Tales of the Mandalorians

[Dieter Schprokets]

The Goju Ryu jumped from Tau 23, and appeared in Kyushu. There, before the exiled Kusari, lay their native land.

"Good to see her again, isn't it gentlemen?"

The emotion on the bridge was thick. These men had not seen their home in years. John gave them several moments, then gave his first order in Kusari space in a very long time.

"Set course for Planet Kyushu. Let's see who's here."

The trade lane took their codes, and soon Kyushu was close.

"Break out of the lane!" yelled John. There, on the long range scanners, lay the Destroyer Chikuma. Commanded by..

"Sakai. Sahuro Sakai." said John. This was not fortunate. He knew this officer when he was a young Lieutenant, and now he was arguably the best Destroyer Commander in the Kusari Naval Forces. This was going to be ugly.

"Comms open. And best power up weapons." ordered Cabot. He grabbed the mike, and stood next to his command chair.

"Good to see you, young Sakai. How have you been?"

A pause, then an unknown voice on the open comms. "Who is that? This is the Kusari Naval Forces Destroyer Chikuma. Unknown contact, identify yourself!"

John chuckled into the mike. "Sahuro! Don't you remember your first posting? I'm quite hurt."

A longer pause. Disbelief contributing to it, to be sure.

"YOU! How dare you come here!" The enemy destroyer turned about and closed the distance to the Goju Ryu very quickly. "I will give you a traitor's death, Cabot!"

John spoke into the mike again as the distance between the two destroyers closed. "Sahuro, if you recall, Kusari betrayed us, NOT the other way aroun.."

He was interrupted in his monologue by an inferno/mortar combination battering his ship. The shock wave nearly knocked him off his feet.



"Now that's a lousy way to start.", thought John, as he regained his composure.

"Bring her around, boys, and wait for the word!"

The old destroyer came around smoothly and the capital ship weapons toned the lockon.

"FIRE!", yelled Cabot, and the Inferno cannon blazed out several Terrajoules of shield draining power towards the enemy.



And missed.

"Dammit!", yelled John. "Dodge that return fire!"

The inertial dampeners were strained to the limits as the old girl bucked and avoided some of the enemy return fire. But the shields were stripped by the other vessel's up-to-date weapons. The Goju's pilot brought her around for another pass. Again, the lockon tone sounded.

"NOW!"



The Goju's Inferno and Mortar rounds landed, and the crew cheered loudly. For a moment, Cabot thought they just might win this thing.

Those optimistic thoughts were shortlived. The Chikuma came about and gave the Goju a horribly punishing volley.



The shields were utterly ruined, and the hull was being smashed to bits. Damage reports flooded in from all over the ship. The readouts, those that were still working, flashed red, reporting systems destroyed, decompression, and power fluctuations. The reactor was now destabilizing. Capital weapons were down.

"Fire all turrets at will!"



The Goju opened up with light weapons on the Chikuma, with no measurable effect. The reactor was on its last legs now, and the engines were failing. Soon the Goju was a drifting hulk.

The Chikuma was pelting the Goju now, like a cat toys with a mouse. They were sparing the mortar rounds, and that could mean only one thing.



"Damn you, Sakai!", exclaimed Cabot. They meant to board the crippled vessel. Wouldn't even give the men of the Goju a clean death in space. And with the reactor offline, self destructing was not an option.

Cabot opened the intership comms. "All hands defend the bridge! Prepare to be boarded!"

The hull directly in front of the bridge creaked and groaned as it was peeled back like a tin can by the boarding vessel. Blaster fire could be heard in adjacent corridors as the defenders were overwhelmed there. Then it became quiet, and everyone on the bridge knew that trained Kusari soldiers were gathered on the other side of the bridge main doors, and they would not wait long to make their move. Cabot squinted, trying to see through the smoke that now shrouded the darkened bridge, then looked at his men and smiled.

"Gentlemen, this is what we came here for isn't it?"

His men all looked at him, and one of the gunners, Hiroshi Kawauchi, spoke up. "It's been an honour to serve with you, sir." The others nodded their concurrence. Some smiled. Others (the smarter ones, likely) looked terrified.

"And I with you. All of you." Cabot turned to face the bridge door, and several small explosive charges in series went around the perimeter of the door. It fell off its frame with a heavy clang.

"How's your swordplay, Sakai?!", demanded Cabot loudly, and he was answered by a hail of blaster fire.

Cabot dropped behind a control panel, which sizzled and popped against the onslaught. Some of his men took blaster rounds and fell, dead or gravely wounded. The young gunner Kawauchi took a blaster round in the face, and there are simply no words to describe how horrible that was.

His men readied their blasters, but John waved them down. "No. Katanas only.", he said with a cold smile that could mean only one thing.

Most of his men drew their swords and prepared for the order. One poor soul who had no katana simply stood up calmly and was cut down instantly by a rain of blaster fire.
The time had come. "CHARGE!!!" screamed John.



He led the way, rushing, ducking, and weaving to avoid the countless blaster bolts. Only about half his men got to close with the enemy. The rest were cut down by the merciless fire in the charge. Their only chance now was if the enemy had neglected to bring swords of their own. In the smoke, in close quarters, they had a chance to bring some of them down with them.

No such luck. Blades answered blades. John closed with the enemy ranks (God there had to be 2 or 3 dozen of them) and swung wildly. He did not quite decapitate one of the enemy, but medically it was the same difference, and slashed another's arm as he tried to level a blaster.

"Sakai!", he screamed, and found his nemesis not too far away.

His blade and Sakai's clashed only a few times, then a blaster round caught Cabot's right bicep in mid swing, and destroyed it utterly. As his sword dropped from his now useless arm, Sakai ran him through. The lungs, but not the heart. No quick death, not yet.

Cabot collapsed, and watched as the few men he had left were butchered by the boarding party. Within 30 seconds, the fight was utterly over, and those members of the Goju crew who remained capable were crawling towards each other, and the small group kept their back to the main control panel. The boarding party just watched them. The Goju crew had no blasters, and were too wounded to put up any more fight with their swords.

Commander Sakai approached the wretched pile of defeated men, and addressed them. "Well fought, Mr Cabot, but you, your crew, and this ship now belong to me. And once that wound of yours is healed, your propoganda value will be immense. Your execution promises to be a very fulfilling event for Kusari. I thank you for this, in advance."

Cabot laughed weakly. Blood poured out of his mouth, and he choked for a few seconds before he could continue.

"Unless the Kusari have found a cure for liver cancer, Commander, that outcome is quite unlikely. Unless your show trials are even briefer than they used to be."

The former Mandalore coughed some more. More blood, more froth. Sakai looked worried. He had to get his prize out of here and into a medical frigate, soon.

Cabot continued, "Maybe you should consider the likelihood that this is all actually going according to plan."

John reached into his shirt with a shaking hand, and grasped an object concealed there. "Welcome to our Seppuku." He pulled the object out. It's identity wasn't apparent in all the smoke.

"Kusari makes excellant grenades."

He pulled the pin.

"Best run, Sakai."



Sakai's eyes widened in shock and he gave the order for his men to take cover. Most, including him, made it to cover, but some did not.

John Cabot and his men learned that those killed in an explosion do not actually hear or feel a thing. It was knowledge they would never share.

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