Star Wars 1. Prologue

Panic ensued on the shipyard ****

STAR WARS: LEGACY OF KYPRAS

Panic ensued on the shipyard. The Super Star Destroyer _Executor_ and its accompanying vessels that made up the Imperial force was heading straight for the station.

__

I can't understand it! Development Manager Teiva Makabt said to herself. _Why would Lord Vader attack us? We were designing him a new Star Destroyer. I can't understand it at all._

Ships started to lift off from the landing platforms but these were swatted down by groups of TIE fighters attacking the base in an incoherent fashion. Teiva swore loudly. How would her cobbled together excuse of a ship get to safety? More to the point, if she did escape, where would she go? What would she do? First things first, get the hell off the platform. She headed for her ship at full speed. 

She was about fifty metres away when a TIE bomber used it for target practice. Teiva swore again. Now what? Then the thought struck her. The new Star Destroyer! She had the access codes for the bridge and there were numerous people around. Plus, she could save the ship. She gathered a small group together and headed for the connecting airlock to the starship. She knew that it could take more damage than her old ship, which was now a burning mass of twisted metal and if need be, could dish out a lot more than the average Star Destroyer. The _Devastation_ was their only hope. 

Upon reaching the security door located at the top of the observation tower near the docked starship, Teiva swiped her access card in the slot and the door swished open smoothly. She and her followers, now around a hundred - half of the employees of Kypras Systems piled into the interior of the immense starship that they'd spent the last year developing. They somehow managed to spread out to all the vital areas to operate such a huge ship. 

Teiva typed in her security clearance into the command computer. She checked with all the areas that they were okay. She was the most senior employee on board and therefore had to call the shots, an idea that she did not like. This was crazy, how was she and a hundred others going to fly a nine hundred metre long warship past an Imperial blockade - an Imperial blockade whose presence was unjustified? The engines came on line and Teiva flipped the switch that disengaged the magnetic docking clamps. 

One of the new innovations on the new ship was that the commander - if need be - could take manual control of the ship's manoeuvring controls and effectively fly the ship single handedly. They couldn't fire the turrets though, but they had the option to use the ship's extremely powerful main armament. The problem was that Teiva didn't want to get into a scrap. They didn't want to display the _Devastation's_ true firepower and manoeuvrability yet. Besides, if she got into a scrap with the Empire, that would limit her choice of future.

Teiva piloted the enormous ship out of the dock as a wave of TIE bombers charged in. It was obvious to everyone who their target was. Obviously Vader wasn't going to let them get away that easily.

"Shields up!" Teiva shouted to the engineer in the portside crew pit. His hands darted over a console and within a few moments the shields active indicator flashed. Teiva smiled to herself as some of the turrets on the surface of the ship opened fire, blasting three TIE bombers in half. Somebody was somehow firing those alone and she gave a silent word of thanks to those people who had the initiative to man the things. Teiva looked at the sensors display on her command console. An interdictor was in the area. It looked like she would have to use the main weapons after all. 

Teiva swung the ship over and headed straight for the interdictor. A few TIE fighters molested them but the fighters might as well have been flies for all the damage they'd do against the new generation shielding. The interdictor was almost in range and Teiva allocated the power to the Beam Turbo-Lasers, the ships main anti-warship armament. Teiva had designed this ship, she knew everything about it. She knew exactly what to do. Another five hundred metres.

On the bridge of the Interdictor Cruiser _Molester_, Captain Withers eyed the approaching ship with curiosity. What was it doing? He knew of course that one of the Star Destroyers would move to intercept and protect the Interdictor. Everything hinged on the Interdictor's survival. He looked at the sensors display. There was an energy spike on board the other ship. He looked back up and saw the glow of light emanating from four points on the upper side of the other ship. What were they doing? What was going on?

Teiva pressed the fire button for the weapons. She whispered a silent prayer. This was the first time these weapons had been used on a physical target. The power in the long focusing tubes mounted on the top of the ship increased. Another few seconds. The Interdictor wouldn't know what had hit them.

Suddenly the guns fired with pinpoint accuracy. Four beams of green light seared out of the end of the focusing tubes and smacked into the Interdictor, causing it to rock violently with the impact. Its shields overloaded within a few seconds, succumbing over the enormous amount of energy hitting them. The beams bored into the hull of the Interdictor like a corusca gem drill bit and crashed straight through the opposite side of the ship as if it was paper. The Interdictor was torn in half and promptly exploded in a spectacular array of fireworks and debris.

Teiva allowed herself a little smile. The weapons worked just as she hoped they would. The Star Destroyer that was moving to intercept them turned away. 

__

Thought again about attacking us. Teiva thought, she was completely correct. No sane Star Destroyer commander would get in the way of somebody as powerful as them. An engineer plotted a course to the nearest star system and programmed in the co-ordinates. Teiva breathed a sigh of relief as she pressed the hyperdrive button. The stars formed into starlines that were quickly replaced by the swirling colours of hyperspace. Nobody could catch them now.


	2. The Start Of It All

Emvee fussed over Jaina's hair as if it was for an occasion of universal importance

Emvee fussed over Jaina's hair as if it was for an occasion of universal importance. The battered old service droid had been salvaged from space wreckage on their last trip away from Coruscant. The droid was repaired by Anakin and had been reprogrammed by Winter successfully to act as a hairdresser for herself, Leia and Jaina. The droid was making a meal of a job that would have only taken twenty minutes by a professional from outside the palace. 

"Emvee," Jaina whined. "Why do you always take so long to do my hair? It would only take me or mother five or ten minutes."

"Well mistress Jaina," the droid replied in his mechanical monotonous voice. "With your uncle Luke and Lando Calrissian making special trips from their own responsibilities to see you today you will need to look nice for them."

Jaina sighed. It was the first group reunion for a while when not under fire or involved in something dangerous. So far she'd only left the room once to see Jacen before enjoying, if that was the word, an unlavish breakfast. Then it was back to their individual rooms to prepare themselves for Luke Skywalker's arrival. Threepio had been with Jacen all morning whilst she had been stuck with Emvee, something the cat wouldn't drag in. Even Threepio would be better than Emvee, even if he was the most irritating droid she knew. There was a knock on the door and Han Solo, her father entered. 

"Still preening yourself?" He asked simply, putting on his famous lop-sided grin that won females over. 

"Yeah, Emvee won't hurry up and finish." Jaina looked at her father pleadingly.

"Hurry up you rusty bag of bolts!" Han ordered with a smile.

Emvee gave one final tug and everything fell into place.

"Great," Han sighed before turning to Jaina. "Now come along, the _Shadow Chaser_ dropped out of hyperspace a few minutes ago. Is your brother ready?"

"I'll just check."

Jaina stepped out into the corridor and went along to her brother's room. As she reached the door, it opened and Jacen appeared, dressed in the same brown jumpsuit as hers. 

"We have definitely known each other far too long." He sighed, looking himself and Jaina up and down. "Any sign of anyone we know dad?"

"Your uncle Luke dropped out of hyperspace not long ago. Now hurry up, we were supposed to meet him on the east platform."

They trooped down the corridors, meeting Leia and Anakin on the way. They reached a large door, which slid open as the sleek shuttle_ Shadow Chaser_ touched down. A few moments later the hatch opened and Luke Skywalker, Jedi master and hero of Yavin stepped out to greet them. The faithful Astromech droid Artoo-Detoo close behind. 

"Long time no see," he said with a smile on his face. "How are you guys?" 

"Fine, just fine."

Han cut in. "Have you seen Lando yet?"

"No, I haven't. Though he told me yesterday that he was expecting to arrive shortly after me." The door opened and a New Republic officer entered. "Captain Solo, a ship is entering the system. It's the _Lady Luck_ sir."

"Thank you," Han replied. "Well! Looks like Lando has arrived. In style as usual. Where's he landing?"

"Platform 136, sir." The officer replied before turning on his heel and returning to his post.

"Come on," Leia said. "Let's go and meet the galaxy's gift to business." 

Everyone laughed, with Artoo beeping a kind of chuckle, and they headed for the platform where the _Lady Luck_ was due to land.

Lando exited the_ Lady Luck_ with his arms full of gifts. Packages for everybody, whom he hadn't seen in a good while. Jacen was very pleased with his present, an old Imperial stormtrooper blaster, still in excellent condition in spite of its age. Jaina was given a large metal box in which were some odd bits of machinery and electronics. 

"What is it?" She asked.

"A deflector shield system that can be used on craft up to and including B-Wing size. But don't go doing what you did with that hyperdrive on crashed spacecraft."

Jaina went bright red and wished that the ground would swallow her. She had hoped people had forgotten about the TIE Fighter she repaired.

"Hey kids." Han interrupted. They turned to face him. 

"I thought now that you are fully fledged Jedi and able to survive by yourselves on planets, you may want to explore the galaxy a little more freely. So I pulled strings and managed to get you these little things." He picked up a comlink. 

"Raiyth bring on the surprise package." A few moments later the sound of engines was heard and two Dodonna Blissex A-Wing starfighters landed neatly either side of the _Lady Luck_.

Jacen's eyes would have popped out on stalks if they could. Jaina could hardly speak. Although the A-Wing was due for retirement, with the introduction of the Gencore Phoenix intercept fighter, the ship still had legendary status.

One of the cockpits opened up to reveal the pilot, a youngish man with short, very dark brown hair and a scar across his left cheek. He wore a kindly smile and his eyes twinkled as if when he was in an A-Wing, he was in paradise. He jumped out of the craft before a droid could provide a ladder and raced over to where they were standing. Jaina winced as the pilot's feet hit the floor. _He'll break something doing that _she thought to herself. The pilot nodded to the twins then turned to face Han.

"Lieutenant Tainer reporting General Solo."

Han acknowledged with a nod and turned to the twins.

"Meet Lieutenant Raiyth Tainer of Raptor squadron. He will be teaching you how to fly the A-Wing. What he doesn't know about A-Wings is not worth knowing. Take care and don't break anything."

The twins were still speechless. The others smiled. 

Raiyth was an A-Wing ace with eighty-seven enemy kills to his name. He was nicknamed the Star 'Destroyer' because of his tendency to attack Star Destroyers instead of fighters. He had received the scar on his left cheek when the Super Star Destroyer _Eclipse_ had tried to kill him. Needless to say, he gave the ship a nasty gash in the port bridge wing before limping back to his command ship.

"Come and have a look at the loveliest ships in the galaxy!" He invited. The twins needed no telling again. They ran to one of the ships and ran their hands over the surface. 

"It's not smooth like an X-Wing's body." Jacen complained.

"I don't think it was designed to be smooth but just look at the shapes on the craft. Aren't they streamlined?" Raiyth replied whilst catching up. 

"You're starting to sound like an art critic." Jaina giggled. As Raiyth started to show them around what he termed to be the 'finest starfighter ever built.'

Several hours later the twins were in the air over the palace, learning how to handle the A-Wing properly. Jacen was in Rogue two, whilst Jaina was in Rogue three. Raiyth took up the lead in Rogue one. 

"Now remember that the Empire is still around somewhere so be careful where you go." Raiyth warned them. "The A-Wing can beat most things including the TIE Advanced, but the Imperial craft to look out for are the missile boat and TIE Defender. The only way to get either of them is to sit behind them at the same speed and don't stop firing until they are no longer a problem."

Jacen thought for a moment. Then opened his comm channel. 

"Sounds like the Empire had the better fighters after all."

"Jacen, the Empire was far superior in terms of technology but what they failed to do was deploy the TIE Advanced, TIE Defender and missile boat in sufficient numbers to combat us. They relied on the greater numbers of simpler TIEs like the Fighter, Bomber and Interceptor. They may have been as fragile as paper, but in numbers they were more dangerous to a craft than a Star Destroyer. 

"Anyway on with the craft itself. You probably know roughly how to fly a starfighter, you have had flight training and I know that you spend some time in the combat simulators whenever you happen to be on board a Calamari Cruiser. Follow me up into space."

The three sleek craft pointed their noses upwards; two more wobbly than the leader and shot up out of the atmosphere into space switching from repulsorlifts to sublight drives as they exited the atmosphere. They orbited the planet whilst Raiyth went over what was going to happen. Following his lead, the twins turned their craft towards the hyper buoy that Raiyth had activated.

"This hyper buoy will take us to a junkyard not far from here. Full of old bits of spacecraft it makes great target practice. When we get there fly around and shoot at anything except A-Wings okay?"

The three A-Wings closed with the buoy and approached to 0.5 klicks. One after another they activated their hyperdrive and several minutes later dropped out into an area full of metal debris. For the next hour or so, the twins darted around the area, blowing up old bits of container and pieces of starship. Raiyth's voice came over the comm channel.

"Okay, that's enough for today. Head for the Coruscant hyper buoy."

The twins started to turn the ships. As Jaina targeted the buoy on her CMD, her elbow hit the hyperdrive lever and she shot into hyperspace on an unknown course. Raiyth checked his sensors. Jaina's A-Wing had entered hyperspace. What had gone wrong? She had not plotted a course, which meant that she could have died from flying through a star or another planet. Occasionally, people got away with it, he'd done it himself at one point. But only very occasionally. He entered hyperspace for Coruscant and prepared to break the news to Han and Leia. 

More to follow!!! I guess you're wondering where the _Devastation_'s gone? Well, she'll turn up again in chapter 3 - but only as far as a conversation about her. You'll just have to wait! :D


	3. That Ship Can Do What?!

Jaina realised what she had done and grabbed the hyperspace levers

Jaina realised what she had done and grabbed the hyperspace levers. She pulled them back and dropped out of hyperspace with a lurch. She checked that all systems were fully functional. She had got away with travelling through hyperspace without plotting a course and now she had no idea where she was. An enormous blue-green planet dominated her view, around which orbited several moons. The navicomputer bleeped and Jaina looked at the display. The name Karra appeared on her navicomputer. 

Jaina sighed. "Great," She said to herself. "That's all I needed." Everybody she knew referred to Karra as a dump, and she believed them. Thick forests, vast lakes and hostile creatures inhabited the surface. Jaina froze, in front of her was a sight she dreaded that she would see when alone and inexperienced. An Imperial Class Star Destroyer was heading right for her, launching TIE Fighters from its hangar.

Jaina quickly told the navicomputer to plot a course for Coruscant, and charged up her laser cannons and shields. Several TIE Fighters were descending on her from all sides. She turned sharply, bringing one of them into her sights and fired several laser shots. She missed by twenty metres.

The TIEs were firing at her now and Jaina spun, jinked and weaved through the green laser blasts and checked her systems. Shields were taking it hard and were now at half strength. Jaina pulled up and reversed course, flying through the group of TIEs, scattering them in all directions and fired at one that crossed her sights. She hit this time and the Imperial craft exploded in a brilliant fireball, which caught a second that repeated the same action. Jaina was now in a very dangerous position. The fight had drawn closer to the Star Destroyer and Jaina was in range of the massive turbolasers mounted on the starship's hull.

Jaina took a gamble. She flew over the bridge of the Star Destroyer and headed for Karra, the TIE Fighters and turbolaser blasts close behind. She raced for the safety of the planet, hoping to orbit it whilst the navicomputer calculated the co-ordinates. She entered the planet's gravity field and relaxed slightly. Suddenly a huge bang rocked the craft. Another turbolaser blast hit the starboard engine. The shields failed and the engine packed up, sending her in to a spin. The moon grew extremely big, and the heat increased. Jaina managed to get the crippled craft back on an even keel and prepared for a primitive re-entry, which she no idea how to do. Keeping the A-Wing's belly facing the ground she lowered the nose and headed downwards. Pulling up slightly to stay nose-high to prevent the heat from reaching the canopy she descended into the atmosphere.

After what seemed like hours the heat subsided and the forest covered ground appeared below. Jaina shoved the joystick forward and dived down at full speed, struggling to keep one engine running and avoid going into a death spin. The A-Wing was now losing power, too quickly for comfort. Jaina knew that she would be lucky to get out of this. 

Several hundred feet from the ground she lowered the landing legs and cut the other engine, engaging repulsors as she did so. The craft was still going forward towards a large clearing which seemed level. A few feet from the ground Jaina levelled off and tried to hover. 

The A-Wing hit the ground reasonably level with the nose scraping along the ground. The landing legs folded the wrong way and broke off the craft to be left far behind in the mud. Not exactly a textbook landing, but one which would earn commendations under the circumstances.

Jaina woke up what seemed to be seconds later but she knew it could have been hours. The A-Wing's onboard clock told her it had only been a few minutes. Bruised and bleeding in several places she climbed out of the A-Wing – which was miraculously still intact – and proceeded to fall to the floor. She looked back along the ground. The starfighter had dug a furrow roughly seven hundred metres long along the ground, the material from which was now piled up against the A-Wing's nose. 

She picked herself up and examined her injuries. Nothing major, but they would need attention. She limped around to the other side of the A-Wing, reaching inside to cut the fuel lines and power relays as she did so. She opened the small compartment inside the cockpit and withdrew a small medikit.

She examined the contents certain something was missing. "Water." She said out loud and as if on cue she heard the faint sound of a stream or a river. She made her way into the woods that surrounded the crash site. The planet was very much like Yavin 4, but slightly warmer which was good news. Her flight suit was ripped in several places exposing her wounds to the elements but they would be easier to clean.

She gathered a few things from the A-Wing: a blaster, her lightsaber and a few packets of emergency rations before heading in the general direction of the water. She walked for a couple of minutes before emerging beside a fast flowing stream. She took out a couple of bandages from the medikit and soaked them in the water. She carefully dabbed the wounds on her legs, wincing as the icy water stung as it came into contact with her skin.

She gently cleansed the wounds all over her body and managed somehow to ignore the pain that shot into her body like a knife stabbing her. She reached into the medikit and wound the bandages around her legs and arms and relaxed. She took a moment to reflect on exactly what had happened over the last few hours and in particular the presence of what remained of the Empire in the Karra system. How can the Empire be dead but very much alive? It was not possible. Emperor Palpatine had been killed twice as had Joruus C'Baoth, Grand Admiral Thrawn and all the rest but even after all this the Empire still functioned.

Jaina knew of creatures that stayed alive even after their heads had been removed. And she knew of organisations, such as Black Sun. The Empire was a lot like that but even so meeting a Star Destroyer was an almost impossibility in her or anybody's life. The wounds stung again and Jaina winced. She looked around her and surveyed in detail her surroundings. The stream flowed fast and spray was flung up by the rocks that cooled the otherwise hot and humid air. The rest of the area disappeared into a fairly thick jungle and forest-like hybrid landscape. Sounds of various animal lifeforms that could only be heard or felt through the force filled the dim spaces between the trees.

One question still bugged Jaina. If the Empire _was_ still active, then what in the entire galaxy where they doing in the Karra system of all places. It was a dump. The only redeeming feature about Karra was that it was a quiet, out of the way system. The Empire once had a small spaceport on the planet, which was a port of call for the front line starfleets. Jaina knew that the Empire had its reasons, dark and sinister as they might be, but it had its reasons. Whatever the Empire's intentions, it was important enough to warrant a Star Destroyer and an armada of TIEs to guard it. 

Jaina wondered exactly how her family would take Raiyth's news that she was missing. She shivered uncomfortably. It wasn't Raiyth's fault, but it was more than likely that he would take the blame. She shivered and looked at the sky. It was getting late. Getting up slowly and cringing as her injuries stung due to her movement, she trudged back to the downed A-Wing. She made a decision to sleep either in or next to the A-Wing that night and try to build a more permanent shelter the next morning. 

Reaching the crashed starfighter, she clambered up into the cockpit and attempted to get comfortable for the night. She closed the cockpit and switched on the cabin heaters to provide some heat. The power should last, especially as heaters used so little power that you could warm somebody with them for a lifetime and never change power cells. But Jaina hoped that she would never need them for that length of time. Relaxing she suddenly felt very tired thanks to the day's activities and fell asleep very quickly.

Raiyth's news of Jaina's disappearance was not welcome news for Han and Leia. Luke, on the other hand, understood the loss but did not blame the young pilot. Han, was less gentle and he spent roughly half an hour cursing and beating up the nearest droid before going for a 'walk' in the lower levels of Coruscant. 

Raiyth disappeared to find something extremely alcoholic shortly after Han left leaving Luke and Leia to cope. 

"I can't believe it. I won't believe it." Leia whined, her voice barely audible over her sobbing. Looking up she turned to face Luke with red eyes. "Have I really lost my daughter?"

Luke sighed and put his arm around his sister. He couldn't help but smile however, as he looked at her. Here was the head of state of the New Republic, bawling her eyes out. But she had a good reason. Had Jaina really gone? Luke hoped not. He had lost too many of his relatives and friends during his life than anybody should. He had lost his friend, Biggs Darklighter during the battle of Yavin and he lost Obi-Wan Kenobi, his first mentor earlier than that. More tragic to Luke, however, was losing his father almost as soon as he got to know him. 

Leia suddenly stopped crying. Luke perked up a bit. This was the Leia he knew, someone who would never let her emotions show even in the most difficult of circumstances. She looked at him. 

"Jaina's not dead," Leia whispered, obvious joy in her voice. 

"What?" Luke asked her. "Are you still feeling her presence through the force?"

Leia nodded. "I can feel her, but I don't know where she is. Does Raiyth have any idea of her trajectory when she disappeared?"

"I have no idea," Luke sighed. "He left a few minutes ago to find a very stiff drink. I don't think he will be approachable for a few days."

Leia agreed with him. She sat down in a chair and wiped her eyes.

"It may be more tactful if we let him alone for a couple of days. You know, just for him to get himself together again. And keep Han away from him in any way you can." 

Luke sat down in an opposite chair then realised something. "Hey, where's Lando?"

"I have no idea," Leia replied. "He's probably gone out to strike a deal with somebody or something over something else."

They both chuckled. They both knew Lando's uncanny ability to be able to sniff out a deal and strike it with a vast profit for himself. When Lando wasn't around it was both a good thing and a bad thing. He was not boring everyone with self-praise but when he was not around, nobody was sure if he was up to something good or not.

"Well! Speak of the Devil!" Leia exclaimed as Lando, with the usual neatly pressed and bright coloured clothing, strolled into the room.

"Why the long faces?" He asked casually, completely oblivious to what he was letting himself in for.

"Haven't you heard?" Luke replied. "Jaina's missing. She jumped into hyperspace on an unknown course. Raiyth, Han and Jacen believe that she is dead."

"But you don't?"

"No. Leia can still feel her through the force, but we don't know where she is."

"I might have guessed. What are you going to do?" 

"We're going to talk to Raiyth when he's settled down again." Leia explained.

Luke tactfully changed the subject as he sensed Leia's pain. "What did you want anyhow, Lando?"

"I wanted to talk to you actually."

"Oh?"

"But somewhere a little more private."

Luke considered the available options. "Come to the lounge on the _Shadow Chaser_. We can talk there." He said getting up. "Please excuse us Leia."

"Go on," Leia said. "Whatever Lando has to say, I'm sure it is important."

Jaina woke what was for her the next morning. She checked the clock, still on Coruscant time. It was late at night back home.

She forced her stiff limbs to move and clambered out of the cockpit. She looked around for a source of nourishment and decided to head off into the forest. 

She wandered for around five minutes before stopping in her tracks. A pair of Imperial Stormtroopers were coming along the path. Without stopping to consider her actions she dived into the undergrowth, cursing as she twisted her arm on hitting the ground. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before the A-Wing was discovered by the Stormtroopers and she decided to do something about it. 

She crawled through the undergrowth towards the stormtrooper, carefully unclipping her lightsaber from her belt. Crouching and using the force she sent a few sticks and stones flying in the bushes on the other side of the path. The stormtrooper were distracted from their patrol and moved to investigate.

With the speed of a cat Jaina shot out of the bushes and sliced the patrol to pieces before they even knew what had hit them and retreated into the bushes.

"This could cause a problem." She mused to herself. "If stormtroopers are down here, then they're either after me, or the base is still operational."

She retreated back into the bushes and headed back to the A-Wing. She had resolved to send a coded distress signal home and hope that a ship - preferably the _Millennium Falcon_ - would come and rescue her. She activated the distress beacon and prayed. The Imperial forces would almost likely pick it up, but she had ceased to care. The A-Wing was a wreck, and she didn't dare take on an Imperial base in the vain hope of stealing a ship.

She sank down on to the ground beside the wrecked ship and began to cry.

"Lando, what is it that you want?" Luke suspiciously asked his friend once they sat down in the _Shadow Chaser_. "If it's some hare-brained business scheme of yours, I'm not interested."

"No." Lando replied. "It's a lot more serious than that, and for once it doesn't involve business."

Now he had Luke's attention.

"Alright, Lando. Spill the beans."

"I'll come right to the point." Lando began in a low voice. "According to databanks, how many classes of Star Destroyer did the Imperials use?"

Luke gave him a strange look. "You know as well as I do, Lando. Four."

"Try five."

"Five?"

"Well, sort of. The Empire used four, but they had the designs for five."

"Interesting." 

"It is. The guy that I got this information off of used to be part of Imperial Fleet Command, so he knows what he's talking about."

"You might as well _explain_ what you're talking about."

"Okay. The Empire had four Star Destroyers, the _Victory_, the _Imperial_, the Super Star Destroyer and the single _Eclipse_, right?"

Luke nodded.

"But there were designs for a fifth class, one that would make all other classes obsolete in one fell swoop. It would also outmatch any other starship in the galaxy but still be shorter than a thousand metres."

"So what you're saying, Lando, is that if this ship entered service, we wouldn't have won the war?"

"Frightening, isn't it?"

"You bet. Do you have any more information on this thing?"

"A little. The project was being developed by Kypras Systems, a medium sized shipbuilding firm."

"That doesn't help."

"The class name was the _Devastation_ class Star Destroyer."

"An apt name."

"Yeah, but I found out something else too - a few technical details which will frighten you even more. The ship's drives were vastly superior to anything else, allowing it to attain a combat speed equal to that of a Y-Wing."

"Say that again!" Luke exclaimed, nearly falling off his seat. "Are you suggesting that a thousand metre long starship can outrun bombers?!"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. But there's more. Weaponry wise, a fleet of these things could take out the Death Star just by pounding it with main batteries."

"This is starting to sound very unbelievable, Lando."

"I know how you feel. I was as surprised as you when I first heard it."

"Do you blame me?"

"Not really."

"Anything else?"

"I'm afraid not. However, I do have access to the Kypras database. I'm hoping that will give us some more information."

"Hang on, Lando. Why should we be concerned about an old Imperial starship design that obviously never got off the ground?"

"Two reasons. Firstly, the Empire is still around and is looking for every possible advantage. They may try to resurrect the project."

"Keep going."

"Secondly, the project went past the design phase, to physical development."

Luke felt the realisation wash over him, and for the first time in years, his blood ran ice cold.

"Wait a minute, are you telling me that there is a complete, operational _Devastation_ class Star Destroyer literally lying around somewhere?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Where is it?"

"I have no idea, but we need to find out, quick. The ship may fall into the wrong hands. Imagine the havoc a group such as Black Sun could wreak with the ship."

"We've got to tell the others."

Leia looked up as Luke and Lando re-entered the room.

"What's the news?" She asked.

Luke took a deep breath. "You're not going to like this." He began.

"Not going to like what?"

"There was another class of Star Destroyer being designed by the Empire."

Leia looked sceptical. "You're sure?"

Luke nodded. "Lando told me about it."

"_Lando_ told you about it?" She asked, quizzically raising one eyebrow. "That's a trustworthy source?"

"I take personal offence at that!" Lando commented. Luke batted his hand to tell him to shut up.

"Okay" Luke said. "Maybe it isn't as trustworthy as the Bothan spynet, but it's the best we've got at the moment."

"Give me the details"


End file.

Star Wars, Adventure, Sci-Fi