A Young Girl's War Between the Stars [Youjo Senki/Star Wars] 85

A Young Girl’s War Between the Stars

85

Botajef system. 35 BBY/965 GSC.

“Mand’alor on deck!”

I returned the salutes sent my way before moving over to the center of the bridge. “Captain. May I?” I asked, and Aylin smiled, gesturing towards her chair.

“Please,” she agreed, and I took the preferred seat.

“Sitrep,” I ordered, as the holographic fishbowl display turned on, giving a full view of the system—or at least, what the Redoubt’s passive sensors could see.

The call-outs began in order of importance, starting with sensors. “Our sensors have confird long range observations from our stealth asset within the system. The TradeFed have taken the orbital shipyard and are currently engaged in a ground battle to take the planet-side shipyard. The enemy fleet consists of thirty-six Munificent-class frigates, eighteen Recusant-class destroyers, and one Lucrehulk-class battleship. They’ve got droid fighters deployed doing patrols. I read… six hundred Vulture droid fighters deployed on patrol around the planet.”

They really wanted this shipyard, I mused, looking at the representations of ships on the hologram.

“The Lucrehulk appears to be acting as the control ship for their ground forces,” the comms officer reported next. “They’re beaming out a lot of data back and forth that I can’t make heads or tails of. No change in transmissions between fleet elents since we dropped out of hyperspace.”

Nodding, I listened to the other reports coming in. All sectors on the Redoubt reported battle ready. Our other fleet elents likewise were reporting their readiness. The Redoubt was tucked away behind the Botajef’s moon and it seed as though the enemy hadn’t spotted us yet, while the other elents of the fleet were a bit further—having dropped out of hyperspace in the shadow of the planet from the enemy fleet, close enough to the inner asteroid belt that at that range, they shouldn’t be picked up by the enemy’s fighter patrols.

Considering the map and the way the enemy fleet was deployed, I humd quietly in thought as I went over our options. Master Dooku’s instructions were clear: take the Second Confederate Fleet and break the siege of Botajef by TradeFed forces. I was to reclaim the orbital and planet-side shipyards and drive the TradeFed away with as little damage as possible in the process, while limiting local casualties. He didn’t care how I achieved those goals.

My eyes settled on the largest enemy ship as transport ships ferried more droid troops down to the surface. Thanks to my scambot’s actions, we had acquired the schematics and stats for them from HKD. They were huge capital freighters that had been converted into droid troop carriers and support ships, given the ‘battleship’ designation more for their mass than their combat potential. But even completely unard and stripped down, they could serve a purpose…

I want that Lucrehulk. It’s a true mobile base, and I want it shipped back to Mandalore intact. The interior refit to house living crew. Enough weapons and shielding added to turn it into a flying fortress. Then, I want to quietly disappear it into the black—hide it where no one will find it, to use with my little fleet.

Of course, my new mobile base was well-defended—as any prize worth taking was. Between the droid fighters on patrol and the frigates and destroyers screening it, we were going to have a hard ti taking it in a straight up fight. In fact, this would be the first fleet action our new ships had seen, so I wasn’t entirely certain of the best way to go about this.

The tactic of playing to our strengths was obvious. The railguns were built to engage at range—well, well outside of range of the enemy’s own weapons. Far enough that by the ti their fighters got to within range to engage our own, the enemy ships should theoretically be crippled or destroyed.

We had thirteen Keldabe-class battleships, with the Redoubt being one of those. Additionally, we had four Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carriers, and twenty-four Crusader-class corvettes. Along with that we had a few support ships, ships ant to deploy troops on the ground, and the fighter wings of all of those larger ships.

A synchronized alpha strike by our battleships and corvettes should theoretically take out a large portion of the enemy fleet. At least, based on the specs we got from testing our captured Munificent-class. The problem was, what ca after. It would be hard to predict how the enemy ships would respond, outside of the general assumption that they would attempt to deploy the rest of their fighters and close range. If the Lucrehulk had fighters, it may deploy its own fighters, and I’d seen the numbers on those—I didn’t like our odds, based on numbers alone.

The best approach would be sothing that disables that Lucrehulk before it can launch its fighters, assuming it has them. Once the Lucrehulk is taken care of, then… No. Anything that leaves the other targets ti to respond gives them ti to move out of their current established flight paths, making them harder to hit from down range, and gives up the advantage of a surprise attack. The best strategy would then be a surprise attack against the smaller ships as cover for a boarding action to enter the Lucrehulk and disable it before it can beco a problem. That way, the rest of the fleet will be too busy with their own problems to respond to a smaller attack on the Lucrehulk.

Feeling the tension of the bridge crew, I reminded myself that I was on display here and as not just the commanding office, but as their Mand’alor, I had to look like I knew what I was doing. I had no experience conducting large scale fleet operations, outside of the occasional video ga in my first life—but an RTS was not the sa thing as real naval engagents! I was out of my depth here, outside of the most basic, common sense things or tactics that applied universally—such as trying to out-range your enemy, or launching a sneak attack.

Doesn’t matter. I need to look like I know what I’m doing even when I don’t. These people are looking to to lead them. Fine. I’ll do what every good leader does—ask the people who actually know to give their advice, and then delegate. And while they’re taking care of the real work, I’ll use the strategy that seems to work best for : launch myself at the problem and hit it until it stops being a problem. No need to change what works.

Shutting off the holo display, I stood. Capt. Keen straightened up as I looked to her. “et in my office in half an hour, and bring the CO of our marine detachnt. Call the captains of the other ships and let them know we’ll be conducting a strategy eting over holocall at that ti.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, before thumping a fist to her chest in salute.

Louder, I said, “Forward the teletry feed from our sensors to my office.”

“Aye, ma’am,” ca the reply from the sensor officer.

I nodded and left the bridge, heading up to our private deck and following my senses to find my Padawans. I had told them to avoid training for today because I wanted them fresh if we needed to deploy for sothing, so I wasn’t too surprised when I found them in the private flight simulators I’d had moved up and installed for them. They sensed enter the room and quickly paused their sims, before stepping out and sending expectant looks. I smiled and, for so reason, they shivered and I felt a brief thrill of fear from them.

“Are we having fun?” I asked, and the girls exchanged a look.

“Yes?” Allaya tried, and Asajj nodded.

“Good, good,” I nodded along. “I know you must be getting bored with simulators, so for today, I’ve arranged a little training exercise.” The girls flinched at that and I chuckled. “Go gear up. Vac suits and full armor, and bring your rifles. et in my office in ten minutes.”

““Yes, Master!”” the pair chorused, before hurrying out of the training room.

They left and I hurried to my office and into my private quarters. As I went, I pulled my personal holocom out and made a quick call. Receiving an answering beep, I smiled. “Arthree, please co up to the office. We’re going to need you for a mission very soon.”

The droid gave an affirmative beep and disconnected the call, and I pocketed the device. Opening my armor locker, I quickly pulled on my gear and sealed my helt into place. Running the standard integrity checks, I made sure it was sealed properly before selecting my loadout.

My usual lightsabers were already on my belt and ready, of course. The Darksaber, because if I was going to do this in front of an audience, I may as well be inspirational while I did it. My RSKF-44 hand cannon. Several grenades and explosive charges, since we would be breaching the ship and it was really just faster to blast than try to cut through most doors. And finally, my rifle—newly upgraded with sorcery, beskar, and songsteel to make it stronger and capable of channeling more Force.

Letting the rifle hang from its sling against my chest, I headed back into the office and activated the holo projector, setting it for tank mode. Then, I brought up the sensor readings of the enemy’s positions relative to our fleet and began running the math for targeting solutions and timing on firing for each of our individual ships.

Once I was finished with that, I brought up the Lucrehulk schematics. Unfortunately, due to just how modular the ship was made to be, there was no way to tell exactly what the internal layout looked like until we were inside. The general schematics for the base model would hopefully be enough. Studying the layout, I marked out three targets: the bridge, the engine room, and an empty space I suspected to be where they housed the droid control unit.

We’re going to need to hit all three nearly at the sa ti, to prevent any sabotage or an attempt to scuttle the ship. And the ship is too large for to cover them all myself. So, going to need marines to secure two of those. I could take Allaya and Asajj with to get them so experience, while keeping them safe myself. Or… I could stick each of them with a group of marines and see how they do.

I quickly made my decision as the door to the office opened and my Padawans walked in. “I’m sending this to your holocoms,” I told them, before sending over the schematics.

The girls studied the hologram before Asajj asked, “Why do we need the schematics for a ship?”

I sent her an amused look, then realized she couldn’t see it under my helt. “Because today’s training is in traversing space without a ship, followed by ship boarding action and capture, with a side of mixed unit tactics.”

The girls shared a brief look as terror rolled off of them, before they both turned and ran for the door. I grabbed them both by the collar, to their protests.

“You can’t just space us! Master, what have we done to deserve that?!”

“Master, think of what my mother and father will say when they learn you threw out an airlock!”

“Oh relax,” I sighed, putting them on their feet to either side of , but not letting go. “Why do you think I told you to make sure you wore your vac suits and your armor? And did you think I had you start wearing a vac suit under your robes like as a fashion statent? Your suits are sealed and made specifically for traversing vacuum. You’ll be fine. I’ll be right there to help you navigate across the distance—along with so volunteers from our marine detachnt.”

“…You’re really going with us?”

“…You’re really not just tossing us into space and flying away?”

I rolled my eyes, before smacking them both in the back of their helts. “Yes, I’m going with you. No, I’m not just leaving you stranded and floating in space today.”

There was a pause, followed by, ““Today?!””

“We’ll do your space survival and recovery training at a later date,” I promised, earning a thrill of dread from both girls. Feeling people approaching out in the hall, I said, “Now, be quiet and pay attention. The eting is about to start.”

I opened the door with the Force just as I felt Aylin about to knock. The woman felt ruefully amused, though I couldn’t tell that just by looking—most because her face was hidden by her helt. She had taken a few minutes to change from her uniform into her armor, it seed.

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Frowning, I nodded to her and the man who followed after—an Mando with a buzzed hair cut and wearing a first lieutenant’s rank insignia and a serious look on his face. Letting go of my Padawans, I moved towards my quarters and motioned for Aylin to follow. “Captain, a word if you would?”

The woman nodded and followed inside, closing the door behind us. I reached up and removed my helt and a mont later, she did the sa. eting the older woman’s eyes, I asked, “What are you doing?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Permission to speak freely?”

My eye twitched. I wanted to deny the request, but things were complicated enough without rank getting in the way. So, I nodded. “Granted. Drop the formalities. What do you think you’re doing?”

“What’s it look like?” She sent an amused look. “I know you. I’ve read your service record—most of us have, in fact. Lt. Thorne already put together a group of volunteers in anticipation of the coming mission, ready to launch when you give the order. You’re going to order us to board the Lucrehulk, at the sa ti our ships attack the main fleet. You’re probably going to use this as a training exercise for your Padawans and have them both split off with a marine escort each, to go secure the engine room and droid control core, while you assault the bridge alone. I ordered a detachnt prepared to accompany you as well, which I’ll be leading myself. My XO will handle the Redoubt while I’m gone.”

For a mont, I simply stared. She read like a book.

I wanted to argue that as the captain, she should stay back on the ship where it was safe… but I knew that the imdiate counter to that was that as the leader of our people, I shouldn’t even be out here. And unfortunately, these were Mandalorians. Common sense went out the window at tis, especially where fighting was involved. The captain deciding to join an assault and lead from the front wasn’t out of the ordinary for them at all.

“Fine,” I grunted, pulling my helt back on. “You’ll be in my back pocket the entire ti.”

“Right where I want to be. The most dangerous part of the mission, likely to face the heaviest resistance,” she smiled, before pulling her own helt back on. “This is going to be fun!”

“Force save from battle maniacs,” I muttered as I opened the door and we returned to the office. Lt. Thorne pretended nothing was amiss, but I could feel the man’s amusent. Rolling my eyes, I made my way to the holocom controls and found we had already been joined on a call in progress and they were just waiting on us to acknowledge. Hitting the button to do so, several color holograms popped up, broadcast from the other Keldabe-class ships—the ranking captains present.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlen,” I nodded to the assembled n and won.

““Mand’alor!”” the answering salute was imdiate and universal.

I returned the gesture and brought up the teletry from our sensors, showing the battlefield before us—the planet of Botajef, its moon, and out to the asteroid field where the other ships in our fleet lurked.

“You can see the situation we’re facing for yourselves. We can’t lose the orbital shipyard and if at all possible, I want that Lucrehulk captured, not destroyed. My plan is simple: long range bombardnt from the enemy’s starboard north side, so that inertia carries any potential missed fire or debris away from the station. While you’re setting up for the bombardnt, I’ll take a team and set up on so asteroids, which we will then push in motion towards the enemy fleet. Once we’re close enough, we’ll leave the asteroids and board the ship. The asteroids passing between the Lucrehulk and the planet will signal the start of the operation, at which point you will open fire and engage the enemy, concentrating fire on the destroyers in order to take them out first. As soon as the first strike hits, my teams will breach the Lucrehulk and move to capture the bridge and hopefully the enemy leader, the engine room, and the droid control center. With the droids shut down, the enemy’s surface operation will grind to a halt and with their fleet commander captured, we will order their surrender. If negotiation fails at that point, we’ll blast the shit out of them. You have half an hour to give alternatives, or we launch half an hour after that. Begin.”

I smiled under my helt as the other captains quickly launched into debate, suggesting both alternatives and modifications to the initial plan, nodding along as I listened.

It’s nice, being at the head of the chain of command. No more having to tolerate idiotic ideas from people who either aren’t qualified to give said ideas, or from desk jockeys who aren’t on the ground. I’m actually kind of looking forward to this war, if only to be involved in a conflict where I don’t have to eat shit and bite my tongue to save so imbecile’s ego, and high command sets unrealistic goals or fails to understand the needs of their subordinates, the realities of war, and misses or outright ignores opportunities to win the war with a single stroke.

Was I still bitter about the defeats and losses of my second life? Absolutely not.

But I had learned my lesson. And this ti, any such dead weight dragging us down would very quickly find that term becoming quite literal, at the end of a lightsaber.

Staring out into the black as space spun wildly around them, Asajj clung to the rope tied around her waist, nailed into the asteroid with a piton as if her life depended on it. Because it did. It definitely did!

What kind of idiot Master thought nailing themselves to a bunch of asteroids and using a ship to shove those at the planet in the distance, and then jump off when they got close to the enemy was a good idea?!

Asajj loved her Master, she really did, but there were tis where well-earned fear surpassed that, and this was one of them. Because her Master was insane!

Allaya squeezed her hand a bit tighter and she glanced over, finding the other girl just laying back, seemingly enjoying the ride. It was hard to tell with their helts on. Her sense of the Force wasn’t as sharp as their Master’s, but it didn’t feel like the redhead was in the middle of a panic attack.

Allaya leaned over and thumped her helt against Asajj’s, pressing them together. Her voice ca through a mont later, since this was the only way they could communicate verbally at the mont as their Master didn’t even want them using point to point laser just in case it reflected and one of the enemy ships detected it. “Just close your eyes and relax. Stop looking at it and the dizzy feeling will go away.”

“Easy for you to say!” Asajj hissed back.

The redhead’s tone turned annoyed. “You think I’m not about to puke my guts out?! The only thing keeping from doing exactly that is that we’re surrounded by vacuum and I don’t want to have to breathe it because there’s no way I can take my helt off!”

Asajj let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. Slowly, the world stopped spinning and she stopped feeling like she was going to be thrown off the asteroid and into space. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I… I’m scared too,” the redhead admitted, and Asajj could feel how much it hurt her pride to admit that.

“This is so stupid,” Asajj complained.

She felt Allaya nod. “Oh yeah! Easily makes the top ten dumbest ideas Master’s ever had!”

Sothing thumped her boot and Asajj cracked one eye open, finding their Master standing above them, doing the sa to Allaya. Once she felt their attention, she signaled. ‘Up. Make ready.’

Asajj forced herself to stand as Allaya did likewise. A mont later, their Master unhooked the D-rings connecting their ropes to the anchors and instead snapped them to her belt. She started walking and the girls followed, moving out of the crater they had been laying in. Focusing on the ground helped to keep the dizzy feeling from returning, so Asajj stared at her feet practically the entire ti. Until finally, they crested the lip of the deep crater, and Asajj bumped into their Master’s back.

Tanya turned around and signed again. ‘Make ready. Count down. Five. Jump.’

Asajj nodded, catching Allaya doing the sa out of the side of her vision. Then, their Master turned away and looked up, watching the sky. Asajj made the mistake of doing so as well and gasped at what she saw.

In the distance, the planet of Botajef crested the horizon of the asteroid—all blue oceans, green and brown land, and white fluffy clouds. It was beautiful, at this range, but also… lonely? It made her feel smaller, sohow.

Then, the asteroid continued its rotation and structures ca into view, highlighted by her helt’s caras. The glint of fighters zipping around in the dark. The forms of ships hovering ominously before them. And behind those, looming like a small moon, a ship that dwarfed them all—circular, with a small opening in the front, and a hollow center with a spherical module taking up much of the middle space ford by the ring of the outer hull structure.

Their Master held up her hand in a clenched fist. Asajj felt her heart—hearts, she reminded herself—hamring in her chest as her body trembled and muscles clenched. And then, calm washed over them. Calm, certainty, and determination. It was only for a mont, but it was enough to overpower the fear she felt.

‘Five.’

‘Four.’

‘Three.’

‘Two.’

Tanya reached down and grabbed both of their hands, and Asajj felt the Force encompassing all of them. She didn’t need to ask when it was ti to jump, or how hard she needed to, or at what angle. She just knew.

They jumped, leaving the asteroid behind—and as they did, Asajj started a countdown tir. They flew through space towards the large ship, moving further and further from the asteroid. Looking around, Asajj spotted other Mandalorians jumping off of other asteroids on the sa trajectory.

Nearly there, they moved as one, flipping over so the enemy ship was down. Then, again at their Master’s direction, Asajj knew just what to do as they neared at a velocity that would splatter them all against the hull. Letting go of her Master’s hand, she pointed both hands downwards and used the Force to push against the ship. Only, instead of moving the massive ship, the Force moved her—slowing her until she touched down lightly against the hull and the magnetic clamps on her boots locked in place, the reading on her helt’s HUD turning green. A check showed Allaya was likewise secure.

A group of ten Mandos, including the Redoubt’s captain, landed around them using jetpacks to do much the sa. As soon as they were down, Tanya reached down and unhooked the D-rings from Asajj’s and Allaya’s armor and secured them in her cloak pockets. Thumping their shoulders to get their attention, she quickly signed again.

‘On mission. Stay safe. Go.’

Asajj nodded and she and Allaya turned and looked around, finding the other two units of Mandos nearby. Their Master’s group took off across the ship, hurrying towards the central sphere. anwhile, Asajj turned left to hurry towards one group of Mandos while Allaya went right.

The ti for thinking, uncertainty, or fear was over. Asajj steeled herself and hurried to et the Mandos she would be working with. She knew the plan for getting in and what she needed to do—and what her Master expected of her. All she needed to do now was act.

Soon enough, she stood with the gathered Mandos and waited as three of them went about securing magnetic clamps and lines to the hull. Once that was done, one of them signaled it was finished to Asajj and she nodded, pulling out her lightsabers but not turning them on. She waited, watching. The countdown ticked closer and closed to zero, until finally, it blinked red in the corner of her vision.

In the near distance, the sky lit up with flashes as multiple enemy ships simply ceased to exist—engines destroyed and exploding, annihilating the ships in whole. Others, where the engines weren’t destroyed outright, turned into floating debris clouds and large chunks, flying towards other ships.

That’s the signal!

Asajj lit both her lightsabers and let go, grabbing them with the Force and moving them out to where the Mandos indicated. Setting them at an angle, she pushed them into the hull, then began to rotate them around her position, careful of the tethers holding the soon to be removed section of hull to the rest of the ship. Glancing over, in the distance, she saw her Master and Allaya doing the sa with their own teams.

The reasoning there was fairly simple, according to her Master. With the destruction of the enemy ships and the start of the operation, the enemy may actually lock down the Lucrehulk and they might even have guards stationed to deal with an airlock breach. They wouldn’t have guards stationed to deal with a breach from the middle of a corridor, however.

Atmosphere rushed out around the cuts and Asajj felt the mont she finished cutting, as the entire section under her feet jerked and launched upwards several feet, before catching on the anchor lines. She stumbled but quickly righted herself, shutting off her lightsabers and collecting them as she rushed around the side and down, following the Mandos inside. Once they were all in, she reached out and grabbed the section of hull with the Force, pulling it down and holding it back in place as three Mandos broke out patch kits and slapped them against the gaps in the hull, quickly spot-welding them in place.

Alarms still blared through the ship, red lights flashing in the corridor, but the atmosphere had stopped leaking. Pulling up her HUD’s map from the files on her holocom, she checked their position against the engine room as the group moved out. Getting her rifle ready, she moved out ahead of the group, running at Force speed to get so distance and ensure the path ahead was clear.

Turning the only corner between them and the engine room, she ca across a squad of droids. Asajj moved, running faster as she snapped up her rifle and launched herself at the wall to her right as they lifted their blasters and opened fire. A green bolt of plasma streaked from her rifle and hit the first B1 battle droid center mass. The heads were just sensor units for this model, her Master had explained, so only a shot to the chest would actually guarantee a kill.

The droid exploded and the bolt over-penetrated, punching into the droid behind it as Asajj fired again and again, kicking off the wall, to the ceiling, and over to the opposite wall—always staying a step ahead of the droids’ fire. By the ti she touched down on the floor again, the squad of droids had been reduced to little more than scrap.

Breathing a bit deeper, she turned and spotted the Mandos coming up behind her, running fast. The reason why beca obvious a mont later, as the rear elents paused at the corner to fire down the hallway—apparently, the enemy had sent reinforcents to try to stop them from taking the engine room.

Hurrying to the door, Asajj attempted to open it, only to find it locked and the bulkhead door sealed. Checking the schematics, she turned and activated her lightsaber, cutting a man-sized door into the wall and ripping the panel out, revealing an elevator shaft that opened directly into the engine room.

Master was right. If the door is too thick, look for another—any ship with multiple elevators apparently has elevator access directly to the engine room. And if you can’t find one, cut through a wall.

Shaking her head, she ripped the elevator doors open with the Force and took a mont to use her lightsaber to turn the removed wall section into an impromptu floor across the elevator shaft for the Mandos, before hurrying inside. Once in, she found the only living crew she’d felt or seen so far, doing sothing at the engine control panel. Using the Force, she jerked the human away from the panel and pinned him against the wall as the Mandos poured into the room and secured the entrances. She took a mont to use her lightsaber to spot weld both the blast doors and the elevator doors shut once they were all in, then turned to the human struggling against the wall as the Mandos worked to figure out what had been done.

Reaching out with the Force as her Master had instructed, Asajj demanded, “Tell us how to fix what you did.”

She felt the man try to resist, but leaned on the technique and, a mont later, he stopped thrashing and gave up. “You’ll need to use my access code to disable the shutdown sequence. It’s—”

Asajj listened and waited as one of the Mandos entered the code and stopped the shutdown. Finally, the engineer called, “We’re all good.”

Nodding, Asajj ordered, “Sleep.”

The man went unconscious and she sighed, dropping him to the floor. A mont later, a quiet, hysterical laugh escaped her lips, before she collapsed to the ground herself. One of the Mandos made his way over and knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright. You did good. Just breathe. Deep breaths.”

Asajj nodded and did as she was instructed, tuning out the sounds of tal fists pounding on the blast door and blasters occasionally firing at it. The constant clanking of tal on tal was a distraction though, and she wished they would just shut up already.

Clank-clank, clank, clank—

“Stupid clankers,” she muttered.

Several of the Mandos laughed or snorted at that. “So young, and already inventing new slurs.”

“Yup, she’s a Mando.”

“One of us. One of us.”

“The boss is gonna be so proud!”

The man kneeling next to her rolled his eyes. “Button it up,” he chastised them, but she could hear the smile in his voice. When they fell silent, he keyed up on the radio. “Assault One, Assault Two. Engine Room secure. One prisoner. No injuries. But we’ve got clankers hamring at the door, so we’d appreciate it if Assault Three could hurry up!”

A mont later, Allaya herself answered. “I’m working on it! Give a… Got it! Shut that thing down!”

Seconds later, the clanking outside stopped and Asajj sagged with relief leaning back against the blast door as she felt her eyes getting heavy. A hand roughly shook her shoulder. “Hey! Adrenaline crash is a bitch, but this is no ti for a nap. Focus up. You can nap later. On your feet, soldier.”

Suppressing the urge to groan, she forced herself to her feet. “Fine. What next?”

“Next? We sit right here behind this big bitch’s shields and wait for the all clear. Once we get that, they’ll send people over to relieve us and take over, and we’ll head back to the Redoubt. You can nap when you get ho.”

“The only kind of ‘sleeping’ I’m going to be doing is the active kind, sarnt,” one of the n chid in, earning so chuckles and agreent from the others.

Asajj rolled her eyes. She would settle for a hot al, a real shower, and a cool bed to pile up in for the next twelve hours, while she tried to forget what hurtling through space without the benefit of a ship was like.

I’m going to have nightmares of falling through space after this, I just know it.