THE BATTLE OF ENDOR

[Erasmar]

The Battle of Endor...

"It's a trap!"

The bridge of the Mon Calamari cruiser swiftly descended into chaos. Eidele Vist, the Duchess of Gallinore in admiral in Her Majesty's Royal Hapan Navy, felt the panic of the crew surging against her and threatening to pull her under. In her case, however, the feeling of panic was fueled not by fear but by powerlessness. The situation was beyond her control; this was not her war, not her battle, and certainly not her ship.

She gripped the railing the ran along the inner edge of the elevated observation level of the bridge, her knuckles whitening as she fought to control her emotions and also maintain her balance as the cruiser rocked under enemy fire. She glanced at one of her amazonian bodyguards who returned her gaze blankly, seemingly a passive, passionless droid awaiting a command.

Outside the ship, scores of starfighters swarmed like a school of fish, often darting and spiraling in unison among the larger capital ships. The front of a Star Destroyer's wedge, perhaps a Victory, was coming into view below on the port side, green turbolaser fire shooting away and slamming into the cruiser's shields.

The Mon Calamari commander shouted another order, pointing out the viewport, directing shields and firepower toward the Victory. He made his way to just beneath where the Duchess stood, large round eyes pleading up at her. "My lady, I must insist that you leave the bridge and get to your shuttle."

"Commander, I cannot --"

A flash completely illuminated the entire bridge for a moment, and several of the crew screamed.

The commander whirled to face the bridge. "Report! What happened?"

"That blast came from the Death Star!"

"It's operational," said Eidele.

Another message came across the fleet-wide comm channel from Admiral Ackbar: "All craft prepare to retreat." Then silence. And finally new orders, this time to move into the Imperial fleet.

Despite the situation, Eidele allowed herself a small smile. A courageous decision, smart yet inevitably suicidal. She looked back at the commander, who was staring at her again impatiently. "You're right, commander. I'm doing nothing for you but causing you even greater concern than you already have. Best of luck to you, your crew, and your alliance. I will return to my people with what I have witnessed these last few days."

The Mon Calamari bowed stiffly but sincerely. "My lady, it has been my utmost honor to serve you."

If the Alliance fails, perhaps your people would be a fit for an alliance with us, Mr. Fish. Eidele spun away from the railing even as another hull impact reverberated through the ship. "Let's go," she said to her two bodyguards.

The women followed on her heels as she left the bridge, striding down mostly empty corridors as the majority of the crew was currently manning battle stations. More sudden, more powerful explosions caused her stride to lengthen into a run, adrenaline coursing through her and powering her muscles. She skipped the turbolift in favor of the stairwell, leaping down it a flight at a time until she reached the flight deck level. Her bodyguards barely kept up with her, determined as she was now to get to her ship and escape -- now that she had pushed the battle mindset away, she realized it was her obligation to escape and survive, to return to the Cluster and bare witness for the rebellion.

Sprinting now, she knew the hangar and her ship were just ahead and to the right. There were explosions now coming clearly from within the ship, echoing down the corridor behind her. She slid around a corner and saw the hangar before her, mostly empty of craft whereas before it had been filled with reserve A-Wings and Y-Wings. But there was her combat shuttle, ramp down, guarded by five more bodyguards.

"Is the shuttle ready?" she shouted, running across the flight deck.

"Yes, m'lady!"

"Get us out of here," she said, charging up the ramp and hurling herself into the passenger hold. She had to return to the Cluster. The Alliance needed the Hapans. This was their chance to crush the Empire. The rebels were stronger than they thought. Together...

A fireball spewed out of the hallway she had just been in and dispersed into the hangar. The ship was dying. Eidele watched more flames and explosions between the legs of her bodyguards as they ran into the shuttle after her, as the shuttle ramp rose. Just as it was closing, she saw the flames reach ammunition crates, and they detonated.

No!

The explosion lashed out toward her and her shuttle, and suddenly, there was infinite blackness.

[Erasmar]

Three days after the Battle of Endor...
(and the conclusion of the Hapan prologue)

"I now proclaim you Duchess-Admiral Alial Vist," said the Queen Mother Ta'a Chume. "Arise. And come, speak to me privately."

Alial rose from the ornate pads she had been kneeling on and bowed to the beautiful Queen Mother before following her behind her throne and through a door into her private audience chamber. Behind them in the Great Hall they left thousands of nobles, dignitaries, and other members of court. Several were even marginally happy for the new duchess-admiral. Most, however, were anything but.

The Queen Mother seated herself with a heavy sigh at one end of a long wooden table; Alial remained standing. "I was saddened to hear of your mother's, the late duchess's, death. She was a dutiful servant of mine."

"As I shall be, Queen Mother."

"Did you know she had been assigned to the main fleet of the Rebel Alliance for diplomatic reasons?"

Alial clasped her hands behind her back. "No, Queen Mother. ...Well, I have since learned, but at the time of her death I believed her to be leading a fleet-wide training exercise in the Mists."

"She had requested to seek out the Alliance," said Ta'a Chume. "I granted this request. Do you know why? Because it is finally time. Finally time for us to expand beyond our Cluster. The current state of the galaxy necessitates it.

"I do not mean territorially. We do not need new systems to control beyond the Cluster. I mean politically, diplomatically, and influentially. Do you understand?"

"I believe so, Your Majesty."

"Hmm," said the queen mother. She absently held out her hand toward a corner of the room. A male servant emerged from the shadows and handed her a datapad, which she in turn held toward Alial. Alial took it from her hand and activated it.

"You have command of your fleet of Gallinore to do the following: reach out beyond our borders, engage -- diplomatically -- with others in the galaxy. Find out more about this Alliance and this supposed 'new' republic that is being proclaimed in certain corners. Do not confront the Empire unless absolutely necessary. They are strong yet, and beyond our borders, we are not as invincible. Do this for me, your queen."

Alial bowed deeply, slowly. "Your Majesty."

"Yes, Alial. I am your majesty, and you are my subject." The queen mother narrowed her eyes. "Do not forget it."

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

The shuttle ride back to her palace was uneventful. As she touched down and descended the ramp into her private hangar, one of her lieutenants was there waiting for her. Alial knew the lieutenant and knew what the subject of this conversation would be.

"Has the prisoner decided to speak?"

The lieutenant bowed. "Yes, m'lady."

"And what did she say?" she asked imperiously.

"She asked for you, m'lady."

Alial smiled.

=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=

Into the bowels of the palace she descended, trailed first by eight bodyguards, then passing through a checkpoint there were only six, and then another checkpoint took two more from her, and so on until she found herself alone nearly half a kilometer beneath the surface of Gallinore, in an ancient part of the palace. Prison cells made of huge stones, sweating in the cold. Old straw covering most of the floor, concealing blood stains from countless traitors, thieves, and murderers. Everything lit by endless-burning torches.

Cell after cell was empty, though each was continuously monitored by carefully hidden surveillance equipment: on and off the visual spectrum of light, audio, and radio. Pressure-sensitive paneling just beneath the stone surface of the floor. A prison impossible to escape from.

And she came at last to the final cell. Unguarded -- no other life forms this far down. She gripped the latch on the door, immovable to anyone but her and two others in all of the galaxy, and felt something in the door click. Effortlessly she slid the latch aside and pushed the door open.

The prisoner sat against the stone wall opposite the door, aged a little more now yet beautiful still. "Ah, Alial."

"Mother. What can I do for you?"

[Ramano]

~12 Days Before Battle of Endor~
02:00HRS Space Station Hidden Heart

It had been agonizing time aboard the station. Three months having no contact with the outside galaxy, the constant threat of being discovered by the imperial garrisons both on the planet and in the space above, but worst of all the unending boredom. With little to do but monitor imperial comm traffic the crew was growing restless. A small project conceived a month or so back gave at least some of the crew a break from the monotony, retrofitting an old republic dreadnaught that had been stashed away in one of the ship docks in case an emergency exit was necessary. A laborious project to say the least, but something to do none the less.

Jason yawned standing from his sleeping quarters. The nights were going by slowly, with sleep hard to achieve. The ache of sitting around while the empire molested the galaxy was starting to wear on him. The alliance was winning, but the costs of shoddy tactics and poor planning was adding up. Instead of destroying imperial bases, ships and men were wasted in irrelevant attempts to evacuate a civilian populous, and nearly always directly into the hands of awaiting imperial forces, who preyed upon the predictability of republic forces like a rancor. He looked over at the small clock on the desk.

"2am... figures."

He stood donning his uniform and walking to the comm on the wall.

"Status report."
"Few imperial transports moving in and out of the system, imperial fleet remains at recorded positions. Had a scare from a small imperial fighter group about five hours ago, luckily tie fighters arnt rated for atmospheric flight. Storm got em before they could get in visual range. Engineer Rickers and his men returned from the salvage op and he reports the ship is nearly ready. All in all, another boring day at the heart of the empire sir."
"Roger that captain, ill be along shortly."

Jason sighed as he walked from his quarters. Down the hall the viewports shown the storm raging outside in its full ferocity. A low pressure front had slammed head long into the equatorial super storm giving it almost a personality, and its personality was angry humans were using it as a home. A small shift now and again cause those walking to hold to the walls for fear of falling as the 400kph winds buffeted the station. Loud groans echoed through the halls as the durasteel strained against the forces. After a short walk Jason reached the bridge and sat uneasily into the command chair.

"Captain, are we sure the station can handle this storm?"
"Yes sir, no worries, we are rated for nearly twice this. She's a hardy bitch sir."

Jason smiled lightly as he pulled the dogtag from his neck and pressed it into the console next to him.

"LtCmdr, how comes my ship?"
"Just about finished sir, and thank you for allowing us the salvage mission. Those imps are probably still waiting in the base for us to show up with a shipment of power cores. A question if I may sir?"
"Shoot commander."
"Just how long will a stormtrooper platoon wait for a shuttle order by the emperor?"
"Those poor men."

The two had a laugh at the comment.

"Also, I should comment sir, while we were out there, I noticed a large... I dont know. If I had to guess, id say it was a weapons array akin to the superlaser on the first death star being towed in on our way back. If I was on that engineering team id have to guess that station will be military operational in 10 days."
"That cant be possible, are you sure you are not mistaken."
"As I said sir, it could be a weapons array, it could be a pre-fabricated ship dock. The empire has more then a few designs ive never seen before. But I have seen the designs of the first death star and this looks just like the internal particle accelerator systems and deflector dish. And being an engineer myself I know you dont install a vessels main weaponry unless the vessel is ready to deploy."
"How could they deploy it, its only 46% completed?"
"Above my pay grade sir, just reporting what I thought was pertinent."
"Good eye commander, ill pass it along to high command with my next report. Keep up the good work. Ramano out."
"Aye aye sir."

TBC...

[SWSF Hale]

DAY OF RECKONING, Episode 3

(Timeline: During the Battle of Endor)

"Commodore, incoming transmission from the command ship, Code: Red; I'm patching it to your ComPad now," announced the ComScan Officer, Lt. Elena Winston. This was the message Hale had been waiting for.

   After reading the message, Hale walked over to the ship's communication panel and grabbed the mic for the 1MC or shipwide cirtcuit, < Attention all hands, this is the captain speaking. We have finally recieved our marching orders! This will be a day long remembered in the Galactic Empire, for the Rebel Fleet has exited hyperspace in our system and is currently moving to strike the Death Star. Many of you have been serving on this ship since the Battle of Yavin, and also the Battle of Hoth, so you know firsthand how elusive the Rebels have been. In destroying their strongholds, only one target has remained to ensure the end of the Rebellion... this target is the Rebel Fleet itself, and now they are in our grasp! I want all hands to report to battle stations immediately and prepare for combat! Today is the Day of Reckoning! >

   Cheer erupted onboard the Avenger, with a combination of euphoria and adrenaline rushing through the crew. As Hale had pointed out, most of the crew by this time were veterans of the Galactic Civil War and absolution had yet been attained - today would be their day. While the Avenger itself was moving at flank speed in formation with the rest of Death Squadron, its position at the port-most flank ensured it was in a safe position, but also the lead ship to get long-range sensor scans on the Rebels.

   "Commodore, the Rebel Fleet has been detected. The largest energy sources are from Mon Calamari cruisers, one of them appears to be Home One!" reported Lt. Winston.

   "Transmit all sensor data to the rest of the fleet. They'll all be in position soon enough, but our data should give Admiral Piett something to salivate over," ordered Hale. By now the Battle of Endor was fully underway, and Death Squadron was steadying position. Onboard the Executor, the bridge officers were eager to jump into battle.

   "Admiral, incoming scans from the Avenger, presence of the Rebel Fleet has been confirmed," prompted a commander. "Our fighters will be approaching the intercept point momentarily..."

   Admiral Piett smirked. He knew Hale was only trying to show off by sending scans in, when he knew the rest of the Fleet would detect the Rebels themselves soon enough, "Very well. Inform me when we're in attack position..."

   "We're in attack position now sir."

   "Hold here," replied Admiral Piett.

   "We're not going to attack?" asked the commander.

   "I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special planned for them. We only need to keep them from escaping."

   "Very well, Admiral," replied the commander.

   What was minutes felt like hours as the battle raged on. The Imperial starfighters had engaged the Rebel Fleet almost singlehandedly. It was the dream of every Imperial TIE Pilot - to rush headlong into battle and engage and enemy fleet with nothing but starfighter support to back you up. The sheer amount of TIE starfighters were able to quickly overwhelm smaller Rebel targets, such as Corvettes and Medium Transports. Larger targets were delt with another way...

   Suddenly, the Death Star's superlaser began its initial firing sequence. Little did Moff Jerjerrod know that inside the Death Star, the assassin droid IG-88 had taken over the main computer, and so if it wasn't for the droid's calculations the superlaser would have missed entirely, but instead it hit its target...the MC-80 Liberty.

   The bridge crew onboard the Avenger erupted in cheers. Hale was standing anxiously over the viewport, hoping to get a chance to join the battle, but he had his orders from the very top of the chain of command: no involvement.

   "Commodore, it appears the Rebel Fleet is moving to hyperescape... no wait, target solution has been recalculated - the Rebel Fleet is... moving to attack!"

   Hale clinched his fist, "Damn our orders! All ahead full! Move the ship to the middle of the Rebel Fleet, it appears as though they're concentrating their attacks on the command ship. Let's give them something else to shoot at!"

   The Avenger slowly moved from the port flank of Death Squadron and into the middle of the fray. With the confusion of the battle raging, no other ship signaled the Avenger inquiring why it was breaking formation, except for the Executor...

   Piett was pissed, by the time the data came in, he noticed it was the Avenger breaking formation. Rushing over to a comm panel, he signaled the ship, <Commodore Hale, what are you doing breaking formation!? We have the battle under control!>

   Hale replied over the secure comm channel, <Admiral, our sensors show that your forward deflectors are getting low. I came to reinforce your bow position and run a starfighter screen! Your tactical officer should agree...>

   <You are out of line Commodore...> being interrupted by the Executor's Tactical Officer, who confirmed Hale's assumptions. <...take the Avenger off our bow and reinforce the port flank of the fleet.>

   <Yes sir!> Hale replied with some passive-aggressivity. He turned from the comm panel and spoke with his executive, "Piett is a damn fool and that ship is going down..."

   The battle kept raging, and soon Hale's fears were becoming a reality...

   "Commodore, I've lost all communication with the Executor. Something's happened!"

   "It's going down!" In seconds, the Executor careened and veered towards the Death Star and exploded on impact. Apparently, the bridge was taken out by a rogue A-Wing kamikaze attack.

   And then it happened...the Death Star itself exploded. The shockwave and massive EMP that followed disrupted every ship in the system. An explosion on the bridge of the Avenger sent one junior officer flying. Other officers were on the deck, some unconscious. Hale came to several moments later, crawling to the Helmsman, who was unconscious. The order to retreat came in from the Chimaera. Hale pushed a few buttons on the Helm's panel and immediately sent the ship into autopilot hyperspace mode towards Bastion...

[Ramano]

~The Battle of Endor~
Moments after the Death Star Explodes

The station rocked as the nova from the exploding death star reached the outer planetary atmosphere, throwing the entire populace to the nearest solid object. Sparks erupted from consoles in all sections resulting in a near cascade system failure. Picking himself up from the floor Ramano stood looking sternly out of the view port. The small bright pops had slowed significantly with a large area of calm that was not previously apparent.

"All stations, damage report."
"All personnel reporting only minor injuries, systems are coming back online now. No structural damage registered."
"Someone make a note to praise the Calamari on their construction techniques. Give me a report on the remaining imperial vessels."
"Give me a moment sir, theres a lot of debris out there and its getting hard to distinguish smaller vessels from destroyed cruiser pieces. It seems a majority of the remaining imperial fleet is withdrawing. Sir, it appears we've won."
"My last report had over 1000 imperial vessels in this system, and at our last count less then a tenth of that had been taken out. Figure that explosion took out another 10% that still leaves 800 vessels out there. I fear the only thing we have achieved captain, is to awaken the sleeping dragon."

Ramano turned from the view port taking a few steps across the command deck. He looked up to a small command console mounted to the main captains chair, white and shining in the bright florescent lighting of the station. His gaze wondered across the room, so remarkably clean, almost sterile in the grim contrast of the battle raging in the background. He shook his head as anger welled with in him. "Perhaps if they paid as much attention to the war effort as they did cleaning these rooms more of my men would still be alive." The thought bit at his tongue like a sour grape.

Walking over to the chair he pulled a small chain from around his neck. Standard issue dog tags strung to a beaded metal chain. Detaching it from his neck, a thumb placed firmly to one of the tags he took his seat. After receiving a few remaining reports of minor system outages in non-critical areas he placed the tag to a small slot on the corner of the console bringing it to life.

"Whats the status of project Destiny?"
"Finishing final launch checks and loading now. She's ready when you are sir."
"I believe its about time this project showed the fruits of its expenditure. Inform republic command I will be heading in for a meeting after we have finished clean up in the system. We may now have the field, but a Star Destroyer alone is a match for what is left of our fleet. Signal Admiral Ackbar to pull back and form up with command, I will assume control of the remaining forces for the final push. His ship will be needed for later engagements."
"Roger that sir, we will be waiting on you, XO out."
"Captain, you have the bridge, keep the station in a high atmospheric orbit. Ghost protocol remains in effect."
"Aye aye sir."

Moments later the newly christened warship Destiny Ascension burst from the atmosphere, seemingly from with in the imperials own formation. A blast of light signaled its sister ship the VNSD Idenna exiting hyperspace not far away. The hurried scramble to close formation gaps signaled the imperials surprise at the two fresh ships entering the engagement. Fighters poured from the hangers of the vessels and swarmed the imperial ships, explosions rippling off the hull of the lead VSD.

"Sir, the fighters just pounded that lead star destroyer."
"Take us on a collision course."
"Roger sir."

The ship lurched forward, its upgraded engines propelling it toward the VSD at a frightening pace. Quickly the ships commander took an evasive action trying to avoid the Destiny, opening its hanger bay for a full broadside attack from the upgraded turbolaser batteries. A single pass and the VSD was left floating away in three burning pieces. Meanwhile the Idenna, not to be left out of the action was going head to head with one of the last remaining Imperial Star Destroyers, the recently retrofitted Tyrant, fresh out of drydock, desperately trying to cause a diversion to allow the smaller vessels some path of escape.

"Shields at 37% and falling, we can not maintain a head on position with that star destroyer sir, he'll rip us apart."
"You will hold this position and keep firing or you will find yourself floating back to republic space Lt."
"Aye aye sir."

The Idenna shuttered again as another barrage from the Tyrant slammed its bow.

"Shields failing! Port deflector screens are down sir!"

It was at that moment the Destiny Ascension corkscrewed over the bridge tower from behind the ship letting loose a full slavo into the shield towers on either side of the bridge, the resulting explosions tearing the entire command deck from the ship itself.

"ALL BATTERIES OPEN FIRE!"

Quickly the Idenna powered back into the fight unleashing its massive dual turbolasers into the now defenseless remains of the ImpStar. The Tyrant would not survive this fight.

"Excellent work captain. Take the Idenna to the planet and form up with the station. We will remain in a defensive position until the remaining imperials give up the fight."
"Roger sir, good luck out there."