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Behemoth 2000 short story by Louis
Turfrey and Mark Newbold Under a year after Episode IV
– A New Hope “How?" "Vice-Admiral Tjar's Star Destroyer
crashed on Tessaril. Shot down by
Denubian Rebels. By the time our medics got to her, she was too far-gone. She
died before we could get her to a medical facility." The Imperial officer handed Colonel Jessa Tjar a copy of
the report, saluted and walked out of her office. Stunned she sat down
heavily in her chair, crushed by the news of her sister’s death. Her communicator beeped.
"Yes." She replied wearily, answering the junior officer who
had made the call. "Colonel,
I have received a coded transmission, security encryption code 977A3TJAR. Do
you wish it forwarded to your terminal?" She was momentarily shocked. That was her sister’s
private code! The young adjutant repeated the message. "Yes.
Activate code encryption and stealth screens around my office." There was the sound of small generators starting up,
followed by the unmistakable hiss of an energy field. The windows of the
office darkened to an opaque black. Both Jessa and her desk were surrounded
with a cube of invisible energy. The stealth screen was her invention and
stopped all forms of transmission from within the energy field. It also
stopped prying eyes, especially those of her superiors, from knowing exactly
what went on in her office. She sat down in her chair and activated the encryption
key for the message. A holographic image emerged from the emitter on her
desk. Her dead sister. " Jess.
If you've received this message then I'm either dead or you've been informed
that I am. My ship systems sent this
information to a safe location before I attempted to break the blockade
around Tessaril. If I were unable to rescind the message within a week you
would have received it. So therefore it must mean I'm dead. As you can see I
haven’t changed much, except for the fact that I'm no longer wearing an
Imperial uniform." She laughed, reaching forward beneath the range of
her holographic recorder. The image zoomed in to her face. "Now the
bad news. I'm no hero. I didn't die in the service of the Empire, and as much
as they would have you believe otherwise, I am that which all
Imperials most despise - a Rebel." Jessa paused the message. She wasn't
surprised. You couldn't become a high-ranking officer in Imperial
Intelligence without becoming a good judge of people’s character. It saddened
her, but at the same time made things more …interesting. She knew she would
have to keep this information secret. She restarted the message. "I know
it’s been months since you and I last talked, and I'm sorry about the way we
left things, but I still consider my viewpoint to be correct. The Empire has
become corrupt and bloated. Maybe you don't see it so much from your office,
but I’ve had to deal with the growing reality of it every day. So, I made a
decision." The viewer zoomed out again showing the bridge of an Imperial
Class Star Destroyer. "Do you like it? She's a real beauty; full to the
brim with armament, a complete cache of TIE fighters and ground assault
craft. In approximately two hours she will be in the hands of the Rebel
Alliance; that is if we are not destroyed first." She paused, reaching
across beneath the viewpoint of the camera she was using. She picked up a
drink and took a sip. Jessa could see that she was tense and full of energy.
"It’s taken years to get together a completely loyal Rebel
command crew for a Star Destroyer. Can you imagine the intense background
checks that I have had to carry out, that you have carried out on my
behalf?" Jessa's blood began to run cold. "You see
sister, one way or another, you are involved with my schemes. Does
that worry you? I truly hope it does, because I need your help - now more
than ever. If I am dead then my crew will also be dead. After all, they
agreed to fight to the death. If I'm not, then I will either be in Imperial
Detention, awaiting trial, or meeting my crew at a secret location that only
they - and soon you - will know about. I trust you enough to know that you
will not betray us. If you do, then those background checks you obtained for
me will become public knowledge. I've encrypted the co-ordinates of the
meeting. Be there." She paused
and moved away from the camera, stood straight and faced it again. "If I've
been captured, arrange for me to be terminated as soon as possible. I don't
want to betray my friends - or you. Take care." The end transmission logo appeared and faded to static,
a series of quad dimensional spatial co-ordinates appeared, and then
disappeared. Jessa swiftly committed them to memory. Jessa stood up slowly, pressing the button on the
communications unit that would erase the message and drop the security field.
She had underestimated the breadth of her sisters’ plans, and it had shocked
her. Could she really say she knew the person she had just listened to. Jessa
doubted it. So what was she to do now? Did she risk all and rescue her
sister, or did she hand her to Imperial authorities. In truth she had no
choice. Firstly, she called up an access database that was usually used for
tracking down prisoner witnesses, and typed in her sister’s name. No
response. Good. Five more databases later and still no luck. On a
whim, she accessed a series of official report documents in sequence. She frowned as she read the documentation.
She copied a series of files onto a datapad, switched off the terminal, stood
up and put her jacket on. Jessa looked at her own reflection in the office
windows, wondering at the same time whether she would ever see the spires of
Coruscant again. Oh, well she
thought you can pick your friends but
you can't pick your family. The shuttle touched down in a perfect three-point
landing, upon landing pad 32 of Amagad City. Adra Tjar powered down the
engines and sat back in her seat, relieved to be away, if for only a short
time, from the clutches of the Empires. It had been a close thing, but she
had escaped with her damaged Star Destroyer and half of her crew. The rest
had defected or been injured in combat.
Shame we lost most of the TIE fighters complement, though. She picked up her belongings and locked the ship. She
knew the Lambda Class Shuttle would create a stir, but she trusted that the
local inhabitants would give it as wide a berth as possible. She cleared the
docking fees remotely and, dressed in her Admirals uniform, exited the
shuttle. Waiting for her was a tall man in mismatched clothing. Jan Lomona had been told about the impending arrival of
a high-ranking Imperial by his contacts within the underground, and he wasn't
optimistic about her chances of survival once she was upon planet. His employer, and Governor of Amagad City
Glann Cipple had contacted him that morning and told him to meet her upon her
arrival in order to negotiate a price for a very big prize indeed. At least
this meant that whilst she was upon planet she would be afforded his
protection. After that, Jan knew she would be on her own. He suspected that
on this point alone, she might be able to throw some business his way. He’d
negotiated for Glann in the past, and was reasonably good at it, but he much
preferred being a free trader and often transported illicit goods or
passengers when and where nobody else could.
Jobs such as this were not his style. "Vice
Admiral Tjar, I’m Jan Lomona. I’m here on behalf of Governor Cipple."
Jan held out his hand in greeting. The Vice Admiral shook his hand warmly, a
smile on her face. "Your
reputation precedes you Mister Lomona.
I’d hoped we would get the chance to meet while I was on planet.
Please, call me Adra.” She looked
down at herself. “I'm sorry about the uniform, but I've been in hyper space
for sixteen hours and these were the only clean clothes I had. I hope you won't
hold it against me." She smiled again at him and Jan had the distinct feeling
that he was being manipulated, but for some reason he didn't care. She was
the most beautiful woman he’d seen for a long time. Tall, with a
well-proportioned figure and long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, her
bright green eyes glowed with warmth. Jan was so engrossed in her that he
nearly forgot to reply. He paused, momentarily caught off guard. "Call me
Jan." "Jan it
is then. Will I be dealing with you or directly with Governor Cipple?" Jan was quicker to reply this time. "With me.
Governor Cipple has authorised me to negotiate the purchase of your goods,
but first" He paused looking around him, "lets find somewhere a bit
less public." Zythlies Dropout Parlour was, as usual, a hive of
restrained activity. As Jan and Adra entered, the volume level noticeably
dropped. All eyes seemed to scan Jan and then Adra, most resting on her gun
belt, but some resting on whatever part of Adra showed the most. Jan smiled
to himself. He had offered to lend Adra some fresh clothes and she had
accepted gratefully. She had used the fresher unit within the Berone
Sunrise and emerged a completely different woman. Jan approved. On
exiting the Jans ship she was wearing a set of semitransparent trousers that
had been designed to fit tightly but with a lot of give. The black material
had been chosen by Frans Latka, Jan’s fiancé. On Adra, who was more muscular,
and a half size bigger, the material was stretched so tight it looked like
she was wearing stockings. Her figure was emphasised by a tight top of Frans'
that she had borrowed. The one-piece red shirt extended to just below the top
of her thighs. She had placed her gun belt around it so that it gave the
impression of a mini dress. A pair of thigh high leather boots and red hair
dye finished off the transformation. The level of conversation rose again, slowly. Jan chose
an empty booth, and after ordering off the serving droid, they started to
talk. "So, is
it true what they say about the merchandise you borrowed? It’s a MK
II?" Jan was being coy about mentioning the product itself. Adra
nodded. "Yes,
it’s true. However, I should make it clear that the product was going to be
delivered to the Alliance. In its current state it is more valuable to them
as an item of sale than as a fully-fledged destroyer. The repair costs would be too high.
Consequently, I contacted Governor Cipples organisation, named a ballpark
figure, and here we are. I also told him that I would only negotiate with
someone who I knew to be trustworthy. So, what do you need to know? And can Glann Cipple match the price I
want?" Jan was taken aback by her directness, but was prepared
for the question. "He wants
me to take a look at it first, make sure it’s in the condition you described.
Then we can negotiate on price. He’d like both parties to come away from this
deal satisfied. So I’m authorised to deal on his behalf and bargain as hard
as I can." He smiled at Adra. "I hope your negotiating skills are
up to the job." She smiled back, and Jan felt an electric sensation jump
down his spine. Adra left Jan at the Sunrise and walked over to
her shuttle. She was about to enter the security code for the door when it
opened on its own. She drew her blaster, ready to blast whoever had entered
her ship into a thousand pieces Then she recognised her sister.
"Jessa!" She was as shocked to see her sister there as she
was to notice that she wasn't wearing her uniform. "How in seven hells
did you get here? You were supposed to meet me at Vorathie." Jessa looked amused and backed up the ramp slightly,
allowing her sister to enter without exposing herself to any watchers
outside. "Still
chasing adventure I see. Finding you wasn't a problem. Getting you out of here may be." Adra
motioned for them both to ascend the ramp. Jessa complied, following her
sister into the multi purpose cargo area that led onto the cockpit. It had
been fitted out for comfortable travel, so both sat down on couches. Adra
reached into a cabinet next to the seat and brought out a bottle of Fizz and
two glasses. She poured one for her sister without asking, another for
herself. "So how
did you find me?" She was all business now; she had to know how she was tracked.
If her sister had traced her, then so could the rest of the Empire. Jessa
relaxed into her chair and smiled. "Relax.
So far only I know about your location. It will take another forty-eight
hours or so for the rest of INTEL to track you down, by which time we shall
both be long gone." Adra was not convinced, she needed to know how she had
been tracked so quickly. "Not good
enough. How did you track me? Who betrayed me?" Jessa
frowned at the last comment, leaning forwards so that she was closer to her
sister’s face. "I
don't interrogate my sisters friends. As for tracking you, that was easy.
Remember that broach I gave you to mount your medal ribbons on?" Adra nodded, now sure of where the conversation was
going. "You
bugged me? You bugged your own sister!" Adra stood up, clenching the glass in her hands so
tightly, Jessa thought that it would break then and there. "Calm
down you nerfherder. It was to be used in emergencies only. Don't tell me
this doesn't qualify as one. It was the only way to make sure you wouldn't
get yourself killed" She stood up squaring off to her sister.
"Let’s face it, you haven't exactly been secretive about this adventure
of yours. As you said in your message, you've been building a loyal crew for
years, ever since you became a Vice-Admiral. Do you really understand just
how much of a cover-up I've had to put in place for you? You’re a female officer in a male
dominated military force. As if
you’re not scrutinised enough as it is" Adra calmed down and reseated herself. She took a sip
from her drink whilst her sister followed her example. It had always been
this way, quick to temper, arguing to the bone, loyal to the death. Whoever
said it would be easy being a twin was a liar. She took a deep breath. "I know
of someone who might be willing to take us off planet, but only when I've
completed my business. Until then, please stay out of this. The less
you know, the less trouble you’ll be in." Her sister nodded in agreement, but seemed less than
happy to do so. Jan Lomona was in a good mood but he didn't know
why. In the current circumstances he
should have been as nervous as hell. This was an important job for him. Glann
might trust him as one of his best smugglers, but he knew if he failed to
secure the goods this time he would be stuffed on the worst runs doing dog
work for months. What's more, Glann would do this without a second thought.
He exited the fresher and was just about to go to change his clothes when the
buzzer on the ramp airlock sounded. Cursing his luck he jabbed the com button
and spoke into it as he ran to his cabin.
"Who is
it?" He was busy pulling on his gun belt over his trousers when he got
the reply. "It’s
Adra. Can I come aboard
Captain?" Jan smiled to himself and flipped the security viewer on
as he dashed to the airlock door. She was standing close to the camera, big
green eyes showing clearly. He flipped the respond button and placed the
security on minimum. Noticing some movement behind her, he zoomed out the
picture and saw another woman standing in the shadows. "Sure, but tell your friend to keep
her weapon holstered, otherwise my security system will fry it." He
flipped the lock and raised the door.
Adra and Jessa walked onboard. Jan took a double take
when he saw them standing together. Twins!
He skipped a beat, but immediately regained his composure as he realised
that the newcomer had a far different composure to her sister. He held out
his hand to the other, placed his most businesslike expression upon his face,
and introduced himself. "I'm Jan
Lomona, captain of the Berone Sunrise and Glann Cipple’s
representative. Welcome aboard." His voice was warm and welcoming, but
he did not expect a response. He was mildly surprised when his hand was
gripped and shaken enthusiastically.
"Pleased
to meet you Captain. I am Colonel Jessa Tjar, formerly of Imperial
Intelligence. I’ve heard a lot about
you. From my sister that
is." Jan smiled a tight smile. He held no grudge against the
Empire, his entire family were loyal to the New Order, but they had often
been a thorn in his side. He retained his expression as alarm bells rang
loudly in his head. Two ex- Imperial representatives of the Rebel Alliance
brokering a deal with Glann Cipple was surely a recipe for disaster. Jessa
smiled at him, released her grip and laughed. "You
know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to draw that fancy blaster
of yours on me." She smiled, a cold smile unlike her sisters, and Jan could
immediately tell this lady was going to be trouble. He suspected that her
relationship to Adra was why she was here today. It didn't make Jan feel any
easier but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. He motioned them both up the
ramp towards the lounge area. "You'll
forgive me if I don't take you on face value until I've heard your story. I
presume you’re here to help your sister?" His insight was rewarded with a frown. Jessa spoke in
calm measured tones. "Until
recently, I was happy to be a silent accomplice to my sisters plans. Hiding
her actions from those who might find fault with her loyalties. However,
after hearing of her apparent death, and subsequent resurrection, I
wanted to find out as much as I could about the Rebel Alliance. Please
understand I am not a sympathiser, but I can no longer support a regime that
slaughters billions of people in the name of order, especially when they
intend to slaughter my only family as well. I have a very high security
clearance, so it was easy for me to investigate the true nature of the events
that surrounded the destruction of the Death Star. My eyes were opened, so I
tracked down my sister. The rest you already know." Jan had heard about the destruction of the Empires new
battle station – it was a story told throughout the tapcafes and cantinas,
but he had half believed it to be just rumour. To hear it confirmed,
especially from an ex-Imperial officer, was a sobering experience. If they
had the means to create one battle station of such power, there was no reason
why they could not create another. Jan brought himself back to the issue at
hand. "I
suppose you want to accompany your sister on her journey. I'll get an extra bunk ready." He
turned to Adra, "We can leave at any time. When you give me the
co-ordinates of the Destroyer, I can have a salvage crew there within hours.
All we have to do now is investigate the state of the vessel and agree upon a
price." He looked her up and down, making it obvious that he approved of
her clothing and turned to Jessa. "Will you need a change of clothes
too?" The Berone Sunrise exited hyperspace a fraction
outside the gravity well of Espiria Prime. The small green planet filled the
view ports, showing a biosphere rich in oxygen and water. Jan spied his
target on his scope seconds before he slipped into its scanning range. The
Imperial Star Destroyer Insurrection stood out brightly against the
surface of the planet ahead. As Jan drew his ship closer he recognised the
scars of heavy battle. A third of the front plating was completely missing
displaying the superstructure beneath. Large ion and turbo laser scars pitted
the remaining plating and one of the massive deflector towers had been
completely destroyed. Jan was impressed that the ship had survived at all. He
turned towards Adra, who was now sitting in one of the co-pilots chairs. "Prepare
the scanners, full sweep, high resolution." Adra nodded, knowing that this was one of the
requirements of the sale. How else would they be able to determine the
operational systems without downloading a complete schematic? She cleared the
scan levels and started the sweep, at the same time informing the Insurrection
who they were and not to shoot upon them. Even so, Jan noted that fifty giant
turbo lasers tracked the Sunrise as she circled the giant behemoth. Two hours later, after looping the ship several times,
Jan brought the Sunrise to a steady stop just in front of the main
bridge of the destroyer. Slipping the ship into anti-collision mode, he
uploaded the results of the sensor scans to his console. After a further
thirty minutes intense reading he again spoke to Adra. "She's in
better condition than you gave her credit for. Sixty-eight of the turbo
lasers are working at full power and another thirty are repairable. The main
reactors are still on-line and sub light engines are running at fifty
percent. I can't tell whether the hyper drive motivator is working, but one
of the shield generators is." He turned around to Adra, raising one eyebrow
in her direction. "Can she jump out of here?" Adra shook her head, and using the remote, enlarged a
section of the destroyers damaged superstructure. "This
part of the ship is too badly damaged. Even with full shields it wouldn't
survive a hyperspace jump. I haven't got the resources available to
disconnect it and take it out of here. Maybe Governor Cipple
could?" The question as left unanswered as the scanner board lit
up with a series of bright red blips. An alarm went off. "I have
five unidentified craft entering the system." Jessa's voice intoned from
the rear of the cockpit. "Two Z-95 Headhunters, one large transport -
about two hundred meters in length, one attack craft – Mandalorian
design." There was a note of surprise in her voice, "the other is a
lightly armed modified intra-systems shuttle." She turned towards Jan,
frowning. "Do you know these people?" Jan smiled to himself, and punched a button on his com
unit. "Yes I
know them." He flipped on his com unit, "Ryath, Ranth, good to see
you again. How did you track
me?" The voice that came over the com unit was that of his
friend Ryath Centaur. "It wasn’t difficult. Glann ordered Nias Derril to
strip down the shuttle and decrypt the navigation logs. Quickly too” Adra fumed quietly to herself for not thinking to clear
the logs. She turned towards Jan, her fists clenched at her side. "This had
better not be betrayal Captain Lomona. My ship still has enough firepower to
take on your friends…and you." Her anger was starting to rise. Jan
turned towards her, a serious look on his face. When he talked he was fully
in control. "Firstly,
Vice Admiral, I have no intention
of betraying you. Whatever price you agree with me, these people will either
start to repair or pull apart the ship immediately. Secondly, if you look
towards your scanners, you’ll see we’re now within the shielded area of the
destroyer. You couldn't fire upon my craft even if you wanted to. If you did
you'd destroy the command bridge and any hope of providing funds for the
Alliance. Lastly, there’s no way that I’m going to authorise the purchase of
a Star Destroyer without getting a team of Glann’s own people to look at it
first. Now let’s get down to business." Adra kept up the anger for a full ten seconds more, then
smiled at Jan. "Let’s
start the negotiations at a billion credits then." Jan Lomona laughed. Olya Denadre fumed silently as another power conduit
blew out above her head. Her ship, the Dead
Storm was really starting to get on her nerves. Fifty-six hours ago she
had exited hyperspace, hoping to find herself in orbit around the planet
Charima IV. Instead, she had been knocked out when her ship had collided with
a series of meteors and planetary debris, throwing her from her restraining
harness and into the bulkhead. Olya had woken up six hours later, a lump the size of a
Chundra Apple on her head. A quick scan revealed no Charima IV. Whatever had
destroyed the planet had done a good job. Her ship had been badly damaged,
and it was only luck that she had enough spares onboard to fix her. The main
hyper drive motivator had been destroyed and the secondary would only work
when she had managed to get enough sub light power to accelerate her out of
the debris field. First she would have to get the shields online and power
subsystems reactivated. That was the problem with using a small scouter that
only required a crew of one; you could always do with that extra pair of
hands. She heard a beeping noise emanating from the cockpit area and cursed
as she banged her head exiting the crawl way. Whatever it was, it was big. Six kilometres long and throwing out enough power emanations to
blanket the system with static. Where it had come from she didn't know, and
she suspected that she didn't want to either. It seemed to be running a tight
beam sensor sweep of the debris. Flashes of light indicated heavy turbo laser
or blaster fire. Occasionally a tractor beam would leap out into the void,
ensnaring one piece of debris or another. Olya didn't like this at all. She
set the sensors to passive scan and started to record what they saw. Then she
powered down all but the sensor systems, primed a rescue buoy and reduced
life support to minimum levels, leaving the cockpit in almost total darkness.
A quick search in the dark revealed her Biosuit, which she quickly donned.
Then, finding a hidden release, she dropped into a man-sized shielded escape
pod behind her command chair and waited.
She fancied she could feel a silent vibration run
through her ship as the giant craft approached closer. The vibrations got
stronger and stronger until the ship was visibly shaking around her. Engine
wash she thought. She was wrong. The Inquisitor scanned the debris field. It was
not used to being challenged, but since entering this part of the galaxy, two
days ago, it had found that its need for food and repairs was increasing
exponentially. Many planetary masses had put up an elongated struggle, and
this had drained the Inquisitors power reserves. So much so, that it
had needed to destroy a planetary body to feed its need for Carbon, Iron and
Nuclear isotopes. Even now, as it scanned the giant debris field, it was
disappointed to realise that the energy expelled in destroying the planet
would barely be replaced by what it could gain from the debris field. It was
just about to finish its feeding when its ultra sensitive scanning beam
registered a form of extremely compatible energy, emanating from a small
nearby power source. Readings were minimal, but further investigation
revealed a small space faring craft, showing impact damage. The Inquisitor
was intrigued, it has assumed that the beings that inhabited the planets it
had come across were bound to the soil that they had defended. They had
fought for their existence with such ferocity. If it was indeed the case that
these creatures could span the distances between stars, then they must have
purer forms of energy than those it had recently discovered. The Inquisitor
decided to dissect the small ship and add its resources and information
systems to its own. As it began, two small masses escaped the ship at extreme
speed. One sped off beneath the Inquisitor and entered hyperspace,
whilst the other orbited the giant ship for a couple of revolutions before it
too escaped into hyperspace. The Inquisitor paid these two small
masses little attention; they provided no resources so were of little
consequence. The
escape pod was ejected from the ship at extreme velocity, slamming its
unprepared occupant into the bulkhead and unconsciousness. The pod orbited
the giant mass, scanning its surface for signs of a life-bearing atmosphere.
None were found, so in the absence of any other instructions, it programmed
its self with the location of the nearest inhabited planetary system and
entered hyperspace at the earliest opportunity. Tarr Ranth felt annoyance. Why baby-sit these guys when I could be chasing bounties?
However, the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages. Glann Cipple
controlled the majority of the Setnin Sector, and if he was on your side,
then the job was a lot easier. Soon occasion, Ranth agreed to do jobs for
Glann. And was given the latitude to choose which ones. He swept his craft, The Dark Star II, out to the
edges of the system. Something had briefly showed up on his scanners and he
was now engaging a full wavelength focused scans of the systems Oort cloud. Ten minutes later, he had narrowed down the scan to an
area the size of a planet. Five more minutes of intense search and he had
found the damaged life pod. He veered his ship towards the location and
tractored the pod on to a parallel course. Slowing both ships down he
manoeuvred his ship onto the airlock of the pod and locked on the magnetic
grapples. He set the ship on automatic and moved down to the ventral airlock.
Reading the environmental conditions, he waited no longer and overrode both
airlock seals. Jumping into the well of the pod, he braced himself and
modified the gravity field to match that of his ship. Picking up the
unconscious body that lay on the floor, he lifted the Twi’lek female through
the airlock. Within seconds he had her in his sick bay and 2-1-A was applying
emergency medical aid. He left her in the capable care of the droid and
headed back towards the pod to transfer the logs. About two hours later 2-1-A
advised him that she had started to come around. He arrived at the medical
bay just in time. "Stay
still please, I am attempting to accertain your injuries." 2-1-A was all
business. Tarr Ranth stood back, out of immediate view, and watched as the
droid finished its scan of his guest. "There are no further internal
injuries. I would suggest that you refrain from exerting yourself for at
least another ten hours." Tarr Ranth removed his helmet, placing it in a
locker next to the doorway, and walked back into the medical bay. The woman
started to rise. "The
droid is right. You should rest. My name is Tarr Ranth, and you’re aboard my
ship. Can you tell me what happened?" He moved into full view in front
of the medical couch. She started when she saw the full black armour, and
looked ready to run. "Don't
worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a slaver." He smiled and
leaned against the wall opposite the end of the bed. "How can I
help?" "Where am
I, what system?" She sounded confused, obviously still dazed from the
concussion and low oxygen levels. Ranth pulled up a seat and relaxed into
it. "This is the Espirian System, near the edge of the
Setnin Sector. According to your navigational logs, you've been in hyperspace
for twenty hours. Your pod was severely damaged on re-entry into the system.
I assume it tried to auto navigate. They not too good at that." He
paused, ready to let her jump in, but she said nothing. "I tried to download your sensor
logs but they’re encrypted. Can you remember what happened?" He stared
at her intently, willing her to give him some clue to her origins. She moved
her legs over the side of the couch. A look of pain moved across her
features. "Is the
pod in serviceable condition?" A note of urgency filled her voice. The com-unit on Jans belt beeped three times. Jan picked
it off and put it near his mouth, his eyes never wandering from his
inspection of the Star Destroyers power core. "Lomona
here. What's the problem?" Tarr Ranths voice seemed thin over the com unit and was
almost drowned out by the noise from the reactor systems. "I
rescued a pod from the edges of the system. The occupant has provided me with
information that may point to trouble heading our way. I want to transmit her
logs to the Sunrise. That way
I can get out of here and check her story for myself." Jan paused for a moment, and thought out the problem. He
moved into a quiet area of the reactor control centre, tapped Nias Derril on
the shoulder and motioned for his data-comp whilst he replied. "Wait a second, I'll connect the
data feed from my com to Nias's data-comp. If there really is going to be a
problem, I want to see it straight away." Ranth agreed and soon the data was being transferred to
the portable computer. The ISD Grievous and the ISD Decider
exited from hyperspace simultaneously. Within seconds they were surrounded by
support ships and frigates as more craft exited behind them. The two ships
had been part of a force of three that had been sent to apprehend the missing
ISD Insurrection. The ISD Conquest had been lost when her
bridge section had been rammed by the Insurrection. It had been a bold
move by Vice Admiral Tjar and had impressed Captain Turosa. Her own ship, the
ISD Grievous, had only been lightly damaged. She sat down lightly in
her command chair and turned towards a young officer that had been awaiting
her attention. "So Lieutenant, what is the
situation with the prisoners, have they confessed yet?" The officer shifted around nervously, obviously
uncomfortable with the news he had to impart. "Sir. No
Sir. That is, seven of the six hundred survivors have confessed, whilst the
rest still submit that they were offered the chance to join or leave. No one
has tried to implicate anyone else. They are either extremely loyal or
extremely unwise, Sir. It is possible however that some of the people still
onboard the Insurrection may become disillusioned. In which case we
may be presented with more information." He passed over a report pad, which Turosa read avidly.
She was just about to hand it back to the young officer when she noticed how
quiet it had become on the bridge. She looked up quickly. Like the calm
before the storm, the silence was shattered by the combined explosion of the
collision warning claxon and a battle-drilled crew leaping into action.
Jumping up out of her chair, she stared out of the great windows at the front
of the command bridge as a giant ship, at least twelve kilometres long,
plowed into her sister craft, the ISD Decider. She didn't have to yell
orders to her crew; they had trained for such eventualities a hundred times
and knew their roles. She did however move over to the shields section and
punched in the command codes that would divert the turbo laser energy to the
shields. "Pilot,
rotate us about so that I can get a good look at that ship, but give us some
range. Sensors, scan that ship with all we have. Damage control, arrange
rescue for the survivors from the collision. Communications, tell the fleet
to back off, that ships about six times our size, maybe bigger!" She ran
over to the sensors station, taking a look at the read out as it flooded on
to the screens. Six kilometres long, three kilometres wide and nearly two
kilometres deep. It was the largest ship, other than the Death Star, that she
had ever seen. Its power readings were starting to climb off the scale. It
didn't even seem to have been scratched by the impact. As she looked up and
moved over to the windows, she saw bright beams of incandescent energy lance
out towards the Decider. Smashing through the shields, they neatly
sliced the power core out of the body of the craft. Giant tractor beams
slammed into the Star Destroyer, tearing the remaining superstructure into
oblivion and eventually bringing the pieces into a giant glowing maw that had
opened at the side of the craft. The reactor was the first to disappear
followed by the command section and then drive section. Captain Turosa knew
what was going to happen next. She turned towards her crew. "Pilot,
give us the fastest vector away from that ship. Shields, put as much power
between us and that giant wrecking ball as you can. Weapons, arm proton
torpedoes and all mobile warheads. Target that ship right in the maw, I want
to give it a giant case of indigestion." The crew, trained under her command for ten years now,
reacted as one. The Grievous turned painfully slowly until its bow was angled
away from the giant maw of destruction. Turosa saw a brief spark of energy
run along the side of her ship as the shield power was diverted. She fancied
she could see the shudder as over a hundred proton torpedoes and concussion
missiles exited their tubes and sped towards the giant ship. They entered the
giant maw, its invisible tendrils of force still plucking debris from the now
deceased Star Destroyer, and detonated inside the giant ship. There was a
brief flicker of energy, as the shields adjusted, and then the giant craft
turned almost invisible as the shields turned a dark and opaque black. Turosa didn't wait to find out what had happened.
Ordering the fleet back into hyperspace, she commanded all power to the turbo
lasers. Ten minutes of intense barrage and the ship showed no signs of being
damaged. Now she was getting concerned. All the time the barrage had been
underway, the unknown ship had been getting further and further away.
Suddenly, the distance started to close. Adra turned to her crew. "Launch
TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers, I want that ship delayed long enough for us to
enter hyperspace." The crew complied without question. The fighters had no effect, their blaster fire barely
causing the shields of the giant ship to flicker. They were destroyed
nonetheless. The bombers were wiped out mere seconds later, their loads of
bombs and torpedoes impacting upon the surface shields, but they did no
visible damage, though the behemoth did slow down. Turosa cursed as she
imagined the screams of her pilots. She took solace in the fact that it gave
the Grievous precious seconds in which to gain much needed distance. Just as
the fleeing Star Destroyer was about to enter hyperspace, more than a dozen
energy beams raked her stern, inflicting terrible damage to engine and power
systems, but it wasn't enough to stop her escaping, and she leapt away from
the behemoth like a scalded mynock. Captain Turosa sat down in her command
chair, feeling considerably more relief than she could show. Now she had the
problem of how to report this to her superiors. The Inquisitor was disappointed by the escape of
the other vessel. The power core from the vessel it had salvaged was far more
efficient than its own and it would have liked to compare the two units.
Already, worker drones were integrating its design into that of the Inquisitor.
However, they had found something far more interesting when they had stripped
down the computer cores to their basic programming. Inquisitor now knew
everything the computer had known, and the computer had revealed that the
craft that it used to inhabit had something called a hyperdrive unit. Careful
examination of the debris revealed enough components to recreate a compatible
version of this device, and now the Inquisitor was starting to
incorporate it into its design. Within hours the Inquisitor would have
reduced its need for power by ninety percent, and somewhere inside its great
bulk a spark of emotion flared at the possibilities that would be opened. The Dark Star II exited hyperspace near the last
known co-ordinates of the Dead Storm. Heeding Olya's warning he had
entered near the edge of the system, to avoid the debris field. He checked
his scanners. "If it was here, it’s gone now.
Those are high radiation readings. No wonder your pod failed, it was fried
from the outside in." Tarr Ranth raised the level of the shields to
compensate for the radiation field they would soon be entering. Whatever that
craft had been, it was leaking radiation like a sieve. He did a wide sweep of
the system, tracking the radiation trail. Olya moved up behind him in the
cramped cockpit. "Do you
always rescue people in distress?" It was the first normal conversation
she had tried to start with this strange man. She heard him chuckle. "Only
those who don't shoot at me." His reply was deadpan but she could hear
the humour in his voice. He turned towards her. "Did you escape or were
you freed?" The question was unexpected and put Olya on her guard, but
she answered anyway.
"Neither. My owner died.
In his will he left me my freedom and his ship." She sounded whist full,
Ranth understood. Without the ship she may soon end up in slavery again. His
scanner bleeped. "We’ve
got something. Big, about six klicks
long. Radiation levels are dropping off though, as if it’s fixed the
problem. There seems to be a lot of
starship debris in the system." Ranth let his voice trail off. He
pressed a couple more buttons and a high-resolution scanner kicked it. "Let’s
get a closer look." Ranth engaged the security straps and settled into
the pilots’ chair. He motioned Olya to sit in the one next to him. "Basic
scanners and fire control for the weapons systems. I trust you can shoot
straight?" Olya nodded, a little scared at what she anticipated was
about to happen. Ranth put the shields up double front and boosted the
engines. This was going to be tricky. Behemoth 2000 short story by Louis
Turfrey and Mark Newbold Under a year after Episode IV
– A New Hope Histories – The first
installation in a series of stories based around a stolen Star
Destroyer and the alien ship Inquisitor. Written by Louis Turfrey and Mark Newbold, this is the foundation for the
series, which stars Tarr Ranth, Glann Cipple and primarily Nias Derril.
Cast of Characters Nias Derril Tarr Ranth Glann Cipple Colonel Tessa Tjar Vice Admiral Adra Tjar Jan Lomona Ryath Centaur Melm Olya Denadre 2-1-A Captain Turosa
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