Breakaway Rebellion: Civil War II Chapter Eighty-Seven

As Kane continued to direct his efforts, deep down he knew that Vader was perhaps his tactical equal, and secretly, he commended him for it. Never before had he faced such a worthy opponent; in a way, it had been a pleasure doing battle with him. But he had not counted on Vader using his trump card.

 

On the Executor, Vader gave the command.

"Ready the stellar converter!"

"Are you sure that is wise?" asked Thames.

"It will take out that Battlestar, and half that fleet as well!" snapped Vader. "Now do as I say!"

 

"A hatchway is opening on the Star Destroyer, Commander!" an officer reported.

"And I am picking up a massive energy surge from inside! It looks like some kind of weapon!"

Kane watched the screen as the hatchway opened and what looked like a giant blaster cannon began to emerge. It began to rotate until it faced the Pegasus square on.

"Is the energy coming from there?" Kane asked.

"From directly beneath!"

"Kane to Silver Spa Squadron! Destroy that thing!"

But it was too late. The new Imperial weapon was now at full power, and it fired. The energy beam clipped several of the fighters before striking the Pegasus. It tore through its shields like a hot knife through butter. It was blown into a million pieces and more. It did not stand a chance. What was left of the Silver Spa Squadron, including Kanes own daughter, Sheba, looked on in horror. All they had worked for had been destroyed.

 

The mood was one of jubilation as what remained of the Pegasus rained past them. Commander Thames seemed to be the happiest of all, until his mood was dampened by Vader.

"The battle is not over yet, Commander," he said. "Target the Galactica!"

"But the stellar converter can only be used once every twenty-six hours!" said Thames.

"If we try to use it again so soon, it could overheat and destroy itself!"

"Target the Galactica!"

Vader then began to question whether it was a good idea to try and integrate former Starfleet officers into Imperial crews.

 

The Executor was about to move into position so it could target the Galactica when its progress was stopped by a forming jump-point. At first, Vader thought it was Imperial reinforcements arriving, but he could not have been more wrong. Six Dreadnought-class vessels, led by one other with a beefed-up engine compartment, emerged along with a squadron of X-wings. It seemed that the Rebel Alliance had come to help.

Vader ordered another TIE squadron launched, and they began to attack these new intruders. To Vaders surprise, a lone X-wing pilot showed great skill and expertise in totally outclassing and outmaneuvering every single fighter. Like the Battlestar Pegasus before, they did not know what hit them.

Then, as the Executor was about to move towards the Galactica, another jump-point began to form. At first, Vader thought this could be reinforcements. It was, but not for the Imperials. As soon as they emerged from the jump-point, Voyager and the Lord of the Isles began to attack the Executor.

As they did, Magus could tell that Vader was aboard and directing Imperial operations. But then his attention was diverted by the sensor panel. He watched as a lone X-wing used moves and tactics the likes of which he had only seen a few times before. After dealing with three TIE fighters, the pilot joined Voyager in the attack on the Executor. To the uninitiated, this would have seemed like a fruitless attempt and a waste of time and manpower, but with the advent of this new pilot, it did not seem so.

Then, it suddenly dawned on Magus who he was watching. Only one man had ever had the skill to pull off such moves and to use such tactics in battle. This man had nearly four hundred years worth of battle experience to back him up. Pleasure and relief swept over the old wizard. He had accomplished what he set out to do. He had found his old friend, James Watt.

 

Vader watched as his remaining TIE fighters were destroyed, as the Galactica entered the battle with weapons trained on his ship, and as the Dreadnoughts targeted his vessel. He knew he had no choice. He ordered a jump-point generated directly ahead of them. Seconds later, they entered and were soon light years away. The battle had been lost, but at least they had taken out a battlestar.