"Did they follow you?" Danny asked.
"It's hard to say," Thrawn replaced Komand on the hologram after a short interference. "We jumped first, after all. But, the Outsiders don't leave anyone alive, so I suppose they will follow us by using radiation trail the hyperspace movements leave. We will have to pull time with the loyalists to give our enemies a chance to destroy each other."
"I see. Proceed as you have planned, we will do our part."
Komand and Thrawn looked at each other once the communication was over.
"Soo, how are we intending to do that?" She asked.
Thrawn rubbed his chin. "You can tell them that this ship was a gift from the Ascendancy and you have stolen it along with the droid crew."
Komand hummed. The idea sounded good enough, and they didn't have time to think up another before they came out of hyperspace. The gas giant, which wasn't yet given a name, was dark blue, with several spots of brighter color. The fleet around was rather different in its composition. There were old Yuthanean cruisers and battleships, mixed with the stolen Star Destroyers, on which the loyalists had put their paintjob.
The current fleet of the New Infinite Empire was made of Harrowers and Terminus classes, not much variety, but the IRB was working on it. They were ordered to make corvettes and huge battleships, so the Imperial Navy would be more multitasking. Two prototypes, besides the Interdictor, were built already, and the loyalists were in for a surprise.
The holocommunicator beeped. Thrawn stepped aside so he couldn't be seen from the other end, and gestured for Komand to come closer to the machine. The woman pressed a button and the hologram appeared, and to say that she was pleased would be a mistake. She glared at the man in front of her.
"This Galaxy is too small, child," Scaball said.
"Do I know you?" Komand asked just to annoy him.
"Don't pretend, girl, you know me all too well. Now, why are you here?"
"I want to see my father."
Scaball raised his eyebrow. "And you come here all alone, in our secret hideout, on the Chiss Cruiser."
Komand crossed her arms. "So? You want this ship or not?"
"Hm, yes, maybe. Wait...how did you know that we are here?" The man asked suspiciously.
"The Emperor knows, he just told me. He is collecting the fleet to strike you down."
Scaball flinched visibly. "How much time do we have until he barges in?"
"Twenty hours. His Intelligence claws in deeply, it wasn't too hard to find you. Is my father there?"
"Gods, you are annoying. Yes, he is."
"Then put him through."
Thrawn meanwhile frowned. His accomplice was too inclined in this, it could threaten the entire operarion. But he couldn't interfere, in order to avoid suspicions. Scaball meanwhile narrowed his eyes.
"You are not ordering around here, girl."
"Do you have him or not?" Komand asked slowly and menacingly.
Scaball pressed a few buttons. "His communicator is still in repair. Go to his ship, the information about which one was transmitted. Meanwhile order to put your cruiser in line, we have to choose the system to stay in."
The second the transmission was over, Thrawn stepped forward. "I hope you are not actually considering to do this. It's a trap."
"Tell me something I don't know," Komand growled.
"I take it you know that man."
"Yes. Our families had been into each other's throats for centuries. That bastard in particular is one slimy slug. It's a suspicion that he staged the death of my brother, and I could never believe that he managed to cooperate with my father. And I think he has a personal grudge against Phantom. He was the first high noble to suffer during his rise. And yes, I'm going to that ship. I will evacuate when the Outsiders arrive."
Thrawn rubbed his chin. "I'm not the one to hope on sheer luck, neither I count on one person or situation."
"I'm still going, Commander, and you are not going to stop me."
The Chiss raised his hands slightly. "Just don't blame me afterwards. I warned you. How much time do we have until the newest arrivals?"
"Thirty minutes, sir."
Thrawn nodded and looked at the Emperor's Hand. "I recommend you to check the clocks."
Komand walked out of the bridge and went to her ship. X-70 took off a few minutes later, and the hangers were opened for it. Komand had received the coordinates and flew towards the required cruiser. By the time she got there, twenty minutes had already passed. She was pulling time, after all. The ship looked a lot like Hyperion, but was smaller. Danny actually considered switching to another ship with the same name. Yes, Hyperion had served him well, but it now looked so bleak compared to the rest of the fleet. Maybe a five miles long beast for a spaceship. The project was in work, classified as the Super Star Destroyer.
When the young woman landed, she exited the shuttle and followed the soldier. Unsurprisingly, she saw only the Yuths around. What alien would fight for its future subjugator? Soon Komand was led to the bridge. The crew kept glancing at her warily, and particularly on the lightsaber on her belt. Komand looked around, but didn't see a single sign of Sul anywhere.
"Well, that was to be expected," she mumbled.
"Did you really think I will forgive your betrayal?" Komand heard a voice behind her. Scaball was standing there, pointing a blaster to her head. "Your little toy, please."
Komand glared at him and slowly reached for her weapon. "Oh no, better me."
Scaball snatched the lightsaber with his free hand, still pointing the blaster at her temple. Several soldiers were pointing their guns at her as well.
"No one likes traitors, girl. And you have done it before, why would I need another? Especially if you are from the family I hate the most, after Phantoms, of course. Tell me, how many ships of your lover's Empire are coming here?"
"Like I should know," Komand spat. "I had other plans."
Scaball grabbed her chin harshly. "What kind of plans?"
Komand glanced at the clocks on the wall. They were obviously set to the Babylonian time, and the time caused the young woman to smirk. Scaball mistook what the smirk meant and slapped her, making Komand hiss in pain.
"What? Still funny, girl?!" The man snapped. "Oh, don't worry, you will soon join your Daddy in the grave."
At that words Komand froze as her expression became solid. "What?" She whispered, hoping that she mistook what she had heard.
Scaball kept grinning. "Ever since we tried to get the 'Emperor's' little brat, Sul seemed too shifty. Our small war council decided that he couldn't be trusted, so we just got rid of him. I was truthful in one thing. This ship used to be his," the man tapped on the metal surface. "Too sad I couldn't see his face when the blaster bolt pierced his head. Oh, well," the man moved his pointing finger to the trigger. "I guess you will do."
Before Komand could snap every bone in his body, one of the crew members jumped from his seat. "S-sir, there is...something!"
"What is...it..."
Scaball's eyes widened in shock and fear. Everyone looked towards the front illuminator as the space in front of them was filled with the fleet, and more and more were coming out of hyperspace. If that wasn't the Imperial fleet, then who? But the question 'who were they' was irrelevant. Everyone just stared at their ships.
They could be hardly called ships, they had some resemblance to space whales and other enormous animals the size of the dreadnoughts. Some ships were even moving their flippers, like that same whales. Beings living in vacuum used the same principles as the squids and the most primitive thrusters, by using the Second law of Newton. There were also ships, which seemed to be 'built' inside the moving asteroids. As was previously said, the Outsiders' ships were obviously organic. One ship looked like multiple story jellyfish. They obviously weren't a herd of animals, they were too different.
Thrawn was observing the scene and noticed that the Outsiders weren't shooting. The amount of ships was similar on each side, but the loyalists had a bit less. Well, it was good that his ship had a few turbolasers even on the back side. He ordered to turn around. Thrawn cincerely hoped that Komand was going to make it on her own, otherwise his plan would be ruined and the furious Emperor could turn on him. The Outsiders were out of firing range, but were approaching too quickly. It wasn't exactly the sign of good intentions.
Scaball started to panick. "Get us out of this system, quick!"
While they were attempting to jump away, Thrawn ordered to move as far as they could from the battlefield, putting the entire energy to the engines. The loyalists' ships entered the hyperspace, but didn't last there for more than a second. Each vessel shook violently, making everyone inside fall on the metal floor. They were literally pulled out. Komand saw it as the opportunity. She pulled the lightsaber out of Scaball's grasp and activated it when it flew into her hand. When the soldiers fired, she deflected a few shots back at some of them, using the Force to throw the others away, as well as their guns, jumping away from several shots and zapping the remaining soldiers.
Scaball raised his blaster pistol and targeted the rampaging woman's back. Komand sensed the danger and swiped her sword abruptly, turning around in a split second. The blaster bolt flew back and hit the loyalist's hand. Scaball yelled in pain, dropped his weapon and clutched his wounded arm. Komand glared at the man in front of her and raised her hand. Immediately he started floating in midair, as the Force user was holding him firmly, gripping her sword more tightly. Unarmed crewmen meanwhile sat on their places, fearing to make a move.
"What happened?" Scaball asked.
Komand smirked. "Interdictors, our newest toy. You are not getting out of here. And I have more than enough time to kill you."
She raised her sword and was about to strike, but then the ship shook again. The Outsiders had opened massive fire, launching plasma and high speed rocks. When Komand wasn't able to keep standing, Scaball, surprisingly, managed to get up first and run out of the bridge, Komand got up quickly, and ran after him, but the man locked the door and shot at the panel, not caring that he was locking his own men inside. She started cutting the hole with her lightsaber. He was going to come out only in an iron coffin, cut in several small parts.
Phantom looked down on the holographic table, leaning against it. They couldn't see the enemies, who were fighting on the other side of the planet, so Danny relied on scanners. It didn't look well. He hoped that the loyalists were going to put a fight, but so far they had damaged only a few and destroyed even less. Yes, the outsiders had an element of surprise, maybe they would regroup and start fighting off the attackers. Suddenly the communicator beeped and Phantom pressed the button.
"Thrawn, I trust you got out of there," he said, briefly glancing up at the Chiss' hologram.
"Indeed, but your friend had other plans."
Danny froze. "What do you mean?"
"She took her ship and flew to one of theirs."
Phantom sighed and rubbed his temples, "Should have known. Where exactly did she go?"
"I'm not sure..." Thrawn hummed, before an idea came into his mind. "Ensign, that transmission must have passed through our sensors. Transmit them to His Majesty."
A few moments later the ghost was given a datapad with transmitted information.
"Yes, it's the ship of Gladiator class, apparently," Danny mumbled. "Show me where it is," the Emperor commanded to the officer of his own.
In the hologram of the battlefield one of the ships glowed with red. Phantom hummed.
"Admiral, take command of the fleet and inform me about everything. I'll be back shortly, and don't blow our cover too soon."
At Pillion's nod, Danny disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He came out on the enemy ship's bridge. He raised his eyebrow, there was no one there in a middle of the fight. Then he saw a hole in the door and his shoulders sank.
"Why am I not surprised?" He deadpanned.
Suddenly the ship shook again. Danny glanced out of the window and saw that one of the Outsiders' ships got through the opening in the lines and the flagship just happened to be the only target. Danny sighed, knowing that if 'Gladiator' blows up, he won't have time to find Komand. He had to get rid of that vessel first. It was one of the 'whale' type ships. Grimacing slightly, Phantom teleported inside of it. Just like he expected, the man only saw the spacy and meaty inners. He shivered, that was damn disgusting.
"The intruder!" Danny suddenly heard a yell.
He spun around and saw the Outsider, and it wasn't pleasant. The creature looked humanoid, but more like a human skeleton, wrapped in a rough yellow-purplish skin, skarred and wounded. It had pointy ears, lacked any nose and had two nostrils in its head, like that of a skeleton, its forehead was slopping, almost ridge like. The being was wearing a black spiky armor, which looked like a chitin shell, in its hands was a strange snake-like boney creature, which was slithering around the being's hand.
But it wasn't the appearance what confused Phantom. The Force was everywhere, in every spot of the universe, except it. It was like a hole in a list of paper. Danny couldn't even sense the being.
"Yep. You are as ugly as I expected," Danny said.
The Outsider seemed surprised. "How do you know our language, lesser deity?" He asked menacingly, grabbing the snake creature.
"Wow, that's a new insult. Sorry for coming uninvited, but this ship is about to die."
Phantom pulled his lightsaber in his hand and activated it.
"Not if I have any saying about this. Staff!" He barked.
The snake untied itself and in a split second became straight and solid like a staff. Danny blinked. "Nice pet," he commented.
The Outsider roared and attacked. Phantom raised his sword, and, surprisingly, the snake creature withstood the laser blade. Danny made a few steps back under continuous wave of strikes. Phantom then raised his hand and launched the opponent into the opposite wall. The Outsider jumped back on his feet and roared even louder, before giving command to his staff. Suddenly it spit some liquid at the ghost, but Danny simply became intangible and let the obvious poison or acid to fly through him. Then Phantom jumped and made a stab. To his growing surprise and irritation the armor was impenetrable as well.
The alien grinned and the staff wrapped its tail around Danny's hand, clutching it like anakonda would do to its victim. Phantom yelped and dropped the lightsaber, but then he delivered a kick to the enemy's jaw with his free hand. The Outsider yelped in pain, too. That weakling had a HARD punch. Danny phased off the staff, which by then became a whip, pulled the lightsaber in his hand. Then he saw that the Outsider was approaching, and Phantom got an idea. He ran at the opponent, pretending to begin another slash, but fired an ectogoo in his legs. Of course, the Outsider fell, Danny then used the Force to lock the alien on his place, before pulling his hands behind the back and binding them, too.
"Untie me, you trash!"
Danny kneeled and looked into his black eyes. "Not a chance, bud. I may have a use for you," he pressed a button on his ear communicator. "Admiral, be ready to take an alien into custody, and be careful with him."
Phantom put a finger on the alien and he dissappeared in a cloud of smoke. Danny had decided that he needed more information about them. Now to the destruction of the ship.
Komand looked around different corridors, searching for any sign of Scaball. After several elevators and corridors the man got on a considerable distance. She closed her eyes and reached to her senses. Komand found and ran after him. She encountered a few soldiers on her way, but they were dealt with quickly enough. The Force User found Scaball in another end of the corridor. One wall was occupied by an enormous glass, which gave a good look at the battlefield. Cool, but dangerous and impractical. The less windows the better, after all. Scaball was running to the door, but Komand pulled the man to the ground. The male yuth grunted in pain and fell on a metal surface. Komand approached him.
"Oops, sorry for that," she said, sounding anything but sorry. Her glare could burn a hole in him.
Without even letting the man to say anything, Komand attempted to slash him. But the luck was obviously not on her side. The Outsiders had their own, organic starfighters. The shields were gone, and only the extremely hard armor of the 'Gladiator' class was protecting it. Sadly, the glassteel wasn't as hard. Despite not using the material, the Outsiders knew it was the weakest place in the hull. And on the inside there obviously wasn't any armor. Two fighters, after taking down the loyalists' small ships turned to fire at the flagship. And they just had to pick that same window.
They spit magma rocks and plasma. The glassteel started to crack. Both yuths' eyes widened in horror. But Scaball, noticing that Komand wasn't looking at him, kicked her leg with his and got up. He wasn't going to travel into space. Komand got up, too, and ran after him. Scaball ran behind the door and locked it. Komand roared in anger and started cutting through. Meanwhile the Outsiders came for the second turn. They opened fire again, and this time, the illuminator didn't stand. Several rocks smashed through and melted the insides, and the laws of physics commanded everything to be flushed through the hole into the vacuum. Komand grabbed the metal edge, trying to think up something and quickly.
But she didn't have time. She suddenly fell on the ground and the pull stopped. She blinked.
"I left you alone for a few hours and you already jump into a fight."
Komand looked back and saw Danny standing above her. Phantom gave her a hand, which she took, and helped his lover to get up. Komand glanced to the side and saw that he had made an ectoshield to close the hole.
"Thanks," she mumbled, before turning to the door, activating the lightsaber and continuing to cut the hole.
Danny stared at her. "That's it? Komand, I asked you to be careful, and yet you went to the FLAGSHIP which by default would be the primary target!" He exclaimed.
Komand glared at nothingness, continuing to cut through. Danny growled, clenched his fist and swiped his hand. The thick metal door turned into junk and slid up. Komand kept going through the corridor, much to the ghost's growing irritation.
"Why have you ever done that?" He asked, walking after her.
"I had reasons," Komand responded.
Suddenly she felt someone grabbing her shoulders and turning her around. Komand found herself staring at Danny's bright green orbs.
"Reasons? If not for me, this ship would have been a space debris!"
"What do you expect? A medal?" She asked in irritation, getting out of his grip. "I'm not going out of here without Scaball's head!"
"So that's what all of this is about?"
"Yes, I didn't stand on your way when you took your revenge, now let me get mine!"
Komand didn't let him finish and ran away. Danny was about to go after her, when communicator in his ear started to beep.
"What?" He asked, putting a finger on it.
"My Lord, the loyalists' ships are almost destroyed, the Outsiders lost one fifth of their fleet," the Admiral reported.
"That's less than we anticipated," Danny mumbled. This day just kept getting better. "Can we deal with them?"
"Maybe. The odds are equal, they can keep their surprises, but so can we."
"I strongly suggest that I should take temporary command, Your Highness," Thrawn's voice sounded from the comlink. Apparently, it was a shared transmission.
"Are you saying that I am incompetent?" Pillion asked.
"I've been observing their actions since the beginning of the battle, I saw their tactics, so I will be more experienced. I didn't mean to offend."
Phantom rubbed his chin in thought. Thrawn was right, he was more fitting. And knowing the Chiss, he would minimize the losses to almost none. He was also not interested in blowing up as much Imperial ships as possible, he knew the Empire could build more, but the tension would appear nevertheless.
"Fine, Pillion, inform our fleet, Thrawn is in charge now."
"Understood."
The transmission was over and Danny continued his way. He needed to find Komand before the vessel blew up.
Thrawn's plan was simple. When the loyalists were almost crushed, they started to retreat, retreat to the positions of the Empire. To everyone's surprise, he ordered to shut down the Interdictors' field and commanded half of the fleet to make a microjump on a few light years, far enough to not be seen, but close enough to return in a blink. He explained that to his subordinates, and they stopped complaining. More than that, he moved one of the two Interdictors aside, secludedly. What a tempting bait, and the Outsiders took it.
Komand attacked the loyalists' soldiers, slashed the first and stabbed the second. Poor fellows, they were held between the anvil and the hammer: you either die when the life support shuts down, or die from her white lightsaber. Escape pods made no sense, the planet nearby was inhabitable, and no one was coming to their help. Not to mention the bloodthirsty aliens who will hunt them down. Komand knew that there was only one way to escape - through the hangers and the interceptors. She knew the Gladiator class as the back of her hand, thankfully.
Danny meanwhile ran through the corridors of the shaking cruiser. The aliens decided to let the ship crumble by itself, it's not like it could get away, unlike the rest of the fleet. Phantom continued going through the metal corridors, feeling where his fiesty girlfriend had gone. His ability to go through the walls and fly helped him to get to the point quickly. He exited in the hangers and froze. The Outsiders were first. About thirty of them had landed and were slaughtering the soldiers. Danny could sense the fear of the soldiers hidden behind the crates or in the other hiding places.
Soon the doors opened behind him and Komand ran inside. She stopped abruptly as well when she saw the massacre. Then Komand saw Phantom nearby.
"Should we help them?" Phantom asked.
"Who exactly?" Komand raised her eyebrow. "They are worth each other."
Danny looked at her. His mouth twisted, since she was right. Those people tried to kidnap and maybe torture his small child. But then he came to another thing, it weren't the soldiers who did this, it was their leadership. Danny shared the thought with his lover, and Komand's lips formed a thin line.
"Fine, we will take them down. But I won't stand on their way," she said, turning on the lightsaber.
Phantom just stared at her. Where did such lust for blood came from? Suddenly one of the warriors noticed them and attacked. Danny raised his hand and threw him out of the hanger into the cold space. The yells of a soldier flying through the entire room caught the attention of his comrades. Danny activated his own sword.
"Alright, you strange mix of Tyranids and skeletons, come get someone of your level!" He shouted.
Some of the soldiers peeked from their hiding spots, disbelieving that it was the Emperor himself, the very person they were supposed to destroy. The Outsiders looked at him and decided to attack. Phantom charged the red beam in his hand, hiding it behind his back. Suddenly he fired beneath their feet and ten warriors were blown away by the explosion.
"Ready for a light show?" He asked Komand. The woman understood what he meant and nodded.
Their hands started to crack with green electricity. If in Danny's case it was because of ectoplasm, Komand used a special method invented by her Master. It allowed to use this Dark Side ability without a threat of this same side taking over, because the hatred and anger didn't need to be channeled in such big amounts. And the color was just a side effect. The charge hit them dead on, making the attackers scream in pain and fall. Their chitin armor could protect from the lightsabers and blaster bolts, but the lighting was still their weakness. While Komand remained firing the electricity, as the lighting kept jumping from one enemy to another, Danny stopped and 'charged' a Force Push. They all, even their small transport ship, debris and junk were sent flying. When there was a hole into space, it was a sin to ignore the chance. The Outsiders were as good as dead.
Meanwhile, the space battle against them had begun. When the loyalists unintentionally got the Outsiders into the trap, Thrawn ordered to fire at the pulsating organs of their vessels and to send the fighters in the air. He had previously observed their movements, and found it the same as the vacuum animals, which meant that their movement mechanism was positioned in the same place. How did the fleet reach that weak point? Simple, the strange maneuver was meant to fulfill that same purpose. Thrawn thought up a wonderful sheme, the Interdictors could not only prevent the ships from escaping, but also make the arriving ships come out of hyperspace at the point he wanted, with the centimeter precision.
The Outsiders sent a few irrelevant ships to destroy the secluded Interdictor, but out of nowhere came half of the entire fleet. The Outsiders had no chance, they were obliterated under a rain of turbolaser fire. And the flank was now opened, what was immediately exploited by the Chiss commander. The Imperials opened fire from all batteries at all weak spots in the flesh and rocks, depending on the type of the vessel.
The Imperial fighters were slower and less maneuverable than the opponent's. The firepower was also bigger on their side. However, against each Outsider's fighter were fighting ten Imperial ones. Superiority in numbers made the odds equal. The Outsiders had a few nasty surprises, they could create their own gravitational field, deeming the proton rockets, the most powerful asset of the starfighters, useless. It complicated things.
Through the unstoppable and well coordinated fire Thrawn managed to create an opening. He sent a few Terminuses inside that gap, cutting the enemy's lines into two parts, secluded from each other. One of them was being fired at from two sides, suffering enormous damage. The Outsiders realized their mistake, and tried to get rid of the wall. It was indeed tempting, Terminus class was weaker than Harrower. But in order to destroy them as quick as possible, they had to cease the pressure on another front. Thrawn used it to come even closer, to fire more precisely and destroy even more ships.
The Outsiders blew up some Terminuses, and now they faced the same fate as their enemies. The secluded part of the organic fleet tried to escape through the gap under massive fire. Thrawn was prepared, he suspected that the Outsiders would move tighter to each other, not to mention the loss of half of their fleet, which gave a possibility of encirclement. The Outsiders saw that, and tried to expand in each side, trying to thin the encirclement line, but Thrawn was waiting just for that. He striked at the space between this attacks, and instead of one big encirclement, he got several smaller ones. Now, to clean up the mess.
Phantom noticed that Komand wasn't standing near him anymore. Before he could ask himself where she went, he heard a scream, but not hers. Suddenly he saw that Scaball was thrown like a ragdoll into the center of the hanger, as some of his bones snapped. And all of that happened a few meters away from him. Then Komand herself came into view, with her activated lightsaber glowing in her hand. She glared at the downed man.
"What? Got no other place to run?" She asked, coming closer and kicking Scaball with her leg.
"Why do I need to?" Scaball grinned, showing his teeth, red from blood spewed out lf his throat. "And here I thought that I won. Looks like your house won, girl. Too sad I didn't get to finish everything. If only your Daddy could put such a fight, but no, he died like a rat he was."
That was when Komand finally snapped. Her purple pupils turned red, with yellow trim, as the burning rage overtook her. She roared and slashed her weapon. But was stopped by a transparent blade.
"What are you doing?" She shouted at Phantom.
"Komand, calm down. This won't get you anywhere."
"Oh, look who is speaking! Didn't know you are such a hypocrite," Komand spat. "He murdered my entire family!"
"Need I remind you how I felt after taking revenge?" Danny asked in the same calm tone. "Komand, we need him. I need information. I can't let you kill him now and like this. He will get what he deserves, but you must not be controlled by your hatred for him. And...I'm sorry for your loss, Komy, I know how you feel more than anyone else. But please, listen to me, remove your weapon."
Komand looked from him and on Scaball, as an internal battle raged in her mind. Then her eyes returned to their normal color as she turned off the lightsaber. And with initial rage gone, she was overtaken by another emotion. Komand started to tremble slightly and tears flushed out of her eyes. She hugged Danny and started crying. Phantom was stunned by such an action, but he decided to give as much comfort as possible. He ran a hand through her short hair soothingly.
"Shh, don't worry, Komy, I'm here," he said as she sobbed into his shoulder.
Komand looked briefly at the stark haired man and hugged him even tightly. Because now, Danny was everything she had.
A.N. Sorry for taking so long, guys, I was studying so much, starting from the rule of Ivan 'the moneybag' and how to spell, таять or тают. Anyways, hope you liked it.