By: Punisher

Picard watched as yet another wave of Tie-Fighters made a pass at the bridge and peeled away.  One of the pilots mis-calculated.  His ion engines flared briefly before the main deflector knocked his craft out of the Enterprise’s path.  The Tie pin-wheeled away, its pilot struggling to regain control of his craft.  The Enterprise phasers gave him no chance. 

  “Shields?” Picard asked.

  “Ninety-two percent,” came the reply, “individually the craft are no threat.  But with the numbers we face…they can overload our shields simply through raw power.”

  “I understand.  Keep me informed.  Commander Skywalker are you feeling all right?”

  Luke did not look well at all.  He stared somberly at the viewscreen.  He could just make out the Nebulon-B frigates of the New Republic releasing their own hordes of snubfighters.  How many more have to die, Luke thought. 

  Counselor Troi stood, “Captain, I am sensing a great evil.  I have an overwhelming feeling of dread.”

  Luke smiled grimly, “I was beginning to think it was just me.  I am glad you feel it too.”

  “Do you know what’s causing it?”

  “It’s the emperor…and yet something more.”

  The blast from the Eclipse’s main gun caught everyone off guard.  It lanced a Mon Calamari cruiser and instantly destroyed it.  Luke and Troi fell to the ground clutching their heads. 

  On the bridge of the other Enterprise, Captain James T.  Kirk gasped.  His ship was much closer to the blast than Picard’s.  He had been hanging back, hoping to gain a better assessment of the situation before leading his craft into the fray.  He had assumed that they were out of range.  He knew now he was wrong. 

  “Mr. Spock, analysis.”

  Spock raised one eyebrow.  “It appears that the main cannon of the larger craft contains enough power to destroy a small planet....”

  A large piece of debris from the former Mon Calamari cruiser tumbled towards the Enterprise. 

  “Mr. Chekov…kindly remove that.”

  Twin phaser beams lanced out from the Enterprise and dissected the capital ship fragment.  Kirk stared at the glittering pieces and the full magnitude of what he had just witnessed struck him. 

  “My gut tells me we’re not going to last real long with that thing out there.”

  “Logic suggests that we must therefore remove or otherwise incapacitate the craft or its weapon.”

  “You know what Mr. Spock? For once, my gut agrees with your logic.”

  Thrawn leaned back in his chair and turned to the Emperor.  “A few more blasts like that sire, and the day will be ours.  They will of course be utterly demoralized long before that.”  He turned to the communications station.  “Officer.  Send Grand Moff Andara my compliments.”

  “Do not grow too fond of the technological terror Andara commands.  There are forces at work here that would make the full power of the Eclipse seem like no more than a common blaster pistol.”

  Thrawn was taken aback.  He thought the battle was going well…almost too well.  He loved victory.  No commander didn’t.  But a victory which was too easy was nothing to be savored.  And lately Thrawn’s victories had come so easily.  There had been a moment of trepidation when the SDF-3’s main gun had breached the hull of the Vindicator.  But the breach was being mended through the work of droids, repair crews, and the Emperor—who had done much of the initial repairs himself through the use of the force.  Thrawn had marveled at how the ship seemed to be healing itself.  And now the Emperor spoke pessimistically in their moment of triumph. 

  “Of what forces do you speak?”

  “Do not concern yourself.  I am in Communion with them and I…” The Emperor stopped mid-sentence as pure rage strangled him.  “Skywalker is here!”

  Skywalker, that was dangerous, Thrawn had to agree.  Those who had been unfortunate enough to underestimate Anakin’s son had seldom been left to tell their moral tale. 

  “Where is he?”

  “Aboard that small capital ship.”

  Thrawn stared at it through the viewport.  It was pure, streamlined, a pearl compared to the blocky Nebulon-B frigates and more aesthetically pleasing than the bulbous Mon Calamari cruisers.  Thrawn smiled.  The race that created it had made it simultaneously pleasing to the eye and yet not completely non-threatening.  The craft definitely had menace about it—an aura that it was not to be trifled with.  Thrawn wished he could see the art of the race that had engineered such a craft.  Then he had an idea. 

  “Open communications with the Eclipse.”

  Within moments a holographic representation of Grand Moff Andara appeared before Thrawn. 

  “Admiral, are you aware I am trying to conduct a battle?”

  “Calm yourself Andara.  Victory conditions are within our grasp and our superiority allows us some small leeway.”

  “Speak your piece!” Grand Moff Andara fumed.  How dare that blue-skinned alien address him as a familiar?  If Thrawn ever fell out of favor with the Emperor, Andara would be waiting. 

  “I am sending you specifications of a small New Republic capital ship.  I intend to capture it.  You will move the Eclipse on a parallel course to that of the Vindicator.  Order your gunports to fire at a constant rate two degrees below the keel of the Vindicator and Two degrees above the top deck.  We shall do the same and create a net of turbolasers as we move.  Any capital ships who challenge us will be annihilated.”

  “And the Emperor concurs with this plan?”

  “I do.”

  “Very well.  The Eclipse lies at your disposal.”

  A “party-line” existed on the Enterprise D’s viewscreen.  Data had used the Federation’s advanced subspace communications technology and added his own cipher encryption to it, then he had patched in significant persons from various ships into a teleconference. 

  On screen were, General Han Solo, General Lando Calrissian, Admiral Ackbar, Captain James T.  Kirk, and Admiral Rick Hunter.  Hunter was speaking.  Behind him everyone could see that his ship wouldn’t be joining the fight anytime soon. 

  “I empathize with you…but there is no way the SDF-3 could weather a serious attack.  Skull Squadron is down to 60%, Falcon squadron is worse, altogether only Eagle squadron is over 80%--and that’s only because they didn’t see a whole lot of action last time.  We’ll deploy our fighters now…. Hopefully they’ll reach you in time.  As for the SDF-3, I’m sorry…but I just can’t do it.”  

  “Without the SDF-3’s main gun we can’t hope to last long against those ships.” Ackbar barked.  “I recommend we withdraw.”  

  Lando spoke up, “We might never get another shot at this.  They took down the planet below fast!  We might not be given a chance to regroup.”  

“I tend to agree with General Calrissian, if we…” Riker interrupted Picard. 

  “The Imperials are up to something Captain.”

  Chaos erupted on Ackbar’s bridge.  “I am sorry…but it appears I have more immediate problems to attend to.” He turned and barked some useless orders.  His communications signal winked off.

  “This is beginning to look like suicide.  Look even with the combined firepower of the ships here, we can’t make a dent in that thing’s shields.  It's time to cut our losses and run,” Han spoke.

  Kirk finally spoke.  “We may not have to breach its shields.  That thing can’t fire its main gun with the shield up over the gun port.  It has to create a hole to fire through.  If we could fire something to incapacitate the weapon just before it fired…we don’t need to destroy the ship.  Just the weapon.”

  Now Data interrupted.  “Captain, if you’ll recall the Enterprise can use the main deflector as a serious weapon.  It would most probably knock their weapon out of use long enough for a photon torpedo, retrofitted with additional anti-matter, to be fired into the weapon’s bore.  The resulting explosion would cause enough damage to render the weapon inoperable.”

  “If you’ll recall, the weapon did not work against the Borg, Data.”  “Only because I knew, as Locutus, what you were going to do, Number One.  Data we’ll go with your plan.  Make it so.”

  “There is one minor problem Captain.  The special photon torpedo would have to be delivered at extremely close range.  The ship is too slow and too inviting a target to outmaneuver the turbo-laser batteries.  In addition, firing the deflector weapon would leave the Enterprise without power for some time.”

  “It seems like we don’t have much choice Data.”

  Han spoke up.  “The Falcon’s fast enough…and probably big enough to carry your weapon.  And hell Chewie and I have been through worse messes.”

  “All right we’ll beam it over as soon as it’s ready.” Han looked puzzled but didn’t ask.  Just then another blast from the Eclipse decimated yet another New Republic capital ship.

  “We need bait to get them to fire the gun when we want them too,” Kirk said. 

  Lando didn’t look happy.  “Well if Han’s taking the Falcon.  I’ll lead the Battle of Endor in a concerted attack against the Vindicator…that should also serve as a feint.  They’ll think we’re attacking the Vindicator because it's smaller.”

  Luke had an idea, “we could send some snubfighters to escort the Falcon.  Then once inside the shield they could attack the shield generators and take down the Eclipse’s shields for good.”

  “I’d love to have you on my wing Luke.”

  “Han old buddy, I’d love to be there.  But the Emperor would sniff me out in a second.  I think I know someone who can do it though.  I’ll contact him later.”

  “All right,“ Picard stood, “we’ll make this T minus Five on my mark…Three…Two…One…Mark.  We start the assault at T minus Zero.  Good Luck,” he looked at Luke, “and may the Force be with you.”

  The viewscreen went black.  Luke turned to Data.  “Can you patch me in to Rogue One.  It’s an X-wing fighter.  I hope he’s still in the fight.”

  Within moments Wedge Antilles face filled the screen.  “Hope you don’t mind my rudeness Luke but I am kind of busy.”

  “I know Wedge, but I have a job for Rogue Squadron that’s almost impossible.”

  “Well that’s not a problem.  With Rogue Squadron we do the impossible at least twice a day.”

  “All Rogues form on me.  It’ll be just like Endor.”

  “Look at the size of that thing.”

  Wedge couldn’t help but smile, “Cut the chatter Rogue 2.  Now move S-foils to attack position, maximize your deflectors and go double front.  Reroute power from your engines to your lasers.  It’ll make us a little slower but will give us a little more punch too.”

  Wedge’s R2 unit chirped and he looked the chrono.  The attack would begin in earnest in less than thirty seconds.  He turned his lasers to quad fire and vaped yet another hapless Imperial pilot. 

  Picard stared at the Vindicator.  The charred hole where the SDF-3 had punched through it had almost disappeared.  He noted that the Battle of Endor along with several other New Republic capital ships were in position and were beginning to fire at the Vindicator.  The volume and intensity of turbo-laser fire was stunning.  T minus 0.  Both Enterprise's fired tremendous volleys of phasers and photon torpedoes.  And the Battle of Endor moved directly at the Vindicator.  Calrissian was a bold one, Picard thought.  He was making it look as if the Battle of Endor was going to ram the Vindicator, giving the imperials no option but to fire upon it.

  “Captain, the Eclipse is opening a hole in her shields.  I am detecting massive power fluctuations.  She’s getting ready to fire sir.”

  “Fire the deflector.” A bright beam of super-charged ions sprang from the Enterprise's main deflector and hit the Eclipse in the bow directly on the main gun.  But Picard never got to see if the shot he had fired had hit the mark.  The bridge had been plunged into complete darkness. 

  “Emergency Power!” Some lights went back on, “Picard to Engineering.” Geordi’s voice, distorted and with a lot of static, came on.  “That shot took more out of us than I expected Captain.  We’ll be without main power for about two hours.”

  Everyone one the bridge was shocked.

  “We’ll re-route the power to life-support and continue to drift.  Hopefully we’ll be mistaken for a derelict and ignored.”

  The Enterprise shuddered.  “What just happened?”

  “It would appear that we have been caught in a tractor beam.”

  Picard turned to Worf.  “Worf issue weapons to the whole crew…quickly.  I entrust the ship’s defense to you.”  As he turned from the Klingon he keyed on the ship's intercomm.  “Attention!  This is the Captain.  Sound General Quarters.  Prepare to repel boarders.”

  Wedge had been warned that the beam would be bright but still wasn’t prepared for it.  The beam sprang from the Enterprise’s main deflector dish and landed on the bow of the Eclipse.  For a moment it seemed the two ships were connected by some unfathomably large light bridge.  But then it stopped and in its wake it left a thousand small lightning storms popping and crackling on the bow of the Eclipse.

  “O.K.  boys this it!”

  “This is Rogue Six.  I’ve picked up some squints coming in point three five.”

  “I see them.  All right.  Stabilize your rear deflectors and watch for those fighters. Rogue Seven through Fifteen keep those fighters off of us.  Rogue Two through Six follow me and let’s get those shield generators down!”

  “Rogue Four watch the fighter behind you!”

  “I’ve got trouble in my aft stabilizer.  I’m Hi….”

  “There’s a lot of fire coming from Turbo-laser batteries”  “It looks like they’re more densely packed than on a standard Destroyer.”

  “You Rogues complain too much.  How about following a real pilot.” Han’s voice cut through the radio chatter as the Falcon whirled and pin-wheeled through the laser fire--always emerging unscathed.  The Falcon rolled in a half loop and then flew right down the barrel of the Eclipse’s main gun. 

  Han strained at the controls.  His daredevil maneuver hadn’t taken into account how tight a fit it was to fly a Corellian YT-1300 freighter (souped up or not) through the bore of an Imperial super weapon.  His mouth was locked in a toothless grin.  His lips pursed so tightly together microscopic particles could not fit between them.  He moved slightly and the Falcon seemed to jerk upwards.  He felt as well as heard the scraping as the Falcon connected to the side.  Chewbacca let forth a loud roar.

  “Oh yeah? Well I don’t care.”

  Chewbacca growled. 

  “He did better huh?  Why is it I had to repair the dish?  I don’t care if this is like the second Death Star! Lando could do no better.” Han overcorrected and scraped the bottom of the Falcon.  Chewie roared again. 

  “Well if you can do better you take the controls.”

  “They’re going to come in very quickly.  We need to hold every single deck.  They are the Empire’s shock troops and are well-trained at taking spacecraft.” Luke briefed the Enterprise crew via intercom.  “I hope you can come up with something Captain.”

  Picard was desperately trying to think of a plan.  His thoughts were interrupted by several loud clangs as the Vindicator’s docking collars fastened onto the Enterprise.  He could hear the stormtroopers cutting torches tearing through the hull.

  “We’re doomed,” Data said. 

  Han fired the photon torpedo.

  “Ok Chewie….get us out of here.”

  Chewie growled.

  “What do mean we can’t turn around?  It’s too tight?  Hey it's not my fault!  Even if it was my idea to fly down the barrel.  Give me the controls.”  Han activated the Falcon’s repulsor-lifts and used them to help slow the Falcon.  Then in a maneuver, which when recounted later no one would believe, Han piloted the Falcon out of the Eclipse’s bore—backwards!

  A terrific explosion ripped through the Eclipse.  “The main gun is not operational sir.  If we fire it again we risk destroying the entire ship.” Grand Moff Andara fumed.  “Do you see those remaining ships?  Take them out of my sky!”

  “With pleasure sir.”

  “Both sides are taking heavy casualties.  Our phaser power packs are beginning to run low.  We’ve set several phasers on overload and managed to take out several hundred stormtroopers but at great cost.  Decks 18-20 are now contaminated with radiation.  You are sitting ducks on the bridge Captain.”  

  “Thank you Mr. Worf.  Continue to hold the ship.  I think I might have a plan.”

  Riker looked at Picard, “you do?”

  “If they want to capture our bridge Number One, why not capture theirs?”

  “Captain no offense, but that’s insane.  I recommend we place the ship on self-destruct and blow their craft from the inside.  The resulting warp core breach would certainly cause irreparable damage to the Vindicator.”

  “Will, we’ve seen the Vindicator recover from seemingly irreparable damage before.  Either way we stand a slim chance of survival.  At least this way it is pro-active.”

  “Looking at it that way sir, I guess you’re right.  I’m with you.”

  “Transporter room three.  Do we have enough power to transport the bridge crew to the Vindicator’s bridge?”

  “Barely sir.”

  “Make it so.”

  “Admiral Thrawn.  What has happened to the Eclipse?”

  “It appears the New Republic devised a way to disable the Eclipse’s main weapon.  A desperate gesture.  It will little affect the outcome of the present battle.”

  A loud high-pitched humming filled the bridge and suddenly six people stood where none had stood before.  One of them stepped forward, obviously brandishing a weapon. 

  “I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets.  You are my prisoners.”

  The emperor gave a look of disgust.  “Pitiful creatures.”  With a wave of his hand all the phasers were flung across the room.  The Enterprise crew stood unarmed.  Picard could do little to hide the look of despair on his face. 

  “I almost feel empathy for you.  You actually thought you could affect the battle with this senseless act.  You would throw your lives away so cheaply?  Admiral Thrawn believes he fights a desperate foe…I see you as nothing but sentimental fools.”

  Luke stepped forward. 

  “You couldn’t be more wrong clone of Palpatine.  They are neither.  They are competent allies come to help us in our time of need.”

  The Emperor bristled as Luke called attention to his being a clone.  “I stand corrected Skywalker, “ he raised his hands and lightning began to arc between his fingers, “you are a dead man.”

  “Wrong again Emperor.  I am a Jedi.  Like my father before me.”  The snap-hiss of Luke’s light-saber caught everyone by surprise, especially the first four imperial guards the green blade cut through.