Silencer

[Travis North]

Following the events of Interference the 213th Battle Squadron's commanders have joined aboard the group's flagship the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Cavalier to discuss their next action. Surrounded by her escorts the Destroyer points like a dagger towards Bothan Space eager to strike at the enemy.

Travis North was sifting through several bits of information received from the recently converted satellite network when a signal sounded from his door. He pressed a button beneath his desk and the door slid open, a junior officer stepped in.

"Commodore North, sir. Captain Vargus has arrived from the Unseen Hand. All those summoned are now aboard and in the briefing room."

"Excellent." Travis said rising from the chair behind his desk, "See that they are served dinner. I shall be joining them shortly."

"Aye sir."

With that the officer took his leave and Travis continued reading. The data collected within just a few days by the network was great, and provided a much needed view of Bothan space. On alert now it appeared that the Bothan Defense Force was reinforcing it's boarders. A capital ship had been spotted probing the sensor ring close to the fleets staging area. Always curious.

[Travis North]

Shortly after the meal had been finished Travis entered the briefing room. As the door slid open his commanders shot up from their seats and stood at attention with a salute. He returned the salutes and spoke before taking the seat at the head of the table.

"At ease. We've got plans to discuss. But first how was the meal?"

A barrage of compliments to the chefs came in response. Excellent news. Aside from his fighter squadrons, Travis was most proud of the abilities his cooking staff held. It wasn't an easy task aquiring some of the finest meal makers in the galaxy.

"I shall pass along your words." Travis said, "Now to business. Thanks to the network we've acquiered much has been learned of traffic into and out of Bothan Space. Recent reports show increased activity of capital class ships in the region. We suspect they are searching for us, trying to determine the composition of our force, but are having little success."

"Even if they did find us we'd wipe them out." One of the commanders said with a laugh. That was Captain Huks of the Bright Star. He was an aging man, his hair beginning to grey.

"Huks is right." Added Captain Paslorn, commanding officer of the Blight, "No single force could match even one of our lines."

"Don't be so quick to think so. These are Rebels, and they tend to be creative in combating our forces. We all know the outcome of Endor, and we thought that was in the bag." Travis said watching his associates lower their eyes. "The latest report indicated a Bothan Heavy Cruiser is nearing the staging area. I feel it would be in our best interest to capture this vessel instead of destroying it."

"The moment we launched assault shuttles they'd jump to safety." That was Huks again, "The Bothan's aren't the type to keep fighting if they have an option to escape. They're slippery bastards."

"True enough, but what if they didn't have such an option. Captain Vargus commands the Interdictor Unseen Hand. This capture operation will be placed upon him and his pursuit line."

Vargus remained silent. The tall dark man wasn't much for speaking unless it was to give an order. Surprisingly he was the oldest in the briefing room despite his appearance, unlike Captain Huks, not a grey hair or deep wrinkle played on the sixty-some year old's face.

The other two Captains dropped their jaws at not being given the job to combat the opposition. They shot cold stares at Commodore North and began to protest.

"Relax. I've got other plans for you two. There is a orbital trading station in the nearby system. Your lines are to secure that system and the station within the week. It's a heavy traffic system and is a line for much of the import/export to the planet Kothlis. Wipe out the Bothan Defense Force presence and establish an Imperial one so we may begin bringing in troops."

Smiles grew on both Captains' faces. Vargus remained unchanged which was no surprise to Travis. He'd suspected that Vargus was already setting up the trap for the Bothan cruiser, and playing the mission out in his mind.

"Well you've got your missions. My line shall remain stationed here and will provide any reinforcements should they be required while you are fulfilling your objectives. Dismissed."

The Captains stood up and headed out the door. Paslorn first followed by Huks, then Vargus who gave a nod of respect to the Commodore before he left. A gesture which surprised North as he thought his subordinates, all of them, despised him since his origins in the fleet came from the Starfighter Corps and not Starship Operations.

[Travis North]

Three TIE Interceptors raced out from under the bow of the Unseen Hand and began to angle starboard in perfect formation to align themselves with the Blight, a Strike-class Cruiser. They would fly recon for the larger capital ship as it entered an edge of a great asteroid field to wait in ambush.

"Switch weapons to quad-fire and boost sensors to full. We've got to map this section of the field and clear any threats to the Blight. Bomber squadron Theta is being loaded with torps to clear the big rocks, they will launch in ten minutes. That gives us enough time to chart the entry vector for the Blight. Take it slow and easy guys."

"Copy Leader. Breaking off your wing and heading in."

The interceptors jetted into the field like they'd known it inside and out slowing up to weave through the maze. Before they could get into the thick of the field one last comm was had between the flight leader and the strike cruiser.

"Blight Control to Beta flight. Be advised we're detecting bio signs in the field. Keep your eyes open for slugs and mynock swarms."

"Affirmative Control. Starting to trasmit field data now, link is green. See you in a bit. Betas out."

The agile crafts juked lefts and rights through the field, each gathering positions and flight paths of the large hunks of rock which composed the expanse.

"That's ten. Fireworks should start anytime now. Status reports."

"This is Two. I buzzed over a large one. It's got tunnels. Slugs are about."

"Three here. Confirm on slugs, just flew through a rock that's been cored. Also ran across a group of mynocks, they were feasting on what looked like a mining probe."

"Alright, continue surveys. Transmitting confirmation of lifeforms and possible mining operations in the field to the Blight."


A sight of terror for any Rebel was seeing a squadron of TIE Bombers. The deadliest of one man fighters for any ground force or starship to observe headed their way for a single bomber's payload could spell disaster for a ship, twelve full payloads could destroy a small fleet. The squadron broke up into pairs and immediately set to clearing a path for the strike cruiser to enter the field. Large masses of rock were obliterated in impressive blasts as the bombers bored into the field creating a large enough corridor for the cruiser to enter.

It was a crafty tactic, one which hadn't been observed for decades but would surely grant victory. The asteroid field provided enough cover and sensor interference that a large capital ship hidden in the field would be masked and simply assumed to be a large asteroid. It's crews lifesigns would pass for those of a large gathering of mynocks or even a young space slug carving away at the rocks. When an enemy cruiser would pass near enough to the entry into the field the hidden ship would strike.

[Travis North]

"Captain, concealment of the Blight is underway. Our recon patrol has mapped a large portion of the field and are reporting worm sign in some of the larger asteroids." Commander Jorn reported.

Jorn was one of the few bridge crew who knew the Captain before his service in the Empire. He'd served under him in the Old Republic, joining his crew shortly before the declaration of the New Order and engaged Separatists forces with him above Coruscant.

"Lets hope none of the beasts are in the vicinity of the Blight then. I believe we'll be able to have the cruiser in the field before a problem comes around." Vargus said confidently, "When do we expect Dusk and Dawn to arrive with the Bothan cruiser in pursuit?"

The Captain sat straight in his command chair regarding his second in command with a hard face. Although friends, during a mission, Vargus was all business.

"Sensor feed suggests the cruiser will enter the zone Dusk and Dawn are surveying in one hour and twenty-five minutes."

"Excellent. When the cruiser observes them fleeing and pursues, we remove their option to flee, and the Blight shall strike as we close." Vargus laughed deviously, "Send word to all crews to prepare for battle action. I want everything ready. Assault Shuttles are to launch once we bare down on the Bothans."

"Aye Captain."

[Travis North]

The two Tartans idled just at the fringe of the asteroid field, engines cut and power diverted to sensors and shields. The perfect target, a stationary sentry. It wasn't long before the sentry was jumped.

The Bothan Heavy Cruiser Hayas' Light dropped directly above the two smaller Tartans and immediatly unleahed wave after wave of energy over their shields. Prepared for such an event to occur the Tartans shunted all energy from weapons to the engines and darted away down the fringe of the belt, Hayas in pursuit battering the reinforced shields with streams of turbolaser fire.

Within ten minutes the chase had reached the point where the trap had been set. The bubble went up and escape was now made impossible for the Hayas. Alerts sounded on all ships within the range of the Unseen Hand's grip. Aboard the Imperial ships it was a signal for action, and death for the Bothans.

The Blight glided out of it's hole in the field and struck at the starboard side of the Bothan cruiser while the Hand closed in, maximum sublight, to the ship's port. The Tartans turned from their path of flight to face the cruiser, they split up and racked the Bothans from above and below with fire from turbolasers.

Visual indications could be seen of the BDF ship's shields failing under the barage of turbolaser fire. Soon they would go down and the assault shuttles would begin disabling and boarding the Bothan ship.

[Travis North]

If only Vargus could see the sight of the Bothan commander's face as the Imperial’s boarding vessels assaulted his ship. Hundreds of blue coloured ion bolts splashed against the hull of the cruiser, electrical surges erupting erratically across the ship disabling its key systems. Within minutes the Bothan ship was adrift and powerless, her assailants closing in to dispatch their boarding parties.

Aboard Assault Transport Omega III

Master Sergeant Clifford Kravos stood firm in the aisle of the troop compartment between his squad of men. All of them looking up to him to hear his words. Kravos wasn't to fond of those long speeches though, he just shouted, "Check your ammo counts, watch your backs, and kill 'em all."

"Hoorah!" the men shouted back. They weren't the Empire's battle hardened men in white, the Stormtroopers. They were the specialized soldiers of the Imperial Fleet, Navy Troopers. Decked out in black uniforms and armed with the Imperial issued E-11 blaster rifles, they were trained to fight in the close quarters of a ship's interior and operate its systems without bringing in and endangering capital operations personnel.

"We hit the hull in 30 seconds. Torches are heated and we're breaching the port side entry. Ship's specs mark our section near the galley. Good luck gents and see you back on the Hand." said the pilot over the intercom.

The sound of cutting torches ceased and an indicator light in the troop compartment went from red to green. The men readied themselves to blast through the Bothan airlock.