Passage to Naboo

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Wedge Antilles came out of hyperspace a little ahead of the group. He hit the brakes and felt the ship seem to drift. He was sitting in his cockpit with only the stars as his light source. Mynock was beeping constantly and Wedge tried to ignore it. The pitch of the whine made it seem like one of those stray pets. "Mynock relax...I'm sure the fleet will be here soon."

He checked the fuel gauge and was relieved it was only 1/2 empty. If it were 1/3...or even 1/4...he'd have to wait a very long time. As Commander in the Alliance it was his job to keep as active and on cue as possible. He folded his hands and waited.

[Wars Within Stars Admin]

One by one, ships began appearing in the empty space of the rendezvous coordinates. The transports had made it in time and so did most, if not all, of the fleet. The physical losses weren't too major, but the emotional ones were great. It was another planet they had to escape, and the consequences were dear.

Luke had felt the destruction of the planet through the Force while in hyperspace and he felt like something had punched him in the gut and kicked him in the head, and he had nearly thrown up.

His ship was the last to make it through hyperspace and was only a few seconds behind the last transport.

"Hey Wedge? You there?" The question came through the com, a sort of depressed tone to his voice.

[wedge]

Wedge sat up straight as the voice of Luke came through the comm:

"Hey Wedge you there?"

"Yeah...I'm here. Man, the Empire seems to be homing in all the planets we seem to occupy for more then a few months. How? Either their watching us from a far..."

He let that sentence trail...he knew that was the last situation they'd want to be in. They've had spies in their ranks before, but how did the Empire know they were hiding out on Ord Mantell. It made him frustrated, just like the time they were on Yavin. They were celebrating, then they heard the sound of Ties. Those eyeballs began pouring their green lasers upon the calm planet and soon they had to evacuate. Same for Hoth...with those Probots. There was also Endor...during that heavy loss. He checked his systems to make sure no enemy came on radar.

[Wars Within Stars Admin]

"Yeah...I'm here. Man, the Empire seems to be homing in all the planets we seem to occupy for more then a few months. How? Either their watching us from a far..."

It seemed peaceful so far, the space they were in, but just to be sure X-wings were flitting in and out and through the fleet, watching for any sign of danger. Luke brought his around in front of the medical ship.

"I know. I suppose that this time it could have been an informant, it's rather hard to hide an entire Rebel base on a world with the kind of people..." Luke trailed off, feeling that it was a little disrespectful talking about it like this. He also had a rather sick feeling that Vader would be able to sense him if he got near. He had sensed that him near Ord Mantell right before they left. It would be terrible if he would be a liability to the Alliance if he was a homing beacon.

"We made it in time, we're safe, for now," Luke said optimistically. "And we'll pay the Empire back for what they did to Ord Mantell."

[wedge]

Wedge understood. "Yeah...they will...ten times the loss of Ord Mantell." Wedge said, his voice held pain and anger. He sighed wondering if any Imperials were out here at all, he gripped the yoke and kept looking out the canopy. Mynock was beeping and Wedge looked at the scanner. "Hey Luke...we have a planet on radar...time of arrival...about 5 minutes."

[Wars Within Stars Admin]

Luke understood what Wedge was feeling--heck, mostly everyone who was involved, really--and he tried his best not to feel it himself. He couldn't deny that it hurt and it made him want to lash out at the Empire. But that's exactly what they wanted him to do, so he had to keep his cool.

"Got it, Wedge. I guess the Fleet's gonna stay up here in case they've got Imps down there. Guess it's just you and me to check this place out."

[wedge]

"Alright...you go on ahead...I'll do a once around to see if there are any patrolling Ties," Wedge pulled back the thrust and allowed Luke the freedom to go ahead. Luke was always about exploring new worlds, he was always that way. Wedge looked out the canopy again to see his friend leave.

[Torin Dol]

As the pilots surged toward the surface of Naboo and their unexpected adventures at the side of Darth Vader, Torin Dol was standing on the bridge of his own command station, observing the many computer pannels that surrounded himself and his small team, charged with running the life support and weapon systems of the Mon-Cal Cruiser. He was glad to finally be stationed on the bridge, where he hoped to be of greater use to the Alliance then he had been in the annals of the ship.

And indeed, it seemed that usefulness might already be coming, for even as he observed so casually, a vision came to him. He was in space, not within the hull of a ship, but within the blackness of the place between the stars itself. He couldn't help but wonder how he'd gotten here; even his purifying breath mask and eye goggles, which saved him from the toxic oxygen-based atmosphere that usually surrounded him, couldn't mold the chemicals he needed from the vacuum that surrounded him.

Despite the pain, despite the total agony that came about from his suffocation, Torin managed to look back and see the ship from which he had been flung. Still the imperial frigate was digging into the ship, and since it had hit the bridge first in its surprise attack, the rest of it wasn't holding up very well against the smaller adversary. And then, as if to finish the crippled cruiser off, several Star Destroyers came out of hyperspace, cutting the Mon Cal ship off from the reinforcements that were even now on their way.

With a sharp gasp, Torin Dol staggared back into reality, stepping backward several times as his vision ended. He caught his breath for a while before looking behind him. "Admiral," he said, "An Imperial Cruiser will be approaching soon. It will attempt a surprise attack on the bridge itself. I'd advice putting all crew and stations on red alert and moving into a defensive cluster with other nearby ships in the fleet," he told him.

"But my scanners aren't picking up anything!" another bridge officer - this one a Lieutennant - called out.

"Trust me," the Baran Do Sage said with utmost confidence, "It comes."

[Admiral Ackbar]

"Admiral," he said, "An Imperial Cruiser will be approaching soon. It will attempt a surprise attack on the bridge itself. I'd advice putting all crew and stations on red alert and moving into a defensive cluster with other nearby ships in the fleet,"

Admiral Ackbar, the Mon Calamari commander of the Rebel Fleet, turned away from where he had been speaking to one of his Mon Calamari technicians to root out the source of the warning. Seeing it coming from the weapons-system commander, the Kel Dor known as Torin Dol, he narrowed his eyes curiously and was about to ask how the Kel Dor knew that an Imperial cruiser was about to ambush them when suddenly one of the bridge lieutenants piped up and announced that nothing had been picked up by the Home One's scanners. Looking at Torin Dol expectantly, waiting for him to explain how he knew there were Imperials approaching whilst the scanners showed nothing, all the Admiral received in response were the short words,

"Trust me, it comes."

Ackbar had to admit, he was skeptical of the Kel Dor's claims to mysteriously know about an incoming Imperial vessel, but after the Battle of Endor and the loss of Ord Mantell he wasn't willing to take anymore unnecessary risks. For the time being, he designated the Fleet's main priority as being survival and rebuilding as opposed to fighting the Empire, for they could not do the latter without a sufficiently strong force. The worst they would be able to do would be hit-and-run strikes, just like in the very first days of the Alliance. Regardless, he knew he would have to trust Torin Dol's judgement in this matter and take the necessary measures to prepare for any kind of Imperial ambush, for the Home One was the Alliance's last remaining powerful capital ship, and the loss of that meant the Fleet was doomed. Turning to the various Mon Calamari crew-members who operate the majority of the bridge, Ackbar said deftly,

"Move into a Sadarian Shell formation and raise stern shields at my signal."

"Yes Admiral."

"Aye Admiral."

"Roger that Admiral."

These were the various responses Ackbar received for his commands, and as the Rebel ships began to do as had been ordered, the Mon Calamari commander gave Torin Dol a shrewd look, or as shrewd as a Mon Calamari can appear to one not of their species, before making his way over to the weapons-systems supervisor and asking in a low voice that sounded slightly like a croak, due to him being used to bellow orders over the sound of battle rather than whispering hushed questions to one of his men,

"Would you care to share how you -----"

The Mon Calamari was cut off from finishing his question, however, by klaxons sounding along the bridge and the lieutenant who had previously reported nothing showing up on their scanners suddenly standing and yelling over to the Admiral to inform him that they had incoming ships from a hyperspace co-ordinate. Casting Torin Dol a combination of a look of gratitude and a look of surprise, Ackbar moved over to his command podium near the front-centre of the bridge and called across to his crew in his best bellow, or as he liked to call it, his 'Battle Voice'.

"Raise shields on the starboard-stern and divert power to the port-side engines! We'll catch them as they exit hyperspace."

The bridge crew became frantic with the speed at which they began relaying their Admiral's orders, as the commander himself turned to Torin and said sternly,

"Major Dol, prepare the turbolaser batteries to fire broadsides into the enemy as soon as they exit hyperspace," He then turned to his engines co-ordinator and added, "Drain energy temporarily from the port shields and divert it to the engines to make sure our starboard side is face their exit-point. Have fighters on standby but do not launch until my signal."

"Aye Admiral," The engines co-ordinator replied.

His orders given for the time being, Ackbar made his way over to the customised command chair that served as his own personal control-station whilst on the bridge of his flagship, and looked out of the large viewport in front of him, watching as the Home One began to turn sharply to move into position for the soon-to-arrive Imperials.

OOC ~ Hope that's all okay.

[Torin Dol]

He knew what the Admiral was about to ask - not because of some vision of some mystic power, but because he could hear his voice practically dripping with skepticism as he asked. How could Torin explain it to somebody who did not know the Teachings? He would have to trust in hope that his word would be taken for what it was - honesty.

Pulling his mind from the possible future and back into the present, Torin went about following the admiral's orders. He wasn't wearing regulation uniform, but rather the customary robes of his Baran-Do heritage, as he always had since his first days in the Alliance. A patch that showed his rank as a Major was along his shoulders, the only modification to the otherwise complete array of the traditional garb. He gestured and pointed to the various officers at the actual controll stations as he went about relaying his own orders to them.

"Arm all turbolasers! Have all gunner teams report to their stations! Prepare to fire port side batteries and hold fire until my signal!" He waited for things to proceed a bit further as he knew they would, uncertain of how the battle would go now that the Alliance was aware of the coming of the small Imperial fleet. It was like clockwork, the Imperial Frigate coming out of hyperspace first at what would have been the exactly right coordinates to hit their bridge. "Fire!" the Kel Dor commanded, and although the ship had come out of hyperspace with its own forward batteries blazing, it had yet to put its shields up against what it thought was a sleeping enemy.

Crippled, but not destroyed, the Imperial Frigate began to drift away from the dreadnaught that had just opened fire across its bow, leaving several gaping holes in its hull. "Continue fire," he casually commanded, a smile coming to his face beneath the breath mask he wore even now, watching the forward viewport himself as the port-side guns continued to lay waste to the doomed vessel. It was then that Torin saw fit to tell his superior what else he knew.

"Admiral," he pipped up again, "If my vision holds true as it has so far, there will also be... Star Destroyers... Two of them, arriving shortly." Perhaps he should've said so earlier? "They will come out of hyperspace directly astern of us to try and cut us off from reinforcements." Of course, now that they had moved into formation, it was a bit late for that; Still, it was a bit of information that was well worth mentioning to the person charged with keeping their crippled fleet alive...

[Admiral Ackbar]

"Admiral, if my vision holds true as it has so far, there will also be... Star Destroyers... Two of them, arriving shortly. They will come out of hyperspace directly astern of us to try and cut us off from reinforcements."

That would have been more helpful before I began arranging the fleet into formation, Admiral Ackbar thought as he frowned to himself upon hearing the Kel Dor's words, But never mind, I can't blame him. We're all under stress I suppose.

"Thank you for the warning, Major," Ackbar said quickly before turning to his navigators and communication officers and ordering sharply, "Prepare a 90' degree turn port-side and the fleet bear all guns on the co-ordinates immediately astern to us. We need to try and cause as much damage to the incoming ship as we can before they can power up their shields."

"Aye Admiral," Came the replies, to which Ackbar nodded before turning to one of the communication technicians in particular and adding, "Contact Commanders Skywalker and Antilles and inform them of our situation. Retreat is to be considered a very possible course of action, and I would rather they were not left behind."

"Aye Admiral." The technician said with a brisk salute before sending a quick message to both Antilles and Skywalker.

Ackbar, meanwhile, was watching the sharply as the ship began to turn steeply and was roughly three quarters of the way into positioning itself as he had ordered when the first of the two promised Star Destroyers suddenly exited from hyperspace, the Admiral immediately gave the order to fire, and once again the Fleet managed to catch an Imperial vessel in a counter-ambush as they caused significant damage to the unprepared ship. However, the second Star Destroyer arrived and placed its shield up before Ackbar could successfully have any fire from the Fleet diverted to attacking it. With the first one having suffered much damage but still with enough systems stable to keep operation as its own shields were raised, the Mon Calamari realised that they small Rebel Fleet was in for a rough ride.

"We'll have to retreat," He said, after watching the Fleet pound the two Star Destroyers with turbolaser fire for several long seconds, and watching as one Corellian Corvette took an incredibly heavy beating in return.

"Plot multiple hyperspace jumps," He ordered the navigators, before being quickly told,

"But Admiral, our hyperspace capability is disabled. One of those Star Destroyers must have Interdictor systems installed!"

Ackbar cursed under his breath, promptly hoping that nobody else heard him, and looked at Major Dol before asking in a weakened voice,

"If we can pinpoint which of the Star Destroyers has the Interdictor systems, do you think we have enough firepower to take it down before more Imperials arrive?"

[Torin Dol]

No visions had come to him sense his first, when he had seen the initial assault. "I... Don't know," he whispered back. "Give me some time," he requested, turning to the next-highest ranking officer in the team and motioning for him to take command for a while. "I'm not going to be lucid for a while, but when I am I may have an answer for you." With that, he did the one thing he might have been able to do at that time; he knelt on the floor and lost himself in meditation, trying to force visions that weren't coming on their own. It was a difficult thing to do, a form of meditation that the highest of Baran Do Sages were hesitent to teach their students, and one that he had not mastered yet. Still.. He had to try.

He was lost within the Force almost immediately, more receptive to any visions that might come on their own. That was a simple technique, one that could almost be applied subconsciously. However, it was not the end result Torin wanted. He delved deeper, deeper, ever deeper into his transic state of meditation until he was so deeply lost in the Force that his surroundings were lost to him, his senses no longer functioned and the only way he saw was through the Force. Quickly, he abandoned his focus on the surrounding Force energy, extending his senses to the two deadly Star Destroyers across from their own ship.

It was time to begin the true challenge. He focused in on the life signes of the people within the ship, moving past the thoughts and feelings of the crew and focusing on their futures. It was difficult to encorporate as many as he did, and there was no way he could possibly have gotten the full multitude of thousands it took to man a Star Destroyer, so he focused on the important people, the officers - especially those high in the command structure. And, through their thoughts, feelings and future combined, he forced from them a series of visions that would be the most likely futures.

The first vision was one that he did not like, the one that the Imperial Officers most hoped for. The entire Rebel fleet was burning in orbit, and a blockade was forming around Naboo, blacking out the sky with the innumberable ships surrounding it. He could see tiny figures moving toward the planets from the ships, not recognising them at first. However, as another explosion rocked the Home One, completely shattering what was left of it, he saw them closer - troop transports moving planetside to erase all traces of the ground troops they somehow knew were there. There was a figure in the background, one of an old, broken man in a dark hood. His very essence was evil, strong Dark Side energy, his crooked-toothed mouth twisted upward in a sadistic smile. He somehow knew that this figure was the Emperor, and that the operation in progress was somehow his doing. But... how?

Before the vision could answer that question, he got another vision - the one that the Imperials most feared. A troop lander was ascending from the planet to the in-tact Home One. The Star Destroyer they had previously damaged was now totally broken, though several more Alliance ships had come to share the same fate. X-Wing, A-Wing and B-Wing fighters were all in combat with overwhelmingly greater numbers of TIEs; he couldn't give a number of casualties. As the lander docked with the Home One, the entire fleet turned on its heels and jumped into light speed - and not a second too soon, for no quicker then they were gone did a host of ships they could not hope to defeat sprang into the now-deserted area.

He came out of his visions quickly, getting to his feet with the answers he had hoped to divine. 'Excellent,' he thought. "It's the crippled ship," he told the Admiral as he looked straight out the viewport. "If we can destroy it and get our men evacuated quickly, we can escape before the Imperial reinforcements arrive. If we make even the slightest error of timing..." He took a long time to say what he feared to say out of a blinding fear that it may just happen. "We're doomed!"

[Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin]

Moff Tarkin stood on the bridge of his Star Destroyer Gorgon, the other three Heavily modified Star Destroyers followed. They received a distress signal from a star destroyer en route to Naboo. They found the rebel fleet. Tarkin couldn't hold in the excitement he got from this he had a chance to finally crush the pathetic rebellion.

"Commander" he called

"Yes My Lord?" came the voice of his comm officer

"Inform Admiral Daalla that we take no prisoners relay this message to the entire fleet and call in more reinforcements i will NOT accept failure."

"Yes my Lord"

Tarkin turned back to the viewport he would not let Ackbar escape him this time.