[Tales of] The New Sith Order (Redux)

[tacoJoemeru]

Nice pic, might help finding more as well.

[Defender_16]

+ + +

 

"So potentially anything Rimward of the Atrivis sector may have been taken." Dorja summed up.

 

"Potentially." Agreed Wintle. "We still don't know if they're coming out of the Unknown Regions or from the Rim. That Yaga Minor was hit first would suggest the Unknown Regions."

 

"If we knew they were coming in from the Unknown Regions we could swing back around Bastion and over to Helska. Likewise if we knew they were coming from the rim we could get out by way of Nirauan. Either way could be useless."

 

"We could scout a route through Dantooine and over to Gravlex Med." Suggested Commander Devis. "Both systems are uninhabited, and we might find some abandoned ship repair facilities at the latter."

 

"Is there anything at Dantooine?" Asked Fel.

 

"No." Dorja was quick to reply. "There was a Rebel base there some thirty years ago. It was already abandoned before we found it."

 

"Would these aliens use it?"

 

"We haven't even seen them take any planets yet. Just bombard them." Stormtrooper head Taulen interjected.

 

Dorja waved everyone quiet.

"In either case the Raioballo sector would seem like a good place to break through. The sector has enough population that they have a full size sector fleet. If even a fraction of them have survived we'll have a large enough fighting force to get back to the Mid Rim. Commander Devis what do you have in the way of scout craft?"

 

"We have six old Star Wing Assault Gunboats sir."

 

"We'll have our hyperspace jumps end short by a few minutes and send two Gunboats in ahead of us. Let's get moving."

 

+ + +

 

It didn't take long for the Admiral to find a flaw in using the old Gunboats as scouts. Their sensor packages had not been upgraded in more than ten years and were woefully short ranged. The Ardent didn't carry sensor equipment for these older model fighters, only tie craft or Blastboats.

 

"Alien Cruiser Analog and two Frigate Analogs detected in orbit of Dantooine." Reported sensors once they had dropped out of hyperspace.

 

"Have they seen us?"

 

"It doesn't look like it. They appear to be sending landing craft down to the surface."

"Make a note of where they're sending down troops. We may be back in a few weeks to... investigate."

 

Wintle walked up to the Admiral's position at the forward view ports. "I'm sure Mr. Taulen would be interested in volunteering for that mission if given the chance sir."

 

"He just wants to fight something on solid ground. He's not Spacetrooper qualified or he would have been out with the assault shuttles at Bastion."

 

"Jumping to Gravlex Med in ten seconds... nine... eight..."

 

+ + +

 

Hours later with four jumps behind them the Ardent and Sevanar reverted to real space in the middle of the Anx Minor system.

 

"No contacts in system."

Wintle checked over the sensor boards then looked to Dorja.

"Awfully quiet sir."

 

The older man nodded. "Status of the ship docks?"

 

"They're all powered down. No activity. No life signs."

 

"We'll have to chance it. Have Colonel Fel take a recon flight and make a visual inspection of the station."

 

+ + +

 

The two Capital ships were approaching the outer edges of Gravlex Med's gravity well when Fel's Tie flight reached the station.

 

"It looks to be in bad shape Admiral. Most of the slipways and docking arms are damaged. One third of the station is open to space. External cargo modules have been left empty or blown open. All weapons emplacements look as if they were destroyed by Tie fighter attack runs."

 

Dorja turned to Wintle. "Rebels hijacked the Chimaera from here years ago. The platform wasn't worth repairing so it was decommissioned. Sometimes training squadrons jump out here and practice strafing runs."

 

"I couldn't argue if another squadron was to show up Sir."

 

Jag's voice came over the com again.

"We found a slip that might be able to handle the Ardent. It's only partially damaged and the surrounding sections still have atmosphere."

 

"I want troopers and repair teams assessing that dock ASAP. Launch our fighters, they're to perform a CAP, but keep Gauntlet flight two in the forward launch bay. Have the other fighters dock aboard the Sevanar when needed. Inform Commander Davis to position his ship just outside the gravity well of the planet and to scan for incoming ships."

 

+ + +

 

Within two hours the Star Destroyer had been swung into position and backed into the remaining functional slipway on the station. Crews were already moving the giant docking and construction arms into place. The crews already knew their orders; get the hull patched as fast as possible. These repairs were to be quick and dirty.

 

"The repair teams have found spare parts for Tie craft as well as lasers and Turbolaser assemblies. They were deeper inside the station in sections not damaged by strafing."

 

"Any estimates for patching the worst of the hull breaches? We can always fit the Turbolasers while in deep space."

 

Wintle scanned his datapad for the total time estimates.

"The crew chiefs are looking at five hours minimum. Normally this would be a job taking weeks sir."

 

"I know Commander. Time estimates if we were to fit the Turbolasers?"

 

"It would push time requirements up to twelve hours if there weren’t any delays. So say fourteen with delays factored in."

 

"I want contingency plans made for evacuating our people from the station if we have to get out in a hurry."

 

"We have that in place sir. We moved an AT-AT barge and two shuttles over to the station."

 

Dorja smirked.

"It seems as if you have everything in order here Commander. I'll be in my ready room. Inform me if anything changes."

 

+ + +

 

Half way into the repair work one of the sentry pilots uttered the words everyone had been dreading.

"Enemy contact detected. We have incoming fighters."

 

Wintle didn’t even wait to find out what the enemies were. "Admiral to the bridge!" He called out then started checking on the repair progress. The repair teams were one quarter of the way into welding on a large piece of armour plate near the reactors. They couldn't stop and leave it half finished.

 

Dorja stormed onto the bridge at that point looking half asleep.

"What do we have and where are they coming from?"

 

"The contacts are coming up from the planet."

 

"I thought the planet wasn't habitable."

"It isn't habitable sir." Insisted Wintle.

 

"Put the contacts on the screen. Sensors what are they?"

 

"They're coming in fast. A-wings. We now have Rebel IFF contacts. Looks like three full squadrons."

 

009

[tacoJoemeru]

getting to my favorite part...

[Defender_16]

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h293/Defender_16/A-wingAttack.jpg

 

"Have the hanger crew equip the second Gauntlet flight with missiles. Pull the interceptors back. Those little shooting stars can be death on Interceptors if we give them a chance. Raise shields and extend them around our slipway."

 

Turbo lasers that could still fire despite the docking arms were crewed. Shields began to power up. Stormtroopers armed with shoulder fired missiles and torpedoes clambered into position on the outside of the station.

 

"The missile equipped Gauntlets will be ready in three minutes."

 

Admiral Dorja picked up him com. "Colonel Fel, try to keep as many of our pilots and fighters alive as possible."

 

"Understood Admiral. Shielded fighters up front. We'll break their formation for the Interceptors to jump them."

 

+ + +

 

The scratch built A-wing fighters were closing fast. Using their impressive speed to try and gain any advantage. At maximum range half of the tiny fighters fired concussion missiles.

 

"Break! Break!" Yelled out a half dozen pilots over the com.

"Fold formation!" Came Fel's distinctive voice. "Use lasers to shoot down the missiles!"

 

A flurry of laser and ion Cannon fire started, then ball explosions began appearing.

The designators for one Gunboat and four Interceptors blinked out before the two lines of fighters crossed and merged into a rolling dogfight. One full squadron of A-wings blasted right through the engagement, lasers firing, and out toward the shipyard.

 

The gunboats fired torpedoes after the A-wing squadron before having to break off. Half the Rebel squadron fell back, targeting the missiles with lasers. At the same time Gauntlet Flight One broke free of the main engagement and headed after the squad. The trailing A-wing group had just destroyed the last torpedoes when Jag Fel's flight caught up to them.

Three of the Rebel fighters never survived the first pass, the six laser cannon on each Gauntlet fast chewing through their weak shields. The return fire punched through a gauntlet's shields and sheared off a wing sending it out of control.

 

There wasn't time for Jag's flight to stop and dogfight with the survivors. They had to get ahead and stop the other A-wing group. The three A-wings were about to turn in pursuit when the missile locks of Gunboats drew their attention again.

+ + +

 

"Time until Flight two launches?" Asked Dorja.

"Thirty second."

 

Out ahead of the Destroyer six A-wings fired Heavy Rockets and torpedoes.

 

"Gunnery-"

"Already on them sir."

 

Turbolasers opened fire on the missiles. Most of the bolts missed and those that did hit struck the slower Heavy Rockets. Six Torpedo detonations blossomed against the forward shields.

"Dropping Ventral shields for fighter launch."

Four Gauntlets armed with missile pods dropped fast from the forward launch bay. Before the Destroyer’s shields had even come back up the Ties were firing pairs of missiles at the Rebels. Each overlapping their missile fire.

 

The A-wings broke formation and spiralled down toward the new threat. Most fired lasers while dodging heavily, blasting the missiles or out manoeuvring them. One unfortunate fighter caught six missiles simultaneously, turning into a bright orange fiery smear.

 

Instead of turning to shoot down the remaining missiles, or battle the Gauntlet flight the surviving Rebels all flew straight for the nearest points on the ship docks. They reached the nearest docking arms and hull sections just at the missiles caught up, and used them to block their line of sight. Bright ball explosions lit up the dock next to Ardent.

 

"Tell the Stormtroopers to stay alert. They may try terrain following tactics."

 

Gauntlet Flight One soon caught up with the second flight. "Break by pairs, one laser equipped fighter and one missile equipped fighter."

Jag didn't sound happy from what the other pilots could tell.

"We'll have to hunt them down."

 

Out at the main engagement the fighting was in a stalemate. Nearly a squadron of Interceptors was destroyed or so badly damaged they were out of the fighting. The A-wings would have had the advantage by now were it not for the Gunboats and the older Tie Avenger unit from Sevanar.

 

"Colonel Fel, this is Admiral Dorja. No pressure but we're going to need help at the main engagement, and soon. Find those fighters."

 

+ + +

 

"No Pressure." Jag muttered under his breath.

Sensors were going to be near useless here, but sure enough down below he could see a fighter making a surface run towards the Destroyer.

 

"Gee Five, on me." He called into the com letting his wing know to stay close. Then he heeled his fighter over and dove towards the likely intercept point. Before they could accurately judge where the A-wing was going to go, a Stormtrooper noticed the fighter and launched a missile at it.

"Sithspit." Cursed Jag as the A-wing broke off, using a half melted communications array for cover.

 

They followed the fighter into a large empty slipway filled with broken or disintegrating docking arms. Instead of heading into the tangle of armatures the fighter instead flew through a blown out cargo hatch and into the station.

 

"Fel to Ardent. A-wings are inside the station. We are pursuing them."

Com static increased as they entered the structure. For all he knew the Admiral could have ordered them out and they wouldn’t know.

 

As they came around an intersection in the main cargo module conveyer way we spotted the A-wing up ahead. Artificial gravity still seemed to be on in places forcing them to bring up repulsors to stay in the middle of the corridor and limiting top speed. There were some sparks from ahead and the A-wing turned a corner.

 

"Prepare to increase speed once we get around the corner."

 

Before they reached the corner a particular piece of debris sitting on the floor of the conveyer way stood out. It was shinier than the surrounding carbon scored metals and debris. The Torpedo the A-wing had dropped on a timer exploded. The forward shields disappeared off of both Gauntlets and debris pelted them.

 

They missed the turn the first A-wing had taken and the corridor ahead was straight for some distance. Then laser bolts from a second A-wing hit their aft shields.

 

Jag swore again. If they turned in place in the narrow conveyer way the A-wing could shoot them through their unshielded front.

"Increase speed!"

With no other options Jag began firing lasers into the ceiling as they passed. Debris began raining down but the tie's were moving fast enough to get under it before it could reach the floor. The A-wing was forced to either slow or risk running into half melted Durasteel support braces at several hundred meters per second. At the next intersection Jag and his wing went off in different directions.

 

+ + +

 

"We've accounted for all but three of the A-wings attacking us sir." Reported Wintle. "And the surviving fighters at the main engagement are now running. Apparently they've seen that their attack squadron won't be able to harm the ship."

 

Dorja sighed.

"Dispatch recovery shuttles. I want any extra starfighter debris, rebel or Imperial, brought aboard. We might be able to cobble a fighter out of it all. How many A-wings escaped?"

 

"Five out of the nearly two and a half squadrons in the main fight."

 

"And our vehicle losses?"

 

"Heavy. We're down to four Gunboats, four Avengers and six Interceptors. All of those are in need of repairs."

 

"Pilots?"

 

"Many of our Tie pilots managed to eject but neither of the Gunboat pilots survived."

 

"Find me some Rebel pilots Commander. I wouldn't mind having a talk with some. "

 

010

[Paul]

Damn rebel scum. Lol Good read as always Defender. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

Damn rebel scum. - Grand Moff Conway

 

I knew you were going to say that.

Anyways I've topped out at about 43 posts worth of the Original NSO writings. I've got some more Rebel related posts that take place a little while after but haven't setup inbetween pieces to connect them to the main story section.

 

+ + +

 

The A-wing crept forward on repulsors. Floodlight, transponder, and active sensors powered down to prevent detection. Few of the overhead lights in the cargo corridors still worked after years of abandonment and those that did were very dim. Rays of light were reflected into parts of the station interior through holes in the hull. Shadows and debris made even intact walls seem ominous.

 

The pilot used manoeuvring jets, thrusting forward instead of lighting up the powerful Novaldex engines and creating a visible light source. Something glinted in the shadows to the right. There was a hole in the wall that had been obscured because of the darkness. Inside was a cargo hold filled with old Tie parts. The pilot was about to continue forward again when he noticed that the blast marks surrounding the hole were much newer.

 

When the Rebel pilot turned to look more closely at the Tie parts Jag fired. Despite the closeness, the Gauntlet's laser convergence system put the linked fire from all six cannon in a fifty centimetre area.

Right through the cockpit bubble canopy.

 

The A-wing dropped to the floor, wisps of smoke trailing from it as escaping oxygen in the life systems allowed a small fire a few seconds of life.

 

Jag brought all of the systems back up and punched up power to the com system. "Fel to any Imperial units, scratch one Rebel."

 

"Copy that Colonel." Came the voice of one of his pilots, probably Tarth Elsin. The signal was faint and scratchy but still understandable. "We only have one more fighter to account for. The Admiral want's you to know tha-... Uh oh."

 

"Report Lieutenant."

 

"I found the last fighter... it's empty."

 

Jag scrolled through the command menu then locked onto the IFF signal Tarth's fighter was putting out.

"Hold your position, I'm coming to you. Can you describe the area?"

 

"It's off a tertiary intersection. A tight fit. The fighter is sitting in an abandoned machine shop. Let me just move my fighter to get a better look."

 

"Don't get yourself killed. Keep your eyes open."

 

"I've been scanning that area on full active. There is no one here. Oh my..." There was a pause of five or six seconds, each of which Jag expected to end with his pilot screaming for help.

"Sir It looks like the missile loading ports have been opened on the A-wing. It's a fairly large bore system, Heavy Rockets by the look of it. There are spent casings for two and room for two... maybe four more."

 

"I'm almost there. Is anything missing from the shop?"

 

"There... there is a patch of floor that's clear of debris. It looks about the size of a repulsor cart."

 

+ + +

 

Dorja fumed.

"Commander I want checks to be sure that everyone that goes aboard the station is armed and prepared for enemy contact. There may only be one Rebel aboard but that Rebel has weapons capable of seriously harming our ship."

 

"We've pulled some of the Stormtroopers that we had assigned to use missile launchers outside the station to patrol it's interior. Colonel Fel and his wing man are on their way back to the Ardent to rearm. He also reported another cash of Tie parts but they were much older than the others we've found."

 

"The stations and shipyards in this part of the galaxy used to keep a compliment of TIE/ln fighters before they were phased out. The Interceptors might not have been cheap enough for the station Commander at the time so he kept a stockpile. That's my theory."

 

"Sir, the Rebels use older model Tie craft sometimes if they can't build their own. We know there are elements hiding on the planet and that a Star Destroyer was hijacked from this station before it was decommissioned. They may have been maintaining this slipway for all these years."

 

"Training flights have strafed this station a hundred times. The instructors would notice if parts were repaired..." Dorja turned and gave the younger man a sideways glance. "Unless some of the instructors were traitors."

 

"I'll file an Intelligence report when we get back sir."

 

"With this new threat I doubt we'll ever spare the ships to properly search that planet for bases. We're certainly in no shape to start random bombardments and have a few squadrons swarm up at us."

 

"No sir."

 

The Admiral stood looking out the forward viewports at the toxic clouds shrouding the surface of the planet below.

 

"When the last of our damaged or destroyed vehicles have been recovered send a team to pick up the two A-wings in the station. One is supposed to be undamaged the other needing only minimal repair. If we have to we can press them into service."

 

+ + +

 

Wing pairs of Tie Gauntlet's flew patrols around the slipway and Ardent. Jag and his wingman had been ordered to land and get four hours sleep once they had returned from their search and destroy mission. Now they were back out on patrol while the other pilots took their short rest shift. It had been five hours since the last A-wing fighter had been found empty.

 

Jag and Tarth were waiting for clearance to go back into the station and begin a search for the Rebel. Before that happened the hanger techs had to finish repairs on some of the Interceptors to fly CAP in their place.

 

The repair work on the Ardent was becoming noticeable. Many of the largest gaps and holes in the hull had been covered by grey unpainted armour plate. Lower priority items like the hole in the ceiling of the main bay had not even been looked at yet.

 

The AT-AT crews knowing they would be of little use in a space battle had suggested mounting the heads of their vehicles in the holes left by the destroyed quad laser mounts. Given another thirty minutes the Ardent would have her external weapons increased by eight Laser Cannon. The now disabled vehicles were being cut into scrap to patch smaller holes if there was enough time.

 

With most of the raw materials now moved to the Ardent, or soon to be placed aboard, the station was fast becoming Stormtrooper territory. Somehow without the notice of the ship’s senior officers the troopers had moved two AT-ST's over to the station and set them up in the cargo mover corridors. The sight of the walkers inside the station had improved the morale of those still working inside, so the senior officers had decided to ignore how useless they would actually be.

 

An hour passed before messages started to come in on one of the main Stormtrooper Com bands.

"This is DV-493, I believe I've spotted the Rebel. I'm farther into the station, almost to the main axis."

The launch bay techs were still not finished the repairs to the Interceptors so Jag held his breath and waited.

"DV-493, attempt to capture the Rebel if you can. We have troops converging on your general area."

"Roger..." Reported the trooper. Within seconds he was back on. "Wait something is wrong."

 

A large explosion rocked the centerline of the station about where the trooper's transmission had been coming from. After that the transmissions became a mess.

"Rebel on a hover sled!"

"Fire!"

"AT-ST is moving up."

 

Flashes of cannon fire back-lit the interior through viewports and holes in the hull. There were dozens of blue flashes and then things began to quiet down.

 

+ + +

 

"Akeyiro Taulen to Ardent come in." Came the voice of the ship's trooper commander.

"This is Dorja go ahead." Replied the Admiral into his comlink.

"The station is secure. We have the Rebel... Alive."

 

011

[Paul]

Defender,

As always a good read, and yes I hate rebels lol. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

+ + +

 

Another hour had passed since the Rebel had been captured. Dorja listened to Trooper Taulen's report over the com in his ready room.

"Casualties were not as bad as they could have been. One trooper killed and three others wounded. We were lucky that none of the other warheads on the hoversled exploded. An AT-ST driver had shot a big enough hole in the flooring in front of the cart that it couldn't avoid it. The driver was ejected from the sled from the impact then a dozen of my troopers stunned her."

 

"Fine. Start moving your men back to the ship. We're spending far too long here and pushing our luck. If any of your men can help with the repair work get them on it. If we arn't finished the basic repairs in six hours we are going to launch."

 

"Aye sir. I'll still keep a small force of my men posted through the station interior near the dock. I'll talk to the repair crew Chief about sending some troopers to move the blast deflector panels into place. Should assist with a fast launch. Taulen out."

 

Once the channel had closed Dorja leaned back in his chair. He was getting too old for this. It hadn't even been a full day since they docked here yet it felt like they were never going to leave.

 

+ + +

 

Dorja woke with a start to the sounds of "Admiral to the bridge" blaring over the inter-ship com. He had fallen asleep leaning back in his chair and had been that way for several hours.

 

The door to his ready room hissed open at his approach, a brisk stride fast getting him up to the command walkway.

 

Wintle turned to him as he approached. "Sevanar reports ships hypering into the system. Imperial and civilian IFF contacts."

 

"What kind of ships are they?"

 

"An older Destroyer... Right to Rule, a Carrack cruiser, Civilian passenger liners, freighters and light transport craft."

 

"Get me the Captain of that Destroyer."

“Channel open.â€

[Paul]

Keep em coming Defender these story posts kick ass er butt. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

“New Course plotted. All Civilian ships will be ready to jump in two minutes.†Edited May 31, 2007 by Defender_16

[DarthTex]

Once again Def, excellent post!

[nordwindranger]

good stuff.

[tacoJoemeru]

Poor Right To Rule....

[Defender_16]

+ + +

 

Hyperspace swirled past the bridge viewports much as they had for the past untold hours. Crew went through their duty shifts, keeping rested and alert young officers at the necessary bridge stations. Even Commander Wintle had opted to take a respite while Lt. Commander Kerrick now stood in. It would be six more hours before they dropped out of hyperspace near Toprawa.

Then he felt the all to familiar surge through the deck plating.

 

"Premature hyperspace reversion!" Shouted the helmsman as the Ardent was yanked out of hyperspace by it’s safety interrupts. Ahead were the other ships of the convoy and a dark green gas giant planet. Wintle and the navigators on the Ardent didn't make foul ups in hyperspace jumps. The Commander had been in charge of a hyperspace mapping ship before his transfer to Destroyers. Something was wrong.

"Report!"

 

Kerrick was fast to respond. "Our course for Toprawa was altered somehow. It's possible it was off by as much as four degrees."

The operations officer was quick to chime in. "That’s near impossible sir. Someone would have had to slice into our systems to cause an error that big."

 

"We may have been vulnerable when docked to the station." Kerrick suggested. "We linked our systems into the remaining operational computers around the slipway."

 

"Did our systems pick up any slicer programs trying to get into our computers from the station?"

 

"There's no way to be sure. We powered down whole sections of the ship while we were conducting repairs. A program could have drawn power from the station's reserves to run secondary computer backups. The main computer can sometimes detect even that kind of infiltration but we had it turned off for nearly an hour at one point while re-initializing the processors and sensor arrays."

 

"When were the computers turned off." Dorja directly asked the officer.

The younger man grimaced. "Just before the Rebel attack."

 

"I think I'll have to have a talk with our Prisoner later. For now we need to find out where we are and find a safe haven for these civilians. Ops, try and see if you can track down any slicer programs floating around. Check into the backups if you have to. Commander lets get this convoy into a high orbit around the gas giant. I want to be ready to get out of the gravity well if we need to jump again."

 

"Yes sir."

 

+ + +

 

 

"Contacts." Called out sensors. "Bayonet class light cruiser and a CC-9600 Frigate. IFF marks them as independents. Mercenaries."

 

"There are private defence fleets in this area not allied with the Rebels." Mused the Admiral. "Try checking the database for a match."

“Aye sir.â€

Edited May 31, 2007 by Defender_16

[Paul]

Good read as always. Keep em coming Defender. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

If this hadn't alread been posted I'd be welcoming people to guess what was going to happen next and so on. Perhaps even suggestions on what people would like to see.

 

+ + +

 

The sound of several thousand Imperial officers and troops snapping to attention echoed across the large ferrocrete landing pad at Agamar's military spaceport. High Admiral Dreks Burgan walked almost casually down the extended ramp of his personal Shuttle. A tall lanky man of mixed Coruscant and Corellian ancestry, he wore a somewhat bemused expression most of the time. The Shuttle's white finish sparkled in the morning sunlight marred only by the bright Imperial crests on the nose and wings.

 

The Admiral had just reached the base of the ramp when he was joined by a larger man in an Imperial Army General's uniform. Jerej Richardson stood at least as tall as Admiral Burgan but was much broader. Most people that saw him expected that he was or soon would be overweight and were surprised to find out he was in good shape.

 

The two men walked down the wide aisle between large formations of Stormtroopers and toward the waiting Moff of the Lahara Sector.

 

Jerej leaned in closer to the Admiral for just a second and whispered to him. "Third formation on the left is looking a bit ragged."

A smirk tugged at the Admiral's lips. The two of them had been playing this game for many years now. "The second formation back on the right looks just as bad." He replied.

The General tilted his head just enough to see the other trooper formations out of the corner of his eye.

"I think they were rotated in from Vinsoth by the look of them."

 

"You only think? You must be slipping Jerej."

 

"Well it was either Vinsoth or they were shipped in from Coruscant's lower levels."

 

"Ah, your uncertainty makes all the more sense now."

 

"You don't have to get all smart about it."

 

The two men kept quiet until they were standing in front of Moff Naz Thorin who immediately offered them his hand.

"Welcome to Lahara Sector Admiral Burgan. It's always such a pleasure to meet such an outstanding officer like yourself."

 

"Likewise Moff Thorin." Dreks responded easily. "This is General Richardson. He heads up my ground forces among other things."

 

"General Richardson, yes. I must tell you I have studied the landings in the last Mon Cal war quite extensively. It was quite brilliant."

 

The General put a hand to his chest. "I think I'm going to blush, no one has ever spoken so highly of my work before." At Dreks' stare he pushed on. "But an army is only as good as the navy that lands it."

 

"How true. Admiral, I believe the conference should be assembling by know. If you'll follow me?"

 

They stepped into a modified armoured ground transport which whisked them into a bunker complex leading underground. The vehicle followed a down sloping ramp around several corners before levelling out into a straight away.

 

The happy almost eccentric sounding old man that the Moff had been on the surface was replaced by a serious grim man as they went farther underground.

"While we're waiting, just between us, how much danger is my sector in Admiral?"

 

Both of the lower ranking men sighed. "How much danger your sector is going to be in will depend very much on what is decided in this counsel. I think I can say without doubt though that this will be very serious. If you haven't called up reserves yet do so once the meeting is over. We are getting ready for a possible worst case scenario, you should do the same."

 

He didn't bother telling the Moff that he had already been given full authority in this matter. This entire section of the Empire could be in jeopardy if he screwed up.

+ + +

 

"Gentlemen what do we know?" Asked the High Admiral as he stood at the head of the large conference table.

Before anyone could break the silence he moved on.

"I don't want to know what you think, what do we actually know? Knowledge we know to be fact."

The other high ranking leaders in attendance kept quiet. Select leaders from every major Imperial force from Vijun to Ithor were present for the conference. Most of them as Moffs out ranked the Admiral, but the smart ones knew that if he weren’t competent the young upstart Admiral would have been dead some time past.

 

"For more than two weeks no communications of any kind have been received from Yaga Minor. We know Admiral Dorja was assembling a fleet about midway between Sinsang and Bimmiel.

A partially damaged communications beacon recovered by a recon team indicated that Dorja had received a distress signal from Bastion before his carriers arrived. He then left the com beacon behind for the carriers and jumped to Bastion.

 

When the carriers arrived at the rendezvous point we can assume they were ambushed by a waiting force. Debris of two Skipray Blastboats was also found. Analysis indicates they were destroyed perhaps a day later than the carriers. One of the few registry numbers found in the remains places them as part of the Blastboat unit assigned to Dorja's Command ship the Ardent.

 

When attempts to contact the fleet by hypercom failed the commander of the Strike Cruiser which had found the wreckage ordered that they pull back. As such there was little chance to more thoroughly scour the debris."

 

Admiral Burgan waved to General Richardson who was waiting off to the side to activate the holo projector. The projection came up displaying a large swath of the galaxy. Some areas were darkened either with a light grey mist or dark grey.

 

"This is the blackout zone." Continued the Admiral, pointing to the dark grey section. "The area in which we have been receiving no reports or information from. There is also the grey zone. The areas affected by the holocom disruptions but are still maintaining contact with the fleet. This contact remains intermittent and unreliable."

Many of the Moffs nodded. Only a few of those present commanded worlds which were un-affected.

 

"No ships that have entered the blackout zone in the past two weeks have come out. The zone extends from the Atrivis sector into the unknown regions as well as out to the Tingel Arm.

 

Because of this blackout condition we will be sending in two large battle fleets. They will converge at Yaga Minor where this incident seems to have started. Each of these fleets will have additional Star Destroyers left behind acting as Hypercom relays. Because of the importance of this situation ships and vehicles are being stripped from any nearby systems and sectors to aid in this offensive.

 

Due to it's proximity we are going to take as few ships as possible from the Lahara Sector as we may end up using them as a reserve force.

 

Each group will have one central Command class Destroyer, twelve Imperator or Imperial II Destroyers and Upgrade series Victory Destroyers. There will be a minimum four carriers and dozens of support ships. Any ship that can be brought in from nearby without dramatically weakening the defences of worlds will be used.

 

He paused and looked around the table. "Are there any overwhelming objections to the course I've laid out?"

Slowly responses of 'No' began to echo across the table.

 

"Good... I want these two forces assembled within the week, if not sooner. We will find out what is behind these blackouts and fleet disappearances."

 

015

 

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h293/Defender_16/TalesNSO-Trialsmap.gif

Edited May 31, 2007 by Defender_16

[Paul]

Defender,

Are you posting these in the correct order? I expected Dorjas interview of the rebel scum prisoner to come next. Just wondering. - Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

Yes it's the correct order. The Movement of the Imperial fleet hase to be setup before Dorja meets them.

[Paul]

OK Defender just checking.-Grand Moff Conway

[Defender_16]

Hey Paul, let me know if the Red Text is too hard for you to see.

 

EDIT: Changed to Violet so as to be more colour-blind friendly.

 

 

+ + +

Garm Bel Iblis, looked out into the depths of space from his office aboard the mobile base 'Paradise Lost.' A few kilometres away cruised Peregrine, Farstar and Tyrant's Bane, a handful of the ships protecting the base. Out here in the Kathol outback, midway between Exocron and the Kathol Republic, the Rebel forces had finally found a haven. The Kathol sector was a big place and had too much random traffic for Imperial Intelligence to follow every smuggler or sympathizer.

 

It had been two years since a dedicated Imperial fleet had chased the rebel taskforce to the very edges of the galaxy. Thankfully the transport ships they used had been built by smugglers allowing them to get far enough ahead of the main force which had been slowed down by aging Dreadnaughts. The Imperial Command ship had flown straight into a volley of more than one hundred Torpedoes. The other Destroyers had not fallen nearly so easily but the battle had been won.

 

Ever since, the Rebels had maintained a low profile. Imperial Intelligence had later found the site of the battle but not before hyperdrives had been installed aboard the hulks of three still salvageable Destroyers. The command ship had been rebuilt into the Rebel's mobile base and the other Destroyers were now less than two months away from completion.

 

Meanwhile small forces of Rebels ships were deployed as mercenary units. Mostly protecting neutral planets in the sector from Pirates but others found employment elsewhere. It was enough to bring in food and supplies for the hidden Rebel fleet so it would continue for the time being.

 

Every so often they would load up a freighter or two as a starfighter transport and hit some Imperial target far from the Kathol Sector. It was handy to hunt the pirates in the area as their captured ships could be repaired and put back out with a different crew and take the place of the previous bandits. A few more months of this and they could move the fleet to a new area, harassing better targets with their rebuilt forces.

 

His comlink on the desk behind him beeped for attention. Spinning the chair around he stabbed the button. "Go ahead."

His aid's voice came over the com, her young but already grainy voice carrying easily.

"I have someone to see you sir."

"Who is it? I'm not supposed to see anyone until eighteen hundred."

"He says his name is Jaden Kral and that he met you on Bestine."

Iblis frowned. "I've never even been to Bestine before."

 

"I know that sir but his security checked out enough to get him here from Tanquilla Beach. Our people on the station tend to be thorough."

 

"They're only thorough if they're not dead. Did you scan him for weapons?"

"He surrendered a light carbine to the guards."

 

"Put him on the comlink." Growled the old Rebel.

 

A moment later the aid's voice responded. "Go ahead sir."

 

"This is Iblis. You should know, if this is an assassination attempt it won't do you any good. I'll just be replaced by younger possibly more efficient people. The ship would also jump before any force could arrive."

 

A calm even voice responded. "If I had reason to kill you General you would not be alive right now. I am not a member of Imperial Intelligence, I'm here to talk business."

 

The General debated for a few seconds the shrugged to himself. "Let him in."

+ + +

 

A slightly taller than average human entered and took the offered chair, his face seeming somewhat plain.

"Jaden Kral is not my real name but it will suffice for our purposes. I represent a particular... group which is interested in bringing an end to the Empire as we know it."

 

Iblis clasped his hands on the desk in front of him. "I'm listening."

 

"My group has already made some headway using pirate and mercenary bands to disrupt Imperial communications in the Outer and Mid Rim."

 

"Yes I was just reading a report detailing communications difficulties. Apparently there's a Holocom grey-out from Sullust to Wild space. Even Vergesso is affected."

 

"There are even larger swath's of the outer-rim with holocom difficulties. Wild space from Ryloth to Kessel and everything on the other side of Vortex from the Hydian Way to the Unknown Regions. The Hutts have already been using this to their advantage."

 

"Sounds like an impressive feat I have to say. Why are you here telling me this?"

 

"We can maintain a limited offensive against the Imperial fleet for a time and have been. I'm sure you know what will happen if we begin to enjoy too much success though."

 

The General gave a curt nod.

"The Eclipse, or one of the Sovereigns. Yes." With those ships still in existence it didn't matter what the Rebellion did. Everything could be undone with a planetary bombardment. So they had been reduced to hunting down scraps and trying to stay hidden. Each year getting that much harder to stay hidden.

 

"Our attacks are going to be drawing Imperial attention very soon. We would like groups such as yours to hit Imperial targets on this side of the galaxy in roughly the same time period. Even if we were to win in our area there would still be many fleets elsewhere ready to be thrown against us. We need their attention split."

Kral glanced around the room for a moment as if he hadn't noticed his surroundings before then turned his attention back to the General.

"I believe you have a saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' We are not asking for your alliance at this time. I can provide you with the names of certain star systems and areas you should avoid for now though. Our military might mistake you for an enemy."

 

"I don’t suppose you could give me a rough idea now where we should avoid?"

 

"The Tingel arm to Ithor and parts of the Hydian Way are going to become unsafe to any Imperials."

 

"Civilians?"

 

"There are always Civilian casualties in war General, you should know that. We will be stopping any civilian traffic trying to leave the area. After the initial shock wears off we are going to need knowledge of reliable hyperlanes to get our fleets out of the area. Lanes few Imperials know about."

 

"If you try to cross the Hydian Way or anywhere near it the Imperials are going to be able to use it to ferry huge fleets against you from the Core."

 

"Leave that to us."

Kral lifted his briefcase placing it on the desk and opened it before turning it to face the General. Inside was a near spherical object looking similar to a leathery ball.

 

"This is a Villip, an organic communications device. It can reach over great distances and does not need re-transmitters like a holocom does. Each is tuned to only respond to another specific one. Do not attempt to have your techs 'reverse engineer' it as it will die from such an attempt. Should you decide to contact our group in the future, this will be the only way... other than though me that is." He finished, giving an almost evil grin.

 

Iblis looked down at the object then back up. "I will have to speak to other leaders before launching an offensive. I can't push something like this through on my own. There's too much risk involved. We could be wiped out."

 

"Do what you must. We will not soon forget any assistance you render us. In fact I can readily promise that any worlds you take will be yours to control once the Empire has fallen."

 

The old General, though still uncertain, offered his hand to the unusual ambassador. "I'm sure we'll be able to come to some sort of understanding."

 

"Indeed." He replied then bowed. "I will return in two weeks to see if your counsel wishes to discuss anything. I hope that you will find that time... productive."

 

016

Edited May 31, 2007 by Defender_16

[tacoJoemeru]

Stupid rebels, working with the vong.

[DarthTex]

Stupid rebels, working with the vong.

They only think about themselves; selfish bastards

 

Good going Def!

[Defender_16]

They've haven't even heard of the Vong yet. What else are they supposed to do? Sit back and miss the best opportunity for Rebellion they've had in decades?

(Remember the kind of tactics Iblis used at the [NJO] Battle of Coruscant?)

 

I'm thinking about starting a new thread for discussion on potential plot development. I'm still having trouble deciding how certain events should unfold and don't know enough about some groups.

Is there anyone that knows a good deal about the Hutts? I never bothered reading Darksaber.

 

 

EDIT: Btw, changing the Rebel Red text to some other colour.

 

Like say... Violet.

 

That working any better Paul?

Edited April 2, 2007 by Defender_16

[Paul]

Defender I can't see the red text. Violet works much better, thanks. - Grand Moff Conway

[DarthTex]

They've haven't even heard of the Vong yet. What else are they supposed to do? Sit back and miss the best opportunity for Rebellion they've had in decades?

I know that Def, but I have the luxury (as being the reader) to know of other events that they don't, so ... I get a little cranky