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The Sole Descendent

Flames shot high into space by the Victory Star Destroyer, and were then extinguished by lack of oxygen to sustain them. Elsewhere on the ship, it still burned as the ship lurched sickeningly, twisting in the middle.

"She's about to blow!"

A TIE bomber peeled off and headed for another target, but his wingmate kept close to the burning wreck of a capital ship.

The pilot's hand was steady even as a pirate fighter picked up his tail. He checked his heavy rockets. Two left. It would be enough. He switched to warheads and the HUD turned yellow and started beeping. Beeping faster now.

The shields of his fighter flared after a hit. He kept flying. The beeping was close to solid.

His shields flared again. The HUD went red; the beeping went solid.

He pulled the trigger and pulled straight back on the stick... 90 degrees upwards.

Two heavy rockets lanced from the fighter straight on target. They closed on the superstructure of the Star Destroyer, for the part supporting the bridge. The rockets hit, slamming the bridge supports into free electrons.

Had this been in a gravity field, planetary or otherwise, the bridge would have come crashing down into the hull of the Star Destroyer, causing spectacular destruction... But instead, the bridge tower just broke right off, floating away from the rest of the ship at slow speed.

The TIE pilot dove into a roll to shake the pursuing fighter. "This is MAR... I think that Star Destroyer is done!"

Wedge replied from the Nemesis: "Nice shooting."

"Thank you, sir!" MAR spun and broke hard to the left as the pursuing fighter exploded into a cloud of debris.

"Got him." Carrest flew through the shards and his fighter bounced around wildly. Carrest's HUD was smashed. "Uh oh." That was an understatement.

"Epsilon, where are you?!?" Commander Laithlis was getting upset. "We're taking hull damage here!"

MAR looked over to the Nemesis and saw a Rebel torpedo slam the hull and explode.

Wedge came onto the comm channel. "I'll have all your heads for this if the Nemesis suffers any more serious damage!"

"On my way, sir." Three fighters from Epsilon broke off from covering the bombers and headed back to cover the Nemesis.

"I guess we're mostly on our own," Stark said. "No matter! All that remains are the platforms!"

"You got it, sir!"

"Big fat targets at 12 o'clock!"

Soon all the pirate platforms were only a memory and fragments in orbit of the planet...

A shuttle dove out from the pirate headquarters shortly before destruction and started running away as fast as it could. Pirate leadership.

Wedge opened his mouth to give the command, but Admiral Fel was faster.

"Open a channel to the pirate shuttle." Admiral Fel's face was still hard, even though the pirates were smashed.

A moment went by. "Got them, sir."

"This is Admiral Tiberius Fel of the Imperial Navy. We are prepared to accept your unconditional surrender, effective immediately."

This is Warlord Tomasz of the pirates." The accented voice was weary. "I tender the unconditional surrender of all forces."

"Bring your shuttle to the Imperial Star Destroyer Nemesis and order your forces to stand down."

"It will be done."

Fel, Wedge, and Laithlis stood in the hangar deck of the Nemesis: Fel in the center, Wedge behind him and to the left, and Laithlis behind Fel to the right.

Stormtroopers stood all around, weapons trained on the hangar exit.

Tomasz exited with his hands high in the air and was escorted over to the commanding officers of the Nemesis. He was not very tall: All of Fel, Wedge, and Laithlis towered over him. "I hereby and irrevocably issue a surrender on behalf of the pirates." He looked down at the floor.

"I hereby accept the unconditional surrender of the pirates," Fel's glare could melt ice. "All pirate supplies and equipment will be seized by the Empire. Take him away!"

Stormtroopers dragged Tomasz away.

General Jansen picked through the shuttle carefully. This had been GA Daemon's. And now it was a twisted wreck.

Army officers had already carried away most every object in the shuttle, but there was one the General was looking at personally. Major Mitchell had brought it to him, not knowing what it was. But Jansen recognized it right away: It was a holocron.

Jansen had seen one, and only one, in his youth. But it had made a lasting impression, and now he had one in his hands again. Well - a part of one. It was obvious what would need to happen: They'd have to get the rest of the pieces.

A slicer worked on the shuttle's memory core, trying to find the travel logs and decrypt them. Perhaps Daemon's flight path would prove helpful in finding where he was headed. And where the rest of it might be.

What the General couldn't tell was whether or not it had been intentionally split up or shattered... Time would certainly tell.

In order to handle the holocron, they'd need someone special. Jansen knew of someone locked up by the Empire... someone who had received some training as one of the Emperor's Hands... but he was notoriously... unstable.

This did not sit well with the General. This man would be difficult to handle, even under the best of circumstances. And if he was to escape, who knew where he might end up.

Still... there was nobody else in the Empire who would be able to handle the holocron. Jansen hoped that this wouldn't turn out as badly as he thought it would.

"Sir, we've got a problem."

"What sort of problem?" Vortagh hated it when people were non-specific.

"We need to pick up some fuel."

"What do you mean, we need to pick up some fuel?"

"Well, sir, when we made the hyperjump out last time, we burned extra fuel to get it to go faster. And now we're low on fuel."

Vortagh sighed. "Very well. Get me a listing of all the fuel depots in range..." The Warhammer was away from the action once again. Which he hated even more than people being non-specific.

From behind two forcefields, Jansen faced down the caged dark figure. "Who are you?" He asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

The dark figure wasted no time in replying. His voice seemed somehow as dark as the rest of him. The voice was deep, resonant, and very bitter. "I am the sole descendent of the fire and the rage."

"I've got a task for you."

The figure spat. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I know what you want. Because I can take you to a place where you can hunt. Away from all of the rest of us."

"On a barren world? I'd rather not."

"On a world full of life." Jansen was firm. "Away from humans and like species. An untouched forest world."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"The alternative is to rot here forever."

The figure stood up. He towered over even Jansen, who was no small figure himself. "Let's get this over with."

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