[AU] Blood Band Brothers

[Dark_Lady]

Chapter Three

 

Alarms began to screech through the shuttle.

 

"What the fandangle is going on?" asked Brutas, the old storm trooper sitting next to Cyphon.

 

"Enemy fire. It's coming from those tri-drone fighters," said the copilot nervously.

 

"Hail Vader, tell him and his escort to get into formation, and execute maneuver Alpha-Theta,” he told the copilot. The landers maneuvers into a tight group, and the ARC-170s formed around them. The Tie Defenders kept to the outside, and activated box shields. High tension durasteel cords extended from one to the others surrounded the spherical formation.

 

"Hail the Charred, Grek'or, Mollusk, and Matador. Tell them to bring up the rear, engage the remaining enemy fighters and prevent any escape pods from slipping through before our capitals can tractor them in." said Cyphon.

 

Soon the landers had a straight path for the enemy cruiser. The shield was deactivated and the ARC-170's and Tie Defenders veered off, returning to assist the frigates in destroying the enemy fighters.

 

“…friends Breath Mint and Cranky Old…are…” crackled over the boarding frequency.

 

"Who's he calling old? I'll teach him a thing or two, wot?" Brutas said airily.

 

"Hear that Vader, he said you have fresh breath… Haha… Better prepare for a rude welcome." Cyphon said over the comm.

 

"Hewwo!" said a small lisping voice to the right of Cyphon. In shock, all the soldiers on board, including Cyphon and the pilots, turned to see a small girl, around the age of seven, sitting in what used to be an empty seat. "Heehee, you guys are funny!" the girl said with a bright smile. The ship jerked as it brushed against another shuttle, and some cursing came from one of the neighboring shuttle pilots through the comm. The pilot of the shuttle they were in snapped back to reality and corrected his course with a brief apology.

 

"Uh… what… holy…” Cyphon stammered. “How'd you get in here Leia?" he finally managed to say.

 

"I was playing on this ship and got sleepy, so I took a nap under this seat, silly!" Leia said in response, smiling. Cyphon's eyes widened in shock as the realization that he could have gotten Vader's daughter killed swept over him. "Master Windu says not to stare, or let your mouth hang open," said Leia, giggling.

 

"Vader's not going to be happy about this!" Cyphon said as the shuttle touched down in the hangar,

 

"We're going to see daddy, yay!" Leia shouted excitedly.

 

Vader walked slowly down the ramp, followed by his Commando escorts as his shuttle landed beside Cyphon's.

 

"Daddeeeee!" came a squeal from Cyphon's shuttle and Vader turned to see a Leia running towards him as fast as her legs could carry her. She jumped into his arms and Vader glanced at Cyphon as he greeted her.

 

"Hello, Leia," he said to her, incredibly surprised, then turned to Cyphon.

 

"How the heck did she get here?" The whisper was distorted by his helmet, but still came across as highly disapproving.

 

With a sheepish look Cyphon said, "She was playing aboard the shuttle when she fell asleep under a seat and woke up around the time we were landing. You saw us collide with the other shuttle.” He sighed regretfully. “That's around the time we noticed her." With a look of sincere apology he turned to watch as a Lander Shuttle hovered in the hangar, letting out a rack of four AT-PT's and another, further down, unloading four AT-RT's.

 

"Well..." he continued, turning back towards Vader, "What's the battle plan? How are we going to take the rest of the ship?" He hoped more pressing matters would get Vader's mind off of what happened.

 

A lot of noise and clanging permeated the atmosphere, as the soldiers from all walks of life set up command posts, pill boxes, and supply depots in the large hangar. AT-PT's and AT-RT's could be heard walking around, some crouching down and entering the hallways to clear out areas where cyborgs were still holding out. Cyphon glanced at a Clone Marine and a Thor Trooper as they walked by. Even in enemy territory, they still found time to argue about the comparative merits of sabaac and pazaak. Turning, Cyphon saw a huge AT-AT Barge land, and racks of Dark Trooper Exo-suits unfold, while the men who piloted them came streaming out of passenger compartments in the barge. Hopping into the suits, they got into formations with AT-PT's and RT's, to clear out the larger, more heavily defended hallways.

 

"Well...defense parameters are set… how do we take the rest?" Cyphon asked with a smile of approval at the quick work of the boarding-men and women, who had done so well.

 

----------

 

"Sir! They have landed and our troops are going to rendezvous with them," a Clone Marine told Shadow.

 

"Good. Have the commander of that platoon tell them to take the security control room located in the center of the ship. That should help us in keeping track of our troops and maybe catching Grievous," Shadow said, as he cut down another droid.

 

They made it to the engine room and the engineer began to work on disabling the engines so the droids couldn't jump to hyperspace while they were aboard.

 

"We're running low on ammo!" a marine shouted out.

 

"Then hold this room while I clear the corridor they are coming through," Shadow said, running forward into the hallway. It was packed, but they didn't have a clear line of fire and he was up close. Melee combat lowers your survival chances considerably if your opponent has two dual lightsabers.

 

What added to the confusion was that he used force wave in the corridor, throwing them back into jumbled heaps, and kept using it until he reached the next door, which he shut. He then ran back and sealed the door of the engine room. Deactivating his lightsabers, he prepared his modified ARC Rocket launcher, which allowed him to rapid fire without having to reload continuously.

 

"Tell Breath Mint to get his commandos and help Alpha squad." Shadow said.

 

"Yes, Sir!"

 

----------

 

Two Matukai ships dropped out of hyperspace only a short distance from the battle area. Felix Intos, onboard the Evincer, waited impatiently for the sensors officer to make her initial scan and report of the situation, hoping that the ships he had brought in response to the priority one message from the Dyeheart weren't too late. He had been using his fleet, if it could be called that, to scout surrounding systems for needed resources when the call from the flagship came through with the urgent order to return as soon as possible.

 

"Chieftain, initial scans show the Enforcer has sustained significant damage and boarding actions have taken place. It appears only one enemy cruiser is intact. Fighters from both side are engaging."

 

Felix felt some of the tension drain from him with the realization that not many of their allied ships were lost and most, if not all, of his people should be safe. "Signal Blade Squadron and the Shryken: proceed with attack plan Bwo!" Felix barked to the comm officer.

 

The Evincer's squadron of nine T-120 C-Wing fighters had commenced launching as soon as the ship had dropped from hyperspace and were already in full deployment, streaking towards the fierce dogfights between the enemy and their brother squadrons. Felix knew that Blade Squadron, in conjunction with the Shryken, a Corellian DP-20 gunship, could handle six times their number in enemy fighters. The Matukai may not have been able to bring as great a quantity of combat assets to the fleet as the other groups but what assets they did have were highly effective.

 

As Felix watched Blade Squadron and the Shryken accelerate away from his slower Marauder-class corvette, the Evincer took a course towards the enemy capital ships. Felix keyed his comm to the gunnery circuit. "Gunners remember! Target any weaponry that is active or even powered up! We want to capture any enemy ships if possible. Weaponry is your primary target, engines are secondary."

 

----------

 

"Sir! Vader wants to know Alpha squad’s location," the officer said, returning.

 

"They haven't already taken the security room like I said to? They're getting lazy. Hand Breath Mint these ship schematics that we took from the bridge, and then have Alpha squad report in their location over a secure comm channel," Shadow ordered.

 

"Yes, Sir!” The officer replied. “He also said that he'll make sure that you end up wearing armor like his if you keep it up with the 'Breath Mint stuff'," the officer continued before taking off back down the hall.

 

The droids had broken though the doors and Shadow began to dice them again as though he had an eternal vendetta against machines.

 

"How's the progress on those engines?" Shadow asked the engineer, whirling around and slicing another one into bits.

 

"Almost done… there!" the engineer said triumphantly. The sound of the engines could be heard gradually fading away as they ran out of power. All of a sudden, the droids stopped, turned around, and ran back into the hallway.

 

"I think our friends are going to have a lot of company very soon. Did our friend arrive at Breath Mint’s location yet?" he asked.

 

"Almost." the engineer replied.

 

"When he does manage to get there, have him tell Breath Mint that he's going to have a very big welcome party from our friends the tinnies." Shadow said.

 

"In the meantime, we'll head there ourselves," Shadow said. He strode off with the clones behind him.

[Rexraptor2000]

Good chapter. Definatly like how you improved things.

[Diego Varen]

Good chapter. Definatly like how you improved things.

 

Agreed.

[Master_Archon]

I'm so proud! *wipes tear from eye* great, I told myself I wouldn't cry!!

[CSI]

Well, it's okay to cry in triumphant. Nicely written, looking forward to see more.

[Diego Varen]

Well, it's okay to cry in triumphant. Nicely written, looking forward to see more.

 

Don't forget that it is Master_Archon's RP. Perhaps he feels proud, since his first RP on the Forums (Better than my first one anyway).