FLEET ADMIRAL VORIN ZONILL
MON CALAMARI SHIPYARDS
MON CALAMARI
The shields on the
MIN Gundark continued to crackle and flare as they received a punishing amount of fire from the
Vod'gam, tanking as much turbolaser, mass-driver and missile fire as possible in an effort to spare the
CR125U Corvettes trailing from behind. For now, the
Nyalsan II Planetary Shield was holding quite comfortably, though signs of wear and distress were beginning to appear all over the surface of the shield. Still, it wouldn't matter how much damage was inflicted upon the
Gundark for what Captain Tennnor had in mind.
"Full power to engines! All hands, brace for impact!"
The
Gundark inched ever closer toward the
Vod'gam, fully intending to ram the much larger vessel with as much force as it could muster. Yet, as the
Gundark continued its approach, it suddenly came to a rather abrupt stop, nearly sending everyone on the bridge flying across the floor. Captain Tennnor and Admiral Zonill were barely able to hold their position as they were jolted forward by the sudden shift in momentum, though for the most part everyone on board managed to remain unharmed.
"What the HELL was that!?!?", Captain Tennnor shouted out as the crew of the
Gundark tried to figure out what exactly was causing them to stop moving.
"Uncertain, ma'am. We appear to be caught in some sort of tractor beam, though one on a scale we've never encountered before. It didn't appear to be drawing us in any closer", the
Gundark's bridge technicians stated as they attempted to free the
Gundark from the situation it was currently in. Normally, such a slow moving ship would have been completely and utterly trapped by the
Vod'gam's statis webifier, forcing Tennnor to call off her attack. Unfortunately for the enemy, the
Gundark just so happened to have an ace of its sleeve.
"Damnit! We don't have time to figure it out! Activate the
Triple "T" Muscle Motor engines!"
The
Gundark's secondary engine system, which thus far had remained silent and deactivated, suddenly roared to life, as the
Gundark attempted to break the hold that the
Vod'gam currently had on it. Unlike its
NZ Hermes 980HIF/SE engines, the
Gundark's Triple "T" Muscle Motor engines were designed to produce extreme levels of torque and thrust, having been documented tearing Star Destroyer sized tractor beam projectors out of their mountings. As soon as they fired, the
Gundark which had previously been "dead in the water", suddenly began moving forward again, the
Triple "T" Muscle Motor engines producing enough force to counteract the effects of the
statis webifier. While she wouldn't be winning any races anytime soon, the
Gundark would at least be able to accomplish its goals of ramming the
Vod'gam while providing cover for the
CR125U Corvettes.
All things considered, Captain Tennnor's operation was going surprisingly well. The
TIE Vultures were beginning to overwhelm the rebel starfighters, Commodore
Felix Yorwell
had been reinforced by friendly forces, and Captain Tennnor was hopefully about to take the
Vod'gam out of the fight. Everyone was going quite well...until it wasn't!
For all of Tennnor's efforts, there was no way she could have planned for five frigate sized vessels jumping out of hyperspace nearly on top of her position! Whether or not they had intended to was irrelevant, because the
Gravity Well Projector that Tennnor had fired had most likely caused them to exit hyperspace inadvertently. The
Gundark was suddenly rocked by additional turbolaser fire, though most of the shots missed or went wide, due to the hasty nature of the enemy's attack. Still, given the odds against them, it was looking increasingly likely that Tennnor's fleet was going to have to retreat.
"Blast! All remaining
CR125U Corvettes, fall back to the shipyards and prepare to jump to hyperspace. Even with Commodore
Felix Yorwell
's reinforcements, there isn't much more-"
"Wait, Captain! We're getting a signal on comms, we've got reinforcements of our own coming in hot!", Tennnor's comms array officer said as he cut her statement off. On the opposite side of the battlefield, a single
D-1300 Star Destroyer and a pair of
Disruptor-class Ion Cannon Carriers jumped out of hyperspace, firing at the enemy frigates in a desperate attempt to draw some of their fire away from the
Gundark and the
CR125U Corvettes. Seven squadrons of
Y-Fender "Uglies" and three squadrons of
Hyper-Jammers joined the four squadrons of
AX-Wings, 1 squadron of
STX-TIEs, 1 squadron of
Lambda-class YT-1760 Annihilators and the remaining 4 and a half squadrons of
TIE Vultures, bringing total Imperial Remnant starfighter forces to 20 squadrons strong.
Hopefully, they would prove sufficient to deal with this new, emerging rebel threat.
"About time!", Captain Tennnor muttered dryly as he fleet established comms with the reinforcements from
Mahporeem. "
D-1300, plot a course to intercept the
Vod'gam while the
Disruptors begin bombarding the enemy frigates with heavy ion cannon fire. All
CR125U Corvettes are to modify their flight path to link up with the
Disruptors as my ship maintains its original course toward the
Vod'gam. We're going to ram that damned ship one way or another!"
Just as Captain Tennnor finished issuing her new orders, a series of explosions visibly rocked the rings of the Mon Calamari Shipyards. Large sections of the shipyards were forcibly ejected into the vacuum of space, cleanly severed by some sort of bomb or explosive charge. Almost too cleanly, in fact. The way that the rebels had made their cuts...it was almost as if they were trying to minimize the damage to the shipyard rings while still taking them out of commission. Both Tennnor and Zonill though this rather odd. After all, if the rebels were trying to destroy the shipyards, why would they care about how much damage they inflicted upon them? If anything, it would have made more sense to be as destructive as possible. What the hell were they doing?
That was when a sudden and horrible realization dawned on Zonill. Yes, the rebels were trying to destroy the station, but that wasn't all they were doing. The prefabricated sections that they hade blasted the rings into could only mean one thing...
They were trying to STEAL the station!
"Captain, belay that order on the
Disruptors!", Zonill called out as he took command for a moment. "Have the
Disruptors fire their
Gravity Well Projectors at the sections of the destroyed shipyards! Those damned rebels are trying to make off with our station!"
"What...oh, hell! You're right! This is Captain Tennnor to all available Imperial forces: it is extremely likely that the rebel fleet is seeking to make off with sections of the shipyards! Be on alert for any additional explosives, these rebels might try to push their luck!
Disruptors, activate your
Gravity Well Projectors on the floating sections of the destroyed shipyards NOW!"
The
Disruptors complied, each firing a single
Gravity Well Projector at the floating section of the station, hopefully preventing the rebels from somehow grabbing it and jumping to hyperspace. Still, it was a temporary solution at best, and the Imperials would still have to get rid of the rebels one way or another. As Tennnor and Zonill plotted their next move, the
Gundark's comms came to life.
["Fleet Admiral Zonill. This is Admiral Joanne Savatti. If there is anything I can provide to assist your efforts, let me know".]
"Acknowledged, Admiral Savatti", Zonill replied. "As you've probably heard, it seems that the rebels intend to abscond with sections of the Mon Calamari Shipyards. The way they've blasted the station into sections is too coincidental to be anything other than that. Be on alert for any rebel craft attempting to flee toward the station, as they'll probably be looking to grab those sections before they float off. I've activated some gravity wells around them to buy us some time, but we need to get rid of these rebels as soon as possible!"
It was imperative that the Imperials did so as soon as possible...