Jedi Insurgency 304

Whilst Revan was reuniting with the ground troops, Clip was grimly staring at the chronometer on the bridge. 

9:00

.8:59

..8:20

…7:37

Each second that ticked down signaled the advance of the Imperial fleet. On a HoloTable nearby the red outlines of ships crept closer and closer. When the timer reached zero, they would be within effective range of one another. 

Although the ambush had resulted in an astounding success, his fighters needed to return to refuel, and rearm proton torpedoes. Furthermore, caught up in the excitement of the assault, his entire fleet was out of formation, and had been eager to chase down any stragglers, making sure the Imps couldn't escape. Naturally, this was a good thing. Eliminating the enemy was the purpose of any good military. However, in their efforts to appear useful before the General, and wash away the shame of a slow siege on Kuat, his Captains had been overeager to prove themselves. 

Whilst his ships slowly trod into place, Clip saw that they would barely form an adequate defensive line. However, this was ultimately a temporary solution. As a core member of the Starcrusher Corp, Clip was well aware of the General's limitations. Not that Revan had told him specifically that that shadowed form of his was a time exclusive power, but through his own proximity, deductions, and knowledge shared by the spy network did he piece this knowledge together. Now that the General had mentioned an Imperial trap was likely to commence, hence the hasty retreat, he was feeling particularly antsy. 

“Telemetry, scan the hyperlane, are there any shadows of a fleet approaching?” Clip sternly requested, maintaining eye contact with the chronometer as if his life depended on it. 

6:59

“Nothing sir.” The officer replied. 

“Keep your eyes posted.” Clip nodded back, not feeling better whatsoever. He then turned to comms. “What's the ETA on the mine situation, have we synced up their IFF with our fleet's?” 

The comm officer was listening in to something with a troubled expression on his face, then turned to salute. “Yes and no, Admiral. The conventional mines are responding after we stole the codes from the captured Imperial cruisers. However…those stealth mines are completely rogue, we have no way to signal them.” 

“Keep trying, sailor.” Clip said back in a confident poised tone, yet internally his heart rate began to slowly increase. 

Thrawn. It always came back to Thrawn. 

Those mines were surely designed by the blue bastard. Knowing the General frequently captured Imperial vessels, he had accounted for even a scenario such as this. For a second, Clip felt jealousy deep in his heart, wishing he could provide out of the box solutions like the Chiss did. Unfortunately, he was limited by his training and biology, capable of grand formations, and frontal assaults…yet trickery on this scale eluded him. 

However, this new information truly made that heart palpitation feel even more deadly. It was his strategy to change the IFF of the mines to a new one, thus cutting off the Imperial fleet in their rear from chasing after them. From there, they would have a clear shot at Kuat's hyperlane egress zone, and they could jump without any magnetic fields getting in their way. But now the only secure path through the mine field was a narrow corridor specifically left open by the Imperials for trade & commerce. It was a narrow stretch where ships of the Venator's size could only travel single file. 

5:00

At the five minute mark when the enemy fleet was close to rounding Kuat, and closing with them, a dark, almost invisible portal opened up, signaling something was coming out of hyperspace directly behind their firing line and in the direction of their escape route. 

Squinting his eyes, Clip couldn't see a single thing. “Sailor, report.” He demanded from telemetry. 

“I…” The clone swallowed. “I don’t know, sir.”

Space twisted as something emerged. There was no customary flash of bright light at its arrival, instead, darkness folded inward, compressing hyperspace into a trembling fixture in space, as if something were emerging from a black hole. 

Then the ship arrived. It was so large, Clip almost forgot to breathe. More than 15 Venators could fit inside that behemoth with room to spare. It was a wedge of perfect blackness, with armor swallowing the light of Kuat, and everything it touched, the ship was practically melding into the darkness of space, as if it were camouflaged to be naked to the eye. Smooth with a glossy sheen, it was terrible in its beauty. 

Across the Venator's bridge, several displays flickered attempting to scan that thing, only to come up short. A few officers recoiled from their consoles as static crawled over the screens in branching black lines, and one or two power couplings exploded, showering sparks upon the scene. 

A whisper passed through the ship, sending a spine chilling darkness up every man's spine: There is no escape. 

Clip’s jaw tightened, and blood dripped down his nostrils as he nearly collapsed. Clutching at the comms officer's chair to steady himself, he issued a fleetwide command to steady morale. It also, coincidentally, was transmitted to that black triangle. 

“We are Starcrusher. We fear no evil. All ships, turn about, ignore the bastards to our rear. Today, we are getting those men home. For. Our. BROTHERS!!!” 

Blue ion churning, the engines of the fleet worked in overtime as they turned to meet this new threat. 

2:09

“IFF confirmed, it's the Black Monolith.” Telemetry reported. 

Intelligence had described Vader’s new flagship as a mobile citadel assembled during the reconstruction of Coruscant. Shaped through Mechu-Deru and reinforced by materials steeped in the Darkside Nexus beneath the Imperial Palace, Clip worried this singular ship would not be an easy target. 

Clip looked across the tactical display, and frowned. Many vessels still had depleted shields, and only half of the fighters had rearmed. Meanwhile, Commander Pots and the surviving ground forces had been recovered, but the transports carrying them remained crowded in the atmosphere, and in the case of the LAAT's still needed to dock. There were also the other, heavy duty transports that were slow, and incredibly bulky. Designed for defense without any weapons, they needed to be escorted out. There were still tens of millions of Eriaduan's on those transports. 

Whether they could destroy this monstrosity forged by the Force, Clip wasn't optimistic…but he would give everything he had! 

The Black Monolith remained where it was, blocking the egress zone of the hyperlane. They had to go through it, or around it. 

Across the Monolith’s upper hull, something opened, and a cluster of red photons slowly began to gather together into a central point. Then, plates miles long withdrew, exposing a circular mechanism buried in the vessel’s dorsal spine. Concentric rings rotated around a deep central aperture, revealing a cannon larger than any big gun on a planetary installation. 

Every alarm on the bridge began to wail, and klaxons were going berserk. 

“Admiral, we're having an energy surge, the magnitude is off the charts!” Telemetry frantically reported.

“Break formation! All ships, full thrust along the XYZ corridor, spread out as much as possible.” Clip swiftly ordered. 

The Starcrusher fleet just began to scatter when the Black Monolith fired. Red light briefly consumed the stars, drowning out all other spectrums. Along with this blast came a crushing feeling in the Force. This energy beam was the embodiment of rage, the epitome of dominance, the signal of destruction! It was a laser cannon death sentence. 

The beam did not possess the full world-killing power of a planet killer, but it did not need it. It crossed hundreds of miles in an instant and struck an Acclamator head on. 

For the smallest fraction of a second, the carrier remained intact, then the red beam passed through, and an ever expanding fireball permeated space above Kuat. Its central hull vanished inside a sphere of crimson fire. Thousands of tons of armor became glowing vapor, and some starfighters caught too close to the impact disappeared before they could transmit a distress signal.

The beam continued onward and carved through one of Kuat’s distant shipyard rings, causing the heavily shielded structure to greatly shudder. 

A pindrop silence spread across the bridge, but Clip wasn't willing to bow out yet. 

“I want all available units currently not on evac duty to begin advancing through the minefield, we must overwhelm the Monolith with numbers. We won't cowardly hang back here, helmsman, take us into the Nexu’s jaws, advance. We need to buy the evacuation more time. Only by acting like a fish can we escape this net. Furthermore, what is the ETA on our ARC's & bombers?!” Clip order/asked his crew. 

“On it, issuing orders to the fleet now.” Comms hurriedly complied, typing away at his console. 

“They're due to close within less than two minutes, Admiral.” The Tactical officer added on. 

“Time between shots? Do we have an estimation?” Clip asked as he felt his ship shudder as it boldly advanced into the minefield. 

“Based on heat dispersal…perhaps four minutes.” Telemetry replied with a helpless shrug. 

“Then we have three.” Clip sharply exhaled. “All batteries, concentrate on the exposed weapon. Bomber wings Aurek through Dorn will attack beneath our fire. Signal every vessel capable of launching a torpedo.”

1:37

Meanwhile, on their flank, Imperial Vice-Admiral Delvardus’s Star Destroyers surged forward, turbolasers already flashing as they tested their distance. Sickly green bolts slammed into the Starcrusher fleet’s rear shields. Although they splashed mostly harmlessly against the Republic shields, the small amount of chip damage on their rear was a disastrous blow to morale. Every sailor knew what their fate would be should they slow down. 

“Imperial fleet closing from astern.” The tactical officer warned. “They’ll be in full weapons range in ninety seconds.”

“Targeting solutions locked. Sir, we're in range.” Another clone reported.

Clip’s eyes narrowed. “Fire.”

The Starcrusher fleet answered the Black Monolith with everything it possessed.

Blue turbolaser fire crossed the void in a storm as their ion cannons strobed against the darkness. Hundreds of heavy missiles and proton torpedoes raced ahead of the fleet, their drives forming brilliant spears against the darkness of space. The barrage struck the stationary Black Monolith, rippling against its void shields. 

Detonations rolled across the vessel’s surface, creating a blinding light so bright that it resembled an artificial sun. Enough firepower to break a dozen Star Destroyers in half hammered the Imperial flagship without pause.

For seven seconds, the void burned with the Republic's return fire. 

Then, as their tubes reloaded, and blaster ports cooled down to resume firing only seconds later, that light briefly faded.

The Black Monolith emerged unscathed. Its armor remained unbroken, however, to Clip's trained eye, he spotted several micro fissures near the exposed cannon. Although this was not a sign to celebrate, it proved that the enemy was not invincible. If it could ‘bleed’ it could die! 

In reply, the Black Monolith answered with tens of thousands of red turbolasers, answering hatred with hatred, hope against hate. The darkness between them became the Black Monolith's stage, and the only play it concerned itself with was murder. 

During the exchange, a Starcrusher cruiser lost its bridge. Another rolled away with half its engines burning. A Venator’s shields flashed brilliant blue, failed, and allowed a torrent of crimson fire to rake its flight deck from bow to stern. Fighters poured from the Monolith’s hangars in geometrically perfect formations. Machine brained fighters designed after Vader's own imagination craft moved with a degree of synchronization no living squadron could match.

Starcrusher fighters met them head-on. Space filled with corkscrewing engines, laser flashes, ruptured hulls, and blooming fire spread across the void. Clone pilots broke through these Imperial formations through instinct and aggression, but for every droid fighter destroyed, they'd been trained to kill clankers! However, due to the need to rearm, only half of the effective starfighters were currently deployed, they were outnumbered. 

0:10

0:05

0:00

Delvardus’s fleet had arrived. 

Imperial Star Destroyers, Venators, and Acclamators descended upon the Starcrusher's rear like hungry wolves, their batteries tearing into already weakened shields, and the rear of the formation. The Republic fleet was caught between two forces: the relentless fire of the revenge seeking Imperials, and the mechanical annihilation of Vader’s fortress ahead.

Clip watched the tactical field contract around him. The second bombardment had damaged the Monolith’s superlaser housing by less than one percent, its main reactor output continued to rise unabated. 

“Superlaser recharge at sixty-three percent.” Telemetry reported. 

“All vessels, form an attack column on the Indomitable. Bring us to heading zero-eight-seven.”

The navigation officer looked up sharply. “Sir, that course takes us directly into the Monolith.” 

“Follow your orders, we didn't come to Kuat to lose any more brothers.” Clip said with steel entering his voice. 

“Sir!” The officer saluted, everyone else on the bridge did too with a grim determination. 

“Admiral.” The tactical officer said with a salute. “The superlaser will complete its recharge before we reach the vessel.”

“Then we’ll ensure it cannot aim.” Clip said, then opened a channel to every surviving fighter. “All wings, abandon conventional attack patterns. Target the Monolith’s dorsal fire-control nodes. I want explosions, debris, radiation, anything that blinds its targeting systems. Capital ships will concentrate on a single point along its port edge.”

The Indomitable turned toward the darkness, and one by one, the other vessels followed.

The Starcrusher fleet compressed into a spear formation, and accelerated directly at the Black Monolith.

Delvardus’s gunners continued firing from behind, but their angle became increasingly dangerous. Several Imperial volleys overshot the Republic formation and struck the Monolith’s forward shields. Additionally, several heavily damaged, captured vessels had been left behind to act as decoys, their targeting guns set to autopilot, and shot out indiscriminately.

“There.” Clip said aloud. 

A portion of the Monolith’s port defenses flickered beneath concentrated bombardment, revealing a weakened spot in her shield grid. 

“Drive straight through that sector. All forward shields to maximum. Cut power to hangar containment and life support on evacuated decks. Feed everything into the engines and deflectors. Now. Do it now, sailor!” 

As they closed, the Monolith filled the entire forward viewport, such was its size. The Darkside rolled from it in suffocating waves.

Clip felt something vast turn its attention toward him, and when he was about to collapse onto the ground dead from a [Force Choke], the Millenia Falcon flew by, and a [Force Barrier] saved him just in time. 

He leaned forward in his command chair. “Full speed. Stop for nothing.” 

The Starcrusher fleet plunged into hell.

Turbolaser fire crossed at point-blank range and Republic vessels skimmed above the Monolith’s surface, hammering its batteries as they passed. Meanwhile, droid fighters smashed themselves against Republic shields when their weapons failed to halt the charge.

“Port defenses collapsing!” The tactical officer shouted. “We've struck a mine, shields are critical!” 

The Indomitable shuddered, threatening to fall apart. At that moment, the exit to the corridor was in sight, they just had to go a little further. Meanwhile, the Monolith’s superlaser reached a full charge, and red light swelled within the dorsal aperture. The weapon began to turn toward their ship. [Speed] & [Energy Resistance] coated the ship with everything the General had. 

“Sound the alarm. All non-essential crew are to evacuate.” Clip ordered calmly as he continued to direct the fleet. 

Upon his orders, the surviving Starcrusher bombers came down hard. They attacked so closely that several struck the weapon in a kamikaze attack before releasing their payloads. Torpedoes, fighters, and shattered machinery plunged into the focusing array. Explosions erupted across the aperture, and one of its immense rings twisted out of alignment.

Thanks, General, for everything. 

The superlaser fired. Its beam passed beneath the Indomitable, and splashed upon its hull, slowly breaking the [Energy Resistance] barrier apart. Scanning the tactical display, Clip saw that despite everything done to the Black Monolith, the damage was still somewhat superficial. Meanwhile, the Imperial fleet on their rear would be destroying the slow heavy transports any second. Tens of millions of lives were on the line. 

“Sir, we're being hailed by the General, patching him throu-”

“Belay that, Lieutenant. The convoy isn't even half way through, you know what to do. Take us in.” Clip barked, then turned around to eye the men like a loving older brother. 

The Lieutenant swallowed hard, yet he saluted all the same. “Yes sir, taking us in!” 

Clip stood at the bridge, and saluted the Falcon through the window. 

“It's been an honor, sir.”