Training Exercise (cont.)

[Alekshander]

The Royal Hapan Navy Nova battle cruiser Azure Wind burst from hyperspace a good distance from the gravity shadow produced by the planet Dreena. To an observer, the excess energy bleeding off of the ship’s hull made it look as if the battle cruiser was on fire as it translated into normal space. Within moments of appearing in-system, the Azure Wind disgorged its combat air patrol fighters, second and third flights of First Squadron. The CAP took up pre-assigned positions about their mother ship as the captain and other bridge officers aboard the battle cruiser assessed the situation. In the cockpit of his newly refueled Miy’til, Alek watched a miniaturized version of the tactical repeated used on the bridge. His plot lacked the sophistication of a larger unit, but from the data being relayed from Azure Wind’s main computer he was able to understand the gist of the present situation.

Dreena was, according to Human preferences, not the most habitable of planets. Its surface was covered in a giant water ocean with only a few volcanic archipelagos around the planet’s equator. Due to the equator’s tropical climate, a number of Hapan corporations had bid to build luxury resorts on the islands, despite charters of colonization being given to a number of aquatic species by the Hapan Consortium . This promised to be a not just a lucrative source of revenue, but also a sticky political situation. It didn’t’ help that Dreena was far out in the Hapan Rim Worlds, far removed from the more populated Rifle Worlds or Interior Region. As of yet, only the groundwork for future construction had began, so no significant security force had been posted in orbit and no colonization had actually been approved. The RHN maintained a small outpost on Dreena’s second moon, Marpelagus, but it was limited to a squadron of older model Miy’til’s and X-wings used to discourage smugglers and minor pirates. Dreena also boasted a number of small refinery and processing nodes in the system’s debris field along with a pair of geosynchronous space stations about the planet’s equator used for housing of personal and refueling of spacecraft. It was the kind of periphery system that was used to a moderate amount of traffic, yet remained rough around the edges.

“The pirates have destroyed the outermost refinery nodes and judging on amount of debris in orbit about the planet, they made short work of the defense force and a number of other craft in-system.” Captain Thane spoke over the squadron’s com. “Final estimates are still coming in, but it would appear as if the pirates are operating a Gladiator class star destroyer and roughly a squadron of starfighers.”

“A Gladiator?” Commander Al’Frisk asked in bewilderment. “Where did they possibly get their hands on one of those old buckets? Kuat Yards has produced any of those ships since the New Republic fiasco. I didn’t know there were any left in the galaxy. “

“It is irrelevant where the pirates came by the cruiser, what matters is that they are proficient in operating it to the point where they destroyed a squadron of her Majesties fighters. The pirates have not answered our challenges and seem to have been in the process of raiding the farther orbital station when we hypered in. This puts the planet Dreena directly between us and the pirate forces, which is a disadvantage that the enemy could escape the gravity well and hyper away before we move into attack range. In a stand up fight, the Azure Wind is smaller, but better armed than the Gladiator in terms of turbolasers, but the pirate’s proton torpedoes would weaken our shields to the point their concussion missile batteries would neutralize our advantage. That’s where you pilots come into play.

“First Squadron will fly CAP and destroy what remains of the pirate fighter assets while Second Squadron flies escort for the Azure Wind’s Hetrinar bombers. The bombers objective is to neutralize the Gladiator’s targeting systems and any other targets of opportunity that present themselves. During the operation the Azure Wind will hyper out-system and wait until the Hetrinars complete their objective, at which point she will hyper to far side of Dreena and catch the pirate ship in the gravity well.”

“What’s to keep the Gladiator in orbit?” Asked Commander Palen, CO of the half squadron of Hetrinar bombers. “Won’t she duck out once we launch our squadrons?”

“She may,” Captain Thane answered grimly. “That is worst case scenario for the operation. Intel suggests that the pirates have significant assets still aboard the station, so it may take some time for them to shove off. Also, if we approach with just our fighter screen the pirates may get cocky and think they can serve the RHN a second helping of humble-pie. You women and men are going to prove them otherwise. Any other questions? Good, then we launch in three. May the Force be with you.”

[Alekshander]

To Alek in his cockpit, Dreena appeared as a cloud-streaked sapphire orb that steadily grew larger until it blotted out most of space. All was quiet except for the throb and hum of the electrical equipment around him, lacking was the normal playful banter the squadron shared before a sortie. That’s because this one is real, Alek thought. Due to the relative stability of the region and the fearsome reputation of the RHN, very few incidents in the last twenty years required direct navy intervention, so out of the thirty souls hurtling towards the pirate force, only a handful had much experience in combat outside of simulations. That being said, the RHN was a premier power in the explored galaxy and their pilot training reflected that fact. Alek had personally experienced a pirate raid during his time aboard the RHS Chant of Victory, so he knew firsthand what it felt like to have an enemy shooting at him with the intent to kill. As his fragile fighter hurtled towards another hostile force, he began to feel a ball of terror forming in the bottom of his stomach. He quickly quashed the negative emotion, but a hint of fear remained in the back of his mind. The distance continued to drop.

The RHN fighters approached Dreena and altered course slightly to fly above the planet’s north pole. On the surface Alek could see the great planetary ocean give way to large swaths of ice.

“Second Squadron,” Commander Al’Frisk’s voice came over the com. “We are entering area of operations, contact with enemy estimated in five, repeat five minutes. Give a ready report and go weapons hot.”

“Azure Two-Two, board is green and weapons are primed.”

“Azure Two-Three reporting in.”

“Azure Two-Four, ready to avenge the fallen.” Alek listened as the squadron continued to call out, and then it was his turn.

“Azure Two-Niner ready-op, for the glory of the Queen Mother.” It was his standard response and as he uttered the words a veil of peace settled on him. This is what he had trained for, this was his calling. When the rest of the squadron had checked in, Commander Al’Frisk comed the Azure Wind.

“Azure Control, this is Second Squadron CO, we are green across the board. Proceeding to initial attack vectors.”

“Roger Azure Two-One, all squadrons report ready-op, we are bugging out. Sensors indicate that the pirate ship is making full speed for the hyper point and are almost out of the planet’s gravity shadow. Be advised that if you are unable to stop the fleeing ship within the next five minutes it will escape to hyper. Good hunting.” The pinprick of light that was the Nova battle cruiser disappeared, only to reappear out-system, far from the sensors of the pirates.

“No pressure.” An unidentified pilot from the bomber squadron muttered over the com. The RHN fighters crested the top of planet Dreena and for the first time Alek could see his enemy. The Gladiator Star Destroy was stubby compared to a Victory or Imperial class Star Destroyer, measuring only five hundred meters to the Imperial’s sixteen hundred. Its bow was forked instead of the classical triangular point, with the vessel’s docking bay sitting directly between the prongs like a mouth waiting to devour its next meal. The superstructure was knobby and with magnification, Alek could see that the hull was pitted and rusted. Splashed across the superstructure in bright red paint that contrasted to the gunmetal grey of the rest of the ship was a logo of a lance, shattered in half. The ship as a whole had suffered battle damage, but remained a threat nonetheless.

Rising to meet the approaching RHN forces were the remains of the pirate’s fighter squadrons. Ten fighters of various makes and models from bootstrapped “Ugly” TIE Fighters and Z-95 Headhunters to a relic Naboo N-1 star fighter were under full power towards the attacking squadrons. Their formation lacked cohesion and their flying was sloppy, but like the Gladiator they represented a threat to the system. First Squadron outpaced Second Squadron and the Hetrinar bombers, so they were the first to engage the enemy. The initial head-to-head pass resulted in half of the pirate forces being vaporized to the cost of Azure One-Four, who mistakenly wandered into the path of a laser. All cohesion and unity devolved into a ferocious melee with stray lasers and missiles flying every which way. Second Squadron and the bombers they escorted sidestepped the battling fighters and made a beeline for the Gladiator, which seemed to Alek to be a hulking giant, ready to meet their challenge. One Ugly broke from the mob and tried to make a pass on one of the Hetrinar, but it was quickly brought down by the escorting squadron.

As the range fell the Star Destroyer began firing concussion missiles. A Gladiator class Star Destroyer employed just over 300 concussion missile tubes, arranged in batteries of 5 along the plane of the ship’s wedge. Though not as strong as the larger proton torpedoes, clumped together as they were the missiles could still cause problems for any ship that wandered into range. The first salvo that approached the bombers and their escorts only contained eighty-nine missiles, but conventionally that was enough to decimate any fighter force. The attacking formation scattered and the bombers began throwing out ECM interference to confuse the incoming missiles while the fighters launched decoy buoys. To the missiles limited onboard targeting systems, it suddenly appeared as if there were two hundred viable targets instead of eighteen. The majority careened off course or detonated prematurely, but at least one found its mark, dissolving a Miy’til in a flashy explosion. As the range continued to drop the Star Destroyer began firing its point defense and dual-linked light turbolasers. Sheets of red fire streamed towards the approaching fighters, but the superior maneuverability of the smaller craft allowed them to nimbly dodge the pirate’s defensive measures, limiting their effectiveness.

The attacking force doggedly continued forward, despite the losses they began to take. Another missile hit and a bomber disappeared from Alek’s screen. It was a strain on the nerves, and Alek found himself grating his teeth as he threw himself out of the path of yet another incoming missile. But then the bombers reached the edge of their firing envelope, and in an act of revenge unloaded their payloads towards the waiting giant.

While the Miy’til fighter was sleek, agile and a dedicated hunter, the Hetrinar bomber could best be described as “wallowing”. Larger, more heavily armored, and most certainly slower than a fighter, the bombers were outfitted with a pair of heavy lasers built into the fuselage and dual torpedo launchers on its undercarriage. An ECM specialist seated behind the pilot operated a diverse suite of electronic warfare equipment with the twin purpose of keeping the Hetrinar flying until it got into range of the target and ensuring that its payload found its mark. Two of the six Hetrinar’s attacking the Gladiator class Star Destroyer carried the newly designed Hapan Ionic Torpedo, a shield killing weapon developed by the same lab on Charubah that created the famed Gun of Command. As these torpedoes hit the Star Destroyer, electricity flared across the surface of the ship in cascading arcs, bringing down the shields instantly, which allowed the bombers with normal torpedoes to wreck havoc with the enemy ship.

The first torpedo hit along the starboard prong and as the nuclear fire dispersed Alek could see a large volume of atmosphere being vented from the gaping wound. Almost all of the laser emplacements and concussion missile launchers abruptly stopped as the pirates panicked at the hit. Then torpedoes detonated all along the ship, but the explosions were especially concentrated around the superstructure and the targeting arrays it housed. The pilots of Second Squadron watched in awe as Star Destroyer was ravaged mercilessly. Yet a few batteries continued to fire at the fighters, despite the horrific damage the ship had taken. With their payloads spent, the bombers high-tailed it for the designated rendezvous point.

Alek’s console chirped with the confirmation of a hyper footprint and then the Azure Wind appeared in a halo of incandescent fire directly across from the wounded Star Destroyer. There was a moment of hesitation and then all twenty-five heavy turbolaser batteries began firing. Armor plates melted and vaporized, atmosphere quickly vented to space, and fire once again rippled across the whole of the pirate vessel. The counterattack was puny in comparison and easily swallowed by the Azure Wind’s powerful shields. The barrage continued for half a minute, then the pirate vessel transmitted in the clear,

“Stop firing! We surrender, oh my… We surrender! Just stop firing.” Immediately the Azure Wind stood down, leaving the pirate Star Destroyer a shattered and mangled wreck of a once proud warship. To some it might have seen as gross overkill, and without a doubt some rabid liberal would decry the whole situation as a massacre, but to those with a firsthand knowledge of how most pirates treated their captives, the actions of the Royal Hapan Navy were completely justified in every sense.

[Alekshander]

The Gladiator class Star Destroyer belonged to the pirate faction known as The Shattered Lance, a larger organization that worked the space to the galactic east of the Hapes Cluster. In the aftermath of the Azure Wind’s debilitating attack on the Star Destroyer, the pirates were successful in dumping only a fraction of the data in their computer cores, so when the RHN analysis had arrived they had almost free reign on the pirate’s databases, including information on previous attacks, current pirate deployments, and locations of the main base. The Star Destroyer was tractored into a stable orbit about Dreena while the pirate crew were offloaded by security personal to a makeshift holding facility on one of the equatorial stations.

The Azure Wind’s remaining fighter assets flew a reinforced CAP in case more pirate forces arrived in-system, so Lt. Commander Alek found himself on the periphery of the planet’s gravity well when the CEC YZ-1364 light freighter translated from hyperspace. One moment he was cruising along with the rest of his flight, the next the freighter had dropped out of hyperspace right next to him. Poor smuck, Alek thought as he hailed the freighter.

“Unknown freighter, this is Lt. Commander Kurov, RHN, be advised that you have entered into RHN restricted space. Due to recent pirate activity in the system, all incoming and outgoing flights have been impounded. Please cut your engines and comply with all official instruction until the situation has been sorted out.” He was met with silence from the freighter, but his sensors suddenly picked up a power surge near the ships engines. The light freighter swung its bow out-system and began to accelerate back out of the gravity well.

“Third Flight, look like she’s running, give her a warning shot and if she continues on present course disable her engines.” Alek called out to his command. He was met with a chorus of affirmatives and he grinned with a predatory smile. His Miy’til could easily outpace the freighter and he had a couple of minutes before the freighter’s navicomputer could plot a hyperjump away from the RHN fighters. Alek didn’t know if this freighter was working with the pirates, or had just been spooked by the presence of RHN forces, but he didn’t care. He had his duty to perform and he might actually enjoy this. He clicked off the safety toggle and fired a trio of lasers to the port of the fleeing YZ-1364. Instead of slowing she put on more speed and Alek’s sensors detected a power surge along the dorsal edge of the ship’s saucer.

Like most of Corellian Engineering Corps ships, the YZ-1364 was based around a modified saucer. This model had oversized engines strapped to the sides and an elongated hull more like an egg than a circle. The cockpit was located on the ventral side near the bow of the freighter, leaving most of the internal space available for cargo. This freighter was neatly painted a standard white, but lacked any distinctive markings to give away the identity of the owner. It was a fairly popular model of freighter outside of the Cluster, but among the Consortium it was more of a rarity as Hapan merchants preferred to fly ships built in the Hapan yards.

The power surge betrayed the arrival of a small laser cannon along the dorsal spine, which began firing upon Alek’s fighter. His shields hungrily sucked up the incoming fire and he put his fighter in a spin along its axis to throw off the freighter’s aim.

“Azure Wind,” He commed the command deck, “This is Azure Two-Niner, my flight is taking fire from an unknown freighter on the edge of the gravity well. Reinforcements, including a boarding team would be appreciated as soon as possible.”

“Confirmed, Azure Two-Niner.” Command replied almost instantly. They must have been watching on long-range scanners, Alek thought. “Make every attempt to take the freighter intact, she may be working with the Shattered Lance pirates.”

“Wilco, command. Engaging.” Alek toggled on all his lasers and began firing. His crimson lances were joined by others from the three other fighters in his flight. The freighter’s shield was rated to withstand turbolasers, but the combined fire from the RHN Miy’til’s whittled it down until it finally broke. Alek adjusted his targeting computer and then swooped in on the oversized engines on the port side, trusting his fellow pilots to engage the starboard side. The freighter’s laser cannon continued firing, but the gunner behind it was sloppy and the blasts were easily evaded. Red fire blazed from the wingtips of Alek’s fighter and the incandescent glow of the freighter’s engines stuttered and died. The freighter was thrown into a spin as one engine pod continued to give power while the other was dead. The spin threw off the aim of the other RHN pilots and their shots struck the hull of the freighter, vaporizing plating and opening the cargo areas up to the vacuum of space.

“Watch your fire, Third Flight, we want to take them alive.” Alek reminded his pilots. The next salvo was right on the money and the starboard engine pod died. He opened a channel to the wounded freighter and tried talking to them again.

“Unknown freighter, this is Lt. Commander Kurov again. Power down all unnecessary systems and prepare to be boarded. You have knowingly fired upon Royal Hapan Navy ships and disobeyed a direct order, which brings a stiff monetary penalty and a stint in prison. Please cooperate with all further instructions or suffer the consequences.”

“What the hell do you think you are doing!.” Came an arrogant reply from the freighter. Alek’s screen lit up to show a dingy cockpit filled with smoke and an unkempt man with a scruffy beard. He wore stained clothes and upon his head he wore a fuzzy hat with long ear flaps. “This is an outrage Mr. Lt. Commander. I am Captain Granville of the Bountiful Maiden, we’re a merchant vessel for the Ebon Corporation and we mistakenly thought you were pirates waiting at the edge of the grav shadow You navy types might as well be pirates, considering what you did to my ship. We’re honest merchants with a cargo full of construction machinery bound for Dreena. You are welcome to inspect our hold, we have nothing to hide, you pompous nit. I expect your navy to pay for the cost of repairing my ship.”

“Sir, I don’t like attitude.” Alek replied. “You attacked my command after we had clearly identified ourselves and now you insult me and my men. I’m of the mind to add obstruction of duty to your list of charges.” The freighter captain’s face grew angry and he leaned towards his video pick-up.

“Listen you snot-nosed whelp. I’ve been traveling this area of space long before you were taking a dump in your diapers. I will not take this abuse from you, or from any gutless navy worm who thinks he can fly around in his shiny tin-can, taking pot shots at honest merchantmen.” Alek was about to respond hotly, when his com buzzed with an incoming message from Blaze.

“Excuse me.” Alek said to Captain Granville before cutting his com link with him. “Yes Blaze?”

“You might want to see this sensor reading I picked up, Grail.” Blaze crowed, and Alek could hear the satisfaction in her voice. “I think the captain was trying to get a rise out of you so wouldn’t pay attention while he dropped part of his cargo. He was fairly clandestine about it, but I noticed it and tracked its trajectory. Looks like he was trying to smuggle about five kilos worth of some kind of pharmaceutical into Dreena.”

“Smuggler, eh?” Alek mused. “That makes sense; he jumps in, sees the RHN ships in-system, tries to escape, and then dumps the evidence at the first chance he gets. Transmit your sensor data back to Azure Wind. I’ll inform them of these new developments and make sure you receive credit for your discovery. Boarding party will be here in ten minutes.”

“Thank you, sir!” Blaze responded. Alek cut the com with her, and then returned to the freighter captain.

“It would seem that we have a change in plans,” He informed the captain, cutting off any biting remark that he was about to spew. “Mr. Ebon Corporation Smuggler.” The captain’s face paled as the blood rushed from it and Alek found himself smiling that same predatory smile. It did turn out to be an enjoyable time, after all.

Conclusion of Chapter 1