Mith

In practicality? Yes. The Echo Papa 607, for all of its advantages and abilities, seemed to be unable to hit main characters. It in fact, had downright terrible aim. I'd want to write it off as just character shields, but the thing seemed to really suck at hitting people. It did at least come close. While using the force would make Vader more formidable than your average joe against the Echo Papa, the fact of the matter is simply making more drones and launching more than one at once would easily solve this problem. ...So what? The first drone is meant to gather intel on the target, not fight it. That's why when it first met Riker it projected itself as someone he knew from the missing ship. Unfortunately for the Echo Papa, the Enterprise could tell that the target wasn't human and so it didn't work out so well for it. It's common enough that Quark mentioned in 'The Jem'Hadar' that he's seen TK inhibitors that were much bulkier than the ones that the Vorta had worn (which wasn't one at all), suggesting that they could in fact, be made and could be made portable. While this itself isn't evidence that the Echo Papa could actively halt Vader's TK, it is worth correcting you on. Please, please God tell me you're joking. The Echo Papa 607 isn't a drone--Jason just sucks at basic English. The Echo Papa 607 is a unit that produces drones, including a larger version capable of attacking and destroying a ship. I honestly don't think Jason intended that to be the case--or at least not the case of him fighting the first, weakest one. That seems a bit odd and silly with his usual threads.

I agree, they'd easily exceed. To start? The Empire's highest canon display of firepower shows us that they can't effortlessly vaporize an asteroid field and that said asteroids make not only effective shields when fighting, but that asteroid fields pose a threat to ships in general, as was the case with Empire Strikes Back. As poorly debate capable as Jason is, he is correct in this matter. So your argument that ISDs are superior is because they have tons of guns? So what? Look at modern navy designs today. After World War II, which showed the US using ships with dozens of gun barrels, we switched to having at most, half a dozen guns--most of which are only designed for defensive measure and one or two for bombardment. If anything, the Empire's gun crazy design is a step back from modern warfare, not a step forward. The Empire is stretched out badly enough due to rebellion from their own people. Making war against anyone, including the Federation or the Klingon Empire would be risk their entire house of cards. Waring with the Dominion ensures it. Even Starfleet, with far far more advanced sensor technology couldn't snoop out Changling infiltrators. And yes, they do have telepaths and empaths, so Vader isn't going to be a miracle shot. ...You're shitting me, right? The Empire will invade because Palpatine will view the Dominion as a threat. The Dominion will invade because they view the Empire as a threat. For fuck's sake dude, they invaded the Federation, who are renown for peace and exploration. They even stay out of other people's business. Yet the Dominion invaded them all the same. That 'measly' Defiant class ships has an armament excess of current Earth. I hardly call that 'measly'. Why in God's name do you actually believe that? The trillions and trillions that they never use or are mentioned. Why? Because the population doesn't want to wage war. It's pretty obvious given that the Old Republic was so against forming their own standing army that they all abhor warfare (somehow). The only time we see the actual population get involved is when their own planet is on the line. They don't care about anything else. And unlike the rest of the stooges that made up the Old Republic's Senate, the Dominion is actually politically capable. They're not going to threaten planets; they're going to offer them things like food, medicine, and protection. And we all saw in the Old Republic lush, green planets had starving populations. Unfortunately, even if we were to believe that the Emperor would be willing to wait, the Dominion won't and they're exceptionally xenophobic. That was a rather large part of their persona throughout all of DS9. How this has suddenly vanished according to you is beyond me. The Dominion is only going to use that time to planet their spies throughout the galaxy. I doubt spies will be all that effective. The Dominion is pretty good in the espionage department and the Empire...the Empire is not. If they had been as remotely competent as you seem to think they are, then they wouldn't have been relying upon searching the entire galaxy for the Rebels. Second, the Empire was stretched badly enough before this. When open rebellion started, they couldn't even spare the ships to shut down the Mon Calamari, despite it being a literal drop in the bucket of their fleet. As in, less than one percent if I remember correctly. Their probe droids suck dragonballs. The Rebels, with inferior sensor technology, were able to detect the thing landing. Those probe droids would be shot out of orbit before they even land. Why on God's green Earth would the Dominion surrender one of their largest advantages? It's simply absurd. Nor does the Dominion actually care if you bomb a few of their member worlds. Because more than one of them are unwilling member of the Dominion. Of course, that won't stop them from using it as a political tool against the Empire even as they dismantle the fleet that attacked them. And you seem to be assuming that the Empire will succeed in this. Do you honestly think this is the first time someone's tried that? Ie, the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shiar tried that. The Dominion knew about it thanks to their changling operatives and turned it into a trap to cripple both agencies. Both of which were far more competent than any Imperial group has shown itself to be.

He's bitching that the game mechanics don't properly represent the actual combat capabilities of the ships they represent.

Trekking to War has been updated with Chapter Four.

Chapter Four Engage Captain’s Log Supplemental Our mission to retrieve Shelby was successful, but first officer Spock was wounded in the process and is in our sickbay, where Doctor McCoy is doing all he can to help him. Meanwhile, I have ordered a five megaton torpedo aimed at Hutt’s compound. According to our sensors, it will not cause any damage to the surrounding settlements. “How is he Bones?†Kirk asked as he walked into the medical bay. Doctor McCoy was at a sink, washing his hands when he looked up to see the captain. “He’s doing well Jim,†McCoy said as he put his hands under the dryer, “We’ve managed to remove most of the shrapnel and with our new dermal regenerator I’ve been able to seal up most of the open wounds.†He gestured to a large dark grey steel machine that stood almost as tall as Kirk with a small white pointed crystal at the end. “A wonder of technology it is,†McCoy said, “I’ve only had it for seven months and I can’t remember how I got along without it.†Kirk smiled, relieved. “Good work Bones. When will he be ready for duty?†“Well, physically he could be up and walking in a few hours,†McCoy said, “But he’ll need a few days for his body to catch up to him. Even for a Vulcan, he was put under a tremendous strain. That grenade hit several of his vital organs. If we hadn’t beamed him up when we had, he might not have made it.†Kirk nodded, “I’ll do my best to keep him down as long as I can doctor.†“He’d obey if you order him.†McCoy pointed out as he started back towards his office. “You know Mister Spock,†Kirk said, “As soon as I tried he’d make some logical argument that backs me into a corner.†McCoy shrugged, “Stubborn necked Vulcan.†Kirk smiled and started to say something, but there was a chirp from a nearby comm. “Sulu to Kirk, Sulu to Kirk, please respond.†Kirk frowned and moved to the comm, opening his side, “Kirk here Mister Sulu. Are you ready to proceed with the bombardment?†“We are sir, but a large ship is moving to intercept. They have ordered that we power down our weapons and shields and prepare to be boarded.†Kirk took in a deep breath. “Very well Mister Sulu, I’ll be right there. Go to yellow alert.†“Aye sir, yellow alert.†“Friends of Mister Hutt?†McCoy asked. “Seems so.†Kirk said. --------------------- The small ship was of a strange design–not that it bothered Captain Motto Gerald; he’d seen thousands of ships with thousands of configurations. What worried him was the fact that they couldn’t scan beyond the ship’s hull. They had no idea how many people were aboard or what sort of creatures were aboard. The Imperial Star Destroyer was supposed to have some of the most advance sensor technologies in the galaxy, yet it seemed somehow smugglers, raiders, and pirates were able to find ways around it. “Distance to ship?†Gerald asked. “Approximately four million kilometers.†his first officer reported. “Still not within weapons range,†Gerald grumbled. He tapped his foot and then nodded, “Have they powered down as ordered?†“No sir.†the tactical officer said. “They might be preparing to make a hyperspace jump.†the commander said. “This close to a planet?†Gerald asked in disbelief. “A ship that large would tear itself apart.†“Their only chance would be to put distance between them and the planet before escaping.†the tactical officer said. Gerald nodded. It was the best choice the small frigate ship would have. “Launch fighters and bombers.†he said. “Order them to target the engines. If they attempt to escape, disable them.†“Aye sir.†the commander reported, “launching fighters.†A few moments later and the commander turned to him, “Sir, the ship is responding to our hail. They wish to speak with you sir.†Gerald put on a smug smile. The filthy pirates saw the screen of fighters and bombers heading their way. They wouldn’t escape and they knew they couldn’t match the firepower of an Imperial Star Destroyer. They wanted to negotiate. “Put it on the holo-imager.†he said, turning to the large round holographic display. The image of the small ship, the fighters, and the Merciful vanished to be replaced by the upper body of a man in his thirties wearing a yellow shirt, with a arrow-head insignia on his left breast. “This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation Starship Enterprise,†the man said. “Greetings captain,†Gerald sneered, taking in the moment, “Your ship has committed a criminal offense against the Hutt Clan–and thus you have committed an offense against the Empire. You will surrender to us immediately, where upon you and your commanding officers will be executed for treason and your crew taken as prisoners of war.†“I will do no such thing.†the captain said. “This Hutt Clan you speak of kidnaped one of my officers and exposed her to torture and rape.†Gerald flinched at the accusation. It was rather well known that the Hutt Clan was a criminal syndicate that had gained large influence over the past century by exploiting shit holes like Tatooine. The Empire however, despite its massive navy and military power, could not root them out. Not while terrorists and usurpers still plotted to gain control of the Empire from within. “Then you should have contacted the Imperial Slave Authority,†Gerald said, “They would have set the matter straight.†That was a lie, Gerald knew. The Imperial Slave Authority was little more than a small agency designed to monitor the transaction of slavery, not get mixed up in it. Only when a high profile senator was kidnaped or someone with some authority had lost someone to the practice was every anything actually done about it–though the Empire made every show with the Hutt Clan to make it look as if they were civilizing the outer worlds. “We didn’t know.†the captain said. “Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.†Gerald said, relieved that the captain didn’t know to challenge him. “You will surrender your vessel or we will take it by force.†The man’s face grew stone cold. “You will not take this ship,†he said, “Not while I remain captain.†Gerald grinned, “Take a look around you captain, you are nearly surrounded by our fighters and bombers. Within moments you will be cut off from escape.†“Captain,†the man said, “This ship is armed and ready to defend herself.†The captain scoffed and turned to his tactical officer, “Analysis of their weapon systems.†“We detect four torpedo launchers of some sort.†the officer reported, “and four energy cannons. I haven’t seen this sort of configuration before.†The captain let out a chuckle, “Eight in total. Is that what you believe can take on an Imperial Star Destroyer captain? Look at our ship; it is armed to the teeth with guns. And in half a minute, I will open fire with everything we’ve got. You have until we come within weapons range to surrender captain.†“Then we have nothing more to discuss.†the captain said and suddenly, his image vanished. Gerald shook his head and took in a deep breath. “Distance?†“One hundred twenty-two kilometers sir.†“Excellent,†Gerald said, “When we are within range, order our fighters and bombers to engage.†“Aye sir.†Kirk stared at the massive warship. It was well over a kilometer long, armed to teeth in weapons and no doubt carrying a large number of support craft. It was shaped like a wedged dagger, with a great control bridge overseeing the rest of the ship from the back. In a way, they reminded Kirk of the old style carriers that Earth used before they had moved out into space. The troops on the ship must have been ten times larger than the Enterprise security force. If it came down to a fight aboard the ship, they wouldn’t stand a chance. “Scotty, what’s the status on our weapons?†Kirk asked from the bridge. “I’ve got all the phaser banks up and aft launcher number two.†Scotty said, “But the phaser banks are low powered and targeting sensors are still having trouble marking anything beyond twenty thousand klicks.†Kirk nodded. That was a massive tactical disadvantage. “Sulu, tactical analysis.†“She’s armed to the teeth sir,†Sulu reported, “I’m reading half a dozen heavy plasma turrets and dozens of other smaller ones, including what appears to be ion cannons–but all low yield sir.†“Aye sir,†Scotty said from his station, “They’re using a two decade old fusion reactor to power their ship. Why, the NX-01 had a better engine than this thing.†“Are you saying that these people are over a century behind us in weapons technology?†Kirk asked. “Aye sir.†“But with a ship that large, it could still be a threat.†Sulu warned. “Especially in our condition.†Kirk nodded, “Noted Mister Chekov. Analysis of their defensive capabilities?†“Their armor is incredibly thick,†Chekov said, “But their shield grid is low powered. Maximum dissipation rate is just over ten petajoules. Shield recharge rate is by my guess, roughly two petajoules.†Kirk frowned, “A single photon torpedo would puncture their shield and still have enough to scorch the hull.†“They’re moving into weapons range.†Sulu warned. “Hail them.†“They aren’t responding sir.†Uhura said, “They’ve begun to jam our communications. We can’t get a word out.†“Damn them.†Kirk growled. “Then let’s show them just who’ve they’ve picked a fight with. Sulu, lock forward phasers onto them. Fire when ready.†“Ready sir.†“Fire!†“Weapon range in two seconds,†tactical reported. Gerald nodded, “Prepare to drop us to one fourth speed, All gunners, prepare to...†Suddenly, two bright blue lances erupted from just under the hull of the ship, striking the Merciful’s forward shields. The ship rocked gently. “Direct hit sir.†tactical reported, “Shields down by five percent. Minor thermal damage to the hull.†Gerald frowned. How did they penetrate their shields? He snarled. “All weapons, fire!†The Merciful dipped its pointed hull downwards as it came in, allowing all of its heavy guns to focus on the small ship. Lime green bolts of plasma speed through space towards the small ship. To Gerald’s astonishment, the ship quickly maneuvered out of the way of the bulk of the volley, returning fire with its small blue lances. The Merciful shuddered again. “Minor shield loss.†the commander reported, “But we’re reading more thermal damage.†“How are they penetrating our shields?†Gerald asked. “It appears that their weapons are similar in concept to disruptor technology.†the commander reported. “Our shields can’t block disruptors.†Gerald said, nodding. He looked at the small ship, “But how did they get something like those? They shouldn’t even be able to properly power them.†“They may not be able to sir,†the commander said, “Only a small portion of the energy pushed its way into the shields.†Gerald laughed, “Alright, they’ve spat their wad. All fighters and bombers move in!†“Their attack craft is moving in sir!†Checkov yelled. “Use detonation blasts.†Kirk said. The Enterprise fired several of small blue pulses through space. Designed much in the way as the Romulan plasma torpedoes, the energy was held within a expiring containment field until it reached its destination–and exploded. Kirk watched as the small fighters and bombers were blasted into oblivion–nothing but heated shrapnel flying through space. The Enterprise shuddered as plasma bolts connected to her shield grid. “Minor damage to the shields sir.†Scotty reported. “Return fire Chekov.†“Gladly sir.†The Enterprise’s forward phaser banks fired, racking enemy ship’s forward hull. Kirk watched the energy readouts on the screen shudder slightly. Despite the Enterprise’s superior technology, the damage it had received had left it vulnerable. Despite that, he saw the hull heat up around the area the phaser beams had impacted. They were doing some damage to the hull, but it wasn’t enough. “Scotty, is there any way you can coax more power from the phaser’s energizers?†“Not without blowing it out sir.†Scotty reported. “Target their weapon batteries,†Kirk said, “The large ones. See if we can dissuade them from firing.†“Aye sir.†Chekov said. The Merciful shuddered under the light disruptor fire from the small pirate ship. The first wave of bombers had been scattered by a sort of pulse explosion. The few remaining ones had moved in to attack, but were quickly swatted away by the ship’s weapons. That bothered Gerald more than anything; never before had he seen weapons capable of such accuracy. And from the ship’s main weapons too! Suddenly, the Merciful shook terribly, hurling the captain to the ground. He rolled until he hit the side of the wall. Cursing, he struggled to get to his feet as the ship shook violently yet again. “Report!†he screamed. “They’ve hit two of our heavy turbolaser turrets.†someone shouted, “Port turret one and two are destroyed, turret three is not responding!†“Emergency repair teams to turret three!†Gerald roared as he rushed back to the tactical console, “How did they penetrate the armor?†“They hit one of the low-key armored areas of the turrets,†the commander reported, “At the base where the turret meets the hull. The heated armor broke the plasma mains and it ignited. I’m reading heavy damage to decks below and near it. Recommend we evacuate those sections.†“Do it,†Gerald said, “But do whatever you can to keep turret three active.†“They’re trying to hail us sir.†the communications officer reported, “It’s scrambled, but I think they’re demanding out surrender.†Gerald spat in the officer’s direction, “Send second and third wave bombers. I want that ship destroyed!†“They are ignoring hails captain,†Urhura said. “Can they hear us?†“Aye sir,†Scotty said, “It’d be a mess, but they’d get the gist of it sir.†“Second and third wave of fighters coming in sir.†Chekov said. “Orders?†“Dispose of them Mister Chekov.†Kirk said heavily. “Firing phasers.†The Enterprise fire four pulses at the oncoming waves and within seconds, the bulk of them had been vaporized. Roughly a quarter had remained. Desperate, they were opening fire, green pulses of plasma and bright white torpedoes filled space inbetween. The Enterprise barely shuddered. “Low yield bombs sir,†Sulu reported, “About a quarter kiloton.†“Ignore them.†Kirk said, “Target their mother ship. Target the starboard forward turrets.†“Targeted sir.†“Fire.†The Enterprise fired its forward phasers. It struck the base of the turrets, heating the metal and causing the plasma conduits within to explode, destroying the turret and damaging the one next to it. “Target the third turret,†Kirk said, suddenly struck with an idea, “That should keep the remaining two from firing.†“Aye sir.†“Starboard turret is destroyed sir,†the commander reported as he struggled to his feet, “Starboard turret number two has suffered heavy damage.†The ship shuddered violently again. “Shit!†the tactical officer screamed. “What!†Gerald yelled. “They destroyed starboard turret three–turrets four and two are offline. Power systems on the affected decks is fluctuating sir.†“Status of their shields?†Gerald asked. “Shield output is nine percent lower than when the battle started,†the tactical officer reported. “What’s the status of our shields?†Gerald asked. “Nearly full power sir,†the commander said, “But if those disruptors keep targeting our weapons, we won’t be able to hurt them. They’ll just keep firing until our shield generators overheat.†“I want maximum power to forward shields,†Gerald snapped, “Double front, understood?†The commander frowned, “Sir?†“Ready our concussion torpedoes.†Gerald said, a savage grin growing over his face, “Take us as close as we can get. I don’t want to give them time to escape.†The Merciful shuddered again. “Port turret four is out.†the tactical officer reported. “Captain, this is insane!†the commander snapped, “Each of those torpedoes carries a yield of eight megatons! You risk crippling the Merciful!†“And them as well!†Gerald purred. “Once their shield is down, we’ll tear them apart!†he turned to the helm station, “Full speed! I want us within five klicks of the Enterprise a minute ago!†“Aye sir!†“Reading an increase in their engines sir.†Sulu reported. “They may be trying to ram us.†Chekov warned. “They’d never catch us.†Sulu said, “They must know by now we can fly circles around them.†“Or they may be trying to escape.†Kirk said. “Bring us to a parallel course, fifty kilometers.†“They’re moving too fast sir,†Sulu said, “They’ll pass within twelve kilometers of us.†“That’s fine Mister Sulu.†Kirk said. “Sir, reading power increase in their forward launchers!†Chekov yelled. “Those things are too large to target us.†Sulu said. “But not from ten klicks!†Kirk yelled. “Evasive manuervers!†The Enterprise’s impulse engines flared as she desperately tried to evade the bright white torpedoes as they flew right towards them. The Enterprise twisted, narrowly escaping two of the torpedoes, struck by a third, and glanced by a fourth as it detonated half a klick away. The Enterprise shuddered violently, warning claxons sounding as consoles sparked and exploded. For a brief moment, Kirk had thought that the ship itself had been torn apart. But the moment passed as the shaking stopped and the Enterprise sat in one piece. “Damage report!†he yelled. “Heavy damage to our screens sir!†Scotty reported, “Starboard arch is down to twenty-five percent. Other archs holding at roughly thirty-five. We suffered some heavy thermal damage to the hull when that torpedo exploded, but nothing we can’t handle.†“Status of other ship?†Kirk asked. “They diverted their aft shields to forward to compensate sir,†Chekov said, “Their aft grid is burnt out. Their forward shields are at eighty-two percent. Reading heavy thermal damage to their hull.†Kirk sat forward, “Put three hundred kilometers between us and the Merciful. If they fire, return fire.†“They’re moving away sir.†the tactical officer said. “We’re reading their shields as low sir.†Gerald grinned. “Trying to run away, eh? Commander, order all remaining gunners to open fire on the Enterprise. Scramble whatever fighters and bombers we have and order them to intercept. They’re not getting away after all this!†The Merciful’s remaining batteries opened fire. The smaller ships danced around the incoming fire, evading much of it, but taking several heavy strikes as it pulled away. “Their aft shields are holding sir.†the tactical officer reported. “Damn!†Gerald cursed. If they didn’t take advantage of the damage they’d done to the small ship, then they’d never get another chance. They weren’t going to let them get that close again. The bombardment torpedoes would never catch them and their fighters didn’t carry the necessary ordinance to take out a ship that powerful. A smile came to his face; they had something they didn’t though; back up. “Request that the Devastator move to assist us.†Gerald said. “Order all Imperial ships within range to engage the Enterprise.†“Aye sir.†“They’re returning fire sir.†“Brace for impact!†Gerald screamed. The small ship’s aft weapons fired several quick lances at the Merciful, each striking at the exposed turrets. They all exploded as the plasma conduits ruptured. Gerald watch as more damage report screens appeared on the holographic display. Power shortages were spread throughout the ship and radiation levels were starting to rise to dangerous levels. “Hazard teams are responding sir.†the commander reported. “Sir,†Sulu said, “I’m detecting four more ships moving to intercept. They appear to be frigates of some sort.†“On screen.†Kirk said. They were small, triangular, shaped similar to a sword. Their long wings were like hilts, and their forward hull, the blade. Kirk noticed at least a dozen different weapon placements like the larger warship, the Merciful. Unlike the Merciful, they were a fraction of the ship’s length, barely larger than the Enterprise herself, and not even a tenth of a fraction its mass. They were already opening fire, bright hot green plasma filling the screen. The Enterprise casually moved out of the way. It was clear they were just trying to diver attention from the crippled Merciful. “Their shields are no match for our phasers sir,†Chekov reported, “A few good shots should cripple them.†“Do it.†Kirk said, wondering what their game was. The Enterprise’s forward phasers illuminated space, striking the first frigate and burning away a few meters of the hull. The Enterprise fired again, this time cutting through the hull as if it were made of butter. The third time and the Enterprise ducked low, firing at one of the small black cylinders that were the engines. There was an explosion and the ship was thrown off course, forcing the other three ships to make rapid course corrections. “We are moving within their optimal range sir.†Sulu warned. “Noted.†The ships began to open fire with greater ferocity, forcing the Enterprise to weave around them as it fired its phasers, carving the ships up with near relative ease. Within a minute, the four ships were crippled and burning, barely holding their own against the singular Federation cruiser. The Enterprise shuttered. “The Merciful is moving back within weapons range sir.†Chekov reported. “I think we’ve had just about enough of them,†Kirk said. “Mister Chekov, prepare a photon torpedo. Fifty percent yield. Target their forward shields. Let’s give them a wake-up call.†“Aye sir.†“They’re firing a torpedo.†the commander warned. “What type?†the captain asked. “Warhead unknown sir,†the commander said. “I recommend evasive maneuvers.†Gerald flinched. The Imperial Star Destroyer was a beast in battle, but it maneuvered like a beached whale with all their flippers missing. “Do it.†he barked. “And increase power to forward shields.†The Merciful had but begun to flare up its thrusters when the torpedo hit. The explosion rocked the Merciful, throwing Gerald over the holographic display. He landed with a loud crunch. The captain wanted to scream in pain, but bit down on his lips to stop himself. Blood oozing from his lower lip, he dragged himself up. “Shields are nearly gone!†he heard someone yell, “Massive hull rupture on forward decks!†The captain made his way over to the holographic display; The tip of the Merciful had been vaporized and a scorch mark ran across the hull for nearly fifty meters. The forward shields readout was fluctuating between zero and nine percent as the secondary shield generators tried to take over. Gerald looked to the frigates that were now desperately giving all their worth against the Enterprise, trying to prevent the loss of the Merciful–but the Enterprise was responding with brutal strikes, destroying one of the ships and disabling main power on the other two. The last was using the hulls of the former to try and prevent the Enterprise from pin pointing the weaknesses in the ship’s defenses. “Sir, the Devastator is responding to our requests for aid!†the communication officer reported. “She and two Victory frigates are moving to engage the enemy now.†Gerald turned to the screen to see that it was true. The Devastator and her aid ships were already moving in close to engage the Enterprise, running as fast as they could to the battle. Already the Enterprise as adjusting itself to move to engage. “Sir, the Avenger is emerging from hyperspace.†the comm officer reported. “Signal them to move in and assist.†Gerald said eagerly. “Second warship moving into attack posture.†Chekov warned. “This is starting to look like an unfriendly place gentlemen.†Kirk said. “Long range sensors are reading the arrival of another ship and a dozen other small vessels...it appears to be a fleet sir.†Urhura reported. “We can’t take them all sir,†Scotty said, “Not in this condition.†“I don’t think we can outrun them though.†Sulu said. “Our warp engines are still damaged.†“We don’t know that.†Kirk said. “They still have primitive fusion drives. Scotty, how much power do you predict they can get from them?†Scotty shrugged, “Assuming they don’t have any sort of enhanced warp field coils that we don’t, warp one, maybe warp two sir.†“How mucn can you coax from the engines Scotty?†Kirk asked. “Warp three sir, best I can give you right now.†Kirk nodded, “Do it. If we’re lucky, they won’t be able to follow us for long.†“Aye sir, setting course.†“One more thing.†Kirk said. “Prepare a torpedo for the aft launcher. Five megatons. I wouldn’t want Mister Fett to think that we’ve forgotten about him.†“The ship is breaking off sir.†the commander reported. “It’s trying to escape!†Gerald roared. “The Devastator will not reach it in time.†tactical said. “Full power to engines!†Gerald said, “We’re not letting them escape after all this! Have all remaining batteries target their engine in concentrated bursts. With luck, we might be able to break through.†“Aye sir.†The Merciful’s batteries opened fire, pounding at the aft shields of the retreating Enterprise. The Enterprise returned fire, carving long patterns into the Merciful’s armor. Sparks erupted from the consoles and lights began to flicker. Countless damage reports starting coming in all over the ship, but Gerald ignored them, focused entirely on keeping the Enterprise there long enough for the Devastator to finish the job. It seemed though, that the Enterprise was finally done playing games. Two blue lances struck a hundred meters from the base of the tower bridge, burning their way into the Merciful’s thick hull. Gerald gasped in horror as he watched the phasers cut their way to the heart of the ship’s reactor. Gerald heard–no, felt the explosion. He was thrown onto his ass, watching as entire sections of the Merciful began to break apart. “Reactor is suffering a critical failure!†the commander yelled. “If we don’t shut it down, the Merciful is going to explode!†“If we shut it down, the Enterprise will escape!†Gerald roared as he leapt to his feet. “Keep pursuing! Give me every gigajoule to the engines!†“We have eighty seconds before the reactor tears us apart!†the commander snapped, “Sir, as first officer, I recommend that we power down our reactor.†“And lose the Enterprise?†Gerald said, “I am not going to explain that to Lord Vader!†“If you don’t,†the commander yelled, “Then you will be explaining how you lost the Enterprise and the Merciful to Vader!†That snapped Gerald out of his insanity. He slowly nodded, “Commander, shut down the main reactor. Emergency hazard and repair teams to damaged sections. Inform medical bay to expect heavy casualties.†The commander nodded, obviously relieved. “Aye sir, I’m ordering the engineers to shut down the reactor.†Gerald looked at the display as the Enterprise broke away from them and the pursuing Devastator. Then to his horror, he saw as the ship fired another one of its torpedoes. It was moving fast; far too fast for the Merciful to evade even if its engines were working at full capacity. His heart stopped as the torpedo closed in. He looked out the observation window of the bridge, watching as the brilliant blue sphere charged straight at them–and passed by. It missed by a full five meters over the control bridge. Gerald watched, almost in disbelief as the torpedo kept flying. It seems that fate had found him fortunate. Boba watched as Slave I ascended into the atmosphere of Tatooine, her engines roaring as she put as much distance between her and Jaba’s Palace as its engines could. He had awoken some time after Kirk had struck him, in unbelievable agony. His jaw and nose were broken, several of his ribs were broken, and the gods know what else was broken. But he was alive–that’s all that mattered. And when he found that son of a bitch, he’d make him regret ever setting foot on Tatooine. Slave I had just passed out of the cloud layer when a bright blue pulse flew by him. He groaned and adjusted the sensor on the back to give him a feed of what the object was. It looked terribly similar to the energy weapons that the Enterprise had used on the palace. But to his horror, the advance sensors on Slave I found it to be a torpedo of some sort, with a strange energy signature that it didn’t recognize. It detonated a few kilometers above the palace and within seconds a great big ball of fire erupted from the clouds below Slave I, flattening against the ceiling of the sky, just meters below Boba. His heart still thumping, Boba frantically scanned for the Enterprise, but to his relief, it had fled. The space above him was filled of Imperial ships–five of which, including an Imperial Star Destroyer, were in the worst shape he had ever seen an Imperial ship in. Boba was starting to get the feeling that this ‘Starfleet’–whatever it was, was a great deal more dangerous than he had given them credit for.

So, decided to do a real ST & SW crossover story. Not just a vs, but an actual story. The characters that are owned by Paramount and Lucasfilms/whatever else George owns resepctively. This story contains adult violence and adult themes of a sexual nature (though it is more of a fade to black sort of thing--this isn't a porno). You have been warned... “Shields failing!†“Reroute auxiliary power to shields and inertial dampeners!†“Structural damage to deck seven and eight!†“More power to the integrity field!†“Phaser one is out!†“After launchers has suffered heavy damage!†“Emergency stabilizers coming online!†Kirk sat on his bridge, desperately holding on for his life as the Enterprise roared through the twisting cyclone of swirling red and green energy. Radiation constantly pounded the small ship. He could feel the strain lessen as the ship’s shaking softened, but it was of little comfort knowing that any moment the entire ship could be sucked into oblivion. So this is how it ends, he thought, lost to a random space anomaly. “Captain!†Sulu yelled, “I’m picking up another ship approaching the anomaly!†“Onscreen!†Kirk said. Salvation at last. No such luck. Kirk’s eyes went wide as a gray-green ship appeared on the screen. It had a large forward head with a large hole in the front and a long green neck that connected to a larger green body with two nacelles attached to the body beneath it. Upon its hull a feather engraved imaged had been carved into the hull. It hovered over the Enterprise, gloating. “Klingon cruiser.†Sulu said softly. “Phasers?†“Phasers are inoperable captain,†Styles said, “launchers too.†He added. Kirk bit his lip and took in a deep breath, “Then let’s try and take them with us,†he said, “Prepare for autodestruct. Mister Spock, I will need your code for the destruction sequence.†“One moment captain,†Spock said, still bent over examining his instruments. “Spock?†Kirk said, questionably. “I believe that we are in no danger captain,†his first officer said, “According to my readings, a weapon’s lock would be extraordinarily difficult.†“He’s right captain,†Styles said, “My instruments is having trouble locking onto them as well.†Kirk nodded thoughtfully. The cruiser couldn’t lock onto them with their computers. Any attempt at firing at the Enterprise would be a wild shot in the dark. But that wouldn’t last. It wouldn’t take long for the enemy captain to order for manual targeting. He flicked a switch on his command chair, “Scotty, this is Kirk, any luck getting us out?†“It’s not going to happen captain,†Scotty said, “The pull is just too great. Even at maximum warp we can’t break free.†“What about ejecting the warpcore and letting it fall into the anomaly’s gravitational pull?†Kirk asked. “It might work,†Scotty said, “but then again, it might also not and we won’t have enough power for the warp engines.†“It might be our only option,†Kirk said, “Be ready to eject the core on my signal. Kirk out.†Kirk sat back, looking at the large cruiser sitting atop them. He knew that the captain of the ship had the forward launcher loaded and waiting for an opportunity to strike. He wondered, what would happen if they managed to pull the Enterprise free of the anomaly? Would they fire? “Mister Spock,†he said, “Would the Enterprise be able to battle the Klingon Cruiser without her warpcore?†“Negative captain,†Spock said, “Even with reserves we would not be able to maintain warp one for very long.†“They would have an immense tactical advantage,†Kirk said, nodding, “but our weapons and our shields are powered by fusion reactors.†“Our weapons are inoperable captain,†Spock pointed out, “And even if they were, our shields are still being bombarded by high level radiation and unthinkable gravitational forces. We would be in no condition to fight.†“What if we use the impulse engines to take us to warp?†Kirk asked. “The cruiser would overtake us in a matter of minute’s captain.†Damned if we do, damned if we don’t, he thought. “Fascinating.†Kirk wheeled around in his chair to look at his science officer. Whenever the Vulcan uttered the word, broad new possibilities would be opened up, “What is it Mister Spock?†“Captain,†he said, “I do not believe that falling into the anomaly will destroy the Enterprise.†Kirk was out of his chair and by his first officer’s side in less than a second, “It won’t?†he asked, “but the gravitational pull of the anomaly nearly tore us apart!†“Yes, but I believe that it is similar to a hurricane,†Spock said, “The eye of the anomaly is safe and far less dangerous than the outer part.†Kirk nodded, “and what would happen then?†“I do not know captain,†Spock admitted, “My scanners have trouble penetrating the center of the anomaly, but they do show that the gravitational forces are lower there.†“Curious,†Kirk said, “but it looks to be our only chance. Sulu! Take the Enterprise further into the anomaly.†“Further? Are you joking sir?†“That’s an order Mister Sulu!†“Aye sir.†Kirk watched as the helmsman adjusted the course of the ship and lowered the warp field output. Slowly, the Enterprise allowed herself to be sucked in further into the anomaly. The ship shuddered several times more, but as the ship drew closer, it seemed to grow less intense. “Just as I predicted captain,†Spock said, “The gravitational forces have grown less in intensity.†“Radiation?†“As high as ever.†Spock said. “Captain, the Klingons!†Styles yelled. Kirk had half a second to grab onto the safety rail before the Enterprise shook violently, “Report!†he roared as the ship shook again. “They’re firing disruptors at us sir,†Styles said, “They’ve set them to proximity blasts.†“They’re trying to get a lucky shot,†Kirk said, understanding the tactic, “Can we return fire?†“Weapons are still down,†Styles said, “Damn it!†“Easy mister,†Kirk said, “we can’t lose our cool now.†Suddenly, Kirk was thrown off his feet and hit the cold hard metal deck. He lay there dazed for several seconds before he felt Spock dragging him up. He shook his head, trying to make sense of what was going on. All around him he heard screams and saw panels exploding as image on the view screen spun faster than an Andorian top. “Jim! Jim, are you alright?†he heard Spock yell. He blinked, “I’m fine,†he said, his head beginning to clear, “just a small bump.†“It seems that the Klingons got a lucky shot captain,†Spock said, “Main power has failed and we’re falling into the anomaly.†The ship shook again and Kirk was nearly thrown off his feet for a second time. More panels exploded and smoke filled the bridge. He somehow found himself holding onto the rail, staring into the cloudy scene. And then, it was quiet. Kirk waited. Nothing happened. Is it over? He wondered to himself. Slowly, he pulled himself up and stumbled across the bridge. Have to get to navigation. Find out what’s going on. He arrived at the seat, leaning over the unconscious Sulu, blood slowly seeping from a nasty cut on his forehead. He quickly brought up the navigational information. The anomaly was gone and so was the Klingon Cruiser. “Can’t be right,†he muttered. “Medical teams to the bridge,†he heard Spock back from his station. Taking in a deep breath, he left navigation and rushed to one of the stations to his left. Gently stepping over an unconscious crewman, he brought up the atmospheric controls and began to vent out the smoke and replace it with clean fresh air. Seconds later, the bridge was clear of smoke, but it revealed a mass of bodies, half of which were unmoving and the other half struggling to get to their stations. “Key stations,†he ordered as he moved to take his place at navigation. Styles was up too, quickly reconfiguring the tactical screen. “Any changes?†he asked. “Now that we’re out of all that radiation,†Styles said, “phaser emitters seem to be coming back online. Forward phaser one and two are at thirty percent power and aft phasers are at nine.†“Torpedoes?†“Still offline,†he said, “the gravitational stress damaged part of the tracks, but it can be repaired.†“Good.†He said, “I don’t know where that cruiser went, but they can’t be far. I’m scanning nearby space.†Kirk watched the information pour out. He frowned. The Enterprise’s sensors could scan up to point zero four light years in ten minutes. But as he watched, the sensors not only showed no signal of an enemy ship, but it also indicated that the Enterprise was in an entirely different system! “Switching to long range scanners,†Kirk said, “Scanning for nearby stars.†Kirk’s eyes widened as the information poured in. Countless stars configured in ways that they shouldn’t be, with countless more planets that were all wrong. He shook his head as he sat back. Impossible he thought it couldn’t have thrown us into an altogether different galaxy…could it? Chapter One Captain’s Log Stardate 8001.72 The Enterprise has survived an unknown space anomaly and is stuck by what Science Officer Spock claims to be over three million light years. The Enterprise has sustained serious damage and is in dire need for repairs, but without a starbase or any nearby colonies, we must resort to whatever we can find. Fortunately, it seems that a nearby solar system containing a Class M world with what we believe is signs of an advanced society. “Here is the complete manifest captain,†Spock said as they walked down the corridor. Kirk had made it his business to survey the repairs. It was a duty that captains rarely followed through, Kirk being the many that didn’t. He trusted his chief engineer to repair just about anything. But the ship had taken heavy damage; to the point that crewmen could die trying to repair the damages. He wanted them to know their captain wasn’t just sitting comfortably at his desk while digits rolled in. “Three containers of enriched Kreetassan spice, six containers of self-sealing stem bolts, one container of laser torches, and transportable laser drill.†Kirk said, “A rather small list commander.†“Apologies captain,†Spock said, “but without further knowledge of the society we are approaching, I cannot offer a list that would not violate the Prime Directive.†“We’re millions of light years away from home Spock.†Kirk said, “Now unless whatever the hell spat us here decides to open back up…we’re stuck here. We may be finding ourselves violating more than the Prime Directive.†“I realize that captain,†Spock said, “but logic dictates that we should not be ready to abandon our morals before we’re even forced to.†Kirk nodded, “Logical.†“I have however, prepared a list of other expendable items should we be forced to make…compromises,†Spock said. “Preparing to make those compromises commander?†Kirk asked. “My orders were to prepare a list of expendable items that we could use for trade,†Spock said, “I was simply being thorough.†Kirk smirked as he switched over to the second list. It was somewhat longer, but Kirk frowned and turned to the Vulcan, “antimatter? Spock…†“I was simply listing every expendable good we have captain,†Spock said, “The ship’s bussard collectors allow the Enterprise to collect large amounts of matter that we can in turn convert into antimatter. In short captain, we are a transportable antimatter plant as far as others are concerned.†“Antimatter is a powerful Spock,†Kirk cautioned, “We could be selling it to people who’d use it as a weapon of mass destruction.†“Any society that has achieved space flight would have already mastered basic fission and fusion weapons and reactors;†Spock pointed out, “In small amounts, antimatter is no more dangerous.†“But can also be used as weapons to destroy entire societies,†Kirk said, shaking his head. Then he stopped and lowered his voice, making sure that no one could hear them, “Spock…what is your personal opinion about this?†The Vulcan considered it, “It is a valuable commodity that could allow the Enterprise to survive, should we not find a way back.†He said, “But…I would not approve of its sale captain. We would be responsible for any damage that would result in us selling it.†“Millions,†Kirk said. “Billions,†Spock corrected, “We could produce enough antimatter to kill billons Jim.†Kirk tapped a few buttons on the padd, “Deleted,†he said, “I’ll have us settle the planet and cannibalize the Enterprise before we turn her into a weapons manufacturing facility.†“Agreed captain.†Spock said. Kirk turned back to the first list that Spock had presented him, “This may not be able to get us all the materials we need,†he said, “Perhaps if we were to part with a few of our food synthesizers…†“We have two broken synthesizers down in engineering,†Spock said, “However, Scotty’s team is stretched as it is repairing the damages.†“And he’ll have the entire team working on the warp engines while we’re orbiting the planet.†Kirk concluded, “We’ll consider that a later option.†A chime sounded, followed by Sulu’s voice, “Captain Kirk.†Kirk moved to a nearby intercom and pressed the response button, “Kirk here.†“Captain, we’ve arrived at the planet, we are preparing to send an away party.†Sulu reported. “I’ll be leading the away party Mister Sulu,†Kirk said, “You’ll be in command of the Enterprise until I return.†“Sir, shouldn’t Commander Scott be in charge?†Sulu asked. “Mister Scott has his hands full at the moment,†Kirk said, “But if you don’t feel up to the task…†“I can handle it captain.†Sulu said quickly. “Very good Mister Sulu,†Kirk said, “I take it the transporters are still offline?†“Yes sir.†“Then we’ll be taking the Galileo down with our first shipment,†Kirk said, “Have the Columbus on hot standby.†“Aye captain,†Sulu said, “I’ll prepare a security detail.†“Good. Kirk out.†Kirk punched the off button and started walking down the hall. Spock followed, “It occurs to me that we will need an expert to help us appraise the goods for an alien civilization.†He said. “I take it you have someone in mind?†Kirk asked. “Of course, Lieutenant Sharon Shelby is an expert on alien economics.†“Have her report to the Galileo.†Kirk said. ------------------------------- “Gr-greetings L-lord Vader,†Captain Mulchive Wermis said as the Sith Lord moved passed through the doorway, his large imposing figure seemed somewhat smaller, something that despite the uneasy feeling flowing through the captain, Wermis couldn’t help but enjoy. The Sith Lord didn’t even spare the captain a look as he passed by, “Prepare do break docking. I want the Devastator in hyperspace in twelve minutes.†“It will take us fifteen minutes to break docking alone,†Wermis protested. Wrong answer. The captain saw only a gesture before he felt himself fly off the ground and into the opposing wall. He felt his body bounce off it and hit the deck. As his senses were returning he noticed the Sith Lord standing over him. “You have nine minutes captain,†the Sith Lord said, “Either this ship is in hyperspace in that time or I will personally eject you into space.†The Sith Lord didn’t wait for a response. He simply turned and stormed away, leaving the captain to scramble to his feet and rush to an intercom, “This is Captain Wermis to the bridge.†“Yes captain?†“Get us out of dock and into hyperspace in eight minutes, do you hear me?†he yelled. “But sir—†“I don’t care if you have to rip half the docking port with us!†Wermis yelled, “Get us out of here now, do you understand me?†“Yes sir!†Leaning against the wall, he watched the Sith Lord turn around a corner and vanish from sight. But as always, the darkness that accompanied Vader always lingered. Wermis could feel it no matter where he was on the ship. It wasn’t gone unless Vader was. Six minutes later, the report came from the bridge to prepare for hyperspace jump. Wermis breathed a sigh of relief and after adjusting his uniform he started towards his quarters. He wasn’t sure what had occurred on the planet below, he had just known that some fanatics had injured Vader—something that had seemingly put the Sith Lord in a really bad mood. After a nearly twelve minute walk to his private quarters, he found himself behind his small desk, bringing up information about Tatooine. It had been a source of several Rebel cells in the past, but it had never required the efforts of the Navy or the Military to silence them. The Hutts had control of the planet, with it being the home of the most famous Criminal Lord of all, Jabba the Hutt. The Hutt had kept the planet under tight reigns long before the Empire had moved in. After the Hutt Clan and the Empire had some early ‘diplomatic issues’, the Hutt Clan fell under the Empire as a ‘protectorate’. It was a sort of admission on both sides for the most part. Hutt space was protected by small, inferior warships that even old Clone War cruisers could crush, but there were many and the Hutt’s space was large. The Navy had estimated that it would take two years to forcibly destroy the Hutt Council and their fleet, as well as quell any planetary rebellion. The Military projected a loss off twelve million for ground forces and the Navy project tens of thousands. It was a war that would slow down the dominance of the Empire and smear the face of the Empire. On the other hand, the Hutts knew that if they pushed too far, the Empire would have no choice but to crush them—and early ‘demonstrations’ proved just that. More than one planet or moon experienced a Delta Base Zero—the order to destroy all life, all planetary assets, and remove all but the traces of civilization. Thus, the Empire and the Hutts entered into a deal that would allow the Hutts to retain much of their power while officially working under Imperial rule. In reality, they ran illegal operations and did anything they liked, so long as they couldn’t get caught. But one such duty that they held to was keeping any rebellious ideals down. They more than anyone didn’t want the Empire bringing its business and its fleet to their worlds. “Curious,†he said to himself as he read over the information, “Why would the Rebels send the information to Tatooine?†The door chimed. “Enter.†He called. The door opened to reveal a thin, pale skinned officer known as Lieutenant James Gifford. A mostly unremarkable engineer who had risen through the ranks in seven years, he was thirty-two and was the sort of man who’d retire and spend a quiet life on some sort of remote planet. Vader’s arrival had changed that. The man feared Vader—and hated him for a reason that Wermis could only guess at (although, the Emperor knew he tried to find out). But it served him well; apt in his skills, he had been able to spy upon Vader by modifying the internal sensors in his quarters. Vader wasn’t a technical man; just the puppet of the Emperor. “You had wanted to see me?†he asked. “Yes,†Wermis said, looking up, “As you know, Lord Vader is preparing to take the Tantive IV over Tatooine. We suspect that Princess Leia Organa is involved with this. We suspect that the main computer will have the information we’re looking for.†Wermis frowned, “I don’t understand what this has to do with me.†“The Emperor wants these plans found,†Wermis explained, “Vader has been put in charge of that task. Thus far, Vader’s results have been less than exemplarily.†“You want me to let the Rebels escape with the plans intact?†“No,†Wermis said, “Nothing so…traitorous. I simply wish for you to erase the information. It will appear as if the Rebels still have the information.†“Another botch on Vader’s record.†The man concluded. Wermis smiled and nodded, “And then when Vader is forced to destroy all life on the planet, the Hutts will rebel and the Empire will be forced to pacify it. Millions of lives lost, billions of credits wasted, and two years tied up fixing Vader’s last mistake.†“What makes you think Vader will order orbital bombardment?†Gifford asked. “He’s a violent fool,†Wermis said, “And his recent trouble—whatever it may be, has put him on edge. He will stop at nothing to find the plans. And when he does, he’ll run blindly into his own doom.†Gifford smiled, “I will arrange it.†“Excellent.†--------------------------- Captain’s Log Supplemental The Galileo has landed upon the planet. After a lengthy negotiation with the port master, we have bought a day’s worth of space and are proceeding to making arrangements to meet with buyers who may be interested in what we have to offer. “Fascinating,†Spock said as he stepped out of the shuttle, “Much like my home planet of Vulcan.†“Except for the two suns,†Kirk noted as he followed behind him. Spock drew out his tricorder and began to scan, “Hmmm, I’m detecting a large fusion reactor due east of here. Probably the supplier of the port. I’m also detecting several smaller fission reactors—probably privately owned.†“Earth had created its first fusion reactors just before World War III,†Kirk noted, “but we moved beyond that a long time ago. Most of Earth’s power is fed by large antimatter reactors.†“According to our scan of the ships as we landed,†Spock said, “Their ships appear to run on fusion as well.†“It seems then, that their technology is considerably behind our own.†Kirk said, “At least a century.†“For your people,†Spock said, “Vulcans had developed such technologies long before meeting your people.†“You’re half-human Spock,†McCoy pointed out. “You forget that I honor my Vulcan heritage doctor.†Spock said as he closed the tricorder.†“Let’s meet with those traders we were told about,†Kirk said quickly, interrupting what would surely erupt into a long and grueling argument between the two, “Where’s Lieutenant Shelby?†he asked. “Here captain.†A woman in her late twenties said as she stepped out of the shuttle behind them. She was dressed in blue woman uniform, complete with a short skirt. Along with her she carried a tricorder and a padd. She had short brown hair and bright green eyes with a pale complexion. She was stunning. Kirk gave her his heart-melting smile, “Alright Miss,†he said, “Any ideas thus far?†“Well,†I looked over a few of their commercial transmissions on the way down,†she said, looking down at her padd, “Economically it’s a poor planet captain; there aren’t many sources here on the planet that could give a reasonable price for our resources. At least not in bulk.†Kirk frowned, “I wish you had told me that before we landed. This entire trip might be in vain.†“I did spot some hope sir,†she said, “It appears that there’s a rather powerful and wealthy merchant living on the planet. His name is Jabba the Hutt. “Jabba the Hutt?†Kirk asked. “Yes sir,†Shelby said, “He’s apparently in charge of several freighters in orbit and more in the port here.†Kirk nodded, “Then that’s the man we want to meet.†They left the small cradle where the shuttle sat and continued on their way into the streets. It was a fairly small place, as far as space exploring civilizations go, but Kirk was surprised at the level of clutter. When he had heard Shelby tell him the planet was poor, he had not expected this; there were no sidewalks or official roads; just sand. People of all races mingled in with each other, many drunk and high on drugs. Kirk couldn’t believe that the Federation could allow any of their planets to fall into such disrepair. Kirk instinctively reached for the phaser at his side, drawing comfort from its presence. He couldn’t help but notice that most of the natives were also similarly armed; often in a very visual fashion. He picked out a man at a local stand, a human looking fellow that looked to hadn’t shave in several days and covered in small insects. Kirk approached the man, giving his warmest smile. “Greetings sir, I was wondering if you could help me.†He said. “What do ya want?†the man growled, “I’m trying to run a business here.†He gestured to a large pile of what appeared to be rotting fish of some sort. It was something that Kirk wouldn’t even feed to a Tribble he was trying to poison. But he held his smile, “My apologies sir, allow me to make this quick. I’m looking for a man who goes by the name Jabba the Hutt.†The man’s eyes bulged out and his mouth dropped open, allowing two insects to escape. Kirk also couldn’t help but notice that several other people nearby were listening. The man recovered a moment later, his eyes narrowing, “I have nuthin’ ta do with Jabba.†He said firmly. “Why not?†Kirk asked, “Certainly a…successful businessman such as yourself would wish to do business with one of the most prosperous merchant on the planet.†“I don’t know nothing!†the man barked, “No off with you!†Kirk looked around and smiled back at the man, “My apologies for offending you sir.†He turned and walked away, ignoring the man’s stream of curses. Spock gave him a curious look, “It did not appear as if your conversation with him went well captain.†He said. “No it did not,†Kirk said, “He seemed rather offended by the mere mention of Jabba.†“Perhaps a rival business owner,†Spock said. Kirk cast a glance back at the man, “Unlikely…I should hope.†“Perhaps Jabba is the reason that this man works here now,†Spock offered. “Perhaps…†Kirk nodded, “Yes…we’ll look somewhere else.†They had located a more clean man; a green skinned alien with two hair-like tentacles coming out of his head. At the mere mention of Jabba’s name, the man began to hurl his own wares at them. Namely knives. Fortunately, he had poor aim and they were to escape into the crowds unharmed. They tried a third and a fourth until they finally looked to people walking in the streets, most of who stuttered some sort of excuse about needing to get the money from home or an affiliate before vanishing into the crowd. “This Jabba seems less like a legitimate businessman and more like a tyrant,†McCoy grumbled, “Do we still want to do dealings with him if his name inspires hatred and fear?†“Yes, I’m starting to have seconds thoughts as well,†Kirk said, “Shelby, is there anyone else on that list?†he asked. Shelby slapped away a wandering hand as she took a look at her padd, “well captain, there is a place called Wald’s Parts.†She said, “It’s not too far away from here.†Kirk nodded, “Very good.†He said, gesturing to his new security officer Commander Watson, “Commander, take her to the shop. See if you can find anything that we would need. Meanwhile, Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy, and myself will take a look around. See if we can’t learn anything else about this culture.†“Aye sir.†“Was that wise?†McCoy asked. “What?†“Sending those two out alone, there’s safety in numbers Jim.†McCoy said. “Commander Watson is an excellent chief security,†Kirk said, “He’s been on the Enterprise for three months and he came highly recommended. I trust him.†“Well captain,†Spock said uneasily, “I must admit you do have a bit of a track record of losing security officers.†Kirk waved them away, “They have phasers and communicators. These people seem more skittish than dangerous if you ask me. We’ll be fine.†“There’s usually a reason why people are scared Jim,†McCoy said, “It’s usually because there’s something to be afraid of.†Kirk sighed, but kept walking. It wasn’t long until they spotted a bar. Kirk smiled as he walked in, his eyes adjusting to the poor lights. A pub; a place where people talked, laughed, and argued. It was the sort of place that one could always trust to gain the greatest insight into a culture. “Damn Hutts have cut into my profit margins again,†a man at the bar complained, “Demanded that I pay for the damages to the generators.†“They’re cut throat, you know that.†Another man said, “They don’t want to pay full price even if it has a dent in it.†That’s bull,†the first man said, “They were military grade generators; you can’t run around with those on your manifest. The Navy would accuse you of siding with the rebels.†“Yeah, they’ve been getting worse these days,†the second man said, “Even Hutt space isn’t safe anymore. Damn slugs aren’t brave enough to stand up to them.†“Who could?†the first said, “With ships over a klick and a half long, I’d fold too.†“Makes me want to start smuggling for the Rebels,†the second man said in a hushed voice, “At least they won’t nail ya for damaged goods. They’d kiss you, offer you a warm meal, pay you, and then buy you a beer for the road.†The first man laughed, “Is that so?†“Yeah, did a few runs for some old Republic sidearms last month,†he said, “Six of the eight hundred guns were damaged when two TIEs gave me a warning shot. The stupid bastards gave me an extra ten percent for my trouble.†The first man chuckled, “Damn, Jabba would have reamed you for getting the paint scratched.†Kirk passed by, not wanting the men to learn he’d been listening. So Jabba is a member of this Hutt group, he thought to himself, makes sense. They sound like some sort of government, but it seems like this Empire has them by the horns. “—he charged me seven hundred credits!†one man roared to his buddy, “Damn Imperial dog. I tell ya, the Hutt clan ain’t what it used to be. Back in the day, they would have reamed the Empire.†“Back in the day, the Empire wouldn’t have dared even look at the Hutts wrong.†A woman grumbled. “Most curious,†Spock said as they continued to pass by, “It seems that this Empire is aggressive. It must be slowly overtaking this nation’s territory.†“That could present a problem,†Kirk said. “This Empire would seem to have more pressing matters to worry about than one stray starship.†McCoy said. “Perhaps doctor, if were simply a stray ship,†Spock said, “thus far, my scans have indicated that our technology is far more advanced than theirs.†“A tempting target for an aspiring officer in an expanding empire,†Kirk concluded. “Correct captain.†“Without full warp capability that might become a reality,†Kirk said. A beeping sound broke through the clatter and Kirk reached down to pull his communicator free and flipped it open, “Kirk here.†He said. “Captain, its Sulu.†“Go ahead Mister Sulu.†“Sensors have detected a large warship enter the system. It seems to be on an intercept course with one of the ships that just left the planet.†Kirk frowned, “Would this ship happen to be about a kilometer and a half long?†“Sixteen hundred meters sir, yes,†Sulu reported, “Heard of it?†“Have you been detected yet?†Kirk asked. “We don’t think so,†Sulu reported, “They only appear to be paying attention to the one ship.†“Take the Enterprise to the other side of the planet,†Kirk said, “Contact me only if you must.†“Is there a problem sir?†Sulu asked. “We have reason to believe that ship belongs to an aggressive government,†Kirk said, “It would be best if they didn’t get their hands on the Enterprise.†“Aye sir, setting course now.†“Good,†Kirk said, “We’ll meet you back at the ship in an hour. Kirk out.†Kirk flipped the communicator closed, “It seems gentlemen that the situation has grown more complicated.†“Great, just what we need.†McCoy growled. “Captain,†Spock said, “It would seem prudent to me that we should rejoin with the other two and return to the ship as soon as possible. No doubt if the Enterprise is spotted, they would fire on any craft that attempts to board it.†“A wise suggestion Mister Spock,†Kirk said flipping open his communicator. He quickly adjusted it to pick up on the chief’s communicator. To his surprise, the line was already open, “Commander this is Kirk, what is your status?†“Commander?†he called again, “Commander, this is the captain, can you hear me.†“This is Mister Fett,†a cold voice spat back. “Fett?†Kirk echoed, “Who is this? Where are my people?†“Your people are safe with us for now,†Mr. Fett said, “You caused a rather big scene today, asking for the Jabba. He doesn’t take kindly to people asking around.†“We meant no harm,†Kirk protested, “We were simply looking to trade. We had mistaken your…†“Employer,†Mr. Fett supplied. “…your employer as a merchant.†Kirk said, “We had no intention of causing a scene.†“I find it hard to believe that you don’t know Jabba the Hutt,†Mr. Fett said, “Everyone knows about Jabba.†“We’re not from around here.†Kirk said. “Like I said,†the man replied, “Everyone knows about Jabba.†“What do you want?†Kirk asked. “My employer couldn’t help but notice the starship you have in orbit.†Mr. Fett replied, “It’s not everyday he finds a ship capable of keeping his sensors in the dark.†“I fail to see how this has anything to do with this,†Kirk said. “Despite this,†the voice continued, “He did manage to identify several curious weapon emplacements. He’s interested in purchasing them.†Kirk could feel himself growing angry, “I will not trade weapons under any condition. Not even for the lives of my crew.†The cold laugh sent a chill down Kirk’s spine, “Lives? Oh no, they won’t be killed captain. Slaves are a rather valuable commodity here on Tatooine. No, your commander will be put to work in some wretched mine…and the woman…heh, well…let’s just say that Jabba is known for his excellent taste in women. He pays double the price for a beauty like this one.†Kirk frowned for a moment, not understanding what the man had meant…then it slowly dawned upon him and he shook with rage, “You listen to me mister,†he yelled, “If you so much as harm a hair on her head and you’ll have to answer to me. Is that clear?†The man laughed harder, “Is that so captain? And what are you going to do? Attack us? His fortress is protected by ray and particle shielding—not to mention the seventy-eight slaves he keeps on hand serving his every whim. Kill him and you condemn all of them as well.†“You think I care about some measly slaves?†Kirk bluffed. “Come now captain,†the man said, “We both know you’re not that sort of man. You’re a third rate captain with a cushy job.†“You seem pretty sure of yourself.†Kirk said. “You tipped your hand long before I caught these two clowns,†Fett said, “I know your type captain. You’re the groomed captain of the Core. Terrible and despicable acts like theft, murder, and rape are the work of the devil. You’ll hold yourself to some sort of laughable ideal of ‘honor’ and ‘justice’. And then when Jabba breaks your innocence—just as he will your crewman, you’ll fold like a house of cards.†“You disgusting…†Kirk stopped. In all the languages he had ever encountered, he knew none that could match what he felt. Not even the Klingons—as far as he knew, had such a word. “Save yourself the heartache now captain,†the man said, “just give Jabba what he wants and we won’t have to go through with this. He’s a very wealthy man captain; he can compensate you for all of this.†Kirk felt a jab of temptation, Jabba is wealthy here, he thought to himself, should I be fighting against him when he could help me get home; for something as simple as basic phaser technology? Perhaps—No! I’ll never work with this bastard. “Return my crewmen,†Kirk said, “Do it and things won’t get ugly.†“You know…†the man said, “She’s really a looker…I think I just might have a turn with her before I hand her over to Jabba.†“You centaurian slug,†Kirk sneered, “When I get my hands on you—†“Ain’t gonna happen captain,†Fett said, “but you can try. A hundred other men have and now they’re dead.†Kirk flipped the flap closed, breaking the line. He stood there, oblivious that the entire bar had gone quiet around him. People were staring, “Gentlemen,†he said to the others, barely containing his rage, “Follow me.†Kirk led them out of the bar, onlookers pointing and whispering. As soon as they were far enough away, Kirk spoke again, “Suggestions?†“This place is full of savages!†McCoy roared, “That…that bastard deserves nothing but the lowest pit that God has to offer him!†“Calm yourself doctor,†Spock said, “The captain requires sound advice, not your anger.†“And do what Spock?†McCoy roared, “You want me to tell him to give those people advanced Federation technology? Or have him allow those…those things to do as they will to Lt. Shelby? Maybe your Vulcan logic has an answer!†“Indeed it does doctor,†Spock said, then turned back to Kirk, “Captain, it stands to reason that as they were able to respond to your hail of Commander Watson, that they must have his communicator.†Kirk brightened, “We can track them.†“Precisely captain,†Spock said, “If we hurry, we could use the Galileo’s sensors to locate the shuttle and overtake them.†“That’s too risky,†McCoy said, “What if they kill them when they see us? Why not have the Enterprise beam them up?†“They may be monitoring our communicators with the ones they stole doctor,†Spock said, “By communicating with the Enterprise, they would quickly realize that we could track them.†“And throw them away.†McCoy concluded, “And we don’t know if the transporters are working or not.†“You see the problem doctor.†Spock said. “Then we need to get to the Galileo and stop them,†Kirk said, taking off into the crowd, followed by the others. It took them nearly twelve minutes to reach the Galileo. After several minutes of convincing the two security officers to let them in, Kirk quickly ordered them to prepare for take off. Two minutes later, the Galileo tore away from the space station, heading due north as her sensors locked onto the two stolen communicators. “ETA?†Kirk asked. “Eight minutes, thirteen seconds,†Spock said. “Then what?†McCoy asked, “The Galileo doesn’t have any weapons. We’ll be sitting ducks.†“Our hull is lined with duranium and has a polarizable hull doctor,†Spock said, “The Galileo is literally capable of ramming their craft into submission.†“Kind of crude, don’t you think?†“It’s better than the alternative doctor,†Spock said, “Once they reach their fortress, no doubt the difficulties of rescue will be much greater.†“Agreed,†Kirk said, “Better if we—†“They’re changing course captain,†the pilot said. “Match course,†Kirk said, “Now—†“Wait Jim,†Spock said, “I don’t believe this is an ordinary course adjustment. Mister Fett’s craft has altered seventy degrees and is now heading towards what appears to be an outlying moisture farm.†“What?†“Confirmed,†the pilot said. “That makes no sense,†McCoy said, “He said this Jabba lived at a large fortress with defensive shielding.†“Perhaps he was lying?†the security officer asked, “Bluffing; making you think Jabba’s tougher than he is.†“Sensors indicate a large fortress thirty kilometers that matches with his former course,†Spock said, “Either Mister Fett is making a very unusual stop or we’ve been spotted Jim.†“I tend to think the later,†Kirk said. “I would tend to agree captain.†“What’s our current speed?†Kirk asked. “One tenth impulse,†the pilot said. “Increase to four tenth impulse,†Kirk said. “I don’t know if this shuttle can handle those speeds,†the pilot protested. “She’ll have to mister.†“Captain,†Spock said, “I’m detecting three objects leaving the fortress and approaching at high speed.†“Analysis?†“They appear to be covered in titanium and steel,†Kirk said, “I’m reading low level shield emissions and low level fusion weapons.†“How soon until they intercept us?†Kirk asked. “At their current speed, twenty-one minutes, thirty-three seconds.†“You’ve been relieved pilot,†Kirk said. “Sir?†“That’s an order.†Kirk instructed. The pilot removed himself and Kirk took his seat, quickly adjusting several controls. “Captain, what are you doing?†the pilot asked, fear creeping in his voice. “We’re going to see just how accurate Starfleet’s reports of shuttles burning up in atmosphere is.†he said. “What?†The pilot yelled, “Captain, you can’t be serious!†“I am,†Kirk said, “I intend to catch up with Mister Fett before those fighters catch us.†“I am boosting inertial dampeners to maximum,†Spock said, “Polarized hull is powering up, but it may now be enough to withstand the stress.†“Do what you can Spock.†“Commander,†the pilot said, turning to the Vulcan, “Can’t you see this is crazy? The captain could kill us all…for what? Two crewmen? Is the life of five worth two? Aren’t you the one always saying that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few? Wasn’t that part of Surak’s teachings?†“I also believe it was one of Earth’s most famous political philosophers that said that ‘all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.†Spock said. “Mister Spock…†“Sit down blast it,†McCoy said as he grabbed the pilot by the shoulder and escorted him to his seat, “God knows I’m not peeling you off the bulkhead.†“Yes sir.†The pilot mumbled. Kirk adjusted the controls some more and then with a look back to ensure that everyone had seated in, he punched in full impulse. Kirk was thrown back in his seat and for a moment he’d thought that his seat would be torn off and him along with it. The image of the landscape turned into a blur as they shot across the wasteland, a storm of sand following them in their wake. “Estimated…time to arrival…is thirteen seconds…†Spock yelled, struggling to focus on the controls. Kirk nodded and silently counted the time in his head, but the room was starting to grow hot; already he could see traces of yellow and white flame erupting across screen. He could feel himself sweating as the inside of the shuttle quickly became an oven. He punched in the secondary command, bringing the shuttle back to its former speed several seconds early. The blurred landscape became clear and crisp again as Kirk blinked to regain his senses, desperately trying to find the target. “There captain,†Spock said, pointing at the window. Kirk followed the Vulcan’s finger; to a small farm with a small object approaching it; kicking up a small wave of sand behind it. Kirk stared at the craft like a predator; some sort of sailing ship with large wind sails and a metal hull. Punching a boost from the thrusters to close the distance quickly. “I believe they’ve noticed us captain,†Spock said. Indeed they had; the ship started to push faster and adjusted her course to bring her around the far side of the farm. But that didn’t matter to Kirk; he simply increased the speed of the impulse engines and within moments they were in spitting distance. But as they did, Kirk noticed the gun emplacements that some of the men had set up on the ship. Red pulses erupted from the deck; most flying wild into the air and harmlessly several meters from the Galileo, but some hit, leaving small scorches on the hull. “Minimal damage captain,†Spock said. “That’s about to change Mister Spock,†Kirk said. The Galileo lowered herself to level with the speeder. Red bolts rained onto the shuttle’s hull moments before her boosters flared; sending her right into the speeder. The Speeder flew wildly several dozen meters as her pilot desperately tried to regain control. Kirk smiled at the rather large dent that the Galileo had left. “We are getting a communicator transmission from the craft,†Spock said. “Patch it through.†Kirk said. “Well, well,†Fett’s familiar voice said, “It seems you’ve got a bit more in the sack than I had thought captain,†he said, “but no matter. You’re not going to win this. I suggest you save your crewman the pain of reprisals.†Kirk made a quick adjustment on the controls, sending the Galileo slamming into the speeder, nose first. The sound of cracking metal and minor explosions echoed through the speakers as Kirk backed the shuttle away. The sounds of groans and curses came from the other line. “You were saying Mister Fett?†Kirk asked. “You’re going to pay for that you bastard,†Fett cursed. Kirk rammed the speeder again, this time catching it across the bow, “Apparently you didn’t understand me Mister Fett,†Kirk said, “I want my two crewmen back.†“Captain,†Spock warned in a hushed tone, “the enemy craft have increased speed. They will arrive in three minutes.†Kirk nodded, “You can either surrender my crewmen now Mister Fett,†He said, “Or I can smash you until your vessel crashes. Your choice.†“We both know my buddies will be here soon,†the voice returned, “Until then, accept my personal greeting.†“Captain!†Spock said, “Incoming missile from the speeder!†Kirk saw it; from the aft section; a small metal warhead with a stream of black smoke behind it. Kirk twisted the shuttle, allowing the missile to hit the thicker aft section of the shuttle. The ship shuddered from the explosion. Kirk’s hands flew across the terminal, desperately trying to regain control. “Heavy structural damage to the starboard armor,†Spock said, “polarization has fallen by sixty-seven percent.†“Not bad,†he heard Fett’s mock, “I half expected that to take you out. A pity.†Kirk punched in the controls as the Galileo dived towards the speeder, hitting the mast of the wind sails head first. The mast held up for less than a second before it went flying off, catching a large gust and floating several hundred meters before crashing to the ground. The speeder slowed; its main form of power removed as it dragged itself towards the farm. Kirk took a look at the damage display; the nose had taken a severe beating for that, “I think now would be the time to negotiate Mister Fett.†He said. “You stupid bastard,†Fett yelled, “Do you know what Jabba is going to do to you for that?†he asked, “He’s going to boil you alive.†“You have five seconds before I start ramming you again,†Kirk said, “Return my crewmen.†“No…no I don’t think so.†“Captain,†Spock reported, “The other three craft are approaching. Weapon range in twenty seconds.†Kirk punched in another ramming sequence; this time hitting the speeder with the port side of the shuttle. No sooner had he sent the speeder spiraling out of control had he felt the shuttle shake. “Heavy damage to the starboard side,†Spock reported, “The polarized hull has failed. Thrusters failing.†“Open a channel to the Enterprise,†Kirk said, “Let’s see if they can lend us a hand.†Suddenly, Kirk felt the shuttle jerk and an explosion. -------------------- “Sir,†Uhura said, “I got what seemed like a transmission from the Galileo, but it was cut off.†“Locate the Galileo Mister Styles,†Sulu said, leaning forward in the command chair. “The Galileo’s position has moved about three hundred kilometers from their last position,†Styles reported. His voice grew grave, “Reading heavy damage to the shuttle’s hull and debris; it’s impacted in the sand.†“How?†Sulu asked. “I’m reading three heavily armed objects circling about her,†Styles reported. “Do we have phasers?†Sulu asked. “Phaser one is at fifty percent,†Styles reported. “Warn all crewmen in the area to evacuate,†Sulu said, “When you’re ready, blast them out of the sky.†------------------------- “About damn time,†Boba cursed as he pulled himself to his feet. He looked up to see the G-1-M4-C Dunelizards circling over the shuttle like vultures. Tapping the comm. on his wrist, he opened a channel to them, “This is Fett,†he said, “Don’t fire on the shuttle. It has the ship’s captain on it. I’m going in to apprehend them. Keep an eye out.†Boba examined the deck; half the dozen crew on the speeder had been killed or badly injured from the captain’s assault. He looked over to the two crewmen; the man had been knocked unconscious, but the woman was fine. He gestured at two nearby men, “Grab her,†he said. The speeder slowly landed in the dunes five meters away from the moisture farm. Already the natives were looking out from their hiding spots; trying to determine just what the hell was going on. Boba spotted one young man with a blond bowl cut. He smiled to himself; the young chap must be wetting himself at the chance to see a real fight. As he walked, he freed his blaster. He didn’t trust the captain; he was too determined to assume that he’d surrender now. The shuttle hadn’t crashed too far; the aft end had been torn apart from the proton missile and it was lying nose first in the sand, smoke rising up to the sky. Confidently he reached down to the communicator and pulled it up, flipping it open. “Hey captain,†he said. No answer. “Hey captain.†He said again, “Captain? Can you hear me? Still alive? I hope so. That way you can hear your officer scream.†He gestured to the two men, who tore away a piece of her top. The woman let out a scream and instinctively tried to cover the tear, but the two guards held her tight. Boba didn’t have to wait long for a response. “You bastard,†the captain said back over the intercom, “I’ll kill you.†Boba laughed, “No captain, no you won’t.†he said, “I’ve got three Dunelizards with their targeting computers locked onto your shuttle. Now, what you’re going to do is come out quietly. Then we’re going for a little ride to Jabba, where you’ll then hand over possession of your ship and crew.†“When hell freezes over.†“You don’t have a choice captain,†Boba said, “It’s either that or you can listen to use have some fun with your lady friend here.†He gestured to the guards. They tore away another piece of her clothing. “No!†the woman screamed, “Stop it!†Boba studied the woman’s cleavage, “And it looks like you folks now how to grow them back home.†He added. A stream of profanities that Boba didn’t understand came through the communicator. Boba waited patiently until the captain had exhausted his list, to which the bounty hunter had to hand it to; the captain sure had a long list. “Better come out captain,†he said, “because even if you’re not foolish enough to run out to stop us, I’ll be sure to give the order to vaporize your shuttle after I’ve had my way with—†A bright blue beam erupted across the sky, hitting one of the dunelizards square. It shields flashed for a brief second before a red explosion engulfed the fighter. It spun downwards; crashing into a dune. Boba watched as two more streaks of blue light hit the other two dunelizards, sending them flying down after their companion. Boba quickly flipped the communicator shut, “Get her back to—†he began, but another blue beam struck the speeder; blowing it into thousands of flying metal fragments. “Son of a bitch.†He cursed. “Shit!†one of the guards screamed, “Shit! Now what are we supposed to do?†he yelled. “Snap out of it! We’ve still got the girl,†Boba said, “Get to the farm. We’ll take their speeder.†“R-right boss.†The man said, hauling the woman to her feet and dragging them as they went along. They rushed to the farm. A man in his late thirties or forties tried to stop them as they approached; raising some sort of old blaster rifles the hicks out there kept. Boba pulled out his pistol and had fired it at the man before the farmer had even time to aim. It caught him square in the forehead; blowing a red hot hole into his head and out the other. It was like watching a melon explode. “That’s what’s going to happen to you,†Boba warned the woman, “if you even think about running. You got that?†The woman didn’t respond; she only stared at the dead man’s headless body in horror. The bounty hunter took that as a good sign; it meant that they couldn’t possibly be that violent of a group if this was the most horrifying thing she’d ever seen. As they made their way around the small farm they spotted the speeder; it looked to be a piece of crap, but then it would get them as far as they needed to go. The two guards tossed the woman into the car, but before they could get in, a blue beam caught one man in the back; dropping him like a load of bricks. The bounty hunter threw himself into a roll; narrowly avoiding the beam that hit the door of the speeder. He half turned to see his adversary at last; a man in a gold shirt carrying what looked to be a small blue and black pistol. His blond hair was dirty and messed up; his face covered in sand and ash. With him were a few other individuals; two men in blue similarly armed and one man in red. Boba took a shot, catching the man in red in the chest and sending him flying backwards. Then he leapt over, narrowly avoiding two more blue beams as he landed right next to the girl; shoving his pistol between her mounds. He flipped open the communicator. “Stay where you are or the girl gets it!†he yelled. The firing stopped. “Good boys.†He mocked. He looked to the two guards; one was lying in the sand and the other had fallen into the speeder; both unconscious. He silently cursed to himself, wondering just what was going on. Then he saw a woman not far away; crotched behind an old canister. He dropped the communicator down on the hostage’s stomach and then reached down for his second pistol and pointed it at the woman. “You there woman,†he said,†Get in the speeder.†The woman’s eyes went wide. “Get in now or I’ll blow you and your son’s brains out!†he roared. The woman gave a yelp and scrambled from her spot and slowly, reluctantly got behind the wheel of the speeder. She was shaking. Boba slowly adjusted himself to sit next to his captive; one pistol trained on the first hostage and now the second. “Now drive.†He said coldly. The speeder took off, leaving a trail of dust behind them. After several minutes, the other guard woke up. Boba ordered the woman to stop. When she had, he put three red pulses into the driver’s seat. Getting out, Boba tossed her carcass out of the speeder and then gestured for the second man to grab their hostage. They took her to the front of the speeder. Boba flipped open the communicator, “Hey captain,†he mocked, “How’s it going?†“I’ll get you,†he promised, “I’ll kill you.†“Well captain,†he said, “That just may be. But for now, you’re going to listen. You’re going to listen to her beg, going to listen to her scream, and you’re going to listen while you can’t do anything to help.†Boba tore away the skirt.

To be fair, a megaton warhead tends to kill most people.

I just posted chapter three and I've done some work on chapter four. Sorry for the delay. Well, he's the same guy who as a child, was persuaded to destroy a ship just to kill the guy who killed his father. I would presume that he's probably pretty fucked up as an adult. EDIT To explain myself more clearly. Boba clearly does a great deal of jobs for Jabba and he clearly spends more than a few weeks at a time at his palace or at some sort of Jabba owned facility. And we all know how much Jabba loves his slaves. Slavery is in fact, common on Tatooine if I recall correctly. Boba has probably had his own share of such women. Now to be fair, the ones he probably takes to bed most often have probably been slaves for some time now and have been broken down to the point where having someone as handsome as Boba is probably a highlight of their day, compared to say, Greedo. So the concept of taking women against their will isn't all that evil for someone like Boba. For the culture he has been dropped into, it's probably not all that bad. I mean, Anakin's stepfather basically bought his mother. I mean, he was a good guy and treated her right, but that doesn't change the fact that this is clearly acceptable on their planet. So long as it's a slave. On the other hand, I will admit that I really just did it out of the fact that I have a rather sadistic streak. If any of you doubt me, ask Aratech if he has a copy of the page-long recommendation to how to break down someone playing a Lawful Stupid Paladin. It's rather inspiring I think. All said and done however, I did take into account that this would be a reasonable thing that Boba might do, given his cultural background. Remember that in some cultures (albiet more...barbaric), raping a woman isn't always a crime. In the case of a Greek myth regarding the god of the sea, he raped a priestess named Medusa of the goddess of war in her own temple. The woman however, was the one that the goddess punished by turning her into a gorgon. That's not to say, that under any condition that I approve or support anything like this. I'm simply pointing out some rather...disturbing facts of human history.

Chapter Three Consequences “Firing sequence complete,†Styles reported, “Columbia has landed and is dropping off away team.†“Monitor them,†Sulu said. “Sir,†Styles said, “Six ships in orbit have responded to our attacks. They’re powering their weapons and raising shields.†“Tactical analysis?†“Sensors suggest some type of raider or patrol ship,†Styles said, “They’re no match for us sir.†“Signal them to stand down,†he turned to an engineer, “Shield status?†“Shields are at nineteen percent sir,†he reported. “Great,†Sulu muttered. “They’re not answering hails sir,†Uhura said. “Phasers?†“Phaser banks one and three are operational, but we only have one forward launcher.†Styles said grimly. “Raise shields, prepare firing solution.†Sulu said, “Urhura, inform the captain.†The bridge crew leapt into action, “Captain gives his approval for whatever force you deem necessary to defend the Enterprise,†Uhura said. “Firing solution complete,†Styles said. “Fire!†The Enterprise’s forward phaser bank spat half a dozen quick lances of blue light, nailing each of the ships turning them into spinning balls of fire. Sulu shook his head as he sat back, watching the balls of flame descend down to the large stretch of desert that covered the planet. ----------------------- “Put this in there too.†Ben said, tossing him a fusion lamp. “Do we really need all this stuff?†Luke asked as he stuffed lamp into the trunk. “We have to be prepared,†Ben said as he rummaged through some old things, “The journey is long to the Degaba System.†“The Degaba-what?†Luke asked. “You’ll see,†Ben said as he pulled handed Luke another bundle of clothes. “What about my father?†Luke asked, “You promised to tell me about my father.†Ben paused, seeming as if he were ten years older, “Yes…I suppose I did.†“My uncle never told me much about him,†Luke said. “I imagine that he wouldn’t,†Ben said, shaking his head, “He was a good man…but a little too stiff neck for my tastes.†“What do you mean?†Luke asked. “He never wanted you to learn that your father was a Jedi Knight.†Ben said. “A Jedi? My dad?†Luke asked. Ben smiled, “Yes, your father was my apprentice.†“You’re a Jedi?†Luke asked, his eyes widening. Ben smiled, “Of course.†“And you trained my father?†Ben smiled, “Yes…he was my greatest apprentice. The best that the order had ever seen.†“But my uncle told me that my father died,†Luke said. “He did,†Ben said, his eyes going to the floor, “…Darth Vader. He was another apprentice of mine. He had fallen to the dark side. He murdered your father and betrayed me.†“Why?†Luke asked. Ben shook his head, “He thought that he could solve his problems with power—and the dark side offered it to him.†“What happened to him?†Luke asked. “He’s alive—or as alive as a man like him can be,†Ben said, “He serves the Emperor now.†------------------------ “Do whatever is necessary to protect the Enterprise,†Kirk said into the communicator, his eyes locked onto the counter of the elevator as they descended deep. “Are the transporters up yet?†“Not yet sir,†Uhura said, “Mister Scott says that it’ll take at least another fifteen minutes.†“He has nine,†Kirk said. “Aye sir.†“Kirk out,†Kirk said, flipping the communicator closed. “Are you sure that was wise Jim?†Bones asked, “If they traced that signal…†“It is likely that they already know we activated one of their lifts,†Spock said, “Assuming their security measures are anything like ours.†“A good thing to assume,†Kirk said. “We are approaching the level of what I believe to be the cells,†Spock reported, “My sensor readings indicate that there are a dozen life forms gathering near the lift doors.†Kirk nodded, “They’re hoping to ambush us,†he said, “Everyone, away from the doors. When these doors open, they’re going to fire at us with everything they’ve got.†Acting quickly, they all pressed themselves flat against the wall, “What are we going to do like this Captain?†Jason asked, “We won’t be able to return fire like this.†“Stun grenades,†Kirk said, “Everyone. Take them out and when these doors open, toss them out as quickly and as hard as you can. If we’re lucky, we should get all of them.†“Nine seconds.†Spock warned as he let his tricorder hang and pulled out a stun grenade, “We will have to make this count.†Kirk pulled out his own grenade and watched as everyone else readied their own, his heart pounding against his cage. He counted the last few agonizingly slow seconds. With a soft ding, the doors opened. In unison, they all tossed out five small silver cylinders through a dark hallway where over a dozen men stood readied with assault rifles. Red bolts erupted through the air and hit the back of the lift wall, quickly burning several dozen black craters into it, melting away a large circular hole into the thin metal walls and burning the metal shaft behind it. Multiple flashes went off then, followed by cries of agony. Silence filled the air. “Everyone out!†Kirk yelled, quickly dashing out of cover, his eyes scanning for anyone still standing. One man stood at the farthest end of the downed pack, grabbing at his head and stumbling around like a drunkard. Kirk didn’t hesitate; he shot the man in the chest and dropped him like a sack of bricks, then hurried into the hall. “I am not detecting anymore life signs in the corridor,†Spock reported, “But I cannot be sure. We must approach with caution.†“Can you find Shelby?†Kirk asked. “No sir,†Spock said, “but the area is not large. I suggest we split into teams.†Kirk nodded, “Good plan. Jason and Spock will head down the left corridor. Thomas and Bones, you take the right. I’ll take the one down the middle.†“Captain, I must cite protocol regarding…†“Not now Mister Spock.†Kirk said, continuing ahead, “Maintain radio silence unless you find Shelby or meet with considerable resistance. Is that clear?†“Yes sir.†Both his officers answered. Kirk walked ahead, his eyes and ears searching for any sign of an enemy. As he passed by the first few cells, he noted half a dozen in each. Many were tough-looking aliens with scars, missing limbs, and even eyes or tongues. No doubt merchants or enemies who had crossed the crime lord, he guessed. Ignoring them, he pressed on, deeper into the hallways. As he approached near the end of the area however, he began to find less and less tough looking characters and more women who were clearly pleasure slaves. The last cell however, contained Shelby, lying on the ground sobbing; wearing what little remained of her uniform. Kirk felt his face go red with rage even as relief washed over him that she was alive. He ran to the panel next to the cell and quickly deactivated the force-field holding her in. “Lieutenant Shelby,†he said, dropping to her side. She looked up at him in a mixture of confusion and amazement, “C-Captain?†“Can you walk?†he asked, “We need to get you out of here.†“I—Y-yes, yes I think so.†“Good,†Kirk said, helping her to her feet, “I promise lieutenant, I’ll make them pay for this,†he said. He reached for his communicator, flipped it open, and opened a channel, but before he could speak, he heard Spock’s voice. “Captain,†he said, “We are under attack, it seems that Miser Fett is attempt to secure the lieutenant.†“I have her,†Kirk said, “You and Jason fall back to the main hallway. We’ll meet you there. That goes for you too Bones.†“Aye sir.†Spock said. “Sir,†McCoy said, “What about these aliens? We can’t just leave them—†“You can and you will Doctor,†Kirk said, “the Prime Directive still applies.†“…Yes sir.†Kirk flipped his communicator shut, “Let’s go,†he said. Shelby nodded and the two of them took off down the hall. From far off, he could hear the sound of plasma bolts filling the air and the occasional sound of a phaser returning fire. Moments later, they reached the crossing. “Get to the lift,†he instructed the lieutenant, “I’ll wait for the others.†“Yes sir.†Kirk took a deep breath and took a position near the left wall, leaning out just far enough to see. Smoke had already filled the air, making it difficult to see. A figure came around the corner. To the captain’s relief, it was Spock, running flat down the hallway and ducking around the corner. “Captain,†Spock said, “I am being pursued.†“Jason?†he asked. “Dead,†Spock said, “He took five plasma rounds to his back when two of Mister Fett’s men flanked us.†“Captain!†McCoy yelled as he and Thomas came up, “What the hell is going on?†“Trouble,†Kirk said, he gestured to Shelby, “Tend to her, Thomas, take up Mister Spock’s position.†The security officer quickly relived Spock of his post, then Kirk gestured for the Vulcan to come to his side, “These cells all seem to be operating on a force field, am I correct?†he asked. “That is correct sir,†he said. “Is there a way for us to disrupt the power flow?†Kirk asked, “If we can release the inhabitants, perhaps they might provide a distraction long enough for us—†Kirk was cut off by a string of plasma bolts that rang down the corridor. Cursing, Kirk drew back behind the wall, then back out just enough to return fire with his phaser rifle. He caught one man in the leg and another two men in the chest before falling back as more men appeared through the smoke. “We can’t stay here Jim!†McCoy yelled. Kirk nodded, “Everyone back into the lift!†he yelled. Grabbing his last stun grenade, he pressed the charge button, ricocheted it off the wall. A split second later, a loud bang and a flash filled the corridor. He signaled the ensign across. The ensign made a quick dash, narrowly avoiding three plasma bolts. They four of them then fell back to the lift. The door closed just as two men emerged into the hallway and opened fire. The lift began to move upwards, far, far away from danger. “Mister Spock?†he asked. “I have locked the controls at the bottom of the lift and I do not detect any life forms near the top,†he said. Kirk nodded, then turned to Shelby, who stood in the corner of the lift with McCoy. After whispering something into her ear, he moved over to Kirk, “She’s traumatized Jim,†he said quietly, “but she’ll live.†Kirk felt himself go stiff, “Good.†He whispered back. “We need to get her back to the ship sir,†McCoy said, “What that barbarian did is going to scar her for the rest of her life.†“He’ll pay for it,†he said, “I promise you that much.†***** Wermis watched as the Devastator’s forward batteries barraged the small Blockade Runner. Numerous holes covered the small ship’s hull, burnt and torn away by laser fire. The Devastator was slowly closing the gap. “Keep the heavy cannons trained on them Commander,†Vader said, “If they show the first hint of escaping, I want them vaporized.†“They cannot escape us Lord Vader,†Wermis said, letting a slight hint of annoyance slip into his voice, “Their hyperdrive sustained heavy damage. They will not be able to escape us.†“Do not let your arrogance cloud you Captain,†Vader warned, “If they escape, it will be you who explains this failure to the Emperor.†Wermis swallowed; the Emperor was not forgiving to those who failed him, “They will not escape my lord.†“Captain,†the Commander reported, “The Merciful has entered the system, they will arrive in fifteen minutes.†Wermis snorted; Vader never trusted him to do anything, “Very good Commander,†he said, “We suspect there may be troops dirtside, advise them to be ready for a ground assault.†“There’s…err, one more thing Captain.†Wermis gave him a curious look; he didn’t like the sound of the Commander’s voice, “What is it?†he snapped. “We’ve received a distress signal from Lord Jabba,†the Commander said, “He says that he has come under attack from pirates. He’s requesting immediate assistance.†Wermis snorted, “Ignore him, we have better things to do than to worry about Jabba’s problems.†“Belay that order Commander,†Vader said, stepping forward, “The Emperor and the Hutts have a standing peace treaty. Order the Merciful to engage their attackers and prepare for any further assistance. We will handle the ground assault.†“My Lord,†Wermis said, “With all due respect, we should secure the planet before running to help the Hutts. The Eclipse and the Avenger will be here in fourty-three minutes, one of them could handle…†“My orders have been given Commander,†Vader said, ignoring Wermis, “Carry them out.†“Y-yes Lord Vader.†The Commander said, casting a nervous and apologetic look to Wermis. Wermis nodded, then turned and started down the bridge, ignoring the eyes of the mechanical monster at his back. “Their shields have failed my Lord,†he said moving to a panel and tapping instructions, “Storm Troopers will be meeting them at the hatch.†“Very good,†Lord Vader said, turning to leave, “I will see to it personally.†Wermis felt himself go pale, “That…that won’t be necessary my Lord.†He said. “It will.†Was all the Sith Lord said before he vanished through the doors. Wermis cursed under his breath. ***** “They’ve escaped,†one of the guards told Boba. Boba responded by putting a plasma bolt through the man’s neck, “Wrong answer,†he snarled. He came to a halt at the lift, scowling. He’d never make it back up in time. He tapped the comm. on his arm, “This is Boba,†he said, “The intruders are heading back to the main level. Stop them at all costs. If they escape, their ship is going to fry us, understood?†He then switched to Jabba’s sanctuary, “Hey eggheads,†he said, “As soon as that lift stops, wait ten seconds and then send it back down, clear?†“We’re still having trouble overriding it sir.†“Do it or your dead.†“Y-yes sir.†He closed the channel and stared up at the indicator. He counted the seconds until it stopped, then counted to ten. Nothing happened. He opened his channel, “Where is it?†he demanded. “We’re trying sir…just a few more seconds.†“In a few more seconds I’m going to make my way to you and but a blaster hole through your—†The indicator started to decline, “Its coming sir!†the engineer squealed from the other end of the comm. “Good boy,†he said, “keep the channel open. When I say ‘up’ send the lift to the top floor, is that clear?†“Yes sir.†The doors opened and Boba and three men rushed in. The bounty hunter quickly punched in the main floor and watched as the indicator grew higher. His hands eagerly caressed the pistols at his side. This would have to be quick and clean. If he got bogged down, he’d be dead. Their captain would be sure to see to that. “Set your weapons to stun,†he said, “I don’t want any of you idiots killing the girl by accident.†The men quickly adjusted their weapons. “What about you boss?†one of them asked. “Shut up.†The doors opened. Already a firefight had broken out. Boba could see a man in blue holding one of their strange weapons was ducking down next to the woman, firing over the side to keep the security forces at bay. From the far right were blue energy beams leaping out, no doubt the location of their enemies. At the sight of the two, the man in the blue cursed and fired. Boba threw himself to the side, allowing the blue beam to catch his fellow in the chest. The man screamed and fell back, a large hole burned into his chest. The other two men growled and fired, catching the man in the chest with two round blue energy pulses, dropping him. The woman screamed, but another volley silenced her as well. “Forward!†Boba barked as he rushed and grabbed the girl, “Get her to the ship,†he told one of the men, then to the other, “Hold them off.†They weren’t two paces when he heard the man scream a warning. Boba turned and fired blindly; forcing a long eared man I blue to roll out of the way. Cursing, Boba reached for a detonator and threw it down the hall. It exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. He ran into the lift, “Up!†he yelled, “Up!†The doors closed and the lift started to ascend once more, “We’re going to my ship,†he told the man, “Tie her up and put her in the cargo hold,†he instructed him, “We’re getting the hell out of here.†“Aye sir.†The woman slowly started to stir awake. Boba pointed his pistol square in her face, “Good to have you back honey,†he purred, “Now you’re going to come nice and easy or I’m going to blow your head wide open, understand?†The woman quivered. Boba grinned behind his helmet, “Thata girl,†he said, “I’ll be sure to repay your Captain for what he’s done. And I’m sure Jabba is going to have a go too.†The woman began to shake. Boba chuckled. The door opened to the shuttle bay. Boba led the way, a smile playing on his lips. All he had to do was get to hyperspace and there would be no tracking him. ***** “Spock!†Kirk yelled as he grabbed at the bleeding officer, “Spock!†“I’m fine Captain,†Spock said, pushing himself up, “it seems Mister Fett was a little more resourceful than we thought.†“Damn him,†Kirk growled. “I can’t hold them sir!†Thomas called from down the hall, “We’ll be overrun!†Kirk pulled out his communicator and flipped it open, “Kirk to Enterprise, Kirk to Enterprise!†“Enterprise here Captain,†Urhura said. “Has Scotty gotten those transporters up yet?†Kirk asked. “Hold on a minute,†Urhura said. “No, connect me to him,†Kirk said. “Yes sir.†“Scotty?†Kirk said, “Do you have those transporters up yet?†“I was just about to test her,†Scotty said, “Is something wrong?†“Mister Spock is injured. I need an immediate beam up.†“I can’t run him through without testing it sir,†Scotty protested, “He could die.†“He will die if you don’t beam him up now!†Kirk yelled. “Alright sir, I’ll do my best.†Scotty said, “Locking onto his coordinates.†Kirk watched as a yellow haze covered the Vulcan’s body. A moment later, his body vanished. Kirk waited for what seemed like eons before Scotty reported, “I got him sir. I can beam the rest of ya up whenever you’re ready.†“Beam Mister Thomas and Bones back to the Enterprise,†Kirk said, “But first, beam me up to the level the lift near me stops at. Near the entrance.†“What? What for Captain?†“Just do it Scotty.†Kirk barked, “Prepare for a beam out as soon as I give the signal.†“Aye sir.†The world turned into a yellow haze as the transporter beam disassembled his body. A moment later, he rematerialized in what looked to be a large bay of some sort, with dozens of ships being loaded onto by numerous thugs eager to escape. Kirk scanned the area for Shelby and Boba—and found them only a dozen paces away. Shelby was being dragged along by a large muscular green man with twin-tentacle-like-hair. Without hesitating, Kirk raised his phaser rifle and fired, dropping the man dead. He turned to fire on Boba, but the bounty hunter had already spun around and returned fire, hitting his rifle in the barrel and sending it flying out of his hands. Cursing, Kirk rolled for cover behind some nearby barrels, plasma burning through floor, wall, and barrels as he did. He reached for his phaser pistol and came up, returning fire. Boba rolled out of the way, this time bringing up two pistols to fire. Kirk gave more ground, coming up every now and again to keep the bounty hunter from pressing his advantage. “You’re a fast one, aren’t you Captain,†Boba gloated, “I didn’t think you Starfleet pansies could run so fast—oh yeah, I know who you are. Shelby told me everything…After some convincing of course.†Kirk felt his body go hot with rage. His hands shook uncontrollably. “This Federation of yours…it must be a really sad place if bleeding hearts like you are in charge.†“Really?†Kirk said, “Is that what you were saying when you were cowering in this hole while my ship blasted your fortress back to the stone age?†The bounty hunter chuckled, “I don’t know what sort of ship you’ve got up there Captain,†he said, “But it’s not in proper hands. If you had any balls you would have vaporized us as soon as our shields were down. Instead you’ve risked yourself and your crew for this weak, pathetic woman.†“I don’t think so,†Kirk said, slowly edging towards the end of the barrels. If he was lucky, he’d be able to get a clear shot. “No?†Boba said, “Your ship is advanced—I’ll give you that Captain. But it’s no match for the Imperial Star Destroyer on its way.†Kirk felt his heart skip a beat, “Maybe.†He said, then rolled out and pointed his phaser to fire and—froze. Boba had one pistol pointed at Shelby’s panicked head and the other at him, “End of the line Captain.†He said, “Surrender.†“No Captain!†Shelby yelled, “Don’t do it, he’ll—†The bounty hunter kicked her in the back, “That’s enough out of you.†Kirk dropped his phaser. “Slide it over.†Boba said, “Nice and gently.†Kirk nodded and gently and slid it across the floor to Boba’s feet with his foot, “You’ll never get away with this.†He said. “Is that all you people ever say?†Boba asked, then without waiting for an answer, he gestured to his communicator “Now order your crew to surrender.†Kirk pulled his communicator free and tossed it to the floor, halfway between them. “Tell them yourself.†he sneered. “Fine,†he said, then gave Shelby a sharp kick in the back, “Get it.†He barked. Shelby crawled on hands and knees to the communicator and picked it up, “Call the ship,†he said, “Order them to surrender.†Shelby looked from Boba, then to Kirk, who nodded slowly. Swallowing, she opened the communicator, “Sh-Shelby to Enterprise,†she said. “Scotty here Capt—wait, Shelby?†the other end said, “Lass! I thought you were dead when you didn’t beam up with the others! What in blue blazes is going on down there?†“Enough!†Boba growled, “Order them to surrender!†“Surrender?†Scotty said, “Who is that? Where’s the Captain?†“Scotty!†Kirk snapped, then he turned back to Shelby, only to find her body engulfed in yellow shimmering light, “What in the...†he yelled. Kirk reached behind his back and snapped free a photon grenade. Pressing it, he threw it as hard as he could over the bounty hunter and dove for cover. A moment later, a brilliant explosion illuminated the room, throwing barrels every which way and heating the room so much that Kirk’s clothes stuck to him like glue. As the flash died away, the captain rolled to his feet and looked over to see Boba gasping in pain, tearing away large chunks of melting armor that had covered his chest. Then finally, he tossed away his helmet, revealing a tanned face with short black hair. He glowered at Kirk, his burnt gloves curled in fists, “So that’s the way it’s going to be.†He said. Kirk raised his own fists. The two of them slowly closed in, circling each other, seeking an opening. Kirk lunged first, narrowly catching the bounty hunter in the head, but he ducked away, bringing his own fist and connecting with Kirk’s jaw. Kirk took the blow in stride and brought his other fist into the man’s stomach. The man gasped and stumbled backwards. Kirk followed up with a jump kick, planting his foot into the man’s chest. He stumbled backwards again, hacking up a curse as he gasped for air. Kirk rushed forward again, leading with another fist, but the man blocked it, and came forward with an elbow into Kirk’s chest. He gasped, and stumbled backwards. The bounty hunter quickly spun into a round-house, sending the captain rolling onto the ground. Boba rushed forward, aiming a boot at Kirk’s head, but Kirk quickly brought his own arms up to protect himself, partially deflecting the blow. Boba growled in frustration and lifted his foot up again, but Kirk had rolled away by the time he had brought his foot down with a loud bang on the floor. The bounty hunter rushed forward to try and strike the captain before he could reach his feet, but Kirk went into a double roll, foiling Boba’s guessed kick and coming gracefully to his feet. “Not bad,†Boba said as he brought his fists up again, “And here I thought you Starfleet types were all soft.†Kirk’s response was a fist to the face. Boba deflected it and returned in kind, but Kirk had already moved to his right, narrowly avoiding the blow. They circled each other, delivering several blows. Many missed or were deflected, but those that did hit made heavy impacts, blooding the faces of both opponents. When Boba opened himself after a particularly large lunge, Kirk took the opportunity and struck, but to his amazement, the bounty hunter spun away from his blow and came to his left. Before Kirk could recover, he felt the man’s fist connect to the side of his head. Boba rushed forward, grabbing Kirk from behind, his arms eagerly wrapping around his neck to break it. Kirk struggled, desperately trying to throw the bounty hunter off, but his grip was like iron. Boba held tight, dragging Kirk closer and tearing the man’s yellow uniform, his arm wrapped around his neck, his hand moving to the base of his head, “Like to wax your chest, eh capt—†The back of Kirk’s neck met with Boba’s nose, crumpling it. Boba screamed, but held on. He was rewarded with a second contact and then a third, sending him stumbling backwards. Kirk spun around his fist connecting with the side of Boba’s head. “Nothing’s too good for the ladies,†he said, before delivering a kick to the man’s jaw, shattering it and dropping him to the ground, unconscious. Panting, Kirk turned around, looking for a ship to take, but already most of them had left at the sight of violence. The remaining men in the bay were scrambling for whatever sort of transports remained. Reaching down, Kirk began to search Boba. Finally, he found what he wanted in one of his pockets; one of the stolen communicators. Quickly adjusting the settings, he made contact, “Enterprise, this is Kirk, do you read me? Enterprise!†“This is Sulu sir,†he heard the communicator say, “It’s good to hear you’re alive sir. Shelby told us that that bounty hunter had you pinned. We were just about to beam some men in to assist you.†“No need,†Kirk said, giving Boba a rough kick, “He won’t be giving us anymore trouble. Prepare to beam me up.†“Aye sir.â€

First off, as far as a 50 ton explosive missile--that'd be fine if Archer Missiles weren't directly indicated to be high chemical weapons. Unfortunately, they are high chemical and are therefore limited to their capabilities. A 10 ton warhead for each of them is actually probably pretty generous nor is it something for anyone to sneeze at. Any frigate or destroyer firing a full volley of them would probably level a modern day city. MAC or no. As for your point on nukes in space, Atomic Rockets was working off between 1 kiloton to 1 megaton nuclear warheads for this: I would have presumed that a 30 megaton bomb would have done something larger. But I was probably wrong (although, it was mentioned that these were "vacuum enhanced" nukes, whatever the fuck that means). Even so, 1 kilometer does not drastically help. It simply doubles the mines required: Length: 6 30 Megaton nukes Height: 2 30 Megaton nuke Width: 4 30 Megaton nukes. The yield overall is probably going to be more or less the same. Like I said, you want to throw the largest net possible to ensure destruction. And that's not even including the ships next to you that might cause more damage because they go boom. False Dillema fallacy. Those images means one of three things: A) That the Archer Missiles use nuclear fuel to reach targets. That SHIVAs and other nuclear weapons can be fired from the same pods as Archer Missiles. C) Both. B is probably the most likely possibility. While it is true that it could mean that Archer Missiles are nukes, it doesn't exactly directly indicate that they are. This is especially true if we're told in other sources that their Archer Missiles are not nuclear weapons. It's also rather curious how ships could run out of their nuclear weapons so quickly--and indeed only carry two or three at a time. I mean hell, the frigate that escorted Noble 5 and 6 presumably had some Archer's left right? Why didn't they consider those nuclear weapons? You seem to be of this belief that low-yield nukes don't count as nuclear weapons. That's not the case. If those were nuclear weapons, they'd be called nuclear weapons--albiet low yield nukes. However, the novels and the games clearly show a defining difference between typical UNSC anti-ship weaponry and nuclear weapons. It is highly illogical to assume that they are nukes, especially when we're told that material for nukes has become rarer as the war waged on. So no, they aren't nuclear weapons. They can probably fire nukes, but that doesn't make Archers nukes.

Actually, funny story. According to some things dug up over at Starfleet Jedi, the closest thing to phasers/disruptors in Star Wars penetrates right through SW shielding. They literally have no defense against it. Alright, this seems to be a brain bug. Borg adaption isn't just based on frequency. That's mention very often because UFP weapons use frequency. However, It's started to become a brain bug that they can ONLY adapt to frequency. That's not true. Adaption is simply them doing what they can to optimize their defensive and offensive abillities against a particular weapon or defense. It's not all that different from what we do. The difference is that the Borg can implement this a great deal faster than we can. In reality, the Borg are going to adapt to some degree no matter what, it's just remains to be asked how effective that adaption is. Now if it is plasma, the Borg will have an easier time adapting to it--the least of which is probably due to the massive shielding and offensive abilities they have in relation to SW. In short, the Empire would be up shit creek if a Borg cube decided to start assimilating things left and right.

That's still 390 kilotons at best. And less given that laser defenses tend to reduce them by about half. So in actuality we're talking about 195 kilotons. That pushes it up a bit, but we're still hampered by the 7.5 Megaton limit that the mines introduce. And that's high end. The energy intensity of the mines will decrease the farther away you are. And only what, two of those ships survived? And that's assuming 50 tons--which is absurdly generous given that the largest, most powerful conventinal bomb ever detonated was 44 tons--though US officials seem to think it's probably closer to 16 tons rather than 44. Of course, those are bombs. As in, the stuff you drop on people. Where most of the weight is a bomb, rather than a missile. And those bombs are fucking huge by the way. So in all reality, it could easily fall back down to a few 7.8 kilotons for a full missile--but no higher than 10-50 tons of firepower each. EDIT: A note on the Russian FOAB, it seems to be me that it's very possible the Russians lied somewhat. According to officials, it couldn't have been dropped by the bomber suggested in the vid, the bomb's yield claim itself is in question, and it's possible it's not really all that new either. Not hard to believe given it supposedly has the same mass as the US MOAB of 11 tons. And again, bomb. Missiles are not going to have the same oomph that a bomb has.

Indeed. The Haloites do have one thing going for them in that Covenant ships typically stay in a tight formation. But that's still rather presumptious in assuming they fly right into a cluster of bombs (oddly enough, they couldn't detect that--note that Kirk's Enterprise was able to pick up a nuke hidden in debris and was able to respond to it). Looking at Wong's fireball size for a 30 megaton bomb, it says roughly 2.1 kilometers for an airburst fireball. Assuming that remains as is per space, it suggests that the UNSC is going to want that to engulf the small fleet as much as possible. But they'd also want to throw the biggest net they have. Given the size of a Covenant BBC (1.7 kilometers)and the size, this would mean that only one nuke detonated would be able to hit the ship at any time, though it might burn the nose of another ship. But Covenant fleet deployments typically look like schools of fish, with ships below, in front, above, and behind other ships. Now, this was a small fleet, so we're probably not looking at anything more than three ships front and back, with maybe one ship on top or at bottom. We're also probably looking about three across in width. Assuming they were all ass-hugging, it would be: Length: 5.1 kilometers Height: 690 meters Width: 2.586 kilometers But chances are, there's going to be some room between them. Right now, let's assume a uniform of 300 meters in every dimension. Length: 5.7 kilometers Height: 1.290 kilometers Width: 3.186 kilometers Now, in order to get most of those ships, we have to assume that the Captain needed to wait until the middle of the fleet had passed into the minefield. Unfortunately, for that to work, he'd need at least 3 mines to cover that area safely. But since the height is easily within nuke range, they'd only need say, one nuke to safely ensure that they get the entire fleet. The width of course, would require two mines. Length: 3 30 Megaton nukes Height: 1 30 Megaton nuke Width: 2 30 Megaton nukes. So to cover roughly 6 by 2 by 4 kilometers, it would require the use of 6 mines. This would mean that the entire width of the minefield was roughly 8 kilometers (we have to spare here). Unfortunately because they are nukes, they'd get about a 4th of that energy to start with (7.5 megatons) and it would drastically dwindle the farther away you get from the heart of the explosion. And it should be noted that most of these ships were destroyed. Only two, presumably caught on the edge of the explosion, survived the incident. Even if we assume that the ships had something like, 50% shielding, at most we could give them is 15 megatons at best. This is however, highly unlikely. It's worth noting that the Covenant uses its defense lasers against high chemical warheads such as Archer Missiles. That suggests that the weapons are to a degree, dangerous--rather unlikely if they had 15 megaton shielding since it would require an up to of 300 missiles to take down their shields. As far as I'm told, ships tend to carry missile pods that range in the high 20s to 30s, with the largest ships carrying 300 missiles. It would be worth noting that it takes three to one odds to defeat a Covenant ship of similar tactical ability. It's also rather suggested that as of Reach, that MACs are not mission killers for ships, even if they do crippling damage in comparison to all other weapons, so in all likelyhood, yes, their MACs do single digit megatons at best. Mind you, I would probably suggest .5 megatons for your average MAC, no less than .25 megatons.It gives us a reasonable number between the more acceptable high ends and the absurdly low ends. This might be a fight if we say the NX instead of the E-D. >>

Um, they probably can't. The only known counter-measure to a SW cloaking device is to detect their gravity using a very special, very expensive sensor. In TNG, the sensor nets that protected the Federation border from Romulan incursion were in fact, designed to detect gravity. As we learned later, Starfleet decided to replace these (well, not replace actually--probably just added them on) with a new method of detecting the cloaks. This suggests that the former method was very unreliable--proven by the fact that we see ships such as the Defiant passing by other ships scanning for them. Then again, a hundred ship bombs is a shitload different than a handful of ships. This is also a rather fucking stupid thread. Well, they'd probably be detected either at the border or by some nearby ship. The problem of course, would be finding all hundred of them. Still, assuming they had enough time to detect them and then set up a defensive network around Earth to detect them, they could probably shoot them all down no problem.

It's 30 megatons per mine. But remember that these ships are probably only going to recieve a fraction of that energy. With multiple mines, we're talking maybe 5-30 megatons. It really all depends on how far the mines were apart from each other. If we assume a smaller area, then that gives us a higher yield, but it means that the UNSC would have less of a window to hurt the ships--ie, 14 mines covers only so much area and putting them closer reduces the useful ability of a minefield. Putting it out wider increases the hit, but lowers the overall yield. It should also be noted that some ships were damaged. In all likelyhood, we're looking at probably 10-20 megatons. That means MACs probably clock in at single digits and SMACs at double digits, probably closer to a photon torpedo.

Actually, according to the datapads in Reach, the Covenant would require over a thousand ships and thirty years to literally glass a planet the size of Earth. So yeah, it's very unlikely that Reach was literally glassed or any planet for that matter. Given that 30 megaton mines managed to take out Covenant warships and UNSC weapons seem to be limited to double digit megaton range, the Enterprise D should easily tank the ship.

What implications? I have very little opinion on the matter.

It really doesn't matter why the phasers shouldn't cause a shockwave--the fact is that they do and given all the other weird shit that goes one, I wouldn't be surprised. It probably has something to do with the amount of water and subspace physics.

Here's a hint; when your trying to pretend that the characters are too stupid to live, then you need to rethink your situation. So Trek antimatter is capable of blowing off half the atmosphere. Oh, so instead of actually taking something like mass reduction and applying it logically to make all the canon fit...you'll be more than happy to make up another aspect of technology specifically to cover your ass. Nice. Hey, tell me what part of that post was a lie. Nice strawman there, trying to distract us with the super-dense material bullshit. First off, you claimed higher calcs via that example, so it's up to you to prove that it'd require a super powerful explosion to destroy it. Fuck, I'd imagine just about anything that's "super dense" would have a hard time resisting a low KT nuclear explosion, let alone a megaton level explosion. Second, what does it matter if it's super dense? Unless its parts are built to withstand a massive nuclear explosion (which it probably wasn't), but then you'd need to prove that, not claim baseless speculation as evidence. As to your 'we aren't told of anymore explosions!' claim--no, not specifically, but we don't need to. The description of the explosion wasn't told from the Chief's PoV. The author was describing it. Therefore, we don't need the reactors being the massive explosion. And in addition, we're given an abundent amount of information about how the thing is being torn apart; how does that now suggest more explosions? Not to mention that the explosion we see in the game doesn't match the description of the one in the novel; the one in the novel flattens. The fireball in the game, if my memory is correct, easily exceeded that. Why does she have to? It's a giant floating city complete with a drive. It doesn't need to be vaporized, mass scattered, and so forth. It just needs to destroy the city itself. A large nuclear explosion would be devistating to the city at close range. No shit. What's your point? It's this strange and mysterious thing we call editing. This tends to happen when you only have forty-five minutes to potray hours worth of bombardment. Of course, anyone whose familiar with the show would know that they cut time out a great deal of time; such as Nog's trip to Earth. We're not told anything about time passing, despite Bajor being light years away from Earth and them being in a small shuttle with limited FTL speeds. They in fact, cut out days worth of travel and made no mention of it at all. And just what is your justification for that? What makes you think they couldn't keep firing? You have no evidence of such. They were after all, completely and utterly safe in their minds. Ie, it would be days before any help could arrive and they'd just vaporized 30% of the crust. That the helmsman accidently said volley instead of vollies? It makes far, far more sense then assuming that their computers were wrong. Either that or we have to assume they were lying to Garak for security reasons. No it doesn't. You've taken two conflicting statements and assumed that they work in a way that is completely and utterly unproven. We're not told of any strains to the weapon systems and in fact, soon after, we know that they're fighting against the Dominion ships. If their ships were crippled, why wasn't it mentioned? At all? Our most logical choices are actually as follows: 1) The false sensor readings actually did mess with the sensors in a way that the damage was greater--and no one caught it. Unlikely, but possible. 2) The officer misspoke and meant surface. 3) Lovok lied to Garak for security reasons or he himself made a mistake. 4) There was a time cut that wasn't mentioned and te first bombardment actually lasted hours (7.2). Your argument assumes further information that we're not given. Hardly. Or how about you show me their thrusters and engine descriptions? I'm sure it mentions a ton of things about mass reduction. Bite me. Prove that the ring was designed to withstand a nuclear explosion. It doesn't matter how fucking dense it is of it's not designed to withstand those forces. Except of course, when it suits you apparently. Bla bla bla, shitty attempts at rationalizing the canon to fit your argument. It wasn't an episode. It was a movie. Yeah, except the outlier itself is completely and uttelry nonsensical. It's right up there with 400 GWs. And while I'm waiting, where's that evidence that Halo Legends doesn't count?

Ah-hah! This makes it all the more simpler. Ie, if we take the TM as giving the unmodified weight and ignoring relative velocity, this solves everything! A Super MAC platform has a mass of 3,000,000 kg and a speed of .04c (12 000 000m/s): This is right where expected yields takes them. Oh, you see, Prophet and his fellow Haloites try and retconn that as to 'not meaning actual glassing', even though the characters consider it to be in every single way imaginable. Heck, we can also get gigatons from Damar's quote from Rising Apocalypse too. At least two hundred thousand kilometers would be devistated when the BoP would unleash a heavy volly against Gowron's planet-side base. Given they'd be centered around the base itself, we could easily get low gigatons--and higher gigatons if we assume he was talking about the higher end of the scale. Or we could re-affirm TDiC via Booby Trap, where Data notes that it was impressive that primitive species were able to destroy a planet with the weapons of the time--suggesting that the UFP's technology in that regard was superior.

And...? No it doesn't. I never remember agreeing to that. Hell, the fact that the fucking Kazon could pose a threat to them pretty much takes a shit all over that. Your words. My ears. Bleed. Spewing crap? Hardly. It was based on theoretical data in the lack of true canon. It's the only way to try and quantify the debate, despite the obvious handicap of the OP. Jason was the Oper, of course it is. Hardly. I tried to remain consistant with the assumption of a linar scale. Otherwise I'd be forced to look at the Xindi superweapon and conclude that the Spheres must of at least tried the same thing against the Federation--and failed. As I've said in my first post and from here on in, it's the only way to try and quantify the capabilities. It could be less...but then again it could be more. I already admitted it was theoretical. And yet, you still seem to flip out like someone kicked sand in your face. Panties in a twist? Coming from the guy who came in screaming and hurling shit because you didn't like my conclusion based on non-canon information--which I already admitted was theoretical? Let's be honest here. You didn't like what I said and you got your thong in a twist and came screaming at me like you've got a pair, blowing the entire thing waaaaaay out of porportion. My responses have been measured purely as opposed to your response.

Yeah gee, it's not like I specifically said that the calculations were based on unsteady evidence and the claims of the designer...I mean shit, it's not like I seriously suggested this as being canon. Yeah, how dare I say that using non-canon evidence and a non-canon and suspicious scaling method, that we might possibly get something remotely accurate from a stupid versus debate thread. Wow, what a clever little analogy. I mean, I was totally astonished to learn that it's possible to get skewed results from a purely theoretical and rough scale. Wow, I mean shit. That sounds very familiar...like... like I've heard it before. Almost like...like I've already said that. Nah, it must be nothing.

BvR? The fuck does that mean? Yeah, those guns sure did fight at those supersonic ranges all right... Yeah, the part of the story where a small fucking gun blows a hole through the supposed teraton shielded ship. That one. The one where a Elite commander was apparently so incapable of vaporizing a handful of boost frames at close range that the commander in charge was willing to blow up his own ships as a small price to pay for killing them. It'd be like a naval captain blowing up his own ships becuase a few guys on heavily armed skee jets were attacking their fleet. Visuals for Trek are never accurate. They can't even get the ship sizes right half the time. We even see that when it comes to dialogue, the ranges are always higher than the visuals. Conclusion: the visuals are flawed. You mean handwaved away by claiming it's technobabble (even though on a show where they just love to toss it out--they don't in this case...) and your overcharged shot is also bullshit, given that we're in no case told that it's either an overcharged shot or even that if were, that it would leave the ship defenseless. Yeah, I'll take that at face value. I believe it was something like 'weapons are far more ancient and archaic...'. It didn't specifically say non-DET. However, it does suggest and fix a great deal of problems we see with BDZs. Proof that Halo Legends are lower canon? It says everything. Otherwise, they'd have to drop to a dead stop to fire the MACs in order to allow the mass of the ammo to be returned to its real mass. Yeah, Occam's Razor doesn't apply so well when canon itself is convoluted and stupid so that we have to reason away why ships capable of teratons of firepower and deflection that they can be taken down by MT level mines. Or that people that toss out gigatons to teratons would even carry them. And if you want to continue being a little pecker, I can play that game too. UFP ships clearly have ubertons of firepower via TDiC, Obsession, Booby Trap, and so forth. See? I can be a dick too.

It's not silly. It's fucking retarded. It'd be like a modern US fleet, despite being torn apart to hell to the point that small side arms could sink them deciding to attack a small group of heavily armed enemy ships because 'he could take the losses'. Yeah, because gigaton level energy generation a second is totaly possible with fusion engines...oh shit, no it's not. Fucking hell man, will you get some fucking dignity? It didn't asshole. The novel makes it perfectly clear that the explosion from the reactors put a hole in the ground, causing it to weaken and break and that's the massive explosion we see--you know, the one that utterly shatters the ring? Which means...what? High Charity is a massive floating ship made from a large asteroid. Blowing up a nuclear reactor nearby would probably cause a chain reaction--ie, destroying the asteroid. Allow? Allow? Why thank you you little pecker, how nice of you to allow me to have firepower based on some bullshit qualifications that you put in place with no evidence. There was no evidence that the fleet had crippled their own weapon system. Stop making up some bullshit excuse as to why they can't use the firepower. Both sides have absurdly high showing. They're called outliers. If you want to use yours, then I'll use mine. And they'll rape your ships in a matter of seconds. The fact that their ships are mass reduced and are carrying them is pretty damning enough. And of course, the fact that the ship's thrusters would still require it to match said energy when it fires via recoil. Yeah, the explosion that only made a fairly small crater in relative to its massive ground based explosion? Don't make me laugh. The explosion we saw in the game was clearly from the ring itself exploding, not the ship. Trnaslation: Wah! My shitty argument dies with higher canon! Newer games override the old. Oh, but you don't seem to want to do that when it takes a shit on your arugment do you? Prove that. We have more evidence pointing to mass reduction than your made up armor argument. Given said gas also created a habitable class M planet with a bright blue sky and fountain of youth rings, we can't tell what the fuck that stuff does. ...That tells me nothing. How much of this stuff was in the man's cargo? And again, small outlier when we see that they use power generation far, far beyond that.

Which is again, retarded. If UNSC ships were regularly capable of tossing out gigaton level firepower, not only would 30 megaton mines be absurdly retarded to have onboard--but it also makes me wonder why they'd bother to use them to destroy ships that are so crippled that they themselves would be able to assrape them. Also, how very lucky that they hit the one ship still capable of defelcting teraton firepower...right? Even more fortunate that the fleet commander for the Covenant was so amazingly stupid that he sent his crippled fleet into battle. To give a comparison, it would be like a modern US Admiral sending his ships into battle when they could be sunk by muskets due to previous battle damage. Because that's exactly the same sort of gap we're looking at here. Funny how all your arguments rely on the characters being ungodly stupid. In other words, you'll say that they can have non-DET effects...except during glassing operations and combat. Because then obviously they use teratons of firepower even though its hundreds of times more inefficient than the technobabble way. ...And? Again, if you want to go with wank yields, I can point to TDiC where almost half that amount was stated to do a great deal more in a great deal less time. So...that reinforces the idea that the UNSC uses mass reduction. Given that they all use mass reduction, I really can't imagine that they'd be able to create teraton explosions. That's not even taking into account relative velocity. Yeah...chances are they're not going to change those parts. Handwaving at its finest. How about an actual argument now? So...mass reduction? Two really? Can we see them? And even if they were, they're massive outliers.