Dark Sun Station

[Sgt. Slaughter]

The voyage to Dark Sun was not easy. Located deep in the sectors previously controlled by the Corporate Sector Authority, the star charts that the Galactic Alliance possessed for this region had not been updated for some time. It was an already difficult transition through a region of space so dense with stars that some of the fleet’s older tenders could not even properly plot out routes through the quagmire of competing gravity wells.

 

What made it an arduous journey, however, was the unnerving sensation that the fleet must have tripped a proximity sensor or a surveillance probe or some other early-warning system that Black Sun had left to alert them to unwanted visitors. With the crime syndicate having found themselves in possession of the single most valuable head in the galaxy, they must have anticipated a rescue attempt and laid a trap. But as the armada popped in and out of hyperspace to confirm their position and reroute around stellar hazards, no fleet was lying in ambush. No battery of orbital turbolasers opened fire upon the fleet. None of their re-entry points were even mined.

 

“Andromina, you’re first out the hangar.” Slaughter had briefed the commando just prior to the last jump. The Admiral had considered leaving her TIE Defenders in reserve as a surprise for the Black Sunners, but the possibility that the fleet was about to revert into a free-fire zone could not be discounted.

 

Finally, the jump to the rendezvous point. The veteran soldier remained on the bridge during this final hour, waiting for a barrage of turbolaser fire to greet their re-entry from hyperspace… but instead the formation found itself in the middle of a formation of allied vessels from the Jedi Order. About them was an unexceptional star orbited by unexceptional planets and unexceptional moons--many light-years from civilization, this system would have held little value to any but a mining corporation or a criminal gang.

 

The moment fleet arrived out of hyperspace, its recon A-Wings were dispersed throughout the fleet in search of any emplacements that might await their approach on Dark Sun Station. Speedy little interceptors equipped with sensor jammers, they would be well-equipped to flee if any opposition was encountered. At the nucleus of this squadron was the Steadfast and Fidelity, two MC90 Star Cruisers that had so recently been battle-damaged by the disaster at Coruscant that the repair crews hadn’t even had the opportunity to paint over the repaired armor plating. The Phalanx, a worn Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser held one flank, and the Kalidor, a more modern Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser at the other. Within this formation prowled and twisted a trio of corvettes, ready to break off to support a starfighter attack.

 

On the bridge of the Steadfast, Slaughter regarded the incoming sensor data from the coalition’s scouts with apprehension. In a star system like this, there would be little opportunity for clever maneuvers or gambits--it was going to be a slugging match, each side dealing out tremendous blows and suffering tremendous casualties. He hailed the flagship of the Jedi formation in a text communique, confirming their position and transmitting planned maneuvers. They were not subtle.

 

Jedi fleet, Steadfast Actual. Good to see you. Will focus efforts on enemy Star Destroyers and Golan. Surviving forces will blockade and demand release of target.

Spoiler

 

Galactic Alliance Fleet:

Total AP: 17

Fighter Squadrons:

16 XJ Squadrons

11 K-Wing Squadrons

6 A-Wing Squadrons

1 TIE Defender Squadron

 

Steadfast:

MC90 Cruiser

Armaments:

75 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries

30 ion cannons

6 proton torpedo launchers

8 tractor beam emplacements

 

Fidelity:

MC90 Cruiser

Armaments:

75 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries

30 ion cannons

6 proton torpedo launchers

8 tractor beam emplacements

 

Kalidor:

Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser

Armaments

Heavy Turbolaser Cannons (30)

Ion Cannons (20)

Laser Cannons (20)

Concussion Missile Tubes (8)

Tractor Beam Projectors (8)

Antimissile octets (~20)

 

Phalanx

Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser

Armaments

20 Quad Laser Cannons

15 Turbolasers

15 Laser Cannons

4 Ion Cannons

1 Warhead Launcher with 25 Concussion Missiles

 

Surprise

DP20 Frigate (Corellian Gunship)

Armaments

8 Double Turbolaser Cannons

6 Quad Laser Cannons

4 Concussion Missile Tubes

 

Audacity

DP20 Frigate (Corellian Gunship)

Armaments

8 Double Turbolaser Cannons

6 Quad Laser Cannons

4 Concussion Missile Tubes

 

Incisor

Warrior-class Frigate

Armaments:

10 Turbolaser Cannons

8 Laser Cannons

4 Concussion Missile Tubes

Antimissile Octets

 

 

Edited May 15, 2019 by ObliviousKnight

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Those first few minutes of an engagement were delicious.

 

Tens of thousands of sapients, hundreds of vehicles, and millions of tons of steel stood ready on both side, prepared for the order that would hurtle them into the fires of battle. After the disasters of Onderon and Coruscant, there were few green soldiers in this fleet; most were veterans who knew the bitterness of defeat and would give anything to taste victory. Each sapient had learned to steel themselves against the cold pricklings of fear in their own way, whether through improbable boasting or superstition or quiet preparation of their gear. Slaughter had learned to embrace it.

 

The muscles around his ruddy face twitched as he fought the urge to smile. Eventually mastering his face into a mask of grim officership, the Admiral turned towards the Shistavenan Marshall and answered, his face cast in a sickly green glow from the bridge’s tactical pit.

 

“Report to the hangar and join our boarding crews. We need to take that Golan before we can make a move on Dark Sun. Force be with you, Marshall.”

 

Slaughter turned back towards the tactical pit and fought the urge to pace. On the left of the Galactic Alliance fleet, the main body of the Jedi force was arrayed in a crescent formation that would soon envelop the Black Sun fleet in overlapping fields of fire. The Steadfast, near the center of the task force, stood at the joint with the Jedi fleet and her sister ship Fidelity on the far right flank. In that gap approached the heavy cruisers of the Galactic Alliance and a trio of prowling corvettes, constantly on the move and ready to rush out of the formation to support a starfighter attack. By this point, the majority of the fleet’s fighter squadrons had been launched, with only two squadrons of K-Wings and two squadrons of XJ X-Wings held in reserve.

 

Slaughter felt a faint rumble under his feet as the Steadfast’s turbolasers rotated to bear upon the Mephistopheles, and he thought he heard the faintest of whines as his flagship’s shields were reinforced towards her bow. “Comms, let’s give them the good news.”

 

Slaughter coughed and retrieved a comlink from the tactical pit. His voice an unwavering growl, Slaughter’s communication went out into the open space around Dark Sun Station, unencrypted and open to be repeated by any civilian or military comlink tuned to a wide spectrum of commonly-used frequencies.

 

“Inhabitants of Dark Sun, this is Admiral Slaughter. In case you have been informed otherwise, the Galactic Alliance lives. Her government functions. Her armies fight on. She cares for her citizens. Black Sun is a criminal organization. It has no law, no government, no values but the greed and sadism of its leaders. It has taken hostage the Imperial Head of State, and we will have her back.

 

“Black Sun will deliver to us the Imperial Head of State in her present status. If any harm comes to her, its forces will be considered war-criminals and will be prosecuted to the furthest extent of martial law.” Slaughter paused. “There will be no negotiation.”

 

Slaughter slammed home the commlink receiver. It slipped out of his grip and fell to the deck, dangling from its perch by a steel-reinforced cord. He knew that his communique would have no effect--no doubt half the point of Black Sun taking Zinthos hostage, rather than simply executing her on live Holonet, was to lure the fleets of its enemies into a trap. But it would give the civilians aboard the asteroid base something to think about, rather than to simply watch the fireworks show around them.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

And in just a moment, the initiative was back in the hands of the enemy. The attack had to pause after a transmission like that--as satisfying as the destruction of the Black Sun fleet might be after the loss of Coruscant and the debacle at Onderon, it was only of secondary importance. The Imperial Head of State was only one person, but was the only objective in this encounter. If Slaughter had to sacrifice ten thousand fighting men, or his flagship, or his own pride to retrieve her, then they were acceptable casualties.

 

Slaughter felt plastic creak and twist as his hands clenched around the comlink. The Jedi fleet was now idling to port, its snubfighters now swarming in a screen between their motherships and Dark Sun Station. His own forces wouldn’t be able to complete this attack without their assistance. He lifted the comlink to his lips.

 

“Stand by,” the Admiral barely managed his guttural growl before he slammed the comlink home.

 

Matching pace with the Jedi to their left, the Galactic Alliance armada held their position and the myriad sublight engines dimmed as the capital ships slowed to an idle. The starfighters, however, continued to swarm and the corvettes concentrated near the Steadfast, still darting about in a ponderous imitation of the smaller vessels. Orders issued, the flagship then hailed the Adi-wan.

 

“I don’t care where she is, get me the…!” Slaughter checked himself before shouting a curse on the bridge of his flagship. He wrestled his voice down to a lower register as the communications officer explained that he had just been patched through on a holographic channel to one of the Adi-wan’s briefing rooms. “Get me the Grandmaster.” The stocky man looked up from the crew pits, realizing that he had just been connected to the briefing room and now appeared in both holographic and audio.

 

“Delta has the most valuable head in the galaxy and he’s using it to buy himself time,” The Admiral began. “And yet… he has it. We need Zinthos, no matter what else happens here.”

[Sgt. Slaughter]

((Bruce Slaughter))

 

"Pedal to the metal, boys! Stop for nothing!" The commander of Geist Squadron cried over the din of laser blasts and missiles, slightly delirious from having his need for speed fulfilled. Having served for years in reconaissance without having the tension of infiltration break, the adrenaline rush of plunging into the confusion of a furball and being pursued by dozens of enemy fighters left him in a state of almost drunken intoxication even as the A-Wings were blasted away by the full might of Black Sun's starfighter cadre. After they blew through the initial screen of XJX-Wings, they returned fire to the rear with their gimballed laser cannons, but their goal was to disrupt the opposing snubfighter screen and to swarm over the Silent Spring and Red Hussar.

 

Few of the A-Wings made it to their targets, however. That was enough. Given even a few seconds without molestation by enemy fighters and the irksome jamming arrays carried by the ARC-170s, the Galactic Alliance K-Wings launched salvoes of concussion missiles into the confusion, pounding at the Black Sun corvettes and the disarrayed fighters. The Audacity and Surprise moved to intercept the Rhoads and Canto Bight Fiasco. The swift DP20 Gunships nearly cut off the larger Nebulon-B, but a triad of warheads made it through the antimissile fire of the Surprise and severed its tubular hull from her engines. As though both sides were unaware of the amputation, the turbolasers on the hull fired a few isolated blasts into the Canto Bight Fiasco before finally going dark and her engines rocketed away in an unpredictable spin before going critical and exploding into a miniature nova.

 

Little remained of the Surprise after the explosion.

 

Audacity faired significantly better, in terms that it managed to survive for a few more seconds than her sister ship. Similarly stricken by warheads on its attack run, half of the ship went dark and was left without shields or weapons. In a desperate attempt to remain alive for a few seconds longer, the DP20 Gunship nestled up against Canto Bight Fiasco and exposed her crippled flank to the connecting spar of the Nebulon-B Frigate. The Audacity might inflict almost no damage to the larger frigate, but she was in little danger from the enemy ship’s turbolasers.

 

On the bridge of the Steadfast, Slaughter watched with dismay as the next barrage of turbolaser fire withered away his flagship’s bow shields, then finally penetrated and hammered against her armor. Most of the emerald fire peeled away at armor plating or blasted unoccupied compartments into space, but a lucky hit found its mark at her number one turbolaser battery--the same location that had only recently been patched over after Coruscant--and blew apart its magazine, tearing the turrets from their mountings from within and venting huge quantities of ammunition into space. For a horrifying second, nearly a third of the MC90 Cruiser and the Incisor were illuminated by red-orange fire when a late-arriving turbolaser blast flash-ignited the entire cloud of tibanna.

 

“Vent decks four and five, seal all bulkheads between--” While the XO called out the orders to seal the internal compartments that supplied ammunition to a quarter of the ship, Slaughter glared into his tactical overlay and picked out the icon of the Rhoads.

 

“Kalidor, on our starboard. Energize tractors and grab that ship.”

 

Sublights blazing in blue-white flame as the entire squadron made a mad dash for Dark Sun Station, the Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser on the flagship’s flank pummeled the hammerhead corvette with a barrage of turbolaser, ion cannon, and torpedo fire. As the GA Cruisers neared, both ships reached out with their tractor beam emplacements and attempted to wrangle the lighter ship into a position where it would serve as a shield over the most severe hull breaches on the Steadfast.The flagship might not last much longer at close range, but the other MC90 cruiser was nearly undamaged and the supporting cruisers Phalanx and Kalidor had yet to be rebuffed by the Black Sun fleet. Still closing, Steadfast and Fidelity transferred their fire to the Red Hussar, hammering both flanks with their turbolasers.

 

At the joint with the Jedi fleet, the sublight engines of Misericordia dimmed and nearly went dark, puttering with a tender cerulean glow. Her vast prow angled just slightly beyond the overwhelming hull of the encroaching Scarab, the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer made a minor course correction… then ceased maneuvers, instead diverting all power to her frontal shields and weapons. All power made available to her batteries, the first salvo against The Bleeding Kyber was of ultimate intensity, beyond what could be expected even from a ship of her class. She would trade blows with the Sith armada until released from her position, she ran out of targets… or she ran out of guns.

 

Summary:

Surprise is dead. Audacity takes severe damage and attempts to take shelter against a lightly-armed portion of the Canto Bight Fiasco’s hull.

A-Wings take significant casualties and disperse throughout the Black Sun formation, attempting to punch through and make strafing runs on Red Hussar and Silent Spring.

Steadfast’s shields are breached by focused fire and loses a number of turbolaser batteries before they are replenished. Steadfast and Kalidor attempt to grab Rhoads with tractor beams and hold the ship near the most severe hull breach.

Fire is focused on Red Hussar.

Misericordia focuses fire on The Bleeding Kyber.

 

((3))

[Sgt. Slaughter]

((Bruce Slaughter))

 

Still the Sith came on. Misericordia, in a self-sacrificing show of fealty to their Emperor, refused to yield to Super Star Destroyer that bore down on it. She traded volley after volley with the Bleeding Kyber, but the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer escaped the majority of the Sith flagship’s wrath, whose turbolasers were rendering the Adi-wan to a cloud of steel vapor and charcoal. All but stationary, her shields struggled to withstand the answering fire--emerald bolts breached the Imperial ship in sectors, demolishing one of the turbolaser octets beside her superstructure and shredding the pylons that supported one of her primary shield generators. The globe drifted away from the superstructure in a manner akin to a child’s toy before it met with the next turbolaser volley and bathed the entire bow of the Star Destroyer in a fiery explosion. 

 

Steadfast fared even more poorly. Engaged in close quarters with both Victory-class Star Destroyers at close range, her shields were overwhelmed and emerald fire played across her bow. Already weakened from the debacle at Coruscant and her battering by the Black Sun, the fire penetrated deeply into her vitals. Fires ripped throughout her entire hull as fuel lines were hit--shrapnel pockmarked her exterior as turbolaser batteries were demolished. A proton torpedo battery was struck with an armed warhead still in the launching tube, blasting deeply into her hull like a mining charge.

 

Her answering volley to Red Hussar would be no less devastating. At this close range, Steadfast’s could not possibly miss and her turbolasers and ion cannons would play havoc along the length of the smaller vessel, now able to pinpoint batteries and warhead launchers for destruction.

 

The Alliance flagship, however, was woefully unprepared for the incoming fire of the Black Sun’s Star Destroyers, and Incisor, already battered by enemy fire, was of little use help against the fighters that raced along the ship in a score of personal dogfights and strafing runs. Kalidor, a Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser accelerated and attempted to shield it from a portion of the incoming fire. The incoming fire breached her shields and blasted away armor, but Steadfast was dealt her mortal wound. Multiple warhead and tibanna magazines were detonated by the incoming fire, and it appeared for a terrible second that her keel bent and arched when a tibanna magazine exploded. All over the ship, lights began to flicker and her next volley against the Red Hussar was significantly diminished.

 

The other half of the fleet--Steadfast’s sister ship Fidelity and adjoining Majestic-class Heavy Cruiser Chrysaetos--folded in on the Alliance formation to enclose Dark Sun Station and the escaping Black Sun fleet like a noose. The Mon Calamari Cruiser and her escort rained fire against the Holofernes, attempting to cripple her engines and prevent their escape of one more enemy Star Destroyer.

 

On the bridge of the Steadfast, Admiral Slaughter picked himself off of the deckplates of the command center. It felt as though the floor of the flagship had leapt half a meter under his boots and then dropped just as suddenly--which was, in fact, the case. Darkness engulfed the bridge when it lost power and all the stations in the crew pits went dark--with the armored shutters slamming around the canopy, it wasn’t even lit by turbolaser fire. Then the emergency spot-lumas bloomed to life, filling the command center with a crimson haze.

 

“Damage report!” Even as the Commander from the crew pits recited from a paper report that was spewing out of his station, Slaughter suspected that his flagship had just been dealt an unsurvivable blow.

 

“Decks through--all of them reporting significant damage. No contact with the forecastle--engineering reports that the primary generator is offline, on emergency gen only. She’s… breaking apart, sir, that last detonation broke her spine.

 

A turbolaser volley hammered at Steadfast and caused the floor to vibrate. A shriek of overstressed metal rang throughout the bridge as a turbolaser blast broke the armored shutters and cracked the canopy.

 

“All hands will abandon ship. The flag will transfer to Kalidor. Orders, if you can hail Fidelity--join Misericordia and hold off that SSD as along as they can, buy time for the Jedi. Jump as soon as we have Zinthos. Scatter if necessary.”

 

For the regions of Steadfast that could still receive orders, alarm klaxons and speakers bleated out the command that the Mon Calamari Cruiser was to be abandoned. Escape pods and shuttles began to flee the flagship for the survivors of the Alliance squadron--hundreds of tremulous engines that glimmered faintly amongst the rains of turbolaser fire. A few batteries still blasted out their wrath against Red Hussar, their crews unwilling--or unable--to reach their escape pods, but it was clear from the Alliance flagship had finally seen her last battle.

 

Summary:

Steadfast trades fire with Red Hussar, but is damaged beyond repair and is abandoning ship.

Audacity abandons ship and scuttles. Incisor is damaged almost beyond usefulness but is still alive.

Kalidor’s shields are breached and hull takes minor damage from attempting to body-block for Steadfast.

Misericordia sustains moderate damage and continues to hold.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

((Bruce Slaughter))

 

The conclusion of the battle was a terrible sight. Steadfast, her commander having signaled to abandon the ship, was blooming with miniature flares as escape pods and shuttles fled from the ship. The airspace around the Mon Calamari Cruiser developed into a dozen individual dogfights as Alliance starfighters fought to protect their rescue shuttles from Sith and Black Sun raiders. Under the fire of two Sith Kyber-class Star Destroyers and countless strafing starfighters, Steadfast was beginning to break up. Running lights along the hull began to darken and the last few manned batteries spat out a few paltry salvoes against the fleeing Totenkopf in hopes of knocking out its gravity well projector. Her sister ship Fidelity streaked across the front of the Alliance formation to cut off the retreat of the battered Victory II-class Star Destroyers, both flanks delivering a fresh dose of hate against the Star Destroyers on her port and the fleeing ships on her starboard.

 

No sooner than when Fidelity and Chrysaetos, her Majestic-class escort cruiser, cut across the bows of Red Hussar and Silent Spring at point-blank range and leveled their broadsides at the superstructures of the overmatched Star Destroyers, a plaintive transmission for mercy was received by Fidelity. The Admiral was out of contact--the ruin of Steadfast was casting out so much radiation into the void that his shuttle couldn’t respond to hails--but the transmission was responded to in the affirmative.

 

“Received and accepted,” was the terse response from Fidelity’s captain. “Drop shields and follow all instructions from our helm. Any deviation will result in your destruction.”

 

_____

 

At that moment, Slaughter was shouting into a wired comlink dangling from the ceiling of his command shuttle, as though the venom in his voice could penetrate through terajoules of radiation that was reducing the shuttle’s transmissions to static and obscenities. “Doesn’t matter--dammit, doesn’t matter, make sure that shuttle reaches--reaches Mandate. Just kill that Interdictor and go right through ‘em. She held her fire?”

 

A vein pulsed in the Admiral’s forehead and ugly red blotches began to break out over his face as he silently cursed the unprofessional, unpredictable Jedi. He took a deep breath and looked away from the comlink. When the red haze in his peripheral vision began to recede, the Coruscanti found that the airwaves were much more clear as the shuttle escaped the wreckage of the flagship.

 

“Get Zinthos out. Go wherever the Imps want ‘er. I need to see her face to face.”

 

Muffled by armored bulkheads, he could barely make out the conversation of the shuttle’s pilots--and a shouted curse. The Admiral couldn’t inspect the damage to his flagship, but he could imagine the kind of havoc that had racked Steadfast. All contact had been lost with the forecastle and several magazines had been breached--it was entirely possible that the entire first third of Steadfast had been blasted away and was drifting as a bulbous, burning piece of flotsam. 

 

At the moment that he heard the pilots curse, Slaughter knew that Steadfast was gone. Her reactors had gone singularity. For a brief few milliseconds, the primary reactors had overloaded and the sudden influx of hypermatter into the reactor chambers had temporarily given birth to a miniature, shortly-lived black hole. The entire hull of the Mon Calamari cruiser crumpled up visibly--perhaps no more than a meter or two--and deformed under the gargantuan gravitational pressures her own power plants had just generated. Batteries and magazines exploded all throughout the ship in a mass eruption of destabilized nergon-14 charges. Ground assault vehicles and starfighters twisted in her hangars like the toys of a rampaging child tyrant...and then the unstable singularity collapsed. 

 

The sudden whiplashes of forces cracked her hull like a corusca gem whose shatterpoints had just been struck. The next major detonation--a turbolaser blast, a torpedo bombardment, would have finished her off. Instead, it was her own engines that finished the job. Still driving the ship forward, they broke free of their cracked housings and drove several meters into the hull of the ship. The resultant chain reaction of explosions blasted Steadfast apart from the inside, starting from her stern, then proceeded to travel throughout the ship until all that remained was a small piece of her forecastle that drifted through the void.

 

Slaughter spent the remainder of the transfer to Kalidor in silence.

 

_____

 

It was the Imperials who chose the destination of the Galactic Alliance fleet. Still under fire from the Bleeding Kyber, Misericordia re-oriented herself with the kind of terrible grace that only a Star Destroyer was capable of. She transmitted her destination to the remainder of the allied fleets, and then disappeared into hyperspace. After retrieving her K-Wing bombers and ensuring that the Jedi were oriented to escape, the survivors of the Galactic Alliance would follow their retreat.

 

Summary:

Steadfast is dead. Some debris is left to be salvaged, but little remains of her.

As per OOC conversations, Red Hussar and Silent Spring are captured by the Galactic Alliance. Please correct me if I am misremembering and I will edit this post.

Misericordia retreats into hyperspace. The remainder of the Galactic Alliance can be assumed to retreat along with the Jedi.

Edited September 15, 2019 by ObliviousKnight