Into The Chaos Ch 10

Into the Chaos -- Author's note.

Welcome to the tenth chapter of my story 'Into the Chaos'. A Sci-fi story that just happens to take place in the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars universe just after the Great Galactic War, almost 4000 years before the events of the movies.

To those not really into star wars lore, the events in this story happens about 2600 years before Darth Bane instigated the Rule of Two, limiting the Sith to a One Master, One Apprentice system. In other words, there were thousands of Sith in this time period. Some were immensely powerful (Like Darth Malgus), while other were not.

As I said, this is the tenth chapter and if you haven't read the previous ones, I recommend that you do that first.

Disclaimer

: I do not own or hold any rights to any Star Wars licenses, including the star ships used in this story.

Some warnings

:

This is an erotic sci-fi adventure, meaning that there will be both sex and violence, but I don't mix the two.

This story is posted on the Literotica website and the author does not give permission for it to be reposted or reprinted anywhere else without consent.

P.S. The series is self-edited, so any mistakes are mine, though I now have a proofreader, that can catch missing words ect. Thanks to Jessejames932006 for doing that.

P.P.S. While you're here anyway, please rate the chapter and leave a comment :)

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Chapter 10 -- Grinda system

Dreadnought Majestic

Getting there

"Treat your crew as you would your own beloved children.

And they will follow you into the deepest valley."

From the Holy Book of War

The first two jumps were nerve-racking. At least for the bridge crew and others who knew just how close the fleet ventured to black holes, several nebulas, and other dangerous astrological phenomena and if I hadn't been able to use the Force to navigate through the dangers of hyperspace, it would have been hopeless, instead of 'just' being difficult.

In a way it was strange, as what I had considered the start of my career, being a Chiss

ozyly-esehembo

or Skywalker, now again was the most important part of my job.

Fortunately, once we had entered hyperspace, there wasn't much to do except wait, and I used my downtime during the first couple of jumps to walk rounds on the ship with a bodyguard in safe distance, greeting any newcomers I met and talking a little with each one, just to get a feel for them and give them a chance to get to know me before we went into battle together.

If there had been any doubt in my mind that liberating the prisoners had been the right thing to do, my walks around the ship would have dispersed it, as every single crew member I met saluted me with wide smiles on their faces.

Eventually, I came down to the hangars, where Flight Lieutenant Kierian had collected the 'new' imperial pilots. When I arrived, the more than two hundred pilots were walking around in small groups, talking among themselves as they looked at the Super Sting and Dragon Claws that were hanging from the ceiling racks.

I was just here for a glimpse of the new pilots, but Flight Lieutenant Kierian quickly spotted my black uniform and walked over to me with a smile on his face. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, Flight Lieutenant. How's it going with the new people?"

"I've just had time to say hello and give them some general info about the fleet, before I gave them some time to look at the starfighters." He paused. "Could I persuade you to give a little welcoming talk to them? I can easily do it, but after seeing them, I feel that they need to hear from a commanding officer."

Looking at the pilots, I nodded slowly. Most of the former imperials I had talked with so far mistrusted their commanding officer and it was an attitude we needed to change before the fleet would be truly effective.

"I trust your instincts." I told him. "Just give me a few minutes to think up something."

"Yes, sir."

He walked away and I called up Tavune. "Mister Tavune, I'm about to give a speech to the new pilots and for that I need two 45 second footages from the Battle at Nodia Prime. The first one featuring Lieutenants Wang and Caranut, while the second one should be about the S-13 Super Stings. Both are already done, but I need to be able to access it in the port hangar in a few minutes.

"Not a problem, sir." He answered cheerfully and I could hear him access the computer. "View channel 1 for the forward projector, channel two for the aft one."

"Thank you, Mister Tavune."

"You're welcome, sir." He paused, but then asked. "Can I record this, so the speech can be used on the cruisers? The pilots there might need to hear the same."

I was silent for a moment. Not due to the request, because that was a reasonable one, but in appreciation of how far he had come. "Good idea, Mister Tavune. Let's do that."

"Yes, sir."

--------------------

"Attention on deck!" The Flight Lieutenant called about five minutes later. "Fleet Commander Commodore Thalen present."

I walked over to the podium Flight Lieutenant Kierian had used for his own speech and looked at the men and women in front of me. Since the Imperial Navy didn't allow non-humans in their ranks, there were a lot more humans than any other race, but aside from that, there were a lot of different skin and hair colours.

"At ease, ladies and gentlemen." I said and as a result they shifted to a more relaxed stance. "Fellow warriors, welcome to the Dragon Defence Force. I won't bore you with practical details, that's Flight Lieutenant Kierian's job. Instead, I'll explain what I expect from you, which is pretty simple. I expect you to follow orders, to do your best in combat, to treat every member of this fleet with respect and I expect you to survive." I paused for a moment and looked at their faces. "Let me explain the last one. I don't mean 'survive as long as you can' or anything else like that. The road that brought you here has already proven that you are survivors. I would like to keep it that way and for that reason, we'll give you some of the best starfighters in the galaxy." I gestured toward the rack that held the Dragonclaws. "What you see there is the Dragonclaw Interceptor and it's our version of the Mk. VI you all know... except that it's faster, nimbler, better armored, better armed, shielded and it even has a pressurized cockpit with its own air supply, that can be ejected as an escape pod."

Some of the pilots looked sideways at each other, doubt in their faces.

"Now, we also need scouts, so those not getting a Dragonclaw, will get a S13a Super Sting like the ones at the end of the hangar." I gestured to the racks. "The Super Sting is an upgraded version of the ordinary Sting, with shields and better armor." I paused for a moment to give them time to digest the news, and then continued. "Now, I know that all this sounds too good to be true, so allow me to show you their performance at Nodia and the battle to rescue you guys." I activated the com. "Tavune, Channel 1 please."

A moment later the giant screen at the end wall switched on and for the next 45 seconds, we followed Lieutenants Wang and Caranut in their Dragonclaws, as they took down several S-13s and MK VI Supremacy-class starfighters.

Instead of watching the video, I studied the pilots, who looked stunned at first, but when the vid was over, smiles had begun to show on their faces. The second vid started, this time showing our Super Sting going against the Imperial S-13 and winning.

"That, people, is the Dragonclaw and the S13a Super Sting in action." I said as they returned their attention to me. "As you might have noticed, we also use the old Aurek Tactical Strikefighter due to the fact that it's one of the fastest strikefighters that have ever been built. However, since all of you here are used to the Imperial layout of the cockpit, those of you who make the simulator tests, will get to pilot either a Dragonclaw or a S-13 Super Sting, since that eliminates the time it takes to get accustomed to a new layout. This is important, because in ten days we're going to ambush a battlegroup with a Lictor that carries nine thousand of your fellow prisoners along with five thousand children from Nodia. "That means that we have to take out a S-Class cruiser, two Terminus-class destroyers, two Delta-class carriers, eight Drake-class frigates and three Manta-class corvettes."

This time they looked surprised and slightly shocked.

"In case you think that it can't be done, this battlegroup consists of this dreadnought and eight cruisers, carrying more than five hundred starfighters. We have the firepower to take them, and the trick will be to make sure the Lictor isn't allowed to escape or blow up. The job of the starfighters will most likely be to take care of the enemy starfighters, as well as those capital ships who're not bristling with anti-starfighter weapons."

The weapon layout on the Imperial capital ships varied wildly depending on the role said ship was expected to fill, and the upgrades we had encountered in Nodia, didn't make it any easier.

"Now this isn't a combat we'll just throw you into," I continued. "So, for the next nine days, you will be extremely busy in the simulators. Make no mistake, people. Not all of you are going to make the grade. Not for lack of ability, but despite that you've all been cleared by the medical staff, the simulators will be more than some of you can handle. That is on purpose. I do not want to clear someone for fighting, only to have them die in their first combat." I looked at the rows of people in front of me. "The last and most important thing you need to understand is that we're alone out here. We do not have the almost limitless number of people and resources of the Empire or the Republic to draw upon. That means that every one of you are valuable members of the crew, with hard-earned skills we can ill afford to lose. Those who don't make it this time, will get more physical training if they chose, so they can make the grade later, or become pilots on a larger ship, if that is the choice. It also means that every craft is one we can't easily replace, so while most combat will cause casualties, trust me when I say that we try to avoid that."

Some of them still looked doubtful, but most of them were smiling, and I got the impression that they were looking forward to piloting a starfighter again.

"That's all, people. Good luck in the coming week and now I'll leave you in the capable hands of Flight Officer Kierian."

With a nod to them, I stepped down from the podium and walked out of the hangar.

I hoped that as many of those pilots as possible made the grade, because while we did carry five hundred starfighters, we only had around two hundred pilots and bringing the starfighter complement up to full would dramatically increase our chances of liberating the prisoners, adult and children both.

The sound of children laughing and running feet brought me out of my thoughts and I just had the time to step aside as three children came running around a corner. Unfortunately, they had totally overlooked one of the small cleaning droids and a moment later they stumbled over it, ending up on the floor in a pile, with one of them, a human boy, hitting the wall of the passageway and immediately starting to cry.

With a sigh, I signalled the guard to keep distance, walked over to the human boy and helped him to his feet. At least I tried, but as it turned out he could only stand on one leg. "Easy now. Your leg hurts?"

"Yes, the knee." He cried with tears running down his face as he pointed at the wounded knee.

I went down on one knee and examined it carefully, putting my meagre first aid knowledge to use. "Well, it doesn't feel broken, but I'm not an expert, so let's get you to the Infirmary so they can check it." Then I looked at the two other kids, a Twi'Lek boy and a Pantoran girl, noticing a scraped knee and a ditto elbow. "You two better come along as well."

"Yes, sir." Said the Pantoran girl with a smile. "You're an officer, aren't you?"

I nodded with a chuckle. "Yes, I am. Did you recognize the uniform?"

She nodded. "Yes. Dad says that black uniforms are only for high-ranking people."

"Listen to your dad." I advised. "It sounds like he knows what he is talking about." I looked at the human boy. "Can you walk?"

He gently placed the foot on the deck, but immediately grimaced and shook his head. "Sorry, sir. It hurts too much."

"Then I'll carry you there." I told him as I placed an arm around his legs and stood, lifting him. Then I sent the other two a smile. "Come."

Giggling, they followed me as I walked towards the lifts. "So, how do you like the ship?"

"It's fantastic!" The Pantoran girl exclaimed. "Especially the park. It's awesome!"

"Anything you wish was here?"

"A place to play." The Twi'Lek boy said immediately, making the girl nod in agreement. "Yes, we're not allowed to..." Her voice faded, making me chuckle. "I guess you were going to say that you are not allowed to run in the passageways."

"Yes." Said the boy on my arm, "But it's so big! Dad says that it's the biggest ship he has ever been on, and he has been on a lot!"

"Oh." I looked at him. "What does your dad do?"

"He used to be a weapons officer, but something happened, and he became a gunner instead."

"Oh, sorry about that."

"Don't be sorry." He declared. "He's proud of it."

"Sounds like there's a good story there." I chuckled as we walked into the lift, still followed by the bodyguard. The three kids eyed the guard, but didn't say anything, so I ordered the lift to the infirmary.

"Wow!! You can talk to it?" Said the Twi'Lek boy with wide eyes. "We usually press the buttons!"

"Both methods work, but yes, you can talk to it."

He opened his mouth, but the girl quickly held a hand over his mouth. "Not now, Alex. We can try that later."

The lift stopped and we walked into the infirmary.

Shakka was talking to a patient, but discovered me right away, smiling when she saw me carrying a child and walked over to me. "Hello, sir."

"Hey, Doctor Shakka." I greeted her. "I'm afraid we have a crewmember with a wounded leg here. Where do you want him?"

Calling him a crew member made the boy look at me wide-eyed and then giggle.

"Please place him on the bed here, sir." Shakka chuckled and gestured in the direction of an empty bed.

I placed him on the indicated bed and Shakka examined the legs with elegant and practiced moves. "What's your name, young man?"

"Dalcas Karstein." He said immediately. "We're in cabin C35."

"Are your parents there?" Asked Shakka.

"Yes. They're decorating the room, so we went out to play."

"We're neighbours." Said the Twi'Lek boy with a smile, making Shakka smile and nod. Then she turned her head and told the nearby medical droid to call cabin 35C and tell the parents that their son was in the infirmary with a sprained knee.

"Have the dad come down here." I told Shakka with a smile. She glanced at me, saw the smile and did as I asked, before giving Dalcas Karstein a supporting bandage around the knee. Then she had the two other kids sit next to Dalcas Karstein on the bed and treated their wounds as well, while chatting with them, putting them at ease.

She had just finished, when a couple came into the infirmary, walking as fast as they could without running. One of them was a human male and the other was a beautiful blue-skinned Pantoran female. My guess was that the male was a former imperial and the woman a former republic, since that seemed to be the most common coupling among the former prisoners. At least a lot of families were like that. They were stopped by my bodyguard, but when Dalcas looked up and said "Mom. Dad.", I asked the guard to let them through.

The Black Dragon stepped back, letting them pass and a moment later the pair was at the bedside, the mother asking the boy about what happened, while the father looked at my black uniform and then at my face in what looked like shock. Then he saluted sharply. "Sir! I hope the boy has behaved himself."

That in turn caused the mother to look over as well and swallow something, as she stood and saluted as well. "Sir."

"As you were." I said and looked at the father again, "May I have a moment of your time?"

His eyes widened a bit. "Certainly, sir."

I walked a few meters away from the bed and lowered my voice. "You are a gunner?"

"Yes, sir." He said, looking nervous.

"But according to your kid, you used to be a Weapons Officer, or Master Gunner, as they're called in the Republic, and got demoted. So, what happened?"

He was silent for a long moment, but then said. "During a battle I was ordered to fire at fleeing civilian vessels, but tweaked the attacks so they would miss, sir. The guns did fire and close enough to their target so my commanding officer couldn't accuse me of disobeying orders, so instead I was demoted for incompetence, and placed on another ship, the Gage-class transporter

Fire Hound

. That was later so badly damaged over Alderaan, that we had to vacate by escape pods. The Republic won and we were captured, but later exchanged for some republic prisoners. Then we were court-martialed and brought to Nodia where I've been ever since."

"Are you a good Master Gunner?"

He nodded proudly. "I was one of the very best, sir."

"Good. Tomorrow at ten, I want you to show up on the bridge, ready to try the simulators. I know you're rusty, so you have a week to train in before taking a test. If you make it, you'll have a chance of being promoted to Master or Senior Gunner on the Majestic."

He looked at me slack-jawed. "Could you repeat that last bit, sir?"

I chuckled and repeated it, adding. "At the moment, we have only one Master Gunner onboard and as he can't be there for every shift, we need another one. To be honest, very few people here have that training, so if you make the grade, the job is yours if you want it."

His eyes filled with tears, as he said 'thank you' in a quivering voice.

"Wait with thanks until you've passed the test." I said and asked. "Which reminds me... do you know if there are any other people from Nodia that are demoted officers? Excluding former imperial starfighter pilots, that is."

He nodded slowly. "I can think of a couple more at least."

"Make a list." I ordered. "If they're competent enough to pass the tests we put them through and can explain why they were demoted, they just might get their old rank back. Have it ready tomorrow, but if you think of someone at a later date, don't hesitate to tell us or ask them to come forward."

He was smiling, as he said. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Have a good day, Gunner Karstein."

"Thank you, sir."

I said goodbye to the kids as well and walked out of the infirmary, heading to the wardroom to get a cup of coffee, calling up XO Betty Nagos while I walked, and asked if there was an unused space, where children could play, since we had a lot of them on board and they couldn't be expected to be in school or home all the time.

"Not off the top of my head, sir." She said with a chuckle, "But since we don't have a brigade of troops on board, there are bound to be some unused space somewhere. Let me look into it and then I'll get back to you."

"Sounds good. Thalen out." I replied and walked into the wardroom. Unlike what I had expected, it wasn't empty as Lieutenants Cabur and Mormill were there, sitting in the sofa group, drinking coffee while chatting among themselves.

"Hello, Commodore." Said Mormill as soon as she saw me, causing Cabur to blink in surprise as she looked at me, and repeated what Mormill had said.