Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 3

Skywalker Saga

The Shadows of the Past Trilogy

Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 3

                At that moment, General Dameron’s attack fleet drops out of hyperspace above Dromund Kaas.  Immediately, their ships begin firing on the Zyn capital ships.  Aboard the bridge of the Restoration, the New Republic’s new flagship, Admiral Hera (Rebels and Ahsoka) stands looking out the viewport.  “All ships!  We just need to create a distraction to clear a path for the Barracuda to slip through.  Remember, folks.  We aren’t here to take the planet, so pick your targets carefully and draw them away from the jump point.”

                “Admiral!” one of the officers to her right calls out.  Hera rushes over to him, looking down at the terminal.  “Our intel never said anything about that.”  He points at a larger blip on his screen.

                “Zoom in,” says Hera, and the officer complies.  The image of a massive warship appears on the screen.  It is shaped almost like a pistol that is being held upside down without a trigger.  In fact, as Hera leans closer, she sees that the end of the ship actually is the barrel of a really large cannon.  “Nice,” she says, gritting her teeth.  “Transmit that data to all capital ships.  Alert General Dameron to watch out for that thing.  Everyone needs to stay out of that main cannon’s sights.”

                “Yes sir!”

                In the fortress, Saydra marches swiftly down a hall with Stalker right behind.  Several officers trail behind her as she says, “How did that fleet slip past our border defenses?”

                “There must have been some sort of leak, M’Lady,” one of the officer’s reports.  “I’ve already initiated the investigation.” 

                “The traitor must not die,” Saydra advises.  “I want them alive.”  Then she passes into the hanger bay where her shuttle is waiting.  There, she pauses and turns back to them.  “Make sure the Empress is taken to the safehouse and notify the Sith Council.  Tell them that every kill in this battle will earn them double marks.”

                “Yes, M’Lady,” they all reply, and they bow at the waist as she and Stalker continue towards her ship at a brisk pace.

                In space, the Barracuda weaves and dives as its turrets blast at the Zyn fighters.  The Zyn fighters are blood-red, wedge-shaped small craft called Darts.  Each is faster than a TIE and is more maneuverable, but they lack in firepower and shields.  Each Dart is equipped with only two light blaster cannons.  Nevertheless, they have durable hulls, for such small craft, and since they are piloted by droid brains, a favored tactic of the Dart is to collide with targets, using the craft itself as a weapon.

                And so, the Barracuda is struck by one, which then explodes in a fireball against the larger ship’s shields.  The impact jars the ship violently.  Inside, Bannick fights with the controls as warning sirens blare all around.  He is thirty-ish with short, disheveled, dark brown hair and a handsome face, though it appears a bit weather-worn.  It is clear that Bannick has seen his share of harsh environments in his life.  He wears a brown combat vest over his white shirt, and he has dark slacks and boots and a heavy blaster pistol on each hip. 

                Next to him, in the co-pilot’s seat, is an Asian girl with long, straight, black hair.  She is dressed in a tan flight suit pulled over a black shirt that is barely visible just at the collar.  At her right hip is a blaster pistol, and several frag grenades are clipped to her belt on her left hip.  She is Fa Li, though she is typically called Li.  Fa is her family name.

                “Shields still holding, but they’re at fifteen percent,” she announces.

                “Dameron!” Bannick yells into his com.  “I need cover!  These ships are tearing me apart.”

                Poe, leading the charge in his black X-wing, responds, “Blue, Green and Yellow!  Where are you?”

                “We’re can’t get to it,” Blue Leader, a Chadra-fan female named Ki-isha, replies in her own language.  “These fighters are everywhere, and they keep trying to plow into us.”  She then spins her modified B-wing assault fighter away from another Dart and dives towards a Zyn capital ship. 

                “Almost there, General,” replies Green Leader, a human male.  “I can see the…”  There is an explosion, and Green Leader, flying a newer model starfighter known as the T-24 Accelerator, explodes as a Dart collides with him head on.

                Over the com, an officer says to Poe, “Yellow team is gone, sir.”

                Admiral Hera announces.  “General, we’re being torn apart.  Our intel was obviously incorrect on the size of their home fleet.  We also weren't prepared for these tactics.”

                “And Sir!” another officer chimes in.  “That flagship is closing on the Restoration.  The only thing between our forces and that main gun are a few enemy capital ships and some of those Dart fighters.”

                Poe is obviously strained by the reports.  He rubs his chin for a moment, trying desperately to come up with a solution.  Then he jerks on his controls to avoid getting hit.  Finally, after only a few seconds, it seems a crazy idea has come to his mind.  He flips a switch.  “Bannick, veer off towards the moon.  Your closer to it than us.  Use the moon as cover until I can get there.”

                “Poe!  Where are you going?” cries Hera.  "What are you doing?"

                Poe jerks on his controls again and dives.  “Black team, form up on me.  Commander Ki-isha, you and the rest of your team withdraw to my position.  Admiral Hera, tell the fleet to retreat back towards Republic space.  We can't afford to lose anymore ships.  I’ll personally see to it that the Barracuda gets out of this safely.”  

                Hera is then seen on the bridge, furious.  "We need you too, General!  If we withdraw..."

                "That's an order, Admiral," says Poe.  "Don't make me pull rank."

                Hera grits her teeth.  "Yes, Sir, Grand General, Sir."  Then she switches off the com violently.  "Com, relay the General's orders.  All ships.  Retreat.  Repeat.  All ships.  Retreat.”

                In the cockpit of the Barracuda, warning sirens continue screaming at Bannick and Li.  “What do you think he’s planning?” asks Li as she glances over at Bannick.

                “No idea,” replies the mercenary pilot.  “I just hope he hurries.”

                The Barracuda reaches the moon, Darts still zipping towards it.  The ship is sparking and smoking at this point, and it seems like it is going to blow apart.  However, the turrets continue to pummel enemy fighters before they can really get close enough to kamikaze it.  And so, it continues to the surface, skimming along the rocky terrain of Dromund Kaas’ dark moon. 

                Meanwhile, Black One, Poe’s X-wing, suddenly forms up with the rest of his squadron, six in all, and those same boosters from Episode 8 are seen attached to all of them.  Immediately, Ki-isha’s B-wing fighter, along with two of her squad mates - the only survivors - form up with him.  They, also, have those same boosters attached to them.

                BB8, in his socket, squeals.  “No choice, Buddy,” says Poe.  “I know it’s irresponsible of me, but I can’t think of anything else.  There is literally no way to get the Chancellor out of here without suffering major losses unless we take this chance.”

                BB8 chimes in again.  “I don’t know.  I’m counting on you to make sure it works,” says Poe.  BB8 doesn’t seem too thrilled by that as he twitters again.

                The Republic starfighters’ boosters ignite and skyrocket them through space even as the Republic fleet escapes through hyperspace.  Poe guides the ships on a round-about course, bypassing the enemy fleet and circling around towards the moon.  With the boosters in place, even the B-wings are able to keep up with the far more maneuverable X-wings.

                The Barracuda is hit again by one of the Darts' light cannons.  In the aft part of the ship, Kika is scrambling to put out fires and make emergency repairs.  Elyani, the defector, rushes up to her.  “I might have a way to get us out of this,” she tells the Zabrak girl.

                “What?” says Kika, a bit engrossed in her efforts.

                “I have special codes that might confuse the fighters temporarily,” says Elyani.  “Can you hack into them remotely if I give you new codes?”

                Kika looks up at her as if she is crazy.  “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”  She then throws everything down and hurries towards the nearest computer as another explosion rocks the ship, causing the lights to threaten to go out.  Punching up a screen, she begins working frantically on the computer.  “Give me the codes as soon as I say.  No!  Wait!  Write them down.  Find some paper and write them down.” 

                Elyani is frantic.  She tries looking around for paper.  Seeing her fumbling, Kika adds, “In my right pants pocket…no not that one!  The other one!  Yeah.  Paper and pen.  ALWAYS carry paper and pen.”  Elyani pulls out the paper as the ship rocks.  She tries desperately to write the codes down as fast as she can.

                “Okay!  Now!” says Kika, and Elyani shows her the page, holding it up for her.  “Man!  Your handwriting is stellar.  I wish I had handwriting that good.  Mine’s a mess.”  She says all this without even breaking stride in her frantic typing.  “Okay.  Done!  Let’s see if this works.”

                In space, the Dart fighters suddenly stop in their pursuit, and they seem to go haywire.  Some smash into one another, and others explode into the surface.  An entire huge wave of Dart fighters stop pursuing them, allowing the Barracuda a chance to breathe.

                “Whatever you did back there,” shouts Bannick, “Thank you!”

                Zelia, her helmet now off to reveal her short, dark hair and somewhat hardened features, shouts back from one of the gun turrets, “Kika and Elyani transmitted some sort of signal that shut them off.  Special code or something.”

                “Who the heck is Elyani?” asks Li in the cockpit.

                “Elyani Cordasi,” Zelia replies.  “The defector.  You know, the one who made all this possible.”

                “I thought everyone who worked for the Zyn Empire were virtually mindless clones,” says Li in return.

                Bannick, focused on slipping through moon canyon after moon canyon, replies, “Supposedly the higher up clones have a bit more free will.  This one decided that slaughtering innocent people was a bad thing.”

                Li just shakes her head.  “I hope that’s the case and she isn’t some mole they’re trying to plant in our ranks.”

                Bannick only smiles at her for a moment.  Then he says, “As long as the Republic pays…We’re mercenaries, not freedom fighters.”

                “You like to tell yourself that, Nick, but no one believes you,” she comments.  “Why else would you and Zelia constantly take work only from the Republic or the Hapes Consortium?”

                "Hey," says Bannick, "we've worked for the CSA too."

                "Well, that's true.  Greedy skeks," Li replies in disgust.  "Okay.  Fine.  You work MOSTLY for decent people."

                In the gun turret, Zelia chimes in.  “I don’t work for scum and villainy.  That means pretty much all of the other governments are off limits.  I DO like the Hapes Consortium, though, but they might be the only others I’d work for besides the Republic.  I never want to take a job for the CSA again.”

                “Those codes only worked for a bit,” says Kika, cutting them off.  “Looks like they’ve corrected the situation and are coming back for us.  You got any others?”  She turns to Elyani.

                Elyani nods.  “Try this.”  She writes down another.

                Aboard her flagship, Saydra marches onto the bridge to an immediate report.  “The Republic fleet has escaped through hyperspace, but the freighter with Organa has fled to the moon.  A squadron of Republic fighters have used some sort of enhanced booster technology to bypass our forces.  They are skirting around to the moon to provide support.  The freighter is almost incapacitated, M’Lady.  If we can just get more of our fighters in range before those Republic fighters can help defend it, we will certainly capture it.  The defector, we believe, is onboard.”

                “What happened to the fighters that were already pursuing it?” asks Saydra.

                “The freighter transmitted specialized codes to knock them out of commission temporarily, M’Lady."  He looks baffled.  "I’m not sure how, but they…”

                “Codes?  What codes?” says Saydra.  “Show me.”

                “Sir!  They’ve just used another set of codes and knocked out two dozen more fighters,” another officer chimes in.  “Where are they getting these codes?”

                Saydra views one of the screens, and her expression goes dark.  She straightens then, and it is hard to tell whether she is in pain or fuming with rage.  Either way, she has obviously realized something.  “All craft.  Withdraw,” she commands.

                “M’Lady?” asks one of the officers.  “Forgive me, but did you say withdraw?”

                She partially turns to look at him, and he falls silent.  It is a sideways glance with her good eye, but the darkness in that eye pierces through him.  “Tell the fleet to resume defensive positions and maintain security around the planet.  Let the freighter and those fighters go.  I no longer care what happens to them.”  Even as she speaks, the sound of an officer relaying those orders can be heard.

                But then, the officer who is relaying the orders looks up at Saydra in alarm.  “M’Lady?  Darth Praxius is refusing to obey your orders.  He…he says that you will not…um… ‘rob him of his victory’?”

                Saydra’s expression is, as usual, cold and unemotional.  “Then he must die."

                Praxius and three other fighters, all manned by Dark Jedi of various races, suddenly drop towards the moon’s surface.  Praxius is an extremely pale, human male with dark makeup around his eyes to make him look almost dead.  His eyes are red, as if he is wearing some strange contact lenses.  “Destroy the freighter," Praxius says over his headset.  

                "What about Saydra?" asks one of the others.  "She ordered us to let it go."

                "I don't care what Saydra says.  First she tells us we'll receive double marks, and then we finally reach the freighter and now she's ordering us to withdraw?  No.  Hit the freighter first and then go after the fighters.  I'll take this up with the Council later.”

                “Yes, Lord Praxius!” they all shout back.  They then descend to the surface and begin skimming along it on an intercept course for the Barracuda.  They are each flying a ship that is similar to the Darts, but they are painted all black to blend in with the blackness of space, and they are larger, carry larger cannons and shields, and they even have missiles.

                “More incoming!” Zelia shouts through her headset as she triggers her cannons.

                In another turret, the rear-most turret, IG-14 pulls his triggers.  His flamethrower hand has been replaced with a regular, five-digit hand.  “This has been a good day, Master.  So much destruction.  So many things obliterated.”

                “Yeah,” says Zelia, “as long as we’re not next.”

                The four enemy ships then fire missiles and lasers at the Barracuda, but the larger ship dives at the last second into another canyon.  The missiles detonate on the edge.  Then the enemy fighters drop down into the canyon to follow hot on the Barracuda’s tail.

                Poe and his squadron close in on the moon, the boosters having shut down so they could recharge.  “Okay team, this is it.  As soon as you’re in range, don’t hold back.  Fire at will and wipe out those fighters.”

                All units respond, “Roger!” at various times.  Then the ships descend to the moon and begin firing.  The B-wings launch missile volleys at the Black Darts, and although many miss, their ionized blasts engulf the enemy fighters in a blue energy bloom.  The enemy fighters streak out of the blasts with lightning spraying over their ships, but they continue in pursuit.

                Praxius slams his fist against his controls.  “I’ll focus on the freighter.  The rest of you hit those fighters.  I want that kill!”

                Then the three other Black Darts launch towards Poe.  Poe and his squadron engage in a fast and furious dogfight for several moments.  And then, out of nowhere, more Black Darts arrive.  "We're in trouble," says Poe, but the new arrivals begin firing on Praxius and the other three with him.  "What the...?  Are they firing on their own?"

                At the same time, the Barracuda climbs out of the canyons and heads straight for the fight.  Zelia spins around the central gun turret and fires at one of the Sith Acolytes’ ships.  It explodes and tears apart.  Poe then streaks over the top of the Barracuda and aims right for Praxius’ ship.  He lets out a war cry and then fires.  Praxius, in his cockpit, stares in horror, and his ship explodes.

                But the remaining two enemy Black Darts zero in on one of the B-wings and gang up on it.  Launching missiles at close range, the B-wing is unable to avoid them.  The missiles detonate and tear the B-wing apart.

                “Jynx!” Ki-isha cries in her language.  “We lost Valto.”

                Poe spins his fighter back around.  “Let’s make ‘em pay, then,” says Poe.

                “Way ahead of you,” says Jynx, a male Gungan.  His B-wing spins around and its laser cannons zero in on one of the two Black Darts.  A moment later, the Dart is streaking fire and black smoke, appearing to have issues maneuvering after being hit by another Black Dart from behind.  Then a shot fires from the Barracuda and finishes it off.

                “Another one bites the dust!” IG-14 shouts with great enthusiasm.

                “Who the heck is that?” asks Poe.

                “My droid,” says Zelia in reply.  “IG-14.”

                “IG!  Like IG-88, the bounty hunter?” says Ki-isha.  “He was almost as infamous as Boba Fett.”

                “Same series,” says Zelia.  “Different model.  Ziggy’s…well…he’s just developed his own…unique personality.  Found him in a junk pile on the Resistance base on D’Qar, ironically, so I have you people to thank for him.  Apparently, while picking up some spare parts and supplies on Ord Mantel, your technicians accidentally picked him up as well.”

                The last fighter swerves away from them and tries to escape back towards the planet, but Jynx zeroes in on it.  “You ain’t gettin’ away!”  Then he lines up on the fighter and hits it with everything he’s got.  The ship explodes, and he hoots in victory.  

                The remaining Black Darts disengage.  One of them reports back to Saydra.  "Praxius and his acolytes have been eliminated, Lady Saydra."

                "Double marks," Saydra's voice replies over the com, "as promised."  The Sith Lord smiles.

                “Nice one, Jynx,” says Poe.  “Looks like maybe the Zyn have their own infighting issues.  That's a relief.  Now let’s get outta here.”

                “Say,” says Ki-isha then, as the fighters line up behind the heavily beaten Barracuda.  “Why do you think they backed off?”

                “No idea,” says Poe, “and frankly, I don’t care.  Barracuda.  You still got hyperdive?”

                “We’re good,” says Bannick.  “But just out of curiosity, what would you do if we didn't?”

                “I’d hook onto you and try to tow you through hyperspace,” says Poe with a grin.  “Shoot!  My plan was to use these boosters to try to tow you if I had to through real-space, but looks like we didn’t need to go that far.”

                “Which is good,” says Ki-isha, “because we’ve never put the boosters through that kind of strain.  We’d probably have blown up.”

                “Is that all?” says Bannick over the com, and Poe laughs.  

                “All’s well that ends well.  Let’s get out of here,” says Poe.  And with that, the fighters and the freighter jump to lightspeed, leaving Dromund Kaas behind.