James Withiar adjusted his phaser rifle slightly, dropping it on the shuddering floor of the Exetus as he jumped down the air shaft. He went into the repulsor current, waiting for the turnoff for the top deck of the Nebulon-B frigate. Halfway there, he heard the muffled explosion as the overloaded phaser took out a couple of decks.
He smiled. That should hold off the stormtroopers for a while.
The repulsor current faltered for a second as the power grid readjusted, and for a moment he was in free fall. However, it resumed almost immediately. As he disembarked the air shaft on the top deck the first thing he noticed was an array of blasters, all pointed at him. After a moment the anxious rebels relaxed, and Captain Ve'rt slithered out of the crowd.
Withiar winced. No matter how hard he tried to stifle it, a feeling of utter revulsion swept him whenever he beheld the T'chitA captain. He was used to aliens that looked human, or creatures so utterly alien that they were not subjected to any human standard of beauty. Not so with the captain. The centipede-like creature sent shivers down his spine. The captain chittered something to his translator droid. In a clipped accent, the droid related his comment to the Maquis observer.
"Master Ve'rt wishes to know the cause of the explosion. The self destruct mechanism has been off-line for months."
"I overloaded my phaser."
After a few chittering comments back and forth between the captain and his droid, the droid spoke again.
" Master Ve'rt feels that that was a wise move. Any hint of your alien technology must be completely eliminated. The remnants of the crew is setting up a defense here"
James frowned. "Do we have any hope of victory?"
A nearby Twi'lek, who Withiar identified as the first officer, paused from his task of putting up a tripod blaster and gave James a feral grin. "Nope."
The Maquis shuddered slightly. God, he thought. He sounds like a Klingon.
A slight shiver in the wall startled him. When he squinted he could make out an odd reptilian alien, who engaged the captain in a short conversation. The captain, using one of his short forelegs pressed a button on the wall and chittered something into it. After a few seconds the intership comm activated and a flat voice was heard. "All ship's personnel. Stormtroopers have entered the defense perimeter. Repeat; Stormtroopers have entered the defense perimeter."
The hubbub increased as armed humans and aliens gathered at their posts.
Withiar gathered that the defenders had to hold off the stormtroopers until the Rebels had finished wiping the core. Ve'rt took up a position at a bend in the corridor. Not having a weapon, James went to an unused corridor where he could watch Ve'rt.
He heard the distant sound of blaster fire reverberate up the metallic corridors and he glanced around at the apprehensive faces of the rebels around him. How did I ever get myself into this? he asked himself. He stiffened as there was another burst of firing, this time much closer and a long human scream that was cut abruptly short.
He never even saw the stun bolt from behind him.
Ve'rt spun around as stormtroopers poured out of a small corridor. His bladed tail embedded in stormtrooper armor. One, two, three stormtroopers went down before a stun bolt caught him. The T'chitA warrior flailed around and then was still.
Vice-Admiral Thrawn regarded the holograph of Captain Scard of the Huntress.
"How many Rebels were captured?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the datapad before him.
"Eight, sir. We also have salvaged some data from the computer core. It is badly damaged, but readable."
"Indeed. What have you gathered from the prisoners?"
"We have just stared interrogation."
"Very well. I will be there shortly. Inform me of any new developments."
Flanked by Moff Torii, Captain Scard watched as the graceful Lambda class shuttle touched down in the docking bay of the ISD Huntress. With the hiss of escaped gas, the ramp lowered and Vice-Admiral Thrawn strode out.
"Admiral." Scard said with a slight inclination of his head.
Thrawn acknowledged him with a nod.
"Captain Scard. What is the status of the interrogation?"
Scard handed him a datapad. " You will find a report here. Some of the information is quite intriguing."
"Very well, Captain. Carry on."
The sound of an inhuman scream came through the fog surrounding James Withiar's brain, and with a start, he realized it was his own. New spasms of pain racked his body, and over his own screams he could hear questions calmly asked by a person near his side. He couldn't see. The tempting lure of the mind drugs administered by the black interrogation droid tugged at him, whispering in a persuasive voice that he could end the pain. Withiar's consciousness began to slide under.
"Cargo vessel Tamara, you are cleared to dock" came the harsh voice from the Huntress.
Kola Tare looked at her slumped human copilot.
"Fuqua? They bought it."
"Great, great. Now they'll find our I.D.'s not in order, and shoot us. What a thrilling concept."
Kola grimaced. "Fuqua, this is a serious mission. Our I.D.'s so good a Bothan couldn't tell it was forged"
He snorted. "A drunk Bothan, anyway. A mission aboard an ISD to rescue a nerfherding alien, of all things, isn't exactly my cup of t'Ni." He turned his tortured eyes upon her. "Believe me, Kola, when I say I don't want to die. Not yet."
"Fuqua, aliens are people just like you and me. Just because they have biological differences doesn't mean they're inferior."
"I've heard that speech before." He mocked "Celebrate diversity."
He turned to her, eyes blazing. "You idealists are all alike. You find people who are different, and try to make them exactly like you. Have you ever stopped to think about the millions of individuals who believe in the Imperial order, kid? You disregard what they think because they're not like you. Why is the Imperial order wrong? Have you ever stopped to think about it?"
Kola didn’t reply, instead she glanced at the still form of the Exetus hanging below the Huntress and wondered if she would share the same fate as its crew.
There was silence as the Star Destroyer grew inexorably closer.
The slick interiors of the conference room accented the highlights of the black table, while diminishing the presence of the people. Moff Torii supposed it was appropriate; after all, it sometimes seemed that the great machines of the Empire were more important that the people within them.
He looked around the great table, noting the attendants, as well as the prominent absences. The Vice-Admiral was missing, as well as Captain Scard. It was standard Imperial procedure to have the subordinates wait before the ranking officer arrived, but by the Sith, he ranked Thrawn, and the upstart blue-skin knew it. Sometimes it seemed Thrawn went out of his way to put these minor nuisances in his path, but one day he was going to slip up.
He stifled his thoughts as the man, if he could be called such, entered, flanked by the Captain and several guards. The guards took up position at the door as Scard took a seat. Thrawn remained standing. The room accents his skin tone, Torii noted. however gruesome that may be.
Indeed, Thrawn looked like a demon with his red eyes gleaming. The Moff shuddered slightly. He was impressive, he admitted grudgingly, an icon for others to see and fear.
"We have new intelligence from the captured Rebels." Thrawn announced. "Apparently the hyperspace wormhole the rebels escaped through leads to another universe."
Murmurs swept up and down the table. Thrawn politely waited until it was quiet again, and then continued.
"We have verified this, and the location of the base in that universe, with fourteen different truth drugs. The remnants of the ship's computer also confirm it. Our duty to the Empire is clear. We will destroy the Rebel base and bring the Emperor's peace to this universe."
Torii interjected. "We're taking on a undefined amount of Rebel ships with five Star Destroyers?"
Thrawn focused on him, and for a long moment Torii felt those eyes boring into him. "Of course not, Moff. The Huntress will stay here to prevent Rebel ships from escaping. All other ships will act as a scout force."
Torii frowned. How could Thrawn think he could destroy a fully armed Rebel base with four ships. Most of his plans never made any sense, but this was ludicrous.
Not for the first time did Moff Torii wonder if Vice-Admiral Thrawn was insane.
Fuqua looked grimly at Kola.
"Kid, this is it. We get in, get the alien, and get out. Fast. Here's your weapon." He handed Kola a disrupter. "Whatever you do, don't shoot me in the back."
She frowned, "Where's your weapon?"
"Right here, kid." Fuqua said, gesturing to the explosives in his pack. "Let's go."
Stardrifter glanced at the remnants of the Rebel camp. The temporary housing was being taken down and folded up. Soon, there would be nothing here for the Imperials to find. And they were coming. That was the only sure thing now.
It had been bad. The loss of any ship, even a frigate, was a blow to the Rebellion, but with the discovery of the wormhole, the greatest advantage the Rebels had was lost. Still, the Rebels had some cards left in the hand. The Klingon cloaking device that might be adaptable to their circuitry, for one. Also, the Imperials would have much more to face than a simple rebel outpost when they came.
The turbolaser pulse from the Titan twisted space itself with an outpouring of color. The Titan plunged in, followed closely by it's three compatriots.
It had begun.