Earlier...
Dianna sat quietly in her chair aboard the Icy Steed awaiting their exit from hyperspace. She desperately wanted to give them all another speech to encourage them... or remind them that the group's safety had to come above all else, but she had already gone over most of that with them already. She hadn't pushed the latter point on them too hard despite Zanz's requests for a few reasons. Mainly because they were still pirates on a risky mission and that mindset wasn't necessarily conducive to a higher survival rate, but also because the group would be in dire straights if they walked away from this without the payoff, as she'd confided her lover the previous night.
Zanz told her that if the situation looked impossible, it probably was. He didn't leave her alone until she promised to withdraw if it seemed that way. She finally made him the promise, but she kept to herself that her view of impossible was likely a bit different. She would seldom disagree with her second in command about such a vital issue, but they needed this to work that badly.
As the lines of hyperspace receded she watched in silence, prepared to make any commands necessary. Her crew was accustomed to making their own adjustments, leaving her to concentrate on the scope of the mission as a whole. It wasn't long before the shuttle appeared and Raezyr set after it, calling for the attack group to follow suit. She crossed her fingers that the support for the shuttle would be delayed, even for a handful of minutes.
It wasn't to be the case though, as the Unity appeared moments later, and with another Hammerhead and a frigate in tow. She closed her eyes and fought with herself for only seconds. She looked up to see her entire bridge staring at her. She keyed her comm after letting out a heartfelt sigh. "Command to Control 1 and Mole 1. This mission is a scratch. We can't do this. Huttspit! Let's show them our hyperdrives and meet up elsewhere."
She watched her sensor panel as her small fleet began to execute her command, save two. The Jet Razor remained on the attack, and the Sith Stalker remained where it was. She stared at the screen in disbelief. Zanz had been right... the two Sith were suicidal in their goals.
She was about to reiterate the command when the Stalker responded. "Control 1 to Command - Sorry about the delay. This was certainly unexpected and less than optimal, but it was always a possibility. We have contingencies."
-------
Dianna breathed a sigh of short lived relief. It was all she had time for, as there was too much to do. The mole team had managed to breach the hull of their target, but the Republic's attack frigate was bearing in on them. The fighters were holding their own thanks to the unexpected support of the freighters, but they were on their own for now, as support fire was as dangerous as it was helpful in the middle of a dogfight.
She was about to order the freighters in to support the mole team and the Stalker, when the hammerhead Trychon had referred to as 'The Unity' began to launch its remaining fighters. Wampa meat. She thought to herself. She wouldn't admit it to his face, but thanks to whatever it was Trychon had done, they had been doing really well considering the unexpected odds. That was at an end now, it seemed.
"Command to all freighter support - We have more incoming fighters. Take out as many as you can before they get into the dogfight. After they're in the heat of it, break off and coordinate with Mole 1 and Control 1 to take on the big boys. We'll need all the help we can get!" She got up from her chair and began pacing.
"Alright guys... we need to go in and put ourselves in between that frigate and our aurodium. Don't worry for now about getting in position for targets of value... the fighter support is doing that. We need to keep the shuttle in one piece at all costs!" Not to mention the Jet Razor. She couldn't let her emotions get in the way of her command, but she also couldn't be positive that wasn't exactly what she was doing now.
It didn't take long before they were getting hammered for being an extra shield for the shuttle and the Jet Razor. She sat back down and pounded the comm. She was probably going to need her control panel repaired before this was all over. "Command to insertion team - I don't mean to push, but we need to hurry up a bit here!"
Almost as if on cue, alarms started to blare that The Unity was nearing firing range. They only had a minute or two left before they were all in very big trouble.
She didn't expect what happened next. Trychon's voice came over the comm, to nobody in particular that she could figure out. "Come on... Come ON!"
She was about to ask him to clarify when his pleas were answered. "Captain..." A voice spoke from somewhere over by the weapon controls. "The hammerhead... the one closing in... just shut down entirely. I can't explain it."
"Maybe when we're done here, we can get an explanation. For now, thank the Force or whatever you believe in... and make another run on that frigate." She looked down at her instruments and held herself back from taking and holding a deep breath. "Take us through their firing path one last time."
Dianna sat quietly in her chair aboard the Icy Steed awaiting their exit from hyperspace. She desperately wanted to give them all another speech to encourage them... or remind them that the group's safety had to come above all else, but she had already gone over most of that with them already. She hadn't pushed the latter point on them too hard despite Zanz's requests for a few reasons. Mainly because they were still pirates on a risky mission and that mindset wasn't necessarily conducive to a higher survival rate, but also because the group would be in dire straights if they walked away from this without the payoff, as she'd confided her lover the previous night.
Zanz told her that if the situation looked impossible, it probably was. He didn't leave her alone until she promised to withdraw if it seemed that way. She finally made him the promise, but she kept to herself that her view of impossible was likely a bit different. She would seldom disagree with her second in command about such a vital issue, but they needed this to work that badly.
As the lines of hyperspace receded she watched in silence, prepared to make any commands necessary. Her crew was accustomed to making their own adjustments, leaving her to concentrate on the scope of the mission as a whole. It wasn't long before the shuttle appeared and Raezyr set after it, calling for the attack group to follow suit. She crossed her fingers that the support for the shuttle would be delayed, even for a handful of minutes.
It wasn't to be the case though, as the Unity appeared moments later, and with another Hammerhead and a frigate in tow. She closed her eyes and fought with herself for only seconds. She looked up to see her entire bridge staring at her. She keyed her comm after letting out a heartfelt sigh. "Command to Control 1 and Mole 1. This mission is a scratch. We can't do this. Huttspit! Let's show them our hyperdrives and meet up elsewhere."
She watched her sensor panel as her small fleet began to execute her command, save two. The Jet Razor remained on the attack, and the Sith Stalker remained where it was. She stared at the screen in disbelief. Zanz had been right... the two Sith were suicidal in their goals.
She was about to reiterate the command when the Stalker responded. "Control 1 to Command - Sorry about the delay. This was certainly unexpected and less than optimal, but it was always a possibility. We have contingencies."
-------
Dianna breathed a sigh of short lived relief. It was all she had time for, as there was too much to do. The mole team had managed to breach the hull of their target, but the Republic's attack frigate was bearing in on them. The fighters were holding their own thanks to the unexpected support of the freighters, but they were on their own for now, as support fire was as dangerous as it was helpful in the middle of a dogfight.
She was about to order the freighters in to support the mole team and the Stalker, when the hammerhead Trychon had referred to as 'The Unity' began to launch its remaining fighters. Wampa meat. She thought to herself. She wouldn't admit it to his face, but thanks to whatever it was Trychon had done, they had been doing really well considering the unexpected odds. That was at an end now, it seemed.
"Command to all freighter support - We have more incoming fighters. Take out as many as you can before they get into the dogfight. After they're in the heat of it, break off and coordinate with Mole 1 and Control 1 to take on the big boys. We'll need all the help we can get!" She got up from her chair and began pacing.
"Alright guys... we need to go in and put ourselves in between that frigate and our aurodium. Don't worry for now about getting in position for targets of value... the fighter support is doing that. We need to keep the shuttle in one piece at all costs!" Not to mention the Jet Razor. She couldn't let her emotions get in the way of her command, but she also couldn't be positive that wasn't exactly what she was doing now.
It didn't take long before they were getting hammered for being an extra shield for the shuttle and the Jet Razor. She sat back down and pounded the comm. She was probably going to need her control panel repaired before this was all over. "Command to insertion team - I don't mean to push, but we need to hurry up a bit here!"
Almost as if on cue, alarms started to blare that The Unity was nearing firing range. They only had a minute or two left before they were all in very big trouble.
She didn't expect what happened next. Trychon's voice came over the comm, to nobody in particular that she could figure out. "Come on... Come ON!"
She was about to ask him to clarify when his pleas were answered. "Captain..." A voice spoke from somewhere over by the weapon controls. "The hammerhead... the one closing in... just shut down entirely. I can't explain it."
"Maybe when we're done here, we can get an explanation. For now, thank the Force or whatever you believe in... and make another run on that frigate." She looked down at her instruments and held herself back from taking and holding a deep breath. "Take us through their firing path one last time."
No comments:
Post a Comment