Lifeline - (Jaina/Jag Fic - COMPLETED - Last update: 02/19 )

Ok peeps, incoming. Tomorrow (probably even sooner) will be the first post of a string, all the way to the end. I'm on a roll now, for some reason, and I'm not stopping until it's out.

Eld.

 

--==CHAPTER 47 ? ?The Battle For Filuud ? Engage?==--

?Mark!?

As soon as the order was given, Spike Squadron shot away, out from behind Inimitable?s wake and straight into sensor range of the Imperial Star Destroyer Allegiance, which was, even Jag had to admit that, impossibly fast in responding.
Within seconds its forward guns opened up on the approaching squadrons, clipping away four fighters in the initial salvo. Each loss hurt and, as with any battle he was involved in, he sent a quiet prayer into the void, in memory of the lives that were lost. That was all the time he was allowed; space around him was filled with a hailstorm of green, blue and red laser fire. He caught a burst of static and risked a quick glance at his communications board; he was being hailed.
Jag tapped his comm.

?Jag, it looks like they didn?t buy that one,? Han Solo?s voice said grimly.

?No sir. But we still can get through.?

?Are you sure??

?Yes.?

?It looks like we?ll be exchanging broadsides in a few seconds. Go under and then come up from behind. Watch out for the Bastion I as you go; it looks like she?s going under us to try and blast us to cinders.?

Jag noticed a decrease in the amount of green that filled space between him and his companions, easing his grip on the yoke slightly. He saw what Han meant; the Bastion I?s bow was dipping slightly in a maneuver to bring its topside turbolaser- and ion guns to bear on Inimitable?s relatively unprotected belly.
He frowned when the Inimitable actually rose up; as if it was inviting the energy storm it was bound to be receiving; even with the dock around it, the protection was nothing more than heavy girders. Those would give way easily enough to turbolasers and missiles.
SSD?s could take a severe beating but inviting one was suicide!

?What the hell are you doing, Solo? Do you want to get blown out of the sky??

?Just you watch kid. Watch and learn. I?ve been doing this long before you were born. You?re about to witness a ?Booster?s Bluff?. Only not with a space station but a Super Star Destroyer.?

Before Jag could even ask what that was, Bastion I?s captain seemed to realize that his luck was going a bit too easy and visibly slowed down his monstrous ship, its giant engines glowing red hot as they were thrown into full reverse. At the same time, the giant ships? turbolasers, ion cannons and a banthaload of missiles shot away towards the Inimitable.
Space between the two giants literally lit up as the Inimitable answered with purple, blue and red return fire. A lot of Bastion I?s missiles slammed into the extended shields, the impacts rippling outward until they caused an overload; the missiles had been targeted at one specific spot for just that reason. The Inimitable didn?t slow down; instead, it heaved upwards, its bow squarely pointed at Bastion I?s midsection.
The great ship?s stern rose higher and higher, until it stood up on its bow, pointing down towards its Imperial counterpart.Then a great many things happened so fast that Jag blinked several times in surprise.
All around the Inimitable, blue ignition fire suddenly shot out of the dock in a tight ring surrounding the midsection of the ship. Its thirteen giant engines roared to life as well, causing a bloodred trail behind it. Several fighters, riding in the ship?s wake, had to scramble to get out of the suddenly elongated wake.

He?s going to ram her? Jag thought, his mouth opening without any sound coming out.
His mouth never closed.

As he watched with sheer awe, he realized that the ignition fire from the dock surrounding the great ship was coming from literally thousands of missiles, streaking away at Bastion I.

He noticed that the Allegiance had stopped firing at the oncoming fighters and instead directed all its firepower at a massive cluster of girders, dockpieces that had been violently blow off of the Inimitable?s hull after the missile launch, a move tha

 

Wow...

 

I figured I'd open the end with a bang. What... no good?

Eld.

 

Yea, we got a post
at last.
it's been like 4 1/2 monthes.

ok replies now:

?Something I?ve wanted to do ever since Endor. Do you remember those stories from Ackbar? When Vader's ship plowed into the Death Star??
Leia nodded slowly.
?Well, I?m going for my own version. It?s something I always wanted to do but never could; the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon is just too close to the action, if you know what I mean.?

That is cool. I'd love to see that on tv. so is he like rammiong the planent or something?

Han sent all of them a lopsided grin. Then he gripped the holding ring around the plotting table tightly, and nodded to Wedge.

?I?d grab on to something, if I were you.?

Typical Han.

Anyway, great post.
Can't wait for the next one.
Is there gonna be mush in it?
I like mushy posts.

Ok, bye y'all

JS16

 

Jaina_Solo_16: Ehm... if you read it, you'd know he plowed it into another SSD, not a planet.

As far as mush is concerned, maybe. I don't know yet, I think you've had enough of that in this story.

Eld.

 

ok fine.

I'll just re read the story then

JS16

 

Nah, it's been a while since the last update. The location of where its all happening slipped to the back. Even I had to look up the planet's name.

Eld.

 

up

 

This is too much fun. I thought it would take two or three chapters, but this battle is way more fun to write than I thought, lol!
I rewrote most of it, to lengthen it by a few chapters. So here's the next part, with more on the way.

**********

--==CHAPTER 48 ? ?Collision?==--

The entire bridge of the Inimitable was silent as they watched the inevitable; in less that a minute, the entire hind-section of Bastion I would crash into the flank.

?Han?? Leia asked, gripping holding ring of the plotting table so tightly that the skin of her hands were drained of blood.
Her husband, who was also watching the scene playing out far in front of them, snapped out of it.

?All port turbolasers, missiles, ion cannons; throw everything you got at that piece and make them count.?
When it stayed silent for a long few seconds, he looked around, seeing that all crew members were watching out the main viewport.
?NOW!?

Then, like stutterfire, the left side of the Inimitable started to respond. First, half a dozen turbolasers fired. Then a dozen, then two dozen; it continued until there wasn?t a single gun, unless disabled, on the port side that didn?t respond.
Sheets of laserfire jetted from the mounts, tearing into the broken Imperial flagship. Within second, its command tower, shieldless and without any other protection, was turned to slag. Big chunks were blown off and away, tumbling outward, but the main bulk still kept on coming.
As it crept ever closer, great holes could be seen on the decks, illuminated by internal explosions. Flames shot up and quickly died in the vacuum, leaving nothing but sparks and blackness behind.

Jaina watched in horror when it finally made contact with Inimitable. In a sense, it was almost beautiful. As in slow-motion, the partially melted outcrop of the command towers collided into Inimitable?s flank. The great ship, still in its downward plunge, heaved to starboard because of the massive collision, before sounds of it even reached up onto the bridge.
Then there was only thunder, when the main bulk of Bastion I hit.
The sound rolled all the way up, out from the empty catacombs that made up the ten-plus kilometer forward section, a slow rumble that kept on coming until it drowned out all other sounds. Then the explosions began.
As if on cue, but rather upon contact, each section of the hull broke loose, followed by a geyser of flame; and then here came outward rippling rings.

Rings? She thought, frowning.
As she looked up at her father, a slow grim smile crept around his mouth. Then his eyes found hers and he winked.

?Contact mines,? he explained. ?These are Chiss made. These can direct the blast, cushioning the crash. We had them installed all over the flanks, in case some idiot would try to ram us. There?s always some lunatic??
At that, he stopped talking, looking around guiltily.

?Your mouth is talking for the prosecution Han,? Leia replied, dryly.
But she smiled and put a hand over his, squeezing it slightly.

When it was over, there was still a great deal of damage, because much of Bastion I?s inertia destroyed a good portion of the left flank. But the damage would?ve been much worse without the blast mines.

**********

From the outside, the battle between the two titans had been watched from Imperial Star Destroyers and enemy and friendly fighters alike, including Jag.
There wasn?t a heck of a lot that could shock him, or so he thought, but when he saw Han?s handywork, he cursed loudly in the silent confines of his cockpit.

?Absolutely insane. That?s what he is; insane.?

Then his attention was drawn to the work at hand; there were still two ImpStar X?s to worry about, both in excellent condition and pretty much undamaged.
Even as he had watched the aftermath of the mammoth collision, his pilots had gradually approached the Allegiance, roughly coming up on it from above.
Clouds of Tie Defenders had been on approach, halting when the collision between the two flagships occurred.

 

*does a happy dance*

 

Yay a new post!! It was cool. Can't wait for the next. Are you planning on doing a sequel to this story?

JS16

 

whoa! awesum job on the last two Eldritch!

 

No sequels. I'm done after this, unless I have a story completely done before the first post.
A new chapter will come sometime this week. I had to re-arrange a lot and need to tie it together now.

Eld.

 

Wait, does this mean that there won't be any more posts?



Oh No! Please NO!

 

AFTER this story is completed.

Eld.

 

Can't wait for the post!!

JS16

 

I'm sorry for the delay. I'm currently going through a separation and my mindset is elsehwere at the moment. I'll try to post as soon as I can.

Eld.

 

Take as long as you need. We waited four months so we can wait longer if that's what you need.

JS16

 

I'm aiming for a new post, tonight.

The last few weeks were somewhat difficult in the concentration department, but that's passed. Arrangements and such have been made to deal with the personal stuff, and I wrote a bit last night, for the first time. That went pretty well, so look forward to a new chapter.

Eld.

 

One more after this and it'll be finally over.

*****

--==CHAPTER 49 ? ?Endgame?==--

It was dead silent on the bridge of the Inimitable, while seconds ticked away. All present were watching every move the Predictor was making. A few officers tried to anticipate her next action but the white Star Destroyer simply? hung there. It did not move, save for her inertia; the engines had been brought to a full stop.
She slowly drifted toward the Inimitable but she did not open her guns. Not a single missile shot from her launching tubes.

Matters on the starboard side couldn?t have been more different; Jag?s squadron had managed to breach both shield domes on the Allegiance, making one of them explode on the first pass because of a shield overload by the sheer volume of missiles, and the second followed soon after. Currently, he led his squadron, or the remainder of it, on a run to the command tower of the destroyer. His squadron had been severely hit; the second pass had cost him ten fighters, as the Star Destroyer fought back.
Finally giving up all pretence of control, her guns had opened fire wherever a gunman saw his chance, following an erratic command from a hastily promoted captain that panicked under the pressure.
In effect, that structure of orders, being the ?fire at will? command, cost the defenders dearly.
But even if the sacrifice was heavy, it eventually paid off; spouting flame and oxygen, mixing it to a yellow-blue stream of fire, the Star Destroyer sank its nose downward and out of the fight. Even Inimitable?s belly guns could fend her off in that way. Every second or so, a few lances of laserlight sprang from the Star Destroyer to its much larger counterpart, which in turn answered with a plethora of return fire in comparison.

**********

?What is that other Destroyer waiting for?? Jag said to himself aloud, frowning. He commed the Inimitable, repeating the question to Han.

?I have no idea, kid. An early sunrise? Rhyscakes? Who knows? All I know is that someone has actually started to think over there and I?ll take it any way I can get it. We?ll find out soon enough, I guess.?
Not a minute later, a crisp male voice addressed the Inimitable.

?Super Star Destroyer Inimitable; this is Imperial Star Destroyer Predictor. I wish to speak to your Captain.?

?You got him. What can I do for you, captain??? Han answered, sending a frown to the others.

?Wehka, Sir. Captain Wehka. I am afraid this is becoming somewhat of a repetitive game. You?ll remember perhaps a previous encounter between us, in the asteroid system, where I took command of the Validator??
At that, Han frowned even more and shook his head but Booster Terrik made an acknowledging sound.

?Ah, yes. I wondered why his voice sounded so familiar. You weren?t in on that conversation, Solo. Care to let go of the reigns for just a little bit? Let me talk to this fellow. Somehow, I think he pulled the same stunt again. He?s quite good at saving his own hide, it appears,? he smiled.
Han made a ?be my guest? gesture, glancing at Leia, who shook her head as well.

?Wehka, this Booster Terrik.?
It stayed silent for a small while. Then the crisp voice came back, sounding amused.

?Captain Terrik. Yes, your voice sounds familiar.?

?As does yours, kid. So? did you ehr? feel the need to repeat the same stunt again, Captain Wehka??

?I am afraid so, Sir. I once again offer you the same as last time; I will order all Imperial ships to stand down and return to station. Will you allow us this one more time??
Booster looked at the others, who all, in unison, shook their heads. He sighed.

?I?m afraid I can?t, not this time, son. I can accept your surrender but I cannot let you go. Too much is at stake here.?
After a thoughtful few seconds, Captain Wehka replied. Strangely enough, he did not sound defiant.

?What are the terms of surrender

 

ELD! AWESOME JOB! TOTALLY WICKED!

 

The last stretch is hard, though... it'll be romantic and I'm absolutely not in such a mood. But it'll have to be romantic; you guys signed on for that in the firs tplace, it's after all a JJ fic.
I'll see what I can do about wrapping this all before midnight; ending this year and this fic.

Eld.

EDIT: *snort* Okay, that went well.

I haven't had any chance or will to write the last part but I'll try to finish it this week.

 

Ok. Well, it's been a while since the last post. What's up?

Gwenevere

 

so close. . . *fingers twitch*