Rendezvous

[Captain Kir Kanos]

The behemoth SSD, Infliction, barreled out of hyperspeed, drawing to a standstill in a remote, offcast region of space. The nearest system was a good day's journey away.

The Super-class Star Destroyer was greeted by an identical battleship, two dramatically smaller Imperial-class Star Destroyers drifted aside the gigantic vessel, like a pair of lethal, ominous twins by their mother's side.

Kanos allowed himself the vaguest-of-smiles. Tagging these Imperial machines of destruction to an analogy that of a mother and her offspring was laughable. There was nothing nurturing about the looming, massive instrument of destruction before him. It was nothing but a harbringer of death, destruction and cruelty. A necessary evil.

Not unlike its commander.

As much disdain the ex-Imperial Royal Guard held for the cowardly, sinister and greed-driven Sith and Dark Jedi, it was, on occasion, compulsory to conduct dealings with the dishonorable vermin -- if even worthy of that title.

The fact Vost Tyne wasn't your average Sith Lord eased Kanos' tension. He counted the wandering ex-Imperial as a hesitant ally. He, like all of his kind, was naturally disagreeably foolish and rash, driven by a lust for false power -- but only on occasion. Kanos, having dabbled with the manipulatory functions of the Force in his training as a Guard, sensed the man slowly realizing the error in his dark ways.

As if by magic, a downsized, transparent version of Tyne mustered before the Captain. An energy spike swam through the hologram, distorting the miniature Sith Lord for a brief moment.

A halfhearted nod, "Tyne."

"Lord Kanos. An honor."

"Of course," Kanos backed into his command chair. The bridge crew went about their duties, seemingly olivious to the communication relay. A fine crew. He had already restructured the bridge, elevating the crewpit to rest on a level plane with the rest of the bridge. Kanos didn't believe in the pompus, arrogant, previous layout. Typical Imperial design.

"Lord Tyne, if you would be so kind as to inform me why I've been summoned...," not knowing exactly where he was, he continued simply, "here."

[Vost Tyne]

Upon the bridge of the SSD, Vengeance, stood the Sith Lord and former Imperial Navy Admiral. The conversation turning to the topic at hand after a brief exchange of pleasantries...."I have called you here for one simple purpose....Justice."...with that Tyne began his spiel, his words practiced times before..."The Galaxy has fallen to the scum that would have infested it earlier without the presence of justice." The Admirals words echo like the voice of a giant upon the bridge of his ship. He returns to the topic..."One of your kind has already joined me in my quest to return justice to the Galaxy. I believe you know Guardsman Meshi Talio, commander of the Star Destroyer, Hand of Justice?"

[Varen Windu]

Rather than argue his reasoning, making way for debate and pleading, the starship Captain made his reply brief and to the point... after all, he found dark siders to often be thick-headed and ignorant, arguing endlessly over trivial and flippant matters.

"Yes, I know him well, Lord Tyne, and no, I will have no part in your conquest. The fallacious Empire I once blindly served no longer bears any meaning to me, nor its ideals."

Kanos rose from his chair of command, only further emphasizing his resolve on the matter at hand.

"Should you pursue your objective with your customary disregard-for-life, brutal and barbaric fashion, you can expect my hand to come into play... Lord Tyne."

Perhaps Kanos was misjudging Tyne. Perhaps he had, as they said, 'turned over a new leaf'. He certainly had felt, or sensed, rather, a change of heart in the Sith Lord.

Then again, perhaps, he still carried his narrowminded, ignorant and belligerent views.

[Captain Kir Kanos]

OOC - Post above supposed to be made by Kanos. Didn't realize I was under alternate ID. Happens a lot.

[Vost Tyne]

The former Admiral remains completely motionless. His militaristic stance unbroken...."I can sense from here your mistrust and doubt in my sincerity. Perhaps I should clarify. I do not wish to rule. I do not wish to conquer. I wish to protect. To insure the gangsters and scum of this universe do not dominate those less than fortunate. This is my plan. Though I am trained in the Dark Force and I do use it, I am not a slave to it. I shall not become so. My study of the Darkside of the Force has come to a close. I shall use what I know and go no further."....Tyne paused a moment..."But, shall you still distrust me, I shall understand. It is the only logical choice. No hard feelings will be shared by me. Your fellow Guardsman has already stated, should you disapprove of this arrangement, he will take one of the smaller vessels and join you, or go on his own. He will not, however, be staying with me shall you choose not to accept this proposal. Now, I leave it to you....."....Vost Tyne remained held within his militaristic stance, motionless and awaiting final word....

[Captain Kir Kanos]

Kanos had to say, he was surprised. A change of heart, indeed.

"I see, Lord Tyne."

He set his jaw, consider the the sensible Sith Lord's words. Couplings 'sensible' and 'Sith' in the same sentence seemed altogether comical.

"In this light, your request seems feasible. Our objectives seem to run parallel, Lord Tyne."

He, again, took a seat at his throne-like command chair.

"I have dealings with the New Republic. I have some... information they may find useful. You welcome to accompany me to Kuat, Lord Tyne, if you wish so."

Conclusive nods were exchanged, and the transmission died.

The Captain addressed a young female officer. "Any sign of hostile warships, Lieutenant? Have you any reason to believe we are being pursued?"

"No, sir, none."

"Very well. Navigations, Kuat."

"Yes, sir."

"... and I want multiple jumps. I don't want you to leave an easily followed trail. Understood?"

Kanos could have sworn he saw the hint of a grin touching the young enlistee's lips.

"Understood, sir."

[Vost Tyne]

"Shall we set course Admiral Tyne?"

The men insisted on continuing to all him Admiral. A title he never minded, in fact preferred it to that of Lord Tyne. He turned quickly...

"Yes, set our course and speed to match that of Captain Kanos' ship."

He moved back to the main operations center upon the gigantic warship's bridge. Tyne, never being one to seat himself while on "Duty" stood over looking the general operations of the ship....

Unsure of directly joining the New Republic, he takes these matters into thought while the Three ships jump to Hyper-space. The "Vengeance" is the first to jump followed quickly by the "Hand of Justice" and the "Hand of Peace." Unsure of his future, but positive of his past. He thought perhaps knowing the road he does not wish to take is enough for now...

[Captain Kir Kanos]

"We're feeding the Vengeance our hyperspace coordinates, Captain. They'll stay right with us."

"Very good."

The lumbering SSD's slowed up the smaller and faster-moving ISD's in the astral hyperspace lanes. The Infliction took point in the impressive force, the crew prepared to raise shields and power weapons should they be pulled out of their faster-than-light excursion. Intredictor-wells were used commonly throughout the Galaxy. It was, after all, halfway across the Galaxy from the Kathol sector to the Coreward planet Kuat. There could be any number of TSE, TIR, or DF warships interpoised between the small armada and their destination, however unlikely.

Lord Kanos felt they were more than capable of decimating any unexpected opposition.

[Admiral Lebron]

(Its very arguable that Vost can't fight back. For one, that would be aggressive and he didn't build his ships other then taking him to places so ha! And SSD against whatever we can throw at you, could kill you. )

[Captain Kir Kanos]

The modest, but by no means incapable, armada of unaligned warships bowled out of hyperspace a good distance from Kuat's fortifications, not wanting to mistakenly be blown from space.

"New Republic, this is Captain Kir Kanos of the Super Star Destroyer Infliction, accompanied by Lord Vost Tyne, commander of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance and Imperial Star Destroyers Hand of Justice and Hand of Peace, requesting asylum. We have some information you may find useful."

[Admiral Jyener]

--Back at Dayark Headquarters--

"Admiral, the Infliction has dropped out of hyperspace."

Overlooking the tactical display of the Kathol Sector, Jyener spun around once hearing the update from one of his officers.

"The tracer's still intact, good. Where is the signal coming from?"

"Far side of Kuat, sir."

"Alright, jam all frequencies, and play back the prerecorded message on New Republic bandwidths only."

"Aye sir."

The tracer bug and communications device had been planted in a concealed location on the hull of the rogue Super Star Destroyer. With Kanos distracted by the meeting held on Dayark, his crafty mechanics pulled this one off perfectly.

Millions of lightyears away...

"New Republic forces of Kuat, surrender immediately or be crushed by the hand of Kir Kanos of the resurrected Guard. I repeat, all New Republic defenses surrender or we will be forced to open fire."

[Captain Kir Kanos]

"... sir... our transmission didn't get out. We're being jammed -- internally."

Lord Kanos strode to the Ensign's console, purusing the readout.

"Trace the origin of the interference. Whatever is causing it, I want it stopped."

"Sir, it appears we're sending out a ultimatum to the New Republic. I'll replay it."

The young crewman worked incredibly quickly, obviously the product of the highest level of training. Kanos wouldn't have it any other way.

New Republic forces of Kuat, surrender immediately or be crushed by the hand of Kir Kanos of the resurrected Guard. I repeat, all New Republic defenses surrender or we will be forced to open fire.

"Damn."

"Found it, sir. It appears to be transmitting from our external hull. Shall I send a team?"

"Yes. Immediately."

Kanos had known it wouldn't be this easy. He only hoped the tracer-beacon was found and destroyed before there were dire consequences.

[Milom Sargast]

Admiral Sargast glanced over the morning's usual deployments, and other such tedium as he had his early coffee. It seemed that mobilization preparations were going well, and since he had returned to active duty, the New Republic fleet was quickly becoming more and more battle ready.

The doors to his office opened, and a subordinate entered.

"Sir, I think you should see this."

He handed Sargast a datapad. The Admiral, glad for a distraction looked at the information, and slowly set his coffee down on the table. Looking up, he addressed the junior officer.

"Is this some drill that I am not informed on, from Ackbar?"

The junior officer looked from side to side...obviously unsure of any pertinent information.

"I suppose not, then."

Sargast glanced at the data.

"Four capital ships against Second Fleet? And with this flamboyant address to boot? It doesn't matter if two of the ships are Super Star Destroyers....something about this doesn't seem right."

He rubbed at his temples.

"Alert all commands...this deployment could possibly be a ruse.

Deploy Second Fleet, and lock down the system. Cut off all avenues of escape, and demand that our guests stand down."

"Yes sir."

"Keep them at maximum bombardment range, but have all ships hold their fire. We have enough firepower in Second Fleet alone to destroy them twenty times over, so I question whether this is as it seems. No sane Imperial would execute a frontal assault with such dismal odds."

[Captain Kir Kanos]

"Captain, there seems to be a problem..."

"Well, what is it?"

"They can't find the bug."

"I thought you said you had located the focal point of the interfence."

"I had, sir. They can't find it. Their sensors aren't functioning properly in such close proximity, so they have to search visually. It may take some time."

"Very well. Bring us to a full stop, lower shields, power-down all weapons. Perhaps Tyne will have the mind to follow suit. I want to make it evident we have no hostile intentions, whatesoever."

"Yes, sir."

[Darth Varlon]

Dayark defense fleet command centre
Dayark orbit

"Commander Varlon, priority one transmission from Admiral Jyener." One of the bridge lieutenants shouted from the starboard side crew pit, catching the brooding sith's attention.

"What is it?" The knight said quietly without turning to face the young woman.

"They've got the location on the Super Star Destroyer. Dispatching task force plague on your mark."

"Captain, your call?" The sith said just barely above a whisper as he turned in the command chair to the Death Wind's current C.O.

"Task force plague, mobilize. Authorization Casona eta-xi-alpha-alpha." The older man said aloud, his authorative voice reaching across the whole of the bridge.

"Plague is mobilizing, Captain. Intercept time estimated at eighteen hours." The lieutenant called back to her commanding offier.

"Excellent. Signal Jyener's forces to keep them busy until we can get there. Var cut him off before he even got a word out.

"Yes, sir Konrad."

[Admiral Jyener]

"They've stopped, sir."

"He's trying to prove something. Smart, but not smart enough for us."

His eyes catching a glimpse of a red button flashing on the console in front of the officer, Jyener nodded towards it, "Lieutenant, who's that message from?"

"Commander Varlon's fleet, Admiral."

"Let's hear it."

Admiral Jyener of Death Fleet, greetings. Lord Varlon of the Death Wind Fleet requests that you hold off the Super Star Destroyer Infliction while he mobilizes Task Force Plague.

"Sounds good. Tell the Commander, good hunting."

[Captain Kir Kanos]

A dull, muffled explosion reverberated throughout the unshielded vessel.

Kanos stiffened. "What was that?"

A femenine voice answered from behind him, "Sir, there was an explosion on the outer hull. There's been a hull breach, sir. Deck 23, section 76C. I'm having it closed off."

"The bug. Must have had a self-destruct sequence. Open a channel to the New Republic."

A second crewman's voice answered, "Done."

"New Republic, this is Captain Kir Kanos of the Super Star Destroyer Infliction, accompanied by Lord Vost Tyne, commander of the Super Star Destroyer Vengeance and Imperial Star Destroyers Hand of Justice and Hand of Peace, requesting asylum. We've had a bit of trouble, and our intentions are anything but hostile. Disregard any messages sent prior to this one. Repeat, disregard any messages sent prior to this.

"Requesting permission to approach the planet."

[Milom Sargast]

Having taken the first shuttle to his flagship, Sargast heard the news as he entered the bridge.

"Sir, another transmission from the enemy."

"Put it through"

Sitting in his chair, Sargast stared at a datapad as the second transmission was displayed verbatim in its broadcast form. With a look of bewilderment, he looked to his communications officer.

"Same transponder frequency? We're sure its the same ship? Triangulations and everything?"

The lieutenant in the crewer's area shook her head.

"Affirmative. All checkpoints on the perimeter confirm as well. Also, there seems to have been a small detonation on the main ship's hull. No word yet on the cause."

His brow knit with thought, Sargast sank lower into his seat, steepling his fingers. With a gesture, he opened a channel to the four warships.

"Unknown warships, I am Rear Admiral Milom Sargast of the New Republic Navy. Your request for asylum will be considered. Keep your shields lowered and your weapons powered down completely. I am sending escorts to guide you to a secured location. Stand by."

From the scores of patroling ships in the second fleet, four Nebulon B2 frigates moved from their assigned posts, forming up cruise vectors for the ships to follow, where they would be surrounded by the protection of the New Republic's starfleet. Scores of fighters deployed, also following in close escort. Their destination...to the diplomatically neutral trade outpost in orbit of Kuat...and controlled by the Cizerack Pride.

A subordinate whispered in Sargast's ear.

"Sir...I'm not sure if this is a prudent idea."

Sargast smiled in a sly manner.

"Rules of engagement state that any ship can be docked in a neutral port for 24 hours to avert a potential conflict. If this flotilla is bringing unnecessarry baggage with it...I intend to use this loophole to our best advantage."

"Won't the Cizerack inquire what we intend to trade?"

Sargast smiled.

"If need be...we'll sell the guns off those ships, if it will buy us the time we need."

[Vost Tyne]

Lord Tyne's ship remained beside that of Kir Kanos, his shields lowered and weapons powered down. He awaits in silence....

[Captain Kir Kanos]

The four battleships fell into escort formation without question.

"Farr."

"Yes sir?"

"I want you to send a complete report explaining exactly what just happened back there. Don't leave out the slightest detail.

"Inform whomever is in command over there we wish turn over our vessels to the New Republic and request admittance into their Navy. If possible, we would like to retain command of our warships."

"Yes sir."

He studied the New Republic held Kuat, her defenses more than capable of repelling anything Death Fleet intended to throw at them. Jyener was fairly dogmatic in his battle plans; in truth, his fancied attack was pure folly. Their assault would be swatted aside like an inconsequential gnat.

As requested, a crewman updated the Captain on the hull incident's status.

"Sir, the entire hull-team was killed in the explosion. Another four were injured, and two dead. Kitchen detail."

Kanos nodded offhandedly, his attention snared by the scene unfolding before him. He had a bad feeling about this.

[Darth Varlon]

Suddenly, and without warning, normalspace was torn open with the flash of well over one hundred hyperspace exits, all within ten kilometres of the small battle formation. The ships slowed as they exited hyperspace, but they were still closing quickly. In the formation was six squadrons worth of TIE Defenders, armed to the teeth for dogfighting and small capitol ship strikes and three squadrons worth of SE-1's, their engines blazing with SLAM enhancement.

The Defenders quickly swooped into the New Republic fighter screen with all the fury of that of one pissed off hornets nest and then some while the SE-1's launched twin quake missiles and twin nova missiles, a grand total of one-hundred and forty-four anti-capitol ship warheads headed towards the Infliction at the range of seven kilometres. Peeling off, each of the missileboats sharply slowed down as the light gatling tubolasers came online and power was re-routed from the SLAM systems.

It hadn't even been well three minutes since their appearance that the fray had quickly turned into a deadly melee of dogfights and a more-than-likely dead Super Star Destroyer.
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OOC: If you need the information on the SE-1 Missileboats, I'll post it in the OOC forum. We developed these well before the move from the old TSE boards.

[Captain Kir Kanos]

OOC - If okay with you, I'd like to continue this when Sargast returns. You are, after all, attacking both he and I.

[Darth Varlon]

OOC: Fine by me o.o

*bump*

Hallooooo? O_o