"Of course we can man turrets. All clones are trained in aerial warfare, and we Jedi are included in that training regiment. It shouldn't be hard to operate them. Your ship can just do about anything, can't it?", Ahsoka replied. Just seeing how many functions my gunship stored amazed her.
"It's as Commander Tano says, Samus. You can leave the firing to us.", Commander Wolffe said, tapping his chest. I could see a confident look in his eyes.
"Good. We don't have much time. Let's be ready for anything.", I stated. Hearing that, Ahsoka glanced her eyes at Commander Wolffe, and the two exchanged glances, nodding their heads.
"May the force be with you, Samus.", Ahsoka said. She sprinted off, and the door opened with a hiss. I saw Commander Wolffe retreat after her. Master Plo was surprised to see the two so quickly again, but Ahsoka debriefed him of the situation happening before us. To their surprise, Master Plo headed into the cockpit, and joined me.
"So you've devised a plan of sorts. That thing destroyed my entire fleet. What hope can your single ship do to that beast?", Master Plo said, now standing behind me.
"Honestly, not much, I'm afraid. At best we're initiating a game of tag here. Seeing this destruction, it's clear they want no one alive. If we can annoy them albeit ever so slightly, they might let their guard down allowing General Skywalker to formulate a more proper plan once we leave the system.", I responded.
"Well, we are at your mercy either way. If you want to take action, now's the time.", Master Plo said, also seeing the Malevolence currently cycling its blueish energy on the side of the ship.
[Both Commander Tano and Commander Wolffe have taken their position. With them focused on firing, I'll try to gather what data I can on this massive spacecraft.] Adam said.
"Got it. Keep the cloak engaged. We've already cleared the debris field. I'd grab a hold of something if I were you.", I said, looking back at Master Plo one last time. He knew the severity of the situation we were in.
"Understood.", Master Plo simply said.
In response to that, the gunship began to change. Two panels on each side began to slide open. Two heavy turrets swiveled outward, all holed up and protected with reinforced glass. A thin shield reflected onto it. From the outside, these turrets were invisible. Ahsoka was now in the seat on one, while Commander Wolffe was in the other. They moved around as if it was natural to them. And in the Clone Wars, Ahsoka often manned Anakin's turret whenever the two were in his personal ship.
[Gunship turrets are now online and can fire when ready.] Adam stated.
"Ahsoka here, in position.", Ahsoka's voice said over the intercom.
"Commander Wolffe here, also in position. Let's give these clankers some hell, or at least disrupt them any tiny bit we can.", Commander Wolffe also said. Hearing that, I smiled.
Wooosh!
With the activation of the gunship's thrusters, it roared forward. It sped into the vastness of outer space, leaving the debris field behind it entirely. I didn't have to worry about colliding with heaps of scrap metal anymore. We inched ever so closer to the Malevolence that towered over us. Time seemed to have slowed down during this moment, despite flying around it.
I saw the massive ion cannon glow brighter and brighter with each passing second. Arcs of blue plasma raced along its surface, like a storm cloud that was ready to go on a rampage, destroying anything in its path.
"It's even more menacing seeing it so close like this...", Master Plo uttered. "I can't even fathom what it cost them to produce something like this."
"A war.", I simply answered.
Hearing that, a glint of light streaked across Master Plo's eyes, but he remained quiet, not finding a response to that. Adam controlled the control panel that operated the ship's throttle. I could potentially try directing where we needed to go, but I just let him do his thing. I wasn't an idiot flying directly into the line of fire, we were going around the Malevolence. It didn't know where we were, so once it fired off that ion cannon, it would miss.
But it was still a sight to watch. A shockwave of raw light engulfed our view, and then, a powerful hum streaked across the star system. Hummmm!
The light converged into a beam, blooming outward that expanded at a rapid pace. It expanded and expanded, creating a gigantic wall of blue-white energy. It was like watching a tidal wave approaching us in slow motion, but it didn't speed down. It was the opposite, this large blast from the Malevolence's ion cannon streaked across the absolute reaches of outer space, devouring everything in its path. Not literally of course, but all bits and pieces of metal that passed through the blast were all rendered useless and became inoperable. Any remaining power that the pods the hunter droids once scavenged were now drained.
Apart from my gunship, there were no crafts that had their shields erected, so there was that, at least. Seeing this be launched from the side, it was a big whiff. They missed us entirely.
Back on the deck of the Malevolence, General Grievous could be seen, hand clenched. He saw the ion cannon fire before him, not hitting anything.
"We failed to hit any targets, General. Our droids are not picking up anything on our scanners either. Whoever it was that we initially detected went off the map.", The operator droid said.
"I can clearly see that, you dolts. Keep scanning and start up the rotors once again. Change the direction. If the first blast didn't work, we'll keep firing it until we destroy this entire star system. And prepare the vulture droids!", General Grievous barked, giving out another issue to his droids.
""Roger-roger."", The droids responded all in unison.
Seeing this ship miss its target, I almost feel pity for them...
Meanwhile, while Ahsoka remained in her sealed chamber with her turret, she just sat in place, feeling nervousness creep up her spine. She was left gobsmacked seeing the massive ion cannon shoot for the very first time. She wasn't around when Master Plo got his fleet destroyed.
'Can Master really create a strategy to take this ship down?', Ahsoka thought to herself.
"Stay sharp, Commander Tano. It looks like the fun's just starting. That was just the welcome gift.", Commander Wolffe's voice said. He quickly learned how to speak into the other turret, causing Ahsoka's eyes to focus.
"Samus you're not going to like this, that ship is sending out vulture droids, and I only know one person who'd lead with them. That's definitely General Grievous's flagship.", Ahsoka's voice said, suddenly speaking into my gunship.
Looks like it really is General Grievous. What a way to enter the scene, right? Should I really go up against someone like him this early on in the Clone Wars? I opted to accept this mission, so having a clash with him was a possibility. And yet, I'm a single ship. I could take some of his number down with me, but I'm not going into harm's way.
"They really don't want us to leave this star system. This must be their utmost priority to keep things under wraps. It is even more of a necessity to return to General Skywalker alive. You saw what that ship can do. Did you acquire enough data?", Master Plo questioned.
"What do you think, Adam?", I decided to ask, still unsure myself.
[I was able to get an initial reading on the ship's weapon system. Any more will pose a much higher risk to your life, Samus. They're already deploying their troops. I advise you to initiate the hyperdrive. Any remaining pieces can be connected with what the Jedi managed to collect.] Adam suggested.
"Is it really going to come to that? I don't like leaving jobs half-finished. Sure, with what we have now, it should be satisfactory, but I want to deliver the result General Skywalker is expecting. I'll skirt its edge, and take the risk. Prepare to get up close and personal.", I said to Adam.
"You sure are daring. But any passing moment resulting from this is allowing us to gather more information about how this ship operates. I'll leave it to you.", Master Plo said to me, causing me to smile.
While we were talking about what to do next, on top of preparing the ion cannon for a second go around, some of its docks began to open up. Woosh. Woosh. Woosh! Several fierce looking ships sped out, painted blue and white. These were upgraded versions of the vulture droids, allowing them to operate independently without needing to be controlled from a central hub nearby. In this case, it would be the Malevolence. General Grievous liked to send these out high in number to swarm his enemies to make sure they didn't remain alive.
Ten vulture droids came out to greet me. I was still cloaked, so they couldn't exactly pinpoint where we were. Instead, they spread wide, trying to cut off my ship's escape.
"Smart little clankers.", Commander Wolffe uttered to himself before he got into position. "I got a good aim, Samus. Fire when ready?"
"Granted. Let's send them a parting gift before we go on our way. That goes for you too, Ahsoka.", I replied.
"Understood!", Ahsoka exclaimed, nodding her head. She too became busy, trying to find a vulture droid to lock onto...