of defecting to the Rebels
along with the SSD.

Hofret had said that he would think about it. Later the same
person had contacted him again, offering the possibility of
defection. Hofret had accepted. That person had told him that
someone else would contact Hofret and work out the details.

That another person had been Guri, who had explained Black
Sun's connection to this and how they would take care of
everything. A meeting between Guri and Hofret had been arranged
on the Jukiata system, and now Hofret found himself in this
situation. Now in his mid-fifties, he was nearing retirement,
but today everything would change when the Executor arrived in
the vicinity of the drydock.

In his most private meditating chamber aboard the Executor,
Darth Vader sat with eyes closed, trying to focus on the power
of the dark side. His black life support masked was away from
his face, and the gray old face of a man who had sometime been
Anakin Skywalker was revealed. He stretched his arms with the
pleasure that he felt when he was without his mask, though it
wouldn't last long. He would eventually would have to put it
back on because of the wounds he had received many years before.
He'd been fighting against his teacher Obi Wan, who he had killed
on the Death Star.

Now he felt that it was the time to put the mask back. Just as
he had done it, the door that lead to his chamber opened, and the
Executor's new commanding officer, Captain Timorr Sivoneds,
stepped in carefully. Sivoneds had taken command of the Executor
when Admiral Piett had temporarily transferred his flag to
another ship.

"My Lord, we have arrived to the Sur system and the Kuat Drive
Yards drydock."

"Tell Captain Hofret that I shall arrive on the Vendetta soon."
Vader said without turning towards the Captain.

"As you wish, my Lord." Sivoneds saluted. He clearly did not
like coming into this room, and walked away quickly.

Vader started to think the possibility of living without the
Emperor's machines helping him. Perhaps some day it would be
possible.


None of the "normal" crew of the Vendetta knew what their Captain
and senior staff were planning. Hofret knew that this was the time
to act, and his first officer also knew that.

"Now?" Seeadred whispered into Hofret's ear as the Captain sat in
his command chair.

"Now." The older man replied, "Most of the pilots haven't come
aboard yet, and neither has Lord Vader, so it's the best time to
give our announcement."

"I have already put guards to every deck to guard the most
important places. Some of the crew may start to rebel against us."

"That is one possibility," Hofret admitted, "but I don't think so.
I thought that before I had read the crew manifest, but now I know
that its not going to happen. All right, then." he sighed and stood
up. Crew members around him on the bridge turned their heads towards
him, waiting for his orders.

"Put me into ship-wide comm." Hofret commanded.

"You're on, sir." a quick response came from the communications
station. Hofret swallowed and started to speak.

"Everyone on my senior staff supports me and what I'm about to
do. It took many years from me to realize what I was doing and
what the Empire and the Emperor were doing to us. The Emperor
controls us by his propaganda and news about what the Rebellion
has done. The information that comes trough his channels are
all lies. I have always followed my orders blindly before this,
without caring what a bombardment of a rebellious planet would
do, or putting people and aliens to death even they have done
nothing, just as a warning to the Rebels. My wake-up call was
when the Empire destroyed my homeplanet, Alderaan, killing
billions of people. Whether you are working in waste disposal,
engineering or you are just a pilot, I ask your help. This is
the most powerful ship in the galaxy. We can and we will give
it to the Rebel Alliance, who needs her more than we can even
guess. With this ship fighting on their side, they can put an
end to the Empire's dictatorship and free all the worlds that
it controls. There is no greater need in the universe than the
need for freedom. I only ask your support for this. Those who
don't want to follow me and my staff are free to leave the ship
now, and nothing will be done to them. Thank you."
As Hofret finished his speech, he sighed deeply and closed his
eyes.

"We are receiving a report from the engineering, they say that
they are on your side, sir." Seeadred smiled as he read the
internal communications monitor.
"Gunnery is also on your side as is almost everybody on the ship.
Only a few pilots and troopers are against you."

"Let them leave the ship." Hofret ordered.

"Sir, are you sure?"

"I promised that everybody is now free to leave." Hofret said
and added thoughtfully, "We are not the Empire."

"They have left the ship and are probably now alerting Imperials
of our intentions." Seeadred informed after a long minute.

"All right, seal all airlocks and remove the docking clamps. I
want our ion cannons ready to fire a full barrage at the Executor
on my mark."

"Cannons ready and targeted on the Executor, sir." a gunner
operator informed.

"Mark."

Almost a hundred blue beams blazed from Vendetta's ion cannons
against the Executor's hull, crashing her shields and disabling
her systems one after another.

"Sir, the helm is not responding!" Executor's helmsman cried.

"What in the Emperor's name is the Vendetta doing?" Sivoneds
wondered his mouth open as he watched Vendetta to leave the
drydock.

"Get me Captain Hofret on holo!" he commanded.

"I'm trying! The comm systems are badly malfunctioning!" the
communications officer cried. "There!" he added and a static
holographic picture of Hofret sitting on his command chair
appeared in front of Sivoneds.

"Captain Hofret, explain yourself! What are you doing?"

"I'm defecting, Timorr," Hofret said calmly, "I'm about to
give the Vendetta to the Rebel Alliance."

"To those scum? You do not stand a chance against the Imperial
Navy!"

"We'll see about that." Hofret smiled, and suddenly his image
disappeared from the bridge.

"Get him back!" Sivoneds commanded angrily.

"We cannot do that, sir," the comm officer replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he broke the connection with us," the comm officer
said.

The embarrassed captain was quiet for a moment as he watched
the Vendetta enter hyperspace.



I know what you are thinking! It sucks and there's no sign of Thrawn (yet!). Wait till you see what I did to the most beloved EU character by making him the protagonist of my fanfic!

Posted: 2002-12-10 08:45pm
by Coyote
It's actually not bad, don't be so hard on yourself. Flesh it out a bit and so far it looks like you'd have a first-rate fanfic. As it is, it is a really good outline that just needs a bit more description and 'flavor' to be complete.

Posted: 2002-12-11 05:48am
by Oberleutnant
Thanks!

I'm the author (unfortunately) so it belongs to my job to be critical of my work. I have to admit that recently I've given a lot of thought to rewriting the story. Please, I'd love to get more feedback on what needs to be fixed so that somehing can be done about it! :)

Some of the things I don't like about Hunt (in no particular order):
Black Sun - Does it really need to be here?
Hijacking the Vendetta
Characters - Some of them, such as Captain Hofret, are basically OK, but they need more flesh on their bones
The moronic dialogue
Style of writing

In this next part we finally get to see Thrawn and a space battle between the Vendetta and Imperial forces. The works of KJA and Stackpole had a great influence on me at the time which is noticeable. I didn't own Zahn's original trilogy, so I originally based Thrawn's character on TIE Fighter games.

A fourteen year old teen and a fanfic writer don't mix together very well and it shows. Back in the autumn 1998 when I was finishing the Hunt, I knew it needed some polishing, but I never bothered...


Orbit of Coruscant

Captain Dereket of the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger
stood in front of a Lambda-Class shuttle that landed in the
Avenger's primary docking bay. After Needa's death, Commander
Steele had gotten a promotion to Captain and had been assigned
to a VSD. Dereket had also received a promotion to Captain,
and he still served aboard the Avenger. Though he would
much rather have served aboard this Imperial-II class Star
Destroyer than a Victory-class Star Destroyer. A battalion of
storm troopers stood on both sides of him in a professional
formation. A landing ramp opened on the shuttle and two escorting
Fleet Officers in their black uniforms walked to the deck first.

The boots of an Imperial Grand Admiral in his tidy white uniform
followed them. The Admiral's white gloves didn't reveal that he
was not human, but when everybody saw his face and eyes it
confirmed the fact that he was an alien, the only non-human
admiral in the Imperial Fleet.

Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned from his long mission in the Unknown Regions, and had the honor of commanding the just finished Executor on her maiden voyage few months before the destruction of the Death Star. The mission should have been an easy one: to board and capture a Rebel
Nebulon-B frigate called Freedom, commanded by ex-Imperial
Captain Mykel Garreth. The Freedom had been in the Corellian
system at that time trying to get the Corellians to join their
pitiful cause. Thrawn had almost captured the ship, when
something very strange had happened. The helmsman had suddenly
plotted a new course away from the Freedom many light years away,
allowing it to escape.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This endless description abruptly halts the flow of the story, doesn't it? It's referring to John Burke's "Freedom" fanfic - my way of thanking him for fixing most of the grammar.)

The Emperor had not been pleased, and he had said that he
would kill Thrawn for his failure. But he had eventually decided to
put him command of a Star Destroyer for a short period of time and
then keep him on the Coruscant as his chief tactical advisor. Everything had gone well when they had forced Rebels to flee from their
main base on Yavin. Now Thrawn would be going to the Unknown
Regions aboard his new ship, ISD Avenger.

Lord Vader had killed avenger's previous Captain, Needa, when
he had allowed a Rebel freighter to escape. Needa's execution
had not been necessary. It was stupid to kill everyone who
failed, in Thrawn's opinion. The red glowing eyes watched their
surroundings for a moment, and then concentrated on Dereket.
When Thrawn was only two meters away, Dereket saluted him.

"Welcome aboard the Avenger, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I'm Captain
Toasn Dereket." Dereket said as formally as he could.

"Thank you, Captain for this welcoming inspection. It was not
necessary, as they would have much more important things to do,
but still: Thank you." Thrawn smiled, which surprised Dereket
very much. Usually officers in the Navy rarely smiled because
of the strict protocols.

"I just thought that this would make you feel-"

"Don't worry, Captain. I known that it's a normal procedure
when a high-ranking officer comes aboard," Thrawn calmed him.
"Tell me, what is Avenger's current status?" Thrawn asked as
they both started to walk through the deck towards the turbolift.

"We have 25% of our fighter complement on board. We lost most
of them on the Battle of Hoth while pursuing Rebels in an
asteroid field. But we should receive a full complement any time
now from Sienar Fleet Systems." Needa explained.

Right next to the turbolift on it's right side, a thin man
with a long face and blond hair stood. Rank cylinders on
uniform told that he was a General.
"This the commander of the ground forces in our task force,
General Suarks."

Before coming aboard Thrawn had read Dereket's and Suarks' bios.
Dereket came from a wealthy family from the Coruscant and
Suarks from Carida. Carida housed Empire's best and most
advanced training facilities for stormtroopers.

"Admiral." Suarks greeted Thrawn as he came closer.

"General." Thrawn replied as they stepped to the turbolift.
It started to head towards the bridge.

After a brief inspection of the Avenger's bridge, two
cadets started to carry Thrawn's belongings aboard the
ISD, from the shuttle he had come in. While talking with
damage control chief, Dereket watched as those two cadets
went inside Thrawn's office with his things, then returned
without them and made another trip.

Suddenly the door that lead to Thrawn's office opened, and the Admiral walked onto the bridge. Dereket turned to him, showing him a PADD.
"Here's our current fighter complement, sir. Sienar Fleet
Systems' Fleet Carrier just arrived and is transferring
fighters aboard the Avenger. Along with those fighters are
two new TIE Advanced, with a hyperdrive engines installed,"
Dereket announced.

Thrawn walked to the windows and watched as the squadrons
of TIEs were transferred from the Fleet Carrier to his Star
Destroyer.

"We'll be leaving for the Unknown Regions in five standard
hours," Thrawn informed him, still watching the fighters.

"May I ask what our mission is going to be there?" Dereket
asked carefully.

"The Emperor has given me strict orders not to reveal it
until we leave Coruscant."

"I see."

"Communications?" Thrawn asked, and a officer on the
communication console turned towards him and saluted.

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you get other ships of our task force on the holo in
my office? I want to talk to their Captains there."

"All right, sir. Just give the signal when you want them."

"Good work. Captain. You have the conn," Thrawn said, and
walked into his office.

The Executor, his own ship, had been completely ruined
and the Vendetta had managed to escape. Now the infamous
ship was been towed to the drydock for repairs. Darth Vader
was not pleased, and neither was the Emperor. The ex-Senator
Palpatine watched Vader with his piercing cold yellow eyes,
which glowed like Jawa's eyes in a darkness. Though the
Emperor did not look dangerous, that was only an illusion.
Even Vader, one of the most powerful men in the galaxy knew
to fear him. Anyone didn't was be a fool. The "Dark Chamber,"
as most of the crew called it, on board the Executor was only
for private communications between Vader and the Emperor.

"Lord Vader," the Emperor began, "I am not pleased with what
happened. Didn't you sense anything in Hofret's mind? You
should've been enough close that you would have."

Vader chose not tell the truth about his training to live
without the Emperor's machinery he was trapped in. He
remained quiet. There was a moment of silence, and then the
Emperor continued.

"If Hofret is planning to give the Vendetta to the Rebels,
everything, even what I have foreseen is in great danger. We may
even not be able to turn Skywalker to our side. You shall pay
dearly if the Imperial Navy is not able to get the Vendetta
back in time. I order you to return to Coruscant immediately
without any delays." the Emperor said with a defiant look
and closed the connection. Vader knew what would happen if the
Emperor chose to punish him: he would die. A few times before,
and especially after the Battle of Yavin, the Emperor had
threatened to kill Vader.

Thrawn spent some time inspecting the commanding officers
of his task force. There was Captain Paetor Mensk, a human
man with crystal-blue eyes and a brown hair and mustache.
He was commanded one of the Strike Cruisers, the Lightning.
Mensk was a good Captain. Thrawn knew that from tactical
exercises he had run through with Mensk. Then there was
Captain Ulkayto, commander of ISD Vortex. Captain Ualus
Kerrigan, the commander of the Barricade, the only Interdictor
in Thrawn's task force. Kerrigan and his ship played a pivotal
part in his group because the Barricade with her gravity well
generators could take any ship out of the hyperdrive and hold
it there. In his years on the Unknown Regions, the Interdictors
had been very useful on capturing pirates and other criminals.

But Thrawn was worried about Kerrigan's command abilities.
He was not resourceful, and in tactical exercises he had proven
that he fell to very easy tricks. Definitely not his favorite
CO in the task force. Then there were two other captains,
Captains Joak Drysso who commanded ISD Manifest, and Marret
Rendhile, commander of the Banshee group which consisted of five
modified Corellian
Corvettes.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Despite this impressive list of names, none of these characters have any personality whatsover.)

"The mission on the Unknown Regions will require long patrols
and missions without the support of the rest of the Imperial
fleet. Our priority is to explore new worlds and start co-operation
with them. Also all mineral-rich planets must be charted in order
to strengthen our production capability. The mission will be long,
and we are going to be in the Unknown Regions for over three years,
probably longer." Thrawn concluded, and the captains' holographic
images disappeared. He surveyed the office where the cadets had
taken his belongings. The office, which had looked cold, was now
like a gallery. He punched an intercom button on his desk.

"Captain Dereket, would you come to my office?"

As Dereket walked to Thrawn's office, he was surprised of the
numbers of objects of art that Thrawn had brought with him. Just
a few weeks ago, when Needa's things had still been here, the office
had only had two or three holo-photos of his family and his two
daughters. Thrawn had at least a dozen, and they were not just
simple photos. Real paintings covered the walls, vases and some
kind of statues stood on the deck. Thrawn sat at his chair, his
fingers crossed, red eyes watching Dereket.

"Come closer, Captain." Thrawn said. Dereket followed the order
and walked few steps towards the Admiral. A big, two-meter-tall
statue representing a human-looking alien stood quietly next to
Thrawn's desk, grabbing Dereket's attention.

"It certainly is impressive piece of art. Isn't it, Captain?"
Thrawn asked again without looking at the young Captain.

"It is," Dereket replied, looking at the statue. The statue was
white, and it represented an alien that wore long robes and held
something in its hand that Dereket didn't quite recognize.
It seemed familiar, but he didn't remember what it was.

"The statue is real!" Dereket wondered as he noticed how the
statue laid shadows to the deck, which a hologram didn't do.

"It's a Sith statue from a deserted planet on the Outer Rim.
It represents a Sith Warrior who is armed with a lightsaber."
Thrawn explained. Now Dereket recognized the strange object in
statue's hand-- it was a lightsaber! When he had been a child,
he had heard stories about the Jedi Knights and that power that
they had, called the Force.

"What was Needa like? I mean, what kind of Captain was he?"
Thrawn suddenly asked, surprising Dereket completely.

"Well, he always took care of his duties and followed his
orders. But. . . he did not always consider every possible option.
You see, when we lost that Corellian freighter, it had actually
docked itself behind our command tower where our scanners couldn't
detect it. The only blind spot in ISDs is directly at the waste
hatch."

"So my analysis of Needa was right."

"Excuse me, sir? What do you mean?"

"I have the ability to diagnose people from their taste in art.
From Captain Needa's art here and his quarters, I thought that
as an officer who did not always consider open possibilities,
just as you said," Thrawn explained.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, just like that! With a snap of his finger Thrawn can give detailed analysis of people...) :roll:

Suddenly the intercom came to life.

"Admiral, we have a holo-message coming in from the Emperor
himself!"

"Connect it to my office."

The gigantic holographic image of Emperor's face appeared in
front of Thrawn and Dereket. The Emperor looked very much like a
lliving corpse which only waited to be buried underground.

"Your Excellency, what an unexpected pleasure," Thrawn greeted
him, and bowed. Dereket, whose heart was jumping rapidly in his
chest from excitement, copied the movement.

"A dangerous situation has taken a place in the Outer Rim sector
near Kuat Drive Yards' shipbuilding facility in the Sur system.
A new Super Star Destroyer was captured by a renegade Captain,
Eman Hofret, who took it and its crew just as it was preparing to
take Lord Vader aboard. We speculate that Hofret is planning to
give the ship to the Rebels," the Emperor explained.

"And what is my part in this?" Thrawn asked calmly.

"I want that you return to Coruscant immediately as my chief
tactical counselor until this is over and the Vendetta is back in
the loyal hands of the Imperial fleet."

"What about the planned mission to the Unknown Regions?"

"It can wait. The fate of the Empire is in danger now, as it
will be until the Vendetta is captured. That ship, in Rebel hands,
would be a formidable foe to us."

"As you wish." Thrawn replied, watching the Emperor.

"There is more: We have received a confirmed report from one
of our spies. Apparently, the Rebels are planning an attack on
Coruscant. I'm ordering the Death Squadron to proceed back here
at full speed. I have already told this to Admiral Akit, who will
deal with Hofret and his ship. No other Imperial ships are to take
part in this chase, including yours, Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"I'm not sure if we should trust that report so much. It could've
been planted by a Rebel spy." Thrawn stated.

"Thrawn, you must understand what the loss of Coruscant would
mean to the Empire. Now, get here as soon as possible."
Thrawn knew how stubborn Emperor could be. He might know how to
control the Empire, but he was no tacticion and neither was Akit,
who had gotten his high position only because he was a human, and
from a family that had been close friends with the Emperor while
he had been a senator.

"Your wish is my command." Thrawn admitted and Emperor's image
vaporized.


As Thrawn stepped into the Emperor's dark throne room, located
on the top of his palace, his diplomatic advisors talked with him
and a red-haired woman stood beside the Emperor like a bodyguard.

"Leave us," the Emperor said to his advisors, pointing in the
direction of the door. The pale-faced advisors bowed and walked
away, towards the door.

"Thank you for coming so soon," the Emperor said to Thrawn.

"I merely did as you told me to do." Thrawn replied but then
decided to get right into business, "With all respect, my Master,
I'd consider it wiser to put someone besides Akit in charge of the
Hunt."

"But I am the commander of the hunt for Vendetta, Admiral. Or
have you forgotten that?"

"Your knowledge as a military tactician is not good as your
diplomatic skill. I would consider it to be much wiser if a person
with an experience in tactics were in command instead of yourself,"
Thrawn countered, facing the Emperor.

"You DARE to think of me as an INCOMPETENT!" the Emperor exploded.
Thrawn could almost hear thunder outside at same time. "Grand
Admiral Thrawn, do not get in my way or-"

"Lives of thousands of people in the Empire are in danger if Akit
is in command! The New Order will not reach to every corner of
galaxy if the Rebels receive the Vendetta!"

"You are a TRAITOR to the Empire! Just like Hofret!" the Emperor
raged as Thrawn continued pushing. "You will tell me that you
were mistaken when you spoke just now! I will not-"

"My loyalties are to the Empire and its people. I will not say
that I was mistaken in my words I and stand behind them," Thrawn
replied, trying to hide his fear from the Emperor, who stood up
from his chair and took few steps towards him.

"You should be executed for this! And if you were any other man,
I would have already killed you where you stood," the Emperor
warned, raising his right hand to the air. Suddenly blue lightning
flew out of his fingers against the walls, burning paintings and
everything in their way. Thrawn then again still stood at his place
without moving or showing his fear. The Emperor was like a Myabian
Sandman, naive and short-tempered, though they didn't have the
Force on their side, thought Thrawn. The Emperor mumbled something,
calming himself, and the lightning stopped.

"However," he continued, "I will not kill you. Not before Akit
has dealt with the Vendetta."


Xizor's eyes watched the blue face of the Grand Admiral at a
monitor showing footage from his spy camera. His spying net
was vast, outnumbering even the Empire's. Only the Bothans had
a better one, and the fact that he had no Bothans serving the
Black Sun made him angry sometimes. T hey were too loyal to
their own people--a thing that was really rare nowadays in the
galaxy. Green text, in standard, appeared below the blue-skinned
Admiral's picture, showing his name.

"So the Emperor has decided to bring his favorite Admiral back
to his Palace. I must admit, that man has courage that nobody
else that I know has. Even including myself. Fascinating."
the underworld prince thought. At same time, Guri stepped into
his office.

"The Welorian Prime minister wants to speak with you. He says
that it is urgent, and if you do not talk with him now, he
said that Weloria doesn't want to have any future dealings
with the Black Sun."

"Send him away. Two billion standard credits, here or there.
Not important," Xizor replied coldly, nodding to Guri.

"As you wish," Guri said without questioning Xizor's orders.
Any normal sentient being wouldn't have wasted that amount of
money. With that money he could buy almost anything in the
galaxy, even a planet. But watching Thrawn's picture was more
enjoyable than listen complains of the Welorian, a man who
belonged to the race that Xizor didn't like very much. They were
untrustworthy, just like humans, and weren't even good workers.
Only the rare mineral that was on their little planet had caused
Xizor to start to do business with them. Business that had now
come to an end.


Seeadred looked Hofret directly in the eyes and asked
hesitatingly, "Sir, weren't you from the Alderaan?"

Hofret turned towards a window that showed the aft of the
Vendetta and the hyperspace tunnel inside which it traveled.
"You can tell that from my accent?" he joked, but then turned
serious. "Well, yes I was."

"It must have been awful when the Death Star came. I mean,
Uthak has been under the command of very powerful occupation
forces, and when the resistance movement there attacks to any
Imperial target, the occupation forces usually execute dozens
of civilians for it. A few years ago, my brother belonged to
that resistance movement and was a part of the bombing of an
Imperial AT-AT depot where several Walkers were destroyed. He
got caught, and after interrogation he was executed." Seeadred
stated.

"The Imperial way. . ." Hofret said.

"You don't understand me, sir. I WAS my own little brother's
interrogator there. I served as an executive officer aboard the
ISD Deathtrap at the time when his group did the bombing raid,
and I happened to be on the planet at that time. And since I
was the highest-ranking officer at the bombing site, you know
what happened." Seeadred explained angrily, almost crying, "I
had to ask questions about his group and his leader with the
depot commander and interrogation droid on the same room. While
I sleep, I can still hear his screams in my mind when I gave
electric shocks and toxins into his body. He stayed strong and
did not reveal anything. I was not strong. When he was close
to dying and the droid and the commander had left me in the room
alone with my brother, he whispered something in my ear. They
were his last words. 'You don't have to live with this, Myrk.
I don't hold any grudge against you but please, don't tell this
to mum and dad."

"You haven't told this to anyone, have you?" Hofret asked.
Seeadred shook his head trying not to cry.

"My mother and father were killed few weeks after that while
Imperial troops were fighting against rioters on the main street
of Uthak. Luckily Deathtrap had left the system just prior to
that," Seeadred continued.

"Those are all reasons why we are doing this. We are going to
make a difference with this ship. The person who planned this
defection contacted me just before you came to my office. The
Imps have formed a small fleet of ships at an Imperial base
very near us. If we are about to stop them, we must do it quickly."

"Yes, they are not expecting a direct attack from us. They're
waiting; getting ready and then start their operation."

Admiral Telan Akit sat in the command room in the middle of
his asteroid base. It was shielded by tons of metal armor, the
same used in the SSDs, and by three Gen Core shield generators-
a good defense. It would take at least a dozen Star Destroyers to
fire with maximum power at his base, before it would be destroyed.
Akit's fleet of ten Imperials, five Victories, two Interdictors,
three Nebulons, and one Strike Cruiser was a formidable fleet
that could crush any resistance easily. Now the fleet awaited his
command around his base, to start Operation Hunt. He observed
how his crew worked with their consoles in the round command room,
with his command chair in the middle. A massive view screen ahead
of Akit showed the surrounding space and his fleet.

"Admiral, something big is coming out of hyperspace near the
fleet!" the scanner operator yelled suddenly. Akit turned his
head to the viewscreen where a new red dot suddenly appeared.
Text appeared under the new red dot. It read: SSD Vendetta.

"Fire all of our turbolaser cannons at the nearest Star
Destroyers on my command! We will take them out before they manage
to raise shields!" Hofret commanded from the command chair on
Vendetta's bridge. He allowed his ship to get closer so that the
fire from the turbolasers would be more accurate.

"Fire!"

One after another, Vendetta's turbolaser cannons fired at Akit's
fleet. None of the ships had their shields up at that time, so the
blasts smashed into their hulls, igniting several internal explosions.
They were quickly destroyed or crippled. ISD Dessicator, Akit's
flagship, was cut from the middle as a VSD smashed into her hull,
making a bright explosion that soon ate both ships.

People ran through the Akit's command center going to their
stations and delivering reports.

"We have lost three ISDs, including the Dessicator, and two VSDs,
while five other ships are heavily damaged!" somebody yelled.
Reports from Akit's ships started to come with increasing speed.

"Hammer reports that their propulsion systems are out!"

"Storm reports that they cannot maintain the power and that they
must try for auxiliary power!"

Akit tried to stay calm and set an example for his crew. "Order
our fleet to regroup around the base!"

"Sir, none of our ships are able to do that!"

Akit felt his shoulders to collapse with his mind as he gave an
order he never could've imagined himself giving. "Put me into
base-wide comm. I'm about to give the evacuation command."

Standing directly behind the windows, Hofret smiled to himself
as he saw the flaming asteroid base and the numerous escape pods
and shuttles trying to escape. Vendetta's cannons fired only a
few shots, decelerating in speed and finally stopping.

"Sir, should I order our fighters to pursue the escaping vessels?"
Seeadred asked behind him. Hofret turned to him and shook his head.

"No, don't do it. Let the Imperials know what exactly happened
to their base and what they have up against them now."

Seeadred smiled faintly and nodded.

"As you wish, Captain." Then he walked away. Hofret sighed
loudly as he watched the base eventually explode into debris.


At Xizor's Skyhook, the Falleen Prince sat in his office
reading one of the numerous reports he got every day. This
report was from his Magistrate on the Giannivelli system's
Tibbana-gas Mining Colony. The productivity had increased a
notable amount from the last month. Even more credits would
find their way to the Xizor's endless pockets. He put the
report aside, leaned backward in his chair, and turned to the
window that showed Coruscant. He could see one of the Nebulon-B
frigates that belonged to his small, but still powerful, fleet.

A small shuttle belonging to Welorian Prime minister he had just
sent away flew into the hyperspace. He rarely made bad choices
in business and he didn't bother himself with them. He was the
wealthiest person in the galaxy after the Emperor and Vader.
Vader, a person who he would get rid of very
soon. Suddenly the door opened and Guri stepped in again.

"Our spies have intercepted an message from Imperial Admiral
Telan Akit, who attempted to halt the Vendetta. The message was
meant for the Emperor himself. The complete message is in this
PADD." Guri said and gave the small PADD to the Falleen.

"Thank you for the information, Guri. I shall read it
immediately." Xizor said and started to read the report.


TO THE IMPERIAL PALACE IN CORUSCANT, CORUSCANT SECTOR.
CLASSIFIED MATERIAL.

FROM: ADMIRAL TELAN AKIT, COMMANDER OF THE 85th
IMPERIAL FLEET IN CORELLIAN SECTOR.

RENEGADE CAPTAIN HOFRET HAS MANAGED TO DESTROY ALL
SHIPS UNDER MY COMMAND, BY USING THE ELEMENT OF
SURPRISE.

SSD VENDETTA STILL FULLY OPERATIONAL, AND HEADING
TOWARDS THE OUTER RIM AND UNKNOWN REGIONS.

I AM CURRENTLY RETURNING TO THE CORUSCANT ON MY OWN
ESCORT SHUTTLE. ETA TO CORUSCANT: 2 STANDARD
DAYS.

--ADMIRAL TELAN AKIT--


END OF MESSAGE

The Fallen Prince smiled at the message after reading it.
"So far Hofret has done well. Hopefully he will continue to do
well until the end," Xizor said quietly and turned the power on
the monitor off.


The Emperor read the message, with no visible feeling or
motion in his face, from the massive viewscreen in his throne
room. His yellow eyes glowed in the dark room. After reading
it, he still stared at it for a few moments. Then he turned at
Thrawn.

"Akit has failed in capturing the Vendetta. He failed
completely, and that cost every ship in his fleet. Hofret and
the Vendetta made a surprise attack while his fleet was preparing
for the search operation," the Emperor hissed.

"Just as I warned you," Thrawn stated. "Akit is an incompetent
fool."

"What kind of fleet do you require to capturing Hofret and
his ship, then? I cannot give you many ships, as our main goal
is now to hunt down the Rebels and defend Coruscant from possible
attack."

Thrawn was not surprised at what the Emperor's words. "I do not
need a large fleet. A task force that has a few ISDs, some Carrack
Cruisers and other quick vessels along with an Interdictor are
enough for me in capturing the Vendetta."

The Emperor walked slowly to his throne seat and sat down. The
machinery in the seat turned it slowly towards the big window that
showed the night of Coruscant. "Grand Admiral Thrawn, from now on you are in command of this operation. Do not fail me as Akit did."

"I will not fail you."

In the corner of the throne room, Mara Jade grinned, knowing
how many times people had said that to her Master, and then failed
in their promises.

Posted: 2002-12-11 05:49pm
by Coyote
This continues to develop well. A few things--

If the ISD commanders don't have any personality and they're all goinbg to be destroyed anyhow, then don't bother to introduce them. We're given an avalanche of names that don't mean anything-- just say "the other Captains" or something like that and be done with them.

The Emperor never struck me as the type of guy to say "thank you", and even when he was upset with Vader or Luke he never went into frenzied hysterics, threatening to kill them. He just got that irritated hissing lilt to his voice that let people know they were treading on thin ice:

"I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear?"
"Your faith in your friends is yours."
"So be it.... Jedi"

When it came time to kill someone, he didn't talk about it. He just did it. You'd be talking, arguing, bargaining, and suddenly-- aaargh! Blue Lightning! And he wasn't the type of guy who needed to make a demonstration by destroying objects. Everyone knows he's the Emperor, and could kill with a thought.

Xizor and the Black Sun are okay, but it'll be interesting to see why he's willing to give an SSD to the Rebels just to make Vader look bad. Isn't that a bit of overkill? Something like that could upset the balance of power and throw things towards the Rebellion-- would Xizor really want this?

Anyhow... keep going...

Posted: 2002-12-16 03:25pm
by Oberleutnant
Coyote wrote:This continues to develop well. A few things--
You gotta be kidding, right? :)


If the ISD commanders don't have any personality and they're all goinbg to be destroyed anyhow, then don't bother to introduce them. We're given an avalanche of names that don't mean anything-- just say "the other Captains" or something like that and be done with them.
I agree wholeheartly. It is possible that I had plans for them while I was making the story, but I'm not sure.

The Emperor never struck me as the type of guy to say "thank you", and even when he was upset with Vader or Luke he never went into frenzied hysterics, threatening to kill them. He just got that irritated hissing lilt to his voice that let people know they were treading on thin ice:

"I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear?"
"Your faith in your friends is yours."
"So be it.... Jedi"

When it came time to kill someone, he didn't talk about it. He just did it. You'd be talking, arguing, bargaining, and suddenly-- aaargh! Blue Lightning! And he wasn't the type of guy who needed to make a demonstration by destroying objects. Everyone knows he's the Emperor, and could kill with a thought.
As I was browsing through the story, the confrontation with the Emperor made me stop for a moment. You're right, Palpatine was out of character during that scene.

Xizor and the Black Sun are okay, but it'll be interesting to see why he's willing to give an SSD to the Rebels just to make Vader look bad. Isn't that a bit of overkill? Something like that could upset the balance of power and throw things towards the Rebellion-- would Xizor really want this?
Considering how badly Empire outguns the Rebellion, one single SSD wouldn't probably mean that much. However, if I rewrite the story, I won't be including the Black Sun.

Anyhow... keep going...
I will. Here's the third part where the "climatic" battle kicks in.




First Day

Gaseli Installation, deep in the core systems, had been one
of Moff Tarkin's favorite *pets* after the highly-secret Maw
Installation. He had led this installation until his death in
the Battle of Yavin, and the command of it had been transferred
to Grand Admiral Thrawn when he had returned from the Unknown
Regions. People at the Gaseli Installation had done work with
an improved cloaking device that could be used in a smaller
ships and worked better in the bigger ones. The project had been
code-named as "The Masair Project", and its main developer after
the Grand Admiral was Kaj Ombaka. Currently in their small
installation, three normal Lancer-class frigates were refitted to
work with the cloaking device. Originally Lancer-class frigates
had been specifically designed for use against fighters as the
destruction of the Death Star had demonstrated the power of
fighters. Now, from the command center of the installation, he
watched as all three Lancers disappeared into the thin air. He
smiled at the little trick that his machines had allowed the
frigates to perform. Then, just as soon as they had appeared,
they became visible again. The smile on his face faded as the
little show ended, and he turned to his assistant, the Verpine
female Valeriux.

"Looks like our little machine really works," Ombaka announced.

"Yess it doess," Valeriux said in her sometimes hardly-
understandable basic. Verpines were very well known for their
experience in technical matters, and although the Verpine
homeworld belonged to the Rebel Alliance, some of the Verpines
were working for the Empire, and Valeriux was one of them. Along
with Thrawn, Bevel Lemelisk, the man who designed the Death Star,
and Ombaka she was one of the best engineers in the galaxy.

"We are receiving a message from Grand Admiral Thrawn. He wants
to speak with you and engineer Valeriux personally," the
Installation's commanding officer, Commander Merefect said.

"I'll take it to my office," Ombaka said, and nodded to Valeriux.

Ombaka's office was small and had no windows at all. Several
design sketches decorated the bulkheads and the desk. Ombaka
walked to his desk and the pressed a button on his small computer.
Suddenly Thrawn's holo-image appeared in the room. The Admiral
wore his white uniform, and had his hands crossed behind his back
as he watched Ombaka and Valeriux.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn, it's good to see you," Ombaka said.

"Thank you," Thrawn said. "I take it that the testing with
the improved cloaking device has gone well."

"You are right. After extensive testing on the Lancer frigates,
we have confirmed that, while cloaked, they are completely
invisible to normal scanners."

"Good, as I need them now."

"Now?" Ombaka frowned.

"Yes. Just a few hours ago a renegade Imperial Captain defected
to the Rebels along with his ship and crew."

"What wass the name of the sship?" Valeriux asked.

"SSD Vendetta." Thrawn said with a deadly serious face.

"A Super Star Destroyer?" Ombaka wondered aloud.

"Yes," Thrawn nodded. "That is why I need those three Lancers
immediately."

"I'll see what I can do, sir," Ombaka said.

"Good," Thrawn said, and closed the connection.


The Avenger's tactical command center, located behind the
bridge and next to Thrawn's office, was now fully manned as
dozens of screens showed maps and locations of fleets, and
one huge holographic 3D picture of the whole galaxy hovered in
the air. The command center was a miniature version of the command
center on Coruscant, and only few ships on the Imperial Navy had
one like it. The Grand Admiral himself stood in front of the huge
holographic picture, observing it. He turned his head towards
Dereket, who stood in front of the door that lead to the bridge.

"Let the hunt begin, Captain!" Thrawn said. Dereket smiled
faintly and walked over to the Grand Admiral.

"Yes, sir."

"All the other Grand Admirals have speculated about the place
which Hofret will strike to get supplies that he desperately needs.
The possibilities are: Imperial supply base Greisad, which is
closest to the Sur Yards but has a formidable defense system, so
it's unlikely that Hofret will decide to go there. Then there is
Scientific Research base DC-92 located in the Sirkusa system.
DC-92's only defense is a small minefield that wouldn't take a long
to take care of with the Vendetta. And last, there is Dexana VI, an
unmanned supply depot inside an asteroid field."

"So where do you think he will hit?" Dereket asked, watching the
possible targets.

"None of these."

"What?"

"You heard me right, Captain. None of the other eleven Grand
Admirals know Hofret as well as I do. And if I know him as I should,
he has already arranged a meeting with Rebels where he will take
supplies. He always thinks before he does something. He's very
cautious in his actions. That is a one thing that I learned from him
when I battled against him in the tactical simulations. Also his
taste in art is quite... defensive, if I can put it in that way,"
Thrawn continued. "Speculating that Vendetta is cruising on her
maximum speed, she should be right here at the moment."

A green cross appeared on the tactical display, heading away from
the icon that represented Sur system's position.

"Hofret must take fuel as soon as possible, since the Vendetta
had not completed her fueling when she escaped. Captain, tell our
ships to go different monitoring positions around the location
where the Vendetta is at the moment. We will use monitoring probes,
which should pick up transmissions on coded channels."

Every ship in Thrawn's task force now split up and set different
courses. All of them, after arriving to their destinations, started
to deploy monitoring probes into the black void of space. Immediately
after their placement, their mini-computers came to life and activated
themselves.


Third Day

"Sir, we are picking up a coded transmission, originating from an
Imperial ship," the communications officer said at Avenger's bridge.
"It's been transmitted from near a dead system called Dantooine."

"Dantooine. . ." Dereket repeated, wondering where he had heard the
name before. "Wasn't that system a location of an abandoned Rebel
base?" Thrawn walked to where the communications officer was.

"You're right, Captain. It had been a location of a Rebel base.
Currently, we believe that it is deserted," Thrawn explained, and
glanced at the comm officer, "I believe that our computers are
decoding this right now?"

"Yes, they are," the science officer confirmed.

"We are receiving a message from the Navy Command. They say that
no Imperial ships should be operating on the area."

"It's the Vendetta." Dereket smiled.


In Thrawn's office, Thrawn, Dereket, Suarks, and Avenger's coding
expert Kyle Greenheart had gathered to hear the deciphered message.
Lights were dim and tension was high.

"This is Captain Hofret of the Vendetta. I hope that you are ready
and waiting for us?" the static voice of a human male asked from the
speakers.

A voice that obviously belonged to a Mon Calamari male answered,

"Admiral Ackbar of the Rebel Alliance navy here. We are ready
and waiting for you at our supply depot on Tsiegre IV. There you
will be supplied and then you will set course for the coordinates
that we are now sending you. At those, co-ordinates we will board
her. This is a precaution, since if we would board her full
crew--"

"I understand what you mean. Thank you, Admiral. We will set our
course for your supply depot at best possible speed. Vendetta out."

"Admiral Ackbar mentioned sending coordinates to the Vendetta. Were
they with the message?" asked Suarks, breaking the silence that had
come to the room after the message had ended.

"Yes, they were. The coordinates that Rebels sent for Hofret were
with the message. They seem to be a location in the Liat system, a
dead system with no habitable planets or known civilizations."

"Perfect place for them," commented Dereket. "How long will it
take Vendetta to travel to the Liat system on her full speed?"

"Approximately two days at maximum speed," Greenheart said.

"Our reinforcements should arrive by then. Good," Thrawn, who
had been quiet until now, said. Their reinforcements were Lancers
from the Gaseli Installation.




Fifth Day

As the Vendetta came into real space from hyperspace, Hofret
knew that the only thing that they could now do was to wait.
They had arrived earlier than they had agreed with the Rebels.

They had prepared for this for two days. Ombaka's Lancers had
arrived a day ago but Captain Mensk's strike cruiser and the ships
that had accompanied her had not. His task force had been waiting
in a nearby system for Vendetta to arrive, and when she had
appeared on the sensor operators' monitors, everything had been
put into motion.

"All ships report that they are ready, Admiral."

"Engage."

The bridge was silent. All of them were waiting for Rebels.
The sensor operator broke the silence. "Imperial ships arriving
in the system!"


From his chair in the command center, Thrawn observed how over a
hundred small red dots emerged from the Vendetta at the tactical
display.

"Vendetta is launching her fighters! Our ships and fighters simply
can't fight against that number of Imperial fighters! The odds
are strongly against us!" Dereket stated from behind the Grand
Admiral.

"Yes, they can, if Hofret takes my bait. Tell every ship to stop
their advance and order our Lancer frigates to increase their speed
towards Vendetta's fighters."

Now Dereket knew what the Admiral was planning.


"The Imperial fleet is launching its fighters and halting their
advance. Only the fighters seem to be heading towards us," the
scanner operator in the Vendetta's right crew pit informed.

"Doesn't matter. Go to our maximum sublight speed and signal our
fighters to concentrate their fire on the biggest ships," Hofret
ordered, and watched the closing fleet from the windows on the bridge.

"Now, Grand Admiral Thrawn, I have defeated you," he whispered to
himself.

The wing commander of the Alpha Squadron from the Avenger,
Doran Feas, changed the energy configurations so that they
pleased him. The TIE Advanced that he was piloting flew under the
belly of the Avenger, and was followed by four other TIE
interceptors belonging to his squadron.

"Alpha squadron, report in," he said to the comm-link.

"Alpha Two reporting in."

"Alpha Three reporting in."

"Alpha Four reporting in."

"Alpha Five reporting in."

"All right then. We have orders to stay near the Avenger and
the rest of the fleet as Grand Admiral Thrawn has special plans
for the traitors, so maintain formation and follow me." Fees
accelerated his twin ion engines into full throttle.

"Roger that, Alpha leader," Alpha Three confirmed, and exclaimed,
"Let's show them what we're made of!"


From the Vendetta's tactical display, Hofret watched as his ship
and the fighters continued to approach the Imperial fleet. His
fighters and the behemoth ship would crush the smaller Imperial ships
in a few seconds, and he would have complete victory. Then the
Rebels should arrive and take the Vendetta and he would get his
payment and start an easy and quiet life somewhere in the galaxy.
On the tactical display, Vendetta's fighters were closing rapidly
on the Imperial fleet and its fighters. The odds favored Hofret
greatly. Suddenly three new red dots appeared in front of
Vendetta's fighters.

"Three Lancer-class frigates have de-cloaked directly in front
of the fighters!" the sensor operator cried, knowing what it meant
to the attacking fighters.

The jaw of a young pilot in a TIE fighter from the Vendetta
dropped as he saw a Lancer frigate directly on a collision course
in front of him. He tried to pull back on the flight stick, but
even the maneuverable TIE fighter was not maneuverable enough at
that speed. The small fighter hit the gray hull of the frigate,
blowing it into small, sparkling pieces.

Many of the Vendetta's fighters suffered the same fate and
collided with the Lancers, whose hulls glimmered from the light of
the explosions. Those who did not collide where slaughtered by
intense turbolaser fire from the frigates, which were specially
designed for use against the fighters. Only a few fighters managed
to get through the strong barricade and continued the attack against
the Imperial Fleet.


Another TIE fighter was blasted into pieces as Feas' laser beams
smashed through its cockpit. Feas grinned and checked his torpedo
complement.

"Three advanced concussion missiles still left," he thought, and
did a sharp turn to avoid a laser barrage from one of Vendetta's
TIE interceptors. Suddenly a warning light started to glow in
Feas' cockpit; The TIE interceptor had locked a missile on his
ship! Then the TIE interceptor fired its normal concussion missile
at Feas' fighter. Cursing how he had forgot to check his six, Feas
chanced his speed to zero and turned straight towards the incoming
missile. Knowing that there would be only seconds left before the
missile hit, Feas started to fire at the direction of the missile.
On his main screen, Feas watched the distance between him and the
missile become smaller. He started to think what would happen if
the missile would hit. Possibly the shields could withstand the
impact very easily.

But then, the impact might leave his fighter
vulnerable to other attackers, as the shields would be very low.
Then, to Feas' relief, the missile exploded as two laser beams met
it. He smiled, and continued dogfighting with the fighters that
Vendetta had still left.

A powerful explosion shocked the deck below Hofret. Many fires
started breaking out as plasma and power conduits exploded.

"We have hull breaches on decks 46-77! The foremost TIE-hangar
has been completely destroyed and no further repairs are possible!"
the damage control chief reported. "There's also a major radiation
leak spreading through the ship, sir! I recommend a full-scale
evacuation."

"Evacuation?" Hofret asked with a surprised tone. "Evacuation into the
hands of the Imperials? I'd rather die than allow myself to get in the
clutches of Vader. We must get this ship to the Rebels."

"We must consider the possibility that they are not coming,"
Seeadred said after a brief moment of silence.

"Sir, four Calamari Cruisers along with five Corellian Corvettes
and two Corellian Gunships jumping out from the hyperspace!" the
sensor operator said happily. Not believing his ears, Hofret checked
the tactical display. The sensor operator was right: Four bigger
ships had taken escort position around the Vendetta while the smaller
ships went ahead of the group, Gunships in the front line.

"Message coming in from the Calamari Cruiser Independence. It's
from Admiral Ackbar, on holo."

"By all means, put him on, Lieutenant."


On the bridge of the Mon Calamari cruiser Independence, a
brown-skinned alien with huge staring eyes on the sides of his
long head watched Hofret.

"Glad that you could come, Admiral. Things started to look pretty
bad around here," the holographic picture of an ex-Imperial Admiral
said.

Ackbar, who had been the former slave of the late Moff Tarkin,
and was now an important member of the Rebel Alliance, said, "My
apologies that we could not come any sooner, Captain. But we had
a hard time avoiding the Imperial Navy. What is the status of your
ship?"

Ackbar's own ship, Independence, had been transporting the last
Rebel refugees from Hoth to their new base on the Outer Rim before
this. The Independence was an MC-80-class ship, was 1300 meters long,
and carried 3 fighter squadrons, making it a good match against ISDs.
Before the Empire had invaded Ackbar's beautiful home, he and many
other Mon Calamari had been taken as slaves to the Imperial Moffs,
Admirals, and Governors. But then, while piloting a shuttle with
Moff Tarkin and Imperial Engineer Bevel Lemelisk aboard, they had
been attacked by Rebel Y-Wings. The Y-Wings had disabled the
shuttle, and rescued him when Tarkin and Lemelisk had escaped on
shuttle's small escape pod.

(NOTE: Yadda yadda yadda ... The people who are probably going to read this fanfic are SW fans - they don't need backgrounds for canon characters!)


"We only have an handful of fighters left, there are several hull
breaches throughout the ship, and our foremost hangar bay is
destroyed. The situation doesn't look good at all at the moment,"
Hofret replied, reading the status display.

"We'll see what we can do with about that," Ackbar stated, and
turned to the flight officer. "Launch all of our fighters,
including Commander Antilles' Rogue Squadron."


From the windows on the bridge, Dereket watched the newly arrived
Rebel forces that had formed an defensive ring around the Vendetta.
There were distant explosions as fighters from both sides exploded
in the fierce fighting. Then Dereket quickly turned around and went
to Thrawn, who sat at his command chair.

"Sir, those Rebels are going to make our job much harder. I suggest
that we take our fighters back for rearming. Eventually the Rebels
must make an attack against the Barricade, if they want to get out
of here."

Thrawn was quiet for a moment, and then nodded. "You are right,
Captain. Tell our fighters to return near our fleet."


In the Independence's hangar bay, flight crew prepared the
Rebel fighters for takeoff. Commander Wedge Antilles watched
as the A-Wing fighters from the Blue squadron initiated
their repulsorlifts and took off. He then turned his head
towards his own X-Wing, which was been prepared by the flight
crew as quickly as they could. He stretched his limbs and
climbed into the cockpit. His R2-unit, Vid, had just settled
into place and now made a worried sound.

"I know, Vid! This certainly is a first time we have
been assigned to protect an Imperial ship. I don't trust the
Imps completely, but a ship the size of Vendetta would certainly
make a good addition to the Rebel fleet," Wedge replied after
reading the translation of the R2's binary language from the
monitor. He put the main power online and started the engines.
The quiet and familiar hum of the Koensayr engines penetrated
Wedge's helmet and went to his ears. People who were used to
space travel didn't even notice it, but those who were not
got annoyed by it. He quickly ran the systems check on his
fighter, and then he was ready.

"Good luck, Commander," one of the flight technicians said
as Wedge was preparing to leave. He nodded to the technician
and lifted from the deck, followed by the others from Rogue
Squadron.

"All of our fighters have been rearmed and are standing by,
Admiral," the flight officer said from the right crew pit.

"All right then, launch them again, this time to defensive
positions. The Rebels will attempt to destroy the Barricade,"
Thrawn directed.

"We have several Rebel snubfighters coming around. Most
of them are X-Wings but there are also A-Wings, B-Wings and
Z-95 Headhunters present, so remember to check your six,"
Feas said as he looked at the map display in his cockpit.
His squadron piloted their fighters ahead of the capital
ships, so that they could encounter the Rebels before
the Rebels could get their missiles locked onto them. Feas had
not fought in many battles, as he had entered the Imperial
Navy at the time of Battle of Yavin. He had risen through
the ranks as he had served on a small backwater planet which
had been continuously been under pirate attacks. But now he
served aboard an ISD, and Rebel fighters were getting to their
weapons' range.

"All right, Alpha squadron, break and attack!"

"Do those Rebels want to die in their Z-95s?" Alpha three
laughed as he destroyed one incoming Z-95 with a short
volley of laser blasts that penetrated the weak shields
and armor with ease.

"Don't celebrate too early. There's still a lot of 'em
to take care off," Feas calmed the pilot, knowing that he
was right.

A blast from Wedge's X-Wing smashed into one Tie Bomber
making it spin around without control. He had scored
three kills already but there was a dangerous problem:
Lancers.

"This is Rogue leader to the Alliance fighters, be careful
with those Lancers. They can do pretty bad damage if you
fly too near."

"This is Green leader to the Rogue leader. My squadron is
about to make a torpedo attack on one of them. Could you
provide some cover for us as we make the run?" asked a
voice belonging to Selin Posh.

"Roger that. Rogue 2 and 5, follow me."

Five older Y-Wings with their engines at full speed,
with three X-Wings providing defense, cruised towards a
lone Lancer frigate who was attacking a Rebel Corellian
Corvette. Her shields showed no sign of weakness, even she
had been battling for quite a long time. Suddenly four TIE
interceptors emerged behind her. It was about reflexes and
skill. Wedge's lasers smashed one of them while Rogue 5
destroyed another, leaving only two. Both of the remaining
interceptors suddenly started to chase Rogue 2. As a
slightly slower vessel, the X-Wing couldn't outrun the
interceptors. Rogue 5, piloted by Aqert, a Sullustan female,
fired a few shots, which penetrated one of the interceptors.

"One eyeball down!" Aqert cheered.

"I can't shake it!" cried Rogue 2 as the remaining
interceptor shook his X-Wing's shields. Suddenly the
interceptor exploded as a result of a hit with a torpedo.
Wedge wondered where the torpedo had come from, then
suddenly realized as a new voice rejoiced.

"Scratch another one!"

"Nice shot, Seline!" Wedge said.


From an environmental console, Ombaka felt warm blood
fill his mouth. Masair 1 had taken another hit from a
Rebel Y-Wing, a torpedo hit.

"Engage the cloak!" Commander Merefect cried.

"It's not operative! It's malfunctioning and if we use it, the
whole main circuitry might get fried!" thedamage control chief
replied.

Ombaka knew that they had not yet succeeded in developing an
operative cloaking device what could be used on ships smaller
than strike cruisers. And the cloak used on them didn't work well,
either. It had crippled the engines when it had attempted to use
them too fast after de-cloaking. Also it didn't fit the Empire's
tactics. Imperial ships had to be easy to manufacture and maintain.

(NOTE: Huh? We are talking here about the biggest, most advanced military force in the galaxy... This part of the story has endless problems with the way it shows Imperial military, tactics and technology. I think I originally got the idea of Imperials developing cloaking technology for their cap ships from the TIE fighter game. From today's perspective, it feels a bit stupid IMHO.)


"That means that it may not work on the other ships!" Ombaka
cursed.

An X-Wing's lasers scored the hull of the Lancer, dropping her
shields to zero present.

"Shields on the Lancer have dropped. Green squadron, she's
all yours!" Rogue 5 said. Volleys of blue torpedoes left
the launchers of the Y-Wings. They impacted, the warheads
inside them detonating to bring an end to the Masair 1.

Independence tilted heavily to the port side as it tried
to keep the defensive ring around the Vendetta in order by
blocking the fire from the Imperial fleet with her hull. It
managed to destroy two Lancers threatening the ship, and the
fighters, but it seemed that it couldn't handle anymore of
them.

"Our shields are at 70%, Admiral!" the damage control chief
said. Ackbar remained quiet, watching the windows as the
Imperial fleet came closer and closer. He felt terrible. The
Imperials outgunned them and the Vendetta. With the
Interdictor keeping them here it would be only seconds until
they were all slaughtered. Only a miracle could save them now.

"Sir, we have several ships coming out of hyperspace very near
the Imperial fleet, lead by Lieutenant General Calrissian!"

Ackbar immediately turned his long head at the sensor
screen where the newly arrived Rebel ships took places
behind the surprised Imperials.

"Admiral, General is hailing us!" Communications officer
Eald told him.

Ackbar nodded to him. "Put him trough."

Lando Calrissian, former administrator of a mining colony,
now a Rebel officer, with Chewbacca as his co-pilot,
avoided the incoming TIE fighters at the cockpit of
Millennium Falcon as he spoke to the communicator.
"Calrissian here, Admiral, mind if we join this party?" He
smiled.

The relived Mon Calamari said, "Yes you may Commander.
The Imperials have us surrounded and we cannot escape while
that Interdictor cruiser has its gravity well generator
on."

"We'll see what we can do." Lando said, and switched the
frequency. "All right everyone, let's go get that Interdictor!"
The Falcon's cannons sprayed their fire against the TIEs that
flew past her. Several of them turned into fireballs with their
solar panels separated and flying away from the doomed midsections.

"Good shooting back there!" he congratulated, and activated his
comm-link. "Captain Pola, do you copy me?"

A static female voice replied to him after few seconds.

"Yes I do, Commander. This connection is a little bad as the
Imps just destroyed our main comm dish on their previous pass. We
could use a little assistance here if we want to torpedo that
Interdictor."

"All right. I'm coming there. Gray 1 and 4, follow me!" Lando
commanded.

"We're on your tail, Falcon." Gray leader responded, and took
position behind the Corellian ship with Gray 4.

Feas made his pass over one of the Rebel Corellian Gunships,
blasting its hull with his lasers. The Gunship's shields
had failed already a few passes before and now she was on her
last legs. She started to roll around her axis as the maneuvering
thrusters were destroyed. Beta Squadron TIE bombers flew past
his TIE Advanced, soaring towards the Gunship and locking their
torpedoes onto it.

After getting the confirmed lock, two bombers fired their torpedoes
at the Gunship. Explosions blazed from the hull, ripping the
metal to bits. Then, right after the second torpedo hit, the Gunship's
engines came to stall, and exploded. Feas allowed himself a
smile as he saw the explosion: The Rebels had already lost one
Corvette and now it had been that poor Gunship's turn. But
still something disturbed him: The Galleons. The Rebels seemed
to be protecting them even from the smallest fire from the
Imperial fighters. It seemed that there was be something
important in them, but what? He decided to
check.

"Alpha two and three, escort me. I'm going inspect those
Galleons," he commanded.

"You think there's something wrong in them, Commander?" Alpha
two asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. But I think we should check it just in
case," Feas admitted.

A rolling wireframe display of one of the Star Galleons
appeared to the CSO screen. It showed several major systems
like engines, turbolaser cannons, sensors, etc. But there was
no indication of any weapons that dangerous for the capital
ships.

"I'll do another pass," Feas said and prepared for another pass
while adjusting his sensors for a more efficient mode. Again a
few Rebel fighters flew past his ship without any harm just like
before. As the distance between Feas and the Galleon became
small enough, over a dozen turbolaser batteries fired
simultaneously. Feas evaded the first series of blasts easily and
continued towards the Galleon.

His TIE Advanced started to scan the Galleon again, this time
more carefully, concentrating to those systems that drained the
most energy.

"Whatta?" Feas wondered as his ship's computers registered torpedo
launchers installed on the Galleon. "Attention all Imperial
forces! Rebel Star Galleons are carrying torpedo launchers!"

Suddenly several sections of Galleons' hulls flicked open and
torpedo launchers were revealed. At same time an A-Wing managed
to get unnoticed behind Feas and destroy him with a well-aimed
laser burst.


The fore section of the Barricade disappeared in an explosion
that put the ship out of control.

"What was that?" Kerrigan's words cried out through the smoke
and the sparkling electric circuits and wires on the bridge.

"It was the Star Galleons! They fired on us!" the sensor
operator yelled back from his station, which was almost completely
destroyed.

"Sir, we are losing the gravity well generators! We don't have
enough power for them!"

"Maintain them as long as you can! Now in the meantime, get
those Galleons!" Kerrigan commanded in rage.

"You do not understand, sir! Our propulsion systems, as well
as every other system, are out of order! Destroyed and beyond
further repair! We must evacuate!" the damage control chief
explained.

"We will not evacuate! Lock all of our fighters on those
damned Galleons!" Kerrigan said firmly, looking at the burned
face of the chief.

"Sir, it is too late! Look!" a Cadet fresh from the Imperial
Academy exclaimed, pointing at an incoming salvo of proton
torpedoes directly on course towards the Barricade, or what
was left of her. Quietly in his mind, the Cadet started to
make peace with himself before the torpedoes hit, putting the
ship in flames. As a bright explosion ate the Interdictor,
cheering and exclamations rang throughout the Rebel ships.

"Good work!" Lando said to the comm, as he watched the
flaming hulk of the Interdictor and how it started to roll
trough its axis, "All right everyone, let's go for the--"

Suddenly Chewbacca murmured something in his own language.
Only a few people spoke Wookiee, and Lando was one of them.

"Chewie, I noticed those Star Destroyers around our fleet.
They are too far away to be a trouble to us now."

Chewie was not satisfied and murmured again, now pointing
to the left with his hand. Lando turned his head there and
did not like what he saw: more Imperials.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed.


On the bridge of Strike Cruiser Lightning, Captain Paetor
Mensk scratched his jaw with his right hand--a ritual that
he always did as he lead his forces into the battle. A
hologram of the situation of the battle appeared in front
of him from a holo-projector. There he saw the Vendetta
herself, surrounded by the Rebel fleet, the loyal Imperial
fleet led by Grand Admiral Thrawn attacking the Rebels, and
another smaller Rebel fleet behind Thrawn's fleet.

"Send a message to the Grand Admiral aboard the Avenger
with the information that they don't have to worry about the
Rebel ships behind them. We will take care of them," he ordered.

"Your message has been sent, Captain," the communications
officer said. "We are receiving a message from the Avenger.
They say that those three Rebel Star Galleons are carrying a
vast complement of torpedoes that just took out the Barricade."

"All right then, launch our fighters and tell them to attack
the Galleons to prevent them from doing further damage."

"The balance of power has now switched to our side now, Admiral.
Hasn't it?" Dereket asked with a grin. Thrawn observed the
battlefield for a few seconds from the windows and then turned to
Dereket.

"Yes, it has. Now we must only take out Vendetta's engines
and the Rebels will leave it here. General Suarks?"

"Yes, Admiral?" Suarks asked.
"I want you to ready your boarding forces. Eventually we will
have to capture the Vendetta back."

"Aye, sir."


Lightning was rocked again from the torpedoes that hit her port
side hull. Mensk had to take support from his chair with his hands
or he would've fallen to the deck. Even though his ship had only
arrived a few moments ago, it was already in bad shape. The Rebels
were fighting fiercely, and Vendetta had her remaining guns blazing
at Lightning's hull.

"Status of our shields!" Mensk demanded as several consoles
exploded into flames, throwing the people who worked there to the
deck.

"All shields except starboard and ventral down! Starboard at 20%
and ventral shields at 7%! One hit to the ventral shields and our
shield generators are done for!"

"Helm, bring us on a direct ramming course towards the Vendetta!
Gunners, put your cannons on automatic fire targeted on the SSD and
leave your posts!" Mensk yelled to the intercom.

"Course plotted in, sir," the helmsman announced, but hesitated,
"Are you absolutely sure about this?"

"Yes, I am. This ship is going to make its final voyage now,
directly towards Vendetta's engines. Give the evacuation order now!"

The almost completely abandoned Strike Cruiser hurled towards
the SSD constantly been rocked by the concentrated fire from the
Vendetta and the Mon Cals. Just few seconds before its collision with
Vendetta's mammoth engines that had more inertia than the Lightning
had, an explosion ripped her aft compartment away. Then it literally
pierced through the engines, going through them like a knife to hot
butter. There, inside the engines, it exploded, stopping the Vendetta
where she was. Artificial gravity generators were disabled at the
same time and everybody and everything onboard the 17-km long ship
became weightless.

"Status report!" Hofret demanded from his chair. His hands gripped
around his chair so he wouldn't start to fly around the bridge.

"All propulsion systems are dead!" the damage control chief informed
him, "and there is a zero g status everywhere. Trying to get the backup
systems up and running!"

The Vendetta was rocked again ,and this time the explosion of a salvo
of missiles ate a big slice of her hull. Even as they got the backup
systems online and the gravity came back, Hofret and Seeadred knew
that the battle was not going well.


With his horrified eyes, Wedge watched as Seline's ship exploded
just before she could eject. Many of his friends had died in the
three years he had served in the Alliance, and now it was her.
First it had been those in Red Squadron in the Battle of Yavin,
then he had founded the Rogue Squadron with Luke Skywalker a few
weeks after the Yavin. They had done endless exercises with
those they had recruited. They had been the best starfighter
pilots in the galaxy, but still it had not been enough. On Hoth
they had engaged against the AT-ATs in their snowspeeders and
again they had got bad losses, and now today it was even worse.
Rogues 3, 4 and 6 were the only ones with him that had been not
destroyed. Sometimes he even wondered what kept him going forward
and trying to fight in this battle. It was probably the reason
that was common with all sentient beings on the galaxy: Nobody
wanted live under the Empire's grip.

Wedge checked the sensors again. The red Imperials on it
outnumbered them at least fifteen to one. Although they had
managed to destroy the Interdictor cruiser, Vendetta's engines
were dead and she was going nowhere. He slowly admitted it to
himself: They had lost, even though a few times it had seemed that
they could win. Whoever commanded the Imperial fleet, he was a
tactical genius. Then suddenly the voice of a human male came from
he comm.

"This is Commander Seeadred from the SSD Vendetta. Our engines
are dead, our weapons systems are out and the artificial gravity is
also out in some compartments. We cannot keep fighting against the
Imperial forces and we must evacuate."

There was a long silence and then Ackbar asked, "What does Captain
Hofret say?"

On Vendetta's bridge Seeadred looked in the direction of the door
that led to Hofret's office. Hofret had gone in there two minutes
ago and left Seeadred in command.

"He agrees with me. The situation looks very grim."

"Our ships stand ready to pick up your crew, Vendetta, but you
must understand that we cannot stay here for long," Ackbar declared.

"Understood. We'll do it quickly as possible," Seeadred said, and
closed the connection.

"All Rebel fighters, cancel your current orders and start to help
on the evacuation of the Vendetta by giving escort to the escape
pods and shuttles leaving from it," Ackbar commanded.

The remains of the Rebel fleet, Independence, two other Calamari
Cruisers, and one corvette went into lightspeed and away from the
battle field. The Imperial fleet surrounded the Vendetta and several
troop transports were launched towards the almost deserted ship. The
resistance that they encountered surrendered to them immediately
and soon more loyal Imperial ships came to the area. One of them
was ISD Indomitable, and aboard her was Vader.


-----

Useless trivia: If I recall correctly, Ombaka is a world play on Kai Opaka (DS9) and Mensk on Arcturus Mengsk from computer game "Starcraft".

I would've made more extensive "notes", but I'm having a flu now and I'm dead tired. :?

Posted: 2002-12-16 05:50pm
by D.Turtle
Kerrigan is also from Starcraft.

Posted: 2002-12-19 04:45pm
by Oberleutnant
D.Turtle wrote:Kerrigan is also from Starcraft.
Ah, you're right!

The stunning conclusion to the epic story!

Posted: 2002-12-28 10:34pm
by Oberleutnant
Hofret had locked himself inside his office on the Vendetta.
After he had sealed the door that led to the office with magnetic
lock, he had blasted it to pieces with his small blaster. The
battle was lost. A few ships, every ship much smaller than his
own, had managed to cripple the replica of the "invincible"
Executor in a matter of hours. Monitors on the wall, those which
still worked, showed the landed stormtrooper Delta-class
transports on Vendetta's docking bays. His once brave crew now
surrendered to the Imperial forces without any resistance. The
boarding crew was advancing towards the command sections of the
SSD, and eventually they would reach the bridge. Suddenly the
image of Commander Seeadred appeared on one of the still working
monitors.

"Captain," the Commander breathed deeply, "there still is a
chance to escape. We have an Escort shuttle waiting for you in
your private docking bay. You can use it to escape!"

Hofret shook his head, rejecting the idea.

"Captain, please listen me!" Seeadred yelled.

"NO! I am not going to abandon my ship!" Hofret shouted in
panic. "Go, Commander! Go and leave me here! I started this
and I will end this!"

"Sir, do you understand what you are going to do?"

"Yes I do. Completely," Hofret said quietly.

Seeadred saluted to his commanding officer. "Good luck, Captain."

"Same to you, Commander." After Hofret had been left to stare
at the blank screen, he took his sidearm and fired at the monitor
so that sparkles flew across the office.


Thrawn calmly stepped over a lifeless body of an Imperial Cadet,
who had been killed when a plasma conduit had exploded to his face
in hangar bay 2. He had just arrived aboard the Vendetta among the
first shuttles. There were cases like the cadet throughout the
Vendetta, in corridors, in quarters, everywhere. Some of them were
even still alive, barely, suffering from burns and wounds. Two
stormtroopers followed Thrawn and his security detail as he headed
towards the bridge of the SSD.

Surprisingly, one of the turbolifts that went to the bridge was still
operational and Thrawn went there first with the stormtroopers. He
quickly gave the heading for them from the control panel and soon
they were on the bridge. The bridge was quite intact, expect for the
monitors that had exploded, and now sparkled violently. Also power
wires hung from the roof.

It would appear that everybody had left ship, but Thrawn didn't think so.
If Hofret was still the same person who Thrawn had met two years ago,
he wouldn't have left his ship. He would stay aboard to the last
second.

"Bridge secured," a stormtrooper said to his comlink.

"I'm getting a reading of one life form in that direction," a trooper
with a scanner informed Thrawn, pointing at the door leading to
conference lounge.

"Hofret," Thrawn whispered, mostly to himself. "You and you,
follow me."

Thrawn surveyed the deserted conference lounge with two troopers
standing behind him. "The life form must be on Captain's private
office."

Thrawn walked to the door of the office. It didn't open as he had
anticipated, not even when he tried his manual override code. They
would need to use heavier means.

Hofret heard footsteps behind the bulkhead. The Imperials had
arrived. His hands gripped around the trigger of his sidearm.
His hands shook and large drops of sweat trickled down on his forehead,
dropping to his nose. Suddenly the door exploded and a storm trooper
in his white suit marched in, weapon ready. Hofret fired and the
trooper fell down from the blast to his chest. Hofret kneeled behind
his desk as shots were fired from the door. He fired from his cover
but his shots missed their target. Was this the person that he had
become? A scared man, hiding behind his desk like a low-life smuggler
chased by bounty hunters. This is was not a way of a noble officer.

"I surrender! Don't shoot!" he yelled, hoping that they were listening.

A voice through a white helmet barked, "Throw your weapon here and
raise your hands so that we can see them!"

Hofret did as ordered and a tall trooper grabbed him from his hands.
Then he saw an alien male dressed in a black boots and white uniform.

"Thrawn. I'd hoped that we could meet under better circumstances
than this, and talk about politics," Hofret said.

"I would hope so too, but unfortunately we don't have time."
Thrawn said. They all went to the bridge where Vader was waiting.

"Lord Vader. The prisoner is here," Thrawn announced. The Sith
Lord looked at Thrawn, and under his helmet he smiled.

"Very good, Grand Admiral. I shall see that you will be rewarded
for this," he stated and turned to Hofret who was shaking from fear.

"Captain Hofret," Vader started calmly, "who was behind this and
who organized it? Were there more people involved?"

Hofret nodded. He had nothing to lose.

"Who was that person?"

Hofret remained quiet. Then he could feel how his internal organs
exploded inside his body from the power of increased gravity. It was
like somebody had thrown him out an airlock, expect this was much
slower, and more painful. His legs couldn't support him anymore and
he collapsed to the deck.

Vader's voice was now much louder and more aggressive. "For the
last time: Who was behind all this?"

Hofret choked as his eyes were starting to close. "It was... Pr--"
Just before Hofret could finish his sentence, a blue laser beam
screamed across the air at Hofret's head, killing him instantly.

"The shot came from the turbolift!" Thrawn yelled to the dazed
stormtroopers, who ran to the turbolift, only to see the doors slide
closed in front of them.

"Can you stop that turbolift?" Vader asked a trooper near the
console which controlled such subsystems as turbolifts.

"It's not working."

"Alert all troops aboard this ship to find the assassin!" Vader
thundered.

(Please, don't say a word about this!)

*****************************************************
Epilogue:
Three days later...

Virago landed in the same docking bay at Xizor's Skyhook where
it had landed a few weeks ago. Xizor waited in front of it as
the airlock opened in the hull of the sleek Virago. Guri,
wearing a silver jumpsuit, stepped to the deck. Xizor was right.
The replica of Emperor's shuttle's cloaking device that he had
installed on his ship had worked perfectly, and Virago had
escaped from the Imperials so that they had not even known what
had happened.

"Hofret has been eliminated, before you or Black Sun could've
been connected to what happened with the Vendetta," Guri stated.

"Well done, Guri. Well done!" The Fallen Prince smiled.

"A pleasure to serve you, my Lord," the android replied without
any emotion at all.

The massive holographic image of the Emperor was truly
impressive. The machine that could create an image that size had
cost a lot. After short repairs on Vendetta, they had gotten the
communication systems back online.

"Excellent work, Grand Admiral Thrawn. You have served the Empire
well today,"the Emperor's image hissed.

"Thank you," Thrawn said, and bowed deeply. "If you will allow me
to leave, I will return aboard the Avenger. I am about to embark to
my mission."

"You may do that. Serve the Empire well!"

After Thrawn had walked away, the Emperor turned his stare on Vader.
"Did Hofret manage to reveal anything before the assassin killed
him?"

Vader was quiet for a moment and then he simply lied. "No, he
didn't."

"It doesn't matter. Everything shall happen as I have foreseen,
but now I want you to oversee the repairs of the Vendetta, and then
it shall be moved to Coruscant and renamed. Her new name shall be
Lusankya."

"What about the possible Rebel attack on Coruscant?" Vader
asked.

"It appears that the information was given by a Rebel spy in
an attempt to get the main fleet away from the Vendetta. I must
now go and meet Prince Xizor. We are going to talk about the
'special project' that I have been planning. I'll see you on the
Coruscant," the Emperor said, and then his image faded away. Vader
grinned as he heard Xizor's name. Eventually, someday, he would get
rid of him for good. He was certain of that.



After giving thought to rewriting the story, I have decided to do it. However, it would greatly differ from this one. Here are some major differences:

- No Black Sun
- No Super Star Destroyer
- No Thrawn
- More realism