Rapora Wars: Stand Firm (Subplot RPG)

[Stellar_Magic]

It had been a week since the service for the fallen at Ord Mantell. A week in which offensive operations had ceased and each side had taken stock. For the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, it had been a week of national shock. The loss of some many forces and lives had frightened the populace, and it had also brought home the reality of another war.

 

It had also been a week for the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances to make plans and formulate a true strategy for the conduct of the war. Something which hadn't really existed up until now. Now Cal Omas was hunched over displays of the situation in the Federation War Room, and conferring with the best minds he could gather.

 

Kenth Hammer could feel the determination flowing from the Commander and Chief. The knowledge of what the war was now becoming and his choices might have weighed down most others, but now Cal was displaying the resilience that had carried him through the Vong and Killik invasions. But Kenth knew that evend determination had limits, "Supreme Chancellor, we need to reorginize our forces and establish a true set of war aims."

 

"War aims," Cal answered with a shrug, "We're on the defensive right now Master Hammer, what we need is a plan for holding on to what we have." Cal glanced over to Admiral Kre'Fey busying himself with a set of hyperspace routing maps, "Admiral, we need to establish a defensive line."

 

"I agree councilor, but should it be a defense in depth or a point defense?"

 

Kenth shook his head, "A defense in depth, we need to be able to counterattack with overwhelming numbers in order to defeat any Raporan lodgement."

 

"I concur, therefore our best course of action will be to make the main line of resistance along the Hydian Way. Our forward worlds will act to delay any forces launched against them until reinforcements from the way can arrive." Kre'Fey smiled, "We'll also be able to quickly and efficiently manuever forces from one side of the galaxy to the other in the event of contact."

 

"Good, I'll cut the orders immediately, 1st and 3rd fleets will take up positions from Hoth to Yag'dhul, while the 2nd, 4th, and 5th fleets will be deployed from Duro to the Imperial Border. We'll keep the 6th in reserve around Coruscant."

[BadSamaritan]

Cal Omas sat in his chambers, looking over the massive amounts of reports he now had to deal with. Deploying so many fleets at once was no easy task. But thankfully, a large portion of all the fleets were veterns of the Vong war, which made things easier. But it was still a difficult task. He also had reports stacked high on the new shipyards being built to replace the ones that had already been lost. These were moving much faster than he anticipated. But still, it would be some time before they were ready to go. And until then, Corellia and Mon Calamari would have to run full speed to keep up with demand, and then some.

 

As he read over reports of why the 4th fleet was having problems with local custums in their area, his intercomm beeped loudly. He jumped at the sound, and then sighed. he was getting to jumpy these days. But then again, anyone would if they were in his position. he wondere for a moment if something else had gone wrong, but then shook his head. That was not the way to be thinking. he hoped for the best, and then tapped a button on his desk.

 

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, and the gruff voice Kre'Fey came over the comm.

 

"We may have a situation here sir. Our sensors picked up a small cloaked vessel entering the system a few minutes ago. As it got close to the planet, it decloaked, and asked to land. They then said, they wished to speak with you. In person." he said, and Omas frowned.

 

"Are they Repora?" he asked, and he heard Kre'Fey sigh.

 

"If they are, then they aren'y flying their normal vessels. We dont pick up any plasma weaponary at all, but the vessel is still pretty heavily armed. More than enough to take care of itself if need be." he said, and Omas nodded. he knew he didnt dar rick himself needlessly, but at the same time, he didnt want to accidently insult some dignitary, even if they didnt knwo who they were.

 

"Alright, allow them to land. ill ready my personal gaurds, however. And launch the first defence wing, but keep them at a safe distance. I would say that would be enough deterrent to any foolhardy ideas?" he said, and krefey was silent for a moment, and then came back over the comm.

 

"One would hope so. I will meet you at their landing bay also." he said, but Omas scoffed.

 

"And risk both of us? I think not." he said, but he heard Kre'Fey laigh.

 

"Dont worry councilor. I am now under the understanding that there is one force sensitive on board. And only one. If that all they have, I think we can handle them just fine." he said, and Omas sighed. He just hoped that kre'Fey was right.

 

****************************************************

 

Omas arrived at the landing pad just moments after Kre'Fey did. Omas smiled, seeing that Kre'Fey had also brough his own personal gaurds. That alone made him feel safe. The wing of stafighters flying circles in the distant only added to the feeling of safety he had. He nodded to Kre'Fey as he moved next to him, an then looked to the sky. He waited a moment, and then saw a speck flying towards them. he couldn't make it out at the current distance, but he could see that it was being escorted in. As the craft got closer, he saw that a squadron of fighters surrounded the vessel, making sure in never deviated from its course.

 

"Honestly, I pity them if they try anything. They will never make it off the planet." Omas said bluntly, and Kre'Fey nodded.

 

"I dont think they would even make it off the landing pad." he said, and Omas nodded.

 

As the ship landed, its escort fighters darted off intot he distance, but swung into orbit aroundthe pad, joining the fighters already circling them. Omas studied the vessel carefully, wondering who it was. he could see the numerous weapon emplacements on the vessel, and knew that Kre'Fey wasn't joking when he said the vessel could take care of itself. he had seen assault vessels with less laser turrets than this ship.

 

Slowly, th boarding ramp lowered, and Omas prepared to meet whoever it was. he then heard the sound of marching. When he saw who it was, his haert fluttered, and he suddenyl realised that he could just as well have not brought his gaurds. it would have ended the same either way.

 

Down the ramp marched a cluster of armor clad mandalorians, their armor glinting slightly in the sunlight. Unlike most Mandalorian armor, their armor wasnt dull in color, but rather bright. The grey had been replaced by a sninign solver, and the colored pacthed were a deep crimson hue. The weapons they carried, however, looked as deadly as any other weapon. And being in the hands of mandalorians, made them even more dangerous.

 

The mandalorain gaurds split into two groups, and turned to face each other. As they did so, three more people began to descend the ramp. One of them Omas immediatly recognized. The dull grey and green armor was known to almost ever sencient in the galaxy as belonging to Boba fett. The other two howver, wore armor much like that of the gaurds, but one had blue coloring, while the other had a deep purple. Omas watched as they marched forward, and then noticed the lightsaber attached to the belt of the purpled armored mandalorian.

 

"General Fett, good to see you survived Ord Mantell. To what do we owe this visit?" Kre'Fey suddenly said, and Fett looked over at him.

 

"Im not the one you should be asking that Admiral." he said, and then Kre'Fey saw a final person slowly walk down the boarding ramp. This person wore not armor, but flowing robes. White in color, they reminded Omas of Alderanian robes of royalty. The woman that wore them, however, had a look on her face that reminded Omas of a very dangerous predator. As she walked forward, Omas suddenly felt very small, almost insignificant.

 

"Admiral Kre'fey, Councilor Omas, this is Supreme Commander Verice of the Mandalorian Tribal Empire." Fett said, and he and the two surroundign him stepped to the side. The old woman walked up to Omas and Kre'Fey, and nodded hear head slowly.

 

"Thank you for coming. I believe we have much to talk about." she said, and Omas slowly nodded. Kre'Fey just stood there, as if transfixed by her. Omas didnt blame him. He himself had the horrible urge to turn and run as fast as he could away from this woman. Mandalorains in general were dangerous. Their leader, he was certain, was far worse.

 

"Yes, I beleive we do. If you will follow me, we can begin as soon as you are willing." Omas said, and Verice nodded.

 

"Good. We do not have much time. This war, I believe, has taken a turn for the worst. Hopefully, we can get it back under control soon." she said, and Omas nodded. He turned, and with Kre'Fey began to move towards the lift doors at the other end of the pad. Verice turned and nodded to Fett, who followed her. The blue and purple mandalorians waited a monet, and then followed him.

[Stellar_Magic]

The Timeless One studied a detailed holographic projection of the galaxy... On it he saw that the galaxy was already tottering on the edge. With the resources of most of the Unknown regions at his command he could smash the opposition before him.

 

He'd already begun to formulate his plan, The forces deployed at Ord Mantell would launch an assault on Garos IV to seperate the GFFA forces from the Empire while another attack would be launched to secure Anobi and Ylix. These would hopefully seperate the 4th fleet from the rest of the GFFA front.

 

He envisioned similar operations elsewhere... The fleet which had knocked Bilbringi out of the war would proceed to attack Garratos and Jagga II before swinging around to completely an envelopment of Vortex and link up with forces from Ord Mantell at Yinchorr.

 

If everything went as planned he could crush two full GFFA fleets and cut the Hydian Way.

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Corran miniquest post.

 

IC: Five days from the funeral of the legendary Thrawn a single X-Wing materialized in the black nothing. With a metallic hiss the s-foils opened, preparing the vessel for combat. Not that it was necessary. The single one-man fighter was alone in space, the open s-foils had been more of a precaution.

 

The green-black X-Wing hung still in space, deciding which course to follow.

 

“Now what, Whistler?â€

[Stellar_Magic]

Darth Avarice closed her eyes as she thought. The battle for Ord Mantell had been far costlier then she'd anticipated, and that alone would have warranted her removal, or so she thought.

 

Apparently the Timeless One disagreed, perhaps he knew more then she did. Or perhaps that was why her next assignment was so much more of a challenge, the fortress world of Garos IV was to be taken. A difficult task in of itself, but her orders were more specific then that, she was to limit imperial casualties as much as possible, and Avarice knew that it would be no small task. The Imperials were certain to try and assist in the defense of the world, and as far as defenses the world was one of the best defend in the Galaxy.

 

Now she had to take it, and do it without loosing more of her prized Raporan warriors. That meant she had but one choice, cutting the warrior to droid ratio in her formations. Soon the Raporan fleet would be the droid fleet if losses continued as they had.

 

* * *

 

Cal Omas sipped at the cafe an aid brought to him as he listened to the Mandalorian leader Verice, "We're willing to guarantee your territorial claims and autonomy, but in order for your forces and ours to effectively operate against the Raporan threat we may require the placement of Mandalorian forces under Federation command."

 

"That is understandable, but I must remind you that vice versa is just as possible, we have many skilled commanders of our own," Verice answered quietly. She smiled slightly, "It has come to our attention that a number of your fleets are currently being lead by inexperienced commanders. While Ioor is an able commander it worries us that the Fifth fleet lacks such a commander, surely the Rapora will attack along their front aiming to divide the Fifth from the Fourth fleet is certainly likely. We request that General Fett be placed in command of the force."

 

"Fett?" Admiral Kre'Fey, "I suppose we can accomodate such an appointment, but General Niurk should remain with the fleet to serve as his second."

 

Verice nodded, "Very well, we've decided that Seryk Roygher needs a command. We'll assign him as commander for the Mandalorian forces deploying with the Fourth fleet with the rank of Commodore. We've also decided to assign Karyn Kann to him as his chief aid." She smiled slightly, "I believe that Admiral Ioor will find they're skills to be of use."

[BadSamaritan]

Cal Omas smiled, and nodded slightly. he knew of Seryk Roygher, and some of his history. A jedi trained mandalorian would be of great use in the war. But he knew nothign of Karynn Kann. And that bothered him slightly.

 

"Well, I can agree on Seryk. he has proven his skill already. But as for Karynn, I will need to know about her before I can allow her to be on the front lines. Security and all." he said, and Verice smiled.

 

"Karynn was a sith warrior sent to my city with the intention of killing Seryk, and possibly myself. She turned against her partner however, and helped us kill him. As punishemnt for her crimes, we put her through advanced training for Mandalorian warriors. She survived against all odds. I believe that with her knowledge of Sith tactics and training, she will be a great asset to any infiltration units we decide to send." Vericve said bluntly, but Omas looked as if he had just choked on a blaster bolt.

 

"You mean to tell me that ou have a sith warrior as a second in command? How in the name of the force can you be sure that she is on our side?" he asked, astonishment in his voice.

 

"I have put my trust in her, which is enough for my people. And Seryk can keep her in line, and deal with her if she chooses to try anything. That, and I have a feeling that she would never willingly betray Seryk. Something in her past prevents it." Verice said, and Omas nodded.

 

While he did not like the thought of a sith warrior, even one claiming to have turned over a new leaf, anywhere the frotn lines of operation, he ha the feeling that he had to take all of what Verice wanted, or get nothing at all. And at this point in time, they needed the mandalorians. More than anyone knew.

 

"Alright. i will sign all the appropriate orders. Seryk and Karynn will be sent to reinforce the fourth fleet, while Fett will be sent to the fifth fleet. I can assume that you will be reinforcing our fleets with mandalorian cruisers?" he asked, and Verice flashed him a smile that would make most men reach for their weapons.

 

"Of course. Several dozen warships and their support vessels are already prepared to move to their new bases of operation. The rest of our warfleet is slowly being brought to full comabt rediness. It will take a few more weeks to be at full strength, but I hope to cut that time in half." she said, and Omas nodded.

 

"What is the size of your warfleet? I can only assume it is rather small, otherwise we would have noticed it by now." Kre'Fey said, and Verice laughed.

 

"Admiral, the Katana fleet was lost for centuries before it was located. hiding a warfleet outside the galactic rim is not all that difficult. Trust me when I say that our warfleet is very large. It may not be on par with the Imperial or GFFA fleet, but it is large enough for us." she said, and Kre'Fey nodded. Omas caughed slightly, and then smiled.

 

"Well then, I believe we are finshed here. I think that you will want to go and iform your people of their new commands. As for myself, I will have the unfortunet pleasure of informing myh people of their new commanders. I don't think they will take it very well, but they will adjust to it." Omas said, and Verice nodded.

 

"Yes, It is time to get things inmotion. I just hope, Omas, that we have not entered the war to late to be of any help."

[Trejiuvanat]

Careful. Corran Horn walked casually through the dark and damp alley behind Treasure Ship Row. Draped in a dark, torn cloak and his face concealed behind a hood, he would not stand out in the hostile environment. He controlled every step too seem frail and disoriented, like an old beggar that is looking for a corner where to fall and sleep.

 

The smugglers and other low-lifes ignored him at best, those that noticed him simply shooed him away. A poor, old human was a sickening sight for most of them.

 

There was one particular person who had effectively noticed him, it was after all the person Corran had come looking for. This person was doing his best to ignore Corran's presence, but Corran could bide his time. There was something else going on in this dark streets. What is it Valin? That you cannot come and say your father hello.

 

The Corellian Jedi knew these streets well, even if the facade of the decaying building had changed over the years he could still tell the street he was in, and where it would take him. From the course taken, Corran could tell that there was someone else involved. Another prey for a hunter. A prey that was being unsuspectedly led into a dead-end. Corran smiled privately. Valin knew these streets well. But not too well.

 

Valin was playing his game well, locating himself in a position that would potentially cut off the exits for his prey, and was doing well in leading his prey into a dead-end, the dark alley of Murderer's Cage, dubbed like that by CorSec officers too long ago. A dead-end that did not seem like one until you were trapped. Most law enforcement officers were drilled into learning all such locations, and thiefs quickly tried to learn how to get out of such dead-ends. In time they had discovered an escape from the Cage.

 

It was a carefully guarded secret, known only too a few select elites of the underground world, and it had come to him through means of Booster Terrik. These particular sector, just like most of Coronet had dozen of secret entrances to the Selonian tunnel underneath the surface. Some criminal had probably paid some Selonian to open another clandestine entrace in the Cage. Corran looked around trying to remember where the closes entrance.

 

There were three humans near the entrance, smugglers making a dubious transaction to some cartel representative or what-not. They were too close to the entrance, and would surely notice him if we tried to open it. Taking them out would consume precious few seconds. So he drew on the Force.

 

The smuggler saw the old frail human, disoriented make his way into the alley. The old man stopped and began to cough. It was dry, and loud. The smuggler could clearly see that the old man was coughing blood, but their business was far more important than a dying beggar. The man did not even look at them for help, but turned around to vanish behind a corner. Then there was another cough and then the sound of a weight collapsing on the floor. Dead, they thought. Sooner or later someone would remove the body from the street, probably before he began to rot and smell, but by then the smugglers would be long gone. Just after they finished the transaction.

 

Corran smiled as he closed the entrance behind him, weak-minded fools had offered no resistance to his illusion. But again, even Luke Skywalker had been fooled by him.

 

Already underground Corran force-sped away to the tunnel's exit near the Cage. Within seconds he was there, and promptly, but quetly opened the secret entrance, and closed it behind him.

 

Right on time. A shadowy figure entered the Cage, scared and suspicious. Corran moved into a shadow and waited. The hunted did know about the secret exit, and began to look for it, always sparing a glance at the Cage's entrance. His hunter was about to appear.

 

"Give up," Valin's voice called from the alley's entrance. "You cannot escape."

 

"I can and I will," the bandit's crispy voice retorted, he had a few seconds to open the secret entrance and make his exit.

 

"He is right." Corran spoke from behind him. The bandit jumped in suprise, he had wasted his few seconds. Two lightsabers were simultaneously lit in the alley. The bandit, did not struggle nor attempt to escape. Obediently he tossed his blaster to the ground, and allowed Valin to put stun-cuffs on him.

 

Father and son walked out of that sector of the city with their unwilling companion in tow, they were not bothered on their way out by anyone. Two Jedi were a force to be respected in these parts. And the legends and spook tales about the Horn family were wide-spread.

 

Out of treasure ship row, Valin called up a Public Safety Service patrol to take their prisoner away. As soon as the Police speeder left Valin embraced his father. "It's been a while," he said emotively. "And thanks for your help, had he gone into the tunnel I doubt I could have followed him."

 

"Thank your grandpa, he's the one that shared with me about that Selonian tunnel exit." Corran said.

 

"I would," Valin smile turned sour. "If I knew where he and Mom are."

 

"So nothing turned up?" Corran asked.

 

"Not so far," Valin said. "Booster's good, he has the contacts, and the experience. And Mom's careful enough to clear all anything that might had slipped Booster."

 

Corran shook his head slightly. "You, my son, are the fourth Horn generation to be fooled by the Terrik bag of tricks."

 

"I hope he will ahve something to work with soon, the man we jsut caught -Rejiek- a well-known murdered and escaped convict claims that he overheard something about the Venture's location."

 

"That doesn't seem too trustworthy," Corran frowned.

 

"I know," Valin nodded, "which is why I wound up chasing him to get him back in jail. But, he said that he heard a song about a red star destroyer, by the Sewers."

 

"A song?" Corran paused. If the dark alleys were a home for low-lifes and marked criminals, the Sewers was called by those that had been shooed away from the dark alleys. Folks no one wanted to have anything to do. An ideal place for the Ryn.

 

"Seen any Ryn, recently?" Corran asked.

 

"Perhaps they have a song for us."

[Mad78]

Garik gazed at his fleet from the window of his cabin

Could have been worse. he told himself. considering the fact they had engaged a full Vaagari fleet and had had to face some raporan reinforcements .

Someone knocked on his cabin door.

"Come in."

The door opened and a young lieutenant stepped in.

"The final count of losses of the battle General."

Said the officer as he put a databloc down.

"Thanks you may dispose." answered Garik.

He picked up and started looking through the info.

As he expected they had lost many support crafts. They had also lost a third of their fighters. Luckily most of the large battle ships had survived and were now being repaired. The battle could be considered as a victory.

Garik's comlink beeped.

"Ioor."

"General an unidentified shuttle has just exited Hyperspace. It has asked to speak to you."

Garik pondered the question a few seconds. Could they have arrived so soon?

"Put them through."

The Holo Projector of the room started up and the image armor clad man appeared. Garik smiled.

"Commander Roygher, i was not expecting you so soon."

The mandalorian smiled back.

"I am glad you were expecting us in the first place. It seems that the GFFA's adminstrative system isn't as bad as it seems."

Garik laughed.

"You may land in hangar 4 commander."

The communication ended

 

Garik took a turbolift down to the hangar. It was empty exept for two lone fighters and a shuttle. The mandalorian ship pulled into the hangar and landed.

The ramp lowered and Commander Seryk exited closely followed by a woman who's name Garik remembered as being Karynn Kann.

"Welcome aboard. Formalities can wait a moment. if you shall follow me to the bridge we shall be able to set a course so as to deploy oursleves. During the trip we shall have all the time to talk."

The mandalorians nodded and followed Garik out of the hangar.

[Eko]

The formalities still raged on after the meeting had ended, the arguments over the exact leadership of fleets and meaningless terittorial claims. Aeron Kyral, commadore of the Mandalorian battlefleet, mused over the happenings no job for me so far... although Mandalorians of significance were being placed into commands in the GFFA fleets. He wasn't exactly sure what he should do.

 

"Do we have any orders sir?" A young officer on the bridge asked him.

 

"Not yet, we are awaiting orders from Sureme Chancellor Verice, they should be here soon."

 

"What do we do until then?"

 

Aeron showed patience that the young usually do not posess. "We wait."

[lordofgame]

sorry to get you side tracked but how would i join the The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances? (new to rp on forums)

[BadSamaritan]

Seryk and Karynn followed Garik closely as they marched to the bridge. As the walked along the cooridores, crew members quickly shuffled to the side not out of respect for Ioor, but out of fear of the mandalorians. It saddened Seryk somewhat seeing that even among freinds there were levels of mistrust. But at the same time, he smiled inwardly. He liked the respect he was given because of his status. He loved it almost. He knew he should not have been thinking that way, that those thoughts led to only the dark side, but he could not erase them from his mind. He simply ignored them, and hoped that they would not overwhelm him.

 

"Garik, where is the 4th fleet going to based out of? I would assume you would have your main base of operations of Garos IV, bnut that would be to easy of a target." karynn said, and Garik nodded.

 

"Very true. They don't have the defensive capabilities that we would want, nor would I want to bring such a bloody battle to that world. I believe we may have found a appropriate world for a base, one that when the Repora come for it, and they will, will minimize civilian casualties."he said, and karynn nodded.

 

Seryk thought about that as they entered the turbolift, and a list of worlds ran through his mind. There were several hundred worlds in the area that the 4th fleet was supposed to defend that had massive military instalations on them, while having few acctual citizens. But none of them came to him os being proper places for such a defensive stance. Then a thought came to him, and he tuirned to Garik.

 

"You would also choose a world that the Repora would love to havem wouldn't you? Defend it at all possible cost." he said, and Garik smiled.

 

"Again, true. We have located such a world, that if the Repora were to take it, the war would be over in a matter of months. It doesn't show up an any official maps anymore, for varius reasons. And the Vong never found it, meaning it was untouched in that war. It is also going to become vital to our war against the Vong, if Calrissian has his way." he said, and at this, Seryk frowned.

 

"Lando Calrissian? What say would he have in anything? I thought he was a civilian." he said, and Garik shrugged.

 

"He is as close to a civilian as any person who blew up a death star can get. That, and has proven himself to be very usefull so far is some of our advanced weapons testings. Therefor, he has a large say in what happens right now." Gark said, and Seryk nodded, deciding to leave it at that.

 

Finally, they reached the bridge of the vessel, and exited the lift. They walked out onto the command walkway, and Garik nodded at the crew pits.

 

"Is everything ready for out trip?" he asked, as if they were doing nothing mroe than going on a vacation.

 

"Yes Admiral. All vessels report ready for hyperspace. We are still waiting on several supply ships however." came the reply, and Ioor nodded.

 

"Have the Windflare stay behind, so it can finish repairs, and then escort the last vessels to Techno base. We can do without those supplies for now." he said, and the comm officer went to work, contacting the appropriate vessles. Karynn looked over at Ioor, a smug look on her face.

 

"Techno base? I assume that is a code name." she said, and Ioor chuckled.

 

"Yes, it is. Not a very good one, I admit, but it suits its purposes. Now, if you follow me, we can go to the observation louge. I find that it will suite our needs more. And we can discuss our plans there once we are in Hyperspace." he said, and the three of them walked to the side of the bride, and entered a small ounge like area.

 

As they did so, Seryk casually reached over, and tapped a button on the comm unit of his armor. Not far from the staging area of the Gaurdian, a cloaked mandalorian vessel recieved the signal, and prepared to follow the massive warship through hyperspace.

 

*******************************************

 

"I truly am sorry Supreme commander, but we must know the locations of your shipyards, in case we have to send reinforcements to help defend them." Omas said, and Verice frowned.

 

"Omas, you know as well as I do that those yard are secret for a reason. If I were to tell you, what happens if ships just 'happen to find them' afterwards? your people have been known to let secrets slip when it suited your needs." Verice countered. At this Omas heaved a mighty sigh, and realised he had lost this arguement. But at least he had tried. But he had been hoping for the mandalorian shipyards to begin churning out GFFA warships to help replace the ones already lost.

 

"Alright, fine. You defend your own yards. But I want to be on record for saying that it is follish for you not to share valuable information like that with us." he said, and Vericve nodded.

 

"Duelly noted. Now, on to other things. I suppose you are going to either start runnign intelligence missions into reporan space, or have already done so, correct?" she asked, and Omas nodded.

 

"Yes, we have already begun several operations. With little to no success, I assure you." he said, and Verice nodded.

 

"I assumed as much. I am going to release one of my warships to the GFFA intelligence command, the Warriors' Patience. Its commander, Comodore Kyral, is experianced in espionage missions, and may be of major use to them. I will give you the appropriate codes and directions on how to contect him." she said, and Omas nodded, surprised at her sudden generosity. But something didn't feel right to him.

 

"And what do you want in return?" he asked, and Verice nodded.

 

"Very perceptive Omas. In return, not only will you provide us with all intellig3ence that you manage to gather, but also, you will turn over to us the remains of a certain warship. " she said, and she handed Omas a small datapad. Omas took it, and looked over the information it had. Omas looked back up, a frown on his face.

 

"You must be joking." he said, but Verice simply shook her head.

 

"On the contrary, I am quite serious. You have no need of it right now, nor do you havethe ability to repair it. We, on the otherhand, have both. I thinkit is a fair trade for use of one of my best intelligance vessels." she said, and Omas leaned back in his chair. He hated the thought of having to give up the vessel, but at the same time, he loved the idea of having a Mandalorain Intelligance vessel under his direct command. All in all, it may be an overly fair trade, but it was hardly lopsided.

 

"Alright, the Liberation is yours. But I doubt you will get much use out of her." he said, and Verice nodded.

 

"Oh, we have a use for her. It will take some time, but use her we shall. But, I have some things to see to for now. I hope to speak to you soon. We have much more to discuss." Verice said, and Omas nodded as she stood and walked out the door. Omas then leaned back, and heaved a heavy sigh. He suddenly had the urge to wrestle with a rancor, thining that would be a good way to wind down after negotiations with Verice.

[Stellar_Magic]

Darth Avarice slowly walked around the tactical holographic display which was the main feature of the Vicious Cycle's command center. Before her was the the latest intelligence report from Garos IV, and the disposition of forces had surprised her.

 

The new commander in the area had stripped many ships from the world, clearly to create a rapid response force. Still even with such a strategy she thought Garos IV would be of greater value to the commander. There was a small task force stationed there, centered around the Mediator cruiser Rational Thought and four Mon Calamari Cruisers Intrepid, Yuuzhan'tar, Mon Loma, and Ithor Remembered.

 

It was a force that if alone Avarice was certain she could easily defeat, but the Imperial Remnant had maneuvered reinforcements into Garos IV at the same time the GFFA had removed more of their forces. The lone Imperial III Pelleaon's Hope which had been stationed there had been reinforced by an additional two star destroyers Tyrranic and Fortress of Empire.

 

The Orbital defenses remained in place totalling eighteen Golan III platforms and two Golan Starfighter Bases. Intelligence had also shown that several Imperial and GFFA ground regiments had been deployed and begun joint combat exercises.

 

Avarice glanced at her chrono and smiled, "Six hours." In six hours she'd reach the extreme edge of the system with her task force and show the GFFA and Imperial Remnant what it meant to be on the offensive. Beside her Vareme class supercruiser the attack force included four Kar Lurs, two Vaka's, twelve Savlas, and eighting Defra class ships. In her estimation the battle would be all but bloodless for her forces but she had two reserve forces of equal size standing by in case the GFFA or Imperial Remnant decided to contest their assault. The trick was how to limit imperial casualties.

 

OOC: To join just post in the OOC thread and we'll set you up.

[Mad78]

Garik's fleet exited hyperspace above Mechis III aka Techno base.

He turned towards the two Mandalorians.

"If you will please follow me to my shuttle, we will proceed to the surface of the planet."

The mandalorians looked sceptic.

"You installed your base on this lump of rust?"

Gerik chuckled.

"Follow me to the shuttle and i shall explain everything."

He walked off the bridge and proceeded to his private hangar. A few minutes later Garik's shuttle shot out of the hangar. Two X-wings placed himsleves of the ship to act as an escort. The ship quickly approached the surface which was covered with debris and poolluted patches of water.

"The planet is entirely automated. Most of the bases were in the perfect state and the large quantites of metal stop enemy detectors making a precise scan." explained Garik as the flew over a particularly large mountain of scrap metal. Worker droids could be seen picking up the metal to have it reused.

"What do you use the metal for?" asked Karynn.

"I dare say mister Calarissian will be delighted to answer that question." answered Garick as they entered a small hangar.

Waiting for them was Lando Calarissian.

Garik lowered the ramp and lead the group out of the shuttle.

 

****

Tuvax strode across the bridge of his ship.

He was sick of waiting. His fleet was ready but without orders.

As if in answer to his thoughts the bridge's holoprojector turned itself on.

Standing their was the figure of the Timless one.

Tuvax fell to his knees.

"What is it my Master?"

"You are to take your fleet and take Garratos and then Jagga II. You shall then proceed to Vortex and join up with the other fleet around Yinchorr."

"It shall be done Master."

The hologram of the Timeless one nodded and disappeared.

Tuvax smilled.

At last...

"Prepare the fleet for departure."

[Stellar_Magic]

With a blur of pseudomotion an enormous force of vessel dropped out of hyperspace, angling toward their preselected targets. The Raporan Fleet under Avarice's command had arrived at Garos IV. Within moments squadrons of Raporan starfighters had launched toward the world as the defenders scrambled to launch their own fighters and capital ships from their moorings.

 

Avarice had ignored conventional wisdom in planning her attack, she'd decided to drop out of hyperspace practically on top of the gravity well generated by the planet. Her ships shot toward the world at full speed, plasma cannons firing like mad. The Mon Calamari Cruiser Mon Loma caught a volley of superheavy plasma shots in the nose as it struggeled to exit its spacedock. It exploded instantly, destroying the dock and puncting a hole in the defenses of the planet. Two more Calamari Cruisers Intrepid and Ithor Remembered managed to exit their docks in time to find themselves facing an X-shaped formation across the space before them. They were cut down before they could engage their foe.

 

The final two GFFA starships, Yuuzhan'tar and Rational Thought Dove away from the Raporan fleet and used the gravity of the planet to hurl them around to the relative safet of the other side where the Imperial forces were gathering.

 

The Rapora did not pursue, instead they began melting the Golan platforms in their way and bombarding the surface, preparing the way for their ground forces. Within moments the Raporan force had begun launching dropships.

 

It would take a matter of moments for the communication to reach Fourth Fleet headquarters and ignite a firestorm and what would happen next would be in Garik Ioor's hands. It was up to him to respond to the attack or concede the system, up to him as to the fate of the Imperial Remnants connection to the GFFA, and with it perhaps the fate of the galaxy.

[BadSamaritan]

"Commander?" came the voice, one that any person could tell was resigned to the fate it had found itself in. General At'Vish smiled slightly. The voice was that of an ensign, new to the fleet, and far to young to rightfully know that his life was nearing its end. But such was the happenings of war. They all knew that their fate was sealed the moment the Repora arrived. Now, all they could do was hope to infict as many casualties upon the enemy as they could before they died.

 

"Continue along our current course. We will meet up with the Imperial vessels, and then set out on an attack run on their port flank." the General said, and the ensign nodded. They all knew that such a tactic was suicide, something the Repora would never see coming. But even if they had surprise on thier side, the Reporan fleet would decimate them. Again, a fate they had resigned themselves to. But it was something they knew had to be done.

 

The remaining Mon Calamari cruisers met up with the Imperial war vessels, and they got into postion for their final run against the enemy.

 

"May the force be with us." the general said. Silently, everyone on the bridge repeated the phrase.

 

************************************************

 

Averice frowned as she watched her sensor boards. The assault on the planet was going far better than expected. Enemy losses in both the space theater and on the ground had been heavy from the start, and were only getting worse. So far,the only losses her forces had suffered was a landing ship that had been the victim of a hidden turbolaser cannon on the gound.

 

"What is the current postion of the enemy fleet?" she asked, and her sensor officer repsonded immediatly.

 

"They have formed up on the other side of the planet, and seem tp be preparing for an attack run on our p[ort flanks." he said, and Averice frowned. Such a tactic was suicide. They knew it, and so did everyone else. What were they up to?

 

"Alright, we will play their little game. Keep our formatioin the same, but move fighter wing Tearing Claw to our port flanks, just in case they have something we don't know about." she ordered. She watched as her orders were carried out, and she smiled.

 

"Come and play, little ones. Let us see if you are as suicidal as you seem." she said, but the hair onthe back of her kneck raised. They were up to something, but she could not figure out what. But she knew that soon, she would know.

 

***************************************************

 

"Admiral Ioor, garos IV has fallen under attack. Our forces have taken heavy losses, and the enemy has begun the ground assaults." came the tinny voice over the comm, and Ioor nodded. He looked over at Seryk and Karryn, who were busy studying the schematics of the new Mechisclass warship.

 

"Well, it seems that the Repora moved faster than we expected. Come with me to the command center, and we can watch the show." he said, and Seryk and karynn nodded. They knew better than to ask what Ioor was talking about. They had already seen several of the weapons and vessels this planet could produce. If those were any indication, the repora were in for a nasty surprise.

 

As they reached the command center, they walked into apparent chaos. Droids and snetient beings issued orders and a mind boggling pace. Seryk couldn't even begin to understand them all, but he was able to figure out that most orders had to do with something called Ancient Fury.

 

"Admiral Ioor, General At'Vish has followed your orders, and has begun his attack run. Ancient Fury is in place, above the systems eccliptic. All we are waiting now are your orders." came a voice, probably from one of the droiuds n the tactical pits.

 

"Excellent. The moment the Reporan begin to manuver to engage our forces, have the Ancient Fury jump in, and begin its operations. Then release our ground forces to begin their counter offensives, utilizing the new weapons systems." Ioor ordered, and the room begam even more chaotic as the orders were issued.

 

"Admiral, shouldn't we be leading a fleet to Garos IV? if we lose that planet, the Empire will be cut off from the GFFA. That will leave us in a very precarious position." Karynn said, and Ioor nodded.

 

"very true, but we do not have the firepower available to attempt a counter attack right now. It would take to much time to gather the fleet, and would leave us far to open to a series of strikes. This is the best plan for now." he said, and Karynn nodded. Seryk simply sat back and watched, wondering if Ioor would think to ask if the mandalorians had any vessles t spare. While they did not have enough to take that fleet on at the moment, they did have enough to help supplement any fleet Ioor could put together.

 

"Admiral, the Reoran forces are manuevering to engage our fleet." came a voce, and Ioor nodded.

 

"Good. begin the operation. lets see how this works." he sai,d and Seryk turned to the tactical display, wondering what ioor had in mind. As he watched the two hazes represnting the Reporan forces and Allied forces closed in on each other.

 

*****************************************************

 

Deep in space, far above the planetary eccliptic, a massive vessel hung in space. A relic of a byegone era, vessels of this type hadn;t seen combat since the empire had dismantled the last one decades ago. But now, the ship had found new life in a war were resources were spread thin.

 

Aboard the vessel, an army of droids waited for the order to attack. They had infinite patience, and no knowledge of the fact that they would not live to see the next day. They wouldn't have cared anyway. They knew their duty.

 

Then, the order arrived. Without a sound, the engines of the vessel fired up, preparing for a run at hyperspace. Also, the anti-gravity hyperdirve warmed up, to ensure the vessel could jump in close enugh to the reporan fleet to be usefull. The latest in hyperdirve technology, the new drives could travel through gravity wells, albeit at a much slower speed.

 

The vessel leaped into hyperspace.

 

************************************************

 

Averice smiled as the Imperail and GFFA vessels came closer t their own destruction. Then, the force flared in her, warning her of danger. She quickly glanced at her sensor boards, and saw that a new contact had appeared, directly abover her forces. She studied it for a moment, and then relaized what it was.

 

"Release tearing Claw to destroy that new vessel. Now!" she yelled, but the warnign sensors began to scream at her and her crew.

 

************************************************

 

General At'Vish siled inwardly as the massive hulk of the Torpedo Sphere arrived, and opened fire. Almsot to quickly to be real, hundreds upon hundreds of proton torpedoes and concussion missles leaped out across space, a waveof pure death aimed at the Reporan forces. As he watched, hundreds of enemy fighters flashed away to deail with the newst threat. The Reporan vessels began pouring fire up at the incoming missles, a vain attempt at keeping them at bay. But it was to many for even the repora to deal with. Several of the smaller Reporan vessels exploded, their shields beign overwhelmed by the simple numbers of missles beign hurled at them. Even one of the mighty Savlas fell prey to the torreent, and exploded violently.

 

Then, the Torpedo Sphere, realizing it wa in danger, began to target the incoming fighters. Soon, the Reporan fighters found themselves confront3ed by far to many projetiles for even their skilled lfyers to avoid, an dozens of them vanished from the sensors immediatly, followed quickly by dozens more. Then the fighters were upon the vessel, and they lanuched their Plasma bombs. The mighty vessel exploded, but not before launching one last wave of missiles. The missels lanced out, and another Savla and its two Defra escorts exploded.

 

"Guns, target all enemy landing forces you can see, and begin firing. Helm, bearing one-six-alpha. Get us out of here." At'Vith said, and he watched as the guns from the allied vessels fired upon the planet, obliterating untold amounts of enemy ground forces. All he could do now was hope they got away.

[Eko]

"Orders!" Kyral exclaimed walking back onto the bridge with a datapad in his hands. "Its all hit the fan over Garos IV, the Rapora have made an offensive. This is the perfect time for a little trip behind enemy lines. The GFFA have failed in their attempts, lets show them how its done. First though, we need this ship kitted out, set a course for our shipyards."

 

The engines began to whine as the Warrior's Patience prepared to enter hyperspace.

 

Looking at the veiwport from the front of the bridge Kyral noticed something.

 

"Tell Cal Omas is his intelligence craft tries to follow us we will be forced to take ation."

 

The message was relayed and Omas appeared on the screen. "Well you can't blame us for trying, good luck, may the force be with you."

 

Looking at the stars Aeron felt at peace, his wanderlust satisfied as they had something to do and were n the move. The familiar sight of the stars fading into streaks filled him with a warm glow.

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: The Corran miniplot goes on the galaxy's less glamorous location: The Coronet Sewers.

 

IC: Millennia of technological advance had never helped the sanitation systems. Coronet being a coastal city had much more sanitation problems than a city on the mainland. Despite its architectonic jewels, their pipes and sewers all went to the same place, where they would join in bigger pipes and underground aqueduct, they would become even bigger, until they were finally joined in the Treatment Facility. There part of the water would be cleansed, and some of the rest be sent into the sea. For many years –the Diktat years – the Selonians had been forced to live in the Wide Sewers, among the human’s filth. The tunnels and maintenance shaft had been made wide enough to accommodate them, galleries would open into some central nodes that served as halls, sleeping quarters, whatever. Of course as soon as no one was watching the Selonians dug their way into the old tunnels and closed them behind them.

 

All of the official entrances had been closed when the Diktat fell. No one should ever be made to live among the filth. Not much later some low-lifes had reopened them, smuggler clans and criminal gangs used them as a prison hold- And still do at times, although known exits have been opened, though much discreet. Still some of the lower members of the populace began to dwell inside, for protection. They live inside, and go and come at will. Their dwellers have organized into a bizarre social structure that would give even the most able xeno-anthropologist a headache.

 

The average populace knows well enough that there are low-lifes dwelling in the Sewers, but show little interest in them, pretending that they do not even exist.

 

“Not very pretty, ain’t it.â€

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: General Fett, on station, in command, and outsmarting the Repora!! Good times fore all!!

 

IC:

 

"I still think this a foolish plan. Not to mention doomed to failure, Fett." General Niurk said, and Fett nodded.

 

"Duelly noted General. But my plan will work. You will just have to trust me." he said, and he saw through his visor the other heave a mighty sigh. They both knew that plan was a far fetched one, at best. With so many unknown variables, no sane commander would have tried it. But so far, only insane tactics had worked in this war. Fett just hoped that this battle would not prove otherwise.

 

"General Fett, we have received communications from Shadowblast, the enemy fleet has entered hyperspace. And the Convoy has remained on station." a comm officer called out, and Fett nodded.

 

"I assume thier course is for Vortex?" Niurk asked, and the comm officer nodded.

 

"Good. Everything is going as planned. They will arrive at Vortex in a few hours. A few hours to late, sadly." Fett said, sarcasm in his voice. He had ordered several groups of warships to cluster at Vortex, a chance grouping of a massive chunk of the fifth fleet. Far to many ships in one place for the Repora to give up a chance at striking. If the Vortex force was lost, the Fifth fleet was doomed. To bad for the Repora that the Vortex fleet would not be there.

 

"Order the fleet to begin thier operations. If they encounter any problems, swtch to plan two." Nuirk ordered, and Fett sighed. Nuirk was having problems adjusting to being second in command. Something he would have to remedy.

 

As they watched, the fleet began to move. Several groups broke off, preparing for short jumps to lightspeed of various lenghts.. Several other groups reformed, and headed out into space, to await the ambush that they would execute to hopefully smash the Reporan upon their arrival Vortex.

 

Fett and Nuirk's force, however, had the most important job. A massive convoy had been discovered at Ansion, with very few defending vessels. Fett only had to assume it was for future landing, and occupation forces. He had decided to deny these supplies to the Repora.

 

"Al vessels report ready Generals." said the comm officer, and Fett smiled under his helmet. This was going to be fun.

 

"Execute."

 

****************************************************

 

Admiral Ver'Kishk sat in his chambers, in deep meditation. On his face was a look of deep pain. Even for a Repora, the force to him was a foreign object, almost out of his grasp. Normally that would have prevented his ascension to any rank of worth, but his tactical genius could not be denied. Hence his command of the Veremere cruiser Gaze of Agaony. and the force of cruisers that came with it.

 

"When he had found out that the GFFAs' Fifth fleet was ammassing ot Vortex, he at first thought it was a trick. A ploy to lure him into a trap. But after a week of nothing, he had decided it was an attempt to reinforce Vortex from teh strike that was sure to come. he then decided to attack, and prove to the GFFA the foolishness of their choice. His force was more than large enough to deal with whatever they had at Vortex. And the Timeless One's plans for garratos and Jagga II could still go ahead as planned.

 

But something was botherign him, somethign he could not touch upon. In the past several minutes, he had felt faint twiches in the force, almost like ripples of surprise and dread had spread through portons of his attack force. But as soon as they had appeared, they had vanished. He concentrated on them, trying to pinpoint them, but it eluded him.

 

Slowly, he came to realize a chime had begun in his chambers. He opened his eyes, and realized that they were nearing Vortex. He slowly stood, and stalked out of his chambers towards the bridge. It was time for battle.

 

**********************************************

 

Fett watched the silvery white lines of Hyperspace flow around his flagship, the mighty Ravager-class Destroyer Light of Coruscant. He admired the GFFA for these vessels, they were impressive. he still preffered the mandalorain cruisers, but he yet to recieve a sizable force of them, so he decided instead to use them for the deep space ambushes. He watched the timer carefully, and noted several points of time. If everything went as planned, at those very moments, the Reporan fleet was taking casualties it could not have forseen. Then the timer reached ten seconds, and hsis gaze flickerd to the forward viewports.

 

"Here is to victory General." Fett said, and Nuirk nodded. The lines of hyperspace vanished, and Fett saw his sizable force emerge from hyperspace. In front of him, sat a massive force of vessels, hanging in tight formation to help defned agasint attack. The convoy was right where it was supposed to be.

 

"Commence the attack." Nuirk ordered, and Fett again sighed. He was being second guessed again.

 

***************************************************

 

As Admiral Ver'kishk reached the bridge, mere moments form thier appinted arrival time at Vortex, he felt a wave of dread wash over him. Befoer he could react, the massive vessel lurched, and dropped into realspace, well bofore it should have.

 

"Report he yelled, and the seonsor station became a torrent of organized chaos.

 

"We have been yanked from hyperspace two minutes ahead of schedule. Scanners show a gravity well appromixte in size for an Inderdictor class vessel." came on evoice, and the Admiral scowled.

 

"Oder Savle pair three to locate ond destory the vessel." he said, but another voice came back, distressed.

 

"Admiral, Savla pair three is missing. Along with the rest of their group. As are groups one, four, five, and six. All support craft with those groups are also missing." he voice said. Hearing this, Ver'Kishk ran to his station, and looked at the sensor. Almost his entore force was missing. Only group two remained, hanging just off his starboard bow.

 

"Raise our sheilds! Locate the missing groups, now! And order group two to spread around us evenly. Are there any enemy vessels neay bye?" he asked, and the sonsor officer shook his head, a look of confusion on his face.

 

"What in the name of the sith is going on?" Ver'Kishk bellowed, but then he saw it. The faint glow on an enemy warships engines. But sensors had not detected them. Unless.....

 

"Order all vessels to fire theit weapons in pattern Aleph-seven! Maximum intensity!" he orderd, and he watched as the remained vssels in his force fired all weapons. Most flew out into space hamrlessly, but several impacted against shields. Where the impacts occured, massive torrents of Turbolaser blasts returned, pounding the shields of his remaining four Savlas. he watched in horror as tow of them exploded, and the other two sustained massive damage in the opening barrage.

 

"Mandalorian Warships! Launch all starfighters! Concentrate fore on those sheilds! make them pay!" he yelled, and he watched as the remnants of his force again returned fire. Under the more concentrated barage, tow of the vesels exploded, and several more smaller explosions could be seen in space. But as soon as they started, the gravity well vanished, and the explosions vanished.

 

"Sensors, what happened? Where did they go?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

 

"They all accellerated at an incredible rate! But no into hyperspace." the sensor officer said, and Ver'Kishk nodded. He silently cursed both the mandalorains and their leap-drives, and the Reporan scientists for not being able to duplicate them.

 

"Admiral, we have recieved communications from group four! They report they were yanked from hyperspace, and ambushed by enemy forces. They sustained heavy initial casualties, and executed an immediate withdrawl. They are requesting orders." his comm officer said, but before Ver'Kishk could repsond, another comm officer looked up.

 

"Admiral, the convoy at Ansion is reporting itself ot be under heavy attack by an overwhelming force! They request assistance immediatly!" he said, and suddenly, in the back his mind, Ver'Kish realised what had happened. The GFFA commander had scattered his forces from hyperspace somehow, inlifcting casualties all the while. It would take him time to regroup his force, and head back to Ansion. To much time. But if he didn't, fall back, the convoy would be destroyed, as would all other forces at Ansion. He looked longly out the viewport at the star of Vortex, which was seeming to twinkle at him mockinglly.

 

"Order our forces back to Ansion, full speed. Send out a holocomm message to all groups to do the same. Vortex will have to wait." he said, his voice sullen. In one move, the GFFA not only has crushed his main force and the convoy under his care, but they had made a fool out of him. Far that, they would pay dearly.

 

He watched as his fleet executed a sharp trn, and then leapt back into hyperspace, to salvage what was left af the Ansion convoy forces. Assuming there was anything left at all.

[Eko]

The Warrior's Patience decelerated shrply out of hyperspace, the thins silverly lines became stars once more. Infront of them lay an installation so secret that not even their GFFA allies knew of its location. The Mandalorian shipyards.

 

As the sleek intelligence vessel glided between pylons and repair bays Aeron could see half built battle cruisers and wings of fighters undergoing their final flight testing.

 

"Open a channel to the docks." Aeron commanded. "This is Commodore Aeron Kyral of the Warrior's Patience requesting access to intelligence repair and refit bays bays." He sat back and waited for the inevitable reply.

 

"Proceed Commodore." The voice sounded mechanical over the inetcom.

 

The Warrior's Patience continued on its way, slowly pulling into the heart of the shipyard complex, the very berth in which it had firsrt been built. Docking clamps reached out like mettalic snakes from the sides of the berth. The ships rocked and groaned as the clamps attached themselves. The ship's prow was mere feet away from the end of the berth and the control tower for all repairs conducted that was situated in the wall.

 

Aeron took a deep breath as he left the ship. Emerging from the gangway tunnel he entered a control location, the armour guards had weapons in hand. Aeron showed them his pass and they motioned him on. He walked briskly towards the control tower. Entering it at the base and wlking up the tairs to the command level he found the bay's supervisor.

 

"I need to see the installation commadant immediatley." The Berth supervisor looked suprised at such a request but put it through anyway, after a quick look at Aeron'r rank insignia.

 

"He's on his way sir." The officer went back to his work, checking readouts from the Warrior's Patience down below them. Aeron took the moment of free time to stare at his command from the out side, noting the sleek lines and Mandalorian design with pride. She ws a fine ship.

 

"Sir. The Commandant is nearly here." Aeron turned from his ship to face the entrance to the control tower. A tall Mandalorian wearing the uniform of an Admiral entered the room. He had long grey-white hair and steely blue eyes.

 

"Admiral." Aeron saluted the slightest hint of friendly ridicule in his voice. The Admiral returned his salute. The two menstood staring at eachother before embracing. "Its been too long." Memories of his childhood aboard a haven starship for the exiled Mandalorians. How this man had taken him as an orphan and guided him though his early life. The left the embrace and sat at a nearby table.

 

"I had no idea they'd put you in command here..."

 

"Too old to fight on the front line they told me. Bloody cheek." The Admiral grinned. "So what brings you here?"

 

"I need the ship kitted out. We've got orders for an intelligence mission. Its all confidential though, right from the top."

 

"Fett?" The Admiral Queried.

 

"Higher. This came from Chancellor Verice and Cal Omas."

 

"Ah. Well, lets have a look at what you want and see what we can do. We're a little low on parts as we are in flat out production for new vessels."

 

***

 

A skilled crew of Mandalorian workers had finished the work on the Warrior's Patience. Its engines had been tuned up. The cloaking devices checked and rechecked. Stronger tractor beams installed and much, much more. The ship was ready and fighting fit.

 

"This is the Warrior's Patience requesting permission to leave dry dock." Aeron informed the control tower.

 

"Roger Warrior's Patience permission granted, good hunting."

 

The clamps retracted and the ship floated gently free. "Easy now, easy. Bring her out nice and slow. There's time for speed later." Aeron told the helmsman. The ship nosed slowly out until it ws free from the facility and facing space again.

 

Aeron turned to face his bridge staff and turned the PA on to adress the crew. "As of this moment we are on active duty. You are all experienced you know the drill. Radio silence is to be maintained at all times. we will make short hyperspace hops to lessent the possibility of being pulled out by an gravity well equiped ship. You are to be ready for conflict and for your duties round the clock. Ne aware, you may be called upon at any time. Good luck to you all." He turned off the PA system. "Set a course for Raporan space and activate the cloak. Its time to go behins enemy lines."

 

"Sir!" The helmsman saluted. The stars on the screen faded into streaks and then they were in hyperspace. Headed for what Aeron did not know, he would find out though, that was his job.

 

OOC: Wow, my first long (ish) post.

[Stellar_Magic]

On the ground of Garos IV the GFFA troops waited behind their hardened bunkers as they watched the Rapora deploy before them. Thousands upon thousands of Droideka'kar war droids, Kar'Vanel crew droids, and Kar'Vanel'kar commandos. Behind the line of droids were the Rapora themselves, armed with plasma carbines, lightblades, and sabers they waited as the nanoreplicators assembled their heavier equipment.

 

General Vien Snub watched the enemy through his electrobinoculars and smiled, "Are the weapons issued?"

 

"Yes sir, the Pulse Disruptors are out." Lieutenant Colonel Bria Derlin answered from behind him, "I'm still not so sure about these new armaments."

 

Vien nodded, "I understand your concerns, but the sonic pulse disruptor is one of the few weapons I can think off that will render the Rapora's utilization of lightsabers, useless."

 

Bria bit her lip against the retort that sat at the tip of her tongue. Sullustant engineers had been working on the technology since the civil war, and only now had they produced working models, the first of which were going to be field tested right here. Instead she lifted her own electrobinoculars to watch the enemy.

 

"Our troops are ready?"

 

"Yes sir," Derlin answered.

 

"Then give the order to commence the attack," Vien answered swiftly.

 

In the trenchworks the GFFA infantry charged their disruptors and rushed out of the cover of their bunkers. Merr-Sonn PLX missiles crisscrossed the air hunting targets.

 

The Rapora quickly awoke to the fact that they were under attack, and instantly abandoned the wait for their heavy equipment, instead they hastily formed themselves up as infantry, just as the GFFA forces began to engage the droids.

 

The SPD-1As which the troops had been issued were stunningly effective, with a maximumn range roughly equal to the Blastech E-11s they'd been trained with they quickly managed to take down a number of the Droideka'kar war droids. The power of each blast was like a laser cannon when it hit an unshielded portion of its targets, but even against the shielded Droidekas the weapons inflicted damage. The shield would often turn the charged portion of the blast but allow the sonic waves from the bolt to pass through the shield unmolested. These waves would litterally rattle the target's molecules to a state where they broke apart into their component parts, but even then many of the droid's held fast, suffering blast after blast of damage.

 

The GFFA attack quickly faltered, the Raporan droids were to good to match with even their own sides numerical superiority. The tide quickly changed as the Rapora got organized and began an envelopment. The GFFA retreat quickly turned into route back to the brestworks from wince they came.

[BadSamaritan]

General Snub felt her lip tremble as she watched the quickly retreating GFFA forces. her plan had been good. But the Reporan technology had just been to much for their troops new eapons to take down. But at the same time, they had proven their use in combat. But now, more was needed.

 

"Tell group one and four to open fire on the approaching flanks! Groups two and three are to hold their fire until they are almost on top of us!" the general yelled, and Bria looked ot the general as if she were mad.

 

"On top of us? We will be dead long before groups tow and three can fire! Not to mantion they are just as likely to hit us!" she said, but eh general shook her head.

 

"On the contrary, we will be fine. " she said, but Bria could tell that even the general was having her doubts. Then the bombardment began.

 

As on Ord Mantell, GFFA artillery opened fire, obliterating the flanks of the approaching enemy. Without heavy artillery to return fire with, the Repora found themselves to be at a severe disadvantage now. Unless they got into the GFFA trenchworks. Then, the enemy artillery could not hit them. They doubled their charge.

 

As bria watched this, she suddenly heard the sound of hovertanks moving forward. She looked over, and saw several of the new hovertanks line up. But intstead of the standard light turbolaser, these tanks had a dish in it's place. She wondered what they were for a moment, and then, as the Repora grew ever closer, they fired.

 

Red energy beams lashed out, a constant sream of destruction. The small dish on each tanks slowly turned, and the beams arced across the fron of the enemy lines. Reporan droids were at first unnafected, but then the beams simply overhwlmed the sheilds, and the Reporan middle found itself being cut apart by the tanks.

 

Still they charged on, knowing they could still take the trenches. General Snub saw this, and dropped her binoclars in fear.

 

"Call for retreat! We are going to be overrun!" she yelled, and the call went out. Quickly, the remnants of the GFFA forces left the trenchwaorks, running quickly for their hidden transports.

 

*****************************************

 

Several hundred Kilometers away, the Imperial ground forces waited. In their midst, General Grash fumed. The GFFA were under heavy assualt now. And here he sat, without a single repora n site of his guns. it was just his luck.

 

"General, the GFFA forces are retreating to their transports. Their line shave been overrun." camm a call from one f his comm ifficer, and Grash bgan to let out a long string of words, that when combined, added up to a curse that would have had Darth Vader nodding in appreciation.

 

"Alright, I guess we don;t get to fight. Order the evacuation. We con;t hold this world on our own." he said, and his troops looked around, wondering if thier ocmmander had lost his mind.

 

"What are you waiting for! We leave now!" he bellowed, and suddenly, the entire imperial line began the painfull process of evacuation, all without having fired a single shot.

 

*****************************************************

 

Supreme Admiral kre'Fey at in his office, looking over the latest reporst, when the alrarm at his door chimed. He placed the datacards down, and tapped the button to allow whoever had wrong the alarm to enter. When he finally glanced up, he saw someone he knew he should have Recognized. Somethign about him made his heart beat race to high levels. The look in the humans eye was not one of a predator, but of someone who knew he deserved a large amount of respect.

 

"Welcome. it ashames me to say this, but I do not remember your name, although i have a feeling I know it well." kre'Fey said, and the man nodded as he sat. he was old, but his body was still strong enough to live on without the use of bactra treatments. His hair was thin, but still had traces of the black color it once was. The man looked Kre'fey directly in the eyes, and smiled.

 

"Yes, Admiral, you should. Your Predecessor knew me well. He would have feared me, if we had ever came to blows. But thankfully for us both, I managed to retire before that happened." he said, and Kre'fey began searching his memory for someone, anyone, that the late Admiral Ackbar may have feared. The list was not a very long one, made even shorter by how few of them were still alive. But then, he had it. His eyes grew wide, and he found himself suddenly wondering if he should be thankfull this man was here, or arresting him on the spot.

 

"I thought you had placed yourself under planetary arrest on Rathalay?" Kre'Fey asked, and the man smiled.

 

"I did. it was part of my surrender agreement with the New Republic. A Agreement which is now null and void, since the Republic is gone, and Rathalay was ravaged by the Vong." he said, and Kre'Fey nodded.

 

"I see your point. So what brings you to my office?" he asked, and the elderly man smiled.

 

"I wish to return the navy, Admiral. I tried doing it once before, when the New Republic needed me the most. I do hope that your government does not make the same mistake. Many lives may be saved." he said, and Kre'Fey nodded, and thought about it for a long moment.

 

"I will see what can be done. But it will not be a fast priocess, or a pretty one. Until then, consider my quarters here to be yours for the duration of your stay." he said, and the man nodded.

 

"Thank you Admiral. And let me tell you, I was very impressed with your preformace against the Vong. Very impressed indeed. Granted, a few people could have done better, but they were all retired or dead." he said, and the man turned to walk out of the room. After he left, Kre'Fey leaned back in his chair, wondering if he had just been handed a blessing, or a curse.

[Stellar_Magic]

General Fett's plan had been simple. Utilizing a force of interdictors deployed at the extreme edges of the Rapora's projected path at a dozen different points he'd been able to strip the fleet and string it out like a set of pearls.

 

Now he had a clear shot at the real prize, the convoy of light ships and Vagaari vessels which formed the life blood of the Raporan fleet. Foodstuffs, combat gear, replicators, and replacement stuffs were crammed into their ships. A pair of the larger Savla class cruisers had been stripped of their super-plasma cannons and retroffited with cargo pods.

 

Still it was a formidable force, one which he could barely challenege with his fleet fragmented to delay the arrival or Raporan aid. It was a gamble, and Fett knew it. But now he had his pray in his sights.

 

* * *

 

Darth Avarice smiled as the reports from the ground came in. Already the battle was winding down into a mopping up operation, the GFFA forces had evacuated to the Imperial fleet and fled or been captured. The so called "Fortress" world of Garos IV had fallen in less then eight hours of sustained combat.

 

Now the Empire was severed from her allies, and soon the sickness of their treason to their leader and history would bear fruit.

[BadSamaritan]

Fett watched carefully as the massive convoy began manuvers to protect the actual supply ships from his force of vessels. The more heavily armed vessels took point, and began moving to engage his forces. he counted them up, and sighed. It was going to be a slugging match. A slugging match he could afford neither to fight, nor to lose.

 

"Have our forces array themselves in a loose formation, but tight enough to cover each others feilds of fire. target their heaviest vessels first. And keep our starifghters back for now, targeting their plasma bombs." Fett ordered, and he watched as the two forces moved tawrds each other with slow deliberation.

 

"General Fett, the supply ships are moving away from us. We will have to get past the armed vessels befre we can hit the supply ships themselves." a sensor officer called out, and Fett nodded.

 

"Of course, itis their only logical choice. Doing anything else would cause the destruction of far to many supply ships." Fett said, and in the back of his mind, he smiled to himself. He couldn;t have asked for them to do anything more idiotic. Whoever was in command here was a fool.

 

"When our forces are 50 kilometers from one another, have our forces halt, and hold position. We will enage ethe enmy forces there." Fett said, General Niurk looked to him, a confused look on his face.

 

"why halt? We need to get to those supply vessles, and quickly. What puropse does halting out fleet have?" he asked irratably, and Fett shook his head.

 

"Do not try to second guess me, general. All you will accomplish is confusing yourself. Nova group, you are go for your attack." fett said, and he sat back in his seat, waiting.

[Stellar_Magic]

Darth Avarice looked at the map fo the sector laid out before her. The Raporan forces in the sector had been heavily engaged but still here first objective had been secured, Garos IV had fallen with little struggle. Now her efforts would be redirected, to three new objects.

 

1: Cutting the Hydian Way by taking the worlds of Bandomeer and Torpawa from the Empire.

 

2: Securing the possible force sensitive recruits for incorporation into the sith forces by taking Dathomir.

 

3: The isolation and destruction of the 4th GFFA Fleet commanded by Ioor.

 

She hoped that the securing of the Hydian Way and limited actionst agains the Empire would further her master's plans for the region. Smiling she keyed her holocomm and began to issue orders to her fleet, unknown to her someone else was listening...