16 Through passion I gain strength 2 (2/2)
At the same time I was leading fourteen Torrents against the first wave of fresh droid fighters. There were more than two hundred of the buggers. The shadow of Vael that was lurking in my subconsciousness was whispering that the smart thing would be to cut my losses and jump to hyperspace. That however meant leaving Ahsoka and Shaak Ti to certain death. After the losses they suffered it was a sure thing that the CIS forces would blast apart the Venator and get away before more Republic ships came to the party.
The cannons of the fresh frigates rotated, paused for a second and unloaded everything they got at the crippled Tranquility. The shields of the Republic cruiser somehow held up to that moment but after the first barrage they were no more. Turbo-laser fire struck the helpless Venator and small suns were born over its upper hull as the energy bolts discharged their fury on the armor belt. Turrets were blown clear away. Spikes of light and fire shattered armor plates. Few heavy shots impacted at boarding ships still embedded in the hull and their immolation tore out huge chunks from the metal skin of the cruiser. Its command towers received sic direct hits and disappeared in the hearts of crimson tinted explosions.
For me that was a side note. I was too busy fighting for my life to pay proper attention to Tranquility's final hour. The missiles we shot at the approaching armada found their marks but the thirty vultures they blew away were a drop in the ocean compared to the number of enemies hurling themselves at us. My Torrent shook by near misses. Its engines screamed in protest as I overloaded them in an attempt to get every bit of speed they could grant me. My finger was firmly pressed on the cannon's trigger and I did not let go. A vulture was turned into a flaming wreck, then another. Clone fighters ceased to exist under the guns of dozens vultures.
I shot two more missiles without waiting for a positive lock. One slammed into a droid fighter flying straight at me. The other missed but forced a vulture to get out of its way.
There were only four more killing machines between me and the end of the swarm. The first was immolated by laser light like a moth. The next died speared by my last missile. My Torrent weaved around the blasts of the third when we both scored hits. The vulture was sliced into three flaming parts by my cannons but not before blasting my right wing into oblivion. My fighter spun madly while I fought with its heavy controls. I snarled when red laser bolts flew my way. The first wave of droids fighters were dispersing and sweeping around in broad turns. Then it disappeared in a fireball when a missile struck it next to its robot brain.
I could see on my scanners that only two other Republic fighters had survived our insane charge. Granted, we took out more than a quarter of the enemies and broke their attack run on our bombers but that was all to heavy price to pay. The remaining five Torrents and the Y-Wings were forming up and flying at the dissipating vulture formation but that would be all to late for us. The second wave of droid fighters was almost upon us.
=RK=
Shaak Ti managed to get Ahsoka to the med bay, where one of the clones was now busy with patching the Padawan's leg. There she found the remnants of Green Company which was smashed by a Dark Jedi and waves of battle droids and commandos. Only seven men were combat effective and just three of them weren't wounded. She grimaced. The mission had gone to hell and if what she sensed through the Force was correct, their situation was going to become even worse.
A minute and eleven SB droids later she was proven right. The captain ordered them to abandon ship before the comm-link was cut and the cruiser started shaking under heavy bombardment.
Shaak Ti and Ahsoka managed to levitate ten of the wounded to the nearest escape pods while thirteen more were brought by the remaining troopers and the medics. That's when the corridor through which they came was smashed by enemy fire and they were cut off from the med bay by sealing armored doors. Master Ti stumbled when she felt the wounded still in the med bay winking out as the ship was shaken by another hit.
”To the escape pods! Now!” she shouted and hurried with moving in the wounded they managed to rescue.
When they launched from Tranquility, the Jedi Master was appalled by the damage that the cruiser suffered. Seconds after they left a creeping barrage of turbo-laser fire smashed the part of the ship they were moments ago.
She looked out through the small window and saw the remains of crippled or destroyed CIS ships and hundreds of enemy fighters chasing after the few Republic fighters and bombers that were still active.
Ahsoka, who was piloting the pod had to maneuver it around floating and smoldering debris from space ships and vultures shooting at anything moving that did not have CIS IFF.
=RK=
I regained some semblance of control over my damaged fighter. The pair of clone piloted fighters and me had precious few seconds until the two armadas of vultures would be upon us. I desperately looked for a way out of this deathtrap. My sight fell on the two frigates behind the second wave of enemy fighters. It was insane. With no real chance to reach them. The only other alternative I had left was to do a blind hyperspace jump.
A glance at the panel showing me the status of the hyperdrive told me that there was no way out. My Hyperdrive engine was down. Whether it was busted even before I flew out of the Tranquility or the hit that blew of my wing was to blame was irrelevant.
”Boys, follow me in. We are heading straight for the hangar of the nearest Munificent. Our current position is untenable.”
”Affirmative, sir. Who wants to live forever?” joked one of the clones.
”I do. Preferably.” chuckled the other.
We flew against the swarm of vultures between us and the enemy frigates. Behind us dozens more droid fighters were rushing to dispose of us. The Force literally screamed a deafening warning that almost stunned me.