Synergy of Storms by WedgeantR2

Part 2: Merging of Storms

GoldLeader looked out of the viewport on board the "UPA Virtue." It had been several days since the UPA fleet had their first encounter with Task Force Storm. In that encounter, several of the ships in the UPA fleet were damaged. The only three ships that were still undergoing repairs were the "UPA One," "UPA Paradigm," and the "UPA Stonewall." The "UPA One" had been so heavily damaged that it would need another two weeks before it was ready for action again. The other two ships would be ready in a few days. Also, the fleet was expecting a new Nebulon-B frigate and seven corellian corvettes and gunships tomorrow, along with Y-wings and B-wings for the newly reactivated Green Squadron to help fight the Imperial task force, led by their super-class star destroyer, the "Stormreaver." The task force had been reduced to 1 SSD, 2 ISDs, 3 VSDs, 1 Nebulon-B Friagte, and 4 carrack-class cruisers. The UPA had received information that the "Maelstrom," Task Force Storm's interdictor-class cruiser, was severely damaged and was sent to an Imperial repair yard in the Mytus system. It would not be with the task force for a couple weeks, so the UPA had to exploit the task force's weakness soon. Luckily, the UPA had also received reports of the task force gathering near Talus and Tralus in the Corellian system, planning their next move. Talus and Tralus were unique planets, due to the fact that they orbited each other while they both orbited the star of the Corellian system. They were often referred to as the double worlds because of their similar size and names. At the point directly in between the double worlds as they orbited each other was Centerpoint Station, an ancient space station that was twice the size of the Death Star. Not much is know about the station itself, except that it was created by a race that lived thousands of years ago. The two planets were not heavily populated, which is probably why the task force chose to gather there. Unfortunately for them, they did not know that the UPA had knowledge of their location, and were planning an attack later that day. The UPA planned to use the "UPA Vengeance" and "UPA Death Wind," the two fastest ships in the fleet (at least before the new ships came), to hyper in and lure some of the carrack-class cruisers away. Then, the rest of the ships, led by the "UPA Virtue," would hyper in directly behind them and wipe out the cruisers and begin attacking the smaller ships. They were going to avoid the SSD for now. GoldLeader walked over to WedgeantR2 and Drewhead who were standing on the bridge with him. He said, "Hey guys, how much longer until we head into hyperspace?" "In about an hour," said Drewhead. "By the way, have you thought about R2's plan yet?" "Well, I would like the idea, but why does it have to be me?" said GoldLeader. Drewhead replied, "Because, you are the only one with an adequate ship." WedgeantR2 said, "Come on GL, I am confident that it will work. We just need to wait for the "UPA Paradigm" to finish repairs. Plus, we will need to dig up a Murrian transport somewhere..." An hour later, the UPA fleet, led by the "UPA Virtue," entered hyperspace. On the bridge of the "UPA Virtue," GoldLeader, WedgeantR2, and Drewhead were still discussing R2's plan. "Well we could have you or Drew go out in one of our starfighters instead of me," said GoldLeader. "But it will be kinda hard to make the Imperials believe our trick," said R2. "A fighter is too small and fast to make it seem believable." "R2's right," said Drewhead. "Plus, there are a few benefits. The real burden will be on me, and besides, you have several days to decide because the "UPA Paradigm" is still under repairs..." Task Force Storm moved slowly near the planet Talus. They were regrouping and lying in wait while their interdictor, the "Maelstrom," was being repaired. The trap they had set for the UPA last time had failed horribly, and several ships had been lost. They had underestimated the UPA last time. They would not make the same mistake again. Storm squadron was eager for revenge agaist the UPA pilots. Suddenly, a Corellian corvette and a Corellian gunship came out of hyperspace. All four carrack-class cruisers went to attack them, as they were the only ships who were capable of outrunning the swift corellian vessels. Once they were almost in firing range, the corellian ships abruptly turned around and started to retreat. The carrack cruisers gained ground on them and started firing. The two smaller ships fired back. Then, a large fleet came out of hyperspace in front of them. They tried desperately to turn around and run, but all of them were quickly cut down by turbolaser fire. Seven squadrons of starfighters were launched. The Imperials launched six squadrons of their own, including Storm squadron in their TIE advanced. Concussion missiles flew from both sides. About eight or nine TIEs exploded, and two more were damaged, but some of the X-wings had taken hits and had to go back for repairs. Laser fire filled the space around them as the two groups of fighters clashed. Meanwhile, the star destroyers and the frigate moved to attack the UPA fleet. "Rotate fifteen degrees to starboard," said WedgeantR2. "We need to hit those two VSDs on that side of the task force without getting close to the SSD." The UPA fleet shifted slightly and began to open fire on two Victory-class star destroyers. Warheads were launched at them, and one of them lost its shields and began to retreat. Suddenly, eight Imperial-class star destroyers came out of hyperspace behind them. It was a trap! The ISDs began to move closer to the fleet. Drewhead said, "Recall all fighters. Direct all power to engines and but through their formation. We should be able to make it through and get into hyperspace." The fleet turned around and all the fighters came back to their ships. The fleet accelerated at high speed toward the formation of ISDs. They shot through it quickly, taking a lot of punishment in the process. Once they were clear, they entered hyperspace. When they got back at the base, they once again assessed their damages. All ships had taken damage of some sort, and several fighters needed to be stripped and rebuilt. The Surpreme Council held a meeting later at the base. GoldLeader said, "So it was a trap all along. That info about the task force being at Talus and Tralus must have been a decoy." "Well what do we do now?" asked Drewhead. "Even with the reinforcements we are getting tomorrow, we still wont be able to match up to an SSD and about 10 other star destroyers." "We still have my plan," said WedgeantR2. "We will have to wait about a week or two of course, and I think it is the only way we could win against this task force. GL, you know it as well as I do. What do you say?" "OK fine then," GoldLeader sighed, "We'll go with your plan, but only on one condition: after we beat the Imps, you have to buy drinks for all of us." END OF PART 2