Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 36

"Well, what are they?" Siva asked, confused but still furious.

Sible squinted at her screen. "They look like... old Separatist style vulture droids?" the bewildered sensor officer reported. "Twenty in total. We are also reading one light freighter that has joined the attack."

Siva groaned. He wasn't surprised that the rebels had resorted to using outdated Separatist weapons. They were a desperate lot. And that desperation was proving to be a thorn in his side. By now, the Kaali and Phalanx had opened fire with sprays of turbolasers, firing wildly into space.

"Captain!" another voice called. This time it was the panicking weapons officer Tate.

"What now?" Siva barked back.

Tate took a deep breath and stood his ground. "The enemy craft are too fast. They are evading our turbolasers. Our shields are holding for now, but I recommend recalling the TIEs. We cannot hold out indefinitely."

Siva grunted while he weighed his options. He could try to wait it out and hope his fighters could defeat the rebel fleet before the vulture droid's barrage could wear down the Kaali's shields. Or he could order his remaining TIE fighters to return and destroy the droids ship to ship, a task a TIE fighter should be able to accomplish with ease. It was difficult to think over Tate's constant reporting of shield levels. His reports, although annoying, were cause for concern. Before Siva could decide on a course of action, the shields had already dropped to eighty percent.

He had finally had enough. "Order Commander Baringer and his fighters to return and defend the Kaali. We cannot allow this ship to fall!"

"What in the universe is going on?" McCart shouted as he barged into the mine's monitoring station.

The officers working in the room scrambled to attention once they heard the Governor's voice. The officers looked around at each other, each one hoping one of the others would speak up.

"Someone better say something!" McCart continued, his gaze happening to fall on a younger officer that had just been transferred there. "You're a new face. State your name and then answer my question."

The man gulped but was able to speak. "Ensign Zarian, sir. When it comes to the problem... we don't know. Something is wrong with the power core. Air filters and water pumps are offline. Evacuation of the mine is underway."

"Well, fix it! Every minute this mine isn't pumping out ore, is a minute closer to the Admiral coming down on us all," McCart fired back.

This time Zarian responded quickly. "We already have techs en route, sir," he said, his voice sounding a bit more confident.

McCart smiled but looked toward the other officers in the room. "Now that wasn't too hard now, was it?" The other officers avoided eye contact with the Governor but remained silent. "Well don't just stand there. Get back to work!"

Every officer scrambled back to their seats and quickly returned to their duties while McCart was left standing in the open doorway. He carefully watched as the officers went about their business, mostly coordinating the mine evacuation.

"When are we going to have an update on the power?" McCart asked, his patience already wearing thin.

Zarian was quick to spin around in his chair and reply. "They have already reached the power core but are having a hard time getting in. The door is welded shut."

By now, McCart was fuming. "It must be connected to the attack," McCart muttered.

"I'm sorry, sir. An attack?" the officer asked, his question also drawing the attention of the others in the room.