Location: ISD-Blackstar (Hangar)
The giant ship’s sprawling hangar was lined with rows of starfighters,
transport craft, and other support machinery. They made up most of the Blackstar’s main arsenal, and all of them were on standby. Various officers and technicians briskly moved about the hangar as the fleet neared its destination; the Kuat drive yards. A former Imperial shipyard now claimed by the New Republic.
"All hands, man your battle stations! Repeat. All hands, man your battle stations!" A voice announced on the intercom, followed by an alarm. The crew didn't have far to go, everyone knew the mission and where already on standby, having only needed to finish their final preparations. For Liam and his team, they didn't have far to go. Pilot operations where all within the same area, close to the hangars.
It was a strange feeling to ignore his TIE fighter, leaving it stored within the ship's fighter racks, and it was even stranger to be climbing into the seat of a TIE Reaper. It was much more spacious, and held far more technical controls than he was used to. But he was a trained pilot of the Empire, he remembered what to do, and what he will need to do.
His squad commander, Ben Janson aka Obsidian-1, climbed up next to him, taking the co-pilots' seat. "How about it, kid, ready for some fleet action?"
"Heh. I'd rather do it from the outside." Liam threw a smirk back.
"Maybe next time. Engine check." Ben gestured to the console in-between them. It was a quick process, but necessary. As they went down the list, Ben took the time to explain the quirks of the Reapers' engines, how sometimes it dragged further than a TIEs', along with its obvious differences.
There was a moment of quiet after they finished, and Ben began to speak up again.
"Ah, reminds me of my first fighter action. Going out to sink a pirate outpost." Ben said, wistfully.
"Boss, I doubt this is going to be anywhere near as easy. Just keep an eye on on those subsystems."
"Leave it to me!"
A moment later, their escort troopers began to pile into the back, the loud rustling of their gear following them in as they settled in. They had their own chatter much like the pilots, but they suddenly shut it down as another pair of footsteps made it up the ramp, and a chilly atmosphere crawled up Liam's spine.
He turned to look, and it was someone he was far from glad to see. In fact, it was a sight only Maran, the squad womanizer, would enjoy. But even then he might have been a little more reserved.
"Emperor's Hand, you're joining us?" Ben asked calmly. Liam glanced quickly at him in admiration. The calm he exuded instead of the rage, confusion, and fear Liam himself felt was nowhere to be seen.
'That's the boss for you.' He briefly thought.
"Yes, this is a critical mission, and it's a risky one. I won't ask you to undertake a risk if I wouldn't."
Liam glanced once again at his commander, their eyes met, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. She just needed to keep an eye on them, failure would not be tolerated.
The intercom chirped up from one of the side consoles. "Exiting Hyperspace in five cycles."
"We're going to sortie soon, please take a seat, Hand." Ben offered, and as soon as she left they closed the soundproof cabin door. Leaving the stormtroopers to suffer her presence alone.
"This mission is getting better all the time..." Liam muttered.
Liam felt the ship leave hyperspace, a sense one could only develop in space as a pilot, the slight jerking of the spaceframe as the engines cut off. As soon as it did the hangar doors opened giving them a view of the rest of the fleet. Despite how uncomfortable he was with the objectives, he had to admit, he was in awe. It wasn't often he got to fight with a fleet. Dozens of Star Destroyers flew around the Blackstar, along with several other frigate and light cruiser wings flying alongside their capital class allies.
But the time to admire ships was over, fighter control signaled green, he jerked the engine lever to full, and blasted them into space. Burning a clear ion trail behind them as dozens, hundreds of starfighters made the same exit, taking up formations behind their own squad leaders. The impression of a full fleet of capital ships and their support wings no doubt struck a chord of fear within the stations workers, but seeing their complete compliment of strike craft would multiply that. Station defenses were slow to react, but when they did, there were simply too many to handle.
Scattered about space were the rebels own patrol fighters, and the light turbolaser cannons, of which were currently engaging the main fleet. It really looked like they were caught by surprise. But Liam's eyes darted towards a large figure, still held in one of the dry docks. It held the shape and the coloration of a mon-cala ship, but even from the other side of the facility, he could tell it was no normal ship.
"Hey boss, could you run the targeting computer over that, what are we looking at?" Liam asked, but his commander was already tapping away at the screen in-between them. The silhouette of the new ship was overlaid dozens, hundreds, of ships in a matter of seconds, and they all came back negative.
"Kid, that's a new ship!" Ben shouted in disbelief, still tapping away, trying to match it to something.
Liam slid a hand over the engine lever to halfway, putting the Reaper at half speed, giving him more agility as Kuats' laser defenses began to look his way. Dozens of red bolts washed past, and under his view as he took the ship into a spiraling dive. His hand slid over the lever again, blasting them into another direction, discouraging those same turrets from staying on him. He took a glance at the computer again.
"Look at the size of that thing! It's bigger than our Super Destroyers!" Liam said, half panicked, half surprised.
"Guess that's why we're here." Ben said. Then the computer switched ships on them, to a Nebulon-B. "Let the fleet tackle it, we're going to hit this. Obsidian, I'm sending target data, form up on us."
"About time!"
"Understood!"
"Forming up!"
The rest of the squad replied eagerly, their IFFs coming into range behind them on sensors.
The giant ship’s sprawling hangar was lined with rows of starfighters,
transport craft, and other support machinery. They made up most of the Blackstar’s main arsenal, and all of them were on standby. Various officers and technicians briskly moved about the hangar as the fleet neared its destination; the Kuat drive yards. A former Imperial shipyard now claimed by the New Republic.
"All hands, man your battle stations! Repeat. All hands, man your battle stations!" A voice announced on the intercom, followed by an alarm. The crew didn't have far to go, everyone knew the mission and where already on standby, having only needed to finish their final preparations. For Liam and his team, they didn't have far to go. Pilot operations where all within the same area, close to the hangars.
It was a strange feeling to ignore his TIE fighter, leaving it stored within the ship's fighter racks, and it was even stranger to be climbing into the seat of a TIE Reaper. It was much more spacious, and held far more technical controls than he was used to. But he was a trained pilot of the Empire, he remembered what to do, and what he will need to do.
His squad commander, Ben Janson aka Obsidian-1, climbed up next to him, taking the co-pilots' seat. "How about it, kid, ready for some fleet action?"
"Heh. I'd rather do it from the outside." Liam threw a smirk back.
"Maybe next time. Engine check." Ben gestured to the console in-between them. It was a quick process, but necessary. As they went down the list, Ben took the time to explain the quirks of the Reapers' engines, how sometimes it dragged further than a TIEs', along with its obvious differences.
There was a moment of quiet after they finished, and Ben began to speak up again.
"Ah, reminds me of my first fighter action. Going out to sink a pirate outpost." Ben said, wistfully.
"Boss, I doubt this is going to be anywhere near as easy. Just keep an eye on on those subsystems."
"Leave it to me!"
A moment later, their escort troopers began to pile into the back, the loud rustling of their gear following them in as they settled in. They had their own chatter much like the pilots, but they suddenly shut it down as another pair of footsteps made it up the ramp, and a chilly atmosphere crawled up Liam's spine.
He turned to look, and it was someone he was far from glad to see. In fact, it was a sight only Maran, the squad womanizer, would enjoy. But even then he might have been a little more reserved.
"Emperor's Hand, you're joining us?" Ben asked calmly. Liam glanced quickly at him in admiration. The calm he exuded instead of the rage, confusion, and fear Liam himself felt was nowhere to be seen.
'That's the boss for you.' He briefly thought.
"Yes, this is a critical mission, and it's a risky one. I won't ask you to undertake a risk if I wouldn't."
Liam glanced once again at his commander, their eyes met, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. She just needed to keep an eye on them, failure would not be tolerated.
The intercom chirped up from one of the side consoles. "Exiting Hyperspace in five cycles."
"We're going to sortie soon, please take a seat, Hand." Ben offered, and as soon as she left they closed the soundproof cabin door. Leaving the stormtroopers to suffer her presence alone.
"This mission is getting better all the time..." Liam muttered.
-----
Liam felt the ship leave hyperspace, a sense one could only develop in space as a pilot, the slight jerking of the spaceframe as the engines cut off. As soon as it did the hangar doors opened giving them a view of the rest of the fleet. Despite how uncomfortable he was with the objectives, he had to admit, he was in awe. It wasn't often he got to fight with a fleet. Dozens of Star Destroyers flew around the Blackstar, along with several other frigate and light cruiser wings flying alongside their capital class allies.
But the time to admire ships was over, fighter control signaled green, he jerked the engine lever to full, and blasted them into space. Burning a clear ion trail behind them as dozens, hundreds of starfighters made the same exit, taking up formations behind their own squad leaders. The impression of a full fleet of capital ships and their support wings no doubt struck a chord of fear within the stations workers, but seeing their complete compliment of strike craft would multiply that. Station defenses were slow to react, but when they did, there were simply too many to handle.
Scattered about space were the rebels own patrol fighters, and the light turbolaser cannons, of which were currently engaging the main fleet. It really looked like they were caught by surprise. But Liam's eyes darted towards a large figure, still held in one of the dry docks. It held the shape and the coloration of a mon-cala ship, but even from the other side of the facility, he could tell it was no normal ship.
"Hey boss, could you run the targeting computer over that, what are we looking at?" Liam asked, but his commander was already tapping away at the screen in-between them. The silhouette of the new ship was overlaid dozens, hundreds, of ships in a matter of seconds, and they all came back negative.
"Kid, that's a new ship!" Ben shouted in disbelief, still tapping away, trying to match it to something.
Liam slid a hand over the engine lever to halfway, putting the Reaper at half speed, giving him more agility as Kuats' laser defenses began to look his way. Dozens of red bolts washed past, and under his view as he took the ship into a spiraling dive. His hand slid over the lever again, blasting them into another direction, discouraging those same turrets from staying on him. He took a glance at the computer again.
"Look at the size of that thing! It's bigger than our Super Destroyers!" Liam said, half panicked, half surprised.
"Guess that's why we're here." Ben said. Then the computer switched ships on them, to a Nebulon-B. "Let the fleet tackle it, we're going to hit this. Obsidian, I'm sending target data, form up on us."
"About time!"
"Understood!"
"Forming up!"
The rest of the squad replied eagerly, their IFFs coming into range behind them on sensors.
