Chapter II

Jared pushed the ion drives to full as the battle computer ran a display of all targets. The Imperial targets glowed red, red like dried blood and old sins. Red like the robe he wore when he was an Imperial Royal Guard. But that was the past. Now he had a chance to strike back, and he would show them no mercy.

The implants on Jared’s left temple began to glisten, showing that his enhancement features were now kicking in. All those in the Angosian race had such implants; they linked one another, and enhanced coordination and their abilities. They were considered a race by the implants, though the implants were worn by a variety of species. The Angosian Order was something else. Anyone could be a part of it, and be under protection.

These implants were of tactical importance now in the heat of battle. Communication was instant, and everyone had both the ability to know exactly what to do, and could easily push their skills past their limit.

Jared had Max select and assign the targets by priority. The Angosian fleet was well equipped, but the Imperials had gotten the drop on them. The Imperials brought three Interdictor-Class Star Destroyers, which had the ability to keep the fleet from escaping into hyperspace.

The Angosian fighters were scrambling, as three regular Starchaser squadrons emerged. The R-41 Starchasers were mainly used by mercenaries and pirates. A few months ago, the Angosians were the mercenaries and pirates. But that had all changed now. With the Empire discovering what they had done, they were ticked, and the Order was now fighting for their very existence, a deadly fight indeed. A fourth Starchaser squadron, known as Thorn Squadron, was already in action, having emerged from the lead ship, the Liberator, and was headed by Jared’s good friend, the Jedi D’Tan. Various other fighters joined the fray, including Z-95 Headhunters, captured rebel A-Wings, B-Wings, and X-Wings. Jared only wished the shipment of New Republic E-Wings had arrived, that’d make for a decisive victory.

Once Max had assigned the targets, Jared weaved back and targeted a nearby squadron of TIE Bombers. With Darus as their gunner, multiple targets were not a problem. Without the normal TIE maneuverability, the bombers didn’t stand a chance.

“Jared, ole buddy,” came a familiar voice over the com channel, D’Tan’s, “why don’t you give us a hand taking out those Interdictors?”

“Sure thing, but can’t your Starchasers take care of that?”

The ship rocked as a TIE Interceptor scored a hit. Jared swung the ship quickly to the side, to allow for a better shot at it.

“We could, but two of our squadrons got tied up with the Sovereign-Class Star Destroyer.”

The last two TIE Bombers were picked off by Darus, and three TIE Interceptors, or “squints”, as they were called, were closing. The ship rocked as one of the TIEs scored a hit, and Jared threw the ship into evasive maneuvers.

“D’Tan, where’d that Sovereign come from? Cid’s preliminary scan didn’t pick it up,” Jared inquired, as one squint suddenly burned out.

“It didn’t show up on our sensors either,” replied D’Tan, “That’s why they got tied up. I’m feeding you the coordinates right now.”

The coordinates came across and Max plotted the ship in red on the display. It appeared close to the main ships of the Angosian fleet, so close that any crew would have panicked.

“Cid!” Jared called, “Have all Hyperlance-carrying ships use those warheads, and prepare ours as well. We’re gonna pick a fight.”

“You nuts?!” Cid responded, “The Hyperlance missiles have never been tested in gravity wells, those Interdictors could throw them off entirely!”

“You have your orders, Cid!” Jared yelled, over the flashes and explosions of ships outside, “Realign the warheads, and monitor ‘em if you need to. Note and fix any glitches that arise! We need to end this now!”

Cid carried out his orders, monitoring the ship systems from his station in the aft of the ship. He opened up his mind to D’Tan, for like him, he was sensitive in the Force, though his training was not as complete.

Meanwhile, D’Tan opened his mind and coordinated the actions of his wingmen and to confuse the minds of his pursuers. But as his mind was open, he felt a cold shadow, the presence of the dark mind of Anorax, the crazed Dark Jedi who had been hunting them, and who wished to destroy the Angosians. D’Tan cast off that shadow, like the cold touch of death itself, his whole body shuddered.

Back on the Nemesis, Jared pulled a hard bank, heading the ship straight towards the Sovereign Star Destroyer Shadow. That had to be Anorax’s command ship, the only one big enough to carry his ego.

“D’Tan,” Jared said over the com, “I’m heading’ to that Sovereign-Class to free up those Starchasers for you. Keep on those Interdictors!”

“Acknowledged, Commander,” came D’Tan’s calm voice.

I have some payback to do, thought Jared.

The Z-95 Headhunters were almost eliminated, and the rest of the fighter squadrons were scattered, uncoordinated. One of the Angosian’s Hunsock-Class ships was falling, and shuttles were evacuating the main staff to the flagship.

“Jared!” Cid cried, “I have the warheads realigned and ready!”

“Good, let ‘em rip!”


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Anorax was relaxing in his personal chamber, calmly watching the battle, but when his massive ship, the Shadow started rocking, he was filled with fury, and hastily headed to the bridge. He continued to coordinate his forces with his deep power in the dark side of the Force, which made his gunners and fighters very effective.

He entered the bridge of the ship, and stood on the command platform.

“Sir,” a young lieutenant called, “we’re being hit by unknown warheads, and they’re penetrating our shields!”

Lieutenant Candell was an ambitious officer, but this may well be his last day if he wasn’t careful.

“Track the warheads and have the gunners shoot them down, you infidel!” replied Anorax.

The captain stepped up behind Anorax. Captain Malor was quite clumsy; never flexible to unique situations like this one.

“Sir,” Malor said, “The warheads seem to disappear from our screens. They can’t be tracked.”

Anorax thought this attack was going so well, but this captain’s incompetence would quickly ruin that.

“Then it’s very simple, Captain,” Anorax growled, “Destroy the ship that’s firing them.”

“Sir, that ship is difficult to track,” Malor replied, “and they are...evading us.”

That was it! Anorax had had enough.

“Evading us?! With over 350 turbolasers?!”

Anorax spun, and glared at the officer. His eye gave a red flash, and the officer dropped to the parasteel deck with a metallic thud, as he bounced against it, lifeless. Anorax feelings were simple, and he felt no remorse.

“That ship will no longer be of a problem, will it?” Anorax inquired, jabbing a finger towards it out the viewport.

After the bridge officers snapped out of their astonishment at their captain’s death, they returned to work diligently at their stations.

“Lieutenant Candell,” Anorax said, as he turned to the young engineer, “Monitor all attack styles and analyze those warheads. I want to see a full report of possible countermeasures. Captain Delarus, you have the bridge. Protect all experimental areas and craft hangars. Stay in battle until I order any withdrawal.”

“Yes, sir,” Delarus said. He tried to conceal his boastful smile for the moment, until Anorax had left. Then he smiled. Captain Delarus. He thought the day would never come.

“Take this worthless carcass off my bridge,” Delarus ordered, motioning to the lifeless body of his predecessor, Captain Malor. Two troopers moved forward to lift the late officer from the deck. Delarus smiled as he tapped the console, and a cleanup droid skittered out from a doorway. He maintained his confident smile as he turned to look out the window and watched their progress as the Angosian defenses continued to fall.

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“Admiral!” an officer exclaimed, over the commotion and constant rocking of the flagship Liberator. “Sovereign Star Destroyer is dividing fire, but is now in critical attack range!”

Roga Danar stumbled past his chair, keeping balance, moving to the viewport.

“All reserved energy to be routed to forward lasers, open fire! Have Beta and Epsilon Squadrons torpedo along same attack vectors.

“Let’s show ‘em why these cruisers are so tough”

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Jared tried to keep his cool while blasts from the Shadow flew past him, responded by roars of fire from the Liberator. Jared appreciated the Admiral keying him in on the new attack plan. As much as he hated getting vaped by his enemies, he would hate it more for it to be by his friends. He maneuvered the big YT-2400 constantly, zigging and zagging around the ship’s constant rain of energy, firing hard hits whenever possible.

Whenever possible, Jared thought. One wrong move and we’re toast. Jared threw the ship hard into a barrel roll, which was a little rough for Max.

“Sir,” protested Max, in his monotonous metallic voice, “This ship was never designed to withstand such maneuvers. Might I suggest--”

“Shut up, Max, and do your job!” snapped Jared. “Cid, get all power to shields, and keep those thrusters online. It’s gonna get messy here.”

“Jared,” Cid called, “What exactly do you have in mind?”

“We’re going to wreck their power generator, that’ll drain their energy weapons.”

“But sir, with all respect, it’s virtually impossible to maneuver through those blasts and pull off that kind of shot!”

“Yeah I know, so get me those shields! Darus,” Jared turned to the intercom. “Make sure you get the generator, we’ll only have one shot at this!”

“One shot is all I need,” replied Darus coolly.

Darus could be cocky at times. Being one of the best gunners inside the Rim, he could pick the wings off a TIE Fighter 3 klicks away. He had yet to have his skills fall short of what his arrogance made them up to be.

After a final roll, Jared thrust the throttle to full. The ship reeled with the multiple blasts, as both Cid and Jared saw the Phase Shielding fall to 9%. Darus’ holographic crosshair was flickering, unable to get a lock. I’ll have to trust my instinct, then. Darus squeezed the trigger, releasing a salvo of quick and powerful turbolaser blasts, just before Jared threw the ship into a dive, away from the underside of the Shadow.

“Did we get ‘em?” Darus cried.

“Yeah, we hit it all right,” Cid replied. “Took about two decks with it too.”

Darus was waiting for someone else to compliment his shot, but none was forthcoming.

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The Shadow reeled from the blast, and Delarus had to steady himself by gripping his command console. Warnings blared all across the ship. Delarus threw a glance at the young engineer, who reported,

“Sir, we’ve lost all energy weapons! Our generator is gone!”

“No axial superlaser?!” questioned Delarus.

“None, sir.”

Damn. Anorax would not be happy. He had been angry earlier, and someone had died. Delarus tapped the com and tried to remain calm.

“My lord, our energy weapons are drained, and the axial superlaser is off-line. We have few warheads, should we deploy them?”

Anorax took the news calmly and coolly, a coldness reflecting his heart. He was disappointed, yes, but content as to what had been accomplished.

“No, Captain. There will be another time. I trust we gathered enough data to develop countermeasures for the warheads?”

Delarus glanced at Candell, who nodded his head.

“Plenty of analysis, my lord,” Delarus reported.

“Then withdraw the ships. Have the R&D team get moving. I am giving them a mere week to propose countermeasures.”

“Yes my lord.”

Anorax sunk coolly into his decorated throne. There would indeed be countermeasures made. He knew it. And he had laid waste to the Angosian fleet, friends of both Jared and D’Tan, and home to that Jedi-wanna-be, Cid. Yes, the end was near. Anorax laughed at the thought.