23 Breaking the Blockade

(Starting next weekend, I'll be taking weekends off from posting. I have a lot of stuff that I'm starting this week such as streaming and learning how to edit videos so I'd burn out very quickly if I didn't have time off.)

I was awed by the scene in front of me. The bright lights, the explosions, the silent death. This battle had only started mere seconds ago but it had already reached these heights. The kind of warfare in this galaxy was horrifying.

Curious as to what our plan was, I looked down at the planning table in front of me. On the table was a hologram of the battle in space. I quickly noticed something interesting. The formation of our fleet was an arrowhead. The troop carriers were in the middle while the cruisers meant for space combat surrounded them. From our trajectory, it appeared that our aim was to pierce straight through the blockade.

What would the rest of the cruisers do after the troop carriers entered the atmosphere? I doubted that they would immediately leave. This would be counterproductive because the Empire, and the Sith, are known to use any method available to accomplish their goal. If it means dealing a significant blow to their enemy, they'll do it. In this case, it would be an orbital bombardment with turbo lasers. They would essentially glass the entire planet.

The only option then was to stay and fight. It looked like they were evenly matched but in the end, it would depend on the capabilities of the admirals leading the two fleets.

*BOOM*

A turbo laser bolt crashed into the shielded hull of the cruiser I was on. The entire ship shook and some people nearly lost their balance. This included me.

An operator yelled out from one of the terminals. "SHIELDS AT 97% AND NOMINAL!"

The commanding officer for the cruiser nodded and kept gazing upon the battle. It was clear that he was not concerned by this. As long as the shields were up, I presumed we'd be fully operational.

Looking around, I noticed that the cruisers surrounding us started releasing their fighter and bomber compliments. I became curious why we weren't doing the same. Then I remembered that this is a troop carrier that is meant to land on the surface of a planet. It wouldn't make sense for us to expend any air power we have while still in space.

Suddenly, a bright light ignited in my peripheral vision. I snapped my head to the right and found out what happened. One of our escorting cruisers was obliterated, chunks of its hull floating off into the void.

I gulped nervously. Dying in space would not be fun. First, you would have the air sucked out of your entire body. Then, as you suffocate, you would slowly start to freeze. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I didn't care to find out, you would suffocate before freezing since your body would take hours to freeze over completely.

I quickly looked away from the wreckage. This wasn't the time to think about something like that. All I needed to do right now was clear my head and…

*BOOM*

Once again, the vessel shook violently. This time was much worse. I started to feel my palms become damp with sweat.

The operator yelled again. "SHIELDS AT 65% AND NOMINAL!"

I nearly shit my pants. 65?! In one hit, the shields lost 30% of their integrity! There was no way that could be good.

Unfortunately, nothing changed. The officer still nodded and kept watching. Then, he actually did something. He pressed his finger onto his ear. "Admiral, take a look at sector C4."

C4? I had no idea what that meant. Did they use a coordinate system in space? This was another thing that I should probably learn. I could do the research later though.

After a few seconds, the officer nodded and spoke to the bridge. "Focus all fire in sector C4."

Several voices responded in unison. "Yes, sir."

Our cannons suddenly stopped firing. It didn't make me feel any better that the enemy was still laying down a blanket of lasers upon us.

After a few seconds, I heard a gentle whirring before a massive curtain of blue exploded from our cruiser. This bright blue light also came from around us as all of the cruisers in our fleet fired in unison.

I followed the trajectory of the lasers until they all hit the same ship. Instantly, the enemy cruiser was decimated. Its shields blinked out of existence and the hull bursted apart until there was nothing left.

The officer scoffed and pointed towards Alderaan. "Full speed ahead."

I watched as our entire fleet accelerated towards the enemy that laid between us and our destination. As we neared the enemy, I started getting nervous. We weren't stopping. Wouldn't we be depending on a coin flip with whoever can get off more broadside shots? That'd be ridiculous!

However, I was quickly proven wrong. The enemy formation split, leaving a channel for us to go through. Why did they do this? Didn't that defeat the whole purpose of a blockade?

Then, I remembered the cruiser that we had just destroyed. Was there something special about it? Why was that one so important? I had no doubt that there was something to it, I just didn't know what.

As we moved through the blockade, the escorting cruisers lined up on either side of the transports and continued their battle with the enemy fleet. I then watched as a large group of bombers sped past us towards the planet. What purpose did they have?

There was just so much I didn't know. One day, I might find myself commanding a fleet. I had to know these things. It would be the difference between victory and massive losses.

The officer then turned around and walked up to the table. He pressed a button and held it down. "Attention all personnel, prepare for disembark. I repeat, prepare for disembark."

He then released the button and looked up at all of us. "This is where my job ends. Good…"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *EHHHHH* *EHHHHH* *EHHHHH*

The cruiser was rocked like it had been smacked in the face with a bat. Half of the people on the bridge, including myself, fell to the floor. The lights flickered off, leaving us in darkness.

Instantly, a blaring alarm went off accompanied by a blinking red light. After a few seconds, it appeared that the emergency power kicked in as some of the lights turned back on.

The officer grabbed his datapad from the planning table in front of him and threw it across the room. "FUCK!"

He started pacing around, appearing to be waiting for something. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. It looked as if he would have started pulling out his hair and killing everyone around him if he had to wait for another second.

A different operator called out. "Sir…"

The officer snapped back at him. "Just give me the fucking damage report."

The operator nodded with anxiety written all over his face. "Shields are gone, we have a hull breach, and we've lost two engines."

The officer's shoulders dropped. "Crash landing it is then." He quickly turned and held down the button on the planning table again. "Attention all personnel, strap in immediately. We are going down. I repeat, we are going down."

He released the button and looked at our group of officers. Some of us were shivering in fear while others were just frozen in place. "You guys need to go somewhere safe. I need to stay up here."

I nodded. "May the force be with you, sir."

He smiled and nodded back. "With you as well."

Without waiting for anyone else, I spun around and left the bridge. I'd rather not die in a crash. At least let me be cut down by a Sith for my first death.

I walked up to the doors to the bridge and to my dismay, they didn't open. I sighed, scanning over the doors. I found that in the middle of the right door, there was a lever that looked like the handle to a shovel. I grabbed it and pulled it down.

The doors came loose, starting to sway back and forth like a limp arm. I grabbed the door and shoved it open.

It appeared that the sound of the door slamming open snapped the others out of their stupor. They all quickly turned around and followed me through the doors.

My destination was one floor down in the cruiser. On this floor, there was a large area where countless rooms were lined up with wall mounted seats. Each seat was equipped with a safety harness that locks in place.

Unfortunately, the elevators were not running so I would have to take the stairs. I hooked my first right, and then passed three hallways before making a left. This corridor held the stairs.

*BOOM*

The cruiser shook again, but more gently this time. This explosion appeared to originate from the ship itself. I presumed that it came from the engines. Since it was gentler, no one fell over this time.

After a quick trip down the stairs, I found a massive stream of troopers moving towards the crash rooms. I slipped into the crowd, finding my way down the hall and into a crash room with vacant seats. When I entered the room, I noticed that there were empty seats all over the place but there were almost no troopers coming in.

The intercom sounded. "Surface impact in 3 minutes."

I shook my head and sighed. It was time for me to do my job as an officer. Momma didn't raise no bitch and now was the time to prove it.

I quickly scanned over the room and counted the available seats. Then, I rushed towards the door. "23 SEATS IN HERE! LET'S GO, LET'S GO, MOVE IT!"

The troopers that were in the immediate area of that doorway glanced at me and then noticed my armor that indicated my rank. Quickly, the seats filled up. As the last person walked in, I stopped them.

I looked them straight in the eyes. "Make sure everyone is locked in before you sit down."

They stood at attention and nodded. "Yes, sir."

I nodded and left the room. After he was inside, I closed the door to the room. I smiled wryly as I finished this. Wasn't I risking my life here? Did I have to do this? Honestly, I probably didn't have to do this. However, it just felt like as an officer, it was the right thing to do. The most important job for a leader is to lead by example.

I started moving down the hall and for each room, I repeated this task. Slowly but surely, the corridor began to clear out as nearly everyone took their seat.

Smiling, I turned and walked towards a room and stood outside. This one was almost empty. I remained by the door, for a few minutes, directing the inconsistent stream of people inside.

As I guided the last of the troopers into the room, the intercom sounded. "Surface impact in 20 seconds."

This was my cue. Even if there were more people, I had done all I could. I wasn't trying to throw away my life! With that, I entered the room, closing the door behind me. I quickly found my seat and pulled the restraint bar down. It locked in place like it was supposed to. Lastly, I put my helmet on.

All that was left was to sit back and relax. I let my head rest on the seat and sat there. My fate was now out of my hands. The only thing I could do was let the force decide for me.

*CRASH*