Courage Under Fire

Saye thought about the question the Moff had given him. He was a little relieved that the Moff hadn't severely punished him for the loss of the Noose.

"Well,Your Excellency, I would interrogate them see if they have any valuable information. They might know of Rebel plans that intelligence hasn't picked up on yet, such as invasions, fleet movement, that sort of thing. If they give us any good information, we might be able to strike the Rebels where they are vulnerable, or defend against possible attacks." He said, giving the question his best shot.

Moff Greth took a drink from the table before him and sat back. he sipped slowly from his cup as Saye answered.

"Then that is what you will do captain. After we have finished off the rebels I will give you the honor of interrogating them. Until then pull your ships out away from the rebel formation. Let us save what is left of your men."

In the distance he could see Punisher and Judicator laying waste to the remaining dreadnaughts. The Dauntless and Assault frigate were still putting up a formidable fight as they attempted to escape Greths trap. The small gunships were moving back to support the Courageous. they were much to fast to waste time on. His gunners time was better spent targeting the Lucrehulk and dauntless. Greth looked back to the image of Captain Saye.

"Your performance in these tasks has been commendable Captain Saye. Once we get back to Valc VII have dinner with me. Let us discuss your future with the Perinn Sector Fleet."

"Yes, Your Excellency," Saye replied, shutting of the communications, relieved that he had not been punished. In fact, the Moff had hinted of a promotion, but Saye knew not to get his hopes up. His four years in the Navy had taught him that much.

"You heard His Excellency! Let's get moving!" He relayed the order to his surviving captains, and almost keyed the button for The Noose before he forgot that she, like the Lancer, was nothing more than debris.

His fleet started to move away, drifting away from the combat zone, firing at the remaining Rebel ships. He could see the hulk of the Noose in the distance, torn apart, melted, and scrapped. His TIEs started to move near his hangars, ready to enter them as soon as they were clear of the battle zone.

Saye looked forward to the interrogation of the Rebel prisoners, and the dinner with the Moff. He continued to think about the possible promotion ahead, trying to guess what ships he would be assigned. He had lost two in the assault, but the Lancer was easier to replace then the Interdictor. He had never liked the Lancers anyways. Not enough shielding to work as a good anti-figher ship. Bantha fodder was more in its line of work.

He turned towards the battle, now distant flashes of light and small explosions quickly extinguished by the vaccum of space. He had made it out alive.

Admiral Holt watched as his ships were tore apart. He had taken his ship out to flank the imperial group in an attempt to win the battle swiftly. Now his decision had cost thousands of men and women their lives. Courageous was turning to engage the new force of destroyers. The shielding held for the time being but as soon as he became their primary target that would change.

Captain Nomarr had made the right decision to try to run without consulting Him. Any commander worth their pay grade could see fighting was hopeless. In the distance the massive dagger shape of a Praetor star Battle cruiser loomed like a vibroblade about to cut into flesh. He had seen first hand what such a ship could do during the clone wars. The Courageous was a formidable ship and Holt would put it against any ship short of a Star Dreadnaught any day. However the Praetor was flanked by twelve other destroyers.

"tactical, Have all gunners make their target that battle cruiser. Take us in nice and slow and plot a jump vector out of the system on out attack heading. Weapons to half power. Divert all the power we can to shielding as we approach. Chief, How long on the hyperdrive?"

The gruff looking master chief looked over his screen then spoke to someone in engineering. He yelled at them to work faster and threatened someone with something Holt could not make out. The chief turned and spoke.

"Seven minutes sir, I will have you power to your hyperdrive in seven minutes."

The chief slammed his pad on the console and ran to the turbo lift. It seemed he was going to deal with the issue himself. Holt turned his attention to the display once again. Two of the destroyers were breaking off and moving to engage Nomarr and the rest of his ships. The others were moving to target the Courageous.

Devik Boyle stood at the bridge of the Judicator, surveying the destruction. He had arrived with Moff Greth and the rest of Scythe Squadron, and had been ordered to attack the remaining cruisers defending the Courageous. At the moment, the Judicator was bombarding the Dauntless cruiser, which was stubbornly putting up a fight. To his starboard flank, he could see the Punisher, a Tector Star Destroyer, pounding away at the Assault Frigate. The small ship was firing back, but was turning its port flank into the fire, concentrating the shield power. Looking at the display, Devik saw the CR90 fleeing around the backside of the Dauntless cruiser, hiding behind its massive bulk. He guessed that the Assault Frigate would be trying the same maneuver.

"Captain Djor, fire full bombardments in a gamma-three pattern at the assault frigate's stem, port stabilizer, and command center. Make sure she doesn't escape under the Dauntless. I will fire on the port side of the Dauntless to make sure the frigate cannot pass under." He relayed the order to the captain before concentrating again on the Dauntless.

"All TIE squadrons, take out those fighters. I want a delta-V attack pattern broken into three flights of two squadrons. Once one flight attacks, speed through their fighter formation. The next flight, attack the fighters if they turn to fire at the previous flight. If they engage you, I want the first flight to turn around and fire back at those fighters." He gave the complicated order, and saw the TIEs zoom in on the fighters, blast several, and cut through the formation. When the Rebel fighters turned to fire back, the second flight slammed more fire into the ships, incinerating even more Rebels. As ordered, the first flight returned to its position behind the third flight, ready to attack again. The second time, the Rebels were smarter. Instead of tracking the passing TIE flight, they fired on the incoming flight. Behind them, Devik could see the first flight of TIEs bank around and fire at the fighters from behind, once again blasting several fighters.

Meanwhile, the Punisher had concentrated her bombardment on the Assault Frigate, tearing down what was left of the shielding. As his TIE fighters continued to blast away at the outnumbered and outmaneuvered Rebel pilots, Devik turned his attention to the bombers.

"Bombers, skim along the surface of that Dauntless and fire on the torpedo launchers. I don't want a surprise attack coming from those Rebels." As soon as he gave the orders, the bombers screamed by, pounding the Dauntless with their proton bombs. Without the fighters to protect her, the Dauntless cruiser was defenseless against the bombers. As the huge ship started to retreat, Devik gave the order for more concentrated fire. He didn't want any Rebels escaping.

"All forces retreat!" Aaron yelled over the comm, watching as an Imperial Star Destroyer and a Tector Star Destroyer closed in on his outgunned group. 1 Wing of TIEs came soaring past, blasting his remaining fighters. Many had been lost today, and he would remember them.

"Sir, the Hammer has lost all shielding and is about to launch escape pods." A young tactical officer, maybe twenty five, reported from his terminal, his face ashen with despair.

"They're never going to make it through those TIEs! We need to retreat now! Turn the port flank into the line of fire, and fire all torpedo tubes at that Tector." He pointed out the Star Destroyer, and soon the torpedos were on their way, the deadly projectiles reaching hungrily for the Tector's hull. Despite the mass of incoming torpedos, Aaron knew that he wouldn't be able to destroy the ship. It had taken relatively little fire and was more heavily shielded than a regular Imperial Star Destroyer. Unfortunately, Aaron knew that the ship possessed point-defense systems, but several torpedos would get through. In the meantime, he had to save the escape pods.

"Captain, turn you ship to us, and launch all escape pods at the hangar bay." He ordered, watching the Captain comply. Just as the first few escape pods were launched, the frigate exploded in an enormous fireball, which quickly disappeared, leaving the melted debris and burnt bodies floating in space.

"Sir, it appears that a power line was ruptured and detonated catastrophically in a series of explosions leading down to the main reactor, which also exploded. There were no survivors." The same tactical officer reported in, and the bridge fell silent.

"Well then, lets get out of here. Captain, have the Glouster jump with us. Set co-ordinates to sector 13326. Jump on my mark." Aaron said, giving the order as calmly as he could.

"Sir, shields at twenty percent!"

"Hyperspace in 10...9...8...7...6..."

"Shields at fifteen percent!

"5...4...3...2...1...0!" Aaron sighed with relief as the two ships jumped away. He had made it out alive with little to spare. In his relief, he hadn't noticed the escape pod, drifting in space, with one of the hammer's crew inside.

"Sir, the Judicator and the Punisher are assissting in defeating the Rebel defenders."

"Good. Get me a damage report on all ships." Saye sat back and watched the fireworks as the two enormous ships duked it out with the Dauntless.

"All TIEs, report to your assigned hangars." He sent out the message and got comfortable in his chair. In the distance, he could an explosion as the Assault Frigate was destroyed. From hear he could see specs that could be debris or bodies, he didn't care which. Another second later, the Dauntless hyperspaced away, leaving nothing but dead space behind. So much for that Rebel.

"Sir, we have taken minimal damage, and only suffered minor scorch marks on the hull. The Lucky Shot, Toad, and Valc's Pride have taken no damage. The Mynock has reported two turbolasers knocked out in the fight. As you know, the Swiftfoot and the Noose were destroyed in the fight. The Slug has also taken minor damage. TIE 1 was obliterated completely, but the other TIE squadrons suffered losses of one or two men each, if that." The lieutenant came back, reading a data pad hewas carrying in his hands.

"Very good lieutenant. You are dismissed. We are to wait here until we receive orders from His Excellency to leave the battle." Saye watched the lieutenant go, then resumed his place on the bridge, watching the bloodbath beyond.

Relief washed over Holts body as he watched Salvation jump to hyperspace. He had ordered the gunship’s to do as Captain Nomarr had done and jump out. Two were not luck enough to make it out of the system but four ships jumped out and away from the nightmare that was the imperial fleet. Now only Courageous was left for the Imperials to target. Three of the fourteen capital ships were now on the edge of weapons range. the massive battle cruiser and the other ten were bearing down on him and the courageous. Turbolaser fire splashed over the ships ever decreasing shielding. Ion bolts struck the shields casting blue lighting arch’s over the shielding draining its power.

"Admiral sir, The chief is on the comm."

Holt turned to see where the shout had come from. Commander Forlon was now working on the engineering station assisting the damage control crews in the chiefs absence.

"Put it through to my consol commander."

A second later a image of the chief face appeared.

"Admiral We are about done here but you have to buy us five minutes to engage the power couplings."

Holt sighed. Five minutes as the object of half a sector fleets destroyers was not something he liked the idea of.

"Chief you have three minutes get it done."

Holt closed the small display window then looked over the console at the data scrolling and the mini map in the corner. The two ships which had moved off to attack Captain Nomarr were turning to head back towards the Courageous. on the other flank ten star destroyers were targeting the courageous and pounding her with a continuous barrage of fire. The there was the battle cruiser.

"Navigation's, I need a course plotted on our heading for a jump. The furthest we can get on this heading. Cut all power to engines and reroute it to shielding."

Holt turned his attention to the captain who was standing at the weapons console now.

"Captain, Target the lead destroyer in the formation and give her everything we can muster to throw at her. Lets give these imps a hoedown they will not forget."

Moff Greth watched the Dauntless cruiser jump to light speed. Anger built up inside at the thought of losing the ship. So close were they to ending the rebels here. Now only the massive battleship remained.He had ordered the ships to engage the ship and the fleet had moved into position and were raining turbolaser fire upon it now. He tried to focus on the target at hand but the thought of the dauntless slipping through his hands infuriated him. He had left the Constraint, His sector fleet Dominator-class star destroyer, at Valc VII. If he had the foresight to include it in the group he would have the cruiser dead to rights now and the alliance would be one capital ship less. For now the massive Lucrehulk was his chore. He had faced other such ships. Each time losing to them. No was different, now he had the Overlord.

"Well, I see our Rebel friend decided he didn't like the party," Devik remarked dryly to no one in particular. And then, noting the destroyed Assault Frigate, "Good riddance, I say. About time she went under."

"Sir, incoming torpedos! We count 60 of them, heading straight for us!" A frantic ensign called out from the bridge.

"Captain Djorr, fire all point defense weaponry at the torpedos, if you please." Devik signaled the other commander, and soon the Tector cruiser started to fire on the incoming projectiles. As shots wizzed past the torpedos, Devik muttered, "Not the best shot, is he?" He counted one, then five, then ten torpedos destroyed before the rest crashed into the Judicator. The shields plummeted forty percent as the torpedos detonated, obliterating some of the shielding.

"Thank you for your assistance, Captain Djorr. Now, commence fire on the Courageous." As Devik spoke, the two large ships drifted towards the massively outgunned ship, slowly approaching like sharks that have smelled blood.

"Sir, we are in range now." Another officer spoke up, over at one of the far terminals.

"Good. Open fire, men." Devik calmly spoke the words as the two ships added their fire to the incredible salvos lashing out from the other cruisers. Hopefully, this would all be over soon.

Holt held on to the rail tight as bolt after bolt slammed into the battleship. The shields were holding for the moment but it was just a matter of minutes before those were gone. The might of twelve Star destroyers and a Star Battlecruiser now lanced out at the Courageous Smaller escort ships mover around to flank the destroyers and add their firepower. Holt looked at the large status board over the main holo display. The hyperdrive was ready and a course was ploted out of the system but the power needed was not there. The ships Chief had left the bridge to see to the task himself and no word has been heard from him since.

"Sir Shield failure!"

A group of heavy turbolaser bolts cracked the shielding and slammed into the starboard ring of the ship. Like the flash of a bulb the oxygen and other gases on the hanger ignited from the heat of the bolts. The explosion ripped a chunk of the starboard ring open leaving a gaping hole fifty meters across. Emergency blast doors slide closed sealing off the forward sections of the hanger from the rest of the ship.

On the display Admiral Holt looked at the hole the Imperials had opened in the ship. In the distance frozen bodies could be just made out. The shields had recharged fast but the damage had been done.

"Port shielding at forty percent sir."

Holt glanced again at the status board. The sections forward of the mid hanger was red. Meaning they command center had no response from it. The communications lines must have been damaged he told himself. In the back of his head he knew the truth. The crew of those section were gone. The blast had opened the hanger to space and caused a catastrophic decompression of the hanger. The shielding closed this but the brave people on the forward sections of the starboard ring were either gone or trapped with no way to escape.

Greth stood now watching the Courageous drag itself directly into the fire of the Overlord. The weapons of the battlecruiser would give no quarter today. The Lucrehulk had been judged and found guilty. Now the Overlord would be its executioner.

"Focus all forward batteries to concentrate on the Starboard dorsal section of the ship. All power to weapons."

Greth watched as the heavy batteries on the prow of the ship doubled their fire rate and rippled the shielding of the Courageous. A moment later the shielding failed and the bolts tore into the ship. Fire shot out of a hole torn into the hull and out the forward hanger bay door. A smile cracked Moff Greth's lips. The thought of his enemy dying gave him a euphoria like feeling.

"Now all guns focus on the engines!"

Greth was excited. The adrenalin was rushing into his body. He felt better than he had in years. The thought of the Rebels losing their beloved Courageous. that was what he had been needing. The fix he was looking for. The feeling only battle could provide. The drug of pain was his addiction. The pain the rebels felt. The pain their friend's and families felt. In his excitement he yelled out a gleeful order.

"Take us in captain, Let us look at the face of our prey!"

Admiral Holt was knocked to the ground as another round of fire made it through the shielding and into the hull. This time the barrage hit stronger armor.

"Sir, they are targeting the engines."

Holt stood up and grabbed the rail again. The hyperdrive was still not ready and the Courageous was taking the punishment of half a sector fleet. Holt thought about the ship. She is a strong old girl and could take more punishment than any ship he had ever served aboard. He had also watched as Lucrehulks of the CIS took all the punishment his Republic battlegroup could give it and escape with slight damage. There was no question the ship was tough, but no ship, not even an Executor-class Star Dreadnaught could take the punishment the Scythe squadrons was giving.

"Commander, find me the chief. Tell him I need those conduits online fifteen minutes ago!"

Sparks flew out of a console to Holts left. The smell of charred flesh filled the command deck for a moment. the scrubbers quickly circulated the air out and back in filtering out the odor. Holt saw a woman laying on the floor, her face burnt. Corpmen had ran to her immediately and waved for petty officers to come take the body. Everyone standing on the bridge was through off their feet as a barrage of heavy fire struck the massive sphere core ship. More sparks flew and the lighting went out for a second only to be replaced by red emergency lighting. Holt stood once again and looked out the view port. The massive battlecruiser was moving closer and laying down a concentrated pattern of fire at the aft of the ship.

It was difficult to anger Holt. He took pride in not losing his cool and being an objective commander in the face of any situation. But now he was mad. The Courageous had teeth. It was time to use them.

"Tactical, See if we can't give that battlecruiser second thoughts about moving in closer."

Instantly the order was given to all the remaining weapons crews and any and all guns with a clear arch fired on the Praetor Battlecruiser.

The weapons of the Overlord bombarded the rebel battleship unmercilessly. The ships were now closing on each other. The Lucrehulk was moving on a course which brought it away from the port weapons of the Overlord but giving all the starboard weapons emplacements a clear firing arch. The gunners of the Overlord tracked the ship maintaining their bombardment on the aft section of the ship.

Then like a hive of angry hornets escaping a destroyed nest, weapons fire exploded from the starboard weapons of the Lucrehulk. The shielding of the battlecruiser had taken steady punishment from the ship but now every weapon able was focused on the ship. Greth paused for a moment. The ship was formidable but it was too little too late.

"Your Excellency, the shields are dropping fast."

Greth looked at the status display on his podium. fifty six percent and dropping. The massive battleship had far more power than his intelligence had indicated. Still it was a time game. and the Courageous had far less time than the Overlord.

The Courageous was taking heavy fire and slowly losing her shielding. The massive ship had been built to take just this type of punishment. She however was not meant to take it alone or in such a prolonged engagement. An explosion rocked the ship and nearly knocked Admiral Holt to his knees once again. He held on tight and continued to give orders. Courageous was alone and outnumbered and as of yet could not jump. A technician ran onto the bridge and straight to Admiral Holt.

"Admiral sir,"

They young man saluted and waited for a response."

"Its ok crewman, we don't have time for protocol here what is it boy?"

The young crewman looked tired and winded. He relaxed a little then looked at the admiral.

"Sir, The chief sent me, He said to tell you to go to protocol Newborn. He also said don't wait on him."

The implications of what the young crewman said shook Holt. Protocol newborn was never meant to be an escape action. It was. He stopped himself and accepted the that the chief knew what he was talking about. He always had.

"Very well crewman, strap in over on those benches this is going to be rough."

Holt typed in a series of numbers and powered down the command podium. He walked over to the captain and informed him of his plan. a plan that if it worked would save thousands but kill thousands more.

Holt and the command staff all went to the group of seats in the center of the bridge. They sat down and strapped in. Holt pressed a button and a small pad shot up from between the chairs and folded out into a small command terminal. An explosion rocked the ship violently. The concussion of the blast washed across the Courageous in a wave of fire and shrapnel. from behind he heard someone yell.

"The fuel resurvey in the starboard ring"

Holt felt the vibrations of the smaller secondary explosions in the hull plating below his feet. He brought up an image on the display. There in the distance a large section of the massive hanger ring was slowly moving away from the rest of courageous. The lights flickered and sparks exploded out of one of the panels to Holts left.

"Prepare to execute Captain."

The man beside Holt nodded and began pressing in the sequence of numbers. Holt waited then a small icon appeared on his terminal. he pressed in his authorization code then execute. A shutter shook the the entire ship. A loud pop then a series of screeches rang through the ship. The violent procedure of Protocol newborn had begun.

The massive bulk of the Coreship broke away from the engine and hanger ring of Courageous. The spherical hull slowly dropped away from the rest of the ship and began moving off away from the Courageous and the massive Imperial battlecruiser. Holt looked at the image of the Courageous' ring sections left abandon and lifeless. It was no threat now to the imperial yet still they pounded it.

"Tactical, fire on that battlecruiser, Navagation plot us a jump vector and get us out of here."

Greth sat indignant as his flagship was pummeled by the Courageous. He had no doubt she would survive but the Overlord was taking damage and would need to be dry docked now for repairs. His mind was awash with anger and resentment. This rebel had put up more of a fight then he would have imagined. Why hadn't he jumped. The only logical solution was the ship was not capable. This took the edge off the anger building in him. The thought of the ship being stranded and at his whim enthralled him. He would see the battleship pounded till nothing larger than a fighter remained of her.

His excitement turned to euphoria when the screen darkened as a flash blinded the sensors for a moment. Had the ship been scuttled? The image cleared and he was over joyed. The Courageous was still fighting. But half of the starboard ring was gone. The other half floated off away from the battleship. He had needed this. The rush of the battle. The lives he controlled in the palm of his hand. He thought about it for a moment. He figured nearly a fifty thousand men and women had to be aboard that ship, fifty thousand rebels.

small explosions could be seen washing the hull with fire. The port ring was quiet now. The Courageous had ceased fire and seemed to be falling apart. Escape pods were launching from the aft section near the engines. A group of freighters shot out of the port hanger trying to evade imperial fire and escape. The two massive ships were not within two hundred meters of one another. Greth could see running light and port holes flickering as he suspected power was intermittent through out the entire ship. The excitement willed him with a pleasure only death brought him.

He watched the massive lucrehulk in its death throes. The destroyers still firing. The shielding was giving way to more bolts now and the armor of the ship was breaking down. He watched then noticed something unsettling.

"Whats she doing?"

Greth stood and ran to the console. They without warning turbolaser fire erupted from the Courageous once again. This time from the large sphere at her heart.

"Your excellency, The ships core has separated and is moving away."

"Greth stared in disbelief. The massive coreship had separated from the ring and was making a break for it. He began to laugh. A loud boisterous laugh. The crew all stared for a moment then went back to their duty before Moff Greth noticed them. He smiled and turned and walked back to his lounge area.

"Captain, turn that ring into dust, and have a salvage crew recover what is left of it. Have Judicator engage the core ship and disable its engines."

Greth sat back and took a sip from his glass. he let out a small laugh once again. The battle was not over but he was satisfied with the outcome. The rebels in the Perinn sector were beaten and he could go home to Valc VII and indulge in less marshal endeavors.

"Bring us around to sector 1223 and open fire with all batteries at the core ship," Devik said. "Fire in half second staggers at the shielding around the engines."


Devik watched as the Judicator opened fire with a massive salvo aimed straight at the Courageous' engines, slamming into the shield. Right after, the second volley hit the ship, looking to punch through the shielding that had been weakened by the first volley. As soon as the second volley was launched, the thrid followed, slamming once again into the shielding of the core ship.

The fire intensified as the core ship tried to escape, attempting to flee the battle. The volleys from the Judicator mercilessly bombarded the ship, attempting to knock out the engines.

"Start the pursuit. I don't want her getting away." The trap had been sprung, but it looked like the Courageous might escape, after leaving her ring behind.

The massive Star Destroyer started moving, pursuing the fleeing ship. The hunter was now the hunted as the two giants played a game of cat and mouse.

The Courageous moved away from the ring section slowly. By now the Imperials knew what was going on. The ring and the crew in it were all dead or in escape pods by now. Reports had come in of the imperial firing on the floating pods which angered Holt. He had been watching Greth for over a year now ans the man had no regard for life. The price for freedom was payed this day. Every man, woman and child in the rebellion owe the crew of the Courageous gratitude. For three years they had monitored, disrupted, and slowed commerce in the Imperial sectors north of Coruscant. Today the Alliance fleet had lost soundly. Men, material, and morale were the toll payed. One which soon would not be forgotten.

"Captain Take us to hyperspace."

With that order Admiral Holt relaxed for a brief second as the
Courageous jump to hyperspace and safety. The scorched hull of the Courageous' core ship was all that was left of the once mighty vessel. She had survived the clone was. Survived the New order. Now after almost 60 years of service the courageous was gone. Holt sat in his seat and closed his eyes. The death toll was unfathomable. Holt slammed his fist on his chair arm and jumped up.

"Captain you have the com. I will be in my quarters if you need me."

Holt walked off the deck and to his quarters at the end of the short access hallway. The men and women of the Courageous' crew watched in silence as he left.

Greth watched in silence as the core ship of Courageous jumped away. It would have been better if it had been totally destroyed but the same message would be sent. He stood and walked to the forward command console. the crew were busy dealing with damage control and post battle operations. The condition had been stepped down as soon as the Courageous had jumped. Only a hand full of escape pods and a couple of damaged fighters were left.

"Captain, I am retiring to my chambers. please inform me once we reach Valc VII."

Greth walked past his seating area and to the lift which lead to the Command chambers. His mind was on other things now. The battle was over and his men would see to the clean up. He was ready for some relaxation. Maybe an indulgence or two.