The Hunt For the Vendetta
Posted: 2002-12-10 07:03pm
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.
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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
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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!
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!
