Empire Risen: Admirality

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors note: Ok guys and gals, this is where the story will once again be placed. I am google caching what I can, I will have to retype the rest. Bleargh. But I am doing the best I can.)

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors comment: here we go, due to popular demand!!! This part takes off less than a week after the battle of Kuat, so you didn't miss a whole lot. Enjoy!)

 

Admiral Teshik smiled carefully as he stared out the viewport of his current flagship. Outside, a small force of New Republic vessels was fighting a losing battle in orbit of a minor world near the Imperial border. They were heavily outgunned, and should have surrendered at the onset of the battle. But their commander was a fool, and thought he could somehow put up a fight. A decision that had cost a Mon Calamari cruiser its' life, along with the lives of most of its' support vessels.

 

"Have the Adamant come about, and move to block that Escort Figate. I think that vessel may be preparing to retreat." Teshik said, and he watched as his orders were carried out. He thought about all the other battles that were happening at this very moment in more than a dozen systems along the Imperial/New Republic border, and he hoped that all of them were going as well as this fight.

 

"Admiral, we are recieving a communique from the Frigate, they are offering to surrender." the captain said, and Teshik nodded. He waitied for a moment, and then turned to the captain.

 

"Accept their surrender, with no conditions. Offer the same to all surviving vessels, and prepare our vessels to stand down. I think most of them will accept. Destroy those that do not." he said, and he turned to walk from the bridge. The battle was over, he was no longer needed here. The captain would be able to handle the operation from here, as it was a simple mop-up operation, followed by a quick vessel capturing stage. And if the Captain could not handle it, he would soon find himself in command of a very small vessel somewhere in the deepest parts of the core doing hyperlane surveys.

 

Teshik left the bridge, and walked into his small command room. He walked over to a small display, and activated it. A hologram swarmed to life, showing the main battle line between the Empire and the new Republic. All along the line, dozens of stars blinked slowly, showing worlds that had already been hit by the Imperial lighting raids. A dozen more glowed brightly, showing worlds currently under assault. Soon, a new set would glow, as the Empire kept up its' efforts to weaken the Republics' Second Fleet enough that they could break the line.

 

But thier efforts did have on major downside. The entire Imperial fleet was taking part in this operation, constantly switching vessels around to make sure that vessles got enough time to repair battle damage before they had to go back into battle. But this meant that a large portion of the Empire was being left ungaurded, open to counter-assaults from the New Republic. But it was a riask they had to take. If they could weaken the Second fleet enough, the New Republic would haveto call up the elderly Third fleet to assist, which is what Teshik wanted. because once that happened, the CSA would be in a position to launch a massive assault against the unsuspecting Third, opening a second front in the war.

 

Quiety, the chime on his desk beeped. Teshik looked over at it, and frwoned. He was supposed to be out of comminucations until this mission was over with. But that chime meant that someone had gotten through on the holo-system. He walked over to his desk, and tapped a button.

 

"This had better be good, he growled, hoping that the evident anger in his voice would tell whoever was on the other end that he was not happy about being disturbed like this.

 

"Admiral, this is Drommel. I would not have contected you, but I have come qacross some information about the Fifth fleet hat you may find very interesting." Drommel aid, and Teshik nodded. The Fifth fleet was supposed to have arrived within the week to assist in re-inforcing the embattled second fleet, but for some reason it didn;t appear to be be in any real hurry to get to the front. Any Teshik was wondering why this was.

 

"Alright, send me the information. How did your battle over Delei V go?" he asked, and he heard the other Admiral chuckle slightly.

 

"The New Republiv didn't even whimper. We arrived in system, and the two Frigates simply surrendered. We then ransacked the supply depot, and then used it as target practice. All in all, a very simple operation." he said, and Teshik smiled. One minor point in this whole operation was the capturing of as many enemy vessels as possible to supplement the Imperial warfleet. So far almost thirty vessels had been added to the fleet.

 

"Excellent. I will contact you later, Admiral. We will all need to be meeting soon to discuss the next phase in our war." he said. he did not have to add that if the CSA did not enter, the next phase would probably mark the beginning of the end for the Empire.

 

"Of course Admiral. Drommel out." he said, and the comm went silent. Teshik walked around to the other side of his desk to look over the information that Drommel had sent him. As he read it, he smiled slightly. This was very interesting information. And if it turned outto be true, he may have to play one of his cards sooner than he expected. Much sooner.

 

(Editors Note: You know, ever since I got out, the distractions just keep coming. I'll post more later. I hope.)

[BadSamaritan]

Editors comment: Jesus, you guys are addicts. I am seriously thinking of charging per installment, just to see what I can get out of you people for my story.

 

Anyhoo, on a semi-related note, we fired up a new RP where the Battle of Endor was actually a draw. Death Star blew up, Emperor died, but the Rebel fleet got romperstomped by the Imperials afterwards. So now a very rag-tag rebel alliance is running random sorties against the Empire, while all the warlords duke it out for control. Currently, all bets are on the very unlikely tag-team of GA Syn/Admiral Zsinj to take Coruscant away from Isard and her cronies.

 

But now, onto the story at hand!!!)

 

Han sat at his desk, staring at the screens in front of him. The longer he stared at them, the more frustrated he became. One of several temporary commanders now n charge of the Second fleet, he was quickly becoming annoyed at the antics of the Empire. They were constantly shifting forces around to cover the holes the Empire was pounding into the defensive lines. And every time they moved forces, the Empire made new holes. It seemed that the Empire was just plain one step ahead of them.

 

Currently, he was contemplating how to properly protect a world filled with needed industrial complexes, all the while making the large populations of the nearbye resort worlds happy. It was aggravatingly difficult, as the leaders of both resort worlds considered their own safety far more important than the safety of the very infrastructure that kept the New Republic military running. He was almost empted to abandon those worlds altogether, just to make the leaders squirm for a while. But heknew if he did that, he would never hear the end of it from Leia.

 

As he sat there, his comm went off, and he cursed. As if fleet movements weren;t enough, no one would leave him alone. He was constantly being bothered by other commanders in the fleet, planetary leaders requesting more vessels for their defence, and by members of the Senate who wished to know how the battle was going. Most annoyingly was the constant reminders of how he had bested Zsinj, and why wasn;t he capable stopping this like he had before? he tapped his comm unit, and was about to speak when a voice came over it to him.

 

"Han, long time no talk to." the voice said, and Han smiled for the first time in days. Of all the people he had expected to hear from today, Wedge was far from the top of the list. But he was near the top of the list of people he wanted to hear from.

 

"Wedge! Where have you been? We have been trying to get ahold of you for weeks!" Han said, and he could hear Wedge sigh over the comm.

 

"I know Han. I have been out on the rim, hunting pirates and sniffing up intel whenever I can. I just now got to where I can actually get ahold of people. " he said, and Han nodded. Just about everyone knew about the resignation of Wedge Antilles, but not all knew of his very silent, very secret re-enlistment a month later, along with assignment to the NRI long-distance recon section. Wedge, along with a squadron of specially trained pilots, was now scouting hte outer rim for pirates, and sniffing out leads to the hiding place of the Imperial funded pirates which had been houding NEw Republic shipping lanes since the battle of Soullex.

 

"I suppose you came back when you heard of what happened at Kuat?" Han asked, and he could hear Wedge sigh again.

 

"Yah. What a fiasco that was. Han, what the hell is going on here? A year ago we could have pounded the Empire flat. Now, we are running around just trying to keep everyone calm as the Empire runs overruns the fleet at every turn. I think I may be starting to understand how the Empire felt just before Thrawn showed up." Wedge said, and Han nodded in agreement.

 

"I wish I could tell you. All I know is that the Empire is keeping us on our toes, and not letting us reset the defenses long enough to hold off their attacks. The only thing that keeps the senate from screaming bloody murder is the fact that the Empire hasn't taken any worlds yet. But with how we are fairing out here, it will only be a matter of time." Han said, and he could almost imagine Wedge scowling. They both knew that Wedge would be better suited at fighting on the front lines, from the cockpit of a fighter or the bridge of a flagship. BUt those who knew he eas still around also knew that it was still too early to put him back in command after the disaster at Soullex.

 

"What are they doing, just weakening the lfeet? That seems to be a giant waste of time since it won;t belong before the Fifth will be ready to move in to relieve you guys. Not to mention the Third is finally beginning to mobolize, which will make teh EMpire look over its' shoulder." Wedge said, and Han scowled. Apparently no one had told Wedge of the new plans for the Fifth fleet. When Han had heard of the plans, he had almost flown to Coruscant himself just to put his blaster to someones temple.

 

"You are right on the Third fleet being mobolized, to bad the Fifth is gettng ready for a "Security Tour" through the core, to show the people that the massive New Republic warfleet is still in fighting shape." han said, and he heard Wedge moan slightly on the other end.

 

"Are you joking? The Fifth is the best chance we have of relieving the Second. Whose dumb idea was this? I think I may have a few laser-points to show them they are wrong." Wedge said, and Han chuckled, understanding how Wedge felt.

 

"It was a call by the Senate as a whole. Apparently quite a few people are hearing about how bad we are getting whipped at the moment, and they want to show everyone back home that we still have a fleet worth their tax credits." Hand said, and he heard Wedge sigh.

 

"That sounds like them. When are they finally going to let the military run teh war?" he asked, and Han had to wonder the same thing. But Han was also was on a deadline, so he needed to get to the point of this call. But before he could say anything, Wedge spoke up again.

 

"Han, about the reason I called. We have some new intel about who is calling the shots in teh Empire. I didn't believe it when I heard it, but after checking a few things out, we think we have our new Emperor." he said, and Han tensed up. They had been hunting who had taken over the Empire for over a month now since they ha ddetermined Pellaeon was no longer in control.

 

"Who is it? A moff? Or some other warlord?" he askd, and Wdge was silent for a moment, which made Han uneasy.

 

"Han, it's a Grand Admiral. The same one we captured at Endor and executed. We don't know how, but Grand Admiral Teshik seems to be in control of the Empire." Wedge said, and Han sat there silently. He knew for a fact that it wasn't possible. He had been present at his trial. He had been present at his execution. It simply wasn't possible. But at the same time, he knew Wedge and the NRI wouldn;t be saying this unless they were absolutely possible.

 

"Wedge, are you absolutely certain? One hundred percent? This is not something we want to screw up." Hand said, hoping beyand all hope that Wedge would give him a good answer. But as per usual, his hoped were dashed.

 

"Sorry Han, but we have the Holos to prove that either Teshik, or someone that looks and sounds just like him, are in charge. " Wedge said, and Han cursed. It was no wonder that the Empire was running rampant while they were struggling to get their act together. grand Admirals were the best mind the Empire had, and this was just the chaos they were capable of achieving. The New Republic had been lucky that most of them had been killed in various ways before they had ben forced to deal with them themselves.

 

"Alright Wedge, thanks for the info. I think I ned to go, and let this sink in. If it is him, we are in for a world of trouble." hand said, and Wedge came back almost immediatly.

 

"We know Han. I will get back to you as soon as we know more. And by the way, I am supposed to extend the cangradulations, and condolences, and the Inner Council. You are now the overall commander of the Second fleet." wedge said, and Han sat back in his chair quickly.

 

"Thanks." he muttered, and he killed the comm. He had never agreed to this. he had agreed to take over a small task force, not an entire fleet. Nor had he ever, in any way, agreed to take on a Grand Admiral. he had to wonder to himself some days, how he always managed to get himefl into these situations. All he knew was that it was always a long battle to get out of them.

 

(Editors Note: Short, I know. But it is better than nothing. But I hope to get more done tomorrow.)

[BadSamaritan]

Editors comment: It appears that I have a challenger to my throne. I must fight to keep my title of "best fan-fic writer on-site". To bad my job keeps me away from the computer so damned much. Otherwise I would be up for writing an installment a day like I want to.

 

Anyways, go here for the latest picture of this author with his new haircut, and enjoy this installment of the story!!)

 

Admiral Teshik looked around the table slowly. Admirals Tavira and Drommel were conversing quietly, more than likely comparing numerical losses in thier battles. As the two of them seemed to have gotten into a minor rivalry over who was the batter commander, it was to be expected. But he allowed it, as it was forcing them to improve upon their skills, which in his mind were needed. And just as long as thir rivalry did not get in the way of the Empires' needs, he would allow it to continue.

 

Quietly, the door to the conference room opened, and Admiral Pellaeon entered, followed quickly by General Octorious, the newest member of the Imperial Council. A former warlord, he had just re-entered the fold when his holdings in the core had become threatened by a rival warlord, and by the encroaching New Republic. While his military genious was only on par with most other commanders, the fact that he was at one point in time one of the Empires top intelligence operatives meant that he was perfect to lead the rebuilding of the once feared Imperial intelligence division. Once the final arrivals were seated, Teshik slowly stood, and nodded to all of them.

 

"Now that we are all here, it is time to begin. Over the past week, we have been running a lightning campaign against the New Republics' Second fleet. While we have not taken any worlds from them yet, what we have managed to do is weaken their line, and force them to continously move forces to cover worlds that we strike. By doing so, we have weakened the Second fleet as a whole, leaving their entire front open to attack." he said, and everyone around the table nodded in agreement. Drommel looked over to one of his datapads, and frowned.

 

"Beg the Admirals pardon, but I do not think we can actually strike at the second fleet with any real force until the Thrid fleet is taken out of the picture. Is their any news of ous supposed allies in the CSA?" he asked, and Pelleaon shook his head.

 

"No, there isn't. Supreme Admiral Kayn is still supllying us with large amounts of TIE Sabres, and other war materials. But so far, he has not brought his fleet to bear agains thte rear flanks of the Third. But the Thrid is moving farther into pre-stike mode, so if he is going to attack, he will do so soon, when his enemies are looking the other way." he said and Tavira scowled.

 

"And if he doesn't attack, the Third will rush at us, and when we move to fend them off, the Second will strike back. We will be overwhelmed, and crushed." she said, adn Teshik nodded his head slowly.

 

"You are very correct on that assumption. If we are forced to take on the Third fleet, as well as the second, I predict that we will be defeated within six months, if not sooner. But it is a gamble that I think we have to take, otherwise we will simply be fighting an unwinable war against the New Republic. And that is an unacceptable option." he said, and everyone around the table voiced their agreements. General Octorious then looked at several of his datapads, then over to Admiral Teshik.

 

"Admiral, what of the New Republics Fifth fleet? Our intelligence said ot was being mobolized, possibly to reinforce the Second fleet. But now, it just seems to be sitting idle in the core." he asked, and Teshik smiled.

 

"That is the reason that I called for this meeting. Recent information has led me to believe the Fifth fleet will used in a massive PR campaign near the core, to make thier citizens belive that all is well. Because of this, the Second fleet will have to be much more cautious until the Third is ready for war. Meaning now is the time to strike at the new commander of the Second fleet. " he said, and everyone looked around the table, slightly confused. Drommel looked at the Admiral, a quizzical look on his face.

 

"Admiral, wouldn't it be wise to use this time to rest the fleet, instead of straining it further? Especially with the Third preparing to mobolize against us?" he asked, adn Teshik nodded.

 

"Normally, it would be yes. But thanks to General Octorious, we have some very new information which makes me believe that now is the time to not only strike, but deal a very hard blow the New Republic. General?" he said, and he motioned for Octorious to take over the meeting. The general nodded, and slowly stood up. He looked around the tbale quickl;y, then down to his datapads.

 

"Thanks to recent intelligence efforts, we have discoverd that General Solo has been placed in command of the Second fleet as a whole, at least temporarily. This move surprised us, as he has little to no experice running a fleet the size of the Second. However, given his past record, I somehow doubt that he will have any trouble becoming accustomed to running things. That, however, is not the important issue. What is important, is that his wife, the Leader of the New Republic, will be coming to the front line to inspect the Second fleet." he said, and there was a soft murmer around the table. Rear-Admiral Valius, head of the Imperial forces poised to fend off the Third fleet, spoke up quickly.

 

"General, are you saying that we should assassinate her?" he asked, but the General shook his head. Everyone around the table knew that at one point the Empire would never have flinched at the thought of blatantly killing their enemies. But now, they would rather capture them and use them as bargaining tools.

 

"No. What I am saying is that we have a prime opportunity to not only capture her, but also a chance to eliminate the legendary Han Solo, who has been a thorn in the side of the Empire since Yavin." he said, and everyone at the table thought about that possibility. The loss of both the leader of the New Republic, and one of its' most famous heroes, would be a moral blow to the New Republic that it would not soon recover from. Admiral Teshik stood back up, and spoke again.

 

"What I propose, is that we keep up the lightning strikes at the border worlds. The Solos will be meeting up at a world far from the front lines, but still close enough that a strike at it is very feasable. If we can find out what kind of forces will be in system, we can plan accordingly, and strike with a force just large enough to take out the space forces, and hopefully land troops to capture the Cheif of State." he said, and everyone at th etable nodded. It would be a very risky operation, but they might never get this chance again.

 

"Admiral, I agree that we must go after this opportunity, but I do have one thing I would like to say. If any of us go missing, the New Republic will know that we are planning something. As much as I fear to say it, this operation might be best if left in the hands of someone else. Someone that they do not have thier eyes on at all times." Admrial Drommel said, and Pellaeon looked over to him.

 

"Who do you propose should lead this operation then? I do not want to risk vessels in this operation because we chose an incompetant commander." he said, and Drommel nodded.

 

"I completely agree. But, there are several people in the Empire outside of this room who are capable of doing it. And I think I know of someone outside the Empire who would also be able of running it, assuming we could convince him to do it." he said, and everyone in the room suddenly had confused looks on their faces. Admiral Tavira looked at him, and shook her head.

 

"The best minds in the Empire are all in this room. And who outside of the Empire would we ever trust to lead a mission of this importance?" she asked, and Drommel simply smiled.

 

"A former Imperial, who went into retirement long ago. The new Republic may be watching him, so if we were to contact him, we would have to be very carefull about doing so." he said, and Teshik glared at Drommel carefully.

 

"Admiral, if you knew of this person, why did you not mention him before?" he asked, and Drommel looked at the Admiral carefully.

 

"Because unlike the rest of us, he chose not to continue fighting when the Empire needed him. he chose instead to simply surrender, and go into retirement. That, and you may have considered him a rival for your position. I did not think it ise to have a power struggle at this point in time." he said, and Teshik sat down. His mind when into overdrive as he contemplated who Drommel might be speaking of. But before he could figure it out, Pellaeon looked over at Drommel.

 

"You propose that we bring Admiral Grant into the Empire?" he asked, and Drommel nodded. Teshik looked at Pellaeon, a look of bewilderment on his face.

 

"Admiral Grant is still alive? Why did you not inform me of this?" he asked and pellaeon stared at the Grand Admiral.

 

"For the same reason Drommel did not mention him. I did not wish to have a power struggle within the Empire. Power struggles are why we are in this situation as it is." he said, and Teshik nodded.

 

"I would agree with you, but I have to argue that we should have at least contacted him. Grant was no where near my tactical level, but he was better than most." Teshik aid, and he sat and thought about it for several seconds. If they could bring grant back into the fold, they would have yet another tactical mastermind. And from his memory, Grant was never overly ambitious, and would not be likely to make a move for power. but at the same time, the NEw Republic was sure to be watching him, and contactinghim would take time. Time they did not have.

 

"Admiral Drommel, I thank you for bringing to my attention Admiral Grant, but we do not have time to bring him into this. However, you are correct that none of us should lead this operation. I do not want to tip off the New Republic to our plans by having one of us dissapear. We will pull one of our other commanders to lead the operation." he siad, and Drommel smiled slightly. Pellaeon looked at Drommel carefully, and scowled inwardly. He had made the decision to leave Grant out of all of this, but now he might be forced to deal with two Grand Admirals instead of one. That was not something he really cared to think about.

 

"But, let us get on with this planning. We do not have much time here, and wemust all be getting back to our battles on the front lines. Time is of the essence." teshik said, and as one, they began to discuss where they could pull vessels from to build a force for the operation, who was capable of taking on General Solo, and most importantly, who they had who could capture Leia Solo.

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors Comment: Bleargh!!!! My boos can fall off a cliff, choke on glass, and die!!!! I wanted this installment out last night, but my boss kept me at work way to late for my liking.

 

Anyways, here ya go.)

 

Admiral Pellaeon watched carefully as the elderly Lambda-class shuttle landed on the hanger bay floor. He studied the shuttle carefully, wondering why the man inside would let his personal vehicle fall into such disrepair. But then he noticed a series of odd bulges along the hull, and he remembered who they had sommuned to lead the mission. He calculated that there had to be at least a dozen hidden weapon emplacements all laong the hull, at least. What looked like easy prey would trun into a wild Rancor when threatened. Just like the man sitting at the controls.

 

Slowly, the boarding ramp lowered, and down teh ramp walked a man who while looked like he was getting on in years, both he and Teshik knew that he had many long years ahead of him. A former bounty hunter, he had come into the services of the Empire a few months after the fall of Coruscant for unknown reasons. And he had stayed on through everything else that had happened afterwards, for the simple reason that it gave him the best chance at getting back at the man who had caused him years of pain. The man walked towards the tow admirals, and saluted smartly. Teshik returned the salute, and smiled.

 

"Ahh, Commodore Dengar. Welcome to my flagship. Thank you for arriving so quickly. I am sure you were unhappy about having to leave your family so unexpectedly." he said, and the man nodded.

 

"While an inconvenience, I always follow orders, Admiral. And I believe I was ordered to be here as soon as possible." he said, adn Teshik smiled. Pelaeon could already tell these two were going to get along quiet well.

 

"Very good, Commodore. Now, if you will come with us, i can explain why we brought you here to the front lines." Teshik said, and Dengar nodded quickly and mtoioned for them to lead the way. Together, the three of them walked from teh hanger, and into a nearbye situation room. Once the entered, they all at down at the small table there, and the lights lowered slightly.

 

"Commodore, we do not have much time, so we will get right to the point." Teshik said, and a holographic world appeared above the table. Dengar stared at it, and shook his head.

 

"I have no idea what world this is, Admiral. " Dengar said, dn Teshik smiled slightly.

 

"Nor should you. Except for the fact that it has a small spaceport with minor storage facilties and a single resort, the world has little to no value to either sides war effort. Hence teh reason it was chosen as the meeting place for the Cheif of State, and the commander of the second fleet." Teshik said, adn Dengar looked at him sharply. Everyone in the fleet now had heard that Solo was in charge of the New Republics Second fleet, and Dengar had a long-time grudge against the man.

 

"Both of them together, that would be a massive coup to capture, or kill, both of them." Dengar said, and techik and Pellaeon looked at each other carefully. They both knew that Dengar would sooner kill Solo than capture him. Ad that was fine with the both of them. But they had both agreed the cheif of state would be much better to them alive rather than dead.

 

"Yes, it would. Which is why we are planning a small suprise for thm while they are there. We have found out the approximate number of vessles that will be in orbit during the meeting, and have built a force large enough to fend them off. After that is done, we will be landing troops, and we plan on capturing Cheif of State Solo. Then, we want to bring her back to the Empire." Pellaeon said, and Dengar smiled.

 

"This mission will be important. To important to risk having its' cover blown. So you want a lesser commander, one the rebels won;t be watching, to lead it." he said, adn Teshik grinned.

 

"I can see why you made such an excellent bounty hunter, Dengar. And a very good commander in our fleet. You are very correct on that assumption. You will beleading the whole operation, from the moment you leave this system, to the moment you return, with or without a certain prisoner in tow." teshikl said, and Dengar nodded, understanding the meaning behind his words. Succeed of fail, Teshik was testing Dengar as a whole for other reasons. Reasons that were only known to the Grand Admiral.

 

"I thank you for this chance, Admirals. What is the size fo the fleet I wll eb given?" e asked, and Pellaeon tapped a button on his console. A small set of numbers appeared, and Dengar looked over them carefully.

 

"You will be leading a small force of destroyers, consisting of two Mark-II Star destroyers, three Mark-I Victories, and six Dreadnaughts for the main cruisers. You will also have a small mixture of support vessels at your disposal. Along with full complements of starfighters on all vessels, more if we can fit them." Pelleaon said, and Dengar nodded.

 

"It will be the largest force I have led in a long time. But not so much that it wll be missed terribly along the front right now." he said, adn Teshik nodded.

 

"Actually, it will be very missed. But we simply cannot afford to throw this possibilty away." he said, and Dengar nodded again. This was a very sudden act of desperation, meanoing something was not going in their favor somehow.

 

"Understood. What will be the forces i am facing?" Dengar asked, and Teshik spoke up quickly.

 

"We belive you will be seing at least one Star Destroyer, possibly a mark-II. Also, a dual escort of man Cal cruisers, and perhaps half a dozen support vessels. A small force, not enough to truelly give you problems." teshik said, and Pellaeon sighed. he expected twice that number to be there, but he did not voice that thought. teshik had said he wanted to test Dengars' tactical abilties, for a possible promiton. To where, Pellaeon didn't know, but it was not his place to ask just yet.

 

"Such a small fleet? They must be trying to hide the meeting, just like we are hiding this mission." Dengar said, and Teshik nodded.

 

"Yes, that is what we assume also. We only found out about it though luck. We captured a counter0intelligence agent who had knowledge of the meeting. Hence the rapid planning and execution of this mission." he said, and teshik stood slowly. dengar floowed suite, as did pellaeon.

 

"Speaking of which, you must beon your way to your new fleet. The meeting will happen inless than twenty-four hours, and you will need almost that much time to get there." Teshik said, and Dengar nodded.

 

"Of course, Admiral. Again, I think you fro this chance. Just let me know where my flee tis stationed, and I will be on my way." he said, and Teshik handed him a small datacard with the needed onformation.

 

"I suggest you learn the names of your new subordiantes immediatly. Some of them are rather finisky, and will eb much more comfterable with you knowign theri names wen you arrive." teshik said, and Dengar nodded. He saluted, and tehn turned and left the meeting room. Pellaeon watched him leave, and then turned to Teshik.

 

"I must say Admiral, if this works, not only will we remove the head of the New Republic from the picture, we will force the Third into action, whcih will make kayn shoose to either join us, or let us fall." he said, and Teshik nodded slowly.

 

"Yes, it will. Let us just hope that Kayn chooses to join us. Because if not, it will be a long year for us." he said, and he turned and walked from teh room. Pellaeon watched him leave, and then heaved a small sigh. For everything that Teshik had doen for the Empire, he was wondering if it had been a good idea. he could very well be leading them into oblivion right now. But he could not turn back now. it was far to late for that. Pellaeon slwoyl walked out of the room, wondering to himself if he had made a terrible mistake.

 

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

 

General Solo stood ont eh bridge of his flagship, the massive Star Destroyer Staybound. Outside the viewport, he could see the trio of MonCalamari starcruisers that made of the rest of the larger ships in his force. Spread among them were over a dozen smaller vessels, acting support vessels for his current task force. Underneath them sat a ratehr plain looking world. Plain to the blind eye, that was. Somewhere down there was his wife, leader fo the New Republic. And while officially this was a important meeting about the current condition fo the Second fleet, everyone knew it was simpyl an excuse for Han and Leia to spend some time alone together.

 

From across the bridge, Wedge watched Han carefully. he had noticed a strange attitude change in Han the past few days. Han had become exceptionally serious, much more serious then he should have been. They were no where near the front lines, far from any realistic danger. And annoyingly enough, he had no idea why. He slowly walked over to Han, and stood next to him.

 

"han, what is wrong?" he asked, and Han sighed.

 

"Wedge, why is it whenever this government is in trouble, we get called back into service? Why can't the younger guys come in and fix things for once." he sia, dnad Wedge shook his head.

 

"because teh younger soldiers don't have our experience Han. Not many people are left that actually fought at Hoth or Endor. We have teh experience needed for these kinds of situations." Wedge said, and Han sighed deeply.

 

"I know you are right, but that dos not mean I have to like it. We have plenty of veterns still from teh Thrawn war. Why can;t any of them lead things?" he asked, and Wedge shook his head.

 

"You know why Han. We have more experience with old-style Imperials than anyone else in the fleet, save a few peopel higher than us, like Ackbar. We know how to deal with the Empire like thy used to be. Newer commanders are used to IMperials simply fleeing from battle. Now, we are the ones running." Wedge said, and Han nodded.

 

"And that is the worst part. We haven't been on the recieving end of beatings for a long time. We just aren;t used to this anymore." he said, adn wedge nodded in agreement.

 

"I know. Which is the other reason if we are needed. If we panic and run, imagine what the young pups we are leading will do. The Navy would fall apart within a month." he stated bluntly, and Han smiled.

 

"That is true. The fact that we are all that is holding this navy together kinda makes you warm up inside, doesn't it?" he said, and Wedge laughed.

 

"And there is the legendary Solo ego the rest fo the galaxy fears." Wedge said, and they both laughed. They stared down at the wrold beneath them, and Han sighed happily.

 

"I hate waiting. Just a few mor ehours, and I will be cleared fro planet. Then I can finally have some peace and relaxation to myself." he said, and Wedge nodded.

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors Comment: Jagmeister and Rum is bad for my liver..... but tastes sooooooooo good!!!!)

 

Dengar stared out the viewport of the massive Star Destroyer Mauler, and smile on his face. Outside, the whirls of hyperspace flowed around the vessel as it traveled on it's way to a small planet well within New Republic territory. This was a risky operation, one which was unliekly to succeed. But Dengar had known that when he been given his task. And he still took it, becuase of one man. The man which had caused him to lose everything he had all those years ago. Han Solo. It had been nearly two decades since the swwop race crash that had nearly killed him, but Dengar still harbored all the hatred he had for Han sicne then. And now, he wold be able to exact his revenge.

 

As he stared out the viewport, his second in cmmand walked up to him, and stood behind him silently. Dengar turnd slowly, and then smiled slightly.

 

"What is it Commander Disteik?" he asked, his voice cold and emotionless. Disteik stared back impassionatly, and then spoke after a moment.

 

"All forces from the Crusader and the Swordbane have been allocated throughout the rest of the task force. All fighters are ready for launch from our bays. All troops have been given their assignmetns, and are ready for landing." he said, and Dengar nodded. From the moment he had arrived at his task force, he had planned on how to best destroy the forces in orbit, and land enough tropps to ensure the capture of the Chief of State. The Admirals would dissagree with the tactics he had chosen, but he knew they would work, even if they were wastefull.

 

"Excellent. Extend my apologies to the respective Captains for removing their commands from them, but ensure them that it is for the greater good." he said, adn then he turned back to the viewport, and he laughed slightly.

 

"And besides, I am sure that with al the vessels we have been capturing as of late, they will find themselves in command of other vessels soon enough." he said, and Commander Disteik nodded.

 

"Of course sir. We should be reverting in system within the next ten minutes. Assuming, or course, they aren;t interdicting the system." he said, and Dengar shook his head.

 

"They won't be. That would alert every ship within ten sectors to what is going on there. They wanted to keep this a secret, not broadcast the entire meeting. At four minutes to revision, bring alert status to full. I want all starfighters to begin launch as soon as we revert, starting with the Sabres. Follow them up with Interceptors, and launch our Preybirds last." he sai,d and the commander slauted, then turned to make sure the orders were carried out.

 

As Dengar continued to watch out his viewport, he counted in his head, every second seeming to last an eternity. rvenge would soon be his. And was it was, he could finally rest easily, knwoing that all was righ twith the galaxy.

 

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

 

Han cursed as the panel in front of his shot spark out, and he tossed the small electircal sensor to the ground in frustration. He had become engrossed with getting a series of lights to work in the Falcon before he went planetside, but had discoverd his flagship had lacked technicians that he felt he could trust. So he had transferred the old freightor to one of the Mon Calamari cruisers, where the chief mechanic was someone Han knew personally from the days of the rebellion. Right now, that being simply stared back at Han, a wistfull look in its' large eyes.

 

"I am sorry General, but I am telling you the problem is not in the power conduits, but in the main energy bindings. So we are workign ont eh wrong systems." the sullustan said, and Han shook his head.

 

"And I am telling you, the energy bindings are fine. I tuned them last than a week ago. And Chewie checked. So if you want to argue with him, be my guest." Han said, adn the SUllustan shrugged his shoulders.

 

"Fine, but I still say I am right." he said, and he reached into his tool pouch to remove another tool needed to calibrate the power conduit relays. he handed ti to Han, he took the tool quickly. The longer this took, the less time he would have with Leia. But unfortunatly, this bank of lights served the sole purpose of telling Han if the power core was going to fall apart or not, so he didn't feel safe without them.

 

As Han brought the tool to begin teh clabration, the hanger bay lights dimmed, and a warning claxon sounded loudly. Han looked around, a confused look on his face. he was aboutto ask if it was a surprise drill, but then a voice came ouver the speaker system in the hanger bay.

 

"All hands to battlestations! I repeat, all hands to battlestations! This is not a drill. General Solo to control. I repeat, this is not a drill." the voice said, and Han bolted from the Falcon. He ran for the nearest lift, and arrived just in time for the doors to open and pilots to pour out, running for their starfighters. Han squeezed past them, and smacked the button that would take him close to the bridge.

 

The moment, the lift stopped moving, Hand shot out of it, in a dead run to the bridge. When he arrived on the bridge, he found a sea of dead calm. The captain truned to him, and nodded.

 

"General, we have Imperial forces in system. ETA, five minutes. Sensors have Identified five Destroyer-class vessels, six Deadnaught-class vessels, and over a dozen support vessels. They began launching TIE fighters upon reversion. They are on a direct course for us." the captain said, and Han nodded.

 

"Of course they are. But how in the name of the Sith did they know we were here?" he aske,d and the captain shook his head.

 

"I cannot say, general. But regardless, they are here, and the Chief of state is on the planet. We aqare outnumbered, and outgunned. But we cannto retreat until she is secure." he said, and Han nodded in agreement.

 

"Of course. Begin evacuation procedures on the planet. I want her off hte planet before we get to into any fights with the Imperials." he said, and the captain nodded, and began to bark orders, which Han knew would be relayed to the planet, and to the troops currently stationed there. He just hoped htey moved quickly. Because if they didn't, this was going to get very ugly.

 

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

 

"Leia, we have Imperials inbound! We gotta go!" Lando yelled, and Leai looked up from the flowers she was examining.

 

"What? When did they arrive?" she asked, and she broke into a run towards hte main building that housed her speeder. As she ran, she thought it al out. Five minutes to get to her transport, five to get into space. Ten minutes to get to the protection of the fleet. And to Han.

 

"They just arrived. Big force, looks like Han is outgunned by a pretty bad amount. He wants you off the planet now, so he can pull a fast retreat." Lando said as she got to him, and they both took off for the speeder. As they ran thoughts ran through her mind quickly.

 

This entire meeting was supposed to be a complete secret. Not even some of the council members knew about it. Every caution had been taken to protect it. The only reason Lando was here was because it was one of his luxury shuttles that had gotten her here, with him piloting. He had been the only person that she had thought of that she could trust one hundred percent, and had the contacts to make it look like she went somewhere else. As far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned, she was visiting Ryloth, trying to secure a steady supply of Ryl and the new Ryltohian starfighters for the New Republic military. And still the Imperials had found her.

 

"Lando, how fast is your shuttle? Can it outrun those new TIE-Sabres?" she asked as they reached the speeder. Lando nodded quickly, and powered the speeder up for the ride to the Hanger bay.

 

"I thikn so. If not, ours has some pretty decent sheilding systems. So we can withstand a few barrages before we will be in trouble." he said, and Leia nodded.

 

"I hope you are right Lando. Because I have bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling." Leia said, and Lando frowned. She had the force to guide her, so he trusted her judgement. All he had was his gut instincts, and he had the same feelign she did. This was not going to go very well.

 

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

 

"Commodore, enemy starfighters are inbound. Shal I release our githers to engage?" the captain asked, and Dengar nodded.

 

"Release wings one and two for now, keep all other fighters back with the main force. I do not want any of our vessels to fall prey to their torpedo tactics." Dengar said, and the captain nodded. Dengar stood and watched as the first two wings of TIE fighters shot our ahead of the main force, determined to stave off the incoming enemy starfighters. He knew that the most they would do was keep the faster, more agile A- and X-wings busy while the B-wings that were present would continue on towards his force, escorted by the powerfull E-wings. But it was what he wanted them to do. because while he lacked any of the rare Lancer-class frigates, two of the vessels in his force were specially designed to fend off starfighters. And the rebels would never see them coming.

 

"Order the Bane and the Hammer forward at full speed. Follow the first tow wings, and engage any starifighters that make it pas tthe first engagements." he said, adn he watched as the two modified Carrac-cruisers shot forward. The Carracks were elderly vessels, which used to be foudn only in the outer-rim systems during the height of the Empire. But now, with ship construction at a minimum, the Empire had been forced to press the weak vessels into increasinlgy more active roles. Ones that generally led the the Carracks destruction. But these two were specaislly designed to take on starfighters. And as fate would have it, it was the New Republic that had modified them, years ago. The Empire had re-captured them, and simpyl kept their new configration. And now they would have a use for them.

 

As the first waves of starfighters met, Dengar could see bright flashes as the starfigters began their deadly dance. He looked down at his sensor, and saw that several enemy squadrons were flying through the engagment, intent on hunting down bigger prey. He smiled, and shook his head.

 

"Come, little ones. Come, and meet the reaper head on." he said, and he chuckled slightly. he looked back out the viewport, and watched as the two carracks moved closer to the incoing starfighters. He wondered how the starfighters would react to them. Would they stop to eliminate them, or would they move past them, on towards the bigger vessels? Both would lead to their destruction, but one would be faster than the other. But as he sat their and watched, the captain walked up behind him.

 

"Commodor, the Crusader and Swordbane report ready for their run. Shall we move ahead with the battle?" he asked, and Dengar thought about it. After a few moments, he nodded.

 

"Yes. Have all ships move together at our full speed. When we reach firing range, release both our hit ships to make their run." he said, and the captain nodded. Dengar looked back outthe viewport, a feral grin on his face.

 

"I have you now, Solo. And this time, I will winthe race." he said, and he watched as his force began to move faster towards the enemy fleet, and clser to Han Solos' demise.

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors comment: You know, I should really work on this more often, as I really want to get to the end so that the grand finale can take place. The grand finale which let us all scratching out heads in confusion, and then left us in tears as we hadn't seen it coming before hand.

 

But anyways, back to the current battle, and to Dengar with his semi-wastefull brute force tactics.

 

 

General Crespin, seasoned pilot of the rebellion, aged vetern of the war, looked at his sensors with worry on his face. Behind him, an entire wing of B- and E-wings raced forward to engage the heavier vessles that were steadily moving towards the New Republic formation. But ahead of them were a pair of elderly Carrack-class cruisers. They appeared to be the only vessels the Empire had brought designed to deal with starfighters directly, but sending them out ahead made no sense. They were outmatched, and easy prey for his fighter wing.

 

"Attention all fighters, watch those Carracks. Something isn't right about them." he said, and he heard his squadron commanders return his call. he continued to watch them, waiting for them to make thier move. But they just moved towards them as usual, as if they intended to chalenge the fighter wing head-on. As he got closer, he adjusted his sensors to look for anything strange along the hulls of the Carracks. The EMpire had started the bad habit of packing scatter-mines along the hulls of their vessels, designed to wipe out entire squadrons with a massive swarm of shrapnel. But so far, he saw nothing unusual, but he still had a bed feeling.

 

"General, this is Havoc lead. I recognize that starboard Carrack. It was part of the Second fleet until about a year ago, when she was re-captured. That is the Flamespite." he said, and Crespin nodded slowly. He recognized the name, but he could not remember where from. But they were coming up on them now, and he had to make his choice. Challnge them, or go around? he tighted his grib on his control stick, and growled.

 

"All starfighters, run the trench. Let's make them think twice before shooting at us." he said, and he adjusted hid flight to move between the two carracks. Whiel this would force his stafighters into a tighter formation, any shots the carracks took at them would risk hitting the other vessel. And Carracks were not heavily sheilding, meaning any stray hits were a problem, especially since his starfighters would also be firing their heavy laser cannons and ion-cannons at them while they slipped past them. They would probably disable them, then move on to the Destroyers. A simple enough plan, one that had worked dozens of times before. And would likely work a dozen more times.

 

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

 

Dengar watched as the starfighters ebgan moving into a think, stumpy collumn to move between the two carracks. He smiled, and shook his head. A simple tactic, but in this scenario, a fatal one. He looked over to Disteik, and nodded. Disteik smiled, and walked over to the comm stations. he tapped a button, and spoke clearly.

 

"Begin swarm fire-tactics. Bane and Hammer, you are clear to open fire with all weapons." he said, adn Dengar watched outthe viewport. Suddenly, the space between teh two Carracks became filled with torrents of laser fire as the Carracks opened fire, much more than they should have produced normally. But, thanks the the New Republic, these two had been fitted with dozens of quad-laser batteries, designed to deploy and open fire in seconds. Far to fast for enemy starfighters to escape. And with advanced tracking systems, the weapons were painfully acurate. As Dengar was sure the starfighters were now becoming painfully aware of.

 

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

 

"All starighters, pull out!! It's a trap!!!" Havoc lead called out, and Crespin looked about, wondering what was going on. A few starfighters pulled away, but before crespin could respond, he saw the sides of the Carrack cruisers shift. Suddenly, what looked like dozens of cannon ports open, and green-laser fire filled his canopy. And he came to the realisation of why he remembered these Carracks. They had been deisgned as quasi-Lancer frigates, meant to take out swarms of starfighters. And his wing was caught in thh middle of them.

 

"All stafighters, pull out! Go around them!!" he yelled, and he yanked his starfighter into a tight upward spiral to get out of the mealstrom he found himself in. As he did so, he glanced at his sensor board, and saw dozens of his starfighters wink out of existance before they could escape. And even after the rest had escaped, several more fell to weapons placed on other parts of the Carrack cruisers. Silently, Crespin cursed, and he turned his fighter around.

 

"All fighters, head back to the main force. We are going to get slaughtered here." he said, and he watched as the remainder of his starfighter wing turned, and fled back to teh safety of the rest of the task force. Inside, Crespin hoped the Carracks would follow, and find temselves the targets of the much more massive Man Cals that would soon be within firing range. And there, they would suffer the same fate that his starfighters had. ONly he would see to it, that they didn't escape.

 

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

 

Han cursed loudly as his bomber wing fell apart, and then began retreating. he had hoped that they would be able to stall the larger ships for a minute, long enough to give Leia enough time to get off world. But those Carracks had squashed that plan before it could get off the ground. he looked to his side, adn saw Wedge standing there.

 

"Wedge, why aren't you out in a starfighter?" he asked, and Wedge shook his head.

 

"Sorry Han, but my starfighter days are over. Intelligence now, remember? And besides, my X-wing is over on the Staybound. No I decided I would be better off here, helping you." he said, and Han nodded.

 

"Thanks. You do better with the smaller vessels than I do." Han said, and Wedge nodded. Wedge walked over to the cammand console, and looked down at the sensors. he forwned, and shook his head.

 

"Han, this looks bad. We don't have much heavy starfighter support left. I think we should clal them all back, to try and keep their bombers off of our ships." he said, adn Han nodded.

 

"I know. Crespin already ordered them back. They will arive about 30 seconds before the heavier ships do." Han said, and Wedge nodded. Wedge looked over to a small timer one the console, and motioned to it.

 

"What is that?" he asked, and Han forwned.

 

"That his how long we have till Leia is of fworld, and we can get out of here." Han said, and Wedge nodded. The timer still said six minutes. Wedge looked out the viewpot, and seeing the much larger enemy force bearing down on them, realised it was ging to be a very long six minutes.

 

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

 

Dengar stood at the viewport, and watched as his warships began to open fire. Soon, all of his vessels were engaging enemy vessels at maximum range, just as planned. As the battle became more fierce, ne nodded to Disteik. Dsteik smild, and turned to teh comm station again. He pushd a button, and spoke quickly.

 

"Attention Crusader and Swordbane. Abandon ship, and lock thrusters. I repeat, abandon ship and lock thrusters." he said, and he released the comm. He moved to the side of Dengar, and watched as two of the elderly Dearnaughts in their force began to creep forward. Escape pods shot from both of them as the small crews abandoned the ships as their suicide runs were starting. It was a simply, yet wastefull plan. The two Dreadnaughts were to move to full slank speed, and ram two pre-determined vessels. Dengar had decided the Star Destroyer and the Mon Cal sitting to its' starboard were the most likely vessels for Solo to take as his command ship, so they would be the first to fall. And then teh landing ships could launch, and invade the city where the Chief of State was waiting.

 

"I have you now, Solo. And soon, I will have your wife." he said, and Disteik looked over him carefully. He knew Danger had a massive grudge against Solo, but he often wondered how far it actually went. He was worried tat Dengar was letting his personal issues with Solo cloud his vision. But at the same time, the elimination of Solo was a prime gaol in this battle, so Disteik had not had to follow through with his secret orders to deal with Dengar if he felt he was no longer capable of carrying out the mission. He just hoped that he was not mistaken in that assesment.

 

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

 

Solo watched as the battle raged on, then notived the escape pods. He stood up, and stared out hte viewport. he eyed the Dreadnaughts carefully, wondering what was going on. But as the ships moved foward, it struck him.

 

"Order the Staybound and the Tidal Fury to concentrate on those Dreadnaughts!! Have them turn to starboard, and gun the engines! Now!!" Han yelled, and Wedge watched as he suddenyl came to realisation of what Han already knew. Whoever was in command of the Imperial forces had decided to use a strange tactic, one that was seldom used by anyone, yet still very effective. Massive warships had strong shields, but even theu could not hold off a vessel the size of a Dreadnaught on a ramming course.

 

Han and Wedge watched in horror as their two lead vessels began to trun, and fired all available weapons banks at the oncoming ships. The sheilds of the Dreadnaughts held, them slowly faded away. Fire poured into the front of the vessels, but they moved forward steadily. Smeller vessels began ppouring fire into the engines, trying to stop them, but they all knew it was to late. There was nothing they could do now, esxcept for watch.

 

The first Dreadnaught hit his flagship, and the Star Destroyers powerfull sheilds collapsed instantly. The flaming hulk of the Dreadnaught tore into the hull, literally moving the other vessel sideways with its' force. The Star Destroyer started to bend at the impact point, tearing massive gashes into thie ships hull. And finally, the core breached, sending fragments of both vessels out in every direction.

 

Han averted his eyes, and watched as his Mon Cal cruiser moved as fast as its' sluggish engines could push it. The captain had alos started a slow dive, to try and move the bulk of his vessel out of the direction of the Dreadnaughts path. But it had been to late. The Dreadnaught impacted with the top shields of the vessel, collapsing them quickly. the two hull ground together, and smaller explosions ripped along the sides of both vessels. Then, the lights along the hull of the Dreadnught went dark as it lost power. The Mon Cal cruiser, still under power, slowly pulled away from the Dreadnauhgt, its' hull aflame in a dozen spots, its' guns silent.

 

"Have all vessels move forward to protect the Tidal! Order them to abandon ship, and launch recovery vehicles. Cal back all starfighters, we need to keep those TIEs away from us!!" Wedge yelled, and Han simply stared out the viewport. In a matter of seconds, two of the vessels in his command were destroyed. And now his force was doomed unless they retreated immediatly, or he somehow came up with a brilliant plan.

 

"Wedge, you have any ideas?" Han asked, and Wedge looked at the sensor board. It was not pretty. They were far to outgunned to last in a firefight, but thye could not retreat until teh Cheif of State was off the planet.

 

"We have to stay and fight Han. We have no choice." Wedge said, slowly, and Han nodded.

 

"I know Wedge. All forces, hold formation, and concentrate on their heavier ships. Starfighters are to begin bombing runs on the destroyers, we need to take them out of this fight." Han said, and wedge watched as the Imperial vessels moved into closer range. Then, on the sensor board, he saw dozens of TIE fighters break from the battle, and run for the planet. And behind them, a small force of drop ships moved well outside the range of the New republic formation, surrounding by a larger force of Lambda class huttles and blastboats.

 

"Han, they are launching landing forces." he said, adn Hand closed his eyes slowly.

 

"I know." was all he could manage to say. He was losing this fight, and they all knew it. But unless a miracle occured, there was nothing he could do about it.

[Paul]

Good job posting this stuff Bad. - Grand Moff Conway

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors note: Yah, long time no see eh? Well, if you are even reading this, that means you are willing to wait for me to get off my ass and actually do something other then play WoW for 12 hours a day.

 

Anyways.... I lost of lot of the story (and I mean A LOT) when the site crahsed, and I will not be retyping for it for 1 simple reason. You didn;t miss much. The following is a fast rundown of what is missing:

 

1) Han and Wedge end up retreating, leaving Leia and Lando on the planet

 

2) Luke leads a wing of Wookie fighters to their rescue at the last second, thanks to the Force.

 

3) Grand Admiral Teshik orders a full assault ont he Second fleet with the intentions of breaking the 5th fleet as it arrives. Plan works, Han solo (now in command of the battle agianst the empire at the front) orders a point defense to try and contain the chaos.

 

4) Supreme Admiral Kayn, deciding it was time, launched a full scale assault ont he New Republics 3rd fleet using his hidden fleet of CSA-built Star Destroyers. Catching them off gaurd, Fleet Admiral Oksvald orders a general retreat from enemy forces until he can reain control of the 3rd.

 

But yes, have been working on the story slowly. Just been distracted thanks to work, and of course my lovely lovely WoW. I plan on posting somethign this weekend come hell or high water.)

[Paul]

Badman,

I am waiting lol. -Grand Moff Conway

[BadSamaritan]

Editors note: Bloody hell. It seems god himself does nto want me to post. between the car accident, freinds needing house sitters, and now my truck deciding that a transmission is an optional part, I have been kept busy. Its coming soon however.

[Paul]

I have been patient , and will wait my friend. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

It's ok Bad, I'll try to keep everyone else occupied while you're busy.

[Krytos]

Editors note: Bloody hell. It seems god himself does nto want me to post. between the car accident, freinds needing house sitters, and now my truck deciding that a transmission is an optional part, I have been kept busy. Its coming soon however.

 

Bugger, bad luck mate! We can wait, real life is more important than an awesome story

[BadSamaritan]

Editors note: FINALLY!!!

 

Fleet Admiral. Command of an entire arm of the powerfull New Republic battlefleet. Second only to Supreme Commander Ackbar. A few days ago, is sounded like a position most would only ever dream of reaching. But now, it was a position Adyal Oksvald would gladly give up for almost anything. He ran a hand through his normally well kept hair, and sighed heavily as he looked over the latest reports coming in from his fractured forces. The once powerfull Third Fleet was now in full retreat, after a series of brutal, and suprising, attacks by the Corporate sector. And to make things even worse, it was not an organised, well planned retreat. His forces were running to whatever strongholds they could get to. He had no idea anymore what vessels he had left, or where thye all were. SO he had to wait for more reports to come in until he could make a decision on his next move.

 

"Admiral?" came a voice from teh door, and Adyal startled slightly. He had forgotten that his door was now jammed open after the last running battle. It would be several more hours before his new flagship, the elderly Vic-Star Truedream would be in line for repairs. Until then, he had to deal with minro issues like a stuck door as all available engineers were wrokign on getting other vessels up and running.

 

"Yes?" He asked, and he looked up to see his second, Commander Vortli, standing in the door.

 

"We have new reports coming in. The fifth task force arrived at Telos at half strength, but with portions of the seventh and ninth in tow. But we still have no word from the second task force. They should have been at Bimmiel three hours ago." Vortli said, and Oksvald nodded slowly.

 

"Well, at least we know where the fifth is. How much of the seventh and ninth do we have left?" he asked, and he frowned when Vortli shook his head. That was not a good sign.

 

"Not much. The seventh was almost wiped out, but the Sundraw and the Showdown are among the surviving vessels. The ninth faired far better, but lost most of their starfighters in the beginning actions at Cadomai." Vortli said,a dn Oksvald nodded. Two of the most powerfull warships in his fleet had managed to survive so far, which was a blessing. But losing so many starfighters would be troublesome in the weeks to come.

 

"Alright. Seond word to them that they are to hold at Telos until further orders, or they are forced to evac. But Telos is a major stronghold, it will take quite a force to crack that world. They should be safe there." he said, and Vortli nodded.

 

"That they will. It took quite a force for us to wrestle it from the Empire. I do not see Kayn concentrating that many vessels until he knows we cannot send aid to them." Vortli commented, and Oksvald smiled a bit. It was the one comfort he had right now, the fact that Kayn did not seem interested in sending larger grousp of vessels into fights. For now he seemed content is sowing chaos wherever he could. Which meant that the Third still had a chance to regroup and fight back.

 

"You are right. And we will not allow that to happen. Order all remaining forces to move together. Solo has the right idea, a point defence will work best here. If we can force them to fight larger battles, we can knock out more of their ships. They had suprise on their side last time, but overall their forces are lacking skill. We can beat them in straight up fights." he said, and Vortli nodded.

 

"I will get the orders out as soon as possible. As for now, where will we be moving our command?" Vortli asked, and Oksvald looked up, seeming to ponder the thought carefully.

 

"Everith VII. We can use Warbane as our headquarters." he said, and Vortli nodded. Everith VII was a dead world, but in orbit sat an old, if still powerfull, battlestation from the Clone Wars. Four times the size of an Imperial Class destroyer, it was well armed and well sheilded, not to mention was the main communications center for the entire Third. From their, they could lead the counter-offensive that they all knew woudl have to come soon.

 

"As ordered. I shall begin preperations for our force to move there."

 

((crapppp, more coming in the morning.))

[Paul]

great to have the story back Badman.- Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

So, is this officially resumed now?

[BadSamaritan]

Editors note: Yah. I will post more when I get around to it/feel like it/have the time. SO maybe once or twice a week.

 

"General Solo, we have enemy ships entering the system!" came a voice form the sensor station, and Solo simply closed his eyes. His force had been running from a group of Destoryers that seemed hellbent on chasing them down for almost three days now. Every system they went to, the destroyers followed. It was starting to get on his nerves, but he had a plan now hopefully one that would work.

 

"Alright. Helm, plot us a course out of here. Send it to all other vessels. Gunnery, charge up starboard batteries, and fire at your targets. Lets give them one hell of a show." Solo said, and he stood up carefully. ON the planet below them were several ancient mining facilities that no one had set foot in for years. But he thought that if he showed that he wanted them gone, the Destroyers would take notice, and decide to stick around for a bit to investigate. It was a logn shot, but he was running out of ideas.

 

"General, enemy vessels are coming about.... They are moving to an exit vector." the sensor officer said,a dn Solo looked over at him quickly.

 

"What? Are you sure?" He asked and the officer, a younger looking Sullustan, nodded again.

 

"Yes sir. They are now on course heading three-seven-point-four-four. Away from us, back towards Imperial space." the offcier said, and solo frowned.

 

"They must be recalling all forces. This just maybe the break we need." Solo said, and from a different part of hte bridge, a smaller human steped forward, a smile on his face.

 

"You are correct there general. I request permission to launch my quadron, to see if we can sniff out where the imps ar running off to." he asked, and Solo looked over to him. He had been asigned to Solos' command several days ago, with the rest of his half-cocked intelligence squad. They had seen a lot of action in the past few months, and had a habit of running through vehicles faster then Rogue squadron ran through targets. But Solo had to admit, they were good.

 

"Granted. Take those new A-wings they sent you. But try to bring them back in one piece this time." Solo said, and the man laughed a bit as he left the bridge. Solo knew that that meant. He sighed, dn looked over to his second in command, an elderly Barabel that had been with the rebellion longer than Solo had.

 

"Ovr'ak, remind me to send in a request for a new squad of replacement A-wings for them. The Drakes are going somewhere they shouldn't be again." Solo said, and Ovr'ak hissed a bit and nodded.

 

"Yesss, General. Shall I see to it that I ammend the request to note that Drake leader was told to be carefull?" he asked and Solo shook his head.

 

"Why bother? If they get the job done, command will keep giving them vehicles. Maybe their next ones will be a bit sturdier. Those B-wings they came here with were tough little ships." he said, and the Barabel nodded.

 

"Asss ordered." he said, and he turned to walk from teh bridge. As he did so, Solo turned to the helmsman, and sighed.

 

"Plot us a new course. Take us to...." Solo stopped, adn wondered to himself where his new command post was. As fast as he set up command centers, the Empire came through and lit them up.

 

"Sithspit. Take us to Ord Mantell. We shoudl have some forces there we can link up with." Solo said, and he moved to sit down again in his command chair. He wacthed silently as his small force of vessels moved out of orbit of the world, and then proceeded to make the jump to hysperspace. As he sat there, he pondered his next move.

 

If the Empire was recalling forces, it meant that they were planning something big. They had been keeping up with their lightning strikes for weeks now, and he had been hard pressed to keep the Second and Fifth fleets in postion. But now they would have time to rest, repair, and plan a counterstrike of some sort. And after several minutes of thinking, Solo smiled gently. He knew just how to do it also.

 

"Comm, once we arrive at mantell, get me a secure link to command. I need to request a few personell moves. I think its time we get back to how we used to play this game." Solo said,a dn the comm officer looked at him carefully.

 

"Sir?" the officer asked, and Solo chuckled.

 

"You'll see. You just get me that comm linkup once we arrive."

 

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

 

"Admiral, enemy ships are pulling out. They are retreating at random vectors. " the sensor officer said, and Tavira smiled. She turned to her left, and nodded her head.

 

"I told you they would run. And now we are free to bomb the base into dust." she said, and Grand Admiral Teshik nodded.

 

"That we are. But you will elave the base alone. Feel free to target the spaceport, however. I think they stashed several transports full of supplies there to hide them from us." he said, and Tavira nodded.

 

"As ordered. But why not the base? It would do us no good to leave it alone." she asked, and Teshik smiled slightly.

 

"You are right. But we will be back here soon enough. And I want the base intact for when we take the world. The less we have to build, the faster the transition will be." He said, and Tavira smiled.

 

"So, we are finally going ot start taking worlds?" she asked, and Teshik nodded.

 

"Yes. We have weakened them enough that I think we can afford to take a few worlds. And when they move to take them back, we will stirke them hard. " he said, adn Tavira nodded slowly.

 

"You intend to draw their forces into a trap?" she asked, and teshik nodded.

 

"Not just any of their forces. I want Solo. he has been a thorn in our side for long enough." he siad, and he turned to walk from the bridge.

 

"I have already issused the recall orders. Set course for Yaga Minor. We will be staging the attacks from there. And this vessel needs some repairs." he siad, and Tavira nodded again. He was correct, her flagship, the powerfull Lusankya had never been fully repaired from when it had been recaptured. And it was starting to show, as several weapon banks were now offline until they could be fully repaired.

 

"Helm set us a course. recall all starfighters, get them on board. Gunnery, blast all derelict vessels. I don't want the rebels to salvage anything. Leave them nothign but scrap." She said, and she wathed as her force moved away from the world. She had already forgotten its name, as she did not care. All she knew as that soon, it woudl once again be in the hands of the Empire that it rightfully belonged to.

[Paul]

Badman, good post. Keep up the good work dude. - Grand Moff Conway

[BadSamaritan]

"Corran, two from abo-" was all he heard before a cream echoed across the comm channel. Corran winced a bit as he threw his fighter into a tight upward spiral, knowing well that another member of Rogue squadron had fallen. But now was not the time to worry, now was the time to fight.

 

He climbed for a fraction of a second, and then sent his X-wing into a steep dive. As he did so, he looked up, and saw the quickly vanishing tails of a bair of Tie-Sabres. They looked like they were gunning for a squad of A-wings, but Corran knew the A-wings could handle themselves. He had more important things to worry about now.

 

"Lead, this is five. I'm all alone out here." he said, and for a moment all he heard was silence. But then Wedge returned his call, and corran heaved a sigh of relief.

 

"Five, had back towards the Highwind, we are regrouping there with a few pilots from High Flight. General wants us to take a crack at that Imp Star thats being lazy." Wedge said, and Corran looked out into the thickest part of the battle. General Solos' force had jumped close to imperial space and landed on top of a small Imperial task force. They had decided to take it, but as they had enganged another pair of Vic Stars had arrived, evening out the fight. But int he back sat a Imp Star Duece, not firing its guns. Corran wondered about that, but then shook his head.

 

"Lead, something about that one botheres me. You sure thats a good idea?" Corran asked, but before Wedge could answer a younger, huskier voice came over the comm.

 

"Five, grow a pair would ya? Ever since Cadomai you have been acting like a scared womprat." the voice said, adn Corran gritted his teeth. Teh voice had belonged to Everith C'pan, a daredevil pilot who was quicker with his mouth than his guns. But he knew he was right. Rogue squadron had suffered at Cadomai, losing half their numbers, including Tycho. And ever since, He had ben edgy.

 

"Shut it ten. When this is done, consider yourself relieved of duty." Wedge said, and Corran sighed. He pulled up along the rest of the squadron, and winced. Between Rogue and High Flight, there were only sixteen fighters. Meaning two full flights were gone. And by the look of it, most of the rogues were here. High Flight woudl be disbanded after this, for certain.

 

"Lead, this is Five. I am with ya. Who else is joining us?" Corran asked, and he then saw them. A full squadron of massive K-wing bombers was also hovering near the engines of the half-crippled Escort Frigate they wear hiding next to.

 

"Five, this is Thunder lead. You clear a path, we light'em up. That work for you?" came a voice, and Corran smiled.

 

"Wes, its good to hear from ya. Finally upgraded from those Y-wings?" Corran asked, and he turned again to look for Wes' fighter. He had No idea really which one was Wes, but all he needed to know was that Wes was still otu there. The Rogues had lost to many as of late, and he knew that soon many older hands would be brought back in.

 

"Yep. K-wings are slow, but they pack a whallop. Thunders, move out!" Wes yelled, and like a flash, the K-wings roared past the X-wings to make their move towards the main line. Corran watched as the X-wings moved along with them, and he goosed his own engines, quickly watching up and passing the K-wings. As one, the group of fighters rolled towards the main line of battle, and headed towards the sleeping Destoryer.

 

**********************************************************8

 

"Admiral, a small group of fighters has borken off. They appear to be heading towards us." came the call from the sensor pits, and Pellaeon nodded. His flagship, the elderly Corruption had been undergoing a cold start when the battle had begun. And until now, he had been forced to stay out of the fight. But now, he thought that maybe it had been a blessing.

 

"Hold all fire until they are well within range. Have our gunners target manually. Fire at point-blank. Lets see if we can make them hurt." he said, andhe smiled. He was beginning to enjoy this. The New Republic forces were starting to get careless. Days, of not weeks, of constant fighting was causign them to take uneeded risks to try and weaken Imperial forces. And it was costing them dearly. perhaps today woudl be one of those days.

 

He watched carefully as the group of fighters flew between two of his own destroyers, a safe zone for them. His vessels did not dare fire there, lest they risk hitting each other. But at the same time, it forced the republic pilots to fly without room to escape.

 

"Gunnery masters, fire at will."

 

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

 

"This is five, pull out!" Corran yelled suddenly, and Wedge immediatly yanked up on his stick.

 

"Break break break!" Wedge echoed, and he wacthed as the battle swriled around him. But as he did so, he saw turbolaser blasts flash past his screen, and he realised what had happened. The destroyer had been lying in wait for such a manuver. And he had almsot flow right into it. He was getting careless. As he pulled about, he checked his boards. Where there had once been ten blips, there were now nine. Rogue ten was gone.

 

"Lead, they got Ten. And the THunders took a beating." came a voice, and Wedge nodded, recognizing the voice of Myn Donos, an old hand in the Rogues.

 

"How many did Thunder lose?" he asked, and the voice of Wes Janson came back quickly.

 

"They got half of us Wedge. But we dumped everything we had into one of the destoryers anyways. I think we got a few through." he said, adn Wedge nodded. At least it wasn't a compelte loss. But it was still a waste overall.

 

"Wedge, this is Five. Recommend we-" Corran started to say, but he never finsihed. Wedge looked down to the baord, and saw the light for Rogue Five wink out. Wedge lookd up slowly, and then heard a voice come back.

 

"Wedge, Corran is EV. He took an ion hit and bailed." the voice said, but before Wedge could repsond, Han Solo came over the comm system, his voice full on not only anger, but of defeat.

 

"All forces, pull out. Head back to the launch point." he said, adn Wedge closed his eyes. They were retreating once again. And once again, the Rogues would be leaving people behind. Tycho had crashed at Cadomai, Gavin had never made it out of that system as well. And now Corran was gone. The Rogues were losing numbers faster then ever.

 

"Alright guys, we're done. Lets get out of here." Wedge said, and he slapped his S-foils into a cruise postion. He gunned his engines, and he saw the rest of the rouges and thunders following him. Within minutes, they were once again in hyperspace. Once again in retreat.

[Paul]

Great to have the story back Badman. I love seeing the rebel scum hurt lol. - Grand Moff Conway

[BadSamaritan]

(Editors note: First and foremost, Blizzard can go fuck itself for ever making that abortion of an MMO called World of Warcraft. That game ate my soul for well over a year, and I am finally free of it. Secondly, a certain friend of mine is now paying the price of his idiocy for taking all my notes, and ruining most of them. And finally, lets get this show on the god damned road!!)

 

Wedge looked over the proposal, and then sighed a bit, a smile on his face. He looked up from all the datapads, and acorss his small desk to Han, who had watched him read them for almost an hour.

 

"You are serious about this. You want to break part of the fleet off, send it into Imperial territory, and leave them wihtout any support except for what they can steal?" he asked, and Han nodded.

 

"Exactly. Straight on tactics are wearing us out, and the Imps are getting bolder. We need to get them looking over their shoulders again. This is the best way to do it." he said, and Wedge looked down and picked up a single data pad. Looking it over again, he looked back over to Han.

 

"You sure about these ships though? They are brand new, right out of the yards. If we lose them, the Council will have your head. Not to mention it will be a while before we get anymore, with the shape Kuat is in." he said, and Han shrugged his shoulders.

 

"And? Who else are they going to find to lead the fleet? Oksvald is running scared from the CSA fleet, Ackbar is tied up on Coruscant dealing with the senate, Iblis and the First fleet are moving to deal with some issue in the Koornatch. I am the only person they have really to handle the whole fleet." he said, but Wedge shook his head.

 

"Han, there are more and a handful of Admirals in the fleet that would love to take a stab at running this. You are hiding something, aren't you?" he asked, and Han sighed.

 

"I am, but that is not your concern. On the record, at least. off the record, the Council trusts me because I am one of the few commanders they have that will do what I have to do without caring about how my name comes out. No matter what happens, I will always be Han Solo, hero of the Rebellion." he said, and Wedge nodded slowly.

 

"The council wants you, because you remain clearheaded about the final picture, no matter if getting us there can get a bit... ugly." he siad, and Han nodded carefullly.

 

"You got it, basically. My tactics may be risky, but I use them because I know that they must be done. A green commander will try and impress the Council by winning outright, which will not win this war right now." he said, and Wedge leaned back in his chair.

 

"You intend for this to be a suicide mission?" he asked, and Han pointed at him carefully.

 

"Wedge, you know how I hate that phrase. If anything, I want a commander in charge that knows how to play this game. One that will keep the force alive and moving long enough to cause trouble." he said, and Wedge sighed.

 

"I'll pack my stuff." he said, but Han shook his head again then then stabbed the finger into the desk they sat at.

 

"No, you will stay right here, running the Rogues and helping me. The guy I am bringing in stays off the radar quite well. And he knows how to command. " Hand said, and he slowly stood up.

 

"Who is it?" Wedge asked, and Han smiled a bit.

 

"Once he gets here, you will know. He is the kind of guy to demand attention. Just look at his...." Han stopped, and then chuckled a bit before continuing on. "Yacht. Lets go with that." He said, and he turned to walk out of the room. As he was about to leave, Wedge suddenly stood up, and shook his head.

 

"Han, you are not bringing in who think you are, right?" he asked, and Han turned to him and smiled.

 

"Of course not. Just tell yourself I am putting Lando in charge." he said, and Wedge simoply sighed, and sat back down. He placed his head in his hands, and shook his head slowly.

 

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

 

Corran looked around carefully, studying his surroundings. He knew this was not how things were supposed to work. He shoudl have been in a small cell, in prisoners uniform, awaiting interrogation. Instead, he found himself in what looked like standard imperial quarters. Granted, there was nothing more than a small bed and a fresher station to keep clean, but it still wasn't a cell. He wasn't even sure of how long he had been here, as he had been out cold since ejecting since the last battle, and had no memories of anything since then.

 

But most disturbing was his new appearence. His hear had been cut to more imperial standards, and he was clothed in a sort of Imperial uniform he could not identify. But most oddly, Whistler was with him, albeit deactivated. He was simply at a loss as to what was going on, but he certainly hoped that he would get answers soon.

 

Quietly, the door opened, and Corran stood up, unsure of what to be expecting. As he watched, two helmetless Stormtroopers entered and flanked the door. After a few seconds, another man entered, wearing the same uniform that corran found himself wearing. The man looked him over for a moment, and then nodded.

 

"Lieutenant Korvash, follow me to the bridge if you will." the man said, and he turned and walked out of the room. When Corran failed to follow him, the man looked back into the room, and pointed to him.

 

"Let me repeat myself. Lieutenant Korvash, follow me to the bridge. That is your name until further notice. Understood?" he asked, and corran slowly nodded, quite at a loss for words. As he walked out into the hallway, he once again began studying his surroundings. The hallways looked like the standard hallways from any Imperial ship, but each of the doorways seemed to be under a sort of lockdown.

 

"I will keep this brief. You are aboard the Imperial vessel Shadowburn. However, we are not part of the Imperial fleet at this point in time. We are attached to a section of the Empire known only as Delta. And as of late, we call ourselves imperials by name only. We managed to steal you away from the Admirals interrogators for reasons which you shall soon know." he said, and Corran quickly took this information and churned it in his head quickly.

 

"You are no longer Imperials, but don't wish to defect. A revolutionary group?" Corran asked, but the man shook his head.

 

"No. We are loyal to Pellaeon. But not the Empire. There is a difference." he said, and Corran nodded. Thoughts swirled through his head, and he wondered if perhaps the Empire was not as united as they had thought. But before he could ask another question, the man stopped, and turned to look at him carefully.

 

"Listen carefully. You ar here for a reason. If you resist, or try to escape, my men will shoot you down, and we will send you back to standard Imperial Intelligence. We tell you what you need to know, when you need to know it. Follow these rules, and we will see to it that you make it back to your wife alive, assuming circumstances allow. Understood?" the man asked, and Corran nodded, finding his mind suddenly whirling with thoughts.

 

After seeing him nod, the man turned, and walked through a door to what was obviously the bridge. Corran followed, and looked around carefully. He could tell know that he was aboard a Carrack clas cruiser, thanks to the cramped and oddball bridge layout. After he took in the sights of the bridge for a moment, he noticed that all the crew members were wearing the same uniform that he was. As he looked around, a man at one post looked up, and spoke quickly.

 

"Captain, we are coming up on Home Six. Reversion in thirty." the man said, and the man who had brought Corran to the bride nodded.

 

"Excellent. Once we revert, follow course seven-oh-oh-six-one, and transmit package Alpha-Four." He said, and the man turned to Corran and smiled a bit.

 

"What you are about to see, no member of the New Republic has ever seen, nor have they ever heard of it. You should feel honored. " he said, and the man tunred back to the viewport. After a moment, Corran nodded, and took a step forwards.

 

"I will, once I know what is going on, sir." Corran said, and the man turned to look at him again carefully.

 

"You catch on very quickly. it is best that you treat me that way until we get you settled in a bit more." he said, and the man turned back to the viewport. After a few more minutes, the ship reverted back to realspace, and Corran stared out of the viewport, looking out at the world in front of them. It seemed to be devoid of life, but judging on every other part of this trip was more than it seemed, he doubted that the world was uninhabited.

 

"Lieutenant, welcome to your new home." the man said, and Corran nodded.

 

"Thank you, sir. I certianly hope I enjoy it." Corran responded, and then man chuckled a bit.

 

"I doubt you will. But it is for the best. Now, Lets get to the shuttlebay. I need to introduce you to your new CO within the hour. He will debrief you on where we are in this situation." the man said, and he turned to leave the bridge. Corran followed smartly, and let the man lead the way out of the bridge. As he did so, Corran had to wonder what was going to happen next.

[Defender_16]

OMGWTFBBQ! It's back!

[BadSamaritan]

Pash Cracken stared out the canopy of his starfighter, and he watched the trio of new cruisers move in formation to join up with the rest of General Solos' force. He flew his starfighter closer to the vessels, admiring their lines, and noting where the gun emplacements were on the hull, along with launch bays for starfighters. As he did so, he heard a voice come over the comm, and he snapped his mind back into where it shoudl have been.

 

"What class are those ships, sir? Never seen one before" came the voice, and Pash smiled. The voice was from Kav'Ch, the latest addition to his rebuilt squadron. A relatively green pilot from Ryloth, he had scored high enough in the sims for Pash to have givien him the chance to be in his squadron. But Pash had a feeling he woudl have to school Kav on some of the rarer vessels that were making their way into the fleet.

 

"Those are Nebulon-H cruisers, top of the line from Kuat. They are also our new home, so get to know them." Pash said, and he went back studying the ships carefully.

 

Far longer than the elderly Nebulon-B frigates that had been the backbone of many rebel and New Republic taskforces early on in the war, these vessels erased many of the problems that had plagued their older brothers, including the spine that was a favorite target for larger vessels on both sides. It also held more starfighters than the -Bs, and had a far more powerful weapons package. But what had bothered Pash about the ships was the fact that for the most part, they lookid like they had been built by the Mon Cals, because of their overall ovoid shape and smooth hulls. Pash felt that wold cause Imperial vessels to pour more fire into the ships, causign them to die just as fast as the older versions. But for now, he could only hope he was wrong.

 

"General Cracken, please bring your flight in for the briefing, and to meet your mission commander. He is getting impatient." came another voice, and Pash smiled a bit.

 

"As ordered, General Solo. Clear the bays, we are coming in hot." Pash responded, and he turned his A-wing hard to port, and goosed the engines to the max. Flying fast over the hulls of the new frigates, he lef his flight towards the Star destroyer than had arrived a few hours before the Frigates. Another relatively new vessel, it had just been transferred to Solos' command from elsewhere in the fleet. but as Pash approached the mighty vessel, he noticed that many of the weapons banks sat empty, and a few of the turrets he did see looked worn out and heavly modified.

 

"Eternal Dream, this is General Cracken Alpha flight requesting clearance to land." Pash called, and after a moment a voice came back, but spoke in broken common, and far harsher than he would expect from a Naval bridge.

 

"Alpha flight, you cleared to land in main bay, wherever you can find room. Watch the paint." the voice said, and Pash frowned a bit. He would have to have a talk with the landing bay commander about whoever that was. But as Pash guided his starfighter into the main bay, his eyes widened at what he saw. Instead of a fighter bay filled with top of the line starfighters and mechanics working on them, the bay was filled with run down freightors of various types, and the fighter racks were mostly empty, outside a squadron of uglies and a few random X- and Y-wings.

 

"Sir, what kind of ship is this?" Kav asked, and Pash sighed gently as he moved his fighter to land in a corner that seemed to have enough room for his flight.

 

"A special kind. Keep your sidearm on you at all times, and hide your credits. This will be an experience." Pash said, and in the back of his mind, he had to ask himself was Solo was thinking bringing this ship anywhere near the front lines.

 

http://www.rpggamer.org/shippics/nebulonh.jpg

 

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

 

Corran studied the landscape of the planet they were flying over carefully, and he felt his hope of escape sinking quickly. The entire world seemed more dead than anything esle. There was an atmosphere of sorts, but he landscape was seemingly void of life. but as they had flown down, he had spotted several cities that looked long since dead.

 

"In case you were wondering, their was once life on this world. Whoever they were, they wiped themselves out centuries ago in a massive war. The cities you see are the only remnants left of their species. The bio-weapons they used actually managed to kill every living thing on the planet." the man said, and Corran nodded.

 

"I assume the world is safe to inhabit again though?" he asked, and the man nodded.

 

"Oh yes. The atmosphere is clean, and breathable by humans. All traces of the bio weapons have long since vanished. But the soil is simply dead, so no plant or animal life can survive here. It is the only world that we know of where an indigenous species randered their own world completely dead." he said, and Corran nodded. After a few more minutes, Corran noticed a massive installation in the distance, and he motioned towards it.

 

"That looks like it doesn't belong here." he said, and th man nodded.

 

"You are correct. We built that, then abandoned it. It is desgined to look like a failed mining installation, which is what records on several worlds will tell you. Along with the fact that there are no deposits of valuable minerals on the world worth mining, and that the world is under a level 7 quarantine due to biological threats. Not even pirates come here anymore. So it is perfect for Delta." he said, and Corran looked over to him carefully.

 

"That is the second time you have said that name. Who is Delta?" he asked, and the man looked oer to him.

 

"Delta is Admiral Pellaeons top secret intelligence agency, not to mention his elite bodygaurds. We are not part of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, nor are we part of the Imperial fleet. We operate independently from both, and work with neither unless is suites our needs. We mostly ensure that the Moffs stay in line, and we keep tabs on New Republic fleet movements from within the fleet itself." he said, and Corrans head snapped around when he heard that.

 

"You hae agents in the fleet itself?" he asked, and the man almsot laughed.

 

"Of course. Just like you have agents in ours. All is fair in love, war, and Intelligence gathering." he said, and he then moved to look out the windscreen once again.

 

"Of course, assuming you make it back to the Republic, anything you tell them about this place will send them in circles trying to locate it. We have hidden this long from them, so i am fairly certain we can hide longer." he said, and Corran nodded.

 

"I figured as much. If you hadn't thought that, you never woudl have told me all of that. Or, you don't expect me to live through whatever you have planned for me." Corran said, and the man shrugged his shoulders.

 

"Either way, we remain safe. But I do hope you survive all of this. I have followed the Rogues for years, and I am a rather large fan of them. I woudl hate for them to lose you." he saidk, and Corran turned to look at him carefully.

 

"YOU are serious." he said, and the man nodded his head.

 

"Of course I am. Just because we are enemies, does not mean we cannot respect each other. Not stap in, we are about to start the landing approach." he siad, and Corran moved to the back of hte small shuttle and sat down in the chair there, noting that from here he coudl not see out the viewport, and woudl be unable to even identify where the entrance to the base was

[BadSamaritan]

Pash shook his head, and then looked up to Han carefully, a look of determination on his face.

 

"No. I am sorry sir, but there is no way I am going to trust the lives of my pilots to him." he said, and Han sighed.

 

"Pash, I know you are not happy about this. But he is one of the few people that can get this job done. You know that." Han said, and Pash stood up.

 

"I know that sir. That still does not change the fact that he is a smuggler, a pirate, and not to mention wanted across most of the galaxy these days for many many reasons." he said, and Booster stood up from the other side of the table, seeming to be oddly comfterable in his new Generals uniform.

 

"Most of the New Republic leadership was once the same way, are you saying you would not have followed them?" he asked, and Pash shook his head.

 

"I woudl have followed them, becuase they were wanted by the Empire. You are wanted by the Empire, and many Republic worlds for crimes that far surpass what the rebellion ever did." he said, and Booster let out a powerful bark of a laugh before looking over to Han.

 

"He has a point. You mayhave to pull rank on him." he said, but Han raised his hands carefully and shook his head.

 

"Oh no, he is a General just like I am. You have to convince him. I don't feel like going all the way to Ackbar just to pull rank." Han said, and Pash looked over to Han carefully.

 

"Ackbar knows about this? And he approves?" he asked, and Han slowly nodded.

 

"I have told him about all personel changes, so yes. How else would I have gotten the Venture cleared to go to Sluis Van for an overhaul?" he said, and Pash sighed a bit before looking over to Booster.

 

"So, you get to destroy Republic Hardware, and risk Republic lives, and get a shiney new Destroyer as payment? Seems like a bad trade to me." he said, but Booster shook his head.

 

"No, the Venture will be joining us once she is up to fighting shape. And by that time, we will be needing her, as I plan to raise as much hell as I can until we get her to back us up." he said, but Pash shook his head.

 

"No, I still don't like it. This goes against far to many regulations, to many rules. My father will have your ship impounded and commisioned in the Navy before he lets you keep it anyways." he said, and Booster smiled and then looked around carefully.

 

"The Venture will always be mine. As far as he knows, the Eternal Dream will be getting a much needed refit for front line duty. Which is true, considering its now part of a debris feild several systems from here." he said, and Pashs' eyes sharpened quickly.

 

"You would use the name of a ship that died protecting the galaxy from the Empire? Thats low, Solo. Even for desperate times." he said, and Han nodded slowly.

 

"I know. But just because Ackbar approves, does not mean your father will not try to give me trouble for this. Also, because you now know the intricate parts of this plan, you are now sworn to secrecy about it. This mission is top secret." he said, and Pash sighed a bit, and looked back and forth between them.

 

"I may not approve of this, but now I can't really see any other choice. Booster, I will go along with this. But if at any point I think you are endangering any of us foolishly, you have my word that I will pull my fighters out and head to Sluis Van to personally vape this ship." he said, and Booster suddenly got a very hard look to his face.

 

"You do that boy, and I assure you that not even your father will be able to protect you from me." he said, and Pash walked over to him and nodded.

 

"Good. Just so long as we understand each other. I will go tell my pilots to pack their fighters, and write their goodbye letters. I hope we will not need them." he siad, and Booster nodded.

 

"As do I, general." Booster said, and he watched as Pash turned smartly and marched out of the room. Booster then turned to Han and raised his eyebrow.

 

"Ackbar? He woudl never approve of me taking your ships." he said, and Han shrugged his shoulders.

 

"I told Ackbar that the man in charge of this operation has large experience in using guerilla warfare, leading forces with limited resources, and took part in the Thyferra campaign. He assumed I was speaking of Wedge, and I just failed to correct him." he said, and Booster chuckled a bit.

 

"And by the time he finds out, we will be buried behind enemy lines, and you will be unable to recall us. Very smuggler of you Solo. Good to see you still have it in you." he said, and Solo chuckled.

 

"Oh, I still have a few tricks up my sleaves. Not the least of which is smuggling you to the front lines, and your toy here into Sluis Van." Han said, and Booster nodded.

 

"Well, thats good to hear. But I need to transfer to my new command. And you need to get back to work, because my sources tell me the Imps are planning something big again, along with Kayne and his CSA ghost ships." he said, and Han nodded.

 

"Thanks for the heads up. Good luck to you Booster, you will need it." Han said, and he walked out of the room quickly. After he walked out, Booster walked over to a comm unit on the wall.

 

"Ek, let everyone know the plans. Code four is in effect till you get back to me. Get everyone who is renting space off the ship, and call back all our friends. We will need all our people on this ship once she is under way." he said, and he heard the growl come back from his current bridge commander, a elderly Togorian who spoke very little basic, but ran a tight ship.

 

"You got it. Get the uniforms out." Booster said, and he sighed, looking down at the uniform he was now wearing. "Even if they do look like Bantha crap."