LOTF: Collision/Chapter 13

Unlike the previous activations of the superlaser, this firing wasn't gradual; there was no lengthy build-up or even an attempt to use the station's systems to stabilize the blast. That would have been against the point. The lower half of the station illuminated itself in a mere moment, and with a piercing shriek, the blast shot out. As promised, the entire lower half of the station was engulfed by the blast as well. A thousand pieces of the station instantly disintegrated and a million more immediately flew out in all directions as debris. The satellite was very quickly struck off course from the force of the explosion and the loss of most of its engines, and it briefly flew away from Anarto II, only to slowly be stopped by its gravity and then pulled closer. Seeing the explosion, Asura gasped, enveloped in pure shock and unable to perform any other function than gaze in pain and awe at the unprecedented destruction before her. Cade nearly fell out of his seat and Galen dropped to his knees, sweat dripping off his brow, struck almost as violently as the planet from the loss of life he felt.

The station took the blow rather well compared to Anarto II. There were virtually no traces of the fleet that had not managed to escape in time, or of the base, or really of any of the snowy land on the hemisphere of Anarto II that had been facing the the station. Like Umbara, the blast left a large crater on the point of impact that burrowed its way all the way down into the inner layers of the planet, but this crater was much larger, less evenly shapen, and contrasted its enviornment significantly more than it had on the dark planet of Umbara. Where the planet was still undestroyed, the heat of the blast was so powerful that it had melted all the snow on the planet, and a significant portion of the ice, leaving it mostly brown, with the newly-formed blue oceans bleeding into the crater. From the window of Decien's shuttle, Ganner gazed out at the wounded planet in disbelief. He, too, felt wounded, but he didn't understand why. The fog clouding the Force had faded and Ganner could sense Linora faintly enough to know she had escaped alive, but Ganner still felt an agonizing loss, as though someone he had been close to had perished in the blast, and not just Taran. Ganner could feel something else farther away reaching out towards him, familiar and yet unknown, just on the tip of his memory. For the shortest moment, they touched.

"Son?"

Decien activated the ship's hyperdrive, and the stars blurred behind them, leaving the presence lightyears away. His ship slipped away, as did the Nebula forces, rapidly running to their unknowing dooms. Just as Decien's shuttle slipped away, three Imperial Star Destroyers entered the system. At the bridge of the Regent, the lead Destroyer stood Lieutenant Arvos Sumad. He, as well as his crew, was immediately taken aback by the sight before him, but he quickly regained his composure. "Get search teams out there now! I want to know what's on that satellite and where Taran Ragnan is immediately!" He ordered. He was new to command, but it suited him well, and his forces obeyed without hesitation or question.

Hans Cerrano, flying a cloaked fighter Dylan had left on the level immediately below the bridge of the Brotherhood HQ, gazed at the Regent as he set in the final coordinates for his hyperspace jump: Coruscant. In the reflection of his ship's window, he saw Barak, but he knew that Barak wasn't really behind him, which upon further reflection was much more disturbing than it would have been for Barak to really have been sitting there. However, Barak had been rather quiet on the topic of Hans' next goal, so Hans assumed it was satisfactory enough for him to pursue it without losing control of himself. With the Brotherhood disappeared once more and no time to find them, Hans knew of only one man who would have leads: Berloc Cerrano. Preparing to face his father for the last time, Hans jumped to hyperspace.

Drifting in the shuttle she had come in with Ganner and Taran, Linora sat in orbit around Anarto II, not sure of what to do next. She couldn't return to Tatooine. The Imperial fleet would imprison and interrogate her at best, and execute her at worst. Anarto II held nothing for her. Neither did the rest of the galaxy; she hardly even knew what was out there, and certainly would never have ventured this far from Tatooine had she not been lured by destiny. The silence of the inactive ship which had thus far calmed her was now broken by the anxiety of a sensor beep. Linora didn't know what it signified; she had barely managed to fly the ship out this far to begin with, not being a trained pilot or anything of the sort. She looked over on her console to see a small, red dot rapidly coming closer. Looking up, she saw a rusty, orange, rather over-armed freighter quickly approaching. She began to reach for the controls but a blue beam shot her ship, disabling its engines. The freighter flew around her ship, docking with the back where the entrance was. Linora, who hadn't had the time to grab a blaster before escaping, simply tried to duck down behind the pilot's chair as the door was blown in.

Asura Tyuki barged in, in full gear with her EE-4 drawn, quickly scanning up and down the cockpit until she found Linora, who tried to scramble back even more upon seeing the vengeance in Asura's eyes, but she had nowhere to go. "Hands up now or I will shoot you!" Asura barked. Linora complied, standing up with her hands raised, and Asura quickly spun her around and slammed her against the wall. As half her face went almost numb with pain, Linora saw with her other half the entrance of Cade Slarwalker, followed by Galen. Even now, Galen so resembled Ganner that Linora involuntarily let out a quiet, "Ganner?" in surprise. Her utterance of the name caused all three of the intruders to back up for a moment, startled, before Asura regained her composure. "Yep. You're coming with us." She said, hitting Linora with the butt of her rifle. She was unconscious before she hit the floor.

...

Under cover of darkness, Barak and Holway walked out onto the shuttlepad of the Imperial Intelligence headquarters. The escape plan had gone perfectly; the system check was taking longer than expected and not a single alarm had even been raised yet. As they took off their armor, save for their utility belts, a red airspeeder zoomed in from below, its lights disabled and glass tinted for optimal stealth.

"That's our ride." Holway whispered. "He'll get us to the spaceport; I've already got a ship prepared."

"Who did you contact for this, anyway?" Barak asked.

"Old, corrupt Senator. Name of Berloc Cerrano. He had some scandal when I was growing up. He'll practically do anything if you pay him." Holway replied, nonchalantly. They approached the speeder, but suddenly, Barak stopped.

"Cerrano, you say?" Barak asked, formulating a plan. Holway stopped as well, obviously impaitent. "Yes, why?"

"Where exactly are you planning to go after this?"

"There's a weak link in the Imperial Navy. His father got caught up with Intelligence and died mysteriously. I'm going to seek him out and see if I can turn him. Why?"

"I think I'll take my chances here on Coruscant." Barak informed Holway.

"Are you mad?" Holway asked. "They'll find you in a day."

"They won't look very hard for me here, and I'm good at what I do. Trust me." Barak assured him.

Looking back to the airspeeder and sighing, Holway stuck out his hand, and Barak shook it. "Good luck." Holway said, businesslike.

"You too." Barak answered, matching his formality. And with that, Holway walked off to the airspeeder, and flew off into the night. Looking into his hand, Barak grinned as he looked into the tracking device Holway had slipped him, watching the dot fly away from him with the airspeeder. "Berloc Cerrano. Who would've thought." He muttered to himself. He pulled out the grappling hook and, with one last look at Imperial Intelligence, began to descend into the Coruscant night.

...

Dropping out of hyperspace, Ganner watched as he approached a familliar space station. Unlike the Brotherhood HQ, this one was not meant for war, and had significantly fewer defenses, hangars, and was overall smaller. It glowed red as they approached, and Imperial insignias covered many of the panels.

"Welcome home." Decien told him.