Reckoning
Force
FL/LT Brian/Odin 3-1/WingXIII/ISD Grey Wolf
(Soccerwars10@aol.com)
The Imperial Star
Destroyer Grey Wolf hung in orbit around the planet Idevi, with its many moons
in the backdrop that made for a spectacular scene. This new planet will be the
ultimate test for the warriors of Wing XIII and the
Grey Wolf…
“Sir, the preliminary scans show nothing unusual. However there is one moon that is emitting a strange encoded message. Our technicians will begin deciphering the message immediately. Shall we detach a squadron to investigate?” The Scanning Officer concluded.
“Yes, send Odin out to do a quick fly-by of the moon.” Khadgar said.
Captain Raxis shouted over the static of the comm. “This is Odin Leader to Squad, form up and stay tight, we don’t want any surprises.”
As the eight Tie Interceptors and four Tie Advanced neared the moon's surface, it came into view. A huge ship, kilometers in length, was sprawled out in a valley, covered with vines andtrees.
“It must be ancient!” Lt Andrew exclaimed…
The Communication Officer approached the bridge and said to Khadgar, “Sir, we have deciphered the message. It’s a little garbled.” And handed him a small datacard.
“Good work” Khadgar said as heturned on the datacard’s play function.
“……Warning………-tay away fr-m thi--place or a---the galaxy—ill fe-l their wraith………………”
Khadgar was silent for a moment,then said, “What the… tell Odin to get back hear now! We are in big trouble.”
“Sithspit! Multiple incoming unknowns coming in at vector two-one-three-nine. I count forty plus ships and fighters!” Lt Brian shouted,breaking the long silence sense discovering the mammoth ship.
“Odin Lead to Grey Wolf, is there something we should know?” Raxis said.
Only static answered him.
“Orders Raxis.” Captain Saar said.
“We need to figure out what happened to the Grey Wolf. Follow me and keep your eyes open.” Raxis replied.
“Incoming!” Lt Andrew shouted as streams of purple energy leaped at them.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Raxis said as he shot a quad burst right into one of the fighters.
Outnumbered almost 4-to-one, the brave souls of the Grey Wolf battled against perilous odds. The enemy ships,resembling A-Wings, but much larger, were now a thick cloud of death that Odin must break through. The dogfight raged on, with Lt Brian vaping six, Captain Raxis taking nine, Captain Saar scoring seven, and Lt Andrew getting four.
An explosion rocked the Grey Wolf as the unknown capital ships continued to pound her.
“Sir, we just lost contact with Odin Squadron, the unknown ships are jamming us.” Said an officer.
“We have to get out of here, there is no way we can possibly take on a fleet of that size!” Rear Admiral Khadgar said to his bridge crew. “Prepare for the jump to hyper-space.” He said. “And hope to God Odin gets back hear soon!”
“Sir, Odin Squadron is engaging forty-two fighters as we speak, they will try to get back as soon as they can.”
“Captain, the Grey Wolf is entering hyper-space!” shouted Saar.
“Then let’s follow suit, everyone exit on the course zero-five-eight-seven. We will have to analyze this new threat because we might be dealing witha force to be reckoned with.” Raxis said softly.
After the fateful run-in with the unknown race at Idevi, the Imperial Star Destroyer rendezvous with the rest of the Aggressor Strike Force at Geive, where it has a chance to lick its wounds and tell its story to the rest of the fleet.
“We must do something about this! Who knows what these…things…are capable of. I move for immediate action by the entire ASF before it is too late!” Rear Admiral Khadgar said to the assembled commodores, wing commanders, and the Battle Group Commander, Vice Admiral Cyric. The murmurs of the assembly quickly erupted into argument until Cyric spoke up.
“Attention! I agree with Khadgar that we need to take action soon, but as to what kind I have no idea. It would be helpful to have more info about them before we decide anything more.” Said Cyric.
Just then the Sensor Officer came into the briefing room. Cyric was about to scold him when the warning claxons began to ring on the Grey Wolf. “Sir, the unknown ships, they have just exited from hyper-space! Cyric said to the gathering ofofficers, “Get to your ships and prepare your fighters, this doesn’t look good.”
Out of the hangerbay of the Grey Wolf came 72 fighters, likewise with the Vanguard and Intrepid. Odin squadron flew at the middle of the pack, closing on the unknown fighters and capital ships.
“Ok pilots, we don’t know the real size of their fleet or anything else about them. If the opportunity arises, disable one of the fighters or a cruiser.” Cyric said into the comm.
As the two clouds of fighters neared each other, multiple red streaks shot towards the unknowns. They soon made the short 2.5klicks and impacted on the hostile fighters, destroying most, crippling others.But a moment later the other group of fighters opened up with their purple lasers. Having a greater range as the ASF ships, their first volley caught everyone off guard and they destroyed four tie interceptors.
“Stay sharp guys, they have us outgunned. We’ll just have to out fly them.” Captain Raxis said as he blew away a fighter and quickly scanned for a near-by target.
“Got a fighter
on me!” said LT Brian as he jinked and rolled to dodge the fighters deadly
energybolts.
“I’m coming.”replied LT Andrew as he veered towards LT Brian’s
tie interceptor and the strange fighter trailing it.
The two massive clouds now became one, and it was almost impossible to distinguish
ships among the carnage. When it was all over, the ASF lost 13 ships and the
unknown fleet had been driven off.
“Good news, Sir. From the data we gathered out of the captured fighters
and capital ships, this race is the Rakasha. The best news is that we have deciphered
a hyper-coordinate from one of the cruisers’ computer. It’s within
our range. Shall we set course for the system?” asked an officer.
Vice Admiral Cyric thought for a moment, “Very Well, inform the Intrepid, Vanguard, and the rest of the Fleet.”
Within a few minutes the three mighty ships jumped into the unknown regions.
While the three ominous ships travelled through
hyper-space, the pilots of wing thirteen met in the pilots lounge. Some
were drinking, most weren’t because the ship was on full alert, and drinking
required breaking
the rules. Others were talking of past battles they had flown, gesturing
with their hands as if they were fighters. No matter what they were doing,
all of them did snap to attention and salute the Wing Commander as he entered
the room.
“Good Morning,men.” Major Azazel continued, “ as most of you know by now,
we are going up against a force to be reckoned with, and we don’t really know
what we’re up against until we face it. The problem with that…”
He never got to finish his sentence. Alarms started sounding all over the
ship. The Grey Wolf and the other two Imperator Class Star Destroyers were
suddenly pulled out of hyper-space three hours from there
scheduled time. Rear Admiral Khadgar rushed from his quarters where he had
been taking his nap and shouted as he entered the bridge,“ Someone tell me
what the hell is going on!”
“Sir, we have been pulled out of hyper-space…” a junior officer said from
the crew pit.
“I know that you mongrel idiot! Tell me why we were pulled out of
hyper-space!” Khadgar said in a still tired voice. Khadgar looked out the
viewport and saw a huge fleet of Rakasha ships destroying the Calamari
Cruiser Sanctuary. Beyond that were the New Republic Interdictor Cruiser
Trinity and several other support craft.
“Aw crap, that INT has trapped us and the Rakasha here!” Khadgar said to
himself.
“Sir, an incoming message from a New Republic fighter. Shall I play it on the
comm.?” Said the comm officer.
“Very well, let’s hear it.” Said Khadgar.
The message pleaded for asylum from the Rakasha forces. It briefly explained how
the fleet had been ambushed by the Rakasha and what they were doing here. Rear
Admiral Khadgar thought for a minute and said to Vice Admiral Cyric, “I think
we should give it a shot, what do we have to lose?”
“Very well,” Cyric said after a moments thought. The comm
officer said to the New Republic fighter, “Acknowledged, temporary truce, only
engage Rakasha fighters, we are launching assistance for you now.”
Odin squadron left the hangar of the ISD Grey Wolf and zoomed towards the battle
that was raging between one immense fleet of unknown ships and a smaller, half
destroyed New Republic fleet. With every minute that
went by, another fighter, or a capital ship would be destroyed. If the ASF
wouldn’t of been caught in the INT’s gravity-well projectors,the Rebel fleet
would be doomed for sure.
“Ok pilots, only engage the Rakasha craft, we don’t want to provoke the New
Republic fighters. Still, keep your guard up. I don’t know what
they might try to pull on us.” Raxis said Odin squadron reached the
outer-most action in the battle.
“Roger that,lead.” LT Brian said as he blew away a Rakasha bomber as it was
attacking an X-Wing.
“Confirmed” LT Andrew said as he vectored in on a Rakasha fighter attacking
a Rebel A-Wing. The brawl continued. In the end the New Republic forces
were decimated. Only nine fighters and one corellian corvette survived the
battle. Damage to the Vanguard was very extensive. Odin lost one
pilot, but he was recovered because he ejected and was E-V for a little while.
Now the question came up as to what to do with the New Republic ships that
survived the battle.
“ I think we should let them go.” Said Khadgar as they Commodores gathered
for an emergency meeting aboard the Grey Wolf.
“Well, the protocols call for us to capture, interrogate, and execute them.
But I don’t think that that is the best action to take right now. I
suggest that we have a meeting where we discuss the Rakasha and mutually hand
over any information that we both may have about them.” Cyric said. After
a brief moment of silence where no one objected to the plan, Cyric replied,
“Ok then, I’ll arrange this meeting as soon as possible. As for
current orders, we will remain here until we have exchanged the necessary
information, then we will proceed towards the Rakasha hyper-coordinates. In
the mean time, let's repair the damage that we sustained during today's
activities.