"He's our boss, he's our job," Darkhawk replied. There was a silent agreement through the room. "Now, this is going to be a joint mission between Viper Squadron, Nazgul Squadron, and the newly formed Task Force Alpha." A small group of people in the back of the room raised their hands. "You may recognize many of them. They came up from the ranks of pilots and are now commanding small capital ships."

Denethor looked around as his hand raised and noticed a few looks of recognition, but most of the people in the room obviously didn’t know who he was. This was to be expected, he hadn’t been truly active in almost two years, and it was definitely showing.

He passed this from his mind and turned to the task at hand. The Executive Officer, Riel Fury had been captured by a bunch of pirate scum. It made Denethor a little warm inside to see how full force the Navy was being in this case. This mission did have a small personal value to it though; he and Riel, along with Darkhawk, had served in Aegis squadron together when they had both first joined. Riel had moved up the ranks quickly and Denethor had served under him with the greatest of pleasure. Now one of his long time comrades had been captured by a horde of pirates, and the Navy was pulling out all the stops to rescue him. Denethor hadn’t seen a Naval ground force in all his time in the VEN, so he knew this was going to be interesting. He perked up when Darkhawk had finished briefing Nazgul and took a drink; he would be addressing the ship captains next.

"Task Force Alpha, this will be your first mission together. We will jump into the system and engage whatever ships the smugglers have organized.  We are expecting your usual array of smuggler ships, with the biggest we'll probably face being a corvette. However, I expect them to buzz around in their freighters and small fighters like gnats, so it won't be easy. We're going to need to put a lot of pressure on them to make sure Nazgul makes it to the Admiral's ship in one piece.  The second we have the fighters on board, we will be jumping out of the system. Are there any questions? We will be departing at 0600 tomorrow, so get prepared and good hunting."

Darkhawk stepped down from the podium and everyone in the room quickly stood up to leave. Denethor sat in his seat and watched everyone leave. He usually sat in his seat longer than most for two reasons, to watch his comrades, and to make sure he wasn’t caught up in the chaos of leaving the room. Darkhawk walked over to him sitting there and turned the chair in front of Denethor to face him.

“So, how’s it feel to be back and on a command deck instead of a pilot’s chair?” Darkhawk asked him.

“Oh, you know,” said Denethor jokingly, “But really, it’s going to be interesting. This mission is really going to be the major test.”

“Yeah, I understand. This is going to be the major test for all of us. We’re all very competent though, I know we’ll do well.”

    “We all have the greatest of confidence in you.”
“That’s good to know. Now, you don’t have to go over to your Corvette now, but I’m sure you don’t want to hang around the Atrus

    “Yeah, I wasn’t really planning on it.”

Darkhawk laughed “Understandable. Now get going, I will check in with all the captains at 0500” He stood up and strolled out of the room.

Denethor finally got up and walked to the hangar to board the shuttle that would take him to the Ferrum Umbra

Within ten minutes he was walking down the white corridors of his ship toward the bridge. He walked onto the command deck and CWO Alexona San-Creon snapped to attention from the display she was looking at.

    “San-Creon, have Sergeant’s Plate and Dacyo meet us in my office in 15 minutes.”

“Yessir”

Thirty minutes later, the four highest ranked officers on Ferrum Umbra stood in the  the Captain’s Office, finishing up the briefing.

    “… we hopefully won’t be needing much action from the soldiers on board,” Denethor directed at Dayco and Plate, “So don’t expect much, our job is to destroy starfighters and small vessels. However, be on your toes if we get boarded or if we have to board an enemy vessel. I know we’ve been together for a few weeks now, but this is our first real mission, and it’s a big one. I have nothing but complete confidence in all of you. Dismissed.”

The two Marine Sergeants went off to brief their squads on the upcoming mission. Denethor turned to CWO San-Creon.

    “I’m going to go to my quarters and get some sleep. I’ll see you on the bridge at about 0430 tomorrow morning.”

“Sweet dreams, sir” San-Creon said with a small grin. Denethor couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not. He decided it was sarcastic.

    “Same to you CWO.”

He quickly exited his office strolled down the corridors toward his quarters. The door opened to a generally bare section of rooms, he hadn’t been on board long enough to make it his own yet, but for tonight, it was heaven. He was going to need a great night’s sleep for the next day.

Denethor looked down at  his desk as a tiny light started flashing near the comm. It was obviously time that Darkhawk was messaging the captains. He looked at the chrono and it read 0458.
“Yes, Alexona?” Denethor asked, uneedingly.
   
    “Commodore Darkhawk on the line sir,” she replied.

“Excellent, patch it through.”

Not two seconds later a large image of Darkhawk’s bust shone above his desk, and three other holo bodies stood atop his desk. They were those of the other captains, Arturus, Willtconq, and Tokijin. Willtconq and Tokijin were sitting, obviously also in their offices. Arturus was standing, it appeared he had been on the bridge when Darkhawk’s call came through.

    “Good morning Captains,” Darkhawk said.

In unison the 4 captains replied, “Good morning.”

    “In just over an hour’s time we will be departing for Volek. Task Force Alpha  jump just outside the system just out of sensor range of Volek and clear the space around it to make sure that the frieghters that Viper and Nazgul are stowed on makes it safely into the system. From there Viper will jump closer to Volek and achieve access to the planet. Task Force Alpha and Nazgul will remain just outside the system and wait until Viper informs you that their mission is close to complete."

"Once Viper has contacted you, TFA and Nazgul will jump into the system. TFA will clear the way for Nazgul while they depart my vessel and begin their course to The Furious One. You, TFA will provide cover for Nazgul’s mission, and Viper’s escape. You will engage any enemy that presents itself, at all costs,” He took a breath, “All clear?”

Again, in unison, the 4 captains replied, “Yessir.”

    “Excellent. We will depart at 0600. Good hunting.”

The comm fizzled out and Denethor stood up from his desk and entered the bridge to again brief CWO San-Creon. She relayed the mission orders to the crew, and Denethor walked up to the view screen at the front of the command deck. He could see the other Corvettes’ running system checks to their running lights and engines. He looked past them and into the vastness of space, the aura of the planet Abrae drowning out some of the stars. He always enjoyed looking at fleets hanging in orbit. It calmed him, knowing that he was looking at the calm of the storm.

He stood there for the next half hour staring into space, receiving check in’s by his crew. Everything was checking out fine. As he looked out into space he watched both Nazgul and Viper drop out of the Artrus’ belly hangar and converge on their respective frieghters. He checked his wrist chrono, and it read 0610. It would soon be time to depart. He stepped back from the view screen and walked to the center of the command deck, and noticed that San-Creon was double checking with the Tactical Officer PO1 Hagen. He turned back toward the view screen and waited for departure orders to come in.

Darkhawk finished checking in with the last of his captains, Lieutenant Vox, and cut off the HoloNet. It appeared that the whole of Task Force was ready for action, despite a bit of nervousness in Officer Tokijin's voice. It can't be helped, I suppose. Many of these men and women were too young to be in a battle like this; too young to die. For a brief moment, a part of him wished that he had known a time without conflict, without war.
  The feeling faded. He had been born to fight, and he had done so for all his life. There was no point looking back at the past and wondering what might have been. The only purpose now was to push forward, and try to change the future.

  Do you think this will ever end? he asked.

  No response. For once, there were no voices in his head to answer.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

  After a brief moment's repose, he excused himself from the bridge. He had caught Commander Farwhyn stealing several glances in his direction, and a brief time later realized he was probably looking at her just as often. Unwilling to accept even the possibility of a physical attraction, he decided it was better just to get away from her for a while and clear his head. They still had about an hour before the operation was going to get under way.
  Viper Squadron was getting settled in onboard their ship, and an energetic young crewman had brought word that Nazgul Squadron was now onboard the Thanatos. The hangar was going to be cramped with two squadrons of fighters in there, but Darkhawk was confident the ship's crew could get it all sorted out.
  The Nazgul pilots were going to be in rather cramped quarters, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Had he had more time to plan things out, Darkhawk probably would've had some of his own men and women bunk up to accommodate his guests, but there was no time for that now.
  Just as he was about to return to his quarters, he ... sensed ... a presence on board. He had only spoken to the man a couple of times, but certain people left an ... impression, you might say, a resonance. Trevor Evenson was somewhere nearby, and Darkhawk felt the need to speak with him.
  Altering his walking route, he turned down the corridor to his left. As he got closer, it was easier to tell where Trevor was. And as he got closer, it was also easier to pick up on the other man's emotions. Trevor was leaving them right out in the open, for anyone to read: he was slightly stressed about the mission, but confident in Nazgul Squadron's abilities; however, anger tinted his feelings more than anything. He was trying to suppress it, but there it was, shining out like a beacon - and that was the reason Darkhawk felt he needed to speak to him.

  "Oh, Lieutenant?" He waited until he was very close to speak; he didn't want Evenson to realize he'd been looking for him specifically.

  Trevor spun on his heels quickly, and hastily saluted. "Sir! Apologies, I didn't hear you coming."

  Darkhawk returned the salute and nodded reassuringly. "Well, I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind." He purposefully left the statement open-ended, almost making it into a question.

  "Yes, sir. The upcoming mission and all..."

  "Hmmm. Is that it?"

  Trevor scrunched his eyebrows together. He was obviously caught off guard by the commodore's line of questioning. "Sir? I'm afraid I'm not sure what you're getting at."

  "Well, it has come to my ... attention ... that you're a little upset about certain ... arrangements that have been made within the Task Force."

  "Oh." A spark of comprehension lit up in Evenson's eyes. "Oh. You mean about Toki."

  "Yes, exactly."

  "Well, sir, I just don't -"

  Darkhawk raised a hand, cutting him off. "Save it, Lieutenant. Now is not the time."

  "But, sir -"

  "- or the place, nor am I even the person you should be speaking to about this." Darkhawk paused a moment, and only when he was sure Trevor would remain silent and listen did he continue. "I had very little to do with the Task Force's formation; I just volunteered to command it. Riel was ... no, is a friend of mine; and moreover, he means a lot to this Navy. The first and foremost thought on everyone's mind should be making sure this operation is a success. Is that understood?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Good. I'll be completely forthright with you and say that I'm not too happy about Tokijin's placement as a ship captain myself, though I'm sure it's for different reasons." Trevor opened his mouth to ask a question, but quickly closed it. "I feel she is a liability to this operation, and if I had had my way, she would be piloting a starfighter, not commanding a Corellian corvette."

  As expected, Trevor went on the defensive. He might not have wanted her on that ship, but it was in his nature to defend her. "Sir, I see your point, but a liability? Toki is -"

  "Not now, Lieutenant. I've expressed my opinion, and I appreciate you taking the time to listen. You can argue Toki's merits to someone else at a later point in the future, because it's not going to alter my opinion one bit until I see some competence out there in the battle. And as far as going into why she was placed in that position ... well, you'll have to ask Admiral Fury."

  "Riel?"

  Darkhawk nodded. "He's the one that left detailed orders on how the Task Force was to be assembled in the event that his mission went awry."

  "Wait a minute, are you saying that he knew this was going to happen?"

  The commodore shook his head. "I don't know that. I'd like to think that this isn't all some kind of elaborate game, or training exercise, or whatever, but with Riel ... well, you never know."

  "Sir, people's lives are in danger here. If this is just some kind of ... of ... game, then -"

  "All the more reason for you and I to make sure everyone comes out of this alive, then. Right, Lieutenant?"

  Trevor paused for a moment, then gave a quick, firm nod. "I see your point, sir."

  "Excellent. I'm glad we're on the same page." Darkhawk inclined his head to the side and extended his hand. "You keep your pilots alive, and I'll make sure Tokijin gets back to you in one piece. Deal?"

  "It's a deal, sir," the lieutenant answered, shaking his hand firmly.

  "Good! Now if I were you, I'd stop wandering around my ship and get back to your quarters and get your thoughts in order. We're heading out in less than an hour."

  "Yes, sir." Trevor smiled. "Thank you, sir."

  "I'll be speaking with you again, soon, Lieutenant."

  Darkhawk turned and began to walk back up the corridor, giving a casual wave over his shoulder as he went. As he walked, the raw ... humanity ... of the conversation he had just had sank in. It was unlike him to go out of his way to make that kind of effort. Is this what Kadann intended by ordering me back into the Navy? Some kind of underhanded attempt to ... to humanize me?
  And again, there was no answer. He smiled. Nice and quiet...

The hyperspace jump to Volek was going to take several hours, so Darkhawk decided to stay in his quarters until they were about to be there. He had radioed up to the bridge and asked Commander Farwhyn to alert him when they were an hour away. From her tone of voice, he could tell disappointment that he would remain on the bridge, but he knew better than to place himself in that situation.
  As he lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, his mind began to wander back across the past few months' events: ever since he had returned to Lopen with Elan, he had felt like his life was no longer under his control ... and that scared him. Even during his most dire moments of confusion and uncertainty, he had been certain that there was a driving force somewhere pushing him toward his own destiny, whatever that may be. What was it his father had once said, in the past? "The will of the Force?"
  Hmph. Maybe.
  He wasn't one to believe in that. He believed in the things he could be sure of ... and recently there had been less and less of those around. Being here, on the Thanatos, was almost comforting. He was in charge, in command, in control of the situation; there would be no one to interrupt his plans this time.
    I hope. He laughed. Having not been blessed by any prophetic glimpses into the future recently, he couldn't be sure what this mission would hold. And he was still trying to figure out what it was that Riel had planned - had the admiral really been captured, or was all this some kind of elaborate test, as Lieutenant Evenson - and Darkhawk himself - had postulated?
  I suppose only time will tell... And with that thought, the commodore drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

*          *          *          *        *        *        *        *          *          *

  The Imperial Star Destroyer Gray Wolf was taking heavy fire from the port side from a pair of Mon Calamari Star Cruisers, but there was nothing Darkhawk could do to help the situation at the moment. There was a squadron of A-Wings that was causing more than its fair share of trouble, and the shields on his TIE Defender were fading from yellow to red.

  "Dammit, Striker, where are you?"

  "Give me a minute, Darkhawk."

  Dammit, Satele, hurry it up. The young pilot threw his starfighter into a sharp, twisted barrel roll. trying desperately to evade the pair of Rebel ships on his tail. The G-forces nearly caused him to black out, and as he came out of the maneuver, he could tell that it had bought him a spare few precious seconds; the A-Wings had not been able to keep up.
  As he began to turn his ship into an attack position, the closer of the two A-Wings exploded in a fiery ball. Grinning to himself, he lined up a shot to finish off the Rebel's wingman, but before he could even pull the trigger on his laser cannons, that A-Wing exploded as well, and a TIE Defender went screaming past his cockpit.

  "Thanks for the help, Striker," he said, his voice filled with admiration.

  "No problem. Watch your back out here, DH. I don't want to lose anyone else."

  "Roger that, One."

  "Alright, let's go see if we can do something to bail out the Admiral."

  Darkhawk turned his fighter back into formation and joined the remainder of Alpha Squadron as they lined up behind their squadron commander. For all the respect he had for the admiral, it was outdone by the respect he had for Maarek Satele. Although he was the Empire's best fighter pilot, the man had no fame outside of the Outer Rim, but Darkhawk was honored and privileged to fly as one of his wingmen.

  He may be the greatest starfighter pilot ever - and one day I'll be able to tell people I served beside him.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *          *

  "Commodore? Commodore, are you there?"

  Darkhawk awoke with a start. Not another one... Ever since Japheth had reinstated him into the Navy, he had been having dreams about this "Maarek Satele." He thought his memory had healed itself, but this was one piece of the puzzle he could not get to fall into place. It appeared that there was still damage to be undone.
  Or, perhaps, it was just what it seemed - a dream. He slammed a fist against the durasteel wall, frustrated by months and months of the same dilemma - not knowing what was real and what was not.
  Pushing the thoughts aside for a time when he could concentrate more on them, he flicked a switch on his comm. "I'm here, Commander."

  "Oh, sir," Commander Farwhyn answered. "I thought maybe you weren't in your room."

  "Yes, sorry about that. I must have fallen asleep."

  He thought he heard her stifle a giggle, and then, "Well, sir, you wanted me to let you know when we were an hour from exiting hyperspace."

  There was a brief pause. "And?"

  "Well, sir, we're an hour away."

  "Oh, right. Of course." Darkhawk rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He couldn't afford to continue looking like a fool in front of his XO. "I'll be up to the bridge right away."

  "I'm ... looking forward to it, sir," she replied, with just a little too much eagerness in her voice.

  "Darkhawk out," he said curtly. He had to stop this flirty nonsense before it got to be too much of a problem. Or do you? Maybe you're actually enjoying this...

  Sighing, he reached over for his boots and began putting them on. Maybe after this mission I can ask Japheth for an XO that doesn't make me loopy.

A quick glance over the situation showed Darkhawk that they were up against a significantly larger force than had originally been anticipated. The pirates didn't possess any ships larger than a Corellian Corvette, but they had over a dozen small warships patrolling the air space above Votek. Darkhawk spotted an old Corellian Frigate at the heart of the formation, flanked by four Discril Attack Cruisers, an Escort Carrier, and eight or nine medium freighters.
  Commander Farwhyn turned to him with a frown on her face before he could even bark out the first order. "Sir, we've got a problem."

  "What is it, Commander?"

  "It appears that the Nemhain came out of hyperspace a few minute before the rest of the fleet. They've taken heavy damage and are pulling back out of the fight."

  Great, one corvette gone thanks to a stupid mistake. I told Trevor something like this was going to happen; I'm just glad the ship is still operational. He wasn't too concerned, but this was just like playing Dejarik - you never wanted to lose one of your pieces before you'd even gotten to make your first move.

  "Anything else to report?"

  "It appears that the Minotaur made it down planetside safely yesterday, sir. We've been unable to raise any members of Viper Squadron yet, but-"

  "-we'll worry about that later," he interjected. "It's enough to know that they've successfully infiltrated the planet." She opened her mouth as if to say the obvious, but he barreled on through. "I would know if they'd come to any harm, Commander."

  She gave him a puzzled look, but thought it better not to ask any questions. "Very well, then. Orders, sir?"

  He nodded. "Open a comm channel to the rest of the fleet." As soon as he was sure everyone was listening, he began directing the battle as best as he knew how. "All ships: scramble fighters and move into Gamma formation." There was no response from the ship captains; they each knew what his job was. The plan had been to work in pairs: Denethor and Willtconq on one side, Arturus and Tokijin on the other, and Darkhawk punching a hole right down the middle of the enemy's formation.
  Of course, that had all changed now. Gamma formation meant that each ship captain was to head off on his own; it was a triangular attack formation - each corvette would attack from its own side in an attempt to splinter the enemy force.
  In the meantime, the Thanatos would hang back and see what happened. If the corvettes were doing okay, then Darkhawk was likely to push straight into the middle to take on the biggest threat - the enemy frigate. If things didn't go so well, though...
  I'll think about that later.

  "Commander Farwhyn, a private channel to the Nemhain, please. HoloNet."

  "Aye, aye, sir." She gave him a wink and a head nod; she knew what was coming."

  A moment later Darkhawk found himself face to face with Master Chief Petty Officer Tokijin's shimmering blue projection. She was doing her best to keep a determined look on her face, but he could tell that she wasn't looking directly at him, but off to the side instead. Even over the HoloNet she didn't want to look him in the eyes. I don't blame her.
  Over the past few moments he had been debating how best to handle the situation. A few months ago, he would've gone off in a fiery rage, maybe worse. The past few days, though, he had been doing his best to go through his memories and absorb everything he could about the man whose footsteps he was trying to follow in. The man he - and his superiors - hoped to learn more about once this mission was over and done with.
  Well, here goes - my best Thrawn imitation.

  "Officer Tokijin."

  "Sir?"

  "Would you mind please explaining what happened just now?"

  "Well, sir, we came out of hyperspace a bit prematurely, and-"

  "-that much I know, Officer." He frowned, just a little. Just enough for her to understand his disappointment. "What I want to know, is why?"

  "A ... a ... miscommunication, sir. I can explain the details later, but ... I ... I will accept full responsibility for it."

  She braced for the worst, but he was not ready to let the hammer fall. Not yet.

  "Understood, Officer. Your ship's actions have completely altered the scope of the battlefield and how I can progress in this operation as we move forward. I hope you understand that."

  "Yes, sir." She lowered her head slightly, but somehow he got the sense that she wasn't entirely ashamed of what had happened.

  "Stay behind the Thanatos until your shields have recovered to full strength. We'll keep the enemy attackers away from you. Once you're back to fighting status, we'll see what kind of damage you can do, broken engines or not."

  "Yes, sir. Looking forward to getting back out there, sir."

  "I look forward to seeing you do something positive," he replied, curtly. With that, he motioned to his XO to cut the transmission.

  The lieutenant commander walked over and stood beside him. "A bit more lenient than I thought you were going to be, sir," she stated matter-of-factly.

  She sure isn't one to hide what she's thinking. He grinned. I like that in a woman. She smiled back, and he quickly wiped the grin off of his face.

  Trying to avoid having to say anything, he walked a little closer to the main viewport to surmise what was happening in the battle. The Cerberus was engaged with a pair of Discril cruisers, as was the Ferum Umbra. That meant that the Zar'rok was being hounded by most of the small freighters, but so far Willtconq was managing to hold his own. Darkhawk had read up on all of his captains, and both Art and Will had some small experience ordering capital ships into battle before. It was apparent now, as the Task Force was holding up quite nicely.
  Even Denethor is holding his own out there. Darkhawk was pleased to see a fellow Aegis Squadron pilot proving why they had been the best of the best once upon a time. Of course, he thought, things are going to get messy once that frigate decides which of my ships to attack.
  So far, the frigate was holding back, unsure of which target to go after first. Its ship captain must have realized that the Thanatos was only staying out of the fight in order to keep Toki's ship out of harm's way. The pirates wouldn't attack the strike cruiser head on until they had managed to knock some of the lesser ships out of action.
  Which means they're playing right into my hands. He fought back the urge to smile.
  The escort carrier was hanging back, too, having already launched all three squadrons of its fighters. The fighters were patrolling the space around the frigate; even they were unsure of who to attack. Darkhawk didn't even need to look at the monitors below him to tell what kind of fighters they were: R-41 Starchasers. Used by pirates across the galaxy, they were somewhat similar to the Republic's Y-Wing fighters, except they weren't as well-shielded and lacked a true bomber's payload.
  Well, let's give them someone to chase around out there.

  "Commander, have you picked up Riel's ship yet?"

  "Affirmative, sir, we just picked Furious One's ID a moment ago."

  "Excellent. Then, let's give Nazgul Squadron the go ahead to launch. Tell them to head straight for Riel's ship; no funny business."

  "Roger, sir." She turned to give the orders, and he hoped that the Nazgul pilots would listen. He was sure that Trevor had already told them the same thing, but the last thing they needed right now was any of the Nazguls getting carried away and trying to dogfight with the pirates. They needed every last one of those pilots alive onboard the Furious One for the next part of the mission.

  Commander Farwhyn turned back to him, her blue eyes flashing. He did his best suppress the little voice in the back of his head that was blabbing about how pretty those eyes were. "Nazgul is beginning to launch as we speak."

  "Good. Send word to Lieutenant Breeden, too, if you don't mind, and tell him to keep his pilots on stand-by."

  "Sir?"

  He originally hadn't wanted Devil Squadron involved at all, but...

  "I know it looks like we have the situation under control, but you can never be too careful. Wouldn't you agree, Commander?"

  "Ah. Yes, better safe than sorry, sir. I'll send word to the lieutenant right away."

  Darkhawk nodded. However, it wasn't the need to feel "better safe than sorry" that had made him change his mind about having the Devil Squadron pilots prepared to launch at a moment's notice. As soon as his XO had said that they had picked up on the Furious One's ID, he began to get a strange feeling
  It was nothing firm, nothing to get him too worried, and yet...
  He closed his eyes, concentrated, and reached out as he had done so many countless times before. Try as he might, he couldn't figure out what the cause of the feeling was, but now he was that much more sure of it.
  Something - something - was not right on Votek.

The comm. snapped off and Denethor swung toward the view port, going over strategies in his head on how to best rid the playing board of the two medium freighters that were heading their way, and how to do it quickly. One of them was an HT-2200, and the other was a VCX-820. The 2200 would be the easier of the two, it was the more lightly armed of the two, and had weaker shields. And then he had it

    “Helm,” he bellowed, “Take us on a direct course toward that VCX-820.” Sckreal nodded and turned to his console. “Zental, I want 65% of our batteries focused on that VCX, and the other 35% at the HT-2200. Make sure it feels the hurt of one of our dual canons though, I want to make quick work of these two.”

“Aye”

He could feel the ship accelerating and the VCX slowly moved into the center of the view screen, red bolts zipping back and forth between the two vessels, faint shudders told him that the shields were holding, and they weren’t going to lose their grip anytime soon. The same could not be said for his foes however.

Within 30 seconds they were on top of the VCX freighter, pounding it into oblivion. The 2200 was taking potshots at their engines, but was causing very little damage. Soon the 2000 was turning away from the fight, oozing with battle scars. This time, Denethor would let them go, they were the lesser of two evils, and the bigger needed to be dispatched.

    “Ignore the 2200, let them go lick their wounds, focus all batteries on the VCX, and show it no mercy.”

Before he could even begin to enjoy watching the barrage of turbolaser fire on the small freighter, its shields gave way and holes started ripping through its hull, opening whole sections to vacuum. He could see druids, furniture, even a few pirate corpses, being sucked into the void. And then their guns stopped firing, and not two seconds later, the vessel exploded.

Out of the fireball came a small flight of mix-matched fighters. Denethor saw an old X-Wing, two Y-Wings, and a Z-95 Headhunter. Their lasers were blaring toward the Ferrum Umbra as they broke into formation. Zental immediately directed all fire at the makeshift squadron. The crew looked to him to see if he would stay and direct all attention to this mix-matched quartet, or move on and take them out as he went. He would choose the latter.

    “Sckreal, put us on a course to rendezvous with the Zar’rok, Zental, keep firing at that pathetic excuse for a squadron, and let them follow us into their own oblivion. Filhelm, what’s the status of the Cerberus and the Zar’rok?”

“The Zar’rok is engaged with two of the other medium freighters, one of which is barely kicking, and the other seems to be putting up a good fight. The Cerberus is engaged with the last medium freighter and two small squadrons of Pirate snub fighters.”

    “And the Thanatos? How are she and the Nemhain holding up?”

“The Thanatos is obviously taking the brunt of the attack, but the Nemhain’s weapons were not damaged much in their early entrance, so she’s helping pretty well, none of them seem to be in much danger.”

    “Good,” Denethor said as he glanced at the tactical screen and saw one of the four red blips encircling his ship blink out of existence, “Stay on course to the Zar’rok, once we’re within ranged, open up the dual cannons on the weaker freighter.” He kept his gaze on the tactical screen and another red blip blink out. Minus the early foul-up, this mission wasn’t going half bad.

A minute later the other two fighters were floating off into space in countless pieces, and the Umbra was attacking the small freighter, it was another 2200, this captain was obviously more ambitious, and it was going to get him killed. Overwhelmed, the vessel began to turn and run, but its bridge exploded and the ship began to drift into empty space. The Umbra and the Zar’rok turned their attention to the other freighter and began pummeling it. This was a YV-929 Armed Freighter, so its shields were almost as good as his own. As he watched the freighter’s defenses weaken, he heard his XO pipe up from behind him

“Sir,” she said from the tactical officer’s station, “One of the fighter squadrons that was attacking the Cerberus has broken off and is heading our way, with the Cerberus on their heels”

    “Wonderful,” Denethor said sarcastically, “Open a line to the Zar’rok.” Within seconds he Willtconq’s voice crackle over the comm.

        “Yes Denethor?”

    “Art’s chasing the last of one of the fighter squadrons, and their heading this way. Can you handle this freighter while we sandwich these Pirate pilots in?”

        “We’ll be fine, I’ll let you know if we need more help.”

    “Good, Denethor out”

The Umbra maneuvered its way into the squadron’s flight plan and opened fire, causing the pilots to careen back towards the Cerberus. They were like fish caught in a net, nowhere to go, no chance of survival. They tried anyway, firing missiles into the fray, a couple even crashed into each other, making the Imperial’s work so much easier. Within 5 minutes the squadron was destroyed, and as the Umbra and Cerberus were turning toward the Zar’rok the medium freighter was falling, bursting with flames. And like a small flock of birds, the three Corvettes turned in unison toward the Corellian Frigate, who was already advancing, letting loose two large squadrons of fighters, like bats coming out of a cave to feed.

OOC:

Good to see you Tokijin, good post.

The two squadrons streaked toward the Corvette trio, they were made up mostly of beat up A-Wings and X-Wings, with 4 or 5 Z95 Headhunters, and 2 or 3 B-Wings. Most of these ships looked old enough to be from the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, or even older. There were about 30 fighters in all headed their way. The three ships kept an open comm. signal and Arturus spoke up, being the highest ranked in the trio, he technically would be the one to give orders.

    "Ok," his voice crackled, "Break into Delta formation, engage those fighters, and keep moving until we're just out of weapons range of the frigate."

Delta formation was built for odd numbered groups of ships between 3 and 12 in number. The ships formed a triangle with the strongest of the vessels out at the lead. Denethor checked the tactical screen and saw that the Umbra was just barely the best in shape ship out of the three, with the Cerberus at a close second. The Ferrum Umbra's sheilds were holding strong at 65%, while the Cerberus's were at 55%. The Zar'rok followed with 40%, but they were steadily climbing back up. However, her hull integrity read 80% at the rear. It appeared that in the last scirmish, her rear deflector sheild had failed briefly, and her engines had succoned to a small amount of turbolaser fire.

The Umbra pulled ahead to the head of the formation and the two forces screamed toward each other. Soon, laser bolts were flying through open space at the opposing forces. Seconds later the three Corvettes clashed with the 30 or so fighters like a man diving into a sea. Small explosions riddle the space around them as missles impacted with sheilds, and the first of the fighters began to fall. Soon, an X-Wing flew past the viewscreen, having made a pass along the length of the Umbra. This caused Denethor's right hand to start twitching. As he steadied it, he knew that it was his subconcious, his now primal instinct clawing its way out. He wanted to be in a cockpit, he hands on the yoke, chasing after that fighter. He shook it off, so much of his career had been as a pilot, he'd led flights, squadrons, even battles, but now was thetime to step up and be a Captain. That was his duty now, he could not let his old job get the best of him.

He watched the fighter squadrons and noted their surpising skill. Then he realized something vital to their mission: these fighters, and their pilots, were the best that the pirates had to offer. And that meant only one thing - this was their fleet, their only off-planet defense. The Nehmain's early arrival must have drawn all their defenses to it, and the TFA was making pretty short work of the fleet. He spun towards the comm. station.

    "Filhelm," he barked, "Get the Commodore on the horn. Leave up the connection with Arturus and Willtconq though, they're going to want to hear this, too."

****************************************************

Not five minutes later, Denethor had finished explaining his epiphany, and once Tokijin had confirmed that shortly after her arrival, the full force of what they had been fighting had jumped into the sector, and had begun pummeling her ship. This mistake was slowly turning in their favor, and everyone else knew it too.

"Alright," Darkhawk said," This cruiser is as good as dead in a few minutes, Tokijin and I will be over ASAP to help you three with that frigate, take out the rest of the fighters and swoop in on her. When we're all done with that, we'll jump in-system, but be ready just in case Denethor's theory is wrong. Thanatos out."

Denethor returned his attention to the battle. There were only a large handful of fighters left fighting, the numbers had dwindled drastically since he had contacted the Commodore. It also appeared that the Corellain Frigate was starting its sluggish way towards the three Corvettes, obviously trying to get within weapons ranged while they were distracted by its dwindling fighter force. A few minutes later, the fighters had dwindled to 4, and the frigate was just getting within weapons range. Its turbolaser batteries started opening up on the Corvette trio, and the pirate fighters began banking away, making sure not to get hit by their ally's weapons and they fleed for their lives.

Immediatly the Corvettes focused all of their fire power on the frigate, determined to take it out before it even got close to them.

"Captain," Filhelm spoke up, "Commodore just commed, the cruiser's destroyed, the Thanatos and Nemhain are on their way."

Denethor nodded and turned back to the viewscreen smiling. Time was short for the ship before him, short indeed.

The long-range sensors on the Thanatos were not strong enough to determine what kind of forces were blockading Viper Squadron, but Darkhawk had ... other ... means of sensing what kind of last-ditch efforts their enemy would be making.
  After a few minutes of meditation back in his quarters, he had returned to the bridge. He opened up a HoloNet link to his ship captains and let them know what they were up against:

  "The pirate forces appear to have launched two squadrons of Z-95 Headhunters, which are patrolling air space above the spaceport. Viper Squadron could probably punch their way through eventually, but I want this to be as quick and easy as possible, so we're going to lend them a hand."

  "Is that it?" Denethor asked. His blue image flashed a grin. "Piece of cake, sir."

  "It would appear that they also have a pair of Dreadnaughts orbiting the planet."

  "Dreadnaughts?" Arturus piped up. He had been fairly quiet so far throughout the entire mission. It was hard to tell, but Darkhawk thought the man looked exhausted. I should have paid more attention to my captain's health before the mission started. He made a mental note to pay a little more attention to his direct subordinates before he went into battle next time.

  "Why didn't Intel know about this?" That was Willtconq. He'd done a fair job of commanding the Zar'rol so far, but Darkhawk had been a little disappointed in how long it had taken him to wipe out the two freighters he had been engaging. The lieutenant had shown a tendency to overuse his starboard turbolasers, and was compensating for it by draining power from his shields. Against freighters it was no problem; however, if they had to tangle with a pair of capital ships, it would be leaving his ship defenseless.

  "Intel didn't know much of anything about this pirate fleet, Lieutenant. If you had carefully read the briefing, you should have been able to surmise that." Turning his attention back to Denethor's image, Darkhawk continued his mini-briefing. "I feel I have no choice but to launch Devil Squadron. I want them to mop up the rest of the pirate starfighters hanging around out here, and then make their way over to the Furious One and provide Nazgul Squadron with a little cover as they make their way back to the Thanatos."

  "Don't you think they'd be more useful helping us tangle with those dreadnaughts, sir?" Denethor asked. Darkhawk could tell his old squadron mate was anxious to get out there and shoot down some pirates himself. It's going to take him some time to get used to his new position. Well ... I could say the same thing for me.

  "That may be, Lieutenant, but I don't want Nazgul out there on the edge of the system all alone in case something goes wrong. And, besides; a squadron of TIE Interceptors isn't likely to be the deciding point in this battle."

  "Yes, sir."

  "So what's our plan of attack, Commodore?" Arturus seemed to have perked up slightly at the mention of the dreadnaughts. He must have been waiting for the chance to take on a substantial threat.

  "The Zar'rol and Ferrum Umbra will have to deal with those Z-95s. I wish there was another option, but I'm all out of fighter pilots. Once Viper Squadron gets into the air, you should have more than enough firepower to take out two dozen antiques."

  "Clean-up duty, eh?" Denethor asked.

  "I thought you of all people would welcome the chance to blast some fighters out of the sky, Lieutenant," Darkhawk replied, fighting back a smile.

  "Well ... when you put it that way, sir ..."

  "What about the rest of us?" Tokijin asked. Since that little "mistake" at the beginning of the battle, the Nemhain had handled itself quite nicely. Darkhawk was glad to see the Chief Petty Officer holding her own out there. He'd even gone as far as to compliment her gunners for their quick work blasting through the pirates escort carrier's shields.

  "The Cerberus and Nemhain will flank the Thanatos. We're going straight in for those dreadnaughts at full-speed, all guns blazing."

  "You do realize we're outgunned nearly two-to-one, don't you, sir?" That was Commander Farwhyn speaking. She had been standing off to the side, content to listen to the task force commanders debate - at least, until now. Sending the Thanatos in like this probably isn't her idea of a smart thing to do.

  He turned to her with a calm look on his face. He hoped it expressed his confidence in his plan and that it showed none of the anxiety that was hiding somewhere down his stomach. "Are you worried that I'm endangering your ship, Commander?"

  "No, of course not. After all, it's your ship now, sir."

  "Then...?"

  "I just felt it was my job as your executive officer to point out our situation. Even with the corvettes helping us, those dreadnaughts have us seriously outgunned."

  "Yes, and they're also more heavily shielded than we are. I'm well aware of the risks involved, Commander. However," and with that he turned back to the holographic images of his task force commanders, "all we have to do is buy enough time for Viper Squadron to safely make their escape with Rear Admiral Fury in tow. Is that clear?"

  A chorus of "yes sirs" answered him. He was glad to know that they all believed him; or, at the very least, were willing to follow him on a suicide mission.

  "Any word from Officer Tomas yet?" Denethor asked. "Have they freed the admiral yet?"

  "No official word yet, but..." Darkhawk trailed off. He had attempted to contact Riel a few minutes before in his own way, but his old friend had not responded. Nonetheless, the commodore was sure that Riel had been broken out of confinement and was headed back to the rendezvous point, accompanied by two of Viper Squadron's pilots. Why Riel was refusing to speak to him was another matter entirely. And one I don't have time to worry about right now. "...I have a feeling they'll be sending word to us any moment."

  The captains nodded. None of them had questioned how he knew about the enemy forces when their sensors were too far out of range; none of them would question his knowledge of Viper Squadron's actions, either. If the commodore had a few tricks up his sleeve, then it was just the more advantageous for the Vast Imperial forces.

  "Any word from Lieutenant Evenson?" Toki asked. Darkhawk was actually surprised she hadn't spoken up earlier, when he had first mentioned Nazgul Squadron.

  "Only that everyone made it safely aboard the Furious One, but that they were taking fire. Hopefully we'll hear something back from Nazgul soon as well."

  The commodore had never claimed to be an expert at reading lips, but he was pretty sure he caught Officer Tokijin mouth, "I hope so." He didn't like this lack of communication, but it was understandable. He wouldn't even have been worried at all if not for that funny feeling he had had earlier. All he had been able to establish so far was that it had something to do with Riel's ship. But what?

  Pushing the thought out of his mind, he ordered the task force commanders to prepare for battle, and then cut the HoloNet connection. He'd put them back on comm once they got within a few clicks of firing range of the enemy forces. Until then, it was best to maintain radio silence.
  Just as he was about to excuse himself from the bridge to take a quick jaunt down to the 'fresher, he felt a wave of anxiety emanate from across the room. It was so strong that it made him spin on his heels. As he did, his eyes met with Commander Farwhyn's; she did not look pleased whatsoever. The young officer standing behind her seemed just as upset as she did.

  "Is something wrong, Commander?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as cool and steady as ever.

  "Sir, I didn't want to say anything until we had complete confirmation, but ... it would appear that an Imperial Star Destroyer entered the system a couple of minutes ago."

  "Affiliation?" They must not have been friendly, or else she and the ensign beside her wouldn't be so upset.

  "We're not entirely sure. It's a newer IFF signature, but the ship appears to be allied with the Imperial Remnant forces. Maybe somewhere in the Outer Rim?"

  A sudden thought came to the commodore. Or maybe from the Unknown Regions... "Name? Do we have a name of the ship?"

  Before she could answer, the comm officer interrupted. "Sir, we are being hailed by the Imperial Star Destroyer Death's Head. A Captain Harbid wishes to speak with our fleet commander."

  Darkhawk took a deep breath. If Captain Harbid was the brash lieutenant he had flown with years before during the Harkov campaign, this could be the break the Vast Empire had been looking for. Trying to remain as calm as possible, he turned to the comm officer. "Open the channel. Let me speak to him."
  So much hinges on this conversation. If I can find out anything, anything at all, then this whole mission will have been so much more than just a rescue operation. The commodore knew that the High Council - and others - were depending on him, and he was not about to disappoint.