Dauntless: Imperial Officer SI (Star Wars) - All's Fair in Love and War (Updated) (Patreon)

39:03:09 GrS (4 ABY)
Realspace near Lotho Minor, Lotho Minor System, Wazta Sector, Outer Rim Territories, Galactic Coordinates I-17

“How many capitals are we facing, Lieutenant Zeitler?”

“Five GR-75 transports, six CR-90 corvettes, two Nebulon-B frigates, one Quasar Fire carrier, and one Recusant destroyer, sir.” Lieutenant Zeitler responded, with her succinct style. Enough  scrap, parts, and decommed starfighters to fill five GR-75s and a  Quasar Fire. The Rebels must have an agent helping them from inside one  of Lotho Minor’s scrap yards.

“And their starfighter escort?” I stared out at the cold, empty void of space. Somewhere in the distance was the enemy fleet.

“Four squadrons and counting, sir. They’re a mixture of X-Wings and Y-Wings, with some Z-95s.”

“Keep monitoring them, Lieutenant. Inform me of any significant changes in composition.”

“Yes sir.” I turned around to face my aide-de-camp, a pretty little brunette fresh out of Prefsbelt IV.  Her appointment as my aide was a favor owed to my uncle Sigurd; I  personally disliked officers whose positions were solely the outcome of family wealth and political connections. An irony many have noted, given my own birthright as a scion of the Salvar family.

“Lieutenant Gering?” She snapped to rigid attention, her chestnut bun bobbing up and down momentarily.

“Sir?”

“Make a note of Lotho Minor. There’s more than meets the eye with this junkyard.”

“Yes, Vice-Admiral.” She grabbed the datapad hanging from her belt and  started typing. Wheeling around, I walked towards one of the consoles  below the massive triangular viewports.

“Commander Auscoll, scramble all Interceptor wings. I want four wings  covering our ventral side, two covering our after, and four on the  starboard and port, two on each side.” I pressed my right thumb into the  scanner to enter my fingerprint, before confirming my identity via the  retinal scan. A few more taps on the screen opened a compartment below  the array of displays. Sub-Lieutenant Gering hurried over to take my  integrated headset and the accompanying interact-gloves out of the  compartment before handing it to me. I slipped the gloves through my  belt and turned to the business of putting on my headset.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” I placed the headset over my head before  replacing my grey officer’s cap back on my head. The index finger of my  left hand pressed the stylized “S” logo of Salvar Industries on the left  side headphone out of muscle memory, turning on the headset. Zoe’s soft  voice greeted my ears; the familiar, cozy tone of my tactical assistant  AI.

“Greetings, Master Siegmar. System activation in progress.” The familiar  lights of my transparent HMD began blinking on, its systems linking up  with the Shadow Fury’s massive array of sensors and scanners.

“System activation complete. Awaiting orders.” I pulled the  interact-gloves over my hands. They were a snug fit, as I zoomed into  the enemy fleet with the index and middle fingers of my right hand. Only the Recusant class presents any sort of threat. Therefore, the enemy starfighters take precedence.

“Captain Mauer.” Though my temporary second in command was standing  somewhere behind me, she still used her headset to communicate with me,  like all other members of the bridge crew.

“Sir?”

“Once the cloaking is disengaged, get the EMMDCs charged up and ready to fire. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Orders dispatched, Vice-Admiral. Interceptor wings are enroute to  combat stations.” The sound of Commander Artalis Auscoll’s voice was  abruptly interrupted by a familiar, feminine voice, with the faintest hint of a Rimmer accent to her Basic.

“Vice-Admiral Salvar, this is Colonel Volta of the Ravager. Insurgent fighter squadrons have flight vectors aligned on my cruiser. Requesting reinforcements.” A single wing of TIE/HU Hunters should be more than enough.  

“Commander Auscoll, redirect one wing of Hunters to protect the Ravager! And tell the six Raiders on our flanks to watch for any enemy movement.”

“Yes sir.”

“Commander Stamont, drop the cloak. It’s about time we let the  insurgents get a taste of despair.” My senior defense officer executed  his orders with lightning speed and the utmost precision.

“Cloaking generators deactivated, sir.” I watched as a wave of blue lightning surged across the surface of my Executor class,  a visual effect caused by the disengagement of stygium crystals in the  many cloaking generators placed throughout the vessel. The whole process  only took two seconds; I expected no less from my magnum opus.

“Sir, I am observing an anomaly with the cloaking systems.” piped up my chief engineering officer, Commander Hiram Jachin.

“Go ahead Commander, but make it quick.”

“The amount of power consumed by the cloaking was close to critical  levels, sir. Given the circumstances, I believe the source of the  problem is the gravity wells of the Immobilizer 418 cruiser. The  artificial gravity wells are creating some sort of interference with our  cloaking generators. I think-”

“Just make a note of this, Commander. Nothing we can do about this right  now. We’ll deal with this anomaly when we return to Tofen Station. For  now, keep an eye on the power requirements and avoid simultaneous  operation of both our cloaking and the Ravager’s gravity wells. And good work Commander.”

“Yes sir and thank you sir.” I tapped a few buttons on the touchscreen  of my integrated wristband. Trajectories and ammunition loadouts for the  EMMDCs, with the targeting information of the Rebel fleet, a few  hundred megalights away. Out of normal combat range. But the Shadow Fury is no normal Executor class Star Dreadnought.

“Are the EMMDCs charged up, Lieutenant Pyle?” I could hear the eagerness in the young First Lieutenant’s voice as he responded. And now, conventional fleet combat dies with thunderous explosions.

“Yes sir!”

“Slave Batteries 1 through 4 to your control console. Target the Recusant class and aim for the engine units.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Commander Hercov, assign targets for the remaining batteries at your discretion and order them to fire on my mark.”

“Yes sir.”

“Warning Master, Rebel starfighters are changing approach vectors. New target is Executor class dreadnought Shadow Fury.” Zoe’s notification system paused before continuing. “Shall I deploy the Predator gunships?”

“Zoe, deploy Predator wings 1 through 20, Defensive Formation Xesh. I  want our trenches covered.” A smile made its way across my face. Those new vertical deployment racks are going to come in handy.

“Deployment in progress, ETA 3 minutes.” HMP Predator gunships streamed  out the port and starboard hangar; black metal flatcakes of pure destruction.

“Lieutenant Commander Trask, prepare the missile batteries loaded with heavy Discord missiles. Hold fire till my command.”

“Yes sir.”  Lieutenant Commander Vivian Trask did exactly as I ordered;  the top right corner of my HMD indicated that only missile batteries  loaded with Discord missiles were ready to fire.

“Predators, prepare to fire Discord missiles once the enemy enters effective range.”

“By your command.” responded one of the gunships; a command variant that  saw its distinctive chin mounted ball turrets replaced with advanced  sensors, scanners, and long range comms.

"Colonel Agamar, have all our starfighters to steer clear of the enemy  approach vectors. I don't want them getting caught by the swarm."

"Already completed, sir. All deployed squadrons are clear of insurgent approach vectors."

"Good. Once the enemy squadrons have been destroyed, I want two squadron  of Phantoms to go disable those transports and their remaining  escorts."

"Copy that, sir."

Time seemed to slow down; the enemy squadrons closing the distance with every passing second.

"ETA is now one minute for heavy Discord missiles." reminded Zoe. The  Recusant class and its two Nebulon B escorts had realized the trick and  were now charging towards my eight ship flotilla. By holding my forces  back, I had forced the enemy fleet to come and fight me on a field of my  choosing.

"ETA is now 30 seconds." Sending their starfighters against the  Shadow Fury . . . They want to distract me while their capitals go for  the Ravager. Knock out it’s gravity wells and then jump for it. Not a  bad strategy . . . for a bunch of desperate insurgents.

"ETA is now 10 seconds." Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one . . .

“Fire!” A beeping sound filled my headphones for a few seconds, as Rebel X-wings and B-wings came into range of the Shadow Fury’s heavy Discord missiles.

“Missiles away, sir.” Dozens of Discord missiles lit up on my visor, a  wave of blue exhaust trails streaming towards the advancing Rebel  starfighters. A wondrous display it was, the exhaust trails of both  starfighter and missile set on a collision course.

I smiled when the missiles exploded before reaching their targets.  Despite appearances, they’d already accomplished their mission. Ten  droids per missile, with 100 missiles launched; a lethal hailstorm of  Pistoeka sabotage droids that none could survive.

An X-Wing blinked out on my visor as it spun out of control before exploding in a ball of fire. One of the buzz droids must have cut into the fuel cells; the sparks from the circular saw probably did the trick.

Two Y-Wings followed suit. One by one, the enemy starfighters succumbed to the dozens of Pistoeka Sabotage Droid Mark IIs that clung onto them, cutting them apart piece by piece. They  blinked out on my visor, exploding or stalling as vital components fell  off their spaceframes. I was on the verge of turning my attention back  to the─

“Vice Admiral, one of the Z-95s survived the missile strike! It’s  heading straight for the bridge!” Captain Mauer's voice carried the  faintest traces of shock; that a heavily outdated starfighter such as  the Z-95 Headhunter could survive a barrage of buzz droids.

“Commander Hercov, have the quad point defense batteries get rid of this pest.”

“Right away, sir!” Six hundred quadruple point defense batteries opened  up on the solitary fighter, a wave of green lasers heading straight for  it. Yet despite all the odds stacked against it, the little fighter  managed to avoid the barrage, dodging and weaving past every single one.

“This is no ordinary pilot, love. The Force . . . it is strong with her.” A calm, sensual voice answered my unspoken question.

“Can you do something about it, Kyrisa?”

“I can try to work some magicks, but we must work in unison. When I give you the signal, unleash the hidden turrets.”

“I’ll have them ready, just tell me when to fire.”

“Sir, the fighter is evading our defensive fire! It’s heading straight  for the bridge!” exclaimed Captain Mauer, a hint of panic creeping into  her voice. The enemy pilot returned fire with her starfighter, but the  feeble laser beams of her wingtip cannons were no match for the Shadow Fury’s shields. They splashed against them, creating a multitude of ripples in the bridge ray shielding. Does this insurgent really think her distraction is going to fool me?

“Prepare to activate close-in defenses on my command.” I tapped a few  buttons on my wrist controls and set the targeting system to track the  Z-95 Headhunter. Captain Mauer ran forward to the consoles in front of  the triangular window panes, her short braid bobbing up and down as  hurriedly activated the aforementioned weapons systems.

“My magicks are taking effect, Siegmar. Unleash the cannons, now!” whispered Kyrisa.

“Activate close-in defenses!” Captain Mauser executed my orders,  activating all the close-in defenses around the bridge. Sections of  armor plating suddenly retracted and previously concealed, rapid fire  twin point defense lasers opened up on the Z-95.

My headset showed dozens of high powered laser beams impacting against  little craft, overloading the shields in an instant. Subsequent shots  ripped into the starfighter itself, before it exploded; a fiery ball of  almost certain death. Large pieces of wreckage hurtled at the bridge,  and I briefly caught a glimpse of the charred cockpit before an  invisible force slowed the twisted chunks of metal to a grinding halt. There’s the pilot’s corpse, so badly burnt I can hardly tell what species she belonged to. The same invisible power pushed the wreckage away from the bridge, upwards into the black void of space.

“Guess I owe you one again, love.” Kyrisa let out a light, airy laugh in response.

“Just tell me when you're finished with these pests, Marmar.” Not again! Why did she have to use that nickname?

“Target destroyed, Vice Admiral.”

“Good. Now let us finish the last of our live combat tests.”

With the last insurgent starfighter out of the way, it was time to turn  my attention back to the main problem at hand. Their capital ships had  been racing towards my little fleet, more specifically the Ravager,  while their transports and carrier drifted through the void without  power. The two TRIEN/ph Phantom squadrons had completed their mission.  It was time for the final act.

“Are the EMMDCs still on target, Commander Hercov?”

“Yes sir. Anti-fleet rounds are loaded and all guns have a clear firing trajectory. Requesting permission to fire.”

“Permission granted, Commander. Let conventional fleet combat perish  with thunderous applause.” I glanced down at the left hand pit, where  Lieutenant Raymuth Pyle grasped the targeting joystick in his right hand  as his right index finger depressed the safety.

At full power, the EMMDCs would only take somewhere between 1 and 1.5  seconds to hit their targets. Dozens of red streaks lit up the void  between my little flotilla and the remaining Rebel ships for just a  second, before the sternward portion of the Recusant erupted in a  massive fireball.

Such was the size of the fireball that it engulfed a nearby CR-90,  taking the little corvette with it. The other Rebel capitals experienced  similar explosions, as their combat effectiveness swiftly dropped to  zero on my HUD.

I knew from the quiet thrumming of electronics and machinery around me  that Captain Mauer was probably gazing at the expanding fireballs with a  look of silent awe upon her face; the rest of the bridge crew in a  similar state. A fleet that would otherwise have required minutes of  fierce combat to destroy was utterly annihilated in seconds, before they  even entered combat range.

“Vice-Admiral, the remaining Reb─ I mean insurgents are hailing  us. I believe they’re surrendering, Sir.” The sound of Sub-Lieutenant  Markus Markovic’s voice carried both excitement and surprise in equal  parts. Rebel fleet units rarely surrendered, almost always preferring to  fight to the bitter end.

“What were my orders before we departed Tofen Station, Sub-Lieutenant Markovic?”

“No survivors, sir.”

“Pyle, power down the EMMDCs and restore power to the turbolasers.  Baric, raise shields to full power.” I watched my bridge crew carry out  their orders, swiftly and without question. I turned around to address  my Captain.

“Mauer.” The temporary captain of the Shadow Fury turned around and snapped to attention.

“Sir?”

“The bridge is yours, Captain. Destroy the remaining insurgent vessels with turbolaser fire. Use proton torpedoes at your discretion. I want a  full AAR in 4 hours. Lieutenant Gering will deliver the report to me  when it’s completed.” She saluted me and I returned the gesture. With a  growing smile on my face, I walked up to the display screens in front  and tapped one of the screens a few times. I took off my integrated  headset and interact gloves and handed them to my aide. She placed them  back into their storage compartment, which promptly shut with the touch  of a button. Afterwards, she took her place behind Captain Mauer, awaiting her next set of orders.

I passed through a pair of automatic doors into the main corridor. On my  left was the tactical command room, for commanding whole fleets in  combat. The room on the right was the ground assault command room, used  to coordinate planetside assaults and planetary invasions.

Two Phase IIC dark troopers stood on either side of the next set of  doors, both of whom came to attention and saluted as I passed. I  returned the gesture with a salute of my own and walked through the next  set of automatic doors into the elevator lobby. To my right were the  admiral’s lift, for my own personal use, and beside it, the captain’s  lift. On the left were the bridge crew’s lift and the security  personnel’s lift. At the far end of the room were the unfurnished  “special” lifts, one on each side, used to transport dark troopers,  droidekas and security personnel. Kuat Drive Yards and their nerfshit modular bridges have nothing on my custom, state-of-the-art Salvar Industries bridge.

I boarded my own private elevator, pressed the button for Level 3, and  promptly arrived at my desired floor due to . The doors opened and I  went right, for the left side had been converted into a fully equipped  laboratory for Lady Kyrisa to continue her research and development.  What she did there was not fully known to me. All I knew was that she  was using the Force to help her genetically engineer various creatures  such as the hssiss into more tactically desirable forms. Those hssiss she alchemically altered were a great help in eliminating those ISB gooks. Too bad she insisted on taking them back to Ambria.

A strange smell greeted my nostrils when I neared the door to Kyrisa’s room. Perfume of some kind? It certainly smells like it. I  waved my right hand over the nanochip scanner. The door slid open and I  walked in. Kyrisa was sitting on her bed by the window, wearing a  simple, if revealing black dress, her legs crossed in a meditation  position. Turbolasers beams zipped by her window, accompanied by a few  proton torpedoes every now and then.

“I can still sense insurgents aboard those ships, Siegmar.”

“Only for a few minutes.” She turned around, the red tattoos on her face  glowing in the dim light of her bedroom. The only thing more striking  than her facial tattoos were those bright red eyes of hers, boring  straight into my soul.

“Come to pay your debt?” She smiled seductively at me, her almost  unworldly beauty compelling me to walk forward. Those soft, pillowy  lips. That toned, feminine body of hers; shaped by years of fighting and  warfare amid the highlands and swamps of Dathomir.

“You know I’ve never disappointed you, at least not in the bedroom.”

“True, but you might not be able to stay as long as you want this time.”

“What do you mean? Have you finally found a way to sense my thoughts  through the Force?” Kyrisa laughed in response, a light, airy laugh that  revealed nothing to me.

“Our fun might be cut short, darling. Both Palpatine and Vader are dead  at Endor and the 2nd Death Star is no more, along with another ship like  the one we are aboard and many more besides.”

“You sensed their deaths through the Force?”

“Of course. Not all of us have the misfortune of being a void in the Force.” I chuckled.

“I wouldn’t call it a misfortune, love. Remember that stupid look on Namman Cha’s  face before I wiped it off with micro-bombs?” Out of nowhere, a cushion  flew off her bed and hit me flat in the back, propelling me forward  until I landed face first on her bed.

“Your invulnerability to the Force is a minor difficulty that I’ve since  overcome.” I rolled over, only to find her sitting right behind me, her  long, pale legs upon my grey uniform as she cradled my head in her lap.

“Indeed you have, love. Now let’s enjoy what little time we have, before  the tides of war call for me again.” I took off my gloves, threw them  off to the side, and put my arms on her long, pale legs, as white as the  snows of Hoth the day we first met. “Why were you sitting on the bed  like that when I came in?”

“Battle meditation.” She extended her right hand, pouring a glass of  Alderaanian wine using the Force. “Though it’s greatly inferior to what  both Jedi and Sith were capable of doing in decades and centuries past.”

“A poor blaster is better than no blaster at all, ‘Risa.” I reached out  to grab the glass before taking a sip. The wine was an Alderaanian  vintage, given to me by an Imperial Army general to facilitate his son’s  transfer to the Valahari garrison. I passed the glass to her. Kyrisa  drained the glass and placed it on the nightstand telekinetically. Time to turn the tables.

“It’s stronger . . . than I expected.” Seizing the opportunity, I turned  around and climbed over Kyrisa, quick as a nexus. My face right above  hers, her ample assets brushing against my chest.

“Like a certain human in the room.” Her face relaxed into a smile and  then she grabbed my head and pulled me in for a deep kiss. My cap flew  off my head as she began taking off my jacket. From there on, I knew  that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep for the next 3 hours. Not that I  wasn’t looking forward to it.

3 Hours, 21 Minutes, and 34 Seconds Later

“You don’t have a preference for sons or daughters?” I took a long sip  from the glass and handed it to her. Kyrisa gave me a quizzical glance  and gently took the glass from me using the Force.

“As long as they don’t turn out to be a big furry ysalamir like you.”  She took a quick sip and then put the glass down on the nightstand.

“Very funn─” The wrist comms lying on the nightstand beside Kyrisa  started beeping urgently, a red light flashing on the urgent call  button. I kissed Kyrisa on the cheek, reached over, and tapped the  button.

“This is Vice-Admiral Salvar. What is it, Captain Mauer?”

“Sir, the Rebels are broadcasting a transmission on several open  channels. I-I think you should come to the bridge and take a look at─”

“On my way, Mauer. Control the situation until I get there. Salvar,  out.” I tapped the button once more and then laid back down into the  soft, fluffy bed. Kyrisa put her head on my shoulder and threw her left  arm over my chest, just like she had a thousand times over in the 20  months we’d been together. I traced one of the tattoos on her thigh with  my finger, feeling her soft, silky skin, a sharp contrast to her  hardened interior; Kyrisa was a warrior and sorceress, one of the  greatest beastwardens the Nightsisters had ever seen, with little mercy  for those she considered her enemies. Guess those years of exile on Hoth really changed her.

“Going already, darling?”

“All’s fair in love and war, my dear. The time for love is gone and past. Now, it’s time for war.”