Cry of the Chimera, Part I: To Take the Lion's Share (Rho, Solle, Neive)

[Solle Ozrok]

Well, there was nothing to do on Solle side, maybe it was best for Solle to pester Rhoden a bit to calm his nerves down. "Hey Rhoden, any special requests you want to ask of me?" Solle asked, trying to make some idle chat before the battle begins. "I don't usually take requests but uh, seeing that this battle might be rocky, You got any side tasks for me to tackle on?" He paused, looking at his squadrons and back to whatever is in front of him. "I think my group can do it, any side tasks, that I mean."

[Neive Undant]

The GA forces were ready to fight...

"Are we ready to move forward, sir?"

Neive nodded, smiling at Zucrat.
"We're ready. Let's stomp these bootlickers."

The two shook hands again, before the fleet moved forward slowly, the fighter squadrons leading the charge, except for the group of K-wings, which held up the back of the fleet.

The 12 XJ's were in V-formations, beside one another making almost a W shape as they moved forward, with the A-wings and X-wings behind them, backing them up as they moved forward.

The MCSD sat just in front of the K-wing squadron, and in front of it was the Nebulon spitfire. The other vessels sat between the Nebulon and the fighter squadrons, ready to protect the cruiser while taking down the larger of the enemy vessels. However, as they approached, none of them fired... they only made their approach, tensions rising.

[Master Buggie]

((OOC: Just a cameo, no need to add me to the post rotation. Have fun!))

"More ships, Captain! Star Destroyers!" the officer manning the sensors reported.

Buggie buzzed at the size of the Allegiance-class Super Star Destroyer through the Dagger's shipboard display. The CR90 corvette was safely hundreds of klicks away from the two fleets as it moved into the outer orbit of Commenor with the thousands of other ships in the commercial traffic lane. As Buggie found himself attempting to count the assembled warships through the various means that his own meager corvette provided, he was certain that he wasn't the only one in the flow of starship traffic to make the effort. He had seen warships; the common citizen hadn't. If he was amazed by what he could see moving into attack formations so far away, the average freighter captain was likely pumping all power to engines to get out of the system.

The thought briefly occurred to him that he should report these happenings to someone, but it appeared that the Galactic Alliance already knew everything they needed to.

"Register your scans and report to the Council once we reach Quellor. I don't know what they'll make of it, but our interests on Commenor are at risk, so they must be informed," Buggie called over his shoulder to the communications officer.

The officer confirmed the order, and Buggie remained at the console before the main viewport. There was nothing he or any of the Blue Star Pirates could do at this point beyond observing the two fleets maneuvering toward one another. As the navcomputer beeped to signal that the Dagger had cleared Commenor's gravity well, Buggie's reverie was broken. With a nod, the corvette jumped into hyperspace and the stars overtook the warships.

[Zechs Merquise]

Grand Admiral Quack floated in his little pool within the office of the commander of the Commenor Defense Forces. He quacked. He paddled to his lunch. He quacked some more. The commander was no where to be found. It was quackers. Quack liked quackers.

The commander had a monthly subscription to a cracker company that made vitamin enhance crackers for ducks. They were called Quackers, if you couldn’t guess. They tasted like crackers dipped in a bath of peanut butter and chocolate. Grand Admiral Quack didn’t know if they were good for him or not. He was a duck. They just tasted good.

As the lights flashed, Grand Admiral Quack ducked under the water to rinse itself off. One good flip and a flop later, he quacked. This duck had the good life.

[Rhoden Carbine]

Rhoden frowned, "Cut the comm chatter." he said as Lieutenant Ozrok's voice came over the comm line. He turned his gaze briefly from the main rebel force to the various other ships in the system--most of which were withdrawing to a safe distance or straight up heading for jump out points.

"Entering firing range in one minute, sir." the navigation officer said. "Ease us to a stop when all our batteries are in range, if they advance pull us back, keep us at range." he said. "All fighters hold." Captain Karolson glanced at him, "Sir...?" he asked, "If they open fire we'll engage, otherwise we'll sit here for a while." he said smiling, "Do begin targeting, of course." he added, "When we engage them I want those gravity well generators gone as soon as is manageable."

Rhoden frowned, "Their fighter complement is disturbing, we'll need to make sure they get cut down." he said. The Captain looked out, "Their formation is odd, though. If they hold to that when they engage our fighter screen can collapse in on them and wreak havoc." Rhoden smiled, "Yes, but it would be preferable to have some more advanced fighters among our force." he sighed, his original force had been assigned a wing of TIE Defenders--but they were unavailable now.

"Hail the enemy fleet, let's have a little chat with their commander." he said. The Captain raised his eyebrows, Rhoden smiled, "Aside from passing the time until we blow each other up it will be useful if we can pull a profile up on the enemy commander." he said.

[Neive Undant]

Neive and Zucrat both watched as an incoming transmission rose, Neive donning his iron helmet once more. Neive stayed silent as the fleet approached, letting Zucrat take the communicaton lead.

"Approaching vessels, this is Admiral Zucrat of the independence fleet. Weapons have been prepared, and we are ready for a fight. Please state your business or turn back, lest your men may see a much... undesired fate."

The rodian chuckled, knowing their coming answer already.

Neive watched the holo-image as zucrat spoke... Although he stayed away from the projector, making sure that they would not see and identify him... he felt the same familiar presence in the force he had sensed so many time before...

Neive turned on his voice distorter and stepped forward, his image appearing beside the admiral's.

"Approaching fleet... On board your capital ship is someone of little importance to yourselves, but major importance to me. If you continue, I'll be sure that that capital ship is pirate fodder, if it means all other ships in that fleet are untouched. This is your last chance: Turn back or doom yourselves."

Neive knew everything he said was a complete lie. However, because of the helmet hiding any ticks that showed in his face, the empire didn't. Nobody was foolish enough to ignore all other ships and aim straight for the capital ship. Not unless they had a way to disable the shields...

[Rhoden Carbine]

Several lights flicked on. One bank of lights, Rhoden knew only too well, signaled a positive weapons lock for the innumerable cannons of the Devastation. The other signaled the acceptance of their transmission. A hologram appeared in front of him--a Rodian.

"Approaching vessels, this is Admiral Zucrat of the independence fleet. Weapons have been prepared, and we are ready for a fight. Please state your business or turn back, lest your men may see a much... undesired fate." the Rodian said. Rhoden allowed his eyes to widen as though in shock.

"Why, hello there, Admiral." he said, his voice smooth and calm. "I'm afraid we're on rather urgent business and can't turn back until it is completed." he smiled, "You see, we were hoping to take some shore leave on Naboo--naturally we had to stop by here first, for... refueling" he waved his spread his arms out and noted Captain Karolson restraining a smile from the corner of his eye. "Unfortunately your vessels are in the way--it would please us immeasurably if you allowed us to continue on unmolested." his eyes glittered menacingly, "Otherwise I would be forced to lodge a formal... complaint." he gave a cold smile.

Another figure appeared and spoke, "Approaching fleet... On board your capital ship is someone of little importance to yourselves, but major importance to me. If you continue, I'll be sure that that capital ship is pirate fodder, if it means all other ships in that fleet are untouched. This is your last chance: Turn back or doom yourselves."

Rhoden cocked an eyebrow, "Really, now? That's rather intriguing, but meaningless." he said, dismissing the words with a wave of his hand as he processed the intended purpose behind them. The Captain's eyes narrowed but he said nothing--clearly he was taking a moment to ponder it as well. The two looked at each other and seemed to dismiss the words entirely as nothing of import. The ship slowed to a stop, as ordered, at maximum effective firing range.

[Neive Undant]

The rodian looked at Neive for a moment. Most people would be annoyed or irritated at his words, but the rodian didn't seem bothered in the slightest. He understood personal endeavors, and he wouldn't complain about taking down an ASSD. He had never brought down more than a regular Star Destroyer, so that step up was not only something he enjoyed thinking about, but he wanted that goal accomplished today. However, going only after the ship is an irresponsible act. The rodian looked back up, chuckling a bit after Neive had walked out of the area, his image fading off.

"You heard the man. Go back home before you get hurt. Because you have plenty of planets right behind you to... refuel at."
The rodian hesitated for just a moment.
"If you would like to issue a complaint, however, I'd be more than happy to oblige. Our complaint office is just in the barrel of any Alliance blaster in this area."

The transmission then ended. The rodian nodded to the bridge operators and the fleet kept its pace, coming closer and closer to their enemies.

[Rhoden Carbine]

The transmission cut off before any further response could be given, "How rude." Rhoden said. "Very rude, indeed, sir." Captain Karolson said. Thee Imperial ships began moving backwards as the hostile fleet approached. "Alright, it's only a matter of time until the shooting starts." Rhoden said, observing the scene in front of him.

"Take out the fighters and those gravity wells," he said, "Take them out and we can pound on the rest of them." he muttered. He pursed his lips, "How effective will their screening vessels be given their current positions?" he asked, "Their formation appears to be dedicated to protecting their primary vessel." the Captain said, pulling up a holographic image of the enemy vessels. "Given the way they're positioned we could hit ships to their side--assuming we get past the hostile fighters--so long as we kept one of their own vessels between us and our fighters."

Rhoden bowed his head, "And the hostile fighter screen is more akin a spear than a wall." he commented, "Aye, sir. As it stands any of their fighters would have to go through our own fighters before they could engage the larger vessels." Rhoden nodded. And once the hostile fighters were dedicated to their own fights the Lancer's could maneuver out and perform a pincer if necessary.

"Assuming maximum acceptable casualties among our fighters how effective would we be engaging the capital ships?" he asked, "Projections not optimal, sir, but we could do some damage." he smiled, "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll do far better than worst-case scenario." he took another deep breath, "Until then, just keep us at maximum range." he cocked an eyebrow, "Maybe we can even get the rebels to fire the first shot..."

[Professor Mors]

(OOC : One other small cameo from me at the behest of Zechs)

"What do you mean the cooling flush didn't work?!", an inflamed Lieutenant spat at a nervous weapons operator. "There's nothing we can do Sir!", the technician hurriedly sputtered in response, "If we don't fire now the excess energy will overrun the regulator and the entire battery could detonate!". It was the least-probable outcome, yet it had come to pass. One of the Devastation's starboard turbolasers, over the course of booting up its targeting mainframe, had suffered a software glitch.

One slippage of code, and suddenly a weapon of pure destruction was on the precipice of firing without the consent of its overseers. "Can't we redistribute the currents back to the auxiliary generator?", the frustrated Lieutenant prodded once more, a tinge of terror mixing with his voice. "Too late!", a second tech cried out, as an emerald flash broke out across the bridge viewport. All three men froze, their mouths hanging ajar, as they tracked the movement of their collective blunder. With a touch of the Devil's own luck, it seemed that it would just barely reach the periphery of the enemy formation.