Anabeth: Spark Of Change

Chapter 13 - Battle On Christophsis

"Alright, we are running out of time so we need to find a way to punch a hole in the Sepratist's defences so that we can send our troops down to the surface. Any ideas?" Windu encouraged everyone to find a solution. "Maybe if we focused on destroying not the flag ship but the ship next to it first we could temporarily create enough space for the gunships to slip by" Captain Trip was quick to suggest an idea. "That would force us to devide our forces into two groups with the one on the surface beeing cut off rom any reinforcements untill we have defeated the Sepratist's cruisers. There has to be another option" the Admiral objected to the idea.

"As much as I dislike the idea of deviding our forces into two groups, I don't think there is another option to that. I do have an idea about how to prevent cutting the surface group off from reinforcements though" Anabeth looked at her Master who urged her to go ahead by nodding his head. "We could focus on destroying the Sepratist cruiser to the right of the flag ship. The gunships could slip down to the surface while the fighters cover them. The Sepratist's will be busy with closing up the hole we created and sending a good amount of their fighters to intercept the gunships, so we could then launch a squadron of bombers, covered by a few fighters, to head straight for their flag ship.

In theory, we should be able to catch them off guard and destroy their flag ship. The cruisers could then move in to either blow the rest of their fleet to bits or chase them out of the system, giving us the control we need to destroy the rest of their forces on the ground". "I like that plan" Trip was quick to support Ana's idea. "The idea isn't bad, but I'd have to go down to the surface with the gunships which means you would be in charge of the bombing squad and I'm not sure you're up to that yet" Mace turned directly to Anabeth.

"You know this is the best chance we have. I would only escort the bombers untill the flag ship is destroyed, after that Admiral Kilian could take over and I could join you down on the surface" the girl argued. With a sigh Mace finally agreed to the operation "Fine, but I expect you to stay focused for the entire mission. No slip ups this time". "Deal" Ana responed with a slight smirk, once again making Windu question whether she was actually ready to be given this much responsibility.

Soon enough, the fighters were sent out to destroy one of the Sepratist's ships while Ana waited patiently with the bombers for the all clear from her Master. "The gunships are away, Commander. Get ready for take off" Admiral Kilian's voice sounded through her comlink. "Copy that Admiral. Bomb squad, start your engines and wait for my signal". "Anabeth, we're passing the blockade now. Get your squadron and destroy that flag ship. I'll be waiting for you on the surface" Master Windu signaled Anabeth.

"Acknowledged Master" Ana quickly responded, pressing a few final buttons and signaling the bombers to follow her as she took off. "We have vulture droids incoming from the right. Bombers, stay on course, fighters, cover them" Ana gave out orders to her squadron. This time around she no trouble staying focused, shooting down the droids with ease. By the time the vulture droids that previously tried to intercept the gunships had turned around to try to stop them it was already too late and most of them were quickly shot down by the fighter squad that had covered the landing troops. She was about to tell the Admiral to move in the cruisers and take over when an image flashed before her eyes.

"Admiral, close up the main hanger!" she heard herself say. "Why? What good would..." Kilian tried to protest, but she interrupted him half way through his sentence "Just do it quickly!". She watched as the hanger door shut not a moment too soon as a shot down vulture droid crashed right into the cruisers hull. He would have blown up the whole hanger and maybe even half of the ship had those doors not been shut.

The image was suddenly gone as Ana snapped back into reality. As quickly as possible she activated her comlink to tell the Admiral to close up the hanger doors. In this case they were better going to be safe than sorry. "Admiral, close up the main hanger!" she ordered the officer who, just like in the 'vision' she saw a moment before, began to protest. "Why? What good would...". "Just do it quickly!" she interrupted him with even more urgency than before.