Star Wars: Heir to the Sith (Part 3)

Chapter 43: "Ours has always been a rebellion of philosophy."

Two hours had passed since the last exchange of hostile gun fire had ceased. From his console on the bridge of the Reaver, Captain Pina felt exhausted. His shuttles had been in constant use, ferrying troops to the Gateway station and the Awakening, and then running rescue missions to the Assassin.

And all the time, the causality figures continued to rise.

He took a moment and gazed out through the viewport. Below him and to his right lay the Awakening, motionless. To his left lay the Gateway itself, silent and with blinking lights as his technicians worked to try and restore some order to the internal damage. Pina knew it would be months before it would be able to operate again, and yet the facility was still immensely valuable - the cost of a single S-thread booster ran into multiples of many a small system's economic output, and here he sat standing guard over thirty six in total, all still undamaged.

It was humbling knowledge, and knowledge that was no longer his own.

His gaze travelled to the rebel fleet, standing off at a respectable distance, the Jyn Erso facing him with its armoured hull should he try any deception.

He had already issued stern orders to his crew and to all Imperial forces that they should cease fire and return to the Reaver. Now his hangars were full with TIEs from both the Assassin and the Malevolent, whilst any excess fighters had been ordered to take refuge in the Awakening or the Gateway station itself.

It hadn't been entirely without incident. One inexperienced fighter from the Assassin who had been lucky enough to survive the fighting had crashed his TIE into the side of the Awakening before ejecting, unfamiliar with the Mon Calamari's hangar design. Fortunately, he had been rescued several minutes later, kept alive by his flight suit, but no doubt half traumatised by the experience.

It was these small victories that kept Pina's spirits up.

The sight of Janus, watching him carefully from her station, irritated him. She was now Neerada's spy on his ship, with enough power to have him arrested if she thought he was being disloyal. Though he had no intention of betraying the Assayer, one order Neerada had issued had annoyed him.

"Princess Tayre's shuttle has just docked, Captain," Janus informed him with a knowing look. Then, as if to quell any thoughts of disobedience he might possess, she added: "I have informed the hangar commander to have her sent back your quarters immediately under guard."

He said nothing and just nodded. Neerada had made it clear she wanted Tayre to remain their prisoner, despite his wish to let her return to Farsalt with the rescued hostages. But he knew why she wanted it: it was a form of power over her sister. Ella Malquet would come whenever Neerada needed her, if only for the sake of Tayre.

He turned to Bauhaus.

"How are the rescue efforts proceeding with the Assassin?" he asked.

His commander's face removed the need for any words, and when they followed they were not good. "The explosion that went off was sabotage. It seems Titus Perdition wanted to prevent anyone else from leaving the Assassin and condemn them to death by radiation. The initial indications are that over ninety percent of the surviving crew, which is approximately forty-thousand, have received lethal doses of radiation. We can't begin to treat them here, and there are a great number trapped in the hull that we can't even reach. Of the senior officers who survived, Sarn is one of those who is fatally contaminated. Most of them won't live more than a few days unless we can get them into a bacta tank immediately."

"You and I both know there is no chance of that. We have no where near enough on board and even if we can get them all back to Syreal Prime there won't be enough for so many."