Time couldn't have moved more slowly than what was currently happening around us. The silence of outer space never felt so...loud? Was that the right word here? Adam outmaneuvered the blast of the ion cannon spectacularly. It gave us a good show seeing it destroy nothing. And guess what happened when the attack missed? General Grievous sends out more droids. That's so classic of him. Still, I couldn't be even more shocked than now. Let alone being in Star Wars, I didn't think I'd find myself joining a full-blown battle in outer space so soon! I know this will be the first one of many that is to come, but my heart was racing. How exciting!
I didn't let that excitement cloud my judgement, though. I saw ten vulture droids exit one of the many docking bays on the Malevolence's starboard position. Each one looked quite powerful, and very similar to my gunship. As I had the version from Metroid Prime 3, the gunship holds a wing on each end, capable of firing off plasma lasers and missiles. Ahsoka and Commander Wolffe were directed toward the gunship's hull earlier, and they were able to squeeze through it, finding themselves on each wing. Pretty cool, huh?
I took a moment to ponder just what type of situation I found myself in. Just moments ago, an entire Republic fleet was fighting for their lives here against this monstrosity before me. I then witnessed that blue wave engulf everything in its path, rendering the already destroyed fleet even more useless. The Malevolence was already firing off blaster lasers like it did in its first strike against Master Plo's fleet, but so far, none of those lasers have managed to hit my gunship. That was likely when General Grievous decided to deploy a more hands-on approach by sending out these vulture droids.
We still remained hidden and cloaked. Adam currently had us drifting nearby some frigates, like a phantom in the void. As for Master Plo, he stood near me, and surveyed the ruins before him. This caused a momentary hush to linger in my cockpit. My visor flickered green. Adam didn't remain idle, he was currently gathering the data we needed to report to General Skywalker. The ion cannon's frequency, its energy signature, and how long it takes to cycle its energy. It was still in a cooldown, so it was good to see it couldn't immediately fire off a second blast right after the first one.
"This is worse than I imagined.", Master Plo murmured. "It is good you haven't taken action yet, Samus. That weapon does not destroy, it paralyzes. I experienced it firsthand, and couldn't do anything about it. What will you do from here?", Master Plo inquired.
"Adam's currently charting a course. This cannon launches its attack in a cone-shaped pattern. Starts small, then quickly expands. As long as we are outside of the initial radius, it will continue to sweep past us. But now we have these guys.", I said, pointing at the vulture droids trying to act as a blockade. I remained calm while answering that, but I could feel rising tension in the cockpit.
[The decision is yours to make Samus. If you have Commander Tano and Commander Wolffe strike with your turrets, it will give away your position. Do you want to continue this stealth mission, or should you go on the offensive?] Adam questioned me.
"I'm with that AI of yours, Samus. Those vulture droids have started sweeping the wreckages around us. Look.", Ahsoka's voice from the left turret said, causing my eyes to focus. Sure enough, within the blockade, a few of the lined-up vulture droids began to part ways. Not directly flying in my direction, but some wreckage nearby. The laser fire began, shooting at the already destroyed wreckage. It looks like they didn't have a particular target in sight, but if they continued all around us, I'm sure they would discover our position sooner than later.
"Ahsoka does prove a point here, Samus. General Grievous will sniff us out before long. But on the other hand, we cannot rush this. Patience is key to survival. Every second we endure here is another beacon of hope the Republic gains to strike back.", Master Plo said, offering some of his wisdom.
"That doesn't mean we should sit still like this, General. Commander Tano isn't wrong. A few bogeys are fanning out. Standard vulture droid pattern. They're cutting across the debris. We stay here too long and they'll ram right into us.", Commander Wolffe stated, keeping his fingers on the sides of the turret buttons. He was inches away from attacking them. My pupils narrowed on the control panel before me. It also acted as a map of the current star system, and I saw four of the ten vulture droids enter a chessboard pattern sweep to our left side, heading further away. I saw their angular wings as they passed by. They were like the fins of a predator, cutting through this graveyard of dead ships. Even if we continue remaining still, their fire would eventually shift the debris this way. Each blast they take is causing more wreckage to appear.
[Given the current analysis, current droid trajectory will intercept our location in three minutes if they continue their sweeping. The probability of staying concealed will gradually lessen with each passing minute.] Adam stated, causing me to nod my helmet up and down. Time was ticking down, and we either needed to find another location fast, or initiate our first strike. And if General Grievous is planning to sweep the entire star system, it'd be useless to continue hiding away like this.
Master Plo's hand soon reached the chair that I sat on. "If you are thinking of attacking these droids Samus, you must strike when they are the closest. We still have the surprise factor on our side. Do not waste that first shot. We either clash against these droids and jump to hyperspace shortly after, or...", Master Plo began to say, drawing my interest.
"Or?", I replied, musing to what Master Plo was suggesting.
"Or we take the fight to them, and strike where we can cause some actual damage. These vulture droids can be replaced, but a ship of this magnitude, not so easily.", Master Plo continued, drawing his finger toward the gigantic spacecraft. In particular, he pointed near the hull and where the bridge was located. Not on the bridge itself, but behind it. The bridge was much farther upward on the ship, and was in a section of its own.
Where the thrusters were. The engines.
"You're not asking me to take this huge ass ship down myself, are you General?", I cursed back, sucking in a cold breath of air.
"I am not expecting you to, Samus. We need to see how powerful its shields are. Get that information, then we can kiss this place goodbye and regroup with General Skywalker.", Master Plo answered.
"Got it.", I replied. "Commander Tano, Commander Wolffe, you two will have your chances. Once we arrive into position, the cloak will drop. Once you see that happen, fire everything you have at it. There will be a window before they start swarming us. we'll get the data on how strong the shield is, then leave the system. Make sure you cover each other's blind spots.", I said, figuring out a way forward to tackle our ongoing situation.
Strike the backside of the Malevolence, see how much damage the gunship can cause, let Adam get that reading, then we jump into hyperspace before General Grievous can reach our position. Sounds simple right?
"You got it. Let's give General Grievous some hell.", Ahsoka exclaimed.
"Copy that. Maintaining current position.", Commander Wolffe responded.
[Samus, your gunship currently has its missile capacity at its limit, which is two hundred and seventy-five. With the plasma lasers functioning manually, you'll be able to focus on firing them. Once we are within range, just give me the command to lower the cloak.] Adam also said.
"Let's do this.", I answered. After having given his input, Master Plo leaned back a bit, finding himself secured in my cockpit. He folded his hands together, and turned quiet. He knew what was coming. We all did. As for me, I steadied my breath, and locked my eyes with the Malevolence. Adam began steering again, making sure not to hit any of the vulture droids that were still erecting a blockade before us. Only half remained, but it was still something to navigate around.
Meanwhile, back inside the bridge of the Malevolence, General Grievous could be seen taking drawn-out steps left to right. Each step held weight to it, and his clunky machinery echoed inside the bridge. It created tension.
"General, we've begun sweeping the debris field. If our target is still lurking inside it, we will find them. It is only a matter of time.", The operator droid said, being the only one to look at General Grievous.
"Good. Good. We must not let them escape. They can only hide for so long. We'll overturn this entire star system if we need to. Keep firing. If the first sweep winds up with nothing, we'll double the vulture droids, and keep doing so until they're found.", General Grievous issued. If ten weren't enough, he'd send twenty. If twenty weren't enough, he'd send out forty next, and so on. Yet little did General Grievous know that he wouldn't be the first one to land a blow...