Chapter 45
Nothing to be afraid of
Kllair had landed the shuttle and transferred the General’s family into Adda’s ship. The rest of her crew had already made it back to the ship and were waiting.
“I’ll take it from here.” Kllair said to Elith as she climbed into the cockpit. The twins tied the wife’s hands behind her back and put a gag in her mouth. They smiled and giggled at the wife the whole time. They began to tie up the children but were stopped by Novuh.
“Kllair is this really necessary. I mean are we tying up children now?” Novuh asked angrily.
“Yeah, it’s necessary. I don’t want them to do anything stupid. We need them alive.” Kllair said.
Novuh sat back and glared at the twins. They met her look with more giggles.
The wife and children all sat quietly sobbing to themselves.
“What will you do if the General doesn’t do what you want? Are you really going to kill them?” Elith asked.
“I’m not going to kill innocent people…I’ll let the twins do it.” she replied.
The wife looked wide eyed at the twins. Nya smiled at the wife and made a shooting gesture at her. She looked over at Vyra only to see her drag her index finger across her throat and smile.
“Do you two really need to enjoy this so much?” Novuh asked angrily.
They both nodded in tandem.
Timtam was helping Granic in the main hangar. Pep and her had gone back to work just as if
everything was the same. Timtam watched as Pep went about her duties. She had a check list and was checking the fluid levels on a new Y-wing they had been given.
“Timtam what are you looking at?” Granic asked.
“I’m watching Pep, uh I think she may be sick.” she had to tell him something. They had all agreed not to disclose anything about Pep’s powers.
“She looks okay to me.” he grumbled.
“I’m going to go check on her, if that’s okay with you.” she asked looking up at him with her big sad eyes.
“I told you not to do that.” he had a weakness for her when she looked sad.
“Fine, go. Just don’t be too long.” he said.
Timtam walked over to the Y-wing that Pep was checking out.
“Hi Timtam, what’s going on?” Pep said smiling.
“I just wanted to see if everything was okay.” Timtam said looking around to see if anyone was listening.
“I’m fine. Now that I know that I have these powers I can control them much better.” she said smiling.
“I was just worried Pep. You’re my friend and I worry about you.” Timtam said.
“ There’s nothing to worry about honey. Come here, I want to show you something.” Pep took Timtam by the hand and lead her behind a large cargo container.
“Watch this.” Pep said grinning. She opened her hand and stared at it. A small flicker of fire appeared in her palm. Timtam’s eyes widened in fear and amazement. The fire grew to about a foot in height. Pep looked at Timtam and laughed. She didn’t need to concentrate on it anymore, it just did what she wanted.
“Okay Pep, that’s enough.” Timtam said nervously.
“No wait, it gets better.” she smiled. The flame began to move from side to side and finally it lifted up away from her hand and became a burning sphere. It floated around her hand and then she made it land in her palm and disappear.
“Well what do you think.” Pep asked.
“ It still makes me nervous.
“I can control it Timtam, there’s no way anyone can get hurt.” Pep said sternly.
“I’m just afraid it might start controlling you.” Timtam said.
“I wouldn’t let that happen Timtam.” Pep looked into Timtam’s eyes and smiled as she touched her face reassuringly.
Timtam nodded and smiled back.
“Timtam!?” Granic yelled.
“I’m coming!” she yelled back. “I got to get back to work.” Timtam said.
“Yeah, me to.” Pep said.
Lionette had been standing on the bridge pacing back and forth. The Revenge had been sitting just outside the range of the ships remaining large guns on the crippled Imperial Star Destroyer.
After weeks of fighting neither side had gained any substantial ground. The Mon Calamari ships had given the Feloids much more fire power and they could now begin to deal out damage to the largest of these Imperial monsters.
“What do you recommend we do now Lionette?” Azak asked over the comm system. He had only just arrived on the seen in his ship “ Slayer”. The Mon Calamari Heavy Cruisers had ambushed this Imperial ship and had crippled it to the point of total loss of its main drives. It was dead in space, unable to move except to pivot in a 360 degree arc. They couldn’t escape and since the Mon Calamari ships had to help somewhere else the Feloids couldn’t get close enough to finish it off.
“I’m working on it Azak.” Lionette said frustrated. She knew she had to finish this ship quickly. Soon one or more of these titans would arrive to tow it away to be repaired. This would mean that it would be back in a week or so. They had to destroy it now while they had a chance. There seemed only to be one option, she would have to have her forces attack it from all sides at once. The Imperial ship would not be able to get all of them before they could knock out their heavy guns. It was a full proof plan with only one draw back, it would mean loosing the lives of hundreds of her best warriors. Feloid ships are small and designed for hit and run attacks. Heavily armed and lightly armored they could do a lot of damage but they couldn’t take too many hits themselves. They were also going up against an Imperial ship. They had, over the last few weeks, found that the tales of Imperials being some of the best trained gunners was no exaggeration.
“Princess, the Imperial ship is hailing us, they wish to discuss surrender terms.”said the communications officer.
“They’re stalling, Imperial capital ships don’t surrender. They must know help is on the way. If we weren’t pressed for time before we are now.” she said aloud.
“You know what you have to do Princess.” Azak said. Lionette looked at him on the large view screen that linked the two ships control centers.
Lionette held her shoulders back and stood upright. “ This is Lionette Ty. In a few moments we will attack the Imperial ship with every ship we have. Many of us will die in this cold void in this remote area of space. We do this for our families and our friends. We do this for the Feloid race regardless of individual Clan loyalties. We are at our finest in these times, we become one people. There are many ships from many clans here today but we are united in glory this day.” Lionette gave the signal to move forward and begin the assault.
“Fires are secure on B deck Ragg. The forward gun is now back in action.” Matt said. The Empire had pulled a fast one. The three transports were a rouse. They were all refitted to carry five of the new TIE fighters and defensive batteries of lasers.
The one advantage Ragg and Matt had was their ship, the Hero, carried torpedoes. The first Imperial transport was hit with a torpedo the second it launched it’s fighters. It had been targeted before the shooting started so the torpedoes had an easy target. That transport quickly caught fire inside and exploded.
The fighters had hit them in waves instead of all at once. This wound up to be to the Rebels advantage because their gunners were never overwhelmed by huge numbers of fighters coming at them all at once.
The second freighter had been badly damaged by a second torpedo causing it to leave, falling back out of range.
The last transport had been lucky or smart. The Rebels fired two torpedoes but they were shot down by several of the TIE fighters that had been assigned to do just that.
The remaining Imperial fighters had all concentrated on attacking the Hero. The armor was holding and they were still in fairly good shape at this point. A hit in the storage bay had caused a fire that spread quickly through B deck making the crew do double duty as they helped the droids extinguish them. Matt had overseen the repairs as Ragg directed the attacks. They found that they worked well together and Matt liked working with someone besides Bronski for a change.
“Okay then, let’s go finish this.” Ragg said smiling.
The Hero turned hard and hit it’s thrusters. With the fires out the gun crews could return to their stations . The raider closed quickly and opened fire with all of it’s guns. The ship swung from side to side to let the guns on both sides fire at the Imperial vessel.
They started taking hits on the back of the ship as all the remaining TIE fighters attacked. There were at least eight left and they all knew they couldn’t let the raider destroy the last remaining Imperial transport that still had a working landing bay.
“Where’s that damned button?” Ragg said looking at the jury rigged control panel. He had remembered that Ceecee had told him she added a secret weapon to the Hero just for him. She said to only use it if they were being chased by the enemy.
“There it is.” Ragg said as he slammed his hand down on it. There was a definite Bang sound as one of the fake cargo containers on the upper rear of the ship was jettisoned from the ship. They watched as the Tie fighters closed even faster on them. Just as they reached the container it exploded in the middle of them shredding the the TIE fighters to pieces. Ceecee had filled the container with rocks, old parts, and just about anything else she could find to make a forty foot long grenade.
“Interesting girl.” Ragg said to Matt. “Remind me not to get her angry.”
Kllair slowly moved the ship around the battered old wreck. The wreck was an ancient spice freighter that had been pillaged years ago and left to orbit the tiny moon it circled. She found this derelict a long time ago and had used it as a hiding place several times. She had it modified for just that purpose.
Adda’s ship slipped easily into the hole in the cargo bay and waited. Kllair pushed a button on her belt and a large door that lead into the next cargo hold opened. Kllair maneuvered the ship through the open door and landed it on the floor. The door closed behind them and soon the room had filled back up with air. The ship’s rear door was opened and Novuh ran out into the darkness and grabbed a set of power cables lying on the floor. She pulled them over and hooked them to the access panel on Adda’s ship and pressed the buttons on the cables. The lights in the cargo bay flickered as they came on illuminating the rusted and well worn old room. The twins were next to depart the ship leading the wife and her children out. Elith looked around the room. She had heard of this hide out but she had never been here before. Kllair finished securing the ship before she left it to. The ship was powering the hideout from it’s engines. The room used so little power compared to space travel it didn’t matter if the engines were left on.
“Elith, go over to those shelves and open the crates at the bottom. There’s blankets and pillows inside. We might be here a while so we may as well make ourselves at home.” Kllair said.
“Nya, Vyra, go back on board the ship and monitor the Imperial communications. I want to see what their saying about the little job we just pulled.” Kllair said. The twins gave a disappointed look to Kllair and went inside the ship. They had been enjoying scaring the wife and children of the General the entire trip.
Once they had gone inside the ship Kllair pulled the wife off to the side of the room and sat her down on a box. She knelt down in front of her and looked into her eyes.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked her.
The wife shook her head no.
“I’m the person that will decide your fate. I left you in the care of those two crazy bitches so you would understand that they are insane and will kill you and your children. Did they make you believe that?” Kllair asked.
The wife shook her head yes this time.
“You married the wrong man. He chose to kill thousands of people for your Emperor. He started this fight and now it’s come right into his own house.” Kllair said.
“Are you two happy together? I see you have two children so I guess you’re happy.” Kllair asked not really caring what the answer would be.
“I am going to have your husband end this campaign against the Feloids. I really don’t care how he does it but if he doesn’t I will have those two women cut you and your children to pieces and send you and them back in a jar. There are people out there that don’t think twice about doing such things and you just met two of them.
Kllair pulled the gag out of the wife’s mouth. “Now Mrs. General, are you going to give us any trouble?” Kllair asked.
She shook her head no. “I’ll do anything you ask just don’t hurt my children.”
“What happens to your children is entirely up to your husband. Soon I will have you speak with him and then we will see if his loyalty is with his family or the Emperor.”
The Feloids ships swarmed and attacked the crippled leviathan that was the Imperial Star Destroyer. They had been firing at the ship for a half an hour now trying to stay out of range of its defensive batteries. Several clans were in on the attack and they had become frenzied at a chance at legendary glory among their people. To be the ship that dealt the final blow for their clan was such a desirable thing to do they hadn’t noticed just how many loses they had taken. The Revenge had been hammering the shield generators on the Star Destroyer so the attackers could do more damage. The Tie fighters were doing most of the damage to the Feloid attackers. They were very small but three or four could easily take out an average sized Feloid ship in a dog fight like the one above the the huge Imperial ship.
The Revenge was on it’s last legs and was only moving at half of it’s original top speed due to the unrelenting attacks by the TIE fighters.
The shields of the Star Destroyer had collapsed. They were able to attack the bridge now.
Lionette looked around the bridge of the Revenge. It was full of smoke from the fires that were burning everywhere. Bodies lay on the floor absent from their assigned posts. More and more Feloids were dying every second and this behemoth still wouldn’t die. Soon it’s reinforcements would arrive and all of this death would have been for nothing.
“Prepare to ram.” Lionette said.
“Aye, aye Princess.” replied the helmsman.
The Revenge groaned and shuddered as it swung around towards the bridge of the Star Destroyer.
“Full speed ahead.” Lionette said as she let go of the post. There was no reason to brace herself any longer. The Revenge shook violently as it increased speed. Suddenly a second ship painted in white with gold trim hit the side of the Revenge knocking it of coarse.
“You are too valuable to end your life this way Lionette.” came the voice over the comm system. It was Azak. It was his ship that would finish off the Star Destroyer and end this battle.
“Azak no!” cried Lionette over the comm system.
There was another ramming as a dark green ship now pushed Azak’s ship out of the way.
“It is time the Hadron Clan restored it’s honor.” said the commander of the new ship. Lionette recognized the voice as Kyus Hadron, the Feloid that had represented the Hadron Clan on her visit.
“We will be remembered as warriors once again after this day.” he said.
Lionette watched stunned as the Hadron clan Flag ship smashed vertically into the upper most surface of the huge Star Destroyer. The Hadron ship punched through the hull and disappeared into the behemoth. There were several large explosions inside the Imperial ship but it was still there.
“Damn it !” Azak yelled. “Make speed, we’re going in !” he said to his helmsman.
“No, look !” Lionette said halting Azak.
Several small explosions began erupting inside the dying Imperial ship.
“He’s hit the reactor !” Azak said. “All ships, evacuate the area, this is an order.” Azak yelled.
The Feloid ships all began to turn and run as fast as they could. Several jumped to light speed in an effort to get some distance between them and the doomed Star Destroyer.
There was a blinding flash that covered the entire area. Then came the shock wave as the Imperial ships reactor exploded. The Feloid ships that were too close were vaporized in an instant the rest were flung spiraling out of control. The Revenge was ripped apart and scattered across the sky with several of the other heavily damaged ships. Soon after the shock wave passed the remaining ships began to hear the distress calls from the ships that hadn’t fared as well.
Azak’s ship had survived most of the blast because it’s shields had been in good shape at that point.
“Send out the shuttles to help in the rescue efforts. Make sure they are full before they come back. We don’t want to leave anybody behind if we can help it.” Azak said. He looked at the view screen that just moments ago held Lionette’s image. Now the screen was blank. The transmission was gone.
Mykala had the helmsman bring the ship along side of the Imperial transport. They had knocked out the engines on this ship in order to take it as a prize and to refit it as a fourth raider. The fact that it was an Imperial ship meant that it would be easier to infiltrate convoys and bases so they could be attacked.
“I’m going down to join the boarding party. If Bronski calls looking for me tell him I’m on my way.” Mykala said as she hurried out from the bridge and down the stairs. They didn’t expect too much resistance but it was always better if Bronski and her lead the assault. None of their crew would complain about having too much fire power.
She made her way past the members of the boarding party up to the front next to Bronski just in time to hear the grappling clamps finish pulling the transport tight up against the air lock door.
“Glad you could make it your Highness. Loose your fucking crown or something?” Bronski asked.
“Bite my Royal ass dick head.” Mykala replied calmly without missing a beat.
Bronski smiled and laughed.
“Here we go.” he pulled the release catch on the door causing it to slide open. The little R2 unit rolled forward and with a few quick twists of it’s retractable arm opened the hatch on the Imperial transport. Blaster fire rained out from the now open door. Mykala blocked several shots with her light saber while returning fire with her own blaster. Two of the men behind her went down from the hail of fire coming through the door. The R2 unit was struck several times causing it to roll backwards squealing and clicking before it fell silent from the damage.
“Heads up !”Bronski yelled as he threw a stun grenade into the airlock of the transport. There was a loud bang and a flash of light as the device went off. Bronski put his scatter caster into the air lock and fired twice. He pulled the door open wider and stepped inside. One of the Imperial crewman took a shot hitting Bronski in the shoulder of his armored vest. Bronski shrugged it off as if being punched in the arm by a friend. He leveled his gun at the crewman and fired killing him instantly. He stepped fully into the airlock and shot all the remaining Imperials that lay stunned on the floor. The coolness of these executions made the Rebel soldiers glad they were on his side.
“Let’s move.” Bronski said plainly. The Rebel soldiers rushed into the hallway past the airlock and began to look for more crewman on the transport.
Mykala looked at Bronski and put her hand on her hip. “Forget something?”
He rolled his eyes. “Take prisoners if you can.” he hollered after the soldiers.
Hudd lay down on the bed of his state room. He was being taken back to Lionette’s palace along with Neeka and some wounded Feloid warriors. The warriors all had been too badly wounded to continue fighting. The med droid was just about ready to give him a shot to help him sleep. The left side of his face was still swollen from the beating the storm trooper gave him just before his ship was boarded by his rescuers.
Someone knocked at the door very lightly.
“Come in.” he said not sure if he had even heard the knock at all.
The door slid open and in stepped Neeka. She was wearing a bright red silk robe emblazoned with the Ty family crest. Her long black hair was down and fell about her shoulders. Her shapely legs were bare hinting that she was completely nude under the robe.
“I was just about ready to go to bed so I wanted to see if you wanted anything before I did.” she smiled. Her smile was warm and friendly with just a touch of playfulness in her luminous green eyes.
Hudd had been left by himself on the ship for most of the day. Neeka had been attending the wounded Feloids on the lower deck and taking care of Lionette’s personal affairs all day. The crew stayed away from anyone not a Feloid as usual even though the had been very hospitable.
“So I take it you have a little girl. Who long since you saw her last?” Hudd asked. She was the only person on the ship that he remotely knew and was willing to have a conversation with him.
“It’s been weeks since I’ve seen her. I can hardly wait.” Neeka said smiling wiping away a tear of happiness. “You don’t know how lucky I am Mr. Hudd. I was a slave my entire life. I actually have two more children somewhere, I guess they’re slaves now themselves. You see, slaves can’t keep their children. The only reason I have mine now is because Pep rescued a bunch of us and set us free. I volunteered to help Lionette and Pep find an assassin in the Palace. I wound up saving Lionette’s life, more by accident than by bravery I guess. I knew she would want to repay my deed so I asked her to help me buy my daughter from the slave market and she did. She gave me a job as her assistant and even lets me live with my child in the Palace. She had a Pink Hair as a slave before but she was banished for something she did. The strangest thing happened though, she was found by Pep also and she freed her as well. That Pep is one in a million I’ll say that. She even has a human as a lover and companion.” Neeka said. She must have needed to talk to someone as well. Neeka had sat on Hudd’s bed without even thinking about it.
“Yeah, I met him some time back, it was just for a few minutes though.” he smiled, he was glad to have the company.
“Do you know a Pink Head named Timtam by any chance Neeka?” Hudd asked.
“She’s the one I replaced. She’s a free person now and is living on the Rebel base where Pep is.” she said grinning.
“Can you help me get a message to her Neeka?” he asked.
“I can do that… if you want.” she said leaning back and letting her robe slip down off of her shoulder. Conversation wasn’t the only thing she had come in Hudd’s room for apparently.
Hudd was a little shocked at her forwardness. It seemed to come out of nowhere.
“Do you want me to send that message tonight or tomorrow?” Neeka asked as she ran her foot up and down Hudd’s leg. He had almost forgotten just how brazen Feloid catgirls could be. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted by her charms. She was a beauty that was for sure but finally being so close to Timtam again and the thought of being with her was enough to give him the strength to decline Neeka’s offer.
“Probably better if we sent it tonight.” he smiled awkwardly.
Neeka stuck out her lower lip pouting. “You sure?”
“I’d like to but I got to see this through.” he said.
“There isn’t any sign of the Princess on the scanners Prince Azak.” the officer said grimly.
“I refuse to accept she is dead. Keep searching.” Azak ordered.
“Wait…one of the shuttles has found her, they say she is injured but nothing too sever.” the officer reported after receiving an update.
“Thank our ancestors for her deliverance.” he said to himself. His crew stared at him as he gave thanks, they never heard him being religious before this moment.
Azak composed himself. “Check the long range scanners for Imperial reinforcements.” he ordered. They all waited as the sensor operator checked his instruments.
“No sign of any Imperial ships at all your Highness.” he said in disbelief.
“What do you mean?” Azak asked.
“I mean they’re gone sir. I can’t detect any Imperial ship in all of Feloid space.”
If you have enjoyed these stories please check out my first all original book series at Amazon.com. The title is Beyond the Crystal Heaven.
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Last Updated (Tuesday, 10 September 2013 02:06)