Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1992 12:43:06 +0000 (GMT)
From: Colin Ford <Phoenix@chdpf.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Liberator 8
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Here is Chapter Eight. If anybody wants any of the chapters
up to this one let us know at :-

Phoenix@chdpf.demon.co.uk

Any Way

	Liberator Chapter Eight.

	Sledge was in the command chair of the Liberator when he felt 
the pain, causing him to doubled up. His cry caused Onia to look at him 
with concern. It quickly passed. He caught his breath again and 
straightened up. Now everybody was looking at him.
	"I'm fine. " he announced.
	"Are you sure ? " asked Onia, " You looked awful."
	Sledge smiled back at her. "Yes. I'm sure." He turned back to 
the main view screen. "Taff, How long until we're at Courscant ?"
	Taff looked at the Navigation, "About five minutes."
	"Right, You and Sash, take your stations in the turrets. 
Paulgara power up shields. Flach arm everything we have." Sledge 
ordered.
Paulgara started to work at her station and a status screen 
appeared on the left of the view screen, showing Liberator from the 
side, top, and front A green boarder appeared around these diagrams 
and thickened at the shields gained power. 
The various weapon emplacements glowed red as Flach gained 
power for the weapon systems. Meanwhile Sash and Taff left the 
Bridge. 
"Do you want me in the X- wing ? " asked Onia.
"Nope. You take over helm." He Turned to Tor. " How's our 
status ? "
"Well, we have full shields, full weapons, full power and no 
damage." He grinned. "Couldn't be better."
"Right." Said Sledge and he activated the ship-wide comm.
"OK we're ready for this. Just bear in mind, we don't fire at 
anything unless we're fired on. That clear ?"
Acknowledgements came from Sash, Taff and Flatch, and 
Sledge sat back and waited. The Liberator whined and dropped out of 
hyperspace and into the Courscant System.
Everybody gaped, they could see the planet quite clearly from 
where they were. It was amount of derelict ships that caught their 
attention. It seemed that several fleets of dead ships had taken up 
residence.
"There are some Alliance, but their mostly Imperial wrecks." 
Said Paulgara. "There must have been one hell of a battle here."
"OK! Sash, Taff. What can you see ?" asked Sledge.
"Mostly the same. " replied Taff.
"Yeah, we're lucky we didn't hit something on the way in." 
added Sash.
	"Thanks, Keep them peeled." Said Sledge, he looked at Onia " 
Onia! Take it easy. We don't want to bump heads with any of that out 
there."
	Onia smiled. She turned the controls. The ship responded by 
slowly gliding through the maze of junk.

	Admiral Dayson walked on the bridge of the Mon Cal Cruiser. 
He distinctly disliked being attached to Cruisers. He preferred by far, to 
be stationed on the ground. He looked around the bridge, the command 
crew of the cruiser he was on, bustled about with various tasks leaving 
him to gaze out at the wreaks of past battles.
	"Admiral. We have a priority signal from Escort frigate 
Toonan." Announced the Mon-Calamari at the communications station.
	"On screen." He turned his attention to the screen.
	"Admiral. We're recently had an encounter with an 
Unidentified ship. It was escorted by a single X Wing. When 
challenged, it outrun our X-Wings and jumped to hyperspace."
	"Yes..." Admiral Dayson was not known for his patience. " 
Why is this being reported to me ? This should go through the normal 
chain of command."
	The Captain on the screen looked strained, this reprimand was 
obviously not what he needed. "Because Admiral, The ship jumped in 
direct trajectory to Courscant."
	" I see." The admiral paused. "Download your scans, We'll 
take it from here. Dayson Out."
	The communications were cut. He turned to the Sensor's 
officer. "Give me any notification of any ships not jumping in at the 
predefined area's."
	"Sir !" The officer turned back to the comm. 
"Have those downloads started yet ?"
	"Yes Sir. They'll be finished in a minute." Came the reply.
	Dayson walked over and saw a reply of events with the 
Liberator running from the Frigate. He thought that the ship looked 
familiar but couldn't place it. A ship shaped like a bird of prey. 
Something Ackbar had said popped into his mind. It was interrupted by 
the sensor's officer.
	"Sir. Hyperspace entry. Sector Four." 
	The orders came easy to Dayson. "All Hands. Battle Alert. 
Power up Weapons and Raise Shields"


	Liberator continued to weave it's way through the parts of 
deceased star destroyers, hammered corvettes and smashed cruisers. 
Onia was finding it difficult at best, not to let one of the wings hit the 
floating junk. 
	"Estimated Distance to clearance of Debris. 500 K" announced 
Paulgara.
	Onia grimaced as she pulled the Liberator out of the way of 
more wreckage. Nobody else spoke, no- wanted to interrupt her when 
their lives were on the line. For a painful fifteen minutes they picked 
their way through and eventually got out into clear space.
	"Well done Onia." Said Sledge
	"Not bad." Came Taff's voice over the comm.
	"Err. Guys We've got company. I can't make it out too well 
but I think it's 4 Mon Cal Cruisers." Said Paulgara frowning at the 
sensor display
	"Let's give them a call." Smiled Sledge.
	Onia slowly turned the ship towards the new contacts. 
	" I can't get through." Said Paulgara, "there's too much 
radiation from the wreckage."
	"Oh Damn." Said Sledge, a tight knot of tension forming in his 
stomach, "Drop power from weapons, Show we're friendly."
	Flatch replied with a confused growl. 

	At that moment Dayson was also confused. He'd managed to 
manoeuvre his fleet into and entrapment formation around the unknown 
bird of prey but any hails were met with Silence. He felt very uneasy, it 
didn't attack or evade, but as this situation progressed he knew what he 
would be forced to do.
	"Gunnery. Command order; Target unknown vessel. Ion 
Cannon only."
	"Aye Sir."
	Just at that moment the unknown slowly started to turn towards 
his flagship. He made his decision.
	"Gunnery. Fire.!"

	Suddenly a hail of ion beams came from all four cruisers.
	"Too Late." Called Onia and pulled the controls.
	Flatch started to disarm the controls when the panel in front of 
him exploded. He fell over the station he was at and didn't move. 
Sledge looked over and started to make his way over to the weaponry 
station. The ship was shaking very violently from the multiple hits from 
the cruisers, making it difficult to walk.
	"Power levels at 40% and falling." Called Tor.
	Under Onia's abilities the Liberator twisted and turned far 
beyond it's operational parameters, the artificial gravity had a hard job 
keeping up with the manoeuvring. Sledge stumbled several times over. 
He got to the weapon station and pushed the wookie back then 
deactivated the weapons.
	"Onia, Stop evading. Paulgara drop shields and put every last 
bit of power into life support."
	Onia paused and looked at him. She recognised the look on his 
face. He was relying on the other commander to recognise a surrender. 
Ion Cannon couldn't damage the hull integrity but the computer could 
easily be damaged. The ship's shuddering increased as more fire poured 
into it. Blue lighting danced over the different stations control as system 
after system failed. Tor was flung from the engineering station by the 
ionisation and started to shake uncontrollably.
	Paulgara was over to him almost immediately, breaking over a 
medpack as she ran. She looked down at him and started to apply the 
painkillers. Sledge meanwhile was checking over Flatch. His breathing 
was very ragged and Sledge felt for a pulse. Very Faint. Then the 
shuddering stopped. 
	Onia looked at the view screen and saw the four cruisers 
slowly close around the ship. If their commander was going to order a 
kill, then this would be the time. Sledge and Paulgara were seeing to 
their patients. All Onia could do was hold her breath.

	"Target has no power to weapons, shield or manoeuvre. She 
has minimal life support and scanners can detect faint lifeforms aboard 
her. Sir." 
	Dayson heard the Scanner's officer report and pondered the 
problem. He'd ordered to cease fire once he'd heard there was no power 
assigned to the weapons. Their target had dropped shields under fire 
and then stopped evading. In Dayson's book that meant surrender, but 
he was not willing to trust a surrender, not after dealing with Grand 
Admiral Thawn. He was in prime firing position, but he decided to take 
the other option.
	"Put a Tractor Beam on that ship and take it into tow. We'll 
take it back to base and see what they've got to say for themselves."

	Sledge, Onia, Paulgara and Taff looked on in the med bay. Tor 
and Sash were both unconscious but stable, Flatch was badly hurt and 
bobbed up and down in the only bacta tank. Taff turned to Sledge. 
	"What the hell happened ? One minute we were hailing them, 
next they blow us apart?" His voice was low and angry.
	"We couldn't get through to them. Be thankful they didn't 
open fire with Turbolazers." Replied Sledge, with maddening calm.
	"Tell that to Flatch." Retorted Taff. The Ship shuddered once 
more. "Now what ?"
	"Will they be all right here ?" asked Paulgara pointing to the 
others.
	"I'll Stay." Said Taff looking at Tor and Flatch.
	Sledge Nodded and the others ran to the Bridge. The 
viewscreen showed they were inside some kind of landing bay. 
Liberator had been docked sideways in. Paulgara took up her station at 
ops and Onia sat at the helm stations.
	"What's our status ?" said Sledge as he took his seat in the 
command chair.
	"Not Good." replied Paulgara, "We have no Power for 
anything except life support, communications and basic manoeuvring."
	On the view screen, soldiers  took up positions all around the 
ship. It was obvious to all that they were being treated as hostile but 
they couldn't make out the uniforms of the surrounding troops.
	"Well. They're not Storm troopers at least." Commented Onia.
	"The Emperor has more than just storm troopers." Said 
Paulgara.
	"They're hailing us." Said Paulgara.
	"On Screen." Said Sledge.
	Admiral Dayson's features appeared on the screen. He was a 
man in his early fifties with the look of a Hawk. He seemed to examine 
the three visible crew members.
	"I am Admiral Dayson and on behalf of the New Galactic 
Republic, I ask for your surrender." He announced.
	"We are Special Operations Group 635, under the direct 
command of General Madine of the Alliance." Replied Sledge. "We 
will only offer our surrender only to him or Admiral Ackbar, if they are 
available."
	"I will order my men to board your vessel if you do not co-
operate." Sledge could see Dayson was going a slight shade of red.
	"Admiral, your men will not be able to board this vessel, 
because we have no way to open a door for them. " replied Sledge. "I'm 
sorry but I am under orders, if you know of General Madine or Admiral 
Ackbar could you please contact them."
	"Of Course I know who Madine and Ackbar are. "growled the 
Admiral, "Are you surrendering ?"
	"Admiral, we will only surrender to Madine or Ackbar. 
Liberator Out." Sledge said and gestured to Paulgara to cut the 
connection.
	"Well, At least we know they know of Madine and Ackbar, " 
said Onia, " but are they on the same side? "
	"I've bought us some time, that's all." Said Sledge. He tapped 
his communicator. "Taff, How are they doing ?"
	"Sod Off, you bossy lanky git. " came Tor's voice.
	"Well at least Tor's all right." Muttered Paulgara.
	"What about the others ?" asked Onia.
	"Sash is coming round but Flatch is still out of it." Taff replied.
	"Is the Med droid working ?" asked Sledge.
	"I'm away ahead of you." said Taff, "I got it looking after 
Flatch. We'll be up as soon as Sash is on his feet."
	"Right then. We Sit and wait." Said Sledge.

	"Damn them." Shouted Dayson as the viewscreen switched 
off. He looked out of the window, down into the Landing bay, where 
the Liberator had been placed. As he watched he could see the huge 
wings of the craft slowly begin to fold in. The troops below raised their 
rifles, wary of any trick.
 He turned to his aid. "Get me any information about Special 
Operations Team 635." He barked.
	"It's all right Admiral. I have all the information right here." 
Came a voice from behind him. Dayson turned to see Councillor Leia 
Organa Solo stood behind him, with her golden protocol droid next to 
her.
	"Can I speak with them ?" asked Leia as she handed over the 
four datapads to the Admiral.
	"You can try ! Ma'am." replied the Admiral as he started to 
look at the Datapads.
	Leia smiled and left heading down towards the landing bay. 
Admiral Dayson came running down after her. "Your Highness, I can't 
let you near that ship."
	"I'm the only one who knows anything about that ship and 
until Ackbar or Madine gets back, I'm the only one who has any chance 
of convincing that crew we're on the same side." Replied Leia coolly.
	"I would be lacking in my duty if I didn't make some 
provision for your safety."
	" I will not be in danger Admiral." Said Leia putting on her 
most official voice, "but If you are that concerned, you may accompany 
me. "
	With that she turned down the stairway and continued on. 
Admiral Dayson sighed with resignation and followed her, checking his 
blaster as he went. Leia entered the landing bay and stopped to look at 
the ship. Liberator's wings had folded in and it's golden colour had 
faded under the multiple hits from the fleet. She was over 40 meters 
high and was impressive close up.
 The Ion cannons underneath the ship had been replaced by 
landing skids and an additional landing skid protruded from the neck to 
keep the ship level.
	Leia raised her comlink to her mouth. "I wish to speak to 
Comdr. Bob Sledgehammer of Alliance Special Operation Group code-
name Liberator. The Passwords are Semma, Clipso and Variant."
	A completely different feminine voice, replied through the 
comlink. 
	"Code words verified. Opening portal. Be advised not to fire 
any weapons on board. You have been granted visitor level security."
	"Thank you !" It was all Leia could think to say.
	Near the neck of the Liberator, a door started to appear. 
Dayson signalled and a landing ramp was pushed to the liberator. A 
couple of troops covered the entrance with their rifles. Leia and Dayson 
climbed the stairs and looked into the opening. There was emergency 
lightning and the air seemed stale compared with the landing bays. 
Dayson leading, with a blaster drawn, they cautiously took a step in. 
They opened into a wide corridor and walked forward. They 
heard a voice to their left.
"Excuse me !" 
Dayson turned and held the new arrival at gunpoint. "Stay 
where you are and don't move."
"What ever you do. Don't fire that gun." Said the woman.
"Why ?" shouted Dayson.
"Because the automatic defences will kick in and you'll end up 
on the floor with a very sore head." Replied the woman. 
	"Put the gun away Admiral." Said Leia.
	Leia looked at the woman, she looked in her late twenties with 
an athletic figure. She had long matt black hair that matched her dark 
eyes. "Onia ?"
	The woman stared at Leia and slowly a look of recognition 
came to her face. "Princess Leia Organa."
	"Organa Solo, now." She smiled. Admiral Dayson put the gun 
back in his holster
	"Well, we trust in Servana's judgement here and if she let you 
on board then you're who you say you are." Replied Onia, "Follow 
me."
	Leia made a mental note to ask who this Servana was.
There wasn't far to go but the corridor reminded Leia of a 
luxury cruise liner not a battle ship. Dayson was looking about with 
mild astonishment. They walked at a brisk place and came across a 
large pair of double doors. Onia put her palm  next to the door and they 
both opened with a large swish sound
	The Bridge was large and spacious. There was a command 
chair in the centre and a helm station in-front and below it. At the back 
there were a number of stations held in a semicircle around the back. At 
the very front there was a large viewscreen, that overlaid an original 
viewing port.
	There were another five people at various places around the 
bridge. Two men, Leia recognised as Sash and Taff. Sash had some 
bandages covering some open wounds. A man and a woman were sat at 
two of the stations monitoring the feeble power levels. Leia decided that 
they were Tor and Paulgara.
	Finally the command chair spun round and Sledge looked at 
both of them. "Princess Leia, Welcome to the Liberator." He stood up 
and smiled. 
"If we Surrender, will with these conditions, be met ? That our 
wounded will be treated. We will be held until someone can verify our 
identities and that no-one boards the Liberator while we are being 
held."
	"That seems satisfactory." Said Leia, " Admiral ?" 
	Dayson looked around the ship. "Madine gets back in two 
days, he'll be able to verify you then. "
	"What about Flatch. He was hurt badly in you're attack 
Admiral ?" Taff's voice was full of loathing.
	Sledge walked over and had a quiet word with Taff. They 
couldn't hear what about but Taff looked subdued. 
	"The Wookie will be left here, it will be dangerous to move 
him."  Said Sledge
	He turned and looked at the Leia and Dayson.
	"We Surrender."
	


Too Be Countinued ...... ?