God Save the Queen 2: Chapter 1 (Patreon)

A/N: I thought I was pretty clever swapping ‘king’ for ‘queen’ in the title of episode 2. Apparently, the world thought so too, because it changed “God Save the Queen” back round the other way.

And that’s why I waited a month before posting this chapter. Sometimes, we all need space to…breathe.

For the new people, catch up on Episode 1 HERE

*~*~*

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…

Into Score 

EPISODE II: SOLDIER, POET, QUEEN

It has been five years since Queen Amidala of the Naboo forged an unlikely coalition in the Midrim. The small and scattered worlds of the galactic south have flocked to her revolutionary banner as the Republic grows fractious, and the Jedi Order hunts the elusive Sith in its shadow.

The Death Watch, once terrorists and murderers, now form the core of the new military of Naboo; wielded by the young queen with surprising restraint and ruthless efficiency, their ranks have swelled with new recruits of disparate loyalties, from both Naboo and allied worlds under its aegis.

But the Republic is not the only house divided against itself. Padme Amidala sits in the middle of an ever-growing web of alliances and interests, where one wrong step threatens to shatter her coalition…

Chapter 1: Her Majesty’s Fleet

Tremors echoed through the hull.

“Captain Amidala, Royal Squadron is ready for strike, transmitting telemetry now.”

I straightened in my command chair, thumbing the comm as the rest of the bridge crew snapped to attention. “Roger that. Inform Admiral In’vess that we will launch momentarily.”

“Good hunting.”

“Helm, take us out of the hangar.” I turned my gaze to the tactical plot, the layout of a nearby system appearing on the monitor. The image was surprisingly clean, for the victims of a pirate attack. “Link up with our strike wings at the jump point.”

“Taking us out now, captain!” I raised my chin as the engines spun up in the deck. In the forward viewpoint, I saw only the gray steel of the lucrehulk’s port hangar. Fortunately, starships were more than capable of moving in three dimensions.

I felt nothing as the hangar’s artificial gravity disengaged. My hammerhead frigate, RNS First Salvo, started to float, accelerating slowly upward. From my point of view, it was like we were rising up an elevator towards the hangar doors ‘above’ us.

“All hands,” I said, “report to duty stations. I want us ready to reestablish contact with the Theedthe moment we drop from hyperspace.”

Then, without a sound, the frigate emerged from the hangar, and the primary engines kicked on with a hum I felt deep in my chest. For a second, I could see the massive opening of the Lucrehulk hangar below us, before we launched forward into the endless void of space.

Of course, that void was far from empty.

A constant stream of new Naboo N-2 Starfighters launched from the starboard hangar like a swarm of bees. Lucrehulks could carry a complement of fifteen hundred vulture droids. With biological crews, we fielded far fewer starfighters, but as a strike wing formed around my frigate nearly two score strong, I felt like we had more than enough. The second wing came into formation only seconds behind.

72 N-2 fighters, fresh from Kuat Drive Yards, might change the math some.

I activated the comm. “Wing leaders, this is Strike actual. We are in position.”

“The navicomputer has plotted our routes, captain!” Officer Mirils called over his shoulder.

I nodded. “We are transmitting jump coordinates now.”

“Strike leader, this is silver leader.” The man’s voice came over the comm in crisp, professional tones. “Coordinates received, we are ready to make the jump to hyperspace at your command.”

“This is gold leader, coordinates received.” I could hear the smile in my other wing leader’s voice. “We are locked in, your majesty.”

I flicked the comm. “Save it for the ride back, Ryker. We’re going in hot, so prepare to jump on my mark.” My fingers tightened around the blocky metal arm of my chair. In front of me, the helm officer gave a thumbs up, his hand outlined in the viewport.

Surrounded by stars.

“Ready. Mark!”

We leapt forward into hyperspace, Gold and Silver Wings only a heartbeat behind. I felt a grin starting to grow across my face. This wasn’t my first strike, but it would be the first one I was leading, the first time I got to be the one directing the strategies I’d helped pioneer.

The coordinated jump was one such gem, even if I couldn’t claim credit for it.

Capital ships had few issues jumping in formation. With powerful navicomputers and low numbers, they could easily calculate complex tandem jumps. With hyperspace capable fighters, or even smaller vessels like corvettes, each navicomputer would introduce errors that would lead to large groups of fighters drifting off course. The coordinated jump was pioneered by the corelians around the Stark Hyperspace War by making the simple observation that it didn’t matter if your navicomputer made errors, as long as all those errors were exactly the same.

So, including a single keystone vessel, First Salvo, to link the full strike’s navicomps allowed us to arrive in perfect formation and dive right into the fight. Good for catching pirates.

With a jolt, realspace asserted itself around us. “Comms! Get us back in contact with the Theed,start broadcasting instrument telemetry…now.”

There was a shudder I couldn’t hear but felt as all 72 fighters dropped out of hyperspace almost perfectly in formation, my ship starting to send tactical data just in time for both wings to scream out of the void.

Right into the pirate flotilla swarming merchant shipping in Naboo protected space.

“All squadrons,” I called. “Engage at will.”

“Silver wing, lock tri-foils into attack position, commence direct strike on the frigate marked at X-5.”

I had to fight down a grin as the longer silver yellow wings of the N-2 split into a distinctive three-pronged shape. Did it count as foreknowledge to approve a design making use of this revolutionary new technology over more tried methodology? It wasn’t like I knew why clone wars era fighters and x-wings all used that layout.

Just that it performed above and beyond the admiralties expectations.

“Golds, eviscerate that corvette, hold the torps for our second run.”

Gold and Silver wings raced ahead of us, splitting by the numbers as the pirate fleet scrambled to face us. On the tactical plot, I saw a corvette and three enemy frigates. Alone, even my modified hammerhead couldn’t hope to do anything more than fight a delaying action. Most of the changes were internal anyway.

Seventy N-2 Strike Fighters might change the odds, though.

“Helm, full ahead towards the damaged frigate,” I said. “Batteries free.”

The hammerhead rumbled under me, a deep bass, as the engines surged. A first round of laser fire splashed harmlessly against the frigate’s shields, but this close, the ship had trouble bringing us into range of its forward arc. We had no such problem.

“Lead us to the left.”

Right now, we were just in range to test each other’s defenses, even as the wounded pirate frigate tried to roll behind the listing freighter it had been chasing. Alone, it would have been enough to stall us until another ship could come to their aid.

Then our fighters hit.

I spared a glance for the tactical plot as Gold Wing swept away scattered fighter screens. The pirate corvette had also tried to use a pair of freighters for cover, but that tactic only allowed Gold Wing to close distance without taking flak from their point defense.

Gold Wing broke out from behind the freighters, coming in from half a dozen angles. I saw a flash as our sensors noted the corvette’s shields going down under weight of fire.

“We’re taking heavy fire, Captain!”

“Intensify forward deflectors. Hammerheads are built for slugfests like this.”

Silver Wing had made the harder call. Of the two remaining frigates, they’d picked one that had broken off of its own prey to defend the corvette. It was a Corellian gunship, one that would have been a pain to attack head on, but in turning it had exposed its vulnerable flanks to Silver Wing.

Silver Leader had picked his target perfectly.

The cockpit shook as more turbolaser fire began hitting our shields. “Hold us steady.”

On the tactical plot, I saw Silver Wing launch two rounds of four proton torpedoes. They knocked out the shield generator, then the engines. After that, gunship or not, it was a sitting duck.

The gunnery sergeant let out a whoop. “Enemy shields are down, captain!”

“Fire by the numbers,” I commanded. “Broadcast our demands for their surrender.”

“Roger that!”

“Comms, any word from the Theed?” I asked.

“A third strike is spotted and ready, captain.”

“Tell them to hold.” I shook my head. “We should be enough to finish things up here.” Already, a frigate and corvette were out of commission, with a second frigate about to be battered into submission by my ship. With the press of a button, I swapped channels. “Silver leader, you have a broken-up squadron of pirate bombers and technicals coming back towards the convoy.”

“Roger you, Strike leader. S and E squadrons, you’ve dumped your torpedoes; break off and deal with those enemy fighters.”

I leaned back. “Has that frigate surrendered yet?”

“No, captain. We’ve taken out most of their forward guns, but they’re refusing our hails.”

I let out a hiss of air. “They might have prisoners aboard. Focus fire on their batteries.”

“As you—”

“New hyperspace signatures! Multiple marks at two-ten!”

My head snapped back to the tactical plot. Three new signatures stabilized as new contacts dropped back into realspace. “Get me IFFs on those vessels!”

“Enemy contacts! Two frigates and a carrier; Fighters dropping out of hyperspace as well! They’ll be on us in less than a minute!”

“Captain, the pirate frigate is bringing its port batteries to bear!”

“Ah.” I took a breath. “It’s a trap.”

My comm buzzed to life. “Strike leader, this is Silver Leader. We read additional contacts, fighter screens detected.”

“Guns,” I said. “Fire at will. Reduce that frigate to scrap.”

“Understood!”

I turned my head, even as the cockpit began to thrum from the forward batteries firing in a rapid staccato of red light. “Silver leader, finish off your current targets then form up on me.” I tapped quickly on my comm controls. “Gold wing, you’re out of position, make the jump to hyperspace and swing back around,” I said. “And comms, we could use that third strike right about now.”

“Strike Leader,” Gold Leader’s face appeared on my comm. He had a wild look, eyes narrowed into ferocious slits. “We still have our torps; we can punch through and knock over a frigate on our way out.”

I cupped my chin, eyes on the plot.

“Negative. Break contact and form up for another strike at best possible speed.”

“Captain! We’re transmitting telemetry to the Theed now, they’ve scrambled the next wing.”

I tapped the plot. “Gold Wing, your target will be here.”

He huffed, but gave a sharp nod. “That’s leading them.”

“They’re running fast. Now break off before those fighter screens reach you. Wouldn’t want to bruise your pretty face.”

“Roger.” His lips twisted into a slight scowl right as he cut the connection. Still, Gold wing peeled away and made the jump to hyperspace in good order. I looked up from that tactical table just in time to see the enemy frigate suffer a reactor breach and explode.

The view port automatically darkened to compensate for the wave of plasma as the vessel cracked in half lengthwise. For a moment, I lost sight of the stars.

“…Target neutralized.”

“Good shooting,” I said. “Helm, full speed towards the jump point, have Silver Wing form up on us. We need to put some distance between those frigates and their fighters. Comms, get those civilian vessels out of here.” The nearest freighter looked singed from the explosion, but its engines still worked.

With a jerk, First Salvo spun. The pirate frigates closed fast, but they’d lost time waiting for their fighters, and silver Silver Wing settled around my ship like a veil.

“We’ll keep those fighters off of you as long as we can, Strike Leader.”

Silver Wing had lost one fighter during their attack run which left the Corellian Frigate drifting in space, but the rest of the pirate technicals had joined up with their oncoming fighter screen, leaving Silver Wing outnumbered. “Engaging within range of those frigates’ guns will be a slaughter.”

The wing leader nodded, his bushy mustache rippling in the holo-static. “When they get closer, we’ll flip and take them head on.”

I let out a hiss of breath as the enemy ships continued to grow closer. The ship thrummed as scattering of blasterfire started to hit our shields. “Engage evasive maneuvers.”

“Negative, Captain.” Silver Leader reached up, locking in his deflectors. “All squadrons, Angle deflector shields, we turn on my mark.”

I closed my eyes for a long second. “Aim for the leftmost Frigate. It’s your only shot at breaking through. We can weather some shots.”

“...Acknowledged.”

“Helm, angle us away from the other ships. Keep those fighters off of us for as long as possible.” The problem with having a hammerhead was that its guns were forward-mounted. We wouldn’t be contributing much to this fight. There was one last thing I could do though.

I flicked over to the all-comm. “All hands, brace for manuvers.”

As one, Silver Wing accelerated hard, banking in a screaming turn. They raced back past my frigate so close I could almost see the pilots as they blurred past the First Salvo.

“Bank! Bank!”

I grabbed onto the arm of my chair as we turned hard into the skid, trying to put Silver Wing between us and the pirate fighters.

The ship rattled as those fighters from the far side of the enemy screen turned after us, pelting our deflectors. A squadron of mismatched headhunters raced past the cockpit. Red bolts flashed out from our forward batteries, tagging one as the other two broke away.

“The first barrage brought our shield down to 40%, Captain!”

“Keep heading for the jump point.”

We rocked under another salvo.

I kept my eyes forward as we picked off fighters piecemeal even as the first group looped back around and raked us a second time.

I could feel the lasers rattling our deflectors.

“Our shields are about to fail!”

Alarms shrieked in my ear.

“Hold us steady.”

The viewing port seemed far too small, and the tactical plot was a mess of fighters swarming over all four ships like bees.

“Silver Wing’s eviscerated the enemy frigate; the rest of the screen is breaking towards us!”

On the plot, I saw the rest of that swarm turn towards our frigate even as the faint blue dots representing Silver Wing raced away. It would be too long before they could re-engage.

My head snapped up.

“Aft shields down! Repeat, shields down aft!”

Like a cresting wave, another full wing of N-2s emerged from hyperspace in front of us.

“Strike inbound!”

They fell on the disorganized pirate ships fighters.

Clean shots picked the closest fighters off of us in a single sweep, without a stray shot so much as glancing our hull. Then they were past, shielding our aft from from enemy guns

Naboo fighter pilots were among the best in the galaxy.

Only a few of the pirate fighters stuck around to test our armor. I felt the impacts, clenched my fists knuckle white.

They didn’t hit anything critical. I followed them for the last few seconds before friendlies picked them up and scratched them off.

“Get me the Wing Leader! Helm, bring us around and get those shields back up. I want targeting solutions on the enemy ships!”

“Strike Leader, this is Platinum Leader,” came the wing leader’s voice. Her smooth core-world accent betrayed not a hint of worry. “We’ll handle the rest. Your shields are near failure. Recommend immediate withdrawal.”

“Negative. Our forward deflectors are holding fine.”

One of my officers glanced over his shoulder. “There are still two enemy ships. The carrier is locked onto us.”

“Focus fire on the other Frigate.” I looked down at the holo plot. “Aim to disable.”

“Captain…”

There was no sound in space, but I imagined I heard it all the same: the moment when Gold Wing reverted from their local jump right on our enemy’s tail.

This time, I saw with my own eyes as a full barrage of proton torpedoes streaked across the void, in lances of red.

A line of detonations wracked both ships, sending them careening.

And just like that, the battle was over just as fast as it had begun.

“Lined them right up for us, your majesty!” came Gold Leader over the comm.

I smirked. “Guns, finish off that frigate.” I turned my head to the side. “And I told you, it’s Strike Leader.”

Gold wing formed up around my battered Hammerhead, and the leader’s fighter settled in right next to the bridge, so close I could see the grin on his face.

“I’ll call you whatever you want once we make it back to the Theed, Strike Leader.”

“Good.” I nodded. “Platinum, break by squadrons and mop up the rest of those headhunters and disable the enemy ships.”

“Roger that, Strike Leader. We’ll endeavor to make quick work of it.”

“Silver Wing, I want you on route back to the Theed. Take a safe route back.” Here I had to fight back a grimace at their depleted numbers. Fighter pilots were not easy to replace. All the same, “Excellent work today, ladies and gentlemen. We broke the jaws of this trap with our own.”

“Shall we escort you back to the Theed, ma’am?” Silver Leader asked.

“No. Now it’s time for the marines to earn their keep.” I turned my eyes to the remaining carrier, as Platinum swarmed over it and disabled the rest of its point defenses. “I want to know how these pirates knew we’d be here, and who planned this little ambush with them.”

“Well, there is a reason we always bring a frigate with us on these operations.”

I nodded. Boarding was a key part of any anti-piracy operation, not the least of which because of hostages. This time, I hoped the very nature of this trap precluded the pirates having any ‘living cargo’ in their holds, but I wouldn’t know until the after action report came through.

Speak of after action. “Gold Leader, you’re to round up the civilian freighters and escort them back to the Theed.”

He pinged an affirmative, fighters peeling off.

I let out a breath. “Helm, bring us in closer to the target. I want full boarding teams prepped and ready to take that ship in five minutes.”

With a rumble, the First Salvo started forward again, slowly this time. We picked our way through a sprawling expanse of wrecked star fighters, more of them Naboo yellow and chrome than I was comfortable with.

The carrier was a repurposed civilian vessel, with more guns than the reforms allowed by a wide margin. Of course, even in space, Carriers were vulnerable to a massive barrage of proton torpedoes from a fighter wing. Fortunately, even if this pirate group seemed to be aping Naboo’s fleet doctrine, they clearly didn’t want to shell out on the necessary heavy ordinance for fighters to so effectively threaten capital ships.

Of course, if you wanted to put together a force built to explicitly counter Naboo’s First Fleet, you could hardly have done better with pirates and mercenaries.

“So,” I murmured, patchwork carrier looming large in the viewport, “let’s find out who put you together.”

*~*~*

A/N: I shall be accepting only sourced and peer reviewed analysis on Naboo’s fleet composition and doctrine.

A bit more exposition:

Tadme did not pioneer the trifoil design, she saw a that one of the proposed N-2s used it, and as queen pushed for that over more traditional starfighter designs.

RNS stands for Royal Naboo Ship.

Coordinated Jumps as I’ve described them are not canon to the best of my knowledge, but I may be mistaken. The point is using a central navicomputer to plot all jumps (in tandem with the fighter’s own navicomputers) and ensure that they all match internally, so any potential hyperspace drift is mirrored by all elements of the jump.