Chapter V
Jared was being ushered down
the hall by the Admiral, and more and more people were joining them. High-ranking officials, weapons specialists,
elite pilots, and worker droids. Some of the lower officers were dismissed from
the group. Jared was surprised, it seemed like everyone was there.
D’Tan and Cid arrived from their
training, and Max clambered along at the end of the group. There was a silence of anticipation, a
little murmuring, and speculation as to what this new toy was. Most supposed it was a ship. A good ship, and so many were anxious to see
it.
They came around the corner to face a
nondescript blast door, which would open into the docking bay and where this
secret was being developed. The Admiral
entered the code and the door slid open.
Many held their breath as they looked in and saw...
Nothing. It was empty.
“What the hell?” exclaimed Jared,
“Where is it?”
There really was nothing but a few
tools, some crates, and a control console.
But that was what the Admiral had intended.
“Please, come this way,” The Admiral
said, as he ushered them into the docking bay so all could see...what? “General Uthat, if you would.”
Mar stepped forward to the console and
the Admiral looked out the starport to the star, the central star of their home
system, Angosia.
“Would you mind telling me what’s
going on here?” Jared said, for he was not impressed with this silent show of
nothing.
“Ah yes,” Mar said, “We had to test
the final shielding of the ship. It seems to be holding very well. May I present you with...the Angosian Star.”
“Wonderful,” Jared said, “But, where
is it?”
“There.” The Admiral said.
“Where?”
“There. In the sun.”
Everyone seemed to strain their eyes
to look into the star, almost oblivious to the damage it may do to their
eyes. The only ones who seemed
inattentive were D’Tan and Cid, for they knew where it was.
The mass could see a black dot as
something emerged from the middle of the sun and they visually tracked it for a
while. No one was able to gauge exactly
how fast the ship was going, except Cid.
“It’s coming in fast, almost attack
speed!” he exclaimed.
The huge saucer-shaped ship appeared,
and quickly too. It was heading
straight for the ship, coming in as if on a collision course. Except for the Jedi, people were nervous and
noticeably jumpy as it came in, skidded to a halt, gear scraping as it
landed. Of course, everyone started to
scramble out of the way as this huge ship set down.
“Mar”, the Admiral exclaimed, “grow
up!”
This ship was something to marvel
at. The docking bay was big enough to
hold 30 normal ships, and the roof was raised up higher. But the Angosian Star filled the
bay. The lights gleamed off of the
thick, shiny armor as the ship let out its final exhaust and the entry ramp
lowered.
“Come, let’s tour your ship, Jared.”
Jared was so astonished he would have
burst, but being his normal self, he remained silent, for his training always
stuck with him, and he couldn’t keep from running his hand over the smooth hull
of the ship as he passed underneath it to the entryway.
Once on the ship, one thing occurred
to him.
“Uh, Admiral, where would we get a
schematic of the ship? It’s a little,
uh, big.”
“Oh,” Mar replied, “There’s one on the
wall here. You should be able to find a console every once and a while, but
knowing you, you’ll find your way without one.”
“Thanks,” Jared said, with a bit of
sarcasm in his voice.
“Oooh, sir,” yelped Max, “There’s an
interface here, I’ll plug in and find out what I can on this ship.”
“You do that, Max,” Cid said, patting
Max on his metallic back, “Just be sure to get me a technical readout.”
“No need for that,” interrupted Mar,
“There’s a copy waiting in you’re quarters here.”
“My quarters?!” exclaimed Cid.
“Yes, all of you have your own
quarters. This is a small warship, with
a lot of punch. You all will be
stationed here. Of course the lower
officers will have to share quarters, but none of you are that.”
“Oh, how wonderful,” groaned Gannon,
“You’re gonna strand me out here, and I won’t be seeing a well-stocked bar or a
tough game of sabacc for a while.”
“You should try deck 7,” Mar said,
“There’s a small bar there, and yes, there are sabacc tables.”
Obviously everyone seemed satisfied,
except for one person. That was
D’Tan. He’d be away from his Jedi
training for quite some time.
“Oh, and to keep you primed, there’s a
training center down one deck,” Mar
said, almost reading D’Tan’s mind. “Just to hone your skills.”
Mar turned to face D’Tan.
“And there’s plenty of those Jedi
training items there too.”
Admiral Danar probably stocked them
full of training remotes and ball bearings, for he would certainly know how
quickly D’Tan went through them.
“Now, let’s take you to the bridge of
the ship.”
The bridge was spectacular and
spacious. Displays hummed, panels blinked.
Jared drew his attention to the captain’s chair, as he was impressed
with the luxury of this warship and its bridge.
Cid tapped in almost immediately at
his station to get a readout of all the systems. Yep, the latest advancements were all there; the Phase Shielding,
the metaphasic shielding, the Hyperlance warheads, the rapid-fire cannons, and
enough maneuvering thrusters that they could go all-out through an asteroid
field and not take a scratch. But, of
course, this was one tough little ship, it wouldn’t scratch easily.
Max settled in to his personal
interface and plugged in to interpret all the data. He had been unsuccessful at the other computer, having a long
talk with it and running into all sorts of errors, mostly on his part. D’Tan
had his seat to the left of Jared but no true controls.
Gannon was given a seat towards the
front of the ship and more to the side.
He observed that there were no important controls there; they obviously
were trying to keep him isolated where he couldn’t get in the way.
Darus was not impressed at first by
the fact that he wouldn’t be placed in any gunner’s well, his second home, and
that the guns were mainly automated.
“Where’s my turret? Damned it, I’m a
gunner, not a bureaucrat!”
But his mood softened some as he was
given a place at a console behind Jared’s chair. From here he would control the
shots of each gun with his good aim and with the newly engineered targeting
system, it could fire more accurately than he could ever have without such
aid. He’d have to thank Cid later, for
it only needed one-tenth of a second to acquire a lock on a moving target with
him at the controls.
After a full ship diagnostic, Cid
noted the two empty consoles towards the front of the ship. They both had controls for piloting the
ship. Also, the chair to the right of
Jared, occupied by the first officer, was empty.
“Admiral,” Cid said, “where is the
rest of the crew?”
“They’re on their way,” the Admiral
replied, “Their shuttle will arrive later today.”
The intercom buzzed, and the Admiral
replied.
“Sir,” the dispatcher said, “Peliar
Zel has just fallen under assault by Imperial forces. Reports indicate that it’s Anorax’s fleet.”
“What’s the status of the fleet?”
Danar asked.
“Sir, the fleet is still recuperating
from the last attack,” the voice said, “we haven’t much to use.”
“Thorn Squadron would be ready to go
now, sir,” D’Tan interjected.
“And we have this ship,” said Jared
confidently.
“But we haven’t the proper crew!”
cried Mar.
“I’ve confidence in the people here,”
responded Admiral Danar, “And we’ll make do.
Jared, Mar, take the pilot controls.
Prepare to launch. Buzz Thorn
Squadron, too.”
“Already done, sir,” said Max, who had
almost been forgotten.
The Admiral was settling into his
chair, but he, like all the others, knew that the odds would be against
them. They had a new ship, yes, but
would it be enough? Only time would
tell.
As the group jumped into hyperspace,
they all hoped that like the Rebels on the other side of the galaxy, a few
starfighters and some courage would bring them through as well.