Star Wars: Hammer's Story - AD Pickled Yoda
It
is still a period of civil war, ten years after Endor. The Rebel Alliance has
become the New Republic, and is the dominant
power in the galaxy. Palpatine’s Galactic Empire splintered into dozens of
factions and began to fight each other in the struggle for control.
One such faction is the
Emperor’s Hammer, led by Grand Admiral Stephen Ronin. After the loss at Endor,
Ronin ordered a retreat to a small cluster of a dozen systems, which have been
the territory of the Emperor’s Hammer ever since.
The Emperor’s Hammer has
since been consolidating, avoiding the petty squabbling of civil war amongst
the other Imperial factions. While it has defended its territory fiercely, the
Emperor’s Hammer has never been the aggressor. They have everything they need
in their territories – a veritable utopia in a galaxy of turmoil.
While the New Republic claims to be the
liberator of the galaxy, its hierarchy is becoming greedy. The Emperor’s Hammer
controlled system of Pirath has vast resources that would greatly benefit the New Republic. And so, while not a
threat to New Republic security, the Emperor’s
Hammer is now next in line for attack…
Rear Admiral Pickled Yoda smiled. Today, with the
Imperial Star Destroyer Grey Wolf having completed her annual refit, her
newly appointed Commodore was freed from supervising the repairs and was able
to take his first shore leave in a year. He planned to go to Pirath, a system
on the Outer Rim of the galaxy, near the Minos Cluster. The Pirath system had
two attractions for tourists – Space Platform Paradise and the beautiful ocean world
of Hiran, of more interest to the Emperor’s Hammer were the vast resources of
valuable metals and tibanna gas that Pirath held, but Yoda wasn’t travelling
there on business.
Yoda was about to leave
the bridge when the HoloComm beeped and sprang into life immediately. Yoda was
surprised: only a few of the fleet’s most important and senior officers had direct
access. The Communications Officer, Rear Admiral Joseph Crews, was one of them.
“Yods! How’s life in the
line?” Joey was the latest appointment to the Command Staff of the Emperor’s
Hammer, going from one of Yoda’s subordinates to one of the most senior
officers in the fleet, and he was still gloating a little.
“Hah, I miss being a
simple pilot in the line. Flag Staff like me just do paperwork.”
“Tell me about it. You
have a shore leave now, don’t you?”
“Yes. And this time, the
Commodore won’t make me clean the hull if I’m naughty”
Both officers laughed in
fond recollection of their last shore leave, when they had both been pilots on
the Grey Wolf.
“I need to go to Hyperion
with Vlad, and…” started Joey, before Yoda interrupted him.
“Hyperion? It’s a bunch
of asteroids on the edge of the Outer Rim. Why would you want to go there?”
“I don’t want to, but I
have to check on a communications array. Vlad wants to make sure it’s safe.”
Vice Admiral Vladet
Xavier was one of Joey’s colleagues on the Command Staff, and held the position
of Security Officer.
“Sucks to be you,”
smirked Yoda.
“Sucks to be you,
actually. You’re coming along. Your boss gave you an extra week of leave,” Joey
paused, “provided you come escort us and bring Trainer Squadron along. You can
go to Pirath afterwards.”
“Sneaky bugger. You have
a deal!” grinned Yoda.
“Great. Bring the
shuttle.” And with that, Joey signed off.
“Ready to go, Yoda?” The
voice confused Yoda for a moment, before he saw his new second-in-command walk
onto the bridge. Lieutenant Colonel Luke Fyrrea had just transferred over from the Intrepid,
another Star Destroyer in the fleet.
“Eager to take command
for a while?” smiled Yoda
“Yep. She’s in safe
hands.” stated Luke,
confidently.
“Take good care of her.”
ordered Yoda. He then left the bridge and went to the hangar bay, pausing only
to pick up a small bag of belongings.
***
The hangar bay of an
Imperial Star Destroyer is always buzzing with movement and noise, whether it
is in dry dock for repairs or in the midst of battle. Yoda paused to take in
the scene in front of him: an enormous open space with dozens of starfighters
landed on the deck, most of which had the distinctive ball cockpit of the
TIE-class fighters. Hundreds of mechanics and technicians were working on craft
all over the hangar, fixing battle damage from previous campaigns or upgrading
systems. Off to the side were a small number of transports and shuttles, and it
was in this direction that Yoda walked.
A mechanic jogged up to
him and saluted. “That transport you requested is all ready for you, sir. You
have clearance to takeoff as soon as you want.”
“Change of plans. I’m
taking the shuttle.”
‘The shuttle’ was
the Escort-class Shuttle Idiot’s Array. It had a short but interesting
history, and had clearly seen a lot of action. It was famous among the crew
members as being co-owned by several veteran pilots of the Grey Wolf, including
Yoda, Vlad and Joey. It was a souvenir from the days when they had served together
as young pilots. ‘Young’ thought Yoda. ‘We’re all still young, but
war makes you age faster.’ The Idiot’s Array was always kept
fuelled up and ready for a quick departure.
It was a short trip from
the shipyards of Aurora to the Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyer that was in
orbit around Aurora Prime. The Sovereign, flagship of the fleet, was a
behemoth of a ship. It was over sixteen kilometres long, and some of that space
was taken up with the offices of the twelve Command Staff.
Yoda guided the Idiot’s
Array to an easy landing with the practiced hand of someone who had flown
thousands of times and extended the boarding ramp. A few moments later he heard
boots stomping up the ramp and he went aft to meet his friends.
“Hey, Yods. Where’s
Trainer?” asked Vlad
“I told Trent to plot a course
to Hyperion and form up near the exit point. They should be there by now.”
replied Yoda.
“Let’s go then!”
exclaimed Joey. “I can change out of this infernal uniform.” Full dress uniform
had always irritated Joey.
“But it looks so good,
can’t we take a few shots with the HoloCam?” teased Yoda.
“I guarantee there will
be shots fired,” glared Joey
“You are no fun. Strap in
for take off.”
After leaving the Sovereign,
Yoda looked on the radar for Trainer Squadron. He adjusted course to their
position and soon six battered looking Z-95 Headhunters could be seen through
the front view port. ‘Trainer’ was a misnomer – the name and appearance of the
squadron was designed to make it appear like a training squadron of rookies in
old ships, but Trainer Squadron had veteran pilots with military-grade
equipment and modifications. Five minutes later, an escort shuttle and its six
escorts entered hyperspace for the Hyperion system.
***
“It is complete.” stated
Borsk Fey’lya, a Bothan who was on the New Republic’s innermost council. “The
speech to be released when we have control of Pirath has been polished
according to the suggestions that were made when we last met.”
“Let us hear it, then. It
must be perfect.” ordered Ackbar, the Admiral from Mon Calamari.
“My fellow citizens,
events in the Emperor’s Hammer have now reached the final days of decision. For
more than a decade, the New Republic has pursued patient and honourable efforts
to disarm the Imperial regime without war. Since then, the galaxy has engaged
in 10 years of diplomacy. We have sent hundreds of diplomats to open discussion
about the possibility of a peaceful truce. Our good faith has not been
returned.
Intelligence gathered by
this government leaves no doubt that the Imperial regime continues to possess
and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. The regime has a
history of reckless aggression in the Outer Rim. It has a deep hatred of the
New Republic and our friends. The New Republic did nothing to deserve or invite
this threat. But we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along
toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety. Before the day of horror
can come, before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed.”
Everyone in the room
chuckled. “Your best one yet, Borsk.” congratulated General Airen Cracken,
before he gave his own report. “Having talked to our logistics department, and
using the resources of my Intelligence network, I can now confirm that the
taking of Pirath would be a massive gain for us. Pirath has three planets.
Cinad is the closest to the sun, with temperatures that are almost
uninhabitable. The Emperor’s Hammer has a colony of miners there that churn out
as many precious materials as our two best mines. Hiran and its moon, Lien, are
fairly unremarkable planets for resources, but they are popular tourist
attractions. The last planet is Pirath III, and it is going to be enormously
beneficial for us. It is a gas giant, very similar to Bespin.”
Admiral Ackbar caught on
before anyone else. “You mean it has tibanna gas?”
“Yes, we are certain of
it. Furthermore, the Emperor’s Hammer relies on it. With one swift stroke, we
will both cripple them, and provide enough tibanna gas to supply our entire
fleet. According to our readings, there would even be enough to sell to the
commercial market, and restore our treasury.” The last point struck home with
the New Republic’s leadership. The Krytos Virus on Coruscant had been stopped,
but at a tremendous cost; the treasury was still close to empty.
Ackbar closed the
meeting, “Excellent news, General Cracken. My friends, the first probe into
Emperor’s Hammer territories will be at the Hyperion system, which is mostly
empty. The attack is scheduled for a three days from now, and from Hyperion we
will go to Pirath.”
***
Yoda was bored, very
bored. For three days he had sat around and only occasionally flown. At that
moment he was alone in the shuttle, having just dropped some supplies off for
Trainer Squadron, who were parked on the array to conserve fuel. With nothing
better to do, he put the thrusters on full power and headed for a dense cluster
of asteroids, thinking to practise some manoeuvres in the surprisingly agile Idiot’s
Array.
By the time he passed
through to the other side of the cluster, Yoda was sweating profusely. What had
appeared to be a moderate challenge at best had turned out to be one of the
most difficult pieces of flying he had done in a long time. Either the gaps
between asteroids had been smaller than the radar had claimed, or he was becoming
slower – something that no fighter pilot, even an ex-pilot, would admit
willingly. He was just about to head back to the communications array, when he
picked up faint hyperspace emissions on the radar. Thinking it must be a
mistake from a machine that had been faulty a minute ago, Yoda nearly ignored
it, but he had a feeling that it was worth checking out.
Two minutes later, he had
found the source of the emission. Or rather, the sources. In the distance he
could pick out the distinct shapes of the ovular Mon Calamari cruisers – two of
them, with support ships. He estimated them to be about an hour’s travel from
the communications array, perhaps two given their unfamiliarity with the
geography of the system. Having grabbed a long range scan of the intruding
ships, he hurried back to Joey and Vlad to warn them.
It didn’t take long to
pack up everything and leave. Joey checked for the New Republic ships on the radar
of the communications array, but was unable to find them.
“Lucky you went for a
joyride, Yoda.” whistled Vlad. “The scanners here can’t penetrate the asteroids;
we would’ve had about a minute’s warning. The Force was with you.”
Once they were back in space, Yoda paused only to release a probot before
entering the safety of lightspeed.
Once in hyperspace, Joey
asked the question that had been on everyone’s mind.
“Why would they want to
attack us? It’s not as if we’re the easiest pickings at the moment. They must
have some sort of special reason…”
Yoda thought about this
for a moment, and then punched up the star charts on the navigation console. He
pointed to the screen. “There.”
“Pirath? Yoda, they
didn’t attack just to ruin your shore leave,” quipped Joey.
“Fool.” glared Vladet
Xavier. “Pirath is both our biggest mining system and our only producer of tibanna
gas.”
“They must want it pretty
badly to attack us. We’d better arrange some backup, Pirath only has a few
ships in its permanent defence fleet, right, Vlad?”
The Security Officer
checked his datapad. “One Vee Ess Dee, two Neb-Bees and four cracks.”
Yoda decoded the
shorthand in his head. ‘One old Victory-class Star Destroyer, two Nebulon-B
class Frigates and four Carrack cruisers. They’ll be up against the two Mon
Calamari cruisers that I saw…plus their support ships. Not enough.’
“We need reinforcements…
and a plan of action. I say we drop out of hyperspace and head for Pirath to prepare
their defences. Joey, if they take the communications array in Hyperion, will
the HoloNet be secure?”
“No way. All our HoloNet
communications is routed through there, and I didn’t have a chance to protect
it from slicers.”
“Then we’ll have to use
Trainer Squadron as messengers. The Grey Wolf should’ve moved out of the
dock and on to the Heir system, but I think we need more ships than that. What
about the Sovereign?”
Vlad answered, “It isn’t
up to a battle… the axial superlaser is still under repair. Besides, it’d be
noticed as gone from Aurora in a heartbeat, and that would alert the New
Republic.”
Joey had a thought, and
started to fiddle with the main computer. “I wonder if this still works…
there!” A dot was flashing on the nav comp, around the Carrida system. “That’s
the current location of the Predator. We installed a homing beacon on it
a while back, thinking it might be handy.” The Imperial Star Destroyer Predator
was currently on a six month special operations assignment, testing out some
new ships.
“Great. We’ll send half
of Trainer Squadron to find the Grey Wolf, and the other half to pick up
the Predator. I just hope they make it in time.”
Thirty hours later, it
became apparent just how well the New Republic had planned this operation.
Pirath III, where the tibanna gas was mined, was at the extremity of its orbit
around the sun, while the other planets in the system were close to their extremities
as well, but on the other side of the sun. Half a billion kilometres separated
Pirath III and the nearest planet; if the Idiot’s Array had not arrived
to warn the system defence fleet, they would not have been able to respond in
time.
Yoda was talking to the
head of the Pirath fleet about strategy when they were interrupted by a junior
officer who informed them that the Grey Wolf had arrived in orbit, while
the Predator was approximately ten hours travel from Pirath III. Moments
later, Rear Admiral Crews burst into the room. “They’re on their way. The
probot you dropped saw them enter hyperspace about five minutes ago, speed and
direction suggests that we are the likely target. At full speed, I estimate
them to arrive here in nine hours.”
Yoda looked grim. “We’ll
have to fight twice as fiercely until the Predator arrives.” He turned to
the commander of Pirath’s forces. “Move your ships into position. I’ll take
command from the Grey Wolf.”
***
The Grey Wolf was
on the sun side of Pirath III, biding its time until battle. Nine hours had
passed, and there was no sign of the New Republic forces yet. Though the
passing of every minute gave the Predator a chance to travel closer, the
crew were anxious. They had been at their battle stations for almost an hour,
and nerves were starting to fray. Rear Admiral Pickled Yoda was trying to keep calm,
but at the back of his mind was a lingering feeling; ‘What if I was wrong
and they aren’t coming to Pirath?’
“Admiral! Enemy ships
have been identified by the Pirath fleet, ten minutes away from the planet.”
Yoda breathed a sigh of
relief. “Good. Have them fall back to the gas collection complex. Hopefully the
New Republic will follow them in and be trapped in the gravity shadow of the
planet. Launch the bomber squadrons and have them hold position at the gas
collection complex. In the meantime, we wait and see if the enemy fall into our
trap.”
Tartarus and Valkyrie
Squadrons left the hangar bay of the Grey Wolf smoothly, having done so on many
occasions. The Assault Gunboats and TIE Bombers that made up those two
squadrons moved into close formation and dove for the surface of the planet.
Yoda watched them disappear out of view, knowing that their firepower would be
desperately important in the upcoming battle.
“Report in from the
Pirath group, sir! The New Republic ships have entered the gravity shadow of
the planet and will engage them in about five minutes time.”
“Set a course to
intercept them, and tell the Pirath group to engage once we are in range.”
The Grey Wolf’s
enormous engines flared to life as the ship moved from orbit and set a direct
course for the New Republic ships. According to the ship’s computer, they would
come out from behind the planet and onto their enemy’s scanners in two minutes,
and be in firing range only one minute later. Yoda checked the chrono, but
there was nothing reassuring there. The Predator was still about half an
hour away, so the Grey Wolf would be fighting outnumbered for some time.
Far in the distance, Yoda
could now see the Rebel cruisers, and imagined the surprise that they must have
felt. ‘An Imperial Star Destroyer appearing out of nowhere…now they pay the
price for their hubris.’ Far below the bridge, turbolaser emplacements
started a cycle of firing and recoiling that would continue until the battle
was over.
“Designate the right-hand
cruiser as target Alpha, that’s ours. The left-hand cruiser is target Beta, the
Pirath group will have to cover that one.” he ordered.
The Grey Wolf was
an even match for target Alpha, but the ships from Pirath were outgunned, which
was why they were accompanied by Yoda’s bomber squadrons. The good news was
that the two Rebel cruisers had less support ships than he had first seen, but
he put that down to them leaving a rear guard at Hyperion.
The emerald green lasers
of the Imperial Navy and the scarlet red lasers of the New Republic were becoming
thicker as the Grey Wolf moved closer to target Alpha.
“Enemy have launched
starfighters.”
“You may launch the rest
of ours, Wing Commander.” Yoda addressed this order to Luke Fyrrea, who complied quickly. The Grey
Wolf’s four remaining squadrons launched; the TIE Advanced models of Vortex
and Crusader shot out first, followed by the older TIE Interceptors of Odin and
Phoenix Squadrons. After barely enough time to form up, the starfighters were
in range of the enemy, and had started to dogfight, twisting and turning
throughout space while trying to stay with their wingman.
The battle between the
Rebel cruiser and the Grey Wolf quickly turned into a slugging match,
with each side pouring lasers into the others. Something had to give, and to
the relief of everyone standing on the bridge of the Grey Wolf, it was
their foe’s shields which gave out suddenly. Dozens of green turbolasers ripped
through the hull of the Rebel cruiser, and in a heartbeat it was dead in space,
no longer a threat.
Unfortunately the Pirath
defence fleet wasn’t faring so well. Valkyrie Squadron had tried a bombing run,
but suffered heavy losses because they didn’t have enough starfighter cover
from the Pirath fleet. Tartarus Squadron was waiting for an opportunity to
attack, but in the meantime two Carrack-class cruisers and a frigate had been
completely destroyed by the aggressive New Republic ship. The Victory-class
Star Destroyer Patriot was trying gamely to hold off the enemy, but was
quickly running out of shield strength. They needed help, and it didn’t look
like the Grey Wolf would arrive in time, as she was still mopping up the
Rebel starfighters and bombers.
Suddenly a white triangle
zoomed past the front viewport of the Grey Wolf and stopped near the Patriot.
It was the Predator, and Yoda could not remember being more relieved in
his life. He wondered how Vice Admiral Macharius had managed such an intricate
hyperspace jump, but pushed that thought to the back of his mind.
Yoda opened
communications with the Predator. “Thank the Force. You’re early.”
“Never like to miss a
good party,” returned Macharius, “We pushed the engines and shaved ten minutes.
Then I just aimed for the Idiot’s Array, it actually has a two way
homing beacon. Good idea to leave it on the Patriot, by the way.”
Yoda’s mouth opened and
shut several times as he thought about that. Vague memories of catching a
Lambda-class shuttle to the Grey Wolf surfaced, and he recalled that the
Idiot’s Array had still been refuelling when he had needed to return.
“Yeah. It worked well. Clean up that cruiser, will you?”
“My pleasure. Predator
out.”
The Predator’s fighters
were mostly experiments in new technology or alternatives to the TIE models.
They weren’t all at peak combat efficiency, but there were enough of them to
tie up the New Republic fighters while Tartarus Squadron came in for a bombing
run. Dozens of orange-red projectiles shot out from their warhead launchers;
dozens of heavy rockets lumbered in at the Rebel cruiser. There were far too
many to shoot down, and the concentration of fire made a hole in the shields.
High-tech scanners picked up the anomaly and relayed it to the weapons
controller in the Predator, who then ordered all available turbolaser
emplacements to fire at the gap. Just as the Grey Wolf had done to the
first cruiser, the Predator’s lasers penetrated deep into the Rebel cruiser,
which suddenly exploded in a giant fireball, as a result of the Imperial lasers
reaching all the way down to the fuel tanks.
“Target neutralised.”
grinned Yoda.
***
There is an eerie peace
in the aftermath of any battle, while each side, victor and defeated alike,
lick their wounds and count the costs of war. Rear Admiral Pickled Yoda gazed out the viewport
of the Grey Wolf as a piece of debris slowly travelled towards the sun,
still burning with fires started many hours ago. Perhaps the New Republic would
return. Perhaps they would finally realise the folly of attacking the Emperor’s
Hammer, and leave it alone. Perhaps a lot of things, Yoda realised. ‘In a
galaxy of uncertainty, we have to hold onto what we have, which is why we fight
for a better future, fight for the Empire!’
Reflection
Hammer’s Story was
enormous fun to write. I had challenges to overcome, but enjoyed crafting
solutions to them. After looking back on the creative process, here are some explanations
of the concepts, issues and devices and reflections on their meanings.
Emperor’s Hammer: One of the major
concepts of this story is the setting, which requires some background to be
fully understood. The Emperor’s Hammer is an online gaming organisation that is
ten years old. The games played are the Star Wars computer games. People from
all around the world join up and assume alter-egos, which they role play as in
interaction with other members of the club. All of the Imperial characters in
this story are such alter-egos – the concept being that this story is a Star
Wars fan fiction that uses the characters, setting, timeframe and resources of
the Emperor’s Hammer organisation. The Emperor’s Hammer is also my target
audience, who better to appreciate the story?
Opening Crawl: The story begins with
four brief paragraphs of introduction, in respectful imitation of the Star Wars
movies. The first eight words mimic the original ‘crawl’ of A New Hope –
“It is still a period of civil war” vs “It is a period of civil war”. I used
this to establish timeframe (with regards to the Star Wars universe) and
background. Only a Star Wars fan should pick up the reference, but that is my
target audience.
Imperial Perspective: A definite blank
area in Star Wars is the lack of the Imperial perspective, so I attempted to
try to answer some questions… “What are the normal Imperial soldiers like?”…
not those who are after power and glory, but those who just signed up to the
military for a job or to protect their home.
Utopia: The
concept I was taking from the Extension course was Utopia. From the first page
I have set the Emperor’s Hammer up as the Utopia and the New Republic as those
who spread dystopia through violence and imposing their rule on systems. In
subsequent scenes I paraphrase a speech made by George Bush to the United
Nations in order to set up the metaphor that the New Republic is America, and
the Emperor’s Hammer is Iraq. This plays on the supposition that the real
reason for America going to war was not for any ideologies, but for the mineral
resource of oil.
Names: The balance between
being true to the Emperor’s Hammer ‘lore’ and authenticity is perhaps most
apparent in the names of the characters. As I was writing for an audience who
understood and were familiar with the names, I opted not to invent more…
sensible ones. Hence, there is a main character known as “Pickled Yoda” and
“Joey” is the name of one of the most powerful men in the region.
System Manual: My two
references for EH ‘lore’ were the EH System Manual and the Order of Battle,
which are the resources that describe the systems of the EH and the fleets that
protect them. I was able to fit information about the Hyperion and Pirath
system into dialogue, which gave the readers a chance to visualise or at least
understand them.
Characters: The
New Republic characters only play a small part, but are taken from the Expanded
Universe of Star Wars (i.e. books set before or after the movies). Borsk
Fey’lya is from a book by Timothy Zahn, and he is a wily, manipulative
character, traits which I have kept in this story.
Expanded Universe: I have used a few
back stories from the EU, one of which is the Krytos virus. It references to
“X-Wing : The Krytos Trap” by Michael Stackpole, where the New Republic was
almost bankrupted in trying to provide enough treatment for the Krytos Virus. I
feel it provides a great motivation for their greed in attacking the EH.
In Character & Sometimes it was
difficult to write in character. These characters are
Humanity rarely role-played accurately, so the target
audience usually know more of the real personality behind a character than the
alter-ego. Luckily, one of the things I was trying to achieve was to show the
humanity beneath the metaphorical (and sometimes literal) masks of the
Imperials, which comes through in the informality of the dialogue between the
three friends. There are also times with more formal dialogue, when Yoda is
still ‘on duty’. Also, the tension of the situation comes through in the battle
scene – Yoda has no time for formality, as his nerves and relief at being
reinforced have broken through his ‘on duty’ personality.
Battle and Length: The story is a
few hundred words over the limit because I wanted to conclude with an action
scene, something I felt the target audience would appreciate. If I had another
500 words, I would expand the battle scenes, but it might be a good thing that
I didn’t, because action is hard to write well; what I have works well. It sets
the scene well enough that the imagination can run free.
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