'Roger,' Loreley said and left the hangar, targeting the space defence lasers. She signalled the fleet about their new position.
They flew to a safe distance and waited for the fleet to arrive, most of their ships not having any hyperdrives.
The Imperial fleet begins to jump to the location, opening fire. The rebels manage to repair the hyperdrive, and quickly jump back to lightspeed. The Colossus approaches, directing the craft to enter its hangar.
Loreley hooked up her Defender to the docking clamps, climbing out of the cockpit in a quite a bad mood. She went over to Tarrik's fighter to check on her and Teal.
The canopy opens, and Loreley can smell the scent of smoke and burnt flesh. Zenobia uses the Force to lift Tarrik and Teal out of the craft, and the sight is horrific. Much of the right side of Teal's body has been badly burnt, the flight suit fused with the flesh in some places. Tarrik has a blaster wound in her stomach. If it wasn't for the stormtrooper who pulled her away and applied bacta, she'd already be dead. Zenobia calls for medic.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' Loreley raged and rushed to the two, 'Can you hear me?' She waited for the medics to get to them.
"Lore..." Teal struggles to speak, hand raised towards her. The medics begin putting the pilots on repulsorlift stretchers and carrying them away. Zenobia puts a hand on her shoulder. "Loreley, you can't help them now. It's up to the medics."
Loreley grabbed Teal's hand before he was taken to the medical wing. She sighed, 'I know... I know... it was all for nothing. The bastards still got away with the dreadnought. How can this happen? They just raid our shipyards for capital ships like it's nothing now? Are we losing this war, Sir?'
"We'll get them back for this. We will win this war, I swear. The Liberation is dead in the water, and our troops are taking it now. Soon, Kota will be dead or captured."
'That's what we said the last time Kota thrashed us,' Loreley said, 'Now they traded an old Venator for a super dreadnought.... Oh, yes... the prototype is excellent, we should put the into production immediately, Sir.'
"Last time Vader wasn't on board. Kota's dead already, he just doesn't know it yet." When they're out of sight he smiles at her reassuringly. "They're going to be okay, I promise. I look after the people I fly with. As for the Pride, it needs a massive amount of crew members to run efficiently. The Rebels don't have the numbers, so it was a bad trade. I'm sure that the Emperor will agree from your performance that the Defender is needed."
'I hope Lord Vader doesn't grant him a quick and painless death,' Loreley said in an unsually hateful manner for her.
The Grand Admiral squeezes her shoulder. "He won't. Of that, I can assure you. It's all going to work out." He moves to give her a hug, but stops himself. "May I?"
Loreley went in for the hug, not caring they had a slight problem on their date, she sighed, 'I'd like to believe you, but well... I not so confident right now.'
He holds her close. "You're not to tell anyone about this, am I understood?" Heading into his office, he hands her a datapad. It projects an image of a truly massive ship, bigger even than the Pride. "That's the Executor Class Super Star Destroyer, nearly finished construction. With it, nothing in the galaxy can stand against us. Thanks to you, the defender will become our regular fighter, and the rebels' greatest advantage will be lost. I know that it's hard to see right now, but things are getting better for us, not worse." He sighs. "There is one thing, though. The Emperor wants to meet you."
'Wow, that's a big ship,' Loreley said looking at the dataoad, 'I like it, it looks elegant.' She looked at Kota, 'Wha-What? The Emperor wants to meet me? But I'm just a pilot.'
He nods. "He said that he wanted to see the person in the cockpit personally, to make sure I hadn't cheated by sending out a Force user." He grins. "Quite a compliment, I'd say."
'Maybe, but...' Loreley said, 'Did you do something back there? It felt... different, like I could feel what my wingmen were doing or going to do.'
He nods. "It's called battle meditation. Some ancient Force users were able to use it to make their armies and fleets fight like superhumans, and make the most elite of enemies clumsy and craven. I can't do anything like that, especially when I'm in a cockpit, but I can make the four of us connect on a battlefield. It was rather nice, actually." He smiles jokingly.
