Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 36

"The Admiral demands you make contact with her," Sible said sheepishly to the fuming Captain.

Siva turned toward the concerned sensor officer with balled up fists at his side. "We are in the middle of a battle, Lieutenant."

"But sir. It is a priority message." Sible tensed up, fully expecting to be yelled at.

Siva sighed and relaxed himself. "Fine, I will take it on my personal communicator." Siva reached for his belt and held the holodevice in his palm. He took a deep breath and pressed the button.

Leneh appeared in front of him, now wearing a chest plate with her rank plaque attached as well as a battle helmet with the front of her face exposed. "Status report, Captain Siva."

"The rebel fleet has arrived, and we have engaged them," the man replied, trying to sound as confident as he could.

Leneh kept a blank face as she stared back at the hologram. A loud explosion could be heard in the background of Leneh's transmission, whatever causing the sound not seeming to phase the Admiral. "Do you take me for a fool? Or perhaps you accidentally forget to explain the massive explosion that took place in the middle of my blockade."

Siva cursed under his breath. He was really hoping that the destruction of the three cruisers wasn't visible from the planet's surface. The man squirmed under her gaze as he thought about what to say. "The shuttle was carrying multiple proton warheads. We have lost the Allegiant, Thunderwing, and Echelon."

Leneh was nodding her head up and down while pursing her lips. "And what of Supervisor Aga?"

"Presumed dead, Grand Admiral."

The corner of Leneh's mouth turned up just enough for Siva to notice. "Very well, Captain. Do away with the rebel fleet and report back to me."

Captain Siva nodded and the hologram faded. He stood in place, staring at the device. She didn't chastise or berate him for the loss of over half of the fleet. She almost seemed... happy?

Torr Siva's confused daze was broken by a shrill beeping noise. He looked up to see Sible with her hands hovering over the radar controls and her head whipping back and forth.

"Sir!" she shouted. "We have multiple contacts just off both of our flanks!"

"Impossible!" Siva gasped, briskly walking to the front of the bridge. He could still see the firefight going on in the distance. They had just destroyed one of the three rebel frigates but had already taken heavy losses. The margins were acceptable.

One of the Empire's greatest strengths was its numbers. His TIE fighters were expendable. His pilots... even more so. Over the past five minutes, Lieutenant Commander Tate had been relaying information on the battle. The man's updates had more or less fallen into the background, Siva's mind still thinking about the massive losses amongst the rest of the blockade. Until today, Siva had always felt safe aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer, the near invincible ship.

Now, he wasn't too sure. The next part of the rebel's attack unfolded before his eyes. Laser cannon fire was flying into the Kaali's shields from out of nowhere. The shots were coming from all directions, appearing to materialize from the dead of space.

Then, he saw it. Two black dots could be seen briefly flying across the hull of the Star Destroyer, the objects only visible against the gray backdrop of the Imperial ship. After they had passed over the ship, they once again faded with the blackness of space.

"Sible! How did they get by your sensors?"

The officer was panicking at her station, trying to make sense of everything. "I don't know. It's almost like they only just powered up. Our sensors would have noticed if they had approached with powered systems."