Commander Rozhdenst made his way through the ship, passing by the cavernous hanger bay where Scavenger Squadron's Y-wings sat ready and waiting. Despite it's size and retrofitting to make it larger it wasn't quite big enough to comfortably house the dozen starfighters. Their base wasn't a stationary facility, instead a Baleen-class heavy freighter had been aquisitioned by the fledging New Republic, modified and rechristened Stronghold. It perfectly suited the purpose of presenting them with a mobile base that could transverse the stars and ensure support was always nearby. The front section of the ship consisted of the modifed hanger bay and command deck, while the rest of the ship resembled a hollowed out lattice pattern of two dozen rectangular bays for cargo crates to dock with the ship. Instead of cargo the spaces had been filled with modified cargo crates that had been turned into offices, medical bay, sleep quarters, refreshers and living and operational areas for the members of Scavenger squadron and their taskforce.
The commander snorted. The place was a dump, heavily modified and cobbled together from whatever could be found to make the mobile headquarters functional. It suited the namesake of its assigned squadron at least; nobody could question that. His commlink beeped at him again and he growled in annoyance, digging his hand into his pocket and thumbing the communicator several times. He'd already shut it off multiple times before. "Piece of poodoo," he snarled.
He rounded the corner and stepped into the cargo module that acted as the mission briefing room. The other eleven members of his squadron were already in attendance, seated on the benches that lined both sides of the room. He greeted his men as he nodded greeting to the dozen other officers seated for the briefing, clustered together on the righthand side of the room. With almost thirty beings crammed into the room and a large holoprojector and other operational equipment situated in the middle, it was feeling cramped and stuffy. Each of the twenty cargo crates that had been converted into rooms was thirty meters long and twenty wide, which meant plenty of space for some rooms, and barely any for others. Gennad was thankful he wasn't claustrophobic.
"Ah! Thank you for joining us Commander Rozhdenst," Captain Torel Bal'far, a squat, broad shouldered Bothan said, turning to address him as he entered.
Gennad gave him a lazy two fingered salute and took his seat next to Trax.
The Bothan turned back to the assembled crowd and began the mission briefing.
"One of our contacts at Sienar Fleet Systems has informed us of a newly completed Vindicator class Heavy Cruiser that's being taken out on a final test run before she's entered into the ranks of the Imperial armarda. The contact has provided us with detailed information pertaining to her planned flight path, tests and hyperspace jumps. Upon close scrutiny of the intelligence a plan of action has been put together to ambush, seize and steal the ship before the Imperials even get a sniff of what's happened," Captain Bal'far explained.
He turned and gestured at the holoprojector as it whined to life and brought up a three demensional map of the galaxy. It zoomed in to focus on an area of the Outer Rim that included the Tion Cluster and surrounding sectors. He followed the ship's planned route with a finger as he filled them in on where it was going and what tests it was undergoing where. "As you can see the route begins and ends at Lianna, where SFS's shipyards are located; and makes half a dozen stops at worlds in the area as it goes on its circuit. Now we could head for one of its scheduled stops and wait for it to arrive, but the problem that should quickly make itself evident is all its scheduled stops are around inhabited and highly developed worlds, making that prospect a difficult and undesirable one," the captain said.
"We wouldn't be able to sit and wait for them insystem without someone noticing us," one of the officers from the Vulture declared.
The Bothan nodded his furry head. "Correct. It would be almost impossible to avoid detection without taking additional measures that would further complicate the situation and highten the probability for error, and hence mission failure. We want to avoid a prolonged and pitched battle as much as necessary. This is to be a hit and run mission. We hit them hard and fast, board the ship, gain control and jump to hyperspace and get out of there in ten minutes. Ten minutes people, that's all we can allow for this mission considering the close proximity to inhabited systems and Imperial reinforcements."
Mumbles of confusion, shock and disbelief passed through the room as everyone began talking at once, some protesting the very idea of the operation and others insisting it could be done.
Captain Bal'far let the conversation go one for a minute or so before he interjected and cleared his throat loudly; ending it with a rasped growl that brought the conversation to a halt.
"Thank you," he said. "I know the allocated timeframe for the mission is a small one; it leaves little margin for error and is dependent upon the caveat that everything goes smoothly and according to plan. But it can and will be done. What I propose is resorting to less than conventional tactics to pull this operation off. Since we can't wait for the ship to arrive in one of the systems its scheduled to stop at. Instead we're going to wait for it on one of the hyperspace routes it will be travelling along," Bal'far said. "We'll leave a small beacon at Centares to inform us when it exits and enters hyperspace there in order to be fully prepared to strike at exactly the right moment. Two of Scavenger squadron will be assigned the role of planting the beacom before joining back up with the rest of the strike force. From Centares it will be headed for Sy Myrth so we'll be ready and waiting at the midway point between the two worlds. As it comes past we'll activate proton mines that will explode, pulling the ship out of hyperspace and leaving it vunerable to attack."
"Ah! So that's his game. An old pirate's trick! Clever, very clever," Gennad said, with a look of approval.
Slade Auryn, the commander of the commando platoon attached to the Scavenger task force met his gaze and grinned in response. "Sounds like fun, eh Gennad? Playing the part of a pirate for the day," he quipped with a chuckle.
Captain Bal'far's ears wriggled. "Yes. Well the tactic may have unconventional origins, but there's a reason its been popular among the more unscrupulous citizens of the galaxy for so long," he said. "It's effective and efficient. So I see no reason why we shouldn't employ all the means at our disposal to get the job done."
"What sort of resistance can we expect from the crew?" Commander Auryn asked.
The Captain turned to him. "As previously stated the Vindicator cruiser is undergoing a last series of tests before it's approved for service. Hence it won't be travelling with a full crew or any passengers. As such we can expect any resistance to be fairly minimal. Most of those on board will be SFS staff, not imperial personnel. So they won't be ready or equipped for a fight.....and I dare say hardly willing."
"What about the ship's defence capabilities?" Trax asked. "The ship comes with an impressive armament. How much of that could be used against us?"
"As far as we can judge from the intelligence provided to us and our knowledge of such procedures; the ship's weapons will indeed be operational, but not fully manned by professional gunnery crews capable of responding effectively in a combat situation. Minimal crew is used for such activities and tests are carried out in staggered stages so the results can be closely monitored. So while we can expect the ship to be able to bring all its weapons to bare on us, she'll be lightly crewed and not carrying any passengers,": Captain Bal'far explained.
He pressed a button on the remote and a big three demensional hologram of the ship appeared on the table in the centre of the room.
Gennad couldn't help but notice it bore a striking resemblance to an Imperial class Star Destroyer, just a third of the size and appearing as if it had been squashed. He understood why some joked it was a child Star Destroyer.
The captain went over the ship's statistics and schematics. "Boasting an armanent of twenty five light turbolasers, twenty light quad turbolaser cannons, ten point-defense laser cannons and ten ion cannons it's well defended and perfectly capable of acting as both an anti-starfighter and capital ship vessel," The Bothan said, before turning his attention to their plan of attack.
"The operation will proceed as follows. Once the ship has been dragged out of hyperspace by the mine it will revert to real space and come to a stop, its engines damaged from the blast. The Kyprin Renegade will act as support and stay out of the engagement zone. Meanwhile the Infiltrator will make a run towards the ship and dock with it; where the commando team will proceed to board. The Vulture will run alongside the Kyprin Renegade and provide it with covering fire and protecting the smaller vessel with its mass. This leaves Scavenger squadron to intercept the ship and take out its weapons systems, while providing a distraction for the guns and attempting to draw their fire from the strike team," Captain Bal'far explained. He scratched at the back of one hand with the claws of another. "Remember our goal is to capture the ship, not destroy it. So the Y-wings will be instructed to use their ion cannons to disable the ship's weapons emplacements."
He turned to the commandos. "Commander Auryn, detailed information and schematics have been fed to your men's data pads. Once you've entered the ship your team is to separate into three squads which all have a different objective to ensure the ship is captured as efficiently and effectively as possible. The first team will make their way towards the bridge and take command of the ship, neutralising any opposition you encounter along the way. A second team will move through the ship apprehending any crew they find and clearing the vessel of any surprises or unwanted passengers. Finally, the third team will make their way into the ship's maintenance systems and control bays securing and protecting these incase anyone decides to try and make things difficult for us," the captain said. "Upon capturing the ship reconfiguring its systems to account for the damaged engines, restarting them and building up speed to jump to hyperspace will take time. With a prediction of a timeframe anywhere between twelve to fifteen minutes. Local imperial forces aren't far away and in the inevitable event of the ship launching a distress beacon and reporting the attack they'll come running. That gives us a total time of twenty five minutes from launching our attack, to jumping to hyperspace in the captured ship."
"Ha! Sounds like it'll be easy. Like takin' tooty from a baby!" one of the Scavenger pilots chimed in.
Gennad turned to see who had made the comment and spotted Wade Vox as the culprit. He groaned inwardly and shot the rookie an icy glare. Vox was a new addition to the squadron to replace one of the two pilots they'd lost at Kuat. He had yet to prove himself in battle, but the kid had done well in simulated flights.
"I wouldn't be so confident. It's that sort of attitude that often leads to disaster when it could've been avoided," the captain chided him, his whiskers bristling in annoyance. "Let me be perfectly clear. Capturing the ship is our objective, but our real opponent here is time. We have precious little of it to get in, seize the ship and get out before enemy reinforcements can arrive. The tight time constraints leave very little margin for error. So this has to go off like clockwork; otherwise we will have to abandon the mission.'
"Abandon it? Why?" one of the fleet officers asked.
"We don't have the numbers or the resources to get caught up in a battle with imperial forces. The fleet is stretched thin as it is so no reinforcements will be made available to us. We have to make do with what we have. And that means avoiding anything larger than a minor skirmish. During this campaign we will have to rely on our wits, experience, improvisational skills and thinking outside the box." The Bothan smiled. "But then that's nothing new for us, we're rebels. And the rebellion has been fighting a guerrilla war from day one. Not only can we be successful, but we can bleed those imperial scum dry in the process."
A chorus of cheers erupted throughout the room. "Pure Sabbac!" Captain Bal'far said, chuckling with a smile, before he motioned for silence once more. He continued with the briefing, going over the finer details of the plan, and about an hour later after a rigourous question and answer session everyone filed out of the war room and returned to their stations.
Commander Rozhdenst lingered outside the room waiting for the captain to appear. The captain was the last to exit, following behind two of his aides as they talked among themselves.
"Captain, a word?"
The Bothan smiled warmly at him, flashing a mouth full of pearly white, sharp teeth. "Of course Commander. What can I do for you?" he asked, as the other man matched his pace and they walked together in the direction of the Stronghold's bridge.
"I was wondering when we're going to get the replacement Y-wings we were promised," Gennad said. "I know it's preemptive, this being our first mission and everything, but if we're to be an effective fighting unit and do what's asked of us we are going to need better fighters to do it with. Those rust buckets we're flying are barely holding together."
The captain nodded in understanding. "Of course Commander.... I, we; and by that I mean the chain of command in the fleet, understand that all too well. But it's going to take time and I couldn't possibly give you a timeframe on that at present. You know as well as I do the fleet took some heavy losses at Endor. We won a great victory, but at a significant cost and it very nearly ended in disaster. Despite the influx of new worlds joining the rebellion, fresh volenteers and generous donations flowing in we are short on resources," Captain Bal'far reminded him. "I remain in contact with Admiral Ackbar and rest assured new Y-wings for Scavenger squadron are a priority, but they're one of a great many priorities putting a strain on us at the moment."
"I know. Being a priority isn't a concern, it's how much of a priority we are that matters," Rozhdenst replied. "Our starfighters were fitted out with new shields, which is a good start, but they're still far from being in ideal condition for combat." His face twisted into a sneer as he snorted in dirision. "We captured what's essentially an entire flotilla for the war effort, six frigates and a Star Destroyer. If they're serious about supporting our cause they'd give us a bit more than some new shields."
The captain sighed. "I know you're frustrated Commander, but please, try to have patience. Give it some time and focus on the mission before us and given time and positive results we will become a greater priority to the admiralty once they see the investment in the Scavenger taskforce is paying off."
"I hope so," Rozhdenst said.
"And keep in mind that we've already been given not insignificant resources to aid us in this campaign. Ackbar had to pull some strings and call in some favours just to get us what we presently have."
Commander Rozhdenst was silent for a few moments. "Things are really that dire?"
"Yes. He personally saw to it that the Stronghold was reassigned to us; it had been retrofitted for another purpose. And pulling Commander Auryn and his commandos away from the military wasn't simple. Getting possession of the Kyprin Renegade took what essentially amounts to bribery and even the posting of the Vulture took some cohersion," Bal'far explained.
The commander growled. "We captured that kreefing ship at Kaut," he protested. "By rights it should be ours to use as we see fit. The fleet got the other five frigates and the Star Destroyer."
The Bothan stopped and turned to face him as they arrived at their destination. "No Commander; those ships belong to the Rebel Alliance. The fact you captured them is irrelevant; you were working as part of the alliance under alliance orders. Anything you aquire under those conditions is the sole property of the alliance fleet. Let me make that abundantly clear!" he said with a frown.
Rozhdenst began to protest, but thought better of it. He couldn't argue with that. As much as he hated it due to his personal circumstances the captain was right. Instead he saluted, "Yes sir! Of course sir!"
Captain Bal'far smiled once more and returned the salute. "As you were Commander, and keep in mind that, rest assured, success will yeild all you could desire in helping our mission. We just have to show them we are worth the investment.....and more so!"
The commander wasted no time in heading for the hanger as he donned his helmet and marched towards his Y-wing. The fighters of Scavenger squadron were battle scarred, hideous looking wrecks that looked barely capable of flight. Largely cobbled together from spare parts and salvaged pieces of other ships they were as undesirable as a starfighter could be.
Commander Rozhdenst 's Y-wing lifted up off the hanger floor and slid across the bay as he steered it towards the opening where space waited beyond. He eased the throttle forwards as his ship left the Stronghold's hanger and slowly picked up speed, the rest of Scavenger squadron following in his wake as they fanned out and took up a loose formation as he led them away from the ship that operated as their mobile headquarters.
The other ships in the Scavenger assault force moved into formation in preparation for the jump to hyperspace. The YX-950 freighter Kyprin Renegade on their portside leading the Skipray II blastboat Infiltrator, and on their starboard the Lancer class frigate Vulture cruised gracefully through the stars.
"S1 to Scavengers, all wings report in!" Gennad barked over the comm.
"S2, right here with ya chief!" Wade Vox beamed.
One by one the Y-wings in the squadron reported in and confirmed their status.
Two of the ships broke off from the formation and headed in a different direction, one of them carrying the surveilance beacon and the other acting as support should they run into any trouble.
"Good luck," Gennad said to the pair as they headed out.
"Thanks Commander, we'll meet up with you at the staging area. Provided we're not turned into a fireworks display for the locals," Sala Durpin said with a grin, her odd penchant for dark humour being a sense of comfort for the squadron as something familiar and reliable that bespoke a sense of camaraderie among the pilots.
"Tighten up our formation and prepare to jump to hyperspace on my mark." the commander said, hitting some keys on his own nav computer.
The Y-wings drifted closer together as they formed a rough diamond shape, following the commander's lead as their starfighters continued to pick up speed.
The order came from the Vulture to make the jump.
"Mark!" Gennad announced as he flicked the switch on his command console and the squadron of Y-wings and their companions jumped to hyperspace; the star field outside their viewports stretching into long diagonal lines of light, before with a burst of energy; they entered hyperspace.